PMID- 28583345
TI  - Multidisciplinary Management of Sarcomas - Where Are We Now?

PMID- 28583346
TI  - Insights and Implications from the Science of Healing.

PMID- 28583347
TI  - Plasma trans-palmitoleic acid is associated with cardio-metabolic risk factors in
      youth with type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 28583348
TI  - Robust input design for nonlinear dynamic modeling of AUV.
AB  - Input design has a dominant role in developing the dynamic model of autonomous
      underwater vehicles (AUVs) through system identification. Optimal input design is
      the process of generating informative inputs that can be used to generate the
      good quality dynamic model of AUVs. In a problem with optimal input design, the
      desired input signal depends on the unknown system which is intended to be
      identified. In this paper, the input design approach which is robust to
      uncertainties in model parameters is used. The Bayesian robust design strategy is
      applied to design input signals for dynamic modeling of AUVs. The employed
      approach can design multiple inputs and apply constraints on an AUV system's
      inputs and outputs. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to solve the
      constraint robust optimization problem. The presented algorithm is used for
      designing the input signals for an AUV, and the estimate obtained by robust input
      design is compared with that of the optimal input design. According to the
      results, proposed input design can satisfy both robustness of constraints and
      optimality.

PMID- 28583349
TI  - Design and implementation of EP-based PID controller for chaos synchronization of
      Rikitake circuit systems.
AB  - This article addresses an evolutionary programming (EP) algorithm technique-based
      and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control methods are established to
      guarantee synchronization of the master and slave Rikitake chaotic systems. For
      PID synchronous control, the evolutionary programming (EP) algorithm is used to
      find the optimal PID controller parameters kp, ki, kd by integrated absolute
      error (IAE) method for the convergence conditions. In order to verify the system
      performance, the basic electronic components containing operational amplifiers
      (OPAs), resistors, and capacitors are used to implement the proposed chaotic
      Rikitake systems. Finally, the experimental results validate the proposed
      Rikitake chaotic synchronization approach.

PMID- 28583350
TI  - Indirect adaptive fuzzy wavelet neural network with self- recurrent consequent
      part for AC servo system.
AB  - This paper proposes a novel indirect adaptive fuzzy wavelet neural network
      (IAFWNN) to control the nonlinearity, wide variations in loads, time-variation
      and uncertain disturbance of the ac servo system. In the proposed approach, the
      self-recurrent wavelet neural network (SRWNN) is employed to construct an
      adaptive self-recurrent consequent part for each fuzzy rule of TSK fuzzy model.
      For the IAFWNN controller, the online learning algorithm is based on back
      propagation (BP) algorithm. Moreover, an improved particle swarm optimization
      (IPSO) is used to adapt the learning rate. The aid of an adaptive SRWNN
      identifier offers the real-time gradient information to the adaptive fuzzy
      wavelet neural controller to overcome the impact of parameter variations, load
      disturbances and other uncertainties effectively, and has a good dynamic. The
      asymptotical stability of the system is guaranteed by using the Lyapunov method.
      The result of the simulation and the prototype test prove that the proposed are
      effective and suitable.

PMID- 28583352
TI  - Editorial Comment.

PMID- 28583351
TI  - Protein engineering of CYP105s for their industrial uses.
AB  - Cytochrome P450 enzymes belonging to the CYP105 family are predominantly found in
      bacteria belonging to the phylum Actinobacteria and the order Actinomycetales. In
      this review, we focused on the protein engineering of P450s belonging to the
      CYP105 family for industrial use. Two Arg substitutions to Ala of CYP105A1
      enhanced its vitamin D3 25- and 1alpha-hydroxylation activities by 400 and 100
      fold, respectively. The coupling efficiency between product formation and NADPH
      oxidation was largely improved by the R84A mutation. The quintuple mutant
      Q87W/T115A/H132L/R194W/G294D of CYP105AB3 showed a 20-fold higher activity than
      the wild-type enzyme. Amino acids at positions 87 and 191 were located at the
      substrate entrance channel, and that at position 294 was located close to the
      heme group. Semi-rational engineering of CYP105A3 selected the best performing
      mutant, T85F/T119S/V194N/N363Y, for producing pravastatin. The T119S and N363Y
      mutations synergistically had remarkable effects on the interaction between
      CYP105A3 and putidaredoxin. Although wild-type CYP105AS1 hydroxylated compactin
      to 6-epi-pravastatin, the quintuple mutant I95T/Q127R/A180V/L236I/A265N converted
      almost all compactin to pravastatin. Five amino acid substitutions by two rounds
      of mutagenesis almost completely changed the stereo-selectivity of CYP105AS1.
      These results strongly suggest that the protein engineering of CYP105 enzymes
      greatly increase their industrial utility. This article is part of a Special
      Issue entitled: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity and biotechnology, edited by Erika
      Plettner, Gianfranco Gilardi, Luet Wong, Vlada Urlacher, Jared Goldstone.

PMID- 28583354
TI  - Narrative science and narrative knowing. Introduction to special issue on
      narrative science.

PMID- 28583353
TI  - The recognition and characterisation of Finnish Clostridium difficile isolates
      resembling PCR-ribotype 027.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterise and compare twenty-eight Finnish Clostridium difficile
      RT027-like isolates, selected based on the presence of 18 bp deletion in the tcdC
      gene and toxin gene profile (A, B, binary), with eleven RT027 isolates from
      different Finnish geographical areas and time periods. METHODS: Twenty-eight C.
      difficile RT027-like isolates and 11 RT027 comparative strains were characterised
      by capillary-electrophoresis (CE) ribotyping, multi-locus variable tandem-repeats
      analysis (MLVA), multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), and sequencing of tcdC and
      gyrA gene fragments. Susceptibility to moxifloxacin was determined by E-test.
      RESULTS: Of 28 RT027-like isolates, seven RTs (016, 034, 075, 080, 153, 176 and
      328), three WEBRIBO types (411, 475, AI-78) and three new profiles (F1-F3) were
      identified. MLVA revealed six clonal complexes (RTs 016, 027, 176 and F3). MLST
      showed eleven sequence types (1, 41, 47, 67, 95, 191,192, 223, 229, 264 and new
      ST). Twenty-two isolates (RTs 016, 080, 176, 328, F1, F2, F3 and WRTAI-78)
      carried Delta117 in the tcdC gene. Isolates of RTs 016, 027 and 176 were
      moxifloxacin resistant and harboured Thr82Ile in the GyrA. CONCLUSION: Our
      results show a high diversity within 28 Finnish RT027-like C. difficile isolates,
      with twelve CE-ribotyping profiles and eleven STs. MLVA revealed the regional
      spread of RTs 016, 027, 176 and F3. The presence of Delta117 in the tcdC gene in
      eight non-027 RTs highlights the importance of careful interpretation of the
      results from molecular systems targeting this site in the genome of C. difficile
      and the need of strain typing for epidemiological purposes.

PMID- 28583355
TI  - In defence of story-telling.
AB  - We argue that narratives are central to the success of historical reconstruction.
      Narrative explanation involves tracing causal trajectories across time. The
      construction of narrative, then, often involves postulating relatively
      speculative causal connections between comparatively well-established events. But
      speculation is not always idle or harmful: it also aids in overcoming local
      underdetermination by forming scaffolds from which new evidence becomes relevant.
      Moreover, as our understanding of the past's causal milieus become richer, the
      constraints on narrative plausibility become increasingly strict: a narrative's
      admissibility does not turn on mere logical consistency with background data.
      Finally, narrative explanation and explanation generated by simple, formal models
      complement one another. Where models often achieve isolation and precision at the
      cost of simplification and abstraction, narratives can track complex changes in a
      trajectory over time at the cost of simplicity and precision. In combination both
      allow us to understand and explain highly complex historical sequences.

PMID- 28583356
TI  - Theories that narrate the world: Ronald A. Fisher's mass selection and Sewall
      Wright's shifting balance.
AB  - Theories are composed of multiple interacting components. I argue that some
      theories have narratives as essential components, and that narratives function as
      integrative devices of the mathematical components of theories. Narratives
      represent complex processes unfolding in time as a sequence of stages, and hold
      the mathematical elements together as pieces in the investigation of a given
      process. I present two case studies from population genetics: R. A. Fisher's "mas
      selection" theory, and Sewall Wright's shifting balance theory. I apply my
      analysis to an early episode of the "R. A. Fisher - Sewall Wright controversy."

PMID- 28583357
TI  - Narrative possibility and narrative explanation.
AB  - Narratives are about not only what actually happened, but also what might have.
      And narrative explanations make productive use of these unrealized possibilities.
      I discuss narrative explanation as a form of counterfactual, difference-making
      explanation, with a demanding qualification: the counterfactual conditions are
      historically or narratively (not merely logically or physically) possible. I
      consider these issues in connection with literary, historical and scientific
      narratives.

PMID- 28583358
TI  - Essentially narrative explanations.
AB  - This essay argues that narrative explanations prove uniquely suited to answering
      certain explanatory questions, and offers reasons why recognizing a type of
      statement that requires narrative explanations crucially informs on their
      assessment. My explication of narrative explanation begins by identifying two
      interrelated sources of philosophical unhappiness with them. The first I term the
      problem of logical formlessness and the second the problem of evaluative
      intractability. With regard to the first, narratives simply do not appear to
      instantiate any logical form recognized as inference licensing. But absent a
      means of identifying inferential links, what justifies connecting explanans and
      explanandum? Evaluative intractability, the second problem, thus seems a direct
      consequence. This essay shows exactly why these complaints prove unfounded by
      explicating narrative explanations in the process of answering three interrelated
      questions. First, what determines that an explanation has in some critical or
      essential respect a narrative form? Second, how does a narrative in such cases
      come to constitute a plausible explanation? Third, how do the first two
      considerations yield a basis for evaluating an explanation offered as a
      narrative? Answers to each of these questions include illustrations of actual
      narrative explanations and also function to underline attendant dimensions of
      evaluation.

PMID- 28583359
TI  - Narrative and natural history in the eighteenth century.
AB  - In the eighteenth century, natural histories of animals incorporated narratives
      about animal behaviour and narratives of discovery and experimentation.
      Naturalists used first-person accounts to link the stories of their scientific
      investigations to the stories of the animal lives they were studying.
      Understanding nature depended on narratives that shifted back and forth in any
      given text between animal and human, and between individual cases and
      generalizations about species. This paper explores the uses of narrative through
      examples from the work of Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur and Abraham Trembley.
      In all cases, narrative took the genre of natural history well beyond
      straightforward description and classification. Prose accounts of insect actions
      and mechanisms worked in tandem with visual narratives embedded in the
      accompanying illustrations, where artists developed strategies for representing
      sequences of minute changes over time. By throwing into relief the narrative
      sections of natural histories, the examples considered here expose the role
      played by these tales of encounters with the insect world in the making of
      natural historical knowledge.

PMID- 28583360
TI  - Process tracing in political science: What's the story?
AB  - Methodologists in political science have advocated for causal process tracing as
      a way of providing evidence for causal mechanisms. Recent analyses of the method
      have sought to provide more rigorous accounts of how it provides such evidence.
      These accounts have focused on the role of process tracing for causal inference
      and specifically on the way it can be used with case studies for testing
      hypotheses. While the analyses do provide an account of such testing, they pay
      little attention to the narrative elements of case studies. I argue that the role
      of narrative in case studies is not merely incidental. Narrative does cognitive
      work by both facilitating the consideration of alternative hypotheses and
      clarifying the relationship between evidence and explanation. I consider the use
      of process tracing in a particular case (the Fashoda Incident) in order to
      illustrate the role of narrative. I argue that process tracing contributes to
      knowledge production in ways that the current focus on inference tends to
      obscure.

PMID- 28583361
TI  - Narrative constructs in modern clinical case reporting.
AB  - Modern clinical case reporting takes the form of problem-solution narratives that
      redescribe symptoms in terms of disease categories. Authored almost always by
      those who have played a part in the medical assessment of the patient, reports
      historicise the salient details of an individual's illness as a complex effect of
      identifiable antecedent causes. Candidate hypotheses linking illness to
      pathological mechanisms are suggested by the patient's experience, and by data
      that emerge from clinical examination and investigation. Observational and
      interpretive statements from these considerations are fitted into a temporally
      inflected account of the patient's medical condition, configured from the vantage
      point of hindsight. Drawing on established forms of deferred telling, readers are
      invited to follow a story that drip-feeds a mixture of contingent and non
      incidental information into the account, which engenders and frustrates
      curiosity, creates expectations, and challenges powers of reasoning and pattern
      recognition. Whereas case reporting once favoured memoir, the sentimental tale
      and eccentric biography as the means by which its historical narrative was cast,
      the preferred genres of contemporary case reporting include detective fiction,
      and puzzle and riddle narratives, formats that conceptualise the medical
      consultation in narrow problem-solution terms.

PMID- 28583362
TI  - On the narrative form of simulations.
AB  - Understanding complex physical systems through the use of simulations often takes
      on a narrative character. That is, scientists using simulations seek an
      understanding of processes occurring in time by generating them from a dynamic
      model, thereby producing something like a historical narrative. This paper
      focuses on simulations of the Diels-Alder reaction, which is widely used in
      organic chemistry. It calls on several well-known works on historical narrative
      to draw out the ways in which use of these simulations mirrors aspects of
      narrative understanding: Gallie for "followability" and "contingency"; Mink for
      "synoptic judgment"; Ricoeur for "temporal dialectic"; and Hawthorn for a related
      dialectic of the "actual and the possible". Through these reflections on
      narrative, the paper aims for a better grasp of the role that temporal
      development sometimes plays in understanding physical processes and of how
      considerations of possibility enhance that understanding.

PMID- 28583363
TI  - Narrative ordering and explanation.
AB  - This paper investigates the important role of narrative in social science case
      based research. The focus is on the use of narrative in creating a productive
      ordering of the materials within such cases, and on how such ordering functions
      in relation to 'narrative explanation'. It argues that narrative ordering based
      on juxtaposition - using an analogy to certain genres of visual representation -
      is associated with creating and resolving puzzles in the research field. Analysis
      of several examples shows how the use of conceptual or theoretical resources
      within the narrative ordering of ingredients enables the narrative explanation of
      the case to be resituated at other sites, demonstrating how such explanations can
      attain scope without implying full generality.

PMID- 28583364
TI  - A Pictorial Review of Hepatobiliary Magnetic Resonance Imaging With Hepatocyte
      Specific Contrast Agents: Uses, Findings, and Pitfalls of Gadoxetate Disodium and
      Gadobenate Dimeglumine.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has a well-established role as a highly specific
      and accurate modality for characterizing benign and malignant focal liver
      lesions. In particular, contrast-enhanced MRI using hepatocyte-specific contrast
      agents (HSCAs) improves lesion detection and characterization compared to other
      imaging modalities and MRI techniques. In this pictorial review, the mechanism of
      action of gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents, with a focus on HSCAs, is
      described. The clinical indications, protocols, and emerging uses of the 2
      commercially available combined contrast agents available in the United States,
      gadoxetate disodium and gadobenate dimeglumine, are discussed. The MRI features
      of these agents are compared with examples of focal hepatic masses, many of which
      have been obtained within the same patient therefore allowing direct lesion
      comparison. Finally, the pitfalls in the use of combined contrast agents in liver
      MRI are highlighted.

PMID- 28583365
TI  - Reprint of: Hydrogen sulfide in stroke: Protective or deleterious?
AB  - Hydrogen sulfide is believed to be a signalling molecule in the central nervous
      system. It is known to increase rapidly following an ischemic insult in
      experimental stroke. Is it protective or deleterious? This review surveys the
      relevant information available in the literature. It appears that there is no
      definitive answer to this question at present. Current evidence seems to suggest
      that the presence of H2S in the ischemic brain may either be deleterious or
      protective depending on its concentration, deleterious when high and protective
      when low. Therefore, it can be inferred that either an enhancement or a reduction
      of its concentration may be of potential use in future stroke therapy.

PMID- 28583366
TI  - Pentoxifylline induces apoptosis of HepG2 cells by reducing reactive oxygen
      species production and activating the MAPK signaling.
AB  - AIMS: Pentoxifylline (PTX) is a methylxanthine derivative and has potent anti
      tumor activity. This study aimed at investigating the anti-HCC effects of PTX and
      associated molecular mechanisms. MAIN METHODS: The effects of varying doses of
      PTX on viability, cell cycle and apoptosis of HepG2 cells were determined by MTT
      and flow cytometry, respectively. The effects of PTX on the production of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS), expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic regulators
      and activation of the MAPK signaling in HepG2 cells were analyzed by flow
      cytometry and Western blot assays. The effects of PTX on the growth of implanted
      HepG2 cells and their apoptosis in mice were examined. KEY FINDINGS: Our results
      indicated that PTX inhibited proliferation of HepG2 cells and induced HepG2 cell
      cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner.
      Treatment with PTX reduced levels of ROS and Bcl-XL expression, but increased
      caspase 3 and caspase 9 expression and JNK and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in HepG2
      cells. Pre-treatment with n-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, enhanced
      PTX-mediated cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and the JNK and ERK MAPK activation,
      while pre-treatment with SP600125 or PD98509 attenuated PTX-mediated effects in
      HepG2 cells. Treatment with PTX inhibited the growth of implanted HCC and
      promoted HCC apoptosis in mice. SIGNIFICANCE: Our data demonstrate that PTX
      inhibits proliferation of HepG2 cells and induces HepG2 cell apoptosis by
      attenuating ROS production and enhancing the MAPK activation in HepG2 cells.

PMID- 28583367
TI  - Application of modelling and nanotechnology-based approaches: The emergence of
      breakthroughs in theranostics of central nervous system disorders.
AB  - The limited efficiency of the current treatment options against the central
      nervous system (CNS) disorders has created increasing demands towards the
      development of novel theranostic strategies. The enormous research efforts in
      nanotechnology have led to the production of highly-advanced nanodevices and
      biomaterials in a variety of geometries and configurations for targeted delivery
      of genes, drugs, or growth factors across the blood-brain barrier. Meanwhile, the
      richness or reliability of data, drug delivery methods, therapeutic effects or
      potential toxicity of nanoparticles, occurrence of the unexpected phenomena due
      to the polydisperse or polymorphic nature of nanomaterials, and personalized
      theranostics have remained as challenging issues. In this respect, computational
      modelling has emerged as a powerful tool for rational design of nanoparticles
      with optimized characteristics including the selectivity, improved bioactivity,
      and reduced toxicity that might lead to the effective delivery of therapeutic
      agents. High-performance simulation techniques by shedding more light on the
      dynamical behaviour of neural networks and pathomechanisms of CNS disorders may
      provide imminent breakthroughs in nanomedicine. In the present review, the
      importance of integration of nanotechnology-based approaches with computational
      techniques for targeted delivery of theranostics to the CNS has been highlighted.

PMID- 28583368
TI  - The impact of obesity on neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases are a growing health concern. The increasing
      incidences of these disorders have a great impact on the patients' quality of
      life. Although the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases are still far from
      being clarified, several studies look for new discoveries about their
      pathophysiology and prevention. Furthermore, evidence has shown a strong
      correlation between obesity and the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and
      Parkinson's disease (PD). Metabolic changes caused by overweight are related to
      damage to the central nervous system (CNS), which can lead to neural death,
      either by apoptosis or cell necrosis, as well as alter the synaptic plasticity of
      the neuron. This review aims to show the association between neurodegenerative
      diseases, focusing on AD and PD, and metabolic alterations.

PMID- 28583369
TI  - Innate mechanism of pollen- and cat dander-induced oxidative stress and DNA
      damage in the airways.

PMID- 28583370
TI  - Prostaglandin E2 stimulates adaptive IL-22 production and promotes allergic
      contact dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) are both
      forms of eczema and are common inflammatory skin diseases with a central role of
      T cell-derived IL-22 in their pathogenesis. Although prostaglandin (PG) E2 is
      known to promote inflammation, little is known about its role in processes
      related to AD and ACD development, including IL-22 upregulation. OBJECTIVES: We
      sought to investigate whether PGE2 has a role in IL-22 induction and development
      of ACD, which has increased prevalence in patients with AD. METHODS: T-cell
      cultures and in vivo sensitization of mice with haptens were used to assess the
      role of PGE2 in IL-22 production. The involvement of PGE2 receptors and their
      downstream signals was also examined. The effects of PGE2 were evaluated by using
      the oxazolone-induced ACD mouse model. The relationship of PGE2 and IL-22
      signaling pathways in skin inflammation were also investigated by using genomic
      profiling in human lesional AD skin. RESULTS: PGE2 induces IL-22 from T cells
      through its receptors, E prostanoid receptor (EP) 2 and EP4, and involves cyclic
      AMP signaling. Selective deletion of EP4 in T cells prevents hapten-induced IL-22
      production in vivo, and limits atopic-like skin inflammation in the oxazolone
      induced ACD model. Moreover, both PGE2 and IL-22 pathway genes were coordinately
      upregulated in human AD lesional skin but were at less than significant detection
      levels after corticosteroid or UVB treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Our results define a
      crucial role for PGE2 in promoting ACD by facilitating IL-22 production from T
      cells.

PMID- 28583371
TI  - Bacterial infections after pediatric heart transplantation: Epidemiology, risk
      factors and outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacterial infections represent a major cause of morbidity and
      mortality in heart transplant recipients. However, data describing the
      epidemiology and outcomes of these infections in children are limited. METHODS:
      We analyzed the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study database of patients
      transplanted between 1993 and 2014 to determine the etiologies, risk factors and
      outcomes of children with bacterial infections post-heart transplantation.
      RESULTS: Of 4,458 primary transplants in the database, there were 4,815
      infections that required hospitalization or intravenous therapy, 2,047 (42.51%)
      of which were bacterial. The risk of bacterial infection was highest in the first
      month post-transplant, and the bloodstream was the most common site (24.82%). In
      the early post-transplant period (<30 days post-transplant), coagulase-negative
      staphylococci were the most common pathogens (16.97%), followed by Enterobacter
      sp (11.99%) and Pseudomonas sp (11.62%). In the late post-transplant period,
      community-acquired pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae (6.27%) and Haemophilus
      influenzae (2.82%) were also commonly identified. Patients' characteristics
      independently associated with acquisition of bacterial infection included younger
      age (p < 0.0001) and ventilator (p < 0.0001) or extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation (p = 0.03) use at time of transplant. Overall mortality post
      bacterial infection was 33.78%, and previous cardiac surgery (p < 0.001) and
      multiple sites of infection (p = 0.004) were independent predictors of death.
      CONCLUSIONS: Bacteria were the most common causes of severe infections in
      pediatric heart transplant recipients and were associated with high mortality
      rates. The risk of acquiring a bacterial infection was highest in the first month
      post-transplant, and a large proportion of the infections were caused by
      multidrug-resistant pathogens.

PMID- 28583372
TI  - Dose-dependent association between amiodarone and severe primary graft
      dysfunction in orthotopic heart transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is growing concern regarding the association between pre
      transplant amiodarone exposure and post-transplant adverse outcomes. We
      hypothesized that amiodarone use would be associated with the development of
      severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD) in a dose-dependent manner. METHODS: This
      was a retrospective review of 269 adult orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT)
      recipients at our institution between 2010 and 2014. At the time of OHT, 100 were
      receiving amiodarone therapy (Group 1) and 169 were not (Group 2). RESULTS: Pre
      OHT creatinine was higher in Group 1 (1.49 +/- 0.63 vs 1.27 +/- 0.68 mg/dl, p =
      0.011). At time of listing, Group 1 had higher frequency of status 2 (42.0% vs
      29.0%), and Group 2 had higher frequency of status 1A (20.7% vs 8.0%; p = 0.009).
      Severe PGD (mechanical circulatory support within 24 hours post-OHT) was
      significantly higher in Group 1 (20.0% vs 5.3%, p < 0.001). Pre-OHT amiodarone
      use was an independent risk factor for severe PGD (odds ratio [OR], 6.05; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 2.47-14.83; p < 0.001) and in-hospital mortality (OR,
      2.88; 95% CI, 1.05-7.88; p = 0.039) in multivariable analysis. Each 100-mg
      increase in the day-of-OHT amiodarone dose (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.26-1.90) and each
      18,300-mg increase in the 6-month cumulative dose (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.31-2.15)
      was associated with increased odds of developing severe PGD (p < 0.001 for both).
      CONCLUSIONS: Amiodarone use pre-OHT is independently associated with increased
      incidence of severe PGD and in-hospital mortality and linearly associated with
      increased incidence of severe PGD in a dose-dependent manner.

PMID- 28583374
TI  - Sirt1 suppresses Wnt/betaCatenin signaling in liver cancer cells by targeting
      betaCatenin in a PKAalpha-dependent manner.
AB  - Here, bioinformatics data from Sirt1 knock-out (KO) and knock-in (KI) mice
      suggest that Sirt1 inhibits Wnt/betaCatenin signaling in the liver. However, it
      is unclear how this relationship occurs and how it contributes to malignant
      phenotypes in liver cancer cells. We found that Sirt1 expression promotes
      phosphorylation of betaCatenin at Ser675, which may subsequently decrease
      expression of total-betaCatenin. Mechanistically, Sirt1 expression elevates
      phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of protein kinase A (PKAalpha), and this
      event is essential for Sirt1-induced phosphorylation of betaCatenin. The negative
      effects of Sirt1 on betaCatenin stability are also dependent on PKAalpha.
      Stimulating PKAalpha recruits betaTrCP, a well-known ubiquitin E3 ligase for
      betaCatenin, to betaCatenin. Interestingly, Sirt1 expression is able to up
      regulate betaTrCP expression. Finally, we found that malignant phenotypes occur
      in hepatocytes when Sirt1 and betaCatenin are co-overexpressed, and such effects
      are enhanced by simultaneous knockdown of PKAalpha. In contrast, malignant
      phenotypes are abrogated upon knockdown of Sirt1, and this phenotype is magnified
      by knockdown of betaCatenin. Collectively, we conclude that suppression of both
      Sirt1 and Wnt/betaCatenin might be effective in treating liver cancer.

PMID- 28583375
TI  - Short-term storage of human testicular tissue: effect of storage temperature and
      tissue size.
AB  - During short-term storage, before cryopreservation, testicular tissue quality can
      be affected by storage medium, duration, temperature and tissue size. We
      previously established the best storage medium and time for short-term
      maintenance of tissue. In this study, three different storage temperatures (4
      degrees C, room temperature, 37 degrees C) and four tissue sizes (~6 mm3; ~ 15
      mm3; ~ 50 mm3 or ~80 mm3) were assessed over the course of a fixed period of 3
      days. Storing human testicular tissue at 37 degrees C caused a significant
      increase in the number of apoptotic cells per tubule (P = 0.002), compared with
      fresh control, but this was not the case at 4 degrees C or room temperature.
      Temperature did not affect viability, tissue morphology or number of
      spermatogonia in samples. The morphology of the testicular tissue was optimally
      preserved when stored as large fragments (~50 mm3: P = 0.018; ~ 80 mm3: P =
      0.018). Tissue size did not significantly affect viability, number of
      spermatogonia or apoptotic cells. Adult human testicular tissue can be preserved
      at 4 degrees C or room temperature without altering tissue morphology, Sertoli
      cell morphology, number of spermatogonia or number of apoptotic cells. The tissue
      does not need to be extensively dissected as tissue morphology is better
      maintained in larger fragments.

PMID- 28583373
TI  - Mechanisms of mutant PDE6 proteins underlying retinal diseases.
AB  - Mutations in PDE6 genes encoding the effector enzymes in rods and cones underlie
      severe retinal diseases including retinitis pigmentosa (RP), autosomal dominant
      congenital stationary night blindness (adCSNB), and achromatopsia (ACHM). Here we
      examined a spectrum of pathogenic missense mutations in PDE6 using the system
      based on co-expression of cone PDE6C with its specialized chaperone AIPL1 and the
      regulatory Pgamma subunit as a potent co-chaperone. We uncovered two mechanisms
      of PDE6C mutations underlying ACHM: (a) folding defects leading to expression of
      catalytically inactive proteins and (b) markedly diminished ability of Pgamma to
      co-chaperone mutant PDE6C proteins thereby dramatically reducing the levels of
      functional enzyme. The mechanism of the Rambusch adCSNB associated with the H258N
      substitution in PDE6B was probed through the analysis of the model mutant PDE6C
      H262N. We identified two interrelated deficits of PDE6C-H262N: disruption of the
      inhibitory interaction of Pgamma with mutant PDE6C that markedly reduced the
      ability of Pgamma to augment the enzyme folding. Thus, we conclude that the
      Rambusch adCSNB is triggered by low levels of the constitutively active PDE6.
      Finally, we examined PDE6C-L858V, which models PDE6B-L854V, an RP-linked mutation
      that alters the protein isoprenyl modification. This analysis suggests that the
      type of prenyl modifications does not impact the folding of PDE6, but it
      modulates the enzyme affinity for its trafficking partner PDE6D. Hence, the
      pathogenicity of PDE6B-L854V likely arises from its trafficking deficiency. Taken
      together, our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the PDE6C expression
      system to evaluate pathogenicity and elucidate the mechanisms of PDE6 mutations
      in retinal diseases.

PMID- 28583376
TI  - Depression and health behaviors in women with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression and health behavior engagement are a critical issue for
      recovery and secondary prevention in heart failure patients. No prior studies
      have examined these important clinical outcomes in young women diagnosed with
      Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM). We sought to characterize the prevalence of
      depression and health behaviors in PPCM patients and examine whether depression
      is associated with reduced engagement in health behaviors. METHODS: A nation
      wide, cohort of 177 PPCM patients (mean age of 34.8 +/- 5.7 years; median time
      since diagnosis of 3.0 +/- 4.3 years) from a web-based quality of life registry
      completed questionnaires about depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; a cutoff
      score >=10 was used for depression screening) and health behaviors. T-tests, chi
      square and linear regression were used to compare clinical characteristics and
      health behaviors among depressed and non-depressed women. RESULTS: The prevalence
      of clinical depression at enrollment was 32.3% and was associated with use of
      antihypertensive medications, disability insurance status, higher BMI, history of
      arrhythmia and current or past use of psychotropic medication. Health behavior
      engagement for diet, physical activity, and tobacco cessation were low in the
      overall sample and depressed PPCM patients were significantly less likely to
      attend medical appointments than non-depressed women. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 1 in 3
      PPCM survivors reported symptoms of clinical depression which was associated with
      worse attendance at medical follow-up visits. Further research is needed to
      develop risk stratification models and patient-centered interventions to improve
      clinical outcomes for PPCM survivors.

PMID- 28583377
TI  - Harnessing the positive potential of wider policy impacts on human health.

PMID- 28583379
TI  - Prognostic Role of the FGFR4-388Arg Variant in Lung Squamous-Cell Carcinoma
      Patients With Lymph Node Involvement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of prognostic biomarkers for lung squamous-cell
      carcinoma (SCC) pathology is crucial because of its poor prognosis. A variant of
      the FGFR4 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 4) gene, FGFR4-388Arg, has been
      associated with prognosis and is linked to oncogenesis in vitro in several types
      of cancer. We analyzed the association of this variant with prognosis and
      downstream signaling alteration in lung SCC patients. METHODS: The presence of
      the FGFR4-388Arg variant was determined in 114 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded
      lung SCC tissue samples by DNA genotyping and was correlated with
      clinicopathologic data. The activation of the protein kinase B (AKT) and mitogen
      activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways was determined by immunohistochemistry,
      and its association with the presence of FGFR4-388Arg was analyzed. RESULTS: We
      found that tumor differentiation status and adjuvant chemotherapy administration
      could be independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in lymph node
      affected patients, as expected. The progression-free survival and OS of patients
      with lymph node involvement (n = 41) and the FGFR4-388Arg genotype were
      significantly lower than those of patients lacking this variant (P = .035 and P =
      .042, respectively). Importantly, multivariate analysis supported the independent
      prognostic role of the FGFR4-388Arg genotype in OS (P = .025). Regarding
      downstream signaling, the FGFR4-388Arg genotype was not correlated with altered
      AKT signaling but was associated with increased MAPK activation in the SCC tumor
      samples (P = .017). CONCLUSION: The FGFR4-388Arg variant may represent a
      promising prognostic biomarker in SCC patients with lymph node involvement. For
      these patients, FGFR4 may be a potential therapeutic target.

PMID- 28583378
TI  - A systematic survey on reporting and methods for handling missing participant
      data for continuous outcomes in randomized controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess analytic approaches randomized controlled trial (RCT)
      authors use to address missing participant data (MPD) for patient-important
      continuous outcomes. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a systematic survey
      of RCTs published in 2014 in the core clinical journals that reported at least
      one patient-important outcome analyzed as a continuous variable. RESULTS: Among
      200 studies, 187 (93.5%) trials explicitly reported whether MPD occurred. In the
      163 (81.5%) trials that reported the occurrence of MPD, the median and
      interquartile ranges of the percentage of participants with MPD were 11.4% (2.5%
      22.6%).Among the 147 trials in which authors made clear their analytical approach
      to MPD, the approaches chosen included available data only (109, 67%); mixed
      effect models (10, 6.1%); multiple imputation (9, 4.5%); and last observation
      carried forward (9, 4.5). Of the 163 studies reporting MPD, 16 (9.8%) conducted
      sensitivity analyses examining the impact of the MPD and (18, 11.1%) discussed
      the risk of bias associated with MPD. CONCLUSION: RCTs reporting continuous
      outcomes typically have over 10% of participant data missing. Most RCTs failed to
      use optimal analytic methods, and very few conducted sensitivity analyses
      addressing the possible impact of MPD or commented on how MPD might influence
      risk of bias.

PMID- 28583380
TI  - Comparison of Radiotherapy and Chemoradiotherapy for Locoregional Recurrence of
      Non-small-cell Lung Cancer Developing After Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal treatment strategy for locoregional recurrences
      developing after surgical resection in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC) is yet to be clearly established. PATIENTS AND METHODS: To investigate
      the efficacy and safety of radiotherapy (RT) and chemoradiotherapy (CRT), we
      reviewed the consecutive data of patients with NSCLC with postoperative
      locoregional recurrences treated at the National Cancer Center Hospital between
      January 2000 and April 2010. RESULTS: We reviewed the data of 74 patients
      (including 56 who received RT alone and 18 who received CRT) according to our
      study criteria. The median age was lower and the N factor at the recurrence site
      was higher in the CRT group compared with the RT group. Most patients received 60
      Gy/30 Fr RT in both groups. The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate,
      median PFS, and overall survival (OS) were 44.4%, 19.0 months (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0-41.9 months), and 79.6 months (95% CI, 8.2-151.0 months),
      respectively, in the CRT group, although those were 25.0%, 10.6 months (95% CI,
      8.7-12.9 months), and 33.1 months (95% CI, 17.9-48.3 months), respectively, in
      the RT group. The adverse event profile was acceptable, with no treatment-related
      death in either group. Multivariate analysis identified CRT as being
      significantly associated with a longer PFS and OS. CONCLUSION: CRT tended to
      yield better results than RT in terms of the survival outcomes, with acceptable
      safety profiles of both. We consider that a randomized study comparing RT and CRT
      is warranted to identify the optimal treatment strategy for patients with NSCLC
      with postoperative locoregional recurrences.

PMID- 28583381
TI  - Synergistic activities of meropenem double and triple combinations against
      carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.
AB  - The increasing emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae poses a
      considerable threat to global health as only limited treatment options are
      available and has therefore led to efforts to discover antibiotic combination
      regimens effective. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro synergistic
      activity of 10 meropenem double and triple combinations against the 5 most
      frequently encountered carbapenemases-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Broth
      microdilution assays showed that the meropenem and ertapenem combination was the
      most efficient regimen of the double combinations tested (>5-log2 fold decrease).
      The triple combination of meropenem, polymyxin and rifampin exhibited highest
      synergistic activity of the triple combinations. The divergent reports on
      synergistic activity of antibiotic combinations suggest that it may not be
      possible to predict synergy based on carbapenemase type alone. Consequently, we
      recommend that in vitro evaluation of synergistic activity of antibiotic
      combinations against carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae is performed on
      every isolate to ensure effective treatment regimens.

PMID- 28583382
TI  - Advance directives and individuals with disabilities.

PMID- 28583383
TI  - Investing in children: The best way to prevent separation from parents and
      families.
AB  - The reliable and disaggregated data on children deprived of family care, living
      in different forms of public care is essential information to implement the UN
      Guidelines on Alternative Care of Children and its principle on necessity and
      suitability. At the same time all needed information and data would also be
      needed on all forms of support, universal, targeted and specialized services
      provided or not provided to children and their families locally to prevent
      separation of children, on different forms of informal care. While there have
      been many efforts made to prevent institutionalization of children worldwide
      especially in the most developed countries, placement of children out of their
      families for different reasons, many of them closely related to poverty is still
      too often accepted. Some current programs in Europe described in the article can
      contribute to better implementation of the current policies and recommendations
      globally, however there is a parallel movement towards emphasizing the need and
      value of institutional care and the lack of alternatives in many cases, that
      should also be taken into consideration. More research, evidence and data is
      needed to defend the arguments for deinstitutionalization.

PMID- 28583384
TI  - Hydrocarbon-induced changes in proteins and fatty acids profiles of Raoultella
      ornithinolytica M03.
AB  - : Microorganisms can support environmental restoration by biodegradation of
      hydrocarbons but the mechanism of this process has been not described in detail
      yet. We present the effect of benzene derivatives on Raoultella ornithinolytica
      M03 cell composition. Comparison of the cell response after short-term and long
      term stress revealed significant differences in surface properties, fatty acid
      composition and proteins profile. R. ornithinolytica M03 after long-term stress
      was characterized by lower cell surface hydrophobicity and much higher inner
      membrane permeability. Also decrease in the content of branched and unsaturated
      fatty acids was observed. Cells after short- and long-term stress were
      characterized by analyses of changes related to thirty-nine proteins
      participating in various metabolic pathways. The presence of benzene derivatives
      resulted in modifications in the abundance of proteins involved in determination
      of cell shape and ability to ion transport, lipid biosynthesis, amino-acid
      biosynthesis, tRNA ligases, chaperone and TCA cycle proteins, gluconeogenesis,
      transcription and nucleotide synthesis. Uptake and transport associated proteins,
      cell properties and membrane stability were also found to differ in the cells
      after short- and long-term stress suggesting the use of different mechanisms for
      transport and biodegradation of benzene derivatives and modification of cell
      response depending on the length of exposure to the stressor. BIOLOGICAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first comprehensive study whose results may contribute
      to a better understanding of the changes occurring during short- and long-term
      contact with benzene derivatives. After long term stress R. ornithinolytica M03
      was characterized by lower cell surface hydrophobicity and much higher inner
      membrane permeability and decrease in the content of branched and unsaturated
      fatty acids. We identified changes related to multiple proteins engaged in
      various metabolic pathways such as biogenesis of cell membrane/wall, amino-acid
      biosynthesis, nucleotide and protein synthesis, gluconeogenesis and tRNA ligases.
      Changes in proteins participating in uptake and transport associated proteins,
      cell properties and membrane stability indicate modifications in transport and
      biodegradation of benzene derivatives, connected with the length of exposure to
      the stressor. The provided results seem to constitute an important aspect of
      remediation techniques.

PMID- 28583385
TI  - Person-centered trajectories of cultural values and behaviors among Chinese
      American adolescents.
AB  - This study examined change in acculturation values and behavior among 310 Chinese
      American adolescents, and how patterns of change were related to key demographic
      variables and indicators of positive youth development. Dual process group-based
      trajectory models of change in U.S. and Chinese values and behaviors indicated a
      six-group solution for each. The results showed that acculturation value patterns
      were not related to gender, nativity, or parent education, but were related to
      family cohesion, self-esteem, general and academic self-efficacy, and GPA.
      Acculturation behavior patterns were not related to gender but were related to
      nativity and parent education, and were also related to general self-efficacy and
      family cohesion. Taken together, our findings suggest that most trajectories of
      acculturation are associated with positive outcomes, but there are small groups
      of adolescents that function very well (those who maintain higher behavioral
      involvement in both) and some not very well, especially those whose behaviors are
      becoming more disparate over time. Special Issue: Explaining Positive Adaptation
      of Immigrant Youth across Cultures.

PMID- 28583386
TI  - Laugh or cringe? Common and distinct processes of reward-based schadenfreude and
      empathy-based fremdscham.
AB  - Witnessing others' plights can be funny for observers, but may also trigger one
      to empathically cringe with the victim of the predicament. In the present study,
      we examined the common and distinct neural networks involved in schadenfreude
      (i.e. pleasure derived from another's misfortune) and fremdscham (i.e.
      empathically sharing the embarrassment about another's misfortune). Using
      functional magnetic resonance imaging we examined a total of N = 34 participants
      while they observed social integrity threats of a misfortunate other and either
      reported on their schadenfreude or fremdscham. In this between-subject design, we
      found that despite a broad overlap in brain regions involved in social cognition,
      the left anterior insula (AI) was activated less if observers were asked to focus
      on their schadenfreude. Further, the nucleus accumben's activity exclusively
      covaried with the intensity of the schadenfreude experience and had a higher
      functional connectivity with the left AI in the context of schadenfreude than
      during fremdscham. With the present findings, we demonstrate that the valence and
      intensity of interpersonal emotions strongly depend on the experimental context
      and that empathy and reward circuits are involved in shaping the subjective
      experience.

PMID- 28583387
TI  - Prefrontally-mediated alterations in the retrieval of negative events: Links to
      memory vividness across the adult lifespan.
AB  - Prior research has identified age-by-valence interactions in both behavior and
      neural recruitment; age has been associated with increased retrieval of positive
      relative to negative information as well as an increased tendency to recruit
      prefrontal regions during negative event retrieval and for this recruitment to
      correspond to decreased hippocampal connectivity. To date, the explicit relation
      between prefrontal recruitment and memory phenomenology has not been examined.
      The current study examined the link between these two measures by examining age
      by-valence interactions in the relation between prefrontal recruitment and
      subjective ratings of memory vividness. Participants (ages 18-85) encoded visual
      images paired with verbal titles. During a scanned retrieval session, they were
      presented with titles and asked whether each had been seen with an image during
      encoding. Participants provided vividness ratings following retrieval of each
      image. Age was associated with greater prefrontally-mediated alterations in
      negative event phenomenology, with age-related increases in the relation between
      ventral prefrontal regions and negative event vividness and age-related decreases
      in the relation between dorsal prefrontal regions and negative event vividness.
      This analysis confirmed a critical role of PFC regions in age-by-valence
      interactions, where age reversed the relation between PFC recruitment and the
      subjective richness of retrieved memory representation. These findings are
      consistent with studies that reveal age-related enhancements in emotion
      regulation, and suggest that older adults may be engaging in these processes
      during retrieval of negative events.

PMID- 28583389
TI  - Fast determination of pesticides and other contaminants of emerging concern in
      treated wastewater using direct injection coupled to highly sensitive ultra-high
      performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - It is well known that wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents usually contain
      micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals (or their transformation products, TPs)
      or pesticides, which is a major issue when evaluating their possible reuse (e.g.
      for irrigation in agriculture). In search for an improved accuracy and
      simplicity, methods based on the direct injection of the sample (DI) represent a
      recent trend taking advantage of the increasing sensitivity of new mass
      spectrometry (MS) instruments. Thus, the present study shows the development and
      validation of a DI-based method by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography
      quadrupole-linear ion trap analyser (UHPLC-QqLIT-MS/MS). The proposed method was
      applied to the monitoring of 115 organic microcontaminants (including
      pharmaceuticals, TPs and pesticides) at the ngL-1/MUgL-1 level in wastewater
      effluents from urban WWTPs. Sample pre-treatment was reduced to acetonitrile
      addition and filtration of the mixture previous to LC-MS analysis. Total analysis
      time was <15min. A subsequent validation protocol was carried out in treated WW
      (TWW), following indications of SANTE and Eurachem Guidelines. Linearity and
      matrix effect were evaluated in the range of 10-1000ngL-1. 70% of the analytes
      showed a moderate matrix effect (<=25%). Trueness (expressed as recovery) and
      precision (calculated as relative standard deviation, RSD) were evaluated at four
      concentration levels (20, 50, 500 and 1000ngL-1) in TWW samples. The LODs ranged
      from 1 to 357ngL-1 and the LOQs from 10 to 500ngL-1. 92% of the compounds showed
      limits of quantification <=100ngL-1. In most cases, mean recoveries were in the
      range 70-120%, and RSD values were <=20%. The validated method was successfully
      applied to the analysis of 10 TWW samples, demonstrating the occurrence of 67
      target compounds at concentration levels from 26705ngL-1 (4-aminoantipyrine) to
      10ngL-1 (tebuconazole and bezafibrate).

PMID- 28583388
TI  - Spatial modulation of motor-sensory recalibration in early deaf individuals.
AB  - Audition dominates other senses in temporal processing, and in the absence of
      auditory cues, temporal perception can be compromised. Moreover, after auditory
      deprivation, visual attention is selectively enhanced for peripheral visual
      stimuli. In this study, we assessed whether early hearing loss affects motor
      sensory recalibration, the ability to adjust the timing of an action and its
      sensory effect based on the recent experience. Early deaf participants and
      hearing controls were asked to discriminate the temporal order between a motor
      action (a keypress) and a visual stimulus (a white circle) before and after
      adaptation to a delay between the two events. To examine the effects of spatial
      modulation, we presented visual stimuli in both central and peripheral visual
      fields. Results showed overall higher temporal JNDs (Just Noticeable Difference)
      for deaf participants as compared to hearing controls suggesting that the
      auditory information is important for the calibration of motor-sensory timing.
      Adaptation to a motor-sensory delay induced distinctive effect in the two groups
      of participants, with hearing controls showing a recalibration effect for central
      stimuli only whereas deaf individuals for peripheral visual stimuli only. Our
      results suggest that auditory deprivation affects motor-sensory recalibration and
      that the mechanism underlying motor-sensory recalibration is susceptible to
      spatial modulation.

PMID- 28583390
TI  - Relating saturation capacity to charge density in strong cation exchangers.
AB  - In this work the relation between physical and chemical resin characteristics and
      the total amount of adsorbed protein (saturation capacity) for ion-exchange
      resins is discussed. Eleven different packing materials with a sulfo
      functionalization and one multimodal resin were analyzed in terms of their
      porosity, pore size distribution, ligand density and binding capacity. By
      specifying the ligand density and binding capacity by the total and accessible
      surface area, two different groups of resins were identified: Below a ligand
      density of approx. 2.5MUmol/m2 area the ligand density controls the saturation
      capacity, while above this limit the accessible surface area becomes the limiting
      factor. This results in a maximum protein uptake of around 2.5mg/m2 of accessible
      surface area. The obtained results allow estimating the saturation capacity from
      independent resin characteristics like the saturation capacity mainly depends on
      "library data" such as the accessible and total surface area and the charge
      density. Hence these results give an insight into the fundamentals of protein
      adsorption and help to find suitable resins, thus limiting the experimental
      effort in early process development stages.

PMID- 28583391
TI  - Rapid determination of 9 aromatic amines in mainstream cigarette smoke by
      modified dispersive liquid liquid microextraction and ultraperformance
      convergence chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Aromatic amines in mainstream cigarette smoke have long been monitored due to
      their carcinogenic toxicity. In this work, a reliable and rapid method was
      developed for the simultaneous determination of 9 aromatic amines in mainstream
      cigarette smoke by modified dispersive liquid liquid microextraction (DLLME) and
      ultraperformance convergence chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPC2
      MS/MS). Briefly, the particulate phase of the cigarette smoke was captured by a
      Cambridge filter pad, and diluted hydrogen chloride aqueous solution is employed
      to extract the aromatic amines under mechanical shaking. After alkalization with
      sodium hydroxide solution, small amount of toluene was introduced to further
      extract and enrich aromatic amines by modified DLLME under vortexing. After
      centrifugation, toluene phase was purified by a universal QuEChERS cleanup kit
      and was finally analyzed by UPC2-MS/MS. Attributing to the superior performance
      of UPC2-MS/MS, this novel approach allowed the separation and determination of 9
      aromatic amines within 5.0min with satisfactory resolution and sensitivity. The
      proposed method was finally validated using Kentucky reference cigarette 3R4F,
      and emission levels of targeted aromatic amines determined were comparable to
      previously reported methods At three different spiked levels, the recoveries of
      most analytes were ranged from 74.01% to 120.50% with relative standard deviation
      (RSD) less than 12%, except that the recovery of p-toluidine at low spiked level
      and 3-aminobiphenyl at medium spiked level was 62.77% and 69.37% respectively.
      Thus, this work provides a novel alternative method for the simultaneous analysis
      of 9 aromatic amines in mainstream cigarette smoke.

PMID- 28583392
TI  - A novel molybdenum disulfide nanosheet self-assembled flower-like monolithic
      sorbent for solid-phase extraction with high efficiency and long service life.
AB  - A novel material consisting of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheet that self
      assemble into flower-like microspheres which aggregate to form a monolithic
      matrix with a micro or nano-scaled mesopore structure was successfully
      synthesized and used as an efficient sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE) due
      to its large specific adsorption area and good stability. The extraction
      properties of the as-prepared sorbent were evaluated by high-performance liquid
      chromatography with variable wavelength detection (HPLC-VWD) by analyzing four
      flavonoids (apigenin, quercetin, luteolin, and kaempferol). Under optimal
      conditions, the LODs and LOQs were found to be in the ranges of 0.1-0.25 and 0.4
      0.5MUgL-1, respectively, and wide linear ranges were obtained with correlation
      coefficients (R) ranging from 0.9991 to 0.9996. Compared with commercial C18 and
      Alumina-N sorbents, the as-prepared sorbent showed high extraction efficiency at
      different concentrations of flavonoids. After 100 uses, the extraction ability of
      the self-assembled MoS2 nanosheet monolithic sorbent had no evident decline,
      denoting a long service life. Finally, the SPE-HPLC-VWD method using the as
      prepared sorbent was applied to flavonoid analysis in beverage samples with
      satisfactory results.

PMID- 28583393
TI  - Separation of the potential G-quadruplex ligands from the butanol extract of
      Zanthoxylum ailanthoides Sieb. & Zucc. by countercurrent chromatography and
      preparative high performance liquid chromatography.
AB  - G-quadruplex DNA structure is considered to be a very attractive target for
      antitumor drug design due to its unique role in maintaining telomerase
      activities. Therefore, discovering ligands with high stability of G-quadruplex
      structure is of great interest. In this paper, pH-zone refining counter current
      chromatography (CCC) and preparative high performance liquid chromatography
      (HPLC) were employed for the separation of potent G-quadruplex ligands from the n
      butanol fraction of the crude extract of Zanthoxylum ailanthoides, which is a
      traditional Chinese medicine recently found to display high inhibitory activity
      against several human cancer cells. The 75% aqueous ethanol extract of the stem
      bark of Z. ailanthoides and its fractions with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and
      n-butanol displayed almost the same G-quadruplex stabilization ability. Here, pH
      zone refining CCC was used for the separation of the alkaloids from the n-butanol
      fraction by a seldom used solvent system composed of dichloromethane-methanol
      water (4:1:2.5) with 10mM TEA in the organic stationary phase as retainer and
      10mM HCl in the aqueous mobile phase as eluter. Compounds I, II and III were
      obtained, with purity greater than 95%, in the quantities of 31.2, 94.0, and
      26.4mg respectively from 300mg of lipophilic fraction within 80min, which were
      identified as three tetrahydroprotoberberines isolated for the first time in this
      plant. In addition, a phenylpropanoid glycoside compound IV (Syringin), an
      isoquinoline (Magnoflorine, V), and two lignin isomers (+)-lyoniresiol-3alpha-O
      beta-d-glucopyranoside (VI) and (-)-lyoniresinol -3alpha-O-beta-D 
      glucopyranoside (VII) were isolated by traditional CCC together with preparative
      HPLC. Compounds IV, V, VI and VII were obtained, with purity greater than 95%, in
      the quantities of 4.0, 13.2, 6.7, and 6.5mg respectively from 960mg of
      hydrophilic fraction. Among the seven isolated compounds,
      tetrahydroprotoberberine I, II and III were found to display remarkable
      stabilization effects on G-quadruplex by increasing G-quadruplex's Tm
      approximately 10 degrees C, which may be the most potent G-quadruplex ligands in
      Z. ailanthoides.

PMID- 28583394
TI  - Improving precision in the prediction of asthma exacerbations.

PMID- 28583395
TI  - 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

PMID- 28583396
TI  - A novel endpoint for exacerbations in asthma to accelerate clinical development:
      a post-hoc analysis of randomised controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Occurrence of severe asthma exacerbations are the cornerstone of the
      evaluation of asthma management, but severe asthma exacerbations are rare events.
      Therefore, trials that assess drug efficacy on exacerbations are done late in
      clinical development programmes. We aimed to establish an endpoint capturing
      clinically relevant deteriorations (diary events) that, when combined with severe
      exacerbations, create a composite outcome (CompEx). CompEx needs to strongly
      mirror results seen with the severe exacerbation-validated outcome, to allow the
      design of clinical trials of shorter duration and that include fewer patients
      than trials assessing severe exacerbations. METHODS: Data from 12 asthma trials
      of 6 months or 12 months duration and, with standardised collection of
      exacerbations and diary card variables, were used to construct and test CompEx.
      The study populations had a mean age of 35-53 years, 59-69% were female, and had
      a mean FEV1 percentage of predicted normal of 63-84%. With data from five trials,
      we established a series of diary events based on peak expiratory flow (P),
      reliever use (R), symptoms (S), awakenings (A), and threshold values for change
      from baseline and slopes to assess trends. For the development phase, we
      evaluated different variable combinations and deterioration criteria to select
      the most robust algorithm to define a diary event for the composite outcome. We
      defined a composite outcome, CompEx, as first occurrence of a diary event or a
      severe exacerbation. We assessed the performance of CompEx in seven trials by
      comparing the event frequency, treatment effect (hazard ratio; HR), and the
      sample size needed for future trials for the CompEx versus episodes of severe
      exacerbations. FINDINGS: CompEx (based on PRS) was the algorithm that best
      fulfilled our two-set criteria. When censored at 3 months, CompEx resulted in 2.8
      times more events than severe exacerbations, and while preserving the treatment
      effect observed on severe exacerbations (CompEx over severe exacerbation average
      HR 1.01). The increased number of events, together with the sustained treatment
      effect, resulted in a large net gain in power, with a 67% mean reduction in the
      number of patients required in a drug trial for severe exacerbations. In six of
      seven comparisons tested, CompEx reduced the sample size needed by at least 50%.
      Validation of independent test populations confirmed the ability of CompEx to
      increase event frequencies, preserve treatment effect, and reduce the number of
      patients needed. INTERPRETATION: CompEx is a composite outcome for evaluation of
      new asthma therapies. CompEx allows design of shorter trials that require fewer
      patients than studies of severe exacerbations, while preserving the ability to
      show a treatment effect compared with severe exacerbations. FUNDING: AstraZeneca.

PMID- 28583397
TI  - Long-term cardiovascular health in adult cancer survivors.
AB  - The number of cancer survivors has tremendously increased over the past decades
      as a result of aging of the population and improvements in early cancer detection
      and treatment. Ongoing successes in cancer treatment are expected to result in a
      further increase in the number of long-term survivors. However, cancer treatment
      can have detrimental cardiovascular side-effects that impact morbidity and
      mortality, reducing quality of life in cancer survivors. The spectrum of
      radiotherapy- and chemotherapy-induced cardiovascular disease is broad, varying
      from subclinical valvular dysfunction to overt congestive heart failure, and such
      effects may not be apparent for more than twenty years after the initial cancer
      treatment. Awareness of these long-term side-effects is of crucial value in the
      management of these patients, in order to reduce the impact of cardiovascular
      morbidity and mortality. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the
      long-term cardiovascular complications of cancer treatments (radiotherapy and
      chemotherapy) in adult cancer survivors.

PMID- 28583398
TI  - The emerging world of breast cancer immunotherapy.
AB  - Over the last few years, the developments around cancer immunotherapy (CIT) have
      led to a paradigm shift in the treatment of many different cancers, in particular
      melanoma, renal, bladder and lung cancers with a remarkable impact on response
      rate and, most importantly, overall survival. Breast cancer is most commonly
      considered to be a 'non-inflamed' cancer and so this shift has been less marked
      within its treatment. However, some subsets of breast cancer, most notably triple
      negative breast cancer, are deemed to be more 'inflamed' and therefore may prove
      to be an appropriate cohort for CIT. This review looks back at the theory of the
      cancer immunity cycle and mechanism of action behind immune checkpoint inhibitors
      and goes on to explore their role within the various subtypes of breast cancer.
      It looks at the first trials performed using CIT monotherapy which demonstrated
      that breast cancer could respond to CIT with a small population reaping
      considerable benefit. It then examines the continuing body of work being
      undertaken to explore CIT in combination with chemotherapy to try to increase the
      proportion of patients who might reap the considerable rewards on offer.

PMID- 28583399
TI  - Acute Aortic Arch Perforation During Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in
      Bicuspid Aortic Stenosis and a Gothic Aortic Arch.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has evolved from a novel technology
      to an established therapy for high/intermediate-risk patients with severe
      symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS). Although TAVR is used to treat bicuspid severe
      AS, the large randomized trials typically excluded bicuspid AS because of its
      unique anatomic features. This case report describes an acute aortic perforation
      during delivery of a transcatheter heart valve to treat a severe bicuspid AS with
      a "gothic aortic arch"; more careful evaluation of the preprocedural multislice
      computed tomographic scan would have unveiled a sharply angulated aortic arch.
      This life-threatening complication was successfully treated by thoracic
      endovascular aortic repair.

PMID- 28583400
TI  - Focal choroidal excavaction associated with idiopathic choroidal
      neovascularization.
AB  - CASE REPORT: The case is presented of a 45 year-old man with a focal choroidal
      excavation associated with choroidal neovascularisation not included in the area
      of excavation. Clinical features were analysed using retinography, fluorescein
      angiography, optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence tomography
      angiography. The patient was treated with 3 intravitreal injections of
      bevacizumab, with a good response. DISCUSSION: Focal choroidal excavation can be
      associated with choroidal neovascularization not included in the area of
      excavation. Multimodal imaging provides a complete description of clinical
      features, before and after treatment.

PMID- 28583402
TI  - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Use of Real-Time Tools to Identify
      Children With Severe Sepsis in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

PMID- 28583401
TI  - miR-873 suppresses H9C2 cardiomyocyte proliferation by targeting GLI1.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, non-coding small RNAs that regulate
      the expression of target genes. Previous studies have suggested that miRNAs are
      key regulators in cardiovascular systems. This study investigated the role of miR
      873 in H9C2 cardiomyocytes by targeting glioma-associated oncogene 1 (GLI1). miR
      873 was significantly up-regulated in serum samples from congenital heart disease
      (CHD) patients compared with those from normal individuals. Furthermore, miR-873
      over-expression suppressed H9C2 proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest.
      Bioinformatic algorithms revealed a predicted target site for miR-873 in the 3'
      untranslated region (3'UTR) of GLI1, which was verified using a dual-luciferase
      reporter assay. qPCR and western blot analysis also showed that miR-873
      negatively regulated GLI1 mRNA and protein expression in H9C2 cells. Conversely,
      GLI1 over-expression partially reversed the growth-inhibitory effect of miR-873.
      To summarize, our data suggest that miR-873 is a novel miRNA that regulates H9C2
      cell proliferation via targeting GLI1, and miR-873 may serve as a new potential
      biomarker diagnosis in CHD in the future.

PMID- 28583403
TI  - Improving Recognition of Pediatric Severe Sepsis in the Emergency Department:
      Contributions of a Vital Sign-Based Electronic Alert and Bedside Clinician
      Identification.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Recognition of pediatric sepsis is a key clinical challenge. We
      evaluate the performance of a sepsis recognition process including an electronic
      sepsis alert and bedside assessment in a pediatric emergency department (ED).
      METHODS: This was a cohort study with quality improvement intervention in a
      pediatric ED. Exposure was a positive electronic sepsis alert, defined as
      elevated pulse rate or hypotension, concern for infection, and at least one of
      the following: abnormal capillary refill, abnormal mental status, or high-risk
      condition. A positive electronic sepsis alert prompted team assessment or huddle
      to determine need for sepsis protocol. Clinicians could initiate team assessment
      or huddle according to clinical concern without positive electronic sepsis alert.
      Severe sepsis outcome defined as activation of the sepsis protocol in the ED or
      development of severe sepsis requiring ICU admission within 24 hours. RESULTS:
      There were 182,509 ED visits during the study period, with 86,037 before
      electronic sepsis alert implementation and 96,472 afterward, and 1,112 (1.2%)
      positive electronic sepsis alerts. Overall, 326 patients (0.3%) were treated for
      severe sepsis within 24 hours. Test characteristics of the electronic sepsis
      alert alone to detect severe sepsis were sensitivity 86.2% (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 82.0% to 89.5%), specificity 99.1% (95% CI 99.0% to 99.2%),
      positive predictive value 25.4% (95% CI 22.8% to 28.0%), and negative predictive
      value 100% (95% CI 99.9% to 100%). Inclusion of the clinician screen identified
      43 additional electronic sepsis alert-negative children, with severe sepsis
      sensitivity 99.4% (95% CI 97.8% to 99.8%) and specificity 99.1% (95% CI 99.1% to
      99.2%). Electronic sepsis alert implementation increased ED sepsis detection from
      83% to 96%. CONCLUSION: Electronic sepsis alert for severe sepsis demonstrated
      good sensitivity and high specificity. Addition of clinician identification of
      electronic sepsis alert-negative patients further improved sensitivity.
      Implementation of the electronic sepsis alert was associated with improved
      recognition of severe sepsis.

PMID- 28583404
TI  - Thermophilic ethanol fermentation from lignocellulose hydrolysate by genetically
      engineered Moorella thermoacetica.
AB  - A transformant of Moorella thermoacetica was constructed for thermophilic ethanol
      production from lignocellulosic biomass by deleting two phosphotransacetylase
      genes, pdul1 and pdul2, and introducing the native aldehyde dehydrogenase gene
      (aldh) controlled by the promoter from glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.
      The transformant showed tolerance to 540mM and fermented sugars including
      fructose, glucose, galactose and xylose to mainly ethanol. In a mixed-sugar
      medium of glucose and xylose, all of the sugars were consumed to produce ethanol
      at the yield of 1.9mol/mol-sugar. The transformant successfully fermented sugars
      in hydrolysate prepared through the acid hydrolysis of lignocellulose to ethanol,
      suggesting that this transformant can be used to ferment the sugars in
      lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol production.

PMID- 28583405
TI  - Pre-aeration of food waste to augment acidogenic process at higher organic load:
      Valorizing biohydrogen, volatile fatty acids and biohythane.
AB  - Application of pre-aeration (AS) to waste prior to feeding was evaluated on
      acidogenic process in a semi-pilot scale biosystem for the production of biobased
      products (biohydrogen, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and biohythane) from food
      waste. Oxygen assisted in pre-hydrolysis of waste along with the suppression of
      methanogenic activity resulting in enhanced acidogenic product formation. AS
      operation resulted in 97% improvement in hydrogen conversion efficiency (HCE) and
      10% more VFA production than the control. Increasing the organic load (OL) of
      food waste in association with AS application improved the productivity. The
      application of AS also influenced concentration and composition of fatty acid.
      Highest fraction of acetic (5.3g/l), butyric (0.7g/l) and propionic acid
      (0.84g/l) was achieved at higher OL (100g COD/l) with good degree of
      acidification (DOA). AS strategy showed positive influence on biofuel
      (biohydrogen and biohythane) production along with the biosynthesis of short
      chain fatty acids functioning as a low-cost pretreatment strategy in a single
      stage bioprocess.

PMID- 28583406
TI  - Transporter engineering for cellobiose fermentation under lower pH conditions by
      engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - The aim of this study was to engineer cellodextrin transporter 2 (CDT-2) from
      Neurospora crassa for improved cellobiose fermentation under lower pH conditions
      by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Through directed evolution, a mutant CDT-2 capable
      of facilitating cellobiose fermentation under lower pH conditions was obtained.
      Specifically, a library of CDT-2 mutants with GFP fusion was screened by flow
      cytometry and then serial subcultured to isolate a CDT-2 mutant capable of
      transporting cellobiose under acidic conditions. The engineered S. cerevisiae
      expressing the isolated mutant CDT-2 (I96N/T487A) produced ethanol with a
      specific cellobiose consumption rate of 0.069g/gcell/h, which was 51% and 55%
      higher than those of the strains harboring wild-type CDT-1 and CDT-2 in a minimal
      medium with 2g/L of acetic acid.

PMID- 28583407
TI  - Resistance training improves aortic structure in Wistar rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little information is available on the effects of resistance training
      on the aortic wall. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify the effects of a
      resistance-training program on blood pressure and aortic wall structural
      components. METHODS: Rats (aged three months) were randomized into sedentary
      group (control group, CG; n=10) or trained group (TG; n=10). The TG rats
      performed resistance training by climbing a 1.1-m vertical ladder (80 degrees 
      incline) five times a week for 12 weeks, and the CG remained sedentary. The rats
      were sacrificed and 5mm of the ascending aorta was submitted to histological
      sections, which were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Picrosirius red, and
      Verhoeff's elastin, and used for morphometric studies. Left ventricle (LV)
      hypertrophy was determined by measuring LV wall thickness and LV internal
      diameter. RESULTS: The rats had similar repetition maximum before the resistance
      training. At the end of the resistance training period, the repetition maximum of
      the TG was 3.04-fold greater than the body weight. In the twelfth month, the left
      ventricular weight was 15.3% larger in the TG than in the CG, and the left
      ventricular internal diameter was reduced by 10% in the TG. Rats exposed to
      resistance training had a significant increase in aortic wall thickness, in both
      elastic lamina and collagen fibers, and in the thickness of collagen fibrils.
      CONCLUSION: Resistance training induces the development of concentric cardiac
      hypertrophy and improves the aortic wall components by producing a morphological
      expression pattern distinct from aortic pathological adaptation.

PMID- 28583408
TI  - Discrimination ability of comorbidity, frailty, and subjective health to predict
      mortality in community-dwelling older people: Population based prospective cohort
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the added value of comorbidity, frailty, and subjective
      health to mortality predictions in community-dwelling older people and whether it
      changes with increasing age. PARTICIPANTS: 36,751 community-dwelling subjects
      aged 50-100 from the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in
      Europe. METHODS: Mortality risk associated with Comorbidity Index, Frailty Index,
      Frailty Phenotype, and subjective health was analysed using Cox regression. The
      extent to which health indicators modified individual mortality risk predictions
      was examined and the added ability to discriminate mortality risks was assessed.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three-year mortality risks, hazard ratios, change in
      individual mortality risks, three-year area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: Three-year mortality risks increased 41
      folds within an age span of 50years. Hazard ratios per change in health indicator
      became less significant with increasing age (p-value<0.001). AUC for three-year
      mortality prediction based on age and sex was 76.9% (95% CI 75.5% to 78.3%).
      Information on health indicators modified individual three-year mortality risk
      predictions up to 30%, both upwards and downwards, each adding <2% discriminative
      power. The added discrimination ability of all health indicators gradually
      declined from an extra 4% at age 50-59 to <1% in the oldest old. Trends were
      similar for one-year mortality and not different between sexes, levels of
      education, and household income. CONCLUSION: Calendar age encompasses most of the
      discrimination ability to predict mortality. The added value of comorbidity,
      frailty, and subjective health to mortality predictions decreases with increasing
      age.

PMID- 28583409
TI  - Portopulmonary hypertension and hepatorenal syndrome. Two faces of the same coin.
AB  - Portopulmonary hypertension and hepatorenal syndrome are both severe local
      hypertensive complications of liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Both are
      characterized by vasoconstrictive manifestations regarding pulmonary and renal
      vascular network, respectively. This review addresses the mechanisms underlying
      the development of vasoconstriction that leads to local vascular hypertension in
      the lung and in the kidney with the result of organ dysfunction. Potential
      therapeutic options are available for the management of these two syndromes as a
      bridge for liver transplantation; clinical efficacy depends in part on the time
      and rapidity of intervention and in part on how serious the chain of events is
      that has triggered the entire vasoconstrictive process.

PMID- 28583410
TI  - Reward uncertainty and the dorsomedial striatum: A response to Anselme (2017).

PMID- 28583412
TI  - The embryonic development of hindbrain respiratory networks is unaffected by
      mutation of the planar polarity protein Scribble.
AB  - The central command for breathing arises mainly from two interconnected
      rhythmogenic hindbrain networks, the parafacial respiratory group (pFRG or epF at
      embryonic stages) and the preBotzinger complex (preBotC), which are comprised of
      a limited number of neurons located in confined regions of the ventral medulla.
      In rodents, both networks become active toward the end of gestation but little is
      known about the signaling pathways involved in their anatomical and functional
      establishment during embryogenesis. During embryonic development, epF and preBotC
      neurons migrate from their territories of origin to their final positions in
      ventral brainstem areas. Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling, including the
      molecule Scrib, is known to control the developmental migration of several
      hindbrain neuronal groups. Accordingly, a homozygous mutation of Scrib leads to
      severe disruption of hindbrain anatomy and function. Here, we aimed to determine
      whether Scrib is also involved in the prenatal development of the hindbrain
      nuclei controlling breathing. We combined immunostaining, calcium imaging and
      electrophysiological recordings of neuronal activity in isolated in vitro
      preparations. In the Scrib mutant, despite severe neural tube defects, epF and
      preBotC neurons settled at their expected hindbrain positions. Furthermore, both
      networks remained capable of generating rhythmically organized, respiratory
      related activities and exhibited normal sensitivity to pharmacological agents
      known to modify respiratory circuit function. Thus Scrib is not required for the
      proper migration of epF and preBotC neurons during mouse embryogenesis. Our
      findings thus further illustrate the robustness and specificity of the
      developmental processes involved in the establishment of hindbrain respiratory
      circuits.

PMID- 28583411
TI  - Increased temporal discounting after chronic stress in CHL1-deficient mice is
      reversed by 5-HT2C agonist Ro 60-0175.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which impaired decision-making
      and goal-directed behaviors are core features. One of the genes associated with
      schizophrenia is the Close Homolog of L1 (CHL1); CHL1-deficient mice are
      considered a model of schizophrenia-like deficits, including sensorimotor gating,
      interval timing and spatial memory impairments. Here we investigated temporal
      discounting in CHL1-deficient (KO) mice and their wild-type littermates. Although
      no discounting differences were found under baseline conditions, CHL1-KO mice
      showed increased impulsive choice following chronic unpredictable stress (fewer %
      larger-later choices, and reduced area under the discounting curve). Stressed
      CHL1-KO mice also showed decreased neuronal activation (number of cFos positive
      neurons) in the discounting task in the prelimbic cortex and dorsal striatum,
      areas thought to be part of executive and temporal processing circuits. Impulsive
      choice alterations were reversed by the 5-HT2C agonist Ro 60-0175. Our results
      provide evidence for a gene x environment, double-hit model of stress-related
      decision-making impairments, and identify CHL1-deficient mice as a mouse model
      for these deficits in regard to schizophrenia-like phenotypes.

PMID- 28583413
TI  - Effect of pulmonary hyperinflation on central blood volume: An MRI study.
AB  - Pulmonary hyperinflation attained by glossopharyngeal insufflation (GPI)
      challenges the circulation by compressing the heart and pulmonary vasculature.
      Our aim was to determine the amount of blood translocated from the central blood
      volume during GPI. Cardiac output and cardiac chamber volumes were assessed by
      magnetic resonance imaging in twelve breath-hold divers at rest and during apnea
      with GPI. Pulmonary blood volume was determined from pulmonary blood flow and
      transit times for gadolinium during first-pass perfusion after intravenous
      injection. During GPI, the lung volume increased by 0.8+/-0.6L (11+/-7%) above
      the total lung capacity. All cardiac chambers decreased in volume and despite a
      heart rate increase of 24+/-29 bpm (39+/-50%), pulmonary blood flow decreased by
      2783+/-1820mL (43+/-20%). The pulmonary transit time remained unchanged at 7.5+/
      2.2s and pulmonary blood volume decreased by 354+/-176mL (47+/-15%). In total,
      central blood volume decreased by 532+/-248mL (46+/-14%). Voluntary pulmonary
      hyperinflation leads to ~50% decrease in pulmonary and central blood volume.

PMID- 28583414
TI  - Mortality, length-of-stay, bloodstream and respiratory viral infections in a
      pediatric intensive care unit: Comment on data sparsity.

PMID- 28583415
TI  - The pseudo-normalization of the ratio index of the venous-to-arterial CO2 tension
      difference to the arterial-central venous O2 difference in hypoxemia combined
      with a high oxygen consumption condition.

PMID- 28583416
TI  - Retrieval as a Fast Route to Memory Consolidation.
AB  - Retrieval-mediated learning is a powerful way to make memories last, but its
      neurocognitive mechanisms remain unclear. We propose that retrieval acts as a
      rapid consolidation event, supporting the creation of adaptive hippocampal
      neocortical representations via the 'online' reactivation of associative
      information. We describe parallels between online retrieval and offline
      consolidation and offer testable predictions for future research.

PMID- 28583418
TI  - Policies for managing emergency medical services in mass casualty incidents.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diverse decision-making is needed in managing mass casualty
      incidents (MCIs), by emergency medical services (EMS). The aim of the study was
      to review consensus among international experts concerning policies of EMS
      management during MCIs. METHODS: Applicability of 21 EMS policies was tested
      through a 2-cycle modified e-Delphi process, in which 38 multi-disciplinary
      experts from 10 countries participated. Threshold for approving proposed
      solutions was defined as consensus of >80%. Policies that did not achieve the
      targeted consensus were reviewed to detect variability according to respondents'
      origin country. RESULTS: 16 policies were endorsed in the first cycle including
      collaboration between ambulance service providers; implementing a unified mode of
      operation; preparing criteria for ground versus aerial evacuation; and,
      developing support systems for caregivers exposed to violence. An additional
      policy which proposed that senior EMS officers should not necessarily act as on
      site MCI commanders was endorsed in the second cycle. Demographic breakdown of
      views concerning non-consensual policies revealed differences according to
      countries of origin. Assigning ambulances to off-duty team members was highly
      endorsed by experts from Israel and South Africa and strongly rejected by
      European respondents. Avoiding entry to risk areas until declared safe was
      endorsed by European, Asian and Oceanic experts, but rejected by Israeli, South
      African and North American experts. CONCLUSIONS: Despite uniqueness of countries
      and EMS agencies, solutions to most dilemmas were applicable to all
      organizations, regardless of location or affiliation. Cultural diversity was
      found concerning readiness to implement military-civilian collaboration in MCIs
      and a rigid separation between work-leisure responsibilities.

PMID- 28583417
TI  - Extremity injuries sustained by the UK military in the Iraq and Afghanistan
      conflicts: 2003-2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Extremity injuries predominate in warfare, however their nature,
      and overall burden to the individual and the health service is yet to be
      characterised for the UK military in the recent conflicts of Iraq and
      Afghanistan. METHODS: We reviewed the all extremity injuries in survivors from
      the Joint Theatre Trauma Registry (JTTR) between 2003 and 2014. All cases
      recorded in the JTTR between the invasion of Iraq on the 19th March 2003 and
      cessation of combat operations in Afghanistan on the 27th October 2014, were
      examined. Casualties who were killed in action or died from their wounds were
      excluded. All extremity injury codes were included, capturing patients with soft
      tissue injuries but no fracture or amputation. RESULTS: Of 2348 UK combatants
      surviving injury in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1813 (77%) had extremity injuries; of
      these 205 (11%) had at least one amputation at the wrist/ankle or more proximal.
      Trans-tibial was the most common level of limb loss. Eighty five casualties lost
      2 limbs, 83 of these (98%) lost both lower limbs and 17 lost 3 limbs. Aside from
      amputations, there were 1530 fractures, 501 (33%) involving the upper limb and
      1029 (67%) in the lower limb and pelvis. The tibia was the most frequently
      fractured bone. Of the lower limb fractures, 597 (58%) were open compared with
      344 (69%) in the upper limb. Total Length of Stay (LOS) following extremity
      injury was 24,486days or 69 years and 1 month; there were a total 2817 surgical
      episodes performed on extremities. Median length of stay Length of Stay (LOS) for
      major amputations (i.e. those at the wrist/ankle or more proximal) was 51days
      (IQR 30-65) with a median of 7 surgical procedures on their limbs (IQR 5-9). In
      casualties with fractures but no amputation, median LOS was 13days (IQR 6-25)
      with a median of 2 surgical procedures (IQR 1-4). CONCLUSION: Utilising a
      dedicated injury database, this study illustrates for the first time in the
      United Kingdom military population, that the extremities are involved in the vast
      majority of combat injuries and the large surgical workload required for their
      treatment.

PMID- 28583419
TI  - Modified dynamic hip screw loaded with autologous bone graft for treating Pauwels
      type-3 vertical femoral neck fractures.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Management of Pauwels type-3 vertical femoral neck fractures has
      been a challenging clinical problem as they experience high shear forces and thus
      a greater risk of treatment failure. There is no apparent consensus on the
      optimal implant type for these injuries. We developed a modified dynamic hip
      screw (DHS), which was designed to a cage in the lag screw, loaded with
      autologous bone graft for the treatment of Pauwels type-3 vertical femoral neck
      fractures. METHODS: Between February 2010 and January 2012, 17 consecutive
      patients with Pauwels type-3 vertical femoral neck fractures were treated with
      the modified DHS loaded with autologous bone graft. All patients were followed up
      for a minimum of 24 months (range, 24-36 months). Surgical details, operative and
      postoperative complications, the rates of nonunion and osteonecrosis and the
      Harris hip score were evaluated. RESULTS: There were thirteen men and four women
      with a mean age of 37.2 years (range, 27-52 years). There were no intraoperative
      complications related to this technology. All fractures healed within 14.1 weeks
      (range, 12 to 20 weeks). One patient required total hip replacement because of
      avascular necrosis of the femoral head at 27 months after surgery. According to
      the Harris hip score, eleven patients (64.7%) had excellent results, four (23.5%)
      had good results, one (5.9%) had moderate and one (5.9%) had poor result.
      CONCLUSIONS: The modified DHS loaded with autologous bone graft appears to be a
      reliable implant for the treatment of Pauwels type-3 vertical femoral neck
      fractures with fewer complications.

PMID- 28583420
TI  - The Boosting Potential of Bacteria in Cancer Immunotherapy.
AB  - Salmonella Typhimurium, engineered to express flagellin B, recently demonstrated
      unprecedented tumor control through a TLR-dependent mechanism. Here, we review
      new observations that support the potential of utilizing modified bacteria to
      enhance antitumor immunity. We also discuss the implications of these findings
      for clinical applications, including immune checkpoint blockade therapies.

PMID- 28583421
TI  - Gene expression profiles in mouse cumulus cells derived from in vitro matured
      oocytes with and without blastocyst formation.
AB  - Cumulus cells (CCs) are considered as an important source to predict oocyte
      quality. Despite numerous candidate genes in CCs have been identified for
      embryonic developmental competence, the results are inconsistent. The next
      generation RNA-sequencing was used to investigate the transcriptomic differences
      in CCs from in vitro matured oocytes did or did not develop to blastocyst stage
      following in vitro fertilization (IVF). In our study, the corresponding mouse
      oocytes were traced using a single-cell tracking system, and CCs were pooled into
      groups based on the embryonic developmental outcomes. In vivo matured oocytes
      with blastocyst development were set as a reference group. The transcriptomic
      differences in mouse CCs from in vitro maturated oocytes with or without
      blastocyst formation were tested by RNA-sequencing. Real-time PCR was used to
      verify the expression levels of those candidate genes. A total of 103 transcripts
      were significantly up-regulated, and 97 down-regulated, in the CCs with the
      oocytes developed to blastocyst stage. The bioinformatics study showed that those
      genes were involved in tube morphogenesis, cell-cell signaling and cell
      projection formation. Nine genes were selected from the most significantly
      changed transcripts after comparison with the reference group: Arrb1, Atp2c1,
      Cdh5, Cntnap1, Mkln1, Lgr4, Rhobtb1, Smc2 and Six2, as the candidate target
      genes. They were associated with the regulation of G-protein coupled receptors,
      Wnt and MAPK signaling, actin filaments and cell adhesion. Real-time PCR verified
      the up-regulation of all 9 genes, and significantly increased of Rhobtb1, Mkln1,
      Smc2, Arrb1, Atp2c1, Cdh5 and Lgr4. Based on RNA-sequencing, we found the changes
      in gene transcription of mouse CCs that were critical for the communication
      between CCs and oocytes. The results could provide novel insights on non
      invasively predicting the oocyte quality and improving developmental competence.

PMID- 28583422
TI  - Assessment of Fibrin Polymerization During Bivalirudin Anticoagulation for
      Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

PMID- 28583423
TI  - Postoperative Bleeding After Change in Heparin Supplier: A Cardiothoracic Center
      Experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Unfractionated heparin is a mixture of glycosaminoglycans with
      different pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties. The literature suggests
      that blood loss after cardiac surgery is related to both elevated postoperative
      heparin concentrations and the potency of different heparin brands. DESIGN: An
      audit of the observed increase in the incidence of cardiac surgery-related
      bleeding after change in heparin supplier. Patient characteristics were compared
      between groups before and after a change in heparin brands. SETTING: Tertiary
      cardiothoracic center. PARTICIPANTS: All patients undergoing cardiac surgery
      between August 1, 2011, and April 30, 2012. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND
      MAIN RESULTS: Two hundred eighty patients underwent surgery before a change in
      heparin brands and 216 after a change. Their preoperative and intraoperative
      characteristics were similar. Postoperative chest tube drainages and blood
      transfusions were significantly greater after the change in heparin brands
      (postoperative chest drainage 476.8 +/- 393.1 v 344.8 +/- 323.2 mL/6 h and
      1,062.2 +/- 738.8 v 841.8 +/- 567.4 mL/24 h, respectively; both p < 0.001)
      despite the administration of larger amounts of protamine, fresh frozen
      plasma/platelet transfusions, and cryoprecipitate. Heparin recirculation within
      24 hours of bypass was noted in about 70% of the samples tested using either anti
      factor X activity or the thromboelastography ratio between nonheparinase R and
      heparinase-modified R and was not associated with the heparin brand. The
      likelihood ratio chi-square test for nested models identified an added predictive
      value of the heparin brand when included as a predictor of bleeding (chest
      drainage >800 mL/6 h) in a model comprising recirculation, assessed using either
      an elevated anti-factor X activity or ratio between nonheparinase R and
      heparinase-modified R. CONCLUSION: It is likely that the observed increase in
      postoperative bleeding was related to the pharmacologic properties of the new
      heparin brand rather than a higher incidence of heparin recirculation.

PMID- 28583424
TI  - Conservative strategy-based ensemble surrogate model for optimal groundwater
      remediation design at DNAPLs-contaminated sites.
AB  - The surrogate-based simulation-optimization techniques are frequently used for
      optimal groundwater remediation design. When this technique is used, surrogate
      errors caused by surrogate-modeling uncertainty may lead to generation of
      infeasible designs. In this paper, a conservative strategy that pushes the
      optimal design into the feasible region was used to address surrogate-modeling
      uncertainty. In addition, chance-constrained programming (CCP) was adopted to
      compare with the conservative strategy in addressing this uncertainty. Three
      methods, multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP), Kriging (KRG) and support vector
      regression (SVR), were used to construct surrogate models for a time-consuming
      multi-phase flow model. To improve the performance of the surrogate model,
      ensemble surrogates were constructed based on combinations of different stand
      alone surrogate models. The results show that: (1) the surrogate-modeling
      uncertainty was successfully addressed by the conservative strategy, which means
      that this method is promising for addressing surrogate-modeling uncertainty. (2)
      The ensemble surrogate model that combines MGGP with KRG showed the most
      favorable performance, which indicates that this ensemble surrogate can utilize
      both stand-alone surrogate models to improve the performance of the surrogate
      model.

PMID- 28583425
TI  - Dapagliflozin therapy for type 2 diabetes in primary care: Changes in HbA1c,
      weight and blood pressure over 2 years follow-up.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate prescribing patterns and effect of dapagliflozin among
      individuals with T2DM using UK primary care data. METHODS: Adult patients with
      T2DM initiating dapagliflozin treatment were identified from the Clinical
      Practice Research Datalink. Changes in HbA1c, body weight and systolic blood
      pressure were assessed in subgroups defined by glucose lowering treatment at
      baseline and compliance with the Summary of Product Characteristics. Logistic
      regression examined the association of baseline characteristics with achievement
      of target HbA1c (<=53mmol/mol) and weight reduction (by >=3.0%). RESULTS: Among
      5828 eligible individuals, HbA1c was reduced from a baseline mean of 80.0mmol/mol
      (SD 17.6) by -12.8 (95% CI -13.8, -11.8)mmol/mol at >12-24 months. The
      corresponding value for weight reduction (baseline mean 101.7kg) was -5.0 (-5.4, 
      4.5)kg, and for systolic blood pressure reduction (baseline mean 134.1mmHg) was 
      3.1 (-4.0, -2.2) mmHg. Lower baseline HbA1c values (<69; 69-85 versus
      >=86mmol/mol) were positively associated with achievement of target HbA1c
      <53mmol/mol. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with dapagliflozin in T2DM was associated
      with reductions in HbA1c, weight and systolic blood pressure over time periods up
      to 2 years. Changes in these parameters were consistent with those reported in
      RCTs.

PMID- 28583426
TI  - Studying Behaviors Among Neurosurgery Residents Using Web 2.0 Analytic Tools.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Web 2.0 technologies (e.g., blogs, social networks, and wikis) are
      increasingly being used by medical schools and postgraduate training programs as
      tools for information dissemination. These technologies offer the unique
      opportunity to track metrics of user engagement and interaction. Here, we employ
      Web 2.0 tools to assess academic behaviors among neurosurgery residents. METHODS:
      We performed a retrospective review of all educational lectures, part of the core
      Neurosurgery Residency curriculum at the University of Toronto, posted on our
      teaching website (www.TheBrainSchool.net). Our website was developed using
      publicly available Web 2.0 platforms. Lecture usage was assessed by the number of
      clicks, and associations were explored with lecturer academic position, timing of
      examinations, and lecture/subspecialty topic. RESULTS: The overall number of
      clicks on 77 lectures was 1079. Most of these clicks were occurring during the in
      training examination month (43%). Click numbers were significantly higher on
      lectures presented by faculty (mean = 18.6, standard deviation +/- 4.1) compared
      to those delivered by residents (mean = 8.4, standard deviation +/- 2.1) (p =
      0.031). Lectures covering topics in functional neurosurgery received the most
      clicks (47%), followed by pediatric neurosurgery (22%). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrates the value of Web 2.0 analytic tools in examining resident study
      behavior. Residents tend to "cram" by downloading lectures in the same month of
      training examinations and display a preference for faculty-delivered lectures.

PMID- 28583427
TI  - Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors differentially attenuate pentylenetetrazol-induced
      seizures and increase of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in the
      cerebral cortex and hippocampus of mice.
AB  - Seizures increase prostaglandin and cytokine levels in the brain. However, it
      remains to be determined whether cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) derived metabolites
      play a role in seizure-induced cytokine increase in the brain and whether
      anticonvulsant activity is shared by all COX-2 inhibitors. In this study we
      investigated whether three different COX-2 inhibitors alter pentylenetetrazol
      (PTZ)-induced seizures and increase of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin
      6 (IL-6), interferon-gamma (INF-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)
      and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of mice.
      Adult male albino Swiss mice received nimesulide, celecoxib or etoricoxib (0.2, 2
      or 20mg/kg in 0.1% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) in 5% Tween 80, p.o.). Sixty
      minutes thereafter the animals were injected with PTZ (50mg/kg, i.p.) and the
      latency to myoclonic jerks and to generalized tonic-clonic seizures were
      recorded. Twenty minutes after PTZ injection animals were killed and cytokine
      levels were measured. PTZ increased cytokine levels in the cerebral cortex and
      hippocampus. While celecoxib and nimesulide attenuated PTZ -induced increase of
      proinflammatory cytokines in the cerebral cortex, etoricoxib did not. Nimesulide
      was the only COX-2 inhibitors that attenuated PTZ-induced seizures. This effect
      coincided with an increase of IL-10 levels in the cerebral cortex and
      hippocampus, constituting circumstantial evidence that IL-10 increase may be
      involved in the anticonvulsant effect of nimesulide.

PMID- 28583428
TI  - Multiscale simulation of monoamine oxidase catalyzed decomposition of
      phenylethylamine analogs.
AB  - Phenylethylamine (PEA) is an endogenous amphetamine and its levels are increased
      by physical activity. As other biogenic monoamines, it is decomposed by monoamine
      oxidase (MAO) enzymes. The chemical mechanism of MAO, and flavoenzymes in
      general, is a subject of heated debate. We have previously shown that the rate
      limiting step of MAO catalysis involves a hydride transfer from the substrate
      methylene group vicinal to the amino group to the N5 atom of the lumiflavin co
      factor moiety. By using multiscale simulation on the Empirical Valence Bond (EVB)
      level, we studied the chemical reactivity of the monoamine oxidase B catalyzed
      decomposition of PEA and its two derivatives: p-chloro-beta-methylphenylamine (p
      CMP) and p-methoxy-beta-methylphenethylamine (p-MMP). We calculated activation
      free energies of 17.1kcal/mol (PEA), 18.4kcal/mol (p-MMP) and 20.0kcal/mol (p
      CMP), which are in excellent agreement with the experimental values of
      16.7kcal/mol for PEA and 18.3kcal/mol for p-MMP, while the experimental value for
      p-CMP is not available. This gives strong support to the validity of our hydride
      transfer mechanism for both MAO A and B isoforms. The results are discussed in
      the context of the interplay between MAO point mutations and neuropsychiatric
      disorders.

PMID- 28583429
TI  - Towards the virtual human patient. Quantitative Systems Pharmacology in
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Development of successful therapeutic interventions in Central Nervous Systems
      (CNS) disorders is a daunting challenge with a low success rate. Probable reasons
      include the lack of translation from preclinical animal models, the individual
      variability of many pathological processes converging upon the same clinical
      phenotype, the pharmacodynamical interaction of various comedications and last
      but not least the complexity of the human brain. This paper argues for a re
      engineering of the pharmaceutical CNS Research & Development strategy using ideas
      focused on advanced computer modeling and simulation from adjacent engineering
      based industries. We provide examples that such a Quantitative Systems
      Pharmacology approach based on computer simulation of biological processes and
      that combines the best of preclinical research with actual clinical outcomes can
      enhance translation to the clinical situation. We will expand upon (1) the need
      to go from Big Data to Smart Data and develop predictive and quantitative
      algorithms that are actionable for the pharma industry, (2) using this platform
      as a "knowledge machine" that captures community-wide expertise in an active
      hypothesis-testing approach, (3) learning from failed clinical trials and (4) the
      need to go beyond simple linear hypotheses and embrace complex non-linear
      hypotheses. We will propose a strategy for applying these concepts to the
      substantial individual variability of AD patient subgroups and the treatment of
      neuropsychiatric problems in AD. Quantitative Systems Pharmacology is a new
      'humanized' tool for supporting drug discovery and development in general and CNS
      disorders in particular.

PMID- 28583430
TI  - The EGFR variant III mutant as a target for immunotherapy of glioblastoma
      multiforme.
AB  - In epithelial tumors, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) controls key
      signaling pathways responsible for growth, proliferation, migration, and survival
      of tumor cells. The epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) is
      the most common EGFR mutation that occurs in up to 30% of high-grade gliomas
      especially glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). EGFRvIII arises from the deletion of
      exon 2-7 that leads to the formation of the constitutively activated mutant
      receptor incapable of binding any known ligand. EGFRvIII-expressing cells are
      resistant to EGFR inhibitors and therefore take advantage in survival.
      Furthermore, EGFRvIII expression in tumors is often correlates with poor
      prognosis. Indeed, EGFRvIII targeting is of great therapeutic value in order to
      inhibit GBM progression and invasion. The presence of the unique glycine site in
      EGFRvIII provides an option to develop EGFRvIII-specific monoclonal antibodies
      (MAbs). These antibodies are used for detection of EGFRvIII and immunotherapy.
      Peptide CDX-110 derived from EGFRvIII has high immunogenicity. This peptide was
      used for the development of anti-EGFRvIII MAbs with improved specificity to the
      mutant receptor, EGFRvIII-specific dendritic cell vaccine, and CDX-110-KLH
      peptide vaccine. These immune reagents were successfully tested in preclinical
      and clinical studies for GBM treatment.

PMID- 28583431
TI  - Sudden Hip Pain in a Young Woman.

PMID- 28583432
TI  - Bullying in School-aged Children in Iceland: A Cross-sectional Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: We describe the frequency and variations in bullying among a
      representative national sample of school-age children and examine whether
      sociodemographic characteristics are associated with bullying. DESIGN AND
      METHODS: This study is based on a cross-sectional school-based survey-the
      Icelandic contribution to the international research network Health Behaviour in
      School-aged Children (HBSC). The study population included all students in
      Iceland in grades 6, 8 and 10 (mean ages: 11, 13 and 15years, respectively)
      (participation rate: 84%; n=11,018). The students completed an anonymous
      standardized questionnaire administered in the classroom. RESULTS: The self
      reported frequency of being victimized by bullying at least 2-3 times every month
      was 5.5%. A younger age, speaking a foreign language at home, not living with
      one's parents, and living in a rural area, were all associated with higher
      frequencies of being bullied. CONCLUSIONS: Despite efforts to reduce bullying in
      school, experiences of being victimized through bullying are still too common
      among Icelandic school-age children. Stakeholders and school health
      administrators should consider sociodemographic antecedents when planning
      interventions to reduce bullying at school.

PMID- 28583433
TI  - Non-aqueous capillary electrophoretic separation of cholesterol and 25
      hydroxycholesterol after derivatization with Girard P reagent.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis (CE) can provide high separation efficiency with very
      simple instrumentation, but has yet to be explored regarding
      oxysterols/cholesterol. Cholesterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol (both are 4-ene-3
      ketosteroids) were quantitatively transformed into hydrazones using Girard P
      reagent after enzymatic oxidation by cholesterol oxidase. Separation was achieved
      using non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis with UV detection at 280nm; the
      "charge-tagging" Girard P reagent ensured both charge and chromophore (which are
      requirements for CE-UV). Excess reagent was also separated from the two analytes,
      eliminating the need for removal prior to the analysis. The compounds were
      separated in less than 5min with excellent separation efficiency, using
      separation electrolytes fully compatible with mass spectrometry. The CE-UV method
      was used to optimize steps for charge-tagging, revealing that the procedure is
      affected by the analyte/reagent ratio and reaction time, but also the analyte
      structure.

PMID- 28583434
TI  - 27-hydroxycholesterol: A novel player in molecular carcinogenesis of breast and
      prostate cancer.
AB  - Several studies have suggested an etiological role for hypercholesterolemia in
      the pathogenesis of breast cancer and prostate cancer (PCa). However, the
      molecular mechanisms that underlie and mediate the hypercholesterolemia-fostered
      increased risk for breast cancer and PCa are yet to be determined. The discovery
      that the most abundant cholesterol oxidized metabolite in the plasma, 27
      hydroxycholesterol (27-OHC), is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM)
      and an agonist of Liver X receptors (LXR) partially fills the void in our
      understanding and knowledge of the mechanisms that may link hypercholesterolemia
      to development and progression of breast cancer and PCa. The wide spectrum and
      repertoire of SERM and LXR-dependent effects of 27-OHC in the context of all
      facets and aspects of breast cancer and prostate cancer biology are reviewed in
      this manuscript in a very comprehensive manner. This review highlights recent
      findings pertaining to the role of 27-OHC in breast cancer and PCa and delineates
      the signaling mechanisms involved in the governing of different facets of tumor
      biology, that include tumor cell proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT), as well as tumor cell invasion, migration, and metastasis. We also discuss
      the limitations of contemporary studies and lack of our comprehension of the
      entire gamut of effects exerted by 27-OHC that may be relevant to the
      pathogenesis of breast cancer and PCa. We unveil and propose potential future
      directions of research that may further our understanding of the role of 27-OHC
      in breast cancer and PCa and help design therapeutic interventions against
      endocrine therapy-resistant breast cancer and PCa.

PMID- 28583435
TI  - The BD Barricor blood collection tube is an acceptable and robust alternative to
      the PST for use with the Beckman AccuTnI+3 assay.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: BD Canada recently released a blood collection tube with a novel
      mechanical separator called the Barricor. We evaluated this tube as an alternate
      sample type for cardiac troponin I (cTnI) testing using the Beckman Coulter
      AccuTnI+3 assay. DESIGN AND METHODS: 3014 paired patient specimens (Barricor,
      plasma separator tube or PST) were obtained from the emergency departments and
      cardiac care units of nine hospitals in and around Edmonton, Alberta. After
      centrifugation, each plasma sample was analyzed for cTnI using the Beckman
      Coulter AccuTnI+3 assay. In addition, selected samples were analyzed multiple
      times within a single run or over 4-5days to generate imprecision data for the
      assay. RESULTS: Repeatability and within-laboratory studies revealed an
      imprecision of <10% at concentrations above 0.025MUg/L for the Barricor as well
      as BD's traditional PST. Paired patient sample comparisons over the full range of
      the assay yielded linear regression slopes ranging from 0.956 to 1.011 and
      Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.993 to 0.999. At a lower range of
      results closer to the manufacturer's 99th percentile cutoffs correlation was
      slightly worse, but still acceptable, with linear regression slopes ranging from
      0.967 to 1.211 and Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.983 to 0.987.
      Notably, at these lower concentrations the agreement between individual PST and
      Barricor results worsened with decreasing cTnI concentration. Differences between
      pairs of results became particularly large (-50 to +400%) at PST cTnI
      concentrations <=0.015MUg/L. Closer inspection of the data around the 0.02 and
      0.04MUg/L 99th percentile cutoffs revealed a number of discordances between PST
      and Barricor results, with at least some of these attributable to false
      elevations in the PST results. CONCLUSIONS: Together, our results suggest that
      the Barricor blood collection tube is good alternative to the traditional PST for
      cTnI testing using the AccuTnI+3 assay. The Barricor appears to minimize
      spurious, nonreproducible, and false elevations in cTnI results for a subset of
      patients but additional studies are needed to determine if it reduces overall
      false elevations. cTnI results below 0.04MUg/L may still be of questionable
      accuracy even with the use of this new tube.

PMID- 28583436
TI  - Serum levels of fatty acid binding protein 4 and fat metabolic markers in
      relation to catecholamines following exercise.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lipolysis is stimulated by activation of adrenergic inputs to adipose
      tissues. Our recent study showed that serum concentrations of fatty acid binding
      protein 4 (FABP4) are robustly elevated in patients with acute myocardial
      infarction and ventricular tachyarrhythmia, that display a marked activation of
      the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). However, it remains unknown whether
      circulating FABP4 concentrations are associated with exercise-induced SNS
      activation. METHODS: Thirty one healthy volunteers underwent cardiopulmonary
      exercise testing on a cycle ergometer up to the workload levels below and above
      anaerobic threshold, low- and high-intensity exercise, respectively. Serial blood
      samplings were performed before and after exercise. RESULTS: High-intensity
      exercise significantly increased serum concentrations of FABP4 and
      catecholamines, and their concentrations declined fast thereafter in a similar
      fashion. These changes were accompanied by little, if any, changes in other
      metabolic markers. Regardless of adiposity, percent change from baseline to peak
      FABP4 levels (%FABP4) was comparable in all subjects. Stepwise regression
      analysis revealed that %FABP4 was highly correlated with that in norepinephrine.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study reveals the significant correlation between circulating
      FABP4 and norepinephrine levels during exercise testing. Together with the fact
      that FABP4 is secreted from adipocytes via beta-adrenergic-mediated lipolytic
      mechanisms, this study suggests FABP4 as a potential biomarker for adrenergic
      overdrive.

PMID- 28583437
TI  - Prediction of synergistic anti-cancer drug combinations based on drug target
      network and drug induced gene expression profiles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Synergistic drug combinations are promising therapies for cancer
      treatment. However, effective prediction of synergistic drug combinations is
      quite challenging as mechanisms of drug synergism are still unclear. Various
      features such as drug response, and target networks may contribute to prediction
      of synergistic drug combinations. In this study, we aimed to construct a
      computational model to predict synergistic drug combinations. METHODS: We
      designed drug physicochemical features and network features, including drug
      chemical structure similarity, target distance in protein-protein network and
      targeted pathway similarity. At the same time, we designed fifteen
      pharmacogenomics features using drug treated gene expression profiles based on
      the background of cancer-related biology network. Based on these eighteen
      features, we built a prediction model for Synergistic Drug combination using
      Random forest algorithm (SyDRa). RESULTS: Our model achieved a quite good
      performance with AUC value of 0.89 and Out-of-bag estimate error rate of 0.15 in
      training dataset. Using the random anti-cancer drug combinations which have
      transcriptional profile data in the Connectivity Map dataset as the testing
      dataset, we identified 28 potentially synergistic drug combinations, three out of
      which had been reported to be effective drug combinations by literatures.
      CONCLUSIONS: We studied eighteen features for drug combinations and built a
      computational model using random forest algorithm. The model was evaluated using
      an independent test dataset. Our model provides an efficient strategy to identify
      potentially synergistic drug combinations for cancer and may help reduce the
      search space for high-throughput synergistic drug combinations screening.

PMID- 28583438
TI  - Editorial commentary: Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition: When the good one
      goes bad.

PMID- 28583439
TI  - Incidental coronary calcifications on routine chest CT: Clinical implications.
AB  - Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a marker of atherosclerosis and an
      independent risk factor for cardiac-related mortality, with much of the 50%
      decline in mortality over the past 30 years being attributed to early detection
      of coronary disease and intervention of modifiable risk factors. With over 10
      million computed tomography (CT) examinations of the chest performed in the
      United States yearly, CAC can be identified in a very large number of patients.
      In this review, we discuss the clinical evidence underlying the relationship
      between radiologic identification of CAC, atherosclerosis, and cardiac outcomes
      and the implications of its assessment on standard chest CT. We conclude that
      reporting of incidental coronary calcification found on non-gated chest CT would
      have a great impact on both management and mortality and thus, in the appropriate
      setting, should be noted in the impression of the radiologic report when
      identified.

PMID- 28583441
TI  - Herpesvirus tegument and immediate early proteins are pioneers in the battle
      between viral infection and nuclear domain 10-related host defense.
AB  - The sophisticated anti-viral functions of nuclear domain 10 (ND10) are revealed
      by identifying the role of each component and the countermeasures applied by
      viruses. Several ND10 proteins suppress herpesviruses at initial and early phases
      of infection. Herpesviruses need to antagonize these anti-viral proteins to start
      a productive infection. In this review the recently identified similarities and
      differences among the strategies adopted by the three subfamilies of
      herpesviruses are discussed, highlighting that one of the significant purposes of
      incorporating tegument proteins into the viral particles might be to counteract
      ND10 proteins immediately after the viral genome enters the host nucleus. Once
      the infection progresses, a sufficient amount of immediate early proteins is
      expressed to disperse and hydrolyze ND10 proteins, accelerating the development
      of infection.

PMID- 28583440
TI  - Proteasome Structure and Assembly.
AB  - The eukaryotic 26S proteasome is a large multisubunit complex that degrades the
      majority of proteins in the cell under normal conditions. The 26S proteasome can
      be divided into two subcomplexes: the 19S regulatory particle and the 20S core
      particle. Most substrates are first covalently modified by ubiquitin, which then
      directs them to the proteasome. The function of the regulatory particle is to
      recognize, unfold, deubiquitylate, and translocate substrates into the core
      particle, which contains the proteolytic sites of the proteasome. Given the
      abundance and subunit complexity of the proteasome, the assembly of this ~2.5MDa
      complex must be carefully orchestrated to ensure its correct formation. In recent
      years, significant progress has been made in the understanding of proteasome
      assembly, structure, and function. Technical advances in cryo-electron microscopy
      have resulted in a series of atomic cryo-electron microscopy structures of both
      human and yeast 26S proteasomes. These structures have illuminated new
      intricacies and dynamics of the proteasome. In this review, we focus on the
      mechanisms of proteasome assembly, particularly in light of recent structural
      information.

PMID- 28583443
TI  - Effects of metformin exposure on neurodegenerative diseases in elderly patients
      with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Epidemiological evidence reveals that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM) have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), including
      dementia and Parkinson's disease (PD). The effects of metformin exposure on
      dementia and PD risk in patients with T2DM are unknown. We evaluated the effects
      of metformin exposure on the risk of dementia and PD in patients with T2DM. We
      performed a cohort study by using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research
      Database. We recruited 4651 patients in the metformin cohort and a comparable
      number of nonmetformin controls by using propensity score matching. Multivariate
      Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the effects of metformin
      on the risk of dementia and PD after adjustment for several confounding factors.
      During the 12-year follow-up, the metformin cohort exhibited a higher risk of PD
      than the nonmetformin cohort (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.27, 95% confidence interval
      [CI]=1.68-3.07). The metformin cohort had an increased risk of all-cause dementia
      (HR: 1.66, 95% CI=1.35-2.04). Moreover, metformin exposure increased the risk of
      Alzheimer's disease (HR: 2.13, 95% CI=1.20-3.79) and vascular dementia (HR: 2.30,
      95% CI=1.25-4.22). The effects of exposure duration and dosage on dementia and PD
      occurrence were also observed. Long-term metformin exposure in patients with T2DM
      may lead to the development of NDs, including dementia and PD. Additional large
      scale, prospective controlled trials are required to confirm the observed
      association in patients with T2DM.

PMID- 28583442
TI  - Evolution of selective-sequencing approaches for virus discovery and virome
      analysis.
AB  - Recent advances in sequencing technologies have transformed the field of virus
      discovery and virome analysis. Once mostly confined to the traditional Sanger
      sequencing based individual virus discovery, is now entirely replaced by high
      throughput sequencing (HTS) based virus metagenomics that can be used to
      characterize the nature and composition of entire viromes. To better harness the
      potential of HTS for the study of viromes, sample preparation methodologies use
      different approaches to exclude amplification of non-viral components that can
      overshadow low-titer viruses. These virus-sequence enrichment approaches mostly
      focus on the sample preparation methods, like enzymatic digestion of non-viral
      nucleic acids and size exclusion of non-viral constituents by column filtration,
      ultrafiltration or density gradient centrifugation. However, recently a new
      approach of virus-sequence enrichment called virome-capture sequencing, focused
      on the amplification or HTS library preparation stage, was developed to increase
      the ability of virome characterization. This new approach has the potential to
      further transform the field of virus discovery and virome analysis, but its
      technical complexity and sequence-dependence warrants further improvements. In
      this review we discuss the different methods, their applications and evolution,
      for selective sequencing based virome analysis and also propose refinements
      needed to harness the full potential of HTS for virome analysis.

PMID- 28583444
TI  - Nanomedicine for prostate cancer using nanoemulsion: A review.
AB  - Prostate cancer (PCa) is a worldwide issue, with burgeoning rise in prevalence,
      morbidity and mortality. Targeted drug delivery, a long sort solution in this
      regard using controlled release (CR) - nanocarriers, is still a challenge. There
      is an emerging criticism that, the challenges are due to less appreciation for
      the biological barriers and lack of corresponding newer technologies. Over the
      years, more understanding about the biological barriers has come with the
      progress in characterization techniques. Correspondingly, there is a change in
      opinion about approaches in clinical trial that; focus of the end point need to
      be shifted towards disease stabilization for these explorative technologies.
      Currently, there is a requirement to overcome these newly identified challenges
      to develop newer affordable therapeutics. The ongoing clinical protocol for
      therapy using CR-nanocarriers is intravenous injection followed by local
      targeting to cancer site. This is the most accepted protocol and new CR
      nanocarriers are being developed to suit this protocol. In this review, recent
      progress in treatment of PCa using CR-nanocarriers is analyzed with respect to
      newly identified biological barriers and design challenges. Possibilities of
      exploring nanoemulsion (NE) platform for targeted drug delivery to PCa are
      examined. Repurposing of drugs and combination therapy using NE platform targeted
      to PCa can be explored for design and development of affordable nanomedicine. In
      20yrs. from now there expected to be numerous affordable nanomedicine
      technologies available in market exploring these lines.

PMID- 28583445
TI  - Novel concepts of prevention and treatment of atopic dermatitis through barrier
      and immune manipulations with implications for the atopic march.
AB  - Skin barrier abnormalities have been suggested to play an essential role in
      initiation of early atopic dermatitis (AD). Antigen penetration through a
      compromised barrier likely leads to increased innate immune responses, antigen
      presenting cell stimulation, and priming of overt cutaneous disease. In a TH2
      promoting environment, T-cell/B-cell interactions occurring in regional lymph
      nodes lead to excessive IgE switch. Concurrent redistribution of memory T cells
      into the circulation not only leads to exacerbation of AD through T-cell skin
      infiltration but also spreads beyond the skin to initiate the atopic march, which
      includes food allergy, asthma, and allergic rhinitis. Possible primary
      interventions to prevent AD are focusing on improving skin barrier integrity,
      including supplementing barrier function with moisturizers. As for secondary
      prophylaxis in children with established AD, this can be stratified into
      prevention of disease exacerbations by using proactive approaches (with either
      topical corticosteroids or topical calcineurin inhibitors) in mild AD cases or
      the prevention of other atopic disorders that will probably mandate systemic
      immunosuppression in severe AD cases.

PMID- 28583449
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28583450
TI  - Intraprocedural Rupture of Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysms During Coil
      Embolization: A Single-Center Experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Incidence of intraprocedural rupture (IPR) during endovascular coiling
      is reported to be 2%-5%. We reviewed a single-center experience of IPR during
      coil embolization of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. METHODS: Between January
      2011 and April 2016, 849 patients were treated with endovascular therapy for
      unruptured intracranial aneurysm. IPR was documented in 10 (1.18%) of these
      patients. We reviewed medical records to evaluate characteristics of the
      aneurysms, angiographic findings related to rupture, management, and outcomes.
      RESULTS: Among the 10 patients, there were 4 internal carotid artery aneurysms, 3
      anterior communicating artery aneurysms, 2 basilar tip aneurysms, and 1 middle
      cerebral artery aneurysm. The probable mechanism of IPR in 7 patients was focal
      coil mass distention. Two patients underwent rupture owing to injury by a
      microcatheter tip that was related to device-device interaction. In 1 patient who
      had no other clear etiology, increased intra-arterial pressure induced by
      contrast injection was suspected as a cause of rupture. In all cases, rapid
      occlusion at the point of suspected leakage was performed, and final angiography
      showed complete obliteration of the aneurysm. After the procedure, neurologic
      deterioration was demonstrated in 2 patients. The modified Rankin Scale score at
      6-month follow-up was 0 in 7 of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of IPR
      during endovascular coiling of unruptured aneurysms is relatively low. Early
      detection followed by rapid occlusion of the aneurysm can lead to a benign
      clinical course in most cases.

PMID- 28583447
TI  - Etiology of epithelial barrier dysfunction in patients with type 2 inflammatory
      diseases.
AB  - Epithelial barriers of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and airway serve common
      critical functions, such as maintaining a physical barrier against environmental
      insults and allergens and providing a tissue interface balancing the
      communication between the internal and external environments. We now understand
      that in patients with allergic disease, regardless of tissue location, the
      homeostatic balance of the epithelial barrier is skewed toward loss of
      differentiation, reduced junctional integrity, and impaired innate defense.
      Importantly, epithelial dysfunction characterized by these traits appears to pre
      date atopy and development of allergic disease. Despite our growing appreciation
      of the centrality of barrier dysfunction in initiation of allergic disease, many
      important questions remain to be answered regarding mechanisms disrupting normal
      barrier function. Although our external environment (proteases, allergens, and
      injury) is classically thought of as a principal contributor to barrier
      disruption associated with allergic sensitization, there is a need to better
      understand contributions of the internal environment (hormones, diet, and
      circadian clock). Systemic drivers of disease, such as alterations of the
      endocrine system, metabolism, and aberrant control of developmental signaling,
      are emerging as new players in driving epithelial dysfunction and allergic
      predisposition at various barrier sites. Identifying such central mediators of
      epithelial dysfunction using both systems biology tools and causality-driven
      laboratory experimentation will be essential in building new strategic
      interventions to prevent or reverse the process of barrier loss in allergic
      patients.

PMID- 28583446
TI  - Phenotypic and genetic aspects of epithelial barrier function in asthmatic
      patients.
AB  - The bronchial epithelium is continuously exposed to a multitude of noxious
      challenges in inhaled air. Cellular contact with most damaging agents is reduced
      by the action of the mucociliary apparatus and by formation of a physical barrier
      that controls passage of ions and macromolecules. In conjunction with these
      defensive barrier functions, immunomodulatory cross-talk between the bronchial
      epithelium and tissue-resident immune cells controls the tissue microenvironment
      and barrier homeostasis. This is achieved by expression of an array of sensors
      that detect a wide variety of viral, bacterial, and nonmicrobial (toxins and
      irritants) agents, resulting in production of many different soluble and cell
      surface molecules that signal to cells of the immune system. The ability of the
      bronchial epithelium to control the balance of inhibitory and activating signals
      is essential for orchestrating appropriate inflammatory and immune responses and
      for temporally modulating these responses to limit tissue injury and control the
      resolution of inflammation during tissue repair. In asthmatic patients
      abnormalities in many aspects of epithelial barrier function have been
      identified. We postulate that such abnormalities play a causal role in immune
      dysregulation in the airways by translating gene-environment interactions that
      underpin disease pathogenesis and exacerbation.

PMID- 28583451
TI  - Assessment of Cost Drivers in Transsphenoidal Approaches for Resection of
      Pituitary Tumors Using the Value-Driven Outcome Database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reducing health care costs while improving quality of care has become
      imperative in neurosurgical care. The Value-Driven Outcome database at the
      University of Utah identifies cost drivers and tracks changes over time. METHODS:
      Retrospective review was performed for transsphenoidal resections of pituitary
      adenomas from July 2012 to September 2016. Total cost, subcategory costs, and
      potential cost drivers were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 272 patients (mean age
      51.5 years +/- 17.7, 45.6% male) with mean length of stay of 4 days +/- 4
      evaluated. Total costs included facility utilization (60%), physician
      professional fees (16%), pharmacy (11%), supplies and implants (7%), laboratory
      studies (5%), and imaging (1%). Facility costs were driven by neurocritical care
      unit (30.7%), neurosurgical operating room (16.6%), and neurosurgical floor
      (11.2%) costs. Multivariable linear regression, after adjusting for length of
      stay and American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, showed that overall cost
      was heavily influenced by facility utilization (rho = 0.98, P = 0.001), pharmacy
      (rho = 0.71, P = 0.001), supplies and implants (rho = 0.51, P = 0.0001), imaging
      (rho = 0.51, P = 0.0001), and laboratory (rho = 0.79, P = 0.001) costs. The top
      10 outlier patients accounted for 18.7% of total costs (mean cost for all
      patients 0.24% +/- 0.29). CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the importance of
      facility utilization and pharmaceutical, supply/implant, imaging, and laboratory
      costs as overall cost drivers during transsphenoidal pituitary tumor resection.
      Facility utilization was a stronger cost driver than any other aspect of care.
      Strategies to mitigate cost include stratifying low-risk patients to an
      intermediate care unit and reducing length of stay.

PMID- 28583452
TI  - Factors Affecting the Visual Outcome of Pituitary Adenoma Patients Treated with
      Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate visual acuity (VA) and visual fields (VF) quantitatively
      before and after endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (ETS), with special attention
      to prognostic factors such as the pituitary adenoma (PA) suprasellar extension
      (SSE), volume and the patients' age. METHODS: Medical records of 47 patients with
      PA undergoing ETS were evaluated. VA, VF, preoperative visual impairment score
      (VISpre) and postoperative visual impairment score (VISpost) were determined. The
      PA SSE, volume, chiasmal contact, and their correlation with visual function were
      assessed preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULTS: The final cohort included
      47 patients. VA improved in 54 of 76 eyes (71.0%) after ETS, and 69 of 76 eyes
      (90.7%) gained normal VA. Postoperative VF recovery occurred in 32 of 37 eyes
      (86.5%). The mean change in VIS was 12.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.7-16.3)
      and improved in all patients with tumor-related visual impairment (n = 25).
      However, visual outcome was poorer when VISpre was greater than 40. When VISpre
      was 21-40, age linearly correlated with VIS improvement (P = 0.03); younger
      patients had satisfactory and older poorer visual outcome. The mean SSE in
      patients with VF defects (n = 20) was 16.6 mm (95% CI, 13.3-19.9). Mean SSE in
      patients with no VF defects (n = 23) was 6.6 mm (95% CI, 4.9-8.3; P < 0.001), and
      the cutoff value for visual perturbations was 9.5 mm for SSE and 8.6 mL for PA
      volume (P < 0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: The visual outcome after ETS for PAs
      was excellent, and serious complications were rare. Severe preoperative visual
      impairment resulted in poorer postoperative visual outcomes. The SSE of the PA
      was the most important predictor of visual outcome after ETS.

PMID- 28583453
TI  - Conservative and Surgical Treatment of Patients with Pineal Cysts: Prospective
      Case Series of 110 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A pineal cyst is a relatively common benign condition of the pineal
      gland. The clinical management of patients with a pineal cyst remains
      controversial, especially when patients present with nonspecific symptoms.
      METHODS: We performed a prospective study between 2000 and 2016. All patients
      with a pineal cyst >7 mm were included. Epidemiologic data, presenting symptoms,
      surgical results, and radiographic and clinical follow-up were documented.
      RESULTS: A total of 110 patients were enrolled in the present study. The most
      common presenting symptoms were tension headache (62.7%), vertigo (16.4%),
      migraine (12.7%), syncope (10.9%), nausea (8.2%), and diplopia (8.2%). Symptoms
      worsened during the follow-up period in 17 patients (15.5%), improved in 13
      patients (11.8%), and remained stable in 81 patients (73.6%). The mean follow-up
      was 79.2 months. A pineal cyst increased in size during the follow-up in 6
      patients (5.5%) and decreased in size in 9 patients (8.2%). Twenty-one patients
      underwent pineal cyst resection; 20 patients (95.2%) reported some improvement in
      their presenting symptoms, and 10 patients (47.6%) were symptom free after the
      surgery. CONCLUSION: We present the largest clinical series of patients with
      pineal cysts. Surgery, if indicated properly, is a legitimate treatment modality
      for symptomatic patients with satisfactory results. Relief of symptoms, even
      nonspecific ones, is achieved in the majority of cases. Simple growth of the cyst
      in the first decades of life is a part of the natural course and should not be
      considered as an indication for surgery.

PMID- 28583454
TI  - Functional Connectivity in Frontoparietal Network: Indicator of Preoperative
      Cognitive Function and Cognitive Outcome Following Surgery in Patients with
      Glioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with diffuse glioma are known to have impaired cognitive
      functions preoperatively. However, the mechanism of these cognitive deficits
      remains unclear. Resting-state functional connectivity in the frontoparietal
      network (FPN) is associated with cognitive performance in healthy subjects. For
      this reason, it was hypothesized that functional connectivity of the FPN would be
      related to cognitive functioning in patients with glioma. To assess this
      relationship, preoperative cognitive status was correlated to patient-specific
      connectivity within the FPN. Further, we assessed whether connectivity could
      predict neuropsychologic outcome following surgery. METHODS: Sixteen patients
      with diffuse glioma underwent neuropsychologic assessment and preoperative
      functional magnetic resonance imaging using task (n-back) and resting-state
      scans. Thirteen patients had postoperative cognitive assessment. An index of
      patient-specific functional connectivity in the FPN was derived by averaging
      connectivity values between 2 prefrontal and 2 parietal cortex regions defined by
      activation during the n-back task. The relationship of these indices with
      cognitive performance was assessed. RESULTS: Higher average connectivity within
      the FPN is associated with lower composite cognitive scores. Higher connectivity
      of the parietal region of the tumor-affected hemisphere is associated
      specifically with lower fluid cognition. Lower connectivity of the parietal
      region of the nontumor hemisphere is associated with worse neuropsychologic
      outcome 1 month after surgery. CONCLUSION: Resting-state functional connectivity
      between key regions of the FPN is associated with cognitive performance in
      patients with glioma and is related to cognitive outcome following surgery.

PMID- 28583455
TI  - Brain Arteriovenous Malformations Located in Premotor Cortex: Surgical Outcomes
      and Risk Factors for Postoperative Neurologic Deficits.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The premotor cortex (PMC) is known to have a dual role in movement and
      language processing. Nevertheless, surgical outcomes of brain arteriovenous
      malformations located in PMC (PMC-BAVMs) have not been well defined. The aim of
      this study was to determine surgical outcomes and risk factors for neurologic
      deficits (NDs) after surgery in patients with PMC-BAVMs. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed patients with PMC-BAVMs who underwent surgical resection
      of the nidus. All patients had undergone preoperative functional magnetic
      resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, three
      dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography, and digital
      subtraction angiography. Functional and angioarchitectural factors were analyzed
      with respect to postoperative NDs. Function-related fiber tracts, corticospinal
      tract, and dominant arcuate fasciculus were tracked. Lesion-to-fiber distance was
      measured. RESULTS: We identified 36 patients with PMC-BAVMs. Radical resection
      was achieved in all patients. Four patients (11.1%) presented with limb-kinetic
      apraxia and bradykinesia. Short-term NDs developed in 12 (33.3%) patients, among
      which 6 developed aphasias and 7 developed muscle weakness. A shorter lesion-to
      eloquent fiber distance (P = 0.012) and larger nidus size (P = 0.048) were
      significantly associated with short-term NDs. Long-term NDs occurred in 5
      patients. Larger nidus size was significantly associated (P = 0.015) with long
      term NDs. CONCLUSIONS: Varying degrees of motor and language deficits can be
      induced immediately after resection of PMC-BAVMs. Permanent and long-term severe
      motor or language deficits are rare. Shorter lesion-to-eloquent fiber distance is
      a risk factor for short-term NDs. Larger nidus size is a risk factor for short
      term and long-term NDs.

PMID- 28583456
TI  - Outcomes Following Exploratory Burr Holes for Traumatic Brain Injury in a
      Resource Poor Setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and
      disability worldwide. The incidence of TBI in low- and middle-income countries
      (LMICs) is disproportionately high, with an associated increased risk of
      mortality from TBI relative to high-income countries. Although computed
      tomography is the diagnostic method of choice, this is often unavailable in
      LMICs. Exploratory burr holes may provide a suitable choice for diagnosis and
      treatment of TBI. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of prospectively
      collected data at KCH, a tertiary care center in Lilongwe, Malawi. All trauma
      patients presenting between June 2012 and July 2015 with a deteriorating level of
      consciousness and localizing signs and who underwent exploratory burr holes were
      included. Additionally, we included all patients admitted with TBI, requiring
      higher-level care during 2011. No patients underwent exploratory burr hole during
      this time. We performed logistic regression to identify predictors of mortality
      in the total population of TBI patients. RESULTS: Among the 241 patients who
      presented to KCH with TBI requiring higher-level care, the total mortality was
      16.4%. More than half (163, or 68%) underwent exploratory burr hole with a
      mortality of 6.8%. Mortality in patients who did not undergo exploratory burr
      hole was 43.9%. Upon adjusted logistic regression, not undergoing exploratory
      burr hole significantly increased the odds of mortality (odds ratio = 12.0, P =
      0.000, 95% confidence interval = 4.48-31.9). CONCLUSION: Exploratory burr holes
      remain an important diagnostic and therapeutic procedure for TBI in LMICs.
      Exploratory burr hole technique should be integrated into general surgery
      education to attenuate TBI-related mortality.

PMID- 28583457
TI  - Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency Due to Distal Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery
      Compression in Chiari 1.5.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chiari malformation is characterized by radiographic evidence of
      herniation of cerebellar tonsils below the foramen magnum and a symptom complex
      of headaches; breathing, swallowing, or sleep difficulties; ataxia; restless; and
      motor and/or sensory deficits. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report a case of a 34-year
      old woman whose imaging indicated a Chiari 1.5 with brainstem (caudal medulla)
      herniation and an expansive cervical syrinx. Her symptom complex showed signs
      both of cervical syringomyelia, as well as ones localizable to the medulla. An
      intradural exploration revealed the occlusion and caudal displacement of the loop
      of the right posterior inferior cerebellar artery, which was later confirmed via
      magnetic resonance angiography. CONCLUSIONS: In the setting of severe Chiari
      malformations, particularly the Chiari 1.5 variant, assessment of the posterior
      fossa vasculature may be useful in defining a subset of patients with
      preoperative compromise in posterior fossa blood flow and postoperative
      expectations. Preoperative planning and exploration of midline dorsal brain stem
      along with the tonsilomedullary fissure could be helpful for contribution of
      vascular pathology among Chiari symptoms complex in these patients.

PMID- 28583458
TI  - Xanthomatous Hypophysitis Presenting with Diabetes Insipidus Completely Cured
      Through Transsphenoidal Surgery: Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Xanthomatous hypophysitis (XH) is extremely rare. Only 27 cases have
      been reported in the literature. No XH patient presenting with diabetes insipidus
      (DI) has been completely cured through surgery. Here, we describe the first XH
      case of a DI patient whose pituitary function was normalized postoperatively,
      without hormone replacement therapy. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 41-year-old woman
      suffered from polydipsia, DI, headache, and breast discharge. Laboratory
      investigation revealed hyperprolactinemia. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging
      showed a 2.0-cm * 1.4-cm * 1.6-cm lesion that demonstrated heterogeneous
      intensity on T1-weighted imaging and peripheral ring enhancement following
      contrast; the lesion was totally removed through transsphenoidal surgery.
      Histopathologic and immunohistochemical examinations confirmed the diagnosis of
      XH. At the 4- and 15-month follow-up visits, all pituitary-related hormones were
      normal, and the patient was not taking medication. A repeat pituitary magnetic
      resonance imaging showed no evidence of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of
      our knowledge, this case is the first documented occurrence of XH with DI
      completely cured through surgery. If XH is suspected, total surgical resection of
      the lesion is recommended and normal pituitary tissue should be carefully
      protected intraoperatively.

PMID- 28583459
TI  - A Retrospective Study of Clinical Outcomes After Endovascular Treatment in Acute
      Ischemic Stroke Patients with Complete Anterior Circulation Infarction in the
      Absence of Multimodal Computed Tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the positive predictive value of large artery occlusion and
      clinical prognosis in acute ischemic stroke patients with total anterior
      circulation infarct (TACI) who underwent endovascular treatment in the absence of
      multimodal CT angiography or CT perfusion. METHODS: The inclusion criteria for
      the acute ischemic stroke patients to receive endovascular treatment were as the
      follows: the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project classification was TACI,
      Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) >= 6, National
      Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) score >=8, and less than 4.5 hours
      since stroke onset. The endovascular treatment was performed on patients who met
      the inclusion criteria. The endovascular treatment included intra-arterial
      thrombolysis, mechanical treatments, or both. A retrospective analysis was
      performed on all eligible acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent
      endovascular treatment from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. RESULTS: A
      total of 17 patients met the inclusion criteria and underwent endovascular
      treatment. The median age was 76 years (range, 59-88 years). 12 patients (70.6%)
      were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. 16 patients were diagnosed with large
      artery occlusion by digital subtraction angiography, and the positive predictive
      value was 94.1%. 16 patients (94.1%) had recanalization (TICI Grade 3); 12
      patients (70.6%) had a modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2, and 1 patient (5.9%)
      died 90 days after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of multimodal CT,
      endovascular treatment might be beneficial to patients with TACI acute ischemic
      stroke within 4.5 hours of stroke onset, who had NIHSS score of 8 or greater and
      ASPECTS of 6 or greater. These inclusion criteria have a high positive predictive
      value for anterior circulation large artery occlusion.

PMID- 28583460
TI  - Spinal Cord Compression Secondary to Epidural Fibrosis Associated with
      Percutaneously Placed Spinal Cord Stimulation Electrodes: Case Report and Review
      of the Literature.
AB  - Spinal cord stimulation is a safe method for treating chronic pain syndromes.
      Spinal cord stimulators can be placed either surgically by creating a laminectomy
      defect for paddle leads or percutaneously by inserting electrodes. They are
      usually not associated with major complications. There have been several reports
      of epidural fibrosis formation after paddle lead placement but only 1 case of
      excessive fibrosis following percutaneous lead placement. We describe the unique
      case of excessive cervical fibrosis formation with creation of tolerance
      phenomenon, clinically significant stenosis, cord compression, and myelopathy
      after percutaneous lead placement, which improved after surgical removal of the
      implant. We also reviewed the PubMed and Medline databases for all cases of
      significant epidural fibrosis related to spinal cord stimulator lead placement,
      including both surgically implanted paddles and percutaneously implanted leads.
      This is an uncommon complication after placement of spinal cord stimulators, but
      it can carry a clinically significant impact and be the source of severe
      morbidity. It should especially be suspected if the successful placement of the
      device is followed by development of a "tolerance" phenomenon, with progressive
      loss of satisfactory pain control and development of new myelopathic symptoms.

PMID- 28583461
TI  - Repair of V2 Vertebral Artery Injuries Sustained During Anterior Cervical
      Diskectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The V2 segment of the vertebral artery (VA) typically runs through
      the transverse foramen of C2-C6. V2 injury may occur during anterior approaches
      to the cervical spine and can cause significant morbidity. We describe landmarks
      and microsurgical V2 repair techniques through the standard anterolateral
      cervical diskectomy approach. METHODS: Five silicone-injected cadaveric heads
      (necks-C7) were dissected bilaterally. An anterolateral approach with C3-4, C4-5,
      and C5-6 diskectomies and an ipsilateral VA injury were simulated. VA approach
      and repair were performed using microdissection techniques. Landmarks to the VA
      were identified, and distances from landmarks to the VA were measured in
      horizontal and vertical planes. Operative photographs of stepwise approach and
      repair techniques were processed for stereoscopic illustration. An illustrative
      case describes microsurgery to successfully repair an inadvertent VA injury
      during a C3-C6 diskectomy and fusion procedure. RESULTS: The anatomic landmarks
      delineated were the intervertebral disk, uncinate apices, and anterior tubercles
      of C4-C6 transverse processes. After temporary hemostasis with packing, VA
      exposure and repair included dissection of the longus colli muscle, removal of
      the anterior root of the transverse processes above and below the injury level,
      intertransversarii muscle removal, vertebral plexus opening, VA handling, and
      microsuturing. In 30 dissected cadaver intertransverse intervals, 13 medial, 7
      lateral, and 3 anterior branches of the V2 were encountered at C3-C6 levels.
      CONCLUSION: Familiarity with relevant vascular surgical anatomy allows
      neurosurgeons to be prepared in cases of VA injury and may facilitate repair when
      the VA is injured during anterior cervical spine surgery.

PMID- 28583463
TI  - Latent Structural Analysis of Health Outcomes in People Living With Spinal Cord
      Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a latent structural model of health outcomes in people with
      spinal cord injury (SCI) that accounts for the measurement of underlying factors
      and their association with demographic and injury-related exogenous variables.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Specialty hospital and medical
      university. PARTICIPANTS: Participants with traumatic SCI (N=1871) of at least 1
      year duration. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Exploratory
      factor analysis was used to identify latent health outcome structures. Several
      key exogenous variables were also linked with the latent health outcome factors.
      RESULTS: Six latent health outcome factors were identified by the exploratory
      factor analysis with excellent model fit (root mean square error of
      approximation=.040). These latent factors included (1) global health problems;
      (2) chronic disease; (3) acute treatments; (4) symptoms of SCI complications, (5)
      pressure ulcers; and (6) subsequent injuries. Sex, race/ethnicity, age, years
      since injury, and injury severity were all significantly associated with at least
      1 latent health outcome factor, which indicates that these latent health outcomes
      varied as a function of the exogenous variables. CONCLUSIONS: This study improved
      our understanding of the structure of health outcomes, and utilization of latent
      health outcome factors provides more stable and comprehensive composite scores
      than does utilization of a single observed health outcome indicator.

PMID- 28583462
TI  - Decreased Anticipatory Postural Adjustments During Gait Initiation Acutely
      Postconcussion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) during the
      transitional movement task of gait initiation (GI) in individuals acutely after a
      concussion. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: University research center.
      PARTICIPANTS: A population-based sample of participants (N=84) divided into 2
      equal groups of acutely postconcussion and healthy student athletes.
      INTERVENTION: Participants were tested on 2 occasions: a preinjury baseline test
      and then the concussion group was retested acutely postconcussion and the healthy
      student athlete group again at a similar time. All participants completed 5
      trials of GI on 4 forceplates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The dependent variables
      were the displacement and velocity of the center of pressure (COP) during the APA
      phase and initial step kinematics. Comparisons were made with a 2 (group) * 2
      (time) repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: There was a significant
      interaction for COP posterior displacement (P<.001) and lateral displacement
      (P<.001). Posteriorly, post hoc testing identified a significant reduction in the
      concussion group (pretest: 5.7+/-1.6cm; posttest: 2.6+/-2.1cm; P<.001), but no
      difference in the healthy student athlete group (pretest: 4.0+/-1.6cm; posttest:
      4.0+/-2.5cm; P=.921). Laterally, post hoc testing identified a significant
      reduction in the concussion group (pretest: 5.8+/-2.1cm; posttest: 3.8+/-1.8cm;
      P<.001), but no difference in the healthy student athlete group (pretest: 5.0+/
      2.5cm; posttest: 5.2+/-2.4cm; P=.485). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study
      suggest difficulty in the planning and execution of GI acutely postconcussion,
      and posterior APA displacement and velocity are highly effective measures of
      impaired postural control. Finally, the APA phase is linked to the supplementary
      motor area, which suggests a supraspinal contribution to postconcussion impaired
      postural control.

PMID- 28583464
TI  - Psychometric Properties of 2 Participation Measures in Veterans With Mild
      Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the psychometric properties of 2 commonly used
      participation measures: the Community Reintegration of Service Members (CRIS) and
      the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective (PART-O) in veterans
      with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). DESIGN: Data were collected from 2 cross
      sectional observation studies conducted in 2 Veterans Affairs medical centers.
      SETTING: Questionnaires were completed in-person or by mail. PARTICIPANTS:
      Veterans with mTBI (N=201) were recruited from the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans
      Affairs Medical Center in Houston (n=94) and the Malcom Randall North
      Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (n=107). INTERVENTIONS: Not
      applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CRIS and PART-O. RESULTS: We conducted Rasch
      analysis on the PART-O and on 3 subscales of the CRIS (extent of participation,
      perceived limitation, and satisfaction). For PART-O, results showed PART-O has
      questionable unidimensionality. For both instruments, some rating categories were
      underused, and rating scales did not advance accordingly. Compared with PART-O,
      the CRIS was able to distinguish more categories of person's ability (>5 vs 2 for
      PART-O) and had better internal consistency as indicated by higher Cronbach alpha
      (.96-.98 vs .65 for PART-O). CONCLUSIONS: To capture participation unique to
      veterans with mTBI, CRIS has greater potential to detect a change in
      participation and is therefore recommended over PART-O. Rating scales of both
      instruments, however, need further refinement. We suggest future studies examine
      collapsed rating categories and use qualitative methods to redefine categories.

PMID- 28583465
TI  - Functional Status Is Associated With 30-Day Potentially Preventable Hospital
      Readmissions After Inpatient Rehabilitation Among Aged Medicare Fee-for-Service
      Beneficiaries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between patients' functional status at
      discharge from inpatient rehabilitation and 30-day potentially preventable
      hospital readmissions. A secondary objective was to examine the conditions
      resulting in these potentially preventable readmissions. DESIGN: Retrospective
      cohort study. SETTING: Inpatient rehabilitation facilities submitting claims to
      Medicare. PARTICIPANTS: National cohort (N=371,846) of inpatient rehabilitation
      discharges among aged Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in 2013 to 2014. The
      average age was 79.1+/-7.6 years. Most were women (59.7%) and white (84.5%).
      INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Observed rates and
      adjusted odds of 30-day potentially preventable hospital readmissions after
      inpatient rehabilitation and (2) primary diagnoses for readmissions. RESULTS: The
      overall rate of any 30-day hospital readmission after inpatient rehabilitation
      was 12.4% (n=46,265), and the overall rate of potentially preventable
      readmissions was 5.0% (n=18,477). Functional independence was associated with
      lower observed rates and adjusted odds ratios for potentially preventable
      readmissions. Observed rates for the highest versus lowest quartiles within each
      functional domain were as follows: self-care: 3.4% (95% confidence interval [CI],
      3.3-3.5) versus 6.9% (95% CI, 6.7-7.1), mobility: 3.3% (95% CI, 3.2-3.4) versus
      7.2% (95% CI, 7.0-7.4), and cognition: 3.5% (95% CI, 3.4-3.6) versus 6.2% (95%
      CI, 6.0-6.4), respectively. Similarly, adjusted odds ratios were as follows: self
      care: .70 (95% CI, .67-.74), mobility: .64 (95% CI, .61-.68), and cognition: .84
      (95% CI, .80-.89). Infection-related conditions (44.1%) were the most common
      readmission diagnoses followed by inadequate management of chronic conditions
      (31.2%) and inadequate management of other unplanned events (24.7%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Functional status at discharge from inpatient rehabilitation was associated with
      30-day potentially preventable readmissions in our sample of aged Medicare
      beneficiaries. This information may help identify at-risk patients. Future
      research is needed to determine whether follow-up programs focused on improving
      functional independence will reduce readmission rates.

PMID- 28583466
TI  - Falls Are Associated With Lower Self-Reported Functional Status in Patients After
      Stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between falls and functional status after
      stroke. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data from the randomized controlled FIT
      Stroke trial. Outcomes were measured at the time of discharge from inpatient
      rehabilitation (t0) and after 12 weeks (t1). Between t0 and t1, all patients
      attended an outpatient rehabilitation program that included the FIT-Stroke
      intervention. SETTING: Nine centers for rehabilitation medicine. PARTICIPANTS:
      Outpatients after stroke (N=250) with mild cognitive impairments (Mini-Mental
      State Examination [MMSE] score >=24), discharged home after inpatient
      rehabilitation and able to walk 10m independently. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the change in Stroke Impact Scale
      (SIS)-16 score. The independent variable was >=1 falls after stroke. The outcome
      was corrected for type of outpatient rehabilitation (group allocation), severity
      of hemiplegia (Motricity Index [MI]), and cognition (MMSE) at baseline using
      multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Complete data were available for 199
      patients, with a mean age of 58+/-10 years, MMSE score of 28.1+/-2, and MI score
      of 130+/-43. Fifty-five patients (28%) reported falls during the 12 weeks after
      discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. Falls were significantly associated with
      less improvement in functional status as assessed with the SIS-16 (P=.009).
      CONCLUSIONS: Almost 30% of this stroke population with minor cognitive deficits
      and moderate to high mobility scores reported falls during the 12 weeks of
      outpatient rehabilitation. Falls were negatively associated with self-reported
      functional status measured by the change in SIS-16 score. Therefore, it is
      important to identify patients with high risk of falls and implement strategies
      to reduce falls.

PMID- 28583467
TI  - Leucine reduces reactive oxygen species levels via an energy metabolism switch by
      activation of the mTOR-HIF-1alpha pathway in porcine intestinal epithelial cells.
AB  - Leucine serves not only as a substrate for protein synthesis, but also as a
      signal molecule involved in protein metabolism. However, whether the levels of
      cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have damaging effects on cellular
      DNA, proteins, and lipids, are regulated by leucine is still unclear. Here, we
      report that leucine supplementation reduces ROS levels in intestinal epithelial
      cells of weaned piglets. A proteomics analysis revealed that leucine
      supplementation induces an energy metabolism switch from oxidative
      phosphorylation (OXPHOS) towards glycolysis. The leucine-induced ROS reduction
      and the energy metabolism switch were further validated in cultured cells.
      Mechanistically, our data revealed that leucine-induced ROS reduction actually
      depends on the energy metabolism switch from OXPHOS towards glycolysis through
      the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)- hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF
      1alpha) pathway. These findings reveal a vital regulatory role of leucine as the
      signal molecule involved in an energy metabolism switch in mammals.

PMID- 28583468
TI  - [Role of quality control for improvement of blood components in the Regional
      Blood Centre of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, 2014].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In Burkina Faso, blood components must comply with national
      standards. Then, all Transfusion services must implement a quality control
      process to ensure compliance. Our study aims to establish the main
      characteristics of blood components of the regional transfusion center of
      Ouagadougou, and evaluate the capability of this center to improve its
      manufacturing process. METHODS: We conducted from marsh to December 2014 a pre
      post study, assessing blood components' characteristics before and after the
      implementation of a six months' improvement plan. The assessed parameters were:
      volume, hematocrit (Ht) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels in RBCs; volume and the number
      of platelets in PPCs; and volume and concentration of clotting factor VIII in
      fresh frozen plasma (FFP), respectively. Three hundred and twelve RBCs and 280
      PCs were randomly selected for the first series of controls, and 215 RBCs, 54 PCs
      and 60 FFP were selected for the second series of controls. We compared the mean
      values of the components parameters and the overall non-compliance rates for each
      series. RESULTS: The average Hb level of RBCs was respectively 47.8+/-8.9g and
      54.7+/-7.2g in the first and second series compare to a standard of>=40g. Non
      compliance rates of Hb level decreased significantly from 17.6% to 1.4%. For PCs
      units, the mean number of platelets was 0.14+/-0.10*1011 and 0.30+/-0.15*1011 in
      the first and second period compare to a standard of 0.5*1011. Non-compliance
      rates for platelets number were high 97.1% and 72.2%. CONCLUSION: The study
      demonstrates that only RBCs complied with national standards. The study also
      demonstrates the capability of CRTSO to improve blood components' processing even
      if for PCs and FFP, NC rates remain high. QC must be maintained and expanded to
      the others regional blood centers of the country.

PMID- 28583469
TI  - ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATION: Bilateral medial rectus resection for primary large angle
      exotropia.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.03.003. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be
      found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28583470
TI  - Insights Into the Current Management of Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes in the
      Ontario Primary Care Setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Goal Oriented controL of Diabetes in the Elderly populatioN
      (GOLDEN) Program assessed the management of older persons with type 2 diabetes in
      Canadian primary care. METHODS: Data were extracted from the records of 833
      consecutively identified persons 65 years of age or older who had type 2 diabetes
      and were taking 1 antihyperglycemic agent or more; they were managed by 64
      physicians from 36 Ontario clinics. RESULTS: More than half (53%) had glycated
      hemoglobin (A1C) levels of 7.0% or lower, 41% had blood pressure levels below
      130/80 mm Hg, and 73% had low-density lipoprotein levels of 2.0 mmol/L or lower;
      19% met all 3 criteria. Over the past year, 11% had been assessed for frailty,
      16% for cognitive dysfunction and 19% for depression; 88% were referred for eye
      checkups, and 83% had undergone foot examinations. One-tenth were taking 4 or
      more antihyperglycemic agents, 87% statins and 52% an angiotensin-converting
      enzyme inhibitor. More than half of those with high clinical complexity had A1C
      levels of 7.0% or lower; of these, one-third were taking a sulfonylurea, and one
      fifth were taking insulin. In the patients with A1C levels of 7.0% or above and
      low clinical complexity, there was often no up-titration or initiation of
      additional antihyperglycemic agents. CONCLUSIONS: Older persons with type 2
      diabetes often have multiple comorbidities. Unlike eye and foot examinations,
      there was less emphasis on evaluating for frailty, cognitive dysfunction and
      depression. The GOLDEN patients had generally well-controlled glycemic, blood
      pressure and cholesterol profiles, but whether these would be reflected in a
      "sicker" population is not known. Personalized strategies are necessary to avoid
      undertreatment of "healthy" older patients and overtreatment of the frail
      elderly.

PMID- 28583471
TI  - Placental Expression of Glucose Transporter Proteins in Pregnancies Complicated
      by Gestational and Pregestational Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - Gestational diabetes mellitus and pregestational diabetes mellitus constitute
      carbohydrate metabolism disorders, which, if not diagnosed and adequately
      treated, lead to serious and often life-threatening pregnancy complications.
      According to a recently formulated hypothesis, some diabetes-related
      complications, such as fetal macrosomia, may be the result of disturbances in the
      transplacental transport of nutrients-in particular, excessive maternal-fetal
      glucose transfer. Throughout pregnancy, glucose flux across the placenta is
      mediated by the group of facilitative glucose transporters (GLUT), the expression
      of which in different placental compartments is the precondition for effective
      glucose uptake from maternal blood and its subsequent transfer to the fetal
      circulation. In diabetes-complicated pregnancies, the location, expression and
      activity of glucose transporters are modified to an extent that results in
      alterations in the maternal-fetal glucose exchange, potentially leading to an
      excessive supply of energy substrates to the fetus. This paper reviews the
      literature on the expression and activity of glucose transporter proteins-GLUT-1,
      GLUT-3, GLUT-4, GLUT-8, GLUT-9 and GLUT-12-in the human placenta, with a special
      focus on diabetes-complicated pregnancy. The characteristics of transporters in
      conditions of maternal normoglycemia and modifications occurring in the diabetic
      placenta are summarized, and the factors responsible for the regulation of the
      expression of selected isoforms are described. Finally, the impact of alterations
      in the placental expression of the aforementioned members of the GLUT family on
      intrauterine fetal development in pregnancies complicated by diabetes mellitus is
      discussed.

PMID- 28583472
TI  - Prenatal, Obstetric and Perinatal Factors Associated With the Development of
      Childhood-Onset Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore associations among prenatal, obstetric and perinatal
      factors and the development of childhood-onset type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This
      retrospective, case-control study utilized administrative data housed at the
      Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. De-identified health records were examined
      from a sample of 270 children (aged 10 to 17 years at time of diagnosis) with
      type 2 diabetes and 1341 children without type 2 diabetes matched for age, sex
      and geographic location. Patients and control subjects were linked to their de
      identified biological mothers' health records. Prenatal, obstetric and perinatal
      factors were investigated. Univariate and multivariable conditional regression
      analyses were conducted to identify key factors associated with the development
      of type 2 diabetes in children. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 13.1
      years, and 61% of patients were girls. The majority (71.1%) of children with type
      2 diabetes resided in rural areas. Exposure to maternal pregestational diabetes
      increased the odds of childhood-onset type 2 diabetes nearly 6-fold, and exposure
      to gestational diabetes carried a 4-fold increased risk. Breastfeeding was found
      to be protective, decreasing the risk of childhood-onset type 2 diabetes (odds
      ratio = 0.52, 95% confidence interval = 0.36-0.74). Low maternal income was
      significantly associated with development of childhood-onset type 2 diabetes
      (odds ratio = 6.67, 95% confidence interval = 3.01-14.79). CONCLUSIONS: Health
      and social policies and programs are needed to provide financial, educational and
      clinical resources that target women whose pregnancies are affected by poverty,
      type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes. Breastfeeding should be encouraged to
      aid in the prevention of childhood-onset type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28583473
TI  - Predictors of local recurrence of glottic cancer in patients after transoral
      laser microsurgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) is used to treat early and select
      cases of moderately advanced glottic cancer, with results equivalent to those of
      conventional conservative surgery and radiotherapy (RT). As surgeons and
      researchers become more experienced and familiar with TLM, they can focus on
      mechanisms to earlier detect local recurrence, to more effectively preserve
      laryngeal function. This study analyzed the predictors of local recurrence in
      glottic cancer patients who underwent TLM. METHODS: Our study focused on 93
      consecutive patients with glottic cancer who received TLM between 2003 and 2009,
      and were analyzed retrospectively. All of these patients were treated by the same
      surgeon. The local control and survival rate were calculated with Kaplan-Meier
      method and compared using the log-rank test. Additionally, the Cox proportional
      hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The 5-year local
      control, overall survival, and disease-specific survival rates were 87%, 95%, and
      96%, respectively. The final laryngeal preservation rate was 98%. Independent
      predictors of local recurrence were arytenoid cartilage invasion (hazard ratio
      [HR], 6.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1-26.6), difficult laryngeal exposure
      (HR, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.5-17.3), previous microlaryngoscopic surgery (HR 3.1; 95% CI,
      1.3-10.5), positive surgical margin (HR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.1-9.7), and endophytic
      tumors (HR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.1-7.6). CONCLUSION: TLM is a reliable modality to
      treat early and select cases of moderately advanced glottic cancer with good
      final laryngeal preservation rate. Our study found that independent factors of
      local recurrence included arytenoid cartilage invasion, difficult laryngeal
      exposure, previous microlaryngoscopic surgery, positive surgical margin and
      endophytic tumors. These findings may help to follow-up glottic cancer patients
      after TLM.

PMID- 28583474
TI  - The effects of maternal smoking exposure during pregnancy on postnatal outcomes:
      A cross sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this article was to evaluate the effect of maternal
      smoking exposure during pregnancy on postnatal outcomes. METHODS: This
      prospective study enrolled 278 pregnant women in the third trimester, who were
      asked to complete a questionnaire which included inquires about the nature and
      extent of smoking exposure during their pregnancy. In addition to the
      questionnaire, each study subject provided urine sample for the measurement of
      cotinine. Using data generated from this inquiry, we analyzed the association
      between maternal smoking exposure and birth outcomes. RESULTS: From the 278
      enrollees in this study, a minority of subjects (7.2%) smoked, while 40.6% of the
      study subjects were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke during pregnancy.
      There was significantly higher birth weight (3205.2 +/- 373.1 vs 3089.7 +/- 363.0
      vs 2959.0 +/- 403.7 g, p = 0.004), larger chest size (33.1 +/- 1.7 cm vs 32.7 +/-
      1.5 cm vs 32.0 +/- 1.7 cm, p = 0.009), higher bilirubin on postnatal day 3 (8.9
      +/- 1.6 vs 8.6 +/- 1.5 vs 7.8 +/- 1.4 mg/dL, p = 0.015), but lower maternal
      urinary cotinine level (83.7 +/- 132.4 vs 153.2 +/- 96.0 vs 800.5 +/- 1027.8
      MUg/g creatinine, p < 0.001) in smoking-free status than in passive or active
      smoking status. Significant risks of birth weight < 2500 g (AOR 3.93 (95% CI 1.61
      9.59), p = 0.003) and maternal urinary cotinine >= 143 MUg/g creatinine (AOR 3.38
      (95% CI 2.02-5.66), p < 0.001) were observed as smoking exposure increased. There
      was significantly higher birth weight (p = 0.048), larger chest size (p = 0.045),
      and higher bilirubin level on postnatal day 3 (p < 0.001) in the group with
      cotinine <143 MUg/g creatinine than in the group with cotinine >= 143 MUg/g
      creatinine. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that maternal smoking exposure
      during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight and small chest
      circumference. Although the incidence of active smoking in Taiwanese pregnant
      women is low, most of them are exposed to passive smoking environment. Further
      studies are required to evaluate useful interventions to enhance a smoking-free
      environment during pregnancy.

PMID- 28583475
TI  - Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L3 promotes interferon antiviral activity by
      stabilizing type I-interferon receptor.
AB  - Type-I interferons (IFN-I) are important antiviral drugs which are widely used in
      clinical therapy of diverse viral infections. However, understanding the detailed
      mechanisms for IFN-I antiviral signaling remains a major challenge, and may
      provide novel targets for IFN-based antiviral therapy. So far, the roles of
      deubiquitinases (DUBs) in regulating IFN-I antiviral activity are still largely
      unexplored. Here, we find that Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L3 (UCHL3) plays an
      important role in regulating type I-interferon (IFN-I) mediated antiviral
      response. Interestingly, we find that UCHL3 regulates COPS5-dependent
      deneddylation of Cullin1, which is an essential component of SCFbeta-TrCP complex
      and associated with SCFbeta-TrCP activities. Furthermore, we reveal that UCHL3
      physically interacts with COPS5, and determines the level and protein stability
      of cellular COPS5 by deubiquitinating COPS5. We further demonstrate that UCHL3
      upregulates the levels of SCFbeta-TrCP substrates including IFN-I receptor
      IFNAR1, which enhances IFN-I mediated signaling pathway and antiviral activity.
      These findings identify COPS5 as a novel in vivo substrate of UCHL3, and uncover
      the deubiquitination-deneddylation mediated regulation for IFN-I signaling and
      antiviral function, which may provide a novel strategy for improving IFN-based
      antiviral therapy.

PMID- 28583476
TI  - Dexterity: A MATLAB-based analysis software suite for processing and visualizing
      data from tasks that measure arm or forelimb function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hand function is critical for independence, and neurological injury
      often impairs dexterity. To measure hand function in people or forelimb function
      in animals, sensors are employed to quantify manipulation. These sensors make
      assessment easier and more quantitative and allow automation of these tasks.
      While automated tasks improve objectivity and throughput, they also produce large
      amounts of data that can be burdensome to analyze. We created software called
      Dexterity that simplifies data analysis of automated reaching tasks. NEW METHOD:
      Dexterity is MATLAB software that enables quick analysis of data from forelimb
      tasks. Through a graphical user interface, files are loaded and data are
      identified and analyzed. These data can be annotated or graphed directly.
      Analysis is saved, and the graph and corresponding data can be exported. For
      additional analysis, Dexterity provides access to custom scripts created by other
      users. RESULTS: To determine the utility of Dexterity, we performed a study to
      evaluate the effects of task difficulty on the degree of impairment after injury.
      Dexterity analyzed two months of data and allowed new users to annotate the
      experiment, visualize results, and save and export data easily. COMPARISON WITH
      EXISTING METHOD(S): Previous analysis of tasks was performed with custom data
      analysis, requiring expertise with analysis software. Dexterity made the tools
      required to analyze, visualize and annotate data easy to use by investigators
      without data science experience. CONCLUSIONS: Dexterity increases accessibility
      to automated tasks that measure dexterity by making analysis of large data
      intuitive, robust, and efficient.

PMID- 28583477
TI  - Measures of spike train synchrony for data with multiple time scales.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measures of spike train synchrony are widely used in both
      experimental and computational neuroscience. Time-scale independent and parameter
      free measures, such as the ISI-distance, the SPIKE-distance and SPIKE
      synchronization, are preferable to time scale parametric measures, since by
      adapting to the local firing rate they take into account all the time scales of a
      given dataset. NEW METHOD: In data containing multiple time scales (e.g. regular
      spiking and bursts) one is typically less interested in the smallest time scales
      and a more adaptive approach is needed. Here we propose the A-ISI-distance, the A
      SPIKE-distance and A-SPIKE-synchronization, which generalize the original
      measures by considering the local relative to the global time scales. For the A
      SPIKE-distance we also introduce a rate-independent extension called the RIA
      SPIKE-distance, which focuses specifically on spike timing. RESULTS: The adaptive
      generalizations A-ISI-distance and A-SPIKE-distance allow to disregard spike time
      differences that are not relevant on a more global scale. A-SPIKE-synchronization
      does not any longer demand an unreasonably high accuracy for spike doublets and
      coinciding bursts. Finally, the RIA-SPIKE-distance proves to be independent of
      rate ratios between spike trains. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: We find that
      compared to the original versions the A-ISI-distance and the A-SPIKE-distance
      yield improvements for spike trains containing different time scales without
      exhibiting any unwanted side effects in other examples. A-SPIKE-synchronization
      matches spikes more efficiently than SPIKE-synchronization. CONCLUSIONS: With
      these proposals we have completed the picture, since we now provide adaptive
      generalized measures that are sensitive to firing rate only (A-ISI-distance), to
      timing only (ARI-SPIKE-distance), and to both at the same time (A-SPIKE
      distance).

PMID- 28583478
TI  - Evaluation of the IceTag leg sensor and its derivative models to predict
      behaviour, using beef cattle on rangeland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is interest in using animal-mounted sensors to provide the
      detailed timeline of domesticated ruminant behaviour on rangelands. NEW METHOD:
      Working with beef cattle, we evaluated the pedometer-like IceTag device
      (IceRobotics, Edinburgh, Scotland) that records step events, leg movement and
      body position (upright versus lying). We used partition analysis to compare
      behaviour as inferred from the device data with true behaviour as coded at high
      resolution from carefully synchronized video observations of 5-min duration.
      RESULTS: Malfunctions reduced the target dataset by 7%. The correspondence
      between IceTag and video-coded step counts was excellent (r2=0.97), and the
      device's indications of upright or lying corresponded well (error rate=1.4%) to
      the video-coded values. However, the proportion of steps that could be matched
      individually was relatively low (65% at a tolerance of 0.5s), and the indicated
      start of a lying bout was often triggered by leg movements of an upright animal.
      Partition analysis of Grazing versus Not-Grazing yielded an overall error rate of
      22%. In both three- and four-way classifications of behaviour (Graze, Rest,
      Travel; Graze, Stand, Lie, Travel) error rates were low for non-graze behaviours,
      but only 25% of Graze observations were correctly classified; the overall error
      rate was 22%. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): The IceTag device performed
      well in mapping the diurnal patterns of animal position and step rate, but less
      well in separating grazing from upright resting. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest
      that pedometry is not the ideal method for classifying behaviour when grazing is
      of paramount interest.

PMID- 28583479
TI  - Smoking Cessation as a Possible Risk Factor for the Development of Aspirin
      Exacerbated Respiratory Disease in Smokers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) is
      characterized by the low expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in airway
      epithelia, which decreases the production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Conversely,
      cigarette smoke stimulates COX-2 expression in airway epithelia. Therefore, it
      was hypothesized that the development of AERD would be suppressed by elevated
      PGE2 levels in smokers, and smoking cessation might increase susceptibility to
      AERD. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship
      between smoking and the risk of AERD development. METHODS: The smoking status of
      patients with AERD (n = 114) was compared with 2 control groups with aspirin
      tolerant asthma (ATA), patients diagnosed by a systemic aspirin provocation test
      (ATA-1, n = 83) and outpatients randomly selected from a large-scale dataset (ATA
      2, n = 914), as well as a healthy control group (HC, n = 2313). RESULTS: At the
      age of asthma onset, there was a low frequency of current smokers (9.7%), but a
      high frequency of past smokers (20.2%) in the AERD group compared with the ATA-1
      (20.5% and 12.0% for current and past smokers, respectively), ATA-2 (24.5% and
      10.3%, respectively), and HC group (26.2% and 12.6%, respectively). After
      adjustment for confounding variables, AERD was positively associated with smoking
      cessation between 1 and 4 years before disease onset compared with the ATA-2
      group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.63, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.16-9.93)
      and the HC group (aOR 4.09, 95% CI: 2.07-8.05), implying that smoking cessation
      was followed by the development of AERD. CONCLUSION: Smoking cessation may be a
      risk factor for the development of AERD.

PMID- 28583480
TI  - Dietary isoflavone supplementation for food allergy: A pilot study.

PMID- 28583481
TI  - Long-term outcomes following baked milk-containing diet for IgE-mediated milk
      allergy.

PMID- 28583482
TI  - Problems Experienced by Ovarian Cancer Survivors During Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify problems at different treatment points (early treatment,
      mid-treatment, early posttreatment, and late posttreatment) among women with
      ovarian cancer. DESIGN: Longitudinal and cross-sectional study design. SETTING:
      An academic and community clinical cancer center in the Southeastern United
      States. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-eight women with Stage I to IV ovarian cancer.
      METHODS: Variables assessed included reported problems (physical, psychosocial,
      pain, marital, medical interaction), social support, optimism, and responses to
      open-ended questions. Analysis involved mixed models for longitudinal repeated
      measures and unpaired t tests and content analysis to describe responses to open
      ended questions. RESULTS: Physical and psychosocial problems were greatest during
      early treatment and decreased throughout the treatment trajectory. Women with
      greater levels of social support and optimism at baseline had fewer problems over
      time. Women who did not have trouble paying for basics had fewer problems related
      to pain and psychological problems. CONCLUSION: Problems across all domains must
      be addressed throughout the treatment trajectory, even after chemotherapy has
      ended. Nurses are well positioned to refer women appropriately to social workers
      and clinical navigators across all domains of care and should consider systematic
      assessment of patient-reported problems as a routine form of practice.

PMID- 28583483
TI  - Toolkit for automated and rapid discovery of structural variants.
AB  - Structural variations (SV) are broadly defined as genomic alterations that affect
      >50bp of DNA, which are shown to have significant effect on evolution and
      disease. The advent of high throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies and the
      ability to perform whole genome sequencing (WGS), makes it feasible to study
      these variants in depth. However, discovery of all forms of SV using WGS has
      proven to be challenging as the short reads produced by the predominant HTS
      platforms (<200bp for current technologies) and the fact that most genomes
      include large amounts of repeats make it very difficult to unambiguously map and
      accurately characterize such variants. Furthermore, existing tools for SV
      discovery are primarily developed for only a few of the SV types, which may have
      conflicting sequence signatures (i.e. read pairs, read depth, split reads) with
      other, untargeted SV classes. Here we are introduce a new framework, Tardis,
      which combines multiple read signatures into a single package to characterize
      most SV types simultaneously, while preventing such conflicts. Tardis also has a
      modular structure that makes it easy to extend for the discovery of additional
      forms of SV.

PMID- 28583484
TI  - Quality and readability of websites for patient information on tonsillectomy and
      sleep apnea.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Tonsillectomy is a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea
      (OSA). The Internet allows patients direct access to medical information. Since
      information on the Internet is largely unregulated, quality and readability are
      variable. This study evaluates the quality and readability of the most likely
      visited websites presenting information on sleep apnea and tonsillectomy.
      METHODS: The three most popular search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) were queried
      with the phrase "sleep apnea AND tonsillectomy." The DISCERN instrument was used
      to assess quality of information. Readability was evaluated using the Flesch
      Kincaid Reading Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES). RESULTS:
      Out of the maximum of 80, the average DISCERN quality score for the websites was
      55.1 (SD- 12.3, Median- 60.5). The mean score for FRES was 42.3 (SD- 15.9, Median
      45.5), which falls in the range defined as difficult. No website was above the
      optimal score of 65. The mean score for the FKGL was US grade-level of 10.7 (SD-
      1.6, Median- 11.6). Only 4(27%) websites were in the optimal range of 6-8. There
      was very weak correlation between FRES and DISCERN (r = 0.07) and FKGL and
      DISCERN (r = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common
      surgeries in the US. However, the internet information readily available to
      patients varies in quality. Additionally, much of the information is above the
      recommended grade level for comprehension by the public. By being aware of what
      information patients are reading online, physicians can better explain treatments
      and address misunderstandings. Physicians may consider using similar methods to
      test the readability for their own resources for patient education.

PMID- 28583485
TI  - Demographics and clinical features predictive of allergic versus non-allergic
      rhinitis in children aged 6-18 years: A single-center experience of 1535
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic rhinitis (CR) is one of the most common causes accounting for
      lost-school days, absenteeism and resource utilization in pediatric patients.
      Distinction between common causes of CR, allergic (AR)and non-allergic rhinitis
      (NAR), based upon clinical features is critical, especially in primary care
      settings or facilities with lack of allergen sensitivity testing, as management
      strategies differ considerably. The current study elucidates clinical factors,
      particularly facial features associated with AR and NAR using a large cohort.
      METHODS: In a retrospective cohort analysis of pediatric patients aged 6-18
      years, we assessed patient demographics, clinical symptoms, and signs associated
      with allergic rhinitis using multivariable regression techniques. RESULTS:
      Overall, 1490 patients (mean age: 10.11 +/- 3.31 years; 48% female; 69% AR and
      31% NAR) were included in the study. In multivariable regression analysis, major
      clinical features associated with AR were: sneezing (OR: 3.53; 95% CI: 2.35-5.32;
      p < 0.001), rhinorrhea (OR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.18-2.66; p = 0.006), nasal itching
      (OR: 17.88; 95% CI: 11.92-26.83; p < 0.001), horizontal nasal crease (OR: 5.09;
      95% CI: 1.29-20.01; p = 0.020) and conjunctivitis (OR: 4.66; 95% CI: 3.28-6.62; p
      < 0.001). On the contrary, we noted presence of Dennie-Morgan fold (OR: 1.67; 95%
      CI: 1.11-2.56; p = 0.014), moderate to severe persistent or intermittent symptoms
      to be likely associated with NAR than AR. CONCLUSION: In pediatric patients
      presenting with symptoms of rhinitis, facial hallmarks serve as an adjunct to
      sensitivity testing in establishing a diagnosis as well as differentiating
      between NAR from AR, albeit individualized upon patient history and clinical
      features.

PMID- 28583486
TI  - Ototoxicity associated with topical administration of diclofenac sodium as an
      otic drop: An experimental animal study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to evaluate the ototoxicity of topical
      diclofenac sodium in comparison to positive and negative controls prior to the
      investigation of analgesic and anti-inflammatory efficacy of the agent in otic
      administration. METHODS: Twenty four ears of 12 guinea pigs were included in the
      study. Wide myringotomy was performed on all tympanic membranes under general
      anesthesia and auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were evaluated. The subjects
      were separated into four groups, two groups received diclofenac sodium at low and
      high doses, positive controls received gentamicin and negative controls received
      isotonic sodium chloride topically for 14 days and ABRs were reevaluated.
      RESULTS: No significant difference were observed between the pre and post
      treatment click response, 1 kHz and 8 kHz response threshold levels after
      isotonic sodium chloride administration. All threshold levels were elevated in
      the positive control group. In the low and high dose diclofenac sodium groups,
      click response, 1 kHz and 8 kHz response threshold levels were significantly
      higher compared to the baseline values. Pre and post-treatment mean threshold
      level changes were not significantly different between the low and high dose
      diclofenac sodium groups. Pre and post-treatment mean threshold level changes in
      the gentamicin group were not significantly different from low or high dose
      diclofenac sodium groups. CONCLUSION: Diclofenac sodium, considered as an
      analgesic and anti-inflammatory otic preparation, is shown to be as ototoxic as
      gentamicin in chronic use which may lead to loss of hearing especially when used
      topically in chronic otitis cases with tympanic membrane damage.

PMID- 28583487
TI  - Considerations for the successful decannulation of the pediatric patient: A
      single surgeon's experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the steps and interventions necessary for successful
      decannulation of the chronic pediatric tracheostomy patient. METHODS: This
      retrospective review analyzed one surgeon's (DJK) pediatric tracheostomy
      decannulation methods and results at a tertiary academic medical center over a
      thirteen-year period, from October 2002 through November 2015. It also examined
      which tests and procedures were conducted on patients prior to their successful
      decannulation. RESULTS: Over the period of study, 46 patients met inclusion
      criteria for analysis and underwent decannulation after being followed in the
      clinic or the hospital. One of these patients had to have the tracheostomy tube
      replaced. In nearly all cases, these patients underwent a systematic progression
      from tolerance of daytime tracheostomy capping to a capped sleep study, and
      endoscopic airway evaluation. In recent years, a subset of patients also
      underwent sleep endoscopy. In nearly all cases, patients spent a single night in
      the hospital in a non-acute bed at the time of decannulation. Ninety-eight
      percent (n = 45) of patients were successfully and safely decannulated after
      having met the milestones that we employ at our institution. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study serves as a safe, efficient, and resource-prudent protocol for
      otolaryngologists to follow when considering tracheostomy decannulation in the
      pediatric population. Sleep endoscopy can play a helpful role in guiding
      decannulation decisions. Since it is impossible to employ a single rigid protocol
      of testing prior to decannulating all patients, clinical judgment must always be
      exercised in individual circumstances.

PMID- 28583488
TI  - Non-invasive methods to maintain cervical spine position after pediatric tracheal
      resections.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To present our experience with two methods of neck stabilization
      after pediatric tracheal resection with primary anastomosis as possible
      alternatives to the traditional chest-chin suture. METHODS: Children undergoing
      tracheal resection and/or cricotracheal resection with anastomosis under tension
      were placed in cervical spine flexion postoperatively with either a chest-chin
      (Grillo) suture, an Aspen cervical collar or Trulife Johnson cervical-thoracic
      orthosis (CTO). A retrospective chart review of tracheal resections performed
      between 2005 and 2016 was completed to evaluate the positive and negative factors
      associated with each neck flexion technique. RESULTS: Of the 20 patients, there
      were 13 patients with the Grillo suture, 4 with the Aspen collar and 3 patients
      with the Johnson CTO. There were 13 tracheal resection procedures and 7
      cricotracheal resections, all of which had anastomosis under tension. One major
      anastomosis dehiscence was noted with the Grillo suture technique which required
      reoperation. Two patients with the Grillo suture experienced skin breakdown at
      the suture site. The Aspen cervical collar, which fixed the cervical spine and
      prevented lateral and rotational motion, was limited in several cases in that it
      placed the spine in slight hyperextension. The Johnson CTO provided the most
      support in a flexed position and prevented cervical spine motion in all
      directions. No anastomosis complications were noted with the Aspen collar or the
      Johnson CTO, however, several patients sustained minor cutaneous wounds.
      CONCLUSION: In this series the Aspen cervical collar and Johnson CTO were used
      successfully as non-Grillo alternatives to postoperative neck stabilization in
      pediatric tracheal resections. Modifications to both devices are proposed to
      minimize cutaneous injuries and increase immobilization of the cervical spine in
      the desired flexed position. Although these devices appear to be safe and may be
      better tolerated, further innovation is needed to improve the design and fit of
      these devices.

PMID- 28583489
TI  - The acceptability and tolerability of nasal douching in children with allergic
      rhinitis: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a significant issue in children. Treatment
      options include allergen avoidance, pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy. The use of
      nasal saline douching (NSD) in children has recently gained acceptability.
      However, there is limited data regarding the acceptability and tolerability of
      NSD in children with AR. METHODS: A search was conducted using Medline and Embase
      databases from January 1946 until June 2015 on the use of NSD in children aged 4
      12 years with AR. All publications identified that assessed the beneficial
      effects, acceptability and tolerability were included. RESULTS: 40 studies were
      analyzed. Data varied considerably in terms of saline solutions used, modality of
      application, participant numbers, study design, follow up and outcomes. Factors
      that appear to influence the acceptability and tolerability of NSD include
      parental and health professionals' preconceptions, and characteristics of the
      solution. CONCLUSIONS: Nasal saline douching appears to be effective, being
      accepted and tolerated in the majority of children (78-100%). NSD has a
      significant positive impact on the quality of life in children with allergic
      rhinitis. When used as an adjunctive treatment having mainly a cleansing
      property, NSD potentiates the effects and may reduce the dose required of AR
      medications. Among the principal factors that influence the acceptability and
      tolerability of NSD are the child's age, delivery system and method, and
      tonicity. Nasal saline douching provides an accessible, low cost, low morbidity,
      easy to use treatment in children with allergic rhinitis.

PMID- 28583490
TI  - Polysomnography results versus clinical factors to predict post-operative
      respiratory complications following pediatric adenotonsillectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Systematically review the published literature comparing the presence
      of clinical features (age, BMI, co-morbidities, etc.) versus polysomnogram (PSG)
      results in the prediction of major post-operative respiratory complications
      following pediatric adenotonsillectomy (T/A) for the treatment of Obstructive
      Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). METHODS: A systematic review of the PUBMED and
      EMBASE databases was performed to identify studies containing both clinical and
      PSG data predicting major post-operative respiratory complications following T/A.
      Inclusion criteria included English language and extractable data. Major
      respiratory complications were defined as events that required significant
      intervention (intubation, CPAP,etc.) and/or altered patient disposition. Random
      effect modeling was performed and study quality was assessed using the Newcastle
      Ottawa Scale. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria with a
      median sample size of 157 (range 26-1735) and published between 1992 and 2015.
      The most common study design was a case series. Most studies included multiple
      patients at high risk for respiratory complications (Syndromic, obese, etc.). The
      summary estimate of the major respiratory complication rate following T/A was
      only 5.8% (95% CI = 4.2-7.4%, p < 0.001, I2 = 99%). For studies with extractable
      data, 102 of 112 patients (91.1%) with a post-operative respiratory complication
      had a clearly identifiable clinical risk factor, the remainder (8.9%) had only
      moderate or severe OSAS on PSG and no other predictor. CONCLUSION: The major
      respiratory complication rate following pediatric T/A for OSAS is low even
      amongst series of high risk patients. The majority of the published literature
      report that readily identified clinical factors predict the large majority of
      post-operative respiratory complications following T/A.

PMID- 28583491
TI  - Adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Preschool Language Scale-Fifth
      Edition (PLS-5) in the Turkish context: The Turkish Preschool Language Scale-5
      (TPLS-5).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Speech and language assessment is very important in early diagnosis
      of children with hearing and speech disorders. Aim of this study is to determine
      the validity and reliability of Preschool Language Scale (5th edition) test with
      its Turkish translation and adaptation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Our study is
      conducted on 1320 children aged between 0-7 years 11 months. While 1044 of these
      children have normal hearing, language and speech development, 276 of them have
      receptive and/or expressive language disorder. After the English-Turkish and
      Turkish-English translations of PLS-5 made by two experts command of both
      languages, some of the test items are reorganized because of the grammatical
      features of Turkish and the cultural structure of the country. The pilot study
      was conducted with 378 children. The test which is reorganized in the light of
      data obtained in pilot application, is applied to children chosen randomly with
      layering technique from different regions of Turkey, then 15 days later the first
      test applied again to 120 children. RESULTS: While 1044 of 1320 children aged
      between 0 and 7 years 11 months are normal, 276 of them have receptive and/or
      expressive language disorder. While 98 of 103 healthy children of 120 taken under
      the second evaluation have normal language development, 8 of 9 who used to have
      language development disorder in the past still remaining (Kappa
      coefficient:0,468, p<0,001). Pearson correaltion coefficient for TPLS-5 standard
      gauge are; IA raw score:0,937, IED raw score: 0,908 and TDP: 0,887 respectively.
      Correlation coefficient for age equivalance is found as IA:0,871, IED: 0,896,
      TDP: 0,887. CONCLUSIONS: TPLS-5 is the first and only language test in our
      country that can evaluate receptive and/or expressive language skills of children
      aged between 0-7 years 11 months. Results of the study show that TPLS-5 is a
      valid and reliable language test for the Turkish children.

PMID- 28583492
TI  - Silent sinus syndrome and maxillary sinus atelectasis in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Silent sinus syndrome (SSS) and chronic maxillary atelectasis (CMA)
      are unusual conditions having subtle symptoms with a possible progressive
      evolution. They are particularly infrequent in the pediatric population. Our
      objective was to review our experience with pediatric patients having SSS or CMA,
      and to review all cases involving patients under 14 years of age reported in the
      literature. METHODS: A retrospective review of 6 patients diagnosed with SSS or
      CMA surgically treated from 2001 to 2014 was carried out. All cases reported in
      literature were reviewed. RESULTS: All patients underwent functional endoscopic
      sinus surgery with an improvement in symptoms after surgery. Diplopia disappeared
      in two patients who presented with it and enophthalmos improved in all five
      patients presenting with it. Only one patient out of four presenting with
      headache had a persistence of the symptoms which were, however, milder than they
      had been preoperatively. Endoscopic examination demonstrated a reventilated
      maxillary sinus in all cases. A radiological examination at follow-up was
      performed in 5 cases and demonstrated a reexpansion of the maxillary sinus as
      compared to the contralateral side in all patients except one. None of the
      patients required an orbital floor reconstruction. Eleven similar cases reported
      in the literature were analyzed and compared. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic uncinectomy
      and middle meatal antrostomy should be the treatment of choice for these
      conditions in patients presenting with enophthalmos and/or hypoglobus and
      symptoms related to it. Orbital floor reconstruction should be performed as a
      delayed procedure only in selected cases. Chronic maxillary atelectasis or SSS
      should be considered as a possible cause of persistent headache of unknown origin
      in pediatric patients.

PMID- 28583493
TI  - Endoscopic esophageal and tracheal cauterization for closure of recurrent
      tracheoesophageal fistula: A case report and review of the literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) can be a diagnostic and
      therapeutic challenge. Traditional treatment is thoracotomy, which carries
      significant morbidity and technical difficulty especially in a previously
      operated field. Recently, endoscopic techniques have been advocated as a primary
      approach for treatment of recurrent TEF prior to open repair. This case report
      describes the endoscopic technique used to address a recurrent TEF. The existing
      literature of all reported endoscopic cauterization methods is reviewed. METHODS:
      An 8 month old with proximal esophageal atresia and distal TEF underwent
      endoscopic closure of a recurrent TEF. The fistula was approached endotracheally
      utilizing Bugbee electrocautery (EC) and endoluminally through the esophagus
      using argon plasma coagulator and placement of porcine submucosa graft into the
      tract. Current literature review is presented with a synthesis of data on cases
      utilizing endoscopically applied EC and the combined results of this closure
      technique. RESULTS: Our patient has maintained successful closure after a single
      treatment confirmed on follow up endoscopy 6 months post repair. Including this
      patient, there have been 30 patients with recurrent TEF treated utilizing
      endoscopic EC reported in the literature. The overall success rate is 78.8% with
      a mean of 1.88 procedures per successful closure. Comparing EC alone to EC
      combined with tissue glues or laser, success rates are 67% and 86% respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Endoscopic repair of recurrent TEF has proven to be safe and
      effective in the literature as an alternative to a second thoracotomy/open
      surgical repair. EC combined with tissue glues or laser is more effective than EC
      alone based on available data.

PMID- 28583494
TI  - Spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea from the trigeminal canal in an adolescent.
AB  - We report a case of a seventeen-year old, healthy, non-obese young woman who
      presented with retro-orbital headaches and metallictasting, left-sided
      rhinorrhea. Computed tomography revealed a defect along the medial wall of the
      canal of V2 within a well-pneumatized lateral recess of the left sphenoid sinus.
      Prior imaging obtained 4 years earlier in the context of nasal trauma showed no
      such defect - thus lending support for the arachnoid granulation hypothesis of
      spontaneous CSF leaks from the sphenoid sinus. We perform a literature review and
      describe a successful repair through an endoscopic transpterygoid approach, which
      allowed for resolution of symptoms with minimal postoperative morbidity.

PMID- 28583495
TI  - Prevalence of hearing-loss among HAART-treated children in the Horn of Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of hearing loss (HL) in children infected with
      HIV/AIDS is not well studied. Even fewer studies focus on stable HIV-infected
      children treated with high-effective antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We aim to
      compare the prevalence of ear disease and HL in HAART-treated, HIV + children in
      Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a well, similarly-aged elementary school population
      with unknown HIV status (HIVU). METHODS: Children underwent standard head and
      neck examination and cerumen removal by board certified otolaryngologists. Next,
      certified audiologists performed hearing screening with pure-tone audiometry
      using a circumaural headset but without an ambient noise reducing environment.
      Children failing audiometric screening underwent full behavioral audiometry
      including air and bone testing. The primary outcome parameter was HL > 25 dB with
      the audiologist accounting for background noise. A second endpoint was PTA >40 dB
      (500, 1000, 2000 Hz) without assessment of background noise. RESULTS: 107 HIV+
      and 147 HIVU children met inclusion criteria. In the HIV + cohort 17.8% had
      evidence of TM perforations and 8.4% had otorrhea. In the HIVU group 2.7% had a
      TM perforation and 0% had otorrhea. Hearing was significantly worse in HIV +
      children. (Audiologist determination: 38.3% HL HIV+, 12.2% HIVU, Fisher's-Exact
      Test OR: 4.5, 95% CI 2.4-8.3, p-value <0.0001; Worse-hearing-ear PTA > 40 dB:
      19.6% HL HIV+, 6.1% HIVU, OR: 3.7, 95% CI 1.7-8.4, p-value <0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Chronic OM, conductive and mixed hearing losses are significantly more common in
      HAART-treated HIV + children than in well, similarly-aged controls. Rates of SNHL
      are similar.

PMID- 28583496
TI  - The effect of perioperative dexamethasone dosing on post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage
      risk.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Dexamethasone is currently recommended for routine prophylaxis
      against postoperative nausea and vomiting after tonsillectomy procedures.
      However, some studies have raised concern that dexamethasone use may lead to
      higher rates of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage. Our objective was to determine
      whether higher doses of dexamethasone administered perioperatively during
      tonsillectomy procedures are associated with an increased risk of secondary post
      tonsillectomy hemorrhage. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 9843
      patients who underwent tonsillectomy and received dexamethasone at our
      institution from January 2010 to October 2014. We compared the dose of
      dexamethasone administered to patients who did and did not develop secondary post
      tonsillectomy hemorrhage using Mann Whitney U tests. Multivariable logistic
      regression models were used to evaluate the association between dexamethasone
      dose and post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage after adjustment for demographic and
      clinical characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 280 (2.8%) patients developed
      secondary post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage. Patients who developed hemorrhage tended
      to be older (median (interquartile range) 7 (4-11) vs. 5 (3-8) years), p < 0.001)
      and had undergone tonsillectomy more often for chronic tonsillitis but less often
      for tonsillar or adenotonsillar hypertrophy or sleep disturbances. Dexamethasone
      dose was significantly lower on average in patients who experienced secondary
      post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage (median (interquartile range) 0.19 (0.14, 0.23)
      mg/kg vs. 0.21 (0.17, 0.30), p < 0.001). Multivariable modeling demonstrated that
      the dose of dexamethasone was not significantly associated with post
      tonsillectomy hemorrhage after adjustment for age. CONCLUSIONS: There does not
      appear to be a dose-related increase in the risk of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage
      for patients receiving dexamethasone during tonsillectomy procedures.

PMID- 28583497
TI  - Safety of endoscopic sinus surgery in children with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Data on the safety of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) are limited in
      children with cystic fibrosis (CF). We used a multi-institutional surgical
      registry to examine ESS outcomes in children with CF. METHODS: The 2014-2015
      American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      Pediatric database was queried for patients age <18 years undergoing elective
      ESS. Prolonged hospital stay (>1 day), 30-day readmission, and 30-day unplanned
      reoperation were compared according to presence of CF diagnosis. RESULTS: The
      data included 213 children with CF (age 10 +/- 5 years, 105/108 male/female) and
      821 children without CF (age 10 +/- 5 years, 504/317 male/female). CF patients
      were more likely than non-CF patients to require prolonged hospital stay (30% vs.
      9%, p < 0.001), yet had similar rates of readmission (6% vs. 4%; p = 0.189) and
      reoperation (0 vs. 1%; p = 0.133). All readmissions but one among CF patients
      were unrelated to ESS. In the non-CF cohort, reasons for ESS-related readmissions
      included recurrence of sinusitis, postoperative pain, and bleeding. CONCLUSIONS:
      We demonstrate the safety of ESS in the largest cohort of children with CF
      reviewed to date. Multi-institutional review of ESS safety may contribute to
      monitoring expansion of this intervention in children with CF.

PMID- 28583498
TI  - Foreign body aspiration in children: A study of children who lived or died
      following aspiration.
AB  - Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a preventable cause of mortality and morbidity
      in children. We conducted a chart review of children who presented to a
      university hospital due to FBA in the period 1999-2014. Children were either
      managed with bronchoscopy for removal of the foreign body or died due to FBA. A
      total of 103 children were seen due to FBA including 27 deaths. The majority of
      children were boys and were less than 3 years old. Most aspirated foreign bodies
      were food-related, mainly peanuts. The majority of children presented with acute
      choking incidents, a smaller number presented with recurrent chest infections,
      and few children's choking incidents were unwitnessed. X-ray had a high rate of
      false negatives and bronchoscopy was the gold standard technique for assessment
      and management. Aspiration of foreign bodies is a preventable, life-threatening
      condition that calls for increased parent education and awareness.

PMID- 28583499
TI  - The effect of blocking Notch signaling by gamma-secretase inhibitor on allergic
      rhinitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of blocking Notch signaling
      by gamma-secretase inhibitor (GSI) on allergic rhinitis. METHOD: GSI, N-[N-(3,5
      difluorophenacetyl-L-alanyl)]-S-phenylglycine t-butylester (DAPT) was
      administered to ovalbumin-induced AR mice models intranasally. We observed
      symptoms of sneezing and nose rubbing. To detect the inflammatory state, the
      serum OVA-specific-IgE, IFN-gamma, IL-4, and IL-5 were analyzed by ELISA, and Th
      cell cytokines in nasal mucosa were analyzed by RT-PCR, including T-bet, IFN
      gamma, GATA-3, IL-4, and IL-5. In addition, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and periodic
      acid-Schiff (PAS) were applied for histopathological examination. As for the
      evaluation of Notch signaling, we analyzed the Notch-1, Notch signaling target
      Hes-1, and Hes-5 in mucosa by RT-PCR, besides, used western blotting and
      immunohistochemistry to assess NICD (Notch intracellular domain). RESULTS: The
      results showed that the DAPT ameliorated the development of AR and suppressed Th2
      cytokine levels significantly, alleviating eosinophils infiltration and goblet
      cells metaplasia, suggesting that the GSI can regulate Th2 response and weaken
      airway inflammation in AR. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide evidence that
      blocking Notch signaling by GSI offers high value in treating AR.

PMID- 28583500
TI  - Mutation analysis of common GJB2, SCL26A4 and 12S rRNA genes among 380 deafness
      patients in northern China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The molecular etiology of nonsyndromic deafness in Chinese population
      has not been investigated systematically, our study is aim to investigate the
      molecular etiology of nonsyndromic deafness patients from Northern China
      (Heilongjiang province), in order to provide genetic test and counseling to
      families. METHODS: 380 unrelated patients with hearing loss who attended to the
      Department of Otolaryngology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical
      University were enrolled to our study. All patients were diagnosed with
      nonsyndromic deafness by audiologic evaluation, 202 normal-hearing individuals
      were taken as controls. Mutations in three common deafness-causing genes (GJB2,
      SLC26A4 and 12S rRNA) were screened by direct sequencing. RESULTS: Mutations
      (homozygote or compound heterozygote) in GJB2 accounted for 8.9% (34/380) of the
      patients, mutations in SLC26A4 accounted for 10.0% (38/380) of the patients
      screened. Only one case was found to carry 12S rRNA 1555A > G (1/380, 0.26%).
      Five types of mutations in GJB2 were identified, GJB2 235delC was the most
      prevalent mutation in our patient group (76/380, 20.0%), followed by 299-300delAT
      with a frequency of 7.4% (28/380). Two types of mutations in SLC26A4 were
      detected in our patient group (IVS7-2A > G and 2168A > G). IVS7-2A > G was
      identified in 27 patients (27/380, 7.1%) and 2168A > G was identified in 14
      patients (14/380, 3.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that 19.2% patients
      with nonsyndromic deafness were caused by mutations in three common deafness
      genes (GJB2, SLC26A4 and 12S rRNA) in our northern China patient group. GJB2
      235delC was the most prevalent mutation, same as in the most Asian populations.
      These data enrich the database of deafness mutations and provide the standard for
      clinical diagnose, treatment and genetic counseling in Northern China population.

PMID- 28583501
TI  - Otorhinolaryngologic manifestations of Hartsfield syndrome: Case series and
      review of literature.
AB  - Diagnosis of Hartsfield syndrome includes recognition of three distinct clinical
      anomalies: holoprosencephaly, ectrodactyly, and bilateral cleft-lip and palate
      syndrome. A family including three male siblings all affected by Hartsfield
      syndrome presented to our institution for care. An autosomal dominant variant in
      Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 (FGFR1) was identified. This report focuses
      on otorhinolaryngologic manifestationsof Hartsfield syndrome, previously
      undescribed, including midline defects of holoprosencephaly, bilateral cleft-lip
      and palate, retrognathia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, external ear
      anomalies, eustachian tube dysfunction, and midface abnormalities, in addition to
      multidisciplinary, long-term management strategies. Multidisciplinary management
      is imperative in the care of these children with modification of approach based
      on their medical complexity.

PMID- 28583502
TI  - The effectiveness of earmuffs on the physiologic and behavioral stability in
      preterm infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of earmuffs can protect preterm infants against negative
      effects of high noise levels in the neonatal intensive care unit. This study was
      aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the earmuffs on the physiologic and
      behavioral responses in preterm infants. METHODS: A crossed over controlled trial
      was conducted at Aliasghar Hospital (Tehran, Iran) in 2014. Thirty-six preterm
      infants cared in closed incubators, 18 cases wore a pair of silicon earmuffs in
      the first day and the others were worn it at the second day. During 2 consecutive
      days, all subjects were observed as their own controls (without earmuffs).
      Physiologic (body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic, diastolic
      pressures, arterial Oxygen Saturation) and behavioral responses (according to the
      Anderson behavioral state scoring system) were assessed every 2 h for 8 h long
      during daytime for two consecutive days. RESULTS: The application of earmuffs
      could decrease the rate of the heart and respiratory while could increase the
      amount of oxygen saturation (p < 0.05). The results also showed that the preterm
      infants with earmuffs had lower ABSS score and a better light sleep compared to
      those without earmuffs (2.38 +/- 0.47 versus 4.8 +/- 0.97, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      The results indicated that using the earmuffs reduces the level of noise in NICUs
      following by improving the preterm neonates' physiological stability and
      behavioral states of ABSS.

PMID- 28583503
TI  - Prevalence of pressure equalization tube placement and hearing loss in children
      with down syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of pressure equalization tube (PET)
      placement and hearing loss in children with Down syndrome (DS). MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: We evaluated 90 DS children births between 1 and 11 years old and
      compared to 90 children without DS paired in sex and age. Medical records were
      analyzed consecutively. Were collected data about proceedings PET placement, age
      of the patient at each PET, adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy and results for
      audiometry and tympanometry. RESULTS: Among the 90 patients with DS, 49 (54.4%)
      were male, median age of 58 months (15-143 months). In this group, 75 PET were
      placed in 26/90 children (28.9%) mostly between 3 and 5 years old. In 10/26
      (38.5%) was necessary PET replaced. When compared to the control group- 6/90
      (6.7%)- children with DS presented OR = 13.7 (95% CI 4.0-47.3) times more likely
      to use PET. Adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy (44.4% and 42.2% respectively) were
      significantly more frequent in DS group. The prevalence of hearing loss was 32.1%
      in the right ear and 26.9% in the left ear. Type B timpanometry was found in more
      than half of the patients with DS. CONCLUSION: We found a 13-fold higher risk of
      PET in DS children, especially between the ages of 3-5 years. The high prevalence
      of hearing loss and PET placement in patients with DS reinforcing the importance
      of early and regular follow-up for hearing screening in this population, mostly
      in preschool-aged children.

PMID- 28583504
TI  - Outcomes and limitations of hospital-based newborn hearing screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Globally, newborn hearing screening (NHS) is variably incorporated
      into national healthcare systems. The authors reviewed the set-up and evolution
      process of a hospital-based NHS program in South Korea, where screening costs for
      low-income families are paid by the National Health Authority. METHODS: The NHS
      process for 13805 newborns delivered in a tertiary referral center of South Korea
      from 2005 through 2014 was reviewed. Hearing screening was conducted using
      automated auditory brainstem response (AABR); hearing loss was confirmed by
      auditory brainstem response for newborns who did not pass the screening test.
      RESULTS: The mean screening rate for hearing loss was 53.6% (7403 of 13805
      newborns), which plateaued at 79.6% over time. Of the 14806 ears (7403 newborns),
      1030 (7.0%) were assessed as "refer" on the first AABR, with 204 (1.4%) being
      assessed as "refer" on the second AABR. In hearing confirmation tests, 74 infants
      (1.0% of 7403 newborns) were diagnosed with hearing loss, including 13 infants
      (0.2%) with bilateral moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).
      Hearing rehabilitation with long-term follow-up was confirmed in 11 infants.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this hospital-based NHS program, the screening rate plateaued at
      ~50% when the National Health Authority was not involved, but increased to ~70%
      when the cost for low-income families was covered by the government. Among
      infants needing active hearing rehabilitation due to bilateral moderate to
      profound SNHL, 15% were lost to follow-up. These results demonstrate the need for
      a universal, mandatory NHS program to systematically register hearing-impaired
      infants within the government-sponsored public healthcare system.

PMID- 28583506
TI  - Intergenerational preferences for radio loudness during automobile driving.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The comparative contribution to human noise exposure from the
      vehicular radio is unknown, as are the radio volume preferences of different
      generations when driving an automobile. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single vehicle
      was used to measure radio listening level in decibels of three generations (age
      16-17 years, age 32-50 years, and age 51-73 years) in various conditions, ranging
      from engine off with windows closed to 60 miles per hour (mph) with windows open.
      RESULTS: No differences in radio loudness based on the sex of the driver were
      found. Statistically significant differences were identified in preferred signal
      to noise ratio among multiple vehicular paradigms, with the youngest generation
      preferring the largest signal to noise ratio in conditions with low background
      noise. CONCLUSIONS: The youngest generation favored the largest signal to noise
      ratio (radio level above background noise), a preference which waned with
      increasing background noise.

PMID- 28583505
TI  - Novel EYA1 variants causing Branchio-oto-renal syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Branchio-oto-renal (BOR) syndrome is an autosomal dominant genetic
      disorder characterized by second branchial arch anomalies, hearing impairment,
      and renal malformations. Pathogenic mutations have been discovered in several
      genes such as EYA1, SIX5, and SIX1. However, nearly half of those affected reveal
      no pathogenic variant by traditional genetic testing. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Whole Exome sequencing and/or Sanger sequencing performed in 10 unrelated
      families from Turkey, Iran, Ecuador, and USA with BOR syndrome in this study.
      RESULTS: We identified causative DNA variants in six families including novel
      c.525delT, c.979T > C, and c.1768delG and a previously reported c.1779A > T
      variants in EYA1. Two large heterozygous deletions involving EYA1 were detected
      in additional two families. Whole exome sequencing did not reveal a causative
      variant in the remaining four families. CONCLUSIONS: A variety of DNA changes
      including large deletions underlie BOR syndrome in different populations, which
      can be detected with comprehensive genetic testing.

PMID- 28583507
TI  - Recurrent post tonsillectomy bleeds: Presentation and characteristics in the
      paediatric population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of, features and risk factors for recurrent
      post tonsillectomy bleeding. METHODS: Audit of all patients 0-15 years of age
      undergoing tonsillectomy between 01/2004-12/2014 with selection of those with
      recurrent bleeding post tonsillectomy for subanalysis. RESULTS: Of 5400 single
      centre tonsillectomies, 234 (4.8%) presented with bleeding and 9 (0.17%)
      presented with recurrent bleeding. 13 patients in total were treated, 10
      surgically. Average patient age: 8.5 years with median time to presentation of
      the first bleed: 5 days and second bleed: 11 days. There was no association with
      abnormal coagulation, NSAID usage, severity of the first bleed or surgical
      technique. The risk of developing a second bleed following treatment for one post
      tonsillectomy bleeding incident is approximately 1 in 25. CONCLUSION: Recurrent
      post tonsillectomy bleeds are rare, and cannot be predicted preoperatively. The
      mainstay of management is surgical cautery, but other interventions are
      occasionally needed.

PMID- 28583508
TI  - The adaptive use of a hand-crafted endotracheal-endobronchial tube for airway
      management in laryngo-tracheo-esophageal cleft type IV.

PMID- 28583509
TI  - Paediatric tracheomalacia - A review of clinical features and comparison of
      diagnostic imaging techniques.

PMID- 28583510
TI  - Lamotrigine induced lymphadenopathy: Case report and literature review.
AB  - Lamotrigine is an anti-epileptic drug often prescribed to children and young
      females. Side effects include rash, dizziness and diplopia. Over the last twenty
      years, two cases of lymphadenopathy due to lamotrigine have been reported. We
      will present the case of a 17-year old female with persistent lymphadenopathy due
      to lamotrigine. The purpose of this case report is to inform clinicians that
      lymphadenopathy is a possible side effect of lamotrigine and to highlight the
      need for further research.

PMID- 28583511
TI  - Blood count values and ratios for predicting sleep apnea in obese children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To detect whether the mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-to
      lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are contributing
      factors in the diagnosis and severity of sleep apnea in obese children.
      INTRODUCTION: Obesity is a public health problem, and its prevalence increases
      daily. Although PSG is the gold standard test in the investigation of sleep
      apnea, the application of this test requires equipment, personnel, time, and
      cost. There is no simple laboratory test for diagnosing and determining the
      severity of sleep apnea. Recently, MPV, NLR, and PLR, known as the inflammatory
      markers in CBC test parameters, have been investigated in some studies. We aim to
      investigate whether these parameters could provide a method for diagnosing and
      determining the severity of OSAS in obese children. METHODS: Clinical records of
      180 patients were evaluated. All subjects had venous blood samples collected from
      the antecubital vein in the morning, after an overnight fasting, one day before
      PSG. Hemoglobin, RDW, MPV, PLT, platelet distribution width (PDW), and WBC count
      were measured. After anthropometric and laboratory analysis, 127 obese children
      were assessed for sleep study. Eighty-three patients who met the required
      polysomnographic criteria were divided into three groups as follows: group A [non
      OSAS, apnea-plus-hypopnea index (AHI) < 1], groupB (1 <= AHI < 5), and groupC
      (AHI >= 5). RESULTS: Total recording time, total sleep time, sleep efficiency,
      REM, and NREM sleep stage latency values were not statistically significant among
      groups. However, the number of awakenings, AHI, oxygen desaturation events, mean
      oxygen saturation, lowest oxygen saturation, average desaturation, and snoring
      time values had significant difference among the groups. There was no
      statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of WBC,
      Hemoglobin, platelets, PDW, neutrophil, and lymphocyte values. However, RDW
      values showed a statistically significant difference between groups A and C.
      Although there was no statistically significant difference of MPV values among
      groups, NLR and PLR values were statistically significant between groups A and C.
      CONCLUSION: According to our study, NLR, PLR, and RDW were found to be
      significantly higher in children whose AHI was >=5 than in children from the
      other groups. However, no correlation was found between MPV levels and OSAS in
      children.

PMID- 28583512
TI  - Comprehensive management of congenital choanal atresia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To present results of a one-stage minimally invasive surgical
      procedure for congenital choanal atresia (CCA). Seven outcome measures were
      applied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective study conducted between 1999 and
      2015. The same endonasal endoscopic approach with multiflaps and no stenting was
      used on 36 children. The flaps were attached with fibrine glue. There were 50%
      unilateral and 50% bilateral cases, 70% primary and 30% secondary surgery. The
      mean age at primary surgery for bilateral atresia was 10 days and for unilateral
      atresia 4 years. Associated loco-regional disorders were: hypoplasia of the
      inferior turbinate, rhinopharyngeal stenosis and rhinopharyngeal web. RESULTS:
      The average follow-up time was 6 years, ranging from 1 to 14 years. There was a
      functionally patent choanae in 94% of children, and 6% showed severe restenosis
      with a diameter less than 4 mm, which needed one revision surgery each. Charge
      patients were not associated with worse outcome. There was no external nasal
      valve stenosis and no permanent Eustachian tube dysfunction. Synechiae occurred
      in 3 patients with hyperplastic inferior turbinate. No patients showed any
      disharmonious nasal growth. In neonates with isolated bilateral CCA, breast
      suction could be started within 1 day (range 1-2 days), and pain-killers were
      needed on average for 1.5 days (range 1-4 days). The hospital stay for unilateral
      isolated CCA was on average 1.5 days (range 1-2 days) and for bilateral isolated
      CCA, 8 days (range 3-20 days). Postoperative procedures under a short general
      anesthesia were necessary in 12 cases, 10 of them were infants under 6 months of
      age. CONCLUSION: Surgery could be performed safely in the newborn in the early
      stage of life, even for unilateral atresia. Tendency for restenosis can be
      minimized by: 1. the construction of an as large as possible uni-neochoanae by
      removing the posterior part of the vomer and by drilling away the medial
      pterygoid; 2. in case of rhinopharyngeal stenosis, part of the endochondral
      clivus bone should be resected; 3. all raw surfaces should be covered by multiple
      mucosal flaps secured with fibrin glue; 4. no stenting; 5. appropriate
      postoperative care.

PMID- 28583513
TI  - Health-related quality of life in patients with cleft palate: Validity and
      reliability of the VPI Effects on Life Outcomes (VELO) questionnaire translated
      to Dutch.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL)
      questionnaires provide the clinician with important information regarding the
      impact of the disease on functioning and well-being. For patients with
      velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI), the VPI Effects on Life Outcomes (VELO)
      questionnaire was developed and validated in English by Skirko et al. (2012).
      However, a valid and reliable Dutch translation of this questionnaire is not
      available yet. METHODS: The English questionnaire was translated to Dutch
      following a forward-backward translation procedure. A linguistic validation and
      the evaluation of the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of this Dutch
      version were performed based on the responses of 39 parents of patients with
      cleft (lip and) palate (mean age: 6.8 years) (parent report) and the responses of
      14 patients older than 8 years (mean age: 9.5 years) (child report).
      Additionally, the concurrent validity was assessed by comparing the scores on the
      parent report to those on the pediatric voice handicap index. Furthermore, the
      validity of the parent proxy assessment and the relationship between age and
      responses on the VELO questionnaire were investigated. Based on the responses of
      an age and gender matched control group without cleft palate, the discriminant
      validity was evaluated. RESULTS: The parent report was easy to complete for all
      parents. Nine of the fourteen (64%) patients were able to complete the child
      report independently. The median scores on the parent report and the child report
      were 82.7 and 95.1 respectively. The patient group had a significantly worse
      perception of HRQOL compared to the control group (p < 0.001; p = 0.029). There
      were no significant differences between the responses of the parent and their
      child's (p = 0.345). A significant positive correlation was found between the
      score on the parent report and the age of the patients (p = 0.001). Furthermore,
      a significant negative correlation was found between the parent report and the P
      VHI (p < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha was 0.955 and 0.817 for the parent report and
      the child report respectively. CONCLUSION: The Dutch VELO questionnaire is a
      valid, reliable and user-friendly tool that provides important information about
      HRQOL in patients with cleft (lip and) palate.

PMID- 28583514
TI  - Pediatric sinonasal malignancies: A population-based analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pediatric Sinonasal Malignancies (PedsSNM) are rare and usually
      associated with a poor prognosis. We aim to investigate the epidemiology, tumor
      characteristics, and survival of PedsSNM using a population-based database to
      augment the scant literature on this topic. METHODS: The Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results database was queried for patients <=18 years
      diagnosed with PedsSNM between the years of 1973 and 2013. Data on incidence,
      tumor characteristics, and survival were analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 210
      patients with PedsSNM were identified. Demographically, 54.3% were female, 72.6%
      were white, and the mean age was 10.7 years. Overall incidence was 0.036 per
      100,000 individuals between the years of 2000 and 2013. The nasal cavity was the
      most frequent primary site (37.1%) and rhabdomyosarcoma was the most frequent
      malignancy (50.5%). Five-, 10-, and 20-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rates
      were 60.2%, 46.1%, and 20.6%, respectively. Grade IV tumors made up the largest
      group (37.3%), and such tumors exhibited the worst 5-, 10-, and 20-year survival
      (P < 0.05). Distant disease predicted the worst 5-, 10-, and 20-year survival,
      followed by regional, then localized disease (P < 0.01). Patients treated with
      surgery alone had a higher 20-year survival (P = 0.0425). No significant
      differences in survival were observed between race, gender, primary site, or
      histology. CONCLUSIONS: PedsSNM frequently presented as Grade IV tumors. The
      nasal cavity was the most common primary site and rhabdomyosarcoma was the most
      frequent histology. Patients receiving surgery alone had the highest survival;
      however, this may be a reflection of smaller, less aggressive tumors
      preferentially being treated with surgery alone.

PMID- 28583515
TI  - Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging of the Transplant Kidney: Correlation
      Between Cortical Stiffness and Arterial Resistance in Early Post-transplant
      Period.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging is a noninvasive
      imaging modality for quantitative assessment of tissue stiffness. This study
      utilized ARFI imaging to assess the stiffness of a transplant renal cortex within
      the first month after renal transplantation and to explore the correlation
      between the cortical stiffness and arterial resistance of the transplant kidney.
      METHODS: Forty renal transplant recipients (male/female = 26/14; mean age: 45.3
      years; deceased donor/living related donor = 27/13) were included in this study.
      ARFI imaging with virtual touch tissue imaging quantification was applied to
      assess the stiffness of the transplant renal cortex by using a linear ultrasound
      transducer. Arterial resistance was acquired by spectral Doppler examination of
      the main artery and intrarenal arteries of the transplant kidney using a
      curvilinear ultrasound transducer. RESULTS: The stiffness of transplant renal
      cortex was expressed as shear wave velocity (m/s). The mean value of cortical
      stiffness was 3.19 +/- 1.01 m/s (range: 1.55-5.54). The stiffness of transplant
      renal cortex was positively correlated with the resistance index of the main
      renal artery (r = 0.55, P = .001), segmental artery (r = 0.43, P = .005), and
      interlobar artery (r = 0.42, P = .006). CONCLUSION: The stiffness of a transplant
      renal cortex is positively correlated with the arterial resistance of the renal
      transplant in the early post-transplant period. This result indicates that, in
      addition to renal fibrosis, the stiffness of the transplant renal cortex is also
      influenced by the hemodynamics of the transplant kidney.

PMID- 28583516
TI  - Metabolomics Study for Identification of Potential Biomarkers of Long-term
      Survival in Kidney Transplantation Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent progress and appropriate use of immunosuppressive drugs
      have considerably improved the short-term survival in kidney transplantation
      recipients (KTRs). The development of new strategies to improve long-term
      survival outcome after kidney transplantation is also becoming important.
      Although current diagnosis of allograft dysfunction relies on serum creatinine
      concentration and biopsy, they are nonspecific indicators of allograft function.
      Therefore, noninvasive, sensitive, and specific biomarkers for the prediction of
      long-term survival are needed. The aim of this study was to discover potential
      biomarkers for long-term survival in KTRs through the use of liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. METHODS: We used the metabolic approach
      to explore the change of metabolites in the serum of KTRs. Twenty-four KTRs with
      long-term good survival (LGS) and 10 KTRs with chronic antibody-mediated
      rejection (CAMR) were included in this study. After quantile normalization with
      chromatographic data, multivariate statistical analysis was performed. We
      attempted to analyze metabolic profiling with LGS and CAMR groups. RESULTS: The
      orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis score plot showed a
      separation between 2 groups in the principal component. In the corresponding
      loading plot, 344 metabolites responsible for the separation observed in the
      score plot were identified (variable influence on projection >=1.0). We then
      selected 54 metabolites to compare mass with charge by searching a web database,
      and 11 compounds were identified. CONCLUSIONS: We found metabolites in serum that
      differ in LGS and CAMR groups. Further studies are needed to figure out potential
      metabolomic biomarkers to predict long-term survival in KTRs.

PMID- 28583517
TI  - Association Studies of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 Gene Polymorphisms With Acute
      Rejection in Kidney Transplantation Recipients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) belong to the transforming growth
      factor beta superfamily of proteins. This study was performed to evaluate the
      association of BMP gene polymorphisms with acute renal allograft rejection (AR)
      and graft dysfunction (GD) in Koreans. METHODS: Three hundred thirty-one patients
      who had kidney transplantation procedures were recruited. Transplantation
      outcomes were determined in terms of AR and GD criteria. We selected six single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs1979855 (5' near gene), rs1049007 (Ser87Ser),
      rs235767 (intron), rs1005464 (intron), rs235768 (Arg190Ser), and rs3178250 (3;
      untranslated region). RESULTS: Among the six SNPs tested, the rs235767,
      rs1005464, and rs3178250 SNPs were significantly associated with AR (P < .05).
      The rs1049007 and rs235768 SNPs also showed an association with GD (P < .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, these results suggest that the BMP2 gene polymorphism
      may be related to the development of AR and GD in kidney transplant recipients.

PMID- 28583518
TI  - Cystatin C-Based Equation for Predicting the Glomerular Filtration Rate in Kidney
      Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Precise monitoring of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is needed
      to estimate the allograft function in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). The
      GFR is widely estimated with the use of formulas based on serum cystatin C (SCys)
      and serum creatinine (SCr) levels. We compared the efficacy of SCys-based
      equations with that of SCr-based equations to predict the allograft function.
      METHODS: We calculated the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), Chronic
      Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI Cr), CKD-EPI creatinine
      cystatin C (CKD-EPI Cr/Cys), and CKD-EPI cystatin C (CKD-EP ICys) equations in 70
      KTRs. The measured GFR (mGFR) was defined as the GFR estimated by technetium-99m
      diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) clearance. The accuracy and
      precision of the equations were compared with the mGFR. The performance
      characteristics of SCr and SCys were analyzed with the use of receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curves to ascertain the sensitivity and specificity at the
      cutoff value of <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 DTPA. RESULTS: Overall, MDRD and CKD-EPICys
      did not show significant differences from mGFR (P = .05 and P = .077,
      respectively), whereas CKD-EPI Cr and CKD-EPI Cr/Cys significantly underestimated
      mGFR (P < .001 and P = .005, respectively). In the subgroup of patients with mGFR
      <45 mL/min/1.73 m2, CKD-EPI Cys showed little bias (P = .122), whereas MDRD
      significantly underestimated mGFR (P = .037). The area under the ROC curve for
      predicting mGFR <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 was 0.80 for SCys, which was better than that
      for SCr at 0.763. CONCLUSIONS: Cystatin C-based equations showed better
      predictive performance of the allograft function than creatinine-based equations
      for the KTRs, including patients with lower GFR. Cystatin C level might be a good
      alternate measurement to monitor the allograft function.

PMID- 28583519
TI  - Usefulness of Multi-Detector Computed Tomography Scanning as a Replacement for
      Diethylenetriamine Pentaacetic Acid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) and multi-detector
      computed tomography (MDCT) can predict postoperative estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) in a live kidney donor. Accordingly, we compared predicted
      eGFR measured by use of DTPA and MDCT. METHODS: From January 2013 to May 2015,
      264 live kidney donors were enrolled. All donors underwent preoperative DTPA and
      MDCT, and bilateral renal cortex volume was measured by use of MDCT. We estimated
      DTPA-eGFR [remaining split renal function (%) * preoperative eGFR] and Vol-eGFR
      [remaining renal volume/total renal volume (%) * preoperative eGFR] and analyzed
      DTPA-eGFR, Vol-eGFR, and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD)-eGFR during
      week 1 and in months 1, 3, and 6. Additionally, we compared DTPA-eGFR and Vol
      eGFR by use of the formula DeltaeGFR (maximum eGFR minus minimum eGFR during 6
      months). RESULTS: The mean DTPA-eGFR and Vol-eGFR values (mL/min/1.73 m2) were
      52.97 +/- 10.32 and 51.26 +/- 10.26, respectively. Predictions of the dominant
      side did not agree in 113 of 303 (37.3%) cases. Postoperative MDRD-eGFR exhibited
      a statistically significant correlation with total renal volume, DTPA-eGFR, and
      Vol-eGFR (P < .0001). A significant correlation was found between DeltaeGFR and
      total renal volume, DTPA-eGFR, and Vol-eGFR (P < .0001). Receiver operating
      characteristic curves were generated to predict the possibility of eGFR <60
      mL/min/1.73 m2 at 6 months, using DTPA-eGFR and Vol-eGFR, which indicated that
      DTPA-eGFR (area under the curve = 0.858; P < .0001) and Vol-eGFR (area under the
      curve = 0.878; P < .0001) could predict chronic kidney disease class III at 6
      months. CONCLUSIONS: MDRD-eGFR, Vol-eGFR, and DTPA-eGFR were significantly
      correlated. Moreover, Vol-eGFR and DTPA-eGFR exhibited high predictive value for
      chronic kidney disease class III at 6 months, whereas Vol-eGFR was a good
      predictor of renal function recovery.

PMID- 28583520
TI  - Long-term Clinical Outcome of Aortic Arch Calcification in Kidney Transplant
      Recipients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in kidney
      transplant recipients (KTRs). Aortic arch calcification (AoAC) is a major risk
      factor for cardiovascular disease in KTRs. This study aimed to evaluate the long
      term outcomes of AoAC in KTRs. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated AoAC in KTRs
      between 2000 and 2010 using chest radiography. AoAC was semiquantitatively
      estimated by calculating calcification score. Associations between clinical and
      biochemical parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 258 patients were
      enrolled; the mean age was 40.7 years, and 135 (52.3%) were males. Diabetes
      mellitus was present in 28 (10.9%), and deceased donor kidney transplantation
      (KT) had been performed in 95 (36.8%). Fifty-three (20.5%) patients had AoAC at
      the time of KT, with an AoAC score of 0.8 +/- 2.0. The proportion of KTRs with
      AoAC gradually increased to 23.3%, 26.4%, and 28.7% at 1, 3, and 5 years,
      respectively, after KT. The AoAC score also gradually increased to 1.0 +/- 2.3,
      1.2 +/- 2.8, and 1.6 +/- 3.1, respectively, at 1, 3, and 5 years after KT. The 10
      year graft survival rate was 83.2% in the AoAC group and 85.1% in the non-AoAC
      group. The 10-year patient survival rate was 90.6% in the AoAC group and 95.7% in
      the non-AoAC group. In multivariate analysis, age at KT, deceased-donor KT, and
      diabetes mellitus were independent predictors for all-cause mortality.
      CONCLUSIONS: AoAC is an independent predictor of poor cardiovascular outcome in
      KTRs. Age and dialysis duration were independent risk factors for AoAC. Age at
      KT, deceased-donor KT, and diabetes mellitus were independent predictors for all
      cause mortality. Regular follow-up by chest radiography could be a simple and
      useful method to screen for AoAC and reduce cardiovascular mortality.

PMID- 28583521
TI  - Progression of Osteoporosis After Kidney Transplantation in Patients With End
      Stage Renal Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study investigated the prevalence of osteoporosis and the risk
      factors for its progression in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). METHODS: Dual
      energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to prospectively measure changes in bone
      mineral density (BMD) before kidney transplantation (KT) and 1 year after
      transplantation in 207 individuals. We also analyzed the risk factors of
      osteoporosis progression during this period. RESULTS: Prior to KT, the mean BMD
      score (T-score of the femur neck area) was -2.1 +/- 1.2, and the prevalence of
      osteoporosis was 41.5% (86/207). At 1 year post-transplantation, the mean BMD
      score significantly decreased to -2.3 +/- 1.1 (P < .001), and the prevalence of
      osteoporosis increased to 47.3% (98/207; P = .277). The BMD score worsened over
      the study period in 69.1% (143/207) of patients, improved in 24.1% (50/207), and
      showed no change in 6.8% (14/207). Minimal intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH)
      improvement after KT was found to be an independent risk factor of osteoporosis
      progression. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates progressive loss of BMD after
      KT and sustained secondary hyperparathyroidism might influence the progression of
      osteoporosis.

PMID- 28583522
TI  - Effect of Changes in Body Mass Index on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Kidney
      Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A higher body mass index (BMI) before kidney transplantation (KT) is
      associated with increased mortality and allograft loss in kidney transplant
      recipients (KTRs). However, the effect of changes in BMI after KT on these
      outcomes remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect
      of baseline BMI and changes in BMI on clinical outcomes in KTRs. METHODS: A total
      of 869 KTRs were enrolled from a multicenter observational cohort study from 2012
      to 2015. Patients were divided into low and high BMI groups before KT based on a
      BMI cutoff point of 23 kg/m2. Differences in acute rejection and cardiovascular
      disease (CVD) between the 2 groups were analyzed. In addition, clinical outcomes
      across the 4 BMI groups divided by BMI change 1 year after KT were compared.
      Associations between BMI change and laboratory findings were also evaluated.
      RESULTS: Patients with a higher BMI before KT showed significantly increased CVD
      after KT (P = .027) compared with patients with a lower BMI. However, among the
      KTRs with a higher baseline BMI, only persistently higher BMI was associated with
      increased CVD during the follow-up period (P = .003). Patients with persistently
      higher BMI had significantly decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and
      increased hemoglobin, triglyceride, and hemoglobin A1c levels. Baseline BMI and
      post-transplantation change in BMI were not related to acute rejection in KTRs.
      CONCLUSIONS: BMI in the 1st year after KT as well as baseline BMI were associated
      with CVD in KTRs. More careful monitoring of obese KTRs who do not undergo a
      reduction in BMI after KT is required.

PMID- 28583523
TI  - Renal Allograft Function Is a Risk Factor of Left Ventricular Remodeling After
      Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and
      mortality in kidney transplantation (KT) patients. The prevalence of left
      ventricular hypertrophy increases with the progression of renal insufficiency.
      METHODS: We investigated the association between the progression of renal
      insufficiency and left ventricular hypertrophy after KT. We reviewed KT patients
      at Seoul National University Hospital from January 1973 to December 2009. The
      creatinine elevation ratio (CER, the percentage change in the creatinine level
      from 1 month to 5 years after transplant) was calculated as follows: (creatinine
      level at 5 years minus creatinine level at 1 month)/creatinine level at 1 month *
      100. RESULTS: The study population was classified into a high-CER group (CER
      >=25%) and low-CER group (CER <25%). Mean left ventricular mass index (LVMI)
      values were 135.7 and 134.7 g/m2 before KT and 101.7 and 123.7 g/m2 at 5 years
      after KT in the low-CER and high-CER groups, respectively. The LVMI before or 1
      year after KT was not different between the 2 groups, but the LVMI at 5 years
      post-transplant was higher in the high-CER group than in the low-CER group. The
      LVMI increased after its initial decrease in the high-CER group, whereas its
      reduction was maintained in the low-CER group during the 5 years after KT (P =
      .009, repeated-measures analysis of variance). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest
      that deterioration of renal allograft function is associated with left
      ventricular remodeling after KT.

PMID- 28583524
TI  - Epidemiology and Outcome of Ganciclovir-Resistant Cytomegalovirus Infection After
      Solid Organ Transplantation: A Single Transplant Center Experience in Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on drug-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in solid organ
      transplantation (SOT) are not often reported from resource-limited settings. We
      aimed to investigate the epidemiology and outcomes of this infection in SOT
      recipients at our institution. METHODS: This was a retrospective study conducted
      from January 2012 to May 2015. We included all SOT recipients who were suspected
      for drug-resistant CMV infection. Genotypic assay for UL97 gene mutation was
      analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Patients were reviewed for
      demographic data, clinical presentation, virologic data, treatment, and outcomes.
      RESULTS: The population consisted of 18 (12 kidney, 6 liver) SOT recipients with
      a median age of 20 years (interquartile range [IQR], 1-49); 44% were male. Anti
      CMV resistance testing was analyzed at a median time of 23 days (IQR, 14-33)
      after initiation of anti-CMV therapy with a median CMV load of log 3.79 copies/mL
      (IQR, 3.37-4.58). During a median period of 2 years (IQR, 1-3), 6 SOT recipients
      were identified with UL97 gene mutation in codon 460, conferring ganciclovir
      (GCV) resistance. Patients with UL97 gene mutation had a longer mean duration of
      CMV DNAemia compared with those without mutation (263 vs 107 days; P = .04). All
      patients received high-dose GCV. Two patients received foscarnet and cidofovir.
      Two patients died (non-CMV-related), and 4 patients developed opportunistic
      infections other than CMV. CONCLUSIONS: GCV-resistant CMV infection in SOT
      recipients is an emerging clinical problem in resource-limited country. Those
      with UL97 mutation CMV infection have prolonged duration of CMV DNAemia.
      Clinicians should be aware of this condition when caring for SOT recipients.

PMID- 28583525
TI  - Effective Treatment With Daclatasvir and Asunaprevir in Kidney Transplant
      Patients Infected With Hepatitis C Virus: A Report of Two Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is known to affect long-term
      patient and graft survivals after kidney transplantation (KT). Recently,
      combination therapy with the use of 2 oral direct-acting antivirals, daclatasvir
      (DCV) and asunaprevir (ASV) reportedly showed a high rate of HCV eradication. We
      report the safety and efficacy of DCV and ASV therapy in 2 KT patients. METHODS:
      The safety and viral responses were investigated in a prospective study of KT
      patients infected with HCV genotype 1. Two patients received 60 mg DCV once daily
      plus 100 mg ASV twice daily for 24 weeks. RESULTS: A 69-year-old woman and a 57
      year-old man underwent DCV and ASV therapy for 24 weeks. In both cases, the HCV
      genotype was 1b. Case 1 had undergone KT twice and had received treatment with
      pegylated interferon and ribavirin. She received DCV and ASV therapy 12 years
      after the 2nd KT, and had undetectable virus after only 6 weeks of treatment and
      at 24 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR24). The post-transplantation
      immunosuppressive therapy at that time comprised tacrolimus, mycophenolate
      mofetil, and prednisolone. The other case, after failure of interferon treatment,
      received DCV and ASV therapy 27 years after his KT and achieved SVR24. His
      immunosuppressive regimen at that time was mizoribine and prednisolone. DCV and
      ASV therapy did not affect renal graft function or tacrolimus blood
      concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: DCV and ASV therapy had high antiviral effect and a
      low rate of adverse events in KT patients.

PMID- 28583526
TI  - Gene Expression Profiling of Peripheral Blood From Kidney Transplant Recipients
      for the Early Detection of Digestive System Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kidney transplant recipients are at increased risk of developing
      cancer in comparison with the general population. To effectively manage post
      transplantation malignancies, it is essential to proactively monitor patients. A
      long-term intensive screening program was associated with a reduced incidence of
      cancer after transplantation. This study evaluated the usefulness of the gene
      expression profiling of peripheral blood samples obtained from kidney transplant
      patients and adopted a screening test for detecting cancer of the digestive
      system (gastric, colon, pancreas, and biliary tract). STUDY DESIGN AND METHOD:
      Nineteen patients were included in this study and a total of 53 gene expression
      screening tests were performed. The gene expression profiles of blood-delivered
      total RNA and whole genome human gene expression profiles were obtained. We
      investigated the expression levels of 2665 genes associated with digestive
      cancers and counted the number of genes in which expression was altered. A
      hierarchical clustering analysis was also performed. The final prediction of the
      cancer possibility was determined according to an algorithm. RESULTS: The number
      of genes in which expression was altered was significantly increased in the
      kidney transplant recipients in comparison with the general population (1091 +/-
      63 vs 823 +/- 94; P = .0024). The number of genes with altered expression
      decreased after the induction of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor
      (1484 +/- 227 vs 883 +/- 154; P = .0439). No cases of possible digestive cancer
      were detected in this study period. CONCLUSION: The gene expression profiling of
      peripheral blood samples may be a useful and noninvasive diagnostic tool that
      allows for the early detection of cancer of the digestive system.

PMID- 28583527
TI  - Using Hematuria as Detection of Post-kidney Transplantation Upper Urinary Tract
      Urothelial Carcinoma Is Associated With Delayed Diagnosis of Cancer Occurrence.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Kidney transplantation (KT) is an important renal replacement therapy
      for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The incidence of upper urinary tract
      urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is relatively higher in Taiwan. According to our
      institutional database, early onset of post-KT UTUC is not uncommon. Early
      detection of post-KT UTUC is an important issue to improve oncologic outcome.
      Because painless hematuria is a common symptom for UTUC, this study analyzes
      whether using hematuria as post-KT UTUC screening delayed cancer diagnosis or
      not. METHODS: From 2005 to 2012, 128 ESRD patients were found to have UTUCs.
      There were 28 patients who underwent KT and were regularly followed up at our
      institution. All the patients underwent standard nephroureterectomy. RESULTS: In
      ESRD patients with UTUC, the post-KT group revealed significantly less gross
      hematuria and microscopic hematuria at presentation compared with the non-KT
      group (43% versus 76%, P = .001 and 64% versus 86%, P = .011). For those patients
      with gross hematuria, non-organ-confined UTUC occurred more in the post-KT group
      compared with the non-KT group (42% versus 12%, P = .009). For those patients
      with microscopic hematuria, non-organ-confined UTUC occurred more in the post-KT
      group compared with the non-KT group with borderline significance (33% versus
      16%, P = .085). CONCLUSIONS: According to our observation, using gross or
      microscopic hematuria as detection of post-KT UTUC is associated with delayed
      diagnosis of cancer occurrence. Closer upper urinary tract image study such as
      sonography may help earlier cancer screening.

PMID- 28583528
TI  - Human Polyomavirus Is Associated With Earlier Onset of Upper Urinary Tract
      Urothelial Carcinoma in Patients After Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Polyomavirus has been reported to be oncogenic due to viral
      integration into the human genome. A relatively high prevalence of upper urinary
      tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) was noted after kidney transplantation (KT) in
      Taiwan. However, little was known about the impact of polyomavirus on the
      urothelial cancer behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the
      characteristics of polyomavirus-related UTUC after KT. METHODS: From 2005 to
      2014, 27 patients were found to have UTUCs after KT. All the patients underwent
      standard nephroureterectomy. Detailed perioperative parameters were obtained from
      chart records. A qualified pathologist who is blinded to the clinical outcome
      examined large T antigen expression and pathological features. All the patients
      were divided into two groups according to positive or negative expression of
      large T antigen. RESULTS: In the patient demography, a significantly younger
      median age was found in patients with large T antigen-positive UTUCs compared
      with the negative control group (48.1 +/- 8.3 years versus 54.6 +/- 4.1 years,
      respectively, P = .013). As for the pathological features and oncologic outcome,
      there were no obvious differences between these two groups. Non-organ-confined
      status and positive lymphovascular invasion are prognostic factors associated
      with systemic disease recurrence (P = .017 and .001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:
      Although UTUC commonly develops in the elderly, earlier onset of post-KT UTUCs
      was observed especially in patients with positive large T antigen expression in
      our cohort. This preliminary result provides valuable experience suggesting more
      frequent upper urinary tract screening for polyomavirus infected patients after
      KT in Taiwan.

PMID- 28583529
TI  - Association Between the Fertile Period and Live Birth Post-Kidney
      Transplantation: A Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite restoration of fertility after kidney transplantation, the
      benefit is limited in female kidney recipients. Our objective is to determine the
      reasons for this discrepancy. METHODS: We evaluated 315 women who underwent
      kidney transplantation from 1983 to 2015 (a median of age at transplantation
      [10th-90th percentile] of 32 years [7-55 years]); 230 recipients between the ages
      of 15 to 49 years old as of March 2016 were observed. RESULTS: We experienced 10
      abortions and 21 live births from our 23 recipients and 2 abortions and 7 live
      births in 7 recipients from other transplant center. The live birth rate was 8.9
      per 1000 female transplant recipients of childbearing age. Seven recipients
      received either treatments of artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization.
      Average age at pregnancy was 33.2 +/- 3.2 years old, and the fertile period post
      transplantation was longer in recipients with live births than those without live
      births (14.1 +/- 7.1 vs 9.9 +/- 7.3 years, P < .05). In 42.9% of recipients with
      live birth, pregnancy-induced hypertension was observed in the last trimester.
      The gestational age and the average birth weight were 32.8 +/- 5.0 months and
      2184 +/- 632 g, respectively. During follow-up of 14.5 years, there was one case
      of graft loss, which is a rate of 2.5 per 1000 female recipients. CONCLUSION:
      Although pregnancy complications are often observed in kidney recipients, graft
      survival is less influenced by pregnancy. Importantly, kidney disease at
      childbearing age disrupts pregnancy even after kidney transplantation.

PMID- 28583530
TI  - Increased Stiffness of the Remnant Right Lobe Liver After Left Lobectomy or
      Lateral Segmentectomy in Donors of Living-Donor Liver Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver stiffness is associated with the degree of fibrosis along with
      other factors. Abrupt change of liver perfusion after hepatectomy is one such
      factor. In this study, we performed ultrasound elastography to explore the
      stiffness of the right lobe liver before and after hepatectomy in donors who
      underwent resection of left lobe or lateral segment of liver. METHODS: A total of
      32 left lobe liver donors (18 male and 14 female; age range, 21-55 years; mean
      age, 35.1 years; 19 left lobectomy with middle hepatic reserved for graft and 13
      lateral segmentectomy with middle hepatic vein reserved in the remnant liver)
      were included in this study. Liver stiffness was measured by means of ultrasound
      elastography with the use of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging. Stiffness
      of the right lobe liver was obtained by means of right intercostal approach.
      RESULTS: The stiffness of remnant right lobe liver significantly increased after
      hepatectomy (1.24 +/- 0.18 vs 1.10 +/- 0.13 m/s; P = .001). Donors of left lobe
      liver showed higher stiffness in the remnant right lobe liver compared with
      donors of lateral segment (1.30 +/- 0.18 vs 1.15 +/- 0.14 m/s; P = .027). There
      was no significant correlation between the remnant right lobe liver stiffness,
      postoperative liver function, and flow parameters of hepatic artery and portal
      vein. CONCLUSIONS: The stiffness of remnant liver significantly increased after
      hepatectomy. Furthermore, the stiffness was higher in donors undergoing left
      lobectomy compared with those undergoing lateral segmentectomy.

PMID- 28583531
TI  - Does Activated Clotting Time Help to Predict Innate Coagulopathy in End-Stage
      Liver Disease Patients?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measuring activated clotting time (ACT) is widely performed to
      monitor heparin therapy. Regardless of anticoagulant use, ACT is affected by
      coagulopathies such as coagulation factor deficiency and thrombocytopenia.
      However, its use in end-stage liver disease (ESLD) with complex coagulopathy is
      not well characterized. We evaluated whether ACT could be used to detect innate
      coagulopathy in ESLD patients. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed Hemochron
      (International Technidyne, Edison, NJ, USA) ACT (FTCA 510, normal range 105-167
      seconds) and INTEM clotting time (CT) of rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM;
      ROTEM delta, Pentapharm GmbH, Munich, Germany) (100-240 seconds) in 366 liver
      transplantation (LT) recipients, simultaneously measured before anesthetic
      induction for LT. Multiple linear regression analyses helped identify the factors
      related to ACT in ESLD patients. The relationship between ACT and INTEM CT was
      evaluated by Spearman rank correlation analysis and receiver operating
      characteristic curve. RESULTS: Median ACT was 143 seconds (range 73-295 seconds),
      and 60 patients (16.4%) had ACTs of >167 seconds. Multiple regression analyses
      revealed that prolonged prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time,
      low antithrombin III, and young age were associated with high ACT levels. INTEM
      CT was associated with ACT independent of liver disease severity, while EXTEM CT
      was not. ACT was moderately correlated with INTEM CT (r = 0.535), and the optimal
      cutoff value of ACT for predicting INTEM CT >240 seconds was 151 seconds (area
      under the curve = 0.787). CONCLUSIONS: In ESLD patients, ACT is effective in
      detecting prolonged INTEM CT. Therefore, ACT may be used to predict intrinsic
      pathway defects with a cutoff value of 151 seconds, suggesting feasibility when
      ROTEM is unavailable.

PMID- 28583532
TI  - Prediction of Fluid Responsiveness by a Non-invasive Respiratory Systolic Time
      Interval Variation Using Heart Sound Signals in Recipients Undergoing Liver
      Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fluid management of cirrhotic patients undergoing liver
      transplantation (LT) is challenging. Phonocardiography, a graphic recording of
      heart sounds, provides valuable information concerning heart function and
      hemodynamic condition. We assessed whether the systolic time interval (STI) and
      its respiratory variation could predict fluid responsiveness in cirrhotic
      patients undergoing LT. METHODS: Thirty LT recipients who needed volume expansion
      were included. The fluid challenge consisted of 500 mL 5% albumin administered
      over a period of 10 minutes. STI was measured as the time interval between the
      maximal amplitude of each heart sound corrected with the corresponding RR
      interval (cSTI). The respiratory variation in STI (STV) induced by mechanical
      ventilation was calculated. Responders were defined as those showing a >=10%
      increase in stroke volume index after volume expansion. RESULTS: In all, 14 of
      the 30 patients were responders. Significant increases in cSTI were observed
      after volume expansion in both responders (P < .001) and non-responders (P =
      .008). Responders showed significant decreases in STV (11.1% +/- 4.3% vs 6.1% +/-
      2.6%, P < .001) after fluid loading, whereas STV in non-responders remained
      unchanged (6.4% +/- 2.6% vs 6.4% +/- 4.2%, P = .86). A cut-off value of >=7.5%
      STV from baseline could predict fluid responsiveness with an area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.804 (95% confidence interval, 0.618
      0.925). CONCLUSIONS: Intra-operative STV can predict fluid responsiveness in
      patients undergoing LT. Beat-to-beat monitoring of STI and STV may be useful as a
      non-invasive hemodynamic index and for fluid management.

PMID- 28583533
TI  - Significance of Portal Venous Velocity in Short-term Graft Function in Living
      Donor Liver Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Graft regeneration and functional recovery after reperfusion of
      transplanted graft are very important for successful living donor liver
      transplantation (LDLT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of
      postoperative portal venous velocity (PVV) in short-term recovery of graft
      function in LDLT. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From February 2007 through December 2015,
      we performed 17 primary LDLTs, which were included in the present study. The
      patients ranged in age from 12 to 65 years (mean: 50 years), and 11 were female
      patients. Postoperatively, Doppler ultrasonography was performed daily to measure
      PVV (cm/s), and liver function parameters were measured daily. The change in PVV
      (DeltaPVV) was defined as follows: DeltaPVV = PVV on postoperative day (POD) 1 -
      PVV on POD 7. Maximal value of serum aspartate aminotransferase (ASTmax) and
      maximal value of serum alanine transaminase (ALTmax) at 24 hours after graft
      reperfusion were used as parameters of reperfusion injury. Correlation analyses
      were performed as follows: (1) correlation of DeltaPVV and PVV on POD 1 (PVV-POD
      1) with the values such as ASTmax, ALTmax, other liver function parameters on POD
      7 and graft regeneration rate; (2) correlation of ASTmax and ALTmax with other
      liver function parameters on POD 7. RESULTS: DeltaPVV significantly correlated
      with the values of serum total bilirubin (P < .01), prothrombin time (P < .01),
      and platelet count (P < .05), and PVV-POD 1 significantly correlated with the
      values of serum total bilirubin (P < .05) and prothrombin time (P < .05).
      CONCLUSION: DeltaPVV and PVV-POD 1 may be useful parameters of short-term
      functional recovery of the transplant liver in LDLT.

PMID- 28583534
TI  - Pretransplant Resting Heart Rate and Its Association With All-Cause Mortality in
      Liver Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The importance of heart rate (HR) measurement as a prognostic factor
      has been recognized in many clinical conditions, such as hypertension, coronary
      artery disease, or heart failure. Patients with liver cirrhosis tend to have
      increased resting HR as consequence of hyperdynamic circulation. In the current
      study, we examined whether pretransplant resting increased HR is associated with
      overall mortality in cirrhotic patients following liver transplantation (LT).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected and analyzed the data of 881
      liver recipients who underwent LT surgery between October 2009 and September
      2012. Patients were categorized into 3 groups by tertile of resting HR as
      follows: tertile 1 group, HR <= 65 beats per minute (bpm); tertile 2 group, HR 66
      to 80 bpm; and tertile 3 group, HR > 80 bpm. RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier analysis
      showed that the all-cause mortality rate was significantly different according to
      tertiles of HR (P = .016, log-rank test). The multivariate Cox regression
      analysis showed that tertile 3 group was significantly associated with higher
      risk for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 1.83, 95% confidence interval, 1.10
      3.07; P = .021) compared with tertile 1 group, after adjusting for clinically
      significant variables in univariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      demonstrate that pretransplant resting tachycardia can identify patients at high
      risk of death in cirrhotic patients following LT, suggesting that further study
      will be need to clarify relationship between HR burden and sympathetic cardiac
      neuropathy.

PMID- 28583535
TI  - Liver Transplantation for Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Disorder: A Single
      Center Experience and Excellent Marker of Differential Diagnosis.
AB  - Mitochondrial respiratory chain disorder (MRCD) can cause liver failure requiring
      liver transplantation (LT), although it is often difficult to diagnose before LT.
      From 2005 to 2016, 9 MRCD patients with the median age at LT of 6 months
      underwent LT in our institute. Their clinical courses were retrospectively
      reviewed and the laboratory parameters were compared between the MRCD patients
      and 10 patients with acute liver failure unrelated to MRCD (non-MRCD). Five
      patients had extrahepatic manifestations, including developmental disorders in 3
      and failure to thrive in 3, before LT. Only 3 patients (33.3%) were diagnosed
      before LT. Between MRCD and non-MRCD, lactate was significantly high and lactate
      to-pyruvate ratio (L/P ratio) tended to be higher in MRCD. From the receiver
      operating characteristic curve, the optimal cutoff value of lactate was 50.0
      mg/dL and that of L/P ratio was 23.2. Patient survival rate of MRCD was 77.8%,
      although 2 patients with mitochondrial depletion syndrome suffered from de novo
      pulmonary hypertension after LT. Our experiences showed the difficulty of
      preoperative diagnosis, and preoperative extrahepatic manifestations did not
      always mean poor outcome. Our study showed that lactate value and L/P ratio can
      be excellent predictors of MRCD.

PMID- 28583536
TI  - Primary Living-donor Liver Transplantation Is Not the Optimal Treatment Choice in
      Patients With Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Poor Tumor Biology.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Liver resection (LR) and living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) are
      considered the two potentially curative treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in
      the oncologic outcomes between LR and LDLT according to tumor biology. METHODS:
      Patients (137 LDLTs and 199 LRs) were stratified into four groups by tumor
      biology according to the number of risk factors for recurrence (preoperative
      alpha-fetoprotein >200 ng/mL, Edmonson grade 3 or 4, tumor size >3 cm, and
      presence of microvascular invasion). RESULTS: In the favorable tumor biology
      patients (groups I and II), there was a significantly worse recurrence-free
      survival rate in those patients who underwent LR compared to those who underwent
      LDLT (group I, P = .002; group II, P = .001). The overall survival rates in the
      LR and LDLT groups were not different (group I, P = .798; group II, P = .981). In
      the poor tumor biology patients (groups III and IV), there was no significant
      difference between the two groups in terms of recurrence-free survival rate
      (group III, P = .342; group IV, P = .616). The LDLT group showed a significantly
      lower overall survival rate (group III, P = .001; group IV, P = .025).
      CONCLUSIONS: Primary LDLT should not be recommended in early stage HCC patients
      with poor tumor biology because of lower survival rates and a high chance of HCC
      recurrence.

PMID- 28583537
TI  - Usefulness of PIVKA-II After Living-donor Liver Transplantation for
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prothrombin induced by the absence of vitamin K or antagonist-II
      (PIVKA-II) is a useful tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However,
      the usefulness of post-transplantation surveillance with PIVKA-II is not clear.
      We evaluated the clinical value of PIVKA-II in monitoring HCC recurrence after
      living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT). METHODS: One hundred twenty patients
      who had undergone LDLT for HCC from February 1999 to December 2010 and whose
      serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and PIVKA-II had been measured sequentially before
      and after LDLT were included in this study. Patients were classified into four
      groups according to the preoperative level of AFP and PIVKA-II (group I, normal
      AFP and PIVKA-II; group II, elevated AFP; group III, elevated PIVKA-II; and group
      IV, elevated both AFP and PIVKA-II). RESULTS: Preoperative PIVKA-II level tended
      to increase with increasing tumor size, number of nodules, presence of
      microvascular invasion, and poor differentiation. In 27 patients developing
      recurrent HCC after LDLT, the sensitivity of AFP and PIVKA-II was 59.2% and
      88.8%, respectively. When the two markers were combined, the sensitivity
      increased to 92.5%. Especially, the sensitivity for PIVKA-II was high at groups I
      and III (100.0% for both, respectively). In patients in groups I, III, and IV, an
      elevated PIVKA-II level was the most common first sign of HCC recurrence after
      LDLT. An elevated PIVKA-II level was the most common first sign of recurrence,
      regardless of recurrence site. CONCLUSIONS: PIVKA-II might be a useful tumor
      marker in the monitoring of recurrence after LDLT, complementary to AFP.

PMID- 28583538
TI  - Outcome of Liver Transplantation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients at Siriraj
      Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) is one of the standard treatments for
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the outcomes have become better after
      introduction of strict patient selection, such as the Milan criteria. However,
      several expanded criteria, such as the University of California San Francisco
      (UCSF) criteria, have demonstrated similar survival outcomes. The aim of this
      study was to verify survival outcomes of LT for HCC at Siriraj Hospital. METHODS:
      Sixty-three patients diagnosed with HCC who underwent cadaveric LT at Siriraj
      Hospital from 2002 to 2011 were included. All patients' characteristics, blood
      chemistries, size and number of tumors, bridging therapy, and survival and
      recurrence data were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: Nearly all
      (62 patients, 98.4%) fulfilled the Milan criteria based on preoperative imaging.
      Explant pathology revealed that 40 patients (63.5%) were within Milan criteria
      and 50 patients (83%) within UCSF criteria. Demographic data, clinical
      laboratory, and bridging therapy were similar in patients within and outside both
      Milan and UCSF criteria. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of patients within
      Milan were 85%, 75%, and 67.5%, and of those outside Milan were 69.6%, 52.2%,
      52.2%, respectively (P = .25). Interestingly, with the use of the UCSF criteria,
      the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of patients within UCSF were significantly
      better than of those outside UCSF (84%, 76%, and 70% vs 61.5%, 30.8%, and 30.8%,
      respectively; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Outcome of LT in HCC patients within Milan
      criteria demonstrated good long-term survival. However, providing the opportunity
      for HCC patients by expanding from Milan to UCSF criteria revealed similar
      outcomes.

PMID- 28583539
TI  - Prognostic Factors Predicting Poor Outcome in Living-Donor Liver Transplantation
      for Fulminant Hepatic Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been accepted as
      feasible treatment for fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), although it has generated
      several debatable issues. In this study, we investigated the prognostic factors
      predicting fatal outcome after LDLT for FHF. METHODS: From April 1999 to April
      2011, 60 patients underwent LT for acute liver failure, including 42 patients for
      FHF at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Among 42 patients, 30 patients
      underwent LDLT for FHF, and the database of these patients was analyzed
      retrospectively to investigate the prognostic factors after LDLT for FHF.
      RESULTS: Among 30 patients, 7 patients (23%) died during the in-hospital period
      within 6 months, and 23 patients (77%) survived until recently. In univariate
      analyses, donor age (>35 years), graft volume (GV)/standard liver volume (SLV)
      (<50%), cold ischemic time (>120 minutes), hepatic encephalopathy (grade IV),
      hepato-renal syndrome (HRS), and history of ventilator care were associated with
      fatal outcome after LDLT for FHF. In multivariate analyses, HRS, GV/SLV (<50%),
      and donor age (>35 years) were significantly associated with fatal outcome.
      Although the statistical significance was not shown in this analysis (P = .059),
      hepatic encephalopathy grade IV also appears to be a risk factor predicting fatal
      outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The survival of patients with FHF undergoing LDLT was
      comparable to that in published data. In this study, HRS, GV/SLV <50%, and donor
      age >35 years are the independent poor prognostic factors.

PMID- 28583540
TI  - Living Donor Liver Transplantation for Progressive Familial Intrahepatic
      Cholestasis Type 1: Two Reported Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 (PFIC1) is an
      inherited disease characterized by cholestatic features. We report two patients
      with PFIC1 who underwent liver retransplantation. CASE REPORT: One patient was a
      3-year-old female who underwent liver transplantation for PFIC1. She presented
      with severe diarrhea and fatty liver, and went into liver failure. She therefore
      underwent liver retransplantation and external biliary diversion 8 years after
      the initial liver transplantation. The explanted liver was histologically
      diagnosed with chronic rejection. Her intractable diarrhea stopped after the
      retransplantation. She was diagnosed with a fatty liver 8 months after the
      retransplantation and died 4 years after retransplantation due to bleeding from
      an ileostomy. The other patient was a 3-year-old male. This patient underwent
      liver retransplantation due to liver cirrhosis caused by steatohepatitis 9 years
      after the initial liver transplantation. The biliary tract was not diverted. He
      also experienced severe diarrhea after the retransplantation and requires home
      parenteral nutrition due to an eating disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Liver
      transplantation is the only treatment to resolve life-threatening issues due to
      PFIC1, but requires further improvement as a therapeutic modality.

PMID- 28583541
TI  - Comparative Analysis of the Clinical Outcomes of Liver Transplantation for
      Probable and Definite Auto-immune Hepatitis by International Diagnostic Scoring
      Criteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) is an effective treatment for patients
      with end-stage liver disease caused by auto-immune hepatitis (AIH). However,
      diagnosis of AIH can be challenging for patients with end-stage liver disease at
      the time of transplantation. We classified patients into "probable" or "definite"
      AIH groups, using the diagnostic criteria of the International Autoimmune
      Hepatitis Group, and compared the clinical outcomes of AIH after LT in these 2
      groups. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 18 patients who were
      diagnosed with AIH and underwent LT from March 2003 to March 2015 at a single
      institute. Of the 18 patients, 8 were diagnosed with definite AIH and 10 were
      diagnosed with probable AIH, according to the international scoring criteria. We
      evaluated the patient characteristics, recurrence rate, graft loss, and survival
      rates after LT. RESULTS: The mean follow-up duration was 59.3 months. Age, sex,
      medical condition at transplantation, warm ischemic time, cold ischemic time, and
      Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score did not differ significantly between the
      2 groups. No patient died after LT in either group, but 1 patient in the definite
      AIH group had graft failure. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 5-year recurrence
      rates of the definite and probable groups were 14.3% and 0%, respectively (P =
      .992). CONCLUSIONS: The recurrence of definite AIH appeared to be higher than
      that of probable AIH. However, careful immunosuppressive therapy allowed the long
      term survival of both definite and probable AIH patients after LT.

PMID- 28583542
TI  - Splenectomy for Severe Intestinal Bleeding Caused by Portal Hypertensive
      Enteropathy After Pediatric Living-Donor Liver Transplantation: A Report of Three
      Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of portal vein thrombosis after pediatric living-donor
      liver transplantation (LDLT) is reported to be higher than that after deceased
      donor or adult liver transplantation. Portal vein thrombosis can cause portal
      hypertension and related complications, including portal hypertensive gastropathy
      or portal hypertensive enteropathy (PHE). PHE, in particular, can lead to severe
      intestinal bleeding, which is extremely difficult to treat. However, the
      pathogenesis of and appropriate treatment for PHE are not clearly defined,
      especially after pediatric LDLT. METHODS: Herein, we report three cases of
      refractory intestinal bleeding caused by PHE after pediatric LDLT, which were
      treated with splenectomy. RESULTS: The time between LDLT and splenectomy was 43,
      92, and 161 months, respectively. All 3 patients were discharged from the
      hospital without any peri-operative complications and were doing well, with no
      adverse effects at 174, 81, and 12 months after splenectomy, respectively.
      Although shunt surgeries, including the use of a meso-Rex shunt, are reported to
      be a useful option when the portal vein is completely occluded, adhesiotomy
      around the liver graft would be required, which could damage the hepatopetal
      collateral vessels that maintain portal vein flow to the graft. Therefore, shunt
      surgeries, which can lead to re-transplantation, are considered to be highly
      risky as a first-line treatment option, particularly considering the limited
      accessibility to deceased donor organs in our country. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      demonstrate that simple splenectomy, although considered a palliative treatment,
      can be a safe and effective method to control severe intestinal bleeding caused
      by PHE after pediatric LDLT.

PMID- 28583543
TI  - Laparoscopy-Assisted Spleen-Preserving Distal Pancreatectomy for Living-Donor
      Pancreas Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Living pancreas transplantation plays an important role in the
      treatment of patients with severe type 1 diabetes. However, pancreatectomy is
      very invasive for the donor, and less-invasive surgical procedures are needed.
      Although some reports have described hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery for
      distal pancreatectomy in living-donor operations, less-invasive laparoscopy
      assisted (LA) procedures are expected to increase the donor pool. We herein
      report the outcomes of four cases of LA spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy
      (Warshaw technique [WT]) in living pancreas donors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Four
      living pancreas donors underwent LA-WT at our institution from September 2010 to
      January 2013. All donors fulfilled the donor criteria established by the Japan
      Society for Pancreas and Islet Transplantation. RESULTS: The median donor age was
      54 years. Two donors underwent left nephrectomy in addition to LA-WT for
      simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation. The median donor operation time for
      pancreatectomy was 340.5 minutes. The median pancreas warm ischemic time was 3
      minutes. The median donor blood loss was 246 g. All recipients immediately
      achieved insulin independence. One donor required reoperation because of
      obstructive ileus resulting from a port-site hernia. Another donor developed a
      pancreatic fistula (International Study Group of Pancreatic Fistula grade B),
      which was controlled with conservative management. After a maximum follow-up of
      73 months, no clinically relevant adverse events had occurred. These results were
      comparable with those of previous studies concerning living-donor pancreas
      transplantation. CONCLUSION: The LA-WT is a safe and acceptable operation for
      living-donor pancreas transplantation.

PMID- 28583544
TI  - Experiences of Living Donors for Small Bowel Transplantation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Along with developments in surgical and immunosuppression
      techniques, the success rate of small bowel transplantation has increased. In
      Korea, the incidence of small bowel transplantations has increased, and the
      longest surviving living donor recipient has now survived for over 12 years
      postsurgery. The purpose of this study was to assess the experiences of living
      donors for small bowel transplantation before, during, and after the
      transplantation. METHODS: In one hospital, we conducted interviews, based on open
      ended questions, with three small bowel donors. We asked them about experiences
      during small bowel donation. The living donor's statements were analyzed using
      interpretive phenomenological analysis. RESULTS: Donors decided to donate because
      they felt "sorry for the suffering of a family member" and they had "faith in the
      medical staff." In the early phase after donation, living donors experienced
      physical changes in their body, including pain, fatigue, altered bowel habits,
      and abdominal discomfort. Despite temporary limitations in daily and social
      activities, support from family members allowed the donors to fully recover and
      return to normal physical, social, and psychological status. The donors mentioned
      they experienced love and support from their family, as well as satisfaction and
      pride from donation, during the entire process. CONCLUSION: We hope that the
      physical, psychological, and social experience of living donors during small
      bowel transplantation deduced in this study will serve as a foundation for the
      establishment of an intervention method to provide education before donation and
      help recovery after donation.

PMID- 28583545
TI  - Simultaneous Subtotal Pancreatectomy and Streptozotocin Injection for Diabetes
      Modeling in Cynomolgus Monkeys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In an experimental animal model of islet transplantation, stable
      induction of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and islet isolation from
      donor pancreas are essential. Total pancreatectomy for IDDM induction and islet
      procurement in nonhuman primates leads to unwanted loss of exocrine function and
      may lead to morbidities associated with IDDM. METHODS: IDDM induction with
      streptozotocin (STZ) is associated with drug toxicity of STZ and necessitates the
      killing of another animal for islet procurement. In this study, we performed a
      subtotal pancreatectomy combined with reduced STZ injection to induce IDDM and
      procure islets in a nonhuman primate model. RESULTS: Twelve cynomolgus monkeys
      received low-dose STZ injections (60 mg/kg) simultaneously with subtotal
      pancreatectomy. All monkeys recovered from the procedure without complications.
      IDDM was induced in the animals. 57,691 +/- 16,050 islets were isolated from the
      resected pancreas and transplanted into other monkeys. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous
      subtotal pancreatectomy and low-dose STZ injection represent an effective and
      safe method to create an animal model of insulin dependence diabetes, while at
      the same time providing sufficient amounts of fresh islet cells for
      allotransplantation without requiring killing of additional animals.

PMID- 28583546
TI  - Surgical Techniques of Allogeneic Liver Transplantation in a Nonhuman Primate
      Model.
AB  - Herein, we report our experience of performing allogeneic orthotopic liver
      transplantation (LT) in nonhuman primates. We designed an allogeneic ABO
      compatible orthotopic LT model in monkeys in a manner similar to that used in
      humans. We applied almost the same surgical procedures used for human
      conventional deceased donor LT. A total of 6 monkeys underwent allogeneic LT. One
      cynomolgus monkey aged 45 months (3.4 kg) and 5 rhesus macaque monkeys aged 50.2
      +/- 14.8 months (5.40 +/- 0.33 kg) were used as recipients. In the donor surgery,
      the liver was perfused in situ through the aorta using cold histidine-tryptophan
      ketoglutarate solution. The portal vein (diameter, 5-10 mm), supra- and infra
      hepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) (diameter, 12-15 mm), and common bile duct
      (diameter, 1.5-3.0 mm) were dissected out. The hepatic artery was kept in
      continuity with the celiac trunk and abdominal aorta up to the iliac bifurcation
      (diameter, 5-6 mm). The mean graft weight was 102.0 g (94.8-111.0 g). Recipient
      surgery was conducted in parallel. After recipient hepatectomy, the graft was
      implanted. The suprahepatic IVC and portal vein were anastomosed to those of the
      graft. After reperfusion, the infrahepatic IVC was anastomosed. The aorta conduit
      of the graft was anastomosed to the infrarenal aorta of the recipient in a
      retrocolic end-to-side manner. Biliary reconstruction was performed in a duct-to
      duct anastomosis with cholecystectomy. Mean operative time was 107.0 minutes for
      donor and 198.2 minutes for recipient. There was one operative death due to
      unknown cause. In conclusion, for allogeneic orthotopic LT in nonhuman primate
      model, we can apply almost the same procedure used for human conventional
      deceased donor LT in a similar manner.

PMID- 28583547
TI  - Major Histocompatibilty Complex-Restricted Adaptive Immune Responses to CT26
      Colon Cancer Cell Line in Mixed Allogeneic Chimera.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the induction of mixed allogeneic chimera shows promising
      clinical tolerance results in organ transplantation, its clinical relevance as an
      anti-cancer therapy is yet unknown. We introduced a mixed allogenic chimera
      setting with the use of a murine colon cancer cell line, CT26, by performing
      double bone marrow transplantation. METHODS: We analyzed donor- and recipient
      restricted anti-cancer T-cell responses, and phenotypes of subpopulations of T
      cells. The protocol involves challenging 1 * 105 cells of CT26 cells intra
      hepatically on day 50 after bone marrow transplantation, and, by use of CT26
      lysates and an H-2Ld-restricted AH1 pentamer, flow cytometric analysis was
      performed to detect the generation of cancer-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells at
      various time points. RESULTS: We found that immunocompetence against tumors
      depends heavily on cancer-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in a major
      histocompatibility complex-restricted manner; the evidence was further supported
      by the increase of interferon-gamma-secreting CD4+ T cells. Moreover, we
      demonstrated that during the effector immune response to CT26 cancer challenge,
      there was a presence of central memory cells (CD62LhiCCR7+) as well as effector
      memory cells (CD62LloCCR7-). Moreover, mixed allogeneic chimeras (BALB/c to
      C56BL/6 or vice versa) showed similar or heightened immune responses to CT26
      cells compared with that of wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that
      the responses of primary immunocompetency and of pre-existing memory T cells
      against allogeneic cancer are sustained and preserved long-term in a mixed
      allogeneic chimeric environment.

PMID- 28583548
TI  - Impact of Steroids on Natural Killer Cells Against Cytotoxicity and Hepatitis C
      Virus Replication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natural killer (NK) cells play important roles in killing tumor and
      virus-infected cells. Immunosuppression used after organ transplantation is
      thought to increase the risk of tumor recurrence and viral infections. However,
      the effect of immunosuppressive drugs on NK cells has not yet been clearly
      established. Therefore, we examined the effect of immunosuppression on NK cells.
      METHODS: NK cells were cultured for 7 days in the presence of interleukin-2 (100
      U/mL) with or without the following immunosuppressive drugs: tacrolimus,
      cyclosporine A, corticosteroid (methylprednisolone [MP]), mycophenolate mofetil,
      and rapamycin. The effect of the drugs on NK cell activation was tested on the
      basis of the following: NK cell phenotype, NK cell proliferation, cytotoxicity
      against K562 cells, cytokine production by NK cells, and anti-hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) activity with HCV genomic replicon cells. RESULTS: NK cells showed
      relatively robust functions in the presence of tacrolimus and cyclosporine A.
      Mycophenolate mofetil and rapamycin significantly prevented only NK cell
      proliferation (P < .05). In contrast, MP significantly inhibited the
      proliferation, cytotoxicity, and anti-HCV effect (10.9%, 18.5%, and 1.9%,
      respectively) of NK cells. Furthermore, MP specifically inhibited the expression
      of NK cell activation markers and the production of interferon-gamma (P < .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Corticosteroids have distinct effects on NK cells, which may have
      important implications for NK cell function in cytotoxicity and HCV effect after
      transplantation.

PMID- 28583549
TI  - Reduction of Slit Diaphragm-associated Molecules by Sirolimus: Is it Enough to
      Induce Proteinuria?
AB  - Sirolimus (SRL), a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor, is widely used in
      transplantation, but the mechanisms whereby it induces adverse effects, such as
      proteinuria and edema, remain unclear. To determine whether isolated SRL induces
      proteinuria or not, the authors intraperitoneally injected C57BL/6 mice with
      different doses of SRL (0 mg/[kg.d], 3 mg/[kg.d], 10 mg/[kg.d], or 30 mg/[kg.d])
      for 24 days. Urinary albumin excretion was then quantified using a double
      sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and serum creatinine levels were
      measured using a single dry-film chemistry auto-analyzer. The mRNA expression
      levels of various genes were also measured by polymerase chain reaction. Urinary
      albumin was not detected in the SRL-treated mice, but serum creatinine levels
      were found to increase dose-dependently and were significantly higher in the
      animals treated with 30 mg/kg of SRL than in untreated controls. Glomerular mRNA
      expression profiling showed down-regulations of podocyte-related genes (Wilms
      tumor 1, synaptopodin, nephrin, CD2-associated protein, and podocin) and of
      transforming growth factor-beta (a marker of fibrosis) in sirolimus-treated mice.
      In addition, expressions of the antiapoptotic genes Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were also
      down-regulated. Furthermore, the protein levels of these genes in mice kidney
      were also decreased by sirolimus. Although sirolimus treatment reduced the
      expressions of slit diaphragm-associated molecules and increased serum creatinine
      levels, it failed to induce proteinuria. Our findings indicate that proteinuria
      is not induced by isolated SRL treatment. Further studies are required to
      identify conditions in which sirolimus induces proteinuria.

PMID- 28583550
TI  - Liver-Wrapping, Nitric Oxide-Releasing Nanofiber Downregulates Cleaved Caspase-3
      and Bax Expression on Rat Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is an important determinant
      of the outcome of hepatic surgery, including re-section and transplantation.
      Previous studies have shown that nitric oxide (NO) has a protective effect
      against IRI. Therefore, many studies have examined methods for supplying NO. In
      this study, we investigated the effect of NO-releasing nanofibers on hepatic IRI
      in a rat model. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups:
      control, IRI only (n = 3); group 1, hepatic IRI and liver-wrapping with nanofiber
      lacking NO (n = 4); group 2, hepatic IRI and liver-wrapping with NO rapid
      releasing nanofiber (n = 4); and group 3, hepatic IRI and liver-wrapping with NO
      slow-releasing nanofiber (n = 5). RESULTS: The levels of aspartate
      aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were not significantly different
      between groups. On the basis of Western blots, Bax/beta-actin levels were
      significantly lower in group 2 than in group 3 (P < .01). Cleaved Caspase-3/beta
      actin levels were significantly lower in group 2 than in the control, group 1,
      and group 3 (P < .05, .01, and .01, respectively). However, there were no
      significant differences in Bcl-2/beta-actin between groups. CONCLUSIONS: The
      liver-wrapping NO rapid-releasing nanofiber downregulated cleaved Caspase-3 and
      Bax expression. It has a protective effect by reducing apoptosis in hepatic IRI
      in rats.

PMID- 28583551
TI  - Renoprotective Effects of Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecule 3 in Ischemia
      Reperfusion Injury and Cisplatin-Induced Toxicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the effects of a soluble carbon monoxide-releasing
      molecule (CORM) in cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity and ischemia-reperfusion injury
      (IRI) in vitro. METHODS: The effects of CORM-3 (12.5-200 MUM) were assessed in
      normal kidney epithelial cells (HK-2, LLC-PK1) and renal cancer cells (Caki-1,
      Caki-2) subjected to cisplatin (50-200 MUM) or IRI. To induce IRI, cells were
      placed in an anaerobic chamber (37 degrees C, 95% nitrogen, 5% carbon dioxide)
      for 48 hours. Cells were transferred to complete medium and incubated at 37
      degrees C, 5% carbon dioxide for 6 hours. Cell viability (CCK assays), tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha messenger RNA (mRNA) levels (quantitative reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction), and protein expression of cleaved
      caspase 3 and oxidative stress markers (including Erk1/2, JNK, and P38; Western
      blot) were assessed. RESULTS: Viability after IRI was approximately 40% of
      control. Protective effects of CORM-3 in the IRI model were dose-dependent. Cell
      viability was 40% recovered in 200-MUM CORM-3-pretreated cells compared with
      control. The protective effects of CORM-3 in cells exposed to cisplatin for 24
      hours were weaker than in the IRI model. TNF-alpha mRNA was induced by stimulated
      IRI or cisplatin exposure; CORM-3 pretreatment attenuated the rise in TNF-alpha
      mRNA. IRI or cisplatin-induced activated oxidative stress markers decreased in
      CORM-3-pretreated cells. CORM-3 reduced expression of the apoptotic marker
      cleaved-caspase 3. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate the protective effects of
      CORM-3 in cisplatin cytotoxicity and IRI in both normal kidney cells and renal
      cancer cells in vitro. CORM-3 exerts these effects by ameliorating inflammatory
      and oxidative stress pathways.

PMID- 28583552
TI  - Living Kidney Donation From a Donor With Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: A Case Report and
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is a chronic systemic disease that is characterized by
      the formation of noncaseating granuloma and whose etiology is unclear. It is
      unclear whether patients with sarcoidosis are suitable organ donors. CASE: We
      treated a 56-year-old woman with pulmonary sarcoidosis who donated her kidney.
      She was previously in good health and was diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis
      during her preoperative examination. Because she presented with no symptoms and
      was otherwise in good condition, donor nephrectomy was performed. RESULTS:
      Baseline biopsy examination showed no evidence of sarcoidosis. One year after
      transplantation, both the donor and the recipient had not developed kidney
      dysfunction or recurrence of sarcoidosis. CONCLUSION: This is a rare case in
      which a patient with pulmonary sarcoidosis donated a kidney for transplantation,
      and both the recipient and the donor were clinically healthy. A patient with
      sarcoidosis and no kidney lesion can donate a living kidney, because
      transplantation appears to be safe for both the recipient and the donor.

PMID- 28583553
TI  - Living Donor Kidney Transplantation After Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer: Case
      Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is no obvious criterion about kidney transplantation for
      patients with pretransplant malignancy. Minimum tumor-free waiting periods differ
      according to type of cancer, staging, site of occurrence, response to therapy,
      and risk of cancer recurrence. We report a case of living donor kidney
      transplantation (LDKT) in a patient after brachytherapy for prostate cancer. CASE
      REPORT: The patient was a 65-year-old man with chronic kidney disease due to
      chronic glomerular nephritis. He received hemodialysis 3 times a week. His
      prostate-specific antigen level (PSA) was high (6.57 ng/mL), and he was diagnosed
      with prostate cancer (T1cN0M0, Gleason Score 3 + 4 = 7, 3/10) by needle biopsy in
      urology. He was treated with maximum androgen blockade (MAB) therapy and
      brachytherapy in May 2014. He underwent LDKT from a spousal donor at our
      department in December 2015, because urologists concluded that the prostate
      cancer was completely cured. Immunosuppression consisted of induction with
      basiliximab and maintenance with tacrolimus, mizoribine, and steroids. The
      postoperative course was uneventful. He discharged at postoperative day 29 with a
      serum creatinine level of 1.30 mg/dL. Three months after LDKT, his PSA level was
      0.477 ng/mL, and there was no evidence of prostate cancer recurrence. CONCLUSION:
      This is the first case of LDKT for patients with prostate cancer after
      brachytherapy in combination with MAB. There is no recurrence of prostate cancer
      so far; however, careful follow-up including PSA is necessary and important.

PMID- 28583554
TI  - Enterobacter cloacae-Related Necrotizing Fasciitis After Peritoneal Dialysis in
      Delayed Graft Function: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Necrotizing fasciitis is an uncommon soft-tissue infection that
      involves the superficial fascia, subcutaneous fat, and deep fascia. Herein, we
      report the first case of Enterobacter cloacae-related necrotizing fasciitis after
      peritoneal dialysis in delayed graft function. CASE: A 58-year-old man, who was a
      hepatitis B-viral carrier and had atrial fibrillation, received cadaveric renal
      transplantation with peritoneal dialysis and encountered delayed graft function.
      On postoperative day 5, we tried hemodialysis via the right jugular dialysis
      catheter. However, he was unable to endure the hemodynamic changes during
      hemodialysis, showing rapid ventricular rhythm on electrocardiography. On
      postoperative day 7, we changed to peritoneal dialysis. However, he presented
      with fever and pain on his left flank and lower extremity. His white blood cell
      count and C-reactive protein levels were suddenly elevated. According to the
      abdomen computed tomography scan, there were subcutaneous fluid and air in the
      left flank and anterolateral pelvic wall. We performed peritoneal dialysis
      catheter removal, debridement, and drainage of the left external oblique muscle
      fascia. In a culture, Enterobacter cloacae was identified. After receiving
      meropenem for 2 months, his wound healed and delayed graft function was
      recovered. CONCLUSION: Peritoneal dialysis of delayed graft function seems to be
      effective in reducing the incidence and severity of delayed recovery of renal
      function after renal transplantation in some reports. However, it is necessary to
      be cautious when dealing with a rapidly developing and life-threatening soft
      tissue infection, such as necrotizing fasciitis. To reduce mortality rates, early
      diagnosis, recurrent surgical debridement, and aggressive therapy are mandatory.

PMID- 28583555
TI  - Veno-Arterial-Venous Hybrid Mode of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Acute
      Respiratory Distress Syndrome Combined With Septic Shock in a Liver Transplant
      Patient: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-operative respiratory failure is common in liver transplant
      patients, with a direct effect on graft and recipient outcomes. We present a case
      of successful treatment for a patient who had acute respiratory distress syndrome
      combined with septic shock after living-donor liver transplantation with veno
      arterial-venous hybrid mode of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
      support. METHODS: A 49-year-old male patient underwent successful emergency
      living-donor liver transplantation for acute-on-chronic liver failure associated
      with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The patient was diagnosed with concurrent active
      pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculosis peritonitis just before emergency liver
      transplantation. Intermittent post-operative small-bowel obstruction caused by
      adhesions from tuberculosis peritonitis was nonresponsive to conservative
      management. RESULTS: On post-operative day 114, we performed emergency adhesio
      lysis because of bowel ischemia signs. However, the patient had progressive
      deterioration of arterial oxygenation despite conventional ventilatory support
      and nitric oxide gas inhalation, and septic shock resulted from aspiration
      pneumonia. Therefore, we decided to administer ECMO. After initiation of ECMO
      support, hemodynamic status, pneumonic consolidation, and oxygenation status
      gradually improved, and the patient was weaned from ECMO on the 11th day.
      Finally, the patient was discharged on post-transplant day 204. CONCLUSIONS: ECMO
      can be a beneficial rescue option for the management of refractory
      cardiopulmonary failure in liver transplant recipients. In addition, the hybrid
      mode of ECMO is a helpful salvage option when conventional modes of ECMO are
      inadequate.

PMID- 28583556
TI  - Duct-to-duct Biliary Reconstruction in Living-donor Liver Transplantation for
      Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Report of a Case.
AB  - Although Roux-en Y hepaticojejunostomy was previously recommended for the biliary
      reconstruction in liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC),
      some recent reports showed no difference in the graft survival between Roux-en Y
      and duct-to-duct anastomosis in deceased-donor liver transplantation. On the
      other hand, considering the risk of recurrence and the short length of the bile
      duct of the graft, duct-to-duct biliary anastomosis has never been reported in a
      patient undergoing living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for PSC. A 45 year
      old male underwent LDLT using a left-lobe graft donated from his brother.
      Cholangiography showed no lesion in his common bile duct and duct-to-duct
      anastomosis was chosen for him. Fifteen months later, he suffered cholangitis due
      to PSC recurrence and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography was performed. The
      stents were inserted into his B2 and B3, and he remains well. Because of the
      ability to easily manage biliary complication, duct-to-duct biliary
      reconstruction may become the first choice in LDLT for PSC without common bile
      duct lesions.

PMID- 28583557
TI  - In Situ Posterior Graft Segmentectomy for Large-for-Size Syndrome in Deceased
      Donor Liver Transplantation in Adults: A Case Report.
AB  - Large-for-size syndrome (LFSS) is controversial in pediatric living donor liver
      transplantation patients and is associated with a poor graft outcome. Similar
      situations in deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) in adults have not been
      reported frequently, and there are no official guidelines worldwide. Deceased
      donation is extremely limited in Japan, and when a larger liver is allocated for
      a very sick small recipient in Japan, transplantation with a plan to address LFSS
      might be necessary. The patient is a 58-year-old female patient who had acute
      liver failure with coma. The graft-recipient weight ratio (GRWR) was 2.74%.
      Although the graft was enlarged by reperfusion, the intraoperative Doppler
      ultrasound, performed after reperfusion, showed sufficient graft in-flow and out
      flow. However, when the liver graft was situated appropriately into the right
      phrenic space supported by the rib cage and diaphragm, the blood flow in the
      hepatic vein and portal vein was significantly reduced. Graft blood flow did not
      improve without removing it from the right subphrenic space. Therefore, we
      decided to perform an in situ graft posterior segmentectomy, so that the graft
      right lobe was properly accommodated in the patient's right subphrenic space.
      After the segmentectomy of the graft, an intraoperative Doppler sonogram showed
      significantly improved blood flow. LFSS could be a significant operative
      challenge in adult DDLT, especially in areas with limited chances of DDLT. In
      situ posterior segmentectomy in the demarcated area could be a solution for
      treating patients with LFSS.

PMID- 28583559
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 28583558
TI  - Successful Treatment of a Patient With Diffuse Portosplenomesenteric Thrombosis
      Using a Pericholedochal Varix for Portal Flow Reconstruction During Deceased
      Donor Liver Transplantation: A Case Report.
AB  - Portal vein thrombosis remains a challenging issue in liver transplantation. When
      thrombectomy is not feasible due to diffuse portosplenomesenteric thrombosis,
      other modalities are adapted such as the use of a jump graft or portal
      tributaries or even multivisceral transplantation. For patients with diffuse
      thrombosis of the splanchnic venous system, a large pericholedochal varix can be
      a useful vessel for providing splanchnic blood flow to the graft and for
      relieving portal hypertension. We report our experience of successfully treating
      a patient with diffuse portosplenomesenteric thrombosis using a pericholedochal
      varix for portal flow reconstruction during deceased donor liver transplantation
      and eventually preventing unnecessary multivisceral transplantation. A 56-year
      old man diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B underwent deceased
      donor liver transplantation due to refractory ascites. Preoperative imaging
      revealed diffuse portosplenomesenteric thrombosis with large amount of ascites.
      During the operation, dissection of the main portal vein was not possible due to
      the development of multiple large pericholedochal varices and cavernous change of
      the main portal vein. After outflow reconstruction, portal inflow was restored by
      anastomosing the graft portal vein to a large pericholedochal varix.
      Postoperatively, although abdominal computed tomography scan showed stenosis of
      portal vein anastomosis site, liver function tests improved, and Doppler sonogram
      revealed no flow disturbance. During follow-up, the patient repeatedly developed
      hydrothorax and ascites. In addition, stenosis of the portal vein anastomosis and
      thrombosis of the portomesenteric system still remained. The patient underwent
      transhepatic portal vein stent insertion. After portal vein stent insertion,
      hydrothorax and ascites improved and the extent of thrombosis of the
      portomesenteric system decreased without anticoagulation therapy. In conclusion,
      enlarged pericholedochal varix in patients with totally obliterated splanchnic
      veins can be a source of useful inflow to restore portal flow and decrease the
      extent of thrombosis, thereby preventing unnecessary multivisceral
      transplantation.

PMID- 28583560
TI  - Selection Criteria for Kidney Laterality in Retroperitoneoscopic Living Donor
      Nephrectomy and the Usefulness of Pretransplant Intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the selection criteria for kidney laterality and the
      usefulness of pretransplant intervention in living donor nephrectomy. METHODS: We
      compared conventional and revised criteria. The conventional criteria were that
      left kidneys were chosen in preference and provided the kidney with the fewest
      structural abnormalities and lowest functional decline and that most renal
      arteries remained in the donor. From April 2013, we allowed the use of left
      kidneys with double renal arteries. Patient characteristics and surgical outcomes
      were retrospectively compared between right and left retroperitoneoscopic living
      donor nephrectomies. RESULTS: We compared data for 30 right kidney and 222 left
      kidney nephrectomies. Right kidneys were selected because of multiple renal
      arteries (n = 18), structural abnormalities (n = 10) of the left kidney, or
      functional decline (n = 2) of the right kidney. Right retroperitoneoscopic
      nephrectomies were associated with significantly longer operating times (267
      minutes vs 241 minutes), larger blood losses (240 g vs 55 g), and higher open
      conversion rates (10% vs 0.9%). Pretransplant intervention was necessary for
      structural abnormalities in right kidneys, but the amended selection criteria
      resulted in fewer right nephrectomies. Pretransplant intervention was still
      necessary by ex vivo arterial anastomosis for multiple left renal arteries, which
      increased the total ischemia time (94 minutes vs 64 minutes); however, post
      transplantation renal function was not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS:
      Pretransplant intervention was beneficial both for repairing structural
      abnormalities and for reducing the difficulties of retroperitoneoscopic living
      donor nephrectomy.

PMID- 28583561
TI  - Investigating Serum Uric Acid as a Risk Factor in the Development of Delayed
      Renal Recovery in Living Kidney Donors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperuricemia has been associated with kidney disease and remains
      controversial with regard to its gender-specific differences and impact in living
      kidney donation. METHODS: Between 2006 and 2015, charts of live kidney donors who
      underwent nephrectomy and had a minimum follow-up of 1 year were reviewed. A
      total of 291 donors were included and divided based on gender-specific pre
      donation serum uric acid (SUA) tertiles. Renal functional outcomes included were
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 6-month and 1-year follow-up and
      percentage of donors with a 1-year eGFR <60 mL/min/1.72 m2. Logistic regression
      analysis was done. RESULTS: Mean SUA tertiles were 5.8 +/- 1.1 mg/dL in males and
      4.1 +/- 1 mg/dL in females. Females in the highest tertile (SUA >4.5 mg/dL) had
      lower 6-month (59.9 +/- 10.3 vs 66.9 +/- 14.1 vs 67.3 +/- 12.1; P = .018) and 1
      year (60.8 +/- 10.6 vs 67.6 +/- 10.8 vs 67.8 +/- 11.8; P = .021) eGFR and a
      higher percentage of donors with 1-year eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (59.5% vs 31.6%
      vs 23%; P = .002) compared with donors in the lower SUA tertiles (<=4.5 mg/dL).
      In males, there were similar eGFRs among SUA tertiles at 6-month and 1-year
      follow-up. In multivariate analysis, SUA was shown to be a significant predictor
      of developing stage 3 CKD (eGFR <60 mL/min/1.72 m2), 1 year after donation in
      females but not in males. CONCLUSIONS: Predonation SUA level is associated with
      the development of delayed renal recovery (GFR <60 mL/min/1.72 m2) 1 year after
      donation in females but not in males.

PMID- 28583562
TI  - Clinical Investigation Into Plasma Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and
      Body Adipose Tissue Associated With Remaining Renal Function in Living Kidney
      Donor.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (pNGAL) is known to
      increase in proportion to the degree and period of renal damage. This study aimed
      to evaluate the clinical relevance of pNGAL and body adipose tissue to remaining
      renal function in living kidney donors. METHODS: Between July 2013 and February
      2015, 75 live kidney donors were enrolled. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT),
      subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and VAT/SAT ratio were measured in preoperative
      CT scan which performed before surgery. We analyzed the correlation among the
      variables (VAT, SAT, and VAT/SAT ratio), eGFR and pNGAL. DeltapNGAL-max(=Maximum
      pNGAL-measures), DeltapNGAL-min(=Minimum pNGAL-measures), DeltaeGFR-max(=Maximum
      eGFR-measures) and DeltaeGFR-min(=Minimum eGFR-measures) were also analyzed.
      RESULTS: The highest value of pNGAL (207.46 +/- 76 ng/mL) was observed on
      postoperative day 7, and the lowest value of eGFR (57.52 +/- 11.20 mL/min/1.73
      m2) was also measured on postoperative day 7. A significant correlation was found
      between DeltapNGAL, VAT, and VAT-to-SAT ratio. Moreover, a significant
      correlation between DeltapNGALmin and DeltaeGFRmin was revealed. Also, VAT-to-SAT
      ratio was correlated with DeltaeGFRmin during the all of the follow-up periods,
      and it was also correlated with DeltapNGALmin until postoperative day 3.
      CONCLUSION: There was a correlation between the elevation of pNGAL until
      postoperative day 5 and the decrease of eGFR after living donor nephrectomy. VAT
      to-SAT ratio had a significant correlation with both DeltapNGALmin and eGFRmin.
      Given the metabolism of pNGAL, the increase of pNGAL seemed to be affected as a
      consequence of body adipose tissue.

PMID- 28583563
TI  - Impact of the Ratio of Visceral to Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in Donor
      Nephrectomy Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: It was reported that a metabolic syndrome affected the remaining renal
      function after living donor nephrectomy. However, the measurement of waist
      circumference is unclear because it cannot distinguish between visceral adipose
      tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). We investigate the clinical
      correlation between body adipose tissue and renal function recovery after living
      donor nephrectomy. METHODS: From July 2013 to February 2015, 75 living kidney
      donors were enrolled. The VAT and SAT were measured by preoperative computed
      tomography (CT) scan. Body mass index (BMI), VAT, SAT, and VAT-to-SAT ratio were
      analyzed according to a postoperative renal function recovery. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) was performed to predict estimated glomerular filtration
      rate (eGFR) less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 at postoperative 6 months for BMI, VAT,
      SAT, and VAT-to-SAT ratio. RESULTS: The lowest value of eGFR (57.52 +/- 11.20
      mL/min/1.73 m2) was measured at postoperative day 7. There was no statistically
      significant difference in eGFR between 1 month and 3 months. BMI, VAT, SAT, and
      VAT-to-SAT ratio showed a statistically significant correlation with each other
      (Pearson correlation, P < .05). Also, the recovery time of eGFR was correlated
      with VAT-to-SAT ratio; it was significant at postoperative 1, 3, and 6 months.
      VAT-to-SAT ratio (0.654, 95% confidence interval 0.525-0.783, P = .024) had
      higher predictive value in ROC. CONCLUSION: We developed a new variable to
      predict the value of lower eGFR (less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) at a postoperative
      6 months in living kidney donor. According to a CT scan, VAT-to-SAT ratio can
      predict renal function recovery.

PMID- 28583564
TI  - Recognition of Kidney Donation by Living Kidney Donors That Accompanies Changes
      in the Recipients' Physical Condition: Focusing on Its Influences on Donors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 2013, a total of 1586 kidney transplants were performed in
      Japan, and 1431 (90.2%) of the organs were from living donors. The purpose of
      this study is to illuminate the awareness of living kidney donors toward kidney
      donation after the condition of the recipient changed, thus clarifying the
      influence of that recognition on the donor. METHODS: This study design was
      qualitative descriptive research. Transplant coordinators at 4 hospitals were
      commissioned to screen subject candidates and hand-deliver printed research
      explanations to them. Candidates who responded were selected as subjects. I
      conducted semistructured interviews and analyzed them using the grounded theory
      approach. This research was approved by the Ethics Research Committee, Faculty of
      Nursing, Toho University. RESULTS: The survey period was from April to November
      2014, and consent was obtained from 5 donors and 5 recipients. The outcome of
      recipients who received kidneys from the 5 donors was as follows: recovered after
      temporary worsening (n = 3), early graft loss (n = 1), and early death (n = 1).
      The core category was "to the donor, the meaning of kidney donation is
      continually redefined." The donors had a strong interest in the physical
      condition of the recipient. The 3 changes in the recipients' physical condition,
      defined as "recovery," "temporary worsening," and "complete deterioration,"
      affected the donor's condition. CONCLUSION: Due to changes in the recipient's
      physical condition, donors' psychological and physical condition and their
      definition of the meaning of kidney donation also changed. Health care systems
      that guarantee lifelong follow-up of the physical and psychological condition of
      donors after donation are needed.

PMID- 28583565
TI  - Role of Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin for Predicting the
      Severity of Renal Functions in Patients With Autosomal-Dominant Polycystic Kidney
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) has a feature of
      disruption of tubular integrity with increased cellular proliferation and
      apoptosis. There are several known tubular membrane proteins in the pathogenesis
      of ADPKD, and one of these proteins is the neutrophil gelatinase-associated
      lipocalin (NGAL). NGAL is a protein expressed on renal tubular cells of which
      production is markedly increased in response to harmful stimuli such as ischemia
      or toxicity. OBJECTIVE: We aim to study whether urinary NGAL levels could be used
      as a marker to identify the severity of ADPKD in patients. METHODS: Urinary NGAL
      levels were measured in 30 patients with ADPKD compared with 30 control patients
      who were matched by age, gender, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). All
      patients with ADPKD were diagnosed by using both phenotypic and genotypic
      criteria, which showed that all cases of ADPKD were caused by PKD1 gene mutation.
      The urinary NGAL level was measured using The NGAL Test by Roche, with analytic
      range of 25-1000 ng/mL. RESULTS: In the ADPKD group, there was significant
      negative correlation between urinary NGAL and GFR (Pearson r = -0.472; P = .008)
      and significant positive correlation between urinary NGAL and serum creatinine
      (Pearson r = 0.718; P < .01). Elevated urinary NGAL was increased as GFR of ADPKD
      patients was decreased. CONCLUSION: Urinary NGAL might play role in the pathway
      of renal tubular damage in patients with ADPKD and might be useful in the
      prediction of the possibility to progress to chronic kidney disease in patients
      with ADPKD.

PMID- 28583566
TI  - Influences of Pre-formed Donor-Specific Anti-Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibodies
      in Living-Donor Renal Transplantation: Results With Graft Immunocomplex Capture
      Fluorescence Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advances in immunosuppressants enable organ transplantation for
      sensitized patients. However, influences of pre-formed donor-specific anti-human
      leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies (DSA) have not been fully understood in renal
      transplantation (RT). On the other hand, immunocomplex capture fluorescence
      analysis (ICFA) is a reliable method to detect donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies
      and HLA antigen complexes. Graft ICFA can detect DSA in an allograft (g-DSA).
      METHODS: To elucidate the consequences of pre-formed DSA, 198 patients who
      underwent living-donor RT were enrolled for this study (observation period: 57.8
      +/- 34.9 months); 187 patients in the DSA- group (excluding ABO-incompatible
      cases) and 11 patients in the DSA+ group. Before RT, all DSA+ patients had
      undergone rituximab administration and plasmapheresis. For a graft ICFA, the
      biopsy specimen (1 * 105 cells) was dissolved, and HLA antigens were captured by
      anti-HLA beads. Finally, DSA-HLA complexes were detected by means of PE
      conjugated anti-human IgG antibodies and analyzed by use of a Luminex system. A
      ratio (sample/blank beads, mean of fluorescence intensity) was calculated: >=1.0
      was determined as positive g-DSA. RESULTS: There were no significant differences
      in 5-year graft survival (87.9%/100% in the DSA-/DSA+ groups, respectively). In
      terms of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), within 1 month after RT,
      pathologically determined AMR occurred 3.2% and 63.4% in the DSA- and DSA+
      groups, respectively (P < .0001). However, interestingly, more than half of them
      (57.1%) indicated only subclinical AMR, that is, no fluctuation of S-Cr. As
      representative of 2 cases of subclinical AMR, g-DSA deposition could be confirmed
      (1.15 +/- 0.04) at 1 hour after reperfusion by graft ICFA. Furthermore, g-DSA
      shifted to 2.20 +/- 0.98 at 3 weeks after transplantation, along with a decline
      in s-DSA mean of fluorescence intensity (1718-506.5). CONCLUSIONS: Although
      pathologically determined AMR occurred more frequently in pre-formed DSA+
      recipients, it can be argued that a successful de-sensitization protocol inhibits
      further production of DSA and graft destruction.

PMID- 28583567
TI  - Influence of Long-term Dialysis on the Outcome of Kidney Transplantation: A
      Single-Center Study.
AB  - AIM: We investigated clinical outcomes of patients in Japan with a history of
      long-term dialysis treatment. METHODS: We conducted 1171 kidney transplantations
      between 2000 and 2015. Sixty of the patients had undergone dialysis therapy for
      >20 years before the transplantation. We compared graft and patient survivals
      between the recipients with >20 years of dialysis (long dialysis group [LGD]) and
      those with <20 years (control group [CG]) in a case-control study, in which sex
      and age of both donors and recipients, ABO compatibility, and calendar year of
      transplantation were matched. RESULTS: Average age of LDG was 52.8 +/- 8.9 years,
      and that of CG was 54.2 +/- 12.6 (P > .05). Durations of dialysis were 25.4 +/-
      1.57 vs 5.8 +/- 5.8 years, respectively (P < .05). The graft survival rates were
      91.6%, 89.9%, and 81.8% at 3, 5, and 10 years in LDG vs 90.71%, 84.8%, and 78.3%
      in CG, respectively (P > .05). The patient survival rates were 96.6%, 93.2%, and
      88.6% in LDG vs 94.5%, 91.0%, and 83.9%, respectively (P > .05). There was no
      significant difference in mean estimated glomerular filtration rates for post
      transplant 10 years between them. CONCLUSION: LDG showed satisfying clinical
      outcomes comparable to those of CG both in graft and patient survivals and renal
      function.

PMID- 28583568
TI  - Comparison of Flow-cytometric Antibody Secreting Cell Assay and Mabtech
      Immunoglobulin ELISpot Assay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increase of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) after transplantation
      could be a more important marker than the level of DSA in pre-transplantation
      sera. The assessment of sensitized cells that can secrete DSA is needed. We
      developed an assay for antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) measured with the use of
      flow cytometry and compared it with the Mabtech immunoglobulin (IgG) ELISpot
      assay. METHODS: Thirteen patients who were awaiting or received organ
      transplantation and 15 healthy control subjects were included. All subjects were
      positive for anti-cytomegalovirus (CMV) IgG. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs) were seeded with CpG 2006 (5'-TCGTCGTTTTGTCGTTTTGTCGTT-3'), 500 ng/mL
      human CD40 ligand, and 50 ng/mL interleukin-21 in complete RPMI media. Eight
      micrograms of CMV pp28 antigen were added to test wells and compared with
      nonstimulated PBMCs. After 72 hours, analysis with the use of the human IgG
      ELISpot kit (Mabtech) and flow cytometry with anti-CD19-PE, CD27-PE-Cy7, CD38
      APC, IgG-FITC antibodies was performed. RESULTS: The flow-cytometric ASC assay
      was moderately correlated with Mabtech IgG ELISpot assay (r = 0.554; P < .001).
      The ASCs measured by means of flow cytometry were significantly higher in healthy
      control subjects compared with patients (P < .001). ASCs measured by means of
      flow cytometry in CMV antigen-stimulated PBMCs were significantly higher compared
      with nonstimulated PBMCs (P < .001). The IgG-secreting cells measured by means of
      Mabtech ELISpot assay was not different between healthy control subjects and
      patients nor between CMV antigen-stimulated and nonstimulated PBMCs. CONCLUSIONS:
      Flow-cytometric ASC assay can differentiate ASCs for CMV antigen better than
      Mabtech IgG ELISpot assay. Flow-cytometric ASC assay might be useful for
      assessing sensitization status in patients awaiting organ transplantation.

PMID- 28583569
TI  - Beneficial Effects of High-Dose Mizoribine on ABO-Incompatible Living-Related
      Kidney Transplantation: Two-Year Results by a Japanese Multicenter Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mizoribine (MZ) has been developed as an immunosuppressive agent in
      Japan, but it has a less-potent immunosuppressive effect up to 3 mg/kg/d. In the
      previous study, a Japanese multicenter study, we reported that high-dose MZ, at 6
      mg/kg/d, with a calcineurin inhibitor was effective and safe in reducing the
      frequency of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-related events in ABO-incompatible (ABO-i)
      living-related kidney transplantation (LKT). In the present study, therefore, we
      investigated the effects of high-dose MZ with a CNI in ABO-i LKT recipients in a
      Japanese multicenter study. METHODS: A total of 37 patients were treated with
      high-dose MZ (6 mg/kg), a CNI (cyclosporine [CsA] or tacrolimus [Tac]),
      basiliximab (Bas), rituximab (Rit), and corticosteroids. CsA was started at a
      dose of 7 mg/kg to maintain blood levels [200 ng/mL (C0), 6000 ng-h/mL (AUC 0
      9)]. Tac was started at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg to maintain blood levels [8-10 ng/mL
      (C0), 100 ng-h/mL (AUC 0-9)]. Bas (20 mg/body) was administrated on day 0 and day
      4 after transplantation. Rit (100-200 mg/body) was administrated on day -14 and
      day -7 before transplantation. MZ was adjusted to maintain target C0 levels of
      1.5 to 2.0 MUg/mL. RESULTS: Patient and graft survival rates for 2 years were
      100% in the CsA group (n = 22) and 93.3% in the Tac group (n = 15) (not
      significant, NS). Overall incidence of acute rejection for 2 years was 22.7% in
      the CsA group and 26.7% in the Tac group. Mean serum creatinine levels at 2 years
      were 1.29 +/- 0.2 mg/dL in the CsA group and 1.21 +/- 0.34 mg/dL in the Tac group
      (NS). The incidence of CMV disease was 0% in both groups, and positive rates of
      CMV antigenemia were 50.0% and 26.7% in the CsA and Tac groups, respectively
      (NS). Mean serum uric acid levels were 5.5 +/- 1.3 mg/dL and 6.4 +/- 1.2 mg/dL at
      2 years (NS) in the CsA and Tac groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A high-dose MZ
      regimen including calcineurin inhibitor (CsA or Tac), Bas, Rit, and steroids was
      effective and safe in reducing the frequency of CMV-related events in ABO-i LKT.

PMID- 28583570
TI  - Clinical Outcomes in Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipients Who Received Steroid
      Based Immunosuppressive Regimen.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the clinical outcomes of pediatric renal transplantation
      (RT) in developed countries have improved significantly, the data on clinical
      outcomes in developing countries are wildly different. METHODS: Children and
      adolescents who had undergone RT at Ramathibodi Hospital between March 2001 and
      August 2014 were included. RESULTS: Patients were divided into 2 groups: living
      related donor (LRD) group (n = 13) and deceased donor (DD) group (n = 30).
      Prolonged cold ischemic time over 13 hours was significantly associated with
      delayed graft function (P = .029). The prevalence of infection was 90.7%, in
      which urinary tract infection (UTI) was the most common infection. Although
      almost none of the patients in the LRD group received induction therapy, the
      prevalence of rejection was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P =
      .817). The comparison of graft survivals between LRD and DD groups were 100% vs
      100%, 92.3% vs 100%, and 85.7% vs 81.8% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively (P =
      .938). Recurrent UTI and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection had a negative effect on
      graft function at 1-year follow-up (P < .05). Rejections, bladder dysfunction,
      and donors aged >=50 years were associated with graft deterioration at 3 years
      after RT (P < .01). None of these patients died with functioning graft.
      CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated good graft and patient survival in Thai
      pediatric RT recipients. Although recurrent UTI and CMV infection were related to
      graft dysfunction at 1-year follow-up, infections had no effect on graft and
      patient survival in long-term follow-up.

PMID- 28583571
TI  - Outcomes of En Bloc Kidney Transplantation From Pediatric Donors: A Single-Center
      Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To overcome a shortage of donors, cadaveric pediatric en bloc kidneys
      can be used to expand the donor pool. Recent evidence shows that en bloc kidney
      transplantation (EBKT) has better outcomes than standard-criteria deceased adult
      donor kidney transplantation. We reviewed our experiences of EBKT and their
      outcomes. METHODS: From September 1996 to January 2016, 15 EBKTs were performed
      in Asan Medical Center. The characteristics of donors and recipients were
      analyzed. Graft survival was analyzed by means of serum creatinine levels.
      RESULTS: Nine male and 6 female donors were used. The mean age and body weight of
      donors was 2.79 years (range, 0.25-14) and 13.14 kg (range, 5.5-35). The mean
      weight of en bloc kidneys was 117.43 g (range, 36-146). Recipient median age was
      39.13 years and body weight was 49.47 kg. Ureteral anastomosis was performed by
      means of side-to-side anastomosis and then bladder anastomosis in 9 patients and
      by bladder patch anastomosis in 4 patients. Serum creatinine levels at discharge
      and latest follow-up were 0.97 mg/dL (range, 0.7-1.54) and 0.89 mg/dL (range,
      0.44-2.58). Delayed graft function developed in 3 patients and clinical rejection
      developed in 2 patients. We performed graftectomy on post-operative day 1 because
      of graft thrombosis. The rest maintained their graft function well. Graft
      survival was comparable with that of kidney transplantation from standard donors.
      CONCLUSIONS: EBKT showed excellent graft function and outcomes at our center. As
      an approach to expand the donor pool and improve graft utilization, EBKT is
      acceptable and should be more widely used.

PMID- 28583572
TI  - Effect of Donor-Recipient Age Match in Expanded Criteria Deceased Donor Kidney
      Transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our objective was to investigate the effects of age on patient and graft
      survival in expanded criteria donor (ECD) renal transplantation. METHODS: Between
      February 2000 and December 2015, we analyzed 405 deceased donor renal
      transplants, including 128 grafts (31.9%) from ECDs. Based on recipient age and
      ECD criteria classification, the recipients were divided into four groups: Group
      I, non-ECD to recipient age <50 years; Group II, non-ECD to recipient age >=50
      years; Group III, ECD to recipient age <50 years; and Group IV, ECD to recipient
      age >=50 years. RESULTS: Among the four groups, there were significant
      differences in baseline characteristics (age, body mass index [BMI], cause of end
      stage renal disease [ESRD], number of kidney transplantations, and use of
      induction agent). The mean modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD)
      glomerular filtration rate (GFR) level at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, and
      5 years after transplantation was significantly lower in patients with ECDs but
      MDRD GFR level at 7, 9, and 10 years did not differ significantly (P = .183,
      .041, and .388, respectively). There were no significant differences in graft
      survival (P = .400) and patient survival (P = .147). CONCLUSION: Our result shows
      that, regardless of recipient age, kidney transplants donated by deceased ECDs
      have similar graft and patient survival.

PMID- 28583573
TI  - Kidney Transplantation in Korean Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease Aged 65
      and Older: A Single-Center Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mean age of patients starting dialysis in Korea has increased to
      older than 60 years and the proportion of patients aged 65 and older exceeded 40%
      in 2014. Although the number of elderly dialysis patients is increasing rapidly,
      percentages of elderly patients undergoing kidney transplantation (KT) are very
      low. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who
      underwent KT at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center between 1982 and 2016.
      Elderly patients (>=65 years old) were compared with the control group of
      patients in their early sixties (60-64 years old). RESULTS: Among a total of 1209
      KT patients, those in their early sixties totaled 34 (2.8%) and the elderly
      totaled only 18 (1.5%). Patient and allograft survival rate showed no significant
      differences between the elderly and those in their early sixties. Death with a
      functioning graft accounted for 50% in both groups. However, occurrences of
      bacterial infection and tuberculosis were higher in the elderly (P = .011 and
      .047, respectively). In a multivariate analysis, longer duration of renal
      replacement therapy before KT and the occurrence of malignancy were independent
      risk factors for patient death (hazard ratio [HR], 1.027; P = .014; HR, 31.934; P
      = .016, respectively). Also, albuminuria at 6 months after KT was an independent
      risk factor for allograft loss (HR, 51.155; P = .016). CONCLUSION: The overall
      survival rate of the elderly was not significantly lower than those in their
      early sixties. Even in the elderly, KT should not be delayed. In addition,
      careful surveillance for malignancy and measures to decrease the risk of
      infection are necessary.

PMID- 28583574
TI  - Long-term Clinical Outcomes of First and Second Kidney Transplantation in
      Patients With Biopsy-Proven IgA Nephropathy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The recurrence of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) after kidney
      transplantation (KT) has an effect on graft survival, but there are few reports
      about long-term clinical outcomes of KT with recurrent IgAN. This study shows the
      long-term clinical outcomes of KT in patients with IgAN. METHODS: All recipients
      who had biopsy-proven IgAN were followed from February 1990 to February 2016. We
      analyzed overall graft and patient survival rates, incidence of recurrent IgAN,
      factors affecting graft survival, and IgAN recurrence. RESULTS: There were 88
      patients with first KT. The mean follow-up duration was 82.5 months. Twenty
      patients went through graft loss and 1 patient died due to sepsis. IgAN recurred
      in 15 patients, and 11 patients experienced graft failure. Among the patients who
      had failed graft after first KT, 7 patients underwent retransplantation. The
      graft survival period, presence of rejection, and proteinuria were the relevant
      risk factors for recurrence of IgAN. In the first KT patients, presence of
      rejection and 1-year serum creatinine were the significant risk factors for graft
      loss. But recurrence of IgAN was not a relevant risk factor. Overall graft
      survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 93.8% and 73.1% in the first
      transplantation group and 100% and 100% in the retransplantation group,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Although IgAN recurrence was a significant risk factor
      for graft failure, the patient who underwent retransplantation showed favorable
      results. Retransplantation should be considered in patients who lost their first
      graft after recurrence of IgAN.

PMID- 28583575
TI  - Long-term Clinical Outcomes of Kidney Re-transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kidney re-transplantation is commonly considered to have a higher
      immunological risk than first kidney transplantation. Because of the organ
      shortage and increasing waiting lists, long-term outcomes of kidney re
      transplantation are being studied. However, reports of re-transplantation
      outcomes are not common. We have reported our 30 years of experience with second
      kidney transplantations. METHODS: Of 1210 kidney transplantations between
      November 1982 and August 2016 performed in our hospital, 105 were second kidney
      transplantations (2nd KT). Living donor KT was 44; deceased donor KT was 61.
      RESULTS: Patient survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 100%, 97.2%, and
      90.7%, and graft survival rates were 97.0%, 94.6%, and 71.5%, respectively. The
      leading cause of graft failure in the 2nd KT was chronic rejection (60%). In
      addition, induction immunosuppressant, maintenance immunosuppressant, delayed
      graft function, and graft survival time at the 1st KT had a significant impact on
      graft survival time at the 2nd KT. CONCLUSIONS: Reasonable results in both
      patient survival and graft survival rates were found in the 2nd KT. Careful
      monitoring of immunologic risk is needed.

PMID- 28583576
TI  - Administration of Huperzine A exerts antidepressant-like activity in a rat model
      of post-stroke depression.
AB  - Post-stroke depression (PSD) is the most common mood disorder following a stroke,
      and is also the main factor limiting recovery and rehabilitation in stroke
      patients. The present study was aimed to investigate whether Huperzine A (HupA)
      has antidepressant-like activity in a rat model of PSD, which was developed by
      middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by an 18-day chronic unpredictable mild
      stress in conjunction with isolation rearing. The sucrose preference and forced
      swim tests were used to assess depression-like behavior. Neurological and
      cognitive functions following ischemia were evaluated by neurological evaluation,
      the beam-walking test, the forelimb grip force test, and the water maze test.
      Levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in
      the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were assayed by high performance liquid
      chromatography. Western blot analysis was used to evaluate hippocampal expression
      of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptor (5-HT1AR), cAMP response element binding
      (CREB), phosphorylated CREB (p-CREB) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      (BDNF). The results showed that treatment with HupA for 4weeks ameliorated
      behavioral abnormalities and the impairment of neurological and cognitive
      functions in PSD rats. This was accompanied by the upregulated hippocampal
      expression of 5-HT1AR, p-CREB and BDNF, and increased levels of NE, DA, and 5-HT
      in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that HupA has
      antidepressant-like effect and can improve neurological and cognitive functions
      in PSD rats, which suggest its therapeutic potential for depression after stroke.

PMID- 28583577
TI  - Antagonism of orexin type-1 receptors (OX1Rs) attenuates naloxone-precipitated
      morphine withdrawal syndrome in rat dorsal hippocampus.
AB  - Herein the effect of hippocampal orexin type-1 receptors (OX1Rs) blockade on
      morphine withdrawal syndrome was studied. Animals were made dependent by
      subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of morphine sulfate (10mg/kg) at an interval
      of 12h for 9 consecutive days. Thereafter, on day 10, naloxone hydrochloride
      (1.5mg/kg, i.p.) was injected and the somatic signs of withdrawal syndrome were
      monitored during a 25-min period. Two groups of animals received bilateral
      microinjection of either SB-334867, a selective OX1Rs antagonist,
      (0.5MUg/0.5MUl), or its vehicle into the dorsal hippocampus immediately before
      each morphine injection. Other groups of animals were made dependent at first and
      only received a single microinjection of SB-334867 or vehicle on day 10 before
      naloxone injection. The results showed that intra-hippocampal microinjection of
      SB-334867 before each morphine treatment, significantly decreased the signs of
      morphine withdrawal, including teeth chattering (dependent: 18.5+/-2.3, SB
      treated: 5+/-1, p<0.001), diarrhea (dependent: 8.7+/-0.6, SB treated: 4.1+/-0.6,
      p<0.001), ptosis (dependent: 33.8+/-3.7, SB treated: 11.6+/-1.1, p<0.001), and
      chewing (dependent: 40+/-2.3, SB treated: 29+/-2.4, p<0.01). SB-334867 did not
      attenuate withdrawal syndrome, when it was microinjected as a single dose
      immediately before naloxone injection. The present results suggest a role for
      orexin in naloxone-precipitated withdrawal and thus possibly morphine dependence
      and this effect is, at least in part, via OX1Rs in the dorsal hippocampus.

PMID- 28583579
TI  - The changing landscape of A H7N9 influenza virus infections in China.

PMID- 28583578
TI  - Epidemiology of avian influenza A H7N9 virus in human beings across five
      epidemics in mainland China, 2013-17: an epidemiological study of laboratory
      confirmed case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The avian influenza A H7N9 virus has caused infections in human
      beings in China since 2013. A large epidemic in 2016-17 prompted concerns that
      the epidemiology of the virus might have changed, increasing the threat of a
      pandemic. We aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics, clinical
      severity, and time-to-event distributions of patients infected with A H7N9 in the
      2016-17 epidemic compared with previous epidemics. METHODS: In this
      epidemiological study, we obtained information about all laboratory-confirmed
      human cases of A H7N9 virus infection reported in mainland China as of Feb 23,
      2017, from an integrated electronic database managed by the China Center for
      Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and provincial CDCs. Every identified human
      case of A H7N9 virus infection was required to be reported to China CDC within 24
      h via a national surveillance system for notifiable infectious diseases. We
      described the epidemiological characteristics across epidemics, and estimated the
      risk of death, mechanical ventilation, and admission to the intensive care unit
      for patients admitted to hospital for routine clinical practice rather than for
      isolation purpose. We estimated the incubation periods, and time delays from
      illness onset to hospital admission, illness onset to initiation of antiviral
      treatment, and hospital admission to death or discharge using survival analysis
      techniques. FINDINGS: Between Feb 19, 2013, and Feb 23, 2017, 1220 laboratory
      confirmed human infections with A H7N9 virus were reported in mainland China,
      with 134 cases reported in the spring of 2013, 306 in 2013-14, 219 in 2014-15,
      114 in 2015-16, and 447 in 2016-17. The 2016-17 A H7N9 epidemic began earlier,
      spread to more districts and counties in affected provinces, and had more
      confirmed cases than previous epidemics. The proportion of cases in middle-aged
      adults increased steadily from 41% (55 of 134) to 57% (254 of 447) from the first
      epidemic to the 2016-17 epidemic. Proportions of cases in semi-urban and rural
      residents in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 epidemics (63% [72 of 114] and 61% [274 of
      447], respectively) were higher than those in the first three epidemics (39% [52
      of 134], 55% [169 of 306], and 56% [122 of 219], respectively). The clinical
      severity of individuals admitted to hospital in the 2016-17 epidemic was similar
      to that in the previous epidemics. INTERPRETATION: Age distribution and case
      sources have changed gradually across epidemics since 2013, while clinical
      severity has not changed substantially. Continued vigilance and sustained
      intensive control efforts are needed to minimise the risk of human infection with
      A H7N9 virus. FUNDING: The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young
      Scholars.

PMID- 28583580
TI  - Acetyl-l-carnitine enhances myelination of regenerated fibers of the lateral
      olfactory tract.
AB  - It is well known that acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) has various neuroprotective
      effects against neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, it has been reported
      that ALC facilitates myelination of regenerated axons after peripheral nerve
      injuries. We previously reported that spontaneous regeneration of the lateral
      olfactory tract (LOT), the main fiber tract of the central olfactory system,
      consistently occurred in newborn rats and a majority of these regenerated fibers
      were unmyelinated in neonatally LOT-transected young adult rats. To investigate
      the effects of ALC treatment on myelination in LOT, neonatal rats were treated
      with ALC after LOT transection. Immunohistochemistry for myelin basic protein
      showed more positive areas in ALC-treated rats than in control rats. Moreover,
      the number of myelinated axons of regenerated fibers was assessed using electron
      microscopy and was found to be statistically higher in ALC-treated rats compared
      to control rats. The study revealed that ALC accelerates myelination of
      regenerated fibers in neonatally LOT-injured young adult rats.

PMID- 28583581
TI  - The regulation of SKF38393 on the signaling pathway of dopamine D1 receptor in
      hippocampus during chronic sleep deprivation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hippocampal functions are sensitive to sleep deficiency. Dopamine D1
      receptor (D1R) in hippocampus can regulate the expression of cAMP response
      element binding protein (CREB) through PKA, MAPK and phosphoinositide pathway,
      but which pathway plays the major role in hippocampus during Chronic sleep
      deprivation (CSD) is unclear. METHODS: The CSD model was created, SKF rats were
      administered the D1R agonist (SKF38363), and hippocampus from each animal was
      dissected for following molecular detection. The gene and protein levels of CREB
      and key molecules in D1R pathways were measured by real-time PCR and western
      blotting, respectively. RESULTS: Both the gene and protein expression of CREB in
      hippocampus decreased by CSD and improved significantly by SKF38393 (p<0.05).
      Both the gene and protein expression of PKA in hippocampus decreased by CSD and
      improved significantly by SKF38393 (p<0.05). SKF38393 just significantly improved
      the gene level of CaMK IV and the protein level of p-CaMK IV (p<0.05) in CSD
      rats, but it cannot improve the protein expression of ERK1/2 and p-ERK1/2.
      DISCUSSION: CSD significantly decreased the expression of CREB in hippocampus. As
      the key molecules, PKA and CaMK IV play an important role during the improvement
      of hippocampus by the activation of D1R, and this process might be improved
      during CSD through the PKA and phosphoinositide pathway.

PMID- 28583582
TI  - Chronic sucrose intake decreases concentrations of n6 fatty acids, but not
      docosahexaenoic acid in the rat brain phospholipids.
AB  - We investigated the influence of high sucrose intake, administered in drinking
      water, on the lipid profile of the brain and on the expression of SREBP1c and
      Delta-desaturase genes. Adult male rats received 30% sucrose solution for 20
      weeks (Sucrose group), or plain water (Control group). After the 20th week of
      sucrose treatment, the Sucrose group showed permanent hyperglycemia. Sucrose
      treatment also increased the amount of total lipids and fatty acids in the brain.
      The brain fatty acid profile of total lipids as well as phosphatidylethanolamine,
      phosphatidylcholine and cardiolipin of the Sucrose group was extensively changed.
      The most interesting change was a significant decrease in n6 fatty acids,
      including the important arachidonic acid, whereas the content of oleic and
      docosahexaenoic acid remained unchanged. RT-qPCR revealed an increase in Delta-5
      desaturase and SREBP1c gene expression. In conclusion, high sucrose intake via
      drinking water extensively changes rat brain fatty acid profile by decreasing n6
      fatty acids, including arachidonic acid. In contrast, the content of
      docosahexaenoic acid remains constant in the brain total lipids as well as in
      phospholipids. Changes in the brain fatty acid profile reflect changes in the
      lipid metabolism of the rat lipogenic tissues and concentrations in the
      circulation.

PMID- 28583583
TI  - Temporal changes of oxidative stress markers in Escherichia coli K1-induced
      experimental meningitis in a neonatal rat model.
AB  - Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy and advanced critical care neonatal
      bacterial meningitis has a mortality rate of over 10% and induces neurological
      sequelae in 20-50% of cases. Escherichia coli K1 (E. coli K1) is the most common
      gram-negative organism causing neonatal meningitis and is the second most common
      cause behind group B streptococcus. We previously reported that an E. coli K1
      experimental meningitis infection in neonatal rats resulted in habituation and
      aversive memory impairment and a significant increase in cytokine levels in
      adulthood. In this present study, we investigated the oxidative stress profile
      including malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, carbonyl protein formation,
      myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and
      catalase (CAT) activity 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96h after E. coli K1 experimental
      meningitis infection. In addition, sulfhydryl groups, nitrite and nitrate levels
      and activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes were also measured in
      the frontal cortex and hippocampus of neonatal rats. The results from this study
      demonstrated a significant increase in MDA, protein carbonyls and MPO activity
      and a simultaneous decrease in SOD activity in the hippocampus of the neonatal
      meningitis survivors but the same was not observed in frontal cortex. In
      addition, we also observed a significant increase in complex IV activity in the
      hippocampus and frontal cortex of meningitis survivor rats. Thus, the results
      from this study reaffirmed the possible role of oxidative stress, nitric oxide
      and its related compounds in the complex pathophysiology of E. coli K1-induced
      bacterial meningitis.

PMID- 28583584
TI  - Common variants in GRIK4 and major depressive disorder: An association study in
      the Chinese Han population.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and complex mental disorder. Recent
      studies found that genetic variants located in GRIK4, which encoded glutamate
      ionotropic receptor kainate type subunit 4, was associated with the MDD. In this
      study, we intended to investigate whether GRIK4 gene was associated with MDD. So
      five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected and genotyped
      (rs79526501, rs11218016, rs4582985, rs6589847, rs56275759) in 568 MDD patients
      and 846 healthy controls from Chinese Han population. The results showed that
      rs56275759 demonstrated statistically significant differences between MDD
      patients and control subjects both in allelic frequencies (p value=0.011) and
      genotypic frequencies (p value=0.029). Rs4582985 was excluded from the further
      analysis for its deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Strong linkage
      disequilibrium (LD) was found among rs11218016, rs6589847 and rs56275759, and
      this block was significantly associated with MDD. In summary, our results firstly
      indicated that rs56275759 of GRIK4 gene might be associated with MDD in Chinese
      Han population.

PMID- 28583585
TI  - Effects of the Notch signalling pathway on hyperoxia-induced immature brain
      damage in newborn mice.
AB  - Hyperoxia exposure can cause dramatic release of proinflammatory cytokines,
      leading to neuronal apoptosis and inducing white matter damage in newborn mouse
      brains. Some studies indicated that the Notch activation was provoked during
      inflammation and might regulate adaptive and innate immune responses. Moreover,
      the pathway also regulated oligodendrocyte maturation which was disrupted in
      neonatal mice after hyperoxia exposure. This study sought to investigate whether
      the Notch signalling activation contributed to immature brain damage after
      hyperoxia exposure. Cellular changes in the white matter (WM) of neonatal wild
      type mice exposed to 80% oxygen from postnatal day 3 (P3) to day 5 (P5) were
      determined. Moreover, in order to further confirm the relationship between the
      Notch signalling pathway and hyperoxia-induced periventricular white matter
      injury, mice were pre-treated with a gamma-secretase inhibitor (N-[N-(3,5
      difluorophenacetyl)-l-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester, DAPT), which
      inhibits activation of the Notch pathway before exposure to hyperoxia. The
      results suggested that expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) increased in P12
      mice subjected to hyperoxia after DAPT pretreatment. Moreover, hyperoxia could
      cause mature oligodendrocytes (MBP+) counts decreased with an obvious inverse
      increase in OPCs (NG2+) after hyperoxia on P12, DAPT pretreatment significantly
      ameliorated disruption of oligodendrocytes maturation induced by hyperoxia. Our
      results also demonstrated that DAPT could reduce memory impairment induced by
      hyperoxia exposure. Taken together, these results suggest that hyperoxia exposure
      induces both brain damage in the developing brain and behavioural abnormalities
      through the Notch signalling activation. And modulation of gamma-secretase,
      selectively interfering with the Notch signalling pathway, could improve adverse
      outcomes induced by hyperoxia.

PMID- 28583586
TI  - Attenuating PI3K isoforms in pancreatic cancer: Focus on immune PI3Kgamma.
AB  - Phosphoinositide 3-kinases PI3Ks are major drug targets in oncology. Their role
      is far from being completely understood in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
      Pancreatic cancer is a dismal disease with limited therapeutic options except for
      surgery. We highlight here two elegant works demonstrating the role of PI3Kgamma
      in cancer-associated macrophages applied in particular to pancreatic tumors.
      These data open new avenues for the use of PI3K-targetting drugs in cancer as
      anti-stroma therapies. Amongst the classI PI3K isoforms, PI3Kgamma and PI3Kdelta,
      are highly expressed in immune cells. Isoform-specific or pan-class I PI3K
      inhibitors which target all classI PI3Ks could be used as a targeted therapy
      towards cancer cell signaling but also as immunotherapies. Research on
      immunoregulation of human pancreatic cancer by the other ubiquitous alpha- or
      beta-isoforms of PI3K needs to be performed.

PMID- 28583587
TI  - Management of Multifocal Lung Cancer: Results of a Survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Multifocal lung cancer is an increasingly common clinical scenario,
      but there is lack of high-level evidence for its optimal treatment. Thus, we
      surveyed members of the interdisciplinary International Association for the Study
      of Lung Cancer on their therapeutic approaches and analyzed the resultant
      practice patterns. METHODS: We described the clinical scenario of an otherwise
      healthy 60-year-old man with bilateral pulmonary nodules and asked the 6373
      members of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer whether
      they would recommend surgery, and if so, the extent of surgery. We also asked
      what other measures would be recommended to complete the staging and whether
      radiation therapy or chemotherapy would be suggested. RESULTS: We received 221
      responses (response rate 3.5%) from multiple specialists. Most respondents (140
      [63%]) recommended surgery for this scenario. Surgeons were significantly more
      likely to recommend surgery than were those in other specialties. Of those who
      recommended surgery, most would obtain a PET/CT scan to rule out distant
      metastases and a magnetic resonance imaging scan to rule out brain metastases;
      but in the absence of radiographic lymph node involvement, most would not stage
      the mediastinum by bronchoscopy or mediastinoscopy before resection. When surgery
      was not recommended or declined, respondents commonly recommended radiation.
      CONCLUSIONS: This survey suggests that therapeutic recommendations for multifocal
      lung cancer are influenced to a large extent by physicians' specialty training,
      probably because of the lack of high-level evidence for its standard treatment.
      Ongoing systematic and multidisciplinary approaches with robust short-term and
      long-term patient outcomes may improve the quality of evidence for the optimal
      management of this clinical entity.

PMID- 28583588
TI  - Processing thermally labile drugs by hot-melt extrusion: The lesson with
      gliclazide.
AB  - The formation of molecularly dispersed amorphous solid dispersions by the hot
      melt extrusion technique relies on the thermal and mechanical energy inputs,
      which can cause chemical degradation of drugs and polymeric carriers.
      Additionally, drug degradation may be exacerbated as drugs convert from a more
      stable crystalline form to a higher energy amorphous form. Therefore, it is
      imperative to study how drug degrades and evaluate methods to minimize drug
      degradation during the extrusion process. In this work, gliclazide was used as a
      model thermally labile drug for the degradation kinetics and process optimization
      studies. Preformulation studies were conducted using thermal analyses, and liquid
      chromatography-mass spectroscopy to identify drug degradation pathways and to
      determine initial extrusion conditions. Formulations containing 10% drug and 90%
      AFFINISOLTM HPMC HME 100LV were then extruded using a twin screw extruder, and
      the extrudates were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, modulated
      dynamic scanning calorimetry, and potency testing to evaluate physicochemical
      properties. The energies of activation for both amorphous gliclazide, crystalline
      gliclazide, and gliclazide solution were calculated using the Arrhenius equation
      to further guide the extrusion optimization process. Preformulation studies
      identify two hydrolysis degradation pathways of gliclazide at elevated
      temperatures. The activation energy study indicates a significantly higher
      degradation rate for the amorphous gliclazide compared to the crystalline form.
      After optimization of the hot-melt extrusion process, including improved screw
      designs, machine setup, and processing conditions, gliclazide amorphous solid
      dispersion with ~95% drug recovery was achieved. The ability to process thermally
      labile drugs and polymers using hot-melt extrusion will significantly expand the
      possible applications of this manufacturing process.

PMID- 28583589
TI  - A comparative assessment of nanocomposites vs. amorphous solid dispersions
      prepared via nanoextrusion for drug dissolution enhancement.
AB  - Nanoextrusion was used to produce extrudates of griseofulvin, a poorly water
      soluble drug, with the objective of examining the impact of drug particle size
      and polymeric matrix type-size of the extrudates on drug dissolution enhancement.
      Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and Soluplus(r) were used to stabilize wet-milled
      drug suspensions and form matrices of the extrudates. The wet-milled suspensions
      along with additional polymer (HPC/Soluplus(r)) were fed to a co-rotating twin
      screw extruder, which dried the suspensions and formed various extrudates. The
      extrudates were dry-milled and sieved into samples with two different sizes. A
      wet-milled suspension was also spray-dried in comparison to nanoextrusion. Due to
      differences in polymer-drug miscibility, two forms of the drug were prepared:
      extrudates with nano/micro-crystalline drug particles dispersed in the HPC matrix
      as a secondary phase (nano/microcomposites) and extrudates with amorphous drug
      molecularly dispersed within the Soluplus(r) matrix (amorphous solid dispersion,
      ASD). Under non-supersaturating conditions in the dissolution medium, drug
      nanocrystals in the HPC-based nanocomposites dissolved faster than the amorphous
      drug in Soluplus(r)-based ASD. While smaller extrudate particles led to faster
      drug release for the ASD, such matrix size effect was weaker for the
      nanocomposites. These findings suggest that nanocrystal-based formulations could
      outperform ASDs for fast dissolution of low-dose drugs.

PMID- 28583590
TI  - Combined treatment of Thymus vulgaris L., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Myrtus
      communis L. essential oils against Salmonella typhimurium: Optimization of
      antibacterial activity by mixture design methodology.
AB  - To increase the sensibility of Salmonella typhimurium strain, a mixture of Thymus
      vulgaris L. (T. vulgaris L.), Rosmarinus officinalis L. (R. officinalis L.) and
      Myrtus communis L. (M. communis L.) essential oils (EOs) was used in combined
      treatment by experimental design methodology (mixture design). The chemical
      composition of EOs was firstly identified by GC and GC/MS and their antibacterial
      activity was evaluated. The results of this first step have shown that thymol and
      borneol were the major compounds in T. vulgaris and M. communis L. EOs,
      respectively, while 1,8-cineole and alpha-pinene were found as major compounds in
      R. officinalis L. The same results have shown a strong antibacterial activity of
      T. vulgaris L. EO followed by an important power of M. communis L. EO against a
      moderate activity of R. officinalis L. EO. Besides, 1/20 (v/v) was the
      concentration giving a strain response classified as sensitive. From this
      concentration, the mixture design was performed and analyzed. The optimization of
      mixtures antibacterial activities has highlighted the synergistic effect between
      T. vulgaris L. and M. communis L. essential oils. A formulation comprising 55% of
      T. vulgaris L. and 45% of M. communis L. essential oils, respectively, can be
      considered for the increase of Salmonella typhimurium sensibility.

PMID- 28583591
TI  - Difficult removal of subdermal contraceptive implants: a multidisciplinary
      approach involving a peripheral nerve expert.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aim to describe our experiences and identify patients who may
      benefit from referral to a peripheral nerve surgeon for removal of contraceptive
      subdermal implants in which neurovascular injury may occur, and describe a
      treatment pathway for optimal care. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed the charts of 22
      patients who were referred to the Division of Family Planning for difficult
      removal of etonogestrel contraceptive implants between January 1, 2014, and
      April, 1 2016. Of these, five were referred to a peripheral nerve surgeon due to
      pain or location of the implant. We evaluated and described these cases and, from
      our findings, developed recommendations for care in a multidisciplinary team
      approach. RESULTS: Two patients reported pain, including one with four previous
      failed removal attempts. In the two patients with pain, the implants were
      adherent to a sensory nerve. In another, the implant was within the biceps muscle
      and difficult to locate. In all cases, ultrasound imaging, general anesthesia and
      a wide exposure allowed for safe removal and good outcomes. Our multidisciplinary
      care approach has elucidated important referral and technical considerations that
      improve patient care and safety. CONCLUSION: When necessary, multidisciplinary
      care with a Family Planning expert and possibly a peripheral nerve surgeon may be
      beneficial in safely removing etonogestrel contraceptive implants that would be
      difficult or risky to remove in an ambulatory setting.

PMID- 28583592
TI  - Preliminary study on plasma proteins in pregnant and non-pregnant female dogs.
AB  - In this study, we used a combined approach based on 2-dimensional electrophoresis
      (2-DE), difference in gel electrophoresis (DIGE), and mass spectrometry (MS) to
      identify the plasma protein composition in pregnant female dogs and compared it
      with non-pregnant female dogs. We used the plasma samples obtained from four
      female dogs during I, II, and III thirds of pregnancy, three days after
      parturition, as well as from four non-pregnant female dogs in diestrus phase.
      Analysis of 2-DE gel image exhibited of 249 protein spots. The intensity of
      staining of 35 spots differed significantly (P < 0.05) between the non-pregnant
      and pregnant female dogs. We used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
      time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS) to identify 47 spots
      corresponding to 52 different proteins. Five identified protein spots, including
      zinc finger BED domain-containing protein 5, hemoglobin subunit beta-2,
      integrator complex subunit 7, apolipoprotein A-I, and glutamyl aminopeptidase
      were differentially presented in the plasma of pregnant and non-pregnant female
      dogs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the plasma
      protein profile of pregnant and non-pregnant female dogs. In this study, we
      identified proteins that have not been previously identified in dogs. Our
      findings showed that numerous protein spots were differentially presented in the
      plasma of female dogs during normal pregnancy. Although we identified only a
      limited number of differentially presented proteins, our study demonstrated that
      the plasma protein profile changed during pregnancy in female dogs, which
      suggests its importance in maintaining pregnancy. Further studies are necessary
      to define complete plasma protein profile of pregnant female dogs and to identify
      all proteins that are differentially presented in the pregnant animals compared
      with the non-pregnant ones. In addition, studies are warranted to explain the
      role of those proteins in maintaining the pregnancy and their usefulness in
      detection of early pregnancy. Furthermore, our results indicated that DIGE
      technique is useful in the comparison of samples originated from different states
      and time points in dogs.

PMID- 28583593
TI  - Altered expression of cytokines IL-1alpha, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha in bovine
      follicular persistence.
AB  - In dairy cattle, cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an important cause of
      subfertility, and two of the main signs are ovulation failure and follicular
      persistence. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of the cytokines
      IL-1alpha, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha in ovarian follicular structures at different
      times of persistence in a model of follicular persistence induced by prolonged
      treatment with progesterone in dairy cows. Protein expression of IL-1alpha, IL-6,
      IL-8 and TNF-alpha was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, IL-6
      concentration in follicular fluid and serum was determined by ELISA. IL-1alpha,
      IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha expression was increased in follicles with different
      persistence times in relation to the control dominant follicles, in granulosa
      cells. For IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha, this increase was detected early (P0:
      expected time of ovulation and/or P5: 5 days of follicular persistence).
      Additionally, theca cells showed an increase in IL-6 in antral (groups P10 and
      P15) and persistent follicles (group P10) related to dominant follicles from the
      control group (p < 0.05). Serum concentration of IL-6 was higher in groups P5,
      P10 and P15 than in control cows (p < 0.05). The results show evidence that early
      development of COD in cows is concurrent with altered expression of these
      cytokines in different ovarian follicular structures and may contribute to the
      follicular persistence and endocrine changes found in cattle with follicular
      cysts.

PMID- 28583594
TI  - Relationship between in vitro growth of bovine oocytes and steroidogenesis of
      granulosa cells cultured in medium supplemented with bone morphogenetic protein-4
      and follicle stimulating hormone.
AB  - Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) and FSH play important regulatory roles in
      follicular growth and steroidogenesis in vivo. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the effects of BMP-4 and FSH on in vitro growth (IVG) and
      steroidogenesis of bovine oocyte-cumulus-granulosa complexes (OCGCs). We cultured
      OCGCs collected from early antral follicles (0.5-1 mm) in medium without BMP-4
      and FSH for 4 days and investigated the appearance of OCGCs and their
      steroidogenesis. During the first 4 days of IVG, morphologically normal OCGCs
      produced more estradiol-17beta (E2), but less progesterone (P4). Morphologically
      normal OCGCs were subjected to an additional culture in medium supplemented with
      BMP-4 (0, 10, and 50 ng/mL) and FSH (0 and 0.5 ng/mL) until day 12. We examined
      the viability and steroidogenesis of OCGCs after 8 and 12 days of culture. Oocyte
      growth, characteristics of granulosa cells, and the maturational competence of
      oocytes were also investigated. On day 8, the viability of OCGCs cultured without
      FSH was higher in the 10 ng/mL BMP-4 group than in the 50 ng/mL BMP-4 group (P <
      0.05). No significant difference was observed in the viability of groups cultured
      with FSH, regardless of the addition of BMP-4, and FSH improved the viability of
      50 ng/mL BMP-4 group similar to 10 ng/mL BMP-4 group. The total number of
      granulosa cells was larger in 10 ng/mL BMP-4 group cultured with FSH than in 50
      ng/mL BMP-4 group cultured with FSH on day 8 (P < 0.05). E2 production decreased
      from days 8-12, and P4 production increased throughout IVG culture, regardless of
      the addition of BMP-4 and FSH (P < 0.05). No significant differences in E2
      production were observed between groups from days 4-8, regardless of whether BMP
      4 was added without FSH; however, E2 production in the group cultured with 50
      ng/mL BMP-4 was suppressed by FSH. BMP-4 suppressed E2 production from days 8-12,
      regardless of whether FSH was added. The group cultured with 10 ng/mL BMP-4
      without FSH showed the lowest P4 production among all groups for all culture
      periods. OCGCs that produced mature oocytes tended to secrete more E2 and less P4
      than OCGCs that produced immature oocytes. In conclusion, until day 8 of the IVG
      culture, P4 production by OCGCs was suppressed by the addition of 10 ng/mL BMP-4
      in the absence of FSH, without inhibiting E2 production. These conditions appear
      to mimic growing follicles until day 8 and mimic degenerating follicles from days
      8-12 of culture.

PMID- 28583595
TI  - The copper transporter (SLC31A1/CTR1) is expressed in bovine spermatozoa and
      oocytes: Copper in IVF medium improves sperm quality.
AB  - Adequate dietary intake of copper (Cu) is required for normal reproductive
      performance in cattle. The objective of this study was to investigate the
      pregnancy rates from cattle with deficient, marginal and adequate Cu plasma
      concentration at the beginning of artificial insemination protocol. Moreover, we
      determined Cu concentrations present in bovine oviductal fluid (OF), and the
      effects of Cu on fertilizing ability of bovine spermatozoa. Also, the presence of
      Cu transporter, SLC31A1 (also known as CTR1), in spermatozoa and in vitro matured
      oocyte were investigated. We found no differences in pregnancy rates among
      animals with adequate, marginal, and deficient Cu concentrations measured in
      plasma at the beginning of fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) protocol.
      Copper concentrations in OF were 38.3 +/- 2.17 MUg/dL (mean +/- SEM) regardless
      of cupremia levels. The addition of 40 MUg/dL Cu to IVF medium enhanced total and
      progressive motility, sperm viability, functional sperm membrane integrity
      (HOST), sperm-zona binding, and pronuclear formation. On the other hand, the
      presence of Cu in IVF medium did not modify acrosome integrity and cleavage rates
      after IVF, but impaired blastocyst rates. Cu transporter SLC31A1 was detected in
      bovine spermatozoa in the apical segment of acrosome, and in the oocyte matured
      in vitro. In conclusion, the results obtained in the present study determined
      that cupremia levels at the beginning of FTAI protocol did not influence the
      pregnancy rates at 60 d after insemination. The presence of CTR1 in bovine mature
      oocyte and spermatozoa, as well as the beneficial effect of Cu on sperm quality
      would suggest an important role of this mineral during the fertilization process.

PMID- 28583596
TI  - Sperm maturation in sturgeon (Actinopterygii, Acipenseriformes): A review.
AB  - The morphology of the reproductive system of acipenseriform fishes is quite
      different from that of teleostean species, but an associated unique physiological
      difference in male sturgeons was not discovered until recently; sperm of
      sturgeons passes through the kidneys then via Wolffian ducts into the environment
      rather that emptying directly through seminal ducts. The mixing of sperm with
      excretory products has been found to be a requisite for the capacity to be
      activated (maturation step) instead of being deleterious. In the current review
      we summarize results of studies performed in our laboratory on physiological
      processes involved in sturgeon sperm maturation, namely changes in: 1) ionic
      environment; 2) sensitivity of spermatozoa to calcium ions (Ca2+); 3) antioxidant
      enzymes and proteolytic activities; and 4) content in macroergic phosphates
      arising during this maturation process. We also discuss taxa-specific aspects of
      sturgeon sperm maturation in relation to hormonal regulation of spermiation, and
      the unusual features of sturgeon sperm maturation relative to using testicular
      sturgeon sperm in aquaculture.

PMID- 28583597
TI  - Equine ovarian tissue viability after cryopreservation and in vitro culture.
AB  - Ovarian tissue cryopreservation allows the preservation of the female fertility
      potential for an undetermined period. The objectives of this study were to
      compare the efficiency of cryoprotective agents (CPAs; dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO;
      ethylene glycol, EG; and propylene glycol, PROH) using slow-freezing and
      vitrification methods, and evaluate the viability of cryopreserved equine ovarian
      tissue after 7 days of culture. Fresh and cryopreserved ovarian fragments were
      evaluated for preantral follicle morphology, stromal cell density, EGFR, Ki-67,
      Bax, and Bcl-2 protein expression, and DNA fragmentation. Vitrification with EG
      had the highest rate of morphologically normal preantral follicles, while DMSO
      had the lowest (76.1 +/- 6.1% and 40.9 +/- 14.8%, respectively; P < 0.05). In
      slow-freezing, despite that DMSO had the highest percentage of morphologically
      normal follicles (77.7 +/- 5.8%), no difference among the CPAs was observed.
      Fluorescence intensity of EGFR and Ki-67 was greater when vitrification with EG
      was used. Regardless of the cryopreservation treatment, DMSO had the highest (P <
      0.05) Bax/Bcl-2 ratio; however, DNA fragmentation was similar (P > 0.05) among
      treatments after thawing. After in vitro culture, the percentage of normal
      follicles was similar (P > 0.05) between slow-freezing and vitrification methods;
      however, vitrification had greater (P < 0.05) stromal cell density than slow
      freezing. In summary, equine ovarian tissue was successfully cryopreserved,
      increasing the viability of the cells in the ovarian tissue after thawing when
      using DMSO and EG for slow-freezing and vitrification methods, respectively.
      Therefore, these results are relevant for fertility preservation programs.

PMID- 28583598
TI  - Detection of macrophages in rabbit semen and their relationship with semen
      quality.
AB  - We aimed at the evaluating the occurrence of macrophages in rabbit semen and
      finding possible relationship between macrophage concentration and spermatozoa
      quality. The concentration of macrophages in semen samples from broiler rabbit
      males of lines M91 and P91 (n = 30) without overt evidence of genital tract
      infections was determined using monocyte/macrophage lineage antigen CD14 and flow
      cytometry. Then the rabbits were assigned into three groups according to the
      macrophage concentration in semen (MPhi1 group with less than 1 * 106
      macrophages/mL, MPhi2 group with 1.5-3.5 * 106 macrophages/mL and MPhi3 group
      with more than 8 * 106 macrophages/mL). Spermatozoa viability parameters such as
      occurrence of apoptotic (Yo-Pro-1) and dead/necrotic (propidium iodide)
      spermatozoa and plasma membrane integrity (PNA-Fluos) were evaluated using flow
      cytometry. Sperm motility parameters were determined by CASA (Computer Assisted
      Semen Analysis). Ultrastructural detection of macrophages was performed using
      transmission electron microscopy. Spermatozoa fertility potential was examined
      after intravaginal artificial insemination of rabbit doses. Significantly higher
      proportions of the apoptotic and necrotic spermatozoa and spermatozoa with lower
      plasma membrane integrity were revealed in the MPhi3 group compared to MPhi1 and
      MPhi2 groups. The percentage value of total motility and progressive movement was
      significantly highest in the MPhi1 group, whilst lowest in the MPhi3 group. The
      conception rate and the kindling rate were significantly decreased in the group
      with the highest macrophage concentration (MPhi3). Based on our results we can
      conclude that the abundance of seminal macrophages in the rabbit semen may be
      closely associated with poor spermatozoa quality.

PMID- 28583599
TI  - Serum concentration dynamic of energy homeostasis hormones, leptin, insulin,
      thyroid hormones, and cortisol throughout canine pregnancy and lactation.
AB  - Pregnancy and lactation represent critical periods of canine reproductive life
      and different hormones are required to maintain homeostasis and the correct
      energy requirements. The aim of this study was to evaluate leptin, insulin,
      triiodotyronine (T3), thyroxin (T4) and cortisol serum concentrations to better
      describe the canine maternal energy metabolism. Twelve Bloodhound bitches that
      had at least one litter and were considered to be healthy submitted blood samples
      every 15 days starting from day 0 (ovulation) throughout pregnancy up to the end
      of lactation (day 120). We found that leptin concentrations increased from day 0
      to reach maximum value at day 45 (P < 0.001), decreased at day 60 (P < 0.05) and
      rose again at day 105 and day 120 (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 respectively). Insulin
      concentrations significantly increased during pregnancy peaking at day 60 (P <
      0.05). After parturition dropped and reached progressively lower values similar
      to those at day 0 at the end of lactation. During pregnancy Body Weight was in
      low correlation with leptin (r = 0.32, P < 0.01) and there was no correlation
      with insulin (r = 0.13, P > 0.1); moreover, no correlation was found during
      lactation. T3 concentrations showed a U-shaped trend with a significant reduction
      at day 75 (P < 0.05). T4 concentrations fluctuated without any significant change
      (ranging from 27.0 +/- 1.6 nmol/l to 32.1 +/- 1.9 nmol/l). Cortisol
      concentrations ranged within the reference values (minimal value at day 30 (49.8
      +/- 6.3 nm/L) and maximal value at day 45 (72.5 +/- 16.1 nm/L)). Our study states
      that canine pregnancy and lactation evoke many hormonal changes necessary to
      mother and fetuses. In particular, this is the first report regarding the pattern
      of leptin during whole pregnancy and lactation. The present work lays the
      groundwork for further studies on endocrine homeostatic mechanisms using the dog
      as a model for human medicine.

PMID- 28583601
TI  - Concentration dependent antioxidative and apoptotic effects of sulforaphane on
      bovine granulosa cells in vitro.
AB  - Sulforaphane (SFN) has received a great deal of research attention because of its
      ability to induce the production of a battery of antioxidant enzymes in certain
      concentrations through the activation of the Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)
      like 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway, which may effectively neutralize reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) induced oxidative stress. This study was conducted to investigate
      the potential of different concentrations of SFN in inducing antioxidative and
      apoptotic effects in granulosa cells (GCs). For this purpose, bovine GCs were
      collected from preovulatory antral follicles and cultured with different
      concentrations of SFN (0-80 MUM) and based on phenotypic evaluation three
      concentrations were selected: 2 MUM (low), 10 MUM (medium), and 20 MUM (high) for
      further investigations. The results showed that there was a dramatic loss of cell
      viability and higher cytotoxic effects of SFN on GCs at higher concentrations
      (>15 MUM). The expression of NRF2 increased significantly (p < 0.05) with fold
      change ranged 3-8 in SFN treated GCs, whereas Kelch Like ECH Associated Protein 1
      (KEAP1) expression was either downregulated or similar as control group under the
      same conditions. Moreover, the relative expression of the genes (PRDX1, CAT,
      TXN1and SOD1) downstream to NRF2 activation was found to be highly expressed
      (fold change ranged from 2 to 5, p < 0.05) in SFN treated GCs compared to the
      untreated control. In addition, ROS accumulation was higher in GCs treated with
      20 MUM SFN which in turn results in a higher accumulation of lipid droplets.
      Compared to control, no changes in the mitochondrial activity was observed at 2
      and 10 MUM SFN concentrations; however, significantly lower mitochondrial
      activity was found at high concentration (20 MUM). The results of this study
      clearly showed that 10 MUM SFN concentration played a crucial role in activating
      Nrf2 pathway without inducing apoptotic characteristics and this concentration
      may have beneficial effects in boosting the production of phase II antioxidant
      enzymes in GCs. However, at high concentration (20 MUM), SFN may generate
      excessive ROS that causes mitochondrial dysfunction and induces cellular stress
      and eventually leads to apoptosis. These data strongly suggest a concentration
      dependent antioxidative and apoptotic effects of SFN on GCs.

PMID- 28583600
TI  - Administration of 2.5 mg of estradiol followed by 1,500 mg of progesterone to
      anovulatory mares promote similar uterine morphology, hormone concentrations and
      molecular dynamics to those observed in cyclic mares.
AB  - To test the hypothesis that the administration of 2.5 mg of estradiol benzoate
      (EB) followed by 1500 mg of long acting progesterone (LA P4) causes similar
      uterine changes and molecular dynamics in anovulatory mares to those observed in
      cyclic ones, we evaluated the changes of estrogen (ERalpha and ERbeta) and
      progesterone receptors (PR) in anestrous, transitional and cyclic mares by RT
      qPCR and immunohistochemistry. In addition, we evaluated uterine edema, tonus and
      estrogens and progesterone plasma profile. Endometrial biopsies were taken from
      anestrous and transitional mares immediately before EB injection, 48 h after EB
      administration and five days after LA P4 was given. In cyclic mares, biopsies
      were collected at estrus and at five days after ovulation. Similar estrogen peaks
      were achieved after the injection of the single EB dose between treated and
      cyclic groups, as well as maximum uterine edema. Uterine tone was increased to
      diestrus levels after administration of 1500 mg of LA P4. Changes in relative
      abundance of transcripts for PR, ERalpha and ERbeta when progesterone stimulated
      endometrium was compared to estrogen stimulated endometrium were similar between
      cyclic and non-cyclic treated mares. However, apparent decreased PR in the
      endometrial glandular epithelium was not observed in non-cyclic mares five days
      after LA P4 administration as observed at five days after ovulation in cyclic
      mares. The protocol produced similar endometrial edema, uterine tonus and changes
      in relative abundance of PR, ERalpha and ERbeta transcripts to those observed in
      cyclic mares during late estrus and early diestrus, as well as similar estradiol
      and estrogen conjugate plasma concentrations.

PMID- 28583602
TI  - Effects of environmental temperature and season on hair coat characteristics,
      physiologic and reproductive parameters in Shetland pony stallions.
AB  - We hypothesized that housing of stallions in a thermoneutral temperature zone
      during autumn and winter does not only influence metabolism and hair shedding but
      also improves the characteristics of raw and processed semen. Fertile Shetland
      pony stallions were followed from October to June. This time coincided with the
      seasons autumn, winter and spring. Ponies were kept in outside paddocks (group
      CON, n = 8) or in indoor stables (group ST, n = 8) from October to March when ST
      stallions returned to outdoor paddocks, but ponies remained in the same groups.
      The rectal temperature was measured once weekly. Heart rate, heart rate
      variability, testosterone and cortisol concentration in blood as well as quality
      and length of the coat were determined. Semen was collected once weekly and raw
      semen characteristics were analyzed. The characteristics of cooled-stored and
      cryopreserved semen were determined once monthly. During the stabling period,
      environmental temperature for group ST averaged 13.6 +/- 2.3 and for group CON
      5.6 +/- 4.2  degrees C. The mean rectal temperature was higher (p < 0.05) in ST
      than in CON stallions. All hair coat parameters underwent seasonal changes (p <
      0.001) and differed between groups (p < 0.05) with shorter guard hair, slower
      hair regrowth and earlier hair change in ST stallions. Season influenced heart
      rate which was highest in autumn, lowest in winter and intermediate in spring but
      did not differ between groups. Testosterone and cortisol concentrations in blood
      as well as sexual behavior underwent seasonal changes but did not differ between
      CON and ST stallions. Gel-free semen volume and total sperm count were influenced
      by season (p < 0.01) and showed a more pronounced increase from winter to spring
      in CON than in ST stallions (p < 0.05) while no differences with regard to sperm
      concentration in raw semen were detected. Progressive motility of spermatozoa in
      raw semen was highest in spring (p < 0.05) but not affected by group. In cooled
      stored and cryopreserved semen, neither season nor group affected total motility,
      progressive motility or membrane integrity. In conclusion, environmental
      temperature during autumn and winter had clear results on body temperature as
      well as hair coat characteristics in Shetland stallions. Simultaneously
      determined effects on semen characteristics were minimal indicating that
      reproductive function in the horse is more dependent on day length i.e. the
      geophysical year than on other environmental factors.

PMID- 28583603
TI  - Influence of prenatal maternal corticosteroid therapy on clinical and metabolic
      features and pulmonary function of preterm newborn puppies.
AB  - Although the effects of antenatal corticosteroid therapy in clinical improvement
      and pulmonary maturation in preterm have been described, little is known on
      premature newborn puppies. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of maternal
      administration of a single dose of prenatal betamethasone on lung function of
      preterm newborn puppies in the first hours of life, especially from the clinical
      point of view and acid-base balance. A prospective study was conducted involving
      21 puppies allocated into three experimental groups: Term Group (63 days post
      ovulation), Preterm-Treated Group (57 days post-ovulation and maternal
      administration of a single dose of 0.5 mg/kg of betamethasone) and Preterm
      Control Group (57 days post-ovulation). Puppies were analyzed clinically through
      the Apgar score, heart rate, respiratory rate and neurological tests (muscular
      tone and irritability reflex) and for oximetry and blood acid-base balance in
      distinct experimental moments. Premature puppies had marked degree of
      prematurity, reversed by maternal administration of betamethasone. Prenatal
      corticosteroid therapy promoted better pulmonary and metabolic condition, with
      more efficient compensatory response to acid-base imbalance and better pulmonary
      gas exchange capacity. Therefore, prenatal treatment with betamethasone can be
      adopted as clinical lung maturation protocol for pregnancies at risk in order to
      prevent low vitality and increase neonatal survival.

PMID- 28583604
TI  - Prediction of the fertility of stallion frozen-thawed semen using a combination
      of computer-assisted motility analysis, microscopical observation and flow
      cytometry.
AB  - Spermatozoa from some stallions do not maintain an acceptable fertility after
      freezing and thawing. The selection of frozen ejaculates that would be suitable
      for insemination is mainly based on post-thaw motility, but the prediction of
      fertility remains limited. A recent study in our laboratory has enabled the
      determination of a new protocol for the evaluation of fresh stallion semen,
      combining microscopical observation, computer-assisted motility analysis and flow
      cytometry, and providing a high level of fertility prediction. The purpose of the
      present experiment was to perform similar investigations on frozen semen. A panel
      of tests evaluating a large number of compartments or functions of the
      spermatozoa was applied to a population of 42 stallions, 33 of which showing
      widely differing fertilities (17-67% pregnancy rate per cycle [PRC]). Variability
      was evaluated by calculating the coefficient of variation (CV=SD/mean) and the
      intra-class correlation or "repeatability" for each variable. For paired
      variables, mean within-stallion CV% was significantly lower than between-stallion
      CV%, which was significantly lower than total CV%. Within-ejaculate
      repeatability, determined by analysing 6 straws for each of 10 ejaculates, ranged
      from 0.60 to 0.97. Within-stallion repeatability, determined by analysing at
      least 5 ejaculates for each of 38 stallions, ranged from 0.12 to 0.95. Principal
      component regression using a combination of 25 variables, including motility,
      morphology, viability, oxidation level, acrosome integrity, DNA integrity and
      hypoosmotic resistance, accounted for 94.5% of the variability regarding
      fertility, and was used to calculate a prediction of the PRC with a mean standard
      deviation of 2.2. The difference between the observed PRC and the calculated
      value ranged from -3.4 to 4.2. The 90% confidence interval (90CI) for the
      prediction of the PRC for the stallions of unknown fertility ranged from 8 to 30
      (mean = 17). The best-fit model using only motility variables, evaluated after 10
      min at 36  degrees C and 2 h at 36  degrees C or room temperature, accounted for
      only 74.2% of the variability. The difference between the observed PRC and the
      calculated value ranged from -7.2 to 14. The 90CI for the prediction of the PRC
      for the stallions of unknown fertility ranged from 23 to 48 (mean = 33). In
      conclusion, this study demonstrated that an appropriate combination of computer
      assisted motility analysis, microscopical observation and flow cytometry can
      provide a higher prediction of fertility than motility analysis alone.

PMID- 28583605
TI  - In vitro development and cytological quality of inter-species (porcine->bovine)
      cloned embryos are affected by trichostatin A-dependent epigenomic modulation of
      adult mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Artificial epigenomic modulation of in vitro cultured mesenchymal stem cells
      (MSCs) by applying a non-selective HDAC inhibitor, termed TSA, can facilitate
      more epigenetic reprogramming of transcriptional activity of the somatic cell
      descended nuclear genome in NT pig embryos. The results of the present
      investigation showed that TSA-dependent epigenomic modulation of nuclear donor
      MSCs highly affects both the in vitro developmental capability and the
      cytological quality of inter-species (porcine->bovine) cloned embryos. The
      developmental competences to reach the blastocyst stage among hybrid (porcine
      >bovine) nuclear-transferred embryos that had been reconstructed with bovine
      ooplasts and epigenetically modulated porcine MSCs were maintained at a
      relatively high level. These competences were higher than those noted in studies
      by other authors, but they were still decreased compared to those of intra
      species (porcine) cloned embryos that had been reconstituted with porcine
      ooplasts and either the cell nuclei of epigenetically transformed MSCs or the
      cell nuclei of epigenetically non-transformed MSCs. In conclusion, MSCs
      undergoing TSA-dependent epigenetic transformation were used for the first time
      as a source of nuclear donor cells not only for inter-species somatic cell
      cloning in pigs but also for inter-species somatic cell cloning in other
      livestock species. Moreover, as a result of the current research, efficient
      sequential physicochemical activation of inter-species nuclear-transferred clonal
      cybrids derived from bovine ooplasm and porcine MSC nuclei was developed.

PMID- 28583606
TI  - The influence of age, antral follicle count and diestrous ovulations on estrous
      cycle characteristics of mares.
AB  - Reproductive aging must be well understood to optimize the reproductive
      management of older mares and to predict their reproductive life-span. The
      objectives of this study were to: 1) examine age-related differences in
      follicular dynamics, endocrine profiles, and primordial follicle counts, 2)
      evaluate the influence of antral follicle count (AFC) on age-related changes in
      follicular parameters, and 3) determine the influence of diestrous ovulations on
      the estrous cycle. Young (3-8yr; n = 10), middle-aged (9-18 yr; n = 16), and old
      (>18 yr; n = 19) light horse mares were examined with transrectal ultrasonography
      to monitor follicular growth over two consecutive estrous cycles. Jugular blood
      samples were taken and plasma progesterone and FSH concentrations were determined
      by an enzyme immunoassay and radioimmunoassay, respectively. Both interovulatory
      intervals and follicular phases were longer and the day of follicle deviation
      occurred later in aged mares. Furthermore, older mares had a tendency to ovulate
      smaller follicles. Neither follicular growth rate, the number of ovulations nor
      the length of luteal phase was influenced by mare age. Interestingly, as mare age
      increased, mares with low AFC had longer interovulatory intervals and follicular
      phases than mares with medium or high AFC. In addition, the number of primordial
      follicles declined with an increase in mare age but varied considerably between
      mares of the same age. Progesterone concentrations were positively influenced by
      age, whereas FSH concentrations were not, despite that FSH concentrations
      appeared higher in aged mares during the follicular phase. Estrous cycles with a
      diestrous ovulation had a longer interovulatory interval as well as a longer
      follicular and luteal phase while day of deviation occurred later. Progesterone
      concentrations were significantly higher on day 14 and 16 in estrous cycles with
      a diestrous ovulation than without a diestrous ovulation. In conclusion, aging in
      mares is associated with changes in follicular parameters which in turn are
      closely linked to differences in antral follicle count suggesting a relationship
      with ovarian reserve. Therefore, determination of antral follicle counts in aged
      mares can provide valuable information about the reproductive aging process.
      Finally, diestrous ovulations have a significant influence on different estrous
      cycle parameters.

PMID- 28583607
TI  - Birth of healthy calves after intra-follicular transfer (IFOT) of slaughterhouse
      derived immature bovine oocytes.
AB  - To circumvent the negative impacts of in vitro culture on bovine embryos, we have
      recently established a new method, the so called intra-follicular oocyte transfer
      (IFOT), enabling in vivo fertilization and in vivo development of in vitro
      matured oocytes up to the blastocyst stage as well as to term. In this study, we
      raised the question whether immature bovine oocytes could also be transferred
      into a pre-ovulatory follicle to support in vivo maturation prior to subsequent
      in vivo fertilization, in vivo development as well as to term. To unravel that
      question, a total of 791 immature oocytes were transferred in groups of ~50 into
      pre-ovulatory follicles of 16 recipient heifers. Consequently, we were able to
      recollect a total of 306 structures 8 days thereafter (38.5%). All in all, 12
      heifers (75%) gave embryos developed to the morula or blastocyst stage in
      addition to the expected native embryos. Among all recollected structures, 40.1%
      had developed to the morula and/or blastocyst stage, meaning a total efficiency
      of 17.3% based on all transferred oocytes. Of impact, IFOT-embryos reached
      significantly higher developmental rates to the Morula and/or blastocyst stage
      until day 7 compared to in vitro cultured control embryos, despite being derived
      from the same charge of slaughterhouse ovaries (40.1 vs. 29.3%). This implicates
      a beneficial effect of the follicular environment for the intrinsic quality of
      the fertilized embryos during maturation and for subsequent developmental rates
      up to the blastocyst stage. Finally, the birth of two healthy calves after
      transfer of frozen-thawed IFOT-derived blastocysts to final recipients
      established the first proof of principle that IFOT of immature bovine oocytes
      generates bovine blastocysts bearing developmental capacity to term. Likewise, to
      the best of our knowledge, these calves are the first calves derived from full in
      vivo development of immature slaughterhouse derived oocytes. Thus, the results of
      the present study clearly demonstrate that IFOT of immature slaughterhouse
      derived oocytes is now a feasible technique. Since efficiencies following IFOT
      achieved within the present study were improved compared to previous studies,
      IFOT now offers an attractive option for designing new scientific experiments.

PMID- 28583608
TI  - The effect of dietary grape pomace supplementation on epididymal sperm quality
      and testicular antioxidant ability in ram lambs.
AB  - Wine grape pomace (WGP) contains a rich source of polyphenols that can act as
      powerful antioxidants. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect
      of dietary WGP supplementation on antioxidative activity and epididymal sperm
      quality in rams. The rams were raised either under free-range or pen conditions,
      and the pen-raised rams were fed a WGP-containing diet (0, 5% and 10% of dry
      matter basis) for 74 days. An increase in the concentrations of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS, P < 0.05) and malondialdehyde (MDA, P < 0.05) were observed in the
      testes of rams subjected to restraint stress, and dietary WGP supplementation
      effectively decreased their contents (P < 0.05). Restraint stress reduced both
      weight and volume of testes, and impaired sperm quality. Dietary WGP
      supplementation increased testes weight, sperm concentration, motility and
      acrosomal integrity, and decreased sperm deformity in pen-raised animals (P <
      0.05). The total antioxidative capacity (T-AOC) and catalase activity were
      decreased in the testes of pen-raised lambs (P < 0.05), and T-AOC, catalase,
      glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were
      increased when rams were fed the WGP-containing diet (P < 0.05). With the
      exception of SOD and GPx4, the mRNA contents of catalase and nuclear factor-like
      2 factor (Nrf2) did not vary among the groups, and greater protein levels of SOD,
      catalase and GPx4 were observed in WGP-treated lambs (P < 0.05). Taken together,
      these results suggest that WGP can be used as a feed ingredient in rams to
      alleviate restraint induced oxidative stress and improve epididymal sperm
      quality.

PMID- 28583609
TI  - Global hemostasis in healthy bitches during pregnancy and at different estrous
      cycle stages: Evaluation of routine hemostatic tests and thromboelastometry.
AB  - This study assessed the global hemostasis (including prothrombin time [PT],
      activated partial thromboplastin time [aPTT], antithrombin activity [ATA],
      fibrinogen and d-Dimer concentrations, platelet count, plateletcrit and
      thromboelastometry) in healthy pregnant bitches, comparing the results with those
      of healthy bitches at different estrous cycle stages, and assessed whether
      hemostatic changes during pregnancy are associated with serum progesterone
      concentration or the presence of fetuses in utero. The results show that pregnant
      bitches have higher fibrinogen concentration, platelet count and platelatecrit,
      and that fibrin and global clot formations occur faster than in non-pregnant
      bitches at different estrous cycle stages. Additionally, clot strength was higher
      in pregnant bitches than in non-pregnant ones. There were no differences in PT,
      ATA, and D-dimer concentration between all study groups. The aPTT was
      significantly shorter in bitches at the fourth and last pregnancy weeks, compared
      to the anestrus group, and shorter in both the fourth and last pregnancy weeks
      groups, compared to diestrus group. These results all support a hypercoagulable
      state in healthy pregnant bitches, unassociated with progesterone concentration.

PMID- 28583610
TI  - Effects of oocytes exposure to bovine diarrhea viruses BVDV-1, BVDV-2 and Hobi
      like virus on in vitro-produced bovine embryo development and viral infection.
AB  - As production of in vitro (IVP) bovine embryos steadily increases, the sanitary
      risk associated with IVP embryos remains a concern. One of the greatest concerns
      is how BVDV may be transmitted through IVP embryos. The objective of this study
      was to evaluate the effects caused by BVDV-1, BVDV-2 and Hobi-like virus exposure
      during in vitro maturation on embryo development and viral infection. Abittior
      derived oocytes were randomly assigned for in vitro maturation with serial
      concentrations of BVDV-1 (3.12 * 102 - 2.50 * 103 TCID50/100 MUL), BVDV-2 (6.25 *
      101 - 5.20 * 102 TCID50/100 MUL) or Hobi-like virus (1.90 * 102 - 1.58 * 103
      TCID50/100 MUL) for 22-24 h. After maturation, oocytes were fertilized and embryo
      cultured following standard in vitro procedures. Embryo development was evaluated
      and percentage of respective, positive BVDV degenerated and viable embryos were
      evaluated by RT-qPCR. No concentration of BVDV-1 altered embryo development as
      measured by cleavage and blastocyst rates, compared to negative control group.
      However 100% of degenerated embryos and 50-100% of viable embryos tested positive
      for BVDV-1, depending on the viral concentration. BVDV-2 exposed oocytes had
      higher cleavage rates than the negative control group (60.2-64.1% vs 49.8%; P =
      0.003-0.032). However, no difference was detected for blastocyst rates. In
      aadition, 100% of degenerated embryos and 20-50% of viable embryos tested
      positive for BVDV-2. Hobi-like virus treated oocytes had reduced cleavage rates
      for the three highest viral concentrations (33.3-38.0% vs 49.8% for negative
      controls; P <= 0.001-0.014). Blastocyst rates were only reduced in the 7.9 * 102
      Hobi-like virus concentration (6.9 +/- 0.9% vs 15.1 +/- 1.6%; P = 0.009), when
      calculated by oocyte number. 50-80% of degenerated embryos tested positive for
      Hobi-like virus. No viable embryos from the Hobi-like virus treated oocytes
      tested positive. These results suggest that IVP embryos from BVDV-1 and -2
      infected oocytes develop normally, but carry the virus. However, Hobi-like virus
      infected oocytes had reduced cleavage and cause pre-implantation embryo loss, but
      viable embryos did not carry the virus.

PMID- 28583611
TI  - Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) concentrations in water buffaloes
      (Bubalus bubalis) during gestation and the postpartum period.
AB  - For the first time in literature this study describes the pregnancy-associated
      glycoprotein (PAG) profile of buffalo cows during gestation and the post-partum
      period using antiserum raised against PAG-molecules purified from buffalo
      placenta (AS#860). Ninety-eight buffalo cows, belonging to a buffalo herd
      subjected to a synchronization and artificial insemination (AI) program, were
      enrolled in this study. Blood samples were taken on days 0 (AI), 23, 25, 28, 30
      and then biweekly until the end of pregnancy. Pregnancy was confirmed by
      ultrasonography on days 28 and 45, and by rectal palpation from day 60 onwards.
      Blood samples were suspended for the non-pregnant cows on day 45, while the blood
      of 20 buffaloes that had calved was tested every five days from the day of
      calving until day 50 post-calving. A cut-off value of 1.0 ng/mL was used in order
      to discriminate between pregnant and non-pregnant buffaloes. We used Linear Mixed
      models after Log(x+1) transformation to analyse the PAG concentrations. Fifty-two
      buffalo cows had become pregnant out of 98 synchronized (53%) and 46 remained non
      pregnant (47%) as shown by ultrasonography and the PAG analysis. Significant
      differences (P < 0.001) in PAG concentrations were observed between the pregnant
      and non-pregnant buffaloes from day 23 as the PAG of the non-pregnant cows was
      always close to zero. Conversely, the PAG of the pregnant cows increased
      progressively from day AI until day 105 post-insemination and then stabilized
      until the end of pregnancy. Regarding pregnancy diagnosis, the sensitivity of PAG
      RIA 860 system (ability of the test to correctly identify pregnant buffalo)
      ranged from 23% on day 23-98% on day 28 post AI; the specificity (ability to
      correctly identify non-pregnant buffaloes) was 100% throughout the sampling
      period. PAG progressively decreased from parturition to day 25 post-partum; from
      day 30 post-partum, the concentrations fell below 1 ng/mL and were close to 0 on
      the last day of observation (50 d post-partum). In conclusion, our results showed
      that RIA-860 is highly accurate for diagnosing pregnancy in buffaloes starting
      from day 28 of gestation. Furthermore, the rapid disappearance of PAG
      concentration after calving means that a cut-off limit in post-partum for
      detecting a new pregnancy is not required.

PMID- 28583612
TI  - Visual ELISA for detection of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) in ewe
      serum.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of visual ELISA-PAG
      for early pregnancy diagnosis based on the presence of PAG (pregnancy-associated
      glycoprotein) using sheep blood serum. Experiment 1: 140 ewes were divided into
      three groups with different stages of pregnancy. In the first group, 41 pregnant
      ewes were sampled at 26, 28, 30, and 32 days of pregnancy; in the second group,
      65 ewes (49 pregnant with 30 days and 16 non-pregnant) were sampled; in the third
      group, 34 non-pregnant ewes were sampled. Experiment 2: 10 pregnant ewes were
      sampled weekly from day 35 of gestation until day 70 post-partum to verify the
      total period in which PAG can be detected in the blood serum by the test.
      Transrectal ultrasound was used as a gold standard. The detection or non
      detection of PAG was analyzed by the logistic model PROC GENMOD of SAS;
      differences were detected by the chi-squared test. In group 1, there were no
      differences between the results from 28, 30, and 32 days of gestation, but
      samples from 30 days were easier to interpret in comparison to 28 days, with a
      sensitivity of 97.56%. In the second group, using 65 sheep, visual ELISA-PAG
      showed 100% sensitivity and 93.75% specificity, which indicates the diagnosis of
      an animal as a false positive. In the third group, 97.06% of the sheep were
      confirmed as negative and 2.94% as positive, again indicating the presence of a
      false positive. In 100% of the sheep, the PAG remained in the blood circulation
      throughout the antepartum period until birth and seven days post-partum,
      declining thereafter. Based on our results, the visual ELISA-PAG is an effective
      method for the early diagnosis of pregnancy in sheep and can be performed from
      day 30 of gestation.

PMID- 28583613
TI  - Associations between activity of arginase or matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8)
      and metritis in periparturient dairy cattle.
AB  - Metritis, a uterine disease caused by bacterial infection, is highly prevalent in
      dairy cattle after parturition. Uterine disease has negative effects on milk
      production and reproductive efficiency. Finding markers or indicators that can
      predict cows at greater risk for uterine disease could be beneficial to
      mitigating these deleterious effects. This study investigates the immune-derived
      enzymes arginase and matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) as potential markers for
      development of metritis in dairy cows. In a retrospective matched case-control
      study, 53 lactating Holstein cows diagnosed with metritis were matched and paired
      to 53 lactating Holstein control cows. In addition to examining cows for
      diagnosis of metritis on d 4, 7, 10, and 14 after parturition, occurrence of
      retained fetal membranes, gender of the calf, and the event of a stillbirth were
      recorded. Blood samples were collected 7 +/- 3 d before calving, on the day of
      calving, and 7 +/- 3 d after calving and were assayed for activity of arginase
      and MMP-8. Associations between metritis and activity of arginase or MMP-8 were
      determined by conditional logistic regression at each individual sampling time
      point. An interaction between activity of arginase, before and on the day of
      parturition, and retained fetal membranes tended (P <= 0.13) to be associated
      with metritis. After parturition, activity of arginase and the interaction
      between activity of arginase and retained fetal membranes were not (P >= 0.22)
      associated with metritis. Activity of MMP-8 was not (P >= 0.20) associated with
      metritis in the periparturient period. Retained fetal membranes were associated
      with the odds of developing metritis. Activity of arginase before and at the time
      of parturition might be a potential marker for occurrence of metritis, especially
      in cows that develop retained fetal membranes. MMP-8 does not seem to be a
      potential indicator for metritis.

PMID- 28583614
TI  - Effects of active immunization against GnRH versus surgical castration on
      hypothalamic-pituitary function in boars.
AB  - The objective was to compare effects of anti-GnRH immunization (immunocastration)
      versus surgical castration on hypothalamic-pituitary function in boars. Thirty
      six boars were randomly divided into three groups (n = 12/group): control,
      surgically castrated, or immunized against GnRH at 10 wk of age (boostered 8 wk
      later). Compared to intact boars, immunocastration reduced (P < 0.05) serum
      concentrations of LH, FSH, testosterone and inhibin B and caused severe
      testicular atrophy, whereas surgical castration increased (P < 0.05) serum
      concentrations of LH and FSH. Both immunocastration and surgical castration
      consistently reduced hypothalamic GnRH synthesis, with decreased (P < 0.05) mRNA
      expressions of GnRH, GnRH up-stream gatekeeper genes kiss1 and its receptor
      (GPR54), and androgen receptor in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) and
      anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), as well as GnRH content in the
      median eminence. Inconsistently, mRNA expressions of gonadotropin-inhibitory
      hormone (GnIH) in ARC and AVPV as well as its receptor (GPR147) in pituitary were
      selectively reduced (P < 0.05), but mRNA expressions of estrogen receptor alpha
      and aromatase (CPY17A1) in pituitary were selectively increased (P < 0.05) in
      surgical castrates. In response to selectively attenuated suppressive signaling
      from GnIH and testosterone, mRNA expressions of GnRH receptor (GnRHR), LH-beta
      and FSH-beta in pituitary were increased (P < 0.05) in surgical castrates,
      whereas these pituitary gene expressions were decreased (P < 0.05) in
      immunocastrates, due to loss of hypothalamic GnRH signaling. We concluded that
      immunocastration and surgical castration consistently reduced hypothalamic GnRH
      synthesis due to a testosterone deficiency disrupting testosterone-Kisspeptin
      GPR54-GnRH signaling pathways. Furthermore, selectively attenuated GnIH and
      testosterone signaling in the pituitary increased gonadotropin production in
      surgical castrates.

PMID- 28583615
TI  - Identification of differentially-expressed genes in early developmental ovary of
      Yellow River carp (Cyprinus carpio var) using Suppression Subtractive
      Hybridization.
AB  - Ovary development appears to be under polygenic control, and is influenced by
      multiple genetic factors that may vary from organism to organism. To gain a
      better insight into the molecular mechanisms of carp ovary development,
      Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) DNA libraries in two species of
      Yellow River carp were analyzed. Primordial gonads and stage II ovaries were used
      as testers, and adult ovaries as drivers. One hundred and fifty differentially
      expressed candidate genes were examined by Southern blot microarray
      hybridization. We identified 41 differentially-expressed genes in the PG
      (Primordial gonad) library and 37 in the stage II ovary library. Gene Ontology
      Biological Pathway analysis showed the genes were involved in signal
      transduction, proteolysis process, cell differentiation, TGF-beta signal and
      other biological responses. Twenty-two candidate genes were selected and further
      characterized using qRT-PCR. Pvalb, epd, and MYH were found specifically
      expressed in PG, while bmp2b, desmin and fp1 were specifically expressed in stage
      II ovary. Our results indicate that these genes could be used as biomarkers of
      the early development of carp ovary. This finding will provide a basis for
      further understanding of the complex gonad developmental molecular mechanisms in
      Yellow River carp.

PMID- 28583616
TI  - Effects of season on placental, foetal and neonatal development in horses.
AB  - Seasonal changes in metabolic rate have been shown in horses and we hypothesized
      that this leads to the birth of smaller foals early in the year. Mares and their
      foals were assigned to three groups by day of foaling within the year (e.g. 1
      January = day 1): Group 1 (n = 10) day 40-65, group 2 (n = 8) day 67-92, group 3
      (n = 9) day 94-121. Groups did not differ with regard to parity. In foals, height
      at withers and body weight were determined on days 1-5 and weekly until 12 weeks
      of age. Chest circumference, distances fetlock to carpus, carpus to elbow, poll
      to nose and crown-rump length were determined on day 5 and weekly until 12 weeks
      of age. Placental weight (p < 0.05) and surface (p < 0.01) were lower in mares of
      group 1 than in groups 2 and 3. Foal weight and length measurements increased
      over time (p < 0.001). Height at withers was consistently lower in group 1 than
      in groups 2 and 3 (p < 0.05) while foal weight did not differ among groups.
      Fetlock to carpus, carpus to elbow (both p < 0.01) and poll to nose length (p <
      0.05) were lower in group 1 than in groups 2 and 3. Neither gestation length nor
      sex ratio of foals differed among groups. In conclusion, foetal size is reduced
      when the final growth phase coincides with the winter months. This also impacts
      neonatal growth during the first three months of life.

PMID- 28583617
TI  - Totally Implantable IV Treprostinil Therapy in Pulmonary Hypertension Assessment
      of the Implantation Procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostacyclins improve symptoms and survival in pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH). In response to risks associated with external delivery
      systems, an implantable IV infusion system was developed. A multicenter,
      prospective, single-arm, clinical trial (DelIVery for PAH) was conducted to
      evaluate this system for treprostinil in PAH. This analysis describes the
      findings related to the implant procedure. METHODS: Patients (N = 64) with PAH
      (World Health Organization group 1) receiving stable IV treprostinil were
      enrolled. Patients were transitioned to a temporary peripheral IV infusion
      catheter prior to the procedure. System implantation was performed at 10 centers
      under general anesthesia or deep IV sedation by clinicians from various
      specialties. Central venous access was via the cephalic, subclavian, jugular, or
      axillary vein. Using an introducer and fluoroscopic guidance, the distal tip of
      the infusion catheter was placed at the superior caval-atrial junction. The
      catheter was tunneled from the venous access site to an abdominal subcutaneous
      pocket, where the pump was placed. RESULTS: Of the 64 patients enrolled, four
      exited prior to implantation. All 60 implant procedures were successful. At
      baseline, all patients were receiving treprostinil via an external pump at a mean
      dose of 71.4 +/- 27.8 ng/kg/min (range: 22-142 ng/kg/min). The implant averaged
      102 +/- 32 min (range: 47-184 min). Clinically significant implant procedure
      related complications included one pneumothorax, two infections, and one episode
      of atrial fibrillation. There were three postimplantation catheter dislocations
      in two patients. Common implant-related events that were not complications
      included implant site pain (83%) and bruising (17%). CONCLUSIONS: The procedure
      for inserting a fully implantable system for treprostinil was successfully
      performed, with few complications. TRIAL REGISTRY: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.:
      NCT01321073; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov.

PMID- 28583618
TI  - New Anti-Eosinophil Drugs for Asthma and COPD: Targeting the Trait!
AB  - Asthma and COPD are prevalent chronic inflammatory airway diseases that are
      responsible for a large global disease burden. Both diseases are complex and
      heterogeneous, and they are increasingly recognized as overlapping syndromes that
      may share similar pathophysiologic mechanisms and treatable traits. Eosinophilic
      airway inflammation is considered the most influential treatable trait of chronic
      airway disease, and over the last decade, several monoclonal antibodies and small
      molecule therapies have been developed to target this trait. These include
      monoclonal antibodies against IL-5 or IL-5 receptor alpha (mepolizumab,
      reslizumab, and benralizumab), IL-13 (lebrikizumab and tralokinumab), IL-4
      receptor alpha (dupilumab), IgE (omalizumab), and anti-thymic stromal
      lymphopoietin (tezepelumab) and small molecule therapies such as prostaglandin D2
      blockers (fevipiprant and timapiprant). Although these novel biologic agents have
      shown promising results in many patients with asthma and COPD who have
      eosinophilic airway inflammation, it is evident that not all patients respond
      equally well, despite similar clinical, functional, and inflammatory
      characteristics. This heterogeneity in treatment response is probably related to
      different molecular pathways or endotypes leading to eosinophilic airway
      inflammation, including adaptive immune pathways mediated by T helper 2 cells and
      innate immune pathways mediated by innate lymphoid cells. The relative
      contribution of these pathways in asthma and COPD is not yet clarified, and there
      are currently no reliable biomarkers that represent the various pathways.
      Therefore, there is an urgent need for easily measurable and reproducible
      biomarkers that are linked to underlying pathophysiologic disease mechanisms and
      can predict and monitor responses to novel biologic agents.

PMID- 28583620
TI  - Percutaneous image-guided screws meditated osteosynthesis of impeding and
      pathological/insufficiency fractures of the femoral neck in non-surgical cancer
      patients.
AB  - AIM: To present percutaneous image-guided screw-mediated osteosynthesis (PIGSMO)
      for fixation of impending fractures (ImF) and non-displaced/mildly displaced
      pathological/insufficient fractures (PF/InF) of the femoral neck in non-surgical
      cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a double-centre single-arm
      observational study. Retrospective review of electronic records identified all
      oncologic patients who had undergone femoral neck PIGSMO. Inclusion criteria
      were: non-displaced or mildly displaced PF/InF, and ImF (Mirels' score >=8); life
      expectancy >=1 month; unsuitability for surgical treatment due to sub-optimal
      clinical fitness, refusal of consent, or unacceptable delay to systemic therapy.
      RESULTS: Eleven patients were treated (mean age 63.7+/-13.5 years) due to ImF
      (63.6%, mean Mirels' score 10.1), PF (27.3%) or post-radiation InF (9.1%) under
      CT/fluoroscopy- (36.4%) or CBCT- (63.6%) guidance. Thirty-two screws were
      implanted and cement injection was added in 36.4% cases. Technical success was
      90.9%. No procedure related complications were noted. At 1-month clinical follow
      up (pain/walking impairment), 63.6% and 27.3% patients reported significant and
      mild improvement, respectively. Imaging follow-up (available in 63.6% cases)
      showed no signs of secondary fractures, neither of screws loosening at mean 2.8
      months. Five patients (45.5%) died after PIGSMO (mean time interval 3.6 months).
      CONCLUSIONS: PIGSMO is technically feasible and safe in cancer patients with
      limited life expectancy; it offers good short-term results. Further prospective
      studies are required to corroborate mid- and to prove long-term efficacy of the
      technique.

PMID- 28583621
TI  - The importance of subpleural fibrosis in the prognosis of patients with
      idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare computer-aided diagnostic results with histological findings
      obtained by surgical biopsy and evaluate whether subpleural lesion volumes can
      aid identification of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      We retrospectively analyzed computed tomography (CT) images of 79 patients (43
      with fibrosing nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (fNSIP) and 36 with IPF) using
      the Gaussian Histogram Normalized Correlation (GHNC) system. We determined the H
      pattern based on honeycomb and/or fibrosis with traction bronchiectasis on CT,
      and measured the H-pattern volume ratio at the biopsy sites and in the subpleural
      area. The biopsy site CT data were compared with biopsy specimens using
      Spearman's correlation. H-pattern volumes in the subpleural area within 2mm under
      the pleura (H2) were analyzed to predict IPF diagnosis and patients prognosis.
      RESULTS: The H-pattern volume ratio at the biopsy sites showed significant
      correlation with histological honeycomb (r=0.355, p<0.001), subpleural collapse
      (r=0.410, p<0.001), and heterogeneity (r=0.484, p<0.001). Multivariate regression
      analysis, adjusting for age, sex, and CT results, revealed that the H2 was a
      significant independent predictor of IPF diagnosis (odds ratio: 1.073; p=0.048).
      H2 correlated with patients' survival after adjusting for age (p=0.003).
      CONCLUSION: The computer-aided H-pattern volume ratio of the subpleural area
      indicates subpleural abnormalities quantitatively and may help diagnose IPF.

PMID- 28583619
TI  - The impacts of pesticide and nicotine exposures on functional brain networks in
      Latino immigrant workers.
AB  - Latino immigrants that work on farms experience chronic exposures to potential
      neurotoxicants, such as pesticides, as part of their work. For tobacco
      farmworkers there is the additional risk of exposure to moderate to high doses of
      nicotine. Pesticide and nicotine exposures have been associated with neurological
      changes in the brain. Long-term exposure to cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides,
      such as organophosphates and carbamates, and nicotine place this vulnerable
      population at risk for developing neurological dysfunction. In this study we
      examined whole-brain connectivity patterns and brain network properties of Latino
      immigrant workers. Comparisons were made between farmworkers and non-farmworkers
      using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and a mixed
      effects modeling framework. We also evaluated how measures of pesticide and
      nicotine exposures contributed to the findings. Our results indicate that despite
      having the same functional connectivity density and strength, brain networks in
      farmworkers had more clustered and modular structures when compared to non
      farmworkers. Our findings suggest increased functional specificity and decreased
      functional integration in farmworkers when compared to non-farmworkers.
      Cholinesterase activity was associated with population differences in community
      structure and the strength of brain network functional connections. Urinary
      cotinine, a marker of nicotine exposure, was associated with the differences in
      network community structure. Brain network differences between farmworkers and
      non-farmworkers, as well as pesticide and nicotine exposure effects on brain
      functional connections in this study, may illuminate underlying mechanisms that
      cause neurological implications in later life.

PMID- 28583622
TI  - Current CT practice in Germany: Results and implications of a nationwide survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess patient doses and relative frequencies of standard CT
      examinations performed in Germany in 2013/14 as well as the effect of modern CT
      technology on patient exposure. METHODS: All known CT facilities in Germany were
      requested to complete a questionnaire on the frequency of 34 examinations and the
      respective parameter settings used. Taking into account type-specific properties
      of each scanner, effective doses were estimated for each reported examination.
      The mean and the percentiles of the CT dose index, scan length, dose length
      product, and effective dose were determined for each type of examination.
      RESULTS: According to the data provided for about 11% of all medical CT scanners
      operated in 2013/14, the effective dose was 4.6/5.9mSv per scan/examination. The
      effective dose was significantly reduced by about 15% compared to the CT practice
      before 2010. Modern CT technology, such as tube current modulation and iterative
      image reconstruction reduced the effective dose significantly by 6% and 13%,
      respectively. The mean effective dose applied at scanners produced by different
      manufacturers differed by 25%, at maximum. CONCLUSION: Patient exposure was
      reduced substantially in recent years. There is, however, still a considerable
      potential for further dose reduction by adapting scan protocols to the medical
      purpose and by a consequent exploitation of modern CT technologies.

PMID- 28583623
TI  - Pre-treatment MDCT-based texture analysis for therapy response prediction in
      gastric cancer: Comparison with tumour regression grade at final histology.
AB  - PURPOSE: An accurate prediction of tumour response to therapy is fundamental in
      oncology, so as to prompt personalised treatment options if needed. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the ability of preoperative texture analysis from
      multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) in the prediction of the response rate
      to neo-adjuvant therapy in patients with gastric cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Thirty-four patients with biopsy-proven gastric cancer were examined by MDCT
      before neo-adjuvant therapy, and treated with radical surgery after treatment
      completion. Tumour regression grade (TRG) at final histology was also assessed.
      Image features from texture analysis were quantified, with and without filters
      for fine to coarse textures. Patients with TRG 1-3 were considered responders
      while TRG 4-5 as non- responders. The response rate to neo-adjuvant therapy was
      assessed both at univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Fourteen
      parameters were significantly different between the two subgroups at univariate
      analysis; in particular, entropy and compactness (higher in responders) and
      uniformity (lower in responders). According to our model, the following
      parameters could identify non-responders at multivariate analysis: entropy
      (<=6.86 with a logarithm of Odds Ratio - Log OR -: 4.11; p=0.003); range
      (>158.72; Log OR: 3.67; p=0.010) and root mean square (<=3.71; Log OR: 4.57;
      p=0.005). Entropy and three-dimensional volume were not significantly correlated
      (r=0.06; p=0.735). CONCLUSION: Pre-treatment texture analysis can potentially
      provide important information regarding the response rate to neo-adjuvant therapy
      for gastric cancer, improving risk stratification.

PMID- 28583624
TI  - Higher breast cancer conspicuity on dbPET compared to WB-PET/CT.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate lesion detectability of a
      dedicated breast positron-emission tomography (dbPET) scanner for breast cancers
      with an updated reconstruction mode, comparing it to whole-body positron-emission
      tomography/computed tomography (WB-PET/CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 179
      histologically-proven breast cancer lesions in 150 females who underwent both WB
      PET/CT and dbPET with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose were retrospectively analyzed. The
      patient/breast/lesion-based sensitivities based on visual analysis were compared
      between dbPET and WB-PET/CT. For lesions visible on both PET images, SUVmax
      values of the tumors were measured, and tumor-to-background ratios (T/B ratios)
      of SUVmax were compared between the two scans. Subgroup analyses according to
      clinical tumor stage, histopathology and histological grade were also performed.
      RESULTS: Patient/breast/lesion-based sensitivities were 95%, 95%, and 92%,
      respectively, for dbPET, and 95%, 94%, and 88%, respectively, for WB-PET/CT.
      Mean+/-standard deviation SUVmax values of FDG-avid tumors were 13.0+/-9.7 on
      dbPET and 6.4+/-4.8 on WB-PET. T/B ratios were also significantly higher in dbPET
      than in WB-PET/CT (8.1+/-7.1 vs. 5.1+/-4.5). In the subgroup analysis, no
      significant differences in sensitivities between dbPET and WB-PET/CT were found.
      However, T/B ratios of dbPET were significantly higher than those of WB-PET/CT in
      cT1c, cT2, cT3, invasive cancer, invasive carcinoma of no special type, mucinous
      carcinoma and Grades 1-3. CONCLUSION: No significant differences in sensitivities
      were identified between dbPET using an updated reconstruction mode and WB-PET/CT;
      however, T/B ratios of dbPET were significantly higher than those of WB-PET/CT,
      indicating higher tumor conspicuity on dbPET.

PMID- 28583625
TI  - Residual tumour detection in post-treatment granulation tissue by using advanced
      diffusion models in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the detectability of the residual tumour in post-treatment
      granulation tissue using parameters obtained with an advanced diffusion model in
      patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated by
      chemoradiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 23
      patients with HNSCC after the full course of chemoradiation therapy. The
      diffusion-weighted image (DWI) acquisition used single-shot spin-echo echo-planar
      imaging with 11 b-values (0-1000). We calculated 10 DWI parameters using a mono
      exponential model, a bi-exponential model, a stretched exponential model (SEM), a
      diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) model and a statistical diffusion model (SDM) in
      the region of interest (ROI) placed on the post-treatment granulation tissue. The
      presence of residual tumour was determined by histological findings or clinical
      follow-up. RESULTS: Among the 23 patients, seven patients were revealed to have
      residual tumour. The univariate analysis revealed significant differences in six
      parameters between the patients with and without residual tumour. From the
      receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the highest area under curve
      was detected in the center of the Gaussian distribution of diffusion coefficient
      (Ds) obtained by the SDM. The multivariate analysis revealed that the Ds and
      diffusion heterogeneity (alpha) obtained by the SEM were predictors for the
      presence of residual tumour. CONCLUSION: DWI parameters obtained by advanced
      fitting models will be one of the diagnostic tools for the detection of residual
      tumour.

PMID- 28583626
TI  - Does apparent diffusion coefficient predict the degree of liver regeneration of
      donor and recipient after living donor liver transplantation?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the relationship between the ADCs of the liver graft and
      the remnant liver and the degree of liver regeneration in LDLT. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: 15 recipients and 15 corresponding donors underwent magnetic resonance
      imaging and computed tomography 1-2 weeks after living donor liver
      transplantation (LDLT). For diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), a single-shot echo
      planar sequence with b-factors of 0, 500, and 1000s/mm2 was scanned. ADCs of the
      liver parenchyma were calculated at b factors of 0 and 500 and 1000 (ADC 0-500
      1000) or 0 and 500 (ADC 0-500) or 500 and 1000 (ADC 500-1000). The liver volume
      ratio at LDLT, the mean ADCs and the regeneration rate were compared between the
      graft and the remnant liver using paired-t tests. RESULTS: The mean liver volume
      ratio of the recipients (41.3+/-9.8%) tended to be smaller than that of the
      donors (51.8+/-13.8%). The mean ADC 0-500 of the remnant liver (1.72+/-0.33) was
      significantly higher than that of the graft (1.43+/-0.32). The regeneration rate
      of the graft (2.07+/-0.41) was significantly higher than that of the remnant
      liver (1.53+/-0.49). CONCLUSION: ADC 0-500 can describe differences in blood
      perfusion between liver grafts and the remnant liver according to the degree of
      liver regeneration.

PMID- 28583627
TI  - Resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma: Role of CT quantitative imaging biomarkers
      for predicting pathology and patient outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: Patients with a pancreatic cancer amenable to surgery still have a
      poor prognosis and high risk of post-operative recurrence. We aimed to assess the
      value of quantitative imaging biomarkers using computed-tomography (CT) texture
      analysis to evaluate the pathologic tumor aggressiveness and predict disease-free
      survival (DFS) in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. METHODS: We
      retrospectively performed attenuation measurements and texture analysis on the
      portal-venous phase of the pre-operative CT scan of 99 patients that underwent
      resection of a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in two university hospitals.
      Tumor attenuation parameters included: mean attenuation value of the whole tumor
      (WHOLE-AV), and of the most hypoattenuating area within the tumor (CENTRAL-AV).
      Tumor heterogeneity parameters included: standard deviation, entropy, skewness,
      and kurtosis. RESULTS: Tumor attenuation parameters showed significant
      association with the tumor differentiation grade (CENTRAL-AV, Odds ratio (OR)
      0.968, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94-0.998) and lymph node invasion (WHOLE
      AV, OR 0.886, CI 0.823-0.955). Variables associated with early-recurrence were:
      lymph node ratio (R2=0.15), kurtosis (R2=0.08), and CENTRAL-AV (R2=0.04). Lymph
      node ratio (Hazard ratio (HR) 1.02), and CENTRAL-AV (HR 0.98) were independently
      associated with shorter DFS. Patients with CENTRAL-AV<62 Hounsfield units had a
      shorter 1-year DFS (35% versus 68%, p=0.004). CONCLUSION: Tumors that are more
      hypoattenuating on the portal-venous phase on CT scan are potentially more
      aggressive with higher tumor grade, greater lymph node invasion, and shorter DFS.

PMID- 28583628
TI  - Lymph node metastasis in head and neck squamous carcinoma: Efficacy of intravoxel
      incoherent motion magnetic resonance imaging for the differential diagnosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the value of pure molecular diffusion(D), perfusion-related
      diffusion (D*), perfusion fraction (f) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)
      based on intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) theory for differential diagnosis of
      metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: 29 patients with HNSCC and 20 patients with lymph node
      hyperplasia (LNH) were enrolled in this retrospective study, underwent magnetic
      resonance (MR) examination. IVIM Diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) was
      performed with 13 b values. D, D*, f and ADC values were compared between two
      groups. The diagnostic value of ADC, D, D* and D.D* value were evaluated by
      Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Two radiologists measured D, D*, f
      and ADC values independently. RESULTS: 33 malignant LNs in HNSCC group and 22
      benign LNs in LNH group (minimum diameter, >=5mm) were successfully examined,
      ADC(P<0.05), D (P<0.01) and f (P<0.01) were significantly lower in malignant LNs
      than that in benign LNs, whereas D* was significantly higher (P<0.01). The area
      under the ROC curve (AUC) for D.D* was 0.983 and was larger than that for D*
      (0.952), D (0.78) and ADC (0.67). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that IVIM DWI
      is feasible in the diagnosis of LN metastasis. D was significantly decreased in
      malignant LNs reflected increased nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio tissue, and D* was
      significantly increased reflected increased blood vessel generation and
      parenchymal perfusion in malignant LNs.

PMID- 28583629
TI  - Evaluation of postoperative lung volume and perfusion changes by dual-energy
      computed tomography in patients with lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to retrospectively evaluate postoperative
      physiologic changes in lung cancer patients using dual-energy CT (DECT), and
      develop modified methods reflecting postoperative change for predicting pulmonary
      function. METHODS AND MATERIALS: 88 patients (M:F=64:24; mean age, 63.5 years)
      with lung cancer who underwent DECT and pulmonary function tests before and after
      operation were included. Volume and iodine values for perfusion of each lobe were
      quantified. The predicted postoperative FEV1 using the current method was
      calculated by multiplying the preoperative FEV1 by the fractional contribution of
      perfusion of the remaining lung. The modified method reflecting postoperative
      volume change was compared to the current method. RESULTS: Postoperative lung
      volume showed compensatory increases in the contralateral and remaining
      ipsilateral lobes, with a significantly greater increase in the ipsilateral lobe
      than contralateral lobe (21.8%+/-46.2% vs. 10.0%+/-20.8%, P=0.031). Perfusion
      analysis showed blood volume increases in both ipsilateral and contralateral
      lobes without statistical differences (blood volume ratio difference, 29.2%+/
      26.7 vs. 24.6%+/-16.5, P=0.368). The performance of the modified method
      considering postoperative lung volume change was comparable to that of the
      current method in the development and validation datasets (95% CI, -24.5% to
      37.1% vs. -33.3% to 22.2% and -23.6% to 32.0% vs. -31.9% to 16.0%, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative compensatory increases in lung volume and perfusion
      occur in different ways. Our modified method incorporating postoperative lung
      volume changes can be considered a comparable method for prediction of
      postoperative lung function.

PMID- 28583630
TI  - Evaluating the effect of rectal distension on prostate multiparametric MRI image
      quality.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of rectal distension on the quality of anatomical
      and functional prostate multiparametric (mp) MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Multiparametric (mp) 3T-MRI images of 173 patients were independently evaluated
      by two radiologists in this retrospective study. Planimetry rectal volumes were
      derived and a subjective assessment of rectal distension was made using a 5-point
      Likert scale (1=no stool/gas, 5=large amount of stool/gas). Image quality of
      diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale. DWI
      was further scored for distortion and artefact. T2W images were evaluated for
      image sharpness and the presence of motion artefact. The stability of the dynamic
      contrast-enhancement acquisition was assessed by recording the number of corrupt
      data points during the wash-out phase. RESULTS: There was a strong correlation
      between subjective scoring of rectal loading and objectively measured rectal
      volume (r=0.82), p<0.001. A significant correlation was shown between increased
      rectal distension and both reduced DW image quality (r=-0.628, p<0.001), and
      increased DW image distortion (r=0.814, p<0.001). There was also a significant
      trend for rectal distension to increase artefact at DWI (r=0.154, p=0.042).
      Increased rectal distension led to increased motion artefact on T2 (p=0.0096),
      but did not have a significant effect on T2-sharpness (p=0.0638). There was no
      relationship between rectal distension and DCE image quality (p=0.693). 63
      patients underwent lesion-targeted biopsy post MRI, there was a trend to higher
      positive predictive values in patients with minor rectal distension (34/38,
      89.5%) compared to those with moderate/marked distension (18/25, 72%), p=0.09.
      CONCLUSION: Rectal distension has a significant negative effect on the quality of
      both T2W and DW images. Consideration should therefore be given to bowel
      preparation prior to prostate mpMRI to optimise image quality.

PMID- 28583631
TI  - Repeated surgeries in invasive lobular breast cancer with preoperative MRI: Role
      of additional carcinoma in situ and background parenchymal enhancement.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Analysing the influence of additional carcinoma in situ (CIS) and
      background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) in preoperative MRI on repeated
      surgeries in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast.
      METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 106 patients (mean age 58.6+/-9.9years) with
      108 ILC. Preoperative tumour size as assessed by MRI, mammography and sonography
      was recorded and compared to histopathology. In contrast-enhanced MRI, the degree
      of BPE was categorised by two readers. The influence of additionally detected CIS
      and BPE on the rate of repeated surgeries was analysed. RESULTS: Additional CIS
      was present in 45.4% of the cases (49/108). The degree of BPE was minimal or mild
      in 80% of the cases and moderate or marked in 20% of the cases. In 17 cases
      (15.7%) at least one repeated surgery was performed. In n=15 of these cases,
      repeated surgery was performed after BCT (n=9 re-excisions, n=6 conversions to
      mastectomy), in n=2 cases after initial mastectomy. The initial surgical
      procedure (p=0.008) and additional CIS (p=0.046) significantly influenced the
      rate of repeated surgeries, while tumour size, patient age and BPE did not
      (p=ns). CONCLUSIONS: Additional CIS was associated with a higher rate of repeated
      surgeries, whereas BPE had no influence.

PMID- 28583632
TI  - Alternative imaging strategy of solitary pulmonary nodule by FDG PET/CT: Can be
      imagined a tailored PET?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) are usually sent to
      total-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) examination
      with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). However, a segmental scan strategy may improve
      cost/effectiveness in this category of patients. CONCLUSION: A segmental PET/CT
      scan only at the chest level could be performed in patients with indeterminate
      SPN. Limiting the PET/CT field to the thoracic region would greatly affect on
      radiobiology, department organization and health-care costs.

PMID- 28583633
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate at 1.5 versus 3.0T: A prospective
      comparison study of image quality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study prospectively evaluates objective image quality (IQ),
      subjective IQ, and PI-RADS scoring of prostate MRI at 3.0T (3T) and 1.5T (1.5T)
      within the same patients. METHODS: Sixty-three consecutive patients (64+/-9years)
      were prospectively included in this non-inferiority trial, powered at 80% to
      demonstrate a <=10% difference in signal-to-noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise
      ratio (CNR) of T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging (T2WI, DWI) at 1.5T
      compared to 3T. Secondary endpoints were analysis of subjective IQ and PI-RADS v2
      scoring. RESULTS: All patients received multi-parametric prostate MRI on a 3T
      (T2WI, DWI, DCE) and bi-parametric MRI (T2WI, DWI) on a 1.5T scanner using body
      coils, respectively. SNR and CNR of T2WI were similar at 1.5T and 3T (p=0.7-1),
      but of DWI significantly lower at 1.5T (p<0.01). Subjective IQ was significantly
      better at 3T for both, T2WI and DWI (p<0.01). PI-RADS scores were comparable for
      both field strengths (p=0.05-1). Inter-reader agreement was excellent for
      subjective IQ assessment and PI-RADS scoring (k=0.9-1). CONCLUSION: Prostate MRI
      at 1.5T can reveal comparable objective image quality in T2WI, but is inferior to
      3T in DWI and subjective IQ. However, similar PI-RADS scoring and thus diagnostic
      performance seems feasible independent of the field strength even without an
      endorectal coil.

PMID- 28583634
TI  - Texture analysis of baseline multiphasic hepatic computed tomography images for
      the prognosis of single hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy: A
      retrospective pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the prognostic value of texture analysis for single
      hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) after hepatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      total of 61 HCC patients were enrolled in this retrospective study. Textural
      characteristics of the computed tomography (CT) images were quantified. The
      differences between the hepatic arterial phase and the portal venous phase were
      obtained (the Dif.). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used
      for data screening. Cox regression analyses were performed to determine
      independent factors adjusted with the derived clinical and radiological
      variables. Model identifications were based on Akaike information criteria.
      Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were performed for overall survival (OS) and
      disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: ROC and Cox regression analyses identified
      five parameters. Filter 1.0 achieved the best performance, in which the Dif.Scale
      1.2 was a superior indicative independent marker for OS (p=0.05). Kaplan-Meier
      analyses further demonstrated that the Dif.Scale2.2 at filter 0 (p=0.001),
      Dif.Scale1.2 (p=0.006), Dif.Scale3.2 (p=0.005) at filter 1.0, Dif.Wavelet 8 at
      filter 1.5 (p<0.001), and corona (p=0.032) were associated with OS. Moreover,
      Dif.Scale 2.2 at filter 0 (p=0.039), Dif.Scale1.2 at filter 1.0 (p=0.001), and
      Dif.Wavelet 8 at filter 1.5 (p=0.007) were associated with DFS, while the
      Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) parameters showed no statistical correlation
      with OS (p=0.057). CONCLUSIONS: For patients with a single HCC treated by
      hepatectomy, the textural features for Gabor and Wavelet, especially the varying
      Dif., potentially provided prognostic information beyond traditional indicators
      such as those of the BCLC.

PMID- 28583635
TI  - Influence of PET reconstruction technique and matrix size on qualitative and
      quantitative assessment of lung lesions on [18F]-FDG-PET: A prospective study in
      37 cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of point spread function (PSF)-based
      reconstruction and matrix size for PET on (1) lung lesion detection and (2)
      standardized uptake values (SUV). METHODS: This prospective study included
      oncological patients who underwent [18F]-FDG-PET/CT for staging. PET data were
      reconstructed with a 2D ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm,
      and a 2D PSF-based algorithm (TrueX), separately with two matrix sizes (168*168
      and 336*336). The four PET reconstructions (TrueX-168; OSEM-168; TrueX-336; and
      OSEM-336) were read independently by two raters, and PET-positive lung lesions
      were recorded. Blinded to the PET findings, a third independent rater assessed
      lung lesions with diameters of >4mm on CT. Subsequently, PET and CT were reviewed
      side-by side in consensus. Multi-factorial logistic regression analyses and two
      way repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed. RESULTS:
      Thirty-seven patients with 206 lung lesions were included. Lesion-based PET
      sensitivities differed significantly between reconstruction algorithms (P<0.001)
      and between reconstruction matrices (P=0.022). Sensitivities were 94.2% and 88.3%
      for TrueX-336; 88.3% and 85.9% for TrueX-168; 67.8% and 66.3% for OSEM-336; and
      67.0% and 67.9% for OSEM-168; for rater 1 and rater 2, respectively. SUVmax and
      SUVmean were significantly higher for images reconstructed with 336*336 matrices
      than for those reconstructed with 168*168 matrices (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our
      results demonstrate that PSF-based PET reconstruction, and, to a lesser degree,
      higher matrix size, improve detection of metabolically active lung lesions.
      However, PSF-based PET reconstructions and larger matrix sizes lead to higher
      SUVs, which may be a concern when PET data from different institutions are
      compared.

PMID- 28583636
TI  - Metabolic profile of liver damage in non-cirrhotic virus C and autoimmune
      hepatitis: A proton decoupled 31P-MRS study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study liver 31P MRS, histology, transient elastography, and liver
      function tests in patients with virus C hepatitis (HCV) or autoimmune hepatitis
      (AIH) to test the hypothesis that 31P MR metabolic profile of these diseases
      differ. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 25 patients with HCV (n=12) or AIH (n=13)
      underwent proton decoupled 31P MRS spectroscopy performed on a 3.0T MR imager.
      Intensities of phosphomonoesters (PME) of phosphoethanolamine (PE) and
      phosphocholine (PC), phosphodiesters (PDE) of glycerophosphoethanolamine (GPE)
      and glycerophosphocholine (GPC), and gamma, alpha and beta resonances of
      adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate
      (NADPH) were determined. Liver stiffness was measured by transient elastography.
      Inflammation and fibrosis were staged according to METAVIR from biopsy samples.
      Activities of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline
      phosphatase (ALT) and thromboplastin time (TT) were determined from serum
      samples. RESULTS: PME had a stronger correlation with AST (z=1.73, p=0.04) and
      ALT (z=1.77, p=0.04) in HCV than in AIH patients. PME, PME/PDE, PE/GPE correlated
      positively and PDE negatively with inflammatory activity. PE, PC and PME
      correlated positively with liver function tests. CONCLUSION: 31P-MRS suggests a
      more serious liver damage in HCV than in AIH with similar histopathological
      findings. 31P-MRS is more sensitive in detecting inflammation than fibrosis in
      the liver.

PMID- 28583637
TI  - Results of a prospective clinical study on the diagnostic performance of standard
      magnetic resonance imaging in comparison to a combination of 3T MRI and
      additional CT imaging in Kienbock's disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: This prospective clinical study examined standard wrist magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) examinations and the incremental value of computed
      tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of Kienbock's disease (KD) with regard to
      reliability and precision in the different diagnostic steps during diagnostic
      work-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-four consecutive patients referred between
      January 2009 and January 2014 with positive initial suspicion of KD according to
      external standard wrist MRI were prospectively included (step one). Institutional
      review board approval was obtained. Clinical examination by two handsurgeons were
      followed by wrist radiographs (step two), ultrathin-section CT, and 3T contrast
      enhanced MRI (step three). Final diagnosis was established in a consensus
      conference involving all examiners and all examinations results available from
      step three. RESULTS: In 12/64 patients, initial suspicion was discarded at step
      two and in 34/64 patients, the initial suspicion of KD was finally discarded at
      step three. The final external MRI positive predictive value was 47%. The most
      common differential diagnoses at step three were intraosseous cysts (n=15),
      lunate pseudarthrosis (n=13), and ulnar impaction syndrome (n=5). A correlation
      between radiograph-based diagnoses (step two) with final diagnosis (step three)
      showed that initial suspicion of stage I KD had the lowest sensitivity for
      correct diagnosis (2/11). Technical factors associated with a false positive
      external MRI KD diagnosis were not found. CONCLUSION: Standard wrist MRI should
      be complemented with thin-section CT, and interdisciplinary interpretation of
      images and clinical data, to increase diagnostic accuracy in patients with
      suspected KD.

PMID- 28583638
TI  - A Phase I clinical trial of the knee to assess the correlation of gagCEST MRI,
      delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage and T2 mapping.
AB  - PURPOSE: Osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with the loss of glycosaminoglycan
      (GAG) during disease progression, which can be detected by glycosaminoglycan
      chemical exchange-dependent saturation transfer (gagCEST) MRI. Delayed gadolinium
      enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) is considered one of the standard methods for
      GAG quantification in vivo. This Phase I study assessed the correlation between
      gagCEST MRI and dGEMRIC in determining cartilage GAG concentration. Standard T2
      mapping was used as a comparator with the two other methods. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Eight athletic volunteers with no known knee diseases were recruited in
      this study. The sagittal images of both knees in each volunteer were obtained by
      a 3T MRI system. GAG concentration was calculated based on fixed charge density
      (FCD) within articular cartilage as calculated by T1 values obtained from dGEMRIC
      sequences. Magnetization transfer ratio asymmetry (MTRasym) of the CEST spectrum
      at 1ppm was determined with gagCEST MRI. T2 values were calculated using a multi
      echo turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence. The Pearson correlations among MTRasym were
      calculated from gagCEST analysis. RESULTS: There was moderate correlation
      (correlation coefficient r=0.55) between dGEMRIC and gagCEST MRI results. T2 had
      a low correlation (r=-0.30) with gagCEST and no correlation with dGEMRIC
      (r=0.003). Both gagCEST and dGEMRIC were able to distinguish between high GAG
      concentration cartilage compartments (higher than 210mM) and low GAG cartilage
      compartments (lower than 210mM). CONCLUSION: dGEMRIC was shown to be a more
      accurate and sensitive clinical imaging tool in evaluating cartilage GAG levels
      in vivo. While GagCEST showed less sensitivity to GAG concentration variations
      than dGEMRIC, further improvements may yet enable gagCEST to be a clinically
      robust methodology.

PMID- 28583639
TI  - CT and MRI findings of type I and type II epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether types I and II epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC)
      differ in CT and MRI imaging features. METHODS: For this retrospective study, we
      enrolled 65 patients with 68 ovarian lesions that have been pathologically proven
      to be EOC. Of these patients, 38 cases underwent MR examinations only, 15 cases
      underwent CT examinations only, and 12 cases completed both examinations. The
      clinical information [age, CA-125, menopausal status, and Ki-67] and imaging
      findings were compared between two types of EOCs. The diagnostic performance of
      image findings were assessed by receiver-operating characteristic curve(ROC)
      analysis. The association between EOC type and imaging features was assessed by
      multivariate logistic regression analysis. The random forest approach was used to
      build a classifier in differential diagnosis between two types of EOCs. RESULTS:
      Of the 68 EOC lesions, 24 lesions were categorized as types I and other 44
      lesions as type II based on the immunohistochemical results, respectively.
      Patients in type I EOCs were more likely to involve menopausal women and showed
      lower CA-125 and Ki-67 values (Ki-67<30%) than patients in type II EOCs. The
      imaging characteristics of type II EOCs frequently demonstrated a solid or
      predominantly solid mass (38.6% vs. 12.5%, P<0.05), smaller lesions (diameter
      <6cm; 27.3% vs. 4.2%, P<0.05), absence of mural nodules (65.9% vs. 25.9%,
      P=0.001), and mild enhancement (84.1% vs. 54.2%, P<0.05) compared to type I EOCs.
      Combination of tumor size, morphology, mural nodule, enhancement degrees
      (AUC=0.808) has a higher specificity (87.50%) and positive predictive value
      (90.0%) than any single image finding alone in differential diagnosis between two
      types of EOCs. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that
      enhancement degrees(OR 0.200, P<0.05),mural nodule(OR 0.158, P<0.05)
      significantly influence EOC classification. Random forests model identified both
      as the most important discriminating variables. The diagnostic accuracy of the
      classifier was 73.53%. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in imaging characteristics
      existed between two types of EOCs. Combination of several image findings improved
      the preoperative diagnostic performance, which is helpful for the clinical
      treatment and prognosis evaluation.

PMID- 28583640
TI  - The role of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy in musculoskeletal
      diseases.
AB  - Ultrasonography (US) is a readily available non-invasive tool useful for the
      detection of musculoskeletal and soft tissue masses. Although X-Ray is often the
      first imaging study for evaluating both bone and soft tissue lesions, and
      magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography are mandatory in lesions
      staging, US is increasingly used for the early assessment of musculoskeletal and
      soft-tissue masses and for guiding procedures and biopsies. Surgical biopsy or
      fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is needed to ascertain the nature of any
      lesion. FNAB is a low cost technique, safer and less traumatic than an open
      surgical biopsy. Significant complications are rare, mostly related to the site
      of biopsy. Knowledge of indications, limitations, anatomical and pathological
      access, adequate technical expertise in US imaging and in intervention skills are
      the critical factors of the appropriate and safe use of FNAB. By now, the role of
      FNAB in musculoskeletal diseases is controversial and there is still a heated
      debate in the scientific community.

PMID- 28583642
TI  - Ultrasonography for the diagnosis of craniosynostosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to report our experience with
      ultrasonography in our routine practice for the diagnosis of cranial deformity in
      infants. METHODS: We conducted a single-institution retrospective study of
      infants referred to our department because of skull deformity. We only included
      in this study infants having undergone both US and 3D-CT to ensure accurate
      comparisons. Each cranial suture was described as normal or closed (partial or
      complete closure). Sonography examination results were correlated with 3D-CT
      findings as a gold-standard. RESULTS: Forty infants were included with a mean age
      of 5.2+/-4.9months. Thirty had a craniosynostosis and 10 children had a postural
      deformity with normal sutures. Correlation between US and 3D-CT for the diagnosis
      of normal or closed suture had a specificity and a sensitivity of 100%. US
      examination for the diagnosis of complete or incomplete synostosis had a
      sensitivity of 100%. CONCLUSIONS: Cranial US is an effective technique to make a
      positive or negative diagnosis of prematurely closed suture. US examination of
      sutures is a fast and non-radiating technique, which may serve as a first-choice
      imaging modality in infants with skull deformity.

PMID- 28583641
TI  - Osteochondral lesion depth on MRI can help predict the need for a sandwich
      procedure.
AB  - PURPOSE: Autologous subchondral bone grafting in combination with autologous
      chondrocyte implantation (ACI) (sandwich procedure) is a well-accepted procedure
      for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the knee. This requires a different
      surgical technique and preoperative planning compared to ACI alone. In addition,
      pain from bone marrow donor site locations can be expected and should be part of
      patient consent and expectations. This study evaluates whether the MRI made as
      part of the standard preoperative cartilage patient work up has the diagnostic
      accuracy to predict the need for a sandwich procedure. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Retrospectively, 185 preoperative MRI scans (PD and T2 sequences) of patients
      planned for ACI were included. The integrity of the subchondral bone and lamina
      was scored by four different observers (3 radiologists, and 1 orthopaedic
      resident). The depth of the defect was measured perpendicular from articulating
      surface to the bottom of the bony lesion. The area under the curve (AUC) for
      subchondral defect on MRI (i.e. lamina or bone defect or expert impression),
      depth measurements and eventual sandwich procedure were calculated. Also inter
      observer Kappa values were determined. RESULTS: The AUCs for lamina (0.74-0.80)
      and bone defect (0.73-0.79) were fair and inter-observer Kappas ranged from 0.49
      to 0.76, indicating a moderate-good inter-observer agreement and moderate
      prediction of the need for a sandwich procedure based on the presence of lamina
      and or subchondral bone defect on MRI. However, depth measurements resulted in an
      AUC of 0.90 (95% CI: 0.84-0.95,) with an optimal cut-off point at 6.5mm depth of
      the lesion (90% sensitivity, 80% specificity) to predict the need for a sandwich
      procedure. CONCLUSION: Ours is the first study examining MRI as a diagnostic tool
      in predicting the need for a sandwich procedure. Our results show that the
      integrity of the subchondral layer on MRI has a moderate role in predicting the
      need for an eventual autologous bone graft to augment ACI whereas in our cohort a
      depth of the lesion above 6.5mm accurately predicts the need for a sandwich
      procedure. This can aid in optimising the preoperative planning and patient
      consent.

PMID- 28583643
TI  - Utility of T1-weighted MRI as a predictor of liver lesion visibility on
      ultrasound: A clinical tool to determine feasibility of ultrasound-guided
      percutaneous interventions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the utility of fat-suppressed T1-weighted gradient recalled
      echo (FS-T1W-GRE) MRI to predict visibility of focal liver lesions (FLL) on
      abdominal ultrasound (US). MATERIALS AND METHODS: With IRB approval, between 2010
      and 2013, 109 patients (28.4% females, age 66.9+/-10.9years) with 177 FLL
      (hepatocellular carcinoma=132, metastases=44, other=1) underwent MRI and
      prospective, radiologist-performed treatment-planning US (to determine
      eligibility for US-guided ablation). MRI examinations were reviewed by a blinded
      radiologist who assessed: a) size and location of FLL, b) presence of hepatic
      steatosis on dual-echo T1W-GRE, and c) quantitative signal intensity of FLL
      relative to liver on FS-T1W-GRE. Associations between MR imaging findings and
      visibility on US were assessed using independent t-tests and the chi-squares
      test. RESULTS: 69.5% (123/177) FLL were identified with US and 30.5% (54/177)
      were not visible. Size of FLL on MRI was associated with visibility on US
      (p<0.0001) with no association between FLL visibility on US and segmental or
      subcapsular location (p=0.29 and p=0.25, respectively). 20.2% (22/109) patients
      had hepatic steatosis on MRI, which was not associated with non-visibility of FLL
      on US (p=0.67). 38.4% (68/177) FLL were isointense to liver on FS-T1W-GRE which
      was associated with non-visibility on US (p=0.036) particularly in non-steatotic
      livers (p=0.014). CONCLUSION: FLL size and isointensity of FLL to liver
      parenchyma on FS-T1W-GRE MRI are associated with non-visibility on US,
      particularly in non-steatotic livers. These results have implications when
      planning US-guided percutaneous interventions of FLL detected with MRI.

PMID- 28583644
TI  - Improved detection of melanoma metastases by iodine maps from dual energy CT.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Metastatic disease in melanoma has an unpredictable nature with
      deposits in rare locations such as musculature. Dual energy CT (DECT) provides
      high contrast-visualization of enhancement by using spectral properties of
      iodine. Purpose of this study was to evaluate whether iodine maps from DECT
      improve lesion detection in staging examinations of melanoma patients. METHODS:
      This retrospective study was approved by IRB and written informed consent was
      obtained from all patients. 75 contrast-enhanced DECT scans (thorax and abdomen)
      from 75 melanoma patients (n=69 stage IV; n=6 stage III) were analysed. For each
      patient, conventional CT and iodine maps were reviewed independently by two
      radiologists. The number of lesions detected by reviewing the iodine maps
      following conventional CT was recorded. Unweighted Cohens Kappa coefficient
      (kappa) was used for concordance analysis, Wilcoxon test for comparing lesion
      detection rates. RESULTS: In 26 patients, at least one reader found additional
      lesions on iodine maps (inter-reader agreement 89%, kappa=0.74 (0.742-0.747)).
      Compared to grey-scale images, mean detection rate for metastases improved from
      86% (range 82-90) to 94% (90-99%) (p<=0.01), for muscle metastases from 8% (8-8%)
      to 99% (98-100%) (p<=0.06). Findings included 2 pulmonary emboli. CONCLUSION:
      Iodine maps from DECT improve detection of metastases, especially muscle
      metastases, and relevant findings in staging examinations of melanoma patients.

PMID- 28583645
TI  - Diagnostic value of dynamic contrast-enhanced CT with perfusion imaging in the
      quantitative assessment of tumor response to sorafenib in patients with advanced
      hepatocellular carcinoma: A feasibility study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of perfusion-CT (p-CT) measurements in
      quantitative assessment of hemodynamic changes related to sorafenib in patients
      with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two
      patients with advanced HCC underwent p-CT study (256-MDCT scanner) before and 2
      months after sorafenib administration. Dedicated perfusion software generated a
      quantitative map of arterial and portal perfusion and calculated the following
      perfusion parameters in target liver lesion: hepatic perfusion (HP), time-to-peak
      (TTP), blood volume (BV), arterial perfusion (AP), and hepatic perfusion index
      (HPI). After the follow-up scan, patients were categorized as responders and non
      responders, according to mRECIST. Perfusion values were analyzed and compared in
      HCC lesions and in the cirrhotic parenchyma (n=22), such as between baseline and
      follow-up in progressors and non-progressors. RESULTS: Before treatment, all mean
      perfusion values were significantly higher in HCC lesions than in the cirrhotic
      parenchyma (HP 47.8+/-17.2 vs 13.3+/-6.3mL/s per 100g; AP 47.9+/-18.1 vs 12.9+/
      10.7mL/s; p<0.001). The group that responded to sorafenib (n=17) showed a
      significant reduction of values in HCC target lesions after therapy (HP 29.2+/
      23.3 vs 48.1+/-15.1; AP 29.4+/-24.6 vs 49.2+/-17.4; p<0.01), in comparison with
      the non-responder group (n=5) that demonstrated no significant variation before
      and after treatment of HP (46.9+/-25.1 vs 46.7+/-24.1) and AP (43.4+/-21.7 vs
      43.5+/-24.6). Among the responder group, HP percentage variation (Delta) in
      target lesions, during treatment, showed a significantly different (p=0.04)
      DeltaHP in the group with complete response (79%) compared to the group with
      partial response or stable disease (16%). CONCLUSIONS: p-CT technique can be used
      for HCC quantitative assessment of changes related to anti-angiogenic therapy.
      Identification of response predictors might help clinicians in selection of
      patients who may benefit from targeted-therapy allowing for optimization of
      individualized treatment.

PMID- 28583646
TI  - Transplant renal artery stenosis: Evaluation with contrast-enhanced ultrasound.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in
      depicting transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy
      eight patients (56 men and 22 women; aged 36+/-12.2years) who were suspected of
      TRAS due to either Doppler ultrasound (DUS) abnormalities or difficult control of
      blood pressure and/or persistent deterioration of renal function were enrolled to
      perform CEUS. The reference standard for the TRAS diagnoses was computed
      tomography angiography (CTA). The diagnostic performance of DUS and CEUS
      parameters was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic
      curve (AUC). RESULTS: TRAS was diagnosed in 32 out of 78 cases by CTA. The AUC,
      accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative
      predictive value of CEUS in predicting TRAS were 0.92, 92.3%, 87.5%, 95.7%,
      93.3%, and 91.7%, respectively. CEUS rectified 13 (28.3%) false-positive cases on
      DUS, which were confirmed by CTA. Compared to DUS parameters, CEUS showed the
      highest AUC, statistically significant differences of AUC were found (P=0.006
      0.039), except for that of the PSV ratio in the main transplant renal artery to
      that in interlobar artery (PSV-ratio) (AUC: 0.92 versus 0.86, P=0.422). However,
      CEUS showed a significantly higher specificity (95.7% versus 76.1%, P=0.008) and
      the same sensitivity compared to PSV-ratio. CONCLUSIONS: CEUS is superior to DUS
      in depicting TRAS. Moreover, our results suggest that CEUS might potentially be
      used as a noninvasive tool to spare many patients from unnecessary CTA.

PMID- 28583647
TI  - Institutional (local) diagnostic reference levels in fluoroscopically guided
      spine surgery.
AB  - In this study, institutional (local) diagnostic reference levels (LDRLs) and
      action levels (ALs) for spine interventional procedures are reported. Fluoroscopy
      time (FT), kerma area product (KAP), cumulative dose (CD), as well as anatomical,
      clinical and technical factors affecting procedure complexity were recorded for
      156 patients who underwent cervical and thoraco-lumbar interventions. Patient
      entrance surface dose (ESD), effective dose (ED), thyroid absorbed dose and
      gonadal dose were also estimated, based on KAP measurements. The LDRLs and ALs
      were calculated as the 75th and 10th percentile of FT, KAP and CD values for the
      total group of patients, as well as utilizing the weight banding method and the
      size correction method. For the total distribution of patients, the LDRLs for
      cervical and thoraco-lumbar interventions are 0.15min and 0.29min for FT values,
      0.10Gycm2 and 0.71Gycm2 for KAP values, as well as 0.47mGy and 3.24mGy for CD
      values, respectively. The corresponding ALs are 0.03min and 0.03min, 0.01Gycm2
      and 0.07Gycm2, as well as 0.05mGy and 0.33mGy for FT, KAP and CD values,
      respectively. The age and treated levels had a significant influence on the
      reference dose values only for cervical interventions, whereas none of the other
      included factors showed statistically significant association for both cervical
      and thoraco-lumbar interventions. The weight banding method resulted to reference
      values comparable to those obtained for the whole group of patients, while the
      size correction method resulted to lower values. The mean ESD values were 1.58mGy
      (range 0.02-13.58mGy) for cervical and 23mGy (range 0.004-390.3mGy) for thoraco
      lumbar interventions. The corresponding mean ED values were 0.012mSv (range 0.001
      0.097mSv) and 0.124mSv (range 0.00002-2.11mSv), respectively. The mean thyroid
      and gonadal doses were 0.14mGy (range 0.002-1.12mGy) and 0.044mGy (range 0.000003
      1.56mGy), respectively. The LDRLs and ALs reported could contribute in the effort
      for establishing national DRLs and for increasing neurosurgeons awareness
      regarding patient dose and radiation protection issues during spine
      interventional procedures.

PMID- 28583648
TI  - Fluorescence optical imaging and 3T-MRI for detection of synovitis in patients
      with rheumatoid arthritis in comparison to a composite standard of reference.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To address whether Indocyanine Green (ICG) enhanced fluorescence
      optical imaging (FOI) is more sensitive than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in
      the detection of synovitis of the wrist and finger joints in rheumatoid arthritis
      and to analyze the performance of FOI depending on the grade of synovitis.
      METHODS: Twenty patients with highly active rheumatoid arthritis (mean DAS28-ESR
      5.25+/-1.0) and thirteen healthy volunteers underwent clinical examination, FOI
      and contrast-enhanced 3T-MRI. Joints were rated by three independent readers
      semiquantitatively (grade 0-3: no, low, moderate and high grade synovitis) and
      compared to a semiquantitative composite standard of reference (cSOR, grade 0-3)
      that incorporated clinical parameters, FOI and MRI results. RESULTS: 2.868
      evaluations in 956 joints were performed. FOI had an overall sensitivity of 57.3%
      and a specificity of 92.1%, whereas MRI had a sensitivity of 89.2% and a
      specificity of 92.6%. The sensitivity of FOI increased with the degree of
      synovitis to 65.0% for moderate and severe synovitis (specificity 88.1%) and
      76,3% for severe synovitis (specificity 80.5%). The performance of FOI decreased
      with the degree of synovitis with false negative results predominantly for mild
      (156/343, 45.5%) and moderate (160/343, 46.6%) synovitis and false positive FOI
      evaluations predominantly based on weak (grade 1) signals (133/163, 81,6%).
      CONCLUSION: FOI has a lower sensitivity than 3T-MRI in the detection of synovitis
      of the hand and finger joints. The diagnostic performance of FOI decreases with
      the degree of synovitis and with the strength of FOI signals.

PMID- 28583649
TI  - Spindle cell lesions of the breast: Multimodality imaging and clinical
      differentiation of pathologically similar neoplasms.
AB  - Spindle cell lesions of the breast comprise a wide-range of entities including
      reactive, benign and malignant proliferations. They can be pathologically
      challenging to differentiate as there is often immunohistochemical and
      morphologic similarities with characteristic spindle shaped cellular patterns.
      Radiological and pathological correlation is essential. Radiology detects,
      defines the size and extent, and assists in localizing the lesions. Pathology
      confirms the diagnosis and provides prognostic parameters. Familiarity with the
      clinicoradiological features of these diagnostically challenging lesions helps to
      establish an accurate pathological diagnosis and subsequent clinical decision
      making.

PMID- 28583650
TI  - Early response evaluation using CT-perfusion one day after transarterial
      chemoembolization for HCC predicts treatment response and long-term disease
      control.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the value of CT perfusion (CTP) for early response
      assessment after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between April 2013 and April 2015, 41 HCC
      (16 patients) were included in this study. CT perfusion was performed before and
      one day after TACE. Blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), time to start (TTS),
      arterial liver perfusion (ALP), portal liver perfusion (PVP) and hepatic
      perfusion index (HPI) were measured. Quantitative perfusion values before and
      after TACE were compared to the response assessed using mRECIST criteria six
      weeks after TACE and long-term outcome was assessed. RESULTS: Twenty-one lesions
      (51%) had complete remission (CR) and five (12%) had partial response (PR) six
      weeks after TACE. CTP parameters were significantly reduced after TACE in
      responders (PR, CR, p<0.001) while no difference was observed in non-responders.
      ALPpost was superior in the prediction of CR compared to BFpost and BVpost
      (p<0.001) with a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of 90%, 90%,
      91%, 90%, and 91%, respectively. Only 3/21 lesions with CR recurred, with a mean
      local-recurrence-free survival of 19.6 months. CONCLUSION: CT perfusion detects
      lesions with complete response one day after TACE, and is a feasible tool for
      early response assessment.

PMID- 28583651
TI  - Dual-energy CT can detect malignant lymph nodes in rectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a need for an accurate and operator independent method to
      assess the lymph node status to provide the most optimal personalized treatment
      for rectal cancer patients. This study evaluates whether Dual Energy Computed
      Tomography (DECT) could contribute to the preoperative lymph node assessment, and
      compared it to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The objective of this
      prospective observational feasibility study was to determine the clinical value
      of the DECT for the detection of metastases in the pelvic lymph nodes of rectal
      cancer patients and compare the findings to MRI and histopathology. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The patients were referred to total mesorectal excision (TME) without
      any neoadjuvant oncological treatment. After surgery the rectum specimen was
      scanned, and lymph nodes were matched to the pathology report. Fifty-four
      histology proven rectal cancer patients received a pelvic DECT scan and a
      standard MRI. The Dual Energy CT quantitative parameters were analyzed: Water and
      Iodine concentration, Dual-Energy Ratio, Dual Energy Index, and Effective Z
      value, for the benign and malignant lymph node differentiation. RESULTS: DECT
      scanning showed statistical difference between malignant and benign lymph nodes
      in the measurements of iodine concentration, Dual-Energy Ratio, Dual Energy
      Index, and Effective Z value. Dual energy CT classified 42% of the cases
      correctly according to N-stage compared to 40% for MRI. CONCLUSION: This study
      showed statistical difference in several quantitative parameters between benign
      and malignant lymph nodes. There were no difference in the accuracy of lymph node
      staging between DECT and MRI.

PMID- 28583652
TI  - Non-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography using magnetization-prepared
      rapid gradient-echo (MPRAGE) in the preoperative evaluation of living liver donor
      candidates: Comparison with conventional computed tomography venography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic performance of non-contrast-enhanced
      magnetic resonance venography using magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo
      (MPRAGE-MRV) and conventional computed tomography venography (CTV) in
      preoperative evaluation of venous tributaries for living donor liver
      transplantation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval and
      written informed consent were obtained for this prospective study of 73 donor
      candidates. Of these, 23 underwent right-sided graft hepatectomy without middle
      hepatic vein. One or more tributaries, other than the right hepatic vein, were
      reconstructed for 20 of the 23 grafts. For these 20 grafts, the number and
      location of the tributaries requiring reconstruction were evaluated based on
      venography, and diagnostic performance was analyzed using surgical records as a
      reference standard. For each candidate, the number of small tributaries directly
      joining the inferior vena cava was counted in each venographic image; a paired
      sample t-test was used to assess differences. The severity of respiratory
      artifacts in MPRAGE-MRV was qualitatively evaluated, and compared using
      Wilcoxon's rank-sum test. RESULTS: All reconstructed venous tributaries were
      prospectively identified using both methods. MPRAGE-MRV tended to provide a
      greater number of small tributaries than conventional CTV (mean: 2; 95% CI:
      [1.66, 2.34], and 1.74; [1.44, 2.04], respectively), although the difference was
      not significant (P=0.10); MPRAGE-MRV was superior or equal to CTV in 52 subjects
      (71.2%), and inferior in 21 subjects (28.8%). Respiratory artifacts were
      significantly less severe in the former subjects (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: MPRAGE
      MRV has the potential to replace conventional CTV in the preoperative evaluation
      of living liver donor candidates.

PMID- 28583653
TI  - Prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch coronary CT angiography at 70 kVp with
      30mL contrast agent: An intraindividual comparison with sequential scanning at
      120 kVp with 60mL contrast agent.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate image quality, radiation dose, and diagnostic efficiency
      of prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch coronary CT angiography (CCTA) at 70
      kVp with 30mL contrast agent intra-individually compared with routine CCTA
      protocol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and thirty eight patients with
      suspected coronary artery disease, body mass index (BMI)<=25kg/m2 and heart rate
      (HR)<=70 beats per minute (bpm) underwent prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch
      CCTA at 70 kVp and 30mL contrast agent (protocol A) and prospectively ECG
      triggered sequential scanning at 120 kVp and 60mL contrast medium (protocol B).
      Objective and subjective image quality, radiation doses, and diagnostic accuracy
      were evaluated and compared between the two protocols. RESULTS: Higher CT
      attenuation, higher noise, lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and lower contrast
      to-noise ratios (CNRs) were found in protocol A than in protocol B (P<0.001).
      However, image quality of protocol A were diagnostic. In patients with
      BMI<23kg/m2 or HR<60bpm, subjective image quality scores of some coronary
      arteries in protocol A were not significantly different from protocol B (P>0.05).
      Effective dose in protocol A has reduced by 96.7% compared with protocol B
      (P<0.001). No significant differences were found for diagnostic accuracy between
      the two protocols on a per-segment (P=0.513), per-vessel (P=0.317) and per
      patient (P=0.125) basis. CONCLUSIONS: Prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch CCTA
      at 70kVp with 30mL contrast agent can reduce radiation dose but maintain image
      quality and high diagnostic accuracy in a selected, non-obese population.

PMID- 28583654
TI  - Autistic traits associated with food neophobia but not olfactory sensitivity.
AB  - Food neophobia has been shown to be associated with a range of personality traits
      (including anxiety, lower sensation seeking) and additionally sensory aspects of
      food such as taste and texture. Running parallel to that work, research has
      demonstrated higher incidences of food neophobia in autistic populations and
      separately evidence of hypersensitivity in some sensory domains. The aim of the
      current study was to extend our understanding by exploring whether the broader
      aspects of autistic traits can predict food neophobia in a non-autistic
      population and whether this is mediated by differences in olfactory sensitivity.
      In the present study, student participants (N = 50) completed questionnaires
      measuring their food neophobia (FNS) and preferences for foreign cuisine,
      autistic traits (Autistic Quotient, AQ), and then completed an olfactory
      threshold test for a food related odour. The findings demonstrated a positive
      association between food neophobia and the magnitude of autistic traits and
      interestingly, an inverse relation between preference for foreign cuisine and
      olfactory sensitivity; those individuals less inclined toward foreign cuisine had
      poorer sensitivity to a food related odour. Since AQ was not related to olfactory
      sensitivity, these findings suggest the relation between autistic traits and food
      neophobia is unlikely to be mediated by olfactory sensitivity. More broadly
      however, our sense of smell is associated with experiencing a wider diet.

PMID- 28583655
TI  - Cookbooks in U.S. history: How do they reflect food safety from 1896 to 2014?
AB  - Historical cookbooks as a source of recipes and food preparation information
      would be expected to document advancements in food safety related to kitchen
      equipment, cleaning, foodborne illness knowledge, and consumer education
      materials. In turn, this food safety information might be expected to contribute
      to consumers' food safety behaviors. Using both quantitative and qualitative
      research methodology, this study assessed how food safety information in
      cookbooks changed and how quickly advancements were incorporated. Faster
      assimilation into cookbooks was associated with kitchen equipment, educational
      resources (hotlines and websites), and foodborne illness outbreaks. The rate of
      incorporation of education materials was moderate. Cleaning advances were the
      slowest to be incorporated. Modern cookbooks published after the 1980's rapidly
      evolved with advances in food safety knowledge.

PMID- 28583656
TI  - [Dyslipidemia and suicidal risk in patients with psychiatric disorders].
AB  - The aim of this work is to study the association between dyslipidemia and
      suicidal risk in patients with psychiatric pathology. Our study has involved 155
      patients suffering from major depressive disorder and 124 schizophrenic patients
      aged 40.58+/-12.16 and 43.43+/-10.60 years, respectively. Total cholesterol (TC),
      triglycerides (TG) and HDL-c were determined by enzymatic methods, LDL-c was
      calculated by the Friedewald formula. Plasma cholesterol level was significantly
      lower among suicidal schizophrenic or depressive patients. There were no
      significant differences in the others lipid levels. The results of our study
      suggest that total cholesterol values less than 3.59mmol/L could be an indicator
      of suicide vulnerability in patients with schizophrenia or major depressive
      disorder.

PMID- 28583657
TI  - In response to the December 2016 article entitled "Vegetarian diet and all-cause
      mortality: Evidence from a large population-based Australian cohort - the 45 and
      Up Study".
AB  - In response to the December 2016 article entitled "Vegetarian diet and all-cause
      mortality: Evidence from a large population-based Australian cohort - the 45 and
      Up Study". A brief analysis of the article with suggestions for interpretation
      and considerations for future research.

PMID- 28583658
TI  - Does e-cigarette use predict cigarette escalation? A longitudinal study of young
      adult non-daily smokers.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that e-cigarette use among youth may be associated with
      increased risk of cigarette initiation. The goal of this study was to test the
      hypothesis that use of e-cigarettes among young adult non-daily cigarette smokers
      would be associated with increased cigarette consumption. Participants (n=391;
      52% male) were 18-24year-old non-daily cigarette smokers recruited from across
      California. Cigarette and e-cigarette use were assessed online or via mobile
      phone every three months for one year between March 2015 and December 2016.
      Longitudinal negative binomial regression models showed that, adjusted for
      propensity for baseline e-cigarette use, non-daily smokers who reported more
      frequent use of e-cigarettes upon study entry reported greater quantity and
      frequency of cigarette smoking at baseline and greater increases in cigarette
      quantity over 12months than non-daily cigarette only smokers (ps<0.01). During
      the 12months of assessment, more consistent consumption of e-cigarettes was
      associated with greater quantity and frequency of cigarette use (ps<0.01); these
      effects did not vary over time. Findings suggest that among non-daily smokers,
      young adults who use e-cigarettes tend to smoke more cigarettes and to do so more
      frequently. Such individuals may be at greater risk for chronic tobacco use and
      dependence.

PMID- 28583659
TI  - Do E-cigarettes reduce smoking?

PMID- 28583660
TI  - The dynamic impact of retirement on health: Evidence from a nationwide ten-year
      panel survey in Japan.
AB  - Retirement is a major life-course transition that is closely related to changes
      in health. This study examined the dynamic impact of retirement on health and
      health behaviors, distinguishing an immediate change in the level of health at
      retirement and a change in the rate of change after retirement. We used panel
      data from 9283 individuals (4441 men and 4842 women) who had retired during a
      nationwide ten-year panel survey in Japan conducted in 2005-2014. We focused on
      three health behaviors (current smoking, heavy alcohol drinking, and leisure-time
      physical activity) and two health indicators (self-rated health and psychological
      distress). We estimated regression models that controlled for both time-invariant
      individual attributes and the endogeneity of retirement, using panel data
      collected during the five years before and after retirement. Results generally
      confirmed that the transition was accompanied by favorable changes in health and
      health behaviors with some gender differences. Among men, retirement immediately
      promoted leisure-time physical activity and reduced poor self-rated health and
      psychological distress. Retirement also accelerated smoking cessation and leisure
      time physical activity and decelerated reporting poor health. Among women,
      retirement immediately promoted leisure-time physical activity and reduced
      psychological distress, while it did not affect the rate of change in any health
      variable after retirement. The current study underscores the need for more in
      depth knowledge of the dynamic impact of retirement on health. This will assist
      in developing policy measures to help the middle-aged population make healthy
      transitions from work to retirement.

PMID- 28583661
TI  - Does retirement benefit health?
AB  - Currently large postwar baby-boomer generations are retiring from labor market.
      Transition to retirement is considered an important turning point in life which
      is accompanied by changes in many aspects of life such as time availability,
      daily routines, income streams and social networks. Recent longitudinal studies
      suggest that retirement can have a major influence on people's health behaviors,
      health and quality of life. Retirement could also be an opportune time at which
      to intervene with health-promotion activities and support healthy and active
      aging.

PMID- 28583662
TI  - Human papillomavirus screening for low and middle-income countries.

PMID- 28583663
TI  - In response to: Human papillomavirus screening for low and middle-income
      countries.

PMID- 28583665
TI  - Overview: NK-cell-based Immunotherapies: Toward & Into Clinical Trials.

PMID- 28583666
TI  - Safety evaluation of water-soluble palm fruit bioactives.
AB  - Water-soluble palm fruit bioactives, derived from the aqueous stream of palm oil
      processing, have shown anti-diabetogenic effects in rodent models. To assess the
      safety of potential incorporation of this polyphenol-containing material in food,
      in vitro bacterial reverse mutation and in vitro chromosome aberration assays
      were conducted along with a 90-day subchronic toxicity study in Sprague-Dawley
      rats. Water-soluble palm fruit bioactives were inactive in the Ames and in vitro
      chromosome aberration assays up to the limit doses of 5000 MUg/plate and 5000
      MUg/mL, respectively. In the 90-day feeding study, water-soluble palm fruit
      bioactives were administered via gavage at doses 0, 500, 1000 or 2000 mg/kg body
      weight/day. No significant effects were noted on body weight, food consumption,
      hematology, clinical chemistry, organ weights, and histopathological examination.
      The No Observable Adverse Effect Level was considered to be 2000 mg/kg body
      weight/day, the highest dose tested. These data provide evidence to support the
      safe use of water-soluble palm fruit bioactives in food or food ingredients.

PMID- 28583664
TI  - Urinary triclosan concentrations and diminished ovarian reserve among women
      undergoing treatment in a fertility clinic.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between urinary triclosan
      concentrations and antral follicle count (AFC), a well-accepted marker of ovarian
      reserve, among women from a fertility center. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.
      SETTING: Hospital fertility center. PATIENT(S): A total of 109 women.
      INTERVENTION(S): Urinary triclosan concentrations quantified by online solid
      phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem
      mass spectrometry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): AFC through transvaginal
      ultrasonography on the third day of an unstimulated menstrual cycle or on the
      third day of a progesterone withdrawal bleed. RESULT(S): The geometric mean of
      the specific gravity-adjusted urinary triclosan concentrations for the 225
      samples provided by the 109 women was 13.0 MUg/L (95% confidence interval [CI],
      8.9, 19.1). Women had median (with interquartile range) AFC of 13 (8, 18). The
      specific gravity-adjusted urinary triclosan concentrations were inversely
      associated with AFC (-4%; 95% CI, -7%, -1%). Women with triclosan concentrations
      above the median had lower AFC compared with those whose triclosan concentrations
      were equal to or below the median, with an adjusted difference of -3.2 (95% CI, 
      3.9, -1.6) among those with a body mass index <25 kg/m2 and -1.8 (95% CI, -3.2, 
      0.3) among those who were <35 years old. CONCLUSION(S): Specific gravity-adjusted
      urinary triclosan concentrations were inversely associated with AFC in women
      seeking care at a fertility center. This association was modified by age and body
      mass index, with the younger and leaner women showing larger decreases in AFC.

PMID- 28583667
TI  - Dietary safety of a dual-enzyme preparation for animal feed: Acute and subchronic
      oral toxicity and genotoxicity studies.
AB  - Animal feed is routinely supplemented with exogenous enzymes to improve nutrient
      utilization, such as proteases to enhance protein hydrolysis in vivo and
      xylanases to alleviate feed related anti-nutritional factors. The present studies
      were conducted to evaluate the potential oral toxicity and genotoxicity of a dual
      enzyme preparation, Vegpro(r) concentrate (VPr-C). Acute oral toxicity studies
      were conducted in adult male and female Sprague-Dawley Crl CD rats and CHS Swiss
      ICO:OFI (IOPS Caw) mice. Thirteen week preliminary and final subchronic oral
      toxicity studies were conducted in male and female rats. Genotoxicity was
      evaluated through a bacterial reverse mutation test (Ames test), an in-vitro
      mammalian chromosomal aberration test, and a mammalian micronucleus test. The
      LD50 was >2000 mg/kg of BW in mice and rats. In the 13-week oral toxicity study,
      the No Observed Adverse Effects Level (NOAEL) was 1000 mg/kg BW per day for
      females and 300 mg/kg BW per day for males. VPr-C showed no mutagenic activity in
      Salmonella typhimurium, did not induce significant chromosomal aberrations in
      cultured human lymphocytes, and did not increase the frequency or proportion of
      micronucleated immature erythrocytes in mice. There was no evidence of acute or
      subchronic toxicity or genotoxicity associated with the test article at these
      test dosages.

PMID- 28583668
TI  - [Pomalidomide for multiple myeloma].
AB  - Pomalidomide is a second-generation immunomodulatory drug (IMID). Its efficiency
      overtakes its predecessors' (thalidomide, lenalidomide), with less toxicity. It
      is indicated in the treatment of refractory or relapsed multiple myeloma,
      associated to dexamethasone. It is available in France since 2013, following the
      results of different studies.

PMID- 28583669
TI  - Are pioneer mangroves more vulnerable to oil pollution than later successional
      species?
AB  - Propagules of Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Rhizophora mucronata
      were cultivated in rhizotrons (root observation chambers) and subjected to
      sediment oiling treatments for 409days to determine the effects of oil on root
      growth. Oiling reduced root length, specific root length, relative root growth
      rate and root diameter, while specific root volume increased. Oiling reduced root
      length by 96% in A. marina, 99% in B. gymnorrhiza and 80% in R. mucronata, while
      specific root volume increased by 34%, 29% and 23% respectively. Relative root
      growth rate decreased in the oiled treatments by 84%, 80% and 73% respectively.
      Avicennia exhibits typical root traits of a pioneer species compared to slower
      growing later successional species like B. gymnorrhiza and R. mucronata. These
      traits of A. marina not only allow more rapid establishment of seedlings, but
      also expose a larger root surface area and therefore greater susceptibility to
      oil contamination than the other species.

PMID- 28583670
TI  - Hepatic hypoxia-inducible factors inhibit PPARalpha expression to exacerbate
      acetaminophen induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity.
AB  - Oxidative stress has a critical role in the pathogenesis of acetaminophen (APAP)
      induced hepatocellular necrosis, and the identification of novel approaches to
      attenuate oxidative stress is essential to prevent/revert the disease. This study
      investigated the role of both HIF-1 and HIF-2 in the pathogenesis of APAP-induced
      oxidative stress, as well as the underlying mechanisms. In the present study, we
      initially found that knockout of HIF-1alpha or HIF-2alpha reduced APAP toxicity,
      and double knockout afforded the best protection. APAP treatment led to
      stabilization of both HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha in mouse livers. Moreover, the
      protective effects of HIF deficiency were related to the attenuated oxidative
      stress. Further experiments proved that PPARalpha, a master regulator in cellular
      metabolism accounted for the HIF deficiency-caused protective impact on APAP
      toxicity. Inactivation of HIFs promoted the expression of peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) in the liver, which in turn activated
      nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Knockdown of PPARalpha or
      Nrf2 negated the hepatoprotection afforded by HIF deficiency. At last,examination
      of the PPARalpha promoter identified a HIF-binding site and HIF-dependent
      repression of PPARalpha in hepatocytes by luciferase reporter and EMSA study.
      Taken together, Our results demonstrate that HIFs are key suppressors of
      PPARalpha in the liver, thereby compromising the adaptive defense mechanisms
      against oxidative stress when confronted with APAP. These findings are important
      to the etiology and therapeutics of APAP hepatotoxicity. The functional link
      between HIFs and PPARalpha may have more implications in liver physiology and
      other pathologic conditions than APAP injury.

PMID- 28583671
TI  - Biomechanical behaviour of craniofacial sutures during distraction: An evaluation
      all over the entire craniofacial skeleton.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Sutures are fibrous joints connecting the bones of the head. Despite
      the fundamental role played by sutures in dentofacial orthopaedics, their
      biomechanical properties are not completely understood. This study evaluated
      anatomy, biomechanics, and acoustic emission (AE) during distraction of the
      sutural ligament (SL). METHODS: Seventy-two suture samples were removed from a
      twelve-months-old swine (Sus scrofa) head. Each volume was acquired using micro
      computed tomography (MUCT), and the linear interdigitation index was calculated
      on both planes (LIICOR and LIISAG). Mechanical testing till failure was carried
      at 1mm/min, and four piezoelectric sensors were used for recording of amplitude
      (A), duration (D), and energy (E) of AE. The relationships between
      interdigitation, fracture types, tensile stress (sigma0), and AE were
      statistically analysed with non-parametric tests (alpha=0.05). RESULTS: sigma0 of
      the SL had median values of 4.0MPa, and AE were characterised by A of 49.3dB
      (IQR=2.2), D of 826.3MUs (IQR=533.4), and E of 57,715.8 eu (IQR=439,613.5). Most
      of the fractures happened in the SL (46%), some within the bone (34%), and fewer
      were combined (19%). LIICOR had correlation with A (0.383, p=0.028), D (0.348,
      p=0.048), and E (0.437, p=0.011) of the AE, and sigma0 had similar relationship
      with A (0.500, p=0.003), D (0.495, p=0.003), and E (0.579, p<0.001). Maximum
      energy values were different between fractures within the bone and within the SL
      (p=0.021). SIGNIFICANCE: Biomechanical properties under tension of most of the
      sutures of the craniofacial skeleton were reported. AE provided information about
      the sequence of events during SL distraction, and had significant relationship
      with its mechanical properties. Further studies are necessary to confirm these
      preliminary findings, and to identify their relationship with biological
      processes and dentofacial treatments.

PMID- 28583672
TI  - Monascus ruber as cell factory for lactic acid production at low pH.
AB  - A Monascus ruber strain was isolated that was able to grow on mineral medium at
      high sugar concentrations and 175g/l lactic acid at pH 2.8. Its genome and
      transcriptomes were sequenced and annotated. Genes encoding lactate dehydrogenase
      (LDH) were introduced to accomplish lactic acid production and two genes encoding
      pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) were knocked out to subdue ethanol formation. The
      strain preferred lactic acid to glucose as carbon source, which hampered glucose
      consumption and therefore also lactic acid production. Lactic acid consumption
      was stopped by knocking out 4 cytochrome-dependent LDH (CLDH) genes, and
      evolutionary engineering was used to increase the glucose consumption rate.
      Application of this strain in a fed-batch fermentation resulted in a maximum
      lactic acid titer of 190g/l at pH 3.8 and 129g/l at pH 2.8, respectively 1.7 and
      2.2 times higher than reported in literature before. Yield and productivity were
      on par with the best strains described in literature for lactic acid production
      at low pH.

PMID- 28583673
TI  - High-level De novo biosynthesis of arbutin in engineered Escherichia coli.
AB  - Arbutin is a hydroquinone glucoside compound existing in various plants. It is
      widely used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries owing to its well-known
      skin-lightening property as well as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, and anti
      inflammatory activities. Currently, arbutin is usually produced by plant
      extraction or enzymatic processes, which suffer from low product yield and
      expensive processing cost. In this work, we established an artificial pathway in
      Escherichia coli for high-level production of arbutin from simple carbon sources.
      First, a 4-hydroxybenzoate 1-hydroxylase from Candida parapsilosis CBS604 and a
      glucosyltransferase from Rauvolfia serpentina were characterized by in vitro
      enzyme assays. Introduction of these two genes into E. coli led to the production
      of 54.71mg/L of arbutin from glucose. Further redirection of carbon flux into
      arbutin biosynthesis pathway by enhancing shikimate pathway genes enabled
      production of 3.29g/L arbutin, which is a 60-fold increase compared with the
      initial strain. Final optimization of glucose concentration added in the culture
      medium was able to further improve the titer of arbutin to 4.19g/L in shake
      flasks experiments, which is around 77-fold higher than that of initial strain.
      This work established de novo biosynthesis of arbutin from simple carbon sources
      and provided a generalizable strategy for the biosynthesis of shikimate pathway
      derived chemicals. The high titer achieved in our engineered strain also
      indicates the potential for industrial scale bio-manufacturing of arbutin.

PMID- 28583674
TI  - Three-dimensional data-tracking dynamic optimization simulations of human
      locomotion generated by direct collocation.
AB  - The aim of this study was to perform full-body three-dimensional (3D) dynamic
      optimization simulations of human locomotion by driving a neuromusculoskeletal
      model toward in vivo measurements of body-segmental kinematics and ground
      reaction forces. Gait data were recorded from 5 healthy participants who walked
      at their preferred speeds and ran at 2m/s. Participant-specific data-tracking
      dynamic optimization solutions were generated for one stride cycle using direct
      collocation in tandem with an OpenSim-MATLAB interface. The body was represented
      as a 12-segment, 21-degree-of-freedom skeleton actuated by 66 muscle-tendon
      units. Foot-ground interaction was simulated using six contact spheres under each
      foot. The dynamic optimization problem was to find the set of muscle excitations
      needed to reproduce 3D measurements of body-segmental motions and ground reaction
      forces while minimizing the time integral of muscle activations squared. Direct
      collocation took on average 2.7+/-1.0h and 2.2+/-1.6h of CPU time, respectively,
      to solve the optimization problems for walking and running. Model-computed
      kinematics and foot-ground forces were in good agreement with corresponding
      experimental data while the calculated muscle excitation patterns were consistent
      with measured EMG activity. The results demonstrate the feasibility of
      implementing direct collocation on a detailed neuromusculoskeletal model with
      foot-ground contact to accurately and efficiently generate 3D data-tracking
      dynamic optimization simulations of human locomotion. The proposed method offers
      a viable tool for creating feasible initial guesses needed to perform predictive
      simulations of movement using dynamic optimization theory. The source code for
      implementing the model and computational algorithm may be downloaded at
      http://simtk.org/home/datatracking.

PMID- 28583676
TI  - Second International Symposium-Epigenetic Regulation of Skin Regeneration and
      Aging: From Chromatin Biology towards the Understanding of Epigenetic Basis of
      Skin Diseases.

PMID- 28583675
TI  - Magnetic particle translation as a surrogate measure for synovial fluid
      mechanics.
AB  - The mechanics of synovial fluid vary with disease progression, but are difficult
      to quantify quickly in a clinical setting due to small sample volumes. In this
      study, a novel technique to measure synovial fluid mechanics using magnetic
      nanoparticles is introduced. Briefly, microspheres embedded with
      superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, termed magnetic particles, are
      distributed through a 100MUL synovial fluid sample. Then, a permanent magnet
      inside a protective sheath is inserted into the synovial fluid sample. Magnetic
      particles translate toward the permanent magnet and the percentage of magnetic
      particles collected by the magnet in a given time can be related to synovial
      fluid viscosity. To validate this relationship, magnetic particle translation was
      demonstrated in three phases. First, magnetic particle translation was assessed
      in glycerol solutions with known viscosities, demonstrating that as fluid
      viscosity increased, magnetic particle translation decreased. Next, the
      relationship between magnetic particle translation and synovial fluid viscosity
      was assessed using bovine synovial fluid that was progressively degenerated via
      ultrasonication. Here, particle collection in a given amount of time increased as
      fluid degenerated, demonstrating that the relationship between particle
      collection and fluid mechanics holds in non-Newtonian synovial fluid. Finally,
      magnetic particle translation was used to assess differences between healthy and
      OA affected joints in equine synovial fluid. Here, particle collection in a given
      time was higher in OA joints relative to healthy horses (p<0.001). Combined,
      these data demonstrate potential viability of magnetic particle translation in a
      clinical setting to evaluate synovial fluid mechanics in limited volumes of
      synovial fluid sample.

PMID- 28583677
TI  - How Trialists and Pharmaceutical Sponsors Have Failed Us by Thinking That Acute
      Heart Failure Is a 48-Hour Illness.
AB  - Trials of novel therapies for acute heart failure (HF) have followed a convention
      of short term, most commonly a 48-hour infusion of parenteral therapy compared
      with placebo or an active drug in a randomized, double-blind study design. Such
      trials include OPTIME-CHF, SURVIVE, VERITAS, PROTECT, ASCEND-HF, TRUE-HF, and
      RELAX-AHF-2. This article reviews how this practice in trials began and
      summarizes the reasons why such a brief exposure of any novel therapy has failed
      to reduce the end points of rehospitalization or death. Future trials should
      consider acute and extended use of novel agents to better match the
      pathophysiology of decompensation and recovery from acute HF.

PMID- 28583678
TI  - Hospital Inpatient Costs for Single Ventricle Patients Surviving the Fontan
      Procedure.
AB  - We estimated the inpatient resource use for a Fontan patient from birth to
      adulthood and explored factors that might induce cost differences (2014 US
      dollar). Inpatient costing records from 4 hospitals with greatest numbers of
      Fontan patients in Australia and New Zealand were linked with the Fontan registry
      database. Inpatient records between July 1995 and September 2014 for 420 Fontan
      patients were linked, and the most frequent primary diagnoses were hypoplastic
      left heart syndrome (20.7%), tricuspid atresia (19.7%), and double inlet left
      ventricle (17.1%). The mean hospital cost for a Fontan patient from birth to 18
      years of age was estimated to be $390,601 (95% confidence interval [CI] $264,703
      to $516,499), corresponding to 164 (95% CI 98 to 231) inpatient days. The cost
      incurred from birth through to Fontan completion (the staged procedures period)
      was $219,482 (95% CI $202,410 to $236,553) and the cost thereafter over 15 years
      was $146,820 (95% CI $44,409 to $249,231), corresponding to 82 (95% CI 72 to 92)
      and 65 (95% CI 18 to 112) inpatient days, respectively. Costs were higher in male
      and hypoplastic left heart syndrome patients in the staged procedures period (p
      <0.001). Having fenestration was associated with higher costs in the staged
      procedures period (p <0.001) and lower cost after Fontan over 15 years (p =
      0.66). In conclusion, patients with single ventricle congenital heart disease
      continue to demand considerable inpatient resources after the staged procedures
      period. Over 40% of the pediatric hospital costs for Fontan patients were
      estimated to occur after the last planned surgery.

PMID- 28583679
TI  - Gender Differences in Anemia and Survival in Patients Hospitalized for Acute
      Decompensated Heart Failure With Preserved or Reduced Ejection Fraction.
AB  - In patients with acute decompensated heart failure (HF), the influence of gender
      on anemia, left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), and outcomes is unclear. We
      evaluated the association of anemia and left ventricular EF with survival in men
      or women hospitalized for acute decompensated HF. Of the 4,842 patients enrolled
      in the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure Syndromes registry, 4,215 patients
      (2,450 men and 1,765 women) discharged alive after hospitalization for acute
      decompensated HF were enrolled to evaluate the association of gender, anemia
      (hemoglobin <13.0 g/dl for men and <12.0 g/dl for women) at discharge, and a
      preserved or reduced EF with all-cause death or cardiac death after discharge.
      Men or women were divided into 4 groups based on left ventricular EF (preserved
      or reduced EF) and anemia status at discharge. The median follow-up period after
      discharge was 524 days (384 to 791). After adjustment for multiple co
      morbidities, there was no adverse influence of anemia in men with a preserved EF,
      whereas anemia was an independent predictor of all-cause death in men with a
      reduced EF. Conversely, anemia was an independent predictor of all-cause death in
      women with a preserved EF but not in women with a reduced EF. With respect to
      cardiac death, multivariable analyses revealed highly similar trends as those for
      all-cause death in patients of both genders. In conclusion, in acute
      decompensated patients with HF with a preserved or reduced EF, there were marked
      differences between men and women with respect to the association of anemia and
      left ventricular EF with survival.

PMID- 28583680
TI  - Comparison of Frequency of Referral to Cardiothoracic Surgery for Aortic Valve
      Disease in Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites.
AB  - Racial differences in prevalence and in intervention rate of those with severe
      aortic stenosis have been reported. Our objective was to evaluate health
      disparities in referral to cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) for aortic stenosis in
      black and Hispanic compared with white patients before the transcatheter aortic
      valve replacement program was started in our community. Using a retrospective
      cohort design, we identified all patients >40 years, who had been captured with
      aortic valve disease from January 2011 to June 2016. Clinical and
      echocardiographic data were collected manually. Exposure was race/ethnicity;
      outcome was referral to CTS. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was
      conducted with variables that had significance of p <0.20 in univariate model. We
      included 952 patients in the final analysis (423 white, 376 black, and 153
      Hispanic). Compared with whites, black subjects were significantly younger, had
      more advanced degrees of kidney disease, were more likely to have Medicaid as
      payer, and had more atherogenic co-morbidities. Black patients had significantly
      higher aortic valve area indexed for body surface area, more aortic
      regurgitation, lower peak velocities, lower transvalvular gradients, less
      calcified valves, and fewer patients in aortic stenosis stage D. The adjusted
      odds ratio for CTS referral was 0.48 for blacks (p <0.001) and 0.86 for Hispanics
      (p = 0.73) compared with whites. In conclusion, after adjusting for clinical and
      echocardiographic variables, black patients were less likely to be referred to
      CTS for treatment of aortic valve disease. We found no difference in the referral
      pattern of Hispanic compared with white patients.

PMID- 28583681
TI  - Usefulness of Intracoronary Brachytherapy for Patients With Resistant Drug
      Eluting Stent Restenosis.
AB  - In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a concern even in the drug-eluting stent (DES)
      era and carries a high risk of recurrence. Brachytherapy is being used as an
      alternative treatment for resistant ISR, yet the safety and efficacy of this
      approach has not been well studied. We analyzed the outcomes of 101 patients who
      underwent coronary brachytherapy for resistant DES ISR. Baseline demographic,
      clinical, procedural, and outcome data were collected by phone and from
      electronic records. Comorbidities and overt cardiovascular disease were highly
      prevalent. Median previous stent layers were 2 with a maximum of 5 layers.
      Procedural angiographic success rate was 97% and median time to discharge was 1
      day after brachytherapy. The primary outcome of target vessel revascularization
      was 24% at 1 year, 32% at 2 years, and 42% at 3 years. The rate of nonfatal
      myocardial infarction was 0% at 1 year, 3.5% at 2 years, and 6% at 3 years. The
      rate of all-cause mortality was 8.5% at 1 year, 12% at 2 years, and 16% at 3
      years. We observed only 1 case of late stent thrombosis. After multivariable
      adjustment, female gender (hazard ratio 2.37, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to
      5.52, p = 0.04) and diffuse ISR pattern (hazard ratio 2.95, 95% confidence
      interval 1.21 to 7.17, p = 0.01) were independently associated with the primary
      outcome. In conclusion, brachytherapy is feasible for the treatment of resistant
      DES ISR and is associated with high immediate procedural success and reasonable
      efficacy in a complex patient population. This approach might be used as an
      alternative for these patients.

PMID- 28583682
TI  - Outcome of Stent Graft Implantation for Treatment of Access Site Bleeding After
      Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.
AB  - Vascular complications are common after transcatheter aortic valve replacement
      (TAVR) and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Stent graft
      implantation enables percutaneous treatment of access site bleeding; however, the
      efficacy and durability and of this approach are unknown. We studied the
      immediate outcome of stent graft implantation for control of access site bleeding
      and the need for repeat vascular interventions after stenting, in a cohort of
      consecutive patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who underwent
      transfemoral TAVR. Predictors of access site complications requiring percutaneous
      or surgical vascular repair were identified. Transfemoral TAVR was performed in
      194 patients. Access site complications requiring urgent vascular repair occurred
      in 34 patients (18%). Stent graft implantation was performed in 31 patients and
      vascular surgery in 3 patients. When patients who required surgical or
      percutaneous vascular repair were compared with those who did not, increased body
      mass index (30 +/- 6 vs 28 +/- 5, p = 0.035) and reduced activated clotting time
      (233 +/- 47 vs 252 +/- 47, p = 0.030) were the only predictors of need for
      vascular repair. Stenting achieved adequate hemostasis in all patients with a
      single minor vascular complication. During median follow-up of 797 days
      (interquartile range 585 to 1,173), no clinically significant vascular
      complications were detected after stenting. In conclusion, control of bleeding
      was achieved in all patients who underwent stent graft implantation for treatment
      of access site vascular complications after transfemoral TAVR. None of these
      patients needed further vascular interventions during follow-up.

PMID- 28583683
TI  - Regional Variation in Outcomes of Hospitalized Patients Having Out-of-Hospital
      Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate patient outcomes after hospitalization
      for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United States. We used the 2002 to 2013
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample database to identify adults >=18 years with an
      International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification,
      principal diagnosis code of cardiorespiratory arrest (427.5) or ventricular
      fibrillation (VF) (427.41). In 4 predefined federal geographic regions:
      Northeast, Midwest, South, and West, means and proportions of survival, survival
      stratified by initial rhythm, hospital charges, and cost were estimated. Multiple
      linear and logistic regression models were conducted. Of the 154,177 patients
      with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest hospitalized in the United States, 25,873
      (16.8%) were in the Northeast, 38,296 (24.8%) in the Midwest, 57,305 (37.2%) in
      the South, and 32,703 (21.2%) in the West. Variability in survival was noted in
      VF arrests; compared with the Northeast, survival was higher in the Midwest and
      South (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02 to 1.32
      and AOR 1.24, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.40, respectively), with no difference detected in
      the West (AOR 0.93, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.06). No variability in survival was noted
      after non-VF arrests (p >0.05). Hospital charges rose significantly across all
      regions of the United States (p-trend < 0.001) and were higher in the West
      compared with the Northeast (hospital charges >$109,000/admission, AOR 1.76; 95%
      CI 1.50 to 2.06). In conclusion, nationwide, we observed significant regional
      variability in survival of hospitalized patients after out of hospital VF cardiac
      arrest, no survival variability after non-VF arrests, and a steady increase in
      hospital charges.

PMID- 28583684
TI  - Impact of the Management of Type B Aortic Dissection on the Long-Term Blood
      Pressure.
AB  - Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) measurement (ABPM) is recommended to assess
      optimal BP control, and we studied its influence after an acute type B aortic
      dissection (ATBAD). We retrospectively collected data from 111 patients with
      ATBAD from January 2004 to September 2014. Controlled BP group was defined
      according to a 24-hour BP under 130/80 mm Hg during chronic phase. The population
      consisted of 85 men, with a mean age of 61 +/- 13 years and mean body mass index
      of 28 +/- 6 kg/m2. The median delay between ambulatory BP measurement and ATBAD
      was 2 (0.3 to 4) months. The mean 24-hour BP of the entire population was 124/71
      +/- 15/8.8 mm Hg. BP was not controlled in 41 patients (37%). The treatment score
      at discharge was 3.9 +/- 1.4. The mean glomerular filtration rate was 83 +/- 28
      ml/min/1.73 m2, with no difference between groups. Visceral stent implantation in
      the acute phase (odds ratio [OR] 3.857 [1.199 to 12.406], p = 0.023), higher left
      ventricular ejection fraction (OR 1.092 [1.005 to 1.187], p = 0.038), and higher
      platelet count at discharge (OR 1.064 [1.018 to 1.112], p = 0.006) were
      identified as predictors of good BP control by multivariate analysis. The
      analysis showed that nighttime systolic BP was associated with aortic events
      during follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] 5.2 [1.01 to 27.2], p = 0.049), particularly
      for a threshold of 124 mm Hg or more (HR 1.967 [1.052 to 3.678], p = 0.0341).
      Nighttime pulse pressure showed also its significance (HR 20.1 [1.4 to 282.7], p
      = 0.026). In conclusion, subclinical renal malperfusion revascularization seems
      to improve BP control. A greater nighttime systolic BP was associated with the
      risk of new aortic events during follow-up.

PMID- 28583685
TI  - Usefulness of the R-Wave Sign as a Predictor for Ventricular Tachyarrhythmia in
      Patients With Brugada Syndrome.
AB  - Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an autosomal dominant channelopathy which is
      responsible for a large number of sudden cardiac deaths in young subjects without
      structural abnormalities. The most challenging step in management of patients
      with BrS is identifying who is at risk for developing malignant ventricular
      tachyarrhythmia (VTA). In patients with BrS, conduction delay in the right
      ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) causes a prominent R wave in lead aVR. This
      electrocardiographic parameter can be useful to detect these high-risk patients.
      The goal of this study was to test the significance of R-wave elevation in lead
      aVR as a predictor for VTA in patients with BrS. In this retrospective study, we
      included 132 patients with BrS (47 +/- 15 years, 65% men) who visited the
      outpatient clinic for cardiogenetic screening. Patients' medical records were
      examined for the presence of a positive R-wave sign in lead aVR and VTA. A
      positive R-wave sign in lead aVR was observed in 41 patients (31%). This sign was
      more frequently observed in patients who experienced VTA (n = 24) before the
      initial diagnosis, during electrophysiological studies, or during follow-up (p
      <0.001). The positive R-wave sign occurred more frequently in symptomatic
      patients with a history of an out of hospital cardiac arrest, VTA, or syncope
      than asymptomatic patients (60% vs 26%; p = 0.002). During the follow-up period,
      this sign was more frequently detected in patients who developed either de novo
      (50%) or recurrent VTA (80%) (p = 0.017). Multivariable regression analysis
      showed that R-wave sign is an independent predictor for VTA development (odds
      ratio 4.8, 95% confidence interval 1.79 to 13.27). The presence of a positive R
      wave sign in lead aVR is associated with the development of VTA. In conclusion,
      positive R-wave sign in lead aVR can be used to identify patients with BrS at
      risk for malignant VTA.

PMID- 28583686
TI  - Relation of Body Mass Index and Gender to Left Atrial Size and Atrial
      Fibrillation.
AB  - Increased body mass index (BMI) and obesity are associated with greater risk of
      atrial fibrillation (AF). However, whether this correlation is independent and
      gender specific remains unclear. The objective of this study was to characterize
      the relation between BMI, left atrial (LA) size, and presence of AF and determine
      whether this association is gender specific. We prospectively studied 499
      patients who underwent a transthoracic echocardiogram at an academic tertiary
      care medical center. Clinical and echocardiographic data were obtained. The
      primary outcome of interest was the presence of AF. Of 499 patients studied, 240
      (48.1%) were men and 259 (51.9%) were women. Of these, 151 (30.1%) had normal
      BMI, 181 (36.3%) were overweight, and 167 (33.5%) were obese. Obese patients were
      younger and had larger LA diameters, LA areas (LAAs), and LA volumes (LAVs).
      Rates of AF were similar among the BMI classes in the overall population and in
      men and women separately. In multivariate analysis, BMI and gender were both
      independently associated with LA diameter, LAA, and LAV. Age (odds ratio 1.02,
      95% CI 1.00 to 1.04, p = 0.023) and LA diameter (odds ratio 2.52, 95% CI 1.61 to
      3.97, p <0.001) were the only determinants of the presence of AF in the overall
      population. BMI and gender were not independently associated with AF. In this
      observational study, our findings demonstrate that higher BMI and male gender
      were independently associated with greater LA diameter, LAA, and LAV. Older age
      and greater LA diameter were independently associated with higher rates of AF,
      whereas BMI and gender were not.

PMID- 28583688
TI  - Neointimal fibrotic lead encapsulation - Clinical challenges and demands for
      implantable cardiac electronic devices.
AB  - Every tenth patient with a cardiac pacemaker or implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator implanted is expected to have at least one lead problem in his
      lifetime. However, transvenous leads are often difficult to remove due to
      thrombotic obstruction or extensive neointimal fibrotic ingrowth. Despite its
      clinical significance, knowledge on lead-induced vascular fibrosis and neointimal
      lead encapsulation is sparse. Although leadless pacemakers are already available,
      their clinical operating range is limited. Therefore, lead/tissue interactions
      must be further improved in order to improve lead removals in particular. The
      published data on the coherences and issues related to lead associated vascular
      fibrosis and neointimal lead encapsulation are reviewed and discussed in this
      paper.

PMID- 28583687
TI  - Relation of Serum Vitamin D to Risk of Mitral Annular and Aortic Valve Calcium
      (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).
AB  - Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration has been identified as a
      possible modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized
      that serum 25(OH)D concentration would be associated with calcifications of the
      left-sided heart valves, which are markers of CVD risk. Aortic valve calcium
      (AVC) and mitral annular calcium (MAC) were quantified from cardiac computed
      tomography scans performed on 5,530 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
      participants at the baseline examination (2000 to 2002) and at a follow-up visit
      at either Examination 2 (2002 to 2004) or Examination 3 (2004 to 2005). 25(OH)D
      was measured from serum samples collected at the baseline examination. Using
      relative risk regression, we evaluated the multivariable-adjusted risk of
      prevalent and incident AVC and MAC in this ethnically diverse population free of
      clinical CVD at baseline. The mean age of participants was 62 +/- 10 years; 53%
      were women, 40% white, 26% black, 21% Hispanic, and 12% Chinese. Prevalent AVC
      and MAC were observed in 12% and 9% of study sample, respectively. There were no
      significant associations between 25(OH)D and prevalent AVC or MAC. Over a mean
      follow-up of 2.5 years, 4% developed incident AVC and 5% developed incident MAC.
      After adjusting for demographic variables, each 10 ng/ml higher serum 25(OH)D was
      associated with a 15% (relative risk 0.85, 95% confidence interval 0.74 to 0.98)
      lower risk of incident MAC but not AVC. However, this association was no longer
      significant after adjusting for lifestyle and CVD risk factors. Results suggest a
      possible link between serum 25(OH)D and the risk for incident MAC, but future
      studies with longer follow-up are needed to further test this association.

PMID- 28583689
TI  - Granulomatous-Lymphocytic Interstitial Lung Disease in a Patient With Common
      Variable Immunodeficiency.
AB  - Common variable immunodeficiency is the most common primary immunodeficiency and
      consists of impaired immunoglobulin production causing recurrent sinopulmonary
      infections. The most common cause of mortality for this disorder, however, is
      from the development of malignancy and autoimmune disorders. One common entity
      that develops is a systemic granulomatous and lymphoproliferative disorder that
      can cause an interstitial lung disease more formally referred to as granulomatous
      lymphocytic interstitial lung disease (GL-ILD). We discuss a case of a 25-year
      old woman with common variable immunodeficiency and GL-ILD and review the
      literature to summarize the most common radiological findings to raise the
      suspicion for GL-ILD on high-resolution computed tomography and delineate this
      from infection and other mimickers. We will also review key histopathological
      characteristics for diagnosis and the clinical approach and treatment options for
      this rare disease.

PMID- 28583690
TI  - Transition to adult rheumatology care is necessary to maintain DMARD therapy in
      young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outpatient health service utilisation of young people
      (YP) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) during transfer from paediatric to
      adult care in Germany. METHODS: Based on claims data of a large German statutory
      health fund (BARMER GEK) we conducted a cohort study of 2008-2014. Insured YP
      with diagnosis of JIA (ICD: M08 or M09.0) in two quarters at the age of 16 and
      continuous insurance until the age of 20 were included. Outpatient health care
      utilisation, prescribed antirheumatic drugs and diagnosis maintenance were
      analysed over four consecutive years for all YP with JIA and for the subgroup on
      disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) at the age of 16. RESULTS: A total
      of 256 YP with JIA (67% female) were followed during the transfer period, 115 of
      them received (DMARDs) at the age of 16. At the age of 20, 30% of all 256 YP
      utilised adult specialty care, 59% still had a JIA diagnosis and 30% were treated
      with DMARDs. Of those 115 YP, treated with DMARDs at the age of 16 and in need of
      follow-up, 49% had visited an adult rheumatologist at the age of 20, 75% had a
      JIA diagnosis and 56% were on DMARDs. Those 49% YP with successful transfer to
      adult specialty care had a JIA diagnosis in 93% and were treated with DMARDs in
      80%. YP, who were only seen by general practitioners, had a JIA diagnosis in 54%
      and received DMARDs in 27%. CONCLUSIONS: One in two YP with JIA and a clear need
      for ongoing follow-up do not utilise adult rheumatologic care. The maintenance of
      JIA diagnosis and DMARD therapy depend on the utilisation of specialised care
      services.

PMID- 28583691
TI  - Association between acute gouty arthritis and meteorological factors: An
      ecological study using a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were as follows: (1) to analyze the literature
      systematically regarding the seasonal and monthly variation of the occurrence of
      episodes of acute gouty arthritis, and (2) to investigate the relationship
      between the occurrence of episodes of acute gouty arthritis and meteorological
      parameters. METHODS: The present authors systematically reviewed databases for
      articles published before November 2015. Studies with quantitative data on
      episodes of acute gouty arthritis by months and/or seasons were included.
      Meteorological data such as the highest temperature, lowest temperature, diurnal
      temperature range, change in mean temperature between neighboring days, relative
      humidity and wind speed for the geographic place(s), and study period where and
      when each study took place were obtained from meteorological websites. RESULTS:
      Ten studies published between 1920 and 2015 were included. A meta-analysis by
      season showed that acute gouty arthritis occurred significantly more frequently
      in spring than in other seasons. Analysis by month showed an increase in episodes
      of acute gouty arthritis from March to July, being the highest in July. The trend
      reversed, and episodes of acute gouty arthritis started decreasing from July to
      September, being the lowest in September. The change in mean temperature between
      neighboring days was the only meteorological parameter that was significantly
      correlated with the number of monthly episodes of acute gouty arthritis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Acute gouty arthritis seems to develop more frequently during the
      period in which the temperature increases significantly between neighboring days:
      spring by season and between March and July by month in the northern hemisphere.

PMID- 28583692
TI  - Learning from failure? Political expediency, evidence, and inaction in global
      maternal health.

PMID- 28583693
TI  - The invasive microalga Chrysophaeum taylorii: Interactive stressors regulate cell
      density and mucilage production.
AB  - The benthic mucilage producing microalga Chrysophaeum taylorii Lewis and Bryan
      (Pelagophyceae) has recently received attention for its rapid spread in the
      Mediterranean Sea, where its blooms have remarkable detrimental effects. So far
      no information on C. taylorii response to multiple stressors, especially in terms
      of mucilage hyperproduction, is available in the literature yet, and a
      manipulative field experiment in this topic was designed in Tavolara Punta Coda
      Cavallo Marine Protected Area. The aim of the study was to test the effects of
      nutrient enrichment (addition of nutrients), mechanical disturbance (partial and
      total benthic organisms removal) and hydrodynamics (increased water turbulence)
      on C. taylorii cell density and mucilage abundance. To the purpose, the three
      above mentioned stressors were simulated and the three treatments were assigned
      to 20 * 20 cm plots following a full-factorial design (n = 3). Interactive
      effects of the three stressors affected significantly both benthic C. taylorii
      cell density and mucilage cover although differently. Mechanical disturbance and
      high hydrodynamics produced consistent effects on cell density and mucilage
      production (i.e. the former factor enhancing and the latter decreasing). Nutrient
      enrichment on the contrary led to contrasting effects, promoting cell abundance
      and inhibiting mucilage production. Therefore, important mucilage blooms are
      expected in oligotrophic sheltered coastal locations where barren areas are
      present.

PMID- 28583694
TI  - Corneal dystrophies.
AB  - Degenerative or hereditary corneal diseases are sometimes difficult to
      discriminate. Corneal dystrophies affect approximately 0.09% of the population.
      They are identified by the IC3D classification based on their phenotype, genotype
      and evidence gathered for their diagnosis. In practice, the ophthalmologist
      manages functional symptoms such as recurrent erosions, visual loss and
      amblyopia, photophobia, foreign body sensation, and sometimes pain and aesthetic
      concerns. Medical treatments consist of drops to promote healing, ointments,
      hyperosmotic agents and bandage contact lenses. Less invasive surgical treatments
      are used as second line therapy (phototherapeutic keratectomy, lamellar
      keratectomy). More invasive procedures may eventually be utilized (lamellar or
      penetrating keratoplasty). Anterior lamellar or endothelial keratoplasty are now
      preferred to penetrating keratoplasty, although the latter still remains the only
      possible option in some cases. Some rare dystrophies require coordinated and
      comprehensive medical care.

PMID- 28583695
TI  - [Neuro-myelitis optica secondary to chronic lymphocytic leukemia].

PMID- 28583696
TI  - [Valsalva retinopathy: Role of SD-OCT and Nd:YAG Laser].

PMID- 28583697
TI  - [An asynchronous bilateral optic neuropathy with positive MOG antibodies].

PMID- 28583698
TI  - Has the quality of health care for the immigrant population changed during the
      economic crisis in Catalonia (Spain)? Opinions of health professionals and
      immigrant users.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse changes in health professionals' and immigrant users'
      perceptions of the quality of care provided to the immigrant population during
      the crisis. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive-interpretative and exploratory
      study was conducted in two areas of Catalonia. Semi-structured individual
      interviews were used with a theoretical sample of medical (n=24) and
      administrative (n=10) professionals in primary care (PC) and secondary care (SC),
      and immigrant users (n=20). Thematic analysis was conducted and the results were
      triangulated. RESULTS: Problems related to technical and interpersonal quality
      emerged from the discourse of both professionals and immigrants. These problems
      were attributed to cutbacks during the economic crisis. Regarding technical
      quality, respondents reported an increase in erroneous or non-specific diagnoses,
      inappropriate use of diagnostic tests and non-specific treatments, due to
      reduction in consultation times as a result of cuts in human resources. With
      regard to interpersonal quality, professionals reported less empathy, and users
      also reported worse communication, due to changes in professionals' working
      conditions and users' attitudes. Finally, a reduction in the resolution capacity
      of the health services emerged: professionals described unnecessary repeated PC
      visits and limited responses in SC, while young immigrants reported an
      insufficient response to their health problems. CONCLUSION: The results indicate
      a deterioration in perceived technical and interpersonal quality during the
      economic crisis, due to cutbacks mainly in human resources. These changes affect
      the whole population, but especially immigrants.

PMID- 28583699
TI  - Stem cell therapy with skeletal myoblasts accelerates neointima formation in a
      mouse model of vein graft disease.
AB  - Although still a matter of controversial discussion, skeletal myoblasts are one
      of the options for stem cell transplantation improving cardiac function after
      myocardial infarction, exhibiting several advantages including the availability,
      the ability of self-renewal and differentiation, and the lack of ethical and
      immunological problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of
      stem cell therapy with skeletal myoblasts on experimental venous bypass grafts in
      a mouse model of vein graft disease. Forty C57BL/6J mice underwent bypass
      grafting interposing a venous bypass graft of the donor mouse into the carotid
      artery of the recipient mouse. Twenty mice received periadventitially treatment
      with 1 million fluorescence labeled skeletal myoblasts suspended in culture
      medium (treatment group), the other twenty mice received only culture medium
      without myoblasts (control group). Two weeks after bypass surgery, the vein
      grafts of all 40 mice were harvested, stained and histologically investigated
      under light and immunofluorescence microscope. Against our expectations, skeletal
      myoblasts stayed in place and were still located in the adventitia after bypass
      grafting. Additionally, vein grafts of the myoblast group revealed a 2fold
      increased neoneointima formation, a decreased media thickness, a slightly
      increased neovascularization, a higher percentage of reendothelialization and
      also a slightly higher percentage of PDGFR alpha, PDGFR beta, MMP-7 and MMP-9
      positive cells, suggesting a paracrine mechanism responsible for accelerated
      neointima formation. In conclusion, the results of our study do not support the
      use of skeletal myoblast for the treatment of vein graft disease after coronary
      artery bypass surgery.

PMID- 28583701
TI  - The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology Question of the Day.

PMID- 28583700
TI  - How changes in physical activity relate to fatigue interference, mood, and
      quality of life during treatment for non-metastatic breast cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Physical activity (PA) following surgery for breast cancer may improve
      depressive symptoms and quality of life (QoL) via reduction in fatigue-related
      daily interference (FRDI). Less is known about how change in PA may relate to
      these psychosocial factors throughout the course of treatment. In a secondary
      analysis of a previous psychosocial intervention trial, we examined relationships
      between change in PA, depressive symptoms, and functional QoL, as mediated by
      change in FRDI, and whether naturally occurring change in PA provided benefit
      independent of the intervention. METHOD: Women (N=240) with non-metastatic stage
      0-III breast cancer were randomized to cognitive-behavioral stress management
      (CBSM) or a control 2-10weeks post-surgery. PA, FRDI, clinician-rated depressive
      symptoms, self-reported depressed mood, and functional QoL were assessed at
      baseline and three months post-intervention. RESULTS: Increased PA was associated
      with reductions in clinician-rated depressive symptoms, depressed mood, and
      improved QoL, mediated by a reduction in FRDI. This was above and beyond the
      effect of CBSM. CONCLUSIONS: Increased PA may mitigate FRDI and improve
      depressive symptoms and functional QoL for women undergoing breast cancer
      treatment, beyond effects of a psychosocial intervention. Benefits of an
      integrated PA and psychosocial approach should be investigated further.

PMID- 28583702
TI  - Barriers to Genetic Testing for Pediatric Medicaid Beneficiaries With Epilepsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with public insurance (Medicaid) have increased barriers to
      specialty care in the United States. For children with epilepsy, the relationship
      between public insurance and barriers to genetic testing is understudied.
      METHODS: We surveyed a sample of US child neurology clinicians. We performed
      quantitative and qualitative analysis of responses. RESULTS: There were 302
      responses (of 1982 surveyed; response rate 15%) from clinicians from 46 states,
      the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, including board-certified child
      neurologists (82%), resident physicians (6%), nurses (3%), and nurse
      practitioners (3%). Clinicians felt it was more difficult to get genetic testing
      for patients with Medicaid insurance compared with commercial insurance, (43% vs
      12%, P < 0.05), although many felt it was about the same degree of difficulty
      (25%) or were not sure (20%). Increased availability of testing was associated
      with less complex testing (P < 0.001), in-house testing (P < 0.001), and no
      preauthorization requirements (P < 0.001). Qualitative responses described
      barriers related to cost, clinician familiarity and comfort, commercial
      laboratories, health care organization, payer, and patient concerns. Descriptions
      of facilitators included lowered cost, availability of clinical genetics
      expertise, clinician knowledge, commercial laboratory assistance, health care
      organizational changes, improved payer coverage, and increased interest by
      parents. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric Medicaid beneficiaries with epilepsy have
      barriers to genetic testing, compared with children with commercial insurance,
      particularly for more advanced testing. Potential strategies to improve access
      include broader coverage, lower co-pays, increased capacity for testing outside
      of specialty laboratories, fewer preauthorization requirements, improved
      clinician education, ongoing development and dissemination of guidelines,
      improved availability of clinical genetics services, and continued assistance
      programs from commercial laboratories.

PMID- 28583703
TI  - In Reply: Death in Pediatric Mitochondrial Disorders.

PMID- 28583704
TI  - Thyroid Disease and Type 1 Diabetes in Dutch Children: A Nationwide Study (Young
      Dudes-3).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of overt thyroid disease in children in
      The Netherlands with and without type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). STUDY DESIGN:
      Nationwide, retrospective cohort study in The Netherlands. Using the national
      registry of both healthcare reimbursement and pharmaceutical care, data of all
      Dutch children (aged 0-14 years) with a diagnosis of T1DM, or a diagnosis of
      hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism in the period 2009-2011. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of thyroid disease was 0.15% in children without T1DM, and 3.43% in
      children with T1DM (rate ratio 23.59; 95% CI 19.92-27.93; P < .001). Both
      hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism were 24 times more likely in children with
      T1DM than in those without. Thyroid disease was more common in girls than in
      boys, both in children with T1DM (rate ratio of girls vs boys 3.07; 95% CI 2.10
      4.49) and in children without T1DM (rate ratio 1.59; 95% CI 1.49-1.69). This sex
      difference was more pronounced for hypothyroidism than for hyperthyroidism.
      CONCLUSIONS: Children with T1DM in The Netherlands are 24 times more likely to
      develop thyroid disease than their peers without diabetes. Girls with T1DM were
      more prone to thyroid disease, particularly hypothyroidism.

PMID- 28583706
TI  - Bronze Baby Syndrome.

PMID- 28583705
TI  - Associations of Newborn Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Long-Term
      Neurodevelopmental Impairments in Very Preterm Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between brain abnormalities on newborn
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neurodevelopmental impairment at 7 years of
      age in very preterm children. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 223 very preterm infants
      (<30 weeks of gestation or <1250 g) born at Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital
      had a brain MRI scan at term equivalent age. Scans were scored using a
      standardized system that assessed structural abnormality of cerebral white
      matter, cortical gray matter, deep gray matter, and cerebellum. Children were
      assessed at 7 years on measures of general intelligence, motor functioning,
      academic achievement, and behavior. RESULTS: One hundred eighty-six very preterm
      children (83%) had both an MRI at term equivalent age and a 7-year follow-up
      assessment. Higher global brain, cerebral white matter, and deep gray matter
      abnormality scores were related to poorer intelligence quotient (IQ) (Ps < .01),
      spelling (Ps < .05), math computation (Ps < .01), and motor function (Ps < .001).
      Higher cerebellum abnormality scores were related to poorer IQ (P = .001), math
      computation (P = .018), and motor outcomes (P = .001). Perinatal, neonatal, and
      social confounders had little effect on the relationships between the MRI
      abnormality scores and outcomes. Moderate-severe global abnormality on newborn
      MRI was associated with a reduction in IQ (-6.9 points), math computation (-7.1
      points), and motor (-1.9 points) scores independent of the other potential
      confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Structured evaluation of brain MRI at term equivalent
      is predictive of outcome at 7 years of age, independent of clinical and social
      factors.

PMID- 28583707
TI  - Histologic Chorioamnionitis and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants:
      The Epidemiologic Study on Low Gestational Ages 2 Cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between histologic chorioamnionitis
      (HCA) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very preterm infants, both in a
      general population and for those born after spontaneous preterm labor and after
      preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM). STUDY DESIGN: This study included
      2513 live born singletons delivered at 24-31 weeks of gestation from a national
      prospective population-based cohort of preterm births; 1731 placenta reports were
      available. HCA was defined as neutrophil infiltrates in the amnion, chorion of
      the membranes, or chorionic plate, associated or not with funisitis. The main
      outcome measure was moderate or severe BPD. Analyses involved logistic
      regressions and multiple imputation for missing data. RESULTS: The incidence of
      HCA was 28.4% overall: 38% in cases of preterm labor, 64% in cases of pPROM, and
      less than 5% in cases of vascular disorders. Overall, the risk of BPD after
      adjustment for gestational age, sex, and antenatal steroids was reduced for
      infants with HCA (HCA alone: aOR 0.6 [95% CI 0.4-0.9]; associated with funisitis:
      aOR 0.5 [95% CI 0.3-0.8]). This finding was explained by the high rate of BPD and
      low rate of chorioamnionitis among children with fetal growth restriction. HCA
      was not associated with BPD in the preterm labor (13.4% vs 8.5%; aOR 0.9; 95% CI
      0.5-1.8) or in the pPROM group (12.9% vs 12.1%; aOR 0.6; 95% CI 0.3-1.3).
      CONCLUSION: In homogeneous groups of infants born after preterm labor or pPROM,
      HCA is not associated with BPD.

PMID- 28583708
TI  - Prefrontal fatty acid composition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder:
      Association with reelin expression.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The extracellular matrix protein reelin regulates early brain
      development and synaptic plasticity in adulthood. Reelin is decreased in the
      postmortem brain in schizophrenia patients. Reelin's two receptors, ApoER2 and
      VLDLR, are also substrates for ApoE - a key lipoprotein that regulates
      phospholipid homeostasis in the brain. The goal of the present study was
      therefore to examine phospholipids and their constituent fatty acids, and
      determine whether there is an association between reelin, its receptors and
      phospholipids in the brain. METHODS: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA9) grey
      matter was obtained from the Stanley Foundation Neuropathology Consortium.
      Samples included tissue from 35 controls, 35 schizophrenia and 34 bipolar
      disorder patients. Phospholipids were measured using gas liquid chromatography.
      RESULTS: We quantified 15 individual fatty acid or plasmalogen species for
      phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine fractions, each comprising >0.5%
      of the total fatty acid pool. There were no group differences in phospholipids or
      individual fatty acid species after correcting for multiple comparisons. However,
      for the entire cohort, both the polyunsaturated subclass of fatty acids, and
      ApoE, correlated significantly with reelin expression, with a number of
      individual omega-6 fatty acid species also demonstrating a significant positive
      correlation. There was a non-significant trend for similar effects with VLDLR
      expression as for reelin. CONCLUSION: Phospholipids and fatty acids in the
      dorsolateral cortex do not differ in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar
      disorder and controls. Reelin expression in this brain region is associated with
      polyunsaturated fatty acids and ApoE, suggesting further study of potential
      physiological interactions between these substrates is warranted.

PMID- 28583709
TI  - Imported malaria in pregnant women experienced in Japan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: With ever-growing global exchanges, the number of travelers,
      including pregnant women, to the tropics is increasing, which poses a risk of
      contracting malaria. Although there are several reports on imported malaria in
      pregnancy from Western countries, those focusing on cases experienced in Japan
      are very limited. METHODS: We searched for cases of malaria in pregnancy in the
      treatment records submitted to the Research Group on Chemotherapy of Tropical
      Diseases, Japan, during the period 1993-2016. Literature searches were also
      conducted using an American and a Japanese search system. RESULTS: Ten cases of
      malaria in pregnant women were identified, including four cases with Plasmodium
      falciparum. Of eight evaluable cases, only one practiced malaria
      chemoprophylaxis. Among the nine evaluable cases, eight resulted in uneventful
      delivery and one P. falciparum case developed severe hepatic disturbance,
      disseminated intravascular coagulation, and intrauterine fetal death. After the
      initial attack, none of the Plasmodium vivax/Plasmodium ovale cases practiced
      chloroquine prophylaxis until delivery. One P. ovale case received a lower dose
      regimen of chloroquine as acute-stage therapy. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrated additional cases of imported malaria in pregnant women to the
      literature and highlighted various epidemiological, demographic, and clinical
      characteristics. Some of the clinical issues raised need to be investigated. Due
      to the paucity of the cases worldwide, sharing information among various
      countries is indispensable, and international guidelines which are now
      increasingly recommending the use of artemisinins in pregnant women should be
      referred.

PMID- 28583711
TI  - Short-term efficacy and safety of treatment with febuxostat in kidney transplant
      recipient. An unicentric observational study.

PMID- 28583710
TI  - Large Disparities in Receipt of Glaucoma Care between Enrollees in Medicaid and
      Those with Commercial Health Insurance.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether the type of health insurance a patient possesses
      and a patient's race/ethnicity affect receipt of common tests to monitor open
      angle glaucoma (OAG). DESIGN: Retrospective longitudinal cohort study.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 21 766 persons aged >=40 years with newly diagnosed OAG
      between 2007 and 2011 enrolled in Medicaid or a large United States managed care
      network. METHODS: We determined the proportion of patients with newly diagnosed
      OAG who underwent visual field (VF) testing, fundus photography (FP), other
      ocular imaging (OOI), or none of these tests within the first 15 months after
      initial OAG diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the
      extent by which health insurance type and race/ethnicity affected the odds of
      undergoing glaucoma testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds ratios (OR) of
      undergoing VF testing, FP, OOI, or none of these tests in the 15 months after
      initial OAG diagnosis with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: A total of 18
      372 persons with commercial health insurance and 3394 Medicaid recipients met the
      study inclusion criteria. The proportions of persons with commercial health
      insurance with newly diagnosed OAG who underwent VF, FP, and OOI were 63%, 22%,
      and 54%, respectively, whereas the proportions were 35%, 19%, and 30%,
      respectively, for Medicaid recipients. Compared with those with commercial health
      insurance, Medicaid recipients were 234% more likely to not receive any glaucoma
      testing in the 15 months after initial diagnosis (OR = 3.34; 95% CI, 3.07-3.63).
      After adjustment for confounders, whites with OAG enrolled in Medicaid had 198%
      higher odds of receiving no glaucoma testing compared with whites possessing
      commercial health insurance (OR = 2.98; 95% CI, 2.66-3.33). Blacks with Medicaid
      insurance demonstrated 291% higher odds (OR = 3.91; 95% CI, 3.40-4.49) of not
      receiving any glaucoma testing compared with blacks with commercial health
      insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Irrespective of race/ethnicity, Medicaid recipients with
      OAG are receiving substantially less glaucoma testing compared with persons with
      commercial health insurance. Disparities in testing are observed across all
      races/ethnicities but were most notable for blacks. These findings are
      particularly disconcerting because blacks are more likely than whites to go blind
      from OAG and there are disproportionately more blacks in Medicaid. Efforts are
      needed to improve the quality of glaucoma care for Medicaid recipients,
      especially racial minorities.

PMID- 28583712
TI  - Structural influences on the activity of bismuth(III) indole-carboxylato
      complexes towards Helicobacter pylori and Leishmania.
AB  - Seven new bismuth(III) complexes derived from indole-carboxylic acids have been
      synthesised: five are homoleptic; [Bi(IAA)3] B1, [Bi(IPA)3] B2, [Bi(IBA)3] B3,
      [Bi(MICA)3] B4, [Bi(IGA)3] B6, and two are heteroleptic [BiPh(MICA)2] B5 (where
      IAA-H=2-(1H-indol-3-yl)acetic acid, IPA-H=3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid, IBA
      H=4-(1H-indol-3-yl)butanoic acid, IGA-H=2-(1H-indol-3-yl)-2-oxoacetic acid, and
      MICA-H=1-methyl-1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid). All complexes were fully
      characterised by elemental analysis, infrared and mass-spectroscopy, and nuclear
      magnetic resonance (1H, 13C) spectroscopy. Complex [BiPh(IGA)2] B7 is
      structurally authenticated by X-ray crystallography as a dimer in the solid
      state. The in-vitro anti-bacterial activity of the indole-carboxylic acids and
      their bismuth(III) complexes was assessed against Helicobacter pylori. While the
      acids were non-toxic at <100MUgmL-1, all the bismuth compounds showed an MIC of
      6.25MUgmL-1, indicating that the anti-bacterial activity is insensitive to the
      degree of substitution at the Bi(III) centre or the composition of the indole
      carboxylate ligands. All compounds were further tested for their anti-parasitic
      activity against Leishmania major and for their toxicity towards mammalian cells.
      From the anti-parasitic studies, it was found that the heteroleptic bismuth(III)
      complexes are the most active, with B5 and B7 showing comparable activity to
      Amphotericin B, without any toxicity towards the mammalian cells at their
      effective concentration.

PMID- 28583713
TI  - IGF-1R signalling contributes to IL-6 production and T cell dependent
      inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Signalling through insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) is
      essential for cell survival, but may turn pathogenic in uncontrolled tissue
      growth in tumours. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the IGF-1R signalling is
      activated and supports expansion of the inflamed synovia. AIM: In the present
      study, we assess if disruption of IGF-1R signalling resolves arthritis. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Clinical associations of IGF-1R expression in leukocytes of the
      peripheral blood were studied in 84 RA patients. Consequences of the IGF-1R
      signalling inhibition for arthritis were studied in mBSA immunised Balb/c mice
      treated with NT157 compound promoting degradation of insulin receptor substrates.
      RESULTS: In RA patients, high expression of IGF-1R in leukocytes was associated
      with systemic inflammation as verified by higher expression of NF-kB, serum
      levels of IL6 and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and higher pain perception.
      Additionally, phosphorylated IGF-1R and STAT3 enriched T cells infiltrate in RA
      synovia. Treatment with NT157 inhibited the phosphorylation of IGF-1R and STAT3
      in synovia, and alleviated arthritis and joint damage in mice. It also reduced
      expression of IGF-1R and despaired ERK and Akt signalling in spleen T cells. This
      limited IL-6 production, changed RoRgt/FoxP3 balance and IL17 levels. CONCLUSION:
      IGF-1R signalling contributes to T cell dependent inflammation in arthritis.
      Inhibition of IGF-1R on the level of insulin receptor substrates alleviates
      arthritis by restricting IL6-dependent formation of Th17 cells and may open for
      new treatment strategies in RA.

PMID- 28583715
TI  - Novel insights into the antioxidant role of tauroursodeoxycholic acid in
      experimental models of Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Impaired mitochondrial function and generation of reactive oxygen species are
      deeply implicated in Parkinson's disease progression. Indeed, mutations in genes
      that affect mitochondrial function account for most of the familial cases of the
      disease, and post mortem studies in sporadic PD patients brains revealed
      increased signs of oxidative stress. Moreover, exposure to 1-methyl-4-phenyl
      1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, leads to
      clinical symptoms similar to sporadic PD. The bile acid tauroursodeoxycholic acid
      (TUDCA) is an anti-apoptotic molecule shown to protect against MPTP-induced
      neurodegeneration in mice, but the mechanisms involved are still incompletely
      identified. Herein we used MPTP-treated mice, as well as primary cultures of mice
      cortical neurons and SH-SY5Y cells treated with MPP+ to investigate the
      modulation of mitochondrial dysfunction by TUDCA in PD models. We show that TUDCA
      exerts its neuroprotective role in a parkin-dependent manner. Overall, our
      results point to the pharmacological up-regulation of mitochondrial turnover by
      TUDCA as a novel neuroprotective mechanism of this molecule, and contribute to
      the validation of TUDCA clinical application in PD.

PMID- 28583714
TI  - IL-21/anti-Tim1/CD40 ligand promotes B10 activity in vitro and alleviates bone
      loss in experimental periodontitis in vivo.
AB  - IL-10-expressing regulatory B cells (B10) play an essential role in immune system
      balance by suppressing excessive inflammatory responses. In this study, we
      investigated induction of B 10 cell's IL-10 competency in vitro and its effect on
      ligature-induced experimental periodontitis in vivo. Spleen B cells were isolated
      from C57BL/6J mice and cultured for 48h under the following conditions: control,
      CD40L, IL-21, anti-Tim1, CD40L+IL-21, CD40L+anti-Tim1, CD40L+IL-21+anti-Tim1.
      Silk ligatures were tied around both maxillary second molars of C57BL/6J mice for
      two weeks. Optimized combination of CD40L, IL-21 and anti-Tim1 and vehicle were
      injected into contralateral side of palatal gingiva on days 3, 6 and 9. The
      palatal gingival tissues and maxillary bone were collected on day 14 to determine
      expressions of IL-10 and periodontal bone resorption respectively. Our results
      demonstrated that IL-10 expressions of cultured spleen B cells were significantly
      increased in the presence of CD40L, IL-21 and anti-Tim1 combination when compared
      with control groups. Gingival IL-10 mRNA and protein expressions were
      significantly increased after injection of CD40L, IL-21 and anti-Tim1
      combination, when compared to the control side. The gingival RANKL expression and
      periodontal bone loss were significantly decreased on the combination treatment
      side, as compared to the control side. These results suggest that combination of
      IL-21, anti-Tim1 and CD40L treatment induced B10 cell's IL-10 competency in vitro
      and inhibited periodontal bone loss in ligature-induced experimental
      periodontitis.

PMID- 28583716
TI  - Need for in-hospital simulation-based educational facilitation for practical
      patient safety improvement.

PMID- 28583717
TI  - Prognosis of septic shock.

PMID- 28583718
TI  - The authors respond.

PMID- 28583719
TI  - Weak Links in the Early Chain of Care of Acute Lower Limb Ischaemia in Terms of
      Recognition and Emergency Management.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Acute lower limb ischaemia (ALLI) is a potentially fatal, limb
      threatening medical emergency. Early treatment is essential for a good outcome.
      The aim was to describe the early chain of care in ALLI focusing on lead times
      and emergency management in order to identify weak links for improvement.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective, descriptive case study. This study analysed
      the medical records of all patients with a main discharge diagnosis of ALLI
      between January 2009 and December 2014. Predetermined emergency care data on lead
      times, diagnosis recognition, presenting symptoms, emergency care treatment and
      outcome were collected for patients who were transported by the Emergency Medical
      Service (EMS) and those who were not. RESULTS: In total, 552 medical records were
      audited of which 195 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were analysed.
      Among them were 117 (60%) transported by the EMS. The median time from symptom
      onset to revascularisation was 23 (interquartile range [IQR] 10-55; EMS
      transported) and 93 (IQR 42-152, not EMS transported) hours (p < .01). The time
      from symptom onset to arrival in hospital was 5 (IQR 2-26; EMS transported) and
      48 (IQR 6-108; not EMS transported) hours. After arrival in hospital, the median
      time to first doctor evaluation was 51 (IQR 28-90; EMS transported) and 80 (IQR
      44-169; not EMS transported) minutes, p = .01. Low molecular weight heparin
      (LMWH) was given to 72% of patients in the emergency department (ED) and a
      multivariate analysis showed that the use of LMWH was associated with a more
      favourable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Both the time spent in the ED and the time from
      the onset of symptoms to revascularisation were considerably longer than optimal.
      Time delays in the early treatment chain can mainly be attributed to "patient
      delay" and a considerable time spent in hospital before revascularisation. The
      use of LMWH as an integral part of ED management was associated with a better
      outcome.

PMID- 28583720
TI  - Disease-modifying drug therapy in cystic fibrosis.
AB  - Whilst substantial progress has been made in the treatment of cystic fibrosis,
      the disease still carries a significant burden in terms of symptoms, requirement
      for treatment and early mortality. The last decade has witnessed a new era in the
      development of small molecule drugs targeting the CFTR protein, which for the
      first time may provide a truly disease-modifying approach to treatment. This
      article reviews progress and highlights some of the current and future challenges
      in CFTR modulator therapies.

PMID- 28583721
TI  - Spontaneous mental associations with the words "side effect": Implications for
      informed and shared decision making.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To gain insight into patients' medical decisions by exploring the
      content of laypeople's spontaneous mental associations with the term "side
      effect." METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey asked 144 women aged 40-74,
      "What are the first three things you think of when you hear the words 'side
      effect?"' Data were analyzed using content analysis, chi-square, and Fisher's
      exact tests. RESULTS: 17 codes emerged and were grouped into 4 themes and a
      Miscellaneous category: Health Problems (70.8% of participants), Decision
      Relevant Evaluations (52.8%), Negative Affect (30.6%), Practical Considerations
      (18.1%) and Miscellaneous (9.7%). The 4 most frequently identified codes were:
      Risk (36.1%), Health Problems-Specific Symptoms (35.4%), Health Problems-General
      Terms (32.6%), and Negative Affect-Strong (19.4%). Code and theme frequencies
      were generally similar across demographic groups (ps>0.05). CONCLUSION: The term
      "side effect" spontaneously elicited comments related to identifying health
      problems and expressing negative emotions. This might explain why the mere
      possibility of side effects triggers negative affect for people making medical
      decisions. Some respondents also mentioned decision-relevant evaluations and
      practical considerations in response to side effects. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:
      Addressing commonly-held associations and acknowledging negative affects provoked
      by side effects are first steps healthcare providers can take towards improving
      informed and shared patient decision making.

PMID- 28583722
TI  - Factors affecting patients' online health information-seeking behaviours: The
      role of the Patient Health Engagement (PHE) Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the variables affecting patients' online health
      information-seeking behaviours by examining the relationships between patient
      participation in their healthcare and online health information-seeking
      behaviours. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of Italian chronic patients (N=352)
      was conducted on patient's online health information-seeking behaviours and
      patient participation-related variables. Structural equation modeling analysis
      was conducted to test the hypothesis. RESULTS: This study showed how the
      healthcare professionals' ability to support chronic patients' autonomy affect
      patients' participation in their healthcare and patient's online health
      information-seeking behaviours. However, results do not confirm that the
      frequency of patients' online health-information seeking behavior has an impact
      on their adherence to medical prescriptions. CONCLUSION: Assuming a psychosocial
      perspective, we have discussed how patients' engagement - conceived as the level
      of their emotional elaboration of the health condition - affects the patients'
      ability to search for and manage online health information. PRACTICE IMPLICATION:
      To improve the effectiveness of patients' online health information-seeking
      behaviours and to enhance the effectiveness of technological interventions in
      this field, healthcare providers should target assessing and improving patient
      engagement and patient empowerment in their healthcare. It is important that
      health professionals acknowledge patients' online health information-seeking
      behaviours that they discuss the information offered by patients and guide them
      to reliable and accurate web sources.

PMID- 28583724
TI  - Endovascular treatment of visceral artery aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms with
      stent-graft: Analysis of immediate and long-term results.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to analyze the safety and efficacy of
      stent-graft endovascular treatment for visceral artery aneurysms and
      pseudoaneurysms. METHODS: Multicentric retrospective series of patients with
      visceral aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms treated by means of stent graft. The
      following variables were analyzed: Age, sex, type of lesion
      (aneurysms/pseudoaneurysms), localization, rate of success, intraprocedural and
      long term complication rate (SIR classification). Follow-up was performed under
      clinical and radiological assessment. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (16 men),
      with a mean age of 59 (range 27-79), were treated. The indication was aneurysm in
      19 patients and pseudoaneurysms in 6. The localizations were: splenic artery
      (12), hepatic artery (5), renal artery (4), celiac trunk (3) and gastroduodenal
      artery (1). Successful treatment rate was 96% (24/25 patients). Intraprocedural
      complication rate was 12% (4% major; 8% minor). Complete occlusion was
      demonstrated during follow up (mean 33 months, range 6-72) in the 24 patients
      with technical success. Two stent migrations (2/24; 8%) and 4stent thrombosis
      (4/24; 16%) were detected. Mortality rate was 0%. CONCLUSION: In our study, stent
      graft endovascular treatment of visceral aneurysmns and pseudoaneurysms has
      demonstrated to be safe and is effective in the long-term in both elective and
      emergent cases, with a high rate of successful treatment and a low complication
      rate.

PMID- 28583725
TI  - Evolution of laparoscopic surgery in a high volume hepatobiliary unit: 150
      consecutive pure laparoscopic hepatectomies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Compared to other surgical areas, laparoscopic liver resection
      (LLR) has not been widely implemented and currently less than 20% of
      hepatectomies are performed laparoscopically worldwide. The aim of our study was
      to evaluate the feasibility, and the ratio of implementation of LLR in our
      department. METHODS: We analyzed a prospectively maintained database of 749 liver
      resections performed during the last 10-year period in a single centre. RESULTS:
      A total of 150 (20%) consecutive pure LLR were performed between 2005 and 2015.
      In 87% of patients the indication was the presence ofprimary or metastatic liver
      malignancy. We performed 30 major hepatectomies (20%) and (80%) were minor
      resections, performed in all liver segments. Twelve patients were operated twice
      and 2 patients underwent a third LLR. The proportion of LLR increased from 12% in
      2011 to 62% in the last year. Conversion rate was 9%. Overall morbidity rate was
      36% but only one third were classified as severe. The 90-day mortality rate was
      1%. Median hospital stay was 4 days and the rate of readmissions was 6%.
      CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of LLR has been fast with morbidity and mortality
      comparable to other published series. In the last 2 years more than half of the
      hepatectomies are performed laparoscopically in our centre.

PMID- 28583726
TI  - Results of short term radiotherapy followed by radical surgery for rectal cancer:
      A long-term unicenter observational study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Short-term radiotherapy (STR) for rectal cancer (RC) has rarely
      been used in Spain. The aim of the present study is to describe oncological
      results after RTC and surgery for RC. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis
      of a consecutive series of patients treated with STR and surgery for RC (1999
      2012). Epidemiological data, staging, complications of STR, STR-surgery interval,
      surgical approach, rate of anastomotic/perineal wound dehiscence, and
      pathological data (regression degree and staging) were collected. Global
      survival, disease free survival, local recurrence rate and incidence of toxicity,
      response and complications of combined treatment are reported. RESULTS: Of 1229
      patients treated, 209 patients received STR and surgery. The median follow-up was
      6.2 years. Mean age was 68 years and 66% of the patients were men. A total of 88%
      were cT3-4 and 44% cN+17 (8.1%) patients had resectable synchronous metastases.
      Acute and chronic toxicity due to STR was <5%. In 75% of the cases the STR
      surgery interval was <15 days, and in 9%> 4 weeks. Seven patients (3.3%)
      presented complete response. Nine (4.3%) patients presented an local recurrence
      rate. Global survival at 5, 10 and 15 years was 67.8, 49.2 and 37.5%,
      respectively. Disease free survival at 5, 10 and 15 years was 66.1, 47.1 and 33%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results compare favorably with multicentric
      historical series. STR offers certain advantages that could be increased by
      increasing the STR-surgery interval and/or interspersed with sequential
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 28583723
TI  - Control of B lymphocyte development and functions by the mTOR signaling pathways.
AB  - Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine kinase originally
      discovered as the molecular target of the immunosuppressant rapamycin. mTOR forms
      two compositionally and functionally distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, which
      are crucial for coordinating nutrient, energy, oxygen, and growth factor
      availability with cellular growth, proliferation, and survival. Recent studies
      have identified critical, non-redundant roles for mTORC1 and mTORC2 in
      controlling B cell development, differentiation, and functions, and have
      highlighted emerging roles of the Folliculin-Fnip protein complex in regulating
      mTOR and B cell development. In this review, we summarize the basic mechanisms of
      mTOR signaling; describe what is known about the roles of mTORC1, mTORC2, and the
      Folliculin/Fnip1 pathway in B cell development and functions; and briefly outline
      current clinical approaches for targeting mTOR in B cell neoplasms. We conclude
      by highlighting a few salient questions and future perspectives regarding mTOR in
      B lineage cells.

PMID- 28583727
TI  - Validating the forgotten joint score-12 in patients after ACL reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The forgotten joint score-12 (FJS-12), used to measure postoperative
      joint awareness, has been extensively validated to assess outcomes after
      arthroplasty, however the new score has never been validated in evaluating
      anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The purpose of our study was to
      validate the FJS-12 versus the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score
      (KOOS) for patients who have undergone ACL reconstruction. METHODS: All patients
      who had undergone ACL reconstruction with the same arthroscopic surgical
      technique at our institution between 2011 and 2014 (medium-term follow-up group
      (M-FU)) or between 2000 and 2005 (long-term follow-up group (L-FU)) were
      considered for inclusion in the study. To analyze unidimensionality of the FJS
      12, we calculated Cronbach's alpha, item-total correlations and conducted an
      exploratory principal component factor analysis. To assess convergent validity,
      we calculated Spearman correlation coefficients for the FJS-12 and its comparable
      scales. RESULTS: We analyzed 58 patients of the M-FU (mean follow-up 31.5
      (SD13.4) months, range 12-54), and 58 patients of the L-FU (mean follow-up 139
      (SD15.2) months, range 120-179). The FJS-12 showed high internal consistency
      (Cronbach's alpha=0.95). Ceiling effects were considerably lower for the FJS-12
      (M-FU 12.1%, L-FU 15.5%) compared with the KOOS subscales (M-FU 5.2-37.9%; L-FU
      13.8-55.2%) and WOMAC subscales (M-FU 37.9-62.1%; L-FU 44.8-60.3%). CONCLUSIONS:
      The FJS-12 is a valid measurement tool to evaluate outcomes of ACL
      reconstruction. This study extends the possibilities of measuring joint awareness
      as a patient-reported outcome parameter from joint arthroplasty to ACL
      reconstruction.

PMID- 28583729
TI  - Open abdominal surgical training differences experienced by integrated vascular
      and general surgery residents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the integrated vascular residency program reaches almost a decade
      of maturity, a common area of concern among trainees is the adequacy of open
      abdominal surgical training. It is our belief that although their overall
      exposure to open abdominal procedures has decreased, integrated vascular
      residents have an adequate and focused exposure to open aortic surgery during
      training. METHODS: National operative case log data supplied by the Accreditation
      Council for Graduate Medical Education were compiled for both graduating
      integrated vascular surgery residents (IVSRs) and graduating categorical general
      surgery residents (GSRs) for the years 2012 to 2014. Mean total and open
      abdominal case numbers were compared between the IVSRs and GSRs, with more in
      depth exploration into open abdominal procedures by organ system. RESULTS:
      Overall, the mean total 5-year case volume of IVSRs was 1168 compared with 980
      for GSRs during the same time frame (P < .0001). IVSRs reported nearly double the
      number of surgeon-chief cases compared with GSRs (452 vs 239; P < .0001). GSRs
      reported more than double the number of open abdominal procedures compared with
      IVSRs (205 vs 83; P < .0001). Sixty-five percent of the open abdominal experience
      for IVSRs was focused on procedures involving the aorta and its branches, with an
      average of 54 open aortic cases recorded throughout their training. The largest
      single contributor to open surgical experience for a GSR was alimentary tract
      surgery, representing 57% of all open abdominal cases. GSRs completed an average
      of 116 open alimentary tract surgeries during their training. Open abdominal
      surgery represented an average of 7.1% of the total vascular case volume for the
      vascular residents, whereas open abdominal surgery represented 21% of a GSR's
      total surgical experience. CONCLUSIONS: IVSRs reported almost double the number
      of total cases during their training, with double chief-level cases. Sixty-five
      percent of open abdominal surgeries performed by IVSRs involved the aorta or its
      renovisceral branches. Whereas open abdominal surgery represented 7.1% of an
      IVSR's surgical training, GSRs had a far broader scope of open abdominal
      procedures, completing nearly double those of IVSRs. The differences in open
      abdominal procedures pertain to the differing diseases treated by GSRs and IVSRs.

PMID- 28583728
TI  - Conical neck is strongly associated with proximal failure in standard
      endovascular aneurysm repair.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hostile proximal aortic neck (HN) challenges the suitability for
      standard endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of patients at high risk for "open"
      repair. However, there has been little if any focus placed on the individual role
      of the "nonlength" HN features in EVAR outcomes. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate their individual and potentially predictive role in outcomes of EVAR
      under HN conditions. METHODS: Data of 156 consecutive EVAR patients with short
      (<15 mm) HN, treated with the Endurant device (Medtronic Cardiovascular, Santa
      Rosa, Calif) at three European academic vascular centers between 2007 and 2015,
      were collected and retrospectively analyzed. All patients had at least one of the
      four well-known nonlength HN criteria (width >32 mm or bulge, angulation >60
      degrees, reverse taper anatomy, and circumferential thrombus or calcification
      >50%) and underwent standard EVAR without additional techniques, such as use of
      chimney grafts or endoanchors. Primary end points were absence of type IA
      endoleak at 1 month and midterm follow-up and aneurysm sac stabilization or
      shrinkage. Secondary end points were 30-day mortality, overall survival, and
      secondary interventions related to EVAR. The study cohort was classified in two
      subgroups related to neck length (length <10 mm and length between 10 and 14 mm)
      as well as in two subgroups according to on-label or off-label stent graft use.
      RESULTS: Mean clinical and radiologic follow-up was 41.1 +/- 24.7 and 31.7 +/-
      19.0 months, respectively. Overall EVAR-related mortality was 1.9% (n = 3). The
      total type IA endoleak rate was 5.8% (n = 9). In four patients, the type IA
      endoleak was detected intraoperatively and solved by endovascular means. A type
      IA endoleak was detected in three patients at 1 month and in two patients at 2
      year follow-up. During follow-up, five patients showed an increase of aneurysm
      diameter due to type II endoleak and were treated by secondary endovascular
      reinterventions. The total number of all EVAR-related secondary procedures in the
      midterm was 12 (7.7%). Univariate analysis showed that the center of treatment
      and the clinical or anatomic features were not associated with adverse outcomes.
      Multiple regression and Cox regression analysis of HN features revealed that
      reverse taper anatomy (conical neck) was the single and significantly associated
      predictor of proximal EVAR failure (P < .012). Width >32 mm, angulation >60
      degrees, and calcification or thrombus were not associated with adverse outcomes.
      Analysis between HN length cohorts and between on-label and off-label subgroups
      revealed no difference in outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: A conical neck in hostile
      anatomies represents the single strongest factor associated with proximal failure
      of standard EVAR. This finding should be considered and highlighted apart from
      the length of the infrarenal neck to prevent midterm failure of standard EVAR.

PMID- 28583730
TI  - Young female vascular surgeons more likely to enter academia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the number
      of women entering vascular surgery. Our goal was to evaluate the differences in
      career paths based on gender and to determine some of the factors that influence
      career decisions among young vascular surgeons. METHODS: A 17-item web-based
      survey focusing on current employment status, reasons for choosing academic vs
      nonacademic positions, and career satisfaction was distributed to 900 members of
      the Society for Vascular Surgery who completed vascular surgery training in the
      past 10 years. RESULTS: A total of 199 individuals responded to the survey
      (22.1%). The cohort included 49 (24.6%) women and 149 (74.9%) men. The majority
      of the respondents were non-Hispanic white (66.3%). Sixty-four percent of all
      respondents were younger than 40 years. Overall, 72.9% of women had applied to
      academic positions after their training compared with 58.8% of men. Women were
      more likely to apply for and to work in an academic setting (P = .0266 and P =
      .0198, respectively) and cited mentorship more frequently (P = .0474) as the
      reason for choosing an academic practice. Women respondents were less likely to
      have a spouse or children (P = .0269 and P < .001, respectively). More than 87.4%
      of all respondents were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their careers.
      However, men were more likely to be very satisfied compared with women (P =
      .0345). CONCLUSIONS: Career satisfaction remains high among young vascular
      surgeons. In this cohort of vascular surgery graduates, we found that women were
      more likely to pursue academic positions than men, with mentorship, ability to
      teach, and complexity of cases commonly cited as reasons for this career choice.
      However, whether young women stay in academia and what factors affect academic
      retention will need further evaluation.

PMID- 28583731
TI  - Risk factors for postoperative delirium in patients undergoing vascular surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Postoperative delirium (PODE) remains a common complication after
      vascular surgery procedures although the exact pathogenesis remains unclear,
      mainly because of its multifactorial character. The aim of this systematic review
      was to evaluate pooled data on potential risk factors for PODE in patients
      undergoing vascular surgery procedures. METHODS: A systematic literature review
      was conducted conforming to established criteria to identify eligible articles
      published from 1990 to 2016. Eligible studies evaluated potential risk factors
      for PODE after vascular surgery procedures, using both univariate and
      multivariate analysis. PODE was defined as a disturbance of consciousness with
      reduced ability to focus, sustain, or shift attention after vascular surgery
      procedures and was diagnosed in all studies using well-established criteria. Only
      risk factors reported in at least four studies were included in this review.
      Pooled results were calculated, and further multivariate regression analysis was
      conducted. RESULTS: Overall, nine studies (published from 2003 to 2015) including
      2388 patients in total were evaluated (457 with and 1931 without PODE). Patients
      with PODE were older (73.27 vs 69.87 years; P < .0001) and showed a higher male
      sex rate (78.1% vs 73.5%; P = .043). Open aortic surgery was the most frequent
      procedure in this analysis, followed by lower limb revascularization. Patients
      with PODE also showed higher rates of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiac
      disease, and neurologic disease; lower hemoglobin level; larger duration of
      surgery; longer hospital and intensive care unit stay; and higher blood loss.
      Mean age (odds ratio [OR], 3.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.933-4.034; P <
      .0001), hypertension (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.469-2.554; P < .0001), cardiac disease
      (OR, 3.16; 95% CI, 2.324-4.284; P < .0001), open aortic surgery (OR, 1.74; 95%
      CI, 1.421-2.143; P < .0001), blood loss (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.007-1.010; P <
      .0001), hospital stay (OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.953-2.614; P <. 0001), and intensive
      care unit stay (OR, 6.12; 95% CI, 4.699-7.957; P < .0001) were identified as the
      strongest risk predictors for PODE, followed by male sex, diabetes mellitus,
      neurologic disease, and history of smoking. However, body mass index, renal
      failure, preoperative hemoglobin level, and general anesthesia were not found to
      be risk factors for PODE in such patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study has confirmed
      that PODE after vascular surgery procedures is a multifactorial disease, and
      several independent risk factors have been identified. However, pooled data
      regarding the effect of PODE on primary outcomes after vascular surgery
      procedures are still lacking. The results of this review could contribute to the
      designation of future prediction models and improve prevention of PODE in these
      patients.

PMID- 28583732
TI  - Effects of topical negative pressure therapy on tissue oxygenation and wound
      healing in vascular foot wounds.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Topical negative pressure (TNP) therapy is widely used in the
      treatment of acute wounds in vascular patients on the basis of proposed
      multifactorial benefits. However, numerous recent systematic reviews have
      concluded that there is inadequate evidence to support its benefits at a
      scientific level. This study evaluated the changes in wound volume, surface area,
      depth, collagen deposition, and tissue oxygenation when using TNP therapy
      compared with traditional dressings in patients with acute high-risk foot wounds.
      METHODS: This study was performed with hospitalized vascular patients. Forty
      eight patients were selected with an acute lower extremity wound after surgical
      debridement or minor amputation that had an adequate blood supply without
      requiring further surgical revascularization and were deemed suitable for TNP
      therapy. The 22 patients who completed the study were randomly allocated to a
      treatment group receiving TNP or to a control group receiving regular topical
      dressings. Wound volume and wound oxygenation were analyzed using a modern
      stereophotographic wound measurement system and a hyperspectral transcutaneous
      oxygenation measurement system, respectively. Laboratory analysis was conducted
      on wound biopsy samples to determine hydroxyproline levels, a surrogate marker to
      collagen. RESULTS: Differences in clinical or demographic characteristics or in
      the location of the foot wounds were not significant between the two groups. All
      patients, with the exception of two, had diabetes. The two patients who did not
      have diabetes had end-stage renal failure. There was no significance in the
      primary outcome of wound volume reduction between TNP and control patients on day
      14 (44.2% and 20.9%, respectively; P = .15). Analyses of secondary outcomes
      showed a significant result of better healing rates in the TNP group by
      demonstrating a reduction in maximum wound depth at day 14 (36.0% TNP vs 17.6%
      control; P = .03). No significant findings were found for the other outcomes of
      changes in hydroxyproline levels (58.0% TNP vs 94.5% control; P = .32) or tissue
      perfusion by tissue oxyhemoglobin saturation (19.4% TNP vs 12.0% control; P =
      .07) at day 14. At 1 year of follow-up, there were no significant outcomes in the
      analysis of wound failure, major amputation, and overall survival rates between
      the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, applying TNP to acute high-risk
      foot wounds in patients with diabetes or end-stage renal failure improved the
      wound healing rate in reference to wound depth. This suggests that TNP may play a
      role in enhancing wound healing. This study sets the foundation for larger
      studies to evaluate the superiority of TNP over traditional dressings in high
      risk foot wounds.

PMID- 28583733
TI  - Treatment strategy based on the natural course of the disease for patients with
      spontaneous isolated abdominal aortic dissection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the natural history of spontaneous
      isolated abdominal aortic dissection (SIAAD) and to establish an optimal
      management strategy for patients with SIAAD. METHODS: We searched the database of
      thoracoabdominal computed tomography (CT) performed at a single institution from
      January 2003 to July 2016 using the keywords "aortic dissection" and "dissection
      AND aorta." Once a diagnosis of SIAAD was made, we investigated the initial
      clinical and morphologic features and aorta-related events for all patients and
      morphologic changes of the aortic dissection (AD) during the follow-up period for
      the patients who underwent follow-up CT scans. We compared characteristics of the
      patients, frequencies of clinical events (aortic rupture, intervention, death),
      and morphologic changes (false lumen enlargement, progression of AD, remodeling
      of AD, and involvement of iliac or visceral artery) during the follow-up period
      according to the location of AD (infrarenal vs suprarenal), symptom status
      (symptomatic vs asymptomatic), and gender. RESULTS: There were 210 (10.7%)
      patients (median age, 69.4 years [interquartile range, 61.3-74.7]; male, 73.3%)
      who were diagnosed with SIAAD among 1958 patients with AD. SIAAD was most
      frequently located at the infrarenal aorta (86.2%), extended to the iliac (12.4%)
      or visceral artery (2.9%), and was symptomatic in 13.3% of patients. During the
      study period, aortic rupture developed in two patients (0.9%), aortic
      intervention was required in five (2.4%), and aorta-related deaths were
      identified in three (1.4%). Among 138 (65.7%) patients who underwent follow-up CT
      scans, 81.9% showed no morphologic change or remodeling during the follow-up
      period (median, 25 months; range, 1-158 months; interquartile range, 12.3-49.1
      months). In the meantime, false lumen enlargement and longitudinal progression of
      AD developed in 8.7% and 6.5% of patients, respectively. However, newly developed
      visceral artery extension was not found in any of the patents. When
      characteristics of the patients and frequencies of clinical events or late
      morphologic changes of AD were compared on the basis of the location of AD,
      symptom status, and gender, female gender, presence of symptoms, and suprarenal
      SIAAD were more frequently associated with aorta-related mortality. False lumen
      enlargement was more frequent in the suprarenal AD group than in the infrarenal
      AD group. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our observation, the majority of symptomatic and
      asymptomatic SIAAD patients can be managed conservatively unless they present
      with aortic rupture, concomitant large aortic aneurysm, or underlying connective
      tissue disease. However, a more proactive management strategy may be required for
      female, symptomatic patients or those with suprarenal SIAAD.

PMID- 28583734
TI  - Thoracic endovascular aortic repair with branched Inoue Stent Graft for arch
      aortic aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for thoracic aortic
      aneurysms (TAAs) is in rapid expansion due to its minimal invasiveness. However,
      TEVAR for an arch aneurysm with a straight stent graft needs surgical
      reconstruction for supra-aortic vessels. A branched stent graft pioneered by
      Inoue (branched Inoue Stent Graft [ISG]) has been expected to resolve this
      problem, but its utility remains to be established in the real clinical setting.
      This study evaluated the long-term clinical outcome of branched ISGs for TAAs.
      METHODS: Among 217 consecutive patients who underwent TEVAR with ISGs between
      March 2003 and September 2013, 89 patients with TAAs were treated with
      implantation of the branched ISG (single branch: n = 64; double branch: n = 18;
      triple branch: n = 7). The primary end point was freedom from aneurysm-related
      death. Secondary end points included periprocedural adverse events, freedom from
      all-cause death and major adverse events (composite of aneurysm-related death,
      surgical conversion, aneurysm rapture, persistent type I or III endoleak, graft
      infection, graft occlusion, graft migration, and aneurysm expansion), changes of
      aneurysm diameter, stroke, and any endovascular reintervention during follow-up.
      RESULTS: All deployments of branched ISGs were successful. The 30-day mortality
      was 4.5% (single branch, 3.1%; double branch, 0%; triple branch, 29%), and
      periprocedural stroke was 16% (single branch, 7.8%; double branch, 33%; triple
      branch, 42%). At 1 and 5 years, freedom from aneurysm-related death was 93% and
      93%, respectively, and freedom from all-cause death was 85% and 59%,
      respectively. Survival free of major adverse events was 76% at 5 years. The
      cumulative incidence of stroke was 11% at 5 years. Three patients underwent
      surgical conversion because of persistent type I endoleak. One branch graft
      occlusion was observed at the left subclavian artery in a patient who received a
      double-branched graft. CONCLUSIONS: Periprocedural outcome of the single-branched
      ISG was acceptable, and long-term safety and efficacy were demonstrated. However,
      the procedural complications of the multibranched ISG leave room for improvement.

PMID- 28583735
TI  - Electromagnetic tracking of flexible robotic catheters enables "assisted
      navigation" and brings automation to endovascular navigation in an in vitro
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Combining three-dimensional (3D) catheter control with electromagnetic
      (EM) tracking-based navigation significantly reduced fluoroscopy time and
      improved robotic catheter movement quality in a previous in vitro pilot study.
      The aim of this study was to expound on previous results and to expand the value
      of EM tracking with a novel feature, assistednavigation, allowing automatic
      catheter orientation and semiautomatic vessel cannulation. METHODS: Eighteen
      users navigated a robotic catheter in an aortic aneurysm phantom using an EM
      guidewire and a modified 9F robotic catheter with EM sensors at the tip of both
      leader and sheath. All users cannulated two targets, the left renal artery and
      posterior gate, using four visualization modes: (1) Standard fluoroscopy
      (control). (2) 2D biplane fluoroscopy showing real-time virtual catheter
      localization and orientation from EM tracking. (3) 2D biplane fluoroscopy with
      novel EM assisted navigation allowing the user to define the target vessel. The
      robotic catheter orients itself automatically toward the target; the user then
      only needs to advance the guidewire following this predefined optimized path to
      catheterize the vessel. Then, while advancing the catheter over the wire, the
      assisted navigation automatically modifies catheter bending and rotation in order
      to ensure smooth progression, avoiding loss of wire access. (4) Virtual 3D
      representation of the phantom showing real-time virtual catheter localization and
      orientation. Standard fluoroscopy was always available; cannulation and
      fluoroscopy times were noted for every mode and target cannulation. Quality of
      catheter movement was assessed by measuring the number of submovements of the
      catheter using the 3D coordinates of the EM sensors. A t-test was used to compare
      the standard fluoroscopy mode against EM tracking modes. RESULTS: EM tracking
      significantly reduced the mean fluoroscopy time (P < .001) and the number of
      submovements (P < .02) for both cannulation tasks. For the posterior gate, mean
      cannulation time was also significantly reduced when using EM tracking (P <
      .001). The use of novel EM assisted navigation feature (mode 3) showed further
      reduced cannulation time for the posterior gate (P = .002) and improved quality
      of catheter movement for the left renal artery cannulation (P = .021).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results confirmed the findings of a prior study that
      highlighted the value of combining 3D robotic catheter control and 3D navigation
      to improve safety and efficiency of endovascular procedures. The novel EM
      assisted navigation feature augments the robotic master/slave concept with
      automated catheter orientation toward the target and shows promising results in
      reducing procedure time and improving catheter motion quality.

PMID- 28583736
TI  - Partial distal deployment for precise placement of the GORE Thoracic
      Endoprosthesis.
AB  - The GORE TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis (TAG) device (W. L. Gore & Associates,
      Flagstaff, Ariz) and the GORE Conformable TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis (CTAG) are
      commonly implanted and effective stent grafts for use during thoracic
      endovascular aortic repair. Precise placement of the endograft is paramount
      during thoracic endovascular aortic repair, but like all thoracic stent grafts,
      maldeployment with inaccurate landing has been reported. The partial distal
      deployment technique describes an alteration of the TAG and CTAG deployment
      mechanism to allow isolated deployment of the distal half of the graft, which
      provides stability during deployment. The graft can be safely repositioned after
      partial distal deployment, thus allowing precise positioning in the proximal
      landing zone. Similarly, this technique can be used for precision in the distal
      landing zone, making the TAG and CTAG devices the only thoracic endografts
      currently available in the United States with a distal-first deployment option. A
      discussion of the usefulness of this technique and potential pitfalls is
      included.

PMID- 28583737
TI  - Development of a validated model to predict 30-day stroke and 1-year survival
      after carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic stenosis using the Vascular Quality
      Initiative.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been shown to be an effective
      treatment for patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis when
      perioperative stroke rates are low and patients survive long enough to benefit
      from the intervention. Our objective was to develop and to validate a simple risk
      prediction model for 30-day stroke and 1-year mortality to guide optimal
      selection of patients for CEA. METHODS: Asymptomatic patients undergoing first
      time elective CEA within the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) from 2010 to 2015
      were selected. Outcome measures included any 30-day postoperative stroke and 1
      year mortality. Patient demographics, comorbidities, carotid artery disease
      burden, and provider characteristics were evaluated to select a parsimonious
      clinical model for risk prediction using multivariable logistic regression.
      Internal validation was performed for stroke and split sample validation was done
      for 1-year survival to ensure generalizability. RESULTS: We identified 31,939
      patients for inclusion in the stroke analysis (2010-2015) and 24,086 patients for
      the mortality analysis (2010-2014). Both the 30-day stroke rate (0.9%) and 1-year
      mortality rate (3.4%) varied substantially across 265 VQI centers (range, 0%-8.3%
      and 0%-20%, respectively). Eleven significant factors were selected for the 30
      day stroke risk prediction model (area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve [AUC], 0.67). Internal validation demonstrated good
      discrimination (bias corrected AUC = 0.652; calibration intercept and slope of
      0.03 and 1.01, respectively). Similarly, 10 significant factors were selected for
      the 1-year mortality risk prediction model (AUC, 0.764). External validation
      demonstrated excellent discrimination and calibration (AUC, 0.764; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.72-0.80). CONCLUSIONS: Stroke and 1-year mortality rates after CEA
      for asymptomatic stenosis vary across VQI centers. We have developed a
      preoperative risk model that can be used to accurately estimate risk of
      perioperative stroke and 1-year mortality and to assist providers in selecting
      patients with asymptomatic stenosis who are most likely to benefit from CEA.

PMID- 28583738
TI  - Predictors of mortality in nursing-home residents with pneumonia: a multicentre
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate predictors of mortality in patients residing in nursing
      homes (NHs) or long-term care facilities (LTCFs) with diagnosis of NH-acquired
      pneumonia (NHAP). METHODS: We conducted an observational, prospective study
      (December 2013-December 2015) of patients residing in nine NHs/LTCFs of Central
      and Northern Italy with diagnosis of NHAP. Data on demographics, comorbidities,
      microbiology, and therapies were entered into an electronic database. To identify
      risk factors associated with 30-day mortality, we performed univariable and
      multivariable analyses, and predictors were internally validated using a
      bootstrap resampling procedure. We derived a prediction rule using the
      coefficients obtained from the multivariable logistic regression. The model
      obtained was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic
      curve (AUROC). RESULTS: Overall, 446 patients with NHAP were included in the
      final cohort. The median age was 80 (IQR 75-87) years. A definite aetiology was
      obtained in 120 (26.9%) patients; of these, 66 (55%) had a culture positive for a
      multidrug-resistant pathogen. The 30-day mortality was 28.7%. On multivariate
      analysis, malnutrition (OR 7.8; 95% CI 3-20.2, 2 points), bilateral pneumonia (OR
      3.7; 95% CI 1.4-9.8, 1 point), acute mental status deterioration (OR 6.2; 95% CI
      2.2-17.6, 2 points), hypotension (OR 7.7; 95% CI 2.3-24.9, 2 points), and
      PaO2/FiO2 ratio <=250 (OR 7.4; 95% CI 2.2-24.2, 2 points) were independently
      associated with 30-day mortality. The derived prediction rule showed an AUROC of
      0.83 (95% CI 0.78-0.87, p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: NH residents with pneumonia have
      specific risk factors associated with 30-day mortality. Malnutrition and acute
      mental change appear as major determinants of death in this population.

PMID- 28583739
TI  - A new equine and zoonotic threat emerges from an old avian pathogen, Chlamydia
      psittaci.

PMID- 28583740
TI  - Diagnosing fungal infections in haematology patients-another case of less is more
      in the clinical setting?

PMID- 28583741
TI  - ESCMID-an international Europe-based society committed to fostering cross-border
      collaboration and education to improve patient care.

PMID- 28583743
TI  - [Suicidality during perinatal period].
AB  - Suicide is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. Mental disorders,
      especially mood disorders, have been identified in most perinatal suicide cases.
      Maternal suicidality has a negative impact on the mother-baby relationship and
      child development. Systematic screening for psychiatric conditions in the
      perinatal period is a priority. For women suffering from an acute psychiatric
      disorder, or a history of mental illness, multidisciplinary management should be
      implemented.

PMID- 28583742
TI  - Visual and Motor Deficits in Grown-up Mice with Congenital Zika Virus Infection.
AB  - Human infants with congenital Zika virus (ZIKV) infection exhibit a range of
      symptoms including microcephaly, intracranial calcifications, macular atrophy and
      arthrogryposis. More importantly, prognosis data have lagged far behind the
      recent outbreak of ZIKV in 2015. In this work, we allow congenitally ZIKV
      infected mice to grow into puberty. These mice exhibited motor incoordination and
      visual dysfunctions, which can be accounted by anatomical defects in the retina
      and cerebellar cortex. In contrary, anxiety level of the ZIKV-infected mice is
      normal. The spectrum of anatomical and behavioral deficits is consistent across
      different mice. Our data provided evidence that may help predict the public
      health burden in terms of prognosis of ZIKV-related congenital brain
      malformations in an animal model. Our study provided behavioral evaluation for
      the prognosis of congenital ZIKV infection and provides a platform for screening
      and evaluation of drugs candidates and treatment aiming at improving regeneration
      of infected neurons to prevent sequelae caused by ZIKV infection of fetus.

PMID- 28583744
TI  - [Pulmonary revalvulation and rhythmologenic risks in patients with repaired
      tetralogy of Fallot].
AB  - Tetralogy of Fallot is a frequent congenital heart disease that has been repaired
      since the mid-1950s. The follow-up after repair is good despite a persistent risk
      of sudden death. The risk factors in long-term follow-up are advanced age at
      repair, hemodynamic status of the right ventricle, QRS duration>=180ms, left
      ventricular dysfunction, and existence of sustained or not ventricular
      tachycardia. In the presence of significant pulmonary regurgitation, it is
      necessary to perform revalvulation either by classic surgery or cardiac
      catheterization. To correct the risk of ventricular arrhythmia, some have
      proposed radiofrequency ablation of critical isthmus, or cryo-application during
      surgery. However, the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillator is another
      therapeutic option that is more and more employed as secondary or primary
      prevention in patients at risk of sudden death.

PMID- 28583745
TI  - [Genetics of congenital heart diseases].
AB  - Developmental genetics of congenital heart diseases has evolved from analysis of
      serial slices in embryos towards molecular genetics of cardiac morphogenesis with
      a dynamic view of cardiac development. Genetics of congenital heart diseases has
      also changed from formal genetic analysis of familial recurrences or population
      based analysis to screening for mutations in candidates genes identified in
      animal models. Close cooperation between molecular embryologists, pathologists
      involved in heart development and pediatric cardiologists is crucial for further
      increase of knowledge in the field of cardiac morphogenesis and genetics of
      cardiac defects. The genetic model for congenital heart disease has to be revised
      to favor a polygenic origin rather than a monogenic one. The main mechanism is
      altered genic dosage that can account for heart diseases in chromosomal anomalies
      as well as in point mutations in syndromic and isolated congenital heart
      diseases. The use of big data grouping information from cardiac development,
      interactions between genes and proteins, epigenetic factors such as chromatin
      remodeling or DNA methylation is the current source for improving our knowledge
      in the field and to give clues for future therapies.

PMID- 28583746
TI  - [Health new technology: Uber versus increase].

PMID- 28583747
TI  - Targeting DNA damage response systems to impact cancer care.

PMID- 28583748
TI  - Development of PARP inhibitors in gynecological malignancies.
AB  - PARP inhibitors demonstrate synthetic lethality in tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations
      and other homologous recombination repair deficiencies by interfering with DNA
      repair and causing direct toxicity to DNA through PARP trapping. PARP inhibitors
      have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of BRCA1/2-mutated ovarian
      cancers, which has led to a shift in the treatment paradigm of this disease.
      Further studies to establish the role of PARP inhibitors during earlier stages of
      treatment are ongoing. The use of PARP inhibitors in other cancers with
      homologous recombination repair deficiencies, such as breast cancer and prostate
      cancer, is gradually evolving as well, including their use in the neoadjuvant and
      adjuvant settings. PARP inhibitor combination strategies with chemotherapy,
      targeted agents, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy are also being explored. The
      role of predictive biomarkers, including molecular signatures and homologous
      recombination deficiency scores based on loss of heterozygosity and other
      structural genomic aberrations, will be crucial to improved patient
      stratification to enhance the clinical utility of PARP inhibitors. This may also
      allow the use of PARP inhibitors to be extended beyond tumors with specific
      homologous recombination DNA repair gene mutations in the future. An improved
      understanding of the mechanisms underlying PARP inhibitor resistance will also be
      important to enable the development of new approaches to increase efficacy. This
      is a field rich in opportunity, and the coming years should see a better
      understanding of which patients we should be treating with PARP inhibitors and
      where these agents should come in over the course of treatment.

PMID- 28583749
TI  - Predictors for early readmission in acute pancreatitis (AP) in the United States
      (US) - A nationwide population based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Population based data on the burden and patterns of acute
      pancreatitis (AP) early readmissions (<=30-days) are limited. METHODS: 2013
      Nationwide Readmission Database (NRD) was queried. AP etiology was determined
      using associated diagnoses codes. Proportion, reasons for readmission, and
      associated costs were evaluated. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was
      performed to identify independent predictors for 30-day readmission. RESULTS:
      After exclusions, we identified 178,541 patients with primary diagnosis of AP
      (mean age 53 +/- 17 years, 51% male). 13.7% were readmitted <=30 days [7.1% in
      acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP) patients with index cholecystectomy (CCY), 16.3%
      in ABP patients without CCY, and 14.3% in non-biliary AP patients (p < 0.0001)].
      Reasons for readmission included AP, chronic pancreatitis, Pseudocyst/walled off
      necrosis, biliary tract disease, smoldering symptoms and others. On multivariate
      analysis male gender, comorbidity status (>=3), non-biliary etiology, organ
      failure, Pseudocyst/walled off necrosis complications, and patients discharged to
      extended care facilities were associated with increased risk of readmission. ABP
      patients with index CCY had a significantly lower risk of early unplanned
      readmission (odds ratio 0.45, p < 0.0001) but ABP patients with index ERCP did
      not (p = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: About 1 in 7 AP patients had a 30-day readmission
      after index hospitalization and about half of these were related to AP. Our data
      confirms the higher risk of readmission in alcohol and idiopathic AP and a lower
      risk in ABP. Risk of early unplanned readmission is significantly lower in ABP
      patients who underwent CCY and not ERCP during index hospitalization.
      Cholecystectomy should be performed in all ABP patients as per recommended
      guidelines.

PMID- 28583750
TI  - Systematic review: Early versus late dangling after free flap reconstruction of
      the lower limb.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Dangling regimes after free flap surgery to the lower limb
      vary between centres and clinicians. There is currently no accepted gold
      standard. This review examines the evidence for early versus late post-operative
      dangling after free flap reconstruction of the lower limb. The secondary aim is
      to evaluate the regimes used. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Medline, Embase and the
      Cochrane library were searched for all studies on dangling or rehabilitation
      after free flap reconstruction in the lower limb (December 2015). All studies
      outlining a clear dangling regime were included. Data were extracted by two
      authors independently and analysed using the software package Review Manager
      (RevMan 5). All authors were contacted for further information. RESULTS: 197
      patients were included from 8 studies: 1 randomized, 6 cohort and 1 case-series.
      Although some studies did not state the aetiology, of those that did; 42% were
      trauma, 31% oncology, 20% complex wounds and 7% infection. The majority of flaps
      were latissimus dorsi, 18% parascapular, 15% anterolateral thigh and the
      remainder was mixed. Forty-eight percent of patients dangled on post-operative
      day (POD) 7, 29% on day 6, 4% on day 5 and 18% on day 3, with varying regimes. A
      meta-analysis of comparable studies showed circulatory benefit after 4 days of
      dangling using tissue oxygen saturation as a measure. Four flap failures (2.0%)
      were reported. CONCLUSIONS: There is physiological benefit in post-operative
      dangling. A 3-day flap training regime is sufficient for physiological training.
      However, the optimal flap training regime remains unclear. It may be appropriate
      to start dangling as early as POD 3. More research is needed to determine the
      optimal time to start dangling and the regime.

PMID- 28583751
TI  - Two-artery replantation for digital tip amputation.

PMID- 28583752
TI  - Management of knee rheumatoid arthritis and tibia nonunion with one-stage total
      knee arthroplasty and intramedullary nailing: A report of two cases.
AB  - Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a surgical procedure which is widely used in the
      treatment of gonarthrosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The incidence
      of stress fractures in tibia in the patients with RA is higher compared to normal
      patients. In this study, we report two cases of TKA and intramedullary nailing in
      RA patients with severe knee arthritis and tibial nonunion. Both patients had a
      satisfactory clinical outcome with radiological healing of the tibial fracture.

PMID- 28583753
TI  - Optimal trajectory and insertion accuracy of sacral alar iliac screws.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyse the optimal trajectories for
      sacral alar iliac screws (SAISs) in a Japanese patient population and the
      clinical assessment of insertion accuracies. METHODS: The ideal trajectories of
      SAISs, starting from 2 mm medial to the apex of the lateral sacral crest on the
      midline between S1 and S2 dorsal foramina, were measured in 80 consecutive spinal
      disease patients (40 males and 40 females; average age: 67.4 +/- 8.1 years) using
      three-dimensional computed tomographic image software. Following these anatomic
      analyses, accuracies of 32 inserted SAISs in consecutive patients, who underwent
      long spinal posterior fusion, were investigated clinically. RESULTS: Lateral
      angulations of optimal SAIS trajectories in males (left: 37.9; right: 37.7) were
      significantly larger than those than in females (left: 32.8; right: 32.4). Caudal
      SAIS angulations for females (left: 33.4; right: 33.9) were significantly larger
      than those in males (left: 27.5; right: 28.0). The 32 SAISs (100 mm long and 9 mm
      in diameter) assessed clinically were accurately inserted on optimal
      trajectories. CONCLUSION: The optimal trajectories of SAISs in a Japanese patient
      population are more lateral in males and more caudal in females. This study
      examines the clinical safety and accuracy of SAIS insertion on these optimal
      trajectories.

PMID- 28583754
TI  - Bilateral bony increased-offset reverse shoulder arthroplasty in rheumatoid
      arthritis shoulder with severe glenoid bone defect: A case report.
AB  - A 53-year-old woman presented with 10-year history of pain and limited range of
      motion in both shoulders. Radiographs of both shoulders showed severe shoulder
      osteoarthritis with glenoid bone defect. Very thin rotator cuff and superior
      migration of the humerus were also observed on computed tomography images. We
      performed bony increased-offset reverse total shoulder arthroplasty on her both
      shoulders. The patient had a good clinical outcome without any particular
      complication.

PMID- 28583755
TI  - Prognostic significance of an antenatal magnetic resonance imaging staging system
      on airway outcomes of fetal craniofacial venolymphatic malformations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the article was to determine if anatomical findings on
      fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of venolymphatic malformations of the face
      and neck (VLMFN) can be used to create a staging system predictive of airway
      outcomes. METHODS: We reviewed 13 fetuses evaluated for VLMFN. Stage was assigned
      based on anatomical findings on fetal MRI. Stage I: no evidence of polyhydramnios
      with free egress of amniotic fluid and clear visualization of the aryepiglottic
      folds and larynx. Stage II: lesions of the tongue or epiglottis but with normal
      aryepiglottic folds without polyhydramnios. Stage III: lesions of the tongue or
      larynx; nonvisualization of the aryepiglottic folds without free egress of
      amniotic fluid along with polyhydramnios. RESULTS: Six met stage I criteria with
      no airway involvement, nor any subsequent issues. Two met stage II criteria and
      were managed by ex-utero intrapartum therapy and intubated. One had minimal
      involvement of the upper airway, was extubated, and had no subsequent issues.
      Child two had involvement of the tongue and larynx and received a tracheostomy.
      Five were assigned stage III, delivered by ex-utero intrapartum therapy and
      intubated. Postnatal evaluation showed involvement of the upper airway by the
      lesion and was managed with tracheostomy. All treated by tracheostomy remain
      cannulated because of persistent symptomatic lesions at follow-up (relative risk
      4.0; confidence interval 1.2-13.3). Median follow-up was 4 y (range 2-7 y).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although numbers are small, data suggest anatomical details obtained
      by antenatal fetal MRI appear to correlate with airway outcomes in children
      affected by a VLMFN. This information may be useful when counseling expectant
      families of affected fetuses.

PMID- 28583756
TI  - Thrombelastography indicates limitations of animal models of trauma-induced
      coagulopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thrombelastography (TEG) has been used to characterize the
      coagulation changes associated with injury and shock. Animal models developed to
      investigate trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC) have failed to produce excessive
      bleeding. We hypothesize that a native TEG will demonstrate marked differences in
      humans compared with these experimental models, which explains the difficulties
      in reproducing a clinically relevant coagulopathy in animal models. METHODS:
      Whole blood was collected from 138 healthy human volunteers, 25 swine and 66
      Sprague-Dawley rats before experimentation. Citrated native TEGs were conducted
      on each whole blood sample within 2 h of collection. The clot initiation (R-time,
      minutes), angle (degrees), maximum amplitude (MA; millimeter), and lysis 30 min
      after MA (LY30; percentage) were analyzed and contrasted between species with
      data represented as the median and 25th to 75th quartile range. Difference
      between species was conducted with a Kruskal-Wallis test with alpha adjusted with
      a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (alpha = 0.016). RESULTS: Median
      R-time (clot initiation) was 14.65 min (IQR: 13.2-16.3 min) for humans, 5.7 min
      (4.9-8.8) for pigs, and 5.2 min (4.4-6) for rodents. Humans had longer R-times
      than both pigs (P < 0.0001) and rats (P < 0.0001); pigs were not different from
      rats (P = 0.4439). Angle (fibrin cross-linking) was 42.3 degrees  (interquartile
      range [IQR]: 37.5-50.2) for humans, 71.7 degrees  (64.3-75.6) for pigs, and 61.8
      degrees  (56.8-66.7) for rats. Humans had reduced angle compared with both pigs
      (P < 0.0001) and rats (P < 0.0001); pigs were not different from rats (P =
      0.6052). MA (clot strength) was 55.5 mm (IQR: 52.0-59.5) for humans, 72.5 mm
      (70.4-75.5) for pigs, and 66.5 mm (56.5-68.6) for rats. Humans had reduced MA
      compared with both pigs (P < 0.0001) and rats (P < 0.0001); pigs were not
      different from rats (P = 0.0161). LY30 (fibrinolysis) was 1.5% (IQR: 0.975-2.5)
      for humans, 3.3% (1.9-4.3) for pigs, and 0.5% (0.1-1.2) for rats. Humans had a
      lesser LY30 than pigs (P = 0.0062) and a greater LY30 than rats (P < 0.0001), and
      pigs had a greater LY30 than rats (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Humans, swine, and
      rodents have distinctly different coagulation systems, when evaluated by citrated
      native TEG. Animals are hypercoagulable with rapid clotting times and clots
      strengths nearly 50% stronger than humans. These coagulation differences indicate
      the limitations of previous models of trauma-induced coagulopathy in producing
      coagulation abnormalities associated with increased bleeding. The inherent
      hypercoagulable baseline tendencies of these animals may result in subclinical
      biochemical changes that are not detected by conventional TEG and should be taken
      into consideration when extrapolated to clinical medicine.

PMID- 28583757
TI  - Intravenous Acetaminophen in Multimodal Pain Management for Patients Undergoing
      Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although multimodal pain management including periarticular multidrug
      injection can provide excellent pain relief in the early postoperative period
      after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), rebounding pain remains an important
      challenge. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed to
      investigate the efficacy of adding intravenous acetaminophen to multimodal pain
      management for TKA. METHODS: We enrolled 67 patients scheduled for unilateral
      TKA. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 1000 mg of intravenous
      acetaminophen at 6-hour intervals or normal saline at the same intervals. All
      patients were treated with intraoperative periarticular multidrug injection and
      intravenous and oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The primary outcome
      was the postoperative 100-mm visual analog pain scale at the time of
      administration of study drugs. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis, the
      pain score was significantly better in the intravenous acetaminophen group than
      the placebo group at 17:00 one day after TKA (15.3 +/- 17.0 mm vs 26.8 +/- 19.0
      mm; P = .013). There were no significant differences in terms of the rate of
      complications between groups. CONCLUSION: Even in the setting of multimodal pain
      management including periarticular multidrug injection, intravenous acetaminophen
      provided better pain relief for patients undergoing unilateral TKA.

PMID- 28583758
TI  - Perioperative Complications in Patients With Sleep Apnea Undergoing Total Joint
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate the effect of sleep apnea (SA) on
      perioperative complications after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) and whether the
      type of anesthesia influences these complications. METHODS: Using the ninth and
      tenth revisions of the International Classification of Diseases, coding systems,
      we queried our institutional TJA database from January 2005 to June 2016 to
      identify patients with SA who underwent TJA. These patients were matched in a 1:3
      ratio based on age, gender, type of surgery, and comorbidities to patients who
      underwent TJA but were not coded for SA. Perioperative complications were
      identified using the same coding systems. Multivariate analysis was used to test
      if SA is an independent predictor of perioperative complications and if type of
      anesthesia can affect these complications. RESULTS: A total of 1246 patients with
      SA were matched to 3738 patients without SA. Pulmonary complications occurred
      more frequently in patients with SA (1.7% vs 0.6%; P < .001), confirmed using
      multivariate analysis (odds ratio = 2.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.58-5.36; P =
      .001). Use of general anesthesia increased risk of all but central nervous system
      complications and mortality (odds ratio = 15.88; 95% confidence interval, 3.93
      64.07; P < .001) regardless of SA status compared with regional anesthesia. Rates
      of pulmonary and gastrointestinal complications, acute anemia, and mortality were
      lower in SA patients when regional anesthesia was used (P < .05). CONCLUSION: SA
      increases risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. The use of regional
      anesthesia may reduce risk of pulmonary complications and mortality in SA
      patients undergoing TJA.

PMID- 28583759
TI  - Morbid Obesity Is a Significant Risk of Failure Following Revision Total Hip
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although it has been shown that morbidly obese patients experience
      good outcomes following primary total hip arthroplasty (THA), it is unclear
      whether this also applies to revision surgery. The purpose of this study was to
      examine the effect of a high body mass index (BMI) on the outcome of revision
      THA. METHODS: We identified 56 patients with a BMI >40 kg/m2 who had undergone
      revision THA between 1994 and 2009 at our hospital (group B). Mean age, BMI, and
      follow-up were 66.4 years, 45.7 kg/m2, and 11.7 years, respectively. This was
      matched with a second group of patients with a BMI between 30 and 40 kg/m2
      according to age, gender, and date of index procedure (group A). Mean age, BMI,
      and follow-up were 66.6 years, 33.6 kg/m2, and 12 years, respectively. Outcome
      measures included the rate of subsequent revision, implant survival, and the
      Harris hip score (HHS). RESULTS: Patients with a BMI >40 kg/m2 had a
      significantly increased risk of revision surgery (27% vs 12%, P = .036).
      Cumulative implant survival was 85% (95% CI, 69-92) in group A and 69% (95% CI,
      54-80) in group B at 15 years. HHS increased significantly following surgery in
      both groups (group A: 26.3-79.3) and (group B: 37.6-69.9; P < .001). However, HHS
      at last follow-up was significantly higher in group A (79.3 vs 69.9, P = .042).
      CONCLUSION: Morbid obesity appears to be associated with an increased risk of
      failure and lower functional scores following revision THA. Patients should be
      well informed of this before surgery.

PMID- 28583760
TI  - Can Demographic Variables Accurately Predict Component Sizing in Primary Total
      Knee Arthroplasty?
AB  - BACKGROUND: As health care reform drives providers to reduce costs and improve
      efficiencies without compromising patient care, preoperative planning has become
      imperative. The purpose of this study is to determine whether height, weight, and
      gender can accurately predict total knee arthroplasty (TKA) sizing. METHODS: A
      consecutive series of 3491 primary TKAs performed by 2 surgeons was reviewed.
      Height, weight, gender, implant, preoperative templating sizes, and final implant
      sizes were collected. Implant-specific dimensions were collected from vendors.
      Using height, weight, and gender, a multivariate linear regression was performed
      with and without the inclusion of preoperative templating. Accuracy of the model
      was reported for commonly used implants. RESULTS: There was a significant linear
      correlation between height, weight, and gender for femoral (R2 = 0.504; P < .001)
      and tibial sizes (R2 = 0.610; P < .001). Adding preoperative templating to the
      regression analysis increased the overall model fit for both the femoral (R2 =
      0.756; P < .001) and tibial sizes (R2 = 0.780; P < .001). Femoral and tibial
      sizes were accurately predicted within 1 size of the final implant 71%-92% and
      81%-97% using demographics alone or 85%-99% and 90%-99% using both templating and
      demographics, respectively. CONCLUSION: This novel TKA templating model allows
      final implants to be predicted to within 1 size. The model allows for simplified
      preoperative planning and potential implementation into a cost-savings program
      that limits inventory and trays required for each case.

PMID- 28583761
TI  - Bundled Payments for Care Improvement: Boom or Bust?
AB  - BACKGROUND: As early implementors of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
      Services (CMS) Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative, our
      private practice sought to compare our readmission rates, post-acute care
      utilization, and length of stay for the first year under BPCI compared to
      baseline data. METHODS: We used CMS data to compare total expenditures of all
      diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). Medicare patients who underwent orthopedic
      surgery between 2009 and 2012 were defined as non-BPCI (n = 8415) and were
      compared to Medicare BPCI patients (n = 4757) who had surgery in 2015. Ninety-day
      post-acute events including inpatient rehabilitation facility or subacute nursing
      facility admission, home health (HH), and readmissions were analyzed. RESULTS:
      The median expenditure for non-BPCI patients was $22,193 compared to $19,476 for
      BPCI patients (P < .001). Median post-acute care spend was $6861 for non-BPCI and
      $5360 for BPCI patients (P < .001). Compared to non-BPCI patients, BPCI patients
      had a lower rate of subacute nursing facility admissions (non-BPCI 43% vs 37%
      BPCI; P < .001), inpatient rehabilitation facility admissions (non-BPCI 3% vs 4%
      BPCI; P = .005), HH (non-BPCI 79% vs 73% BPCI; P < .001), and readmissions (non
      BPCI 12% vs 10% BPCI; P = .02). Changes in length of stay for post-acute care
      were only significant for HH with BPCI patients using a median 12 days and non
      BPCI using 24 days. CONCLUSION: The objective of BPCI was to improve healthcare
      value. Through substantial efforts both financially and utilization of human
      resources to contain costs with clinical practice guidelines, patient navigators,
      and a BPCI management team, the expenditures for CMS were significantly lower for
      BPCI patients.

PMID- 28583762
TI  - Puerarin inhibits amyloid beta-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in retinal
      pigment epithelial cells via suppressing ROS-dependent oxidative and endoplasmic
      reticulum stresses.
AB  - Amyloid beta (Abeta) is a critical stimulator that promotes the progression of
      age-related macular degeneration (AMD). NLRP3 inflammasome activation induced by
      Abeta is estimated to be responsible for retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)
      dysfunction in such disease. Puerarin, one of the major active constituents of
      Kudzu root, has been widely used in the clinical treatment of AMD in China for
      decades; however, the detailed molecular mechanism remains far from clear. In
      this study, we investigated the protective effect and underlying mechanism of
      puerarin against Abeta1-40-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in LPS-primed
      ARPE-19 cells. The results showed that Abeta1-40 induced NLRP3 inflammasome
      activation mainly via triggering ROS-dependent oxidative stress, particularly
      lipid peroxidation, and endoplasmic reticulum stress in LPS-primed ARPE-19 cells;
      however, such effect could be significantly reversed by puerarin in a dose
      dependent manner. Furthermore, the effect of puerarin was potentially mediated
      through activating Nrf2/HO-1 antioxidant signaling pathway and inhibiting Abeta1
      40-induced phosphorylation of IRE1 and PERK as well as nuclear expression of
      ATF6alpha. Therefore, the significance of the current study is to reveal the
      novel mechanism of puerarin in the prevention of AMD.

PMID- 28583763
TI  - Measuring clinically relevant endpoints in a serum-free, three-dimensional,
      primary cell culture system of human osteoarthritic articular chondrocytes.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by degeneration of articular cartilage
      within the joint, inflammation and pain. The purpose of this study was to develop
      a primary, serum free cell culture system of human osteoarthritic articular
      chondrocytes (HOACs) with which to study manifestations of the disease process.
      Joint tissues were obtained from OA patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty
      (TKA). HOACs isolated from the femoral condyles and tibial plateau of the same
      side were combined, plated in three-dimensional, alginate beads and cultured for
      five days in serum, hormone and protein free medium. More living cells were
      obtained from the femoral condyles than the tibial plateau. The optimal plating
      density was 2.5 * 106 cells/ml of alginate. The amounts of DNA, RNA,
      proteoglycans and total collagen were similar in cultures prepared from the sides
      of least and greatest pathology. More type 1 than type 2 collagen was detected in
      the medium on days 2 and 5. A greater percentage of type 1 than type 2 collagen
      was degraded. The inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta was present in the
      medium and alginate associated matrix. Although variation in the metabolic
      profiles between subjects was observed, HOACs from all patients continued to
      reflect the OA phenotype for five days in culture. This serum free, three
      dimensional primary culture system of HOACs provides a platform with which to
      measure clinically relevant endpoints of OA and screen potential disease
      modifying OA therapeutics.

PMID- 28583764
TI  - Proteomic composition and immunomodulatory properties of urinary bladder matrix
      scaffolds in homeostasis and injury.
AB  - Urinary bladder matrix (UBM) is used clinically for management of wounds and
      reinforcement of surgical soft tissue repair, among other applications. UBM
      consists of the lamina propria and basal lamina of the porcine urinary bladder,
      and is decellularized as part of the process to manufacture the medical device.
      UBM is composed mainly of Collagen I, but also contains a wide variety of
      fibrillar and basement membrane collagens, glycoproteins, proteoglycans and ECM
      associated factors. Upon application of the biomaterial in a traumatic or non
      traumatic setting in a mouse model, there is a cascade of immune cells that
      respond to the damaged tissue and biomaterial. Here, through the use of
      multicolor flow cytometry, we describe the various cells that infiltrate the UBM
      scaffold in a subcutaneous and volumetric muscle injury model. A wide variety of
      immune cells are found in the UBM scaffold immune microenvironment (SIM)
      including F4/80+ macrophages, CD11c+ dendritic cells, CD3+ T cells and CD19+ B
      cells. A systemic IL-4 upregulation and a local M2-macrophage response were
      observed in the proximity of the implanted UBM. The recruitment and activation of
      these cells is dependent upon signals from the scaffold and communication between
      the different cell types present.

PMID- 28583765
TI  - Current role and future perspectives of multivariate (chemometric) methods in NMR
      spectroscopic analysis of pharmaceutical products.
AB  - Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a fast and accurate analytical method.
      Associated with chemometrics, it gradually becomes more important tool for the
      pharmaceutical industry. In this review studies dealing with the applications of
      multivariate analysis to NMR spectroscopic profiles were grouped and discussed
      according to the analytical problem solved. The following topics were covered:
      authenticity of medicines according to variety, seasonal and geographical
      differences of herbal plants; quantitative prediction of pharmacologically
      relevant parameters; production and batches approval; investigation of drug
      structure modifications; site-specific natural isotope fractionation (SNIF-NMR)
      fingerprinting for origin and manufacturer tracking and others. Special focus was
      put on the heparin authenticity by using 1D and 2D NMR measurements. Finally,
      further research directions have been outlined. Our review has shown that
      chemometrics plays an important role for the quality control and authenticity of
      pharmaceutical products and its role will definitely increase in the future. The
      discussed approaches are recommended to be implemented during development and
      production process of pharmaceuticals or in quality control laboratories.

PMID- 28583766
TI  - Integrating dimensions of biodiversity in choreotrichs and oligotrichs of marine
      plankton.
AB  - Choreotrichs and oligotrichs are the main ciliate groups in marine plankton,
      where they play major roles as trophic intermediaries. We have studied these
      groups with a variety of approaches to combine the three dimensions of
      biodiversity-taxonomy, genetics and function. Here we revisit our findings with
      an integrative perspective, and highlight future directions. In our studies, the
      correspondence between classical taxonomy (mostly based on morphology) and the
      increasingly available genetic data (DNA sequences) is examined at the
      individual, population, species, and assemblage levels. We use a combination of
      single-cell and environmental sequencing to quantify diversity, track
      distribution patterns, and explain biogeography processes. Comparativelly, we
      know little about how the morphological and genetic estimates of diversity relate
      to function, but we expect to better link these aspects by incorporating modern 
      omics approaches. For example, we have pioneered functional transcriptomic
      analyses in these groups by contrasting a heterotrophic choreotrich and a
      mixotrophic oligotrich. These data provide a tremendous resource to start
      building reference databases needed to measure differential expression of key
      functional genes, either experimentally or directly in the environment.

PMID- 28583767
TI  - LXR-dependent regulation of macrophage-specific reverse cholesterol transport is
      impaired in a model of genetic diabesity.
AB  - Diabesity and fatty liver have been associated with low levels of high-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol, and thus could impair macrophage-specific reverse
      cholesterol transport (m-RCT). Liver X receptor (LXR) plays a critical role in m
      RCT. Abcg5/g8 sterol transporters, which are involved in cholesterol trafficking
      into bile, as well as other LXR targets, could be compromised in the livers of
      obese individuals. We aimed to determine m-RCT dynamics in a mouse model of
      diabesity, the db/db mice. These obese mice displayed a significant retention of
      macrophage-derived cholesterol in the liver and reduced fecal cholesterol
      elimination compared with nonobese mice. This was associated with a significant
      downregulation of the hepatic LXR targets, including Abcg5/g8. Pharmacologic
      induction of LXR promoted the delivery of total tracer output into feces in db/db
      mice, partly due to increased liver and small intestine Abcg5/Abcg8 gene
      expression. Notably, a favorable upregulation of the hepatic levels of ABCG5/G8
      and NR1H3 was also observed postoperatively in morbidly obese patients,
      suggesting a similar LXR impairment in these patients. In conclusion, our data
      show that downregulation of the LXR axis impairs cholesterol transfer from
      macrophages to feces in db/db mice, whereas the induction of the LXR axis partly
      restores impaired m-RCT by elevating the liver and small intestine expressions of
      Abcg5/g8.

PMID- 28583768
TI  - Pancreatic pseudocyst localized in the gastric wall after EUS-guided FNA of type
      1 autoimmune pancreatitis.

PMID- 28583769
TI  - The 5D framework: a clinical primer for fecal microbiota transplantation to treat
      Clostridium difficile infection.

PMID- 28583770
TI  - Recent insights into synthetic beta-carbolines with anti-cancer activities.
AB  - Cancer, an uncontrolled and rapid proliferation of abnormal cells, has become one
      of the leading cause of death worldwide. The development of resistance among the
      numerous drugs in clinical use has provided strong impetus for the identification
      and development of novel cancer therapeutics. beta-carbolines constitute an
      important class of pharmacologically active scaffolds known to exert their
      anticancer activities via diverse mechanisms. The purpose of present review
      article is to update the readers on the current developments in beta-carbolines
      with an emphasis on synthetic strategies, structure-activity relationships,
      mechanism of action and in vivo studies wherever possible.

PMID- 28583771
TI  - Response to - Adverse events associated with the use of cervical spine
      manipulation or mobilization and patient characteristics: A systematic review.

PMID- 28583772
TI  - Ultrasound guided trigeminal nerve block as local anaesthetic technique for
      exenteration and excision of the zygomatic arch with partial caudal maxillectomy
      in a dog.

PMID- 28583774
TI  - [Risks of anesthesia in infants].

PMID- 28583773
TI  - Anesthetic synergy between two n-alkanes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: N-butane and n-pentane can both produce general anesthesia. Both
      compounds potentiate gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor function,
      but only butane inhibits N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. It was
      hypothesized that butane and pentane would exhibit anesthetic synergy due to
      their different actions on ligand-gated ion channels. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective
      experimental study. ANIMALS: A total of four Xenopus laevis frogs and 43 Sprague
      Dawley rats. METHODS: Alkane concentrations for all studies were determined via
      gas chromatography. Using a Xenopus oocyte expression model, standard two
      electrode voltage clamp techniques were used to measure NMDA and GABAA receptor
      responses in vitro as a function of butane and pentane concentrations relevant to
      anesthesia. The minimum alveolar concentrations (MAC) of butane and pentane were
      measured separately in rats, and then pentane MAC was measured during
      coadministration of 0.25, 0.50 or 0.75 times MAC of butane. An isobole with 95%
      confidence intervals was constructed using regression analysis. A sum of butane
      and pentane that was statistically less than the lower-end confidence bound
      isobole indicated a synergistic interaction. RESULTS: Both butane and pentane
      dose-dependently potentiated GABAA receptor currents over the study concentration
      range. Butane dose-dependently inhibited NMDA receptor currents, but pentane did
      not modulate NMDA receptors. Butane and pentane MAC in rats was 39.4+/-0.7 and
      13.7+/-0.4 %, respectively. A small but significant (p<0.03) synergistic
      anesthetic effect with pentane was observed during administration of either 0.50
      or 0.75*MAC butane. CONCLUSIONS: Butane and pentane show synergistic anesthetic
      effects in vivo consistent with their different in vitro receptor effects.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Findings support the relevance of NMDA receptors in mediating
      anesthetic actions for some, but not all, inhaled agents.

PMID- 28583775
TI  - [A lumbar vertebral eosinophilic granuloma with spinal instability in an
      adolescent].
AB  - This is a case report of a rare isolated eosinophilic granuloma of vertebra L3,
      in a 15-year-old adolescent. Vertebral instability, due to aggravation of the
      osteolysis, occurred without neurological symptoms despite orthopedic treatment.
      Surgery was necessary to correct and stabilize the spinal deformation.
      Postoperative chemotherapy (vinblastine and corticoids) was given as recommended
      for Langerhans cell histiocytosis (HL2010). No recurrence was observed after 5
      years of follow-up.

PMID- 28583776
TI  - [Neonatal hyperthyroidism: A sometimes challenging diagnosis].
AB  - Graves disease complicates two pregnancies out of 1000 and when it is known
      before pregnancy, it warrants careful monitoring of the fetus and the newborn. We
      report on a case of neonatal hyperthyroidism, which revealed a previously unknown
      maternal thyroid disease. In this situation, neonatal signs can be
      misinterpreted, delaying the diagnosis. Neonatal hyperthyroidism is, however, a
      therapeutic emergency because of the risk of cardiac and neurological
      complications. The neonatologist must identify thyroid disease in the absence of
      a maternal history in order to promptly start therapy.

PMID- 28583777
TI  - [Isolated gallbladder agenesis mimicking biliary colic: A difficult preoperative
      diagnosis].
AB  - Isolated gallbladder agenesis is a very rare and unrecognized congenital anomaly.
      Patients are usually asymptomatic, but 23% present with symptoms suggestive of
      biliary colic. Ultrasound investigation often fails to diagnose this
      malformation, misinterpreted as scleroatrophic gallbladder, leading to
      unnecessary and potentially dangerous surgery. We report on a case of a 9-year
      old child who complained of biliary colic. Ultrasound showed a possible
      scleroatrophic gallbladder. This diagnosis was in doubt, however, because the
      patient had no previous history of cholecystitis. Finally, magnetic resonance
      cholangiopancreatography failed to show any gallbladder. The absence of the
      visualization of the gallbladder in a context of right upper quadrant pain should
      suggest gallbladder agenesis. Pain can be explained by the so-called
      postcholecystectomy syndrome.

PMID- 28583778
TI  - [Physiopathology and management of cholestatic pruritus in children].
AB  - Pruritus is a disabling symptom accompanying chronic cholestasis. In some cases,
      refractory pruritus may require invasive therapies including liver
      transplantation. The pathogenesis of pruritus in cholestatic disease is poorly
      understood. It may involve a specific neural pathway and several pruritogenic
      substances such as bile acids, opioids, serotonin, and the more recently
      identified lysophosphatidic acid. While the therapeutic management of cholestatic
      pruritus is well established in adult patients, there is no consensus in
      children, given the difficulty in conducting controlled clinical studies. The
      currently recommended strategy to manage cholestatic pruritus in children is
      based on several lines of therapy that should always be associated with local
      cutaneous care and with nonspecific treatment of cholestasis including
      ursodeoxycholic acid therapy. Pruritus should be assessed as objectively as
      possible between each therapeutic step. Rifampicin, an enzyme inducer, is the
      specific first-line treatment of cholestatic pruritus. The second-line therapies
      require evaluation of the child in an expert center and are discussed on a case
      by-case basis depending on the underlying disease, the experience of the center
      and the will of the child and his family. It could be inhibitors of serotonin
      reuptake (sertraline) or an opioid antagonist (naloxone). Invasive therapies such
      as biliary diversion or liver transplantation can also be proposed in the most
      severe cases.

PMID- 28583779
TI  - [Screening for disturbed eating behavior in adolescents with type 1 diabetes].

PMID- 28583780
TI  - [Nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis: Early diagnosis avoids
      severe hyponatremia complications].
AB  - AIM: Nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (NSIAD) is a rare disease
      characterized by a kidney disability to dilute urine and, as a result, severe
      recurrent hyponatremia. Due to wide variability in clinical expression, the
      diagnosis still remains a challenge for clinicians. We report our experience of a
      case in which NSIAD was diagnosed early. We also stress the importance of early
      diagnosis and treatment, which protects an infant with NSAID from severe
      hyponatremia. BACKGROUND: A 1-month-old boy was referred to our hospital for
      persistent hyponatremia and intense vomiting. He was born full term after a
      normal pregnancy with a normal birth weight. The parents were healthy,
      nonconsanguineous, of Moroccan origin. They already had healthy twin girls. The
      physical examination was normal upon admission with no signs of dehydration and
      normal weight gain since birth. Plasma sodium was very low (125mmol/L) associated
      with low plasma urea (5mg/dL), osmolality (258 mOsm/kg) and low natriuresis
      (59mmol/L). These laboratory results suggested inappropriate antidiuretic hormone
      secretion (SIAD) and the infant was consequently treated with oral urea (he was
      already receiving sodium supplements that were later stopped). Due to exclusive
      breastfeeding, water restriction was impossible. Further biological investigation
      revealed undetectable plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP), suggesting the diagnosis
      of NSIAD. This was confirmed by genetic sequencing of the AVP receptor (AVPR2),
      demonstrating the presence of an R137C mutation. CONCLUSIONS: We herein report a
      case of a genetic fluid balance disorder due to an activating mutation of AVPR2.
      NSIAD is an X-linked disease, first described in 2005 by Feldman et al., which
      involved severe recurrent hyponatremia. The very early diagnosis (at 7 weeks of
      life) and appropriate treatment with urea prevented seizures and cerebral damage
      due to severe recurrent hyponatremia. Clinicians should consider the diagnosis of
      NSIAD in infants with recurrent hyponatremia with hemodilution and low AVP serum
      level. Genetic analysis of the AVPR2 sequence on the X chromosome will confirm
      the diagnosis and, given the wide variability of clinical expression, sequencing
      of the family members should be done.

PMID- 28583781
TI  - [Macrophage activation syndrome and Kawasaki disease: Four new cases].
AB  - Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a rarely reported complication of
      Kawasaki disease (KD). It must be sought during KD with unusual clinical signs,
      such as enlargement of the liver or spleen, cytopenia (including
      thrombocytopenia), and elevated serum triglycerides. Here, we report four cases
      from a single center. The first is the description of a case of KD occurring in
      an 11-month-old child 15 days after the occurrence of infectious spondylitis. For
      the second, acute myocarditis heralded KD in a 5-year-old child. A 15-year-old
      boy had multiorgan failure with shock. The last case describes an infant with
      atypical KD. All had hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, and increased serum
      ferritin. For all of them, hemophagocytosis was present on the bone marrow
      smears. The condition rapidly evolved favorably with intravenous immunoglobulins
      or steroids. The extensive microbiological work-up was unrevealing. None had any
      coronary sequelae after the episode. KD should be added to the list of
      inflammatory conditions that may be complicated by MAS that modifies the
      presentation mimicking toxic shock or infection-associated activation syndrome
      and makes the diagnosis difficult. This association does not appear to have a
      prognostic impact on the course of the disease in the literature, confirmed by
      the analysis of this small series.

PMID- 28583782
TI  - [A case of neonatal hypotonia].

PMID- 28583783
TI  - Presentaciones poco comunes y peligros de la sifilis secundaria: periosteitis,
      tenosinovitis y anomalias hepaticas.
AB  - We herein describe two cases of secondary syphilis in patients with human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection with an unusual presentation, a diffuse
      polyostotic periosteitis. Patients referred mainly intense bone pain. Other
      relevant aspects of the clinical pictures were flexor tenosynovitis and hepatic
      abnormalities. Given the persistence of symptoms, the treatment duration
      performed was different from most described in literature. However, although more
      slowly than expected, both obtained a favorable clinical response after treatment
      with benzathine penicillin G.

PMID- 28583784
TI  - Periodic fever: From Still's disease to Muckle-Wells syndrome.
AB  - Muckle-Wells syndrome is a systemic autoinflammatory disease included in the
      group of hereditary periodic febrile syndromes. We report the case of a patient
      with this rare disease to call the attention to the singularity of this
      condition, its low incidence, its atypical presentation and the subsequent delay
      in the diagnosis, which is reached when late and devastating consequences have
      taken place. In this case, the first-line therapy, anti-interleukin 1 (IL-1),
      failed to control the disease. Nevertheless, the IL-6 inhibitor, tocilizumab,
      proved effective, achieving the total remission of nephrotic syndrome associated
      with AA secondary amyloidosis, changing the bleak prognosis of this disease.

PMID- 28583785
TI  - Late-onset Cogan's syndrome associated with large-vessel vasculitis.
AB  - Cogan's syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease that usually affects young
      Caucasian adults and is classically defined as the combination of nonsyphilitic
      interstitial keratitis and audiovestibular symptoms resembling Meniere's disease,
      both of them developed in an interval of less than two years. Nevertheless, cases
      with atypical ophthalmologic and audiovestibular features, with systemic
      manifestations or affecting children and older patients have also been reported,
      expanding the clinical spectrum of Cogan's syndrome. Herein, we present the case
      of a late-onset Cogan's syndrome associated with a large-vessel vasculitis.

PMID- 28583786
TI  - Information needs of patients with spondyloarthritis about their disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: 1. To describe the information provided to, or inquired about, by
      patients with axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis. 2. To analyze
      improvements. METHODS: Analysis of the discourse of focus groups (with patients,
      some of them from patient associations, and rheumatologists). The discussion
      included the identification of elements that shape the reality being studied,
      describing the relationship among them and summarizing the results by: 1)thematic
      segmentation; 2)categorization according to situations, relationships, opinions,
      feelings or others; 3)coding of the various categories, and 4)interpretation of
      results. Representativeness was ensured by using a typological framework.
      RESULTS: Rheumatologists are the main source of information. Patient associations
      have a fundamental role and are well-regarded. Internet is used with caution due
      to its limited reliability. Patients are interested in: disease characteristics
      and treatments, the course and prognosis, and social, administrative and other
      kinds of support. More information is needed (objective and constructive,
      avoiding a catastrophic tone); it should be provided progressively, adjusted to
      patients features and needs. There are areas for improvement including: the
      standardization and updating of contents (based on scientific evidence), the
      optimization of informative materials (written, electronic), and other resources
      such as nursing and primary care. CONCLUSIONS: Rheumatologists are the main and
      most reliable source of information for patients with spondyloarthritis and
      psoriatic arthritis. Patient associations have an important role and are well
      regarded. Changes in the content, format and sources of information are required.

PMID- 28583787
TI  - Coatings in food contact materials: Potential source of genotoxic contaminants?
AB  - Up till now, no harmonized EU regulation exists on chemicals used in coatings for
      food contact materials (FCM). Therefore, these substances need to comply with the
      general provisions of EU Regulation 1935/2004 and, if present, with national
      legislation. Different 'inventory lists' of compounds that might be present in
      coatings are available, but for hundreds of these substances, the potential human
      health impact of their use in FCM coatings has not (recently) been evaluated.
      Since detailed evaluation of all compounds is not feasible, a pragmatic approach
      was developed to identify substances with a potential concern for human health.
      First, an inventory was assembled containing all substances potentially used in
      coatings. Afterwards, the genotoxic potential of the non-evaluated substances was
      predicted in silico using two structure-activity relationship (SAR) software
      programs. For substances yielding structural alerts in both models, genotoxicity
      data were collected from previous European evaluations in a non-FCM context and
      from the European CHemicals Agency (ECHA) website. In total, 53 substances were
      identified as genotoxic in both in silico models, of which ten were considered to
      be of high concern. For most of the substances, additional toxicological
      information is needed.

PMID- 28583788
TI  - Thyroid hormone receptor alpha (TRa) tissue expression in ductal invasive breast
      cancer: A study combining quantitative immunohistochemistry with digital slide
      image analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In breast cancer, hormonal receptors hold promise for developing
      novel targeted therapies. The thyroid exerts its actions via the thyroid hormone
      receptors alpha and beta. The clinical significance of the expression of thyroid
      hormone receptors in breast cancer is unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied
      thyroid hormone receptor alpha (TRa) expression in 82 samples from 41 women with
      ductal invasive breast cancer and no thyroid disease. We performed quantitative
      immunohistochemistry with digital image analysis and correlated TRa expression
      with clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: TRa was expressed in both normal
      breast epithelium and breast cancer, but expression in breast cancer was
      significantly lower. TRa was expressed significantly less in larger and grade III
      tumors. Conversely, breast cancers with lymphovascular invasion showed increased
      TRa expression compared to cancers without lymphovascular invasion. TRa
      expression was not significantly different between node-positive and node
      negative breast cancers, or among different hormonal profiles and intrinsic
      subtypes. DISCUSSION: This is the first-in-human study to combine quantitative
      immunohistochemistry with image analysis to study TRa expression in women with
      ductal invasive breast cancer and no clinical or biochemical evidence of thyroid
      dysfunction. We confirm that TRa is expressed in both normal and malignant breast
      epithelium and suggest that TRa expression is downregulated during breast
      carcinogenesis. Larger and higher grade breast cancers demonstrate partial loss
      in TRa expression. Alterations in TRa expression take place even in the absence
      of clinical or biochemical thyroid disease. The underlying mechanism of these
      findings and their potential significance in survival and relapse mandate further
      research.

PMID- 28583789
TI  - Prognostic factors in Merkel cell carcinoma patients undergoing sentinel node
      biopsy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Debate remains about prognostic factors in primary Merkel cell
      carcinoma (MCC). We investigated clinicopathological factors as determinants of
      survival in patients with MCC submitted to sentinel node biopsy. METHODS: Sixty
      four consecutive patients treated for a primary MCC were identified from a
      prospectively maintained database at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei
      Tumori, Milan. Time to events outcome were described by product limit estimators
      and proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association between
      outcome and potential predictors. RESULTS: The most common site of primary tumor
      was lower limbs (56.3%). The size of primary lesion was <=2 cm in 67.2% of cases.
      Presence of residual disease after the diagnostic surgical excision was observed
      in 28% of cases. All patients received sentinel node biopsy (SNB) and a SN
      positivity was detected in 26.6%. The median follow up was 78 months. Disease
      recurrence occurred in 17 patients (26.6%). In the SN negative group 10
      recurrences occurred (21.3%), whereas 7 (41.2%) were found in SN positive one.
      Nine patients SN negative (19.1%) died of disease and 3 (17.6%) among SN
      positive. SN status was not associated with survival (p = 0.78). Neither age,
      gender, size and site of primary tumor resulted predictors of patients' outcome.
      The presence of residual tumor in the specimen of the wide local excision, after
      the diagnostic surgical excision, was the only variable associated with survival
      (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Presence of residual tumor in the specimen of the wide
      local excision is the main prognostic factor in MCC patients.

PMID- 28583790
TI  - Transanal endoscopic microsurgery after neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy for locally
      advanced extraperitoneal rectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to provide a prospective analysis of post
      operative and oncological outcomes in patients affected by locally advanced
      rectal cancer (LARC), who obtained a major/complete clinical response after pre
      operative radio-chemotherapy (RCT) and were treated with local excision (LE) by
      trans-anal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) to confirm a pathological complete
      response (pCR) after to neo-adjuvant RCT. METHODS: All patients with LARC treated
      by pre-operative RCT and full-thickness LE by TEM (2000-2014) were included in
      the study. If the pathological analysis confirmed near complete or pCR, intensive
      follow up was proposed. If the pathological response was incomplete, a radical
      resection with TME was proposed. Post-operative (according to Clavien's
      classification), functional and long-term oncological outcome were analyzed.
      RESULTS: 36 patients were treated by TEM. The median post-operative hospital stay
      was 5 days. The post-operative morbidity was 41.6% (no grade >=3). At
      pathological analysis, 23 specimens were ypT0 TRG1, and 4 were ypT1 TRG2. In 9
      cases (ypT>1 and/or TRG>2), radical surgery with TME was proposed but 3 refused
      it. Median follow-up was 68 months. One local recurrence and 4 distant metastases
      occurred. The 5-yr actuarial local control, overall survival and disease-free
      survival were 96.0%, 92.0% and 82.8%. CONCLUSIONS: In case of major or complete
      clinical response of LARC after pre-operative RCT, LE by TEM can be used to
      confirm the pathological response. This avoids the necessity of radical surgery
      and, in our experience, this approach seems to guarantee oncological safety with
      the functional advantages of an organ-sparing procedure.

PMID- 28583791
TI  - An 18 year population-based study on site of origin and outcome of patients with
      peritoneal malignancy in Ireland.
AB  - Peritoneal malignancy (PM) is predominantly metastatic spread from advanced
      gastrointestinal or gynaecological cancer. PM is generally considered incurable
      and therefore has rarely been the focus of novel therapeutic strategies. This
      study assessed patterns and survival outcomes for patients with PM in Ireland.
      The National Cancer Registry Ireland database was interrogated to identify
      patients diagnosed with PM during the period 1994-2012. Patient and tumour
      characteristics were retrieved and survival outcomes calculated. 5791 patients
      were diagnosed during the study period. Median age at diagnosis was 68 years;
      females accounted for 62%. The incidence increased annually from 228 in 1994 to
      401 in 2012. Primary PM accounted for 3% of cases. Colorectal (22%), ovarian
      (16%) and gastric (13%) cancers accounted for the majority of cases of secondary
      PM. Almost 75% of patients had PM at initial presentation. Almost 40% of patients
      (n = 2274) underwent surgical intervention, while 44% (n = 2560) had tumour
      directed chemotherapy. The median survival (MS) in patients with secondary PM was
      6.6 months, and did not improve significantly during the study period. Outcomes
      were best in patients with ovarian cancer (MS 15.9 months) and colorectal cancer
      (MS 14.3 months) and worst in patients with lung (MS 2.4 months) and pancreas (MS
      1.9 months) cancers. This is the first population-based study from Ireland to
      report the incidence and outcomes for PM. PM is more common than previously
      reported and survival remains poor. These findings highlight the need for greater
      clinician awareness and the need to focus on new therapeutic approaches to
      improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28583792
TI  - Role of palliative resection of the primary tumour in advanced pancreatic and
      small intestinal neuroendocrine tumours: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the impact on overall survival following
      palliative surgery to remove the primary lesion in unresectable metastatic small
      intestinal (SI-NET) and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (P-NET). METHODS: A
      systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis was performed. MEDLINE and
      Embase databases were searched to identify articles comparing patients undergoing
      palliative primary tumour resection without metastatectomy vs. no resection.
      Relevant articles were identified in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The
      primary outcome was overall survival. Included studies were evaluated for
      heterogeneity and publication bias. RESULTS: 13 studies met the inclusion
      criteria, of which 6 presented data suitable for meta-analysis. No randomised
      controlled trials were identified. Analysis of pooled multivariate hazard ratios
      demonstrated significantly longer overall survival in patients undergoing
      resection of both P-NETs (HR 0.43; 95% CI: 0.34-0.57, p < 0.001) and SI-NETs (HR
      0.47; 95% CI: 0.35-0.55, p = 0.007). The increase in median survival in patients
      treated surgically relative to non-surgically ranged from 14 to 46 months in P
      NET, and 22-112 months in SI-NET. The number needed to treat in order that one
      additional patient was alive at five years, ranged from 3.0 to 4.2, and 1.7 to
      7.7 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Meta-analysis demonstrates that palliative
      resection of primary SI-NETs and P-NETs in the setting of unresectable metastatic
      disease can increase survival. Although these results should be interpreted with
      caution due to potential selection and publication bias, the data supports
      consideration of surgery, particularly in patients with low tumour burdens and
      good functional status.

PMID- 28583793
TI  - India's generics-only drug policy could put health at risk.

PMID- 28583795
TI  - Measuring value and benefit-a matter of perspective.

PMID- 28583794
TI  - Delivery of meaningful cancer care: a retrospective cohort study assessing cost
      and benefit with the ASCO and ESMO frameworks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the European
      Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) have developed frameworks that quantify
      survival gains in light of toxicity and quality of life to assess the benefits of
      cancer therapies. We applied these frameworks to a cohort of contemporary
      randomised controlled trials to explore agreement between the two approaches and
      to assess the relation between treatment benefit and cost. METHODS: We identified
      all randomised controlled trials of systemic therapies in non-small-cell lung
      cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer published between
      Jan 1, 2011, and Dec 31, 2015, and assessed their abstracts and methods. Trials
      were eligible for inclusion in our cohort if significant differences favouring
      the experimental group in a prespecified primary or secondary outcome were
      reported (secondary outcomes were assessed only if primary outcomes were not
      significant). We assessed trial endpoints with the ASCO and ESMO frameworks at
      two timepoints 3 months apart to confirm intra-rater reliability. Cohen's kappa
      statistic was calculated to establish agreement between the two frameworks on the
      basis of the median ASCO score, which was used as an arbitrary threshold of
      benefit, and the framework-recommended ESMO threshold. Differences in monthly
      drug cost between the experimental and control groups of each randomised
      controlled trial (ie, incremental drug cost) were derived from 2016 average
      wholesale prices. FINDINGS: 109 randomised controlled trials were eligible for
      inclusion, 42 (39%) in non-small-cell lung cancer, 36 (33%) in breast cancer, 25
      (23%) in colorectal cancer, and six (6%) in pancreatic cancer. ASCO scores ranged
      from 2 to 77; median score was 25 (IQR 16-35). 41 (38%) trials met the benefit
      thresholds in the ESMO framework. Agreement between the two frameworks was fair
      (kappa=0.326). Among the 100 randomised controlled trials for which drug costing
      data were available, ASCO benefit score and monthly incremental drug costs were
      negatively correlated (rho=-0.207; p=0.039). Treatments that met ESMO benefit
      thresholds had a lower median incremental drug cost than did those that did not
      meet benefit thresholds (US$2981 [IQR 320-9059] vs $8621 [1174-13 930]; p=0.018).
      INTERPRETATION: There is only fair correlation between these two major value care
      frameworks, and negative correlations between framework outputs and drug costs.
      Delivery of optimal cancer care in a sustainable health system will necessitate
      future oncologists, investigators, and policy makers to reconcile the disconnect
      between drug cost and clinical benefit. FUNDING: None.

PMID- 28583796
TI  - New WHO Director-General must address cancer control challenges.

PMID- 28583797
TI  - Penicillospirone from a marine isolate of Penicillium sp. (SF-5292) with anti
      inflammatory activity.
AB  - Chemical investigation of the EtOAc extract of a marine-derived fungal isolate
      Penicillium sp. SF-5292 yielded a new polyketide-type metabolite,
      penicillospirone (1). The structure of 1 was determined by analysis of
      spectroscopic data such as 1D and 2D NMR spectra and MS data, and the final
      structure including absolute configuration was unambiguously established by
      single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In the evaluation of its anti
      inflammatory effects, 1 inhibited the overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) and
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7
      macrophages and BV2 microglia, and these inhibitory effects were correlated with
      the suppressive effect of 1 against overexpressions of inducible nitric oxide
      synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Furthermore, 1 also inhibited the
      production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, and IL-12. Overall, the anti
      inflammatory effect of 1 was suggested to be mediated through the negative
      regulation of NF-kappaB pathway.

PMID- 28583798
TI  - Thiosemicarbazones as inhibitors of tyrosinase enzyme.
AB  - In the search for compounds which may inhibit the development of melanomas, a
      series of thiosemicarbazones has been investigated as possible inhibitors of the
      tyrosinase enzyme. The results showed that all the thiosemicarbazones tested
      exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the enzyme. Thiosemicarbazones Thio
      1, Thio-2, Thio-3 and Thio-4 substituted with oxygenate moieties, were better
      inhibitors (IC50 0.42, 0.35, 0.36 and 0.44mM, respectively) than Thio-5, Thio-6,
      Thio-7 and Thio-8. For the better inhibitors, molecular docking results suggested
      that the oxygen present in the para position of the aromatic ring is essential
      for the tyrosinase inhibition, due its high ability for complexation with Cu2+
      ions. Inside the active protein pocket, Thio-2 - the best studied inhibitor - is
      able to interact with the amino acid residues His-155, Gly-170 and Val-172 via
      hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic force. Thio-2, containing a substituent on the
      aromatic ring similar to the substrate l-DOPA, showed a competitive inhibition
      mechanism as viewed in a Lineweaver-Burk plot. The same results were observed in
      the UV-Vis curves.

PMID- 28583799
TI  - Ferrocene conjugated oligonucleotide for electrochemical detection of DNA base
      mismatch.
AB  - We describe the synthesis, binding, and electrochemical properties of ferrocene
      conjugated oligonucleotides (Fc-oligos). The key step for the preparation of Fc
      oligos contains the coupling of vinylferrocene to 5-iododeoxyuridine via Heck
      reaction. The Fc-conjugated deoxyuridine phosphoramidite was used in the Fc
      oligonucleotide synthesis. We show that thiol-modified Fc-oligos deposited onto
      gold electrodes possess potential ability in electrochemical detection of DNA
      base mismatch.

PMID- 28583800
TI  - Analysis of natural product regulation of cannabinoid receptors in the treatment
      of human disease.
AB  - The organized, tightly regulated signaling relays engaged by the cannabinoid
      receptors (CBs) and their ligands, G proteins and other effectors, together
      constitute the endocannabinoid system (ECS). This system governs many biological
      functions including cell proliferation, regulation of ion transport and neuronal
      messaging. This review will firstly examine the physiology of the ECS, briefly
      discussing some anomalies in the relay of the ECS signaling as these are
      consequently linked to maladies of global concern including neurological
      disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancer. While endogenous ligands are
      crucial for dispatching messages through the ECS, there are also commonalities in
      binding affinities with copious exogenous ligands, both natural and synthetic.
      Therefore, this review provides a comparative analysis of both types of exogenous
      ligands with emphasis on natural products given their putative safer efficacy and
      the role of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC) in uncovering the ECS.
      Efficacy is congruent to both types of compounds but noteworthy is the effect of
      a combination therapy to achieve efficacy without unideal side-effects. An
      example is Sativex that displayed promise in treating Huntington's disease (HD)
      in preclinical models allowing for its transition to current clinical
      investigation. Despite the in vitro and preclinical efficacy of Delta9-THC to
      treat neurodegenerative ailments, its psychotropic effects limit its clinical
      applicability to treating feeding disorders. We therefore propose further
      investigation of other compounds and their combinations such as the triterpene,
      alpha,beta-amyrin that exhibited greater binding affinity to CB1 than CB2 and was
      more potent than Delta9-THC and the N-alkylamides that exhibited CB2 selective
      affinity; the latter can be explored towards peripherally exclusive ECS
      modulation. The synthetic CB1 antagonist, Rimonabant was pulled from commercial
      markets for the treatment of diabetes, however its analogue SR144528 maybe an
      ideal lead molecule towards this end and HU-210 and Org27569 are also promising
      synthetic small molecules.

PMID- 28583801
TI  - Toward Defining "Vocal Constriction": Practitioner Perspectives.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This research investigated the terminology used in relation to
      constriction of the singing voice from a range of practitioner perspectives. It
      focused on the locality, causes, consequences, management, trends,
      identification, and vocabulary of constriction. The research aimed to develop a
      holistic understanding of the term "vocal constriction" from participant
      experiences and perceptions (N = 10). METHOD: Data collection occurred through in
      depth, semi-structured interviews with a range of voice care professionals.
      Participants included three professional groups: (1) Ear, Nose, and Throat
      medical specialists or laryngologists, (2) speech pathologists or speech
      therapists, and (3) singing teachers. Purposive sampling was used to ensure that
      the participants from groups 1 and 2 had extensive experience with singers in
      their practice. The singing teachers were experienced in either classical or
      contemporary styles, or both. RESULTS: Participant responses highlighted a
      discrepancy in preferred terminology, with "constriction" being less favored
      overall. Several anatomical locations were identified including postural,
      supraglottic (anteroposterior and false fold), articulatory, and in the intrinsic
      and extrinsic laryngeal musculature; psychological issues were also identified.
      Primary causes, secondary causes, and influencing factors were identified.
      Inefficient technique and poor posture or alignment were considered primary
      causes; similarly, emotion and anxiety or stress were identified as influencing
      factors by the majority of participants. There was less uniformity in responses
      regarding other causes. CONCLUSIONS: The major findings of this research are the
      respective participant group distinctions, an uncertainty regarding
      anteroposterior constriction, and that the location and effects of constriction
      are individual to the singer and must be considered contextually. A definition is
      offered, and areas for further research are identified.

PMID- 28583803
TI  - [Admission serum potassium and in-hospital mortality in centenarians].

PMID- 28583804
TI  - Refugees and antimicrobial resistance - Response.

PMID- 28583802
TI  - Cyp1b1 deletion and retinol deficiency coordinately suppress mouse liver
      lipogenic genes and hepcidin expression during post-natal development.
AB  - : Cyp1b1 deletion and gestational vitamin A deficiency (GVAD) redirect adult
      liver gene expression. A matched sufficient pre- and post-natal diet, which has
      high carbohydrate and normal iron content (LF12), increased inflammatory gene
      expression markers in adult livers that were suppressed by GVAD and Cyp1b1
      deletion. At birth on the LF12 diet, Cyp1b1 deletion and GVAD each suppress liver
      expression of the iron suppressor, hepcidin (Hepc), while increasing stellate
      cell activation markers and suppressing post-natal increases in lipogenesis. Hepc
      was less suppressed in Cyp1b1-/- pups with a standard breeder diet, but was
      restored by iron supplementation of the LF12 diet. CONCLUSIONS: The LF12 diet
      delivered low post-natal iron and attenuated Hepc. Hepc decreases in Cyp1b1-/-
      and GVAD mice resulted in stellate activation and lipogenesis suppression.
      Endothelial BMP6, a Hepc stimulant, is a potential coordinator and Cyp1b1 target.
      These neonatal changes in Cyp1b1-/- mice link to diminished adult obesity and
      liver inflammation.

PMID- 28583805
TI  - Semisynthesis of autophagy protein LC3 conjugates.
AB  - Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process involved in the elimination of
      proteins, organelles and pathogens. Autophagosome formation is the key process in
      autophagy. Lipidated Atg8/LC3 proteins that are conjugated to
      phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) play a key role in autophagosome biogenesis. To
      understand the function of Atg8/LC3-PE in autophagosome formation and host
      pathogen interaction requires preparation and structural manipulation of
      lipidated Atg8/LC3 proteins. Herein, we report the semisynthesis of LC3 proteins
      and mutants with modifications of different PE fragments or lipids using native
      chemical ligation and aminolysis approaches.

PMID- 28583806
TI  - The tobacco cembranoid (1S,2E,4S,7E,11E)-2,7,11-cembratriene-4,6-diol as a novel
      angiogenesis inhibitory lead for the control of breast malignancies.
AB  - (1S,2E,4S,6R,7E,11E)-2,7,11-cembratriene-4,6-diol (1) and its 4-epi-analog (2)
      are diterpene precursors of the key flavor components in most Nicotiana (tobacco)
      species that purposely degraded during commercial tobacco fermentation.
      Angiogenesis, recruitment of new blood vessels, is important for tumor growth,
      survival and metastasis that can be targeted to control cancer. This study shows
      evidences and potential of the cembranoid 1 as a potent angiogenesis modulator
      through targeting VEGFR2. In silico study suggested favorable docking scores and
      binding affinity of 1 at the ATP binding pocket of VEGFR2. The binding mode of 1
      was parallel to the standard FDA-approved antiangiogenic drug sunitinib (4). In
      vitro, cembranoid 1 significantly reduced the activated VEGFR2 levels in multiple
      breast cancer cell lines. Intraperitoneal 40mg/kg, 3X/week treatment of 1
      significantly reduced the MDA-MB-231 cells breast tumor size in mice.
      Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting analysis of the treated mice tumors
      showed significant downregulation of the vasculogenesis marker CD31 and
      suppressed activated VEGFR2-paxillin-FAK pathway. Matrigel study in Swiss albino
      mice showed similar trend. The tobacco cembranoid 1 is a potential antiangiogenic
      lead useful for future use to control breast malignancies.

PMID- 28583807
TI  - An orthogonally protected CycloTriVeratrylene (CTV) as a highly pre-organized
      molecular scaffold for subsequent ligation of different cyclic peptides towards
      protein mimics.
AB  - The synthesis of a semi-orthogonally protected CycloTriVeratrilene (CTV) scaffold
      derivative as well as the sequential introduction of three different peptide
      loops onto this molecular scaffold via Cu(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition
      towards a medium-sized protein mimic is described. This approach for the
      construction of medium-sized protein mimics is illustrated by the synthesis of a
      paratope mimic of the monoclonal antibody Infliximab (Remicade(r)) and provides
      access to a range of highly pre-organized molecular constructs bearing three
      different peptide segments. This approach may find wide applications for
      development of protein-protein interaction disruptors as well as synthetic
      vaccines.

PMID- 28583808
TI  - Influence of pH and neutralizing agent on anaerobic succinic acid production by a
      Corynebacterium crenatum strain.
AB  - Environmental conditions, particularly pH, have significant effects on the
      efficiency and final titers of bio-based products. Therefore, these factors need
      to be identified to ensure the fermentation process is economically attractive.
      In this study, strategies for controlling pH were optimized to enhance succinic
      acid production by Corynebacterium crenatum J-2. The results indicate that pH 6.8
      is the optimal value for anaerobic succinic acid production by C. crenatum J-2 in
      terms of productivity and titer. The use of Mg(OH)2 as the neutralizing agent for
      pH control resulted in the highest levels of succinic acid concentration, yield,
      and productivity; superior to the levels obtained with Ca(OH)2, KOH, and NaOH.
      Under conditions of pH 6.8 and Mg(OH)2 as the neutralizing agent, 45.7 g/L
      succinic acid was produced within 12 h during the prophase of anaerobic
      fermentation, resulting in a succinic acid productivity of 3.8 g/(L.h). Succinic
      acid concentration reached 53.8 g/L at 22 h, with a productivity of 2.45 g/(L.h).
      The results of this study will be useful for the development of highly efficient
      succinic acid production processes utilizing industrial Corynebacterium spp.
      strains.

PMID- 28583809
TI  - An empirical analysis of ontology reuse in BioPortal.
AB  - Biomedical ontologies often reuse content (i.e., classes and properties) from
      other ontologies. Content reuse enables a consistent representation of a domain
      and reusing content can save an ontology author significant time and effort.
      Prior studies have investigated the existence of reused terms among the
      ontologies in the NCBO BioPortal, but as of yet there has not been a study
      investigating how the ontologies in BioPortal utilize reused content in the
      modeling of their own content. In this study we investigate how 355 ontologies
      hosted in the NCBO BioPortal reuse content from other ontologies for the purposes
      of creating new ontology content. We identified 197 ontologies that reuse
      content. Among these ontologies, 108 utilize reused classes in the modeling of
      their own classes and 116 utilize reused properties in class restrictions.
      Current utilization of reuse and quality issues related to reuse are discussed.

PMID- 28583811
TI  - "You lie": clinical implications of positive impression management in bariatric
      surgery patients.

PMID- 28583810
TI  - Antitumor efficacy of Lf modified daunorubicin plus honokiol liposomes in
      treatment of brain glioma.
AB  - Malignant brain glioma is the most common and aggressive type of primary
      intracranial neoplasm. Regular chemotherapy cannot eradicate brain glioma cells
      and the residual glioma cells could form vasculogenic mimicry (VM) channels under
      hypoxic conditions to provide nutrients for tumor cell invasion. In addition, the
      existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts most antitumor drugs into
      brain glioma. In this study, we developed a kind of lactoferrin (Lf) modified
      daunorubicin plus honokiol liposomes to transport antitumor drugs across BBB,
      eliminate the VM channels and block tumor cell invasion. The evaluations were
      performed on BBB model, brain glioma cells and glioma-bearing mice. In vitro
      results showed that the targeting liposomes with suitable physicochemical
      property could enhance the drug transportation acrossing the BBB, inhibit C6
      cells invasion and destroy VM channels. Action mechanism studies indicated that
      Lf modified daunorubicin plus honokiol liposomes could activate apoptotic enzymes
      caspase 3 as well as down-regulate VM protein indicators (PI3K, MMP-2, MMP-9, VE
      Cadherin and FAK). In vivo results displayed the targeting liposomes improved
      accumulation in brain tumor tissue and exhibited obvious antitumor efficacy.
      Therefore, Lf modified daunorubicin plus honokiol liposomes could be used as a
      potential therapy for treatment of brain glioma.

PMID- 28583812
TI  - Cost of bariatric surgery and factors associated with increased cost: an analysis
      of national inpatient sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the current healthcare environment, bariatric surgery centers need
      to be cost-effective while maintaining quality. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study
      was to evaluate national cost of bariatric surgery to identify the factors
      associated with a higher cost. SETTING: A retrospective analysis of 2012-2013
      Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project - Nationwide Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS).
      METHOD: We included all patients with a diagnosis of morbid obesity (ICD9 278.01)
      and a Diagnosis Related Group code related to procedures for obesity, who
      underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG), or adjustable
      gastric banding (AGB) as their primary procedure. We converted "hospital charges"
      to "cost," using hospital specific cost-to-charge ratio. Inflation was adjusted
      using the annual consumer price index. Increased cost was defined as the top 20th
      percentile of the expenditure and its associated factors were analyzed using the
      logistic regression multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 45,219 patients
      (20,966 RYGBs, 22,380 SGs, and 1,873 AGBs) were included. The median
      (interquartile range) calculated costs for RYGB, SG, and AGB were $12,543 ($9,970
      $15,857), $10,531 ($8,248-$13,527), and $9,219 ($7,545-$12,106), respectively
      (P<.001). Robotic-assisted procedures had the highest impact on the cost (odds
      ratio 3.6, 95% confidence interval 3.2-4). Hospital cost of RYGB and SG increased
      linearly with the length of hospital stay and almost doubled after 7 days.
      Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that certain co-morbidities and
      concurrent procedures were associated with an increased cost. CONCLUSION: Factors
      contributing to the cost variation of bariatric procedures include co
      morbidities, robotic platform, complexity of surgery, and hospital length of
      stay.

PMID- 28583813
TI  - Laparoscopic approach to a bleeding marginal ulcer fistulized to the gastric
      remnant in a patient post Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

PMID- 28583814
TI  - Prospectively validated preoperative prediction of weight and co-morbidity
      resolution in individual patients comparing five bariatric operations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No method preoperatively predicts the postoperative bariatric surgery
      outcomes in individual patients. Decisions for or against surgery and operation
      choice remain subjective. Only 1% of qualifying patients embrace bariatric
      surgery. OBJECTIVE: To predict preoperatively and validate prospectively the
      weight and co-morbidity resolution in individual patients after open Roux-en-Y
      gastric bypass (RYGB) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB),
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG), and
      biliopancreatic diversion/duodenal switch (BPD/DS). SETTING: Surgical Review
      Corporation BOLD database, 2007-2010. METHODS: A total of 166,601 patients who
      had undergone RYGB (n = 5389), LRYGB (n = 83,059), LAGB (n = 67,514), SG (n =
      8966), or BPD/DS (n = 1673) were randomized into modeling (n = 124,053) and
      validation (n = 42,548) groups. From preoperative data, multivariate linear and
      logistic regression predicted weight and co-morbidities at 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24
      months postoperatively. Model fit was examined by R2 and receiver operating
      characteristic/area under the curve and predicted versus observed results via
      Pearson correlation coefficient and sensitivity/specificity. RESULTS: Follow-up
      at 2/24 months was 120,909/11,014 for the modeling group and 41,528/3703 for
      validation. Weight models' R2 was .910, .813, .725, .638, and .613 at 2, 6, 12,
      18, and 24 months, respectively. The categorical receiver operating
      characteristic/area under the curve was .617 to .949 for 24-month predictions.
      Pearson continuous coefficients were .969 and .811 at 2 and 24 months,
      respectively. The median 24-month sensitivity and specificity of co-morbidity
      resolution were 79.2% and 97.42%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Prospectively
      validated preoperative models predict, in individual patients, weight and obesity
      co-morbidities 2 years in advance for RYGB, LRYGB, LAGB, SG, and BPD/DS. This
      advance knowledge facilitates choosing the operation that is best for each
      individual and may encourage more patients to choose bariatric surgery.

PMID- 28583815
TI  - LDL-cholesterol Predicts a First CHD Event in Senior Citizens, Especially So in
      Those With Elevated Lipoprotein(a): Dubbo Study of the Elderly.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The analysis was designed to explore the combined effects of LDL
      cholesterol and lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) in predicting incident coronary heart
      disease (CHD) in senior citizens without prior CHD. METHODS: This is a
      prospective cohort study in Dubbo NSW which has followed 2805 men and women 60
      years and older for 16 years since 1988-1989. Subjects with prior CHD (n=607)
      were excluded from this analysis. Incident CHD events were identified by hospital
      record linkage. The contributions of LDL and Lp(a) to CHD events and their
      combined effects were evaluated in proportional hazards regression models.
      RESULTS: There were 689 CHD events over 16 years in a cohort of 2198 men and
      women without prior CHD. LDL-cholesterol (corrected for cholesterol content of
      Lp(a)) and Lp(a) modelled in quartile categories each independently predicted
      CHD, but exclusively in Quartile 4 (Q4) for each parameter. Using the combination
      of LDL Q1 and Lp(a) Q1 as a reference group, LDL Q4 (>4.90mmol/L) most clearly
      predicted CHD in combination with Lp(a) Q4 (>276mg/L), hazard ratio 1.95 (95%CI
      1.31-2.90). CONCLUSION: The present findings may have important practical
      implications in clinical management. If Lp(a) is assessed in senior citizens
      without prior CHD and found to be genuinely low, elevated LDL-cholesterol may not
      require active intervention.

PMID- 28583816
TI  - Tert-butylhydroquinone protects PC12 cells against ferrous sulfate-induced
      oxidative and inflammatory injury via the Nrf2/ARE pathway.
AB  - Increasing evidence had proved the critical role of iron in the pathogenesis of
      numerous neurodegenerative diseases because of its capacity to promote the
      formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) was a
      metabolite of butylated hydroxyanisole, a widely used food antioxidant. This
      study was aimed to investigate the protective effects of tBHQ on a cellular model
      of neurodegenerative disease, which was established in PC12 cells by exposure to
      ferrous sulfate (FS), and elucidate the potential protective mechanisms. The
      results showed that FS exposure increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and
      cell apoptosis in PC12 cells, accompanied by significant increases in the bax/bcl
      2 ratio, cytochrome c release, and caspase-3 cleavage. It also enhanced the ROS
      production, malondialdehyde (MDA) content (lipid peroxidation), gamma-H2A.X
      formation (DNA damage), and promoted nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB)
      activation and expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). tBHQ pretreatment alleviated
      FS-induced LDH release, cell apoptosis, oxidative stress and inflammatory
      response by promoting Nrf2 nuclear translocation and the protein levels of Nrf2
      downstream target genes heme oxygenase-1 (Hmox-1), nicotinamide adenine
      dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH): quinone oxidoreductase-1 (Nqo1) and glutathione
      peroxidase-1 (Gpx1). tBHQ alleviated the FS-induced LDH release in control siRNA
      treated PC12 cells, but failed to alleviate FS-induced LDH release in Nrf2 siRNA
      treated cells. These findings suggested that pretreatment with tBHQ protected
      PC12 cells from FS-induced oxidative and inflammatory injury via the Nrf2/ARE
      pathway. tBHQ was promising as a potential therapeutic agent for
      neurodegenerative diseases induced by iron toxicity and should be encouraged for
      further research.

PMID- 28583817
TI  - Wood Stove Pollution in the Developed World: A Case to Raise Awareness Among
      Pediatricians.
AB  - Use of wood for residential heating is regaining popularity in developed
      countries. Currently, over 11 million US homes are heated with a wood stove.
      Although wood stoves reduce heating costs, wood smoke may adversely impact child
      health through the emission of gaseous and particulate air pollutants. Our
      purpose is to raise awareness of this environmental health issue among
      pediatricians. To summarize the state of the science, we performed a narrative
      review of articles published in PubMed and Web of Science. We identified 36
      studies in developed countries that reported associations of household wood stove
      use and/or community wood smoke exposure with pediatric health outcomes. Studies
      primarily investigated respiratory outcomes, with no evaluation of
      cardiometabolic or neurocognitive health. Studies found community wood smoke
      exposure to be consistently associated with adverse pediatric respiratory health.
      Household wood stove use was less consistently associated with respiratory
      outcomes. However, studies of household wood stoves always relied on participant
      self-report of wood stove use, while studies of community wood smoke generally
      assessed air pollution exposure directly and more precisely in larger study
      populations. In most studies, important potential confounders, such as markers of
      socioeconomic status, were unaccounted for and may have biased results. We
      conclude that studies with improved exposure assessment, that measure and account
      for confounding, and that consider non-respiratory outcomes are needed. While
      awaiting additional data, pediatricians can refer patients to precautionary
      measures recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mitigate
      exposure. These include replacing old appliances with EPA-certified stoves,
      properly maintaining the stove, and using only dry, well-seasoned wood. In
      addition, several studies have shown mechanical air filters to effectively reduce
      wood stove pollution exposure in affected homes and communities.

PMID- 28583819
TI  - Transcranial Doppler Identification of Neurologic Injury during Pediatric
      Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We used transcranial Doppler to examine changes in cerebral blood
      flow velocity in children treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. We
      examined the association between those changes and radiologic,
      electroencephalographic, and clinical evidence of neurologic injury. METHODS:
      This was a retrospective review and prospective observational study of patients
      18 years old and younger at a single university children's hospital. Transcranial
      Doppler studies were obtained every other day during the first 7 days of
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and 1 additional study following
      decannulation, in conjunction with serial neurologic examinations, brain imaging,
      and 6- to 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: The study included 27 patients, the
      majority (26) receiving veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
      Transcranial Doppler velocities during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were
      significantly lower than published values for age-matched healthy and critically
      ill children across different cerebral arteries. Neonates younger than 10 days
      had higher velocities than expected. Blood flow velocity increased after
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation decannulation and was comparable with age
      matched critically ill children. There was no significant association between
      velocity measurements of individual arteries and acute neurologic injury as
      defined by either abnormal neurologic examination, seizures during admission, or
      poor pediatric cerebral performance category. However, case analysis identified
      several patients with regional and global increases in velocities that
      corresponded to neurologic injury including stroke and seizures. CONCLUSIONS:
      Cerebral blood flow velocities during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation deviate
      from age-specific normal values in all major cerebral vessels and across
      different age groups. Global or regional elevations and asymmetries in flow
      velocity may suggest impending neurologic injury.

PMID- 28583818
TI  - A Multicenter Study of 1144 Patients with Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: The VENOST
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Based on a number of small observational studies, cerebral venous
      sinus thrombosis has diverse clinical and imaging features, risk factors, and
      variable outcome. In a large, multicenter cerebral venous thrombosis (VENOST)
      study, we sought to more precisely characterize the clinical characteristics of
      Caucasian patients. METHODS: All data for the VENOST study were collected between
      the years 2000 and 2015 from the clinical follow-up files. Clinical and
      radiological characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes were compared in terms
      of age and sex distribution. RESULTS: Among 1144 patients 68% were women, and in
      older age group (>50 years) male patients were more prevalent (16.6% versus
      27.8%). The most frequent symptoms were headache (89.4%) and visual field defects
      (28.9%) in men, and headache (86.1%) and epileptic seizures (26.8%) in women.
      Gynecological factors comprised the largest group in women, in particular
      puerperium (18.3%). Prothrombotic conditions (26.4%), mainly
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase mutation (6.3%) and Factor V Leiden mutation
      (5.1%), were the most common etiologies in both genders. 8.1% of patients had
      infection-associated and 5.2% had malignancy-related etiology that was
      significantly higher in men and older age group. Parenchymal involvement
      constitutively hemorrhagic infarcts, malignancy, and older age was associated
      with higher Rankin score. Epileptic seizures had no effect on prognosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and radiological findings were consistent with previous
      larger studies but predisposing factors were different with a higher incidence of
      puerperium. Oral contraceptive use was not a prevalent risk factor in our cohort.
      Malignancy, older age, and hemorrhagic infarcts had worse outcome.

PMID- 28583821
TI  - Cloning and characterization of thermostable GroEL/GroES homologues from
      Geobacillus thermopakistaniensis and their applications in protein folding.
AB  - The chaperonin genes encoding GroELGt (ESU72018) and GroESGt (ESU72017),
      homologues of bacterial GroEL and GroES, from Geobacillus thermopakistaniensis
      were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified gene products
      possessed the ATPase activity similar to other bacterial and eukaryal
      counterparts. Recombinant GroELGt and GroESGt were able to refold the denatured
      insoluble aggregates of alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis into soluble
      and active form. Furthermore, GroELGt and GroESGt successfully enhanced the
      thermostability of porcine heart malate dehydrogenase. Expression of GroELGt gene
      in E. coli cells enhanced the thermotolerance of the host. Furthermore, soluble
      production of recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis strain R5
      in E. coli, initially produced as insoluble aggregates, was achieved by co
      expressing the gene with GroELGt. Our results implied that GroELGt could assist
      folding of nascent protein in E. coli with the help of host co-chaperonin without
      requiring additional ATP. This system can be used for soluble production of
      recombinant proteins which otherwise are produced in insoluble form in E. coli.
      To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on functional
      characterization and applications of chaperonins from genus Geobacillus.

PMID- 28583820
TI  - Impact of platelet inhibition level on subsequent no-reflow in patients
      undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation
      myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High P2Y12 platelet reactivity (PR) level after primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction
      (STEMI) affects prognosis and may induce the no-reflow phenomenon. AIM: To
      investigate the role of PR in the genesis of microvascular obstruction. METHODS:
      Patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI within 12hours of symptoms onset were
      included prospectively. All patients received a 600mg clopidogrel-loading dose
      before PPCI and 250mg aspirin. PR was measured thereafter during PPCI while
      wiring the culprit lesion and before coronary dilatation, using the P2Y12
      VerifyNow(r) assay. No-reflow was defined as ST-segment regression<50% observed
      90minutes after PPCI. RESULTS: Between January 2014 and November 2015, 140 STEMI
      patients were included, and divided into two groups: a low PR group (LPR) defined
      as PR<209P2Y12 reaction units (PRU); and a high PR group (HPR) defined as
      PR>=209PRU. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between LPR and
      HPR groups, including age (57.8+/-11.9 vs. 59.4+/-13.2 years, respectively;
      P=0.44) and weight (76.1+/-15.1 vs. 74.8+/-10.9kg, respectively; P=0.55). Delay
      to revascularization was 270.1+/-175.5 vs. 295.6+/-206.2minutes (P=0.49) and time
      between clopidogrel-loading and PR measurement was 53+/-37 vs 65+/-54minutes
      (P=0.29) in the LPR and HPR groups, respectively. No-reflow was more frequent in
      the HPR group (44 [47.3%] vs. 9 [19.1%]; P=0.0012). Mean PR was higher in
      patients with no-reflow: 268.3+/-53 vs. 223.8+/-50.1 PRU (P=0.002). In
      multivariable analysis, HPR was an independent predictor of no-reflow. Area under
      the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.745 (0.654, 0.835); the cut-off
      value predicting no-reflow was 254PRU. CONCLUSION: High PR level measured at PPCI
      is independently associated with no-reflow.

PMID- 28583822
TI  - Practice Patterns for Cholecystectomy After Endoscopic Retrograde
      Cholangiopancreatography for Patients With Choledocholithiasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Cholecystectomy (CCY) after an episode of choledocholithiasis
      requiring endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with stone
      extraction reduces recurrent biliary events compared to expectant management. We
      studied practice patterns for performance of CCY after ERCP for
      choledocholithiasis using data from 3 large states and evaluated the effects of
      delaying CCY. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the
      ambulatory surgery, inpatient, and emergency department databases from the states
      of California (years 2009-2011), New York (2011-2013), and Florida (2012-2014).
      We collected data from 4516 patients hospitalized with choledocholithiasis who
      underwent ERCP. We compared outcomes of patients who underwent CCY at index
      admission (early CCY), elective CCY within 60 days of discharge (delayed CCY), or
      did not undergo CCY (no CCY), calculating rate of recurrent biliary events
      (defined as an emergency department visit or unplanned hospitalization due to
      symptomatic cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, choledocholithiasis, cholangitis, or
      biliary pancreatitis), mortality, and cost by CCY cohort. We also evaluated risk
      factors for not undergoing CCY. The primary outcome measure was the rate of
      recurrent biliary events in the 365 days after discharge from index admission.
      RESULTS: Of the patients who underwent ERCP for choledocholithiasis, 41.2%
      underwent early CCY, 10.9% underwent delayed CCY, and 48.0% underwent no CCY.
      Early CCY reduced relative risk of recurrent biliary events within 60 days by
      92%, compared with delayed or no CCY (P < .001). After 60 days following
      discharge from index admission, patients with early CCY had an 87% lower risk of
      recurrent biliary events than patients with no CCY (P < .001) and patients with
      delayed CCY had an 88% lower risk of recurrent biliary events than patients with
      no CCY (P < .001). A strategy of delayed CCY performed on an outpatient basis was
      least costly. Performance of early CCY was inversely associated with low facility
      volume. Hispanic race, Asian race, Medicaid insurance, and no insurance
      associated inversely with performance of delayed CCY. CONCLUSIONS: In a
      retrospective analysis of >4500 patients hospitalized with choledocholithiasis,
      we found that CCY was not performed after ERCP for almost half of the cases.
      Although early and delayed CCY equally reduce the risk of subsequent recurrent
      biliary events, patients are at 10-fold higher risk of recurrent biliary event
      while waiting for a delayed CCY compared with patients who underwent early CCY.
      Delayed CCY is a cost-effective strategy that must be balanced against the risk
      of loss to follow-up, particularly among patients who are ethnic minorities or
      have little or no health insurance.

PMID- 28583824
TI  - A Selection of Best AGA Abstracts of DDW 2017.

PMID- 28583823
TI  - Regulator of Calcineurin 1 Gene Isoform 4, Down-regulated in Hepatocellular
      Carcinoma, Prevents Proliferation, Migration, and Invasive Activity of Cancer
      Cells and Metastasis of Orthotopic Tumors by Inhibiting Nuclear Translocation of
      NFAT1.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Individuals with Down syndrome have a low risk for many solid
      tumors, prompting the search for tumor suppressor genes on human chromosome 21
      (HSA21). We aimed to identify and explore potential mechanisms of tumor
      suppressors on HSA21 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: We compared
      expression of HSA21 genes in 14 pairs of primary HCC and adjacent noncancer liver
      tissues using the Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 array (Affymetrix, Santa Clara,
      CA). HCC tissues and adjacent normal liver tissues were collected from 108
      patients at a hospital in China for real-time polymerase chain reaction and
      immunohistochemical analyses; expression levels of regulator of calcineurin 1
      (RCAN1) isoform 4 (RCAN1.4) were associated with clinical features. We
      overexpressed RCAN1.4 from lentiviral vectors in MHCC97H and HCCLM3 cells and
      knocked expression down using small interfering RNAs in SMMC7721 and Huh7 cells.
      Cells were analyzed in proliferation, migration, and invasion assays. HCC cells
      that overexpressed RCAN1.4 or with RCAN1.4 knockdown were injected into livers or
      tail veins of nude mice; tumor growth and numbers of lung metastases were
      quantified. We performed bisulfite pyrosequencing and methylation-specific
      polymerase chain reaction analyses to analyze CpG island methylation. We measured
      phosphatase activity of calcineurin in HCC cells. RESULTS: RCAN1.4 mRNA and
      protein levels were significantly decreased in primary HCC compared with adjacent
      noncancer liver tissues. Reduced levels of RCAN1.4 mRNA were significantly
      associated with advanced tumor stages, poor differentiation, larger tumor size,
      and vascular invasion. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with
      HCCs with lower levels of RCAN1.4 mRNA had shorter time of overall survival and
      time to recurrence than patients whose tumors had high levels of RCAN1.4 mRNA. In
      HCC cell lines, expression of RCAN1.4 significantly reduced proliferation,
      migration, and invasive activity. HCC cells that overexpressed RCAN1.4 formed
      smaller xenograft tumors, with fewer metastases and blood vessels, than control
      HCC cells. In HCC cells, RCAN1.4 inhibited expression of insulin-like growth
      factor 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor A by reducing calcineurin
      activity and blocking nuclear translocation of nuclear factor of activated T
      cells (NFAT1). HCC cells incubated with the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporin A
      had decreased nuclear level of NFAT1. HCC cells had hypermethylation of a CpG
      island in the 5' regulatory region of RCAN1.4, which reduced its expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: RCAN1.4 is down-regulated in HCC tissues, compared with non-tumor
      liver tissues. RCAN1.4 prevents cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in
      vitro; overexpressed RCAN1.4 in HCC cells prevents growth, angiogenesis, and
      metastases of xenograft tumors by inhibiting calcineurin activity and nuclear
      translocation of NFAT1.

PMID- 28583826
TI  - Risk Stratification for Covert Invasive Cancer Among Patients Referred for
      Colonic Endoscopic Mucosal Resection: A Large Multicenter Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Among patients with large colorectal sessile polyps or
      laterally spreading lesions, it is important to identify those at risk for
      submucosal invasive cancer (SMIC). Lesions with overt endoscopic evidence of SMIC
      are referred for surgery, although those without these features might still
      contain SMIC that is not visible on endoscopic inspection (covert SMIC). Lesions
      with a high covert SMIC risk might be better suited for endoscopic submucosal
      dissection than for endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). We analyzed a group of
      patients with large colon lesions to identify factors associated with SMIC, and
      examined lesions without overt endoscopic high-risk signs to determine factors
      associated with covert SMIC. METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study of
      consecutive patients referred for EMR of large sessile or flat colorectal polyps
      or laterally spreading lesions (>=20 mm) at academic hospitals in Australia from
      September 2008 through September 2016. We collected data on patient and lesion
      characteristics, outcomes of procedures, and histology findings. We excluded
      serrated lesions from the analysis of covert SMIC due to their distinct phenotype
      and biologic features. RESULTS: We analyzed 2277 lesions (mean size, 36.9 mm)
      from 2106 patients (mean age, 67.7 years; 53.2% male). SMIC was evident in 171
      lesions (7.6%). Factors associated with SMIC included Kudo pit pattern V, a
      depressed component (0-IIc), rectosigmoid location, 0-Is or 0-IIa+Is Paris
      classification, non-granular surface morphology, and increasing size. After
      exclusion of lesions that were obviously SMIC or serrated, factors associated
      with covert SMIC were rectosigmoid location (odds ratio, 1.87; P = .01), combined
      Paris classification, surface morphology (odds ratios, 3.96-22.5), and increasing
      size (odds ratio, 1.16/10 mm; P = .012). CONCLUSIONS: In a prospective study of
      2106 patients who underwent EMR for large sessile or flat colorectal polyps or
      laterally spreading lesions, we associated rectosigmoid location, combined Paris
      classification and surface morphology, and increasing size with increased risk
      for covert malignancy. Rectosigmoid 0-Is and 0-IIa+Is non-granular lesions have a
      high risk for malignancy, whereas proximally located 0-Is or 0-IIa granular
      lesions have a low risk. These findings can be used to inform decisions on which
      patients should undergo endoscopic submucosal dissection, EMR, or surgery.
      ClinicalTrials.gov, Number: NCT02000141.

PMID- 28583827
TI  - Association Between Proton Pump Inhibitor Use and Risk of Progression of Chronic
      Kidney Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) have been associated with acute
      kidney injury and recent studies suggest that they may be associated with the
      risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      analysis using the Stockholm creatinine measurements database, which contains
      information on diagnoses, dispensation claims, and laboratory test results for
      all citizens in the Stockholm region from 2007 through 2010. We identified new
      users of PPIs (n = 105,305) and new users of H2 blockers (H2B; n = 9578); data on
      renal outcomes were collected for a median 2.7 years. The primary outcome was
      progression CKD, defined as doubling of creatinine or decrease in estimated
      glomerular filtration rate of 30% or more. Secondary outcomes were end-stage
      renal disease and acute kidney injury. Complete collection of repeated PPI and
      H2B dispensations at pharmacies in Sweden allowed modeling the time-dependent
      risk associated with cumulative PPI exposure. RESULTS: Users of PPIs, compared
      with users of H2Bs, had an increased risk for doubled levels of creatinine (1985
      events; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.51) and decrease in
      estimated glomerular filtration rate of 30% or more (11,045 events; 1.26; 95% CI,
      1.16-1.36). PPI use also associated with development of end-stage renal disease
      (HR, 2.40; 95% CI, 0.76-7.58) and acute kidney injury (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.00
      1.69). There was a graded association between cumulative exposure to PPIs and
      risk of CKD progression. This was not the case for cumulative H2B use.
      CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of PPI therapy and cumulative PPI exposure is associate
      with increased risk of CKD progression in a large, North European healthcare
      system. Although consistent, the association was modest in magnitude, and cannot
      exclude residual confounding.

PMID- 28583825
TI  - A Summary of the 2016 James W. Freston Conference of the American
      Gastroenterological Association: Intestinal Metaplasia in the Esophagus and
      Stomach: Origins, Differences, Similarities and Significance.

PMID- 28583828
TI  - PKM2-mediated inhibition of autophagy facilitates Tat's inducing HIV-1
      transactivation.
AB  - Considerable evidence has shown that autophagy has an important role in HIV-1
      infection. However, it is still unknown whether metabolism-regulated autophagy
      pathway is involved in Tat-mediated HIV-1 transactivation. This study
      demonstrated that treatment of Tat in TZM-bl cells significantly down-regulated
      protein levels of Beclin-1, Atg-5, Atg-7, and LC3B-II and up-regulated of p62
      levels. Blockage of autophagy enhanced Tat-induced HIV-1 transactivation in TZM
      bl cells. Moreover, we found that Tat activated the Akt/mTOR and inhibited AMPK
      signaling pathway that was related to its up-regulation of PKM2 expression. In
      addition, we showed that PI3K/AKT activation and AMPK inhibtion was required for
      the PKM2-mediated inhibition of autophagy in Tat-treated TZM-bl cells. In
      conclusion, our data reveals that PKM2-mediated autophagy inhibition is required
      for Tat-mediated HIV-1 transactivation. Metabolism-related autophagic pathway may
      act as a promising diagnostic and therapeutic tool for HIV-1 infection in the
      future.

PMID- 28583829
TI  - Interactions between membrane receptors in cellular membranes.

PMID- 28583830
TI  - Probing the disparate effects of arginine and lysine residues on antimicrobial
      peptide/bilayer association.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are key components of the innate immune response
      and represent promising templates for the development of broad-spectrum
      alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Most AMPs are short, cationic peptides
      that interact more strongly with negatively charged prokaryotic membranes than
      net neutral eukaryotic ones. Both AMPs and synthetic analogues with arginine-like
      side chains are more active against bacteria than those with lysine-like amine
      groups, though the atomistic mechanism for this increase in potency remains
      unclear. To examine this, we conducted comparative molecular dynamics simulations
      of a model negatively-charged membrane system interacting with two mutants of the
      AMP KR-12: one with lysine residues mutated to arginines (R-KR12) and one with
      arginine residues mutated to lysine (K-KR12). Simulations show that both
      partition analogously to the bilayer and display similar preferences for hydrogen
      bonding with the anionic POPGs. However, R-KR12 binds stronger to the bilayer
      than K-KR12 and forms significantly more hydrogen bonds, leading to considerably
      longer interaction times. Additional simulations with methylated R-KR12 and
      charge-modified K-KR12 mutants show that the extensive interaction seen in the R
      KR12 system is partly due to arginine's strong atomic charge distribution, rather
      than being purely an effect of the greater number of hydrogen bond donors.
      Finally, free energy simulations reveal that both peptides are disordered in
      solution but form an amphipathic alpha-helix when inserted into the bilayer
      headgroup region. Overall, these results highlight the role of charge and
      hydrogen bond strength in peptide bilayer insertion, and offer potential insights
      for designing more potent analogues in the future.

PMID- 28583831
TI  - Investigations into the killing activity of an antimicrobial peptide active
      against extensively antibiotic-resistant K. pneumon iae and P. aeruginosa.
AB  - SET-M33 is a multimeric antimicrobial peptide active against Gram-negative
      bacteria in vitro and in vivo. Insights into its killing mechanism could
      elucidate correlations with selectivity. SET-M33 showed concentration-dependent
      bactericidal activity against colistin-susceptible and resistant isolates of P.
      aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae. Scanning and transmission microscopy studies showed
      that SET-M33 generated cell blisters, blebs, membrane stacks and deep craters in
      K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa cells. NMR analysis and CD spectra in the
      presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles showed a transition from an
      unstructured state to a stable alpha-helix, driving the peptide to arrange itself
      on the surface of micelles. SET-M33 kills Gram-negative bacteria after an initial
      interaction with bacterial LPS. The molecule becomes then embedded in the outer
      membrane surface, thereby impairing cell function. This activity of SET-M33, in
      contrast to other similar antimicrobial peptides such as colistin, does not
      generate resistant mutants after 24h of exposure, non-specific interactions or
      toxicity against eukaryotic cell membranes, suggesting that SET-M33 is a
      promising new option for the treatment of Gram-negative antibiotic-resistant
      infections.

PMID- 28583832
TI  - YorkieCA overexpression in the posterior silk gland improves silk yield in Bombyx
      mori.
AB  - The traditional hybrid breeding techniques can no longer meet the increasing
      demands for silk production by the silkworm, Bombyx mori, and further improvement
      of the silk yield will depend on modern molecular breeding techniques. Here, we
      report improved silk yield in transgenic silkworms overexpressing the oncogene
      YorkieCA specifically in the posterior silk gland (PSG). The YorkieCA cDNA was
      ligated downstream of the hr3 enhancer and the fibroin L-chain (Fil) promoter,
      then inserted into a piggyBac vector for transgene. Overexpression of YorkieCA in
      the PSG significantly increased the weight of the PSG, and also increased the
      weight of the cocoon, larval body, and pupal body to decreasing degrees.
      Overexpression of YorkieCA up-regulated the Yorkie target genes resulting in
      increased cell size, endomitosis, the number of protein synthesis organelles, the
      expression of fibroin genes in the PSG, and eventually silk yield. Additionally,
      as we reported previously using the binary GAL4/UAS system, transgenic silkworms
      overexpressing Ras1CA with the hr3 enhancer and the Fil promoter also showed
      improved silk yield. Unfortunately, the hybrid progeny of YorkieCA-overexpressing
      silkworms and Ras1CA-overexpressing silkworms did not show overlapping improved
      silk yield due to the failure to increase expression of both Yorkie and Ras1.

PMID- 28583833
TI  - Profile and results of frail patient assessed by advanced practice nursing in an
      Emergency Department.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the profile of patients evaluated by Nurse Care
      Management in an Emergency Department and identify the type of alternative
      healthcare resource assigned and report the results of clinical practice.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective follow-up, on admission to the Emergency
      Department in an acute hospital and on discharge from the alternative healthcare
      resource, of patients assessed by Nurse Care Management, from July to December
      2015. The patient characteristics, social environment and results of clinical
      practice were studied. RESULTS: 190 patients were included of whom 13 were
      readmitted (6.8%). 122 (59.8%) cases from the Emergency Department were referred
      to to intermediate care facilities, 71 (34.8%) cases for domiciliary care, 10
      (4.9%) cases were referred to an acute care hospital and 1 (0.5%) died. Patients
      referred to intermediate care were more complex, presented geriatric syndromes as
      their reason for admission and diagnosed with dementia, while those referred to
      home care presented more respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses (p <0.05). The
      mean Barthel Index and polypharmacy before emergency admission were higher than
      at the time of discharge from the alternative healthcare resource (p <0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients presenting with advanced age, complexity, comorbidity, are
      referred to intermediate care facilities or domiciliary care, they are admitted
      to acute care hospitasl and are readmitted less than other patients. After being
      discharged from the alternative resource, they lose functional capacity and
      present less polypharmacy.

PMID- 28583834
TI  - Intervention to improve awareness of the risk factors for osteonecrosis of the
      jaw in patients under treatment with bisphosponates. Randomised clinical trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a health education programme on
      knowledge and reduction of the risk factors for bisphosphonate-related
      osteonecrosis of the jaw. METHODS: An experimental study control group without
      intervention was performed with 60 subjects who had started treatment with
      bisphosphonates in the University Hospital of Leon from October to December 2014.
      Patients in the experimental group received a structured education intervention
      in two sessions. The data was collected from a heteroadministered questionnaire
      at the beginning and at the end of the study period for both groups. RESULTS: The
      educational intervention designed showed a significantly increased adherence to
      healthy behaviours related to oral hygiene such as mechanical control of plaque
      and the use of clorhexidine prior to invasive oral procedures. All subjects
      reported that they had not been advised to maintain a good level of oral health
      before starting treatment. After the intervention high percentages of recognition
      of early diagnostic measures starting from a baseline total ignorance of them
      were determined. No conclusive information about the use of removable dental
      prostheses, toxic habits or maintaining proper metabolic control in patients with
      diabetes mellitus was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Improving adherence to healthy
      behaviours related to oral health following the intervention, as well as their
      contribution to the early identification of warning signs of jaw osteonecrosis,
      stresses the importance of the use of health education as a tool in routine
      clinical practice.

PMID- 28583835
TI  - Presentation of a Rare Cystic Mass.

PMID- 28583836
TI  - Unusual Cause of Hematochezia.

PMID- 28583837
TI  - When to Search for Occult Infection After Eradication of Hepatitis C?

PMID- 28583838
TI  - Mimicking Gastric Natural Killer/T-Cell Lymphoma.

PMID- 28583839
TI  - Undesired Final of a Student's Beer Drinking Duel.

PMID- 28583840
TI  - Detection of HCV RNA in Sustained Virologic Response to Direct-Acting Antiviral
      Agents: Occult or Science Fiction?

PMID- 28583841
TI  - Right Upper Abdominal Distension and Discomfort Caused by a Massive Hepatic
      Tumor.

PMID- 28583842
TI  - Febrile Attacks With a Refractory Colonic Lesion.

PMID- 28583843
TI  - "Errare Humanum Est, Perseverare Autem Diabolicum".

PMID- 28583844
TI  - Nociceptin/orphanin FQ antagonizes lipopolysaccharide-stimulated proliferation,
      migration and inflammatory signaling in human glioblastoma U87 cells.
AB  - Glioblastoma is among the most aggressive brain tumors and has an exceedingly
      poor prognosis. Recently, the importance of the tumor microenvironment in
      glioblastoma cell growth and progression has been emphasized. Toll-like receptor
      4 (TLR4) recognizes bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and endogenous ligands
      originating from dying cells or the extracellular matrix involved in host defense
      and in inflammation. G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) have gained interest in
      anti-tumor drug discovery due to the role that they directly or indirectly play
      by transactivating other receptors, causing cell migration and proliferation. A
      proteomic analysis showed that the nociceptin receptor (NOPr) is among the GPCRs
      significantly expressed in glioblastoma cells, including U87 cells. We describe a
      novel role of the peptide nociceptin (N/OFQ), the endogenous ligand of the NOPr
      that counteracts cell migration, proliferation and increase in IL-1beta mRNA
      elicited by LPS via TLR4 in U87 glioblastoma cells. Signaling pathways through
      which N/OFQ inhibits LPS-mediated cell migration and elevation of [Ca2+]i require
      beta-arrestin 2 and are sensitive to TNFR-associated factor 6, c-Src and protein
      kinase C (PKC). LPS-induced cell proliferation and increase in IL-1beta mRNA are
      counteracted by N/OFQ via beta-arrestin 2, PKC and extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase 1/2; furthermore, the contributions of the transcription factors NF-kB and
      AP-1 were investigated. Independent of LPS, N/OFQ induces a significant increase
      in cell apoptosis. Contrary to what was observed in other cell models, a
      prolonged exposure to this endotoxin did not promote any tolerance of the
      cellular effects above described, including NOPr down-regulation while N/OFQ
      loses its inhibitory role.

PMID- 28583845
TI  - Cav1.2 channel current block by the PKA inhibitor H-89 in rat tail artery
      myocytes via a PKA-independent mechanism: Electrophysiological, functional, and
      molecular docking studies.
AB  - To characterize the role of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) in regulating
      vascular Ca2+ current through Cav1.2 channels [ICa1.2], we have documented a
      marked capacity of the isoquinoline H-89, widely used as a PKA inhibitor, to
      reduce current amplitude. We hypothesized that the ICa1.2 inhibitory activity of
      H-89 was mediated by mechanisms unrelated to PKA inhibition. To support this, an
      in-depth analysis of H-89 vascular effects on both ICa1.2 and contractility was
      undertaken by performing whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and functional
      experiments in rat tail main artery single myocytes and rings, respectively. H-89
      inhibited ICa1.2 with a pIC50 (M) value of about 5.5, even under conditions where
      PKA activity was either abolished by both the PKA antagonists KT5720 and protein
      kinase inhibitor fragment 6-22 amide or enhanced by the PKA stimulators 6-Bnz
      cAMP and 8-Br-cAMP. Inhibition of ICa1.2 by H-89 appeared almost irreversible
      upon washout, was charge carrier- and voltage-dependent, and antagonised by the
      Cav1.2 channel agonist (S)-(-)-Bay K 8644. H-89 did not alter both potency and
      efficacy of verapamil, did not affect current kinetics or voltage-dependent
      activation, while shifting to the left the 50% voltage of inactivation in a
      concentration-dependent manner. H-89 docked at the alpha1C subunit in a pocket
      region close to that of (S)-(-)-Bay K 8644 docking, forming a hydrogen bond with
      the same, key amino acid residue Tyr-1489. Finally, both high K+- and (S)-(-)-Bay
      K 8644-induced contractions of rings were fully reverted by H-89. In conclusion,
      these results indicate that H-89 inhibited vascular ICa1.2 and, consequently, the
      contractile function through a PKA-independent mechanism. Therefore, caution is
      recommended when interpreting experiments where H-89 is used to inhibit vascular
      smooth muscle PKA.

PMID- 28583846
TI  - Epigenetic effects of inhibition of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) in human
      pancreatic and colon cancer.
AB  - Silencing of tumor suppressor and DNA repair genes through methylation plays a
      role in cancer development, growth and response to therapy in colorectal and
      pancreatic cancers. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) regulates transcription of DNA
      methyltransferase enzymes (DNMT). In addition, DNMTs are client proteins of
      HSP90. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of HSP90 inhibition on
      DNA methylation in colorectal and pancreatic cancer cell lines. Our data shows
      that inhibition of HSP90 using ganetespib resulted in downregulation of mRNA and
      protein expression of DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B in HT-29 and MIA PaCa-2 cell
      lines. This in turn was associated with a drop in the fraction of methylated
      cytosine residues and re-expression of silenced genes including MLH-1, P16 and
      SPARC. These effects were validated in HT-29 tumors implanted subcutaneously in
      mice following in vivo administration of ganetespib. This work demonstrates the
      effectiveness of ganetespib, an HSP90 inhibitor in modulating DNA methylation
      through downregulation of DNMT expression.

PMID- 28583848
TI  - Psychological effect on single-species population models in a polluted
      environment.
AB  - We formulate and investigate the psychological effect of single-species
      population models in a polluted environment in this paper. For the deterministic
      single-species population model, the conditions that guarantee the local
      extinction and persistence in the mean are derived firstly. We then show that,
      around the pollution-free equilibrium, the stochastic single-species population
      is weakly persistent in the mean, and is stochastically permanent under some
      conditions. As a consequence, some numerical simulations demonstrate the
      efficiency of the main results.

PMID- 28583847
TI  - TIMELESS confers cisplatin resistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by activating
      the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway and promoting the epithelial mesenchymal
      transition.
AB  - This study investigated the expression, clinicopathological significance and
      mechanism of action of TIMELESS, a mammalian homolog of a Drosophila circadian
      rhythm gene, in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Quantitative real-time PCR, western
      blotting and immunohistochemistry revealed TIMELESS was upregulated in NPC cell
      lines (n = 8 vs. NP69 cells), and freshly-frozen (n = 6) and paraffin-embedded
      human NPC specimens (n = 108 vs. normal samples/non-tumor cells). TIMELESS
      expression was associated with T category (P = 0.002), N category (P = 0.001),
      clinical stage (P < 0.001), metastasis (P = 0.047), vital status (P = 0.013) and
      serum Epstein-Barr DNA (P = 0.005). High TIMELESS expression was associated with
      poorer overall survival (80.7% vs. 95.9%; P = 0.004) and progression free
      survival (68.1% vs. 88.0%; P = 0.005). Univariate and multivariate analysis
      revealed TIMELESS was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and
      progression free survival. Stable ectopic overexpression of TIMELESS in NPC cell
      lines conferred resistance to cisplatin-induced apoptosis in vitro and in vivo,
      promoted an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition phenotype, and activated the
      Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and downstream gene transcription; knockdown of TIMELESS
      had the opposite effects. TIMELESS may play a role in the development of NPC and
      could represent a valuable prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target.

PMID- 28583849
TI  - Rapid detection of Lactococcuslactis isolates producing the lantibiotics nisin,
      lacticin 481 and lacticin 3147 using MALDI-TOF MS.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential use of Matrix-Assisted Laser
      Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for fast
      and reliable detection of strains producing the lantibiotics nisin, lacticin 481
      and lacticin 3147 in a large collection of lactococci. A total of one hundred
      lactococcal isolates from traditional ewe's and goat's raw milk cheeses were
      identified to the species level as Lactococcuslactis by MALDI-TOF MS based on
      comparison with lactococcal entries in the BioTyper database. Mass spectra in the
      range 2000-4000Da of the identified isolates were compared to reference spectra
      of three lactococcal strains producing lacticin 481 (IFPL 330), lacticin 3147
      (IFPL 105) and nisin (IFPL 503). Only eight isolates had mass spectra with peaks
      that could be unequivocally identified as lacticin 481 (2900.47Da) or nisin
      (3330.31Da). None of the assayed isolates matched the mass spectra corresponding
      to the two-peptide lacticin 3147 (2847.97 and 3306.29Da). The results obtained by
      MALDI-TOF MS were genetically validated by amplification of the corresponding
      structural gene coding for lacticin 481, nisin and lacticin 3147. MALDI-TOF MS
      can be used as a fast and reliable technique to screen a large number of
      lactococcal isolates for the ability to produce the lantibiotics nisin, lacticin
      481 and lacticin 3147.

PMID- 28583850
TI  - Clinical and electrocardiographic features of complete heart block after blunt
      cardiac injury: A systematic review of the literature.
AB  - The underlying mechanisms and temporal course of complete heart block (CHB) after
      blunt cardiac injuries (BCIs) are poorly understood, and a systematic analysis of
      available data is lacking. In this systematic review, PubMed was searched for
      publications of reported cases of CHB-BCI analyzing clinical findings,
      electrocardiographic features, temporal course, and outcomes. Case reports on CHB
      BCI were available for 50 patients, mainly secondary to traffic or sport
      accidents. A fatal outcome occurred in 10 of 50 (20%) of patients, while a
      structural damage of the atrioventricular (AV) conductive system was evident in 4
      of 8 (50%) of necropsy studies. Clinical manifestation of CHB-BCI occurred within
      72 hours of injury in 38 of 47 (~80%) of patients, and 1:1 AV conduction was
      restored within 7-10 days in about half of early survivors. Permanent pacemaker
      implantation was indicated in 22 of 42 (~50%) of early survivors because of
      recurrent or permanent CHB. Cardiac troponins, when analyzed, were elevated in 12
      of 13 (~90%) of patients, and electrocardiographic features of aberrancy were
      present in 29 of 40 (>70%) of patients. In conclusion, CHB secondary to BCI is
      associated with 20% mortality mainly occurring in the early posttraumatic period
      and most of the deaths are due to or triggered by this malignant arrhythmia.
      Recurrent or permanent CHB requiring pacemaker implantation occurs in ~50% of
      survivors. A structural damage of the AV conductive system can be found in 50% of
      necropsy studies.

PMID- 28583851
TI  - beta-hydroxybutyrate alleviates depressive behaviors in mice possibly by
      increasing the histone3-lysine9-beta-hydroxybutyrylation.
AB  - Epigenetics regulation has been considered a mechanistic interface between
      environmental stress stimuli and altered functioning of underlying gene network.
      Metabolite changes in vivo after stress contribute to histone modification.
      Histone3-lysine9-beta-hydroxybutyrylation (H3k9bhb), a novel histone modification
      mark induced by beta-hydroxybutyrate, may participate in the development of
      depression. To examine the role of H3k9bhb in depression, experiments were
      performed on mice and cells. H3k9bhb were reduced in the brain of depressive
      mice. Exogenous beta-hydroxybutyrate ameliorated depressive behaviors and
      reversed the reduction of H3K9bhb and BDNF. We showed that H3k9bhb played a role
      in depression, and firstly linked BHB and BDNF via H3k9bhb. Our findings
      emphasized the crucial role of metabolic regulation on epigenetics in depression.

PMID- 28583852
TI  - B-cell activating factor deficiency suppresses splenomegaly during Leishmania
      donovani infection.
AB  - B-cell activating factor (BAFF) is a critical regulator for B-cell development
      and differentiation. We previously reported elevation of serum BAFF levels in
      patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). In this study, we examined if BAFF is
      involved in pathologies during infection of Leishmania donovani. BALB/cA mice
      infected with L. donovani showed significant elevation in serum BAFF and IgG
      levels as seen in VL patients. In contrast, elevation of serum IgG by L. donovani
      infection was significantly suppressed in BAFF-deficient mice. The spleen weight
      of the BAFF-deficient mice after infection was significantly lower than that of
      the infected wild-type mice, whereas comparable degree of hepatomegaly and anemia
      were observed in those mice. In the enlarged spleen of L. donovani-infected wild
      type mice, increase of CD19+ lymphocytes was more prominent than that of CD3+
      cells, suggesting the contribution of B cell increase to splenomegaly during VL.
      Besides, increase of CD19+ lymphocytes was not found in BAFF-deficient mice after
      L. donovani infection. Taken together, these results suggest that BAFF is
      involved in strong B cell activation, which has a pathological role in
      splenomegaly but not in hepatomegaly or anemia, during VL.

PMID- 28583853
TI  - Lipomyelomeningocele for the urologist: Should we view it the same as
      myelomeningocele?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The primary urologic objectives for lipomyelomeningocele (LMM) and
      myelomeningocele (MM) are preserving renal integrity and achieving continence.
      Due to this common ground, LMM and MM are urologically treated the same. However,
      unlike MM, LMM may present with no evident functional concerns. Indications for
      and timing of tethered cord release (TCR) in LMM are therefore controversial.
      Long-term urologic outcomes are not well defined. OBJECTIVE: Expectations for
      continence and potential for intermittent catheterization (CIC) following TCR in
      LMM are important for realistically counseling families regarding future needs.
      The present study aimed to identify prognostic factors for continence and need
      for CIC in LMM. STUDY DESIGN: The present study retrospectively identified 143
      patients from the multidisciplinary clinic who underwent TCR for LMM between 1995
      and 2010. Concomitant anorectal/genitourinary anomalies, filar lipoma, fatty
      filum, previous TCR, and follow-up <1 year were excluded. Analysis was limited to
      those toilet trained or aged >=6 years at latest follow-up. Lipomyelomeningocele
      was classified as dorsal, distal, transitional or chaotic. Pre- and post-TCR
      urologic status was assessed. Ability to achieve urinary continence, with or
      without CIC, was the primary outcome, and need for CIC was the secondary outcome
      of interest. RESULTS: A total of 56 patients met inclusion criteria. Median age
      at TCR was 4.4 months (range 1.0-224.0) with a median follow-up of 10.7 years
      (range 1.3-19.1); 68% were asymptomatic at presentation. Clinical symptoms were
      urologic in 7%. At the latest follow-up, 86% of patients were continent
      spontaneously or with CIC (Summary Fig.). Of the four patients who presented with
      urologic symptoms, all were continent, but three required CIC. Overall, 23% of
      patients required CIC. Median age at CIC initiation was 7.6 years (range 1.6
      17.4). Long-term continence was not associated with any demographic, anatomic,
      surgical or functional variable. Need for CIC at latest follow-up was associated
      with symptomatic presentation, partial TCR, transitional lipoma, and high-risk
      pre-operative urodynamics. DISCUSSION: In this series of primary TCR for LMM,
      where 93% of patients were urologically asymptomatic before TCR, prospects for
      continence were excellent. No studied parameter clearly impacted continence;
      however, need for CIC was associated with multiple variables. CONCLUSIONS: Clear
      predictors for continence after TCR will require additional long-term patient
      outcomes. Families can anticipate 23% likelihood of CIC, which is considerably
      less than in MM, but long-term urologic follow-up is still strongly recommended.

PMID- 28583854
TI  - Response to Letter to the Editor re 'Comparison of Variables affecting the
      surgical outcome of Tubularized and Tubularized Incised Plate Urethroplasty in
      Adult and Pediatric Hypospadias'.

PMID- 28583855
TI  - Characterization of aromatase expression in the spinal cord of an animal model of
      familial ALS.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease involving
      motor neurons in the motor cortex, brainstem and spinal cord. ALS leads to
      progressive, aggravated muscle weakness and paralysis. Although the precise
      pathogenesis remains unknown, several studies have shown that estrogens exert
      neuroprotective effects during the course of the disease. Aromatase is the key
      enzyme in estrogen synthesis. In the present study, we used immunohistochemistry,
      immunofluorescence and western blotting to observe the characteristics of
      aromatase expression in the spinal cords of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase-1
      (SOD1)-G93A transgenic mice. Under normal and nearly normal (pre-symptomatic
      stage) conditions, the motor neurons in the spinal anterior horn expressed
      aromatase. After disease onset, astrocytes began to express aromatase. The total
      level of aromatase expression decreased with disease progression. These findings
      may provide the basis for the pathogenesis of ALS through glial aromatization
      during the progression of this disease.

PMID- 28583856
TI  - A field based detection method for Rose rosette virus using isothermal probe
      based Reverse transcription-recombinase polymerase amplification assay.
AB  - Rose rosette disease, caused by Rose rosette virus (RRV; genus Emaravirus) is a
      major threat to the rose industry in the U.S. The only strategy currently
      available for disease management is early detection and eradication of the
      infected plants, thereby limiting its potential spread. Current RT-PCR based
      diagnostic methods for RRV are time consuming and are inconsistent in detecting
      the virus from symptomatic plants. Real-time RT-qPCR assay is highly sensitive
      for detection of RRV, but it is expensive and requires well-equipped
      laboratories. Both the RT-PCR and RT-qPCR cannot be used in a field-based testing
      for RRV. Hence a novel probe based, isothermal reverse transcription-recombinase
      polymerase amplification (RT-exoRPA) assay, using primer/probe designed based on
      the nucleocapsid gene of the RRV has been developed. The assay is highly specific
      and did not give a positive reaction to other viruses infecting roses belonging
      to both inclusive and exclusive genus. Dilution assays using the in vitro
      transcript showed that the primer/probe set is highly sensitive, with a detection
      limit of 1 fg/MUl. In addition, a rapid technique for the extraction of viral RNA
      (<5min) has been standardized from RRV infected tissue sources, using PBS-T
      buffer (pH 7.4), which facilitates the virus adsorption onto the PCR tubes at 4
      degrees C for 2min, followed by denaturation to release the RNA. RT-exoRPA
      analysis of the infected plants using the primer/probe indicated that the virus
      could be detected from leaves, stems, petals, pollen, primary roots and secondary
      roots. In addition, the assay was efficiently used in the diagnosis of RRV from
      different rose varieties, collected from different states in the U.S. The entire
      process, including the extraction can be completed in 25min, with less
      sophisticated equipments. The developed assay can be used with high efficiency in
      large scale field testing for rapid detection of RRV in commercial nurseries and
      landscapes.

PMID- 28583857
TI  - A novel highly sensitive, rapid and safe Rift Valley fever virus neutralization
      test.
AB  - Antibodies specific for Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) can be detected by diverse
      methods, including ezyme-linked immunosortbent assay (ELISA) and virus
      neutralization test (VNT). The VNT is superior in sensitivity and specificity and
      is therefore considered the gold standard serological assay. Classical VNTs make
      use of virulent RVFV and therefore have to be performed in biosafety level 3
      laboratories. Here, we report the development of a novel VNT that is based on an
      avirulent RVFV expressing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), which
      can be performed safely outside level 3 biocontainment facilities. Evaluation
      with a broad panel of experimental sera and field sera demonstrated that this
      novel VNT is faster and more sensitive than the classical VNT.

PMID- 28583858
TI  - A rapid silica spin column-based method of RNA extraction from fruit trees for RT
      PCR detection of viruses.
AB  - Efficient recovery of high quality RNA is very important for successful RT-PCR
      detection of plant RNA viruses. High levels of polyphenols and polysaccharides in
      plant tissues can irreversibly bind to and/or co-precipitate with RNA, which
      influences RNA isolation. In this study, a silica spin column-based RNA isolation
      method was developed by using commercially available silica columns combined with
      the application of a tissue lysis solution, and binding and washing buffers with
      high concentration guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN, 50% w/v), which helps remove
      plant proteins, polysaccharides and polyphenolic compounds. The method was
      successfully used to extract high quality RNA from citrus (Citrus aurantifolia),
      grapevine (Vitis vinifera), peach (Prunus persica), pear (Pyrus spp.), taro
      (Colocosia esculenta) and tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) samples. The method was
      comparable to conventional CTAB method in RNA isolation efficiency, but it was
      more sample-adaptable and cost-effective than commercial kits. High quality RNA
      isolated using silica spin column-based method was successfully used for the RT
      PCR and/or multiplex RT-PCR amplification of woody fruit tree viruses and a
      viroid. The study provided a useful tool for the detection and characterization
      of plant viruses.

PMID- 28583859
TI  - Detection and quantification of gasping during resuscitation for out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest.
AB  - AIM: To detect and quantify gasping during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in
      out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients and to investigate whether gasping
      is associated with increased return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A prospective observational study in patients resuscitated and
      mechanically or manually ventilated for OHCA by emergency physicians of Ghent
      University Hospital. After intubation, pressure catheters were inserted in the
      endotracheal tube (ETT) and pressures were measured at the proximal and distal
      ends of the ETT. Gasping was analysed with custom-developed software and volumes
      were calculated based on pressure differences between the catheters. Data are
      expressed as median (interquartile range). RESULTS: Data were collected in 292
      resuscitated patients of whom 36.2% achieved ROSC. Seventy-six of 292 (26.0%)
      patients showed gasping on the pressure curves during resuscitation. The median
      gasping volume was 274ml (196-434). The median gasping rate was 3.7 gasps/min
      (1.5-7.3). Gasping occurred significantly more in patients displaying ventricular
      fibrillation as the initial rhythm compared to patients with pulseless electrical
      activity, pulseless ventricular tachycardia or asystole. The median gasping rate
      was significantly higher in the ROSC group compared to the non-ROSC group (11.8
      gasps/min (95% CI [4.2, 13.9]) and 2.8 gasps/min (95% CI [1.7, 3.9]) respectively
      (P<0.001)). A gasping rate of >7.3 gasps/min appeared to be the optimal criterion
      value to herald ROSC. Deeper negative pressures were associated with an increased
      incidence of ROSC (P=0.011). There was no significant difference in ROSC between
      patients with gasping and those without. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of gasping
      during CPR was high. Significant gasping volumes were measured. The presence or
      absence of gasping was not associated with ROSC, but higher gasping rate and
      deeper negative pressures were.

PMID- 28583860
TI  - Effectiveness of different compression-to-ventilation methods for cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation: A systematic review.
AB  - AIM: To compare the effectiveness of different compression-to-ventilation methods
      during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients with cardiac arrest.
      METHODS: We searched MEDLINE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      from inception until January 2016. We included experimental, quasi-experimental,
      and observational studies that compared different chest compression-to
      ventilation ratios during CPR for all patients and assessed at least one of the
      following outcomes: favourable neurological outcomes, survival, return of
      spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and quality of life. Two reviewers independently
      screened literature search results, abstracted data, and appraised the risk of
      bias. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted separately for randomised and
      non-randomised studies, as well as study characteristics, such as CPR provider.
      RESULTS: After screening 5703 titles and abstracts and 229 full-text articles, we
      included 41 studies, of which 13 were companion reports. For adults receiving
      bystander or dispatcher-instructed CPR, no significant differences were observed
      across all comparisons and outcomes. Significantly less adults receiving
      bystander-initiated or plus dispatcher-instructed compression-only CPR
      experienced favourable neurological outcomes, survival, and ROSC compared to CPR
      30:2 (compression-to-ventilation) in un-adjusted analyses in a large cohort
      study. Evidence from emergency medical service (EMS) CPR providers showed
      significantly more adults receiving CPR 30:2 experiencing improved favourable
      neurological outcomes and survival versus those receiving CPR 15:2. Significantly
      more children receiving CPR 15:2 or 30:2 experienced favourable neurological
      outcomes, survival, and greater ROSC compared to compression-only CPR. However,
      for children <1 years of age, no significant differences were observed between
      CPR 15:2 or 30:2 and compression-only CPR. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated
      that for adults, CPR 30:2 is associated with better survival and favourable
      neurological outcomes when compared to CPR 15:2. For children, more patients
      receiving CPR with either 15:2 or 30:2 compression-to ventilation ratio
      experienced favourable neurological function, survival, and ROSC when compared to
      CO-CPR for children of all ages, but for children <1years of age, no
      statistically significant differences were observed.

PMID- 28583861
TI  - Genetic deletion of GPR52 enhances the locomotor-stimulating effect of an
      adenosine A2A receptor antagonist in mice: A potential role of GPR52 in the
      function of striatopallidal neurons.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptor 52 (GPR52) is largely co-expressed with dopamine D2
      receptor (DRD2) in the striatum and nucleus accumbens, and this expression
      pattern is similar to that of adenosine A2A receptor (ADORA2A). GPR52 has been
      proposed as a therapeutic target for positive symptoms of schizophrenia, based on
      observations from pharmacological and transgenic mouse studies. However, the
      physiological role of GPR52 in dopaminergic functions in the basal ganglia
      remains unclear. Here, we used GPR52 knockout (KO) mice to examine the role of
      GPR52 in dopamine receptor-mediated and ADORA2A-mediated locomotor activity and
      dopamine receptor signaling. High expression of GPR52 protein in the striatum,
      nucleus accumbens, and lateral globus pallidus of wild type (WT) littermates was
      confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis. GPR52 KO and WT mice exhibited almost
      identical locomotor responses to the dopamine releaser methamphetamine and the N
      methyl-d-aspartate antagonist MK-801. In contrast, the locomotor response to the
      ADORA2A antagonist istradefylline was significantly augmented in GPR52 KO mice
      compared to WT mice. Gene expression analysis revealed that striatal expression
      of DRD2, but not of dopamine D1 receptor and ADORA2A, was significantly decreased
      in GPR52 KO mice. Moreover, a significant reduction in the mRNA expression of
      enkephalin, a marker of the activity of striatopallidal neurons, was observed in
      the striatum of GPR52 KO mice, suggesting that GPR52 deletion could enhance DRD2
      signaling. Taken together, these results imply the physiological relevance of
      GPR52 in modulating the function of striatopallidal neurons, possibly by
      interaction of GPR52 with ADORA2A and DRD2.

PMID- 28583862
TI  - Recovery of glomerular morphology in the olfactory bulb of young mice after
      disruption caused by continuous odorant exposure.
AB  - Olfactory glomeruli are the first synaptic site of the olfactory system and are
      formed by the convergence of axons of the same type of sensory neurons onto the
      olfactory bulbs of the brain. Although the anatomical organization of glomeruli
      is conserved across species, their particular role in olfactory processing
      remains uncertain. We studied the composition and maintenance of glomeruli by
      means of a genetic model, mI7-IRES-tauGFP knock-in young mice, where the
      cytoskeleton of sensory neurons expressing the mI7 olfactory receptor is tagged
      with green fluorescent protein. Animals were continuously exposed to
      heptaldehyde, a cognate ligand of the mI7 receptor, from postnatal days 5-10. We
      hypothesized that continuous odorant exposure will induce changes in glomerular
      morphology, and that this can be recovered if the normal odorant environment is
      reestablished within the early postnatal period. We assessed changes in the
      distribution of mI7 axons in glomerular morphology, as well as possible changes
      in the number of the mI7 olfactory sensory neurons. Following odorant exposure
      the well-defined convergence of mI7 fibers into a single glomerulus was
      disrupted, producing numerous neighboring glomeruli partially innervated by mI7
      fibers. After the normal odor environment was reestablished the number of
      glomeruli partially innervated by mI7 fibers decreased significantly. Moreover,
      we found that multiple supernumerary mI7 glomeruli were formed. Our results
      confirm the significant role of sensory input in glomerular formation and
      maintenance. Additionally, we show that the developing olfactory system actively
      maintains glomerular morphology, suggesting the importance of this for olfactory
      processing.

PMID- 28583863
TI  - Increasing extracellular Ca2+ sensitizes TNF-alpha-induced vascular cell adhesion
      molecule-1 (VCAM-1) via a TRPC1/ERK1/2/NFkappaB-dependent pathway in human
      vascular endothelial cells.
AB  - Increasing circulating Ca2+ levels within the normal range has been reported to
      positively correlate with the incidence of fatal cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
      However, limited studies have been able to delineate the potential mechanism(s)
      linking circulating Ca2+ to CVD. In this study, we exposed primary human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human umbilical vein cell line
      (EA.hy926) to different extracellular Ca2+ to mimic the physiological state. Our
      data revealed that increasing extracellular Ca2+ significantly enhanced
      susceptibility to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-stimulated vascular cell
      adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression and monocytes adhesion. Knocking-down VCAM
      1 by siRNA abolished calcium-induced monocytes adhesion on HUVECs. Follow up
      mechanistic investigations identified that extracellular Ca2+-increased calcium
      influx contributed to the activation of VCAM-1. This was mediated via
      upregulation of transient receptor potential channel (TRPC)1 in a nuclear factor
      (NF)kappaB-dependent manner. Most importantly, we found that a novel TRPC1
      regulated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway exclusively
      contributed to calcium-induced NFkappaB activation. This study provided direct
      evidence that increasing extracellular Ca2+ enhanced TNF-alpha-induced VCAM-1
      activation and monocytes adhesion. Moreover, we identified a novel
      TRPC1/ERK1/2/NFkappaB signaling pathway mediating VCAM-1 activation and monocyte
      adhesion in this pathological process. Our studies indicate that blood calcium
      levels should be strictly monitored to help prevent CVD, and that TRPC1 might act
      as a potential target for the treatment and prevention against increased
      circulating calcium-enhanced CVDs.

PMID- 28583864
TI  - The gut bacterium and pathobiont Bacteroides vulgatus activates NF-kappaB in a
      human gut epithelial cell line in a strain and growth phase dependent manner.
AB  - The gut microbiota is increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of Crohn's
      disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) although the identity of the bacteria
      that underpin these diseases has remained elusive. The pathobiont Bacteroides
      vulgatus has been associated with both diseases although relatively little is
      known about how its growth and functional activity might drive the host
      inflammatory response. We identified an ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) export system
      and lipoprotein in B. vulgatus ATCC 8482 and B. vulgatus PC510 that displayed
      significant sequence similarity to an NF-kappaB immunomodulatory regulon
      previously identified on a CD-derived metagenomic fosmid clone. Interestingly,
      the ABC export system was specifically enriched in CD subjects suggesting that it
      may be important for colonization and persistence in the CD gut environment. Both
      B. vulgatus ATCC 8482 and PC510 activated NF-kappaB in a strain and growth phase
      specific manner in a HT-29/kb-seap-25 enterocyte like cell line. B. vulgatus ATCC
      8482 also activated NF-kappaB in a Caco-2-NF-kappaBluc enterocyte like and an
      LS174T-NF-kappaBluc goblet cell like cell lines, and induced NF-kappaB-p65
      subunit nuclear translocation and IL-6, IL-8, CXCL-10 and MCP-1 gene expression.
      Despite this, NF-kappaB activation was not coincident with maximal expression of
      the ABC exporter or lipoprotein in B. vulgatus PC510 suggesting that the regulon
      may be necessary but not sufficient for the immunomodulatory effects.

PMID- 28583865
TI  - Breast abscess due to Finegoldia magna in a non-puerperal women.
AB  - Finegoldia magna is a Gram-positive anaerobic coccus involved in a wide variety
      of infections. We report a unusual case of breast abscess in a non-puerperal
      patient. A 46-year-old woman presented with pain and a nodular lesion in the left
      breast. Culture of abscess drainage resulted in isolation of F. magna. Initial
      treatment with clindamycin was changed to a definitive treatment with amoxicillin
      clavulanate for 10 days due to resistance to clindamycin, and improvement of this
      infection was documented.

PMID- 28583866
TI  - Effects of chronic cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine on the mobility,
      immobility and stereotyped behaviors in crayfish.
AB  - The worth of crayfish as a model system for studies of addiction was not
      previously recognized because a drug-reward phenomenon had not been documented in
      this model system. In our previous experiments, we demonstrate that the crayfish
      natural reward pathways are sensitive to human drugs of abuse. This finding
      supports crayfish as a suitable model to characterize specific behaviors that are
      relevant in drug addiction research, and the current study builds on our previous
      findings. The aim of the present study was to investigate unconditioned
      neurobehavioral effects of repeated treatment regimens using cocaine, morphine,
      and methamphetamine for three consecutive days. We analyzed mobility, immobility
      and characterized stereotypic behaviors following intracardial infusions of
      2.0MUg/g or 10.0MUg/g doses of cocaine, morphine, and methamphetamine for three
      days. The results showed that systemic cocaine, morphine, and methamphetamine
      increased mobility at a low dose of 2.0MUg/g more effectively than a high dose of
      10.0MUg/g, while simultaneously showing that the high dose exerted a more
      prominent effect in increasing immobility. Moreover, systemic cocaine, morphine,
      and methamphetamine injections have discerning effects towards a group of defined
      unconditioned stereotyped behavioral patterns associated with each drug, rather
      than a shared universal behavioral effect. These findings provide insight into
      the behavioral and pharmacological basis responsible for the unconditioned
      effects of these drugs in crayfish.

PMID- 28583867
TI  - Geographical distribution of Toxoplasma gondii genotypes in Asia: A link with
      neighboring continents.
AB  - Defining the pattern of genetic diversity of Toxoplasma gondii is important to
      understand its worldwide distribution. During the last decades, a large number of
      studies have been published on Toxoplasma genotypes circulating in Europe, in
      North and South America. Two continents are still largely unexplored, Africa and,
      to a less extent, Asia. In this last continent, an increasing number of
      publications reported genotypes circulating in diverse provinces of China, but
      very few data are available for other Asian countries. After a systematic
      database search, 47 papers related to T. gondii genotypes in Asia were analyzed.
      Genetic characterization of DNA was performed by microsatellite markers, or more
      usually by a multiplex PCR using 11 PCR-RFLP markers, allowing data comparison to
      draw a first global picture of the population structure of this parasite
      throughout Asia. Overall, 390 isolates or DNA extracts were completely typed by
      PCR-RFLP and/or microsatellite marker methods, revealing 36 different PCR-RFLP or
      equivalent microsatellite genotypes: 15 genotypes identified by a ToxoDB number
      and 21 atypical or unique genotypes. The most common genotype found in Asia is
      the genotype ToxoDB#9 (Chinese 1). The clonal types I, II and II variant, and III
      were also commonly found in Asia. The geographical distribution of these
      genotypes across Asia may reflect either a continuum with Europe for the western
      part of Asia (presence of Type II), or the circulation of strains through animal
      migration or human activities between Africa and the Southwestern part of Asia
      (Africa 1 genotype in Turkey or ToxoDB#20 both I Sri-Lanka and in Ethiopia or
      Egypt). Although there are some indications of a genetic population structure in
      Southeast Asian countries different from the rest of Asia, more studies in this
      tropical part of Asia will be necessary for a region which represent as well as
      Africa one of the missing links of the T. gondii genetic diversity.

PMID- 28583868
TI  - Response to Commentary on "Comparison of intraoperative blood loss between four
      different surgical procedures in the treatment of bimaxillary protrusion".

PMID- 28583869
TI  - Total disc replacement versus multidisciplinary rehabilitation in patients with
      chronic low back pain and degenerative discs: 8-year follow-up of a randomized
      controlled multicenter trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Lumbar total disc replacement (TDR) is a treatment option for
      selected patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) that is non-responsive to
      conservative treatment. The long-term results of disc replacement compared with
      multidisciplinary rehabilitation (MDR) have not been reported previously.
      PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the long-term relative efficacy of lumbar TDR
      compared with MDR. DESIGN: We undertook a multicenter randomized controlled trial
      at five university hospitals in Norway. PATIENT SAMPLE: The sample consisted of
      173 patients aged 25-55 years with chronic LBP and localized degenerative changes
      in the lumbar intervertebral discs. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was
      self-reported physical function (Oswestry Disability Index [ODI]) at 8-year
      follow-up in the intention-to-treat population. Secondary outcomes included self
      reported LBP (visual analogue scale [VAS]), quality of life (EuroQol [EQ-5D]),
      emotional distress (Hopkins Symptom Checklist [HSCL-25]), occupational status,
      patient satisfaction, drug use, complications, and additional back surgery.
      METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to lumbar TDR or MDR. Self-reported
      outcome measures were collected 8 years after treatment. The study was powered to
      detect a difference of 10 ODI points between the groups. The study has not been
      funded by the industry. RESULTS: A total of 605 patients were screened for
      eligibility, of whom 173 were randomly assigned treatment. Seventy-seven patients
      (90%) randomized to surgery and 74 patients (85%) randomized to rehabilitation
      responded at 8-year follow-up. Mean improvement in the ODI was 20.0 points (95%
      confidence interval [CI] 16.4-23.6, p<=.0001) in the surgery group and 14.4
      points (95% CI 10.7-18.1, p<=.0001) in the rehabilitation group. Mean difference
      between the groups at 8-year follow-up was 6.1 points (95% CI 1.2-11.0, p=.02).
      Mean difference in favor of surgery on secondary outcomes were 9.9 points on VAS
      (95% CI 0.6-19.2, p=.04) and 0.16 points on HSCL-25 (95% CI 0.01-0.32, p=.04).
      There were 18 patients (24%) in the surgery group and 4 patients (6%) in the
      rehabilitation group who reported full recovery (p=.002). There were no
      significant differences between the groups in EQ-5D, occupational status,
      satisfaction with care, or drug use. In the per protocol analysis, the mean
      difference between groups was 8.1 ODI points (95% CI 2.3-13.9, p=.01) in favor of
      surgery. Forty-three of 61 patients (70%) in the surgery group and 26 of 52
      patients (50%) in the rehabilitation group had a clinically important improvement
      (15 ODI points or more) from baseline (p=.03). The proportion of patients with a
      clinically important deterioration (six ODI points or more) was not significantly
      different between the groups. Twenty-one patients (24%) randomized to
      rehabilitation had crossed over and had undergone back surgery since inclusion,
      whereas 12 patients (14%) randomized to surgery had undergone additional back
      surgery. One serious adverse event after disc replacement is registered (<1%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Substantial long-term improvement can be expected after both disc
      replacement and MDR. The difference between groups is statistically significant
      in favor of surgery, but smaller than the prespecified clinically important
      difference of 10 ODI points that the study was designed to detect. Future
      research should aim to improve selection criteria for disc replacement and MDR.

PMID- 28583870
TI  - Crystallization behaviours of bacterially synthesized poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s in
      the presence of oxalamide compounds with different configurations.
AB  - Bacterially synthesized poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s (PHAs) suffers from low
      crystallization rate which is enhanced by using tailor-made oxalamide compounds
      as nucleators. The influence of nucleator configurations on the crystallization
      behaviour of the PHAs was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry
      (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The
      oxalamide compounds with ringy terminal structures (cyclohexyl and phenyl),
      notably the phenyl group, show higher nucleation efficiency and a better
      compatibility in the PHAs matrix, while the linear terminal structure (n-hexane)
      has poor nucleation effect. The crystallization temperature (Tc) and the
      crystallinity (Xc) of the PHAs are increased from 58 degrees C to 71 degrees C
      and from 5% to 48%, respectively, after addition of 0.75wt% of the nucleator
      (phenyl group) upon cooling from the melt. Meanwhile, the half-life isothermal
      crystallization time (t0.5) of the PHAs at 110 degrees C is decreased by 70%. The
      oxalamide compounds increases the nuclei density of the PHAs accompanied with a
      reduction in spherulitic size. In addition, the crystal form and crystallization
      mechanism of the PHAs are not altered obviously after addition of the nulceators
      as confirmed by the POM, XRD and Avrami analysis.

PMID- 28583871
TI  - Studies on glycoxidatively modified human IgG: Implications in immuno-pathology
      of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Structural rearrangements and condensations of proteins under hyperglycemic
      stress have been implicated in various pathological disorders. This study aims to
      probe the role of methylglyoxal (MG) modified human immunoglobulin G (MG-IgG) in
      immuno-pathology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). MG was found to perturb the
      structural integrity of IgG, affect its aromatic micro-environment and cause the
      generation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and aggregate adducts. It
      liberated the hydrophobic pockets of the protein, reduced its beta pleated sheet
      structure and affected its tertiary conformation. Transition from beta sheet to
      alpha helix and random coil was also observed in IgG upon modification by MG. It
      acted with strong oxidative potential and caused oligomerisation and disordered
      or amorphous type aggregation in the modified protein. Modified IgG had a
      cytotoxic and genotoxic impact. The MG modified IgG presented novel antigenic
      determinants that lead to an aggressive immune response. The antibodies had high
      affinity towards the immunogen. Auto-antibodies derived from T2DM patients
      exhibited strong affinity towards the modified IgG in comparison to the
      unmodified protein. Specificity of serum antibodies from T2DM patients was
      further confirmed by competitive-inhibition ELISA. The potential role of MG-IgG
      in the immunopathogenesis of T2DM has been discussed.

PMID- 28583872
TI  - Targeted mutations and MD simulations of a methanol-stable lipase YLIP9 from
      Yarrowia lipolytica MSR80 to develop a biodiesel enzyme.
AB  - Biodiesel, an environment friendly alternative for fuels, contains methyl esters
      of long-chain fatty acids. Our group has reported a methanol-stable YLIP9 from
      Yarrowia lipolytica MSR80 that shows poor catalysis of long-chain fatty acids. To
      shift its substrate specificity, residues within lid and binding pocket were
      identified for sequential mutations using YLIP2 as the template. Of the two point
      mutations (Glu116Leu and Ser119Val) introduced in the lid, the former mutation
      (YLIP9L1) increased the catalytic rate by ~2-fold without any change in substrate
      specificity. In this mutant, six binding pocket residues (Bp2-Bp7) were further
      mutated to obtain six double mutants. YLIP9L1Bp3 showed significant shift in
      substrate specificity towards long-chain pNPesters with 11-fold increase in
      catalytic efficiency than YLIP9. Double mutations also led to increased
      thermostability and lowered activation energy of YLIP9L1Bp3 thereby shifting its
      optimum temperature from 60 degrees C to 50 degrees C. In silico molecular
      dynamics simulations revealed improved lid flexibility and increased catalytic
      triad volume in YLIP9L1Bp3. The enzyme YLIP9L1Bp3 was methanol-stable having
      selectivity for long-chain fatty acids with improved catalytic efficiency. Its
      application as a biodiesel enzyme was validated by transesterification of palm
      oil in presence of methanol, where it showed 8-fold increase in conversion of oil
      to methyl esters.

PMID- 28583873
TI  - A trade off between catalytic activity and protein stability determines the
      clinical manifestations of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.
AB  - Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common
      polymorphism and enzymopathy in humans, affecting approximately 400 million
      people worldwide. It is responsible for various clinical manifestations,
      including favism, hemolytic anemia, chronic non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia,
      spontaneous abortion, and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Understanding the
      molecular mechanisms underlying the severity of G6PD deficiency is of great
      importance but that of many G6PD variants are still unknown. In this study, we
      report the construction, expression, purification, and biochemical
      characterization in terms of kinetic properties and stability of five clinical
      G6PD variants-G6PD Bangkok, G6PD Bangkok noi, G6PD Songklanagarind, G6PD
      Canton+Bangkok noi, and G6PD Union+Viangchan. G6PD Bangkok and G6PD
      Canton+Bangkok noi showed a complete loss of catalytic activity and moderate
      reduction in thermal stability when compared with the native G6PD. G6PD Bangkok
      noi and G6PD Union+Viangchan showed a significant reduction in catalytic
      efficiency, whereas G6PD Songklanagarind showed a catalytic activity comparable
      to the wild-type enzyme. The Union+Viangchan mutation showed a remarkable effect
      on the global stability of the enzyme. In addition, our results indicate that the
      location of mutations in G6PD variants affects their catalytic activity,
      stability, and structure. Hence, our results provide a molecular explanation for
      clinical manifestations observed in individuals with G6PD deficiency.

PMID- 28583874
TI  - Tinidazole functionalized homogeneous electrospun chitosan/poly (epsilon
      caprolactone) hybrid nanofiber membrane: Development, optimization and its
      clinical implications.
AB  - We have prepared tinidazole (TNZ) functionalized biodegradable chitosan (CH)/poly
      (epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) mucoadhesive hybrid nanofiber membrane (TNZ-PCHNF)
      to alleviate existing shortcomings in treatment of periodontitis. Box-Behnken
      design was employed for evaluating influence of formulation and processing
      variables on quality of final formulation. Optimized nanofiber membrane was
      subjected to solid-state and surface characterization studies using FTIR, DSC,
      XRD, SEM and AFM, which revealed that TNZ was entrapped in an amorphous form
      inside smooth and uniform cylindrical nanofibers without any physicochemical
      interaction with excipients. The optimized TNZ-PCHNF membrane had a diameter of
      143.55+/-8.5nm and entrapment efficiency of 83.25+/-1.8%. In vitro drug release
      and antibacterial study demonstrated capability of the developed nanofiber
      membranes for efficiently delivering TNZ in a sustained manner up to 18days, and
      its ability to inhibit bacterial growth, respectively. Further, reduction of
      contact angle (from 123.4+/-2.5 to 27.4+/-2.3) revealed that blending of CH with
      PCL increases hydrophilicity of the nanofiber membrane. MTT assay and CLSM study
      suggested that nanofiber membrane was devoid of cytotoxicity on mouse
      fibroblasts. Moreover, preliminary clinical trials on patients proved therapeutic
      efficacy of the nanofiber membrane by eliciting a significant (p<0.05) decrease
      in clinical markers of periodontitis.

PMID- 28583875
TI  - Quantitative profiling of 19 bile acids in rat plasma, liver, bile and different
      intestinal section contents to investigate bile acid homeostasis and the
      application of temporal variation of endogenous bile acids.
AB  - Bile acid homeostasis is maintained by liver synthesis, bile duct secretion,
      microbial metabolism and intestinal reabsorption into the blood. When drug
      insults result in liver damage, the variances of bile acids (BAs) are related to
      the physiological status of the liver. Here, we established a method to
      simultaneously quantify 19 BAs in rat plasma, liver, bile and different
      intestinal section contents (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum and colon) using
      high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to
      reveal the pattern of bile acid homeostasis in the enterohepatic circulation of
      bile acids in physiological situations. Dynamic changes in bile acid composition
      appeared throughout the enterohepatic circulation of the BAs; taurine- and
      glycine-conjugated BAs and free BAs had different dynamic homeostasis levels in
      the circulatory system. cholic acid (CA), beta-muricholic acid (beta-MCA),
      lithocholic acid (LCA), glycocholic acid (GCA) and taurocholic acid (TCA) greatly
      fluctuated in the bile acid pool under physiological conditions. Taurine- and
      glycine-conjugated bile acids constituted more than 90% in the bile and liver,
      whereas GCA and TCA accounted for more than half of the total bile acids and the
      secretion of bile mainly via conjugating with taurine. While over 80% of BAs in
      plasma were unconjugated bile acids, CA and HDCA were the most abundant elements.
      Unconjugated bile acids constituted more than 90% in the intestine, and CA, beta
      MCA and HDCA were the top three bile acids in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum
      content, but LCA and HDCA were highest in the cecum and colon content. As the
      main secondary bile acid converted by microflora in the intestine, LCA was
      enriched in the cecum and DCA mostly in the colon. As endogenous substances, the
      concentrations of plasma BAs were closely related to time rhythm and diet. In
      conclusion, analyzing detailed BA profiles in the enterohepatic circulation of
      bile acids in a single run is possible using LC-MS/MS. Based on the physiological
      characteristics of the metabolic profiling of 19 BAs in the total bile acid pool
      and the time rhythm variation of the endogenous bile acids, this study provided a
      new valuable method and theoretical basis for the clinical research of bile acid
      homeostasis.

PMID- 28583877
TI  - Intrinsic resistance versus intrinsic resistome: are we talking about the same
      concept? Reply to 'Resistance to polymyxins in Gram-negative organisms'.

PMID- 28583876
TI  - Enhanced expression of lipase I from Galactomyces geotrichum by codon
      optimisation in Pichia pastoris.
AB  - Relatively poor heterologous protein yields have limited the commerical
      applications of Galactomyces geotrichum lipase I (GGl I) efficacy trials. To
      address this, we have redesigned the GGl I gene to preferentially match codon
      frequencies of Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) while retaining the same amino acid
      sequence. The wild type and codon optimised GGl I (GGl I-wt and GGl I-op) were
      synthesised and cloned into pPICZalphaA with an N-terminal 6 * His tag sequence
      and expressed in P. pastoris X 33. The hydrolytic activity of GGl I-op was 150
      U/mL, whereas the activity of the GGl I-wt could not be detected. GGl I-op
      recombinant proteins were purified by Ni-affinity chromatography and then
      characterised. The identity and purity of GGl I were confirmed by SDS-PAGE, MALDI
      TOF mass spectrometry and Western blot analysis. Enzymatic deglycosylation was
      used to show that the lipase is a glycosylated protein, containing ~10% sugar.
      The molecular weight (MW) of the GGl I secreted by recombinant P. pastoris was
      approximated at 63 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of the recombinant lipase
      were 8.0 and 35  degrees C, respectively. The enzyme was active over a broad pH
      range (7.0-9.0) and temperature range (20  degrees C-45  degrees C). The lipase
      showed high activity toward medium- and long-chain fatty acid methyl esters (C8
      C16) and retained much of its activity in the presence of Tween-80 and Trition X
      100. Lipase activity was stimulated by Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+ and Cu2+ and inhibited by
      Fe2+, Fe3+, Zn2+ and Co2+. This lipase may prove useful to the detergent industry
      and in organic synthesis reactions.

PMID- 28583878
TI  - Variable Resource Utilization in the Prenatal and Postnatal Management of
      Isolated Hydronephrosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize contemporary resource utilization and medical outcomes
      for infants with antenatal hydronephrosis and their mothers from a national
      claims database. We hypothesize that management of isolated hydronephrosis (IHN)
      varies widely, with decreased imaging following the 2010 Society for Fetal
      Urology Consensus Statement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using MarketScan claims from
      2007 to 2013, we identified infants 0-12 months of age with hydronephrosis and
      linked mothers. Those with urologic diagnoses more specific than hydronephrosis,
      additional urologic comorbidities, or postnatal surgeries were excluded. Resource
      utilization including prenatal and postnatal imaging, laboratory studies,
      hospital admissions, and medical outcomes within the first year was captured.
      Demographics, maternal characteristics, utilization measures, and outcomes were
      compared across imaging intensity groups based on number of postnatal ultrasounds
      received using bivariate analysis. RESULTS: Among 801,919 mother-child pairs,
      8610 infants (1.1%) had hydronephrosis or a related diagnosis. A total of 5876
      (68.2%) met inclusion criteria for IHN. Patients underwent a mean 5.3 +/- 3.5
      prenatal and 2.1 +/- 1.3 postnatal ultrasounds before age 1. Imaging practices
      were unchanged following the Society for Fetal Urology consensus statement.
      CONCLUSION: Antenatal hydronephrosis prevalence in an insured population is
      consistent with published ranges. Prenatal imaging in IHN is variable and
      potentially excessive. Future study into the efficacy of evidence-based pathways
      in reducing excess utilization is warranted.

PMID- 28583879
TI  - Long-term effects of maternal calcium supplementation on childhood growth differ
      between males and females in a population accustomed to a low calcium intake.
AB  - The importance of adequate calcium intakes for healthy growth and bone
      development has long been recognised. Recent evidence suggests that calcium
      supplementation may have sex-specific effects on bone growth in childhood. The
      aim was to describe the long-term effects of calcium supplementation in pregnant
      Gambian women with a low calcium intake (ISCRTN96502494) on offspring height,
      weight, bone and body composition in childhood, and whether the effects differ by
      sex. Children of mothers who participated in the original calcium supplementation
      trial were measured at age 8-12years using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and
      peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Linear models tested for
      sex*supplement interactions before and after adjusting for current age and size
      in early life. 447 children, aged 9.2(SD 0.9) years, were measured. Significant
      sex*supplement interactions (p<0.05) were observed for many of the anthropometric
      and bone outcomes, Females whose mothers received calcium (F-Ca) were shorter,
      lighter with smaller bones and less bone mineral than those whose mothers
      received placebo (F-P), differences (SE) ranged from height=-1.0 (0.5)% to hip
      BMC -5.5 (2.3)%. Males from mothers in the calcium group (M-Ca) had greater mid
      upper arm circumference (MUAC) (+2.0 (1.0)%, p=0.05) and fat mass (+11.6 (5.1)%,
      p=0.02) and tended towards greater BMC and size than those whose mothers were in
      the placebo group (M-P). The differences in anthropometry and body composition
      were robust to adjustment for current height and weight, whereas all bone
      differences became non-significant. F-P were taller with more BMC than M-P,
      whereas F-Ca had similar sized bones and mineral content to M-Ca. Calcium
      supplementation of pregnant women with low calcium intakes altered the childhood
      trajectories of growth and bone and body composition development of their
      offspring in a sex-specific manner, resulting in slower growth among females
      compared to placebo and accelerated growth among males by age 8-12years.

PMID- 28583880
TI  - Slow-5 dynamic functional connectivity reflects the capacity to sustain cognitive
      performance during pain.
AB  - Some individuals are more distracted by pain during a cognitive task than others,
      representing poor pain coping. We have characterized individuals as A-type
      (attention dominates) or P-type (pain dominates) based on how pain interferes
      with task speed. The ability to optimize behavior during pain may relate to the
      flexibility in communication at rest between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
      (DLPFC) of the executive control network, and the anterior mid-cingulate cortex
      (aMCC) of the salience network (SN) - regions involved in cognitive-interference.
      The aMCC and aIns (SN hub) also signify pain salience; flexible communication at
      rest between them possibly allowing prioritizing task performance during pain. We
      tested the hypotheses that pain-induced changes in task performance are related
      to resting-state dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) between these region pairs
      (DLPFC-aMCC; aMCC-aIns). We found that 1) pain reduces task consistency/speed in
      P-type individuals, but enhances performance in A-type individuals, 2) task
      consistency is related to the FC dynamics within DLPFC-aMCC and aMCC-aIns pairs,
      3) brain-behavior relationships are driven by dFC within the slow-5 (0.01
      0.027Hz) frequency band, and 4) dFC across the brain decreases at higher
      frequencies. Our findings point to neural communication dynamics at rest as being
      associated with prioritizing task performance over pain.

PMID- 28583881
TI  - Altered adenosine 2A and dopamine D2 receptor availability in the 6
      hydroxydopamine-treated rats with and without levodopa-induced dyskinesia.
AB  - : Several lines of evidence imply alterations in adenosine signaling in
      Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we investigated cerebral changes in adenosine 2A
      receptor (A2AR) availability in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats with and
      without levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) using positron-emission tomography
      (PET) with [11C]preladenant. In parallel dopamine type 2 receptor (D2R) imaging
      with [11C]raclopride PET and behavioral tests for motor and cognitive function
      were performed. METHODS: Parametric A2AR and D2R binding potential (BPND) images
      were reconstructed using reference tissue models with midbrain and cerebellum as
      reference tissue, respectively. All images were anatomically standardized to
      Paxinos space and analyzed using volume-of-interest (VOI) and voxel-based
      approaches. The behavioral alternations were assessed with the open field test, Y
      maze, novel object recognition test, cylinder test, and abnormal involuntary
      movement (AIM) score. In total, 28 female Wistar rats were included. RESULTS: On
      the behavioral level, 6-OHDA-lesioned rats showed asymmetry in forepaw use and
      deficits in spatial memory and explorative behavior as compared to the sham
      operated animals. 15-Days of levodopa (L-DOPA) treatment induced dyskinesia but
      did not alleviate motor deficits in PD rats. Intranigral 6-OHDA injection
      significantly increased D2R binding in the lesioned striatum (BPND: 2.69 +/- 0.40
      6-OHDA vs. 2.31 +/- 0.18 sham, + 16.6%; p = 0.03), whereas L-DOPA treatment did
      not affect the D2R binding in the ipsilateral striatum of the PD rats. In
      addition, intranigral 6-OHDA injection tended to decrease the A2AR availability
      in the lesioned striatum. The decrease became significant when data were
      normalized to the non-affected side (BPND: 4.32 +/- 0.41 6-OHDA vs. 4.58 +/- 0.89
      sham; NS, ratio: 0.94 +/- 0.03 6-OHDA vs. 1.00 +/- 0.02 sham; - 6.1%; p = 0.01).
      L-DOPA treatment significantly increased A2AR binding in the affected striatum
      (BPND: 6.02 +/- 0.91 L-DOPA vs. 4.90 +/- 0.76 saline; + 23.4%; p = 0.02). In PD
      rats with LID, positive correlations were found between D2R and A2AR BPND values
      in the ipsilateral striatum (r = 0.88, ppeak = 8.56.10-4 uncorr), and between AIM
      score and the D2R BPND in the contralateral striatum (r = 0.98; ppeak = 9.55.10-5
      uncorr). CONCLUSION: A2AR availability changed in drug-naive and in L-DOPA
      treated PD rats. The observed correlations of striatal D2R availability with A2AR
      availability and with AIM score may provide new knowledge on striatal physiology
      and new possibilities to further unravel the functions of these targets in the
      pathophysiology of PD.

PMID- 28583882
TI  - Numerosity processing in early visual cortex.
AB  - While parietal cortex is thought to be critical for representing numerical
      magnitudes, we recently reported an event-related potential (ERP) study
      demonstrating selective neural sensitivity to numerosity over midline occipital
      sites very early in the time course, suggesting the involvement of early visual
      cortex in numerosity processing. However, which specific brain area underlies
      such early activation is not known. Here, we tested whether numerosity-sensitive
      neural signatures arise specifically from the initial stages of visual cortex,
      aiming to localize the generator of these signals by taking advantage of the
      distinctive folding pattern of early occipital cortices around the calcarine
      sulcus, which predicts an inversion of polarity of ERPs arising from these areas
      when stimuli are presented in the upper versus lower visual field. Dot arrays,
      including 8-32dots constructed systematically across various numerical and non
      numerical visual attributes, were presented randomly in either the upper or lower
      visual hemifields. Our results show that neural responses at about 90ms post
      stimulus were robustly sensitive to numerosity. Moreover, the peculiar pattern of
      polarity inversion of numerosity-sensitive activity at this stage suggested its
      generation primarily in V2 and V3. In contrast, numerosity-sensitive ERP activity
      at occipito-parietal channels later in the time course (210-230ms) did not show
      polarity inversion, indicating a subsequent processing stage in the dorsal
      stream. Overall, these results demonstrate that numerosity processing begins in
      one of the earliest stages of the cortical visual stream.

PMID- 28583883
TI  - Preferential susceptibility of limbic cortices to microstructural damage in
      temporal lobe epilepsy: A quantitative T1 mapping study.
AB  - The majority of MRI studies in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have utilized
      morphometry to map widespread cortical alterations. Morphological markers, such
      as cortical thickness or grey matter density, reflect combinations of biological
      events largely driven by overall cortical geometry rather than intracortical
      tissue properties. Because of its sensitivity to intracortical myelin,
      quantitative measurement of longitudinal relaxation time (qT1) provides and an in
      vivo proxy for cortical microstructure. Here, we mapped the regional distribution
      of qT1 in a consecutive cohort of 24 TLE patients and 20 healthy controls.
      Compared to controls, patients presented with a strictly ipsilateral distribution
      of qT1 increases in temporopolar, parahippocampal and orbitofrontal cortices.
      Supervised statistical learning applied to qT1 maps could lateralize the seizure
      focus in 92% of patients. Intracortical profiling of qT1 along streamlines
      perpendicular to the cortical mantle revealed marked effects in upper levels that
      tapered off at the white matter interface. Findings remained robust after
      correction for cortical thickness and interface blurring, suggesting independence
      from previously reported morphological anomalies in this disorder. Mapping of qT1
      along hippocampal subfield surfaces revealed marked increases in anterior
      portions of the ipsilateral CA1-3 and DG that were also robust against correction
      for atrophy. Notably, in operated patients, qualitative histopathological
      analysis of myelin stains in resected hippocampal specimens confirmed disrupted
      internal architecture and fiber organization. Both hippocampal and neocortical
      qT1 anomalies were more severe in patients with early disease onset. Finally,
      analysis of resting-state connectivity from regions of qT1 increases revealed
      altered intrinsic functional network embedding in patients, particularly to
      prefrontal networks. Analysis of qT1 suggests a preferential susceptibility of
      ipsilateral limbic cortices to microstructural damage, possibly related to
      disrupted myeloarchitecture. These alterations may reflect atypical
      neurodevelopment and affect the integrity of fronto-limbic functional networks.

PMID- 28583884
TI  - 28th Conference of the European Network of Teratology Information Services
      (ENTIS), September 2-5, 2017, Budapest, Hungary.

PMID- 28583885
TI  - The fourth edition of the head and neck World Health Organization blue book:
      editors' perspectives.

PMID- 28583886
TI  - Risk factors and clinical outcomes for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative late
      onset sepsis in a neonatal intensive care unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carbapenem-resistant (CR), Gram-negative (GN), late-onset sepsis
      (LOS) is a serious threat in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). AIM: To
      assess the prevalence of CR-GN-LOS in NICU patients and to identify the risk
      factors and outcomes associated with its acquisition. METHODS: Neonates with
      carbapenem-susceptible (CS)-GN-LOS were compared with those with CR-GN-LOS in a
      two-year observational study. FINDINGS: A total of 158 patients had GN-LOS; 100
      infants had CS-GN-LOS and 58 infants had CR-GN-LOS. The incidence rate of CR-GN
      LOS was 6.5 cases per 1000 patient-days. The most frequent bacterial strain in
      both groups was Klebsiella pneumoniae. The duration of total parenteral nutrition
      (TPN) (P=0.006) and prior carbapenem use (P=0.01) were independent risk factors
      for CR-GN-LOS acquisition. CR-GN-LOS was associated with higher mortality than CS
      GN-LOS (P=0.04). Birth weight, small for gestational age, time to start enteral
      feeding, exclusive formula feeding, previous surgery, previous antifungal use,
      central venous device before onset, duration of central venous device, and
      infectious complications were identified as dependent risk factors for overall
      mortality. However, only male gender (P=0.04) and infectious complications (P <
      0.001) were independent risk factors associated with mortality. Infectious
      complication rates, duration of mechanical ventilation, and length of hospital
      stay were significantly higher in infants with CR compared to CS-GN-LOS.
      CONCLUSION: The duration of TPN and carbapenem use were the independent
      predictors for CR-GN-LOS acquisition. CR-GN-LOS is associated with higher
      mortality, infectious complication rates, longer mechanical ventilation, and
      longer hospital stay. Male gender and infectious complications were the
      independent risk factors for mortality in neonates with GN-LOS.

PMID- 28583887
TI  - Antimicrobial activity of plant-median synthesized silver nanoparticles against
      food and agricultural pathogens.
AB  - The adjuvant applications of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in food and agro
      ecosystems are not completely pursued, which most of the researchers confined to
      laboratory inventions. AgNPs is gaining a lot of interest among worldwide
      researcher due to exhibit antimicrobial properties and unique physiochemical
      properties. In addition, the facile and economically friendly method called
      biological method to synthesis of AgNPs using Bryophyllum pinnatum leaf extract
      over other methods and including antimicrobial properties, there is no doubt that
      AgNPs could be twirled the food and agricultural sector in future. The Ag ion
      reduced to AgNPs within 5 min. The AgNPs had synthesized in pure state of face
      centered-cubic nano-crystalline metallic silver with spherical in shape and well
      dispersed. The AgNPs exhibited against food (Escherichia coli-MTCC-443) and
      agriculture (Bacillus megaterium-MTCC-2412) pathogens. The synthesized AgNPs are
      strongly active against microbial associated with food and agriculture pathogens.

PMID- 28583888
TI  - Extracellular polysaccharide derived from potential probiotic strain with
      antioxidant and antibacterial activities as a prebiotic agent to control
      pathogenic bacterial biofilm formation.
AB  - Because of their functional diversity, bioactive compounds are becoming a new
      biocontrol agent to limit biofilm formation by pathogens. In this study, the
      physico-chemical characterization of an exopolysaccharide (EPS) isolated from
      Lactobacillus plantarum (EPLB) was characterized and its in vitro effect on
      biofilm formation was studied. The EPS had a molecular weight of 36 kDa and
      polydispersity index estimated to be 1.2. The tested EPLB had an antibacterial
      activity, with a Minimal Inhibition Concentration (MIC) values ranging between 1
      mg/ml and 10 mg/ml, displayed an antibiofilm effect concentration dependent on
      Gram positive and negative strains. Among the pathogenic strains, 2 out of 4
      appeared to be more than 50% inhibited in their biofilm development by the EPS.
      The antibiofilm activity can be due to the ability of the EPS to influence the
      function of biological membranes like hydrophobicity that decreased (P < 0.05)
      when the EPS was used at a concentration of 512 MUg/ml. This EPS without
      cytotoxic effect, showed an antioxidant effect on the quenching of DPPH radicals
      and the inhibition of lipid peroxidation with a percentage of 64% and 66%,
      respectively. Taken together these biological properties, EPLB can be considered
      as a potential prebiotic agent in the design of new therapeutic strategies for
      bacterial biofilm-associated infections.

PMID- 28583889
TI  - A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids enhances expression of soluble epoxide
      hydrolase in murine brain.
AB  - Several studies suggest that intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n3
      PUFA) beneficially influences cognitive function. However, effects on the adult
      brain are not clear. Little is known about the impact of dietary intervention on
      the fatty acid profile in adult brain, the modulation in the expression of
      enzymes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolism as well as changes in
      resulting oxylipins. These questions were addressed in the present study in two
      independent n3-PUFA feeding experiments in mice. Supplementation of
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 1% each in the diet)
      for 30days to adult NMRI and C57BL/6 mice led to a distinct shift in the brain
      PUFA pattern. While n3-PUFAs EPA, n3 docosapentaenoic acid and DHA were elevated,
      many n6-PUFAs were significantly decreased (except, e.g. C20:3 n6 which was
      increased). This shift in PUFAs was accompanied by immense differences in
      concentrations of oxidative metabolites derived from enzymatic conversion of
      PUFAs, esp. arachidonic acid whose products were uniformly decreased, and a
      modulation in the activity and expression pattern of delta-5 and delta-6
      desaturases. In both mouse strains a remarkable increase in the soluble epoxide
      hydrolase (sEH) activity (decreased epoxy-FA concentrations and epoxy-FA to
      dihydroxy-FA-ratios) as well as sEH expression was observed. Taking the high
      biological activity of epoxy-FA, e.g. on blood flow and nociceptive signaling
      into account, this finding might be of relevance for the effects of n3-PUFAs in
      neurodegenerative diseases. On any account, our study suggests a new distinct
      regulation of brain PUFA and oxylipin pattern by supplementation of n3-PUFAs to
      adult rodents.

PMID- 28583890
TI  - CD200 selectively upregulates prostaglandin E2 and D2 synthesis in LPS-treated
      bone marrow-derived macrophages.
AB  - The CD200/CD200R signalling pathway downregulates the synthesis of
      proinflammatory mediators and induces the synthesis of antiinflammatory mediators
      in macrophages and microglia. However, very little is known about the effect of
      this immunosuppressive pathway on the synthesis of lipid mediators. Therefore, we
      determined the synthesis of 35 lipids spanning 5 different lipid families in bone
      marrow-derived macrophages, which were treated with interleukin (IL) 4, IL10,
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or interferon gamma (IFNgamma) in absence and presence
      of CD200. Out of these conditions the only significant effect of CD200 was an
      increased synthesis of prostaglandin (PG) E2 and D2 in the presence of LPS.
      Accordingly, mRNA levels of cyclooxygenase-2, microsomal PGE2 synthase-1 and
      hematopoietic PGD synthase were upregulated by CD200 in presence of LPS. During
      Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA-) induced inflammation mPGES-1 was expressed in
      monocyte-derived macrophages and its expression was stronger in CD200R-positive
      than in CD200R-negative macrophages.

PMID- 28583891
TI  - The prognostic value of histologic subtype in node-positive early-stage cervical
      cancer after hysterectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the survival outcomes in patients with International
      Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I-IIA adenocarcinoma (AC) or
      squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix after hysterectomy and
      adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). METHODS: Patients with a primary diagnosis of FIGO
      stage I-IIA AC or SCC of the uterine cervix after hysterectomy and adjuvant RT
      between 1988 and 2012 were included using data from the Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results database. Univariate and multivariate Cox
      regression analyses were used to analyze the effect of histologic subtype on
      cause-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: We included
      1171 patients: 919 with cervical SCC and 252 with cervical AC. In multivariate
      analysis, cervical AC was an independent adverse prognostic factor for survival.
      Patients with cervical AC had worse CSS (p = 0.001) and OS (p = 0.001) compared
      to patients with cervical SCC. In the subgroup analysis, patients with cervical
      SCC in the era of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) (2000-2012) had better CSS
      (p = 0.006) and OS (p = 0.004) compared with the era of RT. However, there was no
      significant difference in CSS (p = 0.079) and OS (p = 0.053) between the eras of
      RT (1988-1999) and CCRT for patients with cervical AC. CONCLUSIONS: Survival of
      cervical AC is significantly worse than that of cervical SCC. As CCRT usage
      increases, the survival benefit is derived only in cervical SCC, but not in
      cervical AC.

PMID- 28583892
TI  - Preoperative chlorhexidine versus povidone-iodine antisepsis for preventing
      surgical site infection: A meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of
      randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: Updated guidelines for surgical site infections (SSIs) suggested
      that chlorhexidine (CH) or povidone-iodine (PVI) product was equally appropriate
      to be applied in preoperative disinfection, but which one was optimal remained
      ambiguous. Moreover, recent studies reported inconsistent results. Thus, an
      updated meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the superiority of CH or PVI for
      prevention of SSIs in clean and clean-contaminated surgery. METHODS: From the
      inception to November 2016, Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane library were
      systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which explored
      preoperative antisepsis schemes (CH or PVI) for prevention of SSIs in clean and
      clean-contaminated surgery. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence interval
      (CI) were calculated using random effects model. Furthermore, subgroup analysis,
      sensitive analysis, and trial sequential analysis (TSA) were applied to estimate
      whether overall pooled effect was enough credible and robust. RESULTS: Thirteen
      RCTs involving 6997 patients (3352 in CH and 3645 in PVI group) undergoing clean
      and clean-contaminated surgeries were included in our meta-analysis. Compared
      with PVI, preoperative CH antisepsis was associated with lower incidence of SSIs
      (RR, 0.70; 95%CI, 0.60-0.83, I2 = 0). Additionally, subgroup analysis, sensitive
      analysis, and TSA indicated that the current available evidence was reliable and
      robust. CONCLUSIONS: CH should be more preferentially recommended for
      preoperative skin preparation as compared with PVI in clean and clean
      contaminated surgery.

PMID- 28583893
TI  - Clinicopathologic features, surgical treatments, and outcomes of small bowel
      tumors: A retrospective study in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small bowel tumors are relatively rare. Accumulation of data
      regarding their clinical presentation, pathologic features, prognostic factors,
      treatment modalities, and outcome has been an issue. We summarize the
      clinicopathologic features and evaluate the long-term outcome of patients with
      small bowel tumors who underwent surgery. METHODS: This is a retrospective study
      of medical records of 456 patients with small bowel tumors treated surgically at
      a Cancer Hospital between 1999 and 2016. RESULTS: The study included 275 males
      (60.3%) and 181 females (39.7%). Small bowel tumors were difficult to diagnose
      because of non-specific symptoms. The most common symptoms were alimentary
      symptoms (56.8%) and abdominal pain (37.3%). Final histopathology revealed 241
      adenocarcinomas (52.9%), 153 gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs; 33.6%), 16
      neuroendocrine tumors (NETs; 3.5%), and 46 other types of tumors (10.1%). The 456
      surgeries performed included 153 pancreaticoduodenectomies, 241 limited duodenum
      resections, 60 palliative bypass surgeries, and 2 abdominal explorations. The 5
      year overall survival and progression-free survival rates for patients with small
      bowel tumor were 57.2% and 44.6%, respectively. Adenocarcinomas resulted in the
      worst overall survival compared to GISTs or NETs, and tumors with duodenal
      location resulted in a worse survival compared to those with non-duodenal
      location. CONCLUSION: Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for small bowel
      tumors. Adenocarcinomas and duodenal involvement seem to contribute to poor
      outcomes.

PMID- 28583894
TI  - Local recurrence after five years is associated with preoperative
      chemoradiotherapy treatment in patients diagnosed with stage II and III rectal
      cancer.
AB  - AIM: To asses the moment of local recurrence and its influence on the appraisal
      of the results of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). METHODS: We evaluated 317
      patients with a preoperative diagnosis of stage II or III rectal cancer who
      underwent rectal resection. Gender, age, neoadjuvant treatment, circumferencial
      resection margin, adjuvant treatment, pretreatment carcinoembryonic antigen
      level, tumor location, TNM stage, lymph node retrieval, abdominoperineal
      resection, and lymphatic or vascular infiltration were registered prospectively.
      Follow-up was performed to detect local or systemic recurrences. Timing of local
      recurrence (LR) in regard to analyzed variables was performed by using analysis
      of variance. To evaluate the influence of late local recurrence (LLR) on the
      results of neoadjuvant CRT, we performed a log-rank test censoring all
      observations at 60 and at 120 months. RESULTS: After a mean follow-up of 73.6
      months (range, 1-171), 68 patients developed a recurrence. Twenty-three patients
      developed LRs (6.9%), and 5 developed LLRs. The earliest relapse was diagnosed 4
      months after rectal surgery, and the latest was diagnosed 120 months after
      surgery. Patients who underwent neoadjuvant CRT developed LR significantly later
      than patients without neoadjuvant CRT (51.8 vs 13.5 months; P = 0.002). LR rates
      in patients who underwent preoperative CRT and those who did not were 9.2% and
      3.5% (difference, 5.7%), respectively, after censoring all observations at 60
      months and 9.2% and 6.1% (difference, 3.1%) after censoring all observations at
      120 months. CONCLUSION: Local recurrence was diagnosed significantly later in
      patients treated with neoadjuvant CRT. Follow-up longer than 5 years is needed to
      evaluate definitive results in patients treated with neoadjuvant CRT.

PMID- 28583895
TI  - The early prevention and treatment of PVST after laparoscopic splenectomy: A
      prospective cohort study of 130 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) in patients with cirrhotic and
      hypersplenism, there is highly risk of suffering from portal vein system
      thrombosis (PVST) complication. This study is aimed to investigate the risk
      factors of PVST and study the anticoagulation effect on the prevention of PVST
      after LS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively observed 130 patients who
      performed LS from February 2009 to December 2016. Patients were classified into
      the anticoagulation group (73 patients) and the non-anticoagulation group (57
      patients). At the same time, the non-PVST and PVST groups were used to analyze
      the factors of thrombosis. RESULTS: We analyzed the risk factors of PVST, the
      mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet count (PLT), plasma d-dimer, thickness of
      spleen and portal vein diameter were statistically significant (P < 0.05) between
      PVST group and non-PVST group. Compared with the non-anticoagulant group,
      anticoagulant group had a lower incidence of PVST (P = 0.044), a significant
      lower PLT (P = 0.001), a notable lower mean platelet volume (P = 0.006), and an
      obvious lower d-dimer (P = 0.001) after LS. And prothrombin time (PT) and
      international normalized ratio (INR) were significant increase after treated with
      anticoagulant drugs. Multiple logistic regression analysis reported that PLT, d
      dimer, portal vein diameter and thickness of spleen were the risk factors of
      PVST, however the anticoagulant drug was an independent protective factor for
      PVST (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Anticoagulant drug significantly decreased the
      incidence rate of PVST in patients with cirrhotic and portal hypertension after
      LS.

PMID- 28583896
TI  - A new laparoscopic technique of inguinal ligament suspension for vaginal vault
      prolapse.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of
      laparoscopic inguinal ligament suspension (LILS) as a new surgical technique for
      the treatment of vaginal vault prolapse. METHODS: From Feb 2014 to Mar 2016, 21
      symptomatic women with grades III-IV vaginal vault prolapse were enrolled. All
      patients underwent LILS procedure in which a bifurcated mesh was used to suspend
      the vaginal vault to inguinal ligament. The perioperative parameters including
      surgical time, blood loss, and hospitalization time were recorded. At a minimal
      12-month follow-up, the primary outcome measures, such as the anatomical cure
      rate and patients' satisfaction were respectively evaluated according to Pelvic
      organ prolapse questionnaire (POP-Q) and Patient Global Impression of Improvement
      (PGI-I) scale. The secondary outcomes including the impact on symptom severity,
      quality of life and sexual activity were also recorded. RESULTS: The mean
      surgical time was 130.71 +/- 16.07 min, the mean estimated blood loss was 53.57
      +/- 48.43 ml, and the mean hospital stay was 6 days (range: 5-8 days). After a
      minimal 12-month follow-up (range: 12-36 months), the rate of anatomical success
      and the subjective satisfaction were 100% and 90.5%. The symptom severity,
      quality of life and sexual activity also presented significant improvement. In
      addition, no serious peri- and postoperative complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS:
      LILS was a potential method for the treatment of vaginal vault prolapse. The
      technique could be performed easily and might be an alternative to other POP
      surgeries. However, further studies were required to focus on its long-term
      efficacy.

PMID- 28583897
TI  - Laparoscopic versus open liver resection for colorectal liver metastases: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis of studies with propensity score-based
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis collected studies with propensity score matching
      analysis (PSM) and focused on comparing the short-term and oncological outcomes
      of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) who underwent laparoscopic
      liver resection (LLR) versus open liver resection (OLR), to provide relatively
      high-level evidence of the additional value of LLR in treating patients with CRLM
      in comparison with OLR. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed
      using the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases. Bibliographic citation
      management software (EndNote X7) was used for literature management. Quality
      assessment was performed based on a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa
      Scale. The data were analyzed using Review Manager (Version 5.1), and sensitivity
      analysis was performed by omitting one study in each step. Dichotomous data were
      calculated by odds ratio (OR) and continuous data were calculated by weighed mean
      difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Overall, 10 studies
      enrolling 2259 patients with CRLM were included in the present meta-analysis. The
      pooled analysis suggested that LLR was associated with significantly less overall
      morbidity (OR, 0.57; 95% CI 0.40 to 0.80; I2 = 57%; P < 0.001), reduced blood
      loss (WMD, -124.68; 95% CI, -177.35 to -72.01; I2 = 83%; P < 0.00001), less
      transfusion requirement (OR, 0.46; 95% CI 0.35 to 0.62; I2 = 0%; P < 0.00001),
      shorter length of hospital stay (WMD, -2.13; 95% CI, -2.68 to -1.58; I2 = 0%; P <
      0.00001), but longer operative time (WMD, 39.48; 95% CI, 23.68 to 55.27; I2 =
      66%; P = 0.04). However, no significant differences were observed in mortality
      (OR, 0.50; 95% CI 0.21 to 1.2; I2 = 0%; P = 0.12). For oncological outcomes, no
      significant differences were observed in negative surgical margins (R0
      resection), tumor recurrence, 3-year disease-free survival, 5-year disease-free
      survival, 5-year overall survival between the approaches. Nevertheless, LLR
      tended to provide higher 3-overall survival rate (OR, 1.37; 95% CI 1.11 to 1.69;
      I2 = 0%; P = 0.003). The pooled OR for overall morbidity in each subgroup
      analysis was consistent with the overall pooled OR. Additionally, the pooled OR
      for overall morbidity varied from (0.63; 95% CI 0.45to 0.88; I2 = 49%; P = 0.007)
      to (0.51; 95% CI 0.37 to 0.69; I2 = 39%; P < 0.0001) in sensitivity analysis.
      CONCLUSION: LLR is a beneficial alternative to OLR in select patients, and
      provides more favorable short-term outcomes such as less overall morbidity,
      shorter length of hospital stay, less blood loss, lower blood transfusion rate.
      Simultaneously, LLR does not compromise oncological outcomes including surgical
      margins R0, tumor recurrence, disease-free survival, 5-overall survival, as well
      as even yielding better 3-overall survival. Considering unavoidable bias from non
      randomized trials, high-quality RCTs are badly needed to determine whether LLR
      can become standard practice for treating patients with CRLM.

PMID- 28583898
TI  - Associations between proximal tibiofibular joint (PTFJ) types and knee
      osteoarthritic changes in older adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the cross-sectional associations between proximal
      tibiofibular joint (PTFJ) type configurations and knee joint structural
      abnormalities in older adults. METHODS: A total of 967 community-based
      participants were studied. T1-weighted fat-suppressed magnetic resonance image
      (MRI) with spoiled gradient recalled echo sequence was utilized to assess the
      PTFJ type configurations. Knee cartilage volume, cartilage defects, bone marrow
      lesions and osteophytes were measured. Linear regression and binary logistic
      regression analyses were used to examine the associations between PTFJ type
      configurations and knee joint cartilage volume as well as knee structural
      abnormalities, respectively, after adjustment for potential confounders. RESULTS:
      Seven PTFJ types including plane (49.4%), trochoid (31.9%), double trochoid
      (4.3%), saddle (5.4%), condylar (5.3%), trochlear (3.5%) and ball & socket (0.2%)
      were observed. Plane type was used as the comparator. In multivariable analyses,
      irregular joint types (comprising the five uncommon joint types) were associated
      negatively with cartilage volume, and positively with knee cartilage defects,
      bone marrow lesions and osteophytes in the lateral (but not medial) compartments.
      In contrast, trochoid type was only associated with reduced femoral cartilage
      volume, but not with knee cartilage defects, bone marrow lesions and osteophytes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Irregular PTFJ joint shapes are associated with osteoarthritic
      changes in the lateral, but not medial, tibiofemoral compartment in older adults.
      The causal relationship needs to be examined in future longitudinal studies.

PMID- 28583899
TI  - Statins do not inhibit the FGFR signaling in chondrocytes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Statins are widely used drugs for cholesterol lowering, which were
      recently found to counteract the effects of aberrant fibroblast growth factor
      receptor (FGFR3) signaling in cell and animal models of FGFR3-related
      chondrodysplasia. This opened an intriguing therapeutic possibility for human
      dwarfing conditions caused by gain-of-function mutations in FGFR3, although the
      mechanism of statin action on FGFR3 remains unclear. Here, we determine the
      effect of statins on FGFR signaling in chondrocytes. DESIGN: Cultured chondrocyte
      cell lines, mouse embryonic tibia cultures and limb bud micromasses were treated
      with FGF2 to activate FGFR signaling. The effects of atorvastatin, fluvastatin,
      lovastatin and pravastatin on FGFR3 protein stability and on FGFR-mediated
      chondrocyte growth-arrest, loss of extracellular matrix (ECM), induction of
      premature senescence and hypertrophic differentiation were evaluated. RESULTS:
      Statins did not alter the level of FGFR3 protein expression nor produce any
      effect on FGFR-mediated inhibition of chondrocyte proliferation and hypertrophic
      differentiation in cultured chondrocyte cell lines, mouse tibia cultures or limb
      bud micromasses. CONCLUSION: We conclude that statins do not inhibit the FGFR
      signaling in chondrocytes. Therefore the statin-mediated rescue of FGFR3-related
      chondrodysplasia, described before, is likely not intrinsic to the growth plate
      cartilage.

PMID- 28583900
TI  - pH-responsive unimolecular micelle-gold nanoparticles-drug nanohybrid system for
      cancer theranostics.
AB  - : The development of an in situ formed pH-responsive theranostic nanocomposite
      for anticancer drug delivery and computed tomography (CT) imaging was reported.
      beta-cyclodextrin-{poly(lactide)-poly(2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate)
      poly[oligo(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)methacrylate]}21 [beta-CD-(PLA-PDMAEMA-PEtOxMA)21]
      unimolecular micelles served as a template for the in situ formation of gold
      nanoparticles (GNPs) and the subsequent encapsulation of doxorubicin (DOX). The
      formation of unimolecular micelles, microstructures and the distributions of GNPs
      and DOX were investigated through the combination of experiments and dissipative
      particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. beta-CD-(PLA-PDMAEMA-PEtOxMA)21 formed
      spherical unimolecular micelles in aqueous solution within a certain range of
      polymer concentrations. GNPs preferentially distributed in the PDMAEMA area. The
      maximum wavelength (lambdamax) and the size of GNPs increased with increasing
      concentration of HAuCl4. DOX preferentially distributed in the PDMAEMA
      mesosphere, but penetrated the inner PLA core with increasing DOX concentration.
      DOX-loaded micelles with 41-61% entrapment efficiency showed fast release (88%
      after 102h) under acidic tumor conditions. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments
      revealed superior anticancer efficacy and effective CT imaging properties for
      beta-CD-(PLA-PDMAEMA-PEtOxMA)21/Au/DOX. We conclude that the reported
      unimolecular micelles represent a class of versatile smart nanocarriers for
      theranostic application. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Developing polymeric
      nanoplatforms as integrated theranostic vehicles for improving cancer diagnostics
      and therapy is an emerging field of much importance. This article aims to develop
      an in situ formed pH-responsive theranostic nanocomposite for anticancer drug
      delivery and computed tomography (CT) imaging. Specific emphases is on structure
      properties relationship. There is a sea of literature on polymeric drug
      nanocarriers, and a couple of polymer-stabilized gold nanoparticles (GNPs)
      systems for cancer diagnosis are also known. However, to our knowledge, there has
      been no report on polymeric unimolecular micelles capable of dual loading of GNPs
      without external reducing agents and anticancer drugs for cancer diagnosis and
      treatment. To this end, the target of the current work was to develop an in situ
      formed nanocarrier, which actively dual wrapped CT contrast agent GNPs and
      hydrophobic anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX), achieving high CT imaging and
      antitumor efficacy under in vitro and in vivo acid tumor condition. Meanwhile, by
      taking advantage of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation, we further
      obtained the formation process and mechanism of unimolecular micelles, and
      detailed distributions and microstructures of GNPs and DOX on unimolecular
      micelles. Taken together, our results here provide insight and guidance for the
      design of more effective nanocarriers for cancer theranostic application.

PMID- 28583902
TI  - pH-responsive self-healing injectable hydrogel based on N-carboxyethyl chitosan
      for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.
AB  - Injectable hydrogels with pH-responsiveness and self-healing ability have great
      potential for anti-cancer drug delivery. Herein, we developed a series of
      polysaccharide-based self-healing hydrogels with pH-sensitivity as drug delivery
      vehicles for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy. The hydrogels were prepared by
      using N-carboxyethyl chitosan (CEC) synthesized via Michael reaction in aqueous
      solution and dibenzaldehyde-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEGDA). Doxorubicin
      (Dox), as a model of water-soluble small molecule anti-cancer drug was
      encapsulated into the hydrogel in situ. Self-healing behavior of the hydrogels
      was investigated at microscopic and macroscopic levels, and the hydrogels showed
      rapid self-healing performance without any external stimulus owing to the dynamic
      covalent Schiff-base linkage between amine groups from CEC and benzaldehyde
      groups from PEGDA. The chemical structures, rheological property, in vitro gel
      degradation, morphology, gelation time and in vitro Dox release behavior from the
      hydrogels were characterized. Injectability was verified by in vitro injection
      and in vivo subcutaneous injection in a rat. pH-responsive behavior was verified
      by in vitro Dox release from hydrogels in PBS solutions with different pH values.
      Furthermore, the activity of Dox released from hydrogel matrix was evaluated by
      employing human hepatocellular liver carcinoma (HepG2). Cytotoxicity test of the
      hydrogels using L929 cells confirmed their good cytocompatibility. Together,
      these pH-responsive self-healing injectable hydrogels are excellent candidates as
      drug delivery vehicles for liver cancer treatment. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: pH
      responsive drug delivery system could release drug efficiently in targeted acid
      environment and minimalize the amount of drug release in normal physiological
      environment. pH-sensitive injectable hydrogels as smart anti-cancer drug delivery
      carriers show great potential application for cancer therapy. The hydrogels with
      self-healing property could prolong their lifetime during implantation and
      provide the advantage of minimally invasive surgery and high drug-loading ratio.
      This work reported the design of a series of pH-responsive self-healing
      injectable hydrogels based on N-carboxyethyl chitosan synthesized in aqueous
      solution and dibenzaldehyde-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) via a green
      approach, and demonstrated their potential as intelligent delivery vehicle of
      doxorubicin for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy via the pH-responsive nature of
      dynamic Schiff base.

PMID- 28583903
TI  - Interleukin-13 conjugated quantum dots for identification of glioma initiating
      cells and their extracellular vesicles.
AB  - : Cadmium selenide (CdSe) based quantum dots modified with polyethylene glycol
      and chemically linked to interleukin-13 (IL13) were prepared with the aim of
      identifying the high affinity receptor (IL13Ralpha2) which is expressed in glioma
      stem cells and exosomes secreted by these cancer stem cells. IL13 conjugated
      quantum dots (IL13QD) were thoroughly characterized for their physicochemical
      properties including particle size and surface morphology. Furthermore, the
      specific binding of the IL13QD to glioma cells and to glioma stem cells (GSC) was
      verified using a competitive binding study. The exosomes were isolated from the
      GSC conditioned medium and the expression of IL13Ralpha2 in the GSC and exosomes
      was verified. The binding property of IL13QD to the tumor associated exosomes was
      initially confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The force of attraction
      between the quantum dots and U251 glioma cells and the exosomes was investigated
      by atomic force microscopy, which indicated a higher force of binding interaction
      between the IL13QD and IL13Ralpha2 expressing glioma cells and exosomes secreted
      by glioma stem cells. Flow cytometry of the IL13QD and exosomes from the culture
      media and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with glioma tumors indicated a
      distinctly populated complex pattern different from that of non-targeted quantum
      dots and bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugated quantum dots confirming specific
      binding potential of the IL13QD to the tumor associated exosomes. The results of
      this study demonstrate that IL13QD can serve as an ex vivo marker for glioma stem
      cells and exosomes that can inform diagnosis and prognosis of patients harboring
      malignant disease. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Functionalized quantum dots are
      flexible semiconductor nanomaterials which have an immense application in
      biomedical research. In particular, when they are functionalized with
      biomolecules like proteins or antibodies, they have the specialized ability to
      detect the expression of receptors and antigens in cells and tissues. In this
      study we designed a cytokine (interleukin-13) functionalized quantum dot to
      detect a cancer associated receptor expressed in cancer stem cells and the
      extracellular vesicles (exosomes) secreted by the cancer cells themselves. The
      binding pattern of these cytokine modified quantum dots to the cancer stem cells
      and exosomes alters the physical properties of the complex in the fixed and
      suspended form. This altered binding pattern can be monitored by a variety of
      techniques, including transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy
      and flow cytometry, and subsequent characterization of this quantum dot binding
      profile provides useful data that can be utilized as a fingerprint to detect
      cancer disease progression. This type of functionalized quantum dot fingerprint
      is especially useful for invasive cancers including brain and other metastatic
      cancers and may allow for earlier detection of disease progression or recurrence,
      thus saving the lives of patients suffering from this devastating disease.

PMID- 28583904
TI  - A Cloud-Based Virtual Reality App for a Novel Telemindfulness Service: Rationale,
      Design and Feasibility Evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Worldwide, there has been a marked increase in stress and anxiety,
      also among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Access to psychology
      services is limited, with some estimates suggesting that over 50% of sufferers
      are not accessing the existing services available to them for reasons such as
      inconvenience, embarrassment, or stigmatization concerns around mental health.
      Health service providers have increasingly been turning to drug-free therapies,
      such as mindfulness programs, as complementary treatments. OBJECTIVE: Virtual
      reality (VR) as a new delivery method for meditation-based stress and anxiety
      reduction therapy offers configurable environments and privacy protection. Our
      objective was to design a serious learning-meditation environment and to test the
      feasibility of the developed telemindfulness approach based on cloud
      technologies. METHODS: We developed a cloud-based system, which consisted of a
      Web interface for the mindfulness instructor and remote clients, who had 3D VR
      headsets. The mindfulness instructor could communicate over the Web interface
      with the participants using the headset. Additionally, the Web app enabled group
      sessions in virtual rooms, 360-degree videos, and real interactions or standalone
      meditation. The mindfulness program was designed as an 8-week Mindfulness-Based
      Stress Reduction course specifically for the developed virtual environments. The
      program was tested with four employees and four patients with TBI. The effects
      were measured with psychometric tests, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale
      (MAAS) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Patients also carried out the
      Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). An additional objective evaluation has also
      been carried out by tracking head motion. Additionally, the power spectrum
      analyses of similar tasks between sessions were tested. RESULTS: The patients
      achieved a higher level of life satisfaction during the study (SWLS: mean 23.0,
      SD 1.8 vs mean 18.3, SD 3.9) and a slight increase of the MAAS score (mean 3.4,
      SD 0.6 vs mean 3.3, SD 0.4). Particular insight into the MAAS items revealed that
      one patient had a lower MAAS score (mean 2.3). Employees showed high MAAS scores
      (mean 4.3, SD 0.7) and although their SWLS dropped to mean 26, their SWLS was
      still high (mean 27.3, SD 2.8). The power spectrum showed that the employees had
      a considerable reduction in high-frequency movements less than 0.34 Hz,
      particularly with the 360-degree video. As expected, the patients demonstrated a
      gradual decrease of high-frequency movements while sitting during the mindfulness
      practices in the virtual environment. CONCLUSIONS: With such a small sample size,
      it is too early to make any specific conclusions, but the presented results may
      accelerate the use of innovative technologies and challenge new ideas in research
      and development in the field of mindfulness/telemindfulness.

PMID- 28583901
TI  - Highly efficient delivery of potent anticancer iminoquinone derivative by
      multilayer hydrogel cubes.
AB  - : We report a novel delivery platform for a highly potent anticancer drug, 7
      (benzylamino)-3,4-dihydro-pyrrolo[4,3,2-de]quinolin-8(1H)-one (BA-TPQ), using pH-
      and redox-sensitive poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) hydrogel cubes of micrometer
      size as the encapsulating matrix. The hydrogels are obtained upon cross-linking
      PMAA with cystamine in PMAA/poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) multilayers assembled within
      mesoporous sacrificial templates. The BA-TPQ-loaded hydrogels maintain their
      cubical shape and pH-sensitivity after lyophilization, which is advantageous for
      long-term storage. Conversely, the particles degrade in vitro in the presence of
      glutathione (5mM) providing 80% drug release within 24h. Encapsulating BA-TPQ
      into hydrogels significantly increases its transport via Caco-2 cell monolayers
      used as a model for oral delivery where the apparent permeability of BA-TPQ
      hydrogel cubes was~2-fold higher than that of BA-TPQ. BA-TPQ-hydrogel cubes
      exhibit better anticancer activity against HepG2 (IC50=0.52ug/mL) and Huh7
      (IC50=0.29ug/mL) hepatoma cells with a 40% decrease in the IC50 compared to the
      non-encapsulated drug. Remarkably, non-malignant liver cells have a lower
      sensitivity to BA-TPQ-hydrogel cubes with 2-fold increased IC50 values compared
      to those of cancer cells. In addition, encapsulating BA-TPQ in the hydrogels
      amplifies the potency of the drug via down-regulation of MDM2 oncogenic protein
      and upregulation of p53 (a tumor suppressor) and p21 (cell proliferation
      suppressor) expression in HepG2 liver cancer cells. Moreover, enhanced inhibition
      of MDM2 protein expression by BA-TPQ-hydrogel cubes is independent of p53 status
      in Huh7 cells. This drug delivery platform of non-spherical shape provides a
      facile method for encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs and can facilitate the
      enhanced efficacy of BA-TPQ for liver cancer therapy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
      Many potent anticancer drugs are hydrophobic and lack tumor selectivity, which
      limits their application in cancer therapy. Although cubical hydrogels of
      poly(methacrylic acid) exhibit excellent biocompatibility and versatility, they
      have not been investigated for hydrophobic drug delivery due to poor mechanical
      stability and incompatibility between hydrophobic drugs and a hydrophilic
      hydrogel network. In this study, we provide a facile method to prepare a
      multilayer hydrogel-based platform with controlled nanostructure, cubical shape
      and redox-responsiveness for delivery of highly potent anticancer therapeutics,
      hydrophobic BA-TPQ. The BA-TPQ-hydrogel cubes have exceptional structural
      stability upon lyophilization which is advantageous for a long-term storage. The
      greatly enhanced trans-epithelial permeability and amplified anti-tumor activity
      of BA-TPQ are achieved by encapsulation in these hydrogel cubes. Furthermore, the
      anticancer BA-TPQ-hydrogel platform retains the selective activity of BA-TPQ to
      hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Overall, the produced BA-TPQ-hydrogel cubes
      demonstrate a high potential for clinical liver cancer therapy.

PMID- 28583905
TI  - Health App Possession Among Smartphone or Tablet Owners in Hong Kong: Population
      Based Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health apps are increasingly used with important implications for
      health. Hong Kong is one of the most technologically advanced and connected
      cities-smartphone ownership and Internet access rates are among the highest in
      the world. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the prevalence of health app possession and
      related sociodemographic factors and health behaviors among smartphone or tablet
      owners in Hong Kong. METHODS: A territory-wide population-based dual (landline
      and mobile) telephone survey was conducted in 2016. Respondents were asked
      whether they had health-related apps on their smartphones or tablets and what
      functions were available on the apps (eg, tracking physical activity and logging
      health records). Logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds
      ratio (aOR) and 95% CI of health app possession for different demographic
      characteristics, socioeconomic position (education, employment, and income),
      health behaviors (smoking, alcohol, and physical activity) and health (body mass
      index and chronic diseases). RESULTS: Of the 4129 smartphone or tablet owners
      (81.28%, 4129/5080 respondents), 995 (24.10%) had a health app. Tracking physical
      activity (67.0% of 995) and logging health records (43.0% of 995) were the most
      common functions of the health apps. Overall, younger age, higher education, and
      household income were associated with having health apps (all P<.001). Compared
      with physical inactivity, engaging in moderate physical activity >=1 day/week was
      associated with having health apps (aOR 1.45 [95% CI 1.20-1.75] for 1-3
      days/week, and aOR 1.32 [95% CI 1.07-1.62] for >=4 days/week). Having a history
      of chronic diseases was associated with having health apps (aOR 1.36 [95% CI 1.11
      1.68]). CONCLUSIONS: We have shown a lower prevalence of use of information and
      communication technologies (ICTs) in respondents with lower education and income
      in the most developed Chinese city. This could be seen as a confirmation of the
      "Inverse information law," which suggests that those most in need have less use
      of services and hence receive less benefits from advancements in medicine and
      health related ICTs.

PMID- 28583906
TI  - "You Sort of Go Down a Rabbit Hole...You're Just Going to Keep on Searching": A
      Qualitative Study of Searching Online for Pregnancy-Related Information During
      Pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Web is becoming increasingly popular for gaining information on
      medical or health issues; with women in particular likely to search online for
      this type of information and support. Despite the increased use of the Web for
      health-related information, we need to question whether the Web and the ease of
      seeking health information that it provides leads to more (patient) empowerment.
      As well as being a time of joy and expectations, pregnancy can be a worrying time
      for women, especially first time mums-to-be, with unfamiliar experiences and
      symptoms and concerns for the baby as well as the self. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to
      explore how and why pregnant women use the Web to gain information and support
      during pregnancy and what they consider a reliable source. METHODS: To meet the
      objectives of the study, a qualitative approach was required to gather
      information on the experiences of currently pregnant women who use the Web to
      gain information and support during their pregnancy. Sixteen pregnant women took
      part in a semistructured interview, either face-to-face or via telephone. The
      interviews took place from January to March 2016, all participants were from
      England, and the health professionals are all employed by the National Health
      Service (NHS). Qualitative analytical procedures were employed using inductive
      thematic analysis supported by NVivo software (QSR International). RESULTS:
      Pregnant women found reassurance from the experiences of others. This reassurance
      resulted in them feeling less alone, as well as enabling them to normalize any
      symptoms or experiences they were undergoing. The women understood that caution
      was needed at times while reading the stories of others, acknowledging the
      potential for extreme cases or worst case scenarios. This is particularly
      pertinent to the Web, as this wide range of stories may not be as easily
      accessible if stories where confined to those in a woman's offline social circle.
      The interviews provide insights into how and why pregnant women search online for
      information and perhaps more so, support while pregnant. CONCLUSIONS: Searching
      for health information and advice online during pregnancy is viewed as quick,
      easy, and accessible. The affordances of the Web have provided women the
      opportunity to go online as a first port of call. Knowing they were not alone and
      reading the experiences or symptoms of other pregnant women enabled women to
      normalize their experience and was ultimately reassuring for pregnant women.

PMID- 28583907
TI  - Modern Innovative Solutions in Improving Outcomes in Chronic Obstructive
      Pulmonary Disease (MISSION COPD): A Comparison of Clinical Outcomes Before and
      After the MISSION Clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) affects over 1 million
      people in the United Kingdom, and 1 person dies from COPD every 20 minutes. The
      cost to people with COPD and the National Health Service is huge - more than 24
      million working days lost a year and the annual expenditure on COPD is L810
      million and L930 million a year. OBJECTIVE: We aim to identify patients with COPD
      who are at risk of exacerbations and hospital admissions as well as those who
      have not been formally diagnosed, yet remain at risk. METHODS: This mixed-methods
      study will use both data and interviews from patients and health care
      professionals. The project Modern Innovative SolutionS in Improving Outcomes iN
      COPD (MISSION COPD) will hold multidisciplinary carousel style clinics to rapidly
      assess the patients' COPD and related comorbidities, and enhance patient
      knowledge and skills for self-management. RESULTS: This study is ongoing.
      CONCLUSIONS: This research will capture quantitative and qualitative outcomes to
      accompany a program of quality improvement through delivery of novel care models.

PMID- 28583908
TI  - Emory's Winship Earns Comprehensive Status.
AB  - Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, GA, has been granted
      Comprehensive Cancer Center status, the NCI's highest designation. The center was
      particularly recognized for its population-based research and extensive clinical
      trials program.

PMID- 28583909
TI  - Olaparib Keeps Hereditary Breast Tumors in Check.
AB  - In the phase III OlympiAD study, tumors shrank in about 60% of women with BRCA
      mutation-associated metastatic breast cancer who received the PARP inhibitor
      olaparib compared with 29% who received chemotherapy; the median time to disease
      progression was 7 months compared with 4.2 months, respectively. These findings
      are the first to demonstrate that a PARP inhibitor can improve progression-free
      survival in metastatic, hereditary breast cancer.

PMID- 28583910
TI  - Dramatic Responses Seen with TRK Inhibitor.
AB  - Presenting data on 50 of 55 patients with advanced TRK fusion-positive tumors,
      researchers reported that 76% of patients responded to the selective pan-TRK
      inhibitor larotrectinib, and 12% of patients experienced complete responses; 93%
      of responders remain on therapy. The targeted therapy was well tolerated, with
      just 13% of patients requiring a dose modification. None of the patients
      discontinued treatment due to adverse events.

PMID- 28583911
TI  - First Tissue-Agnostic Drug Approval Issued.
AB  - The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab received accelerated approval for adult and
      pediatric patients with solid tumors that are mismatch repair-deficient or
      microsatellite instability-high. This is the first time the FDA has greenlighted
      a drug based not on tumor type, but on a common biomarker.

PMID- 28583913
TI  - Patient level cost of diabetes self-management education programmes: an
      international evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the value of time-driven
      activity-based costing (TDABC) in understanding the process and costs of
      delivering diabetes self-management education (DSME) programmes in a multicountry
      comparative study. SETTING: Outpatient settings in five European countries
      (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, UK) and two countries outside Europe, Taiwan
      and Israel. PARTICIPANTS: Providers of DSME programmes across participating
      countries (N=16) including healthcare professionals, administrators and patients
      taking part in DSME programmes. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MEASURES: Primary measure:
      time spent by providers in the delivery of DSME and resources consumed in order
      to compute programme costs. Secondary measures: self-report measures of
      behavioural self-management and diabetes disease/health-related outcomes.
      RESULTS: We found significant variation in costs and the processes of how DSME
      programmes are provided across and within countries. Variations in costs were
      driven by a combination of price variances, mix of personnel skill and efficiency
      variances. Higher cost programmes were not found to have achieved better relative
      outcomes. The findings highlight the value of TDABC in calculating a patient
      level cost and potential of the methodology to identify process improvements in
      guiding the optimal allocation of scarce resources in diabetes care, in
      particular for DSME that is often underfunded. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the
      first to measure programme costs using estimates of the actual resources used to
      educate patients about managing their medical condition and is the first study to
      map such costs to self-reported behavioural and disease outcomes. The results of
      this study will inform clinicians, managers and policy makers seeking to enhance
      the delivery of DSME programmes. The findings highlight the benefits of adopting
      a TDABC approach to understanding the drivers of the cost of DSME programmes in a
      multicountry study to reveal opportunities to bend the cost curve for DSME.

PMID- 28583912
TI  - Noise Trauma-Induced Behavioral Gap Detection Deficits Correlate with
      Reorganization of Excitatory and Inhibitory Local Circuits in the Inferior
      Colliculus and Are Prevented by Acoustic Enrichment.
AB  - Hearing loss leads to a host of cellular and synaptic changes in auditory brain
      areas that are thought to give rise to auditory perception deficits such as
      temporal processing impairments, hyperacusis, and tinnitus. However, little is
      known about possible changes in synaptic circuit connectivity that may underlie
      these hearing deficits. Here, we show that mild hearing loss as a result of brief
      noise exposure leads to a pronounced reorganization of local excitatory and
      inhibitory circuits in the mouse inferior colliculus. The exact nature of these
      reorganizations correlated with the presence or absence of the animals'
      impairments in detecting brief sound gaps, a commonly used behavioral sign for
      tinnitus in animal models. Mice with gap detection deficits (GDDs) showed a shift
      in the balance of synaptic excitation and inhibition that was present in both
      glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, whereas mice without GDDs showed stable
      excitation-inhibition balances. Acoustic enrichment (AE) with moderate intensity,
      pulsed white noise immediately after noise trauma prevented both circuit
      reorganization and GDDs, raising the possibility of using AE immediately after
      cochlear damage to prevent or alleviate the emergence of central auditory
      processing deficits.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Noise overexposure is a major cause of
      central auditory processing disorders, including tinnitus, yet the changes in
      synaptic connectivity underlying these disorders remain poorly understood. Here,
      we find that brief noise overexposure leads to distinct reorganizations of
      excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs onto glutamatergic and GABAergic
      neurons and that the nature of these reorganizations correlates with animals'
      impairments in detecting brief sound gaps, which is often considered a sign of
      tinnitus. Acoustic enrichment immediately after noise trauma prevents circuit
      reorganizations and gap detection deficits, highlighting the potential for using
      sound therapy soon after cochlear damage to prevent the development of central
      processing deficits.

PMID- 28583914
TI  - Association between COL11A1 (rs1337185) and ADAMTS5 (rs162509) gene polymorphisms
      and lumbar spine pathologies in Chinese Han population: an observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A previous study identified a significant association between several
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) in
      Indians. To validate the association between these SNPs and specific lumbar spine
      pathologies, we performed a case-control study in Chinese Han population. DESIGN:
      An observational study. SETTING: University Hospital in Nanning, China.
      PARTICIPANTS: This study included 428 patients with LDD and 400 normal controls.
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients with LDD were classified into four subgroups,
      including disc herniation only (subgroup 1), discopathies or/and osteochondrosis
      associated with disc herniation (subgroup 2), spinal stenosis or/and
      spondylolisthesis (subgroup 3) and degenerative scoliosis (subgroup 4). This
      study was conducted by examining two aspects: environmental factors and SNP
      genotyping. The environmental factors were evaluated with a questionnaire survey
      including questions about body mass index, smoking habits, the physical demands
      of their job and exposure to vibrations. Rs1337185, rs5275, rs5277, rs7575934,
      rs3213718 and rs162509 were genotyped using a PCR-based invader assay. RESULTS:
      The physical workload was significantly higher in patients with lumbar spine
      pathologies than in the normal controls (p=0.035). The genotype and allele
      frequencies of rs1337185 and rs162509 were significantly different between the
      patients with LDD and the normal controls. In rs1337185, a significant
      association was found between the C allele (risk allele) and the presence of disc
      herniation (OR=1.80; 95% CI 1.21 to 2.68; p=0.003, adjusted p=0.012) and the
      presence of spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis (OR=1.92; 95% CI 1.29 to 2.89;
      p=0.001, adjusted p=0.004). In rs162509, the G allele represented 1.58-fold
      increased risk to suffer from disc herniation (OR=1.58; 95% CI 1.20 to 2.09;
      p=0.001, adjusted p=0.004). CONCLUSION: The SNPs rs1337185 in COL11A1 and
      rs162509 in ADAMTS5 are associated with susceptibility to LDD. The C allele of
      rs1337185 is risky for patients who are affected by lumbar pathologies such as
      disc herniation, stenosis and spondylolisthesis. The G allele of rs16250
      represents a risk factor for the development of disc herniation.

PMID- 28583916
TI  - Balancing Anticoagulation Decisions in Patients on Dialysis with Atrial
      Fibrillation.

PMID- 28583917
TI  - MDU ceases to cover private spinal surgery.

PMID- 28583915
TI  - ELABELA and an ELABELA Fragment Protect against AKI.
AB  - Renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is the most common cause of AKI, which
      associates with high mortality and has no effective therapy. ELABELA (ELA) is a
      newly identified 32-residue hormone peptide highly expressed in adult kidney. To
      investigate whether ELA has protective effects on renal I/R injury, we
      administered the mature peptide (ELA32) or the 11-residue furin-cleaved fragment
      (ELA11) to hypoxia-reperfusion (H/R)-injured or adriamycin-treated renal tubular
      cells in vitro ELA32 and ELA11 significantly inhibited the elevation of the DNA
      damage response, apoptosis, and inflammation in H/R-injured renal tubular cells
      and suppressed adriamycin-induced DNA damage response. Similarly, overexpression
      of ELA32 or ELA11 significantly inhibited H/R-induced cell death, DNA damage
      response, and inflammation. Notably, treatment of mice with ELA32 or ELA11 but
      not an ELA11 mutant with a cysteine to alanine substitution at the N terminus
      (AE11C) inhibited I/R injury-induced renal fibrosis, inflammation, apoptosis, and
      the DNA damage response and markedly reduced the renal tubular lesions and renal
      dysfunction. Together, our results suggest that ELA32 and ELA11 may be
      therapeutic candidates for treating AKI.

PMID- 28583919
TI  - A quarter of Scottish general practices report vacancies.

PMID- 28583920
TI  - Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism reversal after testosterone replacement
      in a 34-year-old male.
AB  - A 34-year-old male presented to the endocrinology clinic with the complaint of
      the absence of facial, axillary and pubic hairs. Further history revealed absent
      ejaculations and decreased early morning erections. The patient had no history of
      headaches, visual problems or anosmia. On physical examination, there were sparse
      facial, axillary and pubic hairs, bilateral gynaecomastia, stretch penile length
      of 5 cm and bilateral testicular volume of 10 mL. Laboratory investigations
      showed low luteinising hormone, follicular stimulating hormone and testosterone
      with normal prolactin and thyroid profile. MRI of the pituitary gland showed no
      evidence of pituitary microadenoma or macroadenoma. The patient was started on
      testosterone injections. After 9 months of testosterone replacement, the
      patient's testicular size increased to 20 mL bilaterally and his penile length
      increased to the mean adult size for his age with normal testosterone and
      luteinising hormone. He was, thus, advised to discontinue testosterone therapy.

PMID- 28583918
TI  - GPR120 suppresses adipose tissue lipolysis and synergizes with GPR40 in
      antidiabetic efficacy.
AB  - GPR40 and GPR120 are fatty acid sensors that play important roles in glucose and
      energy homeostasis. GPR40 potentiates glucose-dependent insulin secretion and
      demonstrated in clinical studies robust glucose lowering in type 2 diabetes.
      GPR120 improves insulin sensitivity in rodents, albeit its mechanism of action is
      not fully understood. Here, we postulated that the antidiabetic efficacy of GPR40
      could be enhanced by coactivating GPR120. A combination of GPR40 and GPR120
      agonists in db/db mice, as well as a single molecule with dual agonist
      activities, achieved superior glycemic control compared with either monotherapy.
      Compared with a GPR40 selective agonist, the dual agonist improved insulin
      sensitivity in ob/ob mice measured by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp,
      preserved islet morphology, and increased expression of several key lipolytic
      genes in adipose tissue of Zucker diabetic fatty rats. Novel insights into the
      mechanism of action for GPR120 were obtained. Selective GPR120 activation
      suppressed lipolysis in primary white adipocytes, although this effect was
      attenuated in adipocytes from obese rats and obese rhesus, and sensitized the
      antilipolytic effect of insulin in rat and rhesus primary adipocytes. In
      conclusion, GPR120 agonism enhances insulin action in adipose tissue and yields a
      synergistic efficacy when combined with GPR40 agonism.

PMID- 28583921
TI  - Postmenopausal pregnancy? Evaluation of elevated hCG in a 59-year-old woman.
AB  - Slightly elevated serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) can be a normal
      finding in postmenopausal women. We report a case of a 59-year-old woman with a
      history of abnormal uterine bleeding who presented with a concern for pregnancy
      after developing nausea and vomiting a few weeks after unprotected intercourse.
      Although pregnancy was extremely unlikely, hCG was obtained in order to reassure
      the patient since she reported that her mother conceived at the age of 60. Serum
      hCG was positive, prompting concern for malignancy versus pregnancy. Stable serum
      hCG levels, elevated follicle-stimulating hormone and negative transvaginal
      ultrasound ruled out both malignancy and pregnancy. Positive serum pregnancy test
      and hCG elevation was attributed to normal postmenopausal state.

PMID- 28583922
TI  - Modafinil in schizophrenia: is the risk worth taking?
AB  - Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder characterised by positive and negative
      symptoms. Negative symptoms are difficult to treat and there is no specific
      treatment. In small trials, modafinil has been studied in association with
      antipsychotic treatment. We present three cases of its use; two have developed
      positive symptoms and one developed renal impairment. Further studies are needed
      to assess its usefulness in schizophrenia and safety in this group of patients.

PMID- 28583923
TI  - Triple synchronous primary malignancies: a rare occurrence.
AB  - Triple synchronous primary malignant neoplasms are rare. The exact aetiology is
      unknown; however, risk factors include older age, family history, genetic
      aberrations, prolonged exposure to carcinogens and smoking. We describe a
      previously healthy 48-year-old woman who presented with abdominal pain and a
      palpable abdominal mass. Imaging revealed a complex cystic, solid pelvic mass and
      another mass in the right upper quadrant. She received an extensive abdominal
      surgery including exploratory laparotomy, pelvic mass resection, total abdominal
      hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy,
      omentectomy and right adrenalectomy. During surgery, a mass in the distal sigmoid
      colon was noted and subsequent sigmoidectomy was performed. The surgical specimen
      revealed three different primary tumours with three different histologies, a
      granulosa cell tumour of the ovary, adrenocortical carcinoma and adenocarcinoma
      of the colon. She received six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer
      with 5-fluorourocil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin and is currently living with no
      recurrence.

PMID- 28583924
TI  - Congenital hypofibrinogenaemia: a presymptomatic detection of an extremely rare
      bleeding disorder in preterm twins.
AB  - Twenty-eight-week-old preterm monochorionic-diamniotic twins were admitted to the
      neonatal intensive care unit secondary to low birth weight and mild respiratory
      distress syndrome. A low fibrinogen level of less than 0.5 g/L was detected
      following an abnormal full blood count. They required fibrinogen transfusions
      until 32 weeks corrected gestation to maintain adequate fibrinogen levels.
      Parental screening revealed that their mother had a previously undiagnosed
      hypofibrinogenaemia. Of note, her only symptom was menorrhagia. This may have
      implications on further pregnancies as it can be associated with spontaneous
      miscarriage and post-partum haemorrhage. Congenital hypofibrinogenaemia is a rare
      disorder and there are no reported cases from Ireland. A higher degree of
      suspicion for screening is required to detect new cases and demonstrates the
      benefits of checking parental levels in such situations.

PMID- 28583925
TI  - Bilateral isolated submandibular gland mumps.
AB  - Isolated submandibular swellings pose a diagnostic challenge to the practising
      otolaryngologist. We report an unusual case of mumps isolated to bilateral
      submandibular glands. We discuss the case and the literature surrounding this
      condition and remind clinicians that mumps should be considered as a diagnosis in
      the presence of submandibular gland swelling in the absence of typical parotid
      swelling associated with mumps. Early consideration of this differential
      diagnosis, serological testing and a multidisciplinary approach may help to
      clinch the diagnosis earlier and prevent spread of the virus.

PMID- 28583926
TI  - Postmating sexual selection and the enigmatic jawed genitalia of Callosobruchus
      subinnotatus.
AB  - Insect genitalia exhibit rapid divergent evolution. Truly extraordinary
      structures have evolved in some groups, presumably as a result of postmating
      sexual selection. To increase our understanding of this phenomenon, we studied
      the function of one such structure. The male genitalia of Callosobruchus
      subinnotatus (Coleoptera: Bruchinae) contain a pair of jaw-like structures with
      unknown function. Here, we used phenotypic engineering to ablate the teeth on
      these jaws. We then experimentally assessed the effects of ablation of the
      genital jaws on mating duration, ejaculate weight, male fertilization success and
      female fecundity, using a double-mating experimental design. We predicted that
      copulatory wounding in females should be positively related to male fertilization
      success; however, we found no significant correlation between genital tract
      scarring in females and male fertilization success. Male fertilization success
      was, however, positively related to the amount of ejaculate transferred by males
      and negatively related to female ejaculate dumping. Ablation of male genital jaws
      did not affect male relative fertilization success but resulted in a reduction in
      female egg production. Our results suggest that postmating sexual selection in
      males indeed favors these genital jaws, not primarily through an elevated
      relative success in sperm competition but by increasing female egg production.

PMID- 28583927
TI  - The effects of moderate intensity training in a hypoxic environment on
      transcriptional responses in Thoroughbred horses.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of six weeks of normobaric hypoxic training
      on transcriptional expression of the genes associated with mitochondrial and
      glycolytic activities in Thoroughbred horses. Eight horses were divided into two
      groups of four. They completed an identical incremental, moderate intensity
      training program, except that one group trained in a hypoxic chamber with 15%
      oxygen for 30 min on alternate days except Sundays (HT), while the other group
      trained in normal air (NC). Prior to and post training, heart rate and blood
      lactate were measured during an incremental treadmill test. Muscle biopsy samples
      were taken prior to and 24 h post the training period for qPCR analysis of mRNA
      changes in VEGF, PPARgamma, HIF-1alpha, PGC-1alpha, COX4, AK3, LDH, PFK, PKm and
      SOD-2. No significant differences between the HT and NC were detected by
      independent-samples t-test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons
      (P>0.05) in relative changes of mRNA abundance. There were no significant
      differences between groups for heart rate and blood lactate during the treadmill
      test. The outcomes indicated that this hypoxia training program did not cause a
      significant variation in basal level expression of the selected mRNAs in
      Thoroughbreds as compared with normoxic training.

PMID- 28583929
TI  - Spotlight on the June 6 issue.

PMID- 28583931
TI  - Editors' Note.

PMID- 28583930
TI  - Correlating microscopic findings with B-mode ultrasound in cervical artery
      dissection.

PMID- 28583932
TI  - Letter re: Teaching NeuroImages: Giant neurocysticercosis with unusual imaging
      manifestations.

PMID- 28583933
TI  - Author response: Teaching NeuroImages: Giant neurocysticercosis with unusual
      imaging manifestations.

PMID- 28583934
TI  - Letter re: Teaching NeuroImages: Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.

PMID- 28583935
TI  - Author response: Teaching NeuroImages: Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.

PMID- 28583936
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: Giant neurocysticercosis with unusual imaging
      manifestations.

PMID- 28583937
TI  - Clinical Reasoning: A 10-year-old boy with bilateral vision loss.

PMID- 28583938
TI  - Clinical Reasoning: A 16-year-old girl with subacute weakness and sensory loss.

PMID- 28583939
TI  - Pearls & Oy-sters: Symptomatic cerebral vasospasm on conventional angiography
      following temporal lobe epilepsy surgery.

PMID- 28583940
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: Fahr syndrome caused by hypoparathyroidism.

PMID- 28583941
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: Giant cystic echinococcosis with unusual imaging
      manifestations.

PMID- 28583942
TI  - MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Risk of overtreatment in patients with adrenal
      insufficiency: current and emerging aspects.
AB  - The effects of long-term replacement therapy of adrenal insufficiency (AI) are
      still a matter of controversy. In fact, the established glucocorticoid
      replacement regimens do not completely reproduce the endogenous hormonal
      production and the monitoring of AI treatment may be a challenge for the lack of
      reliable clinical and biochemical markers. Consequently, several AI patients are
      frequently exposed to relative glucocorticoid excess potentially leading to
      develop chronic complications, such as diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia,
      hypertension and fragility fractures with consequent impaired QoL and increased
      mortality risk. This review deals with the pathophysiological and clinical
      aspects concerning the over-replacement therapy of primary and secondary AI.

PMID- 28583943
TI  - Impact of travel time and rurality on presentation and outcomes of symptomatic
      colorectal cancer: a cross-sectional cohort study in primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported a survival disadvantage for rural
      dwellers who develop colorectal cancer, but the underlying mechanisms remain
      obscure. Delayed presentation to GPs may be a contributory factor, but evidence
      is lacking. AIM: To examine the association between rurality and travel time on
      diagnosis and survival of colorectal cancer in a cohort from northeast Scotland.
      DESIGN AND SETTING: The authors used a database linking GP records to routine
      data for patients diagnosed between 1997 and 1998, and followed up to 2011.
      METHOD: Primary outcomes were alarm symptoms, emergency admissions, stage, and
      survival. Travel time in minutes from patients to GP was estimated. Logistic and
      Cox regression were used to model outcomes. Interaction terms were used to
      determine if travelling time impacted differently on urban versus rural patients.
      RESULTS: Rural patients and patients travelling farther to the GP had better 3
      year survival. When the travel outcome associations were explored using
      interaction terms, the associations differed between rural and urban areas.
      Longer travel in urban areas significantly reduced the odds of emergency
      admissions (odds ratio [OR] 0.62, P<0.05), and increased survival (hazard ratio
      0.75, P<0.05). Longer travel also increased the odds of presenting with alarm
      symptoms in urban areas; this was nearly significant (OR 1.34, P = 0.06).
      Presence of alarm symptoms reduced the likelihood of emergency admissions (OR
      0.36, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Living in a rural area, and travelling farther to a GP
      in urban areas, may reduce the likelihood of emergency admissions and poor
      survival. This may be related to how patients present with alarm symptoms.

PMID- 28583944
TI  - Variation in referral and access to new psychological therapy services by age: an
      empirical quantitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older people with common mental health problems (CMHPs) are known to
      have reduced rates of referral to psychological therapy. AIM: To assess referral
      rates to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, contact
      with a therapist, and clinical outcome by age. DESIGN AND SETTING: Empirical
      research study using patient episodes of care from South West of England IAPT
      services. METHOD: By analysing 82 513 episodes of care (2010-2011), referral
      rates and clinical improvement were compared with both total population and
      estimated prevalence in each age group using IAPT data. Probable recovery of
      those completing treatment was calculated for each group. RESULTS: Estimated
      prevalence of CMHPs peaks in 45-49-year-olds (20.59% of population). The
      proportions of patients identified with CMHPs being referred peaks at 20-24 years
      (22.95%) and reduces with increase in age thereafter to 6.00% for 70-74-year
      olds. Once referred, the proportion of those attending first treatment increases
      with age between 20 years (57.34%) and 64 years (76.97%). In addition, the
      percentage of those having a clinical improvement gradually increases from the
      age of 18 years (12.94%) to 69 years (20.74%). CONCLUSION: Younger adults are
      more readily referred to IAPT services. However, as a proportion of those
      referred, probabilities of attending once, attending more than once, and clinical
      improvement increase with age. It is uncertain whether optimum levels of referral
      have been reached for young adults. It is important to establish whether changes
      to service configuration, treatment options, and GP behaviour can increase
      referrals for middle-aged and older adults.

PMID- 28583946
TI  - Routine blood tests are a basic screening tool for serious pathology.

PMID- 28583945
TI  - Patients' evaluations of patient safety in English general practices: a cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Description of safety problems and harm in general practices has
      previously relied on information from health professionals, with scarce attention
      paid to experiences of patients. AIM: To examine patient-reported experiences and
      outcomes of patient safety in primary care. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional
      study in 45 general practices across five regions in the north, centre, and south
      of England. METHOD: A version of the Patient Reported Experiences and Outcomes of
      Safety in Primary Care (PREOS-PC) questionnaire was sent to a random sample of
      6736 patients. Main outcome measures included 'practice activation' (what a
      practice does to create a safe environment); 'patient activation' (how proactive
      are patients in ensuring safe healthcare delivery); 'experiences of safety
      events' (safety errors); 'outcomes of safety' (harm); and 'overall perception of
      safety' (how safe patients rate their practice). RESULTS: Questionnaires were
      returned by 1244 patients (18.4%). Scores were high for 'practice activation'
      (mean [standard error] = 80.4 out of 100 [2.0]) and low for 'patient activation'
      (26.3 out of 100 [2.6]). Of the patients, 45% reported experiencing at least one
      safety problem in the previous 12 months, mostly related to appointments (33%),
      diagnosis (17%), patient provider communication (15%), and coordination between
      providers (14%). Twenty-three per cent of the responders reported some degree of
      harm in the previous 12 months. The overall assessment of level of safety of
      practices was generally high (86.0 out of 100 [16.8]). CONCLUSION: Priority areas
      for patient safety improvement in general practices in England include
      appointments, diagnosis, communication, coordination, and patient activation.

PMID- 28583947
TI  - Cyclic AMP-Independent Control of Twitching Motility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - FimV is a Pseudomonas aeruginosa inner membrane hub protein that modulates levels
      of the second messenger, cyclic AMP (cAMP), through the activation of adenylate
      cyclase CyaB. Although type IVa pilus (T4aP)-dependent twitching motility is
      modulated by cAMP levels, mutants lacking FimV are twitching impaired, even when
      exogenous cAMP is provided. Here we further define FimV's cAMP-dependent and 
      independent regulation of twitching. We confirmed that the response regulator of
      the T4aP-associated Chp chemotaxis system, PilG, requires both FimV and the CyaB
      regulator, FimL, to activate CyaB. However, in cAMP-replete backgrounds-lacking
      the cAMP phosphodiesterase CpdA or the CheY-like protein PilH or expressing
      constitutively active CyaB-pilG and fimV mutants failed to twitch. Both
      cytoplasmic and periplasmic domains of FimV were important for its cAMP-dependent
      and -independent roles, while its septal peptidoglycan-targeting LysM motif was
      required only for twitching motility. Polar localization of the sensor kinase
      PilS, a key regulator of transcription of the major pilin, was FimV dependent.
      However, unlike its homologues in other species that localize flagellar system
      components, FimV was not required for swimming motility. These data provide
      further evidence to support FimV's role as a key hub protein that coordinates the
      polar localization and function of multiple structural and regulatory proteins
      involved in P. aeruginosa twitching motility.IMPORTANCEPseudomonas aeruginosa is
      a serious opportunistic pathogen. Type IVa pili (T4aP) are important for its
      virulence, because they mediate dissemination and invasion via twitching motility
      and are involved in surface sensing, which modulates pathogenicity via changes in
      cAMP levels. Here we show that the hub protein FimV and the response regulator of
      the Chp system, PilG, regulate twitching independently of their roles in the
      modulation of cAMP synthesis. These functions do not require the putative
      scaffold protein FimL, proposed to link PilG with FimV. PilG may regulate
      asymmetric functioning of the T4aP system to allow for directional movement,
      while FimV appears to localize both structural and regulatory elements-including
      the PilSR two-component system-to cell poles for optimal function.

PMID- 28583948
TI  - Lysinibacillus fusiformis M5 Induces Increased Complexity in Bacillus subtilis
      168 Colony Biofilms via Hypoxanthine.
AB  - In recent years, biofilms have become a central subject of research in the fields
      of microbiology, medicine, agriculture, and systems biology, among others. The
      sociomicrobiology of multispecies biofilms, however, is still poorly understood.
      Here, we report a screening system that allowed us to identify soil bacteria
      which induce architectural changes in biofilm colonies when cocultured with
      Bacillus subtilis We identified the soil bacterium Lysinibacillus fusiformis M5
      as an inducer of wrinkle formation in B. subtilis colonies mediated by a
      diffusible signaling molecule. This compound was isolated by bioassay-guided
      chromatographic fractionation. The elicitor was identified to be the purine
      hypoxanthine using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      spectroscopy. We show that the induction of wrinkle formation by hypoxanthine is
      not dependent on signal recognition by the histidine kinases KinA, KinB, KinC,
      and KinD, which are generally involved in phosphorylation of the master regulator
      Spo0A. Likewise, we show that hypoxanthine signaling does not induce the
      expression of biofilm matrix-related operons epsABCDEFGHIJKLMNO and tasA-sipW
      tapA Finally, we demonstrate that the purine permease PbuO, but not PbuG, is
      necessary for hypoxanthine to induce an increase in wrinkle formation of B.
      subtilis biofilm colonies. Our results suggest that hypoxanthine-stimulated
      wrinkle development is not due to a direct induction of biofilm-related gene
      expression but rather is caused by the excess of hypoxanthine within B. subtilis
      cells, which may lead to cell stress and death.IMPORTANCE Biofilms are a
      bacterial lifestyle with high relevance regarding diverse human activities.
      Biofilms can be beneficial, for instance, in crop protection. In nature, biofilms
      are commonly found as multispecies communities displaying complex social
      behaviors and characteristics. The study of interspecies interactions will thus
      lead to a better understanding and use of biofilms as they occur outside
      laboratory conditions. Here, we present a screening method suitable for the
      identification of multispecies interactions and showcase L. fusiformis as a soil
      bacterium that is able to live alongside B. subtilis and modify the architecture
      of its biofilms.

PMID- 28583950
TI  - The tip of the iceberg in the sub-Saharan Africa: unraveling the real world in
      the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure.

PMID- 28583951
TI  - A nationwide contemporary epidemiological portrait of valvular heart diseases.

PMID- 28583949
TI  - BosR Is A Novel Fur Family Member Responsive to Copper and Regulating Copper
      Homeostasis in Borrelia burgdorferi.
AB  - The ferric uptake regulator (Fur) family of DNA-binding proteins represses and/or
      activates gene transcription via divalent metal ion-dependent signal sensing. The
      Borrelia burgdorferi Fur homologue, also known as Borrelia oxidative stress
      regulator (BosR), promotes spirochetal adaptation to the mammalian host by
      directly repressing the lipoproteins required for tick colonization and
      indirectly activating those required for establishing infection in the mammal.
      Here, we examined whether the DNA-binding activity of BosR was regulated by any
      of the four most prevalent transition metal ions in B. burgdorferi, Mn, Fe, Cu,
      and Zn. Our data indicated that in addition to a structural site occupied by
      Zn(II), BosR had two regulatory sites that could be occupied by Zn(II), Fe(II),
      or Cu(II) but not by Mn(II). While Fe(II) had no effect, Cu(II) and Zn(II) had a
      dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the BosR DNA-binding activity. Competition
      experiments indicated that Cu(II) had a higher affinity for BosR than Zn(II) or
      Fe(II). A BosR deficiency in B. burgdorferi resulted in a significant increase in
      the Cu level but no significant change in the levels of Mn, Fe, or Zn. These data
      suggest that Cu regulates BosR activity, and BosR in turn regulates Cu
      homeostasis in B. burgdorferi While this regulatory paradigm is characteristic of
      the Fur family, BosR is the first one shown to be responsive to Cu(II), which may
      be an adaptation to the potentially high level of Cu present in the Lyme disease
      spirochete.IMPORTANCE Transition metal ions serve an essential role in the
      metabolism of all living organisms. Members of the ferric uptake regulator (Fur)
      family play critical roles in regulating the cellular homeostasis of transition
      metals in diverse bacteria, and their DNA-binding activity is often regulated by
      coordination of the cognate divalent metal ions. To date, regulators with metal
      ion specificity to Fe(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), and Ni(II) have all been described. In
      this study, we demonstrate that BosR, the sole Fur homologue in Borrelia
      burgdorferi, is responsive to Cu(II) and regulates Cu homeostasis in this
      bacterium, which may be an adaption to potentially Cu-rich milieu in the Lyme
      disease spirochete. This study has expanded the repertoire of the Fur family's
      metal ion specificity.

PMID- 28583952
TI  - Pursuing Health Equity.

PMID- 28583953
TI  - Health Equity.
AB  - Health disparities-differences in health status, treatment, or outcomes-exist
      between racial and ethnic minorities; people with low socioeconomic status;
      lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; women; people with disabilities;
      and others, compared with majority populations. Improved insurance coverage and
      targeted efforts by health care systems have narrowed some disparities, but many
      gaps remain. There is a growing recognition that interventions outside the health
      care sector that address social determinants of health such as housing,
      employment, and education are also needed. The effects of interventions in these
      areas are of interest to health services researchers. Innovative cross-sector
      approaches that improve health through medical and nonmedical interventions hold
      promise for further reducing health disparities.

PMID- 28583954
TI  - The Health Effects Of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage.
AB  - An emerging body of literature suggests a positive association between legal same
      sex marriage and improved health outcomes.

PMID- 28583955
TI  - Progress In Achieving Health Equity Requires Attention To Root Causes.
AB  - Life expectancy and disease rates in the United States differ starkly among
      Americans depending on their demographic characteristics and where they live.
      Although health care systems are taking important steps to reduce inequities,
      meaningful progress requires interventions outside the clinic, in sectors such as
      employment, housing, transportation, and public safety. Inequities exist in each
      of these sectors, and barriers to educational attainment, higher-income jobs, and
      social mobility limit the opportunity of disadvantaged people to improve their
      circumstances. Financial institutions and other stakeholders are investing in
      cross-sector collaborations to remove these barriers and thereby strengthen local
      economies and population health. Meanwhile, recent trends suggest the need to
      widen the lens on health equity, to include not only the low-income residents of
      inner-city neighborhoods but also people in economically marginalized rural
      communities. Widening income inequality and stagnant wages, and their alarming
      health consequences, underscore the need for policies to help low-income and
      middle-class families and improve educational opportunities for their children.

PMID- 28583956
TI  - Emerging Trends Could Exacerbate Health Inequities In The United States.
AB  - Health inequities among people of different races and ethnicities, geographical
      locations, and social classes are not a new phenomenon, although the size of the
      inequities has changed since researchers first began documenting them. While
      interventions to improve the health of targeted disadvantaged groups may help
      combat disparities, broader trends that disproportionately benefit privileged
      groups or harm vulnerable populations can eclipse the progress made through
      isolated interventions. These trends threaten equity in health and health care in
      the United States either through direct effects on health or through impacts on
      the distribution of resources, risks, and power. We highlight trends in four
      domains: health care technologies, health reform policies, widening socioeconomic
      inequality, and environmental hazards. We suggest ways of countering the effects
      of these trends to promote health equity, focusing on strategies that promise co
      benefits across multiple sectors.

PMID- 28583957
TI  - Mapping Neighborhood Health Geomarkers To Clinical Care Decisions To Promote
      Equity In Child Health.
AB  - Health disparities, which can be understood as disadvantages in health associated
      with one's social, racial, economic, or physical environment, originate in
      childhood and persist across an individual's life course. One's neighborhood may
      drive or influence these disparities. Information on neighborhoods that can
      characterize their risks-what we call place-based risks-is rarely used in patient
      care. Community-level data, however, could inform and personalize interventions
      such as arranging for mold removal from the home of a person with asthma from the
      moment that person's address is recorded at the site of care. Efficient risk
      identification could lead to the tailoring of recommendations and targeting of
      resources, to improve care experiences and clinical outcomes while reducing
      disparities and costs. In this article we highlight how data on place-based
      social determinants of health from national and local sources could be
      incorporated more directly into patient-centered care, adding precision to risk
      assessment and mitigation. We also discuss how this information could stimulate
      cross-sector interventions that promote health equity: the attainment of the
      highest level of health for neighborhoods, patient panels, and individuals.
      Finally, we draw attention to research questions that focus on the role of
      geographical place at the bedside.

PMID- 28583958
TI  - Transitions Clinic Network: Challenges And Lessons In Primary Care For People
      Released From Prison.
AB  - Low-income and minority communities are disproportionately affected by
      incarceration, which exacerbates health disparities. Through enhanced primary
      care, the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN) seeks to improve the health of people
      with chronic conditions who return to their communities from prison. Using TCN
      data, we assessed the impact of early engagement in primary care and referral
      from correctional systems to TCN on the use of acute care (emergency department
      visits and hospitalizations) and recidivism. Of 751 patients, 29.8 percent were
      referred by correctional partners, and 52.7 percent were engaged in TCN care
      within one month after release. In the twelve months after release, patients
      referred by correctional partners had fewer acute care visits, compared to those
      referred by community-based partners, while early engagement was associated with
      more acute care visits. Neither referral by correctional partners nor early
      engagement was significantly associated with recidivism. Our findings suggest
      that health equity for this vulnerable population could be achieved through
      improved coordination between correctional and community health care systems.

PMID- 28583959
TI  - HUD Housing Assistance Associated With Lower Uninsurance Rates And Unmet Medical
      Need.
AB  - To investigate whether receiving US Department of Housing and Urban Development
      (HUD) housing assistance is associated with improved access to health care, we
      analyzed data on nondisabled adults ages 18-64 who responded to the 2004-12
      National Health Interview Survey that were linked with administrative data from
      HUD for the period 2002-14. To account for potential selection bias, we compared
      access to care between respondents who were receiving HUD housing assistance at
      the time of the survey interview (current recipients) and those who received HUD
      assistance within twenty-four months of completing the survey interview (future
      recipients). Receiving assistance was associated with lower uninsurance rates:
      31.8 percent of current recipients were uninsured, compared to 37.2 percent of
      future recipients. Rates of unmet need for health care due to cost were similarly
      lower for current recipients than for future recipients. No effect of receiving
      assistance was observed on having a usual source of care. These findings provide
      evidence that supports the effectiveness of housing assistance in improving
      health care access.

PMID- 28583960
TI  - Simulations Test Impact Of Education, Employment, And Income Improvements On
      Minority Patients With Mental Illness.
AB  - Social determinants of health, such as poverty and minority background, severely
      disadvantage many people with mental disorders. A variety of innovative federal,
      state, and local programs have combined social services with mental health
      interventions. To explore the potential effects of such supports for addressing
      poverty and disadvantage on mental health outcomes, we simulated improvements in
      three social determinants-education, employment, and income. We used two large
      data sets: one from the National Institute of Mental Health that contained
      information about people with common mental disorders such as anxiety and
      depression, and another from the Social Security Administration that contained
      information about people who were disabled due to severe mental disorders such as
      schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Our simulations showed that increasing
      employment was significantly correlated with improvements in mental health
      outcomes, while increasing education and income produced weak or nonsignificant
      correlations. In general, minority groups as well as the majority group of non
      Latino whites improved in the desired outcomes. We recommend that health policy
      leaders, state and federal agencies, and insurers provide evidence-based
      employment services as a standard treatment for people with mental disorders.

PMID- 28583961
TI  - The United States Leads Other Nations In Differences By Income In Perceptions Of
      Health And Health Care.
AB  - We examined income gaps in the period 2011-13 in self-assessments of personal
      health and health care across thirty-two middle- and high-income countries. While
      high-income respondents were generally more positive about their health and
      health care in most countries, the gap between them and low-income respondents
      was much bigger in some than in others. The United States has among the largest
      income-related differences in each of the measures we studied, which assessed
      both respondents' past experiences and their confidence about accessing needed
      health care in the future. Relatively low levels of moral discomfort over income
      based health care disparities despite broad awareness of unmet need indicate more
      public tolerance for health care inequalities in the United States than
      elsewhere. Nonetheless, over half of Americans felt that income-based health care
      inequalities are unfair, and these respondents were significantly more likely
      than their compatriots to support major health system reform-differences that
      reflect the country's political divisions. Given the many provisions in the
      Affordable Care Act that seek to reduce disparities, any replacement would also
      require attention to disparities or risk taking a step backward in an area where
      the United States is in sore need of improvement.

PMID- 28583962
TI  - Challenges To Reducing Discrimination And Health Inequity Through Existing Civil
      Rights Laws.
AB  - More than fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, health
      care for racial and ethnic minorities remains in many ways separate and unequal
      in the United States. Moreover, efforts to improve minority health care face
      challenges that differ from those confronted during de jure segregation. We
      review these challenges and examine whether stronger enforcement of existing
      civil rights legislation could help overcome them. We conclude that stronger
      enforcement of existing laws-for example, through executive orders to strengthen
      enforcement of the laws and congressional action to allow private individuals to
      bring lawsuits against providers who might have engaged in discrimination-would
      improve minority health care, but this approach is limited in what it can
      achieve. Complementary approaches outside the legal arena, such as quality
      improvement efforts and direct transfers of money to minority-serving providers
      those seeing a disproportionate number of minority patients relative to their
      share of the population-might prove to be more effective.

PMID- 28583963
TI  - Identifying Policy Levers And Opportunities For Action Across States To Achieve
      Health Equity.
AB  - In the United States, steps to advance health equity often take place at the
      state and local levels rather than the national level. Using publicly available
      data sources, we developed a scorecard for all fifty states and the District of
      Columbia that measures indicators of the use of five evidence-based policies to
      address domains related to health equity. The indicators are the cigarette excise
      tax rate, a state's Medicaid expansion status and the size of its coverage gap,
      percentage of four-year olds enrolled in state-funded pre-kindergarten, minimum
      wage level, and the presence of state-funded housing subsidy programs and
      homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing programs. We found that states varied
      significantly in their implementation of the selected policies and concluded that
      a variety of approaches to encourage policy changes at the state level will be
      needed to create healthier and more equitable communities. We describe promising,
      feasible state-level approaches for states to "do something, do more, do better"
      when they take action on the five selected policies that can promote health
      equity.

PMID- 28583964
TI  - Racial Disparities In Surgical Mortality: The Gap Appears To Have Narrowed.
AB  - Despite substantial attention to the greater likelihood of poor clinical outcomes
      among black versus white surgical patients, little is known about whether racial
      disparities in postoperative mortality in the United States have narrowed over
      time. Using nationwide Medicare inpatient claims data for the period 2005-14, we
      examined trends in thirty-day postoperative mortality rates in black and white
      patients for five high-risk and three low-risk procedures. Overall, national
      mortality trends improved for both black and white patients, by 0.10 percent per
      year and 0.07 percent per year, respectively-which significantly narrowed the
      black-white difference. The reduction occurred primarily within hospitals, rather
      than between hospitals. Certain subsets of hospitals, such as small hospitals in
      the Midwest or West that were not minority-serving (that is, not among the top 10
      percent of hospitals by volume of black patients served), improved more than
      others. In spite of concerns that quality improvement efforts may widen
      disparities, these findings suggest that national racial disparities in surgical
      mortality are narrowing.

PMID- 28583965
TI  - For Selected Services, Blacks And Hispanics More Likely To Receive Low-Value Care
      Than Whites.
AB  - US minority populations receive fewer effective health services than whites.
      Using Medicare administrative data for 2006-11, we found no consistent,
      corresponding protection against the receipt of ineffective health services.
      Compared with whites, blacks and Hispanics were often more likely to receive the
      low-value services studied.

PMID- 28583966
TI  - Impact Of Ambulance Diversion: Black Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction
      Had Higher Mortality Than Whites.
AB  - This study investigated whether emergency department crowding affects blacks more
      than their white counterparts and the mechanisms behind which this might occur.
      Using a nonpublic database of patients in California with acute myocardial
      infarction between 2001 and 2011 and hospital-level data on ambulance diversion,
      we found that hospitals treating a high share of black patients with acute
      myocardial infarction were more likely to experience diversion and that black
      patients fared worse compared to white patients experiencing the same level of
      emergency department crowding as measured by ambulance diversion. The ninety-day
      and one-year mortality rates among blacks exposed to high diversion levels were
      2.88 and 3.09 percentage points higher, respectively, relative to whites,
      representing a relative increase of 19 percent and 14 percent for ninety-day and
      one-year death, respectively. Interventions that decrease the need for diversion
      in hospitals serving a high volume of blacks could reduce these disparities.

PMID- 28583967
TI  - New Kidney Allocation System Associated With Increased Rates Of Transplants Among
      Black And Hispanic Patients.
AB  - Before the 2014 implementation of a new kidney allocation system by the United
      Network for Organ Sharing, white patients were more likely than black or Hispanic
      patients to receive a kidney transplant. To determine the effect of the new
      allocation system on these disparities, we examined data for 179,071 transplant
      waiting list events in the period June 2013-September 2016, and we calculated
      monthly transplantation rates (34,133 patients actually received transplants).
      Implementation of the new system was associated with a narrowing of the
      disparities in the average monthly transplantation rates by 0.29 percentage point
      for blacks compared to whites and by 0.24 percentage point for Hispanics compared
      to whites, which resulted in both disparities becoming nonsignificant after
      implementation of the new system.

PMID- 28583968
TI  - Racial And Ethnic Disparities Persist At Veterans Health Administration Patient
      Centered Medical Homes.
AB  - Patient-centered medical homes are widely promoted as a primary care delivery
      model that achieves better patient outcomes. It is unknown if their benefits
      extend equally to all racial/ethnic groups. In 2010 the Veterans Health
      Administration, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), began
      implementing patient-centered medical homes nationwide. In 2009 significant
      disparities in hypertension or diabetes control were present for most
      racial/ethnic groups, compared with whites. In 2014 hypertension disparities were
      similar for blacks, had become smaller but remained significant for Hispanics,
      and were no longer significant for multiracial veterans, whereas disparities had
      become significant for American Indians/Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians/other
      Pacific Islanders. By contrast, in 2014 diabetes disparities were similar for
      American Indians/Alaska Natives, blacks, and Hispanics, and were no longer
      significant for Native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders. We found that the
      modest benefits of the VA's implementation of patient-centered medical homes were
      offset by competing multifactorial external, health system, provider, and patient
      factors, such as increased patient volume. To promote health equity, health care
      innovations such as patient-centered medical homes should incorporate tailored
      strategies that account for determinants of racial/ethnic variations. Evaluations
      of patient-centered medical homes should monitor outcomes for racial/ethnic
      groups.

PMID- 28583969
TI  - Organizational Change Management For Health Equity: Perspectives From The
      Disparities Leadership Program.
AB  - Leaders of health care organizations need to be prepared to improve quality and
      achieve equity in today's health care environment characterized by a focus on
      achieving value and addressing disparities in a diverse population. To help
      address this need, the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General
      Hospital launched the Disparities Leadership Program in 2007. The leadership
      program is an ongoing, year-long, executive education initiative that trains
      leaders from hospitals, health plans, and health centers to improve quality and
      eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Feedback from
      participating organizations demonstrates that health care leaders seem to possess
      knowledge about what disparities are and about what should be done to eliminate
      them. Data collection, performance measurement, and multifaceted interventions
      remain the tools of the trade. However, the barriers to success are lack of
      leadership buy-in, organizational prioritization, energy, and execution, which
      can be addressed through organizational change management strategies.

PMID- 28583970
TI  - The Role Of Nonprofit Hospitals In Identifying And Addressing Health Inequities
      In Cities.
AB  - For nonprofit hospitals to maintain their tax-exempt status, the Affordable Care
      Act requires them to conduct a community health needs assessment, in which they
      evaluate the health needs of the community they serve, and to create an
      implementation strategy, in which they propose ways to address these needs. We
      explored the extent to which nonprofit urban hospitals identified equity among
      the health needs of their communities and proposed health equity strategies to
      address this need. We conducted a content analysis of publicly available
      community health needs assessments and implementation strategies from 179
      hospitals in twenty-eight US cities in the period August-December 2016. All of
      the needs assessments included at least one implicit health equity term (such as
      disparities, disadvantage, poor, or minorities), while 65 percent included at
      least one explicit health equity term (equity, health equity, inequity, or health
      inequity). Thirty-five percent of implementation strategies included one or more
      explicit health equity terms, but only 9 percent included an explicit activity to
      promote health equity. While needs assessment reporting requirements have the
      potential to encourage urban nonprofit hospitals to address health inequities in
      their communities, hospitals need incentives and additional capacity to invest in
      strategies that address the underlying structural social and economic conditions
      that cause health inequities.

PMID- 28583971
TI  - Trends In Inequalities In Mortality Amenable To Health Care In 17 European
      Countries.
AB  - Little is known about the effectiveness of health care in reducing inequalities
      in health. We assessed trends in inequalities in mortality from conditions
      amenable to health care in seventeen European countries in the period 1980-2010
      and used models that included country fixed effects to study the determinants of
      these trends. Our findings show remarkable declines over the study period in
      amenable mortality among people with a low level of education. We also found
      stable absolute inequalities in amenable mortality over time between people with
      low and high levels of education, but widening relative inequalities. Higher
      health care expenditure was associated with lower mortality from amenable causes,
      but not from nonamenable causes. The effect of health care expenditure on
      amenable mortality was equally strong, in relative terms, among people with low
      levels of education and those with high levels. As a result, higher health care
      expenditure was associated with a narrowing of absolute inequalities in amenable
      mortality. Our findings suggest that in the European context, more generous
      health care funding provides some protection against inequalities in amenable
      mortality.

PMID- 28583972
TI  - A Black Alzheimer's Patient Wants To Be Part Of The Cure.
AB  - A daughter gets her mother into a clinical trial for an Alzheimer's drug, with
      few other black patients enrolled.

PMID- 28583973
TI  - Solving Disparities Through Payment And Delivery System Reform: A Program To
      Achieve Health Equity.
AB  - Payment systems generally do not directly encourage or support the reduction of
      health disparities. In 2013 the Finding Answers: Solving Disparities through
      Payment and Delivery System Reform program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
      sought to understand how alternative payment models might intentionally
      incorporate a disparities-reduction component to promote health equity. A
      qualitative analysis of forty proposals to the program revealed that applicants
      generally did not link payment reform tightly to disparities reduction. Most
      proposed general pay-for-performance, global payment, or shared savings plans,
      combined with multicomponent system interventions. None of the applicants
      proposed making any financial payments contingent on having successfully reduced
      disparities. Most applicants did not address how they would optimize providers'
      intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to reduce disparities. A better understanding
      of how payment and care delivery models might be designed and implemented to
      reduce health disparities is essential.

PMID- 28583977
TI  - Mobile Health Applications.

PMID- 28583978
TI  - Mobile Health Apps: The Authors Reply.

PMID- 28583979
TI  - Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax In Mexico.

PMID- 28583980
TI  - Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax: The Authors Reply.

PMID- 28583981
TI  - Poverty And Health Care Reform.

PMID- 28583982
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 28583983
TI  - Poverty And Health Care Reform: The Author Replies.

PMID- 28583985
TI  - Preventing Newborn Deaths In Romania And Hungary.

PMID- 28583988
TI  - Correction: Oncostatin M Suppresses Activation of IL-17/Th17 via SOCS3 Regulation
      in CD4+ T Cells.

PMID- 28583987
TI  - New Insights into the Role of IL-1beta in Experimental Autoimmune
      Encephalomyelitis and Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS), and its animal model experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis, are neuroinflammatory diseases driven by autoreactive
      pathogenic TH cells that elicit demyelination and axonal damage. How TH cells
      acquire pathogenicity and communicate with myeloid cells and cells of the CNS
      remain unclear. IL-1beta is recognized to play an important role in experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and perhaps MS. Clinical EAE is significantly
      attenuated in IL-1R-deficient and IL-1beta-deficient mice, and IL-1beta is found
      in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and CNS lesions of MS patients. In this
      article, we focus on new reports that elucidate the cellular sources of IL-1beta
      and its actions during EAE, in both lymphoid tissues and within the CNS. Several
      immune cell types serve as critical producers of IL-1beta during EAE, with this
      cytokine inducing response in both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells.
      These findings from the EAE model should inspire efforts toward investigating the
      therapeutic potential of IL-1 blockade in MS.

PMID- 28583989
TI  - Fasting hepatic glucose uptake is higher in men than women.
AB  - Differences in glucose metabolism between men and women have previously been
      reported. Our purpose was to determine if there is a gender difference in fasting
      hepatic glucose uptake (MRglu). Fifty-five patients (44 men, 11 women) referred
      for routine PET/CT using the glucose tracer 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose
      (FDG), mainly for cancer, had dynamic imaging for 30 min immediately following
      injection. Hepatic FDG clearance (mL/min/100 mL) was measured as gradient divided
      by intercept from Patlak-Rutland graphical analysis using a volume of interest
      over the abdominal aorta to record input function. Hepatic MRglu was obtained by
      multiplication of clearance by blood glucose concentration. Hepatic steatosis was
      diagnosed as CT density <=40 HU Mean (standard deviation) hepatic MRglu in 44 men
      was 2.30 (1.14) MUmol/min/100 mL, significantly higher than in 11 women in whom
      it was 1.07 (1.35) MUmol/min/100 mL (P = 0.003). CT density was 52 (12) HU in
      women compared with 45 (9) HU in men (P = 0.04), but there was no significant
      difference in blood glucose, BMI, or prevalence of recent chemotherapy (within 6
      months preceding PET/CT). When patients were subdivided into those without
      hepatic steatosis (31 men/9 women), those without evidence of FDG-avid malignancy
      on PET/CT (15/6), and those without either (11/5), gender differences in hepatic
      MRglu remained highly significant, but there were no significant differences in
      CT density, blood glucose, BMI, or recent chemotherapy history. Despite this
      being a population of clinically referred patients, the results strongly suggest
      that fasting hepatic MRglu is higher in men than in women.

PMID- 28583990
TI  - Docetaxel does not impair skeletal muscle force production in a murine model of
      cancer chemotherapy.
AB  - Chemotherapy drugs such as docetaxel are commonly used to treat cancer. Cancer
      patients treated with chemotherapy experience decreased physical fitness, muscle
      weakness and fatigue. To date, it is unclear whether these symptoms result only
      from cancer-derived factors or from the combination of cancer disease and cancer
      treatments, such as chemotherapy. In this study, we aimed at determining the
      impact of chemotherapy per se on force production of hind limb muscles from
      healthy mice treated with docetaxel. We hypothesized that docetaxel will decrease
      maximal force, exacerbate the force decline during repeated contractions and
      impair recovery after fatiguing stimulations. We examined the function of soleus
      and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles 24 h and 72 h after a single
      injection of docetaxel (acute treatment), and 7 days after the third weekly
      injection of docetaxel (repeated treatment). Docetaxel was administrated by
      intravenous injection (20 mg/kg) in female FVB/NRj mice and control mice were
      injected with saline solution. Our results show that neither acute nor repeated
      docetaxel treatment significantly alters force production during maximal
      contractions, repeated contractions or recovery. Only a tendency to decreased
      peak specific force was observed in soleus muscles 24 h after a single injection
      of docetaxel (-17%, P = 0.13). In conclusion, docetaxel administered
      intravenously does not impair force production in hind limb muscles from healthy
      mice. It remains to be clarified whether docetaxel, or other chemotherapy drugs,
      affect muscle function in subjects with cancer and whether the side effects
      associated with chemotherapy (neurotoxicity, central fatigue, decreased physical
      activity, etc.) are responsible for the experienced muscle weakness and fatigue.

PMID- 28583992
TI  - The Fat but Fit paradox: what we know and don't know about it.

PMID- 28583991
TI  - Mutations of PKA cyclic nucleotide-binding domains reveal novel aspects of cyclic
      nucleotide selectivity.
AB  - Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP are ubiquitous second messengers that regulate the
      activity of effector proteins in all forms of life. The main effector proteins,
      the 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKA)
      and the 3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase
      (PKG), are preferentially activated by cAMP and cGMP, respectively. However, the
      molecular basis of this cyclic nucleotide selectivity is still not fully
      understood. Analysis of isolated cyclic nucleotide-binding (CNB) domains of PKA
      regulatory subunit type Ialpha (RIalpha) reveals that the C-terminal CNB-B has a
      higher cAMP affinity and selectivity than the N-terminal CNB-A. Here, we show
      that introducing cGMP-specific residues using site-directed mutagenesis reduces
      the selectivity of CNB-B, while the combination of two mutations (G316R/A336T)
      results in a cGMP-selective binding domain. Furthermore, introducing the
      corresponding mutations (T192R/A212T) into the PKA RIalpha CNB-A turns this
      domain into a highly cGMP-selective domain, underlining the importance of these
      contacts for achieving cGMP specificity. Binding data with the generic purine
      nucleotide 3',5'-cyclic inosine monophosphate (cIMP) reveal that introduced
      arginine residues interact with the position 6 oxygen of the nucleobase. Co
      crystal structures of an isolated CNB-B G316R/A336T double mutant with either
      cAMP or cGMP reveal that the introduced threonine and arginine residues maintain
      their conserved contacts as seen in PKG I CNB-B. These results improve our
      understanding of cyclic nucleotide binding and the molecular basis of cyclic
      nucleotide specificity.

PMID- 28583994
TI  - Karen Litzy #StrongSmart #DavidButlerSavedmMyLife.

PMID- 28583993
TI  - New insights into preventing injuries and illnesses among elite athletics
      athletes.

PMID- 28583995
TI  - The Students As LifeStyle Activists (SALSA) program.

PMID- 28583996
TI  - Neurons Over Nephrons: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Contrast-Induced
      Nephropathy in Patients With Acute Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Because of the perceived risk of contrast-induced acute
      kidney injury (AKI), many centers require pre-imaging serum creatinine levels,
      potentially delaying care. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis
      evaluating AKI rates in patients with acute ischemic stroke receiving computed
      tomographic angiography (CTA) and computed tomographic perfusion (CTP). METHODS:
      We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Web of Science through December 2016 for
      studies reporting on AKI in patients with acute ischemic stroke receiving
      CTA/CTP. Using a random-effects model, estimates were pooled across studies.
      Outcomes of interest were (1) the odds of AKI in patients receiving CTA/CTP
      versus noncontrast computed tomography, (2) overall rate of AKI and hemodialysis
      in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing CTA/CTP, and (3) the odds of
      CTA/CTP-associated AKI among patients with and without chronic kidney disease.
      RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included (6 case-control studies and 8 single-arm
      studies) with 5727 CTA/CTP and 981 noncontrast computed tomography patients. In
      case-control studies, AKI was significantly lower among CTA/CTP patients compared
      with noncontrast computed tomography patients (odds ratio=0.47; 95% confidence
      interval=0.33-0.68; P<0.01). Adjusting for baseline creatinine, there was no
      difference in AKI rates between groups (odds ratio=0.34; 95% confidence
      interval=0.10-1.21). The overall rate of AKI in CTA/CTP patients was 3% (95%
      confidence interval=2%-4%). The overall rate of hemodialysis in the CTA/CTP group
      was 0.07% (3 of 4373). There was no difference in AKI among CTA/CTP patients with
      and without chronic kidney disease (odds ratio=0.63; 95% confidence interval=0.34
      1.12). CONCLUSIONS: Nonrandomized evidence suggests that CTA/CTP are not
      associated with statistically significant increase in risk of AKI in patients
      with stroke, even those with known chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 28583997
TI  - Response by Pase et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Sugar- and Artificially
      Sweetened Beverages and the Risks of Incident Stroke and Dementia: A Prospective
      Cohort Study".

PMID- 28583998
TI  - Letter by Klein Regarding Article, "Sugar- and Artificially Sweetened Beverages
      and the Risks of Incident Stroke and Dementia: A Prospective Cohort Study".

PMID- 28583999
TI  - Paramedic Initiation of Neuroprotective Agent Infusions: Successful Achievement
      of Target Blood Levels and Attained Level Effect on Clinical Outcomes in the FAST
      MAG Pivotal Trial (Field Administration of Stroke Therapy - Magnesium).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Paramedic use of fixed-size lumen, gravity-controlled
      tubing to initiate intravenous infusions in the field may allow rapid start of
      neuroprotective therapy for acute stroke. In a large, multicenter trial, we
      evaluated its efficacy in attaining target serum levels of candidate
      neuroprotective agent magnesium sulfate and the relation of achieved magnesium
      levels to outcome. METHODS: The FAST-MAG phase 3 trial (Field Administration of
      Stroke Therapy - Magnesium) randomized 1700 patients within 2 hours of onset to
      paramedic-initiated, a 15-minute loading intravenous infusion of magnesium or
      placebo followed by a 24-hour maintenance dose. The drug delivery strategy
      included fixed-size lumen, gravity-controlled tubing for field drug
      administration, and a shrink-wrapped ambulance kit containing both the randomized
      field loading and hospital maintenance doses for seamless continuation. RESULTS:
      Among patient randomized to active treatment, magnesium levels in the first 72
      hours were assessed 987 times in 572 patients. Mean patient age was 70 years
      (SD+/-14 years), and 45% were women. During the 24-hour period of active
      infusion, mean achieved serum level was 3.91 (+/-0.8), consistent with trial
      target. Mg levels were increased by older age, female sex, lower weight, height,
      body mass index, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, and higher blood urea
      nitrogen, hemoglobin, and higher hematocrit. Adjusted odds for clinical outcomes
      did not differ by achieved Mg level, including disability at 90 days, symptomatic
      hemorrhage, or death. CONCLUSIONS: Paramedic infusion initiation using gravity
      controlled tubing permits rapid achievement of target serum levels of potential
      neuroprotective agents. The absence of association of clinical outcomes with
      achieved magnesium levels provides further evidence that magnesium is not
      biologically neuroprotective in acute stroke.

PMID- 28584000
TI  - Ischemic Amnesia: Causes and Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We aimed to describe the frequency and characteristics of
      acute ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attacks presenting predominantly
      with amnesia (ischemic amnesia) and to identify clinical clues for
      differentiating them from transient global amnesia (TGA). METHODS: We
      retrospectively analyzed and described all patients presenting with diffusion
      weighted imaging magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed acute ischemic
      stroke/transient ischemic attacks with antero- and retrograde amnesia as the main
      symptom over a 13.5-year period. We also compared their clinical features and
      stroke mechanisms with 3804 acute ischemic stroke from our ischemic stroke
      registry. RESULTS: Thirteen ischemic amnesia patients were identified,
      representing 0.2% of all patients with acute ischemic stroke/transient ischemic
      attack. In 69% of ischemic amnesia cases, amnesia was transient with a median
      duration of 5 hours. Ischemia was not considered in 39% of cases. Fifty-four
      percent of cases were clinically difficult to distinguish from TGA, including 15%
      who were indistinguishable from TGA. 1.2% of all presumed TGA patients at our
      center were later found to have ischemic amnesia. Amnesic strokes were more often
      cardioembolic, multiterritorial, and typically involved the posterior circulation
      and limbic system. Clinical clues were minor focal neurological signs, higher
      age, more risk factors, and stroke favoring circumstances. Although all patients
      were independent at 3 months, 31% had persistent memory problems. CONCLUSIONS:
      Amnesia as the main symptom of acute ischemic cerebral events is rare, mostly
      transient, and easily mistaken for TGA. Although clinical clues are often
      present, the threshold for performing diffusion-weighted imaging in acute amnesia
      should be low.

PMID- 28584002
TI  - Differences in Characteristics and Outcomes Between Asian and Non-Asian Patients
      in the TIAregistry.org.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study provides the contemporary causes and prognosis
      of transient ischemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke in Asians and the direct
      comparisons with non-Asians. METHODS: The TIAregistry.org enrolled 4789 patients
      (1149 Asians and 3640 non-Asians) with a TIA or minor ischemic stroke within 7
      days of onset. Every participating facility had systems dedicated to urgent
      intervention of TIA/stroke patients by specialists. The primary outcome was a
      composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal stroke, and nonfatal acute coronary
      syndrome. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of patients were evaluated within 24 hours
      of symptom onset. At 1 year, there were no differences in the rates of composite
      cardiovascular events (6.8% versus 6.0%; P=0.38) and stroke (6.0% versus 4.8%;
      P=0.11) between Asians and non-Asians. Asians had a lower risk of cerebrovascular
      disease (stroke or TIA) than non-Asians (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.79; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.63-0.98; P=0.03); the difference was primarily driven by a
      lower rate of TIA in Asians (4.2% versus 8.3%; P<0.001). Moderately severe
      bleeding was more frequent in Asians (0.8% versus 0.3%; P=0.02). In multivariable
      analysis, multiple acute infarcts (P=0.005) and alcohol consumption (P=0.02) were
      independent predictors of stroke recurrence in Asians, whereas intracranial
      stenosis (P<0.001), ABCD2 score (P<0.001), atrial fibrillation (P=0.008),
      extracranial stenosis (P=0.03), and previous stroke or TIA (P=0.03) were
      independent predictors in non-Asians. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term stroke risk
      after a TIA or minor stroke was lower than expected when urgent evidence-based
      care was delivered, irrespective of race/ethnicity or region. However, the
      predictors of stroke were different for Asians and non-Asians.

PMID- 28584003
TI  - Daily Total Physical Activity and Incident Stroke: The Japan Public Health Center
      Based Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is limited evidence on the association between
      total physical activity and stroke in Asian populations experiencing a greater
      burden of hemorrhagic stroke than Western populations. We aimed to understand
      their optimal level of physical activity for stroke prevention. METHODS: A total
      of 74 913 Japanese people 50 to 79 years of age without histories of
      cardiovascular disease or cancer were followed from 2000 to 2012. RESULTS: During
      the 698 946 person-years of follow-up, we documented a total of 2738 incident
      cases of stroke, including 1007 hemorrhagic strokes (747 intraparenchymal and 260
      subarachnoid hemorrhages) and 1721 ischemic strokes (1206 nonembolic and 515
      embolic infarctions). Individuals in the second or third metabolic equivalents of
      task-hours per day quartile had the lowest risks of total stroke (hazard ratio
      [HR], 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75-0.93), intraparenchymal hemorrhage
      (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64-0.97), subarachnoid hemorrhage (HR, 0.78; CI, 0.55-1.11),
      and nonembolic infarction (HR, 0.78; CI, 0.67-0.92), whereas those in the fourth
      quartile had the lowest risk of embolic infarction (HR, 0.76; CI, 0.59-0.97).
      Cubic spline graphs revealed a steep decrease in stroke risk (30% risk reduction)
      from the lowest level to a plateau at 5 to 10 metabolic equivalents of task-hours
      per day (50th percentile). The associations of total physical activity level with
      hemorrhage stroke showed U or J shape, which were because of vigorous-intensity
      activities, whereas the association with ischemic stroke showed L shape.
      CONCLUSIONS: For Japanese people, moderate levels of total physical activity,
      particularly achieved by moderate-intensity activities, may be optimal for stroke
      prevention because excessive vigorous-intensity activities might not be
      beneficial or even disadvantageous for prevention of hemorrhagic stroke.

PMID- 28584004
TI  - Vaginal birth after two previous caesarean deliveries in a patient with uterus
      didelphys and an interuterine septal defect.
AB  - Uterus didelphys is a congenital abnormality characterised by double uteri,
      double cervices and a double or single vagina that affects 0.3% to 11% of the
      general female population. A 23-year-old woman, gravida 3 para 3003, with uterus
      didelphys, acquired an iatrogenic interuterine septal defect during an otherwise
      routine primary caesarean delivery for fetal malpresentation. The defect was
      repaired but noted to have dehisced during her second pregnancy. A repeat
      caesarean section was performed due to fetal malpresentation after an
      unsuccessful external cephalic version. The dehisced defect was left unrepaired.
      During her third pregnancy, the placenta implanted in the right uterus, but the
      fetus migrated to the left uterus at approximately 28 weeks gestation. The
      umbilical cord traversed the interuterine septal defect. With the fetus in the
      vertex presentation at term gestation, the patient underwent a vaginal birth
      after two previous caesarean deliveries without any major perinatal
      complications.

PMID- 28584006
TI  - Activated B Cells Participating in the Anti-Myelin Response Are Excluded from the
      Inflamed Central Nervous System in a Model of Autoimmunity that Allows for B Cell
      Recognition of Autoantigen.
AB  - Once activated, T cells gain the ability to access both healthy and inflamed
      nonlymphoid tissues. They are then reactivated to remain in the tissue and exert
      their effector function only if they encounter their specific Ag. In this study,
      we set out to determine if the same is true for B cells using a mouse model of
      CNS autoimmunity that incorporates both T and B cell recognition of a myelin
      autoantigen. Both T and B cells were common infiltrates of spinal cords in
      diseased mice. However, unlike T cells, anti-myelin B cells were excluded from
      the inflamed tissue. Further, CNS B cells did not have a phenotype consistent
      with Ag-specific activation as it occurs in lymphatic tissue. Instead, they
      expressed elevated levels of CD80, indicating that B cells may contribute to
      local inflammation through nonantigen-specific mechanisms.

PMID- 28584005
TI  - Neutrophils Slow Disease Progression in Murine Lupus via Modulation of
      Autoreactive Germinal Centers.
AB  - Neutrophils are well characterized as mediators of peripheral tissue damage in
      lupus, but it remains unclear whether they influence loss of self-tolerance in
      the adaptive immune compartment. Lupus neutrophils produce elevated levels of
      factors known to fuel autoantibody production, including IL-6 and B cell survival
      factors, but also reactive oxygen intermediates, which can suppress lymphocyte
      proliferation. To assess whether neutrophils directly influence the progression
      of autoreactivity in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs), we characterized the
      localization and cell-cell contacts of splenic neutrophils at several stages in
      the progression of disease in the NZB/W murine model of lupus. Neutrophils
      accumulate in SLO over the course of lupus progression, preferentially localizing
      near T lymphocytes early in disease and B cells with advanced disease. RNA
      sequencing reveals that the splenic neutrophil transcriptional program changes
      significantly over the course of disease, with neutrophil expression of anti
      inflammatory mediators peaking during early-stage and midstage disease, and
      evidence of neutrophil activation with advanced disease. To assess whether
      neutrophils exert predominantly protective or deleterious effects on loss of B
      cell self-tolerance in vivo, we depleted neutrophils at different stages of
      disease. Neutrophil depletion early in lupus resulted in a striking acceleration
      in the onset of renal disease, SLO germinal center formation, and autoreactive
      plasma cell production. In contrast, neutrophil depletion with more advanced
      disease did not alter systemic lupus erythematosus progression. These results
      demonstrate a surprising temporal and context-dependent role for neutrophils in
      restraining autoreactive B cell activation in lupus.

PMID- 28584007
TI  - T Cell-Derived IL-10 Impairs Host Resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      Infection.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, is a leading
      cause of mortality and morbidity, causing ~1.5 million deaths annually. CD4+ T
      cells and several cytokines, such as the Th1 cytokine IFN-gamma, are critical in
      the control of this infection. Conversely, the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10
      has been shown to dampen Th1 cell responses to M. tuberculosis infection
      impairing bacterial clearance. However, the critical cellular source of IL-10
      during M. tuberculosis infection is still unknown. Using IL-10 reporter mice, we
      show in this article that during the first 14 d of M. tuberculosis infection, the
      predominant cells expressing IL-10 in the lung were Ly6C+ monocytes. However,
      after day 21 postinfection, IL-10-expressing T cells were also highly
      represented. Notably, mice deficient in T cell-derived IL-10, but not mice
      deficient in monocyte-derived IL-10, showed a significant reduction in lung
      bacterial loads during chronic M. tuberculosis infection compared with fully IL
      10-competent mice, indicating a major role for T cell-derived IL-10 in TB
      susceptibility. IL-10-expressing cells were detected among both CD4+ and CD8+ T
      cells, expressed high levels of CD44 and Tbet, and were able to coproduce IFN
      gamma and IL-10 upon ex vivo stimulation. Furthermore, during M. tuberculosis
      infection, Il10 expression in CD4+ T cells was partially regulated by both IL-27
      and type I IFN signaling. Together, our data reveal that, despite the multiple
      immune sources of IL-10 during M. tuberculosis infection, activated effector T
      cells are the major source accounting for IL-10-induced TB susceptibility.

PMID- 28584008
TI  - Crucial Role for Immune Complexes but Not FcRn in Immunization against Anti-TNF
      alpha Antibodies after a Single Injection in Mice.
AB  - The immunogenicity of infliximab and adalimumab is a major concern because
      patients may develop Abs also called antidrug Abs (ADA), directed against these
      anti-TNF-alpha Abs after just a few weeks of treatment. These ADAs can lead to a
      decrease in biologic concentration, which is associated with lower treatment
      efficacy. Our aim was to study the involvement of immune complexes and neonatal
      Fc receptor (FcRn) in the emergence of ADAs in the case of anti-TNF-alpha Abs.
      Wild type and FcRn knockout mice were injected once with either infliximab or
      adalimumab, alone or preincubated with TNF-alpha. Adalimumab cross-reacts with
      murine TNF-alpha whereas infliximab is species specific. When injected alone,
      only adalimumab elicited a humoral response. By preforming immune complexes with
      TNF-alpha, an anti-infliximab response was elicited. Surprisingly, both wild type
      and FcRn knockout mice were able to mount an immune response against anti-TNF
      alpha Abs, suggesting that immune complexes are a major determinant of this
      immunization.

PMID- 28584009
TI  - Nut allergy guidelines discourage complete avoidance.

PMID- 28584010
TI  - Androstenedione and 17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone Are Better Indicators of Adrenal
      Vein Sampling Selectivity Than Cortisol.
AB  - For identification of potentially surgically curable primary aldosteronism,
      guidelines recommend use of adrenal vein sampling (AVS) that requires selective
      catheterization of both adrenal veins as verified by using the cortisol-derived
      selectivity index. Unfortunately, bilaterally selective studies are not obtained
      under unstimulated conditions in a proportion of the cases ranging between 15%
      and 50% depending on the cutoff used. We therefore investigated whether 17-alpha
      hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione, which showed a higher step-up between
      adrenal vein and inferior vena cava blood than cortisol, can ascertain
      selectivity when cortisol failed to do so. We prospectively recruited 32
      hypertensive patients with confirmed primary aldosteronism, who underwent
      bilaterally simultaneous sampling without cosyntropin stimulation and with the
      same predefined AVS protocol. All were consecutively selected because of a
      cortisol-based selectivity index <2.00 in at least one of the paired adrenal vein
      blood samples collected as per protocol. Results showed that the values of the
      selectivity index based on 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione were
      higher (P<0.01) on average by 1.6- and 12-fold, respectively, than those based on
      cortisol. With use of these steroids, we rescued 43% and 73% of the AVS,
      respectively, from being judged nonselective. Thus, in challenging patients with
      primary aldosteronism submitted to AVS use of 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, and
      even more so of androstenedione, for ascertaining selectivity allows
      demonstration of correct catheter placement in a proportion of AVS studies better
      than cortisol. Thus, replacing cortisol measurement with these steroids, and
      particularly androstenedione, can improve the diagnostic yield of AVS.

PMID- 28584011
TI  - Regulatory T-Cell Augmentation or Interleukin-17 Inhibition Prevents Calcineurin
      Inhibitor-Induced Hypertension in Mice.
AB  - The immunosuppressive calcineurin inhibitors cyclosporine A and tacrolimus alter
      T-cell subsets and can cause hypertension, vascular dysfunction, and renal
      toxicity. We and others have reported that cyclosporine A and tacrolimus decrease
      anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells and increase proinflammatory interleukin-17
      producing T cells; therefore, we hypothesized that inhibition of these effects
      using noncellular therapies would prevent the hypertension, endothelial
      dysfunction, and renal glomerular injury induced by calcineurin inhibitor
      therapy. Daily treatment of mice with cyclosporine A or tacrolimus for 1 week
      significantly decreased CD4+/FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in the spleen and lymph
      nodes, as well as induced hypertension, vascular injury and dysfunction, and
      glomerular mesangial expansion in mice. Daily cotreatment with all-trans retinoic
      acid reported to increase regulatory T cells and decrease interleukin-17
      producing T cells, prevented all of the detrimental effects of cyclosporine A and
      tacrolimus. All-trans retinoic acid also increased regulatory T cells and
      prevented the hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, and glomerular injury in
      genetically modified mice that phenocopy calcineurin inhibitor-treated mice
      (FKBP12-Tie2 knockout). Treatment with an interleukin-17-neutralizing antibody
      also increased regulatory T-cell levels and prevented the hypertension,
      endothelial dysfunction, and glomerular injury in cyclosporine A-treated and
      tacrolimus-treated mice and FKBP12-Tie2 knockout mice, whereas an isotype control
      had no effect. Augmenting regulatory T cells and inhibiting interleukin-17
      signaling using noncellular therapies prevents the cardiovascular and renal
      toxicity of calcineurin inhibitors in mice.

PMID- 28584012
TI  - NEFM (Neurofilament Medium) Polypeptide, a Marker for Zona Glomerulosa Cells in
      Human Adrenal, Inhibits D1R (Dopamine D1 Receptor)-Mediated Secretion of
      Aldosterone.
AB  - Heterogeneity among aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) has been highlighted by
      the discovery of somatic mutations. KCNJ5 mutations predominate in large zona
      fasciculata (ZF)-like APAs; mutations in CACNA1D, ATP1A1, ATP2B3, and CTNNB1 are
      more likely to be found in small zona glomerulosa (ZG)-like APAs. Microarray
      comparison of KCNJ5 mutant versus wild-type APAs revealed significant differences
      in transcriptomes. NEFM, encoding a neurofilament subunit which is a D1R
      (dopamine D1 receptor)-interacting protein, was 4-fold upregulated in ZG-like
      versus ZF-like APAs and 14-fold more highly expressed in normal ZG versus ZF.
      Immunohistochemistry confirmed selective expression of NEFM (neurofilament
      medium) polypeptide in ZG and in ZG-like APAs. Silencing NEFM in adrenocortical
      H295R cells increased basal aldosterone secretion and cell proliferation;
      silencing also amplified aldosterone stimulation by the D1R agonist, fenoldopam,
      and inhibition by the D1R antagonist, SCH23390. NEFM coimmunoprecipitated with
      D1R, and its expression was stimulated by fenoldopam. Immunohistochemistry for
      D1R was mainly intracellular in ZG-like APAs but membranous in ZF-like APAs.
      Aldosterone secretion in response to fenoldopam in primary cells from ZF-like
      APAs was higher than in cells from ZG-like APAs. Transfection of mutant KCNJ5
      caused a large reduction in NEFM expression in H295R cells. We conclude that NEFM
      is a negative regulator of aldosterone production and cell proliferation, in part
      by facilitating D1R internalization from the plasma membrane. Downregulation of
      NEFM in ZF-like APAs may contribute to a D1R/D2R imbalance underlying variable
      pharmacological responses to dopaminergic drugs among patients with APAs.
      Finally, taken together, our data point to the possibility that ZF-like APAs are
      in fact ZG in origin.

PMID- 28584013
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Quarter-Dose Blood Pressure-Lowering Agents: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
AB  - There is a critical need for blood pressure-lowering strategies that have greater
      efficacy and minimal side effects. Low-dose combinations hold promise in this
      regard, but there are few data on very-low-dose therapy. We, therefore, conducted
      a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with at
      least one quarter-dose and one placebo and standard-dose monotherapy arm. A
      search was conducted of Medline, Embase, Cochrane Registry, Food and Drug
      Administration, and European Medicinal Agency websites. Data on blood pressure
      and adverse events were pooled using a fixed-effect model, and bias was assessed
      using Cochrane risk of bias. The review included 42 trials involving 20 284
      participants. Thirty-six comparisons evaluated quarter-dose with placebo and
      indicated a blood pressure reduction of -4.7/-2.4 mm Hg (P<0.001). Six
      comparisons were of dual quarter-dose therapy versus placebo, observing a -6.7/ 
      4.4 mm Hg (P<0.001) blood pressure reduction. There were no trials of triple
      quarter-dose combination versus placebo, but one quadruple quarter-dose study
      observed a blood pressure reduction of -22.4/-13.1 mm Hg versus placebo
      (P<0.001). Compared with standard-dose monotherapy, the blood pressure
      differences achieved by single (37 comparisons), dual (7 comparisons), and
      quadruple (1 trial) quarter-dose combinations were +3.7/+2.6 (P<0.001), +1.3/-0.3
      (NS), and -13.1/-7.9 (P<0.001) mm Hg, respectively. In terms of adverse events,
      single and dual quarter-dose therapy was not significantly different from placebo
      and had significantly fewer adverse events compared with standard-dose
      monotherapy. Quarter-dose combinations could provide improvements in efficacy and
      tolerability of blood pressure-lowering therapy.

PMID- 28584014
TI  - Prognostic Value of Variability in Systolic Blood Pressure Related to Vascular
      Events and Premature Death in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The ADVANCE-ON Study.
AB  - Visit-to-visit variability in systolic blood pressure (SBP) is a risk factor for
      cardiovascular events. However, whether it provides additional predictive
      information beyond traditional risk factors, including mean SBP, in the long term
      is unclear. The ADVANCE trial (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax
      and Diamicron Modified Release Controlled Evaluation) was a randomized controlled
      trial in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus; ADVANCE-ON (ADVANCE
      Observational) followed-up patients subsequently. In these analyses, 9114
      patients without major macrovascular or renal events or death during the first 24
      months were included. Data on SBP from 6 visits during the first 24 months after
      randomization were used to estimate visit-to-visit variability in several ways:
      the primary measure was the standard deviation. Events accrued during the
      following 7.6 years. The primary outcome was a composite of major macrovascular
      and renal events and all-cause mortality. Standard deviation of SBP was log
      linearly associated with an increased risk of the primary outcome (P<0.001) after
      adjustment for mean SBP and other cardiovascular risk factors. The hazard ratio
      (HR; 95% confidence interval [CI]) in the highest, compared with the lowest,
      tenth of the standard deviation was 1.39 (1.15-1.69). Results were similar for
      major macrovascular events alone and all-cause mortality alone (both P<0.01).
      Addition of standard deviation of SBP significantly improved 8-year risk
      classification (continuous net reclassification improvement, 5.3%). Results were
      similar for other measures of visit-to-visit variability, except maximum SBP.
      Visit-to-visit variability in SBP is an independent predictor of vascular
      complications and death, which improves risk prediction beyond that provided by
      traditional risk factors, including mean SBP.

PMID- 28584015
TI  - Aldosterone-Producing Adenomas: Genotypes and Phenotypes.

PMID- 28584017
TI  - Quarter Dose Combination Therapy: Good News for Blood Pressure Control.

PMID- 28584016
TI  - Aldosterone-Producing Adenomas: Histopathology-Genotype Correlation and
      Identification of a Novel CACNA1D Mutation.
AB  - Mutations in KCNJ5, ATP1A1, ATP2B3, CACNA1D, and CTNNB1 are thought to cause the
      excessive autonomous aldosterone secretion of aldosterone-producing adenomas
      (APAs). The histopathology of KCNJ5 mutant APAs, the most common and largest, has
      been thoroughly investigated and shown to have a zona fasciculata-like
      composition. This study aims to characterize the histopathologic spectrum of the
      other genotypes and document the proliferation rate of the different sized APAs.
      Adrenals from 39 primary aldosteronism patients were immunohistochemically
      stained for CYP11B2 to confirm diagnosis of an APA. Twenty-eight adenomas had
      sufficient material for further analysis and were target sequenced at hot spots
      in the 5 causal genes. Ten adenomas had a KCNJ5 mutation (35.7%), 7 adenomas had
      an ATP1A1 mutation (25%), and 4 adenomas had a CACNA1D mutation (14.3%). One
      novel mutation in exon 28 of CACNA1D (V1153G) was identified. The mutation caused
      a hyperpolarizing shift of the voltage-dependent activation and inactivation and
      slowed the channel's inactivation kinetics. Immunohistochemical stainings of
      CYP17A1 as a zona fasciculata cell marker and Ki67 as a proliferation marker were
      used. KCNJ5 mutant adenomas showed a strong expression of CYP17A1, whereas
      ATP1A1/CACNA1D mutant adenomas had a predominantly negative expression (P value
      =1.20*10-4). ATP1A1/CACNA1D mutant adenomas had twice the nuclei with intense
      staining of Ki67 than KCNJ5 mutant adenomas (0.7% [0.5%-1.9%] versus 0.4% [0.3%
      0.7%]; P value =0.04). Further, 3 adenomas with either an ATP1A1 mutation or a
      CACNA1D mutation had >30% nuclei with moderate Ki67 staining. In summary, similar
      to KCNJ5 mutant APAs, ATP1A1 and CACNA1D mutant adenomas have a seemingly
      specific histopathologic phenotype.

PMID- 28584019
TI  - Is It Time to Employ a Measure of Visit-to-Visit Variability in Clinical
      Practice?

PMID- 28584018
TI  - Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Is Not Involved in the Arterial Stiffening
      Induced by Acute and Prolonged Exposure to High Altitude.
AB  - : This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was designed to explore
      the effects of exposure to very high altitude hypoxia on vascular wall properties
      and to clarify the role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibition on
      these vascular changes. Forty-seven healthy subjects were included in this study:
      22 randomized to telmisartan (age, 40.3+/-10.8 years; 7 women) and 25 to placebo
      (age, 39.3+/-9.8 years; 7 women). Tests were performed at sea level, pre- and
      post-treatment, during acute exposure to 3400 and 5400-m altitude (Mt. Everest
      Base Camp), and after 2 weeks, at 5400 m. The effects of hypobaric hypoxia on
      mechanical properties of large arteries were assessed by applanation tonometry,
      measuring carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, analyzing arterial pulse
      waveforms, and evaluating subendocardial oxygen supply/demand index. No
      differences in hemodynamic changes during acute and prolonged exposure to 5400-m
      altitude were found between telmisartan and placebo groups. Aortic pulse wave
      velocity significantly increased with altitude (P<0.001) from 7.41+/-1.25 m/s at
      sea level to 7.70+/-1.13 m/s at 3400 m and to 8.52+/-1.59 m/s at arrival at 5400
      m (P<0.0001), remaining elevated during prolonged exposure to this altitude
      (8.41+/-1.12 m/s; P<0.0001). Subendocardial oxygen supply/demand index
      significantly decreased with acute exposure to 3400 m: from 1.72+/-0.30 m/s at
      sea level to 1.41+/-0.27 m/s at 3400 m (P<0.001), remaining significantly
      although slightly less reduced after reaching 5400 m (1.52+/-0.33) and after
      prolonged exposure to this altitude (1.53+/-0.25; P<0.001). In conclusion, the
      acute exposure to hypobaric hypoxia induces aortic stiffening and reduction in
      subendocardial oxygen supply/demand index. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system
      does not seem to play any significant role in these hemodynamic changes. CLINICAL
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/. Unique
      identifier: 2008-000540-14.

PMID- 28584020
TI  - KITD816V Induces SRC-Mediated Tyrosine Phosphorylation of MITF and Altered
      Transcription Program in Melanoma.
AB  - The oncogenic D816V mutation of the KIT receptor is well characterized in
      systemic mastocytosis and acute myeloid leukemia. Although KITD816V has been
      found in melanoma, its function and involvement in this malignancy is not
      understood. Here we show that KITD816V induces tyrosine phosphorylation of MITF
      through a triple protein complex formation between KIT, MITF, and SRC family
      kinases. In turn, phosphorylated MITF activates target genes that are involved in
      melanoma proliferation, cell-cycle progression, suppression of senescence,
      survival, and invasion. By blocking the triple protein complex formation, thus
      preventing MITF phosphorylation, the cells became hypersensitive to SRC
      inhibitors. We have therefore delineated a mechanism behind the oncogenic effects
      of KITD816V in melanoma and provided a rationale for the heightened SRC inhibitor
      sensitivity in KITD816V transformed cells.Implications: This study demonstrates
      that an oncogenic tyrosine kinase mutant, KITD816V, can alter the transcriptional
      program of the transcription factor MITF in melanoma Mol Cancer Res; 15(9); 1265
      74. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584021
TI  - The Landscape of Isoform Switches in Human Cancers.
AB  - Alternative usage of transcript isoforms from the same gene has been hypothesized
      as an important feature in cancers. However, differential usage of gene
      transcripts between conditions (isoform switching) has not been comprehensively
      characterized in and across cancer types. To this end, we developed methods for
      identification and visualization of isoform switches with predicted functional
      consequences. Using these methods, we characterized isoform switching in RNA-seq
      data from >5,500 cancer patients covering 12 solid cancer types. Isoform switches
      with potential functional consequences were common, affecting approximately 19%
      of multiple transcript genes. Among these, isoform switches leading to loss of
      DNA sequence encoding protein domains were more frequent than expected,
      particularly in pancancer switches. We identified several isoform switches as
      powerful biomarkers: 31 switches were highly predictive of patient survival
      independent of cancer types. Our data constitute an important resource for cancer
      researchers, available through interactive web tools. Moreover, our methods,
      available as an R package, enable systematic analysis of isoform switches from
      other RNA-seq datasets.Implications: This study indicates that isoform switches
      with predicted functional consequences are common and important in dysfunctional
      cells, which in turn means that gene expression should be analyzed at the isoform
      level. Visual Overview:
      http://mcr.aacrjournals.org/content/molcanres/15/9/1206/F1.large.jpg.Mol Cancer
      Res; 15(9); 1206-20. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584022
TI  - IKKbeta-Mediated Resistance to Skin Cancer Development Is Ink4a/Arf-Dependent.
AB  - IKKbeta (encoded by IKBKB) is a protein kinase that regulates the activity of
      numerous proteins important in several signaling pathways, such as the NF-kappaB
      pathway. IKKbeta exerts a protumorigenic role in several animal models of lung,
      hepatic, intestinal, and oral cancer. In addition, genomic and proteomic studies
      of human tumors also indicate that IKBKB gene is amplified or overexpressed in
      multiple tumor types. Here, the relevance of IKKbeta in skin cancer was
      determined by performing carcinogenesis studies in animal models overexpressing
      IKKbeta in the basal skin layer. IKKbeta overexpression resulted in a striking
      resistance to skin cancer development and an increased expression of several
      tumor suppressor proteins, such as p53, p16, and p19. Mechanistically, this skin
      tumor-protective role of IKKbeta is independent of p53, but dependent on the
      activity of the Ink4a/Arf locus. Interestingly, in the absence of p16 and p19,
      IKKbeta-increased expression favors the appearance of cutaneous spindle cell-like
      squamous cell carcinomas, which are highly aggressive tumors. These results
      reveal that IKKbeta activity prevents skin tumor development, and shed light on
      the complex nature of IKKbeta effects on cancer progression, as IKKbeta can both
      promote and prevent carcinogenesis depending on the cell type or molecular
      context.Implications: The ability of IKKbeta to promote or prevent carcinogenesis
      suggests the need for further evaluation when targeting this protein. Mol Cancer
      Res; 15(9); 1255-64. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584024
TI  - PPARdelta Reprograms Glutamine Metabolism in Sorafenib-Resistant HCC.
AB  - The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib is the only therapeutic agent approved
      for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but acquired
      resistance to sorafenib is high. Here, we report metabolic reprogramming in
      sorafenib-resistant HCC and identify a regulatory molecule, peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-delta (PPARdelta), as a potential therapeutic
      target. Sorafenib-resistant HCC cells showed markedly higher glutamine metabolism
      and reductive glutamine carboxylation, which was accompanied by increased glucose
      derived pentose phosphate pathway and glutamine-derived lipid biosynthetic
      pathways and resistance to oxidative stress. These glutamine-dependent metabolic
      alterations were attributed to PPARdelta, which was upregulated in sorafenib
      resistant HCC cells and human HCC tissues. Furthermore, PPARdelta contributed to
      increased proliferative capacity and redox homeostasis in sorafenib-resistant HCC
      cells. Accordingly, inhibiting PPARdelta activity reversed compensatory metabolic
      reprogramming in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells and sensitized them to sorafenib.
      Therefore, targeting compensatory metabolic reprogramming of glutamine metabolism
      in sorafenib-resistant HCC by inhibiting PPARdelta constitutes a potential
      therapeutic strategy for overcoming sorafenib-resistance in HCC.Implications:
      This study provides novel insight into the mechanism underlying sorafenib
      resistance and a potential therapeutic strategy targeting PPARdelta in advanced
      hepatocellular carcinoma. Mol Cancer Res; 15(9); 1230-42. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584023
TI  - Notch Represses Transcription by PRC2 Recruitment to the Ternary Complex.
AB  - It is well established that Notch functions as a transcriptional activator
      through the formation of a ternary complex that comprises Notch, Maml, and CSL.
      This ternary complex then serves to recruit additional transcriptional cofactors
      that link to higher order transcriptional complexes. The mechanistic details of
      these events remain unclear. This report reveals that the Notch ternary complex
      can direct the formation of a repressor complex to terminate gene expression of
      select target genes. Herein, it is demonstrated that p19Arf and Klf4 are
      transcriptionally repressed in a Notch-dependent manner. Furthermore, results
      indicate that Notch recruits Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2) and Lysine
      Demethylase 1 (KDM1A/LSD1) to these promoters, which leads to changes in the
      epigenetic landscape and repression of transcription. The demethylase activity of
      LSD1 is a prerequisite for Notch-mediated transcriptional repression. In
      addition, a stable Notch transcriptional repressor complex was identified
      containing LSD1, PRC2, and the Notch ternary complex. These findings demonstrate
      a novel function of Notch and provide further insight into the mechanisms of
      Notch-mediated tumorigenesis.Implications: This study provides rationale for the
      targeting of epigenetic enzymes to inhibit Notch activity or use in combinatorial
      therapy to provide a more profound therapeutic response. Mol Cancer Res; 15(9);
      1173-83. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584025
TI  - Data sharing statements for clinical trials.

PMID- 28584026
TI  - Margaret McCartney: Prescribing incentives feel grubby because they are.

PMID- 28584027
TI  - Caution Regarding Government-Mandated Shared Decision Making for Patients With
      Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 28584028
TI  - Here Comes Trouble: A Career as a Tobacco Control Activist.
AB  - Dr Glantz is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology, the Truth
      Initiative Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control, and Director of the Center
      for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San
      Francisco School of Medicine. He obtained a BSc in aerospace engineering from the
      University of Cincinnati in 1969 and an MSc and PhD in applied mechanics from
      Stanford University. He is the author of 4 books, including The Cigarette Papers
      and Primer of Biostatistics He is also a member of the University of California,
      San Francisco Cardiovascular Research Institute and Institute for Health Policy
      Studies and Co-leader of the University of California, San Francisco
      Comprehensive Cancer Center Tobacco Program. He was elected to the Institute of
      Medicine in 2005.

PMID- 28584029
TI  - Real-Life Fractional Flow Reserve.

PMID- 28584030
TI  - Composite End Points in Clinical Research: A Time for Reappraisal.
AB  - Advances in cardiovascular medicine fueled by innovative clinical trials have
      dramatically improved the lives of patients worldwide. Commensurate with this
      progress has been a decline in morbid and mortal events. Accordingly, an
      increased propensity to collate patient outcomes in clinical trials has emerged
      that combines death and nonfatal complications into a single composite event.
      Despite the acknowledged benefits in trial efficiency from such an approach, this
      method assumes uniform directionality of each component, does not distinguish the
      relative clinical significance of each, and counts only the first occurrence of
      any event in the final tally within a conventional time to first event analysis.
      In this article, we evaluate the criticisms that have been leveled at this
      approach and provide an overview of recently published phase III cardiovascular
      trials using primary composite end points. We then explore what to anticipate
      from the large cohort of as-yet unpublished clinical trials in this arena. Last,
      we propose a variety of novel approaches that use composite end points and
      suggest a path forward to enhancing their use in future clinical trials.

PMID- 28584032
TI  - Safety of Sports for Athletes With Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators: Long
      Term Results of a Prospective Multinational Registry.

PMID- 28584033
TI  - Association of Feature-Tracking Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Left
      Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain With All-Cause Mortality in Patients With
      Reduced Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction.

PMID- 28584034
TI  - Letter by Moris et al Regarding Article, "Ticagrelor Compared With Clopidogrel in
      Patients With Prior Lower Extremity Revascularization for Peripheral Artery
      Disease".

PMID- 28584035
TI  - Letter by Siasos et al Regarding Article, "Ticagrelor Compared With Clopidogrel
      in Patients With Prior Lower Extremity Revascularization for Peripheral Artery
      Disease".

PMID- 28584036
TI  - Response by Jones et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Ticagrelor Compared With
      Clopidogrel in Patients With Prior Lower Extremity Revascularization for
      Peripheral Artery Disease".

PMID- 28584037
TI  - Letter by Harbaoui et al Regarding Article, "Coronary Artery Calcium to Guide a
      Personalized Risk-Based Approach to Initiation and Intensification of
      Antihypertensive Therapy".

PMID- 28584038
TI  - Response by McEvoy and Blaha to Letter Regarding Article, "Coronary Artery
      Calcium to Guide a Personalized Risk-Based Approach to Initiation and
      Intensification of Antihypertensive Therapy".

PMID- 28584039
TI  - Harms of overoxygenation in patients with exacerbation of chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease.

PMID- 28584040
TI  - Perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality after attempted operative vaginal
      delivery at midpelvic station.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased use of operative vaginal delivery (i.e., forceps or vacuum
      application), of which 20% occurs at midpelvic station, has been advocated to
      reduce the rate of cesarean delivery. We aimed to quantify severe perinatal and
      maternal morbidity and mortality associated with attempted midpelvic operative
      vaginal delivery. METHODS: We studied all term singleton deliveries in Canada
      between 2003 and 2013, by attempted midpelvic operative vaginal or cesarean
      delivery with labour (with and without prolonged second stage). The primary
      outcomes were composite severe perinatal morbidity and mortality (e.g.,
      convulsions, assisted ventilation, severe birth trauma and perinatal death), and
      composite severe maternal morbidity and mortality (e.g., severe postpartum
      hemorrhage, shock, sepsis, cardiac complications, acute renal failure and death).
      RESULTS: The study population included 187 234 deliveries. Among women with
      dystocia and prolonged second stage of labour, midpelvic operative vaginal
      delivery was associated with higher rates of severe perinatal morbidity and
      mortality compared with cesarean delivery (forceps, adjusted odds ratio [AOR]
      1.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24 to 2.64; vacuum, AOR 1.81, 95% CI 1.17 to
      2.80; sequential instruments, AOR 3.19, 95% CI 1.73 to 5.88), especially with
      higher rates of severe birth trauma. Rates of severe maternal morbidity and
      mortality were not significantly different after operative vaginal delivery,
      although rates of obstetric trauma were higher (forceps, AOR 4.51, 95% CI 4.04 to
      5.02; vacuum, AOR 2.70, 95% CI 2.35 to 3.09; sequential instruments, AOR 4.24,
      95% CI 3.46 to 5.19). Among women with fetal distress, similar associations were
      seen for severe birth trauma and obstetric trauma, although vacuum was associated
      with lower rates of severe maternal morbidity and mortality (AOR 0.52, 95% CI
      0.33 to 0.80). Associations tended to be stronger among women without a prolonged
      second stage. INTERPRETATION: Midpelvic operative vaginal delivery is associated
      with higher rates of severe birth trauma and obstetric trauma, whereas overall
      rates of severe perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality vary by indication
      and operative instrument.

PMID- 28584042
TI  - A 24-year-old woman with heavy menstrual bleeding.

PMID- 28584043
TI  - Cold agglutinin disease presenting as livedo racemosa.

PMID- 28584041
TI  - Primary aldosteronism: a common cause of resistant hypertension.

PMID- 28584044
TI  - A reflection on practising medicine "up North".

PMID- 28584045
TI  - Mercury poisoning in the Grassy Narrows First Nation: history not completed.

PMID- 28584046
TI  - Trump travel ban requires balanced discussion.

PMID- 28584047
TI  - NHS ransomware attack spreads worldwide.

PMID- 28584048
TI  - The future of legal pot.

PMID- 28584049
TI  - The future of legal pot.

PMID- 28584050
TI  - Allosteric modulation of human dopamine transporter activity under conditions
      promoting its dimerization.
AB  - The human dopamine (DA) transporter (hDAT) is a key regulator of
      neurotransmission and a target for antidepressants and addictive drugs. Despite
      the recent resolution of dDAT structures from Drosophila melanogaster, complete
      understanding of its mechanism of function and even information on its biological
      assembly is lacking. The resolved dDAT structures are monomeric, but growing
      evidence suggests that hDAT might function as a multimer, and its oligomerization
      may be relevant to addictive drug effects. Here, using structure-based
      computations, we examined the possible mechanisms of hDAT dimerization and its
      dynamics in a lipid bilayer. Using a combination of site-directed mutagenesis, DA
      uptake, and cross-linking experiments that exploited the capacity of Cys-306 to
      form intermonomeric disulfide bridges in the presence of an oxidizing agent, we
      tested the effects of mutations at transmembrane segment (TM) 6 and 12 helices in
      HEK293 cells. The most probable structural model for hDAT dimer suggested by
      computations and experiments differed from the dimeric structure resolved for the
      bacterial homolog, LeuT, presumably because of a kink at TM12 preventing
      favorable monomer packing. Instead, TM2, TM6, and TM11 line the dimer interface.
      Molecular dynamics simulations of the dimeric hDAT indicated that the two
      subunits tend to undergo cooperative structural changes, both on local
      (extracellular gate opening/closure) and global (transition between outward
      facing and inward-facing states) scales. These observations suggest that hDAT
      transport properties may be allosterically modulated under conditions promoting
      dimerization. Our study provides critical insights into approaches for examining
      the oligomerization of neurotransmitter transporters and sheds light on their
      drug modulation.

PMID- 28584051
TI  - Ion-pulling simulations provide insights into the mechanisms of channel opening
      of the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor.
AB  - The type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) mediates Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic
      reticulum to initiate skeletal muscle contraction and is associated with muscle
      diseases, malignant hyperthermia, and central core disease. To better understand
      RyR1 channel function, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of channel gating
      and ion permeation. An adequate model of channel gating requires accurate, high
      resolution models of both open and closed states of the channel. To this end, we
      generated an open-channel RyR1 model using molecular simulations to pull Ca2+
      through the pore constriction site of a closed-channel RyR1 structure determined
      at 3.8-A resolution. Importantly, we find that our open-channel model is
      consistent with the RyR1 and cardiac RyR (RyR2) open-channel structures reported
      while this paper was in preparation. Both our model and the published structures
      show similar rotation of the upper portion of the pore-lining S6 helix away from
      the 4-fold channel axis and twisting of Ile-4937 at the channel constriction site
      out of the channel pore. These motions result in a minimum open-channel pore
      radius of ~3 A formed by Gln-4933, rather than Ile-4937 in the closed-channel
      structure. We also present functional support for our model by mutations around
      the closed- and open-channel constriction sites (Gln-4933 and Ile-4937). Our
      results indicate that use of ion-pulling simulations produces a RyR1 open-channel
      model, which can provide insights into the mechanisms of channel opening
      complementing those from the structural data.

PMID- 28584052
TI  - Mutations in N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase in patients with X-linked
      intellectual disability.
AB  - N-Acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase (OGT) regulates protein O
      GlcNAcylation, an essential and dynamic post-translational modification. The O
      GlcNAc modification is present on numerous nuclear and cytosolic proteins and has
      been implicated in essential cellular functions such as signaling and gene
      expression. Accordingly, altered levels of protein O-GlcNAcylation have been
      associated with developmental defects and neurodegeneration. However, mutations
      in the OGT gene have not yet been functionally confirmed in humans. Here, we
      report on two hemizygous mutations in OGT in individuals with X-linked
      intellectual disability (XLID) and dysmorphic features: one missense mutation
      (p.Arg284Pro) and one mutation leading to a splicing defect (c.463-6T>G). Both
      mutations reside in the tetratricopeptide repeats of OGT that are essential for
      substrate recognition. We observed slightly reduced levels of OGT protein and
      reduced levels of its opposing enzyme O-GlcNAcase in both patient-derived
      fibroblasts, but global O-GlcNAc levels appeared to be unaffected. Our data
      suggest that mutant cells attempt to maintain global O-GlcNAcylation by down
      regulating O-GlcNAcase expression. We also found that the c.463-6T>G mutation
      leads to aberrant mRNA splicing, but no stable truncated protein was detected in
      the corresponding patient-derived fibroblasts. Recombinant OGT bearing the
      p.Arg284Pro mutation was prone to unfolding and exhibited reduced glycosylation
      activity against a complex array of glycosylation substrates and proteolytic
      processing of the transcription factor host cell factor 1, which is also encoded
      by an XLID-associated gene. We conclude that defects in O-GlcNAc homeostasis and
      host cell factor 1 proteolysis may play roles in mediation of XLID in individuals
      with OGT mutations.

PMID- 28584053
TI  - NLRC3 protein inhibits inflammation by disrupting NALP3 inflammasome assembly via
      competition with the adaptor protein ASC for pro-caspase-1 binding.
AB  - Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that sense pathogen-associated and
      danger-associated molecular patterns and induce inflammation in cells. The NALP3
      inflammasome is tightly regulated by recently discovered control mechanisms, but
      other modulators still remain to be characterized. NLR family CARD-containing 3
      (NLRC3) protein, a caspase recruitment domain (CARD)-containing member of the
      nucleotide oligomerization domain-like receptor (NLR) family, was found to down
      regulate the NF-kappaB pathway and stimulator of interferon genes (STING)
      dependent cytokine secretion. However, the effect of NLRC3 on the NALP3
      inflammasome or other inflammasomes is still unknown. We hypothesized that NLRC3
      might inhibit NALP3 inflammasome complex assembly. Toward this end, we tested
      whether NLRC3 overexpression or knockdown influences NALP3 activity in human
      monocyte and HEK293FT cells when the complex is ectopically reconstituted. We
      found that NLRC3 indeed decreases NALP3-induced IL-1beta maturation and
      secretion, pro-caspase-1 cleavage, and speck formation by apoptosis-associated
      speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) protein in response to NALP3
      activators. We also show that endogenous NLRC3 interacts with both ASC and pro
      caspase-1 but not with NALP3, disrupts ASC speck formation through its CARD, and
      impairs the ASC and pro-caspase-1 interaction. Moreover, the NLRC3 CARD alone
      could dampen IL-1beta secretion and ASC speck formation induced by NALP3 mutants
      associated with autoinflammatory diseases. In conclusion, we show here that,
      besides its role in the inhibition of the NF-kappaB pathway, NLRC3 interferes
      with the assembly and activity of the NALP3 inflammasome complex by competing
      with ASC for pro-caspase-1 binding.

PMID- 28584054
TI  - Conformational biosensors reveal allosteric interactions between heterodimeric
      AT1 angiotensin and prostaglandin F2alpha receptors.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are conformationally dynamic proteins
      transmitting ligand-encoded signals in multiple ways. This transmission is highly
      complex and achieved through induction of distinct GPCR conformations, which
      preferentially drive specific receptor-mediated signaling events. This
      conformational capacity can be further enlarged via allosteric effects between
      dimers, warranting further study of these effects. Using GPCR conformation
      sensitive biosensors, we investigated allosterically induced conformational
      changes in the recently reported F prostanoid (FP)/angiotensin II type 1 receptor
      (AT1R) heterodimer. Ligand occupancy of the AT1R induced distinct conformational
      changes in FP compared with those driven by PGF2alpha in bioluminescence
      resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based FP biosensors engineered with Renilla
      luciferase (RLuc) as an energy donor in the C-tail and fluorescein arsenical
      hairpin binder (FlAsH)-labeled acceptors at different positions in the
      intracellular loops. We also found that this allosteric communication is mediated
      through Galphaq and may also involve proximal (phospholipase C) but not distal
      (protein kinase C) signaling partners. Interestingly, beta-arrestin-biased AT1R
      agonists could also transmit a Galphaq-dependent signal to FP without activation
      of downstream Galphaq signaling. This transmission of information was specific to
      the AT1R/FP complex, as activation of Galphaq by the oxytocin receptor did not
      recapitulate the same phenomenon. Finally, information flow was asymmetric in the
      sense that FP activation had negligible effects on AT1R-based conformational
      biosensors. The identification of partner-induced GPCR conformations may help
      identify novel allosteric effects when investigating multiprotein receptor
      signaling complexes.

PMID- 28584055
TI  - Prolonged fasting suppresses mitochondrial NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and
      activation via SIRT3-mediated activation of superoxide dismutase 2.
AB  - Twenty-four hours of fasting is known to blunt activation of the human NLRP3
      inflammasome. This effect might be mediated by SIRT3 activation, controlling
      mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. To characterize the molecular
      underpinnings of this fasting effect, we comparatively analyzed the NLRP3
      inflammasome response to nutrient deprivation in wild-type and SIRT3 knock-out
      mice. Consistent with previous findings for human NLRP3, prolonged fasting
      blunted the inflammasome in wild-type mice but not in SIRT3 knock-out mice. In
      SIRT3 knock-out bone marrow-derived macrophages, NLRP3 activation promoted excess
      cytosolic extrusion of mitochondrial DNA along with increased reactive oxygen
      species and reduced superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) activity. Interestingly, the
      negative regulatory effect of SIRT3 on NLRP3 was not due to transcriptional
      control or priming of canonical inflammasome components but, rather, occurred via
      SIRT3-mediated deacetylation of mitochondrial SOD2, leading to SOD2 activation.
      We also found that siRNA knockdown of SIRT3 or SOD2 increased NLRP3 supercomplex
      formation and activation. Moreover, overexpression of wild-type and
      constitutively active SOD2 similarly blunted inflammasome assembly and
      activation, effects that were abrogated by acetylation mimic-modified SOD2.
      Finally, in vivo administration of lipopolysaccharide increased liver injury and
      the levels of peritoneal macrophage cytokines, including IL-1beta, in SIRT3 KO
      mice. These results support the emerging concept that enhancing mitochondrial
      resilience against damage-associated molecular patterns may play a pivotal role
      in preventing inflammation and that the anti-inflammatory effect of fasting
      mimetic diets may be mediated, in part, through SIRT3-directed blunting of NLRP3
      inflammasome assembly and activation.

PMID- 28584056
TI  - Structural analyses of von Willebrand factor C domains of collagen 2A and CCN3
      reveal an alternative mode of binding to bone morphogenetic protein-2.
AB  - Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are secreted growth factors that promote
      differentiation processes in embryogenesis and tissue development. Regulation of
      BMP signaling involves binding to a variety of extracellular proteins, among
      which are many von Willebrand factor C (vWC) domain-containing proteins. Although
      the crystal structure of the complex of crossveinless-2 (CV-2) vWC1 and BMP-2
      previously revealed one mode of the vWC/BMP-binding mechanism, other vWC domains
      may bind to BMP differently. Here, using X-ray crystallography, we present for
      the first time structures of the vWC domains of two proteins thought to interact
      with BMP-2: collagen IIA and matricellular protein CCN3. We found that these two
      vWC domains share a similar N-terminal fold that differs greatly from that in CV
      2 vWC, which comprises its BMP-2-binding site. We analyzed the ability of these
      vWC domains to directly bind to BMP-2 and detected an interaction only between
      the collagen IIa vWC and BMP-2. Guided by the collagen IIa vWC domain crystal
      structure and conservation of surface residues among orthologous domains, we
      mapped the BMP-binding epitope on the subdomain 1 of the vWC domain. This binding
      site is different from that previously observed in the complex between CV-2 vWC
      and BMP-2, revealing an alternative mode of interaction between vWC domains and
      BMPs.

PMID- 28584058
TI  - Protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation of the Broad-Complex transcription
      factor in silkworm suppresses its transcriptional activity.
AB  - The insect-specific transcription factor Broad-Complex (BR-C) is
      transcriptionally activated by the steroid 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) and regulates
      the expression of many target genes involved in insect growth and development.
      However, although the transcriptional regulation of BR-C proteins has been well
      studied, how BR-C is regulated at post-transcription and -translation levels is
      poorly understood. To this end, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry analysis, we identified residue Ser-186 as a phosphorylation site of
      BR-C in silkworm. Site-directed mutagenesis and treatment with specific kinase
      activators and inhibitors indicated that the Ser-186 residue in silkworm BR-C is
      phosphorylated by protein kinase A (PKA). Immunostaining assays disclosed that
      PKA-mediated phosphorylation of silkworm BR-C has no effect on its nuclear
      import. However, luciferase reporter analysis, electrophoretic mobility shift
      assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that the PKA phosphorylation
      event suppresses the transcriptional activation of silkworm BR-C target genes and
      that this inhibition was caused by repression of BR-C binding to its DNA targets.
      Of note, both in vitro and ex vivo experiments disclosed that a continuous 20E
      signal inhibits the PKA-mediated BR-C phosphorylation and also the cAMP/PKA
      pathway, indicating that 20E's inhibitory effect on PKA-mediated phosphorylation
      of silkworm BR-C contributes to maintaining BR-C transcriptional activity. In
      conclusion, our findings indicate that PKA-mediated phosphorylation inhibits
      silkworm BR-C activity by interfering with its binding to DNA and that 20E
      signaling relieves PKA-mediated phosphorylation of BR-C, thereby maintaining its
      transcriptional activity.

PMID- 28584060
TI  - Test results are meaningless unless we understand their predictive value.

PMID- 28584059
TI  - Alabama "pill mill" doctors get 20 year prison sentence.

PMID- 28584057
TI  - An RNAi-based high-throughput screening assay to identify small molecule
      inhibitors of hepatitis B virus replication.
AB  - Persistent or chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) represents one
      of the most common viral diseases in humans. The hepatitis B virus deploys the
      hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) as a suppressor of host defenses consisting of
      RNAi-based silencing of viral genes. Because of its critical role in countering
      host defenses, HBx represents an attractive target for antiviral drugs. Here, we
      developed and optimized a loss-of-function screening procedure, which identified
      a potential pharmacophore that abrogated HBx RNAi suppression activity. In a
      survey of 14,400 compounds in the Maybridge Screening Collection, we prioritized
      candidate compounds via high-throughput screening based on reversal of green
      fluorescent protein (GFP)-reported, RNAi-mediated silencing in a HepG2/GFP-shRNA
      RNAi sensor line. The screening yielded a pharmacologically active compound, N
      (2,4-difluorophenyl)-N'-[3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) propyl] thiourea (IR415), which
      blocked HBx-mediated RNAi suppression indicated by the GFP reporter assay. We
      also found that IR415 reversed the inhibitory effect of HBx protein on activity
      of the Dicer endoribonuclease. We further confirmed the results of the primary
      screen in IR415-treated, HBV-infected HepG2 cells, which exhibited a marked
      depletion of HBV core protein synthesis and down-regulation of pre-genomic HBV
      RNA. Using a molecular interaction analysis system, we confirmed that IR415
      selectively targets HBx in a concentration-dependent manner. The screening assay
      presented here allows rapid and improved detection of small-molecule inhibitors
      of HBx and related viral proteins. The assay may therefore potentiate the
      development of next-generation RNAi pathway-based therapeutics and promises to
      accelerate our search for novel and effective drugs in antiviral research.

PMID- 28584061
TI  - Cuts to addiction services are a false economy.

PMID- 28584063
TI  - Small Pores with a Big Impact.

PMID- 28584064
TI  - A Celebration of Fred David Sack.

PMID- 28584062
TI  - Cytochrome b5 Reductase 3 Modulates Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Redox State and
      cGMP Signaling.
AB  - RATIONALE: Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) heme iron, in its oxidized state
      (Fe3+), is desensitized to NO and limits cGMP production needed for downstream
      activation of protein kinase G-dependent signaling and blood vessel dilation.
      OBJECTIVE: Although reactive oxygen species are known to oxidize the sGC heme
      iron, the basic mechanism(s) governing sGC heme iron recycling to its NO
      sensitive, reduced state remain poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: Oxidant
      challenge studies show that vascular smooth muscle cells have an intrinsic
      ability to reduce oxidized sGC heme iron and form protein-protein complexes
      between cytochrome b5 reductase 3, also known as methemoglobin reductase, and
      oxidized sGC. Genetic knockdown and pharmacological inhibition in vascular smooth
      muscle cells reveal that cytochrome b5 reductase 3 expression and activity is
      critical for NO-stimulated cGMP production and vasodilation. Mechanistically, we
      show that cytochrome b5 reductase 3 directly reduces oxidized sGC required for NO
      sensitization as assessed by biochemical, cellular, and ex vivo assays.
      CONCLUSIONS: Together, these findings identify new insights into NO-sGC-cGMP
      signaling and reveal cytochrome b5 reductase 3 as the first identified
      physiological sGC heme iron reductase in vascular smooth muscle cells, serving as
      a critical regulator of cGMP production and protein kinase G-dependent signaling.

PMID- 28584065
TI  - Hornwort Stomata: Architecture and Fate Shared with 400-Million-Year-Old Fossil
      Plants without Leaves.
AB  - As one of the earliest plant groups to evolve stomata, hornworts are key to
      understanding the origin and function of stomata. Hornwort stomata are large and
      scattered on sporangia that grow from their bases and release spores at their
      tips. We present data from development and immunocytochemistry that identify a
      role for hornwort stomata that is correlated with sporangial and spore
      maturation. We measured guard cells across the genera with stomata to assess
      developmental changes in size and to analyze any correlation with genome size.
      Stomata form at the base of the sporophyte in the green region, where they
      develop differential wall thickenings, form a pore, and die. Guard cells collapse
      inwardly, increase in surface area, and remain perched over a substomatal cavity
      and network of intercellular spaces that is initially fluid filled. Following
      pore formation, the sporophyte dries from the outside inwardly and continues to
      do so after guard cells die and collapse. Spore tetrads develop in spore mother
      cell walls within a mucilaginous matrix, both of which progressively dry before
      sporophyte dehiscence. A lack of correlation between guard cell size and DNA
      content, lack of arabinans in cell walls, and perpetually open pores are
      consistent with the inactivity of hornwort stomata. Stomata are expendable in
      hornworts, as they have been lost twice in derived taxa. Guard cells and
      epidermal cells of hornworts show striking similarities with the earliest plant
      fossils. Our findings identify an architecture and fate of stomata in hornworts
      that is ancient and common to plants without sporophytic leaves.

PMID- 28584066
TI  - On the Inside.

PMID- 28584067
TI  - CRISPR-Cas9 Targeted Mutagenesis Leads to Simultaneous Modification of Different
      Homoeologous Gene Copies in Polyploid Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus).
AB  - In polyploid species, altering a trait by random mutagenesis is highly
      inefficient due to gene redundancy. We have stably transformed tetraploid oilseed
      rape (Brassica napus) with a CRISPR-Cas9 construct targeting two ALCATRAZ (ALC)
      homoeologs. ALC is involved in valve margin development and, thus, contributes to
      seed shattering from mature fruits. Knocking out ALC would increase shatter
      resistance to avoid seed loss during mechanical harvest. We obtained a transgenic
      T1 plant with four alc mutant alleles by the use of a single target sequence. All
      mutations were stably inherited to the T2 progeny. The T2 generation was devoid
      of any wild-type alleles, proving that the underlying T1 was a nonchimeric double
      heterozygote. T-DNA and ALC loci were not linked, as indicated by random
      segregation in the T2 generation. Hence, we could select double mutants lacking
      the T-DNA already in the first offspring generation. However, whole-genome
      sequencing data revealed at least five independent insertions of vector backbone
      sequences. We did not detect any off-target effects in two genome regions
      homologous to the target sequence. The simultaneous alteration of multiple
      homoeologs by CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis without any background mutations will offer
      new opportunities for using mutant genotypes in rapeseed breeding.

PMID- 28584069
TI  - Developing guidelines in low-income and middle-income countries: lessons from
      Kenya.
AB  - There are few examples of sustained nationally organised, evidence-informed
      clinical guidelines development processes in Sub-Saharan Africa. We describe the
      evolution of efforts from 2005 to 2015 to support evidence-informed decision
      making to guide admission hospital care practices in Kenya. The approach to
      conduct reviews, present evidence, and structure and promote transparency of
      consensus-based procedures for making recommendations improved over four distinct
      rounds of policy making. Efforts to engage important voices extended from
      government and academia initially to include multiple professional associations,
      regulators and practitioners. More than 100 people have been engaged in the
      decision-making process; an increasing number outside the research team has
      contributed to the conduct of systematic reviews, and 31 clinical policy
      recommendations has been developed. Recommendations were incorporated into
      clinical guideline booklets that have been widely disseminated with a popular
      knowledge and skills training course. Both helped translate evidence into
      practice. We contend that these efforts have helped improve the use of evidence
      to inform policy. The systematic reviews, Grading of Recommendations, Assessment,
      Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approaches and evidence to decision-making
      process are well understood by clinicians, and the process has helped create a
      broad community engaged in evidence translation together with a social or
      professional norm to use evidence in paediatric care in Kenya. Specific sustained
      efforts should be made to support capacity and evidence-based decision making in
      other African settings and clinical disciplines.

PMID- 28584068
TI  - Genomic Insights into the Evolution of the Nicotine Biosynthesis Pathway in
      Tobacco.
AB  - In tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), nicotine is the predominant alkaloid. It is
      produced in the roots and accumulated mainly in the leaves. Jasmonates play a
      central signaling role in damage-induced nicotine formation. The genome sequence
      of tobacco provides us an almost complete inventory of structural and regulatory
      genes involved in nicotine pathway. Phylogenetic and expression analyses revealed
      a series of structural genes of the nicotine pathway, forming a regulon, under
      the control of jasmonate-responsive ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF) transcription
      factors. The duplication of NAD and polyamine metabolic pathways and the
      subsequent recruitment of duplicated primary metabolic genes into the nicotine
      biosynthesis regulon were suggested to be the drivers for pyridine and
      pyrrolidine ring formation steps early in the pathway. Transcriptional regulation
      by ERF and cooperatively acting MYC2 transcription factors are corroborated by
      the frequent occurrence of cognate cis-regulatory elements of the factors in the
      promoter regions of the downstream structural genes. The allotetraploid tobacco
      has homologous clusters of ERF genes on different chromosomes, which are possibly
      derived from two ancestral diploids and include either nicotine-controlling
      ERF189 or ERF199 A large chromosomal deletion was found within one allele of the
      nicotine-controlling NICOTINE2 locus, which is part of one of the ERF gene
      clusters, and which has been used to breed tobacco cultivars with a low-nicotine
      content.

PMID- 28584070
TI  - The natural history of prenatally diagnosed congenital cystic lung lesions: long
      term follow-up of 119 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A paucity of evidence regarding the natural history of congenital
      pulmonary airway malformations (CPAMs) and pulmonary sequestration (PS) has
      resulted in a divergence in management strategy of asymptomatic cases. METHODS:
      We describe the long-term clinical course of 119 children diagnosed with these
      lesions treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Cases were identified via
      the GOSH patient database. Study entry required the identification of a cystic
      lung lesion on prenatal ultrasound and confirmation of CPAM/PS on postnatal CT
      imaging. Patients followed up for at least 5 years were included. RESULTS: 51
      (43%) patients were managed surgically; 8 (6.7%) as an emergency during the
      neonatal period, 6 (5.1%) electively due to concerning features on CT scan, 20
      (17%) following medical advice, 1 (0.8%) following a severe respiratory infection
      and in 5 (4.2%) the indication was unclear. The indication in 11 (9.2%) was
      recurrent respiratory infection and median age at surgery was 1.6 years (range
      0.4 to 4.6 years). No cases of malignancy were identified on histological
      examination of resected lesions. 68 (57%) patients were managed conservatively
      for a median period of 9.9 years (range 5.2 years to 18 years). Seven (10%) were
      discharged, one was followed-up elsewhere (1.5%) and eight (11%) were lost to
      follow-up. In four patients (5.9%), the lesion resolved spontaneously. 52 (76%)
      continue to be followed-up and remain asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of
      the largest case series documenting the natural history of CPAMs and PS following
      a prenatal diagnosis and demonstrates that conservative management is a
      reasonable option in selected cases.

PMID- 28584071
TI  - SCN5A Genetic Polymorphisms Associated With Increased Defibrillator Shocks in
      Brugada Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inherited primary arrhythmia disorder
      leading to sudden cardiac arrest. SCN5A, encoding the alpha-subunit of the
      cardiac sodium channel (Nav1.5), is the most common pathogenic gene of BrS. An
      implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is the standard treatment for
      secondary prevention. This study aimed to evaluate association of the SCN5A
      variant with this cardiac conduction disturbance and appropriate ICD shock
      therapy in Thai symptomatic BrS patients with ICD implants. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Symptomatic BrS patients diagnosed at university hospital were enrolled from 2008
      to 2011. The primary outcome of the study was an appropriate ICD shock defined as
      having non-pacing-associated ICD shock after the occurrence of ventricular
      tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. Associations between SCN5A
      polymorphisms, cardiac conduction disturbance, and potential confounding factors
      associated with appropriate ICD shock therapy were analyzed. All 40 symptomatic
      BrS patients (median age, 43 years) with ICD implantations were followed for 24
      months. There were 16 patients (40%) who had the appropriate ICD shock therapy
      after ICD treatment. An independent factor associated with appropriate ICD shock
      therapy was SCN5A-R1193Q with an adjusted hazard ratio of 10.550 (95% CI, 1.631
      68.232). CONCLUSIONS: SCN5A-R1193Q is associated with cardiac conduction
      disturbances. It may be a genetic marker associated with ventricular arrhythmia
      leading to appropriate ICD shock therapy in symptomatic BrS patients with ICD
      treatment. Because of the small sample size of study population and the
      appropriate ICD shock outcome, further large studies are needed to confirm the
      results of this study.

PMID- 28584072
TI  - Impact of the Publication of Appropriate Use Criteria on Utilization Rates of
      Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Studies in Ontario, Canada: A Population-Based
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Concern regarding overutilization of cardiac imaging has led to the
      development of appropriate use criteria (AUC). Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI)
      is one of the most commonly used cardiac imaging modalities worldwide. Despite
      multiple iterations of AUC, there is currently no evidence regarding their real
      world impact on population-based utilization rates of MPI. Our goal was to assess
      the impact of the AUC on rates of MPI in Ontario, Canada. We hypothesized that
      publication of the AUC would be associated with a significant reduction in MPI
      rates. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of the
      adult population of Ontario from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2015. Age- and
      sex-standardized rates were compared from 4 different periods intersected by 3
      published iterations of the AUC. Overall, 3 072 611 MPI scans were performed in
      Ontario during our study period. The mean monthly rate increased from 14.1/10 000
      in the period from January 2000 to October 2005 to 18.2/10 000 between November
      2005 and June 2009. After this point in time, there was a reduction in rates,
      falling to a mean monthly rate of 17.1/10 000 between March 2014 and December
      2015. Time series analysis revealed that publication of the 2009 AUC was
      associated with a significant reduction in MPI rates (P<0.001). This translated
      into ~88 849 fewer MPI scans at a cost savings of ~72 million Canadian dollars.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results reflect a potential real-world impact of the 2009 MPI
      AUC by demonstrating evidence of a significant effect on population-based rates
      of MPI.

PMID- 28584073
TI  - Regions With Low Rates of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Have
      Lower Rates of CPR Training in Victoria, Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) more than doubles the
      chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Recent data have shown
      considerable regional variation in bystander CPR rates across the Australian
      state of Victoria. This study aims to determine whether there is associated
      regional variation in rates of CPR training and willingness to perform CPR in
      these communities. METHODS AND RESULTS: We categorized each Victorian postcode as
      either a low or high bystander CPR region using data on adult, bystander
      witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of presumed cardiac etiology (n=7175)
      from the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry. We then surveyed adult
      Victorians (n=404) and compared CPR training data of the respondents from low and
      high bystander CPR regions. Of the 404 adults surveyed, 223 (55%) resided in
      regions with low bystander CPR. Compared with respondents from high bystander CPR
      regions, respondents residing in regions with low bystander CPR had lower rates
      of CPR training (62% versus 75%, P=0.009) and lower self-ratings for their
      overall knowledge of CPR (76% versus 84%, P=0.04). There were no differences
      between the regions in their reasons for not having undergone CPR training or in
      their willingness to perform CPR. Rates of survival for bystander-witnessed, out
      of-hospital cardiac arrests were significantly lower in low bystander CPR regions
      (15.7% versus 17.0%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study found lower rates of CPR
      training and lower survival in regions with lower rates of bystander CPR in
      Victoria, Australia. Targeting these regions with CPR training programs may
      improve bystander CPR rates and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes.

PMID- 28584074
TI  - Gut-Derived Serum Lipopolysaccharide is Associated With Enhanced Risk of Major
      Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Atrial Fibrillation: Effect of Adherence to
      Mediterranean Diet.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gut microbiota is emerging as a novel risk factor for
      atherothrombosis, but the predictive role of gut-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      is unknown. We analyzed (1) the association between LPS and major adverse
      cardiovascular events (MACE) in atrial fibrillation (AF) and (2) its relationship
      with adherence to a Mediterranean diet (Med-diet). METHODS AND RESULTS: This was
      a prospective single-center study including 912 AF patients treated with vitamin
      K antagonists (3716 patient-years). The primary end point was a composite of
      MACE. Baseline serum LPS, adherence to Med-diet (n=704), and urinary excretion of
      11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 (TxB2, n=852) were investigated. Mean age was 73.5
      years; 42.9% were women. A total of 187 MACE (5.0% per year) occurred: 54, 59,
      and 74 in the first, second, and third tertile of LPS, respectively (log-rank
      test P=0.004). Log-LPS (hazard ratio 1.194, P=0.009), age (hazard ratio 1.083,
      P<0.001), and previous cerebrovascular (hazard ratio 1.634, P=0.004) and cardiac
      events (hazard ratio 1.822, P<0.001) were predictors of MACE. In the whole
      cohort, AF (versus sinus rhythm) (beta 0.087, P=0.014) and low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (beta 0.069, P=0.049) were associated with circulating
      LPS. Furthermore, Med-diet score (beta -0.137, P<0.001) was predictive of log
      LPS, with fruits (beta -0.083, P=0.030) and legumes (beta -0.120, P=0.002)
      negatively associated with log-LPS levels. Log-LPS and log-TxB2 were highly
      correlated (r=0.598, P<0.001). Log-LPS (beta 0.574, P<0.001) and Med-diet score
      (beta -0.218, P<0.001) were significantly associated with baseline urinary
      excretion of TxB2. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of AF patients, LPS levels were
      predictive of MACE and negatively affected by high adherence to Med-diet. LPS may
      contribute to MACE incidence in AF by increasing platelet activation.

PMID- 28584075
TI  - Application of Zone Model Predictive Control Artificial Pancreas During Extended
      Use of Infusion Set and Sensor: A Randomized Crossover-Controlled Home-Use Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: As artificial pancreas (AP) becomes standard of care, consideration of
      extended use of insulin infusion sets (IIS) and continuous glucose monitors
      (CGMs) becomes vital. We conducted an outpatient randomized crossover study to
      test the safety and efficacy of a zone model predictive control (zone-MPC)-based
      AP system versus sensor augmented pump (SAP) therapy in which IIS and CGM
      failures were provoked via extended wear to 7 and 21 days, respectively. RESEARCH
      DESIGN AND METHODS: A smartphone-based AP system was used by 19 adults (median
      age 23 years [IQR 10], mean 8.0 +/- 1.7% HbA1c) over 2 weeks and compared with
      SAP therapy for 2 weeks in a crossover, unblinded outpatient study with remote
      monitoring in both study arms. RESULTS: AP improved percent time 70-140 mg/dL
      (48.1 vs. 39.2%; P = 0.016) and time 70-180 mg/dL (71.6 vs. 65.2%; P = 0.008) and
      decreased median glucose (141 vs. 153 mg/dL; P = 0.036) and glycemic variability
      (SD 52 vs. 55 mg/dL; P = 0.044) while decreasing percent time <70 mg/dL (1.3 vs.
      2.7%; P = 0.001). AP also improved overnight control, as measured by mean glucose
      at 0600 h (140 vs. 158 mg/dL; P = 0.02). IIS failures (1.26 +/- 1.44 vs. 0.78 +/-
      0.78 events; P = 0.13) and sensor failures (0.84 +/- 0.6 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.73 events;
      P = 0.25) were similar between AP and SAP arms. Higher percent time in closed
      loop was associated with better glycemic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Zone-MPC
      significantly and safely improved glycemic control in a home-use environment
      despite prolonged CGM and IIS wear. This project represents the first home-use AP
      study attempting to provoke and detect component failure while successfully
      maintaining safety and effective glucose control.

PMID- 28584077
TI  - Vascular sprouts induce local attraction of proangiogenic neutrophils.
AB  - Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, is a complex process requiring the
      orchestration of numerous different cell types, growth factors, and chemokines.
      Some of the recently acknowledged actors in this process are immune cells. They
      accumulate at hypoxic sites, but the kinetics, dynamics, and regulation of that
      trafficking are unknown. In this study, we used intravital and live cell imaging
      to understand how neutrophils and macrophages migrate and behave at angiogenic
      sites. We developed two reproducible models of angiogenesis: one by transplanting
      isolated and hypoxic pancreatic islets into the cremaster muscles of mice, and
      another by in vitro coculturing of mouse aortic rings with neutrophils. In vivo
      imaging of the hypoxic site revealed recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages,
      which occurred in parallel, with depletion of one subset not affecting the
      accumulation of the other. We found, by cell tracking and statistical analyses,
      that neutrophils migrated in a directional manner to "angiogenic hotspots" around
      the islet where endothelial sprouting occurs, which was confirmed in the in vitro
      model of angiogenesis and is dependent on CXCL12 signaling. Intimate interactions
      between neutrophils and neovessels were prevalent, and neutrophil depletion
      greatly hampered vessel growth. Macrophages were less motile and attained
      supportive positions around the neovessels. Here, we present two novel in vivo
      and in vitro imaging models to study leukocyte behavior and actions during
      angiogenesis. These models unveiled that neutrophil migration at a hypoxic site
      was guided by signals emanating from sprouting endothelium where these immune
      cells gathered at "angiogenic hotspots" at which vascular growth occurred.

PMID- 28584076
TI  - Frontline Science: Aspirin-triggered resolvin D1 controls herpes simplex virus
      induced corneal immunopathology.
AB  - Stromal keratitis (SK) is a chronic immunopathological lesion of the eye, caused
      by HSV-1 infection, and a common cause of vision impairment in humans. The
      inflammatory lesions in the cornea are primarily caused by neutrophils with the
      active participation of CD4+ T cells. Therefore, the targeting of these immune
      cell types and their products represents a potentially valuable form of therapy
      to reduce the severity of disease. Resolvin D1 (RvD1) and its epimer aspirin
      triggered RvD1 (AT-RvD1) are lipid mediators derived from docosahexaenoic acid
      (DHA) and were shown to promote resolution in several inflammatory disease
      models. In this report, we examined whether AT-RvD1 administration, begun before
      infection or at a later stage after ocular infection of mice with HSV-1, could
      control the severity of SK lesions. Treatment with AT-RvD1 significantly
      diminished the extent of corneal neovascularization and the severity of SK
      lesions. AT-RvD1-treated mice had fewer numbers of inflammatory cells that
      included neutrophils as well as Th1 and Th17 cells in the infected cornea. The
      mechanisms by which AT-RvD1 acts appear to be multiple. These include inhibitory
      effects on proinflammatory mediators, such as IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-12, CXCL1, MCP
      1, MIP-2, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, matrix metalloproteinase 9
      (MMP-9), and proinflammatory miRNA, such as miR-155, miR-132, and miR-223, which
      are involved in SK pathogenesis and corneal neovascularization. In addition, AT
      RvD1 attenuated STAT1, which plays an important role in Th1 cell differentiation
      and IFN-gamma expression. These findings demonstrate that AT-RvD1 treatment could
      represent a useful strategy for the management of virus-induced
      immunopathological lesions.

PMID- 28584078
TI  - Alcohol-induced miR-155 and HDAC11 inhibit negative regulators of the TLR4
      pathway and lead to increased LPS responsiveness of Kupffer cells in alcoholic
      liver disease.
AB  - Inflammation promotes the progression of alcoholic liver disease. Alcohol
      sensitizes KCs to gut-derived endotoxin (LPS); however, signaling pathways that
      perpetuate inflammation in alcoholic liver disease are only partially understood.
      We found that chronic alcohol feeding in mice induced miR-155, an inflammatory
      miRNA in isolated KCs. We hypothesized that miR-155 might increase the
      responsiveness of KCs to LPS via targeting the negative regulators of LPS
      signaling. Our results revealed that KCs that were isolated from alcohol-fed mice
      showed a decrease in IRAK-M, SHIP1, and PU.1, and an increase in TNF-alpha
      levels. This was specific to KCs, as no significant differences were observed in
      these genes in hepatocytes. We found a causal effect of miR-155 deficiency on LPS
      responsiveness, as KCs that were isolated from miR-155 KO mice showed a greater
      induction of IRAK-M, SHIP1, and suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 after LPS
      treatment. C/EBPbeta, a validated miR-155 target, stimulates IL-10 transcription.
      We found a higher induction of C/EBPbeta and IL-10 in KCs that were isolated from
      miR-155 KO mice after LPS treatment. Gain- and loss-of-function studies affirmed
      that alcohol-induced miR-155 directly regulates IRAK-M, SHIP1, suppressor of
      cytokine signaling 1, and C/EBPbeta, as miR-155 inhibition increased and miR-155
      overexpression decreased these genes in LPS or alcohol-pretreated wild-type KCs.
      HDAC11, a regulator of IL-10, was significantly increased and IL-10 was decreased
      in KCs that were isolated from alcohol-fed mice. Functionally, knockdown of
      HDAC11 with small interfering RNA resulted in an IL-10 increase in LPS or alcohol
      pretreated Mphi. We found that acetaldehyde and NF-kappaB pathways regulate
      HDAC11 levels. Collectively, our results indicate that the alcohol-induced
      responsiveness of KCs to LPS, in part, is governed by miR-155 and HDAC11.

PMID- 28584079
TI  - Whole-Genome Sequence and Variant Analysis of W303, a Widely-Used Strain of
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has emerged as a superior model organism.
      Selection of distinct laboratory strains of S. cerevisiae with unique phenotypic
      properties, such as superior mating or sporulation efficiencies, has facilitated
      advancements in research. W303 is one such laboratory strain that is closely
      related to the first completely sequenced yeast strain, S288C. In this work, we
      provide a high-quality, annotated genome sequence for W303 for utilization in
      comparative analyses and genome-wide studies. Approximately 9500 variations exist
      between S288C and W303, affecting the protein sequences of ~700 genes. A listing
      of the polymorphisms and divergent genes is provided for researchers interested
      in identifying the genetic basis for phenotypic differences between W303 and
      S288C. Several divergent functional gene families were identified, including
      flocculation and sporulation genes, likely representing selection for desirable
      laboratory phenotypes. Interestingly, remnants of ancestor wine strains were
      found on several chromosomes. Finally, as a test of the utility of the high
      quality reference genome, variant mapping revealed more accurate identification
      of accumulated mutations in passaged mismatch repair-defective strains.

PMID- 28584080
TI  - Whole Genome Sequencing of the Braconid Parasitoid Wasp Fopius arisanus, an
      Important Biocontrol Agent of Pest Tepritid Fruit Flies.
AB  - The braconid wasp Fopius arisanus (Sonan) is an important biological control
      agent of tropical and subtropical pest fruit flies, including two important
      global pests, the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), and the oriental
      fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis). The goal of this study was to develop
      foundational genomic resources for this species to provide tools that can be used
      to answer questions exploring the multitrophic interactions between the host and
      parasitoid in this important research system. Here, we present a whole genome
      assembly of F. arisanus, derived from a pool of haploid offspring from a single
      unmated female. The genome is ~154 Mb in size, with a N50 contig and scaffold
      size of 51,867 bp and 0.98 Mb, respectively. Utilizing existing RNA-Seq data for
      this species, as well as publicly available peptide sequences from related
      Hymenoptera, a high quality gene annotation set, which includes 10,991 protein
      coding genes, was generated. Prior to this assembly submission, no RefSeq
      proteins were present for this species. Parasitic wasps play an important role in
      a diverse ecosystem as well as a role in biological control of agricultural
      pests. This whole genome assembly and annotation data represents the first genome
      scale assembly for this species or any closely related Opiine, and are publicly
      available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information Genome and RefSeq
      databases, providing a much needed genomic resource for this hymenopteran group.

PMID- 28584081
TI  - Postglacial response of Arctic Ocean gas hydrates to climatic amelioration.
AB  - Seafloor methane release due to the thermal dissociation of gas hydrates is
      pervasive across the continental margins of the Arctic Ocean. Furthermore, there
      is increasing awareness that shallow hydrate-related methane seeps have appeared
      due to enhanced warming of Arctic Ocean bottom water during the last century.
      Although it has been argued that a gas hydrate gun could trigger abrupt climate
      change, the processes and rates of subsurface/atmospheric natural gas exchange
      remain uncertain. Here we investigate the dynamics between gas hydrate stability
      and environmental changes from the height of the last glaciation through to the
      present day. Using geophysical observations from offshore Svalbard to constrain a
      coupled ice sheet/gas hydrate model, we identify distinct phases of subglacial
      methane sequestration and subsequent release on ice sheet retreat that led to the
      formation of a suite of seafloor domes. Reconstructing the evolution of this dome
      field, we find that incursions of warm Atlantic bottom water forced rapid gas
      hydrate dissociation and enhanced methane emissions during the penultimate
      Heinrich event, the Bolling and Allerod interstadials, and the Holocene optimum.
      Our results highlight the complex interplay between the cryosphere, geosphere,
      and atmosphere over the last 30,000 y that led to extensive changes in
      subseafloor carbon storage that forced distinct episodes of methane release due
      to natural climate variability well before recent anthropogenic warming.

PMID- 28584082
TI  - Whole-organism cellular gene-expression atlas reveals conserved cell types in the
      ventral nerve cord of Platynereis dumerilii.
AB  - The comparative study of cell types is a powerful approach toward deciphering
      animal evolution. To avoid selection biases, however, comparisons ideally involve
      all cell types present in a multicellular organism. Here, we use image
      registration and a newly developed "Profiling by Signal Probability Mapping"
      algorithm to generate a cellular resolution 3D expression atlas for an entire
      animal. We investigate three-segmented young worms of the marine annelid
      Platynereis dumerilii, with a rich diversity of differentiated cells present in
      relatively low number. Starting from whole-mount expression images for close to
      100 neural specification and differentiation genes, our atlas identifies and
      molecularly characterizes 605 bilateral pairs of neurons at specific locations in
      the ventral nerve cord. Among these pairs, we identify sets of neurons expressing
      similar combinations of transcription factors, located at spatially coherent
      anterior-posterior, dorsal-ventral, and medial-lateral coordinates that we
      interpret as cell types. Comparison with motor and interneuron types in the
      vertebrate neural tube indicates conserved combinations, for example, of cell
      types cospecified by Gata1/2/3 and Tal transcription factors. These include V2b
      interneurons and the central spinal fluid-contacting Kolmer-Agduhr cells in the
      vertebrates, and several neuron types in the intermediate ventral ganglionic mass
      in the annelid. We propose that Kolmer-Agduhr cell-like mechanosensory neurons
      formed part of the mucociliary sole in protostome-deuterostome ancestors and
      diversified independently into several neuron types in annelid and vertebrate
      descendants.

PMID- 28584083
TI  - Gene regulatory networks and cell lineages that underlie the formation of
      skeletal muscle.
AB  - Skeletal muscle in vertebrates is formed by two major routes, as illustrated by
      the mouse embryo. Somites give rise to myogenic progenitors that form all of the
      muscles of the trunk and limbs. The behavior of these cells and their entry into
      the myogenic program is controlled by gene regulatory networks, where paired box
      gene 3 (Pax3) plays a predominant role. Head and some neck muscles do not derive
      from somites, but mainly form from mesoderm in the pharyngeal region. Entry into
      the myogenic program also depends on the myogenic determination factor (MyoD)
      family of genes, but Pax3 is not expressed in these myogenic progenitors, where
      different gene regulatory networks function, with T-box factor 1 (Tbx1) and
      paired-like homeodomain factor 2 (Pitx2) as key upstream genes. The regulatory
      genes that underlie the formation of these muscles are also important players in
      cardiogenesis, expressed in the second heart field, which is a major source of
      myocardium and of the pharyngeal arch mesoderm that gives rise to skeletal
      muscles. The demonstration that both types of striated muscle derive from common
      progenitors comes from clonal analyses that have established a lineage tree for
      parts of the myocardium and different head and neck muscles. Evolutionary
      conservation of the two routes to skeletal muscle in vertebrates extends to
      chordates, to trunk muscles in the cephlochordate Amphioxus and to muscles
      derived from cardiopharyngeal mesoderm in the urochordate Ciona, where a related
      gene regulatory network determines cardiac or skeletal muscle cell fates. In
      conclusion, Eric Davidson's visionary contribution to our understanding of gene
      regulatory networks and their evolution is acknowledged.

PMID- 28584084
TI  - Logical modeling of lymphoid and myeloid cell specification and
      transdifferentiation.
AB  - Blood cells are derived from a common set of hematopoietic stem cells, which
      differentiate into more specific progenitors of the myeloid and lymphoid
      lineages, ultimately leading to differentiated cells. This developmental process
      is controlled by a complex regulatory network involving cytokines and their
      receptors, transcription factors, and chromatin remodelers. Using public data and
      data from our own molecular genetic experiments (quantitative PCR, Western blot,
      EMSA) or genome-wide assays (RNA-sequencing, ChIP-sequencing), we have assembled
      a comprehensive regulatory network encompassing the main transcription factors
      and signaling components involved in myeloid and lymphoid development. Focusing
      on B-cell and macrophage development, we defined a qualitative dynamical model
      recapitulating cytokine-induced differentiation of common progenitors, the effect
      of various reported gene knockdowns, and the reprogramming of pre-B cells into
      macrophages induced by the ectopic expression of specific transcription factors.
      The resulting network model can be used as a template for the integration of new
      hematopoietic differentiation and transdifferentiation data to foster our
      understanding of lymphoid/myeloid cell-fate decisions.

PMID- 28584085
TI  - Language from police body camera footage shows racial disparities in officer
      respect.
AB  - Using footage from body-worn cameras, we analyze the respectfulness of police
      officer language toward white and black community members during routine traffic
      stops. We develop computational linguistic methods that extract levels of respect
      automatically from transcripts, informed by a thin-slicing study of participant
      ratings of officer utterances. We find that officers speak with consistently less
      respect toward black versus white community members, even after controlling for
      the race of the officer, the severity of the infraction, the location of the
      stop, and the outcome of the stop. Such disparities in common, everyday
      interactions between police and the communities they serve have important
      implications for procedural justice and the building of police-community trust.

PMID- 28584088
TI  - Gene regulatory networks and network models in development and evolution.

PMID- 28584086
TI  - IL-2 therapy restores regulatory T-cell dysfunction induced by calcineurin
      inhibitors.
AB  - CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs constitute a heterogeneous lymphocyte subpopulation
      essential for curtailing effector T cells and establishing peripheral tolerance.
      Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) are among the most effective agents in controlling
      effector T-cell responses in humans. However, CNIs also reduce the size of the
      Treg pool. The functional consequences of this negative effect and the mechanisms
      responsible remain to be elucidated. We report here that CNIs compromise the
      overall Treg immunoregulatory capacity to a greater extent than would be
      predicted by the reduction in the size of the Treg compartment, given that they
      selectively promote the apoptosis of the resting and activated Treg subsets that
      are known to display the most powerful suppressive function. These effects are
      caused by reduced access to IL-2, because Tregs remain capable of translocating
      NFAT even in the presence of high CNI levels. Exogenous IL-2 restores the
      phenotypic changes and overall gene-expression effects exerted by CNIs and can
      even promote Treg expansion by enhancing antiapoptotic Bcl-2 expression. In a
      skin transplant model, the addition of IL-2 synergizes with CNIs treatment,
      promoting intragraft accumulation of Tregs and prolonged allograft survival.
      Hence, the combination of IL-2 and CNIs constitutes an optimal immunomodulatory
      regimen that enhances the pool of suppressive Treg subsets while effectively
      controlling cytopathic T cells.

PMID- 28584087
TI  - Catalytic-site design for inverse heavy-enzyme isotope effects in human purine
      nucleoside phosphorylase.
AB  - Heavy-enzyme isotope effects (15N-, 13C-, and 2H-labeled protein) explore mass
      dependent vibrational modes linked to catalysis. Transition path-sampling (TPS)
      calculations have predicted femtosecond dynamic coupling at the catalytic site of
      human purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP). Coupling is observed in heavy PNPs,
      where slowed barrier crossing caused a normal heavy-enzyme isotope effect
      (kchemlight/kchemheavy > 1.0). We used TPS to design mutant F159Y PNP, predicted
      to improve barrier crossing for heavy F159Y PNP, an attempt to generate a rare
      inverse heavy-enzyme isotope effect (kchemlight/kchemheavy < 1.0). Steady-state
      kinetic comparison of light and heavy native PNPs to light and heavy F159Y PNPs
      revealed similar kinetic properties. Pre-steady-state chemistry was slowed 32
      fold in F159Y PNP. Pre-steady-state chemistry compared heavy and light native and
      F159Y PNPs and found a normal heavy-enzyme isotope effect of 1.31 for native PNP
      and an inverse effect of 0.75 for F159Y PNP. Increased isotopic mass in F159Y PNP
      causes more efficient transition state formation. Independent validation of the
      inverse isotope effect for heavy F159Y PNP came from commitment to catalysis
      experiments. Most heavy enzymes demonstrate normal heavy-enzyme isotope effects,
      and F159Y PNP is a rare example of an inverse effect. Crystal structures and TPS
      dynamics of native and F159Y PNPs explore the catalytic-site geometry associated
      with these catalytic changes. Experimental validation of TPS predictions for
      barrier crossing establishes the connection of rapid protein dynamics and
      vibrational coupling to enzymatic transition state passage.

PMID- 28584089
TI  - Dynamic regulation of Nanog and stem cell-signaling pathways by Hoxa1 during
      early neuro-ectodermal differentiation of ES cells.
AB  - Homeobox a1 (Hoxa1) is one of the most rapidly induced genes in ES cell
      differentiation and it is the earliest expressed Hox gene in the mouse embryo. In
      this study, we used genomic approaches to identify Hoxa1-bound regions during
      early stages of ES cell differentiation into the neuro-ectoderm. Within 2 h of
      retinoic acid treatment, Hoxa1 is rapidly recruited to target sites that are
      associated with genes involved in regulation of pluripotency, and these genes
      display early changes in expression. The pattern of occupancy of Hoxa1 is dynamic
      and changes over time. At 12 h of differentiation, many sites bound at 2 h are
      lost and a new cohort of bound regions appears. At both time points the genome
      wide mapping reveals that there is significant co-occupancy of Nanog (Nanog
      homeobox) and Hoxa1 on many common target sites, and these are linked to genes in
      the pluripotential regulatory network. In addition to shared target genes, Hoxa1
      binds to regulatory regions of Nanog, and conversely Nanog binds to a 3' enhancer
      of Hoxa1 This finding provides evidence for direct cross-regulatory feedback
      between Hoxa1 and Nanog through a mechanism of mutual repression. Hoxa1 also
      binds to regulatory regions of Sox2 (sex-determining region Y box 2), Esrrb
      (estrogen-related receptor beta), and Myc, which underscores its key input into
      core components of the pluripotential regulatory network. We propose a model
      whereby direct inputs of Nanog and Hoxa1 on shared targets and mutual repression
      between Hoxa1 and the core pluripotency network provides a molecular mechanism
      that modulates the fine balance between the alternate states of pluripotency and
      differentiation.

PMID- 28584090
TI  - Paleogenomics of echinoids reveals an ancient origin for the double-negative
      specification of micromeres in sea urchins.
AB  - Establishing a timeline for the evolution of novelties is a common, unifying goal
      at the intersection of evolutionary and developmental biology. Analyses of gene
      regulatory networks (GRNs) provide the ability to understand the underlying
      genetic and developmental mechanisms responsible for the origin of morphological
      structures both in the development of an individual and across entire
      evolutionary lineages. Accurately dating GRN novelties, thereby establishing a
      timeline for GRN evolution, is necessary to answer questions about the rate at
      which GRNs and their subcircuits evolve, and to tie their evolution to
      paleoenvironmental and paleoecological changes. Paleogenomics unites the fossil
      record and all aspects of deep time, with modern genomics and developmental
      biology to understand the evolution of genomes in evolutionary time. Recent work
      on the regulatory genomic basis of development in cidaroid echinoids, sand
      dollars, heart urchins, and other nonmodel echinoderms provides an ideal dataset
      with which to explore GRN evolution in a comparative framework. Using divergence
      time estimation and ancestral state reconstructions, we have determined the age
      of the double-negative gate (DNG), the subcircuit which specifies micromeres and
      skeletogenic cells in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus We have determined that the
      DNG has likely been used for euechinoid echinoid micromere specification since at
      least the Late Triassic. The innovation of the DNG thus predates the burst of
      post-Paleozoic echinoid morphological diversification that began in the Early
      Jurassic. Paleogenomics has wide applicability for the integration of deep time
      and molecular developmental data, and has wide utility in rigorously establishing
      timelines for GRN evolution.

PMID- 28584091
TI  - Dissecting BMP signaling input into the gene regulatory networks driving
      specification of the blood stem cell lineage.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that sustain lifelong blood production are
      created during embryogenesis. They emerge from a specialized endothelial
      population, termed hemogenic endothelium (HE), located in the ventral wall of the
      dorsal aorta (DA). In Xenopus, we have been studying the gene regulatory networks
      (GRNs) required for the formation of HSCs, and critically found that the
      hemogenic potential is defined at an earlier time point when precursors to the DA
      express hematopoietic as well as endothelial genes, in the definitive
      hemangioblasts (DHs). The GRN for DH programming has been constructed and, here,
      we show that bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling is essential for the
      initiation of this GRN. BMP2, -4, and -7 are the principal ligands expressed in
      the lineage forming the HE. To investigate the requirement and timing of all BMP
      signaling in HSC ontogeny, we have used a transgenic line, which inducibly
      expresses an inhibitor of BMP signaling, Noggin, as well as a chemical inhibitor
      of BMP receptors, DMH1, and described the inputs from BMP signaling into the DH
      GRN and the HE, as well as into primitive hematopoiesis. BMP signaling is
      required in at least three points in DH programming: first to initiate the DH GRN
      through gata2 expression, then for kdr expression to enable the DH to respond to
      vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) ligand from the somites, and finally
      for gata2 expression in the DA, but is dispensable for HE specification after
      hemangioblasts have been formed.

PMID- 28584092
TI  - Secular rise in economically valuable personality traits.
AB  - Although trends in many physical characteristics and cognitive capabilities of
      modern humans are well-documented, less is known about how personality traits
      have evolved over time. We analyze data from a standardized personality test
      administered to 79% of Finnish men born between 1962 and 1976 (n = 419,523) and
      find steady increases in personality traits that predict higher income in later
      life. The magnitudes of these trends are similar to the simultaneous increase in
      cognitive abilities, at 0.2-0.6 SD during the 15-y window. When anchored to
      earnings, the change in personality traits amounts to a 12% increase. Both
      personality and cognitive ability have consistent associations with family
      background, but the trends are similar across groups defined by parental income,
      parental education, number of siblings, and rural/urban status. Nevertheless,
      much of the trends in test scores can be attributed to changes in the family
      background composition, namely 33% for personality and 64% for cognitive ability.
      These composition effects are mostly due to improvements in parents' education.
      We conclude that there is a "Flynn effect" for personality that mirrors the
      original Flynn effect for cognitive ability in magnitude and practical
      significance but is less driven by compositional changes in family background.

PMID- 28584094
TI  - Reconstructing blood stem cell regulatory network models from single-cell
      molecular profiles.
AB  - Adult blood contains a mixture of mature cell types, each with specialized
      functions. Single hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been functionally shown to
      generate all mature cell types for the lifetime of the organism. Differentiation
      of HSCs toward alternative lineages must be balanced at the population level by
      the fate decisions made by individual cells. Transcription factors play a key
      role in regulating these decisions and operate within organized regulatory
      programs that can be modeled as transcriptional regulatory networks. As
      dysregulation of single HSC fate decisions is linked to fatal malignancies such
      as leukemia, it is important to understand how these decisions are controlled on
      a cell-by-cell basis. Here we developed and applied a network inference method,
      exploiting the ability to infer dynamic information from single-cell snapshot
      expression data based on expression profiles of 48 genes in 2,167 blood stem and
      progenitor cells. This approach allowed us to infer transcriptional regulatory
      network models that recapitulated differentiation of HSCs into progenitor cell
      types, focusing on trajectories toward megakaryocyte-erythrocyte progenitors and
      lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors. By comparing these two models, we
      identified and subsequently experimentally validated a difference in the
      regulation of nuclear factor, erythroid 2 (Nfe2) and core-binding factor, runt
      domain, alpha subunit 2, translocated to, 3 homolog (Cbfa2t3h) by the
      transcription factor Gata2. Our approach confirms known aspects of hematopoiesis,
      provides hypotheses about regulation of HSC differentiation, and is widely
      applicable to other hierarchical biological systems to uncover regulatory
      relationships.

PMID- 28584093
TI  - Treatment with diphenyl-pyrazole compound anle138b/c reveals that alpha-synuclein
      protects melanoma cells from autophagic cell death.
AB  - Recent epidemiological and clinical studies have reported a significantly
      increased risk for melanoma in people with Parkinson's disease. Because no
      evidence could be obtained that genetic factors are the reason for the
      association between these two diseases, we hypothesized that of the three major
      Parkinson's disease-related proteins-alpha-synuclein, LRRK2, and Parkin-alpha
      synuclein might be a major link. Our data, presented here, demonstrate that alpha
      synuclein promotes the survival of primary and metastatic melanoma cells, which
      is the exact opposite of the effect that alpha-synuclein has on dopaminergic
      neurons, where its accumulation causes neuronal dysfunction and death. Because
      this detrimental effect of alpha-synuclein on neurons can be rescued by the small
      molecule anle138b, we explored its effect on melanoma cells. We found that
      treatment with anle138b leads to massive melanoma cell death due to a major
      dysregulation of autophagy, suggesting that alpha-synuclein is highly beneficial
      to advanced melanoma because it ensures that autophagy is maintained at a
      homeostatic level that promotes and ensures the cell's survival.

PMID- 28584095
TI  - Sensorimotor integration on a rapid time scale.
AB  - Sensing is fundamental to the control of movement: From grasping objects to
      speech production, sensing guides action. So far, most of our knowledge about
      sensorimotor integration comes from visually guided reaching and oculomotor
      integration, in which the time course and trajectories of movements can be
      measured at a high temporal resolution. By contrast, production of vocalizations
      by humans and animals involves complex and variable actions, and each syllable
      often lasts a few hundreds of milliseconds, making it difficult to infer
      underlying neural processes. Here, we measured and modeled the transfer of
      sensory information into motor commands for vocal amplitude control in response
      to background noise, also known as the Lombard effect. We exploited the brief
      vocalizations of echolocating bats to trace the time course of the Lombard effect
      on a millisecond time scale. Empirical studies revealed that the Lombard effect
      features a response latency of a mere 30 ms and provided the foundation for the
      quantitative audiomotor model of the Lombard effect. We show that the Lombard
      effect operates by continuously integrating the sound pressure level of
      background noise through temporal summation to guide the extremely rapid vocal
      motor adjustments. These findings can now be extended to models and measures of
      audiomotor integration in other animals, including humans.

PMID- 28584097
TI  - Probabilistic model predicts dynamics of vegetation biomass in a desert ecosystem
      in NW China.
AB  - The temporal dynamics of vegetation biomass are of key importance for evaluating
      the sustainability of arid and semiarid ecosystems. In these ecosystems, biomass
      and soil moisture are coupled stochastic variables externally driven, mainly, by
      the rainfall dynamics. Based on long-term field observations in northwestern (NW)
      China, we test a recently developed analytical scheme for the description of the
      leaf biomass dynamics undergoing seasonal cycles with different rainfall
      characteristics. The probabilistic characterization of such dynamics agrees
      remarkably well with the field measurements, providing a tool to forecast the
      changes to be expected in biomass for arid and semiarid ecosystems under climate
      change conditions. These changes will depend-for each season-on the forecasted
      rate of rainy days, mean depth of rain in a rainy day, and duration of the
      season. For the site in NW China, the current scenario of an increase of 10% in
      rate of rainy days, 10% in mean rain depth in a rainy day, and no change in the
      season duration leads to forecasted increases in mean leaf biomass near 25% in
      both seasons.

PMID- 28584096
TI  - Marine reserves can mitigate and promote adaptation to climate change.
AB  - Strong decreases in greenhouse gas emissions are required to meet the reduction
      trajectory resolved within the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, even these
      decreases will not avert serious stress and damage to life on Earth, and
      additional steps are needed to boost the resilience of ecosystems, safeguard
      their wildlife, and protect their capacity to supply vital goods and services. We
      discuss how well-managed marine reserves may help marine ecosystems and people
      adapt to five prominent impacts of climate change: acidification, sea-level rise,
      intensification of storms, shifts in species distribution, and decreased
      productivity and oxygen availability, as well as their cumulative effects. We
      explore the role of managed ecosystems in mitigating climate change by promoting
      carbon sequestration and storage and by buffering against uncertainty in
      management, environmental fluctuations, directional change, and extreme events.
      We highlight both strengths and limitations and conclude that marine reserves are
      a viable low-tech, cost-effective adaptation strategy that would yield multiple
      cobenefits from local to global scales, improving the outlook for the environment
      and people into the future.

PMID- 28584098
TI  - Offspring of parents who were separated and not speaking to one another have
      reduced resistance to the common cold as adults.
AB  - Exposure to parental separation or divorce during childhood has been associated
      with an increased risk for physical morbidity during adulthood. Here we tested
      the hypothesis that this association is primarily attributable to separated
      parents who do not communicate with each other. We also examined whether early
      exposure to separated parents in conflict is associated with greater viral
      induced inflammatory response in adulthood and in turn with increased
      susceptibility to viral-induced upper respiratory disease. After assessment of
      their parents' relationship during their childhood, 201 healthy volunteers, age
      18-55 y, were quarantined, experimentally exposed to a virus that causes a common
      cold, and monitored for 5 d for the development of a respiratory illness.
      Monitoring included daily assessments of viral-specific infection, objective
      markers of illness, and local production of proinflammatory cytokines. Adults
      whose parents lived apart and never spoke during their childhood were more than
      three times as likely to develop a cold when exposed to the upper respiratory
      virus than adults from intact families. Conversely, individuals whose parents
      were separated but communicated with each other showed no increase in risk
      compared with those from intact families. These differences persisted in analyses
      adjusted for potentially confounding variables (demographics, current
      socioeconomic status, body mass index, season, baseline immunity to the challenge
      virus, affectivity, and childhood socioeconomic status). Mediation analyses were
      consistent with the hypothesis that greater susceptibility to respiratory
      infectious illness among the offspring of noncommunicating parents was
      attributable to a greater local proinflammatory response to infection.

PMID- 28584099
TI  - Genome-wide use of high- and low-affinity Tbrain transcription factor binding
      sites during echinoderm development.
AB  - Sea stars and sea urchins are model systems for interrogating the types of deep
      evolutionary changes that have restructured developmental gene regulatory
      networks (GRNs). Although cis-regulatory DNA evolution is likely the predominant
      mechanism of change, it was recently shown that Tbrain, a Tbox transcription
      factor protein, has evolved a changed preference for a low-affinity, secondary
      binding motif. The primary, high-affinity motif is conserved. To date, however,
      no genome-wide comparisons have been performed to provide an unbiased assessment
      of the evolution of GRNs between these taxa, and no study has attempted to
      determine the interplay between transcription factor binding motif evolution and
      GRN topology. The study here measures genome-wide binding of Tbrain orthologs by
      using ChIP-sequencing and associates these orthologs with putative target genes
      to assess global function. Targets of both factors are enriched for other
      regulatory genes, although nonoverlapping sets of functional enrichments in the
      two datasets suggest a much diverged function. The number of low-affinity binding
      motifs is significantly depressed in sea urchins compared with sea star, but both
      motif types are associated with genes from a range of functional categories. Only
      a small fraction (~10%) of genes are predicted to be orthologous targets.
      Collectively, these data indicate that Tbr has evolved significantly different
      developmental roles in these echinoderms and that the targets and the binding
      motifs in associated cis-regulatory sequences are dispersed throughout the
      hierarchy of the GRN, rather than being biased toward terminal process or
      discrete functional blocks, which suggests extensive evolutionary tinkering.

PMID- 28584100
TI  - Entropy in molecular recognition by proteins.
AB  - Molecular recognition by proteins is fundamental to molecular biology. Dissection
      of the thermodynamic energy terms governing protein-ligand interactions has
      proven difficult, with determination of entropic contributions being particularly
      elusive. NMR relaxation measurements have suggested that changes in protein
      conformational entropy can be quantitatively obtained through a dynamical proxy,
      but the generality of this relationship has not been shown. Twenty-eight protein
      ligand complexes are used to show a quantitative relationship between measures of
      fast side-chain motion and the underlying conformational entropy. We find that
      the contribution of conformational entropy can range from favorable to
      unfavorable, which demonstrates the potential of this thermodynamic variable to
      modulate protein-ligand interactions. For about one-quarter of these complexes,
      the absence of conformational entropy would render the resulting affinity
      biologically meaningless. The dynamical proxy for conformational entropy or
      "entropy meter" also allows for refinement of the contributions of solvent
      entropy and the loss in rotational-translational entropy accompanying formation
      of high-affinity complexes. Furthermore, structure-based application of the
      approach can also provide insight into long-lived specific water-protein
      interactions that escape the generic treatments of solvent entropy based simply
      on changes in accessible surface area. These results provide a comprehensive and
      unified view of the general role of entropy in high-affinity molecular
      recognition by proteins.

PMID- 28584102
TI  - Crystal structures of the Burkholderia multivorans hopanoid transporter HpnN.
AB  - Strains of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) are Gram-negative
      opportunisitic bacteria that are capable of causing serious diseases, mainly in
      immunocompromised individuals. Bcc pathogens are intrinsically resistant to
      multiple antibiotics, including beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones,
      and polymyxins. They are major pathogens in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)
      and can cause severe necrotizing pneumonia, which is often fatal. Hopanoid
      biosynthesis is one of the major mechanisms involved in multiple antimicrobial
      resistance of Bcc pathogens. The hpnN gene of B. multivorans encodes an integral
      membrane protein of the HpnN family of transporters, which is responsible for
      shuttling hopanoids to the outer membrane. Here, we report crystal structures of
      B. multivorans HpnN, revealing a dimeric molecule with an overall butterfly
      shape. Each subunit of the transporter contains 12 transmembrane helices and two
      periplasmic loops that suggest a plausible pathway for substrate transport.
      Further analyses indicate that HpnN is capable of shuttling hopanoid virulence
      factors from the outer leaflet of the inner membrane to the periplasm. Taken
      together, our data suggest that the HpnN transporter is critical for multidrug
      resistance and cell wall remodeling in Burkholderia.

PMID- 28584101
TI  - Deubiquitinating enzyme VCIP135 dictates the duration of botulinum neurotoxin
      type A intoxication.
AB  - Botulism is characterized by flaccid paralysis, which can be caused by
      intoxication with any of the seven known serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin
      (BoNT), all of which disrupt synaptic transmission by endoproteolytic cleavage of
      SNARE proteins. BoNT serotype A (BoNT/A) has the most prolonged or persistent
      effects, which can last several months, and exerts its effects by specifically
      cleaving and inactivating SNAP25. A major factor contributing to the persistence
      of intoxication is the long half-life of the catalytic light chain, which remains
      enzymatically active months after entry into cells. Here we report that BoNT/A
      catalytic light chain binds to, and is a substrate for, the ubiquitin ligase
      HECTD2. However, the light chain evades proteasomal degradation by the dominant
      effect of a deubiquitinating enzyme, VCIP135/VCPIP1. This deubiquitinating enzyme
      binds BoNT/A light chain directly, with the two associating in cells through the
      C-terminal 77 amino acids of the light chain protease. The development of
      specific DUB inhibitors, together with inhibitors of BoNT/A proteolytic activity,
      may be useful for reducing the morbidity and public health costs associated with
      BoNT/A intoxication and could have potential biodefense implications.

PMID- 28584104
TI  - Phosphorylation and negative regulation of CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 by
      PINOID in Arabidopsis.
AB  - CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) plays crucial roles in various cellular
      processes via its E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in organisms, ranging from fungi
      to humans. As a key component in regulating various biological events, COP1
      itself is precisely controlled at multiple layers. Here, we report a negative
      regulator of COP1, PINOID (PID), which positively mediates photomorphogenic
      development. Specifically, PID genetically and physically interacts with COP1 and
      directly phosphorylates COP1 at Ser20. As a result, this posttranslational
      modification serves to repress COP1 activity and promote photomorphogenesis. Our
      findings signify a key regulatory mechanism for precisely maintaining COP1
      activity, thereby ensuring appropriate development in plants.

PMID- 28584103
TI  - Neurog2 and Ascl1 together regulate a postmitotic derepression circuit to govern
      laminar fate specification in the murine neocortex.
AB  - A derepression mode of cell-fate specification involving the transcriptional
      repressors Tbr1, Fezf2, Satb2, and Ctip2 operates in neocortical projection
      neurons to specify six layer identities in sequence. Less well understood is how
      laminar fate transitions are regulated in cortical progenitors. The proneural
      genes Neurog2 and Ascl1 cooperate in progenitors to control the temporal switch
      from neurogenesis to gliogenesis. Here we asked whether these proneural genes
      also regulate laminar fate transitions. Several defects were observed in the
      derepression circuit in Neurog2-/-;Ascl1-/- mutants: an inability to repress
      expression of Tbr1 (a deep layer VI marker) during upper-layer neurogenesis, a
      loss of Fezf2+/Ctip2+ layer V neurons, and precocious differentiation of normally
      late-born, Satb2+ layer II-IV neurons. Conversely, in stable gain-of-function
      transgenics, Neurog2 promoted differentiative divisions and extended the period
      of Tbr1+/Ctip2+ deep-layer neurogenesis while reducing Satb2+ upper-layer
      neurogenesis. Similarly, acute misexpression of Neurog2 in early cortical
      progenitors promoted Tbr1 expression, whereas both Neurog2 and Ascl1 induced
      Ctip2. However, Neurog2 was unable to influence the derepression circuit when
      misexpressed in late cortical progenitors, and Ascl1 repressed only Satb2.
      Nevertheless, neurons derived from late misexpression of Neurog2 and, to a lesser
      extent, Ascl1, extended aberrant subcortical axon projections characteristic of
      early-born neurons. Finally, Neurog2 and Ascl1 altered the expression of Ikaros
      and Foxg1, known temporal regulators. Proneural genes thus act in a context
      dependent fashion as early determinants, promoting deep-layer neurogenesis in
      early cortical progenitors via input into the derepression circuit while also
      influencing other temporal regulators.

PMID- 28584106
TI  - Stability of ferrous-iron-rich bridgmanite under reducing midmantle conditions.
AB  - Our current understanding of the electronic state of iron in lower-mantle
      minerals leads to a considerable disagreement in bulk sound speed with seismic
      measurements if the lower mantle has the same composition as the upper mantle
      (pyrolite). In the modeling studies, the content and oxidation state of Fe in the
      minerals have been assumed to be constant throughout the lower mantle. Here, we
      report high-pressure experimental results in which Fe becomes dominantly Fe2+ in
      bridgmanite synthesized at 40-70 GPa and 2,000 K, while it is in mixed oxidation
      state (Fe3+/?Fe = 60%) in the samples synthesized below and above the pressure
      range. Little Fe3+ in bridgmanite combined with the strong partitioning of Fe2+
      into ferropericlase will alter the Fe content for these minerals at 1,100- to
      1,700-km depths. Our calculations show that the change in iron content harmonizes
      the bulk sound speed of pyrolite with the seismic values in this region. Our
      experiments support no significant changes in bulk composition for most of the
      mantle, but possible changes in physical properties and processes (such as
      viscosity and mantle flow patterns) in the midmantle.

PMID- 28584107
TI  - Adaptive self-organization of Bali's ancient rice terraces.
AB  - Spatial patterning often occurs in ecosystems as a result of a self-organizing
      process caused by feedback between organisms and the physical environment. Here,
      we show that the spatial patterns observable in centuries-old Balinese rice
      terraces are also created by feedback between farmers' decisions and the ecology
      of the paddies, which triggers a transition from local to global-scale control of
      water shortages and rice pests. We propose an evolutionary game, based on local
      farmers' decisions that predicts specific power laws in spatial patterning that
      are also seen in a multispectral image analysis of Balinese rice terraces. The
      model shows how feedbacks between human decisions and ecosystem processes can
      evolve toward an optimal state in which total harvests are maximized and the
      system approaches Pareto optimality. It helps explain how multiscale cooperation
      from the community to the watershed scale could persist for centuries, and why
      the disruption of this self-organizing system by the Green Revolution caused
      chaos in irrigation and devastating losses from pests. The model shows that
      adaptation in a coupled human-natural system can trigger self-organized
      criticality (SOC). In previous exogenously driven SOC models, adaptation plays no
      role, and no optimization occurs. In contrast, adaptive SOC is a self-organizing
      process where local adaptations drive the system toward local and global optima.

PMID- 28584105
TI  - Chemical probes to potently and selectively inhibit endocannabinoid cellular
      reuptake.
AB  - The extracellular effects of the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl
      glycerol are terminated by enzymatic hydrolysis after crossing cellular membranes
      by facilitated diffusion. The lack of potent and selective inhibitors for
      endocannabinoid transport has prevented the molecular characterization of this
      process, thus hindering its biochemical investigation and pharmacological
      exploitation. Here, we report the design, chemical synthesis, and biological
      profiling of natural product-derived N-substituted 2,4-dodecadienamides as a
      selective endocannabinoid uptake inhibitor. The highly potent (IC50 = 10 nM)
      inhibitor N-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl amide (WOBE437) exerted pronounced
      cannabinoid receptor-dependent anxiolytic, antiinflammatory, and analgesic
      effects in mice by increasing endocannabinoid levels. A tailored WOBE437-derived
      diazirine-containing photoaffinity probe (RX-055) irreversibly blocked membrane
      transport of both endocannabinoids, providing mechanistic insights into this
      complex process. Moreover, RX-055 exerted site-specific anxiolytic effects on in
      situ photoactivation in the brain. This study describes suitable inhibitors to
      target endocannabinoid membrane trafficking and uncovers an alternative
      endocannabinoid pharmacology.

PMID- 28584108
TI  - Gene regulation during Drosophila eggshell patterning.
AB  - A common path to the formation of complex 3D structures starts with an epithelial
      sheet that is patterned by inductive cues that control the spatiotemporal
      activities of transcription factors. These activities are then interpreted by the
      cis-regulatory regions of the genes involved in cell differentiation and tissue
      morphogenesis. Although this general strategy has been documented in multiple
      developmental contexts, the range of experimental models in which each of the
      steps can be examined in detail and evaluated in its effect on the final
      structure remains very limited. Studies of the Drosophila eggshell patterning
      provide unique insights into the multiscale mechanisms that connect gene
      regulation and 3D epithelial morphogenesis. Here we review the current
      understanding of this system, emphasizing how the recent identification of cis
      regulatory regions of genes within the eggshell patterning network enables
      mechanistic analysis of its spatiotemporal dynamics and evolutionary
      diversification. It appears that cis-regulatory changes can account for only some
      aspects of the morphological diversity of Drosophila eggshells, such as the
      prominent differences in the number of the respiratory dorsal appendages. Other
      changes, such as the appearance of the respiratory eggshell ridges, are caused by
      changes in the spatial distribution of inductive signals. Both types of
      mechanisms are at play in this rapidly evolving system, which provides an
      excellent model of developmental patterning and morphogenesis.

PMID- 28584109
TI  - Dapagliflozin suppresses glucagon signaling in rodent models of diabetes.
AB  - Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a class of antidiabetic
      drug used for the treatment of diabetes. These drugs are thought to lower blood
      glucose by blocking reabsorption of glucose by SGLT2 in the proximal convoluted
      tubules of the kidney. To investigate the effect of inhibiting SGLT2 on
      pancreatic hormones, we treated perfused pancreata from rats with chemically
      induced diabetes with dapagliflozin and measured the response of glucagon
      secretion by alpha cells in response to elevated glucose. In these type 1
      diabetic rats, glucose stimulated glucagon secretion by alpha cells; this was
      prevented by dapagliflozin. Two models of type 2 diabetes, severely diabetic
      Zucker rats and db/db mice fed dapagliflozin, showed significant improvement of
      blood glucose levels and glucose disposal, with reduced evidence of glucagon
      signaling in the liver, as exemplified by reduced phosphorylation of hepatic cAMP
      responsive element binding protein, reduced expression of phosphoenolpyruvate
      carboxykinase 2, increased hepatic glycogen, and reduced hepatic glucose
      production. Plasma glucagon levels did not change significantly. However,
      dapagliflozin treatment reduced the expression of the liver glucagon receptor.
      Dapagliflozin in rodents appears to lower blood glucose levels in part by
      suppressing hepatic glucagon signaling through down-regulation of the hepatic
      glucagon receptor.

PMID- 28584110
TI  - Assessing regulatory information in developmental gene regulatory networks.
AB  - Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) provide a transformation function between the
      static genomic sequence and the primary spatial specification processes operating
      development. The regulatory information encompassed in developmental GRNs thus
      goes far beyond the control of individual genes. We here address regulatory
      information at different levels of network organization, from single node to
      subcircuit to large-scale GRNs and discuss how regulatory design features such as
      network architecture, hierarchical organization, and cis-regulatory logic
      contribute to the developmental function of network circuits. Using specific
      subcircuits from the sea urchin endomesoderm GRN, for which both circuit design
      and biological function have been described, we evaluate by Boolean modeling and
      in silico perturbations the import of given circuit features on developmental
      function. The examples include subcircuits encoding positive feedback, mutual
      repression, and coherent feedforward, as well as signaling interaction circuitry.
      Within the hierarchy of the endomesoderm GRN, these subcircuits are organized in
      an intertwined and overlapping manner. Thus, we begin to see how regulatory
      information encoded at individual nodes is integrated at all levels of network
      organization to control developmental process.

PMID- 28584111
TI  - Phage display and kinetic selection of antibodies that specifically inhibit
      amyloid self-replication.
AB  - The aggregation of the amyloid beta peptide (Abeta) into amyloid fibrils is a
      defining characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. Because of the complexity of this
      aggregation process, effective therapeutic inhibitors will need to target the
      specific microscopic steps that lead to the production of neurotoxic species. We
      introduce a strategy for generating fibril-specific antibodies that selectively
      suppress fibril-dependent secondary nucleation of the 42-residue form of Abeta
      (Abeta42). We target this step because it has been shown to produce the majority
      of neurotoxic species during aggregation of Abeta42. Starting from large phage
      display libraries of single-chain antibody fragments (scFvs), the three-stage
      approach that we describe includes (i) selection of scFvs with high affinity for
      Abeta42 fibrils after removal of scFvs that bind Abeta42 in its monomeric form;
      (ii) ranking, by surface plasmon resonance affinity measurements, of the
      resulting candidate scFvs that bind to the Abeta42 fibrils; and (iii) kinetic
      screening and analysis to find the scFvs that inhibit selectively the fibril
      catalyzed secondary nucleation process in Abeta42 aggregation. By applying this
      approach, we have identified four scFvs that inhibit specifically the fibril
      dependent secondary nucleation process. Our method also makes it possible to
      discard antibodies that inhibit elongation, an important factor because the
      suppression of elongation does not target directly the production of toxic
      oligomers and may even lead to its increase. On the basis of our results, we
      suggest that the method described here could form the basis for rationally
      designed immunotherapy strategies to combat Alzheimer's and related
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28584113
TI  - Consequences of rapid ice sheet melting on the Sahelian population vulnerability.
AB  - The acceleration of ice sheet melting has been observed over the last few
      decades. Recent observations and modeling studies have suggested that the ice
      sheet contribution to future sea level rise could have been underestimated in the
      latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The ensuing freshwater
      discharge coming from ice sheets could have significant impacts on global
      climate, and especially on the vulnerable tropical areas. During the last
      glacial/deglacial period, megadrought episodes were observed in the Sahel region
      at the time of massive iceberg surges, leading to large freshwater discharges. In
      the future, such episodes have the potential to induce a drastic destabilization
      of the Sahelian agroecosystem. Using a climate modeling approach, we investigate
      this issue by superimposing on the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5
      (RCP8.5) baseline experiment a Greenland flash melting scenario corresponding to
      an additional sea level rise ranging from 0.5 m to 3 m. Our model response to
      freshwater discharge coming from Greenland melting reveals a significant decrease
      of the West African monsoon rainfall, leading to changes in agricultural
      practices. Combined with a strong population increase, described by different
      demography projections, important human migration flows could be potentially
      induced. We estimate that, without any adaptation measures, tens to hundreds
      million people could be forced to leave the Sahel by the end of this century. On
      top of this quantification, the sea level rise impact over coastal areas has to
      be superimposed, implying that the Sahel population could be strongly at threat
      in case of rapid Greenland melting.

PMID- 28584112
TI  - Causes and evolutionary consequences of primordial germ-cell specification mode
      in metazoans.
AB  - In animals, primordial germ cells (PGCs) give rise to the germ lines, the cell
      lineages that produce sperm and eggs. PGCs form in embryogenesis, typically by
      one of two modes: a likely ancestral mode wherein germ cells are induced during
      embryogenesis by cell-cell signaling (induction) or a derived mechanism whereby
      germ cells are specified by using germ plasm-that is, maternally specified germ
      line determinants (inheritance). The causes of the shift to germ plasm for PGC
      specification in some animal clades remain largely unknown, but its repeated
      convergent evolution raises the question of whether it may result from or confer
      an innate selective advantage. It has been hypothesized that the acquisition of
      germ plasm confers enhanced evolvability, resulting from the release of selective
      constraint on somatic gene networks in embryogenesis, thus leading to
      acceleration of an organism's protein-sequence evolution, particularly for genes
      expressed at early developmental stages, and resulting in high speciation rates
      in germ plasm-containing lineages (denoted herein as the "PGC-specification
      hypothesis"). Although that hypothesis, if supported, could have major
      implications for animal evolution, our recent large-scale coding-sequence
      analyses from vertebrates and invertebrates provided important examples of genera
      that do not support the hypothesis of liberated constraint under germ plasm.
      Here, we consider reasons why germ plasm might be neither a direct target of
      selection nor causally linked to accelerated animal evolution. We explore
      alternate scenarios that could explain the repeated evolution of germ plasm and
      propose potential consequences of the inheritance and induction modes to animal
      evolutionary biology.

PMID- 28584115
TI  - Asymmetric distribution of type IV pili triggered by directional light in
      unicellular cyanobacteria.
AB  - The type IV pili (T4P) system is a supermolecular machine observed in
      prokaryotes. Cells repeat the cycle of T4P extension, surface attachment, and
      retraction to drive twitching motility. Although the properties of T4P as a motor
      have been scrutinized with biophysics techniques, the mechanism of regulation
      remains unclear. Here we provided the framework of the T4P dynamics at the single
      cell level in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, which can recognize light direction. We
      demonstrated that the dynamics was detected by fluorescent beads under an optical
      microscope and controlled by blue light that induces negative phototaxis;
      extension and retraction of T4P was activated at the forward side of lateral
      illumination to move away from the light source. Additionally, we directly
      visualized each pilus by fluorescent labeling, allowing us to quantify their
      asymmetric distribution. Finally, quantitative analyses of cell tracking
      indicated that T4P was generated uniformly within 0.2 min after blue-light
      exposure, and within the next 1 min the activation became asymmetric along the
      light axis to achieve directional cell motility; this process was mediated by the
      photo-sensing protein, PixD. This sequential process provides clues toward a
      general regulation mechanism of T4P system, which might be essentially common
      between archaella and other secretion apparatuses.

PMID- 28584118
TI  - Correction for Ferrari et al., Hypoxia treatment reverses neurodegenerative
      disease in a mouse model of Leigh syndrome.

PMID- 28584114
TI  - Establishment of a vernalization requirement in Brachypodium distachyon requires
      REPRESSOR OF VERNALIZATION1.
AB  - A requirement for vernalization, the process by which prolonged cold exposure
      provides competence to flower, is an important adaptation to temperate climates
      that ensures flowering does not occur before the onset of winter. In temperate
      grasses, vernalization results in the up-regulation of VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) to
      establish competence to flower; however, little is known about the mechanism
      underlying repression of VRN1 in the fall season, which is necessary to establish
      a vernalization requirement. Here, we report that a plant-specific gene
      containing a bromo-adjacent homology and transcriptional elongation factor S-II
      domain, which we named REPRESSOR OF VERNALIZATION1 (RVR1), represses VRN1 before
      vernalization in Brachypodium distachyon That RVR1 is upstream of VRN1 is
      supported by the observations that VRN1 is precociously elevated in an rvr1
      mutant, resulting in rapid flowering without cold exposure, and the rapid
      flowering rvr1 phenotype is dependent on VRN1 The precocious VRN1 expression in
      rvr1 is associated with reduced levels of the repressive chromatin modification
      H3K27me3 at VRN1, which is similar to the reduced VRN1 H3K27me3 in vernalized
      plants. Furthermore, the transcriptome of vernalized wild-type plants overlaps
      with that of nonvernalized rvr1 plants, indicating loss of rvr1 is similar to the
      vernalized state at a molecular level. However, loss of rvr1 results in more
      differentially expressed genes than does vernalization, indicating that RVR1 may
      be involved in processes other than vernalization despite a lack of any obvious
      pleiotropy in the rvr1 mutant. This study provides an example of a role for this
      class of plant-specific genes.

PMID- 28584116
TI  - High-mobility group box-1 as an autocrine trophic factor in white matter stroke.
AB  - Maintenance of white matter integrity in health and disease is critical for a
      variety of neural functions. Ischemic stroke in the white matter frequently
      results in degeneration of oligodendrocytes (OLs) and myelin. Previously, we
      found that toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) expressed in OLs provides cell-autonomous
      protective effects on ischemic OL death and demyelination in white matter stroke.
      Here, we identified high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) as an endogenous TLR2
      ligand that promotes survival of OLs under ischemic stress. HMGB1 rapidly
      accumulated in the culture medium of OLs exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation
      (OGD). This conditioned medium exhibited a protective activity against ischemic
      OL death that was completely abolished by immunodepletion of HMGB1. Knockdown of
      HMGB1 or application of glycyrrhizin, a specific HMGB1 inhibitor, aggravated OGD
      induced OL death, and recombinant HMGB1 application reduced the extent of OL
      death in a TLR2-dependent manner. We confirmed that cytosolic translocation of
      HMGB1 and activation of TLR2-mediated signaling pathways occurred in a focal
      white matter stroke model induced by endothelin-1 injection. Animals with
      glycyrrhizin coinjection showed an expansion of the demyelinating lesion in a
      TLR2-dependent manner, accompanied by aggravation of sensorimotor behavioral
      deficits. These results indicate that HMGB1/TLR2 activates an autocrine trophic
      signaling pathways in OLs and myelin to maintain structural and functional
      integrity of the white matter under ischemic conditions.

PMID- 28584117
TI  - Histamine modulation of the basal ganglia circuitry in the development of
      pathological grooming.
AB  - Aberrant histaminergic function has been proposed as a cause of tic disorders. A
      rare mutation in the enzyme that produces histamine (HA), histidine decarboxylase
      (HDC), has been identified in patients with Tourette syndrome (TS). Hdc knockout
      mice exhibit repetitive behavioral pathology and neurochemical characteristics of
      TS, establishing them as a plausible model of tic pathophysiology. Where, when,
      and how HA deficiency produces these effects has remained unclear: whether the
      contribution of HA deficiency to pathogenesis is acute or developmental, and
      where in the brain the relevant consequences of HA deficiency occur. Here, we
      address these key pathophysiological questions, using anatomically and cellularly
      targeted manipulations in mice. We report that specific ablation or chemogenetic
      silencing of histaminergic neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) of the
      hypothalamus leads to markedly elevated grooming, a form of repetitive behavioral
      pathology, and to elevated markers of neuronal activity in both dorsal striatum
      and medial prefrontal cortex. Infusion of HA directly into the striatum reverses
      this behavioral pathology, confirming that acute HA deficiency mediates the
      effect. Bidirectional chemogenetic regulation reveals that dorsal striatum
      neurons activated after TMN silencing are both sufficient to produce repetitive
      behavioral pathology and necessary for the full expression of the effect.
      Chemogenetic activation of TMN-regulated medial prefrontal cortex neurons, in
      contrast, increases locomotion and not grooming. These data confirm the
      centrality of striatal regulation by neurotransmitter HA in the adult in the
      production of pathological grooming.

PMID- 28584120
TI  - Correction for Pearce et al., Variation in the beta-endorphin, oxytocin, and
      dopamine receptor genes is associated with different dimensions of human
      sociality.

PMID- 28584119
TI  - Stratospheric ozone over the United States in summer linked to observations of
      convection and temperature via chlorine and bromine catalysis.
AB  - We present observations defining (i) the frequency and depth of convective
      penetration of water into the stratosphere over the United States in summer using
      the Next-Generation Radar system; (ii) the altitude-dependent distribution of
      inorganic chlorine established in the same coordinate system as the radar
      observations; (iii) the high resolution temperature structure in the stratosphere
      over the United States in summer that resolves spatial and structural
      variability, including the impact of gravity waves; and (iv) the resulting
      amplification in the catalytic loss rates of ozone for the dominant halogen,
      hydrogen, and nitrogen catalytic cycles. The weather radar observations of ~2,000
      storms, on average, each summer that reach the altitude of rapidly increasing
      available inorganic chlorine, coupled with observed temperatures, portend a risk
      of initiating rapid heterogeneous catalytic conversion of inorganic chlorine to
      free radical form on ubiquitous sulfate-water aerosols; this, in turn, engages
      the element of risk associated with ozone loss in the stratosphere over the
      central United States in summer based upon the same reaction network that reduces
      stratospheric ozone over the Arctic. The summertime development of the upper
      level anticyclonic flow over the United States, driven by the North American
      Monsoon, provides a means of retaining convectively injected water, thereby
      extending the time for catalytic ozone loss over the Great Plains. Trusted
      decadal forecasts of UV dosage over the United States in summer require
      understanding the response of this dynamical and photochemical system to
      increased forcing of the climate by increasing levels of CO2 and CH4.

PMID- 28584121
TI  - Applying gene regulatory network logic to the evolution of social behavior.
AB  - Animal behavior is ultimately the product of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for
      brain development and neural networks for brain function. The GRN approach has
      advanced the fields of genomics and development, and we identify organizational
      similarities between networks of genes that build the brain and networks of
      neurons that encode brain function. In this perspective, we engage the analogy
      between developmental networks and neural networks, exploring the advantages of
      using GRN logic to study behavior. Applying the GRN approach to the brain and
      behavior provides a quantitative and manipulative framework for discovery. We
      illustrate features of this framework using the example of social behavior and
      the neural circuitry of aggression.

PMID- 28584122
TI  - An Exportin-1-dependent microRNA biogenesis pathway during human cell quiescence.
AB  - The reversible state of proliferative arrest known as "cellular quiescence" plays
      an important role in tissue homeostasis and stem cell biology. By analyzing the
      expression of miRNAs and miRNA-processing factors during quiescence in primary
      human fibroblasts, we identified a group of miRNAs that are induced during
      quiescence despite markedly reduced expression of Exportin-5, a protein required
      for canonical miRNA biogenesis. The biogenesis of these quiescence-induced miRNAs
      is independent of Exportin-5 and depends instead on Exportin-1. Moreover, these
      quiescence-induced primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) are modified with a 2,2,7
      trimethylguanosine (TMG)-cap, which is known to bind Exportin-1, and knockdown of
      Exportin-1 or trimethylguanosine synthase 1, responsible for (TMG)-capping,
      inhibits their biogenesis. Surprisingly, in quiescent cells Exportin-1-dependent
      pri-miR-34a is present in the cytoplasm together with a small isoform of Drosha,
      implying the existence of a different miRNA processing pathway in these cells.
      Our findings suggest that during quiescence the canonical miRNA biogenesis
      pathway is down-regulated and specific miRNAs are generated by an alternative
      pathway to regulate genes involved in cellular growth arrest.

PMID- 28584123
TI  - Characterization of the macrocyclase involved in the biosynthesis of RiPP cyclic
      peptides in plants.
AB  - Enzymes that can catalyze the macrocyclization of linear peptide substrates have
      long been sought for the production of libraries of structurally diverse
      scaffolds via combinatorial gene assembly as well as to afford rapid in vivo
      screening methods. Orbitides are plant ribosomally synthesized and
      posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs) of various sizes and topologies,
      several of which are shown to be biologically active. The diversity in size and
      sequence of orbitides suggests that the corresponding macrocyclases may be ideal
      catalysts for production of cyclic peptides. Here we present the biochemical
      characterization and crystal structures of the plant enzyme PCY1 involved in
      orbitide macrocyclization. These studies demonstrate how the PCY1 S9A protease
      fold has been adapted for transamidation, rather than hydrolysis, of acyl-enzyme
      intermediates to yield cyclic products. Notably, PCY1 uses an unusual strategy in
      which the cleaved C-terminal follower peptide from the substrate stabilizes the
      enzyme in a productive conformation to facilitate macrocyclization of the N
      terminal fragment. The broad substrate tolerance of PCY1 can be exploited as a
      biotechnological tool to generate structurally diverse arrays of macrocycles,
      including those with nonproteinogenic elements.

PMID- 28584124
TI  - Correction for Ding et al., Hepatitis E virus ORF3 is a functional ion channel
      required for release of infectious particles.

PMID- 28584125
TI  - Drosophila Pax6 promotes development of the entire eye-antennal disc, thereby
      ensuring proper adult head formation.
AB  - Paired box 6 (Pax6) is considered to be the master control gene for eye
      development in all seeing animals studied so far. In vertebrates, it is required
      not only for lens/retina formation but also for the development of the CNS,
      olfactory system, and pancreas. Although Pax6 plays important roles in cell
      differentiation, proliferation, and patterning during the development of these
      systems, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In the fruit fly,
      Drosophila melanogaster, Pax6 also functions in a range of tissues, including the
      eye and brain. In this report, we describe the function of Pax6 in Drosophila eye
      antennal disc development. Previous studies have suggested that the two fly Pax6
      genes, eyeless (ey) and twin of eyeless (toy), initiate eye specification,
      whereas eyegone (eyg) and the Notch (N) pathway independently regulate cell
      proliferation. Here, we show that Pax6 controls eye progenitor cell survival and
      proliferation through the activation of teashirt (tsh) and eyg, thereby
      indicating that Pax6 initiates both eye specification and proliferation. Although
      simultaneous loss of ey and toy during early eye-antennal disc development
      disrupts the development of all head structures derived from the eye-antennal
      disc, overexpression of N or tsh in the absence of Pax6 rescues only antennal and
      head epidermis development. Furthermore, overexpression of tsh induces a homeotic
      transformation of the fly head into thoracic structures. Taking these data
      together, we demonstrate that Pax6 promotes development of the entire eye
      antennal disc and that the retinal determination network works to repress
      alternative tissue fates, which ensures proper development of adult head
      structures.

PMID- 28584126
TI  - Temperature variability is integrated by a spatially embedded decision-making
      center to break dormancy in Arabidopsis seeds.
AB  - Plants perceive and integrate information from the environment to time critical
      transitions in their life cycle. Some mechanisms underlying this quantitative
      signal processing have been described, whereas others await discovery. Seeds have
      evolved a mechanism to integrate environmental information by regulating the
      abundance of the antagonistically acting hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and
      gibberellin (GA). Here, we show that hormone metabolic interactions and their
      feedbacks are sufficient to create a bistable developmental fate switch in
      Arabidopsis seeds. A digital single-cell atlas mapping the distribution of
      hormone metabolic and response components revealed their enrichment within the
      embryonic radicle, identifying the presence of a decision-making center within
      dormant seeds. The responses to both GA and ABA were found to occur within
      distinct cell types, suggesting cross-talk occurs at the level of hormone
      transport between these signaling centers. We describe theoretically, and
      demonstrate experimentally, that this spatial separation within the decision
      making center is required to process variable temperature inputs from the
      environment to promote the breaking of dormancy. In contrast to other noise
      filtering systems, including human neurons, the functional role of this spatial
      embedding is to leverage variability in temperature to transduce a fate-switching
      signal within this biological system. Fluctuating inputs therefore act as an
      instructive signal for seeds, enhancing the accuracy with which plants are
      established in ecosystems, and distributed computation within the radicle
      underlies this signal integration mechanism.

PMID- 28584127
TI  - Dynamic changes in murine forebrain miR-211 expression associate with cholinergic
      imbalances and epileptiform activity.
AB  - Epilepsy is a common neurological disease, manifested in unprovoked recurrent
      seizures. Epileptogenesis may develop due to genetic or pharmacological origins
      or following injury, but it remains unclear how the unaffected brain escapes this
      susceptibility to seizures. Here, we report that dynamic changes in forebrain
      microRNA (miR)-211 in the mouse brain shift the threshold for spontaneous and
      pharmacologically induced seizures alongside changes in the cholinergic pathway
      genes, implicating this miR in the avoidance of seizures. We identified miR-211
      as a putative attenuator of cholinergic-mediated seizures by intersecting
      forebrain miR profiles that were Argonaute precipitated, synaptic vesicle target
      enriched, or differentially expressed under pilocarpine-induced seizures, and
      validated TGFBR2 and the nicotinic antiinflammatory acetylcholine receptor
      nAChRa7 as murine and human miR-211 targets, respectively. To explore the link
      between miR-211 and epilepsy, we engineered dTg-211 mice with doxycycline
      suppressible forebrain overexpression of miR-211. These mice reacted to
      doxycycline exposure by spontaneous electrocorticography-documented nonconvulsive
      seizures, accompanied by forebrain accumulation of the convulsive seizures
      mediating miR-134. RNA sequencing demonstrated in doxycycline-treated dTg-211
      cortices overrepresentation of synaptic activity, Ca2+ transmembrane transport,
      TGFBR2 signaling, and cholinergic synapse pathways. Additionally, a cholinergic
      dysregulated mouse model overexpressing a miR refractory acetylcholinesterase-R
      splice variant showed a parallel propensity for convulsions, miR-211 decreases,
      and miR-134 elevation. Our findings demonstrate that in mice, dynamic miR-211
      decreases induce hypersynchronization and nonconvulsive and convulsive seizures,
      accompanied by expression changes in cholinergic and TGFBR2 pathways as well as
      in miR-134. Realizing the importance of miR-211 dynamics opens new venues for
      translational diagnosis of and interference with epilepsy.

PMID- 28584129
TI  - Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research.
AB  - Young researchers are crucially important for basic science as they make
      unexpected, fundamental discoveries. Since 1982, we find a steady drop in the
      number of grant-eligible basic-science faculty [principal investigators (PIs)]
      younger than 46. This fall occurred over a 32-y period when inflation-corrected
      congressional funds for NIH almost tripled. During this time, the PI success
      ratio (fraction of basic-science PIs who are R01 grantees) dropped for younger
      PIs (below 46) and increased for older PIs (above 55). This age-related bias
      seems to have caused the steady drop in the number of young basic-science PIs and
      could reduce future US discoveries in fundamental biomedical science. The NIH
      recognized this bias in its 2008 early-stage investigator (ESI) policy to fund
      young PIs at higher rates. We show this policy is working and recommend that it
      be enhanced by using better data. Together with the National Institute of General
      Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) program
      to reward senior PIs with research time in exchange for less funding, this may
      reverse a decades-long trend of more money going to older PIs. To prepare young
      scientists for increased demand, additional resources should be devoted to
      transitional postdoctoral fellowships already offered by NIH.

PMID- 28584128
TI  - Bcl11b and combinatorial resolution of cell fate in the T-cell gene regulatory
      network.
AB  - T-cell development from hematopoietic progenitors depends on multiple
      transcription factors, mobilized and modulated by intrathymic Notch signaling.
      Key aspects of T-cell specification network architecture have been illuminated
      through recent reports defining roles of transcription factors PU.1, GATA-3, and
      E2A, their interactions with Notch signaling, and roles of Runx1, TCF-1, and
      Hes1, providing bases for a comprehensively updated model of the T-cell
      specification gene regulatory network presented herein. However, the role of
      lineage commitment factor Bcl11b has been unclear. We use self-organizing maps on
      63 RNA-seq datasets from normal and perturbed T-cell development to identify
      functional targets of Bcl11b during commitment and relate them to other
      regulomes. We show that both activation and repression target genes can be bound
      by Bcl11b in vivo, and that Bcl11b effects overlap with E2A-dependent effects.
      The newly clarified role of Bcl11b distinguishes discrete components of
      commitment, resolving how innate lymphoid, myeloid, and dendritic, and B-cell
      fate alternatives are excluded by different mechanisms.

PMID- 28584130
TI  - Bam and Otu can regulate stem cell fate by stabilizing cyclin A.

PMID- 28584131
TI  - Detection of sickness in conspecifics using olfactory and visual cues.

PMID- 28584132
TI  - Transposon mutagenesis identifies chromatin modifiers cooperating with Ras in
      thyroid tumorigenesis and detects ATXN7 as a cancer gene.
AB  - Oncogenic RAS mutations are present in 15-30% of thyroid carcinomas. Endogenous
      expression of mutant Ras is insufficient to initiate thyroid tumorigenesis in
      murine models, indicating that additional genetic alterations are required. We
      used Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon mutagenesis to identify events that
      cooperate with HrasG12V in thyroid tumor development. Random genomic integration
      of SB transposons primarily generated loss-of-function events that significantly
      increased thyroid tumor penetrance in Tpo-Cre/homozygous FR-HrasG12V mice. The
      thyroid tumors closely phenocopied the histological features of human RAS-driven,
      poorly differentiated thyroid cancers. Characterization of transposon insertion
      sites in the SB-induced tumors identified 45 recurrently mutated candidate cancer
      genes. These mutation profiles were remarkably concordant with mutated cancer
      genes identified in a large series of human poorly differentiated and anaplastic
      thyroid cancers screened by next-generation sequencing using the MSK-IMPACT panel
      of cancer genes, which we modified to include all SB candidates. The disrupted
      genes primarily clustered in chromatin remodeling functional nodes and in the
      PI3K pathway. ATXN7, a component of a multiprotein complex with histone acetylase
      activity, scored as a significant SB hit. It was recurrently mutated in advanced
      human cancers and significantly co-occurred with RAS or NF1 mutations. Expression
      of ATXN7 mutants cooperated with oncogenic RAS to induce thyroid cell
      proliferation, pointing to ATXN7 as a previously unrecognized cancer gene.

PMID- 28584134
TI  - Ancestral gene regulatory networks drive cancer.

PMID- 28584133
TI  - Mitochondrial dysfunction induced by a SH2 domain-targeting STAT3 inhibitor leads
      to metabolic synthetic lethality in cancer cells.
AB  - In addition to its canonical role in nuclear transcription, signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is emerging as an important regulator of
      mitochondrial function. Here, we demonstrate that a novel inhibitor that binds
      with high affinity to the STAT3 SH2 domain triggers a complex cascade of events
      initiated by interference with mitochondrial STAT3 (mSTAT3). The mSTAT3-drug
      interaction leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, accumulation of proteotoxic STAT3
      aggregates, and cell death. The cytotoxic effects depend directly on the drug's
      ability to interfere with mSTAT3 and mitochondrial function, as demonstrated by
      site-directed mutagenesis and use of STAT3 knockout and mitochondria-depleted
      cells. Importantly, the lethal consequences of mSTAT3 inhibition are enhanced by
      glucose starvation and by increased reliance of cancer cells and tumor-initiating
      cells on mitochondria, resulting in potent activity in cell cultures and tumor
      xenografts in mice. These findings can be exploited for eliciting synthetic
      lethality in metabolically stressed cancer cells using high-affinity STAT3
      inhibitors. Thus, this study provides insights on the role of mSTAT3 in cancer
      cells and a conceptual framework for developing more effective cancer therapies.

PMID- 28584135
TI  - Genome-wide association study to identify variants associated with acute severe
      vaso-occlusive pain in sickle cell anemia.

PMID- 28584136
TI  - Obinutuzumab: what is there to learn from clinical trials?
AB  - Obinutuzumab (OBZ) is a recombinant type II anti-CD20 and immunoglobulin G1 Fc
      optimized monoclonal antibody (mAb), recently approved in chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia (CLL; B-cell CLL) and follicular lymphoma (FL). Rituximab (RTX) is
      frequently considered as its "ancestor" and OBZ clinical development was
      justified by the importance of FcgammaRIIIA-mediated mechanisms in RTX clinical
      activity. However, RTX differs from OBZ in 2 critical independent properties:
      being a type I anti-CD20 mAb and not being Fc-optimized. Moreover, the use of a
      different dosing regimen for RTX and OBZ further complicates any interpretation
      of clinical results. The results obtained for OBZ in CLL provide new arguments
      for FcgammaRIIIA-mediated mechanisms when the target antigen is expressed at a
      low density. Results of OBZ in FL confirm the interest for FcgammaRIIIA-mediated
      mechanisms, with some limitations, some of them being possibly due to lack of OBZ
      induced complement activation. The situation in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is
      deceiving, as the possible gains of activity of OBZ appear to be annihilated by
      the lack of complement activation. Although RTX was by chance an anti-CD20 mAb
      with equilibrated pharmacodynamic properties, the reinforcement of some of these
      properties, which has been done at the expense of complement activation, has
      conferred an advantage in some B-cell disorders while restricting OBZ
      indications. The OBZ story nicely demonstrates that the future of naked mAbs is
      to design agents with optimized and tailored properties, and that this must be
      done step by step, with a full clinical validation.

PMID- 28584138
TI  - Initial Treatment of Cancer Patients with Fluconazole-Susceptible Dose-Dependent
      Candida glabrata Fungemia: Better Outcome with an Echinocandin or Polyene
      Compared to an Azole?
AB  - The 28-day crude mortality rate in 68 cancer patients with fluconazole
      susceptible dose-dependent Candida glabrata fungemia started on treatment (within
      48 h after blood culture collection) with an echinocandin or liposomal
      amphotericin-B was better (30%) than those treated with azole monotherapy (52%)
      (P = 0.07). After adjusting for confounders, azole monotherapy also was
      associated with worse 28-day survival (hazard ratio, 3.8; P = 0.003).

PMID- 28584137
TI  - Susceptibility of Colistin-Resistant, Gram-Negative Bacteria to Antimicrobial
      Peptides and Ceragenins.
AB  - The susceptibility of colistin-resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella
      pneumoniae to ceragenins and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) suggests that there is
      little to no cross-resistance between colistin and ceragenins/AMPs and that lipid
      A modifications are found in bacteria with modest changes in susceptibility to
      ceragenins and with high levels of resistance to colistin. These results suggest
      that there are differences in the resistance mechanisms to colistin and
      ceragenins/AMPs.

PMID- 28584139
TI  - Genomic Analysis of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli from North Carolina
      Community Hospitals: Ongoing Circulation of CTX-M-Producing ST131-H30Rx and ST131
      H30R1 Strains.
AB  - Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) predominates globally among multidrug
      resistant (MDR) E. coli strains. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to
      investigate 63 MDR E. coli isolates from 7 North Carolina community hospitals
      (2010 to 2015). Of these, 39 (62%) represented ST131, including 37 (95%) from the
      ST131-H30R subclone: 10 (27%) from its H30R1 subset and 27 (69%) from its H30Rx
      subset. ST131 core genomes differed by a median of 15 (range, 0 to 490) single
      nucleotide variants (SNVs) overall versus only 7 within H30R1 (range, 3 to 12
      SNVs) and 11 within H30Rx (range, 0 to 21). The four isolates with identical core
      genomes were all H30Rx. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics did not vary
      significantly by strain type, but many patients with MDR E. coli or H30Rx
      infection were critically ill and had poor outcomes. H30Rx isolates
      characteristically exhibited fluoroquinolone resistance and CTX-M-15 production,
      had a high prevalence of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance (89%), sul1
      (89%), and dfrA17 (85%), and were enriched for specific virulence traits, and all
      qualified as extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli The high overall prevalence of
      CTX-M-15 appeared to be possibly attributable to its association with the ST131
      H30Rx subclone and IncF[F2:A1:B-] plasmids. Some phylogenetically clustered non
      ST131 MDR E. coli isolates also had distinctive serotypes/fimH types,
      fluoroquinolone mutations, CTX-M variants, and IncF types. Thus, WGS analysis of
      our community hospital source MDR E. coli isolates suggested ongoing circulation
      and differentiation of E. coli ST131 subclones, with clonal segregation of CTX-M
      variants, other resistance genes, Inc-type plasmids, and virulence genes.

PMID- 28584140
TI  - Safety, Tolerability, Systemic Exposure, and Metabolism of CRS3123, a Methionyl
      tRNA Synthetase Inhibitor Developed for Treatment of Clostridium difficile, in a
      Phase 1 Study.
AB  - Clostridium difficile causes antibiotic-associated diarrhea and is a major public
      health concern. Current therapies disrupt the protective intestinal flora, do not
      reliably prevent recurrent infections, and will be decreasingly effective should
      less susceptible strains emerge. CRS3123 is an oral agent that inhibits bacterial
      methionyl-tRNA synthetase and has potent activity against C. difficile and
      aerobic Gram-positive bacteria but little activity against Gram-negative
      bacteria, including anaerobes. This first-in-human, double-blind, placebo
      controlled, dose escalation study evaluated the safety and systemic exposure of
      CRS3123 after a single oral dose in healthy adults. Five cohorts of eight
      subjects each received CRS3123 or placebo in a 3:1 ratio. Doses for the
      respective active arms were 100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg, 800 mg, and 1,200 mg. Blood
      and urine were collected for pharmacokinetic analysis. CRS3123 concentrations
      were measured with validated LC-MS/MS techniques. There were no serious adverse
      events or immediate allergic reactions during administration of CRS3123. In the
      CRS3123-treated groups, the most frequent adverse events were decreased
      hemoglobin, headache, and abnormal urine analysis; all adverse events in the
      active-treatment groups were mild to moderate, and their frequency did not
      increase with dose. Although CRS3123 systemic exposure increased at higher doses,
      the increase was less than dose proportional. The absorbed drug was
      glucuronidated at reactive amino groups on the molecule, which precluded accurate
      pharmacokinetic analysis of the parent drug. Overall, CRS3123 was well tolerated
      over this wide range of doses. This safety profile supports further investigation
      of CRS3123 as a treatment for C. difficile infections. (This study has been
      registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT01551004.).

PMID- 28584141
TI  - Multimechanistic Monoclonal Antibodies (MAbs) Targeting Staphylococcus aureus
      Alpha-Toxin and Clumping Factor A: Activity and Efficacy Comparisons of a MAb
      Combination and an Engineered Bispecific Antibody Approach.
AB  - Secreted alpha-toxin and surface-localized clumping factor A (ClfA) are key
      virulence determinants in Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. We
      previously demonstrated that prophylaxis with a multimechanistic monoclonal
      antibody (MAb) combination against alpha-toxin (MEDI4893*) and ClfA (11H10)
      provided greater strain coverage and improved efficacy in an S. aureus lethal
      bacteremia model. Subsequently, 11H10 was found to exhibit reduced affinity and
      impaired inhibition of fibrinogen binding to ClfA002 expressed by members of a
      predominant hospital-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) clone,
      ST5. Consequently, we identified another anti-ClfA MAb (SAR114) from human
      tonsillar B cells with >100-fold increased affinity for three prominent ClfA
      variants, including ClfA002, and potent inhibition of bacterial agglutination by
      112 diverse clinical isolates. We next constructed bispecific Abs (BiSAbs)
      comprised of 11H10 or SAR114 as IgG scaffolds and grafted anti-alpha-toxin
      (MEDI4893*) single-chain variable fragment to the amino or carboxy terminus of
      the anti-ClfA heavy chains. Although the BiSAbs exhibited in vitro potencies
      similar to those of the parental MAbs, only 11H10-BiSAb, but not SAR114-BiSAb,
      showed protective activity in murine infection models comparable to the
      respective MAb combination. In vivo activity with SAR114-BiSAb was observed in
      infection models with S. aureus lacking ClfA. Our data suggest that high-affinity
      binding to ClfA sequesters the SAR114-BiSAb to the bacterial surface, thereby
      reducing both alpha-toxin neutralization and protection in vivo These results
      indicate that a MAb combination targeting ClfA and alpha-toxin is more promising
      for future development than the corresponding BiSAb.

PMID- 28584142
TI  - Micafungin Plasma Levels Are Not Affected by Continuous Renal Replacement
      Therapy: Experience in Critically Ill Patients.
AB  - Critically ill patients often experience acute kidney injury and the need for
      renal replacement therapy in the course of their treatment in an intensive care
      unit (ICU). These patients are at an increased risk for candidiasis. Although
      there have been several reports of micafungin disposition during renal
      replacement therapy, to this date there are no data describing the elimination of
      micafungin during high-dose continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration with modified
      AN69 membranes. The aim of this prospective open-label pharmacokinetic study was
      to assess whether micafungin plasma levels are affected by continuous
      hemodiafiltration in critical ill patients using the commonly employed AN69
      membrane. A total of 10 critically ill patients with micafungin treatment due to
      suspected or proven candidemia were included in this trial. Prefilter/postfilter
      micafungin clearance was measured to be 46.0 ml/min (+/-21.7 ml/min; n = 75
      individual time points), while hemofilter clearance calculated by the sieving
      coefficient was 0.0038 ml/min (+/-0.002 ml/min; n = 75 individual time points).
      Total body clearance was measured to be 14.0 ml/min (+/-7.0 ml/min; n = 12). The
      population area under the curve from 0 to 24 h (AUC0-24) was calculated as 158.5
      mg . h/liter (+/-79.5 mg . h/liter; n = 13). In spite of high protein binding, no
      dose modification is necessary in patients receiving continuous venovenous
      hemodiafiltration with AN69 membranes. A dose elevation may, however, be
      justified in certain cases. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov
      under identifier NCT02651038.).

PMID- 28584143
TI  - Linezolid Dose That Maximizes Sterilizing Effect While Minimizing Toxicity and
      Resistance Emergence for Tuberculosis.
AB  - Linezolid has an excellent sterilizing effect in tuberculosis patients but high
      adverse event rates. The dose that would maximize efficacy and minimize toxicity
      is unknown. We performed linezolid dose-effect and dose-scheduling studies in the
      hollow fiber system model of tuberculosis (HFS-TB) for sterilizing effect. HFS-TB
      units were treated with several doses to mimic human-like linezolid
      intrapulmonary pharmacokinetics and repetitively sampled for drug concentration,
      total bacterial burden, linezolid-resistant subpopulations, and RNA sequencing
      over 2 months. Linezolid-resistant isolates underwent whole-genome sequencing.
      The expression of genes encoding efflux pumps in the first 1 to 2 weeks revealed
      the same exposure-response patterns as the linezolid-resistant subpopulation.
      Linezolid-resistant isolates from the 2nd month of therapy revealed mutations in
      several efflux pump/transporter genes and a LuxR-family transcriptional
      regulator. Linezolid sterilizing effect was linked to the ratio of unbound 0- to
      24-h area under the concentration-time curve (AUC0-24) to MIC. Optimal microbial
      kill was achieved at an AUC0-24/MIC ratio of 119. The optimal sterilizing effect
      dose for clinical use was identified using Monte Carlo simulations. Clinical
      doses of 300 and 600 mg/day (or double the dose every other day) achieved this
      target in 87% and >99% of 10,000 patients, respectively. The susceptibility
      breakpoint identified was 2 mg/liter. The simulations identified that a 300
      mg/day dose did not achieve AUC0-24s associated with linezolid toxicity, while
      600 mg/day achieved those AUC0-24s in <20% of subjects. The linezolid dose of 300
      mg/day performed well and should be compared to 600 mg/day or 1,200 mg every
      other day in clinical trials.

PMID- 28584144
TI  - Peptide Inhibitors Targeting the Neisseria gonorrhoeae Pivotal Anaerobic
      Respiration Factor AniA.
AB  - Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea, which
      is highly prevalent worldwide and has a major impact on reproductive and neonatal
      health. The superbug status of N. gonorrhoeae necessitates the development of
      drugs with different mechanisms of action. Here, we focused on targeting the
      nitrite reductase AniA, which is a pivotal component of N. gonorrhoeae anaerobic
      respiration and biofilm formation. Our studies showed that gonococci expressing
      AniA containing the altered catalytic residues D137A and H280A failed to grow
      under anaerobic conditions, demonstrating that the nitrite reductase function is
      essential. To facilitate the pharmacological targeting of AniA, new crystal
      structures of AniA were refined to 1.90-A and 2.35-A resolutions, and a phage
      display approach with libraries expressing randomized linear dodecameric peptides
      or heptameric peptides flanked by a pair of cysteine residues was utilized.
      Biopanning experiments led to the identification of 29 unique peptides, with 1 of
      them, C7-3, being identified multiple times. Evaluation of their ability to
      interact with AniA using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and computational
      docking studies revealed that C7-3 was the most promising inhibitor, binding near
      the type 2 copper site of the enzyme, which is responsible for interaction with
      nitrite. Subsequent enzymatic assays and biolayer interferometry with a synthetic
      C7-3 and its derivatives, C7-3m1 and C7-3m2, demonstrated potent inhibition of
      AniA. Finally, the MIC50 value of C7-3 and C7-3m2 against anaerobically grown N.
      gonorrhoeae was 0.6 mM. We present the first peptide inhibitors of AniA, an
      enzyme that should be further exploited for antigonococcal drug development.

PMID- 28584146
TI  - Targeted Metabolomics Analysis Identifies Intestinal Microbiota-Derived Urinary
      Biomarkers of Colonization Resistance in Antibiotic-Treated Mice.
AB  - Antibiotics excreted into the intestinal tract may disrupt the microbiota that
      provide colonization resistance against enteric pathogens and alter normal
      metabolic functions of the microbiota. Many of the bacterial metabolites produced
      in the intestinal tract are absorbed systemically and excreted in urine. Here, we
      used a mouse model to test the hypothesis that alterations in levels of targeted
      bacterial metabolites in urine specimens could provide useful biomarkers
      indicating disrupted or intact colonization resistance. To assess in vivo
      colonization resistance, mice were challenged with Clostridium difficile spores
      orally 3, 6, and 11 days after the completion of 2 days of treatment with
      piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, or saline. For concurrent groups of
      antibiotic-treated mice, urine samples were analyzed by using liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to quantify the concentrations
      of 11 compounds targeted as potential biomarkers of colonization resistance.
      Aztreonam did not affect colonization resistance, whereas piperacillin-tazobactam
      disrupted colonization resistance 3 days after piperacillin-tazobactam treatment,
      with complete recovery by 11 days after treatment. Three of the 11 compounds
      exhibited a statistically significant and >10-fold increase (the tryptophan
      metabolite N-acetyltryptophan) or decrease (the plant polyphenyl derivatives
      cinnamoylglycine and enterodiol) in concentrations in urine 3 days after
      piperacillin-tazobactam treatment, followed by recovery to baseline that
      coincided with the restoration of in vivo colonization resistance. These urinary
      metabolites could provide useful and easily accessible biomarkers indicating
      intact or disrupted colonization resistance during and after antibiotic
      treatment.

PMID- 28584145
TI  - Efficacy of beta-Lactam/beta-Lactamase Inhibitor Combinations for the Treatment
      of Bloodstream Infection Due to Extended-Spectrum-beta-Lactamase-Producing
      Enterobacteriaceae in Hematological Patients with Neutropenia.
AB  - beta-Lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitors (BLBLIs) were compared to carbapenems in
      two cohorts of hematological neutropenic patients with extended-spectrum-beta
      lactamase (ESBL) bloodstream infection (BSI): the empirical therapy cohort (174
      patients) and the definitive therapy cohort (251 patients). The 30-day case
      fatality rates and other secondary outcomes were similar in the two therapy
      groups of the two cohorts and also in the propensity-matched cohorts. BLBLIs
      might be carbapenem-sparing alternatives for the treatment of BSI due to ESBLs in
      these patients.

PMID- 28584147
TI  - Influence of IS256 on Genome Variability and Formation of Small-Colony Variants
      in Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus has acquired resistance to nearly all antibiotics used in
      clinical practice. Whereas some resistance mechanisms are conferred by uptake of
      resistance genes, others evolve by mutation. In this study, IS256 has been shown
      to play a role, e.g., in S. aureus strains displaying intermediate resistance to
      vancomycin (VISA). To characterize the IS256 insertion sites in the genomes of
      two closely related sequence type 247 (ST247) VISA strains, all insertions were
      mapped in both VISA and a susceptible control strain. The results showed that the
      three ST247 strains contained the highest number so far of IS256 insertions for
      all sequenced S. aureus strains. Furthermore, in contrast to the case with the
      other IS elements in these genomes, the IS256 insertion sites were not identical
      in the closely related strains, indicating a high transposition frequency of
      IS256 When IS256 was introduced into a laboratory strain which was then cultured
      in the presence of antibiotics, it was possible to isolate small-colony variants
      (SCVs) that possessed IS256 insertions in guaA and hemY that displayed increased
      resistance to vancomycin and aminoglycosides, respectively. For these clones, a
      very rapid reversion to the wild type that resembled the fast reversion of
      clinical SCVs was observed. The reversion was caused by excision of IS256 in a
      small number of fast-growing clones that quickly outcompeted the SCVs in broth
      cultures. In conclusion, the presence of IS256 confers a strong genomic
      plasticity that is useful for adaptation to antibiotic stress.

PMID- 28584148
TI  - Transcriptional Regulator TetR21 Controls the Expression of the Staphylococcus
      aureus LmrS Efflux Pump.
AB  - TetR21 controls the expression of Tet38 and LmrS efflux pumps. A tetR21 mutant,
      QT21, exhibited a 4-fold increase in the transcription level of
      lmrSStaphylococcus aureuslmrS overexpressor showed increases of 4-fold and 2
      fold, respectively, in the MICs of chloramphenicol and erythromycin, while the
      MICs of lmrS mutant QT18 and lmrS-tetR21 mutant QT1821 remained similar to those
      of parental strain RN6390. TetR21 does not bind to the promoter of lmrS,
      suggesting indirect regulation of lmrS.

PMID- 28584149
TI  - Different Resistance Mechanisms for Cadazolid and Linezolid in Clostridium
      difficile Found by Whole-Genome Sequencing Analysis.
AB  - Cadazolid (CDZ) is a new antibiotic currently in clinical development for the
      treatment of Clostridium difficile infections. CDZ interferes with the bacterial
      protein synthesis machinery. The aim of the present study was to identify
      resistance mechanisms for CDZ and compare the results to those obtained for
      linezolid (LZD) in C. difficile by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of strains
      generated by in vitro passages and to those obtained for LZD-resistant clinical
      isolates. Clones of C. difficile 630 selected with CDZ during 46 passages had a
      maximally 4-fold increase in CDZ MIC, while the LZD MIC for clones selected with
      LZD increased up to 16-fold. CDZ cross-resistance with LZD was maximally 4-fold,
      and no cross-resistance with other antibiotics tested was observed. Our data
      suggest that there are different resistance mechanisms for CDZ and LZD in C.
      difficile Mutations after passages with CDZ were found in rplD (ribosomal protein
      L4) as well as in tra and rmt, whereas similar experiments with LZD showed
      mutations in rplC (ribosomal protein L3), reg, and tpr, indicating different
      resistance mechanisms. Although high degrees of variation between the sequenced
      genomes of the clinical isolates were observed, the same mutation in rplC was
      found in two clinical isolates with high LZD MICs. No mutations were found in the
      23S rRNA genes, and attempts to isolate the cfr gene from resistant clinical
      isolates were unsuccessful. Analysis of 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s)
      determined in in vitro transcription/translation assays performed with C.
      difficile cell extracts from passaged clones correlated well with the MIC values
      for all antibiotics tested, indicating that the ribosomal mutations are causing
      the resistant phenotype.

PMID- 28584150
TI  - Upregulation of Apoptosis Pathway Genes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of
      HIV-Infected Individuals with Antiretroviral Therapy-Associated Mitochondrial
      Toxicity.
AB  - A case-control study of the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on apoptosis
      pathway genes comprising 16 cases (HIV infected with mitochondrial toxicity) and
      16 controls (HIV uninfected) was conducted. A total of 26 of 84 genes of the
      apoptosis pathway were differentially expressed. Two of the upregulated genes,
      DFFA and TNFRSF1A, classified 75% of study participants correctly as either a
      case or control. Thus, apoptosis may be in the causal pathway of ART-associated
      mitochondrial toxicity. These two genes could be markers for detecting and
      monitoring ART-induced mitochondrial toxicity.

PMID- 28584151
TI  - Discovery and Characterization of a Novel CD4-Binding Adnectin with Potent Anti
      HIV Activity.
AB  - A novel fibronectin-based protein (Adnectin) HIV-1 inhibitor was generated using
      in vitro selection. This inhibitor binds to human CD4 with a high affinity (3.9
      nM) and inhibits viral entry at a step after CD4 engagement and preceding
      membrane fusion. The progenitor sequence of this novel inhibitor was selected
      from a library of trillions of Adnectin variants using mRNA display and then
      further optimized for improved antiviral and physical properties. The final
      optimized inhibitor exhibited full potency against a panel of 124 envelope
      (gp160) proteins spanning 11 subtypes, indicating broad-spectrum activity.
      Resistance profiling studies showed that this inhibitor required 30 passages (151
      days) in culture to acquire sufficient resistance to result in viral titer
      breakthrough. Resistance mapped to the loss of multiple potential N-linked
      glycosylation sites in gp120, suggesting that inhibition is due to steric
      hindrance of CD4-binding-induced conformational changes.

PMID- 28584152
TI  - Pharmacodynamic Optimization for Treatment of Invasive Candida auris Infection.
AB  - Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant threat. The pharmacodynamics of
      three antifungal classes against nine C. auris strains was explored using a
      murine invasive candidiasis model. The total drug median pharmacodynamic (PD)
      target associated with net stasis was a fluconazole AUC/MIC (the area under the
      concentration-time curve over 24 h in the steady state divided by the MIC) of 26,
      an amphotericin B Cmax/MIC (maximum concentration of drug in serum divided by the
      MIC) of 0.9, and a micafungin AUC/MIC of 54. The micafungin PD targets for C.
      auris were >=20-fold lower than those of other Candida species in this animal
      model. Clinically relevant micafungin exposures produced the most killing among
      the three classes.

PMID- 28584153
TI  - Use of beta-Lactam/beta-Lactamase Inhibitors for Extended-Spectrum-beta-Lactamase
      Infections: Defining the Right Patient Population.
AB  - In a multicenter, multinational observational study that included neutropenic
      patients with bloodstream infections by extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase
      producing species, Gudiol et al. (Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 61:e00164-17,
      2017, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00164-17) demonstrated that beta-lactam/beta
      lactamase inhibitors are effective treatment options. A review of this work,
      however, reminds us that some lingering questions remain for specific high-risk
      subgroups.

PMID- 28584154
TI  - PA3225 Is a Transcriptional Repressor of Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms in
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - The tssABC1 locus is part of the Hcp secretion island I (HSI-I) type VI secretion
      system (T6SS) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Previous work implicated the tssC1 gene
      in P. aeruginosa biofilm-specific antibiotic resistance, and tssC1 is
      preferentially expressed in biofilms compared to planktonic cells. Using a DNA
      dependent protein pulldown approach, we discovered that PA3225, an
      uncharacterized LysR-type transcriptional regulator, specifically bound to the
      tssABC1 upstream regulatory region. The deletion of PA3225 led to a 2-fold
      decrease in tssA1 expression levels in planktonic cells compared to the wild
      type, and tssA1 expression was slightly reduced in DeltaPA3225 biofilms compared
      to wild-type biofilms. Intriguingly, further investigations revealed that the
      DeltaPA3225 mutant was less susceptible to multiple, structurally unrelated
      antibiotics with various mechanisms of action when grown planktonically. The
      DeltaPA3225 mutant was additionally more resistant to ciprofloxacin when grown in
      a biofilm. The decreased antibiotic susceptibility of the DeltaPA3225 strain was
      linked to the transcriptional upregulation of the MexAB-OprM efflux pump. By
      using transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), other PA3225-regulated genes were
      identified, and the products of these genes, such as the putative ABC transporter
      PA3228, may also contribute to antibiotic resistance.

PMID- 28584155
TI  - Capsid Assembly Modulators Have a Dual Mechanism of Action in Primary Human
      Hepatocytes Infected with Hepatitis B Virus.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly is a critical step in the propagation of
      the virus and is mediated by the core protein. Due to its multiple functions in
      the viral life cycle, core became an attractive target for new antiviral
      therapies. Capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) accelerate the kinetics of capsid
      assembly and prevent encapsidation of the polymerase-pregenomic RNA (Pol-pgRNA)
      complex, thereby blocking viral replication. CAM JNJ-632 is a novel and potent
      inhibitor of HBV replication in vitro across genotypes A to D. It induces the
      formation of morphologically intact viral capsids, as demonstrated by size
      exclusion chromatography and electron microscopy studies. Antiviral profiling in
      primary human hepatocytes revealed that CAMs prevented formation of covalently
      closed circular DNA in a dose-dependent fashion when the compound was added
      together with the viral inoculum, whereas nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) did not.
      This protective effect translated into a dose-dependent reduction of
      intracellular HBV RNA levels as well as reduced HBe/cAg and HBsAg levels in the
      cell culture supernatant. The same observation was made with another CAM (BAY41
      4109), suggesting that mechanistic rather than compound-specific effects play a
      role. Our data show that CAMs have a dual mechanism of action, inhibiting early
      and late steps of the viral life cycle. These effects clearly differentiate CAMs
      from NAs and may translate into higher functional cure rates in a clinical
      setting when given alone or in combination with the current standard of care.

PMID- 28584157
TI  - Menoctone Resistance in Malaria Parasites Is Conferred by M133I Mutations in
      Cytochrome b That Are Transmissible through Mosquitoes.
AB  - Malaria-related mortality has slowly decreased over the past decade; however,
      eradication of malaria requires the development of new antimalarial
      chemotherapies that target liver stages of the parasite and combat the emergence
      of drug resistance. The diminishing arsenal of anti-liver-stage compounds sparked
      our interest in reviving the old and previously abandoned compound menoctone. In
      support of these studies, we developed a new convergent synthesis method that was
      facile, required fewer steps, produced better yields, and utilized less expensive
      reagents than the previously published method. Menoctone proved to be highly
      potent against liver stages of Plasmodium berghei (50 percent inhibitory
      concentration [IC50] = 0.41 nM) and erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum
      (113 nM). We selected for resistance to menoctone and found M133I mutations in
      cytochrome b of both P. falciparum and P. berghei The same mutation has been
      observed previously in atovaquone resistance, and we confirmed cross-resistance
      between menoctone and atovaquone in vitro (for P. falciparum) and in vivo (for P.
      berghei). Finally, we assessed the transmission potential of menoctone-resistant
      P. berghei and found that the M133I mutant parasites were readily transmitted
      from mouse to mosquitoes and back to mice. In each step, the M133I mutation in
      cytochrome b, inducing menoctone resistance, was confirmed. In summary, this
      study is the first to show the mechanism of resistance to menoctone and that
      menoctone and atovaquone resistance is transmissible through mosquitoes.

PMID- 28584156
TI  - Role of AxyZ Transcriptional Regulator in Overproduction of AxyXY-OprZ Multidrug
      Efflux System in Achromobacter Species Mutants Selected by Tobramycin.
AB  - AxyXY-OprZ is an RND-type efflux system that confers innate aminoglycoside
      resistance to Achromobacter spp. We investigated here a putative TetR family
      transcriptional regulator encoded by the axyZ gene located upstream of axyXY-oprZ
      An in-frame axyZ gene deletion assay led to increased MICs of antibiotic
      substrates of the efflux system, including aminoglycosides, cefepime,
      fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and erythromycin, indicating that the product of
      axyZ negatively regulates expression of axyXY-oprZ Moreover, we identified an
      amino acid substitution at position 29 of AxyZ (V29G) in a clinical Achromobacter
      strain that occurred during the course of chronic respiratory tract colonization
      in a cystic fibrosis (CF) patient. This substitution, also detected in three
      other strains exposed in vitro to tobramycin, led to an increase in the axyY
      transcription level (5- to 17-fold) together with an increase in antibiotic
      resistance level. This overproduction of AxyXY-OprZ is the first description of
      antibiotic resistance acquisition due to modification of a chromosomally encoded
      mechanism in Achromobacter and might have an impact on the management of infected
      CF patients. Indeed, tobramycin is widely used for aerosol therapy within this
      population, and we have demonstrated that it easily selects mutants with
      increased MICs of not only aminoglycosides but also fluoroquinolones, cefepime,
      and tetracyclines.

PMID- 28584158
TI  - Identification of Novel Efflux Proteins Rv0191, Rv3756c, Rv3008, and Rv1667c
      Involved in Pyrazinamide Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a critical drug used for the treatment of tuberculosis
      (TB). PZA is a prodrug that requires conversion to the active component
      pyrazinoic acid (POA) by pyrazinamidase (PZase) encoded by the pncA gene.
      Although resistance to PZA is mostly caused by pncA mutations and less commonly
      by rpsA, panD, and clpC1 mutations, clinical strains without these mutations are
      known to exist. While efflux of POA was demonstrated in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis previously, the efflux proteins involved have not been identified.
      Here we performed POA binding studies with an M. tuberculosis proteome microarray
      and identified four efflux proteins (Rv0191, Rv3756c, Rv3008, and Rv1667c) that
      bind POA. Overexpression of the four efflux pump genes in M. tuberculosis caused
      low-level resistance to PZA and POA but not to other drugs. Furthermore, addition
      of efflux pump inhibitors such as reserpine, piperine, and verapamil caused
      increased susceptibility to PZA in M. tuberculosis strains overexpressing the
      efflux proteins Rv0191, Rv3756c, Rv3008, and Rv1667c. Our studies indicate that
      these four efflux proteins may be responsible for PZA/POA efflux and cause PZA
      resistance in M. tuberculosis Future studies are needed to assess their roles in
      PZA resistance in clinical strains.

PMID- 28584159
TI  - In Vitro Antibiofilm Activity of Eucarobustol E against Candida albicans.
AB  - Formyl-phloroglucinol meroterpenoids (FPMs) are important types of natural
      products with various bioactivities. Our antifungal susceptibility assay showed
      that one of the Eucalyptus robusta-derived FPMs, eucarobustol E (EE), exerted a
      strong inhibitory effect against Candida albicans biofilms at a concentration of
      16 MUg/ml. EE was found to block the yeast-to-hypha transition and reduce the
      cellular surface hydrophobicity of the biofilm cells. RNA sequencing and real
      time reverse transcription-PCR analysis showed that exposure to 16 MUg/ml of EE
      resulted in marked reductions in the levels of expressions of genes involved in
      hyphal growth (EFG1, CPH1, TEC1, EED1, UME6, and HGC1) and cell surface protein
      genes (ALS3, HWP1, and SAP5). Interestingly, in response to EE, genes involved in
      ergosterol biosynthesis were downregulated, while the farnesol-encoding gene
      (DPP3) was upregulated, and these findings were in agreement with those from the
      quantification of ergosterol and farnesol. Combined with the obvious elevation of
      negative regulator genes (TUP1, NRG1), we speculated that EE's inhibition of
      carbon flow to ergosterol triggered the mechanisms of the negative regulation of
      hyphal growth and eventually led to biofilm inhibition.

PMID- 28584160
TI  - Rapid Identification of Different Escherichia coli Sequence Type 131 Clades.
AB  - Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is a pandemic clonal lineage that is
      responsible for the global increase in fluoroquinolone resistance and extended
      spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers. The members of ST131 clade C,
      especially subclades C2 and C1-M27, are associated with ESBLs. We developed a
      multiplex conventional PCR assay with the ability to detect all ST131 clades (A,
      B, and C), as well as C subclades (C1-M27, C1-nM27 [C1-non-M27], and C2). To
      validate the assay, we used 80 ST131 global isolates that had been fully
      sequenced. We then used the assay to define the prevalence of each clade in two
      Japanese collections consisting of 460 ESBL-producing E. coli ST131 (2001-12) and
      329 E. coli isolates from extraintestinal sites (ExPEC) (2014). The assay
      correctly identified the different clades in all 80 global isolates: clades A (n
      = 12), B (n = 12), and C, including subclades C1-M27 (n = 16), C1-nM27 (n = 20),
      C2 (n = 17), and other C (n = 3). The assay also detected all 565 ST131 isolates
      in both collections without any false positives. Isolates from clades A (n = 54),
      B (n = 23), and C (n = 483) corresponded to the O serotypes and the fimH types of
      O16-H41, O25b-H22, and O25b-H30, respectively. Of the 483 clade C isolates, C1
      M27 was the most common subclade (36%), followed by C1-nM27 (32%) and C2 (15%).
      The C1-M27 subclade with blaCTX-M-27 became especially prominent after 2009. Our
      novel multiplex PCR assay revealed the predominance of the C1-M27 subclade in
      recent Japanese ESBL-producing E. coli isolates and is a promising tool for
      epidemiological studies of ST131.

PMID- 28584161
TI  - Parasitic Protozoa and Interactions with the Host Intestinal Microbiota.
AB  - Parasitic protozoan infections represent a major health burden in the developing
      world and contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. These infections
      are often associated with considerable variability in clinical presentation. An
      emerging body of work suggests that the intestinal microbiota may help to explain
      some of these differences in disease expression. The objective of this minireview
      is to synthesize recent progress in this rapidly advancing field. Studies of
      humans and animals and in vitro studies of the contribution of the intestinal
      microbiota to infectious disease are discussed. We hope to provide an
      understanding of the human-protozoal pathogen-microbiome interaction and to
      speculate on how that might be leveraged for treatment.

PMID- 28584164
TI  - Technology Turbocharges Functional Genomics.

PMID- 28584162
TI  - Chlamydia muridarum with Mutations in Chromosomal Genes tc0237 and/or tc0668 Is
      Deficient in Colonizing the Mouse Gastrointestinal Tract.
AB  - Chlamydiae colonize the gastrointestinal tracts of both animals and humans.
      However, their medical significance remains unknown. We have previously shown
      that wild-type Chlamydia muridarum spreads to and establishes stable colonization
      of the gastrointestinal tract following intravaginal inoculation. In the present
      study, we found that C. muridarum with mutations in chromosomal genes tc0237
      and/or tc0668 was defective in spreading to the mouse gastrointestinal tract,
      which correlated with its attenuated pathogenicity in the upper genital tract.
      This correlation was more consistent than that of chlamydial pathogenicity with
      ascending infection in the genital tract, since attenuated C. muridarum spread
      significantly less to the gastrointestinal tract but maintained robust ascending
      infection of the upper genital tract. Transcervical inoculation further confirmed
      the correlation between C. muridarum spreading to the gastrointestinal tract and
      its pathogenicity in the upper genital tract. Finally, defective spreading of C.
      muridarum mutants was due to their inability to colonize the gastrointestinal
      tract since intragastric inoculation did not rescue the mutants' colonization.
      Thus, promoting C. muridarum colonization of the gastrointestinal tract may
      represent a primary function of the TC0237 and TC0668 proteins. Correlation of
      chlamydial colonization of the gastrointestinal tract with chlamydial
      pathogenicity in the upper genital tract suggests a potential role for
      gastrointestinal chlamydiae in genital tract pathogenicity.

PMID- 28584163
TI  - Protection of Arabidopsis Blunt-Ended Telomeres Is Mediated by a Physical
      Association with the Ku Heterodimer.
AB  - Telomeres form specialized chromatin that protects natural chromosome termini
      from being recognized as DNA double-strand breaks. Plants possess unusual blunt
      ended telomeres that are unable to form t-loops or complex with single-strand DNA
      binding proteins, raising the question of the mechanism behind their protection.
      We have previously suggested that blunt-ended telomeres in Arabidopsis thaliana
      are protected by Ku, a DNA repair factor with a high affinity for DNA ends. In
      nonhomologous end joining, Ku loads onto broken DNA via a channel consisting of
      positively charged amino acids. Here, we demonstrate that while association of Ku
      with plant telomeres also depends on this channel, Ku's requirements for DNA
      binding differ between DNA repair and telomere protection. We show that a Ku
      complex proficient in DNA loading but impaired in translocation along DNA is able
      to protect blunt-ended telomeres but is deficient in DNA repair. This suggests
      that Ku physically sequesters blunt-ended telomeres within its DNA binding
      channel, shielding them from other DNA repair machineries.

PMID- 28584167
TI  - Severe Cushing's syndrome due to small cell prostate carcinoma: a case and review
      of literature.
AB  - Cushing's syndrome (CS) due to ectopic adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) is
      associated with a variety of tumours most of which arise in the thorax or
      abdomen. Prostate carcinoma is a rare but important cause of rapidly progressive
      CS. To report a case of severe CS due to ACTH production from prostate
      neuroendocrine carcinoma and summarise previous published cases. A 71-year-old
      male presented with profound hypokalaemia, oedema and new onset hypertension. The
      patient reported two weeks of weight gain, muscle weakness, labile mood and
      insomnia. CS due to ectopic ACTH production was confirmed with failure to
      suppress cortisol levels following low- and high-dose dexamethasone suppression
      tests in the presence of a markedly elevated ACTH and a normal pituitary MRI.
      Computed tomography demonstrated an enlarged prostate with features of
      malignancy, confirmed by MRI. Subsequent prostatic biopsy confirmed
      neuroendocrine carcinoma of small cell type and conventional adenocarcinoma of
      the prostate. Adrenal steroidogenesis blockade was commenced using ketoconazole
      and metyrapone. Complete biochemical control of CS and evidence of disease
      regression on imaging occurred after four cycles of chemotherapy with carboplatin
      and etoposide. By the sixth cycle, the patient demonstrated radiological
      progression followed by recurrence of CS and died nine months after initial
      presentation. Prostate neuroendocrine carcinoma is a rare cause of CS that can be
      rapidly fatal, and early aggressive treatment of the CS is important. In CS where
      the cause of EAS is unable to be identified, a pelvic source should be considered
      and imaging of the pelvis carefully reviewed.

PMID- 28584165
TI  - Phylogenomic Synteny Network Analysis of MADS-Box Transcription Factor Genes
      Reveals Lineage-Specific Transpositions, Ancient Tandem Duplications, and Deep
      Positional Conservation.
AB  - Conserved genomic context provides critical information for comparative
      evolutionary analysis. With the increase in numbers of sequenced plant genomes,
      synteny analysis can provide new insights into gene family evolution. Here, we
      exploit a network analysis approach to organize and interpret massive pairwise
      syntenic relationships. Specifically, we analyzed synteny networks of the MADS
      box transcription factor gene family using 51 completed plant genomes. In
      combination with phylogenetic profiling, several novel evolutionary patterns were
      inferred and visualized from synteny network clusters. We found lineage-specific
      clusters that derive from transposition events for the regulators of floral
      development (APETALA3 and PI) and flowering time (FLC) in the Brassicales and for
      the regulators of root development (AGL17) in Poales. We also identified two
      large gene clusters that jointly encompass many key phenotypic regulatory Type II
      MADS-box gene clades (SEP1, SQUA, TM8, SEP3, FLC, AGL6, and TM3). Gene clustering
      and gene trees support the idea that these genes are derived from an ancient
      tandem gene duplication that likely predates the radiation of the seed plants and
      then expanded by subsequent polyploidy events. We also identified angiosperm-wide
      conservation of synteny of several other less studied clades. Combined, these
      findings provide new hypotheses for the genomic origins, biological conservation,
      and divergence of MADS-box gene family members.

PMID- 28584166
TI  - SH3 Domain-Containing Protein 2 Plays a Crucial Role at the Step of Membrane
      Tubulation during Cell Plate Formation.
AB  - During cytokinesis in plants, trans-Golgi network-derived vesicles accumulate at
      the center of dividing cells and undergo various structural changes to give rise
      to the planar cell plate. However, how this conversion occurs at the molecular
      level remains elusive. In this study, we report that SH3 Domain-Containing
      Protein 2 (SH3P2) in Arabidopsis thaliana plays a crucial role in converting
      vesicles to the planar cell plate. SH3P2 RNAi plants showed cytokinesis-defective
      phenotypes and produced aggregations of vesicles at the leading edge of the cell
      plate. SH3P2 localized to the leading edge of the cell plate, particularly the
      constricted or curved regions of the cell plate. The BAR domain of SH3P2 induced
      tubulation of vesicles. SH3P2 formed a complex with dynamin-related protein 1A
      (DRP1A) and affected DRP1A accumulation to the cell plate. Based on these
      results, we propose that SH3P2 functions together with DRP1A to convert the fused
      vesicles to tubular structures during cytokinesis.

PMID- 28584168
TI  - Palmitate and oleate exert differential effects on insulin signalling and glucose
      uptake in human skeletal muscle cells.
AB  - Saturated fatty acids are implicated in the development of insulin resistance,
      whereas unsaturated fatty acids may have a protective effect on metabolism. We
      tested in primary human myotubes if insulin resistance induced by saturated fatty
      acid palmitate can be ameliorated by concomitant exposure to unsaturated fatty
      acid oleate. Primary human myotubes were pretreated with palmitate, oleate or
      their combination for 12 h. Glucose uptake was determined by intracellular
      accumulation of [3H]-2-deoxy-d-glucose, insulin signalling and activation of
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by Western blotting, and mitochondrial reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) production by fluorescent dye MitoSOX. Exposure of primary
      human myotubes to palmitate impaired insulin-stimulated Akt-Ser473, AS160 and GSK
      3beta phosphorylation, induced ER stress signalling target PERK and stress kinase
      JNK 54 kDa isoform. These effects were virtually abolished by concomitant
      exposure of palmitate-treated myotubes to oleate. However, an exposure to
      palmitate, oleate or their combination reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.
      This was associated with increased mitochondrial ROS production in palmitate
      treated myotubes co-incubated with oleate, and was alleviated by antioxidants
      MitoTempo and Tempol. Thus, metabolic and intracellular signalling events diverge
      in myotubes treated with palmitate and oleate. Exposure of human myotubes to
      excess fatty acids increases ROS production and induces insulin resistance.

PMID- 28584169
TI  - The Effects of Physical Activity and Body Fat Mass on Colorectal Polyp Recurrence
      in Patients with Previous Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - We aimed to identify the effects of physical activity and body composition on
      colorectal polyp recurrence in patients with previous colorectal cancer. A total
      of 300 patients were selected randomly from the colorectal cancer survivor cohort
      of Severance Hospital (Seoul, Korea). Patients reported various recreational
      physical activities and received surveillance colonoscopy. Body composition was
      measured with a body composition analyzer. We compared patients who exercised for
      at least 1 hour/week (active) with those who exercised less frequently or not at
      all (sedentary). The active exercise group (n = 203) had a lower recurrence of
      advanced adenoma than the sedentary group (n = 97; 6.4% vs. 14.4%, P = 0.023).
      The prevalence of advanced adenoma recurrence decreased in an exercise dose
      dependent manner (Ptrend = 0.019). In multivariate logistic analysis, the
      independent factors associated with advanced polyp recurrence were body fat mass
      [OR, 7.601; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.583-36.485; P = 0.011] and active
      exercise (OR, 0.340; 95% CI, 0.143-0.809; P = 0.015). In Cox proportional hazards
      models, body fat mass (HR, 5.315; 95% CI, 1.173-24.083; P = 0.030) and active
      exercise (HR, 0.367; 95% CI, 0.162-0.833; P = 0.017) were the independent factors
      associated with cumulative advanced adenoma recurrence. In conclusion, exercising
      for at least 1 hour/week and low body fat mass were found to be related to lower
      rates of colorectal polyp recurrence in the surveillance of colorectal cancer
      survivors. Cancer Prev Res; 10(8); 478-84. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584170
TI  - One Health for a changing world: new perspectives from Africa.
AB  - The concept of One Health, which aims to drive improvements in human, animal and
      ecological health through an holistic approach, has been gaining increasing
      support and attention in recent years. While this concept has much appeal, there
      are few examples where it has been successfully put into practice. This Special
      Issue explores the challenges in African contexts, with papers looking at the
      complex interactions between ecosystems, diseases and poverty dynamics; at
      underlying social and political dimensions; at the potentials for integrative
      modelling; and at the changes in policy and practice required to realise a One
      Health approach. This introductory paper offers an overview of the 11 papers,
      coming from diverse disciplinary perspectives, that each explore how a One Health
      approach can work in a world of social, economic and environmental change.

PMID- 28584171
TI  - Local disease-ecosystem-livelihood dynamics: reflections from comparative case
      studies in Africa.
AB  - This article explores the implications for human health of local interactions
      between disease, ecosystems and livelihoods. Five interdisciplinary case studies
      addressed zoonotic diseases in African settings: Rift Valley fever (RVF) in
      Kenya, human African trypanosomiasis in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Lassa fever in
      Sierra Leone and henipaviruses in Ghana. Each explored how ecological changes and
      human-ecosystem interactions affect pathogen dynamics and hence the likelihood of
      zoonotic spillover and transmission, and how socially differentiated peoples'
      interactions with ecosystems and animals affect their exposure to disease. Cross
      case analysis highlights how these dynamics vary by ecosystem type, across a
      range from humid forest to semi-arid savannah; the significance of interacting
      temporal and spatial scales; and the importance of mosaic and patch dynamics.
      Ecosystem interactions and services central to different people's livelihoods and
      well-being include pastoralism and agro-pastoralism, commercial and subsistence
      crop farming, hunting, collecting food, fuelwood and medicines, and cultural
      practices. There are synergies, but also tensions and trade-offs, between
      ecosystem changes that benefit livelihoods and affect disease. Understanding
      these can inform 'One Health' approaches towards managing ecosystems in ways that
      reduce disease risks and burdens.This article is part of the themed issue 'One
      Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'.

PMID- 28584172
TI  - Integrative modelling for One Health: pattern, process and participation.
AB  - This paper argues for an integrative modelling approach for understanding
      zoonoses disease dynamics, combining process, pattern and participatory models.
      Each type of modelling provides important insights, but all are limited.
      Combining these in a '3P' approach offers the opportunity for a productive
      conversation between modelling efforts, contributing to a 'One Health' agenda.
      The aim is not to come up with a composite model, but seek synergies between
      perspectives, encouraging cross-disciplinary interactions. We illustrate our
      argument with cases from Africa, and in particular from our work on Ebola virus
      and Lassa fever virus. Combining process-based compartmental models with
      macroecological data offers a spatial perspective on potential disease impacts.
      However, without insights from the ground, the 'black box' of transmission
      dynamics, so crucial to model assumptions, may not be fully understood. We show
      how participatory modelling and ethnographic research of Ebola and Lassa fever
      can reveal social roles, unsafe practices, mobility and movement and temporal
      changes in livelihoods. Together with longer-term dynamics of change in societies
      and ecologies, all can be important in explaining disease transmission, and
      provide important complementary insights to other modelling efforts. An
      integrative modelling approach therefore can offer help to improve disease
      control efforts and public health responses.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well
      being'.

PMID- 28584173
TI  - Spatial, seasonal and climatic predictive models of Rift Valley fever disease
      across Africa.
AB  - Understanding the emergence and subsequent spread of human infectious diseases is
      a critical global challenge, especially for high-impact zoonotic and vector-borne
      diseases. Global climate and land-use change are likely to alter host and vector
      distributions, but understanding the impact of these changes on the burden of
      infectious diseases is difficult. Here, we use a Bayesian spatial model to
      investigate environmental drivers of one of the most important diseases in
      Africa, Rift Valley fever (RVF). The model uses a hierarchical approach to
      determine how environmental drivers vary both spatially and seasonally, and
      incorporates the effects of key climatic oscillations, to produce a continental
      risk map of RVF in livestock (as a proxy for human RVF risk). We find RVF risk
      has a distinct seasonal spatial pattern influenced by climatic variation, with
      the majority of cases occurring in South Africa and Kenya in the first half of an
      El Nino year. Irrigation, rainfall and human population density were the main
      drivers of RVF cases, independent of seasonal, climatic or spatial variation. By
      accounting more subtly for the patterns in RVF data, we better determine the
      importance of underlying environmental drivers, and also make space- and time
      sensitive predictions to better direct future surveillance resources.This article
      is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses,
      ecosystems and human well-being'.

PMID- 28584174
TI  - Poor livestock keepers: ecosystem-poverty-health interactions.
AB  - Humans have never been healthier, wealthier or more numerous. Yet, present
      success may be at the cost of future prosperity and in some places, especially in
      sub-Saharan Africa, poverty persists. Livestock keepers, especially pastoralists,
      are over-represented among the poor. Poverty has been mainly attributed to a lack
      of access, whether to goods, education or enabling institutions. More recent
      insights suggest ecosystems may influence poverty and the self-reinforcing
      mechanisms that constitute poverty traps in more subtle ways. The plausibility of
      zoonoses as poverty traps is strengthened by landmark studies on disease burden
      in recent years. While in theory, endemic zoonoses are best controlled in the
      animal host, in practice, communities are often left to manage disease
      themselves, with the focus on treatment rather than prevention. We illustrate
      this with results from a survey on health costs in a pastoral ecosystem. Epidemic
      zoonoses are more likely to elicit official responses, but these can have
      unintended consequences that deepen poverty traps. In this context, a systems
      understanding of disease control can lead to more effective and pro-poor disease
      management. We illustrate this with an example of how a system dynamics model can
      help optimize responses to Rift Valley fever outbreaks in Kenya by giving
      decision makers real-time access to the costs of the delay in vaccinating. In
      conclusion, a broader, more ecological understanding of poverty and of the
      appropriate responses to the diseases of poverty can contribute to improved
      livelihoods for livestock keepers in Africa.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well
      being'.

PMID- 28584175
TI  - One Health, emerging infectious diseases and wildlife: two decades of progress?
AB  - Infectious diseases affect people, domestic animals and wildlife alike, with many
      pathogens being able to infect multiple species. Fifty years ago, following the
      wide-scale manufacture and use of antibiotics and vaccines, it seemed that the
      battle against infections was being won for the human population. Since then,
      however, and in addition to increasing antimicrobial resistance among bacterial
      pathogens, there has been an increase in the emergence of, mostly viral, zoonotic
      diseases from wildlife, sometimes causing fatal outbreaks of epidemic
      proportions. Concurrently, infectious disease has been identified as an
      increasing threat to wildlife conservation. A synthesis published in 2000 showed
      common anthropogenic drivers of disease threats to biodiversity and human health,
      including encroachment and destruction of wildlife habitat and the human-assisted
      spread of pathogens. Almost two decades later, the situation has not changed and,
      despite improved knowledge of the underlying causes, little has been done at the
      policy level to address these threats. For the sake of public health and
      wellbeing, human-kind needs to work better to conserve nature and preserve the
      ecosystem services, including disease regulation, that biodiversity provides
      while also understanding and mitigating activities which lead to disease
      emergence. We consider that holistic, One Health approaches to the management and
      mitigation of the risks of emerging infectious diseases have the greatest chance
      of success.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing
      world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'.

PMID- 28584177
TI  - Structural drivers of vulnerability to zoonotic disease in Africa.
AB  - This paper argues that addressing the underlying structural drivers of disease
      vulnerability is essential for a 'One Health' approach to tackling zoonotic
      diseases in Africa. Through three case studies-trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe, Ebola
      and Lassa fever in Sierra Leone and Rift Valley fever in Kenya-we show how
      political interests, commercial investments and conflict and securitization all
      generate patterns of vulnerability, reshaping the political ecology of disease
      landscapes, influencing traditional coping mechanisms and affecting health
      service provision and outbreak responses. A historical, political economy
      approach reveals patterns of 'structural violence' that reinforce inequalities
      and marginalization of certain groups, increasing disease risks. Addressing the
      politics of One Health requires analysing trade-offs and conflicts between
      interests and visions of the future. For all zoonotic diseases economic and
      political dimensions are ultimately critical and One Health approaches must
      engage with these factors, and not just end with an 'anti-political' focus on
      institutional and disciplinary collaboration.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well
      being'.

PMID- 28584176
TI  - One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to
      health in low- and middle-income countries.
AB  - Emerging zoonoses with pandemic potential are a stated priority for the global
      health security agenda, but endemic zoonoses also have a major societal impact in
      low-resource settings. Although many endemic zoonoses can be treated, timely
      diagnosis and appropriate clinical management of human cases is often
      challenging. Preventive 'One Health' interventions, e.g. interventions in animal
      populations that generate human health benefits, may provide a useful approach to
      overcoming some of these challenges. Effective strategies, such as animal
      vaccination, already exist for the prevention, control and elimination of many
      endemic zoonoses, including rabies, and several livestock zoonoses (e.g.
      brucellosis, leptospirosis, Q fever) that are important causes of human febrile
      illness and livestock productivity losses in low- and middle-income countries. We
      make the case that, for these diseases, One Health interventions have the
      potential to be more effective and generate more equitable benefits for human
      health and livelihoods, particularly in rural areas, than approaches that rely
      exclusively on treatment of human cases. We hypothesize that applying One Health
      interventions to tackle these health challenges will help to build trust,
      community engagement and cross-sectoral collaboration, which will in turn
      strengthen the capacity of fragile health systems to respond to the threat of
      emerging zoonoses and other future health challenges. One Health interventions
      thus have the potential to align the ongoing needs of disadvantaged communities
      with the concerns of the broader global community, providing a pragmatic and
      equitable approach to meeting the global goals for sustainable development and
      supporting the global health security agenda.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well
      being'.

PMID- 28584178
TI  - Views from many worlds: unsettling categories in interdisciplinary research on
      endemic zoonotic diseases.
AB  - Interdisciplinary research on zoonotic disease has tended to focus on 'risk' of
      disease transmission as a conceptual common denominator. With reference to
      endemic zoonoses at the livestock-human interface, we argue for considering a
      broader sweep of disciplinary insights from anthropology and other social
      sciences in interdisciplinary dialogue, in particular cross-cultural perspectives
      on human-animal engagement. We consider diverse worldviews where human-animal
      encounters are perceived of in terms of the kinds of social relations they
      generate, and the notion of culture is extended to the 'natural' world. This has
      implications for how animals are valued, treated and prioritized. Thinking
      differently with and about animals and about species' boundaries could enable
      ways of addressing zoonotic diseases which have closer integration with people's
      own cultural norms. If we can bring this kind of knowledge into One Health
      debates, we find ourselves with a multiplicity of worldviews, where bounded
      categories such as human:animal and nature:culture cannot be assumed. This might
      in turn influence our scientific ways of seeing our own disciplinary cultures,
      and generate novel ways of understanding zoonoses and constructing solutions.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses,
      ecosystems and human well-being'.

PMID- 28584179
TI  - Zoonoses, One Health and complexity: wicked problems and constructive conflict.
AB  - Infectious zoonoses emerge from complex interactions among social and ecological
      systems. Understanding this complexity requires the accommodation of multiple,
      often conflicting, perspectives and narratives, rooted in different value systems
      and temporal-spatial scales. Therefore, to be adaptive, successful and
      sustainable, One Health approaches necessarily entail conflicts among observers,
      practitioners and scholars. Nevertheless, these integrative approaches have, both
      implicitly and explicitly, tended to marginalize some perspectives and prioritize
      others, resulting in a kind of technocratic tyranny. An important function of One
      Health approaches should be to facilitate and manage those conflicts, rather than
      to impose solutions.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a
      changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'.

PMID- 28584180
TI  - Engaging research with policy and action: what are the challenges of responding
      to zoonotic disease in Africa?
AB  - Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the
      coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over
      agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural
      ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases
      will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current
      discussion emphasizes the need for a 'One Health' approach: bridging disciplines
      and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has
      increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking
      multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In
      this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to
      the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the
      existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health
      scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We
      highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the
      difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature
      of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number
      of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of
      practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening
      national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re
      framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action
      interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in
      the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the
      democratization of science and public policy.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well
      being'.

PMID- 28584181
TI  - Facility-based surveillance for emerging infectious diseases; diagnostic
      practices in rural West African hospital settings: observations from Ghana.
AB  - The aim of this study was to better understand the effectiveness of Integrated
      Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) facility-based surveillance in detecting
      newly emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in rural West African settings. A six
      month ethnographic study was undertaken in 2012 in the Techiman Municipality of
      the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana, aimed at documenting the trajectories of febrile
      illness cases of unknown origin occurring within four rural communities.
      Particular attention was paid to where these trajectories involved the use of
      formal healthcare facilities and the diagnostic practices that occurred there.
      Seventy-six participants were enrolled in the study, and 24 complete episodes of
      illness were documented. While participants routinely used hospital treatment
      when confronted with enduring or severe illness, the diagnostic process within
      clinical settings meant that an unusual diagnosis, such as an EID, was unlikely
      to be considered. Facility-based surveillance is unlikely to be effective in
      detecting EIDs due to a combination of clinical care practices and the time
      constraints associated with individual episodes of illness, particularly in the
      resource-limited settings of rural West Africa, where febrile illness due to
      malaria is common and specific diagnostic assays are largely unavailable. The
      success of the 'One Health' approach to EIDs in West Africa is predicated on
      characterization of accurately diagnosed disease burdens. To this end, we must
      address inefficiencies in the dominant approaches to EID surveillance and the
      weaknesses of health systems in the region generally.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human
      well-being'.

PMID- 28584182
TI  - FOXM1 in Cancer: Interactions and Vulnerabilities.
AB  - FOXM1 is a transcription factor of the Forkhead family that is required for cell
      proliferation of normal cells. However, FOXM1 is repeatedly overexpressed in a
      variety of human cancers, and it has been implicated in all major hallmarks of
      cancer delineated by Hanahan and Weinberg. It has been postulated that the
      oncogenic potential of FOXM1 is determined by its capacity to transactivate
      target genes that are implicated in different phases of cancer development.
      However, FOXM1 may also play an oncogenic role by interacting with other
      proteins, such as beta-catenin or SMAD3 to induce oncogenic WNT and TGFbeta
      signaling pathways, respectively. In this review, I will discuss the protein
      protein interactions of FOXM1 that are critical for cancer development and may
      represent novel targets for anticancer drugs. Cancer Res; 77(12); 3135-9. (c)2017
      AACR.

PMID- 28584183
TI  - Nature and Nurture: What Determines Tumor Metabolic Phenotypes?
AB  - Understanding the genetic basis of cancer has led to therapies that target driver
      mutations and has helped match patients with more personalized drugs. Oncogenic
      mutations influence tumor metabolism, but other tumor characteristics can also
      contribute to their metabolic phenotypes. Comparison of isogenic lung and
      pancreas tumor models suggests that use of some metabolic pathways is defined by
      lineage rather than by driver mutation. Lung tumors catabolize circulating
      branched chain amino acids (BCAA) to extract nitrogen for nonessential amino acid
      and nucleotide synthesis, whereas pancreatic cancer obtains amino acids from
      catabolism of extracellular protein. These differences in amino acid metabolism
      translate into distinct pathway dependencies, as genetic disruption of the
      enzymes responsible for utilization of BCAA nitrogen limits the growth of lung
      tumors, but not pancreatic tumors. These data argue that some cancer metabolic
      phenotypes are defined by cancer tissue-of-origin and environment and that these
      features constrain the influence of genetic mutations on metabolism. A better
      understanding of the factors defining tumor nutrient utilization could be
      exploited to help improve cancer therapy. Cancer Res; 77(12); 3131-4. (c)2017
      AACR.

PMID- 28584184
TI  - Human Subjects Protection and Cancer Surveillance Research: Revised Regulations,
      Expanded Opportunities.
AB  - On January 19, 2017, the United States federal government issued revisions to the
      Common Rule under which scientists who receive federal funding conduct research
      involving human subjects. The revised Common Rule expressly addresses public
      health surveillance in relation to scientific research and the protection of
      human subjects, and its impacts are anticipated to contribute to the efficiency
      of activities, including cancer registration and surveillance, and research that
      uses cancer registry data. Cancer Res; 77(12); 3140-3. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28584185
TI  - TLR-3/9 Agonists Synergize with Anti-ErbB2 mAb-Letter.

PMID- 28584186
TI  - Comparative effectiveness of allopurinol versus febuxostat for preventing
      incident renal disease in older adults: an analysis of Medicare claims data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the comparative effectiveness of allopurinol versus
      febuxostat for preventing incident renal disease in elderly. METHODS: In a
      retrospective cohort study using 2006-2012 Medicare claims data, we included
      patients newly treated with allopurinol or febuxostat (baseline period of 183
      days without either medication). We used 5:1 propensity-matched Cox regression
      analyses to compare the HR of incident renal disease with allopurinol use (and
      dose) versus febuxostat (reference). Sensitivity analyses included multivariable
      adjusted regression models. RESULTS: There were 31 465 new allopurinol or
      febuxostat treatment episodes in 26 443 patients; 8570 ended in incident renal
      disease. Crude rates of incident renal disease per 1000 person-years were 192
      with allopurinol versus 338 with febuxostat. Crude rates of incident renal
      disease per 1000 person-years were lower with higher daily dose: allopurinol
      <200, 200-299 and >=300 mg/day with 238, 176 and 155; and febuxostat 40 and 80
      mg/day with 341 and 326, respectively. In propensity-matched analyses, compared
      with febuxostat, allopurinol use was associated with lower HR of incident renal
      disease, 0.61 (95% CI 0.49 to 0.77). Compared with febuxostat 40 mg/day,
      allopurinol doses <200, 200-299 and >=300 mg/day were associated with lower HR of
      incident renal disease, 0.75 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.86), 0.61 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.73)
      and 0.48 (95% CI 0.41 to 0.55), respectively. Sensitivity analyses using
      multivariable-adjusted regression confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS:
      Allopurinol was associated with a lower risk of incident renal disease in elderly
      patients than febuxostat. Future studies need to examine the mechanism of this
      potential renal benefit of allopurinol.

PMID- 28584188
TI  - How are enthesitis, dactylitis and nail involvement measured and reported in
      recent clinical trials of psoriatic arthritis? A systematic literature review.

PMID- 28584187
TI  - Efficacy and safety of the biosimilar ABP 501 compared with adalimumab in
      patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis: a randomised, double
      blind, phase III equivalence study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: ABP 501 is a Food and Drug Administration-approved biosimilar to
      adalimumab; structural, functional and pharmacokinetic evaluations have shown
      that the two are highly similar. We report results from a phase III study
      comparing efficacy, safety and immunogenicity between ABP 501 and adalimumab.
      METHODS: In this randomised, double-blind, active comparator-controlled, 26-week
      equivalence study, patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis
      (RA) despite methotrexate were randomised (1:1) to ABP 501 or adalimumab (40 mg)
      every 2 weeks. Primary endpoint was risk ratio (RR) of ACR20 between groups at
      week 24. Primary hypothesis that the treatments were equivalent would be
      confirmed if the 90% CI for RR of ACR20 at week 24 fell between 0.738 and 1.355,
      demonstrating that ABP 501 is similar to adalimumab. Secondary endpoints included
      Disease Activity Score 28-joint count-C reactive protein (DAS28-CRP). Safety was
      assessed via adverse events (AEs) and laboratory evaluations. Antidrug antibodies
      were assessed to determine immunogenicity. RESULTS: A total of 526 patients were
      randomised (n=264, ABP 501; n=262 adalimumab) and 494 completed the study. ACR20
      response at week 24 was 74.6% (ABP 501) and 72.4% (adalimumab). At week 24, the
      RR of ACR20 (90% CI) between groups was 1.039 (0.954, 1.133), confirming the
      primary hypothesis. Changes from baseline in DAS28-CRP, ACR50 and ACR70 were
      similar. There were no clinically meaningful differences in AEs and laboratory
      abnormalities. A total of 38.3% (ABP 501) and 38.2% (adalimumab) of patients
      tested positive for binding antidrug antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this
      study demonstrate that ABP 501 is similar to adalimumab in clinical efficacy,
      safety and immunogenicity in patients with moderate to severe RA. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01970475; Results.

PMID- 28584190
TI  - Extracellular polyphosphate signals through Ras and Akt to prime Dictyostelium
      discoideum cells for development.
AB  - Linear chains of five to hundreds of phosphates called polyphosphate are found in
      organisms ranging from bacteria to humans, but their function is poorly
      understood. In Dictyostelium discoideum, polyphosphate is used as a secreted
      signal that inhibits cytokinesis in an autocrine negative feedback loop. To
      elucidate how cells respond to this unusual signal, we undertook a proteomic
      analysis of cells treated with physiological levels of polyphosphate and observed
      that polyphosphate causes cells to decrease levels of actin cytoskeleton
      proteins, possibly explaining how polyphosphate inhibits cytokinesis.
      Polyphosphate also causes proteasome protein levels to decrease, and in both
      Dictyostelium and human leukemia cells, decreases proteasome activity and cell
      proliferation. Polyphosphate also induces Dictyostelium cells to begin
      development by increasing expression of the cell-cell adhesion molecule CsA (also
      known as CsaA) and causing aggregation, and this effect, as well as the
      inhibition of proteasome activity, is mediated by Ras and Akt proteins.
      Surprisingly, Ras and Akt do not affect the ability of polyphosphate to inhibit
      proliferation, suggesting that a branching pathway mediates the effects of
      polyphosphate, with one branch affecting proliferation, and the other branch
      affecting development.

PMID- 28584189
TI  - The efficacy of motivational counselling and SMS reminders on daily sitting time
      in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this report is to investigate the efficacy of an
      individually tailored, theory-based behavioural intervention for reducing daily
      sitting time, pain and fatigue, as well as improving health-related quality of
      life, general self-efficacy, physical function and cardiometabolic biomarkers in
      patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: In this randomised controlled
      trial 150 patients with RA were randomised to an intervention or a no
      intervention control group. The intervention group received three individual
      motivational counselling sessions and short message service or text messages
      aimed at reduction of sedentary behaviour during the 16-week intervention period.
      Primary outcome was change in daily sitting time measured objectively by
      ActivPAL. Secondary outcomes included change in pain, fatigue, physical function,
      general self-efficacy, quality of life, blood pressure, blood lipids, haemoglobin
      A1c, body weight, body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio.
      RESULTS: 75 patients were allocated to each group. Mean reduction in daily
      sitting time was -1.61 hours/day in the intervention versus 0.59 hours/day
      increase in the control group between-group difference -2.20 (95% CI -2.72 to 
      1.69; p<0.0001) hours/day in favour of the intervention group. Most of the
      secondary outcomes were also in favour of the intervention. CONCLUSION: An
      individually tailored, behavioural intervention reduced daily sitting time in
      patients with RA and improved patient-reported outcomes and cholesterol levels.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01969604; Results.

PMID- 28584191
TI  - ARHGAP42 is activated by Src-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation to promote cell
      motility.
AB  - The tyrosine kinase Src acts as a key regulator of cell motility by
      phosphorylating multiple protein substrates that control cytoskeletal and
      adhesion dynamics. In an earlier phosphotyrosine proteomics study, we identified
      a novel Rho-GTPase activating protein, now known as ARHGAP42, as a likely
      biologically relevant Src substrate. ARHGAP42 is a member of a family of RhoGAPs
      distinguished by tandem BAR-PH domains lying N-terminal to the GAP domain. Like
      other family members, ARHGAP42 acts preferentially as a GAP for RhoA. We show
      that Src principally phosphorylates ARHGAP42 on tyrosine 376 (Tyr-376) in the
      short linker between the BAR-PH and GAP domains. The expression of ARHGAP42
      variants in mammalian cells was used to elucidate its regulation. We found that
      the BAR domain is inhibitory toward the GAP activity of ARHGAP42, such that BAR
      domain deletion resulted in decreased active GTP-bound RhoA and increased cell
      motility. With the BAR domain intact, ARHGAP42 GAP activity could be activated by
      phosphorylation of Tyr-376 to promote motile cell behavior. Thus, phosphorylation
      of ARHGAP42 Tyr-376 is revealed as a novel regulatory event by which Src can
      affect actin dynamics through RhoA inhibition.

PMID- 28584192
TI  - Arf6 and Rab22 mediate T cell conjugate formation by regulating clathrin
      independent endosomal membrane trafficking.
AB  - Endosomal trafficking can influence the composition of the plasma membrane and
      the ability of cells to polarize their membranes. Here, we examined whether
      trafficking through clathrin-independent endocytosis (CIE) affects the ability of
      T cells to form a cell-cell conjugate with antigen-presenting cells (APCs). We
      show that CIE occurs in both the Jurkat T cell line and primary human T cells. In
      Jurkat cells, the activities of two guanine nucleotide binding proteins, Arf6 and
      Rab22 (also known as Rab22a), influence CIE and conjugate formation. Expression
      of the constitutively active form of Arf6, Arf6Q67L, inhibits CIE and conjugate
      formation, and results in the accumulation of vacuoles containing lymphocyte
      function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) and CD4, molecules important for T cell
      interaction with the APC. Moreover, expression of the GTP-binding defective
      mutant of Rab22, Rab22S19N, inhibits CIE and conjugate formation, suggesting that
      Rab22 function is required for these activities. Furthermore, Jurkat cells
      expressing Rab22S19N were impaired in spreading onto coverslips coated with T
      cell receptor-activating antibodies. These observations support a role for CIE,
      Arf6 and Rab22 in conjugate formation between T cells and APCs.

PMID- 28584193
TI  - Let-7 contributes to diabetic retinopathy but represses pathological ocular
      angiogenesis.
AB  - The in vivo function of microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) in diabetic retinopathy (DR)
      and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains unclear. Here we report that
      let-7 family members are expressed in retinal and choroidal endothelial cells
      (EC). In ECs, overexpression of let-7 by adenovirus represses EC proliferation,
      migration, and networking in vitro, while inhibition of the let-7 family with a
      locked nucleic acid (LNA)-anti-miR has the opposite effect. Mechanistically,
      silencing of the let-7 target gene HMGA2 mimics the phenotype of let-7
      overexpression in ECs. Let-7 transgenic (let-7-Tg) mice show features of non
      proliferative DR, including tortuous retinal vessels and defective pericyte
      coverage. However, these mice develop significantly less choroidal
      neovascularization (CNV) compared to wildtype controls after laser injury.
      Consistently, silencing of let-7 in the eye increased laser-induced CNV in wild
      type mice. Together, our data establish a causative role of let-7 in non
      proliferative diabetic retinopathy and a repressive function of let-7 in
      pathological angiogenesis, suggesting distinct implications of let-7 in the
      pathogenesis of DR and AMD.

PMID- 28584194
TI  - Efficient and Accurate Translation Initiation Directed by TISU Involves RPS3 and
      RPS10e Binding and Differential Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 1A Regulation.
AB  - Canonical translation initiation involves ribosomal scanning, but short 5'
      untranslated region (5'UTR) mRNAs are translated in a scanning-independent
      manner. The extent and mechanism of scanning-independent translation are not
      fully understood. Here we report that short 5'UTR mRNAs constitute a substantial
      fraction of the translatome. Short 5'UTR mRNAs are enriched with TISU
      (translation initiator of short 5'UTR), a 12-nucleotide element directing
      efficient scanning-independent translation. Comprehensive mutagenesis revealed
      that each AUG codon-flanking nucleotide of TISU contributes to translational
      strength, but only a few are important for accuracy. Using site-specific UV cross
      linking of ribosomal complexes assembled on TISU mRNA, we demonstrate specific
      binding of TISU to ribosomal proteins at the E and A sites. We identified RPS3 as
      the major TISU binding protein in the 48S complex A site. Upon 80S complex
      formation, RPS3 interaction is weakened and switched to RPS10e (formerly called
      RPS10). We further demonstrate that TISU is particularly dependent on eukaryotic
      initiation factor 1A (eIF1A) which interacts with both RPS3 and RPS10e. Our
      findings suggest that the cap-recruited ribosome specifically binds the TISU
      nucleotides at the A and E sites in cooperation with eIF1A to promote scanning
      arrest.

PMID- 28584197
TI  - Extended wavelength anisotropy resolved multidimensional emission spectroscopy
      (ARMES) measurements: better filters, validation standards, and Rayleigh scatter
      removal methods.
AB  - Anisotropy resolved multidimensional emission spectroscopy (ARMES) provides
      valuable insights into multi-fluorophore proteins (Groza et al 2015 Anal. Chim.
      Acta 886 133-42). Fluorescence anisotropy adds to the multidimensional
      fluorescence dataset information about the physical size of the fluorophores
      and/or the rigidity of the surrounding micro-environment. The first ARMES studies
      used standard thin film polarizers (TFP) that had negligible transmission between
      250 and 290 nm, preventing accurate measurement of intrinsic protein fluorescence
      from tyrosine and tryptophan. Replacing TFP with pairs of broadband wire grid
      polarizers enabled standard fluorescence spectrometers to accurately measure
      anisotropies between 250 and 300 nm, which was validated with solutions of
      perylene in the UV and Erythrosin B and Phloxine B in the visible. In all cases,
      anisotropies were accurate to better than +/-1% when compared to literature
      measurements made with Glan Thompson or TFP polarizers. Better dual wire grid
      polarizer UV transmittance and the use of excitation-emission matrix measurements
      for ARMES required complete Rayleigh scatter elimination. This was achieved by
      chemometric modelling rather than classical interpolation, which enabled the
      acquisition of pure anisotropy patterns over wider spectral ranges. In
      combination, these three improvements permit the accurate implementation of ARMES
      for studying intrinsic protein fluorescence.

PMID- 28584196
TI  - Atomically dispersed Pd catalysts in graphyne nanopore: formation and reactivity.
AB  - The formation of single-atom noble metal catalysts on carbon materials remains a
      challenge due to the weak interaction between metals and pristine carbon. By
      means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, it is found that the
      atomically dispersed Pd in graphyne nanopore is much more stable than that of
      relative Pd clusters. The large diffusion barrier of Pd from the most stable
      hollow site to the bridge site confirms the kinetic stability of such structures.
      While CO adsorption causes the pulling of Pd from graphyne nanopore due to the
      low diffusion barrier, based on DFT calculations, which can be further confirmed
      by ab initio molecular dynamic simulations. Finally, CO oxidation on the
      reconstruction of Pd@graphyne exhibits an energy barrier of 0.62 eV in the rate
      limiting step through the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. After the reaction, the
      catalyst can be restored to the original atomically dispersed state again. This
      study shows graphyne is an excellent support for an atomically dispersed or
      single-metal catalyst.

PMID- 28584198
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women in the Mainland of
      China: Current Status and Outlook.

PMID- 28584195
TI  - Cyclin-Dependent Kinase-Dependent Phosphorylation of Sox2 at Serine 39 Regulates
      Neurogenesis.
AB  - Sox2 is known to be important for neuron formation, but the precise mechanism
      through which it activates a neurogenic program and how this differs from its
      well-established function in self-renewal of stem cells remain elusive. In this
      study, we identified a highly conserved cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk)
      phosphorylation site on serine 39 (S39) in Sox2. In neural stem cells (NSCs),
      phosphorylation of S39 enhances the ability of Sox2 to negatively regulate
      neuronal differentiation, while loss of phosphorylation is necessary for
      chromatin retention of a truncated form of Sox2 generated during neurogenesis. We
      further demonstrated that nonphosphorylated cleaved Sox2 specifically induces the
      expression of proneural genes and promotes neurogenic commitment in vivo Our
      present study sheds light on how the level of Cdk kinase activity directly
      regulates Sox2 to tip the balance between self-renewal and differentiation in
      NSCs.

PMID- 28584199
TI  - Prevalence and Factors Associated with Female Sexual Dysfunction in Beijing,
      China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a highly prevalent and often
      underestimated problem. However, large-scale, population-based epidemiological
      surveys of FSD are scarce in China. The present study was conducted to evaluate
      the prevalence and the potential risk factors of FSD across a selection of social
      groups in Beijing, China, based on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI).
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study based on the multiple-stage cluster sampling was
      performed with adult women throughout the Dongcheng and Shunyi districts of
      Beijing. The Chinese version of FSFI was used, as well as questions on
      demographic characteristics, the disease-related context, and social
      relationships. RESULTS: A total of 6000 consecutive women entered this study,
      with an actual response from 5024 women, corresponding to a response rate of
      83.7%. A total of 4697 (78.3%) questionnaires were effective. The prevalence of
      adult FSD in Beijing was 2973 (63.3%) using a score of 26.55 as the boundary
      value, whereas the total mean FSFI score was 23.92 +/- 6.37. However, 1423
      (30.3%) women did not seek help. By multivariate logistic regression analysis,
      the possible potential risk factors included age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.051),
      dissatisfaction with the spouse's sexual ability (OR = 3.520), poor marital
      affection (OR = 2.087), spouse sexual difficulties (OR = 1.720), dissatisfaction
      with married life (OR = 1.476), living in a rural area (OR = 1.292), chronic
      pelvic pain (OR = 1.261), chronic disease (OR = 1.534), previous pelvic surgery
      (OR = 1.605), vaginal delivery (OR = 2.285), lower education (OR = 3.449) and
      postmenopausal (OR = 3.183). CONCLUSIONS: As suggested by the FSFI scores, female
      sexual problems are highly prevalent in Beijing. Dissatisfaction with the
      spouse's sexual ability, poor marital affection, sexual difficulties of the
      spouse, dissatisfaction with the marriage, rural life, CPP, and postmenopausal
      were conceivable risk factors for FSD in Beijing women.

PMID- 28584200
TI  - Efficacy of Different Treatment Regimens for Antiphospholipid Syndrome-related
      Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)-related immune factors are considered
      as an important cause of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). Anticoagulant and
      anti-inflammatory treatments are believed to effectively improve adverse
      pregnancy outcomes by affecting the abnormal autoimmune response of the maternal
      fetal interface. The aim of this study was to observe the clinical
      characteristics and treatment outcomes of anticoagulant regimens and anti
      inflammatory plus anticoagulation regimens for APS-related RSA. METHODS: APS
      related RSA cases from September 2011 to September 2016 at Peking University
      Third Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were assigned to study
      group (anti-inflammation plus anticoagulation) and control group (simple
      anticoagulation). The incidence of repeat abortion, the incidence of placental
      dysfunction, the gestational weeks of pregnancy, and the mean weight of the fetus
      were observed. RESULTS: The pregnancy and neonatal outcome indicators of the
      repeat pregnancy loss rate (11.11% vs. 22.70%), placental dysfunction-related
      diseases (6.35% vs. 15.60%), the mean birth weight of infants born after 24 weeks
      gestation (3152.41 +/- 844.67 g vs. 2765.76 +/- 816.40 g), full-term delivery
      weight (3456.28 +/- 419.79 g vs. 3076.18 +/- 518.79 g), the proportions of low
      birth weight infants (12.70% vs. 21.98%), and small for gestational age (6.35%
      vs. 14.18%) differed significantly between the study and control groups (all P<
      0.05). The incidence of preterm delivery, term delivery, and stillbirth was not
      significantly different between the two groups, and there was no significant
      difference between the study and control groups in gestational age at birth (37.6
      +/- 3.3 weeks vs. 36.9 +/- 3.2 weeks; P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The anti
      inflammatory and anticoagulation regimen is more effective than the simple
      anticoagulation regimen in the treatment of APS recurrent abortion.

PMID- 28584201
TI  - Ovarian Damages Produced by Aerosolized Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Pollution
      in Mice: Possible Protective Medications and Mechanisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ambient aerosol fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with
      male reproductive toxicity in experiments and may have adverse effects in the
      female. However, studies evaluating the protective effects and precise mechanisms
      of aspirin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, or ozone against toxic effects of PM2.5are
      sparse. This study was conducted to investigate the possible protective effects
      and mechanisms of aspirin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, or ozone on fertility in female
      mice treated with PM2.5. METHODS: Eighty-four ICR mice were divided into six
      groups: control group, PM2.5group, PM2.5 + aspirin group, PM2.5 + Vitamin C
      group, PM2.5 + Vitamin E group, and PM2.5 + ozone group. PM2.5was given by
      intratracheal instillation every 2 days for 3 weeks. Aspirin, Vitamin C, and
      Vitamin E were given once a day by oral gavage for 3 weeks, and ozone was
      administered by intraperitoneal injection once a day for 3 weeks. The levels of
      anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNF-alpha), and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured using enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. Western blotting analysis was used to analyze the
      expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 in ovaries. Changes in histological
      structure were examined by light microscope and electron microscopy was used to
      detect ultramicrostructure. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that PM2.5
      decreased AMH levels (P < 0.001); however, aspirin (P < 0.001), Vitamin C (P <
      0.001), Vitamin E (P = 0.001), and ozone (P = 0.002) alleviated the decrease.
      Changes of IL-6, TNF-alpha, 8-OHdG, Bax/Bcl-2, and caspase-3 in PM2.5group were
      increased compared to control group (P < 0.001), while in PM2.5 + aspirin, PM2.5
      + Vitamin C, PM2.5 + Vitamin E, and PM2.5 + ozone groups, they were statistically
      decreased compared to PM2.5group (P < 0.001 or P< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PM2.5cause
      the damage of ovaries, and aspirin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and ozone antagonizes
      the damage. The protective mechanism is probably due to its ability to blunt the
      inflammatory and oxidative stress caused by PM2.5, which subsequently suppressing
      the expression of apoptotic regulatory protein and reducing the incidence of
      ovary apoptosis.

PMID- 28584202
TI  - Feasibility of Atrial AutoCaptureTM to Detect Atrial Evoked Response: Experience
      from 102 Patients Implanted with Dual-chamber Pacemakers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial AutoCaptureTM (ACapTM) was a new technological development
      that confirmed atrial capture by analyzing evoked response (ER) with a new method
      - paced depolarization integral ER detection - and optimized energy output to
      changes in the stimulation threshold. The purpose of this study was to evaluate
      the clinical performance of ACapTM function. METHODS: This was a prospective,
      observational, nonrandomized two-center study. Between November 2008 and August
      2014, 102 patients were enrolled from two different institutions. Data were
      collected by case report forms at enrollment, hospital discharge, and in-office
      follow-ups scheduled at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months postimplantation. RESULTS:
      Ambulatory ACapTM function started to become available for 20.6% of patients at 1
      day, then progressed to 30.4% at 7 days, 38.6% at 1 month, 41.6% at 2 months,
      47.5% at 3 months, 53.5% at 6 months, and 63.4% at 1 year. The cause of the
      unsuccessful attempts to perform ACapTM threshold was ER/polarization <2:1.
      Availability for SD, BND, and HOCM indications had shown better results than AVB
      indication. For SD indication cases, feasibility was significantly better for SD
      with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAF) than SD without pAF (78.4% vs. 35.0% at
      1 year, n = 71, P< 0.001). At each stage of the clinical follow-ups, there had
      been a strict correlation between ACapTM measurements and those conducted
      manually with P 0.001 (n = 299). CONCLUSIONS: It has been concluded that ACapTM
      function was safe and effective to confirm atrial threshold and reduce energy
      output automatically. ACapTM function is unavailable for some patients at early
      stages of the implantation; however, availability has been progressively
      increasing during follow-up.

PMID- 28584203
TI  - Current Use of Oral Anticoagulants and Prognostic Analysis in Patients with
      Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Coronary Stenting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is currently believed that triple oral antithrombotic therapy in
      patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI) should be recommended if there are no contraindications. However, selecting
      triple therapy for AF patients undergoing PCI is still challenging when bleeding
      risk is considered. This study aimed to investigate the current use of oral
      anticoagulants (Vitamin K antagonists [VKA]) and perform prognostic analysis in
      real-world patients with AF undergoing coronary stenting. METHODS: A total of 276
      consecutive coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with or without AF undergoing
      coronary stenting were retrospectively evaluated and analyzed. The univariate and
      multivariate analyses were conducted to explore the current use of VKA and
      prognosis of patients with AF undergoing coronary stenting. The primary end-point
      was composite of all-cause death, nonfatal recurrent myocardial infarction,
      stroke, serious bleeding events, unplanned repeat revascularization, and
      worsening heart failure at 12-month follow-up after coronary stenting. RESULTS:
      AF patients undergoing coronary stenting have more clinical concomitant diseases.
      Only 9.0% AF patients after coronary stenting received triple antithrombotic
      therapy (VKA, aspirin, and clopidogrel) at discharge. AF was independently
      associated with increased risk of the 12-month composite end-points (relative
      risk = 5.732, 95% confidence interval 1.786-18.396, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: In
      real-life AF patients undergoing coronary stenting, guideline-recommended VKA was
      less used. AF patients had adjusted worse prognosis during 12-month follow-up
      after discharge. It is of utmost importance to improve the current status of oral
      anticoagulants use.

PMID- 28584204
TI  - Decision-making Impairments in Primary Angle-closure Glaucoma Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) is a common eye disease and a
      common cause of blindness. Inappropriate medical decisions severely affect the
      prognosis. This study investigated decision-making under risk in PACG patients.
      METHODS: Thirty patients with first acute attack of PACG before surgery and
      thirty healthy controls were included in the study. Decision-making under risk
      was evaluated with the game of dice task (GDT). The results of Eysenck
      Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and GDT between PACG patients and healthy
      controls were compared. RESULTS: Risky decisions in PACG patients were more than
      those in healthy controls as measured by mean score of GDT (12.47 +/- 5.72 vs.
      4.33 +/- 3.30, P< 0.001). Higher neuroticism score in EPQ was found in PACG
      patients compared to healthy controls (14.97 +/- 3.93 vs. 9.90 +/- 4.49, P<
      0.001). Neuroticism scores in EPQ were associated with decision-making
      performance (r = 0.417, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Neuroticism positively
      correlated with risky decisions. Decision-making might be influenced by
      neuroticism. Future studies will show whether therapy compliance will be improved
      by emotional management and psychological intervention in PACG patients.

PMID- 28584205
TI  - Effects of Surgical Ventricular Restoration on Left Ventricular Shape, Size, and
      Function for Left Ventricular Anterior Aneurysm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) has been performed to treat
      left ventricular (LV) aneurysm. However, there is limited analysis of changes in
      LV shape. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in LV shape induced by SVR and
      the effects of SVR on LV size and function for LV aneurysm. METHODS: Between
      April 2006 and March 2015, 18 patients with dyskinetic (dyskinetic group) and 12
      patients with akinetic (akinetic group) postinfarction LV anterior aneurysm
      receiving SVR with the Dor procedure at Chinese People's Liberation Army General
      Hospital were enrolled in this study. A retrospective analysis was carried out
      using data from the echocardiography database. LV shape was analyzed by
      calculating the apical conicity index (ACI). LV end-diastolic volume index, end
      systolic volume index, and ejection fraction (EF) were measured. One-way analysis
      of variance was used to compare means at different time points within each group.
      RESULTS: Within one week after SVR, LV shape became more conical in the two
      groups (ACI decreased from 0.84 +/- 0.13 to 0.69 +/- 0.11 [t = 5.155, P = 0.000]
      in dyskinetic group and from 0.73 +/- 0.07 to 0.60 +/- 0.11 [t = 2.701, P =
      0.026] in akinetic group; LV volumes were decreased significantly and became
      closer to normal values and EF was improved significantly in the two groups). On
      follow-up at least one year, LV shape remained unchanged in dyskinetic group (ACI
      increased from 0.69 +/- 0.11 to 0.74 +/- 0.12, t = -1.109, P = 0.294), but became
      more spherical in akinetic group (ACI significantly increased from 0.60 +/- 0.11
      to 0.75 +/- 0.11, t = -1.880, P = 0.047); LV volumes remained unchanged in
      dyskinetic group, but increased significantly in akinetic group and EF remained
      unchanged in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: SVR could reshape LV to a more conical
      shape and a more normal size and improve LV function significantly early after
      the procedure in patients with dyskinetic or akinetic postinfarction LV anterior
      aneurysm. However, LV tends to be more spherical and enlarged in the akinetic
      group on at least 1-year follow-up.

PMID- 28584206
TI  - Long-term Outcome of Multiple Small-diameter Drilling Decompression Combined with
      Hip Arthroscopy versus Drilling Alone for Early Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral
      Head.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Avascular necrosis of femoral head (AVNFH) typically presents in the
      young adults and progresses quickly without proper treatments. However, the
      optimum treatments for early stage of AVNFH are still controversial. This study
      was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effects of multiple small-diameter
      drilling decompression combined with hip arthroscopy for early AVNFH compared to
      drilling alone. METHODS: This is a nonrandomized retrospective case series study.
      Between April 2006 and November 2010, 60 patients (98 hips) with early stage
      AVNFH participated in this study. The patients underwent multiple small-diameter
      drilling decompression combined with hip arthroscopy in 26 cases/43 hips (Group
      A) or drilling decompression alone in 34 cases/55 hips (Group B). Patients were
      followed up at 6, 12, and 24 weeks, and every 6 months thereafter. Radiographs
      were taken at every follow-up, Harris scores were recorded at the last follow-up,
      the paired t-test was used to compare the postoperative Harris scores. Surgery
      effective rate of the two groups was compared using the Chi-square test. RESULTS:
      All patients were followed up for an average of 57.6 months (range: 17-108
      months). Pain relief and improvement of hip function were assessed in all
      patients at 6 months after the surgery. At the last follow-up, Group A had better
      outcome with mean Harris' scores improved from 68.23 +/- 11.37 to 82.07 +/- 2.92
      (t = -7.21, P = 0.001) than Group B with mean Harris' scores improved from 69.46
      +/- 9.71 to 75.79 +/- 4.13 (t = -9.47, P = 0.037) (significantly different: t = 
      2.54, P = 0.017). The total surgery effective rate was also significantly
      different between Groups A and B (86.0% vs. 74.5%; chi2 = 3.69, P = 0.02).
      CONCLUSION: For early stage of AVNFH, multiple small-diameter drilling
      decompression combined with hip arthroscopy is more effective than drilling
      decompression alone.

PMID- 28584207
TI  - A Cross-sectional Survey of Disability Attributed to Mental Disorders and Service
      Use in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental disorders are strongly associated with disabilities. National
      survey on disability could provide a reliable basis for policymaking in care and
      rehabilitation of disabled persons. This study aimed to describe the disability
      prevalence rates attributed to mental disorders, their distribution by
      sociodemographic factors, and utilizations of service. METHODS: This study is a
      secondary data analysis of the Second National Sample Survey on Disability in
      2006. The disability and severity were assessed using the World Health
      Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Mental disorders were diagnosed
      according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related
      Health Problems 10th Revision Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders.
      Using descriptive and analytic epidemiological methods, prevalence rates of
      disability attributed to mental disorders and service use were calculated.
      RESULTS: Data of 2,526,145 respondents were analyzed. The disability prevalence
      rate attributed to mental disorders in China was 6.30/00, accounting for 9.9% of
      all disabled people. Regarding disability prevalence attributed to mental
      disorders, it showed that gender, residential area, marital status, education
      level, and economic area were related to the prevalence distributions. The
      proportions of mild disability were highest in the disabled people with onset age
      of 18-64 years, while the proportion of extremely severe disability was highest
      in the disabled people with onset age of 65 years and above. Only 58.6% of
      disabled people attributed to mental disorders used some of the services.
      CONCLUSIONS: There are statistical differences of disability prevalence
      attributed to mental disorders by people and region in China. Service use in
      disabled people with mental disorders is insufficient.

PMID- 28584208
TI  - Establishment of a Novel Method for Screening Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor
      Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Resistance Mutations in Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drug resistance to targeted therapies occurs in lung cancer, and
      resistance mechanisms related to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine
      kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are continuously being discovered. We aimed to establish
      a novel method for highly parallel multiplexed detection of genetic mutations
      related to EGFR TKI-resistant lung cancer using Agena iPLEX chemistry and matrix
      assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight analysis on the MassARRAY
      mass spectrometry platform. METHODS: A review of the literature revealed 60
      mutation hotspots in seven target genes (EGFR, KRAS, PIK3CA, BRAF, ERBB2, NRAS,
      and BIM) that are closely related to EGFR TKI resistance to lung cancer. A total
      of 183 primers comprised 61 paired forward and reverse amplification primers, and
      61 matched extension primers were designed using Assay Design Software. The
      detection method was established by analyzing nine cell lines, and by comparison
      with LungCartaTM kit in ten lung cancer specimens. EGFR, KRAS, and BIM genes in
      all cell lines and clinical samples were subjected to Sanger sequencing for
      confirming reproducibility. RESULTS: Our data showed that designed panel was a
      high-throughput and robust tool, allowing genotyping for sixty hotspots in the
      same run. Moreover, it made efficient use of patient diagnostic samples for a
      more accurate EGFR TKIs resistance analysis. The proposed method could accurately
      detect mutations in lung cancer cell lines and clinical specimens, consistent
      with those obtained by the LungCartaTM kit and Sanger sequencing. We also
      established a method for detection of large-fragment deletions based on single
      base extension technology of MassARRAY platform. CONCLUSIONS: We established an
      effective method for high-throughput detection of genetic mutations related to
      EGFR TKI resistance based on the MassARRAY platform, which could provide more
      accurate information for overcoming cancers with de novo or acquired resistance
      to EGFR-targeted therapies.

PMID- 28584209
TI  - Analysis of Closed Claims in the Clinical Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis in
      Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite an increasing awareness of the risk of medical errors, few
      data sources are available to highlight the characteristics and patterns of
      medical errors in the clinical management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The
      present study aimed to evaluate medical malpractice claims associated with the
      management of RA and other autoimmune connective tissue diseases (ACTDs).
      METHODS: We analyzed 38 ACTD-associated closed claims extracted from a total of
      8530 claims processed between July 2004 and June 2014 by the Tokyo headquarters
      office of Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Incorporated, a leading malpractice insurer in
      Japan. RESULTS: RA was the most common ACTD assessed in this study, accounting
      for 20 cases. Although the male-to-female ratio among these cases was 5:15, in
      accordance with the general demographic distribution of RA, the proportion of
      patients older than 60 years (77.8%) was relatively high as the general range of
      RA susceptibility is 30-50 years. The analysis of allegation types among RA cases
      revealed statistically significant differences from non-RA cases (Fisher's exact
      test) as well as the following key findings: diagnosis-related allegations were
      absent (P < 0.01), whereas medication-related allegations were distinctively
      common (P = 0.02). Clinical processes related to the assessment process were most
      vulnerable to breakdown and leading to negligence identified with subsequent
      medication-related allegations, particularly among RA cases. CONCLUSIONS: The
      characteristics of malpractice claims associated with RA management, including
      the high frequency of medication-related allegations, breakdowns in the
      assessment process, and high claim numbers among patients older than 60 years,
      suggest the importance of caution exercised by physicians when administering
      immunosuppressants for the clinical treatment of RA.

PMID- 28584210
TI  - Atopic Dermatitis-like Graft-versus-host Disease and Lichen Planus-like Graft
      versus-host Disease: Alterations in Skin Barrier Function and Related Molecules.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a common complication of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Skin barrier disruption could induce
      thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) expression, and the expression of TSLP was
      increased in lesions of atopic dermatitis (AD)-like GVHD and lichen planus (LP)
      like GVHD. This study attempted to investigate the skin barrier function of AD
      like GVHD and LP-like GVHD and possible mechanisms. METHODS: Eighteen AD-like
      GVHD patients, 12 LP-like GVHD patients, and 14 healthy volunteers were enrolled
      in this study. Skin biopsy was done in five AD-like GVHD patients, eight LP-like
      GVHD patients, and eight healthy volunteers. The intensity of pruritus was
      assessed by visual analog scale itch score and detailed pruritus score.
      Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was measured using Tewameter(r) TM 300.
      Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression of loricrin, involucrin,
      LL37, and human beta-defensins 2 (hBD2) in skin lesions. Western blot analysis
      was used for analyzing the protein levels of loricrin and involucrin in skin
      lesions. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to assess the mRNA
      levels of LL37 and hBD2 in skin lesions. RESULTS: Pruritus score was higher in
      patients with AD-like GVHD (11.33 +/- 5.35) than that of patients with LP-like
      GVHD (2.58 +/- 3.09, P< 0.001). Compared with healthy controls (HCs, 4.52 +/-
      1.24 g.m-2.h-1), TEWL was increased in AD-like GVHD (26.72 +/- 9.02 g.m-2.h-1, P
      < 0.001) and LP-like GVHD patients (18.78 +/- 4.57 g.m-2.h-1, P< 0.001), and
      expressions of loricrin and involucrin were also increased in skin lesions of AD
      like GVHD and LP-like GVHD patients (all P< 0.05). LL37 mRNA expression was
      decreased in lesions of AD-like GVHD and LP-like GVHD patients (P = 0.005 and P =
      0.008, vs. HCs, respectively). hBD2 mRNA expression was increased in skin lesions
      of AD-like GVHD and LP-like GVHD patients (P = 0.002 and P< 0.001, vs. HCs,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Skin barrier dysfunction is present in AD-like GVHD
      and LP-like GVHD. The immunoreactions, but not the congenital defect, are
      considered to be the primary cause of skin barrier impairment in AD-like GVHD and
      LP-like GVHD.

PMID- 28584211
TI  - Echocardiographic Evaluation of Coronary Abnormalities and Cardiac Function in a
      Murine Model of Kawasaki Disease Using High-frequency Ultrasound.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Murine model of coronary arterial inflammation has been widely
      accepted as an animal model of and used in Kawasaki disease (KD). This study
      sought to evaluate the developmental changes of coronary arteries and cardiac
      function in a murine model of KD with a high-frequency ultrasound system and to
      provide evidence for the preparation of the model of KD. METHODS: Lactobacillus
      casei cell wall extract was prepared and injected into C57BL/6 mice
      intraperitoneally (i.p.) to induce KD. A total of 120 mice were grouped into
      three groups. The intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment group was i.p.
      injected with IVIG (2 g/kg), while the KD model and normal control groups were
      i.p. injected with 0.5 ml of phosphate buffered solution on day 5. All high
      resolution echocardiography detection of mouse heart was performed by the same
      senior technician. Animal echocardiography was performed by measuring the
      coronary artery dimensions and cardiac function on days 0, 7, 14, 28, and 56
      (high-resolution small animal ultrasound [Vevo770 pattern; VisualSonic, Canada]
      with broadband probe [RMVTM707B; frequency, 30 mHz; depth of focus, 1.2 cm])
      which were measured and analyzed with Vevo770 software. RESULTS: Pathological
      studies revealed focal inflammatory infiltrate asymmetrically distributed around
      the coronary artery trunk in the KD model group. Echocardiographic study
      including coronary dimension and cardiac function measurements was successfully
      performed in all subjects. The KD model and IVIG treatment groups showed left
      coronary artery dilation on days 7, 14, 28, and 56. The diameter of left coronary
      artery in the KD model group (0.53 +/- 0.09 mm; 0.36 +/- 0.07 mm; 0.34 +/- 0.05
      mm; 0.34 +/- 0.04 mm) was significantly larger than those of IVIG treatment group
      (0.22 +/- 0.02 mm; 0.28 +/- 0.03 mm; 0.26 +/- 0.03 mm; 0.27 +/- 0.05 mm; 0.26 +/-
      0.03 mm; all P < 0.01) and the normal control group (0.21 +/- 0.02 mm; 0.22 +/-
      0.03 mm; 0.22 +/- 0.02 mm; 0.23 +/- 0.02 mm; 0.27 +/- 0.04 mm; all P< 0.01) on
      days 7, 14, 28, and 56. No significant differences were observed in the
      measurements of cardiac function among the groups on days 0, 7, 14, 28, and 56
      (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Echocardiography could identify the consecutive
      changes of coronary artery in KD mice. Echocardiography is more convenient and
      direct in evaluating the coronary abnormalities in this animal model.

PMID- 28584212
TI  - Variations of Postresuscitation Lung Function after Thrombolysis Therapy in a
      Cardiac Arrest Porcine Model Caused by Pulmonary Thromboembolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Study of lung function in survivor from cardiac arrest (CA) caused by
      pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) was rare. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the variations of postresuscitation lung function after thrombolysis
      treatment in a CA porcine model caused by PTE. METHODS: After 2 min of untreated
      CA, pigs of 10-12 weeks with a weight of 30 +/- 2 kg (n = 24) were treated with
      recombinant human tissue plasminogen activator (50 mg). Cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation (CPR) and ventilation were initiated after drug administration.
      Pulmonary function and arterial blood gas parameters were measured at baseline,
      return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) immediately, and 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, and 6 h
      after ROSC. RESULTS: The dynamic lung compliance decreased significantly at ROSC
      immediately and 1 h after ROSC compared to baseline (21.86 +/- 2.00 vs. 26.72 +/-
      2.20 ml/mmHg and 20.38 +/- 1.31 vs. 26.72 +/- 2.20 ml/mmHg, respectively; P <
      0.05; 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa). Compared with baseline, airway resistance increased
      significantly at ROSC immediately and 1 h after ROSC (P < 0.05). Respiratory
      index also increased after ROSC and showed significant differences among
      baseline, ROSC immediately, and 2 h after ROSC (P < 0.05). Oxygen delivery
      decreased at ROSC immediately compared to baseline (P < 0.05). The oxygenation
      index decreased significantly at any time after ROSC compared to baseline (P <
      0.05). Extravascular lung water index and pulmonary vascular permeability index
      (PVPI) showed significant differences at ROSC immediately compared to baseline
      and 1 h after ROSC (P < 0.05); PVPI at ROSC immediately was also different from 6
      h after ROSC (P < 0.05). Ventilation/perfusion ratios increased after ROSC (P <
      0.05). Histopathology showed fibrin effusion, bleeding in alveoli, and
      hemagglutination in pulmonary artery. CONCLUSIONS: Lung function remains abnormal
      even after CPR with thrombolysis therapy; it is essential to continue
      anticoagulation and symptomatic treatment after ROSC.

PMID- 28584213
TI  - E-26 Transformation-specific Related Gene Expression and Outcomes in
      Cytogenetically Normal Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The E-26 transformation-specific related gene (ERG) is frequently
      expressed in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). Herein, we
      performed a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between the prognostic
      significance of ERG expression and CN-AML. METHODS: A systematic review of PubMed
      database and other search engines were used to identify the studies between
      January 2005 and November 2016. A total of 667 CN-AML patients were collected
      from seven published studies. Of the 667 patients underwent intensive
      chemotherapy, 429 had low expression of ERG and 238 had high expression of ERG.
      Summary odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the ERG
      expression and CN-AML were calculated using fixed- or random-effects models.
      Heterogeneity was assessed using Chi-squared-based Q- statistic test and I2
      statistics. All statistical analyses were performed using R.3.3.1 software
      packages (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) and RevMan5.3
      (Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark). RESULTS: Overall, patients with
      high ERG expression had a worse relapse (OR = 2.5127, 95% CI: 1.5177-4.1601, P =
      0.0003) and lower complete remission (OR = 0. 3495, 95% CI: 0.2418-0.5051, P<
      0.0001). With regard to the known molecular markers, both internal tandem
      duplications of the fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 gene (OR = 3.8634, 95% CI:
      1.8285-8.1626, P = 0.004) and brain and acute leukemia, cytoplasmic (OR = 3.1538,
      95% CI: 2.0537-4.8432, P< 0.0001) were associated with the ERG expression. In
      addition, the results showed a statistical significance between French-American
      British (FAB) classification subtype (minimally differentiated AML and AML
      without maturation, OR = 4.7902, 95% CI: 2.7772-8.2624, P< 0.0001; acute
      monocytic leukemia, OR = 0.2324, 95% CI: 0.0899-0.6006, P = 0.0026) and ERG
      expression. CONCLUSION: High ERG expression might be used as a strong adverse
      prognostic factor in CN-AML.

PMID- 28584215
TI  - Active Monitoring of Adverse Drug Reactions with Neural Network Technology.

PMID- 28584214
TI  - Study on Language Rehabilitation for Aphasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim is to update our clinical recommendations for evidence-based
      language rehabilitation of people with aphasia, based on a systematic review of
      the literature from 1999 to 2015. DATA SOURCES: Articles referred to in this
      systematic review of the Medline and PubMed published in English language
      literatures were from 1998 to 2015. The terms used in the literature searches
      were aphasia and evidenced-based. STUDY SELECTION: The task force initially
      identified citations for 51 published articles. Of the 51 articles, 44 studies
      were selected after further detailed review. Six articles, which were not written
      in English, and one study related to laryngectomy rehabilitation interventions,
      were excluded from the study. This study referred to all the important and
      English literature in full. RESULTS: Aphasia is the linguistic disability, which
      usually results from injuries to the dominant hemisphere of the brain. The
      rehabilitation of aphasia is until in the process of being debated and
      researched. Evidence-based medicine (EBM), EBM based on the clinical evidence,
      promotes the practice of combining the clinicians' first-hand experience and the
      existing objective and scientific evidence encouraging making decisions based on
      both empirical evidence and the scientific evidence. Currently, EBM is being
      gradually implemented in the clinical practice as the aim of the development of
      modern medicine. CONCLUSIONS: At present, the research for the aphasia
      rehabilitation mainly focuses on the cognitive language rehabilitation and the
      intensive treatment and the precise treatment, etc. There is now sufficient
      information to support evidence-based protocols and implement empirically
      supported treatments for linguistic disability after traumatic brain injury and
      stroke, which can be used to develop linguistic rehabilitation guidelines for
      patients with aphasia.

PMID- 28584216
TI  - The Pillars of Publication Ethics and Research Integrity: Spread the Word.

PMID- 28584217
TI  - Occult Renal Cell Carcinoma of Eosinophilic Morphology Detected within Renal
      Angiomyolipoma Mass in a Patient with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex.

PMID- 28584218
TI  - Renal Artery Pseudoaneurysm Rupturing into the Small Intestine Causing
      Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

PMID- 28584219
TI  - Abnormal Origin of the Right Subclavian Artery: A Case Report.

PMID- 28584220
TI  - Ribs Formed by Prolene Mesh, Bone Cement, and Muscle Flaps Successfully Repair
      Chest Abdominal Wall Defects after Tumor Resection: A Long-term Study.

PMID- 28584221
TI  - Establishment and Application of China Pituitary Disease Register Network.

PMID- 28584222
TI  - Paederus dermatitis.
AB  - Paederus dermatitis is an irritant dermatitis caused by pederin, a toxin produced
      by the rove beetle (Paederus). The disease occurs worldwide, but it is often not
      recognized as a history of contact with the insect is frequently absent. It is
      commonly seen in the rainy season. Crushing the insect releases pederin,
      resulting in the characteristic linear lesions with a burning sensation that heal
      with hyperpigmentation. Treatment comprises immediate washing of the area to
      eliminate the toxin and topical application of a topical steroid-antibiotic
      combination. Preventive measures may include reducing the insect population in
      the surroundings, avoiding contact of insects with the skin, minimizing the
      lesions after contact. Awareness of the etiology and clinical manifestations
      makes it easier to suspect this condition even in the absence of a history of
      exposure to the insect. We present a comprehensive review of the
      etiopathogenesis, pathology, clinical features, treatment and prevention of
      Paederus dermatitis and also review the biology of the insect and its behavior.

PMID- 28584224
TI  - Erratum: Ectodermal dysplasia skin fragility syndrome with a new mutation.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.4103/ijdvl.IJDVL_411_16].

PMID- 28584223
TI  - Bullous pemphigoid and antecedent neurological diseases: An association with
      dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bullous pemphigoid is the most common subepidermal immunobullous
      disorder. Studies have reported the association between bullous pemphigoid and
      various neurological diseases. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate
      whether bullous pemphigoid is associated with pre-existent neurological diseases
      and whether specific diseases exhibit this association. METHODS: All dermatology
      inpatients from January 2010 to May 2015 were analyzed. Bullous pemphigoid cases
      were identified based on clinical features and consistent histopathologic and
      direct immunofluorescence findings. Patients with other autoimmune bullous skin
      disorders were excluded. An equal number of inpatients with other skin conditions
      were selected randomly as age- and sex- matched controls. RESULTS: Out of 3015
      inpatients, 103 cases of bullous pemphigoid and 103 age- and sex-matched controls
      were included. Seventy six patients with bullous pemphigoid had a history of at
      least one neurological disease. After adjusting for age, gender, race, functional
      status and neuro-psychiatric medications, patients with bullous pemphigoid were
      found to be approximately thrice as likely to have a history of at least one
      neurological disease than were controls (odds ratio: 2.88; 95% confidence
      interval: 1.32-6.26; P = 0.008). Amongst the pre-existing neurological diseases,
      only dementia was statistically more prevalent in bullous pemphigoid cases
      compared to controls (adjusted odds ratio: 2.61; 95% confidence interval: 1.19
      5.75; P = 0.017). Parkinson disease and psychiatric disorders demonstrated a
      higher adjusted risk among bullous pemphigoid patients but the difference was not
      statistically significant. LIMITATIONS: The limitations were potential referral
      and selection bias, as the patients were inpatients. There is a possible
      misclassification as the diagnosis of neurological diseases was performed using
      medical records. The duration from the diagnosis of neurological diseases to
      bullous pemphigoid could not be accurately determined as it was a retrospective
      review of records and most neurological diseases have a prolonged course.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pre-existent neurological disease, specifically dementia, was found
      to be associated with bullous pemphigoid.

PMID- 28584225
TI  - Synchronous Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumor and Colon Adenocarcinoma: Case
      Reports and Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND Coexistence of carcinoid tumor and colorectal adenocarcinoma is rare.
      In this report, we present two cases and review the current literature for
      synchronous carcinoid tumor and colorectal carcinoma occurrence. CASE REPORT In
      both cases, the rectal carcinoid tumors and sigmoid colon adenocarcinomas were
      detected by colonoscopy. The colon adenocarcinomas were effectively treated with
      a laparoscopic sigmoidectomy and the carcinoids were successfully removed
      endoscopically. Our 40-year-old patient was the youngest among 17 reported
      patient cases. CONCLUSIONS These two cases demonstrate that the diagnosis of
      gastrointestinal carcinoid requires a complete assessment of the remainder of the
      colon for another primary cancer to achieve a timely treatment management
      strategy.

PMID- 28584226
TI  - Comparison of 3 Times a Week 4- and 5-Hour In-Center Hemodialysis Sessions with
      Use of Continuous Non-Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND Very aggressive ultrafiltration rate (lasting 3.5-4 h) may result in
      inadequate hemodialysis (HD). Our aim was to characterize HD-induced
      cardiovascular adaptation and its links to fluid removal during 4- vs. 5-h HD
      sessions. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study involved 50 HD patients. A Cardioscreen
      device (Messtechnik, Ilmenau, Germany) was used to perform non-invasive
      hemodynamic measurements during mid-week HD sessions. Body fluids and nutritional
      status were assessed with a Body Composition Monitor (Fresenius Medical Care).
      Clinical and laboratory data were also analyzed. RESULTS It was shown that when
      comparing 3 times a week 4- vs. 5-h dialysis sessions, body mass index (BMI
      [kg/m2]), Kt/V, and ultrafiltration volume (UFV [mL]) were significantly lower in
      the 4-h dialysis group (23.1+/-3.5 vs. 27.1+/-4.7; 1.36+/-0.28 vs. 1.55+/-0.23;
      1770+/-601 vs. 2831+/-836; P<0.05, respectively). Cardiac index (CI [L/min/m2])
      and thoracic fluid content (TFC [1/kW]) were significantly reduced in 4-h
      dialysis sessions (3.1+/-0.6 to 2.7+/-0.7; 35.1+/-8.4 to 32.8+/-6.8; P<0.05,
      respectively). In patients treated with 5-h dialysis sessions, we found that
      heart rate (HR [bpm]) was significantly increased (69+/-10 to 74+/-15; P<0.05)
      and TFC was reduced (34.3+/-8.9 to 31.5+/-8.2; P<0.05). In patients treated with
      4-h dialysis sessions, systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI [dyn.s.cm^-5/m2])
      increased from 2369+/-799 before HD to 2592+/-735 after HD (P=0.342). CONCLUSIONS
      The obtained data indicate that in extended (5-h) HD sessions, hemodynamic
      compensation occurred with increased HR, while in short (4-h) HD sessions,
      compensation occurred with increased SVRI. Providing longer but less intensive HD
      is more physiologic than the conventional therapy, and will improve patient
      tolerability and clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28584227
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core in Carotid Atherosclerotic
      Plaques by In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore the accuracy of in vivo magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) in the quantitative evaluation of lipid-rich necrotic
      core (LRNC) in carotid atherosclerotic plaques compared with histopathology, and
      to assess the association of LRNC size with cerebral ischemia symptoms. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS Thirty patients were enrolled and 19 patients (16 men and 3 women)
      were analyzed. All the patients were submitted to MRI on a Siemens Avanto (1.5
      Tesla) device before carotid endarterectomy (CEA). The scanning protocol included
      three-dimensional time of flight (3D TOF), T1-weighted image (T1WI), T2-weighted
      image (T2WI), turbo spin-echo T2-weighted (T2-TSE), and contrast-enhanced T1
      weighted image. MRI images were reviewed for quantitative measurements of LRNC
      areas. LRNC specimens were collected for histology. Percentages of LRNC area to
      total vessel area were assessed to determine the association of MRI with
      histological findings. RESULTS There were 151 pairs of matched MRI and
      pathological sections. LRNC area percentages (LRNC area/vessel area) measured by
      MRI and histology were 20.6+/-9.0% and 18.7+/-9.5%, respectively (r=0.69,
      p<0.001). Twelve out of 19 patients had symptoms (S-group; 3 had recent stroke, 3
      had a recent stroke and a history of transient ischemic attack (TIA), and 6 had
      TIA); the remaining 7 subjects showed no symptoms (NS-group). LRNC area
      percentages in the S- and NS-groups were 22.2+/-5.8% and 12.6+/-10.7%,
      respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS MRI can quantitatively measure LRNC in carotid
      atherosclerotic plaques, and may be useful in predicting the rupture risk of
      plaques. These findings provide a basis for imaging use in individualized
      treatment plan.

PMID- 28584228
TI  - Magnetic character of holmium atom adsorbed on platinum surface.
AB  - We address a recent controversy concerning the magnetic state of holmium adatom
      on platinum surface. Within a combination of the density functional theory (DFT)
      with the exact diagonalization (ED) of Anderson impurity model, the <J z > = 0
      paramagnetic ground state |J = 8, J z  = +/-8> is found. In an external magnetic
      field, this state is transformed to a spin-polarized state with <J z > ~ 6.7. We
      emphasize the role of 5d-4f interorbital exchange polarization in modification of
      the 4f shell energy spectrum.

PMID- 28584229
TI  - Circadian-tunable Perovskite Quantum Dot-based Down-Converted Multi-Package White
      LED with a Color Fidelity Index over 90.
AB  - New metrics of the color and circadian performances of down-converted white light
      emitting diodes (DC-WLEDs) are rapidly becoming popular in smart lighting
      systems. This is due to the increased desire for accurate analytical methods to
      measure the effects of newly developed quantum dot (QD)-based lighting on the
      vision, color, and circadian sensors of retina cells in the human eye. In this
      regard, a two-measure system known as technical memorandum TM-30-2015
      (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America), encompassing the color
      fidelity index (CFI, R f ) and the color gamut index (CGI, R g ), has been
      developed as a new metrics of color to replace the currently utilized color
      rendering index (CRI, R a ). In addition, the tunability of the circadian
      efficacy of radiation (CER) is now more important due to its effect on the
      control of melatonin suppression/secretion, resetting of the central/local clocks
      of individuals given their daily cycles, and benefits to human health. In this
      paper, we developed and analyzed six-colored perovskite (Pe; cyan, green,
      yellowish green, amber, orange, and red colors) QDs-based multi-package WLED, and
      optimized the SPDs of tunable PeQD-based multi-package WLEDs in terms of
      promising human-centric lighting device, given its optimized visual energy, color
      qualities and health-promoting effects.

PMID- 28584231
TI  - Identification of 15 novel risk loci for coronary artery disease and genetic risk
      of recurrent events, atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
AB  - Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in
      the world. Identification of novel genetic determinants may provide new
      opportunities for developing innovative strategies to predict, prevent and treat
      CAD. Therefore, we meta-analyzed independent genetic variants passing P <* 10-5
      in CARDIoGRAMplusC4D with novel data made available by UK Biobank. Of the 161
      genetic variants studied, 71 reached genome wide significance (p < 5 * 10-8)
      including 15 novel loci. These novel loci include multiple genes that are
      involved in angiogenesis (TGFB1, ITGB5, CDH13 and RHOA) and 2 independent
      variants in the TGFB1 locus. We also identified SGEF as a candidate gene in one
      of the novel CAD loci. SGEF was previously suggested as a therapeutic target
      based on mouse studies. The genetic risk score of CAD predicted recurrent CAD
      events and cardiovascular mortality. We also identified significant genetic
      correlations between CAD and other cardiovascular conditions, including heart
      failure and atrial fibrillation. In conclusion, we substantially increased the
      number of loci convincingly associated with CAD and provide additional biological
      and clinical insights.

PMID- 28584230
TI  - Photobiomodulation of human dermal fibroblasts in vitro: decisive role of cell
      culture conditions and treatment protocols on experimental outcome.
AB  - Photobiomodulation-based (LLLT) therapies show tantalizing promise for treatment
      of skin diseases. Confidence in this approach is blighted however by lamentable
      inconsistency in published experimental designs, and so complicates
      interpretation. Here we interrogate the appropriateness of a range of previously
      reported treatment parameters, including light wavelength, irradiance and radiant
      exposure, as well as cell culture conditions (e.g., serum concentration, cell
      confluency, medium refreshment, direct/indirect treatment, oxygen concentration,
      etc.), in primary cultures of normal human dermal fibroblasts exposed to visible
      and near infra-red (NIR) light. Apart from irradiance, all study parameters
      impacted significantly on fibroblast metabolic activity. Moreover, when cells
      were grown at atmospheric O2 levels (i.e. 20%) short wavelength light inhibited
      cell metabolism, while negligible effects were seen with long visible and NIR
      wavelength. By contrast, NIR stimulated cells when exposed to dermal tissue
      oxygen levels (approx. 2%). The impact of culture conditions was further seen
      when inhibitory effects of short wavelength light were reduced with increasing
      serum concentration and cell confluency. We conclude that a significant source of
      problematic interpretations in photobiomodulation reports derives from poor
      optimization of study design. Further development of this field using in vitro/ex
      vivo models should embrace significant standardization of study design, ideally
      within a design-of-experiment setting.

PMID- 28584232
TI  - Inhibition of Steel Corrosion and Alkaline Zinc Oxide Dissolution by
      Dicarboxylate Bola-Amphiphiles: Self-Assembly Supersedes Host-Guest Conception.
AB  - For many decorative applications like industrial and architectural paints,
      prevention of metal substrates from corrosion is a primary function of organic
      coatings. Triggered release of inhibitor species is generally accepted as a
      remedy for starting corrosion in case of coatings damage. A polyurethane based
      coating, doped with bola-amphiphiles of varying molecular weight but with a
      common head group motif that stems from ring-opened alkenyl succinic anhydride,
      enables passivation of the defect and mitigates cathodic delamination, if applied
      on cold rolled steel. An antagonistic effect results from the intercalation of
      the bola-amphiphiles into layered double hydroxide Zn2Al(OH)6 and subsequent
      incorporation of the hybrid phase into the organic matrix. In particular higher
      molecular weight bola-amphiphiles get immobilized through alkaline degradation of
      the layered framework in the basic milieu at the cathode. By means of sediments
      from colloidal states it is demonstrated that in-situ formed zinc oxide
      encapsulates the hybrid phase, evidenced by impeded dissolution of the ZnO based
      shell into caustic soda. While inhibition of steel corrosion results from a
      Donnan barrier layer, impeded zinc oxide dissolution is rooted in zinc catalyzed
      bola-amphiphile hydrolysis and layered deposition of the crystalline spacer diol
      hydrogenated bisphenol-A.

PMID- 28584233
TI  - Single-cell protein-mRNA correlation analysis enabled by multiplexed dual-analyte
      co-detection.
AB  - We have investigated the correlation between proteins and mRNAs in single cells
      employing an integrated workflow for dual-analyte co-detection. This is achieved
      by combining the oligo extension reaction (OER), which converts protein levels to
      DNA levels, with reverse transcription for mRNA detection. Unsupervised gene
      expression profiling analysis, including principal component analysis and
      hierarchical clustering, revealed different aspects of the protein-mRNA
      relationship. Violin plot analysis showed that some genes exhibited similar
      distribution patterns for proteins and mRNAs. We also demonstrate that cells can
      be separated into subpopulations based on their protein-mRNA expression profiles,
      and that different subpopulations have distinct correlation coefficient values.
      Our results demonstrated that integrated investigations of mRNA and protein
      levels in single cells allows comprehensive analysis not attainable at bulk
      levels.

PMID- 28584234
TI  - Stiff, light, strong and ductile: nano-structured High Modulus Steel.
AB  - Structural material development for lightweight applications aims at improving
      the key parameters strength, stiffness and ductility at low density, but these
      properties are typically mutually exclusive. Here we present how we overcome this
      trade-off with a new class of nano-structured steel - TiB2 composites synthesised
      in-situ via bulk metallurgical spray-forming. Owing to the nano-sized dispersion
      of the TiB2 particles of extreme stiffness and low density - obtained by the in
      situ formation with rapid solidification kinetics - the new material has the
      mechanical performance of advanced high strength steels, and a 25% higher
      stiffness/density ratio than any of the currently used high strength steels,
      aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys. This renders this High Modulus Steel
      the first density-reduced, high stiffness, high strength and yet ductile material
      which can be produced on an industrial scale. Also ideally suited for 3D printing
      technology, this material addresses all key requirements for high performance and
      cost effective lightweight design.

PMID- 28584235
TI  - The Effect of Interleukin 38 on Angiogenesis in a Model of Oxygen-induced
      Retinopathy.
AB  - Interleukin 38 (IL-38) is a novel identified cytokine of IL-1 family in which
      some members are important in inflammation and angiogenesis. However, the role of
      IL-38 in regulating angiogenesis is unknown. The aim of the present study is to
      explore the effect of IL-38 on angiogenesis. Oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) of
      C57BL/6 J mice was induced by exposure of hyperoxia (75% oxygen) from postnatal
      day 7 (P7) to P12 and then returned to room air. The mice were injected with IL
      38. At P17, neovascular region (tufts) and avascular area of the retinas were
      analyzed. The data showed that administration of IL-38 in vivo inhibited retinal
      angiogenesis significantly. Furthermore, the addition of IL-38 to the cell
      cultures attenuated the proliferation, scratch wound healing and tube formation
      of vascular endothelial cells induced by VEGF significantly. Our findings suggest
      that IL-38 is an antiangiogenic cytokine in pathophysiological settings and may
      have therapeutic potential for angiogenesis related diseases.

PMID- 28584236
TI  - Superlattice growth and rearrangement during evaporation-induced nanoparticle
      self-assembly.
AB  - Understanding the assembly of nanoparticles into superlattices with well-defined
      morphology and structure is technologically important but challenging as it
      requires novel combinations of in-situ methods with suitable spatial and temporal
      resolution. In this study, we have followed evaporation-induced assembly during
      drop casting of superparamagnetic, oleate-capped gamma-Fe2O3 nanospheres
      dispersed in toluene in real time with Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray
      Scattering (GISAXS) in combination with droplet height measurements and direct
      observation of the dispersion. The scattering data was evaluated with a novel
      method that yielded time-dependent information of the relative ratio of ordered
      (coherent) and disordered particles (incoherent scattering intensities),
      superlattice tilt angles, lattice constants, and lattice constant distributions.
      We find that the onset of superlattice growth in the drying drop is associated
      with the movement of a drying front across the surface of the droplet. We couple
      the rapid formation of large, highly ordered superlattices to the capillary
      induced fluid flow. Further evaporation of interstitital solvent results in a
      slow contraction of the superlattice. The distribution of lattice parameters and
      tilt angles was significantly larger for superlattices prepared by fast
      evaporation compared to slow evaporation of the solvent.

PMID- 28584237
TI  - Multiscale characterization of a lithium/sulfur battery by coupling operando X
      ray tomography and spatially-resolved diffraction.
AB  - Due to its high theoretical specific capacity, the lithium/sulfur battery is one
      of the most promising candidates for replacing current lithium-ion batteries. In
      this work, we investigate both chemical and morphological changes in the
      electrodes during cycling, by coupling operando spatially resolved X-ray
      diffraction and absorption tomography to characterize Li/S cells under real
      working conditions. By combining these tools, the state of the active material in
      the entire cell was correlated with its electrochemical behavior, leading to a
      deeper understanding of the performance limiting degradation phenomena in Li/S
      batteries. Highly heterogeneous behavior of lithium stripping/plating was
      observed in the anode, while the evolution of sulfur distribution in the cathode
      depth was followed during cycling.

PMID- 28584238
TI  - Gold nanozyme-based paper chip for colorimetric detection of mercury ions.
AB  - In this study, we developed a facile gold nanozyme-based paper chip (AuNZ-PAD)
      for Hg2+ detection. This device has the advantages of being simple, rapid, cost
      effective, sensitive, selective, high throughput, and applicable to onsite
      detection. The colorimetric mercury assay on the AuNZ-PAD is established based on
      the enzyme-like catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles promoted by the
      formation of Au-Hg amalgam, which is correlated to the intensity of the
      colorimetric response resulting from the catalytic reaction of 3,3',5,5'
      tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and H2O2. Highly sensitive and selective detection of
      Hg2+ ions is achieved in both distilled and tap water samples, indicating the
      feasibility and applicability of our device for the determination of mercury
      pollution in real samples. Moreover, AuNZ-PAD analysis using a smartphone camera
      eliminates the need for expensive analytical equipment, thereby increasing the
      practicality of field monitoring of trace Hg2+ compared with other sensing
      methods.

PMID- 28584239
TI  - The effect of the neutral cytidine protonated analogue pseudoisocytidine on the
      stability of i-motif structures.
AB  - Incorporation of pseudoisocytidine (psC), a neutral analogue of protonated
      cytidine, in i-motifs has been studied by spectroscopic methods. Our results show
      that neutral psC:C base pairs can stabilize i-motifs at neutral pH, but the
      stabilization only occurs when psC:C base pairs are located at the ends of
      intercalated C:C+ stacks. When psC occupies central positions, the resulting i
      motifs are only observed at low pH and psC:C+ or psC:psC+ hemiprotonated base
      pairs are formed instead of their neutral analogs. Overall, our results suggest
      that positively charged base pairs are necessary to stabilize this non-canonical
      DNA structure.

PMID- 28584240
TI  - Synthetic surfactant- and cross-linker-free preparation of highly stable lipid
      polymer hybrid nanoparticles as potential oral delivery vehicles.
AB  - The toxicity associated with concentrated synthetic surfactants and the poor
      stability at gastrointestinal condition are two major constraints for practical
      applications of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) as oral delivery vehicles. In
      this study, a synthetic surfactant-free and cross-linker-free method was
      developed to fabricate effective, safe, and ultra-stable lipid-polymer hybrid
      nanoparticles (LPN). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and dextran varying in molecular
      weights were first conjugated through Maillard reaction and the conjugates were
      exploited to emulsify solid lipid by a solvent diffusion and sonication method.
      The multilayer structure was formed by self-assembly of BSA-dextran micelles to
      envelope solid lipid via a pH- and heating-induced facile process with
      simultaneous surface deposition of pectin. The efficiency of different BSA
      dextran conjugates was systematically studied to prepare LPN with the smallest
      size, the most homogeneous distribution and the greatest stability. The molecular
      interactions were characterized by Fourier transform infrared and fluorescence
      spectroscopies. Both nano spray drying and freeze-drying methods were tested to
      produce spherical and uniform pectin-coated LPN powders that were able to re
      assemble nanoscale structure when redispersed in water. The results demonstrated
      the promise of a synthetic surfactant- and cross-linker-free technique to prepare
      highly stable pectin-coated LPN from all natural biomaterials as potential oral
      delivery vehicles.

PMID- 28584241
TI  - E. coli promotes human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell transition from cytokine-producing
      bactericidal effectors to professional phagocytic killers in a TCR-dependent
      manner.
AB  - gammadeltaT cells provide immune-surveillance and host defense against infection
      and cancer. Surprisingly, functional details of gammadeltaT cell antimicrobial
      immunity to infection remain largely unexplored. Limited data suggests that
      gammadeltaT cells can phagocytose particles and act as professional antigen
      presenting cells (pAPC). These potential functions, however, remain
      controversial. To better understand gammadeltaT cell-bacterial interactions, an
      ex vivo co-culture model of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)
      responses to Escherichia coli was employed. Vgamma9Vdelta2 cells underwent rapid
      T cell receptor (TCR)-dependent proliferation and functional transition from
      cytotoxic, inflammatory cytokine immunity, to cell expansion with diminished
      cytokine but increased costimulatory molecule expression, and capacity for
      professional phagocytosis. Phagocytosis was augmented by IgG opsonization, and
      inhibited by TCR-blockade, suggesting a licensing interaction involving the TCR
      and FcgammaR. Vgamma9Vdelta2 cells displayed potent cytotoxicity through TCR
      dependent and independent mechanisms. We conclude that gammadeltaT cells
      transition from early inflammatory cytotoxic killers to myeloid-like APC in
      response to infectious stimuli.

PMID- 28584242
TI  - Solution-Processed Cu2Se Nanocrystal Films with Bulk-Like Thermoelectric
      Performance.
AB  - Thermoelectric power generation can play a key role in a sustainable energy
      future by converting waste heat from power plants and other industrial processes
      into usable electrical power. Current thermoelectric devices, however, require
      energy intensive manufacturing processes such as alloying and spark plasma
      sintering. Here, we describe the fabrication of a p-type thermoelectric material,
      copper selenide (Cu2Se), utilizing solution-processing and thermal annealing to
      produce a thin film that achieves a figure of merit, ZT, which is as high as its
      traditionally processed counterpart, a value of 0.14 at room temperature. This is
      the first report of a fully solution-processed nanomaterial achieving performance
      equivalent to its bulk form and represents a general strategy to reduce the
      energy required to manufacture advanced energy conversion and harvesting
      materials.

PMID- 28584243
TI  - NKX6.3 Regulates Reactive Oxygen Species Production by Suppressing NF-kB and
      DNMT1 Activities in Gastric Epithelial Cells.
AB  - NKX6.3 plays an important role in gastric epithelial differentiation and also
      acts as a gastric tumor suppressor. The specific aim of this study was to
      determine whether NKX6.3 contributes to gastric mucosal barrier function by
      regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. NKX6.3 reduced ROS
      production and regulated expression of anti-oxidant genes, including Hace1. In
      addition, NKX6.3 reduced DNMT1 expression and activity by down-regulating NF-kB
      family gene transcription. Silencing of Hace1 recovered ROS production, whereas
      knock-down of DNMT1 and NF-kB reduced ROS production and induced Hace1 expression
      by hypomethylating its promoter region. In addition, NKX6.3 inhibited CagA
      effects on cell growth, ROS production, and NF-kB and DNMT1 activity. In gastric
      mucosae and cancers, NKX6.3 and Hace1 expression was significantly reduced. The
      NKX6.3 expression was positively correlated with Hace1 and Nrf2 genes, but
      negatively correlated with DNMT1. Hypermethylation of Hace1 gene was observed
      only in gastric mucosae with H. pylori, atrophy and intestinal metaplasia. Thus,
      these results suggest that NKX6.3 inhibits ROS production by inducing the
      expression of Hace1 via down-regulating NF-kB and DNMT1 activity in gastric
      epithelial cells.

PMID- 28584244
TI  - Earlier flowering did not alter pollen limitation in an early flowering shrub
      under short-term experimental warming.
AB  - In animal pollinated plants, phenological shifts caused by climate change may
      have important ecological consequences. However, no empirical evidence exists at
      present on the consequences that flowering phenology shifts have on the strength
      of pollen limitation under experimental warming. Here, we investigated the
      effects of experimental warming on flowering phenology, flower density,
      reproductive success, and pollen limitation intensity in Caragana microphylla and
      evaluated whether earlier flowering phenology affected plant reproduction and the
      level of pollen limitation using warmed and unwarmed open top chambers in the
      Horqin Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia, northern China. The results of this study
      indicated that artificial warming markedly advanced flower phenology rather than
      extending the duration of the flowering. Additionally, warming was found to
      significantly reduce flower density which led to seed production reduction, since
      there were insignificant effects observed on fruit set and seed number per fruit.
      Experimental floral manipulations showed that warming did not affect pollen
      limitation. These results revealed the negative effects of advanced phenology
      induced by warming on flower density and reproductive output, as well as the
      neutral effects on reproductive success and pollen limitation intensity of long
      surviving plants.

PMID- 28584246
TI  - Micro-drive and headgear for chronic implant and recovery of optoelectronic
      probes.
AB  - Silicon probes are multisite electrodes used for the electrophysiological
      recording of large neuronal ensembles. Optoelectronic probes (OEPs) are recent
      upgrades that allow, in parallel, the delivery of local optical stimuli. The
      procedures to use these delicate electrodes for chronic experiments in mice are
      still underdeveloped and typically assume one-time uses. Here, we developed a
      micro-drive, a support for OEPs optical fibers, and a hat enclosure, which
      fabrications consist in fitting and fastening together plastic parts made with 3D
      printers. Excluding two parts, all components and electrodes are relatively
      simple to recover after the experiments, via the loosening of screws. To prevent
      the plugging of OEPs laser sources from altering the stability of recordings, the
      OEPs fibers can be transiently anchored to the hat via the tightening of screws.
      We test the stability of recordings in the mouse hippocampus under three
      different conditions: acute head-fixed, chronic head-fixed, and chronic freely
      moving. Drift in spike waveforms is significantly smaller in chronic compared to
      acute conditions, with the plugging/unplugging of head-stage and fiber connectors
      not affecting much the recording stability. Overall, these tools generate stable
      recordings of place cell in chronic conditions, and make the recovery and reuse
      of electrode packages relatively simple.

PMID- 28584247
TI  - See-through optical combiner for augmented reality head-mounted display: index
      matched anisotropic crystal lens.
AB  - A novel see-through optical device to combine the real world and the virtual
      image is proposed which is called an index-matched anisotropic crystal lens
      (IMACL). The convex lens made of anisotropic crystal is enveloped with the
      isotropic material having same refractive index with the extraordinary refractive
      index of the anisotropic crystal. This optical device functions as the
      transparent glass or lens according to the polarization state of the incident
      light. With the novel optical property, IMACL can be utilized in the see-through
      near eye display, or head-mounted display for augmented reality. The optical
      property of the proposed optical device is analyzed and aberration by the
      anisotropic property of the index-matched anisotropic crystal lens is described
      with the simulation. The concept of the head-mounted display using IMACL is
      introduced and various optical performances such as field of view, form factor
      and transmittance are analyzed. The prototype is implemented to verify the
      proposed system and experimental results show the mixture between the virtual
      image and real world scene.

PMID- 28584245
TI  - Immune signatures of pathogenesis in the peritoneal compartment during early
      infection of sheep with Fasciola hepatica.
AB  - Immune signatures of sheep acutely-infected with Fasciola hepatica, an important
      pathogen of livestock and humans were analysed within the peritoneal compartment
      to investigate early infection. Within the peritoneum, F. hepatica antibodies
      coincided with an intense innate and adaptive cellular immune response, with
      infiltrating leukocytes and a marked eosinophilia (49%). However, while cytokine
      qPCR analysis revealed IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-23 and TGFbeta were elevated,
      these were not statistically different at 18 days post-infection compared to
      uninfected animals indicating that the immune response is muted and not yet
      skewed to a Th2 type response that is associated with chronic disease. Proteomic
      analysis of the peritoneal fluid identified infection-related proteins, including
      several structural proteins derived from the liver extracellular matrix,
      connective tissue and epithelium, and proteins related to the immune system.
      Periostin and vascular cell adhesion protein 1 (VCAM-1), molecules that mediate
      leukocyte infiltration and are associated with inflammatory disorders involving
      marked eosinophilia (e.g. asthma), were particularly elevated in the peritoneum.
      Immuno-histochemical studies indicated that the source of periostin and VCAM-1
      was the inflamed sheep liver tissue. This study has revealed previously unknown
      aspects of the immunology and pathogenesis associated with acute fascioliasis in
      the peritoneum and liver.

PMID- 28584249
TI  - Quantum Phase Transition and Entanglement in Topological Quantum Wires.
AB  - We investigate the quantum phase transition of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH)
      model by inspecting the two-site entanglements in the ground state. It is shown
      that the topological phase transition of the SSH model is signified by a
      nonanalyticity of local entanglement, which becomes discontinuous for finite even
      system sizes, and that this nonanalyticity has a topological origin. Such a
      peculiar singularity has a universal nature in one-dimensional topological phase
      transitions of noninteracting fermions. We make this clearer by pointing out that
      an analogous quantity in the Kitaev chain exhibiting the identical nonanalyticity
      is the local electron density. As a byproduct, we show that there exists a
      different type of phase transition, whereby the pattern of the two-site
      entanglements undergoes a sudden change. This transition is characterised solely
      by quantum information theory and does not accompany the closure of the spectral
      gap. We analyse the scaling behaviours of the entanglement in the vicinities of
      the transition points.

PMID- 28584248
TI  - Fecal Occult Blood Test Results of the National Colorectal Cancer Screening
      Program in South Korea (2006-2013).
AB  - There has been controversy regarding the clinical utility of fecal occult blood
      test (FOBT) as a screening tool for colorectal cancer (CRC) in the general
      population. The purpose of this study was to examine the results of Korea
      national CRC screening using FOBT from 2006 to 2013 and to evaluate the
      implementation of the program. We analyzed the results of FOBT, colonoscopy, and
      the side effects during colonoscopy for the subjects (n = 20,609,909) from the
      Korea National Health Insurance Cancer Screening database. For evaluation of
      Korea national CRC screening program implementation over the 8-year period, we
      calculated uptake rate, FOBT positivity rate, and subsequent test compliance
      rate. The overall uptake rate was 30.1%, with an increasing pattern from 2006 to
      2011. A relatively higher FOBT positivity rate (6.4%) and lower subsequent test
      compliance rate (46.6%) were observed in comparison to the results previously
      reported in Western countries. Side effects reported within 3 months period after
      colonoscopy accounted for 0.17% of all procedures, with bleeding being the most
      prevalent type. Although the implementation of CRC screening program using FOBT
      in Korea seems successful, trends in key indicators for Korea national CRC
      screening program should be monitored continuously.

PMID- 28584250
TI  - The progression pattern of male hyrax songs and the role of climactic ending.
AB  - The study of animal vocal signals can either focus on the properties of distinct
      vocal elements or address the signal as a whole. Although some attention has been
      given to the continuous progression patterns of bird songs, such patterns in
      mammalian vocalisations have been largely overlooked. We examined temporal
      changes in structural and acoustic parameters in male rock hyrax songs. We found
      a gradual increase in call frequency and amplitude towards the song ending, as
      well as an abrupt increase in bout syntactic complexity, peaking in the last
      quintile of a song. In musical terms, such a pattern can be described as a
      crescendo (amplitude increase) with a terminal climax. In Western music,
      crescendos are used to maintain attention and direct the listeners towards a
      memorable highpoint of the musical piece. This structure may have an analogous
      function in animal communication, recruiting audience attention towards the
      climactic and potentially most informative part of the signal. Our playback
      experiments revealed that hyrax males tend to reply more to songs with a
      climactic ending, indicating that this progression pattern is important for hyrax
      communication. We suggest that animal vocal communication research can benefit
      from adding musical concepts to the analysis toolbox.

PMID- 28584251
TI  - The 'obesity paradox' may not be a paradox at all.

PMID- 28584252
TI  - Long-term outcome of older patients with newly diagnosed de novo acute
      promyelocytic leukemia treated with ATRA plus anthracycline-based therapy.
AB  - Treatment outcome in older patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is
      lower compared with younger patients, mainly because of a higher induction death
      rate and postremission non-relapse mortality (NRM). This prompted us to design a
      risk- and age-adapted protocol (Programa Espanol de Tratamientos en Hematologia
      (PETHEMA)/HOVON LPA2005), with dose reduction of consolidation chemotherapy.
      Patients aged ?60 years reported to the PETHEMA registry and were treated with
      all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) plus anthracycline-based regimens according to
      three consecutive PETHEMA trials that were included. We compared the long-term
      outcomes of the LPA2005 trial with the preceding PETHEMA trials using non-age
      adapted schedules (LPA96&LPA99). From 1996 to 2012, 389 older patients were
      registered, of whom 268 patients (69%) were eligible. Causes of ineligibility
      were secondary APL (19%), and unfit for chemotherapy (11%). Median age was 67
      years, without relevant differences between LPA2005 and LPA96&LPA99 cohorts.
      Overall, 216 patients (81%) achieved complete remission with no differences
      between trials. The 5-year NRM, cumulative incidence of relapse, disease-free
      survival and overall survival in the LPA2005 vs the LPA96&99 were 5 vs 18%
      (P=0.15), 7 vs 12% (P=0.23), 87 vs 69% (P=0.04) and 74 vs 60% (P=0.06). A less
      intensive front-line regimen with ATRA and anthracycline monochemotherapy
      resulted in improved outcomes in older APL patients.

PMID- 28584255
TI  - Arsenic mobilization in shallow aquifers due to CO2 and brine intrusion from
      storage reservoirs.
AB  - We developed an integrated framework of combined batch experiments and reactive
      transport simulations to quantify water-rock-CO2 interactions and arsenic (As)
      mobilization responses to CO2 and/or saline water leakage into USDWs.
      Experimental and simulation results suggest that when CO2 is introduced, pH drops
      immediately that initiates release of As from clay minerals. Calcite dissolution
      can increase pH slightly and cause As re-adsorption. Thus, the mineralogy of the
      USDW is ultimately a determining factor of arsenic fate and transport. Salient
      results suggest that: (1) As desorption/adsorption from/onto clay minerals is the
      major reaction controlling its mobilization, and clay minerals could mitigate As
      mobilization with surface complexation reactions; (2) dissolution of available
      calcite plays a critical role in buffering pH; (3) high salinity in general
      hinders As release from minerals; and (4) the magnitude and quantitative
      uncertainty of As mobilization are predicated on the values of reaction rates and
      surface area of calcite, adsorption surface areas and equilibrium constants of
      clay minerals, and cation exchange capacity. Results of this study are intended
      to improve ability to quantify risks associated with potential leakage of
      reservoir fluids into shallow aquifers, in particular the possible environmental
      impacts of As mobilization at carbon sequestration sites.

PMID- 28584254
TI  - Whole-genome sequencing of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia reveals distinct
      differences in the mutational landscape between IgHVmut and IgHVunmut subgroups.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) consists of two biologically and clinically
      distinct subtypes defined by the abundance of somatic hypermutation (SHM)
      affecting the Ig variable heavy-chain locus (IgHV). The molecular mechanisms
      underlying these subtypes are incompletely understood. Here, we present a
      comprehensive whole-genome sequencing analysis of somatically acquired genetic
      events from 46 CLL patients, including a systematic comparison of coding and non
      coding single-nucleotide variants, copy number variants and structural variants,
      regions of kataegis and mutation signatures between IgHVmut and IgHVunmut
      subtypes. We demonstrate that one-quarter of non-coding mutations in regions of
      kataegis outside the Ig loci are located in genes relevant to CLL. We show that
      non-coding mutations in ATM may negatively impact on ATM expression and find non
      coding and regulatory region mutations in TCL1A, and in IgHVunmut CLL in IKZF3,
      SAMHD1,PAX5 and BIRC3. Finally, we show that IgHVunmut CLL is dominated by coding
      mutations in driver genes and an aging signature, whereas IgHVmut CLL has a high
      incidence of promoter and enhancer mutations caused by aberrant activation
      induced cytidine deaminase activity. Taken together, our data support the
      hypothesis that differences in clinical outcome and biological characteristics
      between the two subgroups might reflect differences in mutation distribution,
      incidence and distinct underlying mutagenic mechanisms.

PMID- 28584253
TI  - Prediction of outcome in newly diagnosed myeloma: a meta-analysis of the
      molecular profiles of 1905 trial patients.
AB  - Robust establishment of survival in multiple myeloma (MM) and its relationship to
      recurrent genetic aberrations is required as outcomes are variable despite
      apparent similar staging. We assayed copy number alterations (CNA) and
      translocations in 1036 patients from the NCRI Myeloma XI trial and linked these
      to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival. Through a meta-anlysis of
      these data with data from MRC Myeloma IX trial, totalling 1905 newly diagnosed MM
      patients (NDMM), we confirm the association of t(4;14), t(14;16), t(14;20),
      del(17p) and gain(1q21) with poor prognosis with hazard ratios (HRs) for OS of
      1.60 (P=4.77 * 10-7), 1.74 (P=0.0005), 1.90 (P=0.0089), 2.10 (P=8.86 * 10-14) and
      1.68 (P=2.18 * 10-14), respectively. Patients with 'double-hit' defined by co
      occurrence of at least two adverse lesions have an especially poor prognosis with
      HRs for OS of 2.67 (P=8.13 * 10-27) for all patients and 3.19 (P=1.23 * 10-18)
      for intensively treated patients. Using comprehensive CNA and translocation
      profiling in Myeloma XI we also demonstrate a strong association between t(4;14)
      and BIRC2/BIRC3 deletion (P=8.7 * 10-15), including homozygous deletion. Finally,
      we define distinct sub-groups of hyperdiploid MM, with either gain(1q21) and
      CCND2 overexpression (P<0.0001) or gain(11q25) and CCND1 overexpression
      (P<0.0001). Profiling multiple genetic lesions can identify MM patients likely to
      relapse early allowing stratification of treatment.

PMID- 28584256
TI  - Correlations between diffusion tensor imaging and levels of consciousness in
      patients with traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often leads to impaired consciousness. Recent
      diffusion tensor imaging studies associated consciousness with imaging metrics
      including fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). We
      evaluated their correlations and determined the best index in candidate regions.
      Six databases were searched, including PubMed and Embase, and 16 studies with 701
      participants were included. Data from region-of-interest and whole-brain analysis
      methods were meta-analysed separately. The FA-consciousness correlation was
      marginal in the whole-brain white matter (r = 0.63, 95% CI [0.47, 0.79], p =
      0.000) and the corpus callosum (CC) (r = 0.60, 95% CI [0.48, 0.71], p = 0.000),
      and moderate in the internal capsule (r = 0.48, 95% CI [0.24, 0.72], p = 0.000).
      Correlations with ADC trended negative and lacked significance. Further subgroup
      analysis revealed that consciousness levels correlated strongly with FA in the CC
      body (r = 0.66, 95% CI [0.43, 0.89]), moderately in the splenium (r = 0.58, 95%
      CI [0.38, 0.78]), but insignificantly in the genu. In conclusion, FA correlates
      better with consciousness levels than ADC in TBI. The degree of correlation
      varies among brain regions. The CC (especially its splenium and body) is a
      reliable candidate region to quantitatively reflect consciousness levels.

PMID- 28584257
TI  - Changes in retinal metabolic profiles associated with form deprivation myopia
      development in guinea pigs.
AB  - Retinal metabolic changes have been suggested to be associated with myopia
      development. However, little is known about either their identity or time
      dependent behavior during this sight compromising process. To address these
      questions, gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF/MS) was
      applied to compare guinea pig retinal metabolite levels in form deprivation (FD)
      eyes at 3 days and 2 weeks post FD with normal control (NC) eyes. Orthogonal
      partial least squares (OPLS) models discriminated between time dependent retinal
      metabolic profiles in the presence and absence of FD. Myopia severity was
      associated with more metabolic pattern differences in the FD than in the NC eyes.
      After 3 days of FD, 11 metabolite levels changed and after 2 weeks the number of
      differences increased to 16. Five metabolites continuously decreased during two
      weeks of FD. Two-way ANOVA of the changes identified by OPLS indicates that 15
      out of the 22 metabolites differences were significant. Taken together, these
      results suggest that myopia progression is associated with an inverse
      relationship between increases in glucose accumulation and lipid level decreases
      in form-deprived guinea pig eyes. Such changes indicate that metabolomic studies
      are an informative approach to identify time dependent retinal metabolic
      alterations associated with this disease.

PMID- 28584258
TI  - Cathepsin S inhibition combines control of systemic and peripheral
      pathomechanisms of autoimmune tissue injury.
AB  - Cathepsin(Cat)-S processing of the invariant chain-MHC-II complex inside antigen
      presenting cells is a central pathomechanism of autoimmune-diseases.
      Additionally, Cat-S is released by activated-myeloid cells and was recently
      described to activate protease-activated-receptor-(PAR)-2 in extracellular
      compartments. We hypothesized that Cat-S blockade targets both mechanisms and
      elicits synergistic therapeutic effects on autoimmune tissue injury. MRL-(Fas)lpr
      mice with spontaneous autoimmune tissue injury were treated with different doses
      of Cat-S inhibitor RO5459072, mycophenolate mofetil or vehicle. Further, female
      MRL-(Fas)lpr mice were injected with recombinant Cat-S with/without concomitant
      Cat-S or PAR-2 blockade. Cat-S blockade dose-dependently reversed aberrant
      systemic autoimmunity, e.g. plasma cytokines, activation of myeloid cells and
      hypergammaglobulinemia. Especially IgG autoantibody production was suppressed. Of
      note (MHC-II-independent) IgM were unaffected by Cat-S blockade while they were
      suppressed by MMF. Cat-S blockade dose-dependently suppressed immune-complex
      glomerulonephritis together with a profound and early effect on proteinuria,
      which was not shared by MMF. In fact, intravenous Cat-S injection induced severe
      glomerular endothelial injury and albuminuria, which was entirely prevented by
      Cat-S or PAR-2 blockade. In-vitro studies confirm that Cat-S induces endothelial
      activation and injury via PAR-2. Therapeutic Cat-S blockade suppresses systemic
      and peripheral pathomechanisms of autoimmune tissue injury, hence, Cat-S is a
      promising therapeutic target in lupus nephritis.

PMID- 28584259
TI  - Complex beam shaping based on an equivalent q-plate system and analysis of its
      properties using digital holography polarization imaging.
AB  - In this study, we generate various complex beams carrying angular momentum (AM)
      by using a programmable beam shaping system to mimic typical q-plates. When a
      circularly polarized wave is incident onto the system, the emerging beam reverses
      its spin handedness and obtains a spatial phase factor. This phase factor can be
      engineered by designing a computer-generated hologram (CGH) and applying it to a
      spatial light modulator (SLM) to produce a beam with controllable spatially
      distributed orbital angular momentum (OAM) density. To determine the properties
      of the generated fields, we combine digital holography (DH) with the beam shaping
      system to yield visualizations of the beam intensity, phase, and AM distributions
      over the transverse plane at different propagation distances. Comparisons of the
      theoretically and experimentally obtained results show good qualitative
      agreement. This study advances our understanding and interpretation of AM
      characteristics produced by a programmable q-plate-like system.

PMID- 28584260
TI  - Induction of lipogenesis in white fat during cold exposure in mice: link to lean
      phenotype.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2016.228.

PMID- 28584261
TI  - Health policies for obesity: how to get there!

PMID- 28584262
TI  - Genome-wide profiling and differential expression of microRNA in rat pluripotent
      stem cells.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a class of small noncoding RNAs that plays an
      important role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Much
      evidence has demonstrated that miRNAs are involved in regulating the human and
      mouse pluripotency. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, miRNAs in the pluripotent
      stem cells of one of the most commonly used model organisms - the Rattus
      norvegicus have not been studied. In the present study, we performed deep
      sequencing of small RNA molecules in the embryonic fibroblasts, embryonic stem
      cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells of laboratory rats. Bioinformatics
      analysis revealed 674 known miRNAs and 394 novel miRNA candidates in all of the
      samples. Expression of known pluripotency-associated miRNAs, such as the miR-290
      295 and miR-183-96-182 clusters as well as members of the miR-200 family, was
      detected in rat pluripotent stem cells. Analysis of the targets of differentially
      expressed known and novel miRNAs showed their involvement in the regulation of
      pluripotency and the reprogramming process in rats. Bioinformatics and systems
      biology approaches identified potential pathways that are regulated by these
      miRNAs. This study contributes to our understanding of miRNAs in the regulation
      of pluripotency and cell reprogramming in the laboratory rat.

PMID- 28584263
TI  - The evaluation of land consolidation policy in improving agricultural
      productivity in China.
AB  - China is presently undergoing rapid economic development and unprecedented
      urbanization. Concerns over food security have prompted the Chinese government to
      implement large-scale land consolidation projects. However, no formal evaluation
      has been conducted on such projects. Thus, effectiveness of land consolidation
      policy remains uncertain. We obtained detailed geo-spatial information for 5328
      land consolidation projects implemented between 2006 and 2010, and used time
      series MODIS NDVI (2006-2016) data to assess effectiveness of China's land
      consolidation policy in improving agricultural productivity. Our results show
      that the overall effectiveness of land consolidation in improving agricultural
      productivity is low, which lies in contrast to optimistic estimates based on
      regional statistical analysis and theoretical approaches. For projects (n = 560)
      implemented in 2006, about 29.5% showed significant (p < 0.05) increasing trends
      of MODIS NDVI after implementation of land consolidation. For 2007-2010, lower
      percentages (e.g., 25.9% in 2007 and 13.5% in 2010) of projects showed
      significant increasing trends. Furthermore, we found effectiveness of land
      consolidation projects displayed clear regional differences and driving factors
      are inconsistent with policy design. We anticipate our research to be a starting
      point for a more comprehensive evaluation involving longer time-series and higher
      spatial resolution data.

PMID- 28584264
TI  - Human Chitotriosidase: Catalytic Domain or Carbohydrate Binding Module, Who's
      Leading HCHT's Biological Function.
AB  - Chitin is an important structural component of numerous fungal pathogens and
      parasitic nematodes. The human macrophage chitotriosidase (HCHT) is a chitinase
      that hydrolyses glycosidic bonds between the N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units of this
      biopolymer. HCHT belongs to the Glycoside Hydrolase (GH) superfamily and contains
      a well-characterized catalytic domain appended to a chitin-binding domain
      (ChBDCHIT1). Although its precise biological function remains unclear, HCHT has
      been described to be involved in innate immunity. In this study, the molecular
      basis for interaction with insoluble chitin as well as with soluble chito
      oligosaccharides has been determined. The results suggest a new mechanism as a
      common binding mode for many Carbohydrate Binding Modules (CBMs). Furthermore,
      using a phylogenetic approach, we have analysed the modularity of HCHT and
      investigated the evolutionary paths of its catalytic and chitin binding domains.
      The phylogenetic analyses indicate that the ChBDCHIT1 domain dictates the
      biological function of HCHT and not its appended catalytic domain. This
      observation may also be a general feature of GHs. Altogether, our data have led
      us to postulate and discuss that HCHT acts as an immune catalyser.

PMID- 28584265
TI  - X-ray structures of fructosyl peptide oxidases revealing residues responsible for
      gating oxygen access in the oxidative half reaction.
AB  - Current enzymatic systems for quantifying glycated hemoglobin are based on the
      FAD-containing enzyme fructosyl peptide oxidase (FPOX). FPOX has substrate
      specificity for fructosyl-alpha N-valyl-histidine derived from proteolytic
      digestion of the N-terminus of the HbA1c beta-chain. This study reports the X-ray
      structures of the wild-type and Asn56Ala (N56A) mutant of Phaeosphaeria nodorum
      fructosyl peptide oxidase (PnFPOX) to elucidate the residues responsible for the
      oxidative half-reaction. N56A showed decreased oxidase activity compared to the
      wild -type, while its dye-mediated dehydrogenase activity was higher than that of
      wild type. In wild-type PnFPOX, Asn56 forms a hydrogen bond with Lys274, thereby
      preventing it from forming a salt bridge with Asp54. By contrast, Lys274 of
      PnFPOX N56A moves toward Asp54, and they approach each other to form a salt
      bridge at a distance of 2.92-3.35 A. Site-directed mutagenesis studies and
      protein channel analysis suggest that Asp54 assists in accepting oxygen properly
      at the position of the bound water molecule in the main oxygen channel. These
      results reveal that Asn56 in PnFPOX is essential for maintaining an effective
      oxygen accession path, and support the role of Asp54 as a gate keeper that
      cooperates with Lys274 to enable oxygen to reach the active site properly.

PMID- 28584266
TI  - Novel rapid-immunohistochemistry using an alternating current electric field for
      intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer.
AB  - Axillary lymph node status and pathological diagnosis of sentinel lymph nodes
      (SLNs) is a prognostic factor that influences management of postoperative
      therapy. Recent reports indicate that one-step nucleic acid amplification and
      hematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained frozen sections are effective for
      intraoperative diagnosis of SLNs. In the present study, we report a rapid
      immunohistochemical staining (R-IHC) method that enables intraoperative detection
      of SLN metastases within 16 min using an anti-cytokeratin antibody. This is the
      first report on SLN diagnosis using R-IHC in patients with breast cancer. We
      prospectively examined 160 dissected SLNs from 108 breast cancer patients who
      underwent surgery at our institute. The dissected SLNs were sectioned and
      conventionally stained with HE or immunohistochemically labeled with anti
      cytokeratin antibody using R-IHC procedures. Intraoperative R-IHC analyses were
      completed within 16 min, after which diagnoses were made by two pathologists. The
      total time required for intraoperative diagnosis was about 20 min. In this study
      series, R-IHC detected four metastatic SLNs that were undetected using
      conventional HE staining (4/20, 20.0%). Compared with subsequent permanent
      diagnosis, R-IHC offered 95.2% sensitivity and 100% specificity. These findings
      indicate R-IHC is a clinically applicable technique that enables precise and
      quick intraoperative detection of micro- and macrometastasis in breast cancer.

PMID- 28584267
TI  - Application of Box-Behnken designs in parameters optimization of differential
      pulse anodic stripping voltammetry for lead(II) determination in two
      electrolytes.
AB  - Box-Behnken design was advantageous to parameters optimization of differential
      pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) for the analysis of lead(II) with its
      high efficiency and accuracy. Five Box-Behnken designs were designed and
      conducted in the electrolyte of 0.1 mol/L acetate buffer and 0.1 mol/L HCl
      without the removal of oxygen. Significant parameters and interactions in each
      electrolyte were found (P-value < 0.05) and their quantitative effects on
      lead(II) determination were classified into two categories, linear and quadratic.
      Though significant parameters and interactions were not similar in different
      kinds of electrolytes, characteristic parameters of differential pulse
      voltammetry, which were pulse amplitude, pulse width and interval time, were
      found significant in both electrolytes. After optimization, peak currents and
      relative standard deviation at 20 MUg/L along with detection limits in both
      electrolytes were superior than before. With the lower detection limit and
      R.S.D., 0.1 mol/L HCl was a better choice for electrolytes in this work.
      Meanwhile, with the combination of parameters optimization and background
      subtraction, the interference of dissolved oxygen for lead(II) determination was
      eliminated. It was important and necessary to apply Box-Behnken designs in
      parameters optimization of DPASV for lead(II) determination regardless of the
      electrolyte kinds.

PMID- 28584268
TI  - Pulmonary emphysema is a risk factor for radiation pneumonitis in NSCLC patients
      with squamous cell carcinoma after thoracic radiation therapy.
AB  - Pulmonary emphysema (PE) has been demonstrated to have a high prevalence in
      patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 153
      patients with locally advanced NSCLC were enrolled in this study to investigate
      the association between PE and radiation pneumonitis (RP) after definitive
      thoracic radiation therapy (TRT). The incidence of RP in Grade 2, 3 and 5 were
      11.1%, 9.8% and 0.7%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that age, PE,
      forced vital capacity (FVC), arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) and mean
      lung dose (MLD) were significantly associated with the risk of Grade >=2 or Grade
      >=3 RP in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, P < 0.05). Logistic
      analysis demonstrated that PE was an independent risk factor of RP in SCC (P <
      0.05). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis revealed that the
      combination of age, PE, FVC, PO2 and MLD had a higher value to predict RP in SCC
      (AUC = 0.856 in Grade >=2 RP and 0.882 in Grade >=3 RP, respectively). Kaplan
      Meier analysis revealed that the more severe the PE, the higher the incidence of
      RP in SCC. Our results revealed that PE was a high risk factor for locally
      advanced NSCLC patients followed definitive TRT, especially for SCC patients.

PMID- 28584270
TI  - Ambient anthropogenic noise but not light is associated with the ecophysiology of
      free-living songbird nestlings.
AB  - Urbanization is associated with dramatic increases in noise and light pollution,
      which affect animal behaviour, physiology and fitness. However, few studies have
      examined these stressors simultaneously. Moreover, effects of urbanization during
      early-life may be detrimental but are largely unknown. In developing great tits
      (Parus major), a frequently-used model species, we determined important
      indicators of immunity and physiological condition: plasma haptoglobin (Hp) and
      nitric oxide (NOx) concentration. We also determined fledging mass, an indicator
      for current health and survival. Associations of ambient noise and light exposure
      with these indicators were studied. Anthropogenic noise, light and their
      interaction were unrelated to fledging mass. Nestlings exposed to more noise
      showed higher plasma levels of Hp but not of NOx. Light was unrelated to Hp and
      NOx and did not interact with the effect of noise on nestlings' physiology.
      Increasing levels of Hp are potentially energy demanding and trade-offs could
      occur with life-history traits, such as survival. Effects of light pollution on
      nestlings of a cavity-nesting species appear to be limited. Nonetheless, our
      results suggest that the urban environment, through noise exposure, may entail
      important physiological costs for developing organisms.

PMID- 28584271
TI  - Soil biochemical responses to nitrogen addition in a secondary evergreen broad
      leaved forest ecosystem.
AB  - In order to investigate the effects of N deposition on soil biochemistry in
      secondary forests, one N addition experiment was conducted in a secondary
      evergreen broad-leaved forest in the western edge of Sichuan Basin, with the
      highest level of background N deposition (about 95 kg N ha-1 yr-1) in China.
      Three N treatment levels (+0, +50, +150 kg N ha-1 yr-1) were monthly added to
      soil surface in this forest beginning in April 2013. Soil biochemistry and root
      biomass of the 0-10 cm soil horizon were measured from May 2014 to April 2015.
      Soil respiration was measured for two years (September 2013 to August 2015). It
      was showed that N additions were correlated to significantly lower soil pH,
      microbial biomass C (MBC) concentration, MBC/microbial biomass N (MBN) ratio,
      root biomass, and soil respiration rate, and significantly higher concentrations
      of ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-). These results indicate that N additions
      had a significant effect on the size of soil microbial community. In addition,
      soil C storage may potentially increase due to the dropped soil C release under N
      addition.

PMID- 28584269
TI  - Time-dependent changes and potential mechanisms of glucose-lipid metabolic
      disorders associated with chronic clozapine or olanzapine treatment in rats.
AB  - Chronic treatment with second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) has been
      associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome. To evaluate the
      longitudinal changes in glucose-lipid homeostasis after SGA use, we studied the
      time-dependent effects of olanzapine (OLZ) (3 mg/kg, b.i.d.) or clozapine (CLZ)
      (20 mg/kg, b.i.d.) treatment on metabolic profiles for 9 weeks in rats. Although
      only OLZ significantly increased body weight in rats, both OLZ and CLZ elevated
      blood lipid levels. Chronic OLZ treatment induced significant weight gain leading
      to a higher fasting insulin level and impaired glucose tolerance, whereas CLZ
      lowered fasting insulin levels and impaired glucose tolerance independent of
      weight gain. Treatment with both drugs deranged AKT/GSK phosphorylation and up
      regulated muscarinic M3 receptors in the rats' livers. Consistent with an
      elevation in lipid levels, both OLZ and CLZ significantly increased the protein
      levels of nuclear sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) in the
      liver, which was associated with improvement in hepatic histamine H1R. However,
      enhanced carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP) signalling was
      observed in only CLZ-treated rats. These results suggest that SGA-induced glucose
      lipid metabolic disturbances could be independent of weight gain, possibly
      through activation of SREBP/ChREBP in the liver.

PMID- 28584272
TI  - Solid Conical Cap-closing Hollow Tube Growth by Axial Screw Dislocations.
AB  - Exploration of the mechanisms for growth of the nanostructures is the key point
      to achieve nanomaterial syntheses with precisely controlled morphology and
      structure. Herein, we reported a new mechanism that realized the growth of solid
      conical cap-closing hollow tube by axial screw dislocations in the formation
      alpha-Al2O3 nanowires. A hollow tube was firstly grown by axial screw
      dislocations in the formation alpha-Al2O3 nanowires through vapor-phase
      synthesis. Afterwards, the hollow tube was closed up by generating a solid
      conical cap with axial screw dislocations based on the competition between the
      surface energy and the strain energy of screw dislocation controlled by the
      growth environment. The solid conical cap-closing hollow tube growth model based
      on the axial screw dislocations is expected to be a general growth mechanism for
      nanowires within low supersaturation. This study enriches the fundamental
      understanding with respective to the kinetics of nanostructured crystal growth
      and provides guidance to the precise structure control in nanosynthesis and
      manufacturing.

PMID- 28584273
TI  - Antennal and abdominal transcriptomes reveal chemosensory gene families in the
      coconut hispine beetle, Brontispa longissima.
AB  - Antennal and abdominal transcriptomes of males and females of the coconut hispine
      beetle Brontispa longissima were sequenced to identify and compare the expression
      patterns of genes involved in odorant reception and detection. Representative
      proteins from the chemosensory gene families likely essential for insect
      olfaction were identified. These include 48 odorant receptors (ORs), 19
      ionotropic receptors (IRs), 4 sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs), 34
      odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and 16 chemosensory proteins (CSPs). Phylogenetic
      analysis revealed the evolutionary relationship of these proteins with homologs
      from Coleopterans or other insects, and led to the identification of putative
      aggregation pheromone receptors in B. longissima. Comparative expression analysis
      performed by calculating FPKM values were also validated using quantitative real
      time-PCR (qPCR). The results revealed that all ORs and antennal IRs, two IR co
      receptors (BlonIR8a and BlonIR25a) and one SNMP (BlonSNMP1a) were predominantly
      expressed in antennae when compared to abdomens, and approximately half of the
      OBPs (19) and CSPs (7) were enriched in antennae. These findings for the first
      time reveal the identification of key molecular components in B. longissima
      olfaction and provide a valuable resource for future functional analyses of
      olfaction, and identification of potential targets to control this quarantine
      pest.

PMID- 28584274
TI  - Overexpression of Pea DNA Helicase 45 (PDH45) imparts tolerance to multiple
      abiotic stresses in chili (Capsicum annuum L.).
AB  - Imparting tolerance to abiotic stresses is of global importance as they inflict
      significant yield losses in field as well as in vegetable crops. Transcriptional
      activators, including helicases are identified to play a pivotal role in stress
      mitigation. Helicases, also known as molecular motors, are involved in myriad
      cellular processes that impart intrinsic tolerance to abiotic stresses in plants.
      Our study demonstrates the potential of a Pea DNA Helicase 45 (PDH45), in
      combating multiple abiotic stresses in chili. We harnessed Agrobacterium-mediated
      in planta transformation strategy for the generation of stable, single copy
      transgenic events. Precise molecular detection of the transgenes by sqRT-PCR
      coupled with genomic Southern analysis revealed variation in the integration of
      PDH45 at distinct loci in independent transgenic events. Characterization of five
      promising transgenic events showed both improved response to an array of
      simulated abiotic stresses and enhanced expression of several stress-responsive
      genes. While survival and recovery of transgenic events were significantly higher
      under gradual moisture stress conditions, under imposition of moderate stress,
      the transgenic events exhibited invigorated growth and productivity with
      concomitant improvement in water use efficiency (WUE). Thus, our study,
      unequivocally demonstrated the cardinal role of PDH45 in alleviating multiple
      abiotic stresses in chili.

PMID- 28584275
TI  - Physiological characteristics of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1 that
      control cell growth under high-iron and low-oxygen conditions.
AB  - Magnetosome formation by Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1 is dependent on
      iron and oxygen levels. We used transcriptome to evaluate transcriptional
      profiles of magnetic and non-magnetic MSR-1 cells cultured under high-iron and
      low-iron conditions. A total of 80 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were
      identified, including 53 upregulated and 27 downregulated under high-iron
      condition. These DEGs belonged to the functional categories of biological
      regulation, oxidation-reduction process, and ion binding and transport, and were
      involved in sulfur metabolism and cysteine/methionine metabolism. Comparison with
      our previous results from transcriptome data under oxygen-controlled conditions
      indicated that transcription of mam or mms was not regulated by oxygen or iron
      signals. 17 common DEGs in iron- and oxygen-transcriptomes were involved in
      energy production, iron transport, and iron metabolism. Some unknown-function
      DEGs participate in iron transport and metabolism, and some are potential
      biomarkers for identification of Magnetospirillum strains. IrrA and IrrB regulate
      iron transport in response to low-oxygen and high-iron signals, respectively. Six
      transcription factors were predicted to regulate DEGs. Fur and Crp particularly
      co-regulate DEGs in response to changes in iron or oxygen levels, in a proposed
      joint regulatory network of DEGs. Our findings provide new insights into
      biomineralization processes under high- vs. low-iron conditions in magnetotactic
      bacteria.

PMID- 28584276
TI  - Persistent LHPA Activation in German Individuals Raised in an Overprotective
      Parental Behavior.
AB  - Parental upbringing may affect their offspring's mental state across the entire
      lifespan. Overprotective parental child-rearing style may increase the disease
      burden in the offspring. Furthermore, this child-rearing style may also play a
      pathogenetic role by transmitting trauma- and stressor-related disorders (TSRD)
      across generations. Studies with animals have demonstrated that the mother's
      immediate and expansive protection of the newborn decreases the limbic
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis activity in the offspring. However,
      few studies have investigated how stress impact humans raised in an
      overprotective manner. In a cross-sectional study with 40 healthy students
      recalling their overprotective upbringing, we show an increase in the
      dehydroepiandrostendione (DHEA) concentration and a reduction in the
      cortisol/DHEA-ratio in hair. Additionally, this child rearing style was
      associated with heightened indications of mental burden, depressiveness, and
      sense of coherence. Our results provide insight into the roots and consequences
      of psychological trauma across several generations. Further investigations
      focusing particularly on multigenerational transmission in extremely burdened
      families will augment our results.

PMID- 28584277
TI  - Analysis of aquaporins in Brassicaceae species reveals high-level of conservation
      and dynamic role against biotic and abiotic stress in canola.
AB  - Aquaporins (AQPs) are of vital importance in the cellular transport system of all
      living organisms. In this study, genome-wide identification, distribution, and
      characterization of AQPs were determined in Arabidopsis lyrata, Capsella
      grandiflora, C. rubella, Eutrema salsugineum, Brassica rapa, B. oleracea, and B.
      napus (canola). Classification and phylogeny of AQPs revealed the loss of XIPs
      and NIP-IIIs in all species. Characterization of distinctive AQP features showed
      a high level of conservation in spacing between NPA-domains, and selectivity
      filters. Interestingly, TIP3s were found to be highly expressed in developing
      seeds, suggesting their role in seed desiccation. Analysis of available RNA-seq
      data obtained under biotic and abiotic stresses led to the identification of AQPs
      involved in stress tolerance mechanisms in canola. In addition, analysis of the
      effect of ploidy level, and resulting gene dose effect performed with the
      different combinations of Brassica A and C genomes revealed that more than 70% of
      AQPs expression were dose-independent, thereby supporting their role in stress
      alleviation. This first in-depth characterization of Brassicaceae AQPs highlights
      transport mechanisms and related physiological processes that could be exploited
      in breeding programs of stress-tolerant cultivars.

PMID- 28584278
TI  - Environmental novelty exacerbates stress hormones and Abeta pathology in an
      Alzheimer's model.
AB  - Cognitive stimulation has been proposed as a non-pharmacological intervention to
      be used in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention approaches for Alzheimer's
      disease. A common familial Alzheimer's disease transgenic model showed heightened
      levels of the stress hormone, corticosterone. When exposed to periodic enhanced
      cognitive stimulation, these animals demonstrated further heightened levels of
      corticosterone as well as increased Abeta pathology. Hence, Alzheimer's disease
      may be associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction,
      causing stimulatory environments to become stress-inducing, leading to a
      glucocorticoid-pathology cycle contributing to further Abeta release and plaque
      formation. This finding suggests that stimulation-based interventions and local
      environments for people with Alzheimer's disease need to be designed to minimise
      a stress response that may exacerbate brain pathology.

PMID- 28584279
TI  - Serum hepatitis B core antibody as a biomarker of hepatic inflammation in chronic
      hepatitis B patients with normal alanine aminotransferase.
AB  - Our previous studies unexpectedly indicated that the level of serum hepatitis B
      core antibody (anti-HBc) was positively correlated with the serum alanine
      aminotransferase (ALT) level. The aim of this study was to determine whether anti
      HBc could serve as a potential biomarker for the detection of liver inflammation
      in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, especially in patients with normal ALT
      levels. Serum anti-HBc levels were quantified in 655 treatment-naive CHB
      patients, including 45 patients who underwent two liver biopsies (baseline phase
      and the 78th weeks of antiviral-treatment). Serum anti-HBc levels increased
      significantly along with the increasing histology activity index (HAI) score.
      After antiviral-treatment, patients with HAI score reduction had significant
      decline in serum anti-HBc level. Multivariate analysis showed that anti-HBc was
      independently associated with moderate-to-severe hepatic inflammation in patients
      with normal ALT level. Furthermore, serum anti-HBc showed a high diagnostic
      accuracy for predicting moderate-to-severe inflammation in both hepatitis B e
      antigen (HBeAg)-positive and HBeAg-negative CHB patients with normal ALT levels
      (area under the curve, AUC = 0.87 and 0.75; respectively). Thus, anti-HBc may be
      a strong indicator for assessing the hepatic inflammatory degree and used for
      antiviral treatment decisions in CHB patients with normal ALT levels.

PMID- 28584280
TI  - Switching of spins and entanglement in surface-supported antiferromagnetic
      chains.
AB  - Previous experimental studies discovered universal growth of chains and nanowires
      of various chemical elements on a corrugated molecular network of Cu3N on the
      Cu(110). Herein, performing combined ab initio and quantum Hamiltonian studies we
      demonstrate that such chains can be used for a fast spin switching and
      entanglement generation by locally applied magnetic pulses. As an example, we
      show that in antiferromagnetic Co chains a strong entanglement between ends of
      chains occurs during spin switching. A novel parity effect in spin dynamics is
      reported. Even-numbered chains are found to exhibit significantly faster spin
      switching than odd-numbered counterparts. Moreover, at certain parameters of the
      system the dimerization effect in the spin dynamics of the chains was found. Our
      studies give a clear evidence that tailoring spin dynamics and entanglement can
      be achieved by magnetic fields and by tuning exchange interactions in supported
      chains.

PMID- 28584281
TI  - Mass spectrometry imaging identifies palmitoylcarnitine as an immunological
      mediator during Salmonella Typhimurium infection.
AB  - Salmonella Typhimurium causes a self-limiting gastroenteritis that may lead to
      systemic disease. Bacteria invade the small intestine, crossing the intestinal
      epithelium from where they are transported to the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs)
      within migrating immune cells. MLNs are an important site at which the innate and
      adaptive immune responses converge but their architecture and function is
      severely disrupted during S. Typhimurium infection. To further understand host
      pathogen interactions at this site, we used mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to
      analyse MLN tissue from a murine model of S. Typhimurium infection. A molecule,
      identified as palmitoylcarnitine (PalC), was of particular interest due to its
      high abundance at loci of S. Typhimurium infection and MLN disruption. High
      levels of PalC localised to sites within the MLNs where B and T cells were absent
      and where the perimeter of CD169+ sub capsular sinus macrophages was disrupted.
      MLN cells cultured ex vivo and treated with PalC had reduced CD4+CD25+ T cells
      and an increased number of B220+CD19+ B cells. The reduction in CD4+CD25+ T cells
      was likely due to apoptosis driven by increased caspase-3/7 activity. These data
      indicate that PalC significantly alters the host response in the MLNs, acting as
      a decisive factor in infection outcome.

PMID- 28584282
TI  - Integration of vibrotactile frequency information beyond the mechanoreceptor
      channel and somatotopy.
AB  - A wide variety of tactile sensations arise from the activation of several types
      of mechanoreceptor-afferent channels scattered all over the body, and their
      projections create a somatotopic map in the somatosensory cortex. Recent findings
      challenge the traditional view that tactile signals from different
      mechanoreceptor-channels/locations are independently processed in the brain,
      though the contribution of signal integration to perception remains obscure. Here
      we show that vibrotactile frequency perception is functionally enriched by signal
      integration across different mechanoreceptor channels and separate skin
      locations. When participants touched two sinusoidal vibrations of far-different
      frequency, which dominantly activated separate channels with the neighboring
      fingers or the different hand and judged the frequency of one vibration, the
      perceived frequency shifted toward the other (assimilation effect). Furthermore,
      when the participants judged the frequency of the pair as a whole, they
      consistently reported an intensity-based interpolation of the two vibrations
      (averaging effect). Both effects were similar in magnitude between the same and
      different hand conditions and significantly diminished by asynchronous
      presentation of the vibration pair. These findings indicate that human tactile
      processing is global and flexible in that it can estimate the ensemble property
      of a large-scale tactile event sensed by various receptors distributed over the
      body.

PMID- 28584283
TI  - Phytohormone ethylene-responsive Arabidopsis organ growth under light is in the
      fine regulation of Photosystem II deficiency-inducible AKIN10 expression.
AB  - For photoautotrophic plants, light-dependent photosynthesis plays an important
      role in organismal growth and development. Under light, Arabidopsis hypocotyl
      growth is promoted by the phytohormone ethylene. Despite well-characterized
      ethylene signaling pathways, the functions of light in the hormone-inducible
      growth response still remain elusive. Our cell-based functional and plant-system
      based genetic analyses with biophysical and chemical tools showed that a chemical
      blockade of photosystem (PS) II activity affects ethylene-induced hypocotyl
      response under light. Interestingly, ethylene responsiveness modulates PSII
      activity in retrospect. The lack of ethylene responsiveness-inducible PSII
      inefficiency correlates with the induction of AKIN10 expression. Consistently,
      overexpression of AKIN10 in transgenic plants suppresses ethylene-inducible
      hypocotyl growth promotion under illumination as in other ethylene-insensitive
      mutants. Our findings provide information on how ethylene responsiveness
      dependent photosynthetic activity controls evolutionarily conserved energy sensor
      AKIN10 that fine-tunes EIN3-mediated ethylene signaling responses in organ growth
      under light.

PMID- 28584284
TI  - Erythropoietin ameliorates diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction in vitro and
      in vivo.
AB  - Several studies indicate that erythropoietin (EPO) has remarkable neuroprotective
      effects in various central nervous system disorders, while little is known about
      the effects of EPO in diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction. Therefore, the
      present study aimed to investigate whether EPO ameliorates diabetes-associated
      cognitive dysfunction in vivo and in vitro. We investigated the protective
      effects of EPO on high-glucose (HG)-induced PC12 cell death and oxidative stress.
      The effects of EPO (300 U/kg administered three times a week for 4 weeks) on
      diabetes-associated cognitive decline were investigated in diabetic rats. EPO
      significantly increased cell viability, increased the activity of superoxide
      dismutase, decreased the production of malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen
      species, and decreased the apoptosis rate. Additionally, LY294002, a
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, abolished the protective effects
      of EPO in HG-treated PC12 cells. In diabetic rats, EPO prevented deficits in
      spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze test. The results of real
      time PCR and Western blotting showed that EPO upregulated EPO receptor, PI3K, and
      phosphorylated Akt2 relative to unphosphorylated Akt2 (p-Akt2/Akt2) and
      downregulated glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta). These studies
      demonstrate that EPO is an effective neuroprotective agent in the context of
      diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction and show that this effect involves the
      PI3K/Akt/GSK-3beta pathway.

PMID- 28584285
TI  - Oxygen atoms are critical in rendering THP-1 leukaemia cells susceptible to cold
      physical plasma-induced apoptosis.
AB  - Cold physical plasma has been suggested as a powerful new tool in oncology.
      However, some cancer cells such as THP-1 leukaemia cells have been shown to be
      resistant towards plasma-induced cell death, thereby serving as a good model for
      optimizing plasmas in order to foster pro-apoptotic anticancer effects. A
      helium/oxygen radio frequency driven atmospheric plasma profoundly induced
      apoptosis in THP-1 cells whereas helium, humidified helium, and humidified
      helium/oxygen plasmas were inefficient. Hydrogen peroxide - previously shown as
      central plasma-derived agent - did not participate in the killing reaction but
      our results suggest hypochlorous acid to be responsible for the effect observed.
      Proteomic analysis of THP-1 cells exposed to He/O2 plasma emphasized a prominent
      growth retardation, cell stress, apoptosis, and a pro-immunogenic profile.
      Altogether, a plasma setting that inactivates previously unresponsive leukaemia
      cells is presented. Crucial reactive species in the plasma and liquid environment
      were identified and discussed, deciphering the complexity of plasma from the gas
      phase into the liquid down to the cellular response mechanism. These results may
      help tailoring plasmas for clinical applications such as oxidation-insensitive
      types of cancer.

PMID- 28584288
TI  - Water remediation: A steam nanogenerator.

PMID- 28584286
TI  - Genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy: heritability, and correlates with
      sex, neuropsychiatric conditions and cognition.
AB  - We conducted a genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy using the 'Reading
      the Mind in the Eyes' Test (Eyes Test) in 88,056 research volunteers of European
      Ancestry (44,574 females and 43,482 males) from 23andMe Inc., and an additional
      1497 research volunteers of European Ancestry (891 females and 606 males) from
      the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study. We confirmed a female advantage on the Eyes
      Test (Cohen's d=0.21, P<2.2 * 10-16), and identified a locus in 3p26.1 that is
      associated with scores on the Eyes Test in females (rs7641347, Pmeta=1.58 * 10
      8). Common single nucleotide polymorphisms explained 5.8% (95% CI: 4.5%-7.2%;
      P=1.00 * 10-17) of the total trait variance in both sexes, and we identified a
      twin heritability of 28% (95% CI: 13%-42%). Finally, we identified significant
      genetic correlation between the Eyes Test and anorexia nervosa, openness (NEO
      Five Factor Inventory), and different measures of educational attainment and
      cognitive aptitude.

PMID- 28584290
TI  - More carbon and less salt.

PMID- 28584291
TI  - Teaching nanosafety.

PMID- 28584287
TI  - Rescue of impaired sociability and anxiety-like behavior in adult cacna1c
      deficient mice by pharmacologically targeting eIF2alpha.
AB  - CACNA1C, encoding the Cav1.2 subunit of L-type Ca2+ channels, has emerged as one
      of the most prominent and highly replicable susceptibility genes for several
      neuropsychiatric disorders. Cav1.2 channels play a crucial role in calcium
      mediated processes involved in brain development and neuronal function. Within
      the CACNA1C gene, disease-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms have been
      associated with impaired social and cognitive processing and altered prefrontal
      cortical (PFC) structure and activity. These findings suggest that aberrant
      Cav1.2 signaling may contribute to neuropsychiatric-related disease symptoms via
      impaired PFC function. Here, we show that mice harboring loss of cacna1c in
      excitatory glutamatergic neurons of the forebrain (fbKO) that we have previously
      reported to exhibit anxiety-like behavior, displayed a social behavioral deficit
      and impaired learning and memory. Furthermore, focal knockdown of cacna1c in the
      adult PFC recapitulated the social deficit and elevated anxiety-like behavior,
      but not the deficits in learning and memory. Electrophysiological and molecular
      studies in the PFC of cacna1c fbKO mice revealed higher E/I ratio in layer 5
      pyramidal neurons and lower general protein synthesis. This was concurrent with
      reduced activity of mTORC1 and its downstream mRNA translation initiation factors
      eIF4B and 4EBP1, as well as elevated phosphorylation of eIF2alpha, an inhibitor
      of mRNA translation. Remarkably, systemic treatment with ISRIB, a small molecule
      inhibitor that suppresses the effects of phosphorylated eIF2alpha on mRNA
      translation, was sufficient to reverse the social deficit and elevated anxiety
      like behavior in adult cacna1c fbKO mice. ISRIB additionally normalized the lower
      protein synthesis and higher E/I ratio in the PFC. Thus this study identifies a
      novel Cav1.2 mechanism in neuropsychiatric-related endophenotypes and a potential
      future therapeutic target to explore.

PMID- 28584293
TI  - Expression and functional analysis of the lysine decarboxylase and copper amine
      oxidase genes from the endophytic fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ES026.
AB  - Huperzine A (HupA) isolated from Huperzia serrata is an important compound used
      to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, HupA was reported in various
      endophytic fungi, with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ES026 previously isolated
      from H. serrata shown to produce HupA. In this study, we performed next
      generation sequencing and de novo RNA sequencing of C. gloeosporioides ES026 to
      elucidate the molecular functions, biological processes, and biochemical pathways
      of these unique sequences. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and
      Genomes assignments allowed annotation of lysine decarboxylase (LDC) and copper
      amine oxidase (CAO) for their conversion of L-lysine to 5-aminopentanal during
      HupA biosynthesis. Additionally, we constructed a stable, high-yielding HupA
      expression system resulting from the overexpression of CgLDC and CgCAO from the
      HupA-producing endophytic fungus C. gloeosporioides ES026 in Escherichia coli.
      Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed
      CgLDC and CgCAO expression, and quantitative determination of HupA levels was
      assessed by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry, which
      revealed that elevated expression of CgLDC and CgCAO produced higher yields of
      HupA than those derived from C. gloeosporioides ES026. These results revealed
      CgLDC and CgCAO involvement in HupA biosynthesis and their key role in regulating
      HupA content in C. gloeosporioides ES026.

PMID- 28584294
TI  - Evaluation of the effects of L-carnitine on medaka (Oryzias latipes) fatty liver.
AB  - Lifestyle-related diseases have become a major issue in recent years. The
      increasing incidence of fatty liver underlines the urgency with which the issues
      of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
      (NASH) need to be addressed. L-carnitine is a compound known to transport fatty
      acids into the mitochondria to enhance beta-oxidation-mediated metabolism of
      fats. In this study, the effects of L-carnitine administration on fatty liver of
      medaka (Oryzias latipes) were analysed, to check for disease improvement and
      metabolic changes. Additionally, the effects of the concomitant administration of
      L-carnitine and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) (EPA) were investigated. Findings
      indicated reduced lipid deposition, increase in metabolites associated with beta
      oxidation, and significant reduction in fatty acid levels in the liver, implying
      improvement in fatty liver condition. Concomitant administration of L-carnitine
      and EPA resulted in further benefits, via changes in fatty acid composition in
      the medaka fatty liver model.

PMID- 28584292
TI  - Fundamental transport mechanisms, fabrication and potential applications of
      nanoporous atomically thin membranes.
AB  - Graphene and other two-dimensional materials offer a new approach to controlling
      mass transport at the nanoscale. These materials can sustain nanoscale pores in
      their rigid lattices and due to their minimum possible material thickness, high
      mechanical strength and chemical robustness, they could be used to address
      persistent challenges in membrane separations. Here we discuss theoretical and
      experimental developments in the emerging field of nanoporous atomically thin
      membranes, focusing on the fundamental mechanisms of gas- and liquid-phase
      transport, membrane fabrication techniques and advances towards practical
      application. We highlight potential functional characteristics of the membranes
      and discuss applications where they are expected to offer advantages. Finally, we
      outline the major scientific questions and technological challenges that need to
      be addressed to bridge the gap from theoretical simulations and proof-of-concept
      experiments to real-world applications.

PMID- 28584295
TI  - Membrane Ballooning in Aggregated Platelets is Synchronised and Mediates a Surge
      in Microvesiculation.
AB  - Human platelet transformation into balloons is part of the haemostatic response
      and thrombus architecture. Here we reveal that in aggregates of platelets in
      plasma, ballooning in multiple platelets occurs in a synchronised manner. This
      suggests a mechanism of coordination between cells, previously unrecognised. We
      aimed to understand this mechanism, and how it may contribute to thrombus
      development. Using spinning-disc confocal microscopy we visualised membrane
      ballooning in human platelet aggregates adherent to collagen-coated surfaces.
      Within an aggregate, multiple platelets undergo ballooning in a synchronised
      fashion, dependent upon extracellular calcium, in a manner that followed peak
      cytosolic calcium levels in the aggregate. Synchrony was observed in platelets
      within but not between aggregates, suggesting a level of intra-thrombus
      communication. Blocking phosphatidylserine, inhibiting thrombin or blocking PAR1
      receptor, largely prevented synchrony without blocking ballooning itself. In
      contrast, inhibition of connexins, P2Y12, P2Y1 or thromboxane formation had no
      effect on synchrony or ballooning. Importantly, synchronised ballooning was
      closely followed by a surge in microvesicle formation, which was absent when
      synchrony was blocked. Our data demonstrate that the mechanism underlying
      synchronised membrane ballooning requires thrombin generation acting effectively
      in a positive feedback loop, mediating a subsequent surge in procoagulant
      activity and microvesicle release.

PMID- 28584297
TI  - Increased risk of influenza among vaccinated adults who are obese.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Influenza infects 5-15% of the global population each year, and
      obesity has been shown to be an independent risk factor for increased influenza
      related complications including hospitalization and death. However, the risk of
      developing influenza or influenza-like illness (ILI) in a vaccinated obese adult
      population has not been addressed. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated whether
      obesity was associated with increased risk of influenza and ILI among vaccinated
      adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: During the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 influenza
      seasons, we recruited 1042 subjects to a prospective observational study of
      trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) in adults. A total of 1022
      subjects completed the study. Assessments of relative risk for laboratory
      confirmed influenza and ILI were determined based on body mass index.
      Seroconversion and seroprotection rates were determined using prevaccination and
      26-35 days post vaccination serum samples. Recruitment criteria for this study
      were adults 18 years of age and older receiving the seasonal trivalent
      inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) for the years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.
      Exclusion criteria were immunosuppressive diseases, use of immunomodulatory or
      immunosuppressive drugs, acute febrile illness, history of Guillain-Barre
      syndrome, use of theophylline preparations or use of warfarin. RESULTS: Among
      obese, 9.8% had either confirmed influenza or influenza-like-illness compared
      with 5.1% of healthy weight participants. Compared with vaccinated healthy
      weight, obese participants had double the risk of developing influenza or ILI
      (relative risk=2.01, 95% CI 1.12, 3.60, P=0.020). Seroconversion or
      seroprotection rates were not different between healthy weight and obese adults
      with influenza or ILI. CONCLUSIONS: Despite robust serological responses,
      vaccinated obese adults are twice as likely to develop influenza and ILI compared
      with healthy weight adults. This finding challenges the current standard for
      correlates of protection, suggesting use of antibody titers to determine vaccine
      effectiveness in an obese population may provide misleading information.

PMID- 28584296
TI  - Transcriptome analysis in blood cells from children reveals potential early
      biomarkers of metabolic alterations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The development of effective strategies to prevent childhood obesity
      and its comorbidities requires new, reliable early biomarkers. Here, we aimed to
      identify in peripheral blood cells potential transcript-based biomarkers of
      unhealthy metabolic profile associated to overweight/obesity in children.
      METHODS: We performed a whole-genome microarray analysis in blood cells to
      identify genes differentially expressed between overweight and normal weight
      children to obtain novel transcript-based biomarkers predictive of metabolic
      complications. RESULTS: The most significant enriched pathway of differentially
      expressed genes was related to oxidative phosphorylation, for which most of genes
      were downregulated in overweight versus normal weight children. Other genes were
      involved in carbohydrate metabolism/glucose homoeostasis or in lipid metabolism
      (for example, TCF7L2, ADRB3, LIPE, GIPR), revealing plausible mechanisms
      according to existing biological knowledge. A set of differentially expressed
      genes was identified to discriminate in overweight children those with high or
      low triglyceride levels. CONCLUSIONS: Functional microarray analysis has revealed
      a set of potential blood-cell transcript-based biomarkers that may be a useful
      approach for early identification of children with higher predisposition to
      obesity-related metabolic alterations.

PMID- 28584298
TI  - Role of aquaporin-7 in ghrelin- and GLP-1-induced improvement of pancreatic beta
      cell function after sleeve gastrectomy in obese rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Glycerol is a key metabolite for lipid accumulation in
      insulin-sensitive tissues as well as for pancreatic insulin secretion. We
      examined the role of aquaporin-7 (AQP7), the main glycerol channel in beta-cells,
      and AQP12, an aquaporin related to pancreatic damage, in the improvement of
      pancreatic function and steatosis after sleeve gastrectomy in diet-induced obese
      rats. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Male Wistar obese rats (n=125) were subjected to surgical
      (sham operation and sleeve gastrectomy) or dietary (pair-fed to the amount of
      food eaten by sleeve-gastrectomized animals) interventions. The tissue
      distribution and expression of AQPs in the rat pancreas were analyzed by real
      time PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The effect of ghrelin
      isoforms and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) on insulin secretion,
      triacylglycerol (TG) accumulation and AQP expression was determined in vitro in
      RIN-m5F beta-cells. RESULTS: Sleeve gastrectomy reduced pancreatic beta-cell
      apoptosis, steatosis and insulin secretion. Lower ghrelin and higher GLP-1
      concentrations were also found after bariatric surgery. Acylated and desacyl
      ghrelin increased TG content, whereas GLP-1 increased insulin release in RIN-m5F
      beta-cells. Sleeve gastrectomy was associated with an upregulation of AQP7
      together with a normalization of the increased AQP12 levels in the rat pancreas.
      Interestingly, ghrelin and GLP-1 repressed AQP7 and AQP12 expression in RIN-m5F
      beta-cells. AQP7 protein was negatively correlated with intracellular lipid
      accumulation in acylated ghrelin-treated cells and with insulin release in GLP-1
      stimulated beta-cells. CONCLUSIONS: AQP7 upregulation in beta-cells after sleeve
      gastrectomy contributes, in part, to the improvement of pancreatic steatosis and
      insulin secretion by increasing intracellular glycerol used for insulin release
      triggered by GLP-1 rather than for ghrelin-induced TG biosynthesis.

PMID- 28584299
TI  - Dissociation of body mass index, excess weight loss and body fat percentage
      trajectories after 3 years of gastric bypass: relationship with metabolic
      outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Body weight, body mass index (BMI) and excess weight loss
      (EWL) are the most frequently used measures to analyse bariatric surgery
      outcomes. However, these measurements do not provide accurate information on body
      composition (BC) with body fat (BF), importantly determining the levels of
      cardiometabolic risk factors. Our aim was to analyse the evolution of BC after
      Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) and its influence on the changes of
      cardiometabolic risk factors in comparison to BMI and EWL. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A
      group of 81 obese Caucasian patients (19 males/62 females) aged 44.9+/-1.3 years
      undergoing RYGB between January 2006 and December 2011 was prospectively followed
      up for a period of 3 years. BC was determined by air-displacement
      plethysmography. Visceral adiposity, physical activity and cardiometabolic risk
      factors were measured. RESULTS: BF was markedly (P<0.001) reduced after the first
      year, increasing progressively during the second and third years after RYGB,
      following a different trajectory than body weight, BMI and EWL that decreased up
      to the second year post surgery. Markers of glucose homeostasis decreased during
      the first month and continued to decrease during the first year (P<0.05),
      remaining stabilised or slightly increased between the second and third years
      following RYGB. However, markers of lipid metabolism decreased (P<0.05) markedly
      during the first 12 months, increasing thereafter in parallel to the changes
      observed in BC, with the exception of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, which
      increased progressively throughout the whole period analysed. CONCLUSIONS: The
      adverse switch in the changes in BC between the first and the second years after
      RYGB may underlie the changes observed in cardiometabolic risk factors. Tracking
      of adiposity during the follow-up of bariatric/metabolic surgery yields
      clinically relevant information to better identify patients in need of increased
      lifestyle advice or treatment intensification.

PMID- 28584300
TI  - Duration and degree of adiposity: effect on cardiovascular risk factors at early
      adulthood.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The effect of adiposity dynamics throughout adolescence on
      adult cardiometabolic outcomes is not well known. We aimed to assess the effect
      of duration and degree of adiposity from adolescence to early adulthood on blood
      pressure and insulin resistance at 24 years. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We used data from
      2253 participants evaluated at 13, 17, 21 and 24 years of age in the EPITeen
      cohort, Porto, Portugal. The area under the curve of body mass index (BMIAUC) was
      computed to summarize duration and degree of BMI for the 11-year period. Outcomes
      were systolic blood pressure (SBP) and insulin resistance at 24 years. The
      homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was used as an
      indicator of insulin resistance and the variable was log-transformed.
      Associations between BMIAUC and each outcome were estimated by linear regression
      models. RESULTS: The median BMIAUC was 243.1 (223.9-268.6) kg m-2 in 11 years,
      corresponding to 22.1 kg m-2 on average per year. In crude analyses, both BMIAUC
      and BMI at 24 years were positively associated with SBP (beta=0.096 mm Hg, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.077; 0.115 for BMIAUC; beta=4.616 mm Hg, 95% CI 3.082;
      6.151 for BMI at 24 years) and ln HOMA-IR (beta=0.004, 95% CI 0.003; 0.005 for
      BMIAUC; beta=0.047, 95% CI 0.036; 0.057 for BMI at 24 years). After adjustment
      for confounders and for BMI at 24 years, the magnitude of the association of
      BMIAUC attenuated for both outcomes, mostly for SBP, but the association remained
      statistically significant. Results using standardized variables confirmed that
      both outcomes were more strongly associated with BMI at 24 years than with
      BMIAUC. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the effect of adult attained BMI, cumulative
      exposure to higher BMI throughout adolescence, taking into account duration and
      degree, was also relevant for adult cardiovascular risk factors, mainly for
      insulin resistance.

PMID- 28584301
TI  - High resolution profiling of coral-associated bacterial communities using full
      length 16S rRNA sequence data from PacBio SMRT sequencing system.
AB  - Coral reefs are a complex ecosystem consisting of coral animals and a vast array
      of associated symbionts including the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium, fungi, viruses
      and bacteria. Several studies have highlighted the importance of coral-associated
      bacteria and their fundamental roles in fitness and survival of the host animal.
      The scleractinian coral Porites lutea is one of the dominant reef-builders in the
      Indo-West Pacific. Currently, very little is known about the composition and
      structure of bacterial communities across P. lutea reefs. The purpose of this
      study is twofold: to demonstrate the advantages of using PacBio circular
      consensus sequencing technology in microbial community studies and to investigate
      the diversity and structure of P. lutea-associated microbiome in the Indo
      Pacific. This is the first metagenomic study of marine environmental samples that
      utilises the PacBio sequencing system to capture full-length 16S rRNA sequences.
      We observed geographically distinct coral-associated microbial profiles between
      samples from the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. Despite the geographical and
      environmental impacts on the coral-host interactions, we identified a conserved
      community of bacteria that were present consistently across diverse reef
      habitats. Finally, we demonstrated the superior performance of full-length 16S
      rRNA sequences in resolving taxonomic uncertainty of coral associates at the
      species level.

PMID- 28584302
TI  - CRISPR/Cas9-mediated p53 and Pten dual mutation accelerates hepatocarcinogenesis
      in adult hepatitis B virus transgenic mice.
AB  - The p53 mutation and altered Pten expression are two most common genetic events
      in Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To
      confirm the causative role of p53 and Pten somatic mutation in HCC development,
      we established CRISPR/Cas9-mediated somatic gene disruption via hydrodynamic tail
      vein injection, allowing for in vivo targeting p53 and Pten simultaneously in
      adult HBV transgenic mice. Here we demonstrated that the utility of this approach
      resulted in macroscopic liver tumors as early as 4 months' post injection and
      most tumors harbored both p53 and Pten loss-of-function alterations.
      Immunohistochemical (IHC) and histopathology analysis demonstrated that the
      tumors were positive for Glutamine synthetase (GS), a marker of HCC and
      accompanied with prominent lipid accumulation. The study here indicated that
      CRISPR/Cas9-mediated p53 and Pten somatic mutation accelerated
      hepatocarcinogenesis in adult HBV transgenic mice. This method also provides a
      fast and convenient system for generating mouse model of HCC with HBV infection
      characteristics.

PMID- 28584303
TI  - A New Solid Solution Approach for the Study of Self-Irradiating Damage in non
      Radioactive Materials.
AB  - A new method to produce a model system for the study of radiation damage in non
      radioactive materials is presented. The method is based on homogenously
      dissolving minute amounts of 228Th ions in thin films in a controllable manner
      using a small volume chemical bath deposition technique. This approach is
      demonstrated for PbS films. The properties of the PbS (228Th) solid solution film
      activity were investigated by monitoring the accompanying radioactive processes.
      Electrical resistivity studies were performed and decay-event damage accumulation
      was measured, followed by isochronal annealing which presented two annealing
      stages and another two sub-stages. This is the first report on self-irradiating
      damage studies in IV-VI semiconductors and the resulting films present a novel
      method for the analysis of dilute defect systems in semiconductor thin films.

PMID- 28584305
TI  - Ab-initio study of ReCN in the bulk and as a new two dimensional material.
AB  - First principles total energy calculations have been applied to describe the ReCN
      bulk structure and the formation of ReCN monolayers and bilayers. Results
      demonstrate a strong structural rearrangement in the monolayer due to a reduced
      dimension effect: an increase in the lattice parameter, accompanied with the
      contraction of the distance between the C and N planes. On the other hand, a ReCN
      bilayer has structural parameters similar to those of the bulk. Surface formation
      energies show that the monolayer is more stable than bilayer geometries. Although
      bulk ReCN shows a semiconductor behavior, the monolayer ReCN presents a metallic
      behavior. This metallic character of the ReCN monolayer is mainly due to the d
      orbitals of Re atoms.

PMID- 28584304
TI  - Normalization of adiponectin concentrations by leptin replacement in ob/ob mice
      is accompanied by reductions in systemic oxidative stress and inflammation.
AB  - The circulating concentrations of adiponectin, an antidiabetic adipokine, have
      been shown to be reduced in obesity, in relation to an increase in inflammation.
      The aim of the present work was to assess the effect of leptin replacement on
      adiponectin levels and expression as well as on markers of oxidative stress and
      inflammation in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. Twelve-week-old male mice (n = 7-10
      per group) were treated with either saline (wild type and ob/ob mice) or leptin
      (ob/ob mice) for 18 days. A third group of ob/ob mice was treated with saline and
      pair-fed to the amount of food consumed by the leptin-treated group. Leptin
      replacement restored values of adiponectin (P < 0.001), reduced circulating 8
      isoprostane and serum amyloid A (SAA) levels (P < 0.05 for both), and
      significantly downregulated the increased gene expression of osteopontin (Spp1, P
      < 0.05), Saa3 (P < 0.05), Cd68 (P < 0.01), Il6 (P < 0.01) and NADPH oxidase (Nox1
      and Nox2, P < 0.01) in the perirenal WAT and Spp1 (P < 0.05) in the liver of
      ob/ob mice. In cultured adipocytes from ob/ob mice, leptin increased (P < 0.05)
      the mRNA expression and secretion of adiponectin. We concluded that circulating
      concentrations of adiponectin are positively regulated by leptin and ameliorate
      obesity-associated oxidative stress and inflammation in mice.

PMID- 28584306
TI  - Downregulation of UHRF1 increases tumor malignancy by activating the CXCR4/AKT
      JNK/IL-6/Snail signaling axis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
AB  - UHRF1 (ubiquitin-like, with PHD and RING finger domains 1) plays a crucial role
      in DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling and gene expression and is aberrantly
      upregulated in various types of human cancers. However, the precise role of UHRF1
      in cancer remains controversial. In this study, we observed that hypoxia-induced
      downregulation of UHRF1 contributes to the induction of the epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. By negatively
      modulating UHRF1 expression, we further showed that UHRF1 deficiency in itself is
      sufficient to increase the migratory and invasive properties of cells via
      inducing EMT, increasing the tumorigenic capacity of cells and leading to the
      expansion of cancer stem-like cells. Epigenetic changes caused by UHRF1
      deficiency triggered the upregulation of CXCR4, thereby activating AKT and JNK to
      increase the expression and secretion of IL-6. In addition, IL-6 readily
      activated the JAK/STAT3/Snail signaling axis, which subsequently contributed to
      UHRF1 deficiency-induced EMT. Our results collectively demonstrate that UHRF1
      deficiency may play a pivotal role in the malignant alteration of cancer cells.

PMID- 28584307
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterization of JAZ gene family in upland
      cotton (Gossypium hirsutum).
AB  - Plant JAZ (Jasmonate ZIM-domain) proteins play versatile roles in multiple
      aspects of plant development and defense. However, little is known about the JAZ
      family in allotetraploid upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) so far. In this
      study, 30 non-redundant JAZ genes were identified in upland cotton through genome
      wide screening. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the 30 proteins in cotton JAZ
      family are further divided into five groups (I - V), and members in the same
      group share highly conserved motif structures. Subcellular localization assay
      demonstrated that GhJAZ proteins are localized in the cell nucleus. Quantitative
      RT-PCR analysis indicated that GhJAZs display different expression patterns in
      cotton tissues, and most of them could be induced by Jasmonic (JA). Furthermore,
      some GhJAZ genes are preferentially expressed in cotton ovules and fibers, and
      showed differential expression in ovules of wild type cotton and fiberless mutant
      (fl) during fiber initiation. GhJAZ proteins could interact with each other to
      form homodimer or heterodimer, and they also interacted with some JA signaling
      regulators and the proteins involved in cotton fiber initiation. Collectively,
      our data suggested that some GhJAZ proteins may play important roles in cotton
      fiber initiation and development by regulating JA signaling as well as some fiber
      related proteins.

PMID- 28584308
TI  - Cranioplasty as the return-to-work factor - 112 patients with cranial defects
      treated in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Lodz.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The number of craniectomies and the consequent reconstructive
      procedures has grown during the past decades. Cranial defects and methods of
      their repair could have some influence on work capability of the patients and
      their employability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors analyzed a group of 112
      patients with cranial defects treated in the Department of Neurosurgery at the
      Medical University of Lodz, Poland, in the course of the katamnestic period
      longer than 6 months after reconstructive operation, and observed them between
      February 2008 and February 2015. Their work capability and employment were
      compared, all the patients were interviewed concerning the reasons for not
      working according to the Social Insurance Institution predication procedure.
      RESULTS: Before the cranioplasty, all the patients were capable of working
      without limitations according to biological criteria and 89 of them were
      employed. Twenty-three not working people consisted of 6 pupils, 7 retired and 10
      not working for other reasons. During the period between the craniectomy and the
      cranioplasty, 88 patients were capable of working and only 2 were employed. After
      the reconstruction, 93 were capable of working without limitations and 16 - with
      limitations. Forty-seven were employed during the period of the follow-up, the
      rest of patients consisted of 2 pupils, 13 retired and 50 not working for various
      reasons. CONCLUSIONS: Cranioplasty is a very important factor contributing to
      return to work. This outcome may be seen as having a great social value and be
      added to the functions of cranial repair as protective, esthetic and normalizing
      the intracranial pressure previously described in the literature. Int J Occup Med
      Environ Health 2017;30(5):803-809.

PMID- 28584309
TI  - Screening commercial drivers for obstructive sleep apnea: Validation of STOP-Bang
      questionnaire.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The main aim has been to examine psychometric properties of STOP-Bang
      (snoring, tiredness, observed apnea, high blood pressure, body mass index (BMI),
      age, neck circumference, male gender) scoring model (Serbian translation), an
      obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) screening tool, in a sample of commercial drivers.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: After formal translation, validation was performed on a
      sample of bus and truck drivers evaluating test-retest reliability, construct and
      criterion validity. Overnight polysomnography or cardiorespiratory polygraphy
      were used for OSA diagnosis purposes. RESULTS: One hundred male participants, 24
      62 years old, were included. STOP-Bang classified 69% as potential OSA patients.
      Polysomnography identified OSA in 57% of the sample. Test-retest reliability
      (Cohen's kappa = 0.89) was adequate. STOP-Bang score was significantly correlated
      to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and OSA severity. Sensitivity was 100% for AHI >=
      15, highest specificity was 53.5% (AHI >= 5). CONCLUSIONS: STOP-Bang showed good
      measurement properties, supporting its further use in OSA screening of commercial
      drivers. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;30(5):751-761.

PMID- 28584310
TI  - Effects of external loading on lumbar extension moment during squat lifting.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study has been qualitative investigation
      of the effects of external loading on the lumbar extension moment during squat
      lifting. Findings of this study may allow to determine the factor with the most
      considerable effect on the lumbar extension moment and may help determine the
      lumbar spine risk factors at temporo-spatial coordination during squat lifting.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twelve healthy men volunteered to perform slow and fast
      squat lifting of a box of varied mass (4 kg, 8 kg and 12 kg). The eight-channel
      electromyography was applied to detect the activities of abdominal (rectus
      abdominis and external oblique) and lower back muscles (iliocostalis lumborum and
      multifidus). The lumbar extension moment was calculated using 3D linked segment
      model. Ground reaction forces and kinematic data were recorded using a Vicon
      system with 2 parallel Kistler force-plates. RESULTS: Significant increases (both
      p-values < 0.05) were detected for the peak lumbar extension moment with
      increases in the lift speed and box weight. Moreover, a significant interaction
      (p = 0) was detected between the lift speed and box weight. Furthermore,
      insignificant differences (all p-values > 0.05) were detected between the lumbar
      angles related to the lower trunk muscles peak activities and lumbar angle
      related to the peak lumbar extension moment in most of the lifts. CONCLUSIONS:
      According to the findings, the inertial force of the lifted box is the most
      important factor that affects the lumbar extension moment during squat lifting.
      Moreover, critical lumbar angles are seemingly those ones in which the lifted box
      reaches the peak acceleration. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):665-679.

PMID- 28584311
TI  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in the case of 72-year-old teacher after work-related
      psychological stress. Evolution of left ventricular longitudinal strain - Delayed
      but complete recovery in automated function imaging (AFI).
AB  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) is related to a transient systolic dysfunction of
      left ventricle (LV), accompanied by clinical and electrocardiographic symptoms of
      myocardial ischemia in the absence of hemodynamically significant coronary artery
      disease. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is usually provoked by a psychologically or/and
      physically stressful event which may be related to occupational activities.
      Although visually assessed evolution of LV function is well documented, the data
      concerning strain changes is sparse and various patterns of deformation
      abnormalities are suggested. We have described a 72-year-old woman with chest
      pain related to a lecture given at the meeting of the Senior University,
      fulfilling all the Mayo Clinic criteria of the TC. The longitudinal strain
      analysis with automated function imaging (AFI) documented severe impairment and
      stepwise recovery of regional and global LV contractility. The case described
      confirms that accurate diagnosis, treatment and documenting of functional
      improvement in takotsubo cardiomyopathy may enable the return to occupational
      activities even for elderly persons. Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(4):681-683.

PMID- 28584312
TI  - Occupational exposure to radon for underground tourist routes in Poland: Doses to
      lung and the risk of developing lung cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Radon concentrations for 31 Polish underground tourist routes were
      analyzed. The equivalent dose to the lung, the effective dose and the relative
      risk were calculated for employees of the analyzed routes on the grounds of
      information on radon concentrations, work time, etc. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      relative risk for lung cancers was calculated using the Biological Effects of
      Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VI Committee model. Equivalent doses to the lungs of
      workers were determined using the coefficients calculated by the Kendall and
      Smith. The conversion coefficient proposed by the International Atomic Energy
      Agency (IAEA) in the report No. 33 was used for estimating the effective doses.
      RESULTS: In 13 routes, the effective dose was found to be above 1 mSv/year, and
      in 3 routes, it exceeded 6 mSv/year. For 5 routes, the equivalent dose to lungs
      was higher than 100 mSv/year, and in 1 case it was as high as 490 mSv/year. In
      22.6% of underground workplaces the risk of developing lung cancer among
      employees was about 2 times higher than that for the general population, and for
      1 tourist route it was about 5 times higher. The geometric mean of the relative
      risk of lung cancer for all workers of underground tourist routes was 1.73 (95%
      confidence interval (CI): 1.6-1.87). Routes were divided into: caves, mines, post
      military underground constructions and urban underground constructions.
      CONCLUSIONS: The difference between levels of the relative risk of developing
      lung cancer for all types of underground tourist routes was not found to be
      significant. If we include the professional group of the employees of underground
      tourist routes into the group of occupational exposure, the number of persons who
      are included in the Category A due to occupational exposure may increase by about
      3/4. The professional group of the employees of underground tourist routes should
      be monitored for their exposure to radon. Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(5):687-694.

PMID- 28584313
TI  - Trends in smoking among secondary school and high school students in Poland, 2009
      and 2011.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the age and the most common circumstances for smoking
      initiation along with smoking rates and to evaluate smoking trends for secondary
      and high school students in Poland during 2009 and 2011. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In
      2009, a pilot study was conducted in districts of Poland on high school students
      and their parents. For statistical analysis, correctly completed questionnaires
      from 999 students and 667 parents were qualified for use. After the pilot study,
      a nationwide study of secondary school students and their parents was also
      conducted in 2009. For statistical analysis, correctly completed questionnaires
      were used from 9360 students and 6951 from their parents. The research tool was a
      questionnaire developed by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate. These studies were
      then compared to the nationwide research study from 2011. Questionnaires were
      obtained from a survey of 3548 students from secondary schools and 4423 of those
      from high schools. RESULTS: Smoking initiation usually begins at ages 12-15
      years. Rates of secondary school student smoking at least once in their lifetime
      were about the same level in the surveyed years (2009 - 9%, 2011 - 11%), whereas
      rates of high school student smoking increased (2009 - 15%, 2011 - 24%).
      Moreover, 34% of secondary school student smoked less than once a week, whereas
      in 2009, only 8% of students had done so. For high school students, a 1/2 smoked
      every day; similar to 2009. Students usually smoked in parks, on streets or any
      other open space areas. CONCLUSIONS: From analyzing the smoking trends over the
      survey period it can be concluded that the problem of smoking increases with
      respondent age. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(5):763-773.

PMID- 28584314
TI  - Is ulnar nerve entrapment at wrist frequent among patients with carpal tunnel
      syndrome occupationally exposed to monotype wrist movements?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Association between carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and ulnar nerve
      entrapment at wrist remains controversial. The aim of the study has been to
      investigate the prevalence of Guyon's canal syndrome amongst patients diagnosed
      with the CTS, occupationally exposed to repetitive wrist movements. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The retrospective analysis of 310 patients (268 females, 42 males)
      representing the mean age of 52+/-7 years old hospitalized for the suspected
      occupational CTS was performed. RESULTS: In the analyzed cohort, 4 patients had
      undergone decompression of the Guyon's canal in the right limbs. Nerve conduction
      studies (NCS) in the ulnar nerves performed during the hospitalization of those
      patients did not show any abnormalities. Nerve conduction studies revealed signs
      of the ulnar neuropathy (UN) at the wrist affecting exclusively sensory fibers
      for 6 patients. Only those 4 patients who had undergone the operation suffered
      from clinical symptoms of the UN before the surgery. In the case of the remaining
      patients, despite the NCS changes, signs suggestive of the UN at the wrist were
      not detected. In the case of the patients with the occupational CTS, no signs of
      the ulnar nerve dysfunction were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of ulnar
      nerve entrapment at the wrist among patients with the CTS is lower than that
      already reported. The low prevalence of ulnar involvement (3.2%) for the CTS
      patients in our study may be related to the relatively small number of the CTS
      hands with the severe changes in the NCS and/or other personal factor including
      anatomical variation of the Guyon's canal borders and its contents. Int J Occup
      Med Environ Health 2017;30(6):861-874.

PMID- 28584315
TI  - Social costs of loss in productivity-related absenteeism in Poland.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate indirect costs associated with
      losses in productivity due to sickness absence among registered workers in
      Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data on sick leave durations in 2013 was obtained
      from the Social Insurance Institution (SII) (Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych -
      ZUS). Based on the number of assumptions, this data was used for calculating
      absence durations. The costs of lost productivity were estimated on the basis of
      the measure of gross value added. RESULTS: Estimated losses in productivity due
      to absenteeism in 2013 together accounted for 4.33% of gross domestic product
      (GDP) (17.09 billion euro). In the female population, the total value of losses
      amounted to 9.66 billion euro, but excluding the costs of pregnancy, childbirth,
      and puerperium (2.96 billion euro), it was 6.7 billion euro. In the male
      population, the loss amounted to 7.43 billion euro. The highest overall costs of
      sickness absence based on age were found in the age group of 30-39 years (5.14
      billion euro, including pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium - 1.474 billion
      euro; respiratory diseases - 0.632 billion euro, injuries and poisonings - 0.62
      billion euro). In the group of people aged > 40 years, the highest cost was
      generated by bone-muscular diseases (1.553 billion euro) and injuries and
      poisoning (1.251 billion euro). Higher losses in the productivity of women in
      addition to pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium were due to mental and
      behavioral disorders (0.71 billion euro), diseases of the genitourinary system
      (0.38 billion euro), and neoplasms (0.35 billion euro). At the same time, in men,
      compared to women, we observed higher losses due to injuries and poisoning (1.65
      billion euro), and diseases of musculoskeletal (1.26 billion euro), nervous (0.79
      billion euro), circulatory (0.65 billion euro), and digestive (0.41 billion euro)
      systems. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement and further development of effective strategies
      for prevention of complications of pregnancy and chronic diseases in the
      workplace are necessary. Policies aimed at reduction of sickness absence could
      potentially increase prosperity and the socioeconomic situation in Poland. Int J
      Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(6):917-932.

PMID- 28584316
TI  - Stress at the place of work and cognitive functions among women performing
      intellectual work during peri- and post-menopausal period.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The analysis of the relationship between stress at work and results
      of cognitive functions amongst women, at peri- and post-menopausal age,
      performing intellectual work. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group included
      women, aged 45-66 years old, employed as intellectual workers. Research
      instruments were: the Montreal Cognitive Assessment; computer tests of the CNS
      Vital Signs; the Subjective Work Characteristics Questionnaire, and a
      questionnaire designed by the author. The results were statistically analyzed.
      RESULTS: Nearly a half of respondents experienced high stress at the place of
      work; 1/3 - on the average level, on a low level - every fifth. The largest
      number of respondents experienced stress caused by social contacts. Among a half
      of the women, stress was caused by the lack of awards at work, followed by the
      lack of support. Slightly fewer of them experienced stress caused by the feeling
      of psychological load related to the complexity of work or the feeling of
      uncertainty caused by the organization of work. Every third woman experienced
      stress due to the sense of responsibility or the lack of control. The smallest
      number experienced stress caused by physical arduousness, the sense of threat and
      unpleasant working conditions. The examined women obtained the best results with
      respect to simple attention, the worst results - with respect to the reaction
      time. The results concerning the remaining 9 cognitive functions were ranked in
      the middle of the aforementioned results. The intensity of stress at work and
      factors which caused this stress, negatively correlated with simple attention of
      women in the early peri-menopausal period, while positively correlating with the
      psychomotor and processing speed of women in the late peri-menopausal period.
      Among the post-menopausal women, negative correlations were observed between the
      majority of cognitive functions and the intensity of stress at work, and the
      majority of factors which caused this stress. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive functions of
      the examined women remained within the range of average evaluations, and were
      correlated with stress-inducing factors at the place of work. Int J Occup Med
      Environ Health 2017;30(6):943-961.

PMID- 28584317
TI  - Exposure to self-reported occupational noise and diabetes - A cross-sectional
      relationship in 7th European Social Survey (ESS7, 2014).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Almost nothing is known about the effect of occupational noise on
      diabetes, and this is particularly relevant given the wide spread of both noise
      exposure and diabetes. This study has aimed to determine whether occupational
      noise exposure is associated with higher risk of diabetes in Europe. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: This study is based on 7th European Social Survey (ESS7, 2014) - a multi
      country population-based questionnaire survey, which covered 28 221 Europeans
      aged >= 15 years old. Data on self-reported noise exposure, diabetes and other
      sociodemographic and work-related factors was available. The odds of prevalent
      diabetes were explored using unconditional logistic regression. RESULTS: In the
      total sample (N = 23 486), participants ever exposed to very loud noise had no
      substantive increase in the odds of diabetes (odds ratio (OR) = 1.01, 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 0.78-1.32). There were subgroups with non-significantly
      increased odds: men (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.87-1.45), the elderly (OR = 1.09, 95%
      CI: 0.91-1.31), ethnic minority members (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 0.91-2.62), those
      with secondary education (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.78-1.41) and those living in small
      cities/towns (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.89-1.29). Low-skilled white-collar workers had
      OR = 1.34 (95% CI: 1.09-1.64). Among participants employed during the preceding 5
      years the odds were OR = 1.24 (95% CI: 0.95-1.61). CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported
      occupational noise was not associated with increased odds of prevalent diabetes
      in the total sample. Sensitivity analyses revealed some subgroups with non
      significantly higher odds. Our results suggest that further delve into the
      relationship between occupational noise and diabetes is feasible and warranted.
      Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):537-551.

PMID- 28584318
TI  - Albumin adducts and urinary metabolites resulting from occupational exposure to
      1,5-naphthalene diisocyanate.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: 1,5-Naphthalene diisocyanate (NDI) is used in the plastic industry as
      a curing agent. 1,5-Naphthalene diisocyanate is classified as a sensitizing
      agent. The objective of this study has been to develop biomonitoring methods for
      the evaluation of exposure to NDI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We obtained blood and
      urine samples from a group of 20 male workers exposed to NDI. The workers
      answered a questionnaire about their exposure history, job description, the
      number of years with the company and the time spent working with NDI over the 10
      days of the study. Total plasma, albumin, and urine were analyzed for the
      presence of 1,5-naphthalenediamine (NDA) after acid hydrolysis using gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). RESULTS: 1,5-Naphthalenediamine was
      found in about 60% of the samples obtained from the workers. 1,5
      Naphthalenediamine was obtained after acid hydrolysis of plasma, albumin, and
      urine at levels up to 1.5 pmol NDA/mg of plasma proteins, 1.15 pmol NDA/mg of
      albumin, and 55.3 pmol NDA/ml of urine, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: 1,5
      Naphthalenediamine found in urine correlates best with the plasma levels (r =
      0.91, p < 0.01). The albumin-adduct levels did not correlate with the NDI
      specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) or total IgE present in the workers. The adduct
      and metabolite levels correlate with the air levels of NDI. Int J Occup Med
      Environ Health 2017;30(4):579-591.

PMID- 28584320
TI  - Workplace bullying and mental health among teachers in relation to psychosocial
      job characteristics and burnout.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study has been to assess the associations
      between psychological distress and exposure to workplace bullying, taking into
      account possible influence of adverse psychosocial job characteristics and
      occupational burnout in a sample of Kaunas (Lithuania) teachers. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The study sample included 517 teachers from 13 secondary schools and was
      conducted in 2014. The participants filled in the anonymous questionnaire
      (response rate 71.3%). Twenty-two-item Negative Acts Questionnaire (H. Hoel and
      S. Einarsen) was used for measuring the exposure to workplace bullying, Goldberg
      12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) - psychological distress, Maslach
      Burnout Inventory (MBI) - occupational burnout, Karasek Demand-Control
      questionnaire - psychosocial job stressors. The IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0
      was used for performing the statistical analysis. Associations between
      psychological distress, exposure to workplace bullying, psychosocial job
      characteristics and occupational burnout were analyzed in the logistic regression
      and expressed in terms of odds ratios (OR). Statistical significance was
      determined using the 95% confidence interval (CI) level. RESULTS: Workplace
      bullying was prevalent among Kaunas teachers (occasional - 8.3%, severe - 2.9%).
      Twenty-five percent of teachers suffered from psychological distress. High
      emotional exhaustion was found in 25.6% of them, high depersonalization in 10.6%
      and low personal achievement in 33.7% of cases. Almost a half of respondents
      (47.4%) reported job strain and 59.6% - low social support at work. Occasional
      and severe bullying was associated with psychological distress after adjusting to
      job strain, social support and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal
      accomplishment (adjusted OR was 3.27, 95% CI: 1.56-6.84 for occasional and 4.98,
      95% CI: 1.27-19.62 for severe bullying). CONCLUSIONS: Occasional and severe
      bullying were strong predictors for psychological distress. Burnout did not
      mediate those associations. The effect of job strain and low social support
      decreased to the insignificant level in the final model. Preventive measures are
      necessary to improve psychosocial working conditions in secondary education
      institutions. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):629-640.

PMID- 28584319
TI  - Identification and characteristics of biological agents in work environment of
      medical emergency services in selected ambulances.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Assessment of microbial air quality and surface contamination in
      ambulances and administration offices as a control place without occupational
      exposure to biological agents; based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of
      bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi found in collected samples. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The sampling was done by wet cyclone technology using the Coriolis recon
      apparatus, imprint and swab methods, respectively. In total, 280 samples from 28
      ambulances and 10 offices in Warszawa were tested. Data was analyzed using
      Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Kruskal-Wallis test with alpha = 0.05. P value <=
      0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: The levels of air contamination were
      from 0 to 2.3*10<sup>1</sup> colony-forming unit (CFU)/m<sup>3</sup> for bacteria
      and for yeast and filamentous fungi were from 0 to 1.8*10<sup>1</sup>
      CFU/m<sup>3</sup>. The assessment of office space air samples has shown the
      following numbers of microorganisms: bacteria from 3.0*10<sup>1</sup> to
      4.2*10<sup>1</sup> CFU/m<sup>3</sup> and yeast and filamentous fungi from 0 to
      1.9*10<sup>1</sup> CFU/m<sup>3</sup>. For surface contamination the mean
      bacterial count in ambulances has been between 1.0*10<sup>1</sup> and
      1.3*10<sup>2</sup> CFU/25 cm<sup>2</sup> and in offices - between
      1.1*10<sup>1</sup> and 8.5*10<sup>1</sup> CFU/25 cm<sup>2</sup>. Mean fungal
      count has reached the level from 2.8*10<sup>0</sup> to 4.2*10<sup>1</sup> CFU/25
      cm<sup>2</sup> in ambulances and 1.3*10<sup>1</sup> to 5.8*10<sup>1</sup> CFU/25
      cm<sup>2</sup> in offices. The qualitative analysis has revealed the presence of
      Acinetobacter spp. (surfaces), coagulase - negative Staphylococci (air and
      surfaces), Aspergillus and Penicillium genera (air and surfaces). CONCLUSIONS:
      The study has revealed a satisfactory microbiological quantity of analyzed air
      and surface samples in both study and control environments. However, the presence
      of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in the air and on surfaces in ambulances
      may endanger the medical emergency staff and patients with infection.
      Disinfection and cleaning techniques therefore should be constantly developed and
      implemented. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):617-627.

PMID- 28584321
TI  - Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields in the Polish Armed Forces.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Standard devices used by military personnel that may pose
      electromagnetic hazard include: radars, missile systems, radio navigation systems
      and radio transceivers. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the exposure
      of military personnel to electromagnetic fields. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields was analyzed in the work
      environment of personnel of 204 devices divided into 5 groups (surface-to-air
      missile system radars, aircraft and helicopters, communication devices,
      surveillance and height finder radars, airport radars and radio navigation
      systems). Measurements were carried out at indicators, device terminals, radio
      panels, above vehicle seats, in vehicle hatches, by cabinets containing high
      power vacuum tubes and other transmitter components, by transmission lines,
      connectors, etc. RESULTS: Portable radios emit the electric field strength
      between 20-80 V/m close to a human head. The manpack radio operator's exposure is
      60-120 V/m. Inside vehicles with high frequency/very high frequency (HF/VHF) band
      radios, the electric field strength is between 7-30 V/m and inside the radar
      cabin it ranges between 9-20 V/m. Most of the personnel on ships are not exposed
      to the electromagnetic field from their own radar systems but rather by
      accidental exposure from the radar systems of other ships. Operators of surface
      to-air missile systems are exposed to the electric field strength between 7-15
      V/m and the personnel of non-directional radio beacons - 100-150 V/m.
      CONCLUSIONS: In 57% of military devices Polish soldiers work in the occupational
      protection zones. In 35% of cases, soldiers work in intermediate and hazardous
      zones and in 22% - only in the intermediate zone. In 43% of devices, military
      personnel are not exposed to electromagnetic field. Int J Occup Med Environ
      Health 2017;30(4):565-577.

PMID- 28584322
TI  - Musculoskeletal symptoms and exposure to whole-body vibration among open-pit mine
      workers in the Arctic.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional questionnaire study was carried out at 4 open
      pit mines in Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden as part of the MineHealth
      project. The aim has been to compare the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms
      between drivers of mining vehicles and non-drivers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      mine workers were asked whether they had suffered from any musculoskeletal
      symptoms during the previous 12 months in specified body regions, and to grade
      the severity of these symptoms during the past month. They were also asked about
      their daily driving of mining vehicles. RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed
      by 1323 workers (757 vehicle drivers) and the reported prevalence and severity of
      symptoms were highest for the lower back, followed by pain in the neck, shoulder
      and upper back. Drivers in the Nordic mines reported fewer symptoms than non
      drivers, while for Russian mine workers the results were the opposite of that.
      The daily driving of mining vehicles had no significant association with the risk
      of symptoms. Female drivers indicated a higher prevalence of symptoms as compared
      to male drivers. CONCLUSIONS: The study provided only weak support for the
      hypothesis that drivers of vehicles reported a higher prevalence of
      musculoskeletal symptoms than non-vehicle drivers. There were marked differences
      in the prevalence of symptoms among workers in various enterprises, even though
      the nature of the job tasks was similar. Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(4):553-564.

PMID- 28584323
TI  - Impact of special aviation gymnastics instruments training on selected hormones
      in cadets' blood serum and plasma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study has aimed at investigating the impact of the Special
      Aviation Gymnastics Instruments (SAGI) training scheme on the blood serum
      cortisol, testosterone, insulin, and plasma adrenaline, noradrenaline, and
      dopamine in comparison with a control group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-five
      cadets, aged 20 years old, participated in the study. Cadets were divided into 2
      groups: A (N = 41) - the SAGI-trained, and B (N = 14) - the control group. In
      both groups, blood was the examined material, sampled twice: before the training
      session (BT) and after the training session (AT), at the beginning (training
      session I), during (training session II), and after completion of the SAGI
      training session (training session III). Commercially available kits were used
      for assaying serum cortisol, testosterone, and insulin as well as plasma
      adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine. Cadets' physical fitness was assessed by
      means of Aero-Synthetic Efficiency Tests. RESULTS: In group A, a significant
      decrease in serum cortisol (training session III) and insulin in three training
      sessions AT in comparison with the values BT was seen. A statistically
      significant increase in testosterone and catecholamines was noted in all 3
      training sessions AT in comparison with the values BT. In group B, a
      statistically significant increase in cortisol (training session II),
      testosterone, and catecholamines was observed in all 3 training sessions AT vs.
      the values in training session BT. In group B, serum levels of all assayed
      hormones were higher in training session III than those in group A. CONCLUSIONS:
      In the examined group, the SAGI training produced fewer hormonal changes
      dependent on the intensity and exercise type and physical efficiency improvement
      than in the control group. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):655-664.

PMID- 28584324
TI  - Absorbed doses for patients undergoing panoramic radiography, cephalometric
      radiography and CBCT.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Contemporary dental radiology offers a wide spectrum of imaging
      methods but it also contributes to an increase in the participation of dental
      radiological diagnosis in the patient's exposure to ionizing radiation. The aim
      of this study is to determine the absorbed doses of the brain, spinal column,
      thyroid and eye lens for patients during panoramic radiography, cephalometric
      radiography and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      thermoluminescent dosimetry and anthropomorphic phantom was used for measuring
      the doses. The 15 panoramic, 4 cephalometric and 4 CBCT exposures were performed
      by placing high-sensitivity thermoluminescent detectors (TLD) in 18 anatomical
      points of the phantom. RESULTS: The maximum absorbed dose recorded during
      performed measurements corresponds to the point representing the brainstem and it
      is 10 mGy. The dose value recorded by the TLD placed in the thyroid during CBCT
      imaging in relation to the panoramic radiography differs by a factor of 13.5.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cone beam computed tomography, in comparison with panoramic or
      cephalometric imaging technique, provides higher radiation doses to the patients.
      Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(5):705-713.

PMID- 28584325
TI  - Differences in nutritional status of preschool children in the context of the
      maternal social characteristics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: It is generally accepted that maternal factors are important in
      maintaining the adequate nutritional status of young children. This study was
      aimed at verifying whether mother's socio-demographic (age and relationship
      status) and socio-economic features (education and professional status)
      differentiate the child's nutritional status. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted between April and October 2013. Five hundred thirty
      mothers of preschool children from 5 different regions of Poland were
      interviewed. Mothers were interviewed on their socio-demographic and socio
      economic status. To assess the child's nutritional status, body mass index (BMI)
      z-score and the diet indicators were calculated, such as the percentage of the
      estimated average requirement for energy (%EAR), the percentage of energy coming
      from carbohydrates (%EC), fat (%ET) and proteins (%EP). Percentage of the
      estimated average requirement for energy, %EC, %ET and %EP was obtained from 24-h
      dietary recalls conducted with the mothers. RESULTS: The results showed that
      mother's education and professional status did not differentiate any of the
      indices of the child's nutritional status. However, maternal age and her
      relationship status occurred significant (ANOVA; p < 0.05). Children of younger
      mothers had higher BMI z-score and higher %EC as compared to children of older
      mothers. Moreover, %EAR was higher among children of single mothers and it was
      closer to the recommended nutrition standards as compared to children of mothers
      with a partner. CONCLUSIONS: When a child is diagnosed with any type of
      malnutrition, it is worth assessing various factors that might influence the
      nutritional status, such as child's social background (e.g., maternal factors).
      Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(5):811-821.

PMID- 28584326
TI  - The risk of hearing loss associated with occupational exposure to organic
      solvents mixture with and without concurrent noise exposure: A systematic review
      and meta-analysis.
AB  - This study is a meta-analysis of the previous epidemiological studies which
      investigated the quantitative estimates of the association between independent or
      combined exposure to noise and mixed organic solvents and hearing loss until
      October 2014. Overall, 15 studies with information on 7530 individuals (6%
      female) were included. Having assessed - by puretone audiometry - the adjusted
      odds ratio estimates for the association between solvents mixture exposure and
      the risk of developing hearing loss stood at 2.05 (95% confidence interval (CI):
      1.44-2.9). Similarly, for subjects who were concurrently exposed to noise and
      solvents mixture, an OR of 2.95 (95% CI: 2.1-4.17) was obtained. There was some
      evidence of heterogeneity within each of the 2 exposure groups (p heterogeneity <
      0.001). This heterogeneity was not explained by differences in strength of effect
      between duration of exposure, the number of solvent and exposure index in
      subgroups of solvents mixture exposure. Based on the available data, our analysis
      has provided the evidence of increased risk of developing hearing loss for
      workers exposed to organic solvents even at quite low concentration. Moreover, if
      such exposure is accompanied by noise, it will exacerbate the extent of hearing
      loss. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):521-535.

PMID- 28584327
TI  - Mortality for chronic-degenerative diseases in Tuscany: Ecological study
      comparing neighboring areas with substantial differences in environmental
      pollution.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Environmental pollution is associated with morbidity and mortality
      for chronic-degenerative diseases. Recent data points out a relationship between
      proximity to industrial plants and mortality due to neoplasms. The aim of this
      study has been to compare mortality due to chronic-degenerative diseases in the
      area of Tuscany (Bassa Val di Cecina), Italy, characterized by the presence of 2
      neighboring municipalities similar in terms of size but with substantial
      differences in industrial activities: Rosignano (the site of chemical, energy
      production and waste processing industries) and Cecina (with no polluting
      activity). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Standardized mortality rates for the 2001-2010
      decade were calculated; the data of the whole Tuscany was assumed as reference.
      Environmental levels of pollutants were obtained by databases of the
      Environmental Protection Agency of Tuscany Region (Agenzia Regionale per la
      Protezione Ambientale della Toscana - ARPAT). Maximum tolerated pollutant levels
      set by national laws were assumed as reference. RESULTS: In the whole Bassa Val
      di Cecina, significantly elevated standardized mortality rates due to
      mesothelioma, ischemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases and Alzheimer and
      other degenerative diseases of nervous system were observed. In the municipality
      of Rosignano, a significant excess of mortality for all these groups of diseases
      was confirmed. On the contrary, the municipality of Cecina showed only
      significantly higher mortality rates for ischemic heart diseases. Elevated levels
      of heavy metals in sea water and of particulate matter which contains particles
      of diameter <= 10 mm (PM<sub>10</sub>) and ozone in air were detected in
      Rosignano. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows an excess of mortality for chronic
      degenerative diseases in the area with elevated concentration of polluting
      factories. Proximity to industrial plants seems to represent a risk factor for
      those diseases. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):641-653.

PMID- 28584328
TI  - Spatial and temporal variability of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cases in
      Silesian Voivodeship in years 2006-2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (J84.1 by the International
      Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision
      - ICD-10) is a rare disease of unknown cause. Among many risk factors,
      occupational exposure to metal dust is enumerated. Because of metal industry
      concentration in the Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, an attempt of spatial and
      temporal variability of the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis occurrence evaluation
      in 2006-2010 is made. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research is a descriptive
      analysis. Data of the number of new treated cases and firsttime hospitalization
      due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the years 2006-2010 was obtained from the
      National Health Found (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia - NFZ). We also assessed spatial
      and temporal variability of both rates. Data concerned adults aged >= 19 years
      old inhabited the Silesian Voivodeship. RESULTS: The standardized incidence rate
      due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis increased in the study period and was in the
      range of 2.9-3.8/100 000 population. The highest values of incidence were
      observed in districts localized in the centre of the Silesian Voivodeship.
      CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is not so high in the
      Silesian Voivodeship but the number of newly treated cases slightly increased in
      2006-2010. Spatial and temporal variability of incidence rates for treated
      registered cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the Silesian Voivodeship was
      observed. It could be an effect of occupational exposure to metal dust, however,
      final conclusions need more precise studies to the extent of analytical
      epidemiology. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):593-601.

PMID- 28584329
TI  - Impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted by monitors on changes in the
      cellular membrane structure and protective antioxidant effect of vitamin A - In
      vitro study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The increasing number of devices emitting electromagnetic radiation
      (EMR) in people's everyday life attracted the attention of researchers because of
      possible adverse effects of this factor on living organisms. One of the EMR
      effect may be peroxidation of lipid membranes formed as a result of free radical
      process. The article presents the results of in vitro studies aimed at
      identifying changes in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration - a marker of lipid
      peroxidation and antioxidant role of vitamin A during the exposure of blood
      platelets to electromagnetic radiation generated by liquid-crystal-display (LCD)
      monitors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Electromagnetic radiation emitted by LCD monitors
      is characterized by parameters: 1 kHz frequency and 220 V/m intensity (15 cm from
      display screen). The time of exposure was 30 and 60 min. The study was conducted
      on porcine blood platelets. The samples were divided into 6 groups: unexposed to
      radiation, unexposed + vitamin A, exposed for 30 min, exposed for 30 min +
      vitamin A, exposed for 60 min, exposed for 60 min + vitamin A. RESULTS: The MDA
      concentration in blood platelets increases significantly as compared to control
      values after 60 min of exposure to EMR. A significant decrease in MDA
      concentration after the addition of vitamin A was noticed. In the blood samples
      exposed to EMR for 30 and 60 min the MDA concentration was significantly
      increased by addition of vitamin A. CONCLUSIONS: The results show the possibly
      negative effect of electromagnetic radiation on the cellular membrane structure
      manifested by changes in malondialdehyde concentration and indicate a possible
      protective role of vitamin A in this process. Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(5):695-703.

PMID- 28584330
TI  - The association between rurality and return to work for workers' compensation
      claimants with work-related musculoskeletal injuries: An analysis of workers who
      failed to return to work within typical healing time frames.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study have been to: 1) describe and compare
      urban and rural injured worker populations in Alberta, Canada; 2) identify return
      to-work outcomes in urban and rural populations; 3) examine the relationship
      between geographic location of residence and recovery from work-related
      musculoskeletal injury; and 4) investigate if this relationship is attenuated
      after controlling for other known risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study
      was a secondary analysis utilizing data of a population of musculoskeletal injury
      claimants who underwent clinical/RTW (return to work) assessment between December
      2009 and January 2011 collected by the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta.
      Descriptive statistics were computed for 32 variables and used for comparing
      urban and rural workers. The logistic regression analysis was performed to test
      the association between geographic location of residence and likelihood of return
      to-work. RESULTS: Data on 7843 claimants was included, 70.1% of them being urban
      and 29.9% - rural. Rural claimants tended to have spent less time in formal
      education, have a blue-collar job, have no modified work available, have a
      diagnosed comorbidity, and not been enrolled in a specialized rehabilitation
      program. They were 1.43 (1.12-1.84) times the odds more likely than urban
      claimants to be continuing to receive full disability benefits 90 days after
      their RTW assessment, and 1.68 (1.06-2.67) times the odds as likely to report a
      recurrence of receiving disability benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Rural residence was
      associated with prolonged work disability, even after controlling for age, job
      type, education level, health utilization and other potential confounders.
      Further research is required to explore why injured workers in rural settings
      experience prolonged reception of disability benefits and have greater rates of
      recurrence of receiving disability benefits. Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(5):715-729.

PMID- 28584331
TI  - Occupational exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) in a plastic injection molding factory
      in Malaysia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study has been to assess ambient bisphenol A
      (BPA) levels in workplaces and urine levels of workers and to establish a BPA
      database for different populations in Malaysia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Urine
      samples were collected from plastic factory workers and from control subjects
      after their shift. Air samples were collected using gas analyzers from 5 sampling
      positions in the injection molding unit work area and from ambient air. The level
      of BPA in airborne and urine samples was quantified by the gas chromatography
      mass spectrometry - selected ion monitoring (GCMS-SIM) analysis. RESULTS:
      Bisphenol A was detected in the median range of 8-28.3 ng/m3 and 2.4-3.59 ng/m3
      for the 5 sampling points in the plastic molding factory and in the ambient air
      respectively. The median urinary BPA concentration was significantly higher in
      the workers (3.81 ng/ml) than in control subjects (0.73 ng/ml). The urinary BPA
      concentration was significantly associated with airborne BPA levels (rho = 0.55,
      p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide the first evidence that workers in a
      molding factory in Malaysia are occupationally exposed to BPA. Int J Occup Med
      Environ Health 2017;30(5):743-750.

PMID- 28584332
TI  - Immunological and genotoxic effects of occupational exposure to alpha
      cypermethrin pesticide.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work has been to find out the occupational oxidative
      stress, immunological and genotoxic health hazards among alpha-cypermethrin (CYP)
      pesticide-exposed workers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was
      performed including 200 workers divided into 3 groups according to the level of
      exposure: highly exposed group (50 workers), moderately exposed group (50
      workers) and unexposed group (100 workers). All workers were subjected to
      detailed laboratory investigation for gene P53 mutations, immunological
      parameters as a cluster of differentiation into 3 percentage (CD3%), CD4% and
      CD8% in addition to peripheral blood total leukocytic and platelet counts that
      were measured. Spectrophotometer technique was used for detection of superoxide
      dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase
      (GPx). Air samples were collected with a High Volume Small Surface Sampler for
      measurement of alpha-cypermethrin level. RESULTS: A highly exposed group to the
      alpha-cypermethrin had lower CD4/CD8 as compared to an unexposed group with
      statistically significant difference. As regards gene mutation, exons 5a and 6
      were more frequent among the highly exposed group as compared to no mutation
      among moderately exposed and unexposed groups with significant difference. As
      regards antioxidants; SOD, CAT, GSH and GPx were higher among the unexposed group
      as compared to the highly and moderately exposed group with statistically
      significant difference. Significant negative correlation was found between
      working years and antioxidant parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Repeated exposure to alpha
      CYP may lead to gene mutations, immunological disturbances and oxidative stress.
      Strict safety precautions are required not only for workers but also for public
      users. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):603-615.

PMID- 28584333
TI  - Bacteria contamination of touch surfaces in Polish hospital wards.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of the study has been to evaluate the pathogenic
      bacteria contamination of touch surfaces in hospital wards. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Samples were taken from frequently touched surfaces in the hospital environment
      in 13 units of various types. Culturing was carried out on solid blood agar and
      in growth broth (tryptic soy broth - TSB). Species identification was performed
      using the analytical profile index (API) biochemical testing and confirmed with
      matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI
      TOF-MS) system. RESULTS: The total of 161 samples were taken for the study. Fifty
      two of them, after 24 h of culture on a solid medium, demonstrated bacterial
      growth and further 60 samples had growth after prior multiplication in TSB.
      Overall, 69.6% of samples exhibited growth of 19 bacterial species. Pathogenic
      species - representing indicator organisms of efficiency of hospital cleaning -
      was demonstrated by 21.4% of samples. Among them Acinetobacter spp.,
      Enterocococci spp. and Staphylococcus aureus were identified. Coagulase-negative
      staphylococci (CNS) were predominant. The proportion of various groups of
      bacteria significantly varied in respective hospitals, and in various types of
      wards. Disturbing observation is a large proportion of resistance of isolated CNS
      strains as a potential reservoir of resistance genes. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      show that touch surfaces in hospital units are contaminated by both potentially
      pathogenic and pathogenic bacterial species. In connection with the reported,
      also in Poland, frequent omission or incorrect execution of hand hygiene by
      hospital staff, and probably patients, touch surfaces still constitute important
      reservoir of pathogenic bacteria. Improving hand hygiene compliance of health
      care workers with recommendations is necessary for increasing biological safety
      of hospital environment. Med Pr 2017;68(3):459-467.

PMID- 28584334
TI  - [Nanogold - Biological effects and occupational exposure levels].
AB  - Nanogold has different properties and biological activity compared to metallic
      gold. It can be applied in many fields, such as medicine, laboratory diagnostics
      and electronics. Studies on laboratory animals show that nanogold can be absorbed
      by inhalation and ingestion. It can penetrate deep into the epidermis and dermis,
      but there is no evidence that it is absorbed through the skin. Gold nanoobjects
      accumulate mainly in the liver and spleen, but they can also reach other internal
      organs. Nanogold can cross the blood-brain and blood-placenta barriers.
      Toxicokinetics of nanogold depends on the particle size, shape and surface
      charge. In animals exposure to gold nanoparticles via inhalation induces slight
      changes in the lungs. Exposure to nanogold by the oral route does not cause
      adverse health effects in rodents. In animals after injection of gold nanoobjects
      changes in the liver and lungs were observed. Nanogold induced genotoxic effects
      in cells, but not in animals. No adverse effects on the fetus or reproduction
      were found. There are no carcinogenicity studies on gold nanoparticles. The
      mechanism of toxicity may be related to the interaction of gold nanoobjects with
      proteins and DNA, and it leads to the induction of oxidative stress and genetic
      material damage. The impact of nanostructures on human health has not yet been
      fully understood. The person, who works with nanomaterials should exercise
      extreme caution and apply existing recommendations on the evaluation of
      nanoobjects exposure. The risk assessment should be the basis for taking
      appropriate measures to limit potential exposure to nanometals, including
      nanogold. Med Pr 2017;68(4):545-556.

PMID- 28584335
TI  - [Influence of low frequency magnetic field used in magnetotherapy on interleukin
      6 (IL-6) contents in rat heart and brain].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The human population is exposed ever more frequently to magnetic
      fields (MF). This is due to both technological progress and development of the
      economy as well as to advances made in medical science. That is why the thorough
      understanding and systematized knowledge about mechanisms by which MF exerts its
      effects on living organisms play such an important role. In this context the
      health of MF-exposed people is the subject of particular concern. The aim of the
      study was to evaluate the effect of extremely low frequency magnetic field
      (ELFMF) used in magnetotherapy on the concentration of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in
      rat heart and brain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The male rats were randomly divided
      into 3 experimental groups: group I - control, without contact with magnetic
      field; group II - exposed to bipolar, rectangular magnetic field 40 Hz, induction
      "peak-to-peak" 7 mT 30 min/day for 2 weeks; and group III - exposed to bipolar,
      rectangular magnetic field 40 Hz, 7 mT 60 min/day for 2 weeks. Concentration of
      IL-6 in the heart and brain of animals was measured after MF exposure. RESULTS:
      Exposure to ELFMF: 40 Hz, induction "peak-to-peak" 7 mT 30 min/day for 2 weeks
      caused a significant IL-6 increase in rat hearts compared to the control group (p
      < 0.05) and a non-significant IL-6 decrease in rat brain. The magnetic field
      applied for 60 min resulted in non-significant IL-6 increase in rat hearts
      compared to the control group and significant IL-6 decrease in rat brain (p <
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The influence of magnetic field on inflammation in the body
      varies depending on the MF parameters and the affected tissues or cells. Med Pr
      2017;68(4):517-523.

PMID- 28584336
TI  - [Evaluation of dental X-ray apparatus in terms of patient exposure to ionizing
      radiation].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of X-ray in dental procedures causes exposure of the patient
      to ionizing radiation. This exposure depends primarily on the parameters used in
      tooth examination. The aim of the study was to determine the patients exposure
      and to assess the technical condition of X-ray tubes. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Seventeen hundred dental offices were covered by the questionnaire survey and 740
      questionnaires were sent back. Direct measurements were performed in 100 units by
      using the thermoluminescent detectors and X-ray films. RESULTS: The results
      showed that the most commonly used exposure time is 0.22+/-0.16 s. The average
      entrance dose for the parameters used most commonly by dentists is 1.7+/-1.4 mGy.
      The average efficiency of X-ray tube estimated on the basis of exposures is
      46.5+/-23.7 MUGy/mAs. CONCLUSIONS: The study results indicate that the vast
      majority of X-ray tubes meet the requirements specified in the binding
      regulations. Med Pr 2017;67(4):491-496.

PMID- 28584338
TI  - First signs of elderly gait for women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aims of this study have been twofold: to attempt to reduce the
      number of spatiotemporal parameters used for describing gait through the factor
      analysis and component analysis; and to explore the critical age of decline for
      other gait parameters for healthy women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 106
      women (aged >= 40 years old (N = 76) and <= 31 years old (N = 30)) were evaluated
      using a pressure-sensitive mat (Zebris Medical System, Tubingen, Germany) for
      collecting spatiotemporal gait parameters. RESULTS: The factor analysis
      identified 2 factors - labelled Time and Rhythm - that accounted for 72% of the
      variation in significant free-gait parameters; the principal component analysis
      identified 4 of these parameters that permit full clinical evaluation of gait
      quality. No difference was found between the groups in terms of the values of
      parameters reflecting the temporal nature of gait (Rhythm), namely step time,
      stride time and cadence, whereas significant differences were found for total
      double support phase (p < 0.001). Next, seeking evidence of a critical decline in
      gait, we selected 3 parameters: total double support, stride time and velocity.
      We concluded that the women taking part in the experiment manifested significant
      signs of senile gait after the age of 60 years old, with the first symptoms
      thereof already manifesting themselves after 50 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: We
      show that among 26 spatiotemporal parameters that may be used for characterizing
      gait, at least a half of them may be omitted in the assessment of gait
      correctness; a finding that may be useful in clinical practice. The finding that
      the onset of senile gait occurs in the case of women after the age of 60 years
      old, in turn, may be useful in evaluating the ability for performing types of
      physical work that mainly require ambulation. Med Pr 2017;68(4):441-448.

PMID- 28584337
TI  - [HBV, HCV, and HIV infection prevalence among prison staff in the light of
      occupational risk factors].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Objectives of the study: to assess the occupational risk for blood
      borne infections (BBIs) among prison staff (number/ circumstances of blood
      exposures and preventive methods used), and to estimate the prevalence of
      hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The survey, which included serological testing with
      the use of 3-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) was completed
      on active staff at a correctional facility in Goleniow, Poland, between June-July
      2015. RESULTS: Response rate was 38%, 87 participants (aged 22-64 years, median:
      34 years) agreed to participate. There were 88.5% males, correctional officers
      comprised 87.4% of the participants. Having had >= 1 blood exposure during
      professional career was reported by 28.7% respondents, 8% - sustained it in the
      preceding year. For correctional officers the last blood exposure was caused by a
      hollow-bore needle/razor blade during cell or manual searches. This was not
      reported by 83.3%. Participation rate in an infection control training was 85.1%.
      Hepatitis B virus vaccination uptake was 83.9%. Compliance with glove use was
      75.9%, with protective eyewear - 28.7%. Regular use of both was reported by 9.2%
      of participants. The lack of their availability was the most common reason
      (79.7%) for non-compliance. Anti-HBc (hepatitis B core antigen) total/anti
      HCV/anti-HIV prevalence was 2.3%, 1.1%, and 0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Prison
      staff are at risk for occupational exposures to blood. Reporting of such
      incidents is poor, as well as compliance with personal protective equipment use,
      which place them at risk for acquiring BBIs. Anti-HCV prevalence is similar to
      that observed in the general population, anti-HBc total prevalence is lower,
      possibly due to high vaccination uptake, however, poor response rate limits
      precise prevalence estimates. Med Pr 2017;68(4):507-516.

PMID- 28584339
TI  - [A new method for determination of toluene-2,4-diamine and toluene-2,6-diamine in
      workplace air].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Toluenediamines are harmful substances. Toluene-2,4-diamine has been
      assigned to Carcinogen 1B hazard class, pursuant to Regulation (European
      Community - EC) No. 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and
      toluene- 2,6-diamine to Mutagen 2 hazard class. The main routes of exposure to
      toluene-2,4-diamine and toluene-2,6-diamine are via the respiratory tract and the
      skin. Toluene-2,4-diamine and toluene-2,6-diamine occur in the work environment
      in Poland. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a method for the
      determination of toluene-2,4-diamine and toluene-2,6-diamine that allows the
      simultaneous determination of their concentrations in the workplace air by
      personal sampling. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Determination of toluene-2,4-diamine and
      toluene-2,6-diamine derivatives in acetonitrile were carried out by means of
      liquid chromatography with a diode assay detector. The method involves passing
      amine-containing air through sulfuric acidtreated glass fiber filter, washing out
      the substance settled on the filter, using water and solution of sodium
      hydroxide, followed by the extraction with toluene, reaction with 3,5
      dinitobenzoyl chloride, replacement of dissolvent with acetonitrile and analysis
      of obtained solution. RESULTS: The method developed in this study enables the
      researcher to determine the content of toluene-2,4-diamine and toluene-2,6
      diamine in the presence of other hazardous substances. In the specified measuring
      range (2.88-57.6 MUg/ml) calibration curves are linear. Under the optimized
      conditions of determination, the limit of detection (LOD) values achieved: 51.36
      ng/ml for toluene-2,4-diamine and 52.93 ng/ml for toluene-2,6-diamine.
      CONCLUSIONS: This method makes it possible to determine the concentration of
      toluene-2,4-diamine and toluene-2,6-diamine in the workplace air within the
      specified measuring range of 0.004-0.08 mg/m<sup>3</sup> (for air sample volume
      of 720 l). Med Pr 2017;68(4):497-505.

PMID- 28584340
TI  - How to Produce Translational Research to Guide Arctic Policy.

PMID- 28584341
TI  - Mapping Conservation Strategies under a Changing Climate.

PMID- 28584342
TI  - Skills and Knowledge for Data-Intensive Environmental Research.
AB  - The scale and magnitude of complex and pressing environmental issues lend urgency
      to the need for integrative and reproducible analysis and synthesis, facilitated
      by data-intensive research approaches. However, the recent pace of technological
      change has been such that appropriate skills to accomplish data-intensive
      research are lacking among environmental scientists, who more than ever need
      greater access to training and mentorship in computational skills. Here, we
      provide a roadmap for raising data competencies of current and next-generation
      environmental researchers by describing the concepts and skills needed for
      effectively engaging with the heterogeneous, distributed, and rapidly growing
      volumes of available data. We articulate five key skills: (1) data management and
      processing, (2) analysis, (3) software skills for science, (4) visualization, and
      (5) communication methods for collaboration and dissemination. We provide an
      overview of the current suite of training initiatives available to environmental
      scientists and models for closing the skill-transfer gap.

PMID- 28584343
TI  - An improved interfacial bonding model for material interface modeling.
AB  - An improved interfacial bonding model was proposed from potential function point
      of view to investigate interfacial interactions in polycrystalline materials. It
      characterizes both attractive and repulsive interfacial interactions and can be
      applied to model different material interfaces. The path dependence of work-of
      separation study indicates that the transformation of separation work is smooth
      in normal and tangential direction and the proposed model guarantees the
      consistency of the cohesive constitutive model. The improved interfacial bonding
      model was verified through a simple compression test in a standard hexagonal
      structure. The error between analytical solutions and numerical results from the
      proposed model is reasonable in linear elastic region. Ultimately, we
      investigated the mechanical behavior of extrafibrillar matrix in bone and the
      simulation results agreed well with experimental observations of bone fracture.

PMID- 28584344
TI  - Regional anaesthesia in breast cancer: Benefits beyond pain.

PMID- 28584345
TI  - Anaesthesia for electroconvulsive therapy: An overview with an update on its role
      in potentiating electroconvulsive therapy.
AB  - Despite advances in pharmacotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains a
      mainstay treatment option in psychiatry since its introduction in 1930s. It can
      be used primarily in severe illnesses when there is an urgent need for treatment
      or secondarily after failure or intolerance to pharmacotherapy. The 'unmodified'
      technique of ECT was practised initially, with a high incidence of
      musculoskeletal complications. Several modifications including general
      anaesthesia and muscle relaxation are used to increase the safety and patient
      acceptability of ECT. Various anaesthetic techniques including medications are
      considered to provide adequate therapeutic seizure, simultaneously controlling
      seizure-induced haemodynamic changes and side effects. A brief review of
      literature on choice of these anaesthetic techniques is discussed. This article
      is intended to reinforce the knowledge of clinicians, who may have limited
      exposure to ECT procedure. Importance is given to the recent updates on the role
      of induction agents in potentiating therapeutic response to ECT in psychiatric
      disorders.

PMID- 28584346
TI  - Analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided paravertebral block versus serratus plane
      block for modified radical mastectomy: A randomised, controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Modified radical mastectomy (MRM) may be associated with
      severe post-operative pain, leading to chronic pain syndrome. We compared the
      post-operative analgesic profile of two ultrasound-guided nerve blocks:
      Paravertebral block (PVB) and serratus plane block (SPB). METHODS: This double
      blind, randomised study was conducted on fifty adult females, scheduled for MRM
      with axillary dissection. After inducing general anaesthesia with intravenous
      midazolam 1 mg, fentanyl 1.5 mcg/kg, propofol 1-2 mg/kg and vecuronium 0.1 mg/kg,
      patients were administered either ultrasound-guided thoracic PVB at T4 (n = 25)
      or SPB at 5th rib (n = 25) with 20 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine, both as a single level
      injection. Time to first rescue analgesia and morphine consumption in 4, 6, 24,
      48 and 72 h by PCA pump, visual analogue scale score and any adverse effects were
      recorded. Quantitative variables were compared using the unpaired t-test or the
      Mann-Whitney U test between the two groups. Qualitative variables were compared
      using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The duration of
      analgesia (mean +/- Standard deviation [SD]) was significantly longer in the PVB
      group compared to SPB group (346 +/- 57 min vs. 245.6 +/- 58 min, P < 0.001). The
      post-operative 24 h morphine consumption (mean +/- SD) was significantly higher
      in the SPB group (9.7 +/- 2.1 mg) compared to PVB group (6.5 +/- 1.5 mg) (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided SPB is an alternative analgesic technique
      to thoracic PVB for MRM although PVB provides a longer duration of analgesia.

PMID- 28584347
TI  - Anaphylaxis during anaesthesia: Indian scenario.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Anaphylaxis during anaesthesia is a rare but serious
      problem. In contrast to the developed countries where databases of
      perianaesthetic anaphylaxis are preserved, none exist in India. We conducted a
      survey amongst Indian anaesthesiologists to study the incidence and aetiology of
      anaphylaxis during anaesthesia in India. METHODS: A written questionnaire
      comprising 20 items was mailed electronically or distributed personally to 600
      randomly selected Indian anaesthesiologists. The responses were compiled and
      analysed. RESULTS: We received responses from 242 anaesthesiologists. One hundred
      and sixty-two (67%) anaesthesiologists had encountered anaphylaxis during
      anaesthesia. Anaesthetic drugs led to 40% of reactions, and 60% of reactions were
      attributed to non-anaesthetic drugs. Opioids were the most common anaesthetic
      drugs implicated in anaphylaxis during anaesthesia, and non-depolarising muscle
      relaxants were the second most commonly implicated agents. Colloids, antibiotics
      and blood transfusion were the common non-anaesthetic agents thought to be
      responsible for anaphylactic reactions during anaesthesia. There were five deaths
      due to anaphylaxis during anaesthesia. Only 10% of anaesthesiologists ordered for
      allergy testing subsequently though 38% of anaesthesiologists had access to
      allergy testing facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Our survey reveals that two-thirds of
      participating Indian anaesthesiologists had witnessed anaphylaxis during
      anaesthesia. Commonly implicated anaesthetic drugs were opioids and non
      depolarising muscle relaxants while colloids, antibiotics and blood transfusion
      were the common non-anaesthetic agents causing anaphylactic reactions during
      anaesthesia. Further, our survey reveals low utilisation and paucity of referral
      allergy centres to investigate suspected cases of anaphylaxis during anaesthesia.

PMID- 28584348
TI  - Difficulty in inserting left double-lumen endobronchial tubes at the cricoid
      level in small-statured women: A retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Left double-lumen endobronchial tube (DLT) sizes are
      selected using tracheal diameters and left mainstem bronchial diameters (LMBDs)
      determined from chest radiographs or computed tomography (CT) scans. In Western
      women, 35-Fr or 37-Fr DLTs are often selected. However, difficulties can be
      encountered when inserting 32-Fr or 35-Fr DLTs in Japanese women. We investigated
      success rates for 32-Fr or 35-Fr DLT insertion in Japanese women and determined
      the causes of unsuccessful DLT insertion. METHODS: We searched anaesthesia
      records of Japanese women aged >=20 years who underwent thoracic surgery with 32
      Fr or 35-Fr DLTs between April 2010 and March 2015 in our hospital. In the
      successful group (SG), patients were intubated using the initially selected DLTs.
      By contrast, in the unsuccessful group (UG), the DLT size had to be changed. The
      Mann-Whitney U-test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare groups. RESULTS:
      The SG included 149 (96.1%) of 155 cases of 32-Fr DLT use and 119 (95.2%) of 125
      cases of 35-Fr DLT use. Patient height was significantly lower in the UG than in
      the SG for the 35-Fr DLT (P = 0.0036). In seven of 12 UG patients (three for 32
      Fr and four for 35-Fr), the transverse diameters of cricoid cartilages were
      smaller than the DLTs' tracheal diameters, thereby preventing passage through the
      cricoid cartilages. CONCLUSION: Along with LMBDs, transverse diameters of cricoid
      cartilages based on CT scans or ultrasonogram findings may help in selecting the
      appropriate left DLT size.

PMID- 28584349
TI  - Comparison of actual and ideal body weight for selection of appropriate size of
      ProSealTM laryngeal mask airway in overweight and obese patients: A prospective,
      randomised study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The ProSealTM laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) has advantages of
      providing better cuff seal and the presence of a gastric drain tube. The
      manufacturer recommends actual body weight (ABW) for size selection. Pharyngeal
      area reduces with increase in body mass index (BMI); hence, in overweight
      patients, PLMA selected on ABW may not fit well. We hypothesised that the ideal
      body weight (IBW) would be more appropriate in size selection of PLMA. METHODS:
      This randomised, single-blind study included 124 patients of 20-60 years and
      American Society of Anesthesiologists Class I-II, with BMI >25. Patients were
      randomly divided into two groups. In Group ABW, PLMA was selected based on ABW
      (62 patients) and in Group IBW, PLMA was selected based on IBW (62 patients). The
      primary outcome was the first-attempt insertion success rate. Oropharyngeal air
      leaks, gastric air leaks, drain tube air leaks, insertion difficulty scores and
      postoperative complications were assessed. Fibre-optic view (Grade I-IV) was
      assessed for proper placement by a blinded assessor. Statistical analyses were
      performed using Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: First-attempt
      insertion success rate and overall insertion success rates were similar in both
      the groups. Group IBW patients had significantly less resistance during
      insertion, lower peak airway pressures, successful nasogastric tube insertions,
      better fibre-optic views and less post-operative complications. Oropharyngeal
      leak pressure and instrumentation used for insertion were comparable. CONCLUSION:
      IBW is preferable for the size selection of the PLMA in overweight and obese
      patients compared to the ABW.

PMID- 28584350
TI  - A randomised comparative study of Miller laryngoscope blade versus Oxiport(r)
      Miller laryngoscope blade for neonatal and infant intubations.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Neonates and infants are prone to oxygen desaturation during
      the induction of general anaesthesia. Pharyngeal oxygen insufflation has been
      shown to delay the onset of desaturation and hypoxaemia during apnoea. We tested
      the hypothesis that deep laryngeal oxygenation with Oxiport(r) Miller blade would
      delay the onset of desaturation compared to laryngoscopy without supplemental
      oxygen (Miller blade). METHODS: One hundred neonates and infants undergoing
      general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation for surgery were recruited and
      randomly assigned to one of the two groups: Miller or Oxiport group (laryngoscopy
      performed with Miller or Oxiport(r) blade, respectively). Primary outcome measure
      was the lowest oxygen saturation (SpO2) attained during intubation. Secondary
      outcomes were the incidence of severe desaturation (SpO2< 85%), correlation
      between SpO2and time to intubation in each group. Pearson's correlation
      coefficient was used to measure the correlation between time to intubation and
      desaturation in each group. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
      RESULTS: Data from 95 patients were available for the final analysis: Miller
      group (n = 48) and Oxiport group (n = 47). Mean lowest SpO2was 95.9% +/- 5.75% in
      Miller group and 97.55% +/- 2.93% in Oxiport group (P = 0.049). Correlation
      between time to intubation and SpO2was -0.110; P = 0.459 in Miller group and 
      0.468; P = 0.001 in Oxiport group. Severe desaturation occurred in 12.5% patients
      in Miller group and none in Oxiport group. CONCLUSION: Apnoeic laryngeal oxygen
      insufflation with Oxiport(r) laryngoscope blade decreases the incidence of severe
      desaturation during neonatal and infant intubations.

PMID- 28584351
TI  - The effects of dexmedetomidine and magnesium sulphate in adult patients
      undergoing endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal resection of pituitary adenoma:
      A double-blind randomised study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Transnasal transsphenoidal resection of pituitary tumours is
      associated with blood loss and wide fluctuations in haemodynamic parameters. The
      aim of the present study was to compare the effect of dexmedetomidine and
      magnesium sulphate during the transsphenoidal resection of pituitary tumours.
      METHODS: The study was a double-blind, randomised study and included 152 patients
      classified randomly into two groups: Group D: Dexmedetomidine was given as a
      loading dose 1 MUg/kg over 10 min before induction followed by an infusion at 0.5
      MUg/kg/h during the surgery. Group M: Magnesium sulphate was given as loading
      dose of 50 mg/kg over 10 min followed by an infusion at 15 mg/kg/h during the
      surgery. The systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressures, in addition
      to the amount of blood loss were measured at specific timepoints. Data were
      described in terms of mean +/- standard deviation, median, frequencies, 95%
      confidence of interval of mean and percentages. RESULTS: Mean bleeding score was
      lower in Group D than Group M (1.36 +/- 0.48 vs. 3.05 +/- 0.65, respectively; P =
      0.002). Mean blood loss was lower in Group D (157.43 +/- 48.79 ml vs.299.47 +/-
      77.28 ml in Group M; P < 0.001)Heart rate, mean arterial pressure, fentanyl
      requirements, end-tidal sevoflurane concentration, and extubation and emergence
      times were lower, while incidence of bradycardia and hypotension were higher in
      Group D. CONCLUSIONS: During transsphenoidal pituitary resection,
      dexmedetomidine, compared to magnesium, is associated with lower blood loss and
      better operating conditions but with more hypotension and bradycardia.

PMID- 28584352
TI  - Intravenous clonidine as a part of balanced anaesthesia for controlled
      hypotension in functional endoscopic sinus surgery: A randomised controled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Controlled hypotension with balanced anaesthesia minimises
      blood loss. This study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous
      clonidine as a single bolus dose to establish controlled hypotension during
      functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). METHODS: This randomised, double
      blind, placebo-controlled study was done in a tertiary hospital in India. Sixty
      American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II patients (18-65
      years) undergoing FESS were randomly allocated to one of the two groups. Placebo
      group (group A, n = 30) received sterile water whereas the clonidine group (group
      B, n = 30) received 3MUg/kg of clonidine intravenously, 30 min prior to induction
      of anaesthesia. The primary outcome was to achieve a target mean arterial blood
      pressure (MAP) of 55-65 mmHg intraoperatively. The secondary outcomes measured
      were requirement of additional fentanyl and metoprolol, intra-operative blood
      loss, surgeon's opinion on the surgical field, pain, sedation score and
      complications requiring treatment. RESULTS: Target MAP was easily achieved in
      clonidine group as against the placebo group (P < 0.001). Significant reduction
      in intra-operative blood loss (P = 0.0449), a better surgical site scoring (P =
      0.02), less requirement of additional hypotensive drugs and good analgesia (P =
      0.01) were seen in clonidine group. The complication rates were similar in both
      the groups. CONCLUSION: Clonidine is effective in achieving controlled
      hypotension in patients undergoing FESS. It reduces intra-operative blood loss,
      requirement of additional hypotensive drugs, improves the surgical field and
      offers good analgesia without significant side effects.

PMID- 28584353
TI  - Lactate/pyruvate monitoring during carotid endarterectomy under general
      anaesthesia versus cervical plexus block: A randomised controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) reduces the risk of stroke in
      patients with significant carotid stenosis and may be performed under general
      anaesthesia (GA) or regional anaesthesia (RA). This study aimed to compare RA and
      GA with regard the jugular venous bulb blood lactate and pyruvate levels.
      METHODS: This randomised-controlled trial was done between October-2013 and
      September-2015. Thirty-six patients were randomised into either GA or RA groups,
      with six excluded after randomisation. In the RA group, combined deep and
      superficial cervical plexus blocks were performed. In the GA group, anaesthesia
      was induced with propofol and fentanyl. In both groups, monitoring of
      neurological function was done. Sampling of the contralateral jugular bulb blood
      was done. The main outcome measures were lactate and pyruvate in the jugular
      venous blood. For comparing categorical data, Chi-square test was used, and for
      the numerical variables, t-test was used. RESULTS: Demographics were comparable
      in the two Groups. Serum lactate and pyruvate levels were higher in the GA group
      than RA group. At 120 min under anaesthesia, lactate and pyruvate levels under RA
      vs. GA, respectively were 0.76+/-0.03 mEq/L vs. 1.14+/-0.06, p-0.001 mEq/L, and
      0.08+/- 0.00 mEq/L vs. 0.10+/-0.01 mEq/L, p=0.006. Lactate/ pyruvate ratios were
      normal in both groups. The mean blood pressure was significantly lower in the GA
      group during anaesthesia. CONCLUSION: In patients undergoing Carotid
      endarterectomy, serum levels of both lactate and pyruvate were higher under
      general versus regional anaesthesia.

PMID- 28584354
TI  - Acute unilateral post-operative submandibular sialadenitis following posterior
      cranial fossa surgery.
AB  - Extreme degree of rotation and flexion of the head during posterior fossa
      surgeries can lead to acute post-operative submandibular sialadenitis that can
      cause respiratory compromise. Identification of this problem is vital to prevent
      deterioration in the early post-operative period. This condition responds well to
      conservative management provided airway obstruction is taken care of. We discuss
      a case of a 63-year-old female, with a left side vestibular schwannoma who
      developed airway obstruction in post-operative period due to swelling of right
      submandibular gland. Various possible mechanisms leading to this condition and
      related literature are briefy reviewed.

PMID- 28584355
TI  - Perioperative sublingual levodopa in Parkisnon's Disease: A useful alternative!
AB  - Timely administration of dopamine agonists is of the essence in Parkinson's
      disease. The perioperative period especially for abdominal surgeries under
      general anaesthesia poses a challenge to oral drug administration. Alternatives
      such as rotigotine patches and subcutaneous apomorphine administration have been
      described but unavailability restricts their use. Sublingual administration of
      tablet levodopamine as an alternative worked well in our patients and we would
      like to describe the same.

PMID- 28584356
TI  - Role of electromyography endotracheal tube in preventing recurrent laryngeal
      nerve injury during thyroid surgery: A case reportAirway trauma during difficult
      intubation... from the frying pan into the fire?

PMID- 28584357
TI  - Airway trauma during difficult intubation... from the frying pan into the fire?

PMID- 28584358
TI  - Empagliflozin: Novel antidiabetes and pro-cardiac drug.

PMID- 28584359
TI  - Regional anaesthesia in a patient with aortic stenosis for bladder tumour
      resection.

PMID- 28584360
TI  - Intra-operative carcinoid crisis: Revised anaesthesia management.

PMID- 28584361
TI  - Knotted epidural catheter in an infant: A case report.

PMID- 28584362
TI  - Facial skin injury caused by acrylate-based adhesive tapes in a post-menopausal
      patient: A preventable cause.

PMID- 28584363
TI  - New anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents in perioperative period:
      Recommendations and controversies!

PMID- 28584364
TI  - The Great Indian Epidemic of Superficial Dermatophytosis: An Appraisal.

PMID- 28584366
TI  - Biostatistics Series Module 9: Survival Analysis.
AB  - Survival analysis is concerned with "time to event" data. Conventionally, it
      dealt with cancer death as the event in question, but it can handle any event
      occurring over a time frame, and this need not be always adverse in nature. When
      the outcome of a study is the time to an event, it is often not possible to wait
      until the event in question has happened to all the subjects, for example, until
      all are dead. In addition, subjects may leave the study prematurely. Such
      situations lead to what is called censored observations as complete information
      is not available for these subjects. The data set is thus an assemblage of times
      to the event in question and times after which no more information on the
      individual is available. Survival analysis methods are the only techniques
      capable of handling censored observations without treating them as missing data.
      They also make no assumption regarding normal distribution of time to event data.
      Descriptive methods for exploring survival times in a sample include life table
      and Kaplan-Meier techniques as well as various kinds of distribution fitting as
      advanced modeling techniques. The Kaplan-Meier cumulative survival probability
      over time plot has become the signature plot for biomedical survival analysis.
      Several techniques are available for comparing the survival experience in two or
      more groups - the log-rank test is popularly used. This test can also be used to
      produce an odds ratio as an estimate of risk of the event in the test group; this
      is called hazard ratio (HR). Limitations of the traditional log-rank test have
      led to various modifications and enhancements. Finally, survival analysis offers
      different regression models for estimating the impact of multiple predictors on
      survival. Cox's proportional hazard model is the most general of the regression
      methods that allows the hazard function to be modeled on a set of explanatory
      variables without making restrictive assumptions concerning the nature or shape
      of the underlying survival distribution. It can accommodate any number of
      covariates, whether they are categorical or continuous. Like the adjusted odds
      ratios in logistic regression, this multivariate technique produces adjusted HRs
      for individual factors that may modify survival.

PMID- 28584367
TI  - Methodology Series Module 9: Designing Questionnaires and Clinical Record Forms -
      Part II.
AB  - This article is a continuation of the previous module on designing questionnaires
      and clinical record form in which we have discussed some basic points about
      designing the questionnaire and clinical record forms. In this section, we will
      discuss the reliability and validity of questionnaires. The different types of
      validity are face validity, content validity, criterion validity, and construct
      validity. The different types of reliability are test-retest reliability, inter
      rater reliability, and intra-rater reliability. Some of these parameters are
      assessed by subject area experts. However, statistical tests should be used for
      evaluation of other parameters. Once the questionnaire has been designed, the
      researcher should pilot test the questionnaire. The items in the questionnaire
      should be changed based on the feedback from the pilot study participants and the
      researcher's experience. After the basic structure of the questionnaire has been
      finalized, the researcher should assess the validity and reliability of the
      questionnaire or the scale. If an existing standard questionnaire is translated
      in the local language, the researcher should assess the reliability and validity
      of the translated questionnaire, and these values should be presented in the
      manuscript. The decision to use a self- or interviewer-administered, paper- or
      computer-based questionnaire depends on the nature of the questions, literacy
      levels of the target population, and resources.

PMID- 28584365
TI  - Use of Topical Corticosteroids in Dermatology: An Evidence-based Approach.
AB  - Topical corticosteroids (TCs) are the pillars of dermatotherapeutics. These drugs
      are the "magic molecules," provided they are used judiciously and appropriately,
      following a rational prescription. On exhaustive literature search in multiple
      databases, we found a significant evidence favoring the use of TCs in atopic
      eczema, localized vitiligo, psoriasis, chronic hand eczema, and localized bullous
      pemphigoid. However, contrary to conventional wisdom, we did not find any high
      level scientific evidence in support of prescribing TCs in cutaneous lichen
      planus, sarcoidosis, and seborrhoeic dermatitis. Besides, evidence clearly
      advocates judicious use of mild-to-moderate corticosteroids (if required) in
      pregnancy and lactation and there is no risk of any fetal abnormality.

PMID- 28584368
TI  - Pathophysiology of Autoimmune Bullous Diseases: Nature Versus Nurture.
AB  - Pemphigus and pemphigoid are the prototypical immunobullous diseases. Although it
      has been well established that they are caused by deposition of autoreactive
      antibodies directed against adherence proteins within the skin, the specific
      genetic and environmental factors leading to development of these diseases
      continue to be an area of investigation. Herein, we discuss several of the
      potential environmental triggers that may induce patients to develop
      immunobullous diseases including medications, viral infections, UV exposure or
      other radiation injury and dietary factors. In addition, the potential genetic
      and immunologic mechanisms contributing to the pathogenesis of pemphigus and
      pemphigoid will be reviewed. The multifactorial nature of these diseases
      contributes to their complexity and highlights the importance of a detailed
      personal and family history when caring for these patients.

PMID- 28584369
TI  - Advanced Diagnostic Techniques in Autoimmune Bullous Diseases.
AB  - Autoimmune blistering diseases are diverse group of conditions characterized by
      blisters in the skin with or without mucosal lesions. There may be great degree
      of clinical and histopathological overlap; hence, advanced immunological tests
      may be necessary for more precise diagnosis of these conditions. Direct
      immunofluorescence microscopy is the gold standard tests to demonstrate the
      tissue-bound antibodies and should be done in all cases. Magnitude of antibody
      level in patient' serum can be assessed by indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. In this article we have reviewed the various
      techniques that are available in the diagnosis of autoimmune blistering diseases.

PMID- 28584370
TI  - Counseling in Pemphigus.
AB  - Pemphigus is a chronic, potentially life threatening, autoimmune intraepidermal
      blistering disease affecting the skin and the mucous membrane. Pemphigus may have
      profound impact on the quality of life in the affected patients. Counselling and
      adjuvant psychotherapy may be beneficial at least in few patients and should be
      considered as a part of multidisciplinary approach.

PMID- 28584371
TI  - Shifting Focus in the Therapeutics of Immunobullous Disease.
AB  - Therapeutics of autoimmune bullous disease has seen a major shift of focus from
      more global immunosuppression to targeted immunotherapy. Anti CD 20 monoclonal
      antibody Rituximab revolutionized the therapeutics of autoimmune bullous disease
      particularly pemphigus. Though it is still being practiced off-label, evidences
      in the form of RCT and meta analysis are now available. Other novel anti CD 20
      monoclonal antibodies like ofatumumab, veltuzumab, and ocrelizumab, tositumomab
      or obinutuzumab/GA101 may add to the therapeutic options in coming days. Beyond
      anti CD 20 monoclonal antibodies other options that show promise at least in
      select scenario are omalizumab, TNF inhibitors plasmapheresis and intravenous
      immunoglobulin. The present article will discuss the role of rituximab and other
      newer therapeutics in the treatment of autoimmune blistering disease, especially
      pemphigus and suggests their positions in the therapeutic ladder.

PMID- 28584372
TI  - Hypersensitive Reaction to Tattoos: A Growing Menace in Rural India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased enthusiasm toward newer fashion trends among rural India
      along with the lack of government regulation has led to increased tattoo
      reactions. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to describe various clinical
      manifestations of hypersensitive reactions to tattoo ink reported at a tertiary
      care hospital in Mandya district. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational study
      was carried out over a period of 1 year from June 2014 to May 2015 at Mandya
      Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya. All the patients reporting with allergic
      reaction due to tattooing were included in the present study after obtaining
      informed consent. Transient acute inflammatory reaction, infections, and skin
      diseases localized on tattooed area were excluded from this study. A detailed
      history regarding the onset, duration and color used for tattooing were
      collected. Cutaneous examination and biopsy was to done to know the type of
      reaction. RESULTS: Fifty cutaneous allergic reactions were diagnosed among 39
      patients. Mean age of subjects was 22 years and mean duration before the
      appearance of lesion was 7 months. Common colors associated with reactions were
      red (53.9%), black (33.3%), green (5.1%), and multicolor (7.7%). Itching was the
      predominant symptom. Skin lesions mainly consisted of lichenoid papules and
      plaques, eczematous lesions, and verrucous lesions. Lichenoid histopathology
      reaction was the most common tissue allergic reaction. CONCLUSION: Increasing
      popularity of tattooing among young people has predisposed to parallel increase
      in adverse reactions. Red pigment is most common cause of allergic reaction in
      the present study, and lichenoid reaction is the most common reaction.

PMID- 28584373
TI  - Prospective Analysis of Skin Findings in Surgical Critically Ill Patients
      Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are places where critically ill patients
      are managed. AIM: We aimed to investigate skin disorders that developed in
      critically ill surgical patients during their stay in the ICU. METHODS: The
      prevalence of dermatological disorders and factors affecting their clinical
      features was prospectively analyzed in surgical ICU patients. We recorded age,
      sex, type of ICU, comorbidities, skin disorders, time to consultation, duration
      of ICU stay, and mortality rate. RESULTS: Our study included 605 patients (mean
      age of 60.1 +/- 20.2 years; 56.4% males). Seventy-three (12.1%) patients were
      consulted with the Dermatology Department, among which 28.8% had infectious
      dermatological lesions, 26% dermatoses, and 45.2% drug reactions. The most common
      infectious dermatological disorder was wound infection (55.6%), the most common
      drug reaction was maculopapular drug eruption (75.8%), and the most common
      dermatosis was frictional blisters (47.4%). Multiple comorbidities, hypertension,
      diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, Parkinson disease, and stroke
      increased dermatological disorders (P < 0.05). The consulted patients had a
      median ICU stay of 7 days (range 2-53 days); consultation was significantly more
      common when it exceeded 10 days (74% vs. 26%, P < 0.05). The consulted patients
      died more commonly (P < 0.05). Infectious dermatological disorders and dermatoses
      were more common in patients older and younger than 50 years, respectively (P <
      0.05). Dermatoses were more common among women (P < 0.05). The median time to
      consultation was 6 (2-30) days; it was longest for dermatological infections and
      shortest for dermatoses (P < 0.05). Infectious dermatological disorders were
      significantly more common among the deceased patients (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Multiple factors including multiple comorbidities, duration of ICU stay, time to
      consultation, and mortality increase dermatological disorders among surgical ICU
      patients.

PMID- 28584374
TI  - Demographic Characteristics and Association of Serum Vitamin B12, Ferritin and
      Thyroid Function with Premature Canities in Indian Patients from an Urban Skin
      Clinic of North India: A Retrospective Analysis of 71 Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of self-reported premature hair graying (PHG) seems to
      be on the rise. PHG has a profound impact on the patient's quality of life. It
      remains an incompletely understood etiology with limited and modest treatment
      options. AIM: The evaluation of the demographic and clinical profile of patients
      with premature canities, and exploration of the association of this entity with
      certain systemic disorders suspected to be related to its etiology. METHODS:
      Seventy-one cases of premature canities (onset noticed by patients before 25
      years of age) presenting to an urban skin clinic in Gurugram, India, between
      September 2012 and September 2015 with this complaint were retrospectively
      analyzed. The patient records were retrieved that provided details of the onset,
      duration and pattern of involvement, history, and examination findings (scalp,
      cutis, and general physical). Since all these patients had been screened for
      anemia, thyroid disorder, fasting blood glucose, and Vitamin B12 levels at the
      time of presentation, these parameters were also available for analysis. RESULTS:
      The mean age at onset of graying was 10.2 +/- 3.6 years (range: 5-19 years), with
      an almost equal gender distribution. The earliest age of onset recorded was 5
      years. A positive family history of PHG (at least one of the biological parents
      or siblings) was obtained in 64 (90.1%) of the cases. The temporal regions of the
      scalp (35.2%) were most commonly involved followed by the frontal region (18.3%).
      Hypovitaminosis B12 and hypothyroidism showed significant association with the
      disorder, whereas anemia, serum ferritin, and fasting blood glucose did not.
      CONCLUSION: The age of onset of hair graying can be as low as 5 years. Temporal
      and frontal areas are the most commonly involved sites. A strong family history,
      Vitamin B12 deficiency, and hypothyroidism are strongly associated with PHG.
      Larger case-control studies are mandated for discerning the correlation of these
      and other risk factors with PHG.

PMID- 28584375
TI  - Terry's Nails: A Sign of Systemic Disease.
AB  - Terry's nails are a type of apparent leukonychia, characterized by ground glass
      opacification of nearly the entire nail, obliteration of the lunula, and a narrow
      band of normal, pink nail bed at the distal border. The aim of this study is to
      guide clinical practice by reviewing all of the data concerning Terry's nail that
      have become available since the original description by Terry in 1954, with
      particular reference to all clinical features, associated medical conditions,
      pathogenesis, and necessary workup. PubMed was searched using the keywords
      "leukonychia" and "Terry nails." Although the abnormality can occur with normal
      aging, Terry's nails can also be an indication of an underlying medical
      condition, most notably, cirrhosis, chronic renal failure, and congestive heart
      failure. A change in nail bed vascularity, secondary to overgrowth of connective
      tissue, is thought to be responsible, with nail bed biopsy revealing
      telangiectasias in the distal band. The differential diagnosis for Terry's nails
      includes half-and-half nails (Lindsay's nails), Muehrcke's nails, and true
      leukonychia totalis/partialis. Having the ability to delineate these nail
      findings can be a valuable tool in clinical practice as each entity is associated
      with a different set of systemic conditions. Terry's nails highlight the intimate
      connection between nail changes and systemic disease as well as the importance of
      thorough nail inspection with every physical examination.

PMID- 28584376
TI  - Solitary Collagenoma of the Labium Majus: A Rare Occurrence.
AB  - Collagenomas are connective tissue nevi representing hamartomatous proliferation
      of collagen. Isolated collagenomas are of rare occurrence. They are sporadically
      acquired, and lesions are often localized to a single body region. We described a
      case of solitary collagenoma in a 23-year-old woman, confirmed on histopathology
      and special stains for collagen, involving an uncommon site such as labium majus.
      A high index of suspicion for a skin-colored circumscribed solitary growth and a
      low threshold for biopsy often help to arrive at a final diagnosis.

PMID- 28584377
TI  - Neurolymphomatosis in Primary Cutaneous CD4+ Pleomorphic Small/Medium-sized T
      cell Lymphoma Mimicking Hansen's Disease.
AB  - Neurolymphomatosis (NL) refers to nerve infiltration by neurotropic neoplastic
      cells in the setting of a known or an unknown hematological malignancy. It
      typically presents as painful or painless peripheral mononeuropathy, mononeuritis
      multiplex, polyneuropathy, polyradiculopathy, or cranial neuropathy. A 32-year
      old male presented with a hyperpigmented hypoesthetic plaque over the
      anterolateral aspect of the right leg with thickening of the right common
      peroneal nerve and foot drop clinically diagnosed as Hansen's disease. Biopsy
      taken from skin showed infiltrates of pleomorphic small and medium sized
      lymphocytes in the dermis and subcutis. On immunohistochemistry, the cells were
      positive for CD3, CD4 and negative for CD8, CD20, and CD30. Ultrasonography
      guided fine-needle aspiration of the thickened nerve showed infiltrates of
      atypical lymphoid cells. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of NL in primary
      cutaneous CD4+ pleomorphic small/medium-sized T-cell lymphoma was made. The
      disease responded to systemic chemotherapy and localized radiotherapy with no
      evidence of relapse during 3 years follow-up. NL in primary cutaneous CD4+
      pleomorphic small/medium-sized T-cell lymphoma presenting with manifestations
      redolent of Hansen's disease is not described in available literature. This case
      also demonstrates the utility of fine needle aspiration of nerve, a minimally
      invasive procedure in the diagnosis of NL.

PMID- 28584378
TI  - Desmoid Tumor of Rectus Abdominis Presenting with Grey-Turner's and Cullen's
      Sign: A Report of a Rare Case.
AB  - Desmoid tumor of rectus abdominis presenting with Grey-Turner's and Cullen's sign
      is rare. Herein, we report desmoid tumor of rectus abdominis in a 64-year-old
      multiparous female who presented with ecchymosis involving left flank and around
      the umbilicus. Histopathological examination of biopsy from the tumor confirmed
      the diagnosis of the desmoid tumor. She was referred to a surgeon for radical
      resection.

PMID- 28584379
TI  - Descriptive versus Analytical Studies in a Clinical Setup.

PMID- 28584380
TI  - Prospective Study Design Conundrum: Disease Registry for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.

PMID- 28584381
TI  - Cutaneous Angiosarcoma Mimicking Panniculitis in the Lower Extremities.

PMID- 28584382
TI  - Widespread Indurated Plaques and Nodules.

PMID- 28584383
TI  - Spectral dependence of carrier lifetimes in silicon for photovoltaic
      applications.
AB  - Charge carrier lifetimes in photovoltaic-grade silicon wafers were measured by a
      spectral-dependent, quasi-steady-state photoconductance technique. Narrow
      bandwidth light emitting diodes (LEDs) were used to excite excess charge carriers
      within the material, and the effective lifetimes of these carriers were measured
      as a function of wavelength and intensity. The dependence of the effective
      lifetime on the excitation wavelength was then analyzed within the context of an
      analytical model relating effective lifetime to the bulk lifetime and surface
      recombination velocity of the material. The agreement between the model and the
      experimental data provides validation for this technique to be used at various
      stages of the solar cell production line to investigate the quality of the
      passivation layers and the bulk properties of the material.

PMID- 28584384
TI  - Multigram-scale Synthesis of Enantiopure 3,3-Difluoroproline.
AB  - An efficient route for the synthesis of enantiopure 3,3-difluoroproline on
      multigram-scale is described herein. The deoxofluorination can be achieved with
      DAST on the corresponding racemic pyrrolidinone in good yield. Resolution of the
      racemate by crystallization with D- and L-tyrosine hydrazide provides both
      enantiomers of 3,3-difluoroproline in high yield and ee%.

PMID- 28584385
TI  - Direct Error in Constitutive Equation Formulation for Plane stress Inverse
      Elasticity Problem.
AB  - We present a new computational formulation for inverse problems in elasticity
      with full field data. The formulation is a variant of an error in the
      constitutive equation formulation, but allows direct solution for the modulus
      field and accommodates discontinuous strain fields. The development of the
      formulation is motivated by the relatively poor performance of current direct
      formulations, reported so far in literature, in dealing with discontinuities in
      the strain and material property distribution. The formulation relies on
      minimizing the error in the constitutive equation, and a momentum equation
      constraint. Numerical results on model problems show that the formulation is
      capable handling discontinuous, and noisy strain fields, and also converging with
      mesh refinement for continuous and discontinuous material property distributions.
      The application to reconstruct the elastic modulus distribution in solid breast
      tumors is shown.

PMID- 28584386
TI  - Reference Correlation of the Thermal Conductivity of Cyclohexane from the Triple
      Point to 640 K and up to 175 MPa.
AB  - New, wide-range reference equations for the thermal conductivity of cyclohexane
      as a function of temperature and density are presented. The equations are based
      in part upon a body of experimental data that has been critically assessed for
      internal consistency and for agreement with theory whenever possible. We estimate
      the uncertainty (at the 95% confidence level) for the thermal conductivity of
      cyclohexane from the triple point (279.86 K) to 650 K at pressures up to 175 MPa
      to be 4% for the compressed liquid and supercritical phases. For the low-pressure
      gas phase (up to 0.1 MPa) over the temperature range 280 K to 680 K, the
      estimated uncertainty is 2.5%. Uncertainties in the critical region are much
      larger, since the thermal conductivity approaches infinity at the critical point
      and is very sensitive to small changes in density.

PMID- 28584387
TI  - Promoting Informal and Professional Help-Seeking for Adolescent Dating Violence.
AB  - The present study examined factors that differentiate adolescents with varied
      intentions of informal and professional help-seeking for dating violence. Help
      seeking intentions among 518 ethnically diverse adolescents from a rural,
      southern county who participated in a longitudinal study of teen dating violence
      were categorized into three groups: adolescents unlikely to seek any help,
      adolescents likely to seek only informal help, and adolescents likely to seek
      informal and professional help. Multinomial logistic regression found that
      gender, family functioning, problem-solving competency, dating status, having an
      adult to talk to about a dating relationship, and acceptability of family
      violence significantly predicted membership in the help-seeking groups.
      Implications for promoting informal and professional help-seeking and
      recommendations for future research are discussed.

PMID- 28584388
TI  - Relations of Positive and Negative Expressivity and Effortful Control to
      Kindergarteners' Student-Teacher Relationship, Academic Engagement, and
      Externalizing Problems at School.
AB  - The current study examined the role of naturally-occurring negative and positive
      emotion expressivity in kindergarten and children's effortful control (EC) on
      their relationships with teachers, academic engagement, and problems behaviors in
      school. Further, the potential moderating role of EC on these important school
      outcomes was assessed. Emotion and engagement were observed at school. EC was
      assessed by multiple methods. Teachers reported on their student-teacher
      relationships and student's externalizing behaviors. Children's emotion
      expressivity and EC were related to engagement and relationships with teachers as
      well as behavioral problems at school. Children low in EC may be particularly
      vulnerable to the poor outcomes associated with relatively intense emotion
      expressivity as they struggle to manage their emotions and behaviors in the
      classroom.

PMID- 28584389
TI  - Low Temperature Plasma for the Preparation of Crater Walls for Compositional
      Depth Profiling of Thin Inorganic Multilayers.
AB  - An indirect, compositional depth profiling of an inorganic multilayer system
      using a helium low temperature plasma (LTP) containing 0.2% (v/v) SF6 was
      evaluated. A model multilayer system consisting of four 10 nm layers of silicon
      separated by four 50 nm layers of tungsten was plasma-etched for (10, 20, and 30)
      s at substrate temperatures of (50, 75, and 100)  degrees C to obtain crater
      walls with exposed silicon layers that were then visualized using time-of-flight
      secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to determine plasma-etching conditions
      that produced optimum depth resolutions. At a substrate temperature of 100 
      degrees C and an etch time of 10 s, the FWHM of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Si layers
      were (6.4, 10.9, and 12.5) nm, respectively, while the 1/e decay lengths were
      (2.5, 3.7, and 3.9) nm, matching those obtained from a SIMS depth profile. Though
      artifacts remain that contribute to degraded depth resolutions, a few
      experimental parameters have been identified that could be used to reduce their
      contributions. Further studies are needed, but as long as the artifacts can be
      controlled, plasma etching was found to be an effective method for preparing
      samples for compositional depth profiling of both organic and inorganic films,
      which could pave the way for an indirect depth profile analysis of inorganic
      organic hybrid structures that have recently evolved into innovative next
      generation materials.

PMID- 28584390
TI  - Clarity of mind: Structural equation modeling of associations between
      dispositional mindfulness, self-concept clarity and psychological well-being.

PMID- 28584391
TI  - Believable Statements of Uncertainty and Believable Science.
AB  - Nearly fifty years ago, two landmark papers appeared that should have cured the
      problem of ambiguous uncertainty statements in published data. Eisenhart's paper
      in Science called for statistically meaningful numbers, and Currie's Analytical
      Chemistry paper revealed the wide range in common definitions of detection limit.
      Confusion and worse can result when uncertainties are misinterpreted or ignored.
      The recent stories of cold fusion, variable radioactive decay, and piezonuclear
      reactions provide cautionary examples in which prior probability has been
      neglected. We show examples from our laboratory and others to illustrate the fact
      that uncertainty depends on both statistical and scientific judgment.

PMID- 28584392
TI  - Seasonal shifts in sex ratios are mediated by maternal effects and fluctuating
      incubation temperatures.
AB  - Sex-specific maternal effects can be adaptive sources of phenotypic plasticity.
      Reptiles with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) are a powerful system
      to investigate such maternal effects because offspring phenotype, including sex,
      can be sensitive to maternal influences such as oestrogens and incubation
      temperatures.In red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta), concentrations of
      maternally derived oestrogens and incubation temperatures increase across the
      nesting season; we wanted to determine if sex ratios shift in a seasonally
      concordant manner, creating the potential for sex-specific maternal effects, and
      to define the sex ratio reaction norms under fluctuating temperatures across the
      nesting season.Eggs from early and late season clutches were incubated under a
      range of thermally fluctuating temperatures, maternally derived oestradiol
      concentrations were quantified via radioimmunoassay, and hatchling sex was
      identified. We found that late season eggs had higher maternal oestrogen
      concentrations and were more likely to produce female hatchlings. The sex ratio
      reaction norm curves systematically varied with season, such that with even a
      slight increase in temperature (0.5 degrees C), late season eggs produced up to
      49% more females than early season eggs.We found a seasonal shift in sex ratios
      which creates the potential for sex-specific phenotypic matches across the
      nesting season driven by maternal effects. We also describe, for the first time,
      systematic variation in the sex ratio reaction norm curve within a single
      population in a species with TSD.

PMID- 28584393
TI  - Adult bacterial exposure increases behavioral variation and drives higher
      repeatability in field crickets.
AB  - Among-individual differences in behavior are now a widely studied research-focus
      within the field of behavioral ecology. Furthermore, elements of an animal's
      internal state, such as energy or fat reserves, and infection status can have
      large impacts on behaviors. Despite this, we still know little regarding how
      state may affect behavioral variation. Recent exposure to pathogens may have a
      particularly large impact on behavioral expression given that it likely activates
      costly immune pathways, potentially forcing organism to make behavioral
      tradeoffs. In this study we investigate how recent exposure to a common bacterial
      pathogen, Serratia marcescens, affects both the mean behavioral expression and
      the among-individual differences (i.e. variation) in boldness behavior in the
      field cricket, Gryllus integer. We find that recent pathogen exposure does not
      affect mean behavioral expression of the treatment groups, but instead affects
      behavioral variation and repeatability. Specifically, bacterial exposure drove
      large among-individual variation, resulting in high levels of repeatability in
      some aspects of boldness (willingness to emerge into a novel environment), but
      not others (latency to become active in novel environment), compared to non
      infected crickets. Interestingly, sham injection resulted in a universal lack of
      among-individual differences. Our results highlight the sensitivity of among
      individual variance and repeatability estimates to ecological and environmental
      factors that individuals face throughout their lives.

PMID- 28584394
TI  - Letter to the editor comments on Groparu-Cojocaru and Doray (2013).
AB  - Although estimating the five parameters of an unknown Generalized Normal Laplace
      (GNL) density by minimizing the distance between the empirical and true
      characteristic functions seems appealing, the approach cannot be advocated in
      practice. This conclusion is based on extensive numerical simulations in which a
      fast minimization procedure delivers deceiving estimators with values that are
      quite far away from the truth. These findings can be predicted by the very large
      values obtained for the true asymptotic variances of the estimators of the five
      parameters of the true GNL density.

PMID- 28584395
TI  - Effect of amifostine, a radiation-protecting drug, on oxygen concentration in
      tissue measured by EPR oximetry and imaging.
AB  - Effect of amifostine, a radiation-protecting drug, on muscle tissue partial
      pressure of oxygen was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance
      spectroscopy and imaging. When amifostine was administered intraperitoneally or
      intravenously to mice, the linewidth of the electron paramagnetic resonance
      spectra of the lithium octa-n-butoxy-substituted naphthalocyanine implanted in
      the mouse leg muscle decreased. Electron paramagnetic resonance oximetry using a
      lithium octa-n-butoxy-substituted naphthalocyanine probe and electron
      paramagnetic resonance oxygen mapping using a triarylmethyl radical paramagnetic
      probe was useful to quantify pressure of oxygen in the tissues of living mice.
      The result of electron paramagnetic resonance oximetric imaging showed that
      administration of amifostine could decrease pressure of oxygen in the muscle and
      also tumor tissues. This finding suggests that lowering pressure of oxygen in
      tissues might contribute in part to the radioprotection of amifostine.

PMID- 28584397
TI  - A comparative study of the inhibitory effects by caffeic acid, catechins and
      their related compounds on the generation of radicals in the reaction mixture of
      linoleic acid with iron ions.
AB  - Caffeic acid and (+)-catechin, which are abundantly contained in coffee and tea,
      are typical polyphenols. In order to know the relative magnitudes of antioxidant
      activity, effects by caffeic acid, (+)-catechin and their derivatives on the
      formation of 4-POBN/carbon-centered linoleic acid-derived radical adducts were
      examined in the control reaction mixture of linoleic acid with FeCl3 at 30
      degrees C for 168 h. In the presence of 1.0 mM of the polyphenols, peak to peak
      heights of the third ESR signal resulted in 7.7 +/- 2.4% (n = 3) (caffeic acid),
      145 +/- 13% (n = 3) (quinic acid), 4.4 +/- 0.0% (n = 3) (chlorogenic acid), 104
      +/- 4.4% (n = 3) (ferulic acid), 4.3 +/- 0.0% (n = 3) (noradrenaline), 12.5 +/-
      10.9% (n = 3) (gallic acid), 38.1 +/- 7.1% (n = 3) [(+)-catechin], 47.9 +/- 11.7%
      (n = 3) [(-)-epicatechin], 56.5 +/- 1.6% (n = 3) (epigallocatechin), 13.5 +/-
      1.7% (n = 3) (catechol) and 83.7 +/- 7.8% (n = 3) (resorcinol) of the control
      reaction mixture. All the compounds with catechol moiety exerted potent
      inhibitory effects on the radical formation except for (+)-catechin, (-)
      epicatechin and epigallocatechin. (+)-Catechin, (-)-epicatechin and
      epigallocatechin may not exert the inhibitory effect as much possibly because
      they are less stable compared with caffeic acid. The resorcinol moiety in these
      molecules may also weaken their antioxidant activity.

PMID- 28584396
TI  - Protective role of testis-specific peroxiredoxin 4 against cellular oxidative
      stress.
AB  - Peroxiredoxin (PRDX), a newly discovered antioxidant enzyme, has an important
      role in hydrogen peroxide reduction. Among six PRDX genes (PRDX1-6) in mammals,
      PRDX4 gene is alternatively spliced to produce the somatic cell form (PRDX4) and
      the testis specific form (PRDX4t). In our previous study, PRDX4 knockout mice
      displayed testicular atrophy with an increase in cell death due to oxidative
      stress. However, the antioxidant function of PRDX4t is unknown. In this study, we
      demonstrate that PRDX4t plays a protective role against oxidative stress in the
      mammalian cell line HEK293T. The PRDX4t-EGFP plasmid was transferred into HEK293T
      cells; protein expression was confirmed in the cytoplasm. To determine the
      protective role of PRDX4t in cells, we performed image-based analysis of PRDX4t
      EGFP expressed cells exposed to UV irradiation and hydrogen peroxide using
      fluorescent probe CellROX. Our results suggested that PRDX4t-EGFP expressed cells
      had reduced levels of oxidative stress compared with cells that express only
      EGFP. This study highlights that PRDX4t plays an important role in cellular
      antioxidant defense.

PMID- 28584398
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha decreases EC-SOD expression through DNA methylation.
AB  - Extracellular-superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) is a secreted antioxidative enzyme,
      and its presence in vascular walls may play an important role in protecting the
      vascular system against oxidative stress. EC-SOD expression in cultured cell
      lines is regulated by various cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNF-alpha). TNF-alpha is a major mediator of pathophysiological conditions and
      may induce or suppress the generation of various types of mediators. Epigenetics
      have been defined as mitotically heritable changes in gene expression that do not
      affect the DNA sequence, and include DNA methylation and histone modifications.
      The results of the present study demonstrated that TNF-alpha significantly
      decreased EC-SOD level in fibroblasts with an accompanying increase in methylated
      DNA. In DNA methylation and demethylation, cytosine is methylated to 5
      methylcytosine (5mC) by DNA methyltransferase (DNMT), and 5mC is then converted
      to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and cytosine in a stepwise manner by ten-eleven
      translocation methylcytosine dioxygenases (TETs). However, DNMT did not
      participate in TNF-alpha-induced DNA methylation within the EC-SOD promoter
      region. On the other hand, TNF-alpha significantly suppressed TET1 expression and
      EC-SOD mRNA levels were decreased by the silencing of TET1 in fibroblasts. These
      results demonstrate that the down-regulation of EC-SOD by TNF-alpha is regulated
      by DNA methylation through reductions in TET1.

PMID- 28584399
TI  - Immunonutrition in patients with cyctic fibrosis leads to drop of serum amyloid A
      and increase of oxidative stress.
AB  - The aim of the present study is to evaluate of the impact of immunonutrition on
      parameters of oxidative stress and inflammation in patients with cystic fibrosis
      and malnutrition. In the 30 patients with cystic fibrosis and long-term enteral
      nutrition support for malnutrition the effect of standard and immunonutrion
      sipping on oxidative stress and inflammatory activity parameters was compared.
      Malonyldialdehyde (MDA) as parameter of oxidative stress and serum amyloid A
      (SAA), interleukin 1 and 6, hsCRP, IgM, IgA, IgG as parameters of inflammatory
      activity were examined. Immunonutrition decreased SAA to 17.6 mg/L comparing to
      25.6 mg/L when standard nutrition was given (p = 0.014). MDA was 0.66 uM on
      standard and 0.96 uM on immunonutrition support (p<0.01). The significant
      negative correlation was recorded between MDA and SAA, hs-CRP, interleukin 6, IgA
      and IgG. In conclusion, the application of immunonutrition in patients with
      cystic fibrosis and malnutrition is associated with drop of SAA but with the rise
      of MDA.

PMID- 28584400
TI  - Compound 48/80, a mast cell degranulator, causes oxidative damage by enhancing
      vitamin C synthesis via reduced glutathione depletion and lipid peroxidation
      through neutrophil infiltration in rat livers.
AB  - In this study, we examined whether compound 48/80 (C48/80), a mast cell
      degranulator, causes hepatic oxidative damage in rats. Serum and liver
      biochemical parameters were determined 0.5, 3 or 6 h after a single treatment
      with C48/80 (0.75 mg/kg). Serum histamine and serotonin levels increased 0.5 h
      after C48/80 treatment but diminished thereafter. Increases in serum vitamin C
      (VC) and transaminases and hepatic hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxide, and
      myeloperoxidase levels and a decrease in hepatic reduced glutathione level
      occurred 0.5 h after C48/80 treatment and further proceeded at 3 h, but these
      changes diminished at 6 h. Serum lipid peroxide and hepatic VC levels increased 3
      h after C48/80 treatment. Hepatic glycogen level decreased 0.5 h after C48/80
      treatment and further decreased at 3 h. Pre-administered ketotifen diminished all
      these changes found at 3 h after treatment, while pre-administered NPC 14686
      diminished these changes except changes in serum histamine and serotonin levels.
      Hepatocellular apoptosis observed at 3 h after C48/80 treatment was attenuated by
      pre-administered ketotifen and NPC 14686. These results indicate that C48/80
      causes oxidative damage by enhancing VC synthesis via reduced glutathione
      depletion-dependent glycogenolysis and lipid peroxidation through neutrophil
      infiltration following mast cell degranulation in rat livers.

PMID- 28584401
TI  - Chemopreventive effects of a low-side-effect antibiotic drug, erythromycin, on
      mouse intestinal tumors.
AB  - It is important to establish effective methods for preventing colorectal cancer
      because the number of colorectal cancer deaths is increasing. Erythromycin one of
      the macrolide antibiotics, has been shown to exert pleiotropic effects, such as
      anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects, on mammalian cells. In the present
      study, we aimed to evaluate the preventive effects of erythromycin on intestinal
      carcinogenesis. We first confirmed that erythromycin suppresses the
      transcriptional activity of nuclear factor-kappaB and activator protein-1 and the
      expression of its downstream targets, interleukin-6 and cyclooxygenase-2 in human
      colon cancer cells. Next, we fed 5-week-old male Apc mutant Min mice with diets
      containing 500 ppm erythromycin for 15 weeks. Erythromycin treatment
      significantly reduced the number of proximal intestinal polyps to 70.9% of the
      untreated control value. Moreover, erythromycin reduced the levels of interleukin
      6 and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA expression in intestinal polyps. Although the levels
      of hepatic NADPH oxidase mRNA were decreased, erythromycin treatment did not
      affect the levels of oxidative stress markers, reactive carbonyl species, in the
      liver of Min mice. Our results suggest that erythromycin suppresses intestinal
      polyp development in Min mice, in part by attenuating local inflammation, and
      indicate that erythromycin is useful as a chemopreventive agent.

PMID- 28584402
TI  - Effects of patient age and choice of antisecretory agent on success of
      eradication therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection.
AB  - The effects of patient age on the efficacy of eradication treatment for
      Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) remain unclear. The present study aimed to
      determine whether age affects eradication therapy involving vonoprazan, a novel
      potassium-competitive acid blocker (PCAB). We reviewed the cases of 3,261
      patients who were administered first-line and second-line H. pylori eradication
      therapy at Toyoshima Endoscopy Clinic. The first-line treatment was
      clarithromycin and amoxicillin combined with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or a
      PCAB. The second-line treatment was metronidazole and amoxicillin combined with a
      PPI or PCAB. The patients were divided into a young to middle-aged group (age
      <=50 years) and an older group (age >50 years) as well as into PPI and PCAB
      groups. The PPI-clarithromycin-amoxicillin regimen demonstrated a significantly
      lower H. pylori eradication rate than the PCAB-clarithromycin-amoxicillin regimen
      (p<0.001). With the PPI-clarithromycin-amoxicillin regimen, the eradication rate
      in the young to middle-aged group was significantly lower than that in the older
      group (p<0.001). Lastly, age had no impact on the eradication rate of PCAB-based
      therapy or metronidazole-based therapy. In conclusion, with clarithromycin-based
      triple therapy, PCAB is a better choice of antisecretory agent compared to PPIs,
      especially in young to middle-aged patients.

PMID- 28584403
TI  - Increase of transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation associated with
      cascade stomach.
AB  - We previously reported that cascade stomach was associated with reflux symptoms
      and esophagitis. Delayed gastric emptying has been believed to initiate transient
      lower esophageal sphincter relaxation (TLESR). We hypothesized that cascade
      stomach may be associated with frequent TLESR with delayed gastric emptying.
      Eleven subjects with cascade stomach and 11 subjects without cascade stomach were
      enrolled. Postprandial gastroesophageal manometry and gastric emptying using a
      continuous 13C breath system were measured simultaneously after a liquid test
      meal. TLESR events were counted in early period (0-60 min), late period (60-120
      min), and total monitoring period. Three parameters of gastric emptying were
      calculated: the half emptying time, lag time, and gastric emptying coefficient.
      The median frequency of TLESR events in the cascade stomach and non-cascade
      stomach groups was 6.0 (median), 4.6 (interquartile range) vs 5.0, 3.0 in the
      early period, 5.0, 3.2 vs 3.0, 1.8 in the late period, and 10.0, 6.2 vs 8.0, 5.0
      in the total monitoring period. TLESR events were significantly more frequent in
      the cascade stomach group during the late and total monitoring periods. In
      contrast, gastric emptying parameters showed no significant differences between
      the two groups. We concluded that TLESR events were significantly more frequent
      in persons with cascade stomach without delayed gastric emptying.

PMID- 28584405
TI  - Gastric atrophy prevent from incidence of duodenal tumor?

PMID- 28584404
TI  - The alpha-glucosidase inhibitor voglibose stimulates delayed gastric emptying in
      healthy subjects: a crossover study with a 13C breath test.
AB  - The gastrointestinal effects of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors have not been
      sufficiently investigated. The aim of this study was to determine whether a
      single dose of pre-prandial voglibose might affect the rate of gastric emptying,
      determined using the 13C breath test. Ten healthy male volunteers participated in
      this randomized, two-way crossover study. The subjects fasted overnight and
      received 0.2 mg voglibose or a placebo 2 h before a test meal. They were then
      served a liquid test meal consisting of 200 kcal per 200 ml that contained 100 mg
      13C-acetate. Breath samples were collected under both conditions until 150 min
      after the meal. A comparison of the control and voglibose conditions revealed
      that for gastric emptying rates (with values expressed as median: range), T1/2
      [(87.9: 78.0-104.9 min) vs (88.4: 74.3-106.3 min), p = 1], Tlag [(47.1: 39.6-60.1
      min) vs (45.4: 31.2-63.3 min), p = 0.432], beta [(1.89: 1.68-2.18) vs (1.90: 1.35
      2.15), p = 0.846] and kappa [(0.81: 0.71-0.98) vs (0.81: 0.50-0.94), p = 0.922]
      did not significantly differ between conditions. A significant difference between
      the control and voglibose conditions was found for the GEC [(4.28: 4.09-4.44) vs
      (4.06: 3.69-4.50), p = 0.0138]. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the
      ingestion of oral voglibose led to delayed gastric emptying of a liquid meal.

PMID- 28584407
TI  - Leaching of Conductive Species: Implications to Measurements of Electrical
      Resistivity.
AB  - Electrical tests have been used to characterize the microstructure of porous
      materials, the measured electrical response being determined by the contribution
      of the microstructure (porosity and tortuosity) and the electrical properties of
      the solution (conductivity of the pore solution) inside the pores of the
      material. This study has shown how differences in concentration between the pore
      solution (i.e., the solution in the pores) and the storage solution surrounding
      the test specimen leads to significant transport (leaching) of the conductive
      ionic species between the pore solution and the storage solution. Leaching
      influences the resistivity of the pore solution, thereby influencing electrical
      measurements on the bulk material from either a surface or uniaxial bulk
      resistance test. This paper has three main conclusions: 1.) Leaching of
      conductive species does occur with concentration gradients and that a diffusion
      based approach can be used to estimate the time scale associated with this
      change. 2.) Leaching of ions in the pore solution can influence resistivity
      measurements, and the ratio of surface to uniaxial resistivity can be used as a
      method to assess the presence of leaching and 3.) An estimation of the magnitude
      of leaching for standardized tests of cementitious materials.

PMID- 28584406
TI  - The Relationship between Psychosocial Factors and Cognition in Multiple
      Sclerosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common disorder in some regions of the
      world, with over 2.3 million people diagnosed worldwide. Cognitive impairment is
      one of the earliest symptoms to present in the course of the disease and can
      cause significant morbidity. We proposed a study to explore the psychosocial
      predictors of cognitive impairment in MS patients in Saudi Arabia, a previously
      unexplored patient population. METHODS: Demographic data, depression scale
      (PHQ9), symptom burden (PHQ15), anxiety (GAD7), disease duration, and Montreal
      Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) scores were collected from 195 patients in a
      neurology clinic in Ryiadh, Saudi Arabia. Univariate and multiple regression
      analyses were conducted to identify variables that are significantly associated
      with cognitive impairment. RESULTS: Variables that were identified to be
      significantly associated with cognition, p < 0.05, were education level, disease
      duration, and family history. DISCUSSION: Both education level and disease
      duration were variables identified in previous studies. We showed family history
      to be a significant variable, and no association was found with depression or
      anxiety, which is unique to our study population. CONCLUSIONS: We identified
      several psychosocial predictors that are associated with cognition in our patient
      population. It was also noted that a difference exists between patient
      populations, highlighting the need for further studies in specific geographical
      regions.

PMID- 28584409
TI  - Neurological Outcomes Following Suicidal Hanging: A Prospective Study of 101
      Patients.
AB  - CONTEXT: Survivors of suicidal hanging can have variable neurological outcomes -
      from complete recovery to irreversible brain damage. Literature on the
      neurological outcomes in these patients is confined to retrospective studies and
      case series. Hence, this prospective study was carried out. AIMS: The aim is to
      study the neurological outcomes in suicidal hanging. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This
      was a prospective observational study carried out from July 2014 to July 2016.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients admitted to the emergency and medicine
      wards were included in the study. Details of the clinical and radiological
      findings, course in hospital and at 1 month postdischarge were analyzed.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS
      advanced statistics 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). Univariate analysis was
      performed using Chi-square test for significance and Odd's ratio was calculated.
      RESULTS: Of the 101 patients, 6 died and 4 had residual neuro deficits. Cervical
      spine injury was seen in 3 patients. Interestingly, 39 patients could not
      remember the act of hanging (retrograde amnesia). Hypotension, pulmonary edema,
      Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score <8 at admission, need for mechanical ventilation,
      and cerebral edema on plain computed tomography were more in those with amnesia
      as compared to those with normal memory and these findings were statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of patients recovered without any sequelae.
      Routine imaging of cervical spine may not be warranted in all patients, even in
      those with poor GCS. Retrograde amnesia might be more common than previously
      believed and further studies are needed to analyze this peculiar feature.

PMID- 28584408
TI  - Early Life Stress: Effects on the Regulation of Anxiety Expression in Children
      and Adolescents.
AB  - This study examined children's (N = 79; 9-10 years) and adolescents' (N = 82; 15
      16 years) ability to regulate their emotion expressions of anxiety as they
      completed a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST
      C). Approximately half in each age group were internationally adopted from
      institutional care (N = 79) and half were non-adopted, age-matched peers (N =
      82). Institutional care was viewed as a form of early life stress. Coders who
      were reliable and blind to group status watched videos of the session to assess
      anxiety expressions using the Child and Adolescent Stress and Emotion Scale
      developed for this study. Children exhibited more expressions of anxiety than
      adolescents, and youth adopted from institutions showed more expressions of
      anxiety than their non-adopted counterparts. The role of early life stress on
      observed anxiety expressions remained significant after controlling for
      differences in age, physiological stress responses measured through salivary
      cortisol reactivity, and self-reports of stress during the TSST-C. This suggests
      possible deficits in the regulation of expressive behavior for youth with early
      life stress histories, which cannot be explained by experiencing the task as more
      stressful.

PMID- 28584410
TI  - Essentials of dental photography.

PMID- 28584411
TI  - Effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in irradiated maxillofacial dental
      implant patients: A systematic review with meta-analysis.
AB  - The significantly higher implant failure rates in maxillofacial patients,
      undergoing radiotherapy, might be caused by the long-term effects of reduced
      vascularization compromising the implantation site. An extensive preclinical
      animal literature and a multitude of clinical reports suggest the use of
      hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy as it can improve the tissue vascularity. Hence,
      it may increase the implant survival rate by enhancing osseointegration process
      in such patients. The objective of this systematic review was to investigate the
      effectiveness of HBO therapy on dental implant survival rate in irradiated
      maxillofacial patients who require prosthodontic rehabilitation. An electronic
      search without time restrictions was undertaken in April 2016 using databases:
      PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register. We
      also tried to contact the manufacturers and researchers in the field for
      necessary details. Clinical human studies, on irradiated maxillofacial dental
      implant patients, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), prospective
      controlled trials, retrospective studies, and preliminary reports were included
      in the study. Data collection was carried out by two of the authors'
      independently. The titles and abstracts of all reports were screened for the
      study design and type of reported intervention; all the duplicates were removed.
      The data search yielded 62 titles, out of which 14 articles were selected for the
      study by the article filtration criteria: Title/abstract/full text. Data which
      were extracted by two authors with any disagreement were resolved by the third
      author, and a meta-analysis was done using binary random-effect model. The
      results show decreased implant failure rate in HBO group (9.21%) compared to non
      HBO group (22.44%). The potential limitations of this study are amount of
      radiation doses used, period lasting from radiotherapy to the placement of the
      implants, and follow-up period which varies for every subject of the included
      study, which can affect the treatment outcome. Although there are many sensitive
      articles published about HBO, including a number of review papers, RCTs are still
      lacking. According to the statistical analysis, it can be concluded that
      preventive HBO therapy can reduce the risk of implant failures in irradiated
      patients by 1.21 (relative risk) with 95% confidence interval (P < 0.001). Hence,
      HBO can be the effective treatment protocol for the implant treatment in
      irradiated maxillofacial patients.

PMID- 28584412
TI  - Demineralized dentin matrix scaffolds for alveolar bone engineering.
AB  - From the point of view of implant dentistry, this review discusses the
      development and clinical use of demineralized dentin matrix (DDM) scaffolds,
      produced from the patient's own extracted teeth, to repair alveolar bone defects.
      The structure and the organic and inorganic components of DDM are presented to
      emphasize the similarities with autogenous bone. Studies of DDM properties, such
      as osteoinductive and osteoconductive functions as well as efficacy and safety,
      which are mandatory for its use as a bone graft substitute, are also presented.
      The clinical applications of powder, block, and moldable DDM are discussed, along
      with future developments that can support growth factor and stem cell delivery.

PMID- 28584414
TI  - Impact of interprofessional education module on attitudes of health-care
      providers involved in maxillofacial rehabilitation: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Rehabilitation of maxillofacial deformities is a challenging task
      because it involves not only a lot of skills and expertise but also many
      disciplines working in unison for optimum outcome. However, more often than not a
      prosthodontist is not a member of tumor board and consulted after surgery which
      affects the prognosis of the rehabilitation adversely. There was a perceived need
      to create awareness among referring surgeons and physicians, and
      interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives were deemed necessary to improve
      this collaboration. METHODOLOGY: Four-hour IPE module was developed involving
      residents and faculty from three disciplines. The change in attitudes was
      evaluated quantitatively using Attitudes toward Health Care Teams questionnaire
      both before and after the module. Semi-structured interviews with selected
      participants provided the qualitative feedback. RESULTS: The questionnaire
      consisted of 14 questions answered on 5-point Likert scale (1-5). The mean score
      of pretest was 44.2 and of posttest was 49.1. Difference was statistically
      significant (P < 0.05). Higher score indicates better attitude. CONCLUSION: A
      brief IPE program can improve interprofessional attitudes and collaborative
      behavior of health-care professionals involved in maxillofacial rehabilitation.
      It enables the professionals to understand interact and share viewpoints
      regarding most critical issues faced by them and find solutions to achieve best
      possible patient care.

PMID- 28584413
TI  - Idiopathic condylar resorption: The current understanding in diagnosis and
      treatment.
AB  - Idiopathic condylar resorption (ICR) is a condition with no known cause, which
      manifests as progressive malocclusion, esthetic changes, and often pain. Cone
      beam computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are the most valuable
      imaging methods for diagnosis and tracking, compared to the less complete and
      more distorted images provided by panoramic radiographs, and the higher radiation
      of 99mtechnetium-methylene diphosphonate. ICR has findings that overlap with
      osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis, physiologic resorption/remodeling,
      congenital disorders affecting the mandible, requiring thorough image analysis,
      physical examination, and history-taking. Correct diagnosis and determination of
      whether the ICR is active or inactive are essential when orthodontic or
      prosthodontic treatment is anticipated as active ICR can undo those treatments.
      Several treatments for ICR have been reported with the goals of either halting
      the progression of ICR or correcting the deformities that it caused. These
      treatments have varying degrees of success and adverse effects, but the rarity of
      the condition prevents any evidence-based recommendations.

PMID- 28584415
TI  - A comparison of peri-implant strain generated by different types of implant
      supported prostheses.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To find out and compare peri implant strain developed in four
      different types of implant supported prostheses i.e., cement retained splinted,
      cement retained non splinted, screw retained splinted, screw retained non
      splinted. METHODOLOGY: Four implant analogues were placed in a polyurethane
      mandibular model at the position of left and right first and second molar.
      Abutments were fixed to the implant at a torque of 25Ncm. Two such models were
      made. Four different prostheses were placed on abutment of each model i.e screw
      retained splinted, screw retained nonsplinted, cement retained splinted, cement
      retained non splinted. Four strain gauges were attached on the model, two on the
      buccal and two on the lingual aspect of each implant. Static load of 400N was
      applied on the prosthesis using universal testing machine. Load application was
      done ten times for each model and peri implant strain was measured. RESULTS: The
      mean peri implant strain (+/-SD) generated was found to be highest in non
      splinted screw retained (1397.70 +/- 44.47 microstrains and 1265.90 +/- 42.76
      microstrains) and least in splinted cement retained (630.70 +/- 31.98
      microstrains and 519.60 +/- 32.48 microstrains) in both 1st and 2nd molars
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Splinted crowns produce less peri implant strain when
      compared to non splinted crowns. Cement retained prosthesis produce less peri
      implant strain when compared to screw retained prosthesis. Least strain was
      observed in cement retained splinted crowns.

PMID- 28584416
TI  - Effect of comonomer of methacrylic acid on flexural strength and adhesion of
      Staphylococcus aureus to heat polymerized poly (methyl methacrylate) resin: An in
      vitro study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and compare
      flexural strength and Staphylococcus aureus adhesion of heat-activated poly
      (methyl methacrylate [MMA]) resin modified with a comonomer of methacrylic acid
      (MAA) and MMA monomer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Comonomer preparation was done with
      the addition of varying concentration of MAA (0, 15, 20, and 25 wt %) to the MMA
      of conventional heat-activated denture base resin to prepare the specimens.
      Prepared specimens were stored in distilled water at 37 degrees C for 1 day and 1
      week before the evaluation of flexural strength and microbial adhesion. Flexural
      strength was measured using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed for
      2 mm/min (n = 10). Microbial adhesion (colony-forming unit [CFU]) was evaluated
      against S. aureus using a quadrant streaking method (n = 5). Data were subjected
      to one-way ANOVA, and the significant differences among the results were
      subjected to Tukey's HSD test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
      RESULTS: Addition of MAA to the MMA monomer was found to significantly reduce the
      adhesion of S. aureus for all the groups. Reduction of CFU of S. aureus was found
      be more significant for Group 3 as compared to control, both at 1-day (P < 0.001)
      and 1-week (P < 0.002) storage in distilled water. However, no statistically
      significant changes in the flexural strength were observed with the addition of
      MAA at 1-day (P = 0.52) and 1-week (P = 0.88) time interval. CONCLUSION: Addition
      of MAA to conventional denture base resin reduced the microbial adhesion without
      significantly affecting the flexural strength.

PMID- 28584417
TI  - Effect of smoking status and nicotine dependence on pain intensity and outcome of
      treatment in Indian patients with temporomandibular disorders: A longitudinal
      cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evidence regarding the association of smoking with various forms of
      chronic musculoskeletal pain is vast, but that with temporomandibular disorders
      (TMD) is scarce. AIMS: The aims of this study are to evaluate the effect of
      smoking status (SS) and nicotine dependence (ND) on TMD pain intensity and
      treatment outcome in an Indian population with TMD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Nine
      hundred and sixty-two patients with TMD were selected for this longitudinal
      cohort study. Lifetime SS was evaluated and patients were classified as current
      smokers (YS), former smokers (FS), or nonsmokers (NS). The Fagerstrom test was
      used to evaluate the ND of YS. Pain intensity was evaluated using visual analog
      scale scores. Six months posttreatment, the pain intensity was again recorded.
      The effect of treatment was evaluated using a global transition outcome measure
      and categorized as treatment success or failure. A minimum 30% reduction in pain
      was used as a criterion for categorizing patients as those who had gotten
      "better." Data obtained from the study were compared using Chi-square tests,
      paired samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA tests. The criterion for statistical
      significance for all analyses was set at P = 0.05. RESULTS: Among groups of SS,
      YS showed the maximum pain intensity at baseline and posttreatment. The outcome
      of treatment was most successful in NS and least in FS. The number of patients
      who had gotten "better" after treatment was significantly highest in NS. There
      was no significant difference between groups of ND with respect to pain
      intensity, treatment outcome, or "better" patients. CONCLUSIONS: Among Indian
      patients with TMD, smokers reported significantly greater pain intensity and
      poorer response to treatment than NS. Pain intensity or treatment outcome was
      independent of ND.

PMID- 28584418
TI  - Comparison of osteogenic potential of poly-ether-ether-ketone with titanium
      coated poly-ether-ether-ketone and titanium-blended poly-ether-ether-ketone: An
      in vitro study.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK), a high-performance semi
      crystalline thermoplastic polymer, has been employed to replace the metallic
      implant components in orthopedics. There were various studies performed in
      accordance to medical grade PEEK, but the relationship between titanium dioxide
      (TiO2)-coated PEEK, TiO2-blended PEEK, and untreated PEEK still remains
      complicated, even undefined. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare
      and quantify the osteogenic potential of untreated PEEK, TiO2-coated PEEK and
      TiO2-blended PEEK. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three groups with ten samples in each
      group were designed for this study. They were Group 1 - Untreated PEEK, Group 2 -
      TiO2-coated PEEK, Group 3 - TiO2-blended PEEK. The PEEK samples were prepared
      according to the ISO standard 15309:2013 and milled to size of 15 mm * 2 mm, and
      the surfaces were finished with grit-blasted alumina of size 20 MUm. In this 10
      samples were chosen for Group 1. Group 2 samples were prepared by coating TiO2
      nanoparticles by arc ion plating, and Group 3 samples were prepared by blending
      TiO2 nanoparticles in HAAKE rheocord with degree of blending analyzed by torque
      rheometer. These samples were tested for cytotoxicity using human osteosarcoma
      cells, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was performed to evaluate and
      quantify the bone mineralization process. The cross-sectional and the fracture
      morphology of coatings was observed by a field emission scanning electron
      microscope (SEM) with the magnification range *20-*200,000. RESULT: Results of
      cytotoxicity assay and ALP assay of Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 were
      statistically analyzed. SEM analysis result clearly showed the difference in the
      matrix before and after cell adhesion. CONCLUSION: The results made it evident
      that n-TiO2-coated PEEK was more versatile biomaterial of choice in implant
      dentistry followed by n-TiO2-blended PEEK and untreated PEEK.

PMID- 28584419
TI  - A comparative study to correlate between clinically and radiographically
      determined sagittal condylar guidance in participants with different skeletal
      relationships.
AB  - CONTEXT: Many authors have conducted studies that determine horizontal condylar
      guidance (HCG) using various methods, articulator systems, and recording
      materials. However, there is a dearth of literature on variability existing in
      HCG in individuals with different skeletal relationships. This study is an
      attempt to verify whether such a difference exists or not. AIMS: The aim of this
      study is to determine and correlate the HCG in individuals with Angle's Class I,
      Class II, and Class III malocclusion using radiographic and clinical methods.
      SETTINGS AND DESIGN: HCG was recorded for thirty individuals, ten of each class.
      For each individual, HCG was recorded clinically as well as radiographically.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Clinically, HCG was recorded using protrusive check bites
      and a semi-adjustable articulator. Radiographically, two methods were employed.
      First, a "tangent method" wherein the angle made by a tangent to the posterior
      slope of articular eminence with the Frankfurt horizontal (FH) plane was
      considered as the HCG, and second, a "protrusive method" where the position of
      the condyle at maximum intercuspation and 6 mm protrusion were traced, and the
      angle this path made with the FH plane was recorded as the HCG. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistical analysis along with Tukey's test and analysis
      of variance was used to calculate and compare the mean values. Pearson
      correlation coefficient was used to establish correlation between various means.
      RESULTS: A significant difference in the HCG of three skeletal relationships was
      seen, with Class II having a steeper angle than the other two. Among the various
      methods used, a correlation was found between the clinical and the protrusive
      method; however, the tangent method yielded greater values of HCG. CONCLUSIONS:
      The average value of HCG should not be used as it differs according to the
      skeletal relationship. Radiographic method can be used to yield consistent HCG;
      however, the protrusive method should be employed.

PMID- 28584420
TI  - Comparison of temperature change among different adhesive resin cement during
      polymerization process.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the intra-pulpal temperature changes
      in adhesive resin cements during polymerization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dentin
      surface was prepared with extracted human mandibular third molars. Adhesive resin
      cements (Panavia F 2.0, Panavia SA, and RelyX U200) were applied to the dentin
      surface and polymerized under IPS e.max Press restoration. K-type thermocouple
      wire was positioned in the pulpal chamber to measure temperature change (n = 7).
      The temperature data were recorded (0.0001 sensible) and stored on a computer
      every 0.1 second for sixteen minutes. Differences between the baseline
      temperature and temperatures of various time points (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and
      16 minute) were determined and mean temperature changes were calculated. At
      various time intervals, the differences in temperature values among the adhesive
      resin cements were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey honestly test
      (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: Significant differences were found among the time points
      and resin cements (P < 0.05). Temperature values of the Pan SA group were
      significantly higher than Pan F and RelyX (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Result of the
      study on self-adhesive and self-etch adhesive resin cements exhibited a safety
      intra-pulpal temperature change.

PMID- 28584422
TI  - An innovative and simple approach to fabricate a hollow ocular prosthesis with
      functional lubricant reservoir: A solution to artificial eye comfort.
AB  - The loss of an eye is an emotional and psychological setback to the patient. An
      ocular prosthesis is created to restore the lost anatomical structure and to
      correct the cosmetic defect. The tear reflexes do not function at optimal levels
      in anophthalmic sockets which make prosthesis wear uncomfortable. This case
      report presents an innovative hollow ocular prosthesis with functional lubricant
      reservoir which upon normal blinking would draw the lubricant from the reservoir
      through an exit hole which spreads over the prosthesis allowing a comfortable and
      long duration of prosthesis wear.

PMID- 28584421
TI  - Effect of isobutyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid eluted from chairside
      denture hard reliners on enzymatic cellular antioxidants: An in vitro study in
      human primary buccal mucosal fibroblasts.
AB  - AIM: This study was conducted with the objective to evaluate the cytotoxicity of
      monomers isobutyl methacrylate (IBMA) and methacrylic acid (MA) in human buccal
      mucosal fibroblast primary cell culture and to study their effect on cellular
      enzymatic antioxidants-glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      and catalase (CAT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The tissue for fibroblast cell culture
      was harvested from oral buccal mucosa of a healthy donor. Fibroblast cells were
      plated at a density of 1 * 104 cells per well in 96-well tissue culture plates.
      Cells were exposed to various concentrations of IBMA and MA. The cell viability
      and various enzyme activities were evaluated 24 h after exposure to the above
      treatments. All tests were done in triplicate. Cell viability was assessed by
      trypan blue dye exclusion assay and all enzyme activities were done using assay
      kits from Cayman Chemicals, Ann Arbor, USA. RESULTS: At all concentrations tested
      a statistically significant decrease in viability was observed in IBMA- and MA
      treated cells. Around 42% cells were viable at the highest test concentration of
      IBMA (80 MUmol/L) and only 20% cells were viable at the highest dose (144
      MUmol/L) of MA exposure (P < 0.05). Dose-dependent decrease in the GPx and SOD
      activities was observed in cells treated with IBMA and MA (P < 0.05). CAT
      activity was not detectable in the controls. However, a fall in CAT activity was
      detected in cells exposed to IBMA and MA at all concentrations tested (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: IBMA and MA leaching out from the chairside denture hard reliners are
      cytotoxic on human buccal fibroblast primary cell cultures. This could be due to
      the oxidative stress caused by the generation of reactive oxygen species which is
      evidenced by the fall in activities of antioxidant enzymes (GPx, SOD, and CAT)
      and cytotoxicity.

PMID- 28584423
TI  - Managing maxillary proclination with novel designed angulated implants.
AB  - Implant-supported removable dental prostheses may be supported by a variety of
      splinted (bar and clip) attachment systems or nonsplinted abutment-based
      attachments (ball, magnets, and resilient stud attachments such as locators [Zest
      Anchors], ERA [Sterngold], and nonresilient-stud attachments such as ANKYLOS
      SynCone [Dentsply Implants]). Nonsplinted attachments are preferred as they are
      more economical, less technique sensitive, easier to clean, repair, and maintain
      than splinted (bar and clip) attachment systems, but they work favorably only
      when implants in the arch are placed parallel to each other. Often implants in
      the anterior maxilla have to be placed with a labial inclination (due to the
      proclination of the premaxilla), resulting in lack of parallelism between the
      anterior and posterior implants, making it challenging to fabricate a removable
      dental prostheses supported by nonsplinted attachments, and necessitating the use
      of angled abutments. Recently, a novel implant design with a 12 degrees 
      restorative platform angulation has been introduced by Southern Implants (Co
      axis, Keystone Dental, Inc., Burlington, MA, USA). These new angulated implants
      aid in minimizing the divergence between the anterior and posterior maxillary
      implants without using angled abutments. The purpose of this article was to
      report a case utilizing the novel angulated implants (Co-axis, Keystone Dental,
      Inc., Burlington, MA, USA) in the premaxilla for fabrication of maxillary
      removable dental prostheses supported and retained by nonsplinted attachments.

PMID- 28584424
TI  - Two-piece obturator using "lock-and-key" mechanism.
AB  - This paper describes a method used for the fabrication of a two-piece denture
      obturator for a patient who had surgical removal of the premaxilla due to
      squamous cell carcinoma. The patient had been wearing a two-piece obturator but
      encountered difficulty in inserting the prosthesis. In this case report, a lock
      and-key mechanism was used to easily assemble the two-piece prosthesis
      intraorally. A keyhole was designed on the obturator to act as the lock while the
      denture was used as the key that fitted into the keyhole. This mechanism
      facilitated insertion and provided retention for the prosthesis. Heat-cured
      resilient acrylic material (Molloplast B(r)), which was used to fabricate the
      obturator, was a nonirritant, nontoxic, tissue-compatible material. It also did
      not contain plasticizers, therefore eliminating the problems associated with
      leaching out of plasticizers. The use of this flexible and resilient material
      allowed the obturator to engage in the undercuts without causing trauma and
      irritation to the soft tissues in the region of the defect. To conclude, the
      "lock-and-key" mechanism used in the fabrication of the two-piece denture
      obturator provided the patient with a lightweight, comfortable, and user-friendly
      form of prostheses.

PMID- 28584425
TI  - Osseo integrated finger prosthesis with a custom abutment.
AB  - One of the most regularly encountered forms of partial hand loss causing
      physical, psychosocial and financial burden to an individual is the finger
      amputation followed by trauma. The prosthetic rehabilitation of amputated finger
      is a good treatment option, when compared to all other means of complex and
      unaffordable options. Osseointegrated implant retained silicone finger prosthesis
      with innovative prosthetic designs can provide the patient a life changing
      experience.

PMID- 28584426
TI  - Use of Nutrition Risk in Critically ill (NUTRIC) Score to Assess Nutritional Risk
      in Mechanically Ventilated Patients: A Prospective Observational Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Nutritional risk assessment must be done on all critically ill patients.
      Malnutrition in intensive care unit (ICU) patients is associated with adverse
      clinical outcomes. Traditional scoring systems cannot be used for screening in
      mechanically ventilated (MV) patients because these patients are unable to
      provide information on their history of food intake and weight loss. The
      Nutrition Risk in Critically ill (NUTRIC) score is the appropriate nutritional
      assessment tool in MV patients. AIMS: This prospective observational study was
      conducted to identify the nutritional risk in MV patients using modified NUTRIC
      (mNUTRIC) score (with the exception of interleukin-6). PATIENTS AND METHODS: All
      adult patients admitted to the ICU and required MV for more than 48 h were
      included in the study. Data were collected on variables required to calculate
      mNUTRIC score. Patients with mNUTRIC score >=5 are considered at nutritional
      risk. Outcome data were collected on ICU length of stay, ventilator-free days,
      and mortality. RESULTS: A total of 678 MV patients fit into the inclusion
      criteria. Majority of the patients were male (67%). Mean age of the patients was
      55 years. About 288 (42.5%) patients were at high nutritional risk (mNUTRIC score
      >=5). Patients with high mNUTRIC score >=5 had longer mean ICU average length of
      stay of 9.0 (+/-4.2) versus 7.8 (+/-5.8) mean (+/- standard deviation) days (P <
      0.01) and higher mortality 41.4% versus 26.1% (P < 0.0) compared to patients with
      low NUTRIC score (<=4). High mNUTRIC score (>=5) predicted mortality with area
      under the curve of 0.582 (95% confidence interval 0.535-0.628). CONCLUSIONS:
      Nearly 42.5% of MV patients admitted to ICU were at nutritional risk, and high
      mNUTRIC score was associated with increased ICU length of stay and higher
      mortality.

PMID- 28584427
TI  - Reliability of Ultrasonography in Confirming Endotracheal Tube Placement in an
      Emergency Setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Over the past few years, ultrasonography is
      increasingly being used to confirm the correct placement of endotracheal tube
      (ETT). In our study, we aimed to compare it with the traditional clinical methods
      and the gold standard quantitative waveform capnography. Two primary outcomes
      were measured in our study. First was the sensitivity and specificity of
      ultrasonography against the other two methods to confirm endotracheal intubation.
      The second primary outcome assessed was the time taken for each method to confirm
      tube placement in an emergency setting. METHODS: This is a single-centered,
      prospective cohort study conducted in an emergency department of a tertiary care
      hospital. We included 100 patients with indication of emergency intubation by
      convenient sampling. The intubation was performed as per standard hospital
      protocol. As part of the study protocol, ultrasonography was used to identify ETT
      placement simultaneously with the intubation procedure along with quantitative
      waveform capnography (end-tidal carbon dioxide) and clinical methods.
      Confirmation of tube placement and time taken for the same were noted by three
      separate health-care staffs. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Out of the 100 intubation
      attempts, five (5%) had esophageal intubations. The sensitivity and specificity
      of diagnosis using ultrasonography were 97.89% and 100%, respectively. This was
      statistically comparable with the other two modalities. The time taken to confirm
      tube placement with ultrasonography was 8.27 +/- 1.54 s compared to waveform
      capnography and clinical methods which were 18.06 +/- 2.58 and 20.72 +/- 3.21 s,
      respectively. The time taken by ultrasonography was significantly less.
      CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonography confirmed tube placement with comparable sensitivity
      and specificity to quantitative waveform capnography and clinical methods. But
      then, it yielded results considerably faster than the other two modalities.

PMID- 28584428
TI  - A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Comparison between Extended Daily
      Hemodialysis and Continuous Veno-venous Hemodialysis in Patients of Acute Kidney
      Injury with Septic Shock.
AB  - AIM OF STUDY: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in patients of septic shock.
      There is sparse data comparing sustained low-efficiency dialysis (SLED) and
      continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in patients with septic shock.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective randomized study in a 12-bedded
      medical intensive care unit. After clearance from institute's ethics committee
      and obtaining informed consent from the relatives, sixty adult patients with
      septic shock who were to undergo dialysis for AKI were included in the study.
      They were randomly assigned to SLED or CRRT group. Hemodynamic instability was
      defined as in terms of vasopressor dependency (VD). The worst value of VD during
      the dialysis session was taken into consideration. The primary objective was look
      at hemodynamic changes and secondarily into the efficacy. RESULTS: The
      demographic data were comparable between the sixty patients randomized to thirty
      in each group. Delta VD and delta vasopressor index (DVI) were similar in SLED
      group compared to the CRRT group. CRRT group had better efficacy in terms of both
      equivalent renal urea clearance though fluid balance was not significantly better
      in CRRT group. CONCLUSION: SLED is a viable modality of renal replacement therapy
      in patients with septic shock as the hemodynamic effects are similar to CRRT.

PMID- 28584429
TI  - Thromboelastography for Evaluation of Coagulopathy in Nonbleeding Patients with
      Sepsis at Intensive Care Unit Admission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thromboelastography (TEG) is a global test of coagulation which
      analyzes the whole coagulation process. TEG is popular in trauma, liver
      transplant, and cardiac surgeries, but studies in sepsis are limited. We have
      assessed the utility of TEG for evaluating coagulopathy in nonbleeding patients
      with sepsis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational study was done
      in 12-bedded Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital in North
      India, during May 2014-November 2014. After ethical clearance, all patients at
      ICU admission with sepsis were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were age
      <18 years, plasma/platelet transfusion before admission, patients on oral
      antiplatelets/anticoagulants, or with underlying hematological disorders. At
      admission, blood samples for TEG were analyzed by kaolin-based TEG analyzer
      within an hour of collecting 2.7 ml citrated blood from arterial line. TEG
      parameters included reaction time (R), K time (K), alpha angle (a), maximum
      amplitude (MA), coagulation index (CI), and lysis index (LY 30). RESULTS: In TEG,
      mean values of R, K, a, MA, CI, and LY30 were 6.45 +/- 2.59 (min), 1.67 +/- 0.96
      (min), 66.37 +/- 10.44 (0), 67.08 +/- 10.33 (mm), 0.63 +/- 3.46, and 2.23 +/-
      4.08 (%), respectively. In conventional coagulation assay (CCA), mean values of
      international normalized ratio (INR), platelet, and fibrinogen were 1.63 +/-
      0.57, 153.96 +/- 99.16 (*103 /mm3), and 301.33 +/- 112.82 (mg/dl), respectively.
      In those with deranged INR (INR >=1.6), 60% were normocoagulable and 20% were
      hypercoagulable. Similarly, 81% patients with thrombocytopenia (platelet count
      <1,00,000/mL) were normocoagulable. CONCLUSION: TEG could differentiate among
      normocoagulant, hypocoagulant, hypercoagulant states (unlike CCAs). Patients with
      septic shock had trend toward hypocoagulant state while those without shock had
      trend toward hypercoagulant state.

PMID- 28584430
TI  - The Benefit of Benzodiazepine Reduction: Improving Sedation in Surgical Intensive
      Care.
AB  - AIMS: Sedation, as it is often required in critical care, is associated with
      immobilization, prolonged ventilation, and increased morbidity. Most sedation
      protocols are based on benzodiazepines. The presented study analyzes the benefit
      of benzodiazepine-free sedation. METHODS: In 2008, 134 patients were treated
      according to a protocol using benzodiazepine and propofol (Group 1). In 2009, we
      introduced a new sedation strategy based on sufentanil, nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs, neuroleptics, and antidepressants, which was applied in 140
      consecutive patients (Group 2). Depth of sedation, duration of mechanical
      ventilation, duration of Intensive Care Unit, and hospital stay were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Group 1 had both a longer duration of deep sedation (18.7 +/- 2.5 days
      vs. 12.6 +/- 1.85 days, P = 0.031) and a longer duration of controlled
      ventilation (311, 35 +/- 32.69 vs. 143, 96 +/- 20.76 h, P < 0.0001) than Group 2.
      Ventilator days were more frequent in Group 1 (653, 66 +/- 98.37 h vs. 478, 89 +/
      68.92 h, P = 0.128). CONCLUSIONS: The benzodiazepine-free sedation protocol has
      been shown to significantly reduce depth of sedation and controlled ventilation.
      Additional evidence is needed to ascertain reduction of ventilator days which
      would not only be of benefit for the patient but also for the hospital
      Management.

PMID- 28584431
TI  - Hospital-acquired Infection: Prevalence and Outcome in Infants Undergoing Open
      Heart Surgery in the Present Era.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the causal relation between
      hospital-acquired infection (HAI) and clinical outcomes following cardiac surgery
      in neonates and infants and to identify the risk factors for the development of
      HAI in this subset of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After Ethics committee
      approval, one hundred consecutive infants undergoing open heart surgery (OHS)
      between June 2015 and June 2016 were included in this prospective observational
      study. Data were prospectively collected. The incidence and distribution of HAI,
      the microorganisms, their antibiotic resistance and patients' outcome were
      determined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria were used for
      defining HAIs. Univariate and multivariate risk factor analysis was done using
      Stata 14. RESULTS: Sixteen infants developed microbiologically documented HAI
      after cardiac surgery. Neonatal age group was found to be most susceptible. Lower
      respiratory tract infections accounted for majority of the infections (47.4%)
      followed by bloodstream infection (31.6%), urinary tract infection (10.5%), and
      surgical site infection (10.5%). Klebsiella (36.8%) and Acinetobacter (26.3%)
      were the most frequently isolated pathogens. HAI was associated with prolonged
      ventilation duration (P = 0.005), Intensive Care Unit stay (P = 0.0004), and
      hospital stay (P = 0.002). Multivariate risk factor analysis revealed that
      preoperative hospital stay (odds ratio [OR] 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      1.6-1.39, P = 0.004), and prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (OR 1.03, 95% CI
      1.01-1.05, P = 0.001) were associated with the development of HAI. CONCLUSION:
      HAI still remains a dreaded complication in infants after OHS and contributing to
      morbidity and mortality. Strategies such as decreasing preoperative hospital
      stay, CPB time, and early extubation should be encouraged to prevent HAI.

PMID- 28584432
TI  - The Effect of High-dose Parenteral Sodium Selenite in Critically Ill Patients
      following Sepsis: A Clinical and Mechanistic Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Severe sepsis and septic shock is characterized by inflammation and
      oxidative stress. Selenium levels have been reported to be low due to loss or
      increased requirements during severe sepsis and septic shock. We investigated the
      effect of high-dose parenteral selenium administration in septic patients.
      METHODS: A prospective, randomized control clinical trial was performed in septic
      patients. After randomization, patients in selenium group received high-dose
      parenteral sodium selenite (2 mg intravenous [IV] bolus followed by 1.5 mg IV
      continuous infusion daily for 14 days) plus standard therapy and the control
      group received standard therapy. The primary endpoint was mortality at 28 days.
      Changes in the mean levels of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1) protein and
      superoxide dismutase (SOD), duration of vasopressor therapy, incidence of acute
      renal failure, and 60 days' mortality were secondary endpoints. RESULTS: Fifty
      four patients were randomized into selenium group (n = 29) and control group (n =
      25). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality. No significant
      difference between the two groups with respect to the average levels of HMGB-1
      protein and SOD at any point in time over the course of 14 days had observed.
      CONCLUSION: In early administration within the first 6 h of sepsis diagnosis, our
      study demonstrated that high-dose parenteral selenium administration had no
      significant effect either on 28-day mortality or the mean levels of HMGB-1 and
      SOD (Trial Registration: IRCT201212082887N4 at WHO Clinical Trial Registry,
      August 29, 2014).

PMID- 28584433
TI  - Critically Ill Obstetric Patients in a General Critical Care Unit: A 5 Years'
      Retrospective Study in a Public Teaching Hospital of Eastern India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Critical care services are essential for the subset of obstetric
      patients suffering from severe maternal morbidity. Studies on obstetric critical
      care are important for benchmarking the issues which need to be addressed while
      managing critically ill obstetric patients. Although there are several published
      studies on obstetric critical care from India and abroad, studies from Eastern
      India are limited. The present study was conducted to fill in this lacuna and to
      audit the obstetric critical care admissions over a 5 years' period. SETTINGS AND
      DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study conducted in the general critical care unit
      (CCU) of a government teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of
      all obstetric patients managed in the CCU over a span of 5 years (January 2011
      December 2015) were analyzed. RESULTS: During the study, 205 obstetric patients
      were admitted with a CCU admission rate of 2.1 per 1000 deliveries. Obstetric
      hemorrhage (34.64%) was the most common primary diagnosis among them followed by
      pregnancy-induced hypertension (26.83%). Severe hemorrhage leading to organ
      failure (40.48%) was the main direct indication of admission. Invasive
      ventilation was needed in 75.61% patients, and overall obstetric mortality rate
      was 33.66%. The median duration (in days) of invasive ventilation was 2
      (interquartile range [IQR] 1-7), and the median length of CCU stay (in days) was
      5 (IQR 3-9). CONCLUSIONS: Adequate number of critical care beds, a dedicated
      obstetric high dependency unit, and effective coordination between critical care
      and maternity services may prove helpful in high volume obstetric centers.

PMID- 28584434
TI  - Management of Potential Organ Donor: Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine:
      Position Statement.

PMID- 28584435
TI  - A Study of 24 Patients with Colistin-Resistant Gram-negative Isolates in a
      Tertiary Care Hospital in South India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the use of colistin to treat carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative
      infections increases, colistin resistance is being increasingly reported in
      Indian hospitals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective chart review of clinical
      data from patients with colistin-resistant isolates (minimum inhibitory
      concentration >2 mcg/ml). Clinical profile, outcome, and antibiotics that were
      used for treatment were analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-four colistin-resistant
      isolates were reported over 18 months (January 2014-June 2015). A history of
      previous hospitalization within 3 months was present in all the patients. An
      invasive device was used in 22 (91.67%) patients. Urine was the most common
      source of the isolate, followed by blood and respiratory samples. Klebsiella
      pneumoniae constituted 87.5% of all isolates. Sixteen (66.6%) were considered to
      have true infection, whereas eight (33.3%) were considered to represent
      colonization. Susceptibility of these isolates to other drugs tested was
      tigecycline in 75%, chloramphenicol 62.5%, amikacin 29.17%, co-trimoxazole 12.5%,
      and fosfomycin (sensitive in all 4 isolates tested). Antibiotics that were used
      for treatment were combinations among the following antimicrobials-tigecycline,
      chloramphenicol, fosfomycin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, and
      sulbactam. Among eight patients who were considered to have colonization, there
      were no deaths. Bacteremic patients had a significantly higher risk of death
      compared to all nonbacteremic patients (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Colistin
      resistance among Gram-negative bacteria, especially K. pneumoniae, is emerging in
      Indian hospitals. At least one-third of isolates represented colonization only
      rather than true infection and did not require treatment. Among patients with
      true infection, only 25% had a satisfactory outcome and survived to discharge.
      Fosfomycin, tigecycline, and chloramphenicol may be options for combination
      therapy.

PMID- 28584436
TI  - Titration of Ideal Positive End-expiratory Pressure in Acute Respiratory Distress
      Syndrome: Comparison between Lower Inflection Point and Esophageal Pressure
      Method Using Volumetric Capnography.
AB  - The tenets of mechanical ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome
      (ARDS) include the utilization of low tidal volume and optimal application of
      positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Optimal PEEP in ARDS is characterized by
      reduction in alveolar dead space along with improvement in the lung compliance
      and resultant betterment in oxygenation. There are various methods of setting
      PEEP in ARDS. Herein, we report a patient of ARDS, wherein we employed
      measurement of dead space using volumetric capnography to compare two different
      PEEP strategies, namely, the lower inflection point and transpulmonary pressure
      monitoring.

PMID- 28584437
TI  - Severe Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Due to Scrub Typhus:
      Successful Ventilation with Airway Pressure Release Ventilation Mode after
      Becoming Refractory to Protective Ventilation.
AB  - Scrub typhus can affect lungs from mild illness like pneumonitis to a severe
      illness like acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Such patients may be
      very challenging to treat when their hypoxemia becomes severe and refractory to
      treatment. Main treatment is supportive in terms of mechanical ventilation. In
      adult ARDS, low tidal volume (TV) ventilation has been recommended, but there is
      no consensus on most effective ventilation mode in children. We present a case of
      a 12-year-old girl who developed severe ARDS (PO2/FiO2 ratio - 58), refractory to
      low TV ventilation. There was a rapid improvement in oxygenation on the
      application of airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) mode within 1/2 h. She
      was successfully ventilated and weaned off the ventilator over 5 days. This case
      highlights the utility of APRV mode of ventilation as a rescue therapy for severe
      refractory ARDS in children.

PMID- 28584438
TI  - Neurogenic Pulmonary Edema in Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - A 29-year-old male admitted with severe traumatic brain injury following a road
      traffic accident was sedated and ventilated uneventfully for 72 h. On the fourth
      posttrauma day, after stopping sedation to assess readiness for extubation, he
      developed sudden onset desaturation; arterial blood gas showed severe diffusion
      defect with very low PaO2/FiO2 ratio following an episode of generalized tonic
      clonic seizure. The differential diagnoses and further management are discussed.

PMID- 28584439
TI  - Intentional Self-harm Human Poisoning with Agricultural Micronutrient Foliar
      Spray: From Rural India of Southern Karnataka.

PMID- 28584440
TI  - Overestimation of Cardiac Output by Bent Pulmonary Artery Catheter.

PMID- 28584441
TI  - Trouble Shooting a Small Sized IJV.

PMID- 28584442
TI  - Erratum: Changes in B-type Natriuretic Peptide and Related Hemodynamic Parameters
      following a Fluid Challenge in Critically ill Patients with Severe Sepsis or
      Septic Shock.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 117 in vol. 21, PMID: 28400680.].

PMID- 28584443
TI  - Annotation of gene sequence and protein structure of brinjal EDS1.
AB  - Enhanced Disease Susceptibility1 (EDS1) is a nucleo-cytoplasmic protein, known to
      be a key regulator of plant basal defense and effector-triggered immunity.
      Sequence of a single copy brinjal EDS1 gene (SmEDS1) was mined from draft brinjal
      genome assembly. The extracted sequence was found to be incomplete and polished
      with the help of transcriptome sequence data. Full-length SmEDS1 gene is 4.5kb
      long having three exons that coded for 1.8kb mRNA. SmEDS1 protein is a 602 amino
      acid long protein consisting of Lipase3 and EP domain regions. Predicted tertiary
      structure of SmEDS1 using homology modelling had a mass of 68.8kD and was made of
      10 strands, 26 alpha helices, five 310 helices and 43 beta turns. Phylogenetic
      analysis based on protein sequence grouped the species in clades defined by
      botanical family suggesting that EDS1 protein has evolved through the speciation
      process. Phylogenetic tree based on EDS1 structures grouped Solanum species of
      American origin (tomato, wild tomato and potato) together but brinjal EDS1
      (Asiatic origin) occupied a unique position. In silico information generated in
      this study is expected to be the first step toward cloning and expression
      analysis of SmEDS1 gene.

PMID- 28584444
TI  - Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship study of the Anti-Hepatitis Peptides
      employing Random Forests and Extra-trees regressors.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides are host defense peptides being viewed as replacement to
      broad-spectrum antibiotics due to varied advantages. Hepatitis is the commonest
      infectious disease of liver, affecting 500 million globally with reported adverse
      side effects in treatment therapy. Antimicrobial peptides active against
      hepatitis are called as anti-hepatitis peptides (AHP). In current work, we
      present Extratrees and Random Forests based Quantitative Structure Activity
      Relationship (QSAR) regression modeling using extracted sequence based
      descriptors for prediction of the anti-hepatitis activity. The Extra-trees
      regression model yielded a very high performance in terms coefficient of
      determination (R2) as 0.95 for test set and 0.7 for the independent dataset. We
      hypothesize that the developed model can further be used to identify potentially
      active anti-hepatitis peptides with a high level of reliability.

PMID- 28584445
TI  - A comparative molecular docking study of curcumin and methotrexate to
      dihydrofolate reductase.
AB  - Interaction of curcumin (CUR) with the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) was
      studied by molecular docking using AutoDock 4.2 as the docking software
      application. AutoDock 4.2 software serves as a valid and acceptable docking
      application to study the interactions of small compounds with proteins.
      Interactions of curcumin with DHFR were compared to those of methotrexate (MTX),
      a known inhibitor of the enzyme. The calculated free energy of binding (DeltaG
      binding) shows that curcumin (DeltaG = -9.02 kcal/mol; Ki = 243 nM) binds with
      affinity comparable to or better than MTX (DeltaG = -8.78 kcal/mol; Ki = 363 nM).
      Binding interactions of curcumin with active site residues of the enzyme are also
      predicted. Curcumin appears to bind in a bent conformation making extensive VDW
      contacts in the active site of the enzyme. Hydrogen bonding and pi-pi interaction
      with key active site residues are also observed. Thus, curcumin can be considered
      as a good lead compound in the development of new inhibitors of DHFR, which is a
      potential target of anti-cancer drugs. The results of these studies can serve as
      a starting point for further computational and experimental studies.

PMID- 28584446
TI  - Antimicrobial activity of various ethanolic plant extracts against pathogenic
      multi drug resistant Candida spp.
AB  - A total of 50 Candida isolates were isolated and identified from clinical
      specimens and these were tested for resistance to various antifungal drugs. It
      was observed multi-drug resistance in all candida isolates by 84%, 62%, 60%, 76%,
      46, 30%, and 22% against fluconazole, clotrimazole, Amphotericin B, itraconazole,
      ketoconazole, miconazole and nystatin tested respectively. The isolates, which
      were found to be resistant to antifungal drugs were selected and subjected to
      antifungal testing against six ethanolic plants, extract namely Azadiracta
      indica, Allium sativum, Cordia dichotoma Ocimum sanctum, Syzygium cumini and
      Trigonella foenum grecum. All the plant extracts tested were found to effective
      against all MDR Candida isolates with inhibition zone ranging from 10- 18mm in
      diameter. Ethanolic extract of Allium sativum was observed most effective against
      the isolates among all the plants extracts tested. The minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) of all ethanolic plant extract was recorded ranging from 1.56
      25mg/ml against MDR candida isolates. Phytochemical analysis of the alcoholic
      plant extracts revealed the presence of alkaloid, flavanoid, glycosoid, phenol;
      phenol, tannins, saponins in all the plants studied. The present study may be
      successful in identifying the plants with different antimicrobial activity. These
      plants containing various phytochemicals may be exploited in the treatment of
      infectious diseases caused by drug-resistant microorganisms.

PMID- 28584447
TI  - Analysis of EAWAG-BBD pathway prediction system for the identification of
      malathion degrading microbes.
AB  - Insecticides are the toxic substances that are used to kill insects. The use of
      insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind the increase in
      agricultural productivity in the 20th century. The organophosphates are now the
      largest and most versatile class of insecticide used and Malathion is the
      predominant type utilized. The accumulation of Malathion in environment is the
      biggest threat to the environment because of its toxicity. Malathion is lethal to
      beneficial insects, snails, micro crustaceans, fish, birds, amphibians, and soil
      microorganisms. Chronic exposure of non-diabetic farmers to organophosphorus
      Malathion pesticides may induce insulin resistance, which might ultimately
      results in diabetes mellitus. Given the potential carcinogenic risk from the
      pesticides there is serious need to develop remediation processes to eliminate or
      minimize contamination in the environment. Biodegradation could be a reliable and
      cost effective technique for pesticide abatement. Since today as there were no
      metabolic pathway predicted for the degradation of organophosphates pesticide
      Malathion in KEGG database or in any of the other pathway databases. Thus in the
      present study, an attempt has been made to predict the microbial biodegradation
      pathway of Malathion using bioinformatics tools. The present study predicted the
      degradation pathway for Malathion. The present study also identifies,
      Streptomyces sp. and E.coli are capable of degrading Malathion through pathway
      prediction system.

PMID- 28584448
TI  - Identification and characterization of a cyclosporin binding cyclophilin from
      Staphylococcus aureus Newman.
AB  - Cyclophilins, a class of peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) enzymes,
      are inhibited by cyclosporin A (CsA), an immunosuppressive drug. Staphylococcus
      aureus Newman, a pathogenic bacterium, carries a gene for encoding a putative
      cyclophilin (SaCyp). SaCyp shows significant homology with other cyclophilins at
      the sequence level. A three-dimensional model structure of SaCyp harbors a
      binding site for CsA. To verify whether SaCyp possesses both the PPIase activity
      and the CsA binding ability, we have purified and investigated a recombinant
      SaCyp (rCyp) using various in vitro tools. Our RNase T1 refolding assay indicates
      that rCyp has a substantial extent of PPIase activity. rCyp that exists as a
      monomer in the aqueous solution is truly a cyclophilin as its catalytic activity
      specifically shows sensitivity to CsA. rCyp appears to bind CsA with a reasonably
      high affinity. Additional investigations reveal that binding of CsA to rCyp
      alters its structure and shape to some extent. Both rCyp and rCyp-CsA are
      unfolded via the formation of at least one intermediate in the presence of
      guanidine hydrochloride. Unfolding study also indicates that there is substantial
      extent of thermodynamic stabilization of rCyp in the presence of CsA as well. The
      data suggest that rCyp may be exploited to screen the new antimicrobial agents in
      the future.

PMID- 28584449
TI  - Epitope design of L1 protein for vaccine production against Human Papilloma Virus
      types 16 and 18.
AB  - Cervical cancer accounts for about two-thirds of all cancer cases linked
      etiologically to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). 15 oncogenic HPV types can cause
      cervical cancer, of which HPV16 and HPV18 combinedly account for about 70% of it.
      So, effective epitope design for the clinically relevant HPV types 16 and 18
      would be of major medical benefit. Here, a comprehensive analysis is carried out
      to predict the epitopes against HPV types 16 and 18 through "reverse vaccinology"
      approach. We attempted to identify the evolutionarily conserved regions of major
      capsid protein (L1) as well as minor capsid protein (L2) of HPV and designed
      epitopes within these regions. In this study, we analyzed about 49 and 27
      sequences of HPV L2 and L1 proteins respectively. Since we found that the
      intertype variability of L2 is higher than for L1 proteins, our analysis was
      emphasized on epitopes of L1 of HPV types 16 and 18. We had selected HLA-A*0201,
      DRB1*1501, DQB1*0602, DRB1*0401 and DQB1*0301 alleles for the prediction of T
      cell epitopes of L1 of HPV 16 and 18. Finally, we reported that predicted epitope
      sequences EEYDLQFIFQLCKITLTA, and RHGEEYDLQFIFQLCKITLTA of L1 protein of HPV 16,
      and LPDPNKF, PETQRLVWAC, PVPGQYDA, YNPETQRLVWAC, DTGYGAMD, PVPGQYDATK,
      KQDIPKVSAYQYRVFRV, RDNVSVDYKQTQLCI and YSRHVEEYDLQFIF of L1 protein of HPV 18
      could be therapeutic tools for vaccine design against HPV.

PMID- 28584450
TI  - T-cell epitopes predicted from the Nucleocapsid protein of Sin Nombre virus
      restricted to 30 HLA alleles common to the North American population.
AB  - Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in North America is caused by Sin Nombre
      virus (SNV) and poses a public health problem. We identified T-cell epitopes
      restricted to HLA alleles commonly seen in the N. American population.
      Nucleocapsid (N) protein is 428 aminoacid in length and binds to RNA and
      functions also as a key molecule between virus and host cell processes. The
      predicted epitopes from N protein that bind to class I MHC were analyzed for
      human proteasomes cleavage, TAP efficiency, immunogenicity and antigenicity. We
      identified 8 epitopes through MHC binding prediction, proteasomal cleavage
      prediction and TAP efficiency. Epitope VMGVIGFSF had highest Vaxijen score and
      the epitope, TNRAYFITR had highest immunogenicity score. Epitope AAVSALETK and
      TIACGLFPA had 100% homology to many HCPS causing viruses. Our study focused on T
      cell epitope prediction specific to restricted HLA haplotypes of racial groups in
      North America for the potential vaccine development. Among the candidate
      epitopes, FLAARCPFL was conserved in SNV, which is suitable for vaccine specific
      to the virus genotype. Peptide-based vaccines can be designed to include multiple
      determinants from several hantavirus genotypes, or multiple epitopes from the
      same genotype. Thereby, immune response will focus solely on relevant epitopes,
      avoiding non-protective responses or immune evasion. The other advantages include
      absence of infectious material unlike in live or attenuated vaccines. There is no
      risk of reversion or formation of adverse reassortants leading to virulence and
      no risk of genetic integration or recombination forming a rationale for vaccine
      design including for distinct geographical regions.

PMID- 28584451
TI  - optCluster: An R Package for Determining the Optimal Clustering Algorithm.
AB  - : There exist numerous programs and packages that perform validation for a given
      clustering solution; however, clustering algorithms fare differently as judged by
      different validation measures. If more than one performance measure is used to
      evaluate multiple clustering partitions, an optimal result is often difficult to
      determine by visual inspection alone. This paper introduces optCluster, an R
      package that uses a single function to simultaneously compare numerous clustering
      partitions (created by different algorithms and/or numbers of clusters) and
      obtain a "best" option for a given dataset. The method of weighted rank
      aggregation is utilized by this package to objectively aggregate various
      performance measure scores, thereby taking away the guesswork that often follows
      a visual inspection of cluster results. The optCluster package contains
      biological validation measures as well as clustering algorithms developed
      specifically for RNA sequencing data, making it a useful tool for clustering
      genomic data. AVAILABILITY: This package is available for free through the
      Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) at
      http://cran.rproject.org/web/packages/optCluster/.

PMID- 28584452
TI  - State of the Globe: Hepatitis C - Opportunistic versus Organized Screening.

PMID- 28584453
TI  - Reflections on the Ebola Public Health Emergency of International Concern, Part
      1: Post-Ebola Syndrome: The Silent Outbreak.

PMID- 28584454
TI  - Reflections on the Ebola Public Health Emergency of International Concern, Part
      2: The Unseen Epidemic of Posttraumatic Stress among Health-care Personnel and
      Survivors of the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak.

PMID- 28584455
TI  - Hepatitis C Virus: Unnoticed and on the Rise in Blood Donor Screening? A 5 Years
      Cross-sectional Study on Seroprevalence in Voluntary Blood Donors from Central
      India.
AB  - CONTEXT: The ultimate goal of a blood transfusion service is the provision of
      safe and adequate supply free from transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs).
      TTIs not only threaten the recipient's safety, but they also increase disease
      burden. Seroprevalence of TTIs in healthy blood donors indirectly reflects the
      prevalence of these infections in the general healthy population. AIM AND
      OBJECTIVES: To study the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),
      hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in healthy donors at a
      tertiary care hospital-based blood bank. To know the yearly and age-group
      prevalence of these TTIs as compared with other studies across India. SETTINGS
      AND DESIGN: This is 5 years observational cross-section study conducted in a
      tertiary hospital-based teaching institute of Central India (Malwa region).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The results of serological testing of TTIs and donor
      variables were analyzed during 2011-2015. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square
      test and Chi-square for trend analysis on TTIs prevalence. RESULTS: A total of
      58,998 donors were screened for TTIs with dominance of male donation (99.7%). The
      overall cumulative seroprevalence was 1.14% in our study. The seroprevalence of
      HIV, HBV, and HCV was 0.09%, 0.98%, and 0.07%, respectively. We found a
      statistically significant increasing trend for HCV seropositivity during the
      study. CONCLUSION: Our study reflects an increasing trend of HCV seroprevalence
      over time. Thus, efforts are needed to increase the awareness and to educate the
      population in reducing risk factors for HCV infection.

PMID- 28584456
TI  - Isolation Rate and Clinical Significance of Uropathogens in Positive Urine
      Cultures of Hemodialysis Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are known to be vulnerable to infections.
      However, there are limited data on the urine microbiology spectrum among patients
      with end-stage renal disease and on the development of antimicrobial resistance
      of uropathogens in these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-center,
      retrospective study was conducted to assess the spectrum and antimicrobial
      resistance profile of microorganisms isolated in urine cultures of HD patients
      who were hospitalized between September 2008 and August 2015 with an admitting
      diagnosis of fever, sepsis, or urinary tract infection. Characteristics of
      patients were recorded, and associations between the aforementioned parameters
      were assessed with Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: We included 75 HD patients (33
      males, mean age 73.6 +/- 16.6 years) with positive urine cultures. Despite urine
      culture positivity, the urinary tract was the confirmed source of infection in
      only 31 (41.3%) patients. Among the different pathogens, Escherichia coli was the
      predominant microorganism. Identification of E. coli as the involved uropathogen
      was associated neither with a growth of >=105 CFU/ml, presence of fever, sepsis,
      urinary catheter use nor with higher antimicrobial resistance. E. coli growth,
      however, was significantly associated with polycystic kidney disease (P = 0.027).
      Extended antimicrobial resistance was noted in 29 (38.7%) patients but was
      associated neither with higher incidence of fever or sepsis nor with urinary
      catheter use. CONCLUSIONS: In our series of HD patients with positive urine
      cultures, the isolation rates of different uropathogens do not seem to differ
      from the most commonly encountered ones in nondialysis patients although
      resistance to antimicrobials may be more frequently observed.

PMID- 28584457
TI  - Analysis of the Clinical Profile in Patients with Plasmodium falciparum Malaria
      and Its Association with Parasite Density.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a major health hazard in the modern world,
      particularly in developing countries. In Plasmodium falciparum malaria, there is
      a direct correlation between asexual erythrocytic stage parasite density and
      disease severity. Accordingly, the correlations between parasite density and
      various clinical presentations, severity, and outcome were examined in falciparum
      malaria in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in a tertiary
      health-care center in North India. Of 100 cases of falciparum malaria, 65
      patients were male and 35 were female. A total of 54 patients were in the
      uncomplicated group and 46 patients were in the complicated malaria group.
      RESULTS: Fever, anemia, icterus, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and
      hepatosplenomegaly were common clinical findings. All clinical findings were
      significantly more common in the complicated malaria group and patients with a
      high parasite density than in the uncomplicated group and those with a low
      parasite density. All patients in the uncomplicated malaria group had a parasite
      density of <5% while most patients in the complicated malaria group had a
      parasite density of >5%, and the difference between groups was statistically
      significant. The incidence of cerebral malaria was significantly higher in cases
      with a high parasite density; 58.33% mortality was observed in these cases.
      Cerebral malaria and hyperbilirubinemia was the most frequently encountered
      combination of complications. CONCLUSIONS: In P. falciparum malaria, parasite
      density was associated with complications and poor clinical outcomes. These
      results may inform treatment decisions and suggest that a threshold parasite
      density of 5% is informative.

PMID- 28584458
TI  - Epidemiology of Rotavirus in the Iranian Children: A Systematic Review and Meta
      analysis.
AB  - Rotavirus is associated with increased risk for severe diarrhea in infants and
      young children worldwide. This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed
      to determine the prevalence rate of rotavirus from different parts of Iran and
      provide an overall relative frequency (RF) for Iran. We performed a systematic
      literature review from several databases including PubMed, ISI Web of Science,
      Scopus, OVID, MAG IRAN, IranMedex, and Iranian Scientific Information Database.
      We searched the following keywords: "rotavirus," "rotavirus infection," "acute
      gastroenteritis," "diarrhea," "children," "infant," and "Iran." The purpose of
      this study was to report the prevalence of rotavirus with the application of meta
      analysis. We selected 43 researches out of 1147 for our study. From all the
      samples, the pooled estimate of prevalence (95% confidence interval) =39.9%
      (0.396%-0.409%) were rotavirus positive. It should be noted that rotavirus
      infection's RF varied from 6.4% to 79.3% in Birjand and Tehran Provinces,
      respectively. Thereupon, it is divergent in different studies. According to our
      study result, rotavirus RF has a wide range in Iran and is associated with
      diarrhea in children. Thus, further researches should be taken to minimize the
      emergence and transmission of rotavirus.

PMID- 28584459
TI  - Susceptibility Pattern of Enterococci at Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - The study was aimed to characterize enterococci from various clinical specimens,
      to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, and to explore the
      association between virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance. A total of
      283 clinical enterococcal isolates were speciated and subjected to antimicrobial
      susceptibility testing. Virulence factors (hemolysin, gelatinase, and biofilm
      production) were detected phenotypically. Of the 283 enterococci isolated, 12
      species were identified; predominant species were Enterococcus faecalis (82.33%).
      High-level gentamicin (HLG) and vancomycin resistance were observed among 55.57%
      and 6.01% of enteroccal isolates, respectively. All vancomycin-resistant
      enterococci (VREs) were E. faecalis and had VanA phenotype and genotype.
      Hemolysin, gelatinase, and biofilm production were seen in 15.90%, 12.36%, and
      13.43% of enterococcal isolates, respectively. Vancomycin and HLG resistance were
      observed in 0.35% and 61.86% of the enterococcal isolates producing virulence
      factors. Isolates resistant to HLG but susceptible to vancomycin expressed more
      virulent factors. Further research is required to reveal the complex interplay
      between drug resistance and virulence factors.

PMID- 28584460
TI  - Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Associated with Anaplasmosis.
AB  - Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a hyperinflammatory syndrome
      characterized by unregulated macrophage and T-lymphocyte activation resulting in
      cytokine overproduction and subsequent histiocytic phagocytosis. Variant
      infections, particularly viruses have been postulated as the inciting factor for
      this potentially fatal disease. Herein, we will report a case of HLH associated
      with anaplasmosis.

PMID- 28584461
TI  - Infective Endocarditis Due to Abiotrophia defectiva and Its Feared Complications
      in an Immunocompetent Person: Rare, But Real.
AB  - Abiotrophia defectiva is nutritional deficient streptococci that cannot be
      cultured on routine culture medias. Even though fastidious in growth requirement,
      it is a virulent bacterium preferentially affecting endovascular structures and
      is implicated in many culture-negative endocarditis cases. Unlike other
      organisms, it is known for heart valve destruction leading to heart failure and
      excessive embolization rates. It's inherent resistance to routinely used
      antibiotics also contributed to increased mortality and morbidity in affected
      individuals and warrants timely diagnosis and prompt treatment. Our patient, a
      previous healthy individual, acquired this rare bacterium from intravenous drug
      abuse and developed infective endocarditis with valve destruction, heart failure,
      and distal embolization to multiple organs. He underwent multiple surgeries
      including mitral valve replacement and embolectomy with clinical improvement. Our
      case reiterates the possibility of rare cause of common diseases and raises
      awareness of infective endocarditis caused by A. defectiva among medical
      professionals.

PMID- 28584462
TI  - Aeromonas salmonicida Bacteremia Associated with Chronic Well Water Consumption
      in a Patient with Diabetes.
AB  - Aeromonas salmonicida is associated with superficial skin infections in fish. Its
      virulence factors allow colonization of water including surface water such as
      salt water, beaches, and fresh water wells. Moreover, it is possible for
      immunocompromised patients to develop invasive disease after chronic exposure to
      Aeromonas spp. through contaminated water. While there are reports of Aeromonas
      spp. bacteremia following water ingestion, there have been no reports of A.
      salmonicida bacteremia from water consumption. We report the first case of A.
      salmonicida bacteremia in a patient with diabetes due to chronic consumption of
      well water.

PMID- 28584463
TI  - Native Valve Endocarditis in a Dialysis Patient by Achromobacter xylosxidans, A
      Rare Pathogen.

PMID- 28584464
TI  - Strongyloides stercoralis Infection: A Case Series from a Tertiary Care Center in
      India.

PMID- 28584465
TI  - Profile of Helminthic Infections in Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital
      with Emphasis on Immunocompromised Patients.

PMID- 28584466
TI  - Morphometric analysis of mandibular ramus for sex determination on digital
      orthopantomogram.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of sex from skeletal remains is an important tool in
      forensic science. Mandibular ramus can be used for sex determination either on
      dry mandible or through orthopantomogram (OPG). AIM: To determine the sex from
      mandibular ramus using digital OPG. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The morphometric
      analysis was conducted on mandibular ramus of 1000 digital OPG using Kodak Master
      View version 4.3 software. Statistical analysis was performed, and independent t
      test and discriminant function were applied. RESULTS: The participants' age
      ranged from 21-60 years with an equal number of males and females. The mean
      dimensions of all parameters for ramus were higher in males and highly
      significant (P < 0.001). The total mean length of minimum and maximum ramus
      breadth was 27.44 +/- 3.41 mm and 32.27 +/- 3.40 mm, respectively. The maximum
      and projective ramus height was 71.78 +/- 5.98 mm and 65.62 +/- 6.19 mm,
      respectively. The coronoid height was 59.23 +/- 6.08 mm. The correlation of
      gender with morphology of mandibular ramus was significant (P < 0.05). The
      overall accuracy for diagnosing sex was 69%, whereas for diagnosing male and
      female, the accuracy was 68% and 70%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Measurements of
      mandibular ramus using OPG are helpful in sex determination.

PMID- 28584467
TI  - The credibility of dental pulp in human blood group identification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of unknown individual has always been of paramount
      importance to the society. Blood groups are excellent aids to these pursuits.
      Dental tissue acts beneficial because tooth is the hardest of all human tissues,
      and they can be preserved intact for a long period of time after the death of the
      individual. Hence, this study is conducted to evaluate the role of dental pulp in
      identification of human blood group. AIM: To determine the ABO blood grouping
      from the pulpal tissue of an extracted tooth and to correlate the same with blood
      group details obtained from the study subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a
      double-blinded randomized controlled trial conducted on a sample of thirty
      extracted teeth. The teeth were stored dry for 2 months. An attempt to establish
      the blood group from pulp was made by absorption-elution method. The collected
      data were coded, and statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical
      Package of Social Science (SPSS Version 20). Cronbach's alpha was applied to
      check the reliability of the absorption-elusion method in the detection of blood
      group from dental pulp. RESULTS: Blood groups obtained from the pulp were
      compared with those obtained from the study subjects. Blood group establishment
      from dental pulp using absorption-elusion method had a good internal consistency
      in comparison with the conventional Karl Landsteiner's blood typing method. This
      study showed that pulp tissue is a reliable method to detect blood groups of
      individuals. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that dental pulp can be used to
      establish identity, where teeth happen to be the only remnants available for
      personal identification.

PMID- 28584468
TI  - Determination of age, sex, and blood group from a single tooth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human identification is one of the most challenging subjects that
      human has been confronted with. Through the ages, odontological examinations have
      been a critical determinant in the search of human identity. Data in the form of
      age, gender, and blood group might provide vital clues in such investigations. In
      the recent times, it has been often desirable to preserve tissues for further
      investigations following the unfolding of certain events or discovery of new
      data. Hence, it is important to gather as much data as possible using less
      tissue. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine age, sex, and ABO blood
      group of individual from a single tooth, to determine the effect of different
      environmental conditions, and to extract maximum information also at the same
      time preserving some tissue for the further investigation whenever needed.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study sample consisted of sixty teeth divided into
      four groups under different environmental conditions and time. The teeth were
      sectioned longitudinally in the buccolingual plane along the midline.
      Longitudinal ground sections of each tooth were prepared for age determination
      from cemental lines. Pulp removed was divided into two halves thereafter sex and
      blood group was determined. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: For correlation of age between
      estimated age and actual age, using cemental lines Pearson's correlation
      coefficient was applied. Further for determination of both sex and blood group
      between groups, Chi-square test was applied. RESULTS: A strong positive
      correlation was found between the estimated age and actual age of the study
      groups. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the actual and
      determined sex and blood group of the study groups. CONCLUSION: Although age,
      sex, and blood group are more reliably determined in freshly extracted teeth,
      these variables may be of significant help in identification even after a period
      of 6 weeks postextraction.

PMID- 28584469
TI  - Pattern self-repetition of fingerprints, lip prints, and palatal rugae among
      three generations of family: A forensic approach to identify family hierarchy.
AB  - CONTEXT: The unique pattern and structural diversity of fingerprints, lip prints,
      palatal rugae, and their occurrence in different patterns among individuals make
      it questionable whether they are completely unique even in a family hierarchy? Do
      they have any repetition of the patterns among the generations? Or is this a mere
      chaos theory? AIMS: The present study aims to assess the pattern self-repetition
      of fingerprints, lip prints, and palatal rugae among three generations of ten
      different families. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The present study was conducted at
      Rungta College of Dental Science and Research, Bhilai, India. Participants birth
      by origin of Chhattisgarh were only included in the study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      Thirty participants from three consecutive generations of ten different families
      were briefed about the purpose of the study, and their fingerprints, lip prints,
      and palatal rugae impression were recorded and analyzed for the pattern of self
      repetition. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Multiple comparisons among the generations
      and one-way analysis of variance test were performed using SPSS 20 trial version.
      RESULTS: Among the pattern of primary palatal rugae, 10% showed repetition in all
      the three generations. Thirty percent showed repetition of the pattern of thumb
      fingerprints in all the three generation. The pattern of lip prints in the middle
      1/3rd of lower lip, 20% showed repetition in alternative generations.
      CONCLUSIONS: The evaluations of fingerprints, lip prints, and palatal rugae
      showed fractal dimensions, occurring variations in dimensions according to the
      complexity of each structure. Even though a minute self-repetition in the
      patterns of lip, thumb, and palate among the three consequent generations in a
      family was observed considering the sample size, these results need to be
      confirmed in a larger sample, either to establish the role of chaos theory in
      forensic science or identifying a particular pattern of the individual in his
      family hierarchy.

PMID- 28584470
TI  - Denture identification using individual national identification number of Saudi
      Arabia: An innovative inclusion method of casted metal.
AB  - CONTEXT: Forensic odontology is one of the branches of dentistry, which played a
      very important role in identification of individuals in accident, natural and
      mass disaster, and civil unrest and in genocide crimes. In the absence of natural
      teeth, marking or labeling of denture plays a vital role in the personal
      identification. BACKGROUND: Various types of marking or labeling methods are
      reported. However, many are not according to the criteria put forth by American
      Dental Association or other professional association. Majority of these
      techniques may be time consuming and expansive, may not be standardized, long
      lasting and do not permit the incorporation of a large amount of information.
      AIM: The aim of this study is to find out a denture identification technique that
      should be easy, less expensive, long lasting, and standardized. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This article illustrates an inclusion denture casted metal technique of
      the individual national identification number printed in the patient's residence
      number or iquama or national identity card issued by the ministry of interior,
      Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is used as a denture marker in the lingual surface of
      mandibular denture. RESULTS: The label in this method is durable and can
      withstand high temperature, less chances of deterioration, visible
      radiographically, and provide all important information about individual that is
      standardized, reliable, and also accessible from any remote location. CONCLUSION:
      Hence, the proposed technique is an easy, less expensive, long lasting,
      radiographically visible, and standardized method of identification.

PMID- 28584471
TI  - Child maltreatment: Cross-sectional survey of general dentists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Child abuse continues to be a social menace causing both physical and
      emotional trauma to benevolent children. Census has shown that nearly 50-75% of
      child abuse include trauma to mouth, face, and head. Thus, dental professionals
      are in a strategic position to identify physical and emotional manifestations of
      abuse. AIM: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess knowledge and
      attitude of dental professionals on the exigent issue of child abuse.
      METHODOLOGY: With prior consent, a 20-question survey including both multiple
      choice and dichotomous (yes/no) questions was mailed to 120 state-registered
      general dentists and the data collected were subjected to statistical analysis.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The overall response rate to the questionnaires was 97%.
      Lack of knowledge about dentist role in reporting child abuse accounted to 55% in
      the reasons for hesitancy to report. Pearson's Chi-square test did not show any
      significant difference between male and female regarding the reason for hesitancy
      to report and legal obligation of dentists. RESULTS: Although respondent dentists
      were aware of the diagnosis of child abuse, they were hesitant and unaware of the
      appropriate authority to report. CONCLUSION: Increased instruction in the areas
      of recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect should be emphasized.

PMID- 28584472
TI  - Radiographic anthropometric study of frontal sinus for sex determination in Benin
      city, South-South Nigeria.
AB  - CONTEXT: The frontal sinuses are situated in the frontal bone between the outer
      and inner plates of the bone. A good knowledge on dimensions is relevant for
      successful surgery. AIM: This study was carried out to determine the dimorphic
      potential of the frontal sinuses and to ascertain the accuracy in sex
      determination using the logistic regression model among Edo people of Nigeria.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a 7 years retrospective study on the Edo, utilizing
      posterior-anterior radiographs of frontal sinuses in University of Benin Teaching
      Hospital. The right and left frontal sinus heights and widths were measured in
      centimeter. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data were analyzed using independent
      samples t-test and logistic regression with the aid of Statistical Package for
      the Social Sciences version 20. P <=0.05 was considered statistically
      significant. RESULTS: All dimensions were higher in males than in females,
      wherein the the left side height and width were statistically significant (P <
      0.05). Left side frontal sinus width gave the highest accuracy of 60% in sex
      determination using logit regression. CONCLUSION: The dimorphic nature of the
      left dimensions has implications for human identification.

PMID- 28584473
TI  - Laser micro-etching of metal prostheses for personal identification.
AB  - Denture marking techniques play a vital role in establishing personal
      identification in suitable clinical and forensic situations. The denture marking
      techniques are categorized broadly into additive and ablative methods. Additive
      methods involve embedding or impregnation of markers for establishing personal
      identity. Ablative methods involve partial removal of the denture surface thereby
      providing a marking for identification. Engraving and etching methods are the
      commonly used ablative methods. Ablative methods can be of contact and noncontact
      subtypes. Laser micro-etching is a precise noncontact ablative denture marking
      technique that could be used for prostheses-guided personal identification.

PMID- 28584474
TI  - Does the periodontal status of peg-shaped mandibular central incisor affect its
      prognosis?

PMID- 28584475
TI  - Virtopsy: Touch-free autopsy.
AB  - The word "autopsy" denotes "to see with own eyes." Autopsy (postmortem) is a
      process that includes a thorough examination of a corpse noting everything
      related to anatomization, surface wounds, histological and culture studies.
      Virtopsy is a term extracted from two words "virtual" and "autopsy." It employs
      imaging methods that are routinely used in clinical medicine such as computed
      tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in the field of autopsy, to find the
      reason for death. Virtopsy is a multi-disciplinary technology that combines
      forensic medicine and pathology, roentgenology, computer graphics, biomechanics,
      and physics. It is rapidly gaining importance in the field of forensics. This
      approach has been recently used by forensic odontologists, but yet to make its
      own mark in the field. This article mainly deals with "virtopsy" where in various
      articles were web searched, relevant data was selected, extracted, and summarized
      here.

PMID- 28584476
TI  - Age estimation by dentin translucency measurement using digital method: An
      institutional study.
AB  - AIMS: The aims of the present study were to measure translucency on sectioned
      teeth using available computer hardware and software, to correlate dimensions of
      root dentin translucency with age, and to assess whether translucency is reliable
      for age estimation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pilot study was done on 62 freshly
      extracted single-rooted permanent teeth from 62 different individuals (35 males
      and 27 females) and their 250 MUm thick sections were prepared by micromotor,
      carborundum disks, and Arkansas stone. Each tooth section was scanned and the
      images were opened in the Adobe Photoshop software. Measurement of root dentin
      translucency (TD length) was done on the scanned image by placing two guides (A
      and B) along the x-axis of ABFO NO. 2 scale. Unpaired t-test, regression
      analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used as statistical tools.
      RESULTS: A linear relationship was observed between TD length and age in the
      regression analysis. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was
      positive correlation (r = 0.52, P = 0.0001) between TD length and age. However,
      no significant (P > 0.05) difference was observed in the TD length between male
      (8.44 +/- 2.92 mm) and female (7.80 +/- 2.79 mm) samples. CONCLUSION:
      Translucency of the root dentin increases with age and it can be used as a
      reliable parameter for the age estimation. The method used here to digitally
      select and measure translucent root dentin is more refined, better correlated to
      age, and produce superior age estimation.

PMID- 28584477
TI  - Dental sex dimorphism: Using odontometrics and digital jaw radiography.
AB  - CONTEXT: Estimating the gender from the human skeletal remains can guide the
      forensic investigator in revealing the missing person's identity. AIMS: (1) To
      determine the utility of the various parameters taken on the orthopantomographs
      (mandible) and of odontometrics on tooth remains to estimate the gender. (2) To
      determine the most dimorphic parameter taken on the radiograph as well as tooth
      (odontometrics) in the study taken. STUDY AND DESIGN: (1) A retrospective study
      was planned on 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) in the age group of 18-30
      years and the following parameters (maximum ramus height, bigonion width, and
      bicondylar breadth) were measured on the orthopantomograph. (2) A prospective
      clinical study was planned on 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) in the age
      group of 18-30 years, to measure the mesio-distal width of permanent maxillary
      central incisors and canines directly in the patient's mouth, using Digital
      Vernier calipers. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The mean, range, and standard
      deviation were calculated for each variable in the study. The Z-score test was
      done to find out the magnitude of sexual dimorphism for each parameter in each
      part of the study. RESULTS: Maximum ramus height proved to be the most dimorphic
      parameter depicting the utility of mandible for the estimation of gender of the
      deceased. Permanent maxillary central incisor proved to be more dimorphic than
      the maxillary canines, depicting it to be population specific. CONCLUSION:
      Measurements taken on the mandible proved to be useful in the estimation of
      gender of the deceased. In cases of fragmentary or missing mandible,
      odontometrics can be used. Hence, teeth proved to be an adjunct tool in the
      determination of gender of the deceased.

PMID- 28584478
TI  - Gender determination using barr bodies from teeth exposed to high temperatures.
AB  - CONTEXT: Gender determination forms a prime step in the forensic identification
      process. Teeth form a very important identification aid in forensic studies
      because they are protected by oral tissues and dental pulp is further protected
      by the mineralized constituents of the teeth. This allows the conservation and
      sustainable production of dental pulp to help sex determination in circumstances
      where other tissues cannot be analyzed like victims when exposed to high
      temperatures during fire accidents, explosions, and other mass disasters. AIM:
      The present study aimed at gender determination from pulpal tissue extirpated
      from teeth exposed to high temperatures. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: The study
      consisted of sixty teeth samples, thirty male and thirty female. The teeth have
      been subjected to a series of temperatures of 37 degrees C, 100 degrees C, 200
      degrees C, 300 degrees C, 400 degrees C, 500 degrees C, 600 degrees C, 800
      degrees C, and 1000 degrees C. The dental pulp is then obtained from these teeth,
      processed, stained, and checked for Barr bodies. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED:
      Descriptive statistical analysis has been used. RESULTS: The results showed that
      pulp from the female teeth showed the presence of Barr bodies up to a maximum of
      400 degrees C, whereas the male pulpal tissue did not show the presence of any
      Barr bodies. With increase in temperatures, the cellularity of the connective
      tissue decreased but the average number of Barr body positive cells remained
      constant within the range of 19-20. CONCLUSIONS: Dental pulp acts as a potential
      source of gender determination when no other means of identification are
      available.

PMID- 28584479
TI  - Gender determination by odontometric method.
AB  - CONTEXT: Gender determination is central in establishing personal identification
      from human skeletal remains. The study was conducted to find out the accuracy
      with which gender can be determined by odontometric methods. AIMS: To investigate
      the mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) dimensions of all the teeth of
      permanent dentition to find new parameters to differentiate between male and
      female teeth and to assess whether each type of linear measurement can be used
      independently in odontometric sex differentiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      study was conducted at a dental college on a composite group of 500 individuals
      comprising 250 males and 250 females. Impressions of upper and lower jaws were
      made with alginate impression material and casts prepared with dental stone. A
      digital Vernier calliper was used to measure the BL and MD dimensions of all the
      upper teeth except the third molars. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The results were
      subjected to statistical analysis using univariate analysis and linear stepwise
      discriminant function analysis to find the variables which discriminate gender
      significantly. RESULTS: The MD and BL dimensions between males and females were
      statistically significant. The predicted value for correct classification of
      gender was also statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to
      differentiate gender in the population using stepwise discriminant functions was
      found to be very high with 99.8% accuracy with males showing statistically larger
      teeth than females. This is similar to the near 100% success in gender
      determination using pelvic and skull bones.

PMID- 28584481
TI  - Sex determination efficacy of Papanicolaou and acriflavine Schiff stains in
      buccal smears.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Barr body is formed from random inactivation and condensation of one
      of the two female chromosomes in virtually all the somatic cells of female
      mammals. Buccal smears have been reported to be potential sources of Barr bodies.
      AIM: This study was done to assess the efficacy of acriflavine (AF) Schiff and
      Papanicolaou (PAP) stains in sex determination by identifying Barr bodies in
      buccal smears of both sexes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two samples of buccal smears,
      collected from thirty males and thirty females in the age group of 16-60 years
      were used to demonstrate Barr bodies using AF Schiff and PAP stains,
      respectively. Hundred cells were examined for Barr body positive nucleus, and its
      mean percentage was calculated and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: In females,
      AF Schiff stained positive cells ranged from 16% to 53% and PAP stained positive
      cells ranged from 9% to 38%. In males, 0-9% AF positive Barr bodies and 0-5% PAP
      stained Barr bodies were identified. CONCLUSION: Sex determination using buccal
      smear is a simple and reliable method. AF Schiff stain is better both
      qualitatively and quantitatively when compared to PAP stain, thus aids in more
      accurate sex determination.

PMID- 28584480
TI  - Assessment of Demirjian's 8-teeth technique of age estimation and Indian-specific
      formulas in an East Indian population: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The age of an individual can be assessed by a plethora of widely
      available tooth-based techniques, among which radiological methods prevail. The
      Demirjian's technique of age assessment based on tooth development stages has
      been extensively investigated in different populations of the world. AIM: The
      present study is to assess the applicability of Demirjian's modified 8-teeth
      technique in age estimation of population of East India (Odisha), utilizing
      Acharya's Indian-specific cubic functions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and
      six pretreatment orthodontic radiographs of patients in an age group of 7-23
      years with representation from both genders were assessed for eight left
      mandibular teeth and scored as per the Demirjian's 9-stage criteria for teeth
      development stages. Age was calculated on the basis of Acharya's Indian formula.
      Statistical analysis was performed to compare the estimated and actual age. All
      data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) and MS
      Excel Package. RESULTS: The results revealed that the mean absolute error (MAE)
      in age estimation of the entire sample was 1.3 years with 50% of the cases having
      an error rate within +/- 1 year. The MAE in males and females (7-16 years) was
      1.8 and 1.5, respectively. Likewise, the MAE in males and females (16.1-23 years)
      was 1.1 and 1.3, respectively. CONCLUSION: The low error rate in estimating age
      justifies the application of this modified technique and Acharya's Indian
      formulas in the present East Indian population.

PMID- 28584482
TI  - Age and gender assessment through three-dimensional morphometric analysis of
      maxillary sinus using magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Age and sex determinations are important tools in forensic odontology
      which help in the identification of an individual. Radiographic method of sex and
      age estimation is a noninvasive simple technique. Measurements of the maxillary
      sinuses can be used for the estimation of age and gender when other methods are
      inconclusive. Maxillary sinus dimensions were used as an important tool in the
      identification of unknown. AIM: This study aims to estimate age and sex using the
      dimensions and volume of the maxillary sinus in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included sixty patients visiting Department of
      Radiology Mamata General Hospital, Khammam requiring MRI of the brain and
      paranasal sinuses. Maxillary sinus dimensions were measured using Siemens
      software, and statistical analysis was done. RESULTS: The volume and dimensions
      of the maxillary sinus were more in males when compared to the females with a
      statistically significant difference. The highest percentage of sexual dimorphism
      was seen in the volume of left maxillary sinus. Age estimated using the volume of
      maxillary sinus showed no statistically significant difference from the actual
      age of the subjects. CONCLUSION: The dimensions and volume of the maxillary
      sinuses were larger in males than in females, in addition to that they tend to be
      less with the older age. MRI measurements of maxillary sinuses may be useful to
      support gender and age estimation in forensic radiology.

PMID- 28584483
TI  - Can dead man tooth do tell tales? Tooth prints in forensic identification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We know that teeth trouble us a lot when we are alive, but they last
      longer for thousands of years even after we are dead. Teeth being the strongest
      and resistant structure are the most significant tool in forensic investigations.
      Patterns of enamel rod end on the tooth surface are known as tooth prints. AIM:
      This study is aimed to know whether these tooth prints can become a forensic tool
      in personal identification such as finger prints. A study has been targeted
      toward the same. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: In the present in-vivo study, acetate peel
      technique has been used to obtain the replica of enamel rod end patterns.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tooth prints of upper first premolars were recorded from
      80 individuals after acid etching using cellulose acetate strips. Then, digital
      images of the tooth prints obtained at two different intervals were subjected to
      biometric conversion using Verifinger standard software development kit version
      6.5 software followed by the use of Automated Fingerprint Identification System
      (AFIS) software for comparison of the tooth prints. Similarly, each individual's
      finger prints were also recorded and were subjected to the same software.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Further, recordings of AFIS scores obtained from images
      were statistically analyzed using Cronbach's test. RESULTS: We observed that
      comparing two tooth prints taken from an individual at two intervals exhibited
      similarity in many cases, with wavy pattern tooth print being the predominant
      type. However, the same prints showed dissimilarity when compared with other
      individuals. We also found that most of the individuals with whorl pattern finger
      print showed wavy pattern tooth print and few loop type fingerprints showed
      linear pattern of tooth prints. CONCLUSIONS: Further more experiments on both
      tooth prints and finger prints are required in establishing an individual's
      identity.

PMID- 28584484
TI  - Dental records of forensic odontological importance: Maintenance pattern among
      dental practitioners of Pune city.
AB  - CONTEXT: Forensic odontology plays a pivotal role in the identification of
      victims in mass disasters with the help of "Preserved dental records" available
      with the general dental practitioners (GDPs). However, the status of such dental
      records of forensic importance has not been studied extensively. AIM: To study
      the current status of awareness and practice of dental record maintenance by GDPs
      of Pune. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100
      randomly selected GDPs from Pune. Data was collected in a personalized manner by
      means of a questionnaire. RESULTS: Six percent of GDPs do not maintain any
      records of the patient, 11% of them do not record about developmental dental
      anomalies, and 22% GDPs do not retain radiographs. Sixty-seven percent GDPs
      mention about the use of abbreviations while recording history. Only 17% of GDPs
      record denture marking and 11% take conformity certificate for the denture.
      Thirty percent GDPs do not mention the serial number of an implant whereas 17% of
      them do not mention about the prescribed medication. Five percent GDPs handover
      original dental record to the patient and 91% said that they discard casts and
      models immediately after treatment. CONCLUSION: There was inadequate knowledge
      and lack of practice regarding proper record maintenance among GDPs.

PMID- 28584485
TI  - Palatal rugae pattern: An aid for sex identification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Palatal rugoscopy, or palatoscopy, is the process by which human
      identification can be obtained by inspecting the transverse palatal rugae inside
      the mouth. AIM: The aim of the study is to investigate the potential of using
      palatal rugae as an aid for sex identification in Bengaluru population. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: One hundred plaster casts equally distributed between males and
      females belonging to age range of 4-16 years were examined for different rugae
      patterns. Thomas and Kotze classification was adopted for identification of these
      rugae patterns. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data obtained were subjected to
      discriminant function analysis to determine the applicability of palatal rugae
      pattern as an aid for sex identification. RESULTS: Difference in unification
      patterns among males and females was found to be statistically significant. No
      significant difference was found between males and females in terms of number of
      rugae. Overall, wavy and curvy were the most predominant type of rugae seen.
      Discriminant function analysis enabled sex identification with an accuracy of
      80%. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study undertaken showed the existence of a
      distinct pattern of distribution of palatal rugae between males and females of
      Bengaluru population. This study opens scope for further research with a larger
      sample size to establish palatal rugae as a valuable tool for sex identification
      for forensic purposes.

PMID- 28584486
TI  - Estimation of Guggulsterone E and Z in the Guggul-based Commercial Formulations
      Using High-performance Thin-layer Chromatography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Guggulsterone (GS) is a plant steroid and bioactive compound present
      in gum Guggul of Commiphora wightii. An Indian herbal medicine system "Ayurveda"
      has a long history of use of gum Guggul and plant extract of C. wightii as
      medicine for the treatment of various illnesses. Complex nature, low
      availability, and inconsistency of phytoconstituents make its analysis of
      difficult tasks. AIMS: In this work, six different Guggul-based herbal
      formulations were examined for estimation of GS and their isomers (E and Z)
      through high-performance thin-layer chromatography technique. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: For that various concentrations of standard E-GS and Z-GS (50 ng-250
      ng/spot) with samples (20 MUg/spot) were applied on silica gel coated aluminum
      plate and developed with the mobile phase of toluene: ethyl acetate: formic acid:
      methanol (6:2:1:0.5). The scanning was performed at 254 nm wavelength and the
      absorbance (scan) spectrum of E-GS and Z-GS peak was generated at 200 nm-400 nm
      wavelength range. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Rf value and scan spectrum pattern of
      the samples reveal that they contain either one form of GS (E-GS, Z-GS) or both.
      The quantity of E-GS and Z-GS within the samples was ranged from 0.230 +/- 0.0040
      0.926 +/- 0.0168% to 0.537 +/- 0.0026-0.723 +/- 0.0177%, respectively.

PMID- 28584487
TI  - Modulatory Effects of Decalepis hamiltonii Extract and Its Compounds on the
      Antioxidant Status of the Aging Rat Brain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study was aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects
      of Decalepis hamiltonii (Dh) aqueous root extract and its compounds against age
      related oxidative stress (OS) in the discrete regions of the rat brain. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Male Wistar albino rats of 4- and 22-month-old were divided into
      control and six supplemented groups. The supplemented groups were orally
      administered with ellagic acid (EA), 4-hydroxyisophthalic acid (4-HIA), and Dh
      extract for 30 days. RESULTS: Age-related decrease in antioxidant enzyme
      activities was noticed. The hippocampus was found to be more vulnerable to OS as
      seen by the elevation in the OS markers. Supplementation of the Dh extract, EA,
      and 4-HIA was found to be effective in up-regulating the antioxidant status.
      However, the extent of up-regulation was more evident in Dh supplemented animals.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that Dh extract and its compounds exhibit
      neuroprotective effects against age-related OS and can be used as a dietary
      therapeutic intervention for the treatment of neurological disorders.

PMID- 28584488
TI  - Moisture Sorption-desorption Characteristics and the Corresponding Thermodynamic
      Properties of Carvedilol Phosphate.
AB  - AIMS: Carvedilol phosphate (CDP) is a nonselective beta-blocker used for the
      treatment of heart failures and hypertension. In this work, moisture sorption
      desorption characteristics and thermodynamic properties of CDP have been
      investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The isotherms were determined using dynamic
      vapor sorption analyzer at different humidity conditions (0%-90% relative
      humidity) and three pharmaceutically relevant temperatures (20 degrees C, 30
      degrees C, and 40 degrees C). The experimental sorption data determined were
      fitted to various models, namely, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller; Guggenheim-Anderson-De
      Boer (GAB); Peleg; and modified GAB. Isosteric heats of sorption were evaluated
      through the direct use of sorption isotherms by means of the Clausius-Clapeyron
      equation. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The sorption model parameters were
      determined from the experimental sorption data using nonlinear regression
      analysis, and mean relative percentage deviation (P), correlation (Correl), root
      mean square error, and model efficiency were considered as the criteria to select
      the best fit model. RESULTS: The sorption-desorption isotherms have sigmoidal
      shape - confirming to Type II isotherms. Based on the statistical data analysis,
      modified GAB model was found to be more adequate to explain sorption
      characteristics of CDP. It is noted that the rate of adsorption and desorption is
      specific to the temperature at which it was being studied. It is observed that
      isosteric heat of sorption decreased with increasing equilibrium moisture
      content. CONCLUSIONS: The calculation of the thermodynamic properties was further
      used to draw an understanding of the properties of water and energy requirements
      associated with the sorption behavior. The sorption-desorption data and the set
      of equations are useful in the simulation of processing, handling, and storage of
      CDP and further behavior during manufacture and storage of CDP formulations.

PMID- 28584489
TI  - Influence of Milling Process on Efavirenz Solubility.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the
      milling process on the solubility of efavirenz. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Milling
      process was done using Nanomilling for 30, 60, and 180 min. Intact and milled
      efavirenz were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM), spectroscopy infrared (IR), differential scanning calorimetry
      (DSC), and solubility test. RESULTS: The X-ray diffractogram showed a decline on
      peak intensity of milled efavirenz compared to intact efavirenz. The SEM graph
      depicted the change from crystalline to amorphous habit after milling process.
      The IR spectrum showed there was no difference between intact and milled
      efavirenz. Thermal analysis which performed by DSC showed a reduction on
      endothermic peak after milling process which related to decreasing of
      crystallinity. Solubility test of intact and milled efavirenz was conducted in
      distilled water free CO2 with 0.25% sodium lauryl sulfate media and measured
      using high-performance liquid chromatography method with acetonitrile: distilled
      water (80:20) as mobile phases. The solubility was significantly increased (P <
      0.05) after milling processes, which the intact efavirenz was 27.12 +/- 2.05,
      while the milled efavirenz for 30, 60, and 180 min were 75.53 +/- 1.59, 82.34 +/-
      1.23, and 104.75 +/- 0.96 MUg/mL, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the
      results, the solubility of efavirenz improved after milling process.

PMID- 28584490
TI  - Chromatographic Isolation and Spectroscopic Identification of Phytoconstituents
      of Jujuba Seeds (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The seeds of Zizyphus jujuba Mill. (Rhamnaceae) are astringent,
      aphrodisiac, tonic; used to cure cough, asthma, vomiting, burning sensation,
      biliousness, leucorrhoea, and eye infections in traditional systems of medicine.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The methanol extract of seeds of Z. jujuba was partitioned
      into petroleum ether and water soluble fractions. Isolation of compounds was
      performed by silica gel column chromatography. The structures of isolated
      compounds were established on the basis of spectral studies and chemical
      reactions. RESULTS: Chromatographic separation of methanolic extract of seeds
      yielded three new phyto-constituents characterized as 3, 5, 7-trimethoxy-8, 3',
      4', 5'-tetrahydroxy flavone-6-oxy hexahydrobisabolene ether (4), 1, 9-dihydroxy
      tetrahydrogeranyl-8-oxy-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranoside (5) and terahydrogeranyl-8
      oxy-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl (2a->1b)-O-beta-D-glucofuranosyl (2b->1c)-O-beta
      D-glucofuranosyl (2c->1d)-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl (2d->1e)-O-beta-D
      glucopyranosyl (2c->f)-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2f-benzoate (6) along with five
      known compounds, palmitoyl palmitoleoyl arachidoyl glyceride (1),
      tetratriacontenoic acid (2), palmitoyl oleoyl linolenoyl glyceride (3), hexanyl
      tetraglucoside (7) and pentasaccharide (8). CONCLUSION: This is the first report
      of saturated monoterpene and sesquiterpene derivatives from jujuba seeds.

PMID- 28584491
TI  - Evaluation of Cassia tora Linn. against Oxidative Stress-induced DNA and Cell
      Membrane Damage.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate antioxidants and protective role of
      Cassia tora Linn. against oxidative stress-induced DNA and cell membrane damage.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The total and profiles of flavonoids were identified and
      quantified through reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. In
      vitro antioxidant activity was determined using standard antioxidant assays. The
      protective role of C. tora extracts against oxidative stress-induced DNA and cell
      membrane damage was examined by electrophoretic and scanning electron microscopic
      studies, respectively. RESULTS: The total flavonoid content of CtEA was 106.8 +/-
      2.8 mg/g d.w.QE, CtME was 72.4 +/- 1.12 mg/g d.w.QE, and CtWE was 30.4 +/- 0.8
      mg/g d.w.QE. The concentration of flavonoids present in CtEA in decreasing order:
      quercetin >kaempferol >epicatechin; in CtME: quercetin >rutin >kaempferol;
      whereas, in CtWE: quercetin >rutin >kaempferol. The CtEA inhibited free radical
      induced red blood cell hemolysis and cell membrane morphology better than CtME as
      confirmed by a scanning electron micrograph. CtEA also showed better protection
      than CtME and CtWE against free radical-induced DNA damage as confirmed by
      electrophoresis. CONCLUSION: C. tora contains flavonoids and inhibits oxidative
      stress and can be used for many health benefits and pharmacotherapy.

PMID- 28584492
TI  - Prevalence of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke among Higher Secondary School Students
      in Ernakulam District, Kerala, Southern India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The association between secondhand smoke and health outcomes, such
      as frequent respiratory infections, ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, asthma,
      and stroke, has long been established. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence
      of secondhand smoking exposure among higher secondary school students in
      Ernakulam district, Kerala, Southern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A structured
      questionnaire was administered to all students from four randomly selected higher
      secondary schools in Ernakulam district. Descriptive statistics was done using
      frequencies and percentages. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done for
      factors associated with household exposure to tobacco smoke generating odds
      ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: A total of 629 students
      participated in the study. The prevalence of ever smokers was 11.9% and of
      current smokers was 5.2%. Among the study participants, 23.2% were exposed to
      secondhand smoking from a family member and 18.8% from friends. Lower educational
      status of father was associated with the household exposure to secondhand smoke
      (adjusted OR 4.51 [95% CI 1.66-12.22]). More than half of the study participants
      (56.3%) reported that they were exposed to cigarette smoke in past 1 week in a
      public place and 10.2% in closed public places. Nearly one-third of the students
      reported that they have seen somebody smoking inside school campus in the past 30
      days. CONCLUSION: Exposure to secondhand smoke at home, schools, and public
      places was higher among the late adolescent higher secondary school students in
      Ernakulam district. The findings underscore the urgent need for increased efforts
      to implement the strategies to reduce secondhand smoke exposure among
      adolescents.

PMID- 28584494
TI  - Efficacy and Tolerability of Antihypertensive Drugs in Diabetic and Nondiabetic
      Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy and
      tolerability of different classes of antihypertensive drugs in diabetic and
      nondiabetic patients (NDPs) with essential hypertension. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The study was conducted in Mayo Hospital, Punjab Institute of Cardiology, and
      National Defence Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, on 200 hypertensive patients with
      diabetes and 230 hypertensive patients without (Three hospitals) diabetes. Both
      male and female patients of age between 30 and 80 years with systolic blood
      pressure (SBP) above 130 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) above 80 mmHg
      were enrolled in the study. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), beta
      blocker (betaB), calcium-channel blocker (CCB), diuretics (D), angiotensin
      receptor blocker (ARB) as well as alpha-blocker classes of antihypertensive drugs
      were used. These drugs were used as monotherapy as well as combination therapy.
      The study was conducted for 4 months (July-October). After 4 months, patients
      were assessed for efficacy by monitoring blood pressure (BP) and tolerability by
      assessing safety profile on renal function, liver function as well as lipid
      profile. RESULTS: Significant control in mean BP by all drug groups was observed
      in "both groups that is patients with diabetes and without diabetes." The
      efficacy and tolerability data revealed that in diabetic patients with
      hypertension, the highest decrease in SBP and DBP was observed using monotherapy
      with ACEI, two-drug combination therapy with ACEI plus diuretic, ARBs plus
      diuretic, ACEI plus CCBs, three-drug combination therapy with ACEI plus CCBs plus
      diuretic, and four drug combination therapy with ACEI plus CCBs plus diuretic
      plus betaBs, ARB's plus CCBs plus diuretic plus betaBs while in NDPs, monotherapy
      with diuretic, two-drug combination therapy with ACEI plus CCBs, ACEI plus
      betaBs, three-drug combination therapy with betaBs plus ACEI plus D was found
      more effective in controlling SBP as well as DBP. Adverse effects observed were
      dry cough, pedal edema, dizziness, muscular cramps, constipation, palpitations,
      sweating, vertigo, tinnitus, paresthesia, and sexual dysfunction. CONCLUSION: All
      classes of antihypertensives were found to control blood pressure significantly
      in both groups of patients that is diabetic patients with hypertesion and non
      diabetic patients with hypertension.

PMID- 28584493
TI  - Assessment of Perception, Experience, and Information-seeking Behavior of the
      Public of Ras Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, Toward Usage and Safety of
      Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to identify the different types of
      complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) used, reasons for the use of CAM,
      and the perceptions, experience, and information seeking-behavior toward usage
      and safety of CAM by the general public of Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. A validated, self
      administered, or interviewer-assisted survey questionnaire was used to collect
      the data. Data from 403 respondents satisfying inclusion criteria were collected
      and were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version
      24.0. RESULTS: A majority of the respondents (218 [54.1%]) were females. The most
      commonly (210 [52.1%]) used CAM among the study respondents was herbal medicine.
      A total of 91 (22.6%) of the survey respondents mentioned that they receive
      conventional medications along with their CAM. Majority (213 [52.9%]) of the
      survey respondents opted for CAM to prevent illness. Good number (208 [51.6%]) of
      the survey respondents mentioned that CAM usage was beneficial in improving their
      health condition, and they (216 [53.6%]) do believe it as safe and effective.
      However, a small group (26 [6%]) of respondents reported side effects or
      complications with the use of CAM. CONCLUSION: Widespread use of CAM for
      different medical problems was evident in our study. Although majority of the CAM
      users believe it as safe and effective, CAM usage should be discussed with the
      health-care providers to understand the safety issues involved in the use of
      majority of CAM.

PMID- 28584495
TI  - Prevalence, Pattern, and Correlates of Alcohol Misuse among Male Patients
      Attending Rural Primary Care in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are limited data available on how the problem of alcohol use is
      detected in primary care setting in India. Particularly in Odisha, it has not
      been investigated yet. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of
      drinking, drinking patterns, and quitting behavior among the male patients
      visiting a primary health-care facility in a district of Odisha. METHODOLOGY: A
      cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending community health
      center (CHC), Buguda in the state of Odisha, India, from December 1, 2014, to
      February 31, 2015. Patients above 18 years of age, conscious, and willing to
      participate in the study were included in the study, while those with cognitive
      impairment and critically ill were excluded from the study. All eligible
      consecutive patients attending outpatient department of CHC were invited to
      participate while they came out after physician's consultation. A pilot study was
      conducted prior to the study. Informed verbal consent from each patient was
      obtained before the interview. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics
      Committee of Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar. RESULTS: A total of
      431 patients were interviewed. Our study showed 38% (95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 33.5%-42.7%) of respondents were alcoholic and of those 60% (95% CI: 51.4%
      66.5%) were hazardous drinkers. One in five patients had a history of alcoholics
      in their family, and a similar proportion of participants were heavy workers.
      Smokers were eight times (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =7.56; 4.03-14.52) more
      likely to be alcoholics as compared to nonsmokers (P < 0.001), whereas the
      prevalence of alcohol drinking was four times (AOR = 3.94; 2.25-6.92) higher in
      smokeless tobacco users compared to nonusers. CONCLUSION: Focusing only on
      counseling and treatment services will not reduce the piling burden of alcohol
      use. It is important to target the environment that leads to such habits.

PMID- 28584496
TI  - Marfan Syndrome.
AB  - Marfan syndrome (MFS) is the autosomal dominant-inherited multisystem connective
      tissue disorder, with a reported incidence of 1 in 10,000 individuals and equal
      distribution in both genders. The main clinical manifestation of this disorder
      consists of an exaggerated length of the upper and lower limbs, hyperlaxity,
      scoliosis, alterations in the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, and atypical
      bone overgrowth. Orofacial manifestations such as high-arched palate, hypodontia,
      long narrow teeth, bifid uvula, mandibular prognathism, and temporomandibular
      disorders are also common. Early diagnosis of MFS is essential to prevent the
      cardiovascular complications and treatment of orofacial manifestations, thus to
      increase the quality of life of the patient.

PMID- 28584497
TI  - Direct Perceptions of Carol Fowler's Theoretical Perspective.
AB  - Carol Fowler has had a tremendous impact on the field of speech perception, in
      part by having people disagree with her. The disagreements arise, as they often
      do, from two incompatible sources: Her positions are often misunderstood and thus
      "disagreed" with only on the surface, and her positions are rejected because they
      challenge deeply held, intuitively appealing positions, without being shown to be
      wrong. The misunderstandings center largely on the assertion that perception is
      "direct." This is often taken to mean that we have access to the speaker's vocal
      tract by some means other than the (largely acoustic) speech signal, when, in
      fact, it asserts that the signal is sufficient to directly specify that
      production. It is unclear why this misunderstanding persists; while there are
      still issues to be resolved in this regard, the stance is clear. The challenge to
      "acoustic" theories of speech perception remains, and thus direct perception is
      still controversial, as it seems that acoustic theories are held by a majority of
      researchers. Decades' worth of evidence showing the lack of usefulness of purely
      acoustic properties and the coherence gained by a production perspective have not
      changed this situation. Some attempts at combining the two perspectives have
      emerged, but they largely miss the Gibsonian challenge that Fowler has espoused:
      Perception of speech is direct. It looks as though it will take some further
      decades of research and discussion to fully explore her position.

PMID- 28584498
TI  - Understanding Barriers to Initial Treatment Engagement among Underserved Families
      Seeking Mental Health Services.
AB  - This mixed method study examined factors associated with parents not attending
      their child's mental health treatment after initially seeking help for their 2-5
      year old child. It was part of a larger study comparing two evidence-based
      treatments among low-income racial/ethnic minority families seeking child mental
      health services. Of 123 parents who initiated mental health treatment (71%
      African American or multi-racial; 97.6% low-income), 36 (29.3%) never attended
      their child's first treatment session. Socio-demographic characteristics,
      parenting stress, depression, severity of child behavior problems, and length of
      treatment delay from intake to first scheduled treatment session were compared
      for families who did and did not attend their first treatment session. Parents
      who never attended their child's first treatment session were more likely to live
      with more than 4 adults and children (p=.007) and have more depressive symptoms
      (p=.003). Median length of treatment delay was 80 days (IQR =55) for those who
      attended and 85 days (IQR =67.5) for those who did not attend their child's first
      treatment session (p=.142). Three themes emerged from caregiver interviews: (a)
      expectations about the treatment, (b) delays in getting help, and (c) ambivalence
      about research participation. Findings suggest the need to develop better
      strategies for addressing risk factors early in the treatment process and
      reducing the length of time families with adverse psychosocial circumstances must
      wait for child mental health treatment.

PMID- 28584499
TI  - Quantifying Intraoperative Laparoscopic Visual Field Opacity.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Laparoscopic surgery can be complicated by
      condensation and debris on the lens obscuring the visual field, increasing the
      risk of surgical error and injury to the patient. Despite, development of
      possible solutions, little is known regarding the quantitative measure of time
      lost during surgery because of an obscured visual field. Without this knowledge,
      the cost of laparoscopic lens fogging cannot be quantified and compared to the
      cost of antifogging devices. In the present study, we investigated the amount of
      time a laparoscope is withdrawn for cleaning during surgery. METHODS: This was a
      prospective, observational study of patients (n = 52) who underwent laparoscopic
      surgery at Florida Hospital Celebration Health. Patient's age, gender, and body
      mass index, operative time, wound class, estimated blood loss, type of procedure,
      and complication (if any) were collected. In addition, intraoperative information
      on the number of times and total amount of time the laparoscope was withdrawn
      because of obscured visual field were recorded. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent (43)
      of the procedures required laparoscope withdrawal because of fogging. Increased
      operative time, increased blood loss, and patient age correlated with the number
      of times (P < .05) and amount of time (P < .05) the laparoscope was withdrawn.
      DISCUSSION: There was a significant correlation between increased laparoscope
      withdrawal because of an obscured visual field with increased EBL, operative
      time, and patient age. Possible explanations include change in body composition
      with age, the increased viewing angles required for more complex procedures, and
      increasing intraoperative effect on the surgeon of the poor visual field caused
      by fogging and debris.

PMID- 28584500
TI  - Postablation Endometrial Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many women have undergone both resectoscopic and nonresectoscopic (or
      global) endometrial ablation (EA) during the past 20 years. These women are now
      approaching their sixth and seventh decades of life, a time frame in which
      endometrial carcinoma (EC) is most frequently diagnosed. DATABASE: In several
      reports, surgeons have expressed concern that endometrial ablation may leave a
      sequestered island of EC that may escape detection, possibly delaying its
      diagnosis or causing it to appear at an advanced stage. Others suggest that EA
      artifact does not hinder the evaluation and treatment planning in the presence of
      EC. Data bases used are from Medline and PubMed. DISCUSSION: We introduce 6 new
      cases of postablation endometrial carcinoma (PAEC), 4 of which occurred after the
      introduction of global endometrial ablation (GEA) techniques. In addition, we
      examine several key questions regarding the impact of EA on the subsequent
      development of EC, including the manner in which PAEC presents, the efficacy of
      traditional diagnostic modalities, the ablation-to-cancer interval, and the stage
      of PAEC at the time of diagnosis. Finally, we explore the use of reoperative
      hysteroscopic surgery (RHS) as a diagnostic modality and address the possible
      role ultrasound surveillance as a screening method for women at risk of EC.

PMID- 28584501
TI  - "Scarless" Inguinal Herniorrhaphy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic inguinal herniorrhaphy is widely accepted. Robotic
      assisted surgery provides improved 3-dimensional visualization and enhanced
      dexterity. The purpose of this case series was to demonstrate the feasibility of
      a modified, robotic, single-site, unilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy. TECHNIQUE:
      Six patients 18 years of age or older with a body mass index <35 provided
      informed consent and underwent hernia repair with a modified herniorrhaphy
      technique from January to July 2014. Eight patients were screened and six case
      experiences are described in this series. The da Vinci Si robot, gel port, and
      instruments (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, California, USA) were used. With the
      patient in Trendelenburg position, a 25-mm incision was made within the
      umbilicus. The fascia was incised, and the peritoneal cavity was entered. A
      robotic cholecystectomy gel port was placed. Robotic instruments were inserted,
      and the robot was docked. A preperitoneal flap was raised on the affected side
      with the robotic instruments used interchangeably. The hernia sac was identified
      and reduced, and the mesh was tacked in place. The preperitoneal flap was tacked
      back in place. The robot was undocked, the abdomen was desufflated, and the
      fascia was closed. DISCUSSION: Single-site unilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy was
      performed for 6 patients. All patients were discharged the same day, had good
      aesthetic results, and experienced no hernia recurrence. Robotic single-site gel
      port inguinal herniorrhaphy is feasible and appears as safe and time efficient as
      laparoscopic herniorrhaphy in this small group.

PMID- 28584502
TI  - Laparoscopic Splenectomy in Hemodynamically Stable Blunt Trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: No criteria define indications for laparoscopic
      splenectomy in trauma. This investigation compared characteristics of trauma
      patients and outcomes between laparoscopic and open splenectomies. METHODS:
      Patients were identified retrospectively by using ICD-9 codes. Included patients
      were 18 or older, with a blunt splenic injury from January 1, 2011, through
      December 31, 2014, and required splenectomy. Excluded patients had penetrating
      trauma, successful nonoperative management, or successful embolization. Variables
      included demographics, presenting characteristics, injury severity scores,
      abdominal abbreviated injury scores, splenic injury grade, surgical indication
      and approach (open or laparoscopic), surgery length, intra-operative blood loss,
      transfusions, length of stay, complications, mortality, and discharge
      disposition. RESULTS: Forty-one patients underwent open splenectomy, and 11
      underwent laparoscopic splenectomy. The mean age was 48.7 years, and men
      comprised the sample majority (36/52). The groups were well matched for age,
      abdominal injury scores, and admission vital signs. The open group had a
      significantly lower level of consciousness and more acidosis compared with the
      laparoscopic group. Most laparoscopic splenectomies were performed after failed
      nonoperative management or embolization. The indications for open splenectomy
      were a positive focused assessment with sonography for trauma and computed
      tomography results. Laparoscopic patients had significantly longer times between
      presentation and surgery and longer operations, but had significantly less blood
      loss and fewer transfusions compared with the open group. There were no
      differences in mortality, length of stay, complications, or discharge
      dispositions. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic splenectomy is useful in patients with
      blunt trauma in whom conservative management produced no improvement and who do
      not have other injuries to preclude laparoscopy.

PMID- 28584503
TI  - Surgical Scales: Primary Closure versus Gastric Resection for Perforated Gastric
      Ulcer - A Surgical Debate.
AB  - Perforated gastric ulcer is one of the most life-threatening complications of
      peptic ulcer disease with high morbidity and mortality rates. The surgical
      strategy for gastric perforation in contrast with duodenal perforations often
      requires consilium and intraoperative debates. The subject of the debate is a 59
      year-old male patient who presented with perforated giant gastric ulcer
      complicated by generalized peritonitis and severe sepsis. The debate is based on
      a systematized table dividing all factors into three groups and putting them on
      surgical scales. Pathology-related factors influencing the decision-making are
      size and site of perforation, local tissue inflammation, signs of malignancy,
      simultaneous complications of peptic ulcer, peritonitis, and sepsis. Besides
      these factors, patient- and healthcare-related factors should also be considered.

PMID- 28584504
TI  - Short-term Effect of Tamsulosin and Finasteride Monotherapy and their Combination
      on Nigerian Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of tamsulosin
      and finasteride monotherapies, and their combination in men with benign prostatic
      hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective single-blind
      randomized study of ninety men with BPH who were managed using drugs. The
      International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), peak urinary flow rate, and prostate
      volume were measured as parameters for assessment at the beginning, 3 months, and
      6 months of the study. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 61.65 with a range
      of 44-81 years. There was a progressive and sustained improvement in the IPSS
      score in all patient groups with mean decrease at 3 months of 7.24 (42.59%), 7.60
      (41.85%), and 7.24 (40.61%) and at 6 months of 8.14 (47.88%), 10.33 (56.88%), and
      11.1 (62.25%) in the tamsulosin, finasteride, and combination groups,
      respectively. There was an increase in peak urinary flow rate in all groups with
      mean increase at 3 months of 0.98, 0.05, and 3.55 (ml/s) and at 6 months of 4.11,
      0.87, and 3.74 (ml/s) in the tamsulosin, finasteride, and combination groups,
      respectively. There was a reduction in the prostate volume in the finasteride and
      combination groups at 6 months of 6.8 and 6.32 cm3, respectively, while the
      tamsulosin group recorded an increase. CONCLUSION: At the end of 6 months,
      tamsulosin monotherapy and combination therapy appear to be equally effective in
      the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms BPH while finasteride monotherapy
      appears to be the least effective. Bothersome, side effects were more in patients
      taking finasteride alone or as combination therapy.

PMID- 28584505
TI  - Management and Outcome of Patients with Pancreatic Trauma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pancreatic trauma is a rare entity occurring in 0.2% of patients
      with blunt trauma abdomen. Once the diagnosis is made, the management of patients
      is dependent on multiple variables. Conservative management, suture repair,
      drainage, and resection have been utilized with varying degree of success. This
      study is aimed to evaluate the management of patients with pancreatic trauma.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study done in the Department of
      Surgery in Dayanand Medical College and Hospital where forty hemodynamically
      stable patients diagnosed to have pancreatic trauma on contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography abdomen were included in the study. RESULTS: Out of forty patients
      taken in this study, 38 were male and two were female with age ranging from 3 to
      50 years. Road traffic accident was the most common cause of pancreatic injury.
      Pancreatic injuries were graded according to the American Association for Surgery
      in Trauma scale. Twelve patients had Grade I and II injuries. Grade III was the
      most common injury occurring in 14 patients. Twenty-four patients underwent
      surgical management. Mortality rate was 45% and it was in direct correlation with
      the severity of injury. CONCLUSION: Grade I and II pancreatic injury can be
      managed conservatively depending upon the hemodynamic status of the patient.
      Grade III and IV injuries have a better prognosis if managed surgically.

PMID- 28584506
TI  - Prognostic Factors and Outcome of Management of Ischemic Priapism in Zaria,
      Nigeria.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the nuances of
      management, prognostic factors, and outcome of ischemic priapism in patients seen
      at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We retrospectively studied the case notes of all patients managed for
      ischemic priapism in the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, over a
      period of 10 years (2006-2015). The data extracted included patients' age,
      occupation, duration of painful penile erection, and previous episodes. Addition
      information including precipitating factors, hemoglobin genotype, treatment, and
      complications was also retrieved. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version
      20. RESULTS: The records of a total of forty patients managed for priapism over
      the period under review were retrieved. Thirty-three (82.5%) of these patients
      had an operative intervention. The mean age was 23.7 years with a range of 8-53
      years. Sixty percent of patients were young adults in their third decade of life.
      The minimum duration of erection at presentation was 18 h and a maximum period of
      10 days with a mean of 105.5 h (4 days). Thirty-three patients (82.5%) had sickle
      cell anemia (HbSS). Erectile dysfunction (ED) accounted for 60% of all forms of
      postpriapism complications. Five patients (12.5%) had residual tumescence from
      fibrosis, and three patients had recurrence outside the immediate postoperative
      period. Duration of symptoms before surgical intervention, SSA and previous
      episodes were the most important prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: Priapism is a
      disease of the young, mostly sickle cell anemic patients. Late presentation
      remains the norm in our environment, hence a higher incidence of ED. The distal
      penile shunt is an effective means of achieving detumescence even with failed
      conservative management. Favorable outcome is highly dependent on the duration of
      erection and early intervention.

PMID- 28584507
TI  - A Comparative Study of the Use of Harmonic Scalpel versus Unipolar Cautery in
      Modified Radical Mastectomy.
AB  - CONTEXT: Oncosurgery is an emerging branch with the set goals of prolonging the
      life and ensuring the best possible quality of life to the surviving patient. The
      use of harmonic scalpel has proved to be beneficial in a variety of surgeries but
      its role in breast surgery is still controversial. AIMS: We conducted this study
      to compare the intraoperative and postoperative outcomes in modified radical
      mastectomy using harmonic scalpel versus electrocautery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      Fifty female patients with confirmed diagnosis of breast carcinoma and planned
      for modified radical mastectomy were taken up for surgery. Twenty-five patients
      were operated using harmonic scalpel (Group A) and another 25 were operated using
      unipolar cautery (Group B). RESULTS: The mean operative time was significantly
      longer with harmonic scalpel when compared to that with electrocautery (140.40 +/
      29.96 vs. 99.80 +/- 24.00 min, P < 0.001). The smaller amount of drainage
      content (431.60 +/- 145.94 vs. 594.20 +/- 278.63, P = 0.013) and intraoperative
      blood loss (426.00 +/- 76.54 vs. 502.00 +/- 104.56, P = 0.005) in the group
      operated with the ultrasound harmonic scalpel was statistically significant.
      There was no significant difference between the groups with regard to drain
      duration (5.24 +/- 0.97, P = 0.127), seroma (12% vs. 16%, P = 0.684), hematoma
      (4% vs. 4%, P = 1.000), wound infection (24% vs. 32%, P = 0.529), flap necrosis
      (8% vs. 28%, P = 0.066), pain intensity (measured on visual analog scale) (5.08
      +/- 1.29 vs. 5.20 +/- 1.68, P = 0.778), and lymphedema (4% vs. 8%, P = 0.552).
      The length of hospital stay could not be compared effectively because all the
      patients were discharged on the 10th or 11th postoperative day. The cost of the
      equipment used in the electrocautery group was almost negligible as compared to
      the harmonic group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of harmonic scalpel versus
      electrocautery is somewhat advantageous but not cost-effective.

PMID- 28584508
TI  - Childhood Pyogenic Septic Arthritis as Seen in a Teaching Hospital South East
      Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood pyogenic septic arthritis and its associated
      musculoskeletal morbidity is an important health concern in developing countries.
      Its pattern of presentation that varies from and within subregions has
      implications on the early recognition, treatment, and outcome. The aim of this
      study was to determine the pattern and outcome of childhood septic arthritis in
      our environment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of all the
      children seen with pyogenic septic arthritis in Federal Teaching Hospital
      Abakaliki between January 2005 and December 2015. RESULTS: Childhood septic
      arthritis accounted for 44 (83%) of the 53 patients seen with pyogenic septic
      arthritis. Female to male ratio was 1:1.75 and the mean age was 5.7 +/- 0.73
      years. Eight patients (18.2%) had polyarticular involvements. The right shoulder
      was significantly more involved than the left and the left hip more than right.
      Overall, there was a preponderance of onset of symptoms in the dry season.
      Children from the rural areas accounted for 85.7% of those with the onset of
      symptom in rainy season. Delayed presentation >6 days (in 68.2% of patients) was
      related to age (P < 0.042), and health seeking behavior (P < 0.036).
      Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest causative organism. Seventy-seven percent
      (77%) underwent open arthrotomy. Anemia, septic shock, and joint stiffness were
      three top complications observed. Mortality rate was 2.3%, and cause of death was
      overwhelming sepsis. CONCLUSION: In our setting, pyogenic septic arthritis is
      predominantly a childhood health problem and children under 5 years of age are
      the most vulnerable. Delayed presentation, an important factor in morbidity and
      mortality associated with septic arthritis was common among the patients, calls
      for a public enlightenment program on the importance of early presentation.

PMID- 28584509
TI  - Prostate Cancer Detected by Screening in a Semi Urban Community in Southeast
      Nigeria: Correlations and Associations between Anthropometric Measurements and
      Prostate-specific Antigen.
AB  - CONTEXT: Prostate cancer (PCa) is frequently diagnosed at advanced stages in
      Nigeria. AIMS: To determine the screen detected PCa prevalence in a suburban
      community and explore any relationships between prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
      and anthropometric measurements. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Nsukka is a town and local
      government area (LGA) in Southeast Nigeria in Enugu State. Towns that share a
      common border with Nsukka are Edem Ani, Alor-uno, Opi, Orba, and Ede-Oballa.
      Nsukka LGA has an area of 1810 km2 and a population of 309,633 at the 2006
      census. All consecutive responders who met the inclusion criteria were recruited.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A screening outreach was conducted in one location in
      Nsukka. PSA testing and digital rectal examinations were performed. Height and
      weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS USED: Results were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 20 (IBM
      SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY, USA). Categorical data
      were analyzed using the Chi-square test, with significance level set at P < 0.05.
      Pearson's correlation was conducted for interval data (P < 0.05). RESULTS: One
      hundred and sixty men met the inclusion criteria and were screened. Age range was
      40-81 years; PSA range was 1.20-33.9 ng/ml. Digital rectal examinations (DREs)
      was abnormal in 17 men. Median BMI was 27.49. A Pearson's correlation coefficient
      showed a significant correlation between age and PSA, r = 0.127; P <= 0.05, and
      DRE findings and PSA, r = 0.178; P <= 0.05. There was no significant correlation
      between height and PSA, r = -0.99; P = 0.211; weight and PSA, r = -0. 81 P =
      0.308; and BMI and PSA, r = -0.066; P = 0.407. 8/21 men consented to prostate
      biopsy with three positive, giving a screen detected PCa prevalence of 1.875%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Screen detected PCa prevalence in high this population and efforts
      to improve early detection may be of value in improving treatment outcomes.

PMID- 28584510
TI  - Evaluation of Mandibular Condylar Changes in Patients Following Orthognathic
      Surgery: A Retrospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Condylar resorption as a cause of relapse after orthognathic surgery
      is well known. Several authors have presented evidence of the relation between
      orthognathic surgery and condylar remodeling and resorption. This study was done
      to appraise the condylar changes along with the form and function following
      orthognathic surgery, as well as to assess what factors may have contributed to
      the problems. METHODOLOGY: A diagnosis of progressive condylar resorption (PCR)
      was made by comparison of preoperative and postoperative radiographs
      (cephalometric radiograms), as well as clinical evaluations. The radiographs were
      taken for each patient preoperatively and postoperatively, which include
      immediately after osteotomy, at 6 months and 24 months. Additional radiographs
      were taken when required. Then, preoperative and postoperative tracings were
      compared at 24 months postoperatively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: It can be
      concluded from this study that females of relative low age (<18 years) appeared
      to be a high-risk factor for the occurrence of condylar alteration including PCR.
      A steep mandibular plane angle, the low facial height ratio (post/ant), and
      magnitude of surgery were also significantly related to the occurrence of
      condylar alteration, but the multivariance regression showed that these
      parameters had only limited value.

PMID- 28584511
TI  - An Evaluation of Intra- and Post-operative Blood Loss in Total Hip Arthroplasty
      at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe hip pain with associated significant functional limitation is
      the major indication for total hip replacement, a rewarding and gratifying
      procedure. However, significant blood loss can occur in the intra- and post
      operative periods, posing a major challenge and necessitating prompt restoration
      of circulating blood volume to minimize morbidity and mortality. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate blood loss after primary total hip replacement, and to
      determine the effect of surgical time on blood loss. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      prospective study of blood loss after total hip arthroplasty in 41 patients. All
      cases were primary total hip arthroplasty done by one surgeon. Intra- and post
      operative blood losses were recorded in two groups of patients (surgical time <2
      h and surgical time >2 h), and the effect of these on blood loss was evaluated.
      RESULTS: The mean intra- and post-operative blood losses were 1222.7 ml and 574.3
      ml, respectively. These showed a strong positive correlation with total blood
      loss (r = 0.790, P < 0.001 and r = 0.517, P < 0.001). Higher intra- and post
      operative blood losses were recorded in patients with surgical time >2 h, with a
      significant difference on postoperative days 2 and 3 (P = 0.003 and P = 0.014,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: Blood loss in total hip replacement is an important
      factor and may be influenced by a shorter surgical time.

PMID- 28584512
TI  - Civilian Penetrating Gunshot Injury to the Neurocranium in Enugu.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Civilian penetrating gunshot injuries to the neurocranium are no
      longer uncommon in Nigeria. Such injuries are however poorly reported. They are
      associated with poor outcome and, at close range, are frequently fatal,
      especially when inflicted by high-velocity weapons. Prompt transfer to
      neurosurgical service and urgent intervention may improve outcome in those that
      are not mortally wounded. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-two patients with civilian
      penetrating gunshot wounds seen over a 10-year period (2004-2014) at the
      University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and Memfys Hospital for Neurosurgery
      Enugu were reviewed retrospectively, and their data were analyzed to evaluate
      factors that impacted on outcome. Only patients with clinical and imaging
      evidence of cranial gunshot injuries who reached hospital alive were included in
      the study. The overall mortality and Glasgow outcome score were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Fifty-two patients with isolated civilian penetrating gunshot wounds
      were identified (M:F = 7.7:1); mean (standard deviation) age was 32.8 (11.9)
      years. There was a high correlation (0.983) between the sex of the patients and
      the outcome. The overall mortality was 30.8%, whereas the mortality for patients
      with postresuscitation Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score <=8 was 57%, as against
      12.9% in those in whom postresuscitation GCS was >8; meaning that 87.1% of
      patients in whom postresuscitation GCS was >8 survived. Thirty-one patients
      (59.6%) had papillary abnormalities. Majority of patients with monohemispheric
      lesions survived while all those with diencephalic, transventricular, and
      posterior fossa involvement had 100% mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Admitting GCS and
      bullet trajectory were predictive of outcome.

PMID- 28584513
TI  - Assessment of PANC3 Score in Predicting Severity of Acute Pancreatitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute pancreatitis is inflammatory process of the pancreas
      associated with local and systemic complications. At present, there are lots of
      scores (such as Ransons, APACHE II, bedside index for severity in acute
      pancreatitis) that help us in predicting severity at the time of admission but
      these are time consuming or require complex calculation and are costly. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: PANC3 Scoring System is one of the better systems because the three
      criteria used (hematocrit, body mass index, and pleural effusion) are simple,
      easy to assess, readily available, and economic. In this prospective study, 100
      cases were evaluated to see the prospects of PANC3 scoring in predicting the
      severity of acute pancreatitis as decided by modified Marshals score. RESULTS:
      The results showed that PANC3 score had a 96.43% specificity, 75% sensitivity,
      80% positive predictive value, and 95.29% negative predictive value. CONCLUSION:
      Hence, the PANC3 score is a cost-effective, promising score that helps in
      predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis leading to prompt treatment and
      early referral to higher center.

PMID- 28584514
TI  - Systemic Assessment of Patients Undergoing Dental Implant Surgeries: A Trans- and
      Post-operative Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Procedure-related and patient-related factors influence the prognosis
      of dental implants to a major extent. Hence, we aimed to evaluate and analyze
      various systemic factors in patients receiving dental implants. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Fifty-one patients were included in the study, in which a total of 110
      dental implants were placed. Complete examination of the subjects was done before
      and after placement of dental implants. Implant surgery was planned, and
      osseointegrated dental implants were placed in the subjects. Postoperative
      evaluation of the dental implant patients was done after 3 weeks. Anxiety levels
      were determined using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire on the
      surgery day and after 1 week of surgery. The participant describes how they feel
      at the moment by responding to twenty items as follows: (1) absolutely not, (2)
      slightly, (3) somewhat, or (4) very much. All the results were recorded and
      statistical analyzed by SPSS software. RESULTS: Out of 51, 29 patients were males
      while 22 were females, with ratio of 1.32:1. Female patients' mean age was 50.18
      years while male patients' mean age was 52.71 years, with statistically
      nonsignificant difference between them. Functional rehabilitation was the main
      purpose of choosing dental implants in more than 90% of the subjects. Diameter of
      3.75 mm was the shortest implants to be placed in the present study, whereas in
      terms of length, 8.5 mm was the shortest length of dental implant used in the
      present study. Tooth area in which maximum implants were placed in our study was
      36 tooth region. Maximum implants were placed in Type II bone quality (n = 38).
      Implants installed in the mandible were clamped more efficiently than implants
      placed in the maxilla (P < 0.001). The difference of average STAI-State subscore
      before and after the surgery was statistically significant (P < 0.05;
      significant). CONCLUSION: Mandibular dental implants show more clamping (torque)
      than maxillary dental implants.

PMID- 28584515
TI  - Circumareolar Incision-subdermal Tunneling Dissection for Excision of Multiple
      Breast Fibroadenomata.
AB  - Excision of multiple fibroadenomas (MF) in separate breast quadrants presents
      difficulties of number and location of incision(s) and extent of tissue
      dissection and may be associated with more complications and poorer cosmetic
      outcome. This is a report of excision of MF in multiple quadrants of the breast
      using a modification of subcutaneous dissection technique dubbed the
      circumareolar incision and subdermal tunneling (CAST) dissection. After exposure
      of the superficial fascia with circumareolar incision, subdermal cone-wise
      dissection was made to allow mobilization of the segment bearing the lump(s). The
      lump(s) were enucleated and removed. MF were removed from four breasts in three
      young unmarried females. The first patient had multiple adenomas removed from
      three quadrants of both breasts: 14 on the right and six on the left. The second
      patient had excision of three lumps in three separate quadrants, and the third
      patient had excision of two lumps in two separate quadrants. All patients had
      edema and bruising. One breast had wound infection and dehiscence. There were no
      skin necrosis, no nipple loss, and no breast distortion. All ensuing scars were
      camouflaged. CAST dissection was used for excision of MF in multiple quadrants of
      the breast with preservation of excellent cosmetic outcome of a single
      circumareolar incision.

PMID- 28584516
TI  - Missed Distal Tracheal Foreign Body in Consecutive Bronchoscopies in a 6-year-old
      Boy.
AB  - It is unusual but not uncommon for foreign bodies to be missed at bronchoscopy.
      This case report highlights the importance of the clinical history in the
      diagnosis of aspirated foreign bodies and the usefulness of chest imaging
      modalities. A 6-year-old boy presented with recurrent breathlessness and cough of
      2 months. He was said to have aspirated the base cap of a pen at about the time
      symptoms started. He had two sessions of rigid bronchoscopy and a session of
      flexible bronchoscopy at three different hospitals. He had an initial rigid
      bronchoscopy which failed to show the foreign body (FB). A chest computerized
      tomographic scan demonstrated the FB, which was retrieved at combined
      flexible/rigid bronchoscopy. Although rigid bronchoscopy is the gold standard for
      managing airway foreign bodies, there remains a false negative rate for this
      procedure and where necessary, appropriate imaging may compliment rigid
      bronchoscopy, especially where there is some confusion.

PMID- 28584517
TI  - A Rare Case of Mesenteric Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Presenting as Acute
      Abdomen.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are rare tumours arising from mesenchyme
      of gastrointestinal tract and overexpress C-kit protein. Mainly seen in stomach
      and small bowel. Mesenteric GIST are rarely reported as they constitute less than
      1% of total GIST. We here report such a rare case of GIST arising from mesentery
      of small bowel and presenting as acute abdomen. Good surgical clearance ensures
      good survival whereas incomplete resection results in a high incidence of
      recurrences with distant metastasis.

PMID- 28584518
TI  - An Investigation into a Gear-Based Knee Joint Designed for Lower Limb Prosthesis.
AB  - A gear-based knee joint is designed to improve the performance of mechanical-type
      above-knee prostheses. The gear set with the help of some bracing, and bracket
      arrangement, is used to enable the prosthesis to follow the residual limb
      movement. The motion analysis and finite-element analysis (FEA) of knee joint
      components are carried out to assess the feasibility of the design. The maximum
      stress of 29.74 MPa and maximum strain of 2.393e-004 are obtained in the gear,
      whereas the maximum displacement of 7.975 mm occurred in the stopper of the knee
      arrangement. The factor of safety of 3.5 obtained from the FE analysis indicated
      no possibility of design failure. The results obtained from the FE analysis are
      then compared with the real data obtained from the literature for a similar
      subject. The pattern of motion analysis results has shown a great resemblance
      with the gait cycle of a healthy biological limb.

PMID- 28584520
TI  - Article Watch: July 2017.
AB  - This column highlights recently published articles that are of interest to the
      readership of this publication. We encourage ABRF members to forward information
      on articles they feel are important and useful to Clive Slaughter, MCG-UGA
      Medical Partnership, 1425 Prince Ave., Athens, GA 30606, USA. Tel: (706) 713
      2216; Fax: (706) 713-2221; E-mail: cslaught@uga.edu, or to any member of the
      editorial board. Article summaries reflect the reviewer's opinions and not
      necessarily those of the association.

PMID- 28584519
TI  - Degradation of landfill leachate compounds by persulfate for groundwater
      remediation.
AB  - In this study, batch and column experiments were conducted to evaluate the
      feasibility of using persulfate oxidation to treat groundwater contaminated by
      landfill leachate (CGW). In batch experiments, persulfate was compared with H2O2,
      and permanganate for oxidation of organic compounds in CGW. It was also compared
      with the potential of biodegradation for contaminant removal from CGW. Persulfate
      was observed to be superior to H2O2 and permanganate for degradation of total
      organic carbon (TOC) in the CGW. Conversely, biodegradation caused only partial
      removal of TOC in CGW. In contrast, persulfate caused complete degradation of the
      TOC in the CGW or aged CGW, showing no selectivity limitation to the
      contaminants. Magnetite (Fe3O4) enhanced degradation of leachate compounds in
      both CGW and aged CGW with limited increase in persulfate consumption and sulfate
      production. Under dynamic flow condition in 1-D column experiments, both
      biodegradation and persulfate oxidation of TOC were enhanced by Fe3O4. The
      enhancement, however, was significantly greater for persulfate oxidation. In both
      batch and column experiments, Fe3O4 by itself caused minimal consumption of
      persulfate and production of sulfate, indicating that magnetite is a good
      persulfate activator for treating CGW in heterogeneous systems The results of the
      study show that the persulfate-based in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) method has
      great potential to treat the groundwater contaminated by landfill leachate.

PMID- 28584522
TI  - The Relationship Timeline: A Method for the Study of Shared Lived Experiences in
      Relational Contexts.
AB  - Lifeline methods-graphic illustrations of the pathways of lived experience
      traveled by individuals from birth to anticipated death-have been useful in the
      study of lived experience. Existing lifeline methods and research focus on the
      individual experience; absent from this literature are the collective experiences
      of those in intimate relationships. In this paper, based on our research with 120
      same-sex couples, we present a method to allow for the joint creation of
      relationship timelines, which serve as the basis for eliciting dyadic data in
      multiple forms: graphic representations of relationship development through
      couples' creation of a timeline of key events and periods; qualitative narratives
      of couples' shared experiences; and quantitative ratings of significant events
      and periods in their lives together. Lessons learned from the application of this
      Relationship Timeline Method are discussed, as are implications for future study
      of the shared lived experience.

PMID- 28584523
TI  - Corrigendum: The Involvement of Nitric Oxide in Integration of Plant
      Physiological and Ultrastructural Adjustments in Response to Arsenic.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 516 in vol. 8, PMID: 28469622.].

PMID- 28584524
TI  - Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Deficiency Attenuates Experimental Colitis-Induced
      Adipose Tissue Lipolysis.
AB  - AIMS: Nutrient deficiencies are common in patients with inflammatory bowel
      disease (IBD). Adipose tissue plays a critical role in regulating energy balance.
      Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is an important endocrine metabolic regulator
      with emerging beneficial roles in lipid homeostasis. We investigated the impact
      of FGF21 in experimental colitis-induced epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT)
      lipolysis. METHODS: Mice were given 2.5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) ad libitum
      for 7 days to induce colitis. The role of FGF21 was investigated using antibody
      neutralization or knockout (KO) mice. Lipolysis index and adipose lipolytic
      enzymes were determined. In addition, 3T3-L1 cells were pretreated with IL-6,
      followed by recombinant human FGF21 (rhFGF21) treatment; lipolysis was assessed.
      RESULTS: DSS markedly decreased eWAT/body weight ratio and increased serum
      concentrations of free fatty acid (FFA) and glycerol, indicating increased
      adipose tissue lipolysis. eWAT intracellular lipolytic enzyme
      expression/activation was significantly increased. These alterations were
      significantly attenuated in FGF21 KO mice and by circulating FGF21
      neutralization. Moreover, DSS treatment markedly increased serum IL-6 and FGF21
      levels. IL-6 pretreatment was necessary for the stimulatory effect of FGF21 on
      adipose lipolysis in 3T3-L1 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that
      experimental colitis induces eWAT lipolysis via an IL-6/FGF21-mediated signaling
      pathway.

PMID- 28584526
TI  - Analyses of Mineral Content and Heavy Metal of Honey Samples from South and East
      Region of Turkey by Using ICP-MS.
AB  - The substantial of mineral ingredients in honey may symbolize the existence of
      elements in the plants and soil of the vicinity wherein the honey was taken. The
      aim of this study was to detect the levels of 13 elements (Potassium (K), Sodium
      (Na), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Manganese
      (Mn), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Aluminum (Al), and Selenium (Se)) in
      unifloral and multifloral honey samples from south and east regions of Turkey.
      Survey of 71 honey samples from seven different herbal origins, picked up from
      the south and east region of Turkey, was carried out to determine their mineral
      contents during 2015-2016. The mineral contents were analyzed by inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The most abundant minerals were K, Na,
      and Ca ranging within 1.18-268 ppm, 0.57-13.1 ppm, and 0.77-4.5 ppm,
      respectively. Zn and Cu were the most abundant trace element while Pb, Cd, Ni,
      and Cr were the lowest heavy metals in the honey samples surveyed, with regard to
      the concentrations of heavy metals such as Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr suggested
      and influence of the botanical origin of element composition. Geochemical and
      geographical differences are probably related to the variations of the chemical
      components of honey samples.

PMID- 28584525
TI  - Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders and Their Clinical Implications in Cirrhosis.
AB  - Gastrointestinal motility is impaired in a substantial proportion of patients
      with cirrhosis. Cirrhosis-related autonomic neuropathy, increased nitric oxide
      production, and gut hormonal changes have been implicated. Oesophageal
      dysmotility has been associated with increased frequency of abnormal gastro
      oesophageal reflux. Impaired gastric emptying and accommodation may result in
      early satiety and may have an impact on the nutritional status of these patients.
      Small intestinal dysmotility might be implicated in small intestinal bacterial
      overgrowth and increased bacterial translocation. The latter has been implicated
      in the pathophysiology of hepatic encephalopathy and spontaneous bacterial
      peritonitis. Enhanced colonic motility is usually associated with the use of
      lactulose. Pharmacological interventions aiming to alter gastrointestinal
      motility in cirrhosis could potentially have a beneficial effect reducing the
      risk of hepatic decompensation and improving prognosis.

PMID- 28584528
TI  - Pigeon Pea and Cowpea-Based Cropping Systems Improve Vesicular Arbuscular
      Mycorrhizal Fungal Colonisation of Subsequent Maize on the Alfisols in Central
      Malawi.
AB  - Mycorrhizal associations contribute to the sustainability of crop production
      systems through their roles in nutrient cycling and other benefits in the soil
      plant ecosystems. A two-year study was conducted on the Alfisols of Lilongwe and
      Dowa districts, Central Malawi, to assess the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal
      (VAM) fungal colonisation levels in pigeon pea, cowpea, and maize grown in sole
      cropping, legume-cereal, and legume-legume intercropping systems and in the maize
      grown in short rotation (year 2) as influenced by the previous cropping systems
      and N fertilizer application. The gridline intersect method was used to assess
      the VAM fungal colonisation levels. Results showed that all treatments that
      included legumes whether grown as sole crop, in legume-cereal or in legume-legume
      cropping systems in the previous year, had significantly higher (P < 0.05) VAM
      fungal colonisation of the rotational maize crop roots by a range 39% to 50% and
      19% to 47% than those in maize supplied and not supplied with N fertilizer,
      respectively, in a maize-maize short rotation, at the Lilongwe site. A similar
      trend was reported for the Dowa site. Furthermore, there were positive
      correlations between VAM fungal colonisation and the plant P content, dry matter
      yield, and nodule numbers. Further studies may help to assess the diversity of
      VAM fungal species in Malawi soils and identify more adaptive ones for
      inoculation studies.

PMID- 28584527
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Manual Partial Red Cell Exchange in the Management of
      Severe Complications of Sickle Cell Disease in a Developing Country.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The realization of red cell exchange (RCE) in Africa faces the lack
      of blood, transfusion safety, and equipment. We evaluated its efficacy and safety
      in severe complications of sickle cell disease. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Manual
      partial RCE was performed among sickle cell patients who had severe
      complications. Efficacy was evaluated by clinical evolution, blood count, and
      electrophoresis of hemoglobin. Safety was evaluated on adverse effects,
      infections, and alloimmunization. RESULTS: We performed 166 partial RCE among 44
      patients including 41 homozygous (SS) and 2 heterozygous composites SC and 1
      S/beta0-thalassemia. The mean age was 27.9 years. The sex ratio was 1.58. The
      regression of symptoms was complete in 100% of persistent vasoocclusive crisis
      and acute chest syndrome, 56.7% of intermittent priapism, and 30% of stroke. It
      was partial in 100% of leg ulcers and null in acute priapism. The mean variations
      of hemoglobin and hematocrit rate after one procedure were, respectively, +1.4
      g/dL and +4.4%. That of hemoglobin S after 2 consecutive RCE was -60%. Neither
      alloimmunization nor viral seroconversion was observed. CONCLUSION: This work
      shows the feasibility of manual partial RCE in a low-resource setting and its
      efficacy and safety during complications of SCD outside of acute priapism.

PMID- 28584529
TI  - hTERT-Immortalized Bone Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Expressing Rat Galanin via a
      Single Tetracycline-Inducible Lentivirus System.
AB  - The use of human telomerase reverse transcriptase-immortalized bone marrow
      mesenchymal stromal cells (hTERT-BMSCs) as vehicles to deliver antinociceptive
      galanin (GAL) molecules into pain-processing centers represents a novel cell
      therapy strategy for pain management. Here, an hTERT-BMSCs/Tet-on/GAL cell line
      was constructed using a single Tet-on-inducible lentivirus system, and subsequent
      experiments demonstrated that the secretion of rat GAL from hTERT-BMSCs/Tet
      on/GAL was switched on and off under the control of an inducer in a dose
      dependent manner. The construction of this cell line is the first promising step
      in the regulation of GAL secretion from hTERT-immortalized BMSCs, and the
      potential application of this system may provide a stem cell-based research
      platform for pain.

PMID- 28584530
TI  - An overview on autologous fibrin glue in bone tissue engineering of maxillofacial
      surgery.
AB  - The purpose of this review is to have an overview on the applications on the
      autologous fibrin glue as a bone graft substitute in maxillofacial injuries and
      defects. A search was conducted using the databases such as Medline or PubMed and
      Google Scholar for articles from 1985 to 2016. The criteria were "Autograft,"
      "Fibrin tissue adhesive," "Tissue engineering," "Maxillofacial injury," and
      "Regenerative medicine." Bone tissue engineering is a new promising approach for
      bone defect reconstruction. In this technique, cells are combined with three
      dimensional scaffolds to provide a tissue-like structure to replace lost parts of
      the tissue. Fibrin as a natural scaffold, because of its biocompatibility and
      biodegradability, and the initial stability of the grafted stem cells is
      introduced as an excellent scaffold for tissue engineering. It promotes cell
      migration, proliferation, and matrix making through acceleration in angiogenesis.
      Growth factors in fibrin glue can stimulate and promote tissue repair. Autologous
      fibrin scaffolds are excellent candidates for tissue engineering so that they can
      be produced faster, cheaper, and in larger quantities. In addition, they are easy
      to use and the probability of viral or prion transmission may be decreased.
      Therefore, autologous fibrin glue appears to be promising scaffold in
      regenerative maxillofacial surgery.

PMID- 28584531
TI  - Intraoral ancient schwannoma: A systematic review of the case reports.
AB  - Intraoral ancient schwannoma is a rare type of oral schwannoma, which is
      encapsulated and well demarcated from the surrounding tissues. Ancient
      schwannomas are associated with conventional features of neurilemmoma; however,
      they are distinguished from other types of schwannoma due to factors such as the
      long history, cellular architecture showing hypocellularity, and hyalinized
      matrices. This systematic review was performed through searching in databases
      such as PubMed and Google Scholar using related keywords (intraoral, oral,
      ancient, schwannoma, and neurilemmoma). Eventually, 26 case reports were
      systematically reviewed by the researchers. Required data were extracted by one
      researcher, and all the selected articles were reviewed in full text after
      screening. This systematic review aimed to determine the most significant
      influential factors in intraoral ancient schwannoma and evaluate the diagnostic
      and therapeutic methods in this regard.

PMID- 28584532
TI  - Histological and histomorphometric evaluation of the synthetic biomaterial
      Natix(r) in horizontal reconstruction of alveolar ridge.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Following loss of teeth, atrophy of alveolar ridge of the jaws is a
      substantial problem and unintended outcome that compels clinicians to perform
      bone reconstruction ahead of implant placement. Although autogenous bone is
      recommended as the gold standard in bone reconstruction, aninvasive second
      surgery harvestinga limited volume of bone (from intraoral source) has led a
      significant approachingthe use of synthetic bone substitute materials. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the histologic and histomorphometric properties of
      porous titanium granules (Natix(r)) used in horizontal reconstruction of alveolar
      ridge before implant placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present quasi
      experimental clinical trial, four patients (three females and one male) needed
      horizontal bone augmentation on ten areas of edentulous mandibular ridge before
      implant treatment. During surgery, the buccal aspect of edentulous ridge was
      augmented by Natix(r), covered by resorbable membrane (Cytoplast(r)). After 8
      months, 10 core biopsies were obtained. RESULTS: In histological study, no
      foreign body reaction at the site of the newly formed bone or around the
      biomaterial residue was observed. Newly formed bone was fully vital with large
      lacunae containing osteocytes. In 60% of cases, connective tissue was observed at
      the biomaterial - new bone interface. In histomorphometric study, mean percentage
      of bone formation was 40.56% +/- 19.83% and mean bone trabecular thickness was
      39.98 +/- 17.54 MU. CONCLUSION: Despite acceptable histological and
      histomorphometric bone formation findings, in clinical terms, no increase was
      created in the horizontal dimension. Thus, it seems that application of this
      biomaterial in horizontal reconstruction of alveolar ridges with noncontained
      defects is inappropriate.

PMID- 28584533
TI  - Salivary oxidative stress in oral lichen planus treated with triamcinolone
      mouthrinse.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels
      have not been reported in oral lichen planus (OLP) patients treated with a
      topical corticosteroid. This study evaluates TAC and MDA levels in unstimulated
      saliva of OLP patients. Such measurements may need to be supported by clinical
      observation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with OLP participated in a
      study conducted at the Department of Oral Medicine, Tehran University of Medical
      Sciences. Salivary TAC and MDA were determined by biochemical analyses before and
      after 5-week triamcinolone acetonide (0.2%) mouthrinse treatment. Subjective
      symptoms as well as lesion status pre- and post-treatment were measured using
      visual analog scale (VAS) and clinical scoring system, respectively. Wilcoxon
      signed rank test was used for the evaluation of MDA and TAC parameters, VASs, and
      rates of clinical scores. Spearman's rank correlation was used to determine the
      relationship between different variables. RESULTS: A statistically significant
      increase in salivary TAC was found after treatment. There was no significant
      difference in the reduction of salivary MDA levels in OLP patients after
      treatment. CONCLUSION: Posttreatment analyses revealed a significant degree of
      recovery and pain relief of OLP lesions. Hence, triamcinolon mouthrinse by
      reducing oxidative stress is an appropriate treatment in OLP patients.

PMID- 28584534
TI  - Impact of virtual microscopy with conventional microscopy on student learning in
      dental histology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In dental histology, the assimilation of histological features of
      different dental hard and soft tissues is done by conventional microscopy. This
      traditional method of learning prevents the students from screening the entire
      slide and change of magnification. To address these drawbacks, modification in
      conventional microscopy has evolved and become motivation for changing the
      learning tool. Virtual microscopy is the technique in which there is complete
      digitization of the microscopic glass slide, which can be analyzed on a computer.
      This research is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual microscopy
      with conventional microscopy on student learning in dental histology. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A cohort of 105 students were included and randomized into three
      groups: A, B, and C. Group A students studied the microscopic features of oral
      histologic lesions by conventional microscopy, Group B by virtual microscopy, and
      Group C by both conventional and virtual microscopy. The students' understanding
      of the subject was evaluated by a prepared questionnaire. RESULTS: The
      effectiveness of the study designs on knowledge gains and satisfaction levels was
      assessed by statistical assessment of differences in mean test scores. The
      difference in score between Groups A, B, and C at pre- and post-test was highly
      significant. This enhanced understanding of the subject may be due to benefits of
      using virtual microscopy in teaching histology. CONCLUSION: The augmentation of
      conventional microscopy with virtual microscopy shows enhancement of the
      understanding of the subject as compared to the use of conventional microscopy
      and virtual microscopy alone.

PMID- 28584535
TI  - Stress distribution in maxillary first molar periodontium using straight pull
      headgear with vertical and horizontal tubes: A finite element analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the most effective ways for distal movement of molars to treat
      Class II malocclusion is using extraoral force through a headgear device. The
      purpose of this study was the comparison of stress distribution in maxillary
      first molar periodontium using straight pull headgear in vertical and horizontal
      tubes through finite element method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the real
      geometry model, a basic model of the first molar and maxillary bone was obtained
      using three-dimensional imaging of the skull. After the geometric modeling of
      periodontium components through CATIA software and the definition of mechanical
      properties and element classification, a force of 150 g for each headgear was
      defined in ABAQUS software. Consequently, Von Mises and Principal stresses were
      evaluated. The statistical analysis was performed using T-paired and Wilcoxon
      nonparametric tests. RESULTS: Extension of areas with Von Mises and Principal
      stresses utilizing straight pull headgear with a vertical tube was not different
      from that of using a horizontal tube, but the numerical value of the Von Mises
      stress in the vertical tube was significantly reduced (P < 0/05). On the other
      hand, the difference of the principal stress between both tubes was not
      significant (P > 0/05). CONCLUSION: Based on the results, when force applied to
      the straight pull headgear with a vertical tube, Von Mises stress was reduced
      significantly in comparison with the horizontal tube. Therefore, to correct the
      mesiolingual movement of the maxillary first molar, vertical headgear tube is
      recommended.

PMID- 28584536
TI  - Comparative assessment of salivary cotinine level and psychological dependence
      among tobacco users.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the correlation between salivary
      cotinine level and psychological dependence measured through Fagerstrom test for
      nicotine dependence (FTND) questionnaire among tobacco users. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted on tobacco users.
      Participants with the present habit of tobacco chewing and smoking above the age
      of 16 years were included in the study. A standard questionnaire form of FTND
      revised version for smoking and smokeless form of tobacco were given to each
      participant. Each participant was asked to answer the questions as per their
      experience of tobacco consumption and calculate the total point score or FTND
      score. Salivary cotinine level assessment was done using commercial available
      NicAlert kit. RESULTS: When salivary cotinine level was correlated with different
      variables of both groups, it was observed that weak correlation between salivary
      cotinine level and FTND scoring in smokers group (r = 0.083) and also in
      smokeless group (r = 0.081). When two groups were compared for salivary cotinine
      level, statistically significant difference (P = 0.021) was observed, with
      smokeless group showing high level of salivary cotinine level as compared to
      smokers group. CONCLUSION: Salivary cotinine and psychological dependence through
      FTND scoring are not strongly correlating with each other. This indicates that
      dependence over tobacco is a separate phenomenon and cannot be assessed by
      salivary cotinine level. It is well accepted that salivary cotinine level is
      influenced by age of individual, duration of habit, and type of tobacco
      consumption.

PMID- 28584537
TI  - A comparison of the efficacy of mechanical, chemical, and microwave radiation
      methods in disinfecting complete dentures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor denture hygiene can be a potential source of pathogens. The aim
      of this study was to compare the efficacy of microwave radiation with that of
      chemical and mechanical techniques in disinfecting complete dentures contaminated
      with Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Seventy-two sterilized mandibular dentures were separately contaminated with S.
      aureus (n = 32) and P. aeruginosa (n = 32) and then incubated at 37 degrees C for
      48 h. The contaminated dentures were disinfected as follows: chemical
      disinfection with Corega tablets; chemical disinfection with 2% glutaraldehyde;
      mechanical disinfection by brushing the denture; and physical disinfection by 650
      W microwaves irradiation for 3 min with six samples in each subgroup. Six
      dentures served as negative control group, and six contaminated dentures with no
      disinfection served as the positive control group. 10-3-10-6 dilutions were
      cultured in the nutrient agar, and the colonies were counted after incubation at
      37 degrees C for 48 h. To evaluate the lasting time of disinfection, the
      containers with nutrient agar and dentures were stored for 7 days at 37 degrees C
      to evaluate turbidity. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U
      test (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: There was no evidence of bacterial growth in 48 h
      and turbidity after 7 days of incubation of dentures disinfected by microwaves,
      glutaraldehyde, and Corega tablets, which was statistically significant compared
      to the positive controls (P < 0.001). In mechanically disinfected dentures
      (brushing), bacterial growth was detected after 48 h which was statistically
      significant compared to the positive controls (P < 0.001) and turbidity was seen
      in all the nutrient agar plates. CONCLUSION: Microwave iradiation, 2%
      glutaraldehyde, and Corega tablets disinfected complete dentures contaminated
      with S. aureus and P. aeruginosa which lasted for a long and a short terms.

PMID- 28584538
TI  - Pattern of mandibular third molar impaction and its association to caries in
      mandibular second molar: A clinical variant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caries in second molar is common and prophylactic removal of the
      impacted teeth may be considered appropriate. Caries detection and restoration
      can be difficult and a restored second molar can undergo recurrent caries if the
      third molar is not removed prophylactically. In this study, the clinical findings
      related to impaction and its association with angular position and depth of
      impacted third molar were evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      descriptive study was carried out among the patients visiting the outpatient,
      department of Dentistry, RIMS, Ranchi. The clinical examination, periapical
      radiographs and Pre-op OPG were taken. Teeth positions were analyzed by Pell and
      Gregory and Winter classification. The angulation and depth of mandibular third
      molar impaction and caries in the second molar with the eruption status of the
      mandibular third molar was determined. RESULTS: A total of 200 patients were
      included in the study between age group 17-45 years. Majority of the Patients
      reported to the hospital with complaints of decayed tooth (66%) and pain (59%).
      The most common third molar impaction was mesioangular followed by distoangular.
      A statistically highly significant difference (P = 0.001) was obtained with the
      presence of caries in second molar adjacent to mesioangular third molar in class
      I and level B. CONCLUSION: According to this study, pattern of mandibular third
      molar impaction is in association to caries in mandibular second molar. More
      future studies are needed. In addition, the results of the present study can be
      used to screen and inform the patients about the possibility of caries in
      relation to third molar mandibular impaction.

PMID- 28584539
TI  - Correlation between chronological age and third molar developmental stages in an
      Iranian population (Demirjian method).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Third molar development is the only available tool for estimating the
      age of individuals after puberty. Since this tooth has very high interethnic
      variability, formulas calculated to estimate the age from its development stages
      cannot be generalized to other populations and should be adjusted for each
      region. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate this method in a sample
      of Tehran individuals for the first time, and also to compare the development of
      third molars across sexes and arches, and to estimate cutoff developmental stages
      for legal minor/major identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 150
      dental patients aged between 15 and 25 years old were prospectively enrolled, and
      their Demirjian stages were recorded. The associations between chronological age
      and Demirjian stages were evaluated. Dental formation was compared between sexes
      and jaws. Cutoff stages were determined to identify legal minor/major cases
      (above or below 18 years old). Age estimation formula was found for this
      population. RESULTS: Of the 150 included patients, 56 were males. The difference
      between the ages of males and females at each given developmental stage was
      nonsignificant (P > 0.05), except for the H stage. Age difference between same
      stage teeth of the maxilla and mandible was nonsignificant. Each of the G and H
      stages was significantly above 18 years old (P < 0.001). Furthermore, E and F
      stages were below 18 years old (P < 0.001). All the correlations between
      Demirjian stages and age were above 90% (all P < 0.001). Third molar development
      was positively affected by the chronological age (P = 0.000) and being maxillary
      (P = 0.000) but not sex (P = 0.113). Regression formula for age estimation was:
      age = 6.52+ (0.64 * sex) + (0.32 * arch) + (1.86 * Demirjian stage). CONCLUSION:
      Development of third molar might complete after the age 22. Iranian individuals
      with third molars at the G and H stages are likely above 18 while those at E and
      F are likely below 18. Pace of molar development differs for jaws, but
      intergender differences are open to further investigations.

PMID- 28584540
TI  - Evaluation and comparison of efficacy of three desensitizing dentifrices on
      dentinal hypersensitivity and salivary biochemical characteristics: A randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the efficacy of three
      desensitizing dentifrices on dentinal hypersensitivity (DH) and salivary
      biochemical characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized, parallel arm,
      triple-blinded, clinical trial was conducted over a period of 12 weeks, with a
      total of three visits: baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. Calcium sodium
      phosphosilicate, potassium nitrate and amine fluoride dentifrices were compared.
      A total of 68 subjects who satisfied the inclusion criteria were included and
      randomly divided into four groups. Visual analog scale scores for controlled air
      stimulus were used to assess dentinal sensitivity and salivary pH and buffering
      capacity were recorded at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks. RESULTS: All groups showed a
      reduction in sensitivity scores at 6 and 12 weeks. The calcium sodium
      phosphosilicate group showed a higher degree of effectiveness in reducing DH than
      potassium nitrate, amine fluoride dentifrices, and placebo for sensitivity
      measures. Salivary pH of calcium sodium phosphosilicate group was more toward
      neutral, and the buffering capacity of the same group showed significant changes
      from baseline to 6 and 12 weeks compared to the other groups. CONCLUSION: The
      desensitizing toothpaste containing calcium sodium phosphosilicate was found to
      be more effective in reducing DH and showed improvement in salivary biochemical
      characteristics over a period of 12 weeks compared to others.

PMID- 28584542
TI  - Morocco succeeds to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem: World Health
      Organization.

PMID- 28584541
TI  - The use of the digital smile design concept as an auxiliary tool in periodontal
      plastic surgery.
AB  - Periodontal surgery associated with prior waxing, mock-up, and the use of digital
      tools to design the smile is the current trend of reverse planning in periodontal
      plastic surgery. The objective of this study is to report a surgical resolution
      of the gummy smile using a prior esthetic design with the use of digital tools. A
      digital smile design and mock-up were used for performing gingival recontouring
      surgery. The relationship between the facial and dental measures and the incisal
      plane with the horizontal facial plane of reference were evaluated. The relative
      dental height x width was measured, and the dental contour drawing was inserted.
      Complementary lines are drawn such as the gingival zenith, joining lines of the
      gingival and incisal battlements. The periodontal esthetic was improved according
      to the established design digital smile pattern. These results demonstrate the
      importance of surgical techniques and are well accepted by patients and are easy
      to perform for the professional. When properly planned, they provide the desired
      expectations. Periodontal Surgical procedures associated with the design digital
      smile facilitate the communication between the patient and the professional. It
      is, therefore, essential to demonstrate the reverse planning of the smile and
      periodontal parameters with approval by the patient to solve the esthetic
      problem.

PMID- 28584543
TI  - Comparing the Concept of Caring in Islamic Perspective with Watson and Parse's
      Nursing Theories.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the nursing profession, it is apparent that the definition of
      caring differs between various perspectives. This article compares the difference
      of caring in Islamic with the Parse and Watson theories. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      In this study, we use concept analyses of Walker-Avants and compare research
      methods. Material used is all Islamic documents. RESULTS: According to Islamic
      documents, there are four major types of caring, namely, (1) God taking care of
      humans, (2) Humans taking care of themselves, (3) Other humans taking care of
      humans, and (4) The universe taking care of humans and vice versa. God caring for
      humans affects the three other types of caring. All three definitions of caring
      have humanistic and holistic view. According to Watson's and Parse's definition,
      the development of the caring theory is based on the person's experiences that
      result from human interactions with, and experiences of, their environment. In
      Islamic definition, although the caring process is affected by environmental
      experiences and interactions, human not developed only base the effect of
      environment; rather, it is developed on the basis of human nature and divine
      commands. God taking care of humans is specific to Islamic perspective and is not
      found in other definitions. Islamic perspective maintains that God is the creator
      of humanity and is in charge of guiding humans. A superior form of human can
      always be discovered. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, nursing implementation in Muslims must
      be done based on Islamic commands, and Islamic commands are superior to human
      experiences. However, Islamic commands interpreted with human wisdom and thought
      can be striving toward excellence.

PMID- 28584544
TI  - Contextual Facilitators and Maintaining of Compassion-Based Care: An Ethnographic
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compassion is an important part of nursing. It fosters better
      relationships between nurses and their patients. Moreover, it gives patients more
      confidence in the care they receive. Determining facilitators of compassion are
      essential to holistic care. The purpose of this study was to explore these
      facilitators. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This ethnographic study was conducted in
      2014-2015 with 20 nurses, 12 patients, and 4 family members in the medical and
      surgical wards. Data collection was done through observations and in-depth semi
      structured interviews with purposive sampling. The study was carried out in 15
      months. Data analysis was performed using constant comparison based on Strauss
      and Corbin. RESULTS: Data analysis defined three main themes and eight subthemes
      as the fundamentals of compassion-based care. Nurses' personal factors with
      subcategories of personality, attitudes, and values and holistic view; and socio
      cultural factors with subcategories of kindness role model, religious, and
      cultural values are needed to elicit compassionate behaviors. Initiator factors,
      with subcategories of patient suffering, patient communication demands, and
      patient emotional and psychological necessity are also needed to start
      compassionate behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study showed that
      nurses' communication with patients is nurse's duty in order to understand and
      respect the needs of patients. Attention should be paid to issues relating to
      compassion in nursing and practice educational programs. Indeed, creating a care
      environment with compassion, regardless of any shortcomings in the work
      condition, would help in the development of effective nursing.

PMID- 28584545
TI  - Nonadherence Behaviors and Some Related Factors in Kidney Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation is the renal replacement therapy of choice for
      most patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), however, adherence to the
      recommended lifestyle is critical for a positive prognosis. The purpose of this
      study was to assess adherence to immunosuppressive therapy and lifestyle
      recommendations along with some related factors among kidney transplant patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive analytical study, all patients
      completed a questionnaire regarding medication intake and lifestyle
      recommendations (preventing of infection, self-monitoring, prevention of
      cardiovascular disease (CVD), and sun protection). The participants were divided
      into 4 groups according to the level of adherence (good, partial, poor, and
      nonadherent) indicated in their responses. RESULTS: Most kidney recipients were
      adherent to their drug prescriptions, but were partial, poor, or nonadherent
      regarding lifestyle recommendations. Increased passage of time since
      transplantation and low family support and educational level resulted in
      nonadherence. Men showed greater adherence to medication intake than women.
      Patients with lower number of drugs and reported drug side-effects illustrated
      better adherence to medication intake. Women adhered to infection protection
      recommendations more than men, and older and married patients adhered to
      cardiovascular prevention recommendations more than others. However, younger
      patients showed greater adherence to self-monitoring recommendations, and
      singles, young individuals, and women were adherent to sun protection
      recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Nonadherence is common among kidney transplant
      recipients. Thus, it is necessary to determine patients who are at risk of
      nonadherence and to introduce more educational programs to improve their
      adherence and their quality of life (QOL).

PMID- 28584546
TI  - The Effect of Painting on Depression in Children with Cancer Undergoing
      Chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychological and social health of children with cancer may be
      severely affected by the disease and its treatment. Successive drawing by
      children can help them over time in terms of psychological and social adaptation.
      This study aimed to investigate the effects of drawing on depression in children
      with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This quasi
      experimental study was conducted on 7-12-year-old children with cancer undergoing
      chemotherapy. After completing Maria Kovacs' Children's Depression Inventory
      (CDI), 65 children who had obtained scores higher than 12 were chosen as study
      participants and were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups.
      The children in the experimental group were engaged in open painting sessions for
      6 weeks. After the intervention, the CDI was completed again in both the groups.
      The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical
      methods, such as independent t-test, paired t-test, and Chi-square and Mann
      Whitney tests. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the children's
      depression scores before and after the intervention in both the two groups (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that painting was effective in reducing
      depression in children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Therefore, painting
      can be used as an easy, cheap, and effective intervention by nurses to help
      children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

PMID- 28584547
TI  - Validity and Reliability of the Persian Practice Environment Scale of Nursing
      Work Index.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The practice environment pivotal role in patients and nurses better
      outcomes is evident. Practice Environment Scale of Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI)
      is widely utilized to assess nursing work environments. The present study was
      conducted to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of
      PES-NWI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The instrument was translated and its
      psychometrics were investigated by content, construct validity (factor analysis),
      and homogeneity (internal consistency and intraclass correlation) on a sample of
      350 nurses at educational hospitals in East Azerbaijan, Iran. RESULTS: The 30
      items loaded onto 4 factors explained 34.95-50.06% of the variance. The items
      across the factors differed slightly from those reported by the original author
      of the PES-NWI. Cronbach's alpha and Pearson coefficient for the entire
      instrument and also for extracted factors was 0.70-0.96. CONCLUSIONS: The Persian
      version of PES-NWI has an appropriate level of validity and reliability in the
      Iranian setting for nurses. The subscale of Nursing Foundations for quality care
      needs modification.

PMID- 28584548
TI  - The Effect of Resistance Exercise on Lipid Profile of Coronary Artery Disease
      Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased level of blood lipids is one of the risk factors for
      cardiovascular diseases. Considerable research has done to assess the effects of
      physical exercises on lipid profile, of which aerobic exercises are the main part
      of evidence. However, in recent years, resistance exercise has been less
      investigated. Thus, the present study investigates the effect of resistance
      exercise on lipid profile in coronary artery disease patients. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This study was a randomized clinical trial. Forty eligible participants
      were selected through selective sampling and were assigned randomly to either
      intervention or control groups (20 participants in each group). Fasting blood
      sample was taken for measurement of lipid profile before, after, and after 4
      weeks of the end of intervention. The intervention period lasted 8 weeks and
      included two exercise sessions of 45-60 minutes per week. Resistance exercise was
      performed by use of light weights in the range of motion of the elbow, shoulder,
      and knee joints. The number of repetitions was initially 10 and was gradually
      increased to 15. Then, the weight was increased by 3-5% and the number of sets
      too. Data were analyzed on significant level of P < 0.05. RESULTS: In both the
      groups, the mean and mean changes of lipid profile, before, after. and 4 weeks
      after the end of the intervention were not significantly different (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: The 8-week of resistance exercise did not lead to a significant
      decrease in the mean lipid profile.

PMID- 28584549
TI  - Translation and Psychometric Properties of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in
      Iranian Nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Burnout has its focus on exhaustion and it includes persistent
      response to long-lasting job-related stressful events. It has a special relevance
      in health care area in which staff is under constant psychological, emotional,
      and physical stress. The results of several studies on burnout prevalence among
      Iranian nurses indicate its high incidence. Therefore, more accurate researches
      are required for better preventive interventions, and to do so, a reliable
      validated scale is required. One of the suitable and new tools for the
      measurement of burnout is Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). This study aimed to
      translate and investigate psychometric properties of CBI in Iranian nurses.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this methodological study, after the translation
      process, face and content validities via qualitative and quantitative methods was
      done. Content validation ratio, scale-level content validated index, item-level
      content validity index were measured. Then, construct validity was determined
      through factor analysis. Furthermore, internal consistency reliability and
      stability were assessed. The questionnaire was sent to 450 nurses who were
      randomly selected via quota sampling. RESULTS: Face and content validity were
      acceptable. After translation and cultural adaptation process, exploratory factor
      analysis suggested a new model based on four factors and fit indices validated
      this model via confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency and stability
      of CBI were affirmed for each subscale separately. CONCLUSIONS: The four-factor
      Persian version of the CBI proved to enjoy acceptable psychometric properties. It
      can be applied to evaluate burnout in Iranian nurses or other health care
      providers.

PMID- 28584550
TI  - The Effect of Barkley's Family-Oriented Program on the Burden of Care on Families
      of Children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attention deficit-hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is the most common
      behavioral disorders during childhood whose treatment is greatly dependent on
      families; therefore, families of such children should improve their relation with
      them so that they could enjoy their lives. Hence, this study was conducted to
      evaluate the effect of Barkley's family-oriented program on the burden of care on
      such families. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was conducted among 64
      family care givers for children with ADHD. By simple sampling, samples passing
      the inclusion criteria were selected and randomly allocated into two groups of
      control and intervention. The intervention group received Barkley's family
      education program through 9 sessions; the control group participated in 3 group
      sessions and expressed their problems and experiences. Data were collected and
      analyzed using the Zarit Burden Interview. RESULTS: Burden of care was gradually
      reduced through the study in the intervention group, however, the mean score of
      burden of care did not have a significant reduction in the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Because Barkley's family-oriented program was able to reduce the
      burden of care in families of children with ADHD, it is recommended to develop
      similar programs and evaluate them through various studies.

PMID- 28584551
TI  - Comparison of the Perceptions of Managers and Nursing Staff Toward Performance
      Appraisal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Performance appraisal is an essential component of health care
      organizations for the improvement in quality of patients' care. Awareness of
      managers' and employees' perception of performance appraisal can lead to improved
      performance appraisal quality. The purpose of this study was to compare the
      perception of performance appraisal among managers and nursing staff of hospitals
      affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted
      among 75 managers and 313 nurses in 2014. The participants were selected through
      a two-stage quota-random sampling. Data were collected using two researcher-made
      questionnaires (nursing managers and nurses' questionnaires). Data were analyzed
      using descriptive and statistical tests using the Software Package for the Social
      Sciences software. RESULTS: The mean score of managers' and nurses' perception of
      the current performance appraisal was 56.8 (14.2) and 51.4 (14.5), respectively.
      A significant difference was observed between managers' and nurses' perception of
      performance appraisal (P = 0.004). The participants' perception was examined in
      terms of performance appraisal method, the consequences of performance appraisal,
      and the necessity of performance appraisal. In general, perception of managers
      was more positive than employees. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of the perception
      of nurses revealed deficiencies in the process of performance appraisal.
      Moreover, managers had a more positive perception than employees toward the
      current pattern of performance appraisal. The results of this study can be
      effective on the decisions of authorities in this field.

PMID- 28584552
TI  - Feeding Behavioral Assessment in Children with Cleft Lip and/or Palate and
      Parental Responses to Behavior Problems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with cleft lip and/or palate frequently experience feeding
      difficulties that may place them at risk of malnutrition. Parents' negative
      response to these problems is associated with development of problematic
      behaviors in the child. This study aimed to investigate feeding behavior in
      children with cleft lip and/or palate and parental responses to these problems.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 120 parents of children (aged 6 months to 6
      years) with cleft lip and/or palate were recruited from the Cleft Lip and Palate
      Clinic in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, who gave consent
      and completed a two-part questionnaire through interviews. Part A of the
      questionnaire consisted of 25 items that evaluate children's feeding behavior
      during mealtimes and part B consists of 18 items that assess parental response
      (strategies, feelings, and anxiety) to these problems. RESULTS: Independent t
      test showed a significant difference in the mean score of feeding behavior in
      mothers (P = 0.020) and parental responses in fathers (P = 0.030). The Pearson
      correlation coefficient showed an inverse correlation between behavioral feeding
      score and children's interval (P = 0.008, r = -0.381) and direct correlation
      between parental response and feeding behavioral difficulties (P = 0.003, r =
      0.428). CONCLUSIONS: With regards to the results representing appropriate feeding
      behaviors in children with cleft lip and/or palate, it is suggested that feeding
      be avioral assessment is an essential nursing and nonmedical intervention for all
      children.

PMID- 28584553
TI  - Comparison of the Effect of Acupressure and Pilates-Based Exercises on Sleep
      Quality of Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postmenopausal women experience a variety of symptoms, among which
      sleep disorder is one of the most common problems. Acupressure and Pilates
      exercise programs are effective nonpharmaceutical treatments which can improve
      sleep quality. In the present study, we aimed to compare the effects of
      acupressure and Pilates-based exercises on the sleep quality of postmenopausal
      women referred to medical clinics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this single-blinded
      randomized controlled clinical trial, we recruited 108 women aged 40-60 years who
      were randomly assigned into one control and two intervention groups using
      balanced block randomization method (three groups of 36 each). The patients in
      the Pilates exercise group participated in an exercise training program of three
      1-hour sessions per week for 6 consecutive weeks. The participants of acupressure
      group received acupressure intervention three times a week for 6 weeks. The sleep
      quality of all participants was assessed and recorded using the Pittsburgh Sleep
      Quality Index (PSQI) once before and once after the intervention. RESULTS: The
      results showed no statistically significant difference among the three groups on
      the total scores of sleep quality after the intervention. The intragroup
      comparison revealed that the changes in the mean total scores were significant in
      both the intervention groups (P < 0.001) but not in the control group (P = 0.76).
      CONCLUSIONS: Pilates-based exercises and acupressure can effectively improve
      women's sleep quality. Both techniques can be applied as effective alternative
      and complementary methods for improving sleep quality during the postmenopausal
      period.

PMID- 28584554
TI  - Development of a Questionnaire to Measure Attitude Toward Birth Method Selection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rate of mothers undergoing cesarean section in the absence of
      medical indication is increasing in the world. Women attitude have an essential
      role in the request or selecting a birth mode. This study aimed to develop a
      scale for measuring attitude toward birth method selection. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative parts. Data
      collection was conducted from June to December 2012 in Ahvaz, Iran. In the
      qualitative part of the study, 21 interviews were conducted with pregnant or
      parturient women and key informants. Consequently, content and face validity were
      performed to provide a pre-final version of the questionnaire. Then, in the
      quantitative part of the study, validity, exploratory factor analysis, and
      reliability were performed to assess the psychometric properties of the scale.
      RESULTS: A 130-item questionnaire was developed through the qualitative phase. It
      was reduced to an 82-item questionnaire after content and face validity.
      Exploratory factor analysis loaded a 68-item with an 8-factor solution ("beliefs
      and attitudes," "sexual and physical attitudes," "fear of childbirth,"
      "preference of convenience, health, and supporting," "socio- cultural norms,"
      "confidence to the birth practitioner," "personal and practical choice," and
      "sources of motivations," which jointly accounted for 42.97% of the observed
      variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed excellent internal consistency
      (alpha = 0.87), and test-retest of the scale with 2-week intervals indicated an
      appropriate stability for the scale (0.89). CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that
      the designed questionnaire was a valid and reliable instrument for indicating the
      pregnant womens' attitudes to their birth method selection. Also, ATBMS is an
      easy use questionnaire and contains the most significant factors persuading women
      to choose vaginal delivery or cesarean section.

PMID- 28584555
TI  - How to Prevent Workplace Incivility?: Nurses' Perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many articles have studied workplace incivility and its influence on
      outcomes, but very few have been conducted to assess how to prevent this issue.
      In this study, we aimed to determine how to prevent workplace incivility from the
      nurses' perspective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a qualitative study which
      was based on a conventional content analysis approach. Thirty four nurses (25 to
      52 years old) from seven training hospitals in Tabriz, Iran were selected through
      purposive sampling. Thirty six semi-structured interviews and eight field notes
      were analyzed. RESULTS: The data analysis revealed 417 codes, ten categories,
      three subthemes and one theme, that is, A Need for a Comprehensive Attempt.
      Attempt of organization, nurses, and public as subthemes are needed to prevent
      workplace incivility. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study indicated that a
      comprehensive and systematic attempt was needed to prevent incivility. Nurses
      should try to improve their skills; officials should try to show the real image
      and position of nurses and hospitals to the community.

PMID- 28584556
TI  - The Relationship Between Parental Abuse with Parental and Marital Roles Attitude
      in Girls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gender role attitude pertains to individuals' attitude toward proper
      role activities for men and women. Most of the factors relevant to family and
      society may affect individuals' attitudes toward their role. Meanwhile, parents'
      behaviors can act as an important factor in formation of different dimensions of
      children's personality. Accordingly, the present study was aimed to investigate
      the relationship between maltreatment and girls' attitudes toward parental and
      marital roles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional correlational study
      was conducted in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2013 with 190 female
      students as the sample. Participants were selected using the random-proportional
      sampling method. A demographic questionnaire, researcher-made maltreatment
      questionnaire, and Homami's gender role attitudes questionnaire were used as the
      data collection instruments. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis,
      and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: Results indicated that the feminine attitude was
      the dominant attitude in gender roles. Findings also revealed no significant
      correlation between the type of gender role attitude in parental role and
      maltreatment. However, the correlation was meaningful in marital role of sexual
      and fertility affairs (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Results revealed that participants
      had traditional female attitudes toward their gender roles in two aspects. First,
      taking the cultural domination on attitudes into account, that type of attitude
      is appreciated in which the individual feels relaxed and has an acceptable
      performance in the society. Furthermore, to promote certain types of attitudes,
      the entire socio-cultural and economic dimensions of the society must be taken
      into account. Family and social policy makings are regarded as starting points
      for different attitudes toward maltreatment.

PMID- 28584557
TI  - Training Midwives and Other Cadre of Health Workers Using a Solar-Charged Device
      in Ethiopia.

PMID- 28584558
TI  - Chemical Composition and Hypotensive Effect of Campomanesia xanthocarpa.
AB  - Campomanesia xanthocarpa is known in Brazil as Guabiroba and is popularly used
      for various diseases, such as inflammatory, renal, and digestive diseases and
      dyslipidemia. The aim of the study was to analyze the chemical composition and
      investigate the effects of aqueous extract of C. xanthocarpa on the blood
      pressure of normotensive rats, analyzing the possible action mechanism using
      experimental and in silico procedures. The extract was evaluated for total
      phenolic compounds and total flavonoid content. The chemical components were
      determined by HPLC analyses. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate
      were measured with extract and drugs administration. The leaves of C. xanthocarpa
      presented the relevant content of phenolics and flavonoids, and we suggested the
      presence of chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, quercetin, and theobromine. The acute
      administration of aqueous extract of C. xanthocarpa has a dose-dependent
      hypotensive effect in normotensive rats, suggesting that the action mechanism may
      be mediated through the renin-angiotensin system by AT1 receptor blockade and
      sympathetic autonomic response. Docking studies showed models that indicated an
      interaction between chlorogenic acid and quercetin with the AT1 receptor (AT1R)
      active site. The findings of these docking studies suggest the potential of C.
      xanthocarpa constituents for use as preventive agents for blood pressure.

PMID- 28584560
TI  - Corrigendum to "Anticancer Effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza Alcohol Extract on Oral
      Squamous Carcinoma Cells".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2017/5364010.].

PMID- 28584559
TI  - Schisandrae Fructus Reduces Symptoms of 4-Vinylcyclohexene Diepoxide-Induced
      Ovarian Failure in Mice.
AB  - Menopause is associated with a decrease in the level of sex hormones such as
      ovarian estradiol and progesterone and can cause various symptoms such as
      depression, hot flash, fatigue, heart palpitations, and headache. Furthermore,
      there is a risk of developing complications such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular
      diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and ovarian cancer. Schisandrae Fructus (SF) is
      widely used in Korean medicine as a cure for such complications. This study was
      conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effects of SF against menopause symptoms
      associated with follicle depletion caused by the industrial chemical 4
      vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) in mice. VCD directly targets the preantral
      follicles. Mice were injected with VCD (160 mg/kg intraperitoneally) daily for 15
      days and then with SF dosage 3 times/week for six weeks. To evaluate the effects
      of SF, body weight, tail skin temperature, uterine weight, lipid profile, and
      osteocalcin levels were measured. A decrease in body weight and tail skin
      temperature and an increase in uterine weight were observed upon SF treatment.
      Moreover, SF treatment significantly decreased total cholesterol, triglyceride,
      osteocalcin, and low-density lipoprotein levels and low-density/high-density
      lipoprotein ratio. These results suggest the potential use of SF in the treatment
      of menopausal symptoms in women.

PMID- 28584561
TI  - Active Ingredients of Epimedii Folium and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus Balanced
      GR/HSP90 to Improve the Sensitivity of Asthmatic Rats to Budesonide.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the possible molecular mechanisms of active
      ingredients of Epimedii Folium (EF) and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF) combined
      with Budesonide (Bun) in asthmatic rats. Rats were divided into 5 groups,
      including normal group, asthma model group, Bun group, group of active
      ingredients of EL and LLF (EL), and group of coadministration of Bun with EL
      (Bun&EL). The asthmatic model was prepared by ovalbumin sensitizing and
      challenging. Lymphocyte apoptosis, GR protein and binding, and the protein and
      mRNA of GRalpha, GRbeta, and HSP90 were tested. The results showed that Bun&EL 1
      markedly increased lymphocyte apoptosis, GR and HSP90 protein, and GR binding in
      BALF and 2 enhanced the expressions of GRalpha and HSP90 and the ratio of GRalpha
      to GRbeta or to HSP90 both in protein and in mRNA levels in lung, 3 while
      decrease occurred in GRbeta mRNA and the mRNA ratio of GRbeta to HSP90 compared
      with asthma or Bun group. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between
      GRalpha and GRbeta in protein level, or between GRalpha and HSP90 both in protein
      and in mRNA levels. EL may effectively enhance the sensitivity of asthmatic rats
      to Bun via balancing GR/HSP90. And these findings will be beneficial for the
      treatment of asthma in the future.

PMID- 28584562
TI  - Ecological Commitments: Why Developmental Science Needs Naturalistic Methods.
AB  - Much of developmental science aims to explain how or whether children's
      experiences influence their thoughts and actions. Developmental theories make
      assumptions and claims-what I call ecological commitments-about events outside
      research contexts. In this article, I argue that most developmental theories make
      ecological commitments about children's thoughts, actions, and experiences
      outside research contexts, and that these commitments sometimes go unstated and
      untested. I also argue that naturalistic methods can provide evidence for or
      against ecological commitments, and that naturalistic and experimental studies
      address unique yet complementary questions. Rather than argue for increasing the
      ecological validity of experiments or abandoning laboratory research, I propose
      reconsidering the relations among developmental theories, naturalistic methods,
      and laboratory experiments.

PMID- 28584563
TI  - The Relationship of Amount of Resection and Time for Recovery of Bell's
      Phenomenon after Levator Resection in Congenital Ptosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recovery of Bell's phenomenon after levator resection is
      unpredicatable. Delayed recovery can result in vision threatening corneal
      complications. AIM: To study the variability of Bell's phenomenon and time taken
      for its recovery following levator resection for blepharoptosis and to correlate
      it with the amount of resection. METHODS: A prospective observational study was
      conducted on 32 eyes of 32 patients diagnosed as unilateral simple congenital
      blepharoptosis who underwent levator resection at a tertiary care center between
      July 2013 and May 2015. Patients were followed up for 5 months and correction of
      ptosis, type of Bell's, duration of Bell's recovery and complications were noted.
      RESULTS: The study group ranged from 16-25 years with 15:17 male: female ratio.
      There were 9 mild, 16 moderate and 7 severe ptosis. Satisfactory correction was
      achieved in all cases. Good Bell's recovery occurred in 13 eyes on first post-op
      day, in 2-14 days in 19 eyes and 28 days in 1 eye. Inverse Bell's was noted along
      with lid oedema and ecchymosis in 2 patients. Large resections (23-26mm) were
      associated with poor Bell's on the first postoperative day (p=0.027, Fisher's
      exact test). However, the duration required for recovery of Bell's phenomenon did
      not show any significant difference with the amount of resection. (p=0.248, Mann
      Whitney test). Larger resections resulted in greater lagophthalmos
      (correlation=0.830, p<0.0001). Patients with recovery of Bell's delayed for more
      than 7 days were associated with greater number of complications (p=0.001
      Fisher's Exact Test). CONCLUSION: Close monitoring for Bell's recovery is
      required following levator resection.

PMID- 28584565
TI  - Correction to drug name.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.5489/cuaj.4586.].

PMID- 28584564
TI  - Ethical Sensitivity in Nursing Ethical Leadership: A Content Analysis of Iranian
      Nurses Experiences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Considering that many nursing actions affect other people's health
      and life, sensitivity to ethics in nursing practice is highly important to
      ethical leaders as a role model. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to explore ethical
      sensitivity in ethical nursing leaders in Iran. METHOD: This was a qualitative
      study based on the conventional content analysis in 2015. Data were collected
      using deep and semi-structured interviews with 20 Iranian nurses. The
      participants were chosen using purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using
      conventional content analysis. In order to increase the accuracy and integrity of
      the data, Lincoln and Guba's criteria were considered. RESULTS: Fourteen sub
      categories and five main categories emerged. Main categories consisted of
      sensitivity to care, sensitivity to errors, sensitivity to communication,
      sensitivity in decision making and sensitivity to ethical practice. CONCLUSION:
      Ethical sensitivity appears to be a valuable attribute for ethical nurse leaders,
      having an important effect on various aspects of professional practice and help
      the development of ethics in nursing practice.

PMID- 28584566
TI  - Stercoral perforation of the rectum with faecal peritonitis and pneumatosis coli:
      A case Report.
AB  - Colonic perforation due to impacted faeces or faecaloma is a relatively uncommon
      presentation with grave prognosis. If left untreated, it can be life threatening
      due to complications like faecal peritonitis. Till date, fewer than 150 cases
      have been reported mostly in the English surgical literature describing
      constipation as the most common underlying etiology. Involvement of rectum is
      rare with very limited data published in this context. We present a case of
      stercoral perforation involving the rectum with associated faecal peritonitis and
      pneumatosis coli.

PMID- 28584567
TI  - Radiological Findings in Persistent Mullerian Duct Syndrome: Case Report and
      Review of Literature.
AB  - This case involved a 36-year-old adult male who presented with an unusual
      inguinal hernia in which the uterus and fallopian tubes were identified as
      contents of the inguinal hernia sac. These findings reflected a rare autosomal
      recessive developmental syndrome known as PMDS (persistent Mullerian duct
      syndrome). The diagnosis was established and confirmed via radiological-mainly
      MRI-investigation.

PMID- 28584568
TI  - Hypovolemic Shock and Hemoperitoneum from Spontaneous Avulsion of a Large
      Pedunculated Uterine Leiomyoma.
AB  - Hemoperitoneum with hypovolemic shock from avulsion of a pedunculated leiomyoma
      is a rare but highly fatal condition that can occur spontaneously or as a result
      of trauma. We report a case of hemoperitoneum and hypovolemic shock secondary to
      a bleeding leiomyoma detected via computed tomography (CT) scan in a 39 year old
      premenopausal, gravida 0 female that presented with abdominal pain and became
      hemodynamically unstable in the emergency department. A preoperative bimanual
      exam revealed a mass consistent with a 20 week gestational uterus. Following
      fluid resuscitation, the patient underwent emergent myomectomy and ligation of
      the right uterine artery and was discharged home in good condition.

PMID- 28584569
TI  - Angiographic diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum in an adult patient with negative
      scintigraphy.
AB  - A Meckel's diverticulum was diagnosed by mesenteric angiography in a 34 year-old
      patient who presented with hematochezia and dropping hemoglobin. The case
      demonstrates the challenges often encountered in workup of occult
      gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, and shows that angiographic diagnosis of Meckel's
      diverticulum is possible, even in the absence of angiographic evidence of active
      extravasation. Our patient had a previous non-diagnostic workup including upper
      and lower endoscopy, videocapsulography, and Technetium-99m pertechnetate (Tc
      99m) scintigraphy. Visceral angiogram demonstrated the presence of a persistent
      vitelline artery, diagnostic of Meckel's diverticulum. While no active
      extravasation was seen at the time of the angiogram, operative specimen
      demonstrated a Meckel's diverticulum with ectopic gastric mucosa and intraluminal
      hemorrhage.

PMID- 28584570
TI  - Bone Metastases: An Overview.
AB  - Bone is a frequent site of metastases and typically indicates a short-term
      prognosis in cancer patients. Once cancer has spread to the bones it can rarely
      be cured, but often it can still be treated to slow its growth. The majority of
      skeletal metastases are due to breast and prostate cancer. Bone metastasis is
      actually much more common than primary bone cancers, especially in adults. The
      diagnosis is based on signs, symptoms and imaging. New classes of drugs and new
      interventions are given a better quality of life to these patients and improved
      the expectancy of life. It is necessary a multidisciplinary approach to treat
      patients with bone metastasis. In this paper we review the types, clinical
      approach and treatment of bone metastases.

PMID- 28584571
TI  - Novel Strategies to Improve the Endocrine Therapy of Breast Cancer.
AB  - Endocrine therapy (ET) constitutes the usual first-line of therapy for patients
      in the treatment of metastatic hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
      Unfortunately, not all patients respond to first-line endocrine treatment due to
      intrinsic resistance, while others may initially respond but eventually progress
      with secondary acquired resistance leading to disease progression. Mechanisms of
      resistance to anti-estrogen therapy include, loss of expression for estrogen or
      progesterone receptor, upregulation of epidermal receptor growth factor 2,
      increased receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, leading to activation of various
      intracellular pathways that are involved in signal transduction such as
      PI3K/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin, and others. Growing understanding of the
      signal cascade of estrogen receptors and the signaling pathways that interact
      with estrogen receptors has revealed the complex role of these receptors in cell
      growth and proliferation, and on the mechanism in development of resistance.
      These insights have led to the development of targeted therapies that may prove
      to be effective options for the treatment of breast cancer and may overcome
      hormone therapy resistance. In this review we summarize some of the mechanisms of
      endocrine resistance, selected clinical trials of ET and targeted therapies,
      which might interfere with estrogen receptor pathways and might reduce or reverse
      resistance to traditional, sequential, single-agent ET.

PMID- 28584573
TI  - Inhibitory effect of Gastrodia elata Blume extract on alpha-melanocyte
      stimulating hormone-induced melanogenesis in murine B16F10 melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Gastrodia elata Blume (GEB), a traditional herbal
      medicine, has been used to treat a wide range of neurological disorders (e.g.,
      paralysis and stroke) and skin problems (e.g., atopic dermatitis and eczema) in
      oriental medicine. This study was designed to investigate whether GEB extract
      inhibits melanogenesis activity in murine B16F10 melanoma. MATERIALS/METHOD:
      Murine B16F10 cells were treated with 0-5 mg/mL of GEB extract or 400 ug/mL
      arbutin (a positive control) for 72 h after treatment with/without 200 nM alpha
      melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) for 24 h. Melanin concentration,
      tyrosinase activity, mRNA levels, and protein expression of microphthalmia
      associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein
      (Trp)1, and Trp2 were analyzed in alpha-MSH-untreated and alpha-MSH-treated
      B16F10 cells. RESULTS: Treatment with 200 nM alpha-MSH induced almost 2-fold
      melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity along with increased mRNA levels and
      protein expression of MITF, tyrosinase, Trp1 and Trp2. Irrespective of alpha-MSH
      stimulation, GEB extract at doses of 0.5-5 mg/mL inhibited all these markers for
      skin whitening in a dose-dependent manner. While lower doses (0.5-1 mg/mL) of GEB
      extract generally had a tendency to decrease melanogenesis, tyrosinase activity,
      and mRNA levels and protein expression of MITF, tyrosinase, Trp1, and Trp2,
      higher doses (2-5 mg/mL) significantly inhibited all these markers in alpha-MSH
      treated B16F10 cells in a dose-dependent manner. These inhibitory effects of the
      GEB extract at higher concentrations were similar to those of 400 ug/mL arbutin,
      a well-known depigmenting agent. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that GEB
      displays dose-dependent inhibition of melanin synthesis through the suppression
      of tyrosinase activity as well as molecular levels of MITF, tyrosinase, Trp1, and
      Trp2 in murine B16F10 melanoma. Therefore, GEB may be an effective and natural
      skin-whitening agent for application in the cosmetic industry.

PMID- 28584574
TI  - Increased glucose metabolism and alpha-glucosidase inhibition in Cordyceps
      militaris water extract-treated HepG2 cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Recent living condition improvements, changes in dietary
      habits, and reductions in physical activity are contributing to an increase in
      metabolic syndrome symptoms including diabetes and obesity. Through such societal
      developments, humankind is continuously exposed to metabolic diseases such as
      diabetes, and the number of the victims is increasing. This study investigated
      Cordyceps militaris water extract (CMW)-induced glucose uptake in HepG2 cells and
      the effect of CMW treatment on glucose metabolism. MATERIALS/METHODS:
      Colorimetric assay kits were used to determine the glucokinase (GK) and pyruvate
      dehydrogenase (PDH) activities, glucose uptake, and glycogen content. Either RT
      PCR or western blot analysis was performed for quantitation of glucose
      transporter 2 (GLUT2), hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 alpha (HNF-1alpha),
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3k), protein kinase B (Akt), phosphorylated AMP
      activated protein kinase (pAMPK), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, GK, PDH, and
      glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3beta) expression levels. The alpha
      glucosidase inhibitory activities of acarbose and CMW were evaluated by
      absorbance measurement. RESULTS: CMW induced glucose uptake in HepG2 cells by
      increasing GLUT2 through HNF-1alpha expression stimulation. Glucose in the cells
      increased the CMW-induced phosphorylation of AMPK. In turn, glycolysis was
      stimulated, and glyconeogenesis was inhibited. Furthermore, by studying the
      mechanism of action of PI3k, Akt, and GSK-3beta, and measuring glycogen content,
      the study confirmed that the glucose was stored in the liver as glycogen.
      Finally, CMW resulted in a higher level of alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity
      than that from acarbose. CONCLUSION: CMW induced the uptake of glucose into HepG2
      cells, as well, it induced metabolism of the absorbed glucose. It is concluded
      that CMW is a candidate or potential use in diabetes prevention and treatment.

PMID- 28584572
TI  - Journey of TRAIL from Bench to Bedside and its Potential Role in Immuno-Oncology.
AB  - Induction of apoptosis in cancer cells has increasingly been the focus of many
      therapeutic approaches in oncology field. Since its identification as a TNF
      family member, TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) paved a new path in
      apoptosis inducing cancer therapies. Its selective ability to activate extrinsic
      and intrinsic cell death pathways in cancer cells only, independently from p53
      mutations responsible for conventional therapeutics resistance, spotted TRAIL as
      a potent cancer apoptotic agent. Many recombinant preparations of TRAIL and death
      receptor targeting monoclonal antibodies have been developed and being tested pre
      clinically and clinically both as a single agent and in combinations. Of note,
      the monoclonal antibodies were not the only type of antibodies developed to
      target TRAIL receptors. Recent technology has brought forth several single chain
      variable domains (scFv) designs fused recombinantly to TRAIL as well. Also, it is
      becoming progressively more understandable that field of nanotechnology has
      revolutionized cancer diagnosis and therapy. The recent breakthroughs in
      materials science and protein engineering have helped considerably in
      strategically loading drugs into nanoparticles or conjugating drugs to their
      surface. In this review we aim to comprehensively highlight the molecular
      knowledge of TRAIL in the context of its pathway, receptors and resistance
      factors. We also aim to review the clinical trials that have been done using
      TRAIL based therapies and to review various scFv designs, the arsenal of nano
      carriers and molecules available to selectively target tumor cells with TRAIL.

PMID- 28584575
TI  - Melanin extract from Gallus gallus domesticus promotes proliferation and
      differentiation of osteoblastic MG-63 cells via bone morphogenetic protein-2
      signaling.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Gallus gallus domesticus (GD) is a natural mutant breed of
      chicken in Korea with an atypical characterization of melanin in its tissue. This
      study investigated the effects of melanin extracts of GD on osteoblast
      differentiation and inhibition of osteoclast formation. MATERIALS/METHODS: The
      effects of the melanin extract of GD on human osteoblast MG-63 cell
      differentiation were examined by evaluating cell viability, osteoblast
      differentiation, and expression of osteoblast-specific transcription factors such
      as bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), small mothers against decapentaplegic
      homologs 5 (SMAD5), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osteocalcin and
      type 1 collagen (COL-1) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and
      western blotting analysis. We investigated the inhibitory effect of melanin on
      the osteoclasts formation through tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)
      activity and TRAP stains in Raw 264.7 cell. RESULTS: The melanin extract of GD
      was not cytotoxic to MG-63 cells at concentrations of 50-250 ug/mL. Alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) activity and bone mineralization of melanin extract-treated
      cells increased in a dose-dependent manner from 50 to 250 ug/mL and were 149% and
      129% at 250 ug/mL concentration, respectively (P < 0.05). The levels of BMP-2,
      osteocalcin, and COL-1 gene expression were significantly upregulated by 1.72-,
      4.44-, and 2.12-fold in melanin-treated cells than in the control cells (P <
      0.05). The levels of RUNX2 and SMAD5 proteins were higher in melanin-treated
      cells than in control vehicle-treated cells. The melanin extract attenuated the
      formation of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand-induced TRAP
      positive multinucleated RAW 264.7 cells by 22%, and was 77% cytotoxic to RAW
      264.7 macrophages at a concentration of 500 ug/mL. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides evidence that the melanin extract promoted osteoblast differentiation by
      activating BMP/SMADs/RUNX2 signaling and regulating transcription of osteogenic
      genes such as ALP, type I collagen, and osteocalcin. These results suggest that
      the effective osteoblastic differentiation induced by melanin extract from GD
      makes it potentially useful in maintaining bone health.

PMID- 28584576
TI  - Pear pomace ethanol extract improves insulin resistance through enhancement of
      insulin signaling pathway without lipid accumulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The anti-diabetic activity of pear through inhibition of
      alpha-glucosidase has been demonstrated. However, little has been reported about
      the effect of pear on insulin signaling pathway in obesity. The aims of this
      study are to establish pear pomace 50% ethanol extract (PPE)-induced improvement
      of insulin sensitivity and characterize its action mechanism in 3T3-L1 cells and
      high-fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6 mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: Lipid accumulation,
      monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) secretion and glucose uptake were
      measure in 3T3-L1 cells. Mice were fed HFD (60% kcal from fat) and orally
      ingested PPE once daily for 8 weeks and body weight, homeostasis model assessment
      of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and serum lipids were measured. The expression
      of proteins involved in insulin signaling pathway was evaluated by western blot
      assay in 3T3-L1 cells and adipose tissue of mice. RESULTS: In 3T3-L1 cells,
      without affecting cell viability and lipid accumulation, PPE inhibited MCP-1
      secretion, improved glucose uptake, and increased protein expression of
      phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1 [p-IRS-1, (Tyr632)], p-Akt, and
      glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4). Additionally, in HFD-fed mice, PPE reduced
      body weight, HOMA-IR, and serum lipids including triglyceride and LDL
      cholesterol. Furthermore, in adipose tissue, PPE up-regulated GLUT4 expression
      and expression ratio of p-IRS-1 (Tyr632)/IRS, whereas, down-regulated p-IRS-1
      (Ser307)/IRS. CONCLUSIONS: Our results collectively show that PPE improves
      glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 cells and insulin sensitivity in mice fed a HFD through
      stimulation of the insulin signaling pathway. Furthermore, PPE-induced
      improvement of insulin sensitivity was not accompanied with lipid accumulation.

PMID- 28584577
TI  - Antioxidant mechanism of black garlic extract involving nuclear factor erythroid
      2-like factor 2 pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUN/OBJECTIVES: Although studies have revealed that black garlic is a
      potent antioxidant, its antioxidant mechanism remains unclear. The objective of
      this study was to determine black garlic's antioxidant activities and possible
      antioxidant mechanisms related to nuclear factor erythroid 2-like factor 2 (Nrf2)
      Keap1 complex. METHODS/MATERIALS: After four weeks of feeding rats with a normal
      fat diet (NF), a high-fat diet (HF), a high-fat diet with 0.5% black garlic
      extract (HF+BGE 0.5), a high-fat diet with 1.0% black garlic extract (HF+BGE
      1.0), or a high-fat diet with 1.5% black garlic extract (HF+BGE 1.5), plasma
      concentrations of glucose, insulin,homeostatic model assessment of insulin
      resistance (HOMA-IR) were determined. As oxidative stress indices, plasma
      concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and 8
      isoprostaglandin F2alpha (8-iso-PGF) were determined. To measure antioxidant
      capacities, plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and activities of antioxidant
      enzymes in plasma and liver were determined. The mRNA expression levels of
      antioxidant related proteins such as Nrf2, NAD(P)H: quinone-oxidoreductase-1
      (NQO1), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione S
      transferase alpha 2 (GSTA2) were examined. RESULTS: Plasma glucose level, plasma
      insulin level, and HOMA-IR in black garlic supplemented groups were significantly
      (P < 0.05) lower than those in the HF group without dose-dependent effect. Plasma
      TBARS concentration and TAC in the HF+BGE 1.5 group were significantly decreased
      compared to those of the HF group. The activities of catalase and glutathione
      peroxidase were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in the HF+BGE 1.0 and HF+BGE
      1.5 groups compared to those of the HF group. The mRNA expression levels of
      hepatic Nrf2, NQO1, HO-1, and GSTA2 were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in
      the HF with BGE groups compared to those in the HF group. CONCLUSIONS: The
      improvements of blood glucose homeostasis and antioxidant systems in rats fed
      with black garlic extract were related to mRNA expression levels of Nrf2 related
      genes.

PMID- 28584578
TI  - Lymphocyte DNA damage and plasma antioxidant status in Korean subclinical
      hypertensive patients by glutathione S-transferase polymorphism.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Glutathione S-transferase (GST) forms a multigene family
      of phase II detoxification enzymes which are involved in the detoxification of
      xenobiotics by conjugating substances with glutathione. The aim of this study is
      to assess the antioxidative status and the degree of DNA damage in the
      subclinical hypertensive patients in Korea using glutathione S-transferase
      polymorphisms. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We examined whether DNA damage and antioxidative
      status show a difference between GSTM1 or GSTT1 genotype in 227 newly diagnosed,
      untreated (systolic blood pressure (BP) >= 130 mmHg or diastolic BP >= 85 mmHg)
      subclinical hypertensive patients and 130 normotensive subjects (systolic BP <
      120 mmHg and diastolic BP < 80 mmHg). From the blood of the subjects, the degree
      of the DNA damage in lymphocyte, the activities of erythrocyte superoxide
      dismutase, the catalase, and the glutathione peroxidase, the level of
      glutathione, plasma total radical-trapping antioxidant potential (TRAP), anti
      oxidative vitamins, as well as plasma lipid profiles and conjugated diene (CD)
      were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 227 subjects studied, 68.3% were GSTM1 null
      genotype and 66.5% were GSTT1 null genotype. GSTM1 null genotype had an increased
      risk of hypertension (OR: 2.104, CI: 1.38-3.35), but no significant association
      in GSTT1 null genotype (OR 0.982, CI: 0.62-1.55). No difference in erythrocyte
      activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, or glutathione peroxidase, and
      plasma TRAP, CD, lipid profiles, and GSH levels were observed between GSTM1 or
      GSTT1 genotype. Plasma levels of alpha-tocopherol increased significantly in
      GSTT1 wild genotype (P < 0.05); however, plasma level of beta-carotene increased
      significantly in GSTT1 null genotype (P < 0.01). DNA damage assessed by the Comet
      assay was significantly higher in GSTM1 null genotype than wild genotype (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the association between GSTM1 null
      genotype and risk of hypertension as they suggest that GSTM1 null genotype leads
      to an increased oxidative stress compared with wild genotype.

PMID- 28584579
TI  - Effect of soy isoflavones supplement on climacteric symptoms, bone biomarkers,
      and quality of life in Korean postmenopausal women: a randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Soy isoflavones are expected to improve menopausal
      symptoms and osteoporosis in women. However, their efficacy is still
      inconclusive, and there was limited data for postmenopausal women in South Korea.
      We examined the effects of soy isoflavones on climacteric symptoms, bone
      biomarkers, and quality of life in Korean postmenopausal women. SUBJECTS/METHODS:
      A randomized, double-blind study design was used. Eighty-seven participants who
      had undergone natural menopause were randomly administered either 70 mg/day
      isoflavones (n = 43) or placebo (n = 41) for 12 weeks. We assessed the Kupperman
      index for climacteric symptoms and the menopause-specific quality of life
      (MENQOL) questionnaire for quality of the life. Biomarkers of bone metabolism
      were also measured in serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP),
      osteocalcin (OC), N- and C-terminal cross-linking telopeptides of type I collagen
      (NTx, CTx), and urine-deoxypyridinolin (u-DPD). RESULTS: Scores of the Kupperman
      index were decreased in both the isoflavones group (-7.0 +/- 15.8, P = 0.0074)
      and placebo group (-6.3 +/- 14.6, P = 0.0064) during the intervention, but no
      significant difference was noted between the groups. Regarding the bone formation
      markers, the level of serum BALP increased by 6.3 +/- 4.1% (P = 0.004) and OC
      increased by 9.3 +/- 6.2% (P < 0.001), meanwhile those of the placebo were not
      changed. For the bone resorption markers, NTx, CTx, and u-DPD were not
      significantly different in either group. MENQOL was significant decreased in the
      isoflavone group (-0.6 +/- 0.5) and placebo group (-0.6 +/- 0.4), with a
      significant difference between groups (P = 0.0228). CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      suggests that 70 mg isoflavones supplement has beneficial effects on bone
      formation markers; however, it showed no benefit compared to the placebo on
      climacteric symptoms or quality of life.

PMID- 28584580
TI  - Instant noodle consumption is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors among
      college students in Seoul.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Increased consumption of instant noodles has recently been
      reported to be positively associated with obesity and cardiometabolic syndrome in
      South Korea, which has the highest per capita instant noodle consumption
      worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the association between instant noodle
      consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors among college students in Seoul.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study subjects consisted of 3,397 college students (1,782
      male; 1,615 female) aged 18-29 years who participated in a health checkup.
      Information on instant noodle consumption was obtained from the participants'
      answers to a question about their average frequency of instant noodle intake over
      the 1 year period prior to the survey. RESULTS: Statistical analysis using a
      general linear model that adjusted for age, body mass index, gender, family
      income, health-related behaviors, and other dietary factors important for
      cardiometabolic risk, showed a positive association between the frequency of
      instant noodle consumption and plasma triglyceride levels, diastolic blood
      pressure, and fasting blood glucose levels in all subjects. Compared to the group
      with the lowest frequency of instant noodle intake (<= 1/month), the odds ratio
      for hypertriglyceridemia in the group with an intake of >= 3/week was 2.639 [95%
      confidence interval (CI), 1.393-5.000] for all subjects, while it was 2.149 (95%
      CI, 1.045-4.419) and 5.992 (95% CI, 1.859-21.824) for male and female students,
      respectively. In female students, diastolic blood pressure was also higher among
      more frequent consumers of instant noodles. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that
      frequent consumption of instant noodles may be associated with increased
      cardiometabolic risk factors among apparently healthy college students aged 18-29
      years.

PMID- 28584581
TI  - Preconceptional use of folic acid and knowledge about folic acid among low-income
      pregnant women in Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Folic acid supplementation before pregnancy is known to
      significantly reduce the risk of having a baby with neural tube defects (NTDs).
      Therefore, it is important for women to be aware of the effects of folic acid
      supplementation before pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      the awareness and preconceptional use of folic acid and to assess the current
      knowledge about folic acid among low-income pregnant women in Korea.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2012. Five hundred
      pregnant women were selected from the waiting list for the Nutriplus program
      implemented in public health centers using a multistage clustered probability
      sampling design. Data from 439 women were analyzed after excluding ones with
      incomplete answers. RESULTS: Among women who responded to the questionnaire,
      65.6% had heard of folic acid before pregnancy, and 26.4% reported on the
      preconceptional use of folic acid. Women with a university degree or higher
      education were more likely to be aware of folic acid and to take folic acid in
      the preconception period. In a multivariate logistic regression, when age,
      education level, household income, employment status, gravidity, parity, and
      folic acid awareness were included in the model, folic acid awareness was a
      strong predictor of preconceptional folic acid use. As of interview, 85.4% and
      77.7% of women were aware of the NTD-preventive role of folic acid and the
      appropriate time to take folic acid, respectively. The main sources of
      information on folic acid were healthcare professionals (41.2%), friends and
      family members (31.2%), and the media (26.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest
      that public health strategies are needed to increase the preconceptional use of
      folic acid among Korean women.

PMID- 28584582
TI  - Development of tailored nutrition information messages based on the
      transtheoretical model for smartphone application of an obesity prevention and
      management program for elementary-school students.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Easy access to intervention and support for certain
      behaviors is important for obesity prevention and management. The available
      technology such as smartphone applications can be used for intervention regarding
      healthy food choices for obesity prevention and management in elementary-school
      students. The transtheoretical model (TTM) is comprised of stages and processes
      of change and can be adopted to tailored education for behavioral change. This
      study aims to develop TTM-based nutrition contents for mobile applications
      intended to change eating behaviors related to weight gain in young children.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: A synthesized algorithm for tailored nutrition messages was
      developed according to the intake status of six food groups (vegetables, fruits,
      sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food and instant food, snacks, and late-night
      snacks), decision to make dietary behavioral changes, and self-confidence in
      dietary behavioral changes. The messages in this study were developed from
      December 2014 to April 2015. After the validity evaluation of the contents
      through expert consultation, tailored nutrition information messages and
      educational contents were developed based on the TTM. RESULTS: Based on the TTM,
      stages of subjects are determined by their current intake status, decision to
      make dietary behavioral changes, and self-confidence in dietary behavioral
      changes. Three versions of tailored nutrition messages at each TTM stage were
      developed so as to not send the same messages for three weeks at most, and visual
      materials such as figures and tables were developed to provide additional
      nutritional information. Finally, 3,276 tailored nutrition messages and 60
      nutrition contents for applications were developed. CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone
      applications may be an innovative medium to deliver interventions for eating
      behavior changes directly to individuals with favorable cost-effectiveness. In
      addition, using the TTM for tailored nutrition education for healthy eating is an
      effective approach.

PMID- 28584583
TI  - Cardiovascular News.

PMID- 28584584
TI  - Outcomes of Middle Eastern Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary
      Intervention: The Primary Analysis of the First Jordanian PCI Registry.
AB  - AIM: This is a prospective multicenter registry designed to evaluate the
      incidence of adverse cardiovascular events in Middle Eastern patients undergoing
      percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The registry was also designed to
      determine the predictors of poor outcomes in such patients. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      We enrolled 2426 consecutive patients who underwent PCI at 12 tertiary care
      centers in Jordan between January 2013 and February 2014. A case report form was
      used to record data prospectively at hospital admission, discharge, and 12 months
      of follow-up. Mean age was 56 +/- 11 years, females comprised 21% of the study
      patients, 62% had hypertension, 53% were diabetics, and 57% were cigarette
      smokers. Most patients (77%) underwent PCI for acute coronary syndrome. In
      hospital and 1-year mortality rates were 0.78% and 1.94%, respectively. Definite
      or probable stent thrombosis occurred in 9 patients (0.37%) during
      hospitalization and in 47 (1.94%) at 1 year. Rates of target vessel repeat PCI
      and coronary artery bypass graft surgery at 1 year were 3.4% and 0.6%,
      respectively. The multivariate analysis revealed that cardiogenic shock,
      congestive heart failure, ST-segment deviation, diabetes, and major bleeding were
      significantly associated with higher risk of 1-year mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In
      this first large Jordanian registry of Middle Eastern patients undergoing PCI,
      patients treated were relatively young age population with low in-hospital and 1
      year adverse cardiovascular events. Certain clinical features were associated
      with worse outcomes and may warrant aggressive therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28584585
TI  - An Audit on the Appropriateness of Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography
      Referrals in a Tertiary Cardiac Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In response to growing concerns regarding the overuse of coronary
      computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in the clinical setting, multiple
      societies, including the American College of Cardiology Foundation, have jointly
      published revised criteria regarding the appropriate use of this imaging
      modality. However, previous research indicates significant discrepancies in the
      rate of adherence to these guidelines. AIM: To assess the appropriateness of CCTA
      referrals in a tertiary cardiac center in Bahrain. METHODS: This retrospective
      clinical audit examined the records of patients referred to CCTA between the
      April 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015 in Mohammed bin Khalifa Cardiac Center. Using
      information from medical records, each case was meticulously audited against
      guidelines to categorize it as appropriate, inappropriate, or uncertain. RESULTS:
      Of the 234 records examined, 176 (75.2%) were appropriate, 47 (20.1%) were
      uncertain, and 11 (4.7%) were inappropriate. About 74.4% of all referrals were to
      investigate coronary artery disease (CAD). The most common indication that was
      deemed appropriate was the detection of CAD in the setting of suspected ischemic
      equivalent in patients with an intermediate pretest probability of CAD (65.9%).
      Most referrals deemed inappropriate were requested to detect CAD in asymptomatic
      patients at low or intermediate risk of CAD (63.6%). CONCLUSION: This audit
      demonstrates a relatively low rate of inappropriate CCTA referrals, indicating
      the appropriate and efficient use of this resource in the Mohammed bin Khalifa
      Cardiac Center. Agreement on and reclassification of "uncertain" cases by
      guideline authorities would facilitate a deeper understanding of referral
      appropriateness.

PMID- 28584586
TI  - The Importance of the First Jordanian Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
      Registry.

PMID- 28584587
TI  - Anomalous Left-sided Superior Vena Cava with Cephalad Flow.
AB  - The case of a 24-year-old male with complaints of migraine headaches was referred
      for echocardiography. The rest of medical history was unremarkable. Agitated
      saline contrast bubble study showed evidence of a right to left intracardiac
      shunt, probably secondary to a patent foramen ovale. Results of a transesophageal
      echocardiogram suggested the possibility of an anomalous venous circulation and
      eventually identified as anomalous left-sided superior vena cava with cardiac
      magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 28584588
TI  - Myocardial Cleft in a Patient with Acute Coronary Syndrome Assessed by Multimodal
      Imaging.
AB  - Myocardial clefts are rare incidental findings without clinical relevance up to
      now. The recognition of this imaging entity is of crucial importance to avoid
      misdiagnosis and even more in the context of coronary artery disease.

PMID- 28584589
TI  - Computerized Tomography Use in Williams-Beuren Syndrome Aortopathy.
AB  - Williams-Beuren syndrome is a multisystem genetic disorder caused by hemizygous
      deletion on chromosome 7q11.23, encompassing about 28 genes including the elastin
      gene, ELN. Cardiovascular abnormalities are frequent and are related to elastin
      insufficiency. These abnormalities include supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS)
      in 70% of case, pulmonic valve stenosis, and renal artery stenosis. Definitive
      therapy for supravalvar aortic stenosis consists of surgical correction of the
      arteriopathies. Outcomes after surgical correction of SVAS depend on the extent
      of the arteriopathy and the presence of other associated lesions. We present a
      case of a 4-year-old boy, with Williams - Beuren syndrome with an SVAS. The
      patient was assessed with computerized tomography angiography to determine the
      extent of the aortopathy before surgical intervention.

PMID- 28584590
TI  - External Compression of Epicardial Coronary Arteries with Partial Calcific
      Pericarditis.
AB  - Calcific pericarditis (CP) is a rare disease which results from long-standing
      pericardial inflammation. Pericardial calcification may completely or partially
      encase the ventricles, resulting in impaired diastolic filling. We present a case
      of a 53-year-old male who was incidentally found to have annular CP resulting in
      external compression of a large territory diagonal branch (D1) reaching the apex
      with likely chronically occluded left anterior descending artery with collateral
      circulation from the right coronary artery with hemodynamic compromise on
      coronary angiography. This was emergently treated with a drug-eluting stent with
      improved D1 flow and entailed the importance of percutaneous coronary
      intervention as a viable option in cases of CP resulting in acute hemodynamic
      compromise.

PMID- 28584591
TI  - A Case of Left Ventricular False Tendon with Ventricular Tachycardia.

PMID- 28584592
TI  - The Power of Expectation and Belief.

PMID- 28584593
TI  - Diabetes as "Coronary Artery Disease Risk Equivalent": A Historical Perspective.

PMID- 28584594
TI  - Prevalence of Rheumatic Heart Disease.

PMID- 28584596
TI  - Diabetes Mellitus: A Local and Global Public Health Emergency!

PMID- 28584595
TI  - Erratum in: Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease a Historical Perspective.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 120 in vol. 17, PMID: 27867464.].

PMID- 28584597
TI  - Writing a Research Proposal to The Research Council of Oman.
AB  - Writing a research proposal can be a challenging task for young researchers. This
      article explains how to write a strong research proposal to apply for funding,
      specifically, a proposal for The Research Council (TRC) of Oman. Three different
      research proposal application forms are currently used in TRC, including Open
      Research Grant (ORG), Graduate Research Support Program (GRSP), and Faculty
      mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program (FURAP). The application forms are
      filled and submitted electronically on TRC website. Each of the proposals
      submitted to TRC is selected through a rigorous reviewing and screening process.
      Novelty and originality of the research idea is the most crucial element in
      writing a research proposal. Performing an in-depth review of the literature will
      assist you to compose a good researchable question and generate a strong
      hypothesis. The development of a good hypothesis will offer insight into the
      specific objectives of a study. Research objectives should be focused,
      measurable, and achievable by a specific time using the most appropriate
      methodology. Moreover, it is essential to select a proper study design in-line
      with the purpose of the study and the hypothesis. Furthermore, social/economic
      impact and reasonable budget of proposed research are important criteria in
      research proposal evaluation by TRC. Finally, ethical principles should be
      observed before writing a research proposal involving human or animal subjects.

PMID- 28584598
TI  - Impact of Aberrant Myeloid Antigen Expression on Outcomes of Patients with T-cell
      Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of myeloid antigen expression on complete
      remission (CR), event-free survival (EFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients
      with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) treated with intensive
      chemotherapy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive patients diagnosed
      with T-ALL and treated in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital and Royal Hospital in
      Oman between 2004 and 2010. The diagnosis of T-ALL was established using French
      American-British classification or World Health Organization criteria. Patients
      were considered having myeloid antigen expression if they expressed CD13, CD33,
      or both (My+ and My-). RESULTS: Of the 39 patients, 38 were included in the study
      (25 patients with My- and median age of 18.4 years, 13 patients with My+ and
      median age of 22.0 years). Median follow-up was 12 months. Thirty-two out of the
      total cohort were eligible for response-rate assessment. Twenty-nine patients
      (90.6%) achieved CR with one or two courses of chemotherapy with similar CR rates
      between the two groups (p = 0.880). Twenty-five percent (5/20) of the patients
      with My- required two courses of induction, whereas 58.3% (7/12) of My+ required
      two courses of induction and the difference was statistically significant (p =
      0.040). In the multivariable analysis; age, gender, initial white blood cell
      count, central nervous system disease, and myeloid antigen expression were not
      statistically significant predictors of CR. The EFS and OS were similar between
      the My+ and My- groups p = 0.180 and p = 0.440, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with T-ALL with myeloid antigen expression need more courses of
      induction; however, rates of CR, EFS, and OS are not different from those without
      myeloid antigen expression. Larger prospective studies are required to confirm
      these findings.

PMID- 28584599
TI  - The Role of Insulin Therapy in Correcting Hepcidin Levels in Patients with Type 2
      Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Iron overload can cause or contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but how the major parameters of iron metabolism change
      in different settings of diabetes are still unclear. The aim of this study was to
      determine the relationship between iron, ferritin, and hepcidin levels in
      diabetic patients and the effect of insulin treatment. METHODS: The study
      included 80 subjects, 60 with T2DM and 20 without (control group). Serum
      hepcidin, insulin, ferritin, and iron levels were determined as well as other
      clinical parameters. The associations between these parameters were analyzed
      between both groups. RESULTS: Hepcidin levels expressed as mean+/- standard
      deviation between groups showed no significant changes (14.4+/-6.7 ng/mL for the
      control group, and 18.4+/-7.9 ng/mL for patients with diabetes, p = 0.069).
      Parameters of iron metabolism showed modest correlation with the parameters of
      glucose metabolism. However, the correlation between ferritin and insulin in both
      groups was statistically significant (p = 0.032; rho = 0.480 vs. p = 0.011; rho =
      0.328). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that hepcidin levels in patients with T2DM
      on insulin therapy do not change, which might be a result of treatment with
      insulin. In this context, insulin treatment can be used as a novel method for
      correction of hepcidin levels. By correcting hepcidin levels, we can prevent
      cellular iron overload and reduce the risk of diabetes.

PMID- 28584600
TI  - Perception of Preparedness for Clinical Work Among New Residents: A Cross
      sectional Study from Oman.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate new residents' perceptions of their own preparedness for
      clinical practice and examine the associated factors. METHODS: This is a cross
      sectional study conducted on August 20-23, 2016. New residents accepted for
      postgraduate training by Oman Medical Specialty Board were asked to complete the
      Preparation for Hospital Practice Questionnaire (PHPQ). Data was analyzed using
      the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22. RESULTS: A total of
      160 residents were invited to participate in this study. Out of 160, 140
      residents participated (87.5%), 70.7% were female and 59.3% were graduates from
      Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). Ninety-nine percent of the graduates were either
      'well prepared' or 'fairly well prepared' for hospital practice. Male residents
      scored higher in the confidence scale, while residents who did a post-internship
      general practice placement scored higher in understanding science. Graduates from
      Oman Medical College felt more prepared compared to graduates from SQU.
      CONCLUSIONS: Most of the new residents were well prepared to clinical work.
      Factors such as place of undergraduate study, training, and duration of
      internship significantly influenced the residents' perception of preparedness.
      Addressing these factors will enhance residents' preparedness for clinical work.

PMID- 28584601
TI  - Prevalence and Risk Factors for Sulfadoxine Antibody Among Patients Undergoing
      Treatment for Malaria in Benin City, Nigeria.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Because of lack of data on the prevalence of sulfadoxine antibody,
      this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of sulfadoxine antibodies
      and its possible risk factors. METHODS: Blood specimens were collected from 500
      patients undergoing treatment for malaria at Central Hospital, Benin City,
      Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information and
      sociodemographic data. Sulfadoxine antibodies were detected by drug absorption
      (DAT) and immune complex (IMC) methods. ABO, rhesus blood group, and hemoglobin
      (Hb) phenotype were determined by using standard technique. RESULTS: DAT method
      had a significantly higher rate of detecting sulfadoxine antibodies compared to
      IMC method (p = 0.019). Age, gender, and level of education did not affect the
      prevalence of sulfadoxine antibodies (p > 0.050). Patients that were an artisan
      (p < 0.001), married (p = 0.025), living in a two-room apartment (p = 0.003), had
      history of drug reaction, consumed antimalarial drug (maloxine), and consumed
      sulfadoxine-containing drug within the last month (p < 0.001 each), and
      significantly affected the prevalence of sulfadoxine antibodies. Individuals with
      Hb phenotype AA had significantly higher prevalence of sulfadoxine antibodies (p
      < 0.001), and presence of rhesus D antigen was associated with sulfadoxine
      antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: An overall prevalence of 22.0% among the tested
      individuals had sulfadoxine antibodies. Prudent use of sulfadoxine containing
      drugs is advocated.

PMID- 28584602
TI  - Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolic Disorder Among the Different
      Phenotypes of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder
      related to several metabolic consequences. However, there remains uncertainty
      regarding the metabolic features of various phenotypes. The aim of this study was
      to explore the relationship between the prevalence of gestational diabetes
      mellitus (GDM) and metabolic disorders among the four different phenotypes of
      PCOS. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed in Royan Institute including
      208 pregnant women with a history of infertility and PCOS. Using the diagnostic
      criteria of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), pregnant women with a
      documented diagnoses of PCOS were further categorized into four different
      phenotypes (A, B, C, and D) as defined by the Rotterdam criteria. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of GDM failed to demonstrate a significant relationship among the four
      phenotypes of PCOS. The mean levels of fasting blood sugar, plasma glucose
      concentrations at three hours (following the 100 g oral glucose tolerance test)
      and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in phenotype B compared to the
      remaining phenotypes (p < 0.050). There was a statistically significant
      difference between the mean free testosterone level and phenotypes A and C groups
      (1.8+/-1.6 vs. 1.1+/-1.0, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Women with a known diagnosis
      of PCOS who exhibited oligo/anovulation and hyperandrogenism demonstrated an
      increase of metabolic disorders. These results suggest that metabolic screening,
      before conception or in the early stages of pregnancy, can be beneficial
      particularly in women with PCOS phenotypes A and B. Early screening and
      identification may justify enhanced maternal fetal surveillance to improve
      maternal and fetal morbidity among women affected with PCOS.

PMID- 28584603
TI  - A Hypothetical Model to Predict the Potential Impact of Government and Management
      Support in Implementing Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Practices.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite broad adoption and implementation of Integrated Management of
      Childhood Illness (IMCI) in more than 100 countries, childhood mortality and
      morbidity rates continue to prevail. This calls for further investigation to
      identify the factors that prevent actual application of IMCI-recommended clinical
      practices. This study tests a hypothetical structural model to investigate
      potential role of government and healthcare policymakers on improving
      implementation and application of IMCI-recommended practices in clinical setting.
      METHODS: The study was carried out at Sur and Ibra Nursing Institutes in Oman, in
      June 2016. We used six pre-tested and validated constructs for developing a
      hypothetical structural model. The constructs were used as underlying variables
      to examine the probable influence of government and policymakers on actual
      application of IMCI-recommended practices. Data were collected through structured
      questionnaires, which designed to measure healthcare professionals' perceptions.
      Each construct was pre-loaded with three sub-constructs. Cronbach's alpha (CA)
      was used to calculate the internal consistency and reliability. RESULTS: Factor
      loadings for each item in the model were >= 0.700. CA values for all the studied
      constructs were > 0.600. The average variance extracted values for all the
      constructs were > 0.500. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the hypothetical
      structural model and highlights governments could play a significant role in
      ensuring that IMCI strategy is not only implemented, but also its recommended
      practices are applied in clinical setting.

PMID- 28584604
TI  - P53 Protein Expression in Dental Follicle, Dentigerous Cyst, Odontogenic
      Keratocyst, and Inflammatory Subtypes of Cysts: An Immunohistochemical Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: An odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) is a developmental odontogenic cyst
      with aggressive clinical behavior. This cyst shows a different growth mechanism
      from the more common dentigerous cyst and now has been renamed as a keratocystic
      odontogenic tumor (KCOT). Inflammation can assist tumor growth via different
      mechanisms including dysregulation of the p53 gene. This study aims to assess and
      compare the expression of tumor suppressor gene p53 in inflamed and non-inflamed
      types of OKC and dentigerous cyst. METHODS: Immunohistochemical expression of p53
      was assessed in 14 cases of dental follicle, 34 cases of OKC (including 18
      inflamed OKCs), and 31 cases of dentigerous cyst (including 16 inflamed cysts).
      RESULTS: The mean percentage of p53 positive cells was 0.7% in dental follicles,
      5.4% in non-inflamed OKCs, 17.3% in inflamed OKCs, 1.2% in non-inflamed
      dentigerous cysts, and 2.2% in inflamed dentigerous cysts. The differences
      between the groups were statistically significant (p < 0.050) except for the
      difference between inflamed and non-inflamed dentigerous cysts, and between
      dental follicle and non-inflamed dentigerous cyst. CONCLUSIONS: The difference in
      p53 expression in OKC and dentigerous cyst can explain their different growth
      mechanism and clinical behavior. Inflammation is responsible for the change in
      behavior of neoplastic epithelium of OKC via p53 overexpression.

PMID- 28584606
TI  - Giant Parapharyngeal Space Pleomorphic Adenoma Causing Acute Airway Obstruction.
AB  - Primary parapharyngeal space (PPS) tumors are rare, representing only 0.5% of all
      head and neck neoplasms. About 80% of tumors of this space are benign, and 20%
      are malignant. They often pose therapeutic and diagnostic problems due to
      variable non-specific symptoms and the complex anatomy of this space. Pleomorphic
      adenoma is the most common benign tumor of this space. It presents as an
      asymptomatic mass causing mild bulging in the soft palate or tonsillar region, or
      fullness near the angle of the mandible in the neck. We report the case of a 60
      year-old male admitted to the emergency department with breathing difficulty and
      acute stridor. He was unable to maintain oxygen saturation, and an emergency
      tracheostomy was performed. Radiological and cytological evaluation were
      performed, and the patient was diagnosed as having primary PPS pleomorphic
      adenoma. The tumor was excised via the transcervical approach. The rarity of
      tumor in this space and unusual life-threatening presentation prompted the
      authors to report this case. To our knowledge, this is the third case reported
      worldwide of a pleomorphic adenoma causing upper airway obstruction and acute
      respiratory failure.

PMID- 28584605
TI  - Descriptive Epidemiology of Sitting Time in Omani Men and Women: A Known Risk
      Factor for Non-Communicable Diseases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Sedentary behaviors (too much sitting as distinct from too little
      exercise) are associated with increased risk of non-communicable diseases.
      Identifying the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of sitting time can
      inform public health policy and prevention strategies. METHODS: A population
      based national survey was carried out among Omani adults in 2008 (n = 2 977)
      using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, which included a measure of
      total sitting time. Bivariate and regression analyses examined the associations
      of total sitting time with sociodemographic correlates (gender, age, education,
      work status, marital status, place of residence, and wealth). RESULTS: The
      proportion who sat for >= 7 hours/day was significantly higher in older than in
      younger adults (men: 22.0% vs. 14.6%, p < 0.010; women: 26.9% vs. 15.2%, p <
      0.001, respectively). The odds ratio (OR) for prolonged sitting was half for men
      who were not working compared to those who were (p < 0.050). For younger women,
      the OR for sitting >= 7 hours/day was nearly a third for educated women compared
      to least educated (p = 0.035). For older women, the OR for prolonged sitting was
      more than double for married women compared to unmarried (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: One in five Omani adults was identified as sitting for prolonged
      periods, at levels understood to have deleterious health consequences. Higher
      risk groups include older adults and working men. With sitting time identified as
      a key behavioral risk to be targeted for the prevention of non-communicable
      diseases, further research is needed to understand the factors associated with
      domain-specific sitting time in order to guide prevention programs and broader
      public health approaches.

PMID- 28584607
TI  - Essential Thrombocythemia in a Two-year-old Child, Responsive to Hydroxyurea but
      Not Aspirin.
AB  - Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm that occurs
      mostly in patients above the age of 50 years. Its incidence in children is very
      rare, with around 100 cases reported in the literature. High-risk patients are
      defined by previous life threatening major thrombotic or severe hemorrhagic
      complication or age > 60. Those patients probably benefit from cytoreductive
      therapy. On the other hand, antiplatelet drugs are recommended for patients with
      low risk group. Although rare, ET should be considered in the differential
      diagnosis of persistent thrombocytosis in children, even at a very young age. A
      constellation of clinical, pathologic, and molecular testing are essential for
      diagnosis. Given the rarity of these cases, there is currently no consensus for
      treatment guidelines in children, especially in asymptomatic patients. We
      describe a case of a two-year old girl who presented with unexplained, isolated
      thrombocytosis which persisted for eight years. Bone marrow biopsy demonstrated
      typical features of ET. Over the course of the disease, hydroxyurea, but not
      aspirin, showed better control of symptoms and lowered the platelets level.

PMID- 28584608
TI  - Super Refractory Status Epilepticus in Hashimoto's Encephalopathy.
AB  - We present a case of a 38-year-old woman who was at eight weeks of gestation and
      was admitted to Sultan Qaboos University Hospital with refractory status
      epilepticus (SE). She presented with a two-day history of fever and a depressed
      level of consciousness that was followed with generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
      She progressed to refractory SE that required intubation and mechanical
      ventilation. Autoimmune workup was suggestive of Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE)
      as suggested by the high levels of thyroid antibodies. Her magnetic resonance
      imaging showed bilateral hippocampal and basal ganglia hyperintensities, and
      electroencephalogram showed bilateral frontal epileptiform discharges. Other
      autoimmune workup was negative. Intravenous anesthetics were started including
      propofol, midazolam, ketamine, and thiopentone. She was started on multiple
      immunosuppressive therapies. Multiple antiepileptics were used including
      phenytoin, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, sodium valproate, clobazam, phenobarbital,
      and lacosamide. The outcome was unusual in terms of refractoriness to
      immunotherapy treatment despite a confirmed diagnosis. We did a literature review
      of all cases with HE presenting with SE with their clinical characteristics and
      outcome.

PMID- 28584609
TI  - Culture-Specific Pathogenicity of Dhat (Semen Loss) Syndrome in an Arab/Islamic
      Society, Oman.
AB  - A number of reports from different parts of the world have challenged the
      assumption that Dhat syndrome is confined to populations in and around the Indian
      subcontinent. This single case study reports an Omani with features typical of
      Dhat syndrome. Psychometric measures showed elevated scores on indices of
      hypochondriasis, psychasthenia, and gender role development as defined in the
      Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. He rated adequately in measures
      assessing cognitive and executive functioning. Implementation of cognitive
      behavioral therapy, concurrent with a successful marriage proposal, resulted in a
      gradual resolution of the symptoms. This report concludes with a discussion on
      whether his Dhat syndrome should be viewed as a culture-reactive or culture
      specific syndrome.

PMID- 28584611
TI  - A Vanishing Gastric Submucosal Lesion.

PMID- 28584610
TI  - The Usefulness of Nap Sleep Recording During Routine Electroencephalography: An
      Audit Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A measure to increase the electroencephalogram (EEG) outcome includes
      a short period of nap sleep during a routine standard EEG with the aim of
      increasing its sensitivity to interictal abnormalities or provoking seizures. As
      part of an ongoing auditing of our EEG data, we aimed to investigate the
      contribution of nap sleep during routine outpatient department based EEGs
      requested for a variety of reasons. METHODS: EEG data at the Department of
      Clinical Physiology at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman, from July 2006 to
      December 2007 and from January 2009 to December 2010 (total 42 months) were
      reviewed. The EEGs were for patients older than 13-years referred for possible
      epilepsy, blackouts, headache, head trauma, and other non-specified attacks. The
      recording period was between 20 to 40 minutes. Abnormalities were identified
      during waking and nap sleep periods. RESULTS: A total of 2 547 EEGs were reviewed
      and 744 were abnormal (29.2%). Of those abnormal EEGs, nap sleep was obtained in
      258 (34.7%) EEGs, and 39 (15.1%) showed abnormalities during nap sleep. Nineteen
      out of the 39 (48.7%) EEGs were abnormal during awake and nap sleep; and 20
      (51.3%) were abnormal during nap sleep, which represented only 2.7% of the total
      abnormal EEGs (n = 744). CONCLUSIONS: The contribution of the short nap sleep to
      the pickup rate of interictal abnormalities in EEG was minimal. We recommend the
      EEG service to include one cycle of spontaneous sleep EEG directed at patients
      with a history suggestive of epilepsy if their awake EEGs are normal.

PMID- 28584612
TI  - Habitual Sleep Deprivation is Associated with Type 2 Diabetes: What Comes First?

PMID- 28584613
TI  - Habitual Sleep Deprivation and Type 2 Diabetes: What Actually Comes First?

PMID- 28584614
TI  - The Importance of a Multidisciplinary Approach or Women with Pelvic Organ
      Prolapse and Cystocele.

PMID- 28584615
TI  - Does Alpha-lipoic Acid Supplement Regulate Blood Pressure? A Systematic Review of
      Randomized, Double-blind Placebo-controlled Clinical Trials.
AB  - Although several animal and human studies have investigated the effect of alpha
      lipoic acid (ALA) on blood pressure (BP), these findings are inconsistent. This
      systematic review of randomized clinical trials was conducted to summarize the
      evidence on the effect of ALA on BP. PubMed, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar databases
      were searched based on MESH term ("Thioctic acid" in combination with
      "Hypertension" and "Blood pressure") to identify related papers published up to
      December 2015. We summarized the results of the relevant studies in this review.
      In total, nine studies included in this review, seven parallel-designed trials
      and two crossover-designed trials. The results of parallel-designed studies are
      inconsistent. Five studies indicate no significant effects for ALA
      supplementation on BP, but two trials show effects on BP. Unlike parallel
      designed trials, two crossover-designed trials have shown similar results and
      both report no effect for ALA on BP. Several studies investigated the effect of
      ALA on BP. Most of the papers show no significant effect for supplementation and
      the studies have shown that associations are limited. However, these findings are
      limited and there is a need for further and more accurate researches to be
      clarified.

PMID- 28584616
TI  - Discouraging the Practice of Tobacco Initiation among Children and Adolescents
      through Promoting of Smoke-free Films.

PMID- 28584617
TI  - Tumor Cells Growth and Survival Time with the Ketogenic Diet in Animal Models: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - Recently, interest in targeted cancer therapies via metabolic pathways has been
      renewed with the discovery that many tumors become dependent on glucose uptake
      during anaerobic glycolysis. Also the inability of ketone bodies metabolization
      due to various deficiencies in mitochondrial enzymes is the major metabolic
      changes discovered in malignant cells. Therefore, administration of a ketogenic
      diet (KD) which is based on high in fat and low in carbohydrates might inhibit
      tumor growth and provide a rationale for therapeutic strategies. So, we conducted
      this systematic review to assess the effects of KD on the tumor cells growth and
      survival time in animal studies. All databases were searched from inception to
      November 2015. We systematically searched the PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholars,
      Science Direct and Cochrane Library according to the Preferred Reporting Items
      for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. To assess the quality of
      included studies we used SYRCLE's RoB tool. 268 articles were obtained from
      databases by primary search. Only 13 studies were eligible according to inclusion
      criteria. From included studies, 9 articles indicate that KD had a beneficial
      effect on tumor growth and survival time. Tumor types were included pancreatic,
      prostate, gastric, colon, brain, neuroblastoma and lung cancers. In conclusions,
      although studies in this field are rare and inconsistence, recent findings have
      demonstrated that KD can potentially inhibit the malignant cell growth and
      increase the survival time. Because of differences physiology between animals and
      humans, future studies in cancer patients treated with a KD are needed.

PMID- 28584618
TI  - Prevalence and Determinants of Hypertension among Iranian Adults, Birjand, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is a major cause of noncommunicable diseases. In
      this study, we report the prevalence rate of HTN in Birjand population. METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1286 individuals in Birjand in 2014.
      Individuals with systolic blood pressure (SBP) >=140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood
      pressure (DBP) >=90 mmHg were considered as hypertensive. Data were analyzed
      using Chi-square test, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA. P < 0.05 was
      considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: Among the 1286 participants,
      659 were women (51.2%). Prevalence of HTN was 20.1% (10.3% systolic HTN and 6.9%
      diastolic HTN). Prevalence self-reported HTN was 12.3%. SBP and DBP means were
      higher in men (P < 0.001). Mean scores of SBP and DBP increased by aging and body
      mass index (P < 0.001). Diabetic individuals had higher SBP scores (P < 0.001).
      Dyslipidemic patients had greater SBP and DBP (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Prevalence of HTN in our study is high. About one-fifth of the participants had
      HTN. In addition, BP is higher in men, elderly, and diabetic individual.
      Therefore, it is necessary to control BP regularly in different groups in
      society.

PMID- 28584619
TI  - Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Methotrexate versus Hydroxychloroquine in
      Preventing Lichen Planopilaris Progress: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lichen planopilaris is an inflammatory cicatricial alopecia, and its
      management is a challenge for dermatologists. We aimed to compare the efficacy of
      methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine on refractory lichen planopilaris. METHODS:
      In a randomized clinical trial, 29 patients were randomly allocated to receive
      either 15 mg methotrexate/week or 200 mg hydroxychloroquine twice a day for 6
      months. Side effects, symptoms/signs, and laboratory tests were assessed
      periodically. Lichen Planopilaris Activity Index (LPPAI) was measured before
      intervention and at 2, 4, and 6 months after. The changes from baseline to the
      end of the study were analyzed within each group and between the two groups by
      per-protocol and intention-to-treat analysis. RESULTS: After 2 months, mean
      (standard deviation [SD]) decrease in LPPAI in methotrexate group was
      significantly more than that in hydroxychloroquine group (1.68 [1.24] vs. 0.8
      [0.71], respectively, P = 0.047). Furthermore, after 6 months, mean (SD) decrease
      in LPPAI in methotrexate group was significantly higher than that in
      hydroxychloroquine group (3.3 [2.09] vs. 1.51 [0.91], respectively, P = 0.01).
      The following symptoms/signs showed significant improvements in frequency and/or
      severity in methotrexate group after intervention: pruritus (P = 0.007), erythema
      (P = 0.01), perifollicular erythema (P = 0.01), perifollicular scaling (P =
      0.08), spreading (P = 0.001), and follicular keratosis (P = 0.04). In
      hydroxychloroquine group, only erythema (P = 0.004) showed significant
      improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Methotrexate was more effective than hydroxychloroquine
      in treating refractory lichen planopilaris.

PMID- 28584620
TI  - Erratum: Effect of Health Care as the "Home Visiting" on Postpartum Depression: A
      Controlled Clinical Trial.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 20 in vol. 8, PMID: 28479962.].

PMID- 28584621
TI  - Fibroadenoma progress to ductal carcinoma in situ, infiltrating ductal carcinoma
      and lymph node metastasis? Report an unusual case.
AB  - Fibroadenoma of the breast is the most common benign neoplasm in young women who
      present with a palpable, movable mass. Malignancy inside fibroadenomas is rare,
      with reported rates ranging from 0.002% to 0.125%. Carcinoma in situ inside a
      fibroadenoma is usually found incidentally when tumours are excised. Whether
      fibroadenoma is a risk factor for breast cancer remains controversial. Due to the
      rarity of carcinomas inside fibroadenomas, medical institutes have little
      experience with this phenomenon. We report an unusual case in which progression
      occurred from benign fibroadenoma to ductal carcinoma in situ, infiltrating
      ductal carcinoma and lymph node metastasis. A nipple-areolar complex-preserving
      mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction with a gel implant and
      contralateral augmentation was performed. No local recurrence or metastasis was
      found during 5 years of follow-up.

PMID- 28584622
TI  - A rare anatomical variation of the biliary tree.
AB  - A 31-year-old woman was admitted to our department in order to undergo a
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The operation was converted to open due to
      cholorrhea during the dissection in the hepatocystic triangle. The cholorrhea
      came from a transected bile duct, which was 2 mm in diameter, came out of the
      hepatoduodenal ligament, ran along the common hepatic duct and drained into the
      cystic duct, in proximity to the neck of the gallbladder. The gallbladder was
      removed and an intraoperative cholangiography revealed that the aberrant bile
      duct was originated from the right posterior sectoral duct (RPSD). The RPSD
      continued its typical course up to its confluence with the right anterior
      sectoral duct and the formation of the right hepatic duct. This is a rare type of
      aberrant bile duct, which is added to the long catalogue of the anatomical
      variations of the biliary tree.

PMID- 28584623
TI  - Laparoscopic repair of a migrated adjustable gastric band connecting tube with
      colonic erosion.
AB  - Laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands are a popular and effective surgical option
      to treat morbid obesity. The overall complication rate is 10-20% and the most
      common complication is of 'slippage'. Although other complications such as
      gastric band migration and erosion have been reported, the phenomenon of a
      migrated gastric band connecting tube eroding into the colon (after port removal)
      is seldom reported in the literature. In this article we describe such a case of
      an incidentally found colonic erosion on colonoscopy and describe the subsequent
      laparoscopic repair, as well as a review of the literature.

PMID- 28584625
TI  - Digital pathology imaging as a novel platform for standardization and
      globalization of quantitative nephropathology.
AB  - The introduction of digital pathology to nephrology provides a platform for the
      development of new methodologies and protocols for visual, morphometric and
      computer-aided assessment of renal biopsies. Application of digital imaging to
      pathology made substantial progress over the past decade; it is now in use for
      education, clinical trials and translational research. Digital pathology evolved
      as a valuable tool to generate comprehensive structural information in digital
      form, a key prerequisite for achieving precision pathology for computational
      biology. The application of this new technology on an international scale is
      driving novel methods for collaborations, providing unique opportunities but also
      challenges. Standardization of methods needs to be rigorously evaluated and
      applied at each step, from specimen processing to scanning, uploading into
      digital repositories, morphologic, morphometric and computer-aided assessment,
      data collection and analysis. In this review, we discuss the status and
      opportunities created by the application of digital imaging to precision
      nephropathology, and present a vision for the near future.

PMID- 28584624
TI  - The European Renal Association - European Dialysis and Transplant Association
      Registry Annual Report 2014: a summary.
AB  - Background: This article summarizes the European Renal Association - European
      Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry's 2014 annual report. It describes
      the epidemiology of renal replacement therapy (RRT) for end-stage renal disease
      (ESRD) in 2014 within 35 countries. Methods: In 2016, the ERA-EDTA Registry
      received data on patients who in 2014 where undergoing RRT for ESRD, from 51
      national or regional renal registries. Thirty-two registries provided individual
      patient level data and 19 provided aggregated patient level data. The incidence,
      prevalence and survival probabilities of these patients were determined. Results:
      In 2014, 70 953 individuals commenced RRT for ESRD, equating to an overall
      unadjusted incidence rate of 133 per million population (pmp). The incidence
      ranged by 10-fold; from 23 pmp in the Ukraine to 237 pmp in Portugal. Of the
      patients commencing RRT, almost two-thirds were men, over half were aged >=65
      years and a quarter had diabetes mellitus as their primary renal diagnosis. By
      day 91 of commencing RRT, 81% of patients were receiving haemodialysis. On 31
      December 2014, 490 743 individuals were receiving RRT for ESRD, equating to an
      unadjusted prevalence of 924 pmp. This ranged throughout Europe by more than 10
      fold, from 157 pmp in the Ukraine to 1794 pmp in Portugal. In 2014, 19 406 kidney
      transplantations were performed, equating to an overall unadjusted transplant
      rate of 36 pmp. Again this varied considerably throughout Europe. For patients
      commencing RRT during 2005-09, the 5-year-adjusted patient survival probabilities
      on all RRT modalities was 63.3% (95% confidence interval 63.0-63.6). The expected
      remaining lifetime of a 20- to 24-year-old patient with ESRD receiving dialysis
      or living with a kidney transplant was 21.9 and 44.0 years, respectively. This
      was substantially lower than the 61.8 years of expected remaining lifetime of a
      20-year-old patient without ESRD.

PMID- 28584626
TI  - MMP2 and MMP9 associate with crescentic glomerulonephritis.
AB  - Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease
      characterized by multiple organ involvement. Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common
      manifestation with a wide variety of histological appearances. Matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9 are gelatinases capable of degrading glomerular
      basement membrane type IV collagen, which have been associated with LN. We
      examine the expression of MMP2 and MMP9 in different classes of LN. Methods: MMP2
      and MMP9 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in sections from renal
      biopsy specimens with class III, class IV and class V LN (total n = 31),
      crescentic immunoglobulin A nephropathy (n = 6), pauci-immune glomerulonephritis
      (n = 7), minimal change disease (n = 2), mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis (n
      = 7), diabetic nephropathy (n = 12) and histologically normal controls (n = 8).
      Results: MMP2 and MMP9 were not expressed in all classes of LN, but were observed
      in LN with cellular and fibrocellular crescents. MMP2/MMP9 was expressed in
      cellular and fibrocellular crescents regardless of glomerulonephritis but not
      observed in inactive fibrous crescents or with mesangial proliferation. This
      suggests that MMP2 and MMP9 are involved in the development of extracapillary
      proliferative lesions. Conclusions: MMP2/MMP9 is expressed with active
      extracapillary proliferation. Further study is necessary to define whether the
      expression of MMP2/MMP9 reflects a role in glomerular repair after injury, a role
      in organ-level immune responses or a role as a marker of epithelialization.

PMID- 28584627
TI  - Mixed leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 and amyloid A renal amyloidosis in a
      Kazakh-German patient.
AB  - Leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2)-related amyloidosis (ALECT2)
      constitutes a subtype of systemic amyloidosis affecting the kidney. This is the
      first case describing mixed ALECT2 and Amyloid A renal amyloidosis in a Kazakh
      German patient. Genetic analysis shows a polymorphism in the LECT2 gene and a
      homozygous mutation in the SAA1 gene. Notably, our patient has a body mass index
      of 61 kg/m2 and a pathological glucose tolerance test. ALECT2 was found in
      certain ethnic groups with a high incidence of diabetes. In our case, morbid
      obesity may have played a significant role in clinical manifestation of ALECT2
      amyloidosis.

PMID- 28584628
TI  - Involvement of glycogen debranching enzyme in bladder cancer.
AB  - Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary system, however the
      molecular pathways underlying this disease are incompletely understood. To
      understand new regulators of bladder cancer progression, the authors carried out
      a functional genomic screen which identified glycogen debranching enzyme (AGL) as
      a novel regulator of bladder cancer growth. Glycogen debranching enzyme is
      involved in glycogen breakdown and germline loss of function mutation of this
      gene leads to glycogen storage disease type III. To the best of the authors'
      knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate that loss of AGL leads
      to aggressive bladder tumor growth. AGL mRNA and protein expression in bladder
      tumors serve as a prognostic marker for patients. Interestingly, AGL's
      participation in regulating tumor growth is independent of its enzymatic function
      and involvement with glycogen metabolism in general. Detailed metabolomics and
      transcriptomic analysis indicated that increases in glucose metabolism, glycine
      synthesis driven by serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 and increases in hyaluronic
      acid synthase 2-driven HA synthesis are major contributors of aggressive bladder
      tumor growth with loss of AGL. However, the detailed mechanism of how AGL
      regulates the above mentioned metabolic and genetic pathways is unknown and is
      being investigated. The present review focuses on AGL's involvement in bladder
      cancer.

PMID- 28584629
TI  - Role of the microRNA-29 family in fibrotic skin diseases.
AB  - Fibrotic skin diseases are characterized by the accumulation of collagen. The
      hallmarks of fibrotic skin diseases are unbalanced fibroblast proliferation and
      differentiation, extracellular matrix production and transforming growth factor
      beta signalling. Numerous studies have investigated the possibility that
      microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are involved in the pathogenesis of certain fibrotic
      diseases, including skin, heart, lung and liver diseases. miRNAs are a class of
      small non-coding RNAs, which modify gene expression by binding to target
      messenger RNA (mRNA) and blocking the translation or inducing the degradation of
      target mRNA. The biological relevance of miRNAs has been investigated in
      physiological and pathological conditions, and there is increasing evidence that
      the miR-29 family is associated with fibrotic diseases. The aim of the present
      review is to provide an up-to-date summary of current knowledge on the latest
      developments associated with the miR-29 family and fibrotic skin diseases.

PMID- 28584631
TI  - Drug development: Lessons from nature.
AB  - Natural products have been acknowledged for numerous years as a vital source of
      active ingredients in therapeutic agents. In particular, the use of active
      ingredients derived from plants for use in microbial natural products have long
      been used before the dawn of modern medicine. From ancient times, the efficacy of
      natural products has been associated with the chemistry, biochemistry and
      synthetic activities of natural products. Thus, with scientific advancement in
      modern molecular and cellular biology, analytical chemistry and pharmacology, the
      unique properties of these natural products are being harnessed in order to
      exploit the chemical and structural diversity and biodiversity of these types of
      products in relation to their therapeutic effect. Often, new molecules of
      interest in drug design units focus on the rearrangement of chemical entities or
      structural isomers of naturally occurring products in order to generate new
      molecules; these may be formulated into clinically useful therapies.

PMID- 28584630
TI  - Connexin 43: Key roles in the skin.
AB  - Gap junctions are tightly packed intercellular channels that serve a common
      purpose of allowing the intercellular exchange of small metabolites, second
      messengers and electrical signals. Connexins (Cxs) are gap junction proteins.
      Currently, 20 and 21 members of Cxs have been characterized in mice and humans,
      respectively. Connexin 43 (Cx43) is the most ubiquitously expressed type of Cx in
      the skin. It is produced by various different types of skin cell, such as
      keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial and basal cells, melanocytes and dermal
      papilla cells. At present, more evidence indicates that Cx43 has an important
      role in skin repair and skin tumor development, as well as in skin cell invasion
      and metastasis. In this review, current knowledge regarding the regulation and
      function of Cx43 is summarized and the therapeutic potential of regulating Cx43
      activity is discussed.

PMID- 28584632
TI  - Biochemical and structural features of extracellular vesicle-binding RNA
      aptamers.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles are particles in mammalian body fluids that have attracted
      considerable attention as biomarkers for various diseases. In the present study,
      the authors isolated RNA aptamers with an affinity for extracellular vesicles
      from two library pools that encoded randomized sequences of different lengths.
      After the several rounds of selection, two conserved motifs are identified in the
      sequences that are obtained by next-generation sequencing. Most of the sequences
      were predicted to adopt a secondary structure that consisted of a non-conserved
      stem structure and a conserved loop sequence. Two minimal similar sequences are
      synthesized and confirmed the ability of these sequences to bind to extracellular
      vesicles. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and melting temperature analysis
      demonstrated that the aptamers were able to form a G-quadruplex structure in
      their loop regions and these structures were stabilized by potassium ions.
      Consistent with these structural data, the affinity of each aptamer for
      extracellular vesicles was dependent on potassium ions. The aptamers that were
      identified may be useful molecular tools for the development of diagnostic
      methods that utilize body fluids, such as blood, saliva and urine.

PMID- 28584633
TI  - Construction of a general albumin promoter reporter system for real-time
      monitoring of the differentiation status of functional hepatocytes from stem
      cells in mouse, rat and human.
AB  - Genetic constructs with promoters fused to reporter genes for simultaneous
      monitoring of cellular events have been the focus of attention in recent years.
      Adenoviral vectors, which have distinctive characteristics, have been used to
      monitor the differentiation of stem cells in vitro. In the present study, a
      modified adenoviral vector was constructed, containing a mouse, rat, and human
      general albumin promoter sequence fused to a ZsGreen reporter gene, and evaluated
      its efficiency in different cell types. Two hepatocyte cell lines (Hepa1-6 and
      HepG2), rat primary hepatocytes, rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs)
      and rat BM-MSCs-derived hepatocyte-like cells were transduced with this vector,
      and the transfection efficiency and functional capabilities of the promoter were
      evaluated by fluorescent microscopy. The results demonstrated efficient
      expression of ZsGreen in Hepa1-6 cells, HepG2 cells, rat primary hepatocytes, and
      rat BM-MSCs-derived hepatocyte-like cells, but not in rat BM-MSCs. In conclusion,
      the current study demonstrates a simple, high-efficiency, general tool for real
      time monitoring of the differentiation status of hepatocytes from stem cells in
      mice, rats, and humans. This tool may be useful for evaluating different
      protocols to generate functional hepatocytes from stem cells in multiple species.

PMID- 28584634
TI  - Analysis of the changes in Th9 cells and related cytokines in the peripheral
      blood of spontaneous urticaria patients.
AB  - Spontaneous urticaria (SU) is characterized by immune deregulation of mast cells
      and T helper (Th) cells. Th9 cells, a subset of Th cells, serve a key role in
      initiating mast cell accumulation and activation. To understand the role of Th9
      cells in the pathogenesis of SU, the authors conducted a control study of 28
      patients with acute SU (ASU) and chronic SU (CSU) and 28 healthy controls. The
      percentage of Th9 cells in peripheral blood was assessed using flow cytometry and
      levels of Th9 related serum cytokines including interleukin (IL)-4, IL-9, IL-17A,
      IL-33, IL-1beta and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) using Luminex
      200. ASU patients exhibited higher percentages of Th9 cells and increased serum
      levels of cytokines IL-9, IL-4 and TGF-beta1 compared to healthy controls. In
      addition, high mRNA expression of the PU.1 transcription factor was observed in
      ASU patients. However, the percentage of Th9 cells was similar between patients
      with CSU and healthy controls. Furthermore, the percentage of Th9 cells
      demonstrated a positive correlation with IL-4 and IL-9 levels in the peripheral
      blood of ASU patients, but not with disease severity. The current findings
      suggested that the numbers of Th9 cells increased in ASU patients and indicated
      its novel role in the pathogenesis of ASU.

PMID- 28584635
TI  - Interactions between polymorphisms in the 3'untranslated region of the cyclin
      dependent kinase 6 gene and the human papillomavirus infection, and risk of
      cervical precancerous lesions.
AB  - The human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is essential for the development of
      cervical cancer and its precursor lesions. However, only certain persistently
      infected individuals develop cervical cancer. Cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) is
      a critical regulatory cancer-associated gene in the cell cycle and in
      tumorigenesis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNA sites in the 3'
      untranslated region (UTR) of target genes may result in target gene expression
      level changes and susceptibility to diseases, including cancer. Therefore, the
      aim of the present study was to determine whether SNPs in the 3'UTR of the CDK6
      gene may affect susceptibility to cervical precancerous lesions in a Chinese
      population. Five polymorphisms in the 3'UTR of the CDK6 gene were evaluated in
      164 cervical precancerous lesion cases and 296 control subjects. Differences in
      environmental factors between cases and controls were evaluated using the chi2
      test or unpaired t-test. Logistic regression was used to examine the association
      between the five polymorphisms and cervical precancerous lesions. The model-free
      multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method was performed to evaluate the
      interaction effect of environment variables and gene polymorphisms. Interactions
      on the additive scale are calculated by using the relative excess risk due to
      interaction (RERI). After controlling for potential confounders, a significantly
      decreased risk of cervical precancerous lesions for the GA genotype, rs8179, and
      the AT genotype, rs42033 [GA vs. GA: odds ratio (OR)adjusted=0.17, 95% confidence
      interval (CI), 0.05-0.57; AT vs. AA: ORadjusted=0.18, 95% CI, 0.05-0.59,
      respectively] was identified. Furthermore, following MDR analysis, a significant
      three-locus interaction model was identified, which involved the HPV infection,
      the number of pregnancies and rs8179. Additionally, a significant antagonistic
      interaction between the HPV infection and rs8179 was identified on an additive
      scale. Haplotype AGTA was associated with a decreased risk of developing cervical
      precancerous lesions (ORadjusted=0.21; 95% CI, 0.06-0.75). Thus, the present
      results indicated that the rs8179 and rs42033 polymorphisms confer genetic
      susceptibility to cervical precancerous lesions. Furthermore, the interaction
      between the rs8179 polymorphism in CDK6 and the HPV infection and haplotype AGTA
      may be associated with cervical precancerous lesions.

PMID- 28584636
TI  - ATP serves an anti-inflammatory role by enhancing beta-defensin-2 response in
      acute pneumonia of rat.
AB  - The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of ATP on the expression
      of rat beta-defensin-2 (rBD-2) in a time-dependent manner, as well as its
      therapeutic value in an acute pneumonia rat model. A total of 30 rats as a
      treatment group and 30 as a control group were treated with the same dose of ATP
      and normal saline, respectively, lung tissues were isolated from rat and
      expression of rBD-2 mRNA was assessed with reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) at 12, 24 and 36 h following treatment. Rats
      were divided into five groups: The control group treated with normal saline, the
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infected group, group treated with ATP, group treated
      with cephalosporins, and the group treated with both ATP and cephalosporins. At
      24 h following treatment, rat serum and lung tissues were collected for
      assessment of histological changes, and alterations to expression of the rBD-2
      protein by immunohistochemistry, expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha
      and interleukin (IL)-6 proteins by ELISA. RT-qPCR results indicated that the
      expression of rBD-2 mRNA was upregulated in response to ATP stimulation in lung
      tissues of rat, reaching its highest peak at 24 h. Immunohistochemistry
      demonstrated that ATP treatment enhanced the expression of rBD-2 protein in rat
      lungs. Ceftazidime and ATP protected lungs from infection of PA and reduced the
      pathological damage of the lung. Overexpression of rBD-2 by ATP led to decreased
      protein expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in lung tissues and serum. ATP
      upregulates the expression of rBD-2 and serves an anti-inflammatory role in the
      acute pneumonia of a rat model.

PMID- 28584637
TI  - Identification of global transcriptome abnormalities and potential biomarkers in
      eutopic endometria of women with endometriosis: A preliminary study.
AB  - The etiology and pathophysiology of endometriosis remain unclear. The aim of the
      current study was to identify a candidate pathogenic gene, as well as potential
      biomarkers of endometriosis using messenger RNA (mRNA) sequencing (mRNA-seq).
      Twenty-three eutopic endometria from women with endometriosis and 20 endometria
      from control subjects were investigated. Eight eutopic endometria and five normal
      endometria were selected for mRNA-seq. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were
      identified and functional analysis was conducted. Validation of certain DEGs was
      performed in the remaining cases and control subjects by reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). A total of 72 DEGs (66
      upregulated and 6 downregulated) were identified in samples from women with
      endometriosis and compared with the control subjects. High DEGs included those
      involved in various functions, such as extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling,
      angiogenesis, cell proliferation and differentiation. Enriched by these DEGs, 100
      Gene Ontology terms were identified as significantly important, particularly
      'ECM' and 'endogenous stimulus'. Validation using RT-qPCR indicated that matrix
      metallopeptidase 11, dual specificity phosphatase 1, Fos proto-oncogeneand serpin
      family E member 1 were significantly upregulated and adenosine deaminase 2 was
      significantly downregulated in the eutopic endometrium of patients with
      endometriosis. The identified DEGs may be involved in the pathogenesis of
      endometriosis and may be potential biomarkers in the eutopic endometrium. The
      current study provides a comprehensive, but preliminary insight for elucidating
      the mechanisms of endometriosis, which require further in-depth studies for
      confirmation.

PMID- 28584638
TI  - Association between angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion
      polymorphisms and intracranial aneurysm susceptibility: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Various studies have evaluated the association between polymorphisms of
      angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and intracranial aneurysm (IA) risk; however,
      the results remain inconsistent. The PubMed, Embase, and Wanfang Data databases
      were systematically searched until January 6th 2016. Case-control studies
      investigating the association between the ACE polymorphism and IA risk were
      included. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated
      with the fixed or random-effects model assuming allele, homozygote comparison of
      codominant, heterozygote comparison of codominant, dominant, and recessive
      models. Seven studies including 1,074 cases and 1,500 controls were included in
      the current meta-analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that the ACE
      polymorphism significantly increased IA risk in the allele, homozygote comparison
      of codominant and dominant models. According to the further stratified analysis
      by ethnicity, source of control and sample sizes, a significant association was
      identified between the ACE variant and IA risk in Asian individuals, hospital
      based, or large (>300) subgroups in all of the genetic models, not including the
      recessive model. Furthermore, no significantly increased risk was indicated in
      Caucasian individuals, population-based, or small (<300) subgroups in the
      heterozygote comparison of codominant, dominant and recessive models. The
      available evidence indicates that the ACE polymorphism is associated with an
      increased risk of IA, particularly in Asian individuals. However, other factors
      may impact this association. Further large, well-designed multicenter studies are
      required to validate the findings from the present study.

PMID- 28584639
TI  - The evaluation of fibrotic effects of the hepatitis B virus pre-core in hepatic
      stellate cells.
AB  - The role of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) endogenous pre-core protein in liver
      fibrosis is controversial. Whether the expression of the pre-core induces the
      activation of human stellate cells (HSCs) has not yet been reported. Plasmids
      expressing HBx, or pre-core protein were transfected into LX-2 cells.
      Subsequently, total RNA extracted and reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the fold change of collagen
      type I, alpha1 chain, alpha-smooth muscle actin and TIMP metalloproteinase
      inhibitor-1. Moreover, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in the supernatant
      of HSCs was evaluated by ELISA assay. In addition, a MTT assay was performed to
      test the cytotoxicity of the endogenous expression in LX-2 cells. None of the
      plasmids exhibited cytotoxic nor significant proliferative effects on LX-2 cells
      by MTT assessment. The gene expression analysis of fibrotic genes in LX-2 cells
      demonstrated that the pre-core protein presented no significant (P>0.05) fibrotic
      impact when compared to the empty control plasmid and HBx. The data from the TGF
      beta ELISA was consistent with the mRNA expression as detected with the control
      plasmid (P>0.05). The endogenous expression of the HBV pre-core exhibited no
      fibrotic impression in HSCs when compared to HBx.

PMID- 28584640
TI  - Chlorpheniramine and escitalopram: Similar antidepressant and nitric oxide
      lowering roles in a mouse model of anxiety.
AB  - There is a crosstalk between mood disorders and oxidative stress.
      Chlorpheniramine (CPA), a first generation antihistamine, is hypothesized to have
      an anxiolytic role at high doses; however, its antidepressant and antioxidant
      roles have not previously been investigated. The aim of the current study was to
      evaluate the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of CPA treatment in
      association with nitric oxide (NO) and super oxide dismutase (SOD) activity in a
      mouse model of anxiety. BALB/c mice were divided into unstressed (naive),
      control, and CPA- (0.5 mg/kg) and escitalopram- (ESC; 10 mg/kg) treated groups
      for 3 weeks. Subsequently, they were immobilized for 6 h and subjected to
      behavioural paradigms as follows: The open field test, the elevated plus maze
      (EPM) and the forced swim test to investigate motor function, anxiety and
      depression, respectively. The mice were sacrificed and serum was obtained to
      detect NO and SOD activity. Compared with the control group, the CPA-treated
      group demonstrated an antidepressant effect similar to that of the ESC-treated
      group. In addition, CPA prevented stress-induced NO without affecting SOD
      activity. CPA did not improve anxiety-like behaviour in the EPM, nor did it
      improve stress-induced locomotion and rearing, as demonstrated by the OFT. Thus,
      to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the
      antidepressant role of CPA in association with NO metabolism. However, further
      studies are required to elucidate the underlying mechanism.

PMID- 28584642
TI  - Pretreatment with intravenous amiodarone improves the efficacy of ibutilide
      treatment on cardioversion rate and maintenance time of sinus rhythm in patients
      with persistent atrial fibrillation.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy and safety of the
      pharmacological conversion of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) using
      amiodarone or/and ibutilide. Seventy-nine consecutive patients (48 males and 31
      females; mean age, 64.6+/-11.2 years; range, 40-80 years) with non-valvular
      chronic AF lasting >7 days (range, 7-97 days) that were admitted to hospital for
      elective pharmacological cardioversion were randomly assigned to receive
      treatment with intravenous ibutilide (1 mg plus an additional 1 mg if required;
      n=39) or intravenous amiodarone (300 mg) plus intravenous ibutilide (1 mg; n=40).
      Success rates of cardioversion were 51.3% (20/39 patients) for ibutilide alone
      and 71.8% (28/39 patients) for amiodarone + ibutilide (P<0.05). A comparable
      increase in the QTc interval was observed in the two groups. It was observed that
      the co-administration of amiodarone and ibutilide was safer than ibutilide alone
      with regard to the risk of ventricular arrhythmia. Forty-eight patients of
      successful cardioversion were personally contacted for follow-up. The result
      indicated that the sinus rhythm maintenance time of the amiodarone + ibutilide
      group (4.36+/-2.44 months) was significantly higher than that of the ibutilide
      group (2.34+/-1.75 months; P<0.01). In conclusion, pretreatment with intravenous
      amiodarone + ibutilide for pharmacological cardioversion of persistent AF is
      considered to be more effective and safer than treatment with ibutilide alone.

PMID- 28584641
TI  - Barley grass extract causes apoptosis of cancer cells by increasing intracellular
      reactive oxygen species production.
AB  - Cancer remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide, therefore food products
      are being investigated for potential prevention or treatment strategies. The
      ingredient, barley grass extract (Hordeum vulgare L.; Bex) is used to prevent or
      ameliorate various types of disease. In cancer, Bex has been revealed to inhibit
      tumor growth. However, its effect on cancer cells is yet to be clearly defined.
      In the present study, the effect of Bex on cancer cell growth was investigated.
      Bex inhibited the viabilities of breast and prostate cancer cells according to
      the results of MTT assays. Accordingly, Bex caused apoptosis, which was confirmed
      by Annexin V staining and western blot analysis for poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase
      and caspases. Furthermore, Bex increased the intracellular levels of reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), and N-acetyl-L-cystein blocked Bex-induced apoptosis.
      Therefore, the study demonstrated that Bex causes apoptosis of breast and
      prostate cancer cells by increasing intracellular ROS levels.

PMID- 28584643
TI  - Suppression of inflammation by the rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides via
      regulation of nuclear factor-kappaB and p38 signal transduction pathways in
      macrophages.
AB  - The rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge (A. asphodeloides) has been used
      as a traditional East Asian medicine for the treatment of various types of
      inflammatory disease. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no
      systemic studies regarding the molecular mechanisms of action of the A.
      asphodeloides rhizome anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of the present study was
      to elucidate the anti-inflammatory effects and underlying mechanism of action of
      ethanol extracts of the rhizome of A. asphodeloides (EAA) in murine macrophages.
      Non-cytotoxic concentrations of EAA (10-100 ug/ml) significantly decreased the
      production of NO and interleukin (IL)-6 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated
      macrophages, while the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha was not
      regulated by EAA. EAA-mediated reduction of nitric oxide (NO) was due to reduced
      expression levels of inducible NO synthase (iNOS). Furthermore, protein
      expression levels of LPS-induced cyclooxygenase-2, another inflammatory enzyme,
      were alleviated in the presence of EAA. EAA-mediated reduction of those
      proinflammatory mediators was due to inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF
      kappaB) and activator protein 1 transcriptional activities followed by the
      stabilization of inhibitor of kappa Balpha and inhibition of p38, respectively.
      These results indicate that EAA suppresses LPS-induced inflammatory responses by
      negatively regulating p38 and NF-kappaB, indicating that EAA is a candidate
      treatment for alleviating inflammation.

PMID- 28584644
TI  - Evaluation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha mRNA expression level and the
      rs1799964 polymorphism of the TNF-alpha gene in peripheral mononuclear cells of
      patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.
AB  - Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are types of chronic
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of which the actual causes remain unknown.
      Emerging data indicate that alterations in cytokine synthesis may be involved in
      IBD pathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha mRNA expression level and rs1799964 polymorphism are
      the genetic susceptibility component of IBD development. The TNF-alpha mRNA
      expression level of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured using
      comparative reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
      Genomic DNA from 201 individuals (CD: n=15; UC: n=86; control subjects: n=100)
      was analyzed for the presence of the TNF-alpha-1031 polymorphism by PCR
      restriction fragment length polymorphism. An increased TNF-alpha mRNA expression
      level was additionally observed in the CC genotype of the -1031 TNF-alpha gene
      polymorphism compared with the TC and TT genotypes (P<0.05). Furthermore, the
      present results revealed that there was no significant difference in the
      genotype/allele frequencies of the -1031 TNF-alpha gene polymorphism in Iranian
      IBD patients. By comparison, the TNF-alpha mRNA expression level was evaluated in
      patients with a history of taking medications and demonstrated a significant
      association in the group that received the 5-ASA + Pred + AZA,5. 5-ASA + Pred +
      AZA + IFX when compared with the other groups (P<0.05). Thus, these results
      support the hypothesis that overexpression of the TNF-alpha gene, which
      correlated with the CC genotype, may represent a genetic risk factor for Iranian
      IBD.

PMID- 28584645
TI  - Clinical manifestations in two patients with pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency
      and long-term survival.
AB  - Pyruvate dehydrogenase E1-alpha deficiency (PDHAD) results in lactic acidosis and
      hyperpyruvatemia. Two patients with PDHAD, a man with a p.R263Q mutation, and a
      girl with a p.C145del mutation in PDHE1alpha, presented with lactic acidosis with
      neurological disorder. These patients were able to survive for a long period
      under careful nursing care. Herein, we discuss the factors contributing to their
      relatively stable clinical course, albeit with intellectual disability.

PMID- 28584646
TI  - A novel mutation of NFIX causes Sotos-like syndrome (Malan syndrome) complicated
      with thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection.
AB  - Malan syndrome has recently been characterized to present Sotos-like phenotypes,
      such as intellectual disability and macrocephaly, with mutations in the NFIX
      gene. Herein, we report a 38-year-old patient with a novel single adenine
      insertion mutation in exon 2 of the NFIX gene (c.290_291insA). He developed early
      onset thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection, which was a rare complication but
      deserves particular attention in relatively long-lived patients with Sotos-like
      phenotypes.

PMID- 28584647
TI  - Big data in mental health research - do the ns justify the means? Using large
      data-sets of electronic health records for mental health research.
AB  - Advances in information technology and data storage, so-called 'big data', have
      the potential to dramatically change the way we do research. We are presented
      with the possibility of whole-population data, collected over multiple time
      points and including detailed demographic information usually only available in
      expensive and labour-intensive surveys, but at a fraction of the cost and effort.
      Typically, accounts highlight the sheer volume of data available in terms of
      terabytes (1012) and petabytes (1015) of data while charting the exponential
      growth in computing power we can use to make sense of this. Presented with
      resources of such dizzying magnitude it is easy to lose sight of the potential
      limitations when the amount of data itself appears unlimited. In this short
      account I look at some recent advances in electronic health data that are
      relevant for mental health research while highlighting some of the potential
      pitfalls.

PMID- 28584648
TI  - Vitamin D deficiency in adolescents in a tier 4 psychiatric unit.
AB  - Aims and method To review the current clinical practice and guidelines for
      testing and treating vitamin D deficiency in adolescents admitted to a tier 4
      adolescent psychiatric unit in north London. The blood test results of 56
      patients admitted between 2012 and 2014 were examined to determine whether
      vitamin D levels had been tested. For those individuals who were tested for
      vitamin D, results were analysed by gender and ethnicity. Results Of 56 patients
      admitted, 48% were tested for vitamin D deficiency and in 81.5% of cases we
      uncovered deficiency or severe deficiency; 18.5% had the minimum levels of
      vitamin D for bone health as per our trust guidelines. Clinical implications
      Adolescents within tier 4 adolescent mental health services may be at higher risk
      of vitamin D deficiency and so assessment of vitamin D levels should be
      considered as part of a standard physical health review for this group of young
      people.

PMID- 28584649
TI  - Adherence to NICE guidance on lifestyle advice for people with schizophrenia: a
      survey.
AB  - Aims and method The STEPWISE trial (STructured lifestyle Education for People
      WIth SchizophrEnia, schizoaffective disorder and first episode psychosis) is
      currently evaluating a lifestyle education programme in addition to usual care.
      However, it is difficult to define what constitutes 'usual care'. We aimed to
      define 'usual care' for lifestyle management in people with schizophrenia,
      schizoaffective disorder and first-episode psychosis in STEPWISE study sites. Ten
      National Health Service (NHS) mental health trusts participated in a bespoke
      survey based on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
      guidance. Results Eight trusts reported offering lifestyle education programmes
      and nine offered smoking cessation support. Reported recording of biomedical
      measures varied. Clinical implications Although recommended by NICE, lifestyle
      education programmes are not consistently offered across UK NHS mental health
      trusts. This highlights missed opportunities to improve the physical health of
      people with psychotic illness. Our survey benchmarks 'usual care' for the
      STEPWISE study, against which changes can be measured. Furthermore, future
      studies will be able to identify whether any progress in clinical practice has
      been made towards achieving the NICE recommendations.

PMID- 28584651
TI  - An analysis of whether a working-age ward-based liaison psychiatry service
      requires the input of a liaison psychiatrist.
AB  - Aims and method This article presents a 12-month case series to determine the
      fraction of ward referrals of adults of working age who needed a liaison
      psychiatrist in a busy tertiary referral teaching hospital. Results The service
      received 344 referrals resulting in 1259 face-to-face contacts. Depression
      accounted for the most face-to-face contacts. We deemed the involvement of a
      liaison psychiatrist necessary in 241 (70.1%) referrals, with medication
      management as the most common reason. Clinical implications A substantial amount
      of liaison ward work involves the treatment and management of severe and complex
      mental health problems. Our analysis suggests that in the majority of cases the
      input of a liaison psychiatrist is required.

PMID- 28584650
TI  - Are men under-treated and women over-treated with antidepressants? Findings from
      a cross-sectional survey in Sweden.
AB  - Aims and method To examine gender differences in self-reported depression and
      prescribed antidepressants (ADs). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was
      used to assess depression, and information on prescribed ADs was obtained from
      the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Results Depression was reported by 11.7% of
      the participants (12.3% men and 11.2% women). ADs were prescribed for 7.6% of the
      participants (5.3% men, 9.8% women). Among men, 1.8% reported depression and used
      ADs, 10.5% reported depression but did not use ADs, and 3.6% used ADs but did not
      report depression. The corresponding figures for women were 2.6%, 8.6% and 7.2%.
      Clinical implications Men report depression to a greater extent than women but
      are prescribed ADs to a lesser extent, possibly a sign of under-treatment. Women
      are prescribed ADs without reporting depression more often than men, possibly a
      sign of over-treatment. Although the causes remain unclear, diagnostic and
      treatment guidelines should benefit from considering gender differences in these
      respects.

PMID- 28584652
TI  - Civil and forensic patients in secure psychiatric settings: a comparison.
AB  - Aims and method To evaluate differences between male patients in secure
      psychiatric settings in the UK based on whether they are detained under civil or
      forensic sections of the Mental Health Act 1983. A cohort of patients discharged
      from a secure psychiatric hospital were evaluated for length of stay and
      frequency of risk-related incidents. Results Overall, 84 patients were included
      in the study: 52 in the forensic group and 32 in the civil group. Civil patients
      had more frequent incidents of aggression, sex offending, fire-setting and
      vulnerability, whereas forensic patients had more frequent episodes of self-harm.
      Clinical implications Secure hospitals should ensure treatment programmes are
      tailored to each patient's needs. Civil patients require greater emphasis on
      treatment of their mental illness, whereas forensic patients have additional
      offence-related treatment needs. Regular liaison between forensic and general
      adult services is essential to help ensure patients can return to appropriate
      settings at the earliest opportunity in their recovery.

PMID- 28584653
TI  - Known unknowns and unknown unknowns in suicide risk assessment: evidence from
      meta-analyses of aleatory and epistemic uncertainty.
AB  - Suicide risk assessment aims to reduce uncertainty in order to focus treatment
      and supervision on those who are judged to be more likely to die by suicide. In
      this article we consider recent meta-analytic research that highlights the
      difference between uncertainty about suicide due to chance factors (aleatory
      uncertainty) and uncertainty that results from lack of knowledge (epistemic
      uncertainty). We conclude that much of the uncertainty about suicide is aleatory
      rather than epistemic, and discuss the implications for clinicians.

PMID- 28584654
TI  - Drug information update. Unconventional treatment strategies for schizophrenia:
      polypharmacy and heroic dosing.
AB  - The majority of patients respond to antipsychotic monotherapy at standard doses,
      but a subset of patients will require more heroic measures that include
      antipsychotic polypharmacy and high-dose monotherapy. Indeed, research has shown
      that roughly 30% of patients with psychosis are prescribed multiple antipsychotic
      medications. We discuss the potential benefits and challenges of these approaches
      and provide a rationale for why and when they should be utilised.

PMID- 28584655
TI  - Should compulsory admission to hospital be part of suicide prevention strategies?
AB  - The World Health Organization report Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative
      provides governments with guidance for comprehensive suicide prevention
      strategies. However, it does not mention the role that compulsory admission to
      hospital of psychiatric patients should have in policies for suicide prevention.
      This was a missed opportunity for international discussion and guidance about a
      measure that, although widely used, is becoming increasingly controversial in
      light of the existing evidence and human rights norms.

PMID- 28584656
TI  - Improving the quality of mental health services using patient outcome data:
      making the most of HoNOS.
AB  - Efforts to assess and improve the quality of mental health services are often
      hampered by a lack of information on patient outcomes. Most mental health
      services in England have been routinely collecting Health of the Nation Outcome
      Scales (HoNOS) data for some time. In this article we illustrate how clinical
      teams have used HoNOS data to identify areas where performance could be improved.
      HoNOS data have the potential to give clinical teams the information they need to
      assess the quality of care they deliver, as well as develop and test initiatives
      aimed at improving the services they provide.

PMID- 28584657
TI  - Personalisation and social care assessment - the Care Act 2014.
AB  - The Care Act 2014 represents a significant change in legislation in England. For
      the first time it brings together various aspects of adult social care into a
      single statute succeeding earlier acts and policy. Given its importance to the
      lives of service users and carers, clinicians need to have a clear understanding
      of its implications. We provide an overview of why it was developed, its
      underlying principles and international comparisons, as well as implications for
      assessments, interventions and outcomes. The impact on the lives of patients and
      carers is discussed, as well as dilemmas and challenges the Act presents. While
      it addresses other important aspects of social care, including safeguarding,
      Mental Health Act section 117 aftercare and duty of candour, we focus on
      personalisation because of the opportunities it provides to enhance management
      plans for people experiencing mental health problems.

PMID- 28584658
TI  - Capacity assessments - diagnosis is misleading.

PMID- 28584659
TI  - Post-flight confusion.

PMID- 28584660
TI  - Mental capacity to consent to treatment and the association with outcome: a
      longitudinal study in patients with anorexia nervosa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relevance of diminished mental capacity in anorexia nervosa (AN) to
      course of disorder is unknown. AIMS: To examine prognostic relevance of
      diminished mental capacity in AN. METHOD: A longitudinal study was conducted in
      70 adult female patients with severe AN. At baseline, mental capacity was
      assessed by psychiatrists, and clinical and neuropsychological data (decision
      making) were collected. After 1 and 2 years, clinical and neuropsychological
      assessments were repeated, and remission and admission rates were calculated.
      RESULTS: People with AN with diminished mental capacity had a less favourable
      outcome with regard to remission and were admitted more frequently. Their
      appreciation of illness remained hampered. Decision-making did not improve, in
      contrast to people with full mental capacity. CONCLUSIONS: People with AN with
      diminished mental capacity seem to do less well in treatment and display decision
      making deficiencies that do not ameliorate with weight improvement. DECLARATION
      OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: (c) The Royal College of Psychiatrists
      2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
      Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

PMID- 28584661
TI  - Evaluation of sexual and fertility dysfunction in spinal cord-injured men in
      Jamaica.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sexual dysfunction and infertility are common in males with
      traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs). The objective of this study was to
      determine the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and infertility in males with
      traumatic SCI managed in Jamaica, as well as the therapeutic options offered.
      CASE PRESENTATION: A cross-sectional study including males with traumatic SCI
      managed at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, Kingston, Jamaica was
      carried out between 1 January and 31 December 2015. Sexual function was measured
      with the International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire, and further
      information on social history, fertility desires and treatment options offered
      were collected. Data were analyzed using Stata 12 for Windows (College Station,
      TX, USA). The mean age of patients at the time of study was 38.8+/-15.3 years
      (range 19-71) with a mean duration of injury of 3.7+/-2.4 years (range 1.3-15.6).
      Of 45 patients with traumatic SCI surveyed, 90.7% had erectile dysfunction, with
      62.8% being classified as severe and 73.3% of men were unable to ejaculate.
      Treatment for erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction was offered in only two
      patients, respectively. Most (71.1%) patients indicated that they wanted to have
      children in the future, however, no one had been referred for assisted
      reproductive techniques. DISCUSSION: Men with traumatic SCI have high rates of
      severe erectile and ejaculatory dysfunctions, but have preserved interests in
      maintaining fertility. Adherence to guidelines for sexual education for men with
      traumatic SCI in Jamaica and the Caribbean is needed.

PMID- 28584662
TI  - A rare case of acute transverse myelitis associated with Staphylococcusaureus
      bacteremia and osteomyelitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Direct intramedullary infections are considered very rare. Only few
      reports of Staphylococcus aureus myelitis have been published. CASE PRESENTATION:
      Our patient, a 79-year-old male, presented with a 2-day history of high-grade
      fever and high inflammatory markers and progressively developed tetraplegia
      during hospitalization. Lumbar puncture revealed cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis
      and a spinal cord MRI revealed transverse myelitis at the level of C3-C5 and
      possible osteomyelitis of C5-T1. Two blood cultures were positive for methicillin
      sensitive S. aureus. Despite control of the infection, there was no neurologic
      improvement. DISCUSSION: The morbidity of infectious myelitis can be severe.
      Considering the rarity of S. aureus myelitis, experience gained from case reports
      is important. A brief review of the available literature is provided.

PMID- 28584663
TI  - Clinical pitfall: false-positive aquaporin-4 IgG leading to misdiagnosis of
      neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder in patient with spinal arteriovenous
      fistula.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We report the cases of a 68-year-old male with a filum terminale
      arteriovenous fistula (AVF) who was initially misdiagnosed with neuromyelitis
      optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) based on imaging findings and false-positive
      aquaporin-4 IgG (AQP4-IgG). CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old male presented with
      slowly progressive weakness and numbness in his bilateral lower extremities. He
      was initially diagnosed with NMOSD and treated with immunosuppressive therapy
      based on findings of extensive spinal cord edema on magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) and initial negative spinal angiography as well as positive AQP4-IgG.
      Despite immunosuppressive treatment, his symptoms progressed slowly. He repeated
      MRI that showed persistent abnormal signal within the spinal cord. Second spinal
      angiography revealed filum terminale dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF). Finally,
      he underwent surgical disconnection of the fistula. Repeated AQP-IgG was reported
      negative. DISCUSSION: Although NMOSD and spinal AVFs can share imaging findings
      on spinal cord MRI, typical clinical features of each disorder are distinct.
      Identification of AQP4-IgG is the hallmark to confirm a clinical diagnosis of
      NMOSD; however, different assays can vary in sensitivity and specificity.
      Although it is rare, false positives can occur especially at low titers. A
      misdiagnosis of NMOSD and delayed diagnosis of spinal AVF had significant
      clinical implications because the treatment of spinal AVF is surgical
      disconnection or endovascular embolization, whereas the treatment for NMOSD
      includes long-term immunosuppressive therapy. Clinicians should be aware of the
      potential technical issues in detecting AQP4-IgG especially in the context of
      patients with atypical presentations for NMOSD.

PMID- 28584665
TI  - Multimodal Imaging in an Unusual Cluster of Multiple Evanescent White Dot
      Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe an unusual cluster of multiple evanescent white dot
      syndrome (MEWDS) encountered within a 3-month period. METHODS: This retrospective
      observation study is comprised of seven patients who presented with MEWDS in a 3
      month period in central Israel. Data were collected from patients' medical
      records on clinical, multimodal imaging, and viral serology findings. RESULTS:
      Six women and one man of mean age 31.5 +/- 7.2 years. Three reported a precedent
      viral infection. All had unilateral decreased vision. Funduscopy revealed foveal
      granularity. MAIN IMAGING FINDINGS: Hyperfluorescent spots on blue
      autofluorescence (BAF), hypofluorescent spots on indocyanine green angiography,
      dark lesions on infrared photos, and ellipsoid zone irregularities on spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Resolution of the spots on BAF
      correlated with anatomic (SD-OCT) and visual recovery. OCT angiography performed
      following the convalescence stage demonstrated intact retinal and choroidal flow.
      Serologic findings were inconclusive. CONCLUSION: We report a unique cluster of
      MEWDS patients presented in a short period of time. SD-OCT findings of ellipsoid
      zone disruption in combination with other multimodal imaging modalities are
      outlined meticulously. Recognizing these imaging features along with high index
      of clinical suspicion is important for the diagnosis of MEWDS. Serologic testing
      might be considered in future patients.

PMID- 28584664
TI  - A Review of Innovations in Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Surgical Techniques.
AB  - Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) requires surgical intervention for its
      repair. There are variable techniques used for this purpose, and they are all
      being continuously refined. In this review, we detail the recent innovations in
      surgical management of RRD and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR).

PMID- 28584666
TI  - Short- and Long-Term, 11-22 Years, Results after Laparoscopic Nissen
      Fundoplication in Obese versus Nonobese Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some studies suggest that obesity is associated with a poor outcome
      after Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication (LNF), whereas others have not
      replicated these findings. The effect of body mass index (BMI) on the short- and
      long-term results of LNF is investigated. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were only
      patients who undergone a LNF with at least 11-year follow-up data available,
      patients with preoperative weight and height data available for calculation of
      BMI (Kg/m2), and patients with a BMI up to a maximum of 34.9. RESULTS: 201
      patients met the inclusion criteria: 43 (21.4%) had a normal BMI, 89 (44.2%) were
      overweight, and 69 (34.4%) were obese. The operation was significantly longer in
      obese patients; the use of drains and graft was less in the normal BMI group (p <
      0.0001). The hospital stay, conversion (6,4%), and intraoperative and early
      postoperative complications were not influenced by BMI. CONCLUSIONS: BMI does not
      influence short-term outcomes following LNF, but long-term control of reflux in
      obese patients is worse than in normal weight subjects.

PMID- 28584667
TI  - Melatonin Secretion Pattern in Critically Ill Patients: A Pilot Descriptive
      Study.
AB  - Critically ill patients have abnormal circadian and sleep homeostasis. This may
      be associated with higher morbidity and mortality. The aims of this pilot study
      were (1) to describe melatonin secretion in conscious critically ill mechanically
      ventilated patients and (2) to describe whether melatonin secretion and sleep
      patterns differed in these patients with and without remifentanil infusion. Eight
      patients were included. Blood-melatonin was taken every 4th hour, and
      polysomnography was carried out continually during a 48-hour period. American
      Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria were used for sleep scoring if sleep patterns
      were identified; otherwise, Watson's classification was applied. As remifentanil
      was periodically administered during the study, its effect on melatonin and sleep
      was assessed. Melatonin secretion in these patients followed a phase-delayed
      diurnal curve. We did not observe any effect of remifentanil on melatonin
      secretion. We found that the risk of atypical sleep compared to normal sleep was
      significantly lower (p < 0.001) under remifentanil infusion. Rapid Eye Movement
      (REM) sleep was only observed during the nonsedation period. We found preserved
      diurnal pattern of melatonin secretion in these patients. Remifentanil did not
      affect melatonin secretion but was associated with lower risk of atypical sleep
      pattern. REM sleep was only registered during the period of nonsedation.

PMID- 28584668
TI  - Do Successive Preterm Births Increase the Risk of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression and preterm birth (PTB) are major problems
      affecting women's health. PTB has been associated with increased risk of
      postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS). However, it is unclear if PTB in women with
      a prior history of PTB is associated with an incremental risk of PDS. This study
      aims to determine if PTB in women with a prior history of PTB is associated with
      an incremental risk of PDS. METHODS: Data come from the 2009-2011 national
      Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Study sample included 55,681
      multiparous women with singleton live births in the index delivery. Multiple
      logistic regression was used to examine the association between PTB and PDS.
      RESULTS: The risk of PDS was 55% higher in women with PTB in both deliveries (aRR
      = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.28-1.88) and 74% higher in women with PTB in the index
      delivery only (aRR = 1.74; 95% CI = 1.49-2.05), compared to women with term
      deliveries. CONCLUSIONS: Preterm birth is a risk factor for PDS. PTB in women
      with a prior history of PTB is not associated with an incremental risk of PDS.
      Routine screening for PDS should be conducted for all women and closer monitoring
      should be done for high risk women with PTB.

PMID- 28584669
TI  - Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome: First Molecularly Confirmed Case from Sub-Saharan
      Africa.
AB  - We report a case of a male baby who has characteristic signs of Freeman-Sheldon
      syndrome, a rare but recognizable, severe autosomal dominant form of distal
      arthrogryposis. Diagnosis was based on the distinctive clinical characteristics
      of the syndrome and confirmed by genetic analysis that showed a de novo missense
      mutation c.2015G>A (p.Arg672His) of the MYH3 gene. We highlight the different
      features present in our patient and describe the etiology of the Freeman-Sheldon
      phenotype and how its clinical complications can be dealt with. To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first molecularly confirmed case of Freeman-Sheldon
      syndrome in sub-Saharan Africa.

PMID- 28584670
TI  - Solitary Plasmacytoma of the Mesentery: A Systematic Clinician's Diagnosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Plasmacytoma is an uncommon plasma cell neoplasm and its localized
      form is solitary plasmacytoma of the bone and solitary extramedullary
      plasmacytoma. Solitary plasmacytoma of the mesentery is extremely rare, reported
      only in a handful of cases. CASE PRESENTATION: A 47-year-old man with nonspecific
      abdominal complains was found to have an ill-defined mass on his mesenteric root.
      Laparoscopic biopsy and stepwise histopathological examination revealed a
      mesenteric plasmacytoma, and extensive imaging and laboratory investigations led
      to the diagnosis of the solitary mesenteric plasmacytoma. The patient underwent
      definitive radiotherapy and remains under remission one year later. DISCUSSION:
      Plasma cell dyscrasias include a variant of proliferative disease, characterized
      by clonal expansion of bone marrow plasma cells, producing a massive quantity of
      monoclonal immunoglobulin called paraprotein or M-protein. Solitary
      extramedullary plasmacytoma accounts for only 3-5% of all plasma cell neoplasms.
      Meticulous adherence to the established diagnostic criteria helps the clinician
      to set the correct, yet very unusual and unexpected diagnosis.

PMID- 28584671
TI  - Hybrid Desmoplastic/Follicular Ameloblastoma of the Mandible: A Case Report and
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - Desmoplastic ameloblastoma (DA) is one of the 6 histopathological subtypes of
      ameloblastoma. Hybrid lesions in which histopathologically conventional
      ameloblastoma coexists with areas of DA are rare. A 40-year-old male was referred
      to our hospital complaining of a swelling in the right premolar region of the
      mandible. A panoramic radiograph showed an area of radiolucency with a well
      defined corticated border, whereas computed tomography revealed a unilocular
      radiolucent lesion and buccal expansion together with cortical perforation. The
      lesion was treated via enucleation and curettage of the marginal bone and
      fenestration. A histopathological examination showed a hybrid ameloblastoma with
      a pronounced desmoplastic pattern and follicular changes. The patient's
      postoperative course has been favorable up to now, and no marked changes have
      been observed. We presented a case of hybrid ameloblastoma and reviewed the 36
      reported cases of hybrid ameloblastoma that have been reported in the English
      literature.

PMID- 28584672
TI  - Keratoacanthoma of the Nasal Septum Secondary to Ranibizumab Use.
AB  - Keratoacanthoma (KA) is a benign epithelial tumor that typically presents as a
      firm, cone-shaped, flesh-colored nodule with a central horn-filled crater. KA is
      considered to be a low-grade variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We report
      a rare case of a 72-year-old male who presented with a KA involving the nasal
      septum, possibly related to ranibizumab use. A flesh-colored lesion on the right
      anterior nasal septum lesion was visualized on examination. Histologic
      examination revealed a well-circumscribed, dome-shaped central crater filled with
      keratin, well-differentiated squamous epithelium with ground-glass cytoplasm with
      pushing margins, and intraepithelial microabscesses establishing the diagnosis of
      KA. KA of the nasal septum has only been reported once in the literature. This
      case is unusual because it normally presents on sun-exposed areas. Additionally,
      this patient was taking ranibizumab, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
      inhibitor for macular degeneration. Despite ranibizumab not being directly linked
      to precancerous and cancerous skin lesions, agents in this medication class have
      been. Although it is difficult to prove associations in this isolated case, the
      role of ranibizumab causing cutaneous lesions should be further investigated.

PMID- 28584673
TI  - Sclerema Neonatorum Treated Successfully with Parenteral Steroids: An Experience
      from a Resource Poor Country.
AB  - Sclerema neonatorum is a form of panniculitides characterized by diffuse
      hardening of subcutaneous tissue with minimal inflammation. It usually affects
      ill and preterm neonates. Prognosis is usually poor in many cases despite
      aggressive management. Various treatment modalities (antibiotics, intravenous
      immunoglobulin, steroids, and exchange transfusion) have been explained in
      literature. Steroids due to its easy availability and low cost can prove to be
      lifesaving in such cases, especially in resource poor countries. Here, we report
      a case of sclerema neonatorum in a one-week preterm baby treated successfully
      with parenteral steroids and antibiotics.

PMID- 28584675
TI  - Musculoskeletal neck pain in children and adolescents: Risk factors and
      complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neck pain is a major public health concern that has been extensively
      studied in adults but not in children and adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of
      this article is to explore musculoskeletal neck pain in children and adolescents,
      as well as to discuss its possible risk factors and complications. METHODS:
      Participants were patients under 18 years of age, who had presented to the clinic
      (Beirut, Lebanon) in 2015, with nonspecific neck pain. They were examined and
      asked to evaluate and localize the pain. Neck positioning during various
      activities along with other complications were explored. Patients reporting pain
      associated with congenital or systemic diseases and fractures were excluded.
      RESULTS: Two-hundred-and-seven children and adolescents presented with
      nonspecific neck pain. Musculoskeletal neck pain with spasm was diagnosed in 180
      patients (N = 180). Participants did not show any findings on physical
      examination and radiological studies, and had no comorbidities. More females
      (57%) than males (43%) and more adolescents (60%) than children (40%) were
      affected. All the 180 participants (100%) reported flawed flexion of their back
      and neck while studying and/or using smartphones and tablets. Eye symptoms were
      reported in 21% of the cases, and parents of most participants (82%) reported a
      change in the psychological and social behavior of their children. CONCLUSIONS:
      Musculoskeletal neck pain is an important disease in children and adolescents
      with numerous risk factors contributing to its development. Increased stresses
      regarding the cervical spine may lead to cervical degeneration along with other
      developmental, medical, psychological, and social complications.

PMID- 28584676
TI  - Transradial approach to treating endovascular cerebral aneurysms: Case series and
      technical note.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several benefits have been described over the years of the
      transradial versus femoral endovascular approach to cardiac interventions.
      Consequently, its use has become habitual at most centers that perform cardiac
      catheterizations. This paper details a right transradial approach, incorporating
      a variety of coils or flow diverters, which can be utilized for the endovascular
      treatment of different cerebral aneurysms. METHODS: From 2014 to 2016, we
      performed 40 endovascular procedures to treat cerebral aneurysms adopting the
      same right transradial approach. Five aneurysms were treated with flow diverters
      and 35 were treated with coils. Seven of these aneurisms were asymptomatic,
      whereas 33 had already ruptured. RESULTS: Satisfactory treatment was achieved in
      all cases through the same approach in the absence of any complications.
      CONCLUSIONS: A right transradial approach may be satisfactory for the
      endovascular treatment of different cerebral aneurysms, including aneurysms in
      either hemisphere. This is the largest series of cerebral aneurysms treated
      through a transradial approach.

PMID- 28584677
TI  - Microvascular decompression for hypoglossal nerve palsy secondary to vertebral
      artery compression: A case report and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neurovascular-compression syndrome (NCS) is described as a prominent
      pathological contact between cranial nerves and vessels. Trigeminal neuralgia,
      hemifacial spasm, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia are typical clinical entities
      associated with NCS. On the other hand, the hyoglossal nerve is rarely affected
      by NCS. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present a case of hypoglossal nerve palsy (HNP)
      secondary to vertebral artery (VA) compression. A 47-year-old man presented to
      our hospital with a 1-month history of dysarthria and dysphagia. Neurological
      examination revealed left HNP, with an intact swallowing reflex and no
      oropharyngeal or palatal weakness. Magnetic resonance imaging (constructive
      interference in steady state) revealed left hypoglossal nerve compression by the
      V4 segment of the left atherosclerotic VA. He underwent microvascular
      decompression (MVD) surgery. Intraoperatively, the VA was compressing the
      hypoglossal nerve. The left VA was moved and attached to the dura matter using a
      polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon(r)) sheet and fibrin glue. Postoperatively, the
      patient exhibited gradual recovery of HNP in 3 months without dysfunction of
      lower cranial nerves. CONCLUSION: In patients with isolated HNP, vascular
      compression should be considered as a cause of these symptoms, and subsequent MVD
      can lead to resolution.

PMID- 28584678
TI  - Preventive effect of tamsulosin on postoperative urinary retention in
      neurosurgical patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is common in neurosurgical
      patients. The use of alpha-blockade therapy, such as tamsulosin, has benefited
      many patients with a history of obstructive uropathy by decreasing lower urinary
      tract symptoms such as distension, infections, and stricture formation, as well
      as the incidence of POUR. For this study, we targeted patients who had undergone
      spinal surgery to examine the prophylactic effects of tamsulosin. Increased
      understanding of this therapy will assist in minimizing the morbidity of spinal
      surgery. METHODS: We enrolled 95 male patients undergoing spine surgery in a
      double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Patients were randomly
      assigned to receive either preoperative tamsulosin (N = 49) or a placebo (N = 46)
      and then followed-up prospectively for the development of POUR after removal of
      an indwelling urinary catheter (IUC). They were also followed-up for the
      incidence of IUC reinsertions. RESULTS: The rate of developing POUR was similar
      in both the groups. Of the 49 patients given tamsulosin, 16 (36%) developed POUR
      compared to 13 (28%) from the control group (P = 0.455). In the control group, 5
      (11%) patients had IUC re-inserted postoperatively, whereas 7 (14%) patients in
      the tamsulosin group had IUC re-inserted postoperatively (P = 0.616). In patients
      suffering from axial-type symptoms (i.e., mechanical back pain), 63% who received
      tamsulosin and 18% from the control group (P = 0.048) developed POUR. CONCLUSION:
      Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in the rates of
      developing POUR among patients in either group. POUR is caused by a variety of
      factors, and further studies are needed to shed light on its etiology.

PMID- 28584679
TI  - Pseudotumoral neuroparacoccidioidomycosis of the posterior fossa: A case report
      and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis of significant
      importance in some Latin American countries. The widespread use of neuroimaging
      methods has shown that involvement of the central nervous system was more
      frequent than previously reported. The most common form of occurrence of
      neuroparacoccidioidomycosis is the pseudotumoral one. The authors report a case
      of pseudotumoral neuroparacoccidioidomycosis localized in the posterior fossa.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: A 49-year-old single man, rural worker, born and raised in
      Laranjal Paulista-SP, was admitted to the hospital with 3 months history of
      bilateral occipital headache every day. Along with a history of active smoking
      and previous use of alcohol, the patient reported personal history of mild
      occipitotemporal injury 3 months ago. The patient was submitted to computed
      tomography in a 16-row multidetector scanner, which revealed a nodular hypodense
      lesion with a ring-enhancement and associated perilesional edema in the left
      cerebellar hemisphere. Radiological workup was initiated to investigate the
      eventual primary neoplastic site. CONCLUSION: The analysis of the lipid peak by
      spectroscopy of proton magnetic resonance may indicate the neurological
      involvement by paracoccidioidomycosis, notably in patients with concomitant risk
      and pulmonary involvement signals.

PMID- 28584674
TI  - Injectable hydrogels for cartilage and bone tissue engineering.
AB  - Tissue engineering has become a promising strategy for repairing damaged
      cartilage and bone tissue. Among the scaffolds for tissue-engineering
      applications, injectable hydrogels have demonstrated great potential for use as
      three-dimensional cell culture scaffolds in cartilage and bone tissue
      engineering, owing to their high water content, similarity to the natural
      extracellular matrix (ECM), porous framework for cell transplantation and
      proliferation, minimal invasive properties, and ability to match irregular
      defects. In this review, we describe the selection of appropriate biomaterials
      and fabrication methods to prepare novel injectable hydrogels for cartilage and
      bone tissue engineering. In addition, the biology of cartilage and the bony ECM
      is also summarized. Finally, future perspectives for injectable hydrogels in
      cartilage and bone tissue engineering are discussed.

PMID- 28584680
TI  - Multidisciplinary surgical treatment of presacral meningocele and teratoma in an
      adult with Currarino triad.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currarino syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic condition that presents
      with the defining triad of anorectal malformations, sacral bone deformations, and
      presacral masses, which may include teratoma. Neurosurgeons are involved in the
      surgical treatment of anterior meningoceles, which are often associated with this
      condition. The accepted surgical treatment is a staged anterior-posterior
      resection of the presacral mass and obliteration of the anterior meningocele.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: This case involved a 36-year-old female who presented with late
      onset of symptoms attributed to CS (e.g., presacral mass, anterior sacral
      meningocele, and sacral agenesis). She successfully underwent multidisciplinary
      single-stage approach for treatment of the anterior sacral meningocele and
      resection of the presacral mass. This required obliteration of the meningocele
      and closure of the dural defect. One year later, her meningocele had fully
      resolved. CONCLUSION: While late presentations with CS are rare, early detection
      and multidisciplinary treatment including single-state anterior may be successful
      for managing these patients.

PMID- 28584681
TI  - Abdominal pseudocyst as a complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement:
      Review of the literature and a proposed algorithm for treatment using 4
      illustrative cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement is one of the most commonly
      performed procedures in neurosurgery. One rare complication is the formation of
      an abdominal pseudocyst, which can cause shunt malfunction. CASE DESCRIPTIONS: We
      present four unique cases of abdominal pseudocyst formation. Our first patient
      initially presented with a right upper quadrant pseudocyst. Shunt was
      externalized and the distal end was revised with placement of catheter on the
      opposite side. He developed another pseudocyst within 5 months of shunt revision
      and developed another shunt failure. Our second patient had a history of shunt
      revisions and a known pseudocyst, presented with small bowel obstruction, and
      underwent laparotomy for the lysis of adhesions with improvement in his symptoms.
      After multiple readmissions for the same problem, it was thought that the
      pseudocyst was causing gastric outlet obstruction and his VP shunt was converted
      into a ventriculopleural shunt followed by percutaneous drainage of his
      pseudocyst. Our third patient developed hydrocephalus secondary to cryptococcal
      meningitis. He developed abdominal pain secondary to an abdominal pseudocyst,
      which was drained percutaneously with relief of symptoms. The fourth patient had
      a history of multiple shunt revisions and a previous percutaneous pseudocyst
      drainage that recurred with cellulitis and abscess secondary to hardware
      infection. CONCLUSION: Abdominal pseudocysts are a rare but important
      complication of VP shunt placement. Treatment depends on etiology, patient
      presentation, and clinical manifestations. Techniques for revision include distal
      repositioning of peritoneal catheter, revision of catheter into pleural space or
      right atrium, or removal of the shunt completely.

PMID- 28584682
TI  - Safe time duration for temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion in aneurysm
      surgery based on motor-evoked potential monitoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporary vessel occlusion of the parent artery is an essential
      technique for aneurysm surgery. Our aim was to clarify the safe time for
      temporary occlusion for aneurysm surgery, that is the "safe time duration" (STD),
      in which brain tissue exposed to ischemia will almost never fall into even the
      ischemic penumbra during temporary occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA),
      and even transient postoperative motor impairment will be rare using
      intraoperative motor-evoked potentials (MEP). METHODS: Twenty-four patients
      underwent MCA aneurysm clipping surgery with MEP monitoring for 13 ruptured
      aneurysms and 11 unruptured aneurysms. The duration of vessel occlusion in
      patients without MEP changes was measured as the STD. Average STD was calculated
      as 95% confidence interval for the population mean using sample data from
      patients with MEP changes and patients without changes. RESULTS: All 24 patients
      received proximal flow control only. Five patients (20.8%) developed significant
      intraoperative MEP changes. Time to MEP change (i.e., STD) in these patients was
      4.6 +/- 2.1 min. In patients without MEP changes, STD was 2.7 +/- 1.4 min.
      Average STD was thus 3.1 +/- 0.7 min. CONCLUSIONS: The 95% lower confidence limit
      for average STD was 2.4 min when applying temporary occlusion on the proximal
      side of the MCA. This STD resembled that previously reported for temporary
      proximal occlusion of the internal carotid artery.

PMID- 28584683
TI  - Training Nuclei Detection Algorithms with Simple Annotations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Generating good training datasets is essential for machine learning
      based nuclei detection methods. However, creating exhaustive nuclei contour
      annotations, to derive optimal training data from, is often infeasible. METHODS:
      We compared different approaches for training nuclei detection methods solely
      based on nucleus center markers. Such markers contain less accurate information,
      especially with regard to nuclear boundaries, but can be produced much easier and
      in greater quantities. The approaches use different automated sample extraction
      methods to derive image positions and class labels from nucleus center markers.
      In addition, the approaches use different automated sample selection methods to
      improve the detection quality of the classification algorithm and reduce the run
      time of the training process. We evaluated the approaches based on a previously
      published generic nuclei detection algorithm and a set of Ki-67-stained breast
      cancer images. RESULTS: A Voronoi tessellation-based sample extraction method
      produced the best performing training sets. However, subsampling of the extracted
      training samples was crucial. Even simple class balancing improved the detection
      quality considerably. The incorporation of active learning led to a further
      increase in detection quality. CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate sample extraction
      and selection methods, nuclei detection algorithms trained on the basis of simple
      center marker annotations can produce comparable quality to algorithms trained on
      conventionally created training sets.

PMID- 28584684
TI  - Current State of the Regulatory Trajectory for Whole Slide Imaging Devices in the
      USA.
AB  - The regulatory field for digital pathology (DP) has advanced significantly. A
      major milestone was accomplished when the FDA allowed the first vendor to market
      their device for primary diagnostic use in the USA and published in the
      classification order that this device, and substantially equivalent devices of
      this generic type, should be classified into class II instead of class III as
      previously proposed. The Digital Pathology Association (DPA) regulatory task
      force had a major role in the accomplishment of getting the application request
      for Whole Slide Imaging (WSI) Systems recommended for a de novo. This article
      reviews the past and emerging regulatory environment of WSI for clinical use in
      the USA. A WSI system with integrated subsystems is defined in the context of
      medical device regulations. The FDA technical performance assessment guideline is
      also discussed as well as parameters involved in analytical testing and clinical
      studies to demonstrate that WSI devices are safe and effective for clinical use.

PMID- 28584685
TI  - Renal Epithelioid Angiomyolipoma Associated with Pulmonary
      Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: Imaging Findings.
AB  - Renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs) and pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) are the
      most common tumors of the perivascular epithelioid cell (PEComa) family. Both may
      be associated with tuberous sclerosis (TS) complex. Epithelioid AML (EAML) is a
      rare variety of AMLs, with a potential aggressive behavior. There are few reports
      in the English literature addressing on the imaging findings of renal EAMLs,
      which are considered nonspecific. We present the sonographic, computed
      tomographic, and magnetic resonance imaging findings of a renal EAML in a
      pregnant woman with concomitant pulmonary lesions indicative of LAM, without
      stigmata of TS. We conclude the importance of considering EAML as a possible
      diagnosis in the presence of a large renal mass with high cellular content and
      small amounts of fat in the coexistence of pulmonary LAM.

PMID- 28584686
TI  - Extra-pituitary Cerebral Anomalies in Pediatric Patients of Ectopic
      Neurohypophysis: An Uncommon Association.
AB  - CONTEXT: Ectopic neurohypophysis (EN) refers to an interrupted, nonvisualized,
      and thinned out pituitary stalk with ectopic location of the posterior pituitary
      gland. Concurrent extra-pituitary cerebral and extra-cranial anomalies have been
      rarely reported in patients of EN. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of extra-pituitary cerebral anomalies
      in pediatric patients of EN. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A hospital-based cross
      sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care center. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      The study group comprised eight pediatric patients of EN associated with extra
      pituitary cerebral or vascular anomalies. Clinical and biochemical assessment was
      done in all patients. RESULTS: Out of the total eight patients with EN, MRI
      showed interrupted pituitary stalk in five patients (62.5%) and nonvisible
      pituitary stalk in three patients (37.5%). Ectopic posterior pituitary bright
      spot was demonstrated in median eminence in six patients (75%), faintly
      visualized in one patient (12.5%) and nonvisualized in another one patient.
      Statistical significant association was noted between pituitary gland height and
      patient's body height with the pituitary gland volume (P < 0.001). Varied extra
      pituitary cerebral anomalies encountered in our patients ranged from isolated
      anomalies such as optic nerve hypoplasia in three patients (37.5%), corpus
      callosum dysplasia in four patients (50%), agyria-pachygyria complex in two
      patients (25%), and intracranial vascular anomalies in two patients to syndromic
      association of tuberous sclerosis in one patient. CONCLUSION: Identifying and
      reporting of associated extra-pituitary cerebral anomalies in patients with EN
      are crucial in assessing the overall neurological outcome of such patients.

PMID- 28584687
TI  - Fluorine-18-fluorodihydroxyphenylalanine Positron-emission Tomography Scans of
      Neuroendocrine Tumors (Carcinoids and Pheochromocytomas).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Conventional methods of imaging neuroendocrine tumors with computed
      tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, indium-111-octreotide, or radiolabeled
      metaiodobenzilguanidine scintigraphy have limitations. This pilot study tried to
      improve the localization of these tumors with fluorine-18
      fluorodihydroxyphenylalanine (F-DOPA) positron-emission tomography (PET)
      scanning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 22 patients, the majority of whom
      were referred with clinical diagnosis or suspicion of carcinoid (n = 11),
      neuroendocrine tumors (n = 7) or pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PGL) (n = 4).
      The comparison was made with the prior conventional imaging. RESULTS: The F-DOPA
      findings were compared with the results of subsequent surgery (2), endoscopy (1),
      or a long-term follow-up (mean duration, 49 months) for 17 patients. Two patients
      were lost to follow-up. Foci of F-DOPA deposition were detected in eight patients
      (final diagnosis of carcinoid in six, of neuroendocrine tumors in one, and of PGL
      in another). Comparison with the final diagnoses revealed concordance in 16 of
      the 22 patients. F-DOPA results appeared superior to those obtained with
      conventional imaging. Despite the small number and diagnostic heterogeneity, in a
      substantial fraction of patients F-DOPA PET added information relevant to
      clinical management. CONCLUSION: F-DOPA scanning added prognostic value,
      particularly when multiple abnormal foci versus a negative examination were
      considered.

PMID- 28584688
TI  - Antenatal Umbilical Coiling Index and Newborn Outcomes: Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to test the predictive value of antenatal umbilical coiling
      index (aUCI) among a prospectively recruited cohort of antenatal women. METHODS:
      Women with singleton pregnancies were recruited at their second-trimester scan.
      Images of the umbilical cord were used to calculate the aUCI. Pregnancy and birth
      outcomes were recorded and statistical associations between aUCI and small for
      gestational age (SGA) using international standard birth weight centiles and
      preterm birth were investigated (n = 430). RESULTS: aUCI results were consistent
      with the literature and showed good reproducibility between observers. Abnormal
      aUCI was not associated with SGA, but there was a statistical association with
      preterm birth (odds ratio 3.3 (95% confidence interval 1.4-7.7, P = 0.003). The
      sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for preterm
      birth were 47.6%, 76.9%, 9.6%, and 96.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The coiling
      index is unlikely to be useful in clinical practice as a screening tool for
      preterm birth owing to limited predictive value. We exclude a statistically or
      clinically significant association between abnormal coiling and SGA.

PMID- 28584689
TI  - An Integrated Interactive-Spaced Education Radiology Curriculum for Preclinical
      Students.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study is to determine whether a radiology
      module, together with online spaced education, helps students of an integrated
      problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum increase their radiology knowledge and
      long-term retention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Second-year students at the American
      University of Antigua College of Medicine participated in small groups of ten
      students each into two 2 h of radiology laboratories. The study comprised two
      cohorts: winter and fall 2013 students (control group) and 2014 students
      (experimental group). Both groups used face-to-face PBL. The students of the
      experimental group received additional online-spaced education. The skills were
      assessed for both groups before the beginning of laboratories and 4 weeks and 7
      months after laboratories. RESULTS: There was no significant difference on
      pretest between the control and experimental groups. On completion of the
      radiology laboratories, comparison of test results before and after training
      showed net improvement for both groups. The corresponding difference for the
      experimental group was higher compared to the one for the control group (7.83 vs.
      6.21, P < 0.001). The difference between the scores on delayed test and pretest
      showed that the students of both groups demonstrated average knowledge
      improvement even though their level of performance was slightly below the
      posttest. The corresponding difference for the experimental group did not differ
      much from the posttest (P > 0.05), and no significant difference of scores was
      observed 7 months later for either group. Further, a higher percentage of the
      students in the experimental group strongly agreed that their learning objectives
      were met (92% vs. 71%, P > 0.001), and this trend persisted throughout the study.
      CONCLUSION: Online spaced education combined to a face-to-face PBL enhances not
      only the student's knowledge of basic radiology along with his/her self
      assessment skills but also the long-term retention of radiology material and
      satisfaction with the integrated interactive system-based module. Future research
      is needed to see if medical students in need of additional education support may
      benefit from spaced education in the field of remediation.

PMID- 28584691
TI  - Modafinil Augmentation Therapy in Patient with Traumatic Brain Injury.

PMID- 28584690
TI  - Unusual Patterns of Thoracic Metastasis of Urinary Bladder Carcinoma.
AB  - Urinary bladder carcinoma (UBC) is the ninth most common malignancy and the
      second most common urological malignancy after prostate cancer in men. Thoracic
      metastases occur in more than half of those with muscle-invasive disease, and
      these generally assume the form of multiple solid parenchymal lesions
      characteristic of hematogenous seeding of the lung. Unusual patterns of thoracic
      spread of UBC have also been described albeit sporadically in the form of case
      reports and series. The aim of our case series is to provide illustrations of
      several atypical patterns of thoracic involvement by UBC such as isolated
      mediastinal lymphadenopathy, cavitary lung metastases, malignant pleural
      effusion, endobronchial disease, and pulmonary tumor embolism. This review is
      meant to highlight the intersection of the fields of urological oncology and
      thoracic radiology in the care of patients with UBC.

PMID- 28584692
TI  - Human Embryonic Stem Cells in the Treatment of Autism: A Case Series.
AB  - Background: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder accompanied
      by weak immune system and neuroinflammation. Multiple factors contribute to
      etiology of autism spectrum disorder including genetic disorders, environmental
      substances/toxins, imbalanced immune system, encephalitis, and viral infections.
      Autism spectrum disorder is an incurable disease; however, it can be managed by
      educational and medical interventions. Human embryonic stem cell therapy has been
      shown to improve blood perfusion in the brain; thus, this therapy may be
      effective in improving motor skills, social skills, and cognition in patients
      with autism spectrum disorder. Method: Three pediatric patients with autism
      spectrum disorder were administered human embryonic stem cell therapy. Their
      treatment plan comprised 3 to 4 therapy sessions (T1, T2, T3, T4) that were 4 to
      6 weeks in length, with 4- to 8-month gap phases separating each therapy session.
      Results: The patients showed improvements in eye coordination, writing,
      balancing, cognition, and speech and showed reduced hypersensitivity to noises
      and smells. Conclusion: The use of human embryonic stem cell therapy may be a
      safe and effective treatment for patients with autism spectrum disorder. Studies
      with larger sample sizes are needed to support the use of human embryonic stem
      cell therapy in this patient population.

PMID- 28584693
TI  - Interactive Voice Response and Text-based Self-report Versions of the Electronic
      Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale Are Equivalent.
AB  - Objectives: Our study objective was to compare the equivalence of a new version
      of the electronic Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale that was administered on
      a tablet device with the existing interactive voice response version in order to
      support the prospective monitoring of suicidal ideation and behavior in clinical
      trials and clinical practice. Design: This was a randomized, crossover
      equivalence study with no treatment intervention. Setting: The study setting was
      a psychiatric hospital. Participants: Fifty-eight recently admitted psychiatric
      inpatients and 28 employees of the hospital site were included in the study. Mean
      age was 41.0 years (standard deviation=12.5), and 59 percent were female.
      Measurements: Participants completed both tablet and interactive voice response
      versions in randomized order, with a 25-minute break between administrations.
      Finally, participants completed a second administration of the first administered
      version. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Kappa coefficients were
      used to evaluate agreement across modalities. Results: High levels of agreement
      were observed for most severe lifetime (ICC=0.88) and recent (ICC=0.79) ideation,
      occurrence of actual lifetime (Kappa=0.81) and recent (Kappa=0.73) suicide
      attempts, and occurrence of lifetime interrupted attempts (Kappa=0.78), aborted
      attempts (Kappa=0.54), and preparatory behaviors (Kappa=0.77), as well as non
      suicidal self-injurious behavior (Kappa=0.73). Scores from both modes
      significantly differentiated psychiatric patients and hospital employee controls,
      and the test-retest reliability of both modes was excellent. Conclusions: These
      results support the validity and reliability of the new tablet-based electronic
      Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. This will allow the inclusion of the
      electronic Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale in a wider range of clinical
      studies, particularly where a tablet is also being used to collect other study
      data.

PMID- 28584694
TI  - Liothyronine for Depression: A Review and Guidance for Safety Monitoring.
AB  - Objective: The objective of this review is to discuss triiodothyronine's (T3,
      liothyronine) mechanism of action, efficacy in enhancement and augmentation
      trials, and dosing and safety considerations for the treatment of depression.
      Method: A literature search of PubMed was performed using search terms
      depression, augmentation, antidepressant, and liothyronine. Only English-language
      studies of subjects with unipolar depression were included from the past 50
      years. Results: Most studies have shown that liothyronine is an efficacious
      enhancement and augmentation strategy for depression in combination with
      antidepressants, primarily tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin
      reuptake inhibitors. Conclusion: With appropriate baseline and follow-up safety
      monitoring, liothyronine augmentation can be a safe and effective treatment for
      unipolar depression. Larger studies of longer duration assessing liothyronine
      efficacy with serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and multimodal
      antidepressants are needed.

PMID- 28584695
TI  - Neuroendocrine, Autonomic, and Metabolic Responses to an Orexin Antagonist,
      Suvorexant, in Psychiatric Patients with Insomnia.
AB  - Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the neuroendocrine, autonomic, and
      metabolic system responses to suvorexant in psychiatric subjects with insomnia.
      Design: This prospective study was conducted in Kusatsu Hospital in Hiroshima,
      Japan and included 40 psychiatric inpatients treated with suvorexant from
      December 2014 to April 2016. Methods: Questionnaire of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality
      Index (PSQI), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health
      Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores were checked at baseline, Week 2, and Week 4, and
      fasting serum levels of prolactin, insulin, cortisol, noradrenaline, white blood
      cell count, and average pulse rate were measured at baseline and Week 4 and Week
      8 after suvorexant initiation. Sequential change of the values were compared
      against baseline respectively. Results: Subjective sleep quality scores were
      significantly decreased at Weeks 2 and 4, and sleep duration, habitual sleep
      efficacy, and global scores were significantly decreased at Week 4 from baseline.
      Total scores on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and the Patient Health
      Questionnaire-9 significantly decreased at Week 4 from baseline. The levels of
      cortisol and white blood cell count were decreased, significantly at Week 8, and
      the levels of pulse rate were significantly decreased at Week 4 from baseline.
      The levels of noradrenaline decreased, although not significantly. The prolactin
      levels remained unchanged, and no trend was found in the insulin levels.
      Conclusion: Suvorexant treatment resulted in overall improvement in the quality
      of sleep and the severity of anxiety and depression. This dual orexin antagonist
      may be related to autonomic functions and neuroendocrine systems, especially in
      the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in psychiatric subjects.

PMID- 28584696
TI  - Redefining Acute Relapses in Multiple Sclerosis: Implications for Phase 3
      Clinical Trials and Treatment Algorithms.
AB  - Relapses in multiple sclerosis are defined as periods of clinical worsening and
      radiological progression. Magnetic resonance imaging data, however, are not
      always supportive of "clinical worsening," and clinical symptoms of worsening may
      not always be present in cases of acute relapse. In the pharmaceutical domain,
      this discordance between "clinical worsening" and "radiological progression" has
      never been fully elucidated, and no Phase 3 clinical study has addressed this
      conundrum. Thus, the true number of acute relapse cases enrolled in Phase 3
      clinical studies remains unclear. Breach of the blood-brain barrier solely, as
      determined by magnetic resonance imaging, may be more a more accurate definition
      of an acute relapse in multiple sclerosis. Increasingly, magnetic resonance
      imaging data push the boundaries of science and carry significant advantages in
      sensitivity, data storage, retrieval, and unbiased analyses, if warranted
      retrospectively. Magnetic resonance imaging data can also be standardized,
      shared, and exploited by pharmaceutical companies to develop more effective drugs
      and therapeutic endpoints. Neurology is awakening to big data concepts and how
      such concepts are evolving the field. Magnetic resonance imaging data is one of
      the pillars of this evolution. In this commentary, the author reviews the current
      standard of determining acute relapse in both clinical practice and clinical
      research, and discusses its limitations. The author then proposes a more modern
      definition of acute relapse in multiple sclerosis and includes a supportive
      discussion on the current and emerging roles magnetic resonance imaging and "big
      data" are playing in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of multiple
      sclerosis.

PMID- 28584697
TI  - Managing Your Aging Patient Population.
AB  - This ongoing column is dedicated to providing information to our readers on
      managing legal risks associated with medical practice. We invite questions from
      our readers. The answers are provided by PRMS, Inc. (www.prms.com), a manager of
      medical professional liability insurance programs with services that include risk
      management consultation, education and onsite risk management audits, and other
      resources to healthcare providers to help improve patient outcomes and reduce
      professional liability risk. The answers published in this column represent those
      of only one risk management consulting company. Other risk management consulting
      companies or insurance carriers may provide different advice, and readers should
      take this into consideration. The information in this column does not constitute
      legal advice. For legal advice, contact your personal attorney. Note: The
      information and recommendations in this article are applicable to physicians and
      other healthcare professionals so "clinician" is used to indicate all treatment
      team members.

PMID- 28584698
TI  - High or low? Comparing high and low-variability phonetic training in adult and
      child second language learners.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High talker variability (i.e., multiple voices in the input) has been
      found effective in training nonnative phonetic contrasts in adults. A small
      number of studies suggest that children also benefit from high-variability
      phonetic training with some evidence that they show greater learning (more
      plasticity) than adults given matched input, although results are mixed. However,
      no study has directly compared the effectiveness of high versus low talker
      variability in children. METHODS: Native Greek-speaking eight-year-olds (N = 52),
      and adults (N = 41) were exposed to the English /i/-/i/ contrast in 10 training
      sessions through a computerized word-learning game. Pre- and post-training tests
      examined discrimination of the contrast as well as lexical learning. Participants
      were randomly assigned to high (four talkers) or low (one talker) variability
      training conditions. RESULTS: Both age groups improved during training, and both
      improved more while trained with a single talker. Results of a three-interval
      oddity discrimination test did not show the predicted benefit of high-variability
      training in either age group. Instead, children showed an effect in the reverse
      direction-i.e., reliably greater improvements in discrimination following single
      talker training, even for untrained generalization items, although the result is
      qualified by (accidental) differences between participant groups at pre-test.
      Adults showed a numeric advantage for high-variability but were inconsistent with
      respect to voice and word novelty. In addition, no effect of variability was
      found for lexical learning. There was no evidence of greater plasticity for
      phonetic learning in child learners. DISCUSSION: This paper adds to the handful
      of studies demonstrating that, like adults, child learners can improve their
      discrimination of a phonetic contrast via computerized training. There was no
      evidence of a benefit of training with multiple talkers, either for
      discrimination or word learning. The results also do not support the findings of
      greater plasticity in child learners found in a previous paper (Giannakopoulou,
      Uther & Ylinen, 2013a). We discuss these results in terms of various differences
      between training and test tasks used in the current work compared with previous
      literature.

PMID- 28584699
TI  - Difference on cone size preferences between two coniferous species by Great
      Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major).
AB  - The number of species that specialize in pre-dispersal seed predation is
      relatively small. Examples of specialized pre-dispersal seed predators adapted to
      feeding on closed cones include vertebrate species like Crossbills, Squirrels,
      Nutcrackers and Woodpeckers. Seed predation selects against certain phenotypic
      features of cones and favors another phenotypic features. In this study, we
      document preferences of the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) for
      specific traits in the cones of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus
      sylvestris). We found that the Great Spotted Woodpecker prefers to feed on medium
      sized Norway spruce cones. The results suggest a disruptive selection that favors
      the extreme cone lengths in Norway spruce. In Scots pine, the woodpeckers avoided
      cones with large apophyses. Further, the selectivity for the specific
      characteristics of the cones is probably related to the configuration of the
      anvil, a place at which woodpeckers extract seeds from the cones. We think that
      the Great Spotted Woodpecker preferences in relation to the morphological
      characteristics of cones are a key to the design of the anvil in order to
      maximize the use of it as a tool for processing cones of both the Norway spruce
      and the Scots pine.

PMID- 28584700
TI  - Assessing the utility of an institutional publications officer: a pilot
      assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The scholarly publication landscape is changing rapidly. We
      investigated whether the introduction of an institutional publications officer
      might help facilitate better knowledge of publication topics and related
      resources, and effectively support researchers to publish. METHODS: In September
      2015, a purpose-built survey about researchers' knowledge and perceptions of
      publication practices was administered at five Ottawa area research institutions.
      Subsequently, we publicly announced a newly hired publications officer (KDC) who
      then began conducting outreach at two of the institutions. Specifically, the
      publications officer gave presentations, held one-to-one consultations, developed
      electronic newsletter content, and generated and maintained a webpage of
      resources. In March 2016, we re-surveyed our participants regarding their
      knowledge and perceptions of publishing. Mean scores to the perception questions,
      and the percent of correct responses to the knowledge questions, pre and post
      survey, were computed for each item. The difference between these means or
      calculated percentages was then examined across the survey measures. RESULTS: 82
      participants completed both surveys. Of this group, 29 indicated that they had
      exposure to the publications officer, while the remaining 53 indicated they did
      not. Interaction with the publications officer led to improvements in half of the
      knowledge items (7/14 variables). While improvements in knowledge of publishing
      were also found among those who reported not to have interacted with the
      publications officer (9/14), these effects were often smaller in magnitude.
      Scores for some publication knowledge variables actually decreased between the
      pre and post survey (3/14). Effects for researchers' perceptions of publishing
      increased for 5/6 variables in the group that interacted with the publications
      officer. DISCUSSION: This pilot provides initial indication that, in a short
      timeframe, introducing an institutional publications officer may improve
      knowledge and perceptions surrounding publishing. This study is limited by its
      modest sample size and temporal relationship between the introduction of the
      publications officer and changes in knowledge and perceptions. A randomized trial
      examining the publications officer as an effective intervention is needed.

PMID- 28584701
TI  - Alien vs. predator: bacterial challenge alters coral microbiomes unless
      controlled by Halobacteriovorax predators.
AB  - Coral microbiomes are known to play important roles in organismal health,
      response to environmental stress, and resistance to disease. The coral microbiome
      contains diverse assemblages of resident bacteria, ranging from defensive and
      metabolic symbionts to opportunistic bacteria that may turn harmful in
      compromised hosts. However, little is known about how these bacterial
      interactions influence the mechanism and controls of overall structure,
      stability, and function of the microbiome. We sought to test how coral microbiome
      dynamics were affected by interactions between two bacteria: Vibrio
      coralliilyticus, a known temperature-dependent pathogen of some corals, and
      Halobacteriovorax, a unique bacterial predator of Vibrio and other gram-negative
      bacteria. We challenged reef-building coral with V. coralliilyticus in the
      presence or absence of Halobacteriovorax predators, and monitored microbial
      community dynamics with 16S rRNA gene profiling time-series. Vibrio
      coralliilyticus inoculation increased the mean relative abundance of Vibrios by
      greater than 35% from the 4 to 8 hour time point, but not in the 24 & 32 hour
      time points. However, strong secondary effects of the Vibrio challenge were also
      observed for the rest of the microbiome such as increased richness (observed
      species), and reduced stability (increased beta-diversity). Moreover, after the
      transient increase in Vibrios, two lineages of bacteria (Rhodobacterales and
      Cytophagales) increased in coral tissues, suggesting that V. coralliilyticus
      challenge opens niche space for these known opportunists. Rhodobacterales
      increased from 6.99% (+/-0.05 SEM) to a maximum mean relative abundance of 48.75%
      (+/-0.14 SEM) in the final time point and Cytophagales from <0.001% to 3.656%.
      Halobacteriovorax predators are commonly present at low-abundance on coral
      surfaces. Based on the keystone role of predators in many ecosystems, we
      hypothesized that Halobacteriovorax predators might help protect corals by
      consuming foreign or "alien" gram negative bacteria. Halobacteriovorax
      inoculation also altered the microbiome but to a lesser degree than V.
      coralliilyticus, and Halobacteriovorax were never detected after inoculation.
      Simultaneous challenge with both V. coralliilyticus and predatory
      Halobacteriovorax eliminated the increase in V. coralliilyticus, ameliorated
      changes to the rest of the coral microbiome, and prevented the secondary blooms
      of opportunistic Rhodobacterales and Cytophagales seen in the V. coralliilyticus
      challenge. These data suggest that, under certain circumstances, host-associated
      bacterial predators may mitigate the ability of other bacteria to destabilize the
      microbiome.

PMID- 28584703
TI  - Patterns of bleaching and mortality following widespread warming events in 2014
      and 2015 at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Hawai'i.
AB  - Drastic increases in global carbon emissions in the past century have led to
      elevated sea surface temperatures that negatively affect coral reef organisms.
      Worldwide coral bleaching-related mortality is increasing and data has shown even
      isolated and protected reefs are vulnerable to the effects of global climate
      change. In 2014 and 2015, coral reefs in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) suffered
      up to 90% bleaching, with higher than 50% subsequent mortality in some areas. The
      location and severity of bleaching and mortality was strongly influenced by the
      spatial and temporal patterns of elevated seawater temperatures. The main
      objective of this research was to understand the spatial extent of bleaching
      mortality in Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (HBNP), O'ahu, Hawai'i to gain a
      baseline understanding of the physical processes that influence localized
      bleaching dynamics. Surveys at HBNP in October 2015 and January 2016 revealed
      extensive bleaching (47%) and high levels of coral mortality (9.8%). Bleaching
      was highly variable among the four HBNP sectors and ranged from a low of ~31% in
      the central bay at Channel (CH) to a high of 57% in the area most frequented by
      visitors (Keyhole; KH). The highest levels of bleaching occurred in two sectors
      with different circulation patterns: KH experienced comparatively low circulation
      velocity and a low temperature increase while Witches Brew (WB) and Backdoors
      (BD) experienced higher circulation velocity and higher temperature increase.
      Cumulative mortality was highest at WB (5.0%) and at BD (2.9%) although WB
      circulation velocity is significantly higher. HBNP is minimally impacted by local
      factors that can lead to decline such as high fishing pressure or sedimentation
      although human use is high. Despite the lack of these influences, high coral
      mortality occurred. Visitor impacts are strikingly different in the two sectors
      that experienced the highest mortality evidenced by the differences in coral
      cover associated with visitor use however, coral mortality was similar. These
      results suggest that elevated temperature was more influential in coral bleaching
      and the associated mortality than high circulation or visitor use.

PMID- 28584702
TI  - A new view on the morphology and phylogeny of eugregarines suggested by the
      evidence from the gregarine Ancora sagittata (Leuckart, 1860) Labbe, 1899
      (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gregarines are a group of early branching Apicomplexa parasitizing
      invertebrate animals. Despite their wide distribution and relevance to the
      understanding the phylogenesis of apicomplexans, gregarines remain understudied:
      light microscopy data are insufficient for classification, and electron
      microscopy and molecular data are fragmentary and overlap only partially.
      METHODS: Scanning and transmission electron microscopy, PCR, DNA cloning and
      sequencing (Sanger and NGS), molecular phylogenetic analyses using ribosomal RNA
      genes (18S (SSU), 5.8S, and 28S (LSU) ribosomal DNAs (rDNAs)). RESULTS AND
      DISCUSSION: We present the results of an ultrastructural and molecular
      phylogenetic study on the marine gregarine Ancora sagittata from the polychaete
      Capitella capitata followed by evolutionary and taxonomic synthesis of the
      morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence on eugregarines. The
      ultrastructure of Ancora sagittata generally corresponds to that of other
      eugregarines, but reveals some differences in epicytic folds (crests) and
      attachment apparatus to gregarines in the family Lecudinidae, where Ancora
      sagittata has been classified. Molecular phylogenetic trees based on SSU (18S)
      rDNA reveal several robust clades (superfamilies) of eugregarines, including
      Ancoroidea superfam. nov., which comprises two families (Ancoridae fam. nov. and
      Polyplicariidae) and branches separately from the Lecudinidae; thus, all
      representatives of Ancoroidea are here officially removed from the Lecudinidae.
      Analysis of sequence data also points to possible cryptic species within Ancora
      sagittata and the inclusion of numerous environmental sequences from anoxic
      habitats within the Ancoroidea. LSU (28S) rDNA phylogenies, unlike the analysis
      of SSU rDNA alone, recover a well-supported monophyly of the gregarines involved
      (eugregarines), although this conclusion is currently limited by sparse taxon
      sampling and the presence of fast-evolving sequences in some species. Comparative
      morphological analyses of gregarine teguments and attachment organelles lead us
      to revise their terminology. The terms "longitudinal folds" and "mucron" are
      restricted to archigregarines, whereas the terms "epicystic crests" and
      "epimerite" are proposed to describe the candidate synapomorphies of
      eugregarines, which, consequently, are considered as a monophyletic group.
      Abolishing the suborders Aseptata and Septata, incorporating neogregarines into
      the Eugregarinida, and treating the major molecular phylogenetic lineages of
      eugregarines as superfamilies appear as the best way of reconciling recent
      morphological and molecular evidence. Accordingly, the diagnosis of the order
      Eugregarinida Leger, 1900 is updated.

PMID- 28584704
TI  - Cucurbitacins: elucidation of their interactions with the cytoskeleton.
AB  - Cucurbitacins, a class of toxic tetracyclic triterpenoids in Cucurbitaceae,
      modulate many molecular targets. Here we investigated the interactions of
      cucurbitacin B, E and I with cytoskeletal proteins such as microtubule and actin
      filaments. The effects of cucurbitacin B, E and I on microtubules and actin
      filaments were studied in living cells (Hela and U2OS) and in vitro using GFP
      markers, immunofluorescence staining and in vitro tubulin polymerization assay.
      Cucurbitacin B, E and I apparently affected microtubule structures in living
      cells and cucurbitacin E inhibited tubulin polymerization in vitro with IC50
      value of 566.91 +/- 113.5 uM. Cucurbitacin E did not affect the nucleation but
      inhibited the growth phase and steady state during microtubule assembly in vitro.
      In addition, cucurbitacin B, E and I all altered mitotic spindles and induced the
      cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase. Moreover, they all showed potent effects on
      actin cytoskeleton by affecting actin filaments through the depolymerization and
      aggregation. The interactions of cucubitacin B, E and I with microtubules and
      actin filaments present new insights into their modes of action.

PMID- 28584705
TI  - Pond dyes are Culex mosquito oviposition attractants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: British mosquito population distribution, abundance, species
      composition and potential for mosquito disease transmission are intimately linked
      to the physical environment. The presence of ponds and water storage can
      significantly increase the density of particular mosquito species in the garden.
      Culex pipiens is the mosquito most commonly found in UK gardens and a potential
      vector of West Nile Virus WNV, although the current risk of transmission is low.
      However any factors that significantly change the distribution and population of
      C. pipiens are likely to impact subsequent risk of disease transmission. Pond
      dyes are used to control algal growth and improve aesthetics of still water
      reflecting surrounding planting. However, it is well documented that females of
      some species of mosquito prefer to lay eggs in dark water and/or containers of
      different colours and we predict that dyed ponds will be attractive to Culex
      mosquitoes. METHODS: Black pond dye was used in oviposition choice tests using
      wild-caught gravid C. pipiens. Larvae from wild-caught C. pipiens were also
      reared in the pond dye to determine whether it had any impact on survival. An
      emergence trap caught any adults that emerged from the water. Water butts (80 L)
      were positioned around university glasshouses and woodland and treated with black
      pond dye or left undyed. Weekly sampling over a six month period through summer
      and autumn was performed to quantified numbers of larvae and pupae in each
      treatment and habitat. RESULTS: Gravid female Culex mosquitoes preferred to lay
      eggs in dyed water. This was highly significant in tests conducted under
      laboratory conditions and in a semi-field choice test. Despite this, survivorship
      in black dyed water was significantly reduced compared to undyed water. Seasonal
      analysis of wild larval and pupal numbers in two habitats with and without dye
      showed no impact of dye but a significant impact of season and habitat.
      Mosquitoes were more successful, with significantly higher numbers of pupae, in
      the habitat where they had vegetation cover and shade. DISCUSSION: Our study has
      raised some interesting possibilities; one is that where used, pond dyes may be
      encouraging mosquitoes to breed in gardens in close proximity to people.
      Considering the concerns over potential future spread of disease in urban
      environments, this as well as shading of ponds and water butts, should inform
      future advice over reducing mosquito breeding and spread.

PMID- 28584706
TI  - Impact of enzymatic digestion on bacterial community composition in CF airway
      samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of DNA extraction
      methods for molecular detection of Staphylococcus, an important bacterial group
      in cystic fibrosis (CF). We sought to evaluate the effect of enzymatic digestion
      (EnzD) prior to DNA extraction on bacterial communities identified in sputum and
      oropharyngeal swab (OP) samples from patients with CF. METHODS: DNA from 81
      samples (39 sputum and 42 OP) collected from 63 patients with CF was extracted in
      duplicate with and without EnzD. Bacterial communities were determined by rRNA
      gene sequencing, and measures of alpha and beta diversity were calculated.
      Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was used to assess differences at the
      community level and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to compare relative
      abundance (RA) of individual genera for paired samples with and without EnzD.
      RESULTS: Shannon Diversity Index (alpha-diversity) decreased in sputum and OP
      samples with the use of EnzD. Larger shifts in community composition were
      observed for OP samples (beta-diversity, measured by Morisita-Horn), whereas less
      change in communities was observed for sputum samples. The use of EnzD with OP
      swabs resulted in significant increase in RA for the genera Gemella (p < 0.01),
      Streptococcus (p < 0.01), and Rothia (p < 0.01). Staphylococcus (p < 0.01) was
      the only genus with a significant increase in RA from sputum, whereas the
      following genera decreased in RA with EnzD: Veillonella (p < 0.01),
      Granulicatella (p < 0.01), Prevotella (p < 0.01), and Gemella (p = 0.02). In OP
      samples, higher RA of Gram-positive taxa was associated with larger changes in
      microbial community composition. DISCUSSION: We show that the application of EnzD
      to CF airway samples, particularly OP swabs, results in differences in microbial
      communities detected by sequencing. Use of EnzD can result in large changes in
      bacterial community composition, and is particularly useful for detection of
      Staphylococcus in CF OP samples. The enhanced identification of Staphylococcus
      aureus is a strong indication to utilize EnzD in studies that use OP swabs to
      monitor CF airway communities.

PMID- 28584707
TI  - Rituals decrease the neural response to performance failure.
AB  - Rituals are found in all types of performance domains, from high-stakes athletics
      and military to the daily morning preparations of the working family. Yet despite
      their ubiquity and widespread importance for humans, we know very little of
      ritual's causal basis and how (if at all) they facilitate goal-directed
      performance. Here, in a fully pre-registered pre/post experimental design, we
      examine a candidate proximal mechanism, the error-related negativity (ERN), in
      testing the prediction that ritual modulates neural performance-monitoring.
      Participants completed an arbitrary ritual-novel actions repeated at home over
      one week-followed by an executive function task in the lab during
      electroencephalographic (EEG) recording. Results revealed that relative to pre
      rounds, participants showed a reduced ERN in the post rounds, after completing
      the ritual in the lab. Despite a muted ERN, there was no evidence that the
      reduction in neural monitoring led to performance deficit (nor a performance
      improvement). Generally, the findings are consistent with the longstanding view
      that ritual buffers against uncertainty and anxiety. Our results indicate that
      ritual guides goal-directed performance by regulating the brain's response to
      personal failure.

PMID- 28584708
TI  - Analyses of antioxidant status and nucleotide alterations in genes encoding
      antioxidant enzymes in patients with benign and malignant thyroid disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synthesis of thyroid hormones and regulation of their metabolism
      involve free radicals that may affect redox balance in the body. Thyroid
      disorders causing variations in the levels of thyroid hormones may alter cellular
      oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to measure the antioxidant activities
      and biomarkers of oxidative stress in serum and red blood cells (RBC) of patients
      with benign and malignant thyroid disorders and to investigate if changes in the
      antioxidant activities in these patients were linked to alterations in genes
      encoding the antioxidant enzymes. METHODS: Forty-one patients with thyroid
      disorders from University of Malaya Medical Centre were recruited. They were
      categorised into four groups: multinodular goitre (MNG) (n = 18), follicular
      thyroid adenoma (FTA) (n = 7), papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) (n = 10), and
      follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) (n = 6). Serum and RBC of patients were analysed
      for antioxidant activities, antioxidant enzymes, and biomarkers of oxidative
      stress. Alterations in genes encoding the antioxidant enzymes were analysed using
      whole exome sequencing and PCR-DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Patients with thyroid
      disorders had significantly higher serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase
      (CAT) activities compared to control, but had lower activities in RBC. There were
      no significant changes in serum glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. Meanwhile,
      GPx activity in RBC was reduced in PTC and FTC, compared to control and the
      respective benign groups. Antioxidant activities in serum were decreased in the
      thyroid disorder groups when compared to the control group. The levels of
      malondialdehyde (MDA) were elevated in the serum of FTA group when compared to
      controls, while in the RBC, only the MNG and PTC groups showed higher MDA
      equivalents than control. Serum reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in PTC group
      of both serum and RBC were significantly higher than control group. Whole exome
      sequencing has resulted in identification of 49 single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) in MNG and PTC patients and their genotypic and allelic frequencies were
      calculated. Analyses of the relationship between serum enzyme activities and the
      total SNPs identified in both groups revealed no correlation. DISCUSSION:
      Different forms of thyroid disorders influence the levels of antioxidant status
      in the serum and RBC of these patients, implying varying capability of preventing
      oxidative stress. A more comprehensive study with a larger target population
      should be done in order to further evaluate the relationships between antioxidant
      enzymes gene polymorphisms and thyroid disorders, as well as strengthening the
      minor evidences provided in literatures.

PMID- 28584709
TI  - Increasing game prices may alter farmers' behaviours towards leopards (Panthera
      pardus) and other carnivores in South Africa.
AB  - Human-carnivore conflict occurs globally, particularly in regions where large
      carnivores predate livestock. Retaliatory killings do occur, and although
      predation of livestock by carnivores happens, losses from other factors such as
      disease or injury can be misattributed because of landowner perceptions. Game
      farming for both trophy hunting and eco-tourism is becoming increasingly common
      in South Africa, and there has been a rapid increase in the cost of game animals
      (in some species as much as five-fold) between 2010 and 2015. This could result
      in an increase in conflict between commercial game farmers and carnivores. We
      conducted two questionnaire surveys of farmers in 2010 and 2015 to investigate
      this. We asked if there had been changes in farming practices, perceived predator
      activity, perceived amount of livestock and commercial game losses, and actions
      taken towards carnivores in a South African farming community. We found no
      significant change in farming types in the area or losses of livestock between
      the years. However, there was a significant increase in perceived commercial game
      losses reported, even though protection of game had increased. Actions taken
      towards carnivores by livestock/game farmers were also significantly more
      negative in 2015 compared to farmers growing crops, but there was no such
      difference in 2010. We suggest that these changes could be a result of the
      increase in game prices over that period, leading to greater financial losses
      when an animal is predated, which in turn could increase the likelihood of
      retaliatory killings of carnivores.

PMID- 28584710
TI  - Proceraea exoryxae sp. nov. (Annelida, Syllidae, Autolytinae), the first known
      polychaete miner tunneling into the tunic of an ascidian.
AB  - While studying organisms living in association with the solitary tunicate
      Phallusia nigra (Ascidiacea, Ascidiidae) from a shallow fringing reef at Zeytouna
      Beach (Egyptian Red Sea), one of the collected ascidians showed peculiar
      perforations on its tunic. Once dissected, the perforations revealed to be the
      openings of a network of galleries excavated in the inner tunic (atrium) by at
      least six individuals of a polychaetous annelid. The worms belonged to the
      Autolytinae (Syllidae), a subfamily that is well known to include specialized
      predators and/or symbionts, mostly associated with cnidarians. The Red Sea worms
      are here described as Proceraea exoryxae sp. nov., which are anatomically
      distinguished by the combination of simple chaetae only in anterior chaetigers,
      and a unique trepan with 33 teeth in one outer ring where one large tooth
      alternates with one medium-sized tricuspid tooth, and one inner ring with small
      teeth located just behind the large teeth. Male and female epitokes were found
      together with atokous individuals within galleries. Proceraea exoryxae sp. nov.
      constitutes the first known miner in the Autolytinae and the second species in
      this taxon known to live symbiotically with ascidians. The implications of
      finding this specialized parasite are discussed considering that Phallusia nigra
      has been introduced worldwide, in tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems, where it
      has the potential of becoming invasive.

PMID- 28584711
TI  - Quercetin reduces hydroxyurea induced cytotoxicity in immortalized mouse aortic
      endothelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic inflammation is a characteristic of sickle cell disease
      (SCD), and is invariably associated with vascular endothelial injury. Hydroxyurea
      (HU), a naturally cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent, is the only FDA drug approved
      for SCD, and is therefore naturally cytotoxic. Quercetin (QCT) is a dietary
      flavonoid found ubiquitously in plants and foods that have anti-oxidative and
      anti-inflammatory characteristics. Our hypothesis is that dietary QCT will
      decrease cytotoxic effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and HU induced vascular
      cell damage. METHODS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce inflammation in
      immortalized mouse aortic endothelial cells (iMAECs), providing an in vitro model
      of inflamed endothelial cells. The cells were exposed to LPS throughout the
      entire experiment. Interventions included treating the LPS exposed cells with
      QCT, HU, or QCT + HU over 50 hours. The 50-hour period included 24 hours of
      varying treatments, followed by two hours of hypoxic exposure and then 24 hours
      under normal aerobic exposure. RESULTS: LDH level was significantly higher for
      LPS treated versus untreated cells (P = 0.0004). LPS plus 30 micromole QCT
      reduced the LDH (p = 0.1, trend), whereas LPS plus 100 micromoles HU,
      significantly increased LDH (p = 0.0004). However, LPS plus treatment with 30
      micromoles QCT/100 micromoles HU, significantly reduced LDH, compared with HU
      alone (p = 0.0002). DISCUSSION: These results suggest that quercetin may be
      effective against vascular endothelial cell damage for iMAECs in vitro. In
      particular, it shows promise in preventing HU-induced cytotoxicity, surprisingly
      found from these results. This latter finding is important, and should be given
      more consideration, since HU is the only FDA-approved drug for treating sickle
      cell patients, and its use is rapidly increasing.

PMID- 28584712
TI  - Prevalence and seroepidemiology of Haemophilus parasuis in Sichuan province,
      China.
AB  - Haemophilus parasuis, the causative agent of Glasser's disease, has been reported
      as widespread, but little is known about its epidemiology in the Sichuan province
      of China. The goal of our research is to reveal the prevalence and distribution
      of H. parasuis in this area. Sampling and isolation were performed across
      Sichuan; isolates were processed using serotyping multiplex PCR (serotyping-mPCR)
      and agar gel diffusion (AGD) for confirmation of serovar identity. This study was
      carried out from January 2014 to May 2016 and 254 H. parasuis field strains were
      isolated from 576 clinical samples collected from pigs displaying clinical
      symptoms. The isolation frequency was 44.10%. Statistically very significant
      differences of infection incidence were found in three age groups (P < 0.01) and
      different seasons (P < 0.01). Serovars 5 (25.98%) and 4 (23.62%) were the most
      prevalent, however, non-typeable isolates accounted for nearly 7.87%. In terms of
      geographical distribution, serovars 5 and 4 were mostly prevalent in west and
      east Sichuan. The results confirmed that the combined approach was dependable and
      revealed the diversity and distribution of serovars in Sichuan province, which is
      vital for efforts aimed at developing vaccine candidates allowing for the
      prevention or control of H. parasuis outbreaks.

PMID- 28584713
TI  - Transcriptome analysis reveals the regulation of brassinosteroids on petal growth
      in Gerbera hybrida.
AB  - Gerbera hybrida is a cut-flower crop of global importance, and an understanding
      of the mechanisms underlying petal development is vital for the continued
      commercial development of this plant species. Brassinosteroids (BRs), a class of
      phytohormones, are known to play a major role in cell expansion, but their effect
      on petal growth in G. hybrida is largely unexplored. In this study, we found that
      the brassinolide (BL), the most active BR, promotes petal growth by lengthening
      cells in the middle and basal regions of petals, and that this effect on petal
      growth was greater than that of gibberellin (GA). The RNA-seq (high-throughput
      cDNA sequencing) technique was employed to investigate the regulatory mechanisms
      by which BRs control petal growth. A global transcriptome analysis of the
      response to BRs in petals was conducted and target genes regulated by BR were
      identified. These differentially expressed genes (DEGs) include various
      transcription factors (TFs) that were activated during the early stage (0.5 h) of
      BL treatment, as well as cell wall proteins whose expression was regulated at a
      late stage (10 h). BR-responsive DEGs are involved in multiple plant hormone
      signal pathways, hormone biosynthesis and biotic and abiotic stress responses,
      showing that the regulation of petal growth by BRs is a complex network of
      processes. Thus, our study provides new insights at the transcriptional level
      into the molecular mechanisms of BR regulation of petal growth in G. hybrida.

PMID- 28584714
TI  - The development of curvature in the porcine radioulna.
AB  - Long bone curvature in animal limbs has long been a subject of interest and much
      work has explored why long bones should be curved. However, the 'when' and 'how'
      of curvature development is poorly understood. It has been shown that the rat
      tibia fails to attain its normal curvature if the action of muscles is removed
      early in life, but it is not clear if this is because the curvature fails to
      develop or if the bone becomes straighter without the action of muscles. No
      studies have examined the development of bone curvature in a normally developing
      quadruped, so this study tracks the course of curvature formation in the
      radioulna in a series of growing pigs. We also histologically examined the
      epiphyseal growth plates of these bones to determine if they contribute to the
      formation of curvature. In all three epiphyseal plates examined, the
      proliferative zone is thicker and more densely populated with chondrocytes on the
      cranial (convex) side than the caudal (concave) side. Frost's chondral modelling
      theory would suggest that the cranial side of the bone is under more compression
      than the caudal side, and we conclude that this is due to the action of triceps
      extending the elbow by pulling on the olecranon process. These results support
      the idea that bone curvature is an adaptation to habitual loading, where
      longitudinal loads acting on the curved bone cause bending strains that counter
      the bending resulting from the habitual muscle action.

PMID- 28584715
TI  - The ratio of serum Angiopoietin-1 to Angiopoietin-2 in patients with cervical
      cancer is a valuable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Angiopoietins have been found to play essential roles in tumor
      angiogenesis. The present study was aimed at investigating the diagnostic and
      prognostic values of serum angiopoietin 1 and 2 (sAng-1 and sAng-2) in cervical
      cancer. METHODS: The sAng-1 and sAng-2 concentrations were analyzed in 77 women
      with cervical cancer, 44 women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and
      43 women without cervical lesions by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The
      diagnostic values of sAng-1, sAng-2 and sAng-1/sAng-2 were evaluated by receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The Ang-1 and Ang-2 expression in cervical
      cancer tissues as well as microvessel density (MVD), were assessed by
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The concentration of sAng-2 gradually increased
      and the sAng-1/Ang-2 ratio was gradually decreased from normal control to CIN,
      then to squamous cell cancer, and the sAng-1/sAng-2 ratio was also significantly
      decreased in adenocarcinoma. The area under ROC curves of sAng-2 and sAng-1/sAng
      2 ratio for discriminating cervical cancer from normal were 0.744 and 0.705,
      respectively. Decreased sAng-1/sAng-2 was significantly associated with advanced
      tumor stage, poor differentiation, lymph-vascular space invasion and high MVD.
      sAng-2 was positively correlated with the Ang-2 expression in cervix epithelia. A
      high sAng-1/sAng-2 ratio was associated with a longer progression-free survival
      and a longer overall survival in cervical cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest that sAng-2 and the sAng-1/sAng-2 ratio may be valuable
      diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for cervical cancer.

PMID- 28584716
TI  - Modeling the cis-regulatory modules of genes expressed in developmental stages of
      Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Because transcription is the first step in the regulation of gene expression,
      understanding how transcription factors bind to their DNA binding motifs has
      become absolutely necessary. It has been shown that the promoters of genes with
      similar expression profiles share common structural patterns. This paper presents
      an extensive study of the regulatory regions of genes expressed in 24
      developmental stages of Drosophila melanogaster. It proposes the use of a
      combination of structural features, such as positioning of individual motifs
      relative to the transcription start site, orientation, pairwise distance between
      motifs, and presence of motifs anywhere in the promoter for predicting gene
      expression from structural features of promoter sequences. RNA-sequencing data
      was utilized to create and validate the 24 models. When genes with high-scoring
      promoters were compared to those identified by RNA-seq samples, 19 (79.2%)
      statistically significant models, a number that exceeds previous studies, were
      obtained. Each model yielded a set of highly informative features, which were
      used to search for genes with similar biological functions.

PMID- 28584717
TI  - Calculating site-specific evolutionary rates at the amino-acid or codon level
      yields similar rate estimates.
AB  - Site-specific evolutionary rates can be estimated from codon sequences or from
      amino-acid sequences. For codon sequences, the most popular methods use some
      variation of the dN/dS ratio. For amino-acid sequences, one widely-used method is
      called Rate4Site, and it assigns a relative conservation score to each site in an
      alignment. How site-wise dN/dS values relate to Rate4Site scores is not known.
      Here we elucidate the relationship between these two rate measurements. We
      simulate sequences with known dN/dS, using either dN/dS models or mutation
      selection models for simulation. We then infer Rate4Site scores on the simulated
      alignments, and we compare those scores to either true or inferred dN/dS values
      on the same alignments. We find that Rate4Site scores generally correlate well
      with true dN/dS, and the correlation strengths increase in alignments with
      greater sequence divergence and more taxa. Moreover, Rate4Site scores correlate
      very well with inferred (as opposed to true) dN/dS values, even for small
      alignments with little divergence. Finally, we verify this relationship between
      Rate4Site and dN/dS in a variety of empirical datasets. We conclude that codon
      level and amino-acid-level analysis frameworks are directly comparable and yield
      very similar inferences.

PMID- 28584718
TI  - The increasing prevalence of HIV/Helicobacter pylori co-infection over time,
      along with the evolution of antiretroviral therapy (ART).
AB  - Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most common human bacterial
      infections with prevalence rates between 10-80% depending upon geographical
      location, age and socioeconomic status. H. pylori is commonly found in patients
      complaining of dyspepsia and is a common cause of gastritis. During the course of
      their infection, people living with HIV (PLHIV) often have a variety of
      gastrointestinal symptoms including dyspepsia and while previous studies have
      reported HIV and H. pylori co-infection, there has been little data clarifying
      the factors influencing this. The aim of this case-control study was to document
      the prevalence of H. pylori co-infection within the HIV community as well as to
      describe endoscopic findings, gastritis topography and histology, along with
      patient demographic characteristics across three different periods of time during
      which antiretroviral therapy (ART) has evolved, from pre- highly active
      antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to early and modern HAART eras. These data were
      compared to well-matched HIV negative controls. Two hundred and twelve PLHIV were
      compared with 1,617 controls who underwent their first esophagogastroduodenoscopy
      (EGD) to investigate dyspepsia. The prevalence of H. pylori co-infection among
      PLHIV was significantly higher in the early (30.2%) and modern HAART period
      (34.4%) compared with those with coinfection from the pre-HAART period (18.2%).
      The higher rates seen in patients from the HAART eras were similar to those
      observed among HIV negative controls (38.5%). This prevalence increase among co
      infected patients was in contrast to the fall in prevalence observed among
      controls, from 60.7% in the early period to 52.9% in the second observed period.
      The three PLHIV co-infected subgroups differed regarding gastritis topography,
      morphology and pathology. This study suggests that ART has an important impact on
      the endoscopic and histological features of gastritis among HIV/H. pylori co
      infected individuals, raising the possibility that H. pylori-induced gastritis
      could be an immune restoration disease.

PMID- 28584719
TI  - SIX4 promotes metastasis via activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway in colorectal
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies report aberrant expression of sine oculis homeobox
      (SIX) homolog family members during cancer development and progression. SIX4
      participates in organ development, such as myogenesis and neurogenesis. However,
      the expression and clinical implication of SIX4 in colorectal cancer (CRC)
      remains unclear. METHODS: The SIX4 expression levels in colorectal patients were
      assessed in nine different human cancer arrays and compared using patient
      survival data. SIX4 expression was silenced in two cell culture lines for
      invasion and wound healing assessment. Finally, bioinformatics assessments
      ascertained the pathways impacted by SIX4. RESULTS: SIX4 was upregulated in The
      Cancer Genome Atlas CRC cohort and other gene expression omnibus (GEO) cohorts.
      In addition, SIX4 expression significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis
      and advanced Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stages. Moreover, SIX4 overexpression
      was related to unfavorable prognosis in CRC patients. Silencing SIX4 inhibited
      CRC cell metastasis by surpressing AKT phosphorylation. DISCUSSION: SIX4 is
      upregulated in CRC and can be used as a prognosis biomarker.

PMID- 28584720
TI  - Clinical impact of human papillomavirus in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a
      retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence and clinical
      impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) related laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
      (LSCC). METHODS: A total of 106 LSCC patients who underwent primary surgical
      resection with or without adjuvant radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy were enrolled
      retrospectively. Tumors collected from paraffin-embedded samples were used for
      HPV detection by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization technique.
      Clinicopathological parameters were recorded for analysis. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of HPV in patients with LSCC was 13.2% in our series and 12 out of 14
      (85.7%) HPV-positive tumors were HPV-16. The patients with HPV-positive tumors
      were older (p = 0.042), less local/regional recurrence (p = 0.037) and non-smoker
      (p = 0.068). There was no significant difference in the 5-year overall survival
      (OS) (p = 0.8056) between HPV-positive and -negative tumors. The patients with
      HPV-positive tumors had a better 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) (100% vs.
      84.8%, p = 0.1485), although the difference did not reach statistical
      significance. However, the local/regional control rate was significantly better
      in HPV-positive tumors than in HPV-negative tumors (100% vs. 75%, p = 0.0494).
      CONCLUSIONS: A low prevalence of HPV infection in our series suggests that HPV is
      not a major cause of LSCC. However, a 100% local/regional control rate and DSS
      were observed in HPV-positive tumors. This finding suggests a different tumor
      behavior between HPV-positive and HPV-negative LSCC. Further research with a
      larger sample size is necessary to confirm our observations.

PMID- 28584721
TI  - Character strengths, social anxiety, and physiological stress reactivity.
AB  - In this paper, the effects of character strengths on the physiological reactivity
      to social anxiety induced by the Trier Social Stress Task were reported. On the
      basis of their scores in the Chinese Virtues Questionnaire, 30 college students
      were assigned to either high- (n = 15) or low-character-strength (n = 15) groups.
      Their psychological stress and physiological data across three laboratory stages
      (namely, baseline, stress exposure, and post-stress) were collected. Results
      indicated that individuals with high character strengths exhibited rapid
      cardiovascular recovery from baseline to post-stress even if high- and low
      character-strength groups showed similar patterns of cardiovascular arousal in
      response to the stress at baseline and stress exposure. These results prove that
      character strengths are stress-defense factors that allow for psychological and
      physiological adaptation to stress.

PMID- 28584722
TI  - The shoaling behavior of two cyprinid species in conspecific and heterospecific
      groups.
AB  - Mixed-species shoals of fish are frequently found in the field; however, little
      is known about individual-level interactions within these groups. We examined the
      collective motion of two cyprinid species (Chinese bream, Parabramis pekinensis,
      and qingbo, Spinibarbus sinensis) that occupy partially overlapping habitats but
      differ in social behavior (high vs low aggressiveness) and preferred flow regime
      (slow vs fast water velocity). We extracted measures of collective motion from
      video recordings of eight replicate groups of four individuals of either Chinese
      bream or qingbo (conspecific group) or two Chinese bream plus two qingbo
      (heterospecific group). Chinese bream in conspecific groups showed lower percent
      time moving and mean swimming speed but a similar speed while moving as compared
      to the qingbo conspecific groups. However, the difference in mean swimming speed
      and percent time moving vanished in the heterospecific group as Chinese bream
      elevated their swimming activity to coordinate with qingbo. This finding suggests
      that the two species may share similar interaction rules regarding shoaling
      behavior. The conspecific groups of qingbo exhibited a greater distance between
      group members than Chinese bream, suggesting a difference in cohesion. However,
      the inter-individual distances of all fish were similar in the heterospecific
      group. Qingbo in the heterospecific group swam more frequently at the front
      compared to Chinese bream, possibly due to their higher activity level. We also
      measured the startle response to an artificial stimulus and found that there was
      no significant difference among groups. In conclusion, the present study
      demonstrated that in the heterospecific groups, Chinese bream elevated their
      percent time moving while qingbo decreased their inter-individual distance to
      achieve consistent collective movement; thus, the two species showed similar
      behavior in the mixed-species group.

PMID- 28584724
TI  - Seed morphometric characteristics of European species of Elatine (Elatinaceae).
AB  - Elatine L. contains ca. 25 small, herbaceous, annual species distributed in
      ephemeral waters in both hemispheres. All species are amphibious and
      characterized by a high degree of morphological variability. The importance of
      seed morphology in Elatine taxonomy has been emphasized by many authors. The
      degree of seed curvature and seed coat reticulation have been traditionally
      considered very important in recognizing individual species of this genus. Seed
      morphometric characteristics of 10 Elatine species, including all European native
      taxa, are provided on the basis of material from two or three populations of each
      species. A total of 24-50 seeds were studied from each population, altogether
      1,260 images were used for the morphometric study. In total, six parameters were
      measured from SEM pictures: object surface area, profile specific perimeter
      (object circuit), rectangle of the object (a) length, rectangle of the object (b)
      width, angle of the seed curvature, and number of pits in the seed coat counted
      in the middle row. Our study shows that the range of morphological variation of
      seeds in European species of Elatine is great, both between the species and the
      populations. Discrimination analysis showed that all six traits significantly
      differentiate the populations studied (lambda = 0.001, p < 0.001), and the
      greatest contributions were "number of pits", "rectangle_a", and "the angle
      curvature". Multidimensional scaling based on a correlation matrix of Mahalanobis
      distance of the six features studied revealed the greatest similarity between the
      three populations of E. alsinastrum, E. macropoda, and E. hexandra. Regarding
      interspecific differences, a Kruskal-Wallis tests showed that, in many cases,
      lack of statistically significant differences between species relative to the
      studied seed traits. If distinction of species is only based on seeds, especially
      if only a few seeds are evaluated, the following species pairs can be easily
      confused: E. alsinastrum and E. orthosperma, E. hexandra and E. macropoda, E.
      campylosperma and E. hydropiper, as well and E. gussonei and E. hungarica. We
      found no diversity in seed coat micromorphology within pits that could have
      potential taxonomic importance. An identification key and descriptions of species
      are provided on the basis of seeds traits.

PMID- 28584723
TI  - Selection of housekeeping genes as internal controls for quantitative RT-PCR
      analysis of the veined rapa whelk (Rapana venosa).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The veined rapa whelk Rapana venosa is an important commercial
      shellfish in China and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) has become the
      standard method to study gene expression in R. venosa. For accurate and reliable
      gene expression results, qRT-PCR assays require housekeeping genes as internal
      controls, which display highly uniform expression in different tissues or stages
      of development. However, to date no studies have validated housekeeping genes in
      R. venosa for use as internal controls for qRT-PCR. METHODS: In this study, we
      selected the following 13 candidate genes for suitability as internal controls:
      elongation factor-1alpha (EF-1alpha), alpha-actin (ACT), cytochrome c oxidase
      subunit 1 (COX1), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (ubiquinone)
      1alpha subcomplex subunit 7 (NDUFA7), 60S ribosomal protein L5 (RL5), 60S
      ribosomal protein L28 (RL28), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH),
      beta-tubulin (TUBB), 40S ribosomal protein S25 (RS25), 40S ribosomal protein S8
      (RS8), ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 (UBE2), histone H3 (HH3), and peptidyl
      prolyl cis-trans isomerase A (PPIA). We measured the expression levels of these
      13 candidate internal controls in eight different tissues and twelve larvae
      developmental stages by qRT-PCR. Further analysis of the expression stability of
      the tested genes was performed using GeNorm and RefFinder algorithms. RESULTS: Of
      the 13 candidate genes tested, we found that EF-1alpha was the most stable
      internal control gene in almost all adult tissue samples investigated with RL5
      and RL28 as secondary choices. For the normalization of a single specific tissue,
      we suggested that EF-1alpha and NDUFA7 are the best combination in gonad, as well
      as COX1 and RL28 for intestine, EF-1alpha and RL5 for kidney, EF-1alpha and COX1
      for gill, EF-1alpha and RL28 for Leiblein and mantle, EF-1alpha, RL5, and NDUFA7
      for liver, GAPDH, PPIA, and RL28 for hemocyte. From a developmental perspective,
      we found that RL28 was the most stable gene in all developmental stages measured,
      and COX1 and RL5 were appropriate secondary choices. For the specific
      developmental stage, we recommended the following combination for normalization,
      PPIA, RS25, and RL28 for stage 1, RL5 and RL28 for stage 2 and 5, RL28 and NDUFA7
      for stage 3, and PPIA and TUBB for stage 4. DISCUSSION: Our results are
      instrumental for the selection of appropriately validated housekeeping genes for
      use as internal controls for gene expression studies in adult tissues or larval
      development of R. venosa in the future.

PMID- 28584725
TI  - Genome-wide analysis suggests high level of microsynteny and purifying selection
      affect the evolution of EIN3/EIL family in Rosaceae.
AB  - The ethylene-insensitive3/ethylene-insensitive3-like (EIN3/EIL) proteins are a
      type of nuclear-localized protein with DNA-binding activity in plants. Although
      the EIN3/EIL gene family has been studied in several plant species, little is
      known about comprehensive study of the EIN3/EIL gene family in Rosaceae. In this
      study, ten, five, four, and five EIN3/EIL genes were identified in the genomes of
      pear (Pyrus bretschneideri), mei (Prunus mume), peach (Prunus persica) and
      strawberry (Fragaria vesca), respectively. Twenty-eight chromosomal segments of
      EIL/EIN3 gene family were found in four Rosaceae species, and these segments
      could form seven orthologous or paralogous groups based on interspecies or
      intraspecies gene colinearity (microsynteny) analysis. Moreover, the highly
      conserved regions of microsynteny were found in four Rosaceae species.
      Subsequently it was found that both whole genome duplication and tandem
      duplication events significantly contributed to the EIL/EIN3 gene family
      expansion. Gene expression analysis of the EIL/EIN3 genes in the pear revealed
      subfunctionalization for several PbEIL genes derived from whole genome
      duplication. It is noteworthy that according to environmental selection pressure
      analysis, the strong purifying selection should dominate the maintenance of the
      EIL/EIN3 gene family in four Rosaceae species. These results provided useful
      information on Rosaceae EIL/EIN3 genes, as well as insights into the evolution of
      this gene family in four Rosaceae species. Furthermore, high level of
      microsynteny in the four Rosaceae plants suggested that a large-scale genome
      duplication event in the EIL/EIN3 gene family was predated to speciation.

PMID- 28584727
TI  - The presumed oldest flying insect: more likely a myriapod?
AB  - The early fossil record of insects is scarce, with only few finds in the
      Devonian. All these finds appear problematic and controversial, partly due to
      incomplete preservation and challenging interpretation of many structures. We
      provide details of one of these important forms, Rhyniognatha hirsti from the
      famous Rhynie Chert Lagerstatte with up-to-date 3D imaging techniques. The fossil
      has been interpreted as the remains of one of the earliest flying insects. The
      specimen mainly preserves the remains of the head. The structures of the
      mandibles have been used as a main argument for an interpretation as an insect,
      but these are in fact less easy to interpret. New observed structures include the
      remains of a head capsule and an additional pair of mouth parts. Structures
      formerly suggested to represent remains of the head capsule or apodemes are more
      likely to be representing glands of ectodermal origin. The newly observed
      structures do not support an interpretation as an insect. Instead they make the
      interpretation as a myriapod more likely, possibly as a centipede. Centipede
      remains from the Rhynie Chert are known from scutigeromorphs. We therefore point
      out that R. hirsti could be interpreted as an early centipede.

PMID- 28584726
TI  - The South-American distribution and southernmost record of Biomphalaria peregrina
      a potential intermediate host of schistosomiasis.
AB  - Schistosomiasis remains a major parasitic disease, endemic in large parts of
      South America. Five neotropical species of Biomphalaria have been found to act as
      intermediate hosts of Schistosoma mansoni in natural populations, while others
      have been shown to be susceptible in experimental infections, although not found
      infected in the field. Among these potential intermediate hosts, Biomphalaria
      peregrina represents the most widespread species in South America, with confirmed
      occurrence records from Venezuela to northern Patagonia. In this study, we report
      the southernmost record for the species at the Pinturas River, in southern
      Patagonia, which finding implies a southward reassessment of the limit for the
      known species of this genus. The identities of the individuals from this
      population were confirmed through morphological examination, and by means of two
      mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S-rRNA. With both
      markers, phylogenetic analyses were conducted in order to compare the genetic
      background of individuals from the Pinturas River with previously genetically
      characterized strains of B. peregrina from various South-American locations. In
      addition, we produced a potential distribution model of B. peregrina in South
      America and identified the environmental variables that best predict that
      distribution. The model was estimated through a maximum entropy algorithm and run
      with occurrence points obtained from several sources, including the scientific
      literature and international databases, along with climatic and hydrographic
      variables. Different phylogenetic analyses with either the COI or 16S-rRNA
      sequences did not conflict, but rather gave very similar topological
      organizations. Two major groups were identified, with sequences from the Pinturas
      River grouping together with haplotypes from subtropical and temperate regions.
      The model developed had a satisfactory performance for the study area. We
      observed that the areas with higher habitat suitability were found to be mainly
      linked to subtropical and temperate regions of South America between 15 degrees 
      and 45 degrees  south latitude, with different moderate- and low-suitability
      areas outside this range. We also identified the coldest temperatures as the main
      predictors of the potential distribution of this snail. Susceptibility surveys
      would be required to evaluate if southern populations of B. peregrina still
      retain their potential as intermediate hosts of S. mansoni.

PMID- 28584728
TI  - How to be a great dad: parental care in a flock of greater flamingo
      (Phoenicopterus roseus).
AB  - In the last years, studies on captive greater flamingos have increased. Research
      on zoo animals is important to improve the knowledge on these species and to
      improve their ex-situ and in-situ conservation. The aim of the present study was
      to investigate the parental behaviour of a captive colony of greater flamingo
      hosted at Parco Natura Viva, an Italian zoological garden, to improve the
      knowledge on this species in zoos. In particular, the present study investigated
      and compared the parental care of females and males in 35 breeding pairs of
      greater flamingos. For each pair, we collected durations of parental care
      behaviour of both females and males, recording their position in relation to the
      nest (near the nest, on the nest, away from the nest) and individual and social
      behaviours performed. First, both partners were involved in parental care and
      displayed species-specific behaviours reported in the wild. The main results were
      that males spent more time than females on the nest (P = 0.010) and near it (P =
      0.0001) and were more aggressive toward other flamingos than females, both when
      sitting on the nest (P = 0.003) and when near the nest (P = 0.0003). Therefore,
      male flamingos seem to be more involved in incubation duties and nest protection
      than females. This kind of research is important not only to expand the knowledge
      on bird species such as flamingos, but also to improve their husbandry and
      breeding in controlled environment. Indeed, understanding animal behaviour allows
      us to gain insights into their individual and social needs, addressing potential
      animal welfare issues.

PMID- 28584729
TI  - MitoSuite: a graphical tool for human mitochondrial genome profiling in massive
      parallel sequencing.
AB  - Recent rapid advances in high-throughput, next-generation sequencing (NGS)
      technologies have promoted mitochondrial genome studies in the fields of human
      evolution, medical genetics, and forensic casework. However, scientists
      unfamiliar with computer programming often find it difficult to handle the
      massive volumes of data that are generated by NGS. To address this limitation, we
      developed MitoSuite, a user-friendly graphical tool for analysis of data from
      high-throughput sequencing of the human mitochondrial genome. MitoSuite generates
      a visual report on NGS data with simple mouse operations. Moreover, it analyzes
      high-coverage sequencing data but runs on a stand-alone computer, without the
      need for file upload. Therefore, MitoSuite offers outstanding usability for
      handling massive NGS data, and is ideal for evolutionary, clinical, and forensic
      studies on the human mitochondrial genome variations. It is freely available for
      download from the website https://mitosuite.com.

PMID- 28584730
TI  - Comparative transcriptome analysis of isonuclear-alloplasmic lines unmask key
      transcription factor genes and metabolic pathways involved in sterility of maize
      CMS-C.
AB  - Although C-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS-C) is one of the most attractive
      tools for maize hybrid seed production, the detailed regulation network of the
      male sterility remains unclear. In order to identify the CMS-C sterility
      associated genes and/or pathways, the comparison of the transcriptomes between
      the CMS-C line C48-2 and its isonuclear-alloplasmic maintainer line N48-2 at
      pollen mother cell stage (PS), an early development stage of microspore, and
      mononuclear stage (MS), an abortive stage of microspore, were analyzed. 2,069
      differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two stages were detected and
      thought to be essential for the spikelet development of N48-2. 453 of the 2,069
      DEGs were differentially expressed at MS stage between the two lines and thought
      to be participated in the process or the causes of microspore abortion. Among the
      453 DEGs, 385 (84.99%) genes were down-regulated and only 68 (15.01%) genes were
      up-regulated in C48-2 at MS stage. The dramatic decreased expression of the four
      DEGs encoding MYB transcription factors and the DEGs involved in "polyamine
      metabolic process", "Cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis", "Fatty acid
      elongation", "Biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids" and "Proline metabolism"
      might play an important role in the sterility of C48-2. This study will point out
      some directions for detailed molecular analysis and better understanding of
      sterility of CMS-C in maize.

PMID- 28584731
TI  - Experience-based human perception of facial expressions in Barbary macaques
      (Macaca sylvanus).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Facial expressions convey key cues of human emotions, and may also be
      important for interspecies interactions. The universality hypothesis suggests
      that six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise)
      should be expressed by similar facial expressions in close phylogenetic species
      such as humans and nonhuman primates. However, some facial expressions have been
      shown to differ in meaning between humans and nonhuman primates like macaques.
      This ambiguity in signalling emotion can lead to an increased risk of aggression
      and injuries for both humans and animals. This raises serious concerns for
      activities such as wildlife tourism where humans closely interact with wild
      animals. Understanding what factors (i.e., experience and type of emotion) affect
      ability to recognise emotional state of nonhuman primates, based on their facial
      expressions, can enable us to test the validity of the universality hypothesis,
      as well as reduce the risk of aggression and potential injuries in wildlife
      tourism. METHODS: The present study investigated whether different levels of
      experience of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, affect the ability to correctly
      assess different facial expressions related to aggressive, distressed, friendly
      or neutral states, using an online questionnaire. Participants' level of
      experience was defined as either: (1) naive: never worked with nonhuman primates
      and never or rarely encountered live Barbary macaques; (2) exposed: shown
      pictures of the different Barbary macaques' facial expressions along with the
      description and the corresponding emotion prior to undertaking the questionnaire;
      (3) expert: worked with Barbary macaques for at least two months. RESULTS:
      Experience with Barbary macaques was associated with better performance in
      judging their emotional state. Simple exposure to pictures of macaques' facial
      expressions improved the ability of inexperienced participants to better
      discriminate neutral and distressed faces, and a trend was found for aggressive
      faces. However, these participants, even when previously exposed to pictures, had
      difficulties in recognising aggressive, distressed and friendly faces above
      chance level. DISCUSSION: These results do not support the universality
      hypothesis as exposed and naive participants had difficulties in correctly
      identifying aggressive, distressed and friendly faces. Exposure to facial
      expressions improved their correct recognition. In addition, the findings suggest
      that providing simple exposure to 2D pictures (for example, information signs
      explaining animals' facial signalling in zoos or animal parks) is not a
      sufficient educational tool to reduce tourists' misinterpretations of macaque
      emotion. Additional measures, such as keeping a safe distance between tourists
      and wild animals, as well as reinforcing learning via videos or supervised visits
      led by expert guides, could reduce such issues and improve both animal welfare
      and tourist experience.

PMID- 28584732
TI  - Treatment of HCV in Renal Disease: Subtle Management Considerations in the Era of
      Direct-acting Antivirals.
AB  - Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is burdensome in patients with chronic
      kidney disease and contributes to substantial liver-related and all-cause
      morbidity and mortality. HCV infection itself may cause kidney dysfunction, as
      exemplified through mixed cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. HCV is more prevalent in
      patients with significant kidney disease compared to the general population, and
      recent reports have shown inadvertent HCV transmission in U.S. hemodialysis
      centers. Further, HCV has been demonstrated to accelerate kidney dysfunction and
      is associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with kidney disease. As
      such, the HCV-infected population with concurrent kidney disease is an important
      patient subgroup that warrants focused medical care and attention. With the
      advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), the successful treatment of HCV is now
      a medical reality for many patients. Nuances in regimen selection and timing need
      to be considered when treating those with kidney dysfunction, particularly for
      those considering kidney transplantation.

PMID- 28584733
TI  - Nosocomial infections and antibiotic resistance pattern in open-heart surgery
      patients at Imam Ali Hospital in Kermanshah, Iran.
AB  - Background: Patients undergoing open heart surgery have a relatively high risk of
      acquiring nosocomial infections. The development of antibiotic-resistant
      infections is associated with prolonged hospital stays and mortalities.
      Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate nosocomial infections
      and the antibiotic resistance pattern in bacteria causing these infections in
      open heart surgery patients at Imam Ali Hospital in Kermanshah in the west of
      Iran over a 4-year period from March 2011 to March 2014. Materials and methods:
      The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 135 cases of nosocomial
      infection among open heart surgery patients. The demographic characteristics and
      the risk factors of each case of infection were recorded. The antibiotic
      susceptibility test was carried out using the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration
      (MIC) method based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)
      protocol. The data collected were then analyzed in SPSS-16. Results: Out of the
      6,000 patients who underwent open heart surgery during this 4-year period at the
      selected hospital, nosocomial infections developed in 135 patients (2.25%), 59.3%
      of whom were female and 40.7% male. Surgery site infection (SSI), pneumonia
      (PNEU), urinary tract infection (UTI) and blood stream infection (BSI) affected
      52.6%, 37%, 9.6% and 0.8% of the cases, respectively. E.coli, Klebsiella spp. and
      S. aureus were the most common bacteria causing the nosocomial infections. E.
      coli was most frequently resistant to imipenem (23.3%) Klebsiella spp. to
      gentamicin (38.5%) S. aureus to co-trimoxazole (54.2%). Conclusion: SSI had a
      high prevalence in this study. Further studies should therefore be conducted to
      examine the risk factors associated with SSI in open heart surgery. Various
      studies have shown that antibiotic resistance patterns are different in different
      regions. Finding a definitive treatment therefore requires an antibiogram.

PMID- 28584735
TI  - C-reactive Protein: A Prognostic Indicator.

PMID- 28584734
TI  - Teens Engaged in Collaborative Health: The Feasibility and Acceptability of an
      Online Skill-Building Intervention for Adolescents at Risk for Depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is an ongoing need for effective and accessible preventive
      interventions for adolescent depression and substance abuse. This paper reports
      on a field trial of an online indicated preventive intervention, ProjectTECH,
      which is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The study aims
      to gather information about the feasibility and acceptability of this program.
      Secondary aims of this study were to examine the impact of the program on
      depression symptoms, perceived stress, positive affect, and substance use and to
      compare differences between groups that were led by a peer versus those that were
      led by a licensed clinician. METHODS: High school students (n = 39) were
      recruited primarily through social media advertisements, and assigned to four
      groups of 8-12 individuals to collaboratively participate in an 8 week peer
      network-based online preventive intervention which were led by a trained peer
      guide or a licensed clinician. Participants were provided with didactic lessons,
      CBT-based mood management tools, and peer networking features, and completed
      quantitative and qualitative feedback at baseline, midpoint, end of intervention,
      and 1 month follow up. RESULTS: The program attracted and retained users
      primarily from social media and was used frequently by many of the participants
      (system login M = 25.62, SD = 16.58). Participants rated the program as usable,
      and offered several suggestions for improving the program, including allowing for
      further personalization by the individual user, and including more prompts to
      engage with the social network. From baseline to end of intervention, significant
      decreases were observed in depressive symptoms and perceived stress (p's < .05).
      Significant increases in positive affect were observed from baseline to midpoint
      (p < .05) and no changes were observed in substance use, although the rate of
      substance use was low in this sample. While this study had low power to detect
      group differences, no consistent differences were observed between participants
      in a peer-led group and those in a clinician-led group. CONCLUSIONS: Results of
      this study indicates that ProjectTECH, an indicated preventive intervention for
      high school-aged adolescents, demonstrates both feasibility, acceptability, and
      short-term, longitudinal psychological benefits for participants. Future
      iterations of the program may benefit from close attention to user interface
      design and the continued use of trained peer support guides.

PMID- 28584736
TI  - Maternal Near-Miss Audit: Lessons to Be Learnt.
AB  - Mother and child constitute a large, vulnerable, and a priority group as the risk
      is involved with childbearing in women and of growth and development in children.
      For every woman who dies from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes, it is
      estimated that twenty more suffer from pregnancy-related illness or experience
      other severe complications. These women who nearly escape death are categorized
      under "near miss" which has been defined as "a woman who nearly died but survived
      a complication that occurred during pregnancy, childbirth or within 42 days of
      termination of pregnancy." Maternal near-miss audits give us an opportunity to
      study the cases which were almost similar to those where maternal deaths
      happened; thus, their review may give concrete evidence of reasons/deficiencies
      in health care leading to severe complications and even grave consequences as
      maternal deaths. Near-miss audits will allow the care of critically ill women to
      be analyzed, deficiencies in the provision of care to be identified, and
      comparison within and between institutions and, ultimately, improve the quality
      of obstetric care and further reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28584737
TI  - Study of Lipid Peroxidation, Nitric Oxide End Product, and Trace Element Status
      in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with and without Complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress has become a real entity in etiopathogenesis of Type
      2 diabetes mellitus (DM). It may result from steady flux of free radicals and
      lipid peroxides in vivo. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a stable end product of lipid
      peroxidation. Accumulative evidences suggest that hyperglycemia in Type 2 DM can
      produce major changes in nitric oxide (NO) production as well as in its action.
      Alteration in metabolism of trace elements is also observed in DM. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate oxidative stress, status of NO, and trace elements zinc (Zn) and
      magnesium (Mg) in type 2 DM and to correlate these parameters with disease
      process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-two cases with diabetes were included in
      the study, out of which 51 were type 2 DM without any complication and 41 were
      type 2 DM with complications. Fifty-one nondiabetic healthy controls from
      hospital staff were selected for the study. Blood samples were collected after an
      overnight fast for estimation of fasting plasma glucose, postprandial glucose,
      glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), lipid profile, trace element status, MDA, and NO.
      RESULTS: Study revealed a rise in MDA levels in both uncomplicated and
      complicated cases with diabetes (2.47 +/- 0.53, 3.98 +/- 0.42 nmol/ml,
      respectively) as compared to controls (1.43 +/- 0.23 nmol/ml), which was
      statistically significant (P < 0.05). The mean levels of NO, Zn, and Mg were
      significantly lower in both the diabetic groups than the control group (P <
      0.05). MDA showed a significant positive correlation with plasma glucose, lipid
      profile parameters (except high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), and significant
      negative correlation with Zn (r = -0.44, P < 0.05) and Mg (r = -0.31, P < 0.05).
      NO levels were correlated significantly with plasma glucose, dyslipidemia, and
      HbA1c (P < 0.05). The effects of glycemic status on trace element concentrations
      were evident from a significant negative correlation between Zn and Mg with
      fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c. CONCLUSION: Findings of the present study may
      establish the role of hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, impaired NO, and trace
      elements in pathogenesis and long-term vascular complications of type 2 DM.

PMID- 28584739
TI  - Profile of Lymphadenopathy: An Institutional Based Cytomorphological Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lymphadenopathy is one of the most common clinical presentations of
      patients attending the outdoor department of a hospital. Lymph node aspiration is
      of great value for the diagnosis of lymphadenitis, lymphomas, and metastatic
      carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we have reported the pattern of
      cytological diagnosis on fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of
      lymphadenopathy cases in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state of India. The
      mean age of all the patients in this study was 21.67 years. The most common site
      of lymphadenopathy was cervical region (71.79%) followed by axillary region
      (11.11%). RESULTS: Tubercular lymphadenitis (44.02%) was the single most common
      cause of lymphadenopathy followed by reactive lymphadenitis (42.64%), metastatic
      lesions (9.40%), and malignant lymphoma (4.70%). The sensitivity of 94.49%,
      positive predictive value of 96.26%, and diagnostic accuracy of 91.15% was
      achieved in our study. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the role of FNAC as a
      simple, inexpensive, relatively painless, rapid, repeatable, and reliable method
      of investigation for lymphadenopathy, especially in outpatient departments,
      peripheral hospitals, and dispensaries.

PMID- 28584738
TI  - Performance Characteristics of Kidney Injury Molecule-1 In Relation to
      Creatinine, Urea, and Microalbuminuria in the Diagnosis of Kidney Disease.
AB  - CONTEXT: The diagnosis and evaluation of impaired renal function remains a
      challenge owing to lack of reliable biomarker for assessment of kidney function.
      The existing panel of biomarkers currently displays several limitations, and
      recently kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) has been suggested as a sensitive
      biomarker of renal function and proposed to enter clinical practice. AIMS: This
      study was conducted to determine the diagnostic value of serum creatinine, urea,
      and microalbuminuria (MAU) in relation to the novel biomarker, KIM-1. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Serum creatinine, urea, MAU, and KIM-1 were measured in forty
      individuals with and forty without kidney disease. Data were analyzed using
      multivariate methods of assessing diagnostic efficiency, test agreement,
      condition effects, and variability. RESULTS: The area under the receiver-operator
      characteristic curve revealed a diagnostic advantage of creatinine (0.924 +/-
      0.0066) and urea (0.925 +/- 0.0068) over MAU (0.880 +/- 0.078) and KIM-1 (0.35 +/
      0.124). Overall diagnostic efficiency was higher for creatinine and urea (89.5%
      and 90.9%, respectively), followed by MAU (85.7%) and then KIM-1 (56.3%).
      Logistic regression analysis showed that creatinine and urea (R2 = 0.75 and R2 =
      0.72, respectively, P < 0.001 for both) were better predictors of kidney disease
      than MAU (R2 = 0.64, P < 0.001) and KIM-1 (R2 = 0.046, P = 0.116). Further
      analysis of agreement showed that urea had an excellent agreement with creatinine
      (kappa r = 0.835, P < 0.001), with KIM-1 (kappa r = -0.198, P = 0.087) showing a
      poor agreement with creatinine. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that elevated
      serum creatinine and urea above specific cutoff points reliably identifies
      patients with acute kidney injury or chronic kidney disease. However, more
      researches are warranted to further validate the diagnostic efficiency and
      application of MAU and for KIM-1 before its implementation in clinical practice.

PMID- 28584740
TI  - Impact of Preoperative Echocardiography on Perioperative Management in Geriatric
      Hip Trauma: A Retrospective Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Hip fractures are associated with a significant risk of
      morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. Current guidelines propose
      that these patients should be operated as early as possible. Preoperative cardiac
      investigations, especially echocardiography, have been considered to delay
      surgery with few changes in the patient management. The present study has been
      conducted to evaluate whether preoperative echocardiography improve or worsen the
      prognosis in such hip trauma surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this
      retrospective study, we reviewed the records of elderly patients with hip trauma
      operated in the tertiary care trauma center of our institute over a period of 1
      year. Out of 120 patients, preoperative echocardiography was done in 30 patients.
      We compared the patients for whom echocardiography was done with the patients who
      did not undergo echocardiography. Descriptive statistical methods were used to
      analyze the results and observations. RESULTS: We observed that preoperative
      transthoracic echocardiography led to an escalation in cardiac medication in 53%
      patients when compared with 23.3% in patients who did not undergo
      echocardiography. No preoperative cardiac intervention was done in any patient.
      However, there was a delay of 2.5 days in surgery in the echocardiography group
      as compared to the patients of nonechocardiography group. Rate of regional
      anesthesia was comparable in both the groups (54% vs. 56.6%). CONCLUSIONS: In the
      present study, it was observed that echocardiography significantly delays surgery
      without a significant change in preoperative cardiac medication or anesthesia
      technique. This may have a potential possible adverse effect on the outcome in
      geriatric hip trauma which was not observed to a significant limit in the present
      study as the study was not a longitudinal study. For "fast tracking" of geriatric
      hip trauma, institutional guidelines should be developed depending on the
      resources available.

PMID- 28584741
TI  - Adverse Drug Events in Patients with Mental Disorder in an Ambulatory Setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although adverse drug events (ADEs) among inpatients occur frequently
      and are widely studied, few data are available on ADEs among outpatients with
      mental disorders. AIMS: To determine the rates, types, and severity of ADEs in
      patients with mental disorder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of
      patients with mental disorder attending outpatient department. Data were
      collected over a period of 6 months. RESULTS: A total of 400 patients (217
      schizophrenia patients, 127 bipolar affective disorder patients, and 56 patients
      of depression) with a mean age of 32.1 +/- 9.7(+/-standard deviation)
      participated in the study. Patients suffering from schizophrenia and all
      nonadherent patients reported significantly more ADEs (P < 0.05). Out of 343
      patients (86%) who reported at least one ADE, majority (87%) reported central
      nervous system ADEs followed by weight gain (48%), gastro-intestinal (28%), skin
      (4%), cardiovascular (1%), and sexual dysfunctions (0.3%). Out of 673 ADEs
      reported, sedation (41%) and weight gain (25%) were reported most commonly. Most
      ADEs reported (76%) were mild; however, there were no life-threatening, fatal, or
      serious ADEs. The medication classes most frequently involved in ADEs were
      antipsychotics (72%) followed by sedatives (44%), antimanic drugs (32%), and
      antidepressants (27%). Patients on atypical antipsychotic drugs reported
      significantly more body weight gain (P < 0.05). More than three drugs were
      prescribed in 49% of patients who reported ADEs. CONCLUSION: The study data
      indicate high prevalence of ADEs in the outpatients on psychotropic medications.

PMID- 28584742
TI  - Antepartum Hemorrhage: A Retrospective Analysis from a Northern Nigerian Teaching
      Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antepartum hemorrhage (APH) contributes significantly to maternal and
      perinatal morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in the developing world
      like ours. Prevention, early detection, and prompt management cannot be
      overemphasized to significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality associated
      with this condition. OBJECTIVES: The study is aimed at determining the
      prevalence, etiology, sociodemographic characteristics, and the fetomaternal
      outcome of pregnancies complicated by APH in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 5 years retrospective study of all pregnancies
      complicated by APH at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria, between
      January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2013, was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 224
      cases of APH were recorded out of the 18,273 cases admitted for delivery during
      the study period, giving an institutional prevalence rate of 1.2%. Two hundred
      and eighteen folders were retrieved and analyzed giving a retrieval rate of
      97.3%. The mean gestational age at presentation was 35.3 +/- 2 weeks and the most
      common causes were abruptio placenta and placenta previa constituting 68.3% and
      30.0%, respectively. Sociodemographic characteristics associated with the
      occurrence of APH included age, booking status, parity, and socioeconomic status.
      The peak prevalence of APH was observed in the 35-39 year age group accounting
      for 33.0%. There were 123 live births and 92 stillbirths. The cesarean section
      rate was 53.5%. Major complications were intrauterine fetal deaths in 42.8%,
      postpartum hemorrhage in 24.2% of cases, and anemia necessitating blood
      transfusion in 61.5%. There were three maternal deaths all due to abruptio
      placentae during the study period giving a case specific fatality rate of 2%.
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of APH in our setting is high. The major causes were
      abruptio placenta and placenta previa. The major fetal complication was
      intrauterine fetal death, and the major maternal complications were postpartum
      hemorrhage and anemia with consequent high blood transfusion rate. Early
      detection, provision of antenatal care, and emergency obstetric care services can
      reduce the negative effects of APH.

PMID- 28584743
TI  - Benign and Malignant Thyroid Gland Diseases in the Patients with Primary
      Hyperparathyroidism.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate concurrently detected thyroid
      pathologies in the patients who underwent surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism
      (PHPT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the
      files of the patients who underwent surgery for PHPT between 2012 and 2015. Pre-
      and post-operative laboratory examination results and preoperative radiological
      and nuclear medicine findings of the patients were retrospectively recorded.
      RESULTS: A total number of 41 patients with PHPT were divided into two groups as
      the Group 1 with PHPT and benign thyroid pathology (21 patients) and the Group 2
      with PHPT and malignant thyroid pathology (20 patients). In Group 1, 18 and 3 of
      21 patients were females and males, respectively. Group 2 included 15 male and 5
      female patients. The mean age of the patients was found to be 55.6 and 53.9 years
      in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively. Both groups were matched for age and
      gender. In terms of thyroid pathology, 20 of 41 patients (48.7%) who underwent
      total thyroidectomy for PHPT were found to have thyroid papillary carcinoma while
      benign pathologic conditions were detected in 21 (51.3%) individuals.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cooccurrence of thyroid diseases and PHPT is common. Therefore, all
      the patients should preoperatively be evaluated for the presence of thyroid
      pathology to determine the technique of parathyroid surgery.

PMID- 28584744
TI  - Evaluation of Serum C-reactive Protein Levels in Subjects with Aggressive and
      Chronic Periodontitis in Comparison with Healthy Controls: A Clinico-biochemical
      Study.
AB  - AIM: Evaluation and comparison of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in
      subjects with chronic and aggressive periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based
      on the periodontal status, 45 subjects were selected and divided into three
      groups. Group I - subjects with clinically healthy periodontium, Group II -
      generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAP), and Group III - chronic periodontitis
      (CP). Blood samples were collected from subjects for measurement of CRP.
      Periodontal parameters include plaque index (PI), gingival index, bleeding index
      (BI), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss (CAL) were
      assessed. CRP levels were assessed by means of a commercially available high
      sensitivity-CRP enzyme immunoassay kit. RESULTS: CRP levels were increased in
      Group III (6.0671 +/- 3.15639 mg/L) and Group II subjects (4.5453 +/- 2.88116
      mg/L) compared to the Group I (1.0180 +/- 0.94069 mg/L). CRP levels showed a
      positive correlation with all clinical parameters in Group I subjects. BI (r =
      0.073), PI (r = 0.120) showed a positive correlation with CRP level in Group II
      and a positive correlation was also seen for PI (r = 0.492), PPD (r = 0.340), CAL
      (r = 0.160), and CRP level in Group III subjects. CONCLUSION: The mean CRP levels
      were found to be greater in CP compared to GAP subjects, but there was no
      statistically significant difference.

PMID- 28584745
TI  - Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma versus Corticosteroid in the Management of Elbow
      Epicondylitis: A Randomized Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Elbow epicondylar tendinitis is a common problem for patients whose
      activities require strong gripping or repetitive wrist movements in the day-to
      day activities of life. Histologic specimens from chronic cases confirm that
      tendinitis is not an acute inflammatory condition but rather a failure of the
      normal tendon repair mechanism associated with angiofibroblastic degeneration.
      Tendon regeneration may be improved by injecting autologous growth factors
      obtained from the patient's own blood. Autologous growth factors can be injected
      with autologous whole blood or platelet-rich plasma (PRP). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A randomized study with 83 patients was done. The study population comprised two
      groups. Group A (n = 50) treated with local steroid injection and Group B (n =
      33) treated with autologous PRP. Patients were allocated randomly using computer
      generated random number table. The base-line evaluation was done using visual
      analog score (VAS) and modified Mayo performance index for elbow (MAYO). Re
      evaluation was after 1, 2, and 6 months of the procedure. Statistical analysis
      was done using independent t-test. RESULTS: Six months after treatment with PRP,
      patient's with elbow epicondylitis had a significant improvement in their VAS (P
      < 0.05) and MAYO (P < 0.05) in contrast to steroid, whereas no statistical
      difference was found between the two groups at 1 and 2 months after intervention.
      CONCLUSION: Treatment of patients with epicondylitis with PRP reduces pain and
      significantly increases function, exceeding the effect of corticosteroid
      injection.

PMID- 28584746
TI  - Screening of Patients with Chronic Medical Disorders in the Outpatient Department
      for Depression Using Handheld Computers as Interface and Patient Health
      Questionnaire-9 as a Tool.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Depression, especially in concurrence with chronic
      medical disorders, is highly prevalent worldwide. An average between 9.3% and 23%
      of patients with one or more chronic disease have co-morbid depression. This
      comorbid depression has the worst health scores of all the disease states.
      Despite this, patients with chronic medical disorders are not commonly screened
      for depression. Lack of objective screening by health-care providers as well as
      lack of infrastructure (time/space/personnel) probably contributes to gross
      underdiagnosis of depression. This issue can be addressed using short objective
      depression screening score (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]) (validated in
      native languages, e.g., Hindi) and paperless self-administered interface on
      handheld computer (tablet), which is the objective of the study. SUBJECTS AND
      METHODS: One hundred consecutive patients with chronic medical disorders visiting
      our medicine outpatient department were screened for depression using tablets
      with PHQ-9 Hindi on a self-administered interface. RESULTS: The overall
      prevalence of depression was found to be 25% (95% confidence interval 16.6-34.8).
      Nearly half of the patients with depression had moderate depression (PHQ-9 score
      10-14) while rest had moderately severe or very severe depression (PHQ-9 score
      >14). Association of depression was not found to be statistically significant
      with age, duration of disease, gender, the type of disease, or the number of
      disease. Majority of patients rated ease of the use of tablet interface (on a
      visual analog scale) as very easy (approx 95%). All the patients were able to
      complete the tablet screener without assistance, answering all of the questions.
      The median time of completion with interquartile range was 4 (3-5) min. Majority
      of the patients (63%) completed the questionnaire within 5 min while rest
      completed it in 5-10 min. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to use tablets with PHQ-9
      questionnaire in native language for screening depression in chronic medical
      disorders. With high prevalence of comorbid depression, any comprehensive care of
      patients with chronic medical disorders will not be possible, unless such
      patients are screened and treated for depression. A self-administered screening
      questionnaire for depression on handheld tablets can prove to be a handy tool to
      achieve above aim.

PMID- 28584747
TI  - Expression of Human Papillomavirus DNA and p53 Polymorphisms through Polymerase
      Chain Reaction in Normal Mucosa and Oral Leukoplakia Individuals with Deleterious
      Oral Habits.
AB  - CONTEXT: Oral leukoplakia (OL) is a well-recognized precancerous lesion with
      various etiological factors. Most commonly deleterious oral habits such as
      tobacco smoking and viral etiologies mainly human papillomavirus (HPV) play an
      important role. p53 polymorphisms mostly homozygous Arginine (Arg) allele has a
      greater risk of degradation by HPV. Hence, HPV infection and p53 polymorphisms
      may act as synergistic factors for increased the risk of malignant transformation
      in oral precancerous lesions. AIMS: The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk
      of OL and its malignant transformation due to infection by HPV and p53
      polymorphisms in the oral biopsy samples through polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 40 individuals were involved- 10 individuals
      were controls without deleterious habits, 15 were controls with deleterious
      habits, and 15 were with histologically confirmed OL individuals with deleterious
      habits. PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism using sma1 enzyme were
      carried out to evaluate the expression of HPV and p53 polymorphisms. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square test, Fischer's exact t-test, and odds ratio. RESULTS:
      (1) HPV DNA expression was higher in Leukoplakia individuals than controls. (2)
      p53 genotype with homozygous Arg was more in HPV-infected individuals.
      CONCLUSIONS: To conclude HPV infected OL cases were mostly with Arg/Arg type of
      p53 polymorphism.

PMID- 28584748
TI  - Papilliferous Keratoameloblastoma: A Rare Case Report.
AB  - Ameloblastoma is true odontogenic tumor of epithelial origin, which is described
      as locally aggressive with varying chances of recurrence. It is believed to
      derive from enamel organ, remnants of dental lamina, lining of odontogenic cysts,
      or basal cells of oral epithelium. Radiologically, it may present as unilocular
      or multilocular radiolucency commonly. Although conventional ameloblastoma
      presents typical histological features as described by Vickers and Gorlin, few
      unusual variants have been reported with different histological patterns.
      However, the clinical and biological behavior of these lesser known variants has
      not been established yet due to the scarcity of cases reported. Here, we report
      an extremely rare case of papilliferous ameloblastoma in a young male patient
      with 2-year follow-up and presenting with unusual histological presentation than
      conventional ameloblastoma.

PMID- 28584749
TI  - Accessory Flexor Carpi Ulnaris and Bilaterally Variant Vascular Anatomy of Upper
      Limb: An Unusual Presentation.
AB  - We report a rare combination of variations in the upper limb of a human cadaver.
      Accessory flexor carpi ulnaris with absent palmaris longus was observed in the
      left forearm during routine dissection of a male cadaver. Variant vascular
      pattern was observed bilaterally. Brachial artery bifurcated at a higher level.
      Ulnar artery gave rise to persistent median artery (PMA) which pierced the median
      nerve and accompanied it deep into flexor retinaculum to terminate as two common
      palmar digital arteries. Superficial palmar arch was not formed as the PMA did
      not anastomose with either the radial or ulnar artery. Radial artery was small
      and deep palmar arch was mainly contributed by the deep branch of ulnar artery.
      Awareness of these coexistent variations in the forearm and hand is anatomically
      as well as clinically important in reconstructive hand surgeries.

PMID- 28584750
TI  - Rupture of Noncommunicating Rudimentary Horn of Uterus.
AB  - Rudimentary horn pregnancy though an extremely rare condition can be associated
      with high morbidity. We report a case of ruptured noncommunicating rudimentary
      horn with unicornuate uterus.

PMID- 28584751
TI  - A Conjecture as to the Physiological Origins of Yawning.

PMID- 28584752
TI  - Body to Scalp: Evolving Trends in Body Hair Transplantation.
AB  - Follicular unit extraction (FUE) is becoming an increasingly popular method for
      hair restoration. As FUE leaves behind no linear scars, it is more suitable to
      harvest from various body areas including beard, chest, and extremities in
      hirsute individuals. Body hair characteristics such as thickness, length, and
      hair cycle may not completely match to that of the scalp hair. The techniques of
      harvesting body hairs are more time consuming, requiring higher degree of skill
      than regular scalp FUE. Body hair transplantation can be successfully used either
      alone or in combination with scalp hair in advanced grades of baldness, for
      improving the cosmetic appearance of hairlines and in scarring alopecia when
      there is paucity of donor scalp hair. Harvesting of body hairs opens up a new
      viable donor source for hair restoration surgeons, especially in cases of
      advanced Norwood grades five and above of androgenetic alopecia.

PMID- 28584754
TI  - Occupational Dermatoses among Cottage Industry Workers of Kashmir Valley in North
      India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cottage industry is usually a small-scale industry operated from
      home by family members using their own equipment. Kashmir has a unique cottage
      industry of its own which deals with production of many handicrafts, which may
      lead to a peculiar pattern of skin diseases in these artisans. Aim: The aim of
      this study was to find out the pattern of skin disorders in the cottage industry
      workers of Kashmir valley, with primary focus on the occupation-related
      dermatoses and to identify the most common cutaneous manifestation in these
      workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study in
      which 1062 cottage industry workers engaged in different crafts were screened. A
      detailed history taking and examination was carried out in each worker and the
      diagnosis was made on clinical grounds. Wherever deemed necessary, relevant
      investigations were done to establish the nature of the disease. RESULTS: A total
      of 1062 workers were evaluated for the presence of skin disorders. The male-to
      female ratio was 1:1.5. The mean age of the study group was 30.3 years +/- 10.79
      years, with maximum number of workers (164) belonging to the crewel embroidery
      industry. The mean duration of work was 6.4 +/- 2.08 hours/day. A total of 953
      workers (89.7%) had cutaneous manifestations, with callosities being the most
      common finding seen in 371 workers (35%), followed by cumulative insult
      dermatitis seen in 201 workers (19%). CONCLUSION: Cottage industry of Kashmir
      valley is a unique occupational group where a high percentage of workers had
      cutaneous manifestations related to their occupation, with callosities being the
      most common finding. Information and better knowledge regarding these dermatoses
      are important in devising strategies to improve the health scenario of these
      workers. Simple measures such as proper use of instruments, use of protective
      gloves, guarded use of chemicals, and hand washing may be very beneficial in
      reducing the burden of health problems in these workers.

PMID- 28584753
TI  - A Pilot Study for the Evaluation of PCR as a Diagnostic Tool in Patients with
      Suspected Dermatophytoses.
AB  - CONTEXT: The conventional diagnostic tools for dermatophytoses suffer from
      several limitations including low sensitivity, specificity, and long turn-around
      time. AIMS: The present study was, therefore, performed to evaluate the
      performance of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for the diagnosis
      of this condition. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was conducted in the
      Dermatology outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in central
      India over a period of 3 months from July to September 2015. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Forty participants, including 25 cases and 15 controls, were recruited
      in this observational study. Direct microscopy and fungal culture were performed
      from skin scrapings and nail clippings collected from the participants. PCR was
      also performed to amplify the chitin synthase 1 and internal transcribed spacer 2
      genes from DNA samples extracted from the same clinical materials, using the
      method reported by Brillowska-Dabrowska et al. The diagnostic performance of
      fungal culture and PCR was compared using OpenEpi software. RESULTS: We observed
      a significant male predominance among patients with dermatophytoses. The
      sensitivity of fungal culture and dermatophyte PCR to diagnose dermatophytoses
      was 24% and 48%, respectively, whereas the specificity of the two assays was 100%
      and 93.3%, respectively. The likelihood ratio of a positive PCR assay was 7.2 and
      the negative likelihood ratio was 0.5. PCR assay also delivered a significant
      shortening of the time-to-diagnosis, with the mean turn-around-time being 8 hours
      and 14 days for PCR and culture, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study, thus,
      highlights the potential merits of the dermatophyte PCR assay in achieving a
      rapid diagnosis of dermatophytoses and underscores its utility as a complementary
      test to improve the sensitivity of the conventional diagnostic tools for this
      condition, as well as to reliably differentiate this condition from other similar
      skin conditions.

PMID- 28584755
TI  - Misuse of Topical Corticosteroids over Face: A Clinical Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Topical corticosteroids (TCS) have been widely used in various
      dermatological diseases. However, because of inadvertent use, TCS misuse has
      become a common problem faced by dermatologists in various parts of the world.
      Prolonged use over the face can cause various side effects such as steroid
      rosacea, acneiform eruptions, and hypertrichosis. AIM: To study the effects of
      TCS misuse and analyze various factors promoting its use on face. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 100 patients presenting with various facial dermatoses
      following the misuse of TCS on the face were studied. Detailed history was noted
      and the various side effects were recorded. RESULTS: Majority of the patients
      (70%) were females with maximum number of patients belonging to the age group of
      11-20 years. Eighty-five percent of the patients were applying TCS for medical
      conditions, with acne being the most common indication, and the rest were
      applying as a general face cream. Pruritus and acneiform eruptions were the most
      common side effects observed and the other reported were erythema,
      photosensitivity, steroid dependent face, and telangiectasia. CONCLUSION: TCS
      misuse especially over the face can lead to a multitude of side effects. It is
      high time to create awareness among the patients as well as doctors regarding the
      proper usage of this wonder drug.

PMID- 28584756
TI  - Disseminated Cutaneous Trichosporonosis in an Adult Bone Marrow Transplant
      Patient.
AB  - The Trichosporon species are yeast-like opportunistic pathogens in
      immunocompromised patients. Trichosporon asahii infections have been reported in
      pediatric bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients. However, its incidence is low in
      the adult literature. A 52-year-old Chinese woman who was diagnosed with acute
      myeloid leukemia received induction chemotherapy and underwent allogenic bone
      marrow transplant, which was complicated by a relapse and required salvage
      chemotherapy. She developed persistent non-neutropenic fever secondary to
      presumed hepatosplenic candidiasis. Antifungal therapy with fluconazole and
      anidulafungin was administered. She remained febrile and tender dusky nodules
      appeared over all the four limbs. Histopathological examination and fungal
      culture identified T. asahii. Oral voriconazole was initiated with complete
      resolution of her lesions. The Trichosporon species is a frequently isolated
      yeast species from cancer patients. Voriconazole has become the first choice
      agent against Trichosporon. We highlight the increased awareness and clinical
      suspicion required for diagnosis and subsequent management in similar adult
      patients.

PMID- 28584757
TI  - Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans in a 9-Year-Old Child.
AB  - Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an uncommon soft tissue neoplasm of low
      to-intermediate grade malignant potential. Childhood onset of DFSP is rare. It is
      most commonly seen on the trunk and proximal extremities. In children, a high
      index of suspicion is necessary to avoid delays in diagnosis that can lead to
      further morbidity. Here, we report a case of DFSP in a 9-year-old female child.
      Excision biopsy of lesion was performed with 1 cm margin. After confirmation of
      the diagnosis by histopathology, the patient was observed for recurrence, but
      there was no recurrence after 1 and half years of follow up.

PMID- 28584758
TI  - Atypical Lichen Myxedematosus: A Case with Remarkable Response to Low Dose
      Melphalan.
AB  - A 41-year-old man was referred to our outpatient department with a diagnosis of
      urticaria with angioedema of 3 months duration. On examination, he had
      generalized coalescent waxy papules and diffuse periorbital swelling. Systemic
      examination was unremarkable except for limited finger flexion. Serum
      electrophoresis and thyroid function tests were normal. Histopathological
      examination showed normal epidermis and intradermal mucin deposition, which was
      diagnostic of lichen myxedematosus (LM). The patient showed prompt response to
      melphalan. Here, we report this case of atypical LM because the patient had
      generalized eruption with normal thyroid function along with the absence of
      monoclonal gammopathy.

PMID- 28584759
TI  - Cutaneous Meningioma: A Cytomorphological Diagnosis.
AB  - Cutaneous meningiomas are rare tumors. These are ectopic meningothelial cells
      located in the dermis and subcutis, and are usually seen on the scalp. Here, we
      report the case of a 40-year-old woman who presented with a slowly growing
      asymptomatic mass over the scalp in the right parieto-occipital region. The
      lesion was firm, adherent to underlying structures, and covered by normal
      appearing skin. The cytomorphological features along with histological and
      immunohistochemical studies showing positivity for epithelial membrane antigen,
      Vimentin, and S100 helped in making a definitive diagnosis of cutaneous
      meningioma. No evidence of intracranial meningioma was noted in contrast-enhanced
      computed tomography of the brain.

PMID- 28584761
TI  - A Case of Peeling Skin Syndrome.
AB  - Peeling skin syndrome is a very rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by
      widespread painless peeling of the skin in superficial sheets. Etiology is still
      unknown with an autosomal recessive inheritance. Less than 100 cases have been
      reported in the medical literature. We present a 32-year-old man having
      asymptomatic peeling of skin since birth. Sheets of skin were peeling from his
      neck, trunk, and extremities, following friction or rubbing especially if pre
      soaked in water but sparing palm and soles. Histologically, there was epidermal
      separation at the level of stratum corneum, just above the stratum granulosum.
      This case is being presented due to its rarity.

PMID- 28584760
TI  - Mucocele on Lower Lip: A Case Series.
AB  - Mucocele is a common salivary gland disorder that can appear in the lacrimal sac,
      paranasal sinuses, oral cavity, appendix, or gall bladder. These lesions occur
      due to mucous accumulation resulting from the alteration of minor salivary
      glands. Lower lip is the most common site of occurrence of these lesions in the
      oral cavity and most probable cause is trauma or habit of lip biting. Diagnosis
      is mainly clinical due to its pathognomonic presentation. We report a case series
      of mucocele in children treated by conventional surgical excision of the lesion.

PMID- 28584762
TI  - Curbside (Corridor to the E-corridor) Consultations and the Dermatologists.

PMID- 28584763
TI  - Rapp Hodgkin Syndrome.

PMID- 28584764
TI  - Persistent and Generalized Purpuric Lesions in an Adolescent: A Rare Atypical
      Form of Pityriasis Rosea.

PMID- 28584765
TI  - Successful Treatment of Generalized Granuloma Annulare with Pentoxifylline.

PMID- 28584766
TI  - Pedunculated Hemorrhagic Cystic Swelling: An Unusual Presentation of Polydactyly.

PMID- 28584767
TI  - Trastuzumab-Docetaxel Combination Chemotherapy Induced Severe Onychopathy.

PMID- 28584768
TI  - Zinc Responsive Acrodermatitis in Nephrotic Syndrome.

PMID- 28584769
TI  - Sturge-Weber Syndrome with Choroidal Hemangioma.

PMID- 28584770
TI  - SkIndia Quiz 37: A Persistent Plaque in the Pubic Region.

PMID- 28584771
TI  - SkIndia Quiz 38: Subcutaneous Thumb Tumor.

PMID- 28584772
TI  - Kaposi's Varicelliform Eruption in Phenytoin-Induced Erythroderma.

PMID- 28584773
TI  - Dermatoscopy Image Characteristics and Differences among Commonly Used Standard
      Dermatoscopes.

PMID- 28584774
TI  - Nonthermal Plasma in Dentistry: An Update.
AB  - The recent enormous progress in understanding of plasma physics and development
      of plasma jet has attracted focus on the application of plasma in medicine and
      dentistry. Active plasma ions, electrons, and photons have the ability to
      activate and control various biochemical procedures. Nonthermal plasma (NTP) is
      widely used for various therapeutic applications in health care. Particularly in
      dentistry, NTP holds big potential such as for bacterial inactivation, efficient
      sterilization, and treatment of dental caries. This review intends to provide
      information on potential NTP applications in dentistry.

PMID- 28584775
TI  - Evaluation of Periodontal Status and Treatment Needs of Institutionalized
      Intellectually Disabled Individuals in Lebanon.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: No reported data is available on the periodontal health and
      treatment needs of the intellectually disabled in Lebanon. To evaluate the
      periodontal condition and treatment needs of institutionalized intellectually
      disabled individuals in Lebanon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 272
      individuals (141 males and 131 females) aged 15 years and 35-44 years were
      examined. Periodontal health was recorded following the community periodontal
      index of treatment needs (CPITN), and treatment need was assigned accordingly.
      The IBM(r) SPSS(r) statistics 20.0 and Stata/SE 11.1 statistical packages were
      used to carry out all statistical analyses. Statistical analysis was performed
      using linear regression (P <= 0.05). RESULTS: Healthy periodontium was recorded
      in 26.1%, bleeding on probing in 27.9%, supra-/sub-gingival calculus in 31.3%,
      pockets of 4-5 mm in 11% and >=6 mm in 3.7%. The largest proportion of the sample
      was in need for oral hygiene instruction and calculus removal (42.3%). Age,
      geographical location, consumption of carbohydrate-rich meals and sweets between
      meals were significantly associated with CPITN score severity in multivariate
      analysis (P < 0.05). Gender, severity of disability, frequency of tooth brushing,
      and caretaker characteristics were not significant predictors of CPITN (P >
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The predominantly poor periodontal health and social
      inequalities warrant nationwide preventive oral health programs in addition to
      planning the provision of treatment services to meet existing treatment needs.

PMID- 28584776
TI  - Cross-Cultural Validation of the Scale of Oral Health-Related Outcomes for 5-Year
      Old-Children with a Low-Income Sample from the Dominican Republic.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To conduct a thorough psychometric assessment and validation
      of a Spanish-adapted version of the Scale of Oral Health-Related Outcomes for 5
      Year-Old-Children (SOHO-5). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 69
      children aged 6 and 7 years attending a public school from a low-income community
      in the Dominican Republic. Outcomes consisted of SOHO-5 test scores and caries
      lesion severity scores, with the latter measured according to the International
      Caries Detection and Assessment System criteria. The IBM SPSS Statistics 20 and
      Mplus 7.4 programs were used for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: A
      confirmatory factor analysis revealed an excellent fit for the theoretical one
      factor structure of the SOHO-5, with all the items having high loadings on this
      latent factor. In addition, the SOHO-5 was able to significantly explain a large
      amount of variance (37%) in caries lesion severity (P < 0.001), while its scale
      scores had good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha [alpha] =
      0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-0.90). Further, the SOHO-5 could identify
      children with moderate and extensive caries lesions (area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.94, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      The current findings highlight the good psychometric properties and criterion
      related validity of the Spanish-adapted SOHO-5 for young children who come from
      impoverished backgrounds.

PMID- 28584777
TI  - Dental and Skeletal Age Estimations in Lebanese Children: A Retrospective Cross
      sectional Study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Assessing dental and bone ages is frequently required in a
      wide range of fields such as odontology, forensic science, as well as
      orthopedics. The aim of this study was to evaluate applicability of two methods
      of bone age assessment and two methods of dental age (DA) assessment for Lebanese
      children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Skeletal age (SA) of 260 orthodontic patients
      (124 males, 136 females divided into four groups each) was consecutively assessed
      using Greulich and Pyle and Fishman's SMI methods. DA was evaluated using both
      Demirjian's and Willem's methods. Mean age was 11.89 +/- 1.38 years for males and
      11.75 +/- 1.58 years for females. Data were collected and statistically analyzed
      using the SPSS software (IBM SPSS Statistics, version 21, USA). The differences
      between estimated DA, estimated SA, and chronological age (CA) were compared by
      gender and age group. RESULTS: Greulich and Pyle method showed nonsignificant
      difference with CA in male sample, while in both assessment methods, the
      difference between skeletal and CAs is significant in female sample. Results of
      Willem's method in the whole sample suggested a statistically nonsignificant
      difference, when compared to CA. Demirjian's method delivered higher mean value
      than Willem's assessment in both genders. CONCLUSIONS: Greulich and Pyle method
      is accurate for SA assessment in males and only in one group of females, while it
      significantly overestimates age in all other female groups. Willem's method is
      more suitable to assess DA in both genders. A strong correlation exists between
      both dental and skeletal assessment methods and CA.

PMID- 28584778
TI  - Temporomandibular Joint Pain: Clinical Presentations and Response to Conservative
      Treatments in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence,
      pattern of presentation, and response to conservative (medical) interventions
      among patients who presented with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain in a
      Nigerian teaching hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Consecutive patients who
      presented in Oral Medicine and Periodontology Clinic of Obafemi Awolowo
      University Teaching Hospitals' Complex on account of TMJ pain from January 2015
      to December 2015 were recruited for the study. They were all interviewed and
      examined. The severity of pain was recorded using visual analog scale (VAS).
      Patients were treated with medications and physiotherapy. They were reviewed at
      2, 4, and 6 weeks. Those who could not make the appointment were contacted
      through phone. The findings were recorded and analyzed using STATA version 11.
      RESULTS: A total of 401 participants were seen, 55 presented on account of TMJ
      pain. The mean age of patients with TMJ pain was 54 +/- 16.9 with 60% being
      female. Pain was present in all participants; other signs include clicking joint
      sound (85%), jaw deviation (64%), attrition (24%), and reduced mouth opening
      (23%). The left joint was more frequently affected (75%). Following 6 weeks of
      conservative treatments, none of the respondents had VAS score of more than 3.
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of TMJ pain was 13%. TMJ was found to be more common
      in participants above 50 years with female predilection. Pain was most common
      symptom seen, and response to conservative treatments as assessed using VAS
      following 6-week of treatment showed complete remission of the pain.

PMID- 28584779
TI  - Evaluation of Surface Roughness of Different Direct Resin-based Composites.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate surface roughness of different resin-based
      composites. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three resin composites, one nanohybrid, one
      nanoceramic, and one bulk-fill resin-based composite, were used in this study.
      Cylindrical Teflon mold and 8 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness disc specimens
      were prepared. For each composite material, 15 discs were fabricated, with a
      total of sixty discs were obtained (n = 60). A glass slide 1-2 mm thick was
      placed over the strip before curing with the light-curing unit to flatten the
      surfaces. The specimens were then cured for 40 s through the Mylar strip and the
      glass slide. Five specimens per each material received no finishing treatment
      after being cured under Mylar strips; these specimens served as a control. Ten
      specimens from each composite material were finished/polished with Eve discs at
      coarse, medium, fine, and superfine grits for 30 s (using stopwatch) each on the
      specimens. After polishing, the composite surfaces were assessed quantitatively
      by profilometry and qualitatively by scanning electron microscopy. Data were
      analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Tetric Evo Ceram and Tetric Evo Ceram Bulk
      Fill specimens polished with Eve revealed slightly the same surface appearance as
      the Mylar strip. Eve discs scratched and exposed fillers of Ceram-x. Eve discs
      for Z250 surfaces exposed and scratched the filler particles but less than
      occurred with Ceram-x. CONCLUSION: Bulk-Fill and nanohybrid resin composites
      exhibit smoothest surfaces compared with nanoceramic and microhybrid resin
      composites after polishing.

PMID- 28584780
TI  - Comparison of the Effectiveness of a Mobile Phone-based Education Program in
      Educating Mothers as Oral Health Providers in Two Regions of Saudi Arabia.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The penetration of mobile phone devices is widespread across
      the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Recently, there has been evidence of the success of
      phone-based applications in the provision of preventive oral health care to
      children and their parents. The aim of this study was to compare the
      effectiveness of a mobile phone-based application in educating mothers of
      children aged below 6 years of age in preventive dental care. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A mobile phone-based application (iTeetheyTM) was developed for iPhone
      and Android and made freely available on Google Play and App Store. The
      application was then distributed to 3879 mothers of children below 6 years of age
      (1989 in Riyadh Region and 1890 in Najran region). The mothers were subjected to
      a standardized knowledge attitude and practice of oral hygiene questionnaire
      before being asked to download the application. A total of 1055 mothers who
      downloaded the application completed 3-month recall process. RESULTS: Significant
      improvement in the knowledge of the mothers was reported after the use of the
      application from both regions. The mothers from Najran showed significantly
      greater improvement in knowledge when compared to the mothers from Riyadh region.
      The application was also more effective in mothers with more than one child when
      compared to first-time mothers. CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this study,
      we can state that the mobile phone application used in this study significantly
      improves the knowledge of mothers toward their child's oral health.

PMID- 28584782
TI  - Quantification and Measurement of Changes in Anxiety Level in Preschool Children
      and Their Mothers through Multiple-visit Dental Treatment.
AB  - AIM: The aims of the present study were to quantify anxiety and find the level of
      anxiety in the very 1st day of dental treatment and the pattern of change in the
      following visits and to find possible impact of maternal anxiety during dental
      treatment of their wards. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 297
      children aged 3-6 years visiting the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive
      Dentistry of Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital for treatment. In addition,
      accompanying parents were also included in the study. The blood pressure and
      heart rate of the participants were recorded at three visits with a digital blood
      pressure and heart rate monitor with wrist cuff (Omron; Japan). The same
      instrument and the same procedure were employed for the mothers also. Blood
      pressures and pulse rates so recorded were tabulated according to age and were
      made ready for statistical analysis using the SPSS version 12 (Statistical
      Package for Social Sciences, SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinosis, USA) software.
      RESULTS: There was a significant difference in blood pressure and heart rate of
      children in the subsequent visits. CONCLUSION: The majority of the children
      suffered from anxiety on the 1st day of treatment which gradually diminished in
      the subsequent visits. Maternal anxiety was also highest in the initial visit
      which gradually came down in the subsequent visits.

PMID- 28584783
TI  - Association between Nutritional Status and Early Childhood Caries in Indian
      Children.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the body mass index (BMI) status and to correlate
      between nutritional status and early childhood caries among 3-6-year-old children
      in Vikarabad, Telangana, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study
      was conducted among 350 children attending the outpatient department of
      Pedodontia in Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad. Caries experience was
      recorded using dmft index (WHO 1997); various anthropometric measures, such as
      weight, BMI, and height, were recorded as per the standard guidelines. Pearson
      correlation coefficient and chi square test were used to determine significant
      differences. Data were analyzed using the statistical analysis software (SPSS
      version 17.0 Chicago IL, USA). RESULTS: Maximum number of participants (69%) were
      with normal BMI- for-age followed by underweight, overweight, and obese
      categories. The mean dmft values for each BMI category among the underweight,
      normal, overweight, and obese children were 4.9 +/- 4.0, 4.6 +/- 3.3, 2.7 +/-
      1.9, and 4.4 +/- 3.0, respectively, which was statistically not significant.
      CONCLUSION: No significant association was found between dmft and BMI-for-age,
      rather a negative correlation existed between dmft and BMI-for-age (r = -0.023),
      which was not statistically significant (P = 0.66).

PMID- 28584781
TI  - Clinicopathological Profile and Malignant Transformation in Oral Lichen Planus: A
      Retrospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the histopathologically
      diagnosed cases of oral lichen planus (OLP) in terms of age, gender, clinical
      variant, site, hyperpigmentation, systemic illness, grade of dysplasia, and
      associated malignant transformation. This study also intended to do a review of
      reported cases of OLP with malignant transformation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One
      hundred and forty-three cases of histopathologically diagnosed OLP between 2010
      and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic and clinicopathological data
      including malignant transformation were obtained. The data obtained were analyzed
      using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for Windows
      version 20.0 (IBM SPSS, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A review of published
      literature on OLP with malignant transformation was also done from 1988 to 2017
      and tabulated. RESULTS: OLP in this study showed a male predilection with most of
      the patients in the third decade. The buccal mucosa (bilateral presentation) was
      the most common site (79.72%), and reticular type was the most common clinical
      type (79.02%) followed by erosive type (20.98%). The majority (92.31%) of cases
      were diagnosed with OLP without dysplasia. The rest (7.69%) of dysplastic cases
      were predominantly seen in the buccal mucosa of 58 years and above, female
      patients manifesting mainly as erosive type. Two patients (1.4%) previously
      diagnosed clinically and histopathologically as OLP developed oral squamous cell
      carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The present investigation revealed the predominance of OLP
      among middle-aged male population and the prevalence of bilateral involvement of
      buccal mucosa. Two of our cases showed malignant transformation over an average
      period of 3.5 years. The outcome of this study emphasizes the role of clinical
      follow-up of patients with OLP.

PMID- 28584784
TI  - Could Salivary Cyclosporine Dosage Replace the Whole Blood Cyclosporine
      Measurements in Renal Transplant Patients?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cyclosporin (CsA) has been extensively used as the immunosuppressant
      of choice in renal transplantation. Currently available approaches to assess CsA
      levels, both in serum and blood, fail to accurately reflect the concentration of
      the pharmacologically active drug fraction. Free CsA levels in biological fluids
      (blood or saliva) have been advocated to play an important role. Traditional
      salivary CsA monitoring tests are based on available archaic salivary techniques
      that are nonspecific and require large amounts of saliva. The aim of this study
      was to assess salivary CsA correlation using a novel and more accurate technique
      and to correlate with CsA levels in blood. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients
      provided blood samples of 2 ml and 2 ml of unstimulated saliva on the same day 2
      h after the morning CsA dose (C2). Whole blood levels of CsA were determined
      using the monoclonal fluorescent polarization immunoassay (FPIA) kit. The FPIA
      kit was adapted to salivary testing by using a novel extraction method developed
      and patented under the name of Middle East Research Institute (MERI). Wilcoxon
      signed rank test compared the differences in blood and salivary CsA. Pearson's
      correlation coefficient assessed the linear association between blood and
      salivary CsA concentrations. All analyses were performed using IBM-SPSS version
      23 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: No significant correlation was observed
      between blood and salivary CsA levels. CONCLUSION: Salivary CsA concentrations at
      C2 cannot adequately replace C2 blood levels as an indicator of CsA
      bioavailability despite improved performance of monoclonal FPIA and application
      of the MERI technique. More studies may be warranted to design more reliable and
      less invasive procedures for therapeutic drug monitoring.

PMID- 28584785
TI  - Cytomorphometric Analysis on the Effects of Components of Orthodontic Appliances
      on the Epithelial Cells of the Buccal Mucosa.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fixed orthodontic
      appliances on the epithelial cells of buccal mucosa in patients undergoing
      orthodontic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group included 30 healthy
      patients who were advised orthodontic treatment. Applying sterile cement spatula,
      scrapping of exfoliated buccal epithelial cells was performed from the middle
      part of the inner cheeks before starting the orthodontic treatment and at 1st
      week, 2nd week, 1 month, and 45 days after the treatment, followed by smearing
      and staining with Papanicolaou stain. Light microscope was used to score
      micronuclei, and independent two-tailed t-test was used for statistical analysis.
      RESULTS: Micronuclei were assessed during the various stages of treatment and
      were recorded accordingly. At 1 week, there was increase in micronuclei number
      compared to before starting the treatment (day 0) and at 15th day; 30th day
      showed decrease in number compared to 1 week but increase compared to day 0. The
      results of day 45 were almost equal to day 0 with a significant P value (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: Fixed orthodontic appliances induce increased micronuclei
      frequency, especially in the first weeks of treatment, however, these genotoxic
      effects tend to approach baseline levels in later period.

PMID- 28584786
TI  - NIRF Heptamethine Cyanine Dye Nanocomplexes for Multi Modal Theranosis of Tumors.
AB  - Heptamethine cyanine dyes are categorized as a class of near infrared fluorescent
      (NIRF) dyes which have been discovered to have tumor targeting and accumulation
      capability. This unique feature of NIRF dye makes it a promising candidate for
      imaging, targeted therapy and also as a drug delivery vehicle for various types
      of cancers. The favored uptake of dyes only in cancer cells is facilitated by
      several factors which include organic anion-transporting polypeptides, high
      mitochondrial membrane potential and tumor hypoxia in cancer cells. Currently
      nanotechnology has opened possibilities for multimodal or multifunctional
      strategies for cancer treatment. Including heptamethine cyanine dyes in
      nanoparticle based delivery systems have generally improved its theranostic
      ability by several fold owing to the multiple functionalities and structural
      features of heptamethine dyes. For this reason, nanocomplexes with NIRF
      heptamethine cyanine dye probe are preferred over non-targeting dyes such as indo
      cyanine green (ICG). This review sums up current trends and progress in NIRF
      heptamethine cyanine dye, including dye properties, multifunctional imaging and
      therapeutic applications in cancer.

PMID- 28584787
TI  - Structure-Inherent Targeting of Near-Infrared Fluorophores for Image-Guided
      Surgery.
AB  - Although various clinical imaging modalities have been developed to visualize
      internal body structures and detect abnormal tissues prior to surgical
      procedures, most medical imaging modalities do not provide disease-specific
      images in real-time. Optical imaging can provide the surgeon with real-time
      visualization of the surgical field for intraoperative image-guided surgery.
      Imaging in the near-infrared (NIR) window (650-900 nm), also known as the
      "therapeutic window" has high potential by offering low absorbance and scattering
      in tissues resulting in minimized background autofluorescence. Clinically,
      optical fluorescence imaging with the targeted contrast agents provides
      opportunities for significant advances in intraoperative image-guided surgery.
      There are only two clinically available NIR fluorophores, indocyanine green (ICG)
      and methylene blue (MB), that support the image-guided surgery. However, neither
      of them perform in vivo by providing optimum specificity and stability for
      targeted image guidance. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop
      targeted NIR fluorophores for unmet clinical needs. Using the right combination
      of an NIR fluorescence imaging system and a targeted fluorophore, the desired
      target tissues can be imaged to provide real-time fluorescence guidance without
      changing the field-of-view during surgery. Thus, in a clinical discipline, the
      development of NIR fluorophores for 'structure-inherent targeting' is an unmet
      need for early phase diagnostics with accurate targeting.

PMID- 28584788
TI  - Clinical Implications of New Drugs and Regimens for the Treatment of Drug
      resistant Tuberculosis.
AB  - The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a growing problem worldwide.
      The lack of safe and effective drugs, together with the frequent development of
      adverse drug reactions can result in worse outcomes. Therefore, new TB drugs able
      to bolster the current TB treatment regimen are urgently required. Novel drugs
      that are effective and safe against Mycobacterium tuberculosis are required to
      reduce the number of drugs and the duration of treatment in both drug-susceptible
      TB and multi-drug-resistant (MDR)-TB. This review covers promising novel TB drugs
      and regimens that are currently under development. Bedaquiline and delamanid are
      the most promising novel drugs for the treatment of MDR-TB, each having a high
      efficacy and tolerability. However, the best regimen for achieving better
      outcomes and reducing adverse drug reactions remains yet to be determined, with
      safety concerns regarding cardiac events due to QT prolongation still to be
      addressed. Pretomanid is a novel drug that potentially shortens the duration of
      treatment in both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB. Many regimens
      consisting of injection free drugs with shorter treatment duration compared to
      the conventional treatment are now undergoing clinical trials. Therefore a simple
      and short treatment with higher efficacy, and lesser adverse drug reactions and
      drug-drug interaction is expected for patients with MDR-TB.

PMID- 28584789
TI  - Anticoagulation Therapy during Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator Support in
      Pediatric Patients.
AB  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a salvage therapy for critically
      ill patients. Although ECMO is becoming more common, hemorrhagic and
      thromboembolic complications remain the major causes of death in patients
      undergoing ECMO treatments. These complications commence upon blood contact with
      artificial surfaces of the circuit, blood pump, and oxygenator system. Therefore,
      anticoagulation therapy is required in most cases to prevent these problems.
      Anticoagulation is more complicated in pediatric patients than in adults, and the
      foreign surface of ECMO only increases the complexity of systemic
      anticoagulation. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology of coagulation,
      anticoagulants, and monitoring tools in pediatric patients receiving ECMO.

PMID- 28584790
TI  - Ameliorative Effects of Nilotinib on CCl4 Induced Liver Fibrosis Via Attenuation
      of RAGE/HMGB1 Gene Expression and Oxidative Stress in Rat.
AB  - Nilotinib as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor has been recently used to improve the
      liver fibrosis process, but the exact mechanisms still require further
      clarification. In this study, we investigated the anti-fibrotic effects of
      Nilotinib via RAGE/HMGB1axis and antioxidant mechanisms. This experimental study
      was performed in the Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from May 2015
      to December 2016. Liver fibrosis was induced in Wistar male rats by CCL4. Rats
      were gavaged daily with Nilotinib (10 mg/kg). RAGE, HMGB1, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta
      mRNA expression were evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR. TNF-alpha protein levels
      were measured using the immunoassay method. Thiol groups, carbonyl groups, nitric
      oxide levels and glutathione peroxidase activity were measured by
      spectrophotometric methods.The results showed that Nilotinib decreased TNF-alpha,
      TGF-beta, RAGE and HMGB1 mRNA expression (p<0.001) in the liver tissues of the
      fibrosis group. Nilotinib also decreased carbonyl groups and nitric oxide levels
      and increased thiol groups and glutathione peroxidase activity in the fibrosis
      groups. The histopathological changes were found to be attenuated by Nilotinib.
      In conclusion, Nilotinib can improve liver fibrosis and open new mechanisms of
      the anti-fibrotic properties of Nilotinib.

PMID- 28584791
TI  - The Effect of Perineural Administration of Dexmedetomidine on Narcotic
      Consumption and Pain Intensity in Patients Undergoing Femoral Shaft Fracture
      Surgery; A Randomized Single-Blind Clinical Trial.
AB  - Dexmedetomidine is a selective alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist with anxiolytic,
      sedative, and analgesic properties that prolongs analgesia and decreases opioid
      related side effects when used in neuraxial and perineural areas as a local
      anesthetics adjuvant. The current study was designed to evaluate the effects of a
      single perineural administration of dexmedetomidine without local anesthetics on
      narcotic consumption and pain intensity in patients with femoral shaft fractures
      undergoing surgery. This prospective randomized single-blind clinical trial was
      conducted in patients undergoing femoral fracture shaft surgery. Based on block
      permuted randomization, the patients were randomly divided into intervention and
      control groups. The intervention group received 100ug dexmedetomidine, for a
      femoral nerve block without any local anesthetics. Total intraoperative opioid
      consumption, postoperative opioid consumption, visual analogue score (VAS) for
      pain, and hemodynamic parameters were recorded and compared. Finally the data
      from 60 patients with a mean age of 30.4+/-12.3 were analyzed (90% male). There
      were no significant differences between the baseline characteristics of the two
      groups (p>0.05). The mean total consumption of narcotics was reduced during
      induction and maintenance of anesthesia in the intervention group (p<0.05). The
      amount of postoperative narcotics required showed a significant difference in the
      intervention group compared with the control group (p<0.05). It is likely that
      perineural administration of dexmedetomidine significantly not only reduced intra
      and postoperative narcotic requirement but also decreased postoperative pain
      intensity in patients undergoing femoral shaft surgery. Femoral blockade by
      dexmedetomidine can provide excellent analgesia while minimizing the side-effects
      of opioids.

PMID- 28584792
TI  - Correlation of Prognostic Factors of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma with ADC Value of
      DWI and SUVMax of FDG-PET.
AB  - Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common kind of breast cancer.
      Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography (PET/CT) are functional modalities for presenting the biological
      characteristics of breast cancer. The purpose of this article is to study the
      relationship between DWI or PET/CT and ILC's prognostic factors. The relationship
      between the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values, standard uptake value
      (SUV)max and prognostic factors of ILC were statistically evaluated. The ADC
      values were lower in mass types of ILC. SUVmax was statistically higher in grade
      3 and 4 background parenchymal enhancement and positive lymph node metastasis.
      ADC values of DWI and SUVmax of PET/CT can be helpful in the prediction of the
      prognosis of ILC.

PMID- 28584794
TI  - Correlations between High Platelet Reactivity, Extent of Coronary Artery Disease,
      and Periprocedural Myonecrosis in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the correlations between high
      platelet reactivity (HPR) and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis and
      periprocedural myonecrosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who
      underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 485 patients who
      underwent PCI for ACS was studied. HPR was defined as >=230 platelet reactivity
      units (PRU) in point-of-care P2Y12 tested by the VerifyNow assay. The incidence
      of multi-vessel disease (MVD) was higher in patients with HPR than those with no
      HPR (56.2% vs 45.8%, p=0.023). PRU values progressively increased with the number
      of diseased coronary arteries (1-vessel disease 221.8+/-86.7; 2-vessel disease
      239.3+/-90.1; 3-vessel disease 243.4+/-84.5; p=0.038 by ANOVA). Multivariate
      analysis revealed that HPR was independently associated with MVD (Odds ratio
      1.48, 95% confidence interval 1.01-2.25, p=0.048). Patients with periprocedural
      myonecrosis showed significantly higher PRU values compared with those without
      myonecrosis (258.6+/-94.5 vs. 228.5+/-85.6, p=0.013). Multivariate analysis
      revealed that HPR was an independent predictor for periprocedural myonecrosis as
      defined as any creatine kinase-myocardial band isoenzyme elevation or troponin T
      elevation. In conclusion, HPR is associated with MVD and periprocedural
      myonecrosis in patients with ACS and PCI. Thus, platelet reactivity after
      treatment with clopidogrel might be associated not only with blood clot formation
      but also with increased coronary atherosclerotic burden.

PMID- 28584793
TI  - Clinical Significance of p53 Protein Expression, Beta-catenin Expression and HER2
      Expression for Epstein-Barr Virus-associated Gastric Cancer.
AB  - This study assessed the expression of the p53 protein, beta-catenin, and HER2 and
      their prognostic implications in patients with EBV-associated gastric cancer
      (EBVaGC). After reviewing 1318 consecutive cases of surgically resected or
      endoscopic submucosal dissected gastric cancers, 117 patients were identified as
      EBV-positive using EBV-encoded RNA in-situ hybridization. The
      immunohistochemistry results were interpreted as follows: strong p53 nuclear
      expression in at least 50% of tumor nuclei was interpreted as a positive result,
      strong beta-catenin expression in at least 10% of cytoplasmic nuclei was
      interpreted as a positive result, and moderate or strong complete or basolateral
      membrane staining in 10% of tumor cells was interpreted as a positive result for
      HER2. Immunohistochemical staining for p53 was performed on tumor tissue from 105
      patients, among whom 25 (23.8%) tested positive. Meanwhile, beta-catenin
      expression was positive in 10 patients (17.5%) and HER2 expression was positive
      in 8 patients (6.8%). The positive expression of p53 was significantly associated
      with a high T stage (p=0.006). More patients with lymph node metastasis were p53
      positive (p=0.013). In the univariate analysis, the p53-positive patients showed
      significantly decreased disease-free survival (DFS) when compared with the p53
      negative patients (p=0.022), although the p53 status was only marginally
      associated with overall survival (OS) (p=0.080). However, p53 expression showed
      no prognostic significance on DFS in the multivariate analysis. Moreover, beta
      catenin and HER2 showed no association with DFS and OS in the survival analysis.
      The current study found a significant correlation between p53 expression and
      tumor progression and lymph node metastases in patients with EBVaGC.

PMID- 28584795
TI  - Carotid Atherosclerosis and Electrocardiographic Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in
      the General Population: The Namwon Study.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis
      and left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiogram (ECG-LVH) on adults living
      in the community. A total of 9,266 adults who participated in the Namwon Study
      were included in this analysis. Carotid atherosclerosis, including intima-media
      thickness (IMT) and plaques, were assessed using high-resolution B-mode
      ultrasound. ECG-LVH was determined using the Sokolow-Lyon voltage (SokV) and
      Cornell voltage (CorV) criteria. The prevalence of ECG-LVH was 12.7% using the
      SokV criteria and 9.7% using the CorV criteria. After full adjustment, compared
      to the lowest quartile of common carotid artery IMT (CCA-IMT), the odds ratios
      and 95% confidence intervals for ECG-LVH of the carotid IMT quartiles 2, 3, and 4
      increased linearly as follows: 1.54 (1.24-1.90), 1.62 (1.31-2.02), and 1.91 (1.54
      2.38), respectively, for the SokV criteria (p<0.001); and 1.33 (1.05-1.68), 1.41
      (1.11-1.78), and 1.48 (1.16-1.88), respectively, for the CorV criteria (p=0.003).
      Positive associations between the carotid bulb IMT (CB-IMT) quartiles and the ECG
      LVH were also observed, although the magnitudes of association between CB-IMT and
      ECG-LVH were slightly lower than those of CCA-IMT. However, no significant
      association between carotid plaques and ECG-LVH as defined by the SokV or CorV
      criteria was found. The present study demonstrated that increased carotid IMT,
      but not carotid plaques, is significantly associated with LVH defined by various
      ECG criteria in a large population.

PMID- 28584796
TI  - MicroRNA-29 Family Suppresses the Invasion of HT1080 Human Fibrosarcoma Cells by
      Regulating Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Expression.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) is a potent protumorigenic, proangiogenic, and
      prometastatic enzyme that is overexpressed in metastatic cancer. Although there
      have been various studies on the MMP2 gene, further studies of regulatory factors
      are required to achieve inhibition of MMP2 enzyme activities. MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
      play key roles in tumor metastasis. However, the specific functions of miRNAs in
      metastasis are unclear. In this study, we assessed the function of the microRNA
      29 family (miR-29s) in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells and examined the
      regulatory mechanisms of these miRNAs on MMP2 activation. Using miRanda,
      TargetScan, and PicTar databases, miR-29s were identified as candidate miRNAs
      targeting MMP2. Gain-of-function studies showed that overexpression of miR-29s
      could inhibit the invasion of HT1080 cells, suggesting their tumor-suppressive
      roles in HT1080 cells. In addition, dual luciferase reporter assays indicated
      that miR-29s could inhibit the expression of the luciferase gene containing the
      3'-untranslated region of MMP2 mRNA. Ectopic expression of miR-29s down-regulated
      the expression of MMP2. Moreover, ectopic expression of miR-29s reduced MMP2
      enzyme activity. These results suggested that miR-29s could decrease the
      invasiveness of HT1080 cells by modulating MMP2 signaling. Taken together, our
      results demonstrated that miR-29s may serve as therapeutic targets to control
      tumor metastasis.

PMID- 28584797
TI  - Panax Ginseng Induces Toxic Hepatitis and Acute Kidney Injury.

PMID- 28584798
TI  - Bile Cast Nephropathy Associated with Acute Hepatitis A.

PMID- 28584799
TI  - Transcatheter Occlusion of a Giant Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformation in a 1
      year-old Child Using Amplatzer Vascular Plugs and Interlocking Detachable Coils.

PMID- 28584800
TI  - Medical education.

PMID- 28584801
TI  - Infective endocarditis: a history of the development of its understanding.
AB  - Inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, especially the valvular
      endothelium, chordae tendinae and mural endocardium was first recognized almost
      350 years ago. Over the years it has had many names, but is now generally
      designated infective endocarditis (IE) and has an associated infectious agent. A
      sterile vegetative process can also affect the valves and is usually referred to
      as Libman-Sacks endocarditis. The developments of medical science that allowed
      for our understanding of this entity included refinement of the autopsy, medical
      microscopy, microbiology, and in recent years, molecular studies. Some
      observations were misleading but clarification particularly followed the reports
      of Morgagni, Osler and Libman. As understanding of the pathobiology of infective
      endocarditis grew so did the effectiveness of therapy. This paper provides a
      detailed history of the development of the concept of Infective endocarditis
      citing many key morphological observations and concludes with brief comments
      about current concepts of pathogenesis as well as a few remarks about therapy.

PMID- 28584802
TI  - Infective endocarditis with left to right intracardiac fistula due to
      Streptococcus anginosus - a rare complication caused by an even rarer bacterium.
AB  - Although infective endocarditis (IE) has been described in reports dating from
      the Renaissance, the diagnosis still challenges and the outcome often surprises.
      In the course of time, diagnostic criteria have been updated and validated to
      reduce misdiagnosis. Some risk factors and epidemiology have shown dynamic
      changes since degenerative valvular disease became more predominant in developed
      countries, and the mean age of the affected population increased. Despite
      streptococci have been being well known as etiologic agents, some groups,
      although rare, have been increasingly reported (e.g., Streptococcus milleri.)
      Intracardiac complications of IE are common and have a worse prognosis,
      frequently requiring surgical treatment. We report a case of a middle-aged
      diabetic man who presented with prolonged fever, weight loss, and ultimately
      severe dyspnea. IE was diagnosed based on a new valvular regurgitation murmur, a
      positive blood culture for Streptococcus anginosus, an echocardiographic finding
      of an aortic valve vegetation, fever, and pulmonary thromboembolism. Despite an
      appropriate antibiotic regimen, the patient died. Autopsy findings showed
      vegetation attached to a bicuspid aortic valve with an associated septal abscess
      and left ventricle and aortic root fistula connecting with the pulmonary artery.
      A large thrombus was adherent to the pulmonary artery trunk and a pulmonary
      septic thromboemboli were also identified.

PMID- 28584803
TI  - Intracardiac metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma of the penis.
AB  - Penile cancer shows variable incidence in different countries with a higher
      prevalence in developing countries. Squamous cell carcinoma represents the most
      common histologic type. The seventh decade of life corresponds to the mean age at
      diagnosis, but it is not an unusual diagnosis among young adults. Most cases
      present as "in situ" neoplasia or loco regional disease; however, systemic
      disseminated disease occurs via lymphatic and/or hematogeneous routes. The lymph
      nodes, liver, and lungs are the most frequently involved sites whereas the heart
      constitutes an exceptional and atypical site for penile cancer metastases. We
      report a case of a 79-year-old patient who presented a metastatic squamous cell
      carcinoma of the penis with intracardiac dissemination. The patient had a past
      history of cardiomyopathy, which required an artificial cardiac pacemaker
      implantation. He had been treated 1 year before with a partial penectomy but was
      admitted for emasculation due to the cancer relapse. During the postoperative
      period, he experienced sudden respiratory distress and died. The autopsy findings
      showed metastatic disease into the cardiac right chambers, pulmonary tumoral
      thrombi, and pulmonary hilar involvement. The authors call attention to the
      possibility of the presence of pacing leads, cardiomyopathy and the altered low
      blood flow in the right chambers, as predisposing factors for the tumoral seeding
      in this case.

PMID- 28584804
TI  - Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or lymphomatoid granulomatosis grade 3: a
      still-puzzling diagnosis in autopsy.
AB  - Primary lung lymphoma is a rare entity accounting for approximately 0.3% of all
      primary neoplasia of the lung and includes diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL)
      and lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG). Considering that clinical features may be
      similar, whereas epidemiology, morphology, and radiological features are
      different, the authors report a case of a middle-aged man who presented multiple
      pulmonary nodules in the lower lobes and ground-glass opacities scattered
      bilaterally on computed tomography. Clinically, he presented a consumptive
      syndrome with respiratory failure and pleurisy, which progressed until death. The
      autopsy findings were consistent with lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG) grade 3/
      diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL). The authors call attention to the
      difficulty of establishing an accurate diagnosis, mainly when the demonstration
      of EBV-infected atypical B-cells fails.

PMID- 28584805
TI  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with severe ulcerative colitis in a
      young man.
AB  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic progressive cholestatic liver disease,
      is the most serious hepatobiliary complication of ulcerative colitis (UC). The
      authors present the case of a severe and intractable form of UC associated with
      primary sclerosing cholangitis, in which the diagnosis of this hepatobiliary
      complication was made during the postmortem examination. A 19-year-old man, with
      an 8-month diagnosis of UC, was non-responsive to any therapeutic approach. He
      presented at the emergency care unit severely ill and with cachexia, and
      subsequently died of septic shock. The postmortem examination confirmed the
      clinical diagnosis of severe UC and disclosed the presence of primary sclerosing
      cholangitis. Although laboratory tests have shown a typical cholestatic profile
      with elevated alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transferase levels, hepatic
      dysfunction was related to sepsis. This report highlights how challenging the
      diagnosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis can be and shows the value of the
      postmortem examination to add important information to a medical diagnosis.

PMID- 28584806
TI  - Wharton's jelly absence: a possible cause of stillbirth.
AB  - The umbilical cord is a structure that provides vascular flow between the fetus
      and the placenta. It contains two arteries and one vein, which are surrounded and
      supported by gelatinous tissue known as Wharton's jelly. There are many umbilical
      cord abnormalities that are related to the prognosis of fetus survival and birth
      weight. The authors report a case of umbilical cord constriction due to the
      localized absence of Wharton's jelly, which was undiagnosed antenatally and had a
      fatal outcome. A review of the association between the absence of Wharton's jelly
      and an unfavorable pregnancy outcome was undertaken.

PMID- 28584807
TI  - Pyloric Brunner's gland hamartoma with atypical hyperplasia.
AB  - Brunner's gland hamartoma (BGH) is an extremely rare benign digestive tumor,
      generally located in the duodenal bulb. We report the case of a 51-year-old
      asymptomatic man with a large pedunculated BGH arising from the pylorus. It was
      successfully removed en bloc by endoscopic resection.

PMID- 28584809
TI  - Unusual tomographic findings of complicated necrotizing pancreatitis.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a potential life-threatening disease, which originates
      from inflammatory involvement of the pancreas and surrounding tissues. Serious
      complications eventuate and treatment is difficult. AP is classified in both
      interstitial edematous pancreatitis, which occurs in 70-80% of patients, and
      necrotizing pancreatitis, which occurs in 20-30% of patients. Diagnosis is based
      on the presence of two of the following criteria: abdominal pain, increased serum
      determination of amylase and/or lipase more than three times the reference value,
      and characteristic tomographic findings. Among the latter, there is the
      pancreatic and surrounding tissue damage as well as that related to distant organ
      involvement. This case report shows the fatal case of a male patient with a
      history of heavy alcoholic abuse admitted with the diagnosis of necrotizing
      pancreatitis. The authors call attention to the unusual tomographic findings;
      namely, a huge duodenal hematoma and a large hemoperitoneum, ischemic involvement
      of the spleen and kidneys, as well as pancreatic and peripancreatic necrosis.

PMID- 28584808
TI  - Unilateral giant renal angiomyolipoma and pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis.
AB  - Angiomyolipomas (AMLs) are mesenchymal neoplasms, named so because of the complex
      tissue composition represented by variable proportions of mature adipose tissue,
      smooth muscle cells, and dysmorphic blood vessels. Although AMLs may rise in
      different sites of the body, they are mostly observed in the kidney and liver. In
      the case of renal AMLs, they are described in two types: isolated AMLs and AMLs
      associated with tuberous sclerosis (TS). While most cases of AMLs are found
      incidentally during imaging examinations and are asymptomatic, others may reach
      huge proportions causing symptoms. Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a
      rare benign disease characterized by cystic changes in the pulmonary parenchyma
      and smooth muscle proliferation, leading to a mixed picture of interstitial and
      obstructive disease. AML and LAM constitute major features of tuberous sclerosis
      complex (TSC), a multisystem autosomal dominant tumor-suppressor gene complex
      diagnosis. The authors report the case of a young female patient who presented a
      huge abdominal tumor, which at computed tomography (CT) show a fat predominance.
      The tumor displaced the right kidney and remaining abdominal viscera to the left.
      Chest CT also disclosed pulmonary lesions compatible with
      lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Because of sudden abdominal pain accompanied by a fall
      in the hemoglobin level, the patient underwent an urgent laparotomy. The excised
      tumor was shown to be a giant renal AML with signs of bleeding in its interior.
      The authors call attention to the diagnosis of AML and the huge proportions that
      the tumor can reach, as well as for ruling out the TSC diagnosis, once it may
      impose genetic counseling implications..

PMID- 28584810
TI  - Renal papillary necrosis.

PMID- 28584811
TI  - Erratum: Assessment of a 2D Electronic Portal Imaging Devices-based Dosimetry
      Algorithm for Pretreatment and In-vivo Midplane Dose Verification.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 171 in vol. 5, PMID: 28028511.].

PMID- 28584812
TI  - Upper Eyelid Silicone Oil Migration after Sutureless 23-gauge Vitrectomy.
AB  - To report a case of upper eyelid swelling and ptosis caused by silicone oil
      migration in a patient after sutureless 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy and
      silicone oil injection. A 36-year-old female was referred to eye clinic with
      total retinal detachment (RD) and superotemporal giant dialysis secondary to
      trauma in the left eye. Transconjunctival sutureless 23-gauge pars plana
      vitrectomy and intraocular silicone oil (1300 centistokes) injection were
      performed. After about 5 months, she came back with the left upper eyelid and
      periorbital swelling. Palpation of the eyelid revealed soft and mobile
      subcutaneous small lumps that were not attached to the skin. Computed tomography
      scan of the orbit showed an 11 mm * 8 mm soft tissue density mass in lateral
      aspect of the left orbit. Transcutaneously surgical exploration was performed.
      The patient was seen after 1 week postoperatively and there was a significant
      improvement of the ptosis. Eyelid swelling and ptosis caused by silicone oil
      migration after RD surgery are very rare and this is one of the few reports in
      literature.

PMID- 28584814
TI  - Predictors of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support for Children with Acute
      Myocarditis.
AB  - The clinical presentation of acute myocarditis in children may range from
      asymptomatic to sudden cardiac arrest. This study analyzed the clinical spectrum
      of acute myocarditis in children to identify factors that could aid primary care
      physicians to predict the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
      earlier and consult the pediatric cardiologist promptly. Between October 2011 and
      September 2016, we retrospectively analyzed 60 patients aged 18 years or younger
      who were admitted to our pediatric emergency department with a definite diagnosis
      of acute myocarditis. Data on demographics, presentation, laboratory tests,
      electrocardiogram and echocardiography findings, treatment modalities,
      complications, and long-term outcomes were obtained. During the study period, 60
      patients (32 male, 28 female; mean age, 8.8 +/- 6.32 years) were diagnosed with
      acute myocarditis. Fever, cough, and chest pain were the most common symptoms
      (68.3%, 56.7%, and 53.3%, resp.). Arrhythmia and left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF) < 60%, vomiting, weakness, and seizure were more common in the
      ECMO group than in the non-ECMO group, with statistical significance (P < 0.05).
      Female sex, vomiting, weakness, seizure, arrhythmia, and echocardiography showing
      LVEF < 60% may predict the need for ECMO. Initial serum troponin-I cutoff values
      greater than 14.21 ng/mL may also indicate the need for ECMO support for children
      with acute myocarditis.

PMID- 28584815
TI  - From Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Insulin-Producing Cells: Comparison between
      Bone Marrow- and Adipose Tissue-Derived Cells.
AB  - The aim of this study is to compare human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem
      cells (BM-MSCs) and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs), for
      their differentiation potentials to form insulin-producing cells. BM-MSCs were
      obtained during elective orthotopic surgery and AT-MSCs from fatty aspirates
      during elective cosmetics procedures. Following their expansion, cells were
      characterized by phenotyping, trilineage differentiation ability, and basal gene
      expression of pluripotency genes and for their metabolic characteristics. Cells
      were differentiated according to a Trichostatin-A based protocol. The
      differentiated cells were evaluated by immunocytochemistry staining for insulin
      and c-peptide. In addition the expression of relevant pancreatic endocrine genes
      was determined. The release of insulin and c-peptide in response to a glucose
      challenge was also quantitated. There were some differences in basal gene
      expression and metabolic characteristics. After differentiation the proportion of
      the resulting insulin-producing cells (IPCs), was comparable among both cell
      sources. Again, there were no differences neither in the levels of gene
      expression nor in the amounts of insulin and c-peptide release as a function of
      glucose challenge. The properties, availability, and abundance of AT-MSCs render
      them well-suited for applications in regenerative medicine. Conclusion. BM-MSCs
      and AT-MSCs are comparable regarding their differential potential to form IPCs.
      The availability and properties of AT-MSCs render them well-suited for
      applications in regenerative medicine.

PMID- 28584813
TI  - Contribution of Brain Tissue Oxidative Damage in Hypothyroidism-associated
      Learning and Memory Impairments.
AB  - The brain is a critical target organ for thyroid hormones, and modifications in
      memory and cognition happen with thyroid dysfunction. The exact mechanisms
      underlying learning and memory impairments due to hypothyroidism have not been
      understood yet. Therefore, this review was aimed to compress the results of
      previous studies which have examined the contribution of brain tissues oxidative
      damage in hypothyroidism-associated learning and memory impairments.

PMID- 28584816
TI  - The Lumbodorsal Fascia as a Potential Source of Low Back Pain: A Narrative
      Review.
AB  - The lumbodorsal fascia (LF) has been proposed to represent a possible source of
      idiopathic low back pain. In fact, histological studies have demonstrated the
      presence of nociceptive free nerve endings within the LF, which, furthermore,
      appear to exhibit morphological changes in patients with chronic low back pain.
      However, it is unclear how these characteristics relate to the aetiology of the
      pain. In vivo elicitation of back pain via experimental stimulation of the LF
      suggests that dorsal horn neurons react by increasing their excitability. Such
      sensitization of fascia-related dorsal horn neurons, in turn, could be related to
      microinjuries and/or inflammation in the LF. Despite available data point towards
      a significant role of the LF in low back pain, further studies are needed to
      better understand the involved neurophysiological dynamics.

PMID- 28584817
TI  - Molecular Cloning, Expression Profiling, and Marker Validation of the Chicken
      Myoz3 Gene.
AB  - Myozenin3 (Myoz3) has been reported to bind multiple Z-disc proteins and hence
      play a key role in signal transduction and muscle fiber type differentiation. The
      purpose of current study is to better understand the basic characteristics of
      Myoz3. Firstly, we cloned the ORF (open reading frame) of the Myoz3 gene. AA
      (amino acid) sequence analysis revealed that the Myoz3 gene encodes a 26 kDa
      protein which have 97% identities with that of turkey. Expression profiling
      showed that Myoz3 mRNA is mainly expressed in leg muscle and breast muscle.
      Furthermore, we investigated Myoz3 gene polymorphisms in two broiler breeds, the
      Yellow Bantam (YB) and the Avian. Five SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms)
      were identified in the YB breed and 3 were identified in the Avian breed.
      Genotypes and haplotype were constructed and their associations with carcass
      traits were analyzed. In the YB breed, c.516 C>T had a strong effect on both
      shank bone length and the [Formula: see text] value of breast muscle, and the
      H1H3 diplotype had the highest FC compared to other diplotypes. The markers
      identified in this study may serve as useful targets for the marker-assisted
      selection (MAS) of growth and meat quality traits in chickens.

PMID- 28584819
TI  - Comment on "Controversies about Interspinous Process Devices in the Treatment of
      Degenerative Lumbar Spine Diseases: Past, Present, and Future".

PMID- 28584818
TI  - Effects of Pirfenidone and Collagen-Polyvinylpyrrolidone on Macroscopic and
      Microscopic Changes, TGF-beta1 Expression, and Collagen Deposition in an
      Experimental Model of Tracheal Wound Healing.
AB  - Tracheal stenosis (TS) is a fibrosis originated by prolonged inflammation and
      increased transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) expression and collagen
      deposition (CD) in the tracheal wound. Several wound-healing modulators (WHMs)
      have been used to modulate the tracheal healing process and prevent TS, but they
      have failed, justifying the need to evaluate alternative WHM. The pirfenidone
      (PFD) and collagen-polyvinylpyrrolidone (Collagen-PVP) decrease inflammation and
      fibrosis. This study assessed the effect of PFD administration and Collagen-PVP
      topical application on macroscopic and microscopic changes, TGF-beta1 expression,
      and CD in an experimental model of tracheal wound healing. Forty Wistar rats
      underwent cervical tracheoplasty, were divided into 4 groups (n = 10), and were
      treated with different WHM: group I, saline solution (SS); group II, Collagen
      PVP; group III, mitomycin C (MMC); and group IV, 40 mg/kg PFD. Four weeks after
      surgery, the macroscopic and microscopic changes, in situ TGF-beta1 expression,
      and CD in posttracheoplasty scars were evaluated. The animals treated with
      Collagen-PVP and PFD developed less inflammation and fibrosis than animals in the
      other study groups (p < 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis) and, moreover, showed lower TGF
      beta1 expression and CD than animals in group I (p < 0.05, ANOVA and Tukey's
      test). In conclusion, PFD and Collagen-PVP decrease inflammation, fibrosis,
      TGFbeta-1 expression, and CD in the posttracheoplasty rats' scar.

PMID- 28584821
TI  - Th1/Th2 Balance and Th17/Treg-Mediated Immunity in relation to Murine Resistance
      to Dextran Sulfate-Induced Colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of the Th17/Treg balance in the development of experimental
      colitis remains poorly understood. METHODS: We exploited the differential
      response of BALB/c mice and C57BL/6 mice towards drinking water mediated by
      dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) challenge. RESULTS: DSS-resistant BALB/c mice were
      characterized by low levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha but high levels of IL-4,
      IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, IL-17F, and colon lamina propria and mesenteric lymph node
      (MLN) CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ T cells when compared to C57BL/6 mice. Collectively, these
      data indicate the propensity of BALB/c mice towards a Th2/Th17/Treg-polarized
      immunity protecting these animals against DSS challenge, whereas Th1-polarization
      of C57BL/6 mice confers sensitivity to DSS-induced colitis. CONCLUSIONS: The
      intrinsic congenital capacity of mouse strains with respect to T cell
      proliferation determines sensitivity to experimental colitis.

PMID- 28584822
TI  - Diabetes management with a care coordinator improves glucose control in African
      Americans and Hispanics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate diabetes control, as
      measured by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) improvements among African American and
      Hispanic patients receiving conventional clinical treatment combined with a
      bilingual diabetes educator using culturally and linguistically appropriate
      educational materials. This study also sought to estimate the healthcare cost
      savings resulting from any A1c improvements and assess the cost-effectiveness of
      this approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a multistage, face-to-face
      observational study undertaken in Texas, United States and focused on 153 African
      American and Hispanic patients with poor blood glucose control (baseline A1c
      >8.0%). For two years, a bilingual care coordinator motivated patient behavior
      changes that could lead to improvements in glucose control. The primary
      evaluation measure was change in %HbA1c, with secondary measures being change in
      blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). We also sought to gauge
      the program's potential cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: Within the study group, A1c
      levels decreased over the study period from a mean of 10.0% to 8.4%. The same
      group saw no statistically significant improvement (reduction) in blood
      concentrations of LDL. The African American subgroup had a small reduction in
      systolic BP while changes for non-White Hispanics were not statistically
      significant. The average A1c reduction realized in this observational study
      provided estimated cost savings that are nearly twice pilot expenditures.
      CONCLUSIONS: Combining standard diabetes care with a bilingual educational care
      coordinator results in significant reductions in mean A1c (-1.6% HbA1c) in
      patients with poorly controlled blood glucose and African American/non-White
      Hispanic heritage, an intervention that also was shown to be cost-effective. This
      may be an effective model for improving diabetes care in provider practices.

PMID- 28584823
TI  - Awareness of health warnings and factors predicting awareness and perceived
      effectiveness of pictorial health warnings on tobacco products among adults in
      rural Puducherry, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited information exists in India about the awareness and
      perception of the people regarding pictorial health warnings (PHWs) and text
      warnings on tobacco products, more so from rural areas. Objectives were to report
      the awareness of these warnings, factors predicting awareness and perceived
      effectiveness of PHWs, and understanding of their content in a rural population.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in
      two villages (chosen randomly out of total four) in the rural field practice area
      of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Puducherry. Households were selected by
      systematic random sampling. All persons >=18 years and residing in the area for
      at least 6 months were included. Data regarding awareness and perception of
      participants was collected through a semi-structured interview schedule. RESULTS:
      A total of 428 participants were recruited; 197 (46%) were male, and 231 (54%)
      were female. The mean age of the participants was 38.9 (standard deviation 15.0)
      years. Awareness of PHWs and text warnings was 39.5% (169/428) and 21% (90/428),
      respectively. Only 11.2% participants perceived PHWs as effective. Most (45%) of
      the participants had a vague understanding of the content of PHWs. On
      multivariate logistic regression, male gender, current tobacco use, and better
      education emerged as predictors of greater awareness of PHWs. Extended family
      predicted greater perceived effectiveness of PHWs, whereas, high socioeconomic
      class and middle school completion predicted lower perceived effectiveness of
      PHWs. CONCLUSION: Awareness and perceived effectiveness of adults in rural
      Puducherry regarding PHWs were low. There is a need to create awareness through
      education and using meaningful, larger pictures.

PMID- 28584820
TI  - The LDL Receptor-Related Protein 1: At the Crossroads of Lipoprotein Metabolism
      and Insulin Signaling.
AB  - The metabolic syndrome is an escalating worldwide public health concern. Defined
      by a combination of physiological, metabolic, and biochemical factors, the
      metabolic syndrome is used as a clinical guideline to identify individuals with a
      higher risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although risk factors
      for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have been known for decades, the
      molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of these diseases and their
      interrelationship remain unclear. The LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) is a
      large endocytic and signaling receptor that is widely expressed in several
      tissues. As a member of the LDL receptor family, LRP1 is involved in the
      clearance of chylomicron remnants from the circulation and has been demonstrated
      to be atheroprotective. Recently, studies have shown that LRP1 is involved in
      insulin receptor trafficking and regulation and glucose metabolism. This review
      summarizes the role of tissue-specific LRP1 in insulin signaling and its
      potential role as a link between lipoprotein and glucose metabolism in diabetes.

PMID- 28584824
TI  - Smoking history and Alzheimer's disease risk in a community-based clinic
      population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between cigarette smoking and development of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not fully determined, and previous reports disagree,
      with some studies suggesting an increased relative risk and others a decreased
      odds ratio. Consequently, we wanted to determine if the prevalence of past
      cigarette smoking observed in a community-based clinic sample of patients with AD
      would be more consistent with the expected value obtained from a model using
      either an increased relative risk or a decreased odds ratio to estimate the
      effect of smoking on development of AD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective
      cross-sectional analysis of all patients treated for AD in a community-based
      Neurology Clinic during a 2-year period. Estimates of expected past smoking
      prevalence were calculated based on published values for either an increased
      relative risk or a decreased odds ratio and compared to the past smoking
      prevalence observed in the clinic sample. RESULTS: The observed past smoking
      prevalence in the clinic population was 29.17%. The expected past smoking
      prevalence calculated using the increased relative risk was 30.07% (95%
      confidence interval [CI] = 27.67-32.32%), and using the decreased odds ratio was
      12.54% (95% CI = 6.32-24.81%). CONCLUSION: The observed past smoking prevalence
      among the patients being treated for AD in a community-based clinic falls within
      the expected 95% CI for the increased relative risk model and outside of the
      expected 95% CI for the decreased odds ratio model. These results support the
      contention that the relationship between cigarette smoking and development of AD
      is the best characterized by an increased relative risk.

PMID- 28584825
TI  - Sexual function and quality of life in diabetic women referring to health care
      centers in Mashhad.
AB  - CONTEXT: Quality of life (QOL) is one of the important indexes of health and well
      being promotion in the diabetic patients. Based on numerous studies, these
      patients have a lower QOL, compared to nondiabetic individuals. In addition, a
      higher prevalence of sexual function disorder has been reported in their
      population that can have a negative effect on their QOL. AIMS: This study aimed
      to investigate the association between sexual function and QOL in diabetic women
      referring to health care centers in Mashhad during 2013-2014. SETTINGS AND
      DESIGNS: In this correlational study, the association between sexual function and
      QOL in 90 diabetic women with type two diabetes referring to health care centers
      in Mashhad during 2013-2014 was investigated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data were
      collected by Rosen female sexual function index and short form-36 questionnaires.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed by mean comparison and Spearman
      correlation coefficient statistical test through SPSS 16. RESULTS: Subjects' mean
      sexual function score was 21.7 +/- 6.30. Based on the finding, 25.6% of the
      subjects suffered from sexual function disorder. Subjects' mean score of QOL was
      58.75 +/- 1616.24. There was a significant association between an overall score
      of sexual function and its subscales, with their QOL and two dimensions of
      overall physical and psychological and mental health scores (P < 0.005).
      CONCLUSIONS: Sexual function is one of the important and associated aspects of
      QOL in diabetic patients. Designing and evaluation of the interventions with the
      goal of an improvement in this variable plays a notable role in the promotion of
      these patients' QOL. However, with regard to limited research in this field,
      further studies on this association are suggested.

PMID- 28584827
TI  - Effect of health education on awareness about oral cancer and oral self
      examination.
AB  - CONTEXT: Oral cancer is preceded by visible changes in the oral mucosa. These
      lesions can be detected by oral self-examination, but awareness about oral cancer
      is still low in developing countries. AIM: To evaluate the effect of health
      education on awareness about oral cancer and oral self-examination. SETTINGS AND
      DESIGN: Quasi-experimental trial was conducted in an urban resettlement colony of
      Chandigarh, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A brochure having information and
      pictorials on oral lesions was used for conducting health education sessions on a
      one-to-one basis in the household setting among 85 males in age group 15-59 years
      during 2013, and each participant was encouraged to perform an oral self
      examination. Study participants were interviewed about their awareness on oral
      cancer and oral self-examination before- and after-health education using a
      pretested interview schedule. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Awareness items were scored,
      and mean change in awareness score was computed. Paired t-test was used for
      testing statistical significance. RESULTS: Thirty-three percent of the study
      participants were current smokers, 25% consumed alcohol, and 9.4% chewed tobacco.
      The awareness scores after health education increased significantly from 5.3 to
      6.7 (P < 0.05), and 34% of the tobacco or alcohol users expressed their intention
      to quit these habits, and two persons actually quit tobacco chewing. Out of the
      77 study participants who performed oral self-examination, nine were able to
      detect lesions, and one was found to have submucous fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Health
      education intervention was able to initiate a favorable behavior change in the
      community. Hence, oral self-examination programs should be promoted.

PMID- 28584826
TI  - Determinants of physical activity in middle-aged woman in Isfahan using the
      health belief model.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nowadays with respect to the automation of the lifestyle,
      immobility statistics in middle-aged women has increased and they are at risk for
      complications of immobility. One of the models used to identify factors
      associated with physical activity is Health Belief Model utilized in different
      age and different cultural backgrounds and different results have been obtained
      from those studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors
      affecting on physical activity in middle-aged women using Health Belief Model.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive-correlation study was conducted on 224
      middle-aged women referring to health centers in Isfahan. Health Belief Model
      structures including perceived susceptibility and severity, perceived barriers
      and benefits, and self-efficacy were measured by questionnaire and physical
      activity was assessed using the international physical activity questionnaire.
      Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation
      coefficient test and regression analysis. RESULTS: There wasn't significant
      correlation between perceived susceptibility (P = 0.263, r = 0.075) and perceived
      severity with physical activity duration (P = 0.127, r = 0.058) but there was
      positive and weak correlation between physical activity duration with perceived
      benefits (P = 0.001 and r = 0.26) and perceived self-efficacy (P = 0.001, r =
      0.54) and had weak and inverse correlation with perceived barriers (P = 0.001, r
      = -0.25). Regression analysis also showed that from among all the Health Belief
      Model structures just self-efficacy structure has influenced on behavior
      independently and other structures are affected by it. CONCLUSION: The obtained
      results implied on a correlation between benefits, barriers and perceived self
      efficacy with and moderate physical activity. Therefore it is necessary to
      develop appropriate educational programs with emphasis on structures of Health
      Belief Model that has the maximum impact on physical activity in middle-aged
      women.

PMID- 28584829
TI  - Comparing two instructional methods of role playing and lecture on primigravida
      females, decision about type of delivery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Each mother has the legal right to decide about her delivery, but
      this decision should be made based on scientific knowledge. Instructions during
      pregnancy help to choose the proper type of delivery. This study conducted aimed
      to compare two instructional methods of role playing and lecture on primigravida
      decision about type of delivery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this single-blind
      clinical trial 67 primigravida, 34-36 week were selected using multi-stage
      sampling and assigned into two groups randomly. Decision-making (before, 2-week
      after, and at admission in maternity department) was tested by a questionnaire.
      In role-playing group, advantages and disadvantages of two type delivery were
      presented by role-playing in 90-min by three scenarios. In lecture group, it was
      also presented in a 90-min lecture. Data were analyzed by mean difference test,
      Fisher test, independent and paired t-test. RESULTS: Two groups showed a
      significant difference in terms of decision at admission to maternity department
      (P = 0.000). 75% of lecture group and 100% of role-playing group selected normal
      delivery. Postintervention knowledge score in lecture group was 18 +/- 5.3 and in
      role-playing group 17.1 +/- 4.0. Percent of change in knowledge scores in two
      groups was significant (P = 0.001). Participants' attitude, before and after the
      intervention, in both groups was significant (P < 0.05). Mean difference of pre-
      and post-test in relation to two groups' knowledge and attitude scores was not
      significant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In this research, lecture was more effective
      in raising knowledge level, and role playing was more effective in raising
      decision to vaginal delivery and reducing elective caesarean section. It is
      therefore suggested to use both teaching methods altogether for pregnant women to
      decrease the rate of unnecessary cesarean.

PMID- 28584828
TI  - Measurement of the levels anxiety, self-perception of preparation and
      expectations for success using an objective structured clinical examination, a
      written examination, and a preclinical preparation test in Kerman dental
      students.
AB  - STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Examinations have an important role in evaluating
      students' learning outcomes and their mastery of a subject. Passing or failing an
      examination can have far-reaching consequences for the students. Therefore, it is
      not surprising that international studies consistently show that dental students
      report examinations and grades among the highest ranking stressors in dental
      schools. PURPOSE: The aim of this research was to measure the levels of anxiety,
      self-perception of preparation and expectations for success using an objective
      structured clinical examination (OSCE), a written examination and a preclinical
      preparation test, and to examine the effects of the three predictive variables on
      the outcomes of assessments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present research is a
      cross-sectional study. The population under consideration was students of Kerman
      Dental School in 2013. Examination anxiety was measured with Spielberger's state
      anxiety inventory. Preparation for the assessment (I am fully prepared = 4, I am
      prepared = 3, I'm not prepared = 2, I'm not fully prepared = 1) and expectation
      to succeed (I am quite successful = 4, I am successful = 3, I'm not successful =
      2, I'm not quite successful = 1) were quantified with Likert scale. The
      questionnaire was completed during an OSCE, a written examination, a preclinical
      crown and bridge preparation test and a nonexamination situation. RESULTS: The
      study population consisted of 138 4th, 5th, and 6th year Kerman dental students
      (65 males and 73 females). The results showed that all the assessment methods
      induced a significant increase in state anxiety compared to baseline levels with
      the highest anxiety levels reported during an OSCE (62.4 +/- 8.1, P = 0.04) and a
      written examination (48.8 +/- 9.2, P = 0.04). The preparation levels in females
      were significantly higher than those in males in OSCE (P = 0.03) and written (P =
      0.04). CONCLUSION: State anxiety was high in all the three assessment methods.
      OSCE induced more anxiety than other assessment formats. However, anxiety was not
      predictive of performance outcomes in contrast to preparation and expectation to
      succeed, which were good predictors of the outcome scores. Also, this study
      showed that despite a better answer to the assessment of (I prepared myself well
      for the test), the students showed high levels of state anxiety.

PMID- 28584830
TI  - Digital games as an effective approach for cancer management: Opportunities and
      challenges.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cancer is one of the most preventable and common chronic diseases that
      have economic, social and psychological burden for patients, families, and the
      society. Cancer can be monitored by new information technology. Digital games as
      a uniquely powerful interaction tool support optimal care management program
      operation in all dimensions. The aim of this review article is to describe
      opportunities and challenges of this new modern technology on the delivery of
      cancer care services in cancer management domains for cancer care improvement.
      METHODS: This study was un-systematic (narrative) review article. In this
      research, 50 full-text papers and reports had been retrieved, studied exactly,
      and arranged based on study aims. We searched papers based on specific and
      relevant keywords in research databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus,
      and Google scholar. CONCLUSION: In cancer management domain, digital games are as
      an effective medium for health education and intervention, disease self
      management training, attention distraction to relieve pain, enhance clinical
      outcomes, improvements in lifestyles, and physical and psychosocial activity
      promotion when active participation and behavior rehearsal are required for
      cancer patient. In spite of potential benefits of new technology, sometimes
      people confront various challenges such as social isolation, unusual anxiety, and
      disorder in physiological times of body, low physical activities, decrease
      academic performance, increase aggressive behavior, and physical pain. These
      problems can be partly overcome by proper planning, good design, and usage of
      suitable and continuous monitoring.

PMID- 28584831
TI  - The effect of bibliotherapy on the psychological capital of the staff of the
      School of Management and Medical Informatics of Isfahan University of Medical
      Science.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bibliotherapy is defined as using dynamic interaction along with
      reading a book in order to help the people to increase their cognitive
      understanding. This study aims to investigate the effect of bibliotherapy on the
      psychological capital of the employees of the Department of Management and
      Medical Informatics of Isfahan University of Medical Science. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This is an applied study using a semi-empirical method. The statistical
      population consists of all nonfaculty employees of the target department (70
      people). Twenty eight people were randomly selected and divided into experiment
      and control groups and answered the psychological capital questionnaire. The data
      gathering tool was the psychological capital questionnaire of Luthans. The
      experiment group underwent six 2-h sessions of bibliotherapy where the control
      group underwent no interference. Both groups answered the questionnaire again 1
      month after the final bibliotherapy session. The information was analyzed using
      descriptive (average and frequency distribution) and analytical (independent t
      test, paired t-test, Chi-square test, and Mann-Whitney U-test) with the help of
      SPSS 20 software. RESULTS: The findings showed no meaningful distinction average
      scores of the physiological capital of both groups before interference. However,
      the average physiological capital score and an average score of each factor in
      the experiment group was meaningfully higher than that of the control group after
      the bibliotherapy sections. CONCLUSION: The results showed that bibliotherapy is
      a suitable method for increasing the psychological capital of the employees of
      different organizations which will in turn provide both the employees themselves
      and the organization with material and spiritual gains.

PMID- 28584832
TI  - The proportion of unmet costs considering inpatients billing of selected
      hospitals, after 2014 Health System reform implementation in Isfahan Province.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since 2013, in Iran's health care, the contribution of direct
      payments for health-care services was estimated more than 50 % of all
      expenditures. In May 2014, Iran's health-care reform was established to improve
      health services quality and reduce patients' out-of-pocket payments <10% in urban
      and 5% in rural areas. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate
      unmet costs (those which are not covered either by the insurance companies nor
      the recent reform coverage mentioned in Sections 1.2.2 and 1.2.1, Article 6 of
      the Health Minister Reform Guideline) in the inpatient billings within the first
      5 months from the reform implementation. METHODS: This study was conducted as a
      cross-sectional research in the second half of 2014 on the selected hospitals in
      Isfahan Province. Data were collected by investigating 97,000 inpatients' billing
      records issued by 28 hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical
      Sciences using census method. RESULTS: Findings of the study showed that the
      average of unmet costs paid by the inpatients constituted 21.8% of the total
      billing costs in 28 hospitals, and the average unmet costs paid by each patient
      was 1,903,832 Rials. CONCLUSION: Considering the definition of unmet cost in the
      context of health-care reform guideline and hospitals' problems in providing some
      costly services, drugs, and medical equipment (that were not covered by insurance
      organizations and the reform scheme) within the obligations of the reform, it is
      necessary to review these obligations and further interact with insurance
      companies about expanding the coverage to some costly services required by the
      patients.

PMID- 28584833
TI  - Empowerment in breastfeeding as viewed by women: A qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The positive effect of breastfeeding on health is globally accepted.
      However, breastfeeding has not yet practiced at a favorite level. Empowerment of
      mothers is an important factor for continuing breastfeeding. This study was
      conducted to explore women's perception of empowerment in breastfeeding. METHODS:
      The present qualitative study was conducted in conventional content analysis
      method. Thirty-four semi-structured deep interviews were conducted with 18
      mothers, four key family members, and 12 other personnel involved in
      breastfeeding counseling services. RESULTS: Analysis of participants'
      descriptions led to the emergence of five main categories: Enough knowledge and
      skill for breastfeeding, feeling adequacy in breastfeeding, overcoming
      breastfeeding problems, informed belief in the value of breastfeeding, and
      perceiving comprehensive support for breastfeeding. CONCLUSION: In participants'
      point of view, empowerment in breastfeeding can be formed through an acquisition
      of "Enough knowledge and skill for breastfeeding" as well as assurance about the
      proper quality and quantity of mother's milk. As well as overcoming breastfeeding
      problems will lead to stabilization empowerment in breastfeeding. In addition,
      data analysis showed that informed belief in the value of breastfeeding
      strengthens the empowerment in breastfeeding and presence of perceived
      comprehensive support for breastfeeding facilitates empowerment in breastfeeding
      continuance. Thus, comprehensive plans should be designing for promoting
      breastfeeding.

PMID- 28584834
TI  - Effectiveness of a program on evidence-based dentistry in dental students.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Evidence-based dentistry (EBD) is an approach to oral healthcare by
      combining the best scientific evidence and clinical diagnostics, clinical
      expertise of the dentist, and the patient's treatment needs and preferences. The
      aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an education program
      on EBD offered in a community-dentistry course in improving knowledge and
      attitudes of students in this regard. STUDY METHODS: By a quasi-experimental
      study design, 64 senior dental students of Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan
      recruited in a controlled trial. All of the students were randomized as
      intervention (32) and control (32) groups. A course-based educational program on
      EBD was randomly assigned to one group. Actual knowledge, self-assessed
      knowledge, and attitudes, before and after education, were measured in both
      groups. A questionnaire consisted of 40 items developed by the researcher was
      used after confirming its validity and reliability. The difference between mean
      scores at two timelines were measured and compared in three fields by paired t
      test and independent t-test analysis via SPSS version 20 software. RESULTS: While
      the mean scores of actual and self-assessed knowledge and attitude were not
      significantly different between two groups at the beginning of the program (P >
      0.05), the mean scores of all fields in the intervention group were significantly
      more than those of the control group after education (P < 0.001). The effect size
      of intervention was 86%, 62%, and 57% in three fields, respectively. There was
      not a significant difference between mean scores of three fields in the control
      group, after the intervention. CONCLUSION: Due to the poor knowledge and
      attitudes of students and improved knowledge and attitudes of the intervention
      group after education, the education program seems to be effective. Durability of
      educational impact and evaluating evidence-based performance can be studied in
      the future.

PMID- 28584835
TI  - Knowledge, attitude, and practice of urban Gujarati type 2 diabetics: Prevalence
      and impact on disease control.
AB  - CONTEXT: Type 2 diabetes is the modern epidemic wherein patient care needs
      multiple approaches, education, and self-awareness being one of them. There are
      some knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) studies from India but very few
      relating it with disease control. AIMS: We tried to study KAP of treated type 2
      diabetics and its correlation with glycemic control. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross
      sectional KAP study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We formulated KAP questionnaires in
      the form of KAP - 10 points for each and total 30. We recruited 200 type 2
      diabetics (96 males, 104 females) treated by MD physicians with known current
      glycemic status. They were asked KAP questionnaires one to one by a direct
      interview in local language and results were associated with various factors and
      glycemic control. RESULTS: KAP score on was average 19 out of 30 in type 2
      diabetics having mean age 58 years, mean duration 9 years. KAP score was
      unaffected by gender, occupation, duration of disease but significantly affected
      by current age, and education level. Only 40% patients had good glycemic control
      who scored better KAP than poor glycemic. There was positive correlation between
      KAP score and glycemic control, with significance for only glycosylated
      hemoglobin and not fasting blood sugar, postprandial blood sugar. CONCLUSIONS:
      Physician treated type 2 diabetics of our region had moderate KAP score, affected
      by age, education which suggested to affect glycemic control. Lacunae in
      knowledge regarding incurability of disease, attitudes toward complication, self
      care, and good practices like walking, enriching knowledge need improvement so as
      an optimum glycemic control.

PMID- 28584836
TI  - Effect of green tea on metabolic and hormonal aspect of polycystic ovarian
      syndrome in overweight and obese women suffering from polycystic ovarian
      syndrome: A clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the common cause
      of Oligo-ovulation. This syndrome causes long-term metabolic issues as well as
      increase the risk of diabetes type 2, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and
      cardiovascular disease. The current research aimed to study the effect of green
      tea on weight and hormonal changes of women suffering from PCOS. METHODS: This
      two group, double-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted in Isfahan city.
      Overweight women suffering from PCOS (n = 60) were randomly divided into two
      groups. Green tea was prescribed to the experimental group, and placebo was
      prescribed to the control group. Free testosterone hormones and fasting insulin
      were compared in both groups at the beginning and 12 weeks after the study
      commencement. The weight of participants of both groups was also measured before
      and after the study. The statistical data were analyzed by SPSS software and
      paired t-test. RESULTS: The paired t-test showed that there was no significant
      difference in the mean weight of both groups before the intervention (P = 0.812),
      but the difference was significant after the intervention (P = 0.031). There was
      no significant difference in the mean fasting insulin of both groups before the
      intervention (P = 0.352), but the difference was significant after the
      intervention (P < 0.0001). Moreover, there was no significant difference in the
      mean free testosterone level of both groups before the intervention (P = 0.638),
      but the difference was significant after the intervention (P < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSION: The consumption of green tea by overweight and obese women suffering
      from PCOS leads to weight loss, a decrease in fasting insulin, and a decrease in
      the level of free testosterone.

PMID- 28584837
TI  - Hospital managers' attitude and commitment toward electronic medical records
      system in Isfahan hospitals 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Electronic medical record system (EMRS) is a valuable system for
      safe access to the patient's data and increases health care quality. Manpower is
      one of the requirements for EMRS, among which manager is the most important
      person in any hospital. Taking into account manager's positive attitude and good
      commitments, EMRS will be implemented successfully. As such, we decided to assess
      manager's attitude and commitment toward EMRS in Isfahan hospitals in the year of
      2014. AIM: This article aimed to determine the hospital managers' attitude and
      commitment toward the implementation of EMRS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present
      article is an applied analytic study. Research society consisted of the managers
      of all the hospitals in Isfahan that include hospitals affiliated to Isfahan
      University of Medical Sciences, private, and social security hospitals. This
      study was done in 2014. Data collection tools included a questionnaire for which
      reliability and validity were determined. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS 20.
      RESULTS: Average score for the managers' attitude toward EMRS in the city of
      Isfahan was 77.5 out of 100 and their average score for commitment was 74.7.
      Manager's attitude in social security hospitals was more positive than the
      private and governmental ones (83.3%). In addition, the amount of commitment by
      the managers in social security hospitals was higher than the same in private and
      governmental hospitals (86.6%). CONCLUSION: At present, managers' attitude and
      commitment in Isfahan hospitals toward EMRS are very high and social security
      hospitals show more readiness in this respect.

PMID- 28584838
TI  - Evaluating combined effect of noise and heat on blood pressure changes among
      males in climatic chamber.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Exposure to noise and heat causes individuals to experience some
      changes in the function of cardiovascular system in workplaces. This study aimed
      to find the combined effect of heat and noise on systolic and diastolic types of
      blood pressure in experimentally controlled conditions. METHODS: This quasi
      experimental study was performed with 12 male students in a climatic chamber in
      2014. Blood pressure including systolic and diastolic was measured in the
      following conditions: 15 min after rest in exposure to heat (40 degrees C,
      relative humidity [RH]: 30%), exposure to noise with 75, 85, and 95 dB rates in
      thermal comfort condition (22.1 +/- 0.9 wet-bulb globe temperature), and combined
      exposure to heat (40 degrees C, RH: 30%) and noise with 75, 85, and 95 dB.
      Friedman test was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The mean change of systolic
      blood pressure was different significantly before and after exposure to heat and
      noise levels including 75, 85, and 95 dB (P = 0.015, P = 0.001, P > 0.001, P =
      0.027, respectively). Although systolic and diastolic blood pressures changed
      drastically, it was not significantly different in simultaneous exposure to heat
      and noise. CONCLUSION: Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased in
      exposure to heat, while exposure to different levels of noise elevates systolic
      and diastolic blood pressures. However, when exposed to a combination of heat and
      noise, subtle changes of blood pressure were traced, which can be characterized
      as average, considering heat-only and noise-only tension situations.

PMID- 28584839
TI  - A randomized trial to promote physical activity during pregnancy based on health
      belief model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The positive effects of physical activities during pregnancy are
      totally recognized but due to lack of knowledge and negative aspect toward it,
      physical activities decrease throughout the pregnancy period. To find the
      appropriate model to enhance physical activity during pregnancy, the education
      that are focused on health belief constructs about physical activity during
      pregnancy, were assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a semi-experimental
      study conducted on 90 pregnant women in their first trimester that were divided
      into two groups of control and intervention. After assessing health belief model
      (HBM) constructs and measuring the duration of severe/moderate-intensity)
      physical activity through a questionnaire, participants were divided into two
      groups of 45. The intervention group received education about physical activity
      based on HBM and the control group received dental health education. In the
      second trimester again, the constructs of HBM and the duration of physical
      activities were evaluated. Significant level was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Data
      analysis showed that level of perceived susceptibility/severity and perceived
      benefits and also the level of appealing physical activity (P < 0.05), had a
      significant increase in the intervention group after the education, but the mean
      of the severe/moderate-intensity physical activity with did not rise to 150
      min/week. CONCLUSION: Study results showed that education based on HBM could lead
      to an increase in physical activity during pregnancy by increasing the level of
      health beliefs in pregnant women, but this increase does not reach the adequate
      level.

PMID- 28584840
TI  - Reported influences of backpack loads on postural deviation among school
      children: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, a large number of students experience spinal pain quite
      early in life due to heavy school bag loads. Moreover, external forces in the
      form of school bags may influence the normal growth, development of children and
      adolescents, and also maintenance of alignment of their bodies, which can pose a
      huge threat to postural integrity under external load. Awareness about the
      appropriate load and placement of backpack is thought to be important in reducing
      musculoskeletal complications among children's. METHODS: A systematic review of
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to determine the influence of
      postural deviations due to backpack load among school children's. Electronic
      databases were searched, and a reference list of retrieved articles were relevant
      to postural changes among school children with the backpack were screened.
      Reviewers graded the papers according to Lloyd-Smith's hierarchy of evidence
      scale. Papers were quality appraised using a modified Crombie tool. RESULTS:
      Twelve papers were identified for inclusion in this review. Methodological
      difference limited our ability to collate evidence. CONCLUSION: Most of the
      articles recommended that backpack load limit for school children should be 10
      15% of body weight. However, the appropriate load limit for school children is
      limited due to lack of articles, the low hierarchy of evidence, and small sample
      size. This review constrains the use of published literature to inform good load
      limit of school pack among the school children.

PMID- 28584842
TI  - Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma with Secondary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
      Presenting as Acute Liver Failure.
AB  - Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and newly diagnosed malignant
      infiltration of liver are rare presentations of acute liver failure associated
      with poor prognosis. We report a case of a patient with acute liver failure
      caused by malignant infiltration by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and secondary
      HLH.

PMID- 28584843
TI  - Ruptured Dissecting Intramural Duodenal Hematoma Following Endoscopic Retrograde
      Cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - A 34-year-old woman with schizophrenia developed abdominal pain. Ultrasound
      demonstrated cholelithiasis and a dilated biliary tree. The patient underwent
      endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), sphincterotomy, and
      extraction of gallstones from the common bile duct. She developed post-procedure
      fever, tachycardia, and abdominal pain and was taken to the operating room for
      urgent cholecystectomy with intraoperative cholangiogram. At laparotomy, an
      intramural dissecting duodenal hematoma was discovered, which extended the length
      of the duodenum and ruptured. She underwent gastric pyloric exclusion,
      gastrojejunostomy, and healed uneventfully. ERCP is not without risks, and a
      degree of vigilance should be maintained in patients who develop new
      symptomatology following the procedure.

PMID- 28584841
TI  - Assessment of Iranian orthodontists' practice with regard to the prevention and
      treatment of white spot lesions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: White spot lesions (WSLs) are common adverse effect of orthodontic
      treatment, which can be prevented and treated by orthodontists. This study was
      conducted to assess Iranian orthodontists' practice regarding the prevention and
      treatment of WSLs in their patients. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 109
      Iranian orthodontists were selected from the Iranian Association of
      Orthodontists' directory by cluster sampling. For data collection, a
      questionnaire was designed and its validity and reliability was confirmed
      (Cronbach's alpha =0.85). The questionnaire included eight general questions and
      eight questions about practice with regard to the prevention and treatment of
      WSL. Data were analyzed by descriptive tests, ANOVA test, and t-test in SPSS 20
      software. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean
      score of orthodontists' practice was 7.62 (range: 0-8), and 94.4% of the
      participants were rated as good, while 3.7% and 1.9% were rated as moderate and
      weak, respectively. Women's score was significantly higher than that of men (P =
      0.001). With increasing participants' age, their practice has been improved (P =
      0.001), but there was no significant relation between years of experience and
      their practice (P = 0.230). Nearly 94.4% of the orthodontists prescribed fluoride
      products. Toothpastes and fluoride mouth rinses were the most common prescribed
      products (34%). CONCLUSIONS: With regard to Iranian orthodontists' practice, it
      was fortunate to note that majority of the respondents were taking care of their
      patients with regarding to the prevention and treatment of WSLs. For enhancing
      their competencies, it is recommended to plan educational courses which are
      useful for promoting their knowledge and practice about new products and
      procedures used for the prevention and treatment of WSLs.

PMID- 28584844
TI  - Castleman Disease Presenting as an Abdominal Mass.
AB  - Unicentric Castleman disease is a rare condition of lymphoid hyperplasia, of
      which only 15% of cases occur in the abdomen. We report a 66-year-old man who
      presented with complaints of abdominal pain. Computed tomography scans revealed
      nephrolithiasis and a homogeneous calcified mass between the pancreas and stomach
      and several para-pancreatic nodes. Direct visualization during exploratory
      laparotomy revealed a mass on the lesser curvature of the stomach. Pyloromyotomy
      and mass resection were performed. Biopsy showed reactive lymphoid hyperplasia
      consistent with the hyaline vascular variant of Castleman disease.

PMID- 28584845
TI  - Shoulder Mass as the Initial Presentation of Metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

PMID- 28584846
TI  - Rare Esophageal Migration of AXIOS Stent Used for Walled-off Pancreatic Necrosis
      Drainage.
AB  - The AXIOS stent (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA) is a novel lumen-apposing
      self-expandable metallic stent designed for enteric drainage of nonadherent
      lumens. Efficacy and safety of using the AXIOS stent for pancreatic fluid
      drainage have been consistently shown in several studies. Although it is less
      common with this novel stent, stent migration still may happen. We present a case
      of AXIOS stent migration into the esophagus.

PMID- 28584847
TI  - Acute Appendicitis Caused by an Echinococcal Brood Capsule Unmasks an
      Asymptomatic Hepatic Hydatid Cyst.
AB  - Hydatidosis is an endemic helminthic disease in the cattle-grazing regions of
      Asia. It is usually caused by the cestode Echinococcus granulosus. Internal
      organs, particularly the liver and lungs, are predominantly affected, but the
      appendix is only rarely involved with the formation of characteristic hydatid
      cyst. We present a unique case of appendiceal hydatidosis in an 18-year-old woman
      with acute appendicitis. Her preoperative abdominal ultrasound revealed an
      asymptomatic hydatid cyst in the liver. An echinococcal brood capsule was
      detected postoperatively within the appendicular lumen under microscope.

PMID- 28584848
TI  - Acute Shunt Failure Due to Perforation of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Tubing
      during Percutaneous Gastrostomy.
AB  - The placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in a patient with a
      pre-existing ventriculoperitoneal shunt is generally regarded as safe. A critical
      but often overlooked technical consideration is confirmation of the course of the
      distal shunt tube prior to PEG insertion. We present the case of a 4-month-old
      male infant with shunted hydrocephalus who experienced shunt malfunction due to
      perforation of the distal shunt tubing after PEG placement.

PMID- 28584849
TI  - Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Infections: Results From a Retrospective
      Series and Implications for the Design of Prospective Clinical Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant Gram negatives, such
      as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), has resulted in a critical need
      for new antimicrobials. Most studies of new antimicrobials have been performed in
      patients with nondrug-resistant pathogens. We performed a retrospective analysis
      of patients with CRE infections to inform the design of phase 3 clinical trials.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective study at 22 centers in 4 countries. Baseline
      data, treatment, and outcomes were collected in patients with complicated urinary
      tract infection (cUTI)/acute pyelonephritis (AP), hospital-acquired bacterial
      pneumonia (HABP), ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), and
      bacteremia due to CRE. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-six cases of CRE infection were
      identified: 75 cUTI/AP, 21 HABP, 20 VABP, and 140 bacteremia. The patient
      population had significant comorbidities: 32.8% had chronic renal insufficiency,
      and 26.2% were immunocompromised. Illness severity at presentation was high:
      29.3% presented with septic shock. Treatment regimens varied widely; however, a
      majority of patients received combination therapy. Outcomes were universally poor
      (28-day mortality was 28.1%) across all sites of infection, particularly in
      dialysis patients and those with sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: The CRE infections occured
      in patients with substantial comorbidities and were associated with high
      mortality and low rates of clinical cure with available antibiotics. Patients
      with these comorbidities are often excluded from enrollment in clinical trials
      for registration of new drugs. These results led to changes in the
      inclusion/exclusion criteria of a phase 3 trial to better represent the patient
      population with CRE infections and enable enrollment. Observational studies may
      become increasingly important to guide clinical trial design, inform on the
      existing standard of care, and provide an external control for subsequent trials.

PMID- 28584850
TI  - A Subset of Extreme Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Controllers Is
      Characterized by a Small HIV Blood Reservoir and a Weak T-Cell Activation Level.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus controllers (HICs) form a heterogeneous
      group of patients with regard to formal definitions, immunologic characteristics,
      and changes over time in viral load. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The HICs with
      undetectable viral load ([uHICs] ie, for whom a viral load had never been
      detected with routine assays; n = 52) were compared with 178 HICs with blips
      during the follow up (bHICs). Clinical characteristics, ultrasensitive HIV
      ribonucleic acid (RNA) and HIV-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) loads, HIV1-Western
      blot profiles, and immune parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: Relative to bHICs,
      uHICs had significantly lower ultrasensitive plasma HIV-RNA loads (P < .0001) and
      HIV-DNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (P = .0004), higher CD4+ T
      cell count (P = .04) at enrollment, and lower T-cell activation levels. Between
      diagnosis and inclusion in the cohort, the CD4+ T-cell count had not changed in
      uHICs but had significantly decreased in bHICs. Twenty-one percent of the uHICs
      lacked specific anti-HIV immunoglobulin G antibodies, and these individuals also
      had very low levels of HIV-DNA. Half of the uHICs had a protective human
      leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele (-B57/58/B27), a weak CD8+ T-cell response, and
      very small HIV-DNA reservoir. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that an interesting HIC
      phenotype combines protective HLA alleles, low level of HIV blood reservoirs, and
      reduced immune activation. Prospective studies aimed at evaluating the benefit of
      combined antiretroviral therapy in HICs might take into account the
      identification of uHICs and bHICs.

PMID- 28584851
TI  - Successful Pre- and Posttransplant Sofosbuvir-Based Anti-Hepatitis C Virus
      Treatment in Persons Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection.
AB  - This retrospective study reports the data of sofosbuvir-based anti-hepatitis C
      virus treatment in 24 candidates and 24 recipients of liver transplantation
      coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus. Sustained virologic response was
      cumulatively 85% (90% and 100% in those treated with optimal schedules pre- and
      posttransplant, respectively).

PMID- 28584852
TI  - Immunological Predictors of Nonresponse to Directly Acting Antiviral Therapy in
      Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C and Decompensated Cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sustained virological response rates (SVRs) to directly acting
      antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) are lower in decompensated
      cirrhosis. Markers of innate immunity predict nonresponse to interferon-based HCV
      treatment; however, whether they are associated with the response to DAAs in
      patients with decompensation is not known. METHODS: Information on demographics,
      adherence, viral kinetics, and resistance were gathered prospectively from a
      cohort with decompensated cirrhosis treated with 12 weeks of DAAs. C-X-C motif
      chemokine-10 (CXCL-10) level and T-cell and natural killer (NK) cell phenotype
      were analyzed pretreatment and at 4 and 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Of 32
      patients, 24 of 32 (75%) achieved SVR (responders). Eight of 32 (25%) experienced
      relapse after the end of treatment (nonresponders). There were no differences in
      demographics or adherence between groups. Nonresponders had higher CXCL-10; 320
      pg/mL (179461) vs 109 pg/mL (88170) in responders (P < .001) and differential
      CXCL-10 dynamics. Nonresponders had lower NK cell frequency, higher expression of
      activation receptor NKp30, and lower frequency of the NK subset CD56-CD16+.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nonresponders to DAAs displayed a different NK phenotype and CXCL-10
      profile to responders. Nonresponders did not have poorer adherence or baseline
      virological resistance, and this shows that immunological parameters are
      associated with treatment response to interferon-free treatment for HCV in
      individuals with decompensated cirrhosis.

PMID- 28584854
TI  - Lysinibacillus massiliensis Panniculitis Masquerading as Erythema Nodosum: A Case
      Report.
AB  - Lysinibacillus massiliensis, formerly Bacillus massiliensis, is an environmental
      Gram-positive bacillus that is generally non-pathogenic. Rare case reports in
      immunosuppressed patients have described sepsis with this organism. In this
      study, we report a case of L massiliensis as a cause of infectious panniculitis
      mimicking erythema nodosum after infusion of autologous adipose-derived stem
      cells in an immunosuppressed patient with refractory Crohn's disease. This case
      highlights the importance of care providers to consider exposures and host
      factors when interpreting culture results with otherwise benign organisms.

PMID- 28584853
TI  - The Presence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders
      Is Associated With a Lower Adherence to Combined Antiretroviral Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated neurocognitive
      disorders (HAND) are defined according to their diagnostic degrees as follows:
      asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment, mild neurocognitive disorder, and HIV
      associated dementia. Because high adherence to combined antiretroviral therapy
      (cART) is required to maintain viral suppression among HIV-infected patients, it
      is important to investigate the impact of HAND on medication adherence. Our study
      hypothesis was that patients with HAND had a lower medication adherence than
      patients who did not have HAND. METHODS: This was an observational, exploratory,
      2-center pilot study of patients who had a state-of-the-art neurocognitive
      assessment performed between January 2011 and June 2015 while also being followed
      at their respective adherence clinics. Adherence was measured with electronic
      monitors. Patients' sociodemographic characteristics, HIV viral load, and CD4
      counts were retrieved from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study database. At each time t,
      adherence was computed as the proportion of patients taking medication as
      prescribed at that time. RESULTS: We included 59 patients, with a median (Q1, Q3)
      age of 53 years (47-58) and 39 (66%) were male participants. Twenty-two patients
      (35%) had no neurocognitive deficits, 16 (27%) patients had HAND, and 21 (35%)
      patients had non-HAND (mostly depression). Implementation over 3 years showed a
      significant decline (50%) in medication adherence among patients diagnosed with
      HAND in comparison with patients who had a normal neuropsychological status or a
      non-HIV-related cognitive deficit (implementation stayed 90% during follow-up).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the hypothesis that HAND is associated with
      reduced cART adherence.

PMID- 28584856
TI  - Impact of an Electronic Medical Record-Based System to Promote Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus/Hepatitis C Virus Screening in Public Hospital Primary
      Care Clinics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: United States guidelines recommend that all adolescents and adults be
      tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and that persons born between 1945
      and 1965 be tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS: We used electronic
      medical record (EMR) data to identify patients in 3 primary care clinics in
      Seattle, Washington who met national criteria for routine HCV or HIV testing and
      had no documented history of prior testing. Clinic staff received daily lists of
      untested patients with scheduled appointments. We used generalized linear models
      to compare the percentage of patients tested and newly diagnosed with HIV and HCV
      in the 18 months before and during the intervention. RESULTS: A total of 16784
      patients aged 18-64 and 9370 patients born between 1945 and 1965 received care
      from January 2011 to December 2015. Comparing the preintervention and
      intervention periods, the percentage of previously untested patients tested for
      HIV and HCV increased from 14.9% to 30.8% and from 18.0% to 35.5%, respectively
      (P < .0001 for both). Despite this increase in testing, there was no change in
      the percentage of patients newly diagnosed with HIV (0.7% in both periods, P =
      .96) or HCV (3.6% vs 3.7%, P = .81). We estimate that 1.2%-15% of HCV-infected
      primary care patients in our medical center are undiagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: EMR
      based HCV/HIV testing promotion increased testing but not case finding among
      primary care patients in our medical center. In our institution, most HCV
      infected patients are already diagnosed, primarily through risk-based and
      clinical screening, highlighting the need to concentrate future efforts on
      increasing HCV treatment.

PMID- 28584855
TI  - Febrile Rhinovirus Illness During Pregnancy Is Associated With Low Birth Weight
      in Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight (LBW), defined as
      <2500 grams, small-for-gestational-age (SGA), and prematurity, contribute to 60%
      80% of infant mortality worldwide and may be related to infections during
      pregnancy. The aim of this study was to assess whether febrile human rhinovirus
      (HRV) illness is associated with adverse birth outcomes. METHODS: Active
      household-based weekly surveillance was performed for respiratory illness
      episodes in pregnant women as part of a community-based, prospective, randomized
      trial of maternal influenza immunization in rural Nepal. Rhinovirus (HRV) febrile
      illness episodes were defined as fever plus cough, sore throat, runny nose,
      and/or myalgia with HRV detected on mid-nasal swab. Multivariate regression
      analysis evaluated the association between febrile HRV respiratory illness and
      adverse birth outcomes. RESULTS: Overall, 96 (3%) of 3693 pregnant women had HRV
      positive febrile respiratory illnesses. Infants born to pregnant women with HRV
      febrile illness had a 1.6-fold increased risk of being LBW compared with those
      with non-HRV febrile illness (28 of 96 [38%] vs 109 of 458 [24%]; relative risk
      [RR], 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-2.3). No difference in risk of LBW
      was observed between infants born to mothers with non-HRV febrile respiratory
      illness and those without respiratory illness during pregnancy (109 of 458 [24%]
      vs 552 of 2220 [25%], respectively; RR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.8-1.2). CONCLUSIONS:
      Febrile illness due to rhinovirus during pregnancy was associated with increased
      risk of LBW in a rural South Asian population. Interventions to reduce the burden
      of febrile respiratory illness due to rhinovirus during pregnancy may have a
      significant impact on LBW and subsequent infant mortality.

PMID- 28584857
TI  - Evolving Failures in the Delivery of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Care: Lessons
      From a Ugandan Meningitis Cohort 2006-2016.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of investments in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care in
      sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people aware of their status and receiving
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased; however, HIV/acquired immune
      deficiency syndrome (AIDS) mortality still remains high. METHODS: We performed
      retrospective analysis of 3 sequential prospective cohorts of HIV-infected
      Ugandan adults presenting with AIDS and meningitis from 2006 to 2009, 2010 to
      2012, and 2013 to 2016. Participants were categorized as follows: (1) unknown HIV
      status; (2) known HIV+ without ART; (3) known HIV+ with previous ART. We further
      categorized 2006 and 2013 cohort participants by duration of HIV-status knowledge
      and of ART receipt. RESULTS: We screened 1353 persons with suspected meningitis.
      Cryptococcus was the most common pathogen (63%). Over the decade, we observed an
      absolute increase of 37% in HIV status knowledge and 59% in antecedent ART
      receipt at screening. The 2006 cohort participants were new/recent HIV diagnoses
      (65%) or known HIV+ but not receiving ART (35%). Many 2013 cohort participants
      were new/recent HIV diagnoses (34%) and known HIV+ with <1 month ART (20%), but a
      significant proportion were receiving ART 1-4 months (11%) and >4 months (30%).
      Four percent of participants discontinued ART. From 2010 to 2016, meningitis
      cases per month increased by 33%. CONCLUSIONS: Although improved HIV screening
      and ART access remain much-needed interventions in resource-limited settings,
      greater investment in viral suppression and opportunistic infection care among
      the growing HIV-infected population receiving ART is essential to reducing
      ongoing AIDS mortality.

PMID- 28584858
TI  - A longitudinal population study of the impact of cataract extraction on sleep
      quality.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the longitudinal effects of cataract extraction on sleep
      quality in two discrete population cohorts. METHODS: 301 participants who had
      senile cataract in both eyes at the baseline examination were selected from two
      large longitudinal epidemiologic studies of age-related eye disease, hearing,
      olfaction, and cognition. The participants were divided into two groups: one had
      cataract surgery (CS) in both eyes, and the other had no cataract surgery (NCS)
      in either eye by the follow up examination. Cataract was graded from photos or
      digital images using a standardized protocol. The quality of sleep was assessed
      using a modified Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study Questionnaire. The NCS and CS
      groups were compared as to the change in the number of sleep problems reported
      from the baseline to the follow-up examination. Systemic co-morbidity data were
      included as potential confounders, including diabetes mellitus, obesity,
      hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, thyroid disease, tobacco and alcohol use,
      and the SF-12 physical component and mental component summary scores. RESULTS:
      The average (mean+/-SD) age was 71.0+/-8.8 years in the NCS (n=237) group and
      73.4+/-9.1 years (n=64) in the CS group. There was no statistically significant
      difference in the change in the number of sleep problems reported between the NCS
      and CS groups (mean: -0.068 for NCS and 0.016 for CS, p=0.57). The multivariable
      linear regression models, when adjusted for confounders, yielded similar results.
      CONCLUSION: In this longitudinal, community-based population study, we found no
      significant impact of cataract extraction on sleep quality. Studies of the effect
      of cataract extraction on sleep should allow a longer follow up to demonstrate
      sustainability.

PMID- 28584859
TI  - Efficient fiber-coupled single-photon source based on quantum dots in a photonic
      crystal waveguide.
AB  - Many photonic quantum information processing applications would benefit from a
      high brightness, fiber-coupled source of triggered single photons. Here, we
      present a fiber-coupled photonic-crystal waveguide single-photon source relying
      on evanescent coupling of the light field from a tapered out-coupler to an
      optical fiber. A two-step approach is taken where the performance of the tapered
      out-coupler is recorded first on an independent device containing an on-chip
      reflector. Reflection measurements establish that the chip-to-fiber coupling
      efficiency exceeds 80 %. The detailed characterization of a high-efficiency
      photonic-crystal waveguide extended with a tapered out-coupling section is then
      performed. The corresponding overall single-photon source efficiency is 10.9 % +/
      2.3 %, which quantifies the success probability to prepare an exciton in the
      quantum dot, couple it out as a photon in the waveguide, and subsequently
      transfer it to the fiber. The applied out-coupling method is robust, stable over
      time, and broadband over several tens of nanometers, which makes it a highly
      promising pathway to increase the efficiency and reliability of planar chip-based
      single-photon sources.

PMID- 28584860
TI  - Integrative analysis of sex differences in the rapid antidepressant effects of
      ketamine in preclinical models for individualized clinical outcomes.
AB  - In major depressive disorder, women exhibit higher lifetime prevalence and
      different antidepressant response rates than men, which illustrates the
      importance of examining individual differences in the pathophysiology of
      depression and therapeutic response. In recent years, the consideration of sex in
      related preclinical research has thus gained interest-particularly in light of
      novel evidence for rapid-acting antidepressants. Notably, the literature recently
      revealed a higher sensitivity of females to the antidepressant effects of the N
      methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist ketamine, in both baseline and preclinical
      conditions. Combined with its fast-acting and relatively sustained properties,
      this evidence highlights ketamine as a particularly interesting therapeutic
      alternative for this sensitive population, and supports the value in considering
      sex as a critical factor for improved individualized therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28584861
TI  - Childhood family wealth and mental health in a national cohort of young adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mental health is critical to young adult health, as the onset of 75% of
      psychiatric disorders occurs by age 24 and psychiatric disorders early in life
      predict later behavioral health problems. Wealth may serve as a buffer against
      economic stressors. Family wealth may be particularly relevant for young adults
      by providing them with economic resources as they make educational decisions and
      move towards financial and social independence. METHODS: We used prospectively
      collected data from 2060 young adults aged 18-27 in 2005-2011 from the Panel
      Study of Income Dynamics, a national cohort of US families. We examined
      associations between nonspecific psychological distress (measured with the K-6
      scale) and childhood average household wealth during ages 0-18 years (net worth
      in 2010 dollars). RESULTS: In demographics-adjusted generalized estimating
      equation models, higher childhood wealth percentile was related to a lower
      prevalence of serious psychological distress: compared to below-median wealth,
      prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.56 (0.36-0.87) for 3rd quartile and PR = 0.46 (0.29
      0.73) for 4th quartile. The associations were attenuated slightly by adjustment
      for parent education and more so by adjustment for childhood household income
      percentile. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the lifelong processes through which
      distinct aspects of socioeconomic status affect mental health can help us
      identify high-risk populations and take steps to minimize future disparities in
      mental illness.

PMID- 28584862
TI  - Corrigendum to "Comparative Study on the Efficacy of Anorganic Bovine Bone (Bio
      Oss) and Nanocrystalline Hydroxyapatite (Ostim) in Maxillary Sinus Floor
      Augmentation".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2014/967091.].

PMID- 28584863
TI  - Reply to the letter to the editor by J. Hissbach, S. Zimmermann & W. Hampe.

PMID- 28584864
TI  - Student selection cannot resolve the lack of general practitioners and country
      doctors.

PMID- 28584865
TI  - The Gender Lens: Development of a learning aid to introduce gender medicine.
AB  - Background and aim: Gender medicine takes into account biological and social
      differences between men and women in terms of prevalence and course of disease,
      diagnosis and therapy. Medical students should be made aware of this in the early
      stages of medical education. However, there is hardly any teaching material
      currently available. This article presents the adaption and first use of the
      German "Gender Lens," a tool to introduce gender medicine to medical students.
      Method: The original Canadian "Gender Lens Tool" was translated into German,
      tested by (n=5) teachers and adapted based on current scientific concepts. The
      instrument was applied and evaluated using qualitative methods in a student focus
      group (n=4). It was then piloted in a cohort of fourth-semester students (n=247)
      in a seminar addressing gender medicine. These experiences were evaluated using
      quantitative methods. Results: The German translation of the Gender Lens offers
      students a framework with which to analyze sex and gender differences in terms of
      the "prevalence, diagnosis, course, therapy and prevention" of a specific
      disease. Furthermore, it enables a refined search for causes such as "biological
      disposition, attitudes and behaviors, family and social networks, occupational
      and material circumstances and experiences with the health care system."
      Recommendations were received from the student groups regarding teaching methods.
      Male and female fourth-semester students agreed that the Gender Lens is useful as
      an introduction to gender medicine. Discussion: Initial experiences with the
      Gender Lens adapted for the German curriculum suggest that such a learning aid
      can contribute to raising awareness of gender medicine in medical students.

PMID- 28584866
TI  - The prescription talk - an approach to teach patient-physician conversation about
      drug prescription to medical students.
AB  - Background: Medication communication from physicians to patients often is poor,
      by this among others enhancing the risk of non-adherence. In this context, a
      neglect regarding the prescription talk has been complained. Aim of the project:
      In a newly developed elective medical students work on physician-patient
      conversations dealing with drug prescription. Essential aspects related to an
      effective and safe drug treatment are combined with steps of shared decision
      making. Together with a tutor, students develop a (model) conversation guide that
      might be tailored according to individual needs and views. Description/Methods:
      In a one-week course 3rd-5th year medical students treat a paper case according
      to problem-based learning. This is accompanied by a one-hour lecture and
      literature provided on an online learning platform (ILIAS). During a workshop,
      aspects of drug treatment and patient participation are integrated into a guide
      for a prescription talk. At the end of the week the students are invited to apply
      the (if need be individualized) guide in a simulated physician-patient
      communication with an actor. The conversation is evaluated using a checklist
      based upon the (model) conversation guide. Results: Informal and formalized
      feedback indicate high acceptance and satisfaction of participants with this
      elective. The checklist turned out to be of acceptable to good reliability with
      mostly selective items. Portfolio entries and written evaluation suggest that
      participants' positions and attitudes are influenced.

PMID- 28584867
TI  - Utilization and acceptance of virtual patients in veterinary basic sciences - the
      vetVIP-project.
AB  - Context: In medical and veterinary medical education the use of problem-based and
      cased-based learning has steadily increased over time. At veterinary faculties,
      this development has mainly been evident in the clinical phase of the veterinary
      education. Therefore, a consortium of teachers of biochemistry and physiology
      together with technical and didactical experts launched the EU-funded project
      "vetVIP", to create and implement veterinary virtual patients and problems for
      basic science instruction. In this study the implementation and utilization of
      virtual patients occurred at the veterinary faculties in Budapest, Hannover and
      Lublin. Methods: This report describes the investigation of the utilization and
      acceptance of students studying veterinary basic sciences using optional online
      learning material concurrently to regular biochemistry and physiology didactic
      instruction. The reaction of students towards this offer of clinical case-based
      learning in basic sciences was analysed using quantitative and qualitative data.
      Quantitative data were collected automatically within the chosen software-system
      CASUS as user-log-files. Responses regarding the quality of the virtual patients
      were obtained using an online questionnaire. Furthermore, subjective evaluation
      by authors was performed using a focus group discussion and an online
      questionnaire. Results: Implementation as well as usage and acceptance varied
      between the three participating locations. High approval was documented in
      Hannover and Lublin based upon the high proportion of voluntary students (>70%)
      using optional virtual patients. However, in Budapest the participation rate was
      below 1%. Due to utilization, students seem to prefer virtual patients and
      problems created in their native language and developed at their own university.
      In addition, the statement that assessment drives learning was supported by the
      observation that peak utilization was just prior to summative examinations.
      Conclusion: Veterinary virtual patients in basic sciences can be introduced and
      used for the presentation of integrative clinical case scenarios. Student post
      course comments also supported the conclusion that overall the virtual cases
      increased their motivation for learning veterinary basic sciences.

PMID- 28584868
TI  - FAMULATUR PLUS - A successful model for improving students' physical examination
      skills?
AB  - Introduction/Project description: Several studies have revealed insufficient
      physical examination skills among medical students, both with regard to the
      completeness of the physical examination and the accuracy of the techniques used.
      FAMULATUR PLUS was developed in response to these findings. As part of this
      practice-oriented instructional intervention, physical examination skills should
      be taught through examination seminars and problem-oriented learning approaches.
      In order to ensure practical relevance, all courses are integrated into a 30-day
      clinical traineeship in the surgery or internal medicine department of a hospital
      (FAMULATUR PLUS). Research question: Does participation in the FAMULATUR PLUS
      project lead to a more optimistic self-assessment of examination skills and/or
      improved performance of the physical examination? Methodology: A total of 49
      medical students participated in the study. The inclusion criteria were as
      follows: enrollment in the clinical studies element of their degree program at
      the University of Ulm and completion of the university course in internal
      medicine examinations. Based on their personal preferences, students were
      assigned to either the intervention (surgery/internal medicine; n=24) or the
      control group (internal medicine; n=25). All students completed a self-assessment
      of their physical examination skills in the form of a questionnaire. However,
      practical examination skills were only assessed in the students in the
      intervention group. These students were asked to carry out a general physical
      examination of the simulation patient, which was recorded and evaluated in a
      standardized manner. In both instances, data collection was carried out prior to
      and after the intervention. Results: The scores arising from the student self
      assessment in the intervention (IG) and control groups (CG) improves
      significantly in the pre-post comparison, with average scores increasing from
      3.83 (+/-0.72; IG) and 3.54 (+/-0.37; CG) to 1.92 (+/-0.65; IG) and 3.23 (+/
      0.73; CG). The general physical examination, which was only assessed among the
      students in the intervention group, was performed more completely after the
      instructional intervention than prior to it. Discussion: On the basis of the data
      collected, it can be deduced that the FAMULATUR PLUS course has a positive effect
      on the self-assessment of medical students with regard to their physical
      examination skills. The validity of this conclusion is limited by the small
      sample size. In addition, it remains unclear whether a more positive self
      assessment correlates with an objective improvement in physical examination
      skills.

PMID- 28584869
TI  - Development of the competency-based medical curriculum for the new Augsburg
      University Medical School.
AB  - Aim: With the resolution from April 28, 2014, the Bavarian state government in
      Germany decided to found a new medical school at Augsburg University, thereby
      requiring the development of a competency-based medical curriculum. Methods: Two
      interdisciplinary groups developed a spiral curriculum (following Harden)
      employing the model of Thumser-Dauth & Ochsner. The curriculum focuses on
      specifically defined competencies: medical expertise, independent scientific
      reasoning, argumentation and scholarship, as well as communication skills.
      Results: The spiral curriculum was developed as a hybrid curriculum. Its modular
      structure incorporates the mandatory subjects required by the German regulations
      for medical licensure (Approbationsordnung) into organ- and system-centered
      blocks which are integrated both horizontally and vertically. Basic preclinical
      sciences are covered in the blocks "Movement," "Balance" and "Contact." The
      clinical sciences are organized according to six pillars (conservative medicine,
      surgical medicine, men's-women's-children's medicine, the senses, the nervous
      system and the mind, and general medicine) which students revisit three times
      each over the course of the program. A longitudinal clinical course incorporates
      interdisciplinary education. A particular focus is on scientific education
      encompassing a longitudinal course in the sciences (including interdisciplinary
      classes with other university departments), block practicums, and two scientific
      projects. Conclusion: It is not only the degree of integration und intensity of
      the Augsburg University undergraduate medical degree program, but also its
      targeted advancement of academic, social and communication skills that have not
      yet been realized to such an extent elsewhere in Germany. On July 8, 2016, the
      German Council of Science and Humanities unanimously gave this concept a positive
      evaluation. Future research will examine and evaluate the Augsburg medical
      curriculum and the impact of the new medical school on the hospital and
      university in Augsburg.

PMID- 28584870
TI  - The inventory as a core element in the further development of the science
      curriculum in the Mannheim Reformed Curriculum of Medicine.
AB  - Introduction: The German Council of Science and Humanities as well as a number of
      medical professional associations support the strengthening of scientific
      competences by developing longitudinal curricula for teaching scientific
      competences in the undergraduate medical education. The National Competence Based
      Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) has
      also defined medical scientific skills as learning objectives in addition to the
      role of the scholar. The development of the Mannheim science curriculum started
      with a systematic inventory of the teaching of scientific competences in the
      Mannheim Reformed Curriculum of Medicine (MaReCuM). Methods: The inventory is
      based on the analysis of module profiles, teaching materials, surveys among
      experts, and verbatims from memory. Furthermore, science learning objectives were
      defined and prioritized, thus enabling the contents of the various courses to be
      assigned to the top three learning objectives. Results: The learning objectives
      systematic collection of information regarding the current state of research,
      critical assessment of scientific information and data sources, as well as
      presentation and discussion of the results of scientific studies are facilitated
      by various teaching courses from the first to the fifth year of undergraduate
      training. The review reveals a longitudinal science curriculum that has emerged
      implicitly. Future efforts must aim at eliminating redundancies and closing gaps;
      in addition, courses must be more closely aligned with each other, regarding both
      their contents and their timing, by means of a central coordination unit.
      Conclusion: The teaching of scientific thinking and working is a central
      component in the MaReCuM. The inventory and prioritization of science learning
      objectives form the basis for a structured ongoing development of the curriculum.
      An essential aspect here is the establishment of a central project team
      responsible for the planning, coordination, and review of these measures.

PMID- 28584871
TI  - "History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine": The Last Ten Years. A Survey of Course
      Content, Methods and Structural Preconditions at Twenty-nine German Medical
      Faculties.
AB  - Objective: "History, Theory, Ethics of Medicine" (German: "Geschichte, Theorie,
      Ethik der Medizin", abbreviation: GTE) forms part of the obligatory curriculum
      for medical students in Germany since the winter semester 2003/2004. This paper
      presents the results of a national survey on the contents, methods and framework
      of GTE teaching. Methods: Semi-structured questionnaire dispatched in July 2014
      to 38 institutions responsible for GTE teaching. Descriptive analysis of
      quantitative data and content analysis of free-text answers. Results: It was
      possible to collect data from 29 institutes responsible for GTE teaching
      (response: 76%). There is at least one professorial chair for GTE in 19
      faculties; two professorial chairs or professorships remained vacant at the time
      of the survey. The number of students taught per academic year ranges from <100
      to >350. Teaching in GTE comprises an average of 2.18 hours per week per semester
      (min: 1, max: 6). Teaching in GTE is proportionally distributed according to an
      arithmetic average as follows: history: 35.4%, theory 14.7% and ethics 49.9%.
      Written learning objectives were formulated for GTE in 24 faculties. The
      preferred themes of teaching in history, theory or ethics which according to
      respondents should be taught comprise a broad spectrum and vary. Teaching in
      ethics (79 from a max. of 81 possible points) is, when compared to history
      (61/81) and theory (53/81), attributed the most significance for the training of
      medical doctors. Conclusion: 10 years after the introduction of GTE the number of
      students and the personnel resources available at the institutions vary
      considerably. In light of the differences regarding the content elicited in this
      study the pros and cons of heterogeneity in GTE should be discussed.

PMID- 28584872
TI  - A multi-centre student survey on weighing disciplines in medical curricula - a
      pilot study.
AB  - Aim: Initiated by students, this pilot study examines how obtaining medical
      students' perspectives via a structured online survey may prove useful for
      curriculum deliberation. Methods: In 2012, 747 students of 32 medical faculties
      in Germany assessed disciplines specified in the Medical Licensure Act (AApprO)
      thereby concerning the allocation of teaching time, perceived usefulness
      regarding preparation for state examination and medical practice, their interest
      and motivation for studying as well as consideration for future work. Results:
      Internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, gynaecology/obstetrics and general
      medicine rank amongst the upper third regarding allocation of teaching time and
      perceived usefulness for future medical practice. Concerning both preparation for
      state examination and medical practice internal medicine ranks second, while
      surgery only 22nd and 28th of 32, respectively. Some clinical-theoretical
      disciplines (e.g. pharmacology) are in the top ten regarding perceived
      preparation for state examination, too. Students who consider choosing internal
      medicine for future work rate associated disciplines significantly higher
      regarding usefulness for clinical practice (e.g. pharmacology) or motivation for
      studying (e.g. microbiology) than other students do. Conclusion: A simple survey
      reveals interesting data on students' perceptions and ideas of medical studies.
      Though the data are plausible, interpretations should be done with caution.
      Nonetheless, data like these should give rise to further questions and
      discussions, e.g. as part of curriculum deliberation.

PMID- 28584873
TI  - Visions and reality: the idea of competence-oriented assessment for German
      medical students is not yet realised in licensing examinations.
AB  - Objective: Competence orientation, often based on the CanMEDS model, has become
      an important goal for modern curricula in medical education. The National
      Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical
      Education (NKLM) has been adopted in Germany. However, it is currently unknown
      whether the vision of competence orientation has also reached the licensing
      examination procedures. Methods: Therefore, a prospective, descriptive, single
      centre, exemplary study design was applied to evaluate 4051 questions/tasks (from
      28 examiners at 7 two-day licensing oral-practical exams) for undergraduate
      medical students at the University of Ulm. The oral and practical questions/tasks
      as well as the real bedside assessment were assigned to specific competence roles
      (NKLM section I), categories (NKLM section II) and taxonomy levels of learning
      domains. Results: Numerous questions/tasks were set per candidate (day 1/2: 70+/
      24/86+/-19 questions) in the licensing oral-practical exam. Competence roles
      beyond the "medical expert" were scarcely considered. Furthermore, practical and
      communication skills at the bedside were hardly addressed (less than 3/15 min).
      Strikingly, there was a significant predominance of questions with a low-level
      taxonomy. Conclusions: The data indicate a misalignment of competence-oriented
      frameworks and the "real world" licensing practical-oral medical exam, which
      needs improvement in both evaluation and education processes.

PMID- 28584875
TI  - Beyond the Impact Factor - What do alternative metrics have to offer?

PMID- 28584874
TI  - Cluster-randomized Studies in Educational Research: Principles and Methodological
      Aspects.
AB  - An increasing number of studies are being performed in educational research to
      evaluate new teaching methods and approaches. These studies could be performed
      more efficiently and deliver more convincing results if they more strictly
      applied and complied with recognized standards of scientific studies. Such an
      approach could substantially increase the quality in particular of prospective,
      two-arm (intervention) studies that aim to compare two different teaching
      methods. A key standard in such studies is randomization, which can minimize
      systematic bias in study findings; such bias may result if the two study arms are
      not structurally equivalent. If possible, educational research studies should
      also achieve this standard, although this is not yet generally the case. Some
      difficulties and concerns exist, particularly regarding organizational and
      methodological aspects. An important point to consider in educational research
      studies is that usually individuals cannot be randomized, because of the teaching
      situation, and instead whole groups have to be randomized (so-called "cluster
      randomization"). Compared with studies with individual randomization, studies
      with cluster randomization normally require (significantly) larger sample sizes
      and more complex methods for calculating sample size. Furthermore, cluster
      randomized studies require more complex methods for statistical analysis. The
      consequence of the above is that a competent expert with respective special
      knowledge needs to be involved in all phases of cluster-randomized studies.
      Studies to evaluate new teaching methods need to make greater use of
      randomization in order to achieve scientifically convincing results. Therefore,
      in this article we describe the general principles of cluster randomization and
      how to implement these principles, and we also outline practical aspects of using
      cluster randomization in prospective, two-arm comparative educational research
      studies.

PMID- 28584876
TI  - On the nature of directed behavior to drug-associated light cues in rhesus
      monkeys (Macaca mulatta).
AB  - The present study investigated the role of drug-paired stimuli in controlling the
      behavior of rhesus monkeys. Systematic observations were made with nine monkeys
      who had a history of drug self-administration; they had been lever pressing to
      produce intravenous infusions of various drugs. These observations revealed that
      the stimulus light co-occurring with drug infusion produced robust and cue
      directed behavior such as orienting, touching and biting. Experiment 1 showed
      that this light-directed behavior would occur in naive monkeys exposed to a
      Pavlovian pairing procedure. Four monkeys were given response-independent
      injections of cocaine. In two monkeys, a red light preceded cocaine injections by
      5 s, and a green light co-occurred with the 5-s cocaine injections. In the other
      two monkeys, the light presentations and cocaine injections occurred
      independently. Light-directed behavior occurred in all four monkeys within the
      first couple of trials and at high levels but decreased across sessions. The
      cocaine-paired stimulus maintained behavior longer and at higher levels than the
      uncorrelated stimuli. Furthermore, light-directed behavior was not maintained
      when cocaine was replaced with saline. Light-directed behavior did not occur in
      the absence of the lights. When these monkeys were subsequently trained to lever
      press for cocaine, light-directed behavior increased to levels higher than
      previously observed. Behavior directed towards drug-paired stimuli is robust,
      reliable and multiply determined; the mechanisms underlying this activity likely
      include Pavlovian conditioning, stimulus novelty, habituation and operant
      conditioning.

PMID- 28584877
TI  - Neocortical Chandelier Cells Developmentally Shape Axonal Arbors through
      Reorganization but Establish Subcellular Synapse Specificity without Refinement.
AB  - Diverse types of cortical interneurons (INs) mediate various kinds of inhibitory
      control mechanisms to balance and shape network activity. Distinct IN subtypes
      develop uniquely organized axonal arbors that innervate different subcellular
      compartments of excitatory principal neurons (PNs), which critically contribute
      to determining their output properties. However, it remains poorly understood how
      they establish this peculiar axonal organization and synaptic connectivity during
      development. Here, taking advantage of genetic labeling of IN progenitors, we
      examined developmental processes of axonal arbors and synaptic connections formed
      by murine chandelier cells (ChCs), which innervate axon initial segments (AISs)
      of PNs and thus powerfully regulate their spike generation. Our quantitative
      analysis by light microscopy revealed that ChCs overgrow and subsequently refine
      axonal branches as well as varicosities. Interestingly, we found that although a
      significant number of axonal varicosities are formed off AISs in addition to on
      AISs, presynaptic markers are predominantly colocalized with those on AISs
      throughout development. Immunoelectron microscopic (IEM) analysis also
      demonstrated that only varicosities apposed to AISs contain presynaptic profiles.
      These results suggest that subcellular synapse specificity of ChCs is genetically
      predetermined while axonal geometry is shaped through remodeling. Molecular cues
      localized at AISs may regulate target recognition and synapse formation by ChCs.

PMID- 28584878
TI  - A Population-Based Digital Reference Object (DRO) for Optimizing Dynamic
      Susceptibility Contrast (DSC)-MRI Methods for Clinical Trials.
AB  - The standardization and broad-scale integration of dynamic susceptibility
      contrast (DSC)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been confounded by a lack of
      consensus on DSC-MRI methodology for preventing potential relative cerebral blood
      volume inaccuracies, including the choice of acquisition protocols and
      postprocessing algorithms. Therefore, we developed a digital reference object
      (DRO), using physiological and kinetic parameters derived from in vivo data,
      unique voxel-wise 3-dimensional tissue structures, and a validated MRI signal
      computational approach, aimed at validating image acquisition and analysis
      methods for accurately measuring relative cerebral blood volume in glioblastomas.
      To achieve DSC-MRI signals representative of the temporal characteristics,
      magnitude, and distribution of contrast agent-induced T1 and changes observed
      across multiple glioblastomas, the DRO's input parameters were trained using DSC
      MRI data from 23 glioblastomas (>40 000 voxels). The DRO's ability to produce
      reliable signals for combinations of pulse sequence parameters and contrast agent
      dosing schemes unlike those in the training data set was validated by comparison
      with in vivo dual-echo DSC-MRI data acquired in a separate cohort of patients
      with glioblastomas. Representative applications of the DRO are presented,
      including the selection of DSC-MRI acquisition and postprocessing methods that
      optimize CBV accuracy, determination of the impact of DSC-MRI methodology choices
      on sample size requirements, and the assessment of treatment response in clinical
      glioblastoma trials.

PMID- 28584879
TI  - Synthetic nanoscale electrostatic particles as growth factor carriers for
      cartilage repair.
AB  - The efficient transport of biological therapeutic materials to target tissues
      within the body is critical to their efficacy. In cartilage tissue, the lack of
      blood vessels prevents the entry of systemically administered drugs at
      therapeutic levels. Within the articulating joint complex, the dense and highly
      charged extracellular matrix (ECM) hinders the transport of locally administered
      therapeutic molecules. Consequently, cartilage injury is difficult to treat and
      frequently results in debilitating osteoarthritis. Here we show a generalizable
      approach in which the electrostatic assembly of synthetic polypeptides and a
      protein, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), can be used as an early
      interventional therapy to treat injury to the cartilage. We demonstrated that
      poly(glutamic acid) and poly(arginine) associated with the IGF-1 via
      electrostatic interactions, forming a net charged nanoscale polyelectrolyte
      complex (nanoplex). We observed that the nanoplex diffused into cartilage plugs
      in vitro and stimulated ECM production. In vivo, we monitored the transport,
      retention and therapeutic efficacy of the nanoplex in an established rat model of
      cartilage injury. A single therapeutic dose, when administered within 48 hours of
      the injury, conferred protection against cartilage degradation and controlled
      interleukin-1 (IL-1) mediated inflammation. IGF-1 contained in the nanoplex was
      detected in the joint space for up to 4 weeks following administration and
      retained bioactivity. The results indicate the potential of this approach as an
      early intervention therapy following joint injury to delay or even entirely
      prevent the onset of osteoarthritis.

PMID- 28584880
TI  - Sulfate radicals enable a non-enzymatic Krebs cycle precursor.
AB  - The evolutionary origins of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), or Krebs cycle,
      are so far unclear. Despite a few years ago, the existence of a simple non
      enzymatic Krebs-cycle catalyst has been dismissed 'as an appeal to magic',
      citrate and other intermediates have meanwhile been discovered on a carbonaceous
      meteorite and do interconvert non-enzymatically. To identify the non-enzymatic
      Krebs cycle catalyst, we used combinatorial, quantitative high-throughput
      metabolomics to systematically screen iron and sulfate reaction milieus that
      orient on Archean sediment constituents. TCA cycle intermediates are found stable
      in water and in the presence of most iron and sulfate species, including simple
      iron-sulfate minerals. However, we report that TCA intermediates undergo 24
      interconversion reactions in the presence of sulfate radicals that form from
      peroxydisulfate. The non-enzymatic reactions critically cover a topology as
      present in the Krebs cycle, the glyoxylate shunt and the succinic semialdehyde
      pathways. Assembled in a chemical network, the reactions achieve more than ninety
      percent carbon recovery. Our results show that a non-enzymatic precursor for the
      Krebs cycle is biologically sensible, efficient, and forms spontaneously in the
      presence of sulfate radicals.

PMID- 28584881
TI  - Thalamocortical dysconnectivity in autism spectrum disorder: An analysis of the
      Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit differences
      in basic sensorimotor processing as well as general cortical excitability. These
      observations converge to implicate thalamocortical connectivity as a potential
      unifying neural mechanism. The goal of this study was to clarify mixed findings
      on thalamocortical functional connectivity in a large sample of individuals with
      ASD. METHODS: Using the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE), we examined
      thalamocortical functional connectivity in 228 individuals with ASD and a matched
      comparison group of 228 typically developing individuals. In order to fully
      characterize thalamocortical functional networks, we employed complementary seed
      based approaches that examined connectivity of major cortical divisions (e.g.
      prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe) with the thalamus and whole-brain connectivity
      of specific thalamic sub-regions. RESULTS: Prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe, and
      sensorimotor cortex exhibited hyper-connectivity with the thalamus in ASD. In the
      whole-brain analysis, hyper-connectivity of several thalamic seeds included
      multiple cortical areas, but tended to converge in temporal cortical areas,
      including the temporoparietal junction. Follow-up analyses of age effects
      revealed that the connectivity abnormalities in ASD were more pronounced in
      adolescents compared to children and adults. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm
      previous findings of temporal and motor thalamocortical hyper-connectivity in
      ASD, and extend them to include somatosensory and prefrontal cortex. While not
      directly addressable with the data available in ABIDE, this widespread hyper
      connectivity could theoretically account for sensorimotor symptoms and general
      cortical excitability in ASD. Future studies should target comprehensive clinical
      and behavioral characterization in combination with functional connectivity in
      order to explore this possibility.

PMID- 28584884
TI  - Population splitting of rodlike swimmers in Couette flow.
AB  - We present a quantitative analysis on the response of a dilute active suspension
      of self-propelled rods (swimmers) in a planar channel subjected to an imposed
      shear flow. To best capture the salient features of the shear-induced effects, we
      consider the case of an imposed Couette flow, providing a constant shear rate
      across the channel. We argue that the steady-state behavior of swimmers can be
      understood in the light of a population splitting phenomenon, occurring as the
      shear rate exceeds a certain threshold, initiating the reversal of the swimming
      direction for a finite fraction of swimmers from down- to upstream or vice versa,
      depending on the swimmer position within the channel. Swimmers thus split into
      two distinct, statistically significant and oppositely swimming majority and
      minority populations. The onset of population splitting translates into a
      transition from a self-propulsion-dominated regime to a shear-dominated regime,
      corresponding to a unimodal-to-bimodal change in the probability distribution
      function of the swimmer orientation. We present a phase diagram in terms of the
      swim and flow Peclet numbers showing the separation of these two regimes by a
      discontinuous transition line. Our results shed further light on the behavior of
      swimmers in a shear flow and provide an explanation for the previously reported
      non-monotonic behavior of the mean, near-wall, parallel-to-flow orientation of
      swimmers with increasing shear strength.

PMID- 28584882
TI  - Increases in Intrinsic Thalamocortical Connectivity and Overall Cognition
      Following Cognitive Remediation in Chronic Schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thalamic projections to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are critical for
      cognition, and disruptions in these circuits are thought to underlie the
      pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Cognitive remediation (REM) is a behavioral
      intervention that holds promise for improving cognition and functioning in
      schizophrenia, however the extent to which it affects thalamo-prefrontal
      connections has not been researched. This study sought to determine whether
      patients with schizophrenia who undergo a placebo-controlled trial of REM show
      increased functional connectivity between the thalamus and PFC, and whether these
      changes correspond to improvements in cognition. METHODS: Twenty-six patients
      with chronic schizophrenia were randomized to either 48 hours (over 16 weeks) of
      a drill-and-practice working memory-focused REM or an active placebo condition.
      All participants underwent cognitive assessment (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive
      Battery), as well as both resting and task-based fMRI before and after their
      respective intervention. All clinicians, technicians, and raters were blind to
      participant condition. RESULTS: We observed changes in resting-state connectivity
      in the PFC for the REM group but not the placebo group. Increased intrinsic
      connectivity between the thalamus and right middle frontal gyrus correlated with
      improvements in overall cognition. Additionally, lower baseline cognition
      correlated with greater increases in connectivity between the thalamus and PFC.
      Similar findings were observed when patients were scanned during a working memory
      task. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that increases in thalamo-prefrontal
      circuitry correspond with training-related improvements of the cognitive deficits
      associated with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28584883
TI  - Projection artifact removal improves visualization and quantitation of macular
      neovascularization imaged by optical coherence tomography angiography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To visualize and quantify the size and vessel density of macular
      neovascularization (MNV) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)
      with a projection artifact removal algorithm. DESIGN: Multicenter, observational
      study. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects with MNV in at least one eye. METHODS: Patients
      were imaged using either a swept-source OCT angiography (SS-OCTA) prototype
      system or a spectral-domain OCT angiography (SD-OCTA) prototype system. The
      optical microangiography (OMAG) algorithm was used to generate the OCTA images.
      Projection artifacts from the overlying retinal circulation were removed from the
      OMAG OCTA images using a novel algorithm. Following removal of the projection
      artifacts from the OCTA images, we assessed the size and vascularity of the MNV.
      Concurrent fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA)
      images were used to validate the artifact-free OMAG images whenever available.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Size and vascularity of MNV imaged with OCTA before and
      after the use of a projection-artifact removal algorithm. RESULTS: A total of 30
      subjects (40 eyes) diagnosed with MNV were imaged. Five patients were imaged
      before and after intravitreal injections of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) inhibitors. Following the use of the projection artifact removal
      algorithm, we found improved visualization of the MNV. Lesion sizes and vascular
      densities were more easily measured on all the artifact-free OMAG images. In eyes
      treated with vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors, vascular density was
      reduced in all five eyes after treatment, and in four eyes, the size of the MNV
      decreased. One of five patients showed a slight increase in lesion size, but a
      decrease in vascular density. CONCLUSIONS: OCTA imaging of MNV using the OMAG
      algorithm combined with removal of projection artifacts resulted in improved
      visualization and measurements of the neovascular lesions. OMAG with projection
      artifact removal should be useful for assessing the response of MNV to treatment
      using OCTA imaging.

PMID- 28584885
TI  - Viscoelastic hydrogels for 3D cell culture.
AB  - In tissues, many cells are surrounded by and interact with a three-dimensional
      soft extracellular matrix (ECM). Both the physical and biochemical properties of
      the ECM play a major role in regulating cell behaviours. To better understand the
      impact of ECM properties on cell behaviours, natural and synthetic hydrogels have
      been developed for use as synthetic ECMs for 3D cell culture. It has long been
      known that ECM and tissues are viscoelastic, or display a time-dependent response
      to deformation or mechanical loading, exhibiting stress relaxation and creep.
      However, only recently have there been efforts made to understand the role of the
      time-dependent aspects of the ECM mechanics on regulating cell behaviours using
      hydrogels for 3D culture. Here we review the characterization and molecular basis
      of hydrogel viscoelasticity and plasticity, and describe newly developed
      approaches to tuning viscoelasticity in hydrogels for 2D and 3D culture. Then we
      highlight several recent studies finding a potent impact of hydrogel stress
      relaxation or creep on cell behaviours such as cell spreading, proliferation, and
      differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. The role of time-dependent mechanics
      on cell biology remains largely unclear, and ripe for further exploration.
      Further elucidation of this topic may substantially advance our understanding of
      cell-matrix interactions during development, homeostasis, wound healing, and
      disease, and guide the design of biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

PMID- 28584886
TI  - UV-responsive amphiphilic graft copolymers based on coumarin and polyoxazoline.
AB  - A series of amphiphilic photo-responsive heterografted copolymers have been
      successfully synthesized. The random copolymers were composed of a methacrylate
      backbone, with various compositions of hydrophilic oligomeric 2-methyl-2
      oxazoline side chains (OMOx) and hydrophobic long alkyl chains terminated by a
      coumarin moiety (Cm). Using dynamic (DLS) and static light scattering (SLS), and
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM), their self-assembling behavior was
      studied in water using the nanoprecipitation method. Depending on the system,
      one, two or three particle size distributions co-exist in solution. However, DLS
      measurements showed that monomodal and slightly polydisperse self-assemblies were
      obtained with the more hydrophobic copolymers (i.e., 85% of hydrophobic monomers
      with a long alkyl chain terminated by a coumarin moiety (MCm) per molecule) with
      hydrodynamic diameters ranging from ca. 130 to 300 nm. Morphological information
      on these self-assembly structures was obtained using SLS: a Gaussian behavior has
      thus been evidenced. Finally, these heterografted copolymers were illuminated
      using UV light at lambda = 350 nm inducing photo-crosslinking of the coumarin
      units. The influence of UV illumination on the thus-formed nanoparticles was
      investigated by carrying out complementarily DLS-measurements and UV
      spectroscopy.

PMID- 28584887
TI  - Intramedullary tibial nailing of distal tibiofibular fractures: additional
      fibular fixation or not?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The anatomy of the distal tibia accounts for reduced biomechanical
      stability and higher complication rates when treating distal tibiofibular
      fractures with an intramedullary tibia nail (IMTN). The goal of this study was to
      identify variables that affect the stability of IMTN. We assessed the value of
      additional fibular fixation, angular stable interlocking screws (ASLS) and
      multiplanar screw configuration in IMTN. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      cohort study was performed including 184 distal tibial fractures and associated
      fibula fracture treated with IMTN. Relevant demographic, fracture-related (type
      and level of the tibia and fibula fracture) and operative variables (depth of the
      nail, screw type and configuration, use of polar screws, fibular fixation) were
      studied. Coronal and sagittal alignment was assessed directly and 3-6 months
      after IMTN. Loss of reduction (LOR) was classified as 5-9 degrees  or >=10
      degrees . RESULTS: 48.4% of the patients showed >=5 degrees  LOR in one or both
      planes. Coronal LOR 5 degrees -9 degrees  significantly correlated with low
      tibial fractures (p = 0.034), AO/OTA type 43 distal tibial fractures (p = 0.049),
      and sagittal LOR 5 degrees -9 degrees  (p = 0.015). Although sagittal LOR 5
      degrees -9 degrees  was associated with fibular fractures (non-fixated
      suprasyndesmotic, p = 0.011), conversely we could not demonstrate the added value
      of (suprasyndesmotic) fibula fixation in IMTN. Coronal LOR >=10 degrees 
      significantly correlated with AO/OTA type 43 distal tibial fractures (p = 0.009).
      In contrast to multiplanar configuration, we found a clear benefit of ASLS in
      distal IMTN locking. CONCLUSIONS: The level of the tibial fracture (AO/OTA type)
      and (suprasyndesmotic) fibular fractures were the main determinants of LOR after
      IMTN. ASLS was found to increase the stability of IMTN. Due to heterogeneity,
      however, we could not demonstrate the value of fibular fixation in IMTN.
      Therefore, a future prospective study with uniform treatment strategy for IMTN of
      distal tibiofibular fractures, with or without fixation of the fibula, is
      mandatory.

PMID- 28584889
TI  - Associations between early tumor shrinkage and depth of response and clinical
      outcomes in patients treated with 1st-line chemotherapy for advanced gastric
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although early tumor shrinkage (ETS) predictions of the efficacy and
      depth of response (DpR) reflects clinical outcomes in chemotherapy with epidermal
      growth factor receptor inhibitor regimens to treat metastatic colorectal cancer,
      their value in assessing treatments for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is unclear.
      Here we evaluated relationships between ETS and DpR and clinical outcomes in AGC
      patients treated with first-line chemotherapy. METHODS: We retrospectively
      enrolled 612 consecutive patients treated with first-line chemotherapy for AGC
      between January 2010 and June 2016. ETS and DpR were defined as changes from
      baseline in summed longest diameters in target lesions at 8 (+/-4) weeks for ETS
      and at the smallest observed volume for DpR. RESULTS: Eligible patients were
      sorted into HER2+ (n = 100) and HER2- (n = 186) groups. Median follow-up was 14.8
      months. The overall response rate and disease control rates were 64 and 87% in
      the HER2+ group and 53.2 and 86.0% in the HER2- group. Respective median PFS and
      OS were HER2+: 7.9 and 20.8 months and HER2-: 6.6 and 13.8 months. The respective
      ETS rate and median DpR were HER2+: 70 and 44% and HER2-: 57.5 and 24%. Clinical
      outcomes and ETS/DpR were correlated, especially in the HER2+ group (OS: P <
      0.0001; PFS: P < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, ETS was an independent
      predictor for OS in the HER2+ group and for PFS in both groups. CONCLUSION: These
      results indicate that ETS may be an early-on treatment predictor of the efficacy
      of HER2+ advanced gastric cancer treated with first-line chemotherapy that
      includes trastuzumab.

PMID- 28584890
TI  - Survival benefit of "D2-plus" gastrectomy in gastric cancer patients with
      duodenal invasion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal extent of lymph node (LN) dissection for gastric cancer
      with duodenal invasion is yet to be clarified. This study sought to evaluate the
      significance of gastrectomy with D2-plus lymphadenectomy including posterior LNs
      along the common hepatic artery (no. 8p), hepatoduodenal ligament LNs along the
      bile duct (no. 12b) and those behind the portal vein (no. 12p), LNs on the
      posterior surface of the pancreatic head (no. 13), LNs along the superior
      mesenteric vein (no. 14v) and para-aortic LNs around the left renal vein (nos.
      16a2 and 16b1) dissection. METHODS: Patients with gastric cancer with duodenal
      invasion undergoing R0 gastrectomy from January 2000 to December 2015 were
      enrolled. The therapeutic value index (TVI) of each LN dissection was calculated
      by multiplying the incidence of metastasis to each LN station by the 5-year
      overall survival (OS) rate of the patients with metastasis to the station.
      RESULTS: In total, 117 patients were eligible. The 5-year OS rates (and TVI) of
      the patients with metastasis to LNs were 40.4% (7.4) in no. 12b, 25.4% (6.8) in
      no. 13, 32.0% (6.1) in no. 14v, 50.0% (13.0) in no. 16a2 and 40.0% (10.0) in no.
      16b1. None of the patients with metastasis in no. 8p or no. 12p survived 5 years
      or longer. CONCLUSION: In a potentially curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer
      with duodenal invasion, there may be some survival benefit in dissection of nos.
      12b, 13, 14v, 16a2 and 16b1 LNs, while no benefit was seen in dissection of nos.
      8p or 12p LNs.

PMID- 28584891
TI  - Gratitude mediates quality of life differences between fibromyalgia patients and
      healthy controls.
AB  - PURPOSE: Despite a growing literature on the benefits of gratitude for adjustment
      to chronic illness, little is known about gratitude in medical populations
      compared to healthy populations, or the degree to which potential deficits in
      gratitude might impact quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to
      (1) examine levels of gratitude and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients and
      healthy controls and (2) consider the role of gratitude in explaining quality of
      life differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls. METHODS:
      Participants were 173 fibromyalgia patients and 81 healthy controls. All
      participants completed measures of gratitude, quality of life, and socio
      demographics. RESULTS: Although gratitude was positively associated with quality
      of life, levels of gratitude and quality of life were lower in the fibromyalgia
      sample relative to the healthy controls. This difference in gratitude partially
      mediated differences in quality of life between the two groups after controlling
      for socio-demographic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that gratitude
      is a valuable positive psychological trait for quality of life in people with
      fibromyalgia. Interventions to improve gratitude in this patient population may
      also bring enhancement in quality of life.

PMID- 28584894
TI  - Erratum to: Identification of a restriction point at the M/G1 transition in CHO
      cells.

PMID- 28584892
TI  - Coping profiles and subjective well-being among people living with HIV: less
      intensive coping corresponds with better well-being.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between coping
      strategies and subjective well-being (SWB) among people living with HIV (PLWH)
      using the latent profile analysis (LPA) with control for socio-medical
      covariates. METHODS: The sample comprised five hundred and thirty people (N =
      530) with a confirmed diagnosis of HIV+. The study was cross-sectional with SWB
      operationalized by satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale) and
      positive and negative affect (PANAS-X). Coping with stress was measured by the
      Brief COPE Inventory, enriched by several items that assessed rumination and
      enhancement of positive emotional states. Additionally, the relevant socio
      medical variables were collected. RESULTS: The one-step model of LPA revealed the
      following: (1) a solution with five different coping profiles suited the data
      best; (2) socio-medical covariates, except for education, were not related to the
      profiles' membership. Further analysis with SWB as a distal outcome showed that
      higher intensity coping profiles have significantly worse SWB when compared with
      lower intensity coping profiles. However, the lowest SWB was noted for mixed
      intensity coping profile (high adaptive/low maladaptive). CONCLUSIONS: The person
      centered approach adopted in this study informs about the heterogeneity of
      disease-related coping among PLWH and its possible reactive character, as the
      highest SWB was observed among participants with the lowest intensity of coping.

PMID- 28584893
TI  - Development of Novel Monoclonal Antibodies for Evaluation of Transmembrane
      Prostate Androgen-Induced Protein 1 (TMEPAI) Expression Patterns in Gastric
      Cancer.
AB  - Transmembrane prostate androgen-induced protein 1 (TMEPAI) is a single-span
      membrane protein, functionally involved in transforming growth factor beta
      signaling pathway. The particular protein presented in cells in three isoforms,
      which differs in the length of the soluble N-terminal extracellular domain,
      making it challenging for the immunochemical recognition. By using quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction, we identified significant upregulation of
      PMEPA1 gene expression in malignant tissues of patients with gastric
      adenocarcinoma. The main part of commercially available anti-TMEPAI antibodies
      are having polyclonal nature or not suitable for immunocytochemical localization
      of target protein in tissue specimens. Hence, we decide to generate a set of
      novel rat monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against conservative C-terminal
      cytoplasmic epitope. Immunoblotting analysis showed that monoclonal antibodies,
      2E1, 6C6, and 10A7 were able to recognize specifically target protein in
      transiently transfected HEK293T and CHO-K1 cells. Especially established mAb,
      named 10A7, showed the excellent binding ability to target protein in
      immunohistochemistry. By using developed antibodies, we observed pronounced
      expression of TMEPAI in normal gastric epithelial cells while tumor cells from
      gastric adenomas, and adenocarcinoma samples were mostly negative for target
      protein expression. Also, we found that gastric epithelium cells lose the TMEPAI
      expression concurrently with severe dysplasia progression, which probably caused
      by a mechanism involving specific microRNA.

PMID- 28584895
TI  - Effect of olive cultivar on bioaccessibility and antioxidant activity of phenolic
      fraction of virgin olive oil.
AB  - AIM: This study aims to characterize the phenolic profile and antioxidant
      capacity of seven monovarietal virgin olive oils (VOOs) and evaluate their in
      vitro gastrointestinal stability. METHODS: 'Picual', 'Blanqueta', 'Sevillana',
      'Habichuelero', and 'Chetoui' olive cultivars were selected for VOO extraction.
      The oils were subjected to in vitro digestion. The recovery index (RI) of
      phenolic compounds after each digestion step and the bioaccessibility index (BI)
      were evaluated. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the bioaccessible
      fraction (BF) of VOOs was determined by DPPH, ABTS, and ORAC assays, as well as
      by studying the intracellular reactive oxygen species in Caco-2 cells. RESULTS:
      Differences were found in the composition of phenolic compounds in VOOs depending
      on cultivars. During the digestive process, important losses of phenolic
      compounds were observed between the buccal and duodenal steps, unlike HTy and Ty,
      which presented increased recovery due to the hydrolysis of secoiridoid
      derivatives. Differences in the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds were found
      between varieties of VOOs. 'Sevillana' VOO had the highest total bioaccessibility
      (36%), followed by the 'Picual' (19%), 'Chetoui' (17%), 'Habichuelero' (10%), and
      'Blanqueta' (8%) varieties. The BF of all the varieties of VOO showed similar
      radical ABTS scavenging capacity, 'Chetoui', and 'Blanqueta'-BF having the
      highest radical DPPH scavenging capacity, and 'Habichuelero' and 'Picual'-BF
      showing protective effects against the peroxyl radical measured by ORACFL assay.
      All VOO-BFs presented decreases in ROS levels in Caco-2 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggest differences in the bioaccessibility of phenolics from diverse VOO
      varieties, which could lead to different biological properties. Therefore, this
      study represents a first step toward the development of novel dietary strategies
      focusing on the phenolic supplementation of different VOOs to preserve human
      health.

PMID- 28584888
TI  - Autism spectrum disorder: neuropathology and animal models.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a major impact on the development and social
      integration of affected individuals and is the most heritable of psychiatric
      disorders. An increase in the incidence of ASD cases has prompted a surge in
      research efforts on the underlying neuropathologic processes. We present an
      overview of current findings in neuropathology studies of ASD using two
      investigational approaches, postmortem human brains and ASD animal models, and
      discuss the overlap, limitations, and significance of each. Postmortem
      examination of ASD brains has revealed global changes including disorganized gray
      and white matter, increased number of neurons, decreased volume of neuronal soma,
      and increased neuropil, the last reflecting changes in densities of dendritic
      spines, cerebral vasculature and glia. Both cortical and non-cortical areas show
      region-specific abnormalities in neuronal morphology and cytoarchitectural
      organization, with consistent findings reported from the prefrontal cortex,
      fusiform gyrus, frontoinsular cortex, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, amygdala,
      cerebellum and brainstem. The paucity of postmortem human studies linking
      neuropathology to the underlying etiology has been partly addressed using animal
      models to explore the impact of genetic and non-genetic factors clinically
      relevant for the ASD phenotype. Genetically modified models include those based
      on well-studied monogenic ASD genes (NLGN3, NLGN4, NRXN1, CNTNAP2, SHANK3, MECP2,
      FMR1, TSC1/2), emerging risk genes (CHD8, SCN2A, SYNGAP1, ARID1B, GRIN2B, DSCAM,
      TBR1), and copy number variants (15q11-q13 deletion, 15q13.3 microdeletion, 15q11
      13 duplication, 16p11.2 deletion and duplication, 22q11.2 deletion). Models of
      idiopathic ASD include inbred rodent strains that mimic ASD behaviors as well as
      models developed by environmental interventions such as prenatal exposure to
      sodium valproate, maternal autoantibodies, and maternal immune activation. In
      addition to replicating some of the neuropathologic features seen in postmortem
      studies, a common finding in several animal models of ASD is altered density of
      dendritic spines, with the direction of the change depending on the specific
      genetic modification, age and brain region. Overall, postmortem neuropathologic
      studies with larger sample sizes representative of the various ASD risk genes and
      diverse clinical phenotypes are warranted to clarify putative etiopathogenic
      pathways further and to promote the emergence of clinically relevant diagnostic
      and therapeutic tools. In addition, as genetic alterations may render certain
      individuals more vulnerable to developing the pathological changes at the synapse
      underlying the behavioral manifestations of ASD, neuropathologic investigation
      using genetically modified animal models will help to improve our understanding
      of the disease mechanisms and enhance the development of targeted treatments.

PMID- 28584896
TI  - Importance of tissue sampling, laboratory methods, and patient characteristics
      for detection of Pneumocystis in autopsied lungs of non-immunosuppressed
      individuals.
AB  - To understand the epidemiological significance of Pneumocystis detection in a
      lung tissue sample of non-immunosuppressed individuals, we examined sampling
      procedures, laboratory methodology, and patient characteristics of autopsy series
      reported in the literature. Number of tissue specimens, DNA-extraction
      procedures, age and underlying diagnosis highly influence yield and are critical
      to understand yield differences of Pneumocystis among reports of pulmonary
      colonization in immunocompetent individuals.

PMID- 28584897
TI  - Effects of Juice Processing on Oxalate Contents in Carambola Juice Products.
AB  - Effects of processing methods including pressing, enzyme-assisted extraction,
      lactic acid fermentation by Lactobacillus acidophilus, and alcohol fermentation
      by Saccharomyces cerevisiae on total and soluble oxalate contents of carambola
      juices were studied. In comparison with pressing, the use of enzyme increased
      juice yields (15.89-17.29%), but resulted in higher total oxalate (1.60-1.73
      times) and soluble oxalate contents (1.16-1.49 times). In addition, extension of
      enzyme incubation periods led to an increase in soluble oxalate contents in the
      products (p < 0.05). On the other hand, alcohol fermentation with Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae from 1 to 5 weeks reduced 37-58% of total oxalate and 39-59% of
      soluble oxalate contents. Prolonged fermentation also demonstrated better
      reduction of oxalate contents. Meanwhile, lactic acid fermentation using
      Lactobacillus acidophilus had no effects on total and soluble oxalate contents in
      carambola juices. These results suggested that carambola juice products should
      only be consumed moderately, and that alcohol fermentation could be a potential
      method to reduce oxalate contents in foods in order to prevent the risks of
      forming kidney stones.

PMID- 28584898
TI  - Factors Affecting the Dissolution of Indomethacin Solid Dispersions.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of factors such as carrier
      type, drug/carrier ratio, binary carriers, and preparation method on the
      dissolution of an insoluble drug, indomethacin (IM), under supersaturation
      conditions. Using a solvent evaporation (SE) method, poloxamer 188 and PVP K30
      showed better dissolution among the selected carriers. Furthermore, as the ratio
      of carriers increased (drug/carrier ratio from 1:0.5 to 1:2), the dissolution
      rate increased especially in almost two times poloxamer 188 solid dispersions
      (SDs), while the reverse results were observed for PVP K30 SDs. For the binary
      carrier SD, a lower dissolution was found. Under hot melt extrusion (HME), the
      dissolution of poloxamer 188 SD and PVP K30 SD was 0.83- and 0.94-folds lower
      than that using SE, respectively, while the binary carrier SD showed the best
      dissolution. For poloxamer 188 SDs, the drug's crystal form changed when using
      SE, while no crystal form change was observed using HME. IM was amorphous in PVP
      K30 SDs prepared by both methods. For binary carrier systems, amorphous and
      crystalline drugs coexisted in SD using SE, and negligible amorphous IM was in SD
      using HME. This study indicated that a higher amorphous proportion in SD did not
      correlate with higher dissolution rate, and other factors, such as carrier type,
      particle size, and density, were also critical.

PMID- 28584899
TI  - Development of Aerosol Phospholipid Microparticles for the Treatment of Pulmonary
      Hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an incurable cardiovascular disease
      characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries leading from the heart to
      the lungs. Over two million people in the USA are diagnosed with PAH annually and
      the typical survival rate is only 3 years after diagnosis. Current treatments are
      insufficient because of limited bioavailability, toxicity, and costs associated
      with approved therapeutics. Aerosol delivery of drugs is an attractive approach
      to treat respiratory diseases because it increases localized drug concentration
      while reducing systemic side effects. In this study, we developed phospholipid
      based aerosol microparticles via spray drying consisting of the drug tacrolimus
      and the excipients dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and
      dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol. The phospholipid-based spray-dried aerosol
      microparticles were shown to be smooth and spherical in size, ranging from 1 to 3
      MUm in diameter. The microparticles exhibited thermal stability and were
      amorphous after spray drying. Water content in the microparticles was under 10%,
      which will allow successful aerosol dispersion and long-term storage stability.
      In vitro aerosol dispersion showed that the microparticles could successfully
      deposit in the deep lung, as they exhibited favorable aerodynamic diameters and
      high fine particle fractions. In vitro dose-response analysis showed that TAC is
      nontoxic in the low concentrations that would be delivered to the lungs. Overall,
      this work shows that tacrolimus-loaded phospholipid-based microparticles can be
      successfully created with optimal physicochemical and toxicological
      characteristics.

PMID- 28584900
TI  - Nanosuspension-Based Aloe vera Gel of Silver Sulfadiazine with Improved Wound
      Healing Activity.
AB  - The present study focuses on the development and characterization of
      nanosuspension of a poorly soluble drug, silver sulfadiazine (SSD) incorporated
      in Aloe vera gel (AV-gel) for improving its therapeutic efficacy. The SSD
      solution in ammonia was subjected to nanoprecipitation in surfactant solution and
      particle size was optimized by varying concentration of surfactant. Optimized
      formulation constituted of 5.5% (w/v) Span 20 and 5.5% (w/v) Tween 80 as a
      dispersing agent and 0.5% (w/v) Poloxamer 188 as a co-surfactant. The prepared
      nanosuspension was evaluated for particle size, polydispersity index, surface
      morphology, and x-ray diffraction study. The optimized nanosuspension was
      incorporated into nanogel formulation with the addition of 1% AV-gel and 0.5%
      Carbopol 940 for topical delivery of nanosized SSD. Evaluation of in vitro drug
      release exhibited a significant enhancement in release rate of the drug from
      developed nanogel formulation (77.16 +/- 3.241%) in comparison to marketed
      formulation (42.81 +/- 1.452%) after 48 h. In vivo histopathological studies in
      rats for 14 days of application of prepared nanogel showed improvement in the
      wound healing potential as compared to marketed formulation.

PMID- 28584901
TI  - Endovascular treatment of diabetic peripheral arterial disease in older and
      oldest old patients: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is frequent among older diabetic
      patients, but the evidence about endovascular revascularization is very limited.
      METHOD: We retrospectively analyzed data collected from 120 diabetic patients
      consecutively admitted to a Diabetic Foot Clinic, including 64 patients aged 65
      79 years and 56 patients aged 80 or more. RESULTS: Percutaneous transluminal
      angioplasty (PTA) was followed by technical success in 82.5% of older patients
      and 62.5% of oldest old ones (p = 0.05). No significant difference was observed
      in regards to complete re-epithelization (76.6 vs 76.8%, p = 0.820), recurrent
      stenosis (26.6 vs 19.6%, p = 0.371), intra- or post-procedure complications (21.9
      vs 10.7%, p = 0.102), and amputations (12.5 vs 5.4%, p = 0.176). DISCUSSION: Our
      findings suggest that older and oldest old patients with diabetic foot and
      critical ischemia could be effectively and safely treated with PTA.

PMID- 28584902
TI  - Quantitative trait loci analysis of melon (Cucumis melo L.) domestication-related
      traits.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Loci on LGIV, VI, and VIII of melon genome are involved in the
      control of fruit domestication-related traits and they are candidate to have
      played a role in the domestication of the crop. The fruit of wild melons is very
      small (20-50 g) without edible pulp, contrasting with the large size and high
      pulp content of cultivated melon fruits. An analysis of quantitative trait loci
      (QTL) controlling fruit morphology domestication-related traits was carried out
      using an in vitro maintained F2 population from the cross between the Indian wild
      melon "Trigonus" and the western elite cultivar 'Piel de Sapo'. Twenty-seven QTL
      were identified in at least two out of the three field trials. Six of them were
      also being detected in BC1 and BC3 populations derived from the same cross. Ten
      of them were related to fruit morphological traits, 12 to fruit size characters,
      and 5 to pulp content. The Trigonus alleles decreased the value of the
      characters, except for the QTL at andromonoecious gene at linkage group (LG) II,
      and the QTL for pulp content at LGV. QTL genotypes accounted for a considerable
      degree of the total phenotypic variation, reaching up to 46%. Around 66% of the
      QTL showed additive gene action, 19% exhibited dominance, and 25% consisted of
      overdominance. The regions on LGIV, VI, and VIII included the QTL with more
      consistent and strong effects on domestication-related traits. QTLs on those
      regions were validated in BC2S1, BC2S2, and BC3 families, with "Trigonus" allele
      decreasing the fruit morphological traits in all cases. The validated QTL could
      represent loci involved in melon domestication, although further experiments as
      genomic variation studies across wild and cultivated genotypes would be necessary
      to confirm this hypothesis.

PMID- 28584903
TI  - Incidence and outcome of retained Port-A-Cath fragments during removal.
AB  - PURPOSE: Port-A-Cath devices are frequently used for long-term venous access. We
      postulate that long-term use predisposes them to getting stuck and retained in a
      central vein at the time of removal. We aim to report the incidence and outcome
      of this complication. METHODS: Between January 2006 and July 2016, a
      retrospective review of all Port-A-Cath removals that were performed at our
      centre was conducted. At the time of removal, catheters that could not be removed
      from the vein were considered retained. RESULTS: During the study period, 107
      children had 174 episodes of silicone Sitimplant (Vygon, Ecouen, France) Port-A
      Cath insertions. These children required 135 removal episodes and there were 3
      (2.2%) instances whereby the catheter fragment was retained. These episodes of
      retained catheters only occurred in children with factor VIII deficiency (4.1%
      incidence in this cohort). For each episode of catheter insertion and removal,
      the catheters had been left in situ for a mean duration of 43 months in children
      with factor deficiency and no retained fragments, and the mean duration was 91
      months in children with factor deficiency and retained catheter fragments (p =
      0.0011). CONCLUSIONS: Port-A-Caths that are retained after attempted removal is a
      complication encountered predominantly in catheters that have been in use for a
      prolonged duration. Furthermore, factor replacement therapy in haemophiliacs may
      be a risk factor for this complication.

PMID- 28584904
TI  - Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty in vestibular fistula: with or without
      colostomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to compare the results and complications of one
      and three-stage repairs in females with vestibular fistula (VF) and make
      contribution to the discussion of whether the disadvantages outweigh the
      protective effect of a colostomy from wound infection and wound dehiscence
      following posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP). METHODS: Patients with a
      diagnosis of VF who underwent PSARP between October 2009 and November 2015 were
      retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1
      patients treated by one-stage procedure (n = 30); Group 2-patients treated by
      three-stage procedure (n = 16). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant
      differences between the groups with respect to wound infection, recurrence of
      fistula and rectal mucosal prolapse. Minor wound dehiscence occurred slightly
      more common in Group 1, even if p value is not significant. No wound dehiscence
      has been observed since we switched to the protocol of keeping the child nil per
      oral for 5 postoperative days and loperamide (0.1 mg/kg) administration for 7
      postoperative days. The mean time before resuming oral intake was 2.87 +/- 1.7
      and 1.19 +/- 0.4 days in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively (p = 0.001). None
      developed major wound disruption or anal stenosis in either group. There were no
      statistical differences between the groups in terms of voluntary bowel movements,
      soiling and constipation. CONCLUSIONS: PSARP performed without a protective
      colostomy in patients with VF has low morbidity, good continence rates and
      obvious advantages for both the patients and their parents.

PMID- 28584905
TI  - Clinical characteristics of intussusception secondary to pathologic lead points
      in children: a single-center experience with 65 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Intussusception secondary to pathologic lead points (PLPs) is a
      challenging condition for pediatric surgeons, and few studies have been published
      on this subject. The aim of this study was to review and analyze clinical data on
      the diagnosis and management of intussusception secondary to PLPs in children.
      METHODS: Between 2002 and 2016, a total of 65 pediatric patients with a diagnosis
      of intussusception secondary to PLPs were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: The
      series comprised 47 males and 18 females. The average age of the patients was 4.9
      years old. All patients had typical clinical manifestations, and intussusception
      was proven by ultrasound. Fifty-one patients had recurrent intussusception, of
      whom 21 had one, 14 had two, 10 had three, and 6 had more than three. There were
      20 episodes of recurrence within 24 h (39.2%), 15 episodes were found between 24
      and 72 h (29.4%), and the remaining 31.4% (16/51) of recurrences occurred after
      72 h. All patients received surgical intussusception reduction. Meanwhile,
      enterectomy was the procedure of choice in 55 patients, polypectomy in 5
      patients, and cystectomy in 3 patients. The types of intussusception secondary to
      PLPs included small intestinal (n = 25), ileocolic (n = 19), ileocecal (n = 11),
      ileo-ileocolic (n = 9) and cecalcolic (n = 1). The types of PLPs included Meckel
      diverticulum (n = 32), intestinal duplication (n = 14), benign polyps (n = 5),
      malignant lymphoma (n = 4), Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (n = 3), mesenteric cyst (n =
      3), intestinal wall hematoma of hemophilia (n = 2), allergic purpura (n = 1), and
      hamartoma (n = 1). All patients recovered well with no relapse during follow-up,
      except for one patient who had an intestinal obstruction from adhesions that
      occurred approximately 3 months after discharge and who was curable after
      conservative treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Intussusception secondary to PLPs tends to
      exhibit recurrence. There are various types of intussusception secondary to PLPs.
      It is necessary to improve auxiliary examinations to identify the etiology and
      avoid intraoperative omission. Surgical reduction of intussusception secondary to
      PLPs is the preferred clinical management.

PMID- 28584906
TI  - Music intervention efficacy in elderly: a promising non-pharmacological approach
      to cognitive dysfunctions.

PMID- 28584907
TI  - Acute psychoactive and toxic effects of D. metel on mice explained by 1H NMR
      based metabolomics approach.
AB  - Datura metel L. (D. metel) is one well-known folk medical herb with wide
      application and also the most abused plants all over the world, mainly for
      spiritual or religious purpose, over-dosing of which often produces poisonous
      effects. In this study, mice were orally administered with the extract of D.
      metel once a day at doses for 10 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg for consecutive 4 days, 1H
      NMR based metabolomics approach aided with histopathological inspection and
      biochemical assays were used for the first time to study the psychoactive and
      toxic effects of D. metel. Histopathological inspection revealed obvious
      hypertrophy of hepatocytes, karyolysis and karyorrhexis in livers as well as
      distinct nerve cell edema, chromatolysis and lower nuclear density in brains. The
      increased tissue level of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) and superoxide
      dismutase (SOD), decreased tissue level of glutathione (GSH) along with increased
      serum level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase
      (ALT) suggested brain and liver injury induced by D. metel. Orthogonal signal
      correction-partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OSC-PLS-DA) of NMR
      profiles supplemented with correlation network analysis revealed significant
      altered metabolites and related pathway that contributed to oxidative stress,
      energy metabolism disturbances, neurotransmitter imbalance and amino acid
      metabolism disorders.

PMID- 28584908
TI  - The EP3 Receptor/Gz Signaling Axis as a Therapeutic Target for Diabetes and
      Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease is a common co-morbidity found with obesity-linked type 2
      diabetes. Current pharmaceuticals for these two diseases treat each of them
      separately. Yet, diabetes and cardiovascular disease share molecular signaling
      pathways that are increasingly being understood to contribute to disease
      pathophysiology, particularly in pre-clinical models. This review will focus on
      one such signaling pathway: that mediated by the G protein-coupled receptor,
      Prostaglandin E2 Receptor 3 (EP3), and its associated G protein in the insulin
      secreting beta-cell and potentially the platelet, Gz. The EP3/Gz signaling axis
      may hold promise as a dual target for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28584910
TI  - Factors that influence lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS)-related quality of life
      (QoL) in a healthy population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors affecting the lower
      urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) related quality of life (QoL) score. METHODS: This
      retrospective study analyzed 29,123 men who underwent health check-ups from
      January 2007 to July 2011 at a single institution. Those patients who completed
      the American urologic association symptom index (AUA-SI) with QoL, beck
      depression inventory (BDI) and state-trait anxiety inventory questionnaires were
      included in the study. Men with a history of medication for LUTS were excluded
      from the study. Men who submitted QoL scores of 3 or higher in spite of mild LUTS
      (total AUA-SI score <8) were defined as having a relatively worse QoL. RESULTS:
      Mean age of 21,390 men was 48.4 +/- 9.5 years. Mean total AUA-SI score was 6.4 +/
      5.9 points. The QoL score was well correlated with the total AUA-SI score (r =
      0.705, p < 0.001). Among all AUA-SI items, AUA-SI item 1 (incomplete emptying, r
      = 0.600, p < 0.001) had the strongest correlation with QoL scores. On the
      multivariate analysis, hypertension, total AUA-SI score, BDI score, and trait
      anxiety score were found to be independent factors that influenced the QoL
      scores. A lower age, a higher PSA, a higher AUA-SI score and a higher BDI score
      were risk factors for relatively worse QoL scores in spite of mild LUTS.
      CONCLUSIONS: Among the seven items of AUA-SI, AUA-SI item 1 has the strongest
      correlation with a worse LUTS-related QoL. Psychological status also influences
      the QoL scores.

PMID- 28584911
TI  - Bioprospecting for beta-lactam resistance genes using a metagenomics-guided
      strategy.
AB  - Emergence of new antibiotic resistance bacteria poses a serious threat to human
      health, which is largely attributed to the evolution and spread of antibiotic
      resistance genes (ARGs). In this work, a metagenomics-guided strategy consisting
      of metagenomic analysis and function validation was proposed for rapidly
      identifying novel ARGs from hot spots of ARG dissemination, such as wastewater
      treatment plants (WWTPs) and animal feces. We used an antibiotic resistance gene
      database to annotate 76 putative beta-lactam resistance genes from the
      metagenomes of sludge and chicken feces. Among these 76 candidate genes, 25
      target genes that shared 40~70% amino acid identity to known beta-lactamases were
      cloned by PCR from the metagenomes. Their resistances to four beta-lactam
      antibiotics were further demonstrated. Furthermore, the validated ARGs were used
      as the reference sequences to identify novel ARGs in eight environmental samples,
      suggesting the necessity of re-examining the profiles of ARGs in environmental
      samples using the validated novel ARG sequences. This metagenomics-guided
      pipeline does not rely on the activity of ARGs during the initial screening
      process and may specifically select novel ARG sequences for function validation,
      which make it suitable for the high-throughput screening of novel ARGs from
      environmental metagenomes.

PMID- 28584913
TI  - Effects of different doses of triazolam in the middle-of-the-night insomnia: a
      double-blind, randomized, parallel group study.
AB  - It has been reported that insomnia characterized by difficulty returning to sleep
      following a nocturnal awakening, otherwise defined as the middle-of-the-night
      (MOTN) insomnia, is a common form of insomnia in adults with growing prevalence
      by increasing age. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety
      of different dosages of triazolam in insomnia patients when taken after a MOTN
      awakening with difficulty returning to sleep. In this double-blind, randomized,
      parallel group study, 24 patients (mean age 41.00 +/- 10.40, 10 female and 14
      male) affected by MOTN insomnia were enrolled and randomized into three groups
      according to different dosages of triazolam: group A (0.0625 mg), group B (0.125
      mg), and group C (0.250 mg). A significant increment of total sleep time, sleep
      efficiency and a reduction of wake after sleep onset, number of awakening and non
      REM sleep stage 1 was observed in T1 (triazolam) in comparison to T0 (placebo) by
      means of polysomnographic recording, irrespective of dosage. After 2 weeks of the
      treatment, insomnia severity significantly improved in all three groups in
      comparison to baseline without diurnal residual effects. This study demonstrates
      that low dose of triazolam objectively and subjectively improves the sleep of
      patients having MOTN insomnia.

PMID- 28584912
TI  - New cryptotanshinone derivatives with anti-influenza A virus activities obtained
      via biotransformation by Mucor rouxii.
AB  - This paper provides an efficient platform to diversify the structure and
      pharmaceutical potentials of known natural products. Seven metabolites were
      obtained via the biotransformation of cryptotanshinone by the fungus Mucor rouxii
      AS 3.3447, and assigned as 13R-14R-hydroxy-anhydride of 16R-cryptotanshinone (1),
      1S-hydroxy-anhydride of 16R-cryptotanshinone (2), 1R-hydroxy-anhydride of 16R
      cryptotanshinone (3), 3S-hydroxy-epicryptoacetalide (4), 3S-hydroxy
      cryptoacetalide (5), epicryptoacetalide (6), and cryptoacetalide (7). Among these
      compounds, 1-5 are novel. The ortho-naphthoquinone chromophore of
      cryptotanshinone was degraded and rearranged by M. rouxii. 1 and 3 showed good
      anti-influenza A virus activities with the reduced cytotoxic activities compared
      to the parent substrate cryptotanshinone (8). The structures of all the new
      compounds were determined on the basis of HRESIMS (high-resolution electrospray
      ionization mass spectroscopy) spectrometry, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)
      spectroscopy, ECD (electronic circular dichroism) calculations, and the CD
      (circular dichroism) of "in situ" method with [Rh2(OCOCF3)4].

PMID- 28584914
TI  - Optical coherence tomography for the diagnosis and monitoring of idiopathic
      intracranial hypertension.
AB  - The objectives of the study were to investigate the value of optical coherence
      tomography in detecting papilledema in patients with idiopathic intracranial
      hypertension (IIH), a disease which is difficult to monitor and which can lead to
      permanent visual deficits; to analyze retinal changes over time. In this non
      interventional case-control study, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography
      (SD-OCT) was used to analyze the retinal and optic nerve head (ONH) morphology of
      21 patients with IIH and 27 age- and sex-matched healthy controls over time. We
      analyzed the ONH volume using a custom-made algorithm and employed semi-automated
      segmentation of macular volume scans to assess the macular retinal nerve fiber
      layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer and inner plexiform layer complex as well as
      the total macular volume. In IIH patients, the ONH volume was increased and
      correlated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure. The ONH volume decreased
      after the initiation of treatment with acetazolamide. The macular RNFL volume
      decreased by 5% in 3.5 months, and a stepwise multivariate regression analysis
      identified CSF pressure as the main influence on macular RNFL volume at
      diagnosis. The only factor predicting macular RNFL volume loss over time was ONH
      volume. SD-OCT can non-invasively monitor changes in retinal and ONH morphology
      in patients with IIH. Increased ONH volume leads to retinal atrophy in the form
      of macular RNFL volume loss, presumably due to mechanic jamming of the optic
      nerve at the disc and subsequent axonal loss.

PMID- 28584909
TI  - A Review of Phosphate Binders in Chronic Kidney Disease: Incremental Progress or
      Just Higher Costs?
AB  - As kidney disease progresses, phosphorus retention also increases, and phosphate
      binders are used to treat hyperphosphatemia. Clinicians prescribe phosphate
      binders thinking that reducing total body burden of phosphorus may decrease risks
      of mineral and bone disorder, fractures, cardiovascular disease, progression of
      kidney disease, and mortality. Recent meta-analyses suggest that sevelamer use
      results in lower mortality than use of calcium-containing phosphate binders.
      However, studies included in meta-analyses show significant heterogeneity, and
      exclusion or inclusion of specific studies alters results. Since no long-term
      studies have been conducted to determine whether treatment with any phosphate
      binder is better than placebo on any hard clinical endpoint (including
      mortality), it is unclear whether possible benefit with sevelamer represents net
      benefit of sevelamer, net harm with calcium-containing phosphate binders, or
      both. Although one meta-analysis suggested that calcium acetate may be more
      efficacious gram for gram than calcium carbonate as a binder, calcium acetate did
      not reduce hypercalcemia, and gastrointestinal intolerance was higher. Data are
      insufficient to determine whether calcium acetate provides lower risk of vascular
      calcification than calcium carbonate. Fears of lanthanum accumulation in the
      central nervous system or bone with long-term treatment do not appear to be
      warranted. Newer iron-containing phosphate binders have potential benefits, such
      as lower pill burden (sucroferric oxyhydroxide) and improved iron parameters
      (ferric citrate). The biggest challenge to phosphate binder efficacy is non
      adherence. This article reviews the current knowledge regarding safety,
      effectiveness, and adherence with currently marketed phosphate binders and those
      in development.

PMID- 28584915
TI  - Understanding Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: insights from focal epilepsy patients with
      Lennox-Gastaut features.
AB  - To delineate the clinical and EEG features of adults with focal epilepsy
      associated with a generalized paroxysmal fast activity (GPFA) pattern on EEG who
      developed refractory seizures, notably drop attacks, but do not fulfill the
      classical triad for the diagnosis of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and provide
      further insight into LGS mechanisms. Among 957 patients admitted to video-EEG
      monitoring between 2002 and 2015, we retrospectively research adult patients with
      refractory focal epilepsy, drop attacks and GPFA on EEG. We collected
      demographic, anamnestic, and clinical data from medical records. We reviewed for
      all patients the interictal and ictal video-EEG recordings. We identified ten
      patients with focal epilepsy and electro-clinical features of LGS. As compared to
      classical LGS patients, our patients: (1) began epilepsy later (15.4 +/- 8
      years); (2) exhibited exclusively focal onset seizures, including drop attacks
      seizures linked to focal asymmetrical tonic posturing seizures; (3) had a stable
      cognition over time and (4) evolved favourably with a good secondary response to
      treatments in 80% of cases. Interestingly, all patients exhibited apparent
      diffuse interictal and ictal EEG abnormalities but a detailed analysis revealed
      that 50% had asymmetrical GPFA and 70% secondary bilateral synchrony processes.
      We may hypothesize here that a process of "secondary LGS" occurred which produced
      a worsening of seizures with the apparition of drop attacks and GPFA on EEG. This
      study brings arguments to consider that some cases of LGS could be linked to the
      development of a "secondary epileptic network" driven by a primary focal
      epileptic zone.

PMID- 28584916
TI  - Hypoesthesia associated with mandibular movement after sagittal split ramus
      osteotomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: This retrospective study investigated the relationship between the
      degree of neurosensory disturbance (NSD) and mandibular movement distance after
      sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) and assessed sensory recovery. METHODS:
      Lower lip hypoesthesia was evaluated at 1 week, 1 month, and 2 months after SSRO
      in 38 patients categorized according to the distance of mandibular movement: S
      group (0-7 mm; n = 17, 4 males and 13 females) and L group (7-14 mm; n = 21, 7
      males, 14 females). Symptoms were evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS), tactile
      threshold (SW) test, static 2-point discrimination (s-2PD) test, and current
      perception threshold (CPT) test. RESULTS: The two groups did not differ
      significantly in gender and age. The Abeta fiber results of the CPT test differed
      significantly between the groups at 1 week and 1 month postsurgery (P < 0.05).
      There were no significant differences between the groups throughout the period in
      terms of VAS, SW, s-2PD, Adelta fiber, and C fiber of CPT. CONCLUSIONS: Post
      SSRO, the incidence of NSD in terms of tactile sensation may be greater in the L
      group early postoperatively. This may assist surgeons in explaining postoperative
      hypoesthesia to patients preoperatively.

PMID- 28584917
TI  - Morphometry and microsurgical anatomy of Bochdalek's flower basket and the
      related structures of the cerebellopontine angle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bochdalek's flower basket (Bfb) is the distal part of the horizontal
      segment of the fourth ventricle's choroid plexus protruding through the lateral
      aperture (foramen of Luschka). The microsurgical anatomy of the cerebellopontine
      angle, fourth ventricle and its inner choroid plexus is well described in the
      literature, but only one radiological study has investigated the Bfb so far. The
      goal of the present study was to give an extensive morphometric analysis of the
      Bfb for the first time and discuss the surgically relevant anatomical aspects.
      METHOD: Forty-two formalin-fixed human brains (84 cerebellopontine angles) were
      involved in this study. Photomicrographs with scale bars were taken in every step
      of dissection to perform further measurements with Fiji software. The lengths and
      widths of the Bfb, rhomboid lip and lateral aperture of the fourth ventricle as
      well as the related neurovascular and arachnoid structures were measured. The
      areas of two sides were compared with paired t-tests using R software.
      Significance level was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Protruding choroid plexus was
      present in 77 cases (91.66%). In 6 cases (7.14%), the Bfb was totally covered by
      the rhomboid lip, and in one case (1.19%), it was absent. The mean width of the
      Bfb was 6.618 mm (2-14 mm), the mean height 5.658 mm (1.5-14 mm) and mean area
      25.80 mm2 (3.07-109.83 mm2). There was no statistically significant difference
      between the two sides (p = 0.1744). The Bfb was in contact with 20 AICAs
      (23.80%), 6 PICAs (7.14%) and 39 vestibulocochlear nerves (46.42%). Arachnoid
      trabecules, connecting the lower cranial nerves to the Bfb or rhomboid lip, were
      found in 57 cases (67.85%). CONCLUSIONS: The Bfb is an important landmark during
      various surgical procedures. Detailed morphology, dimensions and relations to the
      surrounding neurovascular structures are described in this study. These data are
      essential for surgeons operating in this region.

PMID- 28584918
TI  - Association between telomere length and PIK3CA amplification in gastric cancer.

PMID- 28584919
TI  - Incidental finding in a young man.

PMID- 28584921
TI  - Patterns of Bullying and Sexual Harassment: Connections with Parents and Teachers
      as Direct Protective Factors.
AB  - Involvement in bullying and sexual harassment in adolescence is associated with a
      variety of internalizing, externalizing, and health-risk behaviors. Yet, the two
      behaviors are often studied independently. The current study examined how
      bullying and sexual harassment co-occur and whether social connections protected
      youth from risk patterns. The data for this study come from the 2013 Minnesota
      Student Survey (N = 121,311; 50% female, 74% White, 26% received free or reduced
      price lunch; M age = 14.9, SD = 1.3). Students reported on bullying and sexual
      harassment victimization and perpetration. Using latent class analysis, youth
      were classified into five patterns: High-Risk of All Forms of Victimization and
      Perpetration (7%), Relational and Cyberbullying Victimization (17%), Sexual
      Harassment Victimization and Perpetration (8%), Physical Bullying Perpetration
      (6%), and Low-Risk (62%). Compared to the low-risk class, the four other classes
      had lower levels of social connections, particularly with teachers and parents.
      Older youth (9th and 11th grade students) were at greater risk for the sexual
      harassment pattern, while younger youth (8th grade students) were at greater risk
      for bullying patterns. The results indicate that efforts to reduce bullying
      should also address sexual harassment and social connections with adults.

PMID- 28584920
TI  - Co-culture of dedifferentiated and primary human chondrocytes obtained from
      cadaveric donor enhance the histological quality of repair tissue: an in-vivo
      animal study.
AB  - To compare the quality of the repair tissue in three-dimensional co-culture of
      human chondrocytes implanted in an in vivo model. Six cadaveric and five live
      human donors were included. Osteochondral biopsies from the donor knees were
      harvested for chondrocyte isolation. Fifty percent of cadaveric chondrocytes were
      expanded until passage-2 (P2) while the remaining cells were cryopreserved in
      passage-0 (P0). Fresh primary chondrocytes (P0f) obtained from live human donors
      were co-cultured. Three-dimensional constructs were prepared with a monolayer of
      passage-2 chondrocytes, collagen membrane (Geistlich Bio-Gide(r)), and pellet of
      non-co-cultured (P2) or co-cultured chondrocytes (P2 + P0c, P2 + P0f). Constructs
      were implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of athymic mice and left for 3 months
      growth. Safranin-O and Alcian blue staining were used to glycosaminoglycan
      content assessment. Aggrecan and type-II collagen were evaluated by
      immunohistochemistry. New-formed tissue quality was evaluated with an adaptation
      of the modified O'Driscoll score. Histological quality of non-co-cultured group
      was 4.37 (SD +/-4.71), while co-cultured groups had a mean score of 8.71 (SD +/
      3.98) for the fresh primary chondrocytes and 9.57 (SD +/-1.27) in the
      cryopreserved chondrocytes. In immunohistochemistry, Co-culture groups were
      strongly stained for type-II and aggrecan not seen in the non-co-cultured group.
      It is possible to isolate viable chondrocytes from cadaveric human donors in
      samples processed in the first 48-h of dead. There is non-significant difference
      between the numbers of chondrocytes isolated from live or cadaveric donors.
      Cryopreservation of cadaveric primary chondrocytes does not alter the capability
      to form cartilage like tissue. Co-culture of primary and passaged chondrocytes
      enhances the histological quality of new-formed tissue compared to non-co
      cultured cells.

PMID- 28584923
TI  - Arabidopsis FRIGIDA stimulates EFS histone H3 Lys36 methyltransferase activity.

PMID- 28584922
TI  - Deletion of a target gene in Indica rice via CRISPR/Cas9.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Using CRISPR/Cas9, we successfully deleted large fragments of the
      yield-related gene DENSE AND ERECT PANICLE1 in Indica rice at relatively high
      frequency and generated gain-of-function dep1 mutants. CRISPR (clustered
      regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 is a rapidly developing
      technology used to produce gene-specific modifications in both mammalian and
      plant systems. Most CRISPR-induced modifications in plants reported to date have
      been small insertions or deletions. Few large target gene deletions have thus far
      been reported, especially for Indica rice. In this study, we designed multiple
      CRISPR sgRNAs and successfully deleted DNA fragments in the gene DENSE AND ERECT
      PANICLE1 (DEP1) in the elite Indica rice line IR58025B. We achieved deletion
      frequencies of up to 21% for a 430 bp target and 9% for a 10 kb target among T0
      events. Constructs with four sgRNAs did not generate higher full-length deletion
      frequencies than constructs with two sgRNAs. The multiple mutagenesis frequency
      reached 93% for four targets, and the homozygous mutation frequency reached 21%
      at the T0 stage. Important yield-related trait characteristics, such as dense and
      erect panicles and reduced plant height, were observed in dep1 homozygous T0
      mutant plants produced by CRISPR/Cas9. Therefore, we successfully obtained
      deletions in DEP1 in the Indica background using the CRISPR/Cas9 editing tool at
      relatively high frequency.

PMID- 28584924
TI  - Echography of pneumatosis intestinalis and hepatic portal venous gas in a patient
      with septic shock.

PMID- 28584926
TI  - Theory of mind performance in Parkinson's disease is associated with motor and
      cognitive functions, but not with symptom lateralization.
AB  - Next to the typical motor signs, Parkinson's disease (PD) goes along with
      neuropsychiatric symptoms, amongst others affecting social cognition.
      Particularly, Theory of Mind (ToM) impairments have mostly been associated with
      right hemispherical brain dysfunction, so that it might prevail in patients with
      left dominant PD. Fourty-four PD patients, twenty-four with left and twenty with
      right dominant motor symptoms, engaged in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME)
      and the Faux Pas Detection Test (FPD) to assess affective and cognitive ToM. The
      results were correlated with performance in further cognitive tests, and analyzed
      with respect to associations with the side of motor symptom dominance and
      severity of motor symptoms. No association of ToM performance with right
      hemispheric dysfunction was found. RME results were inversely correlated with
      motor symptom severity, while FPD performance was found to correlate with the
      performance in verbal fluency tasks and the overall cognitive evaluation.
      Affective ToM was found associated with motor symptom severity and cognitive ToM
      predominantly with executive function, but no effect of PD lateralization on this
      was identified. The results suggest that deficits in social cognition occur as a
      sequel of the general corticobasal pathology in PD, rather than as a result of
      hemisphere-specific dysfunction.

PMID- 28584927
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Rotational Laxity Control by the Anterolateral Ligament and the
      Lateral Meniscus Is Dependent on Knee Flexion Angle: A Cadaveric Biomechanical
      Study.

PMID- 28584925
TI  - Peripherally inserted central catheters are associated with lower risk of
      bloodstream infection compared with central venous catheters in paediatric
      intensive care patients: a propensity-adjusted analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is an important
      cause of complications in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Peripherally
      inserted central catheters (PICCs) could be an alternative to central venous
      catheters (CVCs) and the effect of PICCs compared with CVCs on CLABSI prevention
      is unknown in PICUs. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate whether PICCs were
      associated with a protective effect for CLABSI when compared to CVCs in
      critically ill children. METHODS: We have carried out a retrospective multicentre
      study in four PICUs in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We included patients aged 0-14 years,
      who needed a CVC or PICC during a PICU stay from January 2013 to December 2015.
      Our primary endpoint was CLABSI up to 30 days after catheter placement. We
      defined CLABSI based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National
      Healthcare Safety Networks (NHSN) 2015 surveillance definitions. To account for
      potential confounders, we used propensity scores with inverse probability
      weighting. RESULTS: A total of 1660 devices (922 PICCs and 738 CVCs) in 1255
      children were included. The overall CLABSI incidence was 2.28 (95% CI 1.70
      3.07)/1000 catheter-days. After covariate adjustment using propensity scores,
      CVCs were associated with higher risk of CLABSI (adjHR 2.20, 95% CI 1.05-4.61; p
      = 0.037) compared with PICCs. In a sensitivity analysis, CVCs remained associated
      with higher risk of CLABSI (adjHR 2.18, 95% CI 1.02-4.64; p = 0.044) after adding
      place of insertion and use of parenteral nutrition to the model as a time
      dependent variable. CONCLUSIONS: PICC should be an alternative to CVC in the
      paediatric intensive care setting for CLABSI prevention.

PMID- 28584930
TI  - The reality of scientific research in Latin America; an insider's perspective.
AB  - There is tremendous disparity in scientific productivity among nations,
      particularly in Latin America. At first sight, this could be linked to the
      relative economic health of the different countries of the region, but even large
      and relatively rich Latin American countries do not produce a good level of
      science. Although Latin America has increased the number of its scientists and
      research institutions in recent years, the gap between developed countries and
      Latin American countries is startling. The prime importance of science and
      technology to the development of a nation remains unacknowledged. The major
      factors contributing to low scientific productivity are the limited access to
      grant opportunities, inadequate budgets, substandard levels of laboratory
      infrastructure and equipment, the high cost and limited supply of reagents, and
      inadequate salaries and personal insecurity of scientists. The political and
      economic instability in several Latin America countries results in a lack of long
      term goals that are essential to the development of science. In Latin America,
      science is not an engine of the economy. Most equipment and supplies are
      imported, and national industries are not given the incentives to produce these
      goods at home. It is a pity that Latin American society has become accustomed to
      expect new science and technological developments to come from developed
      countries rather than from their own scientists. In this article, we present a
      critical view of the Latin American investigator's daily life, particularly in
      the area of biomedicine. Too many bright young minds continue to leave Latin
      America for developed countries, where they are very successful. However, we
      still have many enthusiastic young graduates who want to make a career in science
      and contribute to society. Governments need to improve the status of science for
      the sake of these young graduates who represent the intellectual and economic
      future of their countries.

PMID- 28584928
TI  - Effects of the serotonin 2C receptor agonist WAY163909 on the abuse-related
      effects and mesolimbic dopamine neurochemistry induced by abused stimulants in
      rhesus monkeys.
AB  - RATIONALE: Accumulating evidence shows that the serotonergic system plays a major
      role in psychostimulant abuse through its interactions with the dopaminergic
      system. Studies indicate that serotonin 5-HT2C receptors are one of the main
      classes of receptors involved in mediating the influence of serotonin in drug
      abuse. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the
      selective serotonin 5-HT2C receptor agonist WAY163909 on the behavioral
      neuropharmacology of cocaine and methamphetamine in adult rhesus macaques.
      METHODS: Cocaine or methamphetamine self-administration and reinstatement were
      evaluated under second-order and fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement,
      respectively. Cocaine- and methamphetamine-induced increases in dopamine were
      assessed through in vivo microdialysis targeting the nucleus accumbens. RESULTS:
      Pretreatment with WAY163909 dose-dependently attenuated cocaine and
      methamphetamine self-administration and drug-induced reinstatement of
      extinguished behavior previously maintained by cocaine or methamphetamine
      delivery. In an additional experiment, WAY163909 induced a dose-dependent
      attenuation of cocaine- or methamphetamine-induced dopamine overflow in the
      nucleus accumbens. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that selective 5-HT2C receptor
      activation decreases drug intake and drug-seeking behavior in nonhuman primate
      models of psychostimulant abuse through neurochemical mechanisms involved in the
      modulation of mesolimbic dopamine.

PMID- 28584929
TI  - Steep effort discounting of a preferred reward over a freely-available option in
      prolonged methamphetamine withdrawal in male rats.
AB  - RATIONALE: Drug addiction can be described as aberrant allocation of effort
      toward acquiring drug, despite associated costs. It is unclear if this behavioral
      pattern results from an overvaluation of reward or to an altered sensitivity to
      costs. OBJECTIVE: Present experiments assessed reward sensitivity and effortful
      choice in rats following 1 week of withdrawal from methamphetamine (mAMPH).
      METHODS: Rats were treated with either saline or an escalating dose mAMPH
      regimen, then tested after a week without the drug. In experiment 1, rats were
      given a free choice between water and various concentrations of sucrose solution
      to assess general reward sensitivity. In experiment 2, rats were presented with a
      choice between lever-pressing for sucrose pellets on a progressive ratio schedule
      or consuming freely-available chow. RESULTS: In experiment 1, we found no
      differences in sucrose preference between mAMPH- and saline-pretreated rats. In
      experiment 2, when selecting between two options, mAMPH-pretreated rats engaged
      in less lever-pressing for sucrose pellets (p < 0.01) and switched from this
      preferred reward to the chow sooner than saline-pretreated rats (p < 0.05). This
      effect was not consistent with general reward devaluation or loss of motivation.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that mAMPH exposure and withdrawal lead
      to steeper discounting of reward value by effort, an effect that is consistent
      with the effect of mAMPH on discounting by delay, and which may reflect an
      underlying shared mechanism.

PMID- 28584931
TI  - Pacing strategy during the final stage of a self-paced VO2max (SPV) test does not
      affect maximal oxygen uptake.
AB  - PURPOSE: Self-paced [Formula: see text] tests (SPVs) have shown to produce
      maximal oxygen consumption values similar to those from traditional protocols.
      These tests involve perceptually regulated stages in which subjects are asked to
      maintain rating of perceived exertion values of 11, 13, 15, 17 and 20 for 2 min
      each. What is not clear is how the last stage should be paced. The purpose of
      this study was to compare two different pacing strategies during the final stage.
      METHODS: Fourteen healthy, recreationally active individuals (11 men, 3 women)
      participated in a familiarization and two experimental laboratory visits. For
      both lab visits, a treadmill-based SPV was performed. In one of these SPVs, an
      aggressive pacing strategy was used; in the other, a conservative strategy was
      implemented. [Formula: see text], HR, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]
      and RER were recorded and compared between conditions. RESULTS: There were no
      differences in [Formula: see text] between the conditions [aggressive 58.8 +/-
      8.8 ml kg-1 min-1 (mean +/- SD), conservative 58.3 +/- 7.9 ml kg-1 min-1; p =
      0.548]. There were also no differences in HR, [Formula: see text], or [Formula:
      see text] between the pacing strategies. There was a significantly higher RER
      found in the aggressive (1.25 +/- 0.09) compared to the conservative (1.18 +/-
      0.07) strategy (p = 0.040). CONCLUSIONS: The pacing strategy that is implemented
      in the last 2 min of an SPV on a treadmill does not affect the maximal oxygen
      consumption that is elicited during that test. Either pacing strategy can be used
      for this protocol without compromising the results, when [Formula: see text] is
      the variable of interest.

PMID- 28584932
TI  - Modifications of a signal sequence for antibody secretion from insect cells.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments have recently been developed for use
      in diverse diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Insect cells can efficiently
      secrete recombinant proteins such as antibody molecules through post
      translational processing and modifications that are similar to those performed in
      mammalian cells. In eukaryotic cells, the signal sequence in a nascent
      polypeptide is recognized by the signal recognition particle, and the polypeptide
      is then folded and modified in the endoplasmic reticulum. The signal sequence
      consists of three regions, a positively charged N-terminus, a hydrophobic core,
      and a polar C-terminus. In the present study, we examined the substitutions of
      the characteristic amino acids of a Drosophila immunoglobulin heavy chain binding
      protein signal sequence, and investigated the effect on the secretory production
      of an antibody Fab fragment from lepidopteran insect cells in transient
      expression. A modification of the signal sequence for the heavy chain resulted in
      a twofold increase in the secreted Fab fragment, while the modification for the
      light chain led to a more than 3.6-fold increase.

PMID- 28584933
TI  - Reply to: MASCC/ESMO consensus recommendations for the management of nausea and
      vomiting in advanced cancer.

PMID- 28584934
TI  - Management of infection during chemotherapy for acute leukemia in Japan: a
      nationwide questionnaire-based survey by the Japan Adult Leukemia Study Group.
AB  - PURPOSE: We performed a nationwide questionnaire-based survey to evaluate the
      current clinical practices of infectious complications during chemotherapy for
      acute leukemia in Japan. METHODS: We e-mailed a questionnaire to member
      institutions of the Japan Adult Leukemia Study Group in September, 2013. The
      questionnaire consisted of 50 multiple-choice questions covering therapeutic
      environment, antimicrobial prophylaxis, screening test during neutropenia,
      empirical therapy for febrile neutropenia, and the use of granulocyte-colony
      stimulating factor. The results were compared to those of previous surveys
      conducted in 2001 and 2007, and also to the recommendations described in the
      guidelines. RESULTS: Usable responses were received from 141 out of 222 (63.5%)
      institutions. Chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia was performed in protective
      environment in 90% of the institutions, which increased compared to previous
      survey (76%). Fluoroquinolones and fluconazole were the most commonly used
      antimicrobial agents for antibacterial and antifungal prophylaxis, followed by
      sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and itraconazole, respectively. In empirical
      therapy for febrile neutropenia, monotherapy with beta-lactum antibiotics was the
      first-line therapy in most of the institutions. While empirical antifungal
      therapy was adopted for persistent fever in more than half of the institutions,
      preemptive/presumptive therapy was also used in approximately 40% of the
      institutions. Most of the clinicians were reluctant to use granulocyte-colony
      stimulating factor routinely in chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study clarified the current clinical practices of infectious
      complications during chemotherapy for acute leukemia and would provide important
      information for the development of a suitable guideline in Japan.

PMID- 28584935
TI  - Evaluation of Optic Nerve Head Parameters and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness
      in Axial Myopia Using SD OCT.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this research was to study the effect of increased
      axial myopia, in non-glaucomatous eyes, and its correlation with ONH parameters,
      and RNFL thickness, using Cirrus HD 4000 SD-OCT. METHODS: The myopia group
      included 86 eyes of 86 patients, while the control group involved 92 eyes of 92
      patients, attending the Ophthalmology Outpatient Clinic in Minia University
      Hospital, between November 2013 and March 2015. ONH parameters and peripapillary
      RNFL thickness measurement were evaluated by using SD-OCT, selecting the standard
      optic disc cube 200 * 200. RESULTS: The mean age of the myopia group was (36.55
      +/- 9.44), the mean spherical equivalent was (-12.70 +/- 3.87 D), and the mean
      axial length was (27.88 +/- 1.92 mm). The control group had mean age of (34.82 +/
      8.87), mean spherical equivalent of -0.65 +/- 0.41 D, and mean AL of (22.16 +/-
      0.82). A significant difference was reported between the two groups, regarding
      disc area (p = 0.01), rim area (p = 0.001), vertical C/D (p = 0.01), average C/D
      ratio (p = 0.001), average and temporal RNFL thickness (p = 0.0001, p = 0.001,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: A significant difference was found between highly
      myopic non-glaucomatous eyes and the control group, regarding ONH parameters and
      RNFL thickness as measured by SD-OCT. As OCT magnification adjusted ONH
      parameters were larger, global and the temporal RNEL were thicker in the myopia
      group, those magnification adjusted parameters helped in an accurate evaluation
      of ONH and RNFL in highly myopic eyes, in order to avoid misdiagnosis of glaucoma
      in such eyes.

PMID- 28584937
TI  - A Single-Port Robotic Platform for Laparoscopic Surgery with a Large Central
      Channel for Additional Instrument.
AB  - A new approach to a surgical robotic platform for single incision laparoscopic or
      natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery is presented in this paper This
      platform allows insertion of up to four instruments including the robotic arms
      and the camera through a single cannula at the same footprint. After insertion of
      all instruments, a large central channel of 15 mm diameter is kept clear for the
      passage of additional laparoscopic instruments, such as passage or retrieval of
      suture needles, and/or suction irrigators which greatly facilitates the
      performance of complex surgical procedures. Phantom and animal trials have been
      performed to evaluate the insertion and retrieval sequences. These important
      features were made possible by internally-motorized robotic arms with 7 degrees
      of freedom and with no external mechanical device connections. The whole
      platform, together with the 3 degrees of freedom from the swivel system that
      support the cannula, has altogether 10 degrees of freedom to allow the operation
      of complex surgeries and access to all quadrants of the abdominal cavity. This
      new single-port robotic platform paves a new development direction for future non
      invasive surgery.

PMID- 28584936
TI  - A Review of Nitric Oxide for the Treatment of Glaucomatous Disease.
AB  - Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, affecting 64.3
      million people. An estimated 60.5 million people are affected by primary open
      angle glaucoma globally, and this will increase to 111.8 million by 2040. The
      definition of glaucoma has evolved greatly over time. Although multiple risk
      factors such as ischemia, inflammation, myopia, race, age and low ocular
      perfusion pressure may play a role, intraocular pressure (IOP) is still the main
      risk factor we can easily identify and modify. Currently, both medical and
      surgical interventions aim to reduce IOP. Effective IOP reduction controls and
      prevents the progression in many cases of glaucoma. Although this multifactorial
      disease's true pathophysiology is difficult to elucidate, physiologic mediators
      including nitric oxide (NO) are being evaluated as novel ways to impact
      progression by both lowering IOP and improving optic nerve head perfusion.
      Latanoprostene bunod 0.024% is an emerging therapeutic agent that has shown
      promise in clinical trials. As a nitric oxide-donating prostaglandin F2-alpha
      receptor agonist, it has proven to effectively, and with good tolerability,
      reduce IOP in glaucoma and ocular hypertensive patients. Latanoprostene bunod
      capitalizes on NO's ability to modulate the conventional aqueous humor outflow
      system, directly improving outflow through the trabecular meshwork, Schlemm's
      canal and distal scleral vessels. Importantly, targeting the conventional outflow
      tissues with NO-donating drugs represents an opportunity to restore outflow
      function, which will most likely have a beneficial consequence of additional IOP
      lowering effects with dampening of diurnal and other IOP fluctuations, the
      benefit of a healthy trabecular meshwork.

PMID- 28584938
TI  - The effect of sleep duration on exhaled nitric oxide levels in U.S. adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: Poor sleep quality and duration are associated with systemic endothelial
      dysfunction. However, an association between poor sleep and pulmonary endothelial
      dysfunction has not been elucidated. We sought to determine if there is a
      relationship between sleep duration and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO)
      concentrations as a surrogate for pulmonary endothelial function. METHODS: We
      used three National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2007
      2012). Linear regression models were built with and without adjustment for age,
      sex, race, BMI, asthma/bronchitis, CRP, smoking, folate, renal function,
      respiratory infections, and steroid use. To examine a non-linear relationship, we
      introduced a spline, with single knot at mean sleep duration (7 h). RESULTS: Of
      13,173 participants (50.8% male, 44.2% Caucasian), 78% slept 6-8 hours (h). FeNO
      was significantly higher in the group sleeping 6-8 h (17.3 +/- 14.9 ppb) than in
      the other two groups (16.0 +/- 13.0 ppb, 15.9 +/- 12.7 ppb for <6 and >8 h
      respectively; P < 0.001). In unadjusted linear regression, FeNO increased by 1.1
      ppb for each hour increase in sleep up to 7 h (P < 0.001). Increased sleep
      duration beyond 7 h saw a 0.96 ppb decrease in FeNO (P < 0.001). After adjustment
      for confounders, FeNO increased by 1.09 ppb for each hour of sleep up to 7 h (P =
      0.001) and decreased by 0.71 ppb for each hour after (P = 0.02). CONCLUSION:
      Sleeping less or more than 7 h is associated with pulmonary endothelial
      dysfunction as measured by FeNO. Further study is needed to evaluate mechanism(s)
      of this association and validity of FeNO as a marker of endothelial function.

PMID- 28584939
TI  - Severity of desaturation events differs between hypopnea and obstructive apnea
      events and is modulated by their duration in obstructive sleep apnea.
AB  - PURPOSE: Frequency of apnea and hypopnea events is used to estimate the severity
      of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, comprehensive information on whether
      apneas and hypopneas cause an equal biological effect is not available. The
      purpose of the present work was to evaluate the effect of the breathing cessation
      event type (i.e., obstructive apnea or hypopnea) and duration on the severity of
      related SpO2 desaturation events. METHODS: Type 1 polysomnographies of 395
      patients (220 males and 175 females) examined for suspected OSA were analyzed.
      Desaturation severity related to hypopnea and obstructive apnea events were
      compared and comparison was controlled for gender, sleep stage, sleeping
      position, age, and body mass index. Hypopneas and obstructive apneas were further
      divided into eight different durational categories and related desaturation event
      characteristics were compared between the categories. RESULTS: SpO2 desaturation
      events caused by obstructive apneas were statistically significantly (p <= 0.004)
      longer, greater in area, and deeper compared to the SpO2 desaturations caused by
      hypopneas. The increase in the duration of hypopnea and obstructive apnea events
      led to increase in the duration and area of related SpO2 desaturations. The
      increase in the obstructive apnea event duration also led to increase in the
      depth of related desaturation event. CONCLUSIONS: Obstructive apneas led to more
      severe SpO2 desaturation compared to hypopneas. Increased event duration led to
      increase in the severity of the related SpO2 desaturation. In addition to
      considering event duration, obstructive apneas should have more weight than
      hypopneas when estimating severity of OSA and associated long-term cardiovascular
      risk.

PMID- 28584940
TI  - Drug-induced sedation endoscopy (DISE) classification systems: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Drug-induced sedation endoscopy (DISE) classification systems have been
      used to assess anatomical findings on upper airway obstruction, and decide and
      plan surgical treatments and act as a predictor for surgical treatment outcome
      for obstructive sleep apnoea management. The first objective is to identify if
      there is a universally accepted DISE grading and classification system for
      analysing DISE findings. The second objective is to identify if there is one DISE
      grading and classification treatment planning framework for deciding appropriate
      surgical treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The third objective is to
      identify if there is one DISE grading and classification treatment outcome
      framework for determining the likelihood of success for a given OSA surgical
      intervention. METHODS: A systematic review was performed to identify new and
      significantly modified DISE classification systems: concept, advantages and
      disadvantages. RESULTS: Fourteen studies proposing a new DISE classification
      system and three studies proposing a significantly modified DISE classification
      were identified. None of the studies were based on randomised control trials.
      CONCLUSION: DISE is an objective method for visualising upper airway obstruction.
      The classification and assessment of clinical findings based on DISE is highly
      subjective due to the increasing number of DISE classification systems. Hence,
      this creates a growing divergence in surgical treatment planning and treatment
      outcome. Further research on a universally accepted objective DISE assessment is
      critically needed.

PMID- 28584941
TI  - 'Trophic' and 'source' amino acids in trophic estimation: a likely metabolic
      explanation.
AB  - Amino acid nitrogen isotopic analysis is a relatively new method for estimating
      trophic position. It uses the isotopic difference between an individual's
      'trophic' and 'source' amino acids to determine its trophic position. So far,
      there is no accepted explanation for the mechanism by which the isotopic signals
      in 'trophic' and 'source' amino acids arise. Yet without a metabolic
      understanding, the utility of nitrogen isotopic analyses as a method for probing
      trophic relations, at either bulk tissue or amino acid level, is limited. I draw
      on isotopic tracer studies of protein metabolism, together with a consideration
      of amino acid metabolic pathways, to suggest that the 'trophic'/'source'
      groupings have a fundamental metabolic origin, to do with the cycling of amino
      nitrogen between amino acids. 'Trophic' amino acids are those whose amino
      nitrogens are interchangeable, part of a metabolic amino-nitrogen pool, and
      'source' amino acids are those whose amino-nitrogens are not interchangeable with
      the metabolic pool. Nitrogen isotopic values of 'trophic' amino acids will
      reflect an averaged isotopic signal of all such dietary amino acids, offset by
      the integrated effect of isotopic fractionation from nitrogen cycling, and
      modulated by metabolic and physiological effects. Isotopic values of 'source'
      amino acids will be more closely linked to those of equivalent dietary amino
      acids, but also modulated by metabolism and physiology. The complexity of
      nitrogen cycling suggests that a single identifiable value for 'trophic
      discrimination factors' is unlikely to exist. Greater consideration of physiology
      and metabolism should help in better understanding observed patterns in nitrogen
      isotopic values.

PMID- 28584942
TI  - Combined CT, Fluoroscopic and IVUS Guidance for Percutaneous Treatment of a
      Postsurgical Pseudoaneurysm Following Repair of Ascending Thoracic Aortic
      Aneurysm.
AB  - Thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysms are a recognized complication following aortic
      arch replacement. The established first line treatment is surgical repair;
      however, this may not be feasible in all patients. Percutaneous treatment of
      ascending thoracic pseudoaneurysms has been described as an alternative for
      nonsurgical candidates. Utilization of multimodality imaging can prove invaluable
      in minimizing the risk of potentially fatal intra-procedural complications. We
      present a case of successful embolization using computer tomography-guided direct
      percutaneous puncture of the pseudoaneurysm, with concomitant endovascular
      treatment under fluoroscopic and intravascular ultrasound guidance in a patient
      with challenging vascular anatomy.

PMID- 28584943
TI  - Compartment Syndrome after Embolization of Arteriovenous Malformation.
AB  - Management of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) remains challenging because of
      their unpredictable course and high morbidity rate. In this case report, we
      present a patient with a huge AVM on the right calf who suffered complications of
      compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, skin necrosis, and nerve damage after
      sclerotherapy. Limb salvage was achieved in spite of these devastating
      complications. A multidisciplinary team approach is important especially when
      making decisions for the management of a complicated AVM.

PMID- 28584944
TI  - Psoas Abscess and Spondylodiscitis Following Radiofrequency Ablation of a Renal
      Tumour: Unexpected Complications.

PMID- 28584945
TI  - Cirse Quality Assurance Document and Standards for Classification of
      Complications: The Cirse Classification System.
AB  - Interventional radiology provides a wide variety of vascular, nonvascular,
      musculoskeletal, and oncologic minimally invasive techniques aimed at therapy or
      palliation of a broad spectrum of pathologic conditions. Outcome data for these
      techniques are globally evaluated by hospitals, insurance companies, and
      government agencies targeting in a high-quality health care policy, including
      reimbursement strategies. To analyze effectively the outcome of a technique,
      accurate reporting of complications is necessary. Throughout the literature,
      numerous classification systems for complications grading and classification have
      been reported. Until now, there has been no method for uniform reporting of
      complications both in terms of definition and grading. The purpose of this CIRSE
      guideline is to provide a classification system of complications based on
      combining outcome and severity of sequelae. The ultimate challenge will be the
      adoption of this system by practitioners in different countries and health
      economies within the European Union and beyond.

PMID- 28584946
TI  - Post-procedural Care in Interventional Radiology: What Every Interventional
      Radiologist Should Know-Part II: Catheter Care and Management of Common Systemic
      Post-procedural Complications.
AB  - Interventional radiology (IR) has evolved into a full-fledged clinical specialty
      with attendant comprehensive patient care responsibilities. Providing excellent
      and thorough clinical care is as essential to the practice of IR as achieving
      technical success in procedures. Basic clinical skills that every interventional
      radiologist should learn include routine management of percutaneously inserted
      drainage and vascular catheters and rapid effective management of common systemic
      post-procedural complications. A structured approach to post-procedural care,
      including routine follow-up and early identification and management of
      complications, facilitates efficient and thorough management with an emphasis on
      quality and patient safety. The aim of this second part, in conjunction with part
      1, is to complete the comprehensive review of post-procedural care in patients
      undergoing interventional radiology procedures. We discuss common problems
      encountered after insertion of drainage and vascular catheters and describe
      effective methods of troubleshooting these problems. Commonly encountered
      systemic complications in IR are described, and ways for immediate identification
      and management of these complications are provided.

PMID- 28584947
TI  - Mechanical Recanalization Using Solitaire AB Device for Severe Thromboembolic
      Events in Endovascular Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Severe thromboembolism with complete occlusion of the proximal
      arteries during or after coil embolization can cause serious neurologic deficits.
      The study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of Solitaire AB device as
      a rescue therapy for severe thromboembolic complications in the endovascular
      treatment of intracranial aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between February 2013
      and April 2016, 1047 intracranial aneurysms treated with endovascular procedures
      were retrospectively reviewed in our center. Severe thromboembolisms occurred in
      ten patients and were treated by Solitaire AB device including clot retriever and
      permanent stent deployment. RESULTS: The location of arterial occlusion was
      distal to the aneurysm rather than the coil/parent artery interface or in-stent
      area. Four patients had distal thromboembolic events before coil embolization,
      and six patients had it after coiling. The complete arterial recanalization (TICI
      3) was achieved in all patients, and no cerebral hemorrhage was related to the
      procedure after the rescue therapy. Among these patients with the aforementioned
      neurovascular procedures, the mean Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score was 4.5
      (ranging 3-5) and eight cases had good outcome with a score of GOS 4-5 at
      discharge, while eight patients presented mRS <=2 at 3-month follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that mechanical recanalization using
      Solitaire AB device seems to be effective and safe as a rescue therapy for severe
      thromboembolic events during cerebral aneurysm embolization.

PMID- 28584948
TI  - Evaluation of Visualization Using a 50/50 (Contrast Media/Glucose 5% Solution)
      Technique for Radioembolization as an Alternative to a Standard Sandwich
      Technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radioembolization (RE) with 90yttrium (90Y) resin microspheres
      generally employs a sandwich technique with separate sequential administration of
      contrast medium (CM), followed by vehicle (e.g., glucose 5% [G5] solution), then
      90Y resin microspheres (in G5), then G5, and then CM again to avoid contact of CM
      and microspheres under fluoroscopic guidance. This study evaluates the
      visualization quality and safety of a modified sandwich technique with a 50/50
      mixture of CM (Imeron 300) and G5 for administration of 90Y resin microspheres.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 81 RE procedures in patients
      with primary or secondary liver tumors was performed. The quality of angiographic
      visualization of the hepatic vessels was assessed before the first injection and
      immediately before the whole dose has been injected. Visualization and flow rate
      were graded on a 5-point scale: 1 = very good to 5 = not visible/no antegrade
      flow. Univariate logistic regression models and multiple linear regression models
      were used to evaluate the prognostic variables associated with visualization and
      flow scores. RESULTS: Visualization quality was inversely related to flow rate,
      the lower the flow rate the better the grade of the visualization. Visualization
      quality was also inversely related to body-mass-index (BMI). Performing RE with
      the 50/50-CM/G5 mixture resulted in a mean injection time for 1 GBq of 15 min. No
      clinically significant adverse events, including radiation-induced liver disease
      were reported. CONCLUSION: RE with a 50/50-mixture of CM and G5 for
      administration of 90Y resin microspheres in a modified sandwich technique is a
      safe administration alternative and provides good visualization of hepatic
      vessels, which is inversely dependent on flow rate and BMI. Injection time was
      reduced compared with our experience with the standard sandwich technique.

PMID- 28584952
TI  - Identity and semantic negative priming in rapid serial visual presentation
      streams.
AB  - In selective attention tasks, the efficiency of processing concurrently presented
      target and distractor stimuli in a given display is often influenced by the
      relationship these stimuli have with those in the previous display. When a to-be
      attended target on a current trial (the probe trial) matches the ignored, non
      target distractor on a previous trial (the prime trial), a response to the target
      is typically delayed compared with when the two stimuli are not associated. This
      negative priming (NP) phenomenon has been observed in numerous studies with
      traditional NP tasks presenting the target and distractor simultaneously in both
      the prime and probe trial couplets. Here, however, in four experiments using a
      mixture of stimulus types (letters, digits, English number words, and logographic
      Chinese number words), target and distractor stimuli were temporally separated in
      two rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams instead of concurrently
      presented. The findings provide a conceptual replication and substantial
      extension of a recent study by Wong (Plos One, 7, e37023, 2012), and suggest that
      active suppression of irrelevant distracting information is a more ubiquitous
      form of cognitive control than previously thought.

PMID- 28584954
TI  - The impact of category structure and training methodology on learning and
      generalizing within-category representations.
AB  - When interacting with categories, representations focused on within-category
      relationships are often learned, but the conditions promoting within-category
      representations and their generalizability are unclear. We report the results of
      three experiments investigating the impact of category structure and training
      methodology on the learning and generalization of within-category representations
      (i.e., correlational structure). Participants were trained on either rule-based
      or information-integration structures using classification (Is the stimulus a
      member of Category A or Category B?), concept (e.g., Is the stimulus a member of
      Category A, Yes or No?), or inference (infer the missing component of the
      stimulus from a given category) and then tested on either an inference task
      (Experiments 1 and 2) or a classification task (Experiment 3). For the
      information-integration structure, within-category representations were
      consistently learned, could be generalized to novel stimuli, and could be
      generalized to support inference at test. For the rule-based structure, extended
      inference training resulted in generalization to novel stimuli (Experiment 2) and
      inference training resulted in generalization to classification (Experiment 3).
      These data help to clarify the conditions under which within-category
      representations can be learned. Moreover, these results make an important
      contribution in highlighting the impact of category structure and training
      methodology on the generalization of categorical knowledge.

PMID- 28584953
TI  - Studying visual attention using the multiple object tracking paradigm: A tutorial
      review.
AB  - Human observers are capable of tracking multiple objects among identical
      distractors based only on their spatiotemporal information. Since the first
      report of this ability in the seminal work of Pylyshyn and Storm (1988, Spatial
      Vision, 3, 179-197), multiple object tracking has attracted many researchers. A
      reason for this is that it is commonly argued that the attentional processes
      studied with the multiple object paradigm apparently match the attentional
      processing during real-world tasks such as driving or team sports. We argue that
      multiple object tracking provides a good mean to study the broader topic of
      continuous and dynamic visual attention. Indeed, several (partially
      contradicting) theories of attentive tracking have been proposed within the
      almost 30 years since its first report, and a large body of research has been
      conducted to test these theories. With regard to the richness and diversity of
      this literature, the aim of this tutorial review is to provide researchers who
      are new in the field of multiple object tracking with an overview over the
      multiple object tracking paradigm, its basic manipulations, as well as links to
      other paradigms investigating visual attention and working memory. Further, we
      aim at reviewing current theories of tracking as well as their empirical
      evidence. Finally, we review the state of the art in the most prominent research
      fields of multiple object tracking and how this research has helped to understand
      visual attention in dynamic settings.

PMID- 28584951
TI  - An Integrative Eco-Epidemiological Analysis of West Nile Virus Transmission.
AB  - West Nile disease, caused by the West Nile virus (WNV), is a mosquito-borne
      zoonotic disease affecting humans and horses that involves wild birds as
      amplifying hosts. The mechanisms of WNV transmission remain unclear in Europe
      where the occurrence of outbreaks has dramatically increased in recent years. We
      used a dataset on the competence, distribution, abundance, diversity and
      dispersal of wild bird hosts and mosquito vectors to test alternative hypotheses
      concerning the transmission of WNV in Southern France. We modelled the successive
      processes of introduction, amplification, dispersal and spillover of WNV to
      incidental hosts based on host-vector contact rates on various land cover types
      and over four seasons. We evaluated the relative importance of the mechanisms
      tested using two independent serological datasets of WNV antibodies collected in
      wild birds and horses. We found that the same transmission processes (seasonal
      virus introduction by migratory birds, Culex modestus mosquitoes as amplifying
      vectors, heterogeneity in avian host competence, absence of 'dilution effect')
      best explain the spatial variations in WNV seroprevalence in the two serological
      datasets. Our results provide new insights on the pathways of WNV introduction,
      amplification and spillover and the contribution of bird and mosquito species to
      WNV transmission in Southern France.

PMID- 28584955
TI  - Miss it and miss out: Counterproductive nonspatial attentional capture by task
      irrelevant, value-related stimuli.
AB  - Recent studies of visual search suggest that learning about valued outcomes
      (rewards and punishments) influences the likelihood that distractors will capture
      spatial attention and slow search for a target, even when those value-related
      distractors have never themselves been the targets of search. In the present
      study, we demonstrated a related effect in the context of temporal, rather than
      spatial, selection. Participants were presented with a temporal stream of
      pictures in a fixed central location and had to identify the orientation of a
      rotated target picture. Response accuracy was reduced if the rotated target was
      preceded by a "valued" distractor picture that signaled that a correct response
      to the target would be rewarded (and an incorrect response punished), relative to
      a distractor picture that did not signal reward or punishment. This effect of
      signal value on response accuracy was short-lived, being most prominent with a
      short lag between distractor and target. Impairment caused by a valued distractor
      was observed if participants were explicitly instructed regarding its relation to
      reward/punishment (Exps. 1, 3, and 4), or if they could learn this relationship
      only via trial-by-trial experience (Exp. 2). These findings show that the
      influence of signal value on attentional capture extends to temporal selection,
      and also demonstrate that value-related distractors can interfere with the
      conscious perception of subsequent target information.

PMID- 28584956
TI  - Natural scenes can be identified as rapidly as individual features.
AB  - Can observers determine the gist of a natural scene in a purely feedforward
      manner, or does this process require deliberation and feedback? Observers can
      recognise images that are presented for very brief periods of time before being
      masked. It is unclear whether this recognition process occurs in a purely
      feedforward manner or whether feedback from higher cortical areas to lower
      cortical areas is necessary. The current study revealed that the minimum
      presentation time required to identify or to determine the gist of a natural
      scene was no different from that required to determine the orientation or colour
      of an isolated line. Conversely, a visual task that would be expected to
      necessitate feedback (determining whether an image contained exactly six lines)
      required a significantly greater minimum presentation time. Assuming that the
      orientation or colour of an isolated line can be determined in a purely
      feedforward manner, these results indicate that the identification and the
      determination of the gist of a natural scene can also be performed in a purely
      feedforward manner. These results challenge a number of theories of visual
      recognition that require feedback.

PMID- 28584957
TI  - Binding object features to locations: Does the "spatial congruency bias" update
      with object movement?
AB  - One of the fundamental challenges of visual cognition is how our visual systems
      combine information about an object's features with its spatial location. A
      recent phenomenon related to object-location binding, the "spatial congruency
      bias," revealed that two objects are more likely to be perceived as having the
      same identity or features if they appear in the same spatial location, versus if
      the second object appears in a different location. The spatial congruency bias
      suggests that irrelevant location information is automatically encoded with and
      bound to other object properties, biasing perceptual judgments. Here we further
      explored this new phenomenon and its role in object-location binding by asking
      what happens when an object moves to a new location: Is the spatial congruency
      bias sensitive to spatiotemporal contiguity cues, or does it remain linked to the
      original object location? Across four experiments, we found that the spatial
      congruency bias remained strongly linked to the original object location.
      However, under certain circumstances-for instance, when the first object paused
      and remained visible for a brief time after the movement-the congruency bias was
      found at both the original location and the updated location. These data suggest
      that the spatial congruency bias is based more on low-level visual information
      than on spatiotemporal contiguity cues, and reflects a type of object-location
      binding that is primarily tied to the original object location and that may only
      update to the object's new location if there is time for the features to be re
      encoded and rebound following the movement.

PMID- 28584959
TI  - Preventing Tuberculosis in a Low Incidence Setting: Evaluation of a Multi
      lingual, Online, Educational Video on Latent Tuberculosis.
AB  - Treating latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in those at risk is an important
      yet challenging cornerstone of TB elimination. We evaluated a culturally
      tailored, multi-lingual, 4.5-min, health promotional video on LTBI. Mixed methods
      study assessed use of the video with web-analytics, acceptability of content
      through interviews and survey questions, and compared knowledge scores in viewers
      and non-viewers using a survey. The video was viewed 6999 times in six languages
      over 1 year. Of 1598 survey respondents, 193 viewers had a mean knowledge score
      of 59%, compared to 38% in non-viewers. Eighty-four percent of viewers rated the
      video as helpful. When controlling for other factors, viewing the video was
      associated with a 1.04 (95% CI 0.85-1.26) or a 21% increase in a knowledge score.
      Qualitative data suggested the video was acceptable and may facilitate behavior
      change. This online, educational video shows promise as a tool to supplement
      clinical care.

PMID- 28584958
TI  - A predictive diagnostic model using multiparametric MRI for differentiating
      uterine carcinosarcoma from carcinoma of the uterine corpus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To construct a diagnostic model for differentiating carcinosarcoma from
      carcinoma of the uterus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six patients with
      carcinosarcomas and 26 with uterine corpus carcinomas constituted a derivation
      cohort. The following nine MRI features of the tumors were evaluated:
      inhomogeneity, predominant signal intensity, presence of hyper- and hypointense
      areas, conspicuity of tumor margin, cervical canal extension on T2WI, presence of
      hyperintense areas on T1WI, contrast defect area volume percentage, and degree of
      enhancement. Two predictive models-with and without contrast-were constructed
      using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Fifteen other patients with
      carcinosarcomas and 30 patients with carcinomas constituted a validation cohort.
      The sensitivity and specificity of each model for the validation cohort were
      calculated. RESULTS: Inhomogeneity, predominant signal intensity on T2WI, and
      presence of hyperintense areas on T1WI were significant predictors in the
      unenhanced-MRI-based model. Presence of hyperintensity on T1WI, contrast defect
      area volume percentage, and degree of enhancement were significant predictors in
      the enhanced-MRI-based model. The sensitivity/specificity of unenhanced MRI were
      87/73 and 87/70% according to reviewer 1 and 2, respectively. The
      sensitivity/specificity of the enhanced-MRI-based model were 87/70% according to
      both reviewers. CONCLUSIONS: Our diagnostic models can differentiate
      carcinosarcoma from carcinoma of the uterus with high sensitivity and moderate
      specificity.

PMID- 28584960
TI  - Qualitative Study of Latino Cancer Patient Perspectives on Care Access and
      Continuity in a Rural, U.S.-Mexico Border Region.
AB  - Access to quality cancer care for cancer patients living in the rural U.S.-Mexico
      border region is complex due to common binational health care-seeking behaviors
      and regional socio-economic and cultural characteristics. But little is known
      about the challenges border dwelling residents face when navigating their cancer
      care systems. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 cancer patients in
      Southern California. Thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns of
      meaning in the data. Emerging themes were: (1) delays in cancer care
      coordination: (a) poor coordination of cancer care (b) U.S. and cross-border
      discordance in cancer diagnosis; (2) regional shortage of cancer specialists; and
      (3) financial hardship. Findings revealed that care needs distinctly involved
      care coordination in/outside of the patient's community and bi-national care
      coordination. In addition to local solutions to improve cancer coordination
      through community-based partnerships, efforts to bridge care in a two-nation
      context are also imperative.

PMID- 28584961
TI  - Health of International Marriage Immigrant Women in South Korea: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - International marriage migration is now one of the most prominent forms of
      migration in Asia, and the number of women migrating to South Korea for marriage
      has increased dramatically in the last two decades. In this article, we provide a
      systematic review regarding the health status and health-related issues of
      international marriage immigrant women. The literature search identified 620
      articles, of which 53 studies are presented in the article. Three overarching
      categories including six subcategories were identified according to the research
      focus; 'Environmental factors of health' including social support and barriers,
      'Health status' including physical, psychological and social health, and quality
      of life as 'Outcome of health'. Overall women immigrants by marriage showed
      relatively poor health outcomes. Social support was an important factor affecting
      the health status and quality of life in this population. We offer
      recommendations to develop and implement culturally and linguistically
      appropriate health promoting programs for international marriage immigrant women
      in South Korea.

PMID- 28584963
TI  - Steroid-resistant autoimmune myelofibrosis in a patient with autoimmune hepatitis
      and Evans syndrome complicated with increased expression of TGF-beta in the bone
      marrow: a case report.
AB  - We here report a 47-year-old female with autoimmune myelofibrosis (AIMF)
      associated with liver damage caused by autoimmune hepatitis and Evans syndrome.
      Bone marrow biopsy revealed hypocellular marrow with grade 2 reticulin fibrosis
      and increased levels of B lymphocytes (CD20+), T lymphocytes (CD3+, CD8+), and
      plasma cells (CD138+). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed increased expression
      of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in infiltrating lymphocytes and
      macrophages in the bone marrow. She was initially treated with oral prednisolone
      (PSL) for 2 months, which had a limited effect. However, after treatment with
      rituximab, the patient's pancytopenia showed improvement, allowing us to rapidly
      reduce the PSL dosage. The present case suggests the possibility that increased
      expression of TGF-beta in infiltrating lymphocytes and macrophages of bone marrow
      may contribute to the pathogenesis of AIMF. Prednisolone combined with rituximab
      may thus be an effective option for steroid-refractory cases.

PMID- 28584964
TI  - Antifungal activity of the pygidial gland secretion of Laemostenus punctatus
      (Coleoptera: Carabidae) against cave-dwelling micromycetes.
AB  - The antifungal potential of the pygidial gland secretion of the troglophilic
      ground beetle Laemostenus punctatus from a cave in Southeastern Serbia against
      cave-dwelling micromycetes, isolated from the same habitat, has been
      investigated. Eleven collected samples were analyzed and 32 isolates of cave
      dwelling fungi were documented. A total of 14 fungal species were identified as
      members of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Cladosporium,
      Rhizopus, Trichoderma, Arthrinium, Aureobasidium, Epicoccum, Talaromyces, and
      Fusarium. Five isolates were selected for testing the antifungal activity of the
      pygidial gland secretion: Talaromyces duclauxi, Aspergillus brunneouniseriatus,
      Penicillium sp., Rhizopus stolonifer, and Trichoderma viride. The microdilution
      method has been applied to detect minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and
      minimal fungicidal concentrations (MFCs). The most sensitive isolate was
      Penicillium sp., while the other isolates demonstrated a high level of resistance
      to the tested agent. L. punctatus has developed a special mechanism of producing
      specific compounds that act synergistically within the secretion mixture, which
      are responsible for the antifungal action against pathogens from the cave. The
      results open opportunities for further research in the field of ground beetle
      defense against pathogens, which could have an important application in human
      medicine, in addition to the environmental impact, primarily.

PMID- 28584965
TI  - Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Agavins to Generate Branched Fructooligosaccharides (a
      FOS).
AB  - Recently, agavins (branched neo-fructans) of short degree of polymerization have
      shown beneficial effects on the health of both healthy and overweight
      individuals. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to investigate the
      potential use of Agave angustifolia agavins on the generation of branched
      fructooligosacharides (a-FOS). A. angustifolia agavins were hydrolyzed using exo
      , endo-inulinase, and a mixture of both (25 and 75%, respectively). Exo- and the
      inulinase mixture degraded quickly the agavins in relation to endo-inulinase
      treatment. Only endo-inulinase and the inulinase mixture generated a-FOS
      formation. Endo-inulinase degraded 31% of agavins, yielding approximately 20% of
      a-FOS after 48 h, whereas the inulinase mixture hydrolyzed 33% of agavins in just
      90 min, but only yielded 10% of a-FOS. These results suggest that agave plants
      could be an abundant raw material for a-FOS production, which might have a huge
      prebiotic potential as new branched fructooligosaccharides with many applications
      in the alimentary and pharmaceutical industry.

PMID- 28584966
TI  - Relations Between Moso Bamboo Surface Properties Pretreated by Kraft Cooking and
      Dilute Acid with Enzymatic Digestibility.
AB  - Lignocellulosics pretreatment is intended to dismantle biomass' natural
      recalcitrance. Chemical and morphological changes of lignocellulosic materials
      would occur through varying pretreatment processes. In order to figure out why
      the acid-pretreated and Kraft-cooked bamboo residues showed very different
      enzymatic digestibility, the surface properties of pretreated bamboo residues
      were characterized in this work. It was found that analyzed surface properties
      were considered to be associating with each corresponding enzymatic digestibility
      of the pretreated samples. The zeta potentials of pretreated bamboo residues have
      a negative correlation with enzymatic efficiency. Kraft-cooked substrates were
      found to posse a less hydrophobic nature and demonstrated higher enzymatic
      conversion than substrates that were dilute sulfuric acid pretreated. The surface
      accessibility analysis (BET and Direct Red staining) revealed that the higher
      enzymatic efficiency of Kraft-cooked materials was mostly due to the larger
      cellulosic surface area than that in acid-pretreated materials. The results re
      affirm that different pretreatments create a variety of surface characteristics,
      leading to the idea that pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis can be favorably
      turned to maximize carbohydrate recovery from bamboo residues.

PMID- 28584967
TI  - Effect of UV-B Radiation and Desiccation Stress on Photoprotective Compounds
      Accumulation in Marine Leptolyngbya sp.
AB  - Increased awareness regarding the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV)-B radiation
      has led to the search for new sources of natural UV-B protecting compounds.
      Mycosporine-like amino acids are one of such promising compounds found in several
      organisms. Cyanobacteria are ideal organisms for isolation of these compounds due
      to their compatibility and adaptability to thrive under harsh environmental
      conditions. In the following investigation, we report the production of shinorine
      in Leptolyngbya sp. isolated from the intertidal region. Based on the spectral
      characteristics and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, the UV
      absorbing compound was identified as shinorine. To the best of our knowledge,
      this is the first report on the occurrence of shinorine in Leptolyngbya sp. We
      also investigated the effect of artificial UV-B radiation and periodic
      desiccation on chlorophyll-a, total carotenoids, and mycosporine-like amino acids
      (MAAs) production. The UV-B radiation had a negative effect on growth and
      chlorophyll concentration, whereas it showed an inductive effect on the
      production of total carotenoids and MAAs. Desiccation along with UV-B radiation
      led to an increase in the concentration of photoprotective compounds. These
      results indicate that carotenoids and MAAs thus facilitate cyanobacteria to avoid
      and protect themselves from the deleterious effects of UV-B and desiccation.

PMID- 28584968
TI  - Informing Environmental Water Management Decisions: Using Conditional Probability
      Networks to Address the Information Needs of Planning and Implementation Cycles.
AB  - One important aspect of adaptive management is the clear and transparent
      documentation of hypotheses, together with the use of predictive models (complete
      with any assumptions) to test those hypotheses. Documentation of such models can
      improve the ability to learn from management decisions and supports dialog
      between stakeholders. A key challenge is how best to represent the existing
      scientific knowledge to support decision-making. Such challenges are currently
      emerging in the field of environmental water management in Australia, where
      managers are required to prioritize the delivery of environmental water on an
      annual basis, using a transparent and evidence-based decision framework. We argue
      that the development of models of ecological responses to environmental water use
      needs to support both the planning and implementation cycles of adaptive
      management. Here we demonstrate an approach based on the use of Conditional
      Probability Networks to translate existing ecological knowledge into quantitative
      models that include temporal dynamics to support adaptive environmental flow
      management. It equally extends to other applications where knowledge is
      incomplete, but decisions must still be made.

PMID- 28584969
TI  - The effect of melatonin on gene expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide and
      some proinflammatory mediators in patients with pure menstrual migraine.
AB  - The neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a potent vasoactive and
      a marker of trigeminal inflammation, has been considered as an important mediator
      in various types of migraine such as pure menstrual migraine. Earlier studies
      have shown that CGRP can modulate the synthesis and release of other inflammatory
      factor including nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) from
      trigeminal ganglion glial cells. Exogenous melatonin protects the tissues from
      inflammatory damages. The goal of this study was to determine the anti
      inflammatory effects of melatonin on the CGRP expression, inducible nitric oxide
      synthase (iNOS) activity, NO, and IL-1beta release in cultured peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from pure menstrual migraine patients and healthy
      subjects. This study was performed on 12 pure menstrual migraine patients and 12
      age-and sex-matched healthy subjects. PBMCs were isolated and treated with
      melatonin for 12 h at pharmacological dose. Gene expression was evaluated by real
      time PCR. CGRP and IL-1beta proteins in culture supernatant were determined by
      ELISA method. iNOS activity in PBMCs was determined by colorimetric assays. Total
      nitrite as an indicator of NO concentrations in the culture supernatants was
      measured using Griess method. We found that melatonin treatment significantly
      decreases mRNA expression of CGRP release, NO production, and iNOS activity in
      the patient groups. Taken together, it appears that melatonin reduces
      inflammation through decreasing CGRP level and iNOS activity in the patients with
      migraine; however, further studies are needed in this regard.

PMID- 28584970
TI  - Morphometric evaluation of facial and vestibulocochlear nerves using magnetic
      resonance imaging: comparison of Meniere's disease ears with normal hearing ears.
AB  - Loss of neural structures (such as hair cells or neurones within the spiral
      ganglion) has been proposed to be involved in Meniere's disease (MD) (Spoendlin
      et al. Acta oto-laryngologica Supplementum 499:1-21, 1; Merchant et al. Eur Arch
      Oto-Rhino-Laryngol Off J Eur Feder Oto-Rhino-Laryngol Soc (EUFOS) Affil German
      Soc Oto-Rhino-Laryngol Head Neck Surg 252(2):63-75, 2; Tsuji et al. Ann Otol
      Rhinol Laryngol Suppl 81:26-31, 3; Kariya, Otol Neurotol Off Publ Am Otol Soc Am
      Neurotol Soc Eur Acad Otol Neurotol 28(8):1063-1068, 4; Megerian Laryngoscope
      115(9):1525-1535, 5) but this has yet to be confirmed. Therefore, the aim of this
      study was to investigate morphometric changes of VIIth and VIIIth cranial nerve
      in MD. MD is characterized by episodic vertigo, tinnitus, fluctuating hearing
      loss, and aural fullness. The exact pathophysiological mechanisms involved such
      as viral infections, autoimmune processes, genetic predisposition, cellular
      apoptosis, and oxidative stress are still not clear. Using a T2-weighted 3D-GE
      "constructive interference in steady state" (CISS) 3T magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) sequence, we evaluated the properties of the VIIth and VIIIth cranial
      nerves as they passed from the cerebellopontine angle to the inner ear modiolus.
      21 patients with MD were examined along with 39 normal controls. Bidirectional
      nerve diameters and cross-sectional areas (CSA) were measured in a transverse
      plane. The comparison of study and control group showed statistically significant
      (P < 0.000595 after Bonferroni correction) differences between the CSA
      measurements. The facial, cochlear, superior vestibular, and inferior vestibular
      nerves (FN, CN, SVN, IVN) of MD patients were significantly larger than those of
      the control group, both on the MD-affected side and on the healthy side. Thus for
      example, the cochlear nerve CSA measurements were 0.69 +/- 0.14 mm2 (P < 0.0001)
      in the affected ears of the unilateral MD group, 0.70 +/- 0.12 mm2 (P < 0.0001)
      in the affected ears of the cohort including the bilateral MD group, 0.71 +/-
      0.13 mm2 (P < 0.0001) in the non-affected ears of the MD patients, as compared to
      0.46 +/- 0.14 mm2 in the control group. The perpendicular nerve diameters were
      found to vary according to site of measurement and type of measurement used. For
      example a statistically significant enlargement of the short diameter
      measurements of the SVN at the level of the meatus was found, but not of long
      diameter measurements at the same site. Although cellular death would
      theoretically be expected to lead to a decreased nerve thickness, our data showed
      a swelling of cranial nerves VII and VIII within the study group compared to our
      normal hearing control group. The similar reaction of the facial nerve supports
      mediator-based theories of MD pathophysiology.

PMID- 28584971
TI  - F-18 FDG and F-18 Tau PET in posterior cortical atrophy.

PMID- 28584973
TI  - From single muscle fiber to whole muscle mechanics: a finite element model of a
      muscle bundle with fast and slow fibers.
AB  - Muscles exhibit highly complex, multi-scale architecture with thousands of muscle
      fibers, each with different properties, interacting with each other and
      surrounding connective structures. Consequently, the results of single-fiber
      experiments are scarcely linked to the macroscopic or whole muscle behavior. This
      is especially true for human muscles where it would be important to understand of
      how skeletal muscles disorders affect patients' life. In this work, we developed
      a mathematical model to study how fast and slow muscle fibers, well characterized
      in single-fiber experiments, work and generate together force and displacement in
      muscle bundles. We characterized the parameters of a Hill-type model, using
      experimental data on fast and slow single human muscle fibers, and comparing
      experimental data with numerical simulations obtained from finite element (FE)
      models of single fibers. Then, we developed a FE model of a bundle of 19 fibers,
      based on an immunohistochemically stained cross section of human diaphragm and
      including the corresponding properties of each slow or fast fiber. Simulations of
      isotonic contractions of the bundle model allowed the generation of its apparent
      force-velocity relationship. Although close to the average of the force-velocity
      curves of fast and slow fibers, the bundle curve deviates substantially toward
      the fast fibers at low loads. We believe that the present model and the
      characterization of the force-velocity curve of a fiber bundle represents the
      starting point to link the single-fiber properties to those of whole muscle with
      FE application in phenomenological models of human muscles.

PMID- 28584972
TI  - Relation between thoracic aortic inflammation and features of plaque
      vulnerability in the coronary tree in patients with non-ST-segment elevation
      acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. An FDG
      positron emission tomography and optical coherence tomography study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between aortic inflammation as assessed by
      18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) and features of
      plaque vulnerability as assessed by frequency domain-optical coherence tomography
      (FD-OCT). METHODS: We enrolled 30 consecutive non-ST-segment elevation acute
      coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. All
      patients underwent three-vessel OCT before intervention and 18F-FDG-PET before
      discharge. Univariable and C-reactive protein (CRP)-adjusted linear regression
      analyses were performed between features of vulnerability [namely:lipid-rich
      plaques with and without macrophages and thin cap fibroatheromas (TCFA)] and 18F
      FDG uptake in both ascending (AA) and descending aorta (DA) [measured either as
      averaged mean and maximum target-to-blood ratio (TBR) or as active slices (TBRmax
      >= 1.6)]. RESULTS: Mean age was 62 years, and 26 patients were male. On
      univariable linear regression analysis TBRmean and TBRmax in DA was associated
      with the number of lipid-rich plaques (beta = 4.22; 95%CI 0.05-8.39; p = 0.047
      and beta = 3.72; 95%CI 1.14-6.30; p = 0.006, respectively). TBRmax in DA was also
      associated with the number of lipid-rich plaques containing macrophages (beta =
      2.40; 95%CI 0.07-4.72; p = 0.044). A significant CRP adjusted linear association
      between the TBRmax in DA and the number of lipid-rich plaques was observed (CRP
      adjusted beta = 3.58; 95%CI -0.91-6.25; p = 0.01). TBRmax in DA showed a trend
      towards significant CRP-adjusted association with number of lipid-rich plaques
      with macrophages (CRP-adjusted beta = 2.30; 95%CI -0.11-4.71; p = 0.06). We also
      observed a CRP-adjusted (beta = 2.34; 95%CI 0.22-4.47; p = 0.031) linear
      association between the number of active slices in DA and the number of lipid
      rich plaques. No relation was found between FDG uptake in the aorta and the
      number of TCFAs. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with first NSTEACS, 18F-FDG uptake in
      DA is correlated with the number of OCT detected lipid-rich plaques with or
      without macrophages. This association may be independent from CRP values.

PMID- 28584974
TI  - High Resolution Mapping of QTLs for Heat Tolerance in Rice Using a 5K SNP Array.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heat stress is one of the major abiotic threats to rice production,
      next to drought and salinity stress. Incidence of heat stress at reproductive
      phase of the crop results in abnormal pollination leading to floret sterility,
      low seed set and poor grain quality. Identification of QTLs and causal genes for
      heat stress tolerance at flowering will facilitate breeding for improved heat
      tolerance in rice. In the present study, we used 272 F8 recombinant inbred lines
      derived from a cross between Nagina22, a well-known heat tolerant Aus cultivar
      and IR64, a heat sensitive popular Indica rice variety to map the QTLs for heat
      tolerance. RESULTS: To enable precise phenotyping for heat stress tolerance, we
      used a controlled phenotyping facility available at ICAR-Indian Institute of
      Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, India. Based on 'days to 50% flowering' data
      of the RILs, we followed staggered sowing to synchronize flowering to impose heat
      stress at uniform stage. Using the Illumina infinium 5K SNP array for genotyping
      the parents and the RILs, and stress susceptibility and stress tolerance indices
      (SSI and STI) of percent spikelet sterility and yield per plant (g), we
      identified five QTLs on chromosomes 3, 5, 9 and 12. The identified QTLs explained
      phenotypic variation in the range of 6.27 to 21. 29%. Of these five QTLs, two
      high effect QTLs, one novel (qSTIPSS9.1) and one known (qSTIY5.1/qSSIY5.2), were
      mapped in less than 400 Kbp genomic regions, comprising of 65 and 54 genes,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identified two major QTLs for heat
      tolerance in rice in narrow physical intervals, which can be employed for crop
      improvement by marker assisted selection (MAS) after development of suitable
      scorable markers for breeding of high yielding heat tolerant rice varieties. This
      is the first report of a major QTL for heat tolerance on chromosome 9 of rice.
      Further, a known QTL for heat tolerance on chromosome 5 was narrowed down from 23
      Mb to 331 Kbp in this study.

PMID- 28584975
TI  - Crystal structure and functional analysis of Leishmania major pseudoperoxidase.
AB  - Leishmania major pseudoperoxidase (LmPP) is a recently discovered heme protein
      expressed by the human pathogen. Previous in vivo and in vitro studies suggest
      that LmPP is a crucial element of the pathogen's defense mechanism against the
      reactive nitrogen species peroxynitrite produced during the host immune response.
      To shed light on the potential mechanism of peroxynitrite detoxification, we have
      determined the 1.76-A X-ray crystal structure of LmPP, revealing a striking
      degree of homology with heme peroxidases. The most outstanding structural feature
      is a Cys/His heme coordination, which corroborates previous spectroscopic and
      mutagenesis studies. We also used a combination of stopped-flow and electron
      paramagnetic spectroscopies that together suggest that peroxynitrite is not a
      substrate for LmPP catalysis, leaving the function of LmPP an open question.

PMID- 28584976
TI  - Sparse Reconstruction of Fluorescence Molecular Tomography Using Variable
      Splitting and Alternating Direction Scheme.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is a novel imaging modality for
      three-dimensional preclinical research and has many potential applications for
      drug therapy evaluation and tumor diagnosis. However, FMT presents an ill
      conditioned and ill-posed inverse problem, which is a challenge for its
      tomography reconstruction. Due to the importance of FMT reconstruction, it is
      valuable and necessary to develop further practical reconstruction methods for
      FMT. PROCEDURES: In this study, an efficient method using variable splitting
      strategy as well as alternating direction strategy (VSAD) was proposed for FMT
      reconstruction. In this method, the variable splitting strategy and the augmented
      Lagrangian function were first introduced to obtain an equivalent optimization
      formulation of the original problem. Then, the alternating direction scheme was
      used to solve the optimization problem and to accelerate its convergence. To
      examine the property of the VSAD method, three numerical simulation experiments
      (accuracy assessment experiment, robustness assessment experiment, and
      reconstruction speed assessment experiment) were performed and analyzed. RESULTS:
      The results indicated that the reconstruction accuracy, the reconstruction
      robustness, and the reconstruction speed of FMT were satisfactory by using the
      proposed VSAD method. Two in vivo studies, which were conducted by using two nude
      mouse models, further confirmed the advantages of the proposed method.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that the proposed VSAD algorithm is effective
      for FMT reconstruction. It was accurate, robust, and efficient for FMT imaging
      and was feasibly applied for in vivo FMT applications.

PMID- 28584977
TI  - Andrographolide Benefits Rheumatoid Arthritis via Inhibiting MAPK Pathways.
AB  - Andrographolide (AD) is the main compound distributed in medicinal herb
      Andrographis paniculata and exhibits anti-inflammatory activity. AD has been used
      for the treatment of multiple inflammatory diseases. However, the therapeutic
      value of AD on human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unclear. In this study, we
      investigated the effects of AD on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and human RA
      synovial fibroblasts (RA-SFs). CIA mice were treated with AD (dissolved in 0.5%
      CMC-Na, 100 mg/kg per day) or vehicle (0.5% CMC-Na) daily by oral gavage for 2
      weeks. The arthritis severity and joint destruction were assessed. Serum anti
      collagen II antibody (anti-CII Abs) and cytokines were determined by ELISA.
      TNFalpha-stimulated human RA-SFs were treated with varying doses of AD for in
      vitro investigation. Results showed that AD significantly attenuated the
      arthritis severity and joint damage. AD treatment significantly reduced the
      production of serum anti-CII, TNFalpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6. In vitro, AD
      decreased the secretion of IL-1beta and IL-6 from TNFalpha-stimulated RA-SFs in a
      dose-dependent manner. AD treatment reduced the TNFalpha-induced phosphorylation
      of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, our findings suggest
      that AD confers protective effects on autoimmune arthritis through inhibiting
      MAPK pathways.

PMID- 28584978
TI  - Review of total suspended particles (TSP) and PM2.5 concentration variations in
      Asia during the years of 1998-2015.
AB  - In Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Taiwan, Korea, Japan
      and Hong Kong, ambient air total suspended particulates and PM2.5 concentration
      data were collected and discussed during the years of 1998-2015 in this study.
      The aim of the present study was to (1) investigate and collect ambient air total
      suspended particulates (TSP) and PM2.5 concentrations for Asian countries during
      the past two decades. (2) Discuss, analyze and compare those particulates (TSP
      and PM2.5) annual concentration distribution trends among those Asian countries
      during the past two decades. (3) Test the mean concentration differences in TSP
      and PM2.5 among the Asian countries during the past decades. The results
      indicated that the mean TSP concentration order was shown as China > Malaysia >
      Pakistan > India > Taiwan > Korea > Japan. In addition, the mean PM2.5
      concentration order was shown as Vietnam > India > China > Hong Kong > Mongolia >
      Korea > Taiwan > Japan and the average percentages of PM2.5 concentrations for
      Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Mongolia and Other (India and Vietnam)
      were 8, 21, 6, 8, 14, 13 and 30%, respectively, during the past two decades.
      Moreover, t test results revealed that there were significant mean TSP and PM2.5
      concentration differences for either China or India to any of the countries such
      as Taiwan, Korea and Japan in Asia during the past two decades for this study.
      Noteworthy, China and India are both occupied more than 60% of the TSP and PM2.5
      particulates concentrations out of all the Asia countries. As for Taiwan, the
      average PM2.5 concentration displayed increasing trend in the years of 1998-1999.
      However, it showed decreasing trend in the years of 2000-2010. As for Korea, the
      average PM2.5 concentrations showed decreasing trend during the years of 2001
      2013. Finally, the average PM2.5 concentrations for Mongolia displayed increasing
      trend in the years of 2004-2013.

PMID- 28584979
TI  - Mouse Immunization with Radioattenuated Yeast Cells of Paracoccidioides
      brasiliensis.
AB  - Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is the agent of paracoccidioidomycosis, the most
      prevalent mycosis in Latin America, and currently there is no effective vaccine.
      The present chapter describes the methodology to obtain radioattenuated yeast
      cells of P. brasiliensis and a protocol to evaluate protective response elicited
      by this immunogen in experimental paracoccidioidomycosis. The radioattenuated
      yeast provides a valuable tool for immunological studies in experimental
      paracoccidioidomycosis and vaccine research.

PMID- 28584980
TI  - Heat-Killed Yeast as a Pan-Fungal Vaccine.
AB  - Fungal infections continue to rise worldwide. Antifungal therapy has long been a
      mainstay for the treatment of these infections, but often can fail for a number
      of reasons. These include acquired or innate drug resistance of the causative
      agent, poor drug penetration into the affected tissues, lack of cidal activity of
      the drug and drug toxicities that limit therapy. In some instances, such as
      coccidioidal meningitis, therapy is life-long. In addition, few new antifungal
      drugs are under development. In light of this information a preventative vaccine
      is highly desirable. Although numerous investigators have worked toward the
      development of fungal vaccines, none have become commercially available for use
      in humans. In the course of our studies, we have discovered that heat-killed
      yeast (HKY) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be used as a vaccine and have shown
      that it has efficacy in the prevention and reduction of five different fungal
      infections when used experimentally in mice, which raises the possibility of a
      pan-fungal vaccine preparation. In our studies we grow S. cerevisiae in broth and
      heat-kill the organism at 70  degrees  C for 3 h. The number of dead yeast cells
      is adjusted and mice are vaccinated subcutaneously beginning 3-7 weeks prior to
      infection. After infection, efficacy is assessed on the basis of survival and
      residual burden of the fungus in the target organs. Alternatively, efficacy can
      be assessed solely on fungal burden at a predetermined time postinfection.
      Although itself it is unlikely to be moved toward commercialization, HKY can be
      used a positive control vaccine for studies on specific molecular entities as
      vaccines, and as a guidepost for the key elements of potential, more purified,
      pan-fungal vaccine preparations.

PMID- 28584981
TI  - Immunoinformatics as a Tool for New Antifungal Vaccines.
AB  - Immunoinformatics aids in screening for vaccine candidates, which can be
      experimentally tested for their efficacy. This chapter describes methods to use
      immunoinformatics to screen fungal vaccines candidates. Surface-localized
      molecules called adhesins could elicit immune response and serve as efficient
      vaccine candidates. The screening process is patterned on two steps, namely, a
      First Layer screen mostly used for value addition and prioritization based on
      characteristics of known antigens and a Second Layer highly focussed on core
      immunoinformatics analysis involving the binding and interactions of the
      molecules of the immune system. Together they offer a comprehensive objective
      evaluation of vaccine candidates selection in silico for fungal pathogens.

PMID- 28584982
TI  - Rational Design of T Lymphocyte Epitope-Based Vaccines Against Coccidioides
      Infection.
AB  - Coccidioidomycosis is a potentially life-threatening mycosis endemic to the
      Southwestern USA and some arid regions of Central and South America. A vaccine
      against Coccidioides infection would benefit over 30-million people who reside in
      or visit the endemic regions. Vaccine candidates against systemic fungal
      infections come in many forms. Live attenuated vaccines are derived from disease
      causing pathogens and generally stimulate excellent protective immunity. Since
      attenuated vaccines contain living microbes, there is a degree of
      unpredictability raising concerns regarding safety and stability. Generation of a
      subunit vaccine has initiated efforts to design a safe reagent suitable for
      administration to humans at risk of coccidioidomycosis. Epitope-based vaccines
      allow for eliciting specific protective immune responses and removal of
      potentially detrimental sequences to improve safety. This chapter describes
      methods for the identification of T cell epitopes derived from Coccidioides
      antigens, design, and production of a recombinant vaccine containing multiple T
      cell epitopes, and evaluation of its protective efficacy and vaccine immunity
      against pulmonary Coccidioides infection using a strain of transgenic mice that
      express a human MHC II molecule.

PMID- 28584983
TI  - Identification of Fungal T Cell Epitopes by Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics.
AB  - CD4+ T cells play a key role in host defense against many fungal infections. T
      cells are also implicated in vaccine immunity to fungi. To date, only a small
      number of fungal antigens have been identified. Knowing the antigenic
      determinants of fungi-specific T cells greatly facilitates the detection,
      enumeration and characterizes the antifungal T cells and it constitutes an
      important step toward the design and development of vaccination strategies. This
      chapter describes a method of MHC-II ligand elution and mass spectrometric
      analysis to identify naturally processed and presented fungal peptide epitopes.

PMID- 28584984
TI  - Intranasal Antifungal Vaccination Using DNA-Transfected Dendritic Cells.
AB  - Dendritic cells are the most potent antigen-presenting cells, and are critical
      for the generation of an antigen-specific immune response and protective
      immunity. These unique features have been applied to dendritic cell-based
      immunization in a number of disease conditions. Our published results have
      demonstrated that the immunity induced by intranasal immunization with DNA
      transfected dendritic cells results in reduced fungal burden, and alleviated lung
      tissue damage in a mouse model of pulmonary fungal infection. In this article,
      approaches for the preparation and characterization of DNA-transfected dendritic
      cells and intranasal immunization in mice are described.

PMID- 28584985
TI  - DNAhsp65 Vaccine as Therapy against Paracoccidioidomycosis.
AB  - The conventional treatment for fungal diseases usually shows long periods of
      therapy and the high frequency of relapses and sequels. New strategies of the
      treatment are necessary. We have shown that the Mycobacterium leprae HSP65 gene
      can be successfully used as therapy against murine Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM).
      Here, we described the methodology of DNAhsp65 immunotherapy in mice infected
      with the dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, one of PCM agent,
      evaluating cytokines levels, fungal burden, and lung injury. Our results provide
      a new prospective on the immunotherapy of mycosis.

PMID- 28584986
TI  - Idiotypic Antifungal Vaccination: Immunoprotection by Antiidiotypic Antibiotic
      Antibodies.
AB  - As implied by the idiotypic network theory, the interaction between the
      functional epitope of a microbicidal molecule (X) and its specific cell-wall
      receptor (RX) on sensitive microorganisms may be imaged by the bond between the
      idiotype (Id) of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (anti-X Ab) and its anti
      idiotype (anti-Id) X-like Ab (anti-anti-X Ab). Consequently, anti-X Ab Id may
      mimic RX acting as a vaccine (idiotypic vaccination) for the elicitation of
      protective anti-Id Abs with antibiotic activity (antibiobodies).

PMID- 28584987
TI  - Peptide Vaccine Against Paracoccidioidomycosis.
AB  - The chapter reviews methods utilized for the isolation and characterization of a
      promising immunogen candidate, aiming at a human vaccine against
      paracoccidioidomycosis. Peptide P10 carries a T-CD4+ epitope and was identified
      as an internal sequence of the major diagnostic antigen known as gp43
      glycoprotein. It successfully treated massive intratracheal infections by
      virulent Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in combination with chemotherapy.An
      introduction about the systemic mycosis was found essential to understand the
      various options that were considered to design prophylactic and therapeutic
      vaccine protocols using peptide P10.

PMID- 28584988
TI  - Methodology for Anti-Cryptococcal Vaccine Development.
AB  - Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, the predominant etiological
      agents of cryptococcosis, are fungal pathogens that cause disease ranging from a
      mild pneumonia to life-threatening infections of the central nervous system
      (CNS). C. neoformans is widely considered an opportunistic fungal pathogen which
      targets individuals with impaired immune systems, while C. gattii is
      predominantly associated with fungal infections in immunocompetent individuals.
      However, C. neoformans and C. gattii have certainly been identified as the
      causative agent of cryptococcosis in both immune compromised and immune competent
      individuals. Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) by T-helper (Th) 1-type CD4+ T cells is
      the predominant host defense mechanism against cryptococcosis. Consequently,
      there has been great interest in identifying cryptococcal antigens that elicit
      protective CMI against Cryptococcus infection. Although many different
      cryptococcal proteins have been shown to stimulate potent cellular responses,
      there remains no standardized vaccine available for the prevention of
      cryptococcal infections in humans. Several studies have identified immunodominant
      antigens that may serve as attractive candidates for the development of novel
      subunit vaccines for the treatment and/or the prevention of cryptococcosis. The
      purpose of this chapter is to describe one methodology to screen and isolate
      cryptocococcal proteins that induce protective immune responses against
      cryptococossis.

PMID- 28584989
TI  - Beta-Glucan Particles as Vaccine Adjuvant Carriers.
AB  - Glucan particles (GPs) are spherical hollow particles derived from Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae cell walls and mainly consist of beta-1, 3-D-glucans. The inner hollow
      cavity of glucan particles can be loaded with different compounds, including
      protein antigens, and delivered to macrophages and dendritic cells. Moreover, the
      GP delivery system possesses beta-glucan's intrinsic immunostimulatory
      properties. Therefore, GPs serve as both an antigen-presenting cell-targeted
      delivery system and an adjuvant.Here, we describe the production of GPs from S.
      cerevisiae using hot alkaline and solvent extraction and characterization of
      these particles for morphology, particle density, and hydrodynamic volume. A
      detailed protocol for loading and entrapping a model antigen, ovalbumin (OVA),
      into these particles using yeast RNA is presented. Similar methods are used to
      load pathogen-specific antigens (peptides, proteins, soluble extracts) which then
      can be tested in in vivo vaccination models.

PMID- 28584990
TI  - Th1-Inducing Agents in Prophylaxis and Therapy for Paracoccidioidomycosis.
AB  - Adjuvants and immunomodulatory molecules could be included in the treatment of P.
      brasiliensis infection. In this context, we reported that the therapeutic and/or
      prophylactic administration of Th1-inducing agents, such as immunomodulatory
      lectins and adjuvants, was able to provide protection against experimental
      paracoccidioidomycosis. Then, we described the protocols to investigate the
      effect of immunomodulatory agents on the course of P. brasiliensis infection. In
      this sense, we detailed the measurement of fungal burden and cytokine production,
      and the histopathological analysis used to evaluate the most effective
      administration regime.

PMID- 28584991
TI  - Nanoparticle-Based Mycosis Vaccine.
AB  - Many diseases that were considered major affliction of mankind in the past have
      been successfully eradicated with introduction of appropriate vaccine strategies.
      In order to expedite new challenges coming up to deal with various infectious
      diseases, nano-particulate-based subunit vaccines seem to be the demand of
      ordeal. The nano-vaccines can find better scope for the diseases that were not
      rampant in the semi-advanced world few years back. For example in present-day
      circumstances that corroborate with advancement in the field of medical sciences
      in terms of cancer chemotherapy, organ transplantation, therapy of autoimmune
      diseases, etc.; along with prevalence of altogether unheard diseases such as HIV
      infection, people are at risk of infliction with many more pathogens. In this
      regard, development of an effective prophylactic strategy against many
      opportunistic infections primarily caused by fungal pathogens needs better
      understanding of host pathogen relation and role of active immunity against
      pathogenic fungi. In the present study, we have tried to decipher effectiveness
      of a nano-sized vaccine delivery system in imparting protection against fungal
      pathogens.

PMID- 28584992
TI  - Yeast Expressing Gp43 Protein as a Vaccine Against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis
      Infection.
AB  - Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) represents the most frequent systemic mycosis in
      Latin American. The disease is caused by the pathogenic thermally dimorphic
      fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, and is initially characterized by pulmonary
      lesions, which can subsequently disseminate to other organs, resulting in
      secondary injuries. Although its high incidence, there is no commercially
      available vaccine against fungal diseases. A novel strategy, using Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae yeast as a vehicle for immunization against PCM, was recently
      successfully described. Herein, we describe strategies for the construction of
      the suitable S. cerevisiae vaccine, and protocols of administration and
      evaluation of the efficacy of the vaccine against experimental PCM.

PMID- 28584993
TI  - Vaccination with Phage-Displayed Antigenic Epitope.
AB  - Phage-displayed antigenic epitope is able to induce both humoral and cell
      mediated immune responses, which could be used as an delivery system to design
      vaccines without compromising safety and tolerability. Here, we describe the
      vaccination with phage-displayed antigenic epitope (M13 phage-displayed
      SLAQVKYTSASSI) against Candida albicans infection in BALB/c mice by this method.

PMID- 28584994
TI  - Preparation of an Oral Vaccine by Proteome Analysis and Molecular Display
      Technology.
AB  - In recent years, genetic engineering and protein expression technologies have
      promoted the development of recombinant protein vaccines. To accelerate the
      development of efficient vaccines for mycosis, screening candidate antigens, and
      determining the optimal route of administration are indispensable steps. Two
      methods for identifying novel antigens and producing antigens specific to Candida
      albicans, as a model causative pathogen of mycosis, are discussed in this
      chapter. Specifically, the application of liquid chromatography/tandem mass
      spectrometry using a long monolithic column for proteome analysis to identify
      virulence factors of C. albicans, followed by molecular display technology to
      produce an oral vaccine using antigens found by the proteomic study, is
      described.

PMID- 28584995
TI  - Precise and Efficient In-Frame Integration of an Exogenous GFP Tag in Aspergillus
      fumigatus by a CRISPR System.
AB  - As one of the most common airborne fungal pathogenic species, Aspergillus
      fumigatus infection is the increasingly fatal threat to immunocompromised
      patients worldwide. Setting up an efficient live-cell pathogen-labeling system
      will give insight into the dynamic process of the pathogen invasion in host,
      which offers us opportunities to explore the pathogenesis of A. fumigatus. In
      this chapter, we have described an efficient CRISPR-Cas9 system, which enables a
      precise in situ tag-insertion of an exogenous GFP tag at the predicted site with
      or without marker insertion in A. fumigatus. According to the detectable
      proportional fluorescence intensity, it is possible to in vivo track the A.
      fumigatus infection and to assess the fungal burden in relative organs.

PMID- 28584996
TI  - Endpoint Assessment in Rabbit Models of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis and
      Mucormycosis.
AB  - Multiple animal models have been developed to study the pathogenesis of invasive
      pulmonary aspergillosis, as well as to evaluate the efficacy, pharmacokinetics,
      and pharmacodynamics of various antifungal agents and vaccines. Each model is
      beneficial depending on the questions that are asked. In this chapter, we will
      discuss the endpoints assessment of the persistently neutropenic rabbit models of
      invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and invasive pulmonary mucormycosis.

PMID- 28584997
TI  - CD4+ T Cells Mediate Aspergillosis Vaccine Protection.
AB  - Adaptive effector CD4+ T cells play essential roles in the defense against fungal
      infections, especially against invasive aspergillosis (IA). Such protective CD4+
      T cells can be generated through immunization with specialized antifungal
      vaccines, as has been demonstrated for pulmonary Aspergillus fumigatus infections
      in mouse experiments. Adaptive transfer of fungal antigen-specific CD4+ T cells
      conferred protection onto non-immunized naive mice, an experimental approach that
      could potentially become a future treatment option for immunosuppressed IA
      patients, focusing on the ultimate goal to improve their otherwise dim chances
      for survival. Here, we describe the different techniques to analyze CD4+ T cell
      immune responses after immunization with a recombinant fungal protein. We present
      three major methods that are used to analyze the role of CD4+ T cells in
      protection against A. fumigatus challenge. They include (1) transplantation of
      CD4+ T cells from vaccinated mice into immunosuppressed naive mice, observing
      increasing protection of the cell recipients, (2) depletion of CD4+ T cells from
      vaccinated mice, which abolishes vaccine protection, and (3) T cell proliferation
      studies following stimulation with overlapping synthetic peptides or an intact
      protein vaccine. The latter can be used to validate immunization status and to
      identify protective T cell epitopes in vaccine antigens. In the methods detailed
      here, we used versions of the well-studied Asp f3 protein expressed in a
      bacterial host, either as the intact full length protein or its N-terminally
      truncated version, comprised of residues 15-168. However, these methods are
      generally applicable and can well be adapted to study other protein-based subunit
      vaccines.

PMID- 28584998
TI  - T-Cell-Mediated Cross-Protective Immunity.
AB  - Human invasive fungal infections are caused by different mold and yeast species.
      Hence, cross-reactive T cells that recognize conserved epitopes of various fungal
      pathogens are of special interest for vaccination protocols or adoptive T cell
      transfer. Here, we describe an ELISpot-based method to test cross-reactivity of T
      cell lines or clones to different molds and yeasts.

PMID- 28584999
TI  - Assessment of Post-Vaccination Phagocytic Activation Using Candida albicans
      Killing Assays.
AB  - Candida albicans is an important opportunistic fungal pathogen. It is now the
      fourth leading cause of nosocomial bloodstream infections and a great threat to
      the immuncompromised patients attributed to the disseminated candidiasis with the
      mortality up to 40%. Phagocytic cells are the first line of defense against
      Candida infections. Antibodies induced by vaccination can effectively enhance the
      capacities of phagocytosis and killing of neutrophils and macrophages. In this
      chapter, flow cytometric analysis (FACS) and killing assay by plate culture
      methods are introduced to evaluate the phagocytosis and killing of strains of
      Candida albicans opsonized with immune serum obtained from mice vaccinated with
      yeast and recombinant enolase.

PMID- 28585000
TI  - Immunization with Antigen-Pulsed Dendritic Cells Against Highly Virulent
      Cryptococcus gattii Infection: Analysis of Cytokine-Producing T Cells.
AB  - Cryptococcosis caused by highly virulent Cryptococcus gattii (Hv-Cg) is an
      emerging infectious disease that affects immunocompetent individuals. The Hv-Cg
      outbreak began in 1999, but the mechanisms responsible for its hyper-virulence as
      well as protective immunity against Hv-Cg infection remain to be elucidated. To
      better understand the protective immunity against Hv-Cg infection, we developed a
      novel immunization method using antigen-pulsed dendritic cells (DCs). We
      constructed a capsule-deficient Cg strain (?cap60) and used it as a vaccine
      antigen. Mouse bone marrow-derived DCs were pulsed with ?cap60 and transferred
      into mice twice before pulmonary infection with Hv-Cg strain R265. This DC-based
      immunization strongly induced cell-mediated immunity, including Th1 cells, Th17
      cells, and multinucleated giant cells enclosing fungal cells in lungs. This
      vaccination significantly ameliorated the fungal burden and the survival rate
      after pulmonary infection with R265. The efficacy of DC-based immunization was
      significantly but partially reduced in IFNgamma-deficient mice, thereby
      suggesting that the Th1 and Th17 responses play roles in vaccine-induced
      protection against Hv-Cg infection. This approach might provide new insights into
      overcoming Hv-Cg infections in immunocompetent subjects. In this chapter, we
      describe the procedures for DC-vaccine preparation and the analysis of cytokine
      producing CD4+ T cells.

PMID- 28585001
TI  - Testing Antifungal Vaccines in an Animal Model of Invasive Candidiasis and in
      Human Mucosal Candidiasis.
AB  - The following article will concentrate on the NDV-3 anti-Candida and
      Staphylococcus vaccine. The vaccine is composed of the N-terminal portion of the
      Candida albicans agglutinin-like sequence 3 protein (Als3p) and aluminum
      hydroxide as adjuvant. The vaccine conferred protection to mice against
      experimental vaginal, oral, and intravenous challenge with C. albicans. Due to
      the sequence and structural homology of the Als3p with Staphylococcus aureus
      surface proteins, the vaccine also protected against experimental skin and IV
      infection with S. aureus. The vaccine has reached the stage of human trials:
      phase 1 clinical studies have shown that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic. The
      latest brief conference abstract reports of vaccination in women suffering from
      recurrent vaginal candidiasis, indicating that the recurrence rates were lower in
      the women receiving the vaccine.

PMID- 28585002
TI  - Post-mastectomy radiation therapy in breast cancer with 1-3 involved lymph nodes:
      the Pros.
AB  - In 2014, the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) reported
      that post-mastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) for breast cancer patients with 1-3
      cancer-positive lymph nodes is associated with a survival benefit. However, it is
      not known whether this applies to Japanese patients in daily clinical practice,
      because this conclusion was based on the results of older, western trials.
      Therefore, we studied the differences between PMRT results in western breast
      cancer patients and current practice in Japanese patients. Although we identified
      three differences, they do not appear to strongly impact the results of EBCTCG.
      We conclude that Japanese breast cancer patients with 1-3 positive lymph nodes
      should receive PMRT in daily clinical practice.

PMID- 28585003
TI  - Secondary breast carcinoma after completely remitted chronic myeloid leukemia
      following targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.
AB  - We describe a rare case of secondary breast carcinoma after chronic myeloid
      leukemia (CML) in a 56-year-old woman. The patient was treated with hydroxyurea
      and imatinib for CML and achieved complete remission (she has since been taking
      imatinib as the maintenance therapy). Four years later, the patient noticed a
      firm and painless lump in the left breast, which was diagnosed as ductal
      carcinoma in situ based on a percutaneous biopsy of the mass. Simple resection
      and sentinel lymph node biopsy of the left breast were then performed.
      Pathological studies revealed a medium-grade intraductal carcinoma, with local
      infiltration associated with invasive micropapillary carcinoma. She received
      adjuvant endocrine therapy with imatinib after surgery. Breast cancer secondary
      to CML (treated with imatinib and completely remitted) is extremely rare. This
      report provides evidence to assist in the diagnosis and treatment for this rare
      manifestation.

PMID- 28585004
TI  - Metallothionein: a Potential Link in the Regulation of Zinc in Nutritional
      Immunity.
AB  - Nutritional immunity describes mechanisms for withholding essential transition
      metals as well as directing the toxicity of these metals against infectious
      agents. Zinc is one of these transition elements that are essential for both
      humans and microbial pathogens. At the same time, Zn can be toxic both for man
      and microbes if its concentration is higher than the tolerance limit. Therefore a
      "delicate" balance of Zn must be maintained to keep the immune cells surveilling
      while making the level of Zn either to starve or to intoxicate the pathogens. On
      the other hand, the invading pathogens will exploit the host Zn pool for its
      survival and replication. Apparently, different sets of protein in human and
      bacteria are involved to maintain their Zn need. Metallothionein (MT)-a group of
      low molecular weight proteins, is well known for its Zn-binding ability and is
      expected to play an important role in that Zn balance at the time of active
      infection. However, the differences in structural, functional, and molecular
      control of biosynthesis between human and bacterial MT might play an important
      role to determine the proper use of Zn and the winning side. The current review
      explains the possible involvement of human and bacterial MT at the time of
      infection to control and exploit Zn for their need.

PMID- 28585005
TI  - Wind farm topology-finding algorithm considering performance, costs, and
      environmental impacts.
AB  - Optimal power in wind farms turns to be a modern problem for investors and
      decision makers; onshore wind farms are subject to performance and economic and
      environmental constraints. The aim of this work is to define the best installed
      capacity (best topology) with maximum performance and profits and consider
      environmental impacts as well. In this article, we continue the work recently
      done on wind farm topology-finding algorithm. The proposed resolution technique
      is based on finding the best topology of the system that maximizes the wind farm
      performance (availability) under the constraints of costs and capital
      investments. Global warming potential of wind farm is calculated and taken into
      account in the results. A case study is done using data and constraints similar
      to those collected from wind farm constructors, managers, and maintainers. Multi
      state systems (MSS), universal generating function (UGF), wind, and load charge
      functions are applied. An economic study was conducted to assess the wind farm
      investment. Net present value (NPV) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were
      calculated for best topologies found.

PMID- 28585006
TI  - Studies on piston bowl geometries using single blend ratio of various non-edible
      oils.
AB  - The depletion of fossil fuels and hike in crude oil prices were some of the main
      reasons to explore new alternatives from renewable source of energy. This work
      presents the impact of various bowl geometries on diesel engine with diesel and
      biodiesel samples. Three non-edible oils were selected, namely pumpkin seed oil,
      orange oil and neem oil. These oils were converted into respective biodiesel
      using transesterification process in the presence of catalyst and alcohol. After
      transesterification process, the oils were termed as pumpkin seed oil methyl
      ester (PSOME), orange oil methyl ester (OME) and neem oil methyl ester (NOME),
      respectively. The engine used for experimentation was a single-cylinder four
      stroke water-cooled direct-injection diesel engine and loads were applied to the
      engine using eddy current dynamometer. Two bowl geometries were developed, namely
      toroidal combustion chamber (TCC) and trapezoidal combustion chamber (TRCC).
      Also, the engine was inbuilt with hemispherical combustion chamber (HCC). The
      base line readings were recorded using neat diesel fuel with HCC for various
      loads. Followed by 20% of biodiesel mixed with 80% neat diesel for all prepared
      methyl esters and termed as B1 (20% PSOME with 80% diesel), B2 (20% OME with 80%
      diesel) and B3 (20% NOME with 80% diesel). All fuel samples were tested in HCC,
      TCC and TRCC bowl geometries under standard injection timing and with compression
      ratio of 18. Increased brake thermal efficiency and reduced brake specific fuel
      consumption were observed with diesel in TCC geometry. Also, higher heat release
      and cylinder pressures with lower ignition delay were recorded with TCC bowl
      geometry. TCC bowl geometry showed lower CO, HC and smoke emissions with B2 fuel
      sample than diesel and other biodiesel samples. But, higher NOx emission was
      observed in HCC and TCC than that in TRCC bowl geometry. Graphical abstract ?.

PMID- 28585007
TI  - CeO2 nanoparticle fate in environmental conditions and toxicity on a freshwater
      predator species: a microcosm study.
AB  - We studied the fate and toxicity of two types of CeO2 NPs (bare or citrate
      coated) in environmentally relevant conditions, using large indoor microcosms.
      Long-term exposure was carried out on a three-leveled freshwater trophic chain,
      comprising microbial communities as primary producers, chironomid larvae as
      primary consumers, and amphibian larvae as secondary consumers. Whereas coated
      NPs preferentially sedimented, bare NPs were mainly found in the water column.
      However, mass balance indicated low recovery (51.5%) for bare NPs, indicating
      possible NP loss, against 98.8% of recovery for coated NPs. NPs were rather
      chemically stable, with less than 4% of dissolution. Chironomid larvae ingested
      large amounts of NPs and were vectors of contamination for amphibian larvae.
      Although bioaccumulation in amphibian larvae was important (9.47 and 9.74 mg/kg
      for bare and coated NPs, respectively), no biomagnification occurred through the
      trophic chain. Finally, significant genotoxicity was observed in amphibian
      larvae, bare CeO2 NPs being more toxic than citrate-coated NPs. ?.

PMID- 28585009
TI  - A bibliometric analysis of eutrophication literatures: an expanding and shifting
      focus.
AB  - This paper examined the eutrophication literatures from 1998 to 2015 using
      bibliometric techniques basing on the database of Science Citation Index.
      Bibliometric techniques, social network analysis, and mapping knowledge domains
      in this paper were used. The results revealed that article was the most used
      document type accounting for 94.79% (14,006) of the records. With the rapid
      development of eutrophication domain after 2004, the annual article publishing
      amount also grew notably in each country, with the list of US tops. International
      cooperation was not enough to compare with that between institutions. An author
      keyword analysis showed that "phosphorus," "nutrients," "nitrogen," "water
      quality," "phytoplankton," and "sediment" were the most popular keywords. And it
      was also found that climate change, life cycle assessment, and chlorophyll a
      appear with high frequency in recent years, indicating that the eutrophication
      mechanism analysis might turn from uni-factor microresearch to multi-factor
      macroresearch, and the eutrophication management research tends to be whole
      process management research. In addition, the future focuses of research
      directions, including (1) eutrophication and its ecosystem response, (2)
      eutrophication management, (3) eutrophication and climate change interactions,
      (4) eutrophication monitoring and forecast, and (5) ecological restoration of
      eutrophication. These findings are useful for the future endeavor of
      eutrophication academic research.

PMID- 28585008
TI  - Characteristics, source, and potential ecological risk assessment of polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Songhua River Basin, Northeast China.
AB  - The concentration characteristics, sources, and potential ecological risk
      assessment of 16 PAHs were investigated in the surface water from the Songhua
      River Basin, Northeast China. A total of 48 river water samples, including 16
      from the main streams and 32 from the tributaries, were collected. Samples were
      separated into dissolved phases and suspended particle matter (SPM) via
      filtration with 0.47 MUm glass fiber filters. Each phase was analyzed for PAHs.
      The total PAH concentration in the dissolved phase in the water ranged from 32.5
      to 108 ng L-1 and from 0.3 to 62.3 MUg g-1 (dry weight) in the suspended particle
      matter (SPM). The total PAH concentration in the main stream was lower than in
      the tributaries; the volume of annual runoff of rivers had a significant effect
      on the ?PAH in the rivers. The 2- and 3-ring PAHs dominated in both the dissolved
      phase and SPM, indicating a relatively recent local source of PAHs in the study
      area. The concentrations of PAHs in the Songhua River Basin are lower when
      compared with the values previously reported in the literature from other rivers
      around the world. The sources of PAHs were assessed by diagnostic ratios and
      principal component analysis (PCA), and the ecological risk of the PAHs was
      assessed based on the risk quotient (RQ). The diagnostic ratios and PCA indicated
      that the main sources of PAHs originated from pyrogenic and petrogenic sources,
      and pyrogenic sources had a greater impact. The ecological risk assessment
      indicated that the PAHs presented low ecosystem risk in the Songhua River Basin.

PMID- 28585010
TI  - High level leaching of heavy metals from colorful ceramic foodwares: a potential
      risk to human.
AB  - Ceramic foodwares are among the products used by people on daily basis without
      being cautious of exposures to heavy metals through possible leaching from the
      glaze ceramics. This study investigated the levels of heavy metals found in some
      commonly used ceramic foodwares in Nigeria with the aim of determining levels of
      human exposures through the use of the ceramics. To achieve this, acid digestion
      was carried out for the total metal concentrations and leaching tests were done
      using 4% acetic acid as a leaching agent. Metal concentrations were quantified
      using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and particle-induced X-ray
      emission spectrometry (PIXES) analysis. All the ceramic foodwares studied were
      found to contain varied amounts of heavy metals in their glazes, with
      concentrations in the range of 26.45-2071.46, 5.20-547.00, 1.24-2681.02, 2590.00
      8848.40, 6.42-654.66, 112.69-649.95, 63.38-2518.51, and 3786.51-8249.44 MUg g-1
      for Pb, Cd, Zn, As, Cu, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively. Concentrations of the
      metals leached from the ceramics were in the range of 0.11-0.97, 0.01-0.28, 0.00
      4.19, 1.93-15.00, 0.01-0.41, 0.09-0.60, 0.01-2.14, and 0.01-11.53 mgL-1 for Pb,
      Cd, Zn, As, Cu, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively. Comparing the ratio of the metals
      leached from the ceramic wares with those of the metal oxides in the ceramics, it
      was noticeable that not all the metals detected in the ceramic samples were
      domiciled in the glaze but in the clay materials used for the ceramics.

PMID- 28585011
TI  - Preparation of La-modified magnetic composite for enhanced adsorptive removal of
      tetracycline.
AB  - Composite adsorbents usually outperform single component adsorbents as they could
      combine the properties and advantages of each component. In this research, rare
      earth element Lanthanum was introduced into magnetic substrate by a method of
      chemical co-precipitation to enhance its adsorption capability. It was found that
      the La-modified magnetic composite with a presumed La and Fe3O4 molar ratio at
      1:50 had a better adsorption performance for tetracycline than the magnetic
      adsorbents at other molar ratios. The La-modified magnetic composite was
      characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The
      results showed that the magnetic adsorbent was nano-sized, and the introduction
      of La did not change the crystal structure of magnetic substrate. The adsorptive
      removal of tetracycline was favorable at neutral pH conditions. Kinetic
      experiments indicated that most of the uptake occurred within the initial 120
      min. Chemisorption occurred in the process while rate-determining step might be
      diffusive in nature. An empirical model (Langmuir model) was applied in this
      paper, and fitting result indicates that the q max value of the magnetic
      composite reached as much as 145.9 mg/g for the uptake of tetracycline at 298 K.
      The above indicates that method of La doping could significantly enhance the
      adsorption capability of an intentionally designed composite adsorbent.

PMID- 28585012
TI  - Variability of zinc, copper and lead contents in sludge of the municipal
      stormwater treatment plant.
AB  - Several years of observations enabled us to assess the extent and variability of
      heavy metal contamination (Zn, Cu and Pb) of the sludge of the municipal
      stormwater treatment plant (the town of Pulawy, Poland). In terms of size (high
      capacity) and innovation, it is the only facility of this kind in the country. It
      collects rainwater run-offs from two catchments (separate inlets) with a total
      area of about 500 ha. The concentration of the analysed metals is characterised
      by a large spatial and temporal diversity. The reason for this may be differences
      in the manner and intensity of use of drained surfaces and different hydraulic
      conditions (of sedimentation) prevailing in the particular treatment devices. The
      highest pollution was found in sediments in the grit chamber and in the part of
      the settler from the side of the interceptor supplying sewage, i.e. from the main
      traffic route of the town (heavy traffic and developed technical infrastructure).
      The best-quality sludge was retained in the pond for treated wastewater. In the
      pool of analysed components, the largest share is Zn, which amounts to about 85%.
      The content of heavy metals limits the possibility of the natural use of sludge
      from the municipal stormwater treatment plant. In chemical terms, they should be
      seen as a potentially dangerous waste and undergo remediation.

PMID- 28585013
TI  - Association of atmospheric concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
      with their urinary metabolites in children and adolescents.
AB  - This study aims to determine the atmospheric concentrations of particulate matter
      2.5 (PM2.5)-bounded polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their association
      with their urinary metabolites in children and adolescents. This study was
      conducted from October 2014 to March 2016 in Isfahan, Iran. We measured 16
      species of PAHs bounded to PM2.5 by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS)
      from 7 parts of the city. Moreover, PAH urinary metabolites were measured in 186
      children and adolescents, randomly selected from households. Urinary metabolites
      consisted of 1-hydroxy naphthalene (1-naphthol), 2-hydroxy naphthalene (2
      naphthol), 9-hydroxy phenanthrene (9-phenanthrol), and 1-hydroxy pyrene using
      GC/MS. Considering the short half-lives of PAHs, we measured the metabolites
      twice with 4 to 6 months of time interval. We found that the ambient
      concentrations of PAHs were significantly associated with their urinary
      metabolites. 1-hydroxy naphthalene and 2-hydroxy naphthalene concentrations
      showed an increase of 1.049 (95% CI: 1.030, 1.069) and 1.047 (95% CI: 1.025,
      1.066) for each unit increase (1 ng/m3) in ambient naphthalene. Similarly, 1
      hydroxy pyrene showed an increase of 1.009 (95% CI: 1.006-1.011) for each unit
      increase (1 ng/m3) in ambient pyrene concentration after adjustment for body mass
      index, physical activity level, urinary creatinine, age, and sex. The association
      of urinary 9-hydroxyphenanthrene and ambient phenantherene was significant in the
      crude model; however after adjustment for the abovementioned covariates, it was
      no more significant. We found significant correlations between exposure to
      ambient PM2.5-bounded PAHs and their urinary excretion. Considering the adverse
      health effects of PAHs in the pediatric age group, biomonitoring of PAHs should
      be underscored; preventive measures need to be intensified.

PMID- 28585015
TI  - Long-term dynamic characterization of aeolian desertification in northwest
      Shanxi, China.
AB  - Northwest Shanxi is located on the farming-pastoral ecotone of northern China,
      where aeolian desertification is one of the most serious environmental and
      socioeconomic issues. The remote sensing image and geostatistical approach were
      implemented to estimate aeolian desertified land (ADL) dynamic variations from
      1975 to 2015. Results showed that the ADL covered 11,685.21 km2 (82.29%) of the
      study area in 2015, the majority of which was classified as a light or moderate
      degree. The area of ADL gradually expanded at an increasing rate of 87.37 km2 a-1
      during the 1975-2000 periods. More specifically, the area of ADL has increased by
      1259.23 km2 from 1975 to 1990 and by 924.96 km2 from 1990 to 2000, respectively.
      In contrast, spatial transfer of ADL areas has dwindled by 2365.85 km2 with a net
      decrease of 157.72 km2 a-1, and the mitigated areas of aeolian desertification
      were 10,602.24 km2 between 2000 and 2015. During the past 40 years, the gravity
      center of ADL migrated to southeast until 2000 and moved northwest in 2000-2015.
      From 1975 to 2000, the migration distance of severe ADL was the largest, migrated
      toward the northwest by 19.03 km in 1975-1990 and by 20.16 km in 1990-2000,
      respectively. From 2000 to 2015, the migration distance of light ADL was the
      largest, 27.54 km migrated to the northwest. Aeolian desertification rapidly
      expanded from 1975 to 2000 under the combination of climate change and intensive
      human activities. Since the year of 2000, ecological engineering strategy
      initiated by the governments has been the dominant contributor to the aeolian
      desertification severity reversal. Aeolian desertification prevention is a
      complicated process. Both the central and local government should play a critical
      role in the rehabilitation of ADL in the long term.

PMID- 28585014
TI  - Distribution, sources, and ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons in surface sediments from the Haihe River, a typical polluted urban
      river in Northern China.
AB  - The distribution, sources, and ecological risk of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in surface sediments from the Haihe River.
      Total PAH concentrations varied from 171.4 to 9511.2 ng g-1 with an average of
      2125.4 ng g-1, suggesting serious pollution of the Haihe River in comparison with
      other reported rivers worldwide. PAH contaminants differed significantly among 17
      sampling locations with high values occurring in industrial areas and densely
      populated areas. The composition of PAHs was characterized by high abundance of 4
      ring and 5-ring PAHs, and benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, and benzo[a]pyrene were
      the predominant components. Molecular diagnostic ratios have confirmed that PAHs
      in Haihe River sediments resulted from mixed sources, primarily including various
      combustion processes. Ecological risk assessment using the Sediments Quality
      Guidelines indicated that PAHs in sediments could cause certain negative effects
      on aquatic organisms in most survey regions.

PMID- 28585016
TI  - Ecotoxicological assessment of pesticides and their combination on rhizospheric
      microbial community structure and function of Vigna radiata.
AB  - India is one of the leading countries in production and indiscriminate
      consumption of pesticides. Owing to their xenobiotic nature, pesticides affect
      soil microorganisms that serve as mediators in plant growth promotion. Our study
      aimed to deliver a comprehensive picture, by comparing the effects of synthetic
      pesticides (chlorpyriphos, cypermethrin, and a combination of both) with a
      biopesticide (azadirachtin) at their recommended field application level (L), and
      three times the recommended dosage (H) on structure and function of microbial
      community in rhizosphere of Vigna radiata. Effect on culturable fraction was
      assessed by enumeration on selective media, while PCR-denaturing gradient gel
      electrophoresis (DGGE) was employed to capture total bacterial community
      diversity. This was followed by a metabolic sketch using community-level
      physiological profiling (CLPP), to obtain a broader picture of the non-target
      effects on rhizospheric microbial community. Although plant parameters were not
      significantly affected by pesticide application, the microbial community
      structure experienced an undesirable impact as compared to control devoid of
      pesticide treatment. Examination of DGGE banding patterns through cluster
      analysis revealed that microbial community structure of pesticide-treated soils
      had only 70% resemblance to control rhizospheric soil even at 45 days post
      application. Drastic changes in the metabolic profiles of pesticide-treated soils
      were also detected in terms of substrate utilization, rhizospheric diversity, and
      evenness. It is noteworthy that the effects exacerbated by biopesticide were
      comparable to that of synthetic pesticides, thus emphasizing the significance of
      ecotoxicological assessments before tagging biopesticides as "safe alternatives."

PMID- 28585017
TI  - Laboratory-induced learned helplessness attenuates approach motivation as indexed
      by posterior versus frontal theta activity.
AB  - Research suggests that midline posterior versus frontal electroencephalographic
      (EEG) theta activity (PFTA) may reflect a novel neurophysiological index of
      approach motivation. Elevated PFTA has been associated with approach-related
      tendencies both at rest and during laboratory tasks designed to enhance approach
      motivation. PFTA is sensitive to changes in dopamine signaling within the fronto
      striatal neural circuit, which is centrally involved in approach motivation,
      reward processing, and goal-directed behavior. To date, however, no studies have
      examined PFTA during a laboratory task designed to reduce approach motivation or
      goal-directed behavior. Considerable animal and human research supports the
      hypothesis put forth by the learned helplessness theory that exposure to
      uncontrollable aversive stimuli decreases approach motivation by inducing a state
      of perceived uncontrollability. Accordingly, the present study examined the
      effect of perceived uncontrollability (i.e., learned helplessness) on PFTA. EEG
      data were collected from 74 participants (mean age = 19.21 years; 40 females)
      exposed to either Controllable (n = 26) or Uncontrollable (n = 25) aversive noise
      bursts, or a No-Noise Condition (n = 23). In line with prediction, individuals
      exposed to uncontrollable aversive noise bursts displayed a significant decrease
      in PFTA, reflecting reduced approach motivation, relative to both individuals
      exposed to controllable noise bursts or the No-Noise Condition. There was no
      relationship between perceived uncontrollability and frontal EEG alpha asymmetry,
      another commonly used neurophysiological index of approach motivation. Results
      have implications for understanding the neurophysiology of approach motivation
      and establishing PFTA as a neurophysiological index of approach-related
      tendencies.

PMID- 28585018
TI  - Resting-state theta/beta EEG ratio is associated with reward- and punishment
      related reversal learning.
AB  - Prior research has shown that the ratio between resting-state theta (4-7 Hz)-beta
      (13-30 Hz) oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) is associated with
      reward- and punishment-related feedback learning and risky decision making.
      However, it remains unclear whether the theta/beta EEG ratio is also an
      electrophysiological index for poorer behavioral adaptation when reward and
      punishment contingencies change over time. The aim of the present study was to
      investigate whether resting-state theta (4-7 Hz)-beta (13-30 Hz) EEG ratio
      correlated with reversal learning. A 4-min resting-state EEG was recorded and a
      gambling task with changing reward-punishment contingencies was administered in
      128 healthy volunteers. Results showed an inverse relationship between theta/beta
      EEG ratio and reversal learning. Our findings replicate and extend previous
      findings by showing that higher midfrontal theta/beta EEG ratios are associated
      with poorer reversal learning and behavioral adaptive responses under changing
      environmental demands.

PMID- 28585019
TI  - Women in the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle have difficulty suppressing
      the processing of negative emotional stimuli: An event-related potential study.
AB  - Emotion regulation deficits have been implicated in anxiety and depressive
      disorders, and these internalising disorders are more prevalent in women than
      men. Few electrophysiological studies have investigated sex differences in
      emotional reactivity and emotion regulation controlling for menstrual phase.
      Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 28 early follicular women, 29
      midluteal women, and 27 men who completed an emotion regulation task. A novel
      finding of increased N2 amplitude during suppression was found for midluteal
      women compared with men. These findings suggest midluteal women may be
      significantly less able to suppress cortical processing of negative stimuli
      compared to men. This ERP finding was complemented by behavioral ratings data
      which revealed that while both early follicular and midluteal women reported more
      distress than men, midluteal women also reported greater effort when suppressing
      their responses than men. P1 and N1 components were increased in midluteal women
      compared to men regardless of instructional set, suggesting greater early
      attentional processing. No sex or menstrual phase differences were apparent in P3
      or LPP. This study underscores the importance of considering menstrual phase when
      examining sex differences in the cortical processing of emotion regulation and
      demonstrates that midluteal women may have deficits in down-regulating their
      neural and behavioural responses.

PMID- 28585020
TI  - Experimental manipulation of infant temperament affects amygdala functional
      connectivity.
AB  - In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study we examined neural
      processing of infant faces associated with a happy or a sad temperament in
      nulliparous women. We experimentally manipulated adult perception of infant
      temperament in a probabilistic learning task. In this task, participants learned
      about an infant's temperament through repeated pairing of the infant face with
      positive or negative facial expressions and vocalizations. At the end of the
      task, participants were able to differentiate between "mostly sad" infants who
      cried often and "mostly happy" infants who laughed often. Afterwards, brain
      responses to neutral faces of infants with a happy or a sad temperament were
      measured with fMRI and compared to brain responses to neutral infants with no
      temperament association. Our findings show that a brief experimental manipulation
      of temperament can change brain responses to infant signals. We found increased
      amygdala connectivity with frontal regions and the visual cortex, including the
      occipital fusiform gyrus, during the perception of infants with a happy
      temperament. In addition, amygdala connectivity was positively related to the
      post-manipulation ratings of infant temperament, indicating that amygdala
      connectivity is involved in the encoding of the rewarding value of an infant with
      a happy temperament.

PMID- 28585022
TI  - Erratum to: Relationship between individual and group learning in a marine
      teleost: A case study with sea bass under self-feeding conditions.

PMID- 28585023
TI  - Dynamic radiostereometric analysis for evaluation of hip joint pathomechanics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dynamic RSA (dRSA) enables non-invasive 3D motion-tracking of bones
      and may be used to evaluate in-vivo hip joint kinematics including hip
      pathomechanics such as femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and the biomechanical
      effects of arthroscopic cheilectomy and -rim trimming (ACH). The study aim was to
      evaluate the kinematic changes in the hip joint after ACH. METHODS: Seven non-FAI
      affected human cadaveric hips were CT-scanned and CT-bone models were created.
      dRSA recordings of the hip joints were acquired at five frames/s during passive
      flexion, adduction to stop, and internal rotation to stop (FADIR). ACH was
      performed and dRSA was repeated. dRSA images were analyzed using model-based RSA.
      Hip joint kinematics before and after ACH were compared pairwise. The volume of
      removed bone was quantified and compared to the postoperative range of motion
      (ROM). RESULTS: Mean hip internal rotation increased from 19.1 to 21.9 degrees 
      (p = 0.04, Delta2.8 degrees , SD 2.7) after ACH surgery. Mean adduction of 3.9
      degrees  before and 2.7 degrees  after ACH surgery was unchanged (p = 0.48, Delta
      1.2 degrees ; SD 4.3). Mean flexion angles during dRSA tests were 82.4 degrees 
      before and 80.8 degrees  after ACH surgery, which were similar (p = 0.18, Delta
      1.6 degrees , SD = 2.7). No correlation between volume of removed bone and ROM
      was observed. CONCLUSIONS: A small increase in internal rotation, but not in
      adduction, was observed after arthroscopic cheilectomy and -rim trimming in
      cadaver hips. The hip flexion angle of the FADIR test was reproducible. dRSA
      kinematic analysis is a new and clinically applicable method with good potential
      to evaluate hip joint kinematics and to test FAI pathomechanics and other
      surgical corrections of the hip.

PMID- 28585025
TI  - Our trainees, our future.

PMID- 28585021
TI  - The relationship between hyperthyrotropinemia and metabolic and cardiovascular
      risk factors in a large group of overweight and obese children and adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mild TSH elevations are frequently observed in obese patients, in the
      absence of any detectable thyroid disease. Our objective is to evaluate the
      relationship between the raised TSH levels and the biochemical and clinical
      consequences of obesity. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study
      of a large population of obese children and adolescents. We evaluated 833
      subjects (340 m, 493 f), aged 14.4 +/- 2.5 (range 5.2-18.5) years, height SDS
      0.27 +/- 1.04 (-3.49-4.35), and BMI SDS 2.94 +/- 0.59 (1.60-4.68). Body
      composition, free T4, TSH, anti-TPO antibodies, anti-TG antibodies, inflammation
      markers (total WBC and the subtypes, ultrasensitive C-reactive protein), and
      metabolic parameters [AST, ALT, gammaGT, ALP, glycaemia, insulin, total
      cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C),
      triglycerides (TG)] were measured, and oral disposition index (ODI) and
      cardiovascular risk factors (TC/HDL-C and TG/HDL-C) were calculated. After
      exclusion of the subjects showing anti-thyroid antibodies, the remaining 779 (325
      m, 454 f) were then subdivided into two subgroups according to a TSH value below
      (group A) or above (group B) 4.5 mU/L. RESULTS: Clinical characteristics and
      hematological markers of patients with and without positive anti-thyroid
      antibodies were similar, with the exception of higher TSH levels in the latter
      group. Using analysis of covariance, the subjects of group B had significantly
      higher values of TC (170.3 +/- 28.7 vs 163.3 +/- 32.9 mg/dL; p < 0.05), systolic
      (125.8 +/- 13.5 vs 124.5 +/- 13.1 mm/Hg), and diastolic blood pressure (79.2 +/-
      8.0 vs 77.9 +/- 8.2 mm/Hg) than subjects of group A. No difference was observed
      in body composition, ODI, and the cardiovascular risk factors between these two
      groups. CONCLUSION: TSH elevation in overweight and obese children and
      adolescents, being associated with a higher TC and blood pressure, might
      negatively influence the cardiac status. Longitudinal studies are requested,
      however, to confirm this hypothesis and, therefore, to conclude whether a
      substitutive treatment with l-thyroxine is really needed in these patients.

PMID- 28585024
TI  - Job Displacement and First Birth Over the Business Cycle.
AB  - In this article, we investigate the impact of job displacement on women's first
      birth rates as well as the variation in this effect over the business cycle. We
      use mass layoffs to estimate the causal effects of involuntary job loss on
      fertility in the short and medium term, up to five years after displacement. Our
      analysis is based on rich administrative data from Germany, with an observation
      period spanning more than 20 years. We apply inverse probability weighting (IPW)
      to flexibly control for the observed differences between women who were and were
      not displaced. To account for the differences in the composition of the women who
      were displaced in a downturn and the women who were displaced in an upswing, we
      use a double weighting estimator. Results show that the extent to which job
      displacement has adverse effects on fertility depends on the business cycle. The
      first-birth rates were much lower for women who were displaced in an economic
      downturn than for those who lost a job in an economic upturn. This result cannot
      be explained by changes in the observed characteristics of the displaced women
      over the business cycle.

PMID- 28585026
TI  - Standardized uptake values in FDG PET/CT for prosthetic heart valve endocarditis:
      a call for standardization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The significance of and threshold values for the standardized uptake
      value (SUV) in FDG PET/CT to diagnose prosthetic heart valve (PHV) endocarditis
      (PVE) are unclear at present. METHODS: A literature search was performed in the
      PubMed and EMBASE medical databases, comprising the following terms: (FDG OR
      *fluorode* OR *fluoro-de*) AND (endocarditis OR prosthetic heart valve OR valve
      replacement). Studies reporting SUVs correlated to the diagnosis of PVE were
      selected for analysis. RESULTS: 8 studies were included, with a total of 330 PHVs
      assessed. SUVs for PVE varied substantially across studies due to differences in
      acquisition, reconstruction, and measurement protocols, with median SUVmax values
      for rejected PVE ranging from 0.5 to 4.9 and for definite PVE ranging from 4.2 to
      7.4. CONCLUSION: Reported SUV values for PVE are not interchangeable between
      sites, and further standardization of quantification is desirable. To this end,
      optimal protocols for patient preparation, image acquisition, and reconstruction
      and measurement methods need to be standardized across centers.

PMID- 28585028
TI  - Nuclear cardiology in the literature: A selection of recent, original research
      papers.

PMID- 28585027
TI  - Myocardial ischemia without obstructive CAD: there is more than meets the eye!

PMID- 28585029
TI  - Another potential step to improve prosthetic heart valve endocarditis imaging
      with 18F-FDG PET/CT.

PMID- 28585030
TI  - Assessment of myocardial viability of a patient with old myocardial infarction by
      18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/MRI.

PMID- 28585031
TI  - 18F-FDG-PET in Finnish patients with clinical suspicion of cardiac sarcoidosis:
      Female sex and history of atrioventricular block increase the prevalence of
      positive PET findings.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a non
      invasive imaging modality that has been shown to be a feasible method to
      demonstrate myocardial inflammation. The aim of this study was to identify the
      patients suspected of having cardiac sarcoidosis (CS), who are most likely to
      benefit from PET imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 137 patients suspected of having
      CS underwent a dedicated cardiac FDG-PET examination at Tampere University
      Hospital between August 2012 and September 2015. These examinations were
      retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: 33 and 12 of the 137 patients had abnormal
      left and right ventricular (LV and RV) FDG-uptake, respectively. Abnormal LV
      uptake and RV-uptake were significantly associated with female sex and a history
      of advanced AV-block (P < 0.05). Abnormal RV-uptake was also associated with
      ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation (P < 0.05). 56% of the 27 female
      patients with a history of AV-block had a pathological PET finding compared to
      only 6% of the 49 male patients without a history of AV-block. There were 17
      female patients with history of both AV-block and ventricular tachycardia, 71% of
      them had abnormal PET finding. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal FDG-PET findings were
      associated with female sex, AV-block, and arrhythmias in this clinical cohort.

PMID- 28585032
TI  - Emerging role of echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and 99mTc
      labeled bone tracer scintigraphy for the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis.

PMID- 28585033
TI  - Screening pre-renal transplant: Risk factors appear key but important questions
      remain.

PMID- 28585035
TI  - UGT1A1*6 polymorphisms are correlated with irinotecan-induced neutropenia: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Irinotecan (IRI) chemotherapy toxicities can be severe, and may result in
      treatment delay, morbidity and in some rare cases death. Neutropenia is a life
      threatening side effect of irinotecan, and UDP glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs)
      gene polymorphisms could predict the side effects in cancer patients and then
      reduce IRI-induced toxicity by preventative treatment or a decrease in dose. Both
      UGT1A1*6 and *28 were reliably demonstrated to be risk factors for IRI-induced
      neutropenia, with tests for both polymorphisms potentially being particularly
      useful in Asian cancer patients. However, some researchers reported that UGT1A1*6
      could predict IRI-induced toxicities in Asian populations, controversial
      conclusions still remained. Thus, the association between UGT1A1*6 polymorphisms
      and IRI-induced severe toxicity in cancer patients is still needed to be
      explored. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the association between
      UGT1A1*6 polymorphisms and IRI-related severe neutropenia in cancer patients on a
      large scale. A total of 12 studies that included 746 wild genotype (G/G) cases
      and 394 variant genotype (G/A and A/A) cases were included on the basis of
      inclusion criteria. Then we assessed the methodologies quality; odds ratio (OR),
      risk difference (RD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to assess
      the strength of association. Overall, an increased risk of severe neutropenia in
      cancer patients with UGT1A1*6 polymorphisms was found. Patients with recessive
      models (GA + AA vs. GG) of UGT1A1*6 showed an increased risk (OR 2.03, 95% CI
      1.54-2.68; RD = 0.11, P < 0.001). Specifically, the heterozygous variant of
      UGT1A1*6 showed an increased risk (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.36-2.46; RD = 0.09, P <
      0.001), and homozygous mutation showed also high risk (OR 2.95, 95% CI 1.83-4.75;
      RD = 0.18, P < 0.001) for severe neutropenia. Subgroup meta-analysis revealed
      that for patients harboring both heterozygous and homozygous variants, cancer
      types, low dose of IRI and the duration of treatment also presented comparably
      increased risk in suffering severe neutropenia. As for country, in China and
      Japan, there was a statistically increased severe neutropenia with variant
      genotype of UGT1A1*6 (China: GA + AA vs. GG, OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.28-2.59; RD =
      0.08, P = 0.001; Japan: GA + AA vs. GG, OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.45-3.92; RD = 0.15, P =
      0.001). In conclusion, in this meta-analysis, the UGT1A1*6 polymorphisms were
      associated with an increased risk of IRI-induced neutropenia in cancer patients,
      and increased incidences of severe neutropenia could be correlated with diverse
      regions, cancer type, low dose of IRI and the duration of treatment.

PMID- 28585036
TI  - Differential expression pattern of protein markers for predicting
      chemosensitivity of dexamethasone-based chemotherapy of B cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Dexamethasone is considered as a direct chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment
      of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Beside the advantages of the
      drug, some problems arising from the dose-related side effects are challenging
      issues during the treatment. Accordingly, the classification of patients to
      dexamethasone sensitive and resistance groups can help to select optimizing the
      therapeutic dose with the lowest adverse effects particularly in sensitive cases.
      For this purpose, we investigated inhibited proliferation and induced
      cytotoxicity in NALM-6 cells, as sensitive cells, after dexamethasone treatment.
      In addition, comparative protein expression analysis using the 2DE-MALDI-TOF MS
      technique was performed to identify the specific altered proteins. In addition,
      we evaluated mRNA expression levels of the identified proteins in bone-marrow
      samples from pediatric ALL patients using the real-time q-PCR method. Eventually,
      proteomic analysis revealed a combination of biomarkers, including capping
      proteins (CAPZA1 and CAPZB), chloride channel (CLIC1), purine nucleoside
      phosphorylase (PNP), and proteasome activator (PSME1), in response to the
      dexamethasone treatment. In addition, our results indicated low expression of
      identified proteins at both the mRNA and protein expression levels after drug
      treatment. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR data analysis indicated that
      independent of the molecular subtypes of the leukemia, CAPZA1, CAPZB, CLIC1, and
      PNP expression levels were lower in ALL samples than normal samples, although
      PSME1 expression level was higher in ALL samples than normal samples.
      Furthermore, the expression level of all proteins (except PSME1) was different
      between high-risk and standard-risk patients that suggesting the prognostic value
      of them. In conclusion, our study suggests a panel of biomarkers comprising
      CAPZA1, CAPZB, CLIC1, PNP, and PSME1 as early diagnosis and treatment evaluation
      markers that may differentiate cancer cells which are presumably to benefit from
      dexamethasone-based chemotherapy and may facilitate the prediction of clinical
      outcome.

PMID- 28585037
TI  - A review of diazinon use, contamination in surface waters, and regulatory actions
      in California across water years 1992-2014.
AB  - Diazinon is an organophosphorus insecticide that has been widely used in the USA
      and in California resulting in contamination of surface waters. Several federal
      and state regulations have been implemented with the aim of reducing its impact
      to human health and the environment, e.g., the cancellation of residential use
      products by the USEPA and dormant spray regulations by the California Department
      of Pesticide Regulation. This study reviewed the change in diazinon use and
      surface water contamination in accordance with the regulatory actions implemented
      in California over water years 1992-2014. We observed that use amounts began
      declining when agencies announced the intention to regulate certain use patterns
      and continued to decline after the implementation of those programs and
      regulations. The reduction in use amounts led to a downward trend in
      concentration data and exceedance frequencies in surface waters. Moreover, we
      concluded that diazinon concentrations in California's surface waters in recent
      years (i.e., water years 2012-2014) posed a de minimis risk to aquatic organisms.

PMID- 28585034
TI  - Myocardial perfusion imaging in women for the evaluation of stable ischemic heart
      disease-state-of-the-evidence and clinical recommendations.
AB  - This document from the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology represents an
      updated consensus statement on the evidence base of stress myocardial perfusion
      imaging (MPI), emphasizing new developments in single-photon emission tomography
      (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) in the clinical evaluation of
      women presenting with symptoms of stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD). The
      clinical evaluation of symptomatic women is challenging due to their varying
      clinical presentation, clinical risk factor burden, high degree of comorbidity,
      and increased risk of major ischemic heart disease events. Evidence is
      substantial that both SPECT and PET MPI effectively risk stratify women with
      SIHD. The addition of coronary flow reserve (CFR) with PET improves risk
      detection, including for women with nonobstructive coronary artery disease and
      coronary microvascular dysfunction. With the advent of PET with computed
      tomography (CT), multiparametric imaging approaches may enable integration of MPI
      and CFR with CT visualization of anatomical atherosclerotic plaque to uniquely
      identify at-risk women. Radiation dose-reduction strategies, including the use of
      ultra-low-dose protocols involving stress-only imaging, solid-state detector
      SPECT, and PET, should be uniformly applied whenever possible to all women
      undergoing MPI. Appropriate candidate selection for stress MPI and for post-MPI
      indications for guideline-directed medical therapy and/or invasive coronary
      angiography are discussed in this statement. The critical need for randomized and
      comparative trial data in female patients is also emphasized.

PMID- 28585038
TI  - Power analysis as a tool to identify statistically informative indicators for
      monitoring coral reef disturbances.
AB  - Extensive biological field surveys are costly and time consuming. To optimize
      sampling and ensure regular monitoring on the long term, identifying informative
      indicators of anthropogenic disturbances is a priority. In this study, we used
      1800 candidate indicators by combining metrics measured from coral, fish, and
      macro-invertebrate assemblages surveyed from 2006 to 2012 in the vicinity of an
      ongoing mining project in the Voh-Kone-Pouembout lagoon, New Caledonia. We
      performed a power analysis to identify a subset of indicators which would best
      discriminate temporal changes due to a simulated chronic anthropogenic impact.
      Only 4% of tested indicators were likely to detect a 10% annual decrease of
      values with sufficient power (>0.80). Corals generally exerted higher statistical
      power than macro-invertebrates and fishes because of lower natural variability
      and higher occurrence. For the same reasons, higher taxonomic ranks provided
      higher power than lower taxonomic ranks. Nevertheless, a number of families of
      common sedentary or sessile macro-invertebrates and fishes also performed well in
      detecting changes: Echinometridae, Isognomidae, Muricidae, Tridacninae, Arcidae,
      and Turbinidae for macro-invertebrates and Pomacentridae, Labridae, and
      Chaetodontidae for fishes. Interestingly, these families did not provide high
      power in all geomorphological strata, suggesting that the ability of indicators
      in detecting anthropogenic impacts was closely linked to reef geomorphology. This
      study provides a first operational step toward identifying statistically relevant
      indicators of anthropogenic disturbances in New Caledonia's coral reefs, which
      can be useful in similar tropical reef ecosystems where little information is
      available regarding the responses of ecological indicators to anthropogenic
      disturbances.

PMID- 28585039
TI  - Total mercury in muscles and liver of Mugil spp. from three coastal lagoons of NW
      Mexico: concentrations and risk assessment.
AB  - Total mercury (Hg) concentrations were determined by atomic absorption
      spectrophotometry in muscles and liver of composite samples of Mugil cephalus and
      M. curema collected during November 2013 and in January, April, and July 2014
      from the coastal lagoons Altata-Ensenada del Pabellon (AEP), Ceuta (CEU), and
      Teacapan-Agua Brava (TAG) of Sinaloa State. The mean Hg contents and information
      on local consumption were used to assess the possible risk caused by fish
      ingestion. Mean total mercury levels in the muscles ranged from 0.11 to 0.39
      MUg/g, while the range for liver was 0.12-3.91 MUg/g. The mean Hg content of the
      liver was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than that of the muscles only in
      samples collected from AEP. Although total Hg levels in the muscles were lower
      than the official permissible limit, the HQ values for methyl mercury calculated
      for the younger age classes of one fishing community were >1, indicating a
      possible risk for some fishing communities of the Mexican Pacific coast.

PMID- 28585040
TI  - Water demand forecasting: review of soft computing methods.
AB  - Demand forecasting plays a vital role in resource management for governments and
      private companies. Considering the scarcity of water and its inherent
      constraints, demand management and forecasting in this domain are critically
      important. Several soft computing techniques have been developed over the last
      few decades for water demand forecasting. This study focuses on soft computing
      methods of water consumption forecasting published between 2005 and 2015. These
      methods include artificial neural networks (ANNs), fuzzy and neuro-fuzzy models,
      support vector machines, metaheuristics, and system dynamics. Furthermore, it was
      discussed that while in short-term forecasting, ANNs have been superior in many
      cases, but it is still very difficult to pick a single method as the overall
      best. According to the literature, various methods and their hybrids are applied
      to water demand forecasting. However, it seems soft computing has a lot more to
      contribute to water demand forecasting. These contribution areas include, but are
      not limited, to various ANN architectures, unsupervised methods, deep learning,
      various metaheuristics, and ensemble methods. Moreover, it is found that soft
      computing methods are mainly used for short-term demand forecasting.

PMID- 28585041
TI  - Clinical Impact of Mismatch Repair Protein Testing on Outcome of Early Staged
      Colorectal Carcinomas.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and second
      most common in women globally. In the present study, we aimed to analyse the
      proportion of patients with loss of immunostaining for mismatch repair (MMR)
      proteins in all newly diagnosed stage II cases of colorectal cancer for the
      purpose of prognostication, for determination of further chemotherapeutic
      strategy and for familial screening. METHOD: From January 2014 to December 2015,
      62 consecutive newly diagnosed cases of stage II colorectal cancer were included
      in the study. Details of each patient related to their demographic profile and
      tumour profile were recorded. All the cases were grossed and staged according to
      College of American Pathologist (CAP) guidelines. The expression of MMR proteins
      (which was earlier validated on normal as well as tumour tissue) in FFPE tumour
      tissue using IHC for mut L homologue 1 (MLH1), mut S homologue 2 (MSH2), mut S
      homologue 6 (MSH6) and post-meiotic segregation increased 2 (PMS2) was studied.
      Information regarding stage, treatment, clinical outcome and overall survival was
      retrieved when available. RESULTS: Out of a total of 371 cases, 62 (16.7%) cases
      were of stage II CRC, out of which 43 (12%) were treatment naive. Among the
      selected 62 cases, 26 (41.9%) demonstrated loss of MMR proteins and 36 (58.0%)
      cases had intact nuclear expression. Out of the cases with MMR loss, 38.4% showed
      loss of MLH1 and PMS2, 30.7% showed loss of MSH2 and MSH6, 26.9% showed isolated
      loss of PMS2 and 3.8% showed isolated loss of MSH6. Right-sided location (57.6%)
      was more common than left-sided (19.2%) and transverse colon (23.0%). Majority of
      the cases were moderately differentiated (65.3%) in morphology. There was no
      intratumoural infiltrate in most of the cases (53.8%), and only 3.8% cases showed
      marked intratumoural infiltrate. Also, peritumoural lymphocytic infiltrate was
      mild to moderate in most of the cases (26.9%) and marked Crohn's-like infiltrate
      was seen in only 7.6% cases. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the routine
      evaluation of MMR proteins is achievable and essential for the purpose of
      prognostication, planning of treatment strategies and ascertaining a hereditary
      basis of CRC. The incidence of MMR protein loss was quite high in our study
      compared to other studies probably due to a difference in ethnicity. Though a
      right-sided predominance was supported, none of the typical morphological
      features of microsatellite instability (MSI) tumours were substantiated by our
      study, highlighting the lack of importance of histology for predicting MSI, and
      emphasising the point that MSI testing should be done as a routine procedure in
      all stage II CRC. A short follow-up was done for all our cases and comparison
      between the survival of the chemotherapy treated MSI cases versus those which
      were treatment naive was performed and revealed that chemotherapy (CT) did not
      provide additional benefit to survival; MSI tumours in general are a better
      prognostic category and do not require additional chemotherapy.

PMID- 28585042
TI  - Characterizing the interactions of two lipid modifications with lipid rafts:
      farnesyl anchors vs. palmitoyl anchors.
AB  - Farnesyl (Far) and palmitoyl (Pal) anchors play important roles in the traffic of
      many lipidated proteins. Herein, we show the distinctive interactions and
      influences of the two lipid modifications on lipid rafts (LRs) and non-raft-like
      membranes using molecular dynamics simulations. Palmitoyl anchors behave in a
      more ordered fashion, pack tighter with the lipids of LRs and diffuse at a slower
      rate than farnesyl anchors in LRs. When interacting with non-raft-like membranes
      these two types of anchors become less ordered, pack more loosely with lipids,
      and diffuse at a higher rate. By calculating both the number of contacts per
      chain and the number of contact atoms per carbon of the two anchors with the
      lipid components, we found that the palmitoyl chains preferred to associate with
      the saturated chains of lipids and cholesterol molecules in LRs, while farnesyl
      chains favored association with saturated chains and unsaturated chains. For non
      raft-like membranes, these two lipid anchors had roughly the same preference for
      the three types of contact lipid chains. Additionally, palmitoyl anchors caused
      cholesterol to orient more perpendicular to the membrane surface, surrounding
      lipids to become more ordered, and lipid lateral fluidity to reduce
      significantly, compared to farnesyl anchors in LRs. By contrast, the POPE and
      DSPC became much less ordered, cholesterol became more tilted, and lipids became
      more fluid, when the two types lipid anchors were inserted in non-raft-like
      membranes. These findings are useful for understanding the traffic mechanisms of
      lipidated proteins with farnesyl and palmitoyl modifications in cell membranes.

PMID- 28585043
TI  - Candidate genes for migration do not distinguish migratory and non-migratory
      birds.
AB  - Migratory traits in birds have been shown to have a strong heritable component
      and several candidate genes have been suggested to control these migratory
      traits. To investigate if the genetic makeup of one or a set of these candidate
      genes can be used to identify a general pattern between migratory and non
      migratory birds, we extracted genomic sequence data for 25 hypothesised candidate
      genes for migration from 70 available genomes across all orders of Aves and
      characterised sequence divergence between migratory and non-migratory phenotypes.
      When examining each gene separately across all species, we did not identify any
      genetic variants in candidate genes that distinguished migrants from non
      migrants; any resulting pattern was driven by the phylogenetic signal. This was
      true for each gene analysed independently, but also for concatenated sequence
      alignments of all candidate genes combined. We also attempted to distinguish
      between migrant and non-migrants using structural features at four candidate
      genes that have previously been reported to show associated with migratory
      behaviour but did not pick up a signal for migratory phenotype here either.
      Finally, a screen for dN/dS ratio across all focal candidate genes to probe for
      putative features of selection did not uncover a pattern, though this might not
      be expected given the broad phylogenetic scale used here. Our study demonstrates
      the potential of public genomic data to test for general patterns of migratory
      gene candidates in a cross-species comparative context, and raise questions on
      the applicability of candidate gene approaches in a macro-evolutionary context to
      understand the genetic architecture of migratory behaviour.

PMID- 28585044
TI  - Lifestyle-tailored interventions for South Asians with type 2 diabetes living in
      high-income countries: a systematic review.
AB  - AIM: To summarize evidence on the effectiveness of educational interventions for
      type 2 diabetes control in South Asians living in high-income countries. METHODS:
      We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cinahl and the Cochrane Library, using
      Medical Subject Heading and free-text terms. The considered outcomes were:
      mortality, morbidity, glycaemic control, blood pressure, practice (diet, physical
      activity and self-care), attitudes/awareness and knowledge. Papers published up
      to July 2015 were considered. Two reviewers independently screened the title and
      abstract and then read the full text of selected papers. RESULTS: Nine studies
      were included, four non-randomized studies of interventions and five randomized
      controlled trials. All studies except one were conducted in the UK. Target
      population ranged from 39 to 1486 individuals; the follow-up ranged from 1 to 24
      months. The interventions were mostly based on a tailored educational package,
      individually or group administered, conducted by lay link workers, health
      professionals or both. No study measured mortality or morbidity. An effect on
      glycaemic control was observed only in before/after studies, while a randomized
      study showed a non-significant improvement (percentage of glycated haemoglobin 
      0.15, P = 0.11). Two randomized studies found a reduction in blood pressure.
      Changes in practice and attitudes showed heterogeneous results, mostly favouring
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: There was weak evidence that interventions using link
      workers and tailored education can modify attitudes, self-care skills and blood
      pressure in South Asian migrants to industrialized countries. Only one larger
      trial, with adequate follow-up, showed a small non-significant improvement of
      glycaemic control.

PMID- 28585045
TI  - Vaginal repair of a vesicocervical fistula after labored-cesarean delivery
      without concomitant hysterectomy.

PMID- 28585046
TI  - Gene Overexpression in Streptomyces hygroscopicus Associated with DNA
      Amplification.
AB  - The genetics of the Streptomyces hygroscopicus strain 10-22 is of interest due to
      the ability of this strain to produce antifungal compounds. Strain T110 was
      obtained through insertional mutagenesis of strain 10-22 and was found to have
      undergone DNA amplification, as determined by both conventional and pulsed-field
      gel electrophoresis (PFGE). pIJ702, the vector used for insertional mutagenesis,
      was shown to have integrated into and co-amplified with the chromosomal DNA
      sequence of T110, as pIJ702 hybridized predominantly with two of the three
      amplified BamHI fragments. The amplified DNA sequence in T110 is 10.8 kb in
      length and consists of 5.18 kb of Streptomyces chromosomal DNA and the entire
      5.62 kb pIJ702 sequence. Sequence analysis of the 5.18 kb chromosomal sequence
      revealed two open reading frames, one encoding a putative IS5 family transposase
      and the other encoding a putative dihydroxy-acid dehydratase. Real-time PCR
      analysis showed that expression of the putative dehydratase gene in T110 is about
      50 times greater than in the wild-type strain, consistent with the high level of
      amplification of this DNA region, and therefore this system has the potential for
      producing economically or clinically important molecules.

PMID- 28585047
TI  - Aquichromatium aeriopus gen. nov., sp. nov., A Non-phototrophic Aerobic
      Chemoheterotrophic Bacterium, and Proposal of Aquichromatiaceae fam. nov. in the
      Order Chromatiales.
AB  - A gram-staining negative, non-motile, aerobic chemoheterotrophic, ovoid or short
      rod-shaped bacterium, designated as J89T, was isolated from a seawater sample
      collected from the coast of Yellow Sea in Qingdao, China. The strain grew at
      salinities of 1.0-6.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 3.0%). Growth occurred at pH 6.0-9.0
      (optimum, pH 7.0) and at 10-35  degrees C (optimum, 25-30  degrees C). The
      genomic DNA G+C content was determined to be 59.3 mol%. Q-8 was detected as the
      respiratory quinone. The major fatty acids (>10%) were summed feature 3 (C16:1
      omega7c and/or C16:1 omega6c), summed feature 8 (C18:1 omega7c and/or C18:1
      omega6c), and C16:0. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol,
      phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, two unidentified phospholipids, and an
      unidentified polar lipid. Comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that
      the strain was most closely related (<91%) to members of the order Chromatiales
      in the class Gammaproteobacteria. Phylogenetic analyses showed that this strain
      represented a distinct phylogenetic lineage in the order Chromatiales and could
      not be assigned to any of the defined families in the order. On the basis of low
      sequence similarities and differential characteristics of strain J89T from the
      genera of neighboring families, the strain is proposed to be a representative of
      a novel genus Aquichromatium gen. nov. A new family Aquichromatiaceae with the
      type genus Aquichromatium is proposed. Strain J89T (=MCCC 1K03281T=CMRC
      C2017206T) is the type strain of the type species Aquichromatium aeriopus sp.
      nov.

PMID- 28585049
TI  - Characteristics and in-hospital outcomes in young patients presenting with acute
      coronary syndrome treated by percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - There is a growing interest in the optimizing care of acute coronary syndrome
      (ACS) in young patients, largely owing to their potential for longer life
      expectancy. Herein, we aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and
      outcome of young ACS patients (e.g. under 60 year old) from a Japanese
      multicenter percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) registry (KiCS-PCI). KiCS
      PCI registered consecutive ACS patients from 15 institutions, and 1560 (24.0%)
      out of 6499 ACS-related PCI involved patients aged <60 years. In this group,
      prevalence of dyslipidemia, smoking and family history of premature coronary
      artery disease (CAD) was higher, while the other classical risk factors were
      lower when compared to the old patients. After adjustment for known confounders,
      presentation with cardiogenic shock (CS) before PCI (OR 32.57, 95% CI 12.06
      87.97), culprit lesion of LMT (OR 7.53, 95% CI 1.26-44.98), multi-vessel disease
      (OR 3.82, 95% CI 1.37-10.63) and higher body mass index (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.00
      1.24) showed association with higher in-hospital mortality in young patients.
      Multi-vessel disease (OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.9-8.9) and chronic kidney disease (OR
      3.56, 95% CI 2.26-5.68) were associated with CS presentation. CS presentation was
      inversely associated with classical risk factors such as hypertension (OR 0.61,
      95% CI 0.38-0.96), family history of CAD (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.25-0.96), and
      dyslipidemia (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.29-0.71) and culprit lesion of RCA (OR 0.60, 95%
      CI 0.37-0.94). Overall, ACS in the younger population was observed frequently,
      accounting for a quarter of ACS-related PCI. CS was a harbinger for in-hospital
      mortality in these patients.

PMID- 28585048
TI  - Diminished femoral head-neck offset and the restricted hip range of motion
      suggesting a possible role in ACL injuries.
AB  - PURPOSE: Femoroacetabular impingement may be associated with anterior cruciate
      ligament (ACL) injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine the head-neck
      offset, as measured by 45 degrees  Dunn's view alpha angles, in patients with ACL
      injuries compared to control subjects. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 140
      consecutive non-professional athletes with primary ACL ruptures confirmed with
      knee arthroscopy and 100 consecutive patients with non-ACL injury were enrolled.
      Hip range of motion was assessed in lower extremities in all participants, and
      alpha angle was calculated according to 45 degrees  Dunn's view radiographs.
      RESULTS: There is not any difference in age, gender distribution, height, weight,
      and BMI between groups. Internal rotation, abduction, and adduction of the hip
      were significantly decreased in ACL-injured patients comparing with control
      subjects (p < 0.001). ACL-injured patients had also a significantly higher alpha
      angle comparing to the control individuals (p < 0.001). The mean of alpha angle
      in the ACL-injured patients was 56.1 (SD 10.1) and in the non-ACL-injured group
      was 49.3 (SD 9.4). CONCLUSIONS: The patients in ACL-injured group showed a
      significant restriction in hip range of motion and also a diminished femoral head
      neck offset suggesting a possible role of these findings in the outcome assessed.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 28585050
TI  - Exact analytical results for integrate-and-fire neurons driven by excitatory shot
      noise.
AB  - A neuron receives input from other neurons via electrical pulses, so-called
      spikes. The pulse-like nature of the input is frequently neglected in analytical
      studies; instead, the input is usually approximated to be Gaussian. Recent
      experimental studies have shown, however, that an assumption underlying this
      approximation is often not met: Individual presynaptic spikes can have a
      significant effect on a neuron's dynamics. It is thus desirable to explicitly
      account for the pulse-like nature of neural input, i.e. consider neurons driven
      by a shot noise - a long-standing problem that is mathematically challenging. In
      this work, we exploit the fact that excitatory shot noise with exponentially
      distributed weights can be obtained as a limit case of dichotomous noise, a
      Markovian two-state process. This allows us to obtain novel exact expressions for
      the stationary voltage density and the moments of the interspike-interval density
      of general integrate-and-fire neurons driven by such an input. For the special
      case of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons, we also give expressions for the power
      spectrum and the linear response to a signal. We verify and illustrate our
      expressions by comparison to simulations of leaky-, quadratic- and exponential
      integrate-and-fire neurons.

PMID- 28585051
TI  - The role of the putamen in language: a meta-analytic connectivity modeling study.
AB  - The putamen is a subcortical structure that forms part of the dorsal striatum of
      basal ganglia, and has traditionally been associated with reinforcement learning
      and motor control, including speech articulation. However, recent studies have
      shown involvement of the left putamen in other language functions such as
      bilingual language processing (Abutalebi et al. 2012) and production, with some
      authors arguing for functional segregation of anterior and posterior putamen
      (Oberhuber et al. 2013). A further step in exploring the role of putamen in
      language would involve identifying the network of coactivations of not only the
      left, but also the right putamen, given the involvement of right hemisphere in
      high order language functions (Vigneau et al. 2011). Here, a meta-analytic
      connectivity modeling technique was used to determine the patterns of
      coactivation of anterior and bilateral putamen in the language domain. Based on
      previous evidence, we hypothesized that left putamen coactivations would include
      brain regions directly associated with language processing, whereas right putamen
      coactivations would encompass regions involved in broader semantic processes,
      such as memory and visual imagery. The results showed that left anterior putamen
      coactivated with clusters predominantly in left hemisphere, encompassing regions
      directly associated with language processing, a left posterior putamen network
      spanning both hemispheres, and cerebellum. In right hemisphere, coactivations
      were in both hemispheres, in regions associated with visual and orthographic
      processing. These results confirm the differential involvement of right and left
      putamen in different language components, thus highlighting the need for further
      research into the role of putamen in language.

PMID- 28585052
TI  - Measurement of total CO2 in microliter samples of urine and other biological
      fluids using infrared detection of CO2.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to describe a low-cost and simply made instrument
      capable of measuring the total CO2 content of microliter volumes of biological
      fluids utilizing a commercially available CO2 sensor based on a NDIR detector.
      The described instrument is based on transformation of dissolved HCO3- to CO2 by
      acidification and subsequent measurement of the produced CO2. The instrument has
      a linear response in the range 0.025-10 MUmol HCO3-, which enables measurements
      in fresh urine and plasma samples down to 5 MUl. The values from plasma were
      compared to measurements made on 65 MUl whole blood in an automatic blood gas
      analyzer and found not to differ significantly. Compared to currently
      commercially available instruments applying the same principles to measure total
      CO2, this study provides a simple and robust alternative which even can be used
      on smaller sample volumes.

PMID- 28585053
TI  - Circulating levels of dickkopf-1, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin are higher in
      old compared with young men and women and positively associated with whole-body
      bone mineral density in older adults.
AB  - : Bone mineral density declines with increasing older age. We examined the levels
      of circulating factors known to regulate bone metabolism in healthy young and
      older adults. The circulating levels of dickkopf-1, osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin
      and sclerostin were positively associated with whole-body bone mineral density
      (WBMD) in older adults, despite the average WBMD being lower and circulating
      dickkopf-1, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin being higher in old than young.
      INTRODUCTION: This study aims to investigate the relationship between whole-body
      bone mineral density (WBMD) and levels of circulating factors with known roles in
      bone remodelling during 'healthy' ageing. METHODS: WBMD and fasting plasma
      concentrations of dickkopf-1, fibroblast growth factor-23, osteocalcin,
      osteoprotegerin, osteopontin and sclerostin were measured in 272 older subjects
      (69 to 81 years; 52% female) and 171 younger subjects (18-30 years; 53% female).
      RESULTS: WBMD was lower in old than young. Circulating osteocalcin was lower in
      old compared with young, while dickkopf-1, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin were
      higher in old compared with young. These circulating factors were each positively
      associated with WBMD in the older adults and the relationships remained after
      adjustment for covariates (r values ranging from 0.174 to 0.254, all p < 0.01).
      In multivariate regression, the body mass index, circulating sclerostin and whole
      body lean mass together accounted for 13.8% of the variation with WBMD in the
      older adults. In young adults, dickkopf-1 and body mass index together accounted
      for 7.7% of variation in WBMD. CONCLUSION: Circulating levels of dickkopf-1,
      osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin are positively associated with WBMD
      in community-dwelling older adults, despite the average WBMD being lower and
      circulating dickkopf-1, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin being higher in old than
      young.

PMID- 28585055
TI  - Forgetting from lapses of sustained attention.
AB  - When performing any task for an extended period of time, attention fluctuates
      between good and bad states. These fluctuations affect performance in the moment,
      but may also have lasting consequences for what gets encoded into memory.
      Experiment 1 establishes this relationship between attentional states and memory,
      by showing that subsequent memory for an item was predicted by a response time
      index of sustained attention (average response time during the three trials prior
      to stimulus onset). Experiment 2 strengthens the causal interpretation of this
      predictive relationship by treating the sustained attention index as an
      independent variable to trigger the appearance of an encoding trial. Subsequent
      memory was better when items were triggered from good versus bad attentional
      states. Together, these findings suggest that sustained attention can have
      downstream consequences for what we remember, and they highlight the inferential
      utility of adaptive experimental designs. By continuously monitoring attention,
      we can influence what will later be remembered.

PMID- 28585054
TI  - The effects of person-centered or other supportive interventions in older women
      with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures-a systematic review of the
      literature.
AB  - Vertebral compression fracture (VCF) is a common fragility fracture and the
      starting point of a lasting, painful, disabling condition. The aim was to
      summarize evidence of person-centered/non-medical interventions supporting women
      with VCF. Results show small numbers of studies with only probable effect on
      function, pain, QoL, fear of falling, and psychological symptoms. The vertebral
      compression fracture (VCF) caused by osteoporosis is the third most common
      fragility fracture worldwide. Previously, it was believed that the pain caused by
      VCF was self-subsiding within weeks or a few months post-fracture. However, this
      positive prognosis has been refuted by studies showing that, for the great
      majority of patients, the VCF was the starting point of a long-lasting, severely
      painful, and disabling condition. The low number of studies focusing on the
      experience of the natural course of VCF, and what support is available and how it
      is perceived by those affected, calls for further investigation. Strengthening
      older patients' sense of security and increasing confidence in their own
      abilities are of great importance for successful rehabilitation following VCF.
      More research is needed to identify resources, possibilities, and strategies that
      can assist older patients to reach their goals to improve well-being. The purpose
      of this systematic review was to identify and summarize the current evidence of
      person-centered or other structured non-medical/non-surgical interventions
      supporting older women after experiencing an osteoporotic VCF. A systematic
      literature search was conducted on the MeSH terms encompassing osteoporosis and
      vertebral compression fractures in the PubMed-MEDLINE and Cumulative Index for
      Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases during March through June
      2015. The initial search identified 8789 articles, but only seven articles (six
      randomized controlled trials and one observational study with a control group)
      met the inclusion criteria. It became evident from the current study that the
      availability of evidence on the effects of non-medical interventions aiming to
      support older women with VCF is limited, to say the least. The trials included in
      this review have few limitations and were mainly considered to be of moderate
      quality. This systematic literature review suggests that non-medical
      interventions aiming to support older women with VCF might decrease levels of
      pain and use of analgesic as well as promote improved physical mobility and
      function. These interventions would probably result in an improved difference in
      experiences of fear of falling and perceived psychological symptoms, but would
      only slightly improve quality of life. However, given the nature of the seven
      studies, potential biases in patient selection, issues around precision with
      small cohorts, and failure to control for confounders, makes it difficult to draw
      a definitive conclusion about the significant effects of non-medical
      interventions. Incurring a VCF is a complex and diverse event, necessitating
      equally complex interventions to identify new ways forward. However, to date,
      interventions struggle with a risk of selection bias in that only the needs of
      the healthiest of the population are addressed and the voices of the remaining
      majority of the people affected by VCF are unheard.

PMID- 28585056
TI  - Time course of syllabic and sub-syllabic processing in Mandarin word production:
      Evidence from the picture-word interference paradigm.
AB  - The time course of phonological encoding in Mandarin monosyllabic word production
      was investigated by using the picture-word interference paradigm. Participants
      were asked to name pictures in Mandarin while visual distractor words were
      presented before, at, or after picture onset (i.e., stimulus-onset asynchrony/SOA
      = -100, 0, or +100 ms, respectively). Compared with the unrelated control, the
      distractors sharing atonal syllables with the picture names significantly
      facilitated the naming responses at -100- and 0-ms SOAs. In addition, the
      facilitation effect of sharing word-initial segments only appeared at 0-ms SOA,
      and null effects were found for sharing word-final segments. These results
      indicate that both syllables and subsyllabic units play important roles in
      Mandarin spoken word production and more critically that syllabic processing
      precedes subsyllabic processing. The current results lend strong support to the
      proximate units principle (O'Seaghdha, Chen, & Chen, 2010), which holds that the
      phonological structure of spoken word production is language-specific and that
      atonal syllables are the proximate phonological units in Mandarin Chinese. On the
      other hand, the significance of word-initial segments over word-final segments
      suggests that serial processing of segmental information seems to be universal
      across Germanic languages and Chinese, which remains to be verified in future
      studies.

PMID- 28585058
TI  - Pictorial review of 18F-FDG PET/CT findings in musculoskeletal lesions.
AB  - We herein reviewed 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission
      tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) findings in a number of musculoskeletal
      lesions including malignant tumors, benign tumors, and tumor-like lesions with
      correlations to other radiographic imaging modalities, and described the
      diversity of the 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of this entity. Malignant primary
      musculoskeletal tumors are typically 18F-FDG avid, whereas low-grade malignant
      tumors show mild uptake. Benign musculoskeletal tumors generally show a faint
      uptake of 18F-FDG, and tumor-like conditions also display various uptake patterns
      of 18F-FDG. Although musculoskeletal tumors show various uptakes of 18F-FDG on
      PET/CT, its addition to morphological imaging modalities such as CT and MRI is
      useful for the characterization and differentiation of musculoskeletal lesions.

PMID- 28585059
TI  - Erratum to: Association between serum and synovial fluid Dickkopf-1 levels with
      radiographic severity in primary knee osteoarthritis patients.

PMID- 28585057
TI  - A dual memory theory of the testing effect.
AB  - A new theoretical framework for the testing effect-the finding that retrieval
      practice is usually more effective for learning than are other strategies-is
      proposed, the empirically supported tenet of which is that separate memories form
      as a consequence of study and test events. A simplest case quantitative model is
      derived from that framework for the case of cued recall. With no free parameters,
      that model predicts both proportion correct in the test condition and the
      magnitude of the testing effect across 10 experiments conducted in our
      laboratory, experiments that varied with respect to material type, retention
      interval, and performance in the restudy condition. The model also provides the
      first quantitative accounts of (a) the testing effect as a function of
      performance in the restudy condition, (b) the upper bound magnitude of the
      testing effect, (c) the effect of correct answer feedback, (d) the testing effect
      as a function of retention interval for the cases of feedback and no feedback,
      and (e) the effect of prior learning method on subsequent learning through
      testing. Candidate accounts of several other core phenomena in the literature,
      including test-potentiated learning, recognition versus cued recall training
      effects, cued versus free recall final test effects, and other select transfer
      effects, are also proposed. Future prospects and relations to other theories are
      discussed.

PMID- 28585060
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis-related interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD): methotrexate and
      the severity of lung disease are associated to prognosis.
AB  - Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
      manifestation. The worst survival has been associated with usual interstitial
      pneumonia (UIP) definitive pattern in high-resolution chest tomography (HRCT)
      scans. Moreover, the use of methotrexate in RA-ILD is controversial. Our aim was
      to evaluate prognostic factors including methotrexate in an RA-ILD cohort and
      their association with survival. RA-ILD patients referred for medical evaluation
      and treatment at a single center were included. At the baseline, pulmonary
      function tests were carried out and a HRCT was obtained. A radiologist evaluated
      the ILD tomographic pattern and the extent of lung disease. Patients were
      considered as receiving methotrexate therapy if this drug was specifically
      prescribed for the treatment of RA-ILD at the beginning of follow up. Seventy
      eight patients were included. UIP definite pattern in HRCT was not associated to
      worse survival. Variables associated with mortality reflected the severity of
      lung disease. Treatment with methotrexate was associated with survival (HR 0.13,
      95% CI 0.02-0.64); older patients had worse prognosis (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.003
      1.09). After adjusting for confounding variables, methotrexate was strongly
      associated with survival. Methotrexate treatment during follow up was associated
      with survival. The severity of lung disease and not the tomographic pattern is
      associated with mortality; older patients had worse prognosis.

PMID- 28585061
TI  - Quality of life correlates with muscle strength in patients with dermato- or
      polymyositis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare health-related quality of life (HQoL) in
      adults with dermatomyositis (DM) or polymyositis (PM) with a healthy control
      group and to assess whether muscle strength was associated with HQoL in patients
      with DM or PM. A cross-sectional study was performed and included 75 patients
      with DM or PM and 48 healthy controls. HQoL was assessed by the Short Form 36
      questionnaire (SF-36). Muscle strength of the patients was assessed using the
      Manual Muscle Test-8 (MMT8). Covariables and possible confounding factors were
      collected by validated tools. Associations were determined in multiple linear
      regression models. The patients had significantly lower HQoL than the control
      group in both the physical component summary score (PCS) and the mental component
      summary score (MCS). Thus, the PCS-difference between groups was 32% (p < 0.001),
      whereas the MCS-difference was 14% (p < 0.001). Muscle strength was associated
      with one domain in the patients; Physical Function (beta = 1.2; 95% confidence
      interval 0.37 to 2.1). No statistically significant associations were found
      between muscle strength and HQoL in the remaining domains. Patients with DM or PM
      have reduced HQoL compared to healthy controls. Notably, muscle strength was
      associated with scores of the domain reflecting perceived physical function in
      patients. These findings corroborate the validity of including selected patient
      reported outcomes in the evaluation and monitoring of patients with DM or PM.

PMID- 28585062
TI  - Comparison of the social systems of primates and feral horses: data from a newly
      established horse research site on Serra D'Arga, northern Portugal.
AB  - Horses are phylogenetically distant from primates, but considerable behavioral
      links exist between the two. The sociality of horses, characterized by group
      stability, is similar to that of primates, but different from that of many other
      ungulates. Although horses and primates are good models for exploring the
      evolution of societies in human and non-human animals, fewer studies have been
      conducted on the social system of horses than primates. Here, we investigated the
      social system of feral horses, particularly the determinant factors of single
      male/multi-male group dichotomy, in light of hypotheses derived from studies of
      primate societies. Socioecological data from 26 groups comprising 208 feral
      horses on Serra D'Arga, northern Portugal suggest that these primate-based
      hypotheses cannot adequately explain the social system of horses. In view of the
      sympatric existence of multi- and single-male groups, and the frequent intergroup
      transfers and promiscuous mating of females with males of different groups, male
      female relationships of horses appear to differ from those of polygynous
      primates.

PMID- 28585063
TI  - Enabling Real-Time Volume Rendering of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging on
      an iOS Device.
AB  - Powerful non-invasive imaging technologies like computed tomography (CT),
      ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used daily by medical
      professionals to diagnose and treat patients. While 2D slice viewers have long
      been the standard, many tools allowing 3D representations of digital medical data
      are now available. The newest imaging advancement, functional MRI (fMRI)
      technology, has changed medical imaging from viewing static to dynamic physiology
      (4D) over time, particularly to study brain activity. Add this to the rapid
      adoption of mobile devices for everyday work and the need to visualize fMRI data
      on tablets or smartphones arises. However, there are few mobile tools available
      to visualize 3D MRI data, let alone 4D fMRI data. Building volume rendering tools
      on mobile devices to visualize 3D and 4D medical data is challenging given the
      limited computational power of the devices. This paper describes research that
      explored the feasibility of performing real-time 3D and 4D volume raycasting on a
      tablet device. The prototype application was tested on a 9.7" iPad Pro using two
      different fMRI datasets of brain activity. The results show that mobile
      raycasting is able to achieve between 20 and 40 frames per second for traditional
      3D datasets, depending on the sampling interval, and up to 9 frames per second
      for 4D data. While the prototype application did not always achieve true real
      time interaction, these results clearly demonstrated that visualizing 3D and 4D
      digital medical data is feasible with a properly constructed software framework.

PMID- 28585064
TI  - Revised editorial guidelines for manuscripts on the pharmacology of plant
      extracts.

PMID- 28585065
TI  - The right vertebral artery originating from the right occipital artery and the
      absence of the transverse foramen: a rare anatomical variation.
AB  - Variations in the origin of the vertebral artery (VA) is a congenital anomaly
      that occurs during embryological development. Multiple variations related to VA
      origin have been reported in the literature. Abnormal VA origin is usually
      determined as incidental findings during angiographic or postmortem anatomical
      studies. Although most of the cases are asymptomatic, in patients with VA anomaly
      symptoms such as dizziness have been described. The anomalous variation in the
      origin of the right VA is rare and separated into three categories: (1)
      originating from the aorta, (2) originating from the carotid arteries, (3)
      duplicated origin. In this case, we aimed to present the right VA originating
      from the right occipital artery and concomitant anomalies of the transverse
      foramen that have not been reported previously according to our knowledge in
      literature. In a 32-year-old female patient referred to our hospital because of
      dizziness, the right VA was not observed on magnetic resonance imaging and
      computed tomography angiography (CTA) examination was performed. CTA showed
      hypoplasia of the right transverse foramen at the levels of the C1, C5 and C6
      vertebrae and aplasia of the right transverse foramen at the levels of the C2, C3
      and C4 vertebrae. The right VA originating from the right occipital artery
      continues to its normal course by entering the cranium through the foramen magnum
      at the level of the atlantooccipital junction.

PMID- 28585066
TI  - Modeling the Dichotomy of the Immune Response to Cancer: Cytotoxic Effects and
      Tumor-Promoting Inflammation.
AB  - Although the immune response is often regarded as acting to suppress tumor
      growth, it is now clear that it can be both stimulatory and inhibitory. The
      interplay between these competing influences has complex implications for tumor
      development, cancer dormancy, and immunotherapies. In fact, early immunotherapy
      failures were partly due to a lack in understanding of the nonlinear growth
      dynamics these competing immune actions may cause. To study this biological
      phenomenon theoretically, we construct a minimally parameterized framework that
      incorporates all aspects of the immune response. We combine the effects of all
      immune cell types, general principles of self-limited logistic growth, and the
      physical process of inflammation into one quantitative setting. Simulations
      suggest that while there are pro-tumor or antitumor immunogenic responses
      characterized by larger or smaller final tumor volumes, respectively, each
      response involves an initial period where tumor growth is stimulated beyond that
      of growth without an immune response. The mathematical description is non
      identifiable which allows an ensemble of parameter sets to capture inherent
      biological variability in tumor growth that can significantly alter tumor-immune
      dynamics and thus treatment success rates. The ability of this model to predict
      non-intuitive yet clinically observed patterns of immunomodulated tumor growth
      suggests that it may provide a means to help classify patient response dynamics
      to aid identification of appropriate treatments exploiting immune response to
      improve tumor suppression, including the potential attainment of an immune
      induced dormant state.

PMID- 28585067
TI  - Modelling accidental hypothermia effects on a human body under different
      pathophysiological conditions.
AB  - Accidental exposure to cold water environment is one of the most challenging
      situations in which hypothermia occurs. In the present work, we aim to
      characterise the energy balance of a human body subjected to such extreme
      environmental conditions. This study is carried out using a recently developed
      computational model and by setting boundary conditions needed to simulate the
      effect of cold surrounding environment. A major finding is the capacity of the
      body core regions to maintain their temperature high for a substantial amount of
      time, even under the most extreme environmental conditions. We also considered
      two disease states that highlight the spectrum of possible pathologies implicated
      in thermal regulation of the human body. These states are (i) cardiomyopathy,
      which affects the operating capacity of the heart, and (ii) malnutrition, which
      directly impairs the body's ability to regulate heat exchange with the
      environment. We have found that cardiomyopathy has little influence on the
      thermal balance of the human body, whereas malnutrition has a profound negative
      effect on the thermal balance and leads to dramatic reduction in core
      temperature.

PMID- 28585068
TI  - A novel nitrilase from Ralstonia eutropha H16 and its application to nicotinic
      acid production.
AB  - A novel aliphatic nitrilase, REH16, was found in Ralstonia eutropha H16 and
      overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), and its enzymatic properties were
      studied. The temperature and pH optima were 37  degrees C and 6.6, respectively,
      and the best thermostability of the nitrilase was observed at 25  degrees C,
      which preserved 95% of activity after 120 h of incubation. REH16 has a broad
      hydrolytic activity toward aliphatic and heterocyclic nitriles and showed high
      tolerance of 3-cyanopyridine; this enzyme could hydrolyze as high as 100 mM 3
      cyanopyridine completely. To improve the 3-cyanopyridine conversion efficiency in
      an aqueous reaction system, water-miscible organic solvents were tested, and
      ethanol (10% v/v) was chosen as the optimal co-solvent. Finally, under optimized
      conditions, using the fed-batch reaction mode, total of 1050 mM 3-cyanopyridine
      was hydrolyzed completely in 20.8 h with eight substrate feedings, yielding 129.2
      g/L production of nicotinic acid and thus showing a potential for industrial
      application.

PMID- 28585069
TI  - Special issue on titin and its binding proteins in striated muscle.

PMID- 28585070
TI  - Thromboses and hemorrhages are common in MPN patients with high JAK2V617F allele
      burden.
AB  - The most common causes of morbidity and mortality in myeloproliferative neoplasms
      (MPN) are thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications. The JAK2V617F mutation,
      commonly found in MPN, correlates with several clinical and laboratory
      characteristics even if the relevance of JAK2V617F allele burden in the natural
      history of these diseases is unclear. In this study we searched, a relation
      between thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications and JAK2V617F allele burden
      level in MPN patients. We evaluated 253 consecutive MPN [121 essential
      thrombocythemia (ET), 124 polycythemia vera (PV), and 8 primary myelofibrosis
      (PMF)] patients in whom the JAK2V617F allele burden was available, all studied
      and followed (median 8.8 years) in our department. Patients were stratified
      accordingly to their JAK2V617F allele burden, into four quartiles (1st <25%, 2nd
      26-50%, 3rd 51-75%, and 4th >75%). Significantly higher incidence of thromboses
      (p = 0.001) and hemorrhages (p < 0.001) during follow-up has been observed in
      higher quartiles when compared to lower ones. Thrombosis- and hemorrhage-free
      survivals were poorer in patients belonging to the highest quartile. Our data
      suggest that MPN patients with JAK2V617F allele burden higher than 75% have to be
      considered as high risk patients, being prone to develop thrombo-hemorrhagic
      complications during the disease course.

PMID- 28585071
TI  - Impact of non-transferrin-bound iron (NTBI) in comparison to serum ferritin on
      outcome after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT).
AB  - The optimal parameters and time points for the measurement of iron overload (IO)
      in allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) patients are still under
      discussion. Hyperferritinemia and IO are poor prognostic factors in ASCT. We
      hypothesize that non-transferrin-bound iron (NBTI) is possibly a better marker to
      predict the effect of IO on the outcome than serum ferritin (SF), which however
      is not specific for IO. The aim of this prospective observational trial was to
      evaluate the influence of NBTI in comparison to SF on the outcome of ASCT
      patients [overall survival, bloodstream infections (BSIs), and invasive fungal
      infections (IFIs)]. We analyzed daily transferrin saturation (TSAT), SF, and NTBI
      (if TSAT exceeded 70%) in 100 patients who received ASCT during conditioning, and
      on day 0, +7, and +14 post-ASCT. After a median NTBI level of 0 MUmol/l at
      baseline, the median of the area under the curve (AUC) of NTBI between
      conditioning and ASCT (d0) increased to 17 MUmol*d/l, and between ASCT and day
      +14 to 56.3 MUmol*d/l. Higher NTBI-AUC d0 resulted in a higher risk of BSI (HR
      1.042, p = 0.009) and IFI (HR 1.070, p = 0.001) and showed a trend of inferior 1
      year survival (65 vs. 76%, p = 0.09). Baseline SF did not influence BSI, but
      higher levels resulted in more IFI (HR 1.26, p < 0.001). In conclusion, NTBI
      possibly better predict for a higher risk of bloodstream infections than SF and
      needs further investigation.

PMID- 28585072
TI  - Maternal Health: a Qualitative Study of Male Partners' Participation in Lagos,
      Nigeria.
AB  - PURPOSE: Male involvement in maternal healthcare has been described as a key
      factor to reducing maternal mortality globally. Hence, this study investigated
      the choice of facility to be used during pregnancy and examined factors that
      influence male participation in maternal healthcare issues of their spouses as
      these factors may sometimes influence the choice of health care services for
      pregnant women. METHOD: The study was cross-sectional in design; the setting was
      at Badagry, Lagos, Nigeria. Thirty married men with at least the experience of
      birth of baby, who consented to participate, were purposively recruited for the
      study. Data were transcribed and content analysed using free narrative. RESULT:
      The results show that orthodox health care, traditional birth attendance (TBA),
      and faith healing were utilised by the respondents. The majority of the
      participants identified cost of health care services, economic recession, and
      their job demand as the reasons for their non-active participation in
      accompanying their spouses for antenatal clinic visit. CONCLUSION: However, to
      increase the level of men's participation in maternal healthcare, especially
      visiting antenatal clinic with spouses, antenatal services should be free of any
      monetary charges so as to encourage men to be involved and not look for excuses
      of financial needs. Utilisation of skilled birth attendance should be
      reinvigorated.

PMID- 28585073
TI  - Exploring the Social Needs and Challenges of Chinese American Immigrant Breast
      Cancer Survivors: a Qualitative Study Using an Expressive Writing Approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: Little is known about the psychological well-being and social barriers
      among immigrant Chinese American breast cancer survivors. The aim of the present
      study was to explore the social needs and challenges of Chinese American
      immigrant breast cancer survivors. METHOD: This study used the expressive writing
      approach to explore the experiences among 27 Chinese American breast cancer
      survivors. The participants were recruited through community-based organizations
      in Southern California, most of whom were diagnosed at stages I and II (33 and
      48%, respectively). Participants, on average, had been living in the USA for 19
      years. Participants were asked to write three 20-min essays related to their
      experience with breast cancer (in 3 weeks). Participants' writings were coded
      with line-by-line analysis, and categories and themes were generated. RESULTS:
      Emotion suppression, self-stigma, and perceived stigma about being a breast
      cancer survivor were reflected in the writings. Interpersonally, participants
      indicated their reluctance to disclose cancer diagnosis to family and friends and
      concerns about fulfilling multiple roles. Some of them also mentioned barriers of
      communicating with their husbands. Related to life in the USA, participants felt
      unfamiliar with the healthcare system and encountered language barriers.
      CONCLUSION: Counseling services addressing concerns about stigma and
      communication among family members may benefit patients' adjustments. Tailor-made
      information in Chinese about diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer and health
      insurance in the USA may also help patients go through the course of recovery.

PMID- 28585074
TI  - Subtype-specific prognostic impact of different immune signatures in node
      negative breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of different subtypes of immune cells is still a matter of
      debate. METHODS: We compared the prognostic relevance for metastasis-free
      survival (MFS) of a B-cell signature (BS), a T-cell signature (TS), and an immune
      checkpoint signature (CPS) in node-negative breast cancer (BC) using mRNA
      expression. Microarray-based gene-expression data were analyzed in six previously
      published cohorts of node-negative breast cancer patients not treated with
      adjuvant therapy (n = 824). The prognostic relevance of the individual immune
      markers was assessed using univariate analysis. The amount of independent
      prognostic information provided by each immune signature was then compared using
      a likelihood ratio statistic in the whole cohort as well as in different
      molecular subtypes. RESULTS: Univariate Cox regression in the whole cohort
      revealed prognostic significance of CD4 (HR 0.66, CI 0.50-0.87, p = 0.004),
      CXCL13 (HR 0.86, CI 0.81-0.92, p < 0.001), CD20 (HR 0.76, CI 0.64-0.89, p =
      0.001), IgkappaC (HR 0.81, CI 0.75-0.88, p < 0.001), and CTLA-4 (HR 0.67, CI 0.46
      0.97, p = 0.032). Multivariate analyses of the immune signatures showed that both
      TS (p < 0.001) and BS (p < 0.001) showed a significant prognostic information in
      the whole cohort. After accounting for clinical-pathological variables, TS (p <
      0.001), BS (p < 0.05), and CPS (p < 0.05) had an independent effect for MFS. In
      subgroup analyses, the prognostic effect of immune cells was most pronounced in
      HER2+ BC: BS as well as TS showed a strong association with MFS when included
      first in the model (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Immune signatures provide subtype
      specific additional prognostic information over clinical-pathological variables
      in node-negative breast cancer.

PMID- 28585075
TI  - Disease Progression in Papillary Thyroid Cancer with Biochemical Incomplete
      Response to Initial Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dynamic risk stratification is utilized in the follow-up of patients
      with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Analysis of outcomes after biochemical
      incomplete response (BIR) to initial therapy will allow better individualization
      of care. METHODS: A total of 494 patients with PTC were followed prospectively.
      Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for BRAFV600E mutation was completed on all surgical
      specimens. After exclusion of patients with inadequate data, 353 patients were
      stratified into four categories of response to initial therapy: excellent,
      biochemical incomplete, structural incomplete, or indeterminate. Patients with
      BIR, defined as elevated stimulated thyroglobulin >2 ug/L with negative imaging,
      were analysed for progression of disease. The primary outcome measure was
      development of structural recurrence. RESULTS: Forty-nine of 353 (13.9%) patients
      had BIR. BRAFV600E mutation was present in 32 of 49 (65.3%) with BIR. Progression
      to structural recurrence occurred in 8 of 49 (16.3%) with BIR, all of whom were
      positive for the BRAFV600E mutation (p = 0.02). Nine patients (18%) with BIR
      remitted during follow-up to no evidence of disease (6 had additional RAI
      therapy). After mean follow-up of 35 months, 12 patients with BIR (24%) remained
      biochemically abnormal with no structural evidence of disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with BIR following initial treatment for PTC have generally favorable
      outcomes. Positive IHC for BRAFV600E identifies patients at risk of structural
      disease recurrence.

PMID- 28585076
TI  - Redefining anterior shoulder impingement: a literature review.
AB  - Many different types of impingements have been described in the shoulder.
      Inasmuch as the term 'shoulder impingement' usually refers to subacromial
      impingement, anterior impingement usually refers to subcoracoid impingement.
      However, there are many different subtypes of anterior impingements in the
      shoulder, and awareness of their existence is critical as they vary in their
      nature and treatment. Recent advances in biomechanical research and arthroscopic
      exploration of the anterior structures of the shoulder have brought new insights
      on the various potential impingements, warranting a revision and update of the
      current definitions of anterior shoulder impingement. The purpose of this article
      is to propose a comprehensive review and classification of all different subtypes
      of anterior impingement in the shoulder, including newly described entities.

PMID- 28585077
TI  - A new species of Moniliformis from a Sigmodontinae rodent in Patagonia
      (Argentina).
AB  - The majority of species of Acanthocephala known thus far from South America have
      been recorded mostly in fish and wild birds. In particular, rodents in Argentina
      have been poorly studied for acanthocephalans. The genus Abrothrix (Sigmodontinae
      Cricetidae) ranges from the Altiplano of southern Peru through the highlands of
      Bolivia, northern Chile, and Argentina south through Tierra del Fuego. The
      purpose of this paper was to study Acanthocephala species parasitizing different
      populations of Abrothrix from Santa Cruz province (Patagonia Argentina).
      Specimens of Acanthocephala were found in the small intestine of Abrothrix
      olivaceus, showing values of P 14.7%, IM = 2.8, and AM = 0.41. All the rodents
      parasitized were collected in Punta Quilla, Santa Cruz, Argentina. The specimens
      of Abrothrix longipilis were not parasitized. Moniliformis amini n. sp. is
      described with features such as the long, cylindrical, and pseudo-segmented body;
      proboscis receptacle double walled, outer wall with muscle fibers usually
      arranged spirally, and a combination of several morphometric characters, mainly
      the very small size of the proboscis receptacle and length of the testes and
      lemnisci. A marked proportion of arthropods was found in the diet of A.
      olivaceus, characterizing it as arthropodivorous. Possibly, a larger sampling
      effort and specific projects dealing with the study of acanthocephalans will shed
      light on several questions of the rodent-Moniliformis relationship.

PMID- 28585079
TI  - New Mammalian Expression Systems.
AB  - There are an increasing number of recombinant antibodies and proteins in
      preclinical and clinical development for therapeutic applications. Mammalian
      expression systems are key to enabling the production of these molecules, and
      Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell platforms continue to be central to delivery of
      the stable cell lines required for large-scale production. Increasing pressure on
      timelines and efficiency, further innovation of molecular formats and the shift
      to new production systems are driving developments of these CHO cell line
      platforms. The availability of genome and transcriptome data coupled with
      advancing gene editing tools are increasing the ability to design and engineer
      CHO cell lines to meet these challenges. This chapter aims to give an overview of
      the developments in CHO expression systems and some of the associated
      technologies over the past few years.

PMID- 28585078
TI  - Associations between fasciolosis and milk production, and the impact of
      anthelmintic treatment in dairy herds.
AB  - Liver fluke is a ubiquitous parasite that causes extensive production losses in
      cattle and is a zoonosis. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence
      of fasciolosis in 178 dairy cattle herds in Styria (federal state of Austria) and
      its influence on production, to detect the risk factors for infection, and to
      explore effective strategies in management and control. A questionnaire on farm
      management, prophylaxis, and therapy was developed and applied. Furthermore,
      production parameters (milk yield, milk protein content, butter fat content, non
      return rate 90, calving to conception interval, service period) were recorded for
      2014 and 2015, and a commercial ELISA for detection of Fasciola hepatica
      antibodies was applied in bulk tank milk in March 2014 and March 2015. Analysis
      of bulk tank milk samples showed a prevalence of 61.3% in 2014 and 45.5% in 2015.
      No associations could be found between F. hepatica exposure and farm structure or
      pasture management. Farms with highly positive (optical density ratio (ODR) >=
      0.6 and lying above the upper interquartile range) antibody levels had a
      significantly lower annual milk yield of 438 kg per cow per year (p = 0.045),
      butterfat content of 0.091% (p = 0.004), and milk protein content of 0.046% (p =
      0.024). However, fertility parameters were not significantly associated with
      liver fluke exposure. Anthelmintic treatment led to significantly lower antibody
      levels in the subsequent year (p = 0.042) and had a significant influence on
      protein content in milk (p = 0.003). This study highlighted the importance of
      fasciolosis in Austria and its influence on milk production and the need for
      veterinary advice regarding prophylactic measures to reduce economic losses.

PMID- 28585080
TI  - Visuo-locomotor control in persons with spinal cord injury in a manual or power
      wheelchair for direction change and obstacle circumvention.
AB  - Many individuals, such as persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), rely on wheeled
      locomotion involving manual (MWC) or power (PWC) wheelchairs to navigate their
      environments. Yet, visuo-locomotor control underlying WC navigation in
      experienced users is not well understood. The objective of this study was to
      compare the visuo-locomotor control between MWC and PWC in individuals with SCI
      while changing direction and circumventing an obstacle. Participants with SCI
      using a MWC (n = 12, 38.5 +/- 10.7 years) or a PWC (n = 10, 47.8 +/- 8.6 years)
      were asked to maneuver their chair straight ahead, while changing direction 45
      degrees  to the right, and while circumventing an obstacle to the right, all at
      self-selected speeds. Speed, minimal clearance, point of deviation, temporal body
      and WC coordination, relative timing of segment rotations and visual behavior
      were analyzed. There was no main effect of group for speed, clearance and point
      of deviation. During direction change, the head always led body and wheelchair
      reorientation while an "en bloc" strategy was used for circumventing obstacle for
      both groups. In straight-ahead locomotion, participants predominantly fixed their
      gaze on the end target. During direction change and obstacle circumvention,
      participants fixated more on the future path and the obstacle for both WC modes.
      Overall, specific gaze behavior depended on environmental demands. While MWC and
      PWC users adopt similar navigational strategies and visuo-locomotor coordination
      while changing direction and circumventing obstacle, there were some differences
      in the amount of head rotation that could be related to a counter-movement used
      more by PWC users.

PMID- 28585081
TI  - Mental health assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for
      children born extremely preterm without severe disabilities at 11 years of age: a
      Norwegian, national population-based study.
AB  - The aims were to investigate mental health problems with the Strength and
      Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in children born extremely preterm/extremely low
      birth weight (EP/ELBW) without severe disabilities compared to controls, and to
      identify peri-, or neonatal factors possibly predicting later mental health
      problems. A national Norwegian cohort of 11-year-old EP/ELBW children, excluding
      those with intellectual disabilities, non-ambulatory cerebral palsy, blindness
      and/or deafness, was assessed. Parents and teachers completed the SDQ. Mean
      scores and scores >=90th percentile for the control group, combined (parent
      and/or teacher reporting the child >=90th percentile), and pervasive ratings
      (both parent and teacher reporting the child >=90th percentile) were presented.
      The controls consisted of an unselected population of all 11-year-old children
      born in 1995 who attended public or private schools in Bergen. Of the eligible
      children, 216 (64%) EP/ELBW and 1882 (61%) control children participated. The
      EP/ELBW children had significantly higher scores and/or increased risk of parent,
      teacher, combined, and pervasive rated hyperactivity/inattention, emotional-, and
      peer problems (OR 2.1-6.3). Only parents reported the EP/ELBW children to be at
      an increased risk of conduct problems (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.6). Only low maternal
      education at birth was significantly associated with mental health problems at 11
      years of age (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2-5.4). EP/ELBW children without severe
      disabilities had increased risk of symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention,
      emotional-, and peer problems. None of the peri- or neonatal factors were
      significantly associated with later mental health problems, except for low
      maternal education.

PMID- 28585082
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging perfusion is associated with disease severity and
      activity in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The utility of perfusion-weighted imaging in multiple sclerosis (MS) is
      not well investigated. The purpose of this study was to compare baseline
      normalized perfusion measures in subgroups of newly diagnosed MS patients. We
      wanted to test the hypothesis that this method can differentiate between groups
      defined according to disease severity and disease activity at 1 year follow-up.
      METHODS: Baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including a dynamic
      susceptibility contrast perfusion sequence was performed on a 1.5-T scanner in 66
      patients newly diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS. From the baseline MRI,
      cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time
      (MTT) maps were generated. Normalized (n) perfusion values were calculated by
      dividing each perfusion parameter obtained in white matter lesions by the same
      parameter obtained in normal-appearing white matter. Neurological examination was
      performed at baseline and at follow-up approximately 1 year later to establish
      the multiple sclerosis severity score (MSSS) and evidence of disease activity
      (EDA). RESULTS: Baseline normalized mean transit time (nMTT) was lower in
      patients with MSSS >3.79 (p = 0.016), in patients with EDA (p = 0.041), and in
      patients with both MSSS >3.79 and EDA (p = 0.032) at 1-year follow-up. Baseline
      normalized cerebral blood flow and normalized cerebral blood volume did not
      differ between these groups. CONCLUSION: Lower baseline nMTT was associated with
      higher disease severity and with presence of disease activity 1 year later in
      newly diagnosed MS patients. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm
      whether baseline-normalized perfusion measures can differentiate between disease
      severity and disease activity subgroups over time.

PMID- 28585083
TI  - Multiclass analytical method for the determination of natural/synthetic steroid
      hormones, phytoestrogens, and mycoestrogens in milk and yogurt.
AB  - Within this study, a new method enabling monitoring of various estrogenic
      substances potentially occurring in milk and dairy products was proposed. Groups
      of compounds fairly differing in physico-chemical properties and biological
      activity were analyzed: four natural estrogens, four synthetic estrogens, five
      mycoestrogens, and nine phytoestrogens. Since they may pass into milk mainly in
      glucuronated and sulfated forms, an enzymatic hydrolysis was involved prior to
      the extraction based on the QuEChERS methodology. For the purification of the
      organic extract, a dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) with sorbent C18 was
      applied. The final analysis was performed by ultra-high-performance liquid
      chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry
      (MS/MS). Method recovery ranged from 70 to 120% with a relative standard
      deviation (RSD) value lower than 20% and limits of quantification (LOQs) in the
      range of 0.02-0.60 MUg/L (0.2-6.0 MUg/kg dry weight) and 0.02-0.90 MUg/kg (0.2
      6.0 MUg/kg dry weight) for milk and yogurt, respectively. The new procedure was
      applied for the investigation of estrogenic compounds in 11 milk samples and 13
      yogurt samples from a Czech retail market. Mainly phytoestrogens were found in
      the studied samples. The most abundant compounds were equol and enterolactone
      representing 40-90% of all estrogens. The total content of phytoestrogens (free
      and bound) was in the range of 149-3870 MUg/kg dry weight. This amount is
      approximately 20 times higher compared to non-bound estrogens.

PMID- 28585085
TI  - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging-guided real-time photothermal
      ablation of target cancer cells using polydopamine-encapsulated gold nanorods as
      multifunctional agents.
AB  - In this study, we developed a novel "see-and-treat" theranostic system named
      "surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging-guided real-time photothermal
      therapy" for accurate cancer detection and real-time cancer cell ablation using
      the same Raman laser. Facilely synthesized polydopamine-encapsulated gold
      nanorods (AuNRs), which possess excellent biocompatibility and enhanced
      stability, were used as multifunctional agents. Under near-infrared (NIR) laser
      irradiation, polydopamine-encapsulated AuNRs show strong SERS effect and high
      photothermal conversion efficiency simultaneously. After immobilization of
      antibodies (anti-EpCAM), polydopamine-encapsulated gold nanorods show high
      specificity to target cancer cells. Tumor margins could be distinguished facilely
      by a quick SERS imaging process, which was confirmed by H&E staining results. By
      focusing the exciting light on detected cancer cells for a prolonged time, cancer
      cells could be ablated immediately without the need of other procedure. This "see
      and-treat" theranostic strategy combining SERS imaging and real-time photothermal
      therapy using the same Raman laser is proposed for the first time. Experimental
      results confirmed the feasibility of our "SERS imaging-guided real-time
      photothermal therapy system." This novel theranostic strategy can significantly
      improve the efficiency of cancer therapy in clinical application, allowing the
      effective ablation of cancer cells with no effects on surrounding healthy
      tissues. Graphical abstract ?.

PMID- 28585086
TI  - A mechanistic study of geminal dicationic ionic liquids as mobile phase additives
      for improving the separation performance of high-performance liquid
      chromatography.
AB  - Due to the acidity and strong polarity of auxinic herbicides, separation of these
      compounds in food and environmental samples is a great challenge. In this study,
      12 geminal dicationic ionic liquids (GDILs) were synthesized and used as mobile
      phase additives to separate six auxinic herbicides. The effects of the kind of
      dication, the length of linkage chain, the kind of anion, the concentration of
      GDILs, and the pH of mobile phase for the separation were investigated in detail.
      Compared with [C4MIm][BF4], GDILs ([C8(MIm)2][BF4]2) showed higher resolution,
      better peak shape, and lower retention factor. The separation performance of
      additives was in the order of [C8(MIm)2][BF4]2 > [C8(MPy)2][BF4]2,
      [(C4)2MPiz][BF4]2, [C8(MMo)2][BF4]2, [C4MIm][BF4], [C8(MPid)2][BF4]2 >
      [C8(HBOc)2][BF4]2 > TBAB. GDILs showed the best separation under the following
      conditions: cation: imidazolium; length of linkage chain: 8; anion: BF4-; mobile
      phase pH: 3; concentration: 5 mmol L-1. The separation mechanism of GDILs may
      mainly be due to their symmetric structure and the abundance of positive charge
      sites which could help GDILs shield the residual silanol and interact with
      analytes more efficiently to improve the peak shapes, resolution, and retention.
      In addition, the GDILs in the mobile phase and anions adsorbed on the stationary
      phase also greatly affected the separation. GDILs used as mobile phase additives
      to separate auxinic herbicides showed high efficiency separation and low damage
      to HPLC columns, and the developed chromatographic method had excellent
      linearity, accuracy, precision, and repeatability. The application and mechanism
      study of GDILs in HPLC would be instructive to determine and separate acid
      herbicides in food and environmental samples. Graphical abstract As HPLC mobile
      phase additives, GDILs show high separation performance due to their unique
      symmetric structures.

PMID- 28585087
TI  - Corticosteroids and aldose reductase inhibitor Epalrestat modulates cardiac
      action potential via Kvbeta1.1 (AKR6A8) subunit of voltage-gated potassium
      channel.
AB  - We previously demonstrated the role of Kvbeta1.1 subunit of voltage-activated
      potassium channel in heart for its sensory roles in detecting changes in NADH/NAD
      and modulation of ion channel. However, the pharmacological role for the
      association of Kvbeta1 via its binding to ligands such as cortisone and its
      analogs remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated the significance of Kvbeta1.1
      binding to cortisone analogs and AR inhibitor epalrestat. In addition, the aldose
      reductase (AR) inhibitor epalrestat was identified as a pharmacological target
      and modulator of cardiac activity via binding to the Kvbeta1 subunit. Using a
      combination of ex vivo cardiac electrophysiology and in silico binding, we
      identified that Kvbeta1 subunit binds and interacts with epalrestat. To identify
      the specificity of the action potential changes, we studied the sensitivity of
      the action potential prolongation by probing the electrical changes in the
      presence of 4-aminopyridine and evaluated the specificity of pharmacological
      effects in the hearts from Kvbeta1.1 knock out mouse. Our results show that
      pharmacological modulation of cardiac electrical activity by cortisone analogs
      and epalrestat is mediated by Kvbeta1.1.

PMID- 28585084
TI  - Glycomic and glycoproteomic analysis of glycoproteins-a tutorial.
AB  - The structural analysis of glycoproteins is a challenging endeavor and is under
      steadily increasing demand, but only a very limited number of labs have the
      expertise required to accomplish this task. This tutorial is aimed at researchers
      from the fields of molecular biology and biochemistry that have discovered that
      glycoproteins are important in their biological research and are looking for the
      tools to elucidate their structure. It provides brief descriptions of the major
      and most common analytical techniques used in glycomics and glycoproteomics
      analysis, including explanations of the rationales for individual steps and
      references to published literature containing the experimental details necessary
      to carry out the analyses. Glycomics includes the comprehensive study of the
      structure and function of the glycans expressed in a given cell or organism along
      with identification of all the genes that encode glycoproteins and
      glycosyltransferases. Glycoproteomics which is subset of both glycomics and
      proteomics is the identification and characterization of proteins bearing
      carbohydrates as posttranslational modification. This tutorial is designed to
      ease entry into the glycomics and glycoproteomics field for those without prior
      carbohydrate analysis experience.

PMID- 28585088
TI  - Allyl isothiocyanate, a potent chemopreventive agent targets AhR/Nrf2 signaling
      pathway in chemically induced mammary carcinogenesis.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated the effect of allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)
      on liver detoxification signaling pathway in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene
      (DMBA)-induced mammary carcinogenesis. Mammary tumor was induced by a single dose
      of DMBA (25 mg/rat) injected subcutaneously near the mammary gland in Sprague
      Dawley rats. DMBA-alone-treated rats show an increased synthesis of phase I
      detoxification enzymes, lipid peroxidative markers, liver marker enzymes, and
      lipid profiles whereas, depletion of phase II detoxification enzymes and
      antioxidants in rat liver tissues. Oral administration of AITC restored the
      levels of biochemical markers in DMBA-treated rats. Furthermore,
      histopathological results also confirmed that AITC protects DMBA-mediated
      hepatocellular damage. We also observed that AITC treatment significantly
      downregulates AhR and upregulates the expression of Nrf2 in DMBA-treated rats.
      The binding efficacy of AITC with AhR and Nrf2 analysis by molecular docking
      studies reveals that AITC has strong interaction with AhR and Nrf2 proteins
      through hydrogen and hydrophobic interactions. Thus, AITC prevents DMBA-induced
      mammary carcinogenesis via inhibition of phase I and induction of phase II
      detoxification enzymes by modulating AhR/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

PMID- 28585089
TI  - Combination of cationic dexamethasone derivative and STAT3 inhibitor (WP1066) for
      aggressive melanoma: a strategy for repurposing a phase I clinical trial drug.
AB  - Glucocorticoid, such as dexamethasone (Dex) is often used along with chemotherapy
      to antagonize side effects of chemotherapy. However, sustained use of Dex
      frequently develops drug resistance in patients. As a strategy to re-induce drug
      sensitivity, we planned to modify Dex by chemically conjugating it with twin ten
      carbon aliphatic chain containing cationic lipid. The resultant molecule, DX10,
      inhibited STAT3 activation through lowering the production of IL-6. To enhance
      the STAT3 inhibitory effect of DX10, we used WP (a commercially available STAT3
      inhibitor) along with DX10. Combination treatment of both significantly inhibited
      STAT3 activation when compared to either of the individual treatment. The effect
      of DX10, either in combination or alone, was mediated through glucocorticoid
      receptor (GR), thereby repurposing the role of GR in the context of p-STAT3
      inhibition-mediated cancer treatment. Cellular viability study proved the
      synergistic effect of WP and DX10. Further, combination treatment led to
      induction of early stage of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. In vivo melanoma
      tumor regression study confirmed the enhanced anti-tumor activity of co-treatment
      over individual treatment of DX10 or WP. Thus, together our result demonstrates
      that DX10 may be used in combination therapy with STAT3 inhibitor like WP for
      combating cancer with constitutively active STAT3.

PMID- 28585090
TI  - Intuitive control of mobile robots: an architecture for autonomous adaptive
      dynamic behaviour integration.
AB  - In this paper, we present a novel approach to human-robot control. Taking
      inspiration from behaviour-based robotics and self-organisation principles, we
      present an interfacing mechanism, with the ability to adapt both towards the user
      and the robotic morphology. The aim is for a transparent mechanism connecting
      user and robot, allowing for a seamless integration of control signals and robot
      behaviours. Instead of the user adapting to the interface and control paradigm,
      the proposed architecture allows the user to shape the control motifs in their
      way of preference, moving away from the case where the user has to read and
      understand an operation manual, or it has to learn to operate a specific device.
      Starting from a tabula rasa basis, the architecture is able to identify control
      patterns (behaviours) for the given robotic morphology and successfully merge
      them with control signals from the user, regardless of the input device used. The
      structural components of the interface are presented and assessed both
      individually and as a whole. Inherent properties of the architecture are
      presented and explained. At the same time, emergent properties are presented and
      investigated. As a whole, this paradigm of control is found to highlight the
      potential for a change in the paradigm of robotic control, and a new level in the
      taxonomy of human in the loop systems.

PMID- 28585091
TI  - A Generalist Herbivore Copes with Specialized Plant Defence: the Effects of
      Induction and Feeding by Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Larvae on
      Intact Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicales) Plants.
AB  - Plants of the Brassicaceae are defended from feeding by generalist insects by
      constitutively-expressed and herbivory-induced glucosinolates (GS). We induced
      Arabidopsis plants 1, 16 and 24 h prior to allowing neonate larvae of the
      generalist Helicoverpa armigera to feed on whole plants for 72 h. These plants
      were subsequently retested with another group of neonates for a further 72 h. We
      used wild-type A. thaliana Col-0, and mutant lines lacking indolic GS, aliphatic
      GS or all GS. We hypothesized that larvae would not grow well on defended plants
      (WT) compared to those lacking GS, and would not grow well if plants had been
      primed or fed on for longer, due to the expected induced GS. There was
      survivorship on all lines suggesting H. armigera is a suitable generalist for
      these experiments. Larvae performed less well on wild-type and no indolic lines
      than on no aliphatic and no GS lines. Larvae distributed feeding damage
      extensively in all lines, more so on wild type and no-indolic lines. Contrary to
      expectations, larvae grew better on plants that had been induced for 1 to 16 h
      than on un-induced plants suggesting they moved to and selected less toxic plant
      parts within a heterogeneously defended plant. Performance declined on all lines
      if plants had been induced for 24 h, or had been fed upon for a further 72 h.
      However, contrary to expectation, individual and total GS did not increase after
      these two treatments. This suggests that Arabidopsis plants induce additional
      (not GS) defenses after longer induction periods.

PMID- 28585092
TI  - Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833 transitorily reduces tomato bacterial wilt
      incidence caused by Ralstonia solanacearum under in vitro conditions.
AB  - Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the world's most
      important soil-borne plant diseases. In Martinique, French West Indies, a highly
      virulent new pathogenic variant of this bacterium (phylotype IIB/4NPB) severely
      impacts tomato production. Here we report on the effect of R. solanacearum CFBP
      6783, classified in phytotype IIB/4NPB, on tomato plantlets grown under strict in
      vitro culture conditions in the presence or absence of the arbuscular mycorrhizal
      fungus Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833. A mycelium donor plant (i.e.
      Crotalaria spectabilis) was used for rapid, uniform mycorrhization of tomato
      plantlets that were subsequently infected by the bacterium. Bacterial wilt was
      significantly delayed and the incidence of the disease consequently reduced in
      the mycorrhizal tomato plantlets. Conversely, R. solanacearum did not affect root
      colonization by the AMF within the 16 days of the experiment. These results
      suggested that the mycorrhizal fungus was able to reduce bacterial wilt symptoms,
      probably by eliciting defence mechanisms in the plant.

PMID- 28585093
TI  - Serum fatty acid profile in psoriasis and its comorbidity.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is accompanied by metabolic
      disturbances and cardio-metabolic disorders. Fatty acids (FAs) might be a link
      between psoriasis and its comorbidity. The aim of the study was to evaluate serum
      concentrations of FAs and to investigate their association with the disease
      activity, markers of inflammation and possible involvement in psoriatic
      comorbidity: obesity, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. We measured 14 total
      serum fatty acids content and composition by gas-liquid chromatography and flame
      ionization detector after direct in situ transesterification in 85 patients with
      exacerbated plaque psoriasis and in 32 healthy controls. FAs were grouped
      according to their biologic properties to saturated FA (SFA), unsaturated FA
      (UFA), monounsaturated FA (MUFA), n-3 polyunsaturated FA (n-3 PUFA) and n-6 PUFA.
      Generally, patients characteristic included: Psoriasis Area and Severity Index
      (PASI), Body Mass Index, inflammatory and biochemical markers, lipid profile and
      presence of psoriatic comorbidity. We have observed highly abnormal FAs pattern
      in psoriatic patients both with and without obesity compared to the control
      group. We have demonstrated association of PASI with low levels of circulating
      DHA, n-3 PUFA (p = 0.044 and p = 0.048, respectively) and high percent of MUFA (p
      = 0.024) in the non-obese psoriatic group. The SFA/UFA ratio increased with the
      duration of the disease (p = 0.03) in all psoriatic patients. These findings
      indicate abnormal FAs profile in psoriasis which may reflect metabolic
      disturbances and might play a role in the psoriatic comorbidity.

PMID- 28585094
TI  - A retrospective review comparing two-year patient-reported outcomes, costs, and
      healthcare resource utilization for TLIF vs. PLF for single-level degenerative
      spondylolisthesis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare patient-reported outcomes
      (PROs), morbidity, and costs of TLIF vs PLF to determine whether one treatment
      was superior in the setting of single-level degenerative spondylolisthesis.
      METHODS: Patients undergoing TLIF or PLF for single-level spondylolisthesis were
      included for retrospective analysis. EQ-5D, ODI, SF-12 MCS/PCS, NRS-BP/LP scores
      were collected at baseline and 24 months after surgery. 90-day post-operative
      complications, revision surgery rates, and satisfaction scores were also
      collected. Two-year resource use was multiplied by unit costs based on Medicare
      payment amounts (direct cost). Patient and caregiver workday losses were
      multiplied by the self-reported gross-of-tax wage rate (indirect cost). Total
      cost was used to assess mean total 2-year cost per QALYs gained after surgery.
      RESULTS: 62 and 37 patients underwent TLIF and PLF, respectively. Patients in the
      PLF group were older (p < 0.01). No significant differences were seen in baseline
      or 24-month PROs between the two groups. There was a significant improvement in
      all PROs from baseline to 24 months after surgery (p < 0.001). Both groups had
      similar rates of 90-day complications, revision surgery, satisfaction, and
      similar gain in QALYs and cost per QALYs gained. There was no significant
      difference in 24-month direct, indirect, and total cost. CONCLUSIONS: Overall
      costs and health care utilization were similar in both the groups. Both TLIF and
      PLF for single-level degenerative spondylolisthesis provide improvement in
      disability, pain, quality of life, and general health.

PMID- 28585098
TI  - Impact of Coordinated Behavioral Health Management on Quality Measures of
      Antipsychotic Use.
AB  - A state Care Management Entity (CME) using the wraparound practice model provided
      intensive care coordination for youth with severe mental illness, those most
      likely to receive antipsychotics. The model has led to improved
      clinical/functional outcomes, but little is known about the impact on
      antipsychotic prescribing and safety monitoring. A pre-post study was conducted
      to evaluate antipsychotic dosing, concomitant antipsychotic use, and metabolic
      monitoring among CME-enrolled and non-CME-enrolled comparison groups. CME
      enrolled youth had greater decrease in concomitant antipsychotic use than non-CME
      enrolled youth, but no difference in dosing or metabolic monitoring. More
      education of prescribing antipsychotics and team-based engagement in care
      coordination are needed.

PMID- 28585097
TI  - Coordination of Self- and Parental-Regulation Surrounding Type I Diabetes
      Management in Late Adolescence.
AB  - Background: Type 1 diabetes management involves self- and social-regulation, with
      past research examining components through individual differences unable to
      capture daily processes. Purpose: Dynamical systems modeling was used to examine
      the coordinative structure of self- and social-regulation (operationalized as
      parental-regulation) related to daily diabetes management during late
      adolescence. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-six late adolescents with type 1
      diabetes (M age = 17.77 years, SD = .39) completed a 14-day diary reporting
      aspects of self- (e.g., adherence behaviors, cognitive self-regulation failures,
      and positive and negative affect) and parental-regulation (disclosure to parents,
      knowledge parents have, and help parents provide). Results: Self-regulation
      functioned as one coordinative structure that was separate from parental
      regulation, where mothers and fathers were coordinated separately from each
      other. Mothers' perceived helpfulness served as a driver of returning adolescents
      back to homeostasis. Conclusions: The results illustrate a dynamic process
      whereby numerous facets of self- and social-regulation are coordinated in order
      to return diabetes management to a stable state.

PMID- 28585096
TI  - Cellular citrate levels establish a regulatory link between energy metabolism and
      the hepatic iron hormone hepcidin.
AB  - : Expression of the hepatic peptide hormone hepcidin responds to iron levels via
      BMP/SMAD signaling, to inflammatory cues via JAK/STAT signaling, to the nutrient
      sensing mTOR pathway, as well as to proliferative signals and gluconeogenesis.
      Here, we asked the question whether hepcidin expression is altered by metabolites
      generated by intermediary metabolism. To identify such metabolites, we took
      advantage of a comprehensive RNAi screen, which revealed effectors involved in
      citrate metabolism. We show that the inhibition of citrate-consuming enzymes
      increases hepcidin mRNA expression in primary murine hepatocytes. Consistently,
      citrate treatment of primary murine hepatocytes or intravenous injection of
      citrate in mice increases cellular citrate concentrations and hepcidin
      expression. We further demonstrate that the hepcidin response to citrate involves
      the SMAD signaling pathway. These results reveal links between iron homeostasis
      and energy metabolism that may help to explain why iron levels are frequently
      altered in metabolic disorders. KEY MESSAGES: * Elevated citrate levels increase
      hepcidin mRNA expression in primary hepatocytes. * Citrate treatment in primary
      hepatocytes activates hepcidin expression. * Intravenous injection of citrate in
      mice increases hepcidin mRNA levels. * The hepcidin response to citrate involves
      the BMP/SMAD signaling pathway.

PMID- 28585095
TI  - A clinical review of inhalation anesthesia with sevoflurane: from early research
      to emerging topics.
AB  - A large number of studies during the past two decades have demonstrated the
      efficacy and safety of sevoflurane across patient populations. Clinical
      researchers have also investigated the effects of sevoflurane, its hemodynamic
      characteristics, its potential protective effects on several organ systems, and
      the incidence of delirium and cognitive deficiency. This review examines the
      clinical profiles of sevoflurane and other anesthetic agents, and focuses upon
      emerging topics such as organ protection, postoperative cognitive deficiency and
      delirium, and novel ways to improve postanesthesia outcomes.

PMID- 28585099
TI  - Recent advances in targeting DNA-repair pathways for the treatment of ovarian
      cancer: introduction.

PMID- 28585101
TI  - Effectiveness of a Brief Multi-Component Intervention to HIV Prevention Among
      Spanish Youth.
AB  - The greater rate of HIV infection occurs before age 30 in Spain. Our aim was to
      evaluate the long-term impact of a brief HIV preventive intervention on key
      sexual risk behavior components in Spanish young population. Participants were
      467 young people aged 18-25 years who participated in B-PAPY intervention. They
      were evaluated at four times: a week, a month, three months and one year after
      intervention. A self-administered instrument was used. It was found a significant
      increase from pre-test to follow-ups in HIV knowledge, HIV susceptibility
      perception, confidence in condom and use of condoms. There were decreases
      statistically significant in the perceived severity of AIDS. The HIV intervention
      showed effectiveness over time in the main risk variables for HIV infection.
      Brief multi-component HIV interventions would be a useful resource to generalize
      HIV prevention.

PMID- 28585100
TI  - How Do We Get Partners to Test for HIV?: Predictors of Uptake of Partner HIV
      Testing Following Individual Outpatient Provider Initiated HIV Testing in Rural
      Uganda.
AB  - In a sample of outpatients (152 females, 152 males) receiving individual provider
      initiated HIV testing and counselling (PITC) we aimed to identify factors
      associated with subsequent uptake of partner HIV testing. Purposively sampled
      outpatients receiving PITC at a Ugandan hospital completed a questionnaire
      immediately prior to testing for HIV, and then at 3 and 6 months post-test. By 6
      month follow-up 96% of participants reported disclosing their HIV test results to
      their partner and 96.4% reported asking their partner to test. 38.8% of women and
      78.9% of men reported that their partner tested and they knew their results.
      Recent (men AOR 5.84, 95.0% CI 1.90-17.99; women AOR 6.19, 95.0% CI 2.74-13.59)
      or any previous testing by the partner (women AOR 4.01, 95% CI 1.06-15.10)
      predicted uptake of partner testing by the 6-month follow-up. Among women,
      perceiving greater social support from their partner, which perhaps reflects
      better relationship quality, was predictive of their male partner testing for HIV
      (AOR 2.37, 95% CI 1.22-4.58). Notably intimate partner violence showed no
      negative association with partner testing. Our findings demonstrate that women
      are at a disadvantage compared to men in their ability to influence their partner
      to test for HIV, and that improving social support in intimate relationships
      should be a focus of HIV partner testing interventions. However, more research on
      interventions to improve partner testing is needed, particularly in identifying
      effective ways to support women in engaging their partners to test.

PMID- 28585102
TI  - The role of prostaglandins E1 and E2, dinoprostone, and misoprostol in cervical
      ripening and the induction of labor: a mechanistic approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prostaglandins play a critical role in cervical ripening by increasing
      inflammatory mediators in the cervix and inducing cervical remodeling.
      Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) exert different effects on
      these processes and on myometrial contractility. These mechanistic differences
      may affect outcomes in women treated with dinoprostone, a formulation identical
      to endogenous PGE2, compared with misoprostol, a PGE1 analog. The objective of
      this review is to evaluate existing evidence regarding mechanistic differences
      between PGE1 and PGE2, and consider the clinical implications of these
      differences in patients requiring cervical ripening for labor induction. METHODS:
      We conducted a critical narrative review of peer-reviewed articles identified
      using PubMed and other online databases. RESULTS: While both dinoprostone and
      misoprostol are effective in cervical ripening and labor induction, they differ
      in their clinical and pharmacological profiles. PGE2 has been shown to stimulate
      interleukin-8, an inflammatory cytokine that promotes the influx of neutrophils
      and induces remodeling of the cervical extracellular matrix, and to induce
      functional progesterone withdrawal. Misoprostol has been shown to elicit a dose
      dependent effect on myometrial contractility, which may affect rates of uterine
      tachysystole in clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the mechanism of
      action between misoprostol and PGE2 may contribute to their variable effects in
      the cervix and myometrium, and should be considered to optimize outcomes.

PMID- 28585103
TI  - A review of fur-mites of the genus Dubininetta Fain & Lukoschus, 1978
      (Acariformes: Listrophoridae), ectoparasites of moles (Soricomorpha: Talpidae).
AB  - The fur mite genus Dubininetta Fain & Lukoschus, 1978 (Acariformes:
      Listrophoridae) represented by ectoparasites of moles (Soricomorpha: Talpidae) is
      revised. An amended diagnosis of this genus is provided. Two new species are
      described from moles in Vietnam: Dubininetta euroscaptor n. sp. from Euroscaptor
      parvidens (Miller) and Dubininetta abramovi n. sp. from Euroscaptor subanura
      Kawada, Son & Can. The insufficiently described D. taiwanensis (Fain & Lukoschus,
      1978) from Mogera insularis (Swinhoe) (type-host) is redescribed based on the
      type-specimens and numerous newly collected in the Russian Far East specimens
      from Mogera robusta Nehring. The host ranges are considered for all species of
      Dubininetta. A key to the five species presently known in this genus is provided.

PMID- 28585104
TI  - Can teenage novel users perform as well as General Surgery residents upon initial
      exposure to a robotic surgical system simulator?
AB  - New techniques in minimally invasive and robotic surgical platforms require
      staged curricula to insure proficiency. Scant literature exists as to how much
      simulation should play a role in training those who have skills in advanced
      surgical technology. The abilities of novel users may help discriminate if
      surgically experienced users should start at a higher simulation level or if the
      tasks are too rudimentary. The study's purpose is to explore the ability of
      General Surgery residents to gain proficiency on the dVSS as compared to novel
      users. The hypothesis is that Surgery residents will have increased proficiency
      in skills acquisition as compared to naive users. Six General Surgery residents
      at a single institution were compared with six teenagers using metrics measured
      by the dVSS. Participants were given two 1-h sessions to achieve an MScoreTM in
      the 90th percentile on each of the five simulations. MScoreTM software compiles a
      variety of metrics including total time, number of attempts, and high score.
      Statistical analysis was run using Student's t test. Significance was set at p
      value <0.05. Total time, attempts, and high score were compared between the two
      groups. The General Surgery residents took significantly less Total Time to
      complete Pegboard 1 (PB1) (p = 0.043). No significant difference was evident
      between the two groups in the other four simulations across the same MScoreTM
      metrics. A focused look at the energy dissection task revealed that overall score
      might not be discriminant enough. Our findings indicate that prior medical
      knowledge or surgical experience does not significantly impact one's ability to
      acquire new skills on the dVSS. It is recommended that residency-training
      programs begin to include exposure to robotic technology.

PMID- 28585105
TI  - Physical, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine in the Treatment of Pelvic
      Floor Disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of the study was to catalog the most recent
      available literature regarding the use of conservative measures in treatment of
      pelvic floor disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: Pelvic floor disorders encompass
      abnormalities of urination, defecation, sexual function, pelvic organ prolapse,
      and chronic pain, and can have significant quality of life implications for
      patients. Current guidelines recommend behavioral modifications and conservative
      treatments as first-line therapy for pelvic floor disorders. We have reviewed the
      literature for articles published on physical, complementary, and alternative
      treatments for pelvic floor disorders over the past 5 years. Review of pelvic
      floor muscle physiotherapy (PFMT) and biofeedback (BF) shows a benefit for
      patients suffering from bladder dysfunction (incontinence, overactive bladder),
      bowel dysfunction (constipation, fecal incontinence), pelvic organ prolapse, and
      sexual dysfunction (pelvic pain). Combination of PFMT and BF has shown improved
      results compared to PFMT alone, and some studies find that electrical stimulation
      can augment the benefit of BF and PFMT. Additionally, acupuncture and cognitive
      behavioral therapy has shown to be an effective treatment for pelvic floor
      disorders, particularly with respect to pelvic pain. This update highlights
      beneficial conservative treatments available for pelvic floor dysfunction, and
      supplements the current literature on treatment options for patients suffering
      from these disorders.

PMID- 28585106
TI  - Portal Vein Embolization Reduces Postoperative Hepatic Insufficiency Associated
      with Postchemotherapy Hepatic Atrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of postoperative hepatic insufficiency (PHI) is increased
      among patients with significant postchemotherapy hepatic atrophy. The primary aim
      of this study was to evaluate whether the liver regeneration stimulated by portal
      vein embolization (PVE) can protect against PHI. METHODS: Clinicopathological
      features of 177 patients treated with preoperative chemotherapy followed by PVE
      and hepatectomy were reviewed. Degree of atrophy was defined as the ratio of
      percentage difference in total liver volume (estimated by manual volumetry) to
      standardized liver volume. Kinetic growth rate (KGR, degree of hypertrophy
      [absolute % change in future liver remnant volume] divided by the number of weeks
      after PVE) and PHI events were compared between patients with degree of atrophy
      <10 vs >=10%. Risk factors for the PHI were assessed using logistic regression.
      RESULTS: Seventy patients (40%) experienced significant hepatic atrophy >=10%
      following preoperative chemotherapy. PHI rates were not significantly increased
      in patients who experienced significant hepatic atrophy (5.6 vs 8.6%, P = 0.443).
      KGR <2%/week (odds ratio, 8.10, P = 0.037) was the sole independent preoperative
      predictor of PHI. KGR >=2% was associated with decreased PHI in both patients
      with <10% atrophy (0 vs 9.5%, P = 0.035) and >=10% atrophy (2.6 vs 16.0%, P =
      0.044). CONCLUSIONS: Even in high-risk patients with >=10% degree of atrophy from
      preoperative chemotherapy, KGR >=2% mitigates the deleterious effects of hepatic
      atrophy and significantly reduces PHI to almost zero. In these high-risk
      patients, PVE with KGR calculation remains the most important preoperative
      technique to reduce liver failure after major hepatectomy.

PMID- 28585107
TI  - A Technique to Define Extrahepatic Biliary Anatomy Using Robotic Near-Infrared
      Fluorescent Cholangiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bile duct injury is a rare but serious complication of minimally
      invasive cholecystectomy. Traditionally, intraoperative cholangiogram has been
      used in difficult cases to help delineate anatomical structures, however, new
      imaging modalities are currently available to aid in the identification of
      extrahepatic biliary anatomy, including near-infrared fluorescent cholangiography
      (NIFC) using indocyanine green (ICG).1-5 The objective of the study was to
      evaluate if this technique may aid in safe dissection to obtain the critical
      view. METHODS: Thirty-five consecutive multiport robotic cholecystectomies using
      NIFC with ICG were performed using the da Vinci Firefly Fluorescence Imaging
      System. All patients received 2.5 mg ICG intravenously at the time of intubation,
      followed by patient positioning, draping, and establishment of pneumoperitoneum.
      No structures were divided until the critical view of safety was achieved. Real
      time toggling between NIFC and bright-light illumination was utilized throughout
      the case to define the extrahepatic biliary anatomy. RESULTS: ICG was
      successfully administered to all patients without complication, and in all cases
      the extrahepatic biliary anatomy was able to be identified in real-time 3D. All
      procedures were completed without biliary injury, conversion to an open
      procedure, or need for traditional cholangiography to obtain the critical view.
      Specific examples of cases where x-ray cholangiography or conversion to open was
      avoided and NIFC aided in safe dissection leading to the critical view are
      demonstrated, including (1) evaluation for aberrant biliary anatomy, (2)
      confirmation of non-biliary structures, and (3) use in cases where the
      infundibulum is fused to the common bile duct. CONCLUSION: NIFC using ICG is
      demonstrated as a useful technique to rapidly identify and aid in the
      visualization of extrahepatic biliary anatomy. Techniques that selectively
      utilize this technology specifically in difficult cases where the anatomy is
      unclear are demonstrated in order to obtain the critical view of safety.

PMID- 28585108
TI  - Contribution of Malabsorption to Weight Loss After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: a
      Systematic Review.
AB  - Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is traditionally classified as a combined
      restrictive and malabsorptive operation. This notion of the operation influences
      its technical variations and revisions for patients who do not achieve
      significant weight loss after this surgery. There is an increasing body of
      literature suggesting a role for appetite suppression mediated by neuro-hormonal
      signals after RYGB. The purpose of this paper was to systematically review
      published English language scientific literature to determine the role of
      malabsorption towards weight loss achieved with RYGB. This review finds that
      there is little or no malabsorption of carbohydrates or protein after RYGB but
      there is some fat malabsorption. Overall, malabsorption makes a little
      (approximately 11.0% in the early period) overall contribution to weight loss
      after RYGB.

PMID- 28585109
TI  - Efficacy and Tolerability of Peritendinous Hyaluronic Acid in Patients with
      Supraspinatus Tendinopathy: a Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical therapy and peritendinous hyaluronic acid (HA) injections
      have both shown promising results in the treatment of shoulder tendinopathies.
      However, the superiority of treatment combining physical therapy and HA is
      unclear. METHODS: Patients with ultrasound-confirmed supraspinatus tendinopathy
      were randomized to receive either physical therapy + subacromial HA injections or
      physical therapy only. Treatment efficacy was assessed using a Visual Analog
      Scale (VAS) for pain and an Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale. Other
      measures were the number of rehabilitation sessions and days needed for recovery,
      the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), and the physician and patient's
      perception of efficacy and tolerability. Patients were followed up for 90 days.
      RESULTS: Overall, VAS and ADL scores showed a progressive decrease during the
      follow-up (P < 0.01 at all visits for both groups), without significant
      differences between groups. The TSK score decreased significantly more in the HA
      group than in the control group (3.6 vs. 2.4; P < 0.001). Patients in the control
      group needed more rehabilitation sessions (28 vs. 22 in the HA group; P = 0.006)
      and more days for returning to their pre-injury activity (32 vs. 20 in the HA
      group; P = 0.013). Both patients and investigators perceived higher efficacy in
      the HA group than in the control group (P = 0.034). Both treatments were safe and
      well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Subacromial HA injections combined with physical
      therapy have high efficacy in the treatment of supraspinatus tendinopathy,
      leading to an earlier return to pre-injury activity and the need for fewer
      rehabilitation sessions, which may benefit both patients and the healthcare
      system.

PMID- 28585110
TI  - Survey on health care transition services in pediatric nephrology.

PMID- 28585112
TI  - Fine mapping of chromosome 9 locus associated with congenital cataract.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to study the molecular basis of inherited
      autosomal recessive cataracts in Pakistan population and to identify the
      molecular defect segregating with the disease phenotype. METHODS: Families having
      two or more affected individuals were identified through hospital, blood samples
      were collected and DNA was extracted. We employed the traditional strategy of
      linkage analysis using M13-labeled primers to map the already known genes for
      autosomal recessive cataract. Statistically, the data were evaluated through LOD
      score. RESULTS: Ten families affected with autosomal receive congenital cataract
      were enrolled for this study. Overall, three families were linked to reported
      loci for autosomal recessive congenital cataract. Out of these, one family Bl05
      was linked to a cataract locus at 9q13. Fine mapping of the chromosome 9 locus
      considerably delimited the previously reported linkage interval from 13.99 to
      7.99 cM in this study. CONCLUSION: Our results reduced the linkage interval of
      previously reported cataract locus on chromosome 9, thus considerably reducing
      the number of candidate genes.

PMID- 28585111
TI  - Morphometric features on enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography
      scans in idiopathic posterior uveitis or panuveitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Enhanced depth imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT) has
      emerged as a novel tool for qualitative and quantitative choroidal assessment in
      posterior uveitis. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of EDI
      OCT to assess the choroidal and retinal changes in posterior uveitis. METHODS: In
      this retrospective study, EDI-OCT scans of patients with idiopathic posterior
      uveitis or panuveitis were reviewed. Morphological features from retina and
      choroid from the OCT scans were assessed and compared to the fellow normal eyes.
      Follow-up assessment was performed at 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Nineteen
      patients with idiopathic posterior or panuveitis were included in the study.
      Choroidal examination using EDI-OCT scans showed areas of focal hypo-reflective
      and discrete hyper-reflective foci in one-third patients. Macular edema,
      disruption of the ellipsoid zone (generalized and discrete), outer retinal hyper
      reflective foci, and intraretinal and subretinal fluid were observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: The index study reports qualitative OCT-derived parameters as
      possible tools in monitoring disease progression in uveitis.

PMID- 28585113
TI  - Sex-Dependent Glial Signaling in Pathological Pain: Distinct Roles of Spinal
      Microglia and Astrocytes.
AB  - Increasing evidence suggests that spinal microglia regulate pathological pain in
      males. In this study, we investigated the effects of several microglial and
      astroglial modulators on inflammatory and neuropathic pain following intrathecal
      injection in male and female mice. These modulators were the microglial
      inhibitors minocycline and ZVEID (a caspase-6 inhibitor) and the astroglial
      inhibitors L-alpha-aminoadipate (L-AA, an astroglial toxin) and carbenoxolone (a
      connexin 43 inhibitor), as well as U0126 (an ERK kinase inhibitor) and D-JNKI-1
      (a c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor). We found that spinal administration of
      minocycline or ZVEID, or Caspase6 deletion, reduced formalin-induced inflammatory
      and nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain primarily in male mice. In contrast,
      intrathecal L-AA reduced neuropathic pain but not inflammatory pain in both
      sexes. Intrathecal U0126 and D-JNKI-1 reduced neuropathic pain in both sexes.
      Nerve injury caused spinal upregulation of the astroglial markers GFAP and
      Connexin 43 in both sexes. Collectively, our data confirmed male-dominant
      microglial signaling but also revealed sex-independent astroglial signaling in
      the spinal cord in inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

PMID- 28585114
TI  - Distinct Roles of Dopamine Receptors in the Lateral Thalamus in a Rat Model of
      Decisional Impulsivity.
AB  - The thalamus and central dopamine signaling have been shown to play important
      roles in high-level cognitive processes including impulsivity. However, little is
      known about the role of dopamine receptors in the thalamus in decisional
      impulsivity. In the present study, rats were tested using a delay discounting
      task and divided into three groups: high impulsivity (HI), medium impulsivity
      (MI), and low impulsivity (LI). Subsequent in vivo voxel-based magnetic resonance
      imaging revealed that the HI rats displayed a markedly reduced density of gray
      matter in the lateral thalamus compared with the LI rats. In the MI rats, the
      dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 or the D2 receptor antagonist
      eticlopride was microinjected into the lateral thalamus. SCH23390 significantly
      decreased their choice of a large, delayed reward and increased their omission of
      lever presses. In contrast, eticlopride increased the choice of a large, delayed
      reward but had no effect on the omissions. Together, our results indicate that
      the lateral thalamus is involved in decisional impulsivity, and dopamine D1 and
      D2 receptors in the lateral thalamus have distinct effects on decisional
      impulsive behaviors in rats. These results provide a new insight into the
      dopamine signaling in the lateral thalamus in decisional impulsivity.

PMID- 28585115
TI  - Cyanobacterial Neurotoxins: Their Occurrence and Mechanisms of Toxicity.
AB  - Cyanobacteria are some of the oldest organisms on earth, and have evolved to
      produce a battery of toxic metabolites, including hepatotoxins, dermatoxins, and
      neurotoxins. In this review, we focus on the occurrence and mechanisms of
      toxicity of a number of neurotoxins synthesised by these ancient photosynthetic
      prokaryotes. We discuss the evidence linking beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), a
      non-protein amino acid, to an unusual neurological disease complex reported on
      the island of Guam in the 1950s, and how 60 years later, the role that BMAA plays
      in human disease is still unclear. There is now evidence that BMAA is also
      produced by some eukaryotes, and can bioaccumulate in food chains; this combined
      with higher frequency of cyanobacterial blooms globally, increases the potential
      for human exposure. Three BMAA isomers that often co-occur with BMAA have been
      identified, and the current knowledge on the toxicity of these molecules is
      presented. The acute alkaloid toxins; anatoxin-a, homoanatoxin-a and the
      saxitoxins, and the organophosphate neurotoxin anatoxin-a(S) are also discussed.
      In many cases, human exposure to a cocktail of cyanobacterial neurotoxins is
      likely; however, the implications of combined exposure to these toxins have not
      been fully explored. Increased understanding of the combined effects of
      cyanobacterial neurotoxins is required to fully understand how these molecules
      impact on human health.

PMID- 28585117
TI  - Driving Behaviour Profile of Drivers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
AB  - The symptomatology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can make driving risky, but
      little is known about the on-road driving behaviour of individuals with ASD. This
      study assessed and compared the on-road driving performance of drivers with and
      without ASD, and explored how the symptomatology of ASD hinders or facilitates on
      road driving performance. Sixteen drivers with ASD and 21 typically-developed
      drivers participated in the study. Drivers with ASD underperformed in vehicle
      manoeuvring, especially at left-turns, right-turns and pedestrian crossings.
      However, drivers with ASD outperformed the TD group in aspects related to rule
      following such as using the indicator at roundabouts and checking for cross
      traffic when approaching intersections. Drivers with ASD in the current study
      presented with a range of capabilities and weaknesses during driving.

PMID- 28585116
TI  - Charge Mediated Compaction and Rearrangement of Gas-Phase Proteins: A Case Study
      Considering Two Proteins at Opposing Ends of the Structure-Disorder Continuum.
AB  - Charge reduction in the gas phase provides a direct means of manipulating protein
      charge state, and when coupled to ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS), it is
      possible to monitor the effect of charge on protein conformation in the absence
      of solution. Use of the electron transfer reagent 1,3-dicyanobenzene, coupled
      with IM-MS, allows us to monitor the effect of charge reduction on the
      conformation of two proteins deliberately chosen from opposite sides of the order
      to disorder continuum: bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and beta
      casein. The ordered BPTI presents compact conformers for each of three charge
      states accompanied by narrow collision cross-section distributions (TWCCSDN2
      >He). Upon reduction of BPTI, irrespective of precursor charge state, the TWCCSN2
      >He decreases to a similar distribution as found for the nESI generated ion of
      identical charge. The behavior of beta casein upon charge reduction is more
      complex. It presents over a wide charge state range (9-28), and intermediate
      charge states (13-18) have broad TWCCSDN2->He with multiple conformations, where
      both compaction and rearrangement are seen. Further, we see that the TWCCSDN2->He
      of the latter charge states are even affected by the presence of radical anions.
      Overall, we conclude that the flexible nature of some proteins result in broad
      conformational distributions comprised of many families, even for single charge
      states, and the barrier between different states can be easily overcome by an
      alteration of the net charge. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 28585118
TI  - Analysis of Promoters of Arabidopsis thaliana Divergent Gene Pair SERAT3;2 and
      IDH-III Shows SERAT3;2 Promoter is Nested Within the IDH-III Promoter.
AB  - Intergenic regions of divergent gene pairs show bidirectional promoter activity
      but whether regulatory sequences for gene expression in opposite directions are
      shared is not established. In this study, promoters of divergently arranged gene
      pair At4g35640-At4g35650 (SERAT3;2-IDH-III) of Arabidopsis thaliana were analyzed
      to identify overlapping regulatory regions. Both genes showed the highest
      expression in flower buds and flowers. 5' RACE experiments extended the
      intergenic region from 161 bp shown in TAIR annotation to 512 bp. GUS analysis of
      transgenic A. thaliana plants carrying the 691 bp fragment (512 bp intergenic
      region plus 5' UTR of both the genes) linked to uidA gene revealed that SERAT3;2
      promoter drives gene expression in the tapetum, whereas IDH-III promoter
      functions specifically in microspores/pollen. Serial 5' deletion of the 691 bp
      fragment showed SERAT3;2 promoter extends up to -355 position, whereas IDH-III
      promoter encompasses the 512 bp intergenic region. In transgenics, uidA
      transcript levels were lower than native SERAT3;2 and IDH-III transcripts
      indicating presence of additional cis regulatory elements beyond the 691 bp
      fragment. The present study demonstrated for the first time occurrence of a
      nested promoter in plants and identified a novel bidirectional promoter capable
      of driving gene expression in tapetum and microspores/pollen.

PMID- 28585119
TI  - The effectiveness of hybrid treatment for sever multiple trauma: a case of
      multiple trauma for damage control laparotomy and thoracic endovascular repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Time is a crucial factor for the successful early management of the
      multi-trauma patient. Hybrid operating theaters, which support the integration of
      surgical treatment and interventional radiology, provide opportunities to reduce
      the time-to-surgery for life threatening conditions. CASE PRESENTATION: We
      describe the early successful treatment of a 54-year-old male who sustained
      multiple injuries when he was hit by a 1000 kg bale of wheat that fell from a
      height. He was admitted with hemorrhagic shock due to intra-abdominal bleeding,
      an unstable fracture of the pelvis, and blunt aortic injury, which was considered
      to be at high risk of rupture. External fixation was applied to the pelvis in the
      resuscitation bay, and the patient was transferred to a hybrid operating theater
      for treatment of both the intra-abdominal hemorrhage and blunt aortic injury.
      Damage control laparotomy and thoracic endovascular aortic repair were performed
      uneventfully. CONCLUSIONS: Hybrid treatment, which combines emergency surgery and
      intraoperative interventional radiology, provides a prompt and appropriate
      management approach for the treatment of patients with severe multiple trauma and
      may improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28585120
TI  - Occupational formaldehyde and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Prior studies have yielded inconsistent evidence regarding the association
      between formaldehyde exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We
      conducted a population case-control study in the Danish National Registries on
      the relationship between occupationally-derived formaldehyde exposure and ALS.
      Occupational history was obtained from a comprehensive and prospectively recorded
      pension database of all paid work in Denmark since 1964, and was linked to a job
      exposure matrix to derive individual exposure estimates. Each case was matched to
      4 age- and sex-matched population controls alive on the date of the case
      diagnosis via risk set sampling, and odds ratios and confidence intervals (CI)
      were calculated via conditional logistic regression, adjusting for potential
      confounders. There were 3650 incident cases of ALS in the Danish National Patient
      Register from 1982 to 2009. Among controls, 25% were ever employed in jobs with a
      positive prevalence of formaldehyde exposure. Exposure to formaldehyde was
      associated with a 1.3-fold increased rate of ALS (95% CI 1.2-1.4). This study
      suggests that formaldehyde exposure, or employment in formaldehyde-exposed
      occupations, is related to the risk of ALS.

PMID- 28585121
TI  - Ultra-sensitive troponin I is an independent predictor of incident coronary heart
      disease in the general population.
AB  - Troponins are sensitive markers of myocardial injury and predictive of
      cardiovascular events, but conventional assays fail to detect slightly elevated
      troponins in a considerable proportion of the general population. Using a novel
      ultrasensitive assay, we explored the relationship of troponin levels with the
      incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in a case-cohort sample (mean age 52.5
      +/- 0.2 years, 51.5% women) comprising 803 CHD cases and 1942 non-cases.
      Ultrasensitive troponin I was detectable in 99.9% of available case-cohort
      samples. In an age- and sex-adjusted model, individuals in the highest quartile
      of the troponin distribution had a more than threefold increased risk for CHD
      events compared to those in the bottom quartile [hazard ratio, HR, 3.11; 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 2.15-4.49]. In a model adjusting for cardiovascular risk
      factors including C-reactive protein, cystatin C and N-terminal pro brain
      natriuretic peptide, individuals in the highest troponin I quartile still showed
      a hazard ratio of 2.58 (95% CI 1.66-4.00) for incident CHD as compared to those
      in the lowest quartile. Ultrasensitive troponin I was detectable in almost all
      individuals of a study sample reflecting middle-aged to elderly European general
      population. Ultrasensitive troponin concentrations exhibit an independent,
      graded, positive relation with incident CHD.

PMID- 28585122
TI  - Long-term a posteriori dietary patterns and risk of hip fractures in a cohort of
      women.
AB  - Dietary pattern analysis is a useful tool to study the importance of food
      components in the context of a diet and how they relate to health and disease.
      The association between dietary patterns and fractures is at present uncertain.
      We aimed to study associations between dietary patterns and risk of hip fracture
      in the Swedish Mammography Cohort, including 56,736 women (median baseline age 52
      years). Diet data was collected in food frequency questionnaires at two
      investigations and dietary patterns were defined by principal component analysis
      using 31 food groups. Information on hip fractures was collected from the Swedish
      National Patient Register. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) were estimated in Cox proportional hazards regression
      analysis. The two patterns identified-the healthy and Western/convenience dietary
      patterns-were time-updated and analysed. During a median follow-up time of 25.5
      years, 4997 women experienced a hip fracture. Hip fracture rate was 31% lower in
      the highest compared to the lowest quartile of the healthy dietary pattern [HR
      (95% CI) 0.69 (0.64; 0.75)]. In contrast, women in the highest compared to the
      lowest quartile of the Western/convenience dietary pattern had a 50% higher [HR
      (95% CI) 1.50 (1.38; 1.62)] hip fracture rate. Further, in each stratum of a
      Western/convenience dietary pattern a higher adherence to a healthy dietary
      pattern was associated with less hip fractures. The present results suggest that
      a varied healthy diet may be beneficial for the prevention of fragility fractures
      in women.

PMID- 28585124
TI  - Premature Mortality Among People with Mental Illness: Advocacy in Academic
      Psychiatry.

PMID- 28585123
TI  - Occupational exposure to diesel motor exhaust and risk of lung cancer by
      histological subtype: a population-based case-control study in Swedish men.
AB  - We investigated occupational exposure to diesel motor exhaust (DME) and the risk
      of lung cancer by histological subtype among men, using elemental carbon (EC) as
      a marker of DME exposure. 993 cases and 2359 controls frequency-matched on age
      and year of study inclusion were analyzed by unconditional logistic regression in
      this Swedish case-control study. Work and smoking histories were collected by a
      questionnaire and telephone interviews. DME was assessed by a job-exposure
      matrix. We adjusted for age, year of study inclusion, smoking, occupational
      exposure to asbestos and combustion products (other than motor exhaust),
      residential exposure to radon and exposure to air pollution from road traffic.
      The OR for lung cancer for ever vs. never exposure to DME was 1.15 (95% CI 0.94
      1.41). The risk was higher for squamous and large cell, anaplastic or mixed cell
      carcinoma than for alveolar cell cancer, adenocarcinoma and small cell carcinoma.
      The OR in the highest quartile of exposure duration (>=34 years) vs. never
      exposed was 1.66 (95% CI 1.08-2.56; p for trend over all quartiles: 0.027) for
      lung cancer overall, 1.73 (95% CI 1.00-3.00; p: 0.040) for squamous cell
      carcinoma and 2.89 (95% CI 1.37-6.11; p: 0.005) for the group of
      undifferentiated, large cell, anaplastic and mixed cell carcinomas. We found no
      convincing association between exposure intensity and lung cancer risk. Long-term
      DME exposure was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, particularly
      to squamous cell carcinoma and the group of undifferentiated, large cell,
      anaplastic or mixed carcinomas.

PMID- 28585125
TI  - Role of microtubule-associated protein tau phosphorylation in Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - As a major microtubule-associated protein, tau plays an important role in
      promoting microtubule assembly and stabilizing microtubules. In Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) and other tauopathies, the abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau
      proteins are aggregated into paired helical filaments and accumulated in the
      neurons with the form of neurofibrillary tangles. An imbalanced regulation in
      protein kinases and protein phosphatases is the direct cause of tau
      hyperphosphorylation. Among various kinases and phosphatases, glycogen synthase
      kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) are the most
      implicated. Accumulation of the hyperphosphorylated tau induces synaptic toxicity
      and cognitive impairments. Here, we review the upstream factors or pathways that
      can regulate GSK-3beta or PP2A activity mainly based on our recent findings. We
      will also discuss the mechanisms that may underlie tau-induced synaptic toxicity.

PMID- 28585126
TI  - Long-term trends and predictors of smoking behaviors among men following first
      ever ischemic stroke.
AB  - Continued smoking following stroke is associated with adverse outcomes including
      increased risk of mortality and secondary stroke. The aim of this study was to
      examine the long-term trends in smoking behaviors and factors associated with
      smoking relapse among men who survived their first-ever stroke. Data collection
      for this longitudinal study was conducted at baseline through face-to-face
      interviews and follow-up was completed every 3 months via telephone, beginning in
      2010 and continuing through 2014. Cox proportional hazard regression models were
      used to identify predictors of smoking relapse behavior. At baseline, 372 male
      patients were recruited into the study. Totally, 155 (41.7%) of these patients
      stopped smoking for stroke, and 61 (39.3%) began smoking again within 57 months
      after discharge with an increasing trend in the number of cigarettes smoked per
      day. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke at places outside of home and work
      (such as bars, restaurants) (HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.04-5.29, P=0.04), not having a
      spouse (HR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.04-0.36; P=0.0002) and smoking at least 20 cigarettes
      per day before stroke (HR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.14-5.14, P=0.02) were predictors of
      smoking relapse. It was concluded that environmental tobacco smoke is an
      important determinant of smoking relapse among men who survive their first
      stroke. Environmental tobacco smoke should be addressed by smoke-free policies in
      public places.

PMID- 28585127
TI  - Neuropsychological functioning after adenotonsillectomy in children with
      obstructive sleep apnea: A meta-analysis.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of adenotonsillectomy (AT)
      for children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and the improvement of
      their cognitive function. Studies on cognitive performance of OSAS children
      treated with or without AT were identified by searching the Pubmed, EMBASE and
      Cochrane library. A meta-analysis was conducted to analyze the literature. The
      random-effects model was used to evaluate 11 eligible studies using an inverse-
      variance method. The neuropsychological test results of 4 cognitive domains
      (general intelligence, memory, attention-executive function and verbal ability)
      were obtained and analyzed. By comparison of cognitive function between OSAS
      children and healthy controls, the effect sizes of each domain were achieved as
      follows: general intelligence,-0.5 (P<0.0001); memory,-0.18 (P=0.02); attention
      executive function,-0.21 (P=0.002); and verbal ability,-0.48 (P=0.0006). The
      effect sizes of general intelligence, memory, attention-executive function, and
      verbal ability after AT compared to baseline level were-0.37 (P=0.008),-0.36
      (P=0.0005),-0.02 (P=0.88), and-0.45 (P=0.009), respectively. Comparing the
      cognitive ability between OSAS children after AT and healthy controls showed that
      the effect sizes were-0.54 (P=0.0009),-0.24 (P=0.12),-0.17 (P=0.35), and-0.45
      (P=0.009) in general intelligence, memory, attention-executive function, and
      verbal ability, respectively. Our results confirmed that OSAS children performed
      worse than healthy children in terms of the 4 cognitive domains investigated.
      After 6-12 months of observation, significant improvement in attention-executive
      function and verbal ability were found in OSAS children treated with AT compared
      to their baseline level; restoration of attention-executive function and memory
      were observed in OSAS children after AT in comparison to healthy controls.
      Further rigorous randomized controlled trials should be conducted to obtain
      definitive conclusions.

PMID- 28585128
TI  - Expression of IL-17 and syndecan-1 in nasal polyps and their correlation with
      nasal polyps.
AB  - Nasal polyp (NP) is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal cavity and
      sinuses. Although some authors have suggested that NP is related to inflammatory
      factors such as interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-5, IL-8, granulocyte-macrophage colony
      stimulating factor (GM-CSF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and IL-17, the
      mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis and progression of NP remain obscure. This
      study investigated the expression and distribution of IL-17 and syndecan-1 in NP,
      and explored the roles of these two molecules in the pathogenesis of eosinophilic
      chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (Eos CRSwNP) and non-Eos CRSwNP. Real
      time PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of IL-17 and
      syndecan-1 in samples [NP, unciform process (UP) from patients with CRS, and
      middle turbinate (MT) from healthy controls undergoing pituitary tumor surgery].
      The results showed that the expression levels of IL-17 and syndecan-1 were
      upregulated in both NP and UP tissues, but both factors were higher in NP tissues
      than in UP tissues. There was no significant difference in IL-17 levels between
      the Eos CRSwNP and non-Eos CRSwNP samples, and syndecan-1 levels were increased
      in the non-Eos CRSwNP tissues as compared with those in Eos CRSwNP tissues. In
      all of the groups, there was a close correlation between the expression of IL-17
      and syndecan-1 in nasal mucosa epithelial cells, glandular epithelial cells, and
      inflammatory cells, suggesting that IL-17 and syndecan-1 may play a role, and
      interact with each other, in the pathogenesis of non-Eos CRSwNP.

PMID- 28585129
TI  - Enhanced biocompatibility and osseointegration of calcium titanate coating on
      titanium screws in rabbit femur.
AB  - This study aimed to examine the biocompatibility of calcium titanate (CaTiO3)
      coating prepared by a simplified technique in an attempt to assess the potential
      of CaTiO3 coating as an alternative to current implant coating materials. CaTiO3
      coated titanium screws were implanted with hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated or uncoated
      titanium screws into medial and lateral femoral condyles of 48 New Zealand white
      rabbits. Imaging, histomorphometric and biomechanical analyses were employed to
      evaluate the osseointegration and biocompatibility 12 weeks after the
      implantation. Histology and scanning electron microscopy revealed that bone
      tissues surrounding the screws coated with CaTiO3 were fully regenerated and they
      were also well integrated with the screws. An interfacial fibrous membrane layer,
      which was found in the HA coating group, was not noticeable between the bone
      tissues and CaTiO3-coated screws. X-ray imaging analysis showed in the CaTiO3
      coating group, there was a dense and tight binding between implants and the bone
      tissues; no radiation translucent zone was found surrounding the implants as well
      as no detachment of the coating and femoral condyle fracture. In contrast,
      uncoated screws exhibited a fibrous membrane layer, as evidenced by the detection
      of a radiation translucent zone between the implants and the bone tissues.
      Additionally, biomechanical testing revealed that the binding strength of CaTiO3
      coating with bone tissues was significantly higher than that of uncoated titanium
      screws, and was comparable to that of HA coating. The study demonstrated that
      CaTiO3 coating in situ to titanium screws possesses great biocompatibility and
      osseointegration comparable to HA coating.

PMID- 28585131
TI  - Predictive value of initial serum human chorionic gonadotropin levels for
      pregnancies after single fresh and frozen blastocyst transfer.
AB  - As one of the earliest markers for predicting pregnancy outcomes, human chorionic
      gonadotropin (hCG) values have been inconclusive on reliability of the prediction
      after frozen and fresh embryo transfer (ET). In this retrospective study,
      patients with positive hCG (day 12 after transfer) were included to examine the
      hCG levels and their predictive value for pregnancy outcomes following 214 fresh
      and 1513 vitrified-warmed single-blastocyst transfer cycles. For patients who got
      clinical pregnancy, the mean initial hCG value was significantly higher after
      frozen cycles than fresh cycles, and the similar result was demonstrated for
      patients with live births (LB). The difference in hCG value existed even after
      adjusting for the potential covariates. The area under curves (AUC) and threshold
      values calculated by receiver operator characteristic curves were 0.944 and
      213.05 mIU/mL for clinical pregnancy after fresh ET, 0.894 and 399.50 mIU/mL for
      clinical pregnancy after frozen ET, 0.812 and 222.86 mIU/mL for LB after fresh
      ET, and 0.808 and 410.80 mIU/mL for LB after frozen ET with acceptable
      sensitivity and specificity, respectively. In conclusion, single frozen
      blastocyst transfer leads to higher initial hCG values than single fresh
      blastocyst transfer, and the initial hCG level is a reliable predictive factor
      for predicting IVF outcomes.

PMID- 28585130
TI  - Factors associated with peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetes: Subclinical
      versus confirmed neuropathy.
AB  - This study determined the prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and
      subclinical DPN (sDPN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using
      nerve conduction study (NCS) as a diagnostic tool. We also investigated the
      factors associated with the development of sDPN and compared factors between the
      sDPN and confirmed DPN (cDPN). This cross-sectional study involved 240 T2DM
      patients who were successively admitted to the endocrinology wards of Wuhan Union
      Hospital over the period of January to December 2014. Data on the medical
      history, physical and laboratory examinations were collected. DPN was diagnosed
      using NCS. One-way ANOVA with least significant difference (LSD) analysis or chi
      square tests was used to compare parameters among DNP-free, sDPN and cDPN
      patients. Independent factors associated with sDPN were determined using logistic
      regression. The results showed that 50.8% of the participants had DPN, and among
      them, 17.1% had sDPN. sDPN showed significant independent associations with age,
      height, HbA1c, presence of atherosclerosis and diabetic retinopathy. Patients
      with DPN differed significantly from those without DPN with respect to age,
      duration of disease (DOD), HbA1c, presence of atherosclerosis, diabetic
      retinopathy, nephropathy and hypertension. Patients with cDPN, relative to those
      with sDPN, had significantly longer DOD and higher prevalence of peripheral
      artery disease (PAD) and coronary artery disease (CAD). Our study suggests that a
      significant number of T2DM patients are affected by sDPN, and the development of
      this condition is associated with advanced age, tall stature, poor glycaemic
      control, presence of diabetic retinopathy and atherosclerosis. On the other hand,
      patients with cDPN tend to have a longer DOD and are more likely to suffer from
      PAD and CAD.

PMID- 28585132
TI  - No significant association between PIK3CA mutation and survival of esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma: A meta-analysis.
AB  - The prognostic value of phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate 3-kinase,
      catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) in patients with esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC) is controversial. We aimed to investigate the prognostic
      significance of PIK3CA mutation in patients with ESCC. EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of
      Science databases were systematically searched from inception through Oct. 3,
      2016. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated
      using a random effects model for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival
      (DFS). Seven studies enrolling 1505 patients were eligible for inclusion of the
      current meta-analysis. Results revealed that PIK3CA mutation was not
      significantly associated with OS (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.63-1.30, P=0.591), with a
      significant heterogeneity (I 2=65.7%, P=0.012). Additionally, subgroup analyses
      were further conducted according to various variables, such as types of specimen,
      the sample size, technique and statistical methodology. All results suggested
      that no significant relationship was found between PIK3CA mutation and OS in
      patients with ESCC. For DFS, there was no significant association between PIK3CA
      mutation and DFS in patients with ESCC (HR: 1.00, 95% CI=0.47-2.11, P=0.993, I
      2=73.7%). Publication bias was not present and the results of sensitivity
      analysis were very stable in the current meta-analysis. Our findings suggest that
      PIK3CA mutation has no significant effects on OS and DFS in ESCC patients. More
      well-designed prospective studies with better methodology for PIK3CA assessment
      are required to clarify the prognostic significance of PIK3CA mutation in ESCC
      patients.

PMID- 28585133
TI  - Therapeutic effects of curcumin nanoemulsions on prostate cancer.
AB  - The therapeutic potential of curcumin (Cur) is hampered by its poor aqueous
      solubility and low bioavailability. The aim of this study was to determine
      whether Cur nanoemulsions enhance the efficacy of Cur against prostate cancer
      cells and increase the oral absorption of Cur. Cur nanoemulsions were developed
      using the self-microemulsifying method and characterized by their morphology,
      droplet size and zeta potential. The results showed that the cytotoxicity and
      cell uptake were considerably increased with Cur nanoemulsions compared to free
      Cur. Cur nanoemulsions exhibited a significantly prolonged biological activity
      and demonstrated better therapeutic efficacy than free Cur, as assessed by
      apoptosis and cell cycle studies. In situ single-pass perfusion studies
      demonstrated higher effective permeability coefficient and absorption rate
      constant for Cur nanoemulsions than for free Cur. Our study suggested that Cur
      nanoemulsions can be used as an effective drug delivery system to enhance the
      anticancer effect and oral bioavailability of Cur.

PMID- 28585134
TI  - CENP-A regulates chromosome segregation during the first meiosis of mouse
      oocytes.
AB  - Proper chromosome separation in both mitosis and meiosis depends on the correct
      connection between kinetochores of chromosomes and spindle microtubules.
      Kinetochore dysfunction can lead to unequal distribution of chromosomes during
      cell division and result in aneuploidy, thus kinetochores are critical for
      faithful segregation of chromosomes. Centromere protein A (CENP-A) is an
      important component of the inner kinetochore plate. Multiple studies in mitosis
      have found that deficiencies in CENP-A could result in structural and functional
      changes of kinetochores, leading to abnormal chromosome segregation, aneuploidy
      and apoptosis in cells. Here we report the expression and function of CENP-A
      during mouse oocyte meiosis. Our study found that microinjection of CENP-A
      blocking antibody resulted in errors of homologous chromosome segregation and
      caused aneuploidy in eggs. Thus, our findings provide evidence that CENP-A is
      critical for the faithful chromosome segregation during mammalian oocyte meiosis.

PMID- 28585135
TI  - Motivations, challenges and coping strategies for smoking cessation: Based on
      multi-ethnic pregnant couples in far western China.
AB  - The present study aimed to clarify the smoking cessation motivations, challenges
      and coping strategies among pregnant couples. A qualitative design using a
      grounded theory approach was applied. Data were collected by individual semi
      structured interviews with 39 married individuals (21 non-smoking pregnant women
      and 18 smoking or ever-smoking men with a pregnant wife) and 3 imams in an
      ethnically diverse region of far western China. The most common theme for smoking
      cessation motivation was "embryo quality" (i.e., a healthier baby), followed by
      family's health. Most interviewees reported that husband's withdrawal symptoms
      were the greatest challenge to smoking cessation, followed by the Chinese tobacco
      culture. Coping strategies given by the pregnant women typically involved
      combining emotional, behavioral and social interventions. Social interventions
      showed advantages in helping to quit smoking. Pregnancy appears to be a positive
      stimulus for pregnant couples' smoking cessation. Our results suggest that
      pregnancy, a highly important life event, may help to reduce barriers to smoking
      cessation at the social level (e.g., limiting access to cigarettes, avoiding
      temptation to smoke), but does little to help with the withdrawal symptoms.
      Professional guidance for smoking cessation is still necessary.

PMID- 28585136
TI  - Effect and underlying mechanism of Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe on ovarian apoptosis in
      mice with controlled ovarian hyperstimulation implantation dysfunction.
AB  - The effect and underlying mechanism of Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe on ovarian apoptosis
      in mice with controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) implantation dysfunction
      were studied. The COH implantation dysfunction model in mice was established by
      intraperitoneal injection of 7.5 IU pregnant mare's serum gonadotrophin (PMSG),
      followed by 7.5 IU human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) 48 h later. Then the
      female mice were mated with male at a ratio of 2:1 in the same cage at 6:00 p.m.
      The female mice from normal group were injected intraperitoneally with normal
      saline and mated at the corresponding time. Day 1 of pregnancy was recorded by
      examining its vaginal smears at 8:00 a.m. of the next day. Fifty successfully
      pregnant mice were equally randomly divided into 5 groups: normal control
      pregnant group (NC), COH implantation dysfunction model group (COH), low dosage
      of Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe group (LOW), middle dosage of Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe
      group (MID) and high dosage of Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe group (HIGH). Then from day
      1, the mice in different groups were respectively intragastrically given
      corresponding treatments at 9:00 a.m. for 5 consecutive days. The concentrations
      of 17beta-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) were determined by
      radioimmunoassay (RIA). The ultrastructural changes of ovarian tissues were
      observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The histopathological changes
      of ovarian tissues were observed by HE staining. The number of atretic follicles
      and pregnant corpus luteum were also recorded. TUNEL was applied to measure
      apoptotic cells of ovarian tissues. Western blotting was used to detect the
      protein expression of apoptosis- related factors like Bax, Bcl-2 and cleaved
      caspase-3 in ovarian tissue of mice. The results showed that ovarian weight, the
      concentrations of E2 and P4, the number of atretic follicles and pregnant corpus
      luteum, as well as the apoptosis of granulosa cells were significantly increased
      in the COH group. The ultrastructures of ovarian tissues in the COH group showed
      that chromatin in granulosa cells was increased, agglutinated, aggregated or
      crescent-shaped. The focal cavitation and the typical apoptotic bodies could be
      seen in granulosa cells in the late stage of apoptosis. After the treatment with
      different doses of Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe, the ultrastructural changes of ovarian
      granulosa cells apoptosis were dramatically improved and even disappeared under
      TEM. Visible mitochondria and mitochondrial cristae were increased and vacuoles
      were significantly reduced. The lipid dropltes were shown in a circluar or oval
      shape. The protein expression levels of Bax and cleaved-caspase-3 were decreased,
      and the expression of Bcl-2 protein was increased after treatment. It was
      concluded that Bu-Shen-An-Tai recipe can inhibit the apoptosis of ovarian
      granulosa cells, probably by up-regulating the protein expression of Bcl-2 and
      down-regulating Bax and cleaved-caspase-3, which contributes to the formation and
      maintenance of ovarian corpus luteum. It's helpful to promote the embryonic
      implantation, to reduce embryo loss and ultimately to improve the success rate of
      pregnancy.

PMID- 28585137
TI  - Risk factors of perioperative complications in patients undergoing radical
      retropubic prostatectomy: A ten-year experience.
AB  - Radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) has been one of the most effective
      treatments for prostate cancer. This study is designed to identify the related
      predictive risk factors for complications in patients following RRP. Between 2000
      and 2012 in Department of Urology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, 421
      cases undergoing RRP for localized prostate cancer by one surgeon were included
      in this retrospective analysis. We reviewed various risk factors that were
      correlated with perioperative complications, including patient characteristics
      [age, body mass index (BMI), co-morbidities], clinical findings (preoperative PSA
      level, Gleason score, clinical stage, pathological grade), and surgeon's own
      clinical practice. Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was used to explain
      comorbidities. The total rate of perioperative complications was 23.2% (98/421).
      There were 45/421 (10.7%), 28/421 (6.6%), 24/421 (5.7%) and 1/421 (0.2%) in grade
      I, II, III, IV respectively, and 323/421 (76.8%) cases had none of these
      complications. Statistical analysis of multiple potential risk factors revealed
      that BMI >30 (P=0.014), Charlson score >=1 (P<0.001) and surgical experience
      (P=0.0252) were predictors of perioperative complications. Age, PSA level,
      Gleason score, TNM stage, operation time, blood loss, and blood transfusion were
      not correlated with perioperative complications (P>0.05). It was concluded that
      patients' own factors and surgeons' technical factors are related with an
      increased risk of development of perioperative complications following radical
      prostatectomy. Knowing these predictors can both favor risk stratification of
      patients undergoing RRP and help surgeons make treatment decisions.

PMID- 28585138
TI  - Assessment of complications after liver surgery: Two novel grading systems
      applied to patients undergoing hepatectomy.
AB  - Although quality assessment is gaining increasing attention, there is still no
      consensus on how to define and grade postoperative complications. The absence of
      a definition and a widely accepted ranking system to classify surgical
      complications has hampered proper interpretation of the surgical outcome. This
      study aimed to define and search the simple and reproducible classification of
      complications following hepatectomy based on two therapy-oriented severity
      grading system: Clavien-Dindo classification of surgical complications and
      Accordion severity grading of postoperative complications. Two classifications
      were tested in a cohort of 2008 patients who underwent elective liver surgery at
      our institution between January 1986 and December 2005. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were performed to link respective complications with
      perioperative parameters, length of hospital stay and the quality of life. A
      total of 1716 (85.46%) patients did not develop any complication, while 292
      (14.54%) patients had at least one complication. According to Clavien-Dindo
      classification of surgical complications system, grade I complications occurred
      in 150 patients (7.47%), grade II in 47 patients (2.34%), grade IIIa in 59
      patients (2.94%), grade IIIb in 13 patients (0.65%), grade IVa in 7 patients
      (0.35%), grade IVb in 1 patient (0.05%), and grade V in 15 patients (0.75%).
      According to Accordion severity grading of postoperative complications system,
      mild complications occurred in 160 patients (7.97%), moderate complications in 48
      patients (2.39%), severe complications (invasive procedure/no general anesthesia)
      in 48 patients (2.39%), severe complications (invasive procedure under general
      anesthesia or single organ system failure) in 20 patients (1.00%), severe
      complications (organ system failure and invasive procedure under general
      anesthesia or multisystem organ failure) in 1 patient (0.05%), and mortality was
      0.75% (n=15). Complication severity of Clavien-Dindo system and Accordion system
      were all correlated with the length of hospital stay, the number of hepatic
      segments resected, the blood transfusion and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression
      Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A). The Clavien-Dindo classification system and Accordion
      classification system are the simple ways of reporting all complications
      following the liver surgery.

PMID- 28585139
TI  - Relationship between placenta location and resolution of second trimester
      placenta previa.
AB  - This prospective study was conducted to assess the rate of resolution of second
      trimester placenta previa in women with anterior placenta and posterior placenta,
      and that in women with and without previous cesarean section. In this study,
      placenta previa was defined as a placenta lying within 20 mm of the internal
      cervical os or overlapping it. We recruited 183 women diagnosed with previa
      between 20+0 weeks and 25+6 weeks. They were grouped according to their placenta
      location (anterior or posterior) and history of cesarean section. Comparative
      analysis was performed on demographic data, resolution rate of previa and
      pregnancy outcomes between anterior group and posterior group, and on those
      between cesarean section group and non-cesarean section group. Women with an
      anterior placenta tended to be advanced in parity (P=0.040) and have increased
      number of dilatation and curettage (P=0.044). The women in cesarean section group
      were significantly older (P=0.000) and had more parity (P=0.000), gravidity
      (P=0.000), and dilatation and curettage (P=0.048) than in non-cesarean section
      group. Resolution of previa at delivery occurred in 87.43% women in this study.
      Women with a posterior placenta had a higher rate of resolution (P=0.030), while
      history of cesarean section made no difference. Gestational age at resolution was
      earlier in posterior group (P=0.002) and non-cesarean section group (P=0.008)
      than in anterior group and cesarean section group correspondingly. Placenta
      location and prior cesarean section did not influence obstetric outcomes and
      neonatal outcomes. This study indicates that it is more likely to have subsequent
      resolution of the previa when the placenta is posteriorly located for women who
      are diagnosed with placenta previa in the second trimester.

PMID- 28585140
TI  - Effects of meglumine cyclic adenylate pretreatment on systemic inflammatory
      response syndrome induced by lipopolysaccharide in rats.
AB  - Studies showed that the use of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) substitutes
      or intracellular cAMP activators increased intracellular cAMP level, causing anti
      inflammatory effects. This study was to investigate the effects of pretreatment
      with meglumine cyclic adenylate (MCA), a compound of meglumine and cAMP, on
      systemic inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. Eighteen adult
      male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=6 each): control
      group (NS group), LPS group (LPS group) and LPS with MCA pretreatment group (MCA
      group). Systemic inflammation was induced with LPS 10 mg/kg injected via the
      femoral vein in LPS and MCA groups. In MCA group, MCA 2 mg/kg was injected via
      the femoral vein 20 min before LPS injection, and the equal volume of normal
      saline was given in NS and LPS groups at the same time. Three hours after LPS
      injection, the blood samples were taken from the abdominal aorta for
      determination of plasma concentrations of TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, cAMP by
      ELISA and NF-kappaBp65 expression by Western blotting. The experimental results
      showed that inflammatory and antiinflammatory indices were increased in LPS group
      compared to NS group; inflammatory indices were declined and anti-inflammatory
      indices were increased in MCA group relative to LPS group. Our study suggested
      that MCA pretreatment may attenuate LPS-induced systemic inflammation.

PMID- 28585141
TI  - Protective effects of hydrogen sulfide on portal hypertensive vasculopathy in
      rabbits by activating AKT-NF-kappaB pathway.
AB  - The role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in portal hypertension (PH)-induced esophagus
      gastric junction vascular lesions in rabbits was observed. The rabbit PH models
      were established. The animals were randomly divided into the following groups:
      normal, PH, PH+sodium hydrosulfide (PH+S), PH+propargylglycine (PH+PPG). The
      plasma H2S levels, apoptosis of esophageal-gastric junction vascular smooth
      muscle cells, and the expression of nuclear transcription factor-kappaB (NF
      kappaB), p-AKT, IkappaBa and Bcl-2 were detected. The cystathionine gamma lyase
      (cystathionine-gamma-splitting enzyme, CSE) in the junction vascular tissue was
      measured. The results showed that the plasma H2S levels and the CSE expression
      levels had statistically significant difference among different groups (P<0.05).
      As compared with PH group, plasma H2S levels were declined obviously (11.9+/-4.2
      vs. 20.6+/-4.5, P<0.05), and CSE expression levels in the junction vascular
      tissue were notably reduced (1.7+/-0.6 vs. 2.8+/-0.8, P<0.05), apoptosis rate of
      vascular smooth muscle cells per unit area was significantly decreased (0.10+/
      0.15 vs. 0.24+/-0.07, P<0.05), and the expression levels of p-AKT and NF-kappaB
      were significantly decreased (2.31+/-0.33 vs. 3.04+/-0.38, P<0.05; 0.33+/-0.17
      vs. 0.51+/-0.23, P<0.05), however, IkappaBa and Bcl-2 expression increased
      obviously (5.57+/-0.17 vs. 3.67+/-0.13, P<0.05; 0.79+/-0.29 vs. 0.44+/-0.36,
      P<0.05) in PH+PPG group. As compared with PH group, H2S levels were notably
      increased (32.7+/-7.3 vs. 20.6+/-4.5, P<0.05), the CSE levels in the junction
      vascular tissue were significantly increased (6.3+/-0.7 vs. 2.8+/-0.8, P<0.05),
      apoptosis rate of vascular smooth muscle cells per unit area was significantly
      increased (0.35+/-0.14 vs. 0.24+/-0.07, P<0.05), and the expression levels of p
      AKT and NF-kappaB were significantly increased (4.29+/-0.49 vs. 3.04+/-0.38,
      P<0.05; 0.77+/-0.27 vs. 0.51+/-0.23, P<0.05), yet IkappaBa and Bcl-2 expression
      decreased significantly (3.23+/-0.24 vs. 3.67+/-0.13, P<0.05; 0.31+/-0.23 vs.
      0.48+/-0.34, P<0.05) in PH+S group. It is concluded that esophagus-gastric
      junction vascular lesions happen under PH, and apoptosis of smooth muscle cells
      is declined. H2S can activate NF-kappaB by the p-AKT pathway, leading to the down
      regulation of Bcl-2, eventually stimulating apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle
      cells, easing PH. H2S/CSE system may play an important role in remission of PH
      via the AKT-NF-kappaB pathway.

PMID- 28585143
TI  - Single-allergen sublingual immunotherapy versus multi-allergen subcutaneous
      immunotherapy for children with allergic rhinitis.
AB  - It has always been controversial whether a single allergen performs better than
      multiple allergens in polysensitized patients during the allergen-specific
      immunotherapy. This study aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of single
      allergen sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) versus multi-allergen subcutaneous
      immunotherapy (SCIT) and to discover the change of the biomarker IL-4 after 1
      year immunotherapy in polysensitized children aged 6-13 years with allergic
      rhinitis (AR) induced by house dust mites (HDMs). The AR polysensitized children
      (n=78) were randomly divided into two groups: SLIT group and SCIT group. Patients
      in the SLIT group sublingually received a single HDM extract and those in the
      SCIT group were subcutaneously given multiple-allergen extracts (HDM in
      combination with other clinically relevant allergen extracts). Before and 1 year
      after the allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT), the total nasal symptom scores
      (TNSS), total medication scores (TMS) and IL-4 levels in peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were compared respectively between the two groups. The
      results showed that the TNSS were greatly improved, and the TMS and IL-4 levels
      were significantly decreased after 1-year ASIT in both groups (SLIT group:
      P<0.001; SCIT group: P<0.001). There were no significant differences in any
      outcome measures between the two groups (for TNSS: P>0.05; for TMS: P>0.05; for
      IL-4 levels: P>0.05). It was concluded that the clinical efficacy of single
      allergen SLIT is comparable with that of multi-allergen SCIT in 6-13-year-old
      children with HDM-induced AR.

PMID- 28585142
TI  - New mini dental implant attachments versus O-ring attachment after cyclic aging:
      Analysis of retention strength and gap space.
AB  - Overdenture as a treatment modality for both partially and fully edentulous
      patients is costeffective and less expensive. The purpose of the present study
      was to examine the newly fabricated attachments by comparing them with
      conventional O-ring attachment in vitro in terms of retention force and cyclic
      aging resistance. A total of 150 samples were prepared and divided into five
      groups according to the materials used (O-ring attachment, Deflex M10 XR, Deflex
      Classic SR, Deflex Acrilato FD, and flexible acrylic resin). The retention force
      of different attachments was measured by a mini dental implant after three
      subsequent aging (0, 63, and 126) cycles in the circumstances similar to the oral
      environment. The gap space between the head of the implant and the inner surface
      of the attachments was detected. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis
      with multiple comparisons test was applied for statistical analysis. The results
      showed that Deflex M10 XR had the highest retention force and the lowest gap
      space after cyclic aging; in addition, by comparing the relative force reduction,
      the lowest values were obtained in the O-ring attachment and the highest values
      in the flexible acrylic resin attachment. The retention force measured after
      cyclic aging for the Deflex M10 XR attachment was greatly improved when compared
      with the O-ring attachment and other types of attachment materials; in addition,
      the Deflex M10 XR attachment exhibited the minimum gap space between the inner
      surface and the mini dental implant head. In conclusion, Deflex M10 XR has the
      ability to withstand weathering conditions and retains its durable and retentive
      properties after aging when compared with other attachments.

PMID- 28585144
TI  - Weighted gene co-expression network analysis of gene modules for the prognosis of
      esophageal cancer.
AB  - Esophageal cancer is a common malignant tumor, whose pathogenesis and prognosis
      factors are not fully understood. This study aimed to discover the gene clusters
      that have similar functions and can be used to predict the prognosis of
      esophageal cancer. The matched microarray and RNA sequencing data of 185 patients
      with esophageal cancer were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and
      gene co-expression networks were built without distinguishing between squamous
      carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The result showed that 12 modules were associated
      with one or more survival data such as recurrence status, recurrence time, vital
      status or vital time. Furthermore, survival analysis showed that 5 out of the 12
      modules were related to progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS).
      As the most important module, the midnight blue module with 82 genes was related
      to PFS, apart from the patient age, tumor grade, primary treatment success, and
      duration of smoking and tumor histological type. Gene ontology enrichment
      analysis revealed that "glycoprotein binding" was the top enriched function of
      midnight blue module genes. Additionally, the blue module was the exclusive gene
      clusters related to OS. Platelet activating factor receptor (PTAFR) and feline
      Gardner-Rasheed (FGR) were the top hub genes in both modeling datasets and the
      STRING protein interaction database. In conclusion, our study provides novel
      insights into the prognosis-associated genes and screens out candidate biomarkers
      for esophageal cancer.

PMID- 28585145
TI  - Correlation of enhancement degree on contrast-enhanced ultrasound with
      histopathology of carotid plaques and serum high sensitive C-reactive protein
      levels in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy.
AB  - This study was undertaken to investigate the correlation of the enhancement
      degree on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with the histopathology of carotid
      plaques and the serum high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in
      patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Carotid CEUS was performed
      preoperatively in 115 patients who would undergo CEA, and the enhancement degree
      of the carotid plaques was evaluated by both the visual semiquantitative analysis
      and the quantitative time-intensity curve analysis. Serum hs-CRP levels were
      detected using the particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay also before the
      operation. Additionally, the carotid plaque samples were subjected to
      histopathological examination postoperatively. The density of neovessels and the
      number of macrophages in the plaques were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The
      results showed that among the 115 patients, grade 0 plaque contrast enhancement
      was noted in 35 patients, grade 1 in 48 patients and grade 2 in 32 patients. The
      degree of plaque enhancement, the density of neovessels, the number of
      macrophages, and the hs-CRP levels were highest in the grade 2 patients.
      Correlation analysis showed that the enhancement degree of the carotid plaques
      was closely related to the immunohistochemical parameters of the plaques and the
      serum hs-CRP levels. It was suggested that the carotid plaque enhancement on CEUS
      can be used to evaluate the vulnerability of carotid plaques.

PMID- 28585146
TI  - Deceleration capacity-a novel measure for autonomic nervous system in patients
      with vasovagal syncope on tilt-table testing.
AB  - This study was to investigate the changes of autonomic nerve function and
      hemodynamics in patients with vasovagal syncope (VVS) during head-up tilt-table
      testing (HUT). HUT was performed in 68 patients with unexplained syncope and 18
      healthy subjects served as control group. According to whether bradycardia,
      hypotension or both took place during the onset of syncope, the patients were
      divided during the test into three subgroups: vasodepressor syncope (VD),
      cardioinhibitory syncope (CI) and mixed syncope (MX) subgroups. Heart rate, blood
      pressure, heart rate variability (HRV), and deceleration capacity (DC) were
      continuously analyzed during HUT. For all the subjects with positive responses,
      the normalized low frequency (LFn) and the LF/HF ratio markedly decreased whereas
      normalized high frequency (HFn) increased when syncope occurred. Syncopal period
      also caused more significant increase in the power of the DC in positive groups.
      These changes were more exaggerated compared to controls. All the patients were
      indicative of a sympathetic surge in the presence of withdrawal vagal activity
      before syncope and a sympathetic inhibition with a vagal predominance at the
      syncopal stage by the frequency-domain analysis of HRV. With the measurements of
      DC, a decreased vagal tone before syncope stage and a vagal activation at the
      syncopal stage were observed. The vagal tone was higher in subjects showing
      cardioinhibitory responses at the syncopal stage. DC may provide an alternative
      method to understand the autonomic profile of VVS patients.

PMID- 28585147
TI  - Optimal threshold of stimulated serum thyroglobulin level for 18F-FDG PET/CT
      imaging in patients with thyroid cancer.
AB  - This study was to explore the optimal threshold of thyroid-stimulating hormone
      (TSH)-stimulated serum thyroglobulin (s-Tg) for patients who were to receive 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT scan owing to clinical suspicion of
      differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) recurrence but negative post-therapeutic 131I
      whole-body scan (131I-WBS). A total of 60 qualified patients underwent PET/CT
      scanning from October 2010 to July 2014. The receiver operating characteristic
      (ROC) curve analyses showed that s-Tg levels over 49 MUg/L led to the highest
      diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT to detect recurrence, with a sensitivity of 89.5%
      and a specificity of 90.9%. Besides, bivariate correlation analysis showed
      positive correlation between s-Tg levels and the maximum standardized uptake
      values (SUVmax) of 18F-FDG in patients with positive PET/CT scanning, suggesting
      a significant influence of TSH both on Tg release and uptake of 18F-FDG. So,
      positive PET/CT imaging is expected when patients have negative 131I-WBS but s-Tg
      levels over 49 MUg/L.

PMID- 28585148
TI  - Combined use of single-balloon enteroscope and colonoscope for self-expandable
      metal stent placement in patients with malignant small intestinal obstruction: a
      single-center comparative clinical observation.
AB  - Small intestinal obstruction is a common complication of primary gastrointestinal
      cancer or metastatic cancers. Patients with this condition are often poor
      candidates for surgical bypasses, and placement of self-expanding metal stent
      (SEMS) can be technically challenging. In this study, we examined the feasibility
      of combined application of single-balloon enteroscope (SBE) and colonoscope for
      SEMS placement in patients with malignant small intestinal obstruction. Thirty
      four patients were enrolled in this study, among which 22 patients received SEMS
      placement by using SBE and colonoscope, while the other 12 patients received
      conservative medical treatment. The patients were followed up for one year. Stent
      placement was technically feasible in 95.5% (21/22). Clinical improvement was
      achieved in 86.4% (19/22). For the 19 clinical success cases, the average time of
      benefits from a gastric outlet obstruction scoring system (GOOSS) increase >=1
      was 111.9+/-89.5 days. For the 12 patients receiving conservative medical
      treatment, no significant improvement in GOOSS score was observed. Moreover, a
      significant increase of Short-Form-36 health survey score was observed in the 19
      patients at time of 30 days after stent placement. By Kaplan-Meier analysis, a
      significant survival improvement was observed in patients with successful SEMS
      placement, compared with patients receiving conservative medical treatment. Taken
      together, combined use of SBE and colonoscope makes endoscopic stent placement
      feasible in patients with malignant small intestinal obstruction, and patients
      can benefit from it in terms of prolonged survival and improved quality of life.

PMID- 28585149
TI  - Inhibition of adhesion and metastasis of HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells in
      vitro by DNA aptamer against sialyl Lewis X.
AB  - The sialyl Lewis X (SLex) antigen encoded by the FUT7 gene is the ligand of
      endotheliam-selectin (E-selectin). The combination of SLex antigen and E-selectin
      represents an important way for malignant tumor metastasis. In the present study,
      the effect of the SLex-binding DNA aptamer on the adhesion and metastasis of
      hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells in vitro was investigated. Reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence staining
      were conducted to detect the expression of FUT7 at both transcriptional and
      translational levels. The SLex expression in HepG2 cells treated with different
      concentrations of SLex-binding DNA aptamer was detected by flow cytometry.
      Besides, the adhesion, migration, and invasion of HepG2 cells were measured by
      cell adhesion assay, and the Transwell migration and invasion assay. The results
      showed that the FUT7 expression was up-regulated at both mRNA and protein levels
      in HepG2 cells. SLex-binding DNA aptamer could significantly decrease the
      expression of SLex in HepG2 cells. The cell adhesion assay revealed that the SLex
      binding DNA aptamer could effectively inhibit the interactions between E-selectin
      and SLex in the HepG2 cells. Additionally, SLex-binding DNA aptamers at 20 nmol/L
      were found to have the similar effect to the monoclonal antibody CSLEX-1. The
      Transwell migration and invasion assay revealed that the number of penetrating
      cells on the down-side of Transwell membrane was significantly less in cells
      treated with 5, 10, 20 nmol/L SLex-binding DNA aptamer than those in the negative
      control group (P<0.01). Our study demonstrated that the SLex-binding DNA aptamer
      could significantly inhibit the in vitro adhesion, migration, and invasion of
      HepG2 cells, suggesting that the SLex-binding DNA aptamer may be used as a
      potential molecular targeted drug against metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28585150
TI  - Mild encephalopathy/encephalitis with a reversible splenial lesion (MERS): A
      report of five neonatal cases.
AB  - Mild encephalopathy/encephalitis with a reversible splenial (MERS) lesion is a
      clinic-radiological entity. The clinical features of MERS in neonates are still
      not systemically reported. This paper presents five cases of MERS, and the up-to
      date reviews of previously reported cases were collected and analyzed in the
      literature. Here we describe five cases clinically diagnosed with MERS. All of
      them were neonates and the average age was about 4 days. They were admitted for
      the common neurological symptoms such as hyperspasmia, poor reactivity and
      delirium. Auxiliary examinations during hospitalization also exhibited features
      in common. In this report, we reached following conclusions. Firstly, magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed solitary or comprehensive lesions in the splenium of
      corpus callosum, some of them extending to almost the whole corpus callosum. The
      lesions showed low intensity signal on T1-weighted images, homogeneously
      hyperintense signal on T2-weighted images, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery
      and diffusion-weighted images, and exhibited an obvious reduced diffusion on
      apparent diffusion coefficient map. Moreover, the lesions in the magnetic
      resonance imaging disappeared very quickly even prior to the clinical recovery.
      Secondly, all the cases depicted here suffered electrolyte disturbances
      especially hyponatremia which could be easily corrected. Lastly, all of the cases
      recovered quickly over one week to one month and majority of them exhibited signs
      of infections and normal electroencephalography.

PMID- 28585151
TI  - Microstructure study of normal lunates with micro-computed tomography.
AB  - In order to study the microstructure characteristics of normal lunate bones,
      eight fresh cadaver normal lunates were scanned with micro-computed tomography.
      High-resolution images of the micro-structure of normal lunates were obtained and
      we analyzed the nutrient foramina. Then nine regions of interest (ROI) were
      chosen in the central sagittal plane so that we could obtain the parameters of
      trabecular bones of ROIs. The distal lamellar-like compact structure had
      statistically significant differences when it was compared with the ROIs in the
      volar and dorsal ends of the distal cortex. The difference of diameter between
      the volar and dorsal foramina was significant (P<0.05). However, there was no
      significant difference regarding the number. The trabecular bones of the volar
      and dorsal distal ends had lower intensity than those of the distal central
      subchondral bone plate. The diameters of the nutrient foramina on the volar
      cortex were larger than those on the dorsal. This research provided more detailed
      information about microstructure of normal lunate and the nutrient foramina on
      cortex, and a reference for further study about diseased lunate.

PMID- 28585152
TI  - Overview of the Safety of Anti-VEGF Drugs: Analysis of the Italian Spontaneous
      Reporting System.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drugs are
      widely used for the treatment of several cancers and retinal diseases. The
      systemic use of anti-VEGF drugs has been associated with an increased risk of
      serious adverse reactions. Whether this risk is also related to intravitreal
      administration of anti-VEGF drugs is unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study
      was to provide an overview of the safety of anti-VEGF drugs in oncology and
      ophthalmology settings using the Italian Spontaneous Reporting System (SRS).
      METHODS: We selected all suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports attributed
      to anti-VEGF drugs and conducted descriptive frequency analyses stratified by
      indication of use. As a measure of disproportionality, we calculated the
      proportional reporting ratio with 95% confidence intervals at the level of
      standardized Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA(r)) queries
      (SMQs). RESULTS: Of a total of 2472 anti-VEGF drug-related reports, 2173 (87.9%)
      and 299 (12.1%) were attributed to systemic and intravitreal use of these drugs,
      respectively. The frequency of serious ADRs reported was higher for intravitreal
      administration of anti-VEGF drugs than for systemic use in patients with cancer
      (58.9 vs. 34.1%) (p < 0.001) and were disproportionally associated with ischemic
      heart disease and thromboembolic and cerebrovascular events. Most serious ADRs
      related to anti-VEGF drugs in patients with cancer are known and clinically
      relevant (e.g., gastrointestinal and vascular disorders). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      documented that serious ADRs and systemic toxicity may occur not only with
      systemic use of anti-VEGF drugs in patients with cancer but also with
      intravitreal administration. Close monitoring of cardio/cerebrovascular adverse
      events should be considered during treatment with all anti-VEGF drugs.

PMID- 28585153
TI  - Second-Generation Antipsychotics and Metabolic Side Effects: A Systematic Review
      of Population-Based Studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is strong evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
      that second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medications are associated with
      metabolic adverse events. However, with the recent increases in the use of SGAs
      worldwide and frequent off-label use, it is unclear whether these associations
      are generalizable to populations beyond those included in RCTs. OBJECTIVES: This
      review aims to characterize the impact of SGAs on the population through a
      systematic review of population-based studies of SGA users. Studies could examine
      the use of any SGA medication and any comparator group. Studies also needed to
      include at least one metabolic outcome such as type 2 diabetes mellitus,
      dyslipidemia, obesity, hypertension, or metabolic syndrome. METHODS: A systematic
      search process was used to identify studies for inclusion in this review.
      Included studies had to be population-based studies of users of any SGA
      medication with at least one reported metabolic outcome. Study quality was also
      assessed using the AMSTAR tool, and evidence was synthesized by both metabolic
      outcome and specific SGA medication. RESULTS: In total, 15 studies were included
      in this review. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was the most frequently reported
      outcome; clozapine and olanzapine were most strongly associated with type 2
      diabetes mellitus. Evidence was mixed for a moderate association between type 2
      diabetes mellitus and risperidone or quetiapine. Few studies examined other
      metabolic outcomes, and therefore it is difficult to estimate the true effect in
      the population. DISCUSSION: Population-based evidence for other SGAs and
      metabolic outcomes was limited. However, clozapine and olanzapine were
      consistently more strongly associated with metabolic adverse events than were
      other SGAs currently available.

PMID- 28585155
TI  - Latino Sexual Beliefs Scale: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of Latino Men Who
      Have Sex With Men.
AB  - The catalyzing forces behind risky sexual behavior are a rich area of interest
      for public health researchers concerned with reducing HIV risk. Social cognitive
      theory would suggest that sexual beliefs are a viable example of one such
      influential agent. Recognizing that culture plays an important role in forming
      such sexual beliefs, and seeking to understand the unique HIV risks present for
      Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), this article presents an exploratory
      factor analysis of the 13-item Latino Sexual Beliefs Scale (LSBS) created as part
      of a larger study to investigate predictors of condom use among a sample of 482
      MSM born in Brazil, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic and living in the U.S.
      The current analysis identified two psychometric factors in the LSBS as Romantic
      Exigency (containing six items with a mean loading of .62) and Sexual
      Acquiescence (containing seven items with a mean loading of .57). This is the
      first factor analysis conducted on the 13-item LSBS and represents the first
      known quantitative measure of Latino cultural sexual beliefs related to condom
      use for Latino MSM. Implications for future research include further validation,
      use in studies exploring the role of sexual beliefs on condom use, and possible
      thematic targets in HIV risk reduction interventions.

PMID- 28585156
TI  - Sex Work Criminalization Is Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
AB  - There is a notable shift toward more repression and criminalization in sex work
      policies, in Europe and elsewhere. So-called neo-abolitionism reduces sex work to
      trafficking, with increased policing and persecution as a result. Punitive
      "demand reduction" strategies are progressively more popular. These developments
      call for a review of what we know about the effects of punishing and repressive
      regimes vis-a-vis sex work. From the evidence presented, sex work repression and
      criminalization are branded as "waterbed politics" that push and shove sex
      workers around with an overload of controls and regulations that in the end only
      make things worse. It is illustrated how criminalization and repression make it
      less likely that commercial sex is worker-controlled, non-abusive, and non
      exploitative. Criminalization is seriously at odds with human rights and public
      health principles. It is concluded that sex work criminalization is barking up
      the wrong tree because it is fighting sex instead of crime and it is not offering
      any solution for the structural conditions that sex work (its ugly sides
      included) is rooted in. Sex work repression travels a dead-end street and holds
      no promises whatsoever for a better future. To fight poverty and gendered
      inequalities, the criminal justice system simply is not the right instrument. The
      reasons for the persistent stigma on sex work as well as for its present revival
      are considered.

PMID- 28585154
TI  - Systematic reviews of diagnostic tests in endocrinology: an audit of methods,
      reporting, and performance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews provide clinicians and policymakers estimates of
      diagnostic test accuracy and their usefulness in clinical practice. We identified
      all available systematic reviews of diagnosis in endocrinology, summarized the
      diagnostic accuracy of the tests included, and assessed the credibility and
      clinical usefulness of the methods and reporting. METHODS: We searched Ovid
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL from inception to December 2015 for
      systematic reviews and meta-analyses reporting accuracy measures of diagnostic
      tests in endocrinology. Experienced reviewers independently screened for eligible
      studies and collected data. We summarized the results, methods, and reporting of
      the reviews. We performed subgroup analyses to categorize diagnostic tests as
      most useful based on their accuracy. RESULTS: We identified 84 systematic
      reviews; half of the tests included were classified as helpful when positive, one
      fourth as helpful when negative. Most authors adequately reported how studies
      were identified and selected and how their trustworthiness (risk of bias) was
      judged. Only one in three reviews, however, reported an overall judgment about
      trustworthiness and one in five reported using adequate meta-analytic methods.
      One in four reported contacting authors for further information and about half
      included only patients with diagnostic uncertainty. CONCLUSION: Up to half of the
      diagnostic endocrine tests in which the likelihood ratio was calculated or
      provided are likely to be helpful in practice when positive as are one-quarter
      when negative. Most diagnostic systematic reviews in endocrine lack
      methodological rigor, protection against bias, and offer limited credibility.
      Substantial efforts, therefore, seem necessary to improve the quality of
      diagnostic systematic reviews in endocrinology.

PMID- 28585157
TI  - Gay Men's Health and Identity: Social Change and the Life Course.
AB  - Due to significant historical change in the late 20th and early 21st century
      related to both health and cultural attitudes toward homosexuality, gay men of
      distinct birth cohorts may diverge considerably in their health and identity
      development. We argue that research on gay men's health has not adequately
      considered the significance of membership in distinct generation-cohorts, and we
      present a life course paradigm to address this problem. Focusing on the U.S. as
      an exemplar that can be adapted to other cultural contexts, we identify five
      generations of gay men alive today and review unique issues related to health and
      identity development for each. Implications for research, practice, and advocacy
      on gay men's health and development are discussed.

PMID- 28585158
TI  - Properties of Probiotics Kocuria SM1 and Rhodococcus SM2 Isolated from Fish Guts.
AB  - This study characterized probiotics Kocuria SM1 and Rhodococcus SM2, which were
      recovered from the intestinal microbiota of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss,
      Walbaum). The cultures were Gram-positive, non-motile, catalase-positive and
      oxidase-negative cocci or rods. Cell multiplication of SM1 and SM2 was observed
      at 4-37  degrees C (45  degrees C for SM1), in 0-20% (w/v) NaCl and at pH 2-11.
      The viability was not affected when exposed to pepsin at pH 2.0 and 3.0, and
      pancreatin at pH 8.0. Neither isolates were chrome azurol S-positive for
      siderophore production. Of the 19 common enzymes analysed using the API-ZYM
      system, only 8 were evident in the culture of SM1 compared to 11 enzymes for SM2.
      The secondary metabolites of both probiotics were inhibitory to Acinetobacter
      baumannii, Vibrio anguillarum and V. ordalii; SM2 inhibited Escherichia coli,
      Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. SM2 was
      resistant to penicillin and sulphatriad, out of six antimicrobial agents; SM1 was
      resistant to sulphatriad. These results suggest that Kocuria SM1 and Rhodococcus
      SM2 are able to grow over a wide range of temperature, salinity and pH, including
      in conditions that mimic the gastrointestinal environment of fish and produce
      extracellular enzymes that may have a role in the host digestive processes.
      Importantly, Rhodococcus SM2 displays a high degree of bacteriocinogenic
      potential against multi-drug-resistant human pathogens that have never been
      documented among the gut microbiota of fish.

PMID- 28585159
TI  - Need for closure is associated with urgency in perceptual decision-making.
AB  - Constant decision-making underpins much of daily life, from simple perceptual
      decisions about navigation through to more complex decisions about important life
      events. At many scales, a fundamental task of the decision-maker is to balance
      competing needs for caution and urgency: fast decisions can be more efficient,
      but also more often wrong. We show how a single mathematical framework for
      decision-making explains the urgency/caution balance across decision-making at
      two very different scales. This explanation has been applied at the level of
      neuronal circuits (on a time scale of hundreds of milliseconds) through to the
      level of stable personality traits (time scale of years).

PMID- 28585160
TI  - Relative speed of processing determines color-word contingency learning.
AB  - In three experiments, we tested a relative-speed-of-processing account of color
      word contingency learning, a phenomenon in which color identification responses
      to high-contingency stimuli (words that appear most often in particular colors)
      are faster than those to low-contingency stimuli. Experiment 1 showed equally
      large contingency-learning effects whether responding was to the colors or to the
      words, likely due to slow responding to both dimensions because of the unfamiliar
      mapping required by the key press responses. For Experiment 2, participants
      switched to vocal responding, in which reading words is considerably faster than
      naming colors, and we obtained a contingency-learning effect only for color
      naming, the slower dimension. In Experiment 3, previewing the color information
      resulted in a reduced contingency-learning effect for color naming, but it
      enhanced the contingency-learning effect for word reading. These results are all
      consistent with contingency learning influencing performance only when the
      nominally irrelevant feature is faster to process than the relevant feature, and
      therefore are entirely in accord with a relative-speed-of-processing explanation.

PMID- 28585161
TI  - Is 18F-FDG-PET useful for predicting R0 resection after induction therapy for
      initially unresectable locally advanced esophageal carcinoma?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Induction therapy followed by surgery is a promising strategy for
      esophageal cancer patients with invasion of the trachea/bronchus or aorta.
      However, no diagnostic criteria have been established to diagnose whether R0
      resection can be performed. We investigated whether 18F-2-deoxy-D-glucose
      positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) and other modalities are useful for
      predicting R0 resection. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with esophageal cancer
      invading the trachea/bronchus or aorta who underwent induction therapy followed
      by surgery were enrolled. We divided the participants into two groups, an R0
      resection group (n = 43) and a non-R0 resection group (n = 14), and then compared
      the between-group results of three modalities, including computed tomography
      (CT), endoscopy and 18F-FDG-PET, before and after induction therapy. RESULTS: The
      post-maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) after induction therapy in the R0
      resection group was significantly lower than that in the non-R0 resection group
      (4.4 vs. 6.6, p = 0.005). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis
      showed that the cut-off value for the post-SUVmax based on 18F-FDG-PET prediction
      of R0 resection was 4.7. Furthermore, a tumor reduction rate of >=44% on CT, no
      residual stenosis, and no deep ulcer on endoscopy were associated with R0
      resection after induction therapy (p = 0.002, p = 0.091, and p = 0.059,
      respectively). Multivariate logistic analyses revealed that the tumor reduction
      rate on CT and post-SUVmax <4.7 in 18F-FDG-PET were independent factors for R0
      resection. CONCLUSIONS: The post-SUVmax determined by 18F-FDG-PET and the volume
      reduction rate based on CT scans were useful for predicting R0 resection after
      induction therapy for initially unresectable locally advanced esophageal
      carcinoma.

PMID- 28585162
TI  - Omega-3 supplementation in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and meta
      analysis of randomized trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nutritional supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids has been proposed
      to modulate the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in sepsis. If
      proved to improve clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with sepsis, this
      intervention would be easy to implement. However, the cumulative evidence from
      several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) remains unclear. METHODS: We searched
      the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE through December 2016 for RCTs on
      parenteral or enteral omega-3 supplementation in adult critically ill patients
      diagnosed with sepsis or septic shock. We analysed the included studies for
      mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, and duration of mechanical
      ventilation, and used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and
      Evaluation approach to assess the quality of the evidence for each outcome.
      RESULTS: A total of 17 RCTs enrolling 1239 patients met our inclusion criteria.
      Omega-3 supplementation compared to no supplementation or placebo had no
      significant effect on mortality [relative risk (RR) 0.85; 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 0.71, 1.03; P = 0.10; I 2 = 0%; moderate quality], but significantly reduced
      ICU length of stay [mean difference (MD) -3.79 days; 95% CI -5.49, -2.09; P <
      0.0001, I 2 = 82%; very low quality] and duration of mechanical ventilation (MD 
      2.27 days; 95% CI -4.27, -0.27; P = 0.03, I 2 = 60%; very low quality). However,
      sensitivity analyses challenged the robustness of these results. CONCLUSION:
      Omega-3 nutritional supplementation may reduce ICU length of stay and duration of
      mechanical ventilation without significantly affecting mortality, but the very
      low quality of overall evidence is insufficient to justify the routine use of
      omega-3 fatty acids in the management of sepsis.

PMID- 28585164
TI  - Implementation of the REACH model of dementia caregiver support in American
      Indian and Alaska Native communities.
AB  - The Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregivers Health in the VA (REACH VA)
      dementia caregiving intervention has been implemented in the VA, in community
      agencies, and internationally. As identified in the 2013 and 2015 National Plan
      to Address Alzheimer's Disease, REACH is being made available to American Indian
      and Alaska Native communities. Implementation activities are carried out by local
      Public Health Nursing programs operated by Indian Health Service and Tribal
      Health programs, and Administration for Community Living/Administration on Aging
      funded Tribal Aging program staff already working in each community. The
      implementation is described using the Fixsen and Blase implementation process
      model. Cultural, community, health system, and tribe-specific adaptations occur
      during the six implementation stages of exploration and adoption, program
      installation, initial implementation, full operation, innovation, and
      sustainability. Adaptations are made by local staff delivering the program.
      Implementation challenges in serving AI/AN dementia caregivers include the need
      to adapt the program to fit the unique communities and the cultural perceptions
      of dementia and caregiving. Lessons learned highlight the importance of using a
      clinically successful intervention, the need for support and buy-in from
      leadership and staff, the fit of the intervention into ongoing routines and
      practices, the critical role of modifications based on caregiver, staff, and
      organization needs and feedback, the need for a simple and easily learned
      intervention, and the critical importance of community receptivity to the
      services offered.

PMID- 28585163
TI  - Engaging multilevel stakeholders in an implementation trial of evidence-based
      quality improvement in VA women's health primary care.
AB  - The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has undertaken primary care
      transformation based on patient-centered medical home (PCMH) tenets. VHA PCMH
      models are designed for the predominantly male Veteran population, and require
      tailoring to meet women Veterans' needs. We used evidence-based quality
      improvement (EBQI), a stakeholder-driven implementation strategy, in a cluster
      randomized controlled trial across 12 sites (eight EBQI, four control) that are
      members of a Practice-Based Research Network. EBQI involves engaging multilevel,
      inter-professional leaders and staff as stakeholders in reviewing evidence and
      setting QI priorities. The goal of this analysis was to examine processes of
      engaging stakeholders in early implementation of EBQI to tailor VHA's medical
      home for women. Four inter-professional regional stakeholder planning meetings
      were conducted; these meetings engaged stakeholders by providing regional data
      about gender disparities in Veterans' care experiences. Subsequent to each
      meeting, qualitative interviews were conducted with 87 key stakeholders (leaders
      and staff). Stakeholders were asked to describe QI efforts and the use of data to
      change aspects of care, including women's health care. Interview transcripts were
      summarized and coded using a hybrid deductive/inductive analytic approach. The
      presentation of regional-level data about gender disparities resulted in
      heightened awareness and stakeholder buy-in and decision-making related to
      women's health-focused QI. Interviews revealed that stakeholders were familiar
      with QI, with regional and facility leaders aware of inter-disciplinary
      committees and efforts to foster organizational change, including PCMH
      transformation. These efforts did not typically focus on women's health, though
      some informal efforts had been undertaken. Barriers to engaging in QI included
      lack of communication across clinical service lines, fluidity in staffing, and
      lack of protected time. Inter-professional, multilevel stakeholders need to be
      engaged in implementation early, with data and discussion that convey the
      importance and relevance of a new initiative. Stakeholder perspectives on
      institutional norms (e.g., gender norms) and readiness for population-specific QI
      are useful drivers of clinical initiatives designed to transform care for
      clinical subpopulations.

PMID- 28585165
TI  - Biodiversity in targeted metabolomics analysis of filamentous fungal pathogens by
      1H NMR-based studies.
AB  - The taxonomical classification among fungi kingdom in the last decades was
      evolved. In this work the targeted metabolomics study based on 1H NMR
      spectroscopy combined with chemometrics tools was reported to be useful for
      differentiation of three model of fungal strains, which represent various genus
      of Ascomycota (Aspergillus pallidofulvus, Fusarium oxysporum, Geotrichum
      candidum) were selected in order to perform metabolomics studies. Each tested
      species, revealed specific metabolic profile of primary endo-metabolites. The
      species of A. pallidofulvus is represented by the highest concentration of
      glycerol, glucitol and Unk5. While, F. oxysporum species is characterised by
      increased level of propylene glycol, ethanol, 4-aminobutyrate, succinate, xylose,
      Unk1 and Unk4. In G. candidum, 3-methyl-2-oxovalerate, glutamate, pyruvate,
      glutamine and citrate were elevated. Additionally, a detailed analysis of
      metabolic changes among A. pallidofulvus, F. oxysporum and G. candidum showed
      that A. pallidofulvus seems to be the most pathogenic fungi. The obtained results
      demonstrated that targeted metabolomics analysis could be utilized in the future
      as a supporting taxonomical tool for currently methods.

PMID- 28585166
TI  - Development of media to accelerate the isolation of indigo-reducing bacteria,
      which are difficult to isolate using conventional media.
AB  - Indigo-reducing bacteria perform natural fermentation in indigo fermentation
      fluid. Owing to the stochastic nature of the process, the constituent in indigo
      fermentation fluid differ depending on the prepared batch and fermentation
      period. To identify new indigo-reducing bacteria, isolation of the bacteria is
      indispensable. However, isolation of indigo-reducing bacteria is difficult
      because conventional media are often unsuitable to isolate these slow-growing
      bacteria that also exist in low numbers. Hydrolysates of polysaccharides and
      mixtures of plant base constituents are candidates to accelerate the isolation of
      indigo-reducing bacteria that cannot be isolated using conventional media. In
      this current study, wheat bran hydrolysate and composted indigo leaves (sukumo)
      were used as ingredients in the fermentation fluid in the selective medium for
      indigo-reducing bacteria in anaerobic culture. The results suggested that
      obligate and oxygen-non-metabolizing facultative anaerobes are difficult to
      isolate using conventional media, whereas oxygen-metabolizing facultative
      anaerobes, relatively rapid-growing and major bacterial strains are relatively
      easy to isolate. Media containing sukumo hydrolysate facilitated the isolation of
      novel species of Bacillus pseudofirmus-related strains, whereas media containing
      wheat bran hydrolysate facilitated the isolation of Amphibacillus spp. (including
      new species). Seven species (including two new species) of indigo-reducing
      bacteria were isolated using wheat bran hydrolysate-containing media, whereas six
      species (including three new species) of indigo-reducing bacteria were isolated
      using media containing both wheat bran and sukumo hydrolysates. These newly
      developed culture media will facilitate the isolation of unknown bacteria in
      indigo fermentation and in environments similar to indigo fermentation fluid.

PMID- 28585167
TI  - Analysis of bacterial communities in rhizosphere soil of continuously cropped
      healthy and diseased konjac.
AB  - The bacterial community and diversity in healthy and diseased konjac rhizosphere
      soils with different ages of continuous cropping were investigated using next
      generation sequencing. The results demonstrated that the number of years of
      continuous cropping significantly altered soil bacterial community and diversity.
      Soil bacterial Shannon diversity index and Chao 1 index decreased with the
      increasing cropping years of konjac. After 1 year of cropping, the soil exhibited
      the highest bacterial relative abundance and diversity. Of the 44 bacterial
      genera (relative abundance ratio of genera greater than 0.3%), 14 were
      significantly affected by the duration of continuous cropping and plant status.
      With increasing continuous cropping, Alicyclobacillus decreased, while
      Achromobacter, Lactobacillus, Kaistobacter, Rhodoplanes increased after 3 years
      continuous cropping. Continuous cropping altered the structure and composition of
      the soil bacterial community, which led to the reduction in the beneficial
      bacteria and multiplication of harmful bacteria. These results will improve our
      understanding of soil microbial community regulation and soil health maintenance
      in konjac farm systems.

PMID- 28585168
TI  - Production of macrolide antibiotics from a cytotoxic soil Streptomyces sp. strain
      ZDB.
AB  - Crude extract from a culture of a soil Streptomyces sp. strain ZDB showed
      toxicity towards Artemia salina and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia
      coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Chlorella vulgaris, and Chlorella
      sorokiniana. Large scale fermentation of the strain led to the isolation of the
      macrolide antibiotics, bafilomycins A1 (1), B1 (2), and D (3) together with
      nonactic acid (4) and bostrycoidin-9-methyl ether (5). Structures of the
      antibiotics were determined based on spectral data analysis. We describe the
      isolation of the compounds and characterization of the producing strain.

PMID- 28585169
TI  - Evaluating fermentation characteristics of Kazachstania spp. and their potential
      influence on wine quality.
AB  - The current study is the first one to demonstrate the wine fermentation potential
      of members of several species of the genus Kazachstania including strains derived
      from grape must. The fermentation characteristics were evaluated in synthetic
      grape juice medium and in Sauvignon blanc. Our data show that none of the species
      evaluated could ferment to dryness in monoculture fermentations. However, at
      least 75% of the sugar was consumed before the fermentations got stuck. In mixed
      culture fermentations with Saccharomyces cerevisiae diverse aroma profiles were
      evident especially in Sauvignon blanc fermentations. Four distinct potential
      aroma associations were identified: (i) Kazachstania solicola-vinegar and solvent
      like, (ii) Kazachstania hellenica-spirituous, cheesy, (iii) Kazachstania aerobia
      CBS-fruity, floral (iv) K. aerobia IWBT, Kazachstania unispora and Kazachstania
      servazii-rancid, harsh. Furthermore, strain variation was apparent as the two K.
      aerobia strains displayed distinct karyotypes and aroma potential. Our data show
      that although members of the genus Kazachstania are typically encountered at low
      frequency in grape must, some of the species have positive aroma attributes that
      should be explored further.

PMID- 28585171
TI  - Assessing the biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and laccase
      production by new fungus Trematophoma sp. UTMC 5003.
AB  - Environmental pollution caused by petroleum compounds has become a global
      concern. The aim of this study was to evaluate the indigenous fungal isolates in
      Iran for biodegradation of crude oil pollutants. In order to isolate fungal
      strains, the soil samples were enriched in minimal salts medium (MSM) with 1%
      crude oil and then the crude oil degradation was measured by total petroleum
      hydrocarbon (TPH) assay. The degradation of hydrocarbons compounds was also
      analysed by FT-IR and HPLC, and the activity of peroxidase enzyme and
      biosurfactant production were also measured. We isolated 40 fungal strains and
      selected the isolate G-05 with 70% degradation ability of petroleum hydrocarbons
      as a premium isolate after 15 days. Residual crude oil analysis with FT-IR
      spectrophotometry and HPLC showed that G-05 is able to degrade 90 and 100% of
      aliphatic compounds and some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH),
      respectively. Evaluation of enzymatic activity showed that this isolate can
      produce 4 U L-1 of Laccase enzyme for oil removal; it is capable of producing
      biosurfactant and reducing the surface tension of the medium to 25.95 +/- 0.1 m
      Nm-1. This strain was identified as a member of Trematophoma genus and the
      obtained results showed that this strain is a highly potent strain in
      bioremediation of soils contaminated by crude oil.

PMID- 28585172
TI  - Identification and physiological properties of a Nigerian strain of Volvariella
      sp. isolated from oil palm waste.
AB  - Over the years several species of edible mushrooms have been collected for
      consumption from different agro-wastes in Nigeria. Identification of most of
      these mushrooms was often by morphological descriptive methods. This study
      reports the morphological study, physiological study and identification of a
      Nigerian wild strain of Volvariella sp. (VNW) isolated from discarded oil palm
      waste and three Indian commercial strains V11, V245 and V247 of V. volvacea.
      Effect of incubation temperatures and medium pH was investigated. Molecular
      characterization of the strains was carried out using ITS-1 and ITS-4 primers.
      Results obtained showed close similarities of the Nigerian strain to the Indian
      strains with few morphological variations in colour, shape and appearance. Growth
      was observed at temperature range of 20-40  degrees C and pH range of 4.0-8.0 for
      all strains with optimum mycelia extension at 35  degrees C and pH 6.0. VNW
      recorded a significantly higher (p <= 0.05) mycelia extension rate at 35  degrees
      C (25.20 +/- 1.80 mm/day) and pH 6.0 (40.20 +/- 0.34 mm/day). Highest biomass
      yield was observed at pH 6.0 with V11 recording a significantly (p <= 0.05)
      higher yield (1.74 +/- 0.07 g/100 mL). Increasing percentage (w/v) of CaSO4.H2O
      increased biomass yield of all the strains. NJ phylogenetic tree showed the
      Nigerian and Indian strains in the same cluster indicating evolutionary closeness
      than with other species of Volvariella from GenBank in a separate cluster even
      though they share a common ancestor. This successfully proves the identity of a
      Nigerian strain of Volvariella sp. VNW from oil palm waste as V. volvacea with
      GenBank accession number KC894923.

PMID- 28585170
TI  - Rapid and simple identification of carbapenemase genes, bla NDM, bla OXA-48, bla
      VIM, bla IMP-14 and bla KPC groups, in Gram-negative bacilli by in-house loop
      mediated isothermal amplification with hydroxynaphthol blue dye.
AB  - Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates by carbapenemase production are
      being reported globally with increasing frequency, leading to limited therapeutic
      options. We therefore developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method
      with hydroxynaphthol blue dye (LAMP-HNB) for rapid confirmation of bla NDM, bla
      OXA-48, bla VIM, bla IMP-14 and bla KPC groups. Sixty-two Enterobacteriaceae and
      Pseudomonas spp. isolates carrying various carbapenemase genes (28 bla NDM-1, 9
      bla IMP-14a, 2 bla IMP-48, 1 bla IMP-1, 1 bla IMP-4, 1 bla IMP-9, 1 bla IMP-15, 4
      bla VIM-2, 1 bla VIM-1, 1 bla IMP-14a & bla VIM-2, 7 bla KPC-2, 3 bla OXA-48 and
      3 bla OXA-181) and 37 non-carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates as
      confirmed by the PCR methods were included. Bacterial DNA was extracted by a
      simple boiling method. The LAMP-HNB method for each target gene was carried out
      using a set of six primers under isothermal condition at 65  degrees C in an
      ordinary water bath within 60 min and visual measurement of reaction by the
      change from violet to sky blue. This method had high efficiency (100% sensitivity
      and specificity) for identifying the bla NDM, bla OXA-48, bla VIM, bla IMP-14 and
      bla KPC groups compared with the PCR method. The HNB is easy to prepare,
      inexpensive and provides reliable results. Therefore, this method could be used
      as a confirmatory carbapenemase test in routine laboratory or for epidemiological
      purposes.

PMID- 28585173
TI  - Isolation and characterisation of the epothilone gene cluster with flanks from
      high alkalotolerant strain Sorangium cellulosum (So0157-2).
AB  - Epothilones are cytotoxic macrolactones having auspicious anti-tumorous
      activities, but merely produced by rare Sorangium strains. Here, we have focused
      on the epothilone gene cluster from special niche bacterial strain, S. cellulosum
      So0157-2. Therefore, we have isolated a high pH tolerant S. cellulosum strain
      So0157-2 and characterized the epothilones gene cluster and its flanks by
      cosmid/fosmid libraries preparation and sequencing. The assembly spanned 94,459
      bp and consisted of 56,019 bp core region. Remarkably, the core as well as
      upstream 420 bp and downstream 315 bp were highly conserved, while further
      neighboring regions varied extremely. Transposase traces were identified near the
      core of clusters, supporting that the transposon-mediated transgenesis is a
      naturally evolved strategy for the cluster's dissemination. A predicted
      neighboring esterase gene was identified as a potential epothilone-resistance
      gene preventing self-toxicity. Novel modification or regulatory genes, a multi
      position-cyclo releasing gene and their relationship with corresponding analogs
      were identified in strain So0157-2. These findings open the door to discover
      additional, naturally evolved epothilone-related genes for significant
      applications in industrial as well as clinical sector.

PMID- 28585174
TI  - A patent landscape on application of microorganisms in construction industry.
AB  - Construction biotechnology includes research and development of construction
      materials and processes that make use of various microbes. The present technology
      landscape gives a perspective on how microbes have been used in construction
      industry as cement and concrete additives by analyzing patents filed in this
      technology arena. All patents related to the technology of interest published
      globally to date have been reviewed. The earliest patent filing in this
      technology domain was recorded in the year 1958 and the patenting activity
      reached its peak around mid to late 1990s. The early technology was mainly
      focused on microbial polysaccharides and other metabolic products as additives.
      Year 2002 onwards, biomineralization has taken precedence over the other
      technologies with consistent patent filings indicating a shift in innovation
      focus. Japan has been the global leader with highest number of patents filed on
      application of microbes in construction industry. Southeast University, China has
      topped the patent assignee list with maximum number of filings followed by Kajima
      Corp. and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Most patent applications have claimed
      microbe based bio-products. Construction-related microbial technologies are
      mainly based on activity of different microorganisms such as urease-producing,
      acidogenic, halophilic, alkaliphilic, nitrate and iron-reducing bacteria.
      Sporosarcina pasteurii has been the most widely used microbe for
      biomineralization.

PMID- 28585175
TI  - Nematicidal effect of rhizobacteria on plant-parasitic nematodes associated with
      vineyards.
AB  - The action of metabolites and exoenzymes from rhizobacteria on different plant
      parasitic nematodes has an influence on the nematicidal efficacy of the microbe.
      Seven rhizobacteria, divided into two bacterial groups, were evaluated in vitro
      for nematicidal activity on Meloidogyne ethiopica and Xiphinema index. The direct
      effect of their filtrates on egg hatching and juveniles of M. ethiopica as well
      as mobile stages of X. index was evaluated during a 72-h period. The production
      of four exoenzymes and two metabolites associated with nematode mortality was
      investigated. Molecular characterization of three isolates was performed, and the
      physiological profiles and lipase activity of all isolates were obtained using
      the BIOLOG EcoPlate system. While chitinase and collagenase were measured using
      the BIOLOG MT2 plate system, protease, hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphide
      were directly determined in Petri dishes. Nematode mobile stages exposure to the
      bacterial filtrate revealed a nematicidal effect up to 93.7% on X. Index and up
      to 83.3% on M. ethiopica. The control of egg hatching varied between 35 and 85%.
      A positive correlation was found between the mortality of both nematode mobile
      stages and the concerted activities of the bacterial enzymes as well as the level
      of the volatile metabolites. The nematicidal effect of rhizobacteria strains
      varies by nematode genera and among the developmental stages evaluated.

PMID- 28585176
TI  - The crystal structure of Ac-AChBP in complex with alpha-conotoxin LvIA reveals
      the mechanism of its selectivity towards different nAChR subtypes.
AB  - The alpha3* nAChRs, which are considered to be promising drug targets for
      problems such as pain, addiction, cardiovascular function, cognitive disorders
      etc., are found throughout the central and peripheral nervous system. The alpha
      conotoxin (alpha-CTx) LvIA has been identified as the most selective inhibitor of
      alpha3beta2 nAChRs known to date, and it can distinguish the alpha3beta2 nAChR
      subtype from the alpha6/alpha3beta2beta3 and alpha3beta4 nAChR subtypes. However,
      the mechanism of its selectivity towards alpha3beta2, alpha6/alpha3beta2beta3,
      and alpha3beta4 nAChRs remains elusive. Here we report the co-crystal structure
      of LvIA in complex with Aplysia californica acetylcholine binding protein (Ac
      AChBP) at a resolution of 3.4 A. Based on the structure of this complex, together
      with homology modeling based on other nAChR subtypes and binding affinity assays,
      we conclude that Asp-11 of LvIA plays an important role in the selectivity of
      LvIA towards alpha3beta2 and alpha3/alpha6beta2beta3 nAChRs by making a salt
      bridge with Lys-155 of the rat alpha3 subunit. Asn-9 lies within a hydrophobic
      pocket that is formed by Met-36, Thr-59, and Phe-119 of the rat beta2 subunit in
      the alpha3beta2 nAChR model, revealing the reason for its more potent selectivity
      towards the alpha3beta2 nAChR subtype. These results provide molecular insights
      that can be used to design ligands that selectively target alpha3beta2 nAChRs,
      with significant implications for the design of new therapeutic alpha-CTxs.

PMID- 28585178
TI  - Editing base in mouse model.

PMID- 28585177
TI  - Potent and conditional redirected T cell killing of tumor cells using Half DVD
      Ig.
AB  - Novel biologics that redirect cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to kill tumor cells
      bearing a tumor associated antigen hold great promise in the clinic. However, the
      ability to safely and potently target CD3 on CTL toward tumor associated antigens
      (TAA) expressed on tumor cells remains a challenge of both technology and
      biology. Herein we describe the use of a Half DVD-Ig format that can redirect CTL
      to kill tumor cells. Notably, Half DVD-Ig molecules that are monovalent for each
      specificity demonstrated reduced non-specific CTL activation and conditional CTL
      activation upon binding to TAA compared to intact tetravalent DVD-Ig molecules
      that are bivalent for each specificity, while maintaining good drug like
      properties and appropriate PK properties.

PMID- 28585179
TI  - Effective gene editing by high-fidelity base editor 2 in mouse zygotes.
AB  - Targeted point mutagenesis through homologous recombination has been widely used
      in genetic studies and holds considerable promise for repairing disease-causing
      mutations in patients. However, problems such as mosaicism and low mutagenesis
      efficiency continue to pose challenges to clinical application of such
      approaches. Recently, a base editor (BE) system built on cytidine (C) deaminase
      and CRISPR/Cas9 technology was developed as an alternative method for targeted
      point mutagenesis in plant, yeast, and human cells. Base editors convert C in the
      deamination window to thymidine (T) efficiently, however, it remains unclear
      whether targeted base editing in mouse embryos is feasible. In this report, we
      generated a modified high-fidelity version of base editor 2 (HF2-BE2), and
      investigated its base editing efficacy in mouse embryos. We found that HF2-BE2
      could convert C to T efficiently, with up to 100% biallelic mutation efficiency
      in mouse embryos. Unlike BE3, HF2-BE2 could convert C to T on both the target and
      non-target strand, expanding the editing scope of base editors. Surprisingly, we
      found HF2-BE2 could also deaminate C that was proximal to the gRNA-binding
      region. Taken together, our work demonstrates the feasibility of generating point
      mutations in mouse by base editing, and underscores the need to carefully
      optimize base editing systems in order to eliminate proximal-site deamination.

PMID- 28585180
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Insulin Degludec for Hyperglycemia Management in
      Noncritical Hospitalized Patients with Diabetes: An Observational Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To assess the efficacy and safety of insulin degludec administered
      in a basal-bolus regimen according to the GesTIO protocol in noncritical
      hospitalized patients with T1DM and T2DM. METHODS: Mean blood glucose levels (BG)
      and their standard deviations (SD) at admission vs. discharge were compared in 52
      subjects (48.1% >=75 years) managed through a basal-bolus scheme including
      degludec. The percentages of patients with BG at target (140-180 mg/dl) or below
      at discharge and the incidence rate (and the 95% confidence interval for it) of
      hypoglycemia were assessed. RESULTS: From admission to discharge, fasting BG
      decreased from 237 to 153 mg/dl (p < 0.0001) and SD dropped from 125 to 38 mg/dl
      (p < 0.0001); average BG decreased from 189 to 145 mg/dl (SD dropped from 57 to
      32 mg/dl). At discharge, 28.9% had BG at target, while 50.0% had lower levels
      (average 119.0 +/- 14.4 mg/dl). The incidence rate of hypoglycemia was 0.07
      (0.05; 0.11) episodes per person-day; 1 out of 27 episodes occurred during the
      night. CONCLUSIONS: Degludec in hospitalized, mainly elderly patients is
      effective and minimizes glucose variability and nocturnal hypoglycemia.

PMID- 28585181
TI  - Which way is best for stone fragments and dust extraction during percutaneous
      nephrolithotomy.
AB  - Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a commonly used type of minimally invasive
      treatment in kidney stone surgeries. Surgical success is assessed according to
      residual stone amount after surgery. The purpose of this study is to compare the
      two methods' success and practicality that are applied after the fracture of the
      stone in the patients who applied PCNL and which enable the removal of the
      residual stones. Among 102 patients who underwent a single-session of PCNL at our
      department between June 2015 and November 2016 were evaluated. Previously
      identified irrigation method and our aspiration method which described used in
      post-operative patients divided into two groups of residual fragments was
      assessed by computed tomography. The results were evaluated in statistical
      analyses. Significant p was accepted as p < 0.05. The age and gender distribution
      of patients in the irrigation and aspiration groups did not differ significantly
      (p > 0.05). In irrigation and aspiration groups, stone size did not differ
      significantly (p > 0.05). The amount of residue stones and dust remaining in the
      irrigation group was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the aspiration group.
      Although many methods have been tried before, we think that the aspiration method
      we have described is a cheaper, more effective and feasible option.

PMID- 28585182
TI  - Lime powder treatment reduces urinary excretion of total protein and transferrin
      but increases uromodulin excretion in patients with urolithiasis.
AB  - Our previous study has shown that lime powder (LP) had an inhibitory effect
      against calcium oxalate stone formation. However, the precise mechanisms
      underlying such beneficial effect remained unclear. Our present study thus aimed
      to address the effect of LP on excretory level and compositions of urinary
      proteins using a proteomics approach. From a total of 80 calcium oxalate stone
      formers recruited into our 2-year randomized clinical trial of LP effect, 10
      patients with comparable age and clinical parameters were selected for this
      proteomic study. 24-h urine specimens were collected from all subjects, at
      baseline (before) and after LP treatment for 6 months, and then subjected to
      quantitative proteomics analysis and subsequent validation by ELISA. Total
      urinary protein excretion was significantly decreased by LP treatment, but
      unaffected by placebo. Nanoflow liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass
      spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS) followed by quantitative analysis revealed 17
      proteins whose levels were significantly altered (16 decreased and 1 increased)
      exclusively by LP treatment. Among these, the decrease of transferrin and
      increase of uromodulin were validated by ELISA. Moreover, there was a significant
      correlation between microalbuminuria and urinary transferrin level by Pearson's
      correlation test. In summary, LP treatment caused significant reduction in total
      urinary protein excretion and changes in urinary protein compositions that could
      be linked to stone inhibitory effects and might be relevant mechanisms
      responsible for the beneficial effects of LP to prevent kidney stone formation
      and recurrence.

PMID- 28585183
TI  - Precision Medicine for Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: An
      Overview.
AB  - There are few proven therapies for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
      (HFpEF). The lack of therapies, along with increased recognition of the disorder
      and its underlying pathophysiology, has led to the acknowledgement that HFpEF is
      heterogeneous and is not likely to respond to a one-size-fits-all approach. Thus,
      HFpEF is a prime candidate to benefit from a precision medicine approach. For
      this reason, we have assembled a compendium of papers on the topic of precision
      medicine in HFpEF in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. These
      papers cover a variety of topics relevant to precision medicine in HFpEF,
      including automated identification of HFpEF patients; machine learning, novel
      molecular approaches, genomics, and deep phenotyping of HFpEF; and clinical trial
      designs that can be used to advance precision medicine in HFpEF. In this
      introductory article, we provide an overview of precision medicine in HFpEF with
      the hope that the work described here and in the other papers in this special
      theme issue will stimulate investigators and clinicians to advance a more
      targeted approach to HFpEF classification and treatment.

PMID- 28585184
TI  - Text Mining of the Electronic Health Record: An Information Extraction Approach
      for Automated Identification and Subphenotyping of HFpEF Patients for Clinical
      Trials.
AB  - Precision medicine requires clinical trials that are able to efficiently enroll
      subtypes of patients in whom targeted therapies can be tested. To reduce the
      large amount of time spent screening, identifying, and recruiting patients with
      specific subtypes of heterogeneous clinical syndromes (such as heart failure with
      preserved ejection fraction [HFpEF]), we need prescreening systems that are able
      to automate data extraction and decision-making tasks. However, a major obstacle
      is the vast amount of unstructured free-form text in medical records. Here we
      describe an information extraction-based approach that automatically converts
      unstructured text into structured data, which is cross-referenced against
      eligibility criteria using a rule-based system to determine which patients
      qualify for a major HFpEF clinical trial (PARAGON). We show that we can achieve a
      sensitivity and positive predictive value of 0.95 and 0.86, respectively. Our
      open-source algorithm could be used to efficiently identify and subphenotype
      patients with HFpEF and other disorders.

PMID- 28585185
TI  - Intercalary reconstructions after bone tumor resections: a review of treatments.
AB  - An intercalary reconstruction is defined as replacement of the diaphyseal portion
      of a long bone after segmental skeletal resection (diaphysectomy). Intercalary
      reconstructions typically result in superior function compared to other limb
      sparing procedures as the patient's native joints above and below the
      reconstruction are left undisturbed. The most popular reconstructive options
      after segmental resection of a bone sarcoma include allografts, vascularized
      fibula graft, combined allograft and vascularized fibula, segmental
      endoprostheses, extracorporeal devitalized autograft, and segmental transport
      using the principles of distraction osteogenesis. This article aims to review the
      indications, techniques, limitations, pros and cons, and complications of the
      aforementioned methods of intercalary bone tumor resections and reconstructions
      in the context of the ever-growing, brave new field of limb-salvage surgery.

PMID- 28585187
TI  - A BRCA1-Dependent DNA Damage Response in the Regenerating Adult Peripheral Nerve
      Milieu.
AB  - It is not generally appreciated that DNA repair machinery has a critical role in
      the remodeling of neurons that adopt a regenerative phenotype. We identified that
      breast cancer 1 (BRCA1)-dependent DNA activity, previously well known to repair
      cancer cells, is active in adult peripheral neurons and Schwann cells during
      their injury and regeneration response. Temporary or partial loss of BRCA1 or
      blockade of its intraneuronal nuclear entry impaired outgrowth in neurons in
      vitro and impacted nerve regeneration and functional recovery in vivo. We found
      that distal axonal injury triggered a BRCA1-dependent DNA damage response (DDR)
      signal in neuronal soma. BRCA1 also supported an enabling transcriptional program
      of injured neurons and supporting Schwann cells. Our findings indicate that BRCA1
      offers prominent functional roles in neurons and glial cells including key
      support for their physical and molecular integrity. Since BRCA1 mutations are
      common in humans, this function of BRCA1 in peripheral neurons and their glial
      partners warrants attention.

PMID- 28585186
TI  - Tumors of the hand.
AB  - Tumors of the hand comprise a vast array of lesions involving skin, soft tissue
      and bone. The majority of tumors in the hand are benign. Malignant tumors,
      although rare, do occur and frequently have unique characteristics in this
      specific anatomic location. Careful staging, histological diagnosis and treatment
      are essential to optimize clinical outcome. However, straightforward most of the
      time, hand tumor management does have pitfalls; caution is advised, as a missed
      or delayed diagnosis or an improperly executed biopsy may have devastating
      consequences. This article reviews the clinical spectrum of the most common
      benign and malignant bone and soft tissue tumors of the hand and discusses the
      clinicopathological findings, imaging features and current concepts in treatment
      for these tumors.

PMID- 28585188
TI  - A Possible Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Proline in the Brain Cortex and Cerebellum
      of Rats.
AB  - Although many studies show the toxic effects of proline, recently it has been
      reported some anti-inflammatory effect of this amino acid. Our principal
      objective was to investigate the effects of proline on the alterations caused by
      LPS (lipopolysaccharide) administration in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of
      young Wistar rats. The animals were divided into four groups: control (0.85%
      saline); proline, (12.8 MUmol of proline/g body weight from day 7 to 13; 14.6
      MUmol of proline/g body weight from day 14 to 17 and 16.4 MUmol of proline/g body
      weight from day 18 to 21); LPS (1 mg/g body weight); LPS plus proline. The
      animals were killed at 22 days of age, 12 h after the last injection, by
      decapitation without anesthesia. The brain cortex and cerebellum were separated
      for chemical determinations. The effects of proline and LPS in the cerebral
      cortex and cerebellum on the expression of S100B and GFAP, oxidative stress
      parameters, enzymes of phosphoryl transfer network activity, and mitochondrial
      respiration chain complexes were investigated. Two-way ANOVA showed that the
      administration of proline did not alter the analyzed parameter in cerebral cortex
      and cerebellum. On the other hand, LPS administration caused a change in these
      parameters. Besides, the co-administration of proline and LPS showed the ability
      of Pro in preventing the effects of LPS. These results indicated that LPS induces
      inflammation, oxidative stress, and alters energy parameters in cerebral cortex
      and cerebellum of the rats. Moreover, co-administration of Pro was able to
      prevent these harmful effects of LPS.

PMID- 28585189
TI  - Modulatory Role of Nurr1 Activation and Thrombin Inhibition in the
      Neuroprotective Effects of Dabigatran Etexilate in Rotenone-Induced Parkinson's
      Disease in Rats.
AB  - Recently, it has been shown that both decreased nuclear receptor-related 1
      (Nurr1) expression and thrombin accumulation are involved in the degeneration of
      dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease (PD). The new anticoagulant
      dabigatran etexilate (DE) is a direct thrombin inhibitor that owns benzimidazole
      group, which has been proposed to activate Nurr1. In the present study, we
      examined the neuroprotective effects of DE in rotenone model of PD. Rotenone was
      injected subcutaneously at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg every other day for 21 days. An
      oral regimen of DE (15 mg/kg) was started after the 5th rotenone injection
      following the manifestations of PD. Treatment of PD rats with DE mitigated
      rotenone-induced neuronal degeneration and restored striatal dopamine level with
      motor recovery. As well, DE enhanced Nurr1 expression in substantia nigra along
      with increasing transcriptional activation of Nurr1-controlled genes namely
      tyrosine hydroxylase, vascular monoamine transporter, glial cell line-derived
      neurotrophic factor, and its receptor gene c-Ret, which are critical for
      development and maintenance of dopaminergic neurons. DE also suppressed thrombin
      accumulation in substantia nigra. Both effects probably contributed to repressing
      neurotoxic proinflammatory cytokines, which was manifested by decreased level of
      nuclear factor kappa beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha. In conclusion, the
      present results suggest that DE could possess significant neuroprotective and
      regenerative effects in a rotenone-induced PD animal model as consequence of
      Nurr1 activation and thrombin inhibition.

PMID- 28585190
TI  - Spinal AMPA Receptor GluA1 Ser831 Phosphorylation Controls Chronic Alcohol
      Consumption-Produced Prolongation of Postsurgical Pain.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that excessive alcohol drinking is associated with
      chronic pain development; however, the molecular mechanism underlying this
      association is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effect of
      chronic alcohol consumption on plantar incision-induced postsurgical pain. We
      observed that 4-week ethanol drinking significantly prolonged plantar incision
      induced mechanical pain, but not thermal pain. The chronic alcohol consumption
      enhanced plantar incision-produced alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4
      isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor GluA1 phosphorylation at the Ser831 site
      in the spinal cord. The targeted mutation of the GluA1 phosphorylation site in
      GluA1 S831A mutant mice significantly inhibited the incisional pain prolongation
      produced by chronic alcohol consumption. Moreover, chronic alcohol consumption
      combined with plantar incision markedly increased AMPA receptor-mediated
      miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents in the spinal dorsal horn neurons, and
      this effect was diminished significantly in the GluA1 S831A mutant mice. Our
      results suggest that chronic alcohol consumption may promote the development of
      persistent postsurgical pain by enhancing AMPA receptor GluA1 Ser831
      phosphorylation. We identified chronic alcohol consumption as a risk factor for
      pain chronification after surgery.

PMID- 28585191
TI  - Why Topical Retinoids Are Mainstay of Therapy for Acne.
AB  - : Acne-focused dermatology expert groups have consistently recommended that most
      patients with acne be treated with a combination of topical retinoid and
      antimicrobial therapy. This is based on clinical data as well as evidence that
      these drug classes have different and complementary mechanisms of action that
      target multiple aspects of acne's complex pathophysiology. Recent evidence-based
      guidelines for acne, including those from the American Academy of Dermatology
      (AAD) and the European Dermatology Forum (EDF), have agreed that retinoids have
      an essential role in this widespread disease. The AAD states "retinoids are the
      core of topical therapy for acne because they are comedolytic, resolve the
      precursor microcomedone lesion, and are anti-inflammatory;" further, they "allow
      for maintenance of clearance." Despite uniform recommendation for use of topical
      retinoids, a recent study of prescribing practices from 2012 to 2014 indicated
      that dermatologists prescribed retinoids just 58.8% of the time while non
      dermatologists prescribed them for only 32.4% of cases. In this article, we
      review the reasons supporting retinoids as the mainstay of acne therapy and
      discuss some of the perceived barriers that may be limiting use of this important
      drug class. Further, we discuss how and when titrating retinoid concentrations
      may be utilized in clinical practice. FUNDING: Galderma International.

PMID- 28585192
TI  - Rsk2 Knockout Affects Emotional Behavior in the IntelliCage.
AB  - Ribosomal s6 kinase 2 is a growth factor activated serine/threonine kinase and
      member of the ERK signaling pathway. Mutations in the Rsk2 gene cause Coffin
      Lowry syndrome, a rare syndromic form of intellectual disability. The Rsk2 KO
      mouse model was shown to have learning and memory defects. We focused on the
      investigation of the emotional behavioral phenotype of Rsk2 KO mice mainly in the
      IntelliCage. They exhibited an anti-depressive, sucrose reward seeking phenotype
      and showed reduced anxiety. Spontaneous activity was increased in some
      conventional tests. However, KO mice did not show defects in place learning,
      working memory and motor impulsivity. In addition, we found changes of the
      monoaminergic system in HPLC and qRT-PCR experiments. Taken together, RSK2 not
      only plays a role in cognitive processes but also in emotional and reward-related
      behaviors.

PMID- 28585193
TI  - The Definition and Prevalence of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - Increase in prevalence of obesity has become a worldwide major health problem in
      adults, as well as among children and adolescents. Furthermore, total adiposity
      and truncal subcutaneous fat accumulation during adolescence are positively and
      independently associated with atherosclerosis at adult ages. Centrally
      accumulation of body fat is associated with insulin resistance, whereas
      distribution of body fat in a peripheral pattern is metabolically less important.
      Obesity is associated with a large decrease in life expectancy. The effect of
      extreme obesity on mortality is greater among younger than older adults. In this
      respect, obesity is also associated with increased risk of several cancer types.
      However, up to 30% of obese patients are metabolically healthy with insulin
      sensitivity similar to healthy normal weight individuals, lower visceral fat
      content, and lower intima media thickness of the carotid artery than the majority
      of metabolically "unhealthy" obese patients.Abdominal obesity is the most
      frequently observed component of metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome;
      clustering of abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension, is
      a major public health challenge. The average prevalence of metabolic syndrome is
      31%, and is associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of coronary heart
      disease, cerebrovascular disease, and a 1.5-fold increase in the risk of all
      cause mortality.

PMID- 28585194
TI  - Circadian Rhythms in Diet-Induced Obesity.
AB  - The biological clocks of the circadian timing system coordinate cellular and
      physiological processes and synchronizes these with daily cycles, feeding
      patterns also regulates circadian clocks. The clock genes and adipocytokines show
      circadian rhythmicity. Dysfunction of these genes are involved in the alteration
      of these adipokines during the development of obesity. Food availability promotes
      the stimuli associated with food intake which is a circadian oscillator outside
      of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Its circadian rhythm is arranged with the
      predictable daily mealtimes. Food anticipatory activity is mediated by a self
      sustained circadian timing and its principal component is food entrained
      oscillator. However, the hypothalamus has a crucial role in the regulation of
      energy balance rather than food intake. Fatty acids or their metabolites can
      modulate neuronal activity by brain nutrient-sensing neurons involved in the
      regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis. The timing of three-meal schedules
      indicates close association with the plasma levels of insulin and preceding food
      availability. Desynchronization between the central and peripheral clocks by
      altered timing of food intake and diet composition can lead to uncoupling of
      peripheral clocks from the central pacemaker and to the development of metabolic
      disorders. Metabolic dysfunction is associated with circadian disturbances at
      both central and peripheral levels and, eventual disruption of circadian clock
      functioning can lead to obesity. While CLOCK expression levels are increased with
      high fat diet-induced obesity, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)
      alpha increases the transcriptional level of brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 (BMAL1)
      in obese subjects. Consequently, disruption of clock genes results in
      dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and obesity. Modifying the time of feeding alone
      can greatly affect body weight. Changes in the circadian clock are associated
      with temporal alterations in feeding behavior and increased weight gain. Thus,
      shift work is associated with increased risk for obesity, diabetes and cardio
      vascular diseases as a result of unusual eating time and disruption of circadian
      rhythm.

PMID- 28585195
TI  - Eat and Death: Chronic Over-Eating.
AB  - Obesity-related co-morbidities decrease life quality, reduce working ability and
      lead to early death. The total amount of dietary fat consumption may be the most
      potent food-related risk factor for weight gain. In this respect, dietary intake
      of high-caloric, high-fat diets due to chronic over-eating and sedentary
      lifestyle lead to increased storage of triglycerides not only in adipose tissue
      but also ectopically in other tissues . Increased plasma concentrations of non
      esterified free fatty acids and lipid-overloaded hypertrophic adipocytes may
      cause insulin resistance in an inflammation-independent manner. Even in the
      absence of metabolic disorders, mismatch between fatty acid uptake and
      utilization leads to the accumulation of toxic lipid species resulting in organ
      dysfunction. Lipid-induced apoptosis, ceramide accumulation, reactive oxygen
      species overproduction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and mitochondrial
      dysfunction may play role in the pathogenesis of lipotoxicity. The hypothalamus
      senses availability of circulating levels of glucose, lipids and amino acids,
      thereby modifies feeding according to the levels of those molecules. However, the
      hypothalamus is also similarly vulnerable to lipotoxicity as the other ectopic
      lipid accumulated tissues. Chronic overnutrition most likely provides repetitive
      and persistent signals that up-regulate inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B
      kinase beta subunit/nuclear factor kappa B (IKKbeta/NF-kappaB) in the
      hypothalamus before the onset of obesity. However, the mechanisms by which high
      fat diet induced peripheral signals affect the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus
      remain largely unknown. In this chapter, besides lipids and leptin, the role of
      glucose and insulin on specialized fuel-sensing neurons of hypothalamic neuronal
      circuits has been debated.

PMID- 28585196
TI  - Obesity, Persistent Organic Pollutants and Related Health Problems.
AB  - The present review aims to delve into persistent organic pollutants (POPs) , as
      xenobiotics, in correlation to human health. POPs exhibit a group of common
      characteristics, including lipophilicity, persistence to decomposition and
      bioaccumulation in tissues. POPs have been thoroughly studied by former
      researchers, as they offer a particular interest in the elucidation of metabolic,
      endocrine and immune perturbation caused by their synergy with intracellular
      mechanisms. Herein particular focus is attributed to the relationship of POPs
      with obesity provocation. Obesity nowadays receives epidemic dimensions, as its
      prevalence elevates in an exponential degree. POPs-induced obesity rotates around
      interfering in metabolic and endocrinal procedures and interacting with
      peroxisome-proliferator and retinoic receptors. Moreover, polymorphisms in CYP
      gene families exert a negative result, as they incapacitate detoxification of
      POPs. Obesity could be deemed as a multidimensional condition, as various factors
      interact to lead to an obesogenic result. Therefore, concomitant disorders may
      occur, from mild to lethal, and get intensified due to POPs exposure. POPs exact
      function mechanisms remain rather enigmatic, thus further investigation should be
      prospectively performed, for a more lucid picture of this issue, and,
      consequently for the establishment of alternative solutions.

PMID- 28585197
TI  - Human Protein Kinases and Obesity.
AB  - The action of protein kinases and protein phosphatases is essential for multiple
      physiological responses. Each protein kinase displays its own unique substrate
      specificity, and a regulatory mechanism that may be modulated by association with
      other proteins. Protein kinases are classified by the target amino acid in their
      substrates. Some protein kinases can phosphorylate both serine/threonine, as well
      as tyrosine residues. This group of kinases has been known as dual specificity
      kinases. Unlike the dual specificity kinases, a heterogeneous group of protein
      phosphatases are known as dual-specificity phosphatases. These phosphatases
      remove phosphate groups from tyrosine and serine/threonine residues on their
      substrate. Dual-specificity phosphatases are important signal transduction
      enzymes that regulate various cellular processes in coordination with protein
      kinases. The protein kinase-phosphoproteins interactions play an important role
      in obesity . In obesity, the pro- and anti-inflammatory effects of adipokines and
      cytokines through intracellular signaling pathways mainly involve the nuclear
      factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) systems as well
      as the inhibitor of kappaB-kinase beta (IKK beta). Impairment of insulin
      signaling in obesity is largely mediated by the activation of the IKKbeta and the
      JNK. Furthermore, oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress activate
      the JNK pathway which suppresses insulin biosynthesis. Additionally, obesity
      activated calcium/calmodulin dependent-protein kinase II/p38 suppresses insulin
      induced protein kinase B phosphorylation by activating the ER stress effector,
      activating transcription factor-4. Obese adults with vascular endothelial
      dysfunction have greater endothelial cells activation of unfolded protein
      response stress sensors, RNA-dependent protein kinase-like ER eukaryotic
      initiation factor-2alpha kinase (PERK) and activating transcription factor-6. The
      transcriptional regulation of adipogenesis in obesity is influenced by AGC
      (protein kinase A (PKA), PKG, PKC) family signaling kinases. Obesity may induce
      systemic oxidative stress and increase reactive oxygen species in adipocytes.
      Increase in intracellular oxidative stress can promote PKC-beta activation.
      Activated PKC-beta induces growth factor adapter Shc phosphorylation. Shc
      generated peroxides reduce mitochondrial oxygen consumption and enhances
      triglyceride accumulation. Obesity is fundamentally caused by cellular energy
      imbalance and dysregulation. Like adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein
      kinase (AMPK) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), N-terminal Per-ARNT-Sim
      (PAS) kinase are nutrient responsive protein kinases and important for proper
      regulation of glucose metabolism in mammals at both the hormonal and cellular
      level. Defective responses of AMPK to leptin may contribute to resistance to
      leptin action on food intake and energy expenditure in obese states.

PMID- 28585198
TI  - Fat Cell and Fatty Acid Turnover in Obesity.
AB  - The ratio of free fatty acid (FFA) turnover decreases significantly with the
      expansion of white adipose tissue. Adipose tissue and dietary saturated fatty
      acid levels significantly correlate with an increase in fat cell size and number.
      Inhibition of adipose triglyceride lipase leads to an accumulation of
      triglyceride, whereas inhibition of hormone-sensitive lipase leads to the
      accumulation of diacylglycerol. The G0/G1 switch gene 2 increases lipid content
      in adipocytes and promotes adipocyte hypertrophy through the restriction of
      triglyceride turnover. Excess triacylglycerols (TAGs), sterols and sterol esters
      are surrounded by the phospholipid monolayer surface and form lipid droplets.
      Following the release of lipid droplets from endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasmic
      lipid droplets increase their volume either by local TAG synthesis or by
      homotypic fusion. The number and the size of lipid droplet distribution is
      correlated with obesity. Obesity-associated adipocyte death exhibits feature of
      necrosis-like programmed cell death. NOD-like receptors family pyrin domain
      containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-dependent caspase-1 activation in hypertrophic
      adipocytes induces obese adipocyte death by pyroptosis. Actually adipocyte death
      may be a prerequisite for the transition from hypertrophic to hyperplastic
      obesity. Major transcriptional factors, CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins beta and
      delta, play a central role in the subsequent induction of critical regulators,
      peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein
      alpha and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, in the transcriptional
      control of adipogenesis in obesity.Collectively, in this chapter the concept of
      adipose tissue remodeling in response to adipocyte death or adipogenesis, and the
      complexity of lipid droplet interactions with the other cellular organelles are
      reviewed. Furthermore, in addition to lipid droplet growth, the functional link
      between the adipocyte-specific lipid droplet-associated protein and fatty acid
      turn-over is also debated.

PMID- 28585200
TI  - What Is Lipotoxicity?
AB  - Enlarged fat cells in obese adipose tissue diminish capacity to store fat and are
      resistant to the anti-lipolytic effect of insulin. Insulin resistance (IR)
      associated S-nitrosylation of insulin-signaling proteins increases in obesity. In
      accordance with the inhibition of insulin-mediated anti-lipolytic action, plasma
      free fatty acid (FFA) levels increase. Additionally, endoplasmic reticulum stress
      stimuli induce lipolysis by activating cyclic adenosine monophosphate/Protein
      kinase A (cAMP/PKA) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2)
      signaling in adipocytes. Failure of packaging of excess lipid into lipid droplets
      causes chronic elevation of circulating fatty acids, which can reach to toxic
      levels within non-adipose tissues. Deleterious effects of lipid accumulation in
      non-adipose tissues are known as lipotoxicity. In fact, triglycerides may also
      serve a storage function for long-chain non-esterified fatty acids and their
      products such as ceramides and diacylglycerols (DAGs). Thus, excess DAG, ceramide
      and saturated fatty acids in obesity can induce chronic inflammation and have
      harmful effect on multiple organs and systems. In this context, chronic adipose
      tissue inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction and IR have been discussed within
      the scope of lipotoxicity.

PMID- 28585199
TI  - Adipose Tissue Function and Expandability as Determinants of Lipotoxicity and the
      Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - The adipose tissue organ is organised as distinct anatomical depots located all
      along the body axis and it is constituted of three different types of adipocytes
      : white, beige and brown which are integrated with vascular, immune, neural and
      extracellular stroma cells. These distinct adipocytes serve different specialised
      functions. The main function of white adipocytes is to ensure healthy storage of
      excess nutrients/energy and its rapid mobilisation to supply the demand of energy
      imposed by physiological cues in other organs, whereas brown and beige adipocytes
      are designed for heat production through uncoupling lipid oxidation from energy
      production. The concert action of the three type of adipocytes/tissues has been
      reported to ensure an optimal metabolic status in rodents. However, when one or
      multiple of these adipose depots become dysfunctional as a consequence of
      sustained lipid/nutrient overload, then insulin resistance and associated
      metabolic complications ensue. These metabolic alterations negatively affects the
      adipose tissue functionality and compromises global metabolic homeostasis.
      Optimising white adipose tissue expandability and its functional metabolic
      flexibility and/or promoting brown/beige mediated thermogenic activity
      counteracts obesity and its associated lipotoxic metabolic effects. The
      development of these therapeutic approaches requires a deep understanding of
      adipose tissue in all broad aspects. In this chapter we will discuss the
      characteristics of the different adipose tissue depots with respect to origins
      and precursors recruitment, plasticity, cellular composition and expandability
      capacity as well as molecular and metabolic signatures in both physiological and
      pathophysiological conditions.

PMID- 28585201
TI  - The Pathogenesis of Obesity-Associated Adipose Tissue Inflammation.
AB  - Obesity is characterized by a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation. However,
      excessive fatty acid release may worsen adipose tissue inflammation and
      contributes to insulin resistance. In this case, several novel and highly active
      molecules are released abundantly by adipocytes like leptin, resistin,
      adiponectin or visfatin, as well as some more classical cytokines. Most likely
      cytokines that are released by inflammatory cells infiltrating obese adipose
      tissue are such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 6 (IL-6),
      monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) (CCL-2) and IL-1. All of those
      molecules may act on immune cells leading to local and generalized inflammation.
      In this process, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase
      (PI3K)/Protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, the unfolded protein response
      (UPR) due to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress through hyperactivation of c-Jun N
      terminal Kinase (JNK) -Activator Protein 1 (AP1) and inhibitor of nuclear factor
      kappa-B kinase beta (IKKbeta)-nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) pathways play an
      important role, and may also affect vascular endothelial function by modulating
      vascular nitric oxide and superoxide release. Additionally, systemic oxidative
      stress, macrophage recruitment, increase in the expression of NOD-like receptor
      (NLR) family protein (NLRP3) inflammasone and adipocyte death are predominant
      determinants in the pathogenesis of obesity-associated adipose tissue
      inflammation. In this chapter potential involvement of these factors that
      contribute to the adverse effects of obesity are reviewed.

PMID- 28585202
TI  - Microbiota and Lipotoxicity.
AB  - Obesity and metabolic syndrome is a multisystemic disorder, that is characterized
      by excess caloric intake and spillover lipotoxicity caused by ectopic lipid
      accumulation in non-adipose tissues. Low grade chronic inflammation and insulin
      resistance are the hallmarks of the disorder, which further aggravate the
      condition. Gut microbiota constitutes an indispensible part of human
      superorganism's energy harvesting apparatus. The dynamic composition of
      microbiota changes with age, life style and host metabolic background. The wealth
      of genetic repertoire provided by these microorganism enables to extend host's
      substrate processing and harvesting capability. Some of these compounds including
      short chain fatty acids and indole act as signalling molecules on mammalian cells
      and modulate their behaviour. Nonetheless, this symbiotic style of interaction is
      restrained by immune system. The role of chronic low grade inflammation in
      metabolic syndrome is well established. Treg cells are the key players that sense
      and reshape the composition of microbiota. In this regard, any disturbance in
      Treg functionality may aggravate the inflammation and shift the symbiotic balance
      towards dysbiosis, which is characterized by autoimmunity and insulin resistance.
      Thus, immune system is responsible for the modulation of host and microbiota
      metabolisms and Treg cells act as a bridge in between.

PMID- 28585203
TI  - Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Obesity.
AB  - In recent years, the world has seen an alarming increase in obesity and closely
      associated with insulin resistance which is a state of low-grade inflammation,
      the latter characterized by elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in blood
      and tissues. A shift in energy balance alters systemic metabolic regulation and
      the important role that chronic inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      dysfunction, and activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) play in this
      process.Why obesity is so closely associated with insulin resistance and
      inflammation is not understood well. This suggests that there are probably other
      causes for obesity-related insulin resistance and inflammation. One of these
      appears to be endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress.The ER is a vast membranous
      network responsible for the trafficking of a wide range of proteins and plays a
      central role in integrating multiple metabolic signals critical in cellular
      homeostasis. Conditions that may trigger unfolded protein response activation
      include increased protein synthesis, the presence of mutant or misfolded
      proteins, inhibition of protein glycosylation, imbalance of ER calcium levels,
      glucose and energy deprivation, hypoxia, pathogens or pathogen-associated
      components and toxins. Thus, characterizing the mechanisms contributing to
      obesity and identifying potential targets for its prevention and treatment will
      have a great impact on the control of associated conditions, particularly T2D.

PMID- 28585204
TI  - Insulin Resistance, Obesity and Lipotoxicity.
AB  - Lipotoxicity , originally used to describe the destructive effects of excess fat
      accumulation on glucose metabolism, causes functional impairments in several
      metabolic pathways, both in adipose tissue and peripheral organs, like liver,
      heart, pancreas and muscle. Lipotoxicity has roles in insulin resistance and
      pancreatic beta cell dysfunction. Increased circulating levels of lipids and the
      metabolic alterations in fatty acid utilization and intracellular signaling, have
      been related to insulin resistance in muscle and liver. Different pathways, like
      novel protein kinase c pathways and the JNK-1 pathway are involved as the
      mechanisms of how lipotoxicity leads to insulin resistance in nonadipose tissue
      organs, such as liver and muscle. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a role in the
      pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Endoplasmic reticulum stress, through mainly
      increased oxidative stress, also plays important role in the etiology of insulin
      resistance, especially seen in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Visceral
      adiposity and insulin resistance both increase the cardiometabolic risk and
      lipotoxicity seems to play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of these
      associations.

PMID- 28585205
TI  - Adipose Tissue Hypoxia in Obesity and Its Impact on Preadipocytes and
      Macrophages: Hypoxia Hypothesis.
AB  - Obese subjects exhibit lower adipose tissue oxygen consumption in accordance with
      the lower adipose tissue blood flow. Thus, compared with lean subjects, obese
      subjects have 44% lower capillary density and 58% lower vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF). The VEGF expression together with hypoxia-inducible
      transcription factor-1 (HIF-1) activity also requires phosphatidylinositol 3
      kinase (PI3K)- and target of rapamycin (TOR)-mediated signaling. HIF-1alpha is an
      important signaling molecule for hypoxia to induce the inflammatory responses.
      Hypoxia affects a number of biological functions, such as angiogenesis, cell
      proliferation, apoptosis, inflammation and insulin resistance. Additionally,
      reactive oxygen radical (ROS) generation at mitochondria is responsible for
      propagation of the hypoxic signal. Actually mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) production,
      but not oxygen consumption is required for hypoxic HIF-1alpha protein
      stabilization. Adipocyte mitochondrial oxidative capacity is reduced in obese
      compared with non-obese adults. In this respect, mitochondrial dysfunction of
      adipocyte is associated with the overall adiposity. Furthermore, hypoxia also
      inhibits macrophage migration from the hypoxic adipose tissue. Alterations in
      oxygen availability of adipose tissue directly affect the macrophage polarization
      and are responsible from dysregulated adipocytokines production in obesity.
      Hypoxia also inhibits adipocyte differentiation from preadipocytes. In addition
      to stressed adipocytes, hypoxia contributes to immune cell immigration and
      activation which further aggravates adipose tissue fibrosis. Fibrosis is
      initiated in response to adipocyte hypertrophy in obesity.

PMID- 28585206
TI  - Adipocyte-Macrophage Cross-Talk in Obesity.
AB  - Obesity is characterized by the chronic low-grade activation of the innate immune
      system. In this respect, macrophage-elicited metabolic inflammation and adipocyte
      macrophage interaction has a primary importance in obesity. Large amounts of
      macrophages are accumulated by different mechanisms in obese adipose tissue.
      Hypertrophic adipocyte-derived chemotactic monocyte chemoattractant protein-1
      (MCP-1)/C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) pathway also promotes more macrophage
      accumulation into the obese adipose tissue. However, increased local
      extracellular lipid concentrations is a final mechanism for adipose tissue
      macrophage accumulation. A paracrine loop involving free fatty acids and tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) between adipocytes and macrophages establishes
      a vicious cycle that aggravates inflammatory changes in the adipose tissue.
      Adipocyte-specific caspase-1 and production of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) by
      macrophages; both adipocyte and macrophage induction by toll like receptor-4
      (TLR4) through nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation; free fatty acid
      induced and TLR-mediated activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-related pro
      inflammatory pathways in CD11c+ immune cells; are effective in macrophage
      accumulation and in the development of adipose tissue inflammation. Old
      adipocytes are removed by macrophages through trogocytosis or sending an "eat me"
      signal. The obesity-induced changes in adipose tissue macrophage numbers are
      mainly due to increases in the triple-positive CD11b+ F4/80+ CD11c+ adipose
      tissue macrophage subpopulation. The ratio of M1-to-M2 macrophages is increased
      in obesity. Furthermore, hypoxia along with higher concentrations of free fatty
      acids exacerbates macrophage-mediated inflammation in obesity. The metabolic
      status of adipocytes is a major determinant of macrophage inflammatory output.
      Macrophage/adipocyte fatty-acid-binding proteins act at the interface of
      metabolic and inflammatory pathways. Both macrophages and adipocytes are the
      sites for active lipid metabolism and signaling.

PMID- 28585207
TI  - Endothelial Dysfunction in Obesity.
AB  - Chronic inflammatory state in obesity causes dysregulation of the endocrine and
      paracrine actions of adipocyte-derived factors, which disrupt vascular
      homeostasis and contribute to endothelial vasodilator dysfunction and subsequent
      hypertension. While normal healthy perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) ensures the
      dilation of blood vessels, obesity-associated PVAT leads to a change in profile
      of the released adipo-cytokines, resulting in a decreased vasorelaxing effect.
      Adipose tissue inflammation, nitric oxide (NO)-bioavailability, insulin
      resistance and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) are main participating
      factors in endothelial dysfunction of obesity. In this chapter, disruption of
      inter-endothelial junctions between endothelial cells, significant increase in
      the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammation mediators, which
      are originated from inflamed endothelial cells, the balance between NO synthesis
      and ROS , insulin signaling and NO production, and decrease in L
      arginine/endogenous asymmetric dimethyl-L-arginine (ADMA) ratio are discussed in
      connection with endothelial dysfunction in obesity.

PMID- 28585208
TI  - Diet-Induced Obesity and the Mechanism of Leptin Resistance.
AB  - Leptin signaling blockade by chronic overstimulation of the leptin receptor or
      hypothalamic pro-inflammatory responses due to elevated levels of saturated fatty
      acid can induce leptin resistance by activating negative feedback pathways.
      Although, long form leptin receptor (Ob-Rb) initiates leptin signaling through
      more than seven different signal transduction pathways, excessive suppressor of
      cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS-3) activity is a potential mechanism for the leptin
      resistance that characterizes human obesity. Because the leptin-responsive
      metabolic pathways broadly integrate with other neurons to control energy
      balance, the methods used to counteract the leptin resistance has extremely
      limited effect. In this chapter, besides the impairment of central and peripheral
      leptin signaling pathways, limited access of leptin to central nervous system
      (CNS) through blood-brain barrier, mismatch between high leptin and the amount of
      leptin receptor expression, contradictory effects of cellular and circulating
      molecules on leptin signaling, the connection between leptin signaling and
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and self-regulation of leptin signaling has
      been discussed in terms of leptin resistance.

PMID- 28585209
TI  - Influence of Antioxidants on Leptin Metabolism and its Role in the Pathogenesis
      of Obesity.
AB  - Obesity is associated with low-grade inflammation. Leptin, a hormone made by fat
      cells regulates appetite and hunger and thus food intake behavior. Interestingly,
      , food preservatives like sodium sulfite and sodium benzoate and also natural
      colorant and spice compounds such as curcumin were found to decrease the release
      of leptin in murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes, after co-incubation with LPS, which was
      added to mimic the pro-inflammatory status in obesity. Several of these compounds
      are well known food antioxidants.Whilst reducing oxidation events is beneficial
      in states of elevated oxidative stress, overexposure to food antioxidant can lead
      to adverse effects. There are hints from in vivo data, that antioxidant stress in
      younger age plays a role in the development of adiposity in later life. The
      insufficient exposure to oxidizing compounds like reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      cannot only cause an insufficient burning of calories but there is also a link to
      the regulation of food intake behavior. If the in vitro findings can be
      extrapolated to the in vivo situation, consumption of antioxidant supplemented
      food could lead to decreased leptin release and contribute to an obesogenic
      environment. This aspect sheds some new critical light on the potential role of
      an antioxidant-enriched nutrition in the obesity epidemic during the past few
      centuries. Doing sports could represent not only a proper strategy to initiate
      physiological ROS production and burning of calories, but also may shift the
      hormone milieu towards a reduction of hunger feelings and thus reduce appetite
      and food intake.

PMID- 28585210
TI  - Adiponectin-Resistance in Obesity.
AB  - The decrease in adiponectin levels are negatively correlated with chronic
      subclinical inflammation markers in obesity. The hypertrophic adipocytes cause
      obesity-linked insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, macrophage
      polarization is a key determinant regulating adiponectin receptor (AdipoR1/R2)
      expression and differential adiponectin-mediated macrophage inflammatory
      responses in obese individuals. In addition to decrease in adiponectin
      concentrations, the decline in AdipoR1/R2 mRNA expression leads to a decrement in
      adiponectin binding to cell membrane, and this turns into attenuation in the
      adiponectin effects. Within the receptor complex, adaptor protein-containing
      pleckstrin homology domain, phosphotyrosine-binding domain, and leucine zipper
      motif 1 (APPL1) is the intracellular binding partner of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2. The
      expression levels of APPL1 or APPL2 lead to an altered adiponectin activity.
      Despite normal or high adiponectin levels, an impaired post receptor signaling
      due to APPL1/APPL2 may alter adiponectin efficiency and activity. However, APPL2
      blocks adiponectin signaling through AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 by competitive
      inhibition of APPL1. APPL1 is also an important mediator of adiponectin dependent
      insulin sensitization. In this context, adiponectin resistance is associated with
      insulin resistance and is thought to be partly due to the down-regulation of the
      AdipoRs in high-fat diet fed subjects. Actually, adiponectin resistance occurs
      very rapidly after saturated fatty acid feeding, this metabolic disturbance is
      not due to a decrease in AdipoR1 protein content. Intra-abdominal adipose tissue
      AdipoR2 expression is reduced in obesity, whereas AdipoR1 expression is not
      changed. Adiponectin resistance together with insulin resistance forms a vicious
      cycle. The elevated adiponectin levels with adiponectin resistance is a
      compensatory response in the condition of an unusual discordance between insulin
      resistance and adiponectin unresponsiveness.Additionally, different mechanisms
      are involved in vascular adiponectin resistance at different stages of obesity.
      Nevertheless, diet-induced hyperlipidemia is the leading cause of vascular
      adiponectin resistance. Leptin/adiponectin imbalance may also be an important
      marker of the elevated risk of developing abdominal obesity-associated
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28585211
TI  - Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is in parallel with the obesity
      epidemic and it is the most common cause of liver diseases. The development of
      hepatic steatosis in majority of patients is linked to dietary fat ingestion.
      NAFLD is characterized by excess accumulation of triglyceride in the hepatocyte
      due to both increased inflow of free fatty acids and de novo hepatic lipogenesis.
      Insulin resistance with the deficiency of insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2)
      associated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activity causes an increase in
      intracellular fatty acid-derived metabolites such as diacylglycerol, fatty acyl
      CoA or ceramides. Lipotoxicity-related mechanism of NAFLD could be explained
      still best by the "double-hit" hypothesis. Insulin resistance is the major
      mechanism in the development and progression of NAFLD/Non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH). Metabolic oxidative stress, autophagy, and inflammation
      induce NASH progression. In the "first hit" the hepatic concentrations of
      diacylglycerol increase with rising saturated liver fat content in human NAFLD.
      Activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes are decreased in liver
      tissue of patients with NASH. Furthermore, hepatocyte lipoapoptosis is a critical
      feature of NASH. In "second hit" reduced glutathione levels due to oxidative
      stress lead to overactivation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/c-Jun signaling
      that induces cell death in the steatotic liver. Accumulation of toxic levels of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) is caused by the ineffectual cycling of the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) oxidoreductin (Ero1)-protein disulfide isomerase
      oxidation cycle through the downstream of the inner membrane mitochondrial
      oxidative metabolism and Kelch like-ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1)- Nuclear
      factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) pathway.

PMID- 28585212
TI  - Lipotoxicity-Related Hematological Disorders in Obesity.
AB  - Lipotoxicity can mediate endothelial dysfunction in obesity. Altered endothelial
      cell phenotype during the pathobiological course of the lipotoxicity may lead to
      the hemostatic abnormalities, which is a hallmark of several hematological
      disorders. Impaired hemostasis could also be directly related to the numerous
      metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. On the
      other hand, local hematopoietic bone marrow (BM) renin-angiotensin system (RAS)
      contributes to the development of atherosclerosis via acting on the lipotoxicity
      processes. Local BM RAS, principally an autocrine/ paracrine/
      intracrinehematological system, is located at the crossroads of cellular
      regulation, molecular interactions and the lipotoxicity-mediated vascular
      endothelial dysfunction. The positive regulatory role of plasma LDL on AT1
      receptor-mediated hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation and the
      production of pro-atherogenic monocytes had been described. LDL-regulated HSC
      function may explain in part hypercholesterolemia-induced inflammation as well as
      the anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects of AT1 receptor blockers.
      The role of local adipose tissue RAS is directly related to the pathogenesis of
      metabolic derangements in obesity. There may be a crosstalk between local BM RAS
      and local adipose tissue RAS at the genomics and transcriptomics levels. The aim
      of this chapter is to review hematological alterations propagating the
      pathological influences of lipotoxicity on the vascular endothelium.

PMID- 28585213
TI  - MicroRNA and Adipogenesis.
AB  - In obesity, the process of adipogenesis largely determines the number of
      adipocytes in body fat depots. Adipogenesis is regulated by several adipocyte
      selective microRNAs (miRNAs) and transcription factors that modulate adipocyte
      proliferation and differentiation. However, some miRNAs block expression of
      master regulators of adipogenesis. Additionally, specific miRNAs have been
      implicated in adipocyte differentiation and mature adipocyte functions. While,
      each miRNA targets multiple mRNAs, which may coordinate or antagonize each
      other's functions, several miRNAs are dysregulated in other tissues during
      obesity-related comorbidities. In this respect, development of lipid droplets,
      macrophage accumulation, macrophage polarization, tumor necrosis factor receptor
      associated factor 6 activity, lipolysis, lipotoxicity and insulin resistance are
      effectively controlled by miRNAs.

PMID- 28585214
TI  - The Interactions Between Kynurenine, Folate, Methionine and Pteridine Pathways in
      Obesity.
AB  - Obesity activates both innate and adaptive immune responses in adipose tissue.
      Elevated levels of eosinophils with depression of monocyte and neutrophil
      indicate the deficiencies in the immune system of morbidly obese individuals.
      Actually, adipose tissue macrophages are functional antigen-presenting cells that
      promote the proliferation of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-producing CD4+ T cells
      in adipose tissue of obese subjects. Eventually, diet-induced obesity is
      associated with the loss of tissue homeostasis and development of type 1
      inflammatory responses in visceral adipose tissue. Activity of inducible
      indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1) plays a major role under pro-inflammatory,
      IFN-gamma dominated settings. One of the two rate-limiting enzymes which can
      metabolize tryptophan to kynurenine is IDO-1. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha) correlates with IDO-1 in adipose compartments. Actually, IDO-1-mediated
      tryptophan catabolism due to chronic immune activation is the cause of reduced
      tryptophan plasma levels and be considered as the driving force for food intake
      in morbidly obese patients. Thus, decrease in plasma tryptophan levels and
      subsequent reduction in serotonin (5-HT) production provokes satiety
      dysregulation that leads to increased caloric uptake and obesity. However, after
      bariatric surgery, weight reduction does not lead to normalization of IDO-1
      activity. Furthermore, there is a connection between arginine and tryptophan
      metabolic pathways in the generation of reactive nitrogen intermediates. Hence,
      abdominal obesity is associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction and reduced
      nitric oxide (NO) availability. IFN-gamma-induced activation of the inducible
      nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and dissociation of endothelial adenosine
      monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK)- phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)
      protein kinase B (Akt)- endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) pathway enhances oxidative
      stress production secondary to high-fat diet. Thus, reduced endothelial NO
      availability correlates with the increase in plasma non-esterified fatty acids
      and triglycerides levels. Additionally, in obese patients, folate-deficiency
      leads to hyperhomocysteinemia. Folic acid confers protection against
      hyperhomocysteinemia-induced oxidative stress.

PMID- 28585215
TI  - Eligibility and Success Criteria for Bariatric/Metabolic Surgery.
AB  - Obesity is a worldwide main health concern, with a high treatment failure. This
      chapter focuses on the definition of obesity, based on excessive fat accumulation
      and thus underscores the importance of body composition, and the clinical tools
      currently used to diagnose it, mainly body mass index that is only a proxy
      measure of body composition. It also highlights the importance of the personal
      commitment to comply to a healthy diet and physical activity recommendations
      since surgery is most effective when accompanied by lifestyle modifications.
      Additionally, it addresses the description of types of patients who could benefit
      most from surgical management of excessive body fat percentage and metabolic
      derangements, as well as on the indications for surgery that are currently valid.

PMID- 28585216
TI  - Does Bariatric Surgery Improve Obesity Associated Comorbid Conditions.
AB  - Obesity is a constantly growing health problem which reduces quality of life and
      life expectancy. Bariatric surgery for obesity is taken into account when all
      other conservative treatment modalities have failed. Comparison of the
      multidisciplinary programs with bariatric surgery regarding to weight loss showed
      that substantial and durable weight reduction have been achieved only with
      bariatric surgical treatments. However, the benefits of weight loss following
      bariatric procedures are still debated regarding the pro-inflammatory and
      metabolic profile of obesity.

PMID- 28585217
TI  - Obesity-associated Breast Cancer: Analysis of risk factors.
AB  - Several studies show that a significantly stronger association is obvious between
      increased body mass index (BMI) and higher breast cancer incidence. Furthermore,
      obese women are at higher risk of all-cause and breast cancer specific mortality
      when compared to non-obese women with breast cancer. In this context, increased
      levels of estrogens due to excessive aromatization activity of the adipose
      tissue, overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, insulin resistance,
      hyperactivation of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) pathways, adipocyte-derived
      adipokines, hypercholesterolemia and excessive oxidative stress contribute to the
      development of breast cancer in obese women. While higher breast cancer risk with
      hormone replacement therapy is particularly evident among lean women, in
      postmenopausal women who are not taking exogenous hormones, general obesity is a
      significant predictor for breast cancer. Moreover, increased plasma cholesterol
      leads to accelerated tumor formation and exacerbates their aggressiveness. In
      contrast to postmenopausal women, premenopausal women with high BMI are inversely
      associated with breast cancer risk. Nevertheless, life-style of women for breast
      cancer risk is regulated by avoiding the overweight and a high-fat diet. Estrogen
      plus-progestin hormone therapy users for more than 5 years have elevated risks of
      both invasive ductal and lobular breast cancer. Additionally, these cases are
      more commonly node-positive and have a higher cancer-related mortality.
      Collectively, in this chapter, the impacts of obesity-related estrogen,
      cholesterol, saturated fatty acid, leptin and adiponectin concentrations,
      aromatase activity, leptin and insulin resistance on breast cancer patients are
      evaluated. Obesity-related prognostic factors of breast cancer also are discussed
      at molecular basis.

PMID- 28585218
TI  - Lipotoxicity in Obesity: Benefit of Olive Oil.
AB  - The clinical implication of Lipotoxicity in obesity derives primarily from its
      potential to progress to insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction and
      atherosclerosis. Olive oil rich diet decrease accumulation of triglyceride in the
      liver, improved postprandial triglyceride levels, improve glucose and GLP-1
      response in insulin resistant subjects, and up regulate GLUT-2 expression in the
      liver. The exact molecular mechanism is unknown but, decreasing NFkB activation,
      decreasing LDL oxidation and improving insulin resistance by less production of
      inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6) and improvement of kinases JNK-mediated
      phosphorylation of IRS-1 are the principle mechanisms. The beneficial effect of
      the Mediterranean diet derived from monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), mainly
      from olive oil. In this review we document lipotoxicity in obesity and the
      benefit of olive oil.

PMID- 28585219
TI  - PET/CT scanning with 3D acquisition is feasible for quantifying myocardial blood
      flow when diagnosing coronary artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow
      reserve (CFR) are useful approaches for evaluating the functional severity of
      coronary artery disease (CAD). 15O-water positron emission tomography (PET) is
      considered the gold standard method for MBF quantification. However, MBF
      measurements in 15O-water PET with three-dimensional (3D) data acquisition,
      attenuation correction using computed tomography (CT), and time of flight have
      not been investigated in detail or validated. We conducted this study to evaluate
      the diagnostic potential of MBF measurements using PET/CT for a comparison of a
      control group and patients suspected of having CAD. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients
      with known or suspected CAD and eight age-matched healthy volunteers underwent
      rest and pharmacological stress perfusion studies with 15O-water PET/CT. The
      whole and three regional (left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX),
      and right coronary artery (RCA) territory) MBF values were estimated. The CFR was
      computed as the ratio of the MBF during adenosine triphosphate-induced stress to
      the MBF at rest. The inter-observer variability was assessed by two independent
      observers. PET/CT using a 15O-water dose of 500 MBq and 3D data acquisition
      showed good image quality. A strong inter-observer correlation was detected in
      both the whole MBF analysis and the regional analysis with high intra-class
      correlation coefficients (r > 0.90, p < 0.001). Regional MBF at rest (LAD, 0.82
      +/- 0.15 ml/min/g; LCX, 0.83 +/- 0.17 ml/min/g; RCA, 0.71 +/- 0.20 ml/min/g; p =
      0.74), MBF at stress (LAD, 3.77 +/- 1.00 ml/min/g; LCX, 3.56 +/- 1.01 ml/min/g;
      RCA, 3.27 +/- 1.04 ml/min/g; p = 0.62), and CFR (LAD, 4.64 +/- 0.90; LCX, 4.30 +/
      0.64; RCA, 4.64 +/- 0.96; p = 0.66) of the healthy volunteers showed no
      significant difference among the three regions. The global CFR of the patients
      was significantly lower than that of the volunteers (2.75 +/- 0.81 vs. 4.54 +/-
      0.66, p = 0.0002). The regional analysis of the patients demonstrated that the
      CFR tended to be lower in the stenotic region compared to the non-stenotic region
      (2.43 +/- 0.81 vs. 2.95 +/- 0.92, p = 0.052). CONCLUSIONS: 15O-water PET/CT with
      3D data acquisition can be reliably used for the quantification of functional MBF
      and CFR in CAD patients.

PMID- 28585221
TI  - Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is prevalent. Although standards antidepressants
      are more effective than placebo, up to 35% of patients do not respond to 4 or
      more conventional treatments and are considered to have treatment-resistant
      depression (TRD). Considerable effort has been devoted to trying to find
      effective treatments for TRD. This review focuses on vagus nerve stimulation
      (VNS), approved for TRD in 2005 by the Food and Drugs Administration. Stimulation
      is carried by bipolar electrodes on the left cervical vagus nerve, which are
      attached to an implanted stimulator generator. The vagus bundle contains about
      80% of afferent fibers terminating in the medulla, from which there are
      projections to many areas of brain, including the limbic forebrain. Various types
      of brain imaging studies reveal widespread functional effects in brain after
      either acute or chronic VNS. Although more randomized control trials of VNS need
      to be carried out before a definitive conclusion can be reached about its
      efficacy, the results of open studies, carried out over period of 1 to 2 years,
      show much more efficacy when compared with results from treatment as usual
      studies. There is an increase in clinical response to VNS between 3 and 12
      months, which is quite different from that seen with standard antidepressant
      treatment of MDD. Preclinically, VNS affects many of the same brain areas,
      neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine) and signal transduction mechanisms
      (brain-derived neurotrophic factor-tropomyosin receptor kinase B) as those found
      with traditional antidepressants. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which VNS
      benefits patients nonresponsive to conventional antidepressants is unclear, with
      further research needed to clarify this.

PMID- 28585224
TI  - Experimental setup for transfer function measurement to assess RF heating of
      medical leads in MRI: Validation in the case of a single wire.
AB  - PURPOSE: The measurement of the transfer function is a good tool to evaluate the
      radiofrequency heating of complex conductive wires, such as pacemaker leads. The
      aim is to describe precisely the design of a transfer function bench and compare
      the measurements to simulations. METHODS: The transfer function was measured by
      mean of an excitation probe and a receiving probe, both connected to a two-port
      vector network analyzer. The experimental results were compared with the
      simulated results, reproducing the excitation scheme. This procedure was applied
      to two different cables with different geometrical and insulation properties to
      test the robustness of the setup. RESULTS: It is possible to touch the cable
      electrode with the excitation probe without inducing an error in the measured
      transfer function, which solves the direct coupling problem. There is a good
      agreement between the measured and simulated transfer function for both tested
      cables. CONCLUSIONS: A valid transfer function measurement bench is described.
      Magn Reson Med 79:1766-1772, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic
      Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28585222
TI  - Potential Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin.
AB  - Psilocybin and other 5-hydroxytryptamine2A agonist classic psychedelics have been
      used for centuries as sacraments within indigenous cultures. In the mid-twentieth
      century they were a focus within psychiatry as both probes of brain function and
      experimental therapeutics. By the late 1960s and early 1970s these scientific
      inquires fell out of favor because classic psychedelics were being used outside
      of medical research and in association with the emerging counter culture.
      However, in the twenty-first century, scientific interest in classic psychedelics
      has returned and grown as a result of several promising studies, validating
      earlier research. Here, we review therapeutic research on psilocybin, the classic
      psychedelic that has been the focus of most recent research. For mood and anxiety
      disorders, three controlled trials have suggested that psilocybin may decrease
      symptoms of depression and anxiety in the context of cancer-related psychiatric
      distress for at least 6 months following a single acute administration. A small,
      open-label study in patients with treatment-resistant depression showed
      reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms 3 months after two acute doses. For
      addiction, small, open-label pilot studies have shown promising success rates for
      both tobacco and alcohol addiction. Safety data from these various trials, which
      involve careful screening, preparation, monitoring, and follow-up, indicate the
      absence of severe drug-related adverse reactions. Modest drug-related adverse
      effects at the time of medication administration are readily managed. US federal
      funding has yet to support therapeutic psilocybin research, although such support
      will be important to thoroughly investigate efficacy, safety, and therapeutic
      mechanisms.

PMID- 28585220
TI  - Inherited Arterial Calcification Syndromes: Etiologies and Treatment Concepts.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We give an update on the etiology and potential treatment
      options of rare inherited monogenic disorders associated with arterial
      calcification and calcific cardiac valve disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Genetic
      studies of rare inherited syndromes have identified key regulators of ectopic
      calcification. Based on the pathogenic principles causing the diseases, these can
      be classified into three groups: (1) disorders of an increased extracellular
      inorganic phosphate/inorganic pyrophosphate ratio (generalized arterial
      calcification of infancy, pseudoxanthoma elasticum, arterial calcification and
      distal joint calcification, progeria, idiopathic basal ganglia calcification, and
      hyperphosphatemic familial tumoral calcinosis; (2) interferonopathies (Singleton
      Merten syndrome); and (3) others, including Keutel syndrome and Gaucher disease
      type IIIC. Although some of the identified causative mechanisms are not easy to
      target for treatment, it has become clear that a disturbed serum
      phosphate/pyrophosphate ratio is a major force triggering arterial and cardiac
      valve calcification. Further studies will focus on targeting the
      phosphate/pyrophosphate ratio to effectively prevent and treat these calcific
      disease phenotypes.

PMID- 28585226
TI  - Transient sex differences during adolescence on auditory perceptual tasks.
AB  - Many perceptual abilities differ between the sexes. Because these sex differences
      have been documented almost exclusively in adults, they have been attributed to
      sex-specific neural circuitry that emerges during development and is maintained
      in the mature perceptual system. To investigate whether behavioral sex
      differences in perception can also have other origins, we compared performance
      between males and females ranging in age from 8 to 30 years on auditory temporal
      interval discrimination and tone-in-noise detection tasks on which there are no
      sex differences in adults. If sex differences in perception arise only from the
      establishment and subsequent maintenance of sex-specific neural circuitry, there
      should be no sex differences during development on these tasks. In contrast, sex
      differences emerged in adolescence but resolved by adulthood on two of the six
      conditions, with signs of a similar pattern on a third condition. In each case,
      males reached mature performance earlier than females, resulting in a sex
      difference in the interim. These results suggest that sex differences in
      perception may arise from differences in the maturational timing of common
      circuitry used by both sexes. They also imply that sex differences in perceptual
      abilities may be more prevalent than previously thought based on adult data
      alone.

PMID- 28585223
TI  - A Molecular Tweezer Ameliorates Motor Deficits in Mice Overexpressing alpha
      Synuclein.
AB  - Aberrant accumulation and self-assembly of alpha-synuclein are tightly linked to
      several neurodegenerative diseases called synucleinopathies, including idiopathic
      Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy.
      Deposition of fibrillar alpha-synuclein as insoluble inclusions in affected brain
      cells is a pathological hallmark of synucleinopathies. However, water-soluble
      alpha-synuclein oligomers may be the actual culprits causing neuronal dysfunction
      and degeneration in synucleinopathies. Accordingly, therapeutic approaches
      targeting the toxic alpha-synuclein assemblies are attractive for these incurable
      disorders. The "molecular tweezer" CLR01 selectively remodels abnormal protein
      self-assembly through reversible binding to Lys residues. Here, we treated young
      male mice overexpressing human wild-type alpha-synuclein under control of the Thy
      1 promoter (Thy1-aSyn mice) with CLR01 and examined motor behavior and alpha
      synuclein in the brain. Intracerebroventricular administration of CLR01 for 28
      days to the mice improved motor dysfunction in the challenging beam test and
      caused a significant decrease of buffer-soluble alpha-synuclein in the striatum.
      Proteinase-K-resistant, insoluble alpha-synuclein deposits remained unchanged in
      the substantia nigra, whereas levels of diffuse cytoplasmic alpha-synuclein in
      dopaminergic neurons increased in mice receiving CLR01 compared with vehicle.
      More moderate improvement of motor deficits was also achieved by subcutaneous
      administration of CLR01, in 2/5 trials of the challenging beam test and in the
      pole test, which requires balance and coordination. The data support further
      development of molecular tweezers as therapeutic agents for synucleinopathies.

PMID- 28585225
TI  - Ultrafast Growth of High-Quality Monolayer WSe2 on Au.
AB  - The ultrafast growth of high-quality uniform monolayer WSe2 is reported with a
      growth rate of ~26 um s-1 by chemical vapor deposition on reusable Au substrate,
      which is ~2-3 orders of magnitude faster than those of most 2D transition metal
      dichalcogenides grown on nonmetal substrates. Such ultrafast growth allows for
      the fabrication of millimeter-size single-crystal WSe2 domains in ~30 s and large
      area continuous films in ~60 s. Importantly, the ultrafast grown WSe2 shows
      excellent crystal quality and extraordinary electrical performance comparable to
      those of the mechanically exfoliated samples, with a high mobility up to ~143 cm2
      V-1 s-1 and ON/OFF ratio up to 9 * 106 at room temperature. Density functional
      theory calculations reveal that the ultrafast growth of WSe2 is due to the small
      energy barriers and exothermic characteristic for the diffusion and attachment of
      W and Se on the edges of WSe2 on Au substrate.

PMID- 28585227
TI  - Developing guinea pig brain as a model for cortical folding.
AB  - The cerebral cortex in mammals, the neocortex specifically, is highly diverse
      among species with respect to its size and morphology, likely reflecting the
      immense adaptiveness of this lineage. In particular, the pattern and number of
      convoluted ridges and fissures, called gyri and sulci, respectively, on the
      surface of the cortex are variable among species and even individuals. However,
      little is known about the mechanism of cortical folding, although there have been
      several hypotheses proposed. Recent studies on embryonic neurogenesis revealed
      the differences in cortical progenitors as a critical factor of the process of
      gyrification. Here, we investigated the gyrification processes using developing
      guinea pig brains that form a simple but fundamental pattern of gyri. In
      addition, we established an electroporation-mediated gene transfer method for
      guinea pig embryos. We introduce the guinea pig brain as a useful model system to
      understand the mechanisms and basic principle of cortical folding.

PMID- 28585228
TI  - Development and testing of a stepwise thaw and dilute protocol for cryopreserved
      umbilical cord blood units.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is clinically important to maintain high viability and potency of
      umbilical cord blood units (CBUs) for transplantation during thawing. In the
      absence of a standard thawing protocol, this study was designed to develop one
      based on the consensus practice of transplant centers and address the shortage of
      dextran 40 thawing solution. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Frozen CBU aliquots were
      thawed using dextran 40 thawing solution while manipulating temperature and
      volume of diluent and mode of dilution. The effects of these on CD45+ and CD34+
      cell viability were measured through annexin V and SYTOX green staining. The
      developed protocol was then used to compare dextran 40 and PLASMA-LYTE A thawing
      solutions and finally tested on whole CBUs. RESULTS: Step-by-step investigations
      resulted in the development of a protocol that thaws and dilutes CBUs with room
      temperature diluent to five times the original volume using two sequential
      dilutions separated by equilibration times. PLASMA-LYTE A diluent provided
      superior viability of CD45+ and CD34+ cells than dextran 40 and recovered more
      colony-forming units. However, both diluents were equally effective in
      maintaining stability of the thawed CBU for 4 hours. Moreover, the stem cell
      enriched CD34+CD38- subpopulations appeared more resistant to cryoinjuries than
      their CD34+CD38+ counterpart. CONCLUSION: The developed thawing protocol recovers
      viable CD45+ and CD34+ cells above the standard thresholds and maintains CBU
      potency. PLASMA-LYTE A for thawing solution proved to be an efficient alternative
      to dextran 40. Finally, greater dilution should be avoided to maintain the
      viability of CD45+ cells and maximize graft cell dose.

PMID- 28585229
TI  - Tomoelastography of the prostate using multifrequency MR elastography and
      externally placed pressurized-air drivers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To demonstrate the feasibility of in vivo multifrequency magnetic
      resonance elastography (MRE) of the prostate using externally placed drivers.
      METHODS: Three pressurized-air drivers were used to excite shear waves within the
      prostate at vibration frequencies of 60, 70, and 80 Hz. Full 3D wave fields were
      acquired by multislice spin-echo echo-planar imaging in conjunction with
      tomoelastography wave speed recovery for generating full field-of-view stiffness
      maps. Twelve healthy volunteers were repeatedly scanned to analyze test-retest
      reproducibility. Five patients with suspected prostate cancer were investigated
      to demonstrate the clinical feasibility of the method. RESULTS: In healthy
      volunteers, the shear wave speed of the entire prostate was 2.24 +/- 0.20 m/s
      with a repeatability coefficient of 0.14 m/s and 88% intraclass correlation
      coefficient. No significant difference between the peripheral zone (2.27 +/- 0.20
      m/s) and the central gland (2.22 +/- 0.23 m/s) was observed. In patients, wave
      speed maps displayed stiff regions consistent with the localization of suspicious
      masses detected by other imaging markers. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method
      provides reproducible quantitative maps of tissue stiffness throughout the pelvic
      region and can easily be integrated into clinical imaging protocols. Clinical
      stiffness maps display many details of potential interest for cancer diagnosis.
      Magn Reson Med 79:1325-1333, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic
      Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28585230
TI  - A Molecular Polycrystalline Ferroelectric with Record-High Phase Transition
      Temperature.
AB  - An outstanding advantage of inorganic ceramic ferroelectrics is their usability
      in the polycrystalline ceramic or thin film forms, which has dominated
      applications in the ferroelectric, dielectric, and piezoelectric fields. Although
      the history of ferroelectrics began with the molecular ferroelectric Rochelle
      salt in 1921, so far there have been very few molecular ferroelectrics, with
      lightweight, flexible, low-cost, and biocompatible superior properties compared
      to inorganic ceramic ferroelectrics, that can be applied in the polycrystalline
      form. Here, a multiaxial molecular ferroelectric, guanidinium perchlorate ([C(NH2
      )3 ]ClO4 ), with a record-high phase transition temperature of 454 K is
      presented. It is the rectangular polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis
      loops recorded on the powder and thin film samples (with respective large Pr of
      5.1 and 8.1 uC cm-2 ) that confirm the ferroelectricity of [C(NH2 )3 ]ClO4 in the
      polycrystalline states. Intriguingly, after poling, the piezoelectric coefficient
      (d33 ) of the powder sample shows a significant increase from 0 to 10 pC N-1 ,
      comparable to that of LiNbO3 single crystal (8 pC N-1 ). This is the first time
      that such a phenomenon has been observed in molecular ferroelectrics, indicating
      the great potential of molecular ferroelectrics being used in the polycrystalline
      form like inorganic ferroelectrics, as well as being viable alternatives or
      supplements to conventional ceramic ferroelectrics.

PMID- 28585231
TI  - The Employers' perspective on barriers and facilitators to employment of people
      with intellectual disability: A differential mixed-method approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obtaining employment is among the most important ambitions of people
      with intellectual disability. Progress towards comprehensive inclusive employment
      is hampered by numerous barriers. Limited research is available on these barriers
      and strategies to overcome them. METHOD: A mixed method approach in a sample of
      30 HR-managers was used to assess (i) differences in perceived barriers for
      employment of people with specific disabilities and mental disorders; (ii)
      barriers specific to employing people with intellectual disability; (iii)
      strategies to overcome these barriers. RESULTS: Employers perceive more barriers
      for hiring people with intellectual disability and mental disorders than for
      physical disabilities. Employment for this population is hampered by a perceived
      lack of skills and legal issues. Strategies perceived as beneficial are supplying
      information, changes in organizational strategies and legal changes. CONCLUSIONS:
      Employers' differentiated expectations and reservations towards hiring
      individuals with specific disabilities need to be taken into account to increase
      employment for people with intellectual disability.

PMID- 28585233
TI  - Progress in the blood supply of Afghanistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The blood supply system in Afghanistan was badly damaged by years of
      conflict. In 2009, the Afghanistan National Blood Safety and Transfusion Service
      (ANBSTS) was established. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: For 6 years, we collaborated
      to assist with policy and infrastructure development; blood bank operations;
      blood collection, testing, and component production; transfusion practices; and
      training of technicians, nurses, midwives, and physicians. RESULTS: Policies were
      established, infrastructure was strengthened, and capable staff was acquired and
      trained. Standard operating procedures were developed, testing was improved, and
      quality systems were established. Thirty trainings were held for blood center
      staff. Four additional formal trainings were held for 39 physicians, 36 nurses
      and/or midwives, and 38 laboratory technicians. During 5 years of this project,
      blood collection increased by 40%. CONCLUSION: The ANBSTS has made impressive
      progress developing infrastructure, personnel, procedures, quality systems, and
      training programs and increasing blood collection. Knowledge of transfusion
      medicine was improved through structured training.

PMID- 28585234
TI  - Interpulse phase corrections for unbalanced pseudo-continuous arterial spin
      labeling at high magnetic field.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate a prescan-based radiofrequency phase-correction strategy for
      unbalanced pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) at 9.4 T in vivo and
      to test its robustness toward suboptimal shim conditions. METHODS: Label and
      control interpulse phases were optimized separately by means of two prescans in
      rats. The mean perfusion as well as the interhemispherical symmetry were measured
      for several phase combinations (optimized versus theoretical phases) to evaluate
      the correction quality. Interpulse phases were also optimized under degraded shim
      conditions (i.e., up to four times the study shim values) to test the strategy's
      robustness. RESULTS: For all tested shim conditions, the full arterial spin
      labeling (ASL) signal could be restored. Without any correction, the relative ASL
      signal was 1.4 +/- 1.7%. It increased to 3.6 +/- 1.4% with an optimized label
      phase and to 5.3 +/- 1.2% with optimized label and control phases. Moreover,
      asymmetry between brain hemispheres, which could be as high as 100% without phase
      optimization, was dramatically reduced to 1 +/- 3% when applying optimized label
      and control phases. CONCLUSIONS: Pseudo-continuous ASL at high magnetic field is
      very sensitive to shim conditions. Label and control radiofrequency phase
      optimization based on prescans robustly maximizes the ASL signal obtained with
      unbalanced pCASL and minimizes the asymmetry between hemispheres. Magn Reson Med
      79:1314-1324, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in
      Medicine.

PMID- 28585232
TI  - In vitro-in silico-based analysis of the dose-dependent in vivo oestrogenicity of
      the soy phytoestrogen genistein in humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The in vivo oestrogenicity of genistein and its glycoside
      genistin is still under debate. The present study aimed to develop a
      physiologically based kinetic (PBK) model that provides insight in dose-dependent
      plasma concentrations of genistein aglycone and its metabolites and enables
      prediction of in vivo oestrogenic effective dose levels of genistein and genistin
      in humans. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: A PBK model for genistein and genistin in
      humans was developed based on in vitro metabolic parameters. The model obtained
      was used to translate in vitro oestrogenic concentration-response curves of
      genistein to in vivo oestrogenic dose-response curves for intake of genistein and
      genistin. KEY RESULTS: The model predicted that genistein-7-O-glucuronide was the
      major circulating metabolite and that levels of the free aglycone were generally
      low [0.5-17% of total plasma genistein at oral doses from 0.01 to 50 mg (kg.bw)-1
      ]. The predicted in vivo benchmark dose for 5% response values for oestrogenicity
      varied between 0.06 and 4.39 mg kg-1 genistein. For genistin, these values were
      1.3-fold higher. These values are in line with reported human data and show that
      oestrogenic responses can be expected at an Asian dietary and a supplementary
      intake, while intake resulting from a Western diet may not be effective.
      CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The present study shows how plasma concentrations
      of genistein and its metabolites and oestrogenic dose levels of genistein in
      humans can be predicted by combining in vitro oestrogenicity with PBK model-based
      reverse dosimetry, eliminating the need for human intervention studies.

PMID- 28585235
TI  - Synthesis of Ultrathin PdCu Alloy Nanosheets Used as a Highly Efficient
      Electrocatalyst for Formic Acid Oxidation.
AB  - Inspired by the unique properties of ultrathin 2D nanomaterials and excellent
      catalytic activities of noble metal nanostructures for renewable fuel cells, a
      facile method is reported for the high-yield synthesis of ultrathin 2D PdCu alloy
      nanosheets under mild conditions. Impressively, the obtained PdCu alloy nanosheet
      after being treated with ethylenediamine can be used as a highly efficient
      electrocatalyst for formic acid oxidation. The study implicates that the rational
      design and controlled synthesis of an ultrathin 2D noble metal alloy may open up
      new opportunities for enhancing catalytic activities of noble metal
      nanostructures.

PMID- 28585237
TI  - Role of tree size in moist tropical forest carbon cycling and water deficit
      responses.
AB  - Drought disproportionately affects larger trees in tropical forests, but
      implications for forest composition and carbon (C) cycling in relation to dry
      season intensity remain poorly understood. In order to characterize how C cycling
      is shaped by tree size and drought adaptations and how these patterns relate to
      spatial and temporal variation in water deficit, we analyze data from three
      forest dynamics plots spanning a moisture gradient in Panama that have
      experienced El Nino droughts. At all sites, aboveground C cycle contributions
      peaked below 50-cm stem diameter, with stems >= 50 cm accounting for on average
      59% of live aboveground biomass, 45% of woody productivity and 49% of woody
      mortality. The dominance of drought-avoidance strategies increased interactively
      with stem diameter and dry season intensity. Although size-related C cycle
      contributions did not vary systematically across the moisture gradient under
      nondrought conditions, woody mortality of larger trees was disproportionately
      elevated under El Nino drought stress. Thus, large (> 50 cm) stems, which
      strongly mediate but do not necessarily dominate C cycling, have drought
      adaptations that compensate for their more challenging hydraulic environment,
      particularly in drier climates. However, these adaptations do not fully buffer
      the effects of severe drought, and increased large tree mortality dominates
      ecosystem-level drought responses.

PMID- 28585236
TI  - Melatonin in regulation of inflammatory pathways in rheumatoid arthritis and
      osteoarthritis: involvement of circadian clock genes.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) are the two most prevalent
      joint diseases. A such, they are important causes of pain and disability in a
      substantial proportion of the human population. A common characteristic of these
      diseases is the erosion of articular cartilage and consequently joint
      dysfunction. Melatonin has been proposed as a link between circadian rhythms and
      joint diseases including RA and OA. This hormone exerts a diversity of regulatory
      actions through binding to specific receptors and intracellular targets as well
      as having receptor-independent actions as a free radical scavenger.
      Cytoprotective effects of melatonin involve a myriad of prominent receptor
      mediated pathways/molecules associated with inflammation, of which the role of
      omnipresent NF-kappaB signalling is crucial. Likewise, disturbance of circadian
      timekeeping is closely involved in the aetiology of inflammatory arthritis.
      Melatonin is shown to stimulate cartilage destruction/regeneration through
      direct/indirect modulation of the expression of the main circadian clock genes,
      such as BMAL, CRY and/or DEC2. In the current article, we review the effects of
      melatonin on RA and OA, focusing on its ability to regulate inflammatory pathways
      and circadian rhythms. We also review the possible protective effects of
      melatonin on RA and OA pathogenesis.

PMID- 28585238
TI  - Three-dimensional mapping of brain venous oxygenation using R2* oximetry.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cerebral venous oxygenation (Yv ) is an important biomarker for brain
      diseases. This study aims to develop an R2*-based MR oximetry that can measure
      cerebral Yv in 3D. METHODS: This technique separates blood signal from tissue by
      velocity-encoding phase contrast and measures the R2* of pure blood by multi
      gradient-echo acquisition. The blood R2* was converted to Yv using an R2*-versus
      oxygenation (Y) calibration curve, which was obtained by in vitro bovine blood
      experiments. Reproducibility, sensitivity, validity, and resolution dependence of
      the technique were evaluated. RESULTS: In vitro R2*-Y calibration plot revealed a
      strong dependence of blood R2* on oxygenation, with additional dependence on
      hematocrit. In vivo results demonstrated that the technique can provide a 3D
      venous oxygenation map that depicts both large sinuses and smaller cortical
      veins, with venous oxygenation ranging from 57 to 72%. Intrasession coefficient
      of variation of the measurement was 3.0%. The technique detected an average Yv
      increase of 10.8% as a result of hyperoxia, which was validated by global
      oxygenation measurement from T2 -Relaxation-Under-Spin-Tagging (TRUST) MRI. Two
      spatial resolutions, one with an isotropic voxel dimension and the other with a
      nonisotropic dimension, were tested for full brain coverage. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study demonstrated the feasibility of 3D brain oxygenation mapping without using
      contrast agent. Magn Reson Med 79:1304-1313, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society
      for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28585239
TI  - Modulation of Metal and Insulator States in 2D Ferromagnetic VS2 by van der Waals
      Interaction Engineering.
AB  - 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are currently the key to the
      development of nanoelectronics. However, TMDCs are predominantly nonmagnetic,
      greatly hindering the advancement of their spintronic applications. Here, an
      experimental realization of intrinsic magnetic ordering in a pristine TMDC
      lattice is reported, bringing a new class of ferromagnetic semiconductors among
      TMDCs. Through van der Waals (vdW) interaction engineering of 2D vanadium
      disulfide (VS2 ), dual regulation of spin properties and bandgap brings about
      intrinsic ferromagnetism along with a small bandgap, unravelling the decisive
      role of vdW gaps in determining the electronic states in 2D VS2 . An overall
      control of the electronic states of VS2 is also demonstrated: bond-enlarging
      triggering a metal-to-semiconductor electronic transition and bond-compression
      inducing metallization in 2D VS2 . The pristine VS2 lattice thus provides a new
      platform for precise manipulation of both charge and spin degrees of freedom in
      2D TMDCs availing spintronic applications.

PMID- 28585240
TI  - Agency, social and healthcare supports for adults with intellectual disability at
      the end of life in out-of-home, non-institutional community residences in Western
      nations: A literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nature and quality of end-of-life care received by adults with
      intellectual disabilities in out-of-home, non-institutional community agency
      residences in Western nations is not well understood. METHOD: A range of
      databases and search engines were used to locate conceptual, clinical and
      research articles from relevant peer-reviewed journals. RESULTS: The present
      authors present a literature review of the agency, social and healthcare supports
      that impact end-of-life care for adults with intellectual disabilities. More
      information is needed about where people with intellectual disabilities are
      living at the very end of life and where they die. CONCLUSIONS: The support needs
      for adults with intellectual disabilities will change over time, particularly at
      the end of life. There are some areas, such as removing barriers to providing
      services, staff training, partnerships between agencies and palliative care
      providers, and advocacy, where further research may help to improve the end-of
      life care for adults with intellectual disabilities.

PMID- 28585241
TI  - Reduced alpha4 subunit expression in alpha4+- and alpha4+- /beta2+- nicotinic
      acetylcholine receptors alters alpha4beta2 subtype up-regulation following
      chronic nicotine treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Genomic analysis has shown many variants in both CHRNA4
      and CHRNB2, genes which encode the alpha4 and beta2 subunits of nicotinic ACh
      receptors (nAChR) respectively. Some variants influence receptor expression,
      raising the possibility that CHRNA4 variants may affect response to tobacco use
      in humans. Chronic exposure to nicotine increases expression of nAChRs,
      particularly alpha4beta2-nAChRs, in humans and laboratory animals. Here, we have
      evaluated whether the initial level of receptor expression affects the increase
      in expression. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Mice differing in expression of alpha4
      and/or beta2 nAChR subunits were chronically treated with saline, 0.25, 1.0 or
      4.0 mg.kg-1 .h-1 nicotine. Brain preparations were analysed autoradiographically
      by [125 I]-epibatidine binding, immunoprecipitation and Western blotting. KEY
      RESULTS: Immunochemical studies confirmed that most of the [3 H]-epibatidine
      binding corresponds to alpha4beta2*-nAChR and that increases in binding
      correspond to increases in alpha4 and beta2 proteins. Consistent with previous
      reports, the dose-dependent increase in nAChR in wild-type mice following chronic
      nicotine treatment, measured with any of the methods, reached a maximum. Although
      receptor expression was reduced by approximately 50% in beta2+- mice, the pattern
      of response to chronic treatment resembled that of wild-type mice. In contrast,
      both alpha4+- and alpha4+- /beta2+- exhibited relatively greater up-regulation.
      Consistent with previous reports, alpha4beta2alpha5-nAChR did not increase in
      response to nicotine. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These results indicate that
      mice with reduced expression of the alpha4 nAChR subunit have a more robust
      response to chronic nicotine than mice with normal expression of this subunit.
      LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Nicotinic
      Acetylcholine Receptors. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 28585243
TI  - Root apical meristem diversity in extant lycophytes and implications for root
      origins.
AB  - Root apical meristem (RAM) organization in lycophytes could be a key to
      understanding the early evolution of roots, but this topic has been
      insufficiently explored. We examined the RAM organization of lycophytes in terms
      of cell division activities and anatomies, and compared RAMs among vascular
      plants. RAMs of 13 species of lycophytes were semi-thin-sectioned and observed
      under a light microscope. Furthermore, the frequency of cell division in the RAM
      of species was analyzed using thymidine analogs. RAMs of lycophytes exhibited
      four organization types: type I (Lycopodium and Diphasiastrum), II (Huperzia and
      Lycopodiella), III (Isoetes) and RAM with apical cell (Selaginella). The type I
      RAM found in Lycopodium had a region with a very low cell division frequency,
      reminiscent of the quiescent center (QC) in angiosperm roots. This is the first
      clear indication that a QC-like region is present in nonseed plants. At least
      four types of RAM are present in extant lycophytes, suggesting that RAM
      organization is more diverse than expected. Our results support the
      paleobotanical hypothesis that roots evolved several times in lycophytes, as well
      as in euphyllophytes.

PMID- 28585242
TI  - Addressing unmet needs of patients with chronic diseases: Impact of the VISIT
      website during consultations.
AB  - RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: Patient concerns are often neglected in
      consultations, especially for chronic diseases where patients and providers fall
      into the routine of chronic disease management in consultations. One strategy to
      elicit patient concerns has been to ask patients to complete agenda lists before
      the consultation. This study aimed to explore the impact of a preconsultation
      agenda website in addressing patients' unmet needs during chronic disease
      consultations. METHODS: Patients entered their concerns into a website (Values In
      Shared Interactions Tool (VISIT)). Doctors accessed this information via the
      electronic medical records before consultations. Individual in-depth interviews
      were then conducted with patients and doctors on the website's impact on
      consultations. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.
      RESULTS: The average age (years) was 65.7 for patients (n = 8) and 35.7 for
      doctors (n = 7). Patients in the study entered between 1 to 6 items in the
      website. From postconsultation interviews, we found that the website impacted the
      consultation in 5 ways: (1) It facilitated patients to communicate their full
      agenda to doctors; (2) it helped address unmet patient needs as it gave them
      opportunity to raise other issues besides their chronic condition; (3) it
      facilitated rapport between doctor and patient; (4) it facilitated doctors to
      organize their consultation around the concerns the patient had listed; and (5)
      it disrupted the doctor's usual consultation style if the list of concerns was
      lengthy. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating patient concerns into electronic health records
      helped to facilitate patient-centred consultations. Doctors found this
      information useful but felt uneasy if the agenda list was too long or too
      complex. Areas for future studies include training doctors to manage complex
      agendas and formal evaluation of the VISIT tool.

PMID- 28585244
TI  - Characterization of phenolic composition in Carignan noir grapes (Vitis vinifera
      L.) from six wine-growing sites in Maule Valley, Chile.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Among Chilean varieties, Carignan noir has had a major resurgence due
      to its rediscovered wine quality potential. For this, the aim of this study was
      to characterize phenolic composition of grapes grown in six sites from the Maule
      Valley. RESULTS: The data showed that myricetin-3-glc and catechin were the most
      important flavonol and flavanol, respectively. Anthocyanin and flavonol
      composition was correlated with biologically effective degree days, exhibiting a
      relationship with grape maturity. Flavanol and hydroxycinnamic acid composition
      was inversely correlated to the average maximum temperature of the warmest month,
      showing that their synthesis is favored by cooler temperatures during the warmest
      month. CONCLUSION: These results have enological and viticultural interest for
      grape growers as vineyard site selection for this cultivar can confer
      differentiable attributes in terms of grape composition and quality. On the other
      hand, understanding the effects of climate on the synthesis of phenolic compounds
      may be useful for managing the vineyards with the aim of improving grape quality.
      (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585245
TI  - Improved confidence interval for average annual percent change in trend analysis.
AB  - This paper considers an improved confidence interval for the average annual
      percent change in trend analysis, which is based on a weighted average of the
      regression slopes in the segmented line regression model with unknown change
      points. The performance of the improved confidence interval proposed by Muggeo is
      examined for various distribution settings, and two new methods are proposed for
      further improvement. The first method is practically equivalent to the one
      proposed by Muggeo, but its construction is simpler, and it is modified to use
      the t-distribution instead of the standard normal distribution. The second method
      is based on the empirical distribution of the residuals and the resampling using
      a uniform random sample, and its satisfactory performance is indicated by a
      simulation study. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585246
TI  - Confining the Nucleation of Pt to In Situ Form (Pt-Enriched Cage)@CeO2 Core@Shell
      Nanostructure as Excellent Catalysts for Hydrogenation Reactions.
AB  - Ultrathin (Pt-enriched cage)@CeO2 core@shell nanostructures are successfully
      fabricated via a facile hard-template method. It is found that the usage of
      Pd@Ag@CeO2 bi-metallic core@shell nanostructure as the hard template plays an
      important role in avoiding the independent nucleation of Pt metal during the
      galvanic replacement process between K2 PtCl4 and Ag components. This unique
      core@shell samples show extraordinary activity and selectivity for the
      cinnamaldehyde hydrogenation reaction. It can achieve over 95% conversion with
      87% selectivity of hydrocinnamaldehyde in 5 h under 1 atm H2 pressure. It is
      considered that such high catalytic performance could be attributed to the
      densely CeO2 -coated core@shell hybrid form as well as the ultrathin nature of
      the Pt-enriched cage.

PMID- 28585248
TI  - Specific PCR detection of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. raphani: a causal agent of
      Fusarium wilt on radish plants.
AB  - : Fusarium oxysporum, a causal agent of Fusarium wilt, is one of the most
      important fungal pathogens worldwide, and detection of F. oxysporum DNA at the
      forma specialis level is crucial for disease diagnosis and control. In this
      study, two novel F. oxysporum f. sp. raphani (For)-specific primer sets were
      designed, FOR1-F/FOR1-R and FOR2-F/FOR2-R, to target FOQG_17868 and FOQG_17869
      ORFs, respectively, which were selected based on the genome comparison of other
      formae speciales of F. oxysporum including conglutinans, cubense, lycopersici,
      melonis, and pisi. The primer sets FOR1-F/FOR1-R and FOR2-F/FOR2-R that amplified
      a 610- and 425-bp DNA fragment, respectively, were specific to For isolates which
      was confirmed using a total of 40 F. oxysporum isolates. From infected plants,
      the FOR2-F/FOR2-R primer set directly detected the DNA fragment of For isolates
      even when the radish plants were collected in their early stage of disease
      development. Although the loci targeted by the For-specific primer sets were not
      likely involved in the pathogenesis, the primer set FOR2-F/FOR2-R is available
      for the determination of pathogenicity of radish-infecting F. oxysporum isolates.
      This study is the first report providing novel primer sets to detect F. oxysporum
      f. sp. raphani. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Because plant pathogenic
      Fusarium oxysporum has been classified into special forms based on its host
      specificity, identification of F. oxysporum usually requires a pathogenicity
      assay as well as knowledge of the morphological characteristics. For rapid and
      reliable diagnosis, this study provides PCR primer sets that specifically detect
      Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. raphani (For) which is a devastating pathogen of radish
      plants. Because one of the primer sets directly detected the DNA fragment of For
      isolates from infected plants, the specific PCR method demonstrated in this study
      will provide a foundation for integrated disease management practices in
      commodity crops.

PMID- 28585247
TI  - Tunable Photocontrolled Motions Using Stored Strain Energy in Malleable
      Azobenzene Liquid Crystalline Polymer Actuators.
AB  - A new strategy for enhancing the photoinduced mechanical force is demonstrated
      using a reprocessable azobenzene-containing liquid crystalline network (LCN). The
      basic idea is to store mechanical strain energy in the polymer beforehand so that
      UV light can then be used to generate a mechanical force not only from the direct
      light to mechanical energy conversion upon the trans-cis photoisomerization of
      azobenzene mesogens but also from the light-triggered release of the prestored
      strain energy. It is shown that the two mechanisms can add up to result in
      unprecedented photoindued mechanical force. Together with the malleability of the
      polymer stemming from the use of dynamic covalent bonds for chain crosslinking,
      large-size polymer photoactuators in the form of wheels or spring-like "motors"
      can be constructed, and, by adjusting the amount of prestored strain energy in
      the polymer, a variety of robust, light-driven motions with tunable rolling or
      moving direction and speed can be achieved. The approach of prestoring a
      controllable amount of strain energy to obtain a strong and tunable photoinduced
      mechanical force in azobenzene LCN can be further explored for applications of
      light-driven polymer actuators.

PMID- 28585249
TI  - Closure of the vertebral canal in human embryos and fetuses.
AB  - The vertebral column is the paradigm of the metameric architecture of the
      vertebrate body. Because the number of somites is a convenient parameter to stage
      early human embryos, we explored whether the closure of the vertebral canal could
      be used similarly for staging embryos between 7 and 10 weeks of development.
      Human embryos (5-10 weeks of development) were visualized using Amira 3D(r)
      reconstruction and Cinema 4D(r) remodelling software. Vertebral bodies were
      identifiable as loose mesenchymal structures between the dense mesenchymal
      intervertebral discs up to 6 weeks and then differentiated into cartilaginous
      structures in the 7th week. In this week, the dense mesenchymal neural processes
      also differentiated into cartilaginous structures. Transverse processes became
      identifiable at 6 weeks. The growth rate of all vertebral bodies was exponential
      and similar between 6 and 10 weeks, whereas the intervertebral discs hardly
      increased in size between 6 and 8 weeks and then followed vertebral growth
      between 8 and 10 weeks. The neural processes extended dorsolaterally (6th week),
      dorsally (7th week) and finally dorsomedially (8th and 9th weeks) to fuse at the
      midthoracic level at 9 weeks. From there, fusion extended cranially and caudally
      in the 10th week. Closure of the foramen magnum required the development of the
      supraoccipital bone as a craniomedial extension of the exoccipitals (neural
      processes of occipital vertebra 4), whereas a growth burst of sacral vertebra 1
      delayed closure until 15 weeks. Both the cranial- and caudal-most vertebral
      bodies fused to form the basioccipital (occipital vertebrae 1-4) and sacrum
      (sacral vertebrae 1-5). In the sacrum, fusion of its so-called alar processes
      preceded that of the bodies by at least 6 weeks. In conclusion, the highly
      ordered and substantial changes in shape of the vertebral bodies leading to the
      formation of the vertebral canal make the development of the spine an excellent,
      continuous staging system for the (human) embryo between 6 and 10 weeks of
      development.

PMID- 28585251
TI  - TFE3-rearranged hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma-a case report with
      immunohistochemical and molecular study.
AB  - A recurrent YAP1-TFE3 gene fusion has been identified in WWTR1-CAMTA1-negative
      epithelioid hemangioendotheliomas arising in soft tissue, bone, and lung, but not
      in liver. We present the first case of TFE3-rearranged hepatic epithelioid
      hemangioendothelioma in a 39-year-old Taiwanese woman. Computed tomography scan
      revealed multifocal, ill-defined nodules involving both hepatic lobes. She then
      underwent deceased donor liver transplantation. Histologically, the tumors in the
      liver explant showed a biphasic growth pattern. One component was composed of
      dilated and well-formed blood vessels lined by epithelioid cells with abundant
      eosinophilic cytoplasm, mimicking an alveolar pattern, whereas the other
      component was composed of cords and single cells, featuring intracytoplasmic
      vacuoles, separated by a myxoid stroma. The tumor cells showed vesicular nuclei
      and small indistinct nucleoli with mild to moderate cytologic atypia. Most tumor
      cells showed factor VIII, CD34, CD31, and TFE3 positivity in immunohistochemical
      study. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis for the tumor cells exhibited
      TFE3 gene rearrangement. The patient is currently alive, and no post-operative
      tumor recurrence developed during a 13-year follow-up. Awareness of this rare
      vasoformative variant and identification of the gene rearrangement would be
      helpful on differential diagnosis with other high-grade carcinoma and
      angiosarcoma of liver.

PMID- 28585252
TI  - Polysaccharides, oligosaccharides and nitrogenous compounds change during the
      ageing of Tempranillo and Verdejo sparkling wines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Verdejo and Tempranillo are traditional varieties for producing still
      wines; however, they could provide an alternative for the manufacturing of
      sparkling wines. Sparkling wines were elaborated by the traditional method,
      followed by ageing on lees for 9 months. A study on the changes that take place
      in polysaccharides, oligosaccharides and nitrogenous compounds during the ageing
      on lees of Tempranillo and Verdejo sparkling wines has been undertaken. RESULTS:
      Mannoproteins and the glucose residue of oligosaccharides were the major
      carbohydrates detected in all vinification stages. Yeast polysaccharides and
      glucan-like structures of the oligosaccharides increased after 3 months of
      ageing. The evolution of yeast polysaccharides and the composition of PRAG-like
      structure were different among grape varieties. A decrease in amino acids and
      biogenic amines was observed during the ageing. The contents of polysaccharides,
      oligosaccharides and nitrogenous compound were significantly higher in
      Tempranillo than in Verdejo sparkling wines at the end of the ageing period.
      CONCLUSION: Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides from yeast were more significant
      autolysis markers of sparkling wines than the nitrogenous compounds. Our data
      suggest a potential cultivar effect on the evolution of yeast polysaccharides and
      on the composition of PRAG, which may influence the physico-chemical and sensory
      properties of sparkling wines. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585250
TI  - Deletion of ghrelin prevents aging-associated obesity and muscle dysfunction
      without affecting longevity.
AB  - During aging, decreases in energy expenditure and locomotor activity lead to body
      weight and fat gain. Aging is also associated with decreases in muscle strength
      and endurance leading to functional decline. Here, we show that lifelong deletion
      of ghrelin prevents development of obesity associated with aging by modulating
      food intake and energy expenditure. Ghrelin deletion also attenuated the decrease
      in phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) and
      downstream mediators in muscle, and increased the number of type IIa (fatigue
      resistant, oxidative) muscle fibers, preventing the decline in muscle strength
      and endurance seen with aging. Longevity was not affected by ghrelin deletion.
      Treatment of old mice with pharmacologic doses of ghrelin increased food intake,
      body weight, and muscle strength in both ghrelin wild-type and knockout mice.
      These findings highlight the relevance of ghrelin during aging and identify a
      novel AMPK-dependent mechanism for ghrelin action in muscle.

PMID- 28585253
TI  - Prediction of canned black bean texture (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) from intact dry
      seeds using visible/near infrared spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Texture is a major quality parameter for the acceptability of canned
      whole beans. Prior knowledge of this quality trait before processing would be
      useful to guide variety development by bean breeders and optimize handling
      protocols by processors. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare
      the predictive power of visible and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy
      (visible/NIRS, 400-2498 nm) and hyperspectral imaging (HYPERS, 400-1000 nm)
      techniques for predicting texture of canned black beans from intact dry seeds.
      Black beans were grown in Michigan (USA) over three field seasons. The samples
      exhibited phenotypic variability for canned bean texture due to genetic
      variability and processing practice. Spectral preprocessing methods (i.e.
      smoothing, first and second derivatives, continuous wavelet transform, and two
      band ratios), coupled with a feature selection method, were tested for optimizing
      the prediction accuracy in both techniques based on partial least squares
      regression (PLSR) models. RESULTS: Visible/NIRS and HYPERS were effective in
      predicting texture of canned beans using intact dry seeds, as indicated by their
      correlation coefficients for prediction (Rpred ) and standard errors of
      prediction (SEP). Visible/NIRS was superior (Rpred = 0.546-0.923, SEP = 7.5-1.9
      kg 100 g-1 ) to HYPERS (Rpred = 0.401-0.883, SEP = 7.6-2.4 kg 100 g-1 ), which is
      likely due to the wider wavelength range collected in visible/NIRS. However, a
      significant improvement was reached in both techniques when the two-band ratios
      preprocessing method was applied to the data, reducing SEP by at least 10.4% and
      16.2% for visible/NIRS and HYPERS, respectively. Moreover, results from using the
      combination of the three-season data sets based on the two-band ratios showed
      that visible/NIRS (Rpred = 0.886, SEP = 4.0 kg 100 g-1 ) and HYPERS (Rpred =
      0.844, SEP = 4.6 kg 100 g-1 ) models were consistently successful in predicting
      texture over a wide range of measurements. CONCLUSION: Visible/NIRS and HYPERS
      have great potential for predicting the texture of canned beans; the robustness
      of the models is impacted by genotypic diversity, planting year and phenotypic
      variability for canned bean texture used for model building, and hence, robust
      models can be built based on data sets with high phenotypic diversity in textural
      properties, and periodically maintained and updated with new data. (c) 2017
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585254
TI  - Use of clinical guidelines in cardiology practice in Sudan.
AB  - RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the views of
      prescribers in cardiology in Sudan about the use of guidelines in clinical
      practice and the extent to which guidelines whether national or international can
      be adopted in clinical practice in Sudan. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with
      the consultants in 2 of the main cardiac hospitals in Sudan. This was followed by
      a survey amongst the doctors in the hospitals to examine the views of a larger
      population of prescribers about the matter investigated. RESULTS: Twelve
      consultants were interviewed, and 47 prescribers (60%) replied to the
      questionnaire that followed. Most doctors relied on foreign guidelines to
      prescribe for their patients. The doctors acknowledged the limitation of using
      foreign guidelines in Sudan. A number of doctors were not in favour of following
      any guidelines, as they perceived that the practice in Sudan does not allow
      implementation of guidelines. CONCLUSION: The prescribers in Sudan had to rely on
      guidelines made in foreign countries if they want to get the benefit of evidence
      based medicine to their patients, but they had to find a way to adapt these
      guidelines to their patients and to the health care system they are working
      within. However, it is not known if this adaptation of foreign guidelines is
      providing the benefits intended or is risking evidence-based medicine.

PMID- 28585255
TI  - Life years lost among patients with a given disease.
AB  - A number of suggested measures of life years lost among patients with a given
      disease are reviewed, and some new ones are proposed. The methods are all phrased
      in the framework of a (Markov or non-Markov) illness-death model in combination
      with a population life table. The methods are illustrated using data on Danish
      male patients with bipolar disorder, and some recommendations are given.
      Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585256
TI  - Information-adaptive clinical trials with selective recruitment and binary
      outcomes.
AB  - Selective recruitment designs preferentially recruit individuals who are
      estimated to be statistically informative onto a clinical trial. Individuals who
      are expected to contribute less information have a lower probability of
      recruitment. Furthermore, in an information-adaptive design, recruits are
      allocated to treatment arms in a manner that maximises information gain. The
      informativeness of an individual depends on their covariate (or biomarker)
      values, and how information is defined is a critical element of information
      adaptive designs. In this paper, we define and evaluate four different methods
      for quantifying statistical information. Using both experimental data and
      numerical simulations, we show that selective recruitment designs can offer a
      substantial increase in statistical power compared with randomised designs. In
      trials without selective recruitment, we find that allocating individuals to
      treatment arms according to information-adaptive protocols also leads to an
      increase in statistical power. Consequently, selective recruitment designs can
      potentially achieve successful trials using fewer recruits thereby offering
      economic and ethical advantages. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585257
TI  - Paule-Mandel estimators for network meta-analysis with random inconsistency
      effects.
AB  - Network meta-analysis is used to simultaneously compare multiple treatments in a
      single analysis. However, network meta-analyses may exhibit inconsistency, where
      direct and different forms of indirect evidence are not in agreement with each
      other, even after allowing for between-study heterogeneity. Models for network
      meta-analysis with random inconsistency effects have the dual aim of allowing for
      inconsistencies and estimating average treatment effects across the whole
      network. To date, two classical estimation methods for fitting this type of model
      have been developed: a method of moments that extends DerSimonian and Laird's
      univariate method and maximum likelihood estimation. However, the Paule and
      Mandel estimator is another recommended classical estimation method for
      univariate meta-analysis. In this paper, we extend the Paule and Mandel method so
      that it can be used to fit models for network meta-analysis with random
      inconsistency effects. We apply all three estimation methods to a variety of
      examples that have been used previously and we also examine a challenging new
      dataset that is highly heterogenous. We perform a simulation study based on this
      new example. We find that the proposed Paule and Mandel method performs
      satisfactorily and generally better than the previously proposed method of
      moments because it provides more accurate inferences. Furthermore, the Paule and
      Mandel method possesses some advantages over likelihood-based methods because it
      is both semiparametric and requires no convergence diagnostics. Although
      restricted maximum likelihood estimation remains the gold standard, the proposed
      methodology is a fully viable alternative to this and other estimation methods.

PMID- 28585258
TI  - Masticatory muscle architecture in a water-rat from Australasia (Murinae,
      Hydromys) and its implication for the evolution of carnivory in rodents.
AB  - Murines are well known for their generalist diet, but several of them display
      specializations towards a carnivorous diet such as the amphibious Indo-Pacific
      water-rats. Despite the fact that carnivory evolved repeatedly in this group, few
      studies have investigated associated changes in jaw muscle anatomy and
      biomechanics. Here, we describe the jaw muscles and cranial anatomy of a
      carnivorous water-rat, Hydromys chrysogaster. The architecture of the jaw
      musculature of six specimens captured both on Obi and Papua were studied and
      described using dissections. We identified the origin and insertions of the jaw
      muscles, and quantified muscle mass, fiber length, physiological cross-sectional
      area, and muscle vectors for each muscle. Using a biomechanical model, we
      estimated maximum incisor and molar bite force at different gape angles. Finally,
      we conducted a 2D geometric morphometric analyses to compare jaw shape,
      mechanical potential, and diversity in lever-arm ratios for a set of 238
      specimens, representative of Australo-Papuan carnivorous and omnivorous murids.
      Our study reveals major changes in the muscle proportions among Hydromys and its
      omnivorous close relative, Melomys. Hydromys was found to have large superficial
      masseter and temporalis muscles as well as a reduced deep masseter and zygomatico
      mandibularis, highlighting major functional divergence among omnivorous and
      carnivorous murines. Changes in these muscles are also accompanied by changes in
      jaw shape and the lines of action of the muscles. A more vertically oriented
      masseter, reduced masseteric muscles, as well as an elongated jaw with proodont
      lower incisors are key features indicative of a reduced propalinality in
      carnivorous Hydromys. Differences in the fiber length of the masseteric muscles
      were also detected between Hydromys and Melomys, which highlight potential
      adaptations to a wide gape in Hydromys, allowing it to prey on larger animals.
      Using a biomechanical model, we inferred a greater bite force in Hydromys than in
      Melomys, implying a functional shift between omnivory and carnivory. However,
      Melomys has an unexpected greater bite force at large gape compared with
      Hydromys. Compared with omnivorous Melomys, Hydromys have a very distinctive low
      mandible with a well-developed coronoid process, and a reduced angular process
      that projects posteriorly to the ascending rami. This jaw shape, along with our
      mechanical potential and jaw lever ratio estimates, suggests that Hydromys has a
      faster jaw closing at the incisor, with a higher bite force at the level of the
      molars. The narrowing of the Hydromys jaw explains this higher lever advantage at
      the molars, which constitutes a good compromise between a wide gape, a reduced
      anterior masseteric mass, and long fiber lengths. Lever arms of the superficial
      and deep masseter are less favourable to force output of the mandible in Hydromys
      but more favourable to speed. Compared with the small input lever arm defined
      between the condyle and the angular process, the relatively longer mandible of
      Hydromys increases the speed at the expense of the output force. This unique
      combination of morphological features of the masticatory apparatus possibly has
      permitted Hydromys to become a highly successful amphibious predator in the Indo
      Pacific region.

PMID- 28585259
TI  - Antibiotic complications during the treatment of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease
      in Australian patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotics are the recommended first-line treatment for
      Mycobacterium ulcerans disease. Antibiotic toxicity is common in Australian
      patients, yet antibiotic complication rates and their risk factors have not been
      determined. AIM: To determine the incidence rate and risk factors for antibiotic
      toxicity in Australian patients treated for M. ulcerans disease. METHODS: An
      analysis of severe antibiotic complications was performed using data from a
      prospective cohort of M. ulcerans cases managed at Barwon Health from 1 January
      1998 to 30 June 2016. A severe antibiotic complication was defined as an
      antibiotic adverse event that required its cessation. Antibiotic complication
      rates and their associations were assessed using a Poisson regression model.
      RESULTS: A total of 337 patients was included; 184 (54.6%) males and median age
      57 years (interquartile range (IQR) 36-73 years). Median antibiotic treatment
      duration was 56 days (IQR 49-76 days). Seventy-five (22.2%) patients experienced
      severe antibiotic complications after a median 28 days (IQR 17-45 days) at a rate
      of 141.53 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI) 112.86-177.47).
      Eleven (14.7%) patients required hospitalisation. Compared with
      rifampicin/clarithromycin combinations, severe complication rates were not
      increased for rifampicin/ciprofloxacin (rate ratio (RR) 1.49, 95% CI 0.89-2.50, P
      = 0.13) or rifampicin/moxifloxacin (RR 2.54, 95% CI 0.76-8.50, P = 0.13)
      combinations, but were significantly increased for 'other' combinations (RR 2.53,
      95% CI 1.13-5.68, P = 0.03). In a multivariable analysis, severe complication
      rates were significantly increased with reduced estimated glomerular filtration
      rates (EGFR) (adjusted rate ratio (aRR) 2.65, 95% CI 1.24-5.65 for EGFR 60-89
      mL/min and aRR 1.31, 95% CI 0.49-3.53 for EGFR 0-59 mL/min compared with EGFR
      >=90 mL/min, P < 0.01) and female gender (aRR 2.15, 95% CI 1.38-3.30, P < 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Severe antibiotic complications during M. ulcerans treatment are
      high with increased rates independently associated with reduced renal function
      and female gender.

PMID- 28585260
TI  - Randomised controlled trial of topical antibacterial Manuka (Leptospermum
      species) honey for evaporative dry eye due to meibomian gland dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim was to evaluate the efficacy of standardised Manuka
      (Leptospermum species) antibacterial honey as adjunctive twice daily treatment to
      conventional therapy (warm compresses, lid massage and preservative-free
      lubricant), in participants with evaporative dry eye due to moderate to advanced
      meibomian gland dysfunction. METHODS: This prospective, open-label study involved
      114 participants. After two weeks of conventional therapy participants were
      randomised to one of three treatment groups: Optimel Antibacterial Manuka Eye Gel
      (98 per cent Leptospermum species honey) plus conventional therapy (n = 37),
      Optimel Manuka plus Lubricant Eye Drops (16 per cent Leptospermum species honey)
      plus conventional therapy (n = 37) and a control (conventional therapy) (n = 40).
      Clinical evaluations performed at baseline and Week 8 included: symptom scores
      (Ocular Surface Disease Index, Ocular Comfort Index), daily lubricant use, tear
      assessments (break-up time, secretion, osmolarity and InflammaDry), corneal
      sensation, ocular surface staining, meibomian gland secretion quality and
      expressibility, bulbar conjunctival, limbal and lid marginal redness and eyelid
      marginal bacterial cultures and colony counts. RESULTS: Significant improvements
      (p <= 0.05) occurred at Week 8 in symptoms, tear break-up time, staining, tear
      osmolarity, meibum quality and bulbar, limbal and lid margin redness for all
      treatments. Improvement in staining was significantly greater with Optimel 16 per
      cent drops (p = 0.035). Significant improvements (p < 0.05) in meibomian gland
      expressibility and InflammaDry occurred for both Optimel treatments. Optimel 98
      per cent gel was significantly more effective in improving meibum quality (p =
      0.005) and gland expressibility (p = 0.042). Total eyelid marginal bacterial
      colony counts reduced significantly with Optimel 16 per cent drops (p = 0.03) but
      not the other treatments. Staphylococcus epidermidis counts reduced significantly
      with Optimel 16 per cent drops (p = 0.041) and Optimel 98 per cent gel (p =
      0.027). Both Optimel treatments significantly reduced the need for lubricants,
      with Optimel 16 per cent drops decreasing lubricant use most (p = 0.001).
      Temporary redness and stinging were the only adverse effects of Optimel use.
      CONCLUSIONS: Optimel antibacterial honey treatments are effective as adjunctive
      therapies for meibomian gland dysfunction.

PMID- 28585261
TI  - Discovery of Rapid and Reversible Water Insertion in Rare Earth Sulfates: A New
      Process for Thermochemical Heat Storage.
AB  - Thermal energy storage based on chemical reactions is a prospective technology
      for the reduction of fossil-fuel consumption by storing and using waste heat. For
      widespread application, a critical challenge is to identify appropriate
      reversible reactions that occur below 250  degrees C, where abundant low-grade
      waste heat and solar energy might be available. Here, it is shown that lanthanum
      sulfate monohydrate La2 (SO4 )3 ?H2 O undergoes rapid and reversible
      dehydration/hydration reactions in the temperature range from 50 to 250  degrees
      C upon heating/cooling with remarkably small thermal hysteresis (<50  degrees C),
      and thus it emerges as a new candidate system for thermal energy storage.
      Thermogravimetry and X-ray diffraction analyses reveal that the reactions proceed
      through an unusual mechanism for sulfates: water is removed from, or inserted in
      La2 (SO4 )3 ?H2 O with progressive change in hydration number x without phase
      change. It is also revealed that only a specific structural modification of La2
      (SO4 )3 exhibits this reversible dehydration/hydration behavior.

PMID- 28585262
TI  - Reliable Piezoelectricity in Bilayer WSe2 for Piezoelectric Nanogenerators.
AB  - Recently, piezoelectricity has been observed in 2D atomically thin materials,
      such as hexagonal-boron nitride, graphene, and transition metal dichalcogenides
      (TMDs). Specifically, exfoliated monolayer MoS2 exhibits a high piezoelectricity
      that is comparable to that of traditional piezoelectric materials. However,
      monolayer TMD materials are not regarded as suitable for actual piezoelectric
      devices due to their insufficient mechanical durability for sustained operation
      while Bernal-stacked bilayer TMD materials lose noncentrosymmetry and
      consequently piezoelectricity. Here, it is shown that WSe2 bilayers fabricated
      via turbostratic stacking have reliable piezoelectric properties that cannot be
      obtained from a mechanically exfoliated WSe2 bilayer with Bernal stacking.
      Turbostratic stacking refers to the transfer of each chemical vapor deposition
      (CVD)-grown WSe2 monolayer to allow for an increase in degrees of freedom in the
      bilayer symmetry, leading to noncentrosymmetry in the bilayers. In contrast, CVD
      grown WSe2 bilayers exhibit very weak piezoelectricity because of the energetics
      and crystallographic orientation. The flexible piezoelectric WSe2 bilayers
      exhibit a prominent mechanical durability of up to 0.95% of strain as well as
      reliable energy harvesting performance, which is adequate to drive a small liquid
      crystal display without external energy sources, in contrast to monolayer WSe2
      for which the device performance becomes degraded above a strain of 0.63%.

PMID- 28585263
TI  - Combined interventional sialendoscopy and intraductal steroid therapy for
      recurrent sialadenitis in Sjogren's syndrome: Results of a pilot monocentric
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventional sialendoscopy alone
      or combined with outpatient intraductal steroid irrigations in patients with
      sialadenitis due to Sjogren's syndrome (SS). DESIGN: A pilot therapeutic study.
      SETTING: ENT Clinics, Universities of Milan and Pavia. STUDY POPULATION: We
      included 22 patients with SS of whom 12 underwent interventional sialendoscopy
      followed by intraductal steroid irrigations (group A), and 10 interventional
      sialendoscopy alone (group B). OUTCOMES MEASURES: The following outcome measures
      were considered and recorded before and after the therapeutic intervention: (i)
      number of episodes of glandular swelling, (ii) cumulative prevalence of patients
      with glandular swelling assessed by the specific domain, the EULAR SS Disease
      Activity Index (ESSDAI), (iii) severity of pain by means of a 0-10 pain visual
      analogue scale (VAS), (iv) severity of xerostomia and other disease symptoms
      assessed by the EULAR SS Patient Reported Index (ESSPRI) and the Xerostomia
      Inventory questionnaire. RESULTS: The postoperative reduction in the mean number
      of episodes of glandular swelling was 87% (95% CI: 77-93) and 75% (95% CI: 47%
      88%) in the groups A and B, respectively. The percentage of patients with
      glandular swelling decreased from 41.7% to 0.0% in the group A and from 30.0% to
      0.0% in the group B, respectively. Most of the patients experienced a subjective
      clinical improvement documented by the statistically significant reductions in
      the postoperative mean pain VAS (group A P<.001; group B P=.004), Xerostomia
      Inventory (P<.001 and P=.003) and ESSPRI scores (P<.001 and P=.008).
      Interventional sialendoscopy followed by outpatient intraductal steroid
      irrigations was more effective than interventional sialendoscopy alone, when pain
      VAS, Xerostomia Inventory and ESSPRI scores before and after treatment were
      analysed together using the multivariate Hotelling T2 test (P=.0173).
      CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study confirms that interventional sialendoscopy with
      steroid duct irrigation significantly reduces the number of painful episodes of
      sialadenitis and improves the subjective sensation of oral dryness and other
      disease symptoms in patients with SS. The study results also suggest that the
      improvement is greater when interventional sialendoscopy is combined with a cycle
      of outpatient steroid ductal irrigations. Larger controlled randomised studies
      are certainly needed to confirm these preliminary data.

PMID- 28585264
TI  - Metasurfaces and Colloidal Suspensions Composed of 3D Chiral Si Nanoresonators.
AB  - High-refractive-index silicon nanoresonators are promising low-loss alternatives
      to plasmonic particles in CMOS-compatible nanophotonics applications. However,
      complex 3D particle morphologies are challenging to realize in practice, thus
      limiting the range of achievable optical functionalities. Using 3D film
      structuring and a novel gradient mask transfer technique, the first intrinsically
      chiral dielectric metasurface is fabricated in the form of a monolayer of twisted
      silicon nanocrescents that can be easily detached and dissolved into colloidal
      suspension. The metasurfaces exhibit selective handedness and a circular
      dichroism as large as 160 degrees  um-1 due to pronounced differences in induced
      current loops for left-handed and right-handed polarization. The detailed
      morphology of the detached particles is analyzed using high-resolution
      transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, it is shown that the particles can
      be manipulated in solution using optical tweezers. The fabrication and detachment
      method can be extended to different nanoparticle geometries and paves the way for
      a wide range of novel nanophotonic experiments and applications of high-index
      dielectrics.

PMID- 28585265
TI  - Past, present and future of epigenetics in brain sexual differentiation.
AB  - Sexual differentiation has long been considered "epigenetic", although the
      meaning of that word has shifted over time. Here, we track the evolution of ideas
      about epigenetics in sexual differentiation, and identify principles that have
      emerged from recent studies. Experiments manipulating a particular epigenetic
      mechanism during neonatal life demonstrate a role for both histone acetylation
      and DNA methylation in the development of sex differences in the brain and
      behaviour of rodents. In addition, hormone-dependent sex differences in the
      number of neurones of a particular phenotype may be programmed by differences in
      DNA methylation early in life. Genome-wide studies suggest that many effects of
      neonatal testosterone on the brain methylome do not emerge until adulthood, and
      there may be sex biases in the use of epigenetic marks that do not correlate with
      differences in gene expression. In other words, even when the transcription of a
      gene does not differ between males and females, the epigenetic underpinnings of
      that expression may differ. Finally, recent evidence suggests that sex
      differences in epigenetic marks may primarily serve to make gene expression more
      similar in males and females. We discuss the implications of these findings for
      understanding sex differences in susceptibility to disease, and point to recent
      conceptual and technical advances likely to influence the field going forward.

PMID- 28585266
TI  - An evaluation of the feasibility and validity of a patient-administered
      malnutrition universal screening tool ('MUST') compared to healthcare
      professional screening in an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) outpatient clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is common in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and is
      associated with poor health outcomes. Despite this, screening for malnutrition in
      the outpatient-setting is not routine and research in the area is limited. The
      present study aimed to evaluate whether agreement between malnutrition screening
      completed by patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) could be achieved by
      comparing patient self-administered 'MUST' ('MUST'-P) with HCP administered
      'MUST' ('MUST'-HCP) in a single tertiary IBD outpatient clinic. METHODS: We
      conducted a feasibility and validity study on adult outpatients with IBD. We
      collected anthropometric, nutritional and clinical data from patients. All
      patients completed 'MUST'-P using a self-administered questionnaire, followed by
      'MUST'-HCP. 'MUST'-P was timed and feedback on ease-of-use was obtained. The risk
      of malnutrition was classified as low (score = 0), medium (score = 1) and high
      (score >= 2) and agreement was tested using kappa statistics (kappa). RESULTS:
      Eighty patients were recruited (Crohn's disease: n = 49, ulcerative colitis: n =
      29, unclassified: n = 2), with a mean (SD) age of 39.9 (15.1) years (51.2% were
      males). Seventy-one (92%) of patients found 'MUST'-P either easy or very easy.
      The mean (SD) time to complete 'MUST'-P was 3.1  (1.8) min (range 1-10 min).
      Sixty-eight (85%) of patients were at low risk of malnutrition when screened by
      the HCP. There was moderate agreement (kappa = 0.486, P < 0.001) between 'MUST'-P
      and 'MUST'-HCP, with 100% agreement in scoring for medium- and high-risk
      categories. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggests that self
      screening using 'MUST' could be effectively used in an IBD outpatient clinic to
      identify those at medium and high risk of malnutrition. The patient friendly
      version of 'MUST' ('MUST'-P) was considered quick and easy to use by patients.
      Implementation of self-screening with 'MUST' could improve the nutritional
      management of IBD patients.

PMID- 28585267
TI  - Intense pulsed light treatment and meibomian gland expression for moderate to
      advanced meibomian gland dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim was to evaluate the efficacy of periocular intense pulsed
      light therapy combined with meibomian gland expression for chronic dry eye due to
      moderate to advanced meibomian gland dysfunction. METHODS: This single
      institution, open-label prospective study involved 26 participants who received
      bilateral treatments using a proprietary intense pulsed light device (E > Eye, E
      Swin, Paris, France) combined with therapeutic meibomian gland expression at
      baseline, Week 2 and Week 6. Clinical evaluations performed at baseline, Week 4,
      Week 8 and Week 12 were symptom scores (Ocular Surface Disease Index [OSDI],
      Ocular Comfort Index [OCI], daily lubricant use, tear break-up time and ocular
      surface staining). Tear secretion, tear osmolarity, InflammaDry tear immunoassay,
      corneal sensation, meibomian secretion quality and expressibility, bulbar
      conjunctival, limbal and lid margin redness and eyelid margin bacterial swab for
      cultures and colony counts were performed at baseline and Week 8 only. RESULTS:
      Significant improvements occurred at Week 8 in meibomian gland expressibility (p
      = 0.002), meibum quality (p = 0.006), tear break-up time (p = 0.002), corneal
      staining (p = 0.001), lid margin redness (p = 0.001), bulbar redness (p = 0.05)
      and limbal redness (p = 0.001). Symptom survey outcomes, eyelid margin bacteria
      colony counts, Schirmer I test, tear osmolarity, corneal sensitivity and daily
      lubricant use were unchanged. At Week 12, significant improvements in symptoms
      (OSDI p = 0.025; OCI p = 0.003), tear break-up time (p = 0.001) and corneal
      staining (p = 0.001) occurred. Improvement in OSDI score was correlated to the
      improvement in ocular surface staining (R = 0.43, p = 0.03) and associated with
      baseline meibomian gland expressibility (Kendall tau: the distributions are
      ordered the same, p = 0.1). There were no adverse effects of treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serial intense pulsed light therapy combined with meibomian gland
      expression significantly improved dry eye symptoms and clinical signs, including
      meibomian gland secretion quality and expressibility and ocular surface
      inflammation. Treatment effects were cumulative and sustained for at least six
      weeks after the final treatment.

PMID- 28585268
TI  - Pilot-scale radiofrequency blanching of potato cuboids: heating uniformity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional hot water blanching has a slow heat transfer rate,
      whereas radiofrequency (RF) heating has the advantages of a much faster heating
      rate and a higher penetration depth. In the present study, RF heating was applied
      to improve heating uniformity for subsequent blanching experiments involving
      potato cuboids. Potato cuboids were treated in a pilot-scale, RF heating system
      (27.12 MHz, 6 kW) under different operating conditions. RESULTS: The dielectric
      constant increased first and then decreased with temperature, whereas the loss
      factor increased as the temperature increased. The results of the present study
      reveal that the electrode gap, sample height and NaCl solution had significant
      effects (P < 0.05) on the temperature distribution and heating uniformity of the
      sample after RF heating. The optimum RF heating uniformity was obtained at an
      electrode gap of 120 mm, a sample height of 60 mm and when immersed in NaCl
      solution of 0.5 s m-1 . The central heating pattern was presented in a sample.
      Cold spots were located at the edge of the top surface of the sample. CONCLUSION:
      The present study shows the great potential of RF heating for the blanching of
      vegetables. Future studies should aim to determine changes in the texture and
      nutrient contents of vegetables during RF heating. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical
      Industry.

PMID- 28585269
TI  - Piezo-Phototronic Effect on Selective Electron or Hole Transport through
      Depletion Region of Vis-NIR Broadband Photodiode.
AB  - Silicon underpins nearly all microelectronics today and will continue to do so
      for some decades to come. However, for silicon photonics, the indirect band gap
      of silicon and lack of adjustability severely limit its use in applications such
      as broadband photodiodes. Here, a high-performance p-Si/n-ZnO broadband
      photodiode working in a wide wavelength range from visible to near-infrared light
      with high sensitivity, fast response, and good stability is reported. The
      absorption of near-infrared wavelength light is significantly enhanced due to the
      nanostructured/textured top surface. The general performance of the broadband
      photodiodes can be further improved by the piezo-phototronic effect. The
      enhancement of responsivity can reach a maximum of 78% to 442 nm illumination,
      the linearity and saturation limit to 1060 nm light are also significantly
      increased by applying external strains. The photodiode is illuminated with
      different wavelength lights to selectively choose the photogenerated charge
      carriers (either electrons or holes) passing through the depletion region, to
      investigate the piezo-phototronic effect on electron or hole transport separately
      for the first time. This is essential for studying the basic principles in order
      to develop a full understanding about piezotronics and it also enables the
      development of the better performance of optoelectronics.

PMID- 28585270
TI  - Intra- and interrater reliability of the Chicago Classification of achalasia
      subtypes in pediatric high-resolution esophageal manometry (HRM) recordings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subtyping achalasia by high-resolution manometry (HRM) is clinically
      relevant as response to therapy and prognosis have shown to vary accordingly. The
      aim of this study was to assess inter- and intrarater reliability of diagnosing
      achalasia and achalasia subtyping in children using the Chicago Classification
      (CC) V3.0. METHODS: Six observers analyzed 40 pediatric HRM recordings (22
      achalasia and 18 non-achalasia) twice by using dedicated analysis software
      (ManoView 3.0, Given Imaging, Los Angeles, CA, USA). Integrated relaxation
      pressure (IRP4s), distal contractile integral (DCI), intrabolus pressurization
      pattern (IBP), and distal latency (DL) were extracted and analyzed
      hierarchically. Cohen's kappa (2 raters) and Fleiss' kappa (>2 raters) and the
      intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used for categorical and ordinal
      data, respectively. RESULTS: Based on the results of dedicated analysis software
      only, intra- and interrater reliability was excellent and moderate (kappa=0.89
      and kappa=0.52, respectively) for differentiating achalasia from non-achalasia.
      For subtyping achalasia, reliability decreased to substantial and fair
      (kappa=0.72 and kappa=0.28, respectively). When observers were allowed to change
      the software-driven diagnosis according to their own interpretation of the
      manometric patterns, intra- and interrater reliability increased for diagnosing
      achalasia (kappa=0.98 and kappa=0.92, respectively) and for subtyping achalasia
      (kappa=0.79 and kappa=0.58, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Intra- and interrater
      agreement for diagnosing achalasia when using HRM and the CC was very good to
      excellent when results of automated analysis software were interpreted by
      experienced observers. More variability was seen when relying solely on the
      software-driven diagnosis and for subtyping achalasia. Therefore, diagnosing and
      subtyping achalasia should be performed in pediatric motility centers with
      significant expertise.

PMID- 28585271
TI  - Partial-mouth periodontal examination protocols for the determination of the
      prevalence and extent of gingival bleeding in adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of partial-mouth periodontal examination
      (PMPE) protocols with different cut-off points to the full-mouth examination
      (FME) in the assessment of the prevalence and extent of gingival bleeding in
      adolescents. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 12-year-old
      adolescents. Following a systematic two-stage cluster sampling process, 1134
      individuals were evaluated. Different PMPE protocols were compared to the FME
      with six sites per tooth. Sensitivity, specificity, area under the ROC curve
      (AUC), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), relative and absolute biases and
      the inflation factor were assessed for each PMPE protocol with different cut-off
      points for the severity of gingival bleeding. RESULTS: The highest AUC values
      were found for the six-site two-diagonal quadrant (2-4) (0.97), six-site random
      half-mouth (0.95) and Community Periodontal Index (0.95) protocols. The
      assessment of three sites [mesiobuccal (MB), buccal (B) and distolingual (DL)] in
      two diagonal quadrants and the random half-mouth protocol had higher sensitivity
      and lower specificity than the same protocols with distobuccal (DB) sites.
      However, the use of DB sites led to better specificity and improved the balance
      between sensitivity and specificity, except for the two-diagonal quadrant (1-3)
      protocol. The >=1 cut-off point led to the most discrepant results from the FME.
      CONCLUSION: Six-site two-diagonal quadrant (2-4) and random half-mouth
      assessments perform better in the evaluation of gingival bleeding in adolescents.
      However, when a faster protocol is needed, a two-diagonal quadrant assessment
      using only MB, B and DL sites can be used with no important loss of information.

PMID- 28585272
TI  - Homogeneous 2D MoTe2 p-n Junctions and CMOS Inverters formed by Atomic-Layer
      Deposition-Induced Doping.
AB  - Recently, alpha-MoTe2 , a 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD), has shown
      outstanding properties, aiming at future electronic devices. Such TMD structures
      without surface dangling bonds make the 2D alpha-MoTe2 a more favorable candidate
      than conventional 3D Si on the scale of a few nanometers. The bandgap of thin
      alpha-MoTe2 appears close to that of Si and is quite smaller than those of other
      typical TMD semiconductors. Even though there have been a few attempts to control
      the charge-carrier polarity of MoTe2 , functional devices such as p-n junction or
      complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverters have not been reported.
      Here, we demonstrate a 2D CMOS inverter and p-n junction diode in a single alpha
      MoTe2 nanosheet by a straightforward selective doping technique. In a single
      alpha-MoTe2 flake, an initially p-doped channel is selectively converted to an n
      doped region with high electron mobility of 18 cm2 V-1 s-1 by atomic-layer
      deposition-induced H-doping. The ultrathin CMOS inverter exhibits a high DC
      voltage gain of 29, an AC gain of 18 at 1 kHz, and a low static power consumption
      of a few nanowatts. The results show a great potential of alpha-MoTe2 for future
      electronic devices based on 2D semiconducting materials.

PMID- 28585273
TI  - Direct access colonoscopy: impact of intervention on time to colorectal cancer
      diagnosis and treatment in North West Tasmania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Direct access colonoscopy (DAC) allows general practitioners to refer
      directly for colonoscopy, without specialist review. Research suggests DAC
      reduces times to diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. However, there is
      no information about outcomes of DAC in Australia. AIM: To determine if DAC in
      North West Tasmania expedited colorectal diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: Pre
      post intervention study evaluating time from referral to diagnosis and definitive
      treatment. Patient demographic characteristics, referral, colonoscopy and
      treatment information was retrieved from hospital records. Timelines were
      investigated in standard referrals (SR), emergency department/inpatient referrals
      and DAC using survival analysis. RESULTS: Two hundred and six colorectal cancer
      cases were identified (117 SR, 26 DAC, 48 emergency department/inpatient and 15
      unknown pathways). Median time to colonoscopy/diagnosis (DAC 6 weeks vs SR 7
      weeks, P = 0.55) or definitive treatment (surgery/chemoradiation) (DAC 8 weeks vs
      SR 9 weeks, P = 0.81) was not significantly improved with DAC. Among SR only,
      time to diagnosis was 9 weeks pre-intervention versus 5 weeks post-intervention
      (P = 0.13), and time to treatment was 11 weeks pre-intervention versus 6 weeks
      post-intervention (P = 0.07). CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant
      improvement in time to colorectal cancer diagnosis or treatment among patients
      referred through DAC compared to SR. There was a trend towards improved waiting
      times for SR concurrent with the introduction of the DAC pathway, indicating
      improvement of all referral processes. DAC may not be effective at expediting
      colorectal cancer diagnosis if it is not accompanied by strict referral
      guidelines. Larger evaluations of DAC are required in the Australian context.

PMID- 28585274
TI  - Junior doctors' attitudes to opioids for refractory breathlessness in patients
      with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Refractory breathlessness is a common, distressing symptom in
      patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The
      judicious, off-licence prescription of opioids, together with other management
      strategies, can improve breathlessness, however, internationally there is
      profound reluctance to prescribe opioids for breathlessness in COPD. AIMS: To
      understand Australian junior doctors' knowledge and attitudes regarding the
      management of refractory breathlessness and the role of opioids in COPD. METHODS:
      All junior doctors undertaking basic training in internal medicine in Victoria
      were invited to complete an online survey. Knowledge, willingness, and experience
      prescribing opioids to COPD patients with refractory breathlessness, were
      examined. RESULTS: Of the 243 responses received, most trainees (193, 86.5%)
      believed opioids have a role in treating refractory breathlessness in stable COPD
      outpatients, with 143 (64.1%) recommending morphine as first-line treatment for
      refractory breathlessness. One quarter (55, 24.7%) reported having themselves
      initiated an opioid and 102 (45.7%) had prescribed an opioid under senior
      supervision for management of breathlessness in COPD. Concern regarding adverse
      opioid effects was low, with 58 (26.0%) having no concerns prescribing an opioid
      to COPD patients. CONCLUSION: This is the first study of doctors to demonstrate
      high awareness, confidence, willingness and experience in prescribing opioids for
      the off-licence indication of refractory breathlessness in COPD. These findings
      differ significantly from attitudes reported overseas and are unexpected given
      the doctors surveyed were recently qualified. The low awareness of possible
      adverse events and limited insight regarding knowledge gaps is concerning and
      highlights the significant need for greater education in palliative care.

PMID- 28585275
TI  - Postsynthetic Doping of MnCl2 Molecules into Preformed CsPbBr3 Perovskite
      Nanocrystals via a Halide Exchange-Driven Cation Exchange.
AB  - Unlike widely used postsynthetic halide exchange for CsPbX3 (X is halide)
      perovskite nanocrystals (NCs), cation exchange of Pb is of a great challenge due
      to the rigid nature of the Pb cationic sublattice. Actually, cation exchange has
      more potential for rendering NCs with peculiar properties. Herein, a novel halide
      exchange-driven cation exchange (HEDCE) strategy is developed to prepare dually
      emitting Mn-doped CsPb(Cl/Br)3 NCs via postsynthetic replacement of partial Pb in
      preformed perovskite NCs. The basic idea for HEDCE is that the partial cation
      exchange of Pb by Mn has a large probability to occur as a concomitant result for
      opening the rigid halide octahedron structure around Pb during halide exchange.
      Compared to traditional ionic exchange, HEDCE is featured by proceeding of halide
      exchange and cation exchange at the same time and lattice site. The time and
      space requirements make only MnCl2 molecules (rather than mixture of Mn and Cl
      ions) capable of doping into perovskite NCs. This special molecular doping nature
      results in a series of unusual phenomenon, including long reaction time, core
      shell structured mid states with triple emission bands, and dopant molecules
      composition-dependent doping process. As-prepared dual-emitting Mn-doped
      CsPb(Cl/Br)3 NCs are available for ratiometric temperature sensing.

PMID- 28585276
TI  - Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in mitochondrial disorders: description of an
      uncommon clinical case.

PMID- 28585278
TI  - Abstract Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Meeting of the International Society for
      Laboratory Hematology, 4-6 May 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii.

PMID- 28585277
TI  - Technical Note: Monte Carlo calculations of the AAPM TG-43 brachytherapy
      dosimetry parameters for a new titanium-encapsulated Yb-169 source.
AB  - Due to a number of distinct advantages resulting from the relatively low energy
      gamma ray spectrum of Yb-169, various designs of Yb-169 sources have been
      developed over the years for brachytherapy applications. Lately, Yb-169 has also
      been suggested as an effective and practical radioisotope option for a novel
      radiation treatment approach often known as gold nanoparticle-aided radiation
      therapy (GNRT). In a recently published study, the current investigators used the
      Monte Carlo N-Particle Version 5 (MCNP5) code to design a novel titanium
      encapsulated Yb-169 source optimized for GNRT applications. In this study, the
      original MC source model was modified to accurately match the specifications of
      the manufactured Yb-169 source. The modified MC model was then used to obtain a
      complete set of the AAPM TG-43 parameters for the new titanium-encapsulated Yb
      169 source. The MC-calculated dose rate constant for this titanium-encapsulated
      Yb-169 source was 1.19 +/- 0.03 cGy.h-1.U-1, indicating no significant change
      from the values reported for stainless steel-encapsulated Yb-169 sources. The
      source anisotropy and radial dose function for the new source were also found
      similar to those reported for the stainless steel-encapsulated Yb-169 sources.
      The current results suggest that the use of titanium, instead of stainless steel,
      to encapsulate the Yb-169 core would not lead to any major change in the
      dosimetric characteristics of the Yb-169 source. The results also show that the
      titanium encapsulation of the Yb-169 source could be accomplished while meeting
      the design goals as described in the current investigators' published MC
      optimization study for GNRT applications.

PMID- 28585279
TI  - Serum bile acid level and fatty acid composition in Chinese children with non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine serum bile acid (BA) and fatty acid (FA) profiles in
      Chinese children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS: A total
      76 children aged 4-17 years were categorized into three groups according to the
      presence and absence of as well as the severity of NAFLD, that is, non-NAFLD
      (control), mild and moderate to severe NAFLD groups, respectively, based on their
      liver ultrasonography findings. Serum BA and FA profiles were quantified
      separately by mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. General linear models
      were performed to assess the differences among the groups. RESULTS: After
      adjusted for potential confounders, children with NAFLD had higher levels of
      chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), unconjugated primary BAs (CDCA + cholic acid) but
      lower levels of deoxycholic acid (DCA), taurodeoxycholic acid (TDCA),
      glycodeoxycholic acid (GDCA), total DCA (DCA + TDCA + GDCA), glycolithocholic
      acid (GLCA) and total lithocholic acid (GLCA + taurolithocholic acid) than
      children without NAFLD. As for FAs, children with mild and moderate to severe
      NAFLD had higher levels of n-7 monounsaturated FA. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating BA
      and FA profiles may change in children with NAFLD. Further studies are needed to
      determine their associations and to understand the underlying mechanism of
      action.

PMID- 28585280
TI  - Meta-analysis combining parallel and crossover trials using generalised
      estimating equation method.
AB  - Clinical trials have different designs: In late stage drug development, the
      parallel trial design is the most frequent one; however, the crossover design is
      not rare; different techniques are used to analyse their results. Although both
      designs measure the same treatment effect, combining parallel and crossover
      trials in a meta-analysis is not straightforward. We present here a meta-analysis
      method based on generalised estimating equation (GEE) regression to combine
      aggregated results of crossover and parallel trials using a marginal estimation
      approach. This method is based on the fixed effects meta-analytic model; it
      allows combining average outcomes belonging to the exponential distributions
      obtained from trials of different designs and in particular from crossover trials
      with more than 2 periods and 2 treatments. By extending the methods proposed so
      far to combine the 2 trial designs, the GEE regression allows for adjusting for
      bias, such as a carry-over effect typical in crossover trials. In this paper, the
      GEE meta-analysis method is compared to the classical weighted average method
      with examples of published and simulated meta-analyses. Although the GEE can
      account for crossover specificities, it is limited by the availability of
      detailed trial information often encountered with reports of these trials.

PMID- 28585281
TI  - The deep fascia and retinacula of the equine forelimb - structure and
      innervation.
AB  - Recent advances in human fascia research have shed new light on the role of the
      fascial network in movement perception and coordination, transmission of muscle
      force, and integrative function in body biomechanics. Evolutionary adaptations of
      equine musculoskeletal apparatus that assure effective terrestrial locomotion are
      employed in equestrianism, resulting in the wide variety of movements in
      performing horses, from sophisticated dressage to jumping and high-speed racing.
      The high importance of horse motion efficiency in the present-day equine industry
      indicates the significance of scientific knowledge of the structure and
      physiology of equine fasciae. In this study, we investigated the structure and
      innervation of the deep fascia of the equine forelimb by means of anatomical
      dissection, histology and immunohistochemistry. Macroscopically, the deep fascia
      appears as a dense, glossy and whitish lamina of connective tissue continuous
      with its fibrous reinforcements represented by extensor and flexor retinacula.
      According to the results of our histological examination, the general structure
      of the equine forelimb fascia corresponds to the characteristics of the human
      deep fasciae of the limbs. Although we did find specific features in all sample
      types, the general composition of all examined fascial tissues follows roughly
      the same scheme. It is composed of dense, closely packed collagen fibers
      organized in layers of thick fibrous bundles with sparse elastic fibers. This
      compact tissue is covered from both internal and external sides by loosely woven
      laminae of areolar connective tissue where elastic fibers are mixed with
      collagen. Numerous blood vessels running within the loose connective tissue
      contribute to the formation of regular vascular network throughout the compact
      layer of the deep fascia and retinacula. We found nerve fibers of different
      calibers in all samples analyzed. The fibers are numerous in the areolar
      connective tissue and near the blood vessels but scarce in the compact layers of
      collagen. We did not observe any Ruffini, Pacini or Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscles. In
      conclusion, the multilayered composition of compact bundles of collagen, sparse
      elastic fibers in the deep fascia and continuous transition into retinacula
      probably facilitate resistance to gravitational forces and volume changes during
      muscle contraction as well as transmission of muscle force during movement.
      However, further research focused on innervation is needed to clarify whether the
      deep fascia of the equine forelimb plays a role in proprioception and movement
      coordination.

PMID- 28585283
TI  - Enhanced crude oil biodegradative potential of natural phytoplankton-associated
      hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria.
AB  - Phytoplankton have been shown to harbour a diversity of hydrocarbonoclastic
      bacteria (HCB), yet it is not understood how these phytoplankton-associated HCB
      would respond in the event of an oil spill at sea. Here, we assess the diversity
      and dynamics of the bacterial community associated with a natural population of
      marine phytoplankton under oil spill-simulated conditions, and compare it to that
      of the free-living (non phytoplankton-associated) bacterial community. While the
      crude oil severely impacted the phytoplankton population and was likely conducive
      to marine oil snow formation, analysis of the MiSeq-derived 16S rRNA data
      revealed dramatic and differential shifts in the oil-amended communities that
      included blooms of recognized HCB (e.g., Thalassospira, Cycloclasticus),
      including putative novel phyla, as well as other groups with previously
      unqualified oil-degrading potential (Olleya, Winogradskyella, and members of the
      inconspicuous BD7-3 phylum). Notably, the oil biodegradation potential of the
      phytoplankton-associated community exceeded that of the free-living community,
      and it showed a preference to degrade substituted and non-substituted polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons. Our study provides evidence of compartmentalization of
      hydrocarbon-degrading capacity in the marine water column, wherein HCB associated
      with phytoplankton are better tuned to degrading crude oil hydrocarbons than that
      by the community of planktonic free-living bacteria.

PMID- 28585284
TI  - Predictive factors of depressive symptoms of elderly patients with cancer: A
      critical comment.

PMID- 28585282
TI  - Models to define the stages of articular cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis
      development.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic disorder that affects an increasing
      number of the ageing population. Despite the prevalence, there are currently no
      therapies. Defining new therapies that target specific pathogenic phases of
      disease development relies on the effective separation of the different stages of
      OA. This manuscript reviews the tissues and models that are being used to
      separate these stages of disease, in particular initiation and early and late
      progression. These models include human tissues with known initiating factors,
      the use of anatomical locations with defined relationships to the primary
      cartilage lesion area, timing of OA development in well-described animal models
      and the versatility of a non-invasive model of murine knee joint trauma.

PMID- 28585285
TI  - The synergistic potential of various teas, herbs and therapeutic drugs in health
      improvement: a review.
AB  - Tea is one of the most widely consumed non-alcoholic beverages in the world next
      to water. It is classified as Camellia sinensis and non-Camellia sinensis (herbal
      teas). The common bioactive compounds found mainly in green teas are flavan-3-ols
      (catechins) (also called flavanols), proanthocyanidins (tannins) and flavonols.
      Black tea contains theaflavins and thearubigins and white tea contains l-theanine
      and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), while herbal teas contain diverse
      polyphenols. Phytochemicals in tea exhibit antimicrobial, anti-diabetic and anti
      cancer activities that are perceived to be helpful in managing chronic diseases
      linked to lifestyle. Many of these phytochemicals are reported to be biologically
      active when combined. Knowledge of the synergistic interactions of tea with other
      teas or herbs in terms of biological activities will be of benefit for
      therapeutic enhancement. There is evidence that various types of teas act
      synergistically in exhibiting health benefits to humans, improving consumer
      acceptance and economic value. Similar observations have been made when teas and
      herbs or medicinal drugs were combined. The aim of this review is to highlight
      potential beneficial synergies between combinations of different types of teas,
      tea and herbs, and tea and medicinal drugs. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical
      Industry.

PMID- 28585286
TI  - Improved sample preparation for direct quantitative detection of Escherichia coli
      O157 in soil using qPCR without pre-enrichment.
AB  - The prominence of fresh produce as a vehicle for foodborne pathogens such as
      enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157 is rising, where disease cases
      can cause hospitalization and in some cases death. This rise emphasises the
      necessity for accurate and sensitive methods for detection of pathogens in soil,
      potential sources of contamination of fresh produce. The complexity of the soil
      matrix has previously proven prohibitive to pathogen detection via molecular
      methods without the use of a culture enrichment step, thereby excluding the
      detection of viable but non-culturable cells. Here, a sample preparation
      procedure to facilitate a direct qPCR assay is developed for the detection of E.
      coli O157 in soil, bypassing culture steps in favour of sample separation through
      pulsification release and filtration. In sand and peat-based compost, the method
      is sensitive to 10 CFU g-1 soil. When testing soils from agricultural sites, it
      was found that several were qPCR positive for E. coli O157 while being culture
      negative, with peat-based compost possessing a concentration of 200 tir gene
      copies per gram. This procedure offers a rapid, quantitative assessment of the
      potential presence of E. coli O157 in soils which can act as a prescreen of their
      suitability to grow fresh produce safely.

PMID- 28585287
TI  - Effect of VERO pan-tilt motion on the dose distribution.
AB  - Tumor tracking is an option for intra-fractional motion management in
      radiotherapy. The VERO gimbal tracking system creates a unique beam geometry and
      understanding the effect of the gimbal motion in terms of dose distribution is
      important to assess the dose deviation from the reference conditions. Beam
      profiles, output factors (OF) and percentage depth doses (PDD) were measured and
      evaluated to investigate this effect. In order to find regions affected by the
      pan-tilt motion, synthesized 2D dose distributions were generated. An evaluation
      of the 2D dose distribution with the reference position was done using dose
      difference criteria 1%-4%. The OF and point dose at central axis were measured
      and compared with the reference position. Furthermore, the PDDs were measured
      using a special monitoring approach to filtering inaccurate points during the
      acquisition. Beam profiles evaluation showed that the effect of pan-tilt at
      inline direction was stronger than at the crossline direction. The maximum
      average deviation of the full width half maximum (FWHM), flatness, symmetry,
      penumbra left and right were 0.39 +/- 0.25 mm, 0.62 +/- 0.50%, 0.76 +/- 0.59%,
      0.22 +/- 0.16 mm, and 0.19 +/- 0.15 mm respectively. The OF and the measured dose
      average deviation were <0.5%. The mechanical accuracies during the PDD
      measurements were 0.28 +/- 0.09 mm and 0.21 +/- 0.09 mm for pan and tilt and pan
      or tilt position. The PDD average deviations were 0.58 +/- 0.26 % and 0.54 +/-
      0.25 % for pan-or-tilt and pan-and-tilt position respectively. All the results
      showed that the deviation at pan and tilt position are higher than pan or tilt.
      The most influences were observed for the penumbra region and the shift of
      radiation beam path.

PMID- 28585288
TI  - Incentives for preventing smoking in children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adult smoking usually has its roots in adolescence. If individuals do
      not take up smoking during this period it is unlikely that they ever will.
      Further, once smoking becomes established, cessation is challenging; the
      probability of subsequently quitting is inversely proportional to the age of
      initiation. One novel approach to reducing the prevalence of youth smoking is the
      use of incentives. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of incentives on preventing
      children and adolescents (aged 5 to 18 years) from starting to smoke. It was also
      our intention to assess, where possible, the dose-response of incentives, the
      costs of incentive programmes, whether incentives are more or less effective in
      combination with other interventions to prevent smoking initiation, and any
      unintended consequences arising from the use of incentives. SEARCH METHODS: For
      the original review (published 2012) we searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction
      Group Specialized Register, with additional searches of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL,
      CSA databases and PsycINFO for terms relating to incentives, in combination with
      terms for smoking and tobacco use, and children and adolescents. The most recent
      searches were of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Specialized Register, and
      were carried out in December 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) allocating children and adolescents (aged 5 to 18 years)
      as individuals, groups or communities to intervention or control conditions,
      where the intervention included an incentive aimed at preventing smoking uptake.
      We also considered controlled trials (CTs) with baseline measures and post
      intervention outcomes. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors extracted
      and independently assessed the data. The primary outcome was the smoking status
      of children or adolescents at follow-up who reported no smoking at baseline. We
      required a minimum follow-up of six months from baseline and assessed each
      included study for risks of bias. We used the most rigorous definition of
      abstinence in each trial; we did not require biochemical validation of self
      reported tobacco use for study inclusion. Where possible we combined eligible
      studies to calculate pooled estimates at the longest follow-up, using the Mantel
      Haenszel fixed-effect method, grouping studies by study design. MAIN RESULTS: We
      identified three eligible RCTs and five CTs, including participants aged 11 to 14
      years, who were non-smokers at baseline. Of the eight trials identified, six had
      analyzable data relevant for this review, which contributed to meta-analyses
      (7275 participants in total: 4003 intervention; 3272 control; 2484 participants
      after adjusting for clustering). All except one of the studies tested the
      'Smokefree Class Competition' (SFC), which has been widely implemented throughout
      Europe. In this competition, classes with youth generally between the ages of 11
      and 14 years commit to being smoke-free for a six-month period, and report their
      smoking status regularly. If 90% or more of the class are non-smokers at the end
      of the six months, the class goes into a competition to win prizes. The one study
      that was not a trial of the SFC was a controlled trial in which schools in two
      communities were assigned to the intervention, with schools in a third community
      acting as controls. Students in the intervention community with lower smoking
      rates at the end of the project (one school year) received rewards.Most studies
      resulted in statistically non-significant results. Only one study of the SFC
      reported a significant effect of the competition on the prevention of smoking at
      the longest follow-up. However, this study was at risk of multiple biases, and
      when we calculated the adjusted risk ratio (RR) we no longer detected a
      statistically significant difference. The pooled RR for the more robust RCTs (3
      studies, n = 3056 participants/1107 adjusted for clustering) suggests that there
      is no statistically significant effect of incentives, in the form of the SFC, to
      prevent smoking initiation among children and adolescents in the long term (RR
      1.00, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84 to 1.19). Pooled results from the non
      randomized trials also did not detect a significant effect of the SFC, and we
      were unable to extract data on our outcome of interest from the one trial that
      did not study the SFC. There is little robust evidence to suggest that unintended
      consequences (such as making false claims about their smoking status and bullying
      of smoking students) are consistently associated with such interventions,
      although this has not been the focus of much research. There was insufficient
      information to assess the dose-response relationship or to report costs of
      incentives for preventing smoking uptake.We judged the included RCTs to be at
      unclear risk of bias, and the non-RCTs to be at high risk of bias. Using GRADE,
      we rated the overall quality of the evidence for our primary outcome as 'low'
      (for RCTs) and 'very low' (for non-RCTs), because of imprecision (all studies had
      wide confidence intervals), and for the risks of bias identified. We further
      downgraded the non-RCT evidence, due to issues with the non-RCT study design,
      likely to introduce further bias. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The very limited evidence
      currently available suggests that incentive programmes do not prevent smoking
      initiation among youth. However, there are relatively few published studies and
      these are of variable quality. In addition, trials included in the meta-analyses
      were all studies of the SFC, which distributed small to moderately-sized prizes
      to whole classes, usually through a lottery system. It is therefore possible that
      other incentive programmes could be more successful at preventing smoking uptake
      in young people.Future studies might investigate the efficacy of a wider range of
      incentives, including those given to individual participants to prevent smoking
      uptake, whilst considering both the effect of incentives on smoking initiation
      and the progression to smoking. It would be useful if incentives were evaluated
      in varying populations from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, and
      if intervention components were described in detail.

PMID- 28585289
TI  - Effects of weak/non-complement-binding HLA antibodies on C1q-binding.
AB  - It is unknown under what conditions and to what extent weak/non-complement (C)
      binding IgG subclasses (IgG2/IgG4) can block C1q-binding triggered by C-binding
      IgG subclasses (IgG1/IgG3). Therefore, we investigated in vitro C1q-binding
      induced by IgG subclass mixtures targeting the same HLA epitope. Various mixtures
      of HLA class II specific monoclonal antibodies of different IgG subclasses but
      identical V-region were incubated with HLA DRB1*07:01 beads and monitored for C1q
      binding. The lowest concentration to achieve maximum C1q-binding was measured for
      IgG3, followed by IgG1, while IgG2 and IgG4 did not show appreciable C1q-binding.
      C1q-binding occurred only after a critical amount of IgG1/3 has bound and sharply
      increased thereafter. When both, C-binding and weak/non-C-binding IgG subclasses
      were mixed, C1q-binding was diminished proportionally to the fraction of IgG2/4.
      A 2- to 4-fold excess of IgG2/4 inhibited C1q-binding by 50%. Very high levels
      (10-fold excess) almost completely abrogated C1q-binding even in the presence of
      significant IgG1/3 levels that would usually lead to strong C1q-binding. In
      sensitized renal allograft recipients, IgG subclass constellations with >= 2-fold
      excess of IgG2/4 over IgG1/3 were present in 23/66 patients (34.8%) and overall
      revealed slightly decreased C1q signals. However, spiking of patient sera with
      IgG2 targeting a different epitope than the patient's IgG1/3 synergistically
      increased C1q-binding. In conclusion, if targeting the same epitope, an excess of
      IgG2/4 is repressing the extent of IgG1/3 triggered C1q-binding in vitro. Such
      IgG subclass constellations are present in about a third of sensitized patients
      and their net effect on C1q-binding is slightly inhibitory.

PMID- 28585291
TI  - Reviving Lithium-Metal Anodes for Next-Generation High-Energy Batteries.
AB  - Lithium-metal batteries (LMBs), as one of the most promising next-generation high
      energy-density storage devices, are able to meet the rigid demands of new
      industries. However, the direct utilization of metallic lithium can induce harsh
      safety issues, inferior rate and cycle performance, or anode pulverization inside
      the cells. These drawbacks severely hinder the commercialization of LMBs. Here,
      an up-to-date review of the behavior of lithium ions upon deposition/dissolution,
      and the failure mechanisms of lithium-metal anodes is presented. It has been
      shown that the primary causes consist of the growth of lithium dendrites due to
      large polarization and a strong electric field at the vicinity of the anode, the
      hyperactivity of metallic lithium, and hostless infinite volume changes upon
      cycling. The recent advances in liquid organic electrolyte (LOE) systems through
      modulating the local current density, anion depletion, lithium flux, the anode
      electrolyte interface, or the mechanical strength of the interlayers are
      highlighted. Concrete strategies including tailoring the anode structures,
      optimizing the electrolytes, building artificial anode-electrolyte interfaces,
      and functionalizing the protective interlayers are summarized in detail.
      Furthermore, the challenges remaining in LOE systems are outlined, and the future
      perspectives of introducing solid-state electrolytes to radically address safety
      issues are presented.

PMID- 28585290
TI  - CSF biomarkers in delirium: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In recent years, there has been a blossoming of studies examining
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a method of studying the pathophysiology of
      delirium. We systematically reviewed the literature for CSF studies in delirium
      and provide here a summary of the implications for our understanding of delirium
      pathophysiology. We also summarise the methods used for CSF analysis and discuss
      challenges and implications for future studies. METHODS: In this systematic
      review, we screened MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed and the
      Cochrane Library for articles on CSF biomarkers in delirium, published on 3
      September 2016. Studies were required to use Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
      Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases criteria for
      delirium or a validated tool. We excluded case reports. There were no other
      restrictions on study type. RESULTS: We identified 3280 articles from our initial
      search, and 22 articles were included in this review. All studies were
      prospective, including over 400 patients with delirium and 700 controls. More
      than 70 different biomarkers were studied. Studies could not be compared with
      each other for meta-analysis because of their heterogeneity and varied widely in
      their risk of bias and quality assessments. CONCLUSIONS: The 22 studies
      identified in this review reveal a small but growing literature, in which many of
      the important hypotheses in delirium pathogenesis have been examined, but from
      which few firm conclusions can currently be drawn. Nevertheless, the overall
      interpretation of the literature supports the vulnerable brain concept, that is,
      that biomarker evidence of, for example, Alzheimer's disease pathology and/or
      neuroinflammation, is associated with delirium.

PMID- 28585292
TI  - Taking a sympathetic approach to post-traumatic stress disorder.

PMID- 28585293
TI  - Electric-Field-Controlled Dopant Distribution in Organic Semiconductors.
AB  - Stable electrical doping of organic semiconductors is fundamental for the
      functionality of high performance devices. It is known that dopants can be
      subjected to strong diffusion in certain organic semiconductors. This work
      studies the impact of operating conditions on thin films of the polymer poly(3
      hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the small molecule Spiro-MeOTAD, doped with two
      differently sized p-type dopants. The negatively charged dopants can drift upon
      application of an electric field in thin films of doped P3HT over surprisingly
      large distances. This drift is not observed in the small molecule Spiro-MeOTAD.
      Upon the dopants' directional movement in P3HT, a dedoped region forms at the
      negatively biased electrode, increasing the overall resistance of the thin film.
      In addition to electrical measurements, optical microscopy, spatially resolved
      infrared spectroscopy, and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy are used to
      investigate the drift of dopants. Dopant mobilities of 10-9 to 10-8 cm2 V-1 s-1
      are estimated. This drift over several micrometers is reversible and can be
      controlled. Furthermore, this study presents a novel memory device to illustrate
      the applicability of this effect. The results emphasize the importance of dynamic
      processes under operating conditions that must be considered even for single
      doped layers.

PMID- 28585294
TI  - Ichthyosis fetalis in a cross-bred lamb.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ichthyosis is a dermatological disease characterized by varying
      degrees of generalized hyperkeratosis and alopecia. Two congenital forms of
      ichthyosis are recognized in animals: fetalis (IF) and congenita. The disease
      occurs rarely in cattle, swine, dogs, chickens and a goat; it has not been
      reported in sheep. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To provide clinical, laboratory and
      pathological assessments of a case of IF in a cross-bred lamb. ANIMALS: A male
      cross-bred lamb. RESULTS: Physical examination revealed apathy, fever, ectropion
      and eclabium. Generalized thickening and scaling of the skin was noted; this was
      most severe on the face, ears, inner thighs, limbs and perineum. Deep fissures
      and wounds were present on the hind limbs and forelimbs. The lamb was monitored
      for 75 days. During this period, lesions progressed and occasionally obstructed
      the nostrils and increasingly made it difficult for the lamb to flex major limb
      joints. Postmortem findings included severe epidermal thickening, multiple
      subcutaneous abscesses, ectropion and corneal scars. Histological findings
      revealed diffuse orthokeratotic hyperkeratosis, follicular keratosis, irregular
      epidermal hyperplasia and atrophy of the sebaceous glands. Serum vitamin A
      concentration was within the normal range for the species. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: This case report describes a case of presumptive ichthyosis
      fetalis in a lamb. Greater awareness by practitioners is required for this
      disease to be included in the differential diagnosis of dermatopathies in this
      species.

PMID- 28585296
TI  - Satisfaction and difficulties of French professional home caregivers in
      supporting older people with Alzheimer's disease or alcohol misuse.
AB  - In France, few studies have examined home care when it comes to ageing support
      and even fewer have considered alcohol misuse in this context. The studies also
      show that being old and having alcohol use disorders are two unfavourable
      conditions for receiving help, whereas for the Alzheimer's disease, there is a
      clear need for optimal care. In this article, we study professional home
      caregiver's perceptions of their job along with their difficulties and
      satisfactions in supporting older people with Alzheimer's disease or alcohol
      misuse. Out of the 23 professionals approached, 17 took part in a research
      interview from October 2013 to January 2014. All interviews were recorded, fully
      transcribed and lexically analysed with Alceste(r) software. Among the five
      classes that were identified from 63% of the initial data, the main themes that
      emerged illustrate the nature of the associated pathologies, the perceptions and
      satisfactions related to the profession, their adaptive skills, the difficulties
      related to the life context of the older person, and the wine consumption of the
      latter. The lexical discourse analysis shows that the professional home
      caregivers are involved in looking after not only people with Alzheimer's disease
      but also those with alcohol misuse. However, despite the difficulties and
      satisfactions encountered, adaptation to the older people seems to be their
      priority and one of the many skills that they have acquired during their
      professionalisation. Most of the older people who are helped are women and the
      difficulties mentioned by their caregivers usually arise at the time of their
      death. Lastly, when caring for alcohol misusers, they describe negative attitudes
      in their support. Although research in this area is rare while home care for the
      older person, whatever the pathology, is increasing, professionals need to be
      supported by the associations or companies that employ them and should be trained
      to help them provide the appropriate care.

PMID- 28585297
TI  - Principles of proportional recovery after stroke generalize to neglect and
      aphasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Motor recovery after stroke can be characterized into two
      different patterns. A majority of patients recover about 70% of initial
      impairment, whereas some patients with severe initial deficits show little or no
      improvement. Here, we investigated whether recovery from visuospatial neglect and
      aphasia is also separated into two different groups and whether similar
      proportions of recovery can be expected for the two cognitive functions. METHODS:
      We assessed 35 patients with neglect and 14 patients with aphasia at 3 weeks and
      3 months after stroke using standardized tests. Recovery patterns were classified
      with hierarchical clustering and the proportion of recovery was estimated from
      initial impairment using a linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Patients were
      reliably clustered into two different groups. For patients in the first cluster
      (n = 40), recovery followed a linear model where improvement was proportional to
      initial impairment and achieved 71% of maximal possible recovery for both
      cognitive deficits. Patients in the second cluster (n = 9) exhibited poor
      recovery (<25% of initial impairment). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that
      improvement from neglect or aphasia after stroke shows the same dichotomy and
      proportionality as observed in motor recovery. This is suggestive of common
      underlying principles of plasticity, which apply to motor and cognitive
      functions.

PMID- 28585295
TI  - Bioinspired Collagen Scaffolds in Cranial Bone Regeneration: From Bedside to
      Bench.
AB  - Calvarial defects are common reconstructive dilemmas secondary to a variety of
      etiologies including traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular disease, oncologic
      resection, and congenital anomalies. Reconstruction of the calvarium is generally
      undertaken for the purposes of cerebral protection, contour restoration for
      psychosocial well-being, and normalization of neurological dysfunction frequently
      found in patients with massive cranial defects. Current methods for
      reconstruction using autologous grafts, allogeneic grafts, or alloplastic
      materials have significant drawbacks that are unique to each material. The
      combination of wide medical relevance and the need for a better clinical solution
      render defects of the cranial skeleton an ideal target for development of
      regenerative strategies focused on calvarial bone. With the improved
      understanding of the instructive properties of tissue-specific extracellular
      matrices and the advent of precise nanoscale modulation in materials science,
      strategies in regenerative medicine have shifted in paradigm. Previously
      considered to be simple carriers of stem cells and growth factors, increasing
      evidence exists for differential materials directing lineage specific
      differentiation of progenitor cells and tissue regeneration. In this work, we
      review the clinical challenges for calvarial reconstruction, the anatomy and
      physiology of bone, and extracellular matrix-inspired, collagen-based materials
      that have been tested for in vivo cranial defect healing.

PMID- 28585298
TI  - Severe erythematotelangiectatic rosacea with cold wave-induced epidermal necrosis
      treated with carvedilol combined with brimonidine gel.

PMID- 28585299
TI  - Mycobacterium bovis hosted by free-living-amoebae permits their long-term
      persistence survival outside of host mammalian cells and remain capable of
      transmitting disease to mice.
AB  - Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis.
      Despite intensive TB control campaigns, there are sporadic outbreaks of bovine TB
      in regions declared TB free. It is unclear how M. bovis is able to survive in the
      environment for long periods of time. We hypothesized that Free-living amoebae
      (FLA), as ubiquitous inhabitants of soil and water, may act as long-term
      reservoirs of M. bovis in the environment. In our model, M. bovis would be taken
      up by amoebal trophozoites, which are the actively feeding, replicating and
      mobile form of FLA. Upon exposure to hostile environmental conditions, infected
      FLA will encyst and provide an intracellular niche allowing their M. bovis cargo
      to persist for extended periods of time. Here, we show that five FLA species
      (Acanthamoeba polyphaga, Acanthamoeba castellanii, Acanthamoeba lenticulata,
      Vermamoeba vermiformis and Dictyostellium discoideum) are permissive to M. bovis
      infection and that the M. bovis bacilli may survive within the cysts of four of
      these species for over 60 days. We further show that exposure of M. bovis
      infected trophozoites and cysts to Balb/c mice leads to pulmonary TB. This work
      describes for the first time that FLA carrying M. bovis can transmit TB.

PMID- 28585300
TI  - Investigation of error detection capabilities of phantom, EPID and MLC log file
      based IMRT QA methods.
AB  - A patient specific quality assurance (QA) should detect errors that originate
      anywhere in the treatment planning process. However, the increasing complexity of
      treatment plans has increased the need for improvements in the accuracy of the
      patient specific pretreatment verification process. This has led to the
      utilization of higher resolution QA methods such as the electronic portal imaging
      device (EPID) as well as MLC log files and it is important to know the types of
      errors that can be detected with these methods. In this study, we will compare
      the ability of three QA methods (Delta4 (r), MU-EPID, Dynalog QA) to detect
      specific errors. Multileaf collimator (MLC) errors, gantry angle, and dose errors
      were introduced into five volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans for a
      total of 30 plans containing errors. The original plans (without errors) were
      measured five times with each method to set a threshold for detectability using
      two standard deviations from the mean and receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      derived limits. Gamma passing percentages as well as percentage error of planning
      target volume (PTV) were used for passing determination. When applying the
      standard 95% pass rate at 3%/3 mm gamma analysis errors were detected at a rate
      of 47, 70, and 27% for the Delta4 , MU-EPID and Dynalog QA respectively. When
      using thresholds set at 2 standard deviations from our base line measurements
      errors were detected at a rate of 60, 30, and 47% for the Delta4 , MU-EPID and
      Dynalog QA respectively. When using ROC derived thresholds errors were detected
      at a rate of 60, 27, and 47% for the Delta4 , MU-EPID and Dynalog QA
      respectively. When using dose to the PTV and the Dynalog method 11 of the 15
      small MLC errors were detected while none were caught using gamma analysis. A
      combination of the EPID and Dynalog QA methods (scaling Dynalog doses using EPID
      images) matches the detection capabilities of the Delta4 by adding additional
      comparison metrics. These additional metrics are vital in relating the QA
      measurement to the dose received by the patient which is ultimately what is being
      confirmed.

PMID- 28585302
TI  - Rictor/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 promotes macrophage activation and
      kidney fibrosis.
AB  - Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling controls many essential cellular
      functions. However, the role of Rictor/mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) in regulating
      macrophage activation and kidney fibrosis remains largely unknown. We report here
      that Rictor/mTORC2 was activated in macrophages from the fibrotic kidneys of
      mice. Ablation of Rictor in macrophages reduced kidney fibrosis, inflammatory
      cell accumulation, macrophage proliferation and polarization after unilateral
      ureter obstruction or ischaemia/reperfusion injury. In bone marrow-derived
      macrophages (BMMs), deletion of Rictor or blockade of protein kinase Calpha
      inhibited cell migration. Additionally, deletion of Rictor or blockade of Akt
      abolished interleukin-4-stimulated or transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1
      stimulated macrophage M2 polarization. Furthermore, deletion of Rictor
      downregulated TGF-beta1-stimulated upregulation of multiple profibrotic
      cytokines, including platelet-derived growth factor, vascular endothelial growth
      factor and connective tissue growth factor, in BMMs. Conditioned medium from TGF
      beta1-pretreated Rictor-/- macrophages stimulated fibroblast activation less
      efficiently than that from TGF-beta1-pretreated Rictor+/+ macrophages. These
      results demonstrate that Rictor/mTORC2 signalling can promote macrophage
      activation and kidney fibrosis. Targeting this signalling pathway in macrophages
      may shine light on ways to protect against kidney fibrosis in patients with
      chronic kidney diseases. Copyright (c) 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain
      and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585304
TI  - An analysis of the delivery of anaesthetic training sessions in the United
      Kingdom.
AB  - We analysed data from the electronic rota system CLWRota, covering 2,689,962
      anaesthetic sessions between 01/01/2014 and 31/12/2015, in 91 UK Trusts, in order
      to investigate trainees' supervision. There were 8209 trainee attachments
      analysed, during which 618,695 sessions were undertaken by trainees. The number
      of supervised sessions per week that trainees worked varied considerably (median
      (IQR [range]) 2.6 (1.6-3.6 [0-10]) for all grades combined), with senior trainees
      more likely than junior trainees to be supervised for fewer than the three
      sessions per week mandated by the Royal College of Anaesthetists. The number of
      supervised sessions was unrelated to Trusts' size, suggesting that trainees in
      smaller hospitals receive the same level of supervision as in larger teaching
      hospitals. Analysis of a dataset of this size should be a good reflection of the
      delivery of anaesthesia training in the UK.

PMID- 28585303
TI  - Different DRB1*03:01-DQB1*02:01 haplotypes confer different risk for celiac
      disease.
AB  - Celiac disease is associated with the HLA-DR3-DQA1*05:01-DQB1*02:01 and DR4
      DQA1*03:01-DQB1*03:02 haplotypes. In addition, there are currently over 40 non
      HLA loci associated with celiac disease. This study extends previous analyses on
      different HLA haplotypes in celiac disease using next generation targeted
      sequencing. Included were 143 patients with celiac disease and 135 non-celiac
      disease controls investigated at median 9.8 years (1.4-18.3 years). PCR-based
      amplification of HLA and sequencing with Illumina MiSeq technology were used for
      extended sequencing of the HLA class II haplotypes HLA-DRB1, DRB3, DRB4, DRB5,
      DQA1 and DQB1, respectively. Odds ratios were computed marginally for every
      allele and haplotype as the ratio of allelic frequency in patients and controls
      as ratio of exposure rates (RR), when comparing a null reference with equal
      exposure rates in cases and controls. Among the extended HLA haplotypes, the
      strongest risk haplotype for celiac disease was shown for DRB3*01:01:02 in
      linkage with DQA1*05:01-DQB1*02:01 (RR = 6.34; P-value < .0001). In a
      subpopulation analysis, DRB3*01:01:02-DQA1*05:01-DQB1*02:01 remained the most
      significant in patients with Scandinavian ethnicity (RR = 4.63; P < .0001)
      whereas DRB1*07:01:01-DRB4*01:03:01-DQA1*02:01-DQB1*02:02:01 presented the
      highest risk of celiac disease among non-Scandinavians (RR = 7.94; P = .011). The
      data also revealed 2 distinct celiac disease risk DR3-DQA1*05:01-DQB*02:01
      haplotypes distinguished by either the DRB3*01:01:02 or DRB3*02:02:01 alleles,
      indicating that different DRB1*03:01-DQB1*02:01 haplotypes confer different risk
      for celiac disease. The associated risk of celiac disease for DR3-DRB3*01:01:02
      DQA1*05:01-DQB1*02:01 is predominant among patients of Scandinavian ethnicity.

PMID- 28585305
TI  - The universal light coupler.

PMID- 28585306
TI  - Circulation and diagnostics of Puumala virus in Norway: nephropatia epidemica
      incidence and rodent population dynamics.
AB  - Hantaviruses pose a public health concern worldwide causing haemorrhagic fever
      with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Puumala virus
      (PUUV) is the most prevalent hantavirus in Central and Northern Europe, and
      causes a mild form of HFRS, also known as nephropathia epidemica (NE). In nature,
      the main host of PUUV is the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), and transmission to
      humans occurs through inhalation of aerosols from rodent excreta. Nephropathia
      epidemica is particularly prevalent in Nordic countries, however, few studies of
      PUUV have been performed in Norway. The aim of this study was to analyse the
      dynamics of PUUV in Norway and compare with bank vole population dynamics, and
      also to complement the current diagnostic methodology of NE in Norway. Our
      results showed a significant seasonal and geographical variation of NE, and a
      general parallel peak trend between bank vole population densities and human NE
      incidence. A real-time and a nested PCR were successfully established as an
      invaluable diagnostic tool, with detection and sequencing of PUUV in a human
      serum sample for the first time in Norway. Phylogenetic analysis showed
      clustering of the obtained human sample with previous Norwegian bank vole
      isolates.

PMID- 28585307
TI  - Maternal antibodies against tetanus toxoid do not inhibit potency of antibody
      responses to autologous antigen in newborn rhesus monkeys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous study suggested newborns have competent immune systems
      with the potential to respond to foreign antigens and vaccines. In this study, we
      examined infant immune responses to tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccination in the
      presence of maternal antibody to TT. METHODS: We examined changes in plasma
      levels of tetanus toxoid-specific IgG1 (anti-TT IgG1) in a total of eight infant
      rhesus macaques from birth through 6 months of age using a commercial Monkey Anti
      TT IgG1 ELISA kit. RESULTS: A significant correlation between anti-TT IgG1 levels
      in vaccinated dams and their paired newborn infants was detected in control (non
      vaccinated) infants as previously reported. Maternal anti-TT IgG1 levels declined
      rapidly within 1 month of birth in non-vaccinated infants (n=4). In four infants
      vaccinated with TT at birth, we found two had rapid and robust antibody responses
      to vaccination. Interestingly, the other two first showed declining TT antibody
      levels for 2 weeks followed by increasing levels without additional vaccine
      boosts, indicating all four had good antibody responses to primary TT vaccination
      at birth, despite the presence of high levels of maternal antibodies to TT in all
      four infants. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that newborn macaques have competent
      immune systems that are capable of generating their own primary antibody
      responses to vaccination, at least to tetanus antigens. Maternal antibodies thus
      do not significantly impair antibody response to the vaccination, even when
      received on the day of birth in infant rhesus macaques.

PMID- 28585301
TI  - Analysis of complete genome sequence and major surface antigens of Neorickettsia
      helminthoeca, causative agent of salmon poisoning disease.
AB  - Neorickettsia helminthoeca, a type species of the genus Neorickettsia, is an
      endosymbiont of digenetic trematodes of veterinary importance. Upon ingestion of
      salmonid fish parasitized with infected trematodes, canids develop salmon
      poisoning disease (SPD), an acute febrile illness that is particularly severe and
      often fatal in dogs without adequate treatment. We determined and analysed the
      complete genome sequence of N. helminthoeca: a single small circular chromosome
      of 884 232 bp encoding 774 potential proteins. N. helminthoeca is unable to
      synthesize lipopolysaccharides and most amino acids, but is capable of
      synthesizing vitamins, cofactors, nucleotides and bacterioferritin. N.
      helminthoeca is, however, distinct from majority of the family Anaplasmataceae to
      which it belongs, as it encodes nearly all enzymes required for peptidoglycan
      biosynthesis, suggesting its structural hardiness and inflammatory potential.
      Using sera from dogs that were experimentally infected by feeding with
      parasitized fish or naturally infected in southern California, Western blot
      analysis revealed that among five predicted N. helminthoeca outer membrane
      proteins, P51 and strain-variable surface antigen were uniformly recognized. Our
      finding will help understanding pathogenesis, prevalence of N. helminthoeca
      infection among trematodes, canids and potentially other animals in nature to
      develop effective SPD diagnostic and preventive measures. Recent progresses in
      large-scale genome sequencing have been uncovering broad distribution of
      Neorickettsia spp., the comparative genomics will facilitate understanding of
      biology and the natural history of these elusive environmental bacteria.

PMID- 28585308
TI  - Immunosurveillance profile of oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral epithelial
      dysplasia through dendritic and T-cell analysis.
AB  - : Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) can arise from potentially malignant
      disorders, such as leukoplakia. The immune system plays an important role
      recognizing tumour precursor cells. However, due to immuno-editing mechanisms
      cancer cells are able to escape immune system surveillance. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the profile of dendritic (Langerhans and plasmacytoid) and T cells in
      OSCC and oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and correlate these findings with
      clinical data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty cases of OSCC and 48 of OED were
      immunostained for CD1a and CD83 dendritic Langerhans cells (DLC), CD303
      plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) and CD8 followed by quantitative analysis.
      RESULTS: Analysis revealed a significant decrease in the number of mature CD83
      DLC in OSCC compared with OED. CD303 positivity was significantly increased in
      the OSCC group when compared to OED. CD8-positive lymphocytes were significantly
      decreased in OSCC compared with OED lesions. No statistical correlation was found
      with clinical data. CONCLUSION: The number of mature dendritic cells (DC) was
      decreased in OSCC compared with OED lesions suggesting that either these cells
      might have migrated to lymph nodes to present the tumour antigens and activate
      the immune system or cytokines secreted by the tumour microenvironment are
      inhibiting the adequate maturation of DLC. The numbers of pDC were significantly
      increased in the OSCC group compared with the OED group. This suggests they may
      play an important role in the defence against tumours although it is not clear
      whether this is promoting or inhibiting malignant progression.

PMID- 28585309
TI  - A High-Performance Li-O2 Battery with a Strongly Solvating
      Hexamethylphosphoramide Electrolyte and a LiPON-Protected Lithium Anode.
AB  - The aprotic Li-O2 battery has attracted a great deal of interest because
      theoretically it can store more energy than today's Li-ion batteries. However,
      current Li-O2 batteries suffer from passivation/clogging of the cathode by
      discharged Li2 O2 , high charging voltage for its subsequent oxidation, and
      accumulation of side reaction products (particularly Li2 CO3 and LiOH) upon
      cycling. Here, an advanced Li-O2 battery with a hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA)
      electrolyte is reported that can dissolve Li2 O2 , Li2 CO3 , and LiOH up to 0.35,
      0.36, and 1.11 * 10-3 m, respectively, and a LiPON-protected lithium anode that
      can be reversibly cycled in the HMPA electrolyte. Compared to the benchmark of
      ether-based Li-O2 batteries, improved capacity, rate capability, voltaic
      efficiency, and cycle life are achieved for the HMPA-based Li-O2 cells. More
      importantly, a combination of advanced research techniques provide compelling
      evidence that operation of the HMPA-based Li-O2 battery is backed by nearly
      reversible formation/decomposition of Li2 O2 with negligible side reactions.

PMID- 28585310
TI  - Direct-acting antivirals for chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Millions of people worldwide suffer from hepatitis C, which can lead
      to severe liver disease, liver cancer, and death. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs)
      are relatively new and expensive interventions for chronic hepatitis C, and
      preliminary results suggest that DAAs may eradicate hepatitis C virus (HCV) from
      the blood (sustained virological response). However, it is still questionable if
      eradication of hepatitis C virus in the blood eliminates hepatitis C in the body,
      and improves survival and leads to fewer complications. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      benefits and harms of DAAs in people with chronic HCV. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched for all published and unpublished trials in The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary
      Group Controlled Trials Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, Science Citation
      Index Expanded, LILACS, and BIOSIS; the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database
      (CBM), China Network Knowledge Information (CNKI), the Chinese Science Journal
      Database (VIP), Google Scholar, The Turning Research into Practice (TRIP)
      Database, ClinicalTrials.gov, European Medicines Agency (EMA)
      (www.ema.europa.eu/ema/), WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
      (www.who.int/ictrp), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (www.fda.gov), and
      pharmaceutical company sources for ongoing or unpublished trials. Searches were
      last run in October 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised clinical trials
      comparing DAAs versus no intervention or placebo, alone or with co-interventions,
      in adults with chronic HCV. We included trials irrespective of publication type,
      publication status, and language. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard
      methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Our primary outcomes were
      hepatitis C-related morbidity, serious adverse events, and quality of life. Our
      secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality, ascites, variceal bleeding, hepato
      renal syndrome, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatocellular carcinoma, non-serious
      adverse events (each reported separately), and sustained virological response. We
      systematically assessed risks of bias, performed Trial Sequential Analysis, and
      followed an eight-step procedure to assess thresholds for statistical and
      clinical significance. The overall quality of the evidence was evaluated using
      GRADE. MAIN RESULTS: We included a total of 138 trials randomising a total of
      25,232 participants. The 138 trials assessed the effects of 51 different DAAs. Of
      these, 128 trials employed matching placebo in the control group. All included
      trials were at high risk of bias. Eighty-four trials involved DAAs on the market
      or under development (13,466 participants). Fifty-seven trials administered
      withdrawn or discontinued DAAs. Trial participants were treatment-naive (95
      trials), treatment-experienced (17 trials), or both treatment-naive and treatment
      experienced (24 trials). The HCV genotypes were genotype 1 (119 trials), genotype
      2 (eight trials), genotype 3 (six trials), genotype 4 (nine trials), and genotype
      6 (one trial). We identified two ongoing trials.Meta-analysis of the effects of
      all DAAs on the market or under development showed no evidence of a difference
      when assessing hepatitis C-related morbidity or all-cause mortality (OR 3.72, 95%
      CI 0.53 to 26.18, P = 0.19, I2 = 0%, 2,996 participants, 11 trials, very low
      quality evidence). As there were no data on hepatitis C-related morbidity and
      very few data on mortality (DAA 15/2377 (0.63%) versus control 1/617 (0.16%)), it
      was not possible to perform Trial Sequential Analysis on hepatitis C-related
      morbidity or all-cause mortality.Meta-analysis of all DAAs on the market or under
      development showed no evidence of a difference when assessing serious adverse
      events (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.15, P = 0.52, I2 = 0%, 15,817 participants, 43
      trials, very low-quality evidence). The Trial Sequential Analysis showed that the
      cumulative Z-score crossed the trial sequential boundary for futility, showing
      that there was sufficient information to rule out that DAAs compared with placebo
      reduced the relative risk of a serious adverse event by 20%. The only DAA that
      showed a significant difference on risk of serious adverse events when meta
      analysed separately was simeprevir (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.86). However, Trial
      Sequential Analysis showed that there was not enough information to confirm or
      reject a relative risk reduction of 20%, and when one trial with an extreme
      result was excluded, then the meta-analysis result showed no evidence of a
      difference.DAAs on the market or under development seemed to reduce the risk of
      no sustained virological response (RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.52, P < 0.00001, I2
      = 77%, 6886 participants, 32 trials, very low-quality evidence) and Trial
      Sequential Analysis confirmed this meta-analysis result.Only 1/84 trials on the
      market or under development assessed the effects of DAAs on health-related
      quality of life (SF-36 mental score and SF-36 physical score).Withdrawn or
      discontinued DAAs had no evidence of a difference when assessing hepatitis C
      related morbidity and all-cause mortality (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.79, P =
      0.40, I2 = 0%; 5 trials, very low-quality evidence). However, withdrawn DAAs
      seemed to increase the risk of serious adverse events (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.22 to
      1.73, P = 0.001, I2 = 0%, 29 trials, very low-quality evidence), and Trial
      Sequential Analysis confirmed this meta-analysis result.Most of all outcome
      results were short-term results; therefore, we could neither confirm nor reject
      any long-term effects of DAAs. None of the 138 trials provided useful data to
      assess the effects of DAAs on the remaining secondary outcomes (ascites, variceal
      bleeding, hepato-renal syndrome, hepatic encephalopathy, and hepatocellular
      carcinoma). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Overall, DAAs on the market or under
      development do not seem to have any effects on risk of serious adverse events.
      Simeprevir may have beneficial effects on risk of serious adverse event. In all
      remaining analyses, we could neither confirm nor reject that DAAs had any
      clinical effects. DAAs seemed to reduce the risk of no sustained virological
      response. The clinical relevance of the effects of DAAs on no sustained
      virological response is questionable, as it is a non-validated surrogate outcome.
      All trials and outcome results were at high risk of bias, so our results
      presumably overestimate benefit and underestimate harm. The quality of the
      evidence was very low.

PMID- 28585311
TI  - Real-Time Observation of Carbon Nanotube Etching Process Using Polarized Optical
      Microscope.
AB  - Controllable synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is of great importance in its
      further application, which attracts broad attention. As growth and etching are
      the two sides in the process of material crystallography and the control of the
      competition between them forms the foundation for modern technology of materials
      design and manufacture, the understanding on etching process of carbon nanotubes
      is still very unclear because technically it is of great challenge to
      characterize the dynamics in such small one-dimensional (1D) scale. Here the real
      time investigation on the etching process of CNTs is reported, by the hot-wall
      chemical reactor equipped with a polarized optical microscope. It is discovered
      that the CNT etching behavior in air is totally of random, including the etching
      sites, termination sites, and structure dependence. Combining with the dynamic
      simulation, it is revealed that the random behavior reflects the unique "self
      termination" phenomenon. A structure-independent etching propagation barrier of
      2.4 eV is also obtained, which indicates that the etching propagation process
      still follows the conventional Kinetic Wulff construction theory. The results
      represent the new knowledge on the etching process in carbon nanotube and can
      contribute to its selective enrichment. Furthermore, the "self-termination"
      phenomenon may be a universal behavior in 1D process.

PMID- 28585312
TI  - Manganese-Based Layered Double Hydroxide Nanoparticles as a T1 -MRI Contrast
      Agent with Ultrasensitive pH Response and High Relaxivity.
AB  - Recently, Mn(II)-containing nanoparticles have been explored widely as an
      attractive alternative to Gd(III)-based T1 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) contrast agents (CAs) for cancer diagnosis. However, as far as it is known,
      no Mn-based MRI CAs have been reported to sensitively respond to a very weakly
      acidic environment (pH 6.5-7.0, i.e., the pH range in a tumor microenvironment)
      with satisfactory imaging performance. Here, recently devised pH-ultrasensitive
      Mn-based layered double hydroxide (Mn-LDH) nanoparticles with superb longitudinal
      relaxivity (9.48 mm-1 s-1 at pH 5.0 and 6.82 mm-1 s-1 at pH 7.0 vs 1.16 mm-1 s-1
      at pH 7.4) are reported, which may result from the unique microstructure of Mn
      ions in Mn-LDH, as demonstrated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure.
      Further in vivo imaging reveals that Mn-LDH nanoparticles show clear MR imaging
      for tumor tissues in mice for 2 d post intravenous injection. Thus, this novel Mn
      doped LDH nanomaterial, together with already demonstrated capacity for drug and
      gene delivery, is a very potential theranostic agent for cancer diagnosis and
      treatment.

PMID- 28585313
TI  - Ultrastiff Hydrogels Prepared by Schiff's Base Reaction of Bis(p-Formylphenyl)
      Sebacate and Pillar[5]arene Appended with Multiple Hydrazides.
AB  - Herein a facile method is reported to prepare polymer gels based on the formation
      of acylhydrazone bond under mild conditions. A pillar[5]arene derivative appended
      with ten hydrazide groups provides multiple sites for the reaction with the
      aldehyde groups of bis(p-formylphenyl) sebacate in the presence of a small amount
      of HCl as the catalyst in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), producing transparent
      polymer organogels. The mechanical properties of gels can be easily tuned by the
      molar ratio of the reactant compounds. After solvent exchange from DMSO to water,
      translucent polymer hydrogels with dramatically enhanced strength and stiffness
      are obtained. The tensile breaking stress and Young's modulus of hydrogels are 20
      60 and 1.2-2.7 MPa, respectively, 100 and 20 times those of the corresponding
      organogels. These robust hydrogels with ultrahigh stiffness should find
      applications such as in load-bearing artificial organs. This work should merit
      designing functional materials using other macrocycles.

PMID- 28585314
TI  - Yield, quality and biochemical properties of various strawberry cultivars under
      water stress.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) species are sensitive
      to abiotic stress conditions, some cultivars are known to be tolerant to
      different environmental conditions. We examined the response of different
      strawberry cultivars to water stress conditions in terms of yield, quality and
      biochemical features. The trial was conducted under two different irrigation
      regimes: in grow bags containing cocopeat (control, 30%; water stress, 15%
      drainage) with four different cultivars (Camarosa, Albion, Amiga and Rubygem).
      RESULTS: Fruit weight declined by 59.72% and the yield per unit area by 63.62%
      under water stress conditions as compared to control. Albion and Rubygem were
      found to be more tolerant and Amiga the most sensitive in terms of yield under
      stress conditions. Water stress increased all biochemical features in fruits such
      as total phenol, total anthocyanin, antioxidant activity and sugar contents.
      Among the cultivars, glucose and fructose was higher in Albion. CONCLUSION:
      Considering the rise in global warming, identification of resistant and tolerant
      cultivars to stress conditions are crucial for future breeding programmes. Our
      results showed that some of the fruit's physical features were affected
      negatively by stress conditions whereas many of the biochemical features such as
      total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were
      positively modulated. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585315
TI  - Heparin-binding protein as a biomarker of acute kidney injury in critical
      illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no biomarker with high sensitivity and specificity for the
      development of acute kidney injury (AKI) in a mixed intensive care unit (ICU)
      population. Heparin-binding protein (HBP) is released from granulocytes and
      causes increased vascular permeability which plays a role in the development of
      AKI in sepsis and ischemia. The aim of this study was to investigate whether
      plasma levels of HBP on admission can predict the development of AKI in a mixed
      ICU population and in the subgroup with sepsis. METHODS: Longitudinal
      observational study with plasma HBP levels from 245 patients taken on admission
      to ICU. Presence and severity of AKI was scored daily for 1 week. RESULTS: Mean
      (95% CI) plasma concentrations of log HBP (ng/ml) in the groups developing
      different stages of AKI were: stage 0 (n = 175), 3.5 (3.4-3.7); stage 1 (n = 33),
      3.7 (3.5-4.0), stage 2 (n = 20), 4.4 (3.5-4.8); and stage 3 (n = 17), 4.6 (3.8
      5.2). HBP levels were significantly higher in patients developing AKI stage 3 (P
      < 0.01) compared to AKI stage 0 and 1. The area under the curve (AUC) for HBP to
      discriminate the group developing AKI stage 2-3 was 0.70 (CI: 0.58-0.82) and in
      the subgroup with severe sepsis 0.88 (CI: 0.77-0.99). CONCLUSION: Heparin-binding
      protein levels on admission to ICU are associated with the development of severe
      kidney injury. The relationship between HBP and AKI needs to be further validated
      in larger studies.

PMID- 28585316
TI  - Patterns of antiepileptic drug prescription in Sweden: A register-based approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine drug utilization pathways from the incident healthcare
      visit due to epilepsy and three years onward. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Anti
      epileptic drug utilization was calculated using individual information on
      inpatient- and outpatient care utilization and drug sales. Throughout, we used
      national register information pertaining to pharmaceutical sales linked to
      diagnosis-related healthcare utilization. Information on pharmaceutical sales was
      collected for the 2007-2013 period. RESULTS: For the entire studied period, a
      majority of new patients with epilepsy were initiated on anti-epileptic drug
      treatment with a monotherapy (98%); most of these patients remained on that first
      treatment (64%). The three most frequently prescribed drugs accounted for 72% of
      the initiated AED treatments. Patients with epilepsy (ICD-10: G40/41) were most
      commonly prescribed carbamazepine, lamotrigine and valproate. The most common
      second-line monotherapy was levetiracetam. About 12% of new patients with
      epilepsy who were initiated on AED treatment during the period eventually
      switched to an add-on therapy. The proportion of patients who were initiated on
      treatment with carbamazepine or valproate decreased, and the proportion of
      patients who remained on their initial monotherapy increased between 2007 and
      2013. CONCLUSIONS: A limited number of anti-epileptic drugs accounted for the
      treatment of a majority of new patients with epilepsy (carbamazepine, lamotrigine
      and valproate accounted for more than 70%). Add-on therapies showed the same
      pattern, as the most frequently prescribed add-on regimens were the same ones
      that accounted for most of the monotherapies. There was a tendency towards fewer
      patients being initiated on AED treatment with either carbamazepine or valproate.

PMID- 28585317
TI  - Modified posterior pelvic exenteration for advanced ovarian malignancies: a
      single-institution study of 35 cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the possible benefits of a complete
      cytoreduction in patients with advanced ovarian cancer and concomitant rectal
      invasion. Furthermore, we evaluated the morbidity associated with radical
      surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis examined 35 women who
      underwent radical surgery in the form of modified posterior pelvic exenteration.
      Descriptive statistics, Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank test were used
      for statistical estimations. Surgical complications were analyzed using the
      Clavien-Dindo classification. RESULTS: The analysis of survival in relation to
      residual disease assessed according to Sugarbaker confirmed an optimistic
      prognosis in patients with optimal debulking with a mean disease-free survival
      period of 33.6 months in R0 patients, 19.6 months in R1 patients, and 14.3 months
      in R2 patients. A statistically significant difference in disease-free survival
      (p = 0.023) was observed between the R0 (without residual disease) and R1+2 (with
      residual disease) groups. Surgical complications occurred in 83% of patients,
      with early postoperative complications being most frequent (65.7%). While grade
      III-IV complications occurred in 37.7% of all patients, no cases of surgery
      associated mortality occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Modified posterior pelvic
      exenteration is a highly effective method for achieving optimal debulking in
      cases of advanced ovarian cancer with the direct invasion of the rectum. Modified
      posterior pelvic exenteration does not delay the beginning of complementary
      chemotherapy. However, it is necessary to take into account surgery-related
      morbidity. As modified posterior pelvic exenteration represents an extremely
      invasive technique, the surgical plan and perioperative care should be
      personalized to address the individual medical and surgical conditions of each
      patient.

PMID- 28585318
TI  - Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 2: Aberrant pre-mRNA splicing and mislocalization
      of granule proteins in neutrophils.
AB  - Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 2 (HPS2) is a syndrome caused by mutations in the
      beta-3A subunit of the adaptor protein (AP)-3 complex (AP3B1 gene). We describe
      five unreported cases with four novel mutations, one of which caused aberrant pre
      mRNA splicing. A point mutation c.2702C>G in exon 23 of the AP3B1 gene caused
      deletion of 112 bp in the mRNA in two siblings. This mutation activates a cryptic
      donor splice site that overrules the wild-type donor splice site of this exon.
      Three other novel mutations in AP3B1 were identified, that is, a nonsense
      mutation c.716G>A (p.Trp239Ter), a 1-bp and a 4-bp deletion c.177delA and
      c.1839_1842delTAGA, respectively, both causing frameshift and premature
      termination of translation. Mass spectrometry in four of these HPS2 patients
      demonstrated the (near) absence of all AP-3 complex subunits. Immunoelectron
      microscopy on the neutrophils of two of these patients showed abnormal granule
      formation. We found clear mislocalization of myeloperoxidase in the neutrophils
      even though the content of this protein but not the activity seemed to be present
      at normal levels. In sum, HPS2 is the result of the absence of the entire AP-3
      complex, which results in severe neutropenia with a defect in granule formation
      as the major hematological finding.

PMID- 28585319
TI  - Structurally and Functionally Optimized Silk-Fibroin-Gelatin Scaffold Using 3D
      Printing to Repair Cartilage Injury In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - Articular cartilage repair remains a great challenge for clinicians and
      researchers. Recently, there emerges a promising way to achieve one-step
      cartilage repair in situ by combining endogenic bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs)
      with suitable biomaterials using a tissue engineering technique. To meet the
      increasing demand for cartilage tissue engineering, a structurally and
      functionally optimized scaffold is designed, by integrating silk fibroin with
      gelatin in combination with BMSC-specific-affinity peptide using 3D printing
      (3DP) technology. The combination ratio of silk fibroin and gelatin greatly
      balances the mechanical properties and degradation rate to match the newly formed
      cartilage. This dually optimized scaffold has shown superior performance for
      cartilage repair in a knee joint because it not only retains adequate BMSCs, due
      to efficient recruiting ability, and acts as a physical barrier for blood clots,
      but also provides a mechanical protection before neocartilage formation and a
      suitable 3D microenvironment for BMSC proliferation, differentiation, and
      extracellular matrix production. It appears to be a promising biomaterial for
      knee cartilage repair and is worthy of further investigation in large animal
      studies and preclinical applications. Beyond knee cartilage, this dually
      optimized scaffold may also serve as an ideal biomaterial for the regeneration of
      other joint cartilages.

PMID- 28585321
TI  - Delayed onset filler complication: Two case reports and literature review.
AB  - Soft tissue augmentation by fillers has become a popular cosmetic tool to offer
      rejuvenation and aesthetic improvement. Its results are comparable to those
      previously achieved only by plastic surgery. However, marked increase of filler
      procedures is associated with a great number of complications. Complications
      associated with filler injection might have early onset (within days) or late
      onset (after weeks to years). Delayed complications include infections, foreign
      body granulomatous reaction, migration of filler material, persistent
      discoloration, and scarring. Here we report two cases of delayed complications:
      one case of foreign body granuloma with migration and one case of acute
      inflammation involving a quiescent granuloma.

PMID- 28585322
TI  - Semiparametric regression analysis of failure time data with dependent interval
      censoring.
AB  - Interval-censored failure-time data arise when subjects are examined or observed
      periodically such that the failure time of interest is not examined exactly but
      only known to be bracketed between two adjacent observation times. The commonly
      used approaches assume that the examination times and the failure time are
      independent or conditionally independent given covariates. In many practical
      applications, patients who are already in poor health or have a weak immune
      system before treatment usually tend to visit physicians more often after
      treatment than those with better health or immune system. In this situation, the
      visiting rate is positively correlated with the risk of failure due to the health
      status, which results in dependent interval-censored data. While some measurable
      factors affecting health status such as age, gender, and physical symptom can be
      included in the covariates, some health-related latent variables cannot be
      observed or measured. To deal with dependent interval censoring involving
      unobserved latent variable, we characterize the visiting/examination process as
      recurrent event process and propose a joint frailty model to account for the
      association of the failure time and visiting process. A shared gamma frailty is
      incorporated into the Cox model and proportional intensity model for the failure
      time and visiting process, respectively, in a multiplicative way. We propose a
      semiparametric maximum likelihood approach for estimating model parameters and
      show the asymptotic properties, including consistency and weak convergence.
      Extensive simulation studies are conducted and a data set of bladder cancer is
      analyzed for illustrative purposes. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585323
TI  - Racial differences in periodontal disease and 10-year self-reported tooth loss
      among late middle-aged and older adults: the dental ARIC study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate racial differences in the associations between
      periodontitis and 10-year self-reported incident tooth loss in a biracial,
      community-based cohort of US late middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: Subjects
      were 3,466 dentate men and women aged 53-74 who underwent dental examinations
      from 1996 to1998. In 2012-2013, telephone interviewers asked participants about
      tooth loss in the preceding 10 years. Separate multivariable ordinal logistic
      regression models were used to calculate proportional odds ratios (OR) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) as estimates of association between periodontitis and
      tooth loss for Whites and African-Americans (AAs). RESULTS: The majority of
      participants were White (85 percent) and female (57 percent) with 23 teeth on
      average at enrollment. Approximately half the Whites (56 percent) and AAs (49
      percent) had periodontitis. At follow-up, approximately 44 percent of AAs and 38
      percent of Whites reported having lost >=1 tooth. In multivariable models, severe
      periodontitis (OR = 3.03; 95% CI = 2.42-3.80) and moderate periodontitis (OR =
      1.64; 95% CI= 1.39-1.94) were significant risk factors of incident tooth loss
      among Whites. For AAs, severe but not moderate periodontitis increased the odds
      of incident tooth loss (OR = 2.22; 95% CI = 1.37-3.59). In the final model,
      education was inversely associated with incident tooth loss among AAs, while
      lower income was associated with greater odds of tooth loss among Whites.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this population-based cohort, there is racial heterogeneity in
      the association between periodontitis and tooth loss. Interventions to reduce the
      impact of periodontitis on tooth loss need to consider these differences.

PMID- 28585325
TI  - Synaptic distribution of individually labeled mitral cells in the external
      plexiform layer of the mouse olfactory bulb.

PMID- 28585320
TI  - Blockade of the 5-HT transporter contributes to the behavioural, neuronal and
      molecular effects of cocaine.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The psychostimulant cocaine induces complex molecular,
      cellular and behavioural responses as a consequence of inhibiting presynaptic
      dopamine, noradrenaline and 5-HT transporters. To elucidate 5-HT transporter
      (SERT)-specific contributions to cocaine action, we evaluated cocaine effects in
      the SERT Met172 knock-in mouse, which expresses a SERT coding substitution that
      eliminates high-affinity cocaine recognition. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We measured
      the effects of SERT Met172 on cocaine antagonism of 5-HT re-uptake using ex vivo
      synaptosome preparations and in vivo microdialysis. We assessed SERT dependence
      of cocaine actions behaviourally through acute and chronic locomotor activation,
      sensitization, conditioned place preference (CPP) and oral cocaine consumption.
      We used c-Fos, quantitative RT-PCR and RNA sequencing methods for insights into
      cellular and molecular networks supporting SERT-dependent cocaine actions. KEY
      RESULTS: SERT Met172 mice demonstrated functional insensitivity for cocaine at
      SERT. Although they displayed wild-type levels of acute cocaine-induced
      hyperactivity or chronic sensitization, the pattern of acute motor activation was
      different, with a bias toward thigmotaxis. CPP was increased, and a time
      dependent elevation in oral cocaine consumption was observed. SERT Met172 mice
      displayed relatively higher levels of neuronal activation in the hippocampus,
      piriform cortex and prelimbic cortex (PrL), accompanied by region-dependent
      changes in immediate early gene expression. Distinct SERT-dependent gene
      expression networks triggered by acute and chronic cocaine administration were
      identified, including PrL Akt and nucleus accumbens ERK1/2 signalling. CONCLUSION
      AND IMPLICATIONS: Our studies reveal distinct SERT contributions to cocaine
      action, reinforcing the possibility of targeting specific aspects of cocaine
      addiction by modulation of 5-HT signalling.

PMID- 28585324
TI  - Identification of major loci and genomic regions controlling acid and volatile
      content in tomato fruit: implications for flavor improvement.
AB  - Plant metabolites are important to world food security due to their roles in crop
      yield and nutritional quality. Here we report the metabolic profile of 300 tomato
      accessions (Solanum lycopersicum and related wild species) by quantifying 60
      primary and secondary metabolites, including volatile organic compounds, over a
      period of 2 yr. Metabolite content and genetic inheritance of metabolites varied
      broadly, both within and between different genetic groups. Using genotype
      information gained from 10 000 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, we
      performed a metabolite genome-wide association mapping (GWAS) study. We
      identified 79 associations influencing 13 primary and 19 secondary metabolites
      with large effects at high resolution. Four genome regions were detected,
      highlighting clusters of associations controlling the variation of several
      metabolites. Local linkage disequilibrium analysis and allele mining identified
      possible candidate genes which may modulate the content of metabolites that are
      of significant importance for human diet and fruit consumption. We precisely
      characterized two associations involved in fruit acidity and phenylpropanoid
      volatile production. Taken together, this study reveals complex and distinct
      metabolite regulation in tomato subspecies and demonstrates that GWAS is a
      powerful tool for gene-metabolite annotation and identification, pathways
      elucidation, and further crop improvement.

PMID- 28585326
TI  - Chicken feather hydrolysate as an inexpensive complex nitrogen source for PHA
      production by Cupriavidus necator on waste frying oils.
AB  - : The chicken feather hydrolysate (FH) has been tested as a potential complex
      nitrogen source for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by Cupriavidus
      necator H16 when waste frying oil was used as a carbon source. The addition of FH
      into the mineral salt media with decreased inorganic nitrogen source
      concentration improved the yields of biomass and polyhydrohyalkanoates. The
      highest yields were achieved when 10 vol.% of FH prepared by microwave-assisted
      alkaline hydrolysis of 60 g l-1 feather was added. In this case, the poly(3
      hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) yields were improved by more than about 50% as compared
      with control cultivation. A positive impact of FH was also observed for
      accumulation of copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) when
      sodium propionate was used as a precursor. The copolymer has superior processing
      and mechanical properties in comparison with PHB homopolymer. The application of
      FH eliminated the inhibitory effect of propionate and resulted in altered content
      of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) in copolymer. Therefore, the hydrolysed feather can
      serve as an excellent complex source of nitrogen for the polyhydroxyalkanoates
      (PHA) production. Moreover, by the combination of two inexpensive types of waste,
      such as waste frying oil and feather hydrolysate, it is possible to produce PHA
      with substantially improved efficiency and sustainability. SIGNIFICANCE AND
      IMPACT THE STUDY: Millions of tons of feathers, important waste product of
      poultry-processing industry, are disposed off annually without any further
      benefits. Thus, there is an inevitable need for new technologies that enable
      ecologically and economically sensible processing of this waste. Herein, we
      report that alkali-hydrolysed feathers can be used as a complex nitrogen source
      considerably improving polyhydroxyalkanoates production on waste frying oil
      employing Cupriavidus necator.

PMID- 28585328
TI  - The recommended dose of idarucizumab may not always be sufficient for sustained
      reversal of dabigatran: comment.

PMID- 28585327
TI  - Arabinoxylan activates lipid catabolism and alleviates liver damage in rats
      induced by high-fat diet.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arabinoxylan was thought to have the potential to change lipid
      metabolism and redox homeostasis in human and animal. However, the effect of
      arabinoxylan on the liver damage induced by high-fat diet needs further
      exploiting. RESULTS: Six-weeks-old 30 male Sprague-Dawley Rats were assigned
      randomly to three groups (n = 10 per group), i.e. a control diet (CON) group, a
      high-fat diet (HF) group and a high-fat diet supplemented with arabinoxylan (6%
      AX, HF-AX) group. Results showed that final body weight and liver weight were
      similar in CON group and HF-AX group, but higher in the HF group. In serum, the
      HF-AX group showed lower triglyceride concentrations than did the HF group. In
      liver, higher lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, total lipase, and acyl-CoA
      oxidase activities and lower triglyceride and cholesterol level were observed in
      the HF-AX group than in the HF group. For the redox homeostasis, arabinoxylan
      supplemented in HF increased T-SOD activity and GSH-PX activity and reduced MDA +
      4-HNE level in liver and/or compared with those in the HF group. Lipid droplets
      and liver cell damage were observed in the HF group compared with the CON and HF
      AX groups. CONCLUSION: Arabinoxylan could improve lipid metabolic disorder and
      alleviate liver damage in rats induced by high-fat diet via activating lipid
      catabolism and suppressing lipid peroxidation. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical
      Industry.

PMID- 28585329
TI  - Effect of linseed supplementation and slaughter age on meat quality of grazing
      cross-bred Galician x Burguete foals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of finishing diet
      (control concentrate vs. linseed concentrate) and slaughter age (13 vs. 26
      months) on meat and nutritional quality of foal meat. For this study, 46 foals
      from crossing Galicia Mountain x Burguete breeds were used. RESULTS: The obtained
      results showed that slaughter age had an influence on chemical composition and
      colour parameters. Foals slaughtered at the age of 13 months had lower content of
      intramuscular fat and higher cholesterol contents than those slaughtered at 26
      months of age. Regarding colour parameters, older foals showed the highest values
      of redness and lowest myoglobin contents. Finishing diet had a low effect on the
      majority of parameters evaluated. Foals fed with linseed presented lower shear
      force values than those fed with control concentrate. Fatty acid and amino acid
      contents were hardly influenced by finishing diet, whereas slaughter age effect
      had a high impact on fatty acid profile. Older animals showed lowest SFA values
      and n-6/n-3 ratio. CONCLUSION: Older animals presented the best meat quality.
      Diet had low effect in meat quality and could be related to the short time during
      finishing diet was administered and the low amount of linseed in the experimental
      diet. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585330
TI  - The Optical Janus Effect: Asymmetric Structural Color Reflection Materials.
AB  - Structurally colored materials are often used for their resistance to
      photobleaching and their complex viewing-direction-dependent optical properties.
      Frequently, absorption has been added to these types of materials in order to
      improve the color saturation by mitigating the effects of nonspecific scattering
      that is present in most samples due to imperfect manufacturing procedures. The
      combination of absorbing elements and structural coloration often yields emergent
      optical properties. Here, a new hybrid architecture is introduced that leads to
      an interesting, highly directional optical effect. By localizing absorption in a
      thin layer within a transparent, structurally colored multilayer material, an
      optical Janus effect is created, wherein the observed reflected color is
      different on one side of the sample than on the other. A systematic
      characterization of the optical properties of these structures as a function of
      their geometry and composition is performed. The experimental studies are coupled
      with a theoretical analysis that enables a precise, rational design of various
      optical Janus structures with highly controlled color, pattern, and fabrication
      approaches. These asymmetrically colored materials will open applications in art,
      architecture, semitransparent solar cells, and security features in
      anticounterfeiting materials.

PMID- 28585331
TI  - The length of Y-chromosomal sequence reads in noninvasive prenatal testing
      reflect allogeneic bone marrow transplant.

PMID- 28585332
TI  - Inadequate adherence to Swedish guidelines for uncomplicated lower urinary tract
      infections among adults in general practice.
AB  - In a primary care study of urinary tract infections (UTIs) performed 2008 in
      Uppsala County, Sweden, 43% of the patients were culture negative. In order to
      investigate the background to the observed overdiagnosis of UTI, study
      invitations were sent to the previously included patients. A total of 256
      patients (88% women) approved to participate. Patient charts and recorded
      laboratory data were reviewed. Two or more of the cardinal symptoms were reported
      in 53% of the women and in 19% of the men. A dipstick test was performed in 93%
      of the consultations. The highest positive predicted values in women had a
      positive nitrite test (95%, 95% CI 87; 99) and dysuria in combination with
      urgency (81%, 95% CI 72; 88). Seventy-one percent of the women who fulfilled the
      symptom criteria received an antibiotic prescription directly, 87% of these had a
      positive culture. The drug of choice was pivmecillinam for women (51%) and
      quinolones (50%) for men. The treatment duration was too long for the women; 68%
      were treated for >=7 days. In conclusion, the adherence to national
      guidelines/recommendations was inadequate. To reduce the selection of
      multiresistant bacteria, an improvement of the use of diagnostic criteria/tools
      and antibiotic drugs in primary care is necessary.

PMID- 28585333
TI  - Prospective cohort study: Cinacalcet-mediated lowering of PTH level and
      cardiovascular disease mortality in younger Korean patients with stage 5 CKD at a
      Korean secondary hospital.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVES: Cinacalcet may reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD)
      mortality in elderly patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However,
      previous studies of the clinical responses to cinacalcet have exhibited
      discrepancies due to highly variable baseline levels of parathyroid hormone
      (PTH), kidney function and age. Little is known about the true effect of
      cinacalcet on stage 5 CKD. The objective of the current observational study was
      to evaluate whether cinacalcet-mediated lowering of PTH levels improves all-cause
      mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality in younger stage 5 CKD patients
      (mean age <55 years). METHODS: This prospective, cohort study reviewed the
      electronic medical records (EMRs) of CKD patients (n=540) with secondary
      hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) for a period of 36 months. Of 540 patients, 104
      subjects met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final evaluation
      (mean serum iPTH 688.7 pg/mL). Patients were divided into a cinacalcet group
      (n=43) and a non-cinacalcet group (n=61). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Comparing the
      cinacalcet group to the non-cinacalcet group, Cox proportional hazard modelling
      found that all-cause mortality was five (31.3%) in the cinacalcet group and three
      (15.8%) in the non-cinacalcet group for patients with serum levels of PTH>600
      pg/mL [P=.277, hazard ratio 2.213, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.529-9.262].
      Cardiovascular disease mortality (CVD: heart disease) occurred in two (5.3%) in
      the cinacalcet group and one (2.1%) in the non-cinacalcet group [P=.425, HR
      2.611, 95% CI: 0.228-9.939]. Overall, there were no significant differences in
      CVD mortality between the two groups. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Cinacalcet was
      not associated with decreases in all-cause mortality or CVD mortality in younger
      stage 5 CKD patients with high PTH levels (>600 pg/mL). This could be explained
      by the diversity of the population in terms of the patient's age, health
      insurance policies, target serum level of biochemical and PTH, and glomerular
      filtration rate (GFR) at admission. These data, although based on an
      observational study, indicate that adding cinacalcet to the current standard care
      for younger stage 5 CKD patients should be re-evaluated.

PMID- 28585334
TI  - Low eddy current RF shielding enclosure designs for 3T MR applications.
AB  - PURPOSE: Magnetic resonance-compatible medical devices operate within the MR
      environment while benefitting from the superior anatomic information of MRI.
      Avoiding electromagnetic interference between such instrumentation and the MR
      system is crucial. In this work, various shielding configurations for positron
      emission tomography (PET) detectors were studied and analyzed regarding
      radiofrequency (RF) shielding effectiveness and gradient-induced eddy current
      performances. However, the results of this work apply to shielding considerations
      for any MR-compatible devices. METHODS: Six shielding enclosure configurations
      with various thicknesses, patterns, and materials were designed: solid and
      segmented copper, phosphor bronze mesh (PBM), and carbon fiber composite (CFC). A
      series of tests was performed on RF shielding effectiveness and the gradient
      induced eddy current. RESULTS: For the shielding effectiveness, the solid copper
      with various thickness and PBM configurations yield significantly better
      shielding effectiveness (>15 dB) compared with CFC and segmented configurations.
      For the gradient-induced eddy current performance, the solid copper shielding
      configurations with different thicknesses showed significantly worse results, up
      to a factor of 3.89 dB, compared with the segmented copper, PBM, and the CFC
      configurations. CONCLUSIONS: We evaluated the RF shielding effectiveness and the
      gradient-induced eddy current artifacts of several shielding designs, and only
      the PBM showed positive outcomes for both aspects. Magn Reson Med 79:1745-1752,
      2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28585335
TI  - Comparison of two skin imaging analysis instruments: The VISIA(r) from Canfield
      vs the ANTERA 3D(r) CS from Miravex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The skin imaging analysis instruments are widely used to record and
      measure the surface and subsurface skin conditions. The main aim of this study is
      to reveal the differences and correlations in measuring wrinkle, skin texture,
      coloration/evenness, vascular features, and pore between two commercially
      available instruments. METHODS: Twenty-eight subjects were enrolled in the study.
      A 2*2 cm cardboard was used to make sure the two instruments analyze the same
      area. Pictures were taken and analyzed by the VISIA(r) from Canfield and the
      ANTERA 3D(r) CS from Miravex, in sequence. RESULTS: The spot, ultraviolet spot,
      brown spot, red area, texture values measured with VISIA(r) were positively
      correlated with age, while the pore and wrinkle values showed no significance.
      The wrinkle, texture, melanin, hemoglobin, pore index, pore volume values
      measured with ANTERA 3D(r) had a significantly positive correlation with age. The
      spot, brown spot values from VISIA(r) were positively correlated with the melanin
      value from ANTERA 3D(r) . Texture value measured with the two instruments
      revealed positive linear correlation. Strong correlation was found between the
      red area value from VISIA(r) and the hemoglobin value from ANTERA 3D(r) .
      Ultraviolet spot from VISIA(r) showed no linear correlation with the melanin
      value from ANTERA 3D(r) . Neither of the wrinkle and pore measured with the two
      instruments showed linear correlation. CONCLUSIONS: ANTERA 3D(r) relies on
      multidirectional illumination obtained by LEDs of different wavelengths from
      different directions which make it advanced at the qualitative evaluation of
      various dermatologic conditions. Compared with VISIA(r) , ANTERA 3D(r) is more
      sensitive in the assessment of wrinkle and it may also be available to evaluate
      the aging-related enlarged pore.

PMID- 28585336
TI  - Liver-Directed Human Amniotic Epithelial Cell Transplantation Improves Systemic
      Disease Phenotype in Hurler Syndrome Mouse Model.
AB  - Mucopolysaccharidosis type 1 (MPS1) is an inherited lysosomal storage disorder
      caused by a deficiency in the glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-degrading enzyme alpha-l
      iduronidase (IDUA). In affected patients, the systemic accumulation of GAGs
      results in skeletal dysplasia, neurological degeneration, multiple organ
      dysfunction, and early death. Current therapies, including enzyme replacement and
      bone marrow transplant, improve life expectancy but the benefits to skeletal and
      neurological phenotypes are limited. In this study, we tested the therapeutic
      efficacy of liver-directed transplantation of a placental stem cell, which
      possesses multilineage differentiation potential, low immunogenicity, and high
      lysosomal enzyme activity. Unfractionated human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs)
      were transplanted directly into the liver of immunodeficient Idua knockout mouse
      neonates. The hAECs engraftment was immunohistochemically confirmed with anti
      human mitochondria staining. Enzyme activity assays indicated that hAECs
      transplantation restored IDUA function in the liver and significantly decreased
      urinary GAG excretion. Histochemical and micro-computed tomography analyses
      revealed reduced GAG deposition in the phalanges joints and
      composition/morphology improvement of cranial and facial bones. Neurological
      assessment in the hAEC treated mice showed significant improvement of
      sensorimotor coordination in the hAEC treated mice compared to untreated mice.
      Results confirm that partial liver cell replacement with placental stem cells can
      provide long-term (>20 weeks) and systemic restoration of enzyme function, and
      lead to significant phenotypic improvement in the MPS1 mouse model. This
      preclinical data indicate that liver-directed placental stem cell transplantation
      may improve skeletal and neurological phenotypes of MPS1 patients. Stem Cells
      Translational Medicine 2017;6:1583-1594.

PMID- 28585338
TI  - Research priorities for conservation and natural resource management in Oceania's
      small-island developing states.
AB  - For conservation science to effectively inform management, research must focus on
      creating the scientific knowledge required to solve conservation problems. We
      identified research questions that, if answered, would increase the effectiveness
      of conservation and natural resource management practice and policy in Oceania's
      small-island developing states. We asked conservation professionals from
      academia, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations across the region to
      propose such questions and then identify which were of high priority in an online
      survey. We compared the high-priority questions with research questions
      identified globally and for other regions. Of 270 questions proposed by
      respondents, 38 were considered high priority, including: What are the highest
      priority areas for conservation in the face of increasing resource demand and
      climate change? How should marine protected areas be networked to account for
      connectivity and climate change? What are the most effective fisheries management
      policies that contribute to sustainable coral reef fisheries? High-priority
      questions related to the particular challenges of undertaking conservation on
      small-island developing states and the need for a research agenda that is
      responsive to the sociocultural context of Oceania. Research priorities for
      Oceania relative to elsewhere were broadly similar but differed in specific
      issues relevant to particular conservation contexts. These differences emphasize
      the importance of involving local practitioners in the identification of research
      priorities. Priorities were reasonably well aligned among sectoral groups. Only a
      few questions were widely considered answered, which may indicate a smaller-than
      expected knowledge-action gap. We believe these questions can be used to
      strengthen research collaborations between scientists and practitioners working
      to further conservation and natural resource management in this region.

PMID- 28585337
TI  - Ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide counteracts the effects of compound 48/80
      in a canine skin organ culture model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide (PEA-um) has been reported to
      reduce pruritus and skin lesions in dogs with moderate atopic dermatitis and
      pruritus. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: A canine ex vivo skin model was used to
      investigate the ability of PEA-um to counteract changes induced by compound
      48/80, a well-known secretagogue that causes mast cell degranulation. ANIMALS:
      Normal skin was obtained from three donor dogs subjected to surgery for reasons
      unrelated to the study. METHODS: Cultured skin biopsy samples in triplicate were
      treated with 10 and 100 MUg/mL compound 48/80, without or with 30 MUM PEA-um.
      Mast cell (MC) degranulation, histamine release into the culture medium, local
      microvascular dilatation, epidermal thickness, keratinocyte proliferation and
      epidermal differentiation markers were evaluated. RESULTS: Exposure of the skin
      organ culture to PEA-um 24 h before and 72 h concomitantly to compound 48/80
      resulted in a significant decrease of degranulating MCs. PEA-um also reduced the
      histamine content in the culture medium by half, although the effect did not
      reach statistical significance. PEA-um significantly counteracted vasodilation
      induced by 100 MUg/mL compound 48/80. Finally, PEA-um alone did not induce
      changes in epidermal thickness, differentiation markers, keratinocyte
      proliferation, MC density and/or degranulation. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      IMPORTANCE: Collectively, these results support the protective action PEA-um on
      the skin of dogs undergoing allergic changes.

PMID- 28585339
TI  - Graphitized Carbon Fibers as Multifunctional 3D Current Collectors for High Areal
      Capacity Li Anodes.
AB  - The Li metal anode has long been considered as one of the most ideal anodes due
      to its high energy density. However, safety concerns, low efficiency, and huge
      volume change are severe hurdles to the practical application of Li metal anodes,
      especially in the case of high areal capacity. Here it is shown that that
      graphitized carbon fibers (GCF) electrode can serve as a multifunctional 3D
      current collector to enhance the Li storage capacity. The GCF electrode can store
      a huge amount of Li via intercalation and electrodeposition reactions. The as
      obtained anode can deliver an areal capacity as high as 8 mA h cm-2 and exhibits
      no obvious dendritic formation. In addition, the enlarged surface area and porous
      framework of the GCF electrode result in lower local current density and mitigate
      high volume change during cycling. Thus, the Li composite anode displays low
      voltage hysteresis, high plating/stripping efficiency, and long lifespan. The
      multifunctional 3D current collector promisingly provides a new strategy for
      promoting the cycling lifespan of high areal capacity Li anodes.

PMID- 28585340
TI  - A Supramolecular Artificial Light-Harvesting System with an Ultrahigh Antenna
      Effect.
AB  - An efficient artificial light-harvesting system is fabricated from a cyclic
      polysaccharide, sulfato-beta-cyclodextrin (SCD); an aggregation-induced emission
      molecule, an oligo(phenylenevinylene) derivative (OPV-I); and a fluorescent dye,
      nile red (NiR), via noncovalent interactions in an aqueous solution. In this
      system, the OPV-I/SCD supramolecular assembly acts as a donor, and NiR that is
      loaded into the OPV-I/SCD assembly acts as an acceptor. Significantly, an
      efficient energy-transfer process occurs between the OPV-I/SCD assembly and the
      loaded NiR, leading to an extremely high antenna effect.

PMID- 28585341
TI  - Investigation of a correlation between taxane-based chemotherapy and the
      ultrasonic time-of-flight of human fingernails.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical practitioners have long associated the physical appearance of
      human fingernails with certain underlying health conditions due to their direct
      connection to the vascular system. The objective of this study was to demonstrate
      how human fingernails can potentially be used as a biomarker to determine the
      severity of a patient's reaction to chemotherapy. METHODS: Quantitative
      investigation of fingernails in patients undergoing taxane-based chemotherapy was
      conducted using a high-frequency 50 MHz ultrasound device in B-mode in the form
      of a pilot study. Time-of-Flight (TOF) ultrasonic signal measurements were
      recorded longitudinally across fingernails over three time intervals; (before
      treatment, in the middle of treatment, and on the last day of treatment); a
      neuropathy assessment and photographs were also taken for comparison. RESULTS: A
      total of 17 patients were examined in this study with ages ranging from 35-69
      years old with both weekly and biweekly chemotherapy regimens. Onycholysis and
      fingernail discoloration were observed in 8 of the 17 patients. White transverse
      lines and white lunula were observed on 4 of the 17 patients. Quantitative
      assessment revealed a TOF median decrease in fingernails during the first half of
      chemotherapy treatment; conversely, TOF median was found to have increased during
      the second half. Median TOF measurements at the end of treatment were found to
      return to approximately that of the baseline value. CONCLUSION: This was a novel
      application of ultrasound in fingernails as chemotherapy biomarkers and further
      studies should be considered to verify and expand on the results obtained in this
      study.

PMID- 28585343
TI  - Effects of four short-chain fatty acids or salts on fermentation characteristics
      and aerobic stability of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) silage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of
      four chemicals on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of alfalfa
      (Medicago sativa L.) silage. Wilted alfalfa was ensiled without additive
      (control), or with formic acid (FA), potassium diformate (KDF), sodium diacetate
      (SDA) or calcium propionate (CAP). RESULTS: After 60 days of ensiling, the pH
      values in FA, KDF and SDA silages were lower (P < 0.05) compared to that of
      control and CAP silages, and chemicals (P < 0.05) decreased butyric acid and
      ammonia N concentrations and populations of aerobic bacteria and yeasts compared
      to the control. The SDA and CAP silages had a higher (P < 0.05) lactic acid
      bacteria content compared to the FA and KDF silages. The SDA and CAP silages had
      higher (P < 0.05) acetic and propionic acid contents compared to the other
      silages, respectively. The ammonia N concentrations in the FA and KDF silages
      were lower compared to the other silages during the first 5 days of aerobic
      exposure, and then increased sharply to 105 and 100 g kg-1 total N, respectively,
      which was higher (P < 0.05) than that of the SDA and CAP silages on day 9 of
      aerobic exposure. Yeasts and aerobic bacteria counts in SDA silage slowly
      increased and remained at lower levels compared to the other silages after 7 days
      of aerobic exposure. CONCLUSION: Additives prolonged the aerobic stability
      duration compared to the control, and the SDA and CAP silages remained stable for
      more than 216 h, followed by the KDF and FA silages (202 and 196 h,
      respectively). (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585342
TI  - European consensus statement on phenotypes of pustular psoriasis.
AB  - Pustular psoriasis (PP) is a group of inflammatory skin conditions characterized
      by infiltration of neutrophil granulocytes in the epidermis to such an extent
      that clinically visible sterile pustules develop. Because of clinical co
      incidence, PP is currently grouped with psoriasis vulgaris (PV). However, PP and
      PV are phenotypically different, respond differently to treatments and seem to be
      distinct on the genetic level. In contrast to PV, the phenotypes of PP are not
      well defined. Descriptions of each form of PP are discordant among standard
      dermatology textbooks [Saurat Dermatologie 2016, Rook's Dermatology 2016,
      Fitzpatrick's 2012 and Braun-Falco 2012], encumbering the collection of
      phenotypically well-matched groups of patients as well as clinical trials. The
      European Rare and Severe Psoriasis Expert Network (ERASPEN) was founded to define
      consensus criteria for diagnosis, deeply phenotype large groups of PP patients,
      analyse the genetics and pathophysiology and prepare for prospective clinical
      trials. This work reviews historical aspects of these conditions, new genetic
      findings and presents our initial considerations on the phenotypes of PP and a
      consensus classification of clinical phenotypes that will be used as a baseline
      for further, prospective studies of PP. Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is
      defined as primary, sterile, macroscopically visible pustules on non-acral skin
      (excluding cases where pustulation is restricted to psoriatic plaques). GPP can
      occur with or without systemic inflammation, with or without PV and can either be
      a relapsing (>1 episode) or persistent (>3 months) condition. Acrodermatitis
      continua of Hallopeau (ACH) is characterized by primary, persistent (>3 months),
      sterile, macroscopically visible pustules affecting the nail apparatus.
      Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) has primary, persistent (>3 months), sterile,
      macroscopically visible pustules on palms and/or soles and can occur with or
      without PV.

PMID- 28585344
TI  - A Game Changer: A Multifunctional Perovskite Exhibiting Giant Ferroelectricity
      and Narrow Bandgap with Potential Application in a Truly Monolithic Multienergy
      Harvester or Sensor.
AB  - An ABO3 -type perovskite solid-solution, (K0.5 Na0.5 )NbO3 (KNN) doped with 2
      mol% Ba(Ni0.5 Nb0.5 )O3-delta (BNNO) is reported. Such a composition yields a
      much narrower bandgap (~1.6 eV) compared to the parental composition-pure KNN-and
      other widely used piezoelectric and pyroelectric materials (e.g., Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 ,
      BaTiO3 ). Meanwhile, it exhibits the same large piezoelectric coefficient as that
      of KNN (~100 pC N-1 ) and a much larger pyroelectric coefficient (~130 uC m-2 K-1
      ) compared to the previously reported narrow-bandgap material (KNbO3 )1-x -BNNOx
      . The unique combination of these excellent ferroelectric and optical properties
      opens the door to the development of multisource energy harvesting or
      multifunctional sensing devices for the simultaneous and efficient conversion of
      solar, thermal, and kinetic energies into electricity in a single material.
      Individual and comprehensive characterizations of the optical, ferroelectric,
      piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and photovoltaic properties are investigated with
      single and coexisting energy sources. No degrading interaction between
      ferroelectric and photovoltaic behaviors is observed. This composition may
      fundamentally change the working principles of state-of-the-art hybrid energy
      harvesters and sensors, and thus significantly increases the unit-volume energy
      conversion efficiency and reliability of energy harvesters in ambient
      environments.

PMID- 28585345
TI  - Genetic screening of FecB, FecXG and FecXI mutations and their linkage with
      litter size in Barki and Rahmani sheep breeds.
AB  - Characterization of fecundity genes offers the opportunity to improve production
      efficiency, and the consequent increase in litter size in livestock industry,
      through utilizing them in breeding programs. The main objective of this study was
      to detect the BMPR-IB, BMP15 and GDF9 gene mutations and to investigate whether
      these mutations are associated with litter size in Egyptian sheep breeds. To
      achieve this goal, 73 adult ewes representing Barki (n = 33) and Rahmani (n = 40)
      breeds were used. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) screening approach was used to detect the presence of
      FecB, FecXG and FecXI mutations in the two selected breeds. Results of this study
      showed that the three different candidate gene mutations, namely FecB, FecXG and
      FecXI are not present among these selected populations of the Egyptian breeds.
      Further studies regarding other mutations and/or other genes, which may influence
      ovulation rate, should be carried out to determine the type and mode of
      inheritance of such genes in Egyptian sheep breeds.

PMID- 28585346
TI  - Ablation of Tacr2 in mice leads to gastric emptying disturbance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tacr2 is one of the G protein-coupled receptors(GPCRs) that mediate
      the biological actions of tachykinins. It is abundantly expressed in the
      gastrointestinal (GI) system and is thought to play an important role in GI
      motility, secretion, and visceral sensitivity. Previously, the physiological and
      pathophysiological functions of Tacr2 were mainly studied using Tacr2 selective
      agonists or antagonists. Here, we seek to investigate the effect of Tacr2
      disruption in mice to provide further insights. METHODS: The Tacr2 knockout mice
      were generated by homologous recombination and the phenotypic changes of the
      Tacr2-null mice were analyzed and compared with their wild type (wt) littermates.
      KEY RESULTS: Increased food retention was detected in Tacr2-/- mice. The stomach
      of Tacr2-/- mice had thinner muscularis externa and less neurons in the myenteric
      plexus. The stomach and small intestine exhibited longer duration of electrical
      field stimulation (EFS)-induced inhibition in the gastric fundus and decreased
      frequency of migrating motor complex (MMC), respectively. Neuronal nitric oxide
      synthase (nNOS) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) were significantly up
      regulated due to Tarc2 deficiency, contributing to enhanced nitric oxide (NO)
      signaling in the stomach of Tacr2-/- mice. Intraperitoneal application of 7
      nitroindazole (7-NI) to Tacr2-/- mice effectively relieved the gastric emptying
      disturbance. Moreover, Creb and NF-kappaB signalings were involved in the
      regulation of these physiological changes initiated by Tacr2 deficiency.
      CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Tacr2 negatively regulated the expression of nNOS and
      VIP both in vivo and in vitro. Its ablation in mice elevated the expression of
      nNOS and VIP, enhanced NO signaling and changed the Creb and NF-kappaB
      signalings, finally leading to the gastric emptying disturbance of Tacr2-/- mice.

PMID- 28585347
TI  - Giant Ferroelectric Polarization in Ultrathin Ferroelectrics via Boundary
      Condition Engineering.
AB  - Tailoring and enhancing the functional properties of materials at reduced
      dimension is critical for continuous advancement of modern electronic devices.
      Here, the discovery of local surface induced giant spontaneous polarization in
      ultrathin BiFeO3 ferroelectric films is reported. Using aberration-corrected
      scanning transmission electron microscopy, it is found that the spontaneous
      polarization in a 2 nm-thick ultrathin BiFeO3 film is abnormally increased up to
      ~90-100 uC cm-2 in the out-of-plane direction and a peculiar rumpled nanodomain
      structure with very large variation in c/a ratios, which is analogous to
      morphotropic phase boundaries (MPBs), is formed. By a combination of density
      functional theory and phase-field calculations, it is shown that it is the unique
      single atomic Bi2 O3-x layer at the surface that leads to the enhanced
      polarization and appearance of the MPB-like nanodomain structure. This finding
      clearly demonstrates a novel route to the enhanced functional properties in the
      material system with reduced dimension via engineering the surface boundary
      conditions.

PMID- 28585348
TI  - Synthesis of Magnetic-Nanoparticle/Ansamitocin Conjugates-Inductive Heating Leads
      to Decreased Cell Proliferation In Vitro and Attenuation Of Tumour Growth In
      Vivo.
AB  - Conjugates based on nanostructured, superparamagnetic particles, a thermolabile
      linker and a cytotoxic maytansinoid were developed to serve as a model for tumour
      selective drug delivery and release. It combines chemo- with thermal therapy. The
      linker-modified toxin was prepared by a combination of biotechnology and
      semisynthesis. Drug release was achieved by hyperthermia through an external
      oscillating electromagnetic field that induces heat inside the particles.
      Efficacy of this release concept was demonstrated both for cancer cell
      proliferation in vitro, and for tumour growth in vivo, in a xenograft mouse
      model. Biocompatibility studies for these magnetic-nanoparticle/ansamitocin
      conjugates complement this work.

PMID- 28585349
TI  - CSNK2B splice site mutations in patients cause intellectual disability with or
      without myoclonic epilepsy.
AB  - De novo mutations are a frequent cause of disorders related to brain development.
      We report the results from the screening of two patients diagnosed with
      intellectual disability (ID) using exome sequencing to identify new causative de
      novo mutations. Exome sequencing was conducted in two patient-parent trios to
      identify de novo variants. In silico and expression studies were also performed
      to evaluate the functional consequences of these variants. The two patients
      presented developmental delay with minor facial dysmorphy. One of them presented
      pharmacoresistant myoclonic epilepsy. We identified two de novo splice variants
      (c.175+2T>G; c.367+2T>C) in the CSNK2B gene encoding the beta subunit of the
      Caseine kinase 2 (CK2). CK2 is a ubiquitously expressed kinase that is present in
      high levels in brain and it appears to be constitutively active. The mRNA
      transcripts were abnormal and significantly reduced in affected fibroblasts and
      most likely produced truncated proteins. Taking into account that mutations in
      CSNK2A1, encoding the alpha subunit of CK2, were previously identified in
      patients with neurodevelopmental disorders and dysmorphic features, our study
      confirmed that the protein kinase CK2 plays a major role in brain, and showed
      that CSNK2, encoding the beta subunit, is a novel ID gene. This study adds
      knowledge to the increasingly growing list of causative and candidate genes in ID
      and epilepsy, and highlights CSNK2B as a new gene for neurodevelopmental
      disorders.

PMID- 28585350
TI  - A DNA-Based Label-Free Artificial Tongue for Pattern Recognition of Metal Ions.
AB  - An array-based sensing method offers several advantages for detecting various
      analytes. DNA molecules as sensor elements have attracted considerable interest
      owing to their unique properties. Here, a label-free sensor array using DNA and
      commercially available dyes to differentiate metal ions is reported. Based on the
      different interactions between dye-bound DNA and metal ions, the fluorescence
      intensities of the sensor elements are changed to different degrees. In this way,
      fourteen metal ions can be efficiently distinguished by principal component
      analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). A highly sensitive
      discrimination of metal ions with 92.8 % identification accuracy can be achieved.
      The present work provides a simple and convenient method for the construction of
      a DNA-based sensor array.

PMID- 28585351
TI  - Representation scaffolds improve diagnostic efficiency in medical students.
AB  - CONTEXT: Diagnostic efficiency is important in daily clinical practice as doctors
      have to face problems within a limited time frame. To foster the clinical
      reasoning of students is a major challenge in medical education research. Little
      is known about students' diagnostic efficiency. On the basis of current theories,
      scaffolds for case representation (statement of the case as far as it is
      summarised in the mind) could be a promising approach to make the diagnostic
      reasoning of intermediate medical students more efficient. METHODS: Clinical case
      processing of 88 medical students in their fourth and fifth years was analysed in
      a randomised, controlled laboratory study. Cases dealing with dyspnoea were
      provided in an electronic learning environment (CASUS). Students could freely
      choose the time, amount and sequence of clinical information. During the learning
      phase the intervention group was asked to write down case representation
      summaries while working on the cases. In the assessment phase diagnostic
      efficiency was operationalised as the number of correct diagnoses divided by the
      time spent on diagnosing. RESULTS: Diagnostic efficiency was significantly
      improved by the representation scaffolding (M = 0.12 [SD = 0.07], M = 0.09 [SD =
      0.06] correct cases/time, p = 0.045), whereas accuracy remained unchanged (M =
      2.28 [SD = 1.10], M = 2.09 [SD = 1.08], p = 0.52). Both groups screened the same
      amount of clinical information, but the scaffolding group did this faster (M =
      20.8 minutes [SD = 7.15], M = 24.6 minutes [SD = 7.42], p = 0.01; Cohen's d =
      0.5). CONCLUSION: Diagnostic efficiency is an important outcome variable in
      clinical reasoning research as it corresponds to workplace challenges.
      Scaffolding for case representations significantly improved the diagnostic
      efficiency of fourth and fifth-year medical students, most likely because of a
      more targeted screening of the available information.

PMID- 28585352
TI  - A RAB27A duplication in several cases of Griscelli syndrome type 2: An
      explanation for cases lacking a genetic diagnosis.
AB  - Griscelli syndrome type 2 (GS2) is a rare and often fatal autosomal recessive,
      hyperinflammatory disorder. It is associated with hypopigmentation of the skin
      and the hair, resulting in the characteristic pigment accumulation and clumping
      in the hair shaft. Loss-of-function mutations in RAB27A, resulting from point
      mutations, short indel, or large deletions, account for all the cases reported to
      date. However, several GS2 cases originating from Saudi Arabia lack a genetic
      diagnosis. Here, we report on a new RAB27A genetic anomaly observed in seven
      Saudi Arabia families that had remained negative after extensive molecular
      genomic DNA testing. Linkage analysis and targeted sequencing of the RAB27A
      genomic region in several of these patients led to the identification of a common
      homozygous tandem duplication of 38 kb affecting exon 2-5 and resulting in a
      premature stop codon. The pathogenic effect of this duplication was confirmed by
      a cDNA analysis and functional assays. The identification of microhomology
      flanking the breakpoint site suggests a possible underlying mechanism.

PMID- 28585353
TI  - VapC toxins drive cellular dormancy under uranium stress for the extreme
      thermoacidophile Metallosphaera prunae.
AB  - When abruptly exposed to toxic levels of hexavalent uranium, the extremely
      thermoacidophilic archaeon Metallosphaera prunae, originally isolated from an
      abandoned uranium mine, ceased to grow, and concomitantly exhibited heightened
      levels of cytosolic ribonuclease activity that corresponded to substantial
      degradation of cellular RNA. The M. prunae transcriptome during 'uranium-shock'
      implicated VapC toxins as possible causative agents of the observed RNA
      degradation. Identifiable VapC toxins and PIN-domain proteins encoded in the M.
      prunae genome were produced and characterized, three of which (VapC4, VapC7,
      VapC8) substantially degraded M. prunae rRNA in vitro. RNA cleavage specificity
      for these VapCs mapped to motifs within M. prunae rRNA. Furthermore, based on
      frequency of cleavage sequences, putative target mRNAs for these VapCs were
      identified; these were closely associated with translation, transcription, and
      replication. It is interesting to note that Metallosphaera sedula, a member of
      the same genus and which has a nearly identical genome sequence but not isolated
      from a uranium-rich biotope, showed no evidence of dormancy when exposed to this
      metal. M. prunae utilizes VapC toxins for post-transcriptional regulation under
      uranium stress to enter a cellular dormant state, thereby providing an adaptive
      response to what would otherwise be a deleterious environmental perturbation.

PMID- 28585354
TI  - "Real-world" pediatric endocrine practice; how much is it influenced by
      physician's gender and region of practice. Results of an international survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether hormonal treatments for frequent clinical cases
      (short stature, delayed and precocious puberty) are prescribed strictly according
      to clinical guidelines or based on personal tendencies, and whether the decisions
      correlate with physician's personal demographics (age, sex, and place of
      practice). METHODS: Cross-sectional survey, with made-up clinical cases,
      distributed to pediatric endocrinologists using 2 web-based professional forums,
      Israeli and an international. The questionnaire included 8 clinical cases and 5
      demographic questions regarding the physician. Differences in practice between
      Israeli and international endocrinologists were assessed, and correlation between
      the physician's gender and their decisions regarding treatment. RESULTS: One
      hundred fifty-five physicians responded, 28% Israeli and 72% international. In
      girls with early puberty, 60% of international and 26% of Israeli physicians
      chose not to treat with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist. In girls with
      short stature, 79% of Israeli and 34% of international physicians offered growth
      hormone treatment. In girls with early puberty, both male and female physicians
      responded similarly in the international group, but in the Israeli group 47% of
      male and 15% of female doctors would not treat. In girls with constitutional
      growth delay, 67% of Israeli male doctors would not treat with growth hormone
      compared to 30% of Israeli female physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated
      significant practice differences between Israeli and international pediatric
      endocrinologists. Within the Israeli group, significant practice differences were
      seen between male and female physicians. Given that Israeli physicians follow the
      same clinical guidelines it is clear that a large "grey zone" of clinical cases
      exist and much of the decisions on treatment are personal and influenced by
      personal beliefs or gender.

PMID- 28585355
TI  - Improving Care of Transgender Patients.

PMID- 28585356
TI  - Decreased plant productivity resulting from plant group removal experiment
      constrains soil microbial functional diversity.
AB  - Anthropogenic environmental changes are accelerating the rate of biodiversity
      loss on Earth. Plant diversity loss is predicted to reduce soil microbial
      diversity primarily due to the decreased variety of carbon/energy resources.
      However, this intuitive hypothesis is supported by sparse empirical evidence, and
      most underlying mechanisms remain underexplored or obscure altogether. We
      constructed four diversity gradients (0-3) in a five-year plant functional group
      removal experiment in a steppe ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China, and quantified
      microbial taxonomic and functional diversity with shotgun metagenome sequencing.
      The treatments had little effect on microbial taxonomic diversity, but were found
      to decrease functional gene diversity. However, the observed decrease in
      functional gene diversity was more attributable to a loss in plant productivity,
      rather than to the loss of any individual plant functional group per se. Reduced
      productivity limited fresh plant resources supplied to microorganisms, and thus,
      intensified the pressure of ecological filtering, favoring genes responsible for
      energy production/conversion, material transport/metabolism and amino acid
      recycling, and accordingly disfavored many genes with other functions.
      Furthermore, microbial respiration was correlated with the variation in
      functional composition but not taxonomic composition. Overall, the amount of
      carbon/energy resources driving microbial gene diversity was identified to be the
      critical linkage between above- and belowground communities, contrary to the
      traditional framework of linking plant clade/taxonomic diversity to microbial
      taxonomic diversity.

PMID- 28585357
TI  - Hierarchical Co(OH)F Superstructure Built by Low-Dimensional Substructures for
      Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation.
AB  - The development of new materials/structures for efficient electrocatalytic water
      oxidation, which is a key reaction in realizing artificial photosynthesis, is an
      ongoing challenge. Herein, a Co(OH)F material as a new electrocatalyst for the
      oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is reported. The as-prepared 3D Co(OH)F
      microspheres are built by 2D nanoflake building blocks, which are further woven
      by 1D nanorod foundations. Weaving and building the substructures (1D nanorods
      and 2D nanoflakes) provides high structural void porosity with sufficient
      interior space in the resulting 3D material. The hierarchical structure of this
      Co(OH)F material combines the merits of all material dimensions in heterogeneous
      catalysis. The anisotropic low-dimensional (1D and 2D) substructures possess the
      advantages of a high surface-to-volume ratio and fast charge transport. The
      interconnectivity of the nanorods is also beneficial for charge transport. The
      high-dimensional (3D) architecture results in sufficient active sites per the
      projected electrode surface area and is favorable for efficient mass diffusion
      during catalysis. A low overpotential of 313 mV is required to drive an OER
      current density of 10 mA cm-2 on a simple glassy carbon (GC) working electrode in
      a 1.0 m KOH aqueous solution.

PMID- 28585358
TI  - Muscle microcirculation alterations and relation to dipping status in newly
      diagnosed untreated patients with arterial hypertension-A pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The importance of abnormalities observed in the microcirculation of
      patients with arterial hypertension (AH) is being increasingly recognized. The
      authors aimed to evaluate skeletal muscle microcirculation in untreated, newly
      diagnosed hypertensive patients with NIRS, a noninvasive method that evaluates
      microcirculation. METHODS: We evaluated 34 subjects, 17 patients with AH (13
      males, 49+/-13 years, BMI: 26+/-2 kg/m2 ) and 17 healthy controls (12 males, 49+/
      15 years, BMI: 25+/-3 kg/m2 ). The thenar muscle StO2 (%) was measured by NIRS
      before, during and after 3-minutes vascular occlusion to calculate OCR (%/min),
      EF (%/min), and RHT (minute). The dipping status of hypertensive patients was
      assessed. RESULTS: The RHT differed between AH patients and healthy subjects
      (2.6+/-0.3 vs 2.1+/-0.3 minutes, P<.001). Dippers had higher EF than nondippers
      (939+/-280 vs 710+/-164%/min, P=.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests an impaired
      muscle microcirculation in newly diagnosed, untreated AH patients.

PMID- 28585359
TI  - "They just said inappropriate contact." What do service users hear when staff
      talk about sex and relationships?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research into how people with intellectual disabilities (ID) pursue
      intimate relationships in care settings presents some contradictory findings;
      despite increasingly liberal staff views, service users experience significant
      restrictions. This study attempts to explore this gap within a secure hospital,
      examining service user's representations of staff discourses about sexuality and
      intimate relationships. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews with eight service
      users with intellectual disability were analysed using critical discourse
      analysis. RESULTS: Analysis enabled construction of 11 themes falling into three
      categories. Dominant discourses appeared to maintain the integrity of the
      institution, enable staff to occupy a position of power and demonstrate service
      users' responses to perceived control. CONCLUSIONS: Discourses around sex appear
      to serve the interests of staff and the hospital, while being restrictive and
      often incomprehensible to service users. Implications for service development,
      and future research directions, are considered in the context of "Transforming
      Care."

PMID- 28585360
TI  - Functional and phenotypic analysis of basophils allows determining distinct
      subtypes in patients with chronic urticaria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic urticaria (CU) is a frequent skin disease characterized by
      relapsing appearance of pruritic hives. While clinical symptoms are due to the
      release of histamine by cutaneous mast cells, the underlying pathophysiology is
      still unknown. However, previous studies indicate that basophils might be of
      relevance. Besides, the occurrence of autoantibodies against IgE or its receptor,
      FcepsilonRI, and the therapeutic efficacy of anti-IgE antibodies imply that IgE
      mediated mechanisms also play an important role in CU. METHODS: Reactivity of CU
      patients' peripheral blood basophils (n=60) to specific anti-FcepsilonRI and IgE
      independent fMLP stimulation was determined by basophil activation test in
      comparison with patients suffering from IgE-mediated allergic rhinitis (n=10) and
      healthy controls (n=10). In addition, immunoglobulin receptor (FcepsilonRI,
      FcgammaRII) expression and surface bound antibodies (IgE, IgG) were quantified on
      basophils. Furthermore, the autoreactive capacity of CU sera was evaluated and
      urticaria-related symptoms were assessed by both UCT and CU-Q2 oL. RESULTS:
      Stimulating CU patients' basophils via FcepsilonRI, we identified three distinct
      immunologic phenotypes. One subgroup of patients' basophils reacted to
      FcepsilonRI stimulation, whereas the others had anti-FcepsilonRI nonreactive
      basophils. Among the latter, a subgroup with pronounced basopenia was identified.
      Of note, this group was characterized by augmented serum-induced basophil
      activation, increased levels of autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase, and
      also exhibited the strongest disease impact on their quality of life.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CU can be categorized into three immunologic subgroups
      based on their basophil reactivity and frequency. These phenotypes are associated
      with different clinical characteristics, pointing to basophils as important
      players in CU pathophysiology.

PMID- 28585361
TI  - Prevalence of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance in the incarcerated population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of transmitted
      drug resistance (TDR)-associated mutations among treatment-naive, incarcerated
      individuals with HIV-1 infection in the USA as well as the class TDR and
      antiretroviral (ARV) mutations present at baseline. METHODS: Patients over the
      age of 18 years were included in the study if they had been diagnosed with HIV
      infection, if their HIV infection was managed through telemedicine and if they
      were incarcerated in the State of Illinois Department of Corrections between 10
      July 2010 and 29 April 2016. Additionally, the patients were required to have a
      documented genotype and be ARV-naive. A medical chart review was conducted to
      assess demographic information, disease burden, and risk factors for acquiring
      the virus. RESULTS: The inclusion criteria were met for 105 patients. A total of
      24 patients (23%) had a clinically significant mutation associated with
      resistance to any drug class. The prevalence of mutations conferring clinically
      significant resistance was 19% for nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
      (NNRTIs), 18% for nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), and 4% for
      protease inhibitors (PIs). Five per cent of patients had dual-class TDR to both
      NRTI and NNRTI drug classes and 2% of patients had mutations to both NNRTI and PI
      drug classes. There was no significant increase in the prevalence of clinically
      relevant drug resistance mutations based on demographics, burden of disease, or
      risk factors for acquiring the virus. CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of TDR was
      identified in the ARV-naive incarcerated population. The results of this study
      indicate an increased prevalence of TDR in a largely unstudied incarcerated
      population, demonstrating the need for increased monitoring of resistance in HIV
      infected patients world-wide.

PMID- 28585363
TI  - Response to letter to the editor by Professor Tomoyuki Kawada regarding the
      article "Oral health-related quality of life in patients with temporomandibular
      disorders: A case-control study considering psychological aspects".

PMID- 28585362
TI  - Tailor-made PAT platform for safe syngas fermentations in batch, fed-batch and
      chemostat mode with Rhodospirillum rubrum.
AB  - Recently, syngas has gained significant interest as renewable and sustainable
      feedstock, in particular for the biotechnological production of poly([R]-3
      hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). PHB is a biodegradable, biocompatible polyester produced
      by some bacteria growing on the principal component of syngas, CO. However,
      working with syngas is challenging because of the CO toxicity and the explosion
      danger of H2 , another main component of syngas. In addition, the bioprocess
      control needs specific monitoring tools and analytical methods that differ from
      standard fermentations. Here, we present a syngas fermentation platform with a
      focus on safety installations and process analytical technology (PAT) that serves
      as a basis to assess the physiology of the PHB-producing bacterium Rhodospirillum
      rubrum. The platform includes (i) off-gas analysis with an online quadrupole mass
      spectrometer to measure CO consumption and production rates of H2 and CO2 , (ii)
      an at-line flow cytometer to determine the total cell count and the intracellular
      PHB content and (iii) different online sensors, notably a redox sensor that is
      important to confirm that the culture conditions are suitable for the CO
      metabolization of R. rubrum. Furthermore, we present as first applications of the
      platform a fed-batch and a chemostat process with R. rubrum for PHB production
      from syngas.

PMID- 28585364
TI  - Supercharging Proteins: How Many Charges Can a Protein Carry?
AB  - Very highly charged proteins, so-called "supercharged" ions, can lose (excess)
      protons to background gases like N2 . It is remarkable that such extremely acidic
      species can be generated in electrospray ionization, in the presence of not just
      N2 but also much higher-basicity solvents. What mechanism(s) can explain such
      high charging, and what is the ultimate limit?

PMID- 28585365
TI  - Tracking a century of changes in microbial eukaryotic diversity in lakes driven
      by nutrient enrichment and climate warming.
AB  - High-throughput sequencing of sedimentary DNA (sed-DNA) was utilized to
      reconstruct the temporal dynamics of microbial eukaryotic communities (MECs) at a
      centennial scale in two re-oligotrophicated lakes that were exposed to different
      levels of phosphorus enrichment. The temporal changes within the MECs were
      expressed in terms of richness, composition and community structure to
      investigate their relationships with two key forcing factors (i.e., nutrient
      enrichment and climate warming). Various groups, including Apicomplexa, Cercozoa,
      Chrysophyceae, Ciliophora, Chlorophyceae and Dinophyceae, responded to phosphorus
      enrichment levels with either positive or negative impacts on their richness and
      relative abundance. For both lakes, statistical modelling demonstrated that
      phosphorus concentration ([P]) was a dominant contributor to MECs modifications
      before the 1980s; after the mid-80s, the contribution of air temperature changes
      increased and potentially surpassed the contribution of [P]. Co-occurrence
      network analysis revealed that some clusters of taxa (i.e., modules) composed
      mainly of Dinophyceae and unclassified Alveolata were strongly correlated to air
      temperature in both lakes. Overall, our data showed that sed-DNA constitutes a
      precious archive of information on past biodiversity changes, allowing the study
      of the dynamics of numerous eukaryotic groups that were not traditionally
      considered in paleo-reconstructions.

PMID- 28585366
TI  - Advances in Therapeutic Approaches to Extend Healthspan: a perspective from the
      2nd Scripps Symposium on the Biology of Aging.
AB  - The 2nd Scripps Florida Symposium on The Biology of Aging entitled 'Advances in
      Therapeutic Approaches to Extend Healthspan' was held on January 22nd -25th ,
      2017 at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida. The meeting
      highlighted a variety of therapeutic approaches in animal models of aging that
      either are or soon will be in clinic trials. For example, drugs targeting
      senescent cells, metformin, rapalogs, NAD precursors, young plasma, mitochondrial
      targeted free radical scavengers, stem cells, and stem cell factors all have
      shown significant preclinical efficacy. This perspective, based on presentations
      and discussions at the symposium, outlines the current and future state of
      development of therapeutic approaches to extend human healthspan.

PMID- 28585367
TI  - Bioinspired Ultrastrong Solid Electrolytes with Fast Proton Conduction along 2D
      Channels.
AB  - Solid electrolytes have attracted much attention due to their great prospects in
      a number of energy- and environment-related applications including fuel cells.
      Fast ion transport and superior mechanical properties of solid electrolytes are
      both of critical significance for these devices to operate with high efficiency
      and long-term stability. To address a common tradeoff relationship between ionic
      conductivity and mechanical properties, electrolyte membranes with proton
      conducting 2D channels and nacre-inspired architecture are reported. An
      unprecedented combination of high proton conductivity (326 mS cm-1 at 80  degrees
      C) and superior mechanical properties (tensile strength of 250 MPa) are achieved
      due to the integration of exceptionally continuous 2D channels and nacre-inspired
      brick-and-mortar architecture into one materials system. Moreover, the membrane
      exhibits higher power density than Nafion 212 membrane, but with a comparative
      weight of only ~0.1, indicating potential savings in system weight and cost.
      Considering the extraordinary properties and independent tunability of ion
      conduction and mechanical properties, this bioinspired approach may pave the way
      for the design of next-generation high-performance solid electrolytes with nacre
      like architecture.

PMID- 28585368
TI  - Psychometric evaluation of a 6-item Chinese version of the Hamilton Depression
      Rating Scale: Mokken scaling and item analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the 6-item Melancholia subscale of the Hamilton
      Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D6 ) has better psychometric properties than the
      parental 17-item version (HAM-D17 ) in the Chinese populations. METHODS: The
      study was to check the Chinese HAM-D17 and HAM-D6 for reliability and validity
      with Mokken scale analysis and item analysis. We reanalyzed a clinical sample of
      adult psychiatric outpatients (N = 214; age, mean (SD) = 38.3 (10.5) years; 63.1%
      female) in Taiwan. RESULTS: Our Mokken scale analysis showed that the HAM-D6 was
      a moderate unidimensional scale (Hs  = 0.44) while the HAM-D17 was not (Hs  =
      0.26). The 5 items of the HAM-D6 had strong invariant item ordering (HT  = 0.58).
      The HAM-D17 and HAM-D6 had comparable reliability (alpha = 0.79) and validity (r
      = 0.91), and the HAM-D6 was more homogenous than the HAM-D17 . To predict
      depression in remission (HAM-D17  <= 7), the best cutoff of the HAM-D6 was 4
      (specificity, 87.5%; sensitivity, 100%; positive predictive value, 56.0%;
      negative predictive value, 100%). DISCUSSION: The Chinese HAM-D6 was a reliable,
      valid, and unidimensional scale of depression.

PMID- 28585369
TI  - Chemical composition and antibacterial, antifungal, allelopathic and
      acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of cassumunar-ginger.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zingiber montanum (J.Koenig) Link ex A.Dietr. (Zingiberaceae),
      commonly known as cassumunar-ginger, is a folk remedy for the treatment of
      inflammations, sprains, rheumatism and asthma. The aim of the present study was
      to assess the chemical composition, and antibacterial, antifungal, allelopathic
      and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of the essential oil of Z.
      montanum originating from India. RESULTS: The hydrodistilled essential oil of Z.
      montanum rhizome was analyzed using gas chromatography-flame ionization detection
      and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 49 constituents, forming
      98.7-99.9% of the total oil compositions, was identified. The essential oil was
      characterized by higher amount of monoterpene hydrocarbons (32.6-43.5%),
      phenylbutanoids (27.5-41.2%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (11.4-34.1%). Major
      constituents of the oil were sabinene (13.5-38.0%), (E)-1-(3',4'
      dimethoxyphenyl)buta-1,3-diene (DMPBD) (20.6-35.3%), terpinen-4-ol (9.0-31.3%),
      gamma-terpinene (1.1-4.8%) and beta-phellandrene (1.0-4.4%). The oil was
      evaluated against eight pathogenic bacteria and two fungal strains. It exhibited
      low to good antibacterial activity (minimum inhibitory concentration: 125-500 ug
      mL-1 ) and moderate antifungal activity (250 ug mL-1 ) against the tested
      strains. The oil reduced germination (69.8%) and inhibited the root and shoot
      growth of lettuce significantly (LD50 : 3.58 uL plate-1 ). However, it did not
      demonstrate acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity up to a concentration of 10
      mg mL-1 . CONCLUSIONS: The essential oil of Z. montanum can be used as a
      potential source of DMPBD, terpinen-4-ol and sabinene for pharmaceutical
      products. The results of the present study add significant information to the
      pharmacological activity of Z. montanum native to India. (c) 2017 Society of
      Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585370
TI  - Gout: an Asia-Pacific update.
AB  - Even though, Hippocrates recognized gout as an affection of older men and a
      product of high living long back in 5th century BC, this painful condition
      promises to accompany humanity to the 21st century. The incidence is
      progressively rising and females are also affected in the modern era. There are
      also regional and ethnic variations in the incidence, the genetics of which is
      being studied. The recommended best therapy for the acute attacks and long term
      prophylaxis has improved remarkably in the recent years. However, patients are
      often treated inadequately and risk factors for their disease are not well
      explored in daily practice. Although well designed long term studies of current
      and newer treatment are welcomed, educating doctors especially the primary care
      physicians who manage majority of gout cases, in optimizing the currently
      available management options would improve the present care.

PMID- 28585372
TI  - Widespread production of nonmicrobial greenhouse gases in soils.
AB  - Carbon dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ), and nitrous oxide (N2 O) are the three
      most important greenhouse gases (GHGs), and all show large uncertainties in their
      atmospheric budgets. Soils of natural and managed ecosystems play an extremely
      important role in modulating their atmospheric abundance. Mechanisms underlying
      the exchange of these GHGs at the soil-atmosphere interface are often assumed to
      be exclusively microbe-mediated (M-GHGs). We argue that it is a widespread
      phenomenon for soil systems to produce GHGs through nonmicrobial pathways (NM
      GHGs) based on a review of the available evidence accumulated over the past half
      century. We find that five categories of mechanistic process, including
      photodegradation, thermal degradation, reactive oxidative species (ROS)
      oxidation, extracellular oxidative metabolism (EXOMET), and inorganic chemical
      reactions, can be identified as accounting for their production. These pathways
      are intricately coupled among themselves and with M-GHGs production and are
      subject to strong influences from regional and global change agents including,
      among others, climate warming, solar radiation, and alterations of atmospheric
      components. Preliminary estimates have suggested that NM-GHGs could play key
      roles in contributing to budgets of GHGs in the arid regions, whereas their
      global importance would be enhanced with accelerated global environmental
      changes. Therefore, more research should be undertaken, with a differentiation
      between NM-GHGs and M-GHGs, to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms, to
      investigate the impacts of various global change agents, and to quantify their
      contributions to regional and global GHGs budgets. These efforts will contribute
      to a more complete understanding of global carbon and nitrogen cycling and a
      reduction in the uncertainty of carbon-climate feedbacks in the Earth system.

PMID- 28585371
TI  - Influences of early child nutritional status and home learning environment on
      child development in Vietnam.
AB  - Early childhood development plays a key role in a child's future health,
      educational success, and economic status. However, suboptimal early development
      remains a global challenge. This study examines the influences of quality of the
      home learning environment (HOME) and child stunting in the first year of life on
      child development. We used data collected from a randomized controlled trial of
      preconceptional micronutrient supplementation in Vietnam (n = 1,458). The Bayley
      Scales of Infant Development-III were used to assess cognition, language, and
      motor development domains at 2 years. At 1 year, 14% of children were stunted,
      and 15%, 58%, and 28% of children lived in poor, medium, and high HOME
      environments, respectively. In multivariate generalized linear regression models,
      living in a high HOME environment was significantly associated with higher scores
      (0.10 to 0.13 SD) in each of the developmental domains. Stunted children scored
      significantly lower for cognitive, language, and motor development (-0.11 to 
      0.18), compared to nonstunted children. The negative associations between
      stunting on development were modified by HOME; the associations were strong among
      children living in homes with a poor learning environment whereas they were
      nonsignificant for those living in high-quality learning environments. In
      conclusion, child stunting the first year of life was negatively associated with
      child development at 2 years among children in Vietnam, but a high-quality HOME
      appeared to attenuate these associations. Early interventions aimed at improving
      early child growth as well as providing a stimulating home environment are
      critical to ensure optimal child development.

PMID- 28585374
TI  - SVMDLF: A novel R-based Web application for prediction of dipeptidyl peptidase 4
      inhibitors.
AB  - Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) is a well-known target for the antidiabetic drugs.
      However, currently available DPP4 inhibitor screening assays are costly and labor
      intensive. It is important to create a robust in silico method to predict the
      activity of DPP4 inhibitor for the new lead finding. Here, we introduce an R
      based Web application SVMDLF (SVM-based DPP4 Lead Finder) to predict the
      inhibitor of DPP4, based on support vector machine (SVM) model, predictions of
      which are confirmed by in vitro biological evaluation. The best model generated
      by MACCS structure fingerprint gave the Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.87
      for the test set and 0.883 for the external test set. We screened Maybridge
      database consisting approximately 53,000 compounds. For further bioactivity
      assay, six compounds were shortlisted, and of six hits, three compounds showed
      significant DPP4 inhibitory activities with IC50 values ranging from 8.01 to
      10.73 MUm. This application is an OpenCPU server app which is a novel single-page
      R-based Web application for the DPP4 inhibitor prediction. The SVMDLF is freely
      available and open to all users at http://svmdlf.net/ocpu/library/dlfsvm/www/ and
      http://www.cdri.res.in/svmdlf/.

PMID- 28585373
TI  - 2017 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment
      of Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop recommendations for prevention and treatment of
      glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). METHODS: We conducted a systematic
      review to synthesize the evidence for the benefits and harms of GIOP prevention
      and treatment options. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and
      Evaluation methodology was used to rate the quality of evidence. We used a group
      consensus process to determine the final recommendations and grade their
      strength. The guideline addresses initial assessment and reassessment in patients
      beginning or continuing long-term (>=3 months) glucocorticoid (GC) treatment, as
      well as the relative benefits and harms of lifestyle modification and of calcium,
      vitamin D, bisphosphonate, raloxifene, teriparatide, and denosumab treatment in
      the general adult population receiving long-term GC treatment, as well as in
      special populations of long-term GC users. RESULTS: Because of limited evidence
      regarding the benefits and harms of interventions in GC users, most
      recommendations in this guideline are conditional (uncertain balance between
      benefits and harms). Recommendations include treating only with calcium and
      vitamin D in adults at low fracture risk, treating with calcium and vitamin D
      plus an additional osteoporosis medication (oral bisphosphonate preferred) in
      adults at moderate-to-high fracture risk, continuing calcium plus vitamin D but
      switching from an oral bisphosphonate to another antifracture medication in
      adults in whom oral bisphosphonate treatment is not appropriate, and continuing
      oral bisphosphonate treatment or switching to another antifracture medication in
      adults who complete a planned oral bisphosphonate regimen but continue to receive
      GC treatment. Recommendations for special populations, including children, people
      with organ transplants, women of childbearing potential, and people receiving
      very high-dose GC treatment, are also made. CONCLUSION: This guideline provides
      direction for clinicians and patients making treatment decisions. Clinicians and
      patients should use a shared decision-making process that accounts for patients'
      values, preferences, and comorbidities. These recommendations should not be used
      to limit or deny access to therapies.

PMID- 28585376
TI  - Reduce pests, enhance production: benefits of intercropping at high densities for
      okra farmers in Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intercropping can help reduce insect pest populations. However, the
      results of intercropping can be pest- and crop-species specific, with varying
      effects on crop yield, and pest suppression success. In Cameroon, okra vegetable
      is often grown in intercropped fields and sown with large distances between
      planting rows (~ 2 m). Dominant okra pests include cotton aphids, leaf beetles
      and whiteflies. In a field experiment, we intercropped okra with maize and bean
      in different combinations (okra monoculture, okra-bean, okra-maize and okra-bean
      maize) and altered plant densities (high and low) to test for the effects of
      diversity, crop identity and planting distances on okra pests, their predators
      and yield. RESULTS: We found crop identity and plant density, but not crop
      diversity to influence okra pests, their predators and okra yield. Only leaf
      beetles decreased okra yield and their abundance reduced at high plant density.
      Overall, okra grown with bean at high density was the most economically
      profitable combination. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that when okra is grown at higher
      densities, legumes (e.g. beans) should be included as an additional crop.
      Intercropping with a leguminous crop can enhance nitrogen in the soil, benefiting
      other crops, while also being harvested and sold at market for additional profit.
      Manipulating planting distances and selecting plants based on their beneficial
      traits may thus help to eliminate yield gaps in sustainable agriculture. (c) 2017
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28585375
TI  - Intra-observer and inter-observer agreements for the measurement of dual-input
      whole tumor computed tomography perfusion in patients with lung cancer:
      Influences of the size and inner-air density of tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to assess intra-observer and inter-observer
      agreements for the measurement of dual-input whole tumor computed tomography
      perfusion (DCTP) in patients with lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 88 patients
      who had undergone DCTP, which had proved a diagnosis of primary lung cancer, were
      divided into two groups: (i) nodules (diameter <=3 cm) and masses (diameter >3
      cm) by size, and (ii) tumors with and without air density. Pulmonary flow,
      bronchial flow, and pulmonary index were measured in each group. Intra-observer
      and inter-observer agreements for measurement were assessed using intraclass
      correlation coefficient, within-subject coefficient of variation, and Bland
      Altman analysis. RESULTS: In all lung cancers, the reproducibility coefficient
      for intra-observer agreement (range 26.1-38.3%) was superior to inter-observer
      agreement (range 38.1-81.2%). Further analysis revealed lower agreements for
      nodules compared to masses. Additionally, inner-air density reduced both
      agreements for lung cancer. CONCLUSION: The intra-observer agreement for
      measuring lung cancer DCTP was satisfied, while the inter-observer agreement was
      limited. The effects of tumoral size and inner-air density to agreements,
      especially between two observers, should be emphasized. In future, an automatic
      computer-aided segment of perfusion value of the tumor should be developed.

PMID- 28585377
TI  - Approaching Intra- and Interchain Charge Transport of Conjugated Polymers
      Facilely by Topochemical Polymerized Single Crystals.
AB  - Charge transport of small molecules is measured well with scanning tunneling
      microscopy, conducting atomic force microscopy, break junction, nanopore, and
      covalently bridging gaps. However, the manipulation and measurement of polymer
      chains remain a long-standing fundamental issue in conjugated polymers and full
      of challenge since conjugated polymers are naturally disordered materials. Here,
      a fundamental breakthrough in generating high-quality conjugated-polymer
      nanocrystals with extended conjugation and exceptionally high degrees of order
      using a surface-supported topochemical polymerization method is demonstrated. In
      the crystal the conjugated-polymer chains are extended along the long axis of the
      crystal with the side chains perpendicular to the long axis. Devices with
      conducting channels along the polymer chains show efficient charge transport,
      nearly two orders of magnitude greater than the interchain charge transport along
      the pi-pi stacking direction. This is the first example to clarify intra- and
      interchain charge transport based on an individual single crystal of conjugated
      polymers, and demonstrate the importance of intrachain charge transport in
      plastic electronics.

PMID- 28585379
TI  - groEL is a suitable genetic marker for detecting Vibrio parahaemolyticus by loop
      mediated isothermal amplification assay.
AB  - : A groEL gene-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was
      developed to detect Vibrio parahaemolyticus in contaminated seafood and water.
      The assay was optimized and conducted at 63 degrees C for 40 min using Bacillus
      stearothermophilus (Bst) DNA polymerase, large fragment. Amplification was
      analysed via multiple detection methods, including opacity, formation of white
      precipitate, DNA intercalating dyes (ethidium bromide and SYBR Green I), metal
      ion-binding indicator dye, calcein, and 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. A
      characteristic ladder-like band pattern on agarose gel and the desired colour
      changes when using different dyes were observed in positive cases, and these were
      species-specific for V. parahaemolyticus when compared with other closely related
      Vibrio spp. The limit of detection (LoD) of this assay was 100 fg per reaction,
      100-fold higher than that for conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). When
      tested on artificially contaminated seafood and seawater, the LoDs of the LAMP
      assay were 120 and 150 fg per reaction respectively, and those of conventional
      PCR were 120 and 150 pg per reaction respectively. Based on our results, the
      groEL gene-based LAMP assay is rapid, specific, sensitive, and reliable for
      detecting V. parahaemolyticus, and it could be used in field diagnosis.
      SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The loop-mediated isothermal amplification
      (LAMP) assay using groEL gene (an abundant, highly conserved gene and member of
      the groESL chaperone gene family) provided rapid, species-specific and highly
      sensitive method for detecting Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the leading causal agent
      of seafood-borne diseases worldwide. Moreover, groEL LAMP revealed high
      efficiency than conventional PCR assay for V. parahaemolyticus using template
      both from pure culture and artificially contaminated seafood and water, which
      indicated the applicability in the field and environmental screening purpose for
      the organism.

PMID- 28585378
TI  - 4beta-Hydroxycholesterol level significantly correlates with steady-state serum
      concentration of the CYP3A4 substrate quetiapine in psychiatric patients.
AB  - AIM: 4beta-Hydroxycholesterol (4betaOHC) is sensitive towards induction or
      inhibition of CYP3A4, but its potential usefulness as a dosing biomarker remains
      to be demonstrated. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation
      between 4betaOHC levels and steady-state concentrations (Css) of quetiapine, a
      CYP3A4 substrate with high presystemic metabolism, in psychiatric patients.
      METHODS: Serum samples from 151 patients treated with quetiapine as immediate
      release (IR; n = 98) or slow release (XR; n = 53) tablets were included for
      analysis of 4betaOHC. In all patients, Css of quetiapine had been measured at
      trough level, i.e. 10-14 and 17-25 h post-dosing for IR and XR tablets,
      respectively. Correlations between 4betaOHC levels and dose-adjusted Css (C/D
      ratios) of quetiapine were tested by univariate (Spearman's) and multivariate
      (multiple linear regression) analyses. Gender, age (>=60 vs. <60 years) and
      tablet formulation were included as potential covariates in the multivariate
      analysis. RESULTS: Correlations between 4betaOHC levels and quetiapine C/D ratios
      were highly significant both for IR- and XR-treated patients (P < 0.0001).
      Estimated Spearman r values were -0.47 (95% confidence interval -0.62, -0.30) and
      -0.56 (-0.72, -0.33), respectively. The relationship between 4betaOHC level and
      quetiapine C/D ratio was also significant in the multiple linear regression
      analysis (P < 0.001), including gender (P = 0.023) and age (P = 0.003) as
      significant covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that 4betaOHC level
      is significantly correlated with steady-state concentration of quetiapine. This
      supports the potential usefulness of 4betaOHC as a phenotype biomarker for
      individualized dosing of quetiapine and other drugs where systemic exposure is
      mainly determined by CYP3A4 metabolism.

PMID- 28585380
TI  - Astrocytes in a dish: Using pluripotent stem cells to model neurodegenerative and
      neurodevelopmental disorders.
AB  - Neuroscience and Neurobiology have historically been neuron biased, yet up to 40%
      of the cells in the brain are astrocytes. These cells are heterogeneous and
      regionally diverse but universally essential for brain homeostasis. Astrocytes
      regulate synaptic transmission as part of the tripartite synapse, provide
      metabolic and neurotrophic support, recycle neurotransmitters, modulate blood
      flow and brain blood barrier permeability and are implicated in the mechanisms of
      neurodegeneration. Using pluripotent stem cells (PSC), it is now possible to
      study regionalised human astrocytes in a dish and to model their contribution to
      neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. The evidence challenging the
      traditional neuron-centric view of degeneration within the CNS is reviewed here,
      with focus on recent findings and disease phenotypes from human PSC-derived
      astrocytes. In addition we compare current protocols for the generation of
      regionalised astrocytes and how these can be further refined by our growing
      knowledge of neurodevelopment. We conclude by proposing a functional and
      phenotypical characterisation of PSC-derived astrocytic cultures that is critical
      for reproducible and robust disease modelling.

PMID- 28585381
TI  - Modeling Parkinson's disease with induced pluripotent stem cells harboring alpha
      synuclein mutations.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative condition affecting more
      than 8 million people worldwide. Although, the majority of PD cases are sporadic
      in nature, there are a growing number of monogenic mutations identified to cause
      PD in a highly penetrant manner. Many of these familial mutations give rise to a
      condition that is clinically and neuropathologically similar, if not identical,
      to sporadic PD. Mutations in genes such as SNCA cause PD in an autosomal dominant
      manner and patients have motor and non-motor symptoms that are typical for
      sporadic PD. With the advent of reprogramming technology it is now possible to
      capture these mutations in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to establish
      models of PD in a dish. There are multiple neuronal subtypes affected in PD
      including the midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons of the substantia nigra. Robust
      neuronal differentiation into mDA or other relevant neural cell types are
      critical to accurately model the disease and ensure the findings are relevant to
      understanding the disease process. Another challenge for establishing accurate
      models of PD is being met by the generation of isogenic control iPSC lines with
      precise correction of mutations using advanced gene editing technology. The
      contributions of ageing and environmental factors present further challenges to
      this field, but significant progress is being made in these areas to establish
      highly relevant and robust models of PD. These human neuronal models, used in
      conjunction with other model systems, will vastly improve our understanding of
      the early stages of the PD, which will be key to identifying disease-modifying
      and preventative treatments.

PMID- 28585382
TI  - Modeling tau pathology in human stem cell derived neurons.
AB  - Tau pathology is a defining characteristic of multiple neurodegenerative
      disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)
      with tau pathology. There is strong evidence from genetics and experimental
      models to support a central role for tau dysfunction in neuronal death,
      suggesting tau is a promising therapeutic target for AD and FTD. However, the
      development of tau pathology can precede symptom onset by several years, so
      understanding the earliest molecular events in tauopathy is a priority area of
      research. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived from patients with
      genetic causes of tauopathy provide an opportunity to derive limitless numbers of
      human neurons with physiologically appropriate expression levels of mutated genes
      for in vitro studies into disease mechanisms. This review discusses the progress
      made to date using this approach and highlights some of the challenges and
      unanswered questions this technology has the potential to address.

PMID- 28585383
TI  - 19-Year-Old Male with Headaches and a Possible Seizure.

PMID- 28585384
TI  - Modeling the C9ORF72 repeat expansion mutation using human induced pluripotent
      stem cells.
AB  - C9ORF72 repeat expansion is the most frequent causal genetic mutation giving rise
      to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD). The
      relatively recent discovery of the C9ORF72 repeat expansion in 2011 and the
      complexity of the mutation have meant that animal models that successfully
      recapitulate human C9ORF72 repeat expansion-mediated disease are only now
      emerging. Concurrent advances in the use of patient-derived induced pluripotent
      stem cells (iPSCs) to model aspects of neurological disease offers an additional
      approach for the study of C9ORF72 mutation. This review focuses on the
      opportunities of human C9ORF72 iPSC platforms to model pathological aspects of
      disease and how findings compare with other existing models of disease and post
      mortem data.

PMID- 28585386
TI  - Understanding neurodevelopmental disorders using human pluripotent stem cell
      derived neurons.
AB  - Research into psychiatric disorders has long been hindered by the lack of
      appropriate models. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer an unlimited
      source of patient-specific cells, which in principle can be differentiated into
      all disease-relevant somatic cell types to create in vitro models of the disorder
      of interest. Here, neuronal differentiation protocols available for this purpose
      and the current progress on iPSCs-based models of schizophrenia, autism spectrum
      disorders and bipolar disorder were reviewed. We also discuss the impact of the
      recently developed CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool in the disease modeling field.
      Genetically engineered mutation of disease risk alleles in well characterized
      reference "control" hPSCs or correction of disease risk variants in patient iPSCs
      has been used as a powerful means to establish causality of the identified
      cellular pathology. Together, iPSC reprogramming and CRISPR/CAS9 genome editing
      technology have already significantly contributed to our understanding of the
      developmental origin of some major psychiatric disorders. The challenge ahead is
      the identification of shared mechanisms in their etiology, which will ultimately
      be relevant to the development of new treatments.

PMID- 28585387
TI  - A 53-Year-Old Woman with a Subfascial Mass of the Back that Lasted for Years.

PMID- 28585388
TI  - A 32-Year-Old Man with Headache and Visual Loss.

PMID- 28585389
TI  - AN 11-Year-Old Boy with a Leptomeningeal Tumor.

PMID- 28585390
TI  - Type 4 pili are dispensable for biofilm development in the cyanobacterium
      Synechococcus elongatus.
AB  - The hair-like cell appendages denoted as type IV pili are crucial for biofilm
      formation in diverse eubacteria. The protein complex responsible for type IV
      pilus assembly is homologous with the type II protein secretion complex. In the
      cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, the gene Synpcc7942_2071 encodes
      an ATPase homologue of type II/type IV systems. Here, we report that inactivation
      of Synpcc7942_2071 strongly affected the suite of proteins present in the
      extracellular milieu (exo-proteome) and eliminated pili observable by electron
      microscopy. These results support a role for this gene product in protein
      secretion as well as in pili formation. As we previously reported, inactivation
      of Synpcc7942_2071 enables biofilm formation and suppresses the planktonic growth
      of S. elongatus. Thus, pili are dispensable for biofilm development in this
      cyanobacterium, in contrast to their biofilm-promoting function in type IV pili
      producing heterotrophic bacteria. Nevertheless, pili removal is not required for
      biofilm formation as evident by a piliated mutant of S. elongatus that develops
      biofilms. We show that adhesion and timing of biofilm development differ between
      the piliated and non-piliated strains. The study demonstrates key differences in
      the process of biofilm formation between cyanobacteria and well-studied type IV
      pili-producing heterotrophic bacteria.

PMID- 28585391
TI  - Understanding mortality rates after hip fracture repair using ASA physical status
      in the National Hip Fracture Database.
AB  - Hip fracture is the most common reason for older patients to need emergency
      anaesthesia and surgery. Up to one-third of patients die in the year after hip
      fracture, but this view of outcome may encourage therapeutic nihilism in peri
      operative decisions and discussions. We used a multicentre national dataset to
      examine relative and absolute mortality rates for patients presenting with hip
      fracture, stratified by ASA physical status. We analysed ASA physical status,
      dates of surgery, death and hospital discharge for 59,369 out of 64,864 patients
      in the 2015 National Hip Fracture Database; 3914 (6.6%) of whom died in hospital.
      Rates of death in hospital were 1.8% in ASA 1-2 patients compared with 16.5% in
      ASA 4 patients. Survival rates for ASA 4 patients on each of the first three
      postoperative days were: 98.8%, 99.1% and 99.1% (compared with figures of > 99.9%
      in ASA 1-2 patients over these days). Survival on postoperative day 6 was 99.4%
      for ASA 4 patients. Nearly half (48.6%) of the 1427 patients who did not have
      surgery died in hospital. Although technically sound, a focus on cumulative and
      relative risk of mortality may frame discussions in an unduly negative fashion,
      discouraging surgeons and anaesthetists from offering an operation, and deterring
      patients and their loved ones from agreeing to it. A more optimistic and
      pragmatic explanation that over 98% of ASA 4 patients survive both the day of
      surgery and the day after it, may be more appropriate.

PMID- 28585393
TI  - Orientational Coupling Locally Orchestrates a Cell Migration Pattern for Re
      Epithelialization.
AB  - Re-epithelialization by collective migration of epithelial cells over a
      heterogeneous environment to restore tissue integrity and functions is critical
      for development and regeneration. Here, it is reported that the spatial
      organization of adjacent adherent paths within sparsely distributed extracellular
      matrix (ECM) has a significant impact on the orientational coupling between cell
      polarization and collective cell migration. This coupling effect determines the
      migration pattern for human keratinocytes to regain their cohesion, which impacts
      the occupancy of epithelial bridge and the migration velocity in wound repair.
      Statistical studies suggest the converging organization of ECM, in which adjacent
      paths become closer to each other and finally converge to a junctional point,
      facilitating collective cell migration mostly within variable ECM organization,
      as the polarization of the advancing cell sheet is remodeled to align along the
      direction of cell migration. The findings may help to design implantable ECM to
      optimize efficient skin regeneration.

PMID- 28585392
TI  - Return of the lysergamides. Part IV: Analytical and pharmacological
      characterization of lysergic acid morpholide (LSM-775).
AB  - Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is perhaps one of the best-known psychoactive
      substances and many structural modifications of this prototypical lysergamide
      have been investigated. Several lysergamides were recently encountered as
      'research chemicals' or new psychoactive substances (NPS). Although lysergic acid
      morpholide (LSM-775) appeared on the NPS market in 2013, there is disagreement in
      the literature regarding the potency and psychoactive properties of LSM-775 in
      humans. The present investigation attempts to address the gap of information that
      exists regarding the analytical profile and pharmacological effects of LSM-775. A
      powdered sample of LSM-775 was characterized by X-ray crystallography, nuclear
      magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC
      MS), high mass accuracy electrospray MS/MS, high performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC) diode array detection, HPLC quadrupole MS, and GC solid
      state infrared analysis. Screening for receptor affinity and functional efficacy
      revealed that LSM-775 acts as a nonselective agonist at 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A
      receptors. Head twitch studies were conducted in C57BL/6J mice to determine
      whether LSM-775 activates 5-HT2A receptors and produces hallucinogen-like effects
      in vivo. LSM-775 did not induce the head twitch response unless 5-HT1A receptors
      were blocked by pretreatment with the antagonist WAY-100,635 (1 mg/kg,
      subcutaneous). These findings suggest that 5-HT1A activation by LSM-775 masks its
      ability to induce the head twitch response, which is potentially consistent with
      reports in the literature indicating that LSM-775 is only capable of producing
      weak LSD-like effects in humans.

PMID- 28585394
TI  - Wii-based exercise program to improve physical fitness, motor proficiency and
      functional mobility in adults with Down syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with Down syndrome (DS) usually display reduced physical
      fitness (aerobic capacity, muscle strength and abnormal body composition), motor
      proficiency impairments (balance and postural control) and physical functional
      limitations. Exergames can be an appealing alternative to enhance exercise
      engagement and compliance, whilst improving physical fitness and motor function.
      This study aims to analyse the effects of a Wii-based exercise program on
      physical fitness, functional mobility and motor proficiency of adults with DS.
      METHODS: Twenty-seven adults with DS were randomly allocated to an experimental
      group (Wii; n = 14) or control group (n = 13). Participants in the experimental
      group completed a 2-month Wii-based exercise program, with three 1-h sessions per
      week that included training games for aerobic endurance, balance and isometric
      strength. Participants completed assessments regarding anthropometric measures,
      physical fitness, functional mobility and motor proficiency. RESULTS: Mixed ANOVA
      analysis showed a significant group by time interaction for aerobic endurance,
      explosive leg power and flexibility. Independent samples t-test for change scores
      indicated significant between-group differences favouring the experimental group
      regarding speed of limb movement, trunk strength and functional mobility, as well
      as a trend towards significance on body weight. Mann-Whitney's U test for change
      scores demonstrated between-group differences favouring the experimental group
      for visceral fat as well as running speed and agility. Large within-group effect
      sizes were observed for explosive leg power (d = 1.691), body weight (d = 1.281),
      functional mobility (d = 1.218), aerobic endurance (d = 1.020), speed of limb
      movement (d = 0.867) and flexibility (d = 0.818) in the experimental group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that Wii-based exercise can be an effective
      tool to improve physical fitness, functional mobility and motor proficiency of
      adults with DS, including crucial measures such as aerobic capacity and lower
      limb strength. Exergames using Wii Fit or other equipment can be appealing
      alternatives for adults with DS to engage in regular physical activity,
      preventing sedentary behaviour and decreasing the risk to develop cardiovascular
      diseases.

PMID- 28585396
TI  - Climate change does not impacts on Coffea arabica yield in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world. Studies on
      climate change estimate large impacts on production of Coffea arabica (C.
      arabica). In this context, it is necessary to know the quantitative production
      values to provide evidence for policy makers to target the prompt answer.
      RESULTS: Using data from 18 municipalities located in five Brazilian States that
      produce more coffee in Brazil, in an unprecedented way, in this work it is shown
      that although the minimum temperature is the most important climatic variable for
      the production, its effect, although positive, and its degree of explanation,
      were technically too small to explain the volume of production in Brazilian
      conditions. According to the model of non-stationary time series ARIMA (1, 1, 0)
      the coffee production in the future may reach almost four million tons, and the
      productivity almost 2,500 kg ha-1 on average, being the advancement of technology
      the main factor that should promote the simultaneous increases in production and
      productivity. However, despite the natural climate variations, which make it the
      most responsible for the variability of annual coffee production, the producer
      must increase the use of the technologies to support the Brazilian coffee
      agribusiness. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study reveal that the coffee
      production in Brazil is much more due to productivity than to the minimum ambient
      temperature change over the long term, despite this climate variable be
      considered the most influential on the production and productivity of coffee.

PMID- 28585395
TI  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in malignant ovarian germ cell tumors.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the expression and potential clinical
      role of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related factors in malignant
      ovarian germ cell tumors (MOGCT). Protein expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, P
      cadherin, Zeb1, HMGA2, and vimentin by immunohistochemistry was analyzed in 42
      MOGCT from patients treated in Norway during the period 1981-2001. Expression was
      analyzed for association with clinicopathologic parameters. E-cadherin (p =
      0.016) and HMGA2 (p = 0.002) expression was significantly higher in immature
      teratomas and yolk sac tumors compared with dysgerminomas. Vimentin (p < 0.001)
      and Zeb1 (p = 0.029) staining was significantly higher in immature teratomas
      compared with yolk sac tumors and dysgerminomas, whereas no significant
      differences were observed for N-cadherin and P-cadherin. EMT-associated markers
      were not significantly related to clinicopathologic parameters including age,
      tumor diameter, and FIGO stage. In conclusion, based on this limited series, EMT
      associated markers are not associated with clinical parameters in MOGCT, in
      contrast to ovarian carcinoma. EMT-related proteins are differentially expressed
      among various MOGCT subtypes, suggesting differences in biological
      characteristics associated with invasion and metastasis.

PMID- 28585397
TI  - Curcumin for the treatment of tumor-stage mycosis fungoides.

PMID- 28585399
TI  - Current evidence for the use of sugammadex in children.

PMID- 28585398
TI  - Genetic status determines 18 F-FDG uptake in pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although few studies have demonstrated utility of 18 F- fluoro-2
      deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computerised tomography (18 F-FDG
      PET/CT) in benign pheochromocytoma/paragangliomas (PCC/PGLs), there limited data
      on factors predicting the FDG uptake in PCC/PGL. METHODS: The study was conducted
      at a tertiary health care centre. In addition to the routine investigations, all
      patients (n = 96) with PCC/PGL were evaluated with 18 F-FDGPET/CT and majority (n
      = 78) underwent 131 I-metaiodobenzyl guanidine (131 I-MIBG) scintigraphy. Forty
      three patients also underwent testing for germline mutations in five PCC/PGL
      susceptibility genes (VHL, RET, SDHB, SDHC and SDHD) and all patients were
      evaluated clinically for neurofibromatosis-1. RESULTS: The study included 96
      patients with PCC/PGL(82 benign and 14 malignant). FDGSUVmax was significantly
      higher for malignant than benign PCC/PGL(P = 0.009) and for extra-adrenal PGL
      than adrenal PCC (P = 0.017). In subgroup analysis, metanephrine-secreting PCC
      and non-secretory PCC had significantly lower FDG SUVmax than normetanephrine
      secreting PCC (P = 0.017, P = 0.038 respectively), normetanephrine-secreting
      sympathetic PGL (P = 0.008, P = 0.019 respectively) and non-secretory sympathetic
      PGL (P = 0.003, P = 0.009 respectively). Patients with mutations in cluster 1
      genes (n = 14) had significantly higher FDG SUVmax than those with mutations in
      cluster 2 genes (n = 4) (P = 0.04). Sensitivities of 131 I-MIBG and 18 F-FDG
      PET/CTwere 77.78% and 100% for cluster 1 genes-related PCC/PGL whereas they were
      100% and 50% for cluster 2 genes-related PCC/PGL, respectively. Multivariate
      regression analysis of mutation positive patients identified genetic status as
      the only independent predictor of FDG SUVmax. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that
      the underlying genetic status determines FDG uptake in PCC/PGL and not location,
      secretory status or malignancy.

PMID- 28585400
TI  - Managing the marginally raised aPTT-looking beyond the absolute number.

PMID- 28585403
TI  - Reducing risk in pediatric anesthesia: What are the implications from the APRICOT
      study?

PMID- 28585401
TI  - Caudal analgesia, hypospadias, and urethrocutaneous fistula: Does association
      mean causality?

PMID- 28585404
TI  - Frequency of, and factors associated with, hepatitis B virus reactivation in
      hepatitis C patients treated with all-oral direct-acting antivirals: Analysis of
      a Japanese prospective cohort.
AB  - AIM: Several case reports have shown that hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation
      developed in hepatitis C patients with a current or previous HBV infection during
      direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment, which led to severe hepatitis or death
      in some cases. However, its precise frequency and risk factors are not entirely
      clear. We analyzed a prospective cohort. METHODS: We analyzed HBV reactivation in
      461 consecutive hepatitis C patients who received 12 weeks of
      ledipasvir/sofosbuvir for genotype 1 or sofosbuvir plus ribavirin for genotype 2
      at multiple centers. RESULTS: By the examination of the preserved sera at
      baseline, 159 patients (34%) were identified as seropositive for HBV core
      antibody (anti-HBc) and were included in the subsequent analysis; 4 patients were
      positive for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), and the others were negative. Serum HBV
      DNA was undetectable or was detectable but <20 IU/mL at baseline for all
      patients. Serial measurement of HBV DNA at 4 weeks and 12 weeks in the preserved
      serum samples was available in 147 patients and identified HBV reactivation
      (defined as the appearance of serum HBV DNA >=20 IU/mL) in 2 HBsAg-positive and 3
      HBsAg-negative patients. No patient developed HBV-associated hepatitis. Patients
      who developed HBV reactivation had significantly lower anti-HBs titers and higher
      serum alanine transferase levels before treatment. CONCLUSION: Hepatitis B virus
      reactivation during direct-acting antiviral therapies occurs in 3.4% (5/147) of
      patients who are positive for anti-HBc. A low titer of anti-HBs and a high serum
      alanine transferase level prior to treatment are associated with reactivation in
      this patient group.

PMID- 28585405
TI  - Type of oral solid medication packaging and medication preparation time in
      nursing homes: A direct observation study.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Medication administration is a substantial portion
      of the workday in nursing homes, with the medication preparation step being the
      most time-consuming. However, little is known about how medication preparation
      time is affected by the type of packaging used for oral solid medications (ie,
      tablets/capsules). We examined the effects of two types of packaging. As fewer
      steps are associated with strip packaging compared to bingo card packaging, we
      hypothesized that the increase in medication preparation seconds per resident
      with each additional oral solid medication would be smaller when strip packaging
      was used. METHODS: A total of 430 medication preparations conducted by eight
      nurses during the regularly scheduled morning medication administration period in
      two nursing homes-using strip packaging and bingo card packaging, respectively
      were observed. Each medication preparation observation was matched to its
      corresponding medication administration record and observations averaged across
      resident. Using the resident sample (N=149), we estimated three regression models
      (adjusting the standard errors for the clustering of resident by nurse). The
      first model regressed medication preparation seconds on the number of oral solid
      medications. The second model added the type of packaging used and the control
      variables (type of unit [long-term care, post-acute care], the number of one-half
      pills and the dosage form diversity in the preparation). To test our hypothesis,
      the third model added an interaction term between the number of oral solid
      medications and the type of packaging used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: As
      hypothesized, all else equal, the number of oral solid medications tended to
      increase medication preparation time per resident in both nursing homes, but the
      increase was smaller in the strip packaging nursing home (P<.05). Each additional
      oral solid medication in the bingo card packaging nursing home increased
      medication preparation by an average of 13 seconds (b=13.077), whereas each oral
      solid medication administered in the strip packaging nursing home increased
      medication preparation by an average of only 8 seconds (13.077-5.092=7.985). This
      is a difference on average of about 5 seconds per oral solid medication. WHAT IS
      NEW AND CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, we were the first to examine the effect of
      type of oral solid medication packaging on medication preparation time in nursing
      homes. Type of packaging matters. The time saved using strip packaging (vs bingo
      card packaging) has implications for quality of care and the movement towards
      person-centred care in the nursing home sector. Nurses (or other staff tasked
      with medication preparation) in nursing homes using strip packaging potentially
      have more time to devote to nurturing a relationship with the resident. However,
      time saved in medication preparation by strip packaging is counterproductive if a
      serious error results. Thus, future studies should investigate the effects of
      type of packaging on medication preparation errors.

PMID- 28585406
TI  - MR-safe personal radiation dosimeters.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is being rapidly integrated for cancer
      treatments-such systems are referred to as MRI-guided radiation therapy (MRIgRT).
      As the magnet of an MRI scanner is always on, the presence of a strong static
      magnetic field from the MRI scanner during radiotherapy delivery presents new
      challenges. One of the challenges is that a personal radiation dosimeter used to
      estimate the radiation dose deposited in an individual wearing the device must be
      MR-safe. No such devices, however, are currently available. In this work we first
      modified an existing personal dosimeter (by removing a metal clip) to make it MR
      safe and then investigated potential effects of magnetic field on dosimeter
      readings, i.e., optically stimulated luminescent dosimeter (OSLD) readings. We
      found that the effect of magnetic field on OSLD sensitivity was within radiation
      protection tolerance levels. OSLD personal dosimeters can be directly used in
      conjunction with MRIgRT radiation protection purposes.

PMID- 28585407
TI  - Carbon Nanotubes as an Ultrafast Emitter with a Narrow Energy Spread at Optical
      Frequency.
AB  - Ultrafast electron pulses, combined with laser-pump and electron-probe
      technologies, allow ultrafast dynamics to be characterized in materials. However,
      the pursuit of simultaneous ultimate spatial and temporal resolution of
      microscopy and spectroscopy is largely subdued by the low monochromaticity of the
      electron pulses and their poor phase synchronization to the optical excitation
      pulses. Field-driven photoemission from metal tips provides high light-phase
      synchronization, but suffers large electron energy spreads (3-100 eV) as driven
      by a long wavelength laser (>800 nm). Here, ultrafast electron emission from
      carbon nanotubes (~1 nm radius) excited by a 410 nm femtosecond laser is realized
      in the field-driven regime. In addition, the emitted electrons have great
      monochromaticity with energy spread as low as 0.25 eV. This great performance
      benefits from the extraordinarily high field enhancement and great stability of
      carbon nanotubes, superior to metal tips. The new nanotube-based ultrafast
      electron source opens exciting prospects for extending current characterization
      to sub-femtosecond temporal resolution as well as sub-nanometer spatial
      resolution.

PMID- 28585408
TI  - Increased risk of infection-associated death with incompatible kidney
      transplantations.

PMID- 28585409
TI  - A population-based study of risk perceptions of paracetamol use among Swedes-with
      a special focus on young adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate risk perceptions of
      paracetamol use, with a special focus on young adults. METHODS: A web survey was
      sent to a representative sample (n = 5838) of the Swedish adult population.
      Altogether, 3120 persons answered the full questionnaire. Risk perceptions of
      paracetamol use in relation to sex, age, and education were determined using
      logistic regression. RESULTS: Most respondents (70.5%) reported use of
      paracetamol in the 3 months prior to the study; the highest proportion was found
      among those aged 18 to 25 years (75.8%). Nine in 10 were over-the-counter (OTC)
      paracetamol users. A total of 14.2% thought paracetamol is completely harmless to
      use while 54.3% indicated risks associated with use even when following the
      dosing instructions. One third disagreed that it is less risky to use paracetamol
      compared with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Three-quarters identified
      liver damage as a potential consequence of exceeding the recommended maximum
      daily dose. The likelihood of a high-risk perception was higher in women compared
      with men, and increased with age. No association was found between risk
      perception and educational status. Participants aged 18 to 25 years had the same
      ability to identify risks of overdose as did those aged 26 to 65, but expressed
      more careless attitudes towards use. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study population
      purchased paracetamol primarily OTC, they demonstrated basic awareness of
      paracetamol use including the potential consequences of overdosing. Young adults
      (18-25 y), who were the most frequent users of OTC paracetamol, perceived less
      risk associated with use compared with older participants.

PMID- 28585411
TI  - Ultra-fast LC-MS/MS in therapeutic drug monitoring: Quantification of clozapine
      and norclozapine in human plasma.
AB  - A novel approach to high-throughput, targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis has been developed. A single chromatographic
      system can be used for the analysis of a range of 20 drugs and metabolites with a
      total analysis time of 36 s (one 96-well plate of prepared samples per hour). To
      demonstrate the applicability of this approach to quantitative analysis, a method
      has been validated for the therapeutic drug monitoring of clozapine and
      norclozapine following automated extraction from human plasma. Chromatographic
      retention times were 11.4 and 12.4 s for norclozapine and clozapine, respectively
      (for both analytes the chromatographic peak width was less than 1 s). Comparison
      with a conventional LC-MS/MS method (5 min analysis time) showed excellent
      agreement. This new approach offers analysis times more akin to flow-injection
      analysis, but is likely to be more widely applicable because of chromatographic
      resolution from residual matrix components and isobaric interferences.

PMID- 28585410
TI  - 2017 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment
      of Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop recommendations for prevention and treatment of
      glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). METHODS: We conducted a systematic
      review to synthesize the evidence for the benefits and harms of GIOP prevention
      and treatment options. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and
      Evaluation methodology was used to rate the quality of evidence. We used a group
      consensus process to determine the final recommendations and grade their
      strength. The guideline addresses initial assessment and reassessment in patients
      beginning or continuing long-term (>=3 months) glucocorticoid (GC) treatment, as
      well as the relative benefits and harms of lifestyle modification and of calcium,
      vitamin D, bisphosphonate, raloxifene, teriparatide, and denosumab treatment in
      the general adult population receiving long-term GC treatment, as well as in
      special populations of long-term GC users. RESULTS: Because of limited evidence
      regarding the benefits and harms of interventions in GC users, most
      recommendations in this guideline are conditional (uncertain balance between
      benefits and harms). Recommendations include treating only with calcium and
      vitamin D in adults at low fracture risk, treating with calcium and vitamin D
      plus an additional osteoporosis medication (oral bisphosphonate preferred) in
      adults at moderate-to-high fracture risk, continuing calcium plus vitamin D but
      switching from an oral bisphosphonate to another antifracture medication in
      adults in whom oral bisphosphonate treatment is not appropriate, and continuing
      oral bisphosphonate treatment or switching to another antifracture medication in
      adults who complete a planned oral bisphosphonate regimen but continue to receive
      GC treatment. Recommendations for special populations, including children, people
      with organ transplants, women of childbearing potential, and people receiving
      very high-dose GC treatment, are also made. CONCLUSION: This guideline provides
      direction for clinicians and patients making treatment decisions. Clinicians and
      patients should use a shared decision-making process that accounts for patients'
      values, preferences, and comorbidities. These recommendations should not be used
      to limit or deny access to therapies.

PMID- 28585412
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28585413
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28585414
TI  - Tissue factor variants induce monocyte transformation and transdifferentiation
      into endothelial cell-like cells.
AB  - : Essentials Monocytes (Mo) transdifferentiate into endothelial cell-like (ECL)
      cells. Mo induce tissue factor (TF) expression and secretion in microvascular
      endothelial cells (mECs). TF interacts with Mo in a paracrine fashion, inducing
      their transdifferentiation into ECL cells. TF generates a positive feedback
      crosstalk between Mo and mECs that promotes angiogenesis. SUMMARY: Background
      Monocytes (Mo) increase neovascularization by releasing proangiogenic mediators
      and/or transdifferentiating into endothelial cell-like (ECL) cells. Recently, we
      have reported that Mo-microvascular endothelial cells (mECs) crosstalk induces
      mEC-tissue factor (TF) expression and promotes angiogenesis. However, the effect
      of TF on Mo remains unknown. Objective Here, we analyzed whether TF might exert
      angiogenic effects by inducing transdifferentiation of Mo. Methods Full-length TF
      (flTF) and alternatively spliced TF (asTF) were overexpressed in mECs, and their
      supernatants were added to Mo cultures. CD16 positivity and expression of
      vascular endothelial cell (VEC) markers in Mo were analyzed by fluorescence
      activated cell sorting. The capacity to form tube-like structures were visualized
      in three-dimensional cultures. Results In mECs flTF and asTF expression and
      release were increased in cultures with Mo-conditioned media. TF variants induced
      expansion of a CD16+ Mo subset and Mo transdifferentiation into ECL-cells
      expressing VEC markers that can form new microvessels. CD16+ Mo exposed to TF
      showed an increased expression of VE-cadherin, von Willebrand factor (VWF) and
      eNOS. Mo cultured with supernatants obtained from TF-silenced mECs did not
      transdifferentiate to ECL-cells or expressed VEC markers. Blocking beta1-integrin
      in Mo significantly blocked the effects of the TF variants. Conclusions Mo induce
      mECs to express and release TF, which drives CD16- Mo to transform into CD16+ Mo
      and to transdifferentiate into ECL-cells that can form new microvessels. Our
      results reveal a TF-mediated positive feedback between mECs and Mo that
      stimulates Mo differentiation and induces angiogenesis.

PMID- 28585415
TI  - Methodologies for Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) Models: Design and
      Estimation.
AB  - With the increased interest in the application of quantitative systems
      pharmacology (QSP) models within medicine research and development, there is an
      increasing need to formalize model development and verification aspects. In
      February 2016, a workshop was held at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development
      to focus discussions on two critical methodological aspects of QSP model
      development: optimal structural granularity and parameter estimation. We here
      report in a perspective article a summary of presentations and discussions.

PMID- 28585416
TI  - Implications of HCV RNA level at week 4 of direct antiviral treatments for
      hepatitis C.
AB  - We aimed to determine whether the HCV viral load after four weeks of treatment
      (W4VL) with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) predicts sustained virologic
      response (SVR) in a real-world clinical setting. We identified 21 095 patients
      who initiated DAA-based antiviral treatment in the national Veterans Affairs (VA)
      healthcare system from 01/01/2014 to 06/30/2015. Week 4 viral load was
      categorized as undetectable, detectable below quantification (DBQ), detectable
      above quantification (DAQ) with viral load <=42 IU/mL and DAQ with viral load >42
      IU/mL. Week 4 viral load was undetectable in 36.1%, detectable below
      quantification in 45.6%, DAQ <=42 in 9.3%, DAQ >42 in 9.1%. Detectable above
      quantification was much more common and undetectable week 4 viral load much less
      common when tested with the Abbott RealTime HCV assay vs the Roche COBAS
      AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan Version 2 assay. Compared to patients with undetectable
      week 4 viral load (SVR=93.5%), those with detectable below quantification
      (SVR=91.8%, adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.79, P-value=.001), DAQ <=42 (SVR=90.0%,
      AOR 0.63, P-value<.001) and DAQ >42 (SVR=86.2%, AOR 0.52, P-value<.001) had
      progressively lower likelihood of achieving SVR after adjusting for baseline
      characteristics and treatment duration. Among genotype 1-infected patients who
      were potentially eligible for 8-week sofosbuvir/ledipasvir monotherapy, we did
      not find evidence that treatment for 12 weeks instead of 8 weeks was associated
      with higher SVR, even among those with detectable above quantification. In
      summary, DBQ and DAQ W4VL are very common in real-world practice, contrary to
      what was reported in clinical trials, and strongly predict reduced SVR across
      genotypes and clinically relevant patient subgroups. Whether and how week 4 viral
      load results should influence treatment decisions requires further study.

PMID- 28585418
TI  - One Model, Two Enzymes: Activation of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide.
AB  - The ability to catalyze the oxidation of both H2 and CO in one reaction pot would
      be a major boon to hydrogen technology since CO is a consistent contaminant of H2
      supplies. Here, we report just such a catalyst, with the ability to catalyze the
      oxidation of either or both H2 and CO, based on the pH value. This catalyst is
      based on a NiIr core that mimics the chemical function of [NiFe]hydrogenase in
      acidic media (pH 4-7) and carbon monoxide dehydrogenase in basic media (pH 7-10).
      We have applied this catalyst in a demonstration fuel cell using H2 , CO, and H2
      /CO (1/1) feeds as fuels for oxidation at the anode. The power density of the
      fuel cell depends on the pH value in the media of the fuel cell and shows a
      similar pH dependence in a flask. We have isolated and characterized all
      intermediates in our proposed catalytic cycles.

PMID- 28585417
TI  - Cyanobacterial peptides as a prototype for the design of cathepsin D inhibitors.
AB  - Cathepsin D (Cath D) is overexpressed and secreted in a number of solid tumors
      and involved in the progress of tumor invasion, proliferation, metastasis, and
      apoptosis. Inhibition of Cath D is regarded as an attractive pathway for the
      development of novel anticancer drugs. Our previous studies revealed that
      tasiamide B, a cyanobacterial peptide that contained a statine-like unit,
      exhibited good inhibition against Cath D and other aspartic proteases. Using this
      natural product as prototype, we designed and synthesized three new analogs,
      which bear isophthalic acid fragment at the N-terminus and isobutyl amine (1),
      cyclopropyl amine (2), or 3-methoxybenzyl amine (3) moiety at the C-terminus.
      Enzymatic assays revealed that all these three compounds showed moderate-to-good
      inhibition against Cath D, with IC50 s of 15, 884, and 353 nM, respectively.
      Notably, compound 1 showed extreme selectivity for Cath D with 576-fold over Cath
      E and 554-fold over BACE1, which could be a valuable template for the design of
      highly potent and selective Cath D inhibitors. Additionally, compound 1 showed
      moderated activity against HeLa cell lines with IC50 of 41.8 MUM. Copyright (c)
      2017 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585419
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-acylbenzofuranes as novel alpha
      glucosidase inhibitors with hypoglycemic activity.
AB  - A series of benzofuran derivatives was synthesized as analogues of known natural
      alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. Their activity was evaluated in enzymatic assay and
      in rat model of diabetes mellitus. Newly identified inhibitors demonstrate
      significant potency with IC50 values ranging from 6.50 to 722.2 MUm, as well as
      hypoglycemic activity exceeding the reference drug acarbose. Docking simulations
      provided insight into structure-activity relationships to direct further
      development of these novel hypoglycemic agents.

PMID- 28585420
TI  - Quantitative biogeography of picoprasinophytes establishes ecotype distributions
      and significant contributions to marine phytoplankton.
AB  - Bathycoccus and Ostreococcus are broadly distributed marine picoprasinophyte
      algae. We enumerated small phytoplankton using flow cytometry and qPCR assays for
      phylogenetically distinct Bathycoccus clades BI and BII and Ostreococcus clades
      OI and OII. Among 259 photic-zone samples from transects and time-series,
      Ostreococcus maxima occurred in the North Pacific coastal upwelling for OI (36
      713 +/- 1485 copies ml-1 ) and the Kuroshio Front for OII (50 189 +/- 561 copies
      ml-1 ) and the two overlapped only in frontal regions. The Bathycoccus overlapped
      more often with maxima along Line-P for BI (10 667 +/- 1299 copies ml-1 ) and the
      tropical Atlantic for BII (4125 +/- 339 copies ml-1 ). Only BII and OII were
      detected at warm oligotrophic sites, accounting for 34 +/- 13% of 1589 +/- 448
      eukaryotic phytoplankton cells ml-1 (annual average) at Station ALOHA's deep
      chlorophyll maximum. Significant distributional and molecular differences lead us
      to propose that Bathycoccus clade BII represents a separate species which
      tolerates higher temperature oceanic conditions than Bathycoccus prasinos (BI).
      Morphological differences were not evident, but quick-freeze deep-etch electron
      microscopy provided insight into Bathycoccus scale formation. Our results
      highlight the importance of quantitative seasonal abundance data for inferring
      ecological distributions and demonstrate significant, differential
      picoprasinophyte contributions in mesotrophic and open-ocean waters.

PMID- 28585421
TI  - Evaluation of potential anti-toxoplasmosis efficiency of combined traditional
      herbs in a mouse model.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide spread protozoan and is able to infect almost
      all warm-blood animals. No effective drugs are available clinically on
      toxoplasmosis. Chinese traditional herbal medicines have provided remedies for
      many health problems. There exists a possibility that Chinese herbs may provide
      protection against T. gondii. This work aims to assess the protective efficacy of
      combined Chinese herbs against T. gondii. We screened five herbal medicines that
      have different pharmacological effects and combined them into a prescription
      according to the traditional Chinese medicine compatibility principle. The drug
      potential and protective efficacy were evaluated through a mouse model by
      determining the survival time, the parasite load in blood and tissues, the change
      of cell proportions in blood and histological detection. The results showed that
      the survival time of mice in the 500 mg Chinese herbs group and sulfadiazine
      group was significantly longer than that of the PBS control group. Also the
      parasite load in blood and tissues of 500 mg Chinese herbs and sulfadiazine
      groups was significantly lower than that of PBS group at 7 days post infection
      (dpi), which was in accordance with the result of histological detection.
      Monocyte and neutrophil of infected mice were remarkably increased while
      lymphocyte was dramatically decreased compared to that of blank group at 7 dpi.
      The results demonstrated that the 500 mg dosage of our Chinese herbs could slow
      down the replication of T. gondii and prolong the survival time of mice and could
      be considered as possible candidate drug against toxoplasmosis.

PMID- 28585422
TI  - Menaquinone-7 production from maize meal hydrolysate by Bacillus isolates with
      diphenylamine and analogue resistance.
AB  - A menaquinone-7 (MK-7) high-producing strain needs to be isolated to increase MK
      7 production, in order to meet a requirement of MK-7 given the low MK-7 content
      in food products. This article focuses on developing MK-7 high-producing strains
      via screening and mutagenesis by an atmospheric and room temperature plasma
      (ARTP) mutation breeding system. We isolated an MK-7-producing strain Y-2 and
      identified it as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, which produced (7.1+/-0.5) mg/L of
      MK-7 with maize meal hydrolysate as carbon source. Then, an MK-7 high-producing
      strain B. amyloliquefaciens H.beta.D.R.-5 with resistance to 1-hydroxy-2
      naphthoic acid, beta-2-thienylalanine, and diphenylamine was obtained from the
      mutation of the strain Y-2 using an ARTP mutation breeding system. Using strain
      H.beta.D.R.-5, efficient production of MK-7 was achieved ((30.2+/-2.7) mg/L). In
      addition, the effects of nitrogen sources, prenyl alcohols, and MgSO4 on MK-7
      production were investigated, suggesting that soymeal extract combined with yeast
      extract, isopentenol, and MgSO4 was beneficial. Under the optimized condition,
      the MK-7 production and biomass-specific yield reached (61.3+/-5.2) mg/L and 2.59
      mg/L per OD600 unit respectively in a 7-L fermenter. These results demonstrated
      that strain H.beta.D.R.-5 has the capacity to produce MK-7 from maize meal
      hydrolysate, which could reduce the substrate cost.

PMID- 28585423
TI  - Copper-modified palygorskite is effective in preventing and treating diarrhea
      caused by Salmonella typhimurium.
AB  - The aim of this research was to develop effective alternative therapies to reduce
      antibiotic use in animal agriculture. In this study, the efficacy of copper
      modified palygorskite (CM-Pal) in preventing diarrhea caused by Salmonella was
      specifically examined both in vitro and in vivo. The CM-Pal was prepared with
      palygorskite (Pal) and copper nitrate. The antibacterial activity of the CM-Pal
      was detected by comparing the differences in cell numbers on plate count agar
      before and after adding the CM-Pal to Salmonella typhimurium cultures. Seventy
      ICR mice were then allocated into seven groups. Five groups (the treatment
      groups) were infected with S. typhimurium by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection and
      were given Pal, CM-Pal, montmorillonite powder, gentamicin, and physiological
      saline, respectively. One group (the prevention group) was given CM-Pal before
      infection with S. typhimurium. Another group (the uninfected group) was not
      infected with S. typhimurium. The effects of Pal, CM-Pal, montmorillonite powder,
      and gentamicin on the treatment or prevention of diarrhea in the mice were
      examined by stool studies, fecal scoring, and assessment of growth performance
      and villus height. The CM-Pal had satisfactory anti-bacterial properties in
      vitro: the antibacterial rate was 100% after 2 h incubation with S. typhimurium
      NJS1 cultures (1*106 colony-forming units (CFU)/ml). In the in vivo experiment,
      the CM-Pal exerted superior effects in the treatment and prevention of diarrhea
      in mice compared with Pal, montmorillonite powder, and gentamicin. In the CM-Pal
      group, no mice showed signs of diarrhea at 24 h post infection (p.i.), and all
      mice fully recovered from infection. However, the Pal group, montmorillonite
      group, and gentamicin group only recovered after 48, 48, and 96 h, respectively.
      The villus height level in the CM-Pal treatment group recovered at 3 d p.i.
      However, the recovery time of the other groups was longer (at least 5 d). The CM
      Pal prevention group had a better effect on weight gain than the other groups.
      This study suggested that CM-Pal may be an effective alternative to conventional
      antibiotics for the treatment and prevention of animal diarrhea caused by
      Salmonella.

PMID- 28585424
TI  - Punicalagin protects bovine endometrial epithelial cells against
      lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bovine endometritis is one of the most common reproductive disorders
      in cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammation
      potential of punicalagin in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced bovine endometrial
      epithelial cells (bEECs) and to uncover the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: bEECs
      were stimulated with different concentrations (1, 10, 30, 50, and 100 MUg/ml) of
      LPS for 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 h. MTT assay was used to assess cell viability and to
      identify the conditions for inflammatory injury and effective concentrations of
      punicalagin. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used
      to assess gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Western blotting was
      used to assess levels of inflammation-related proteins. RESULTS: Treatment of
      bEECs with 30 ug/ml LPS for 12 h induced cell injury and reduced cell viability.
      Punicalagin (5, 10, or 20 ug/ml) pretreatment significantly decreased LPS-induced
      productions of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha) in bEECs. Molecular research showed that punicalagin inhibited
      the activation of the upstream mediator nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) by
      suppressing the production of inhibitor kappaBalpha (IkappaBalpha) and
      phosphorylation of p65. Results also indicated that punicalagin can suppress the
      phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including p38, c-Jun
      N-terminal kinase (JNK), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK).
      CONCLUSIONS: Punicalagin may attenuate LPS-induced inflammatory injury and
      provide a potential option for the treatment of dairy cows with Escherichia coli
      endometritis.

PMID- 28585425
TI  - CIDE gene expression in adipose tissue, liver, and skeletal muscle from obese and
      lean pigs.
AB  - The expression of the cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor alpha-like
      effector (CIDE) family including Cidea, Cideb, and Cidec was significantly
      increased in mouse and human models of obesity. However, there was less
      information on these genes' expression in pigs. Here, we hypothesized that
      different fat accumulation between lean (Duroc*Landrace*Yorkshire gilts, DLY) and
      obese (Lantang) pigs was attributed to porcine CIDE-modulating lipid metabolism.
      Our data showed that Cidea and Cidec were expressed at a high level in adipose
      tissue, and at a relatively high level in skeletal muscle, whereas Cideb was
      mainly expressed in the liver in both breeds of pig. Lantang pigs had higher
      white adipose and skeletal muscle Cidea and Cidec mRNA abundance, and hepatic and
      muscle Cideb mRNA than DLY pigs. Lipid metabolism-related genes including sterol
      regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), hepatocyte nuclear factor
      4alpha (HNF-4alpha), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator
      1alpha (PGC-1alpha), fatty acid synthase (FASN), diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase
      1 (DGAT1), and DGAT2 showed a higher expression level in adipose tissue from
      obese pigs than in that from lean pigs. Lantang pigs exhibited higher mRNA
      abundance for liver SREBP-1c, HNF-4alpha, and PGC-1alpha, and higher skeletal
      muscle SREBP-1c, HNF-4alpha, PGC-1alpha, and DGAT2 expression, as compared with
      DLY pigs. However, the perlipin2 mRNA levels in adipose tissues, liver, and
      skeletal muscle were significantly lower in obese pigs than in their lean
      counterparts. Furthermore, plasma non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), glucose, and
      triacylglycerol (TAG) levels were greater in obese pigs than in lean pigs.
      Finally, data from correlation analysis further found that CIDE mRNA expression
      was positively correlated with back fat thickness (BFT), abdominal fat mass
      (AFM), and the levels of NEFA, TAG, and glucose in the two breeds. Collectively,
      these data revealed that the porcine CIDEs possibly modulated lipid metabolism
      and contributed to the development of fat deposition and obesity in Lantang pigs.

PMID- 28585426
TI  - Effect of Helichrysum plicatum DC. subsp. plicatum ethanol extract on gentamicin
      induced nephrotoxicity in rats.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible therapeutic or protective
      effects of Helichrysum plicatum DC. subsp. plicatum ethanol extract (HPE) against
      gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity. Thirty-six Sprague Dawley male rats weighing
      between 200 and 250 g were used as live material. They were formed into six
      groups containing 6 rats each and were allowed to adapt to laboratory conditions
      for 7 d. Group I: control, 5% DMSO intraperitoneal (i.p.); Group II: HPE 100
      mg/(kg.d) i.p.; Group III: HPE 200 mg/(kg.d) i.p.; Group IV: gentamicin as 80
      mg/(kg.d) i.p.; Group V: gentamicin as 80 mg/(kg.d) i.p.+HPE 100 mg/(kg.d) i.p.;
      and Group VI: gentamicin as 80 mg/(kg.d) i.p.+HPE 200 mg/(kg.d) i.p. for 8 d.
      Following treatment, serum, liver, and kidney tissues were used to assess blood
      urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, and
      lipid peroxidation. Gentamicin significantly increased serum BUN, creatinin, and
      liver and kidney levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). It also decreased the activity
      of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and superoxide dismutase (SOD).
      Treatment with the HPE 100 mg/kg reversed gentamicin-induced alterations as
      evidenced by decreased serum BUN and creatinin, liver and kidney oxidant marker,
      and tubular necrosis as well as by an increase in antioxidant enzymes. It was
      found that HPE 200 mg/kg significantly increased liver and kidney tissue MDA
      levels in nephrotoxicity in rats. As a result, these findings support the
      proposition that HPE in 100 mg/kg dose demonstrates in the kidney and liver as
      free radicals and scavenger to prevent the toxic effects of gentamicin in both
      the biochemical and histopathology parameters.

PMID- 28585427
TI  - Uptake, transport and distribution of molybdenum in two oilseed rape (Brassica
      napus L.) cultivars under different nitrate/ammonium ratios.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of different nitrate sources on the
      uptake, transport, and distribution of molybdenum (Mo) between two oilseed rape
      (Brassica napus L.) cultivars, L0917 and ZS11. METHODS: A hydroponic culture
      experiment was conducted with four nitrate/ammonium (NO3-:NH4+) ratios (14:1,
      9:6, 7.5:7.5, and 1:14) at a constant nitrogen concentration of 15 mmol/L. We
      examined Mo concentrations in roots, shoots, xylem and phloem sap, and
      subcellular fractions of leaves to contrast Mo uptake, transport, and subcellular
      distribution between ZS11 and L0917. RESULTS: Both the cultivars showed maximum
      biomass and Mo accumulation at the 7.5:7.5 ratio of NO3-:NH4+ while those were
      decreased by the 14:1 and 1:14 treatments. However, the percentages of root Mo
      (14.8% and 15.0% for L0917 and ZS11, respectively) were low under the 7.5:7.5
      treatment, suggesting that the equal NO3-:NH4+ ratio promoted Mo transportation
      from root to shoot. The xylem sap Mo concentration and phloem sap Mo accumulation
      of L0917 were lower than those of ZS11 under the 1:14 treatment, which suggests
      that higher NO3-:NH4+ ratio was more beneficial for L0917. On the contrary, a
      lower NO3-:NH4+ ratio was more beneficial for ZS11 to transport and remobilize
      Mo. Furthermore, the Mo concentrations of both the cultivars' leaf organelles
      were increased but the Mo accumulations of the cell wall and soluble fraction
      were reduced significantly under the 14:1 treatment, meaning that more Mo was
      accumulated in organelles under the highest NO3-:NH4+ ratio. CONCLUSIONS: This
      investigation demonstrated that the capacities of Mo absorption, transportation
      and subcellular distribution play an important role in genotype-dependent
      differences in Mo accumulation under low or high NO3-:NH4+ ratio conditions.

PMID- 28585428
TI  - Anti-hepatocarcinoma activity of TT-1, an analog of melittin, combined with
      interferon-alpha via promoting the interaction of NKG2D and MICA.
AB  - Hepatocarcinoma is one of the malignant cancers with significant morbidity and
      mortality. Immunotherapy has emerged in clinical treatment, owing to the
      limitation and severe side effects of chemotherapy. In the immune system, natural
      killer (NK) cells are important effectors required to eliminate malignant tumor
      cells without the limitation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule
      issues. Hence, treatment which could stimulate NK cells is of great interest.
      Here, we investigated the efficacy of the combined therapy of TT-1 (a mutant of
      melittin) and interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) on NK cells and human liver cancer
      HepG-2/Huh7 cells in vitro and in vivo, as well as the mechanism involved. The
      combination therapy significantly inhibited the growth of HepG-2/Huh7 cells in
      vivo, but this effect was impaired after depleting NK cells. TT-1 not only up
      regulated MHC class I-related chain molecules A (MICA) expression, but also
      prevented the secretion of soluble MICA (sMICA). Both the mRNA and protein of a
      disintegrin and metallopeptidase 10 (ADAM 10) in HepG-2/Huh7 cells were decreased
      after TT-1 treatment. The combined therapy of TT-1 and IFN-alpha could suppress
      the growth of HepG-2/Huh7 xenografted tumor effectively via promoting the
      interaction of NK group 2, member D (NKG2D) and MICA, indicating that TT-1+IFN
      alpha would be a potential approach in treating liver cancer.

PMID- 28585429
TI  - Laparoscopic versus open distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma: a single-center experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare complications and oncologic
      outcomes of patients undergoing laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) and open
      distal pancreatectomy (ODP) at a single center. METHODS: Distal pancreatectomies
      performed for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma during a 4-year period were
      included in this study. A retrospective analysis of a database of this cohort was
      conducted. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients underwent LDP for pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma, in comparison to seventy-six patients with comparable tumor
      characteristics treated by ODP. No patients with locally advanced lesions were
      included in this study. Comparing LDP group to ODP group, there were no
      significant differences in operation time (P=0.06) or blood loss (P=0.24).
      Complications (pancreatic fistula, P=0.62; intra-abdominal abscess, P=0.44;
      postpancreatectomy hemorrhage, P=0.34) were similar. There were no significant
      differences in the number of lymph nodes harvested (11.2+/-4.6 in LDP group vs.
      14.4+/-5.5 in ODP group, P=0.44) nor the rate of patients with positive lymph
      nodes (36% in LDP group vs. 41% in ODP group, P=0.71). Incidence of positive
      margins was similar (9% in LDP group vs. 13% in ODP group, P=0.61). The mean
      overall survival time was (29.6+/-3.7) months for the LDP group and (27.6+/-2.1)
      months for ODP group. There was no difference in overall survival between the two
      groups (P=0.34). CONCLUSIONS: LDP is a safe and effective treatment for selected
      patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. A slow-compression of pancreas
      tissue with the GIA stapler is effective in preventing postoperative pancreatic
      fistula. The oncologic outcome is comparable with the conventional open approach.
      Laparoscopic radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy contributed to
      oncological clearance.

PMID- 28585430
TI  - Satisfactory clinical outcome following delayed repositioning of a traumatic post
      LASIK flap with dislocation and shrinkage managed by irrigation, stretching, and
      debridement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report surgical management and favorable outcome in a case with
      delayed repair of traumatic laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) flap dislocation
      with shrinkage and folds. METHODS: A 30-year-old man with a five-year history of
      bilateral LASIK experienced blunt trauma to his right eye followed by decreased
      vision for 5 weeks. The surgical management included initially softening the flap
      by irrigation with balanced salt solution (BSS). The shrinkage folds were
      carefully and gently stretched by scraping with a 26-gauge cannula accompanied by
      BSS irrigation. All of the epithelial ingrowth on the flap inner surface and on
      the bed was thoroughly debrided by scraping and irrigation. After the flap was
      repositioned to match its original margin, a soft bandage contact lens was
      placed. RESULTS: At his initial visit, slit-lamp microscopy and optical coherence
      tomography (OCT) showed shrinkage of the LASIK flap with an elevated margin
      approximately 3 mm above the original position. The flap covered half of the
      pupil and had multiple horizontal folds. Two months after surgery, the flap
      remained well positioned with only faint streaks in the anterior stroma. The
      uncorrected visual acuity of the right eye was 20/20 with a manifest refraction
      of Plano. CONCLUSIONS: For delayed repair of traumatically dislocated LASIK
      flaps, sufficient softening by BSS, stretching the shrinkage folds, and thorough
      debridement of ingrowth epithelium enable resetting the flap and provide
      satisfactory results.

PMID- 28585431
TI  - Sensory quality evaluation for appearance of needle-shaped green tea based on
      computer vision and nonlinear tools.
AB  - Tea is one of the three greatest beverages in the world. In China, green tea has
      the largest consumption, and needle-shaped green tea, such as Maofeng tea and
      Sparrow Tongue tea, accounts for more than 40% of green tea (Zhu et al., 2017).
      The appearance of green tea is one of the important indexes during the evaluation
      of green tea quality. Especially in market transactions, the price of tea is
      usually determined by its appearance (Zhou et al., 2012). Human sensory
      evaluation is usually conducted by experts, and is also easily affected by
      various factors such as light, experience, psychological and visual factors. In
      the meantime, people may distinguish the slight differences between similar
      colors or textures, but the specific levels of the tea are hard to determine
      (Chen et al., 2008). As human description of color and texture is qualitative, it
      is hard to evaluate the sensory quality accurately, in a standard manner, and
      objectively. Color is an important visual property of a computer image (Xie et
      al., 2014; Khulal et al., 2016); texture is a visual performance of image
      grayscale and color changing with spatial positions, which can be used to
      describe the roughness and directivity of the surface of an object (Sanaeifar et
      al., 2016). There are already researchers who have used computer visual image
      technologies to identify the varieties, levels, and origins of tea (Chen et al.,
      2008; Xie et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2017). Most of their research targets are
      crush, tear, and curl (CTC) red (green) broken tea, curly green tea (Bilochun
      tea), and flat-typed green tea (West Lake Dragon-well green tea) as the
      information sources. However, the target of the above research is to establish a
      qualitative evaluation method on tea quality (Fu et al., 2013). There is little
      literature on the sensory evaluation of the appearance quality of needle-shaped
      green tea, especially research on a quantitative evaluation model (Zhou et al.,
      2012; Zhu et al., 2017).

PMID- 28585432
TI  - Full genome analysis of swine genotype 3 hepatitis E virus isolated from eastern
      China.
AB  - Hepatitis E is believed to occur in both endemic and sporadic forms in developing
      countries, which causes a major public health problem in Asia and Africa (Meng,
      2010; Wang et al., 2016a). Recent studies have documented that the disease is
      also endemic in many industrialized countries (Wenzel et al., 2011). The
      causative agent, hepatitis E virus (HEV), belonging to the genus Orthohepevirus,
      is a non-enveloped RNA virus with a single-stranded, positive-sense genome of
      approximately 7.2 kb (Smith et al., 2014). The genome consists of a short 5' un
      translated region (UTR), three open reading frames (ORFs), and a 3' UTR
      containing a poly(A) tail (Meng, 2011). Four recognized major genotypes of HEV
      are identified: genotype 1 (Asian and African strains), genotype 2 (a Mexican
      strain), genotype 3 (primarily from America and Europe, and some Asian
      countries), and genotype 4 (mainly Asian strains) (Smith et al., 2016). Previous
      study revealed that HEV genotype 4 is the dominant zoonotic HEV genotype in China
      (Wang et al., 2016a). However, infections with HEV 3 have been found more
      commonly in recent years in China (Liu et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2013). To
      date, only one full genome of Chinese swine genotype 3 HEV strain from Shanghai
      has been documented (Si et al., 2009). We report here the first full genome
      sequence of a genotype 3 swine HEV strain from Zhejiang, China.

PMID- 28585434
TI  - Genes for the high life: New genetic variants point to positive selection for
      high altitude hypoxia in Tibetans.

PMID- 28585435
TI  - Creating animal models, why not use the Chinese tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri
      chinensis)?
AB  - The Chinese tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis), a squirrel-like and rat
      sized mammal, has a wide distribution in Southeast Asia, South and Southwest
      China and has many unique characteristics that make it suitable for use as an
      experimental animal. There have been many studies using the tree shrew (Tupaia
      belangeri) aimed at increasing our understanding of fundamental biological
      mechanisms and for the modeling of human diseases and therapeutic responses. The
      recent release of a publicly available annotated genome sequence of the Chinese
      tree shrew and its genome database (www.treeshrewdb.org) has offered a solid base
      from which it is possible to elucidate the basic biological properties and create
      animal models using this species. The extensive characterization of key factors
      and signaling pathways in the immune and nervous systems has shown that tree
      shrews possess both conserved and unique features relative to primates. Hitherto,
      the tree shrew has been successfully used to create animal models for myopia,
      depression, breast cancer, alcohol-induced or non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases,
      herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, to
      name a few. The recent successful genetic manipulation of the tree shrew has
      opened a new avenue for the wider usage of this animal in biomedical research. In
      this opinion paper, I attempt to summarize the recent research advances that have
      used the Chinese tree shrew, with a focus on the new knowledge obtained by using
      the biological properties identified using the tree shrew genome, a proposal for
      the genome-based approach for creating animal models, and the genetic
      manipulation of the tree shrew. With more studies using this species and the
      application of cutting-edge gene editing techniques, the tree shrew will continue
      to be under the spot light as a viable animal model for investigating the basis
      of many different human diseases.

PMID- 28585437
TI  - A new species of the genus Amolops (Anura: Ranidae) from high-altitude Sichuan,
      southwestern China, with a discussion on the taxonomic status of Amolops
      kangtingensis.
AB  - A new species of the genus Amolops Cope, 1865 is described from Xinduqiao,
      Kangding, Sichuan. It was previously identified as Amolops kangtingensis, which
      is synonymized to Amolops mantzorum in this study. The new species, Amolops
      xinduqiao sp. nov., is distinguished from all other congeners by the following
      combination of characters: (1) medium body size, adult males SVL 41.2-47.5 mm (
      n=15, average 43.9 mm), adult females SVL 48.5-56.6 mm ( n=15, average 52.5 mm);
      (2) head length equal to width or slightly wider than long; (3) tympanum small,
      but distinct; (4) vomerine teeth in two tiny rows, separated by a space about one
      vomerine teeth row; (5) bony projections on lower jaw absent; (6) dorsolateral
      folds usually absent; (7) tarsal folds or glands on tarsus absent; (8)
      circummarginal groove on disc of finger I absent; (9) tibiotarsal articulation
      reaching nostril or beyond; (10) webs of toe IV reaching to distal articulation,
      other toes fully webbed to disc; and (11) vocal sac absent in males.

PMID- 28585438
TI  - Pulmonary immune cells and inflammatory cytokine dysregulation are associated
      with mortality of IL-1R1 -/-mice infected with influenza virus (H1N1).
AB  - Respirovirus infection can cause viral pneumonia and acute lung injury (ALI). The
      interleukin-1 (IL-1) family consists of proinflammatory cytokines that play
      essential roles in regulating immune and inflammatory responses in vivo. IL-1
      signaling is associated with protection against respiratory influenza virus
      infection by mediation of the pulmonary anti-viral immune response and
      inflammation. We analyzed the infiltration lung immune leukocytes and cytokines
      that contribute to inflammatory lung pathology and mortality of fatal H1N1 virus
      infected IL-1 receptor 1 (IL-1R1) deficient mice. Results showed that early
      innate immune cells and cytokine/chemokine dysregulation were observed with
      significantly decreased neutrophil infiltration and IL-6, TNF-alpha, G-CSF, KC,
      and MIP-2 cytokine levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of infected IL-1R1 
      /- mice in comparison with that of wild type infected mice. The adaptive immune
      response against the H1N1 virus in IL-1R1 -/- mice was impaired with
      downregulated anti-viral Th1 cell, CD8+ cell, and antibody functions, which
      contributes to attenuated viral clearance. Histological analysis revealed reduced
      lung inflammation during early infection but severe lung pathology in late
      infection in IL-1R1 -/- mice compared with that in WT infected mice. Moreover,
      the infected IL-1R1 -/- mice showed markedly reduced neutrophil generation in
      bone marrow and neutrophil recruitment to the inflamed lung. Together, these
      results suggest that IL-1 signaling is associated with pulmonary anti-influenza
      immune response and inflammatory lung injury, particularly via the influence on
      neutrophil mobilization and inflammatory cytokine/chemokine production.

PMID- 28585436
TI  - Tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) as a novel laboratory disease animal model.
AB  - The tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) is a promising laboratory animal that possesses
      a closer genetic relationship to primates than to rodents. In addition,
      advantages such as small size, easy breeding, and rapid reproduction make the
      tree shrew an ideal subject for the study of human disease. Numerous tree shrew
      disease models have been generated in biological and medical studies in recent
      years. Here we summarize current tree shrew disease models, including models of
      infectious diseases, cancers, depressive disorders, drug addiction, myopia,
      metabolic diseases, and immune-related diseases. With the success of tree shrew
      transgenic technology, this species will be increasingly used in biological and
      medical studies in the future.

PMID- 28585441
TI  - Skeletal Rearrangement of Twisted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons under Scholl
      Reaction Conditions.
AB  - Treatment of a twisted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon containing
      cyclooctatetraene fused by two 9,9'-bifluorenylidene units under the Scholl
      reaction conditions (FeCl3 or 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone and
      scandium trifluoromethanesulfonate) led to stepwise skeletal rearrangements to
      afford initially a hydrocarbon with a seven-membered ring and then
      tetrabenzo[a,d,j,m]coronene with all six-membered rings. The course of the
      rearrangement was interpreted in terms of the acid-catalyzed isomerization of
      9,9'-bifluorenylidene into dibenzo[g,p]chrysene moieties on the basis of
      theoretical investigations.

PMID- 28585440
TI  - EP300 contributes to high-altitude adaptation in Tibetans by regulating nitric
      oxide production.
AB  - The genetic adaptation of Tibetans to high altitude hypoxia likely involves a
      group of genes in the hypoxic pathway, as suggested by earlier studies. To test
      the adaptive role of the previously reported candidate gene EP300 (histone
      acetyltransferase p300), we conducted resequencing of a 108.9 kb gene region of
      EP300 in 80 unrelated Tibetans. The allele-frequency and haplotype-based
      neutrality tests detected signals of positive Darwinian selection on EP300 in
      Tibetans, with a group of variants showing allelic divergence between Tibetans
      and lowland reference populations, including Han Chinese, Europeans, and
      Africans. Functional prediction suggested the involvement of multiple EP300
      variants in gene expression regulation. More importantly, genetic association
      tests in 226 Tibetans indicated significant correlation of the adaptive EP300
      variants with blood nitric oxide (NO) concentration. Collectively, we propose
      that EP300 harbors adaptive variants in Tibetans, which might contribute to high
      altitude adaptation through regulating NO production.

PMID- 28585442
TI  - Social dominance in children with cerebral palsy during a problem-solving task
      with peers.
AB  - PURPOSE: Children with cerebral palsy tend to have poorer social competence
      outcomes than their peers without a disability in mainstream school settings. To
      understand their social competence, this study compared children with cerebral
      palsy with paired children without cerebral palsy with respect to their ability
      to access resources, defined here as "social dominance", in a problem-solving
      situation. METHOD: Children with cerebral palsy were randomly paired to a peer
      (teammate) and put in a competitive context where each team of two children was
      instructed to solve an impossible problem. To control for social status, a
      sociometric measure was administered previously in the classroom (Social
      Preference score). Behaviors related to social dominance (prosocial and coercive
      behaviors) were coded using an observation scale validated for this study.
      RESULTS: The results showed that regardless of social status, children with
      cerebral palsy were less socially dominant than controls without cerebral palsy.
      Furthermore, their teams seemed to be less dominant than teams composed of two
      controls. CONCLUSIONS: The lower social competence in children with cerebral
      palsy could be partly explained by their reduced social dominance behavior in
      activities requiring speed and fluidity as an expression of executive functions.
      This might be viewed as a marker for social risks in the integration process at
      school. Implications for rehabilitation Gross Motor Function Classification
      System level I or II cerebral palsy is a condition that affects not only motor
      abilities but also social competence in children. Lower social competence in
      children with cerebral palsy could be partly explained by reduced social
      dominance behavior in activities such as problem solving with peers. To improve
      social competence, rehabilitation interventions should include social
      participation opportunities in which children with cerebral palsy are encouraged
      to take an active role in the activity.

PMID- 28585443
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28585439
TI  - GCH1 plays a role in the high-altitude adaptation of Tibetans.
AB  - Tibetans are well adapted to high-altitude hypoxia. Previous genome-wide scans
      have reported many candidate genes for this adaptation, but only a few have been
      studied. Here we report on a hypoxia gene ( GCH1, GTP-cyclohydrolase I), involved
      in maintaining nitric oxide synthetase (NOS) function and normal blood pressure,
      that harbors many potentially adaptive variants in Tibetans. We resequenced an
      80.8 kb fragment covering the entire gene region of GCH1 in 50 unrelated
      Tibetans. Combined with previously published data, we demonstrated many GCH1
      variants showing deep divergence between highlander Tibetans and lowlander Han
      Chinese. Neutrality tests confirmed a signal of positive Darwinian selection on
      GCH1 in Tibetans. Moreover, association analysis indicated that the Tibetan
      version of GCH1 was significantly associated with multiple physiological traits
      in Tibetans, including blood nitric oxide concentration, blood oxygen saturation,
      and hemoglobin concentration. Taken together, we propose that GCH1 plays a role
      in the genetic adaptation of Tibetans to high altitude hypoxia.

PMID- 28585444
TI  - Artificial cultivation of true morels: current state, issues and perspectives.
AB  - Morels (Morchella, Ascomycota), which are some of the most highly prized edible
      and medicinal mushrooms, are of great economic and scientific value. Morel
      cultivation has been a research focus worldwide for more than 100 years, and the
      outdoor cultivation of morels has succeeded and expanded to a large scale in
      China in recent years. In this study, we review the progress in recent research
      regarding the life cycle and reproductive systems in the genus Morchella and the
      current state of outdoor cultivation. Sclerotia formation and conidia production
      are two important phases during the life cycle. The morel species cultivated
      commercially in America is M. rufobrunnea based on molecular phylogenetic
      analysis. The species currently cultivated in China are black morels, including
      M. importuna, M. sextalata and M. eximia. The field cultivation of morels
      expanded in the majority of the provinces in China with a yield of fresh morels
      of 0-7620 kg per ha. The key techniques include spawn production, land
      preparation and spawning, the addition of exogenous nutrition, fruiting
      management and harvesting. The application of exogenous nutrition is the most
      important breakthrough in the field of morel cultivation, but the mechanism
      remains unclear. It was estimated that the total amount of field cultivated fresh
      morels was ~500 t in 2015-2016. We also discuss the potential issues remaining in
      the current literature and suggest directions for future studies.

PMID- 28585445
TI  - Lactose esters: synthesis and biotechnological applications.
AB  - Biodegradable nonionic sugar esters-based surfactants have been gaining more and
      more attention in recent years due to their chemical plasticity that enables the
      various applications of these molecules. In this review, various synthesis
      methods and biotechnological implications of lactose esters (LEs) uses are
      considered. Several chemical and enzymatic approaches are described for the
      synthesis of LEs, together with their applications, i.e. function in detergents
      formulation and as additives that not only stabilize food products but also
      protect food from undesired microbial contamination. Further, this article
      discusses medical applications of LEs in cancer treatment, especially their uses
      as biosensors, halogenated anticancer drugs, and photosensitizing agents for
      photodynamic therapy of cancer and photodynamic inactivation of microorganisms.

PMID- 28585446
TI  - Pharmacological management of acute severe behavioural disturbance: a survey of
      current protocols.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The investigators reviewed protocols for the pharmacological
      management of acute severe behavioural disturbance (ASBD) used in Australasian
      psychiatric settings. Relevant literature was also examined, with a focus on
      Australian research. METHODS: All Fellows of the RANZCP were emailed on two
      occasions in 2014 requesting a copy of the guidelines for pharmacological
      management of the ASBD patient used in their workplace. A literature search was
      also undertaken. RESULTS: Thirty-six pharmacological management protocols for the
      ASBD patient were received. Twenty-six of these referred to patients aged 18-65
      years and were selected for analysis. A number of recent publications provided
      new evidence in relation to the safe and effective management of patients with
      ASBD. CONCLUSIONS: ASBD is a heterogeneous, transnosological set of presentations
      requiring careful assessment and rational clinical decision making. Treatment
      protocols arising from an evolving evidence base provide safe and effective
      pathways for the majority of patients. However, sound clinical knowledge and a
      careful assessment of each presentation is required to enable the clinician to
      tailor treatment individually.

PMID- 28585447
TI  - Anticonvulsant Effects of Aerial Parts of Verbena officinalis Extract in Mice:
      Involvement of Benzodiazepine and Opioid Receptors.
AB  - To evaluate the anticonvulsant activity of the aerial parts of Verbena
      officinalis used traditionally by local Iranians for the treatment of convulsion.
      The anticonvulsant activity of the extract was assessed in pentylenetetrazole
      (PTZ) and maximal electroshock (MES) induced seizures in mice. Diazepam was used
      as reference drug. In addition, for investigating the mechanism of V officinalis
      in PTZ model, flumazenil and naloxone were injected before V officinalis. The
      extract showed no toxicity and significantly increased the period taken before
      the onset and decreased the duration of the seizures induced by PTZ. In the MES
      test, V officinalis displayed significant reduction in hind limb tonic extension
      duration in a dose-dependent manner. The results propose that V officinalis
      ethanolic extract has anticonvulsant activity against seizure. It seems that
      these effects may be related to potentiating of GABAergic system. Moreover, this
      study supports the use of this plant by local Iranians in order to treat
      convulsion.

PMID- 28585448
TI  - Embedding exercise interventions as routine mental health care: implementation
      strategies in residential, inpatient and community settings.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of physical activity (PA) programs among populations with
      severe mental illness (SMI) has predominately focused on efficacy and therapeutic
      benefits. There is now strong evidence to support the benefits of PA in people
      with SMI. What remains is a gap in the implementation of pragmatic and
      sustainable PA interventions in mental-health settings. The current paper
      provides examples of interventions that have been successfully implemented in
      Australian settings, identifies key components of successful PA interventions and
      outlines practical strategies that can assist with widespread implementation of
      PA interventions in mental-health settings. CONCLUSIONS: There is an emergence of
      PA interventions being imbedded within a variety of mental-health settings. These
      interventions vary in terms of mode and intensity of service delivery. Yet, all
      aim to increase PA and reduce sedentary behaviour. Adopting the identified
      strategies may help facilitate successful implementation and increase access to
      PA interventions for mental-health service users.

PMID- 28585449
TI  - Go baby go cafe: a case study on an immersive rehabilitation environment to
      improve functional outcomes and quality of life.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the effectiveness of involving traumatic brain injury
      survivors in a novel "enriched rehabilitation environment" in which physical,
      cognitive, social and speech impairments are simultaneously addressed during
      training within a functioning business. METHOD: Participant was a 34-year old
      with a history of a severe head injury 17 years ago due to a motor vehicle
      accident. A novel intervention was provided within the Go Baby Go Cafe at the
      University of Delaware during her two hour shifts, three times a week for 2
      months. RESULTS: The participant showed improvement in hand function, dynamic
      mobility, gait speed and cognitive ability. Additionally, changes were also noted
      across different domains like social activities, feeling of well-being, gross
      motor function and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The Cafe may be a viable
      environment for comprehensive intervention. Participation in the Cafe was
      associated with wide spread gains in scores on a variety of physical, cognitive,
      quality-of-life outcomes. Implications for rehabilitation Long-term impairments
      after traumatic brain injury often impairs activities of daily living, community
      integration and return to work. The Go Baby Go Cafe, installed with an overhead
      harness system serves as an "Immersive Environment" to address various
      impairments all at once in a real-world setting. Individuals with impairments can
      benefit from this rehabilitation technique, which is structured to improve
      changes across the International Classification of Functioning Disability and
      Health spectrum.

PMID- 28585450
TI  - Volatile Organic Compounds in the Breath of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
      Patients: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Objective To assess the feasibility of detecting signature volatile organic
      compounds in the breath of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Study
      Design Prospective cohort pilot study. Setting University hospital. Subjects and
      Methods Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, emitted volatile organic
      compounds in the breath of patients before and after curative surgery (n = 10)
      were compared with those of healthy subjects (n = 4). It was hypothesized that
      certain volatile organic compounds disappear after surgical therapy. A
      characteristic signature of these compounds for diseased patients was compiled
      and validated. Results Breath analyses revealed 125 volatile organic compounds in
      patients with oral cancer. A signature of 8 compounds that were characteristic
      for patients with oral cancer could be detected: 3 from this group presented were
      absent after surgery. Conclusion The presented results confirmed the hypothesis
      of an absence of cancer-associated volatile organic compounds in the breath after
      therapy. In this pilot study, we proved the feasibility of this test approach.
      Further studies should be initiated to establish protocols for usage in a
      clinical setting.

PMID- 28585452
TI  - How scenes containing visual errors affect speech fluency in young and older
      adults.
AB  - We compared young and older adults' speech during an error detection task, with
      some pictures containing visual errors and anomalies and other pictures error
      free. We analyzed three disfluency types: mid-phrase speech fillers (e.g., It's a
      little, um, girl), repetitions (e.g., He's trying to catch the- the birds), and
      repairs (e.g., She- you can see her legs). Older adults produced more mid-phrase
      fillers than young adults only when describing pictures containing errors. These
      often reflect word retrieval problems and represent clear disruptions to fluency,
      so this interaction indicates that the need to form and maintain representations
      of novel information can specifically compromise older adults' speech fluency.
      Overall, older adults produced more repetitions and repairs than young adults,
      regardless of picture type, indicating general age-related increases in these
      disfluencies. The obtained patterns are discussed in the context of the
      Transmission Deficit Hypothesis and other approaches to age-related changes in
      speech fluency.

PMID- 28585451
TI  - A Three-Way Transcriptomic Interaction Study of a Biocontrol Agent (Clonostachys
      rosea), a Fungal Pathogen (Helminthosporium solani), and a Potato Host (Solanum
      tuberosum).
AB  - Helminthosporium solani causes silver scurf, which affects the quality of potato.
      The biocontrol agent Clonostachys rosea greatly limited the severity of silver
      scurf symptoms and amount of H. solani genomic DNA in laboratory experiments.
      Transcriptomic analysis during interaction showed that H. solani gene expression
      was highly reduced when coinoculated with the biocontrol agent C. rosea, whereas
      gene expression of C. rosea was clearly boosted as a response to the pathogen.
      The most notable upregulated C. rosea genes were those encoding proteins involved
      in cellular response to oxidative stress, proteases, G-protein signaling, and the
      methyltransferase LaeA. The most notable potato response to both fungi was
      downregulation of defense-related genes and mitogen-activated protein kinase
      kinase kinases. At a later stage, this shifted, and most potato defense genes
      were turned on, especially those involved in terpenoid biosynthesis when H.
      solani was present. Some biocontrol-activated defense-related genes in potato
      were upregulated during early interaction with C. rosea alone that were not
      triggered by H. solani alone. Our results indicate that the reductions of silver
      scurf using C. rosea are probably due to a combination of mechanisms, including
      mycoparasitism, biocontrol-activated stimulation of plant defense mechanisms,
      microbial competition for nutrients, space, and antibiosis.

PMID- 28585453
TI  - Cognitive outcomes following anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis: A
      systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an
      immune-mediated neurological disorder that (among other severe neuropsychiatric
      symptoms) affects cognition. This study aimed to summarize current knowledge
      regarding the rates, nature, and predictors of neuropsychological dysfunction in
      patients recovering from anti-NMDAR encephalitis. METHOD: A systematic review of
      studies describing neuropsychological outcomes following anti-NMDAR encephalitis
      was conducted. Electronic databases Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and CINAHL were
      searched from inception to September 2016. Results were summarized using
      descriptive statistics and a series of chi-square analyses. RESULTS: Of 4030
      identified studies, 44 were included. These reported neuropsychological outcomes
      for 109 treated patients (83.5% female, Mage = 22.5 years, range = 2-67)
      recovering from anti-NMDAR encephalitis. High rates of neuropsychological
      dysfunction were identified, with diverse impairments of variable severity
      documented in >75% of patients at assessments conducted during acute, subacute,
      and longer term recovery periods. Despite this, cognitive outcomes were
      ultimately considered favorable in most cases (74.3%). This estimate does not
      account for the potential impact of relapses. The frequency of impairments in
      overall intellectual functioning, language, attention, working memory, and
      visuospatial functions were significantly higher within the acute recovery period
      than in later phases of convalescence. However, rates of impaired processing
      speed, episodic memory, and aspects of executive functioning were consistent
      across time points. Adverse neuropsychological outcomes occurred at significantly
      higher frequency in patients where immunotherapy was delayed, chi2(1, N = 66) =
      10.84, p < .003. CONCLUSIONS: Neuropsychological deficits are prevalent at all
      points of recovery from anti-NMDAR encephalitis, although improvement in
      cognitive outcomes can be expected as patients recover. Some cognitive deficits
      may be less likely than others to resolve. Close neuropsychological monitoring is
      warranted in this population. Longitudinal studies of neuropsychological
      functioning of patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis are needed to accurately
      inform prognosis.

PMID- 28585454
TI  - Trainee perspectives on postdoctoral recruitment in clinical neuropsychology:
      reflections on commentaries by Bodin and Grote (2016) and Nelson et al. (2016).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current invited paper is to provide the trainees'
      perspective on recent commentaries on recruitment for postdoctoral fellowship in
      clinical neuropsychology. The current system of recruitment includes both a match
      and non-match process and has been problematic for trainees and training programs
      alike. METHOD: The author team completed a non-systematic review of previously
      published commentaries on the current state of postdoctoral fellowship
      recruitment, which are briefly summarized in the current paper. The trainee
      perspective is addressed using both survey data and anecdotal experiences of the
      authors. RESULT: Trainees report high levels of dissatisfaction with the current
      dual recruitment system; however, there is no clear preference from trainees for
      either a match or non-match system. Trainees from both recruitment systems report
      high levels of satisfaction with their training experience. CONCLUSION: It seems
      that either a match or non-match approach, if it led to a unified system, would
      improve trainee satisfaction.

PMID- 28585455
TI  - Examination of the Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire (MSPQ) in a large
      sample of credible and noncredible patients referred for neuropsychological
      testing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The current study evaluated MSPQ sensitivity to noncredible PVT
      performance in the context of external incentive, and examined MSPQ false
      positive rates in noncompensation-seeking neuropsychology patients; and
      investigated effects of ethnicity/culture, gender, and somatoform diagnosis on
      MSPQ scores, and relationships with PVT and MMPI-2-RF data. METHOD: MSPQ scores
      were compared in credible (n = 110) and noncredible (n = 153) neuropsychology
      referrals. RESULTS: Noncredible patients scored higher than credible patients.
      When the credible group was divided into those with somatoform orientation (n =
      39) versus those without (n = 71), the credible nonsomatoform group scored lower
      than the other two groups, who did not differ from each other. MSPQ elevations
      were found in ethnic minorities, and in individuals who learned English as a
      second language or concurrently with another language. MSPQ elevations were also
      associated with chronic systemic diseases, neurologic illness, and substance
      abuse. Women scored higher than men, but men and women were equally represented
      among those patients scoring beyond cut-offs. MSPQ scores were minimally related
      to PVT data but were more strongly correlated with MMPI-2-RF scales, particularly
      over-report validity scales, RC1, and Somatic/Cognitive scales, with more
      widespread relationships observed in noncredible patients. CONCLUSIONS: A cut-off
      of 18 resulted in few false positives in credible nonsomatoform patients, and
      appears appropriate for identifying physical symptom over-report (due to
      malingering or somatoform orientations), with associated sensitivity of 29%.
      However, clinicians are cautioned regarding using the MSPQ in patients with
      systemic, neurologic, and substance abuse conditions, and in ethnic minorities
      and non-monolingual English-speakers.

PMID- 28585456
TI  - Potential conflicts in midwifery practice regarding conscientious objection to
      abortions in Scotland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was developed as a result of a court case involving
      conflicts between midwives' professional practice and their faith when caring for
      women undergoing abortions in Scotland. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: What are practising
      Roman Catholics' perspectives of potential conflicts between midwives'
      professional practice in Scotland with regard to involvement in abortions and
      their faith? How relevant is the 'conscience clause' to midwifery practice today?
      and What are participants' understandings of Canon 1398 in relation to midwifery
      practice? RESEARCH DESIGN: The theoretical underpinning of this study was
      Gadamer's hermeneutic out of which the method developed by Fleming et al.
      involving a five-stage approach was utilised. Participants and research context:
      The research was conducted in the south of Scotland. A purposive sampling method
      was used. Eight participants who were practising Roman Catholics familiar with
      the subject of conscientious objection who were either midwives, lawyers (civil,
      canon or both) or priests contributed. Ethical considerations: The major ethical
      issues related to respect for autonomy, maintaining confidentiality and obtaining
      voluntary informed consent. Parish priests agreed to act as gatekeepers to
      prospective participants. All legal requirements were addressed regarding data
      collection and storage. Approval was given by the ethics committee of the
      university with which one of the researchers were associated. FINDINGS: Three key
      themes provide an understanding of the situation in which midwives find
      themselves when considering the care for a woman admitted for an abortion:
      competing legal systems, competing views of conscience and limits of
      participation. CONCLUSION: Clear guidelines for practice should be developed by a
      multi-professional and consumer group based on an update of the abortion law to
      reflect the change from a surgical to medical procedure. Clarification of Canon
      1398 in relation to what is and is not participation in the procurement of
      abortion would be of benefit to midwives with a conscientious objection.

PMID- 28585457
TI  - Effect of geometric parameters in the design of customized hip implants.
AB  - In this paper, the effects of geometric parameters on the development of stress
      in custom cementless hip implant have been studied. Taguchi methods and analysis
      of variance (ANOVA) were used to find out which geometric parameters are
      statistically significant for the maximum von Mises stresses in the hip implant.
      The multiple regression analysis was also performed, to replace the FE solver and
      accurately and quickly predict the stress values for new patients. Three
      parameters horizontal offset (HO), vertical offset and neck shaft angle (NSA),
      with three levels have been selected. Based on L9 orthogonal array, nine hip
      implant shapes with three different geometric parameters were modelled. Stress
      analysis was carried out by using finite element analysis. ANOVA results showed
      that HO has the maximum impact on von Mises stresses followed by the NSA. It is
      shown that as the HO increases, the stress at the given region increases,
      however, as the neck shaft (NSA) increases the stress at the given region
      decreases. Good agreement is found between von Mises stresses, calculated from
      multiple regression analysis and obtained from FE analysis. To redesign
      customised hip implant for the minimum stresses, the results of this work will be
      important.

PMID- 28585458
TI  - Safety of cesarean myomectomy in women with single anterior wall and lower
      uterine segment myomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cesarean myomectomy (CM) is a safe procedure in selected cases.
      Nevertheless, literature lacks clear guidelines on patient selection. We aimed to
      evaluate CM safety in patients with single anterior wall and lower uterine
      segment (LUS) myomas. METHODS: The authors selected pregnants at term, scheduled
      for CSs, with single anterior wall or LUS myomas. All their clinical,
      demographic, obstetric, and surgical parameters were recorded. RESULTS: Thirty
      six women had a CM (study group), and 17 had a CS without myoma removal (control
      group). No significant differences were detected in the socio-demographic and
      clinical findings between the groups. The average size of myomas in the study and
      control group (p = .873), was 55.44 mm and 47.25 mm, respectively. The average
      surgery duration was 62.5 min in the study and 53.82 in the control group (p =
      .058). Intraoperative hemorrhage was more frequent in the study group (p = .045).
      Nevertheless, neither the number nor the volume of intraoperative transfusions
      was significantly different. None of the major CM complications were recorded,
      and the duration of hospitalization was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: CM
      in patients with single anterior wall and LUS myomas does not cause increased
      perioperative morbidity, and, therefore, can be considered safe in such cases.

PMID- 28585459
TI  - Standardisation of bioelectrical impedance analysis for the estimation of body
      composition in healthy paediatric populations: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) requires a high degree of
      standardisation in order to ensure valid and reproducible impedance measurements.
      The overall aim of this review was to study the degree to which BIA papers
      conducted in healthy paediatric populations (aged 0-17 years) were standardised.
      METHODS: Literature was identified on the basis of a systematic search of
      internationally-recognised electronic databases and hand searching of the
      reference lists of the included papers in order to identify additional relevant
      papers. The review was limited to lead-type BIA devices for whole-body, segmental
      and focal impedance measurements. In total, 71 papers published between 1988 and
      2016 were included. To evaluate the degree of standardisation of the papers, a
      recently published review detailing critical factors that may impact on BIA
      measurements in children was used as a model for structuring and extracting data.
      RESULTS: There was a general lack of BIA standardisation, or its reporting, in
      the papers under review, which hinders comparison of data between studies and
      could potentially lead to erroneous measurements. CONCLUSIONS: If the BIA
      technique should be accepted clinically for routine use in paediatric
      populations, there is a need for an increased focus on the importance of improved
      standardisation and its reporting in future studies. Consequently, this review
      contains recommendations for performing and reporting BIA measurements in a
      standardised manner.

PMID- 28585460
TI  - Assessment of knee alignment with varus and valgus force through the range of
      flexion with non-invasive navigation.
AB  - In image-free total knee arthroplasty (TKA) navigation, infra-red markers are
      attached to bony landmarks to provide kinematic data intra-operatively, with the
      aim of improving the precision of implant placement. In non-invasive navigation,
      infra-red markers are attached to the skin surface, with recent evidence
      suggesting that this can give repeatable measurements of lower limb mechanical
      alignment. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of a non-invasive
      navigation system in the assessment of mechanical alignment with applied coronal
      force through the range of flexion. A previously validated non-invasive system
      (PhysiopilotTM) was tested on 23 volunteers with healthy knees. Two users
      performed two registrations of the software workflow on each participant's right
      and left knees. A force was manually applied to the end-point of varus and valgus
      knee laxity and the measured change in mechanical alignment was recorded. Force
      was applied with the knee positioned in increments of flexion from 0 to 90
      degrees . In keeping with previous studies, satisfactory values of coefficient of
      repeatability (CR) of 1.55 and 1.33 were found for intra-observer repeatability
      in measurement of supine mechanical femoro-tibial angle (MFTA) in extension, with
      a good inter-observer correlation of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)
      .72. However, when flexion was introduced, intra-observer and inter-observer
      reliability fell out with acceptable limits. Therefore, the trial did not support
      use of the PhysiopilotTM system as a measure of MFTA when flexion is introduced.
      It was felt that learning-curve, soft tissue artefacts and lack of force
      standardisation equipment may have accounted for significant levels of error,
      with further studies required to address these issues.

PMID- 28585461
TI  - Age differences in autobiographical memory across the adult lifespan: older
      adults report stronger phenomenology.
AB  - As an individual's life story evolves across adulthood, the subjective experience
      (phenomenology) of autobiographical memory likely changes. In addition to age at
      retrieval, both the recency of the memory and the age when a memory is formed may
      be particularly important to its phenomenology. The present work examines the
      effect of three temporal factors on phenomenology ratings: (a) age of the
      participant, (b) age at the event reported in the memory, and (c) memory age
      (recency). A large sample of Americans (N = 1120), stratified by chronological
      age, recalled and rated two meaningful memories, a Turning Point and an Early
      Childhood Memory. Ratings of phenomenology (e.g., vividness of turning points)
      were higher among older adults compared to younger adults. Memories of events
      from the reminiscence bump were more positive in valence than events from other
      time periods but did not differ on other phenomenological dimensions; recent
      memories had stronger phenomenology than remote memories. In contrast to
      phenomenology, narrative content was generally unrelated to participant age, age
      at the event, or memory age. Overall, the findings indicate age-related
      differences in how meaningful memories are re-experienced.

PMID- 28585462
TI  - Medical Malpractice Implications of Clinical Practice Guidelines.
AB  - Clinical practice guidelines aim to improve medical care by clarifying and making
      useful recommendations to providers. Although providers should account for
      patients' unique characteristics when determining a treatment plan, it is
      generally perceived as good practice to follow guidelines when applicable. This
      is of interest in malpractice litigation, where it is essential to establish a
      standard of care to evaluate the performances of providers. Although the opinions
      of expert witnesses are used to determine standards of care, guidelines are
      expected to play a leading role. Guidelines alone should not establish a legal
      standard but may help inform this discussion in the courtroom. Therefore, it is
      incumbent that excellent, practical, and timely guidelines are continually
      created and updated in a transparent way. These guidelines must be very clear and
      underscore the various strengths of recommendation based on the quality of
      available evidence.

PMID- 28585463
TI  - Endoscopic Lateral Cartilage Graft Tympanoplasty.
AB  - Objective To describe a novel technique for lateral graft tympanoplasty. Study
      Design Case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary care university hospital.
      Subjects and Methods Pediatric and adult patients with tympanic membrane
      perforations deemed unfavorable for a medial graft technique due to the
      perforation characteristics or myringitis. Results Between 2014 and 2016, 34 ears
      from 31 patients underwent a transcanal endoscopic lateral cartilage graft
      tympanoplasty. The mean age was 24.4 years (range, 6-71 years), and 22 patients
      (65%) were younger than 18 years. All patients had tympanic membrane
      perforations. Eighteen patients (53%) had total or near-total perforations,
      leaving a minimal anterior remnant, and 16 patients (47%) had extensive
      myringitis. A bisected tragal cartilage-perichondrium shield graft was used in 33
      patients (97%). The mean (SD) follow-up length was 9.8 (5.7) months. Initial
      perforation closure rate was 88.2% (30/34). Three of the persistent perforations
      underwent a revision endoscopic medial graft tympanoplasty with successful
      closure, leaving a final closure rate of 97.1% (33/34). Five patients (15%)
      required topical therapy for postoperative myringitis. Mean (SD) pure-tone
      average and air-bone gap significantly improved by 11.5 (10.7) dB ( P < .001) and
      11.4 (10.6) dB ( P < .001), respectively. Twenty-seven patients (79%) closed
      their air-bone gap within 20 dB. Conclusion Transcanal endoscopic lateral
      cartilage graft tympanoplasty is feasible, and initial data support favorable
      outcomes. Further data are necessary for evaluation of long-term results and
      efficacy comparisons.

PMID- 28585464
TI  - The contribution of aromatic components in Katsuobushi to preference formation
      and reinforcement effect.
AB  - Katsuodashi, a dried bonito broth, is very basic and indispensable in Japanese
      cuisine and contains taste-exhibiting components and unique aroma. We previously
      reported that its unique aroma contributes to the preference and reinforcement
      effect associated with dried bonito. This study aims to elucidate the
      contribution of aromatic components in Katsuobushi to preference formation and
      reinforcement effect. Volatile components obtained from dried bonito were
      fractionated and the fractions were subjected to two-bottle choice test. The
      fractionation test suggested that the component responsible for the preference is
      not one but comprises multiple components. In the GC-MS analysis/reconstruction
      test, solution with aromatic flavor narrowed down to 125 compounds had
      preference, and also had reinforcement effect. Moreover, GC-MS-olfactometry
      analysis narrowed down the candidate components to 28 out of 125. Mice showed
      preference for the test solution with aromatic flavor reconstructed with 28
      components but did not show reinforcement behavior.

PMID- 28585465
TI  - Chitosan signaling in guard cells requires endogenous salicylic acid.
AB  - An elicitor chitosan (CHT) induces stomatal closure but the mechanism remains to
      be clarified. A phytohormone salicylic acid (SA) is crucial for elicitor-induced
      defense signaling in plants. Here we investigated whether endogenous SA is
      required for CHT signaling in guard cells. In the SA-deficient nahG mutant,
      treatment of CHT did not induce either apoplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production or stomatal closure but co-treatment of CHT and SA induced both
      apoplastic ROS production and stomatal closure, indicating the involvement of
      endogenous SA in CHT-induced apoplastic ROS production and CHT-induced stomatal
      closure. Furthermore, CHT induced transient cytosolic free calcium concentration
      increments in the nahG mutant in the presence of exogenous SA but not in the
      absence of exogenous SA. These results provide evidence that endogenous SA is a
      crucial element in CHT-induced stomatal closure.

PMID- 28585467
TI  - Do players and staff sleep more during the pre- or competitive season of elite
      rugby league?
AB  - This study establishes the sleep behaviour of players and staff during the pre-
      and competitive seasons of elite rugby league. For seven days during both the pre
      and competitive seasons, seven rugby league players and nine full-time staff
      from one professional Australian rugby league club had their sleep monitored via
      wrist actigraphy and self-report sleep diaries. Two-way repeated measures
      analysis of variance determined differences between the pre- and competitive
      season in players and staff, with effect sizes (ES) used to interpret the
      practical magnitude of differences. Findings show an earlier bed time and wake
      time for players (-34 min, ES = 1.5; +/-0.5 and -39 min, 2.1; +/-0.5
      respectively) and staff (-29 min, ES = 0.8; +/-0.3 and -35 min, ES = 1.7; +/-0.4
      respectively) during pre-season when compared to the competitive season. Despite
      this, no differences were seen when considering the amount of time in bed, sleep
      duration or sleep efficiency obtained between the pre- and competitive seasons.
      Our results suggest that early morning training sessions scheduled during pre
      season advances wake time in elite rugby league. However, both players and staff
      can aim to avoid reductions in sleep duration and sleep efficiency with
      subsequent adjustment of night time sleep patterns. This may be particularly
      pertinent for staff, who wake earlier than players during both the pre- and
      competitive seasons.

PMID- 28585466
TI  - Reformulation of Traditional Chamomile Oil: Quality Controls and Fingerprint
      Presentation Based on Cluster Analysis of Attenuated Total Reflectance-Infrared
      Spectral Data.
AB  - Herbal oils have been widely used in Iran as medicinal compounds dating back to
      thousands of years in Iran. Chamomile oil is widely used as an example of
      traditional oil. We remade chamomile oils and tried to modify it with current
      knowledge and facilities. Six types of oil (traditional and modified) were
      prepared. Microbial limit tests and physicochemical tests were performed on them.
      Also, principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and partial
      least squares discriminant analysis were done on the spectral data of attenuated
      total reflectance-infrared in order to obtain insight based on classification
      pattern of the samples. The results show that we can use modified versions of the
      chamomile oils (modified Clevenger-type apparatus method and microwave method)
      with the same content of traditional ones and with less microbial contaminations
      and better physicochemical properties.

PMID- 28585468
TI  - Sesquiterpene glucosides from Shenzhou honey peach fruit showed the anti-aging
      activity in the evaluation system using yeasts.
AB  - One new (1, SZMT01) and one known (2) anti-aging substances were isolated from
      Shenzhou honey peach fruit. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic
      methods and chemical derivatization, and the result reveals that these two
      compounds are sesquiterpene glucosides. SZMT01 possesses a new glycosylation with
      an ester linkage at one terminal in an acyclic sesquiterpenoid which is the end
      of a double bond at another terminal. Both compounds extend the replicative
      lifespan of K6001 yeast strain at doses of 7.5 and 25 MUM. Then, to understand
      the action mechanism involved, we performed an anti-oxidative experiment on
      SZMT01. The result revealed that treatment with SZMT01 increased the survival
      rate of yeast under oxidative stress. Moreover, the lifespans of sod1 and sod2
      mutant yeast strains with a K6001 background were not affected by SZMT01. These
      results demonstrate that anti-oxidative stress performs important roles in anti
      aging effects of SZMT01.

PMID- 28585469
TI  - Heterologous expression of the Pleurotus ostreatus MnP3 gene by the laccase gene
      promoter in Lentinula edodes.
AB  - Lentinula edodes (shiitake), which have a powerful ligninolytic system, is one of
      the most important edible mushrooms in Asia. In this study, we introduced the
      manganese peroxidase (MnP, EC 1.11.1.13) gene from Pleurotus ostreatus driven by
      L. edodes laccase 1 gene promoter into L. edodes for expression. The resulting
      transformant expressed the recombinant gene and showed a higher level of MnP
      activity than that of the wild-type strain.

PMID- 28585470
TI  - Property of filler-loaded magnetic ferrite from plastic waste bottle used to
      treat municipal domestic sewage.
AB  - The present work investigates the properties of self-made magnetic filler from
      plastic waste bottle and explores a new technology approach of waste plastic
      resource utilization. The magnetic filler was prepared by air plasma modification
      and loading magnetic ferrite on the plastic strip from waste plastic bottle. The
      surface properties of magnetic filler were characterized by Atomic Force
      Microscope (AFM), contact angle system and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). AFM
      images of original and modified plastic strip showed that low-temperature plasma
      treatment markedly increased the surface roughness of plastic strip. The mean
      roughness (Ra) of plastic strip rose from 1.116 to 5.024 nm. FTIR spectra
      indicated that a lot of polar oxygenic groups were introduced onto the surface of
      plastic by plasma modification. Modification by low-temperature plasma increased
      the hydrophilicity of plastic strip surface. When treatment time is 40 s, water
      contact angle of plastic strip surface reduced from 78.2 degrees  of original
      plastic strip to 25.3 degrees . When used in bioreactor, magnetic filler had very
      favorable microenvironment for microorganism growth. Magnetic filler was more
      efficient for removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) and [Formula: see text] in
      sewage than nonmagnetic filler. The resource utilization of plastic wastes will
      become reality if the magnetic filler is applied widely.

PMID- 28585471
TI  - The transmission and stability of cultural life scripts: a cross-cultural study.
AB  - Cultural life scripts are shared knowledge about the timing of important life
      events. In the present study, we examined whether cultural life scripts are
      transmitted through traditions and whether there are additional ways through
      which they can be attained by asking Australian and Malaysian participants which
      information sources they had used to generate the life script of their culture.
      Participants hardly reported that they had used cultural and religious
      traditions. They more often reported that they had used their own experiences and
      experiences of relatives and friends. They also reported the use of comments of
      relatives and friends and the use of newspapers, books, movies and television
      programmes. Furthermore, we examined the stability of life scripts and
      similarities and differences across cultures. We found that life scripts are
      stable cognitive structures and that there are, besides cross-cultural
      differences in the content, small cross-cultural differences in the valence and
      distribution of life script events, with the Australian life script containing
      more positive events and more events expected to occur before the age of 16.

PMID- 28585472
TI  - Home care organization impacts patient management and survival in ALS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) depends on several
      factors linked to the disease. However, both the patient's living place and care
      organization role need to be evaluated. METHODS: We analysed the effect on
      survival of factors linked to ALS or the socio-geographical context in a
      prospective cohort of 203 patients followed between 2003 and 2011. RESULTS:
      Patients were 97 females and 106 males with a mean age of 65.5 years. Survival
      was longer in younger patients, in case of upper limb involvement, longer time to
      diagnosis, and initially higher forced vital capacity. Non-invasive positive
      pressure ventilation (NIPPV) and percutaneous gastrostomy (PEG) failed to
      demonstrate benefit. Patients who lived at home had longer survival. The nature
      of non-medical organization at home statistically influenced survival, which was
      longer with an organized network than with an unorganized one and shorter in
      absence of non-medical organization. In patients with indication of PEG and
      NIPPV, the proposition was statistically different according to the care givers.
      CONCLUSIONS: Besides the natural history of ALS, survival depended on home
      organization and the presence or the nature of a home-care system. Home
      organization was an important factor of decision for NIPPV and PEG proposals.

PMID- 28585473
TI  - Computer-aided generation and lung deposition modeling of nano-scale particle
      aggregates.
AB  - The study sets its main focus on the introduction of a random-walk-based model
      for the generation of variably shaped particle aggregates consisting of a
      predefined number of spherical components. With the help of a well-defined
      algorithm, the user is enabled to select between isodimensional, chain-like and
      platelet-like aggregates, for which related aerodynamic parameters (dynamic shape
      factors, volume-equivalent diameters, aerodynamic diameters) are determined
      automatically. The theoretical approach for random aggregate construction is
      directly connected with the previously developed stochastic particle transport
      and deposition model. Thereby, individually shaped aggregates may be provided for
      each random-walk scenario taking place in the almost realistic lung structure.
      Preliminary application of the aggregate generation model was carried out by
      assuming single components with a constant diameter of 1 nm and unit-density (1 g
      cm-3) and variably shaped aggregates consisting of 10, 100 and 1000 components.
      Inhalation of the aggregate-loaded aerosol into lungs of average size (FRC = 3300
      mL) was supposed to take place under sitting, light-exercise and heavy-exercise
      conditions. Results obtained from deposition modeling clearly show that,
      independent of aggregate geometry, total deposition declines with increasing
      number of components included in the particulate construct, but experiences a
      continuous enhancement with rising inhalation flow rate. Among the predefined
      geometric categories, platelet-like aggregates are distinguished by lowest
      deposition and isodimensional clusters by highest. While isodimensional
      aggregates preferentially deposit in the extrathoracic and bronchial airways,
      chain-like and platelet-like aggregates exhibit a significantly increased
      tendency to hit the alveolar walls.

PMID- 28585474
TI  - Family experience with osteogenesis imperfecta type 1: the most distressing
      situations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic disorder characterized
      by decreased bone mass and increased bone fragility. Despite increasing research
      on the biomedical aspects of the disease, only a few studies focus on the
      psychosocial implications of living with OI. This study aimed to explore the
      situations that are perceived by OI type-1 children, their parents and siblings,
      as being the most distressing and stressful in their experience with the disease.
      METHODS: Seven families of children diagnosed with OI type 1 for longer than four
      years participated. An in-depth semistructured interview with open-ended
      questions was used to separately collect each participant's (mother, father,
      patient and sibling) subjective report of their experience. Interviews were
      audiotaped and a qualitative discourse analysis was performed. RESULTS: Pain and
      fractures, hospitalization, home recovery, back to school and time of diagnosis
      emerged as the most challenging situations. Time of diagnosis was only mentioned
      by parents. Some commonalities but also relevant differences in the subjective
      experience of the same situations, depending on the family role, were found.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results reinforce the assumption that OI is a family matter and
      point to the importance of providing comprehensive and family-centered health and
      educational services tailored to each family member and to the different
      situations faced by these families. Implications for rehabilitation Osteogenesis
      imperfecta is a chronic rare disease that impacts severely the patient's life and
      the life of all family members. The most distressing situations are related to
      fractures and pain, hospitalization, recovery from fractures while being at home
      and preparing for school reentry. All family members participate in the
      rehabilitation process, each one accomplishing different tasks. Rehabilitation
      should include educational and psychological intervention to enhance family
      strengths and support all family members. Tailored and effective communication
      from health providers may play a critical role in the rehabilitation process.

PMID- 28585475
TI  - Virilization and Enlarged Ovaries in a Postmenopausal Woman.
AB  - A patient with postmenopausal bleeding and virilization was found to have
      bilaterally enlarged ovaries with a yellow cut surface. Histology revealed
      cortical stromal hyperplasia with stromal hyperthecosis. This hyperplastic
      condition should not be mistaken for an ovarian neoplasm.

PMID- 28585476
TI  - Harmonic analysis of peripheral pulse for screening subjects at high risk of
      diabetes.
AB  - Power spectral density (PSD) of peripheral pulses in human has been investigated
      in the past for its clinical applications. Continuing the efforts, data acquired
      using Peripheral Pulse Analyser in research projects sponsored by Board of
      Research in Nuclear Sciences in 207 control subjects, 18 descendants of diabetic
      patients and 22 patients with systemic hypertension have been subjected to PSD
      analysis for its study of harmonics. Application software, named Pulse Harmonic
      Analyser specifically developed for this work, selected 131,072 samples from each
      data file, obtained PSD, derived 52 PHA parameters and saved them in an Excel
      sheet. Coefficient of variation in control data was reduced significantly by
      application of Central Limit Theorem, which enabled use of parametric methods for
      statistical analysis of the observations. Data in hypertensive patients have
      shown significant difference in comparison to that of controls in eight
      parameters at low values of alpha and beta. Data in offspring of diabetic
      patients also have shown significant difference in one parameter indicating its
      usefulness in screening subjects with genetic disposition of acquiring Type-II
      Diabetes. PHA analysis has also yielded sub-harmonic components, which are
      related to combined variability in the heart rate, pulse volume and pulse
      morphology and has a potential to become method of choice for real time
      variability monitoring.

PMID- 28585477
TI  - The trends and constructive ambiguity in international agreements on intellectual
      property and pharmaceutical affairs: Implications for domestic legislations in
      low- and middle-income countries.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to analyse the trends in international agreements
      including Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
      (TRIPS), Korea-United States Free Trade Agreements, and Trans-Pacific Partnership
      Agreements on intellectual property and pharmaceutical affairs with the updated
      framework. The study also assesses constructive ambiguity in international
      agreements, which might affect the implementation process through interpretation
      and domestic legislations. Five flexibility clauses and three TRIPS-plus
      provisions were selected, and presence of constructive ambiguity in the
      agreements was analysed to draw actual trends in international agreements.
      Flexibility provisions excluding compulsory licensing were not noticeably
      changed, and TRIPS-plus provisions including data exclusivity and patent linkage
      were expanded in scope or newly appeared, respectively. The clause regarding
      compulsory licensing, extension of the patent term, data exclusivity, and patent
      linkage showed unclear definitions or the lack of adequate explanations. With
      constructive ambiguity in those clauses, a country who wants to join
      international agreements in the near future could amend domestic legislations to
      minimise the detrimental effect of international agreements on access to
      medicines.

PMID- 28585478
TI  - Succession, Humility, and Fidelity to a Vision.

PMID- 28585479
TI  - The Art of Health Promotion ideas for improving health outcomes.

PMID- 28585482
TI  - Clinical Assessment of Cognitive Function in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer:
      Prevalence and Correlates.
AB  - Objective Identify the prevalence and clinical correlates of cognitive impairment
      in patients presenting for treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) using brief
      screening within a multidisciplinary care team. Study Design A case series with
      planned data collection of cognitive function, quality of life (QoL), and
      psychosocial variables. Setting Urban Midwest academic medical center. Subjects
      and Methods In total, 209 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of HNC between
      August 2015 and September 2016 who had a pretreatment assessment with a clinical
      health psychologist. At pretreatment assessment, the Montreal Cognitive
      Assessment (MoCA), a brief screening tool for cognitive function, was
      administered along with a semistructured interview to gather information on
      psychiatric symptoms, social support, and substance use. Patient information,
      including demographics, clinical variables, and psychosocial variables, was
      extracted via chart review. A subset of patients with HNC completed the
      Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck Cancer at pretreatment
      assessment and was included in the QoL analyses. Results Cognitive impairment was
      associated with current alcohol use, past tobacco use and number of pack years,
      time in radiotherapy, and adherence to treatment recommendations. Social,
      emotional, and functional QoL scales were associated with cognitive impairment,
      including executive function, language, and memory. Conclusion Cognitive
      impairment is common in patients with HNC, and there are important associations
      between cognitive impairment and psychosocial, QoL, and treatment adherence
      variables. The results argue for the incorporation of cognitive screening as part
      of pretreatment assessment for patients, as well as further research into more
      direct, causal relationships via longitudinal, prospective studies.

PMID- 28585481
TI  - Novel approaches to develop community-built biological network models for
      potential drug discovery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hundreds of thousands of data points are now routinely generated in
      clinical trials by molecular profiling and NGS technologies. A true translation
      of this data into knowledge is not possible without analysis and interpretation
      in a well-defined biology context. Currently, there are many public and
      commercial pathway tools and network models that can facilitate such analysis. At
      the same time, insights and knowledge that can be gained is highly dependent on
      the underlying biological content of these resources. Crowdsourcing can be
      employed to guarantee the accuracy and transparency of the biological content
      underlining the tools used to interpret rich molecular data. Areas covered: In
      this review, the authors describe crowdsourcing in drug discovery. The focal
      point is the efforts that have successfully used the crowdsourcing approach to
      verify and augment pathway tools and biological network models. Technologies that
      enable the building of biological networks with the community are also described.
      Expert opinion: A crowd of experts can be leveraged for the entire development
      process of biological network models, from ontologies to the evaluation of their
      mechanistic completeness. The ultimate goal is to facilitate biomarker discovery
      and personalized medicine by mechanistically explaining patients' differences
      with respect to disease prevention, diagnosis, and therapy outcome.

PMID- 28585484
TI  - The effect of a foot gymnastic exercise programme on gait performance in older
      adults: A randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aged-related loss of ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) and toe
      plantarflexor strength play an important role in gait performance. Further,
      conventional strength, balance and gait training can significantly improve the
      lower extremity muscle power and functional abilities of older individuals. It
      remains unclear, however, whether training effects can be enhanced by augmenting
      ankle ROM and toe plantarflexor strength complementary to training. OBJECTIVE:
      This study investigated the effect of physical exercise combined with foot
      gymnastics on the gait performance in older adults. METHODS: Fifty-six
      independent living, older adults aged 66-91 years were randomly assigned to
      either foot gymnastics group (FG;n - 28) or training group (TG;n = 28). Further,
      14 subjects were integrated as a control group (CG;n = 14) (no exercise). The FG
      and TG completed the same training program consisting of aerobic exercises,
      progressive resistance strength training and stretching exercises twice per week
      for 12 weeks, whereas the FG performed additional foot gymnastic exercises at the
      end of the training session and a 10-min foot gymnastics home-program daily.
      Assessments included the Falls Efficacy Scale - International (FES-I), Expanded
      Timed Get-up-and-Go test (ETGUG), gait analysis and muscle power measurements of
      the knee and ankle joint at pre- and post-training. RESULTS: No significant
      change in FES-I score occurred in either group. The FG showed a significant
      improvement of ankle ROM. There were significant time x group interactions in
      walking speed, step length, in several muscle power measurements and in ETGUG.
      The positive effects of gait parameters ranged between 1 and 11% and between 2
      and 12%, of muscle power between 14 and 34% and 14 and 46% and of ETGUG were 10
      and 8% for the FG and TG, respectively. The FG and TG did not differ
      significantly in their improvements. The CG showed a trend to deteriorations
      between 0 and -6% for gait parameters, between -4 and - 14% for muscle power and
      0% for ETGUG. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide evidence of
      significant improvements in gait performance, muscle power and ETGUG after a
      conventional training program in independent living, older adults. However, there
      is no additional effect on physical performance after foot gymnastic exercises.

PMID- 28585483
TI  - What undermines healthy habits with regard to physical activity and food? Voices
      of adolescents in a disadvantaged community.
AB  - This study aimed to illuminate factors that undermine the healthy habits of
      adolescents from a multicultural community with low socioeconomic status (S.E.S.)
      in Sweden with regard to physical activity (P.A.) and food, as stated in their
      own voices. Adolescents (n = 53, 12-13 y/o) were recruited from one school
      situated in a multicultural community characterized by low S.E.S. Embracing an
      interpretive approach, 10 focus-group interviews were conducted to produce data
      for the study. The focus-group interviews were audio recorded, transcribed
      verbatim, and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted
      in two major themes: (1) the availability of temptations is large, and support
      from the surroundings is limited; and (2) norms and demands set the agenda. The
      adolescents' voices illuminate a profound awareness and the magnitude of tempting
      screen-based activities as undermining their P.A. and healthy food habits.
      Moreover, several gender boundaries were highlighted as undermining girls' P.A.
      and healthy food habits. The adolescents' stories illuminated that it is
      difficult for them, within their environment, to establish healthy habits with
      regard to P.A. and food. To facilitate the adolescents' healthy habits, we
      suggest that support from family, friends, the school, and society at large is
      essential.

PMID- 28585486
TI  - Narrative literature review: Health, activity and participation issues for women
      following traumatic brain injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This narrative review will draw attention to the current limitations
      within the literature related to women following traumatic brain injury in order
      to stimulate discussion and inform future directions for research. BACKGROUND:
      There is a wide-ranging body of research about traumatic brain injury with the
      higher incidence of brain injury among males reflected in this body of work. As a
      result, the specific gendered issues facing women with traumatic brain injury are
      not as well understood. METHOD: A search of electronic databases was conducted
      using the terms "traumatic brain injury", "brain injury", "women",
      "participation", "concussion" and "outcomes". RESULTS: The 36 papers revealed the
      following five themes (1) Relationships and life satisfaction; (2) Perception of
      self and body image; (3) Meaningful occupation; (4) Sexuality and sexual health;
      and (5) Physical function. CONCLUSIONS: Without research, which focuses
      specifically on the experience of women and girls with traumatic brain injury
      there is a risk that clinical care, policy development and advocacy services will
      not effectively accommodate them. Implications for rehabilitation Exploring the
      gendered issues women may experience following traumatic brain injury will
      enhance clinicians understanding of the unique challenges they face. Such
      information has the potential to guide future directions for research, policy,
      and practice. Screening women for hormonal imbalances such as hypopituitarism
      following traumatic brain injury is recommended as this may assist clinicians in
      addressing the far reaching implications in regard to disability, quality of life
      and mood. The growing literature regarding the cumulative effect of repeat
      concussions following domestic violence and women's increased risk of sport
      related concussion may assist clinicians in advocating for appropriate
      rehabilitation and community support services.

PMID- 28585487
TI  - Improvement of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in morbidly obese patients after
      sleeve gastrectomy: association of ultrasonographic findings with lipid profile
      and liver enzymes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After bariatric surgery an improvement or even complete resolution of
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in morbidly obese patients is achieved,
      but little is known about the effect of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective observational study of patients undergoing
      LSG was performed. An abdominal ultrasonography and blood sample extraction
      (investigating liver enzymes and lipid profile) were performed preoperatively and
      12 months after surgery. RESULTS: Fifty patients were included in the study.
      Preoperatively, 84% of the patients presented liver steatosis. A significant
      reduction of steatosis could be observed 12 months after surgery (p < .001).
      Preoperative degree of steatosis showed a direct correlation with AST (p = .008)
      and ALT (p = .007) and an inverse correlation with HDL-cholesterol (p = .019).
      The reduction of liver steatosis showed an inverse correlation with the increase
      of HDL-cholesterol between pre- and postoperative determinations (p = .008).
      CONCLUSIONS: Liver steatosis, as measured by ultrasonography, improves after
      sleeve gastrectomy, achieving a complete resolution in 90% of the cases.
      Preoperative steatosis correlates directly with AST and ALT levels and inversely
      with HDL-cholesterol. The postoperative increase of HDL-cholesterol shows an
      inverse correlation with liver steatosis improvement, suggesting that it could be
      a good marker for monitoring the postoperative liver status.

PMID- 28585488
TI  - Is Pepsin a Reliable Marker of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux? A Systematic Review.
AB  - Objective Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a common illness of otolaryngology
      visits. Over the past few years, pepsin has become a promising marker of LPR. The
      objective of the present research is to analyze the existing literature using
      pepsin as a diagnostic tool of LPR through a systematic review. Data Sources
      PubMed (Medline), Trip Database, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, SUMsearch, and Web of
      Science. Review Methods The outcome assessed was the presence of pepsin in LPR
      patients. We included articles in which pepsin was studied in LPR patients
      (clinically suspected or with confirmed diagnosis). Studies with no control
      group, comparison group, and/or a sample size lower than 20 patients were
      excluded. Results Twelve studies were included. All included studies, with the
      exception of 2, found statistically significant differences for pepsin in cases
      compared with healthy controls. Conclusion Pepsin might be a reliable marker in
      LPR patients, although questions remain about optimal timing, location, nature,
      and threshold values for pepsin testing. Future investigations are necessary to
      clarify the best method to use pepsin in the diagnostic process of LPR.

PMID- 28585489
TI  - Evaluation of the Radiation Dose-Volume Effects of Optic Nerves and Chiasm by
      Psychophysical, Electrophysiologic Tests, and Optical Coherence Tomography in
      Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the radiation dose-volume effects of optic nerves and chiasm
      by visual psychophysical, electrophysiologic tests, and optical coherence
      tomography in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A series of visual tests including visual acuity, visual field,
      contrast sensitivity, visual evoked potential, and optical coherence tomography
      were administered to 20 patients with locally advanced (T3-T4) nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma who were treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy. Volume that
      received 55 Gy (V55), mean dose ( Dmean), highest dose to 5% of the volume (D5),
      and maximum dose (Dmax) for optic nerves and chiasm were evaluated for each
      patient. Cutoff values were identified as V55: 50%, Dmean: 50 Gy, D5: 55 Gy, and
      Dmax: 60 Gy. The effects of radiation dose-volume on ophthalmologic tests were
      evaluated. RESULTS: Ophthalmological evaluation revealed optic neuropathy with
      simultaneous retinopathy in 6 eyes of 4 patients and radiation retinopathy alone
      in both eyes of 1 patient. Regarding radiation dose-volume effects of the optic
      nerve, significant detrimental effect of all parameters was observed on visual
      acuity. Visual field and contrast sensitivity were affected significantly with
      V55 >= 50% and Dmean >= 50 Gy. Visual evoked potential latency was affected
      significantly with Dmean >= 50 Gy, D5 >= 55 Gy, and Dmax >= 60 Gy. For the
      chiasm, significant detrimental effect of all parameters was observed on visual
      acuity as well. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and visual evoked potential
      amplitude were not affected by any of the dose-volume parameters neither optic
      nerves nor chiasm. CONCLUSION: The volume receiving the threshold dose, mean
      dose, and 5% of the volume receiving the maximum dose are important parameters
      besides maximum dose to optic nerves and chiasm. A comprehensive ophthalmological
      evaluation including visual field, contrast sensitivity, visual evoked potential
      latency, and amplitude should be performed for these patients. Visual evoked
      potential latency is an objective predictor of vision loss before the onset of
      clinical signs.

PMID- 28585490
TI  - In vivo Portal Imaging Dosimetry Identifies Delivery Errors in Rectal Cancer
      Radiotherapy on the Belly Board Device.
AB  - PURPOSE: We recently developed a novel, open-source in vivo dosimetry that uses
      the electronic portal imaging device to detect dose delivery discrepancies. We
      applied our method on patients with rectal cancer treated on a belly board
      device. METHODS: In vivo dosimetry was performed on 10 patients with rectal
      cancer treated prone on the belly board with a 4-field box arrangement. Portal
      images were acquired approximately once per week from each treatment beam. Our
      dosimetry method used these images along with the planning CT to reconstruct
      patient planar dose at isocenter depth. RESULTS: Our algorithm proved sensitive
      to dose discrepancies and detected discordances in 7 patients. The majority of
      these were due to soft tissue differences between planning and treatment, present
      despite matching to bony anatomy. As a result of this work, quality assurance
      procedures have been implemented for our immobilization devices. CONCLUSION: In
      vivo dosimetry is a powerful quality assurance tool that can detect delivery
      discrepancies, including changes in patient setup and position. The added
      information on actual dose delivery may be used to evaluate equipment and process
      quality and to guide for adaptive radiotherapy.

PMID- 28585491
TI  - A Simple Method for 2-D In Vivo Dosimetry by Portal Imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: To improve patient safety and treatment quality, verification of dose
      delivery in radiotherapy is desirable. We present a simple, easy-to-implement,
      open-source method for in vivo planar dosimetry of conformal radiotherapy by
      electronic portal imaging device (EPID). METHODS: Correlation ratios, which
      relate dose in the mid-depth of slab phantoms to transit EPID signal, were
      determined for multiple phantom thicknesses and field sizes. Off-axis dose is
      corrected for by means of model-based convolution. We tested efficacy of dose
      reconstruction through measurements with off-reference values of attenuator
      thickness, field size, and monitor units. We quantified the dose calculation
      error in the presence of thickness changes to simulate anatomical or setup
      variations. An example of dose calculation on patient data is provided. RESULTS:
      With varying phantom thickness, field size, and monitor units, dose
      reconstruction was almost always within 3% of planned dose. In the presence of
      thickness changes from planning CT, the dose discrepancy is exaggerated by up to
      approximately 1.5% for 1 cm changes upstream of the isocenter plane and 4% for 1
      cm changes downstream. CONCLUSION: Our novel electronic portal imaging device in
      vivo dosimetry allows clinically accurate 2-dimensional reconstruction of dose
      inside a phantom/patient at isocenter depth. Due to its simplicity, commissioning
      can be performed in a few hours per energy and may be modified to the user's
      needs. It may provide useful dose delivery information to detect harmful errors,
      guide adaptive radiotherapy, and assure quality of treatment.

PMID- 28585493
TI  - Combination of Permanent Interstitial 125I-Seed Brachytherapy and Surgery for the
      Treatment of Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - The treatment methods available for large primary hepatocellular carcinomas
      (diameter >5 cm) are inadequate. Here, we report the successful management of 80
      cases of large hepatocellular carcinoma, using a combination of custom-designed
      permanent interstitial iodine-125 seed brachytherapy and palliative surgery.
      Patients were enrolled in the study between 2011 and 2014. All patients underwent
      surgical treatment along with permanent interstitial iodine-125 seed
      brachytherapy; for the latter, patients received minimum doses covering 90% of
      the target (D90 s) of iodine-125 seeds ranging from 100 to 160 Gy (median: 110
      Gy). All patients received 6 cycles of chemotherapy and were followed up at 6,
      12, 24, and 36 months postoperatively. The clinical symptom remission rate was
      95.3% (61 of 64). Alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels
      decreased to normal in 80% (50 of 60) and 75% of the patients (45 of 60),
      respectively. The posttreatment alpha-fetoprotein levels decreased by 50% in 80%
      of the patients (40 of 50). The effective therapy rates were 80% (76 of 95) for
      95 tumor nodules (diameters 5-10 cm) and 78.6% (33 of 42) for 42 tumor nodules
      (diameters >10 cm). The 3-year disease-free survival rate was 66.6%. Palliative
      surgery plus permanent interstitial iodine-125 seed brachytherapy appears to be a
      reasonable therapeutic alternative for large hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28585492
TI  - Electrosensitization Increases Antitumor Effectiveness of Nanosecond Pulsed
      Electric Fields In Vivo.
AB  - Nanosecond pulsed electric fields are emerging as a new modality for tissue and
      tumor ablation. We previously reported that cells exposed to pulsed electric
      fields develop hypersensitivity to subsequent pulsed electric field applications.
      This phenomenon, named electrosensitization, is evoked by splitting the pulsed
      electric field treatment in fractions (split-dose treatments) and causes in vitro
      a 2- to 3-fold increase in cytotoxicity. The aim of this study was to show the
      benefit of split-dose treatments for in vivo tumor ablation by nanosecond pulsed
      electric field. KLN 205 squamous carcinoma cells were embedded in an agarose gel
      or grown subcutaneously as tumors in mice. Nanosecond pulsed electric field
      ablations were produced using a 2-needle probe with a 6.5-mm interelectrode
      distance. In agarose gel, splitting a pulsed electric field dose of 300, 300-ns
      pulses (20 Hz, 4.4-6.4 kV) in 2 equal fractions increased cell death up to 3-fold
      compared to single-train treatments. We then compared the antitumor effectiveness
      of these treatments in vivo. At 24 hours after treatment, sensitizing tumors by a
      split-dose pulsed electric field exposure (150 + 150, 300-ns pulses, 20 Hz, 6.4
      kV) caused a 4- and 2-fold tumor volume reduction as compared to sham and single
      train treatments, respectively. Tumor volume reduction that exceeds 75% was 43%
      for split-dose-treated animals compared to only 12% for single-dose treatments.
      The difference between the 2 experimental groups remained statistically
      significant for at least 1 week after the treatment. The results show that
      electrosensitization occurs in vivo and can be exploited to assist in vivo cancer
      ablation.

PMID- 28585495
TI  - Tympanostomy Tube Placement in Children Using a Single-Pass Tool with Moderate
      Sedation.
AB  - Insertion of tympanostomy tubes is a common elective pediatric surgical procedure
      and is typically performed under general anesthesia. The potential to reduce
      general anesthetic requirements for young children has led to increased interest
      in alternatives for tympanostomy tube placement. A tympanostomy tube system,
      developed to enable tympanostomy tube placement in a single pass on conscious
      patients under moderate sedation, was evaluated. A prospective study on 128
      children and 253 tympanostomy tube placements conducted at 4 centers in the
      United States demonstrated an 88.3% success rate in performing the procedure
      under moderate sedation with adverse events within normal rates reported in the
      literature. The feasibility of completing tympanostomy tube placement under
      moderate sedation enables avoidance of general anesthesia and provides additional
      choices to physicians and parents.

PMID- 28585494
TI  - Recombinant protein expression of Moringa oleifera lectin in methylotrophic yeast
      as active coagulant for sustainable high turbid water treatment.
AB  - The natural coagulant Moringa oleifera lectin (MoL) as cationic protein is a
      promising candidate in coagulation process of water treatment plant. Introducing
      the gene encoding MoL into a host, Pichia pastoris, to secrete soluble
      recombinant protein is assessed in this study. Initial screening using PCR
      confirmed the insertion of MoL gene, and SDS-PAGE analysis detected the MoL
      protein at 8 kDa. Cultured optimization showed the highest MoL protein at 520
      mg/L was observed at 28  degrees C for 144 h of culturing by induction in 1%
      methanol. Approximately, 0.40 mg/mL of recombinant MoL protein showed 95 +/- 2%
      turbidity removal of 1% kaolin suspension. In 0.1% kaolin suspension, the
      concentration of MoL at 10 MUg/mL exhibits the highest turbidity reduction at 68
      +/- 1%. Thus, recombinant MoL protein from P. pastoris is an effective coagulant
      for water treatment.

PMID- 28585497
TI  - [Looking into international journals].

PMID- 28585498
TI  - ?

PMID- 28585496
TI  - Preoperative Tracheostomy Is Associated with Poor Disease-Free Survival in
      Recurrent Laryngeal Cancer.
AB  - Objectives It is unknown if preoperative tracheostomy for persistent/recurrent
      laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) plays a role in unrecognized local
      disease spread and disease recurrence after salvage laryngectomy. The goals of
      this study were to determine the effect of preoperative tracheostomy on disease
      free survival (DFS) in patients with recurrent/persistent LSCC undergoing salvage
      laryngectomy. Study Design Retrospective case series derived from prospectively
      maintained database. Setting Tertiary care academic center. Subjects Patients
      with recurrent/persistent LSCC after radiation/chemoradiation (RT/CRT) who
      underwent salvage laryngectomy at the University of Michigan from 1997 to 2015.
      Methods Demographic, clinical, pathologic, and survival data were collected.
      Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were performed. Results DFS was worse for
      patients with tracheostomy prior to laryngectomy than patients without a
      tracheostomy (5 year: 39% vs 67%; P < .001). Patients with tracheostomy prior to
      RT/CRT compared to patients with tracheostomy after RT/CRT or patients without a
      tracheostomy had worse DFS (5-year: 25%, 49%, and 67%, respectively; P < .001).
      In bivariable analyses controlling for T classification, N classification, or
      overall stage, preoperative tracheostomy was associated with worse DFS. In
      multivariable analysis, presence of a preoperative tracheostomy had a worse DFS
      (hazard ratio, 1.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.67; P = .048). Conclusion
      Preoperative tracheostomy is associated with disease recurrence in patients with
      persistent/recurrent LSCC undergoing salvage laryngectomy, particularly in
      patients who had tracheostomy prior to completion of initial RT/CRT. Notably,
      preoperative tracheostomy as a causal factor vs marker for disease recurrence is
      difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, clinicians should be aware of the increased
      risk of locoregional recurrence in patients with preoperative tracheostomy when
      counseling on surgical salvage and when considering the role of additional
      therapy.

PMID- 28585499
TI  - ?

PMID- 28585500
TI  - [The authors in this issue].

PMID- 28585501
TI  - [News].

PMID- 28585502
TI  - [Frequency of somatic syndromes in primary care].

PMID- 28585503
TI  - Admission Exam at a Medical School: Correlation Between Symptoms of Somatization
      and Performance.

PMID- 28585504
TI  - [Congress dates].

PMID- 28585505
TI  - [Manualized psychotherapy for the optimization of immunosuppressant adherence
      following kidney transplantation: Results of a feasibility study].

PMID- 28585506
TI  - [Psychotherapeutic care of women in pregnancy and peripartum: Evaluation and
      treatment utilization].

PMID- 28585507
TI  - The Influence of Doctor-Patient Communication on Health Outcomes: A Systematic
      Review.

PMID- 28585508
TI  - [Activity trails in the therapy of clinical depression: A randomized controlled
      equivalence trial].

PMID- 28585509
TI  - [Conflict dynamics in chronic depression - Results of the conflict and structure
      axis using the OPD in the LAC Study].

PMID- 28585510
TI  - Reemergence of the Natural History of Otolaryngologic Infections: Lessons Learned
      from 2 American Presidents.
AB  - Presidents George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt suffered complications of
      epiglottitis and otomastoiditis, respectively. The introduction of antibiotics
      and vaccinations against Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae has
      significantly reduced the incidence of these otolaryngologic infections, such
      that the natural history of the disease is rarely encountered. However,
      antibiotic resistance and pathogenic evolution has raised concern about increased
      virulence of these common organisms. A retrospective evaluation of the
      complications suffered by Washington and Roosevelt provides valuable insight to
      the natural history of common otolaryngologic infections that may reemerge as a
      result of organism evolution in response to antibiotics and vaccines.

PMID- 28585512
TI  - Auditory-visual speech perception in three- and four-year-olds and its
      relationship to perceptual attunement and receptive vocabulary.
AB  - Despite the body of research on auditory-visual speech perception in infants and
      schoolchildren, development in the early childhood period remains relatively
      uncharted. In this study, English-speaking children between three and four years
      of age were investigated for: (i) the development of visual speech perception -
      lip-reading and visual influence in auditory-visual integration; (ii) the
      development of auditory speech perception and native language perceptual
      attunement; and (iii) the relationship between these and a language skill
      relevant at this age, receptive vocabulary. Visual speech perception skills
      improved even over this relatively short time period. However, regression
      analyses revealed that vocabulary was predicted by auditory-only speech
      perception, and native language attunement, but not by visual speech perception
      ability. The results suggest that, in contrast to infants and schoolchildren, in
      three- to four-year-olds the relationship between speech perception and language
      ability is based on auditory and not visual or auditory-visual speech perception
      ability. Adding these results to existing findings allows elaboration of a more
      complete account of the developmental course of auditory-visual speech
      perception.

PMID- 28585511
TI  - Three-dimensional Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging on an Automated Breast Volume
      Scanning System.
AB  - Ultrasound elasticity imaging has demonstrated utility in breast imaging, but it
      is typically performed with handheld transducers and two-dimensional imaging. Two
      dimensional (2D) elastography images tissue stiffness of only a plane and hence
      suffers from errors due to out-of-plane motion, whereas three-dimensional (3D)
      data acquisition and motion tracking can be used to track out-of-plane motion
      that is lost in 2D elastography systems. A commercially available automated
      breast volume scanning system that acquires 3D ultrasound data with precisely
      controlled elevational movement of the 1D array ultrasound transducer was
      employed in this study. A hybrid guided 3D motion-tracking algorithm was
      developed that first estimated the displacements in one plane using a modified
      quality-guided search method, and then performed an elevational guided-search for
      displacement estimation in adjacent planes. To assess the performance of the
      method, 3D radiofrequency echo data were acquired with this system from a phantom
      and from an in vivo human breast. For both experiments, the axial displacement
      fields were smooth and high cross-correlation coefficients were obtained in most
      of the tracking region. The motion-tracking performance of the new method was
      compared with a correlation-based exhaustive-search method. For all motion
      tracking volume pairs, the average motion-compensated cross-correlation values
      obtained by the guided-search motion-tracking method were equivalent to those by
      the exhaustive-search method, and the computation time was about a factor of 10
      lesser. Therefore, the proposed 3D ultrasound elasticity imaging method was a
      more efficient approach to produce a high quality of 3D ultrasound strain image.

PMID- 28585513
TI  - Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of cognition in bipolar disorder:
      comparison with healthy controls and schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder (BP) is associated with significant cognitive
      impairment. Recent evidence suggests that cognitive deficits are already evident
      after first-episode mania. However, it is not clear whether BP is associated with
      further decline in cognitive functions in individuals with established illness.
      Aim of this meta-analytic review was to examine longitudinal neurocognitive
      changes in BP and to compare trajectory of cognitive deficits in BP with
      schizophrenia and healthy controls. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched
      for the studies published between January 1987 and November 2016. In total 22
      reports were included in the current meta-analysis. The main analysis assessed
      the longitudinal change in cognition in 643 patients with BP. Further analyses
      were conducted in studies investigating cognitive changes in BP along with
      healthy controls (459 BP and 367 healthy controls) and schizophrenia (172 BP and
      168 schizophrenia). RESULTS: There was no cognitive decline overtime neither in
      short-term (mean duration = 1.5 years) nor in long-term (mean duration = 5.5
      years) follow-up studies in BP. In contrast, there was evidence for modest
      improvements in task performance in memory and working memory at follow-up. The
      trajectory of cognitive functioning in BP was not significantly different from
      changes in schizophrenia and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Together with the
      findings in early BP and individuals at genetic risk for BP, current findings
      suggest that neurodevelopmental factors might play a significant role in
      cognitive deficits in BP and do not support the notion of progressive cognitive
      decline in most patients with BP.

PMID- 28585514
TI  - CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES AMONG IRANIAN MANDAEANS LIVING IN SOUTH-WEST IRAN.
AB  - SummarySeveral studies have indicated that consanguineous marriages (unions
      between biologically related persons) are associated with increased risk of
      autosomal recessive diseases and several multifactorial traits. Mandaeans are a
      closed ethno-religious community living in areas of southern Iraq and Iran
      (Khuzestan Province). There are currently no data on the prevalence of
      consanguineous marriages among Mandaeans. The present study was carried out in
      2016 to determine the prevalence of consanguinity among Iranian Mandaeans living
      in Khuzestan Province, south-west Iran. A total of 137 couples (urban areas: 79
      couples; rural areas: 58 couples) were included in the study. Information on the
      consanguineous marriages of the subjects was collected through direct interviews.
      Marriages were classified by the degree of relationship between couples as double
      first cousins, first cousins, first cousin once removed, second cousins and
      unrelated marriages. The coefficient of inbreeding (F) was calculated for each
      couple and the mean coefficient of inbreeding (alpha) estimated for the
      population, stratified by rural and urban areas. The overall frequency of
      consanguinity was found to be 50.7% in urban and 86.2% in rural areas. There was
      a significant difference between rural and urban areas in types of marriages (chi
      2=24.8, df=4, p<0.001) and first cousin marriages (51.8%) were the most common
      type. The overall alpha-value was estimated to be 0.0363 for the Iranian Mandaean
      population.

PMID- 28585515
TI  - Cost Savings and Burden of an Intravascular Line Tip Culture Screening Policy.

PMID- 28585516
TI  - The Biomarker Salivary SP-D May Indicate Small Airway Inflammation and Asthma
      Exacerbation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Noninvasive and child-friendly biomarkers are important tools for
      understanding the various phenotypes of childhood asthma. Objective: The aim of
      this study was to examine the usefulness of salivary surfactant protein (SP) D in
      assessing the pathophysiology of childhood asthma. METHODS: We measured salivary
      concentrations of SP-D and forced oscillation technique (FOT) indexes in 19
      healthy controls and 21 asthmatic children. Regression equations for the
      predictive values of FOT indexes were generated from healthy controls. We
      analyzed the correlations between salivary SP-D concentration and percentages of
      the predictive values of FOT indexes, as well as the severity of exacerbation.
      RESULTS: We found that salivary SP-D levels were higher in asthmatic children
      than in healthy controls. In the asthmatic children, salivary SP-D levels
      correlated with the percentages of predicted differences in resistance between 5
      Hz and 20 Hz (%R5-R20), which represented the resistance of peripheral airways,
      and with the severity of asthma exacerbation. CONCLUSIONS: Salivary SP-D may
      reflect asthmatic inflammation in peripheral small airways and may be a useful
      marker for monitoring the degree of exacerbation in childhood asthma.

PMID- 28585517
TI  - Quantitative atomic force microscopy.
AB  - A variety of atomic force microscopy (AFM) modes is employed in the field of
      surface science. The most prominent AFM modes include the amplitude modulation
      (AM) and the frequency modulation (FM) mode. Over the years, different ways for
      analyzing data acquired with different AFM modes have been developed, where each
      analysis is usually based on mode-specific assumptions and approximations.
      Checking the validity of the seemingly different approximations employed in the
      various analysis methods can be a tedious task. Moreover, a straightforward
      comparison of data analyzed with different methods can, therefore, be
      challenging. Here, we combine the existing evaluation methods which have been
      separately developed for the different AFM modes and present a unifying set of
      three equations. These three AFM equations allow for a straightforward analysis
      of AFM data within the harmonic approximation, regardless of the AFM mode. The
      three AFM equations provide the three and only pieces of information about the
      tip-sample force available within the harmonic approximation. We demonstrate the
      generality of our approach by quantitatively analyzing three-dimensional AFM data
      obtained in both the AM and FM mode.

PMID- 28585518
TI  - The synergistic effect of micro/nano-structured and Cu2+-doped hydroxyapatite
      particles to promote osteoblast viability and antibacterial activity.
AB  - Microstructure and chemical constitution are important factors affecting the
      biological activity of biomaterials. This study aimed to fabricate hydroxyapatite
      (HAp) particles with both micro/nanohybrid structure and Cu2+ doping to promote
      osteogenic differentiation and antibacterial property. In the presence of
      inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), micro/nano-structured and Cu2+-doped HAp (HAp
      IP6-Cu) microspheres were successfully fabricated via hydrothermal method.
      Morphological observation showed that HAp-IP6-Cu microspheres with a diameter of
      3.1-4.1 MUm were chrysanthemum-like and composed of nano-flakes approximately 50
      nm in thickness. Compared with the HAp micro-rods or IP6 modified HAp (HAp-IP6)
      microspheres, HAp-IP6-Cu microspheres had a larger specific surface area, better
      hydrophilicity and stronger ability to adsorb bovine serum albumin. To evaluate
      the synergistic effects of micro/nanohybrid structure and Cu2+ on cell behavior,
      rat calvarial osteoblasts (RCOs) were cultured on HAp-IP6-Cu, HAp-IP6 and HAp
      layers as well as their extracts, respectively. Results demonstrated that HAp-IP6
      Cu layer promoted the adhesion, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of
      RCOs. The cells grew on HAp-IP6-Cu and HAp-IP6 layers exhibited greater spreading
      than those on HAp layer. In addition, quantitative test by the agar disk
      diffusion technique found that HAp-IP6-Cu microspheres were effectively against S
      taphylococcus aureus and E scherichia coli. These results demonstrated that HAp
      IP6-Cu microspheres may be a potential candidate as a bioactive and anti
      infective biomaterial for bone regeneration.

PMID- 28585519
TI  - Tailoring  graphene layer-to-layer growth.
AB  - A layered material grown between a substrate and the upper layer involves complex
      interactions and a confined reaction space, representing an unusual growth mode.
      Here, we show multi-layer graphene domains grown on liquid or solid Cu by the
      chemical vapor deposition method via this 'double-substrate' mode. We demonstrate
      the interlayer-induced coupling effect on the twist angle in bi- and multi-layer
      graphene. We discover dramatic growth disunity for different graphene layers,
      which is explained by the ideas of a chemical 'gate' and a material transport
      process within a confined space. These key results lead to a consistent framework
      for understanding the dynamic evolution of multi-layered graphene flakes and
      tailoring the layer-to-layer growth for practical applications.

PMID- 28585520
TI  - Iterative image-domain ring artifact removal in cone-beam CT.
AB  - Ring artifacts in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images are caused by pixel
      gain variations using flat-panel detectors, and may lead to structured non
      uniformities and deterioration of image quality. The purpose of this study is to
      propose a method of general ring artifact removal in CBCT images. This method is
      based on the polar coordinate system, where the ring artifacts manifest as stripe
      artifacts. Using relative total variation, the CBCT images are first smoothed to
      generate template images with fewer image details and ring artifacts. By
      subtracting the template images from the CBCT images, residual images with image
      details and ring artifacts are generated. As the ring artifact manifests as a
      stripe artifact in a polar coordinate system, the artifact image can be extracted
      by mean value from the residual image; the image details are generated by
      subtracting the artifact image from the residual image. Finally, the image
      details are compensated to the template image to generate the corrected images.
      The proposed framework is iterated until the differences in the extracted ring
      artifacts are minimized. We use a 3D Shepp-Logan phantom, Catphan(c)504 phantom,
      uniform acrylic cylinder, and images from a head patient to evaluate the proposed
      method. In the experiments using simulated data, the spatial uniformity is
      increased by 1.68 times and the structural similarity index is increased from
      87.12% to 95.50% using the proposed method. In the experiment using clinical
      data, our method shows high efficiency in ring artifact removal while preserving
      the image structure and detail. The iterative approach we propose for ring
      artifact removal in cone-beam CT is practical and attractive for CBCT guided
      radiation therapy.

PMID- 28585521
TI  - Structural evaluation of an amyloid fibril model using small-angle x-ray
      scattering.
AB  - Amyloid fibrils are highly structured protein aggregates associated with a wide
      range of diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. We report a structural
      investigation of an amyloid fibril model prepared from a commonly used plasma
      protein (bovine serum albumin (BSA)) using small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS)
      technique. As a reference, the size estimates from SAXS are compared to dynamic
      light scattering (DLS) data and the presence of amyloid-like fibrils is confirmed
      using Congo red absorbance assay. Our SAXS results consistently show the
      structural transformation of BSA from spheroid to rod-like elongated structures
      during the fibril formation process. We observe the elongation of fibrils over
      two months with fibril length growing from 35.9  +/-  3.0 nm to 51.5  +/-  2.1
      nm. Structurally metastable fibrils with distinct SAXS profiles have been
      identified. As proof of concept, we demonstrate the use of such distinct SAXS
      profiles to detect fibrils in the mixture solutions of two species by estimating
      their volume fractions. This easily detectable and well-characterized amyloid
      fibril model from BSA can be readily used as a control or standard reference to
      further investigate SAXS applications in the detection of structurally diverse
      amyloid fibrils associated with protein aggregation diseases.

PMID- 28585522
TI  - Structural and photoluminescence properties of silicon nanowires extracted by
      means of a centrifugation process from plasma torch synthesized silicon
      nanopowder.
AB  - We report on a method for the extraction of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) from the by
      product of a plasma torch based spheroidization process of silicon. This by
      product is a nanopowder which consists of a mixture of SiNWs and silicon
      particles. By optimizing a centrifugation based process, we were able to extract
      substantial amounts of highly pure Si nanomaterials (mainly SiNWs and Si
      nanospheres (SiNSs)). While the purified SiNWs were found to have typical outer
      diameters in the 10-15 nm range and lengths of up to several MUm, the SiNSs have
      external diameters in the 10-100 nm range. Interestingly, the SiNWs are found to
      have a thinner Si core (2-5 nm diam.) and an outer silicon oxide shell (with a
      typical thickness of ~5-10 nm). High resolution transmission electron microscopy
      (HRTEM) observations revealed that many SiNWs have a continuous cylindrical core,
      whereas others feature a discontinuous core consisting of a chain of Si
      nanocrystals forming a sort of 'chaplet-like' structures. These plasma-torch
      produced SiNWs are highly pure with no trace of any metal catalyst, suggesting
      that they mostly form through SiO-catalyzed growth scheme rather than from metal
      catalyzed path. The extracted Si nanostructures are shown to exhibit a strong
      photoluminescence (PL) which is found to blue-shift from 950 to 680 nm as the
      core size of the Si nanostructures decreases from ~5 to ~3 nm. This near IR
      visible PL is shown to originate from quantum confinement (QC) in Si
      nanostructures. Consistently, the sizes of the Si nanocrystals directly
      determined from HRTEM images corroborate well with those expected by QC theory.

PMID- 28585523
TI  - Fusion of P300 and eye-tracker data for spelling using BCI2000.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Various augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices have
      been developed in order to aid communication for individuals with communication
      disorders. Recently, there has been interest in combining EEG data and eye-gaze
      data with the goal of developing a hybrid (or 'fused') BCI (hBCI) AAC system.
      This work explores the effectiveness of a speller that fuses data from an eye
      tracker and the P300 speller in order to create a hybrid P300 speller. APPROACH:
      This hybrid speller collects both eye-tracking and EEG data in parallel, and the
      user spells characters on the screen in the same way that they would if they were
      only using the P300 speller. Online and offline experiments were performed. The
      online experiments measured the performance of the speller for sixteen non
      disabled participants, while the offline simulations were used to assess the
      robustness of the hybrid system. MAIN RESULTS: Online results showed that for
      fifteen non-disabled participants, using eye-gaze in a Bayesian framework with
      EEG data from the P300 speller improved accuracy ([Formula: see text], [Formula:
      see text], [Formula: see text] for estimated, medium and high variance
      configurations) and reduced the average number of flashes required to spell a
      character compared to the standard P300 speller that relies solely on EEG data
      ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] for estimated,
      medium and high variance configurations). Offline simulations indicate that the
      system provides more robust performance than a standalone eye gaze system.
      SIGNIFICANCE: The results of this work on non-disabled participants shows the
      potential efficacy of hybrid P300 and eye-tracker speller. Further validation on
      the amyotrophic lateral sceloris population is needed to assess the benefit of
      this hybrid system.

PMID- 28585524
TI  - Theoretical modeling of charge trapping in crystalline and amorphous Al2O3.
AB  - The characteristics of intrinsic electron and hole trapping in crystalline and
      amorphous Al2O3 have been studied using density functional theory (DFT). Special
      attention was paid to enforcing the piece-wise linearity of the total energy with
      respect to electron number through the use of a range separated, hybrid
      functional PBE0-TC-LRC (Guidon et al 2009 J. Chem. Theory Comput. 5 3010) in
      order to accurately model the behaviour of localized states. The tuned functional
      is shown to reproduce the geometric and electronic structures of the perfect
      crystal as well as the spectroscopic characteristics of MgAl hole centre in
      corundum alpha-Al2O3. An ensemble of ten amorphous Al2O3 structures was generated
      using classical molecular dynamics and a melt and quench method and their
      structural characteristics compared with the experimental data. The electronic
      structure of amorphous systems was characterized using the inverse participation
      ratio method. Electrons and holes were then introduced into both crystalline and
      amorphous alumina structures and their properties calculated. Holes are shown to
      trap spontaneously in both crystalline and amorphous alumina. In the crystalline
      phase they localize on single O ion with the trapping energy of 0.38 eV. In
      amorphous phase, holes localize on two nearest neighbour oxygen sites with an
      average trapping energy of 1.26 eV, with hole trapping sites separated on average
      by about 8.0 A. No electron trapping is observed in the material. Our results
      suggest that trapping of positive charge can be much more severe and stable in
      amorphous alumina rather than in crystalline samples.

PMID- 28585525
TI  - Near transferable phenomenological n-body potentials for noble metals.
AB  - We present a semi-empirical model of cohesion in noble metals with suitable
      parameters reproducing a selected set of experimental properties of perfect and
      defective lattices in noble metals. It consists of two short-range, n-body terms
      accounting respectively for attractive and repulsive interactions, the former
      deriving from the second moment approximation of the tight-binding scheme and the
      latter from the gas approximation of the kinetic energy of electrons. The
      stability of the face centred cubic versus the hexagonal compact stacking is
      obtained via a long-range, pairwise function of customary use with ionic pseudo
      potentials. Lattice dynamics, molecular statics, molecular dynamics and nudged
      elastic band calculations show that, unlike previous potentials, this cohesion
      model reproduces and predicts quite accurately thermodynamic properties in noble
      metals. In particular, computed surface energies, largely underestimated by
      existing empirical cohesion models, compare favourably with measured values,
      whereas predicted unstable stacking-fault energy profiles fit almost perfectly ab
      initio evaluations from the literature. All together the results suggest that
      this semi-empirical model is nearly transferable.

PMID- 28585526
TI  - Quantum-trajectory analysis for charge transfer in solid materials induced by
      strong laser fields.
AB  - We investigate the dependence of charge transfer on the intensity of driving
      laser field when SiO2 crystal is irradiated by an 800 nm laser. It is surprising
      that the direction of charge transfer undergoes a sudden reversal when the
      driving laser intensity exceeds critical values with different carrier-envelope
      phases. By applying quantum-trajectory analysis, we find that the Bloch
      oscillation plays an important role in charge transfer in solids. Also, we study
      the interaction of a strong laser with gallium nitride (GaN), which is widely
      used in optoelectronics. A pump-probe scheme is applied to control the quantum
      trajectories of the electrons in the conduction band. The signal of charge
      transfer is controlled successfully by means of a theoretically proposed
      approach.

PMID- 28585527
TI  - Organic hydrogen peroxide-driven low charge potentials for high-performance
      lithium-oxygen batteries with carbon cathodes.
AB  - Reducing the high charge potential is a crucial concern in advancing the
      performance of lithium-oxygen batteries. Here, for water-containing lithium
      oxygen batteries with lithium hydroxide products, we find that a hydrogen
      peroxide aqueous solution added in the electrolyte can effectively promote the
      decomposition of lithium hydroxide compounds at the ultralow charge potential on
      a catalyst-free Ketjen Black-based cathode. Furthermore, for non-aqueous lithium
      oxygen batteries with lithium peroxide products, we introduce a urea hydrogen
      peroxide, chelating hydrogen peroxide without any water in the organic, as an
      electrolyte additive in lithium-oxygen batteries with a lithium metal anode and
      succeed in the realization of the low charge potential of ~3.26 V, which is among
      the best levels reported. In addition, the undesired water generally accompanying
      hydrogen peroxide solutions is circumvented to protect the lithium metal anode
      and ensure good battery cycling stability. Our results should provide
      illuminating insights into approaches to enhancing lithium-oxygen batteries.

PMID- 28585528
TI  - Tailoring protein nanomechanics with chemical reactivity.
AB  - The nanomechanical properties of elastomeric proteins determine the elasticity of
      a variety of tissues. A widespread natural tactic to regulate protein
      extensibility lies in the presence of covalent disulfide bonds, which
      significantly enhance protein stiffness. The prevalent in vivo strategy to form
      disulfide bonds requires the presence of dedicated enzymes. Here we propose an
      alternative chemical route to promote non-enzymatic oxidative protein folding via
      disulfide isomerization based on naturally occurring small molecules. Using
      single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy, supported by DFT calculations and mass
      spectrometry measurements, we demonstrate that subtle changes in the chemical
      structure of a transient mixed-disulfide intermediate adduct between a protein
      cysteine and an attacking low molecular-weight thiol have a dramatic effect on
      the protein's mechanical stability. This approach provides a general tool to
      rationalize the dynamics of S-thiolation and its role in modulating protein
      nanomechanics, offering molecular insights on how chemical reactivity regulates
      protein elasticity.

PMID- 28585530
TI  - Multimode entanglement in reconfigurable graph states using optical frequency
      combs.
AB  - Multimode entanglement is an essential resource for quantum information
      processing and quantum metrology. However, multimode entangled states are
      generally constructed by targeting a specific graph configuration. This yields to
      a fixed experimental setup that therefore exhibits reduced versatility and
      scalability. Here we demonstrate an optical on-demand, reconfigurable multimode
      entangled state, using an intrinsically multimode quantum resource and a homodyne
      detection apparatus. Without altering either the initial squeezing source or
      experimental architecture, we realize the construction of thirteen cluster states
      of various sizes and connectivities as well as the implementation of a secret
      sharing protocol. In particular, this system enables the interrogation of quantum
      correlations and fluctuations for any multimode Gaussian state. This initiates an
      avenue for implementing on-demand quantum information processing by only adapting
      the measurement process and not the experimental layout.

PMID- 28585529
TI  - Crop wild relative populations of Beta vulgaris allow direct mapping of
      agronomically important genes.
AB  - Rapid identification of agronomically important genes is of pivotal interest for
      crop breeding. One source of such genes are crop wild relative (CWR) populations.
      Here we used a CWR population of <200 wild beets (B. vulgaris ssp. maritima),
      sampled in their natural habitat, to identify the sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp.
      vulgaris) resistance gene Rz2 with a modified version of mapping-by-sequencing
      (MBS). For that, we generated a draft genome sequence of the wild beet. Our
      results show the importance of preserving CWR in situ and demonstrate the great
      potential of CWR for rapid discovery of causal genes relevant for crop
      improvement. The candidate gene for Rz2 was identified by MBS and subsequently
      corroborated via RNA interference (RNAi). Rz2 encodes a CC-NB-LRR protein. Access
      to the DNA sequence of Rz2 opens the path to improvement of resistance towards
      rhizomania not only by marker-assisted breeding but also by genome editing.

PMID- 28585532
TI  - Mechanism of microtubule stabilization by taccalonolide AJ.
AB  - As a major component of the cytoskeleton, microtubules consist of alphabeta
      tubulin heterodimers and have been recognized as attractive targets for cancer
      chemotherapy. Microtubule-stabilizing agents (MSAs) promote polymerization of
      tubulin and stabilize the polymer, preventing depolymerization. The molecular
      mechanisms by which MSAs stabilize microtubules remain elusive. Here we report a
      2.05 A crystal structure of tubulin complexed with taccalonolide AJ, a newly
      identified taxane-site MSA. Taccalonolide AJ covalently binds to beta-tubulin
      D226. On AJ binding, the M-loop undergoes a conformational shift to facilitate
      tubulin polymerization. In this tubulin-AJ complex, the E-site of tubulin is
      occupied by GTP rather than GDP. Biochemical analyses confirm that AJ inhibits
      the hydrolysis of the E-site GTP. Thus, we propose that the beta-tubulin E-site
      is locked into a GTP-preferred status by AJ binding. Our results provide
      experimental evidence for the connection between MSA binding and tubulin
      nucleotide state, and will help design new MSAs to overcome taxane resistance.

PMID- 28585531
TI  - Small extracellular vesicles secreted from senescent cells promote cancer cell
      proliferation through EphA2.
AB  - Cellular senescence prevents the proliferation of cells at risk for neoplastic
      transformation. However, the altered secretome of senescent cells can promote the
      growth of the surrounding cancer cells. Although extracellular vesicles (EVs)
      have emerged as new players in intercellular communication, their role in the
      function of senescent cell secretome has been largely unexplored. Here, we show
      that exosome-like small EVs (sEVs) are important mediators of the pro-tumorigenic
      function of senescent cells. sEV-associated EphA2 secreted from senescent cells
      binds to ephrin-A1, that is, highly expressed in several types of cancer cells
      and promotes cell proliferation through EphA2/ephrin-A1 reverse signalling. sEV
      sorting of EphA2 is increased in senescent cells because of its enhanced
      phosphorylation resulting from oxidative inactivation of PTP1B phosphatase. Our
      results demonstrate a novel mechanism of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-regulated
      cargo sorting into sEVs, which is critical for the potentially deleterious growth
      promoting effect of the senescent cell secretome.

PMID- 28585533
TI  - Correspondence: Reply to 'Analytical flaws in a continental-scale forest soil
      microbial diversity study'.

PMID- 28585534
TI  - One-step generation of complete gene knockout mice and monkeys by CRISPR/Cas9
      mediated gene editing with multiple sgRNAs.
AB  - The CRISPR/Cas9 system is an efficient gene-editing method, but the majority of
      gene-edited animals showed mosaicism, with editing occurring only in a portion of
      cells. Here we show that single gene or multiple genes can be completely knocked
      out in mouse and monkey embryos by zygotic injection of Cas9 mRNA and multiple
      adjacent single-guide RNAs (spaced 10-200 bp apart) that target only a single key
      exon of each gene. Phenotypic analysis of F0 mice following targeted deletion of
      eight genes on the Y chromosome individually demonstrated the robustness of this
      approach in generating knockout mice. Importantly, this approach delivers
      complete gene knockout at high efficiencies (100% on Arntl and 91% on Prrt2) in
      monkey embryos. Finally, we could generate a complete Prrt2 knockout monkey in a
      single step, demonstrating the usefulness of this approach in rapidly
      establishing gene-edited monkey models.

PMID- 28585536
TI  - Erratum: Phylogenetic analysis of metastatic progression in breast cancer using
      somatic mutations and copy number aberrations.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14944.

PMID- 28585535
TI  - Blood-brain-barrier spheroids as an in vitro screening platform for brain
      penetrating agents.
AB  - Culture-based blood-brain barrier (BBB) models are crucial tools to enable rapid
      screening of brain-penetrating drugs. However, reproducibility of in vitro
      barrier properties and permeability remain as major challenges. Here, we report
      that self-assembling multicellular BBB spheroids display reproducible BBB
      features and functions. The spheroid core is comprised mainly of astrocytes,
      while brain endothelial cells and pericytes encase the surface, acting as a
      barrier that regulates transport of molecules. The spheroid surface exhibits high
      expression of tight junction proteins, VEGF-dependent permeability, efflux pump
      activity and receptor-mediated transcytosis of angiopep-2. In contrast, the
      transwell co-culture system displays comparatively low levels of BBB regulatory
      proteins, and is unable to discriminate between the transport of angiopep-2 and a
      control peptide. Finally, we have utilized the BBB spheroids to screen and
      identify BBB-penetrant cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). This robust in vitro BBB
      model could serve as a valuable next-generation platform for expediting the
      development of CNS therapeutics.

PMID- 28585537
TI  - Single-mutation fitness landscapes for an enzyme on multiple substrates reveal
      specificity is globally encoded.
AB  - Our lack of total understanding of the intricacies of how enzymes behave has
      constrained our ability to robustly engineer substrate specificity. Furthermore,
      the mechanisms of natural evolution leading to improved or novel substrate
      specificities are not wholly defined. Here we generate near-comprehensive single
      mutation fitness landscapes comprising >96.3% of all possible single
      nonsynonymous mutations for hydrolysis activity of an amidase expressed in E.
      coli with three different substrates. For all three selections, we find that the
      distribution of beneficial mutations can be described as exponential, supporting
      a current hypothesis for adaptive molecular evolution. Beneficial mutations in
      one selection have essentially no correlation with fitness for other selections
      and are dispersed throughout the protein sequence and structure. Our results
      further demonstrate the dependence of local fitness landscapes on substrate
      identity and provide an example of globally distributed sequence-specificity
      determinants for an enzyme.

PMID- 28585538
TI  - Chirality and energy transfer amplified circularly polarized luminescence in
      composite nanohelix.
AB  - Transfer of both chirality and energy information plays an important role in
      biological systems. Here we show a chiral donor pi-gelator and assembled it with
      an achiral pi-acceptor to see how chirality and energy can be transferred in a
      composite donor-acceptor system. It is found that the individual chiral gelator
      can self-assemble into nanohelix. In the presence of the achiral acceptor, the
      self-assembly can also proceed and lead to the formation of the composite
      nanohelix. In the composite nanohelix, an energy transfer is realized.
      Interestingly, in the composite nanohelix, the achiral acceptor can both capture
      the supramolecular chirality and collect the circularly polarized energy from the
      chiral donor, showing both supramolecular chirality and energy transfer amplified
      circularly polarized luminescence (ETACPL).

PMID- 28585540
TI  - Single-peptide DNA-dependent RNA polymerase homologous to multi-subunit RNA
      polymerase.
AB  - Transcription in all living organisms is accomplished by multi-subunit RNA
      polymerases (msRNAPs). msRNAPs are highly conserved in evolution and invariably
      share a ~400 kDa five-subunit catalytic core. Here we characterize a hypothetical
      ~100 kDa single-chain protein, YonO, encoded by the SPbeta prophage of Bacillus
      subtilis. YonO shares very distant homology with msRNAPs, but no homology with
      single-subunit polymerases. We show that despite homology to only a few amino
      acids of msRNAP, and the absence of most of the conserved domains, YonO is a
      highly processive DNA-dependent RNA polymerase. We demonstrate that YonO is a
      bona fide RNAP of the SPbeta bacteriophage that specifically transcribes its late
      genes, and thus represents a novel type of bacteriophage RNAPs. YonO and related
      proteins present in various bacteria and bacteriophages have diverged from
      msRNAPs before the Last Universal Common Ancestor, and, thus, may resemble the
      single-subunit ancestor of all msRNAPs.

PMID- 28585541
TI  - The social dimensions of invasive plants.
AB  - Invasive plants pose a major environmental management issue. Research into the
      social dimensions of this issue has flourished over the past decade, as part of
      the critical examination of relations between human and nonhuman worlds. The
      social sciences and humanities have made substantial contributions to
      conceptualizing invasiveness and nativeness; understanding the perceptions,
      attitudes and values of diverse stakeholders; and analysing the politics and
      practices of invasive plant management. Cultural analysis allows areas of
      conflict and commonality to be identified. Social complexity must be added to
      ecological complexity to understand the causal relationships underlying
      invasions; and linear understandings of science-policy relationships are too
      simplistic. Productive connections have been established between recent social
      and natural science approaches in the context of rapid environmental change and
      unpredictable futures. Nonetheless, the prevalence of human exceptionalism in the
      ecological sciences constitutes a major point of divergence between social and
      natural science perspectives.

PMID- 28585539
TI  - IL-21-mediated reversal of NK cell exhaustion facilitates anti-tumour immunity in
      MHC class I-deficient tumours.
AB  - During cancer immunoediting, loss of major histocompatibility complex class I
      (MHC-I) in neoplasm contributes to the evasion of tumours from host immune
      system. Recent studies have demonstrated that most natural killer (NK) cells that
      are found in advanced cancers are defective, releasing the malignant MHC-I
      deficient tumours from NK-cell-dependent immune control. Here, we show that a
      natural killer T (NKT)-cell-ligand-loaded tumour-antigen expressing antigen
      presenting cell (APC)-based vaccine effectively eradicates these advanced
      tumours. During this process, we find that the co-expression of Tim-3 and PD-1
      marks functionally exhausted NK cells in advanced tumours and that MHC-I
      downregulation in tumours is closely associated with the induction of NK-cell
      exhaustion in both tumour-bearing mice and cancer patients. Furthermore, the
      recovery of NK-cell function by IL-21 is critical for the anti-tumour effects of
      the vaccine against advanced tumours. These results reveal the process involved
      in the induction of NK-cell dysfunction in advanced cancers and provide a
      guidance for the development of strategies for cancer immunotherapy.

PMID- 28585542
TI  - Loss of function CHCHD10 mutations in cytoplasmic TDP-43 accumulation and
      synaptic integrity.
AB  - Although multiple CHCHD10 mutations are associated with the spectrum of familial
      and sporadic frontotemporal dementia-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FTD-ALS)
      diseases, neither the normal function of endogenous CHCHD10 nor its role in the
      pathological milieu (that is, TDP-43 pathology) of FTD/ALS have been
      investigated. In this study, we made a series of observations utilizing
      Caenorhabditis elegans models, mammalian cell lines, primary neurons and mouse
      brains, demonstrating that CHCHD10 normally exerts a protective role in
      mitochondrial and synaptic integrity as well as in the retention of nuclear TDP
      43, whereas FTD/ALS-associated mutations (R15L and S59L) exhibit loss of function
      phenotypes in C. elegans genetic complementation assays and dominant negative
      activities in mammalian systems, resulting in mitochondrial/synaptic damage and
      cytoplasmic TDP-43 accumulation. As such, our results provide a pathological link
      between CHCHD10-associated mitochondrial/synaptic dysfunction and cytoplasmic TDP
      43 inclusions.

PMID- 28585543
TI  - Correspondence: Analytical flaws in a continental-scale forest soil microbial
      diversity study.

PMID- 28585544
TI  - Serotonin modulates a depression-like state in Drosophila responsive to lithium
      treatment.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects millions of patients; however, the
      pathophysiology is poorly understood. Rodent models have been developed using
      chronic mild stress or unavoidable punishment (learned helplessness) to induce
      features of depression, like general inactivity and anhedonia. Here we report a
      three-day vibration-stress protocol for Drosophila that reduces voluntary
      behavioural activity. As in many MDD patients, lithium-chloride treatment can
      suppress this depression-like state in flies. The behavioural changes correlate
      with reduced serotonin (5-HT) release at the mushroom body (MB) and can be
      relieved by feeding the antidepressant 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan or sucrose, which
      results in elevated 5-HT levels in the brain. This relief is mediated by 5-HT-1A
      receptors in the alpha-/beta-lobes of the MB, whereas 5-HT-1B receptors in the
      gamma-lobes control behavioural inactivity. The central role of serotonin in
      modulating stress responses in flies and mammals indicates evolutionary conserved
      pathways that can provide targets for treatment and strategies to induce
      resilience.

PMID- 28585546
TI  - A molecular portrait of microsatellite instability across multiple cancers.
AB  - Microsatellite instability (MSI) refers to the hypermutability of short
      repetitive sequences in the genome caused by impaired DNA mismatch repair.
      Although MSI has been studied for decades, large amounts of sequencing data now
      available allows us to examine the molecular fingerprints of MSI in greater
      detail. Here, we analyse ~8,000 exomes and ~1,000 whole genomes of cancer
      patients across 23 cancer types. Our analysis reveals that the frequency of MSI
      events is highly variable within and across tumour types. We also identify genes
      in DNA repair and oncogenic pathways recurrently subject to MSI and uncover non
      coding loci that frequently display MSI. Finally, we propose a highly accurate
      exome-based predictive model for the MSI phenotype. These results advance our
      understanding of the genomic drivers and consequences of MSI, and our
      comprehensive catalogue of tumour-type-specific MSI loci will enable panel-based
      MSI testing to identify patients who are likely to benefit from immunotherapy.

PMID- 28585545
TI  - Sox5 regulates beta-cell phenotype and is reduced in type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by insulin resistance and impaired insulin
      secretion, but the mechanisms underlying insulin secretion failure are not
      completely understood. Here, we show that a set of co-expressed genes, which is
      enriched for genes with islet-selective open chromatin, is associated with T2D.
      These genes are perturbed in T2D and have a similar expression pattern to that of
      dedifferentiated islets. We identify Sox5 as a regulator of the module. Sox5
      knockdown induces gene expression changes similar to those observed in T2D and
      diabetic animals and has profound effects on insulin secretion, including reduced
      depolarization-evoked Ca2+-influx and beta-cell exocytosis. SOX5 overexpression
      reverses the expression perturbations observed in a mouse model of T2D, increases
      the expression of key beta-cell genes and improves glucose-stimulated insulin
      secretion in human islets from donors with T2D. We suggest that human islets in
      T2D display changes reminiscent of dedifferentiation and highlight SOX5 as a
      regulator of beta-cell phenotype and function.

PMID- 28585547
TI  - Split-BioID a conditional proteomics approach to monitor the composition of
      spatiotemporally defined protein complexes.
AB  - Understanding the function of the thousands of cellular proteins is a central
      question in molecular cell biology. As proteins are typically part of multiple
      dynamic and often overlapping macromolecular complexes exerting distinct
      functions, the identification of protein-protein interactions (PPI) and their
      assignment to specific complexes is a crucial but challenging task. We present a
      protein fragments complementation assay integrated with the proximity-dependent
      biotinylation technique BioID. Activated on the interaction of two proteins,
      split-BioID is a conditional proteomics approach that allows in a single and
      simple assay to both experimentally validate binary PPI and to unbiasedly
      identify additional interacting factors. Applying our method to the miRNA
      mediated silencing pathway, we can probe the proteomes of two distinct functional
      complexes containing the Ago2 protein and uncover the protein GIGYF2 as a
      regulator of miRNA-mediated translation repression. Hence, we provide a novel
      tool to study dynamic spatiotemporally defined protein complexes in their native
      cellular environment.

PMID- 28585548
TI  - Possible absence of critical thickness and size effect in ultrathin perovskite
      ferroelectric films.
AB  - Although the size effect in ferroelectric thin films has been known for long
      time, the underlying mechanism is not yet fully understood and whether or not
      there is a critical thickness below which the ferroelectricity vanishes is still
      under debate. Here, we directly measure the thickness-dependent polarization in
      ultrathin PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 films via quantitative annular bright field imaging. We
      find that the polarization is significantly suppressed for films <10-unit cells
      thick (~4 nm). However, approximately the polarization never vanishes. The
      residual polarization is ~16 MUCcm-2 (~17%) at 1.5-unit cells (~0.6 nm) thick
      film on bare SrTiO3 and ~22 MUCcm-2 at 2-unit cells thick film on SrTiO3 with
      SrRuO3 electrode. The residual polarization in these ultrathin films is mainly
      attributed to the robust covalent Pb-O bond. Our atomic study provides new
      insights into mechanistic understanding of nanoscale ferroelectricity and the
      size effects.

PMID- 28585549
TI  - Improving the DNA specificity and applicability of base editing through protein
      engineering and protein delivery.
AB  - We recently developed base editing, a genome-editing approach that enables the
      programmable conversion of one base pair into another without double-stranded DNA
      cleavage, excess stochastic insertions and deletions, or dependence on homology
      directed repair. The application of base editing is limited by off-target
      activity and reliance on intracellular DNA delivery. Here we describe two
      advances that address these limitations. First, we greatly reduce off-target base
      editing by installing mutations into our third-generation base editor (BE3) to
      generate a high-fidelity base editor (HF-BE3). Next, we purify and deliver BE3
      and HF-BE3 as ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes into mammalian cells,
      establishing DNA-free base editing. RNP delivery of BE3 confers higher
      specificity even than plasmid transfection of HF-BE3, while maintaining
      comparable on-target editing levels. Finally, we apply these advances to deliver
      BE3 RNPs into both zebrafish embryos and the inner ear of live mice to achieve
      specific, DNA-free base editing in vivo.

PMID- 28585550
TI  - Compaction of quasi-one-dimensional elastoplastic materials.
AB  - Insight into crumpling or compaction of one-dimensional objects is important for
      understanding biopolymer packaging and designing innovative technological
      devices. By compacting various types of wires in rigid confinements and
      characterizing the morphology of the resulting crumpled structures, here, we
      report how friction, plasticity and torsion enhance disorder, leading to a
      transition from coiled to folded morphologies. In the latter case, where folding
      dominates the crumpling process, we find that reducing the relative wire
      thickness counter-intuitively causes the maximum packing density to decrease. The
      segment size distribution gradually becomes more asymmetric during compaction,
      reflecting an increase of spatial correlations. We introduce a self-avoiding
      random walk model and verify that the cumulative injected wire length follows a
      universal dependence on segment size, allowing for the prediction of the
      efficiency of compaction as a function of material properties, container size and
      injection force.

PMID- 28585552
TI  - Rice domestication: An imperfect African solution.

PMID- 28585551
TI  - Sequence variants in ARHGAP15, COLQ and FAM155A associate with diverticular
      disease and diverticulitis.
AB  - Diverticular disease is characterized by pouches (that is, diverticulae) due to
      weakness in the bowel wall, which can become infected and inflamed causing
      diverticulitis, with potentially severe complications. Here, we test 32.4 million
      sequence variants identified through whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 15,220
      Icelanders for association with diverticular disease (5,426 cases) and its more
      severe form diverticulitis (2,764 cases). Subsequently, 16 sequence variants are
      followed up in a diverticular disease sample from Denmark (5,970 cases, 3,020
      controls). In the combined Icelandic and Danish data sets we observe significant
      association of intronic variants in ARHGAP15 (Rho GTPase-activating protein 15;
      rs4662344-T: P=1.9 * 10-18, odds ratio (OR)=1.23) and COLQ (collagen-like tail
      subunit of asymmetric acetylcholinesterase; rs7609897-T: P=1.5 * 10-10, OR=0.87)
      with diverticular disease and in FAM155A (family with sequence similarity 155A;
      rs67153654-A: P=3.0 * 10-11, OR=0.82) with diverticulitis. These are the first
      loci shown to associate with diverticular disease in a genome-wide study.

PMID- 28585553
TI  - NEDD4 controls spermatogonial stem cell homeostasis and stress response by
      regulating messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes.
AB  - P bodies (PBs) and stress granules (SGs) are conserved cytoplasmic aggregates of
      cellular messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes (mRNPs) that are implicated in
      mRNA metabolism and play crucial roles in adult stem cell homeostasis and stress
      responses. However, the mechanisms underlying the dynamics of mRNP granules are
      poorly understood. Here, we report NEDD4, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, as a key
      regulator of mRNP dynamics that controls the size of the spermatogonial
      progenitor cell (SPC) pool. We find that NEDD4 targets an RNA-binding protein,
      NANOS2, in spermatogonia to destabilize it, leading to cell differentiation. In
      addition, NEDD4 is required for SG clearance. NEDD4 targets SGs and facilitates
      their rapid clearance through the endosomal-lysosomal pathway during the recovery
      period. Therefore, NEDD4 controls the turnover of mRNP components and inhibits
      pathological SG accumulation. Accordingly, we propose that a NEDD4-mediated
      mechanism regulates mRNP dynamics, and facilitates SPC homeostasis and viability
      under normal and stress conditions.

PMID- 28585555
TI  - Predicting the Future Burden of Esophageal Cancer by Histological Subtype:
      International Trends in Incidence up to 2030.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Rapid increases in the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC)
      in high-income countries in the past decades have raised public health concerns.
      This study is the first to predict the future burden of esophageal cancer by
      histological subtype using international incidence data. METHODS: Data on
      esophageal cancer incidence by year of diagnosis, sex, histology, and age group
      were extracted from 42 registries in 12 countries included in the last three
      volumes (VIII-X) of Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, contributing at least 15
      years of consecutive data. Numbers of new cases and incidence rates were
      predicted up to 2030 by fitting and extrapolating age-period-cohort models; the
      differential impact of demographic vs. risk changes on future cases were
      examined. RESULTS: The number of new AC cases is expected to increase rapidly
      2005-2030 in all studied countries as a combined result of increasing risk and
      changing demographics. In contrast, the incidence of esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC) is predicted to continue decreasing in most countries. By 2030,
      1 in 100 men in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are predicted to be
      diagnosed with EAC during their lifetime. CONCLUSIONS: The burden from EAC is
      expected to rise dramatically across high-income countries and has already or
      will surpass ESCC incidence in the coming years, especially among men.
      Notwithstanding the inherent uncertainties in trend-based predictions and in
      subtype misclassification, these findings highlight an ongoing transition in the
      epidemiology of esophageal cancer that is highly relevant to future cancer
      control planning and clinical practice.

PMID- 28585556
TI  - Beneficial Effects of Statins on the Rates of Hepatic Fibrosis, Hepatic
      Decompensation, and Mortality in Chronic Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and
      Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Statins may improve outcomes in patients with chronic liver disease
      (CLD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the impact
      of statins in the setting of CLD. METHODS: We searched several databases from
      inception to 17 October 2016 to identify comparative studies evaluating the role
      of statins in CLD. Outcomes of interest were the associations between statin use
      and progression of fibrosis, development of hepatic decompensation in cirrhosis,
      and mortality in CLD. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were pooled and analyzed using
      a random effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the method of
      detection for progression of hepatic fibrosis and quality of studies. RESULTS: We
      included 10 studies (1 randomized controlled trial and 9 observational) with
      259,453 patients (54,441 statin users and 205,012 nonusers). For progression of
      hepatic fibrosis, pooled HR (95% confidence interval) was 0.49 (0.39-0.62). On
      subgroup analysis of studies using ICD-9 (The International Classification of
      Diseases, Ninth Revision) coding and a second method to detect cirrhosis, pooled
      HR was 0.58 (0.51-0.65); pooled HR for studies using ICD-9 coding only was 0.36
      (0.29-0.44). For progression of fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      infection, pooled HR was 0.52 (0.37-0.73). For hepatic decompensation in
      cirrhosis, pooled HR was 0.54 (0.46-0.65). For mortality, pooled HR based on
      observational studies was 0.67 (0.46-0.98); in the randomized controlled trial,
      HR was 0.39 (0.15-0.99). However, the quality of evidence for these associations
      is low as most included studies were retrospective in nature and limited by
      residual confounding. CONCLUSIONS: Statins may retard the progression of hepatic
      fibrosis, may prevent hepatic decompensation in cirrhosis, and may reduce all
      cause mortality in patients with CLD. As the quality (certainty) of evidence is
      low, further studies are needed before statins can be routinely recommended.

PMID- 28585554
TI  - Interferon-Free Therapy in Elderly Patients With Advanced Liver Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Interferon-free therapies have an improved safety and efficacy
      profile. However, data in elderly patients, who have frequently advanced liver
      disease, associated comorbidities, and use concomitant medications are scarce.
      The im of this study was to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of all-oral
      regimens in elderly patients in real-life clinical practice. METHODS:
      Retrospective analysis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients aged >=65 years
      receiving interferon-free regimens within the Spanish National Registry (Hepa-C).
      RESULTS: Data of 1,252 patients were recorded. Of these, 955 (76%) were aged 65
      74 years, 211 (17%) were aged 75-79 years, and 86 (7%) were aged >=80 years at
      the start of antiviral therapy. HCV genotype-1b was predominant (88%) and 48%
      were previous non-responders. A significant proportion of patients had cirrhosis
      (922; 74%), of whom 11% presented decompensated liver disease. The most used
      regimens were SOF/LDV (33%), 3D (28%), and SOF/SMV (26%). Ribavirin was added in
      49% of patients. Overall, the sustained virological response (SVR12) rate was 94%
      without differences among the three age categories. Albumin <=3.5 g/dl was the
      only independent negative predictor of response (0.25 (0.15-0.41); P<0.01).
      Regarding tolerability, the rate of severe adverse events increased with age
      category (8.8, 13, and 14%; P=0.04). In addition, the main predictors of
      mortality (2.3%) were age >=75 years (2.59 (1.16-5.83); P =0.02) and albumin
      <=3.5 (17 (6.3-47); P <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: SVR rates with interferon-free
      regimens in elderly patients are high and comparable to the general population.
      Baseline low albumin levels (<=3.5 g/dl) was the only predictor of treatment
      failure. Importantly, the rate of severe adverse events and death increased with
      age. Elderly patients (>=75 years) or those with advanced liver disease (albumin
      <=3.5) presented higher mortality. Thus a careful selection of patients for
      antiviral treatment is recommended.

PMID- 28585557
TI  - Pharmacodynamics and effectiveness of topical nitroglycerin at lowering blood
      pressure during autonomic dysreflexia.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Secondary analysis of prospectively collected observational data
      assessing the safety of an autonomic dysreflexia (AD) management protocol.
      OBJECTIVES: To estimate the time to onset of action, time to full clinical effect
      (sustained systolic blood pressure (SBP) <160 mm Hg) and effectiveness of
      nitroglycerin ointment at lowering blood pressure for patients with spinal cord
      injuries experiencing AD. SETTING: US Veterans Affairs inpatient spinal cord
      injury (SCI) unit. METHODS: Episodes of AD recalcitrant to nonpharmacologic
      interventions that were given one to two inches of 2% topical nitroglycerin
      ointment were recorded. Pharmacodynamics as above and predictive characteristics
      (through a mixed multivariate logistic regression model) were calculated.
      RESULTS: A total of 260 episodes of pharmacologically managed AD were recorded in
      56 individuals. Time to onset of action for nitroglycerin ointment was 9-11 min.
      Time to full clinical effect was 14-20 min. Topical nitroglycerin controlled SBP
      <160 mm Hg in 77.3% of pharmacologically treated AD episodes with the remainder
      requiring additional antihypertensive medications. A multivariate logistic
      regression model was unable to identify statistically significant factors to
      predict which patients would respond to nitroglycerin ointment (odds ratios 95%
      confidence intervals 0.29-4.93). The adverse event rate, entirely attributed to
      hypotension, was 3.6% with seven of the eight events resolving with close
      observation alone and one episode requiring normal saline. CONCLUSIONS:
      Nitroglycerin ointment has a rapid onset of action and time to full clinical
      effect with high efficacy and relatively low adverse event rate for patients with
      SCI experiencing AD.

PMID- 28585559
TI  - Prostate cancer: Escaping enzalutamide: Malat1 contributes to resistance.

PMID- 28585560
TI  - Surgery: First penis transplant in the USA.

PMID- 28585558
TI  - Correlates of self-reported physical function in individuals with spinal cord
      injuries and disorders: does self-efficacy matter?
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Data were collected via a cross-sectional mailed survey with
      Veterans with spinal cord injury and disorders (SCI/D). OBJECTIVES: To examine
      self-efficacy in Veterans with SCI/D reporting high versus low perceptions of
      physical function. SETTING: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Spinal Cord
      Injury System of Care-nation-wide, 24 Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Centers. METHODS:
      The survey provided patient-reported data on demographic and injury
      characteristics, basic mobility and fine motor function, and perceived self
      efficacy. Bivariate comparisons were conducted to compare perceptions of self
      efficacy between Veterans with SCI/D reporting perceptions of 'high' versus 'low'
      basic mobility and fine motor function. A multivariate logistic regression was
      conducted to identify factors independently associated with high physical
      function when controlling for covariates. RESULTS: Response rate
      (896/1452=61.7%). Multivariate analysis showed that age (odds ratio (OR)=0.98,
      95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96-1.00, P=0.03), tetraplegia (OR=0.20, 95% CI:
      0.13-0.32, P?0.0001), diabetes (OR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.31-0.91, P=0.02), depression
      (OR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.39-0.98, P=0.04) and pressure ulcers (OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.25
      0.72, P=0.001) were all independently associated with lower odds of high physical
      function. When controlling for covariates, persons with high self-efficacy were
      nearly two times more likely to have high physical function (OR=1.98, 95% CI:
      1.22-3.22, P=0.01). CONCLUSION: Lower perceptions of basic mobility and fine
      motor function among individuals with SCI/D were correlated with lower self
      efficacy, even when controlling for other covariates. The relationship between
      physical function and self-efficacy suggests that interventions focused on
      improving self-efficacy or physical function may also see improvements in the
      other. Further, studies exploring the impact of interventions on the relationship
      between self-efficacy and physical function are needed to understand the
      relationship between the two.

PMID- 28585561
TI  - Nitrogen transformations in modern agriculture and the role of biological
      nitrification inhibition.
AB  - The nitrogen (N)-use efficiency of agricultural plants is notoriously poor.
      Globally, about 50% of the N fertilizer applied to cropping systems is not
      absorbed by plants, but lost to the environment as ammonia (NH3), nitrate (NO3-),
      and nitrous oxide (N2O, a greenhouse gas with 300 times the heat-trapping
      capacity of carbon dioxide), raising agricultural production costs and
      contributing to pollution and climate change. These losses are driven by
      volatilization of NH3 and by a matrix of nitrification and denitrification
      reactions catalysed by soil microorganisms (chiefly bacteria and archaea). Here,
      we discuss mitigation of the harmful and wasteful process of agricultural N loss
      via biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) exuded by plant roots. We examine
      key recent discoveries in the emerging field of BNI research, focusing on BNI
      compounds and their specificity and transport, and discuss prospects for their
      role in improving agriculture while reducing its environmental impact.

PMID- 28585562
TI  - Sperm cells are passive cargo of the pollen tube in plant fertilization.
AB  - Sperm cells of seed plants have lost their motility and are transported by the
      vegetative pollen tube cell for fertilization, but the extent to which they
      regulate their own transportation is a long-standing debate. Here we show that
      Arabidopsis lacking two bHLH transcription factors produces pollen without sperm
      cells. This abnormal pollen mostly behaves like the wild type and demonstrates
      that sperm cells are dispensable for normal pollen tube development.

PMID- 28585563
TI  - Global metabolic interaction network of the human gut microbiota for context
      specific community-scale analysis.
AB  - A system-level framework of complex microbe-microbe and host-microbe chemical
      cross-talk would help elucidate the role of our gut microbiota in health and
      disease. Here we report a literature-curated interspecies network of the human
      gut microbiota, called NJS16. This is an extensive data resource composed of ~570
      microbial species and 3 human cell types metabolically interacting through >4,400
      small-molecule transport and macromolecule degradation events. Based on the
      contents of our network, we develop a mathematical approach to elucidate
      representative microbial and metabolic features of the gut microbial community in
      a given population, such as a disease cohort. Applying this strategy to
      microbiome data from type 2 diabetes patients reveals a context-specific
      infrastructure of the gut microbial ecosystem, core microbial entities with large
      metabolic influence, and frequently produced metabolic compounds that might
      indicate relevant community metabolic processes. Our network presents a
      foundation towards integrative investigations of community-scale microbial
      activities within the human gut.

PMID- 28585564
TI  - Sara phosphorylation state controls the dispatch of endosomes from the central
      spindle during asymmetric division.
AB  - During asymmetric division, fate assignation in daughter cells is mediated by the
      partition of determinants from the mother. In the fly sensory organ precursor
      cell, Notch signalling partitions into the pIIa daughter. Notch and its ligand
      Delta are endocytosed into Sara endosomes in the mother cell and they are first
      targeted to the central spindle, where they get distributed asymmetrically to
      finally be dispatched to pIIa. While the processes of endosomal targeting and
      asymmetry are starting to be understood, the machineries implicated in the final
      dispatch to pIIa are unknown. We show that Sara binds the PP1c phosphatase and
      its regulator Sds22. Sara phosphorylation on three specific sites functions as a
      switch for the dispatch: if not phosphorylated, endosomes are targeted to the
      spindle and upon phosphorylation of Sara, endosomes detach from the spindle
      during pIIa targeting.

PMID- 28585569
TI  - Political potholes in the roadmap for research.

PMID- 28585565
TI  - Architecture of the RNA polymerase II-Paf1C-TFIIS transcription elongation
      complex.
AB  - The conserved polymerase-associated factor 1 complex (Paf1C) plays multiple roles
      in chromatin transcription and genomic regulation. Paf1C comprises the five
      subunits Paf1, Leo1, Ctr9, Cdc73 and Rtf1, and binds to the RNA polymerase II
      (Pol II) transcription elongation complex (EC). Here we report the reconstitution
      of Paf1C from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and a structural analysis of Paf1C bound
      to a Pol II EC containing the elongation factor TFIIS. Cryo-electron microscopy
      and crosslinking data reveal that Paf1C is highly mobile and extends over the
      outer Pol II surface from the Rpb2 to the Rpb3 subunit. The Paf1-Leo1 heterodimer
      and Cdc73 form opposite ends of Paf1C, whereas Ctr9 bridges between them.
      Consistent with the structural observations, the initiation factor TFIIF impairs
      Paf1C binding to Pol II, whereas the elongation factor TFIIS enhances it. We
      further show that Paf1C is globally required for normal mRNA transcription in
      yeast. These results provide a three-dimensional framework for further analysis
      of Paf1C function in transcription through chromatin.

PMID- 28585566
TI  - Analysis of LINE-1 Elements in DNA from Postmortem Brains of Individuals with
      Schizophrenia.
AB  - Whereas some rare genetic variants convey high risk for schizophrenia (SZ),
      common alleles conveying even moderate risk remain elusive. Long interspersed
      element-1s (L1) are mobile retrotransposons comprising ~17% of the human genome.
      L1 retrotransposition can cause somatic mosaicism during neurodevelopment by
      insertional mutagenesis. We hypothesized that, compared to controls, patients
      diagnosed with schizophrenia (PDS) may have increased numbers of deleterious L1
      insertions, perhaps occurring de novo, in brain-expressed genes of dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) neurons. Neuronal and non-neuronal nuclei were
      separated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting from postmortem DLPFC of 36 PDS
      and 26 age-matched controls. Genomic sequences flanking the 3'-side of L1s were
      amplified from neuronal DNA, and neuronal L1 libraries were sequenced. Aligned
      sequences were analyzed for L1 insertions using custom bioinformatics programs.
      Ontology and pathway analyses were done on lists of genes putatively disrupted by
      L1s in PDS and controls. Cellular or population allele frequencies of L1s were
      assessed by droplet digital PCR or Taqman genotyping. We observed a statistically
      significant increase in the proportion of intragenic novel L1s in DLPFC of PDS.
      We found over-representation of L1 insertions within the gene ontologies 'cell
      projection' and 'postsynaptic membrane' in the gene lists derived from PDS
      samples, but not from controls. Cellular allele frequencies of examined L1
      insertions indicated heterozygosity in genomes of DLPFC cells. An L1 within ERI1
      exoribonuclease family member 3 (ERI3) was found to associate with SZ. These
      results extend prior work documenting increased L1 genetic burden in the brains
      of PDS and also identify unique genes that may provide new insight into the
      pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

PMID- 28585570
TI  - Data management and best practice for plant science.

PMID- 28585567
TI  - Role of Src Family Kinases in BDNF-Mediated Suppression of Cocaine-Seeking and
      Prevention of Cocaine-Induced ERK, GluN2A, and GluN2B Dephosphorylation in the
      Prelimbic Cortex.
AB  - Models of relapse have demonstrated that neuroadaptations in reward circuits
      following cocaine self-administration (SA) underlie reinstatement of drug
      seeking. Dysregulation of the pathway from the prelimbic (PrL) cortex to the
      nucleus accumbens is implicated in reinstatement. A single BDNF infusion into the
      PrL cortex following a final cocaine SA session results in attenuation of
      reinstatement of cocaine-seeking. Inhibiting BDNF's receptor, TrkB, ERK/MAP
      kinase activation, or NMDA receptors blocks this attenuating effect, indicating
      that the interaction between glutamate-mediated synaptic activity and TrkB
      signaling is imperative to BDNF's suppressive effect on drug-seeking. Src family
      kinases (SFKs) are involved in both NMDA-mediated activation of TrkB- and TrkB
      mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of NMDA receptors. We hypothesized that
      infusion of the SFK inhibitor, PP2, into the PrL cortex prior to a BDNF infusion,
      immediately after the end of the last cocaine SA session, would block BDNF's
      ability to suppress reinstatement of cocaine-seeking in rats with a cocaine SA
      history. PP2, but not the negative control, PP3, blocked BDNF's suppressive
      effect on context-induced relapse after 1 week of abstinence and cue-induced
      reinstatement after extinction. As previously reported, infusion of BDNF into the
      PrL cortex blocked cocaine SA-induced dephosphorylation of ERK, GluN2A, and
      GluN2B-containing receptors. Inhibition of SFKs using PP2 blocked BDNF-mediated
      phosphorylation of GluN2A, GluN2B, and ERK. These data indicate that SFK activity
      is necessary for BDNF-mediated suppression of cocaine-seeking and reversal of
      cocaine-induced dephosphorylation of key phosphoproteins in the prefrontal cortex
      related to synaptic plasticity.

PMID- 28585568
TI  - Brain Tissue Pulsatility is Increased in Midlife Depression: a Comparative Study
      Using Ultrasound Tissue Pulsatility Imaging.
AB  - Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) is consistently associated with late-life
      depression but poorly documented in midlife depression. It can be hypothesized
      that the relatively low sensitivity of conventional neuroimaging techniques does
      not allow the detection of subtle CVD in midlife depression. We used tissue
      pulsatility imaging (TPI), a novel ultrasound (US) neuroimaging technique that
      has demonstrated good sensitivity to detect changes in the pulsatility of small
      brain volumes, to identify early and subtle changes in brain vascular function in
      midlife depression. We compared the maximum and mean brain tissue pulsatility
      (MaxBTP and MeanBTP), as identified by TPI, between three groups of middle-aged
      females matched for age: patients with depression (n=25), patients with remitted
      depression (n=24) and community controls (n=25). MRI arterial spin labeling,
      white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and transcranial doppler (TCD) were used as
      control conventional markers for CVD. We found no difference in the MRI and TCD
      measures among the three groups. In contrast, depressive patients showed an
      increased BTP related to the mean global brain pulsatility (MeanBTP) and no
      change related to large vessels (MaxBTP) in comparison with the remitted and
      control groups. US neuroimaging is a highly accurate method to detect brain
      pulsatility changes related to cerebrovascular functioning, and TPI identified an
      increased BTP in midlife depressed patients, suggesting early and subtle vascular
      impairments in this population at risk for CVD such as stroke or WMHs. Because
      high pulsatility could represent prodromal cerebrovascular changes that damage
      the brain over time, this paper provides a potential target for blocking the
      progression of CVD.

PMID- 28585571
TI  - Lithospheric foundering and underthrusting imaged beneath Tibet.
AB  - Long-standing debates exist over the timing and mechanism of uplift of the
      Tibetan Plateau and, more specifically, over the connection between lithospheric
      evolution and surface expressions of plateau uplift and volcanism. Here we show a
      T-shaped high wave speed structure in our new tomographic model beneath South
      Central Tibet, interpreted as an upper-mantle remnant from earlier lithospheric
      foundering. Its spatial correlation with ultrapotassic and adakitic magmatism
      supports the hypothesis of convective removal of thickened Tibetan lithosphere
      causing major uplift of Southern Tibet during the Oligocene. Lithospheric
      foundering induces an asthenospheric drag force, which drives continued
      underthrusting of the Indian continental lithosphere and shortening and
      thickening of the Northern Tibetan lithosphere. Surface uplift of Northern Tibet
      is subject to more recent asthenospheric upwelling and thermal erosion of
      thickened lithosphere, which is spatially consistent with recent potassic
      volcanism and an imaged narrow low wave speed zone in the uppermost mantle.

PMID- 28585572
TI  - The combination of histological prostate atrophy and inflammation is associated
      with lower risk of prostate cancer in biopsy specimens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate whether the presence of both prostate atrophy (PA) and
      chronic prostate inflammation (CPI) in the same biopsy and in the same biopsy
      core are associated with prostate cancer (PCa) risk and grade in repeat biopsies.
      METHODS: Retrospective analyses of 6132 men who were 50-75 years old undergoing 2
      year repeat prostate biopsy after a negative baseline biopsy for PCa in the
      REduction by DUtasteride of prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) study. PA, CPI and
      PCa were determined by central pathology. The association of baseline PA and CPI
      with 2-year repeat biopsy cancer status and grade was evaluated with chi2 test
      and logistic regression controlling clinicopathological features. RESULTS: PA,
      CPI and both were detected in 583 (9.5%), 1063 (17.4%) and 3675 (59.9%) baseline
      biopsies, respectively. Compared with biopsies with neither PA nor CPI, the
      presence of PA (odds ratio (OR)=0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.57-0.93),
      CPI (OR=0.72, 95% CI=0.58-0.88) and both (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.45-0.64) were
      associated with lower PCa risk in the 2-year repeat prostate biopsy. Results were
      similar in multivariable analysis. Among subjects with both PA and CPI, those
      with both findings in the same core had even lower PCa risk compared with PA and
      CPI in different cores (univariable OR=0.68, 95% CI=0.51-0.91; multivariable
      OR=0.73, 95% CI=0.54-0.99). Combination of PA and CPI was associated with lower
      risk of high-grade PCa. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of both PA and CPI in baseline
      biopsies, especially in the same core, was associated with lower PCa risk and
      grade. The presence and topographical distribution of PA and CPI may be used in
      PCa risk stratification.

PMID- 28585573
TI  - Tools for predicting patient-reported outcomes in prostate cancer patients
      undergoing radical prostatectomy: a systematic review of prognostic accuracy and
      validity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radical prostatectomy is a common surgical procedure performed to
      treat prostate cancer. Patient-reported outcomes after surgery include urinary
      incontinence, erectile dysfunction, decreased quality of life and psychological
      effects. Predictive tools to assess the likelihood of an individual experiencing
      various patient-reported outcomes have been developed to aid decision-making when
      selecting treatment. METHODS: A systematic review was undertaken to identify all
      papers describing tools for the prediction of patient-reported outcome measures
      in men with prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. To be eligible
      for inclusion, papers had to provide a summary measure of accuracy. PubMed and
      EMBASE were searched from July 2007. Title/abstract screening, and full-text
      review were undertaken by two reviewers, while data extraction and critical
      appraisal was performed by a single reviewer. RESULTS: The search strategy
      identified 3217 potential studies, of which 191 progressed to full-text review
      and 14 were included. From these studies, 27 tools in total were identified, of
      which 18 predicted urinary symptoms, six predicted erectile function and one
      predicted freedom from a group of three outcomes ('trifecta') (biochemical
      recurrence, incontinence and erectile dysfunction). On the basis of tool accuracy
      (>70%) and external validation, two tools predicting incontinence and two tools
      predicting erectile dysfunction are ready for implementation. CONCLUSIONS: A
      small number of tools for the prediction of patient-reported outcomes following
      radical prostatectomy have been developed. Four tools were found to have adequate
      accuracy and validation and are ready for implementation for the prediction of
      urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

PMID- 28585576
TI  - Research publications and education in Pakistani medical universities: Avoiding
      predatory journals and improving the quality of research.

PMID- 28585575
TI  - Human Cytomegalovirus: a neglected public health area of significant relevance to
      women, the foetus and new born. Time for action!

PMID- 28585577
TI  - Clinicopathological profile of gastric cancers in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterise the clinicopathological features of gastric cancer.
      METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at the histopathology laboratory
      of King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia, and comprised record of gastric
      cancer patients from January 2006 to September 2015. Data of all patients who had
      undergone gastrectomy was included. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis. RESULTS:
      Of the 63 patients, 42(66.7%) were males while 21(33.3%) were females. The
      overall mean age was 58.5+/-14.6years (range: 23-95 years). The mean age of males
      at diagnosis was greater than the mean ages of females (60.4 +/- 15.1vs. 54.5 +/-
      13.6 years). Adenocarcinoma was the most common histologic type, occurring in
      49(77.8%) patients. There were 30(47.6%) cases of intestinal subtype and
      19(30.2%) cases of diffuse subtypes of adenocarcinoma. The mean age of patients
      with intestinal subtype was greater than those with diffuse type (60.2 +/- 14.9
      vs. 56.8+/-14.2 years). Younger patients mainly presented with poorly
      differentiated tumours as compared to elder patients. The most common site of
      gastric cancer was body 28(44.5%), followed by antrum 12(30.1%). . CONCLUSIONS:
      Gastric cancer was diagnosed in advanced stages and in young females. Younger
      patients were more frequently affected by poorly differentiated and diffuse
      adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 28585574
TI  - Structural basis of HypK regulating N-terminal acetylation by the NatA complex.
AB  - In eukaryotes, N-terminal acetylation is one of the most common protein
      modifications involved in a wide range of biological processes. Most N
      acetyltransferase complexes (NATs) act co-translationally, with the heterodimeric
      NatA complex modifying the majority of substrate proteins. Here we show that the
      Huntingtin yeast two-hybrid protein K (HypK) binds tightly to the NatA complex
      comprising the auxiliary subunit Naa15 and the catalytic subunit Naa10. The
      crystal structures of NatA bound to HypK or to a N-terminal deletion variant of
      HypK were determined without or with a bi-substrate analogue, respectively. The
      HypK C-terminal region is responsible for high-affinity interaction with the C
      terminal part of Naa15. In combination with acetylation assays, the HypK N
      terminal region is identified as a negative regulator of the NatA acetylation
      activity. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the regulation of this
      pivotal protein modification.

PMID- 28585578
TI  - Comparison of position-related changes on uroflowmetric parameters in healthy
      young men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the mean difference in maximum urine flow rate and post
      void residual urine volume in sitting as well as standing voiding position in
      healthy males. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at
      the Department of Urology, Indus Hospital, Karachi, from October 2013 to March
      2014, and comprised healthy volunteers enrolled using non-probability,
      consecutive sampling technique. Each volunteer was asked to perform uroflowmetry
      in sitting and standing positions on two separate days, and a post-void residual
      volume was assessed after each test. The values of maximum flow rate, average
      flow rate, voiding volume, and post-void residue were compared between the
      different voiding positions. RESULTS: A total of 50 volunteers were inducted. In
      standing position the maximum flow rate was 32.4+/-9.6 ml/sec, average flow rate
      8.8+/-16.9 ml/sec, and post-void residue was 8.8+/-16.9ml. Similarly, in sitting
      position, the maximum flow rate was 14.8+/-5.4 ml/sec, average flow rate 14.8+/
      5.4 ml/sec, and post-void residue was 6.6+/-9.4ml. A significant difference in
      both voiding positions was observed regarding the maximum flow rate, and average
      flow rate (p=0.001; p=0.003). However, the difference was not significant for
      voided volume (p=0.676), or post-void residual volume (p=0.771) in either
      position. Age-wise stratification of data showed significant difference in both
      younger and older age groups in terms of maximum flow rate (p=00.19). However,
      the average flow rate was only significantly different in younger age group
      (p=0.00). There was no difference in voided volume or post-void residue in either
      age group (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The standing voiding position in healthy people
      influenced uroflowmetry findings, and was associated with higher flow rates.

PMID- 28585579
TI  - Classification of normal and arrhythmic ECG using wavelet transform based
      template-matching technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To propose a wavelet-based template matching technique to extract
      features for automatic classification of electrocardiogram signals of normal and
      arrhythmic individuals. METHODS: The study was conducted from December 2014 to
      December 2015 at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Space
      Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. Electrocardiogram signals analysed in this study
      were taken from the freely available database www.physionet.org. The data for
      normal subjects was taken from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Beth
      Israel Hospital's normal sinus rhythm database and data for diseased subjects was
      taken from the arrhythmia database. RESULTS: Of the 30 subjects, there were
      15(50%) normal and 15(50%) diseased subjects. The group-averaged phase difference
      indices of arrhythmic subjects were significantly larger than that of normal
      individuals (p<0.05) within the frequency range of 0.9-1.1 Hz. Moreover, the
      scatter plot between the phase difference index and magnitude of wavelet cross
      spectrum for frequency range of 0.9-1.1 Hz demonstrated a satisfactory
      delineation between normal and arrhythmic individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Wavelet
      decomposition-based template matching technique achieved satisfactory delineation
      of normal and arrhythmic electrocardiogram dynamics.

PMID- 28585580
TI  - Stages of chronic kidney disease and soluble Transferrin Receptor (sTfR),
      Ferritin, ratio.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the ratio of soluble transferrin receptor to ferritin in
      different stages of chronic kidney disease. METHODS: This case-control study was
      conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical
      Centre, Karachi, from January to September 2014, and comprised chronic kidney
      disease patients and healthy controls. Group 1 comprised controls, whereas groups
      2, 3 and 4 had patients based on their mean glomerular filtration rate. SPSS 19
      was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 170 participants, 126(74.1%) were
      cases and 44(25.9%) were controls. The overall mean age was 55.87+/-3.48 years
      and the mean body mass index was 24.25+/-2.9 kg/m2. Decreased levels of iron and
      haemoglobin were observed in cases compared to controls (p<0.001), while high
      serum ferritin was seen in cases compared to the controls (p<0.001).
      Correspondingly, the soluble transferrin receptor-to-ferritin ratio was
      significantly decreased in groups 2, 3 and 4 (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The ratio of
      soluble transferrin receptor to ferritin was lower in higher stages of chronic
      kidney disease.

PMID- 28585581
TI  - Serum APOE, leptin, CFH and HTRA1 levels in Pakistani age related macular
      degeneration patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between serum levels of apolipoprotein E,
      leptin, complimentary factor H and high temperature requirement A-1 in patients
      with age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: This case-control study was
      conducted at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, from May to
      October 2013, and comprised patients with age-related macular degeneration and
      matching controls. The confirmation of age-related macular degeneration was
      carried out through slit lamp examination, fundoscopy and ocular coherence
      tomography. The selected subjects were not suffering with any other systemic or
      ophthalmic complication(s). Serum apolipoprotein E, leptin, complimentary factor
      H and high temperature requirement A-1 were estimated in serum samples of all
      subjects. SPSS 18 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 190 participants,
      90(47.4%) were patients with age-related macular degeneration and 100(52.6%) were
      controls. Significantly elevated serum apolipoprotein E (p<0.0024) and high
      temperature requirement A-1 (p<0.0001) levels were observed in the patients,
      while serum leptin (p<0.008) and complimentary factor H (p<0.0001) levels were
      significantly reduced. Logistic regression showed that lower leptin (p<0.026) and
      elevated high temperature requirement A-1 (p<0.0001) were the relevant risk
      factors. CONCLUSIONS: Serum apolipoprotein E, leptin, complimentary factor H and
      high temperature requirement A-1 levels were altered in age-related macular
      degeneration patients.

PMID- 28585582
TI  - Factors associated with mortality to drug-resistant tuberculosis and their
      programmatic management in treatment centres of Punjab, Pakistan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics and assess the factors of mortality in
      drug-resistant tuberculosis patients. METHODS: This retrospective study was
      conducted at 11 programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis centres
      located in different cities of the Punjab province of Pakistan, and comprised
      record of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis from January 2010 to
      September 2015. Data was retrieved from patient medical records using electronic
      nominal review system of the provincial tuberculosis control programme. Cox's
      proportional hazards model was performed to identify the factors for death. SPSS
      17 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 1,136 patients, 472(41.5%) died
      during treatment and 664(58.5%) were declared cured or their treatment was
      completed. Of those who expired, 97(20.6%) expired within 3 months of the start
      of the treatment. Men had higher rates of death which was not significantly
      associated with the drug-resistant tuberculosis mortality (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      The number of patients who died from drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment was
      relatively high.

PMID- 28585583
TI  - PhD programs in nursing in Iran and Canada: A qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare doctoral programmes of nursing in Iran and Canada. METHODS:
      This qualitative study was conducted in Mashhad, Iran, in April 2014. It was
      based on Beredy's model, including description, interpretation, juxtaposition and
      comparison. The validity of the related documents was assessed by internal
      validity, importance and accuracy of documents. Critique on the external validity
      and core of documents were reviewed. Then, they were interpreted, juxtaposed and
      compared. RESULTS: Both the countries had significant differences in fundamental
      elements of their curricula, including mission, vision, aim, objectives, roles
      and tasks of graduates. Consequently, academic units, final comprehensive exam,
      and research courses were also different. CONCLUSIONS: Doctoral programmes in
      Canada focussed on competency-based, community-based, task-based and student
      centred approaches. These approaches were ignored in the Iranian curriculum.

PMID- 28585584
TI  - Dietary practices and severity of depression. Comparative study among housewives
      and working women in Karachi.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare levels of depression and locate difference in effects of
      dietary practices on depression severity in housewives and working women.
      METHODS: This comparative, cross-sectional study was conducted at the University
      of Karachi and the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from January to
      April 2015. Convenient sampling method was used. Participants included educated
      women, comprising housewives and working women aged 35-45 years. A structured
      questionnaire was used to collect data about participants' dietary habits.
      Depression levels were recorded through Patient Health Questionnaire-9
      questionnaire. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 600
      participants, 300(50%) were housewives and 300(50%) were working women. The mean
      age of housewives was 35.56+/-7.53 years and that of working women was 35.44+/
      6.65 years (p=0.827). Study outcomes revealed that dietary habits influenced
      severity of depression. In none/minimal category, most women in both study groups
      were those who were taking 3 meals [18(14.5%) housewives and 114(52.8%) working
      women], 8 or more glasses of water [16(16%) housewives and 94(48%) working
      women]and fast food rarely[20(12%) housewives and76(44.7%) working women]. A high
      number of women with minimal depression were witnessed among participants who
      rarely consumed vegetables [16(13.1%) housewives and 50(42.4%) working women].
      Considering overall depression, a large number of housewives showed moderate
      depression, i.e. 156(52%). On the contrary, the number of working women showing
      minimal depression was 142(47.3%) compared to 30(17.4%) housewives (p<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although housewives were more depressed than working women, the
      highest number of participants with none or minimal depression in both study
      groups were those who had better dietary practices.

PMID- 28585585
TI  - Comparing the effectiveness of Betamethasone Gel with Lidocaine Gel local
      application on endotracheal tube in preventing post-operative sore throat (POST).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To see whether betamethasone gel or lidocaine gel is superior in
      reducing the incidence of post-operative sore throat after tracheal extubation.
      METHODS: This clinical study was conducted at the Nishtar Hospital and Medical
      College, Multan, Pakistan, from July to December 2015, and comprised patients who
      were set to undergo elective surgery under general anaesthesia. The patients were
      divided into two equal groups. In group 1, endotracheal tube was lubricated with
      betamethasone gel (0.05%). In group 2, endotracheal tube was lubricated with 4.0%
      lidocaine gel. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. Generalised estimating
      equation was used to see the association between the treatment methods and
      severity of sore throat over time. RESULTS: Of the 120 patients, there were
      60(50%) each in the two groups. The mean intubation time was 5.58+/-1.31 hours in
      group 1and 5.43+/-1.21 hours in group 2. Besides, 7(11.7%) patients developed
      mild sore throat and 3(5.0%) moderate sore throat in group 1,whereas 13(21.7%)
      patients developed mild sore throat, 7(11.6%) moderate and 2(3.3%) severe sore
      throat after one hour of extubation (p=0.04). After 6 hours, there were 2(3.3%)
      patients with moderate and 1(1.7%) with severe sore throat in group 1 compared to
      8(13.3%) with moderate and 4(6.7%) with severe sore throat in group 2. After 24
      hours,5(8.3%) patients developed mild and 2(3.3%) moderate sore throat in group 1
      compared to 14(23.7%) patients with mild sore throat, 5(8.5%) with moderate and
      1(1.7%) with severe throat in group 2. Generalised estimating equation analysis
      showed a significant positive association between application of lidocaine gel on
      endotracheal tube and severity of sore throat (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Local
      application of betamethasone gel was associated with reduced risk of post
      operative sore throat as compared to local application of lidocaine gel on the
      endotracheal tube.

PMID- 28585586
TI  - Effects of sevoflurane on female reproductive functions in Wistar rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of sevoflurane by inhalation on female
      reproductive hormones and ovarian tissues. METHODS: This experimental study was
      conducted at the Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey, and comprised Wistar
      Albino female rats. The rats were divided into six groups; one control and five
      study groups. The control group (C) received 2 L/min O2 in 18 min/day for seven
      days; the first study group (S1) received 1 minimum alveolar concentration
      sevoflurane + 2 L/min O2 in 18 min/day for seven days; the second group (S2)
      received 1 minimum alveolar concentration sevoflurane + 2 L/min O2 in 18 min/day
      for seven days and no treatment for the following seven days; the third group
      (S3) received 1 minimum alveolar concentration sevoflurane + 2 L/min O2 in 18
      min/day for 14 days; the fourth group (S4) received 1 minimum alveolar
      concentration sevoflurane + 2 L/min O2 in 18 min/day for 14 days and no treatment
      for the following seven days; and the fifth group (S5) received 1 minimum
      alveolar concentration sevoflurane + 2 L/min O2 in 18 min/day for 14 days and no
      treatment for the following 14 days. The duration of the study was 28 days in
      February 2015. Reproductive system hormone levels were analysed and histological
      assessment of the ovaries was performed. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis.
      RESULTS: Of the 30 rats, there were 5(16.7%) in each group. Histological injury
      scores in S2, S3, S4, and S5 were significantly higher than in C (p=0.016,
      p=0.008, p=0.016 and p=0.032, respectively). The hormone levels belonging to
      follicle stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, estradiol and progesterone
      revealed significant alterations in all groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic
      exposure to sevoflurane negatively affected the histological structure of the
      ovary and hormonal regulation.

PMID- 28585587
TI  - Depression and anxiety in patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery:
      Cross-sectional study from Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of depression and anxiety in post-operative
      patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery. METHODS: The cross-sectional
      analytical study was conducted at the Department of Surgery and Department of
      Psychiatry of the Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan,
      from September 2013 to April 2016, and comprised patients due for elective or
      emergency surgery. Patients admitted to the surgical wards, including general
      surgical, neurosurgical, urological and orthopaedic wards, undergoing major
      surgical procedures were enrolled. The patients were divided into elective
      surgery group 1 and emergency surgery group 2. The hospital anxiety and
      depression scale was used to screen for symptoms of anxiety and depression. SPSS
      22 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 6,624 patients, 4,635(69.97%) were
      in group 1 and 1,989(30.03%) in group 2.The mean age of patients was 36.75+/
      10.3years in group 1 and 39.11+/-11.4 years in group 2. There were 1,715(37%)
      males and 2,920(63%) females in group 1, while 518(26%) males and 1,471(74%)
      females were in group 2. Anxiety was present in 914(45.95%) and 656(32%) patients
      at 0 and 3 weeks in patients undergoing emergency surgery, while in elective
      surgery patients it was noted in 509(10.93%) and 1,390(29.87%) subjects,
      respectively. Depression was present in 218(10.96%) and 616(30.97%) patients at 0
      and 3 weeks in patients undergoing emergency surgery, while in elective surgery
      it was noted in 463(9.98%) and 1,488(32.1%) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Depression
      and anxiety were quite frequent in patients undergoing major surgeries. Anxiety
      was more common in patients who underwent emergency surgeries.

PMID- 28585588
TI  - Non-pharmacological strategies used to reduce procedural pain in infants by
      nurses at family health centres.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the methods used by nurses working in family health
      centres to decrease pain during medical procedures in infants. METHODS: This
      descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at family health centres in the
      county town of Bandirma, and city centres of Karaman and Gaziantep, Turkey, in
      September and October 2015, and comprised nurses. Data was collected through face
      to-face interviews using a questionnaire. SPSS 15 was used for data analysis.
      RESULTS: Of the 144 participants, 71(49.3%) were aged 31-40 years, 74(51.4%) had
      a bachelor's degree, and 76(52.8%) had worked in a family health centre for 1-5
      years. It was observed that 91(63.3%) nurses used contact/massage for decreasing
      the pain during vaccinations and 72(50.3%) used skin-to-skin contact during heel
      lance. A statistically significant difference was found between the level of
      education and use of non-pharmacological methods (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Nurses
      used different non-pharmacologic methods during invasive procedures.

PMID- 28585589
TI  - Use of polypharmacy and herbal medication on quality of life in elderly patients
      at Okmeydani hospital's polyclinics in Istanbul, Turkey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine what should be done as a preventive medicine physician by
      analysing the effect of polypharmacy and herbal treatment. METHODS: This survey
      based, cross-sectional study was carried out at Istanbul Okmeydani Training and
      Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, from February to May 2015, and comprised
      patients using two or more medicines at full strength for at least 240 days. The
      patients were classified into two groups. Group A comprised those who were using
      less than 4 medications (at least 2), while group B comprised patients using more
      than 4 medications. The short version of World Health Organisation's quality-of
      life questionnaire was applied. SPSS 22 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of
      the 350 participants, 106(30.3%) were receiving herbal treatment while 244(69.7%)
      had no such treatment. Group B patients had meaningfully lower scores for body,
      spiritual, social and external environment (p=0.001). Moreover, the patients
      having no herbal or supportive treatment scored significantly higher in the
      physical, spiritual, social relations and external environment (p=0.001). In
      group A, patients receiving no herbal treatment scored meaningfully higher in all
      fields, including physical (p=0.009), social relations (p=0.043) and external
      environment (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Old age, living alone, level of education,
      having a regular monthly income, the number of drugs used, chronic diseases and
      herbal treatments affected the life quality.

PMID- 28585591
TI  - Current status of Helicobacter pylori association with haematological and
      cardiovascular diseases: A mini review.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori infection is considered the most commonly prevalent
      gastrointestinal pathogen where it manages to survive despite the hostile
      environment of human stomach, leading to various gastric diseases including
      gastric cancer. Due to the chronic inflammatory state induced by H. pylori and
      its interaction with host immune system have diverted researchers to investigate
      its correlation with systemic diseases outside of the gastrointestinal tract.
      This literature review was done to explore the association of H. pylori infection
      with haematological and cardiovascular diseases. We used medical subject heading
      (MeSH) terms "Helicobacter pylori" with "inflammation," "haematological
      diseases," "coronary heart diseases" or "vascular diseases" to search PubMed
      database. All relevant studies identified from 2005 to 2015 were included. As
      many of the studies are small-scale or showed weak association, further studies
      are needed to address the role of H. pylori in pathogenesis of haematological and
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28585590
TI  - Isolation of potentially pathogenic fungi from selected pigeons' feeding sites in
      Karachi: A new dimension to health hazard.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the presence of pathogenic fungal strains in areas where
      pigeons are present in a large number. METHODS: This study was conducted at the
      Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, from February
      2015 to March2016, and comprised samples of soil contaminated with pigeons'
      excreta. The samples were collected from 20 different pigeon-feeding places in
      the city. These samples were processed for the isolation and identification of
      fungi by using standard conventional methods. The fungal strains isolated were
      also tested for their susceptibility to commonly used antifungal agents by disc
      diffusion technique. RESULTS: There were 105 samples. A wide variety of fungal
      strains belonging to different genera of Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Penicillium,
      Fusarium and Candida were isolated and identified by using conventional methods.
      The antifungal resistance pattern of these strains also depicts emergence of
      resistance against commonly used antifungal agents such as amphotericin B and
      fluconazole. CONCLUSIONS: The soil and air of places densely populated with
      pigeons were found to be loaded with fungal spores and many of them were
      potential pathogens.

PMID- 28585592
TI  - Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in
      Cerebral Autosomal-Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and
      Leukoencephalopathy: A literature review.
AB  - This review focuses on the current literature directed towards the brain
      metabolite findings in Cerebral Autosomal-Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical
      Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) disease using magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy (MRS) and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). Using
      search terms "metabolites", "spectroscopy", and "CADASIL", six articles were
      found on PubMed database, Scopus and Google Scholar. Changes in metabolites
      concentrations and relative ratios (RR) were found not only in abnormal but also
      in normal-appearing brain regions.

PMID- 28585593
TI  - Incidentaloma: from general practice to specific endocrine frame.
AB  - Incidentaloma, a modern concept connected to technology progress, represents an
      accidentally discovered tumour, usually used for hypophysis and adrenals, and
      rarely for thyroid, parathyroids, and ovaries. This is a narrative review based
      on PubMed research, between 2012 and 2016 focusing on general and endocrine
      approach and current controversies. Main dilemma is the terminology itself:
      randomly imagery finding is enough or non-functioning profile and low-growth rate
      (not requiring surgery) should be mandatory? The controversies refers to best
      time framing of re-scanning pituitary and adrenal incidentaloma and setting of
      clear criteria for subclinical Cushing's syndrome. The need for general practical
      guidelines is imperative so clinicians from different areas of medicine touse the
      same definition and protocols. Currently, the widely accepted part is represented
      by incidental finding. For restricted defined incidentaloma the best intervention
      is no intervention, while some cases may require surgery depending on tumours
      features, patient's age and preference.

PMID- 28585594
TI  - Role of early contrast enhanced CT scan in severity prediction of acute
      pancreatitis.
AB  - Severe pancreatitis occurs in approximately 15-25% of patients with acute
      pancreatitis. The objective of our study was to compare the CT Severity Index
      (CTSI) with a clinical score (BISAP score) to predict severity of acute
      pancreatitis. Forty-eight consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis who
      underwent contrast enhanced CT scan within 72 hours of presentation were
      included. Results of our study showed that both CTSI and BISAP score were
      reliable predictors of mortality (p value = 0.019 and <0.001 respectively) and
      need for mechanical ventilation (p value = .002 and .006 respectively). Positive
      predictive value of CTSI to predict recovery without intervention was 91.4% as
      compared to 78% for that of BISAP score. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC)
      Curves showed CT scan was superior to BISAP Score in predicting need of
      percutaneous or surgical intervention. Early CT scan may be utilized for
      prediction of clinical course of patients with acute pancreatitis.

PMID- 28585595
TI  - Treatment of chronic Hepatitis C in Thalassemia major patients.
AB  - Treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is difficult in thalassemics due to the
      haemolytic side effects of therapy. This study evaluated the treatment response
      to conventional interferon and ribavirin in HCV patients with thalassemia major.
      It was conducted at PMRC Research Centre, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre
      (JPMC) Karachi. At baseline complete blood count, liver function tests, serum
      protein/ albumin, random blood glucose, serum ferritin, TSH, HCV RNA
      (quantitative) and genotyping were done. Conventional interferon 3 MIU thrice
      weekly and ribavirin 400 mg daily was given for 24 or 48 weeks. HCV RNA was done
      at 1st month (RVR), 3rd month (EVR), 6th month (ETR) and six months post
      treatment sustained virological response (SVR). A total of 17 Anti HCV positive
      patients, age range 7-28 years were included.HCV RNA was found in 12. Treatment
      was completed in 8 patients. Genotype 3(87.5%) was found in 7 patients, 1 had
      genotype 1. RVR was achieved in 5 (62.5%) cases, negative PCR at 3 and 6 months
      of treatment (EVR) in 7 (87.5%) patients, one patient was non responder. SVR was
      achieved in 2(25%) patients. Anaemia was the most common side effect due to which
      transfusion requirements increased in 4(50%) patients.

PMID- 28585596
TI  - Sexual self-esteem in mothers of normal and mentally-retarded children.
AB  - Sexual self-esteem is negatively influenced by the stressful experiences in
      lifetime. This study compared the sexual self-esteem and its components in
      mothers with normal and mentally-retarded children in Qaen city, in 2014. A total
      of 120 mothers were selected and assigned into two groups of 60 samples based on
      convenient sampling method and randomized multiple stage sampling. Both groups
      completed sexual self-esteem questionnaire. The data were analyzed employing t
      test through SPSS software version15. The results showed that the rate of sexual
      self-esteem in mothers of mentally-retarded children decreased significantly
      compared with that of mothers with normal children (p<0.05). Moreover, the mean
      scores of all components of sexual self-esteem including skill and experience,
      attractiveness, control, moral judgment, and adaptiveness in mothers of mentally
      retarded children were significantly less than those of mothers with normal
      children (p <0.05). Therefore, it is recommended that self-esteem, especially the
      sexual one, be taught to mothers of mentally-retarded children by specialists.

PMID- 28585597
TI  - Effects of chronic exposure to Formaldehyde on micronucleus rate of bone marrow
      cells in male mice.
AB  - Formaldehyde (FA) is the major volatile organic chemical (VOC) present in indoor
      air, and a constituent known to be associated with sick building syndrome. In the
      present study, mice were exposed to different concentrations of FA (0, 1, 10 mg/
      m3) through static inhalation for 2 hours per day for 20 weeks. The polychromatic
      erythrocytes/ normochromatic erythrocyte (PCE/NCE) ratio and the micronucleus
      rates in bone marrow cells were detected. Data indicated that the PCE/NCE ratio
      in two FA exposure groups were statistically significant lower than the negative
      control group (P <0.05), and the micronucleus rate in two FA exposure groups were
      not significantly higher than the control group (P>0.05). These results suggest
      that chronic static inhalation of FA can reduce the ratio of PCE/NCE in the mice
      bone marrow, but the effects to the mice bone micronucleus rate are not sure.

PMID- 28585598
TI  - Pulmonary hypertensive crisis and its efficient management. A Case report and
      literature review.
AB  - Perioperative anaesthetic management of patients with pulmonary hypertensive
      crisis is complex and challenging because of limited window period and treatment
      options. This case report describes the successful management of a patient with
      severe valvular heart disease superimposed by severe pulmonary hypertension, who
      developed pulmonary hypertensive crisis soon after induction of general
      anaesthesia for cardiac surgery.  Pulmonary hypertensive crisis is not a usual
      phenomenon in these patients, but if it occurs it can be fatal. Anticipatory care
      of the patient to prevent crisis is the mainstay of treatment, otherwise it adds
      additional morbidity to such patients. Fortunately our patient survived the
      crisis without causing any additional morbidity during his hospital stay.

PMID- 28585599
TI  - Discordant disease expression of neonatal lupus erythematosus in twins.
AB  - Neonatal lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease resulting from the trans
      placental passage of maternal anti-SSA/Ro, anti-SSB/La, and less frequently anti
      RNP antibodies to the foetus. At the time of diagnosis 50% of mothers are
      asymptomatic. Neonatal manifestations of this multisystem disease may include
      congenital heart block, cutaneous lesions and haematological abnormalities. We
      present the case of congenital neonatal lupus erythematosus in non-identical
      twins, showing variability in clinical manifestation of this disease,despite
      receiving the same level of antibodies from the mother. This case adds to the
      growing body of evidence about the role of genetics and other feto-maternal
      contributing factors in addition to the presence of auto antibodies. It raises
      interesting questions about discordant disease expression in offspring's of the
      same mother.

PMID- 28585600
TI  - Perforation of Meckel's diverticulum with a foreign body mimicking acute
      appendicitis: A rare complication.
AB  - Meckel's diverticulum mimicking acute appendicitis is a very rare condition
      encountered in practice. MD is asymptomatic in most of cases and only about 4
      to16% of cases develop complications. Perforation of MD by a foreign body is even
      rarer being only reported in few cases in the literature. The surgical management
      might be wedge resection or segmental resection and primary anastomoses depending
      on the intra operative findings. We report a case with foreign body impaction in
      MD with perforation mimicking acute appendicitis.

PMID- 28585601
TI  - Canakinumab treatment in four children with colchicine resistant familial
      mediterranean fever.
AB  - Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive and autoinflammatory
      disease, characterized with inflammation of serous membranes such as peritoneum,
      pleura, synovium with fever and pain. Colchicine is the main treatment of FMF,
      but 5-10 % of patients are unresponsive to colchicine. We report using anti
      interleukin-1 agents anakinra and canakinumab in four colchicine-resistant
      patients who were successfully treated. Three of the patients were siblings.

PMID- 28585602
TI  - Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) - A safe option for evacuation of first trimester
      miscarriage in cardiac patients.
AB  - This case series was done at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, National
      Institute of Heart Disease, Rawalpindi, to observe safety and efficacy of manual
      vacuum aspiration and frequency of complications in cardiac patients with missed
      abortion. All cardiac patients presenting in first trimester with diagnosed early
      foetal demise (missed miscarriage) or incomplete miscarriage were included.
      Manual vacuum aspiration was done as an outpatient procedure. Cardiac and
      procedure related complications including arrhythmias, thromboembolism, heart
      failure and ischaemia were noted. A total of 34 patients were enrolled. Mean age
      and parity was 25.9+/-2.25 years and 1.18+/-1.02. Mitral valve was the dominant
      valve involved in 20(58.8%) followed by double valve replacement in 5(14.7%),
      dilated cardiomyopathy 4(11.76%), aortic valve involvement in 3(8.8%) and supra
      ventricular tachycardia in 2(5.9%) patients. Complete evacuation was achieved in
      100% patients and there were no major cardiac or gynaecological complications
      except arrhythmia in 1(2.9%) patient. MVA seems to be a safe and cost effective
      intervention compared to other modalities of miscarriage management even in high
      risk cardiac patients.

PMID- 28585603
TI  - Etiological and epidemiological factors in hearing-impaired students in Van, East
      of Turkey: A case series.
AB  - The aim of the present case series was to investigate the causes of hearing loss
      in the children studying at a primary School for the deaf in Van Province,
      Turkey. The present series included 95 children with sensorineural hearing loss.
      Otoscopic and ophthalmological examinations, pure-tone audiometry, and
      tympanometry were performed for each patient. Measles IgG, rubella IgG,
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) IgG, toxoplasma IgG, herpes simplex virus (HSV) Type I (HSV
      I) IgG, HSV Type II (HSV-II) IgG, and Mycoplasma pneumonia IgG were evaluated in
      serum samples. Temporal bone anomalies were analyzed on temporal bone computed
      tomography (CT). A total of 7 radiologically distinct inner ear malformations
      were detected in 19 children. Twelve children were detected with various fundus
      pathologies. The most common cause of hearing loss was family-related factors
      (52%). In conclusion, the etiological and epidemiological factors were consistent
      with those reported in the literature.

PMID- 28585604
TI  - Drug addiction and diabetes: South Asian action.
AB  - Both diabetes and drug addiction are common phenomena across the world. Drug
      abuse impacts glycaemic control in multiple ways. It becomes imperative,
      therefore, to share guidance on drug deaddiction in persons with diabetes. The
      South Asian subcontinent is home to specific forms and patterns of drug abuse.
      Detailed study is needed to ensure good clinical practice regarding the same.
      This communication provides a simple and pragmatic framework to address this
      issue, while calling for concerted action on drug deaddiction in South Asia.

PMID- 28585605
TI  - Pragmatic selection of cooking oils.
AB  - Fats and oils are one of the very important components of diet. However excess of
      either overall fat or certain kind of fats in the diet may result in negative
      health impacts including risk of obesity, dyslipidaemia, cardiovascular diseases
      and certain malignancies. It is thus important to have an optimum amount of fat
      in the diet, and also important to choose appropriate sources of fat in the diet.
      In this mini review we suggest pragmatic selection of cooking oils for optimum
      health benefits.

PMID- 28585606
TI  - Extent of resection and timing of surgery in adult low grade glioma.
AB  - Low grade glioma is a group of WHO grade II tumours including diffuse
      astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, and oligoastrocytoma. Strong evidence exists in
      literature now to support early surgery and higher extent of safe resection in
      improving outcomes. In this review, we are highlighting some of the important
      studies done in the last few years specifically addressing timing of surgery and
      extent of resection.

PMID- 28585607
TI  - Microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia (maha) caused by non O157:H7 E-coli.

PMID- 28585608
TI  - Hysteroscopic Myomectomy can lead to intrauterine adhesions and infertility.

PMID- 28585609
TI  - Comment on Ahsan Ali Syed et al (J Pak Med Assoc 2017; 67: 400-404) Frequency of
      worsening liver function in severe dengue hepatitis patients receiving
      paracetamol: A retrospective analysis of hospital data.

PMID- 28585610
TI  - Response to comment on Ahsan Ali Syed et al (J Pak Med Assoc 2017; 67: 400-404
      Frequency of worsening liver function in severe dengue hepatitis patients
      receiving paracetamol: A retrospective analysis of hospital data.

PMID- 28585611
TI  - Knowledge and attitude of physicians about antimicrobial resistance and their
      prescribing practices in Services hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
AB  - A cross sectional study was conducted in Services Hospital, Lahore using a self
      administered questionnaire to test the knowledge, attitude and prescribing
      practices of residents and attending physicians using non-probability convenience
      sampling. A total of 116 questionnaires were filled (Response rate=77.3%).
      Knowledge was below average (mean score of 3.66+/-1.1). Only 18 physicians (16%)
      could correctly estimate the rates of resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae and
      pseudomonas aeruginosa to cephalosporin. Mostly physicians reviewed their
      decisions to prescribe an antibiotic by discussing with a senior colleague (n=93;
      80%). When they did, the senior colleague sometimes recommended a different
      antibiotic (n=106; 91%). Seventy seven physicians (66%) reported that they
      prescribed more than one antibiotic per day. Physicians also stated that their
      decision of antimicrobial prescription was influenced by patient's socioeconomic
      status (n=108; 93.1%) and patients' demands (n=24; 20.7%). This study highlighted
      the importance of Antimicrobial stewardship and revealed topics to address during
      future antimicrobial prescribing interventions such as dissemination of
      information about local resistance rates and encouraging knowledge about
      antimicrobials.

PMID- 28585612
TI  - [Recent advances of immunooncology in the treatment of solid tumours and
      haematological malignancies: the immune checkpoint inhibitors].
AB  - Cancer immunotherapy is coming of age, as outstanding results can be achieved in
      the therapy of cancer with poor prognosis by altering the patients' immune system
      and by promoting the immune response against tumours. Amongst immunotherapies,
      the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) proved to be the most effective, primarily
      in the treatment of solid tumours, including melanoma, non-small cell lung
      carcinoma, and classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. The reason for this efficacy is the
      immunosuppressive microenvironment typical for many cancer types, directly and
      indirectly inhibiting effector T-cell responses. To date, three cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) or programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)
      checkpoint inhibitors have been approved in Europe, and six in the USA.
      Furthermore, an increasing number of these drugs is available in the setting of
      clinical trials. For the optimal use of the numerous different ICIs there is an
      ever increasing need to identify reliable predictive biomarkers and to explore
      therapy-associated resistance mechanisms, which will represent the main challenge
      of the next years.

PMID- 28585613
TI  - [Immunotherapy of renal cell cancer].
AB  - The authors briefly highlight the results of targeted therapy and present new
      solutions in kidney cancer immunotherapy. The important checkpoint inhibitors
      (anti-CTLA-4, -PD-1 and -PD-L1/2) and their combinations, together with the
      combinations of targeted drugs and immunotherapy are discussed. The newest
      checkpoint agents, vaccination and pegylated interleukin-2 are also presented.
      The most promising clinical trials (CheckMate-025, AGS-003, IMA 901) and the on
      going first line phase III trials are shown in metastatic clear cell renal
      carcinoma.

PMID- 28585614
TI  - [Advances in immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma].
AB  - Improved understanding of melanoma genetics and immune regulatory pathways have
      culminated in the development of targeted and immunotherapies of the patients
      with metastatic melanoma. Recent advances in these oncological modalities have
      dramatically shifted this landscape with highly increased survival rates.
      Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 and programmed death-1 based treatments
      (ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab) have been an integral part of this
      therapeutic success. Nowadays the combined immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies
      have demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival of patients with
      advanced melanoma. This review summarizes briefly the most important updated
      principals of this field in dermato-oncology.

PMID- 28585615
TI  - [The role of immunotherapy in the modern treatment of urothelial carcinoma].
AB  - By the emergence of modern immunotherapies with active agents like PD-1
      (nivolumab, pembrolizumab) and PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockers (atezolizumab,
      avelumab, durvalumab), new therapeutic options have become available for the
      treatment of patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
      According to the recent publications, they have been effective in case of
      progression after platinum therapy, in or after second-line and in firstline
      therapies for cisplatin ineligible patients, respectively. Patient survival and
      tumor response data are very promising; in particular stages, they seem to be
      more effective than the previously administered chemotherapies. Their toxicity
      profiles also appear to be more favorable. Immunological side effects are rare;
      their identification and management require preparedness and multidisciplinary
      thinking. Current and ongoing trials are investigating the combinations of new
      remedies with other immunotherapeutic agents (e.g., CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab,
      tremelimumab) or chemotherapies as well as trying to identify biomarkers in order
      to further increase effectiveness. In our review, we summarize the recently
      published data about urothelial carcinoma therapy and give a brief overview of
      the ongoing clinical trials.

PMID- 28585616
TI  - [Role of immunotherapy in the management of colorectal cancer].
AB  - Immunotherapy proved to be effective in various forms of cancer but it is in its
      infancy in colorectal cancer, although the Immunoscore was developed to classify
      this tumor immunologically. Various forms of immunotherapy were tested in early
      clinical trials but anti-PD-1 antibodies seem the most promising so far. These
      studies also revealed that one particular molecular subgroup of colorectal
      cancer, the microsatellite instable variant, is extremely sensitive for such
      modality.

PMID- 28585617
TI  - [Immunotherapy for lung cancer].
AB  - Similarly to other malignancies, immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a
      revolutionary, effective new treatment possibility for lung cancer. In lung
      cancer carcinogenesis is related mainly to tobacco smoking with high somatic
      mutation rate and immunogenicity. The PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab and pembrolizumab
      and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab is a labelled indication in second line
      setting in advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Avelumab and durvalumab
      have promising activity as well. Based on the data of KEYNOTE 024 trial,
      pembrolizumab is approved in first line setting for cases with >=50% PD-L1
      expression. In this selected patient population, progression-free survival has
      doubled, and overall survival was significantly better in pembrolizumab-treated
      patients compared to those receiving standard of care. Pembrolizumab treatment
      became a new first line standard of care in advanced NSCLC. There are numerous
      ongoing clinical trials in lung cancer with immune checkpoint inhibitors in
      combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, targeted agents, or in adjuvant setting.

PMID- 28585618
TI  - [Predictive markers of immunotherapy of cancer, practical issues of PD-L1
      testing].
AB  - Pathologists have detected signs of antitumor immune reactions for a long time
      but only in case of a few cancer types became this part of the report. The advent
      of immunotherapy of cancers, however, radically alters this routine and promotes
      the development of clinically valid prognostic and predictive immunological
      makers. The most advanced immunological markers are the Immunoscore (density of T
      cell subpopulations), and PD-L1 protein expression on tumor or immune cells. PD
      L1 testing of cancers raises new issues since almost all novel therapies
      developed its own in vitro diagnostics. Due to the incompatibility of these
      assays it is suggested to use the companion diagnostic of the given
      immunotherapeutic drug defined in its label.

PMID- 28585619
TI  - [Palbociclib combinations as new therapeutic strategies in the treatment of
      HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer].
AB  - Until recently, the only endocrine agents used to treat HR+/HER2- advanced breast
      cancers were tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors and fulvestrant, although a
      substantial proportion of patients relapse on these standard therapies. Intensive
      research has been conducted to develop new strategies to overcome endocrine
      resistance and to enhance the efficacy of endocrine treatments by combining
      hormone therapy with other targeted treatment approaches. The development of
      selective CDK4/6 inhibitors and the introduction of palbociclib, the first
      molecule in this class in clinical practice, represent an important step in the
      treatment of HR+ advanced breast cancer. High level evidence supports the use of
      palbociclib plus letrozole in the treatment of endocrine sensitive breast
      cancers, or palbociclib plus fulvestrant in tumors that develop acquired
      resistance to endocrine therapy. These combinations are effective and well
      tolerated therapeutic modalities. The new combination regimens with palbociclib
      represent an important addition to the therapeutic armamentarium in locally
      advanced and metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer. The article reviews the current
      role of palbociclib in combination with endocrine therapy in the therapy of
      HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer.

PMID- 28585620
TI  - [Treatment of bone metastases: bisphosphonates and denosumab].
AB  - Some disseminated tumor cells (as "seeds") feel well in the skeletal tissue, as a
      "soil", but the humoral crosstalk between tumor cells and bone cells disrupts the
      normal bone homeostasis (remodeling), which leads to a vicious circle, the
      multiple bone metastatic disease. The tumor cells could stimulate bone
      resorption, bone neo-formation or both, characteristic of the primary tumor. This
      usually incurable condition involves serious consequences, as fractures, pain,
      surgeries, irradiations, plegias, hypercalcemia, etc. (skeletal-related events,
      SREs), which destroy the quality of life. Targeting bone resorption with
      bisphosphonates or RANK ligand dependent mechanism could improve the rate of
      serious SREs and disease-free survival.

PMID- 28585621
TI  - Specific dsDNA recognition by a mimic of the DNA binding domain of the c-Myc/Max
      transcription factor.
AB  - We here report on the synthesis of the first mimic of the DNA binding domain of
      the c-Myc/Max-bHLH-ZIP transcription factor able to selectively recognize its
      cognate E-box sequence 5'-CACGTG-3' through the major groove of the double
      stranded DNA. The designed peptidosteroid conjugate was shown to be effective as
      DNA binder in the presence of excess competitor DNA.

PMID- 28585622
TI  - Enantioselective synthesis of pyrazolone alpha-aminonitrile derivatives via an
      organocatalytic Strecker reaction.
AB  - A new organocatalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction of pyrazolone-derived
      ketimine electrophiles has been developed. Using pseudo-enantiomeric squaramide
      catalysts the nucleophilic 1,2-addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to the
      ketimines efficiently provides a direct entry to both enantiomers of pyrazolone
      alpha-aminonitrile derivatives at will in good yields and high
      enantioselectivities for a wide variety of substrates.

PMID- 28585623
TI  - Photocatalyzed cascade oxidative annulation of propargylamines and phosphine
      oxides.
AB  - On account of the broad utilities of organophosphorus compounds, the development
      of highly efficient and concise phosphination methods is significantly important
      and urgent. Herein, we disclose a novel method for the synthesis of
      phosphorylated heterocycles: versatile intermediate propargylamines serving as a
      new type of radical acceptors incorporated in P-radicals via a photocatalytic
      strategy. This reaction proceeds through a cascade
      phosphinoylation/cyclization/oxidation/aromatization pathway using readily
      available starting materials under mild conditions of light with excellent atom
      economy, catalyzed by AgOAc or fac-Ir(ppy)3. One of the phosphorylated quinolines
      was selected, as an example, as an electron-transporting material for fabricating
      phosphorescence organic light-emitting diodes displaying excellent
      electroluminescence performances with a maximum external quantum efficiency of
      21.9% with negligible efficiency roll-off ratios.

PMID- 28585624
TI  - Exploiting the biomimetic and luminescence properties of multivalent dendrimer
      semiconductor nanohybrid materials in the ultra-low level determination of folic
      acid.
AB  - In view of the enhanced generation of folate receptors in cancerous cells and
      diseases linked to the deficiency of folic acid, such as anemia, mental
      devolution, congenital malformation, etc., the development of a simple method for
      the ultra-sensitive determination of folic acid remains a long-standing issue for
      practical applications in medicine and biotechnology. Thus, the proposed
      luminescence based strategy involving multifunctional poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM)
      dendrimer encapsulated quantum dots (QDs) as a probe provides a simple, fast and
      efficient method for the selective determination of folic acid at the nano-molar
      level. Absorption and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy provide
      evidence of the binding of folic acid with dendrimer amine groups. The emission
      quenching of dendrimer encapsulated CdS QDs follows a linear Stern-Volmer plot
      with an exceedingly high value of the Stern-Volmer constant (KSV = 8.4 * 106 M-1)
      facilitating a higher detection efficiency. Similar quenching analysis with
      dendrimer-ZnS QDs showed a slightly lower Stern-Volmer constant (KSV = 2.29 * 106
      M-1). The lower probing efficiency of the protein or amino acid capping of QDs
      has been explained through zeta potential measurements. The solvent polarity
      dependence suggests a charge transfer process responsible for the emission
      quenching of CdS QDs, which is static in nature as revealed by lifetime
      measurements. The determination of folic acid at this low level is not affected
      by possible interfering molecules, such as vitamin C, vitamin B12 and uric acid.
      Calorimetric measurements showed that the exothermic binding of folic acid with a
      dendrimer follows enthalpy-entropy compensation. The detailed mechanistic aspect
      of interactions of folic acid with the QD probe helps in a better understanding
      of the detection process, which in turn can assist in developing a dendrimer
      based material for image analysis and drug delivery in folate receptor rich
      cells.

PMID- 28585625
TI  - Synthesis of CaCO3 nano- and micro-particles by dry ice carbonation.
AB  - Here we report a new low temperature dry ice carbonation approach for the
      synthesis of carbonate-based nano- and micro-particulate materials, which enables
      the preparation of monodispersed calcium carbonate nanoparticles and microspheres
      with very high purity phases.

PMID- 28585626
TI  - Modulation of the catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles through charge-transfer
      interactions with metal-organic frameworks.
AB  - We employed metal-organic framework (MOF) supports to modulate the electronic
      states of loaded Pt nanoparticles (NPs) in their composite catalysts (Pt/MOFs).
      Pt NPs were homogenously deposited on four MOFs characterized with different
      electronic states (Zn-MOF-74, Mg-MOF-74, HKUST-1, and UiO-66-NH2). Theoretical
      and experimental studies demonstrated that a charge-transfer interaction between
      Pt NPs and MOFs is a critical factor for controlling the catalytic activity of Pt
      NPs supported on MOFs.

PMID- 28585627
TI  - Guided protein/cell patterning on superhydrophilic polymer brushes functionalized
      with mussel-inspired polydopamine coatings.
AB  - A simple approach for preparing bicomponent polymer patterns was developed by
      coating polydopamine (PDA) on superhydrophilic poly(2-acryl-amido-2-methylpropane
      sulfonic acid) (PAMPS) brushes. Well-defined and versatile arrays of proteins and
      cells were achieved without harm to proteins and cells.

PMID- 28585628
TI  - Intracellular delivery of a catalytic organometallic complex.
AB  - A homogeneous carbene-based palladium catalyst was conjugated to a cell
      penetrating peptide, allowing intracellular delivery of catalytically active Pd
      complexes that demonstrated bioorthogonal activation of a profluorophore within
      prostate cancer cells.

PMID- 28585629
TI  - A thermodynamic model to predict electron mobility in superfluid helium.
AB  - Electron mobility in superfluid helium is modeled between 0.1 and 2.2 K by a van
      der Waals-type thermodynamic equation of state, which relates the free volume of
      solvated electrons to temperature, density, and phase dependent internal
      pressure. The model is first calibrated against known electron mobility reference
      data along the saturated vapor pressure line and then validated to reproduce the
      existing mobility literature values as a function of pressure and temperature
      with at least 10% accuracy. Four different electron mobility regimes are
      identified: (1) Landau critical velocity limit (T ~ 0), (2) mobility limited by
      thermal phonons (T < 0.6 K), (3) thermal phonon and discrete roton scattering
      ("roton gas") limited mobility (0.6 K < T < 1.2 K), and (4) the viscous liquid
      ("roton continuum") limit (T > 1.2 K) where the ion solvation structure directly
      determines the mobility. In the latter regime, the Stokes equation can be used to
      estimate the hydrodynamic radius of the solvated electron based on its mobility
      and fluid viscosity. To account for the non-continuum behavior appearing below
      1.2 K, the temperature and density dependent Millikan-Cunningham factor is
      introduced. The hydrodynamic electron bubble radii predicted by the present model
      appear generally larger than the solvation cavity interface barycenter values
      obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Based on the
      classical Stokes law, this difference can arise from the variation of viscosity
      and flow characteristics around the electron. The calculated DFT liquid density
      profiles show distinct oscillations at the vacuum/liquid interface, which
      increase the interface rigidity.

PMID- 28585633
TI  - Can time-dependent density functional theory predict intersystem crossing in
      organic chromophores? A case study on benzo(bis)-X-diazole based donor-acceptor
      donor type molecules.
AB  - Here we utilized new diagnostic tools in time-dependent density functional theory
      to explain the trend of intersystem crossing in benzo(bis)-X-diazole based donor
      acceptor-donor type molecules. These molecules display a wide range of
      fluorescence quantum yields and triplet yields, making them excellent candidates
      for testing the validity of these diagnostic tools. We believe that these tools
      are cost-effective and can be applied to structurally similar organic
      chromophores to predict/explain the trends of intersystem crossing, and thus
      fluorescence quantum yields and triplet yields without the use of complex and
      expensive multireference configuration interaction or multireference pertubation
      theory methods.

PMID- 28585634
TI  - Dual external field-responsive polyaniline-coated magnetite/silica nanoparticles
      for smart fluid applications.
AB  - In this communication, an electromagnetorheological fluid containing
      Fe3O4/SiO2/PANI nanoparticles is reported to demonstrate its controllable
      rheological properties under electric and magnetic fields. The EMR performance
      was significantly enhanced under the dual fields in the parallel direction.

PMID- 28585637
TI  - Post-digestion stabilization of osmium enables quantification by ICP-MS in cell
      culture and tissue.
AB  - An orally active osmium anticancer compound was reliably quantified in the organs
      of treated mice by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) by
      adding a stabilizing solution consisting of ascorbic acid, thiourea and EDTA
      during sample preparation and avoiding oxidizing conditions. The limits of
      detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of 189Os were determined in liver tissue
      to be 0.02 and 0.075 MUg kg-1, respectively. In spiked liver tissue, the internal
      precision showed a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 4%, a matrix recovery of
      92% and a digestion recovery of 99%. A similar quantification protocol was
      developed for cellular accumulation studies in vitro. The cells were lysed with a
      non-oxidizing lysis buffer consisting of 150 mmol L-1 NaCl, 1.0% Triton X-100,
      0.1% SDS, and 50 mmol L-1 Tris at pH 8.0 before adding the stabilizing solution.
      The osmium compound was compared with an isosteric ruthenium analogue and they
      displayed similar cellular accumulation and organ distribution profiles.

PMID- 28585639
TI  - Hyperpolarized 133Cs is a sensitive probe for real-time monitoring of biophysical
      environments.
AB  - 133Cs NMR is a valuable tool for non-invasive analysis of biological systems,
      where chemical shift and relaxation properties report on changes in the physical
      environment. Hyperpolarization can increase the liquid-state 133Cs NMR signal by
      several orders of magnitude and allow real-time monitoring of physical changes in
      cell based systems.

PMID- 28585640
TI  - Naphtho[b]-fused BODIPYs: one pot Suzuki-Miyaura-Knoevenagel synthesis and
      photophysical properties.
AB  - Naphtho[b]-fused BODIPYs have been facilely synthesized via Suzuki-Miyaura
      Knoevenagel reaction between mono-iodo-BODIPY or 2,6-diiodo-BODIPY with (2
      formylphenyl)boronic acid. This one-pot reaction represents a very
      straightforward approach for tuning the absorption and emission of BODIPYs in the
      red visible/NIR range.

PMID- 28585641
TI  - A facile strategy for the fast construction of porous graphene frameworks and
      their enhanced electrosorption performance.
AB  - Porous graphene frameworks were originally and rapidly constructed via a facile
      photochemical strategy, and feature 3D interconnected porous structures, highly
      graphitic shells comprised of three-six graphene layers, high available surface
      area, tunable pore size and superior electrical conductivity. They achieved an
      enhanced electrosorption capacity and excellent regeneration performance for
      removal of NaCl from saltwater.

PMID- 28585642
TI  - Aromatic and antiaromatic spherical structures: use of long-range magnetic
      behavior as an aromatic indicator for bare icosahedral [Al@Al12]- and [Si12]2-
      clusters.
AB  - The long-range characteristics of the induced magnetic field in the bare
      icosahedral [Al@Al12]- and [Si12]2- clusters reveal inherent characteristics for
      spherical aromatic and antiaromatic systems. Here, we extend the shielding cone
      property to these highly symmetrical inorganic examples to achieve a suitable
      indicator for aromaticity as a reliable method for evaluating the aromaticity of
      clusters containing interstitial atoms.

PMID- 28585644
TI  - Current-voltage characteristics influenced by the nanochannel diameter and
      surface charge density in a fluidic field-effect-transistor.
AB  - The nanochannel diameter and surface charge density have a significant impact on
      current-voltage characteristics in a nanofluidic transistor. We have simulated
      the effect of the channel diameter and surface charge density on current-voltage
      characteristics of a fluidic nanochannel with positive surface charge on its
      walls and a gate electrode on its surface. Anion depletion/enrichment leads to a
      decrease/increase in ion current with gate potential. The ion current tends to
      increase linearly with gate potential for narrow channels at high surface charge
      densities and narrow channels are more effective to control the ion current at
      high surface charge densities. The current-voltage characteristics are highly
      nonlinear for wide channels at low surface charge densities and they show
      different regions of current change with gate potential. The ion current
      decreases with gate potential after attaining a peak value for wide channels at
      low values of surface charge densities. At low surface charge densities, the ion
      current can be controlled by a narrow range of gate potentials for wide channels.
      The current change with source drain voltage shows ohmic, limiting and
      overlimiting regions.

PMID- 28585647
TI  - Extra electronic outer-shell peculiarities accessible under a joint XPS and DFT
      study.
AB  - Electronic configuration of chemically bound atoms at the surface, including
      adsorbed species, or in the bulk of a solid contains a set of natural traps for
      energy absorption provided by valence band transitions or plasmon oscillations.
      The core level excitation of any origin is generally coupled with those traps,
      forming a multichannel route for nonradiative energy dissipation. Using an
      example of Pt and graphite-based materials, the study shows experimental tracing
      over these channels by means of elastic electron scattering and X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy. As a complement to the experimental data,
      calculations of the density of states provide information on chemical behavior
      and local geometry of the atoms in a sample.

PMID- 28585649
TI  - A polymer and graphene layer to increase dye regeneration and suppress back
      electron transfer in dye sensitized solar cells.
AB  - Dye regeneration was improved by using an optimum quantity of graphene, which was
      dispersed in a polymer that suppresses back electron transfer. Using this
      approach, DSSCs with an efficiency of 10.4% have been fabricated.

PMID- 28585648
TI  - The controlled synthesis of pillar[6]arene-based hexagonal cylindrical structures
      on an electrode surface via electrochemical oxidation.
AB  - Electrochemical oxidation of pillar[6]arene containing six hydroquinones resulted
      in the formation of hexagonal cylindrical structures on an electrode surface
      driven by charge transfer interaction. The electrochemical approach successfully
      controlled the size and shape of the structures.

PMID- 28585650
TI  - Targeted cancer imaging and photothermal therapy via monosaccharide-imprinted
      gold nanorods.
AB  - Plasmonic nanomaterials have been widely used for photothermal therapy (PTT) of
      cancer, but their recognition specificity remains challenging. We prepared
      monosaccharide-imprinted gold nanorods (AuNRs) for targeted cancer PTT, using
      sialic acid (SA) as a representative monosaccharide. The SA-imprinted AuNRs
      exhibited good specificity, enabling the killing of cancer cells without damaging
      healthy cells.

PMID- 28585651
TI  - Lewis acid catalyzed cascade annulation of alkynols with alpha-ketoesters: a
      facile access to gamma-spiroketal-gamma-lactones.
AB  - A novel Lewis acid catalyzed intermolecular cascade annulation of alkynols with
      alpha-ketoesters has been developed. This simple and efficient cascade annulation
      proceeds through a 5-exo-dig cyclization of alkynols followed by annulation with
      alpha-ketoester to provide a wide variety of unsaturated gamma-spiroketal-gamma
      lactones (1,6-dioxaspiro[4.4]non-3-en-2-ones) related to many natural products.

PMID- 28585652
TI  - A segmented flow platform for on-demand medicinal chemistry and compound
      synthesis in oscillating droplets.
AB  - We report an automated flow chemistry platform that can efficiently perform a
      wide range of chemistries, including single/multi-phase and single/multi-step,
      with a reaction volume of just 14 MUL. The breadth of compatible chemistries is
      successfully demonstrated and the desired products are characterized, isolated,
      and collected online by preparative HPLC/MS/ELSD.

PMID- 28585653
TI  - Chemically tunable photoresponse of ultrathin polypyrrole.
AB  - Building a complex structure system of conductive polymers without a complicated
      fabricating process is a long-awaited goal to improving the functional
      photoresponse properties of conductive polymers. In this study, we demonstrate
      that the photoresponse of polypyrrole (PPy)-based photodetector devices with an
      ultrathin polymer layer can be chemically modulated by simply immersing the
      devices into an alkaline solution. After alkaline treatment, the pyrrole unit
      transforms into a quinoid structure. Characteristics of current-voltage reveal an
      increased photosensitivity with several orders of magnitude when decreasing the
      applied bias voltage. Furthermore, ultrathin PPy belts with a width of 100 nm
      exhibit ultra-high photosensitivites of roughly 1000 (unit) and
      photoresponsivities of 54.3 A W-1 due to the high surface area ratio of the
      nanobelts.

PMID- 28585654
TI  - Correction: An updated roadmap for the integration of metal-organic frameworks
      with electronic devices and chemical sensors.
AB  - Correction for 'An updated roadmap for the integration of metal-organic
      frameworks with electronic devices and chemical sensors' by Ivo Stassen et al.,
      Chem. Soc. Rev., 2017, DOI: 10.1039/c7cs00122c.

PMID- 28585655
TI  - Growth of low doped monolayer graphene on SiC(0001) via sublimation at low argon
      pressure.
AB  - Silicon carbide (SiC) sublimation is the most promising option to achieve
      transfer-free graphene at the wafer-scale. We investigated the initial growth
      stages from the buffer layer to monolayer graphene on SiC(0001) as a function of
      annealing temperature at low argon pressure (10 mbar). A buffer layer, fully
      covering the SiC substrate, forms when the substrate is annealed at 1600  degrees
      C. Graphene formation starts from the step edges of the SiC substrate at higher
      temperature (1700  degrees C). The spatial homogeneity of the monolayer graphene
      was observed at 1750  degrees C, as characterized by Raman spectroscopy and
      magneto-transport. Raman spectroscopy mapping indicated an AG-graphene/AG-HOPG
      ratio of around 3.3%, which is very close to the experimental value reported for
      a graphene monolayer. Transport measurements from room temperature down to 1.7 K
      indicated slightly p-doped samples (p ? 1010 cm-2) and confirmed both continuity
      and thickness of the monolayer graphene film. Successive growth processes have
      confirmed the reproducibility and homogeneity of these monolayer films.

PMID- 28585656
TI  - Polydopamine nanocoated whole-cell asymmetric biocatalysts.
AB  - Our whole-cell biocatalyst with a polydopamine nanocoating shows high catalytic
      activity (5 times better productivity than the native cell) and reusability (84%
      of the initial yield after 5 batches, 8 times higher than the native cell) in
      asymmetric reduction. It also integrates with titania, silica, and magnetic
      nanoparticles for multi-functionalization.

PMID- 28585657
TI  - A rare case of monozygotic iniodymic diprosopiasis in a German Holstein calf.
AB  - Craniofacial duplication abnormity is a rare phenomenon in buiatric practice.
      This report attends to a male German Holstein calf which could be classified as a
      diprosopic iniodymus. A fetus exhibiting a doubled face was delivered after
      fetotomy. To our knowledge, this is the first description of diprosopiasis with
      two cranial cavities as well as two separate encephala in a calf showing the
      potential extent of duplication. Throughout this work also the question is
      answered of whether this malformation in a bovine species arose from one embryo
      or rather, there is a dizygotic background by genotyping of tissue samples from
      both parts of the diprosopus. Regarding etiology, not only hereditary
      dispositions including among others a failed function of the signaling molecule
      Sonic hedgehog mediating regulation of craniofacial morphogenesis, but also
      incompletely separated monozygotic twins are discussed.

PMID- 28585659
TI  - Errata for "Genetic Testing for Psychopharmacology: Is It Ready for Prime Time?"

PMID- 28585660
TI  - Becoming a Public Thought Leader in 140 Characters or Less: How Nurses Can Use
      Social Media as a Platform.

PMID- 28585661
TI  - Drugs to Treat Bipolar Disorders.

PMID- 28585658
TI  - [Cystinuria caused by a SLC7A9 missense mutation in Siamese-crossbred littermates
      in Germany].
AB  - Cystinuria is caused by defective proximal renal tubular reabsorption of the
      amino acids cystine, ornithine, lysine, and arginine (COLA). The low solubility
      of cystine in mildly acidic urine may lead to the formation of urinary cystine
      crystals and uroliths. Much progress has been made recently in the diagnosis and
      understanding of cystinuria in companion animals. In cats, cystinuria affects
      equally both genders independent of neutering status and, despite being rare,
      already more cystinuria-causing mutations have been detected in cats compared to
      dogs. In this study a litter of Siamese-crossbred cats in Germany was assessed
      clinically for cystinuria and screened for mutations known to cause cystinuria in
      cats. An adult male castrated cat was presented with cystine crystalluria and
      calculi-related urinary obstruction and treated with perineal urethrostomy,
      cystotomy, and medical management. This cat and a neutered male littermate
      without evidence of urinary tract disease were found to be positive for cystine
      by urinary nitroprusside test, to have increased urinary COLA values and to be
      homozygous for the p.Val294Glu mutation in the SLC7A9 gene coding for b0,+AT
      subunit of the b0,+ renal COLA transporter. Another littermate was non-cystinuric
      and did not carry this mutation. The same SLC7A9 mutation was previously found in
      a Maine coon, a Sphinx and a medium-haired cat in North America suggesting a
      common ancestor and likely first widespread SLC7A9 mutation causing cystinuria in
      cats. Genetic screening for this mutation may offer a simple and precise mean to
      diagnose other cats for cystinuria and offer specific management.

PMID- 28585662
TI  - Medication Safety: What Nurses Should Know About Black Box Warnings.
AB  - "Safety first" has always been a nursing priority-just as medication education
      has been an essential nursing function. Approximately 79 million individuals of
      all ages, birth-to-death, were prescribed psychotropic medications in 2013.
      Nurses of all disciplines and who work in all practice settings must be aware of
      the potential safety concerns related to medications patients may be taking.
      Black Box Warnings (BBWs) are the strictest labeling requirements that the U.S.
      Food and Drug Administration can mandate. Risks of increased suicidality,
      mortality in older adults, potential for abuse and drug dependence, and life
      threatening hepatic failure are among the most significant BBWs attributed to
      psychotropic medications. As such, nurses must be aware of not only how
      medications will benefit patients in relieving symptoms of or preventing their
      disease but also the potential risks, adverse reactions, and BBWs. [Journal of
      Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(6), 11-15.].

PMID- 28585663
TI  - A Primer on Heroin and Fentanyl.
AB  - Heroin and fentanyl use have reached epidemic proportions in the United States
      and are now blamed for the majority of drug-related overdose deaths. Both drugs
      are produced primarily in South America and Asia and enter the United States
      illegally. One result of smoking or injecting heroin or fentanyl is the
      development of a substance use disorder (SUD), which causes changes in brain
      chemistry and function. These changes result in negative behaviors and an
      inability to stop use. Yet, treatments are available and recovery is possible.
      Nurses have the potential to impact the heroin and fentanyl epidemic through
      developing therapeutic relationships with patients who are at risk or already
      have a SUD. Strategies for effective communication include maintaining a
      supportive, nonjudgmental attitude and incorporating motivational interviewing.
      All patients should be screened for opioid use and referred for treatment if
      indicated. It is important for nurses to be knowledgeable about heroin and
      fentanyl and available treatments. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental
      Health Services, 55(6), 16-20.].

PMID- 28585664
TI  - Identification and Treatment of Adolescents With Perinatal Anxiety and
      Depression.
AB  - Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) are the most common, yet under
      diagnosed and undertreated complication of pregnancy, affecting up to 50% of
      pregnant and parenting teens. PMAD are a global health issue that can have
      devastating effects on the mental, physical, emotional, developmental health, and
      social life of the mother, infant, and family. Adolescents present with similar
      symptoms of PMAD as their adult counterparts, but also experience isolation from
      their peer group and lack of resources and coping strategies, as well as
      difficulty sleeping and lack of concentration and ability to focus. Nurses and
      nurse practitioners are in an ideal position to assess preexisting risk factors
      for PMAD. The current applied evidence-based article addresses the diagnosis of
      PMAD, provides a conceptual framework for understanding the intra- and
      interpersonal dynamics affecting teens with PMAD, and suggests a new screening
      tool to guide diagnosis. An easy to recall mnemonic for diagnosis and referral
      (SAIL AHEAD) is proposed. By using the SAIL AHEAD mnemonic, providers will impact
      adolescents' parenting success and resiliency, thereby enhancing their future
      success in life. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services,
      55(6), 23-29.].

PMID- 28585665
TI  - Perceived Stress in Family Caregivers of Individuals With Mental Illness.
AB  - The current study aimed to measure the stress levels of family caregivers of
      individuals with mental illness and compare their stress levels according to the
      diagnosis and other sociodemographic characteristics. The sample comprised 310
      family caregivers of individuals with mental illness in Jordan. Family caregivers
      completed a demographic checklist and the Arabic version of the Perceived Stress
      Scale 10-Item (PSS-10) questionnaire. A significant difference was found in PSS
      10 levels among family caregivers according to gender, diagnosis of their family
      member, and time since diagnosis. Female caregivers reported significantly higher
      stress levels than male caregivers. Family members of individuals with
      schizophrenia reported the highest stress levels (p < 0.001). Results also
      indicated that there was a significant negative correlation between PSS-10 levels
      of family caregivers and time since diagnosis. Investigating stress levels in
      family members of individuals with mental illness may be helpful when designing
      interventions to reduce such stress. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental
      Health Services, 55(6), 30-35.].

PMID- 28585666
TI  - Public Stigma Toward Mental Illness in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Family
      Members of Individuals With Schizophrenia, Depression, and Anxiety.
AB  - Stigma affects family members of individuals with mental illness. A survey of 640
      family members of individuals with mental illness was conducted. Three factors
      were found to influence stigma regarding schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety:
      (a) preconceived stereotypes, (b) a sense of personal responsibility or blame for
      the condition, and (c) perceptions of the patient's inability to recover from the
      condition. A stronger association between negative stereotypes and inability to
      recover was found with schizophrenia than depression or anxiety. Conversely,
      depression and anxiety were found to be correlated with personal responsibility
      or blame for the condition. The public perception of mental health conditions
      (e.g., depression, anxiety, schizophrenia) has a crucial role in deriving
      programs for reducing stigma and raising awareness. Personalized and efficacious
      treatment regimens may be facilitated by understanding these perceptions and the
      underlying explanations for why they exist. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and
      Mental Health Services, 55(6), 36-43.].

PMID- 28585668
TI  - "English Garden" by Gustave Alhadeff.

PMID- 28585669
TI  - Effectiveness of Traumatic Brain Injury Management Guideline Introduction in
      Hungary.
AB  - AIM: To describe the impact of the Traumatic Brain Injury management guideline
      introduction in Hungary. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hospital discharge records (HDR)
      including age, gender, codes of interventions applied, ICD codes of diagnosed
      disorders of patients admitted between 01/01/2004 and 31/12/2010 with the
      diagnosis of intracranial injury (S06 by ICD10) from every inpatient institution
      in Hungary were collected from the database of National Health Insurance Fund
      (NHIF). The Case Fatality Ratios (CFR) for one week, one month and six months
      were calculated for the periods before and after the guideline introduction. The
      change of CFRs was applied as indicators for change of clinical quality elicited
      by the guideline. RESULTS: The centers together at one week, one month and six
      months had pre-guideline introduction CFRs of 23.4%, 37.7% and 47.5% and post
      guideline introduction CFRs of 22.1%, 39.1%, and 50.0% respectively. The
      secondary institutions together at one week, one month and six months had pre
      guideline introduction CFRs of 21.5%, 34.8% and 46.3% and post-guideline
      introduction CFRs of 21.9%, 37.0%, and 48.9% respectively. None of the CFRs
      showed significant change. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of TBI management
      guideline adaptation in Hungary is poor. Without supportive financing and
      external auditing system, guideline introduction alone cannot achieve standard
      clinical practice and a reduction in CFR.

PMID- 28585670
TI  - Association of two primitive carotid-basilar anastomoses and cerebrovascular
      abnormalities on the brain base: a case report.
AB  - Simultaneous presence of the persistent primitive trigeminal artery and so-called
      intermediate communicating artery in a 77-years-old cadaver autopsied due to the
      myocardial infarction was discovered. Many vascular variants and abnormalities
      such as an aplasia of the right vertebral artery (VA), a presence of two right
      posterior cerebral arteries (PCAs), partial duplication of the right superior
      cerebellar artery, hypoplasia of the pre-communicating part (A1) of the right
      anterior cerebral artery and the right PCA of basilar origin, a special
      configuration of the anterior communicating artery (ACoA), and a small aneurysm
      at the right A1-ACoA junction were associated. The finding of an incipient
      cerebral aneurysm at the junction of the hypoplastic A1 and embryonal
      configuration of the ACoA in eight decade of life indicates that its development
      was caused by long-term pressure of blood flow at branching points of this artery
      independent from its caliber. However, it is not yet clear whether the
      persistence of the first and/or the second carotid-basilar anastomoses in this
      case was the condition for an aplasia of one VA or vice versa.

PMID- 28585671
TI  - Effects of Intrathecal Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (CAPE) on IL-6 and TNF-alpha
      Levels and Local Inflammatory Responses in Spinal Cord Injuries.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the effects of intrathecal caffeic acid phenethyl ester
      (CAPE) on tissue and serum IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels following spinal cord injury
      (SCI) as well as its effects on edema and microhemorrage. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Forty rats were divided into four groups. The sham group underwent single-level
      laminectomy and then received an intrathecal injection of isotonic saline. The
      control group received an intrathecal injection of isotonic saline following SCI
      induction. The methylprednisolone (MP) group received a single dose of MP
      intrathecally following SCI. The CAPE group received a single dose of CAPE
      intrathecally following SCI. IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were determined using the
      ELISA method. Spinal cord samples were evaluated histopathologically. RESULTS:
      The decrease in IL-6 levels in the CAPE group was significantly higher than that
      in the sham and control groups. However, this decrease wasn't as significant as
      that in the MP group. No significant decrease was identified in TNF-alpha levels.
      A significant decrease was observed in spinal cord edema and microhemorrage in
      the CAPE group. A decrease in edema was observed in the MP group, but no effect
      was observed on microhemorrage. CONCLUSION: Intrathecal CAPE administration
      following SCI decreases tissue and serum IL-6 levels as well as decreases spinal
      cord edema and microhemorrage.

PMID- 28585672
TI  - A trial for an evaluation of perianeurysmal arterial pressure change during
      carotid artery stenting in patients with concomitant severe extracranial carotid
      artery stenosis and ipsilateral intracranial aneurysm.
AB  - Concomitant occurrence of severe extracranial large vessel stenosis and an
      ipsilateral intracranial aneurysm is often detected incidentally, but the optimal
      therapeutic strategy is not clear. Several reports have investigated whether
      simultaneous carotid artery stenting and coil embolization, or multi-stage
      therapy is better. These treatment strategies are still controversial because
      simultaneous therapy will decrease the risk of aneurysm rupture, but may also
      increase the risk of thromboembolic complications. For multi-stage therapy, the
      interval between CAS and coil embolization for the ipsilateral intracranial
      aneurysm remains obscure. We experienced a case of severe extracranial internal
      carotid artery stenosis, ipsilateral intracranial aneurysm. Multi-stage therapy
      was chosen, and perianeurysmal arterial pressure did not increase over 100 mmHg
      after CAS. Subsequent ipsilateral coil embolization was performed 3 weeks later
      with careful blood pressure control to prevent aneurysmal rupture and with the
      expectation of stable neointimal formation over the stent strut to prevent
      thrombotic complications during coil embolization. All procedures were performed
      without any complications. We suggest that evaluation of perianeurysmal arterial
      pressure may be helpful for selecting a treatment strategy in patients with
      multiple ipsilateral lesions to prevent thromboembolic and hemorrhagic
      complications.

PMID- 28585673
TI  - Can Hypo/Hypernatremic Conditions be a Factor for Na Ion Channel Kinetics: Model
      Study.
AB  - AIM: Dysnatremic cases are frequently faced in clinical practice. Its macroscopic
      effects and consequences are well known, but microscopic effects are not well
      defined. The aim of this study was to reveal the effects of dysnatremia at the
      cellular level. MATERIAL AND METHODS: By using an action potential simulation,
      the effects of extracellular sodium (Na) concentration on the Na ion channel
      kinetics were studied. The experimental sets were chosen to mimic
      hypo/hypernatremic conditions and, in both cases, the degree of the severity was
      varied. RESULTS: Hyponatremic situations through modifying the axonal Na+
      channels kinetics result in the rundown of the sodium current (INa). The degree
      of the hyponatremia-dependent effect seen in the Na ion channel is severity
      dependent, which is more effective in the recovery phase of the ion channel.
      Hypernatremic conditions, on the other hand, have also affected the Na ion
      channel activity through modifying the kinetics of the channel. Unlike
      hyponatremia, the effect seen in hypernatremic conditions was through decreasing
      the response time of the channel. The degree of the significance of the effect
      seen on the Na ion channel in the case of the hypernatremia was found to be less
      destructive compared to the hyponatremic condition. CONCLUSION: The Na channels
      are susceptible to the changes of the extracellular Na concentrations. Thus, the
      underestimation of hypo/hypernatremic conditions can put patients in danger and
      close monitoring of serum Na level might be required.

PMID- 28585674
TI  - Real-time Video-Streaming to Surgical Loupe Mounted Head-Up Display for Navigated
      Meningioma Resection.
AB  - AIM: Wearable technology interfaces with normal human movement and function,
      thereby enabling more efficient and adaptable use.We developed a wearable display
      system for use with intra-operative neuronavigation for brain tumor surgery.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Google glass head-up display system was adapted to
      surgical loupes with a video-streaming integrated hardware and software device
      for display of the Stealth S7 navigation screen. Phantom trials of surface
      ventriculostomy were performed. The device was utilized as an alternative display
      screen during cranial surgery. RESULTS: Image-guided brain tumor resection was
      accomplished using Google Glass head-up display of Stealth S7 navigation images.
      Visual display consists of navigation video-streaming over a wireless network.
      The integrated system developed for video-streaming permits video data display to
      the operating surgeon without requiring movement of the head away from the
      operative field. CONCLUSION: Google Glass head-up display can be used for intra
      operative neuronavigation in the setting of intracranial tumor resection.

PMID- 28585675
TI  - A Modified Jaslow-Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion for the Treatment of
      Isthmic Spondylolisthesis.
AB  - AIM: To describe a modified Jaslow-transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)
      technique for the treatment of single-level, isthmic spondylolisthesis (IS).
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between April 2011 and September 2012, 32 patients with IS
      undergoing a modified Jaslow-TLIF were retrospectively reviewed. The
      intervertebral space height (IH), vertebral slippage ratio, lordotic angles of
      the treated segments (SA) and lumbar lordotic angles (LA) were measured and the
      scores by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and
      Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) were recorded. RESULTS: An average follow
      up duration of over 2 years was available. The average slippage percentage was
      17.8+/-4.3% preoperatively, 5.3+/-2.4% postoperatively, and 5.4+/-2.5% at the
      last follow-up. The average IH was 7.7+/-1.9 mm preoperatively, 10.3+/-1.6 mm
      postoperatively, and 10.2+/-1.5 mm at the final follow-up. The average SA and LA
      were, respectively, 11.7+/-5.8 degrees  and 49.1+/-13.9 degrees  preoperatively,
      13.5+/-5.7 degrees  and 48.3+/-9.4 degrees  postoperatively, and 13.2+/-5.3
      degrees  and 47.7+/-8.8 degrees  at the last follow-up. The mean VAS was
      ameliorated from 7.7+/-0.6 to 2.4+/-0.5, ODI from 49.6+/-1.6% to 10.5+/-1.3%, and
      JOA from 10.8+/-1.3 to 26.6+/-1.0, at the last follow-up. All patients had
      clinical and radiographic evidence of solid fusion without any need for revision.
      CONCLUSION: The modified Jaslow-TLIF technique for the treatment of IS was
      advantageous for greater safety and efficacy.

PMID- 28585676
TI  - Evaluation of Apparent Diffusion Coefficients in the Cerebellar Tonsils and
      Bulbus in Chiari Type I Malformations: Comparison Before and After Surgery.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the preoperative and postoperative 6th month mean apparent
      diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the cerebellar tonsils and bulbus in
      patients with Chiari Malformation Type I (CMI), and to compare the results with
      healthy controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included 15 patients with CMI who
      underwent suboccipital decompression, upper cervical laminectomy, and duraplasty
      surgery, and compared them with 10 healthy individuals. Three regions of interest
      were placed, one each in the cerebellar tonsils and one in the bulbus. The mean
      ADC values were measured separately in each region. RESULTS: Among the patients,
      mean ADC values were significantly decreased after surgery compared with before
      surgery. The mean ADC values before surgery were significantly higher for
      patients than for controls; however, although mean ADC values were slightly
      higher after surgery for patients than for controls, the differences were not
      significant. Thus, after surgical intervention, ADC values in patients with CMI
      became close to those of normal individuals. CONCLUSION: The increased ADC values
      in patients with CMI before surgery implied that not only morphologic changes but
      also increased diffusivity may play a key role in the pathophysiology and
      clinical presentation of the disease. We conclude that decompression surgery can
      produce favorable diffusional alterations.

PMID- 28585677
TI  - Sciatic Nerve Injuries from Gluteal Intramuscular Injection According to Records
      of the High Health Council.
AB  - AIM: To analyze the cases discussed at the High Health Council (HHC) and to
      determine the solutions for problems related to gluteal intramuscular injection
      (IMI) applications. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a 10-year period, the cases of IMI
      related sciatic nerve injury (SNI) referred for an opinion from the HHC of Turkey
      were reviewed. The cases were analyzed based on demographic features, degree of
      nerve damage, side of gluteal injection, injected drugs, primary disease,
      appropriateness of parenteral therapy indications, and management. RESULTS: There
      were 107 SNIs from gluteal IMI during the 103 months. Eight of the 107 cases were
      male and 99 female. The mean age was 28 years. The left sciatic nerve was more
      commonly injured (41 right, 65 left side). SNI was partial in 48.5% of the cases.
      The most commonly injected drug was diclofenac sodium (29.9%), and 23.3% of cases
      were injected more than one drug together. Conservative management was performed
      in all cases, except one. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, indications of
      parenteral therapies were exaggerated and nurses injected the drug while the
      patient"s position was inappropriate for IMI. However, an IMI into the gluteal
      region is potentially devastating. For those reasons, we conclude that physicians
      should be restricted in their indications for IMI, and continuous education
      courses should be organized for nurses. Injured patients should be managed
      according to their neurological damage.

PMID- 28585678
TI  - Human sperm motility, capacitation and acrosome reaction are impaired by 2
      arachidonoylglycerol endocannabinoid.
AB  - The endocannabinoids are cannabinoids synthesized by mammalian tissues. These
      compounds are closely related to the regulation of the male reproductive system.
      However, little is known about the effects produced by 2-arachidonoylglycerol
      (2AG) on in vitro human sperm functions. This study was undertaken to determine
      the effects produced by 2AG on fresh human sperm and in the capacitation
      technique. Semen samples from healthy young men were exposed to different
      concentrations of 2AG before and during capacitation technique. In this work, we
      have demonstrated that 2AG induces the spontaneous acrosome reaction and reduces
      progressive motility in fresh human sperm. During the capacitation technique,
      sperm becomes more sensitive to low concentrations of 2AG, triggering the
      acrosome reaction and inhibiting protein phosphorylation. In summary, 2AG affects
      the in vitro functionality of human sperm by reducing motility, inhibiting
      capacitation and triggering the acrosome reaction.

PMID- 28585679
TI  - Diagnostic value of selected biochemical markers in the detection of recurrence
      of medullary thyroid cancer - comparison of calcitonin, procalcitonin,
      chromogranin A, and carcinoembryonic antigen.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a malignancy of the thyroid
      gland, which derives from parafollicular C cells. Periodic measurement of
      biochemical markers of MTC remains a crucial part of patient follow-up and
      disease monitoring. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic value of
      four selected markers - calcitonin (Ct), procalcitonin (PCT), chromogranin A
      (CgA), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with
      histopathologically confirmed MTC hospitalised in a single department between
      January 2015 and December 2015 were included in the study. Patients were
      subdivided into two groups: a remission group and an active disease group, based
      upon serum markers of MTC and imaging. Levels of Ct, PCT, CgA, and CEA were
      compared between the groups. RESULTS: Forty-four patients were included; 20
      patients presented active disease and 24 were in remission. All patients with
      active disease had Ct exceeding the upper limit of normal range (10 pg/mL) - for
      that threshold the sensitivity was 100.0% and the specificity was 73.9%; for the
      best-fit threshold of 121.0 pg/mL the specificity was 95.8% with sensitivity
      100.0%. There was significant correlation between Ct and PCT - p < 0.000001, r =
      0.93. All patients with active disease exceeded the upper limit of the normal
      range (0.5 ng/mL) - for that threshold the sensitivity was 100.0% and the
      specificity was 83.3%; for the best-fit threshold of 0.95 ng/mL the specificity
      was 95.8% with sensitivity 100.0%. In case of CEA for the best-fit threshold of
      12.66 ng/mL the specificity was 100.0% with sensitivity 57.9%; for CgA the best
      fit threshold was 75.66 ng/mL with specificity 83.3% and sensitivity 75.0%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that PCT can be considered as an equivalent
      alternative for measurement of calcitonin. On the other hand, it is also worth
      noting that MTC can be a rare cause of very high levels of PTC not resulting from
      infectious diseases. The diagnostic value of CEA and chromogranin A is much lower
      and can be within the normal range even in patients with advanced, metastatic
      MTC. They should be used only as accessory markers.

PMID- 28585680
TI  - Thyroid cancer post radioactive iodine treatment for hyperthyroidism - case
      series and review of the literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To assess the rate of thyroid cancer and mortality rate in a cohort
      of patients who received RAI131 treatment for hyperthyroidism and to report the
      index cases' characteristics and management MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cohort of 264
      patients who received RAI131 treatment for different causes of thyrotoxicosis
      were followed up over a period of 18 years (1996-2014) by physical exam,
      radiological evaluation and serial thyroid function tests. RESULTS: During the
      follow up period, three cases of thyroid cancer were identified. The prevalence
      of thyroid cancer was 1.136% of cases who received RAI131. The relative risk was
      378.79 (95% CI: 76.8 < RR < 1868.23). The P value was < 0.0000004 and the SMR is
      1.99/1000. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of thyroid cancer was 1.136% in the cohort
      of patients treated with RAI131. Despite the fact that no direct cause-effect
      relationship between RAI and thyroid cancer could be established, these cases
      highlights the importance of life-long surveillance of patients who receive
      RAI131.

PMID- 28585681
TI  - Glucose metabolism disorders in patients with non-functioning adrenal adenomas -
      single-centre experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The presence of glucose metabolism disorders and their possible
      correlation with degree of cortisol secretion were evaluated in patients with non
      functioning adrenal incidentalomas (NFAIs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group
      consisted of 131 patients with hormonally inactive adrenal incidentalomas. In
      each patient, besides hormonal and radiological evaluation, was assessed for
      fasting glucose and insulin concentrations, and the oral glucose tolerance test
      (OGTT) was performed in all participants without previous history of glucose
      disturbances. The HOMA-IR, QUICKI, and TyG indices were calculated. RESULTS:
      Diabetes was diagnosed in 30.5% of the studied group. Among glucose tolerance
      abnormalities, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was found in 23.7%, impaired
      glucose tolerance (IGT) in 4.6%, and combined IFG and IGT in 11.5%.
      Normoglycaemia was recognised in 29.8% of NFAIs patients. The occurrence rate of
      glucose aberrations increased with age. There was a significant difference in all
      insulin resistance indices shown between normoglycaemic patients and those with
      impairments in glucose tolerance. There was no significant correlation between
      fasting glucose, insulin resistance indices, and adrenal tumour size or degree of
      cortisol secretion. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting
      glucose among NFAIs patients is much higher than in the general population.
      Therefore, patients with incidentally discovered adrenal tumours should be tested
      for glucose tolerance.

PMID- 28585683
TI  - The age of developing diabetes and FTO polymorphisms (rs9939609, rs1421085, and
      rs9930506).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a common complex metabolic disorder that
      has a strong genetic predisposition. Fat mass and obesity-associated protein
      (FTO) is one of the genes of interest to us. Hypomethylation of a CpG site in the
      FTO gene was significantly associated with the risk of T2DM. The aim of the study
      was to find the answer to the question of whether the polymorphism changes of the
      FTO gene in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes are comparable in young, middle
      aged, and elderly people. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 282
      consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes, who attended a primary healthcare
      clinic in Southern Poland. The study subjects were divided into three groups
      according to the age at which type 2 diabetes mellitus was diagnosed (> 40 years
      old, 40-60 years old, and > 60 years old). The genotyping of rs9939609,
      rs1421085, and rs9930506 FTO polymorphisms was conducted using TaqManPre-designed
      SNP Genotyping Assay. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was shown
      between the examined FTO polymorphism (rs9939609, rs1421085, and rs9930506)
      distribution between the subjects diagnosed with diabetes < 40 years , 40-60
      years, and > 60 years old. CONCLUSIONS: There were no statistically significant
      relationships between the different analysed anthropometric and other parameters
      and distribution of examined FTO polymorphisms (rs9939609 , rs1421085, and
      rs9930506). The age of diabetes was not affect by the tested FTO polymorphisms
      (rs9939609 , rs1421085, and rs9930506).

PMID- 28585684
TI  - Novel multipolar mapping system identifying coexistence of multiple conduction
      patterns in persistent AF: A case report.

PMID- 28585682
TI  - The usefulness of laparoscopic adrenalectomy in the treatment of adrenal
      neoplasms - a single-centre experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adrenal neoplasms comprise about 10% of all tumours affecting this
      organ and constitute a significant, at first diagnostic and subsequently
      therapeutic, problem, especially since a relatively high proportion of neoplastic
      lesions are asymptomatic. The number of diagnosed metastases to adrenal glands is
      increasing. Surgical treatment involves both open surgery as well as laparoscopy.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: There were 245 adrenalectomies performed at our centre due
      to various indications over the past four years. In 27 (11.5%) cases neoplasms
      were diagnosed in the final histopahtological examination. In 11 (40.7%) cases
      primary adrenal cortex tumours were diagnosed, metastases from other solid organ
      tumours were identified in another 12 (44.4%) patients, and rarer neoplasms were
      diagnosed in the remaning 4 (14.8%) subjects. Cases of malignant pheochromocytoma
      were not included in this report. RESULTS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy was
      performed in 23 (85.2%) subjects, while the ramaining 4 (12.9%) patients were
      subject to open adrenalectomy (conversion to open procedure in one case). There
      were no deaths or significant complications in the perioperative period.
      Comparing mean duration of open (140 minutes) and laparoscopic (190 minutes)
      procedures yielded a statistically significant difference (p = 0.02). There was
      no statistically significant difference found in the duration of operation with
      regard to laparoscopic adrenalectomies of tumours less than 50 mm and over 55 mm
      in diameter (p = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is a safe and
      effective method of treatment of adrenal tumours. Its oncological completeness is
      comparable (to open surgery) when performed by experienced surgical teams.
      Laparoscopy is the reason for the smooth postoperative course observed in most
      patients.

PMID- 28585685
TI  - Pulmonary artery: A pivotal site for catheter ablation in idiopathic RVOT
      ventricular arrhythmias.
AB  - In patients without associated myocardial diseases, characterized by left bundle
      branch block and inferior axis morphologies, repetitive idiopathic right
      ventricular tachycardias and ventricular premature contractions typically arise
      from right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). Accumulated evidences have shown
      that radiofrequency catheter ablation is a useful treatment for patients with
      RVOT ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). Interestingly, several medical centers have
      shown that pulmonary artery (PA) is a potential novel site for catheter ablation
      in RVOT-like VAs, particularly in patients where termination of RVOT VAs at the
      usual site fails. In this review, we comprehensively demonstrated that RVOT VAs
      were successfully terminated at the site of PA, analyzed the characteristics of
      surface electrocardiogram and endocardial potentials, and explored the underlying
      mechanisms for these cases.

PMID- 28585686
TI  - Neutralization of Lipopolysaccharide by Heat Shock Protein in Pediococcus
      pentosaceus AK-23.
AB  - About 1000 species of bacteria are present in the human intestine. Some Gram
      negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli or Salmonella spp. among intestinal
      bacteria have lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which might induce inflammation of human
      intestines. Actually, LPS, especially its lipid A constituent, is toxic. Small
      amounts of LPS in bacteria cause inflammation of mucosa and other tissues in
      humans. Such bacteria may be regulated by beneficial lactic acid bacteria to
      maintain human health. Many lactic acid bacteria show cancer prevention activity
      and anti-inflammatory activity in intestines. Recently, Pediococcus pentosaceus
      AK-23 was isolated from fermentative vegetable pickles for neutralization of LPS.
      For this study, a protein for LPS neutralization was purified partly from P.
      pentosaceus AK-23. For this study, a protein for LPS neutralization was purified
      partly from P. pentosaceus AK-23, by ultrafiltration using a 300 kDa membrane and
      a 100 kDa membrane after cell wall digestion by lysozyme. Gel running blue native
      electrophoresis revealed the existence of a 217 kDa protein. The band of the
      protein having the ability to bind LPS on the gel was analyzed for amino acid
      homology. As the result, it is revealed as part of a subunit of heat shock
      protein (HSP). Furthermore, it displayed LPS binding or hydrophobic motifs. The
      protein neutralized LPS to release fatty acid as myristic acid and glucose from
      polysaccharide. These findings suggest that HSP in P. pentosaceus AK-23
      neutralizes LPS to decompose it compising fatty acid and polysaccharide.

PMID- 28585687
TI  - Analytical Fingerprint of Wolframite Ore Concentrates.
AB  - Ongoing violent conflicts in Central Africa are fueled by illegal mining and
      trading of tantalum, tin, and tungsten ores. The credibility of document-based
      traceability systems can be improved by an analytical fingerprint applied as an
      independent method to confirm or doubt the documented origin of ore minerals.
      Wolframite (Fe,Mn)WO4 is the most important ore mineral for tungsten and is
      subject to artisanal mining in Central Africa. Element concentrations of
      wolframite grains analyzed by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass
      spectrometry are used to establish the analytical fingerprint. The data from ore
      concentrate samples are multivariate, not normal or log-normal distributed. The
      samples cannot be regarded as representative aliquots of a population. Based on
      the Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance, a measure of similarity between a sample in
      question and reference samples from a database is determined. A decision
      criterion is deduced to recognize samples which do not originate from the
      declared mine site.

PMID- 28585688
TI  - Preliminary Study on Determining the Sequence of Intersecting Lines by
      Fluorescence Technique.
AB  - The determination of the sequence of intersecting lines is an important part of
      questioned document examinations. A fluorescence technique was used to determine
      the sequence of heterogeneous intersecting lines produced using inkpad ink, stamp
      pad ink, ballpoint pens, gel pens, fountain pens, colorants of carbon paper,
      photocopiers, laser printers, and inkjet printers. A SteREO Discovery.V20
      equipped with the ZEN Blue Lite software was chosen to perform the tests.As the
      results obtained from the study were positive under most conditions, the
      fluorescence technique was found to be very successful in determining the
      sequence of intersecting lines from ballpoint pen, gel pen, fountain pen,
      photocopier, laser and inkjet printers, and inkpad inks. The method was also
      successful in determining the sequence of intersecting lines from ballpoint pen,
      photocopier, laser printer, and stamp-pad inks under most conditions. The
      technique was not successful in determining the order of crossing lines blending
      together.

PMID- 28585689
TI  - Fibroblasts take the centre stage in human skeletal muscle regeneration.

PMID- 28585690
TI  - Satisfying America's Fruit Gap: Summary of an Expert Roundtable on the Role of
      100% Fruit Juice.
AB  - The 2015 to 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) recognize the role of
      100% fruit juice in health and in helping people meet daily fruit recommendations
      and state that 100% fruit juice is a nutrient-dense beverage that should be a
      primary choice, along with water and low-fat/fat-free milk. The DGAs note that
      children are consuming 100% fruit juice within recommendations (that is, 120 to
      180 mL/d for children aged 1 to 6 y and 236 to 355 mL/d for children aged 7 to 18
      y). Evidence shows that compared to nonconsumers, those who consume 100% fruit
      juice come closer to meeting daily fruit needs and have better diet quality. In
      children, 100% fruit juice is associated with increased intakes of nutrients such
      as vitamin C, folate, and potassium. When consumed within the DGA
      recommendations, 100% fruit juice is not associated with overweight/obesity or
      childhood dental caries and does not compromise fiber intake. Preliminary data
      suggest that polyphenols in some 100% fruit juices may inhibit absorption of
      naturally occurring sugars. Given its role in promoting health and in helping
      people meet fruit needs, experts participating in a roundtable discussion agreed
      that there is no science-based reason to restrict access to 100% fruit juice in
      public health nutrition policy and programs such as the Special Supplemental
      Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Reducing or eliminating
      100% fruit juice could lead to unintended consequences such as reduced daily
      fruit intake and increased consumption of less nutritious beverages (for example,
      sugar-sweetened beverages).

PMID- 28585691
TI  - Facial Age Synthesis Using Sparse Partial Least Squares (The Case of Ben
      Needham).
AB  - Automatic facial age progression (AFAP) has been an active area of research in
      recent years. This is due to its numerous applications which include searching
      for missing. This study presents a new method of AFAP. Here, we use an active
      appearance model (AAM) to extract facial features from available images. An aging
      function is then modelled using sparse partial least squares regression (sPLS).
      Thereafter, the aging function is used to render new faces at different ages. To
      test the accuracy of our algorithm, extensive evaluation is conducted using a
      database of 500 face images with known ages. Furthermore, the algorithm is used
      to progress Ben Needham's facial image that was taken when he was 21 months old
      to the ages of 6, 14, and 22 years. The algorithm presented in this study could
      potentially be used to enhance the search for missing people worldwide.

PMID- 28585692
TI  - OsGCD1 is essential for rice fertility and required for embryo dorsal-ventral
      pattern formation and endosperm development.
AB  - Rice fertility is critical for rice reproduction and is thus a focus of interest.
      Most studies have addressed male sterility and its relation to rice production.
      The mechanisms of regulation of embryogenesis and endosperm development are
      essential for rice reproduction, but remain largely unknown. Here, we report a
      functional analysis of the rice gene OsGCD1, which encodes a highly conserved
      homolog of Arabidopsis GCD1 (GAMETE CELLS DEFECTIVE1). OsGCD1 mutants were
      generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and subjected to functional analysis. The
      homozygote mutants cannot be obtained, whereas heterozygotes showed altered
      phenotypes. In the majority of aborted seeds, the endosperm nucleus divided a
      limited number of times. The free nuclei were distributed only at the micropylar
      end of embryo sacs, and their oriented positioning was blocked. In addition,
      aleurone differentiation was interrupted. The embryo developed slowly, and
      pattern formation, particularly the dorsal-ventral pattern and symmetry
      establishment, of embryos was disturbed. Thus, the embryos showed various
      morphological and structural dysplasias. Our findings reveal that OsGCD1 is
      essential for rice fertility and is required for dorsal-ventral pattern formation
      and endosperm free nucleus positioning, suggesting a critical role in sexual
      reproduction of both monocotyledon and dicotyledon plants.

PMID- 28585693
TI  - Influences of Soaking Temperature and Storage Conditions on Hardening of Soybeans
      (Glycine max) and Red Kidney Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris).
AB  - The influences of soaking treatment and storage conditions on the softening of
      cooked beans, namely, soybeans and red kidney beans, were investigated. It was
      revealed that the softening of fresh soybeans and fresh red kidney beans was
      suppressed during subsequent boiling after soaking treatment at 50 and 60 
      degrees C. Furthermore, in treated aged soybeans and red kidney beans that were
      subjected to storage at 30  degrees C/75% relative humidity for 6 mo and soaking
      treatment at 50 to 60  degrees C, the hardness during cooking was further
      amplified. This suggested that the mechanism of softening suppression differs
      depending on the influences of soaking and storage. Analysis of the pectin
      fraction in alcohol insoluble solid showed insolubilization of metal ions upon
      storage at high temperature and high humidity in both soybeans and red kidney
      beans, which suggests interaction between Ca ions and hemicellulose or cellulose
      as cell wall polysaccharides. The results of differential scanning calorimetry
      (DSC) showed that aged soybeans exhibited a shift in the thermal transition
      temperature of glycinin-based protein to a higher temperature compared with fresh
      soybeans. From the results of DSC and scanning electron microscopy for aged red
      kidney beans, damaged starch is not conspicuous in the raw state after storage
      but is abundant upon soaking treatment. As for the influence of soaking at 60 
      degrees C, it can be suggested that its influence on cell wall crosslinking was
      large in soybeans and red kidney beans in both a fresh state and an aged state.

PMID- 28585694
TI  - The Abrams geriatric self-neglect scale: introduction, validation and
      psychometric properties.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Self-neglect is an imprecisely defined entity with multiple clinical
      expressions and adverse health consequences, especially in the elderly. However,
      research has been limited by the absence of a measurement instrument that is both
      inclusive and specific. Our goal was to establish the psychometric properties of
      a quantitative instrument, the Abrams Geriatric Self-Neglect Scale (AGSS).
      METHODS: We analyzed data from a 2007 case-control study of 71 cognitively intact
      community-dwelling older self-neglectors that had used the AGSS. The AGSS was
      validated against two "gold standards": a categorical definition of self-neglect
      developed by expert consensus; and the clinical judgment of a geriatric
      psychiatrist using chart review. Frequencies were examined for the six scale
      domains by source (Subject, Observer, and Overall Impression). Internal
      consistency was estimated for each source, and associations among the sources
      were evaluated. RESULTS: Internal consistency estimates for the AGSS were rated
      as "good," with the Subject responses having the lowest alpha and omega (0.681
      and 0.692) and the Observer responses the highest (0.758 and 0.765). Subject and
      Observer scores had the lowest association (0.578, p < 0.001). Using expert
      consensus criteria as the primary "gold standard," the Observer and Overall
      Impression subscales were "good" at classifying self-neglect, while the Subject
      subscale was "fair." CONCLUSIONS: The AGSS correctly classified and quantified
      self-neglect against two "gold standards." Sufficient correlations among multiple
      sources of information allow investigators and clinicians to choose flexibly from
      Subject, Observer, or Overall Impression. The lower internal consistency
      estimates for Subject responses are consistent with self-neglectors' propensity
      to disavow symptoms. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585695
TI  - The RhoGAP Myo9b Promotes Bone Growth by Mediating Osteoblastic Responsiveness to
      IGF-1.
AB  - The Ras homolog A (RhoA) subfamily of Rho guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases)
      regulates actin-based cellular functions in bone such as differentiation,
      migration, and mechanotransduction. Polymorphisms or genetic ablation of RHOA and
      some of its regulatory guanine exchange factors (GEFs) have been linked to poor
      bone health in humans and mice, but the effects of RhoA-specific GTPase
      activating proteins (GAPs) on bone quality have not yet been identified.
      Therefore, we examined the consequences of RhoGAP Myo9b gene knockout on bone
      growth, phenotype, and cellular activity. Male and female mice lacking both
      alleles demonstrated growth retardation and decreased bone formation rates during
      early puberty. These mice had smaller, weaker bones by 4 weeks of age, but only
      female KOs had altered cellular numbers, with fewer osteoblasts and more
      osteoclasts. By 12 weeks of age, bone quality in KOs worsened. In contrast, 4
      week-old heterozygotes demonstrated bone defects that resolved by 12 weeks of
      age. Throughout, Myo9b ablation affected females more than males. Osteoclast
      activity appeared unaffected. In primary osteogenic cells, Myo9b was distributed
      in stress fibers and focal adhesions, and its absence resulted in poor spreading
      and eventual detachment from culture dishes. Similarly, MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts
      with transiently suppressed Myo9b levels spread poorly and contained decreased
      numbers of focal adhesions. These cells also demonstrated reduced ability to
      undergo IGF-1-induced spreading or chemotaxis toward IGF-1, though responses to
      PDGF and BMP-2 were unaffected. IGF-1 receptor (IGF1R) activation was normal in
      cells with diminished Myo9b levels, but the activated receptor was redistributed
      from stress fibers and focal adhesions into nuclei, potentially affecting
      receptor accessibility and gene expression. These results demonstrate that Myo9b
      regulates a subset of RhoA-activated processes necessary for IGF-1 responsiveness
      in osteogenic cells, and is critical for normal bone formation in growing mice.
      (c) 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 28585697
TI  - Concerns on "Dissection of Regulatory Elements During Direct Conversion of
      Somatic Cells Into Neurons" Paper.

PMID- 28585696
TI  - Occurrence and human dietary assessment of fluoroquinolones antibiotics in
      cultured fish around tai lake, China.
AB  - Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are widely used in the production of aquatic products
      and considered to be a significant contributing factor to the burden of both
      natural and aquaculture environments. However, the main types of fluoroquinolones
      present in aquaculture systems have not been determined. The objectives of the
      present study were to explore the occurrence of residual fluoroquinolone
      antibiotics in fish muscle tissues sampled from across the entire aquaculture
      season in the Tai Lake basin in China and to assess the dietary risks associated
      with the upcoming vendible fish in the last month of the aquaculture season.
      Fluoroquinolones were detected in 95.69% of all fish samples, and the
      concentrations ranged from the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 47 108.00 MUg .
      kg-1 . Enrofloxacin contributed the most among the 9 fluoroquinolone antibiotics
      tested. Of the 4 fish species studied, enrofloxacin was present in bream at
      significant (p < 0.05) concentrations in August, with an average value of 321.45
      MUg . kg-1 , while enrofloxacin concentrations peaked in crab and shrimp in
      September, with average values of 6949.60 and 460.82 MUg . kg-1 , respectively.
      However, different patterns were observed in perch, suggesting that other
      categories of antibiotics may be used in the production of this fish. Dietary
      risk assessment showed that the residual levels and estimated daily intake in
      bream, perch, and shrimp were far below the maximum residual level and acceptable
      daily intake. However, the average residual level in crab exceeded the maximum
      residual level, and the estimated daily intake value accounted for 78.49% of the
      acceptable daily intake, indicating potential consumption risk. In summary, the
      present study aims to guide the production and consumption of aquatic products.
      Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2899-2905. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28585698
TI  - Lycopene Protects Keratinocytes Against UVB Radiation-Induced Carcinogenesis via
      Negative Regulation of FOXO3a Through the mTORC2/AKT Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Lycopene, one of the most potent anti-oxidants, has been reported to exhibit
      potent anti-proliferative properties in a wide range of cancer cells through
      modulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis. Forkhead box O3 (FOXO3a) plays a
      pivotal role in modulating the expression of genes involved in cell death.
      Herein, we investigated the role of FOXO3a signaling in the anti-cancer effects
      of lycopene. Results showed that lycopene pretreatment attenuated UVB-induced
      cell hyper-proliferation and promoted apoptosis, accompanied by decreased cyclin
      dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and CDK4 complex in both human keratinocytes and SKH-1
      hairless mice. FOXO3a is phosphorylated in response to UVB irradiation and
      sequestered in the cytoplasm, while lycopene pretreatment rescued this
      sensitization. Gene ablation of FOXO3a attenuated lycopene-induced decrease in
      cell hyper-proliferation, CDK2, and CDK4 complex, indicating a critical role of
      FOXO3a in the lycopene-induced anti-proliferative effect of keratinocytes during
      UVB irradiation. Transfection with FOXO3a siRNA inhibited the lycopene-induced
      increase in cell apoptosis, BAX and cleaved PARP expression. Moreover, loss of
      AKT induced further accelerated lycopene-induced FOXO3a dephosphorylation, while
      loss of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) by transfection with
      RICTOR siRNA induced levels of AKT phosphorylation comparable to those obtained
      with lycopene. In contrast, overexpression of AKT or mTORC2 decreased the effects
      of lycopene on the expression of FOXO3a as well as AKT phosphorylation,
      suggesting that lycopene depends on the negative modulation of mTORC2/AKT
      signaling. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the mTORC2/AKT/FOXO3a
      axis plays a critical role in the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of
      lycopene in UVB-induced photocarcinogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 366-377,
      2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28585699
TI  - Impact of ageing on postsynaptic neuronal nicotinic neurotransmission in auditory
      thalamus.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play a
      fundamental role in the attentional circuitry throughout the mammalian CNS. In
      the present study, we report a novel finding that ageing negatively impacts nAChR
      efficacy in auditory thalamus, and this is probably the result of a loss of nAChR
      density (Bmax ) and changes in the subunit composition of nAChRs. Our data
      support the hypothesis that age-related maladaptive changes involving nAChRs
      within thalamocortical circuits partially underpin the difficulty that elderly
      adults experience with respect to attending to speech and other salient acoustic
      signals. ABSTRACT: The flow of auditory information through the medial geniculate
      body (MGB) is regulated, in part, by cholinergic projections from the
      pontomesencephalic tegmentum. The functional significance of these projections is
      not fully established, although they have been strongly implicated in the
      allocation of auditory attention. Using in vitro slice recordings, we have
      analysed postsynaptic function and pharmacology of neuronal nicotinic ACh
      receptors (nAChRs) in young adult and the aged rat MGB. We find that ACh produces
      significant excitatory postsynaptic actions on young MGB neurons, probably
      mediated by beta2-containing heteromeric nAChRs. Radioligand binding studies show
      a significant age-related loss of heteromeric nAChR receptor number, which
      supports patch clamp data showing an age-related loss in ACh efficacy in evoking
      postsynaptic responses. Use of the beta2-selective nAChR antagonist, dihydro-beta
      erythroidine, suggests that loss of cholinergic efficacy may also be the result
      of an age-related subunit switch from high affinity beta2-containing nAChRs to
      low affinity beta4-containing nAChRs, in addition to the loss of total nAChR
      number. This age-related nAChR dysfunction may partially underpin the attentional
      deficits that contribute to the loss of speech understanding in the elderly.

PMID- 28585700
TI  - Evaluation of the Treatment Strategies for Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of
      the Jaws (MRONJ) and the Factors Affecting Treatment Outcome: A Multicenter
      Retrospective Study with Propensity Score Matching Analysis.
AB  - Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is an adverse event that may
      inhibit the treatment of primary disease and remarkably influence the patient's
      quality of life. The treatment methods for MRONJ, nonsurgical and surgical, are
      controversial, with no agreement as to which method provides the best outcome and
      should therefore be recommended. This multicenter retrospective study aimed to
      investigate the treatment methods and outcome in a large number of patients with
      MRONJ in Japan, utilizing propensity score matching analysis. A total of 361
      patients with MRONJ, at eight hospitals, were registered in this study
      retrospectively. Various demographic and treatment-related variables were
      examined and analyzed to determine their correlation with the treatment outcome.
      After propensity score matching for treatment methods (nonsurgical versus
      surgical treatment), 176 patients were analyzed by logistic regression. It was
      shown that those with low-dose administration of an antiresorptive agent and
      surgical treatment had better outcomes. Furthermore, in 159 patients who
      underwent surgical treatment, those who underwent extensive surgery experienced
      significantly better treatment outcomes than those who underwent conservative
      surgery. This is the first study to compare treatment methods for MRONJ using
      propensity score matching analysis. The results indicated that extensive surgical
      treatment should be performed as first-choice therapy for patients with MRONJ.
      (c) 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 28585701
TI  - Giant primary pleomorphic dermal liposarcoma.

PMID- 28585702
TI  - Consistent Belief in a Good True Self in Misanthropes and Three Interdependent
      Cultures.
AB  - People sometimes explain behavior by appealing to an essentialist concept of the
      self, often referred to as the true self. Existing studies suggest that people
      tend to believe that the true self is morally virtuous; that is deep inside,
      every person is motivated to behave in morally good ways. Is this belief
      particular to individuals with optimistic beliefs or people from Western
      cultures, or does it reflect a widely held cognitive bias in how people
      understand the self? To address this question, we tested the good true self
      theory against two potential boundary conditions that are known to elicit
      different beliefs about the self as a whole. Study 1 tested whether individual
      differences in misanthropy-the tendency to view humans negatively-predict beliefs
      about the good true self in an American sample. The results indicate a consistent
      belief in a good true self, even among individuals who have an explicitly
      pessimistic view of others. Study 2 compared true self-attributions across
      cultural groups, by comparing samples from an independent country (USA) and a
      diverse set of interdependent countries (Russia, Singapore, and Colombia).
      Results indicated that the direction and magnitude of the effect are comparable
      across all groups we tested. The belief in a good true self appears robust across
      groups varying in cultural orientation or misanthropy, suggesting a consistent
      psychological tendency to view the true self as morally good.

PMID- 28585703
TI  - Husk Tomato (Physalis ixocarpa Brot.) Waste as a Promising Source of Pectin:
      Extraction and Physicochemical Characterization.
AB  - Husk tomato (Physalis ixocarpa Brot. var. Rendidora) waste was evaluated as a
      source of specialized pectin, and pectin extracted from this waste was
      characterized physicochemically. Fruit was blanched for 10 or 15 min and
      extracted in 0.1 N HCl for 15 to 25 min. Extracted pectin was subjected to
      physicochemical analysis. For all extraction conditions, the percentage of
      anhydrogalacturonic acid exceeded 60%, indicating that husk tomato was a good
      source of pectin. The degree of esterification of pectin molecules was 63% to
      91%. The amount of extracted pectin decreased with increasing extraction time.
      The apparent viscosity of husk tomato pectin showed the characteristic behavior
      of pseudoplastic fluids. Neutral sugars were identified, and the amounts of 6
      sugars (fucose, rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, and xylose) were
      quantified. Sugars identified in husk tomato pectin and present in the
      Rhamnogalacturonan I region, arabinose, galactose, and rhamnose suggest a highly
      branched structure, which will influence its future applications. Molecular
      weight values were 542 to 699 kDa, exceeding molecular weight values reported for
      commercial citrus pectins from 134 to 480 kDa. The extraction process
      significantly (P < 0.05) influenced the physicochemical properties of pectin. Up
      to 19.8% from the total amount of pectin in the husk tomato was extracted by 10
      min of blanching and 20 min of a more heat treatment. Our findings indicate that
      husk tomato can be a good alternative source of pectin having highly distinctive
      physicochemical characteristics.

PMID- 28585704
TI  - The regulations and role of circadian clock and melatonin in uterine receptivity
      and pregnancy-An immunological perspective.
AB  - During normal pregnancy, the mechanism by which the fetus escapes immunological
      rejection by the maternal womb remains elusive. Given the biological
      complexities, the immunological mechanism is unlikely to be simply an allograft
      response in acceptance or rejection of the early pregnancy. Circadian clock
      responsible for the mammalian circadian rhythm is an endogenously generated
      rhythm associated with almost all physiological processes including reproduction.
      There is now growing evidence to suggest that the circadian clocks are
      intricately linked to the immune system and pregnancy. When perturbed, the role
      of immune cells can be affected on maintaining the enriched vascular system
      needed for placentation. This alteration can be triggered by the irregular
      production of maternal and placental melatonin. Hence, the role of circadian
      rhythm modulators such as melatonin offers intriguing opportunities for therapy.
      In this review, we evaluate the complex interaction between the circadian clock
      and melatonin within the immune system and their roles in the circadian
      regulation and maintenance of normal pregnancy.

PMID- 28585705
TI  - Ganglioside GM3 induces cumulus cell apoptosis through inhibition of epidermal
      growth factor receptor-mediated PI3K/AKT signaling pathways during in vitro
      maturation of pig oocytes.
AB  - Gangliosides are components of the mammalian plasma membrane that help regulate
      receptor signaling. Ganglioside GM3, for example, plays an important role in
      initiating apoptosis in cancer cells; however, physiological roles for GM3 in
      normal processes, such as during pig oocyte maturation, are not clear. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the functional link between GM3 and cellular
      apoptosis in porcine cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) during in vitro maturation.
      Our results indicated that denuded oocytes possess less ST3GAL5, a GM3
      synthesizing enzyme, than cumulus cells or COCs after 44 hr of in vitro
      maturation. GM3 also affected the meiotic maturation of cultured pig oocytes, as
      evaluated by orcein staining. In vitro treatment of COCs with exogenous GM3 also
      reduced cumulus cell expansion, the proportion of meiotic maturation, and
      increased cumulus cell transcription of PTX3, TNFAIP6, and HAS2. Interestingly,
      GM3 treatment reduced the expression of Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      mediated Phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT signaling proteins in COCs in a
      concentration-dependent manner, instead increasing the abundance of pro-apoptotic
      factors such as AIF, activated Caspase 9, cleaved PARP1, and Caspase 3 were.
      Thus, GM3 might affect porcine oocyte maturation via suppression of EGFR-mediated
      PI3K/AKT signaling and/or induction of apoptosis during in vitro maturation.

PMID- 28585706
TI  - Delivery of dsRNA through topical feeding for RNA interference in the citrus sap
      piercing-sucking hemipteran, Diaphorina citri.
AB  - RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful means to study functional genomics in
      insects. The delivery of dsRNA is a challenging step in the development of RNAi
      assay. Here, we describe a new delivery method to increase the effectiveness of
      RNAi in the Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri. Bromophenol blue droplets were
      topically applied to fifth instar nymphs and adults on the ventral side of the
      thorax between the three pairs of legs. In addition to video recordings that
      showed sucking of the bromophenol blue by the stylets, dissected guts turned blue
      indicating that the uptake was through feeding. Thus, we called the method
      topical feeding. We targeted the abnormal wing disc gene (awd), also called
      nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK), as a reporter gene to prove the uptake of
      dsRNA via this method of delivery. Our results showed that dsRNA-awd caused
      reduction of awd expression and nymph mortality. Survival and lifespan of adults
      emerged from treated nymphs and treated adults were affected. Silencing awd
      caused wing malformation in the adults emerged from treated nymphs. Topical
      feeding as a delivery of dsRNA is highly efficient for both nymphs and adults.
      The described method could be used to increase the efficiency of RNAi in D. citri
      and other sap piercing-sucking hemipterans.

PMID- 28585707
TI  - Early relapse of psoriasis after stopping brodalumab: a retrospective cohort
      study in 77 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biological agents targeting IL-17 are very effective for clearing
      moderate to severe psoriasis. There is limited information regarding the
      frequency and pattern of psoriasis relapse upon treatment cessation. OBJECTIVE:
      To investigate the pattern of psoriasis recurrence in patients who were treated
      with brodalumab following Amgen's decision to stop the clinical programme in June
      2015. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between June 2015 and March 2016, we constructed a
      retrospective multicenter cohort study including patients who were treated with
      brodalumab in Amgen's protocols after the abrupt interruption of the drug
      development programme. The relapse was defined as the request of patient to
      initiate a new treatment after brodalumab withdrawal. RESULTS: Seventy-seven
      patients were followed up. At the time brodalumab treatment was stopped, 67 (87%)
      patients had reached PASI 90. After brodalumab discontinuation, all 77 patients
      relapsed after a follow-up of 9 months. The median time to relapse was 46 days
      (range 7-224 days). Concerning the type of relapse, 73 patients presented with
      plaque psoriasis, one patient presented with erythrodermic psoriasis, and three
      patients experienced pustular psoriasis. In seven patients who had no previous
      history of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), the relapse of psoriasis was associated
      with inflammatory joint pain suggestive of PsA. At week 36, eight patients who
      had a limited relapse were controlled with topical treatment, 43 patients
      received a biological agent, two patients were included in a clinical trial with
      an investigational drug and 15 patients were treated with conventional systemic
      agents. CONCLUSION: Abrupt cessation of brodalumab is associated with a rapid
      relapse of psoriasis with some patients experiencing a rebound. It seems not
      advisable to stop treatment with IL-17 receptor antagonists abruptly even in
      patients who experience complete clearance of psoriasis.

PMID- 28585709
TI  - Do they practice what we preach: Findings from over a decade of breast imaging
      CME.

PMID- 28585710
TI  - Comparison of complications associated with induction by misoprostol versus
      dilation and evacuation for second-trimester abortion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency of complications between medical induction
      with misoprostol and dilation and evacuation (D&E) for second-trimester uterine
      evacuation. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study, records were reviewed from
      all women who underwent second-trimester uterine evacuation between 14 and 24
      weeks of pregnancy at an academic hospital in the USA from January 2007 to
      December 2008. Total complications and serious complications were compared
      between medical induction and D&E, and clinical covariates associated with
      complications were assessed. RESULTS: Overall, 465 women were included. At least
      one complication occurred in 28 (23.0%) of 122 women in the medical induction
      group, and 24 (7.0%) of 343 women in the D&E group (P<0.001). One or more serious
      complications occurred in 4 (3.3%) women undergoing medical induction and 5
      (1.5%) undergoing D&E (P=0.251). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that
      increasing pregnancy length (P=0.003) and medical induction (as compared with
      D&E; P=0.004) were associated with complications. CONCLUSION: Although D&E
      resulted in fewer overall complications as compared with medical induction, the
      rate of serious complications did not differ between the two procedures.

PMID- 28585711
TI  - Sudden rhythm change in dual-chamber pacemaker: Is the device working properly?

PMID- 28585712
TI  - A Novel Non-Apoptotic Role of Procaspase-3 in the Regulation of Mitochondrial
      Biogenesis Activators.
AB  - The executioner caspase-3 has been proposed as a pharmacological intervention
      target to preserve degenerating dopaminergic (DA) neurons because apoptotic
      mechanisms involving caspase-3 contribute, at least in part, to the loss of DA
      neurons in patients and experimental models of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we
      determined that genetic intervention of caspase-3 was sufficient to prevent cell
      death against oxidative stress (OS), accompanied by unexpected severe
      mitochondrial dysfunction. Specifically, as we expected, caspase-3-deficient DA
      neuronal cells were very significantly resistant to OS-induced cell death, while
      the activation of the initiator caspase-9 by OS was preserved. Moreover, detailed
      phenotypic characterization of caspase-3-deficient DA cells revealed severe
      mitochondrial dysfunction, including an accumulation of damaged mitochondria with
      a characteristic swollen structure and broken cristae, reduced membrane
      potential, increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and deficits in
      mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) enzymes. Of great interest, we
      found that mitochondrial biogenesis was dramatically decreased in caspase-3
      deficient DA cells, whereas their capability of mitophagy was normal. In
      accordance with this observation, caspase-3 gene knock down (KD) resulted in
      dramatically decreased expression of the key transcriptional activators of
      mitochondrial biogenesis, such as Tfam and Nrf-1, implicating a non-apoptotic
      role of procaspase-3 in mitochondrial biogenesis. Therefore, a prolonged anti
      apoptotic intervention targeting caspase-3 should be considered with caution due
      to the potential adverse effects in mitochondria dynamics resulting from a novel
      potential functional role of procaspase-3 in mitochondrial biogenesis via
      regulating the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis activators. J. Cell.
      Biochem. 119: 347-357, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28585713
TI  - Nitrous gas analgesia and sedation for lumbar punctures in children: Has the time
      for practice change come?

PMID- 28585714
TI  - Use of Standing Gold Nanorods for Detection of Malachite Green and Crystal Violet
      in Fish by SERS.
AB  - With growing consumption of aquaculture products, there is increasing demand on
      rapid and sensitive techniques that can detect prohibited substances in the
      seafood products. This study aimed to develop a novel surface-enhanced Raman
      spectroscopy (SERS) method coupled with simplified extraction protocol and novel
      gold nanorod (AuNR) substrates to detect banned aquaculture substances (malachite
      green [MG] and crystal violet [CV]) and their mixture (1:1) in aqueous solution
      and fish samples. Multivariate statistical tools such as principal component
      analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) were used in data
      analysis. PCA results demonstrate that SERS can distinguish MG, CV and their
      mixture (1:1) in aqueous solution and in fish samples. The detection limit of
      SERS coupled with standing AuNR substrates is 1 ppb for both MG and CV in fish
      samples. A good linear relationship between the actual concentration and
      predicted concentration of analytes based on PLSR models with R2 values from 0.87
      to 0.99 were obtained, indicating satisfactory quantification results of this
      method. These results demonstrate that the SERS method coupled with AuNR
      substrates can be used for rapid and accurate detection of MG and CV in fish
      samples.

PMID- 28585708
TI  - The cytokine network in women with an asymptomatic short cervix and the risk of
      preterm delivery.
AB  - PROBLEM: To characterize the amniotic fluid (AF) inflammatory-related protein
      (IRP) network in patients with a sonographic short cervix (SCx) and to determine
      its relation to early preterm delivery (ePTD). METHOD OF STUDY: A retrospective
      cohort study included women with a SCx (<=25 mm; n=223) who had amniocentesis and
      were classified according to gestational age (GA) at diagnosis and delivery (ePTD
      <32 weeks of gestation). RESULTS: (i) In women with a SCx <= 22 1/7 weeks, the
      concentration of most IRPs increased as the cervix shortened; those with ePTD had
      a higher rate of increase in MIP-1alpha, MCP-1, and IL-6 concentrations than
      those delivering later; and (ii) the concentration of most IRPs and the
      correlation between several IRP pairs were higher in the ePTD group than for
      those delivering later. CONCLUSION: Women with a SCx at 16-22 1/7 weeks have a
      unique AF cytokine network that correlates with cervical length at diagnosis and
      GA at delivery. This network may aid in predicting ePTD.

PMID- 28585715
TI  - Does liver resection/transplantation affect respiratory induced liver motion in
      patients with hepatocellular carcinoma?
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in magnitude of three
      dimensional (3D) liver motion after liver resection/transplantation in patients
      with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using four-dimensional (4D)-computed
      tomography (CT) images. From January 2012 to April 2016, 74 HCC patients
      underwent 4D-CT scans under a free-breathing state to assess respiratory liver
      motion. Of the 74 patients, 40 did not have a liver resection/transplantation
      (Group A), 34 with liver resection/transplantation. 15 underwent major or minor
      resection in the right liver lobe (Group B), 14 underwent major or minor
      resection in the left liver lobe (Group C), and five underwent liver
      transplantation (Group D). The 4D-CT images were sorted into 10 image series
      according to the respiratory phase from the end inspiration to the end
      expiration, and then transferred to treatment planning software. All liver
      contours were drawn by a single physician and confirmed by a second. Liver
      relative coordinates were automatically generated to calculate liver respiratory
      motion in different axial directions and compiled into a single composite image.
      Differences in respiratory liver motion were assessed using one-way ANOVA. The
      average liver respiratory motion in the cranial-caudal direction and 3D magnitude
      were 10.46 +/- 2.78 mm (range, 5.60-18.80 mm) and 11.74 +/- 2.65 mm (range, 7.45
      20.79 mm) for patients without liver resection/transplantation, and 7.74 +/- 2.79
      mm (range, 2.20-12.90 mm) and 9.07 +/- 2.38 mm (range, 4.79-14.08 mm) for
      posthepatectomy/post-transplant patients respectively. There were significant
      differences between Group A and B, Group A and C, Group A and D. However, there
      were no significant differences among Group B, C, and D. Liver
      resection/transplantation greatly affected respiratory-induced liver motion in
      patients with HCC. We, therefore, recommend discriminatory internal target volume
      (ITV) determination for patients with or without liver resection/transplantation
      undergoing external radiotherapy for hepatic tumors while respiratory motion
      management is unavailable.

PMID- 28585717
TI  - A meta-analysis of intraoperative neuromonitoring of recurrent laryngeal nerve
      palsy during thyroid reoperations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy, a common
      complication of thyroid surgery, is especially high in thyroid reoperations. The
      present meta-analysis assesses whether intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM)
      reduces the prevalence of RLN palsy in thyroid reoperations. DESIGN AND METHODS:
      A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed, SCIE and Wan Fang
      databases for studies published up to 31 August 2016. All data were analysed
      using STATA (version 11) software. Publication bias was assessed using Begg's
      funnel plot and Egger's test, and sensitivity analysis was performed. RESULTS:
      Nine studies including 2436 at-risk nerves met the inclusion criteria. The
      results were presented as pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence
      intervals (CI). The overall RLN palsy rate was significantly lower in
      reoperations conducted with IONM than in those conducted without IONM (RR=0.434,
      95% CI=0.206-0.916, P=.029). High heterogeneity was found (I2 =70.2%, P=.001).
      The rates of transient RLN palsy with and without IONM did not differ
      significantly (RR=0.607, 95% CI=0.270-1.366, P=.227). The heterogeneity was high
      (I2 =67.4%, P=.005). However, IONM was significantly associated with a reduction
      in permanent RLN palsy (RR=0.426, 95% CI=0.196-0.925, P=.031). No significant
      heterogeneity was found (I2 =13.7%, P=.325). Funnel plots for overall and
      transient RLN palsy showed a possible publication bias. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) is associated with a reduction in overall
      and permanent RLN palsy in thyroid reoperations. However, given the limited
      sample size and heterogeneity in this meta-analysis, further studies are required
      to confirm our preliminary findings.

PMID- 28585716
TI  - Detection of dendritic cells and related cytokines in follicular fluid of
      patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - PROBLEM: The presence of dendritic cells (DCs) and associated cytokines in
      follicular fluid (FF) from patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) remains
      unknown. METHODS OF STUDY: FF was collected from PCOS patients and patients with
      severe male factor infertility (control) at the day of transvaginal oocyte
      retrieval. Phenotypes of DC were detected by flow cytometry, and TNF-alpha, IL-6,
      IL-10, and IL-23 were assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: A significant decrease in the
      percentage of DC was found in patients with PCOS (16.22+/-5.5%) compared with
      control (21.27+/-5.5%, P<.01). E2 on the day of hCG administration was correlated
      positively with the mean fluorescence intensity of HLA-DR (r=.75, P<.01) and
      reversely correlated with the concentration of TNF-alpha in FF (r=-.69, P<.01).
      The level of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-10 increased significantly but IL-23
      decreased in FF from patients with PCOS. CONCLUSION: The decrease of DC and
      disturbance of associated cytokines in FF from PCOS patients indicates a disorder
      of immunological microenvironment of the ovarian follicle, which might be
      involved in the dysfunction of folliculogenesis.

PMID- 28585718
TI  - Emotion dysregulation, symptoms, and interpersonal problems as independent
      predictors of a broad range of personality disorders in an outpatient sample.
AB  - : Emotion dysregulation (ED) is considered a hallmark of borderline personality
      disorder and is prominent in other personality disorders (PDs). Its presence and
      contribution to personality pathology need to be explored in the whole range of
      PDs. In this study, we investigated the association of ED with the whole range of
      PD traits, symptoms, and interpersonal problems and then investigated whether ED
      had a unique contribution in predicting the different PDs. A sample of 478
      treatment-seeking outpatients was interviewed with the SCID-II. The patients were
      then tested for symptoms (SCL-90-R), interpersonal problems (IIP-32), and ED
      (DERS). RESULTS: ED correlated with the large majority of PDs and with symptoms
      and interpersonal problems. Regression showed how ED explained a unique part of
      the variance for many PDs. ED appears to be a relevant feature of pathology in
      many PDs; with replication, it can be considered a treatment target in this
      population. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Emotion dysregulation is present in many
      personality disorders. Emotion dysregulation is not just explained by heightened
      symptoms and interpersonal problems in personality disorders. Emotion
      dysregulation could be considered a treatment target in personality disorders
      other than borderline.

PMID- 28585719
TI  - Toward a community ecology of landscapes: predicting multiple predator-prey
      interactions across geographic space.
AB  - Community ecology was traditionally an integrative science devoted to studying
      interactions between species and their abiotic environments in order to predict
      species' geographic distributions and abundances. Yet for philosophical and
      methodological reasons, it has become divided into two enterprises: one devoted
      to local experimentation on species interactions to predict community dynamics;
      the other devoted to statistical analyses of abiotic and biotic information to
      describe geographic distribution. Our goal here is to instigate thinking about
      ways to reconnect the two enterprises and thereby return to a tradition to do
      integrative science. We focus specifically on the community ecology of predators
      and prey, which is ripe for integration. This is because there is active,
      simultaneous interest in experimentally resolving the nature and strength of
      predator-prey interactions as well as explaining patterns across landscapes and
      seascapes. We begin by describing a conceptual theory rooted in classical
      analyses of non-spatial food web modules used to predict species interactions. We
      show how such modules can be extended to consideration of spatial context using
      the concept of habitat domain. Habitat domain describes the spatial extent of
      habitat space that predators and prey use while foraging, which differs from home
      range, the spatial extent used by an animal to meet all of its daily needs. This
      conceptual theory can be used to predict how different spatial relations of
      predators and prey could lead to different emergent multiple predator-prey
      interactions such as whether predator consumptive or non-consumptive effects
      should dominate, and whether intraguild predation, predator interference or
      predator complementarity are expected. We then review the literature on studies
      of large predator-prey interactions that make conclusions about the nature of
      multiple predator-prey interactions. This analysis reveals that while many
      studies provide sufficient information about predator or prey spatial locations,
      and thus meet necessary conditions of the habitat domain conceptual theory for
      drawing conclusions about the nature of the predator-prey interactions, several
      studies do not. We therefore elaborate how modern technology and statistical
      approaches for animal movement analysis could be used to test the conceptual
      theory, using experimental or quasi-experimental analyses at landscape scales.

PMID- 28585720
TI  - Optimizing Specialty Drug Use.

PMID- 28585721
TI  - "Let him speak:" a descriptive qualitative study of the roles and behaviors of
      family companions in primary care visits among older adults with cognitive
      impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cognitive impairment poses communication challenges in primary care.
      Although family "companions" commonly attend primary care visits of older adults
      with cognitive impairment, little is known about how their involvement affects
      communication. Therefore, we sought to understand how companion involvement
      affects the quality of primary care visit communication for older adults with
      cognitive impairment. METHODS: Cross-sectional, descriptive qualitative study
      participants were as follows: (1) English-speaking adults age 65 or older with
      mild, moderate, or severe cognitive impairment; (2) family members or other
      unpaid companions who accompany older adults to primary care visits; and (3)
      primary care clinicians. Twenty semi-structured and in-depth qualitative
      interviews of older adults and their companions (N = 20 dyads) and two focus
      groups (N = 10 primary care clinicians) were conducted. Interviews and focus
      groups were transcribed and analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Family companions
      commonly facilitate communication by advocating for patients, ensuring the
      accuracy of information exchange and understanding, and preserving rapport.
      Significant communication challenges were also identified, including patient and
      companion role ambiguity, competing visit agendas, and primary care clinician
      confusion regarding the most accurate source of information. Patients,
      companions, and clinicians each identified strategies to improve communication,
      chief among them being to identify, differentiate, and respect both patient and
      companion priorities and perspectives. CONCLUSIONS: Family companions actively
      participate in primary care visits of older adults with cognitive impairment in
      ways that promote and inhibit effective communication. Findings suggest the need
      for strategies that more effectively and purposefully involve family in the care
      of primary care patients with cognitive impairment. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley
      & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585722
TI  - The association between question type and the outcomes of a Dermatology eConsult
      service.
AB  - BACKGROUND: eConsult is a web based service that facilitates communication
      between primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists, which can reduce the need
      for face-to-face consultations with specialists. One example is the Champlain
      BASE (Building Access to Specialist through eConsultation) service with
      dermatology being the largest specialty consulted. METHODS: Dermatology eConsults
      submitted from July 2011 to January 2015 were reviewed. Post eConsult surveys for
      PCPs were analyzed to determine the number of traditional consults avoided and
      perceived value of eConsults. The time it took the PCP to receive a reply and the
      amount of time reported by the specialist to answer eConsult were proactively
      recorded and analyzed. A subset of 154 most recent eConsults was categorized for
      dermatology content and question type (e.g. diagnosis or management) using a
      validated taxonomy. RESULTS: A total of 965 eConsults were directed to
      dermatology from 217 unique PCPs. The majority of eConsults (64%) took the
      specialist between 10 and 15 minutes to answer. The overall value of this service
      to the provider was rated as very good or excellent in 95% of cases. In 49%,
      traditional in-person assessments were avoided. In the subset of the most recent
      cases, diagnosis was the most common question type asked (65.2%) followed by
      management (29%) and drug treatment (10.6%). The top five subject areas (40%)
      were: Dermatitis, Infections, Neoplasm, Nevi, and Pruritus. CONCLUSION: eConsults
      was feasible and well received by PCPs, which improves access to dermatology care
      with a potential to reduce wait times for traditional consultation.

PMID- 28585724
TI  - Assessment of volumetric absorbed dose for mobile fluoroscopic 3D image
      acquisition.
AB  - Mobile fluoroscopy (c-arm) units offering 3D image reconstruction are becoming
      more common in surgical settings. Although these images are "CT-like" and
      sometimes replace the postoperative CT, the acquisition is technically very
      different from a traditional CT acquisition. Dose assessment is complicated by a
      large beam width, automatic exposure rate control, and a rotation of less than
      360 degrees . The purpose of this work was to explore the impact of these factors
      on the volumetric dose calculation and to provide practical recommendations for
      clinical physicists assessing dose from these units using commonly available
      equipment. CTDIW was calculated using the IAEA method for dosimetry of wide beams
      and compared to scans of the 32-cm CTDI phantom using the full beam width and a
      20-mm collimated beam width. The impact of the partial rotation on the CTDIW
      calculation was assessed by acquiring measurements at four and twelve positions
      on the phantom periphery. For the system tested, the CTDIW was calculated to be
      16.1 mGy using the IAEA method with default clinical protocol. Results showed
      that measuring CTDIW with the full beam width or a collimated beam width alone
      resulted in CTDI values of 19.0 mGy and 19.5 mGy, respectively. Using four
      peripheral measurements instead of 12 resulted in a difference of 4% for a
      collimated beam and 6% for an open beam. Variations in positioning on the order
      of a few centimeters resulted in a variation of only 4% with an open beam. The
      excellent reproducibility of the measurements using the full beam width suggests
      that this simple method is adequate for year-to-year comparisons. In contrast,
      the IAEA method is difficult to employ, particularly with 180 degrees 
      acquisitions. Use of peripheral measurements in excess of the usual four is time
      consuming and not necessary for most applications obtained with the geometry
      specific to this system.

PMID- 28585725
TI  - Laboratory parameter-based machine learning model for excluding non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects 20%-40% of the
      general population in developed countries and is an increasingly important cause
      of hepatocellular carcinoma. Electronic medical records facilitate large-scale
      epidemiological studies, existing NAFLD scores often require clinical and
      anthropometric parameters that may not be captured in those databases. AIM: To
      develop and validate a laboratory parameter-based machine learning model to
      detect NAFLD for the general population. METHODS: We randomly divided 922
      subjects from a population screening study into training and validation groups;
      NAFLD was diagnosed by proton-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. On the basis of
      machine learning from 23 routine clinical and laboratory parameters after elastic
      net regulation, we evaluated the logistic regression, ridge regression, AdaBoost
      and decision tree models. The areas under receiver-operating characteristic curve
      (AUROC) of models in validation group were compared. RESULTS: Six predictors
      including alanine aminotransferase, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol,
      triglyceride, haemoglobin A1c , white blood cell count and the presence of
      hypertension were selected. The NAFLD ridge score achieved AUROC of 0.87 (95% CI
      0.83-0.90) and 0.88 (0.84-0.91) in the training and validation groups
      respectively. Using dual cut-offs of 0.24 and 0.44, NAFLD ridge score achieved
      92% (86%-96%) sensitivity and 90% (86%-93%) specificity with corresponding
      negative and positive predictive values of 96% (91%-98%) and 69% (59%-78%), and
      87% of overall accuracy among 70% of classifiable subjects in the validation
      group; 30% of subjects remained indeterminate. CONCLUSIONS: NAFLD ridge score is
      a simple and robust reference comparable to existing NAFLD scores to exclude
      NAFLD patients in epidemiological studies.

PMID- 28585727
TI  - Atopic dermatitis characteristics and medication-use patterns in school-age
      children with AD and asthma symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) and asthma often coexist. Both diseases can
      have a major impact on the lives of children with AD and their caregivers. AIM:
      To investigate the association of patient characteristics, comorbidities and
      impact of AD on children who have both asthma and AD. METHODS: Children with AD
      (n = 140) were selected from a larger cohort of children with a reported use of
      asthma medication. The Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) was used
      to assess Quality of Life (QoL), and the Self-Assessed Eczema Area and Severity
      Index (SA-EASI) was used to measure AD severity. Characteristics assessed
      included: age, sex, and the number and type of atopic comorbidities. Medication
      use for AD was defined using the total number of AD prescriptions, the number of
      different topical AD prescriptions and the highest potency topical corticosteroid
      (TCS) used. Determinants of AD severity and QoL were evaluated using Spearman
      rank tests. RESULTS: The following factors were most strongly associated with a
      lower QoL: characteristics of AD lesions (Spearman Rs = 0.61-0.69, P < 0.01), a
      higher SA-EASI score (Rs = 0.54, P < 0.01) and a larger number of different
      topical AD prescriptions (Rs = 0.38, P < 0.01). The following factors were
      correlated with more severe AD: age (Rs = -0.36, P < 0.01), larger number of
      different TCS preparations used (Rs = 0.27, P < 0.05) and larger number of TCS
      prescriptions (Rs = 0.25, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In children with asthma and AD,
      the number of TCS preparations used is associated with lower QoL and increased AD
      severity.

PMID- 28585728
TI  - Gallic Acid Grafted Chitosan Has Enhanced Oxidative Stability in Bulk Oils.
AB  - Gallic acid (GA) was grafted in chitosan and the effects of GA grafted chitosan
      (GA-g-CS) on the oxidative stability in bulk oil was tested at 60 and 140 
      degrees C. To text oxidative stability in oils, headspace oxygen content,
      conjugated dienoic acid (CDA) value, p-anisidine value (p-AV), and acid value
      were determined. Chitosan itself did not show antioxidative or prooxidative
      effects in oils at 60  degrees C. However, GA-g-CS and GA acted as antioxidants
      at 60  degrees C. At 140  degrees C heating with moisture supplied condition,
      different results were observed. GA-g-CS acted as antioxidants based on the
      results of CDA and p-AV. However, chitosan showed the highest oxidative stability
      based on results of acid value and brown color formation at 140  degrees C. This
      could be due to reduction of moisture content by chitosan. GA was continuously
      released from GA-g-CS in bulk oil. This might have provided extra antioxidant
      activities to oils.

PMID- 28585726
TI  - Later life swimming performance and persistent heart damage following
      subteratogenic PAH mixture exposure in the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus
      heteroclitus).
AB  - High-level, acute exposures to individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
      and complex PAH mixtures result in cardiac abnormalities in developing fish
      embryos. Whereas acute PAH exposures can be developmentally lethal, little is
      known about the later life consequences of early life, lower level PAH exposures
      in survivors. A population of PAH-adapted Fundulus heteroclitus from the PAH
      contaminated Superfund site, Atlantic Wood Industries, Elizabeth River,
      Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, is highly resistant to acute PAH cardiac
      teratogenicity. We sought to determine and characterize long-term swimming
      performance and cardiac histological alterations of a subteratogenic PAH mixture
      exposure in both reference killifish and PAH-adapted Atlantic Wood killifish
      embryos. Killifish from a relatively uncontaminated reference site, King's Creek,
      Virginia, United States, and Atlantic Wood killifish were treated with dilutions
      of Elizabeth River sediment extract at 24 h post fertilization (hpf). Two proven
      subteratogenic dilutions, 0.1 and 1.0% Elizabeth River sediment extract (total
      PAH 5.04 and 50.4 ug/L, respectively), were used for embryo exposures. Then, at 5
      mo post hatching, killifish were subjected to a swim performance test. A separate
      subset of these individuals was processed for cardiac histological analysis.
      Unexposed King's Creek killifish significantly outperformed the unexposed
      Atlantic Wood killifish in swimming performance as measured by Ucrit (i.e.,
      critical swimming speed). However, King's Creek killifish exposed to Elizabeth
      River sediment extract (both 0.1 and 1.0%) showed significant declines in Ucrit.
      Histological analysis revealed the presence of blood in the pericardium of King's
      Creek killifish. Although Atlantic Wood killifish showed baseline performance
      deficits relative to King's Creek killifish, their pericardial cavities were
      nearly free of blood and atrial and ventricular alterations. These findings may
      explain, in part, the diminished swimming performance of King's Creek fish.
      Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3246-3253. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28585729
TI  - Diastereoselective Total Synthesis of the Euphorbia Diterpenoid Pepluanol A: A
      Reductive Annulation Approach.
AB  - A new titanium(III)-catalyzed reductive annulation constructed a series of
      diversely functionalized 1,5-diols in good to excellent yields with respect to a
      wide scope of vinyl epoxide-aldehyde substrates. Taken together with a Diels
      Alder reaction and a substrate-controlled diastereoselective cyclopropanation as
      additional key steps, the synthetic utility of this novel method has been
      preliminarily explored by the first and concise total synthesis of the Euphorbia
      diterpenoid (+/-)-pepluanol A.

PMID- 28585723
TI  - Therapeutic Potential of Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibition in Breast Cancer.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc endopeptidases that cleave
      nearly all components of the extracellular matrix as well as many other soluble
      and cell-associated proteins. MMPs have been implicated in normal physiological
      processes, including development, and in the acquisition and progression of the
      malignant phenotype. Disappointing results from a series of clinical trials
      testing small molecule, broad spectrum MMP inhibitors as cancer therapeutics led
      to a re-evaluation of how MMPs function in the tumor microenvironment, and
      ongoing research continues to reveal that these proteins play complex roles in
      cancer development and progression. It is now clear that effective targeting of
      MMPs for therapeutic benefit will require selective inhibition of specific MMPs.
      Here, we provide an overview of the MMP family and its biological regulators, the
      tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). We then summarize recent
      research from model systems that elucidate how specific MMPs drive the malignant
      phenotype of breast cancer cells, including acquisition of cancer stem cell
      features and induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and we also
      outline clinical studies that implicate specific MMPs in breast cancer outcomes.
      We conclude by discussing ongoing strategies for development of inhibitors with
      therapeutic potential that are capable of selectively targeting the MMPs most
      responsible for tumor promotion, with special consideration of the potential of
      biologics including antibodies and engineered proteins based on the TIMP
      scaffold. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3531-3548, 2017. (c) 2017 The Authors. Journal
      of Cellular Biochemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28585730
TI  - Recommendations for the derivation and use of biota-sediment bioaccumulation
      models for carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
AB  - Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs) are important sediment
      contaminants that can pose health risks to people who eat shellfish from
      contaminated sites. Biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) are quotients of
      colocated lipid-normalized tissue concentrations and organic carbon (OC)
      normalized sediment concentrations, whereas biota-sediment accumulation
      regressions (BSARs) are models describing the relationships between these tissue
      and sediment concentrations. BSAR/Fs (BSARs and/or BSAFs) are commonly used to
      back-calculate sediment preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) from target tissue
      concentrations; the PRGs are then used to set target action levels (i.e.,
      sediment concentrations above which remedial actions will be prescribed). The
      cPAH BSAR/Fs reported across sites and species are highly variable due to both
      site- and species-specific differences and inconsistent BSAR/F calculation
      methods and assumptions. We reviewed past studies, identified best practices for
      developing BSAR/Fs, and compiled publicly available colocated tissue and sediment
      data for 7 cPAHs from 13 sites across the United States. Of the 249 unique cPAH
      data sets compiled for various species, only 17 yielded acceptable BSAR/Fs, 16 of
      which were for clams. The influence of BSAR/Fs on sediment remedial action
      decisions and costs can be disproportionate to the quality of the statistical
      models from which they are derived. Therefore, it is important to establish and
      follow best practices for deriving BSAR/Fs and for deciding whether and how
      BSAR/Fs should be used. Based on our review and analysis, we highlight the
      advantages of relying on BSARs and propose a consistent method for deriving and
      judging the reliability of these relationships. We also offer guidance for
      evaluating the ramifications of BSAR uncertainty on remedial decision making at
      contaminated sediment sites, and we discuss alternative ways to make risk
      management decisions in the absence of a reliable site-specific BSAR. Integr
      Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:1060-1071. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28585731
TI  - Intracellular determinants of hippocampal cell assembly formation during
      associative learning.

PMID- 28585733
TI  - Life Threat and Sleep Disturbances in Adolescents: A Two-Year Follow-Up of
      Survivors From the 2011 Utoya, Norway, Terror Attack.
AB  - A significant number of adolescents have been exposed to traumatic life events.
      However, knowledge about the specific sleep disturbance that occurs in
      individuals after trauma exposure is predominantly based on studies of adults.
      This study reports specific sleep disturbance in 42 survivors of the 2011 mass
      shooting at a youth summer camp on the Norwegian island Utoya, mean age = 20.91
      years, SD = 2.32, 62.5% females. When compared with matched controls,
      significantly more survivors reported having sleep disturbances, 52.4% versus
      13.6%, d = 0.93, of which onset began at the time of the shooting, chi2 = 14.9, p
      < .001. The prevalence of insomnia, 56.3% versus 11.0%, d = 0.73; excessive
      daytime sleepiness, 34.4% versus 13.6%, d = 0.61; symptoms of obstructive sleep
      apnea, 18.8% versus 0%, d = 0.70; and frequent nightmares, 37.5% versus 2.3%, d =
      0.90, were all higher in the survivors than in the controls. In a subgroup of
      survivors (n = 20) with psychiatric diagnoses, sleep disturbances were more
      prevalent than in survivors without psychiatric diagnosis. Actigraphy data
      revealed delayed bedtime, sleep onset, and rise time in survivors compared with
      controls, ts > 1.7, ps = .044 to .028. These results corroborate the effects of a
      life threat on the range and extent of sleep disturbances, and emphasize the need
      to better assess and treat sleep disorders in adolescents exposed to trauma.

PMID- 28585732
TI  - Cost-effective immobilization for whole brain radiation therapy.
AB  - To investigate the inter- and intra-fraction motion associated with the use of a
      low-cost tape immobilization technique as an alternative to thermoplastic
      immobilization masks for whole-brain treatments. The results of this study may be
      of interest to clinical staff with severely limited resources (e.g., in low
      income countries) and also when treating patients who cannot tolerate standard
      immobilization masks. Setup reproducibility of eight healthy volunteers was
      assessed for two different immobilization techniques. (a) One strip of tape was
      placed across the volunteer's forehead and attached to the sides of the treatment
      table. (b) A second strip was added to the first, under the chin, and secured to
      the table above the volunteer's head. After initial positioning, anterior and
      lateral photographs were acquired. Volunteers were positioned five times with
      each technique to allow calculation of inter-fraction reproducibility
      measurements. To estimate intra-fraction reproducibility, 5-minute anterior and
      lateral videos were taken for each technique per volunteer. An in-house software
      was used to analyze the photos and videos to assess setup reproducibility. The
      maximum intra-fraction displacement for all volunteers was 2.8 mm. Intra-fraction
      motion increased with time on table. The maximum inter-fraction range of
      positions for all volunteers was 5.4 mm. The magnitude of inter-fraction and
      intra-fraction motion found using the "1-strip" and "2-strip" tape immobilization
      techniques was comparable to motion restrictions provided by a thermoplastic mask
      for whole-brain radiotherapy. The results suggest that tape-based immobilization
      techniques represent an economical and useful alternative to the thermoplastic
      mask.

PMID- 28585734
TI  - Immunological function of vitamin D during human pregnancy.
AB  - The well-established classic role of vitamin D is implicated in the regulation of
      the balance between calcium and phosphorus. Furthermore, vitamin D is also
      involved in many non-classic physiological processes, mainly including the
      regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and immune function,
      participation in the inflammatory response and maintenance of genome stability
      function. During pregnancy, vitamin D receptor and its metabolic enzymes are
      expressed at the placenta and decidua, indicating the potential role in the
      mechanism of immunomodulation at the maternal-fetal interface. The insufficiency
      or deficiency of vitamin D may affect the mother directly and is related to
      specific pregnancy outcomes, such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and
      recurrent miscarriage. This article reviews the effects of vitamin D on immune
      regulation during pregnancy.

PMID- 28585735
TI  - A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial Examining the
      Effects of Green Tea Extract on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity and
      Quality of Life.
AB  - Antiinflammatory and immunomodulatory benefit of green tea (Camellia sinensis) in
      autoimmune disease has been proven in recent studies. The objective of this study
      was to assess the effects of green tea on disease activity and quality of life in
      systemic lupus erythematosus patients. A randomized controlled trial on subjects
      with lupus was conducted, and 68 patients in the age range of 39.1 +/- 10.3 years
      and body mass index of 25.7 +/- 5.21 kg/m2 completed the 12-week study. Patients
      were randomly divided into two groups of intervention (1000 mg green tea extract,
      two capsules/day) and control (1000 mg of starch, two capsules/day). Main outcome
      measure, systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity, was assessed by the
      systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index at the first and after 3
      months of intervention. In addition, patient's quality of life was evaluated by
      short form of quality-of-life questionnaire at baseline and after 3 months. Green
      tea extract supplementation significantly reduced disease activity in lupus
      patients (p < 0.004); in addition, it significantly increased the vitality (p <
      0.006) and general health (p < 0.01). This study showed that daily consumption of
      green tea extracts for 12 weeks improves the systemic lupus erythematosus disease
      activity as well as some aspects of quality of life. Copyright (c) 2017 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585736
TI  - Genotoxic effects of old landfill leachate on HepG2 cells after
      nitration/ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis membrane treatment process.
AB  - Toxicity assessment of nitration/ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis
      (nitration/UF/RO) project, which has recently been widely used as an efficient
      process with applications in practical leachate treatment, was very limited. In
      the present study, DNA damage of leachates was investigated before and after the
      nitration/UF/RO process by a battery of assays with human hepatoma cells.
      Methyletrazolium assay showed a high cytotoxicity of 97.1% after being exposed to
      the highest concentration of raw leachate for 24 h, and a cytotoxicity of 26% in
      effluent at a concentration of 30% (v/v). Both comet assay (24 h) and gammaH2AX
      flow cytometer assay (3 h) showed increased levels of DNA damage in cells exposed
      to raw leachate and after nitration/UF-treated leachate followed by a significant
      increase of 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity. However, the effluent after
      nitration/UF/RO treatment showed no significant difference compared to negative
      control for gammaH2AX flow cytometer assay but slight DNA damage at
      concentrations of 20% and 30% (v/v) as well as increase of 7-ethoxyresorufin-O
      deethylase. Analysis showed that nitration/UF/RO process exhibited high removal
      of physicochemical indexes and significant reduction of toxic and genotoxic
      effects of leachate, but still demands an improvement to reduce all possible
      negative risks to the environment and humans. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585737
TI  - A New Measure of Hallucinatory States and a Discussion of REM Sleep Dreaming as a
      Virtual Laboratory for the Rehearsal of Embodied Cognition.
AB  - Hallucinatory states are experienced not only in connection with drugs and
      psychopathologies but occur naturally and spontaneously across the human
      circadian cycle: Our nightly dreams bring multimodal experiences in the absence
      of adequate external stimuli. The current study proposes a new, tighter measure
      of these hallucinatory states: Sleep onset, REM sleep, and non-REM sleep are
      shown to differ with regard to (a) motor imagery indicating interactions with a
      rich imaginative world, and (b) cognitive agency that could enable sleepers to
      recognize their hallucinatory state. Mentation reports from the different states
      were analysed quantitatively with regard to two grammatical-semantic constructs,
      motor agency and cognitive agency. The present results support earlier
      physiological and psychological evidence in revealing a decline in cognitive
      functions and an increase in simulated interactions with a hallucinatory world,
      en route to normal REM sleep. This leads us to introduce the hypothesis that REM
      sleep, which exhibits remarkably high levels of (simulated) sensorimotor
      processes, may have evolved to serve as a virtual laboratory for the development
      and rehearsal of embodied cognition. The new measure of hallucinatory states
      presented here may also hold implications for the study of executive functions
      and (meta-)cognitions, which might be interesting, for example, for the
      investigation of lucid dreaming.

PMID- 28585738
TI  - Dispersion Stability of O/W Emulsions with Different Oil Contents Under Various
      Freezing and Thawing Conditions.
AB  - Freezing and thawing of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion-type foods bring about oil
      water separation and deterioration; hence, the effects of freezing and thawing
      conditions on the destabilization of O/W emulsions were examined. The freezing
      rate and thawing temperature hardly affected the stability of the O/W emulsion.
      O/W emulsions having different oil fractions were stored at temperatures ranging
      from -30 to -20  degrees C and then thawed. The stability after thawing depended
      on the storage temperature, irrespective of the oil fraction of the emulsion. A
      good correlation was found between the time at which the stability began to
      decrease and the time taken for the oil to crystalize. These results indicated
      that the dominant cause for the destabilization of the O/W emulsion during
      freezing and thawing is the crystallization of the oil phase and that the effects
      of the freezing and thawing rates on the stability are insignificant.

PMID- 28585739
TI  - Iron oxide nanoparticles induced cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and DNA damage in
      lymphocytes.
AB  - Over the past few decades nanotechnology and material science has progressed
      extremely rapidly. Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) owing to their unique
      magnetic properties have a great potential for their biomedical and
      bioengineering applications. However, there is an inevitable need to address the
      issue of safety and health effects of these nanoparticles. Hence, the present
      study was aimed to assess the cytotoxic effects of IONPs on rats' lymphocytes.
      Using different assays, we studied diverse parameters including mitochondrial
      membrane potential, intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
      lactate dehydrogenase activity, antioxidant enzymes activity and DNA damage
      measurements. Intracellular metal uptake and ultrastructure analysis were also
      carried out through inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy,
      transmission electron microscopy respectively. The results show that the IONP
      induced oxidative stress was concentration-dependent in nature, with significant
      (P < 0.05) increase in ROS levels, lipid peroxidation level as well as depletion
      of antioxidant enzymes and glutathione. Moreover, we observed morphological
      changes in the cell after intracellular uptake and localization of nanoparticles
      in cells. From the findings of the study, it may be concluded that IONPs induce
      ROS-mediated cytotoxicity in lymphocytes. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons,
      Ltd.

PMID- 28585741
TI  - Synthesis and Reactivity of Fluoroalkyl Copper Complexes by the Oxycupration of
      Tetrafluoroethylene.
AB  - The copper(I)-mediated generation of -OCF2 CF2 - moieties by the oxycupration of
      tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) using either copper aryloxides or alkoxides is
      disclosed. The key intermediates, 2-aryloxy-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl and 2-alkoxy
      1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl copper complexes, were obtained from the reaction of the
      corresponding aryloxy and alkoxy copper complexes with TFE, and their structures
      in solution and in the solid state were unambiguously determined by multinuclear
      NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. These copper complexes
      subsequently reacted with aryl iodides (ArI) to afford ROCF2 CF2 Ar (R=aryl or
      alkyl) in high yields.

PMID- 28585742
TI  - Initiator-Loaded Gold Nanocages as a Light-Induced Free-Radical Generator for
      Cancer Therapy.
AB  - Tumor hypoxia greatly suppresses the therapeutic efficacy of photodynamic therapy
      (PDT), mainly because the generation of toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) in
      PDT is highly oxygen-dependent. In contrast to ROS, the generation of oxygen
      irrelevant free radicals is oxygen-independent. A new therapeutic strategy based
      on the light-induced generation of free radicals for cancer therapy is reported.
      Initiator-loaded gold nanocages (AuNCs) as the free-radical generator were
      synthesized. Under near-infrared light (NIR) irradiation, the plasmonic heating
      effect of AuNCs can induce the decomposition of the initiator to generate alkyl
      radicals (R. ), which can elevate oxidative-stress (OS) and cause DNA damages in
      cancer cells, and finally lead to apoptotic cell death under different oxygen
      tensions. As a proof of concept, this research opens up a new field to use
      various free radicals for cancer therapy.

PMID- 28585740
TI  - Comparing Trauma Exposure, Mental Health Needs, and Service Utilization Across
      Clinical Samples of Refugee, Immigrant, and U.S.-Origin Children.
AB  - Most mental health services for trauma-exposed children and adolescents were not
      originally developed for refugees. Information is needed to help clinicians
      design services to address the consequences of trauma in refugee populations. We
      compared trauma exposure, psychological distress, and mental health service
      utilization among children and adolescents of refugee-origin, immigrant-origin,
      and U.S.-origin referred for assessment and treatment by U.S. providers in the
      National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). We used propensity score
      matching to compare trauma profiles, mental health needs, and service use across
      three groups. Our sample comprised refugee-origin youth (n = 60, 48.3% female,
      mean age = 13.07 years) and propensity-matched samples of immigrant-origin youth
      (n = 143, 60.8% female, mean age = 13.26 years), and U.S.-origin youth (n = 140,
      56.1% female, mean age = 12.11 years). On average, there were significantly more
      types of trauma exposure among refugee youth than either U.S.-origin youth (p <
      .001) or immigrant youth (p <= .001). Compared with U.S.-origin youth, refugee
      youth had higher rates of community violence exposure, dissociative symptoms,
      traumatic grief, somatization, and phobic disorder.  In contrast, the refugee
      group had comparably lower rates of substance abuse and oppositional defiant
      disorder (ps ranging from .030 to < .001).This clinic-referred sample of refugee
      origin youth presented with distinct patterns of trauma exposure, distress
      symptoms, and service needs that merit consideration in services planning.

PMID- 28585743
TI  - Intraspecific variation shapes community-level behavioral responses to
      urbanization in spiders.
AB  - Urban areas are an extreme example of human-changed environments, exposing
      organisms to multiple and strong selection pressures. Adaptive behavioral
      responses are thought to play a major role in animals' success or failure in such
      new environments. Approaches based on functional traits have proven especially
      valuable to understand how species communities respond to environmental
      gradients. Until recently, they have, however, often ignored the potential
      consequences of intraspecific trait variation (ITV). When ITV is prevalent, it
      may highly impact ecological processes and resilience against stressors. This may
      be especially relevant in animals, in which behavioral traits can be altered very
      flexibly at the individual level to track environmental changes. We investigated
      how species turnover and ITV influenced community-level behavioral responses in a
      set of 62 sites of varying levels of urbanization, using orb web spiders and
      their webs as models of foraging behavior. ITV alone explained around one-third
      of the total trait variation observed among communities. Spider web structure
      changed according to urbanization, in ways that increase the capture efficiency
      of webs in a context of smaller urban prey. These trait shifts were partly
      mediated by species turnover, but ITV increased their magnitude, potentially
      helping to buffer the effects of environmental changes on communities. The
      importance of ITV varied depending on traits and on the spatial scale at which
      urbanization was considered. Despite being neglected from community-level
      analyses in animals, our results highlight the importance of accounting for
      intraspecific trait variation to fully understand trait responses to (human
      induced) environmental changes and their impact on ecosystem functioning.

PMID- 28585744
TI  - Glomangioma of the male breast.

PMID- 28585745
TI  - Sentinel node biopsy for early breast cancer in Queensland, Australia, during
      2008-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is now the standard of care for women with
      early-stage breast cancer. Despite lower morbidity than axillary lymph node
      dissection, widespread variation in SNB rates by non-clinical factors persists.
      We explored the factors associated with SNB usage and changes in those
      associations over time for recently diagnosed women. METHODS: We report here on a
      linked population-based cancer registry and hospital inpatient admission data set
      for 5577 women aged at least 20 years diagnosed with a first primary invasive
      early-stage node-negative breast cancer from July 2008 to 2012 in Queensland,
      Australia, who underwent breast cancer-related surgery within 2 years of
      diagnosis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model predictors of SNB
      separately for 5172 women with <=30 mm tumours and 405 with 31 to <=50 mm
      tumours. RESULTS: Overall, 3972 (77%) women with <=30 mm tumours and 221 (55%) of
      those with larger tumours underwent SNB. Usage increased over time for both
      cohorts but was consistently lower among those with larger tumours. A more recent
      diagnosis, having breast-conserving surgery, living in more accessible areas and
      attending a private or high-volume hospital independently increased the odds of
      SNB for both cohorts. There was no evidence that the geographical disparity had
      reduced over the study period for either cohort. CONCLUSION: Geographical
      disparities to accessing SNB persist. Efforts to promote multidisciplinary care
      and facilitate education in healthcare changes through innovative solutions using
      emerging technologies as well as targeted research to identify the barriers to
      equitable access remain critical.

PMID- 28585746
TI  - Randomized Clinical Trial Investigating the Effects of an Anxiety Sensitivity
      Intervention on Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: A Replication and Extension.
AB  - A growing body of research suggests the importance of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in
      the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).
      Specifically, AS cognitive concerns (fears of cognitive dyscontrol) may be
      particularly relevant for those with elevated PTSS. Preliminary research has
      suggested that interventions targeting AS may be beneficial in decreasing PTSS,
      but to date there has been no randomized controlled trial testing the direct and
      indirect effects of an AS cognitive concerns intervention among a clinical sample
      of trauma-exposed individuals. The current study tested these effects among a
      sample 63 trauma-exposed participants who were randomized to either an AS
      cognitive concerns intervention or a repeated contact control. Results indicated
      a direct effect of the intervention on PTSS 1 month postintervention, and that
      this effect was mediated by changes in AS, specifically AS cognitive concerns,
      during the intervention period. Effect sizes were in the small-to-medium range
      (variance accounted for ranged from .05 to .15; odds ratio for diagnostic change
      = .06). These findings provide further evidence that targeting AS may be
      beneficial in the treatment of PTSS, and expansion upon this area of research by
      demonstrating these effects may be specific to AS cognitive concerns and can be
      achieved within a mixed clinical sample.

PMID- 28585747
TI  - A Biologically Plausible Action Selection System for Cognitive Architectures:
      Implications of Basal Ganglia Anatomy for Learning and Decision-Making Models.
AB  - Several attempts have been made previously to provide a biological grounding for
      cognitive architectures by relating their components to the computations of
      specific brain circuits. Often, the architecture's action selection system is
      identified with the basal ganglia. However, this identification overlooks one of
      the most important features of the basal ganglia-the existence of a direct and an
      indirect pathway that compete against each other. This characteristic has
      important consequences in decision-making tasks, which are brought to light by
      Parkinson's disease as well as genetic differences in dopamine receptors. This
      paper shows that a standard model of action selection in a cognitive architecture
      (ACT-R) cannot replicate any of these findings, details an alternative solution
      that reconciles action selection in the architecture with the physiology of the
      basal ganglia, and extends the domain of application of cognitive architectures.
      The implication of this solution for other architectures and existing models are
      discussed.

PMID- 28585748
TI  - Effects of Curcumin on Tobacco Smoke-induced Hepatic MAPK Pathway Activation and
      Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition In Vivo.
AB  - Tobacco smoke is a major risk factor for hepatic cancer. Epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT) induced by tobacco smoke is crucially involved in the initiation
      and development of cancer. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways play
      important roles in tobacco smoke-associated carcinogenesis including EMT process.
      The chemopreventive effect of curcumin supplementation against cancers has been
      reported. In this study, we investigated the effects of tobacco smoke on MAPK
      pathway activation and EMT alterations, and then the preventive effect of
      curcumin was examined in the liver of BALB/c mice. Our results indicated that
      exposure of mice to tobacco smoke for 12 weeks led to activation of ERK1/2, JNK,
      p38 and ERK5 pathways as well as activator protein-1 (AP-1) proteins in liver
      tissue. Exposure of mice to tobacco smoke reduced the hepatic mRNA and protein
      expression of the epithelial markers, while the hepatic mRNA and protein levels
      of the mesenchymal markers were increased. Treatment of curcumin effectively
      attenuated tobacco smoke-induced activation of ERK1/2 and JNK MAPK pathways, AP-1
      proteins and EMT alterations in the mice liver. Our data suggested the protective
      effect of curcumin in tobacco smoke-triggered MAPK pathway activation and EMT in
      the liver of BALB/c mice, thus providing new insights into the chemoprevention of
      tobacco smoke-associated hepatic cancer. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons,
      Ltd.

PMID- 28585749
TI  - Glycan profiling using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues: Hippeastrum
      hybrid lectin is a sensitive biomarker for squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine
      cervix.
AB  - AIM: Glycosylation of proteins is altered in cancer cells and distinctive glycan
      structures are associated with specific cancers, but little is known about the
      complete glycan profile of particular tumors. In this study, glycomic analysis of
      squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix was performed to search for
      useful markers. METHODS: A lectin microarray containing 45 lectins with different
      binding preferences that covered N- and O-linked glycans was coupled with
      evanescent field-activated fluorescent detection for glycomic analysis of SCC and
      normal squamous epithelium (NSE) of the cervix. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded
      tissue specimens were obtained from 16 patients with uterine cervical cancer.
      Sections that included both tumor and non-tumor tissues were examined to detect
      alterations of glycans based on the lectin-binding pattern. RESULTS: Hippeastrum
      hybrid lectin was found to be a sensitive marker for distinguishing SCC of the
      cervix from NSE. It was the best lectin for discriminating SCC from other tissues
      according to receiver-operator curve analysis, as it showed a high sensitivity
      (81.8%), a high specificity (70.1%), and a large area under the curve (0.8182).
      Histochemistry confirmed specific cytoplasmic staining of SCC cells by
      Hippeastrum hybrid lectin, while there was little staining of cervical
      intraepithelial neoplasia and no staining of NSE. CONCLUSION: The present lectin
      microarray technique could be applied for tissue-based glycomic analysis of
      various tumors and for discovery of glycan-related biomarkers.

PMID- 28585751
TI  - Surgical research in the public hospital.

PMID- 28585750
TI  - Effects of intraoperative liberal fluid therapy on postoperative nausea and
      vomiting in children-A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most
      distressing complications following surgery. Supplemental perioperative fluid
      therapy might be an effective strategy to reduce PONV in children. OBJECTIVES:
      The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of intraoperative liberal fluid
      therapy with crystalloids on PONV in children. METHODS: In this randomized trial,
      a total of 150 children of 3-7 years undergoing lower abdominal and penile
      surgery under general anesthesia were randomly assigned into two groups.
      "Restricted group" received 10 mL kg-1 h-1 and "Liberal group" received 30 mL kg
      1 h-1 infusion of Ringer's lactate solution intraoperatively. All patients
      received a caudal block and intravenous paracetamol for analgesia. No opioids and
      muscle relaxants were used. All episodes of nausea-vomiting and the requirement
      of rescue antiemetic were assessed during 24 hours postoperatively. RESULTS: The
      incidence of PONV was significantly less in the liberal group patients as
      compared to the restricted group; 33 (45.8%) patients in the restricted group had
      vomiting as compared to 20 (27.4%) patients in the liberal group (RR 0.59, 95%
      CI: 0.38-0.93, P=.021). The adjusted odds ratio of PONV for the liberal group vs
      restricted group was 2.24 (95% CI: 1.12-4.48, P=.022). The incidence of fluid
      intake during the first 6 postoperative hours was significantly higher in the
      restricted group patients; 60 (83%) children in the restricted group complained
      of thirst as compared to 12 (17%) children in the liberal group (RR 0.19, 95% CI:
      0.18-0.33, P=.0001). The parents of the liberal group were more satisfied as
      compared to the restricted group (mean difference -0.9, 95% CI: -1.8, -0.1,
      P=.04). None of the children had any complication attributed to the liberal fluid
      therapy. CONCLUSION: Liberal intraoperative fluid therapy was found to be
      effective in reducing PONV in children undergoing lower abdominal surgery.

PMID- 28585754
TI  - Management of patients with polyposis.

PMID- 28585753
TI  - Response to Re: Interns' perceptions of exposure to urology during medical school
      education in Victoria, Australia.

PMID- 28585755
TI  - Capacity building in Timor Leste: a work in progress.

PMID- 28585756
TI  - Enhancing surgical research at the hospital level: a new model.

PMID- 28585757
TI  - Medicine in small doses.

PMID- 28585758
TI  - Challenges and next steps in teaching professionalism in surgical training.

PMID- 28585759
TI  - Tablespoons and corkscrew: a culinary solution for retrieval of a rectal foreign
      body.

PMID- 28585760
TI  - Re: Interns' perceptions of exposure to urology during medical school education
      in Victoria, Australia.

PMID- 28585762
TI  - Upregulation of the long non-coding RNA FALEC promotes proliferation and
      migration of prostate cancer cell lines and predicts prognosis of PCa patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LncRNAs are aberrantly expressed in various cancer types and were
      found to be a responsible prognosis biomarker and therapeutic target of many
      human cancers. METHODS: In this study, we characterized the expression profile of
      FALEC in prostate cancer and paired histologically normal tissues. Additionally,
      biological function of FALEC in prostate cancer cell lines was determined by in
      vitro and in vivo assays. RESULTS: In a total of 85 patients, FALEC expression
      was significantly increased in clinical PCa tissues compared to adjacent normal
      tissues, and can be considered as an independent prognostic factor in patients
      with PCa. Downregulation of FALEC could inhibit cell proliferation, migration and
      invasion in vitro. In vivo tumorigenesis study and orthotopic bioluminescence
      image also support the evidence that FALEC may promote the progression of
      prostate cancer. We also find FALEC is a potential hypoxia induced lncRNA and can
      be induced by the hypoxia master regulator HIF-1alpha. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggested that FALEC may be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic
      target in patients with prostate cancer.

PMID- 28585763
TI  - A combinatorial strategy of alternative promoter use during differentiation of a
      heterocystous cyanobacterium.
AB  - Heterocystous cyanobacteria such as Nostoc sp. are filamentous photosynthetic
      organisms that, in response to nitrogen deficiency, undergo a differentiation
      process transforming certain, semi-regularly spaced cells into heterocysts,
      devoted to nitrogen fixation. During transition to a nitrogen-fixing regime,
      growth of most vegetative cells in the filament is temporarily arrested due to
      nutritional deprivation, but developing heterocysts require intense
      transcriptional activity. Therefore, the coexistence of arrested vegetative cells
      and actively developing prospective heterocysts relies on the simultaneous
      operation of somewhat opposite transcriptional programs. We have identified genes
      with multiple nitrogen-responsive transcriptional starts appearing in seemingly
      paradoxical combinations. For instance, sigA, encoding the RNA polymerase
      housekeeping sigma factor, is transcribed from one major nitrogen stress
      repressed promoter and from a second, nitrogen stress-induced promoter. Here, we
      show that both promoters are expressed with complementary temporal dynamics.
      Using a gfp reporter we also show that transcription from the inducible promoter
      takes place exclusively in differentiating heterocysts and is already detected
      before any morphological or fluorescence signature of differentiation is
      observed. Tandem promoters with opposite dynamics could operate a compensatory
      mechanism in which repression of transcription from the major promoter operative
      in vegetative cells is offset by transcription from a new promoter only in
      developing heterocyst.

PMID- 28585761
TI  - Somatic Experiencing for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled
      Outcome Study.
AB  - This study presents the first known randomized controlled study evaluating the
      effectiveness of somatic experiencing (SE), an integrative body-focused therapy
      for treating people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There were 63
      participants meeting DSM-IV-TR full criteria for PTSD included. Baseline clinical
      interviews and self-report measures were completed by all participants, who were
      then randomly assigned to study (n = 33) or waitlist (n = 30) groups. Study
      participants began 15 weekly SE sessions, whereas waitlist participants waited
      the same period, after which the second evaluation was conducted. All
      participants were evaluated a third time after an additional 15 weeks, during
      which time the waitlist group received SE therapy. Pretreatment evaluation showed
      no significant differences between groups. Mixed model linear regression analysis
      showed significant intervention effects for posttraumatic symptoms severity
      (Cohen's d = 0.94 to 1.26) and depression (Cohen's d = 0.7 to 1.08) both pre-post
      and pre-follow-up. This randomized controlled study of SE shows positive results
      indicating SE may be an effective therapy method for PTSD. Further research is
      needed to understand who shall benefit most from this treatment modality.

PMID- 28585764
TI  - Evaluation of Commercial-off-the-Shelf Materials for the Preservation of Bacillus
      anthracis Vegetative Cells for Forensic Analysis.
AB  - Environmental surface sampling is crucial in determining the zones of
      contamination and overall threat assessment. Viability retention of sampled
      material is central to such assessments. A systematic study was completed to
      determine viability of vegetative cells under nonpermissive storage conditions.
      Despite major gains in nucleic acid sequencing technologies, initial positive
      identification of threats must be made through direct culture of the sampled
      material using classical microbiological methods. Solutions have been developed
      to preserve the viability of pathogens contained within clinical samples, but
      many have not been examined for their ability to preserve biological agents. The
      purpose of this study was to systematically examine existing preservation
      materials that can retain the viability of Bacillus anthracis vegetative cells
      stored under nonpermissive temperatures. The results show effectiveness of five
      of seventeen solutions, which are capable of retaining viability of a sporulation
      deficient strain of B. anthracis Sterne when stored under nonrefrigerated
      conditions.

PMID- 28585765
TI  - Tree-ring analysis and modeling approaches yield contrary response of
      circumboreal forest productivity to climate change.
AB  - Circumboreal forest ecosystems are exposed to a larger magnitude of warming in
      comparison with the global average, as a result of warming-induced environmental
      changes. However, it is not clear how tree growth in these ecosystems responds to
      these changes. In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of forest
      productivity to climate change using ring width indices (RWI) from a tree-ring
      width dataset accessed from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank and gridded
      climate datasets from the Climate Research Unit. A negative relationship of RWI
      with summer temperature and recent reductions in RWI were typically observed in
      continental dry regions, such as inner Alaska and Canada, southern Europe, and
      the southern part of eastern Siberia. We then developed a multiple regression
      model with regional meteorological parameters to predict RWI, and then applied to
      these models to predict how tree growth will respond to twenty-first-century
      climate change (RCP8.5 scenario). The projections showed a spatial variation and
      future continuous reduction in tree growth in those continental dry regions. The
      spatial variation, however, could not be reproduced by a dynamic global
      vegetation model (DGVM). The DGVM projected a generally positive trend in future
      tree growth all over the circumboreal region. These results indicate that DGVMs
      may overestimate future wood net primary productivity (NPP) in continental dry
      regions such as these; this seems to be common feature of current DGVMs. DGVMs
      should be able to express the negative effect of warming on tree growth, so that
      they simulate the observed recent reduction in tree growth in continental dry
      regions.

PMID- 28585766
TI  - One minute static stretch of plantar flexors transiently increases H reflex
      excitability and exerts no effect on corticospinal pathways.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? What mediates neural
      responses following static stretching, and how long do these influences last?
      What is the main finding and its importance? This study shows that 1 min of
      static stretching inhibits the tendon tap reflex and facilitates the H reflex
      without influencing motor-evoked potentials. The results indicate that at least
      two different mechanisms mediate neural responses after static stretching. The
      purpose of this study was to determine whether the neural responses observed
      after static stretching are mediated by sensitivity of muscle spindles, spinal
      excitability or cortical excitability and how long these influences last.
      Nineteen volunteers (25.7 +/- 5.6 years old) were tested for the tendon tap
      reflex (T-reflex), H reflex and motor-evoked potentials on ankle flexors and
      extensors immediately, 5 and 10 min after 1 min static stretching applied at
      individual maximal ankle dorsiflexion, as well as immediately, 5 and 10 min after
      a control period of the same duration. Comparison of measurements collected
      immediately after stretching or control conditions revealed that the T-reflex was
      weaker after stretching than after control (-59.2% P = 0.000). The T-reflex
      showed a slow recovery rate within the first 150 s after stretching, but 5 min
      after the inhibition had disappeared. The H reflex increased immediately after
      stretching (+18.3%, P = 0.036), showed a quick tendency to recover and returned
      to control values within 5 min from stretching. Motor-evoked potentials were not
      affected by the procedure. These results suggest that 1 min of static stretching
      primarily decreases muscle spindle sensitivity and facilitates the H reflex,
      whereas effects on the motor cortex can be excluded.

PMID- 28585767
TI  - Computational Insights into the CH3 Cl+OH Chemical Reaction Dynamics at the Air
      Water Interface.
AB  - The reaction of methyl chloride with the hydroxyl radical OH is an important
      process in the troposphere. The kinetics of this reaction has been thoroughly
      studied in the gas phase, both experimentally and theoretically, but little is
      known about the effect of water on this reaction. In particular, investigating
      the reaction mechanism at the air-water interface is key in order to better
      understand the role of cloud water droplets and aerosols on the overall oxidation
      capacity of the troposphere. In this work, we have implemented a "rare event"
      approach combined to QM/MM (quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics) molecular
      dynamics simulations to investigate the dynamics of the H-abstraction reaction
      CH3 Cl+OH->CH2 Cl+H2 O at the air-water interface. For comparison, high-level ab
      initio calculations for the reaction mechanism in the gas phase are also reported
      and accurate kinetic constants at different temperatures are provided.

PMID- 28585768
TI  - Allergic rhinitis, rather than asthma, is a risk factor for dental caries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The association between AS (asthma) and dental caries is
      controversial, while that between allergic rhinitis (AR) and caries has not been
      established. This study aimed to verify the relationship among AR, AS and dental
      caries. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Data from Health Insurance
      Database of the Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database.
      PARTICIPANTS: Nine thousand and thirty-eight children born in 2004 were obtained.
      Their claims data were evaluated from birth to the age of 9 years. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The frequencies of clinical visits for dental caries were calculated
      for primary teeth (age 1-5) and for dental transitional period (age 6-9).
      Differences in the frequencies of clinical visits for caries in AR vs non-AR and
      AS vs non-AS children were compared. Correlation between AR, AS and caries
      frequencies was studied, and the influences of AR drugs on the development of
      caries were evaluated. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounding factors and AS
      case, the frequencies of clinical visits for caries were higher in AR (increased
      by 13%-25% and P<.001 at different age periods). The AR frequencies significantly
      correlated with caries frequencies in children with AR. Different AR drugs also
      correlated with caries formation. After adjusting for confounding factors and AR
      case, there was no relationship between AS and caries in children. CONCLUSION:
      Asthma is not associated with dental caries, but AR can increase the frequency of
      clinical visits for caries. Medications for AR may also play a role in caries
      formation. Thus, AR may be a risk factor for childhood dental caries.

PMID- 28585769
TI  - Effects of transforming growth factor-beta1 treatment on muscle regeneration and
      adipogenesis in glycerol-injured muscle.
AB  - Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 is associated with fibrosis in many
      organs. Recent studies demonstrated that delivery of TGF-beta1 into chemically
      injured muscle enhances fibrosis. In this study, we investigated the effects of
      exogenous TGF-beta1 on muscle regeneration and adipogenesis in glycerol-injured
      muscle of normal mice. Tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were injured by glycerol
      injection. TGF-beta1 was either co-injected with glycerol, as an 'early
      treatment' group, or injected at day 4 after glycerol, as a 'late treatment'
      group and the TA muscles were collected at day 7 after initial injury. Myotube
      density was significantly lower in the early treatment group than in the glycerol
      injured group (without TGF-beta1 treatment). Moreover, the Oil red O-positive
      area was significantly smaller in the early treatment group than in the late
      treatment group and glycerol-injured group. Furthermore, TGF-beta1 treatment
      increased endomysial fibrosis and induced immunostaining of alpha-smooth muscle
      actin. The greater inhibitory effects of early TGF-beta1 treatment than that of
      late TGF-beta1 treatment during regeneration in glycerol-injured muscle suggest a
      more potent effect of TGF-beta1 on the initial stage of muscle regeneration and
      adipogenesis. Combination of TGF-beta1 with glycerol might be an alternative to
      enhance muscle fibrosis for future studies.

PMID- 28585770
TI  - Mining the Proteome of Leishmania donovani for the Development of Novel MHC Class
      I Restricted Epitope for the Control of Visceral Leishmaniasis.
AB  - Although, the precise host defence mechanism(s) is not completely understood, T
      cell-mediated immune responses is believed to play a pivotal role in controlling
      parasite infection. Here we target the stage dependent over expressed gene. Here,
      the consensus based computational approach was adopted for the screening of
      potential major histocompatibility complex class I restricted epitopes. Based on
      the computational analysis and previously published report, a set 19 antigenic
      proteins derived from Leishmania donovani were screened for further
      characterization as vaccine candidates. A total of 49 epitopes were predicted,
      which revealed a comprehensive binding affinity to the 40 different MHC class I
      supertypes. Based on the population coverage and HLA cross presentation, nine
      highly promiscuous epitopes such as LTYDDVWTV (P1), FLFPQRTAL(P2), FLFSNGAVV
      (P3), YIYNFGIRV (P4), YMTAAFAAL (P5), KLLRPFAPL (P6), FMLGWIVTI (P7), SLFERNKRV
      (P8), and SVWNRIFTL (P9) which have either a high or an intermediate TAP binding
      affinity were selected for further analysis. Theoretical population coverage
      analysis of polytope vaccine (P1-P9) revealed more than 92% population.
      Stimulation with the cocktail of peptide revealed a proliferative CD8+ T cell
      response and increased IFN-gamma production. An upregulated NF-kappaB activity is
      thought to be play a pivotal role in T cell proliferation against the selected
      peptide. The Th1-type cytokine profile (presence of IFN-gamma and absence of IL
      10) suggests the potentiality of the cocktail of epitope as a subunit vaccine
      against leishmaniasis. However, the efficiency of these epitopes to trigger other
      Th1 cytokines and chemokines in a humanized mice model could explore its
      plausibility as a vaccine candidate. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 378-391, 2018. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28585771
TI  - Thermal sensitivity of bacteriocytes constrains the persistence of intracellular
      bacteria in whitefly symbiosis under heat stress.
AB  - Temperature affects the persistence of diverse symbionts of insects. Our previous
      study indicates that the whitefly symbionts confined within bacteriocytes or
      scattered throughout the body cavity outside bacteriocytes may have differential
      thermal sensitivity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.
      Here, we report that following continuous heat stress, Portiera and Hamiltonella
      were almost completely depleted in two species of Middle East-Asia Minor 1
      (MEAM1) and Mediterranean (MED) of the Bemisia tabaci whitefly cryptic species
      complex. Meanwhile, proliferation of bacteriocytes was severely inhibited and
      approximately 50% of the nymphs had lost one of the two bacteriomes. While cell
      size of bacteriocytes was increased, cell number was severely decreased leading
      to reduction of total volume of bacteriocytes. Moreover, bacteriocyte organelles
      and associated symbionts were lysed, and huge amount of electron-dense inclusions
      accumulated. Eventually, Portiera and Hamiltonella failed to be transmitted to
      the next generation. In contrast, Rickettsia could be detected although at a
      reduced level, and successfully transmitted to eggs. The results suggest that the
      thermal sensitivity of bacteriocytes may limit thermal tolerance and vertical
      transmission of the associated symbionts, and consequently different patterns of
      distribution of symbionts may affect their capacity to tolerate unfavourable
      temperatures and persistence in the host.

PMID- 28585772
TI  - Adolescent perfectionism: Structural features of the Frost Multidimensional
      Perfectionism Scale and correlates with attachment and psychopathology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Perfectionism is recognized as a significant risk factor for
      psychopathology. Emerging research links attachment to perfectionism in adult and
      college-age samples. The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) has
      been used in adults and adolescents with a variety of factor structures found.
      This study sought to establish the factor structure in a general adolescent
      sample prior to testing for associations between perfectionism, attachment, and
      psychopathology in the same sample. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey design was
      used. Confirmatory factor analysis, and correlational and regression analyses
      were employed. METHODS: A total of 290 adolescents, aged 12-18 years, were
      recruited from a state secondary school. All completed the FMPS along with brief
      measures of attachment and psychopathology. RESULT: Exploratory and confirmatory
      factor analyses failed to replicate previously published models, and a new six
      item, 1-factor model representing perfectionism was found instead. This new
      variable was then used to establish a role for perfectionism and attachment
      anxiety in predicting internalizing problems. Perfectionism also correlated with
      conduct problems and hyperactivity. CONCLUSION: This study established a novel
      factor structure for the FMPS, allowing proof of principle of the role of
      perfectionism in a relationship with attachment and psychopathology, which after
      replication, may inform new interventions for perfectionism. Caution is noted
      about the use of extant perfectionism measures that are not properly
      developmentally informed and which do not capture the dynamic nature of
      adolescence and adolescent perfectionism. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Perfectionism is a
      feature of adolescent psychopathology, including internalizing and externalizing
      problems. Perfectionism is associated with attachment anxiety and together
      contributes to internalizing problems. Current conceptualizations of
      perfectionism may not capture the specific developmental and dynamic aspects of
      adolescence and should not be regarded as a stable personality trait.

PMID- 28585773
TI  - Electrically Activated Conductivity and White Light Emission of a Hydrocarbon
      Nanoring-Iodine Assembly.
AB  - Numerous otherwise difficult applications have been realized with materials, the
      chemical/physical properties of which can be controlled by external stimuli such
      as heat, pressure, photo-irradiation, and voltage bias. However, the complexity
      of design and the lack of easy-to-conduct synthetic methods make the creation of
      on-demand stimuli responsive materials a formidable task. Here we report an
      electric-stimuli-responsive multifunctional material, [10]CPP-I: crystalline
      assembly of a hydrocarbon nanoring ([10]cycloparaphenylene: [10]CPP) as an
      "electro-responsive porous host" and iodine as a "potentially functional
      molecule". Through applying electric stimulus, [10]CPP-I turned to exhibit two
      attractive properties: electronic conductivity and white light emission. We
      revealed that electric stimuli trigger the cascade formation of polyiodide chains
      inside the [10]CPP assembly through charge transfer, leading to the emergence of
      these properties. This "responsive porous host" approach is expected to be
      applicable for different stimuli, and opens the path for devising a generic
      strategy to the development of stimuli-responsive materials.

PMID- 28585775
TI  - The roles of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway at immunologically privileged sites.
AB  - The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway plays a vital role in the maintenance of peripheral
      tolerance, promoting the development and function of regulatory T cells, and
      maintaining the quiescence of autoreactive T cells. Abnormalities in this
      inhibitory pathway are involved in the pathogenesis of some disorders such as
      tumours, autoimmune diseases, pregnancy complications, and transplantation
      rejection. Immune privilege represents a special immunological condition, where
      foreign antigens can be tolerated and do not elicit an immune response. The
      anterior chamber of the eye, central nervous system, testis, pregnant uterus, and
      hair follicles are all regarded as immune-privileged sites in humans. Numerous
      studies show that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway contributes to the maintenance of the
      immune-privileged microenvironment. In this review, we will mainly focus on the
      roles of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in the anterior chamber of the eye, brain and
      testis, as well as further investigations in testis.

PMID- 28585776
TI  - Comparison of adverse events following pentavalent and diphtheria-tetanus
      pertussis vaccines among Nigerian children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adverse events following immunization (AEFI) may follow the use of
      any vaccine. There is thus a need for documentation of the types and prevalence
      of AEFIs for each vaccine and early identification of new events or those
      occurring at rates higher than expected. When one vaccine replaces another, it is
      important to document the safety of the new vaccine as well as compare to that of
      the old. In this study, we aimed to document the AEFIs following the use of
      pentavalent vaccine recently introduced into the National Programme on
      Immunization and compare with those of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTwP)
      vaccine which it replaced. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study on
      infants with at least 2 immunization visits who commenced immunization between
      June 2011 and May 2013 at the Child Welfare Clinic of Institute of Child Health,
      University of Benin, Nigeria. At every visit for immunization, the caregiver is
      asked about any reaction that followed the previous immunization, and this is
      documented in immunization registers which data were reviewed for this study.
      RESULTS: There were 2475 doses of DTwP and pentavalent vaccines administered to
      946 children. Adverse events following immunizations were reported following 487
      (19.7%) doses. The prevalence of AEFIs following pentavalent vaccine (22.1%) was
      significantly higher than that following DTwP (13.5%) P < .0001. Significantly
      more AEFIs followed the first dose of either vaccine compared to subsequent doses
      P < .0001. The commonest AEFI reported for either vaccine was fever. CONCLUSION:
      Adverse events following immunization following pentavalent vaccine although
      higher than that following DTwP was within expected levels.

PMID- 28585774
TI  - A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of vitamin D.
AB  - Despite the plethora of studies discussing the benefits of vitamin D on
      physiological functioning, few mathematical models of vitamin D predict the
      response of the body on low-concentration supplementation of vitamin D under
      sunlight-restricted conditions. This study developed a physiologically based
      pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model utilizing published human data on the metabolic
      cascade of orally derived, low-concentration (placebo, 5 MUg and 10 MUg)
      supplementation of vitamin D over the course of 28 days in the absence of
      sunlight. Vitamin D and its metabolites are highly lipophilic and binding assays
      of these compounds in serum may not account for binding by lipids and additional
      proteins. To compensate for the additional bound amounts, this study allowed the
      effective adipose-plasma partition coefficient to vary dynamically with the
      concentration of each compound in serum utilizing the Hill equation for binding.
      Through incorporating the optimized parameters with the adipose partition
      coefficient adaptation to the PBPK model, this study was able to fit serum
      concentration data for circulating vitamin D at all three supplementation
      concentrations within confidence intervals of the data. Copyright (c) 2017 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28585777
TI  - Natural Course of Co-Occurring PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder Among Recent Combat
      Veterans.
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly co
      occur in veterans, yet little is known about the longitudinal course of PTSD and
      drinking in comorbid populations. This study assessed the natural course of daily
      alcohol consumption and weekly changes in PTSD symptoms in 112 recent combat
      veterans over the course of 11 months. Latent class growth mixture modeling was
      used to classify individuals into distinct classes with similar PTSD symptom and
      alcohol use growth trajectories. We then investigated theorized predictors of
      class membership including sociodemographics; pre-, peri-, and postdeployment
      factors; coping; symptom severity; and number of mental health/substance use
      appointments attended. Results revealed that most participants had severe and
      nonremitting PTSD. Trajectories for alcohol use included gradual and drastic
      declines, and chronic low-level drinking. The use of behavioral health services
      (odds ratio = 2.47) and fewer current stressors (odds ratio = 0.42) predicted AUD
      remission. Because little variation was observed in the PTSD course, our study
      did not observe coordinated fluctuations of PTSD symptoms and heavy drinking. Our
      findings suggest that treatment impacts the course of AUD and that recent combat
      veterans who do not seek PTSD treatment may have chronic and severe PTSD
      symptoms.

PMID- 28585778
TI  - Intensified Biobutanol Recovery by using Zeolites with Complementary Selectivity.
AB  - A vapor-phase adsorptive recovery process is proposed as an alternative way to
      isolate biobutanol from acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation media,
      offering several advantages compared to liquid phase separation. The effect of
      water, which is still present in large quantities in the vapor phase, on the
      adsorption of the organics could be minimized by using hydrophobic zeolites.
      Shape-selective all-silica zeolites CHA and LTA were prepared and evaluated with
      single-component isotherms and breakthrough experiments. These zeolites show
      opposite selectivities; adsorption of ethanol is favorable on all-silica CHA,
      whereas the LTA topology has a clear preference for butanol. The molecular
      sieving properties of both zeolites allow easy elimination of acetone from the
      mixture. The molecular interaction mechanisms are studied by density functional
      theory (DFT) simulations. The effects of mixture composition, humidity and total
      pressure of the vapor stream on the selectivity and separation behavior are
      investigated. Desorption profiles are studied to maximize butanol purity and
      recovery. The combination of LTA with CHA-type zeolites (Si-CHA or SAPO-34) in
      sequential adsorption columns with alternating adsorption and desorption steps
      allows butanol to be recovered in unpreceded purity and yield. A butanol purity
      of 99.7 mol % could be obtained at nearly complete butanol recovery,
      demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique for biobutanol separation
      processes.

PMID- 28585780
TI  - The effects of l-DOPA and sulpiride on growth hormone secretion at different
      injection times in Holstein steers.
AB  - The effects of l-DOPA, a precursor of dopamine (DA), and sulpiride, a D2 -type DA
      receptor blocker, on growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) secretion were
      investigated in steers. Eight Holstein steers (212.8 +/- 7.8 kg body weight) were
      used. Lighting conditions were 12:12 L:D (lights on: 06.00-18.00 hours). Blood
      samplings were performed during the daytime (11.00-15.00 hours) and nighttime
      (23.00-03.00 hours). Intravenous injections of drugs or saline were performed at
      12.00 hour for the daytime and 00.00 hour for the nighttime, respectively. Plasma
      GH and PRL concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. l-DOPA did not
      alter the GH secretion when it was injected at 12.00 hour (spontaneous GH level
      at its peak). On the other hand, l-DOPA increased GH secretion at 00.00 hour (GH
      level at its trough). Injection of sulpiride suppressed GH secretion at 12.00
      hour but did not affect GH levels at 00.00 hour. l-DOPA inhibited and sulpiride
      stimulated PRL release during both periods. These results suggest that
      dopaminergic neurons have stimulatory action on GH secretion and inhibitory
      action on PRL secretion in cattle. In addition, injection time should be
      considered to evaluate the exact effects on GH secretion due to its ultradian
      rhythm of GH secretion in cattle.

PMID- 28585782
TI  - [Pediatric Surgery in the European Reference Networks: look after, share, treat].

PMID- 28585779
TI  - The impact of initial cancer stage on the incidence of venous thromboembolism:
      the Scandinavian Thrombosis and Cancer (STAC) Cohort.
AB  - : Essentials Impact of cancer stage on venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk is not
      well-known in all cancers. The Scandinavian Thrombosis and Cancer Cohort provides
      person-time data and validated VTEs. Impact of cancer stage on VTE incidence
      tended to vary with cancer type. Cancer stage may not per se be a risk factor for
      VTE in all cancer types. SUMMARY: Background Absolute measures of the impact of
      cancer stage on the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with
      distinct cancer types have not been investigated in a large population-based
      cohort study. Objectives To investigate differences in the incidence rates of
      objectively confirmed VTE according to the development of cancer in a large
      population-based cohort study. Cancer type and stage at the time of diagnosis
      were taken into account. Patients and Methods The Scandinavian Thrombosis and
      Cancer Cohort includes data regarding cancer types, stages and objectively
      confirmed VTE diagnoses among 144 952 participants followed from 1993 to 2012. We
      studied stage-specific incidence rates of VTE, and calculated incidence rate
      differences (IRDs) for VTE according to stages in patients with 10 types of solid
      cancer. Results During the entire follow-up, 335 VTEs occurred, of which 293
      occurred within 5 years. The IRD of VTE in patients with distant metastasis as
      compared with those with localized disease indicated large variation depending on
      cancer type. The highest IRD was observed for pancreatic cancer (IRD of 187.0 *
      10-3 person-years [p-y]; 95% confidence interval [CI] - 6.7 to 380.8), and the
      lowest IRD was observed for prostate cancer (IRD of 3.7 * 10-3 p-y; 95% CI - 7 to
      15.2). Regional spread as compared with localized disease also indicated large
      variation depending on cancer type; the highest IRD was observed for uterine
      cancer (IRD of 37.6 * 10-3 p-y; 95% CI - 23.7 to 99), and the IRDs for breast and
      prostate cancer were close to zero. Conclusion More advanced cancer at the time
      of diagnosis was associated with a higher risk of VTE, but the strength of the
      associations differed substantially between cancer types.

PMID- 28585781
TI  - Interspecies cross-talk between co-cultured Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli are ubiquitous microorganisms that can be
      isolated from soil rhizosphere, the surface of vegetables, fresh waters and
      wastewaters - environments in which they likely co-exist. Despite this, the
      potential interactions between these microbes have not been studied in detail. To
      analyse these interactions, we carried out RNA-seq transcriptomic analysis of
      these microbes as monocultures and as co-cultures. Our results show that co
      culture of these microbes significantly alters transcriptional profiles. The most
      dramatic transcriptional changes in both microorganisms were involved in central
      carbon metabolism, as well as adhesion to surfaces and the activation of drug
      efflux pumps. We also found that acetate production was one of the mechanisms
      used by E. coli K-12 MG1655 in response to the presence of P. putida DOT-T1E.

PMID- 28585783
TI  - [More than three hours, less than three years. Safety of anesthetic procedures in
      children under three years, subject to surgeries of more than three hours].
AB  - The Food and Drug Administration (USA) warning (December 2016) on the safety of
      general anesthesia and sedation in patients younger that 3 years and pregnant
      women has raised many questions about the attitude that should be taken by
      professionals involved in the treatment of these patients. In view of this
      situation, the following Medical Scientific Societies: SEDAR, SECP, SECIP and
      SENeo have constituted a working group to analyze and clarify the safety of these
      techniques. In the present article, we conclude that at present both general
      anesthesia and deep sedation should continue to be considered safe techniques
      because there is no sufficient opposing evidence in clinical studies with humans.
      Despite this, we should not ignore the problem which must be followed carefully
      mainly in patients under three years of age undergoing anesthetic procedures
      longer than three hours or prolonged sedation in Neonatal or Pediatric Intensive
      Care Units.

PMID- 28585785
TI  - [Should the laparoscopic approach be avoided in a Nissen fundoplication
      procedure?]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A recently published trial concludes that the recurrence of GER by
      laparoscopic fundoplication (LF) is higher than by open surgery (OF) modifying
      their informed consent and the surgery approach. Objective: To analyze our
      results to assess changing clinical practice where the laparoscopy is the
      approach of choice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study of patients
      undergoing laparoscopic fundoplication between 2010-2015. The same criteria of
      the reference clinical trial were applied in the collected data and recurrence
      criteria. RESULTS: 56 patients were operated. Our patients were comparable on sex
      and neurological injury to those of the study. Our average follow-up was 2.6
      years (0.07-6.3). During the monitoring period there were five recurrences. The
      relative risk (RR) of failure in the LF group was 4 times higher than ours (RR
      4.19; 95% CI, 1.66-10.5). Our survival was 90% per year. Multivariate analysis
      was performed (Cox regression controlling neurological injury, esophageal atresia
      and after gastrostomy). Neurological injury (p= 0.01) was the only risk factor
      for recurrence. CONCLUSION: A clinical trial is not enough to change clinical
      practice, but it motivates further studies. According to our review, the results
      suggest no increased risk of recurrence with laparoscopy but long-term monitoring
      is necessary.

PMID- 28585784
TI  - [Use of ultrasound for placement of central venous catheters in pediatrics:
      results of a national survey].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the variability of techniques used for vascular access of
      central venous devices, totally implanted and external tunneled, as well as
      polling the use of ultrasound by pediatric surgeons in Spain. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Descriptive study of a survey results, conducted by phone, email and
      online, about 20 items related to the placement of these devices in children and
      the use of ultrasound in this procedure. RESULTS: We analyzed 71 surveys from 31
      national hospitals. The response rate was 54%. In 66% of the cases the pediatric
      surgeon is the one who carries out the vascular access. 75% of the respondents
      place less than 25 catheters/year. Only 28% have attended to an ultrasound-guided
      vascular puncture course. The vein used more often is the internal jugular (55%),
      followed by the subclavian (17.4%), with preference for the right side in most of
      the cases (87%). 64% perform the ultrasound-guided technique, 29% the venous
      cutdown and 7% the landmark approach. There is no significant association between
      the technique chosen (landmark vs ultrasound-guided) and the vein used (p=
      0,062). The majority of the respondents does not modify the usual approach in
      case of coagulopathy. We describe the complications associated with the three
      techniques. CONCLUSIONS: The preferred via for the vascular access by pediatric
      surgeons is the internal jugular vein, being this access ultrasound-guided in
      most of the cases. 91.5% consider the use of ultrasound decreases the number of
      associated complications. Nevertheless, just a minority has attended to a
      training course.

PMID- 28585787
TI  - [Home training as a treatment of faecal incontinence and sphincter dyssynergia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The defecation disorders represents the 3% of consultations in
      pediatrics patients. Our goal was to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency
      of the reeducation of the defecation maneuver through home training in patients
      with encopresis and sphincter dyssynergia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study of
      patients with fecal incontinence treated with home training at our center between
      2014-2015. Anorectal manometry was performed and was valued defecation maneuver
      by expulsion of rectal probe with or without the ball. Daily sessions were
      performed using a Foley catheter (18-20Fr.) with progressive filling of the
      balloon, maximum 20cc. The response to the treatment was assessed in terms of
      episodes of soiling. RESULTS: Seven patients (6 males and 1 female) with a mean
      age of 9.7 years (range, 5-15) were included; two patients with anorectal
      malformation history, 1 Hirschsprung disease, 1 sacrococcygeal teratoma and 3
      functional encopresis. Three patients had soiling episodes daily and 4 patients
      frequently. The mean basal pressure of anal channel was 32.34mmHg (range, 11.74
      50.75) with negative defecation maneuver in 2 cases, deficient in 3 and
      dyssynergic in 2 patients. The mean time of biofeedback therapy to be
      asymptomatic was 5.14 months (range, 2-11), with a mean of 16.14 months (range, 3
      24), with the 7 patients currently maintained clean. CONCLUSIONS: The present
      study suggests that re-education of defecation maneuver through home training,
      seems to be an effective and efficient therapy, achieving excellent results in
      medium term.

PMID- 28585786
TI  - [Results of the mesoportal bypass (Rex shunt) in the treatment of idiopathic
      extrahepatic portal vein obstruction in children].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extrahepatic portal vein obstruction (EPVO) is the principal cause of
      portal hypertension in children. The objective of this study was to analyze the
      capacity of the surgical technique that creates a mesoportal shunt to treat
      changes caused by EPVO. METHODS: Retrospective review of patients with idiopathic
      EPVO who underwent a mesoportal shunt and analysis of the changes in the number
      of leucocytes, platelets, prothrombin time and spleen size one year after the
      surgery. RESULTS: Twelve patients underwent surgery, out of which 10 had prior
      leukopenia, 11 thrombopenia, 9 longer prothrombin times and all had
      hypersplenism. One patient suffered a postoperative shunt thrombosis, was
      reoperated and underwent a change in the operative technique. The remaining
      patients (92%) have functioning shunts 4.3 +/- 2.5 years after surgery, and none
      have suffered any episode of gastrointestinal bleeding. One year after surgery,
      there were significant changes in the number of platelets, prothrombin time and
      spleen size, with no significant changes in the number of leukocytes. However,
      the number of patients who went from a leukopenic to a normal state was
      significant, as happened with changes in prothrombin time. CONCLUSIONS:
      Mesoportal Rex shunt improves some of the disorders caused by portal hypertension
      in children suffering EPVO, with a high rate of surgical success. This technique
      should be of first choice in these patients.

PMID- 28585788
TI  - [Intestinal complications in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) treated by
      laser coagulation (LC)].
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: The hemodynamic imbalance due to placental vascular anastomoses
      in TTTS but also vascular changes generated after intrauterine treatment may lead
      to hypoxic-ischemic complications. Different intestinal complications in TTTS are
      reviewed in this paper. METHODS: Retrospective review of TTTS cases treated by
      laser coagulation (LC) from 2012-2015. Demographic data, fetal therapy, prenatal
      diagnosis (US, MRI) and perinatal outcome were recorded. We describe cases with
      intestinal complications and their postnatal management. Results are expressed by
      median and range. RESULTS: 29 monochorionic pregnancies with TTTS were treated
      (23 LC, 4 cord occlusions and 2 cord occlusions after LC). The diagnosis was made
      at 19 (16-26) weeks and 86% presented stage of Quintero >= II. In 70% of mothers
      survived at least one fetus with a median of 31 (24-37) weeks at birth. Four
      patients had intestinal complications (1 jejunal atresia, 2 ileal atresia, 1
      perforated necrotizing enterocolitis), half of them had prenatal diagnosis.
      Postnatal resections of the affected segments and ostomies were performed.
      Intestinal transit was restored and there were no severe digestive sequelae after
      21 (8-38) months of follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Different types of intestinal
      complications were associated with TTTS and LC. US and MRI enable prenatal
      diagnosis of these complications and this allows prompt decisions after birth.

PMID- 28585789
TI  - [Management protocol in gastroschisis].
AB  - AIM: There are two classical managements in gastroschisis: primary or delayed
      closure. From 2007 on, a multidisciplinary approach protocol based in preterm
      caesarean delivery at 34-35th gestational age (in order to minimize peel injury)
      plus primary closure is followed in our institution. Prior to this, term
      delivery, either by caesarean section or not, was the rule. METHODS:
      Retrospective study of gastroschisis's patients before (1978-2006) and after
      (2007-2016) protocol approval. Complex gastroschisis frequency, peel's presence,
      primary or delayed closure, complications, re-interventions, neonatal intensive
      care unit (NICU) length of stay, age at onset of enteral nutrition, total
      parenteral nutrition's length and length of stay were compared. MAIN RESULTS:
      Study groups: before (12 patients) and after (13 newborns) the protocol
      implantation (pre/post). Nine complex gastroschisis were observed in the pre
      protocol period, compared to one in the post-protocol era (p= 0.001). The re
      interventions also decreased: 58.33% in the pre-protocol vs. 15.38% in the post
      protocol group (p= 0.025). Complications rate were 66.67% before protocol vs.
      23.07% after protocol (p= 0.028). NICU length of stay decreased from 40 +/- 32 to
      17 +/- 12 days (p= 0.025). Parenteral total nutrition length was 61 +/- 36 in the
      pre-protocol vs. 15 +/- 6 in the port-protocol eras, respectively (p= 0.043). The
      age at onset of enteral nutrition was 34 +/- 26 vs. 9 +/- 5 days (p= 0.004) and
      hospitalization length was 98 +/- 81 days pre vs. 35 +/- 15 days post protocol
      implantation (p= 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: The protocol implantation has allowed
      primary closure, decreased hospitalization; reduced complications and mortality
      rate as well.

PMID- 28585790
TI  - [The diagnosis of pilomatrixoma in children is not as easy as it may seem. A
      review of 126 cases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe our experience with pilomatrixomas, clinical presentation,
      clinical accuracy, associated diseases, and surgical treatment. METHODS: A
      retrospective review of patients with a pathology report of an excised
      pilomatrixoma between 2011 and 2014. Data regarding gender, age of intervention,
      number of masses, size, location, and preoperative clinical diagnosis, pathology
      report, recurrences, and associated diseases were collected. Statistical analysis
      was performed using EPIinfo 7.1.5. RESULTS: A total of 151 tumors in 138 patients
      were removed, 25 were excluded for having a clinical diagnosis of pilomatrixoma
      without confirmation of the pathology report. The remaining 126 cases have an
      average age of 8.26 years (range 1-14 years) and 50.72% are males. The tumors
      were located above the umbilicus in 97% of the cases, with a higher concentration
      of 50.72% in the head and neck. The clinical diagnosis corresponds with the
      pathology report in 69.05% of cases. Out of these confirmed cases the most
      frequent differential diagnosis is cystic lesion (11.90%) and dermoid cyst
      (10.22%). There were no cases of malignant degeneration. The average diameter is
      1.13 cm, there were no recurrences, but there were 11 cases of a new lesion in a
      different location. There is no statistical association with other pathologies.
      The most frequent diseases found were obesity (3.62%) and attention deficit
      syndrome (3.62%). CONCLUSION: The pilomatrixoma is a tumor that appears
      predominantly in the head and neck, and has a difficult clinical diagnosis.
      Complete removal is curative, although it does not prevent the appearance of new
      lesions.

PMID- 28585791
TI  - [Pediatric traumatic brain injury due to civil gunshot wounds at a General
      Hospital in Cali, Colombia].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to gunshot-wounds (GSW) is a
      critical situation in the pediatric population. The aim of this study is to
      characterize TBI in this population since there are few reports that describe it
      especially in Colombia where its incidence is high, also to determine which were
      the main mortality predictor within our population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study in which we reviewed pediatric
      medical records of patients that had consulted at the Fundacion Valle del Lili
      pediatric Emergency Room between January of 2011 and December of 2015 because of
      TBI due to GSW. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: In our
      sample of 32 patients the average age was of 13.3 (SD +/- 5.4) and with 75% male
      patients. In our sample the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at entry was less than 8 in
      59.38%, a 15.6% needed craniotomy and 81.2% were admitted to the Intensive Care
      Unit (ICU). Death occurred in 43.75% of cases. The following mortality predictors
      were obtained: GCS at entry, pupillary exam and light reflexes, ISS, Marshal
      Score, absence of basal cisterns and presence of subarachnoid hemorrhage in CT
      scan, and APACHE II. CONCLUSIONS: TBI due to GSW is a devastating entity,
      especially in the pediatric population, they are responsible of high mortality
      and disability rates. There were no significant findings regarding infection
      rates and the use of surgery as a preventive method, therefore there's a chance
      it might not be indicated.

PMID- 28585792
TI  - [Endovascular embolization in the treatment of the pulmonary intralobar
      sequestration].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Up to date the classical therapeutic approach for intralobar
      sequestrations (IS) has been surgical excision. However, systemic arteries
      embolization is presented as an alternative, and even constitutes the first line
      of treatment in some centers. We summarize our experience in selected cases with
      the aim of preserving the maximum lung parenchyma. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Retrospective study of IS who underwent endovascular embolization at our
      institution between 2013 and 2014. RESULTS: Three patients of 12, 14 and 21
      months old were treated. Two patients had unilateral IS, one in the left lower
      lobe (LLL) and the other in the right lower lobe (RLL); the third one had
      bilateral lesions (a CAM-S complex in the RLL and a IS in the LII). The
      embolization of the four lesions was performed via right femoral artery. The case
      with bilateral lesions underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy of the CAM-S 7 months
      after embolization, finding adherences to the diaphragm. None of the patients had
      immediate complications and were discharged within 48 hours after embolization.
      In successive ultrasound and plain radiographs controls, with a follow-up of 6,
      18 and 30 months, no complications were found. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic vessels
      embolization is a treatment option for the treatment of IS that avoids surgery,
      preserves lung parenchyma and does not preclude surgical resection in case of
      treatment failure or presence of parenchymal lesions. Longer follow-up is needed
      to determine long-term effectiveness.

PMID- 28585793
TI  - Prevalence and Factors Associated With Second Eye Cataract Surgery and the Trend
      in the Time Interval Between the Two Eye Surgeries Based on the Malaysian
      National Eye Database.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the prevalence of second eye cataract surgery (SECS), trend in
      time interval between subsequent surgeries over the years, and factors associated
      with SECS utilization among patients who underwent cataract surgeries in the
      Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia. DESIGN: Secondary cross-sectional analysis of
      the Malaysian National Eye Database (NED) data. METHODS: The Malaysian Cataract
      Surgery Registry collected data on patients who had cataract surgery from 2002
      2004 and 2007-2012. Data collected included demography, operative events, time
      interval between 2 surgeries, and postoperative visual outcomes. Descriptive
      analysis was performed. RESULTS: Total surgeries increased from 11,954 in 2002 to
      30,265 in 2012 with a proportionate increase in SECS (30.7% in 2002 to 34.3% in
      2012). Poor vision (<6/12) was reduced from 81.1% to 14.2% after surgery. With
      improved data capturing, missing data reduced from 29.22% to 1.05%. The time
      interval between surgeries was 10.58 months in 2002 and 14.49 months in 2012.
      Malays (40.2%) and those aged 61-70 years (38.1%) had the highest number of SECS.
      Those aged 40-50 years (10.96 months) and with poorer vision (9.97 months) had
      the shortest time interval between the 2 surgeries. The commonest surgical method
      was phacoemulsification (72.3%). Negeri Sembilan State had the highest SECS rate
      (35.91%) and Melaka had the shortest interval between surgeries (10.15 months).
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite an increase in the number of SECS, the time interval is
      still long. Poor presenting second eye vision and disparity among different
      states warrants the health authority's attention and intervention.

PMID- 28585794
TI  - [Is hepatic cirrhosis a predisposing factor for Burkholderia cepacia pneumonia?]

PMID- 28585796
TI  - Impact of 13-valent pneumococal conjugate polysaccharide vaccination in
      exacerbations rate of COPD patients with moderate to severe obstruction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: One of the major microorganisms described as the cause of
      exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is Streptococcus
      pneumoniae. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of 13-valent
      pneumococcal conjugate polysaccharide vaccine (PCV13) on COPD patients with
      regard to the development of exacerbations and the possible differential effect
      according to the patient's phenotype. METHODS: Prospective observational study of
      patients with COPD and FEV1 <= 65% and 18-month follow-up. Main variables:
      vaccination status with PCV13, phenotype "exacerbator" or "non-exacerbator",
      number of exacerbations, hospitalization and deaths. A descriptive statistical
      analysis was performed according to the nature of the variable and an inferential
      analysis with CI95%, bivariate contrasts, and multivariate analysis. Significance
      level 5%. The statistical packages EPIDAT 3.0 and SPSS version 21.0 were used.
      RESULTS: 121 patients were included. Twenty-four percent were labeled as
      phenotype exacerbator. 36% were vaccinated with PCV13. During follow-up, 68% of
      patients had at least one exacerbation and 27% required hospitalization. We
      observed similarity (p> 0.05) in the number of exacerbations and deaths; however,
      the percentage of hospitalization in the vaccinated was 18%, compared to 32% in
      the non-vaccinated group. In the multivariate adjustment (controlling for the
      phenotype), an adjusted OR of 2.77 risk of hospitalization was observed in the
      non-vaccinated group (p = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS: Non-vaccination with PCV13 almost
      triples the risk of hospitalization in patients with COPD.

PMID- 28585795
TI  - [Decolonization for Staphylococcus aureus carriers in arthroplasty surgery after
      hip fracture].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Staphylococcus aureus is the main causative agent of joint prosthesis
      infections. The decolonization of the carriers is effective in the prevention of
      the infections of the elective arthroplasties. The aim of this study is to
      evaluate if it is also in arthroplasties after hip fracture. METHODS: Study in
      patients with hip fracture who underwent joint prosthesis from January 2011 to
      December 2015 with a protocol of S. aureus detection-decolonization with
      intranasal mupirocin and chlorhexidine baths. Patients between January 2009 and
      December 2010 were the comparison group. RESULTS: In the intervention period, the
      study of colonization of S. aureus was performed in 307 patients, of whom 87 were
      positive (28.3%). The study period was completed by 267 patients, of whom two
      developed S. aureus infection, compared to six of 138 in the control group (0.7%
      vs 4.3%, RR 0.1, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, S. aureus decolonization
      in patients with hip fracture decreased the incidence of joint prosthesis
      infection by this microorganism.

PMID- 28585797
TI  - Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy for infective endocarditis in
      patients over 80 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The incidence of infective endocarditis is progressively increasing,
      especially in elderly patients. Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT)
      is being an excellent alternative for treatment, but advanced age is one of the
      relative contraindications. The aim of this study is to compare the
      characteristics and prognosis of patients less or more than 80 years, treated
      with OPAT. METHODS: One hundred and ninety four patients were included between
      1996 and 2015, 31 of them older than 80 years. RESULTS: The most frequently
      affected valve is the aortic one, mainly native valves. Most used antibiotics are
      ceftriaxone, ampicillin, cloxacillin and daptomycin. Differences in surgery
      (39.9% vs 9.7%, p=0.001) and use of infusion pump (55.2% vs 35.5%; p= 0.044) were
      observed, under 80 years and older respectively. No differences in readmissions
      and mortality were observed. CONCLUSIONS: OPAT could be considered an effective
      alternative for appropriately-selected elderly patients with infective
      endocarditis.

PMID- 28585798
TI  - ?

PMID- 28585799
TI  - Composites Formed from Thermoresponsive Polymers and Conductive Nanowires for
      Transient Electronic Systems.
AB  - The disintegration of transient electronic systems after a preprogrammed time or
      a particular stimulus (e.g., water, light, or temperature) is fundamentally
      linked to the properties and behavior of the materials used for their
      construction. Herein, we demonstrate that polymers exhibiting lower critical
      solution temperature (LCST) behavior can work as thermoresponsive substrates for
      circuitry and that these materials can be coupled with conductive nanowires to
      form a transient electronics platform with unique, irreversible temperature
      responsive behavior. The transient systems formed from composites of LCST
      polymers and conductive nanowires exhibit stable electrical performance in
      solution (Tsolution > LCST) for over 24 h until a cooling stimulus triggers a
      rapid (within 5 min) and gigantic (3-4 orders of magnitude) transition in
      electrical conductance due to polymer dissolution. Using a parylene mask, we are
      able to fabricate thermoresponsive electrical components, such as conductive
      traces and parallel-plate capacitors, demonstrating the versatility of this
      material and patterning technique. With this unique stimulus-responsive transient
      system and polymers with LCSTs above room temperature (e.g., poly(N
      isopropylacrylamide), methyl cellulose), we have developed a platform in which a
      circuit requires a source of heat to remain viable and is destroyed and vanishes
      once this heat source is lost.

PMID- 28585800
TI  - Self-Assembled 3D Hierarchical Porous Bi2MoO6 Microspheres toward High Capacity
      and Ultra-Long-Life Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous Bi2MoO6 microspheres (HPBMs) were
      successfully prepared and used as the anode material in Li-ion batteries (LIBs)
      for the first time. The HPBMs showed a high capacity (>830 mAh.g-1, 734.5 mAh.cm
      2), high rate capability (20 A.g-1, 177.7 mAh.g-1), and superior long cycle life
      (>2700 cycles) in the temperature range 5-55  degrees C without adding any other
      conductive carbon materials, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes. This can be
      reasonably attributed to their substantially high surface area, 3D hierarchical
      porous structure, and homogeneous conductive matrix composed of metallic
      nanoparticles. HPBMs surprisingly showed a high reversible discharge capacity of
      537.2 mAh.g-1 (475.4 mAh.cm-2) and an average discharge voltage >3.0 V even when
      coupled with LiCoO2 in a full cell. The results highlight the feasibility of
      HPBMs as anode material for LIBs.

PMID- 28585801
TI  - Microneedle pH Sensor: Direct, Label-Free, Real-Time Detection of Cerebrospinal
      Fluid and Bladder pH.
AB  - Acid-base homeostasis (body pH) inside the body is precisely controlled by the
      kidneys and lungs and buffer systems, such that even a minor pH change could
      severely affect many organs. Blood and urine pH tests are common in day-to-day
      clinical trials and require little effort for diagnosis. There is always a great
      demand for in vivo testing to understand more about body metabolism and to
      provide effective diagnosis and therapy. In this article, we report the simple
      fabrication of microneedle-based direct, label-free, and real-time pH sensors.
      The reference and working electrodes were Ag/AgCl thick films and ZnO thin films
      on tungsten (W) microneedles, respectively. The morphological and structural
      characteristics of microneedles were carefully investigated through various
      analytical methods. The developed sensor exhibited a Nernstian response of -46
      mV/pH. Different conditions were used to test the sensor to confirm their
      accuracy and stability, such as various buffer solutions, with respect to time,
      and we compared the reading with commercial pH electrodes. Besides that, the
      fabricated microneedle sensor ability is proven by in vivo testing in mouse
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and bladders. The pH sensor procedure reported here is
      totally reversible, and results were reproducible after several rounds of
      testing.

PMID- 28585802
TI  - Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase Forms Amyloid Fibrils under Near-Physiological
      Quiescent Conditions: The Roles of Disulfide Bonds and Effects of Denaturant.
AB  - Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) forms intracellular aggregates that are
      pathological indicators of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A large body of
      research indicates that the entry point to aggregate formation is a monomeric,
      metal-ion free (apo), and disulfide-reduced species. Fibril formation by SOD1 in
      vitro has typically been reported only for harsh solvent conditions or mechanical
      agitation. Here we show that monomeric apo-SOD1 in the disulfide-reduced state
      forms fibrillar aggregates under near-physiological quiescent conditions.
      Monomeric apo-SOD1 with an intact intramolecular disulfide bond is highly
      resistant to aggregation under the same conditions. A cysteine-free variant of
      SOD1 exhibits fibrillization behavior and fibril morphology identical to those of
      disulfide-reduced SOD1, firmly establishing that intermolecular disulfide bonds
      or intramolecular disulfide shuffling are not required for aggregation and fibril
      formation. The decreased lag time for fibril formation resulting from reduction
      of the intramolecular disulfide bond thus primarily reflects the decreased
      stability of the folded state relative to partially unfolded states, rather than
      an active role of free sulfhydryl groups in mediating aggregation. Addition of
      urea to increase the amount of fully unfolded SOD1 increases the lag time for
      fibril formation, indicating that the population of this species does not
      dominate over other factors in determining the onset of aggregation. Our results
      contrast with previous results obtained for agitated samples, in which case
      amyloid formation was accelerated by denaturant. We reconcile these observations
      by suggesting that denaturants destabilize monomeric and aggregated species to
      different extents and thus affect nucleation and growth.

PMID- 28585804
TI  - Membrane Interactions of hIAPP Monomer and Oligomer with Lipid Membranes by
      Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - Interaction of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) peptides with cell
      membrane is crucial for the understanding of amyloid toxicity associated with
      Type II diabetes (T2D). While it is known that the hIAPP-membrane interactions
      are considered to promote hIAPP aggregation into fibrils and induce membrane
      disruption, the membrane-induced conformation, orientation, aggregation, and
      adsorption behaviors of hIAPP peptides have not been well understood at the
      atomic level. Herein, we perform all-atom explicit-water molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulations to study the adsorption, orientation, and surface interaction of
      hIAPP aggregates with different sizes (monomer to tetramer) and conformations
      (monomer with alpha-helix and tetramer with beta-sheet-rich U-turn) upon
      adsorption on the lipid bilayers composed of both pure zwitterionic POPC (1
      palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) and mixed anionic POPC/POPE (1
      palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine) (3:1) lipids. MD simulation
      results show that hIAPP monomer with alpha-helical conformation and hIAPP
      pentamer with beta-sheet conformation can adsorb on both POPC and POPC/POPE
      bilayers via a preferential orientation of N-terminal residues facing toward the
      bilayer surface. The hIAPP aggregates show stronger interactions with mixed
      POPC/POPE lipids than pure POPC lipids, consistent with experimental observation
      that hIAPP adsorption and fibrililation are enhanced on mixed lipid bilayers.
      While electrostatic interactions are main attractive forces to drive the hIAPP
      aggregates to adsorb on both bilayers, the introduction of the more hydrophilic
      head groups of POPE lipids further promote the formation of the interfacial
      hydrogen bonds. Complement to our previous studies of hIAPP aggregates in bulk
      solution, this computational work increases our knowledge about the mechanism of
      amyloid peptide-membrane interactions that is central to the understanding the
      progression of all amyloid diseases.

PMID- 28585803
TI  - Low Work Function Lacunary Polyoxometalates as Electron Transport Interlayers for
      Inverted Polymer Solar Cells of Improved Efficiency and Stability.
AB  - Effective interface engineering has been shown to play a vital role in
      facilitating efficient charge-carrier transport, thus boosting the performance of
      organic photovoltaic devices. Herein, we employ water-soluble lacunary
      polyoxometalates (POMs) as multifunctional interlayers between the titanium
      dioxide (TiO2) electron extraction/transport layer and the organic photoactive
      film to simultaneously enhance the efficiency, lifetime, and photostability of
      polymer solar cells (PSCs). A significant reduction in the work function (WF) of
      TiO2 upon POM utilization was observed, with the magnitude being controlled by
      the negative charge of the anion and the selection of the addenda atom (W or Mo).
      By inserting a POM interlayer with ~10 nm thickness into the device structure, a
      significant improvement in the power conversion efficiency was obtained; the
      optimized POM-modified poly[[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5
      b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl][3-fluoro-2-[(2- 33 ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4
      b]thiophenediyl]]:[6,6]-phenyl-C70 butyric acid methyl ester (PTB7:PC70BM)-based
      PSCs exhibited an efficiency of 8.07%, which represents a 21% efficiency
      enhancement compared to the reference TiO2 cell. Similar results were obtained in
      POM-modified devices based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with electron
      acceptors of different energy levels, such as PC70BM or indene-C60 bisadduct
      (IC60BA), which enhanced their efficiency up to 4.34 and 6.21%, respectively,
      when using POM interlayers; this represents a 25-33% improvement as compared to
      the reference cells. Moreover, increased lifetime under ambient air and improved
      photostability under constant illumination were observed in POM-modified devices.
      Detailed analysis shows that the improvements in efficiency and stability
      synergistically stem from the reduced work function of TiO2 upon POM coverage,
      the improved nanomorphology of the photoactive blend, the reduced interfacial
      recombination losses, the superior electron transfer, and the more effective
      exciton dissociation at the photoactive layer/POM/TiO2 interfaces.

PMID- 28585806
TI  - Sodium-Selective Fluoroionophore-Based Optodes for Seawater Salinity Measurement.
AB  - A new fluorescent sensor for Na+ is presented. The sensor relies on a Na+
      selective fluoroionophore based on a bright red-emitting BODIPY chromophore. The
      fluorescence of the fluoroionophore is enhanced upon binding of Na+-ions to the
      highly selective aza-crown ether receptor due to reduction of the photoinduced
      electron transfer (PET) quenching. Solid state sensing materials were prepared by
      physically embedding the fluoroionophore into water-swellable biocompatible
      polymer matrices (polyurethane hydrogels), thus enabling continuous measurements
      of aqueous samples. Despite the simple design, the sensor showed no leaching of
      the indicator and featured fast and reversible response. Among different
      polyurethane hydrogels investigated, the hydrogel D1 featuring the highest water
      uptake was found to be the most suitable due to the highest dynamics between
      "off" and "on" states. Due to little or no cross sensitivity to other ions (e.g.,
      Mg2+, Ca2+, K+) and its insensitivity to potential changes in pH, this sensor is
      promising for use in clinical diagnostics and for biological and marine
      applications. Fiber-optic sensors based on referenced read-out with a compact
      phase fluorimeter were prepared. To demonstrate their practical applicability,
      the sensors were used to determine the salinity in the seawater and brackish
      water of the Baltic Sea.

PMID- 28585805
TI  - Ligand-Specific Restriction of Extracellular Conformational Dynamics Constrains
      Signaling of the M2 Muscarinic Receptor.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors transmit extracellular signals across cell membranes
      via different G protein classes and beta-arrestins. Some pathways may be
      therapeutically beneficial, whereas others may be detrimental under certain
      pathophysiological conditions. For many GPCRs, biased agonists are available,
      which preferentially signal through one pathway or a subset of pathways, and
      harnessing biased agonism could be a potential novel therapeutic strategy.
      However, the incomplete mechanistic understanding of biased agonism hampers
      rational design of biased ligands. Using the muscarinic M2 receptor as a model
      system, we have analyzed the relationship between ligand-dependent conformational
      changes as revealed in all-atom MD simulations and the activation of specific G
      proteins. We find that the extent of closure of the extracellular, allosteric
      binding site interferes with the activation of certain G proteins. Our data allow
      the rational design of Gi-biased agonists at the M2 receptor and delineate a
      simple principle which may be translated to other GPRCs.

PMID- 28585807
TI  - Isotope Tracing of Long-Term Cadmium Fluxes in an Agricultural Soil.
AB  - Globally widespread phosphate fertilizer applications have resulted in long-term
      increases in the concentration of cadmium (Cd) in soils. The accumulation of this
      biotoxic, and bioaccumulative metal presents problems for the management of soil
      plant-animal systems, because the magnitude and direction of removal fluxes
      (e.g., crop uptake, leaching) have been difficult to estimate. Here, Cd isotopic
      compositions (delta114/110Cd) of archived fertilizer and soil samples from a 66
      year-long agricultural field trial in Winchmore, New Zealand, were used to
      constrain the Cd soil mass balance between 1959 and 2015 AD, informing future
      soil Cd accumulation trajectories. The isotopic partitioning of soil Cd sources
      in this system was aided by a change in phosphate source rocks in 1998 AD, and a
      corresponding shift in fertilizer isotope composition. The dominant influence of
      mixing between isotopically distinct Cd end-members was confirmed by a Bayesian
      modeling approach. Furthermore, isotope mass balance modeling revealed that Cd
      removal processes most likely increased in magnitude substantially between 2000
      and 2015 AD, implying an increase in Cd bioaccumulation and/or leaching over that
      interval. Natural-abundance stable isotopes are introduced here as a powerful
      tool for tracing the fate of Cd in agricultural soils, and potentially the wider
      environment.

PMID- 28585808
TI  - Evidence for Improved Encapsulated Pathway Behavior in a Bacterial
      Microcompartment through Shell Protein Engineering.
AB  - Bacterial microcompartments are a class of proteinaceous organelles comprising a
      characteristic protein shell enclosing a set of enzymes. Compartmentalization can
      prevent escape of volatile or toxic intermediates, prevent off-pathway reactions,
      and create private cofactor pools. Encapsulation in synthetic microcompartment
      organelles will enhance the function of heterologous pathways, but to do so, it
      is critical to understand how to control diffusion in and out of the
      microcompartment organelle. To this end, we explored how small differences in the
      shell protein structure result in changes in the diffusion of metabolites through
      the shell. We found that the ethanolamine utilization (Eut) protein EutM properly
      incorporates into the 1,2-propanediol utilization (Pdu) microcompartment,
      altering native metabolite accumulation and the resulting growth on 1,2
      propanediol as the sole carbon source. Further, we identified a single pore
      lining residue mutation that confers the same phenotype as substitution of the
      full EutM protein, indicating that small molecule diffusion through the shell is
      the cause of growth enhancement. Finally, we show that the hydropathy index and
      charge of pore amino acids are important indicators to predict how pore mutations
      will affect growth on 1,2-propanediol, likely by controlling diffusion of one or
      more metabolites. This study highlights the use of two strategies to engineer
      microcompartments to control metabolite transport: altering the existing shell
      protein pore via mutation of the pore-lining residues, and generating chimeras
      using shell proteins with the desired pores.

PMID- 28585809
TI  - BSim 2.0: An Advanced Agent-Based Cell Simulator.
AB  - Agent-based models (ABMs) provide a number of advantages relative to traditional
      continuum modeling approaches, permitting incorporation of great detail and
      realism into simulations, allowing in silico tracking of single-cell behaviors
      and correlation of these with emergent effects at the macroscopic level. In this
      study we present BSim 2.0, a radically new version of BSim, a computational ABM
      framework for modeling dynamics of bacteria in typical experimental environments
      including microfluidic chemostats. This is facilitated through the implementation
      of new methods including cells with capsular geometry that are able to physically
      and chemically interact with one another, a realistic model of cellular growth, a
      delay differential equation solver, and realistic environmental geometries.

PMID- 28585810
TI  - Structure-Based Correlation of Light-Induced Histidine Reactivity in A Model
      Protein.
AB  - Light is known to induce covalently linked aggregates in proteins. These
      aggregates can be immunogenic and are of concern for drug product development in
      the biotechnology industry. Histidine (His) is proposed to be a key residue in
      cross-link generation ( Pattison , D. I. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 2012 , 11 ,
      38 - 53 ). However, the factors that influence the reactivity of His in proteins,
      especially the intrinsic factors are little known. Here, we used rhDNase, which
      only forms His-His covalent dimers after light treatment to determine the factors
      that influence the light-induced reactivity of His. This system allowed us to
      fully characterize the light-induced covalent dimer and rank the reactivities of
      the His residues in this protein. The reactivities of these His residues were
      correlated with solvent accessibility-related parameters both by crystal
      structure-based calculations of solvent-accessible surface area and by hydrogen
      deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments. Through this correlation, we demonstrate
      that the photoreactivity of His is determined by both solvent accessibility and
      structural flexibility. This new insight can explain the highly complex chemistry
      of light-induced aggregation and help predict the aggregation propensity of
      protein under light treatment.

PMID- 28585812
TI  - Flexible Transparent Conductive Films with High Performance and Reliability Using
      Hybrid Structures of Continuous Metal Nanofiber Networks for Flexible
      Optoelectronics.
AB  - We report an Ag nanofiber-embedded glass-fabric reinforced hybrimer (AgNF
      GFRHybrimer) composite film as a reliable and high-performance flexible
      transparent conducting film. The continuous AgNF network provides superior
      optoelectronic properties of the composite film by minimizing transmission loss
      and junction resistance. In addition, the excellent thermal/chemical stability
      and mechanical durability of the GFRHybrimer matrix provides enhanced mechanical
      durability and reliability of the final AgNF-GFRHybrimer composite film. To
      demonstrate the availability of our AgNF-GFRHybrimer composite as a transparent
      conducting film, we fabricated a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED)
      device on the AgNF-GFRHybrimer film; the OLED showed stable operation during a
      flexing.

PMID- 28585811
TI  - Dinuclear RuII(bipy)2 Derivatives: Structural, Biological, and in Vivo Zebrafish
      Toxicity Evaluation.
AB  - Ruthenium-based drugs exhibit interesting properties as potential anticancer
      pharmaceuticals. We herein present the synthesis and characterization of a new
      family of ruthenium complexes with formulas [{Ru(bipy)2}2(MU-L)][CF3SO3]4 (L =
      bptz, 1a) and [{Ru(bipy)2}2(MU-L)][CF3SO3]2 (L = arphos, 2a; dppb, 3a; dppf, 4a),
      which were synthesized from the Ru(II) precursor compound cis-Ru(bipy)2Cl2. The
      complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, 1H and
      31P{1H} NMR, IR spectroscopy, and conductivity measurements. The molecular
      structures for three Ru(II) compounds were determined by single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction. The newly developed compounds interact with CT-DNA by intercalation,
      in particular, 2a, 3a, and 4a, which also seemed to induce some extent of DNA
      degradation. This effect seemed to be related with the formation of reactive
      oxygen species. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated against A2780, MCF7, and
      MDAMB231 human tumor cells. Compounds 2a and 4a were the most cytotoxic with
      activity compared to cisplatin (~2 MUM, 72 h) in the A2780 cisplatin sensitive
      cells. All the compounds induced A2780 cell death by apoptosis, however, to a
      lesser extent for compounds 4a and 2a. For these compounds, the mechanism of cell
      death in addition to apoptosis seemed to involve autophagy. In vivo toxicity was
      evaluated using the zebrafish embryo model. LC50 estimates varied from 5.397 (3a)
      to 39.404 (1a) mg/L. Considering the in vivo toxicity in zebrafish embryos and
      the in vitro cytotoxicity in cancer cells, compound 1a seems to be the safest
      having no effect on dechirionation and presenting a good antiproliferative
      activity against ovarian carcinoma cells.

PMID- 28585813
TI  - Green Synthesis of Nanosilica from Coal Fly Ash and Its Stabilizing Effect on CaO
      Sorbents for CO2 Capture.
AB  - High-temperature sorption of CO2 via calcium looping has wide applications in
      postcombustion carbon capture, sorption-enhanced hydrogen production, and
      inherent energy storage. However, fast deactivations of CaO sorbents and low CO2
      uptake in the fast carbonation stage are major drawbacks of this technology. For
      the first time, we developed a green approach through the reuse of nanosilica
      derived from coal fly ash (CFA) to enhance both the cyclic CO2 uptakes and the
      sorption kinetics of CaO sorbents. The as-synthesized nanosilica-supported CaO
      sorbent showed superior cyclic stability even under realistic
      carbonation/calcination conditions, and maintained a final CO2 uptake of 0.20
      g(CO2) g(sorbent)-1 within short carbonation time, markedly increased by 155%
      over conventional CaO sorbent. Significantly, it also exhibited very fast
      sorption rate and could achieve almost 90% of the total CO2 uptake within ~20 s
      after the second cycle, which is critical for practical applications. These
      positive effects were attributed to the formation of larnite (Ca2SiO4) and the
      physical nanostructure of silica, which could yield and keep abundant reactive
      small pores directly exposed to CO2 throughout multiple cycles. The proposed
      strategy, integrating the on-site recycling of CFA, appears to be promising for
      CO2 abatement from coal-fired power plants.

PMID- 28585814
TI  - Carbazolic Porous Framework with Tetrahedral Core for Gas Uptake and Tandem
      Detection of Iodide and Mercury.
AB  - A multifunctional carbazolic porous framework (Cz-TPM), with a tetrahedral core,
      has been synthesized by FeCl3 oxidative coupling polymerization. The Brunauer
      Emmett-Teller surface area of the obtained polymers reaches 713.2 m2 g-1. Gas
      adsorption isotherms show that Cz-TPM exhibits large carbon dioxide (97.9 mg g-1,
      9.8 wt %, 273 K, and 1 bar) and hydrogen uptake capacities (149.3 cm3 g-1, 1.34
      wt %, 77 K, and 1 bar). Furthermore, Cz-TPM has been found to display tandem
      visual detection of iodide and mercury, respectively. The Cz-TPM dispersion turns
      to yellow in the presence of iodide salts and subsequently changes to nearly
      colorless on addition of Hg2+ salts that could be easily observed by the naked
      eye. Cz-TPM can detect I- via "turn off" fluorescence quenching, and then the in
      situ generated Cz-TPM@I complexes can recognize Hg2+ ions via "turn on"
      fluorescence recovery. More importantly, Cz-TPM is stable over common solvents
      and can be easily recovered by excessive water washing and centrifugation for
      further repeated use. As far as we know, carbazolic porous organic frameworks
      enabling detection of I- and Hg2+ have not been reported.

PMID- 28585816
TI  - Single-Molecule Detection of Polynucleotide Kinase Based on Phosphorylation
      Directed Recovery of Fluorescence Quenched by Au Nanoparticles.
AB  - 5'-Polynucleotide kinase such as T4 polynucleotide kinase (T4 PNK) may catalyze
      the phosphorylation of 5'-hydroxyl termini in nucleic acids, playing a crucial
      role in DNA replication, DNA recombination, and DNA damage repair. Here, we
      demonstrate for the first time single-molecule detection of PNK based on
      phosphorylation-directed recovery of fluorescence quenched by Au nanoparticle
      (AuNP) in combination with lambda exonuclease-mediated cleavage reaction. In the
      presence of PNK, the gamma-phosphate group from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is
      transferred to 5'-hydroxyl terminus, resulting in 5'-phosphorylation of the
      hairpin probe. The phosphorylated hairpin probes may function as the substrates
      of lambda exonuclease and enable the removal of 5' mononucleotides from the stem,
      leading to the unfolding of hairpin structure and the formation of binding
      probes. The resultant binding probes may specifically hybridize with the AuNP
      modified capture probes, forming double-strand DNA (dsDNA) duplexes with 5'
      phosphate groups as the substrates of lambda exonuclease and subsequently leading
      to the cleavage of capture probes and the liberation of Cy5 molecules and the
      binding probes. The released binding probes may further hybridize with new
      capture probes, inducing cycles of digestion-release-hybridization and
      consequently the release of numerous Cy5 molecules. Through simply monitoring Cy5
      molecules with total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF)-based imaging, PNK
      activity can be quantitatively measured. This assay is very sensitive with a
      limit of detection of 9.77 * 10-8 U/MUL, and it may be further used to screen the
      PNK inhibitors and measure PNK in cancer cell extracts.

PMID- 28585817
TI  - Production of Medium Chain Fatty Acids by Yarrowia lipolytica: Combining
      Molecular Design and TALEN to Engineer the Fatty Acid Synthase.
AB  - Yarrowia lipolytica is a promising organism for the production of lipids of
      biotechnological interest and particularly for biofuel. In this study, we
      engineered the key enzyme involved in lipid biosynthesis, the giant
      multifunctional fatty acid synthase (FAS), to shorten chain length of the
      synthesized fatty acids. Taking as starting point that the ketoacyl synthase (KS)
      domain of Yarrowia lipolytica FAS is directly involved in chain length
      specificity, we used molecular modeling to investigate molecular recognition of
      palmitic acid (C16 fatty acid) by the KS. This enabled to point out the key role
      of an isoleucine residue, I1220, from the fatty acid binding site, which could be
      targeted by mutagenesis. To address this challenge, TALEN (transcription
      activator-like effector nucleases)-based genome editing technology was applied
      for the first time to Yarrowia lipolytica and proved to be very efficient for
      inducing targeted genome modifications. Among the generated FAS mutants, those
      having a bulky aromatic amino acid residue in place of the native isoleucine at
      position 1220 led to a significant increase of myristic acid (C14) production
      compared to parental wild-type KS. Particularly, the best performing mutant,
      I1220W, accumulates C14 at a level of 11.6% total fatty acids. Overall, this work
      illustrates how a combination of molecular modeling and genome-editing technology
      can offer novel opportunities to rationally engineer complex systems for
      synthetic biology.

PMID- 28585815
TI  - Neisseria gonorrhoeae Lytic Transglycosylases LtgA and LtgD Reduce Host Innate
      Immune Signaling through TLR2 and NOD2.
AB  - Neisseria gonorrhoeae releases anhydro peptidoglycan monomers during growth
      through the action of two lytic transglycosylases encoded in the N. gonorrhoeae
      genome, LtgA and LtgD. Because peptidoglycan and peptidoglycan components
      activate innate immune signaling, we hypothesized that the activity of LtgA and
      LtgD would influence the host responses to gonococcal infection. N. gonorrhoeae
      lacking LtgA and LtgD caused increased host production of inflammatory cytokines
      IL-1beta and TNF-alpha. Culture supernatants from DeltaltgA/DeltaltgD N.
      gonorrhoeae contain more shed outer membrane-associated proteins and multimeric
      peptidoglycan fragments rather than monomers. These culture supernatants were
      more potent activators of host TLR2 and NOD2 signaling when compared to
      supernatants from the isogenic parental N. gonorrhoeae strain. Purified
      peptidoglycan monomers containing anhydro muramic acid produced by LtgA were poor
      stimulators of NOD2, whereas peptidoglycan monomers containing reducing muramic
      acid produced by host lysozyme were potent stimulators of NOD2. These data
      indicate that LtgA and LtgD reduce recognition of N. gonorrhoeae by TLR2 and
      NOD2.

PMID- 28585818
TI  - Oxidation of Secondary Methyl Ethers to Ketones.
AB  - We present a mild way of converting secondary methyl ethers into ketones using
      calcium hypochlorite in aqueous acetonitrile with acetic acid as activator. The
      reaction is compatible with various oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional
      groups and afforded the corresponding ketones in up to 98% yield. The use of this
      methodology could expand the application of the methyl group as a useful
      protecting group.

PMID- 28585820
TI  - Water Vapor Sorption in Hybrid Pillared Square Grid Materials.
AB  - We report water vapor sorption studies on four primitive cubic, pcu, pillared
      square grid materials: SIFSIX-1-Cu, SIFSIX-2-Cu-i, SIFSIX-3-Ni, and SIFSIX-14-Cu
      i. SIFSIX-1-Cu, SIFSIX-3-Ni, and SIFSIX-14-Cu-i were observed to exhibit negative
      water vapor adsorption at ca. 40-50% relative humidity (RH). The negative
      adsorption is attributed to a water-induced phase transformation from a porous
      pcu topology to nonporous sql and sql-c* topologies. Whereas the phase
      transformation of SIFSIX-1-Cu was found to be irreversible, SIFSIX-3-Ni could be
      regenerated by heating and can therefore be recycled. In contrast, SIFSIX-2-Cu-i,
      which is isostructural with SIFSIX-14-Cu-i, exhibited a type V isotherm and no
      phase change. SIFSIX-2-Cu-i was observed to retain both structure and gas
      sorption properties after prolonged exposure to heat and humidity. The hydrolytic
      stability of SIFSIX-2-Cu-i in comparison to its structural counterparts is
      attributed to structural features and therefore offers insight into the design of
      hydrolytically stable porous materials.

PMID- 28585819
TI  - Wettability of Complex Fluids and Surfactant Capped Nanoparticle-Induced Quasi
      Universal Wetting Behavior.
AB  - Even though there are quite large studies on wettability of aqueous surfactants
      and a few studies on effects of nanoparticles on wettability of colloids, to the
      best of authors' knowledge, there is no study reported on the combined effect of
      surfactant and nanoparticles in altering the wettability. The present study, for
      the first time, reports an extensive experimental and theoretical study on the
      combined effect of surfactants and nanoparticles on the wettability of complex
      fluids such as nanocolloids on different substrates, ranging from hydrophilic
      with a predominantly polar surface energy component (silicon wafer and glass) to
      near hydrophobic range with a predominantly dispersive component of surface
      energy (aluminum and copper substrates). Systematically planned experiments are
      carried out to segregate the contributing effects of surfactants, particles, and
      combined particle and surfactants in modulating the wettability. The mechanisms
      and the governing parameters behind the interactions of nanocolloids alone and of
      surfactant capped nanocolloids with different surfaces are found to be grossly
      different. The article, for the first time, also analyzes the interplay of the
      nature of surfaces, surfactant and particle concentrations on contact angle, and
      contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of particle and surfactant impregnated colloidal
      suspensions. In the case of nanoparticle suspensions, the contact angle is
      observed to decrease for the hydrophobic system and increase for the hydrophilic
      systems considered. On the contrary, the combined particle and surfactant
      colloidal system shows a quasi-unique wetting behavior of decreasing contact
      angle with particle concentration on all substrates. Also interestingly, the
      combined particle surfactant system at all particle concentrations shows a
      wetting angle much lower than that of the only-surfactant case at the same
      surfactant concentration. Such counterintuitive observations have been explained
      based on the near-surface interactivity of the particle, fluid, and surfactant
      molecules based on effective slip length considerations. The CAH analyses of
      colloidal suspensions at varying surfactant and particle concentrations reveal in
      depth physical insight into contact line pinning, and a unique novel relationship
      is established between the contact angle and differential energy for distorting
      the instantaneous contact angle for a pinned sessile droplet. A detailed
      theoretical analysis of the governing parameters influencing the wettability has
      been presented invoking the principles of DLVO (Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey
      Overbeek), surface energy and interaction parameters influencing at the molecular
      scale, and the theoretical framework is found to support the experimental
      observations.

PMID- 28585821
TI  - Polarized Raman and Infrared Spectroscopy and ab Initio Calculation of Palmitic
      and Stearic Acids in the Bm and C Forms.
AB  - A complete experimental study on the vibrational properties of palmitic and
      stearic acids crystallized in the Bm and C forms, both belonging to the
      monoclinic system with the P21/a (C2h5) space group, through polarized Raman and
      infrared spectroscopy, is reported in this paper. Density functional theory
      calculations were also performed to assign the normal modes and to help in the
      interpretation of the experimental data. The different polarizations were
      compared and their influence on the spectral profiles, in both the lattice and
      the internal mode regions, was discussed. In general, the Raman and infrared
      spectra exhibit accentuated differences among the polymorphic forms, which are
      associated with the different molecular modifications, defined as gauche and all
      trans conformations. Insights about interaction among different groups are also
      furnished.

PMID- 28585822
TI  - Size, Shape, and Phase Control in Ultrathin CdSe Nanosheets.
AB  - Ultrathin two-dimensional nanosheets raise a rapidly increasing interest due to
      their unique dimensionality-dependent properties. Most of the two-dimensional
      materials are obtained by exfoliation of layered bulk materials or are grown on
      substrates by vapor deposition methods. To produce free-standing nanosheets,
      solution-based colloidal methods are emerging as promising routes. In this work,
      we demonstrate ultrathin CdSe nanosheets with controllable size, shape, and
      phase. The key of our approach is the use of halogenated alkanes as additives in
      a hot-injection synthesis. Increasing concentrations of bromoalkanes can tune the
      shape from sexangular to quadrangular to triangular and the phase from zinc
      blende to wurtzite. Geometry and crystal structure evolution of the nanosheets
      take place in the presence of halide ions, acting as cadmium complexing agents
      and as surface X-type ligands, according to mass spectrometry and X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopies. Our experimental findings show that the degree of
      these changes depends on the molecular structure of the halogen alkanes and the
      type of halogen atom.

PMID- 28585823
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Radical Cascade Difluoromethylation/Cyclization of 2-(3
      Arylpropioloyl)benzaldehydes: A Route to Difluoromethylated Naphthoquinones.
AB  - A novel copper-catalyzed cascade difluoromethylation/cyclization of 2-(3
      arylpropioloyl)benzaldehydes has been developed. This method affords an efficient
      and straightforward access to structurally diverse difluoromethylated
      naphthoquinones in one pot, starting from readily available starting materials.
      The reaction represents the first trans-acyldifluoromethylation of internal
      alkynes, which features aldehydes as acceptors for the addition of alkenyl
      radicals. Furthermore, this protocol can also access to monofluoromethylated
      naphthoquinone and difluoromethylated indanones in the same reaction condition.

PMID- 28585824
TI  - Effect of Bisulfate, Ammonia, and Ammonium on the Clustering of Organic Acids and
      Sulfuric Acid.
AB  - We investigate the effect of the bisulfate anion HSO4-, ammonium cation NH4+, and
      ammonia NH3 on the clustering of sulfuric acid and pinic acid or 3-methyl-1,2,3
      butanetricarboxylic acid (MBTCA). The systems were chosen based on their expected
      relevance in atmospheric new particle formation. Using quantum chemical methods
      together with kinetic calculations, we study the ability of these compounds to
      enhance cluster formation and growth. The cluster structures are obtained and
      frequencies are calculated using three different DFT functionals (M06-2X, PW91,
      and omegaB97X-D) with the 6-31++G(d,p) basis set. The electronic energies are
      corrected using an accurate DLPNO-CCSD(T)/def2-QZVPP level of theory. The
      evaporation rates are evaluated based on the calculated Gibbs free energies. The
      interaction between the ions and sulfuric acid or carboxylic acid group is
      strong, and thereby small two-component ionic clusters are found to be very
      stable against evaporation. The presence of bisulfate stimulates the cluster
      formation through addition of the sulfuric acid, whereas the presence of ammonium
      favors the addition of organic acids. Bisulfate and ammonium enhance the first
      steps of cluster formation; however, at atmospheric conditions further cluster
      growth is limited due to the weak interaction and fast evaporation of the larger
      three-component clusters. On the basis of our results it is therefore unlikely
      that the studied organic acids and sulfuric acid, even together with bisulfate,
      ammonia, or ammonium can drive new-particle formation via clustering mechanisms.
      Other mechanisms such as chemical reactions are needed to explain observed new
      particle formation events in the presence of oxidized organic compounds
      resembling the acids studied here.

PMID- 28585825
TI  - Plasmon-Mediated Surface Engineering of Silver Nanowires for Surface-Enhanced
      Raman Scattering.
AB  - We reveal nanoscale morphological changes on the surface of a silver nanowire
      (AgNW) in the conventional surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurement
      condition. The surface morphology changes are due to the surface plasmon-mediated
      photochemical etching of silver in the presence of certain Raman probes,
      resulting in a dramatic increase of Raman scattering intensity. This observation
      indicates that the measured SERS enhancement does not always originate from the
      as-designed/fabricated structures themselves, but sometimes with contribution
      from the morphological changes by plasmon-mediated photochemical reactions. Our
      work provides a guideline for more reliable SERS measurements and demonstrates a
      novel method for simple and site-specific engineering of SERS substrate and AgNW
      probes for designing and fabricating new SERS systems, stable and efficient TERS
      mapping, and single-cell SERS endoscopy.

PMID- 28585826
TI  - Field-Effect Tuned Adsorption Dynamics of VSe2 Nanosheets for Enhanced Hydrogen
      Evolution Reaction.
AB  - Transition metal dichalcogenides, such as MoS2 and VSe2 have emerged as promising
      catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Substantial work has been
      devoted to optimizing the catalytic performance by constructing materials with
      specific phases and morphologies. However, the optimization of
      adsorption/desorption process in HER is rare. Herein, we concentrate on tuning
      the dynamics of the adsorption process in HER by applying a back gate voltage to
      the pristine VSe2 nanosheet. The back gate voltage induces the redistribution of
      the ions at the electrolyte-VSe2 nanosheet interface, which realizes the enhanced
      electron transport process and facilitates the rate-limiting step (discharge
      process) under HER conditions. A considerable low onset overpotential of 70 mV is
      achieved in VSe2 nanosheets without any chemical treatment. Such unexpected
      improvement is attributed to the field tuned adsorption-dynamics of VSe2
      nanosheet, which is demonstrated by the greatly optimized charge transfer
      resistance (from 1.03 to 0.15 MOmega) and time constant of the adsorption process
      (from 2.5 * 10-3 to 5.0 * 10-4 s). Our results demonstrate enhanced catalysis
      performance in the VSe2 nanosheet by tuning the adsorption dynamics with a back
      gate, which provides new directions for improving the catalytic activity of non
      noble materials.

PMID- 28585827
TI  - Relating Ultrastable Glass Formation to Enhanced Surface Diffusion via the Johari
      Goldstein beta-Relaxation in Molecular Glasses.
AB  - Glasses are materials essential for modern technology; they are usually prepared
      by cooling liquids. Recently, novel ultrastable glasses (SGs) with extraordinary
      thermodynamic and kinetic stability have been created by vapor deposition at
      appropriate substrate temperatures. However, the underlying mechanism for the
      formation of SGs is still not established. For most of the molecular SGs created
      so far, we demonstrate that the formation of SGs is closely related to the Johari
      Goldstein beta-relaxation from the fact that the lowest substrate temperatures
      possible for the formation of SGs match the secondary glass-transition
      temperatures, where the beta-relaxation time reaches 103 s. Theoretically the
      beta-relaxation time via the primitive relaxation time of the coupling model has
      proven capable of accounting for the enhancement of molecular mobility at the
      surface. Thus our findings provide evidence to support that the immense
      enhancement of molecular diffusion at the surface is critical for the formation
      of SGs. The result has implications in the design and fabrication of SGs.

PMID- 28585828
TI  - Computational Dissection of Two-Dimensional Rectangular Titanium Mononitride TiN:
      Auxetics and Promises for Photocatalysis.
AB  - Recently, two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal nitrides have triggered an
      enormous interest for their tunable mechanical, optoelectronic, and magnetic
      properties, significantly enriching the family of 2D materials. Here, by using a
      broad range of first-principles calculations, we report a systematic study of 2D
      rectangular materials of titanium mononitride (TiN), exhibiting high energetic
      and thermal stability due to in-plane d-p orbital hybridization and synergetic
      out-of-plane electronic delocalization. The rectangular TiN monolayer also
      possesses enhanced auxeticity and ferroelasticity with an alternating order of
      Possion's Ratios, stemming from the competitive interactions of intra- and inter-
      Ti-N chains. Such TiN nanosystem is a n-type metallic conductor with specific
      tunable pseudogaps. Halogenation of TiN monolayer downshifts the Fermi level,
      achieving the optical energy gap up to 1.85 eV for TiNCl(Br) sheet. Overall,
      observed electronic features suggest that the two materials are potential
      photocatalysts for water splitting application. These results extend emerging
      phenomena in a rich family 2D transition-metal-based materials and hint for a new
      platform for the next-generation functional nanomaterials.

PMID- 28585829
TI  - Role of Spatial Constraints of Bronsted Acid Sites for Adsorption and Surface
      Reactions of Linear Pentenes.
AB  - The Bronsted acid sites of H-ZSM-5 and ferrierite reversibly adsborb linear
      pentenes via hydrogen bonding, rapidly isomerizing the double bond. On H-ZSM-5,
      dimerization of adsorbed pentenes occurs at a slower rate and leads to pentyl
      ester covalently bound to the surface. Pentene adsorbed on zeolites with narrower
      pores, such as ferrierite, remained stable in a hydrogen-bonded state even up to
      423 K. Comparing the differential heat of adsorption of 2-pentene on silicalite
      and ferrierite allowed for the determination of the enthalpy difference between
      physically adsorbed pentene in ZSM-5 and the localized hydrogen-bonded pi-complex
      at Bronsted acid sites, -36 kJ/mol. The activation energy (35 kJ/mol) for
      dimerization is almost identical to this enthalpy difference, suggesting that the
      rate-determining step is associated either with the mobilization of pi-bonded 2
      pentene or with the equally large activation barrier to form an alkoxy group via
      a carbenium-ion transition state. In a closed system, the dimerization rate is
      first order in the concentration of the pi-complex that is both in equilibrium
      with the mobile pentene phase and in production of the carbenium ion that reacts
      with the mobile pentene. Overall, the alkoxy group is -41 +/- 7 kJ/mol more
      stable than physisorbed pentene, establishing a series of energetically well
      separated groups of reactive surface species.

PMID- 28585830
TI  - Excitonic and Vibrational Coherence in the Excitation Relaxation Process of Two
      LH1 Complexes as Revealed by Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy.
AB  - Ultrafast excitation relaxation within a manifold exciton state and long-lived
      vibrational coherence are two universal characteristics of photosynthetic antenna
      complexes. In this work, we studied the two-dimensional electronic spectra of two
      core light-harvesting (LH1) complexes of Thermochromatium (Tch.) tepidum, native
      Ca2+-LH1 and modified Ba2+-LH1. The role of the vibrational coherence in the
      exciton relaxation was revealed by comparing the two LH1 with similar structures
      but different electronic properties and by the evolution of the exciton and
      vibrational coherence as a function of temperature.

PMID- 28585831
TI  - Characterization of Self-Assembled Monolayers on a Ruthenium Surface.
AB  - We have modified and stabilized the ruthenium surface by depositing a self
      assembled monolayer (SAM) of 1-hexadecanethiol on a polycrystalline ruthenium
      thin film. The growth mechanism, dynamics, and stability of these monolayers were
      studied. SAMs, deposited under ambient conditions, on piranha-cleaned and piranha
      + H2SO4 cleaned substrates were compared to monolayers formed on H-radical
      cleaned Ru surfaces. We found that alkanethiols on H-radical-cleaned Ru formed
      densely packed monolayers that remained stable when kept in a nitrogen
      atmosphere. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows a distinct sulfur peak
      (BE = 162.3 eV), corresponding to metal-sulfur bonding. When exposed to ambient
      conditions, the SAM decayed over a period of hours.

PMID- 28585832
TI  - Polymer-Chlorosome Nanocomposites Consisting of Non-Native Combinations of Self
      Assembling Bacteriochlorophylls.
AB  - Chlorosomes are one of the characteristic light-harvesting antennas from green
      sulfur bacteria. These complexes represent a unique paradigm: self-assembly of
      bacteriochlorophyll pigments within a lipid monolayer without the influence of
      protein. Because of their large size and reduced complexity, they have been
      targeted as models for the development of bioinspired light-harvesting arrays. We
      report the production of biohybrid light-harvesting nanocomposites mimicking
      chlorosomes, composed of amphiphilic diblock copolymer membrane bodies that
      incorporate thousands of natural self-assembling bacteriochlorophyll molecules
      derived from green sulfur bacteria. The driving force behind the assembly of
      these polymer-chlorosome nanocomposites is the transfer of the mixed raw
      materials from the organic to the aqueous phase. We incorporated up to five
      different self-assembling pigment types into single nanocomposites that mimic
      chlorosome morphology. We establish that the copolymer-BChl self-assembly process
      works smoothly even when non-native combinations of BChl homologues are included.
      Spectroscopic characterization revealed that the different types of self
      assembling pigments participate in ultrafast energy transfer, expanding beyond
      single chromophore constraints of the natural chlorosome system. This study
      further demonstrates the utility of flexible short-chain, diblock copolymers for
      building scalable, tunable light-harvesting arrays for technological use and
      allows for an in vitro analysis of the flexibility of natural self-assembling
      chromophores in unique and controlled combinations.

PMID- 28585833
TI  - Energetic Basis for Inhibition of Calcium Phosphate Biomineralization by
      Osteopontin.
AB  - Calcium oxalate kidney stones form attached to Randall's plaques (RP), calcium
      phosphate (Ca-P) deposits on the renal papillary surface. Osteopontin (OPN)
      suppresses crystal growth in the complex process of urinary stone formation, but
      the inhibitory role of active domains of OPN involved in the initial formation of
      the RPs attached to epithelial cells has yet to be clarified. Here we demonstrate
      the thermodynamic basis for how OPN sequences regulate the onset of Ca-P mineral
      formation on lipid rafts as a model membrane. We first quantify the kinetics of
      hydroxyapatite (HAP) nucleation on membrane substrates having liquid-condensed
      (LC) and liquid-expanded (LE) phases using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM).
      We find that rates are sequence-dependent, and the thermodynamic barrier to
      nucleation is reduced by minimizing the interfacial free energy gamma. Combined
      with single-molecule determination of the binding energy (DeltaGB) of the OPN
      peptide segments adsorbed to the HAP (100) face, we show a linear relationship of
      gamma and DeltaGB, suggesting that the increase in the nucleation barriers
      correlates with strong peptide-crystal nuclei binding. These findings reveal
      fundamental energetic clues for inhibition of membrane-mediated nucleation by
      sequence motifs and subdomains within the OPN protein through spatial location of
      charged moieties and provide insight connecting peripheral cell membranes to
      pathological mineralization.

PMID- 28585835
TI  - General Synthetic Route toward Highly Dispersed Metal Clusters Enabled by
      Poly(ionic liquid)s.
AB  - The ability to synthesize a broad spectrum of metal clusters (MCs) with their
      size controllable on a subnanometer scale presents an enticing prospect for
      exploring nanosize-dependent properties. Here we report an innovative design of a
      capping agent from a polytriazolium poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) in a vesicular form
      in solution that allows for crafting a variety of MCs including transition
      metals, noble metals, and their bimetallic alloy with precisely controlled sizes
      (~1 nm) and record-high catalytic performance. The ultrastrong stabilization
      power is a result of an unusual synergy between the conventional binding sites in
      the heterocyclic cations in PIL and an in situ generated polycarbene structure
      induced simultaneously to the reduction reaction.

PMID- 28585834
TI  - Acute Consumption of Flavan-3-ol-Enriched Dark Chocolate Affects Human Endogenous
      Metabolism.
AB  - Flavan-3-ols and methylxanthines have potential beneficial effects on human
      health including reducing cardiovascular risk. We performed a randomized
      controlled crossover intervention trial to assess the acute effects of
      consumption of flavan-3-ol-enriched dark chocolate, compared with standard dark
      chocolate and white chocolate, on the human metabolome. We assessed the
      metabolome in urine and blood plasma samples collected before and at 2 and 6 h
      after consumption of chocolates in 42 healthy volunteers using a nontargeted
      metabolomics approach. Plasma samples were assessed and showed differentiation
      between time points with no further separation among the three chocolate
      treatments. Multivariate statistics applied to urine samples could readily
      separate the postprandial time points and distinguish between the treatments.
      Most of the markers responsible for the multivariate discrimination between the
      chocolates were of dietary origin. Interestingly, small but significant level
      changes were also observed for a subset of endogenous metabolites. 1H NMR
      revealed that flavan-3-ol-enriched dark chocolate and standard dark chocolate
      reduced urinary levels of creatinine, lactate, some amino acids, and related
      degradation products and increased the levels of pyruvate and 4
      hydroxyphenylacetate, a phenolic compound of bacterial origin. This study
      demonstrates that an acute chocolate intervention can significantly affect human
      metabolism.

PMID- 28585837
TI  - Postsynthetic Approach for the Rational Design of Chiral Ferroelectric Metal
      Organic Frameworks.
AB  - Ferroelectrics (FEs) are materials of paramount importance with a wide diversity
      of applications. Herein, we propose a postsynthetic methodology for the smart
      implementation of ferroelectricity in chiral metal-organic frameworks (MOFs):
      following a single-crystal to single-crystal cation metathesis, the Ca2+
      counterions of a preformed chiral MOF of formula Ca6II{CuII24[(S,S)
      hismox]12(OH2)3}.212H2O (1), where hismox is a chiral ligand derived from the
      natural amino acid l-histidine, are replaced by CH3NH3+. The resulting compound,
      (CH3NH3)12{CuII24[(S,S)-hismox]12(OH2)3}.178H2O (2), retains the polar space
      group of 1 and is ferroelectric below 260 K. These results open a new synthetic
      avenue to enlarge the limited number of FE MOFs.

PMID- 28585839
TI  - Solid-Phase Synthesis of Oxetane Modified Peptides.
AB  - Solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) is used to create peptidomimetics in which
      one of the backbone amide C?O bonds is replaced by a four-membered oxetane ring.
      The oxetane containing dipeptide building blocks are made in three steps in
      solution, then integrated into peptide chains by conventional Fmoc SPPS. This
      methodology is used to make a range of peptides in high purity including backbone
      modified derivatives of the nonapeptide bradykinin and Met- and Leu-enkephalin.

PMID- 28585836
TI  - Artificial Base zT as Functional "Element" for Constructing Photoresponsive DNA
      Nanomolecules.
AB  - In contrast to small molecules, DNA and RNA macromolecules can be accurately
      formulated with base "elements" abbreviated as A, T, U, C, and G. However, the
      development of functionally artificial bases can result in the generation of new
      biomaterials with unique properties and applications. Therefore, we herein report
      the design and synthesis of a photoresponsive base as a new functional or
      molecular "element" for constructing DNA nanomolecules. The new base is made by
      fusion of an azobenzene with a natural T base (zT). zT, a new molecular element,
      is not only the most size-expanded T analogue but also a photoresponsive base
      capable of specific self-assembly through hydrogen bonding. Our results showed
      that stable and selective self-assembly of double-stranded DNAs occurred through
      zT-A base pairing, but it could still be efficiently dissociated by light
      irradiation. The photoresponsive DNA bases will provide the versatility required
      for constructing desired DNA nanomolecules and nanodevices.

PMID- 28585840
TI  - [Postoperative administration of octreotide to reduce lymphorrhea, lymphocele,
      lymphedema and lymphatic ascites after lymphadenectomy in gynecological
      malignancies].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Octreotide is a synthetic analogue of natural somatostatin.
      Octreotide effect on lymphorrhea reduction in gynecological malignancies has only
      been assessed in case studies. DESIGN: Original work. SETTING: Gynecologic
      Oncology Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine,
      Masaryk University and University Hospital Brno. METHODS: In 2014 there was a
      prospective, randomized, one-institution study. Patients underwent surgery
      including pelvic or pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy for cervical, uterine
      and ovarian cancer. The informed consent was signed. Octreotide was evaluated in
      relation to diagnosis, surgery (laparoscopy versus laparotomy), pelvic and/or
      paraaortic lymphadenectomy, number of removed lymph nodes and their positivity,
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant radiotherapy, albumin,
      BMI, number of days with drains postoperatively, number of days in hospital,
      blood loss during surgery, time of surgery, total number of drains placed into
      abdominal cavity. In follow up period, within 1 year after surgery, we searched
      for lymphocele, lymph-edema of lower extremities and lymphatic ascites in
      relation to lymphorrhea. RESULTS: 44 patients (9 cervical, 19 endometrial and 16
      ovarian cancer) were enrolled in two statistically comparable randomized groups.
      "Octreotide group", which paradoxically showed lymphorrhea of 4082 ml on average,
      (without 1992 ml, p = 0.001), needed drainage for more days (p = 0.001). The
      diagnosis had no influence on lymphorrhea in both groups (p = 0.966). The
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered (p = 0.026), the more lymph nodes were
      removed (p = 0.018), the more days the drainage was in place (p < 0.001), the
      bigger the lymphorrhea; no relationship between lymphorrhea and age (p = 0.631),
      albumin level (p = 0.584), BMI ( p= 0.966) or number of positive nodes (p =
      0.259), length of surgery (p = 0.206), blood loss (p = 0.494). Nor lymphedema (p
      = 0.404), nor lymphocele (p = 0.086), correlated with postoperative lymphorrhea.
      Lymphatic ascites was associated with lymphorrhea (p = 0.048). CONCLUSION:
      Octreotide did not reduce lymphorrhea and the incidence of lymphocele, lymphedema
      of lower extremities and lymphatic ascites within one year of follow-up period
      after surgery. According to our results, we do not recommend to administer the
      octreotide in oncogynecological patients after pelvic and/or paraaortic
      lymphadenectomy.

PMID- 28585841
TI  - [Vascular anatomy and abnormalities of retroperitoneal pelvic and paraaortic area
      in relation to the radical oncogynecological surgery - individual experiences].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The overview of vascular anatomy and abnormalities of retroperitoneal
      pelvic and paraaortic area in relation to the radical oncogynecological surgery.
      DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Gynecologic Oncology Center, Department of
      Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University and University
      Hospital Brno. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The overview of visualized vascular anatomy
      of retroperitoneal pelvic, infrarenal suprapelvic and subhepatic area in relation
      to the radical oncogynecological surgery. Presentation of physiological vascular
      anatomy. Summary of the most common abnormalities and potential complications in
      terms of vascular injury. Basic management of these complications from the
      viewpoint of oncogynecologist. CONCLUSION: The perfect knowledge of vascular
      anatomy and its possible abnormalities has represented an absolute necessity for
      uncomplicated course and sufficient extent of radical surgery.

PMID- 28585842
TI  - [Inflammatory bowel disease during pregnancy and childbirth].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim is to give basic information about inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD) during pregnancy, to highlight the importance of treatment in pregnancy and
      also show our own experience with the issue. DESIGN: Original work - a
      retrospective study. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital
      Horovice. RESULTS: We provide basic overview information about inheritance,
      fertility, mutual influence of IBD and pregnancy therapy in pregnancy and
      childbirth options for patients with IBD. We present also the results of the
      group of 17 patients with varying degrees of disability IBD (including patients
      after previous surgeries - bowel resection, hemicolectomy, ileostomy or with a
      pouch) that gave birth to our workplace. CONCLUSION: A crucial factor for good
      results is the degree of inflammation at the time of conception and during
      pregnancy. If the disease is inactive and nutrition of the diseased sufficient,
      there is no decrease in fertility, course of pregnancy is seamless, there is no
      greater risk of deterioration of disease in pregnancy and pregnancy do not differ
      from the normal population. The opposite situation occurs if there is a pregnancy
      at the time of disease activity. Then up to 75% pregnancy courses with big
      problems, fertility is declining, inflammation is also worsening and the risk of
      exacerbations increases during pregnancy, which aggravates the course of
      pregnancy and childbirth and has a negative effect on the fetus. Pregnancy is
      therefore necessary to plan for a longer period of disease stabilization and
      continue chronic medication and not discontinue drugs for fear of negative impact
      of medications on fetal development. On the contrary, active inflammation of the
      mother during pregnancy poses a greater risk to the fetus than adequate
      treatment. Commonly used drugs-aminosalicylates, corticosteroids,
      immunosuppressants and biological therapy appears to be safe and well tolerated
      during pregnancy. Method of delivery is individual and depends on the form and
      location of the inflammation and the preceding operations.

PMID- 28585844
TI  - [Abdominal pregnancy at a patient after cesarean section, bilateral salpingectomy
      and embryotransfer].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Presentation of rare complication following the assisted reproduction
      at a patient after cesarean section and bilateral salpingectomy. DESIGN: Case
      report. SETTINGS: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Regional Hospital
      Liberec, a. s.; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Palacky University
      Hospital, Olomouc. OBSERVATION: Pregnant woman, 26-years old, primiparous, with
      history of cesarean section and bilateral salpingectomy, was referred from the
      assisted reproduction centre to solve suspicion of molar intrauterine pregnancy.
      This diagnosis was settled on the basis of ultrasound scan of uterine cavity and
      high level of human choriogonadotropine. Instrumental revision of uterine cavity
      was performed, however there was not consequently demonstrated any histological
      prove of the pregnancy tissue in uterine cavity and decrease of human
      choriogonadotropine values. The verifying ultrasound examination was made and
      then the suspicion of ectopic pregnancy on the right side of the uterus was
      expressed. Laparoscopy diagnosed ectopic pregnancy localized in the right broad
      ligament. It was treated by exstirpation of the pregnancy tissue. CONCLUSION: The
      diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy should be based on personal history, human
      choriogonadotropine level assessment and pelvic ultrasound examination. Although
      it's important to evaluate all the components globally, ultrasound examination is
      in a majority of cases the most important part for setting the right diagnosis.

PMID- 28585843
TI  - Triple pregnancy with mixed chorionicity following in vitro fertilization: is
      fetal reduction neccesary?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The increasing incidence and management of monozygotic twinning in
      patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been the subject of much
      debate. Here, we describe the management and outcome of two triple pregnancies
      with mixed chorionicity with a monochorionic-diamniotic twin pair and a singleton
      following the transfer of two embryos during IVF treatment. DESIGN: Case report.
      SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Palacky University Hospital,
      Olomouc, Czech Republic. METHODS: This study involved Patient A (30 years of age;
      0 para) and Patient B (32 years of age; I Para), both with triplets of mixed
      chorionicity following the transfer of two embryos during IVF treatment, and
      treated in The Fetal Medicine Centre, Palacky University Olomouc. Detailed
      counselling led to the deployment of different management strategies for each
      case. RESULTS: The monochorionic twin component of Patient A was terminated by
      fetal reduction in the 15th week of gestation, while the remaining single
      pregnancy was delivered at term without complication. Patient B opted for
      expectant management. However, the pregnancy was complicated by severe maternal
      morbidity and was terminated in the 28th week of gestation following the death of
      one fetus. CONCLUSION: Fetal reduction should be offered as a management tool to
      patients carrying triplets in order to improve perinatal survival. In triplets
      with mixed chorionicity, the reduction of monochorionic twins is particularly
      advisable in preventing the additional risk posed by a shared placenta.

PMID- 28585845
TI  - [Carcinoid of the appendix during pregnancy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Early diagnosis of the appendiceal carcinoid during first trimester of
      pregnancy. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology, Merciful Brothers Hospital, Brno. METHODS: Own observation, review
      of literature. CONCLUSION: In case of unclear clinical or intraoperative finding,
      the appendectomy may reveal a serious disease. Thorough examination of the
      appendix should be a part of every gynaecological operation.

PMID- 28585846
TI  - [Czech linguistic validation of the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/ Urinary Incontinence
      Sexual Questionnaire - IUGA revised].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To produce a Czech version of a validated tool for sexual quality of
      life assessment among women with pelvic floor disorders; PISQ-IR (Pelvic organ
      prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire - Internationally Revised). DESIGN:
      Original study. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University
      Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Pilsen. METHODS: The
      whole process of translation and linguistic validation of the questionnaire
      followed the protocol of the International Urogynecology Association developed
      for this purpose. The original translation was repeatedly discussed with patients
      with incontinence or prolapse in order to preserve the meaning and
      comprehensibility of the items. The resulting questionnaire was reversely
      translated into English by an independent translator and sent to IUGA translation
      working group for validation. The translation was finalized based on
      recommendations from the group. RESULTS: PISQ-IR is a self-administered
      questionnaire improved from the previous and short versions. It contains 20
      questions, the first question determines whether section 1 for sexually inactive
      or section 2 for sexually active women is to be completed. The first section for
      sexually inactive women contains five questions with 12 items. The second section
      comprises of 14 questions with 22 items for sexually active women with a partner
      or 12 questions with 19 items for those without a partner. The questionnaire is
      evaluated separately for individual sub-scales. Compared to former PISQ-12, the
      PISQ-IR was improved to enable separate assessment of individual domains and its
      subscales, and to be useful also in non-sexually active women and women with anal
      incontinence. At the same time it can be also utilized in case of incompletely
      filled-in questionnaire. A certain disadvantage for clinical practice is its more
      complex evaluation. CONCLUSION: Linguistic validation of a PISQ-IR questionnaire
      was performed and the questionnaire is presented. We present a Czech translation
      of a validated tool for assessment of quality of sexual life in women with
      prolapse or urinary/anal incontinence. Psychometric evaluation remains yet to be
      performed.

PMID- 28585847
TI  - [Uterine inversion].
AB  - AIM: Summarize the literature on the inversion of the uterus. DESIGN: A review
      article. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, SZZ Krnov, Department
      of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital, Palacky University, Olomouc.
      METHOD: Literature review was conducted using the following key words. There were
      included articles published in English since 1980, from which relevant data were
      obtained. RESULTS: In the literature the general occurrence is broad, ranging
      from 1:27 000 in the UK to 1:1739 in the US, where it varies greatly according to
      geographic location. The uterine inversion can be generally classified according
      to the period from birth to diagnosis, in relation to pregnancy or by anatomical
      degree of prolapse. From 1887 to 2006 there were only 150 cases of uterine
      inversion in non puerperal women recorded. In the vast majority the incidence was
      observed in women older than 45 years. 85% of uterine inversion was caused by
      benign pathology, only 15% was associated with cancer. Treatment consists of
      repositioning of the uterus, to which can be used in noninvasive and invasive
      techniques. CONCLUSION: Inversion of the uterus is a very serious and fortunately
      relatively rare complication in the third stage of labor, but also in non
      puerperal women. This is the situation with high maternal morbidity and mortality
      rates, at which it can easily cause life-threatening hemorrhage, disseminated
      intravascular coagulation and the development of hemorrhagic and neurogenic
      shock. In most of cases there are no risk factor.

PMID- 28585848
TI  - [Ultrasound diagnosis of fetal inflammatory response syndrome in women with
      preterm premature rupture of membrane].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to analyze the existing possibilities of
      using ultrasound in the diagnosis of the fetal inflammatory response. DESIGN:
      Review. SETTINGS: Gynekologicko-porodnicka klinika, Fakultni nemocnice Ostrava.
      METHODS: Preterm delivery is defined as a delivery before completed 37 weeks of
      gestation. Approximately one-thirdof these cases is associated with preterm
      premature rupture of membranes. About forty percent of preterm premature rupture
      of membranes is complicated by the fetal inflammatory response syndrome, which is
      associated with the development of severe perinatal morbidity. Recent prenatal
      diagnosis of the fetal inflammatory response syndrome is based on the invasive
      methods (amniocentesis, cordocentesis), which are limited by several risk factors
      accompanying these procedures and technical difficulties. Therefore, there is an
      effort to replace them by non-invasive approach. The development of ultrasound,
      as a diagnostic method through the last decade, and knowledge of
      pathophysiological and morphological changes in fetal organs associated with the
      fetal inflammatory response may lead to more specific diagnosis in the future and
      improvement of neonatal outcome. CONCLUSION: Early identification of fetuses
      affected by FIRS in pregnancies with PPROM is necessary for right management of
      these pregnancy pathology. At this moment, ultrasonography examination of fetal
      lineal vein and fetal echocardiography, seems to be suitable for diagnosing FIRS.

PMID- 28585849
TI  - [Contemporary technicqes in diagnostic patients with vaginal microbiota].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Review of literature dealing with the specificity of the vagina from
      the standpoint of microbial colonization. DESIGN: Literature review. SETTING:
      Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Microbiology,
      University Hospital and Medical Faculty in Hradec Kralove, Charles University
      Prague. METHODS: Analysis of the literature review and personal experience
      dealing with vaginal microbiota.

PMID- 28585850
TI  - ?

PMID- 28585851
TI  - Update on chronic complex patient malnutrition
AB  - The Scientific Committee of the Sociedad Espanola de Nutricion Parenteral y
      Enteral (SENPE) and the Nutricia Advanced Medical Nutrition company began this
      Course some years ago, and now, it is a referent course in the multidisciplinary
      training of Clinical Nutrition.With this issue we review the advances in Clinical
      Nutrition in different situations and, this year, the topic is the malnutrition
      in chronic complex patients.

PMID- 28585853
TI  - Is the integration of nutritional care in the different assistance levels
      possible? The Catalan experience. Clinical perspective
AB  - Disease-related malnutrition is highly prevalent in pathologies commonly
      integrating care complexity. Healthcare models for complexity must include
      malnutrition detection and approaches, since it is a key factor which has great
      impact on the patient's evolution and the consumption of healthcare resources.
      Malnourished patients present higher hospitalization, complication and mortality
      rates, higher demand of post-discharge social resources and higher hospital
      readmission frequency. Detecting malnutrition is necessary to implement a
      nutritional care program which might be used in any assistance level. The
      integration of health and social care and the development of information tools
      which are shared by the different assistance agents has allowed the development
      of a program for the management of disease-related malnutrition in patients with
      clinical complexity in Catalonia.

PMID- 28585852
TI  - Is the integration of nutritional care in the different assistance levels
      possible? Refl ections from the perspective of chronicity and clinical complexity
AB  - Nowadays, chronicity is the leitmotiv in all healthcare systems. Consequently,
      multimorbidity and the management of complex care needs become a critical
      challenge in modern welfare societies.Professionals and other agents'
      difficulties to identify and satisfy healthcare related needs of these patients
      is especially signifi cant in a 5% of the population. This has an enormous impact
      not only from a clinical perspective, but also in terms of the resilience of
      public health care systems. In this context, nutritional status plays an
      outstanding role as a health indicator and also as a determinant vector of
      morbidity and mortality. However, improvement possibilities regarding the
      evolution of epidemiological knowledge and the implementation of person-centered
      attention models are still vast.The management of malnutrition related to complex
      chronic conditions is not limited to the profi le of the patient's conditions,
      since the explanatory role of social factors, which become key to clinical
      management, is crucial.As a result of the above, integrated and person-centered
      approaches, where nutritional factors often play an important role, are required
      to provide care to the most vulnerable patients within our settings. Therefore,
      collaborative work appears as one of the keys to success.

PMID- 28585854
TI  - Nutritional approach of the patient with diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney
      disease. A case report
AB  - The prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in diabetes through
      diet and lifestyle have been a topic of much interest over the years.
      Consideration of the type and amount of carbohydrate, protein and fat is required
      for optimal blood glucose control, for clinical outcomes related to renal
      function and for consideration of risk reduction for cardiovascular disease.
      Depending on the CKD stage different dietary changes should be considered protein
      calorie malnutrition is common in chronic kidney disease patients and is a
      powerful predictor of morbidity and mortality. We review the nutritional
      management of a diabetic patient throughout the progression of their CKD.

PMID- 28585855
TI  - Our great forgotten, chronic respiratory sufferers
AB  - Lung's own properties make that nutritional support, besides covering the
      requirements can modulate its infl ammatory response.Lung tissue has a low
      glucose stock. Fatty acids are the main energy producer of type II pneumocytes,
      which use them in order to form phospholipids, essential for surfactant whose
      creation and release decrease in acute lung injury (ALI). Glutamine is a good
      substratum for endocrine cells and type II pneumocytes. Due to high nutritional
      risk, it is important its assessments in disorders as COPD and acute respiratory
      distress syndrome (ADRS). Indirect calorimetry values the effect of ventilation
      and nutritional support, avoiding overfeeding. Hypophosphatemia and refeeding
      syndrome are frequent and need to be avoided because of their morbidity.In
      critically ill patients, malnutrition can lead to respiratory failure and
      increasing mechanical ventilation time. To avoid hypercapnia in weaning, glucose
      levels should be controlled.High lipids/carbohydrates ratio do not show
      usefulness in COPD neither mechanical ventilation removal. ALI patients
      beneficiate from an early start and the volume administered. Enteral nutrition
      with high fatty acids ratio (EPA, DHA and gamma-linolenic acid) and antioxidants
      do not show any superiority. Omega-3 fatty acid in parenteral nutrition could
      modulate infl ammation and immunosuppression in a positive manner. The use of
      glutamine, vitamins or antioxidants in these patients could be justified.

PMID- 28585856
TI  - How is the patient's nutrition after a stroke?
AB  - Neurological conditions usually cause altered levels of consciousness or
      swallowing mechanisms which make artificial nutritional support necessary.
      International guidelines recommend nutritional screening to detect malnutrition
      in patients with neurological diseases. Dysphagia is a common problem after a
      stroke, however, it is a treatable pathology, and swallowing rehabilitation
      allows for improving patients' nutritional status.Awareness of this problem is
      required among healthcare professionals both for its diagnosis and for the
      implementation of nutritional intervention measures. Patients should be tested
      for dysphagia within the first 24 hours of the stroke onset; this swallowing
      assessment as well as malnutrition screening should never be delayed by more than
      72 hours. The present study addresses diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, the
      indications of the different nutritional treatments available and the transition
      to oral feeding in patients who have had a stroke episode.

PMID- 28585857
TI  - Polypharmacy and enteral nutrition in patients with complex chronic diseases
AB  - Oral medications are often administered through enteral feeding tubes in patients
      with complex chronic diseases. It is important to consider possible interactions
      between drugs and enteral nutrition that might lead to unsuccessful treatment or
      tube occlusion. These patients become subjects for higher risk of problems and
      errors such as drug incompatibility with enteral nutrition and inappropriate
      dosage form selection. It is possible to minimize the risk of tube occlusion and
      incompatibilities problems by recognizing potential medication errors, selecting
      the most appropriate drug and dosage form and using appropriate administration
      techniques. In this context, high-alert medications for patients with chronic
      diseases deserve special attention. Furthermore, risk exposure should be
      considered among healthcare professionals and patient caregivers handling
      hazardous drugs. Therefore, main incompatibility problems between drugs and
      enteral nutrition have been reviewed, including general recommendations for
      administration of oral medications through enteral feeding tubes and safe
      handling of hazardous drugs. Specific recommendations for administration of high
      alert medications for patients with chronic diseases are also included.

PMID- 28585858
TI  - Talking with the chronic patient about malnutrition
AB  - We talk with Alejandro Toledo, the President of the Fundacion Renal ALCER and
      Vicepresident of the First Platform of Patients Organizations.

PMID- 28585860
TI  - Frailty and cardiac rehabilitation: A long-neglected connection.

PMID- 28585859
TI  - Evaluation of the Potential for Drug Interactions With Patiromer in Healthy
      Volunteers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patiromer is a potassium-binding polymer that is not systemically
      absorbed; however, it may bind coadministered oral drugs in the gastrointestinal
      tract, potentially reducing their absorption. METHODS: Twelve randomized, open
      label, 3-period, 3-sequence crossover studies were conducted in healthy
      volunteers to evaluate the effect of patiromer (perpetrator drug) on absorption
      and single-dose pharmacokinetics (PK) of drugs (victims) that might be commonly
      used with patiromer. Subjects received victim drug alone, victim drug
      administered together with patiromer 25.2 g (highest approved dose), and victim
      drug administered 3 hours before patiromer 25.2 g. The primary PK endpoints were
      area under the curve (AUC), extrapolated to infinity (AUC0-infinity), and maximum
      concentration ( Cmax). Results were reported as 90% confidence intervals (CIs)
      about the geometric mean AUC0-infinity and Cmax ratios with prespecified
      equivalence limits of 80% to 125%. RESULTS: Overall, 370 subjects were enrolled,
      with 365 receiving >=1 dose of patiromer; 351 subjects completed the studies and
      all required treatments. When coadministered with patiromer, the 90% CIs for AUC0
      infinity remained within 80% to 125% for 9 drugs (amlodipine, cinacalcet,
      clopidogrel, furosemide, lithium, metoprolol, trimethoprim, verapamil, and
      warfarin). The AUC0-infinity point estimate ratios for levothyroxine and
      metformin with patiromer coadministration were >=80%, with the lower bounds of
      the 90% CIs at 76.8% and 72.8%, respectively. For ciprofloxacin, the point
      estimate for AUC0-infinity was 71.5% (90% CI: 65.3-78.4). For 8 of 12 drugs,
      point estimates for Cmax were >=80% with patiromer coadministration; for
      ciprofloxacin, clopidogrel, metformin, and metoprolol, the point estimates were
      <80%. When patiromer was administered 3 hours after each victim drug, the 90% CIs
      for AUC0-infinity and Cmax for each drug were within the prespecified 80% to 125%
      limits. CONCLUSION: For 9 of the 12 drugs coadministered with patiromer, there
      were no clinically significant drug-drug interactions. For 3 drugs
      (ciprofloxacin, levothyroxine, and metformin), a 3-hour separation between
      patiromer and their administration resulted in no clinically significant drug
      drug interactions.

PMID- 28585861
TI  - Alternative measures reveal different but low estimates of labour market
      attachment after severe traumatic brain injury: A nationwide cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore if the definition of labour market attachment (LMA) changes
      LMA proportions after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Cohort study
      with 5-year follow-up. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 18-64 years with severe TBI
      from 2004 to 2012 (n = 637) and matched controls (n = 2497). METHODS: LMA was
      defined in three ways. All definitions included patients working with no
      government benefits. Definition 2 included patients receiving unemployment
      benefits (LMA-unemployment benefits). Definition 3 included patients receiving
      supplemental benefits/services such as patients involved in work-activation
      schemes (LMA supplementary benefits). First week of return to work (RTW), stable
      LMA first year after RTW and weekly LMA prevalence were calculated. Patients and
      controls were compared using multivariable conditional logistic regression.
      RESULTS: LMA unemployment benefits had similar proportions to LMA with no
      benefits. These estimates were lower than LMA supplemental benefits where 52%
      attempted to RTW and 31% achieved stable LMA within 2 years. The maximal LMA
      prevalence (LMA supplementary benefits) decreased from 33 to 30% from years 2 to
      5. Adjusted odds ratios were 0.05 and 0.06 for years 1 and 2, and 0.07 for stable
      LMA in patients compared to controls. CONCLUSION: LMA proportions differed
      depending on the definition. Regardless of definition, LMA proportions following
      severe TBI were low in Denmark.

PMID- 28585862
TI  - Preference-based care and research.

PMID- 28585863
TI  - Contamination of Carcasses and Utensils in Small Swine Slaughterhouses by
      Salmonella in the Northwestern Region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AB  - Salmonella is a major foodborne pathogen that constantly threatens food safety in
      developed countries and underdeveloped countries such as Brazil, where it is
      responsible for 38% of notified cases of foodborne illness. Swine are one of the
      main meat-producing species that may asymptomatically carry Salmonella,
      periodically shedding the bacteria through feces. The state of Rio de Janeiro is
      not a major producer of swine meat, but small slaughterhouses are operational and
      produce meat for consumption within the state, although few studies have been
      conducted in the region. In this context, this study was designed to evaluate
      Salmonella contamination in carcasses, lymph nodes, feces, utensils, and the
      environment of three small slaughterhouses in the state of Rio de Janeiro. A
      total of 344 samples from carcasses, utensils, equipment, water, and the
      environment were collected from these slaughterhouses in the northwestern region
      of Rio de Janeiro. Salmonella was isolated from 36 (10.5%) samples: 10 of 48
      carcasses, 19 of 96 lymph nodes, 4 of 48 fecal samples, 2 of 6 water samples, and
      1 of 6 bleeding knives; 55 isolates were recovered. Serotyping revealed the
      predominance of Salmonella Typhimurium (20 isolates) followed by Salmonella Abony
      (10 isolates), Salmonella Give (7 isolates), Salmonella Heidelberg (4 isolates),
      and Salmonella Infantis (1 isolate). Ten isolates were only partially typeable,
      with only their O antigen identified, and three isolates had rough, nontypeable
      colonies. Despite the overall low prevalence of Salmonella in this study, all
      three slaughterhouses had poor hygienic and sanitary conditions, providing easy
      routes for carcass and, consequently, meat contamination. Thus, it is imperative
      to enforce sanitary inspections in these establishments and to apply good
      manufacture practices to assure the safety of the produced pork.

PMID- 28585864
TI  - Sustained release effects of berberine-loaded chitosan microspheres on in vitro
      chondrocyte culture.
AB  - The low bioavailability and short biological half-life of berberine chloride
      (BBR) negatively affect the protective role of this compound against
      osteoarthritis (OA). The present study was performed to evaluate the
      effectiveness of sustained BBR release system. Novel BBR-loaded chitosan
      microspheres (BBR-loaded CMs) were successfully synthesized using an ionic cross
      linking method for sustained release. The basic characteristics of the prepared
      microspheres were subsequently evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM),
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD)
      techniques, encapsulation efficiency (EE), and in vitro release experiments. BBR
      loaded CMs displayed spherical forms to encapsulate a considerable quantity of
      BBR (100.8 +/- 2.7 mg/g); these microspheres also exhibited an ideal releasing
      profile. The FT-IR spectra and XRD results revealed that BBR-loaded CMs were
      successfully synthesized via electrostatic interaction. In vitro experiments
      further showed that BBR-loaded CMs significantly inhibited sodium nitroprusside
      (SNP)-stimulated chondrocyte apoptosis as well as cytoskeletal remodeling, and
      led to increasing mitochondrial membrane potential and maintaining the nuclear
      morphology. BBR-loaded CMs exerted markedly higher anti-apoptotic activity in the
      treatment of OA, and markedly inhibited the protein expression levels of caspase
      3, a disintegrin, and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS)-5 and
      matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 induced by SNP in rat articular chondrocytes,
      compared with free BBR at equivalent concentration. Therefore, novel BBR-loaded
      CMs may offer potential for application in the treatment of OA.

PMID- 28585867
TI  - Characterization of transgene expression and pDNA distribution of the suctioned
      kidney in mice.
AB  - We have previously developed an efficient and safe transfection method for the
      kidney in mice: renal suction-mediated transfection. In this study, we verified
      the detailed characteristics of transgene expression and plasmid DNA (pDNA) in
      mice to develop therapeutic strategies and application to gene function analysis
      in the kidney. After naked pDNA was administered intravenously, the right kidney
      was immediately suctioned by a tissue suction device. We examined the spatial
      distribution of transgene expression and pDNA in the suctioned kidney using
      tissue clearing by CUBIC, ClearT2, and Scale SQ reagents. Spatial distribution
      analysis showed that pDNA was transfected into extravascular cells and
      sufficiently delivered to the deep renal cortex. In addition, we revealed that
      transgene expression occurred mainly in peritubular fibroblasts of the suctioned
      kidney by tissue clearing and immunohistochemistry. Next, we confirmed the
      periods of pDNA uptake and activation of transcription factors nuclear factor
      kappaB and activator protein 1 by luciferase assays. Moreover, the use of a pCpG
      free plasmid enabled sustained transgene expression in the suctioned kidney. In
      conclusion, analyses of the spatial distribution and immunostaining of the
      section suggest that pDNA and transgene expression occurs mainly in peritubular
      fibroblasts of the suctioned kidney. In addition, we clarified some factors for
      efficient and/or sustained transgene expression in the suctioned kidney.

PMID- 28585865
TI  - Protein kinase C epsilon delays latency until anoxic depolarization through arc
      expression and GluR2 internalization.
AB  - Global cerebral ischemia is a debilitating injury that damages the CA1 region of
      the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. Protein kinase C
      epsilon (PKCE) activation is a critical component of many neuroprotective
      treatments. The ability of PKCE activation to regulate AMPA receptors (AMPARs)
      remains unexplored despite the role of AMPARs in excitotoxicity after brain
      ischemia. We determined that PKCE activation increased expression of a protein
      linked to learning and memory, activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein
      (arc). Also, arc is necessary for neuroprotection and confers protection through
      decreasing AMPAR currents via GluR2 internalization. In vivo, activation of PKCE
      increased arc expression through a BDNF/TrkB pathway, and decreased GluR2 mRNA
      levels. In hippocampal cultured slices, PKCE activation decreased AMPAR current
      amplitudes in an arc- and GluR2-dependent manner. Additionally, PKCE activation
      triggered an arc- and GluR2 internalization-dependent delay in latency until
      anoxic depolarization. Inhibiting arc also blocked PKCE-mediated neuroprotection
      against lethal oxygen and glucose deprivation. These data characterize a novel
      PKCE-dependent mechanism that for the first time defines a role for arc and AMPAR
      internalization in conferring neuroprotection.

PMID- 28585866
TI  - Design, synthesis and evaluation of novel cinnamic acid derivatives bearing N
      benzyl pyridinium moiety as multifunctional cholinesterase inhibitors for
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - A novel family of cinnamic acid derivatives has been developed to be
      multifunctional cholinesterase inhibitors against AD by fusing N-benzyl
      pyridinium moiety and different substituted cinnamic acids. In vitro studies
      showed that most compounds were endowed with a noteworthy ability to inhibit
      cholinesterase, self-induced Abeta (1-42) aggregation, and to chelate metal ions.
      Especially, compound 5l showed potent cholinesterase inhibitory activity (IC50,
      12.1 nM for eeAChE, 8.6 nM for hAChE, 2.6 MUM for eqBuChE and 4.4 MUM for hBuChE)
      and the highest selectivity toward AChE over BuChE. It also showed good
      inhibition of Abeta (1-42) aggregation (64.7% at 20 MUM) and good neuroprotection
      on PC12 cells against amyloid-induced cell toxicity. Finally, compound 5l could
      penetrate the BBB, as forecasted by the PAMPA-BBB assay and proved in OF1 mice by
      ex vivo experiments. Overall, compound 5l seems to be a promising lead compound
      for the treatment of Alzheimer's diseases.

PMID- 28585868
TI  - Long-term effects of Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for
      depression in primary care - the PRIM-NET controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) is recommended
      as an efficient treatment alternative for depression in primary care. However,
      only few previous studies have been conducted at primary care centers (PCCs). We
      evaluated long-term effects of ICBT treatment for depression compared to
      treatment as usual (TAU) in primary care settings. DESIGN: Randomized controlled
      trial. SETTING: Patients were enrolled at16 PCCs in south-west Sweden.
      PARTICIPANTS: Patients attending PCCs and diagnosed with depression (n = 90).
      INTERVENTIONS: Patients were assessed by a primary care
      psychologist/psychotherapist and randomized to ICBT or TAU. The ICBT included an
      ICBT program consisting of seven modules and weekly therapist e-mail or telephone
      support during the 3-month treatment period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Questionnaires on depressive symptoms (BDI-II), quality of life (EQ-5D) and
      psychological distress (GHQ-12) were administered at baseline, with follow-ups at
      3, 6 and 12 months. Antidepressants and sedatives use, sick leave and PCC
      contacts were registered. RESULTS: Intra-individual change in depressive symptoms
      did not differ between the ICBT group and the TAU group during the treatment
      period or across the follow-up periods. At 3-month follow-up, significantly fewer
      patients in ICBT were on antidepressants. However, the difference leveled out at
      later follow-ups. There were no differences between the groups concerning
      psychological distress, sick leave or quality of life, except for a larger
      improvement in quality of life in the TAU group during the 0- to 6-month period.
      CONCLUSIONS: ICBT with weekly minimal therapist support in primary care can be
      equally effective as TAU among depressed patients also over a 12-month period.
      CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered in the Swedish Registry,
      researchweb.org, ID number 30511.

PMID- 28585869
TI  - Postmarketing surveillance evaluating the safety and effectiveness of golimumab
      in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the real-world safety and
      effectiveness of golimumab (GLM) in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
      METHODS: A postmarketing surveillance of 5154 patients was conducted with a
      follow-up duration of at least 24 weeks. Patients were divided into four groups
      based on the initial treatment: 50 mg or 100 mg of GLM with concomitant use of
      methotrexate (MTX) and 50 mg or 100 mg of GLM monotherapy. Patient
      characteristics at baseline, safety and effectiveness were assessed for each
      group. RESULTS: Over 70% of patients received 50 mg of GLM with concomitant MTX,
      and approximately, 20% received monotherapy. The incidence rate of adverse events
      was 45.40 per 100 patient-years. The incidence of adverse events including
      serious adverse events was comparable across all groups. The proportion of
      patients showing remission or low disease activity increased from 13.69% to
      46.21% at the final evaluation, and no differences were observed in the
      percentage of remission across the four groups. Concomitant MTX use was
      associated with higher probability of continuing therapy. CONCLUSIONS: GLM showed
      effectiveness in Japanese rheumatoid arthritis patients with an acceptable safety
      profile.

PMID- 28585871
TI  - Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Global Reimbursement: An Update.
AB  - Real-time continuous glucose monitoring has been available for a decade and
      reimbursement for the technology has been slowly growing. Reasons for the various
      rates of reimbursement and adoption are explored in this article and the status
      of country-wide reimbursement is discussed.

PMID- 28585870
TI  - Accuracy of diagnosis and counseling of fetal brain anomalies prior to 24 weeks
      of gestational age.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of prenatal neurosonography in diagnosing
      underlying causes of fetal ventriculomegaly, posterior fossa anomalies and
      microcephaly before 24 weeks' gestational age (GA) and to study the accuracy of
      prenatal counseling on postnatal prognosis. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study
      based on 146 cases of these fetal brain anomalies before 24 weeks' GA. Counseling
      on prognosis was compared with postnatal outcome. Data on genetic testing was
      analyzed. RESULTS: Out of 146 cases, 135 (92%) were diagnosed correctly before 24
      weeks' GA. Accuracy was 98% (97/99) in cases with multiple anomalies and 81%
      (38/47) in cases with an isolated abnormality. Counseling on prognosis was
      correct in 143 out of 146 cases (98%). Prenatal genetic diagnostics detected an
      anomaly in 51/113 (45%) of cases. In 14/62 (23%) cases prenatal karyotyping was
      normal, but postnatal array-CGH detected a pathogenic anomaly. CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite the challenges of early gestation, accuracy in diagnosing and counseling
      fetal brain anomalies before 24 weeks' GA was high. Prenatal genetic testing is a
      valuable diagnostic tool and should be offered to all women with fetal brain
      anomalies. Considering the many different types of anomalies and diverse
      etiologies, a multidisciplinary approach is essential for counseling on postnatal
      outcome.

PMID- 28585872
TI  - The Future of Continuous Glucose Monitoring.

PMID- 28585873
TI  - A Simple Composite Metric for the Assessment of Glycemic Status from Continuous
      Glucose Monitoring Data: Implications for Clinical Practice and the Artificial
      Pancreas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The potential clinical benefits of continuous glucose monitoring
      (CGM) have been recognized for many years, but CGM is used by a small fraction of
      patients with diabetes. One obstacle to greater use of the technology is the lack
      of simplified tools for assessing glycemic control from CGM data without
      complicated visual displays of data. METHODS: We developed a simple new metric,
      the personal glycemic state (PGS), to assess glycemic control solely from
      continuous glucose monitoring data. PGS is a composite index that assesses four
      domains of glycemic control: mean glucose, glycemic variability, time in range
      and frequency and severity of hypoglycemia. The metric was applied to data from
      six clinical studies for the G4 Platinum continuous glucose monitoring system
      (Dexcom, San Diego, CA). The PGS was also applied to data from a study of
      artificial pancreas comparing results from open loop and closed loop in
      adolescents and in adults. RESULTS: The new metric for glycemic control, PGS, was
      able to characterize the quality of glycemic control in a wide range of study
      subjects with various mean glucose, minimal, moderate, and excessive glycemic
      variability and subjects on open loop versus closed loop control. CONCLUSION: A
      new composite metric for the assessment of glycemic control based on CGM data has
      been defined for use in assessing glycemic control in clinical practice and
      research settings. The new metric may help rapidly identify problems in glycemic
      control and may assist with optimizing diabetes therapy during time-constrained
      physician office visits.

PMID- 28585874
TI  - Stability, Accuracy, and Risk Assessment of a Novel Subcutaneous Glucose Sensor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Users of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems are concerned
      with the frequency of inserting and calibrating new sensors, with sensor accuracy
      and reliability throughout the sensor's functional life, and with the risks
      associated with inaccurate sensor readings. METHODS: A sensor for our next
      generation CGM system was tested for accuracy by comparison with self-monitored
      blood glucose (SMBG) values throughout 10 days of wear. Fifty subjects (49 with
      type 1 diabetes, 1 with type 2 diabetes, 20 male, mean +/- standard deviation
      [SD] age 32.5 +/- 18.7 years) enrolled. Subjects wore one sensor each, calibrated
      it once per day, and obtained multiple daily SMBG values for comparison. A total
      of 2739 paired CGM-SMBG values were analyzed to arrive at standard accuracy
      statistics and plotted on the surveillance error grid (SEG) to estimate the risk
      of SMBG-CGM discrepancies. RESULTS: The overall mean and median absolute relative
      difference (ARD) values were 9.6% and 7.2%, respectively. The median ARD values
      ranged from 8.9% on Day 1 to 6.5% on Day 10. SEG analysis categorized 2727 points
      (99.6%) as "no" or "slight" risk and 12 points (0.4%) as "moderate" or "great"
      risk. Thirty-nine (79.6%) of the 49 systems worked through the end of Day 10.
      Sensors and adhesives were well tolerated, with minimal erythema and induration.
      CONCLUSIONS: This new CGM system's accuracy throughout its 10-day functional
      life, the convenience associated with once-daily calibrations, and the high
      proportion of measurements in the "no risk" zone of the SEG support its
      nonadjunctive use in diabetes management and closed-loop insulin delivery
      systems.

PMID- 28585875
TI  - Continuous Glucose Monitoring with Multiple Daily Insulin Treatment: Outcome
      Studies.
AB  - Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is developing into an increasingly useful
      tool for glucose monitoring and therapeutic guidance in the treatment of
      diabetes. Multiple daily doses of insulin (MDI) is the most common method for
      intensive insulin treatment of type 1 diabetes and is also becoming more common
      in the treatment of type 2 diabetes as an increasing population with type 2
      diabetes experiences progressive beta cell loss. The clinical evidence
      demonstrating the benefit of CGM in the outcomes of patients treated with MDI is
      becoming clearer, particularly with the recent completion of several randomized
      clinical trials addressing both type 1 and 2 diabetes. This evidence is reviewed.

PMID- 28585876
TI  - CGM, Pregnancy, and Remote Monitoring.
AB  - The glycemic goals of pregnancy are very narrow to reduce excess risks for
      numerous maternal and fetal complications. Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) may
      help women achieve glucose goals and reduce hypoglycemia. CGM use has been found
      to be safe and effective in pregnancies associated with diabetes. CGM use can
      accurately identify glycemic patterns among women with and without diabetes in
      pregnancy. The data on the effects of CGM use on maternal and fetal outcomes are
      conflicting. Using CGMs in conjunction with continuous subcutaneous insulin
      infusion therapy in pregnancies complicated by diabetes may improve outcomes.
      There are limitations of CGM use that affect patients in and outside of
      pregnancy, as well as specific barriers that only affect pregnant women. Of
      importance, CGM use does not replace standard clinical care, but may be used an
      adjunctive tool in pregnancy. CGM remote monitoring in pregnancy is an
      understudied field. In this study, we review the studies on CGM use in pregnancy.

PMID- 28585877
TI  - Future of Automated Insulin Delivery Systems.
AB  - Advances in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) have brought on a paradigm shift
      in the management of type 1 diabetes. These advances have enabled the automation
      of insulin delivery, where an algorithm determines the insulin delivery rate in
      response to the CGM values. There are multiple automated insulin delivery (AID)
      systems in development. A system that automates basal insulin delivery has
      already received Food and Drug Administration approval, and more systems are
      likely to follow. As the field of AID matures, future systems may incorporate
      additional hormones and/or multiple inputs, such as activity level. All AID
      systems are impacted by CGM accuracy and future CGM devices must be shown to be
      sufficiently accurate to be safely incorporated into AID. In this article, we
      summarize recent achievements in AID development, with a special emphasis on CGM
      sensor performance, and discuss the future of AID systems from the point of view
      of their input-output characteristics, form factor, and adaptability.

PMID- 28585878
TI  - Practical Considerations on the Use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring in
      Pediatrics and Older Adults and Nonadjunctive Use.
AB  - Clinical use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices has grown over the
      past 15 years from a niche concept to becoming standard of care for patients with
      type 1 diabetes (T1D). With the December 2016 Food and Drug Administration
      approval for diabetes treatment decisions directly from CGM values (nonadjunctive
      use) without finger-stick confirmation, the uptake and scope of CGM use will
      likely further expand. With this expansion, it is important to consider the role
      and impact of CGM technology in specific settings and high-risk populations, such
      as the young and the elderly. In pediatric patients, CGM concerns include limited
      body surface area, difficulty keeping sensors adhered, and the role of
      nonadjunctive use in the school setting. In older adults, Medicare did not, until
      very recently, cover CGM devices and as such, their use had been limited by lack
      of reimbursement. As CGM use will likely expand in clinical practice given the
      nonadjunctive indication, guidelines and recommendations for clinical practice
      are warranted. In this article, we discuss recent research on CGM use in the
      special populations of children and older adults and provide initial guidelines
      for nonadjunctive use in clinical practice.

PMID- 28585880
TI  - Service needs and barriers to care five or more years after moderate to severe
      TBI among Veterans.
AB  - PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to identify the most frequent
      service needs, factors associated with needs, and barriers to care among Veterans
      and service members five or more years after moderate to severe traumatic brain
      injury (TBI). RESEARCH DESIGN: Survey administered via telephone 5-16 years after
      injury (median eight years) and subsequent acute inpatient rehabilitation at a
      regional Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centre. METHODS AND PROCEDURES:
      Participants were 119 Veterans and military personnel, aged 23-70 (median 35),
      90% male. Demographics, injury characteristics, service needs, whether needs were
      addressed, barriers to care, health and general functioning were assessed. MAIN
      OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The most frequent needs were for help with memory,
      information about available services and managing stress. Obtaining information
      about services was the most consistently un-addressed need; managing stress was
      the most consistently addressed need. Cognitive and psychiatric symptoms and
      alienation from community were associated with needs going un-addressed.
      Participants treated after an expansion of TBI services at the study site
      reported fewer un-addressed needs. Not knowing where to get help was the most
      common barrier to care. CONCLUSION: Repeated outreach, assessment of needs and
      education about available services are needed throughout Veterans' lifespan after
      moderate to severe TBI.

PMID- 28585882
TI  - Increased astroglial activity and reduced neuronal function across brain in
      AbetaPP-PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease associated
      with progressive loss of cognitive function, personality, and behavior. The
      present study evaluates neuronal and astroglial metabolic activity, and
      neurotransmitter cycle fluxes in AbetaPP-PS1 mouse model of AD by using 1H-[13C]
      nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy together with an infusion of either
      [1,6-13C2]glucose or [2-13C]acetate. The levels of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) and
      glutamate were found to be decreased in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus in
      AbetaPP-PS1 mice, when compared with wild type controls. The cerebral metabolic
      rate of acetate oxidation was increased in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of
      AbetaPP-PS1 mice suggesting enhanced astroglial activity in AD. AbetaPP-PS1 mice
      exhibit severe reduction in glutamatergic and gamma-amino butyric acid
      (GABA)ergic neuronal metabolic activity and neurotransmitter cycling fluxes in
      the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and striatum as compared with controls. These
      data suggest that metabolic activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons is
      compromised across brain in AbetaPP-PS1 mouse model of AD.

PMID- 28585881
TI  - Factors related to poor asthma control in Latvian asthma patients between 2013
      and 2015.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether beliefs about asthma medication, cognitive and
      emotional factors are related to poor asthma control in a sample of Latvian
      asthma patients in 2015. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, self-administered survey.
      SUBJECTS: Three hundred and fifty two asthma patients (mean age 57.5 years)
      attending outpatient pulmonologist consultations in Riga, Latvia during September
      2013 to December 2015. The sample size was calculated to detect a prevalence of
      poor asthma control of 50% with a margin of error of 5% and a power of 95%. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: The validated Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire (BMQ) and
      the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (brief IPQ) were used. Good asthma
      control was assessed using the asthma control test (ACT), a validated five-item
      scale that reliably assesses asthma control over a recall period of four weeks.
      Logistic regression models were used to predict poor asthma control. RESULTS:
      Patients who had a good control of asthma medication (OR 0.70; 95% CI 0.61-0.79)
      or were confident that their asthma medication improves illness (OR 0.84; 95% CI
      0.74-0.95) had a reduced risk of poor asthma control. The more symptoms (OR 1.63;
      95% CI 1.44-1.84) the asthma patients perceived or the more their illness affects
      their life, the higher the probability of poor asthma control (OR 1.47; 95% CI
      1.31-1.65). Some beliefs of necessity and concerns of asthma medication were also
      statistically significantly related to poor asthma control. CONCLUSIONS: Beliefs
      of necessity of asthma medication, cognitive and emotional illness perception
      factors correlate well with poor asthma control in Latvian patients.

PMID- 28585883
TI  - Dissimulation strategies on standard neuropsychological tests: A qualitative
      investigation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Most previous studies in the area of malingering neuropsychological
      deficits have focused on the development and validation of measures to detect
      falsification of symptoms or suboptimal performance. The present study employs
      qualitative methods to investigate strategies employed by individuals attempting
      to feign cognitive impairment. This study aims to achieve a richer and more
      detailed understanding of the phenomenon of feigning. METHOD: Detailed semi
      structured interviews were administered to 15 non-neurological individuals
      instructed to feign cognitive impairment on a standard neuropsychological test
      battery. The interviews, which considered the strategies used and the thinking
      underlying participants' choices, were subjected to Thematic Analysis. RESULTS:
      Thematic Analysis revealed three main organising themes. Participants described
      Using Strategies, on specific tests and generally across the battery, Having a
      Rationale for their decisions and spontaneously commented on their Experience of
      the Task. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study reveal numerous
      potentially useful identifiers of feigning strategies, including many not
      previously reported. The resulting themes point to the development of more
      effective methods for detecting feigned cognitive impairments and could have a
      significant impact on the way that neuropsychological testing sessions are
      conducted.

PMID- 28585879
TI  - Continuous Glucose Monitoring: A Review of Recent Studies Demonstrating Improved
      Glycemic Outcomes.
AB  - Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) has been demonstrated to be clinically
      valuable, reducing risks of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, glycemic variability
      (GV), and improving patient quality of life for a wide range of patient
      populations and clinical indications. Use of CGM can help reduce HbA1c and mean
      glucose. One CGM device, with accuracy (%MARD) of approximately 10%, has recently
      been approved for self-adjustment of insulin dosages (nonadjuvant use) and
      approved for reimbursement for therapeutic use in the United States. CGM had
      previously been used off-label for that purpose. CGM has been demonstrated to be
      clinically useful in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes for patients receiving a
      wide variety of treatment regimens. CGM is beneficial for people using either
      multiple daily injections (MDI) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion
      (CSII). CGM is used both in retrospective (professional, masked) and real-time
      (personal, unmasked) modes: both approaches can be beneficial. When CGM is used
      to suspend insulin infusion when hypoglycemia is detected until glucose returns
      to a safe level (low-glucose suspend), there are benefits beyond sensor-augmented
      pump (SAP), with greater reduction in the risk of hypoglycemia. Predictive low
      glucose suspend provides greater benefits in this regard. Closed-loop control
      with insulin provides further improvement in quality of glycemic control. A
      hybrid closed-loop system has recently been approved by the U.S. FDA. Closed-loop
      control using both insulin and glucagon can reduce risk of hypoglycemia even
      more. CGM facilitates rigorous evaluation of new forms of therapy, characterizing
      pharmacodynamics, assessing frequency and severity of hypo- and hyperglycemia,
      and characterizing several aspects of GV.

PMID- 28585884
TI  - Conveying hope in consultations with patients with life-threatening diseases: the
      balance between supporting and challenging the patient.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is limited knowledge about the communication of hope and denial
      in consultations with patients with life-threatening diseases on a practical
      level. In this study, we explored a real-life medical consultation between a
      doctor and a patient with incurable cancer, focusing on conveying hope. DESIGN
      AND METHODS: We found one consultation especially suited for illustrating how a
      physician can convey and reinforce hope without attaching it to curative
      treatment. The consultation was analysed using a method for discourse analysis,
      where we took as a point of departure that discourse means language in use.
      RESULTS: The doctor communicated in a recognising manner, expressing respect for
      the patient as a subject and an authority of his own experiences. The doctor and
      patient succeeded in creating a good working alliance characterised by warmth and
      trust. Within this context, there was room for the doctor to challenge the
      patient's views and communicate disagreement. CONCLUSIONS: The doctor succeeds in
      conveying and maintaining hope. Within a good working alliance with the patient
      the doctor can convey hope by balancing between supporting and challenging him.
      Exploring and grasping the patient's real concerns is essential for being able to
      relieve and comfort him and convey hope.

PMID- 28585885
TI  - Validity of Danish Breast Cancer Group (DBCG) registry data used in the
      predictors of breast cancer recurrence (ProBeCaRe) premenopausal breast cancer
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Validation studies of the Danish Breast Cancer Group (DBCG) registry
      show good agreement with medical records for adjuvant treatment data, but
      inconsistent recurrence information. No studies have validated changes in
      menopausal status or endocrine therapy during follow-up. In a longitudinal study,
      we validated DBCG data using medical records as the gold standard. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: From a cohort of 5959 premenopausal women diagnosed during 2002-2010
      with stage I-III breast cancer, we selected 151 patients - 77 estrogen-receptor
      positive and 74 estrogen-receptor-negative - from three hospitals. We assessed
      the validity of DBCG registry data on patient, tumor, and treatment factors, and
      follow-up information on menopausal transition, changes in endocrine therapy, and
      recurrence. We computed positive predictive values (PPVs) with 95% confidence
      intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: Agreement was near perfect for tumor size, lymph node
      involvement, receptor status, surgery type, and receipt of radiotherapy,
      chemotherapy, or tamoxifen treatment. The PPV for a change in endocrine therapy
      in the DBCG was 96% (95%CI = 83, 100). The PPV for menopausal transition was 61%
      (95%CI = 42, 77). The PPV for DBCG-recorded recurrence was 100%. However, of 19
      patients who had a recurrence documented in their medical record, 13 had the
      recurrence registered in DBCG. CONCLUSIONS: DBCG data are valid for most
      epidemiological studies of breast cancer treatment. Data on menopausal transition
      may be less valid, though this interpretation depends on the suitability of
      medical records for making this assessment. Although recurrence is missing for
      some, this would not bias most ratio measures of association.

PMID- 28585887
TI  - Symptomatic ptosis cerebelli after suboccipital craniectomy in a patient with
      severe brain trauma.
AB  - PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To report the first case of symptomatic cerebellar ptosis
      after a large suboccipital craniectomy in a patient with severe brain trauma and
      a review of the literature. PATIENT AND METHODS: A 36-year-old man suffered
      severe traumatic brain injury after a four-metre fall. He underwent a large
      suboccipital craniectomy because his computed tomography scan revealed a
      posterior fossa subdural haematoma and cerebellar swelling. Four weeks after
      admission, he developed communicating hydrocephalus, and a ventriculoperitoneal
      shunt was placed. Although he experienced good recovery, seven months after the
      trauma he complained of cephalea, dizziness, recurrent vomiting and diplopia.
      Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed descent of the cerebellum through a wide
      bone defect. RESULTS: We performed a posterior fossa cranioplasty after other
      causes of delayed worsening were ruled out, such as shunt malfunction,
      overdrainage and ischaemic lesions. The patient improved, and a post-operative
      MRI confirmed the upward migration of the cerebellum. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebellar
      ptosis must be considered in cases of delayed symptoms after large suboccipital
      craniectomy regardless of pathology. Posterior fossa cranioplasty to provide
      structural support to slumped cerebellum can improve or resolve symptoms.

PMID- 28585886
TI  - Clinical indications for antibiotic use in Danish general practice: results from
      a nationwide electronic prescription database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the availability and applicability of clinical indications
      from electronic prescriptions on antibiotic use in Danish general practice.
      DESIGN: Retrospective cohort register-based study including the Danish National
      Prescription Register. SETTING: Population-based study of routine electronic
      antibiotic prescriptions from Danish general practice. SUBJECTS: All 975,626
      patients who redeemed an antibiotic prescription at outpatient pharmacies during
      the 1-year study period (July 2012 to June 2013). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number
      of prescriptions per clinical indication. Number of antibiotic prescriptions per
      1000 inhabitants by age and gender. Logistic regression analysis estimated the
      association between patient and provider factors and missing clinical indications
      on antibiotic prescriptions. RESULTS: A total of 2.381.083 systemic antibiotic
      prescriptions were issued by Danish general practitioners in the study period. We
      identified three main clinical entities: urinary tract infections (n = 506.634),
      respiratory tract infections (n = 456.354) and unspecified infections (n =
      416.354). Women were more exposed to antibiotics than men. Antibiotic use was
      high in children under 5 years and even higher in elderly people. In 32% of the
      issued prescriptions, the clinical indication was missing. This was mainly
      associated with antibiotic types. We found that a prescription for a urinary
      tract agent without a specific clinical indication was uncommon. CONCLUSION:
      Clinical indications from electronic prescriptions are accessible and available
      to provide an overview of drug use, in casu antibiotic prescriptions, in Danish
      general practice. These clinical indications may be further explored in detail to
      assess rational drug use and congruence with guidelines, but validation and
      optimisation of the system is preferable.

PMID- 28585888
TI  - Predictive genetic testing for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal
      dementia: genetic counselling considerations.
AB  - Once a gene mutation that is causal of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and/or
      frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is identified in a family, relatives may decide to
      undergo predictive genetic testing to determine whether they are at risk of
      developing disease. Recent advances in gene discovery have led to a pressing need
      to better understand the implications of predictive genetic testing. Here we
      review the uptake of genetic counselling, predictive and reproductive testing,
      and the factors that impact the decision to undergo testing, for consideration in
      clinical practice. The literature suggests that the factors impacting the
      decision to undergo testing are complex due to the nature of these diseases,
      absence of available preventative medical treatment and variable age of onset in
      mutation carriers. Gaining further insight into the decision-making process and
      the impact of testing is critical as we seek to develop best-practice guidelines
      for predictive testing for familial ALS and FTD.

PMID- 28585889
TI  - Influence of the microbiological component of Cariogram(r) for evaluating the
      risk of caries in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk for caries in children as determined by
      Cariogram(r) software (CS; Stockholm, Sweden) with and without its
      microbiological component and by a form based on Cariogram(r) (FBC). METHODS:
      Children (n = 28) aged 3-9 years were included. Data were collected clinically
      and from anamnesis. The salivary levels of Streptococcus mutans (SM) were
      evaluated. A linear regression model was used to determine which variables were
      predictive for each type of risk analysis. Caries risk was the dependent variable
      and the independent variables were caries experience, related disease, plaque
      amount, diet frequency, salivary levels of SM, fluoride sources and clinical
      judgment. A paired Student t-test was used for the following comparisons: (a) CS
      with and without SM; (b) CS without SM and FBC; (c) CS with SM and FBC. RESULTS:
      The mean dmft/DMFT was 5.56 +/- 2.51. There was no difference between the methods
      (p < .05). Regardless of caries risk, the children presented the same levels of
      SM (p = .889). Caries experience, plaque amount, diet frequency and fluoride
      sources were predictors of caries risk in all assessment methods. Clinical
      judgment was a significant predictor in CS. CONCLUSIONS: Caries experience,
      plaque amount, diet frequency and fluoride sources are valuable predictors of
      caries risk; microbiological tests are not necessary for evaluating caries risk
      in children, which can be assessed similarly by CS without SM and FBC.

PMID- 28585890
TI  - Hypoxic conditioning and the central nervous system: A new therapeutic
      opportunity for brain and spinal cord injuries?
AB  - Central nervous system diseases are among the most disabling in the world.
      Neuroprotection and brain recovery from either acute or chronic neurodegeneration
      still represent a challenge in neurology and neurorehabilitation as pharmacology
      treatments are often insufficiently effective. Conditioning the central nervous
      system has been proposed as a potential non-pharmacological neuro-therapeutic.
      Conditioning refers to a procedure by which a potentially deleterious stimulus is
      applied near to but below the threshold of damage to the organism to increase
      resistance to the same or even different noxious stimuli given above the
      threshold of damage. Hypoxic conditioning has been investigated in several
      cellular and preclinical models and is now recognized as inducing endogenous
      mechanisms of neuroprotection. Ischemic, traumatic, or chronic neurodegenerative
      diseases can benefit from hypoxic conditioning strategies aiming at preventing
      the deleterious consequences or reducing the severity of the pathological
      condition (preconditioning) or aiming at inducing neuroplasticity and recovery
      (postconditioning) following central nervous system injury. Hypoxic conditioning
      can consist in single (sustained) or cyclical (intermittent, interspersed by
      short period of normoxia) hypoxia stimuli which duration range from few minutes
      to several hours and that can be repeated over several days or weeks. This mini
      review addresses the existing evidence regarding the use of hypoxic conditioning
      as a potential innovating neuro-therapeutic modality to induce neuroprotection,
      neuroplasticity and brain recovery. This mini-review also emphasizes issues which
      remain to be clarified and future researches to be performed in the field. Impact
      statement Neuroprotection and brain recovery from either acute or chronic
      neurodegeneration still represent a challenge in neurology and
      neurorehabilitation. Hypoxic conditioning may represent a harmless and efficient
      non-pharmacological new therapeutic modality in the field of neuroprotection and
      neuroplasticity, as supported by many preclinical data. Animal studies provide
      clear evidence for neuroprotection and neuroplasticity induced by hypoxic
      conditioning in several models of neurological disorders. These studies show
      improved functional outcomes when hypoxic conditioning is applied and provides
      important information to translate this intervention to clinical practice. Some
      studies in humans provide encouraging data regarding the tolerance and
      therapeutic effects of hypoxic conditioning strategies. The main issues to
      address in future research include the definition of the appropriate hypoxic dose
      and pattern of exposure, the determination of relevant physiological biomarkers
      to assess the effects of the treatment and the evaluation of combined strategies
      involving hypoxic conditioning and other pharmacological or non-pharmacological
      treatments.

PMID- 28585892
TI  - Blood glucose monitoring in type 2 diabetes - Nepalese patients' opinions and
      experiences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood glucose monitoring forms a vital component of diabetes care.
      Monitoring conducted at home using glucometers, and in laboratories by
      professionals, are two common methods of blood glucose monitoring in clinical
      practice. OBJECTIVE: To investigate Nepalese patients' perceptions and practices
      of blood glucose monitoring in diabetes. METHODS: In-depth interviews were
      conducted with 48 Nepalese participants with type 2 diabetes in Sydney and
      Kathmandu. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and
      thematically analysed. RESULTS: In Australia, most participants perceived home
      monitoring as useful; and both home and laboratory monitoring were conducted at
      fairly regular intervals. In Nepal, only a small number conducted home monitoring
      and the laboratory method formed the primary method of day-to-day monitoring. The
      laboratory method was preferred due to easy access to laboratories, lack of faith
      in glucometers and perceptions that home monitoring is costlier. However, overall
      monitoring was irregular in Nepal. In addition to the healthcare system which
      enabled cheaper self-monitoring in Australia, Nepalese in Australia also tended
      to have a better understanding about the purpose of home monitoring. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study has highlighted the disparity in perceptions and practices related to
      blood glucose monitoring. Understanding the importance of blood glucose
      monitoring and access to affordable resources are critical facilitators for
      conducting regular monitoring. Both patient and health-system factors play a key
      role in ensuring continued diabetes monitoring and management.

PMID- 28585893
TI  - Performance of two respiratory protective devices used by home-attending health
      care workers (a pilot study).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This pilot study aimed at determining the Workplace Protection Factor
      (WPF) for respiratory protective devices widely used by health care workers to
      reduce exposure to potentially hazardous aerosols when attending patients in
      their homes. Two devices were tested, an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR)
      and a surgical mask (SM). METHODS: Three home-attending health care workers were
      recruited, medically cleared and fit tested. At the workplace, the aerosol
      concentrations outside (Cout) and inside (Cin) of the tested respiratory
      protective device worn by a subject were measured using two simultaneously
      operating P-Trak condensation particle counters within the particle size range of
      approximately 20-1,000 nm. Real-time and integrated (time-weighted average, TWA)
      values of WPF = Cout/Cin were determined. RESULTS: This pilot study demonstrated
      that the WPF of the tested N95 FFR consistently exceeded that of the SM. The
      WPFTWA(C) values calculated for the entire test time (based on the TWA aerosol
      concentration values) ranged from 29 to 40 and 2 to 9, respectively. In all
      cases, the N95 FFR provided protection above the Occupational Safety and Health
      Administration's (OSHA) assigned protection factor of 10, whereas the SM often
      offered little or essentially no protection against the measured sub-micrometer
      aerosol particles. For both devices, the protection level was found to depend on
      activity. For example, the WPFTWA(C) for one subject wearing the N95 FFR was 56
      during normal activity but fell almost 70% during tracheal suctioning. It is
      explicable considering that different procedures implemented by health care
      workers in homes generate particles of different sizes and require different body
      movements; both factors are anticipated to affect the WPF. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing
      an N95-certified respirator helps significantly reduce the aerosol inhalation
      exposure of home-attending health care workers. An SM offers much lower
      protection. The WPF depends on several factors, including, but not limited to,
      the health care worker's activity and/or body movements; the WPF varies from one
      worker to another.

PMID- 28585891
TI  - In vitro psoriasis models with focus on reconstructed skin models as promising
      tools in psoriasis research.
AB  - Psoriasis is a complex chronic immune-mediated inflammatory cutaneous disease
      associated with the development of inflammatory plaques on the skin. Studies
      proved that the disease results from a deregulated interplay between skin
      keratinocytes, immune cells and the environment leading to a persisting
      inflammatory process modulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines and activation of T
      cells. However, a major hindrance to study the pathogenesis of psoriasis more in
      depth and subsequent development of novel therapies is the lack of suitable pre
      clinical models mimicking the complex phenotype of this skin disorder. Recent
      advances in and optimization of three-dimensional skin equivalent models have
      made them attractive and promising alternatives to the simplistic monolayer
      cultures, immunological different in vivo models and scarce ex vivo skin
      explants. Moreover, human skin equivalents are increasing in complexity level to
      match human biology as closely as possible. Here, we critically review the
      different types of three-dimensional skin models of psoriasis with relevance to
      their application potential and advantages over other models. This will guide
      researchers in choosing the most suitable psoriasis skin model for therapeutic
      drug testing (including gene therapy via siRNA molecules), or to examine
      biological features contributing to the pathology of psoriasis. However, the
      addition of T cells (as recently applied to a de-epidermized dermis-based
      psoriatic skin model) or other immune cells would make them even more attractive
      models and broaden their application potential. Eventually, the ultimate goal
      would be to substitute animal models by three-dimensional psoriatic skin models
      in the pre-clinical phases of anti-psoriasis candidate drugs. Impact statement
      The continuous development of novel in vitro models mimicking the psoriasis
      phenotype is important in the field of psoriasis research, as currently no model
      exists that completely matches the in vivo psoriasis skin or the disease
      pathology. This work provides a complete overview of the different available in
      vitro psoriasis models and suggests improvements for future models. Moreover, a
      focus was given to psoriatic skin equivalent models, as they offer several
      advantages over the other models, including commercial availability and validity.
      The potential and reported applicability of these models in psoriasis pre
      clinical research is extensively discussed. As such, this work offers a guide to
      researchers in their choice of pre-clinical psoriasis model depending on their
      type of research question.

PMID- 28585894
TI  - Attenuated Total Reflection Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption (ATR SEIRA)
      Spectroscopy for the Analysis of Fatty Acids on Silver Nanoparticles.
AB  - The application of attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared
      absorption spectroscopy (ATR SEIRA) to the analysis of fatty acids on silver
      nanoparticles was investigated. Attenuated total reflection measurements using
      four types of internal reflection elements (IREs)-zinc selenide, diamond,
      silicon, and germanium-were performed for silver nanoparticles modified with
      fatty acids, and germanium IRE was shown to be suitable for the analysis of
      silver nanoparticles, even when the sample had a high refractive index. Fatty
      acids coating the silver nanoparticles could be directly identified by SEIRA
      enhancement, because both symmetric carboxylate stretching vibration and
      methylene wagging vibration were strongly detected. Furthermore, the peak
      positions for methylene wagging vibration differed depending on the carbon number
      of the fatty acid, so that information from the ATR SEIRA spectra makes it
      possible to identify substances coating silver nanoparticles. Therefore, ATR
      SEIRA would appear to have significant potential as a technique for the
      identification of substances coated on metal nanoparticle surfaces.

PMID- 28585895
TI  - An examination of MCE filter morphology and implications on preparation and
      analysis of air samples for asbestos.
AB  - Morphological imperfections of mixed-cellulose ester filters and their possible
      influence on sample preparation and analysis of asbestos were examined. Filters
      were identified with large regions of non-porous "dead zones" which could
      negatively affect fiber deposition and, therefore, fiber recovery and analysis by
      Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). As these imperfections are effectively
      erased during the preparation of the sample, they may not be readily observed by
      TEM. Un-collapsed filters as well as those collapsed using dimethylformamide
      (DMF) and two acetone techniques were examined. In order to minimize negative
      sampling and analytical bias, it is suggested that MCE samples be collapsed
      utilizing a 35% DMF solution, etched with a correctly calibrated low-temperature
      etcher, carbon coated using a rotating and tilted stage, and analyzed with a
      strong analyst-independent grid square opening randomization scheme.

PMID- 28585896
TI  - Multiple struggles in fighting violence against women: implications among Romani
      women leaders in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Violence against women (VAW) is a central issue in gender studies and
      one that has united feminist activists from around the world. But this does not
      mean that this struggle is singular: indeed, one can say that there are many,
      diverse and sometimes even contradictory struggles occurring throughout the
      world. OBJECTIVES: To identify and analyze the different struggles faced by women
      from Roma organizations in Spain in relation to VAW and their work with affected
      women. METHODS: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted among women
      actively involved in Roma associations in different Spanish cities, in 2015. An
      inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the empirical materials. RESULTS:
      Our analysis resulted in three themes that captured different struggles that
      women from Roma organizations have faced: 'between persistence and rupture of
      restrictive gender norms', 'invisibility and normalization of violence against
      women' and 'willingness and trust in daily work with women'. The activities
      related to VAW carried out by the interviewed women were more related to their
      personal initiatives and abilities than to strategies proposed by the
      organizations they work for. CONCLUSIONS: The results show the need to support
      the initiatives of Romani women and their own struggles related to identity. This
      is what makes them true promoters of social change and, more specifically, change
      related to gender relations both within and outside of their communities.

PMID- 28585897
TI  - Interrelationships of Dictyocaulus spp. in Wild Ruminants with Morphological
      Description of Dictyocaulus cervi n. sp. (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red
      Deer, Cervus elaphus.
AB  - Lungworms from the genus Dictyocaulus cause parasitic bronchitis (dictyocaulosis)
      characterized by coughing and severe lung pathology in both domestic and wild
      ruminants. In this study we investigated the interrelationships of Dictyocaulus
      spp. from European bison (Bison bonasus L.), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and
      red deer (Cervus elaphus) by nucleotide sequence analysis spanning the 18S RNA
      gene (small subunit [SSU]) and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) regions of
      the ribosomal gene array as well as the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase
      subunit 1 (cox1). Molecular analyses of sequence data obtained partly with novel
      primers from between 10 and 50 specimens from each host were carried out.
      Bayesian inference analysis revealed that each host species was infected with
      different genotypes. Analysis of cox1 sequence data showed a diverse genetic
      background and high evolutionary potential of Dictyocaulus taxa. Data from
      lungworms of European bison revealed a distinct genotype of Dictyocaulus
      viviparus, whereas Dictyocaulus capreolus was only found in roe deer. In
      contrast, red deer were infected with a taxon with unique SSU, ITS2, and cox1
      sequences. These results indicate the occurrence of a novel genotype from red
      deer, which differs significantly from the National Center for Biotechnology
      Information reference sequence of Dictyocaulus eckerti. The molecular evidence
      was consistent with a morphological study with description and imaging of
      Dictyocaulus cervi n. sp. recovered from red deer. Dictyocaulus cervi n. sp. can
      be distinguished from D. eckerti on the basis of the absence of cervical
      papillae, the occurrence of a single ring of 4 symmetrical submedian cephalic
      papillae, length of the tail in females, morphometry of the female reproductive
      system, and measurements of gubernacula in males. In conclusion, our findings
      further strengthen the idea that the genetic complexity and diversity among
      Dictyocaulus lungworms infecting wildlife ruminants is larger than previously
      believed and warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28585898
TI  - Circulating extracellular DNA levels are acutely elevated in ischaemic stroke and
      associated with innate immune system activation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to assess the ability of peripheral
      blood cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels to identify ischaemic stroke early in the
      acute phase of care, as well as to examine the relationship between peripheral
      blood cfDNA levels and stroke-induced innate immune system activation. METHODS:
      Upon emergency department admission, peripheral blood samples were obtained from
      43 patients experiencing acute ischaemic stroke and 20 patients identified as
      stroke mimics. Plasma cfDNA levels were measured using quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction (qPCR), infarct volume and NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) were used to
      assess injury severity, and peripheral blood neutrophil count was used as a
      measure of innate immune system status. RESULTS: Peripheral blood cfDNA levels
      were significantly elevated in patients suffering stroke relative to those
      diagnosed as stroke mimics, and could differentiate between groups with 86% (95%
      CI = 72-95%) sensitivity and 75% (95% CI = 51-91%) specificity. Furthermore,
      cfDNA levels displayed significant positive associations between both infarct
      volume and peripheral blood neutrophil count within the stroke group.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that assessment of peripheral blood cfDNA
      levels may be useful for the identification of ischaemic stroke in the acute care
      setting, and provide associative evidence that cfDNA is a potential activator of
      the peripheral innate immune system in response to cerebral ischaemia.

PMID- 28585901
TI  - Correction to: Biomechanical Response of the Infant Head to Shaking: An
      Experimental Investigation; DOI: 10.1089/neu.2016.4687.

PMID- 28585900
TI  - Strategies for the screening of antibiotic residues in eggs: comparison of the
      validation of the classical microbiological method with an immunobiosensor
      method.
AB  - Efficient screening methods are needed to control antibiotic residues in eggs. A
      microbiological kit (Explorer(r) 2.0 test (Zeu Inmunotech, Spain)) and an
      immunobiosensor kit (Microarray II (AM(r) II) on Evidence InvestigatorTM system
      (Randox, UK)) have been evaluated and validated for screening of antibiotic
      residues in eggs, according to the European decision EC/2002/657 and to the
      European guideline for the validation of screening methods. The e-readerTM
      system, a new automatic incubator/reading system, was coupled to the Explorer 2.0
      test. The AM II kit can detect residues of six different families of antibiotics
      in different matrices including eggs. For both tests, a different liquid/liquid
      extraction of eggs had to be developed. Specificities of the Explorer 2.0 and AM
      II kit were equal to 8% and 0% respectively. The detection capabilities were
      determined for 19 antibiotics, with representatives from different families, for
      Explorer 2.0 and 12 antibiotics for the AM II kit. For the nine antibiotics
      having a maximum residue limit (MRL) in eggs, the detection capabilities CCbeta
      of Explorer 2.0 were below the MRL for four antibiotics, equal to the MRL for two
      antibiotics and between 1 and 1.5 MRLs for the three remaining antibiotics
      (tetracyclines). For the antibiotics from other families, the detection
      capabilities were low for beta-lactams and sulfonamides and satisfactory for
      dihydrostreptomycin (DHS) and fluoroquinolones, which are usually difficult to
      detect with microbiological tests. The CCbeta values of the AM II kit were much
      lower than the respective MRLs for three detected antibiotics (tetracycline,
      oxytetracycline, tylosin). Concerning the nine other antibiotics, the detection
      capabilities determined were low. The highest CCbeta was obtained for
      streptomycin (100 ug kg-1).

PMID- 28585899
TI  - Cognitive functions: evaluation and changes after transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation in elderly patients.
AB  - AIM: To assess the prevalence and postprocedural evolution of cognitive
      impairment (CI) in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
      METHODS: 62 patients were enrolled. Mini Mental state examination (MMSE), verbal
      memory test (VMT), visual search test (VST) and phonemic verbal fluency (PVF)
      were used to evaluate the cognitive status. CI was considered when a pathological
      result of MMSE was confirmed by VMT, VST and PVF. RESULTS: A total of 26.2%
      patients had CI at baseline. MMSE, VMT, VST and PVF were pathologic in 39, 16.1,
      8.1 and 22.6% of the patients, respectively. Overall, no significant differences
      in cognitive function in any dimension were observed from baseline up to 1-year
      follow-up. CONCLUSION: CI is frequent in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic
      valve implantation, though the procedure does not forge cognitive status.

PMID- 28585902
TI  - Negotiating between individual and joint goals in ensemble musical performance.
AB  - Successful joint action requires negotiation, especially in the event of goal
      incongruence. This article addresses goal incongruence in joint musical
      performance by manipulating the congruence of score instructions
      (congruent/incongruent) regarding tempo (speed) and dynamics (sound intensity)
      given to piano duos. The aim is to investigate how co-performers negotiate
      incongruent instructions for tempo and dynamics by balancing the prioritisation
      of individual goals versus the joint outcome and how this negotiation is
      modulated by musical expertise and personality (locus of control). In total, 14
      pairs of pianists, who were not informed of the congruence manipulation, were
      placed back-to-back and were directed to achieve a successful performance over
      four repeated performances without verbal communication. Interpersonal
      coordination generally improved from the first to final performance in the
      congruent and incongruent conditions for both the tempo and dynamics tasks.
      Furthermore, in incongruent conditions, results suggest that performers
      prioritise the joint performance in the tempo task, but prioritise their own
      performance in the dynamics task. Although individual performance appears to be
      modulated by musical expertise, the balance of individual/joint performance
      across the duo is not influenced by musical part (melody vs accompaniment),
      expressive instruction, musical expertise or locus of control.

PMID- 28585904
TI  - Egyptian experience in increasing utilization of reperfusion therapies in acute
      ischemic stroke.
AB  - Background The rate of alteplase (tPA) thrombolysis utilization in acute stroke
      in Egypt is <1%. We report on the causes of this low rate of reperfusion
      therapies and take corrective action to improve it. Methods Two prospective
      observational studies were conducted at Ain Shams University hospitals. The first
      included 269 acute stroke patients admitted to the hospital over a six-month
      period. Obstacles to reperfusion therapy were identified, and based on the
      results, a corrective action plan was implemented including making alteplase(tPA)
      available, training, and establishing a standardized local protocol for
      reperfusion therapy. A second study was then conducted that included 284 acute
      ischemic stroke patients over another six-month period. Results In the first
      study, 53/269 patients (19.7%) arrived at hospital within 4.5 h and were eligible
      for reperfusion therapy. Of those, seven (13.2%) received alteplase(tPA),
      representing 2.6% of the total ischemic stroke patients admitted. The main causes
      for not giving thrombolytic therapy was unavailability of alteplase(tPA) (56.5%),
      wrong treatment decision (17.4%), missed window while performing brain imaging
      (15%), and unavailability of intermediate care bed (10.9%). The second study
      showed that out of 284 cases admitted with acute ischemic stroke, 37 were
      eligible for thrombolysis and 35 received alteplase(tPA) (94.3%), representing
      12.3% of the total ischemic stroke admissions. Conclusion A comprehensive action
      plan that centers around making the drug available and training resulted in a
      significant improvement of reperfusion therapy utilization in Egypt.

PMID- 28585903
TI  - Dabigatran following acute transient ischemic attack and minor stroke II (DATAS
      II).
AB  - Rationale Patients with transient ischemic attack or minor stroke are at high
      risk of early recurrent cerebrovascular events. Anticoagulation with heparin or
      warfarin acutely after ischemic stroke is at least as efficacious as aspirin for
      preventing recurrent events but is associated with an increased risk of clinical
      worsening due to hemorrhagic transformation. Aim and hypothesis We aim to
      demonstrate the safety of early anticoagulation with dabigatran, an oral direct
      thrombin inhibitor, in acute cerebrovascular syndrome patients. The primary
      hypothesis is that symptomatic hemorrhagic transformation rates in dabigatran and
      aspirin-treated patients will be similar. Sample size estimates At least 136
      participants in two groups required to demonstrate an absolute between-group
      difference in the rate of hemorrhagic transformation of 5.6% with 80% power,
      assuming alpha = 5%. Methods and design A randomized, multicenter open-label
      clinical trial (NCT02295826). Three-hundred participants with a transient
      ischemic attack/ischemic stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale <= 9)
      will undergo magnetic resonance imaging within 72 h of symptom onset and will be
      randomized to aspirin 81 mg daily or dabigatran 150 mg twice daily for 30 days.
      Participants undergo repeat magnetic resonance imaging at 30 days and clinical
      assessment to 90 days. Study outcomes The primary outcome is the symptomatic
      hemorrhagic transformation rate. Secondary outcomes include recurrent stroke and
      new ischemic lesions on repeat magnetic resonance imaging. Discussion This study
      will determine the safety of early anticoagulation with dabigatran in patients
      with acute transient ischemic attack/ischemic stroke and will inform the design
      of a phase III randomized trial aimed at demonstrating reduced recurrent early
      ischemic events after acute transient ischemic attack/stroke.

PMID- 28585905
TI  - Polyphenols from flowers of Magnolia coco and their anti-glycation effects.
AB  - We investigated the inhibitory effects of several plant extracts on advanced
      glycation end-products (AGEs) formation. Among tested samples, the flower extract
      of Magnolia coco showed significant inhibition of AGE formation. We isolated and
      characterized procyanidin oligomer and four other compounds from the flowers, and
      evaluated their inhibitory effects on AGE formation and the AGE-derived crosslink
      cleaving activity of the isolated compounds.

PMID- 28585907
TI  - Correction to: J Endourol 2017;31:461-467.

PMID- 28585906
TI  - Elevation of plasma oncostatin M in heart failure.
AB  - AIM: Oncostatin M (OSM) is an inflammatory cytokine of the gp130 family. OSM
      could participate in adverse cardiovascular remodeling through regulation of
      FGF23. MATERIALS & METHODS: OSM levels were determined in 80 heart failure
      patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF). RESULTS: OSM
      levels are significantly increased in HFrEF patients compared with healthy
      subjects. We have also demonstrated that, in HFrEF patients, plasma OSM levels
      are correlated to parathyroid hormone PTH(1-84) and 1,25(OH)2D, two other
      biomarkers related to bone and mineral metabolism and associated to adverse
      cardiovascular outcomes. CONCLUSION: OSM concentrations are elevated in HFrEF
      patients and could interplay with parathyroid hormone and vitamin D impacting
      cardiovascular function. Nevertheless, the prognostic value of OSM testing
      appears limited.

PMID- 28585909
TI  - Agreement analysis comparing iPad LCVA and Sloan testing in multiple sclerosis
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Visual symptoms are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). Low-contrast
      visual acuity (LCVA) testing using Sloan charts has demonstrated increased
      sensitivity for visual deficits compared to high-contrast acuity testing.
      Computerized testing of visual acuity may facilitate use in the clinic setting.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the agreement between an iPad-based and Sloan testing of
      LCVA in a cohort of MS patients. METHODS: A total of 38 patients with relapsing
      remitting MS were enrolled after providing informed written consent at Partners
      MS Center, Brigham and Women's hospital. Monocular LCVA was measured using
      retroilluminated Sloan chart and iPad-based LogMAR chart. Number of correct
      letters and agreement between two measurements were assessed for each eye using
      Bland-Altman analysis and paired t-test. RESULTS: For both eyes, there was no
      significant difference in number correct between the two measurements using a
      paired t-test, and there was high correlation between two measurements (oculus
      dextrus (OD) r = 0.89, p < 0.001; oculus sinister (OS) r = 0.78, p < 0.001). The
      limits of agreement were -7.9 to +8.5 letters for the right eye and -10.9 to
      +11.2 letters for the left eye. CONCLUSION: An iPad-based LCVA test shows good
      agreement with Sloan testing in MS patients.

PMID- 28585908
TI  - Tuning the specificity of a Two-in-One Fab against three angiogenic antigens by
      fully utilizing the information of deep mutational scanning.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies developed for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes need to
      demonstrate highly defined binding specificity profiles. Engineering of an
      antibody to enhance or reduce binding to related antigens is often needed to
      achieve the desired biologic activity without safety concern. Here, we describe a
      deep sequencing-aided engineering strategy to fine-tune the specificity of an
      angiopoietin-2 (Ang2)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) dual action Fab,
      5A12.1 for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. This antibody
      utilizes overlapping complementarity-determining region (CDR) sites for dual
      Ang2/VEGF interaction with KD in the sub-nanomolar range. However, it also
      exhibits significant (KD of 4 nM) binding to angiopoietin-1, which has high
      sequence identity with Ang2. We generated a large phage-displayed library of
      5A12.1 Fab variants with all possible single mutations in the 6 CDRs. By tracking
      the change of prevalence of each mutation during various selection conditions, we
      identified 35 mutations predicted to decrease the affinity for Ang1 while
      maintaining the affinity for Ang2 and VEGF. We confirmed the specificity profiles
      for 25 of these single mutations as Fab protein. Structural analysis showed that
      some of the Fab mutations cluster near a potential Ang1/2 epitope residue that
      differs in the 2 proteins, while others are up to 15 A away from the antigen
      binding site and likely influence the binding interaction remotely. The approach
      presented here provides a robust and efficient method for specificity engineering
      that does not require prior knowledge of the antigen antibody interaction and can
      be broadly applied to antibody specificity engineering projects.

PMID- 28585910
TI  - CXC Chemokine Receptor Type 4 Antagonism Ameliorated Allograft Fibrosis in Rat
      Kidney Transplant Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In this study, we evaluated the effects of CXC chemokine receptor
      type 4 and stromal cell-derived factor 1 signaling in the progression of chronic
      allograft nephropathy in a rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental rats
      were divided into 3 groups: Lewis-to-Lewis isograft transplant (group A), Fisher
      344 rat-to-Lewis allograft transplant with immunosuppressant cyclosporine (group
      B), and Fisher 344 rat-to-Lewis allograft transplant treated with cyclosporine
      and the CXC chemokine receptor type 4 antagonist AMD3100 (1 mg/kg/d) (group C).
      On day 90 after the operation, renal graft function, proteinuria, and histologic
      Banff score were measured. The expression levels of transforming growth factor
      beta1 and collagen IV were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. RESULTS: Renal function and urinary protein were increased in
      allografts of groups B and C compared with isografts of group A. The Banff score
      was significantly decreased in the AMD3100-treated animals (group C), with renal
      fibrosis being reduced. In addition, overexpressed levels of transforming growth
      factor beta1 and collagen IV in group B allografts were significantly reduced
      versus that shown with treatment with the CXC chemokine receptor type 4
      antagonist in group C. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data strongly implicate that
      CXC chemokine receptor type 4 antagonism alleviated renal interstitial fibrosis
      in long-term surviving allografts by down-regulating expression of transforming
      growth factor beta1.

PMID- 28585911
TI  - Transplant of Hepatocytes, Undifferentiated Mesenchymal Stem Cells, and In Vitro
      Hepatocyte-Differentiated Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Chronic Liver Failure
      Experimental Model: A Comparative Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Liver transplant is the cornerstone line of treatment for chronic
      liver diseases; however, the long list of complications and obstacles stand
      against this operation. Searching for new modalities for treatment of chronic
      liver illness is a must. In the present research, we aimed to compare the effects
      of transplant of undifferentiated human mesenchymal stem cells, in vitro
      differentiated mesenchymal stem cells, and adult hepatocytes in an experimental
      model of chronic liver failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Undifferentiated human
      cord blood mesenchymal stem cells were isolated, pro-pagated, and characterized
      by morphology, gene expression analysis, and flow cytometry of surface markers
      and in vitro differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells. Rat hepatocytes were
      isolated by double perfusion technique. An animal model of chronic liver failure
      was developed, and undifferentiated human cord blood mesenchymal stem cells, in
      vitro hepato-genically differentiated mesenchymal stem cells, or freshly isolated
      rat hepatocytes were transplanted into a CCL4 cirrhotic experimental model.
      Animals were killed 3 months after transplant, and liver functions and
      histopathology were assessed. RESULTS: Compared with the cirrhotic control group,
      the 3 cell-treated groups showed improved alanine aminotransferase, aspartate
      aminotransferase, albumin, and bilirubin levels, with best results shown in the
      hepatocyte-treated group. Histopathologic examination of the treated groups
      showed improved fibrosis, with best results obtained in the undifferentiated
      mesenchymal stem cell-treated group. CONCLUSIONS: Both adult hepatocytes and cord
      blood mesenchymal stem cells proved to be promising candidates for cell-based
      therapy in liver regeneration on an experimental level. Improved liver function
      was evident in the hepatocyte-treated group, and fibrosis control was more
      evident in the undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cell-treated group.

PMID- 28585913
TI  - A Case of Recurrent Pneumoperitoneum and Pneumatosis Intestinalis After Bilateral
      Lung Transplant.
AB  - We report a case of a 60-year-old male patient with recurrent episodes of free
      gas in the peritoneal and the retroperitoneal cavities as well as pneumatosis
      intestinalis 3 months after bilateral lung transplant. Interestingly, despite
      staged laparotomy within the scope of the first episode, no cause for free gas
      could be found. In a second episode of symptomatically pneumatosis, a
      conservative treatment with metro_nidazole was performed successfully. Despite
      several case reports on patients with pneumatosis intestinalis after lung
      transplant, an effective treatment strategy has not yet been proposed.

PMID- 28585912
TI  - Anti-HLA Antibodies Testing on Solid Phase: Comparative Evaluation of Different
      Kit Vendors Through Luminex Technology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: For decades, the detection of anti-HLA antibodies in candidates for
      solid-organ transplant has been performed with the traditional complement
      dependent cytotoxicity method; this assay has been then integrated with the
      introduction of solid-phase assays. Over the past 20 years, the Luminex assay has
      become the most widely used in clinical laboratories due to both increased
      sensitivity and specificity versus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. However,
      even the Luminex technique has shown some critical issues, and choosing the most
      reliable method still remains challenging. In this study, we verified the
      concordance of the results obtained in detecting anti-HLA antibodies with 2 kit
      vendors that provide reagents for the Luminex platform. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      used 314 serum samples from patients on wait lists for solid-organ transplant.
      Sera were tested with LABScreen Mixed-LSM12 (One Lambda-Thermo Fisher, Canoga
      Park, CA, USA) and LIFECODES LifeScreen Deluxe-LMX (Gen-Probe-Immucor, Stanford,
      CT, USA),which we indicated as vendor A and vendor B, respectively. Anti-HLA
      class I and class II antibody analyses were conducted by verifying the
      concordance of the results with Cohen kappa coefficient statistics and confidence
      interval. RESULTS: The kappa coefficient statistics showed "substantial"
      reliability for class I (0.61; confidence interval, 0.50-0.73) and "moderate"
      reliability for class II (0.56; confidence interval, 0.43-0.69). There were no
      considerable differences in results between the 2 kits regarding overall
      assignment of negativity or positivity of a sample. Discordant data between
      positive values for a test and negative for the other were found for samples with
      weak antibody positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Some discordant data were probably
      attributable to several factors such as the composition of the kits, the antibody
      titer in the serum, whether sera were diluted, different washing methods, and
      type of plate used.

PMID- 28585914
TI  - Glutathione S-Transferase Gene Polymorphisms and the Development of New-Onset
      Diabetes After Liver Transplant.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The association between the glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms
      and the development of new-onset diabetes mellitus after liver transplant was
      studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 106
      liver transplant patients divided into 2 groups: 52 with new-onset diabetes
      mellitus and 54 without new-onset diabetes mellitus; 169 healthy individuals with
      no clinical evidence of diabetes mellitus were selected as a control group. The
      multiplex polymerase chain reaction technique was used for genotyping GSTM1 and
      GSTT1 genes, using the cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1
      (CYP1A1) gene as an internal control. The genotype of GSTP1 was determined using
      the restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction technique.
      RESULTS: The frequency of both GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null genotypes was not
      significantly different in liver transplant patients with new-onset diabetes
      mellitus compared with the control group (P = .11 for GSTM1; P = .71 for GSTT1).
      Also, there was no statistically significant association between the frequency of
      the GSTP1 genotypes in the liver transplant patients with new-onset diabetes
      mellitus compared with controls. Neither GSTM1 nor GSTT1 null genotypes were
      associated with the risk of developing new-onset diabetes mellitus (P = .22 for
      GSTM1; P = .56 for GSTT1). However, the frequency of the heterozygous mutation
      (AG) in the A313G GSTP1 polymorphism in patients with new-onset diabetes mellitus
      was significantly higher than in patients without new-onset diabetes mellitus
      (55.8% vs 7.4%; P = .00). Thus, the risk of developing new-onset diabetes
      mellitus was significantly higher in patients presenting with heterozygous GSTP1
      genotypes (odds ratio = 15.76; 95% confidence interval = 4.53-60.28; P = .00).
      CONCLUSIONS: The GSTP1 AG genotype was associated with an increased
      susceptibility to the development of new-onset diabetes mellitus after liver
      transplant.

PMID- 28585915
TI  - Hemodynamic Changes Are Predictive of Coagulopathic Hemorrhage After Living Donor
      Liver Transplant.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to evaluate the predictors of coagulopathic hemorrhage
      after living-donor liver transplant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively
      evaluated 161 patients who had undergone living-donor liver transplant from July
      2005 to April 2014 at a single medical institution. Of these patients, 32
      developed hemorrhage after transplant. Patients were separated into those with
      coagulopathy-related hemorrhage (n=15) or noncoagulopathy-related hemorrhage
      (n=17) based on the results of computed tomography images. Predictors of
      hemorrhage after living-donor liver transplant evaluated in this study included
      preoperative, perioperative, and posttransplant factors and hemodynamic status.
      RESULTS: Patients who developed coagulopathy-related hemorrhage had significantly
      lower pretransplant platelet counts (P = .040), a longer cold-ischemia time (P =
      .045), more blood loss (P = .040), and earlier onset of hemorrhage (P = .048)
      than patients who had noncoagulopathy-related hemorrhage after transplant.
      Results of the generalized estimating equation analysis showed that heart rate
      and central venous pressure differed significantly between the 2 groups of
      patients. Heart rates increased significantly during hemorrhage (P < .010).
      Central venous pressure was higher in the coagulopathic group (P = .005) than in
      the noncoagulopathic group. CONCLUSIONS: Lower pretransplant platelet counts,
      longer cold ischemia time, more blood loss, earlier onset of hemorrhage, and
      higher central venous pressure level are indicators of coagulopathic hemorrhage
      after living-donor liver transplant.

PMID- 28585916
TI  - MERS-CoV Antibody Responses 1 Year after Symptom Onset, South Korea, 2015.
AB  - We investigated the kinetics of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
      (MERS-CoV) neutralizing and spike protein antibody titers over the course of 1
      year in 11 patients who were confirmed by reverse transcription PCR to have been
      infected during the outbreak in South Korea in 2015. Robust antibody responses
      were detected in all survivors who had severe disease; responses remained
      detectable, albeit with some waning, for <1 year. The duration of viral RNA
      detection (but not viral load) in sputum significantly correlated with the
      antibody response magnitude. The MERS S1 ELISA antibody titers correlated well
      with the neutralizing antibody response. Antibody titers in 4 of 6 patients who
      had mild illness were undetectable even though most had evidence of pneumonia.
      This finding implies that MERS-CoV seroepidemiologic studies markedly
      underestimate the extent of mild and asymptomatic infection. Obtaining
      convalescent-phase plasma with high antibody titers to treat MERS will be
      challenging.

PMID- 28585917
TI  - Recombinant GII.P16-GII.2 Norovirus, Taiwan, 2016.
AB  - In Taiwan, acute gastroenteritis outbreaks caused by a new norovirus genotype
      GII.2 increased sharply toward the end of 2016. Unlike previous outbreaks, which
      often involved restaurants, GII.2 outbreaks mainly occurred in schools.
      Phylogenetic analysis indicates that these noroviruses are recombinant GII.P16
      GII.2 strains.

PMID- 28585918
TI  - Crosstalk within a functional INO80 complex dimer regulates nucleosome sliding.
AB  - Several chromatin remodellers have the ability to space nucleosomes on DNA. For
      ISWI remodellers, this involves an interplay between H4 histone tails, the AutoN
      and NegC motifs of the motor domains that together regulate ATPase activity and
      sense the length of DNA flanking the nucleosome. By contrast, the INO80 complex
      also spaces nucleosomes but is not regulated by H4 tails and lacks the AutoN and
      NegC motifs. Instead nucleosome sliding requires cooperativity between two INO80
      complexes that monitor DNA length simultaneously on either side of the nucleosome
      during sliding. The C-terminal domain of the human Ino80 subunit (Ino80CTD) binds
      cooperatively to DNA and dimerisation of these domains provides crosstalk between
      complexes. ATPase activity, rather than being regulated, instead gradually
      becomes uncoupled as nucleosome sliding reaches an end point and this is
      controlled by the Ino80CTD. A single active ATPase motor within the dimer is
      sufficient for sliding.

PMID- 28585921
TI  - Detection of lung cancer in exhaled breath with an electronic nose using support
      vector machine analysis.
AB  - Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies and has a low 5-year survival
      rate. There are no cheap, simple and widely available screening methods for the
      early diagnostics of lung cancer. The aim of this study was to determine whether
      analysis of exhaled breath with an artificial olfactory sensor using support
      vector analysis can differentiate patients with lung cancer from healthy
      individuals and patients with other lung diseases, regardless of the stage of
      lung cancer and the most common comorbidities. Patients with histologically or
      cytologically verified lung cancer, healthy volunteers and patients with other
      lung diseases (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma,
      pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, benign lung tumors) were enrolled in the study.
      Breath sample collection and analysis with a Cyranose 320 sensor device was
      performed and data were further analyzed using a support vector machine (SVM).
      The SVM correctly differentiated between cancer patients and healthy volunteers
      in 98.8% of cases. The cancer versus non-cancer group patients (healthy
      volunteers and patients with other lung diseases) were classified correctly by
      SVM in 87.3% of cases. In the mixed diagnosis groups (only cancer, only COPD,
      cancer + COPD and control) all 79 out of 79 patients were predicted correctly in
      the cancer + COPD group, with the rate of correct prognosis in other patient
      groups being lower. Exhaled breath analysis by electronic nose using a SVM is
      able to discriminate patients with lung cancer from healthy subjects and mixed
      groups of patients with different lung diseases. It can also provide a certain
      level of discrimination between lung cancer patients, lung cancer patients with
      concomitant COPD, COPD alone and a healthy control group.

PMID- 28585919
TI  - Transcriptional networks specifying homeostatic and inflammatory programs of gene
      expression in human aortic endothelial cells.
AB  - Endothelial cells (ECs) are critical determinants of vascular homeostasis and
      inflammation, but transcriptional mechanisms specifying their identities and
      functional states remain poorly understood. Here, we report a genome-wide
      assessment of regulatory landscapes of primary human aortic endothelial cells
      (HAECs) under basal and activated conditions, enabling inference of transcription
      factor networks that direct homeostatic and pro-inflammatory programs. We
      demonstrate that 43% of detected enhancers are EC-specific and contain SNPs
      associated to cardiovascular disease and hypertension. We provide evidence that
      AP1, ETS, and GATA transcription factors play key roles in HAEC transcription by
      co-binding enhancers associated with EC-specific genes. We further demonstrate
      that exposure of HAECs to oxidized phospholipids or pro-inflammatory cytokines
      results in signal-specific alterations in enhancer landscapes and associate with
      coordinated binding of CEBPD, IRF1, and NFkappaB. Collectively, these findings
      identify cis-regulatory elements and corresponding trans-acting factors that
      contribute to EC identity and their specific responses to pro-inflammatory
      stimuli.

PMID- 28585922
TI  - Information loss.
AB  - The complete gravitational collapse of a body in general relativity will result
      in the formation of a black hole. Although the black hole is classically stable,
      quantum particle creation processes will result in the emission of Hawking
      radiation to infinity and corresponding mass loss of the black hole, eventually
      resulting in the complete evaporation of the black hole. Semiclassical arguments
      strongly suggest that, in the process of black hole formation and evaporation, a
      pure quantum state will evolve to a mixed state, i.e. there will be 'information
      loss'. There has been considerable controversy over this issue for more than 40
      years. In this review, we present the arguments in favor of information loss, and
      analyze some of the counter-arguments and alternative possibilities.

PMID- 28585920
TI  - Palaeogenomes of Eurasian straight-tusked elephants challenge the current view of
      elephant evolution.
AB  - The straight-tusked elephants Palaeoloxodon spp. were widespread across Eurasia
      during the Pleistocene. Phylogenetic reconstructions using morphological traits
      have grouped them with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), and many
      paleontologists place Palaeoloxodon within Elephas. Here, we report the recovery
      of full mitochondrial genomes from four and partial nuclear genomes from two P.
      antiquus fossils. These fossils were collected at two sites in Germany, Neumark
      Nord and Weimar-Ehringsdorf, and likely date to interglacial periods ~120 and
      ~244 thousand years ago, respectively. Unexpectedly, nuclear and mitochondrial
      DNA analyses suggest that P. antiquus was a close relative of extant African
      forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). Species previously referred to
      Palaeoloxodon are thus most parsimoniously explained as having diverged from the
      lineage of Loxodonta, indicating that Loxodonta has not been constrained to
      Africa. Our results demonstrate that the current picture of elephant evolution is
      in need of substantial revision.

PMID- 28585923
TI  - DATS, the data tag suite to enable discoverability of datasets.
AB  - Today's science increasingly requires effective ways to find and access existing
      datasets that are distributed across a range of repositories. For researchers in
      the life sciences, discoverability of datasets may soon become as essential as
      identifying the latest publications via PubMed. Through an international
      collaborative effort funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s Big Data
      to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative, we have designed and implemented the DAta Tag
      Suite (DATS) model to support the DataMed data discovery index. DataMed's goal is
      to be for data what PubMed has been for the scientific literature. Akin to the
      Journal Article Tag Suite (JATS) used in PubMed, the DATS model enables
      submission of metadata on datasets to DataMed. DATS has a core set of elements,
      which are generic and applicable to any type of dataset, and an extended set that
      can accommodate more specialized data types. DATS is a platform-independent model
      also available as an annotated serialization in schema.org, which in turn is
      widely used by major search engines like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Yandex.

PMID- 28585924
TI  - Understanding the origin of Paris Agreement emission uncertainties.
AB  - The UN Paris Agreement puts in place a legally binding mechanism to increase
      mitigation action over time. Countries put forward pledges called nationally
      determined contributions (NDC) whose impact is assessed in global stocktaking
      exercises. Subsequently, actions can then be strengthened in light of the Paris
      climate objective: limiting global mean temperature increase to well below 2 
      degrees C and pursuing efforts to limit it further to 1.5  degrees C. However,
      pledged actions are currently described ambiguously and this complicates the
      global stocktaking exercise. Here, we systematically explore possible
      interpretations of NDC assumptions, and show that this results in estimated
      emissions for 2030 ranging from 47 to 63 GtCO2e yr-1. We show that this
      uncertainty has critical implications for the feasibility and cost to limit
      warming well below 2  degrees C and further to 1.5  degrees C. Countries are
      currently working towards clarifying the modalities of future NDCs. We identify
      salient avenues to reduce the overall uncertainty by about 10 percentage points
      through simple, technical clarifications regarding energy accounting rules.
      Remaining uncertainties depend to a large extent on politically valid choices
      about how NDCs are expressed, and therefore raise the importance of a thorough
      and robust process that keeps track of where emissions are heading over time.

PMID- 28585926
TI  - A monthly global paleo-reanalysis of the atmosphere from 1600 to 2005 for
      studying past climatic variations.
AB  - Climatic variations at decadal scales such as phases of accelerated warming or
      weak monsoons have profound effects on society and economy. Studying these
      variations requires insights from the past. However, most current reconstructions
      provide either time series or fields of regional surface climate, which limit our
      understanding of the underlying dynamics. Here, we present the first monthly
      paleo-reanalysis covering the period 1600 to 2005. Over land, instrumental
      temperature and surface pressure observations, temperature indices derived from
      historical documents and climate sensitive tree-ring measurements were
      assimilated into an atmospheric general circulation model ensemble using a Kalman
      filtering technique. This data set combines the advantage of traditional
      reconstruction methods of being as close as possible to observations with the
      advantage of climate models of being physically consistent and having 3
      dimensional information about the state of the atmosphere for various variables
      and at all points in time. In contrast to most statistical reconstructions,
      centennial variability stems from the climate model and its forcings, no
      stationarity assumptions are made and error estimates are provided.

PMID- 28585925
TI  - Conserved linear dynamics of single-molecule Brownian motion.
AB  - Macromolecular diffusion in homogeneous fluid at length scales greater than the
      size of the molecule is regarded as a random process. The mean-squared
      displacement (MSD) of molecules in this regime increases linearly with time. Here
      we show that non-random motion of DNA molecules in this regime that is
      undetectable by the MSD analysis can be quantified by characterizing the
      molecular motion relative to a latticed frame of reference. Our lattice occupancy
      analysis reveals unexpected sub-modes of motion of DNA that deviate from expected
      random motion in the linear, diffusive regime. We demonstrate that a subtle
      interplay between these sub-modes causes the overall diffusive motion of DNA to
      appear to conform to the linear regime. Our results show that apparently random
      motion of macromolecules could be governed by non-random dynamics that are
      detectable only by their relative motion. Our analytical approach should advance
      broad understanding of diffusion processes of fundamental relevance.

PMID- 28585927
TI  - Extreme temperatures in Southeast Asia caused by El Nino and worsened by global
      warming.
AB  - In April 2016, southeast Asia experienced surface air temperatures (SATs) that
      surpassed national records, exacerbated energy consumption, disrupted agriculture
      and caused severe human discomfort. Here we show using observations and an
      ensemble of global warming simulations the combined impact of the El
      Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and long-term warming on regional SAT
      extremes. We find a robust relationship between ENSO and southeast Asian SATs
      wherein virtually all April extremes occur during El Nino years. We then quantify
      the relative contributions of long-term warming and the 2015-16 El Nino to the
      extreme April 2016 SATs. The results indicate that global warming increases the
      likelihood of record-breaking April extremes where we estimate that 29% of the
      2016 anomaly was caused by warming and 49% by El Nino. These post-Nino Aprils can
      potentially be anticipated a few months in advance, and thus, help societies
      prepare for the projected continued increases in extremes.

PMID- 28585929
TI  - Association between the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and verbal
      learning in older adults is moderated by gender.
AB  - The S allele of the functional 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has previously been
      associated with reductions in memory function. Given the change in function of
      the serotonergic system in older adults, and the functional consequences of
      memory decline in this age group, further investigation into the impact of 5
      HTTLPR in healthy older adults is required. This investigation examined the
      effect of 5-HTTLPR variants (S carriers versus L/L homozygotes) on verbal and
      visual episodic memory in 438 healthy older adults participating in the Tasmanian
      Healthy Brain Project (age range 50-79 years, M=60.35, s.d.=6.75). Direct effects
      of 5-HTTLPR on memory processes, in addition to indirect effects through
      interaction with age and gender, were assessed. Although no direct effects of 5
      HTTLPR on memory processes were identified, our results indicated that gender
      significantly moderated the impact that 5-HTTLPR variants exerted on the
      relationship between age and verbal episodic memory function as assessed by the
      Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. No significant direct or indirect effects were
      identified in relation to visual memory performance. Overall, this investigation
      found evidence to suggest that 5-HTTLPR genotype affects the association of age
      and verbal episodic memory for males and females differently, with the predicted
      negative effect of S carriage present in males but not females. Such findings
      indicate a gender-dependent role for 5-HTTLPR in the verbal episodic memory
      system of healthy older adults.

PMID- 28585928
TI  - Predicting attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder severity from psychosocial
      stress and stress-response genes: a random forest regression approach.
AB  - Identifying genetic variants contributing to attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) is complicated by the involvement of numerous common genetic
      variants with small effects, interacting with each other as well as with
      environmental factors, such as stress exposure. Random forest regression is well
      suited to explore this complexity, as it allows for the analysis of many
      predictors simultaneously, taking into account any higher-order interactions
      among them. Using random forest regression, we predicted ADHD severity, measured
      by Conners' Parent Rating Scales, from 686 adolescents and young adults (of which
      281 were diagnosed with ADHD). The analysis included 17 374 single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) across 29 genes previously linked to hypothalamic-pituitary
      adrenal (HPA) axis activity, together with information on exposure to 24
      individual long-term difficulties or stressful life events. The model explained
      12.5% of variance in ADHD severity. The most important SNP, which also showed the
      strongest interaction with stress exposure, was located in a region regulating
      the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). Other high-ranking
      SNPs were found in or near NPSR1, ESR1, GABRA6, PER3, NR3C2 and DRD4. Chronic
      stressors were more influential than single, severe, life events. Top hits were
      partly shared with conduct problems. We conclude that random forest regression
      may be used to investigate how multiple genetic and environmental factors jointly
      contribute to ADHD. It is able to implicate novel SNPs of interest, interacting
      with stress exposure, and may explain inconsistent findings in ADHD genetics.
      This exploratory approach may be best combined with more hypothesis-driven
      research; top predictors and their interactions with one another should be
      replicated in independent samples.

PMID- 28585930
TI  - Large normal-range TBP and ATXN7 CAG repeat lengths are associated with increased
      lifetime risk of depression.
AB  - Depression is one of the most prevalent and debilitating psychiatric disorders
      worldwide. Recently, we showed that both relatively short and relatively long
      cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats in the huntingtin gene (HTT) are
      associated with an increased risk of lifetime depression. However, to what extent
      the variations in CAG repeat length in the other eight polyglutamine disease
      associated genes (PDAGs) are associated with depression is still unknown. We
      determined the CAG repeat sizes of ATXN1, ATXN2, ATXN3, CACNA1A, ATXN7, TBP, ATN1
      and AR in two well-characterized Dutch cohorts-the Netherlands Study of
      Depression and Anxiety and the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons
      including 2165 depressed and 1058 non-depressed individuals-aged 18-93 years. The
      association between PDAG CAG repeat size and the risk for depression was assessed
      via binary logistic regression. We found that the odds ratio (OR) for lifetime
      depression was significantly higher for individuals with >10, compared with
      subjects with <=10, CAG repeats in both ATXN7 alleles (OR=1.90, confidence
      interval (CI) 1.26-2.85). For TBP we found a similar association: A CAG repeat
      length exceeding the median in both alleles was associated with an increased risk
      for lifetime depression (OR=1.33, CI 1.00-1.76). In conclusion, we observed that
      carriers of either ATXN7 or TBP alleles with relatively large CAG repeat sizes in
      both alleles had a substantially increased risk of lifetime depression. Our
      findings provide critical evidence for the notion that repeat polymorphisms can
      act as complex genetic modifiers of depression.

PMID- 28585931
TI  - The modulation of adult neuroplasticity is involved in the mood-improving actions
      of atypical antipsychotics in an animal model of depression.
AB  - Depression is a prevalent psychiatric disorder with an increasing impact in
      global public health. However, a large proportion of patients treated with
      currently available antidepressant drugs fail to achieve remission. Recently,
      antipsychotic drugs have received approval for the treatment of antidepressant
      resistant forms of major depression. The modulation of adult neuroplasticity,
      namely hippocampal neurogenesis and neuronal remodeling, has been considered to
      have a key role in the therapeutic effects of antidepressants. However, the
      impact of antipsychotic drugs on these neuroplastic mechanisms remains largely
      unexplored. In this study, an unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol was used
      to induce a depressive-like phenotype in rats. In the last 3 weeks of stress
      exposure, animals were treated with two different antipsychotics: haloperidol (a
      classical antipsychotic) and clozapine (an atypical antipsychotic). We
      demonstrated that clozapine improved both measures of depressive-like behavior
      (behavior despair and anhedonia), whereas haloperidol aggravated learned
      helplessness in the forced-swimming test and behavior flexibility in a cognitive
      task. Importantly, an upregulation of adult neurogenesis and neuronal survival
      was observed in animals treated with clozapine, whereas haloperidol promoted a
      downregulation of these processes. Furthermore, clozapine was able to re
      establish the stress-induced impairments in neuronal structure and gene
      expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. These results demonstrate
      the modulation of adult neuroplasticity by antipsychotics in an animal model of
      depression, revealing that the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine reverts the
      behavioral effects of chronic stress by improving adult neurogenesis, cell
      survival and neuronal reorganization.

PMID- 28585932
TI  - Plasma REST: a novel candidate biomarker of Alzheimer's disease is modified by
      psychological intervention in an at-risk population.
AB  - The repressor element 1-silencing transcription (REST) factor is a key regulator
      of the aging brain's stress response. It is reduced in conditions of stress and
      Alzheimer's disease (AD), which suggests that increasing REST may be
      neuroprotective. REST can be measured peripherally in blood plasma. Our study
      aimed to (1) examine plasma REST levels in relation to clinical and biological
      markers of neurodegeneration and (2) alter plasma REST levels through a stress
      reduction intervention-mindfulness training. In study 1, REST levels were
      compared across the following four well-characterized groups: healthy elderly
      (n=65), mild cognitive impairment who remained stable (stable MCI, n=36), MCI who
      later converted to dementia (converter MCI, n=29) and AD (n=65) from the
      AddNeuroMed cohort. REST levels declined with increasing severity of risk and
      impairment (healthy elderly>stable MCI>converter MCI>AD, F=6.35, P<0.001). REST
      levels were also positively associated with magnetic resonance imaging-based
      hippocampal and entorhinal atrophy and other putative blood-based biomarkers of
      AD (Ps<0.05). In study 2, REST was measured in 81 older adults with psychiatric
      risk factors for AD before and after a mindfulness-based stress reduction
      intervention or an education-based placebo intervention. Mindfulness-based
      training caused an increase in REST compared with the placebo intervention
      (F=8.57, P=0.006), and increased REST was associated with a reduction in
      psychiatric symptoms associated with stress and AD risk (Ps<0.02). Our data
      confirm plasma REST associations with clinical severity and neurodegeneration,
      and originally, that REST is modifiable by a psychological intervention with
      clinical benefit.

PMID- 28585933
TI  - Neuroimaging studies of GABA in schizophrenia: a systematic review with meta
      analysis.
AB  - Data from animal models and from postmortem studies suggest that schizophrenia is
      associated with brain GABAergic dysfunction. The extent to which this is
      reflected in data from in vivo studies of GABA function in schizophrenia is
      unclear. The Medline database was searched to identify articles published until
      21 October 2016. The search terms included GABA, proton magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy (1H-MRS), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission
      computed tomography (SPECT), schizophrenia and psychosis. Sixteen GABA 1H-MRS
      studies (538 controls, 526 patients) and seven PET/SPECT studies of
      GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor (GABAA/BZR) availability (118 controls, 113
      patients) were identified. Meta-analyses of 1H-MRS GABA in the medial prefrontal
      cortex (mPFC), parietal/occipital cortex (POC) and striatum did not show
      significant group differences (mFC: g=-0.3, 409 patients, 495 controls, 95%
      confidence interval (CI): -0.6 to 0.1; POC: g=-0.3, 139 patients, 111 controls,
      95% CI: -0.9 to 0.3; striatum: g=-0.004, 123 patients, 95 controls, 95% CI: -0.7
      to 0.7). Heterogeneity across studies was high (I2>50%), and this was not
      explained by subsequent moderator or meta-regression analyses. There were
      insufficient PET/SPECT receptor availability studies for meta-analyses, but a
      systematic review did not suggest replicable group differences in regional
      GABAA/BZR availability. The current literature does not reveal consistent
      alterations in in vivo GABA neuroimaging measures in schizophrenia, as might be
      hypothesized from animal models and postmortem data. The analysis highlights the
      need for further GABA neuroimaging studies with improved methodology and
      addressing potential sources of heterogeneity.

PMID- 28585934
TI  - Crenothrix are major methane consumers in stratified lakes.
AB  - Methane-oxidizing bacteria represent a major biological sink for methane and are
      thus Earth's natural protection against this potent greenhouse gas. Here we show
      that in two stratified freshwater lakes a substantial part of upward-diffusing
      methane was oxidized by filamentous gamma-proteobacteria related to Crenothrix
      polyspora. These filamentous bacteria have been known as contaminants of drinking
      water supplies since 1870, but their role in the environmental methane removal
      has remained unclear. While oxidizing methane, these organisms were assigned an
      'unusual' methane monooxygenase (MMO), which was only distantly related to
      'classical' MMO of gamma-proteobacterial methanotrophs. We now correct this
      assignment and show that Crenothrix encode a typical gamma-proteobacterial PmoA.
      Stable isotope labeling in combination swith single-cell imaging mass
      spectrometry revealed methane-dependent growth of the lacustrine Crenothrix with
      oxygen as well as under oxygen-deficient conditions. Crenothrix genomes encoded
      pathways for the respiration of oxygen as well as for the reduction of nitrate to
      N2O. The observed abundance and planktonic growth of Crenothrix suggest that
      these methanotrophs can act as a relevant biological sink for methane in
      stratified lakes and should be considered in the context of environmental removal
      of methane.

PMID- 28585936
TI  - Letting go: bacterial genome reduction solves the dilemma of adapting to
      predation mortality in a substrate-restricted environment.
AB  - Resource limitation and predation mortality are major determinants of microbial
      population dynamics, and optimization for either aspect is considered to imply a
      trade-off with respect to the other. Adaptation to these selective factors may,
      moreover, lead to disadvantages at rich growth conditions. We present an example
      of a concomitant evolutionary optimization to both, substrate limitation and
      predation in an aggregate-forming freshwater bacterial isolate, and we elucidate
      an underlying genomic mechanism. Bacteria were propagated in serial batch culture
      in a nutrient-restricted environment either with or without a bacterivorous
      flagellate. Strains isolated after 26 growth cycles of the predator-prey co
      cultures formed as much total biomass as the ancestor at ancestral growth
      conditions, albeit largely reallocated to cell aggregates. A ~273 kbp genome
      fragment was lost in three strains that had independently evolved with predators.
      These strains had significantly higher growth yield on substrate-restricted media
      than others that were isolated from the same treatment before the excision event.
      Under predation pressure, the isolates with the deletion outcompeted both, the
      ancestor and the strains evolved without predators even at rich growth
      conditions. At the same time, genome reduction led to a growth disadvantage in
      the presence of benzoate due to the loss of the respective degradation pathway,
      suggesting that niche constriction might be the price for the bidirectional
      optimization.

PMID- 28585935
TI  - Shifts in rhizosphere fungal community during secondary succession following
      abandonment from agriculture.
AB  - Activities of rhizosphere microbes are key to the functioning of terrestrial
      ecosystems. It is commonly believed that bacteria are the major consumers of root
      exudates and that the role of fungi in the rhizosphere is mostly limited to plant
      associated taxa, such as mycorrhizal fungi, pathogens and endophytes, whereas
      less is known about the role of saprotrophs. In order to test the hypothesis that
      the role of saprotrophic fungi in rhizosphere processes increases with increased
      time after abandonment from agriculture, we determined the composition of fungi
      that are active in the rhizosphere along a chronosequence of ex-arable fields in
      the Netherlands. Intact soil cores were collected from nine fields that represent
      three stages of land abandonment and pulse labeled with 13CO2. The fungal
      contribution to metabolization of plant-derived carbon was evaluated using
      phospholipid analysis combined with stable isotope probing (SIP), whereas fungal
      diversity was analyzed using DNA-SIP combined with 454-sequencing. We show that
      in recently abandoned fields most of the root-derived 13C was taken up by
      bacteria but that in long-term abandoned fields most of the root-derived 13C was
      found in fungal biomass. Furthermore, the composition of the active functional
      fungal community changed from one composed of fast-growing and pathogenic fungal
      species to one consisting of beneficial and slower-growing fungal species, which
      may have essential consequences for the carbon flow through the soil food web and
      consequently nutrient cycling and plant succession.

PMID- 28585937
TI  - Nitrogen cost minimization is promoted by structural changes in the transcriptome
      of N-deprived Prochlorococcus cells.
AB  - Prochlorococcus is a globally abundant marine cyanobacterium with many
      adaptations that reduce cellular nutrient requirements, facilitating growth in
      its nutrient-poor environment. One such genomic adaptation is the preferential
      utilization of amino acids containing fewer N-atoms, which minimizes cellular
      nitrogen requirements. We predicted that transcriptional regulation might further
      reduce cellular N budgets during transient N limitation. To explore this, we
      compared transcription start sites (TSSs) in Prochlorococcus MED4 under N
      deprived and N-replete conditions. Of 64 genes with primary and internal TSSs in
      both conditions, N-deprived cells initiated transcription downstream of primary
      TSSs more frequently than N-replete cells. Additionally, 117 genes with only an
      internal TSS demonstrated increased internal transcription under N-deprivation.
      These shortened transcripts encode predicted proteins with an average of 21% less
      N content compared to full-length transcripts. We hypothesized that low
      translation rates, which afford greater control over protein abundances, would be
      beneficial to relatively slow-growing organisms like Prochlorococcus. Consistent
      with this idea, we found that Prochlorococcus exhibits greater usage of glycine
      glycine motifs, which causes translational pausing, when compared to faster
      growing microbes. Our findings indicate that structural changes occur within the
      Prochlorococcus MED4 transcriptome during N-deprivation, potentially altering the
      size and structure of proteins expressed under nutrient limitation.

PMID- 28585938
TI  - Genomics and metagenomics of trimethylamine-utilizing Archaea in the human gut
      microbiome.
AB  - The biological significance of Archaea in the human gut microbiota is largely
      unclear. We recently reported genomic and biochemical analyses of the
      Methanomassiliicoccales, a novel order of methanogenic Archaea dwelling in soil
      and the animal digestive tract. We now show that these Methanomassiliicoccales
      are present in published microbiome data sets from eight countries. They are
      represented by five Operational Taxonomic Units present in at least four cohorts
      and phylogenetically distributed into two clades. Genes for utilizing
      trimethylamine (TMA), a bacterial precursor to an atherosclerogenic human
      metabolite, were present in four of the six novel Methanomassiliicoccales genomes
      assembled from ELDERMET metagenomes. In addition to increased microbiota TMA
      production capacity in long-term residential care subjects, abundance of TMA
      utilizing Methanomassiliicoccales correlated positively with bacterial gene count
      for TMA production and negatively with fecal TMA concentrations. The two large
      Methanomassiliicoccales clades have opposite correlations with host health status
      in the ELDERMET cohort and putative distinct genomic signatures for gut
      adaptation.

PMID- 28585940
TI  - Identifying the core seed bank of a complex boreal bacterial metacommunity.
AB  - Seed banks are believed to contribute to compositional changes within and across
      microbial assemblages, but the application of this concept to natural communities
      remains challenging. Here we describe the core seed bank of a bacterial
      metacommunity from a boreal watershed, using the spatial distribution of
      bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) across 223 heterogeneous
      terrestrial, aquatic and phyllosphere bacterial assemblages. Taxa were considered
      potential seeds if they transitioned from rare to abundant somewhere within the
      metacommunity and if they were ubiquitous and able to persist under unfavorable
      conditions, the latter assessed by checking their presence in three deeply
      sequenced samples (one soil, one river and one lake, 2.2-3 million reads per
      sample). We show that only a small fraction (13%) of all detected OTUs constitute
      a metacommunity seed bank that is shared between all terrestrial and aquatic
      communities, but not by phyllosphere assemblages, which seem to recruit from a
      different taxa pool. Our results suggest directional recruitment driven by the
      flow of water in the landscape, since most aquatic sequences were associated to
      OTUs found in a single deeply-sequenced soil sample, but only 45% of terrestrial
      sequences belonged to OTUs found in the two deeply-sequenced aquatic communities.
      Finally, we hypothesize that extreme rarity, and its interplay with water
      residence time and growth rates, may further constrain the size of the potential
      seed bank.

PMID- 28585939
TI  - Linking rhizosphere microbiome composition of wild and domesticated Phaseolus
      vulgaris to genotypic and root phenotypic traits.
AB  - Plant domestication was a pivotal accomplishment in human history, but also led
      to a reduction in genetic diversity of crop species compared to their wild
      ancestors. How this reduced genetic diversity affected plant-microbe interactions
      belowground is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the genetic relatedness,
      root phenotypic traits and rhizobacterial community composition of modern and
      wild accessions of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) grown in agricultural soil
      from the highlands of Colombia, one of the centers of common bean
      diversification. Diversity Array Technology-based genotyping and phenotyping of
      local common bean accessions showed significant genetic and root architectural
      differences between wild and modern accessions, with a higher specific root
      length for the wild accessions. Canonical Correspondence Analysis indicated that
      the divergence in rhizobacterial community composition between wild and modern
      bean accessions is associated with differences in specific root length. Along the
      bean genotypic trajectory, going from wild to modern, we observed a gradual
      decrease in relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, mainly Chitinophagaceae and
      Cytophagaceae, and an increase in relative abundance of Actinobacteria and
      Proteobacteria, in particular Nocardioidaceae and Rhizobiaceae, respectively.
      Collectively, these results establish a link between common bean domestication,
      specific root morphological traits and rhizobacterial community assembly.

PMID- 28585942
TI  - Progress of crystallization in microfluidic devices.
AB  - Microfluidic technology provides a unique environment for the investigation of
      crystallization processes at the nano or meso scale. The convenient operation and
      precise control of process parameters, at these scales of operation enabled by
      microfluidic devices, are attracting significant and increasing attention in the
      field of crystallization. In this paper, developments and applications of
      microfluidics in crystallization research including: crystal nucleation and
      growth, polymorph and cocrystal screening, preparation of nanocrystals,
      solubility and metastable zone determination, are summarized and discussed. The
      materials used in the construction and the structure of these microfluidic
      devices are also summarized and methods for measuring and modelling crystal
      nucleation and growth process as well as the enabling analytical methods are also
      briefly introduced. The low material consumption, high efficiency and precision
      of microfluidic crystallizations are of particular significance for active
      pharmaceutical ingredients, proteins, fine chemicals, and nanocrystals.
      Therefore, it is increasingly adopted as a mainstream technology in
      crystallization research and development.

PMID- 28585943
TI  - Covalent-reaction-induced interfacial assembly to transform doxorubicin into
      nanophotomedicine with highly enhanced anticancer efficiency.
AB  - Herein, we show that a molecular assembly offers tremendous opportunities of
      affording existing building units with new physicochemical properties, holding
      promise in wide applications. Herein, we develop a facile covalent assembly using
      a natural occurring linker, genipin, to efficiently transform a traditional chemo
      drug, doxorubicin, into a nanophotomedicine. A possible mechanism is proposed, in
      which doxorubicin reacts with genipin through covalent bonding to produce poorly
      soluble units, which further form nuclei and mediate the interfacial assembly to
      generate uniform nanoparticles. Such assembled nanophotomedicine shows remarkably
      enhanced singlet oxygen generation ability (about 1000 folds), leading to a much
      higher photodynamic activity. Moreover, this self-carried nanodrug exhibits
      adjustable size, excellent colloidal stability, high capacity and preferable
      endocytosis. These favorable features lead to greatly improved anticancer
      efficiency under light at the same dosage, compared to that of pure doxorubin. We
      believe this study brings a new dimension to develop advanced drug delivery
      systems by molecular assembly.

PMID- 28585941
TI  - Ubiquity and quantitative significance of bacterioplankton lineages inhabiting
      the oxygenated hypolimnion of deep freshwater lakes.
AB  - The oxygenated hypolimnion accounts for a volumetrically significant part of the
      global freshwater systems. Previous studies have proposed the presence of
      hypolimnion-specific bacterioplankton lineages that are distinct from those
      inhabiting the epilimnion. To date, however, no consensus exists regarding their
      ubiquity and abundance, which is necessary to evaluate their ecological
      importance. The present study investigated the bacterioplankton community in the
      oxygenated hypolimnia of 10 deep freshwater lakes. Despite the broad geochemical
      characteristics of the lakes, 16S rRNA gene sequencing demonstrated that the
      communities in the oxygenated hypolimnia were distinct from those in the
      epilimnia and identified several predominant lineages inhabiting multiple lakes.
      Catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that
      abundant hypolimnion-specific lineages, CL500-11 (Chloroflexi), CL500-3, CL500
      37, CL500-15 (Planctomycetes) and Marine Group I (Thaumarchaeota), together
      accounted for 1.5-32.9% of all bacterioplankton in the hypolimnion of the lakes.
      Furthermore, an analysis of single-nucleotide variation in the partial 16S rRNA
      gene sequence (oligotyping) suggested the presence of different sub-populations
      between lakes and water layers among the lineages occurring in the entire water
      layer (for example, acI-B1 and acI-A7). Collectively, these results provide the
      first comprehensive overview of the bacterioplankton community in the oxygenated
      hypolimnion of deep freshwater lakes.

PMID- 28585945
TI  - Enhanced photochromic modulation efficiency: a novel plasmonic molybdenum oxide
      hybrid.
AB  - Plasmonic materials have drawn emerging interest with their high charge carrier
      density and solar harvesting ability, resulting in tunable enhanced absorption
      and scattering resonances. Herein, a novel plasmonic MoO3-x hybrid comprising
      orthorhombic MoO3-x nanorod and hexagonal MoO3 nanograin was obtained using a
      simple hydrothermal method. An excellent photochromic property with up to 40%
      solar modulation efficiency at 600-1000 nm was achieved, which was mainly
      attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption at around
      900 nm and the polaron absorption at 650 nm with a synergistic effect. In
      comparison to the limited near-infrared absorption of conventional crystalline
      MoO3, a distinct modulation range in the critical range between visible and near
      infrared was rationalized by a size effect deduced from Mie scattering theory.
      Our research provided a novel plasmonic molybdenum oxide hybrid to realize an
      optical modulation function with a tunable wavelength range for energy saving.

PMID- 28585946
TI  - Simultaneous spectrum fitting and baseline correction using sparse
      representation.
AB  - Sparse representation has been applied in many domains, such as signal
      processing, image processing and machine learning. In this paper, a redundant
      dictionary with each column composed of a Voigt-like lineshape is constructed to
      represent the pure spectrum of the sample. With the prior knowledge that the
      baseline is smooth and sparse representation coefficient for a pure spectrum, a
      method simultaneously fitting the pure spectrum and baseline is proposed. Since
      the pure spectrum is nonnegative, the representation coefficients are also made
      to be nonnegative. Then through alternating optimization, a surrogate function
      based algorithm is used to obtain the sparse coefficients. Finally, we adopt one
      simulated data set and two real data sets to evaluate our method. The results of
      quantitative analysis show that our method successfully estimates the baseline
      and pure spectrum and is superior compared to other baseline correction and
      preprocessing methods.

PMID- 28585948
TI  - Radical cascade cyclization of 1,n-enynes and diynes for the synthesis of
      carbocycles and heterocycles.
AB  - Carbo- and heterocycles are widely found in natural products, biologically active
      structures, medicinally relevant compounds, and in many other fine chemicals. The
      development of novel, general and efficient methods for their construction has
      therefore gained great interest in synthetic organic chemistry. Recently, radical
      chemistry has become a heavily investigated research field (a renaissance!).
      Along these lines, radical cascade cyclization of 1,n-enynes and diynes has
      emerged as a powerful strategy for the preparation of carbo- and heterocycles. In
      this review, we highlight recent advances in this rapidly growing area also
      focusing on reaction mechanisms.

PMID- 28585947
TI  - Selectively switching on europium emission in drug site one of human serum
      albumin.
AB  - A luminescent europium probe has been discovered that binds selectively to drug
      site I in human serum albumin, signalled by a 'switching on' of europium
      emission, and accompanied by strong induced circularly polarised luminescence.

PMID- 28585950
TI  - Electrochemical CO2 reduction on Au surfaces: mechanistic aspects regarding the
      formation of major and minor products.
AB  - In the future, industrial CO2 electroreduction using renewable energy sources
      could be a sustainable means to convert CO2 and water into commodity chemicals at
      room temperature and atmospheric pressure. This study focuses on the
      electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 on polycrystalline Au surfaces, which have high
      activity and selectivity for CO evolution. We explore the catalytic behavior of
      polycrystalline Au surfaces by coupling potentiostatic CO2 electrolysis
      experiments in an aqueous bicarbonate solution with high sensitivity product
      detection methods. We observed the production of methanol, in addition to
      detecting the known products of CO2 electroreduction on Au: CO, H2 and formate.
      We suggest a mechanism that explains Au's evolution of methanol. Specifically,
      the Au surface does not favor C-O scission, and thus is more selective towards
      methanol than methane. These insights could aid in the design of electrocatalysts
      that are selective for CO2 electroreduction to oxygenates over hydrocarbons.

PMID- 28585952
TI  - The influence of hydrogen bonds on NIAD-4 for use in the optical imaging of
      amyloid fibrils.
AB  - The fast and accurate detection of amyloid fibrils, which are associated with
      many neurodegenerative diseases, is important for their early diagnosis. {[50-(p
      Hydroxyphenyl)-2,20-bithienyl-5-yl]-methylidene}-propanedinitrile (NIAD-4) is a
      new promising fluorescent marker for amyloid fibrils, and the photophysical
      behaviour of NIAD-4 is controversial. Nonadiabatic dynamic simulations, density
      functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT)
      calculations were performed to determine the influence of the environment on NIAD
      4 and the photophysical behaviour of NIAD-4. The results indicate that NIAD-4 is
      in the NIAD-4.3H2O compound form in the ground state in water. The torsion
      process of NIAD-4 proposed by Hu et al. (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 28)
      does not occur in the excited state. In addition, the fluorescence behaviour of
      NIAD-4 is sensitive to a hydrogen bonding environment, the maximum fluorescence
      wavelengths of NIAD-4 show considerable red-shifts, and the fluorescence
      intensity of NIAD-4 increases significantly in a hydrogen bonding environment.
      Intermolecular hydrogen bonds are vital for the phenomenon observed in the
      experiment because the fluorescence intensity of NIAD-4 becomes unusually high
      with increasing solvent polarities. Therefore, the influence of the
      intermolecular hydrogen bond should be carefully taken into consideration when
      NIAD-4 is used to probe the amyloid fibrils in hydrogen-bonding surroundings,
      especially in complex bioenvironments.

PMID- 28585944
TI  - Cellular uptake of nanoparticles: journey inside the cell.
AB  - Nanoscale materials are increasingly found in consumer goods, electronics, and
      pharmaceuticals. While these particles interact with the body in myriad ways,
      their beneficial and/or deleterious effects ultimately arise from interactions at
      the cellular and subcellular level. Nanoparticles (NPs) can modulate cell fate,
      induce or prevent mutations, initiate cell-cell communication, and modulate cell
      structure in a manner dictated largely by phenomena at the nano-bio interface.
      Recent advances in chemical synthesis have yielded new nanoscale materials with
      precisely defined biochemical features, and emerging analytical techniques have
      shed light on nuanced and context-dependent nano-bio interactions within cells.
      In this review, we provide an objective and comprehensive account of our current
      understanding of the cellular uptake of NPs and the underlying parameters
      controlling the nano-cellular interactions, along with the available analytical
      techniques to follow and track these processes.

PMID- 28585955
TI  - A precisely positioned chiral center in an i, i + 7 tether modulates the helicity
      of the backbone peptide.
AB  - In some cases, helical peptides stabilized by an i, i + 7 tether exhibit better
      target binding and cellular functions compared to their i, i + 4 analogues.
      Herein, we carried out a systematic study of the effects of an in-tether chiral
      center on the i, i + 7 system. We screened the optimal cross linking mode, tether
      length, in-tether chiral center positions, and absolute configurations. From
      these studies, we determined that a chiral center of R absolute configuration at
      the gamma-position to the C-terminal of a 10-membered tether could function to
      efficiently induce helicity of the backbone peptides. This is an important
      addition to the current i, i + 4 in-tether chiral center induced helicity
      strategy (CIH strategy), and could have broad biological applications.

PMID- 28585956
TI  - Engineering the exchange bias and bias temperature by modulating the spin glassy
      state in single phase Bi9Fe5Ti3O27.
AB  - Exchange anisotropy is normally observed at ferromagnetic (FM)/anti-ferromagnetic
      (AFM) interfaces and also usually at low temperatures. An effective way to find
      new single-phase materials with strong exchange bias (EB) and high operation
      temperatures is required for making them useful in practical applications of
      future spintronic devices. In this work, the exchange bias behaviors of single
      phase Bi9Fe5Ti3O27 (BFT) were found able to be manipulated by altering its spin
      glassy state, when the material was intentionally prepared in the nanobelt
      format. A core-shell model has been proposed to explain the controllable behavior
      of both exchange bias and bias temperature, in which the AFM domain could be
      effectively reduced within the nanobelts when changing their particle sizes. A
      direct observation of two spin glassy behaviors corresponding to two distinct
      peaks in the zero field cooling (ZFC) curves manifests the validity of the
      proposed core-shell model.

PMID- 28585953
TI  - A facile strategy for fine-tuning the stability and drug release of stimuli
      responsive cross-linked micellar nanoparticles towards precision drug delivery.
AB  - Precision drug delivery has a great impact on the application of precision
      oncology for better patient care. Here we report a facile strategy for fine
      tuning the stability, drug release and responsiveness of stimuli-responsive cross
      linked nanoparticles towards precision drug delivery. A series of micellar
      nanoparticles with different levels of intramicellar disulfide crosslinkages
      could be conveniently produced with a mixed micelle approach. These micellar
      nanoparticles were all within a size range of 25-40 nm so that they could take
      full advantage of the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect for tumor
      targeted drug delivery. The properties of these nanoparticles such as critical
      micelle concentration (CMC), stability, drug release and responsiveness to a
      reductive environment could be well correlated with the levels of crosslinking
      (LOC). Compared to the micellar nanoparticles with a LOC at 0% that caused the
      death of animals of two species (mouse and rat) due to the acute toxicity such as
      hemolysis, the nanoparticles at all other levels of crosslinking were much safer
      to be administered into animals. The in vitro antitumor efficacy of micellar
      nanoparticles crosslinked at lower levels (20% & 50%) were much more effective
      than that of 100% crosslinked micellar nanoparticles in SKOV-3 ovarian cancer
      cells.

PMID- 28585957
TI  - Heterogeneously Nd3+ doped single nanoparticles for NIR-induced heat conversion,
      luminescence, and thermometry.
AB  - The current frontier in nanomaterials engineering is to intentionally design and
      fabricate heterogeneous nanoparticles with desirable morphology and composition,
      and to integrate multiple functionalities through highly controlled epitaxial
      growth. Here we show that heterogeneous doping of Nd3+ ions following a core
      shell design already allows three optical functions, namely efficient (eta > 72%)
      light-to-heat conversion, bright NIR emission, and sensitive (SR > 0.1% K-1)
      localized temperature quantification, to be built within a single ca. 25 nm
      nanoparticle. Importantly, all these optical functions operate within the
      transparent biological window of the NIR spectral region (lambdaexc ~ 800 nm,
      lambdaemi ~ 860 nm), in which light scattering and absorption by tissues and
      water are minimal. We find NaNdF4 as a core is efficient in absorbing and
      converting 808 nm light to heat, while NaYF4:1%Nd3+ as a shell is a temperature
      sensor based on the ratio-metric luminescence reading but an intermediate inert
      spacer shell, e.g. NaYF4, is necessary to insulate the heat convertor and
      thermometer by preventing the possible Nd-Nd energy relaxation. Moreover, we
      notice that while temperature sensitivity and luminescence intensity are
      optically stable, increased excitation intensity to generate heat above room
      temperature may saturate the sensing capacity of temperature feedback. We
      therefore propose a dual beam photoexcitation scheme as a solution for possible
      light-induced hyperthermia treatment.

PMID- 28585959
TI  - Functionalized self-assembly of colloidal CdX (X = S, Se) nanorods on solid
      substrates for device applications.
AB  - In comparison to randomly oriented nanorods (NRs), self-assembly of the colloidal
      CdX (X = S, Se) NRs into well-organized large-scale structures results in unique
      collective properties. Moreover, the anisotropic structural features of self
      assemblies preserved from colloidal CdX (X = S, Se) NRs have opened up exciting
      opportunities in the field of nanotechnology applications. We present the latest
      strategies for the self-assembly of colloidal NRs on solid substrates, and
      further focus on the self-assembled NRs for applications in devices. Advanced
      progress in the preparation of NR building blocks on the basis of nanofabrication
      techniques and comprehensive studies on the interactions of NRs with substrates
      will remarkably expand the application of colloidal semiconductor NRs.
      Understanding and mastering the driving forces behind the assembly of the NRs is
      the key goal of engineering future functional structures based on NRs.

PMID- 28585960
TI  - Thermal conductivity of suspended single crystal CH3NH3PbI3 platelets at room
      temperature.
AB  - Recently, organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites have gained great attention
      for their breakthrough in photovoltaic and optoelectronics. However, their
      thermal transport properties that affect the device lifetime and stability are
      still rarely explored. In this work, the thermal conductivity properties of
      single crystal CH3NH3PbI3 platelets grown by chemical vapor deposition are
      studied via non-contact micro-photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. We developed a
      measurement methodology and derived expressions suitable for the thermal
      conductivity extraction for micro-sized perovskites. The room temperature thermal
      conductivity of ~0.14 +/- 0.02 W m-1 K-1 is extracted from the dependence of the
      PL peak energy on the excitation laser power. On changing the film thickness from
      80 to 400 nm, the thermal conductivity does not show noticeable variations,
      indicating the minimal substrate effects due to the advantage of the suspended
      configuration. The ultra-low thermal conductivity of perovskites, especially thin
      films, suggests their promising applications for thermal isolation, such as
      thermal insulation and thermo-electricity.

PMID- 28585961
TI  - Multi-responsive actuators based on a graphene oxide composite: intelligent robot
      and bioinspired applications.
AB  - Carbon-based electrothermal or photothermal actuators have attracted intense
      attention recently. They can directly convert electrical or light energy into
      thermal energy and exhibit obvious deformations. However, if the actuation
      mechanism is only limited to thermal expansion, the deformation amplitude is
      difficult to increase further. Moreover, complex shape-deformation is still
      challenging. Although a few materials were reported to realize twisting or
      untwisting actuation by cutting the samples into strips along different
      orientations, each single strip could perform only one shape-deformation mode. In
      this work, we propose multi-responsive actuators based on a graphene oxide (GO)
      and biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) composite, which are designed with
      different shapes (strip-shape and helical-shape). The strip-shape GO/BOPP
      actuator shows great bending actuations when driven by humidity (curvature of up
      to 3.1 cm-1). Due to a developed dual-mode actuation mechanism, the actuator
      shows a bending curvature of 2.8 cm-1 when driven by near infrared (NIR) light.
      The great actuation outperforms most other carbon-based actuators. Then, an
      intelligent robot based on the GO/BOPP composite is fabricated, which can switch
      between the protection mode and weightlifting mode with different external
      stimuli. Inspired from plant tendrils, a bioinspired helical GO/BOPP actuator is
      further realized to show both twisting and untwisting actuations in a single
      actuator, fully mimicking the deformation of plant tendrils. Finally, a robot arm
      consisting of strip-shape and helical GO/BOPP actuators can grasp an object that
      is 2.9 times heavier than itself, demonstrating promising bioinspired
      applications.

PMID- 28585963
TI  - Self-adapted and tunable graphene strain sensors for detecting both subtle and
      large human motions.
AB  - Conventional strain sensors rarely have both a high gauge factor and a large
      strain range simultaneously, so they can only be used in specific situations
      where only a high sensitivity or a large strain range is required. However, for
      detecting human motions that include both subtle and large motions, these strain
      sensors can't meet the diverse demands simultaneously. Here, we come up with
      laser patterned graphene strain sensors with self-adapted and tunable performance
      for the first time. A series of strain sensors with either an ultrahigh gauge
      factor or a preferable strain range can be fabricated simultaneously via one-step
      laser patterning, and are suitable for detecting all human motions. The strain
      sensors have a GF of up to 457 with a strain range of 35%, or have a strain range
      of up to 100% with a GF of 268. Most importantly, the performance of the strain
      sensors can be easily tuned by adjusting the patterns of the graphene, so that
      the sensors can meet diverse demands in both subtle and large motion situations.
      The graphene strain sensors show significant potential in applications such as
      wearable electronics, health monitoring and intelligent robots. Furthermore, the
      facile, fast and low-cost fabrication method will make them possible and
      practical to be used for commercial applications in the future.

PMID- 28585962
TI  - Deterministic trapping, encapsulation and retrieval of single-cells.
AB  - We present a novel method for conducting true single-cell encapsulation at very
      high efficiency for the manipulation of precious samples. Our unique strategy is
      based on the sequential capture and original encapsulation of single-cells into a
      series of hydrodynamic traps. We identified two distinct modes of encapsulation
      and we established their associated design rules. We improved the trapping scheme
      to reach a near perfect capture efficiency and make it compatible with the
      encapsulation process. Finally, we developed the complete device operation that
      permits highly efficient single-cell encapsulation and droplet retrieval. This
      platform provides the foundation to a fully integrated multiparameter platform
      that will impact the analysis of tissues at single-cell resolution.

PMID- 28585964
TI  - Thermal transport at a solid-nanofluid interface: from increase of thermal
      resistance towards a shift of rapid boiling.
AB  - We use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate interfacial thermal
      transport between an ethanol suspension containing gold atomic clusters and a
      gold surface, using both realistic and simplified molecular models of
      nanoparticles. The interfacial thermal conductance was determined via a thermal
      relaxation method for a variety of nanoparticle-nanoparticle and nanoparticle
      surface interaction strengths. The Kapitza resistance is found to increase due to
      the presence of nanoparticles in the vicinity of the solid-liquid interface. The
      heat flow from the solid to the nanoparticles is separated from its counterpart
      from the solid to the liquid to discriminate their respective contribution to the
      total heat current. A per-vibrational-mode analysis highlights a shift of major
      heat carriers from low frequencies towards higher frequencies due to the coupling
      of the internal nanoparticle dynamics to the gold surface, in addition to
      stronger particle-surface interactions. Finally, we demonstrate that the increase
      of the Kapitza resistance significantly shifts the nanofluid/solid surface
      explosive boiling temperature to higher temperatures compared to pure ethanol.

PMID- 28585965
TI  - A journey through ternary lead chlorido tungstates by thermal scanning.
AB  - The reduction of tungsten hexachloride with lead powder was investigated by
      differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD)
      studies. Intermediate compounds along the way of the reduction of W6+ to W2+ were
      detected, prepared by solid-state synthesis, and structurally characterized by X
      ray diffraction techniques. Five new compounds, namely Pb0.5WCl6, PbW2Cl10,
      Pb1.5[W3Cl13], Pb2Cl[W3Cl13], and Pb[W6Cl14] are discovered to be formed with
      increasing temperature, and structurally characterized within this study. The
      analysis of the reduction pathway is meant to gain a better understanding of the
      metallothermic reduction process and intercalation chemistry in the solid state.

PMID- 28585966
TI  - Photoinduced electron transfer across an organic molecular wall: octa acid
      encapsulated ESIPT dyes as electron donors.
AB  - Efficient photoinduced electron transfer from proton transfer dyes encapsulated
      within water soluble supramolecular host octa acid to electron acceptors present
      outside the capsule was observed in aqueous solution. N-Methylpyridinium iodide
      was found to be the best acceptor compared to 4,4'-dimethylviologen dichloride,
      most likely due to its better binding with the exterior of the host octa acid
      walls.

PMID- 28585967
TI  - A simple and highly sensitive spectroscopic fluorescence-detection system for
      multi-channel plastic-microchip electrophoresis based on side-entry laser-beam
      zigzag irradiation.
AB  - A five-color fluorescence-detection system for eight-channel plastic-microchip
      electrophoresis was developed. In the eight channels (with effective
      electrophoretic lengths of 10 cm), single-stranded DNA fragments were separated
      (with single-base resolution up to 300 bases within 10 min), and seventeen-loci
      STR genotyping for forensic human identification was successfully demonstrated.
      In the system, a side-entry laser beam is passed through the eight channels
      (eight A channels), with alternately arrayed seven sacrificial channels (seven B
      channels), by a technique called "side-entry laser-beam zigzag irradiation."
      Laser-induced fluorescence from the eight A channels and Raman-scattered light
      from the seven B channels are then simultaneously, uniformly, and
      spectroscopically detected, in the direction perpendicular to the channel array
      plane, through a transmission grating and a CCD camera. The system is therefore
      simple and highly sensitive. Because the microchip is fabricated by plastic
      injection molding, it is inexpensive and disposable and thus suitable for actual
      use in various fields.

PMID- 28585968
TI  - Isonucleotide incorporation into middle and terminal siRNA duplexes exhibits high
      gene silencing efficacy and nuclease resistance.
AB  - In this study, we introduced a pair of nucleotide enantiomers, d-/l
      isonucleotides (d-/l-isoNA), to examine the interactions between siRNAs and their
      related proteins. The serum stability and gene-silencing activity of the modified
      siRNAs were systematically evaluated. Gene-silencing activity had a site-specific
      effect, and the incorporation of a single d-isoNA at the 8th position (counting
      from the 5'-terminus) in the antisense strand improved the gene-silencing
      activity by improving RISC loading and affecting the movement of the PIWI domain.
      d-isoNA incorporated at the terminus of siRNA including the 2nd position in the
      antisense strand and 3'-overhangs in the sense strand, especially the latter,
      enhanced nuclease resistance and prolonged the silencing retention time. In
      addition, l-isoNA incorporation into the middle of the sense strand enhanced
      activity. These results provide a chemical strategy for the modulation of siRNA
      gene-silencing activity and nuclease resistance.

PMID- 28585969
TI  - Air and thermally stable perovskite solar cells with CVD-graphene as the blocking
      layer.
AB  - The poor air and thermal stability of organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar
      cells have hindered their real applications. Here we report the insertion of a
      chemical vapor deposited graphene between the Au electrode and spiro-OMeTAD in
      planar perovskite solar cells to block the diffusion of air and Au into the
      perovskite layer, where the single layer graphene is transferred into the devices
      by a simple laminated process. After ageing in 45% humidity air for 96 h or
      thermal annealing at 80  degrees C for 12 h, more than 94% PCE of the devices
      with graphene can be maintained, which is much better than that of devices
      without graphene (~57%). The improved stability of devices with the graphene
      layer is attributed to the reduction of carrier recombination from decomposition
      of the perovskite layer in air or Au doping into the perovskite layer under
      annealing treatment. Therefore, graphene is a promising ultra-thin barrier
      against air and metal diffusion, and has potential applications in photovoltaic
      devices, integrated circuit chips and light emitting diodes.

PMID- 28585970
TI  - Mesoporous silica nanoparticles in injectable hydrogels: factors influencing
      cellular uptake and viability.
AB  - The incorporation of nanoparticles as drug vectors into 3D scaffolds has
      attracted a lot of recent interest. In particular, tissue engineering
      applications would benefit from a spatially and temporally regulated release of
      biological cues, which act on precursor/stem cells in a three-dimensional growth
      environment. Injectable cell- and nanoparticle-containing scaffolds are
      especially interesting in this respect, but require matrix self-assembly and
      coordinated interactions between cells, matrices, and nanoparticles, which are
      largely uncharacterized yet. In this proof of concept study we combined the
      matrix-forming self-assembling peptide RADA16-I, different mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles (MSN) as potential drug carriers, and MC3T3-E1 osteoblast precursor
      cells. When injected to physiological media, the mixtures rapidly formed hybrid
      peptide-silica hydrogels containing RADA16-I nanofiber scaffolds with uniform
      spatial distribution of viable cells and MSN. MSN surface chemistry was critical
      for interactions within the hydrogel and for RADA16-I adsorption, thereby
      dominantly influencing cellular uptake and cell viability, whereas the impact of
      serum protein was minor. Thus, important parameters which allow tuning of
      nanoparticulate drug vector interactions with cells in injectable 3D scaffolds
      are identified, which are of importance for the future design of smart scaffolds
      for advanced tissue engineering in vivo.

PMID- 28585972
TI  - Plasmonic nanohole array biosensor for label-free and real-time analysis of live
      cell secretion.
AB  - Cell secretion dynamics plays a central role in physiological and disease
      processes. Due to its various temporal profiles, it is essential to implement a
      precise detection scheme for continuous monitoring of secretion in real time. The
      current fluorescent and colorimetric approaches hinder such applications due to
      their multiple time-consuming steps, molecular labeling, and especially the
      'snapshot' endpoint readouts. Here, we develop a nanoplasmonic biosensor for real
      time monitoring of live cell cytokine secretion in a label-free configuration.
      Our nanoplasmonic biosensor is composed of gold nanohole arrays supporting
      extraordinary optical transmission (EOT), which enables sensitive and high
      throughput analysis of biomolecules. The nanobiosensor is integrated with an
      adjustable microfluidic cell module for the analysis of live cells under well
      controlled culture conditions. We achieved an outstanding sensitivity for the
      detection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) directly in complex cell
      media. Significantly, the secretion dynamics from live cancer cells were
      monitored and quantified for 10 hours while preserving good cell viability. This
      novel approach of probing cytokine secretion activity is compatible with
      conventional inverted microscopes found in a common biology laboratory. With its
      simple optical set-up and label-free detection configuration, we anticipate our
      nanoplasmonic biosensor to be a powerful tool as a lab-on-chip device to analyze
      cellular activities for fundamental cell research and biotechnologies.

PMID- 28585973
TI  - Impact on short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) from a realistic land-use change
      scenario via changes in biogenic emissions.
AB  - More than one quarter of natural forests have been cleared by humans to make way
      for other land-uses, with changes to forest cover projected to continue. The
      climate impact of land-use change (LUC) is dependent upon the relative strength
      of several biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects. In addition to affecting
      the surface albedo and exchanging carbon dioxide (CO2) and moisture with the
      atmosphere, vegetation emits biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs),
      altering the formation of short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) including aerosol,
      ozone (O3) and methane (CH4). Once emitted, BVOCs are rapidly oxidised by O3, and
      the hydroxyl (OH) and nitrate (NO3) radicals. These oxidation reactions yield
      secondary organic products which are implicated in the formation and growth of
      aerosol particles and are estimated to have a negative radiative effect on the
      climate (i.e. a cooling). These reactions also deplete OH, increasing the
      atmospheric lifetime of CH4, and directly affect concentrations of O3; the latter
      two being greenhouse gases which impose a positive radiative effect (i.e. a
      warming) on the climate. Our previous work assessing idealised deforestation
      scenarios found a positive radiative effect due to changes in SLCFs; however,
      since the radiative effects associated with changes to SLCFs result from a
      combination of non-linear processes it may not be appropriate to scale radiative
      effects from complete deforestation scenarios according to the deforestation
      extent. Here we combine a land-surface model, a chemical transport model, a
      global aerosol model, and a radiative transfer model to assess the net radiative
      effect of changes in SLCFs due to historical LUC between the years 1850 and 2000.

PMID- 28585974
TI  - Roles of nitrogen functionalities in enhancing the excitation-independent green
      color photoluminescence of graphene oxide dots.
AB  - Fluorescent graphene oxide dots (GODs) are environmentally friendly and
      biocompatible materials for photoluminescence (PL) applications. In this study,
      we employed annealing and hydrothermal ammonia treatments at 500 and 140  degrees
      C, respectively, to introduce nitrogen functionalities into GODs for enhancing
      their green-color PL emissions. The hydrothermal treatment preferentially
      produces pyridinic and amino groups, whereas the annealing treatment produces
      pyrrolic and amide groups. The hydrothermally treated GODs (A-GODs) present a
      high conjugation of the nonbonding electrons of nitrogen in pyridinic and amino
      groups with the aromatic pi orbital. This conjugation introduces a nitrogen
      nonbonding (nN 2p) state 0.3 eV above the oxygen nonbonding state (nO 2p state;
      the valence band maximum of the GODs). The GODs exhibit excitation-independent
      green-PL emissions at 530 nm with a maximum quantum yield (QY) of 12% at 470 nm
      excitation, whereas the A-GODs exhibit a maximum QY of 63%. The transformation of
      the solvent relaxation-governed pi* -> nO 2p transition in the GODs to the direct
      pi* -> nN 2p transition in the A-GODs possibly accounts for the substantial QY
      enhancement in the PL emissions. This study elucidates the role of nitrogen
      functionalities in the PL emissions of graphitic materials and proposes a
      strategy for designing the electronic structure to promote the PL performance.

PMID- 28585975
TI  - Synthesis and electronic investigation of mono- and di-substituted 4-nitro- and 4
      amino-pyrazol-1-yl bis(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine-type ligands and luminescent Eu(iii)
      derivatives.
AB  - Four new disubstituted and monosubstituted nitro- and amino- bis(pyrazol-1
      yl)pyridine (bppy) ligands, substituted at the pyrazole 4-position (1, 2, 5, 6)
      have been synthesized, along with two luminescent Eu(iii) tris-beta-diketonate
      derivatives of the amino substituted ligands (7, 8). The compounds have been
      studied using UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry which has
      allowed for characterization of the electronic environments of these ligands. The
      calculated HOMO-LUMO gap values (1: 3.54 eV; 2: 3.53 eV; 5: 3.01 eV; 6: 3.66 eV)
      differ from that of bppy (3.86 eV) and the range is indicative that tuning of the
      ligand electronic environment is possible. Additionally, fluorescence
      spectroscopy studies were employed to determine ligand T1 energy levels of the
      amine-bearing ligands 2 and 6, yielding values of T1 of 25 381 cm-1 and 26 201 cm
      1, respectively. These ligands were employed in the synthesis of Eu(iii)
      complexes 7 and 8, for which the absolute and intrinsic quantum yields, lifetimes
      and ligand sensitization efficiencies were determined.

PMID- 28585976
TI  - Dynamic glycosylation of liposomes by thioester exchange.
AB  - The interplay of dynamic functionalization and specific molecular recognition on
      biological membranes is key to numerous physiological processes. In this work we
      present a simple glycocalyx model based on the covalent yet reversible
      glycosylation of liposomes and subsequent recognition by a lectin. Reversible
      thioester exchange of membrane embedded amphiphilic thioesters with thiol-tagged
      d-mannose in solution is performed at physiologically relevant conditions.
      Recognition with the lectin concanavalin A is possible directly from this
      reaction mixture, leading to liposome agglutination. To the best of our
      knowledge, the dynamic covalent glycosylation of liposomes is so far
      unprecedented.

PMID- 28585978
TI  - Outside the Hospital Walls: Social Determinants and Population Health.

PMID- 28585977
TI  - Dynamic effects and adhesion of water droplet impact on hydrophobic surfaces:
      bouncing or sticking.
AB  - This work reported the dynamic effects of water droplet impact on flat, porous
      and pincushion structure films of star shaped polyhedral oligomeric
      silsesquioxane (POSS) fluorinated acrylates, POSS-poly(trifluoroethyl
      methacrylate)8 (POSS-(PTFEMA)8) and POSS-(poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate)-b
      poly(methyl methacrylate))8 (POSS-(PTFEMA-b-PMMA)8), using the breath figure
      method. The porous and pincushion structure films with different surface chemical
      compositions were obtained by controlling the copolymer structure and temperature
      and by stripping of the surface. The water contact angles on the different films
      were measured, and the water droplets on the pincushion structure films when
      reversed at 45 degrees , 90 degrees , 135 degrees  and 180 degrees  were also
      studied. It was found that the pincushion structure films revealed a water
      adhesion ability. Furthermore, the water droplet impact behavior on these films
      was investigated. The morphology variations of water droplets, spreading diameter
      of the droplets, energy conversion, restitution coefficient and adhesion force
      were examined. Finally, the schematic illustration of water droplets under the
      static and dynamic states in contact with the pincushion and porous structure
      surfaces was proposed. It is critical to materialize various applications such as
      microdroplet transportation, soil erosion, spray painting, anti-icing surface and
      antifouling agents for textiles.

PMID- 28585979
TI  - Impact of Interprofessional Simulation on Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward
      Teamwork and Collaboration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a
      multipatient, interprofessional simulation session on nursing students' attitudes
      toward nurse-physician collaboration using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes
      Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration. METHOD: Final-semester nursing students,
      along with medical resident and students from other health programs, participated
      in a simulation exercise that included a period of prebriefing, simulation, and
      debriefing. Participants completed pre- and postsimulation surveys to assess the
      impact on collaboration. RESULTS: In total, 268 nursing students completed the
      survey. Participants had a more positive attitude toward nurse-physician
      collaboration following the simulation event, compared with prior to it.
      Significant differences between male and female nursing students were found on
      mean postsimulation scores and for three of the four subscales of the tool.
      CONCLUSION: Interprofessional simulation may be an effective way to enhance
      collaborative relationships, which ultimately may influence patient safety and
      quality of care. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):321-327.].

PMID- 28585980
TI  - Flipped Learning With Simulation in Undergraduate Nursing Education.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Flipped learning has proliferated in various educational
      environments. This study aimed to verify the effects of flipped learning on the
      academic achievement, teamwork skills, and satisfaction levels of undergraduate
      nursing students. METHOD: For the flipped learning group, simulation-based
      education via the flipped learning method was provided, whereas traditional,
      simulation-based education was provided for the control group. After completion
      of the program, academic achievement, teamwork skills, and satisfaction levels
      were assessed and analyzed. RESULTS: The flipped learning group received higher
      scores on academic achievement, teamwork skills, and satisfaction levels than the
      control group, including the areas of content knowledge and clinical nursing
      practice competency. In addition, this difference gradually increased between the
      two groups throughout the trial. CONCLUSION: The results of this study
      demonstrated the positive, statistically significant effects of the flipped
      learning method on simulation-based nursing education. [J Nurs Educ.
      2017;56(6):329-336.].

PMID- 28585982
TI  - The Experience of Teaching Online in Nursing Education.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Online education has become a key instructional delivery method in
      nursing education; however, limited understanding exists about what it is like to
      teach online. The aim of this study was to uncover the experience of teaching
      online in nursing education. METHOD: The sample for this phenomenological study
      included 14 nursing faculty who completed at least 50% of their teaching workload
      assignment in fully online courses in baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral
      nursing programs. Data were collected through the use of a demographic
      questionnaire and personal interviews. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the
      data: (a) Looking at a Lot of Moving Parts, (b) Always Learning New Things, (c)
      Going Back and Forth, and (d) Time Is a Blessing and a Curse. CONCLUSION: Online
      teaching in nursing education differs from traditional classroom teaching in a
      variety of ways. Policies and guidelines that govern faculty teaching should
      encompass the identified intricacies of online teaching. [J Nurs Educ.
      2017;56(6):343-349.].

PMID- 28585981
TI  - Curriculum Revision: Student Stress and Lessons Learned.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Curricular revision and engaging students in learning are important
      aspects of preparing students for a complex health care environment. The purpose
      of this study was to identify student perceptions of active learning practices
      incorporated into the junior year of a new curriculum. METHOD: A descriptive
      qualitative design using focus group interviews for data collection was used to
      explore student perceptions of stress, engagement, and self-directed learning in
      an active learning environment. RESULTS: Three themes emerged from the data,
      including Feeling Stressed and Overwhelmed, Coping With Stress, and Being
      Prepared. CONCLUSION: The results of this study highlight how students responded
      to the increased stress of junior-year nursing courses and the lessons learned by
      both the students and the faculty teaching junior-year nursing students after a
      curricular revision and subsequent change in teaching strategies. [J Nurs Educ.
      2017;56(6):337-342.].

PMID- 28585983
TI  - Exploring the Correlation Between Nontraditional Variables and Student Success: A
      Longitudinal Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this project was to determine whether a correlation
      exists between the traditional admission criteria of grade point averages with
      the potential admission criteria of emotional intelligence (EI) scores or
      critical thinking (CT) scores to predict upper division student outcomes. METHOD:
      A quantitative, longitudinal design was selected to examine the identified
      variables to predict undergraduate student success. The recruiting sample
      included a convenience sample drawn from 112 junior-level undergraduate nursing
      students beginning their first of a five-semester nursing program. RESULTS: EI
      and HESI(r) CT scores did not significantly correlate with main analysis
      variables. CONCLUSION: Although EI and CT scores were not significant in this
      study, it remains vital to incorporate EI and CT activities throughout the
      curriculum to develop students' ability to think like a nurse and, therefore, be
      successful in nursing practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):351-355.].

PMID- 28585985
TI  - Investigating Interrater Reliability in an Online RN-to-BSN Program: Disparate
      Conclusions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interrater reliability of student-written assignments within a
      nursing education program is a desirable characteristic to ensure uniform quality
      of academic work. As online programs that advance RNs to baccalaureate-prepared
      nurses (i.e., RN-to-BSN programs) grow in popularity, the challenges of quality
      control increase. METHOD: Grading data representing mean, median, mode, and range
      from 19 course sections in an online RN-to-BSN program were submitted. Data were
      analyzed for measures of central tendency with a query of interrater reliability.
      RESULTS: The data indicate that instructors assess student performance at a
      uniformly high level. CONCLUSION: The data lead to two disparate conclusions:
      student performance is high and is reliably assessed as such, or the online
      program suffers from grade inflation. Such disparate conclusions are uniquely
      endemic to any program that serves the RN-to-BSN population, typically high
      performing students who have established prior mastery on licensure examinations.
      [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):360-363.].

PMID- 28585984
TI  - Faculty Attitudes and Adoption of Simulation: Pilot Testing of a New Instrument.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the reliability and validity of a new
      instrument, the Faculty Attitudes and Adoption of Simulation (FAAS). The FAAS was
      designed to identify faculty attitudes toward and levels of perceived knowledge
      and adoption of simulation. The instrument was developed based on a comprehensive
      literature review. METHOD: A convenience sample of 47 faculty members was used.
      Content validity, internal consistency reliability, and convergent construct
      validity were evaluated. RESULTS: Content validity, measured through a content
      validity index, was found to be .91. Pilot testing of the FAAS demonstrated a
      Cronbach's alpha of .83. Construct validity was evaluated by comparing the FAAS
      with a related tool called the Faculty Attitudes and Intent to Use Related to the
      Human Patient Simulator instrument (r = .64, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Pilot testing
      of the FAAS demonstrated initial reliability and validity for measuring faculty
      attitudes toward and perceived knowledge and adoption of simulation. [J Nurs
      Educ. 2017;56(6):356-359.].

PMID- 28585986
TI  - Evaluation of Doctor of Nursing Practice Students' Competencies in an Online
      Informatics Course.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs have experienced rapid
      growth across the United States. With the expansion of electronic health records,
      DNP students are expected to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to manage
      data and apply informatics concepts. However, little information exists to help
      faculty evaluate student competency in these areas. METHOD: This retrospective
      analysis evaluated the competencies of a convenience sample of DNP students
      enrolled in an online informatics course. Two areas were assessed in this study:
      acquisition of informatics skills, and analysis or application of informatics
      concepts. RESULTS: Regarding informatics skills, postbaccalaureate students
      performed better than post-master's students. In analysis and application of
      informatics concepts, post-master's students performed better than
      postbaccalaureate students. CONCLUSION: Different educational strategies may need
      to be created to meet the varying needs of postbaccalaureate and post-master's
      students in DNP programs. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):364-367.].

PMID- 28585987
TI  - Online or In-Class: Evaluating an Alternative Online Pedagogy for Teaching
      Transcultural Nursing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Online learning formats are prevalent in current higher education.
      Given the changing student demographics and the drive for creativity in educating
      a technology-savvy student, it is imperative to incorporate innovative and
      alternative learning modalities to engage these students. METHOD: This pilot
      study was designed as a quality improvement program evaluation comparing the
      effects of an online learning module with traditional classroom delivery of
      transcultural nursing content using a posttest two-group survey design in
      associate degree nursing students. The students' perceived knowledge and
      confidence were investigated after receiving the lecture for both the online and
      in-class groups. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed the online cohort perceived
      themselves as more knowledgeable concerning the ways that cultural factors
      influence nursing care, but not more confident in providing culturally competent
      care. CONCLUSION: Due to the students' perceived knowledge gain, this pilot study
      supports the use of online learning modules as being more effective than the
      traditional classroom delivery of transcultural nursing content. [J Nurs Educ.
      2017;56(6):368-372.].

PMID- 28585988
TI  - An Academic-Service Partnership: A System-Wide Approach and Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An academic-service partnership was formed to increase educational
      capacity, improve evidence-based nursing at the point of care, and engage staff
      nurses, clinical faculty, and students in patient and family care. METHOD: This
      case report reflects an overview of the first year of full implementation, and
      survey results from nurse leaders and faculty at the 3-year time point. RESULTS:
      Following its third year of an academic-service partnership, the shared mission,
      vision, and values have resulted in stronger NCLEX-RN results, improved quality
      initiatives, and trends for improvements in patient outcomes. Alignment with
      faculty and mentors surrounding student expectations has improved, as well as
      shared evidence-based practices. CONCLUSION: Sustaining an academic-service
      partnership requires dedicated leaders, faculty, and mentors. This partnership
      continues to thrive and move toward excellence in patient- and family-centered
      outcomes and undergraduate clinical education. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):373
      377.].

PMID- 28585989
TI  - Contemplative Activities in Undergraduate Nursing Courses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Affective learning is valued in nursing, but it is often difficult to
      plan and evaluate learning activities in this domain. Contemplative activities
      can promote learning and are relatively easy to implement. These activities can
      promote deep, reflective thinking. METHOD: A variety of contemplative activities
      were used in undergraduate nursing courses. Students participated in and
      reflected on a vigil promoting domestic violence awareness. They attended two
      different art exhibits and related these exhibits to nursing. The students used
      journals and eportfolios to reflect on the entire nursing program. They
      participated in breathing exercises and guided imagery meditations. RESULTS:
      Students evaluated the activities positively, and their reflections were
      thoughtful. CONCLUSION: Contemplative activities can be useful to develop
      affective competencies. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):378-382.].

PMID- 28585990
TI  - Romantic Song Lyrics Used to Facilitate Nursing Students' Comprehension of
      Qualitative Data Analysis.

PMID- 28585991
TI  - Student Moderator Teaching-Learning Strategy.

PMID- 28585992
TI  - Complex Lumbar Spine Fusion for an Elderly Patient Under Spinal Anesthesia.
AB  - Spinal anesthesia for spine surgery is an emerging technique. Because of their
      lack of physiologic reserve, elderly patients are an appealing population for
      this technique. Unfortunately, the safe limits of spine surgery using spinal
      anesthesia for the geriatric population are not well defined. The authors
      describe an elderly patient with severe spine degeneration who elected for a 5
      level lumbar spine fusion with spinal anesthesia. Adequate anesthesia was
      maintained throughout the procedure, which lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes. The
      patient experienced no perioperative complications. To the authors' knowledge,
      this is one of the longest spine surgeries using spinal anesthesia. Also, the
      fusion procedure spans more vertebral levels than previously reported. Further
      investigation is needed to determine the safety of this technique. [Orthopedics.
      2017; 40(5):e915-e917.].

PMID- 28585993
TI  - A Modified Lateral Approach for Total Knee Replacement in Type 2 Valgus
      Deformity.
AB  - Total knee replacement for patients with osteoarthritis and valgus deformity
      remains challenging, with soft tissue balance often difficult to achieve. Most
      orthopedic surgeons use the medial parapatellar approach for total knee
      replacement. However, the lateral approach described in this case allows direct
      access to the pathology. The valgus deformity is corrected by using a modified
      lateral parapatellar arthrotomy with a staged and gradual release of the
      contracted lateral capsuloligamentous structures and the iliotibial tract. A Z
      shaped dissection of the lateral retinaculum and careful dissection and
      preservation of the infrapatellar fat pad is performed. The creation of this
      laterally based vascularized flap provides the necessary tissue to cover the soft
      tissue gap resulting on the lateral aspect of the knee after valgus correction.
      The lateral approach has advantages, including ligament balancing and
      preservation of the medial retinaculum and the medial neurovascular structures
      for the supply of the patella. However, this approach should be used with caution
      by experienced surgeons. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):313-316.].

PMID- 28585994
TI  - New Technique for Removal of Screws With Damaged Heads.
AB  - Removal of orthopedic implants may sometimes be difficult because of ongrowth of
      new bone. Titanium screws can become encased or stripped during the process of
      initial open reduction and internal fixation or at the time of hardware removal.
      Difficulty in removing screws from a locking plate is particularly well-known.
      Two patients with tibial and femoral diaphyseal fractures were treated using a
      locking plate or an intramedullary nail. However, after fracture healing, it was
      difficult to remove the locking screw or reconstruction screws because of damage
      to the heads. The stripped reconstruction screw was successfully removed
      employing the authors' so-called parallel planes technique. In this method, a
      high-speed diamond-tipped burr is applied to opposite sides of the screw head to
      form 2 parallel faces located slightly away from the recess of the screw head.
      The 2 faces can then be grasped solidly with locking pliers, allowing removal of
      the implant by unscrewing it with a gentle upward pulling action. The locking
      plate was cut from the plate edge to the edge of the screw hole. While making
      these radial cuts in the plates, the authors were careful not to extend the blade
      into the screw head. After removal of the locking plate from the screw, the
      authors were able to extract the jammed screw uneventfully using this technique.
      This technique can be performed without difficulty and does not require a special
      device. It is a useful option for extraction of damaged screws. [Orthopedics.
      2017; 40(5):e911-e914.].

PMID- 28585995
TI  - Outcomes of Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty in Patients With Hematopoietic Stem
      Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat
      underlying bone marrow pathology represent a unique and potentially high-risk
      patient population for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This study retrospectively
      reviewed 15 TKA procedures performed on 11 patients with a history of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The authors analyzed patient
      survivorship; clinical outcomes, including complications; and implant
      survivorship. Mean follow-up was 5 years (range, 2-10 years). Patient
      survivorship free from mortality was 91% (95% confidence interval, 76%-100%) and
      55% (95% confidence interval, 25%-85%) at 2 and 5 years, respectively. Patients
      who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma had a
      significantly higher 5-year mortality rate (100%) compared with patients who had
      an underlying diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (0%) (P=.008). Mean Knee
      Society Score improved to 83 postoperatively (P<.001). Two patients (13%) had
      postoperative wound healing complications that did not lead to periprosthetic
      joint infection; however, an additional patient (7%) underwent revision surgery
      at 5 years for periprosthetic joint infection. Estimated implant survivorship
      without revision was 80% (95% confidence interval, 60%-100%) at 5 years. Elective
      primary TKA does not appear to affect survivorship in patients with a history of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These patients have modest clinical
      outcomes, higher complication rates as a result of delayed wound healing, and
      poorer implant survivorship compared with historical control subjects.
      [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):e774-e778.].

PMID- 28585996
TI  - Posterior Percutaneous Endoscopic Cervical Foraminotomy and Diskectomy With
      Unilateral Biportal Endoscopy.
AB  - This report describes a new, minimally invasive procedure, posterior percutaneous
      endoscopic cervical diskectomy, performed with a unilateral biportal endoscopic
      approach. The procedure is used to treat cervical foraminal soft disk protrusion.
      This report also describes the short-term results with this procedure. In 2015,
      14 patients underwent this new, minimally invasive procedure. The technique was
      applied with a standard arthroscopy device and conventional spine instruments.
      The Neck Disability Index and visual analog scale scores for the neck and upper
      arm were evaluated, and 13 consecutive patients were included in the analysis.
      Mean follow-up was 14.8 months (range, 12-18 months). The Neck Disability Index
      decreased from 27.0+/-2.5 to 6.8+/-1.4 at the last follow-up (P<.05). Visual
      analog scale scores for the neck and upper arm also decreased significantly
      (neck, 6.2+/-0.8 to 2.4+/-0.9; upper arm, 7.0+/-1.1 to 2.2+/-0.6). Posterior
      percutaneous endoscopic cervical diskectomy with a uniportal endoscope provides a
      clear operative field because of continuous endoscopic saline irrigation and
      requires only a short hospitalization and no postoperative rehabilitation.
      Posterior percutaneous endoscopic cervical diskectomy with a unilateral biportal
      endoscopic approach also can be performed efficiently because of the wide field
      of visualization and familiar surgical field. Thus, posterior percutaneous
      endoscopic cervical diskectomy with the unilateral biportal endoscopic approach
      may be an alternative procedure for cervical foraminal soft disk protrusion.
      [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):e779-e783.].

PMID- 28585997
TI  - Diagnosis and Management of Traumatic Patellar Instability in the Pediatric
      Patient.
AB  - Instability of the patella is a common cause of knee pain and dysfunction in
      pediatric and adolescent patients and can be due to several factors. Although
      some patients will recall a specific traumatic event others may not, requiring
      the diagnosis to be made on the basis of physical examination and imaging.
      Congenital dislocation and connective tissue disorders should also be considered,
      even in the setting of trauma. There are radiographic parameters that may
      identify causes of instability such as trochlear and patellar abnormalities, and
      magnetic resonance imaging can identify signs of trauma such as bony edema, loose
      osteochondral fragments, and increased tibial tubercle-trochlear groove distance.
      The first line of treatment for instability is most commonly nonoperative in
      nature; however, there are many options for operative management in the event of
      severe chondral injury or recurrent dislocation. Surgical management to best
      restore stability of the patellofemoral joint varies depending on the skeletal
      maturity of the patient and the source of instability (ligamentous,
      osteocartilaginous, or both). A combination of soft tissue, bony, and anatomic
      ligamentous repair or reconstruction is used to best augment patellar tracking
      and optimize patient outcome. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):e749-e757.].

PMID- 28585998
TI  - Correlation of the Features of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle With Facet Joint
      Osteoarthritis.
AB  - Facet joint osteoarthritis is considered a consequence of the aging process;
      however, there is evidence that it may be associated with degenerative changes of
      other structures. The goal of this study was to investigate the correlation
      between lumbar multifidus muscle features and facet joint osteoarthritis. This
      retrospective study included 160 patients who had acute or chronic low back pain
      and were diagnosed with facet joint osteoarthritis on computed tomography scan.
      Morphometric parameters, including cross-sectional area, muscle-fat index, and
      percentage of bilateral multifidus asymmetry at L3-L4, L4-L5, and L5-S1, were
      evaluated with T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with facet joint
      osteoarthritis had a smaller cross-sectional area and a higher muscle-fat index
      than those without facet joint osteoarthritis (P<.001). In multivariate
      regression analysis, older age and higher muscle-fat index were independently
      associated with facet joint osteoarthritis at all 3 spinal levels (P<.001).
      Smaller cross-sectional area was independently associated with facet joint
      osteoarthritis only at L4-L5 (P=.005). Asymmetry of the bilateral multifidus
      cross-sectional area was independently associated with facet joint osteoarthritis
      at L5-S1 (P=.009), but did not seem to be responsible for asymmetric degeneration
      of the bilateral facet joints. A higher multifidus muscle-fat index was
      independently associated with facet joint osteoarthritis, and bilateral
      multifidus size asymmetry was associated with the development of facet joint
      osteoarthritis at L5-S1. It seems more accurate to consider facet joint
      osteoarthritis a failure of the whole joint structure, including the paraspinal
      musculature, rather than simply a failure of the facet joint cartilage.
      [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):e793-e800.].

PMID- 28585999
TI  - Treatment of a Pediatric T-type Intercondylar Humerus Fracture With Hybrid
      Percutaneous Pinning and External Fixation.
AB  - T-type intercondylar fractures of the distal humerus are rare injuries in
      skeletally immature patients. Few studies are available to guide the treatment of
      these injuries. Small case series and expert recommendations suggest superiority
      of the open approach for direct reduction of the articular surface. This approach
      poses risks of vascular compromise and elbow stiffness. However, success with
      percutaneous intercondylar screw fixation has been described for simple split
      patterns. The authors present a case that illustrates a novel percutaneous
      technique to treat this fracture type. A healthy 8-year-old boy sustained a T
      type intercondylar fracture of the distal humerus (AO 13-C1). Excellent reduction
      was noted after closed reduction and crossed percutaneous pinning. Compression
      was applied across the pins through a small external fixator bar to address the
      intercondylar split component. At the 6-week postoperative clinic visit, the pins
      and fixator were removed uneventfully, and normal healing with full range of
      elbow motion was noted. This case report describes a simple, minimally invasive
      technique to treat uncomplicated T-type intercondylar fractures of the distal
      humerus in skeletally immature patients. Practitioners familiar with percutaneous
      fixation of supracondylar fractures can easily perform this technique. The
      described technique spares an open dissection and avoids permanent implants
      around the joint. Further multicenter research is warranted to determine the long
      term outcomes and safety of the described technique. [Orthopedics. 2017;
      40(6):e1096-e1098.].

PMID- 28586000
TI  - Underlying mechanism of Sirt1 on apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation
      of osteoarthritis chondrocytes.
AB  - The study investigated the effects and underlying mechanisms of silent
      information regulation of transcription 1 (Sirt1) action on apoptosis in
      chondrocytes and degradation of the extracellular matrix. Cartilage tissue
      samples were derived from knee arthroplasty of patients with osteoarthritis (OA).
      The three groups were as follows: Control, resveratrol (Res) and Res+small
      interfering (si)RNA (Res+siRNA Sirt1). The level of Sirt1 protein expression
      significantly increased in the Res group (1.03+/-0.10) compared with the control
      (0.22+/-0.03) and Res+siRNA (0.18+/-0.01) groups (both P<0.05). Early and late
      stage cell apoptosis rates decreased in the Res group and increased in the
      Res+siRNA group (both P<0.05). B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression levels were
      upregulated and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) expression levels were
      downregulated in the Res group compared with the control group. Protein
      expression levels of MMP1 and MMP13 and the phosphorylation levels of
      extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and
      p38 were downregulated in the Res group and upregulated in the Res+siRNA group.
      In conclusion, upregulation of Sirt1 expression may inhibit OA chondrocyte
      apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation by increasing Bcl-2 expression and
      decreasing Bax, MMP1 and MMP13 expression, via downregulation of p38, JNK and ERK
      phosphorylation.

PMID- 28586001
TI  - Apoptosis is induced by docosahexaenoic acid in breast cancer cells via death
      receptor and mitochondria-mediated pathways.
AB  - In the present study, the antitumor effect of n-3 fatty acid was evaluated, and
      the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the induction of apoptosis and its
      underlying mechanism were examined. Flow cytometry and western blot analysis were
      performed to analyze apoptosis and the expression of protein factors in human
      breast cancer cells. The data revealed that DHA inhibited the viability of MCF-7
      breast cancer cells in vitro, and promoted cell death by the induction of
      apoptosis. DHA decreased the expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), whereas the
      expression of Bcl-2-associated X protein was increased. DHA was also shown to
      promote the release of Smac/Diablo and cytochrome c from the mitochondria. DHA
      increased the levels of cleaved caspase-8, -9 and -3. Additionally, the protein
      expression of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, death
      receptor 4 and Fas were increased following DHA treatment. In conclusion, DHA
      caused apoptosis of the human breast cancer cells in vitro through the death
      receptor and mitochondria-mediated pathways. The results of this study encourage
      further investigation of the effect of fish oil on the prevention and treatment
      of human breast cancer.

PMID- 28586002
TI  - Effect of Sorbus commixta on the invasion and migration of human hepatocellular
      carcinoma Hep3B cells.
AB  - Tumor metastasis is a main cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Thus,
      a number of medicinal herbs and phytochemicals have been investigated as possible
      candidates for the inhibition of cancer metastasis. Sorbus commixta Hedl. (SC) is
      a traditional medicinal plant used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, as
      it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-hepatotoxic
      activities. In this study, we demonstrate that the water extract of SC exerts
      inhibitory effect on the invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B
      cells. The activity and expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, which is
      responsible for the invasion of cancer cells, was decreased by SC treatment. The
      invasive and migratory potentials of the Hep3B cells were also decreased, as
      evidence by in vitro assay using the Boyden chamber system. In addition, the
      expression of the chemokine receptors, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR)4
      and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 6 (CXCR6), were inhibited by SC in Hep3B cells.
      Furthermore, actin fiber organization was markedly suppressed by SC treatment.
      Taken together, the findings of this study suggest for the first time, to the
      best of our knowledge, that SC suppresses the invasion and migration of highly
      metastatic Hep3B cells.

PMID- 28586003
TI  - Lymphotoxin beta receptor activation promotes mRNA expression of RelA and pro
      inflammatory cytokines TNFalpha and IL-1beta in bladder cancer cells.
AB  - The role of inflammation in tumorigenesis and development is currently well
      established. Lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTbetaR) activation induces canonical and
      noncanonical nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB signaling pathways, which are linked to
      inflammation-induced carcinogenesis. In the present study, 5,637 bladder cancer
      cells were cultured and the activation of LTbetaR was induced by functional
      ligand, lymphotoxin (LT) alpha1beta2, and silencing with shRNA. Reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was utilized to detect the
      mRNA expression levels of NF-kappaB family members RelA and RelB, cytokines
      including LTalpha, LTbeta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha, TNF superfamily
      member 14, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1beta, and proliferation-related genes
      including CyclinD1 and Survivin. The expression of phospho-p65 was determined by
      western blotting. Activation of LTbetaR on bladder cancer 5,637 cells was
      demonstrated to upregulate the mRNA expression levels of the RELA proto-oncogene,
      RelA, by 2.5-fold compared with unstimulated cells, while no significant change
      was observed in the RELB proto-oncogene NF-kappaB member mRNA levels. Expression
      of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha and interleukin
      (IL)-1beta mRNA levels were significantly increased nearly 5-fold and 1.5-fold,
      respectively, following LTbetaR activation compared with unstimulated cells. The
      LTbetaR-induced upregulation of RelA, TNFalpha and IL-1beta was decreased by ~33,
      27, and 26% respectively when LTbetaR was silenced via short hairpin RNA.
      Activation of LTbetaR had no effect on 5,637 cell growth, despite CyclinD1 and
      Survivin mRNA levels increasing by ~2.7 and 1.3-fold, respectively, compared with
      unstimulated cells. In conclusion, activation of LTbetaR induced the expression
      of RelA mRNA levels. LTbetaR activation might be an important mediator in
      promoting an inflammatory microenvironment in bladder cancer, via the
      upregulation of TNFalpha and IL-1beta mRNA levels. LTbetaR may be a potential
      therapeutic target for bladder cancer.

PMID- 28586004
TI  - COX-2 regulates Snail expression in gastric cancer via the Notch1 signaling
      pathway.
AB  - The conversion of arachidonic acid into prostaglandins by cyclooxygenase (COX)-2
      contributes to the biological properties of malignant tumours. During the
      initiation and development of various tumours, the Notch family plays a key role.
      However, the association between COX-2 and the Notch family in gastric cancer
      (GC) remains unclear. The present study aimed to clarify the mechanisms through
      which COX-2 participates in the pathogenesis of GC. Quantitative PCR and western
      blot analysis were used to detect the expression of Notch family members and COX
      2 in human GC and paracancerous tissues, GES-1 cells and GC cell lines (AGS, SGC
      7901, BGC-823, and MGC-803) treated with or without celecoxib, prostaglandin E2
      and small interfering RNA (siRNA). A CCK-8 assay was performed to detect the
      proliferation of GC cells transfected with siRNA against COX-2 (si-COX-2). A high
      mRNA expression of Notch1 and a decreased expression of Notch-1 intracellular
      active domain (N1IC) in GC were found to be related to the depth of invasion and
      TNM staging. The mRNA levels of Notch2, Notch3, Jagged1 and N2IC were found to be
      high in GC. A High expression of COX-2 was associated with poorly differentiated
      and deeply invasive GC. COX-2 and Notch1 exhibited an inverse expression pattern
      in the GES-1 cells and different GC cell lines; the inhibition of COX-2 increased
      Notch1 expression and activated the GC cells, whereas Notch1 downregulation had
      the opposite effect. Notch1 exhibited varying effects on Snail in the GC cell
      lines. The downregulation of COX-2 expression significantly inhibited the
      proliferation of GC cells. On the whole, the expression of Notch signalling
      molecules differed in GC. COX-2 inversely regulated Notch1 in GC and partially
      depended on the Notch1 signalling pathway in altering the expression of Snail.

PMID- 28586006
TI  - Butein inhibits NF-kappaB, AP-1 and Akt activation in adult T-cell
      leukemia/lymphoma.
AB  - Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the causative agent of adult T
      cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) but there is no effective treatment for HTLV-1
      associated diseases. Herein, we determined the effect of butein, a bioactive
      plant polyphenol, on cell growth, apoptosis and signaling pathways in HTLV-1
      infected T-cell lines and on tumor growth in SCID mice. Treatment with butein
      caused a decrease in viability of HTLV-1-infected T-cell lines. T cells cultured
      with butein showed obvious apoptosis morphology, and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose)
      polymerase with activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9. Pretreatment of cells with
      caspase inhibitor partially blocked butein-induced inhibition of cell viability.
      Butein also resulted in cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. Butein markedly
      downregulated the protein expression levels of CDK4, CDK6, cyclin D1, cyclin D2,
      cyclin E, survivin, XIAP, c-IAP2 and phospho-pRb. Butein also inhibited i) total
      and phospho-protein levels of IkappaB kinase (IKK)alpha and IKKbeta, ii)
      degradation and phosphorylation of IkappaBalpha, iii) JunB and JunD, iv) total
      and phospho-protein levels of Akt, v) phosphorylation of RelA, vi) heat shock
      protein 90, and vii) DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB and AP-1. In mice
      harboring ATLL xenograft tumors, butein caused a significant inhibition of tumor
      growth and reduced serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain and
      soluble cluster of differentiation 30. Considered together, the results indicated
      that butein has antiproliferative and proapoptotic properties through the
      suppression of NF-kappaB, AP-1 and Akt signaling in HTLV-1-infected T cells, both
      in vitro and in vivo, suggesting its therapeutic potential against HTLV-1
      associated diseases including ATLL.

PMID- 28586005
TI  - Clinical significance and prognostic value of SOX7 expression in liver and
      pancreatic carcinoma.
AB  - Sex determining region Y-box 7 (SOX7) is known to function as a tumor suppressor
      in a number of types of cancer; however, its role in liver and pancreatic
      carcinoma remains unclear. The present study investigated the association between
      SOX7 expression and the clinical pathology of these carcinomas, in particular if
      SOX7 expression may be used to predict recurrence and patient prognosis following
      radical resection of liver and pancreatic carcinoma. SOX7 expression in human
      liver and pancreatic carcinoma was detected by immunohistochemical analyses and
      validated using mRNA data from a high-throughput sequencing dataset from The
      Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). SOX7 expression was significantly downregulated in
      liver and pancreatic carcinoma relative to the adjacent benign tissues
      [immunoreactivity scores: Liver carcinoma (3.53+/-1.57) vs. benign (7.00+/-0.00),
      P<0.001; and pancreatic carcinoma (2.39+/-1.88) vs. benign (4.80+/-0.45),
      P=0.005]. In addition, downregulation of SOX7 was significantly associated with
      advanced stage liver carcinoma, and the primary pathological tumor stage and
      regional lymph node stages. These findings were further validated in the TCGA
      dataset. However, SOX7 down regulation was closely associated with the only
      pathological grade in pancreatic patients. Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed
      significant differences in overall and disease-free survival between patients
      with high and low levels of SOX7 expression. In addition, a multivariate analysis
      with Cox regression indicated that SOX7 may be an independent predictor of
      disease-free survival. The results indicate that SOX7 may inhibit the progression
      of liver carcinoma and that SOX7 downregulation may accurately predict poor
      prognosis in liver carcinoma patients.

PMID- 28586007
TI  - APG-1252-12A induces mitochondria-dependent apoptosis through inhibiting the
      antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2/Bcl-xl in HL-60 cells.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common acute leukemia in adults. Despite
      improved remission rates, current treatment regimens for AML are often associated
      with a very poor prognosis and adverse effects, necessitating more effective and
      safer agents. B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family proteins regulate
      apoptotic pathway that can be targeted with small molecule inhibitors. APG-1252
      12A is a Bcl-2 homology (BH)-3 mimetic that specifically binds to Bcl-2 and Bcl
      xl, which has shown efficacy in some Bcl-2 dependent hematological cancers. In
      this study, we investigated whether APG-1252-12A inhibits the growth of five
      leukemia cell lines in a concentration- or time-dependent manner by MTS assay.
      Following treatment of AML cell line HL-60 with this compound, cell apoptosis was
      detected using flow cytometry and nuclear condensation was observed after Hoechst
      33258 dye. Immunoblotting for cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3 and PARP-1 cleavage
      was used to demonstrate the mechanism of inducing mitochondria-dependent
      apoptosis by APG-1252-12A. Our findings showed that this new compound inhibited
      cell proliferation in five leukemia cell lines and induced apoptotic death. There
      was a link between the level of Bcl-2 protein and IC50. APG-1252-12A targeted
      mitochondria and induced caspase-dependent apoptosis by inducing the HL-60 cell
      cytochrome c released, PARP cleavage and caspase activation. These data suggested
      that APG-1252-12A is a candidate drug for the in vivo analysis and clinical
      evaluation in AML.

PMID- 28586008
TI  - A nanobody targeting carcinoembryonic antigen as a promising molecular probe for
      non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a biomarker and therapy target for non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most common type of lung cancer.
      Nanobodies with high target specificity are promising candidates to function as
      anti-CEA probes. In the present study, the targeting effects of an anti-CEA
      nanobody obtained from phage display were investigated using technetium-99 m
      (99mTc) and fluorescence labeling. In vitro binding and immunofluorescent
      staining assays, as well as in vivo blood clearance and biodistribution assays
      were performed. High specificity and affinity of the nanobody for CEA-positive
      H460 cells was observed in vitro. The pharmacokinetics assay of the 99mTc
      nanobody in Wistar rats demonstrated that the nanobody had appropriate T1/2alpha
      and T1/2beta, which were 20.2 and 143.5 min, respectively. The biodistribution
      assay using H460 xenograft-bearing nude mice demonstrated a high ratio of signal
      in tumor compared with background, which confirmed that the nanobody may be
      useful as a molecular probe for CEA-positive cancer, particularly in NSCLC.

PMID- 28586009
TI  - Fli-1 overexpression in erythroleukemic cells promotes erythroid de
      differentiation while Spi-1/PU.1 exerts the opposite effect.
AB  - The ETS transcription factors play a critical role during hematopoiesis. In F
      MuLV-induced erythroleukemia, Fli-1 insertional activation producing high
      expression of this transcription factor required to promote proliferation. How
      deregulated Fli-1 expression alters the balance between erythroid differentiation
      and proliferation is unknown. To address this issue, we exogenously overexpressed
      Fli-1 in an erythroleukemic cell harboring activation of spi-1/PU.1, another ETS
      gene involved in erythroleukemogenesis. While the proliferation in culture
      remains unaffected, Fli-1 overexpression imparts morphological and
      immunohistochemical characteristics of immature erythroid progenitors. Fli-1
      overexpression in erythroleukemic cells increased the numbers of erythroid
      colonies on methylcellulose and reduced tumorigenicity as evidenced by increase
      latency of erythroleukemogenesis in mice inoculated with these cells. Although
      all transplanted mice developed enlargement of the spleen and liver due to
      leukemic infiltration, Fli-1 overexpression altered the hematopoietic phenotype,
      significantly increasing the expression of regulatory hematopoietic genes cKIT,
      SCA-1, CD41 and CD71. In contrast, expression of Spi-1/PU.1 in a Fli-1 producing
      erythroleukemia cell line in which fli-1 is activated, resulted in increased
      proliferation through activation of growth promoting proteins MAPK, AKT, cMYC and
      JAK2. Importantly, these progenitors express high levels of markers such as CD71
      and TER119 associated with more mature erythroid cells. Thus, Fli-1
      overexpression induces a de-differentiation program by reverting CFU-E to BFU-E
      erythroid progenitor activity, while Spi-1/PU.1 promoting maturation from BFU-E
      to CFU-E.

PMID- 28586010
TI  - Resveratrol protects against L-arginine-induced acute necrotizing pancreatitis in
      mice by enhancing SIRT1-mediated deacetylation of p53 and heat shock factor 1.
AB  - Acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) is a common severe critical illness with a
      high mortality rate. Resveratrol, a polyphenol compound derived from various
      plants such as grape skin, peanut, berry and veratrum, exhibits multiple
      biological activities, especially potent anti-inflammatory activity, but its
      effect on ANP has not yet been fully elucidated. The present study aimed to
      investigate the effects of resveratrol on L-arginine-induced ANP and the possible
      mechanisms. A mouse model of ANP was established by 2 hourly intraperitoneal
      injections of 8% L-arginine (4 g/kg). Then the mice were treated by intragastric
      administration of resveratrol (80 mg/kg) every 12 h immediately after the second
      injection of L-arginine. Mice with ANP showed increased apoptosis of pancreatic
      acinar cells, pancreatic myeloperoxidase activity, serum lactate dehydrogenase
      activity, amylase, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6)
      levels as well as decreased serum IL-10 level, pancreatic expression of heat
      shock factor 1 (HSF1), sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and p53, but the ratio of acetylated
      HSF1 and p53 was markedly increased. Resveratrol enhanced the survival rate of
      mice with ANP from 47.8 to 71.4% and obviously restored the changes in mice with
      ANP as mentioned above. Additionally, interactions between SIRT1 and p53 and
      between SIRT1 and HSF1 in the pancreas of the mice were confirmed by co
      immunoprecipitation. These data suggest that resveratrol protects against L
      arginine-induced ANP, which may be related to the enhancement of SIRT1-mediated
      deacetylation of p53 and HSF1.

PMID- 28586011
TI  - Microglia activation triggers oligodendrocyte precursor cells apoptosis via
      HSP60.
AB  - Reactive microglia are present in lesions of myelin-associated white matter
      disorders resulting in injuries to oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs).
      Therefore, protection of OPCs from injury due to excessive activation of
      microglia is important in treating these diseases. Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60)
      has been demonstrated to be released extracellularly in the failing heart upon
      stress or injury. However, the role of HSP60 in the central nervous system and
      whether it participates in the toxic effects of microglia on OPCs remains
      unclear. The present study used the co-culture, cell death assays, binding
      assays, immunochemistry, western blot and ELISA. HSP60 was demonstrated to be
      released extracellularly by LPS-activated microglia and to bind to OPCs,
      triggering OPC apoptosis. When pretreated with toll-like receptor (TLR) 4
      blocking antibody, the viability of OPCs increased, while the expression of
      nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB), caspase 3 and the release of proinflammatory
      cytokines triggered by HSP60 decreased. These results suggest that HSP60 released
      by microglia may mediate OPC apoptosis through binding to TLR4 on the surface of
      OPCs and subsequently activating the TLR4-NFkappaB signaling pathway. HSP60 may,
      therefore, serve as a potential target for treatment of myelin-associated
      neurodegenerative diseases that are accompanied by microglia activation.

PMID- 28586013
TI  - Immunogenicity and immunoreactivity of Tp0821 recombinant protein from Treponema
      pallidum.
AB  - Treponema pallidum (Tp) is responsible for invading reproductive organs and the
      skin in early stages, and involves almost all organs/systems at advanced stages.
      In the present study, screening of the dominant epitope fragment of the Tp outer
      membrane protein, Tp0821, was performed and the prokaryotic expression vector
      pQE32/Tp0821 was constructed. The denaturation and dialysis of rTp0821 were
      achieved through ultrasound, inclusion body washing and dissolution. Experiments
      in purified rTp0821-immune New Zealand rabbits indicated that the recombinant
      proteins were of high immunogenicity, and the irritation led a marked humoral
      immune response in the New Zealand rabbits. Western blot analysis showed that the
      purified recombinant proteins reacted with the Tp-positive infected serum,
      confirming the high level of immunoreactivity. The delayed type hypersensitivity
      of rTp0821 recombinant proteins was positive, indicating that rTp0821 induced a
      specific cell immune response and was selected as a Tp vaccine candidate protein.
      The findings of the present study provided novel evidence, which provided
      information for further investigations on the pathogenic mechanism of Tp and the
      development of diagnostic reagents.

PMID- 28586012
TI  - Methylated +322-327 CpG site decreases hOGG1 mRNA expression in non-small cell
      lung cancer.
AB  - hOGG1 plays a role in several disease pathways, including various cancers.
      Despite such functional importance, how hOGG1 is regulated at the transcriptional
      level in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unknown, particularly
      via DNA methylation changes. We obtained NSCLC tissues and adjacent non-cancerous
      tissues and examined hOGG1 mRNA expression levels. NSCLC cells were treated with
      5-Aza to test whether DNA methylation can influence the expression of hOGG1. The
      MassARRAY EpiTYPER and luciferase reporter gene assays were used to define the
      functional region of the hOGG1 gene (including CpG sites). Finally, ChIP assay
      was utilized to verify transcription factor binding to the hOGG1 5'-UTR region.
      Our previous studies supported the idea that the methylation of the hOGG1 gene
      promoter region occurs frequently in NSCLC. Treatment with 5-Aza, a demethylating
      agent, led to a significant restoration of hOGG1 expression in NSCLC cell lines.
      Quantitative PCR and MassARRAY EpiTYPER assays demonstrated that methylation of
      the +322-327 CpG site in the 5'-UTR region of hOGG1 was higher in NSCLC tissues
      compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Notably, the methylation level of
      +322-327 site (T/N) was inversely correlated with that of hOGG1 mRNA level (T/N)
      in 25 NSCLC tissues. ChIP assay and in silico prediction showed an association
      between the +322-327 CpG site and Sp1, which has been reported to be an activator
      of transcription. Importantly, luciferase reporter gene and ChIP assays showed
      that +322-327 CpG site methylation particularly reduced the recruitment of Sp1 to
      the 5'-UTR sequence in hOGG1 and reduced transcriptional activity ~50%. In
      summary, we have demonstrated that hOGG1 mRNA is downregulated in NSCLC tissues.
      Moreover, we identified that the methylated +322-327 CpG site in the hOGG1 5'-UTR
      is associated with reduced expression of hOGG1 by decreasing the recruitment of
      Sp1 to the 5'-UTR of hOGG1.

PMID- 28586015
TI  - Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory actions of various functional food materials
      including glucosamine on synovial cells.
AB  - The anti-inflammatory actions of glucosamine (GlcN) on arthritic disorders
      involve the suppression of inflammatory mediator production from synovial cells.
      GlcN has also been reported to inhibit the activation of the p38 mitogen
      activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. The present study aimed to determine the
      cooperative and anti-inflammatory actions of functional food materials and
      evaluated the production of interleukin (IL)-8 and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in
      IL-1beta-activated synovial cells, incubated with the combination of GlcN and
      various functional food materials containing L-methionine (Met), undenatured type
      II collagen (UC-II), chondroitin sulfate (CS), methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and
      agaro-oligosaccharide (AO). The results indicated that Met, UC-II, CS, MSM and AO
      slightly or moderately suppressed the IL-1beta-stimulated IL-8 production by
      human synovial MH7A cells. The same compounds further decreased the IL-8 level
      lowered by GlcN. Similarly, they slightly suppressed the phosphorylation level of
      p38 MAPK and further reduced the phosphorylation level lowered by GlcN. These
      observations suggest a possibility that these functional food materials exert an
      anti-inflammatory action (inhibition of IL-8 production) in combination with GlcN
      by cooperatively suppressing the p38 MAPK signaling (phosphorylation).

PMID- 28586014
TI  - Lewis(y) antigen promotes the progression of epithelial ovarian cancer by
      stimulating MUC1 expression.
AB  - MUC1 is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein and is overexpressed in various
      epithelial tumor tissues. Some researchers have demonstrated that the
      glycosylation status of MUC1 can affect MUC1-mediated tumor growth and cell
      differentiation. In our previous study, we proved that the abilities of cell
      proliferation, adhesion, invasion and metastasis, and drug resistance were
      enhanced in ovarian cancer cells stably expressing Lewis(y). Therefore, we
      hypothesized that Lewis(y) antigen may play a central role in regulating MUC1
      expression, and MUC1-mediated cell growth and differentiation may be closely
      associated with Lewis(y) antigen. This study aimed to examine the correlation
      between MUC1 expression and Lewis(y) antigen levels in ovarian cancer cell lines
      and tissue samples. A series of techniques, including RT-qPCR, western blot
      anlaysis, immunoprecipitation, immunohistochemistry and double-labeling
      immunofluorescence were applied to detect the expression of Lewis(y) and MUC1. In
      malignant epithelial ovarian tumors, the positive expression rates of Lewis(y)
      antigen and MUC1 were 88.33 and 86.67%, respectively, which were markedly higher
      than those in borderline (60.00 and 53.33%, P<0.05), benign (33.33 and 30%,
      P<0.01) and normal (0 and 25%, P<0.01) ovarian samples. There was no correlation
      between the positive expression rates of Lewis(y) or MUC1 and clinicopathological
      parameters in ovarian cancers (P>0.05). The expression levels of Lewis(y) and
      MUC1 correlated with the clinical FIGO stage (P<0.05). Both MUC1 and Lewis(y)
      were highly expressed in ovarian cancer tissues, and their expression levels were
      positively correlated (P<0.01). In alpha1,2-fucosyltransferase (alpha1,2-FT)
      transfected cells, the gene and protein expression levels of MUC1 were
      significantly upregulated compared with the cells that did not overexpress
      alpha1,2-FT (P<0.05). The ratio of Lewis(y) immunoprecipitated with MUC1 to total
      MUC1 increased 1.55-fold in alpha1,2-FT-overexpressing cells (P<0.05). The
      overexpression of Lewis(y) resulted in the upregulation of MUC1. On the whole,
      our data indicate that both MUC1 and Lewis(y) are associated with the occurrence
      and development of ovarian cancers.

PMID- 28586016
TI  - Protective effects of asiatic acid in a spontaneous type 2 diabetic mouse model.
AB  - Asiatic acid (AA) has been demonstrated to exhibit anti-diabetic activity.
      However, the mechanisms and underlying signaling pathways remain to be
      elucidated. The present study was performed to confirm the protective effect of
      AA and demonstrate its ability to regulate the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
      (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta)
      signaling pathway in db/db mice. Db/db mice fed on a high-fat diet were used to
      model diabetes mellitus. Modeled mice were divided randomly into the model
      control, pioglitazone hydrochloride tablet (PH) and AA groups. Age-matched C57
      BL/6J mice served as normal controls. Lipid and glucose levels, and glycogen
      synthesis rates were assessed following treatment. Pathological changes were
      detected using hematoxylin and eosin staining. Expression of the PI3K/AKT/GSK
      3beta signaling pathway at the mRNA level was measured using quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction analysis. The model control group revealed typical
      characteristics of obesity and diabetes, including high glucose and lipid levels,
      and decreased glycogen synthesis. Four weeks of treatment with AA or PH
      ameliorated these abnormalities. AA and PH treatments mitigated the upregulation
      of PI3K, AKT, insulin receptor, and insulin receptor substrate-1 mRNA expression
      in modeled mice. Furthermore, AA and PH treatments decreased GSK-3beta and
      glucose-6-phosphatase mRNA expression compared with the normal control group. The
      results of the present study confirmed that AA possesses anti-diabetic activity
      in db/db mice. The PI3K/AKT/GSK-3beta signaling pathway may mediate this
      protective effect.

PMID- 28586017
TI  - KML001 and doxercalciferol induce synergistic antileukemic effect in acute
      lymphoid leukemia cells.
AB  - KML001 (NaAsO2, sodium metaarsenite, KOMINOX), a kind of arsenic compound, that
      has shown promising efficacy in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) both in vitro and in
      vivo. In our study, the antileukemic effect of KML001 on acute lymphoid leukemia
      (ALL) and its mechanism of action were investigated. The results showed that
      KML001 inhibited cell proliferation in two types of ALL cell lines, CCRF-CEM and
      Molt-4. Exposure of ALL cells to KML001 induced apoptosis in a time-dependent
      manner. KML001 caused cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase instead of G0/G1 phase
      shown in other leukemia cells. In addition, we also tested the possibility of
      synergy of KML001 with doxercalciferol, a vitamin D2 derivative. Also, we found
      that a combination of KML001 with doxercalciferol showed a synergistic effect on
      ALL cell lines and this could be due to its different mechanism of action.
      Overall, our findings demonstrated KML001 could be a promising antileukemic agent
      especially when it is combined with doxercalciferol in ALL treatment.

PMID- 28586018
TI  - Transient cerebral ischemia induces albumin expression in microglia only in the
      CA1 region of the gerbil hippocampus.
AB  - Albumin, the most abundant plasma protein, is known to exhibit a neuroprotective
      effect in animal models of focal and global cerebral ischemia. In the present
      study, the expression and immunoreactivity of albumin was examined in the
      hippocampus following 5 min of transient cerebral ischemia in gerbils. Albumin
      immunoreactivity was observed in microglia of the CA1 hippocampal region 2 days
      post-ischemic insult, and it was significantly increased at 4 days following
      ischemia-reperfusion. In addition, at 4 days post-ischemic insult, albumin
      immunoreactive microglia were abundant in the stratum pyramidale of the CA1
      region. The present results demonstrated that albumin was newly expressed post
      injury in microglia in the CA1 region, suggesting ischemia-induced neuronal loss.
      Albumin expression may therefore be associated with ischemia-induced delayed
      neuronal death in the CA1 region following transient cerebral ischemia.

PMID- 28586020
TI  - Altered expression of epithelial mesenchymal transition and pluripotent
      associated markers by sex steroid hormones in human embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from a developmental
      stage of pre-implanted embryos. The present study investigated the effect of
      female sex steroid hormones on the characteristics of human ES cells by using a
      feeder-free culture protocol. In a feeder-free condition without sex hormones,
      human ES cells assumed the form of tightly packed cells that grow in a monolayer.
      The cells had clean and defined edges with no evidence of differentiation and
      expressed several markers specific for undifferentiated ES cells including POU
      class 5 homeobox 1 (POU5F1), sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) and NANOG
      homeobox (NANOG). It was then investigated if female sex steroid hormones
      including 17beta-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) altered the protein
      expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) associated markers in
      addition to pluripotency markers including POU5F1, SOX2 and NANOG in human ES
      cells. The protein expression levels of N-cadherin, Snail and Slug were increased
      while E-cadherin expression was decreased by treatment of E2 or P4, and the
      expression levels of POU5F1, SOX2 and NANOG were decreased by the treatment of E2
      or P4. When E2 and P4 were treated in combination with an estrogen receptor
      inhibitor (ICI 182,780) and progesterone receptor inhibitor (RU486) respectively,
      their effects on EMT and pluripotency of ES cells were restored to control
      levels. The results suggested that E2 and P4 may regulate EMT and pluripotency of
      human ES cells by mediating their receptors. The present study may aid in the
      understanding of the role of sex steroid hormones in the cellular biology of
      human ES cells.

PMID- 28586019
TI  - Protective effects of astragaloside IV against ovalbumin-induced allergic
      rhinitis are mediated by T-box protein expressed in T cells/GATA-3 and forkhead
      box protein 3/retinoic acid-related orphan nuclear receptor gammat.
AB  - 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-cycloastragenol, or
      Astragaloside IV (AST), is one of the major active ingredients isolated from
      Astragalus membranaceous with distinct pharmacological effects, and possesses
      anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory and antifibrotic properties. However, the
      effects of AST on allergic rhinitis remain to be elucidated. The present study
      aimed to examine the effects of AST on immunoglobulin (Ig) E-mediated allergic
      reactions in vivo, by using a mouse model of allergic rhinitis established via
      repetitive sensitization and intranasal challenge with ovalbumin (OVA).
      Intragastric administration of AST (25 mg/kg or 50 mg/kg) or dexamethasone (DEX;
      3 mg/kg) significantly alleviated the inflammatory response, nasal symptoms and
      mucosa remodeling, and decreased the serum levels of OVA-specific IgE in allergic
      mice. Furthermore, treatment with AST or DEX significantly suppressed the mRNA
      and protein expression levels of the transcription factor GATA-3 and retinoic
      acid receptor-related orphan nuclear receptor (ROR)gammat in tissue samples
      isolated from the spleen and nasal mucosa of mice with allergic rhinitis.
      Conversely, mRNA and protein expression levels of T-box protein expressed in T
      cells (T-bet) and forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) were upregulated in the spleen
      and nasal mucosa of mice with allergic rhinitis following treatment with AST or
      DEX, and spleen protein levels of signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 3 followed a similar trend. In addition, treatment with AST was
      associated with fewer adverse events compared with treatment with DEX. The
      present results suggested that treatment with AST may attenuate OVA-induced
      allergic rhinitis via regulating the expression of the transcription factors GATA
      3, RORgammat, T-bet and Foxp3, which commit T helper cells to the Th1 phenotype.
      Therefore, AST may represent an alternative therapeutic approach for the
      treatment of patients with allergic rhinitis.

PMID- 28586021
TI  - Construction and characterization of a transmembrane eukaryotic expression vector
      based on the membrane domain structure of TNF-alpha.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to construct a fast-acting, eukaryotic
      expression vector in eukaryotic cells based on transmembrane-tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TM-TNF-alpha) structure. Two types of recombinant eukaryotic
      expression vectors were constructed, pcDNA3.1-TM-enterokinase-TNF-alpha and
      pcDNA3.1-TM-Factor Xa-TNF-alpha, according to the TNF-alpha transmembrane
      segments. Following the generation of these vectors, mouse embryonic 3T3
      fibroblasts were transfected and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
      and western blotting analyses were used to analyze mTNF-alpha mRNA and protein
      expression levels, respectively, in total cellular protein extracts and
      extracellular fluid. The biological activity of TNF-alpha in the extracellular
      fluid was then measured using an MTT assay. The vectors were successfully
      constructed, and mRNA and fusion proteins were detected in the 3T3 cells. Among
      the fusion proteins, the one observed in pcDNA3.1-TM-FactorXa-TNF-alpha
      transfected 3T3 cells remained as a transmembrane protein. In addition, treatment
      of L929 cells with TNF-alpha derived extracellular fluid samples from pcDNA3.1-TM
      FactorXa-TNF-alpha-transfected 3T3 cells was associated with a dose-dependent
      reduction in in cell-specific activity. The results indicate that proteins
      expressed using pcDNA3.1-TM-FactorXa-TNF-alpha vectors form transmembrane
      proteins. In addition, the results indicate that, only when coupled with FactorXa
      activity, the extracellular region of TM-TNF-alpha forms s-TNF-alpha, and the
      controlled expression of the fusion protein is initiated.

PMID- 28586022
TI  - Small protein A and phospholipase D immunization serves a protective role in a
      mouse pneumonia model of Acinetobacter baumannii infection.
AB  - Acinetobacter baumannii is an important pathogen that primarily causes hospital
      acquired pneumonia. The present study sought to investigate whether small protein
      A (SmpA) and phospholipase D (PLD) are potential candidates for protective
      immunity against infection with A. baumannii. Mice immunized with the fusion
      proteins histidine (His)-SmpA and His-PLD exhibited a specific immunoglobulin G
      response. In a pneumonia model, active and passive immunization against SmpA and
      PLD protected mice from A. baumannii infection. The protection was demonstrated
      by a markedly improved survival rate, and reduced pulmonary bacterial load,
      infiltration and cytokine levels in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid and the
      serum, although a combination of the two antigens did not provide improved
      protection compared with immunization with the individual antigens alone. In
      conclusion, it was identified that SmpA and PLD are highly immunogenic proteins,
      and potential antigen candidates for the development of effective vaccines or to
      prepare antisera to mitigate A. baumannii infection.

PMID- 28586023
TI  - Genetic testing and counseling of a recipient after bone marrow transplant from a
      sibling harboring a germline BRCA1 pathogenic mutation.
AB  - Allogenic bone marrow transplant recipients represent a unique challenge, when
      they are referred for genetic testing and counseling. When performing genetic
      testing, it is extremely important to ensure that the detected DNA mutations
      originate from the patients own DNA, and therefore the most appropriate and
      reliable biological sample for DNA isolation must be obtained. The aim of the
      present study was to present the germline testing and counseling approach
      utilized in a rare case of a chimeric woman who received an allogenic bone marrow
      transplant from a sibling with a germline BRCA1 pathogenic mutation. According to
      our results, hairs with follicles are a reliable and ready source of DNA in a
      patient whose blood is of allogenic bone marrow transplant donor origin. Compared
      with a fibroblast culture, which is more difficult to obtain, the hair follicles
      are much more accessible and hair sampling is less invasive for the patient.
      Genetic testing based on the other sources of DNA, such as buccal swabs, is
      questionable due to the known risk of donor DNA contamination.

PMID- 28586024
TI  - Quercetin protects neuronal cells from oxidative stress and cognitive degradation
      induced by amyloid beta-peptide treatment.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the effect of quercetin on cytotoxicity
      and cognitive degradation induced by amyloid beta(Abeta)-peptide in mice. Using
      the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method and a Y-maze assay, the radical
      quenching ability and effect on working memory were determined, respectively, of
      quercetin treatment following 4 days of Abeta administration. The acute oral
      toxicity was assessed used to determine the concentration of quercetin at which
      50% lethality of the neuronal cells was induced. For determination of the effect
      of quercetin on degradation of learning and memory loss induced by Abeta, a
      passive avoidance test was used. The results revealed that quercetin was involved
      in the inhibition of DPPH radical activity and was found to reduce radical
      activity by 76.5%. Quercetin significantly protected PC12 neuronal cells from
      death induced by Abeta treatment. Treatment of mice with daily doses of 100 mg/kg
      body weight quercetin for 30 days significantly improved the degradation of
      learning and memory loss induced by Abeta. The acute oral dose of quercetin in
      mice was determined to be 575 mg/kg body weight. Therefore, quercetin was found
      to be of therapeutic value for the treatment of neurological disorders, including
      AD, although further investigations are required.

PMID- 28586026
TI  - Effects of galectin-9 on apoptosis, cell cycle and autophagy in human esophageal
      adenocarcinoma cells.
AB  - The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is rapidly increasing in western
      countries. The overall mortality of this disease remains high with a 5-year
      survival rate of less than 20%, despite remarkable advances in the care of
      patients with EAC. Galectin-9 (Gal-9) is a tandem-repeat type galectin that
      exerts anti-proliferative effects on various cancer cell types. The aim of the
      present study was to evaluate the effects of Gal-9 on human EAC cells and to
      assess the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with the antitumor effects
      of Gal-9 in vitro. Gal-9 suppressed the proliferation of the EAC cell lines OE19,
      OE33, SK-GT4, and OACM 5.1C. Additionally, Gal-9 treatment induced apoptosis and
      increased the expression levels of caspase-cleaved cytokeratin 18, activated
      caspase-3 and activated caspase-9. However, it did not promote cell cycle arrest
      by reducing cell cycle-related protein levels. Furthermore, Gal-9 increased the
      level of the angiogenesis-related protein interleukin-8 (IL-8) and markedly
      altered miRNA expression. Based on these findings, Gal-9 may be of clinical use
      for the treatment of EAC.

PMID- 28586025
TI  - Protective role of 17beta-estradiol on tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced
      apoptosis in human nucleus pulposus cells.
AB  - The molecular mechanisms underlying protection and pathogenesis in spinal
      degenerative diseases remain unclear. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) has
      been demonstrated to induce apoptosis of inte rvertebral disc (IVD) cells during
      IVD degeneration, and 17beta-estradiol (17beta-E2) has a protective effect
      against IVD cell apoptosis. However, the underlying molecular mechanism by which
      17beta-E2 protects nucleus pulposus (NP) cells remains to be investigated. The
      aim of the present study was to evaluate whether 17beta-E2 modulates apoptosis of
      human NP cells induced by TNF-alpha. In addition, the concentration-response
      effect of 17beta-E2 on human NP cells was investigated. Human NP cells were
      cultured in complete medium, which was replaced every three days until the
      culture was ~80% confluent. Cells were treated with 100 ng/ml TNF-alpha for 48 h,
      with or without pretreatment with various concentrations of 17beta-E2, and ICI
      182,780, for 30 min. Morphologic alterations characteristic of apoptosis were
      observed by inverted phase-contrast microscopy and Hoechst 33258 staining; the
      apoptosis rate was analyzed by flow cytometry. A Cell Counting kit-8 assay was
      used to assess cell proliferation. Furthermore, caspase-3 activity was determined
      and proteins associated with apoptosis were analyzed by western blotting. The
      level of apoptosis and caspase-3 activity in human NP cells increased, whereas
      proliferation and the expression of poly ADP-ribose polymerase decreased
      following TNF-alpha treatment. These effects of TNF-alpha were abolished by
      pretreatment with 17beta-E2 in a concentration-dependent manner. The results of
      the present study indicated that 17beta-E2 serves a critical role in the survival
      of degenerative human NP cells.

PMID- 28586027
TI  - Inhibitory effects of Stichopus japonicus extract on melanogenesis of mouse cells
      via ERK phosphorylation.
AB  - Stichopus japonicus has been used as a folk medicine and as an ingredient in
      traditional food in East Asian countries. In recent years, the bioactive
      compounds found in S. japonicus have been reported to possess efficacy in wound
      healing and may be of potential use in the cosmeceutical, pharmaceutical and
      biomedical industries. Although the components and their functions require
      further investigation, S. japonicus extracts exhibit anti-inflammatory
      properties, and may be used for cancer prevention and treatment. Although several
      reports have examined different aspects of S. japo-nicus, the effects of S.
      japonicus extract on melanogenesis in the skin has not been reported to date.
      Therefore the present study aimed to investigate the effects of S. japonicus
      extract on melanogenesis. Treatment with a mixture of S. japonicus extracts
      (MSCE) reduced melanin synthesis and tyrosinase (TYR) activity in mouse
      melanocyte cells lines, B16F10 and Melan-A. In addition, MSCE treatment reduced
      the protein expression levels of TYR, tyrosinase-related protein-1 and tyrosinase
      related protein-2. The reduced protein levels may be the result of decreased
      microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) expression, which is an
      important regulator of melanogenesis. The reduced expression level of MITF was
      associated with delayed phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      (ERK) induced by MSCE treatment. A specific MEK inhibitor, PD98059, significantly
      blocked MSCE-mediated inhibition of melanin synthesis. In conclusion, these
      results indicate that MSCE may be useful as a potential skin-whitening compound
      in the skin medical industry.

PMID- 28586028
TI  - ATM mediates DAB2IP-deficient bladder cancer cell resistance to ionizing
      radiation through the p38MAPK and NF-kappaB signaling pathway.
AB  - Although surgery remains the standard therapy for the treatment of bladder cancer
      (BCa), the data from previous clinical studies suggest that there is an increase
      in the number of patients with a preference for bladder preservation strategies,
      including radiotherapy, to improve their life quality. Our preliminary results
      showed that disabled homolog 2 interactive protein (DAB2IP), a putative tumor
      suppressor gene, is often downregulated in BCa with a radioresistant phenotype.
      Subsequent investigations revealed that elevated expression of ataxia
      telangiectasia mutated (ATM) induced by DAB2IP-knockdown may be the key event in
      BCa cell resistance to ionizing radiation (IR). However, how ATM is involved in
      the survival of DAB2IP-deficient cells exposed to IR remains to be fully
      elucidated. The present study knocked down the expression of ATM in DAB2IP
      deficient BCa cells using RNA interference technology. Activation of mitogen
      activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling
      pathways were detected by western blot analysis and immunofluorescence assay,
      respectively. It was demonstrated that knockdown of ATM enhanced the response of
      DAB2IP-deficient BCa cells to IR, which may have resulted from delayed DNA double
      strand break repair kinetics, compromised nuclear factor-kappaB translocation,
      inhibited phosphorylation of p38 and the induced activation of c-Jun N-terminal
      kinase. Taken together, these findings suggested that ATM may be an effective
      target in the radiotherapy of patients with DAB2IP-deficient BCa.

PMID- 28586029
TI  - Fangchinoline suppresses the proliferation, invasion and tumorigenesis of human
      osteosarcoma cells through the inhibition of PI3K and downstream signaling
      pathways.
AB  - Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor. Most patients diagnosed
      with osteosarcoma are less than 20 years of age. Osteosarcoma cells proliferate
      rapidly and invade other tissues. At present, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the
      primary pharmacodynamic strategy to prevent the progression of osteosarcoma.
      However, adverse effects of this strategy limit its long-term application.
      Previous research has shown that fangchinoline exerts antitumor effects on
      several types of tumor cells; however, its effect on osteosarcoma cells remains
      unknown. The present study evaluated the effects of fangchinoline on the
      proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells in vitro
      and on their tumorigenesis in vivo and determined the possible underlying
      mechanism of action. Fangchinoline-treated MG63 and U20S cells showed
      significantly decreased proliferation and significantly increased apoptosis.
      Fangchinoline markedly suppressed the migration and invasion of the MG63 cells.
      Fangchinoline-treated MG63 cells showed significantly decreased expression of
      phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Aktp-Thr308. Moreover, fangchinoline-treated
      MG63 cells showed downregulated expression of cyclin D1 and matrix
      metalloproteinase 2 and 9, which act downstream of PI3K, and upregulated
      expression of caspase-3 and caspase-8. Furthermore, fangchinoline suppressed the
      growth of subcutaneous osteosarcoma tumors in Balb/c mice subcutaneously injected
      with osteosarcoma cells. These findings suggest that fangchinoline inhibits the
      progression of osteosarcoma by suppressing the proliferation, migration and
      invasion and by accelerating the apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells. In addition,
      our results suggest that the mechanism underlying the antitumor effects of
      fangchinoline involve the inhibition of PI3K and its downstream signaling
      pathways.

PMID- 28586030
TI  - Expression of the EP300, TP53 and BAX genes in colorectal cancer: Correlations
      with clinicopathological parameters and survival.
AB  - E1A binding protein P300 (EP300), tumor protein P53 (TP53) and BCL2 associated X,
      apoptosis regulator (BAX) genes encode proteins which cooperate to regulate
      important cellular processes. The present study aimed to determine the expression
      levels of EP300, TP53 and BAX in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to investigate their
      prognostic value and association with the progression of CRC. Tumor and matched
      unchanged colorectal tissues were collected from 121 CRC patients. Quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were used to assess the mRNA
      and protein levels of the studied genes. Altered expression of the studied genes
      in CRC tissues was observed at both the mRNA and protein levels. The depth of
      invasion was associated with TP53 mRNA levels and was correlated negatively with
      BAX mRNA expression. Moreover, a relationship between tumor location and BAX mRNA
      content was noted. BAX immunoreactivity was correlated positively with the
      intensity of p300 immunostaining and was associated with lymph node involvement
      and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) disease stage. Univariate regression analysis
      revealed that overexpression of p53 and BAX in CRC tissues was associated with
      poor patient outcome. In conclusion, dysregulation of the expression of the
      studied genes was found to contribute to CRC pathogenesis. The association
      between p300 and BAX levels suggests the existence of an interdependent
      regulatory mechanism of their expression. Moreover, BAX expression may be
      regulated alternatively, in a p53-independent manner, since the lack of
      correlations between expression of these factors was observed.

PMID- 28586031
TI  - Punicalagin suppresses the proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cells
      through inhibition of the beta-catenin pathway.
AB  - Natural botanical drugs have attracted attention due to their cancer
      chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic properties in cancer. Punicalagin (PUN) is
      the major bioactive component of pomegranate peel, and has been shown to have
      antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antiproliferation and anticancer
      properties. PUN has been shown to induce apoptosis in several cancer cell lines.
      The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of PUN on HeLa human
      cervical cancer cells in vitro. The viability of the HeLa cells was assessed
      following treatment with PUN (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 uM) for 24, 36 and 48
      h using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. In addition, the cell cycle distribution,
      protein expression levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein
      (Bax), Bcl-2, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2, TIMP-3 and the beta
      catenin pathway, and the activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9
      were analyzed following treatment with PUN (0, 25, 50 and 100 uM) for 36 h using
      cell cycle analysis, western blot analysis and gelatin zymography, respectively.
      In addition, a wound-healing assay was used to detect cell migration. PUN led to
      a number of effects on the HeLa cells, including the inhibition of cell
      proliferation and cell migration, downregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9, upregulation
      of TIMP-2 and TIMP-3, cell-cycle arrest in the G1 phase, induction of apoptosis
      via alterations of Bcl-2 and Bax, and downregulation of beta-catenin and its
      downstream proteins, cyclin D1 and c-myc. These results suggested that PUN may
      have chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects against cervical cancer in
      humans through inhibition of the beta-catenin signaling pathway.

PMID- 28586033
TI  - Sufentanil attenuates oxaliplatin cytotoxicity via inhibiting connexin 43
      composed gap junction function.
AB  - Comprehensive strategies for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) have become
      increasingly important. One of the most important factors is pain relief.
      Therefore, patients with CRC are concurrently treated with analgesics and
      chemotherapeutic agents; however, the effects of analgesics on the therapeutic
      activity of chemotherapeutic agents remain largely unknown. The present study
      investigated the effects of three widely used analgesics in clinics: Fentanyl,
      remifentanil and sufentanil, on the cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin, a commonly used
      chemotherapeutic agent for CRC. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms of those
      effects in association with connexin 43 (Cx43)-composed gap junction (GJ)
      function were analyzed. The Lovo, Colo320, HCT116 and HT29 human CRC cell lines,
      with or without Cx43 expression, were used to examine the effects of the three
      analgesics on the cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin. The results demonstrated that in
      the cell lines expressing Cx43 (Lovo and Colo320), the cytotoxicity of
      oxaliplatin was attenuated and Cx43 GJ function was inhibited. Sufentanil, not
      fentanyl or remifentanil, inhibited Cx43 GJ function effectively, and reduced the
      cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin. In contrast, these effects were not observed in the
      other two colon cancer cell lines not expressing Cx43 (HCT116 and HT29). These
      results suggested that alternation of Cx43 GJ function may regulate the
      cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin in regard to CRC. Furthermore, sufentanil, not
      fentanyl or remifentanil, suppressed the cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin through
      inhibition of Cx43 GJ function. These results may be beneficial for the treatment
      of CRC and reduction of treatment resistance.

PMID- 28586032
TI  - A sketch of known and novel MYCN-associated miRNA networks in neuroblastoma.
AB  - Neuroblastoma (NB) originates from neural crest-derived precursors and represents
      the most common childhood extracranial solid tumour. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class
      of small non-coding RNAs that participate in a wide variety of biological
      processes by regulating gene expression, appear to play an essential role within
      the NB context. High-throughput next generation sequencing (NGS) was applied to
      study the miRNA transcriptome in a cohort of NB tumours with and without MYCN
      amplification (MNA and MNnA, respectively) and in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), as a
      control. Out of the 128 miRNAs differentially expressed in the NB vs. DRG
      comparison, 47 were expressed at higher levels, while 81 were expressed at lower
      levels in the NB tumours. We also found that 23 miRNAs were differentially
      expressed in NB with or without MYCN-amplification, with 17 miRNAs being
      upregulated and 6 being downregulated in the MNA subtypes. Functional annotation
      analysis of the target genes of these differentially expressed miRNAs
      demonstrated that many mRNAs were involved in cancer-related pathways, such as
      DNA-repair and apoptosis as well as FGFR and EGFR signalling. In particular, we
      found that miR-628-3p negatively affects MYCN gene expression. Furthermore, we
      identified a novel miRNA candidate with variable expression in MNA vs. MNnA
      tumours, whose putative target genes are implicated in the mTOR pathway. The
      present study provides further insight into the molecular mechanisms that
      correlate miRNA dysregulation to NB development and progression.

PMID- 28586035
TI  - DOC-2/DAB2 interactive protein regulates proliferation and mobility of
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by targeting PI3K/Akt pathway.
AB  - Tumor suppressors are a group of important inverse regulators for carcinogenesis
      in human cancers including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). DOC-2/DAB2 interactive
      protein (DAB2IP) has been found to be a novel tumor suppressor in malignancies.
      However, the expression and biological function of DAB2IP in NPC have not been
      previously reported. This study found that the levels of DAB2IP were decreased in
      NPC tissues compared to non-cancerous nasopharyngeal epithelium tissues. In
      addition, downregulation of DAB2IP mRNA was confirmed by qRT-PCR in NPC cell
      lines as compared with a human immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line
      NP69. The reduced expression of DAB2IP was significantly correlated with lymph
      node metastasis and advanced clinical stage. DAB2IP low expressing NPC patients
      showed a notable reduced overall survival and disease-free survival.
      Functionally, DAB2IP restoration prohibited cell proliferation, colony formation,
      migration and invasion in both 5-8F and CNE-2 cells. Moreover, DAB2IP
      overexpression restrained the subcutaneous growth and lung metastasis of NPC
      cells in nude mice. Mechanically, DAB2IP overexpression repressed the activation
      of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and subsequently reduced the
      expression of its downstream targets including cyclin D1 and matrix
      metallopeptidase 7 (MMP7), which were identified as critical regulators for
      growth and metastasis of NPC. The Akt inhibitor MK-2206 showed similar effects to
      DAB2IP overexpression on growth and metastasis of 5-8F cells. Thus, DAB2IP
      suppresses growth and metastasis of NPC probably by targeting PI3K/Akt pathway,
      and may act as a hopeful therapeutic target for NPC.

PMID- 28586034
TI  - Acerogenin C from Acer nikoense exhibits a neuroprotective effect in mouse
      hippocampal HT22 cell lines through the upregulation of Nrf-2/HO-1 signaling
      pathways.
AB  - Oxidative stress contributes to neuronal death in the brain, and neuronal death
      can cause aging or neurodegenerative disease. Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) serves a
      vital role in the regulation of biological reactions, including oxidative stress
      associated with reactive oxygen species. In the present study, acerogenin C
      isolated from the Aceraceae plant Acer nikoense, which is used as a Japanese folk
      medicine for hepatic disorders and eye diseases. However, there have been no
      studies on the mechanisms underlying the antineurodegenerative biological
      activities of acerogenin C. In the present study, acerogenin C demonstrated
      neuroprotective action against glutamate-induced cell death in hippocampal HT22
      cells through the upregulation of HO-1 expression. These effects were also
      associated with nuclear translocation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related
      factor 2 (Nrf2) and the activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B.
      Taken together of the efficacy researches, this study determines that the Nrf2/HO
      1 pathways denotes a biological mark and that acerogenin C might contribute to
      prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 28586037
TI  - Transcriptional co-regulator RIP140: An important mediator of the inflammatory
      response and its associated diseases (Review).
AB  - The inflammatory response is a physiological process that is essential for
      maintaining homeostasis of the immune system. Inflammation is classified into
      acute inflammation and chronic inflammation, both of which pose a risk to human
      health. However, specific regulatory mechanisms of the inflammatory response
      remain to be elucidated. Receptor interacting protein (RIP) 140 is a nuclear
      receptor that affects an extensive array of biological and pathological processes
      in the body, including energy metabolism, inflammation and tumorigenesis. RIP140
      mediated macrophage polarization is important in regulating the inflammatory
      response. Overexpression of RIP140 in macrophages results in M1-like polarization
      and expansion during the inflammatory response. Conversely, decreased expression
      of RIP140 in macrophages reduces the number of M1-like macrophages and increases
      the number of alternatively polarized cells, which collectively promote endotoxin
      tolerance (ET) and relieve inflammation. This review summarizes the role of
      RIP140 in acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, with a focus on insulin
      resistance, atherosclerosis, sepsis and ET.

PMID- 28586036
TI  - Epigenetically silenced PTPRO functions as a prognostic marker and tumor
      suppressor in human lung squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-type O (PTPRO), a member of the PTP family,
      has been frequently reported as potential tumor suppressor in many types of
      cancer. However, the exact function of PTPRO in lung squamous cell carcinoma
      (LSCC) remains unclear. Bisulfite sequencing and methylation specific polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) were used to identify the methylation status of PTPRO in
      LSCC cells, and quantitative methylation specific PCR was used to evaluate the
      methylation levels of PTPRO in LSCC patients. Stably expressing PTPRO vectors
      were constructed and transfected into H520 and SK-MES-1 cells, followed by MTT
      and colony formation assays, and analysis of tumor weight and volume in in vivo
      mouse xenograft models. The present study demonstrated that the CpG island of
      PTPRO exon 1 was obviously hypermethylated in LSCC cells and tissues. The mRNA
      expression of PTPRO could be restored by treatment with a demethylation agent.
      Increased methylation and decreased mRNA levels of PTPRO were observed in LSCC
      samples compared with adjacent healthy tissues, and were associated with poor
      prognosis of patients. The mRNA expression of PTPRO was negatively correlated
      with its methylation level in tumors. Functionally, ectopic PTPRO expression in
      LSCC cells significantly inhibited the proliferation rates, and colony formation,
      in comparison with control and non-transfected cells. In vivo assays confirmed
      the inhibitory effect of PTPRO on LSCC cell growth. In conclusion, these data
      provided evidence that epigenetic regulation of PTPRO impairs its tumor
      suppressor role in LSCC, and restoration of PTPRO may be a potential therapeutic
      strategy.

PMID- 28586039
TI  - Exosomes derived from hypoxic epithelial ovarian cancer deliver microRNA-940 to
      induce macrophage M2 polarization.
AB  - Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors. It is closely related to tumor
      progression. Exosomal microRNAs derived from cancers are considered to be
      mediators between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment. In addition, the
      number of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumor microenvironment has
      also been demonstrated to correlate with tumor development. However, the
      relationship between tumor-secreted exosomes and TAM polarization under hypoxic
      conditions during tumor progression is not clear. Herein, we demonstrated that
      hypoxia induces the high expression of microRNA-940 (miR-940) in exosomes derived
      from epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We also found that miR-940 is highly
      expressed in exosomes isolated from ascites of EOC patients. Moreover, the
      overexpression of miR-940 in macrophages delivered by exosomes stimulated M2
      phenotype polarization, while the M2 subtype macrophages promoted EOC
      proliferation and migration. These results highlight the function of hypoxia in
      enhancing the high level of expression of miR-940 in tumor exosomes taken up by
      macrophages. We also showed that the tumor-promoting function of miR-940 is
      mediated by TAM polarization in EOC. These findings show that tumor-derived
      exosomal miR-940 induced by hypoxia plays an important role in stimulating TAM
      polarization in the progression of EOC.

PMID- 28586038
TI  - miR-1247-5p functions as a tumor suppressor in human hepatocellular carcinoma by
      targeting Wnt3.
AB  - Increasing evidence suggests that aberrant expression of certain microRNAs
      (miRNAs) may participate in the genesis and progression of tumors. Several
      studies have indicated that miR-1247-5p plays different roles in various types of
      cancer cells. The effects of miR-1247-5p on human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      cells are elusive. In the present study, we investigated the effects of miR-1247
      5p on the progression of HCC. The transcript of miR-1247-5p was markedly
      downregulated in clinical samples of patients with HCC and HCC cell lines, and
      ectopic overexpression of miR-1247-5p markedly inhibited the proliferation and
      invasion of HepG2 cells, induced cell apoptosis in vitro, and suppressed the
      growth of transplanted tumors in vivo. Wnt3 was found to be a potential target of
      miR-1247-5p and overexpression of miR-1247-5p was able to significantly
      downregulate the expression of Wnt3 by directly targeting the 3'UTR of this gene,
      which was verified by luciferase reporter assay and western blotting.
      Furthermore, we found that the miR-1247-5p gene was hypermethylated in HepG2
      cells, and the transcript of miR-1247-5p was increased significantly after
      treatment with the demethylation drug 5-azacytidine. These findings demonstrated
      that miR-1247-5p functions as a tumor suppressor in human HCC by targeting Wnt3
      and that the expression of miR-1247-5p can be regulated by DNA methylation, which
      indicates that miR-1247-5p has the potential to be a therapeutic target as well
      as a diagnostic marker of HCC.

PMID- 28586040
TI  - Low expression of PinX1 is associated with malignant behavior in basal-like
      breast cancer.
AB  - Human Pinx1 protein, associated with shelterin proteins, is widely revealed as a
      haploinsufficient tumor suppressor. Growing evidence has manifested the
      deregulation of PinX1 in distinct cancers. Nonetheless, the loss status of PinX1
      and its diagnostic, prognostic and clinicopathological significance in Basal-like
      breast cancer are still unclear. In the present study, the PinX1 expression
      levels of breast cancer tissues were investigated by qRT-PCR and immunoblotting
      assays. Then immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to detect PinX1 expression
      on a tissue microarray. The optimal threshold for PinX1 positivity was determined
      by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. To clarify the
      probable role of PinX1 in BLBC, the PinX1 knockout and stably over-expressed MDA
      MB-231 cell lines were constructed by the CRISPR-Cas9 system and gene
      transfection. The association of PinX1 expression with cell proliferation,
      migration and apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells were observed by CCK-8 assay, wound
      healing assay, transwell assay, flow cytometric analysis and immunoblotting of
      the cleaved caspase-3 protein level. Our results showed that both PinX1 mRNA and
      protein expression were downregulated in breast cancer tissues (P<0.05). In IHC
      analysis, the optimal cut-off parameter for PinX1 positive expression was 62.5%
      (the AUC was 0.749, P<0.01). PinX1 positivity was 76.9% (10/14) in luminal
      subtypes, 50% (5/10) in Her2-enriched breast cancer and 27.3% (9/33) in basal
      like subtypes. Besides, in 59 invasive ductal breast carcinomas, PinX1 expression
      was inversely related to histology grade (P<0.05) while it was positively
      associated with PR status (P<0.05) and ER status (P<0.05). These results
      indicated that low expression of PinX1 correlated with aggressive
      clinicopathological significance of breast cancer, especially in the basal-like
      subtype. Besides, we identified that overexpression of PinX1 inhibited the
      proliferation rates and migration ability and increased the apoptosis rates of
      BLBC. Our findings demonstrated that low expression of PinX1 was associated with
      malignant behaviors in basal-like subtype of breast cancer. PinX1 is likely a
      feasible biomarker and molecular target of BLBC.

PMID- 28586041
TI  - Effects of demethoxycurcumin on the viability and apoptosis of skin cancer cells.
AB  - The present study investigated the effects and mechanisms of demethoxycurcumin
      (DMC) on a human skin squamous cell carcinoma cell line, A431, and a human
      keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. A431 and HaCaT cells were cultured in vitro. The
      effects of DMC treatment on cell viability were analyzed using the Cell Counting
      kit-8 (CCK-8) assay; cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry;
      apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry and Hoechst 33258 staining; and the
      protein expression levels of cytochrome c, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2
      associated X protein (BAX), caspase-9 and caspase-3 were evaluated by western
      blotting. CCK-8 assay results demonstrated that DMC treatment significantly
      inhibited viability of A431 and HaCaT cells in a dose-dependent manner. Flow
      cytometric analysis confirmed that DMC treatment induced apoptosis in a dose
      dependent manner, and significantly increased the proportion of cells in G2/M
      phase. Western blot analysis indicated that the protein expression levels of Bcl
      2 were decreased, whereas the expression levels of BAX, caspase-9, caspase-3 and
      cytochrome c were increased following DMC treatment compared with in untreated
      cells. In conclusion, DMC treatment significantly inhibited viability of A431 and
      HaCaT cells, and induced cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. The present study
      indicated that DMC may induce apoptosis of skin cancer cells through a caspase
      dependent pathway.

PMID- 28586042
TI  - Effects of cryopreservation on excretory function, cellular adhesion molecules
      and vessel lumen formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
AB  - Cryopreservation is widely used in regenerative medicine for tissue preservation.
      In the present study, the effects of cryopreservation on excretory function,
      cellular adhesion molecules and vessel lumen formation in human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs) were investigated. After 0, 4, 8, 12 or 24 weeks of
      cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen, the HUVECs were thawed. The excretory
      functions markers (endothelin-1, prostaglandin E1, von Willebrand factor and
      nitric oxide) of HUVECs were measured by ELISA assay. The expression of
      intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in HUVECs was analyzed using flow
      cytometry. An angiogenesis assay was used to determine the angiogeneic
      capabilities of the thawed HUVECs. The results demonstrated that
      cryopreserved/thawed and recultivated HUVECs were unsuitable for tissue
      engineered microvascular construction. Specifically, the excretory function of
      the cells was significantly decreased in the post-cryopreserved HUVECs at 24
      weeks. In addition, the level of ICAM-1 in HUVECs was significantly upregulated
      from the fourth week of cryopreservation. Furthermore, the tube-like structure
      forming potential was weakened with increasing cryopreservation duration, and the
      numbers of lumen and the length of the pipeline were decreased in the thawed
      HUVECs, in a time-dependent manner. In conclusion, the results of the present
      study revealed that prolonged cryopreservation may lead to HUVEC dysfunction and
      did not create stable cell lines for tissue-engineered microvascular
      construction.

PMID- 28586043
TI  - GRP78 silencing enhances hyperoxia-induced alveolar epithelial cell apoptosis via
      CHOP pathway.
AB  - Hyperoxia is one of the primary causes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, which may
      occur in premature infants following supplemental oxygen therapy. Glucose
      regulated protein 78 (GRP78), which is a molecular chaperone located in the lumen
      of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), has been reported to regulate hyperoxia
      associated ER stress. The role of GRP78 in lung epithelial cells during hyperoxia
      remains to be elucidated. In the present study, the A549 cultured human lung
      epithelial cell line was exposed to hyperoxic conditions, and then transfected
      with short interfering (si)RNA targeted to GRP78. siRNA or pEGFP-N1 plasmid were
      used to knockdown or overexpress specific genes, reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were used to
      detect RNA and protein levels of gene expression, and flow cytometry was used to
      detect apoptosis. The expression levels of ER stress-associated genes were
      determined, and a significant increase in C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP)
      expression and apoptosis of A549 cells was observed, following GRP78 knockdown.
      The overexpression of CHOP downregulated B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 expression
      levels, upregulated BCL2 associated X (Bax), and increased apoptosis of A549
      cells under conditions of hyperoxia. CHOP knockdown demonstrated the opposite
      effect on Bcl-2 and Bax expression levels. These results suggested that GRP78
      silencing promoted lung epithelial cell apoptosis during hyperoxia, via
      regulation of the CHOP pathway.

PMID- 28586044
TI  - Noninvasive detection of acute renal allograft rejection by measurement of
      soluble Tim-3 in urine.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to assess whether urinary soluble T-cell
      immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (sTim-3) could be adopted as
      a novel non-invasive biomarker for acute rejection (AR) following renal
      transplantation. A total of 156 patients were enrolled between January 2006 and
      December 2009, comprising 49 patients with biopsy-proven AR, 58 patients with
      stable grafts and no abnormal histological findings (NO-AR), 10 patients with
      subclinical rejection (SCR) in protocol biopsies, 10 patients with acute tubular
      necrosis (ATN) and 29 patients with chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN).
      Additionally, urine samples from 40 healthy individuals were also collected as
      controls. The urinary concentration of sTim-3 was determined by ELISA in the 156
      renal allograft recipients and 40 healthy controls. Compared with NO-AR and
      healthy controls, patients with AR excreted urinary sTim-3 at a significantly
      higher level (4,356+/-440.4, 95% CI: 3,473-5,242 ng/mmol creatinine). Likewise,
      patients with ATN exhibited a significantly lower level of urinary sTim-3
      (2,060+/-217, 95% CI: 1,679-2,680 ng/mmol creatinine) than patients with AR. The
      discriminatory value was measured by the area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve (ROC), which had a value of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.809-0.951),
      demonstrating that sTim-3 was a suitable marker for the diagnosis of AR. At a cut
      off point of 1,836 ng/mmol creatinine, the sensitivity was 89.8% and the
      specificity was 82.8% (P<0.001). Amongst the patients with AR, patients with
      steroid-resistant acute rejection (n=31) had significantly higher urinary sTim-3
      concentrations than patients with steroid-sensitive acute rejection (n=18;
      5,548+/-613.5, 95%CI: 4,287-6,809 ng/mmol creatinine vs. 2,653+/-391.7, 95% CI:
      1,830-3,476 ng/mmol creatinine; P=0.0002). No significant difference in urinary
      sTim-3 was found between patients with AR and CAN (3,920+/-543.5, 95% CI: 3,473
      5,242 ng/mmol creatinine), and a significantly higher level of Tim-3 was excreted
      by patients with CAN compared with patients with NO-AR and healthy controls
      (P<0.001). The present study, therefore, suggests that urinary sTim-3 may be used
      as a valuable non-invasive biomarker for the detection of AR. In addition,
      urinary sTim-3 levels were demonstrated to be associated with the response to
      anti-rejection therapy. The results of the present study may provide support
      future research into the screening of novel immune suppressants.

PMID- 28586045
TI  - Low HtrA1 expression in patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis and
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - The association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer
      (CRC) is being increasingly investigated. HtrA1 overexpression inhibits cell
      growth and proliferation by influencing apoptosis, invasiveness and migration of
      tumour cells. In the present study, HtrA1 expression was analysed in 228 colon
      tissue samples from patients with CRC, adenoma with high-grade dysplasia (AHD),
      adenoma with low-grade dysplasia (ALD), ulcerative colitis of >10 year duration
      (UCL), ulcerative colitis of <5 year duration (UCS) and colonic diverticulitis
      (D), and was compared with its expression in normal colon tissues (NCTs)
      collected 5 cm from the CRC lesion and in healthy colon mucosa (HC), to establish
      whether HtrA1 can serve as a biomarker for these conditions. All tissue specimens
      came from Italian Caucasian subjects. The main finding of the present study was
      that HtrA1 expression was significantly reduced in CRC and UCL tissues compared
      with that observed in both NCT and HC samples and with tissues from the other
      patients. In particular, a similar HtrA1 expression was detected in the stromal
      compartment of UCL and CRC samples. In contrast, the HtrA1 level was
      significantly lower (p=0.0008) in UCL compared with UCS tissues, suggesting an
      inverse relationship between HtrA1 expression and ulcerative colitis duration.
      HtrA1 immunostaining in the stromal compartment of AHD and ALD tissues showed no
      differences compared with the HC tissues. No data are available on the
      immunohistochemical localization of HtrA1 in CRC or IBD. The present findings
      suggest that HtrA1 could serve as a marker to identify UCL patients at high risk
      of developing CRC.

PMID- 28586046
TI  - Enhanced effect of nuclear localization signal peptide during ultrasound-targeted
      microbubble destruction-mediated gene transfection.
AB  - Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) can promote the entry of
      plasmid DNA (pDNA) into the cell cytoplasm, by increasing the permeability of the
      cell membrane. But the transfection efficiency remains low due to inability of
      the pDNA to enter the nucleus. Various methods have been explored to improve the
      UTMD transfection efficiency, but with little success. In cells, the classic
      nuclear localization signal (cNLS) peptide is an amino acid sequence that signals
      proteins that are due for nuclear transport. The present study aimed to
      investigate whether binding of a cNLS peptide to the pDNA may improve the
      transfection efficiency of UTMD. Four experimental groups were analyzed: Control
      group (UTMD + pDNA), group with cNLS (UTMD + pDNA + cNLS), group with mutated NLS
      (mNLS; UTMD + pDNA + mNLS), and group with cNLS and the nuclear import blocker,
      wheat germ agglutinin (WGA; UTMD + pDNA + cNLS + WGA). The NLS was labeled by
      fluorescein isothiocyanate, whereas pDNA was labeled with Cy3. Different molar
      ratios were tested for the NLS and pDNA combination in order to achieve optimal
      binding of the two molecules. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were then
      transfected using the optimum ultrasonic irradiation parameters and NLS/pDNA
      molar ratio. At 6 h post-transfection, the rates of Cy3-labeled pDNA inside the
      cells and their nuclei were detected by flow cytometry and laser confocal
      microscopy, and the cellular vs. nuclear uptake of pDNA was calculated. In order
      to further evaluate the effect of NLS on UTMD-mediated gene transfection, the
      transfection efficiency and relative expression levels of mRNA and protein were
      detected at 48 h post-transfection. The results demonstrated that the optimal
      molar ratio of NLS with pDNA was 104:1. The rates of pDNA successful entry into
      the cell and nucleus were significantly higher in the cNLS group compared with
      the control group. The transfection efficiency, and relative expression levels of
      mRNA and protein from the plasmid were significantly increased in the cNLS group
      compared with the control group. The mNLS group displayed no significant
      difference compared with the control group, while the WGA group exhibited
      significant inhibition in most indicators of transfection efficiency compared to
      the cNLS group. These results suggest that combining a cNLS peptide with pDNA
      during UTMD-mediated transfection significantly improved transfection efficiency.
      Thus, a cNLS peptide may be an important mediator and a new strategy in enhancing
      the efficiency of UTMD-mediated gene transfection.

PMID- 28586048
TI  - Modeling osteosarcoma progression by measuring the connectivity dynamics using an
      inference of multiple differential modules algorithm.
AB  - Understanding the dynamic changes in connectivity of molecular pathways is
      important for determining disease prognosis. Thus, the current study used an
      inference of multiple differential modules (iMDM) algorithm to identify the
      connectivity changes of sub-network to predict the progression of osteosarcoma
      (OS) based on the microarray data of OS at four Huvos grades. Initially, multiple
      differential co-expression networks (M-DCNs) were constructed, and weight values
      were assigned for each edge, followed by detection of seed genes in M-DCNs
      according to the topological properties. Using these seed gene as a start, an
      iMDM algorithm was utilized to identify the multiple candidate modules. The
      statistical significance was determined to select multiple differential modules
      (M-DMs) based on the null score distribution of candidate modules generated using
      randomized networks. Additionally, the significance of Module Connectivity
      Dynamic Score (MCDS) to quantify the dynamic change of M-DMs connectivity.
      Further, DAVID was employed for KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of genes in
      dynamic modules. In addition to the basal condition, four conditions, OS grade 1
      4, were also included (M=4). In total, 4 DCNs were constructed, and each of them
      included 2,138 edges and 272 nodes. A total of 13 genes were identified and
      termed 'seed genes' based on the z-score distribution of 272 nodes in DCNs.
      Following the module search, module refinement and statistical significance
      analysis, a total of four 4-DMs (modules 1, 2, 3 and 4) were identified. Only one
      significant 4-DM (module 3 in the DCNs of grade 1, 2, 3 and 4 OS) with dynamic
      changes was detected when the MCDS of real 4-DMs were compared to a null
      distribution of MCDS of random 4-DMs. Notably, the genes of the dynamic module
      (module 3) were enriched in two significant pathway terms, ubiquitin-mediated
      proteolysis and ribosome. The seed genes with the highest degrees included
      protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 12A (PPP1R12A), UTP3, small subunit
      processome component homolog (UTP3), prostaglandin E synthase 3 (PTGES3). Thus,
      pathway functions (ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and ribosome) and several seed
      genes (PPP1R12A, UTP3, and PTGES3) in the dynamic module 3 may be associated with
      the progression of OS and may serve as potential therapeutic targets in OS.

PMID- 28586047
TI  - Identification and functional analysis of the risk microRNAs associated with
      cerebral low-grade glioma prognosis.
AB  - Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) are associated with neurological disability. The present
      study used microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles to identify risk miRNAs for
      potential prognosis of cerebral LGGs. miRNA expression profiles and clinical data
      from 408 patients with cerebral LGGs were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas
      database. Risk miRNAs were identified by plotting Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox
      proportional hazard regression analysis with the survival and KMsurv packages in
      R. A regulatory network of miRNA-targets was constructed, followed by gene
      ontology (GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway
      enrichment analysis using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and
      Integrated Discovery. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of miRNA
      targets was built using Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes
      software, and sub-pathway identification was performed using the iSubpathwayMiner
      package in R. In total, 39 miRNAs had significant effect on survival curves.
      Following the Cox analysis and construction of miRNA-targets regulatory network,
      hsa-miRNA (miR)-326 was identified to regulate 397 target genes. Additionally,
      targets of miR-326 were primarily enriched in the GO terms of cell proliferation,
      epithelial growth factor receptor and nerve growth factor signaling pathways.
      Additionally, son of sevenless homolog 1 (SOS1), neuroblastoma RAS viral oncogene
      homolog (NRAS), vitamin D receptor (VDR) and mothers against decapentaplegic
      family member 3 (SMAD3) were most enriched in the PPI network. Targets of miR-326
      were primarily enriched in sub-pathways including sphingolipid metabolism and
      arachidonic acid metabolism, in which sphingomyelin synthase 1 (SGMS1) and
      hematopoietic prostaglandin D synthase (HPGDS) were screened out. Hsa-miR-326 was
      identified as a risk miRNA for prognosis and may improve the outcome prediction
      of patients with cerebral LGG. This miRNA may regulate cancer cell proliferation
      by targeting SOS1, NRAS, VDR, SMAD3, SGMS1 and HPGDS.

PMID- 28586049
TI  - A novel missense mutation in the ALPL gene causes dysfunction of the protein.
AB  - Hypophosphatasia (HP) is a rare genetic disease caused by mutation in the
      alkaline phosphatase, liver/bone/kidney (ALPL) gene with highly variable clinical
      manifestations. Efforts have been made to collect cases with novel mutations and
      to examine how a missense mutation affects ALPL protein function, which remains
      difficult to predict. The present study investigated the underlying mechanism of
      ALPL dysfunction in a patient diagnosed with HP. Bidirectional sequencing of the
      ALPL gene was conducted in a 5-year-old Chinese girl preliminary diagnosed with
      childhood HP. Sorting Intolerant from Tolerant (SIFT) and Polymorphism
      Phenotyping v2 (PolyPhen-2) tools were used to forecast the impact of the
      mutation on protein function. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed and
      transfected into cells to verify the role of the specific mutation. Furthermore,
      the mechanism of the impact was investigated via all-atom molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulation. The patient demonstrated a compound heterozygote with two missense
      mutations in the ALPL gene, p.Trp29Arg and p.Ile395Val. Trp29 and Ile395 were
      determined to be 'tolerable' by SIFT, whereas they were 'possibly damaging' by
      PolyPhen-2 in terms of conservation. Additionally, HEK293 cells were transfected
      with plasmids expressing wild type and/or mutated ALPL. Only 4.1% of ALP activity
      remained when Trp29 was substituted by Arg, whereas 19.1, 33.7, 50.1 and 7.6% ALP
      activity remained in cells expressing p.Ile395Val, wild type+p.Trp29Arg, wild
      type+p.Ile395Val and p.Trp29Arg+p.Ile395Val substitutions, respectively. All-atom
      MD simulation demonstrated that the N-terminal helix of mutated ALPL, where Trp29
      is located, separated from the main body of the protein after 30 nsec, and moved
      freely. These results demonstrated that p.Trp29Arg, as a novel missense mutation
      in the ALPL gene, reduced the enzymatic activity of ALPL. This effect may be
      associated with an uncontrolled N-terminal helix. These results provide novel
      information about the genetic basis of HP, and may facilitate the development of
      future therapies.

PMID- 28586050
TI  - Inhibitory capacity of Rhus coriaria L. extract and its major component methyl
      gallate on Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation by optical profilometry:
      Potential applications for oral health.
AB  - Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) bacterium is the most well recognized pathogen
      involved in pathogenesis of dental caries. Its virulence arises from its ability
      to produce a biofilm and acidogenicity, causing tooth decay. Discovery of natural
      products capable to inhibit biofilm formation is of high importance for
      developing health care products. To the best of our knowledge, in all previous
      scientific reports, a colorimetric assay was applied to test the effect of sumac
      and methyl gallate (MG) on S. mutans adherence. Quantitative assessment of the
      developed biofilm should be further performed by applying an optical profilometry
      assay, and by testing the effect on both surface roughness and thickness
      parameters of the biofilm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study
      to report the effect of sumac extract and its constituent MG on biofilm formation
      using an optical profilometry assay. Testing antibacterial activity of the sumac
      extract and its fractions revealed that MG is the most bioactive component
      against S. mutans bacteria. It reduced S. mutans biofilm biomass on the
      polystyrene surface by 68-93%, whereas 1 mg/ml MG was able to decrease the
      biofilm roughness and thickness on the glass surface by 99%. MG also prevented a
      decrease in pH level by 97%. These bioactivities of MG occurred in a dose
      dependent manner and were significant vs. untreated bacteria. The findings are
      important for the development of novel pharmaceuticals and formulations of
      natural products and extracts that possess anti-biofilm activities with primary
      applications for oral health, and in a broader context, for the treatment of
      various bacterial infections.

PMID- 28586051
TI  - Overexpression of microRNA-133b is associated with the increased survival of
      patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after curative hepatectomy: Involvement of
      the EGFR/PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
AB  - The aim of the present study was carried out to investigate the association of
      microRNA-133b (miRNA-133b) expression with the prognosis of patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative hepatectomy. In the present study,
      the expression of miRNA-133b in HCC tissues was determined to be lower than that
      noted in the adjacent normal tissues. Overall and disease-free survival of the
      HCC patients with high miRNA-133b expression was observably extended, compared
      with the HCC patients with low miRNA-133b expression. Moreover, the
      overexpression of miRNA-133b inhibited cell proliferation, increased lactate
      dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, induced apoptosis and promoted caspase-3/-8
      activities and Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression in HCC cells, whereas the protein
      expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was significantly
      decreased. The overexpression of miRNA-133b significantly suppressed PI3K,
      phosphorylated (p)-Akt and p-mTOR protein expression in HCC cells. GW2974, an
      EGFR inhibitor, suppressed the protein expression of EGFR, inhibited cell
      proliferation, increased LDH activity, induced apoptosis and promoted caspase-3/
      8 activities and Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression, downregulated PI3K, p-Akt and p
      mTOR protein expression in the transfected HCC cells overexpressing miRNA-133b.
      Taken together, our results indicate that the overexpression of miRNA-133b is
      associated with the increased survival of HCC patients after curative
      hepatectomy. The effects of miRNA-133b in HCC are mediated through the
      EGFR/PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

PMID- 28586052
TI  - A novel approach to select differential pathways associated with hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy based on gene co-expression analysis.
AB  - The present study was designed to develop a novel method for identifying
      significant pathways associated with human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM),
      based on gene co-expression analysis. The microarray dataset associated with HCM
      (E-GEOD-36961) was obtained from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
      European Bioinformatics Institute database. Informative pathways were selected
      based on the Reactome pathway database and screening treatments. An empirical
      Bayes method was utilized to construct co-expression networks for informative
      pathways, and a weight value was assigned to each pathway. Differential pathways
      were extracted based on weight threshold, which was calculated using a random
      model. In order to assess whether the co-expression method was feasible, it was
      compared with traditional pathway enrichment analysis of differentially expressed
      genes, which were identified using the significance analysis of microarrays
      package. A total of 1,074 informative pathways were screened out for subsequent
      investigations and their weight values were also obtained. According to the
      threshold of weight value of 0.01057, 447 differential pathways, including
      folding of actin by chaperonin containing T-complex protein 1 (CCT)/T-complex
      protein 1 ring complex (TRiC), purine ribonucleoside monophosphate biosynthesis
      and ubiquinol biosynthesis, were obtained. Compared with traditional pathway
      enrichment analysis, the number of pathways obtained from the co-expression
      approach was increased. The results of the present study demonstrated that this
      method may be useful to predict marker pathways for HCM. The pathways of folding
      of actin by CCT/TRiC and purine ribonucleoside monophosphate biosynthesis may
      provide evidence of the underlying molecular mechanisms of HCM, and offer novel
      therapeutic directions for HCM.

PMID- 28586053
TI  - HDAC6 inhibition suppresses chondrosarcoma by restoring the expression of primary
      cilia.
AB  - Chondrosarcoma is a bone tumor characterized by the secretion of a cartilage-like
      extracellular matrix. It has been proved to lack extracellular sensor primary
      cilia. This study aimed to illustrate a feasible therapeutic method for
      chondrosarcoma by regulating primary cilia assembly through inhibiting histone
      deacetylases 6 (HDAC6) activation. In order to detect the interaction between
      primary cilia and HDAC6 in human chondrosarcoma, Tubastatin A and small
      interfering RNA (siRNA) were used to inhibit the endogenous expression of HDAC6.
      Cell viability test and Transwell assay were applied to evaluate the effects of
      malignant biological properties. Primary cilia staining and related proteins were
      detected. The abnormal expression of HDAC6 and cilia intraflagellar transport
      protein 88 (IFT88) was found in chondrosarcoma tissues. The inhibition of HDAC6
      could downregulate the proliferation of chondrosarcoma cells in a concentration-
      and time-dependent manner and suppress the invasion capacity of tumor cells.
      Besides, the downregulation of HDAC6 exhibited a negative effect on the
      proliferation of relevant proteins but a positive effect on the primary cilia
      related expression of IFT88 and acetylated alpha-tubulin. Primary cilia
      restoration could be observed after HDAC6 siRNA transfection. The Aurora A-HDAC6
      cascade was involved in regulating primary cilia resorption by affecting alpha
      tubulin deacetylation and Tubastatin A could inhibit chondrosarcoma cell growth
      in vivo. These results indicate that restricting HDAC6 can restore primary cilia
      assembly accompanied with suppressed chondrosarcoma cell proliferation and
      invasion capacities. Thus, promoting primary cilia restoration by targeting HDAC6
      may be a feasible potential therapeutic method for chondro-sarcoma treatment.

PMID- 28586054
TI  - Propofol reduces hypoxia-induced autophagic cell death through downregulating HIF
      1alpha in alveolar epithelial type II cells of rats.
AB  - Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) exerts protective effects on alveolar epithelial
      type II (ATII) cells, partly through attenuating hypoxia-induced apoptosis.
      Autophagy is involved in the activation of apoptosis. Therefore, the present
      study investigated the modulating effect of propofol against autophagy in ATII
      cells under hypoxia. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the protein
      expression of the autophagy molecular marker, microtubule-associated protein 1
      light chain 3 (LC3)-II, under various conditions. The effects of propofol on the
      accumulation of other autophagy-associated proteins and apoptosis-associated
      proteins were also determined using western blot analysis. The interactions
      between proteins were determined by co-immunoprecipitation. Apoptosis of the ATII
      cells was monitored using FITC-conjugated AV/PI staining. Furthermore, hypoxia
      inducible factor 1alpha (HIF 1alpha) small interfering (si) RNA was designed to
      construct si-HIF 1alpha ATII cells. The efficiency of interference was measured
      using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western
      blot analyses. Following pre-treatment with propofol, the hypoxia-induced
      accumulation of LC3-II, HIF 1alpha and B-cell lymphoma-2 interacting protein 3
      (Bnip3) were markedly decreased, accompanied with the activation of mammalian
      target of rapamycin. In addition, cleaved-poly ADP-ribose polymerase was
      suppressed, and hypoxia-induced autophagic cell death was inhibited by propofol
      pre-treatment. HIF 1alpha was inhibited by si-HIF 1alpha, which simultaneously
      suppressed Bnip3 and LC3-II under hypoxia. Taken together, propofol reduced
      hypoxia-induced autophagic cell death through reducing the expression of HIF
      1alpha in ATII cells, indicating a novel strategy for modulating autophagy via
      propofol in hypoxic ATII cells.

PMID- 28586055
TI  - Differential expression of miRNAs in Osborne's ligament of cubital tunnel
      syndrome.
AB  - Cubital tunnel syndrome (CuTS) is the second most common peripheral nerve
      compression disease, however, the pathogenesis and pathology of CuTS remain to be
      fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to compare the expression
      pattern of microRNAs (miRNAs) in pachyntic Osborne's ligament with that in
      control tendinous tissue, and select meaningful miRNAs for further investigation
      of the clinical pathological mechanism underlying CuTS. A microarray assay was
      performed to examine the expression profiles of miRNAs in the Osborne's ligament
      and control tendinous tissues. An online bioinformatics algorithms tool (miRWalk)
      was used to predict putative target genes for the deregulated miRNAs, and
      functional annotation was performed by Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto
      Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Finally, the results
      of microarray were partially validated using reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction analysis. The expression of total of 60 miRNAs were
      found to be significantly different between the pachyntic Osborne's ligament and
      control tendinous tissues. MiRWalk2.0 predicted 1,804 target genes for these
      miRNAs, and the GO functional analysis of the predicted genes suggested cellular
      mechanisms, including metabolic process, regulation of cell growth, cell cycle
      processes, cell division regulation, cellular metabolic process and signal
      transmission, were involved. Furthermore, KEGG pathway analysis revealed
      important pathways, including adherent junction, focal adhesion, lysine
      degradation, cell adhesion molecules and mitogen-activated protein kinase.
      Compared with the heathy tissue, Osborne's ligament tissue from patients with
      CuTS showed a markedly different miRNA expression profile, which suggested that
      miRNAs may be involved in the pathogenesis of CuTS.

PMID- 28586056
TI  - MicroRNA-497 acts as a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer and is downregulated by
      DNA methylation.
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world and
      microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in GC. In this study, we found miR-497
      played an important role and served as a novel biomarker in GC. Quantitative real
      time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the miR-497 expression in GC cell lines
      and 86 paired GC samples and we also analyzed its correlation with GC
      clinicopathological parameters. A series of cellular function experiments were
      applied to validate the effects of miR-497 on GC. In addition, methylation
      specific PCR (MSP) was applied to detect the gene methylation status. Finally,
      the correlation between miR-497 and the target gene was analyzed by western
      blotting assay. miR-497 was reduced obviously in GC cells and tissues and
      significantly associated with the pathologic stage. Low expression of miR-497
      significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration of GC cell
      lines and accelerated apoptosis. Moreover, we found that the aberrant expression
      of miR-497 may be ascribed to DNA methylation. microRNA.org and luciferase
      reporter assay suggested that RAF1 was a direct target of miR-497 in GC. This
      study suggested that miR-497 could serve as a tumor suppressor and a potential
      early diagnostic marker of GC by targeting Raf-1 proto-oncogene, serine/threonine
      kinase (RAF1).

PMID- 28586057
TI  - MicroRNA-296-5p downregulated AKT2 to inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma cell
      proliferation, migration and invasion.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy in men, and
      the seventh in women worldwide. Despite development in the therapy of HCC, the
      prognosis of HCC patients remains poor. Therefore, it is of great significance to
      explore the molecular mechanism underlying HCC progression, and investigate novel
      therapeutic strategies for the treatments of HCC. MicroRNAs (miRs) are known to
      be involved in the pathogenesis of HCC. The present study aimed to investigate
      the expression patterns and potential roles of miR-296-5p in HCC. Results
      revealed that miR-296-5p was frequently downregulated in HCC tissue samples and
      cell lines. Additionally, reduced miR-296-5p expression levels were correlated
      with tumor size, TNM stage and metastasis in HCC. Gain-of-function demonstrated
      that miR-296-5p inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in
      vitro. Furthermore, AKT2 was identified as a novel direct and functional target
      of miR-296-5p in HCC. These findings indicated that miR-296-5p/AKT2 axis serves
      important roles in HCC carcinogenesis and progression, and miR-296-5p/AKT2 based
      target therapy hampers HCC tumor growth and metastasis.

PMID- 28586058
TI  - 3,3'-diindolylmethane downregulates cyclin D1 through triggering endoplasmic
      reticulum stress in colorectal cancer cells.
AB  - As a major in vivo condensation product of indole-3-carbinol, which is mostly
      present in cruciferous vegetables, 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) has been
      previously reported with anti-proliferative action in different types of cancer
      by our group and others. To further elucidate these underlying mechanisms, we
      examined the effect of DIM on cyclin D1, which was aberrantly overexpressed in
      various cancer cells and tumors. Herein, we found that DIM downregulated cyclin
      D1 expression in colorectal cancer cells (CRC), which was independent of
      PPARgamma expression and protease activity. Furthermore, DIM did not affect
      cyclin D1 mRNA expression, suggesting DIM modulated cyclin D1 expression at the
      translational level. Subsequently, blocking eIF2alpha phosphorylation resulted
      from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress restored cyclin D1 in the presence of DIM.
      Thus, the present study demonstrates that DIM downregulates cyclin D1 through
      triggering ER stress in human colorectal cancer cells.

PMID- 28586059
TI  - Identification of critical genes in nucleus pulposus cells isolated from
      degenerated intervertebral discs using bioinformatics analysis.
AB  - Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a pathological process, which may lead
      to lower back pain. The present study aimed to investigate the pathogenesis of
      IVD degeneration. GSE42611 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus, including
      4 nucleus pulposus samples isolated from degenerated IVDs and 4 nucleus pulposus
      samples separated from normal IVDs. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
      between the degenerated and normal samples were screened using the limma package
      in R. Functional and pathway enrichment analyses were conducted separately for
      the upregulated and downregulated genes, using Database for Annotation,
      Visualization and Integrated Discovery software. In addition, protein-protein
      interaction (PPI) networks were constructed using the Search Tool for the
      Retrieval of Interacting Genes database and Cytoscape software. Finally, module
      analyses were conducted for the PPI networks using the MCODE plug-in in
      Cytoscape. A total of 558 DEGs were identified in the degenerated nucleus
      pulposus cells: 253 upregulated and 305 downregulated. Pathway enrichment
      analysis revealed that downregulated thrombospondin 1 (THBS1) was enriched in
      extracellular matrix-receptor interaction. Interleukin (IL)-6 in the PPI network
      for the upregulated genes and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) in the
      PPI network for the downregulated genes had higher degrees. Additionally, four
      modules (uM1, uM2, uM3 and uM4) were identified from the PPI network for the
      upregulated genes. Four modules (dM1, dM2, dM3 and dM4) were identified from the
      PPI network for the downregulated genes. In the dM2 module, collagen genes and
      integrin subunit alpha4 (ITGA4) may interact with each other. Additionally,
      functional enrichment indicated that collagen genes were enriched in
      extracellular matrix organization. In conclusion, IL-6, VEGFA, THBS1, ITGA4 and
      collagen genes may contribute to the progression of IVD degeneration. These
      results suggested that the manipulation of these genes and their products may
      have potential as a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of patients with
      IVD.

PMID- 28586060
TI  - Potential role of autophagy in T-cell survival in polymyositis and
      dermatomyositis.
AB  - Peripheral blood T lymphocytopenia has previously been identified in
      polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) patients. Therefore, the present study aimed
      to examine the potential role of autophagy in peripheral blood T cell survival in
      PM/DM patients. Transmission electron microscopy was used to detect the formation
      of autophagosomes of peripheral blood cluster of differentiation (CD)3+ T cells
      obtained from 24 patients with PM/DM and 21 healthy controls. Protein and mRNA
      expression levels of autophagy-related molecules were examined by western blot
      analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction,
      respectively. The number of peripheral blood CD3+ T cells decreased significantly
      in PM/DM patients. The median percentage of apoptosis of CD3+ T cells in PM/DM
      patients was significantly increased compared with healthy controls. Furthermore,
      the number of autophagosomes and the expression of the autophagy markers
      microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3) and Beclin-1 were
      significantly reduced in the circulating CD3+ T cells of PM/DM patients compared
      with those of healthy controls. LC3 and Beclin-1 protein levels correlated
      negatively with apoptosis rates in circulating CD3+ T cells in patients with
      PM/DM. CD3+ T cells from PM/DM patients treated with rapamycin increased
      autophagy and decreased apoptosis compared with untreated cells (P<0.05). In
      conclusion, these results suggested that autophagy may serve a potential
      protective role in the peripheral blood T cells of patients with PM/DM.

PMID- 28586061
TI  - Chlorogenic acid prevents inflammatory responses in IL-1beta-stimulated human SW
      1353 chondrocytes, a model for osteoarthritis.
AB  - Chlorogenic acid (CGA), which is a natural compound found in various plants, has
      been reported to exert notable anti-inflammatory activities. The present study
      investigated the effects and underlying mechanism of CGA on interleukin (IL)
      1beta-induced osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes. An in vitro OA-like chondrocyte
      model was established using IL-1beta-stimulated human SW-1353 chondrocytes. Cell
      viability was assessed using an MTT assay. Nitric oxide (NO) and IL-6 production
      were evaluated by Griess reaction and ELISA, respectively. The expression levels
      of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2),
      cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), collagen II, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13, p65
      nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and inhibitor-kappaBalpha were detected by western
      blot analysis. The results indicated that CGA reversed IL-1beta-induced increases
      in iNOS/NO, IL-6, MMP-13 and COX-2/PGE2 production, and reversed the IL-1beta
      mediated downregulation of collagen II. In addition, the data suggested that CGA
      was capable of inhibiting the IL-1beta-induced inflammatory response, at least
      partially via the NF-kappaB signaling pathway. In conclusion, CGA may be
      considered a suitable candidate agent in the treatment of OA.

PMID- 28586062
TI  - Therapy-relevant aberrant expression of MRP3 and BCRP mRNA in TCC-/SCC-bladder
      cancer tissue of untreated patients.
AB  - Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a critical factor, which results in suboptimal
      outcomes in cancer chemotherapy. One principal mechanism of MDR is the increased
      expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Of these, multidrug
      resistance-associated protein 3 (MRP3) and breast cancer resistance protein
      (BCRP) confer MDR when overexpressed in cancer cell lines. We measured the mRNA
      expression of MRP3 and BCRP in primary untreated bladder cancer specimens using
      reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) in comparison to normal bladder
      tissue. The MRP3 and BCRP expression in the two major histotypes of bladder
      cancer; transitional cell carcinoma (TCC; urothelial type of bladder cancer) and
      squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; 'Schistosoma-induced' bladder cancer) were
      compared. Furthermore, the association between MRP3 and BCRP expression and tumor
      grade and stage were investigated. MRP3 mRNA expression in bladder cancer
      specimens was increased ~13-fold on average compared to normal bladder tissue
      (n=36, P<0.0001). BCRP mRNA expression was decreased in bladder cancer specimens
      to ~1/5 on average, compared to normal bladder tissue (n=38, P<0.0001). TCC
      showed significantly increased MRP3 mRNA expression compared to SCC of the
      bladder (P<0.0001). BCRP mRNA expression was similar in TCC and SCC of the
      bladder (P=0.1072). The increased MRP3 mRNA expression was not related to bladder
      tumor grade (P=0.3465) but was, however, significantly higher in superficial than
      in invasive bladder tumors (P=0.0173). The decreased expression of BCRP was not
      related to bladder tumor grade (P=0.1808) or stage (P=0.8016). The current data
      show that bladder cancer is associated with perturbed expression of MRP3 and
      BCRP. Representing drug resistance factors, determining the expression of these
      transporters in native tumors may be predictive of the outcome of chemotherapy
      based-treatment of bladder cancer.

PMID- 28586063
TI  - MYC and hsa-miRNA-423-5p as biomarkers in nasopharyngeal carcinoma revealed by
      miRNA-mRNA-pathway network integrated analysis.
AB  - The present study was performed to identify the dysregulated microRNAs
      (miRNAs/miRs) and mRNAs, and enriched pathways involved in nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma (NPC) through the establishment of an miRNA-mRNA-pathways network. mRNA
      and miRNA expression profiles were collected from the European Molecular Biology
      Laboratory-European Bioinformatics Institute. Differentially expressed genes and
      differentially expressed miRNA were selectively screened using the metaDE
      package. Following prediction of the risk genes and pathway pairs involved in
      NPC, an miRNA-mRNA-pathway network was constructed by merging the miRNA-mRNA
      pairs, the mRNA-pathway pairs and the mRNA-mRNA pairs. The miRNA and mRNA
      biomarkers, as well as the functional pathway pairs, were identified in the
      network analysis, based on the topological properties of nodes in the network.
      Additionally, 10-fold cross-validation was performed to evaluate the performance
      of the selected risk genes and their corresponding miRNA in NPC by calculating
      the area under the curve (AUC). In total, 99 upregulated and 841 downregulated
      genes, and 192 upregulated and 26 downregulated miRNAs were identified. The miRNA
      mRNA-pathway network was established using 403 miRNA-mRNA pairs, including 40
      miRNAs and 302 risk genes, as well as 22 prominent pathway pairs. Network
      analysis demonstrated that v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog
      (MYC) and hsa-miR-423-5p were the mRNA and miRNA signatures for NPC,
      respectively. The AUC of these biomarkers for NPC was 0.7568 and 0.7798,
      respectively. Additionally, the focal adhesion pair pathway in cancer was
      identified to be associated with NPC. MYC and hsa-miR-423-5p have been identified
      to be critical biomarkers in NPC as revealed by miRNA-mRNA-pathway network
      integrated analysis, suggesting a direction for further research into the
      diagnosis and treatment of NPC.

PMID- 28586064
TI  - MicroRNA-210 negatively regulates the radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma cells.
AB  - Radiotherapy is one of the primary methods of treatment of malignant tumors,
      however, resistance to radiation is a major problem. The reasons for the
      radioresistance are still poorly understood. However, it is generally accepted
      that microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) can regulate the radiosensitivity of tumors. The
      present study therefore aimed to identify specific miRNAs and their effects on
      radioresistant cells. More specifically, the aim was to investigate specific
      miRNAs and their effects on radioresistant tumor cells. The radioresistant tumor
      cells (CNE-2R) were established using a dose gradient method, and the miRNA
      expression profiles of CNE-2R cells and the parental cells (CNE-2) were
      determined. The expression of miR-210 in CNE-2R cells was significantly higher
      than in CNE-2 cells. CNE-2R cells were transfected with LV-hsa-miR-210-inhibitor,
      and CNE-2 cells were transfected with LV-hsa-miR-210. The expression of miR-210
      was confirmed by reverse transcription quantitative-polymerase chain reaction.
      The percentages of CNE-2R-miR-210-inhibitor and CNE-2 cells in the G2/M phase
      were higher than in the CNE-2R and CNE-2-miR-210 cells, and the percentages of
      cells in S phase were lower than in the CNE-2R and CNE-2-miR-210 cells. Following
      4 Gy of radiation, CNE-2R-miR-210-inhibitor and CNE-2 cells, which express low
      levels of miR-210, had a higher apoptosis rate than CNE-2R and CNE-2-miR-210
      cells. Following 4, 8 and 12 Gy of radiation, cell viability and survival
      fraction of CNE-2R-miR-210-inhibitor cells were lower than those of CNE-2R and
      CNE-2-miR-210 cells, and similar to those of CNE-2 cells. Together, these
      findings strongly suggest that miR-210 negatively regulates the radiosensitivity
      of tumor cells, and may therefore have therapeutic potential for the treatment of
      radiation resistance.

PMID- 28586065
TI  - Valsartan attenuates pulmonary hypertension via suppression of mitogen activated
      protein kinase signaling and matrix metalloproteinase expression in rodents.
AB  - It has previously been demonstrated that the renin-angiotensin system is involved
      in the pathogenesis and development of pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, the
      efficacy of angiotensin II type I (AT1) receptor blockers in the treatment of PH
      is variable. The present study examined the effects of the AT1 receptor blocker
      valsartan on monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PH in rats and chronic hypoxia-induced
      PH in mice. The results demonstrated that valsartan markedly attenuated
      development of PH in rats and mice, as indicated by reduced right ventricular
      systolic pressure, diminished lung vascular remodeling and decreased right
      ventricular hypertrophy, compared with vehicle treated animals.
      Immunohistochemical analyses of proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression
      revealed that valsartan suppressed smooth muscle cell proliferation. Western blot
      analysis demonstrated that valsartan limited activation of p38, c-Jun N-terminal
      kinase 1/2 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 signaling pathways and
      significantly reduced MCT-induced upregulation of pulmonary matrix
      metalloproteinases-2 and -9, and transforming growth factor-beta1 expression. The
      results suggested that valsartan attenuates development of PH in rodents by
      reducing expression of extracellular matrix remodeling factors and limiting
      smooth muscle cell proliferation to decrease pathological vascular remodeling.
      Therefore, valsartan may be a valuable future therapeutic approach for the
      treatment of PH.

PMID- 28586066
TI  - MicroRNA-148a suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasion of
      pancreatic cancer cells by targeting Wnt10b and inhibiting the Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway.
AB  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in the process of
      cancer invasion and metastasis. The Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway is known
      as a stimulative factor, which may trigger EMT and metastasis of cancer cells. In
      addition, several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been proven to regulate the EMT
      process. Recent research revealed that miR-148a is downregulated in pancreatic
      cancer. However, the definite role of miR-148a in EMT and invasion of pancreatic
      cancer is still unknown. The present study attempted to demonstrate the
      underlying mechanism of miR-148a in the regulation of EMT and invasion of
      pancreatic cancer cells. Our data revealed that the expression of miR-148a was
      markedly downregulated in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell
      lines and tissues. In addition, the downregulation of miR-148a was associated
      with poor prognosis and EMT phenotype. Furthermore, restoration of miR-148a
      expression inhibited the EMT process, as well as the migration and invasion of
      BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cells. Wnt10b, a promoting molecule of the Wnt/beta
      catenin signaling pathway, was demonstrated by dual-luciferase reporter assay to
      be a direct target of miR-148a. Subsequently, we found that miR-148a negatively
      regulated the protein expression of beta-catenin, cyclin D1 and MMP-9, which were
      important components of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. In conclusion,
      these findings revealed that miR-148a suppresses EMT and invasion of pancreatic
      cancer cells by targeting Wnt10b and inhibiting the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling
      pathway, and thus, miR-148a may serve as a novel therapeutic target for
      pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 28586067
TI  - Prognosis genes in gastric adenocarcinoma identified by cross talk genes in
      disease-related pathways.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of genes
      that participate in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma, via exploring gene
      cross talk in disease-related pathways. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in
      the gastric samples were identified by analyzing the expression data downloaded
      from the GEO database. The DEGs were subjected to the human protein-protein
      interaction (PPI) network to construct the PPI network of DEGs, which was then
      used for the identification of key genes in cancer samples via the expression
      deviation score and degree in the network. A total of 635 DEGs, including 432
      downregulated and 203 upregulated ones were screened in the gastric
      adenocarcinomas samples. The PPI network of DEGs comprised 590 DEGs and 4,299
      interaction pairs. A total of 200 key genes were obtained, which were
      significantly enriched in six downregulated and six upregulated pathways. Cross
      talk genes in the connected pathways were analyzed, and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of
      Genes and Genomes pathways hsa00980 (Metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome
      P450) and hsa00982 (Drug metabolism) were reported to share 8 cross talk genes:
      ADH7, ALDH3A1, GSTA1, GSTA2, UGT2B17, UGT2B10, ADH1B and CYP2C18. Among all cross
      talk genes, ADH7, ALDH3A1 and CLDN3 were the most specific genes. The high- and
      low-risk samples identified by the prognosis model presented a remarkable
      difference in total survival time, indicating its robustness and sensitivity as
      the prognosis genes for gastric adenocarcinoma. ADH7, ALDH3A1, GSTA1, GSTA2,
      UGT2B17, UGT2B10, ADH1B, CYP2C18ADH7, ALDH3A1 and CLDN3 may be used as the
      prognosis markers and target biomarkers for chemotherapies in gastric
      adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 28586068
TI  - Sulforaphane increases Nrf2 expression and protects alveolar epithelial cells
      against injury caused by cigarette smoke extract.
AB  - Cigarette smoking is a primary risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD), as it damages epithelial cells through a variety of mechanisms.
      Sulforaphane (SFN) is an antioxidant agent, which exerts protective effects
      against cell damage by activating the nuclear factor erythroid 2 like 2 (NFE2L2;
      Nrf2). The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects and underlying
      mechanisms of SFN in preventing cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced oxidative
      damage to RLE-6TN rat lung epithelial cells. MTT assay was used to determine the
      cytotoxicity of SFN and CSE. The effect of SFN and CSE on cell cycle progression,
      apoptosis and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were analyzed
      using flow cytometry. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction and western blotting were used to quantify mRNA and protein expression
      levels of Nrf2 respectively. SFN protected RLE-6TN cells from oxidative damage,
      potentially via increasing Nrf2 expression and reducing ROS levels. In addition,
      SFN attenuated G1 phase cell cycle arrest and abrogated apoptosis. Therefore, SFN
      protected alveolar epithelial cells against CSE-induced oxidative injury by
      upregulating Nrf2 expression. The results of the present study may provide
      theoretical support for the clinical use of SFN in patients with COPD.

PMID- 28586069
TI  - miR-203 inhibits the expression of collagen-related genes and the proliferation
      of hepatic stellate cells through a SMAD3-dependent mechanism.
AB  - Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a pivotal event during hepatic
      fibrogenesis. Activated HSCs are the main source of collagen and other
      extracellular matrix (ECM) components, and emerging antifibrotic therapies are
      aimed at preventing ECM synthesis and deposition. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been
      demonstrated to exert regulatory effects on HSC activation and ECM synthesis. In
      the present study, the HSC-T6 rat hepatic stellate cell line was transiently
      transfected with a miRNA (miR)-203 mimic, which is an artificial miRNA that
      enhances the function of miR-203, with a miR-203 inhibitor or with a scramble
      miRNA negative control. mRNA and protein expression levels of collagen (COL) 1A1,
      COL3A1, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and mothers against decapentaplegic
      homolog 3 (SMAD3) were assessed using reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. The
      interaction between miR-203 and the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of SMAD3 mRNA
      was examined using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. The proliferative
      capabilities of activated HSCs were measured using an MTT assay. The present
      results demonstrated that the mRNA and protein expression levels of COL1A1,
      COL3A1, alpha-SMA and SMAD3 were significantly upregulated following transfection
      of HSC-T6 cells with the miR-203 inhibitor. Conversely, COL1A1, COL3A1, alpha
      SMA, and SMAD3 mRNA and protein expression appeared to be downregulated in rat
      HSCs transfected with miR-203 mimics. Notably, the inhibition of miR-203
      expression was revealed to promote HSC proliferation, whereas increased miR-203
      expression suppressed the proliferative capabilities of HSC-T6 cells.
      Furthermore, SMAD3 was revealed to be a direct target of miR-203. The present
      study suggested that miR-203 may function to prevent the synthesis and deposition
      of ECM components, including COL1A1, COL3A1 and alpha-SMA, and to inhibit the
      proliferation of HSCs through a SMAD3-dependent mechanism. Therefore, it may be
      hypothesized that miR-203 has potential as a novel target for the development of
      alternative therapeutic strategies for the treatment of patients with hepatic
      fibrosis in clinical practice.

PMID- 28586070
TI  - Protective effect of diethylcarbamazine inhibits NF-kappaB activation in
      isoproterenol-induced acute myocardial infarction rat model through the PARP
      pathway.
AB  - The present study investigated the protective effect of diethylcarbamazine in
      inhibiting nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB activation in isoproterenol-induced acute
      myocardial infarction (AMI) rats through the poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP)
      pathway. Male albino Wistar rats were injected subcutaneously with isoproterenol
      (100 mg/kg/day) for 2 days to induce an AMI model. Diethylcarbamazine (50 mg/kg)
      was administered by gavage for 12 days prior to the isoproterenol-induced AMI. It
      was noted that diethylcarbamazine significantly inhibited AMI-induced casein
      kinase and lactate dehydrogenase levels, and reduced the AMI-induced wet heart
      weight to body weight ratio in AMI rats. Diethylcarbamazine treatment
      significantly weakened reactive oxygen species production and reduced the levels
      of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin-6 and NF-kappaB/p65 in AMI
      rats. Western blotting demonstrated that diethylcarbamazine significantly
      suppressed the AMI-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), transforming
      growth factor (TGF)-beta1, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and PARP protein expression
      in AMI rats. The results demonstrated that the protective effect of
      diethylcarbamazine inhibited isoproterenol-induced AMI through the suppression of
      inflammation, iNOS, TGF-beta1, COX-2 and the PARP pathway, and revealed the
      clinical potential of diethylcarbamazine for therapeutic and clinical
      applications.

PMID- 28586072
TI  - Treatment of colon cancer cells with 5-fluorouracil can improve the effectiveness
      of RNA-transfected antitumor dendritic cell vaccine.
AB  - Non-cytotoxic concentrations of selected chemotherapeutic agents amplify the
      antigen presentation capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) and are able to increase
      the immunogenicity of the colon cancer cell lineage HCT-116, as previously
      demonstrated by our group. Since this functional alteration was associated with
      changes in gene expression, we aimed to evaluate whether transcriptional changes
      of tumor cells can be transferred to DCs, increasing their ability to induce a
      specific antitumor response. Therefore, HCT-116 cells were treated with two
      different concentrations of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and their total RNA was
      transfected into human monocyte-derived DC, which function was evaluated through
      their ability to stimulate the proliferation of normal allogeneic T lymphocytes
      (MLR), and to generate cytolytic T cells. The transfected DCs demonstrated an
      increased percentage of CD83+, HLA-DR+, CD80+ and CD86+ cells. These phenotypical
      changes were followed by functional improvement demonstrated by the increased
      capacity of these DC to induce allogeneic T cell proliferation and to generate
      specific anti-HCT-116 cytolytic T cells, as demonstrated by IFN-gamma production
      following in vitro challenge with tumor cells. Our results allow us to conclude
      that treatment of tumor cells with a non-toxic concentration of 5-FU induces
      immunogenic changes that are transferred to DC by transfection of total RNA.

PMID- 28586071
TI  - A comparative study of the influence of two types of PHEMA stents on the
      differentiation of ASCs to myocardial cells.
AB  - In the present study, subcutaneous fat was obtained from adult women that had
      undergone conventional liposuction surgery. A comparative study was performed to
      investigate the effect of transparent and white poly-beta-hydroxyethyl
      methacrylate (PHEMA) stents, which have different surface and cross-sectional
      morphological characteristics, on the differentiation of adipose-derived stem
      cells (ASCs) into myocardial cells. The cell counting kit-8 assay revealed that
      cell growth increased at varying rates among the different treatment groups. The
      absorbance of the experimental transparent PHEMA treated group increased in a
      time-dependent manner with the duration of incubation. The highest levels of
      proliferation were observed in the transparent PHEMA group. In addition, the
      transparent PHEMA treated group exhibited the strongest cell adhesion ability,
      which was significantly different to that of the white PHEMA group (P<0.01 and
      P<0.05 for Matrigel and fibronectin assay, respectively). Comparisons between the
      two stent materials with the inducer control group revealed statistically
      significant differences in the rate of ASC differentiation (P<0.05). The level of
      differentiation was the greatest in the transparent PHEMA group, and was
      significantly different to the white PHEMA group (P<0.05) and the blank control
      group (P<0.01). The results suggest that the inducers 5-aza-2-deoxycytidin and
      laminin, and material microstructure stents effectively promote the
      proliferation, growth and adhesion of ASCs. However, the transparent material
      microstructure may be a more suitable candidate for ASC-associated injections.
      The present study provides further evidence that a PHEMA stent structure,
      comprised of a high number of matrixes and a low water content, induces a high
      level of ASC differentiation to myocardial cells.

PMID- 28586074
TI  - Microarray expression profile of long non-coding RNAs in paclitaxel-resistant
      human lung adenocarcinoma cells.
AB  - Paclitaxel (PTX)-based chemotherapy is a standard treatment for human lung
      adenocarcinoma, but treatment often fails since resistance develops. Recent
      studies have described the activity of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in many
      biological processes and human diseases. Chemotherapy resistance is one of these
      areas, but the role of lncRNAs in paclitaxel resistance of human lung
      adenocarcinoma cells has not been reported. A paclitaxel resistance model was
      established using A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells. lncRNAs and mRNAs were
      profiled in parental A549 and paclitaxel-resistant A549/PTX cells by microarray
      analysis. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to validate the results
      of the microarray. Chromosomal distribution patterns of differentially expressed
      lncRNAs and mRNAs were assessed. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of
      Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed using gene set
      enrichment. We screened 1,154 lncRNAs and 1,733 mRNAs that had a >3-fold
      difference in expression in A549/PTX cells compared with A549 cells, most of
      which were downregulated. Nine lncRNAs and six mRNAs were randomly selected and
      validated by RT-qPCR. Most aberrantly expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were located on
      chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 12 and 17, particularly on chromosome 1. Bioinformatics, GO
      and KEGG pathway analyses, revealed that some differentially expressed genes
      regulated classical functions and pathways such as cytosol components, protein
      binding, gene expression and metabolic pathways. Differential expression of
      lncRNAs and mRNAs in A549/PTX and A549 cells indicates that various lncRNAs may
      be useful diagnostic or prognostic markers of resistance to treatment, or future
      targets for paclitaxel-based chemotherapy, providing a novel rationale for
      clinical treatment.

PMID- 28586073
TI  - Effects of the Tangningtongluo formula as an alternative strategy for diabetics
      via upregulation of insulin receptor substrate-1.
AB  - Tangningtongluo (TNTL), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used in
      clinics for decades in southwest China. Its pharmacological properties and
      underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. The main goal of
      ethnopharmacology is to identify novel bioactive compounds derived from plants
      for use in indigenous medical practice. This knowledge can be used to develop
      novel pharmaceuticals. In the present study, hyperglycemic C57BL/KsJ-db/db
      (db/db) mice were used to test the effect of TNTL on microvasculature of the
      retina and hypoglycemia. Metformin (Met) was selected as a positive control. 26
      week-old mice were randomly assigned to receive either the anti-diabetic agent
      Met [140 mg/kg body weight (BW)], 1.8, 0.9 or 0.45 g/kg BW TNTL, or a placebo.
      The fasting blood glucose, serum insulin and glycated hemoglobin levels were
      measured. Histopathologic examination of the pancreas was performed to confirm
      the hypoglycemic effect. Fluorescein angiography was applied to detect diabetes
      induced retinal angioma in the db/db mice. TNTL intake significantly decreased
      the fasting blood glucose level in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, TNTL
      intervention resulted in a significant decrease in the insulin resistance index.
      Notably, TNTL treatment markedly reduced the speed of retinal degeneration and
      mildly reversed microvascular caliber degeneration. Western blot analysis
      indicated that upregulation of phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate-1 (p-IRS
      1) by the administration of TNTL may be strongly involved in the improvement of
      insulin resistance. In conclusion, TNTL exerted a strong hypoglycemic effect and
      reversed retinal degeneration via upregulation of ISR-1. The present findings
      provide important scientific evidence supporting TNTL as an effective alternative
      approach for the management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 28586075
TI  - [The mountain of waste in Swedish surgery].

PMID- 28586076
TI  - ?

PMID- 28586078
TI  - ?

PMID- 28586079
TI  - [Health care must be recognized as a universal human right].

PMID- 28586077
TI  - [Organ donation - follow France!].

PMID- 28586080
TI  - [Place pediatrics and child psychiatry at "the same table"].

PMID- 28586081
TI  - ?
AB  - Assessment of neurologic prognosis after cardiac arrest. Updated recommendations
      from the Swedish CPR Council Expert Group European Resuscitation Council (ERC)
      issued updated guidelines for postresuscitation care in 2015. This paper provides
      updated Swedish recommendations for neurological prognostication of patients
      remaining unconscious after cardiac arrest (CA). The prognostication should be
      based on independent methods; clinical and neurophysiological examinations,
      imaging and biomarkers. It should not be performed earlier than three days after
      CA and any influence from sedatives must be negligible. Bilateral absence of both
      corneal and pupillary reflexes and bilaterally absent Somatosensory Evoked N20
      Potentials (SSEP) at 72 hours are reliable predictors of poor outcome but the
      ocular reflexes have limited sensitivity and SSEP has limited availability.
      Hence, further delay of at least 24 hours and combinations of findings from
      multiple methods are often needed for reliable prognostication.  If firm evidence
      of a poor prognosis is lacking four days after CA, further expectation with
      repeated examinations is recommended.

PMID- 28586082
TI  - ?
AB  - Sex chromosome abnormalities are among the most common genetic changes. The
      manifestations vary and may include growth abnormalities, specific appearance
      features, and other endocrinological and physical disorders, but also delayed
      psychomotor development, learning disabilities, and psychiatric conditions
      including ADHD and autism spectrum disorders. Increased knowledge about the
      relationship between sex chromosome abnormalities, development and psychiatric
      conditions would enable improved care of these patients.

PMID- 28586083
TI  - [Active follow-up after suicide attempts has a preventive effect].

PMID- 28586084
TI  - The iterative process in the development of a parent-reported questionnaire for
      children with unilateral paresis.

PMID- 28586086
TI  - Young Children's Moral Judgments, Justifications, and Emotion Attributions in
      Peer Relationship Contexts.
AB  - Children (n = 160, 4- to 9-year-olds; Mage  = 6.23 years, SD = 1.46) judged,
      justified, attributed emotions, and rated intent for hypothetical physical harm,
      psychological harm, and resource distribution transgressions against close
      friends, acquaintances, disliked peers, or bullies. Transgressions against
      bullies were judged more acceptable than against friends and disliked peers and
      less deserving of punishment than against acquaintances and disliked peers.
      Transgressions against friends were judged least intended and resulting in more
      negative emotions for transgressors; actors transgressing against disliked peers,
      as compared to bullies or acquaintances, were happy victimizers. Across
      relationships, children viewed moral transgressions as wrong independent of rules
      and authority, based primarily on welfare and fairness justifications. Peer
      context colors but does not fundamentally change moral evaluations.

PMID- 28586085
TI  - Enrichment of IL-17A+ IFN-gamma+ and IL-22+ IFN-gamma+ T cell subsets is
      associated with reduction of NKp44+ ILC3s in the terminal ileum of Crohn's
      disease patients.
AB  - Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the human
      gastrointestinal tract whose aetiology remains largely unknown. Dysregulated
      adaptive immune responses and defective innate immunity both contribute to this
      process. In this study, we demonstrated that the interleukin (IL)-17A+ interferon
      (IFN)-gamma+ and IL-22+ IFN-gamma+ T cell subsets accumulated specifically in the
      inflamed terminal ileum of CD patients. These cells had higher expression of Ki
      67 and were active cytokine producers. In addition, their proportions within both
      the IL-17A-producer and IL-22-producer populations were increased significantly.
      These data suggest that IL-17A+ IFN-gamma+ and IL-22+ IFN-gamma+ T cell subsets
      might represent the pathogenic T helper type 17 (Th17) population in the context
      of intestinal inflammation for CD patients. In the innate immunity compartment we
      detected a dramatic alteration of both phenotype and function of the intestinal
      innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), that play an important role in the maintenance of
      mucosal homeostasis. In the inflamed gut the frequency of the NKp44- CD117- ILC1s
      subset was increased significantly, while the frequency of NKp44+ ILC3s was
      reduced. Furthermore, the frequency of human leucocyte antigen D-related (HLA-DR)
      expressing-NKp44+ ILC3s was also reduced significantly. Interestingly, the
      decrease in the NKp44+ ILC3s population was associated with an increase of
      pathogenic IL-17A+ IFN-gamma+ and IL-22+ IFN-gamma+ T cell subsets in the
      adaptive compartment. This might suggest a potential link between NKp44+ ILC3s
      and the IL-17A+ IFN-gamma+ and IL-22+ IFN-gamma+ T cell subsets in the terminal
      ileum of CD patients.

PMID- 28586087
TI  - Waiting for the Second Treat: Developing Culture-Specific Modes of Self
      Regulation.
AB  - The development of self-regulation has been studied primarily in Western middle
      class contexts and has, therefore, neglected what is known about culturally
      varying self-concepts and socialization strategies. The research reported here
      compared the self-regulatory competencies of German middle-class (N = 125) and
      rural Cameroonian Nso preschoolers (N = 76) using the Marshmallow test (Mischel,
      2014). Study 1 revealed that 4-year-old Nso children showed better delay-of
      gratification performance than their German peers. Study 2 revealed that culture
      specific maternal socialization goals and interaction behaviors were related to
      delay-of-gratification performance. Nso mothers' focus on hierarchical relational
      socialization goals and responsive control seems to support children's delay-of
      gratification performance more than German middle-class mothers' emphasis on
      psychological autonomous socialization goals and sensitive, child-centered
      parenting.

PMID- 28586088
TI  - Optimal timing for hepatitis C antiviral therapy in the peritransplant period?

PMID- 28586089
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28586091
TI  - Mutant PNPLA3 I148M protein as pharmacological target for liver disease.

PMID- 28586092
TI  - Quantitative skin assessment using spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) in
      patients with or at high risk for pressure ulcers.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pressure ulcers (PU) are a significant problem facing
      the health system in the United States. Here, we present preliminary case studies
      demonstrating feasibility of Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI) to assess
      skin status in high-risk populations and pre-existing wounds. SFDI is a wide
      field non-contact optical imaging technology that uses structured light to obtain
      tissue optical properties and of tissue constituents. This study aims to
      determine the fit of SFDI for PU care and determine the next steps. STUDY
      DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients at risk for pressure ulcers were imaged
      using a near-infrared SFDI system. SFDI-derived images of tissue function (tissue
      hemoglobin, tissue oxygen saturation) and structure (tissue scattering) were then
      compared to each other as well as a blinded dermatologist's clinical impressions.
      RESULTS: Four case series were chosen to demonstrate the imaging capability of
      this technology. The first scenario demonstrates normal skin of three patients
      without skin breakdown with spatially uniform measures of tissue oxygen
      saturation, scattering, and blood volume. The second scenario demonstrates a
      stage II PU; the third case shows non-blanchable erythema of an unstageable PU; a
      fourth scenario is a clinically indistinguishable skin rash versus early stages
      of a PU. In all these cases, we observe spatial changes in tissue constituents
      (decrease in tissue oxygen saturation, increased blood pooling, decreased
      scattering). CONCLUSION: We have presented the first use of SFDI for pressure
      ulcer imaging and staging. This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility of
      this optical technology to assess tissue oxygen saturation and blood volume
      status in a quantitative manner. With the proposed improvements in modeling and
      hardware, SFDI has potential to provide a means for pressure ulcer risk
      stratification, healing and staging. Lasers Surg. Med. 49:827-834, 2017 (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28586090
TI  - The association of QRS duration with atrial fibrillation in a heart failure with
      preserved ejection fraction population: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, yet
      patient risk stratification may be difficult. Prevention or treatment of atrial
      fibrillation (AF) may be an important strategy in these patients that could
      positively affect their outcome. It has been demonstrated that in patients with
      systolic dysfunction, prolonged QRS duration (QRSd), an easily measured
      electrocardiographic parameter, is associated with AF. HYPOTHESIS: Prolonged QRSd
      is associated with an increase in prevalence of AF in patients with heart failure
      with preserved ejection fraction(HFPEF). METHODS: Between February 2006 and
      February 2009, 718 patients were discharged with a diagnosis of HF from the
      Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Of these, 206 had EF >=50% by
      echocardiography performed within 72 hours of admission. After exclusions, 82
      patients remained, of which 25 had AF and 57 had sinus rhythm. Characteristics of
      the AF and sinus-rhythm patients were compared in this pilot study. RESULTS:
      After adjustment for age, prior diagnosis of HF, and left atrial area, there was
      a nonsignificant trend (odds ratio: 2.2, 95% CI of 0.3-17.2) for a QRSd >120 ms
      to be associated with AF. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to results in patients with
      systolic dysfunction, patients with preserved EF may have an association between
      a prolonged QRSd and AF.

PMID- 28586093
TI  - Agreement between jaw-muscle activity measurement with portable single-channel
      electromyography and polysomnography in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for sleep bruxism (SB)
      assessment. High economical costs, complex technical equipment, and unfamiliar
      laboratory setting limit its use in children. AIM: To determine the night-to
      night variability of electromyography (EMG) episodes during a five-night
      recording with the GrindCare Measure (GCM), and the agreement in the assessment
      of masticatory muscle activity (MMA) between GCM and PSG in children. DESIGN:
      Forty-seven children from clinics of Universidad CES participated. Each
      participant was assessed with GCM for five consecutive nights. The last night,
      children underwent a single-night PSG study, together with the GCM. Spearman
      correlation coefficients were used to analyze data. RESULTS: The frequency of SB
      occurrence was 'sometimes' in 12 (25.5%) and 'usually' in 19 (40.4%) children.
      Simultaneous measurements with GCM and PSG obtained during the fifth night of
      measurement were not significantly correlated. Correlation between GCM total EMG
      episodes and EMG episodes/h and PSG total SB episodes, SB episodes/h, total
      bursts and burst/h measured with PSG was also not significant. CONCLUSION: EMG
      measurement with GCM was not accurate to detect PSG/SB in children. There was not
      advantage of multiple assessment for five nights with GCM, reducing the impact of
      night-to-night EMG episodes' variability on the GCM/PSG correlation.

PMID- 28586094
TI  - Disparities in liver cancer occurrence in the United States by race/ethnicity and
      state.
AB  - Liver cancer is highly fatal, and death rates in the United States are increasing
      faster than for any other cancer, having doubled since the mid-1980s. In 2017, it
      is estimated that the disease will account for about 41,000 new cancer cases and
      29,000 cancer deaths in the United States. In this article, data from the
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the National
      Center for Health Statistics are used to provide an overview of liver cancer
      incidence, mortality, and survival rates and trends, including data by
      race/ethnicity and state. The prevalence of major risk factors for liver cancer
      is also reported based on national survey data from the Centers for Disease
      Control and Prevention. Despite the improvement in liver cancer survival in
      recent decades, only 1 in 5 patients survives 5 years after diagnosis. There is
      substantial disparity in liver cancer death rates by race/ethnicity (from 5.5 per
      100,000 in non-Hispanic whites to 11.9 per 100,000 in American Indians/Alaska
      Natives) and state (from 3.8 per 100,000 in North Dakota to 9.6 per 100,000 in
      the District of Columbia) and by race/ethnicity within states. Differences in
      risk factor prevalence account for much of the observed variation in liver cancer
      rates. Thus, in contrast to the growing burden, a substantial proportion of liver
      cancer deaths could be averted, and existing disparities could be dramatically
      reduced, through the targeted application of existing knowledge in prevention,
      early detection, and treatment, including improvements in vaccination against
      hepatitis B virus, screening and treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus
      infections, maintaining a healthy body weight, access to high-quality diabetes
      care, preventing excessive alcohol drinking, and tobacco control, at both the
      state and national levels. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67:273-289. (c) 2017 American
      Cancer Society.

PMID- 28586096
TI  - Spinal cord multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging for survival prediction
      in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Assessing survival is a critical issue in patients with
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Neuroimaging seems to be promising in the
      assessment of disease severity and several studies also suggest a strong
      relationship between spinal cord (SC) atrophy described by magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) and disease progression. The aim of the study was to determine the
      predictive added value of multimodal SC MRI on survival. METHODS: Forty-nine ALS
      patients were recruited and clinical data were collected. Patients were scored on
      the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale and manual muscle testing. They were
      followed longitudinally to assess survival. The cervical SC was imaged using the
      3 T MRI system. Cord volume and cross-sectional area (CSA) at each vertebral
      level were computed. Diffusion tensor imaging metrics were measured. Imaging
      metrics and clinical variables were used as inputs for a multivariate Cox
      regression survival model. RESULTS: On building a multivariate Cox regression
      model with clinical and MRI parameters, fractional anisotropy, magnetization
      transfer ratio and CSA at C2-C3, C4-C5, C5-C6 and C6-C7 vertebral levels were
      significant. Moreover, the hazard ratio calculated for CSA at the C3-C4 and C5-C6
      levels indicated an increased risk for patients with SC atrophy (respectively
      0.66 and 0.68). In our cohort, MRI parameters seem to be more predictive than
      clinical variables, which had a hazard ratio very close to 1. CONCLUSIONS: It is
      suggested that multimodal SC MRI could be a useful tool in survival prediction
      especially if used at the beginning of the disease and when combined with
      clinical variables. To validate it as a biomarker, confirmation of the results in
      bigger independent cohorts of patients is warranted.

PMID- 28586095
TI  - CMV drives the expansion of highly functional memory T cells expressing NK-cell
      receptors in renal transplant recipients.
AB  - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common opportunistic infection encountered in renal
      transplant recipients (RTRs) and may be reactivated without symptoms at any time
      post-transplant. We describe how active and latent CMV affect T-cell subsets in
      RTRs who are stable on maintenance therapy. T-cell responses to CMV were assessed
      in RTRs (n = 54) >2 years post-transplant, and healthy controls (n = 38). Seven
      RTRs had CMV DNA detectable in plasma. CMV antibody and DNA aligned with
      increased proportions of CD8+ T cells and reduced CD4/CD8 ratios. This paralleled
      an expansion of effector memory T-cell (TEM ), terminally differentiated T-cell
      (TEMRA ) and CD57+ TEMRA cell populations. Expression of NK-cell receptors, LIR-1
      and KLRG1 on CD4+ and CD8+ CD57+ TEM and TEMRA cells correlated with elevated
      interferon-gamma and cytotoxic responses to anti-CD3 and increased cytotoxic
      responses to CMV phosphoprotein (pp) 65 in RTRs who carried CMV DNA. CD8+ T cells
      from all CMV seropositive RTRs responded efficiently to CMV immediate early (IE) 
      1 peptides. The data show that latent and active CMV infection can alter T-cell
      subsets in RTRs many years after transplantation, and up-regulate T-cell
      expression of NK-cell receptors. This may enhance effector responses of CD4+ and
      CD8+ T cells against CMV.

PMID- 28586097
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of specific alterations in transcript structure and
      accumulation caused by nutrient deficiencies in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - The alteration of transcript structure contributes to transcriptome plasticity.
      In this study, we analyzed the genome-wide response of exon combination patterns
      to deficiencies in 12 different nutrients in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. RNA
      sequencing analysis and bioinformatics using a simulation survey revealed more
      than 600 genes showing varying exon combinations. The overlap between genes
      showing differential expression (DE) and genes showing differential exon
      combination (DC) was notably low. Additionally, gene ontology analysis showed
      that gene functions were not shared between the DE and DC genes, suggesting that
      the genes showing DC had different roles than those showing DE. Most of the DC
      genes were nutrient specific. For example, two homologs of the MYB transcription
      factor genes MYB48 and MYB59 showed differential alternative splicing only in
      response to low levels of potassium. Alternative splicing of those MYB genes
      modulated DNA-binding motifs, and MYB59 is reportedly involved in the inhibition
      of root elongation. Therefore, the increased abundance of MYB isoforms with an
      intact DNA-binding motif under low potassium may be involved in the active
      inhibition of root elongation. Overall, we provide global and comprehensive data
      for DC genes affected by nutritional deficiencies, which contribute to
      elucidating an unknown mechanism involved in adaptation to nutrient deficiency.

PMID- 28586099
TI  - Benchmarking Discount Rate in Natural Resource Damage Assessment with Risk
      Aversion.
AB  - Benchmarking a credible discount rate is of crucial importance in natural
      resource damage assessment (NRDA) and restoration evaluation. This article
      integrates a holistic framework of NRDA with prevailing low discount rate theory,
      and proposes a discount rate benchmarking decision support system based on
      service-specific risk aversion. The proposed approach has the flexibility of
      choosing appropriate discount rates for gauging long-term services, as opposed to
      decisions based simply on duration. It improves injury identification in NRDA
      since potential damages and side-effects to ecosystem services are revealed
      within the service-specific framework. A real embankment case study demonstrates
      valid implementation of the method.

PMID- 28586098
TI  - Diastolic Dysfunction of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Genotype-Positive Subjects
      Without Hypertrophy Is Detected by Tissue Doppler Imaging: A Systematic Review
      and Meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether diastolic dysfunction derived by tissue Doppler
      imaging (TDI) would be an earlier manifestation in genotype-positive hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy (HCM) subjects without left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).
      METHODS: We systematically searched Pubmed, Medline, and Web of Science with an
      upper date limit of June 2016 for studies evaluating the diastolic function of
      HCM genotype-positive subjects without hypertrophy (G+/LVH-). Based on the
      inclusion criteria, eligible studies were selected. The quality of selected
      studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale before being included in the
      meta-analysis. The statistic data such as weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95%
      confidence interval (CI) were calculated by Stata 12.0 software. RESULTS:
      Seventeen studies were included in the systematic review, and 12 were finally
      involved in the meta-analysis. The G+/LVH- subjects showed decreased Ea derived
      by TDI on both the interventricular septum (WMD [95% CI] = -1.822 [-3.104, 
      0.541]) and lateral wall (WMD [95% CI] = -2.269 [-3.820, -0.719]), and increased
      E/Ea on both interventricular septum (WMD [95% CI] = 1.363 [0.552, 2.174]) and
      lateral (WMD [95% CI] = 1.339 [0.386, 2.293]) wall. CONCLUSIONS: Tissue Doppler
      imaging-derived diastolic dysfunction can be found in HCM genotype-positive
      subjects without hypertrophy.

PMID- 28586100
TI  - Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with increased readmission in heart failure
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) readmission rates have become an increasingly
      important quality metric since the advent of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction
      Program. Despite many well-intentioned efforts to reduce readmissions, clinicians
      continue to struggle with the problem of high HF readmission rates. HYPOTHESIS:
      HF patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) will have higher burden of
      rehospitalization and mortality than HF patients without OSA. METHODS: Our study
      included 344 patient encounters (among 271 unique patients) with a diagnosis of
      HF from September 2014 through September 2015. Our primary endpoints were all
      cause readmission within 30 and 90 days. Multivariate logistic regression was
      used to assess the relationship between OSA and readmission when accounting for
      potential confounders. RESULTS: The patients' were 72 +/- 10 years old, and
      predominantly white (76.2%) and male (99.4%). Among the 344 patient encounters,
      247 (71.8%) had diagnosed coronary artery disease, 159 (46.2%) had atrial
      fibrillation, and 99 (28%) had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Notably, patients
      with OSA had an elevated rate of readmission within 30 days (OSA: 30.3% vs no
      OSA: 19.6%, P = 0.037) and within 90 days (OSA: 57.6% vs no OSA: 36.3P < 0.01).
      Patients with OSA had increased risk of readmission within 90 days (odds ratio:
      2.38, 95% confidence interval: 1.47-3.83, P < 0.01) even after adjustment for
      potential confounders of age, race, obesity, diabetes, and chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease. CONCLUSIONS: HF patients with OSA have an elevated rate of
      readmission compared to the general HF population, particularly within the first
      90 days after discharge.

PMID- 28586101
TI  - Functional role of glycosphingolipids in contact inhibition of growth in a human
      mammary epithelial cell line.
AB  - We have demonstrated previously the involvement of certain glycosphingolipids
      (GSLs) in 'contact inhibition' (dependent on cell-to-cell contact) of cell
      growth. Here, we examined the roles of specific GSLs in contact inhibition of the
      human epithelial cell line MCF10A. Contact-inhibited cells show increased
      expression of the ganglioside GD3 and the globo-series GSL Gb3, and of the mRNAs
      for the corresponding sialyltransferases ST8SIA1 (GD3 synthase) and
      galactosyltransferase A4GALT (Gb3 synthase). siRNA knockdown (KD) of ST8SIA1
      and/or A4GALT significantly suppresses contact inhibition. Exogenous addition of
      GD3 or Gb3 inhibits proliferation of low-density cells. Our findings suggest that
      GSLs play functional roles in contact inhibition of these cells and that
      Merlin/NF2, a tumor suppressor protein, is involved in the GSL function.

PMID- 28586103
TI  - Minimal configuration of body surface potential mapping for discrimination of
      left versus right dominant frequencies during atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ablation of drivers maintaining atrial fibrillation (AF) has been
      demonstrated as an effective therapy. Drivers in the form of rapidly activated
      atrial regions can be noninvasively localized to either left or right atria (LA,
      RA) with body surface potential mapping (BSPM) systems. This study quantifies the
      accuracy of dominant frequency (DF) measurements from reduced-leads BSPM systems
      and assesses the minimal configuration required for ablation guidance. METHODS:
      Nine uniformly distributed lead sets of eight to 66 electrodes were evaluated.
      BSPM signals were registered simultaneously with intracardiac electrocardiograms
      (EGMs) in 16 AF patients. DF activity was analyzed on the surface potentials for
      the nine leads configurations, and the noninvasive measures were compared with
      the EGM recordings. RESULTS: Surface DF measurements presented similar values
      than panoramic invasive EGM recordings, showing the highest DF regions in
      corresponding locations. The noninvasive DFs measures had a high correlation with
      the invasive discrete recordings; they presented a deviation of <0.5 Hz for the
      highest DF and a correlation coefficient of >0.8 for leads configurations with 12
      or more electrodes. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced-leads BSPM systems enable noninvasive
      discrimination between LA versus RA DFs with similar results as higher-resolution
      66-leads system. Our findings demonstrate the possible incorporation of
      simplified BSPM systems into clinical planning procedures for AF ablation.

PMID- 28586102
TI  - Enhancing Photodynamic Therapy through Resonance Energy Transfer Constructed Near
      Infrared Photosensitized Nanoparticles.
AB  - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an important cancer treatment modality due to its
      minimally invasive nature. However, the efficiency of existing PDT drug molecules
      in the deep-tissue-penetrable near-infrared (NIR) region has been the major
      hurdle that has hindered further development and clinical usage of PDT. Thus,
      herein a strategy is presented to utilize a resonance energy transfer (RET)
      mechanism to construct a novel dyad photosensitizer which is able to dramatically
      boost NIR photon utility and enhance singlet oxygen generation. In this work, the
      energy donor moiety (distyryl-BODIPY) is connected to a photosensitizer (i.e.,
      diiodo-distyryl-BODIPY) to form a dyad molecule (RET-BDP). The resulting RET-BDP
      shows significantly enhanced absorption and singlet oxygen efficiency relative to
      that of the acceptor moiety of the photosensitizer alone in the NIR range. After
      being encapsulated with biodegradable copolymer pluronic F-127-folic acid (F-127
      FA), RET-BDP molecules can form uniform and small organic nanoparticles that are
      water soluble and tumor targetable. Used in conjunction with an exceptionally low
      power NIR LED light irradiation (10 mW cm-2 ), these nanoparticles show superior
      tumor-targeted therapeutic PDT effects against cancer cells both in vitro and in
      vivo relative to unmodified photosensitizers. This study offers a new method to
      expand the options for designing NIR-absorbing photosensitizers for future
      clinical cancer treatments.

PMID- 28586105
TI  - Seventeen Hours.

PMID- 28586104
TI  - Reply to: Estimating the Full Value of High-Dose Influenza Vaccine.

PMID- 28586106
TI  - Sonographic Measurement of Cervical Volume in Pregnant Women at High Risk of
      Preterm Birth Using a Geometric Formula for a Frustum Versus 3-Dimensional
      Automated Virtual Organ Computer-Aided Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare cervical volume measurements by 3-dimensional (3D)
      sonography using Virtual Organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL; GE Healthcare,
      Milwaukee, WI) versus a manual method using a geometric formula for a frustum.
      METHODS: We included 142 asymptomatic pregnant women at 16 to 24 weeks gestation
      at high risk for preterm birth. With a Voluson 730 Expert system (GE Healthcare),
      they underwent 2-dimensional (2D) transvaginal sonographic cervical length
      measurements and 3D cervical volume acquisition. The stored volumes were
      processed by VOCAL on a surface tablet. Cervical volume was manually calculated
      from the 2D images by using the formula V = 1/3 * pi * h * (r12  + r22  + r1 *
      r2), where V represents cervical volume; pi was approximated as 3.14159; h,
      cervical length; r1, radius at the internal os; and r2, radius at the external
      os. RESULTS: Cervical volume was lower when obtained manually than by VOCAL, with
      a coefficient of variation of 30%, a mean difference of 10.1 +/- 14.9 cm3 (P <
      .0001), and a poor interclass correlation coefficient of 0.62 (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.31 to 0.78). Both methods had good reproducibility; however,
      VOCAL had wider limits of agreement. A positive correlation was found between
      both methods (r = 0.63; P < .0001). No correlation was found between cervical
      length by 2D transvaginal ultrasound and cervical volume by the VOCAL technique
      (r = 0.06; 95% CI, -0.10 to 0.22) or cervical volume by the manual method (r =
      0.2; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.39). CONCLUSIONS: The cervix represents a frustum
      (truncated cone, r1 is not equal to r2) in shape rather than a cylinder. Both
      methods are reproducible; VOCAL is less reliable but provides higher values of
      cervical volume.

PMID- 28586107
TI  - Are energy and protein requirements met in hospital?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a problem within hospitals, which impacts upon
      clinical outcomes. The present audit assesses whether a hospital menu meets the
      energy and protein standards recommended by the British Dietetic Association's
      (BDA) Nutrition and Hydration Digest and determines the contribution of oral
      nutrition supplements (ONS) and additional snacks. METHODS: Patients in a UK
      South West hospital were categorised as 'nutritionally well' or 'nutritionally
      vulnerable' in accordance with their Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool score.
      Energy and protein content of food selected from the menu ('menu choice'), menu
      food consumed ('hospital intake') and total food consumed including snacks
      ('overall intake') were calculated and compared with the standards. RESULTS: In
      total, 93 patients were included. For 'nutritionally well' patients (n = 81),
      energy and protein standards were met by 11.1% and 33.3% ('menu choice'); 7.4%
      and 22.2% ('hospital intake'); and 14.8% and 28.4% ('overall intake'). For
      'nutritionally vulnerable' patients (n = 12), energy and protein standards were
      met by 0% and 8.3% ('menu choice'); 0% and 8.3% ('hospital intake'); and 8.3% and
      16.7% ('overall intake'). Ten percent of patients consumed ONS. Patients who
      consumed hospital snacks (34%) were more likely to meet the nutrient standards (P
      <= 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The present audit demonstrated that most patients are not
      meeting the nutrient standards recommended by the BDA Nutrition and Hydration
      Digest. Recommendations include the provision of energy/protein-dense snacks, as
      well as menu, offering ONS where clinically indicated, in addition to training
      for staff. A food services dietitian is ideally placed to lead this, forming a
      vital link between patients, caterers and clinical teams.

PMID- 28586109
TI  - Fyn kinase mediates cortical actin ring depolymerization required for mast cell
      migration in response to TGF-beta in mice.
AB  - Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a potent mast cell (MC)
      chemoattractant able to modulate local inflammatory reactions. The molecular
      mechanism leading to TGF-beta-directed MC migration is not fully described. Here
      we analyzed the role of the Src family protein kinase Fyn on the main TGF-beta
      induced cytoskeletal changes leading to MC migration. Utilizing bone marrow
      derived mast cells (BMMCs) from WT and Fyn-deficient mice we found that BMMC
      migration to TGF-beta was impaired in the absence of the kinase. TGF-beta caused
      depolymerization of the cortical actin ring and changes on the phosphorylation of
      cofilin, LIMK and CAMKII only in WT cells. Defective cofilin activation and
      phosphorylation of regulatory proteins was detected in Fyn-deficient BMMCs and
      this finding correlated with a lower activity of the catalytic subunit of the
      phosphatase PP2A. Diminished TGF-beta-induced chemotaxis of Fyn-deficient cells
      was also observed in an in vivo model of MC migration (bleomycin-induced
      scleroderma). Our results show that Fyn kinase is an important positive effector
      of TGF-beta-induced chemotaxis through the control of PP2A activity and this is
      relevant to pathological processes that are related to TGF-beta-dependent mast
      cell migration.

PMID- 28586108
TI  - Bcl6 promotes follicular helper T-cell differentiation and PD-1 expression in a
      Blimp1-independent manner in mice.
AB  - The transcription factors Bcl6 and Blimp1 have opposing roles in the development
      of the follicular helper T (TFH ) cells: Bcl6 promotes and Blimp1 inhibits TFH 
      cell differentiation. Similarly, Bcl6 activates, while Blimp1 represses,
      expression of the TFH -cell marker PD-1. However, Bcl6 and Blimp1 repress each
      other's expression, complicating the interpretation of the regulatory network.
      Here we sought to clarify the extent to which Bcl6 and Blimp1 independently
      control TFH -cell differentiation by generating mice with T-cell specific
      deletion of both Bcl6 and Blimp1 (double conditional KO [dcKO] mice). Our data
      indicate that Blimp1 does not control TFH -cell differentiation independently of
      Bcl6. However, a population of T follicular regulatory (TFR ) cells developed
      independently of Bcl6 in dcKO mice. We have also analyzed regulation of IL-10 and
      PD-1, two genes controlled by both Bcl6 and Blimp1, and observed that Bcl6
      regulates both genes independently of Blimp1. We found that Bcl6 positively
      regulates PD-1 expression by inhibiting the ability of T-bet/Tbx21 to repress
      Pdcd1 transcription. Our data provide a novel mechanism for positive control of
      gene expression by Bcl6, and illuminate how Bcl6 and Blimp1 control TFH -cell
      differentiation.

PMID- 28586111
TI  - Estimating the Full Value of High-Dose Influenza Vaccine.

PMID- 28586112
TI  - Conservative management of cervical ectopic pregnancy: Single-center experience.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the results of conservative treatment of
      cervical ectopic pregnancy (CEP). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all
      cervical ectopic pregnancies diagnosed at the present department between January
      2010 and July 2015. Patients with CEP who were treated with either systemic or
      intra-amniotic methotrexate (MTX) injection were included in the study. RESULTS:
      Ten CEP patients were identified. Median maternal age was 33 years (range, 23-40
      years). Median gestational age at diagnosis was 47 days (range, 44-58 days).
      Before treatment, overall mean serum beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta
      hCG) was 29 706.9 +/- 19 695.2 mIU/mL. Mean gestational sac size was 29.0 +/-
      6.24 mm. Eight patients had viable fetuses with detected cardiac activity. Six
      patients were treated primarily with systemic MTX, and four were treated with
      local MTX injection. One patient in the systemic MTX injection group was switched
      to local MTX treatment due to severe oral ulceration and increasing beta-hCG
      titers after the fourth dose. One patient in the local treatment group had severe
      hemorrhage 7 days after local MTX. Three of six women achieved spontaneous
      pregnancy and gave birth to term, healthy infants after treatment. CONCLUSION:
      Conservative treatment of CEP with both systemic and local MTX is generally
      successful with regard to maternal morbidity and reproductive function, but these
      patients must be closely followed due to the small but real risk of late
      hemorrhage.

PMID- 28586113
TI  - Lung Consolidation Locations for Optimal Lung Ultrasound Scanning in Diagnosing
      Pediatric Pneumonia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Lung ultrasound (US) has been shown to be accurate in diagnosing
      pneumonia in children. Evidence to inform an optimal scanning protocol is
      limited. Our objective is to describe an optimized lung US scanning protocol for
      pediatric pneumonia based on the anatomic location and transducer orientation.
      METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of data and images from 2 prospective
      lung US studies for the emergency department diagnosis of pneumonia in children
      (0-21 years). The anatomic location of each lung consolidation was mapped to 1 or
      more of 6 anatomic zones on the chest, noting the transducer orientation
      (sagittal or transverse) in which it was identified. RESULTS: Seventy-eight
      patients were included; 51% were female, and the median age was 3 years
      (interquartile range, 1-7 years). Overall, 46.5% (95% CI confidence interval
      [CI], 37.9%-55.1%) of lung zones with a visible consolidation were posterior;
      31.0% (95% CI, 23.0%-39.0%) were anterior; and 22.5% (95% CI, 15.3%-29.1%) were
      axillary. A total of 54.3% (95% CI, 45.7%-62.9%) of affected lung zones were in
      the lower lung compared to the upper lung (8.5%; 95% CI, 3.7%-13.3%) and middle
      lung (37.2%; 95% CI, 28.9%-45.5%). Most lung consolidations were seen in both
      transducer orientations: 96.2% (95% CI, 92.0%-100%) of patients had a visible
      consolidation on the transverse view, whereas 85.9% (95% CI, 78.2%-93.6% had a
      consolidation on the sagittal view. CONCLUSIONS: Efficient lung US scanning may
      start with the posterior, anterior, and then lateral chest zones if no pneumonia
      is identified. A transverse transducer orientation detects more pneumonia than a
      sagittal orientation. Omission of either orientation or any lung zone may miss
      pneumonia.

PMID- 28586110
TI  - Molecular Containers Bind Drugs of Abuse in Vitro and Reverse the Hyperlocomotive
      Effect of Methamphetamine in Rats.
AB  - We measured the affinity of five molecular container compounds (calabadions 1 and
      2, CB[7], sulfocalix[4]arene, and HP-beta-CD) toward seven drugs of abuse in
      homogenous aqueous solution at physiological pH by various methods (1 H NMR,
      UV/Vis, isothermal titration calorimetry [ITC]) and found binding constants (Ka
      values) spanning from <102 to >108  m-1 . We also report X-ray crystal structures
      of CB[7]?methamphetamine and 1?methamphetamine. We found that 2, but not CB[7],
      was able to ameliorate the hyperlocomotive activity of rats treated with
      methamphetamine. The bioavailability of the calabadions and their convergent
      building block synthesis suggest potential for further structural optimization as
      reversal agents for intoxication with nonopioid drugs of abuse for which no
      treatments are currently available.

PMID- 28586114
TI  - A phosphokinome-based screen uncovers new drug synergies for cancer driven by
      liver-specific gain of nononcogenic receptor tyrosine kinases.
AB  - : Genetic mutations leading to oncogenic variants of receptor tyrosine kinases
      (RTKs) are frequent events during tumorigenesis; however, the cellular
      vulnerability to nononcogenic RTK fluctuations has not been characterized. Here,
      we demonstrated genetically that in the liver subtle increases in wild-type Met
      RTK levels are sufficient for spontaneous tumors in mice (Alb-R26Met ),
      conceptually illustrating how the shift from physiological to pathological
      conditions results from slight perturbations in signaling dosage. By analyzing 96
      different genes in a panel of tumor samples, we demonstrated that liver
      tumorigenesis modeled by Alb-R26Met mice corresponds to a subset of
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, thus establishing the clinical relevance
      of this HCC mouse model. We elucidated the regulatory networks underlying
      tumorigenesis by combining a phosphokinome screen with bioinformatics analysis.
      We then used the signaling diversity results obtained from Alb-R26Met HCC versus
      control livers to design an "educated guess" drug screen, which led to the
      identification of new, deleterious synthetic lethal interactions. In particular,
      we report synergistic effects of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase,
      ribosomal S6 kinase, and cyclin-dependent kinase 1/2 in combination with Bcl-XL
      inhibition on a panel of liver cancer cells. Focusing on mitogen-activated
      protein kinase kinase and Bcl-XL targeting, we mechanistically demonstrated
      concomitant down-regulation of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase and myeloid cell leukemia 1 levels. Of note, a phosphorylated
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase+/BCL-XL+ /myeloid cell leukemia 1+
      signature, deregulated in Alb-R26Met tumors, characterizes a subgroup of HCC
      patients with poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: Our genetic studies highlight the
      heightened vulnerability of liver cells to subtle changes in nononcogenic RTK
      levels, allowing them to acquire a molecular profile that facilitates the full
      tumorigenic program; furthermore, our outcomes uncover new synthetic lethal
      interactions as potential therapies for a cluster of HCC patients. (Hepatology
      2017;66:1644-1661).

PMID- 28586115
TI  - Early Detection of Postoperative Acute Kidney Injury in Acute Stanford Type A
      Aortic Dissection With Doppler Renal Resistive Index.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the early efficiency of Doppler renal
      resistive index (DRRI) in prediction of acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery
      in acute Stanford Type A aortic dissection (AAAD) patients. METHODS: Sixty-one
      AAAD patients who planned to receive Sun's surgical management were prospectively
      enrolled. The DRRI was measured by ultrasonography Doppler on the day before
      surgery (DRRIpre ), on admission to the intensive care unit (DRRIT0 ), 6 hours
      after surgery (DRRIT6 ), 24 hours after surgery (DRRIT24 ), and 48 hours after
      surgery (DRRIT48 ). The maximum DRRI value (DRRImax ) was recorded. The AKI was
      evaluated according to the classifications of the Acute Kidney Injury Network.
      The DRRI and serum creatinine (sCr) were compared between the pre- and
      postoperative time stations, as well as between the AKI and no-AKI groups.
      RESULTS: Thirty-nine (63.9%) patients suffered from AKI, and 12 (19.6%) patients
      received dialysis. No significant difference was found in DRRIpre (0.63 +/- 0.04
      versus 0.65 +/- 0.06, P = .059) and sCrpre (84.13 +/- 23.77 versus 94.29 +/-
      51.11, P = .383) between the two groups with and without AKI. Both the DRRI and
      sCr increased significantly after surgery in the AKI groups (P < .001). However,
      the DRRI reached its maximum 6 hours after surgery, whereas the sCr reached its
      maximum after 24 hours. Both the DRRI and sCr improved 48 hours after surgery.
      The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for DRRImax (0.864,
      95% confidence interval: 0.770-0.957) and DRRIT6 (0.861, 95% confidence interval:
      0.766-0.957) was larger than the other three DRRIs measured at different time
      points. The cutoff value of DRRImax was 0.71, a sensitivity of 76.9% and
      specificity of 95.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative DRRI predicts the AKI earlier
      than sCr after AAAD surgery. The best time to detect DRRI was 6 hours after
      surgery.

PMID- 28586117
TI  - Male Centenarians: How and Why Are They Different from Their Female Counterparts?

PMID- 28586116
TI  - Fecal microbiota transplant from a rational stool donor improves hepatic
      encephalopathy: A randomized clinical trial.
AB  - : Recurrent hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a leading cause of readmission despite
      standard of care (SOC) associated with microbial dysbiosis. Fecal microbiota
      transplantation (FMT) may improve dysbiosis; however, it has not been studied in
      HE. We aimed to define whether FMT using a rationally derived stool donor is safe
      in recurrent HE compared to SOC alone. An open-label, randomized clinical trial
      with a 5-month follow-up in outpatient men with cirrhosis with recurrent HE on
      SOC was conducted with 1:1 randomization. FMT-randomized patients received 5 days
      of broad-spectrum antibiotic pretreatment, then a single FMT enema from the same
      donor with the optimal microbiota deficient in HE. Follow-up occurred on days 5,
      6, 12, 35, and 150 postrandomization. The primary outcome was safety of FMT
      compared to SOC using FMT-related serious adverse events (SAEs). Secondary
      outcomes were adverse events, cognition, microbiota, and metabolomic changes.
      Participants in both arms were similar on all baseline criteria and were followed
      until study end. FMT with antibiotic pretreatment was well tolerated. Eight (80%)
      SOC participants had a total of 11 SAEs compared to 2 (20%) FMT participants with
      SAEs (both FMT unrelated; P = 0.02). Five SOC and no FMT participants developed
      further HE (P = 0.03). Cognition improved in the FMT, but not the SOC, group.
      Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score transiently worsened
      postantibiotics, but reverted to baseline post-FMT. Postantibiotics, beneficial
      taxa, and microbial diversity reduction occurred with Proteobacteria expansion.
      However, FMT increased diversity and beneficial taxa. SOC microbiota and MELD
      score remained similar throughout. CONCLUSION: FMT from a rationally selected
      donor reduced hospitalizations, improved cognition, and dysbiosis in cirrhosis
      with recurrent HE. (Hepatology 2017;66:1727-1738).

PMID- 28586118
TI  - A DNA hypermethylation profile reveals new potential biomarkers for the
      evaluation of prognosis in urothelial bladder cancer.
AB  - DNA hypermethylation has emerged as a molecular biomarker for the evaluation of
      cancer diagnosis and prognosis. We define a methylation signature of bladder
      cancer and evaluate whether this profile assesses prognosis of patients. Genome
      wide methylation analysis was performed on 70 tumor and 10 normal bladder
      samples. Hypermethylation status of 1505 CpGs present in the promoter region of
      807 genes was studied. Thirty-three genes were significantly hypermethylated in
      >=10% of the tumors. Three clusters of patients were characterized by their DNA
      methylation profile, one at higher risk of dead of disease (p = 0.0012).
      Association between cluster distribution and stage (p = 0.02) or grade (p = 0.02)
      was demonstrated. Hypermethylation of JAK3 and absence of hypermethylation of
      EYA4, GAT6, and SOX1 were associated with low-grade non-invasive disease. On the
      other hand, in high-grade invasive disease hypermethylation of CSPG2, HOXA11,
      HOXA9, HS3ST2, SOX1, and TWIST1 was associated with muscle invasiveness. A panel
      of hypermethylated genes including APC, CSPG2, EPHA5, EYA4, HOXA9, IPF1, ISL1,
      JAK3, PITX2, SOX1, and TWIST1 predicted cancer-specific survival and SOX1 (HR =
      3.46), PITX2 (HR = 4.17), CSPG2 (HR = 5.35), and JAK3 hypermethylation (HR =
      0.19) did so independently. Silencing of genes by hypermethylation is a common
      event in bladder cancer and could be used to develop diagnostic and prognostic
      markers. Combined hypermethylation of SOX1, PITX2, or CSPG2 signals patients at
      higher risk of death from bladder cancer.

PMID- 28586119
TI  - DMclust, a Density-based Modularity Method for Accurate OTU Picking of 16S rRNA
      Sequences.
AB  - Clustering 16S rRNA sequences into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) is a
      crucial step in analyzing metagenomic data. Although many methods have been
      developed, how to obtain an appropriate balance between clustering accuracy and
      computational efficiency is still a major challenge. A novel density-based
      modularity clustering method, called DMclust, is proposed in this paper to bin
      16S rRNA sequences into OTUs with high clustering accuracy. The DMclust algorithm
      consists of four main phases. It first searches for the sequence dense group
      defined as n-sequence community, in which the distance between any two sequences
      is less than a threshold. Then these dense groups are used to construct a
      weighted network, where dense groups are viewed as nodes, each pair of dense
      groups is connected by an edge, and the distance of pairwise groups represents
      the weight of the edge. Then, a modularity-based community detection method is
      employed to generate the preclusters. Finally, the remaining sequences are
      assigned to their nearest preclusters to form OTUs. Compared with existing widely
      used methods, the experimental results on several metagenomic datasets show that
      DMclust has higher accurate clustering performance with acceptable memory usage.

PMID- 28586121
TI  - Chronic myeloid leukemia: Global impact from a local laboratory.

PMID- 28586122
TI  - The Geriatrics 5M's: A New Way of Communicating What We Do.

PMID- 28586120
TI  - Chaperone-Polymer-Assisted, Photodriven DNA Strand Displacement.
AB  - Photodriven DNA strand displacement by using a 2',6'-dimethylazobenzene-tethered
      strand and poly(l-lysine)-graft-dextran (PLL-g-Dex) as a chaperone is reported.
      Rapid strand displacement was reversibly induced by UV and visible-light
      irradiation without any toehold portion. To further improve the method, the
      concentration of PLL-g-Dex and the number of equivalents of the photoresponsive
      strand were optimised. Optimally, 64 % strand displacement was reversibly induced
      by alternating UV and visible-light irradiation.

PMID- 28586123
TI  - Boosting the Supercapacitance of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon by Tuning Surface
      Functionalities.
AB  - The specific capacitance of a highly porous, nitrogen-doped carbon is nearly
      tripled by orthogonal optimization of the microstructure and surface chemistry.
      First, the carbons' hierarchical pore structure and specific surface area were
      tweaked by controlling the temperature and sequence of the thermal treatments.
      The best process (pyrolysis at 900  degrees C, washing, and subsequent annealing
      at 1000  degrees C) yielded a carbon with a specific capacitance of 117 F g-1 
      nearly double that of a carbon made by a typical single-step synthesis at 700 
      degrees C. Following the structural optimization, the surface chemistry of the
      carbons was enriched by applying an oxidation routine based on a mixture of
      nitric and sulfuric acid in a 1:4 ratio at two different treatment temperatures
      (0 and 20  degrees C) and different treatment times. The optimal treatment times
      were 4 h at 0  degrees C and only 1 h at 20  degrees C. Overall, the specific
      capacitance nearly tripled relative to the original carbon, reaching 168 F g-1 .
      The inherent nitrogen doping of the carbon comes into interplay with the acid
      induced surface functionalization, creating a mixture of oxygen- and nitrogen
      oxygen functionalities. The evolution of the surface chemistry was carefully
      followed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by N2 sorption porosimetry,
      revealing stepwise surface functionalization and simultaneous carbon etching.
      Overall, these processes are responsible for the peak-shaped capacitance trends
      in the carbons.

PMID- 28586125
TI  - Sperm motility initiating substance may be insufficient to induce forward
      motility of Cynops ensicauda sperm.
AB  - Sperm motility-initiating substance (SMIS) is a key protein for internal
      fertilization of the newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, and commonly enhances forward
      sperm motility in some amphibian species, including external fertilizers. SMIS
      action varies among different species in correlation with a species-specific
      reproductive environment. In the present study, we identified the gene of C.
      ensicauda SMIS (CeSMIS) and examined the mechanism of SMIS action with reference
      to that of the closely related Cynops species. The CeSMIS was identified by a 176
      amino acid sequence including seven amino acids critical for the initiation of
      sperm motility. The amino acid sequence showed 91% homology to the whole sequence
      of C. pyrrhogaster SMIS (CpSMIS). By immunostaining with an anti-CpSMIS antibody,
      CeSMIS was shown to be localized in the outer layer of the egg jelly. A peptide
      presenting the active site of SMIS was observed to bind to the axial rod of the
      midpiece in C. ensicauda sperm. The localization and binding patterns of CeSMIS
      were fundamentally similar to those of CpSMIS. However, the SMIS peptide did not
      induce forward motility of C. ensicauda sperm, although it induced a fast wave of
      the undulating membrane. Forward sperm motility was induced in the egg jelly
      extract containing CeSMIS. These results suggest that the mechanism of initiation
      of sperm motility is differentiated between C. ensicauda and C. pyrrhogaster.

PMID- 28586124
TI  - Small heterodimer partner deletion prevents hepatic steatosis and when combined
      with farnesoid X receptor loss protects against type 2 diabetes in mice.
AB  - : Nuclear receptors farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and small heterodimer partner
      (SHP) are important regulators of bile acid, lipid, and glucose homeostasis.
      Here, we show that global Fxr -/- Shp-/- double knockout (DKO) mice are
      refractory to weight gain, glucose intolerance, and hepatic steatosis when
      challenged with high-fat diet. DKO mice display an inherently increased capacity
      to burn fat and suppress de novo hepatic lipid synthesis. Moreover, DKO mice were
      also very active and that correlated well with the observed increase in
      phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase expression, type IA fibers, and mitochondrial
      function in skeletal muscle. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that liver-specific
      Shp deletion protects against fatty liver development by suppressing expression
      of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 and lipid-droplet protein
      fat-specific protein 27 beta. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that Fxr and Shp
      inactivation may be beneficial to combat diet-induced obesity and uncover that
      hepatic SHP is necessary to promote fatty liver disease. (Hepatology 2017;66:1854
      1865).

PMID- 28586126
TI  - Significance of oliguria in critically ill patients with chronic liver disease.
AB  - : Clinical guidelines recommend using Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes
      (KDIGO) criteria for the diagnosis and classification of acute kidney injury
      (AKI) in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). Concerns have been raised
      about the use of urine output (UO) criteria in CLD. We examined the significance
      of oliguria meeting the urine output criteria for AKI (AKI-UO) and examined its
      association with clinical outcomes in CLD patients. Using an 8-year clinical
      database from a large university medical center, 3458 patients with CLD were
      identified. AKI occurred in 2854 (82.5%) patients when they fulfilled any KDIGO
      criteria. When serum creatinine (SC) and UO criteria were used, 604 patients
      (17.5%) had no evidence of AKI and had the lowest hospital mortality rate (5%).
      Using AKI-UO criteria alone, 2103 patients (60.8%) were classified as stage 2-3
      AKI. When only SC criteria were applied, 1281 (61%) of those patients with stage
      2-3 AKI-UO were misclassified as either no AKI or AKI stage 1. Patients
      reclassified with AKI according to UO criteria (AKI-UO) had nearly a 3-fold
      increased rate of hospital mortality compared with patients without any AKI
      (14.6% versus 5%; P < 0.001) and more than a 50% increased mortality compared
      with stage 1 AKI-SC (14.6% versus 9%; P < 0.001). Patients with transient
      oliguria (AKI-UO stage 1) had increased mortality rates compared with patients
      without oliguria (14.9% versus 6.9%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: CLD patients have a
      high incidence of AKI. Compared with creatinine criteria alone, incorporating UO
      into the diagnostic criteria increased the measured incidence of AKI. Stage 2-3
      AKI-UO has a high negative impact on hospital mortality. (Hepatology 2017;66:1592
      1600).

PMID- 28586127
TI  - Cervical stitch (cerclage) for preventing preterm birth in singleton pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical cerclage is a well-known surgical procedure carried out
      during pregnancy. It involves positioning of a suture (stitch) around the neck of
      the womb (cervix), aiming to give mechanical support to the cervix and thereby
      reduce risk of preterm birth. The effectiveness and safety of this procedure
      remains controversial. This is an update of a review last published in 2012.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess whether the use of cervical stitch in singleton pregnancy
      at high risk of pregnancy loss based on woman's history and/or ultrasound finding
      of 'short cervix' and/or physical exam improves subsequent obstetric care and
      fetal outcome. SEARCH METHODS: We searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's
      Trials Register (30 June 2016) and reference lists of identified studies.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomised trials of cervical suturing in
      singleton pregnancies. Cervical stitch was carried out when the pregnancy was
      considered to be of sufficiently high risk due to a woman's history, a finding of
      short cervix on ultrasound or other indication determined by physical exam. We
      included any study that compared cerclage with either no treatment or any
      alternative intervention. We planned to include cluster-randomised studies but
      not cross-over trials. We excluded quasi-randomised studies. We included studies
      reported in abstract form only. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Three review
      authors independently assessed trials for inclusion. Two review authors
      independently assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We resolved discrepancies
      by discussion. Data were checked for accuracy. The quality of the evidence was
      assessed using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS: This updated review includes a
      total of 15 trials (3490 women); three trials were added for this update (152
      women). Cerclage versus no cerclageOverall, cerclage probably leads to a reduced
      risk of perinatal death when compared with no cerclage, although the confidence
      interval (CI) crosses the line of no effect (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.04; 10
      studies, 2927 women; moderate quality evidence). Considering stillbirths and
      neonatal deaths separately reduced the numbers of events and sample size.
      Although the relative effect of cerclage is similar, estimates were less reliable
      with fewer data and assessed as of low quality (stillbirths RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.45
      to 1.75; 5 studies, 1803 women; low quality evidence; neonatal deaths before
      discharge RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.39; 6 studies, 1714 women; low quality
      evidence). Serious neonatal morbidity was similar with and without cerclage (RR
      0.80, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.18; 6 studies, 883 women; low-quality evidence). Pregnant
      women with and without cerclage were equally likely to have a baby discharged
      home healthy (RR 1.02, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.06; 4 studies, 657 women; moderate
      quality evidence).Pregnant women with cerclage were less likely to have preterm
      births compared to controls before 37, 34 (average RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.89;
      9 studies, 2415 women; high quality evidence) and 28 completed weeks of
      gestation.Five subgroups based on clinical indication provided data for analysis
      (history-indicated; short cervix based on one-off ultrasound in high risk women;
      short cervix found by serial scans in high risk women; physical exam-indicated;
      and short cervix found on scan in low risk or mixed populations). There were too
      few trials in these clinical subgroups to make meaningful conclusions and no
      evidence of differential effects. Cerclage versus progesteroneTwo trials (129
      women) compared cerclage to prevention with vaginal progesterone in high risk
      women with short cervix on ultrasound; these trials were too small to detect
      reliable, clinically important differences for any review outcome. One included
      trial compared cerclage with intramuscular progesterone (75 women) which lacked
      power to detect group differences. History indicated cerclage versus ultrasound
      indicated cerclageEvidence from two trials (344 women) was too limited to
      establish differences for clinically important outcomes. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Cervical cerclage reduces the risk of preterm birth in women at high-risk of
      preterm birth and probably reduces risk of perinatal deaths. There was no
      evidence of any differential effect of cerclage based on previous obstetric
      history or short cervix indications, but data were limited for all clinical
      groups. The question of whether cerclage is more or less effective than other
      preventative treatments, particularly vaginal progesterone, remains unanswered.

PMID- 28586128
TI  - Capturing Elusive Cobaltacycle Intermediates: A Real-Time Snapshot of the
      Cp*CoIII -Catalyzed Oxidative Alkyne Annulation.
AB  - Despite Cp*CoIII catalysts having emerged as a very attractive alternative to
      noble transition metals for the construction of heterocyclic scaffolds through C
      H activation, the structure of the reactive species remains uncertain. Herein, we
      report the identification and unambiguous characterization of two long-sought
      cyclometalated Cp*CoIII complexes that have been proposed as key intermediates in
      C-H functionalization reactions. The addition of MeCN as a stabilizing ligand
      plays a crucial role, allowing the access to otherwise highly reactive species.
      Mechanistic investigations demonstrate the intermediacy of these species in
      oxidative annulations with alkynes, including the direct observation, under
      catalytic conditions, of a previously elusive post-migratory insertion seven
      membered cobaltacycle.

PMID- 28586129
TI  - Psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the Illness Perception
      Questionnaire-Revised for women with stress urinary incontinence.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the
      Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) in patients with stress urinary
      incontinence (SUI). METHODS: A total of 256 patients with SUI and 76 patients
      with myoma of the uterus were recruited to complete the Chinese IPQ-R. For the
      reliability, the key tests included Cronbach's alpha coefficient and intraclass
      correlation coefficients. For the validity, the key tests included factor
      analysis, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and the Student's t-test. RESULTS:
      Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.68 to 0.90 for each subscale and the
      intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.80 to 0.94. The results of the
      confirmatory factor analysis showed that the seven-factor structure as proposed
      by the original IPQ-R fit the data poorly. Although removal of three items
      improved the model's fit, the goodness-of-fit statistics were still below
      acceptable standards. We identified an acceptable seven-factor solution from the
      38 items on Illness Beliefs using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which
      accounted for 68.12% of the variance. For the concurrent validity, Consequences
      and Emotional Representation both had good correlations with anxiety and
      depression (r = 0.52-0.62) and better quality of life (r = 0.58-0.73). The inter
      correlation coefficient of the seven factors ranged from 0.05 to 0.59, suggesting
      acceptable discriminant validity. There were significant differences on the scale
      scores of Disease Identity (t = 9.39, P < 0.01), Timeline-Acute/Chronic (t =
      3.69, P < 0.01), Consequences (t = 4.53, P < 0.01), Illness Coherence (t = 7.73,
      P < 0.01), Timeline-Cyclical (t = 6.48, P < 0.01), Emotional Representation (t =
      6.40, P < 0.01), and Cause (t = 4.29, P < 0.01) between the patients with SUI and
      with myoma of the uterus, which also indicated acceptable discriminant validity.
      CONCLUSION: The findings of this study supported the Chinese IPQ-R as being a
      reliable and valid tool for measuring illness perception among patients with SUI.

PMID- 28586130
TI  - Daily Changes in Composition and Diversity of the Intestinal Microbiota in
      Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: A Series of Three Cases.
AB  - Anorexia nervosa, a severe psychiatric illness, is associated with an intestinal
      microbial dysbiosis. Individual microbial signatures dominate in healthy samples,
      even over time and under controlled conditions, but whether microbial markers of
      the disorder overcome inter-individual variation during the acute stage of
      illness or renourishment is unknown. We characterized daily changes in the
      intestinal microbiota in three acutely ill patients with anorexia nervosa over
      the entire course of hospital-based renourishment and found significant, patient
      specific changes in microbial composition and diversity. This preliminary case
      series suggests that even in a state of pathology, individual microbial
      signatures persist in accounting for the majority of intestinal microbial
      variation. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders
      Association.

PMID- 28586132
TI  - Strongly Luminescent Cyclometalated Gold(III) Complexes Supported by Bidentate
      Ligands Displaying Intermolecular Interactions and Tunable Emission Energy.
AB  - A series of charge-neutral AuIII complexes, which comprise a dicarbanionic C
      deprotonated biphenyl ligand and bidentate ancillary ligands ([Au(C^C)(L^X)];
      L^X=beta-diketonate and relatives (O^O), quinolinolate and relatives (N^O), and
      diphosphino (P^P) ligands), were prepared. All the complexes are emissive in
      degassed CH2 Cl2 solutions and in thin-film samples with Phiem up to 18 and 35 %,
      respectively, except for 5 and 6, which bear (N^O)-type ancillary ligands.
      Variation of the electronic characteristics of the beta-diketonate ancillary
      ligand was demonstrated to be a viable route for tuning the emission color from
      blue-green (peak lambdaem at ca. 466 nm for 1 and 2; 501 nm for 4 a and 4 b) to
      orange (peak lambdaem at 585 nm for 3), in contrast to the common observations
      that the ancillary ligand has a negligible effect on the excited-state energy of
      the AuIII complexes reported in the literature. DFT/time-dependent (TD) DFT
      calculations revealed that the energies of the 3 pipi*(C^C) and the 3 ILCT(O^O)
      excited states (ILCT=intraligand charge transfer) switch in order on going from
      O^O=acetylacetonate (acac) to aryl-substituted beta-diketonate ligands. Solution
      processed and vacuum-deposited organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices of
      selected complexes were prepared. The vacuum-deposited OLED fabricated with 2
      displays a sky-blue emission with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of
      6.71 % and CIE coordinates of (0.22, 0.40). The crystal structures of 7 and 9
      reveal short intermolecular AuIII ???AuIII contacts, with intermetal distances of
      3.408 and 3.453 A, respectively. DFT/TDDFT calculations were performed on 7 and 9
      to account for the noncovalent interactions. Solid samples of 1, 3, and 9 exhibit
      excimeric emission at room temperature, which is rarely reported in AuIII
      complexes.

PMID- 28586133
TI  - Noncovalent Immobilization of Molecular Electrocatalysts for Chemical Synthesis:
      Efficient Electrochemical Alcohol Oxidation with a Pyrene-TEMPO Conjugate.
AB  - Electrocatalytic methods for organic synthesis could offer sustainable
      alternatives to traditional redox reactions, but strategies are needed to enhance
      the performance of molecular catalysts designed for this purpose. The synthesis
      of a pyrene-tethered TEMPO derivative (TEMPO=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-N
      oxyl) is described, which undergoes facile in situ noncovalent immobilization
      onto a carbon cloth electrode. Cyclic voltammetry and controlled potential
      electrolysis studies demonstrate that the immobilized catalyst exhibits much
      higher activity relative to 4-acetamido-TEMPO, an electronically similar
      homogeneous catalyst. In preparative electrolysis experiments with a series of
      alcohol substrates and the immobilized catalyst, turnover numbers and frequencies
      approach 2 000 and 4 000 h-1 , respectively. The synthetic utility of the method
      is further demonstrated in the oxidation of a sterically hindered
      hydroxymethylpyrimidine precursor to the blockbuster drug, rosuvastatin.

PMID- 28586131
TI  - Mechanisms underlying vestibulo-cerebellar motor learning in mice depend on
      movement direction.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Directionality, inherent to movements, has behavioural and neuronal
      correlates. Direction of vestibular stimulation determines motor learning
      efficiency. Vestibulo-ocular reflex gain-increase correlates with Purkinje cell
      simple spike potentiation. The locus of neural correlates for vestibulo-ocular
      reflex adaptation is paradigm specific. ABSTRACT: Compensatory eye movements
      elicited by head rotation, also known as vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), can be
      adapted with the use of visual feedback. The cerebellum is essential for this
      type of movement adaptation, although its neuronal correlates remain to be
      clarified. In the present study, we show that the direction of vestibular input
      determines the magnitude of eye movement adaptation induced by mismatched visual
      input in mice, with larger changes during contraversive head rotation. Moreover,
      the location of the neural correlate of this changed behaviour depends on the
      type of paradigm. Gain-increase paradigms induce increased simple spike (SS)
      activity in ipsilateral cerebellar Purkinje cells (PC), which is in line with eye
      movements triggered by optogenetic PC activation. By contrast, gain-decrease
      paradigms do not induce changes in SS activity, indicating that the murine
      vestibulo-cerebellar cortical circuitry is optimally designed to enhance
      ipsiversive eye movements.

PMID- 28586134
TI  - Associations between psychological stress and smoking, drinking, obesity, and
      high blood pressure in an upper middle-income country in the African region.
AB  - The direction and magnitude of the associations between cardiovascular risk
      factors (CVRFs) and psychological stress continue to be debated, and no data are
      available from surveys in the African region. In this study, we examine the
      associations between CVRFs and psychological stress in the Seychelles, a rapidly
      developing small island state in the African region. A survey was conducted in
      1,240 adults aged 25-64 years representative of the Seychelles. Participants were
      asked to rank psychological stress that they had experienced during the past 12
      months in four domains: work, social life, financial situation, and environment
      around home. CVRFs (high blood pressure, tobacco use, alcohol drinking, and
      obesity) were assessed using standard procedures. Psychological stress was
      associated with age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Overall, there were only few
      consistent associations between psychological stress and CVRFs, adjusting for
      age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Social stress was associated with smoking,
      drinking, and obesity, and there were marginal associations between stress at
      work and drinking, and between financial stress, and smoking and drinking.
      Psychological stress was not associated with high blood pressure. These findings
      suggest that psychological stress should be considered in cardiovascular disease
      prevention and control strategies.

PMID- 28586135
TI  - Changes in temperature sensitivity of spring phenology with recent climate
      warming in Switzerland are related to shifts of the preseason.
AB  - The spring phenology of plants in temperate regions strongly responds to spring
      temperatures. Climate warming has caused substantial phenological advances in the
      past, but trends to be expected in the future are uncertain. A simple indicator
      is temperature sensitivity, the phenological advance statistically associated
      with a 1 degrees C warmer mean temperature during the "preseason", defined as the
      most temperature-sensitive period preceding the phenological event. Recent
      analyses of phenological records have shown a decline in temperature sensitivity
      of leaf unfolding, but underlying mechanisms were not clear. Here, we propose
      that climate warming can reduce temperature sensitivity simply by reducing the
      length of the preseason due to faster bud development during this time period,
      unless the entire preseason shifts forward so that its temperature does not
      change. We derive these predictions theoretically from the widely used "thermal
      time model" for bud development and test them using data for 19 phenological
      events recorded in 1970-2012 at 108 stations spanning a 1600 m altitudinal range
      in Switzerland. We consider how temperature sensitivity, preseason start,
      preseason length and preseason temperature change (i) with altitude, (ii) between
      the periods 1970-1987 and 1995-2012, which differed mainly in spring
      temperatures, and (iii) between two non-consecutive sets of 18 years that
      differed mainly in winter temperatures. On average, temperature sensitivity
      increased with altitude (colder climate) and was reduced in years with warmer
      springs, but not in years with warmer winters. These trends also varied among
      species. Decreasing temperature sensitivity in warmer springs was associated with
      a limited forward shift of preseason start, higher temperatures during the
      preseason and reduced preseason length, but not with reduced winter chilling. Our
      results imply that declining temperature sensitivity can result directly from
      spring warming and does not necessarily indicate altered physiological responses
      or stronger constraints such as reduced winter chilling.

PMID- 28586136
TI  - Benchmarking Geant4 hadronic models for prompt-gamma monitoring in carbon ion
      therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The real-time monitoring of the spread-out Bragg peak would allow the
      planned dose delivered during treatment to be directly verified, but this poses a
      major challenge in modern ion beam therapy. A possible method to achieve this
      goal is to exploit the production of secondary particles by the nuclear reactions
      of the beam with the patient and correlate their emission profile to the planned
      target volume position. In this study, we present both the production rate and
      energy spectra of the prompt-gamma produced by the interactions of the 12 C ion
      beam with a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) target. We also assess three different
      Monte Carlo models for prompt-gamma simulation based on our experimental data.
      METHODS: The experiment was carried out at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion
      Research, Darmstadt, Germany with a 220 MeV/u 12 C ions beam impinging on a 5* 5*
      20 cm3 polymethyl methacrylate beam stopping target, with the prompt-gamma being
      detected by a hexagonally-shaped barium fluoride scintillator with a
      circumscribed radius of 5.4 cm and a length of 14 cm, placed at 60 degrees  and
      90 degrees  with respect to the beam direction. Monte Carlo simulations were
      carried out with three different hadronic models from the Geant4 code: binary ion
      cascade (BIC), quantum molecular dynamics (QMD), and Liege intranuclear cascade
      (INCL++ ). RESULTS: An experimental prompt-gamma yield of 1.06 * 10-2  sr-1 was
      measured at 90 degrees . A good agreement was observed between the shapes of the
      experimental and simulated energy spectra, especially with the INCL++ physics
      list. The prompt-gamma yield obtained with this physics list was compatible with
      the measurement within 2sigma, with a relative difference of 26% on average. BIC
      and QMD physics lists proved to be less accurate than INCL++ , with the
      difference between the measured and simulated yields exceeding 100%. The
      differences between the three physics lists were ascribed to important
      discrepancies between the models of the physical processes producing prompt-gamma
      emissions. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study provides prompt-gamma yield
      values in agreement with previously published results for different carbon ions
      energies. This work demonstrates that the INCL++ physics list from Geant4 is more
      accurate than BIC and QMD to reproduce prompt-gamma emission properties.

PMID- 28586137
TI  - Adaptive root foraging strategies along a boreal-temperate forest gradient.
AB  - The tree root-mycorhizosphere plays a key role in resource uptake, but also in
      the adaptation of forests to changing environments. The adaptive foraging
      mechanisms of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and fine roots of Picea abies, Pinus
      sylvestris and Betula pendula were evaluated along a gradient from temperate to
      subarctic boreal forest (38 sites between latitudes 48 degrees N and 69 degrees
      N) in Europe. Variables describing tree resource uptake structures and processes
      (absorptive fine root biomass and morphology, nitrogen (N) concentration in
      absorptive roots, extramatrical mycelium (EMM) biomass, community structure of
      root-associated EcM fungi, soil and rhizosphere bacteria) were used to analyse
      relationships between root system functional traits and climate, soil and stand
      characteristics. Absorptive fine root biomass per stand basal area increased
      significantly from temperate to boreal forests, coinciding with longer and
      thinner root tips with higher tissue density, smaller EMM biomass per root length
      and a shift in soil microbial community structure. The soil carbon (C) : N ratio
      was found to explain most of the variability in absorptive fine root and EMM
      biomass, root tissue density, N concentration and rhizosphere bacterial community
      structure. We suggest a concept of absorptive fine root foraging strategies
      involving both qualitative and quantitative changes in the root-mycorrhiza
      bacteria continuum along climate and soil C : N gradients.

PMID- 28586138
TI  - Postoperative radiotherapy dose requirement in standard combined-modality
      practice for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Analysis of salient surgical
      and radiotherapy parameters in 2 cohorts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study compared 2 sequential cohorts to identify the
      postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) dose requirement for head and neck squamous
      cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS: Two distinct PORT dose regimens were prescribed
      over 11 years; group 1 received 56 Gy or less, and group 2 received 60 Gy or
      more. The 2D and 3D techniques were used. RESULTS: Two sequential cohorts
      consisted of 478 patients, with mean and median follow-up for group 1 and 2 as:
      37.0 versus 28.5 months and 13.8 versus 13.1 months, respectively. Grades 3-4
      mucosal toxicities (11.4% vs 28.3%), hospitalization (3.2% vs 17.4%), and
      nasogastric feeding (11.9% vs 29.7%) were higher in group 2. The 2-year disease
      free survival (DFS) was higher with PORT >60 Gy for the following factors: age <=
      50 years (P = .041); >= 4 positive nodes (P = .029); and overall treatment time
      (OTT) >= 100 days (P = .042). CONCLUSION: Except for the benefit of doses >60 Gy
      for limited parameters, a lower PORT dose did not compromise the results and can
      potentially reduce the morbidities and healthcare costs.

PMID- 28586139
TI  - Silicon Photoanodes Partially Covered by Ni@Ni(OH)2 Core-Shell Particles for
      Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation.
AB  - Two obstacles hindering solar energy conversion by photoelectrochemical (PEC)
      water-splitting devices are the charge separation and the transport efficiency at
      the photoanode-electrolyte interface region. Herein, core-shell-structured
      Ni@Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles were electrodeposited on the surface of an n-type Si
      photoanode. The Schottky barrier between Ni and Si is sensitive to the thickness
      of the Ni(OH)2 shell. The photovoltage output of the photoanode increases with
      increasing thickness of the Ni(OH)2 shell, and is influenced by interactions
      between Ni and Ni(OH)2 , the electrolyte screening effect, and the p-type nature
      of the Ni(OH)2 layer. Ni@Ni(OH)2 core-shell nanoparticles with appropriate shell
      thicknesses coupled to n-type Si photoanodes promote the separation of
      photogenerated carriers and improve the charge-injection efficiency to nearly 100
      %. An onset potential of 1.03 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a
      saturated current density of 36.4 mA cm-2 was obtained for the assembly.

PMID- 28586140
TI  - Automated Quantum Mechanical Predictions of Enantioselectivity in a Rhodium
      Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation.
AB  - A computational toolkit (AARON: An automated reaction optimizer for new
      catalysts) is described that automates the density functional theory (DFT) based
      screening of chiral ligands for transition-metal-catalyzed reactions with well
      defined reaction mechanisms but multiple stereocontrolling transition states.
      This is demonstrated for the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of (E)-beta
      aryl-N-acetyl enamides, for which a new C2 -symmetric phosphorus ligand is
      designed.

PMID- 28586141
TI  - Connectivity Predicts deep brain stimulation outcome in Parkinson disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The benefit of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson disease (PD)
      may depend on connectivity between the stimulation site and other brain regions,
      but which regions and whether connectivity can predict outcome in patients remain
      unknown. Here, we identify the structural and functional connectivity profile of
      effective DBS to the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and test its ability to predict
      outcome in an independent cohort. METHODS: A training dataset of 51 PD patients
      with STN DBS was combined with publicly available human connectome data
      (diffusion tractography and resting state functional connectivity) to identify
      connections reliably associated with clinical improvement (motor score of the
      Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale [UPDRS]). This connectivity profile was
      then used to predict outcome in an independent cohort of 44 patients from a
      different center. RESULTS: In the training dataset, connectivity between the DBS
      electrode and a distributed network of brain regions correlated with clinical
      response including structural connectivity to supplementary motor area and
      functional anticorrelation to primary motor cortex (p < 0.001). This same
      connectivity profile predicted response in an independent patient cohort (p <
      0.01). Structural and functional connectivity were independent predictors of
      clinical improvement (p < 0.001) and estimated response in individual patients
      with an average error of 15% UPDRS improvement. Results were similar using
      connectome data from normal subjects or a connectome age, sex, and disease
      matched to our DBS patients. INTERPRETATION: Effective STN DBS for PD is
      associated with a specific connectivity profile that can predict clinical outcome
      across independent cohorts. This prediction does not require specialized imaging
      in PD patients themselves. Ann Neurol 2017;82:67-78.

PMID- 28586142
TI  - Experimental hybridization and reproductive isolation between two sympatric
      species of tephritid fruit flies in the Anastrepha fraterculus species group.
AB  - Among tephritid fruit flies, hybridization has been found to produce local
      adaptation and speciation, and in the case of pest species, induce behavioral and
      ecological alterations that can adversely impact efficient pest management. The
      fraterculus species group within Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a rapidly
      radiating aggregate, which includes cryptic species complexes, numerous sister
      species, and several pest species. Molecular studies have highlighted the
      possibility of introgression between A. fraterculus and A. obliqua. Reproductive
      isolation has been studied among morphotypes of the A. fraterculus species
      complex as a tool for species delimitation. Here we examined the existence and
      strength of prezygotic and postzygotic isolation between sympatric populations of
      two closely related species within the highly derived fraterculus group (A.
      fraterculus and A. obliqua), coexisting in nature. Although adults of both
      species showed a strong tendency for assortative mating, a small proportion of
      hybrid pairings in both directions were observed. We also observed asymmetric
      postzygotic isolation, with one hybrid cross displaying a strong reduction in
      fecundity and F1 egg fertility. Survival was greater for the progeny of homotypic
      and hybrid crosses in the maternal host. There was a marked female biased sex
      ratio distortion for both F1 hybrid adults. Hybridization between A. fraterculus
      and A. obliqua in nature may be difficult but possible; these two species display
      stronger reproductive isolation than all pairs of species previously examined in
      the A. fraterculus species complex. Asymmetric postzygotic isolation is
      suggestive of Wolbachia mediated cytoplasmic incompatibilities that may be
      exploited in area-wide pest management.

PMID- 28586144
TI  - Co-occurrence of Jalili syndrome and muscular overgrowth.
AB  - Jalili syndrome is a rare disorder inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern
      manifesting as a combination of cone-rod dystrophy including progressive loss of
      visual acuity, color blindness, photophobia, and amelogenesis imperfecta with
      hypoplastic, immature, or hypocalcified dental enamel. It is caused by mutations
      in CNNM4, which encodes the ancient conserved domain protein 4. Here we report
      three brothers with Jalili syndrome and muscle overgrowth of the legs. Myopathic
      changes were found in needle electromyography. Mutational analysis showed in all
      three brothers a novel likely pathogenic homozygous missense substitution in exon
      1 (c.1076T>C, p.(Leu359Pro)) of CNNM4. Both parents were carriers for the
      variant. In order to exclude other causative variants that could modify the
      patients' phenotype we performed exome sequencing and MLPA analysis of the DMD
      gene in Patient 1. These analyses did not identify any additional variants. Our
      results expand the mutational spectrum associated with Jalili syndrome and
      suggest that mild myopathy with muscle overgrowth of the legs could be a newly
      identified manifestation of the disorder.

PMID- 28586143
TI  - Current status of non-invasive prenatal testing in Japan.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to report the 3-year experience of a
      nationwide demonstration project to introduce non-invasive prenatal testing
      (NIPT) of maternal plasma for aneuploidy, and review the current status of NIPT
      in Japan. METHODS: Tests were conducted to detect aneuploidy in high-risk
      pregnant women, and adequate genetic counseling was provided. The clinical data,
      test results, and pregnancy outcomes were recorded. We discuss the problems of
      NIPT on the basis of published reports and meta-analyses. RESULTS: From April
      2013 to March 2016, 30 613 tests were conducted at 55 medical sites participating
      in a multicenter clinical study. Among the 30 613 women tested, 554 were positive
      (1.81%) and 30 021 were negative (98.1%) for aneuploidy. Of the 289, 128, and 44
      women who tested positive for trisomies 21, 18, and 13, respectively, and
      underwent definitive testing, 279 (96.5%), 106 (82.8%), and 28 (63.6%) were
      determined to have a true-positive result. For the 13 481 women with negative
      result and whose progress could be traced, two had a false-negative result
      (0.02%). The tests were performed on the condition that a standard level of
      genetic counseling be provided at hospitals. CONCLUSION: Here, we report on the 3
      year nationwide experience with NIPT in Japan. It is important to establish a
      genetic counseling system to enable women to make informed decisions regarding
      prenatal testing. Moreover, a welfare system is warranted to support women who
      decide to give birth to and raise children with chromosomal diseases.

PMID- 28586145
TI  - CT colonography practice at a university teaching hospital: improving standards.

PMID- 28586146
TI  - Locating the Level and Extent of Congenital High Airway Obstruction: Fluid in the
      Airway Tract as Reference Points.
AB  - Described here are a series of four cases of congenital high airway obstruction
      in the fetus. All of the patients presented in the second trimester and all had
      hydrops fetalis. Three cases had bilateral hyperinflated lungs, midline shift of
      heart, flattening or inversion of the diaphragm, and fetal ascites. Autopsy was
      performed in one of these three and showed laryngeal atresia. In one fetus, there
      was only a unilateral huge enlargement of the lung with mediastinal shift. On
      autopsy, this fetus had atresia of right main bronchus. All parents had
      terminated the pregnancy following the prenatal diagnosis. Laryngeal atresia is
      an extremely rare fetal anomaly with dismal prognosis. It is important to
      differentiate the condition from other lesions with a more favorable prognosis,
      such as congenital adenomatoid malformation of the lung. Much research is needed
      in the future to explore the therapeutic options, including fetoscopic
      intervention or transplantation of stem cell-derived airways.

PMID- 28586147
TI  - Epileptic networks in action: Synchrony between distant hemodynamic responses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Structural and functional imaging studies in focal epilepsy often
      reveal distributed regions of abnormality. These are interpreted as representing
      the existence of epileptic networks, but the presence of actual neuronal
      interactions between these regions has not been demonstrated. We sought to
      determine whether the distributed hemodynamic responses often seen in functional
      magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of scalp interictal epileptic
      discharges (IEDs) actually correspond to synchronized neuronal activities when
      examining the intracerebral electroencephalogram (iEEG) at distant nodes of the
      network. METHODS: We studied 28 patients who underwent first EEG-fMRI and then
      iEEG, and had significant hemodynamic responses in the gray matter. We
      coregistered the hemodynamic responses to the iEEG electrode contact positions
      and analyzed synchrony, measured by correlation, between IEDs recorded by iEEG in
      regions with and without hemodynamic responses. RESULTS: The synchrony of
      intracerebral IED activity between pairs of regions showing a hemodynamic
      response was higher compared to that between pairs of regions without (p <
      0.0001) and between pairs of regions, one with and one without hemodynamic
      response (p < 0.0001). These differences were found during the interictal periods
      with IEDs but were absent during the interictal periods without IEDs. Higher
      synchrony was also observed between regions involved at seizure onset (p <
      0.0001). INTERPRETATION: EEG-fMRI studies are unique in their ability to reveal
      hemodynamic concomitants of IEDs anywhere in the brain. This study proves that
      iEEG activity is synchronized between these regions of hemodynamic response, thus
      demonstrating the existence of an actual neuronally based interictal epileptic
      network. This also validates the EEG-fMRI approach to reveal this network
      noninvasively. Ann Neurol 2017;82:57-66.

PMID- 28586148
TI  - Use of the optical disector in canine mammary simple and complex carcinomas.
AB  - Grading of canine mammary carcinomas (CMC) is associated to subjective
      assessments made by the pathologists. Due to its unbiased nature, stereology can
      be used to objectively quantify morphological parameters associated with grading
      and malignancy. However, the use of stereology in CMC has not been fully
      disclosed. The nuclear numerical density [NV (nuclei, tumor)] is a cellularity
      associated parameter that can be estimated by the optical disector. Herein, it
      was estimated in 44 CMC and its association with clinicopathologic factors - such
      as tumor size, histological subtype and grade, vascular/lymph node invasion,
      nuclear pleomorphism, and survival - was evaluated. Considering all the cases,
      the mean NV (nuclei, tumor) was 1.6 * 106 +/- 0.5 * 106 nuclei/mm3 . Lower values
      were attained in complex carcinomas, comparing to simple carcinomas, in tumors
      smaller than 5 cm, with low mitotic activity and in those with high nuclear
      pleomorphism. No statistically significant association with grade or
      vascular/lymph node invasion was observed, but tumors with disease progression
      had lower nuclear densities. The NV (nuclei, tumor) and the correlated parameters
      mirror to some extension those in human breast cancer, suggesting an interesting
      interspecies agreement. This first estimation of the nuclear numerical density in
      CMC highlights the feasibility of the optical disector and their utility for
      objective morphological assessments in CMC. The association between nuclear
      numerical density and disease progression warrants future studies.

PMID- 28586149
TI  - Comparative analysis of von Willebrand factor profiles after implantation of left
      ventricular assist device and total artificial heart.
AB  - : Essentials Bleeding is a major source of morbidity during mechanical
      circulatory support. von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimer loss may contribute to
      bleeding. Different patterns of VWF multimer loss were seen with the two device
      types. This is the first report of total artificial heart associated VWF multimer
      loss. SUMMARY: Background Bleeding remains a challenge during mechanical
      circulatory support and underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood.
      Functional von Willebrand factor (VWF) impairment because of loss of high
      molecular-weight multimers (MWMs) produces acquired von Willebrand disease (VWD)
      after left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Little is known about VWF multimers
      with total artificial hearts (TAHs). Here, VWF profiles with LVADs and TAHs are
      compared using a VWD panel. Methods VWD evaluations for patients with LVAD or TAH
      (2013-14) were retrospectively analyzed and included: VWF activity (ristocetin
      cofactor, VWF:RCo), VWF antigen (VWF:Ag), ratio of VWF:RCo to VWF:Ag, and
      quantitative VWF multimeric analysis. Results Twelve patients with LVADs and 12
      with TAHs underwent VWD evaluation. All had either normal (47.8%) or elevated
      (52.2%) VWF:RCo, normal (26.1%) or elevated (73.9%) VWF:Ag and 50.0% were
      disproportional (ratio <= 0.7). Multimeric analysis showed abnormal patterns in
      all patients with LVADs: seven with high MWM loss; five with highest MWM loss.
      With TAH, 10/12 patients had abnormal patterns: all with highest MWM loss. High
      MWM loss correlated with presence of LVAD and highest MWM loss with TAH.
      Increased low MWMs were detected in 22/24. Conclusion Using VWF multimeric
      analysis, abnormalities after LVAD or TAH were detected that would be missed with
      measurements of VWF level alone: loss of high MWM predominantly in LVAD, loss of
      highest MWM in TAH, and elevated levels of low MWM in both. This is the first
      study to describe TAH-associated highest MWM loss, which may contribute to
      bleeding.

PMID- 28586150
TI  - Analysis of viral infection and biomarkers in patients with acute exacerbation of
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate viral infection in patients with acute exacerbation of
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in Shanghai, and to analyze the
      clinical characteristics and biomarkers in viral infection. METHODS: This study
      included all consecutive patients who were admitted for a diagnosis of AECOPD
      during June 2013 to May 2015. Thirty-one stable COPD patients and 31 healthy
      controls were also recruited. Oropharyngeal samples were assessed, PCR for
      respiratory viruses were performed. Patients were divided into AECOPD virus
      positive (+) group and AECOPD virus-negative (-) group according to viral
      detection. Luminex was used to detect the concentrations of inflammatory
      cytokines in the serum. RESULTS: A total of 264 patients were included with a
      mean age of 75 +/- 0.5 years. There were 72 patients (27.3%) identified with
      viral positive, of whom two patients were detected with double viral infections
      (FluA + FluB and RSVA + HRV, respectively). The rate of viral detection was
      associated with season, highest in winter. Comparisons of clinical
      characteristics showed no significant differences between AECOPD virus+ group and
      AECOPD virus- group. However, serum concentrations of interferon-inducible
      protein-10 (IP-10) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in virus+ AECOPD patients
      were significantly higher than those in the virus- AECOPD, stable COPD and
      healthy control groups (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Viral infection was an important
      pathogen in AECOPD patients; the most common viruses included FluA, HRV and FluB.
      It was very difficult to diagnose the viral infection according to clinical
      characteristics. The increased of serum IP-10 and IFN-gamma levels might be value
      to indicate viral infection in AECOPD.

PMID- 28586151
TI  - A heterozygous microdeletion of 20p12.2-3 encompassing PROKR2 and BMP2 in a
      patient with congenital hypopituitarism and growth hormone deficiency.
AB  - Congenital growth hormone deficiency is a rare disorder with an incidence of
      approximately 1 in 4,000 live births. Pituitary development is under the control
      of a multitude of spatiotemporally regulated signaling molecules and
      transcription factors. Mutations in the genes encoding these molecules can result
      in hypopituitarism but for the majority of children with congenital
      hypopituitarism, the aetiology of their disease remains unknown. The proband is a
      5-year-old girl who presented with neonatal hypoglycaemia and prolonged jaundice.
      No definitive endocrine cause of hypoglycaemia was identified in the neonatal
      period. She was born of normal size at 42 weeks but demonstrated growth failure
      with a progressive reduction in height to -3.2 SD by age 4.5 years and failed a
      growth hormone stimulation test with a peak growth hormone of 4.2 mcg/L. MRI of
      the pituitary gland demonstrated a hypoplastic anterior lobe and ectopic
      posterior lobe. Array CGH demonstrated an inherited 0.2 Mb gain at 1q21.1 and a
      de novo 4.8 Mb heterozygous deletion at 20p12.2-3. The deletion contained 17
      protein coding genes including PROKR2 and BMP2, both of which are expressed
      during embryological development of the pituitary gland. PROKR2 mutations have
      been associated with hypopituitarism but a heterozygous deletion of this gene
      with hypopituitarism is a novel observation. In conclusion, congenital
      hypopituitarism can be present in individuals with a 20p12.3 deletion, observed
      with incomplete penetrance. Array CGH may be a useful investigation in select
      cases of early onset growth hormone deficiency, and patients with deletions
      within this region should be evaluated for pituitary hormone deficiencies.

PMID- 28586152
TI  - Right Upper Quadrant Pain: Ultrasound First!
AB  - Acute right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain is a common presenting symptom in emergency
      departments and outpatient medical practices, and is most commonly attributable
      to biliary and hepatic pathology. Ultrasound should be used as a first-line
      imaging modality for the diagnosis of gallstones and cholecystitis, as it allows
      the differentiation of medical and surgical causes of upper abdominal pathology,
      and in many circumstances is sufficient to guide patient management. Knowledge of
      strengths and limitations of ultrasound in the evaluation of RUQ is paramount in
      correct diagnosis. A spectrum of RUQ pathology for which a RUQ ultrasound
      examination should reasonably be considered as the initial imaging modality of
      choice will be reviewed.

PMID- 28586153
TI  - MiR-19a Affects Hepatocyte Autophagy via Regulating lncRNA NBR2 and
      AMPK/PPARalpha in D-GalN/Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Hepatocytes.
AB  - This study aims to evaluate the potential involvement and regulatory mechanism of
      miR-19a in hepatocytes autophagy of acute liver failure (ALF). The in vitro
      hepatocytes injury model of primary hepatocyte and hepatocytes line HL-7702 was
      established by D-galactosamine (D-GalN) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) co
      treatment. Relative expression level of miR-19a and NBR2 was determined by qRT
      PCR. Protein expression of AMPK/PPARalpha and autophagy-related gene was
      determined by Western blot. In hepatic tissue of 20 ALF patients and D-GalN/LPS
      stimulated hepatocytes, miR-19a was upregulated and NBR2 was downregulated. D
      GalN/LPS stimulation caused the inactivation of AMPK/PPARalpha signaling and the
      decrease of autophagy-related LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and beclin-1 expression in
      hepatocytes. The expression of both AMPK/PPARalpha and NBR2 were negatively
      controlled by miR-19a overexpression or knockdown. Moreover, both NBR2 and
      PPARalpha were targeted regulated by miR-19a according to luciferase reporter
      assay. In D-GalN/LPS-stimulated hepatocytes, AMPK activation promoted PPARalpha
      expression. AMPK inactivation inhibited the pro-autophagy effect of miR-19a and
      caused the decrease of LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and beclin-1 expression. PPARalpha
      activation abrogated the anti-autophagy effect of miR-19a mimic and caused the
      increase of LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and beclin-1 expression. NBR2 knockdown reversed
      the anti-autophagy impact of miR-19a inhibitor and caused the decrease of LC3
      II/LC3-I ratio and beclin-1 expression. In summary, our data suggested that miR
      19a negatively controlled the autophagy of hepatocytes attenuated in D-GalN/LPS
      stimulated hepatocytes via regulating NBR2 and AMPK/PPARalpha signaling. J. Cell.
      Biochem. 119: 358-365, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28586154
TI  - 1,4-Diphosphinines from Imidazole-2-thiones.
AB  - 1,4-Diphosphinines that are fused to two thiourea units were synthesized from the
      corresponding tricyclic 1,4-dichloro-1,4-dihydro-1,4-diphosphinines, and their
      structures and spectroscopic features are described. Electrochemical studies
      revealed very low oxidation potentials, which are due to the effective pi
      interaction between the 1,4-diphosphinine ring and the orbitals of the two ylidic
      C=S bonds. In accordance with the low-lying LUMO, which is largely localized at
      the two phosphorus centers, dianion formation is strongly preferred. Despite the
      small HOMO-LUMO gap, which is in accordance with the red color of the title
      compounds, theoretical calculations suggest considerable aromaticity for the 1,4
      diphosphinine ring.

PMID- 28586155
TI  - One-pot preparation of an organic polymer monolith by thiol-ene click chemistry
      for capillary electrochromatography.
AB  - A novel organic monolith was successfully fabricated by a one-pot thiol-ene click
      reaction of triallyl isocyanurate with pentaerythritol tetrakis-(2
      mercaptoacetate) and mercaptopropionic acid in the presence of porogens. We
      investigated the effects of the ratio of monomer and cross-linking agent, the
      type and ratio of porogen, and click reaction temperature on the permeability and
      morphology of the prepared poly triallyl isocyanurate-co-pentaerythritol tetrakis
      (2-mercaptoacetate) monoliths. The monolith was also characterized by scanning
      electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results
      indicated that the monoliths had continuous porous framework, good permeability,
      and high mechanical stability. A series of analytes with different properties
      such as alkylbenzenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, anilines, and phenols
      were used to evaluate the electrochromatographic performance of the prepared
      monoliths in pressurized capillary electrochromatography. The prepared polymer
      monolith showed typical reversed-phase electrochromatographic behavior for
      hydrophobic substances. Moreover, the prepared monolith showed a mix of reversed
      phase and cation exchange interaction modes for basic aniline compounds. The
      minimum plate height of the monolith was 8.76 MUm (132 100 plates/m) for
      propylbenzene. These results demonstrated that one-pot thiol-ene click chemistry
      can provide a simple and reliable method for the preparation of organic
      monoliths.

PMID- 28586156
TI  - Thermal adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in a warming world: Insights from
      common garden experiments on Alaskan sockeye salmon.
AB  - An important unresolved question is how populations of coldwater-dependent fishes
      will respond to rapidly warming water temperatures. For example, the culturally
      and economically important group, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), experience
      site-specific thermal regimes during early development that could be disrupted by
      warming. To test for thermal local adaptation and heritable phenotypic plasticity
      in Pacific salmon embryos, we measured the developmental rate, survival, and body
      size at hatching in two populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that
      overlap in timing of spawning but incubate in contrasting natural thermal
      regimes. Using a split half-sibling design, we exposed embryos of 10 families
      from each of two populations to variable and constant thermal regimes. These
      represented both experienced temperatures by each population, and predicted
      temperatures under plausible future conditions based on a warming scenario from
      the downscaled global climate model (MIROC A1B scenario). We did not find
      evidence of thermal local adaptation during the embryonic stage for developmental
      rate or survival. Within treatments, populations hatched within 1 day of each
      other, on average, and among treatments, did not differ in survival in response
      to temperature. We did detect plasticity to temperature; embryos developed 2.5
      times longer (189 days) in the coolest regime compared to the warmest regime (74
      days). We also detected variation in developmental rates among families within
      and among temperature regimes, indicating heritable plasticity. Families
      exhibited a strong positive relationship between thermal variability and
      phenotypic variability in developmental rate but body length and mass at hatching
      were largely insensitive to temperature. Overall, our results indicated a lack of
      thermal local adaptation, but a presence of plasticity in populations
      experiencing contrasting conditions, as well as family-specific heritable
      plasticity that could facilitate adaptive change.

PMID- 28586157
TI  - Role of Point Shear Wave Elastography in the Determination of the Severity of
      Fibrosis in Pediatric Liver Diseases With Pathologic Correlations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our aims in this study were as follows: (1) to determine the cutoff
      value that can distinguish between advanced liver fibrosis and normal liver
      tissue for two different elastographic techniques; (2) to determine the cutoff
      value that can distinguish mild liver fibrosis from normal liver tissue for the
      techniques; and (3) to assess tissue stiffness in nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD). METHODS: Seventy-five patients assessed for liver biopsy on the
      same day were evaluated by point shear wave elastography. Thirty-one healthy
      children and 11 children with NAFLD were also evaluated. A 9L4 transducer with
      Virtual Touch quantification (VTQ) and Virtual Touch imaging and quantification
      (VTIQ) modes (Siemens Medical Solutions, Mountain View, CA) was used for
      quantification. RESULTS: The shear wave speed of the patients with NAFLD was
      higher than that of the control group. The only predictive factor for VTQ and
      VTIQ was the histologic fibrosis score (model-adjusted R2  = 0.56 for VTQ and
      0.75 for VTIQ). Shear wave speed cutoffs were 1.67 m/s for VTQ and 1.56 m/s for
      VTIQ in detecting fibrosis or inflammation and 2.09 m/s for VTQ and 2.17 m/s for
      VTIQ in discriminating children with low and high histologic liver fibrosis
      scores. CONCLUSIONS: The VTQ and VTIQ values reveal high-grade histopathologic
      fibrosis and have high success rates when distinguishing high- from low-grade
      fibrosis. However, they have limited success rates when differentiating low-grade
      fibrosis from normal liver tissue.

PMID- 28586158
TI  - Quantitative assessment of fascia preservation improves the prediction of
      membranous urethral length and inner levator distance on continence outcome after
      robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.
AB  - AIMS: To determine whether preoperative prostate/pelvic anatomical structures and
      intraoperative fascia preservation (FP) predict continence recovery after robot
      assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). METHODS: Between January 2012 and March
      2016, 439 prostate cancer (PCa) patients with normal preoperative continence were
      retrospectively included. FP score was defined as the extent of FP from base to
      apex of the prostate, quantitatively assessed by the surgeon. Anatomical prostate
      structures were measured on endorectal preoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
      The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF)
      was used to assess urinary incontinence (UI). Cox analysis was used to determine
      predictive factors for early continence recovery. Finally a binary logistic
      regression analysis was performed to develop a risk calculator. RESULTS: At a
      median follow up of 12.1 months 50.8% of men reported UI. In the Cox multivariate
      analysis longer membranous urethral length (MUL; P < 0.0001; OR 1.309; CI 1.211,
      1.415) and shorter inner levator distance (ILD; P < 0.0001; OR 0.904; CI 0.85,
      0.961) were predictors of earlier continence recovery. In the multivariate binary
      logistic regression analysis longer MUL (P < 0.0001; OR 1.565, CI 1.362, 1.798),
      shorter ILD (P < 0.0001; OR 0.819, CI 0.742, 0.904) and higher FP score (P =
      0.024; OR 1.089, CI 1.011, 1.172) were independent predictors of continence
      outcome. The risk calculator predicted continence recovery between 1.3% and 99%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative longer MUL and shorter ILD, but also intraoperative FP
      independently improve continence recovery after RARP. The risk calculator could
      be used to identify patients at high risk of UI.

PMID- 28586159
TI  - Reply to Emile et al.

PMID- 28586160
TI  - Preparation of Solid Polyfunctional Alkynylzinc Pivalates with Enhanced Air and
      Moisture Stability for Organic Synthesis.
AB  - We report the preparation of solid and air-stable polyfunctionalized alkynylzinc
      pivalates from the corresponding alkynes using TMPZnOPiv (TMP=2,2,6,6
      tetramethylpiperidyl) as base. These organozinc pivalates are obtained as powders
      under mild conditions in excellent yields and can be manipulated in air for
      several hours without significant decomposition. These zinc reagents show an
      excellent reactivity in various carbon-carbon bond- forming reactions and 1,3
      dipolar cycloadditions. An alkynylzinc pivalate has been used to prepare a
      carboxyamidotriazole with potential antineoplastic activity in eight steps and 38
      % overall yield.

PMID- 28586161
TI  - Alkyltin Keggin Clusters Templated by Sodium.
AB  - Dodecameric (Sn12 ) and hexameric topologies dominate monoalkyltin-oxo cluster
      chemistry. Their condensation, triggered by radiation exposure, recently produced
      unprecedented patterning performance in EUV lithography. A new cluster topology
      was crystallized from industrial n-BuSnOOH, and additional characterization
      techniques indicate other clusters are present. Single-crystal X-ray analysis
      reveals a beta-Keggin cluster, which is known but less common than other Keggin
      isomers in polyoxometalate and polyoxocation chemistry. The structure is
      formulated [NaO4 (BuSn)12 (OH)3 (O)9 (OCH3 )12 (Sn(H2 O)2 )] (beta-NaSn13 ).
      SAXS, NMR, and ESI MS differentiate beta-NaSn13 , Sn12 , and other clusters
      present in crude "n-BuSnOOH" and highlight the role of Na as a template for
      alkyltin Keggin clusters. Unlike other alkyltin clusters that are cationic, beta
      NaSn13 is neutral. Consequently, it stands as a unique model system, absent of
      counterions, to study the transformation of clusters to films and nanopatterns.

PMID- 28586163
TI  - A Dysprosium Metallocene Single-Molecule Magnet Functioning at the Axial Limit.
AB  - Abstraction of a chloride ligand from the dysprosium metallocene [(Cpttt )2 DyCl]
      (1Dy Cpttt =1,2,4-tri(tert-butyl)cyclopentadienide) by the triethylsilylium
      cation produces the first base-free rare-earth metallocenium cation [(Cpttt )2
      Dy]+ (2Dy ) as a salt of the non-coordinating [B(C6 F5 )4 ]- anion. Magnetic
      measurements reveal that [2Dy ][B(C6 F5 )4 ] is an SMM with a record anisotropy
      barrier up to 1277 cm-1 (1837 K) in zero field and a record magnetic blocking
      temperature of 60 K, including hysteresis with coercivity. The exceptional
      magnetic axiality of 2Dy is further highlighted by computational studies, which
      reveal this system to be the first lanthanide SMM in which all low-lying Kramers
      doublets correspond to a well-defined MJ value, with no significant mixing even
      in the higher doublets.

PMID- 28586162
TI  - Chain length-dependent effects of inulin-type fructan dietary fiber on human
      systemic immune responses against hepatitis-B.
AB  - SCOPE: In vivo studies demonstrating that only specific dietary-fibers contribute
      to immunity are still inconclusive, as measuring immune effects in healthy humans
      remains difficult. We applied a relatively inefficacious vaccination-challenge to
      study chain length-dependent effects of inulin-type fructan (ITF) dietary fibers
      on human immunity. METHODS AND RESULTS: ITFs with two different 'degree of
      polymerization-' (DP)-profiles were tested in vitro for effects on PBMC-cytokines
      and TLR2 activation. In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, 40 healthy
      volunteers (18-29 years) were divided into three groups and supplemented from day
      1 to day 14 with DP10-60 ITF, DP2-25 ITF (both n = 13), or fructose placebo (n =
      14), 8 g/day. On day 7, all volunteers were vaccinated against hepatitis B. Anti
      HbsAg-titer development and lymphocyte subsets were studied. In vitro, DP10-60
      ITFs stimulated a Th1-like cytokine profile and stimulated TLR2 more strongly
      than DP2-25 ITFs. In vivo, DP10-60 increased anti-HBsAg titers, Th1-cells, and
      transitional B-cells. Both ITFs increased CD45ROhi CTLs at day 35, and CD161+
      cytokine producing NK-cells at day 21 and 35. CONCLUSION: Support of immunity is
      determined by the chain length of ITFs. Only long-chain ITFs support immunity
      against pathogenic hepB-epitopes introduced by vaccination. Our findings
      demonstrate that specific dietary fibers need to be selected for immunity
      support.

PMID- 28586166
TI  - Differentiating Psoriatic Arthritis From Psoriasis Without Psoriatic Arthritis
      Using Novel Serum Biomarkers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is a high prevalence of undiagnosed psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in
      patients with psoriasis. Identifying soluble biomarkers for PsA will help in
      screening psoriasis patients for appropriate rheumatology referral. We therefore
      aimed to investigate whether serum levels of novel markers previously discovered
      by quantitative mass spectrometric analysis of synovial fluid and skin biopsies
      performs better than the C-reactive protein (CRP) level in differentiating PsA
      patients from those with psoriasis without PsA (PsC). METHODS: In this case
      control study, serum samples were obtained from 100 subjects with PsA, 100 with
      PsC, and 100 healthy controls. Patients with PsA and PsC were group matched for
      age, sex, psoriasis duration, and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and were not
      currently receiving biologic treatment. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,
      4 high-priority markers (Mac-2-binding protein [M2BP], CD5-like protein [CD5L],
      myeloperoxidase [MPO], and integrin beta5 [ITGbeta5]), as well as previously
      established markers (matrix metalloproteinase 3 [MMP-3] and CRP level) were
      assayed. Data were analyzed using logistic regression. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted. RESULTS: In comparisons to controls,
      CD5L, ITGbeta5, M2BP, MPO, MMP-3, and CRP level were independently associated
      with PsA, while only CD5L, M2BP, and MPO were independently associated with PsC
      alone. In comparisons to PsC, ITGbeta5, M2BP, and CRP level were independently
      associated with PsA. ROC analysis of this model shows an area under the curve
      (AUC) of 0.85 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.80-0.90). The model that
      included CRP level alone had an AUC of 0.71 (95% CI 0.64-0.78). CONCLUSION: CD5L,
      ITGbeta5, M2BP, MPO, MMP-3, and CRP level are markers for PsA. The combination of
      ITGbeta5, M2BP, and CRP level differentiates PsA from PsC, and performs better
      than CRP level alone.

PMID- 28586164
TI  - Synthesis of [5,6]-Bicyclic Heterocycles with a Ring-Junction Nitrogen Atom:
      Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed C-H Functionalization of Alkenyl Azoles.
AB  - The first syntheses of privileged [5,6]-bicyclic heterocycles, with ring-junction
      nitrogen atoms, by transition metal catalyzed C-H functionalization of C-alkenyl
      azoles is disclosed. Several reactions are applied to alkenyl imidazoles,
      pyrazoles, and triazoles to provide products with nitrogen incorporated at
      different sites. Alkyne and diazoketone coupling partners give azolopyridines
      with various substitution patterns. In addition, 1,4,2-dioxazolone coupling
      partners yield azolopyrimidines. Furthermore, the mechanisms for the reactions
      are discussed and the utility of the developed approach is demonstrated by
      iterative application of C-H functionalization for the rapid synthesis of a
      patented drug candidate.

PMID- 28586165
TI  - 3,3'-Diindolylmethane suppresses high-fat diet-induced obesity through inhibiting
      adipogenesis of pre-adipocytes by targeting USP2 activity.
AB  - SCOPE: Indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a derivative abundant in cruciferous vegetables
      such as cabbage, is well known for its various health benefits such as chemo
      preventive and anti-obesity effects. I3C is easily metabolized to 3,3'
      diindolylmethane (DIM), a more stable form, in acidic conditions of the stomach.
      However, the anti-obesity effect of DIM has not been investigated clearly. We
      sought to investigate the effect of DIM on diet-induced obesity and to elucidate
      its underlying mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: High-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese
      mouse and MDI-induced 3T3-L1 adipogenesis models were used to study the effect of
      DIM. We observed that the administration of DIM (50 mg/kg BW) significantly
      suppressed HFD-induced obesity, associated with a decrease in adipose tissue.
      Additionally, we observed that DIM treatment (40 and 60 MUM), but not I3C
      treatment, significantly inhibited MDI-induced adipogenesis by reducing the
      levels of several adipogenic proteins such as PPAR-gamma and C/EBPalpha. DIM, but
      not I3C, suppressed cell cycle progression in the G1 phase, which occurred in the
      early stage of adipogenesis, inducing post-translational degradation of cyclin D1
      by inhibiting ubiquitin specific peptidase 2 (USP2) activities. CONCLUSION: Our
      findings indicate that cruciferous vegetables, which can produce DIM as a
      metabolite, have the potential to prevent or treat chronic obesity.

PMID- 28586168
TI  - Synthesis and Characterization of a Metallacyclic Framework with Three Fused Five
      membered Rings.
AB  - Polycyclic complexes containing a bridgehead transition metal are interesting
      species because the transition metal is shared by all the rings simultaneously.
      In this study, we present a novel osmium-bridgehead system with three fused five
      membered rings. This novel framework can be viewed as a 10-atom carbon chain
      coordinating to the osmium center. In sharp contrast to the nonplanar organic
      analogue, this unique metallacycle exhibits good planarity, which was
      unambiguously verified by means of X-ray diffraction. Interestingly, preliminary
      DFT calculations show that the aromaticity in the three 5MRs of these
      osmatricycles can be easily tuned by the ligand substitution. Finally, the broad
      UV/Vis absorption spectra of these novel polycyclic complexes were also reported.

PMID- 28586167
TI  - Card9-dependent IL-1beta regulates IL-22 production from group 3 innate lymphoid
      cells and promotes colitis-associated cancer.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are key risk factors for the development of
      colorectal cancer, but the mechanisms that link intestinal inflammation with
      carcinogenesis are insufficiently understood. Card9 is a myeloid cell-specific
      signaling protein that regulates inflammatory responses downstream of various
      pattern recognition receptors and which cooperates with the inflammasomes for IL
      1beta production. Because polymorphisms in Card9 were recurrently associated with
      human IBD, we investigated the function of Card9 in a colitis-associated cancer
      (CAC) model. Card9-/- mice develop smaller, less proliferative and less
      dysplastic tumors compared to their littermates and in the regenerating mucosa we
      detected dramatically impaired IL-1beta generation and defective IL-1beta
      controlled IL-22 production from group 3 innate lymphoid cells. Consistent with
      the key role of immune-derived IL-22 in activating STAT3 signaling during normal
      and pathological intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) proliferation, Card9-/- mice
      also exhibit impaired tumor cell intrinsic STAT3 activation. Our results imply a
      Card9-controlled, ILC3-mediated mechanism regulating healthy and malignant IEC
      proliferation and demonstrates a role of Card9-mediated innate immunity in
      inflammation-associated carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28586171
TI  - Predictors of oral health-related quality of life in patients with
      temporomandibular disorders.

PMID- 28586169
TI  - Metabolomic-based identification of clusters that reflect dietary patterns.
AB  - SCOPE: Classification of subjects into dietary patterns generally relies on self
      reporting dietary data which are prone to error. The aim of the present study was
      to develop a model for objective classification of people into dietary patterns
      based on metabolomic data. METHODS AND RESULTS: Dietary and urinary metabolomic
      data from the National Adult Nutrition Survey (NANS) was used in the analysis (n
      = 567). Two-step cluster analysis was applied to the urinary data to identify
      clusters. The subsequent model was used in an independent cohort to classify
      people into dietary patterns. Two distinct dietary patterns were identified.
      Cluster 1 was characterized by significantly higher intakes of breakfast cereals,
      low fat and skimmed milks, potatoes, fruit, fish and fish dishes (p < 0.05)
      representing a "healthy" cluster. Cluster 2 had significantly higher intakes of
      chips/processed potatoes, meat products, savory snacks and high-energy beverages
      (p < 0.05) representing an "unhealthy cluster". Classification was supported by
      significant differences in nutrient status (p < 0.05). Validation in an
      independent group revealed that 94% of subjects were correctly classified.
      CONCLUSION: The model developed was capable of classifying individuals into
      dietary patterns based on metabolomics data. Future applications of this approach
      could be developed for rapid and objective assignment of subjects into dietary
      patterns.

PMID- 28586170
TI  - Pru p 3-Epitope-based sublingual immunotherapy in a murine model for the
      treatment of peach allergy.
AB  - SCOPE: Food-specific immunotherapy (SIT) is a promising treatment for lipid
      transfer protein (LTP)-syndrome. We propose a novel sublingual-SIT (SLIT) that
      combines a Pru p 3 T-cell peptide and an oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ODN) with CpG
      motifs (ODN-CpG) as adjuvants to induce a specific Th1/Treg response. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: LTP-peach allergic mice were treated sublingually with a combination of
      a CpG sequence and mono- or tetravalent systems including a Pru p 3 peptide, D1
      (Prup3) or D4 (Prup3). Mice were challenged intraperitoneally with Pru p 3 one or
      three weeks after SLIT and tolerance was assessed. Mice treated with D1
      (Prup3)+CpG were protected from anaphylaxis after Pru p 3 challenge. They showed
      no change in body temperature, lower levels of Pru p 3-specific IgE and IgG1
      antibodies and higher levels of sIgG2a compared to the untreated group. They had
      fewer IgE and IgG1 secreting cells and more sIgG2a secreting cells. Moreover, a
      significantly lower number of Pru p 3-specific CD4+ T cells and a higher number
      of Treg cells were found, alongside a Th1 cytokine pattern. These changes were
      maintained for three weeks after stopping treatment. CONCLUSION: D1 Prup3+CpG
      represents a promising SIT for food allergy. It is easily synthesized and induces
      protection from anaphylaxis to Pru p 3 that is maintained for at least three
      weeks.

PMID- 28586172
TI  - Comparison of laboratory tests, ultrasound, or magnetic resonance elastography to
      detect fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta
      analysis.
AB  - : Many noninvasive methods for diagnosing liver fibrosis (LF) have been proposed.
      To determine the best method for diagnosing LF in nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD), we conducted a systemic review and meta-analysis to compare the
      performance of aspartate aminotransferase to platelets ratio index (APRI),
      fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), BARD score, NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), FibroScan,
      shear wave elastography (SWE), and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for
      diagnosing LF in NAFLD. We compared the sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value, negative predictive value, and area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of these noninvasive methods for detecting
      significant fibrosis (SF), advanced fibrosis (AF), and cirrhosis. Heterogeneity
      was explored using meta-regression. Sixty-four articles with a total of 13,046
      NAFLD subjects were included. The overall mean prevalence of SF, AF, and
      cirrhosis was 45.0%, 24.0%, and 9.4% in NAFLD patients, respectively. With an
      APRI threshold of 1.0 and 1.5, the sensitivities and specificities were 50.0% and
      84.0% and 18.3% and 96.1%, respectively, for AF. With a FIB-4 threshold of 2.67
      and 3.25, the sensitivities and specificities were 26.6% and 96.5% and 31.8% and
      96.0%, respectively, for AF. The summary sensitivities and specificities of BARD
      score (threshold of 2), NFS (threshold of -1.455), FibroScan M (threshold of 8.7
      9), SWE, and MRE for detecting AF were 0.76 and 0.61, 0.72 and 0.70, 0.87 and
      0.79, 0.90 and 0.93, and 0.84 and 0.90, respectively. The summary AUROC values
      using APRI, FIB-4, BARD score, NFS, FibroScan M probe, XL probe, SWE, and MRE for
      diagnosing AF were 0.77, 0.84, 0.76, 0.84, 0.88, 0.85, 0.95, and 0.96,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: MRE and SWE may have the highest diagnostic accuracy
      for staging fibrosis in NAFLD patients. Among the four noninvasive simple
      indexes, NFS and FIB-4 probably offer the best diagnostic performance for
      detecting AF. (Hepatology 2017;66:1486-1501).

PMID- 28586173
TI  - Xanthophyll esters are found in human colostrum.
AB  - SCOPE: Carotenoids in human milk are associated with other lipid counterparts in
      several metabolic processes. One interesting association that has not been
      demonstrated to date is the presence of xanthophyll esters. Colostrum and mature
      milk samples were analyzed to determine the occurrence of xanthophyll esters and
      identify the compounds. Thus, the association of the amounts of these compounds
      with lactation and whether they are significant contributors to the carotenoid
      profile of human milk was assessed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pre-term and term
      delivering mothers were included in the study to donate colostrum at 3-5 days
      postpartum and mature milk at 15 days postpartum. Carotenoids extracts were
      subjected to a clean-up procedure to remove the triacylglycerol fraction and then
      analyzed by HPLC-MSn . Identification of xanthophyll esters was achieved by
      considering their chromatographic behaviour, UV-visible characteristics and MSn
      features. CONCLUSION: Xanthophyll esters are significant contributors to the
      carotenoid profile in the colostrum, while mature milk does not contain these
      compounds. Therefore, fatty acid acylation to xanthophylls is activated during
      the accumulation of carotenoids in the human mammary gland. The sharp decline in
      the amount of xanthophyll esters in mature milk indicates that the lipophilic
      components are those recently incorporated in the mammary epithelium.

PMID- 28586174
TI  - 2,6-Difluorobenzamide Inhibitors of Bacterial Cell Division Protein FtsZ: Design,
      Synthesis, and Structure-Activity Relationships.
AB  - A wide variety of drug-resistant microorganisms are continuously emerging,
      restricting the therapeutic options for common bacterial infections.
      Antimicrobial agents that were originally potent are now no longer helpful, due
      to their weak or null activity toward these antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In
      addition, none of the recently approved antibiotics affect innovative targets,
      resulting in a need for novel drugs with innovative antibacterial mechanisms of
      action. The essential cell division protein filamentous temperature-sensitive Z
      (FtsZ) has emerged as a possible target, thanks to its ubiquitous expression and
      its homology to eukaryotic beta-tubulin. In the latest years, several compounds
      were shown to interact with this prokaryotic protein and selectively inhibit
      bacterial cell division. Recently, our research group developed interesting
      derivatives displaying good antibacterial activities against methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus, as well as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus
      faecalis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The aim of the present study was to
      summarize the structure-activity relationships of differently substituted
      heterocycles, linked by a methylenoxy bridge to the 2,6-difluorobenzamide, and to
      validate FtsZ as the real target of this class of antimicrobials.

PMID- 28586175
TI  - Adaptation of gut microbiome to different dietary nonstarch polysaccharide
      fractions in a porcine model.
AB  - SCOPE: Dietary fibers, consisting of nonstarch polysaccharides (NSPs) were found
      to modulate the gut microbiota. However, little is known about the role of a
      separated fiber fraction. Here, we describe a response in gut microbiome to
      different fiber fractions using a porcine model. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ileal and
      cecal digesta were collected from pigs fed with fiber-free diet (FFD) or diet
      containing 5% cellulose (CEL), xylan (XYL) or beta-glucan (GLU). We observed an
      elevated 16S rRNA gene copies in ileum and cecum digesta after NSP ingestion.
      Interestingly, we found that cecum digesta contained higher bacterial diversity
      than ileum digesta. Moreover, NSPs had no significant influence on overall
      diversity, but acutely altered the abundance of specific bacteria. Importantly,
      NSPs decreased the abundance of phylum Firmicutes, but increased the phylum
      Proteobacteria in ileal samples. Among the NSP-treated groups, pigs on CEL
      containing diet had exclusively higher abundance of Lactobacillus spp. in the
      ileum. Whereas, the GLU-treated samples had more Clostridium spp. CONCLUSION:
      This study not only indicated how the gut microbiome adapts to the three major
      NSP fractions, but the results also contribute to our understanding of the role
      of dietary fibers in modulating gut microbiota and health.

PMID- 28586176
TI  - Visible-Light Photoreduction of CO2 to CH4 over ZnTe-Modified TiO2 Coral-Like
      Nanostructures.
AB  - Rapidly depleting fossil fuels and the related environmental issues are two
      alarming global concerns the world is facing today. To address these issues
      efficiently, future energy requirements need to be fulfilled by renewable and
      environmentally friendly resources. In this context, we report the ZnTe-modified
      TiO2 photocatalysts with varying amounts of ZnTe (1.96, 16, and 65 %) for the
      photoreduction of carbon dioxide into methane under visible light. The
      hydrothermally synthesized photocatalysts have been characterized by using
      various techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy
      coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron
      microscopy, UV/Vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Brunauer
      Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis for surface-area measurements. The photocatalyst
      with 1.96 % ZnTe shows the best results, which are attributed to its high BET
      specific surface area and the formation of a heterojunction at the interface,
      which can facilitate efficient charge transfer.

PMID- 28586177
TI  - Teaching laboratory management and quality assurance/quality improvement skills
      in a cytopathology fellowship program.

PMID- 28586178
TI  - Outcomes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: nature, nurture, culture-or all three?

PMID- 28586180
TI  - VSPrep: A General KNIME Workflow for the Preparation of Molecules for Virtual
      Screening.
AB  - Over the past decades, virtual screening has proved itself to be a valuable asset
      to identify new bioactive compounds. The vast majority of commonly used
      techniques can be described in three steps: pre-processing the dataset i. e.
      small (ligands) and eventually larger (receptors) molecules, execute the method
      and finally analyse the results. Hence, the preparation of ligands is a critical
      step for success of commonly used virtual screening approaches such as protein
      ligand docking, similarity or pharmacophore search. We present here a new
      workflow, VSPrep, for the pre-processing of small molecules; it is based on
      freely accessible tools for academics and is integrated within the KNIME
      platform. It can be used to perform several chemoinformatics tasks such as
      molecular database cleaning, tautomer and stereoisomer enumeration, focused
      library design and conformer generation. Additionally, graphical reports of the
      results are provided to the user as a convenient analysis tool.

PMID- 28586181
TI  - ?

PMID- 28586182
TI  - Single Port Laparoscopic Gastrostomy: description of a technique and initial
      experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since the first classic descriptions of surgicalgastrostomies for
      feeding by supra-umbilical medialincisions, patients were operated under general
      anesthesia,with prolonged time of surgery; these were patients in poorhealth
      status, undernourished due to inadequate intake orto neurological or tumor
      involvement, with prolonged hospitalization,both for the recovery of the
      intestinal motilityas well as for the recovery of post-surgical wounds.
      Therefore,we describe a new minimally invasive technique as an alternativeto the
      percutaneous or endoscopic gastrostomy, inpatients where we are not allowed to
      place a nasogastric tubeto insufflate the stomach. This is mostly seen in
      patients withtumors, which cause obstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between July
      2012 and June 2013, 8 patients underwenta single port laparoscopic gastrostomy.
      Five were females,mean age: 77 years (range: 67-87). In all the patients, itwas
      impossible to place a nasogastric tube, due to obstructivetumor. RESULTS: The
      mean time of the procedure was45 minutes. Seven patients underwent tolerance of
      dextrose10% through the catheter after 12 hours and one 24 hoursafter the
      procedures. Enteral feeding was indicated after thedextrose 10% tolerance was
      performed. No complications relatedto the procedure were observed. DISCUSSION:
      Currently,the gold standard technique to perform a gastrostomy is thepercutaneous
      or endoscopic approach. In patients with headand neck tumors, when it is not
      possible to insert a nasogastrictube to insufflate the stomach, a laparoscopic
      gastrostomywould be indicated. We describe a new technique, step bystep, to
      perform less invasive laparoscopic surgery by a singleport laparoscopic
      gastrostomy. CONCLUSION: The diametercreated is the same as the one performed
      with an open technique,but in this case, with a minimally invasive approach,that
      allows us to start feeding the patient with a high qualityof feeding, because of
      the wider lumen.

PMID- 28586179
TI  - Improved posttransplant mortality after share 35 for liver transplantation.
AB  - : The Share 35 policy was implemented in June 2013 to improve equity in access to
      liver transplantation (LT) between patients with fulminant liver failure and
      those with cirrhosis and severe hepatic decompensation. The aim of this study was
      to assess post-LT outcomes after Share 35. Relevant donor, procurement, and
      recipient data were extracted from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation
      Network/United Network for Organ Sharing database. All adult deceased donor LTs
      from January 1, 2010, to March 31, 2016, were included in the analysis. One-year
      patient survival before and after Share 35 was assessed by multivariable Cox
      proportional hazards analysis, with adjustment for variables known to affect
      graft survival. Of 34,975 adult LT recipients, 16,472 (47.1%) were transplanted
      after the implementation of Share 35, of whom 4,599 (27.9%) had a Model for End
      Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score >=35. One-year patient survival improved from
      83.9% to 88.4% after Share 35 (P < 0.01) for patients with MELD >=35. There was
      no significant impact on survival of patients with MELD <35 (P = 0.69). Quality
      of donor organs, as measured by a donor risk index without the regional share
      component, improved for patients with MELD >=35 (P < 0.01) and worsened for
      patients with lower MELD (P < 0.01). In multivariable Cox regression analysis,
      Share 35 was associated with improved 1-year patient survival (hazard ratio,
      0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.60-0.80) in recipients with MELD >=35.
      CONCLUSION: Share 35 has had a positive impact on survival after transplantation
      in patients with MELD >=35, without a reciprocal detriment in patients with lower
      acuity; this was in part a result of more favorable donor-recipient matching.
      (Hepatology 2018;67:273-281).

PMID- 28586183
TI  - ?
AB  - : Infection by Helicobacter pylori affects over half of theworld's population and
      is a public health issue. Its prevalenceis significantly higher in developing
      countries such as Brazil.It has been suggested that infection by H pylori can
      impactcalorie intake and homeostasis. AIM: Analyze the influenceof infection by H
      pylori and of its eradication on nutritionalstatus and dietary intake. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: The studyincluded 124 patients (48 of whom H pylori positive, 45
      Hpylori negative, and 31 eradicated). Weight and height weremeasured to calculate
      the body mass index (BMI). Dietaryintake was assessed using a 24-hour diet recall
      (24hR) intwo occasions. RESULTS: Pre-obesity was the highest among theeradicated
      patients (p = 0.011). Homogenicity was foundin the dietary intake for the
      nutrients studied, except forsaccharose, whose intake was the lowest among the
      eradicatedgroup (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients eradicatedfor H pylori had a
      higher rate of pre-obesity. The dietaryintake was similar among the groups for
      nearly all nutrientsassessed, except for saccharose, whose intake by
      eradicatedpatients was lower. This entails discussions about possiblyincluding
      the investigation of nutritional status and diet inthe routine procedures towards
      those who seek a diagnosis ofinfection by H pylori.

PMID- 28586185
TI  - ?
AB  - : In Argentina there are no multicenter studies evaluating themanagement of
      patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) nationwide. OBJECTIVES: The main objective
      of this study is toknow how the patients with AP are treated in Argentina.The
      secondary objective is to assess whether the results complywith the
      recommendation of the American College of GastroenterologyGuide. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Twenty threecenter participated in the study. They include in a
      databasehosted online consecutive patients with acute pancreatitisfrom june 2010
      to june 2013. RESULTS: 854 patients enteredthe study. The average age was 46.6
      years and 495(58%) belonged to the female sex. The most common cause(88.2%) of AP
      was biliary. Some prognostic system wasused in 99 % of patients and the most used
      was Ranson(74.5%). Were classified as mild 714 (83.6%) patientsand severe 140
      (16.4%). Systemic complications occurredin 43 patients and local complications in
      21. 86 patientsunderwent dynamic CT scans and 73 patients had pancreaticand / or
      peripancreatic necrosis. Mortality was1.5%. There was no difference in mortality
      in relation tothe size, complexity or affiliation of the center. The comply of
      key recommendations of the American College of GastroenterologyGuide was over
      80%. CONCLUSIONS: Thediagnosis and treatment of patients with AP in 23
      healthcenters located throughout the country was optimal. Themanagement complied
      with most of the recommendationsof the American College of Gastroenterology
      Guide.

PMID- 28586191
TI  - Reduced Graphene Oxide/Alumina, A Good Accelerant for Cellulose-Based Artificial
      Nacre with Excellent Mechanical, Barrier, and Conductive Properties.
AB  - In this article, a simple strategy was employed to fabricate bioinspired hybrid
      composite with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), graphene oxide, and reduced
      graphene oxide/alumina (rGO/Al) by a facile solution casting method. The tensile
      strength and toughness of rGO/Al-CMC-GO can reach 586.6 +/- 12 MPa, 12.1 +/- 0.44
      MJm-3, respectively, due to the interface strengthening of alumina, which is 1.43
      and 12 times higher than steel and about 4.3 and 6.7 times that of nature nacre.
      The artificial nacre hybrid composite is conductive due to the introduction of
      rGO/Al on the surface. Interestingly this structure can also be coated on the
      surface of cotton thread to give the thread good mechanical performance and
      conductivity. Additionally, the artificial nacre has better fire shielding and
      gas barrier properties. The oxygen permeability (OP) for 1% rGO/Al-CMC decreased
      from 0.0265 to 0.003 mLMUm m-2 day-1 kpa-1, the water vapor permeability (WVP)
      decreased from 0.363 to 0.205 gmmm-2 day-1 kpa-1 when the concentration increased
      from 1% rGO/Al to 6% rGO/Al. It is believed this work provided a simple and
      feasible strategy to fabricate ultrastrong and ultratough graphene-based
      artificial nacre multifunctional materials.

PMID- 28586190
TI  - Elemental Precursor Solution Processed (Cu1-xAgx)2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Photovoltaic
      Devices with over 10% Efficiency.
AB  - The partial substitution of Cu+ with Ag+ into the host lattice of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4
      thin films can reduce the open-circuit voltage deficit (Voc,deficit) of
      Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells. In this paper, elemental Cu, Ag, Zn, Sn, S,
      and Se powders were dissolved in solvent mixture of 1,2-ethanedithiol (edtH2) and
      1,2-ethylenediamine (en) and used for the formation of (Cu1-xAgx)2ZnSn(S,Se)4
      (CAZTSSe) thin films with different Ag/(Ag + Cu) ratios. The key feature of this
      approach is that the impurity atoms can be absolutely excluded. Further results
      indicate that the variations of grain size, band gap, and depletion width of the
      CAZTSSe layer are generally determined by Ag substitution content. Benefiting
      from the Voc enhancement (~50 mV), the power conversion efficiency is
      successfully increased from 7.39% (x = 0) to 10.36% (x = 3%), which is the
      highest efficiency of Ag substituted devices so far.

PMID- 28586192
TI  - Selenium-Functionalized Graphene Oxide That Can Modulate the Balance of Reactive
      Oxygen Species.
AB  - Graphene oxide (GO) is an important two-dimensional material since it is water
      soluble and can be functionalized to adapt to different applications. However,
      the current covalent functionalization methods usually require hash conditions,
      long duration, and sometimes even multiple steps, while noncovalent
      functionalization is inevitably unstable, especially under a physiological
      environment where competing species exist. Diselenide bond is a dynamic covalent
      bond and can respond to both redox conditions and visible light irradiation in a
      sensitive manner. Thus, in this work by combining the stimuli response of
      diselenide bond and the oxidative/radical attackable nature of GO, we achieved
      the in situ covalent functionalization of GO simply by stirring GO with
      diselenide-containing molecules in aqueous solution. The covalent
      functionalization was proved by Fourier transform infrared, time-of-flight
      secondary ion mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy, thermogravimetric
      analysis, and so forth, and the functionalization mechanism was deduced to
      involve both redox reaction and radical addition reaction according to the X-ray
      photoelectron spectrscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.
      Moreover, we modified GO with a biocompatible diselenide-containing polymer
      (mPEGSe)2 and found selenium-functionalized GO could modulate the balance of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS). GOSe could decrease ROS level by accelerating the
      reduction of peroxides when the ROS concentration is high while boosting the ROS
      level by in situ generating ROS when its concentration is relatively low.

PMID- 28586193
TI  - Controllable Fabrication of Two-Dimensional Patterned VO2 Nanoparticle, Nanodome,
      and Nanonet Arrays with Tunable Temperature-Dependent Localized Surface Plasmon
      Resonance.
AB  - A universal approach to develop various two-dimensional ordered nanostructures,
      namely nanoparticle, nanonet and nanodome arrays with controllable periodicity,
      ranging from 100 nm to 1 MUm, has been developed in centimeter-scale by
      nanosphere lithography technique. Hexagonally patterned vanadium dioxide (VO2)
      nanoparticle array with average diameter down to sub-100 nm as well as 160 nm of
      periodicity is fabricated, exhibiting distinct size-, media-, and temperature
      dependent localized surface plasmon resonance switching behaviors, which fits
      well with the predication of simulations. We specifically explore their decent
      thermochromic performance in an energy saving smart window and develop a proof-of
      concept demo which proves the effectiveness of patterned VO2 film to serve as a
      smart thermal radiation control. This versatile and facile approach to fabricate
      various ordered nanostructures integrated with attractive phase change
      characteristics of VO2 may inspire the study of temperature-dependent physical
      responses and the development of smart devices in extensive areas.

PMID- 28586194
TI  - Two-Dimensional 1T-Phase Transition Metal Dichalcogenides as Nanocarriers To
      Enhance and Stabilize Enzyme Activity for Electrochemical Pesticide Detection.
AB  - Single or few layers lithium-exfoliated transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs)
      are found to exist predominantly in the conducting metallic 1T-polymorph, which
      makes it desirable for numerous applications due to its large surface area, good
      electrical conductivity, and enhanced electrocatalytic capabilities. We
      demonstrated the use of tert-butyllithium exfoliated TMDs (MoS2, MoSe2, WS2,
      WSe2) as a platform for the indirect electrochemical detection of an
      organophosphate pesticide, fenitrothion, via enzymatic inhibition pathway. All
      four reported materials enhanced the response of the enzymatic biosensor in
      comparison to the corresponding biosensor in the absence of TMDs. 1T-Phase WS2
      outperforms all other TMD materials, and we proved that it serves as an excellent
      transducer for enhancing electron transfer in a robust model enzyme-based
      inhibition assay system using cross-linking immobilization with glutaraldehyde.
      The reported system showed a broad fenitrothion concentration range (1-1000 nM)
      with an excellent linearity (r = 0.987). Moreover, the system displayed high
      sensitivity with low limit of detection (2.86 nM) obtained, which far exceeds the
      required limit set by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United
      Nations (UN). The feasibility of the proposed system in real samples was
      demonstrated in apple juice samples with good recoveries of 80.2% and 80.3%
      obtained at 10 and 1000 nM fenitrothion, respectively.

PMID- 28586195
TI  - Ex Vivo Cell-Based Screening Platform for Modulators of Hepatosteatosis.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the result of the ectopic
      accumulation of lipids in hepatic cells and is the early stage of liver diseases
      including fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. While some
      mechanisms of aberrant lipid storage are understood, unbiased phenotypic drug
      screening holds the potential to identify new therapeutic small molecule
      mechanisms that reverse lipid accumulation in hepatic cells and prevent disease
      progression. Immortalized hepatocyte cell lines are often used as in vitro models
      of hepatocyte function, including in the study of lipid accumulation. However,
      mechanisms and therapeutic agents studied in these systems suffer from poor
      translation to primary cells and animal models of disease. Herein, we report an
      ex vivo high-throughput screening platform using primary mouse hepatocytes with a
      physiologically relevant lipid-laden phenotype isolated from mice that are
      administered a choline-methionine deficient diet. This screening platform using
      primary diseased hepatocytes may help to overcome a major hurdle in liver disease
      drug discovery and could lead to the development of new therapeutics for
      hepatosteatosis.

PMID- 28586196
TI  - Real-Time Imaging of Endocytosis and Intracellular Trafficking of Semiconducting
      Polymer Dots.
AB  - Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) have shown great promise in biomedical
      applications, including biosensing, drug delivery, and live imaging of cells and
      biomolecules. Insight into the mechanism and regulation of cellular uptake and
      intracellular metabolism of Pdots is important for the development of superior
      Pdots-based theranostic nanoconjugates. Herein, we performed real-time imaging of
      endocytosis and intracellular trafficking of a type of fluorescent Pdots that
      showed excellent biocompatibility in various types of cells. The endocytic routes
      and kinetics of Pdots were differently regulated in distinct cell types.
      Following endocytosis, Pdots were transported in vesicles along microtubule and
      destined for lysosomes. Furthermore, our results revealed exosome-mediated
      extracellular release of Pdots and have tracked the dynamic process at the single
      particle level. These results provide new insight into the design of more
      effective and selective imaging probes as well as drug carriers.

PMID- 28586197
TI  - A Potential Red-Emitting Phosphor BaZrGe3O9:Eu3+ for WLED and FED Applications:
      Synthesis, Structure, and Luminescence Properties.
AB  - A variety of Eu3+-activated BaZrGe3O9 phosphors was synthesized via solid-state
      reaction. The phase formation of BaZrGe3O9:Eu3+ samples was verified by powder X
      ray diffraction analysis, while Rietveld refinement method was used to confirm
      the crystal structure. The electronic structure and characteristic
      photoluminescence as well as cathodoluminescence properties were researched in
      detail. The samples show strong absorption at 394 nm, which matches well with the
      commercial near-ultraviolet chips. Under 394 nm excitation, the phosphors exhibit
      the characteristic emissions of Eu3+ ions consistent with the 5D0-7FJ
      transitions. Then we investigated the thermal stability detailedly. The
      temperature-dependent photoluminescence emission spectra suggest that the
      obtained phosphors have favorable thermal stability. A white light-emitting diode
      (WLED) lamp with low correlated color temperature and good color render index was
      fabricated with blue-emitting BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+, green-emitting Sr2SiO4:Eu2+
      (commercial), and red-emitting BaZrGe3O9:Eu3+ phosphors in near-ultraviolet light
      emitting diodes (lambdamax = 395 nm) as well. Furthermore, the phosphor also
      exhibits red emission with high resistance and high current saturation under low
      voltage electron bombardment. It has better degradation resistance than the
      commercial Y2O3:Eu phosphor. All the results manifest that the
      Ba0.88Eu0.08ZrGe3O9 phosphor can be an eligible red-emitting phosphor candidate
      for WLEDs and field-emission displays.

PMID- 28586198
TI  - Electronic Spectra of Tris(2,2'-bipyridine)-M(II) Complex Ions in Vacuo (M = Fe
      and Os).
AB  - We measured the electronic spectra of mass-selected [M(bpy)3]2+ (M = Fe and Os,
      bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) ions in vacuo by photodissociation spectroscopy of their
      N2 adducts, [M(bpy)3]2+.N2. Extensive band systems in the visible (predominantly
      charge transfer) and near-ultraviolet (pipi*) spectral regions are reported. The
      [M(bpy)3]2+.N2 target ions were prepared by condensing N2 onto electrosprayed
      ions in a cryogenic ion trap at ca. 25 K and then mass-selected by time-of-flight
      mass spectrometry. The electronic photodissociation spectra of the cold, gas
      phase ions closely reflect their intrinsic properties, i.e., without perturbation
      by solvent effects. The spectra are interpreted using time-dependent density
      functional theory calculations both with and without accounting for relativistic
      effects.

PMID- 28586199
TI  - Uptake, Distribution, and Transformation of CuO NPs in a Floating Plant
      Eichhornia crassipes and Related Stomatal Responses.
AB  - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are being released into aquatic environments with
      their increasing applications. In this work, we investigated the interaction of
      CuO NPs with a floating plant, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). CuO NPs (50
      mg/L) showed significant growth inhibition on both roots and shoots of E.
      crassipes after 8-day exposure, much higher than that of the bulk CuO particles
      (50 mg/L) and their corresponding dissolved Cu2+ ions (0.30 mg/L). Scanning
      electron and light microscopic observations showed that the root caps and
      meristematic zone of E. Crassipes were severely damaged after CuO NP exposure,
      with disordered cell arrangement and a destroyed elongation zone of root tips. It
      is confirmed that CuO NPs could be translocated to shoot from both roots and
      submerged leaves. As detected by X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy analysis
      (XANES), CuO NPs were observed in roots, submerged leaves, and emerged leaves.
      Cu2S and other Cu species were also detected in these tissues, providing solid
      evidence of the transformation of CuO NPs. In addition, stomatal closure was
      observed during CuO NPs-leaf contact, which was induced by the production of H2O2
      and increased Ca level in leaf guard cells. These findings are helpful for better
      understanding the fate of NPs in aquatic plants and related biological responses.

PMID- 28586200
TI  - Oligothiophene-Bridged Conjugated Covalent Organic Frameworks.
AB  - Two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D-COFs) are crystalline, porous
      materials comprising aligned columns of pi-stacked building blocks. With a view
      toward the application of these materials in organic electronics and
      optoelectronics, the construction of oligothiophene-based COFs would be highly
      desirable. The realization of such materials, however, has remained a challenge,
      in particular with respect to laterally conjugated imine-linked COFs. We have
      developed a new building block design employing an asymmetric modification on an
      otherwise symmetric backbone that allows us to construct a series of highly
      crystalline quaterthiophene-derived COFs with tunable electronic properties.
      Studying the optical response of these materials, we have observed for the first
      time the formation of a charge transfer state between the COF subunits across the
      imine bond. We believe that our new building block design provides a general
      strategy for the construction of well-ordered COFs from various extended building
      blocks, thus greatly expanding the range of applicable molecules.

PMID- 28586201
TI  - Ruthenium(II) Bipyridyl Complexes with Cyclometalated NHC Ligands.
AB  - We present the synthesis and characterization of novel cyclometalated ruthenium N
      heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes of the general formula [Ru(C^C*)(bpy)2]PF6
      (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), with the C^C* ligand being based on different 1
      phenylimidazoles. They were synthesized in a one-pot procedure starting from the
      corresponding p-cymene NHC complexes [Ru(C^C*)(p-cymene)Cl]. Their structural,
      spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties were investigated by NMR, X-ray,
      UV/vis, and CV, as well as density functional theory methods. Because of the
      stronger electron-donating carbene ligands, these complexes represent a new class
      of bisheteroleptic dyes with improved photophysical and electrochemical
      properties.

PMID- 28586202
TI  - Cytosine Iminyl Radical (cytN*) Formation via Electron-Induced Debromination of 5
      Bromocytosine: A DFT and Gaussian 4 Study.
AB  - Halogen-substituted pyrimidines, such as 5-bromouracil and 5-iodouracil, have
      been used as radio therapeutic (RT) agents in cancer treatment. The
      radiosensitizing activity of 5-bromouracil is attributed to its reaction with
      electron which produce the highly reactive uracil-5-yl radical by dissociating
      the C5-Br bond. Using density functional methods and highly accurate Gaussian 4
      (G4) theory, herein, we show that 5-bromocytosine (5-Brcyt) after reaction with
      electron, also, leads to the formation of cytosine-5-yl radical. However, our
      results show that this species can subsequently undergo a base-catalyzed
      tautomerization reaction to form the pi-aminyl radical followed by a second
      tautomerization to the thermodynamically most stable sigma-iminyl radical
      (cytN*). From the present theoretical calculations, we infer that the mechanism
      of the formation of cytN* by one-electron reduction of 5-Brcyt is straightforward
      and may take place in 5-Brcyt-labeled DNA in competition with the usual reactions
      expected for the cytosine-5-yl radical such as abstraction and water addition.

PMID- 28586203
TI  - Why Is Research on Amyloid-beta Failing to Give New Drugs for Alzheimer's
      Disease?
AB  - The two hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are the presence of neurofibrillary
      tangles (NFT) made of aggregates of the hyperphosphorylated tau protein and of
      amyloid plaques composed of amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides, primarily Abeta1-40
      and Abeta1-42. Targeting the production, aggregation, and toxicity of Abeta with
      small molecule drugs or antibodies is an active area of AD research due to the
      general acceptance of the amyloid cascade hypothesis, but thus far all drugs
      targeting Abeta have failed. From a review of the recent literature and our own
      experience based on in vitro, in silico, and in vivo studies, we present some
      reasons to explain this repetitive failure.

PMID- 28586204
TI  - Ce-Doped La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5, a Rare Highly Efficient Blue-Emitting Phosphor at
      Short Wavelength toward High Color Rendering White LED Application.
AB  - Phase pure nondoped and Ce doped La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5 (Al containing La N-phase)
      samples have been obtained by solid-state reaction synthesis for the first time.
      1% Ce-doped La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5 phosphor displays a broad excitation band
      ranging from UV to 410 nm, with a maximum at 355 nm. UV light excitation results
      in a narrow Ce3+ 5d-4f emission band (fwhm = 68 nm) centered at 418 nm. The
      emission can be tuned from 417 nm at 0.5% Ce to 450 nm at 50% Ce. A high internal
      quantum efficiency up to 84% is achieved for a 1% Ce doped sample, which has CIE
      chromaticity coordinates of x = 0.157 and y = 0.069, close to the NTSC blue
      standard (x = 0.155; y = 0.070). Compared to La3Si8O4N11:Ce phosphor, the quantum
      efficiency and thermal stability have been enhanced for La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5:Ce
      phosphor without shifting the emission peak wavelength. La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5:Ce
      shows less thermal quenching than La3Si8O4N11:Ce and no shift or change in the
      shape of emission spectra with increasing the temperature from 4 to 573 K. These
      results show that La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5:Ce is more efficient than any other (oxy
      )nitride phosphor with an emission in the short wavelength blue region (400-450
      nm). A white LED was fabricated using the La3Si6.5Al1.5N9.5O5.5:5%Ce as a blue
      phosphor. The high color rendering index (Ra = 93.2, R9 = 91.4, and R12 = 89.5)
      obtained shows that the phosphor is a very promising conversion phosphor for
      white LEDs.

PMID- 28586205
TI  - Black Anatase Formation by Annealing of Amorphous Nanoparticles and the Role of
      the Ti2O3 Shell in Self-Organized Crystallization by Particle Attachment.
AB  - We use amorphous titania nanoparticle networks produced by pulsed laser
      vaporization at room temperature as a model system for understanding the
      mechanism of formation of black titania. Here, we characterize the transformation
      of amorphous nanoparticles by annealing in pure Ar at 400  degrees C, the lowest
      temperature at which black titania was observed. Atomic resolution electron
      microscopy methods and electron energy loss spectroscopy show that the onset of
      crystallization occurs by nucleation of an anatase core that is surrounded by an
      amorphous Ti2O3 shell. The formation of the metastable anatase core before the
      thermodynamically stable rutile phase occurs according to the Ostwald phase rule.
      In the second stage the particle size increases by coalescence of already
      crystallized particles by a self-organized mechanism of crystallization by
      particle attachment. We show that the Ti2O3 shell plays a critical role in both
      black titania transformation and functionality. At 400  degrees C, Ti2O3 hinders
      the agglomeration of neighboring particles to maintain a high surface-to-volume
      ratio that is beneficial for enhanced photocatalytic activity. In agreement with
      previous results, the thin Ti2O3 surface layer acts as a narrow bandgap
      semiconductor in concert with surface defects to enhance the photocatalytic
      activity. Our results demonstrate that crystallization by particle attachment can
      be a highly effective mechanism for optimizing photocatalytic efficiency by
      controlling the phase, composition, and particle size distribution in a wide
      range of self-doped defective TiO2 architectures simply by varying the annealing
      conditions of amorphous nanoparticles.

PMID- 28586206
TI  - Functionalized Fullerene Targeting Human Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, hNav1.7.
AB  - Mutations of hNav1.7 that cause its activities to be enhanced contribute to
      severe neuropathic pain. Only a small number of hNav1.7 specific inhibitors have
      been identified, most of which interact with the voltage-sensing domain of the
      voltage-activated sodium ion channel. In our previous computational study, we
      demonstrated that a [Lys6]-C84 fullerene binds tightly (affinity of 46 nM) to
      NavAb, the voltage-gated sodium channel from the bacterium Arcobacter butzleri.
      Here, we extend this work and, using molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrate
      that the same [Lys6]-C84 fullerene binds strongly (2.7 nM) to the pore of a
      modeled human sodium ion channel hNav1.7. In contrast, the fullerene binds only
      weakly to a mutated model of hNav1.7 (I1399D) (14.5 mM) and a model of the
      skeletal muscle hNav1.4 (3.7 mM). Comparison of one representative sequence from
      each of the nine human sodium channel isoforms shows that only hNav1.7 possesses
      residues that are critical for binding the fullerene derivative and blocking the
      channel pore.

PMID- 28586207
TI  - PrimaDORAC: A Free Web Interface for the Assignment of Partial Charges, Chemical
      Topology, and Bonded Parameters in Organic or Drug Molecules.
AB  - : We present PrimaDORAC, a simple and freely accessible web interface for
      generating the topology and the parameter files of organic or drug molecules to
      be used in molecular mechanics or molecular dynamics calculations. The interface
      relies on our in-house FORTRAN90 parser, working on the recently released
      Generalized Amber Force Field parameter set (GAFF2). AM1/BCC charges are computed
      using the Public Domain MOPAC7 program and the bond charge corrections (BCC)
      reported in Jakalian, A.; Jack, D. B.; Bayly, C. I.; J. Comp. Chem., 2002, 23,
      1623-1641. The interface has been tested on about 52,000 compounds (identified
      with a CAS registry number) taken from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Open
      Database. PrimaDORAC has been found to be very reliable, producing GAFF2
      minimized structures bearing a mean root square displacement of about 0.01-0.02
      nm with respect to the original CORINA-generated 3D NCI structures. As a
      demonstrative example, we release the full topology and parameter files, along
      with the AM1/BCC-GAFF2 computed in vacuo IR spectrum, for some recently
      discovered PARP/MCL1 inhibitors. The web interface and parser, including the
      sources, are part of the ORAC code (Procacci, P.; J. Chem. Inf. MODEL: , 2016,
      56, 1117-1121), distributed under the General Public License at
      www.chim.unifi.it/orac.

PMID- 28586208
TI  - Measurement and Modeling of Setschenow Constants for Selected Hydrophilic
      Compounds in NaCl and CaCl2 Simulated Carbon Storage Brines.
AB  - Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), a climate change mitigation
      strategy, along with unconventional oil and gas extraction, generates enormous
      volumes of produced water containing high salt concentrations and a litany of
      organic compounds. Understanding the aqueous solubility of organic compounds
      related to these operations is important for water treatment and reuse
      alternatives, as well as risk assessment purposes. The well-established
      Setschenow equation can be used to determine the effect of salts on aqueous
      solubility. However, there is a lack of reported Setschenow constants, especially
      for polar organic compounds. In this study, the Setschenow constants for selected
      hydrophilic organic compounds were experimentally determined, and linear free
      energy models for predicting the Setschenow constant of organic chemicals in
      concentrated brines were developed. Solid phase microextraction was employed to
      measure the salting-out behavior of six selected hydrophilic compounds up to 5 M
      NaCl and 2 M CaCl2 and in Na-Ca-Cl brines. All compounds, which include phenol, p
      cresol, hydroquinone, pyrrole, hexanoic acid, and 9-hydroxyfluorene, exhibited
      log-linear behavior up to these concentrations, meaning Setschenow constants
      previously measured at low salt concentrations can be extrapolated up to high
      salt concentrations for hydrophilic compounds. Setschenow constants measured in
      NaCl and CaCl2 brines are additive for the compounds measured here; meaning
      Setschenow constants measured in single salt solutions can be used in multiple
      salt solutions. The hydrophilic compounds in this study were selected to
      elucidate differences in salting-out behavior based on their chemical structure.
      Using data from this study, as well as literature data, linear free energy
      relationships (LFERs) for prediction of NaCl, CaCl2, LiCl, and NaBr Setschenow
      constants were developed and validated. Two LFERs were improved. One LFER uses
      the Abraham solvation parameters, which include the index of refraction of the
      organic compound, organic compound's polarizability, hydrogen bonding acidity and
      basicity of the organic compound, and the molar volume of the compound. The other
      uses an octanol-water partitioning coefficient to predict NaCl Setschenow
      constants. Improved models from this study now include organic compounds that are
      structurally and chemically more diverse than the previous models. The CaCl2,
      LiCl, and NaBr single parameter LFERs use concepts from the Hofmeister series to
      predict new, respective Setschenow constants from NaCl Setschenow constants. The
      Setschenow constants determined here, as well as the LFERs developed, can be
      incorporated into CCUS reactive transport models to predict aqueous solubility
      and partitioning coefficients of organic compounds. This work also has
      implications for beneficial reuse of water from CCUS; this can aide in
      determining treatment technologies for produced waters.

PMID- 28586209
TI  - Ab Initio Prediction of Adsorption Isotherms for Gas Mixtures by Grand Canonical
      Monte Carlo Simulations on a Lattice of Sites.
AB  - Gibbs free energies of adsorption on individual sites and the lateral (adsorbate
      adsorbate) interaction energies are obtained from quantum chemical ab initio
      methods and molecular statistics. They define a Grand Canonical Monte Carlo
      (GCMC) Hamiltonian for simulations of gas mixtures on a lattice of adsorption
      sites. Coadsorption of CO2 and CH4 at Mg2+ sites in the pores of the metal
      organic framework CPO-27-Mg (Mg-MOF-74) is studied as an example. Simulations
      with different approximations as made in widely used coadsorption models such as
      the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) show their limitations in describing
      adsorption selectivities for binary mixtures.

PMID- 28586210
TI  - QTAIM and Stress Tensor Characterization of Intramolecular Interactions Along
      Dynamics Trajectories of a Light-Driven Rotary Molecular Motor.
AB  - A quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and stress tensor analysis was
      applied to analyze intramolecular interactions influencing the photoisomerization
      dynamics of a light-driven rotary molecular motor. For selected nonadiabatic
      molecular dynamics trajectories characterized by markedly different S1 state
      lifetimes, the electron densities were obtained using the ensemble density
      functional theory method. The analysis revealed that torsional motion of the
      molecular motor blades from the Franck-Condon point to the S1 energy minimum and
      the S1/S0 conical intersection is controlled by two factors: greater numbers of
      intramolecular bonds before the hop-time and unusually strongly coupled bonds
      between the atoms of the rotor and the stator blades. This results in the
      effective stalling of the progress along the torsional path for an extended
      period of time. This finding suggests a possibility of chemical tuning of the
      speed of photoisomerization of molecular motors and related molecular switches by
      reshaping their molecular backbones to decrease or increase the degree of
      coupling and numbers of intramolecular bond critical points as revealed by the
      QTAIM/stress tensor analysis of the electron density. Additionally, the stress
      tensor scalar and vector analysis was found to provide new methods to follow the
      trajectories, and from this, new insight was gained into the behavior of the S1
      state in the vicinity of the conical intersection.

PMID- 28586211
TI  - Structure Based Design of N-(3-((1H-Pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-5
      yl)ethynyl)benzenesulfonamides as Selective Leucine-Zipper and Sterile-alpha
      Motif Kinase (ZAK) Inhibitors.
AB  - A series of N-(3-((1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-5-yl)ethynyl)benzenesulfonamides
      were designed as the first class of highly selective ZAK inhibitors. The
      representative compound 3h strongly inhibits the kinase activity of ZAK with an
      IC50 of 3.3 nM and dose-dependently suppresses the activation of ZAK downstream
      signals in vitro and in vivo, while it is significantly less potent for the
      majority of 403 nonmutated kinases evaluated. Compound 3h also exhibits orally
      therapeutic effects on cardiac hypertrophy in a spontaneous hypertensive rat
      model.

PMID- 28586212
TI  - Species Identification of Necrophagous Insect Eggs Based on Amino Acid Profile
      Differences Revealed by Direct Analysis in Real Time-High Resolution Mass
      Spectrometry.
AB  - The colonization of decomposing remains by necrophagous insects such as blow
      flies is of forensic importance because the progression through the various
      stages of insect development can be correlated to time of death. The ability to
      infer this information hinges on accurate determination of the fly species that
      are associated with the entomological evidence collected. This evidence can
      include eggs, larvae, pupae, and puparial casings. Determination of the egg's
      identity is particularly challenging because the eggs of multiple species are
      morphologically very similar. We report here that the species identity of fly
      eggs can be determined from their chemical fingerprint signatures acquired by
      direct analysis in real time high-resolution mass spectrometry (DART-HRMS). Thus,
      freshly laid eggs were collected and readily distinguished from multiple
      necrophagous fly species in the Manhattan area of New York City. These species
      included representatives from the blow fly family (Calliphoridae), specifically
      Calliphora vicina, Lucilia sericata, L. coeruleiviridis, and Phormia regina
      species as well as the Phoridae and Sarcophagidae families. Multivariate
      statistical analysis of their observed DART-HRMS spectra revealed intraspecies
      similarities and interspecies differences that were the basis of species
      differentiation. The chemical basis of discrimination was differences in amino
      acid profiles. This represents the first chemically based fly egg identification
      approach with applications to forensic entomology. The rapidity of the method
      makes feasible the generation of a fly egg chemical profile database against
      which the DART-HRMS spectra of unknown eggs can be screened to rapidly assess
      species identity without needing to rear the eggs to adulthood.

PMID- 28586213
TI  - Atomically Precise Clusters of Noble Metals: Emerging Link between Atoms and
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - Atomically precise pieces of matter of nanometer dimensions composed of noble
      metals are new categories of materials with many unusual properties. Over 100
      molecules of this kind with formulas such as Au25(SR)18, Au38(SR)24, and
      Au102(SR)44 as well as Ag25(SR)18, Ag29(S2R)12, and Ag44(SR)30 (often with a few
      counterions to compensate charges) are known now. They can be made reproducibly
      with robust synthetic protocols, resulting in colored solutions, yielding powders
      or diffractable crystals. They are distinctly different from nanoparticles in
      their spectroscopic properties such as optical absorption and emission, showing
      well-defined features, just like molecules. They show isotopically resolved
      molecular ion peaks in mass spectra and provide diverse information when examined
      through multiple instrumental methods. Most important of these properties is
      luminescence, often in the visible-near-infrared window, useful in biological
      applications. Luminescence in the visible region, especially by clusters
      protected with proteins, with a large Stokes shift, has been used for various
      sensing applications, down to a few tens of molecules/ions, in air and water.
      Catalytic properties of clusters, especially oxidation of organic substrates,
      have been examined. Materials science of these systems presents numerous
      possibilities and is fast evolving. Computational insights have given reasons for
      their stability and unusual properties. The molecular nature of these materials
      is unequivocally manifested in a few recent studies such as intercluster
      reactions forming precise clusters. These systems manifest properties of the
      core, of the ligand shell, as well as that of the integrated system. They are
      better described as protected molecules or aspicules, where aspis means shield
      and cules refers to molecules, implying that they are "shielded molecules". In
      order to understand their diverse properties, a nomenclature has been introduced
      with which it is possible to draw their structures with positional labels on
      paper, with some training. Research in this area is captured here, based on the
      publications available up to December 2016.

PMID- 28586215
TI  - Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Anti-Ferromagnetic Coupling of
      CrIII Ions through Diamagnetic -O-NbV-O- Bridges.
AB  - The synthesis and properties of a novel hetero-tetranuclear compound
      [Cr2(bpy)4(MU-O)4Nb2(C2O4)4].3H2O (1; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), investigated by
      single-crystal X-ray diffraction, magnetization measurements, IR, UV/visible
      spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR; X- and Q-bands and high
      field), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, are reported. Crystal
      structure of 1 (orthorhombic Pcab space group) consists of a square-shaped
      macrocyclic {Cr2(MU-O)4Nb2} core in which CrIII and NbV ions are alternately
      bridged by oxo ions and three uncoordinated water molecules. The intramolecular
      CrIII...CrIII distances through the -O-NbV-O- bridges are 7.410(2) and 7.419(2)
      A, while diagonal separation is 5.406(2) A. The temperature dependence of
      magnetization M(T) evidences an anti-ferromagnetic ground state, which originates
      from a magnetic interaction between two CrIII ions of spin 3/2 through two
      triatomic -O-NbV-O- diamagnetic bridges. A spin Hamiltonian appropriate for
      polynuclear isolated magnetic units was used. The best-fitting curve for this
      model is obtained with the parameters gCr = 1.992(3), J = -12.77(5) cm-1, and |D|
      = 0.17(4) cm-1. The CrIII...CrIII dimer model is confirmed by EPR spectra, which
      exhibit a pronounced change of their shape around the temperature corresponding
      to the intradimer coupling J. The EPR spectra simulations and DFT calculations
      reveal the presence of a single-ion anisotropy that is close to being uniaxial, D
      = -0.31 cm-1 and E = 0.024 cm-1.

PMID- 28586216
TI  - Catalytic Formylation of Primary and Secondary Amines with CO2 and H2 Using
      Abundant-Metal Catalysts.
AB  - Catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 is an efficient and selective way to prepare
      formic acid derivatives, but most of the highly active catalysts used for this
      purpose require precious metals. In this study, in situ abundant-metal complexes
      have been evaluated as potential catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to prepare
      formamides, including N-formylmorpholine, 2-ethylhexylformamide, and
      dimethylformamide, from the corresponding amines. From these initial screening
      results, the most active catalysts for these reactions were found to be MX2/dmpe
      in situ catalysts (M = Fe(II), Ni(II); X = Cl-, CH3CO2-, acac-; dmpe = 1,2
      bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane) in DMSO. The optimal reaction conditions were found
      to be 100-135  degrees C and a total pressure of 100 bar. Morpholine was
      formylated with a TON value of up to 18000, which is the highest TON for the
      hydrogenation of CO2 to formamides using any abundant-metal-phosphine complex.
      With an appropriate selection of catalyst and reaction conditions, >90-98%
      conversion of amine to formamide could be achieved.

PMID- 28586214
TI  - Establishing an Artificial Pathway for De Novo Biosynthesis of Vanillyl Alcohol
      in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Vanillyl alcohol is a phenolic alcohol and is used as a flavoring agent in foods
      and beverages. In this paper, we propose a novel artificial pathway for microbial
      production of vanillyl alcohol from simple carbon sources. The pathway extends
      from 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA), and needs only three heterologous enzymes, p
      hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (PobA), carboxylic acid reductase (CAR) and caffeate
      O-methyltransferase (COMT). First, we examined the promiscuous activity of COMT
      toward 3,4-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol and found a kcat value of 0.097 s-1.
      Meanwhile, 499.36 mg/L vanillyl alcohol was produced by COMT in vivo catalysis
      when fed with 1000 mg/L 3,4-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol. In the following experiment,
      de novo biosynthesis of vanillyl alcohol was carried out and 240.69 mg/L vanillyl
      alcohol was produced via modular optimization of pathway genes. This work was to
      date the first achievement for microbial production of vanillyl alcohol.
      Additionally, the present study demonstrates the application of enzyme
      promiscuity of COMT in the design of an artificial pathway for the production of
      high-value methylated aromatic compounds.

PMID- 28586217
TI  - Integrated Hierarchical Cobalt Sulfide/Nickel Selenide Hybrid Nanosheets as an
      Efficient Three-dimensional Electrode for Electrochemical and
      Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.
AB  - Developing highly active electrocatalysts for photoelectrochemical water
      splitting is critical to bring solar/electrical-to-hydrogen energy conversion
      processes into reality. Herein, we report a three-dimensional (3D) hybrid
      electrocatalyst that is constructed through in situ anchoring of Co9S8 nanosheets
      onto the surface of Ni3Se2 nanosheets vertically aligned on an electrochemically
      exfoliated graphene foil. Benefiting from the synergistic effects between Ni3Se2
      and Co9S8, the highly conductive graphene support, and large surface area, the
      novel 3D hybrid electrode delivers superior electrocatalytic activity toward
      water reduction in alkaline media, featuring overpotentials of -0.17 and -0.23 V
      to achieve current densities of 20 and 50 mA cm-2, respectively, demonstrating an
      electrocatalytic performance on the top of the Ni3Se2- and Co9S8-based
      electrocatalysts as reported in literature. Experimental investigations and
      theoretical calculations confirm that the remarkable activity of the obtained
      material results from the unique 3D hierarchical architecture and interface
      reconstruction between Ni3Se2 and Co9S8 through Ni-S bonding, which leads to
      charge redistribution and thus lowers the energy barrier of hydrogen desorption
      in the water splitting process. Further integration of the 3D hybrid electrode
      with a macroporous silicon photocathode enables highly active and sustainable
      sunlight-driven water splitting in both basic media and real river water. The
      overall water splitting with 10 mA cm-2 at a low voltage of 1.62 V is achieved
      using our hybrid as both anode and cathode catalysts, which surpasses that of the
      Ir/C-Pt/C couple (1.60 V) for sufficiently high overpotentials.

PMID- 28586218
TI  - Alkoxy Radical Bond Scissions Explain the Anomalously Low Secondary Organic
      Aerosol and Organonitrate Yields From alpha-Pinene + NO3.
AB  - Oxidation of monoterpenes (C10H16) by nitrate radicals (NO3) constitutes an
      important source of atmospheric secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and
      organonitrates. However, knowledge of the mechanisms of their formation is
      incomplete and differences in yields between similar monoterpenes are poorly
      understood. In particular, yields of SOA and organonitrates from alpha-pinene +
      NO3 are low, while those from Delta3-carene + NO3 are high. Using computational
      methods, we suggest that bond scission of the nitrooxy alkoxy radicals from
      Delta3-carene lead to the formation of reactive keto-nitrooxy-alkyl radicals,
      which retain the nitrooxy moiety and can undergo further reactions to form SOA.
      By contrast, bond scissions of the nitrooxy alkoxy radicals from alpha-pinene
      lead almost exclusively to the formation of the relatively unreactive and
      volatile product pinonaldehyde (C10H16O2), thereby limiting organonitrate and SOA
      formation. This hypothesis is supported by laboratory experiments that quantify
      products of the reaction of alpha-pinene + NO3 under atmospherically relevant
      conditions.

PMID- 28586219
TI  - Stable, Yet Highly Reactive Nonclassical Iron(II) Polyhydride Pincer Complexes: Z
      Selective Dimerization and Hydroboration of Terminal Alkynes.
AB  - The synthesis, characterization, and catalytic activity of nonclassical iron(II)
      polyhydride complexes containing tridentate PNP pincer-type ligands is described.
      These compounds of the general formula [Fe(PNP)(H)2(eta2-H2)] exhibit remarkable
      reactivity toward terminal alkynes. They efficiently promote the catalytic
      dimerization of aryl acetylenes giving the corresponding conjugated 1,3-enynes in
      excellent yields with low catalyst loadings. When the reaction is carried out in
      the presence of pinacolborane, vinyl boronates are obtained. Both reactions take
      place under mild conditions and are highly chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective
      with up to 99% Z-selectivity.

PMID- 28586220
TI  - Discovery of Allosteric Inhibitors Targeting the Spliceosomal RNA Helicase Brr2.
AB  - Brr2 is an RNA helicase belonging to the Ski2-like subfamily and an essential
      component of spliceosome. Brr2 catalyzes an ATP-dependent unwinding of the U4/U6
      RNA duplex, which is a critical step for spliceosomal activation. An HTS campaign
      using an RNA-dependent ATPase assay and initial SAR study identified two
      different Brr2 inhibitors, 3 and 12. Cocrystal structures revealed 3 binds to an
      unexpected allosteric site between the C-terminal and the N-terminal helicase
      cassettes, while 12 binds an RNA-binding site inside the N-terminal cassette.
      Selectivity profiling indicated the allosteric inhibitor 3 is more Brr2-selective
      than the RNA site binder 12. Chemical optimization of 3 using SBDD culminated in
      the discovery of the potent and selective Brr2 inhibitor 9 with helicase
      inhibitory activity. Our findings demonstrate an effective strategy to explore
      selective inhibitors for helicases, and 9 could be a promising starting point for
      exploring molecular probes to elucidate biological functions and the therapeutic
      relevance of Brr2.

PMID- 28586222
TI  - Structural Characterization of Histatin 5-Spermidine Conjugates: A Combined
      Experimental and Theoretical Study.
AB  - Histatin 5 (Hst5) is a naturally occurring antimicrobial peptide that acts as the
      first line of defense against oral candidiasis. It has been shown that
      conjugation of the active Hst5 fragment, Hst54-15, and the polyamine spermidine
      (Spd) improves the candidacidal effect. Knowledge about the structure of these
      conjugates is, however, very limited. Thus, the aim of this study was to
      characterize the structural properties of the Hst54-15-Spd conjugates by
      performing atomistic molecular dynamics simulations in combination with small
      angle X-ray scattering. It was shown that the Hst54-15-Spd conjugates adopt
      extended and slightly rigid random coil conformations without any secondary
      structure in aqueous solution. It is hypothesized that the increased fungal
      killing potential of Hst54-15-Spd, in comparison with the Spd-Hst54-15 conjugate,
      is due to the more extended conformations of the former, which cause the bonded
      Spd molecule to be more accessible for recognition by polyamine transporters in
      the cell.

PMID- 28586224
TI  - Au22Ir3(PET)18: An Unusual Alloy Cluster through Intercluster Reaction.
AB  - An intercluster reaction between Au25(PET)18 and Ir9(PET)6 producing the alloy
      cluster, Au22Ir3(PET)18 exclusively, is demonstrated where the ligand PET is 2
      phenylethanethiol. Typical reactions of this kind between Au25(PET)18 and
      Ag25(SR)18, and other clusters reported previously, produce mixed cluster
      products. The cluster composition was confirmed by detailed high-resolution
      electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) and other spectroscopic
      techniques. This is the first example of Ir metal incorporation in a monolayer
      protected noble metal cluster. The formation of a single product was confirmed by
      thin layer chromatography (TLC). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations
      suggest that the most favorable geometry of the Au22Ir3(PET)18 cluster is one
      wherein the three Ir atoms are arranged triangularly with one Ir atom at the
      icosahedral core and the other two on the icosahedral shell. Significant
      contraction of the metal core was observed due to strong Ir-Ir interactions.

PMID- 28586225
TI  - In Situ Determination of the Water Condensation Mechanisms on Superhydrophobic
      and Superhydrophilic Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes.
AB  - One-dimensional (1D) nanostructured surfaces based on high-density arrays of
      nanowires and nanotubes of photoactive titanium dioxide (TiO2) present a tunable
      wetting behavior from superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic states. These
      situations are depicted in a reversible way by simply irradiating with
      ultraviolet light (superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic) and storage in dark. In
      this article, we combine in situ environmental scanning electron microscopy
      (ESEM) and near ambient pressure photoemission analysis (NAPP) to understand this
      transition. These experiments reveal complementary information at microscopic and
      atomic level reflecting the surface wettability and chemical state modifications
      experienced by these 1D surfaces upon irradiation. We pay special attention to
      the role of the water condensation mechanisms and try to elucidate the
      relationship between apparent water contact angles of sessile drops under ambient
      conditions at the macroscale with the formation of droplets by water condensation
      at low temperature and increasing humidity on the nanotubes' surfaces. Thus, for
      the as-grown nanotubes, we reveal a metastable and superhydrophobic Cassie state
      for sessile drops that tunes toward water dropwise condensation at the microscale
      compatible with a partial hydrophobic Wenzel state. For the UV-irradiated
      surfaces, a filmwise wetting behavior is observed for both condensed water and
      sessile droplets. NAPP analyses show a hydroxyl accumulation on the as-grown
      nanotubes surfaces during the exposure to water condensation conditions, whereas
      the water filmwise condensation on a previously hydroxyl enriched surface is
      proved for the superhydrophilic counterpart.

PMID- 28586223
TI  - In Situ Neutron Diffraction Studies of the Ion Exchange Synthesis Mechanism of
      Li2Mg2P3O9N: Evidence for a Hidden Phase Transition.
AB  - Motivated by predictions made using a bond valence sum difference map (BVS-DM)
      analysis, the novel Li-ion conductor Li2Mg2P3O9N was synthesized by ion exchange
      from a Na2Mg2P3O9N precursor. Impedance spectroscopy measurements indicate that
      Li2Mg2P3O9N has a room temperature Li-ion conductivity of about 10-6 S/cm
      (comparable to LiPON), which is 6 orders of magnitude higher than the
      extrapolated Na-ion conductivity of Na2Mg2P3O9N at this temperature. The
      structure of Li2Mg2P3O9N was determined from ex situ synchrotron and time-of
      flight neutron diffraction data to retain the P213 space group, though with a
      cubic lattice parameter of a = 9.11176(8) A that is significantly smaller than
      the a = 9.2439(1) A of Na2Mg2P3O9N. The two Li-ion sites are found to be very
      substantially displaced (~0.5 A) relative to the analogous Na sites in the
      precursor phase. The non-molten salt ion exchange method used to prepare
      Li2Mg2P3O9N produces a minimal background in powder diffraction experiments, and
      was therefore exploited for the first time to follow a Li+/Na+ ion exchange
      reaction using in situ powder neutron diffraction. Lattice parameter changes
      during ion exchange suggest that the reaction proceeds through a Na2-xLixMg2P3O9N
      solid solution (stage 1) followed by a two-phase reaction (stage 2) to form
      Li2Mg2P3O9N. However, full Rietveld refinements of the in situ neutron
      diffraction data indicate that the actual transformation mechanism is more
      complex and instead involves two thermodynamically distinct solid solutions in
      which the Li exclusively occupies the Li1 site at low Li contents (stage 1a) and
      then migrates to the Li3 site at higher Li contents (stage 1b), a crossover
      driven by the different signs of the local volume change at these sites. In
      addition to highlighting the importance of obtaining full structural data in situ
      throughout the ion exchange process, these results provide insights into the
      general question of what constitutes a thermodynamic phase.

PMID- 28586226
TI  - Elucidation of CuWO4 Surface States During Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation.
AB  - Electrochemical, photoelectrochemical, and impedance spectroscopy measurements
      were performed to investigate the role of CuWO4 surface states during water
      oxidation. We found that a capacitive feature related to a surface state is
      clearly observable under water oxidation conditions. The magnitude of the surface
      state capacitance is light intensity-dependent, with a peak potential that
      coincides with the water oxidation onset potential region. The surface state is
      not observed in the dark nor in contact with nonaqueous solvents. These results
      strongly support our assignment of this surface state as the buildup of water
      oxidation intermediate species at the surface of CuWO4 photoanodes, not a
      permanent or intrinsic state as previously reported. We suggest this is a general
      feature that controls the behavior and efficiency of solar water splitting
      reactions.

PMID- 28586221
TI  - The Structure-Activity Relationship of a Tetrahydroisoquinoline Class of N-Methyl
      d-Aspartate Receptor Modulators that Potentiates GluN2B-Containing N-Methyl-d
      Aspartate Receptors.
AB  - We have identified a series of positive allosteric NMDA receptor (NMDAR)
      modulators derived from a known class of GluN2C/D-selective
      tetrahydroisoquinoline analogues that includes CIQ. The prototypical compound of
      this series contains a single isopropoxy moiety in place of the two methoxy
      substituents present in CIQ. Modifications of this isopropoxy-containing scaffold
      led to the identification of analogues with enhanced activity at the GluN2B
      subunit. We identified molecules that potentiate the response of
      GluN2B/GluN2C/GluN2D, GluN2B/GluN2C, and GluN2C/GluN2D-containing NMDARs to
      maximally effective concentrations of agonist. Multiple compounds potentiate the
      response of NMDARs with submicromolar EC50 values. Analysis of enantiomeric pairs
      revealed that the S-(-) enantiomer is active at the GluN2B, GluN2C, and/or GluN2D
      subunits, whereas the R-(+) enantiomer is only active at GluN2C/D subunits. These
      results provide a starting point for the development of selective positive
      allosteric modulators for GluN2B-containing receptors.

PMID- 28586227
TI  - Synthesis of Core@Shell Nanostructures in a Continuous Flow Droplet Reactor:
      Controlling Structure through Relative Flow Rates.
AB  - Bimetallic nanostructures are primarily synthesized in small volume batches.
      However, droplet-based reactors are receiving attention due to their ability to
      maintain thermal and compositional equilibrium within and between droplets,
      enabling flow operations for inline analyses and the scale-up of nanomaterial
      syntheses. Here, the syntheses of shape-controlled core@shell Au@Pd
      nanostructures with variable shell thicknesses are reported through control of
      the relative flow rates of reagents within the microreactor. Specifically, Pd
      shells were grown on cubic or octahedral Au seeds, selected as a model system. In
      batch reactions, shell thickness is determined by precursor concentration;
      however, as shown here, precursor feedstock concentration can be held constant,
      with the precursor concentration within the droplets being controlled through
      relative flow rates. This approach allows process conditions to be modified
      inline rather than from batch to batch to achieve particles with different shell
      thicknesses, and this procedure should be applicable to other multicomponent
      systems.

PMID- 28586228
TI  - Retained Carrier-Mobility and Enhanced Plasmonic-Photovoltaics of Graphene via
      ring-centered eta6 Functionalization and Nanointerfacing.
AB  - Binding graphene with auxiliary nanoparticles for plasmonics, photovoltaics,
      and/or optoelectronics, while retaining the trigonal-planar bonding of sp2
      hybridized carbons to maintain its carrier-mobility, has remained a challenge.
      The conventional nanoparticle-incorporation route for graphene is to create
      nucleation/attachment sites via "carbon-centered" covalent functionalization,
      which changes the local hybridization of carbon atoms from trigonal-planar sp2 to
      tetrahedral sp3. This disrupts the lattice planarity of graphene, thus
      dramatically deteriorating its mobility and innate superior properties. Here, we
      show large-area, vapor-phase, "ring-centered" hexahapto (eta6) functionalization
      of graphene to create nucleation-sites for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) without
      disrupting its sp2 character. This is achieved by the grafting of chromium
      tricarbonyl [Cr(CO)3] with all six carbon atoms (sigma-bonding) in the benzenoid
      ring on graphene to form an (eta6-graphene)Cr(CO)3 complex. This nondestructive
      functionalization preserves the lattice continuum with a retention in charge
      carrier mobility (9% increase at 10 K); with AgNPs attached on graphene/n-Si
      solar cells, we report an ~11-fold plasmonic-enhancement in the power conversion
      efficiency (1.24%).

PMID- 28586229
TI  - The Interplay between Trap Density and Hysteresis in Planar Heterojunction
      Perovskite Solar Cells.
AB  - Anomalous current-voltage (J-V) hysteresis in perovskite (PSK) solar cell is open
      to dispute, where hysteresis is argued to be due to electrode polarization,
      dipolar polarization, and/or native defects. However, a correlation between those
      factors and J-V hysteresis is hard to be directly evaluated because they usually
      coexist and are significantly varied depending on morphology and crystallinity of
      the PSK layer, selective contacts, and device architecture. In this study,
      without changing morphology and crystallinity of PSK layer in a planar
      heterojunction structure employing FA0.9Cs0.1PbI3, a correlation between J-V
      hysteresis and trap density is directly evaluated by means of thermally induced
      PbI2 regulating trap density. Increase in thermal annealing time at a given
      temperature of 150  degrees C induces growth of PbI2 on the PSK grain surface,
      which results in significant reduction of nonradiative recombination. Hysteresis
      index is reduced from 0.384 to 0.146 as the annealing time is increased from 5 to
      100 min due to decrease in the amplitude of trap-mediated recombination.
      Reduction of hysteresis by minimizing trap density via controlling thermal
      annealing time leads to the stabilized PCE of 18.84% from the normal planar
      structured FA0.9Cs0.1PbI3 PSK solar cell.

PMID- 28586230
TI  - Weak Donor-Acceptor Interaction and Interface Polarization Define Photoexcitation
      Dynamics in the MoS2/TiO2 Composite: Time-Domain Ab Initio Simulation.
AB  - To realize the full potential of transition metal dichalcogenides interfaced with
      bulk semiconductors for solar energy applications, fast photoinduced charge
      separation, and slow electron-hole recombination are needed. Using a combination
      of time-domain density functional theory with nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, we
      demonstrate that the key features of the electron transfer (ET), energy
      relaxation and electron-hole recombination in a MoS2-TiO2 system are governed by
      the weak van der Waals interfacial interaction and interface polarization.
      Electric fields formed at the interface allow charge separation to happen already
      during the photoexcitation process. Those electrons that still reside inside
      MoS2, transfer into TiO2 slowly and by the nonadiabatic mechanism, due to weak
      donor-acceptor coupling. The ET time depends on excitation energy, because the
      TiO2 state density grows with energy, increasing the nonadiabatic transfer rate,
      and because MoS2 sulfur atoms start to contribute to the photoexcited state at
      higher energies, increasing the coupling. The ET is slower than electron-phonon
      energy relaxation because the donor-acceptor coupling is weak, rationalizing the
      experimentally observed injection of primarily hot electrons. The weak van der
      Waals MoS2-TiO2 interaction ensures a long-lived charge separated state and a
      short electron-hole coherence time. The injection is promoted primarily by
      phonons within the 200-800 cm-1 range. Higher frequency modes are particularly
      important for the electron-hole recombinations, because they are able to accept
      large amounts of electronic energy. The predicted time scales for the forward and
      backward ET, and energy relaxation can be measured by time-resolved
      spectroscopies. The reported simulations generate a detailed time-domain
      atomistic description of the complex interplay of the charge and energy transfer
      processes at the MoS2/TiO2 interface that are of fundamental importance to
      photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications. The results suggest that even
      though the photogenerated charge-separated state is long-lived, the slower charge
      separation, compared to the electron-phonon energy relaxation, can present
      problems in practical applications.

PMID- 28586231
TI  - Silicon Nanowire/Polymer Hybrid Solar Cell-Supercapacitor: A Self-Charging Power
      Unit with a Total Efficiency of 10.5.
AB  - An integrated self-charging power unit, combining a hybrid silicon
      nanowire/polymer heterojunction solar cell with a polypyrrole-based
      supercapacitor, has been demonstrated to simultaneously harvest solar energy and
      store it. By efficiency enhancement of the hybrid nanowire solar cells and a dual
      functional titanium film serving as conjunct electrode of the solar cell and
      supercapacitor, the integrated system is able to yield a total photoelectric
      conversion to storage efficiency of 10.5%, which is the record value in all the
      integrated solar energy conversion and storage system. This system may not only
      serve as a buffer that diminishes the solar power fluctuations from light
      intensity, but also pave its way toward cost-effective high efficiency self
      charging power unit. Finally, an integrated device based on ultrathin Si
      substrate is demonstrated to expand its feasibility and potential application in
      flexible energy conversion and storage devices.

PMID- 28586233
TI  - A Vibration Device to Control Injection Discomfort.
AB  - Pain from local anesthesia injections can be reduced by distraction and counter
      stimulation techniques. This study investigated the DentalVibe(r) Injection
      Comfort System (third-generation, DV3), developed to lessen anesthesia pain
      through pulsed vibration, a form of counter-stimulation. The aim of the study was
      to evaluate both the efficacy of DV3 in reducing pain and discomfort from
      intraoral long buccal (LB) and inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injections and the
      time needed to achieve complete anesthesia during an IAN block. The study
      enrolled 60 subjects, 30 men and 30 women, aged 21 to 32 years, who rated both
      injection pain on a visual analog scale and discomfort, unpleasantness, and
      difficulty in enduring the injection on a modified symptom severity index. Each
      subject received bilateral LB injections and an IAN block. Using block design,
      the third-generation DV (DV3) was randomly assigned to either the first or second
      LB injection and to 30 subjects on their third injection, the IAN block. No
      topical anesthesia was applied. Subjects receiving DV3 reported significantly
      less pain, discomfort, unpleasantness, and difficulty in enduring LB and IAN
      injections (P < .05), regardless of whether DV3 was used on the first or second
      LB injection. Time to complete anesthesia was not significantly different (P >
      .05) when DV3 was used on IAN block injections. The DV3 significantly (P < .02)
      reduced pain/discomfort from anesthetic injections in this pilot study, in which
      many subjects were either dental or medical students familiar with performing and
      enduring injections. More studies are warranted on layperson populations.

PMID- 28586232
TI  - Does 6 Hours of Contact With Alginate Impression Material Affect Dental Cast
      Properties?
AB  - Alginate impression (irreversible hydrocolloid) material is commonly used in
      dental practice because it is easy to mix, low in cost, and well tolerated by
      patients. The material is not dimensionally stable, however; thus, it is
      necessary to pour the impression immediately after the molding is accomplished,
      or within 60 minutes if the impression is kept in 100% humidity. Excessive
      contact of the alginate impression with the cast model over time may affect the
      model's properties. In this study, the authors tested the effect of contact time
      between an alginate impression and type III dental stone on cast model
      properties. Sixty-seven cast models were obtained from a stainless steel cylinder
      by using irreversible hydrocolloid impression material and type III dental stone.
      Thirty-seven cast models were separated from the impression after 1 hour (control
      group) and 30 cast models were separated after 6 hours (study group). The samples
      were evaluated under light microscope for surface details and measured by digital
      caliper for dimensional stability. An indentation on the cast was made and the
      depth of the indentation was then measured with a digital caliper to measure
      hardness. The dimensional stability of the cast models was not affected when
      contact time was increased from 1 hour to 6 hours (P = .507). Surface details did
      not deteriorate when contact time was increased, as all of the samples could
      reproduce all details after the 1-hour and 6-hour interval periods. However,
      hardness was greater after 1 hour of contact time (P = .001) than after 6 hours
      of contact time. In conclusion, contact between alginate impression material and
      type III dental stone up to 6 hours did not affect the dimensional stability and
      richness of the surface; hardness, though, was significantly affected.

PMID- 28586234
TI  - The Direct-Indirect Technique for Composite Restorations Revisited.
AB  - In the direct-indirect composite technique, composite is applied to a
      nonretentive tooth preparation (eg, a noncarious cervical lesion or a
      veneer/inlay/onlay preparation) without any bonding agent, sculpted to a primary
      anatomic form, and light-cured. The partially polymerized restoration is then
      removed from the preparation and finished and tempered extraorally chairside. The
      finished inlay is bonded to the preparation using a resin-based luting agent.
      Advantages of this technique include enhanced physical and mechanical properties
      afforded by the extraoral chairside tempering process because of increased
      monomer conversion, and greater operator control over the final marginal
      adaptation, surface finishing and polishing, and anatomy of the restoration,
      given that these elements are defined outside of the patient's mouth. The direct
      indirect approach also affords enhanced gingival health and patient comfort. This
      article presents a clinical case in which the direct-indirect composite technique
      was used to restore three noncarious cervical lesions on the same quadrant on an
      adult patient. Clinical steps and tips for success are offered. The authors also
      present scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope images showing
      the excellent marginal fit obtained with the direct-indirect composite technique.

PMID- 28586235
TI  - New High-Translucent Cubic-Phase-Containing Zirconia: Clinical and Laboratory
      Considerations and the Effect of Air Abrasion on Strength.
AB  - Fabricating all-ceramic restorations with minimal or no application of a
      secondary phase while maintaining esthetics has been a sought-after goal of the
      dental profession. The objective has been development of a monolithic material
      with optical properties similar to the natural tooth without the need for
      layering porcelain. This article examines some of the newer cubic zirconia
      materials used in a monolithic form. The authors discuss laboratory-processing
      issues that affect esthetics, including evaluation of colorizing, sintering,
      finishing, and polishing, and assess initial translucency testing of several
      materials while evaluating the effect of air abrasion on flexural strength of
      these cubic zirconias. Lastly, the article demonstrates an anterior single-unit
      monolithic case with several of the newer materials.

PMID- 28586236
TI  - Inspecting Targeted Deep Sequencing of Whole Genome Amplified DNA Versus Fresh
      DNA for Somatic Mutation Detection: A Genetic Study in Myelodysplastic Syndrome
      Patients.
AB  - Whole genome amplification (WGA) has become an invaluable method for preserving
      limited samples of precious stock material and has been used during the past
      years as an alternative tool to increase the amount of DNA before library
      preparation for next-generation sequencing. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a
      group of clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by presenting
      somatic mutations in several myeloid-related genes. In this work, targeted deep
      sequencing has been performed on four paired fresh DNA and WGA DNA samples from
      bone marrow of MDS patients, to assess the feasibility of using WGA DNA for
      detecting somatic mutations. The results of this study highlighted that, in
      general, the sequencing and alignment statistics of fresh DNA and WGA DNA samples
      were similar. However, after variant calling and when considering variants
      detected at all frequencies, there was a high level of discordance between fresh
      DNA and WGA DNA (overall, a higher number of variants was detected in WGA DNA).
      After proper filtering, a total of three somatic mutations were detected in the
      cohort. All somatic mutations detected in fresh DNA were also identified in WGA
      DNA and validated by whole exome sequencing.

PMID- 28586237
TI  - A Unique Second-Generation Recombinant Form of HIV-1 Identified Among Men Who
      Have Sex with Men Population in Beijing, China.
AB  - In China, CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC are the most circulating strains of HIV-1, more
      and more second-generation recombinant forms have been isolated around the two
      strains. The same situation happened in Beijing in recent years. In our study, we
      have isolated a new second-generation recombinant form of HIV-1 from a male
      patient who was infected by homosexual behavior. Polygenetic analysis revealed
      that the sequence includes five CRF01_AE fragments and four CRF07_BC fragments.
      CRF01_AE is the skeleton of the recombinant which was inserted with four CRF07_BC
      fragments. The emergency of such second-generation recombinant forms manifests
      the diversity of the HIV-1 epidemic. Consequently, further investigation of
      molecular epidemiology is needed to track the genetic evolution of HIV-1.

PMID- 28586238
TI  - Toward Accountable Discrimination-Aware Data Mining: The Importance of Keeping
      the Human in the Loop-and Under the Looking Glass.
AB  - "Big Data" and data-mined inferences are affecting more and more of our lives,
      and concerns about their possible discriminatory effects are growing. Methods for
      discrimination-aware data mining and fairness-aware data mining aim at keeping
      decision processes supported by information technology free from unjust grounds.
      However, these formal approaches alone are not sufficient to solve the problem.
      In the present article, we describe reasons why discrimination with data can and
      typically does arise through the combined effects of human and machine-based
      reasoning, and argue that this requires a deeper understanding of the human side
      of decision-making with data mining. We describe results from a large-scale human
      subjects experiment that investigated such decision-making, analyzing the
      reasoning that participants reported during their task to assess whether a loan
      request should or would be granted. We derive data protection by design
      strategies for making decision-making discrimination-aware in an accountable way,
      grounding these requirements in the accountability principle of the European
      Union General Data Protection Regulation, and outline how their implementations
      can integrate algorithmic, behavioral, and user interface factors.

PMID- 28586239
TI  - Entertainment-Education Videos as a Persuasive Tool in the Substance Use
      Prevention Intervention "keepin' it REAL".
AB  - Based on social cognitive theory and narrative engagement theory, the current
      study examined hypothesized indirect effects of engagement with keepin' it REAL
      (kiR) curriculum entertainment-education (E-E) videos on youth alcohol use via
      youth drug offer refusal efficacy. Students in 7th grade (N = 1,464) at 25 public
      schools in two Midwestern states were randomly assigned to one of the two
      versions of the kiR curriculum, the kiR urban version and the kiR rural version.
      Each version had their own set of five culturally-grounded E-E videos depicting
      communicative skills to refuse drug offers. Differential effects for engagement
      components were expected depending on the degree of cultural matching. Pre/post
      surveys were administered at the beginning and the end of 7th grade. Structural
      equation modeling analysis resulted in partial support for the research
      hypotheses. Rural youth receiving the urban curriculum who reported higher
      interest in the E-E videos were more likely to report having higher refusal
      efficacy, and in turn, less likely to use alcohol. Rural youth receiving the
      rural curriculum who identified with the E-E video main characters were more
      likely to report having higher refusal efficacy, and in turn, less likely to use
      alcohol. Implications for E-E health promotion are discussed.

PMID- 28586240
TI  - The March for Effectiveness Science.

PMID- 28586241
TI  - Unbiased Quantitation of Alveolar Type II to Alveolar Type I Cell
      Transdifferentiation during Repair after Lung Injury in Mice.
AB  - The alveolar epithelium consists of squamous alveolar type (AT) I and cuboidal
      ATII cells. ATI cells cover 95-98% of the alveolar surface, thereby playing a
      critical role in barrier integrity, and are extremely thin, thus permitting
      efficient gas exchange. During lung injury, ATI cells die, resulting in increased
      epithelial permeability. ATII cells re-epithelialize the alveolar surface via
      proliferation and transdifferentiation into ATI cells. Transdifferentiation is
      characterized by down-regulation of ATII cell markers, up-regulation of ATI cell
      markers, and cell spreading, resulting in a change in morphology from cuboidal to
      squamous, thus restoring normal alveolar architecture and function. The
      mechanisms underlying ATII to ATI cell transdifferentiation have not been well
      studied in vivo. A prerequisite for mechanistic investigation is a rigorous,
      unbiased method to quantitate this process. Here, we used SPCCreERT2;mTmG mice,
      in which ATII cells and their progeny express green fluorescent protein (GFP),
      and applied stereologic techniques to measure transdifferentiation during repair
      after injury induced by LPS. Transdifferentiation was quantitated as the percent
      of alveolar surface area covered by ATII-derived (GFP+) cells expressing ATI, but
      not ATII, cell markers. Using this methodology, the time course and magnitude of
      transdifferentiation during repair was determined. We found that ATI cell loss
      and epithelial permeability occurred by Day 4, and ATII to ATI cell
      transdifferentiation began by Day 7 and continued until Day 16. Notably,
      transdifferentiation and barrier restoration are temporally correlated. This
      methodology can be applied to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying
      transdifferentiation, ultimately revealing novel therapeutic targets to
      accelerate repair after lung injury.

PMID- 28586242
TI  - Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy for newly-diagnosed patients with chronic
      myeloid leukemia: focusing on TKI discontinuation due to adverse events - is
      better always good?

PMID- 28586244
TI  - Converging on the Value of Value Frameworks.

PMID- 28586243
TI  - Falls, Functioning, and Disability Among Women With Persistent Symptoms of
      Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy.
AB  - Purpose Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) may persist after
      treatment ends and may lead to functional decline and falls. This study compared
      objective and self-report measures of physical function, gait patterns, and falls
      between women cancer survivors with and without symptoms of CIPN to identify
      targets for functional rehabilitation. Methods A secondary data analysis of 512
      women cancer survivors (age, 62 +/- 6 years; time since diagnosis, 5.8 +/- 4.1
      years) categorized and compared women self-reporting symptoms of CIPN (CIPN+)
      with asymptomatic women (CIPN-) on the following: maximal leg strength, timed
      chair stand, physical function battery, gait characteristics (speed; step number,
      rate, and length; base of support), self-report physical function and disability,
      and falls in the past year. Results After an average of 6 years after treatment,
      47% of women still reported symptoms of CIPN. CIPN+ had significantly worse self
      report and objectively measured function than did CIPN-, with the exception of
      maximal leg strength and base of support during a usual walk. Gait was slower
      among CIPN+, with those women taking significantly more, but slower and shorter,
      steps than did CIPN- (all P < .05). CIPN+ reported significantly more disability
      and 1.8 times the risk of falls compared with CIPN- ( P < .0001). Increasing
      symptom severity was linearly associated with worsening function, increasing
      disability, and higher fall risk (all P < .05). Conclusion This work makes a
      significant contribution toward understanding the functional impact of CIPN
      symptoms on cancer survivors. Remarkably, 47% of women in our sample had CIPN
      symptoms many years after treatment, together with worse function, greater
      disability, and more falls. CIPN must be assessed earlier in the clinical
      pathway, and strategies to limit symptom progression and to improve function must
      be included in clinical and survivorship care plans.

PMID- 28586245
TI  - Expanding the Perspective on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
      Management.

PMID- 28586246
TI  - Characterization of a New HIV-1 CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC Recombinant Virus in Guangxi,
      China.
AB  - Currently, more and more kinds of circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) and unique
      recombinant forms (URFs) were identified in China. A novel second-generation CCR5
      tropic HIV-1 recombinant virus (GX2016EU09) was identified here, which was
      isolated from a HIV-1-infected man who had sex with men (MSM) in Guangxi, China.
      Phylogenetic analysis of near full-length genome (NFLG) showed that the novel HIV
      1 recombinant GX2016EU09 clustered with CRF01_AE reference sequences, but set up
      a distinct branch. Recombinant analysis showed that the NFLG of GX2016EU09
      composed of CRF01_AE (as the backbone) and CRF07_BC, with nine recombination
      break points observed in the gag, pol, vif, vpr, tat, rev, vpu, env, and nef
      regions. To our knowledge, this HIV-1 URF differs from previously documented
      CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC forms. The emergence of a novel CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC recombinant
      strain indicates the increasing complexity of the HIV-1 epidemic among the MSM
      group in Guangxi, China.

PMID- 28586247
TI  - Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate After Prostatic Urethral Lift Surgery:
      Feasibility and Technical Considerations from a Multi-Institutional Case Series.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Ten percent of patients undergoing prostatic urethral
      lift (PUL) require repeat surgical treatment within 3 years. We describe the
      feasibility and considerations of performing holmium laser enucleation of the
      prostate (HoLEP) as a salvage therapy after previous PUL. METHODS: Men who had
      undergone HoLEP after PUL were retrospectively identified from three institutions
      with surgeons experienced in HoLEP. Subjects were characterized by age, time from
      PUL procedure (months) to HoLEP surgery, indication for retreatment, and pre
      operative prostate volume by ultrasound. Outcomes of interest included
      enucleation time, morcellation time, morcellator type, weight of tissue resected,
      and Clavien complications. We also summarize findings related to the location of
      PUL device implants, and the effect of the implants on the enucleation and
      morcellation portions of the procedure. RESULTS: From December 15, 2015 to
      October 31, 2016, seven men aged 51-78 years underwent HoLEP at a median of 8.6
      months (range 3-18) after PUL. The median prostate volume by transrectal
      ultrasound was 80 cm3 (range 56-160 cm3). For the 7 patients, 6 out of the 22
      device implants were found in aberrant locations. Auxiliary maneuvers were
      required in five cases. Morcellation devices tended to jam with each implant,
      requiring a pause for withdrawal of the morcellator and manual removal from the
      blade or requiring grasper retrieval of device components. There were no Clavien
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: HoLEP can be performed safely and effectively post
      PUL; however, device implants may be found in areas other than the intended
      location, and morcellation of the adenoma tissue is complicated by metallic
      implants of the PUL device.

PMID- 28586249
TI  - Friends Don't Let Friends Smoke: How Storytelling and Social Distance Influence
      Nonsmokers' Responses to Antismoking Messages.
AB  - This study examines nonsmokers' responses to antismoking messages. Informed by
      construal-level theory (CLT), it investigates whether and how evidence type
      (narrative vs. non-narrative) and social distance might interact to influence
      nonsmokers' attitudes toward others' quitting smoking and intentions to persuade
      others to quit smoking. Results of a controlled experiment (N = 281) revealed an
      approximately significant two-way interaction pertaining to attitudes. Simple
      effects analyses revealed that narratives produced less-favorable attitudes
      toward others' quitting smoking than nonnarratives when participants thought
      about their best friend. Yet, there was no difference in attitudes between
      narratives and nonnarratives when participants thought about socially distant
      others. The results also indicated that nonnarratives overpowered narratives to
      influence participants' attitudes toward others' quitting smoking. Moreover,
      social distance had a consistent impact on their risk beliefs, such that they
      perceive fewer health risks of their close friends than an average college
      student. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

PMID- 28586248
TI  - Side effects and potential risk factors of botulinum toxin type A intramuscular
      injections in knee flexion contractures of hemophiliacs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Knee flexion contracture (KFC) is a common complication of
      recurrent hemarthrosis in children and young adults with hemophilia. If the KFC
      is not prevented (by means of primary prophylaxis) and treated properly and early
      (be means of physical medicine and rehabilitation), it will become fixed. Areas
      covered: The aim of this article is to review the potential role of botulinum
      toxin type A (BTX-A) intramuscular injections for the treatment of KFC in people
      with hemophilia (PWH). Expert commentary: Although two recent reports have
      mentioned the benefits of intramuscular injections of BTX-A in PWH with KFC, the
      data are still scant and too preliminary. The use of intramuscular injections of
      BTX-A in PWH today should not be recommended until more case studies/small series
      (ideally well-designed clinical trials) fully demonstrate that this is safe and
      effective. The risks of intramuscular injections to a hemophilia patient cannot
      be underestimated (iatrogenic muscle hematomas and pseudotumors). This paper
      calls the attention of hemophilia treaters on the potential risks of this
      apparently interesting technique. The current use of BTX-A intramuscular
      injections in KFC of PWH could make no sense. Raising false expectations in these
      patients should be avoided.

PMID- 28586250
TI  - Pain After Percutaneous Irreversible Electroporation of Renal Tumors Is Not
      Dependent on Tumor Location.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a non-thermal minimally
      invasive technique that is used to treat small renal masses (SRMs). Prior work
      has demonstrated greater narcotic requirements after radiofrequency ablation
      (RFA) for tumors that are closer to body-wall musculature. We hypothesized that
      pain after IRE is not dependent on tumor location due to the athermal mechanistic
      action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 50 consecutive
      percutaneous IRE and RFA cases was performed from 2013 to 2014. Eight patients
      were excluded from analysis due to incomplete anesthesia record and/or multiple
      ablations per session, leaving 21 patients in each group. Data collected included
      patient age, sex, body mass index, nephrometry score, shortest distance to the
      closest body-wall muscle, perioperative narcotic use, and patient-reported pain
      score. Pearson correlation test and multivariable linear regression were used to
      identify predictors of postoperative pain, with significance set at p = 0.05.
      RESULTS: There was no difference in the mean distance from tumor edge to the
      nearest body-wall muscle between IRE and RFA (2.6 cm vs 2.4 cm, p = 0.729,
      respectively). Total mean perioperative narcotic usage was 20.4 mg after IRE and
      26.7 mg after RFA (p = 0.096). Mean postoperative pain score (scale 0-10) was
      slightly higher after RFA (4.3) compared with IRE (2.4), but this was not
      statistically significant (p = 0.088). Pearson correlation test identified tumor
      proximity to be significiantly associated with both pain score (p = 0.011) and
      postoperative narcotic use (p = 0.049) after RFA but not after IRE. On
      multivariable analysis, only tumor proximity to the body wall was significantly
      correlated to pain score (-1.4, p = 0.041) after RFA but was not found to be a
      factor for pain after IRE. CONCLUSIONS: Patients whose tumors lie close to their
      body-wall musculature do not have greater narcotic requirements or higher pain
      scores in the perioperative period after IRE. Percutaneous IRE may be preferred
      over RFA for SRMs that are close to the body wall to minimize pain.

PMID- 28586251
TI  - The relationship between idiopathic cytopenias/dysplasias of uncertain
      significance (ICUS/IDUS) and autoimmunity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This review examines the several lines of evidence that support the
      relationship between myelodysplasia and autoimmunity, i.e. their epidemiologic
      association, the existence of common immune-mediated physiopathologic mechanisms,
      and the response to similar immunosuppressive therapies. The same relationship is
      reviewed here considering idiopathic cytopenia of uncertain significance (ICUS)
      and idiopathic dysplasia of uncertain significance (IDUS), two recently
      recognized provisional conditions characterized by isolated/unexplained cytopenia
      and/or dysplasia in <10% bone marrow cells. Areas covered: The review focuses on
      alterations of cytokine profiles, telomere/telomerase and toll-like receptors,
      and on increased myelosuppressive mediators and apoptotic markers in both
      myelodysplasia and autoimmunity. In addition, the presence of an autoimmune
      reaction directed against marrow precursors is described in refractory/relapsing
      autoimmune cytopenias (autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenia,
      chronic idiopathic neutropenia), possibly contributing to their evolution to
      ICUS/IDUS/bone marrow failure syndromes. Expert commentary: The increasing
      availability of omics methods has fuelled the discussion on the role of somatic
      mutations in the pathogenesis of IDUS/ICUS, clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate
      potential, and clonal cytopenias of undetermined significance, and in their
      possible evolution. Even more attracting is the involvement of the genetic
      background/accumulating somatic mutations in cytopenias with autoimmune
      alterations.

PMID- 28586252
TI  - Lapachol and lapachone analogs: a journey of two decades of patent research(1997
      2016).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lapachol (1), beta-lapachone (2) and alpha-lapachone (3) are three
      well-studied natural products isolated from Tabebuia impetiginosa having most
      interesting chemodiversity and demonstrating diverse biological effects. Areas
      covered: The current review summarizes the recent and past discovery of
      chemotherapeutic agents based on the compounds 1-3. This review presents an
      overview of patents filed over the past two decades (1997 to 2016) mostly
      relating to the anticancer effects of these lapachol and lapachone analogues.
      Expert opinion: The large number of interesting patents published on the
      therapeutic potential of quinones 1-3 and their synthetic derivatives lends
      credence to the importance of these molecules. Moreover, these quinones
      demonstrated potent anticancer effects towards various cancer cell lines and
      chemical modification of these quinones have led to products displaying enhanced
      anticancer effects. It is noteworthy that the majority of patents published are
      on the anticancer effects of quinones 1-3 and their synthetic derivatives along
      with a limited number of additional biological effects. It is our opinion that in
      order to get lead compounds, there needs to be a greater focus on the elucidation
      of the precise mechanism of action of these compounds including SAR and in vivo
      studies.

PMID- 28586253
TI  - Characterization of recombinant Trypanosoma brucei gambiense Translationally
      Controlled Tumor Protein (rTbgTCTP) and its interaction with Glossina midgut
      bacteria.
AB  - In humans, sleeping sickness (i.e. Human African Trypanosomiasis) is caused by
      the protozoan parasites Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (Tbg) in West and Central
      Africa, and T. b. rhodesiense in East Africa. We previously showed in vitro that
      Tbg is able to excrete/secrete a large number of proteins, including
      Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein (TCTP). Moreover, the tctp gene was
      described previously to be expressed in Tbg-infected flies. Aside from its
      involvement in diverse cellular processes, we have investigated a possible
      alternative role within the interactions occurring between the trypanosome
      parasite, its tsetse fly vector, and the associated midgut bacteria. In this
      context, the Tbg tctp gene was synthesized and cloned into the baculovirus vector
      pAcGHLT-A, and the corresponding protein was produced using the baculovirus
      Spodoptera frugicola (strain 9) / insect cell system. The purified recombinant
      protein rTbgTCTP was incubated together with bacteria isolated from the gut of
      tsetse flies, and was shown to bind to 24 out of the 39 tested bacteria strains
      belonging to several genera. Furthermore, it was shown to affect the growth of
      the majority of these bacteria, especially when cultivated under microaerobiosis
      and anaerobiosis. Finally, we discuss the potential for TCTP to modulate the fly
      microbiome composition toward favoring trypanosome survival.

PMID- 28586254
TI  - Hospitalizations for asthma among adults exposed to the September 11, 2001 World
      Trade Center terrorist attack.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We described the patterns of asthma hospitalization among persons
      exposed to the 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) attacks, and assessed whether 9/11
      related exposures or comorbidities, including posttraumatic stress disorder
      (PTSD) and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (GERS), were associated with an
      increased rate of hospitalization. METHODS: Data for adult enrollees in the WTC
      Health Registry, a prospective cohort study, with self-reported physician
      diagnosed asthma who resided in New York State on 9/11 were linked to
      administrative hospitalization data to identify asthma hospitalizations during
      September 11, 2001-December 31, 2010. Multivariable zero-inflated Poisson
      regression was used to examine associations among 9/11 exposures, comorbid
      conditions, and asthma hospitalizations. RESULTS: Of 11 471 enrollees with
      asthma, 406 (3.5%) had >=1 asthma hospitalization during the study period (721
      total hospitalizations). Among enrollees diagnosed before 9/11 (n = 6319), those
      with PTSD or GERS had over twice the rate of hospitalization (adjusted rate ratio
      (ARR) = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.4-4.1; ARR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.3-3.2, respectively)
      compared to those without. This association was not statistically significant in
      enrollees diagnosed after 9/11. Compared to higher educational attainment,
      completing less than college was associated with an increased hospitalization
      rate among participants with both pre-9/11- and post-9/11-onset asthma (ARR =
      1.9, 95% CI = 1.2-2.9; ARR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.6-4.1, respectively). Sinus
      symptoms, exposure to the dust cloud, and having been a WTC responder were not
      associated with asthma hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Among enrollees with pre
      9/11 asthma, comorbid PTSD and GERS were associated with an increase in asthma
      hospitalizations. Management of these comorbidities may be an important factor in
      preventing hospitalization.

PMID- 28586255
TI  - Disparities in Assisted Reproductive Technology Utilization by Race and
      Ethnicity, United States, 2014: A Commentary.
AB  - Disparities in infertility and access to infertility treatments, such as assisted
      reproductive technology (ART), by race/ethnicity, have been reported. However,
      identifying disparities in ART usage may have been hampered by missing
      race/ethnicity information in ART surveillance. We review infertility prevalence
      and treatment disparities, use recent data to examine ART use in the United
      States by race/ethnicity and residency in states with mandated insurance coverage
      for in vitro fertilization (IVF), and discuss approaches for reducing
      disparities. We used 2014 National ART Surveillance System (NASS) data to
      calculate rates of ART procedures per million women 15-44 years of age, a proxy
      measure of ART utilization, for Census-defined racial/ethnic groups in the United
      States; rates were further stratified by the presence of insurance mandates for
      IVF treatment. Missing race/ethnicity data (35.6% of cycles) were imputed.
      Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI) women had the highest rates of ART utilization at
      5883 ART procedures per million women 15-44 years of age in 2014, whereas
      American Indian/Alaska Native non-Hispanic women had the lowest rates at 807 per
      million, compared with other racial/ethnic groups. In each racial/ethnic
      category, ART utilization rates were higher for women in states with an insurance
      mandate for IVF treatment versus those without. In 2014, A/PI women had the
      highest rates of ART utilization. ART utilization for all racial/ethnic groups
      was higher in states with insurance mandates for IVF than those without, although
      disparities were still evident. Although mandates may increase access to
      infertility treatments, they are not sufficient to eliminate these disparities.

PMID- 28586256
TI  - Pediatric Palliative Care: A Five-Year Retrospective Chart Review Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More children are living with serious illness. However, survival and
      complexity of illnesses have not been described. OBJECTIVE: To describe types of
      illnesses, timing of referral, and time to death following referral to palliative
      care; to examine the associations between demographics and clinical
      characteristics and patient survival; and to examine whether average daily pain
      decreases after referral. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review of all children ages
      2-16 years referred to palliative care at one large children's hospital during
      the five-year study period from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2013.
      MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was patient survival and the main independent
      predictor was type of illness. Kaplan-Meier estimation was used to estimate
      patient survival time following referral, Cox proportional hazards regression was
      used to build predictive models based on gender, age, race, religion, and types
      of illnesses, and paired t-test compared the assessment of pain before and after
      referral. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 256 children. Survival experience did
      not differ significantly based on gender, age, race, or religion (p >= 0.05);
      however, survival did vary based on referring diagnosis (chi2 = 40.3, df = 4, p <
      0.001), particularly cancer. Forty-eight children with three days of pain
      assessments pre- and postreferral had significantly decreased pain postreferral
      (t(47) = 1.816, p < 0.05 one tailed), supporting our hypothesis. DISCUSSION:
      Results provide important information on the complexity of disease processes for
      children referred to palliative care, types of illnesses referred, survival, and
      pain levels. Results reflect earlier referral to palliative care for most
      children and highlight the medical complexity especially for children with
      congenital and genetic diagnoses.

PMID- 28586257
TI  - The Impact of Specialized Telephonic Guides on Employee Engagement in Corporate
      Well-Being Programs.
AB  - Employer-sponsored well-being programs have been growing in popularity as a means
      to control rising health care costs and increase workplace productivity.
      Engagement by employees is necessary for these programs to achieve their desired
      effects. Extrinsic motivators in the form of incentives and surcharges are
      commonly introduced by employer program sponsors to promote meaningful
      engagement. Although these may be successful in achieving a degree of engagement,
      individuals benefit by being intrinsically motivated as they modify behaviors and
      improve short- and long-term well-being. Telephonic guides equipped with
      motivational interviewing and other behavioral strategies to improve engagement
      may bridge the gap between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The objectives of
      this study are to determine characteristics associated with employee utilization
      of these guides when offered and to compare subsequent program engagement rates
      between utilizers to a propensity score matched group of employees who were not
      offered the service. The data were retrieved from a well-being program provider's
      database. The study examined 166,258 employees across 35 employers. It found
      utilizers were older, proportionally more female, in the manufacturing industry,
      incented to use the guide service, offered a larger incentive for program
      participation, had healthier self-reported behaviors, and had a higher perception
      of their employer's focus on well-being. The study found that guide utilizers
      were significantly more likely to engage in telephonic coaching, digital
      coaching, and activity tracking up to 6 months. The study's findings suggest
      telephonic guides using a range of behavioral techniques are an effective
      strategy to drive well-being program engagement.

PMID- 28586259
TI  - Implementation of Advance Care Planning in Oncology: A Review of the Literature.
AB  - Advance care planning (ACP) should be initiated early and be readdressed often
      for patients with cancer. This directive is expressed in the Institute of
      Medicine's report, "Dying in America," and is a component of several quality
      metrics, including ASCO's Quality Oncology Practice Initiative and the Centers
      for Medicare & Medicaid Services Oncology Care Model. Although simple in concept,
      implementation in practice is challenging. A variety of patient education tools
      exist in several different forms, including pamphlets, guidebooks, and question
      prompt lists, with the strongest data supporting the use of video decision aids
      that depict cardiopulmonary resuscitation. These educational tools should address
      topics that include anticancer treatment, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and
      health care surrogates. Physician prompts in the electronic health record to
      discuss ACP should be considered. Health care provider training should be offered
      to meet the needs and comfort level of the practitioners who conduct the
      intervention. Intervention studies that assessed ACP documentation rates as the
      primary end point increased documentation from 15% to 30% to 40%. Additional well
      conducted randomized studies are needed to understand the intervention
      characteristics that can further improve the completion and documentation of ACP.
      Further research is needed to determine if there is a difference in outcome based
      on which provider conducts ACP as well as how to maximize the benefits of the
      electronic health record, such as prompts to readdress ACP.

PMID- 28586258
TI  - Reactance and Coping Responses to Tobacco Counter-Advertisements.
AB  - Tobacco prevention messages generally take one of three tactics: They can be
      educational, attack the tobacco industry, or attack particular brands. Being a
      smoker and smoking a particular brand may form an essential part of a person's
      self-identity. As such, reactance theory suggests that attack messages can
      unintentionally attack smokers' self-image. A 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 experiment using six
      different messages and 260 respondents tested whether smokers have different
      reactions to tobacco counter-advertisements than nonsmokers. It also examined
      whether attacking a smoker's brand leads to greater reactance and other
      maladaptive responses compared to attacking other brands. Consistent with
      predictions, smokers reported more maladaptive coping responses and fewer
      adaptive coping responses to tobacco counter-ads than nonsmokers. The study also
      reveals differences attributable to brand identification. These findings suggest
      that interventions should consider different counter-advertising tactics for
      smokers and nonsmokers. Similar admonitions may apply to counter-advertising
      strategies on other health issues.

PMID- 28586260
TI  - Laparoscopic Ventral Rectopexy Versus Laparoscopic Wells Rectopexy for Complete
      Rectal Prolapse: Long-Term Results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no agreement about which laparoscopic rectopexy technique is
      best for treating complete rectal prolapse. Purpose was to compare functional
      outcome, the recurrence rate, and quality of life in patients treated with
      laparoscopic ventral rectopexy (LVR) versus the laparoscopic Wells rectopexy
      (LWR) for complete rectal prolapse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review
      of a prospectively maintained database of consecutive patients who presented with
      complete rectal prolapse. Patients were divided into two cohorts: first one had
      LVR and the other one had LWR. Exclusion criteria were previous major abdominal
      surgery, slow transit constipation, Hirschsprung's disease, inflammatory bowel
      disease, pregnancy, and patients on drugs that cause constipation. Patients were
      assessed preoperatively by clinical examination to evaluate constipation using
      the Wexner constipation scale (WCS), incontinence using the Wexner incontinence
      score (WIS), and quality of life using the gastrointestinal quality of life index
      (GIQOL). The primary outcome measures were disappearance of prolapse and
      recurrences. Secondary outcome parameters were operative time, complications,
      length of hospital stay, effect on perineal descent, functional outcome
      (constipation and continence), and quality of life. RESULTS: A total of 74
      patients (mean age of 55 years) with complete rectal prolapse had LVR (n = 41)
      and LWR (n = 33). Sixty (81%) patients were females. Operative time was
      significantly longer in LVR (122 minutes versus 105 minutes; P = .001). Also,
      length of stay was significantly longer in LVR (4.5 days versus 3.7 days; P =
      .04). Recurrences were reported in 1 patient in each group. Perineal descent
      improved >50% in defecogram 6 months postoperatively in 79% in LVR versus 21% in
      LWR. In LVR, mean WCS decreased from 11.3 to 5.1 postoperatively (P < .0001),
      while in LWR it decreased from 8.9 to 6.9 (P = .11). Mean WIS decreased in LVR
      from 5.9 to 3.8, P = .01, while in LWR, it decreased from 6.6 to 2.8; P = .001.
      GIQOL improved from 74.4 to 124.9 in LVR and from 79.3 to 112.6 in LWR. The
      change in both groups was statistically significant (P = .0001). CONCLUSIONS: In
      this study, both LVR and LWR successfully and safely corrected the prolapse and
      prevented recurrence in patients after long-term follow-up. Operative time and
      hospital length of stay are significantly shorter in LWR. High incontinence
      scores and age >70 are potential predictors of bad continence postoperatively.
      LVR appears to be more suitable for patients with a high constipation score and
      abnormal perineal descent.

PMID- 28586261
TI  - Modulation of reward in a live social context as revealed through interactive
      social neuroscience.
AB  - Social neuroscience research investigating autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has
      yielded inconsistent findings, despite ASD being well-characterized by
      difficulties in social interaction and communication through behavioral
      observation. In particular, specific etiologies and functional and structural
      assays of the brain in autism have not been consistently identified. To date,
      most social neuroscience research has focused on a single person viewing static
      images. Research utilizing interactive social neuroscience featuring dual-brain
      recording offers great promise for the study of neurodevelopmental disabilities.
      Reward processing has been implicated in the pathology of ASD, yet mixed findings
      have brought uncertainty about the role reward processing deficits may play in
      ASD. The current study employed dual-brain EEG recording to examine reward
      processing during live interaction and its relation to autistic traits. Sixteen
      typically developing (TD) adults played a competitive treasure-hunt game against
      a computer and against a human partner. EEG results revealed enhanced neural
      sensitivity to reward outcome during live interaction with a human competitor.
      Further, individuals with higher levels of autistic traits demonstrated reduced
      sensitivity to reward outcome during live interaction. These findings provide
      novel insight into reward processing mechanisms associated with autistic traits,
      as well as support the necessary utility of interactive social neuroscience
      techniques to study developmental disorders.

PMID- 28586262
TI  - Effect of Laparoscopic Peritoneal Lavage and Drainage and Continuous Venovenous
      Diahemofiltration on Severe Acute Pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), one severe and fatal disease, the
      therapy of which is pretty hard. This study aimed to study the effect of
      laparoscopic peritoneal lavage and drainage (LPLD) and continuous venovenous
      diahemofiltration (CVVDH) on SAP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty-five
      patients with SAP in total were randomly assigned into four groups according to
      the therapeutic plan: basic treatment; LPLD; CVVDH; or LPLD+CVVDH. Acute
      Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores, the ratios of
      multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), mortality, hospitalization time,
      hospitalization cost, ratios of complications, the abdominal distention relief
      time, abdominal pain relief time, plasma concentration of endotoxin, tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 were evaluated.
      RESULTS: Ratios of MODS, mortality, hospitalization time, hospitalization cost,
      the abdominal distention relief time, abdominal pain relief time, concentration
      of endotoxin, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, and APACHE II scores were significantly
      decreased in the CVVDH, LPLD, and CVVDH+LPLD groups, while ratios of recovery
      were significantly increased in the CVVDH, LPLD, and CVVDH+LPLD groups,
      especially in the CVVDH+LPLD group. CONCLUSIONS: LPLD and CVVDH are effective in
      the treatment of SAP by eliminating endotoxin, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8. The
      combination of CVVDH and LPLD can further improve the treatment effect.

PMID- 28586263
TI  - The Interplay Between Fat Mass and Fat Distribution as Determinants of the
      Metabolic Syndrome Is Sex-Dependent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fat mass and fat distribution are major determinants of the metabolic
      syndrome (MetS), but the interplay between them has not been thoroughly
      investigated. In addition, fat mass and fat distribution are generally different
      in men than in women. We aimed to determine whether the interplay between fat
      mass and fat distribution regarding MetS and its components is sex-dependent
      using data from the large-scale population-based sample EpiHealth. METHODS:
      Occurrence of MetS and its components was determined together with fat mass by
      bioimpedance in 19,094 participants in the EpiHealth sample [mean age 61 years
      (SD 8.5), 56% females]. MetS was defined by the NCEP/ATPIII-criteria. RESULTS:
      MetS prevalence was 23.0%. Fat mass (percent of body weight) was more strongly
      related to MetS (and the number of MetS components) in men than in women (P <
      0.0001 for interaction term) and in those with a high compared with those with a
      low waist/hip ratio (WHR). This modulating effect of WHR on the fat mass versus
      MetS-relationship was more pronounced in women than in men (P < 0.0001 for
      interaction term). When analyzing the MetS components one by one, fat mass was
      more closely related to all the individual MetS criteria in men than in women,
      except for the glucose criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Fat mass is more closely related to
      prevalent MetS in men than in women, but the modulating effect of an abdominal
      type of fat distribution on the fat mass versus MetS-relationship is stronger in
      women.

PMID- 28586264
TI  - Practical considerations for chimeric antigen receptor design and delivery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified immune
      cells has become a highly active field of research since the introduction of this
      approach in 1989. New ideas are constantly being proposed and tested, resulting
      in CARs that are more effective and specialized. Areas covered: Many aspects of
      CAR design and administration can be varied in order to achieve the best possible
      outcomes; optimization of this therapeutic schema is an active area of research.
      Here, the authors summarize the work that has been carried out thus far to assess
      different adaptations for each portion of the CAR itself. They also discuss the
      various methods used for CAR transgene transfer into effector cells. Expert
      opinion: While the field has made significant advancements in terms of expansion
      and testing of the variations available for CAR therapy, it remains difficult to
      ascertain which options are truly superior and under what conditions. Continued
      research in this area, as well as in aspects such as improving the safety profile
      and the anti-tumor potency of CARs, will be required to bring this therapy from
      early-phase clinical trials to standard of care as an effective treatment for a
      broad range of tumor types.

PMID- 28586265
TI  - The Roles of Prevention Messages, Risk Perception, and Benefit Perception in
      Predicting Binge Drinking among College Students.
AB  - To account for the effect of prevention-message exposure on binge drinking among
      college students, I hypothesized a conceptual model outlining potential
      mechanisms including perceived probability of negative consequences (PPNC),
      perceived severity of negative consequences (PSNC), perceived probability of
      positive consequences (PPPC), and perceived beneficiality of positive
      consequences (PBPC) from binge drinking, based on the two-step process model. I
      conducted an online survey at a public university in the US (N = 278). Findings
      suggested only PBPC was significantly related to binge drinking and the
      relationship was positive; prevention-message exposure was not directly
      associated with binge drinking, but was positively associated with PPNC, PSNC,
      PPPC, and PBPC; none of the mediational paths was significant; higher risk
      perception (interaction between PPNC and PSNC) was significantly related to less
      binge drinking, while benefit perception (interaction between PPPC and PBPC) was
      not predictive of binge drinking. Implications of findings were discussed.

PMID- 28586266
TI  - iTeos Therapeutics.

PMID- 28586267
TI  - Content Design and System Implementation of a Teleophthalmology System for Eye
      Disease Diagnosis and Treatment and Its Preliminary Practice in Guangdong, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have developed a new telemedicine system for comprehensive eye
      examination, diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening, and eye disease diagnosis and
      treatment. The novel points of the system include a tablet application for
      facilitating doctor's examination and diagnosis process, a comprehensive eye
      examination component, and integrated treatment planning and recording. METHODS:
      The system provided a new service model through one ophthalmological center
      linking with multiple remote and rural hospitals for eye care in Guangdong
      province, China. RESULTS: The early stage of the project study also undertook the
      responsibility of educations for remote-area doctors and image graders for DR
      grading and glaucoma grading and research on the effectiveness of short message
      service (SMS) reminder for patient revisit. Some other research, such as the
      comparison of the accuracy of graders' DR grading with the gold standard, and
      doctor's tentative diagnosis with final diagnosis and related statistical
      information, has been implemented in the system. In the preliminary practice, we
      summarized the outcomes related to presenting system performance and made an
      initial analysis. CONCLUSION: From the practice, the project has shown the
      telemedicine system and associated contents have satisfied our initial goal and
      demonstrated their effectiveness and efficiency.

PMID- 28586268
TI  - Biopolitics and Boundary Work in South Africa's Sutherlandia Clinical Trial.
AB  - Between 2008 and 2011, South African and American investigators carried out a
      randomized controlled trial to assess the safety and efficacy of an African
      traditional medicine in South Africans who were HIV-seropositive but
      asymptomatic. The medicine was derived from Sutherlandia frutescens, a plant
      endemic to and widely used to stimulate immune function by people across southern
      Africa. In this article, I report on the cross-cultural challenges generated by
      trial investigators' transformation of Sutherlandia into a clinical trial
      substance and a potential "treatment gap" therapy for persons with HIV. While
      Sutherlandia is in many respects an unusual addition to evidence-based medicine,
      it is also familiar in this context-especially in the manner the therapy was
      biopolitically imagined by trial investigators, and in terms of the indeterminacy
      the therapy produced.

PMID- 28586269
TI  - The meaning of menarche: A cross-cultural semantic network analysis.
AB  - The psychological meaning of menarche was explored in 102 college students from
      Mexico and the United States. The Natural Semantic Networks Technique was used
      and participants were asked to respond to the prompt "My first period was ..."
      The strongest components of the Mexican women's semantic network were scary,
      confusing, and unexpected; the strongest components of the American women's
      semantic network were unexpected, annoying, and painful. Only the Americans
      listed positive words (i.e., nice). The Mexicans' network contained the most
      negative words (i.e., dirty). The results suggest a need for better education and
      greater social support, especially in Mexico.

PMID- 28586270
TI  - IRB Problems and Solutions in Health Communication Research.
AB  - In this article, we contribute to the current literature on the difficulties that
      social scientists encounter with IRBs, but with a focus on the distinct
      challenges that health communication scholars face in dealing with IRBs at their
      own institutions and elsewhere. Although health communication researchers, like
      other communication researchers, can expect to face many of the same challenges
      that their social science colleagues face during the IRB process, the researcher
      narratives we present in this article suggest that health communication research
      presents some distinct challenges because the communication interactions that we
      investigate occur in highly protected, private spaces, including the medical exam
      room, online patient forums, and electronic health records. To that end, we
      present a series of examples in which health communication researchers were able
      to find solutions or workarounds to the challenges they faced in gaining IRB
      approval for their research. In every case that we present, the researcher had to
      revise her initial study design to get around the constraints imposed by IRB
      requirements, and in every case, the researcher reports having experienced points
      of incommensurability similar to those reported by many other social scientists.
      In some situations, investigators even express frustration that the IRB's needs
      and demands superseded those of healthcare professionals and the patients whom
      they serve. Additionally, in some situations, investigators' understandings of
      human subjects' protection actually go further to protect patients' privacy and
      confidentiality than the IRB required. But, in all four cases that we present,
      the health communication research was ultimately successful.

PMID- 28586271
TI  - "Before the war we had it all": Family planning among couples in a post-conflict
      setting.
AB  - There is little evidence about family planning knowledge, attitudes, and use
      among couples in post-conflict Democratic Republic of the Congo. We used
      qualitative descriptions to analyze data from 75 participants. Intimate partner
      violence (IPV) was common among participants. They were aware of family planning
      methods; however, IPV and fears of side effects were barriers to use. Although
      participants were concerned about the cost of large families, had positive
      attitudes toward family planning, and intended to use it, actual use was
      uncommon. The need for family planning was acute because of war-related poverty.
      Couples negotiated, but men had strong influence over family planning decisions.
      Couples saw health workers as a valuable resource. Interventions in this setting
      should include a couple-based approach that addresses IPV as well as family
      planning content.

PMID- 28586272
TI  - Pharmacological treatment options for cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are rare monogenic
      autoinflammatory diseases, comprising a spectrum of phenotypes of varying
      severity. CAPS are associated with gain-of-function mutations in the NLRP3
      inflammasome, a multiprotein complex critical for the activation of IL-1beta, and
      are characterized by episodes of fever, urticaria-like rash, musculoskeletal,
      ocular, and neurological symptoms. Areas covered: Accounting for the pivotal role
      of IL-1beta in the pathogenesis of CAPS, three therapeutic options, all blocking
      the action of IL-1beta, are currently approved: anakinra, a recombinant IL-1
      receptor antagonist, the IL-1 trap rilonacept and canakinumab, a monoclonal anti
      IL-1beta antibody. All agents reduce or even resolve clinical symptoms,
      biochemical activity markers and improve quality of life in CAPS. This review
      also covers pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and safety aspects of the approved
      drugs and the potential utility of IL-1beta blockers in a wide range of other
      conditions with an autoinflammatory component. Expert commentary: Due to the
      success story of current pharmaceutics, the therapeutic options in CAPS are not
      expected to expand in the near future. Prospective observational studies are
      needed to confirm long-term efficacy and sustained benefit. New IL-1beta blockers
      will likely address unmet clinical needs in other autoinflammatory conditions.

PMID- 28586273
TI  - Food insecurity, sexual risk behavior, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy
      among women living with HIV: A systematic review.
AB  - Gender inequalities shape the experience of food insecurity among women living
      with HIV (WLHIV). We systematically reviewed the impact of food insecurity on
      sexual risk behaviors and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among WLHIV. We
      included qualitative or quantitative peer-reviewed articles, extracted data in
      duplicate, and assessed rigor. Seven studies, from sub-Saharan Africa, North
      America, and Europe, met inclusion criteria. Food insecurity was associated with
      increased sexual risk through transactional sex and inability to negotiate safer
      sex. Hunger and food insecurity were barriers to ART initiation/adherence.
      Multidimensional programming and policies should simultaneously address poverty,
      gender inequality, food insecurity, and HIV.

PMID- 28586274
TI  - Famine exposure during early life and risk of hypertension in adulthood: A meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many epidemiologic studies have explored the association between
      famine exposure and the risk of hypertension, but the results remain
      controversial. OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis was performed to determine the
      association between early life famine exposure, fetal famine exposure, and
      childhood famine exposure and risk of hypertension. METHODS: A literature search
      was performed in PubMed, Web of science, Embase, and China National Knowledge
      Infrastructure for relevant articles published up to October 2016. Pooled
      relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a
      random-effects model. RESULTS: Sixteen studies from 14 articles for early life
      famine exposure, 11 studies from 10 articles for fetal famine exposure, and 10
      studies from 8 articles for childhood famine exposure were included in our meta
      analysis. Compared with unexposed group, the pooled RRs were (1.26; 95% CI, 1.11
      1.44), (1.27; 95% CI, 1.08-1.49), and (1.32; 95% CI, 1.15-1.52) for early life
      famine exposure, fetal famine exposure, and childhood famine exposure,
      respectively. In subgroup analyses, the above-mentioned associations were
      consistent in cohort studies, and studies conducted in Asia. CONCLUSION: This
      meta-analysis confirmed the association between exposure to famine in early life
      and increased risk of hypertension in adulthood. Prevention of malnutrition
      during early life is an appropriate recommendation to prevent hypertension.

PMID- 28586275
TI  - Good Food, Bad Food, and White Rice: Understanding Child Feeding Using Visual
      Narrative Elicitation.
AB  - Visual-narrative elicitation, a process combining photo elicitation and pile
      sorting in applied medical anthropology, sheds light on food consumption patterns
      in urban areas of Vanuatu where childhood malnutrition is a persistent problem.
      Groups of participants took photographs of the foods they feed their children,
      and the resources and barriers they encounter in accessing foodstuffs. This
      revealed how imported and local foods are assigned value as "good" or "bad" foods
      when contributing to dietary diversity and creating appropriate meals for
      children, particularly in the context of consuming white rice. The process of
      gathering and working with photographs illuminated the complex negotiations in
      which caregivers engaged when making food and nutritional choices for their
      children. At the nexus of visual and medical anthropology, the visual-narrative
      elicitation process yielded nuanced, comprehensive understandings of how
      caregivers value the various foods they feed their children.

PMID- 28586277
TI  - Pilot-scale biopesticide production by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki
      using starch industry wastewater as raw material.
AB  - Pilot-scale Bacillus thuringiensis based biopesticide production (2000 L
      bioreactor) was conducted using starch industry wastewater (SIW) as a raw
      material using optimized operational parameters obtained in 15 L and 150 L
      fermenters. In pilot scale fermentation process the oxygen transfer rate is a
      major limiting factor for high product yield. Thus, the volumetric mass transfer
      coefficient (KLa) remains a tool to determine the oxygen transfer capacity
      [oxygen utilization rate (OUR) and oxygen transfer rate (OTR)] to obtain better
      bacterial growth rate and entomotoxicity in new bioreactor process optimization
      and scale-up. This study results demonstrated that the oxygen transfer rate in
      2000 L bioreactor was better than 15 L and 150 L fermenters. The better oxygen
      transfer in 2000 L bioreactor augmented the bacterial growth [total cell (TC) and
      viable spore count (SC)] and delta-endotoxin yield. Prepared a stable
      biopesticide formulation for field use and its entomotoxicity was also evaluated.
      This study result corroborates the feasibility of industrial scale operation of
      biopesticide production using starch industry wastewater as raw material.

PMID- 28586276
TI  - Dendritic Cell Trafficking and Function in Rare Lung Diseases.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are highly specialized immune cells that capture antigens
      and then migrate to lymphoid tissue and present antigen to T cells. This critical
      function of DCs is well defined, and recent studies further demonstrate that DCs
      are also key regulators of several innate immune responses. Studies focused on
      the roles of DCs in the pathogenesis of common lung diseases, such as asthma,
      infection, and cancer, have traditionally driven our mechanistic understanding of
      pulmonary DC biology. The emerging development of novel DC reagents, techniques,
      and genetically modified animal models has provided abundant data revealing
      distinct populations of DCs in the lung, and allow us to examine mechanisms of DC
      development, migration, and function in pulmonary disease with unprecedented
      detail. This enhanced understanding of DCs permits the examination of the
      potential role of DCs in diseases with known or suspected immunological
      underpinnings. Recent advances in the study of rare lung diseases, including
      pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, sarcoidosis, hypersensitivity
      pneumonitis, and pulmonary fibrosis, reveal expanding potential pathogenic roles
      for DCs. Here, we provide a review of DC development, trafficking, and effector
      functions in the lung, and discuss how alterations in these DC pathways
      contribute to the pathogenesis of rare lung diseases.

PMID- 28586278
TI  - The immunogenicity of GSK's recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in children: a
      systematic review of 30 years of experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization recommends hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      vaccines to be included in national immunization schedules everywhere, and has
      adopted the strategic goal of halting viral hepatitis as a major public health
      threat by 2030, under which vaccination plays a major role. EngerixTM B (GSK
      HepB, GSK, Belgium) was the first recombinant HBV vaccine to be licensed, and
      marked its 30th anniversary in 2016. Areas covered: We conducted a systematic
      review of the literature summarizing 30 years of immunogenicity and safety data
      for GSK HepB in children and adolescents. Expert commentary: Primary 3-dose
      vaccination of healthy infants and children, including infants born to HBsAg
      positive mothers, using the standard 0, 1, 6 month schedule was associated with
      seroprotection rates >=96.0%. In high-risk infants, vaccine efficacy at year 5
      was 96.0% after 3-dose priming in infancy and immunoglobulin at birth. Lower
      seroprotection rates were observed in children with severe underlying disease
      including human immunodeficiency virus infection and cancer. GSK HepB had a
      clinically acceptable safety profile in all of the populations studied. HBV
      vaccines have demonstrated long-term impacts on rates of fulminant hepatitis,
      chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. GSK HepB will continue to
      contribute to global HBV control for the foreseeable future.

PMID- 28586280
TI  - A decade of proteomics accomplished! Central and Eastern European Proteomic
      Conference (CEEPC) celebrates its 10th Anniversary in Budapest, Hungary.
AB  - The Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC) proudly celebrated
      its 10th Anniversary with an exciting scientific program inclusive of proteome,
      proteomics and systems biology in Budapest, Hungary. Since 2007, CEEPC has
      represented 'state-of the-art' proteomics in and around Central and Eastern
      Europe and these series of conferences have become a well-recognized event in the
      proteomic calendar. Fresher challenges and global healthcare issues such as
      ageing and chronic diseases are driving clinical and scientific research towards
      regenerative, reparative and personalized medicine. To this end, proteomics may
      enable diverse intertwining research fields to reach their end goals. CEEPC will
      endeavor to facilitate these goals.

PMID- 28586281
TI  - Opioid vs nonopioid prescribers: Variations in care for a standardized acute back
      pain case.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Opioid analgesics are effective and appropriate therapy for many
      types of acute pain. Epidemiologic evidence supports a direct relationship
      between increased opioid prescribing and increases in opioid use disorders and
      overdoses. OBJECTIVE: To tailor our residency curriculum, we designed and fielded
      an unannounced standardized patient (USP) case involving a patient with acute
      back pain who is requesting Vicodin (5/325 mg). We describe residents' case
      management and examine whether their management decisions, including opioid
      prescribing, were related to their core clinical skills. METHODS: Results are
      based on 50 (USP) visits with residents in 2 urban primary care clinics. Highly
      trained USPs portrayed a patient with acute lower back pain who was taking
      leftover Vicodin with effective pain relief but was running out. We describe how
      residents managed this case, using both USP report and chart review data, and
      compare summary clinical skills scores between those who prescribed Vicodin and
      those who did not. RESULTS: Of the 50 residents, 18 prescribed Vicodin (10-60
      pills). Among those who did not prescribe (32/50), most (50%) prescribed
      ibuprofen. Eighty-three percent of the prescribers and 72% of nonprescribers
      ordered physical therapy (nonsignificant). Of the 18 prescribers, 13 documented
      checking the prescription monitoring database. Prescribers had significantly
      better communication scores than nonprescribers (relationship development: 80%
      vs. 58% well done, P = .029; patient education: 59% vs. 31% well done, P = .018).
      Assessment summary scores were also higher (60% vs. 46%) but not significantly (P
      = .060). Patient satisfaction and activation scores were higher in the
      prescribers than nonprescribers (71% vs. 39%, P = .004 and 48% vs. 26%, P = .034,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Most Vicodin prescribers did not follow prescribing
      guidelines, and they demonstrated better communication and assessment skills than
      the nonprescribers. Results suggest the need to guide residents in using a
      systematic approach to prescribing opioids safely and to develop an acceptable
      alternative pain management plan when they decide against prescribing.

PMID- 28586282
TI  - Remediation capacity of Cd and Pb ions by mycelia of Imleria badia, Laetiporus
      sulphureus, and Agaricus bisporus in vitro cultures.
AB  - The goal of this study was to evaluate cadmium and lead accumulation ability of
      in vitro cultures biomass containing selected edible mushroom species derived
      from the environment (Laetiporus sulphureus, Imleria badia) and those of
      commercial origin (Agaricus bisporus). Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to
      evaluate the content of Cd(II) and Pb(II) on the medium supplemented with Cd(II)
      or Pb(II), each of them at the same concentration of 5.10-5 M. The highest
      concentration of Cd(II) ions was determined in the biomass from L. sulphureus in
      vitro cultures, while the highest concentration of Pb(II) ions was found in the
      biomass from A. bisporus in vitro cultures. The greatest Cd(II) and Pb(II)
      accumulation ability in mycelium per dry weight was shown for L. sulphureus.
      Among the test species, biomass of A. bisporus showed the lowest ability for the
      bioaccumulation of Cd(II); however, comparable ability for the remediation of
      Pb(II) was provided by the biomasses from A. bisporus and I. badia in vitro
      cultures. The results confirm the possibility of using these mushroom species for
      remediation and indicate the relationship between bioaccumulation of heavy metals
      and the test species.

PMID- 28586283
TI  - Mkl1-dependent gene activation is sufficient to induce actin cap assembly.
AB  - Actin-dependent forces mechanically control both the position and shape of the
      nucleus. While the mechanisms that establish nuclear position are well defined,
      less understood is how actin filaments determine nuclear shape. We recently
      showed that nuclear envelope-spanning LINC complexes promote stress fiber
      assembly by activating the small GTPase RhoA and Mkl1-dependent gene activation.
      We now report that a subset of these stress fibers associate with the apical face
      of the nuclear envelope through LINC complexes that contain the inner nuclear
      membrane protein Sun2. Apical stress fibers have previously been shown to
      specifically couple cell and nuclear morphology, suggesting that LINC complexes
      influence nuclear shape in part by regulating the small GTPase RhoA.

PMID- 28586284
TI  - A patent review of the therapeutic potential of isoflavones (2012-2016).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Isoflavones are well-studied natural products isolated from natural
      sources with interesting chemodiversity and possess a wide variety of biological
      effects. Moreover, chemical modifications based on the isoflavone scaffold, has
      generated synthetic chemodiversity to enhance the bioactivities of isoflavones.
      Areas covered: The current review summarizes the discovery of new
      chemotherapeutic agents possessing the isoflavone skeleton. This review
      incorporates patents filed between 2012 and 2016 mostly related to anticancer,
      antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-HIV, anti-gastric ulcer, anti-gastritis,
      antiparasitic and some other biological effects demonstrated by isoflavone
      analogs. Expert opinion: The number of interesting patents published during the
      five year period (2012-2016) on the therapeutic potential of isoflavones
      indicated the importance of this molecule. Natural isoflavones possess potent
      anticancer, anti-HIV and antidiabetic activities and chemical analogs of natural
      isoflavones increase the abovementioned biological effects. Additionally
      isoflavones have only been tested for a limited number of biological activities
      and thus future research should focus on additional biological activities viz.,
      anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, and anti-leishmanial effects. However, the
      absence of SAR studies and in vivo data restricted the rational design of more
      potent isoflavone analogs and we believe that in order to get lead compounds,
      there needs to be a greater focus on SAR and in vivo studies.

PMID- 28586285
TI  - Improving the Health of Rural America's Chronically Ill: A Case Study of a
      Patient-Centered Medical Home Clinic in Mississippi.

PMID- 28586286
TI  - Optimization of a methodology for the simultaneous determination of deltamethrin,
      permethrin and malathion in stored wheat samples using dispersive liquid-liquid
      microextraction with solidification of floating organic drop and HPLC-UV.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate common pesticides in stored wheat at
      Kermanshah province's silos in Iran. A simple, inexpensive, reliable and
      environmentally friendly method based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction
      with solidification of floating organic drop was developed. The analytical
      characteristics of the method were determined. Also, various parameters such as
      the materials of the silos, types of ownerships of the silos, geographic
      orientation of silo locations and climatic conditions of silo locations on
      pesticide residues in studied wheat samples were investigated. Among all the
      studied parameters, the climatic conditions of silo locations showed the highest
      influence on pesticide residues in wheat samples. Generally, 61.2% of the samples
      had pesticide levels below the method detection limits and 38.8% of the total
      samples had at least one of the understudied pesticides. Also, 13.9% of the
      samples had deltamethrin residues, 16.7% of the samples had permethrin, 22.2% of
      the samples had malathion, 11.1% of the samples had both permethrin and malathion
      and 2.8% of the samples had both deltamethrin and malathion. The results revealed
      that the residues of deltamethrin and malathion were lower than the standard
      level announced by European Union regulation and only three samples contained
      permethrin higher than Europe standard level.

PMID- 28586287
TI  - Esophageal Penetration of the Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation Device: History
      Repeats Itself.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An alternative approach to the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux
      disease (GERD) has recently been introduced in clinical practice, involving the
      implantation of a magnetic sphincter augmentation device (MSAD). This "magnetic
      ring" is implanted laparoscopically around the lower esophageal sphincter to
      improve its barrier function. The literature is still limited on the midterm
      results achieved in controlling reflux because the MSAD is a very new procedure.
      So far, only a few cases of the MSAD causing erosion of the esophagus have been
      reported. METHODS: We report on two cases of progressive and severe dysphagia
      after the implantation of an MSAD elsewhere. In both cases, the symptoms were
      caused by the migration of the device into the esophagus. RESULTS: The devices
      were removed endoscopically in a single step in both cases, using the Olympus
      cutter. After 3 months, the first patient had a laparoscopic Nissen
      fundoplication without any complications and with a good final reflux control.
      The second only underwent removal of the device, using the same endoscopic
      approach and again without any complications. CONCLUSIONS: Judging from the
      literature, MSAD implantation may be an effective way to control GERD, but the
      method can carry major complications, such as migration of the device into the
      esophagus (as in the two cases reported here). Endoscopic removal of a device
      possibly penetrating inside the esophagus is feasible and safe, and may later be
      followed up with a laparoscopic antireflux procedure without any particular
      difficulty.

PMID- 28586289
TI  - "PAL-LIFE Project: International Advisory Working Group on Diffusion and
      Development of Palliative Care in the World": First Meeting Report.

PMID- 28586279
TI  - Alectinib versus Crizotinib in Untreated ALK-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alectinib, a highly selective inhibitor of anaplastic lymphoma kinase
      (ALK), has shown systemic and central nervous system (CNS) efficacy in the
      treatment of ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We investigated
      alectinib as compared with crizotinib in patients with previously untreated,
      advanced ALK-positive NSCLC, including those with asymptomatic CNS disease.
      METHODS: In a randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned 303
      patients with previously untreated, advanced ALK-positive NSCLC to receive either
      alectinib (600 mg twice daily) or crizotinib (250 mg twice daily). The primary
      end point was investigator-assessed progression-free survival. Secondary end
      points were independent review committee-assessed progression-free survival, time
      to CNS progression, objective response rate, and overall survival. RESULTS:
      During a median follow-up of 17.6 months (crizotinib) and 18.6 months
      (alectinib), an event of disease progression or death occurred in 62 of 152
      patients (41%) in the alectinib group and 102 of 151 patients (68%) in the
      crizotinib group. The rate of investigator-assessed progression-free survival was
      significantly higher with alectinib than with crizotinib (12-month event-free
      survival rate, 68.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 61.0 to 75.9] with alectinib
      vs. 48.7% [95% CI, 40.4 to 56.9] with crizotinib; hazard ratio for disease
      progression or death, 0.47 [95% CI, 0.34 to 0.65]; P<0.001); the median
      progression-free survival with alectinib was not reached. The results for
      independent review committee-assessed progression-free survival were consistent
      with those for the primary end point. A total of 18 patients (12%) in the
      alectinib group had an event of CNS progression, as compared with 68 patients
      (45%) in the crizotinib group (cause-specific hazard ratio, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.10 to
      0.28; P<0.001). A response occurred in 126 patients in the alectinib group
      (response rate, 82.9%; 95% CI, 76.0 to 88.5) and in 114 patients in the
      crizotinib group (response rate, 75.5%; 95% CI, 67.8 to 82.1) (P=0.09). Grade 3
      to 5 adverse events were less frequent with alectinib (41% vs. 50% with
      crizotinib). CONCLUSIONS: As compared with crizotinib, alectinib showed superior
      efficacy and lower toxicity in primary treatment of ALK-positive NSCLC. (Funded
      by F. Hoffmann-La Roche; ALEX ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02075840 .).

PMID- 28586290
TI  - Non-contraceptive benefits of intrauterine levonorgestrel administration: why
      not?
AB  - Levonorgestrel intrauterine systems (LNG-IUS) represent a modern therapy for an
      array of preexisting gynecological conditions, though they were first marketed in
      Finland in 1990. However, there are countries in which their use is extremely
      limited by social and cultural factors. This manuscript describes the possible
      reasons for this misuse, taking in consideration the clinical noncontraceptive
      benefits of intrauterine levonorgestrel in routinary practice. Medical diseases
      in which LNG-IUS represent a treatment include abnormal uterine bleeding, iron
      deficiency anemia, endometrial hyperplasia, uterine fibroids, adenomyosis,
      endometriosis, and coagulopathies. The advantage of reducing the need for more
      radical treatments such as surgery or hysterectomy is well demonstrated, with
      remarkable benefits for patients. However, in many countries, surgery is still
      used as a first-line treatment and there is a need to define who could benefit
      from a less invasive option. It seems clear that such a reduced use of LNG-IUS
      depends on factors that imply both patients and practitioners, and that the role
      of counseling is becoming a key component in the decision-making process to reach
      the ultimate goal of compliance.

PMID- 28586288
TI  - Genomic signatures of local adaptation in the Drosophila immune response.
AB  - As environments and pathogen landscapes shift, host defenses must evolve to
      remain effective. Due to this selection pressure, among-species comparisons of
      genetic sequence data often find immune genes to be among the fastest evolving
      genes across the genome. The full extent and nature of these immune adaptations,
      however, remain largely unexplored. In a recent study, we analyzed patterns of
      selection within distinct components of the Drosophila melanogaster immune
      pathway. While we found evidence of positive selection within some immune
      processes, immune genes were not universally characterized by signatures of
      strong selection. On the contrary, we even found that some immune functions show
      greater than expected constraint. Overall these results highlight 2 major factors
      that appear to play an outsize role in determining a gene's evolutionary rate:
      the type of pathogen the gene targets and the gene's position within the immune
      network. These results join a growing body of literature that highlight the
      complexity of immune adaptation. Rather than there being uniformly strong
      selection across all immune genes, a combination of pathogen-specificity and host
      genetic constraints appear to play key roles in determining each immune gene's
      individual evolutionary trajectory.

PMID- 28586291
TI  - Evaluation of the Utility of Screening Mammography for High-Risk Women Undergoing
      Screening Breast MR Imaging.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the value of mammography in detecting breast cancer in high
      risk women undergoing screening breast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Materials
      and Methods An ethics-approved, retrospective review of prospective databases was
      performed to identify outcomes of 3934 screening studies (1977 screening MR
      imaging examinations and 1957 screening mammograms) performed between January
      2012 and July 2014 in 1249 high-risk women. Performance measures including recall
      and cancer detection rates, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive
      values were calculated for both mammography and MR imaging. Results A total of 45
      cancers (33 invasive and 12 ductal carcinomas in situ) were diagnosed, 43 were
      seen with MR imaging and 14 with both mammography and MR imaging. Additional
      tests (further imaging and/or biopsy) were recommended in 461 screening MR
      imaging studies (recall rate, 23.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 21.5%, 25.2%),
      and mammography recalled 217 (recall rate, 11.1%; 95% CI: 9.7%, 12.6%). The
      cancer detection rate for MR imaging was 21.8 cancers per 1000 examinations (95%
      CI: 15.78, 29.19) and that for mammography was 7.2 cancers per 1000 examinations
      (95% CI: 3.92, 11.97; P < .001). Sensitivity and specificity of MR imaging were
      96% and 78% respectively, and those of mammography were 31% and 89%, respectively
      (P < .001). Positive predictive value for MR imaging recalls was 9.3% (95% CI:
      6.83%, 12.36%) and that for mammography recalls was 6.5% (95% CI: 3.57%, 10.59%).
      Conclusion Contemporaneous screening mammography did not have added value in
      detection of breast cancer for women who undergo screening MR imaging. Routine
      use of screening mammography in women undergoing screening breast MR imaging
      warrants reconsideration. (c) RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is
      available for this article.

PMID- 28586293
TI  - Parental Support and Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Children: A
      Yearlong Cluster-Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: We studied whether physical activity (PA) counseling for parents
      influenced the level of parental support of children's PA and leisure-time PA in
      children of different levels of initial parental support. We hypothesized that
      the initial level of parental support would moderate the intervention efficacy.
      METHOD: Children (n = 44, Mage = 6.09 +/- 1.17 years) and their parents (n = 61)
      randomly assigned to an intervention group received counseling for 6 months.
      Children in the control group (n = 47, Mage = 6.12 +/- 1.11 years) and their
      parents (n = 63) did not receive any counseling. Parental support was assessed
      using the Family Physical Activity Environment Questionnaire, and children's
      leisure-time PA was recorded using triaxial accelerometers at baseline, at 6
      months, and at 12 months. The efficacy of the intervention was tested by linear
      mixed-effects modeling adjusted for confounding variables (Model 1) and
      additionally for children's participation in organized PA or sports (Model 2).
      RESULTS: Parents within the lowest initial parental support intervention tertile
      significantly increased their support, and their children's mean level of leisure
      time PA significantly improved compared with the corresponding controls during
      the counseling period. On the other hand, intervention was found to have an
      unfavorable influence especially in the PA of children of initially highly
      supportive parents. CONCLUSION: Targeting PA counseling for parents with low
      support of their children's PA could contribute to better family-based PA
      counseling efficacy.

PMID- 28586292
TI  - A Systematic Evaluation of Factors Affecting Extracellular Vesicle Uptake by
      Breast Cancer Cells.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanometer-scale particles that are secreted by
      cells and mediate intercellular communication by transferring biomolecules
      between cells. Harnessing this mechanism for therapeutic biomolecule delivery
      represents a promising frontier for regenerative medicine and other clinical
      applications. One challenge to realizing this goal is that to date, our
      understanding of which factors affect EV uptake by recipient cells remains
      incomplete. In this study, we systematically investigated such delivery questions
      in the context of breast cancer cells, which are one of the most well-studied
      cell types with respect to EV delivery and therefore comprise a facile model
      system for this investigation. By displaying various targeting peptides on the EV
      surface, we observed that although displaying GE11 on EVs modestly increased
      uptake by MCF-7 cells, neuropeptide Y (NPY) display had no effect on uptake by
      the same cells. In contrast, neurotensin (NTS) and urokinase plasminogen
      activator (uPA) display reduced EV uptake by MDA-MB-231 cells. Interestingly, EV
      uptake rate did not depend on the source of the EVs; breast cancer cells
      demonstrated no increase in uptake on administration of breast cancer-derived EVs
      in comparison to HEK293FT-derived EVs. Moreover, EV uptake was greatly enhanced
      by delivery in the presence of polybrene and spinoculation, suggesting that
      maximal EV uptake rates are much greater than those observed under basal
      conditions in cell culture. By investigating how the cell's environment might
      provide cues that impact EV uptake, we also observed that culturing cells on soft
      matrices significantly enhanced EV uptake, compared to culturing on stiff tissue
      culture polystyrene. Each of these observations provides insights into the
      factors impacting EV uptake by breast cancer cells, while also providing a basis
      of comparison for systematically evaluating and perhaps enhancing EV uptake by
      various cell types.

PMID- 28586294
TI  - Determinants of mammography adoption among iranian women: What are the
      differences in the cognitive factors by the stages of test adoption?
AB  - Our aim in this cross-sectional study was to investigate the predictors of the
      stages of change in mammography adoption (MA) based on Health Belief Model among
      Iranian women. Through multistage cluster sampling, we recruited and interviewed
      1131 women older than 40. After statistical adjustment for other risk factors,
      perceived barriers (OR D 0.84, 95% CI D .81-.87) and benefits (OR D 1.17, 95% CI
      D 1.11-1.24) were significant predictors for MA. Majority of the women were in
      the pre-contemplation and contemplation stages of change for MA. Our findings are
      informative for the development of targeted interventions to foster MA among
      women.

PMID- 28586296
TI  - Asthma control and disease burden in patients with asthma and allergic
      comorbidities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess asthma control and associations with health-related quality
      of life (HRQoL) and economic outcomes among patients with asthma and allergic
      comorbidities treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta
      agonists (LABA) combination therapy. METHODS: Data from the 2011-2013 US National
      Health and Wellness Survey were used to identify patients with asthma currently
      treated with ICS and LABA combination therapy (N = 1923). Patients were included
      if they self-reported a physician diagnosis of asthma and at least one
      allergic/asthma-related comorbid condition (e.g., nasal allergies, atopic
      dermatitis). Asthma Control Test scores categorized patients as very poorly
      (scores <= 15; 29.3%), not well (16-19; 25.1%), or well controlled (20-25;
      45.7%). Outcomes included HRQoL (SF-36v2; SF-12v2), work productivity and
      activity impairment, healthcare utilization (HRU), and annual indirect and direct
      costs. Generalized linear models, controlling for covariates, examined whether
      outcomes differed by asthma control. RESULTS: Over half of the patients had very
      poorly or not well-controlled asthma (54.4%). Patients with very poorly
      controlled versus well-controlled asthma reported significantly greater decreases
      in HRQoL, greater overall work impairment, and higher HRU (all, p < 0.05). Very
      poorly controlled patients incurred over double the indirect costs and nearly one
      and a half times the direct and total costs of well-controlled patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increasing level of asthma control was related to improved HRQoL and
      lower costs. The considerably high prevalence of uncontrolled asthma among
      patients on ICS and LABA suggests poor treatment adherence or unmet needs in
      current treatment and may require step-up therapy in appropriate patients
      according to clinical guidelines.

PMID- 28586295
TI  - Temperature Management in Neurological and Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit.

PMID- 28586297
TI  - Fecal microbiota variation across the lifespan of the healthy laboratory rat.
AB  - Laboratory rats are commonly used in life science research as a model for human
      biology and disease, but the composition and development of their gut microbiota
      during life is poorly understood. We determined the fecal microbiota composition
      of healthy Sprague Dawley laboratory rats from 3 weeks to 2 y of age, kept under
      controlled environmental and dietary conditions. Additionally, we determined
      fecal short-chain fatty acid profiles, and we compared the rat fecal microbiota
      with that of mice and humans. Gut microbiota and to a lesser extent SCFAs
      profiles separated rats into 3 different clusters according to age: before
      weaning, first year of life (12- to 26-week-old animals) and second year of life
      (52- to 104-week-old). A core of 46 bacterial species was present in all rats but
      its members' relative abundance progressively decreased with age. This was
      accompanied by an increase of microbiota alpha-diversity, likely due to the
      acquisition of environmental microorganisms during the lifespan. Contrastingly,
      the functional profile of the microbiota across animal species became more
      similar upon aging. Lastly, the microbiota of rats and mice were most similar to
      each other but at the same time the microbiota profile of rats was more similar
      to that of humans than was the microbiota profile of mice. These data offer an
      explanation as to why germ-free rats are more efficient recipients and retainers
      of human microbiota than mice. Furthermore, experimental design should take into
      account dynamic changes in the microbiota of model animals considering that their
      changing gut microbiota interacts with their physiology.

PMID- 28586300
TI  - Assessment of the clinical utility of adding common single nucleotide
      polymorphism genetic scores to classical risk factor algorithms in coronary heart
      disease risk prediction in UK men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risk prediction algorithms for coronary heart disease (CHD) are
      recommended for clinical use. However, their predictive ability remains modest
      and the inclusion of genetic risk may improve their performance. METHODS: QRISK2
      was used to assess CHD risk using conventional risk factors (CRFs). The
      performance of a 19 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) gene score (GS) for CHD
      including variants identified by genome-wide association study and candidate gene
      studies (weighted using the results from the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D meta-analysis) was
      assessed using the second Northwick Park Heart Study (NPHSII) of 2775 healthy UK
      men (284 cases). To improve the GS, five SNPs with weak evidence of an
      association with CHD were removed and replaced with seven robustly associated
      SNPs - giving a 21-SNP GS. RESULTS: The weighted 19 SNP GS was associated with
      lipid traits (p<0.05) and CHD after adjustment for CRFs, (OR=1.31 per standard
      deviation, p=0.03). Addition of the 19 SNP GS to QRISK2 showed improved
      discrimination (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve 0.68 vs.
      0.70 p=0.02), a positive net reclassification index (0.07, p=0.04) compared to
      QRISK2 alone and maintained good calibration (p=0.17). The 21-SNP GS was also
      associated with CHD after adjustment for CRFs (OR=1.39 per standard deviation,
      1.42*10-3), but the combined QRISK2 plus GS score was poorly calibrated (p=0.03)
      and showed no improvement in discrimination (p=0.55) or reclassification (p=0.10)
      compared to QRISK2 alone. CONCLUSIONS: The 19-SNP GS is robustly associated with
      CHD and showed potential clinical utility in the UK population.

PMID- 28586299
TI  - Inter-Fork Strand Annealing causes genomic deletions during the termination of
      DNA replication.
AB  - Problems that arise during DNA replication can drive genomic alterations that are
      instrumental in the development of cancers and many human genetic disorders.
      Replication fork barriers are a commonly encountered problem, which can cause
      fork collapse and act as hotspots for replication termination. Collapsed forks
      can be rescued by homologous recombination, which restarts replication. However,
      replication restart is relatively slow and, therefore, replication termination
      may frequently occur by an active fork converging on a collapsed fork. We find
      that this type of non-canonical fork convergence in fission yeast is prone to
      trigger deletions between repetitive DNA sequences via a mechanism we call Inter
      Fork Strand Annealing (IFSA) that depends on the recombination proteins Rad52,
      Exo1 and Mus81, and is countered by the FANCM-related DNA helicase Fml1. Based on
      our findings, we propose that IFSA is a potential threat to genomic stability in
      eukaryotes.

PMID- 28586301
TI  - Definition of the upper reference limit of glycated albumin in blood donors from
      Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glycated Albumin (GA) has been proposed as a short-term indicator of
      glycemic homeostasis. The aim of this study is to describe the distribution of GA
      in a large sample of blood donors from Italy to evaluate whether demographic
      features, namely age and sex, could influence GA levels and define specific
      reference limits. METHODS: The study included 1334 Italian blood donors. GA was
      measured using an enzymatic method (quantILab Glycated Albumin, IL Werfen,
      Germany). The upper reference limit (URL) was calculated using the non-parametric
      percentile method. RESULTS: A modest, although significant, increase of GA was
      observed in relation to age (p<0.001), especially in males, where the differences
      were more pronounced (p<0.001 in males, p=0.003 in females). Slight differences
      were documented based on sex (12% [11.3-12.8] in males; 12.2% [11.4-13.1] in
      females; p=0.01). After excluding individuals with fasting plasma glucose >=7
      mmol/L, the calculated GA URL was 14.5% (95% CI: 14.3-14.7). Subjects with
      GA>14.5% presented a mean age of 48.4+/-12.2 years, 66.7% were males and the mean
      glucose was 6.88+/-2.5 mmol/L. CONCLUSIONS: GA in Caucasians shows a similar
      increasing trend at older ages documented in other ethnicities. The definition of
      the URL in this population could be useful for both clinical studies, which will
      clarify the role of GA for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes, and will encourage
      the introduction of GA in clinical practice.

PMID- 28586303
TI  - Craving for cigarette smoking among male adolescents in Isfahan based on
      mindfulness and emotional self-regulation.
AB  - Background Cigarette smoking among adolescents and its consequences are
      categorized as serious health problems. Cigarette craving is influenced by
      various psycho-social factors. Objective This study aimed to investigate desire
      and intention to smoke based on mindfulness and emotional self-regulation in
      adolescents. Methods In this correlational study conducted based on structural
      equation modeling, a sample of 350 male students was randomly selected from
      different schools of education districts in Isfahan. Three questionnaires,
      including Hooked on Nicotine Checklist, emotional regulation inventory, and
      Mindful Attention Awareness Scale were employed. Data were analyzed using chi2,
      correlation coefficient and structural modeling tests. In this regard, SPSS and
      AMOS software were used. Results The results showed that 62% of male students had
      experienced cigarette smoking at least once. There was a significant inverse
      correlation between cigarette craving and emotional reappraisal (r = -0.48),
      expressive suppression (r = -0.58) and mindfulness (r = -0.55), respectively (p <
      0.01). In addition to the direct effect, mindfulness through emotional self
      regulation had indirect effects on nicotine craving. A total of 58% of the
      variance in nicotine craving was explained by the study variables. Conclusion The
      results showed that the high percentage of male students hooked on smoking is an
      important issue. In this regard, students' psychological issues such as efficient
      mechanisms of emotional regulation and their knowledge of the risks of smoking
      must be addressed by authorities and families.

PMID- 28586302
TI  - Comparison of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and metabolic parameters between women with and
      without polycystic ovarian syndrome.
AB  - Background There is increasing evidence that supports the contribution of vitamin
      D deficiency in metabolic disturbances among women with polycystic ovarian
      syndrome (PCOS). The aim of this study was to compare 25-hydroxyvitamin D level
      and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the PCOS and normal women. Materials
      and methods A case-controlled study was conducted in a teaching hospital over a 6
      month duration from June 2015 to January 2016. A total of 90 women, who consisted
      of 45 women with PCOS (study group) and 45 women without PCOS (control group),
      were recruited. Results The final analysis was of 80 women only and the
      prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) was high between both groups, i.e.
      93.7% but there was no significant difference (p = 0.874). Nevertheless, the
      prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the study group as
      compared to the control group (27.5% vs. 5.0%, p = 0.013). There was no
      statistically significant correlation between vitamin D level with clinical [age,
      weight, body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumference, systolic and
      diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DPB, respectively)] and metabolic parameters
      (fasting glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein and low
      density lipoprotein) among women with PCOS. However, height was positively
      correlated (r = 0.338, p = 0.033) and the contrary waist-hip ratio was negatively
      correlated with vitamin D level (r = -0.605, p = 0.048). Conclusion The
      prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was high in our study population.
      Nevertheless, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher among women with
      PCOS as compared to women without PCOS.

PMID- 28586304
TI  - Identification of common words to improve self-confidence in Japanese students
      with subthreshold depression.
AB  - Background Subthreshold depression (StD) is more common than major depressive
      disorder. Objective The study aimed to identify common words to improve self
      confidence in Japanese university students with StD for developing a smartphone
      application to help those with StD. Methods In this cross-sectional study, words
      participants used to improve their self-confidence were gathered using self
      report questionnaires in 154 university students in Japan. The words used to
      improve self-confidence were categorized using a computerized text analysis
      method based on the frequency of appearance. Results Participants were 154 male
      and females [StD group (n = 82) and healthy control (HC) group (n = 72); median
      age = 20 years]. A total of 290 words for improving self-confidence were
      identified. In the StD group, the keywords that appeared with the highest
      frequencies were "can", "let's try", "good luck", "able", and "don't worry". The
      keywords that occurred with the highest frequencies (the top eight) were common
      across both groups. The keywords were grouped into eight categories. The
      "encouragement" and "praise" categories were found in the responses of more than
      80% of participants in both groups. Frequencies of the "determination" and
      "trust" categories were significantly higher in the StD group than in the HC
      group. Conclusions We conclude that "can", "let's try", and "good luck" are the
      most common words that Japanese students with StD use when describing how they
      improve their self-confidence. Future work will use these common words to develop
      a smartphone application to help those suffering from StD.

PMID- 28586305
TI  - A combined approach to generate laboratory reference intervals using unbalanced
      longitudinal data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The interpretation of individual laboratory test results requires the
      availability of population-based reference intervals. In children, reference
      interval estimation has to consider frequently the strong age-dependency.
      Generally, for the construction of reference intervals, a sufficiently large
      number of independent measurement values is required. Data selections from
      hospitals or cohort studies often comprise dependencies violating the
      independence assumption. METHODS: In this article, we propose a combination of
      LMS-like (mean, M; coefficient of variation, S; skewness, lambda or L) and
      resampling methods to overcome this drawback. The former is recommended by the
      World Health Organization (WHO) for the construction of continuous reference
      intervals of anthropometric measurements in children. The approach allows the
      inclusion of dependent measurements, for example, repeated measurements per
      subject. It also provides pointwise confidence envelopes as a measure of
      reliability. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The combination of LMS-type methods and
      resampling provides a feasible approach to estimate age-dependent percentiles and
      reference intervals using unbalanced longitudinal data.

PMID- 28586306
TI  - Revisiting nicotine's role in the ageing brain and cognitive impairment.
AB  - Brain ageing is a complex process which in its pathologic form is associated with
      learning and memory dysfunction or cognitive impairment. During ageing, changes
      in cholinergic innervations and reduced acetylcholinergic tonus may trigger a
      series of molecular pathways participating in oxidative stress, excitotoxicity,
      amyloid-beta toxicity, apoptosis, neuroinflammation, and perturb neurotrophic
      factors in the brain. Nicotine is an exogenous agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine
      receptors (nAChRs) and acts as a pharmacological chaperone in the regulation of
      nAChR expression, potentially intervening in age-related changes in diverse
      molecular pathways leading to pathology. Although nicotine has therapeutic
      potential, paradoxical effects have been reported, possibly due to its inverted U
      shape dose-response effects or pharmacokinetic factors. Additionally, nicotine
      administration should result in optimum therapeutic effects without imparting
      abuse potential or toxicity. Overall, this review aims to compile the previous
      and most recent data on nicotine and its effects on cognition-related mechanisms
      and age-related cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28586312
TI  - Assessing the reliability of dose coefficients for exposure to radioiodine by
      members of the public, accounting for dosimetric and risk model uncertainties.
AB  - Assessments of risk to a specific population group resulting from internal
      exposure to a particular radionuclide can be used to assess the reliability of
      the appropriate International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) dose
      coefficients used as a radiation protection device for the specified exposure
      pathway. An estimate of the uncertainty on the associated risk is important for
      informing judgments on reliability; a derived uncertainty factor, UF, is an
      estimate of the 95% probable geometric difference between the best risk estimate
      and the nominal risk and is a useful tool for making this assessment. This paper
      describes the application of parameter uncertainty analysis to quantify
      uncertainties resulting from internal exposures to radioiodine by members of the
      public, specifically 1, 10 and 20-year old females from the population of England
      and Wales. Best estimates of thyroid cancer incidence risk (lifetime attributable
      risk) are calculated for ingestion or inhalation of 129I and 131I, accounting for
      uncertainties in biokinetic model and cancer risk model parameter values. These
      estimates are compared with the equivalent ICRP derived nominal age-, sex- and
      population-averaged estimates of excess thyroid cancer incidence to obtain UFs.
      Derived UF values for ingestion or inhalation of 131I for 1 year, 10-year and 20
      year olds are around 28, 12 and 6, respectively, when compared with ICRP
      Publication 103 nominal values, and 9, 7 and 14, respectively, when compared with
      ICRP Publication 60 values. Broadly similar results were obtained for 129I. The
      uncertainties on risk estimates are largely determined by uncertainties on risk
      model parameters rather than uncertainties on biokinetic model parameters. An
      examination of the sensitivity of the results to the risk models and populations
      used in the calculations show variations in the central estimates of risk of a
      factor of around 2-3. It is assumed that the direct proportionality of excess
      thyroid cancer risk and dose observed at low to moderate acute doses and
      incorporated in the risk models also applies to very small doses received at very
      low dose rates; the uncertainty in this assumption is considerable, but largely
      unquantifiable. The UF values illustrate the need for an informed approach to the
      use of ICRP dose and risk coefficients.

PMID- 28586313
TI  - Physical insights into the blood-brain barrier translocation mechanisms.
AB  - The number of individuals suffering from diseases of the central nervous system
      (CNS) is growing with an aging population. While candidate drugs for many of
      these diseases are available, most of these pharmaceutical agents cannot reach
      the brain rendering most of the drug therapies that target the CNS inefficient.
      The reason is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a complex and dynamic interface that
      controls the influx and efflux of substances through a number of different
      translocation mechanisms. Here, we present these mechanisms providing, also, the
      necessary background related to the morphology and various characteristics of the
      BBB. Moreover, we discuss various numerical and simulation approaches used to
      study the BBB, and possible future directions based on multi-scale methods. We
      anticipate that this review will motivate multi-disciplinary research on the BBB
      aiming at the design of effective drug therapies.

PMID- 28586314
TI  - MicroRNA-mediated regulatory circuits: outlook and perspectives.
AB  - MicroRNAs have been found to be necessary for regulating genes implicated in
      almost all signaling pathways, and consequently their dysfunction influences many
      diseases, including cancer. Understanding of the complexity of the microRNA
      mediated regulatory network has grown in terms of size, connectivity and dynamics
      with the development of computational and, more recently, experimental high
      throughput approaches for microRNA target identification. Newly developed studies
      on recurrent microRNA-mediated circuits in regulatory networks, also known as
      network motifs, have substantially contributed to addressing this complexity, and
      therefore to helping understand the ways by which microRNAs achieve their
      regulatory role. This review provides a summarizing view of the state-of-the-art,
      and perspectives of research efforts on microRNA-mediated regulatory motifs. In
      this review, we discuss the topological properties characterizing different types
      of circuits, and the regulatory features theoretically enabled by such
      properties, with a special emphasis on examples of circuits typifying their
      biological significance in experimentally validated contexts. Finally, we will
      consider possible future developments, in particular regarding microRNA-mediated
      circuits involving long non-coding RNAs and epigenetic regulators.

PMID- 28586315
TI  - Report of IRPA task group on the impact of the eye lens dose limits.
AB  - In 2012 IRPA established a task group (TG) to identify key issues in the
      implementation of the revised eye lens dose limit. The TG reported its
      conclusions in 2013. In January 2015, IRPA asked the TG to review progress with
      the implementation of the recommendations from the early report and to collate
      current practitioner experience. This report presents the results of a survey on
      the view of the IRPA professionals on the new limit to the lens of the eye and on
      the wider issue of tissue reactions. Recommendations derived from the survey are
      presented. This report was approved by IRPA Executive Council on 31 January 2017.

PMID- 28586316
TI  - Direct 3D cell-printing of human skin with functional transwell system.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) cell-printing has been emerging as a promising technology
      with which to build up human skin models by enabling rapid and versatile design.
      Despite the technological advances, challenges remain in the development of fully
      functional models that recapitulate complexities in the native tissue. Moreover,
      although several approaches have been explored for the development of biomimetic
      human skin models, the present skin models based on multistep fabrication methods
      using polydimethylsiloxane chips and commercial transwell inserts could be
      tackled by leveraging 3D cell-printing technology. In this paper, we present a
      new 3D cell-printing strategy for engineering a 3D human skin model with a
      functional transwell system in a single-step process. A hybrid 3D cell-printing
      system was developed, allowing for the use of extrusion and inkjet modules at the
      same time. We began by revealing the significance of each module in engineering
      human skin models; by using the extrusion-dispensing module, we engineered a
      collagen-based construct with polycaprolactone (PCL) mesh that prevented the
      contraction of collagen during tissue maturation; the inkjet-based dispensing
      module was used to uniformly distribute keratinocytes. Taking these features
      together, we engineered a human skin model with a functional transwell system;
      the transwell system and fibroblast-populated dermis were consecutively
      fabricated by using the extrusion modules. Following this process, keratinocytes
      were uniformly distributed onto the engineered dermis by the inkjet module. Our
      transwell system indicates a supportive 3D construct composed of PCL, enabling
      the maturation of a skin model without the aid of commercial transwell inserts.
      This skin model revealed favorable biological characteristics that included a
      stabilized fibroblast-stretched dermis and stratified epidermis layers after 14
      days. It was also observed that a 50 times reduction in cost was achieved and 10
      times less medium was used than in a conventional culture. Collectively, because
      this single-step process opens up chances for versatile designs, we envision that
      our cell-printing strategy could provide an attractive platform in engineering
      various human skin models.

PMID- 28586318
TI  - Modelling of induced electric fields based on incompletely known magnetic fields.
AB  - Determining the induced electric fields in the human body is a fundamental
      problem in bioelectromagnetics that is important for both evaluation of safety of
      electromagnetic fields and medical applications. However, existing techniques for
      numerical modelling of induced electric fields require detailed information about
      the sources of the magnetic field, which may be unknown or difficult to model in
      realistic scenarios. Here, we show how induced electric fields can accurately be
      determined in the case where the magnetic fields are known only approximately,
      e.g. based on field measurements. The robustness of our approach is shown in
      numerical simulations for both idealized and realistic scenarios featuring a
      personalized MRI-based head model. The approach allows for modelling of the
      induced electric fields in biological bodies directly based on real-world
      magnetic field measurements.

PMID- 28586317
TI  - Right lateral versus left lateral view for forearm coronary angiography. An
      operator radiation exposure and image quality study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the operator radiation exposure
      (ORE) and the image quality in a coronary angiography (CA) of the standard left
      lateral view (LLV) and compare it with an alternative right lateral view (RLV).
      BACKGROUND: Interventional cardiologists are exposed to high doses of scatter
      radiation, especially in angulated projections. METHODS: We prospectively
      included consecutive patients who underwent diagnostic CA. A standard +90 degrees
      LLV and an alternative RLV (-90 degrees ) were done in each patient with the
      same protocol. The operator effective dose rate (mSv/h) was determined for each
      projection with digital dosimeters located in the collar, waist and knee. The
      image quality of both the LLV and RLV was analyzed and compared to a standard
      projection. RESULTS: 116 patients were enrolled; left coronary artery (LCA) was
      assessed in 52 patients and right coronary artery (RCA) in 64 patients. The ORE
      was significantly lower with the RLV compared to the conventional LLV with a
      maximum ORE reduction of 91.5% in the operator waist (LLV: 6.84 mSv h-1 versus
      RLV: 0.58 mSv h-1, p < 0.001). No significant differences in image quality were
      observed for the RCA in both projections. For the LCA, a slight loss of quality
      was observed with the RLV. CONCLUSIONS: -90 degrees  RLV is associated with a
      significant decrease in ORE compared to the conventional +90 degrees  LLV without
      losing image resolution for the RCA and resulting in a slight quality loss for
      the LCA evaluation. The RLV should be the first choice for RCA evaluation. For
      the LCA, the RLV loss of resolution should be balanced with the benefit of
      minimizing ORE, mainly in cases with long fluoroscopy times, such as complex
      percutaneous coronary interventional procedures.

PMID- 28586319
TI  - REV-ERB and ROR: therapeutic targets for treating myopathies.
AB  - Muscle is primarily known for its mechanical roles in locomotion, maintenance of
      posture, and regulation of cardiac and respiratory function. There are numerous
      medical conditions that adversely affect muscle, myopathies that disrupt muscle
      development, regeneration and protein turnover to detrimental effect. Skeletal
      muscle is also a vital secretory organ that regulates thermogenesis, inflammatory
      signaling and directs context specific global metabolic changes in energy
      substrate preference on a daily basis. Myopathies differ in the causative factors
      that drive them but share common features including severe reduction in quality
      of life and significantly increased mortality all due irrefutably to the loss of
      muscle mass. Thus far clinically viable approaches for preserving muscle proteins
      and stimulating new muscle growth without unwanted side effects or limited
      efficacy has been elusive. Over the last few decades, evidence has emerged
      through in vitro and in vivo studies that suggest the nuclear receptors REV-ERB
      and ROR might modulate pathways involved in myogenesis and mitochondrial
      biogenesis. Hinting that REV-ERB and ROR might be targeted to treat myopathies.
      However there is still a need for substantial investigation into the roles of
      these nuclear receptors in in vivo rodent models of degenerative muscle diseases
      and acute injury. Although exciting, REV-ERB and ROR have somewhat confounding
      roles in muscle physiology and therefore more studies utilizing in vivo models of
      skeletal muscle myopathies are needed. In this review we highlight the molecular
      forces driving some of the major degenerative muscular diseases and showcase two
      promising molecular targets that may have the potential to treat myopathies: ROR
      and REV-ERB.

PMID- 28586320
TI  - Comparative analyses of studies of childhood leukemia and magnetic fields, radon
      and gamma radiation.
AB  - In this paper we compare the findings of epidemiologic studies of childhood
      leukemia that examined at least two of ELF magnetic fields and/or distance to
      power lines, and exposure to radon and gamma radiation or distance to nuclear
      plants. Many of the methodologic aspects are common to studies of non-ionising
      (i.e. ELF-MF) and ionising radiation. A systematic search and review of studies
      with more than one exposure under study identified 33 key and 35 supplementary
      papers from ten countries that have been included in this review. Examining
      studies that have looked at several radiation exposures, and comparing
      similarities and differences for the different types of radiation, through the
      use of directed acyclic graphs, we evaluate to what extent bias, confounding and
      other methodological issues might be operating in these studies. We found some
      indication of bias, although results are not clear cut. There is little evidence
      that confounding has had a substantial influence on results. Influence of the
      residential mobility on the study conduct and interpretation is complex and can
      manifest as a selection bias, confounding, increased measurement error or could
      also be a potential risk factor. Other factors associated with distance to power
      lines and to nuclear power plants should be investigated. A more complete and
      consistent reporting of results in the future studies will allow for a more
      informative comparison across studies and integration of results.

PMID- 28586321
TI  - Treatment of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury of the Skin Flap Using Human Umbilical
      Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hUC-MSCs) Transfected with "F-5" Gene.
AB  - BACKGROUND Recent studies have shown that skin flap transplantation technique
      plays an important role in surgical procedures. However, there are many problems
      in the process of skin flap transplantation surgeries, especially ischemia
      reperfusion injury, which directly affects the survival rate of the skin flap and
      patient prognosis after surgeries. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, we used a
      new method of the "stem cells-gene" combination therapy. The "F-5" gene fragment
      of heat shock protein 90-alpha (Hsp90-alpha) was transfected into human umbilical
      cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) by genetic engineering technique. RESULTS
      The synergistic effects of "F-5" gene and hUC-MSCs in the treatment of ischemia
      reperfusion injury of the skin flap were confirmed by histochemical and
      immunohistochemical methods. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that the hUC-MSCs
      transfected with "F-5" gene can effectively improve the repair of ischemia
      reperfusion injury.

PMID- 28586323
TI  - Corrigendum: Quaternary contact in the initial interaction of CD4 with the HIV-1
      envelope trimer.

PMID- 28586322
TI  - DNA N6-methyladenine in metazoans: functional epigenetic mark or bystander?
AB  - The DNA-adenine modification N6-methyladenine (6mA), initially thought to be
      mainly restricted to prokaryotes and certain unicellular eukaryotes, has recently
      been found in metazoans. Proposed functions vary from gene activation to
      transposon suppression. However, since most metazoan genomes possess 5
      methylcytosine (5mC) as a dominant epigenetic mark, it raises the question of why
      6mA is required. This Perspective summarizes the latest discoveries and suggests
      potential functional roles for 6mA in metazoan genomes.

PMID- 28586324
TI  - Frozen in action: cryo-EM structure of a GPCR-G-protein complex.

PMID- 28586326
TI  - Erratum: Molecular basis of telomere dysfunction in human genetic diseases.

PMID- 28586325
TI  - Distinct mechanisms obviate the potentially toxic effects of inverted-repeat Alu
      elements on cellular RNA metabolism.

PMID- 28586328
TI  - Promoter interactions direct chromatin folding in embryonic stem cells.

PMID- 28586329
TI  - RNA base-pairing drives phase transitions.

PMID- 28586327
TI  - A glimpse into chromatin remodeling.

PMID- 28586330
TI  - Gathering by the Red Sea highlights links between environment and epigenetics.

PMID- 28586331
TI  - Viral vanguard: Designing cancer-killing viruses to chase metastatic tumors.

PMID- 28586332
TI  - Source code: Putting metagenomics to the test in the clinic.

PMID- 28586333
TI  - The cannabis paradox: when age matters.

PMID- 28586334
TI  - Biased for benefit: Stimulating the world's most popular drug targets with more
      nuance.

PMID- 28586336
TI  - Erratum: PIM1 kinase regulates cell death, tumor growth and chemotherapy response
      in triple-negative breast cancer.

PMID- 28586337
TI  - Corrigendum: SAMHD1 is a biomarker for cytarabine response and a therapeutic
      target in acute myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 28586338
TI  - Understanding cancer from the stem cells up.

PMID- 28586339
TI  - Erratum: Blocking microglial pannexin-1 channels alleviates morphine withdrawal
      in rodents.

PMID- 28586340
TI  - Patrolling monocytes sense peripheral infection and induce cytokine-mediated
      neuronal dysfunction.

PMID- 28586335
TI  - Biology and evolution of poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumors.
AB  - Neuroendocrine (NE) cancers are a diverse group of neoplasms typically diagnosed
      and treated on the basis of their site of origin. This Perspective focuses on
      advances in our understanding of the tumorigenesis and treatment of poorly
      differentiated neuroendocrine tumors. Recent evidence from sequencing indicates
      that, although neuroendocrine tumors can arise de novo, they can also develop as
      a result of lineage plasticity in response to pressure from targeted therapies.
      We discuss the shared genomic alterations of these tumors independently of their
      site of origin, and we explore potential therapeutic strategies on the basis of
      recent biological findings.

PMID- 28586341
TI  - Erratum: Oncostatin M drives intestinal inflammation and predicts response to
      tumor necrosis factor-neutralizing therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel
      disease.

PMID- 28586342
TI  - A role for neutrophils in asthma exacerbations.

PMID- 28586344
TI  - A generalized right truncated bivariate Poisson regression model with
      applications to health data.
AB  - A generalized right truncated bivariate Poisson regression model is proposed in
      this paper. Estimation and tests for goodness of fit and over or under dispersion
      are illustrated for both untruncated and right truncated bivariate Poisson
      regression models using marginal-conditional approach. Estimation and test
      procedures are illustrated for bivariate Poisson regression models with
      applications to Health and Retirement Study data on number of health conditions
      and the number of health care services utilized. The proposed test statistics are
      easy to compute and it is evident from the results that the models fit the data
      very well. A comparison between the right truncated and untruncated bivariate
      Poisson regression models using the test for nonnested models clearly shows that
      the truncated model performs significantly better than the untruncated model.

PMID- 28586343
TI  - Production of transgenic pig as an Alzheimer's disease model using a multi
      cistronic vector system.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated
      with memory loss and cognitive impairments. An AD transgenic (Tg) pig model would
      be useful for preclinical testing of therapeutic agents. We generated an AD Tg
      pig by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) using a multi-cistronic vector that
      harbored three AD-related genes with a total of six well-characterized mutations:
      hAPP (K670N/M671L, I716V, and V717I), hTau (P301L), and hPS1 (M146V and L286P).
      Four AD Tg cell lines were established from Jeju black pig ear fibroblasts (JB
      PEFs); the resultant JB-PEFAD cells harbored transgene integration, expressed
      transgene mRNAs, and had normal karyotypes. Tg line #2-1, which expressed high
      levels of the transgenes, was used for SCNT; cleavage and blastocyst rates of
      embryos derived from this line were lower than those of Non-Tg. These embryos
      yielded three piglets (Jeju National University AD-Tg pigs, JNUPIGs) revealed by
      microsatellite testing to be genetically identical to JB-PEFAD. Transgenes were
      expressed in multiple tissues, and at especially high levels in brain, and Abeta
      40/42, total Tau, and GFAP levels were high in brains of the Tg animals. Five or
      more copies of transgenes were inserted into chromosome X. This is the first
      report of an AD Tg pig derived from a multi-cistronic vector.

PMID- 28586345
TI  - Delivery of the autofluorescent protein R-phycoerythrin by calcium phosphate
      nanoparticles into four different eukaryotic cell lines (HeLa, HEK293T, MG-63,
      MC3T3): Highly efficient, but leading to endolysosomal proteolysis in HeLa and
      MC3T3 cells.
AB  - Nanoparticles can be used as carriers to transport biomolecules like proteins and
      synthetic molecules across the cell membrane because many molecules are not able
      to cross the cell membrane on their own. The uptake of nanoparticles together
      with their cargo typically occurs via endocytosis, raising concerns about the
      possible degradation of the cargo in the endolysosomal system. As the tracking of
      a dye-labelled protein during cellular uptake and processing is not indicative of
      the presence of the protein itself but only for the fluorescent label, a label
      free tracking was performed with the red-fluorescing model protein R
      phycoerythrin (R-PE). Four different eukaryotic cell lines were investigated:
      HeLa, HEK293T, MG-63, and MC3T3. Alone, the protein was not taken up by any cell
      line; only with the help of calcium phosphate nanoparticles, an efficient uptake
      occurred. After the uptake into HeLa cells, the protein was found in early
      endosomes (shown by the marker EEA1) and lysosomes (shown by the marker Lamp1).
      There, it was still intact and functional (i.e. properly folded) as its red
      fluorescence was detected. However, a few hours after the uptake, proteolysis
      started as indicated by the decreasing red fluorescence intensity in the case of
      HeLa and MC3T3 cells. 12 h after the uptake, the protein was almost completely
      degraded in HeLa cells and MC3T3 cells. In HEK293T cells and MG-63 cells, no
      degradation of the protein was observed. In the presence of Bafilomycin A1, an
      inhibitor of acidification and protein degradation in lysosomes, the fluorescence
      of R-PE remained intact over the whole observation period in the four cell lines.
      These results indicate that despite an efficient nanoparticle-mediated uptake of
      proteins by cells, a rapid endolysosomal degradation may prevent the desired
      (e.g. therapeutic) effect of a protein inside a cell.

PMID- 28586346
TI  - 3D bioprinting of methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA) hydrogel with intrinsic
      osteogenicity.
AB  - In bone regenerative medicine there is a need for suitable bone substitutes.
      Hydrogels have excellent biocompatible and biodegradable characteristics, but
      their visco-elastic properties limit their applicability, especially with respect
      to 3D bioprinting. In this study, we modified the naturally occurring
      extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan hyaluronic acid (HA), in order to yield
      photo-crosslinkable hydrogels with increased mechanical stiffness and long-term
      stability, and with minimal decrease in cytocompatibility. Application of these
      tailor-made methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA) gels for bone tissue engineering
      and 3D bioprinting was the subject of investigation. Visco-elastic properties of
      MeHA gels, measured by rheology and dynamic mechanical analysis, showed that
      irradiation of the hydrogels with UV light led to increased storage moduli and
      elastic moduli, indicating increasing gel rigidity. Subsequently, human bone
      marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were incorporated into MeHA
      hydrogels, and cell viability remained 64.4% after 21 days of culture. Osteogenic
      differentiation of MSCs occurred spontaneously in hydrogels with high
      concentrations of MeHA polymer, in absence of additional osteogenic stimuli.
      Addition of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) to the culture medium further
      increased osteogenic differentiation, as evidenced by increased matrix
      mineralisation. MeHA hydrogels demonstrated to be suitable for 3D bioprinting,
      and were printed into porous and anatomically shaped scaffolds. Taken together,
      photosensitive MeHA-based hydrogels fulfilled our criteria for cellular
      bioprinted bone constructs within a narrow window of concentration.

PMID- 28586347
TI  - What makes a reach movement effortful? Physical effort discounting supports
      common minimization principles in decision making and motor control.
AB  - When deciding between alternative options, a rational agent chooses on the basis
      of the desirability of each outcome, including associated costs. As different
      options typically result in different actions, the effort associated with each
      action is an essential cost parameter. How do humans discount physical effort
      when deciding between movements? We used an action-selection task to characterize
      how subjective effort depends on the parameters of arm transport movements and
      controlled for potential confounding factors such as delay discounting and
      performance. First, by repeatedly asking subjects to choose between 2 arm
      movements of different amplitudes or durations, performed against different
      levels of force, we identified parameter combinations that subjects experienced
      as identical in effort (isoeffort curves). Movements with a long duration were
      judged more effortful than short-duration movements against the same force, while
      movement amplitudes did not influence effort. Biomechanics of the movements also
      affected effort, as movements towards the body midline were preferred to
      movements away from it. Second, by introducing movement repetitions, we further
      determined that the cost function for choosing between effortful movements had a
      quadratic relationship with force, while choices were made on the basis of the
      logarithm of these costs. Our results show that effort-based action selection
      during reaching cannot easily be explained by metabolic costs. Instead, force
      loaded reaches, a widely occurring natural behavior, imposed an effort cost for
      decision making similar to cost functions in motor control. Our results thereby
      support the idea that motor control and economic choice are governed by partly
      overlapping optimization principles.

PMID- 28586348
TI  - Primary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis versus drug-sensitive tuberculosis in
      non-HIV-infected patients: Comparisons of CT findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has emerged as a global threat. The
      aim of this work was to compare the CT findings of primary multidrug-resistant
      tuberculosis and drug-sensitive tuberculosis in non-AIDS adults. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: From January 2012 to February 2016, 89 patients with primary multidrug
      resistant tuberculosis were retrospectively reviewed, and 89 consecutive drug
      sensitive TB patients with no history of anti-tuberculous chemotherapy from
      January 2014 to November 2014 were enrolled as control group. All patients were
      seronegative for HIV. The patients' demographic data and the locations, frequency
      and patterns of lung lesions on chest CT were compared. RESULTS: Gender and
      frequency of diabetes were similar between the two groups. The mean age of
      primary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients was younger than that of drug
      sensitive tuberculosis (39.0 vs 47.5, P = 0.005). Lung cavitary nodules or masses
      were more frequently observed and also showed greater extent in primary multidrug
      resistant tuberculosis compared with drug-sensitive tuberculosis. The extent of
      bronchiectasis was significantly greater in primary multidrug-resistant
      tuberculosis than in drug-sensitive tuberculosis. Calcification, large nodules
      and calcified lymph nodes were more frequent in drug-sensitive tuberculosis.
      CONCLUSION: Characteristic chest CT findings may help differentiate between
      primary multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and drug-sensitive tuberculosis in
      patients without HIV infection.

PMID- 28586349
TI  - Comparison of the induced fields using different coil configurations during deep
      transcranial magnetic stimulation.
AB  - Stimulation of deeper brain structures by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
      plays a role in the study of reward and motivation mechanisms, which may be
      beneficial in the treatment of several neurological and psychiatric disorders.
      However, electric field distributions induced in the brain by deep transcranial
      magnetic stimulation (dTMS) are still unknown. In this paper, the double cone
      coil, H-coil and Halo-circular assembly (HCA) coil which have been proposed for
      dTMS have been numerically designed. The distributions of magnetic flux density,
      induced electric field in an anatomically based realistic head model by applying
      the dTMS coils were numerically calculated by the impedance method. Results were
      compared with that of standard figure-of-eight (Fo8) coil. Simulation results
      show that double cone, H- and HCA coils have significantly deep field penetration
      compared to the conventional Fo8 coil, at the expense of induced higher and wider
      spread electrical fields in superficial cortical regions. Double cone and HCA
      coils have better ability to stimulate deep brain subregions compared to that of
      the H-coil. In the mean time, both double cone and HCA coils increase risk for
      optical nerve excitation. Our results suggest although the dTMS coils offer new
      tool with potential for both research and clinical applications for psychiatric
      and neurological disorders associated with dysfunctions of deep brain regions,
      the selection of the most suitable coil settings for a specific clinical
      application should be based on a balanced evaluation between stimulation depth
      and focality.

PMID- 28586350
TI  - A conserved role for the ESCRT membrane budding complex in LINE
      retrotransposition.
AB  - Long interspersed nuclear element-1s (LINE-1s, or L1s) are an active family of
      retrotransposable elements that continue to mutate mammalian genomes. Despite the
      large contribution of L1 to mammalian genome evolution, we do not know where
      active L1 particles (particles in the process of retrotransposition) are located
      in the cell, or how they move towards the nucleus, the site of L1 reverse
      transcription. Using a yeast model of LINE retrotransposition, we identified
      ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) as a critical complex
      for LINE retrotransposition, and verified that this interaction is conserved for
      human L1. ESCRT interacts with L1 via a late domain motif, and this interaction
      facilitates L1 replication. Loss of the L1/ESCRT interaction does not impair RNP
      formation or enzymatic activity, but leads to loss of retrotransposition and
      reduced L1 endonuclease activity in the nucleus. This study highlights the
      importance of the ESCRT complex in the L1 life cycle and suggests an unusual mode
      for L1 RNP trafficking.

PMID- 28586351
TI  - Reducing US cardiovascular disease burden and disparities through national and
      targeted dietary policies: A modelling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large socio-economic disparities exist in US dietary habits and
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. While economic incentives have
      demonstrated success in improving dietary choices, the quantitative impact of
      different dietary policies on CVD disparities is not well established. We aimed
      to quantify and compare the potential effects on total CVD mortality and
      disparities of specific dietary policies to increase fruit and vegetable (F&V)
      consumption and reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in the US.
      METHODS AND FINDINGS: Using the US IMPACT Food Policy Model and probabilistic
      sensitivity analyses, we estimated and compared the reductions in CVD mortality
      and socio-economic disparities in the US population potentially achievable from
      2015 to 2030 with specific dietary policy scenarios: (a) a national mass media
      campaign (MMC) aimed to increase consumption of F&Vs and reduce consumption of
      SSBs, (b) a national fiscal policy to tax SSBs to increase prices by 10%, (c) a
      national fiscal policy to subsidise F&Vs to reduce prices by 10%, and (d) a
      targeted policy to subsidise F&Vs to reduce prices by 30% among Supplemental
      Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants only. We also evaluated a
      combined policy approach, combining all of the above policies. Data sources
      included the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, National Vital
      Statistics System, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and
      published meta-analyses. Among the individual policy scenarios, a national 10%
      F&V subsidy was projected to be most beneficial, potentially resulting in
      approximately 150,500 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 141,400-158,500) CVD deaths
      prevented or postponed (DPPs) by 2030 in the US. This far exceeds the
      approximately 35,100 (95% UI 31,700-37,500) DPPs potentially attributable to a
      30% F&V subsidy targeting SNAP participants, the approximately 25,800 (95% UI
      24,300-28,500) DPPs for a 1-y MMC, or the approximately 31,000 (95% UI 26,800
      35,300) DPPs for a 10% SSB tax. Neither the MMC nor the individual national
      economic policies would significantly reduce CVD socio-economic disparities.
      However, the SNAP-targeted intervention might potentially reduce CVD disparities
      between SNAP participants and SNAP-ineligible individuals, by approximately 8%
      (10 DPPs per 100,000 population). The combined policy approach might save more
      lives than any single policy studied (approximately 230,000 DPPs by 2030) while
      also significantly reducing disparities, by approximately 6% (7 DPPs per 100,000
      population). Limitations include our effect estimates in the model; these
      estimates use interventional and prospective observational studies (not
      exclusively randomised controlled trials). They are thus imperfect and should be
      interpreted as the best available evidence. Another key limitation is that we
      considered only CVD outcomes; the policies we explored would undoubtedly have
      additional beneficial effects upon other diseases. Further, we did not model or
      compare the cost-effectiveness of each proposed policy. CONCLUSIONS: Fiscal
      strategies targeting diet might substantially reduce CVD burdens. A national 10%
      F&V subsidy would save by far the most lives, while a 30% F&V subsidy targeting
      SNAP participants would most reduce socio-economic disparities. A combined policy
      would have the greatest overall impact on both mortality and socio-economic
      disparities.

PMID- 28586353
TI  - Lack of robustness of textural measures obtained from 3D brain tumor MRIs impose
      a need for standardization.
AB  - PURPOSE: Textural measures have been widely explored as imaging biomarkers in
      cancer. However, their robustness under dynamic range and spatial resolution
      changes in brain 3D magnetic resonance images (MRI) has not been assessed. The
      aim of this work was to study potential variations of textural measures due to
      changes in MRI protocols. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients harboring
      glioblastoma with pretreatment 3D T1-weighted MRIs were included in the study.
      Four different spatial resolution combinations and three dynamic ranges were
      studied for each patient. Sixteen three-dimensional textural heterogeneity
      measures were computed for each patient and configuration including co-occurrence
      matrices (CM) features and run-length matrices (RLM) features. The coefficient of
      variation was used to assess the robustness of the measures in two series of
      experiments corresponding to (i) changing the dynamic range and (ii) changing the
      matrix size. RESULTS: No textural measures were robust under dynamic range
      changes. Entropy was the only textural feature robust under spatial resolution
      changes (coefficient of variation under 10% in all cases). CONCLUSION: Textural
      measures of three-dimensional brain tumor images are not robust neither under
      dynamic range nor under matrix size changes. Standards should be harmonized to
      use textural features as imaging biomarkers in radiomic-based studies. The
      implications of this work go beyond the specific tumor type studied here and pose
      the need for standardization in textural feature calculation of oncological
      images.

PMID- 28586352
TI  - The specific host plant DNA detection suggests a potential migration of Apolygus
      lucorum from cotton to mungbean fields.
AB  - The polyphagous mirid bug Apolygus lucorum (Heteroptera: Miridae) has more than
      200 species of host plants and is an insect pest of important agricultural crops,
      including cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) and mungbean (Vigna radiata). Previous
      field trials have shown that A. lucorum adults prefer mungbean to cotton plants,
      indicating the considerable potential of mungbean as a trap crop in cotton
      fields. However, direct evidence supporting the migration of A. lucorum adults
      from cotton to mungbean is lacking. We developed a DNA-based polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) approach to reveal the movement of A. lucorum between neighboring
      mungbean and cotton fields. Two pairs of PCR primers specific to cotton or
      mungbean were designed to target the trnL-trnF region of chloroplast DNA.
      Significant differences in the detectability half-life (DS50) were observed
      between these two host plants, and the mean for cotton (8.26 h) was approximately
      two times longer than that of mungbean (4.38 h), requiring weighted mean
      calculations to compare the detectability of plant DNA in the guts of field
      collected bugs. In field trials, cotton DNA was detected in the guts of the adult
      A. lucorum individuals collected in mungbean plots, and the cotton DNA detection
      rate decreased successively from 5 to 15 m away from the mungbean-cotton midline.
      In addition to the specific detection of cotton- and mungbean-fed bugs, both
      cotton and mungbean DNA were simultaneously detected within the guts of single
      individuals caught from mungbean fields. This study successfully established a
      tool for molecular gut-content analyses and clearly demonstrated the movement of
      A. lucorum adults from cotton to neighboring mungbean fields, providing new
      insights into understanding the feeding characteristics and landscape-level
      ecology of A. lucorum under natural conditions.

PMID- 28586354
TI  - Contextual diversity facilitates learning new words in the classroom.
AB  - In the field of word recognition and reading, it is commonly assumed that
      frequently repeated words create more accessible memory traces than infrequently
      repeated words, thus capturing the word-frequency effect. Nevertheless, recent
      research has shown that a seemingly related factor, contextual diversity (defined
      as the number of different contexts [e.g., films] in which a word appears), is a
      better predictor than word-frequency in word recognition and sentence reading
      experiments. Recent research has shown that contextual diversity plays an
      important role when learning new words in a laboratory setting with adult
      readers. In the current experiment, we directly manipulated contextual diversity
      in a very ecological scenario: at school, when Grade 3 children were learning
      words in the classroom. The new words appeared in different contexts/topics (high
      contextual diversity) or only in one of them (low-contextual diversity). Results
      showed that words encountered in different contexts were learned and remembered
      more effectively than those presented in redundant contexts. We discuss the
      practical (educational [e.g., curriculum design]) and theoretical (models of word
      recognition) implications of these findings.

PMID- 28586355
TI  - Incidence and causes of maternal near-miss in selected hospitals of Addis Ababa,
      Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because maternal mortality is a rare event, it is important to study
      maternal near-miss as a complement to evaluate and improve the quality of
      obstetric care. Thus, the study was conducted with the aim of assessing the
      incidence and causes of maternal near-miss. METHODS: A facility-based cross
      sectional study was conducted in five selected public hospitals of Addis Ababa,
      Ethiopia from May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016. All maternal near-miss cases
      admitted to the selected hospitals during the study period were prospectively
      recruited. World Health Organization criteria were used to identify maternal near
      miss cases. The number of maternal near-miss cases over one year per 1000 live
      births occurring during the same year was calculated to determine the incidence
      of maternal near-miss. Underlying and contributing causes of maternal near-miss
      were documented from each participant's record. RESULTS: During the one-year
      period, there were a total of 238 maternal near-miss cases and 29,697 live births
      in all participating hospitals, which provides a maternal near-miss incidence
      ratio of 8.01 per 1000 live births. The underlying causes of the majority of
      maternal near-miss cases were hypertensive disorders and obstetric hemorrhage.
      Anemia was the major contributing cause reported for maternal near-miss. Most of
      the maternal near-miss cases occurred before the women's arrival at the
      participating hospitals. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated a lower maternal near
      miss incidence ratio compared to previous country-level studies. The majority of
      the near-miss cases occurred before the women's arrival at the participating
      hospitals, which underscores the importance of improving pre-hospital barriers.
      Efforts made toward improvement in the management of life-threatening obstetric
      complications could reduce the occurrence of maternal near-miss problems that
      occur during hospitalization.

PMID- 28586356
TI  - Bidirectional relationships between retention and health-related quality of life
      in Chinese mainland patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment.
AB  - This study aimed to explore the bidirectional relationships between retention and
      health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients from mainland China receiving
      methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). This prospective cohort study recruited
      1,212 eligible MMT patients from the two largest MMT clinics (one privately and
      another publicly funded) in Xi'an. This study started in March 2012 with a 2-year
      follow-up until March 2014. Retention was assessed by repeated terminations, past
      treatment duration, premature terminations, and follow-up treatment duration.
      HRQoL was evaluated using the Chinese (simple) short-form 36 health survey
      version 2 (SF-36v2) and the quality of life scale for drug addicts (QOL-DAv2.0).
      Linear and Cox regression analyses were used to explore relationships between
      retention and HRQoL. A general linear model was used to further examine the
      global effect of past treatment duration on HRQoL. Multivariate analyses showed
      that repeated terminations had no significant impact on HRQoL scores in MMT
      patients; however, past treatment time (year) influenced the SF-36v2PCS (P =
      0.004): treatment for >=4 years showed a lower SF-36v2PCS score (regression
      coefficient: -2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.80, -0.97; P = 0.001) than
      treatment for <1 year. In addition, patients with an SF-36v2PCS score > 49
      (hazard ratio: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.98; P = 0.03) were 17% less likely to
      terminate MMT than those with scores of <=49. In conclusion, retention and HRQoL
      tended to have a bidirectional relationship, which should be considered in the
      development of retention and health-management programs for patients with MMT.

PMID- 28586357
TI  - Satellite data based estimation of methane emissions from rice paddies in the
      Sanjiang Plain in northeast China.
AB  - The Sanjiang Plain (SJP), one of the major rice producing regions in China, is an
      important source of methane (CH4) emissions. However, there have been large
      uncertainties in the estimates of CH4 emissions from this area during the past
      few years. In this study, we estimated CH4 emissions using a process-based model
      derived by rice area, CH4 flux, land surface temperature (LST), and the ratio of
      precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (ET) in rice paddies in the SJP during
      the rice growing seasons in 2000, 2006, and 2010, respectively. The results
      showed that the total area of rice fields was 1.64 million ha in 2010, which was
      approximately 35 and 13% higher than in 2000 and 2006, respectively. The average
      LST was 22.1 degrees C in 2000 which was higher than in 2006 (21.6 degrees C) and
      2010 (21.5 degrees C). Monthly ET and P displayed similar seasonal and annual
      variability. The monthly ET was 61.7, 66.5, and 63.0 mm month-1 and P was 85.1,
      80.6 and 85.9 mm month-1 during the rice growing seasons in 2000, 2006, and 2010,
      respectively. The averaged CH4 flux rates were 24.83, 24.63, and 24.59 ton km-2,
      and the estimated mean annual CH4 emissions from rice paddies were 0.30, 0.36,
      and 0. 40 Tg yr-1 in 2000, 2006, and 2010, respectively. The CH4 emissions
      displayed obvious spatial variations that decreased from east to west in the SJP,
      and were mainly affected by temperature. The results will improve our
      understanding of the inter-annual and spatial variations of CH4 emissions and
      provide a more accurate regional budget of CH4 emissions from rice paddies in the
      Sanjiang Plain.

PMID- 28586359
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of DWD proteins in soybean (Glycine max): Significance of
      Gm08DWD and GmMYB176 interaction in isoflavonoid biosynthesis.
AB  - A subset of WD40 proteins with DWD motif has been proposed to serve as substrate
      receptor of DDB-CUL4-ROC1 complex, thereby getting involved in protein
      degradation via ubiquitination pathway. Here, we identified a total of 161
      potential DWD proteins in soybean (Glycine max) by searching DWD motif against
      the genome-wide WD40 repeats, and classified them into 20 groups on the basis of
      their functional domains and annotations. These putative DWD genes in soybean
      displayed tissue-specific expression patterns, and their genome localization and
      analysis of evolutionary relationship identified 48 duplicated gene pairs within
      161 GmDWDs. Among the 161 soybean DWD proteins, Gm08DWD was previously found to
      interact with an isoflavonoid regulator, GmMYB176. Therefore, Gm08DWD and its
      homologue Gm05DWD were further investigated. Expression profile of both genes in
      different soybean tissues revealed that Gm08DWD was expressed higher in embryo,
      while Gm05DWD exhibited maximum transcript accumulation in leaf. Our protein
      protein interaction studies demonstrated that Gm08DWD interacts with GmMYB176.
      Although Gm08DWD was localized both in nucleus and cytoplasm, the resulting
      complex of Gm08DWD and GmMYB176 was mainly observed in the nucleus. This finding
      is consistent with the functional localization of CUL4-E3 ligase complex. In
      conclusion, the survey on soybean potential DWD protein is useful reference for
      the further functional investigation of their DDB1-binding ability. Based on the
      functional investigation of Gm08DWD, we speculate that protein-protein
      interaction between Gm08DWD and GmMYB176 may lead to the degradation of GmMYB176
      through CUL4-DDB1complex.

PMID- 28586360
TI  - Comparative proteomic analysis of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) heterostylous
      pistil development.
AB  - Heterostyly is a common floral polymorphism, but the proteomic basis of this
      trait is still largely unexplored. In this study, self- and cross-pollination of
      L-morph and S-morph flowers and comparison of embryo sac development in eggplant
      (Solanum melongena L.) suggested that lower fruit set from S-morph flowers
      results from stigma-pollen incompatibility. To explore the molecular mechanism
      underlying heterostyly development, we conducted isobaric tags for relative and
      absolute quantification (iTRAQ) proteomic analysis of eggplant pistils for L- and
      S-morph flowers. A total of 5,259 distinct proteins were identified during
      heterostyly development. Compared S-morph flowers with L-morph, we discovered 57
      and 184 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) during flower development and
      maturity, respectively. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reactions were
      used for nine genes to verify DEPs from the iTRAQ approach. During flower
      development, DEPs were mainly involved in morphogenesis, biosynthetic processes,
      and metabolic pathways. At flower maturity, DEPs primarily participated in
      biosynthetic processes, metabolic pathways, and the formation of ribosomes and
      proteasomes. Additionally, some proteins associated with senescence and
      programmed cell death were found to be upregulated in S-morph pistils, which may
      lead to the lower fruit set in S-morph flowers. Although the exact roles of these
      related proteins are not yet known, this was the first attempt to use an iTRAQ
      approach to analyze proteomes of heterostylous eggplant flowers, and these
      results will provide insights into biochemical events taking place during the
      development of heterostyly.

PMID- 28586358
TI  - Parental alcohol use and risk of behavioral and emotional problems in offspring.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The majority of studies that have examined parental alcohol use and
      offspring outcomes have either focused on exposure in the antenatal period or
      from clinical populations. This study sought to examine proximal and distal
      associations between parental alcohol use and offspring conduct problems and
      depressive symptoms in a population birth cohort. METHODS: We used prospective
      data from a large UK based population cohort (ALSPAC) to investigate the
      association between parental alcohol use, measured in units, (assessed at ages 4
      and 12 years) with childhood conduct trajectories, (assessed on six occasions
      from 4 to 13.5 years, n = 6,927), and adolescent depressive symptoms (assessed on
      four occasions from ~13 to ~18 years, n = 5,539). Heavy drinking was defined as
      >=21 units per week in mothers and partners who drank 4+ units daily. RESULTS: We
      found little evidence to support a dose response association between parental
      alcohol use and offspring outcomes. For example, we found insufficient evidence
      to support an association between maternal alcohol use at age 4 years and
      childhood conduct problems (childhood limited: OR = 1.00, 95% CI = .99, 1.01;
      adolescent onset: OR = 0.99, 95% CI = .98, 1.00; and early-onset persistent: OR =
      0.99, 95% CI = .98, 1.00) per 1-unit change in maternal alcohol use compared to
      those with low levels of conduct problems. We also found insufficient evidence to
      support an association between maternal alcohol use at age 4 years and adolescent
      depressive symptoms (intercept: b = .001, 95% CI = -.01, .01, and slope: b =
      .003, 95% CI = -.03, .03) per 1-unit change in maternal alcohol use. Results
      remained consistent across amount of alcohol consumed (i.e., number of alcohol
      units or heavy alcohol use), parent (maternal self-reports or maternal reports of
      partner's alcohol use), and timing of alcohol use (assessed at age 4 or age 12
      years). CONCLUSIONS: There is no support for an association between parental
      alcohol use during childhood and conduct and emotional problems during childhood
      or adolescence.

PMID- 28586361
TI  - Parents' experience of perinatal post-mortem following stillbirth: A mixed
      methods study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyse quantitative and qualitative data, to describe the
      experience of parents in relation to post-mortem following stillbirth, looking at
      offer and uptake of post-mortem, information-giving, the type of post-mortem
      carried out, receiving the results and any sociodemographic differences in care
      practices in relation to post-mortem. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a postal
      survey which included both open and closed questions allowing for a mixed methods
      study design. POPULATION: Random sample of women who experienced a stillbirth in
      2013. METHODS: A sample of women who experienced a stillbirth in 2013 were
      selected by staff at the Office for National Statistics and sent a letter and
      information leaflet about the study followed by a postal questionnaire. The
      questionnaire included questions about pregnancy, labour and birth, the postnatal
      period, the time at which the baby died, and also asked about the post-mortem
      process. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 477 women. Overall,
      95% of women were asked for consent to a post-mortem, almost half prior to birth,
      and half by a consultant. The majority of women received written information and
      felt sufficiently informed, and agreed to a full post-mortem. A third of women
      had to wait longer than 12 weeks for the post-mortem result and this was the most
      common theme in the free text comments. Women also commented on the manner of
      being asked for consent, and wrote about issues related to communication and
      support. There were significant differences between sociodemographic groups in
      many of these factors. CONCLUSIONS: The inconsistencies in offer and consent to
      post-mortem following stillbirth suggest inequality in this area. The amount of
      time that many parents have to wait for post-mortem results is unacceptable and
      should be prioritised for improvement.

PMID- 28586362
TI  - Fast and general tests of genetic interaction for genome-wide association
      studies.
AB  - A complex disease has, by definition, multiple genetic causes. In theory, these
      causes could be identified individually, but their identification will likely
      benefit from informed use of anticipated interactions between causes. In
      addition, characterizing and understanding interactions must be considered key to
      revealing the etiology of any complex disease. Large-scale collaborative efforts
      are now paving the way for comprehensive studies of interaction. As a
      consequence, there is a need for methods with a computational efficiency
      sufficient for modern data sets as well as for improvements of statistical
      accuracy and power. Another issue is that, currently, the relation between
      different methods for interaction inference is in many cases not transparent,
      complicating the comparison and interpretation of results between different
      interaction studies. In this paper we present computationally efficient tests of
      interaction for the complete family of generalized linear models (GLMs). The
      tests can be applied for inference of single or multiple interaction parameters,
      but we show, by simulation, that jointly testing the full set of interaction
      parameters yields superior power and control of false positive rate. Based on
      these tests we also describe how to combine results from multiple independent
      studies of interaction in a meta-analysis. We investigate the impact of several
      assumptions commonly made when modeling interactions. We also show that, across
      the important class of models with a full set of interaction parameters, jointly
      testing the interaction parameters yields identical results. Further, we apply
      our method to genetic data for cardiovascular disease. This allowed us to
      identify a putative interaction involved in Lp(a) plasma levels between two 'tag'
      variants in the LPA locus (p = 2.42 ? 10-09) as well as replicate the interaction
      (p = 6.97 ? 10-07). Finally, our meta-analysis method is used in a small (N =
      16,181) study of interactions in myocardial infarction.

PMID- 28586364
TI  - Intracellular zinc flux causes reactive oxygen species mediated mitochondrial
      dysfunction leading to cell death in Leishmania donovani.
AB  - Leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania parasite is a global threat to public health
      and one of the most neglected tropical diseases. Therefore, the discovery of
      novel drug targets and effective drug is a major challenge and an important goal.
      Leishmania is an obligate intracellular parasite that alternates between sand fly
      and human host. To survive and establish infections, Leishmania parasites
      scavenge and internalize nutrients from the host. Nevertheless, host cells
      presents mechanism like nutrient restriction to inhibit microbial growth and
      control infection. Zinc is crucial for cellular growth and disruption in its
      homeostasis hinders growth and survival in many cells. However, little is known
      about the role of zinc in Leishmania growth and survival. In this study, the
      effect of zinc on the growth and survival of L.donovani was analyzed by both Zinc
      depletion and Zinc-supplementation using Zinc-specific chelator N, N, N', N'
      tetrakis (2-pyridylmethyl) ethylenediamine (TPEN) and Zinc Sulfate (ZnSO4).
      Treatment of parasites with TPEN rather than ZnSO4 had significantly affected the
      growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The pre-treatment of promastigotes
      with TPEN resulted into reduced host-parasite interaction as indicated by
      decreased association index. Zn depletion resulted into flux in intracellular
      labile Zn pool and increased in ROS generation correlated with decreased
      intracellular total thiol and retention of plasma membrane integrity without
      phosphatidylserine exposure in TPEN treated promastigotes. We also observed that
      TPEN-induced Zn depletion resulted into collapse of mitochondrial membrane
      potential which is associated with increase in cytosolic calcium and cytochrome
      c. DNA fragmentation analysis showed increased DNA fragments in Zn-depleted
      cells. In summary, intracellular Zn depletion in the L. donovani promastigotes
      led to ROS-mediated caspase-independent mitochondrial dysfunction resulting into
      apoptosis-like cell death. Therefore, cellular zinc homeostasis in Leishmania can
      be explored for new drug targets and chemotherapeutics to control Leishmanial
      growth and disease progression.

PMID- 28586365
TI  - Trait variation and genetic diversity in a banana genomic selection training
      population.
AB  - Banana (Musa spp.) is an important crop in the African Great Lakes region in
      terms of income and food security, with the highest per capita consumption
      worldwide. Pests, diseases and climate change hamper sustainable production of
      bananas. New breeding tools with increased crossbreeding efficiency are being
      investigated to breed for resistant, high yielding hybrids of East African
      Highland banana (EAHB). These include genomic selection (GS), which will benefit
      breeding through increased genetic gain per unit time. Understanding trait
      variation and the correlation among economically important traits is an essential
      first step in the development and selection of suitable GS models for banana. In
      this study, we tested the hypothesis that trait variations in bananas are not
      affected by cross combination, cycle, field management and their interaction with
      genotype. A training population created using EAHB breeding material and its
      progeny was phenotyped in two contrasting conditions. A high level of correlation
      among vegetative and yield related traits was observed. Therefore, genomic
      selection models could be developed for traits that are easily measured. It is
      likely that the predictive ability of traits that are difficult to phenotype will
      be similar to less difficult traits they are highly correlated with. Genotype
      response to cycle and field management practices varied greatly with respect to
      traits. Yield related traits accounted for 31-35% of principal component
      variation under low and high input field management conditions. Resistance to
      Black Sigatoka was stable across cycles but varied under different field
      management depending on the genotype. The best cross combination was 1201K
      1xSH3217 based on selection response (R) of hybrids. Genotyping using simple
      sequence repeat (SSR) markers revealed that the training population was
      genetically diverse, reflecting a complex pedigree background, which was mostly
      influenced by the male parents.

PMID- 28586363
TI  - Preoperative serum cystatin-C as a potential biomarker for prognosis of renal
      cell carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: The prognostic value of serum cystatin-C (Cys-C) in renal cell carcinoma
      (RCC) remains unknown. The purpose of this study is to explore the prognostic
      value of Cys-C for RCC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The levels of preoperative
      Cys-C, creatinine (CRE) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (e-GFR) were
      retrospectively collected in 325 RCC patients undergoing surgery. The cutoff
      values of Cys-C, CRE and e-GFR were determined by the standardized Cutoff Finder
      algorithm. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and pairwise
      comparison were performed to compare the three variables. Univariate and
      multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to investigate the prognostic
      value of serum Cys-C in RCC. RESULTS: Based on the analysis of Cutoff Finder
      algorithm, ROC curve and pairwise comparison, the preoperative Cys-C was superior
      to CRE and e-GFR as a predictive factor in RCC. Multivariate Cox regression
      analyses showed that high preoperative Cys-C (>1.09 mg/L) was significantly
      associated with shorter overall survival (OS) in all RCC patients (hazard ratio
      [HR], 1.59; P = 0.012), patients at pT1-2 (P<0.001), pN0 (P<0.001) and pM0 stages
      (P<0.001). Moreover, Multivariate Cox regression analyses also showed that in the
      306 patients without metastasis, high preoperative Cys-C was also associated with
      shorter disease-free survival (DFS) (HR, 3.50; P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: An
      elevated preoperative Cys-C level was demonstrated to be related with worse
      survival in patients with RCC. Measuring preoperative serum Cys-C might be a
      simple way for finding poor prognostic patients and patients with elevated
      preoperative Cys-C level should be more closely followed up.

PMID- 28586367
TI  - Maternal region of birth and stillbirth in Victoria, Australia 2000-2011: A
      retrospective cohort study of Victorian perinatal data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence from high-income countries that maternal
      country of birth is a risk factor for stillbirth. We aimed to examine the
      association between maternal region of birth and stillbirth between 2000 and 2011
      inclusive in Victoria, Australia. METHODS: Retrospective population based cohort
      study of all singleton births at 24 or more weeks gestational age from 2000-2011
      in Victoria, Australia. Stillbirths due to termination of pregnancy, babies with
      congenital anomalies and Indigenous mothers were excluded. Main Outcome Measure:
      Stillbirth. RESULTS: Over the 12-year period there were 685,869 singleton births
      and 2299 stillbirths, giving an overall stillbirth rate of 3.4 per 1000 births.
      After adjustment for risk factors, compared to women born in Australia/New
      Zealand, women born in South Asia (aOR 1.27, 95% CI 1.01-1.53, p = 0.01), were
      more likely to have a stillbirth whereas women born in South East and East Asia
      were (aOR 0.60, (95% CI 0.49-0.72, p<0.001) less likely to have a stillbirth.
      Additionally, the increasing rate of stillbirth as gestation length progressed
      began to rise earlier and more steeply in the South Asian compared to
      Australian/New Zealand born women. The following risk factors were also
      significantly associated with an increased odds of stillbirth in multivariate
      analyses: maternal age <20 and 35 years and more, nulliparity, low socio-economic
      status, previous stillbirth, no ultrasound reported in 1st trimester, pre
      existing hypertension, antepartum haemorrhage and failure to detect growth
      restriction antenatally. CONCLUSION: Maternal region of birth is an independent
      risk factor for stillbirth. Improvements in the rate of stillbirth, particularly
      late pregnancy stillbirth, are likely to be gained in high-income settings where
      clinical care is informed by maternal region of birth.

PMID- 28586366
TI  - Sagittal spino-pelvic alignment in adults: The Wakayama Spine Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish the normal values of spino-pelvic alignment and to
      clarify the effect of age-related changes using large, community-based cohorts.
      METHODS: In this study, data from 1461 participants (466 men, 995 women) were
      analyzed. On lateral standing radiographs, the following parameters were
      measured: thoracic kyphosis (TK), lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic tilt (PT), pelvic
      incidence (PI), and C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA). All values are expressed as
      the mean+/-standard deviation. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used
      to examine correlations between variables of spino-pelvic parameters. Finally, we
      analyzed the relationship between age and spino-pelvic parameters. Therefore, we
      entered values for the body mass index (BMI), SVA, TK, and PI-LL into a multiple
      regression model to adjust for potential confounding factors. RESULTS: The SVA,
      TK, and PT increased with age, and LL decreased with age. Regarding sex
      differences, the TK was statistically significantly larger in men than in women,
      and LL, PT, and PI were statistically significantly smaller in men than in women.
      Correlation coefficients between the SVA and TK, between the SVA and PI-LL, and
      between TK and PI-LL were none, strong, and weak, respectively. Results of
      multiple regression analysis between age and spino-pelvic parameters showed that
      the standardized partial regression coefficients for the SVA, TK, and PI-LL were
      0.17, 0.30, and 0.23, respectively, in men and 0.29, 0.32, and 0.23,
      respectively, in women. CONCLUSIONS: We found that all parameters were
      significantly associated with age in men and women. The SVA, TK, and PT increased
      with age, and LL decreased with age. Results of multiple regression analysis also
      demonstrated that the SVA, TK, and PI-LL are related to age. Indeed, the PI-LL
      value increased with age. In this study, a more excessive PI-LL mismatch was
      shown, indicating an increased risk of spinal malalignment. Differences in the
      absolute values of spino-pelvic parameters in each sex were small yet
      statistically significant. Thus, further study should be performed to corroborate
      this finding.

PMID- 28586368
TI  - Stabilization of lead in incineration fly ash by moderate thermal treatment with
      sodium hydroxide addition.
AB  - Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration fly ash (IFA) can be potentially reused
      as a substitute for some raw materials, but treatment for detoxification is
      indispensable owing to high contents of heavy metals in fly ash. In the present
      work, due to excessive leaching concentration of lead (Pb), a moderate thermal
      treatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) addition was employed to stabilize Pb in
      IFA. The moderate thermal treatment was performed under relatively low
      temperature ranging from 300 to 500 degrees C and at retention time from 1 to 3 h
      with NaOH addition in a range of 1 to 9%. Leaching results showed that leaching
      concentrations of Pb in IFA leachates decreased below the standard for hazardous
      waste identification (5 mg/L) in China under all treatment scenarios. With the
      increase of temperature, retention time and the amount of NaOH, the concentration
      of Pb were further suppressed in IFA leachates. Especially, at 500 degrees C for
      3 h with 9% NaOH addition, the concentration of Pb dropped to 0.18 mg/L, which
      was below the standard for sanitary landfill (0.25 mg/L) in China. In thermal
      process, needle-like crystallites melted to form granules and clumps with
      compacter structure and less pores. After the thermal treatment, water-soluble
      and exchangeable fractions of Pb significantly decreased. Therefore, the thermal
      treatment coupled with NaOH could be applied to realize the environmentally sound
      management of MSW IFA.

PMID- 28586369
TI  - Synthesis and biochemical characterization of EGF receptor in a water-soluble
      membrane model system.
AB  - ErbB (Erythroblastic Leukemia Viral Oncogene Homolog) receptor tyrosine kinases
      are critical for tissue development and maintenance, and frequently become
      oncogenic when mutated or overexpressed. In vitro analysis of ErbB receptor
      kinases can be difficult because of their large size and poor water solubility.
      Here we report improved production and assembly of the correctly folded full
      length EGF receptor (EGFR) into nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs). NLPs are ~10 nm
      in diameter discoidal cell membrane mimics composed of apolipoproteins
      surrounding a lipid bilayer. NLPs containing EGFR were synthesized via incubation
      of baculovirus-produced recombinant EGFR with apolipoprotein and phosphoplipids
      under conditions that favor self-assembly. The resulting EGFR-NLPs were the
      correct size, formed dimers and multimers, had intrinsic autophosphorylation
      activity, and retained the ability to interact with EGFR-targeted ligands and
      inhibitors consistent with previously-published in vitro binding affinities. We
      anticipate rapid adoption of EGFR-NLPs for structural studies of full-length
      receptors and drug screening, as well as for the in vitro characterization of
      ErbB heterodimers and disease-relevant mutants.

PMID- 28586370
TI  - Long-term tremor therapy for Parkinson and essential tremor with sensor-guided
      botulinum toxin type A injections.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Current pharmacological agents used to treat Parkinson disease (PD)
      tremor and essential tremor (ET) provide suboptimal benefit and are commonly
      associated with significant adverse effects. Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) has
      been shown to be effective for wrist tremor though functionally bothersome muscle
      weakness frequently occurs. This is the longest study to date demonstrating that
      BoNT-A therapy coupled with kinematic guidance can provide efficacious outcomes
      for upper limb tremor with minimized unwanted weakness. METHODS: A total of 28 PD
      and 24 ET participants with bothersome, disabling tremor, received six serial
      BoNT-A treatments every 16 weeks starting at week 0 with a follow-up visit 6
      weeks following a treatment, totaling 96 weeks. Clinical scales, including Fahn
      Tolosa-Marin tremor rating scale (FTM), and sensor-based tremor assessments were
      conducted at each visit. Kinematics was utilized to identify which arm muscles
      contributed to the tremulous movements and the experienced injector used clinical
      expertise in determining BoNT-A dosages. RESULTS: Following BoNT-A treatment,
      clinical ratings of tremor severity and functional ability (FTM) showed
      significant improvements following the first treatment which was maintained up to
      week 96 in PD and ET. Kinematics detected a significant reduction in PD and ET
      tremor amplitudes by 70% and 76% over the treatment course, respectively. By
      objectively distinguishing tremulous muscles and tremor severity, adverse effects
      were limited to mild perceived weakness by participants in injected muscles
      during follow-ups. Following the fourth treatment, BoNT-A dosages in flexor and
      extensor wrist muscles and biceps were reduced for those experiencing residual
      weakness which ultimately did not interfere with tremor relief or arm function.
      CONCLUSIONS: Kinematics is an objective method that can aid clinicians in
      assessing and determining optimal BoNT-A parameters to alleviate both PD and ET
      tremor. BoNT-A injections are tolerable and effective when focal therapy regimens
      are determined and optimized kinematically over a long-term.

PMID- 28586372
TI  - A novel tri-band T-junction impedance-transforming power divider with independent
      power division ratios.
AB  - In this paper, a novel L network (LN) is presented, which is composed of a
      frequency-selected section (FSS) and a middle stub (MS). Based on the proposed
      LN, a tri-band T-junction power divider (TTPD) with impedance transformation and
      independent power division ratios is designed. Moreover, the closed-form design
      theory of the TTPD is derived based on the transmission line theory and circuit
      theory. Finally, a microstrip prototype of the TTPD is simulated, fabricated, and
      measured. The design is for three arbitrarily chosen frequencies, 1 GHz, 1.6 GHz,
      and 2.35 GHz with the independent power division ratios of 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. The
      measured results show that the fabricated prototype is consistent with the
      simulation, which demonstrates the effectiveness of this proposed design.

PMID- 28586371
TI  - Opium and bladder cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the odds
      ratios for opium use and the risk of bladder cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The association between opium use and bladder cancer has been
      investigated in many studies, with varying reporting results reported. This study
      aims to estimate the total odds ratio for the association between bladder cancer
      and opium consumption using meta-analysis. METHODS: The study was designed
      according to PRISMA guidelines. Two independent researchers searched for the
      relevant studies using PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, OVID, Embase, and Google
      Scholar. After systematic screening of the studies identified during the first
      step, Cochrane risk of bias tool was determined for the selected studies. The
      case-control and the cohort studies were investigated to assess risk of bladder
      cancer due to opium use. In addition, the cross-sectional studies were analysed
      separately to assess frequency of opium consumption. These estimates were
      combined using the inverse variance method. Fixed or random effect models were
      applied to combine the point odds ratios. The heterogeneity between the primary
      results was assessed using the Cochran test and I-square index. The suspected
      factors for heterogeneity were investigated using meta-regression models. An
      Egger test was conducted to identify any probable publication bias. Forest plots
      illustrated the point and pooled estimates. All analyses were performed using
      Stata version 14 software and RevMan version 5.3. RESULTS: We included 17 primary
      studies (11 case-control, one cohort and five cross-sectional) in the final meta
      analysis. The total odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for developing bladder
      cancer by opium use alone, and concurrent use of opium and cigarettes were
      estimated as 3.85 (3.05-4.87) and 5.7 (1.9-16.3) respectively. The odds ratio
      (95% confidence interval) for opium use with or without cigarette smoking was
      estimated as 5.3 (3.6-7.7). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis showed that opium use
      similar to cigarette smoking and maybe with similar mechanisms can be a risk
      factor for bladder cancer. It is therefore expected to be a risk factor for other
      cancers.

PMID- 28586374
TI  - Nocturnal leg cramps: Prevalence and associations with demographics, sleep
      disturbance symptoms, medical conditions, and cardiometabolic risk factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nocturnal leg cramps (NLC) are common and poorly understood.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of NLC and associations with
      cardiometabolic, sleep, and behavioral risk factors in the US population. DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional epidemiology. PARTICIPANTS: National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey, 2005-2006 and 2007-2008 waves. MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND
      MEASURE(S): NLC were assessed with, "In the past month, how often did you have
      leg cramps while trying to sleep?" Responses were categorized as None, Mild, or
      Moderate-Severe. Demographics, medical history, sleep disturbances, and
      cardiometabolic risk factors were evaluated using the 2005-2006 dataset.
      Variables that demonstrated significant relationships to NLC after adjusting for
      age, sex, education, and BMI were assessed in the 2007-2008 dataset. Variables
      that were still significant were entered into a forward stepwise regression model
      combining both waves, to determine which variables best explained the variance in
      NLC. RESULTS: Prevalence was 24-25% reporting mild and 6% reporting moderate
      severe NLC. NLC increased with age, lower education, unemployment, shorter sleep
      duration, all assessed sleep symptoms (nocturnal "leg jerks", snoring,
      snorting/gasping, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, non
      restorative sleep, sleepiness, use of sleep medications), higher BMI, smoking,
      medical history (hypertension, heart failure, angina, stroke, arthritis,
      respiratory disease, and cancer), depression symptoms, and biomarkers (CRP,
      HbA1c, calcium, cadmium, red blood cells). Stepwise analysis showed that moderate
      severe nocturnal leg cramps were associated with (in decreasing order of partial
      R2): leg jerks, poor overall health, arthritis, difficulty falling asleep, age,
      nonrestorative sleep, red blood cell count, lower education, angina, and
      difficulty maintaining sleep. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Based on this first
      large, representative study, NLC occurring >5x per month are reported by 6% of
      the adult US population. Sleep disturbance symptoms and health conditions are
      associated with higher frequency of NLC, suggesting that NLC is a marker, and
      possibly contributor, to poor sleep and general health.

PMID- 28586373
TI  - Age and preoperative pain are major confounders for sex differences in
      postoperative pain outcome: A prospective database analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Current literature is in disagreement regarding female sex as a risk
      factor for pain after surgery. We hypothesized, that sex differences exist but
      that they are influenced by certain factors. Here, we investigated the influence
      of sex for different clinically relevant postoperative pain (POP) outcome
      parameters and evaluated the role of assumed confounders for sex differences.
      METHODS: From 1372 screened patients undergoing orthopedic surgery at the
      university hospital of Muenster between March 2010 and June 2011, 890 patients
      were included. The validated International Pain Outcomes questionnaire was used
      to assess the role of sex for several aspects of POP including pain severity,
      physical and emotional functional interference as well as the patient's
      perceptions of the care they received on the first day after surgery. Assessed
      confounders were age, preoperative chronic pain, anesthetic technique employed
      and surgical procedure. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS
      Statistics Software 22. RESULTS: Linear regression analysis demonstrated that sex
      was a statistically significant risk factor for "worst pain since surgery".
      Additionally, significant sex differences in "time spent in severe pain",
      "feeling anxious due to pain", "feeling helpless due to pain" and "opioid
      consumption since surgery" could be identified. An univariate general linear
      model showed that "age" and "preoperative pain" were significant confounders for
      sex differences. Further descriptive subgroup analysis revealed consistent sex
      differences for several POP outcome variables especially in patients older than
      50 years or patients with preoperative chronic pain. However, sex differences
      disappeared in younger patients and in patients without preoperative pain.
      DISCUSSION: Our data confirmed that sex differences exist in pain intensity and
      frequency, pain interference with feelings and opioid consumption during the
      first 24 hours postoperatively. However, sex differences were significantly
      influenced by the factors "age" and "preoperative pain". These findings may in
      part explain why clinical studies get different results related to sex
      differences and renders specific awareness in older women and female patients
      with preoperative chronic pain.

PMID- 28586375
TI  - Performance analysis of a new hypersonic vitrector system.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate porcine vitreous flow and water flow rates in a new
      prototype hypersonic vitrectomy system compared to currently available pneumatic
      guillotine vitrectors (GVs) systems. METHODS: Two vitrectors were tested, a
      prototype, ultrasound-powered, hypersonic vitrector (HV) and a GV. Porcine
      vitreous was obtained within 12 to 24 h of sacrifice and kept at 4 degrees C. A
      vial of vitreous or water was placed on a precision balance and its weight
      measured before and after the use of each vitrector. Test parameters included
      changes in aspiration levels, vitrector gauge, cut rates for GVs, % ultrasound
      (US) power for HVs, and port size for HVs. Data was analysed using linear
      regression and t-tests. RESULTS: There was no difference in the total average
      mean water flow between the 25-gauge GV and the 25-gauge HV (t-test: P = 0.363);
      however, 25-gauge GV was superior (t-test: P < 0.001) in vitreous flow. The 23
      gauge GV was only more efficient in water and vitreous removal than 23-gauge HV
      needle-1 (Port 0.0055) (t-test: P < 0.001). For HV, wall thickness and gauge had
      no effect on flow rates. Water and vitreous flows showed a direct correlation
      with increasing aspiration levels and % US power (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The HV
      produced consistent water and vitreous flow rates across the range of US power
      and aspiration levels tested. Hypersonic vitrectomy may be a promising new
      alternative to the currently available guillotine-based technologies.

PMID- 28586376
TI  - Oncologic and surgical outcomes in colorectal cancer patients with liver
      cirrhosis: A propensity-matched study.
AB  - The management of colorectal cancer in patients with liver cirrhosis requires a
      thorough understanding of both diseases. This study evaluated the effect of liver
      cirrhosis on oncologic and surgical outcomes and prognostic factors in colorectal
      cancer patients. Fifty-five consecutive colorectal cancer patients with liver
      cirrhosis underwent colorectal resection (LC group). Using a prospectively
      maintained database, these patients were matched 1:4 using propensity scoring
      with R programming language, package "MatchIt" and "optmatch" by sex, age, cancer
      location, and tumor stage with 220 patients without liver cirrhosis (non-LC
      group), resulting in 275 patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was
      significantly worse in the LC group than in the non-LC group (46.7% vs. 76.2%
      respectively, P < 0.001); however, the 5-year proportion of recurrence free (PRF)
      rates were similar (73.1% vs. 84.5% respectively, P = 0.094). On multivariate
      analysis of the LC group, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage >=III disease, venous
      invasion, and a model for end-stage liver disease plus serum sodium (MELD-Na)
      score >10 were prognostic factors for OS. However, the OS was not different
      between the LC group with MELD-Na score <=10 and the non-LC group (5-year OS
      rate, TNM stage <=II, 85.7 vs 89.5%, p = 0.356; TNM stage >=III, 41.1 vs 66.2%, p
      = 0.061). Colorectal cancer patients with liver cirrhosis have poorer OS compared
      to those without liver cirrhosis; however, the PRF rates are similar. It might be
      due to the mortality from the liver, and surgical treatment should be actively
      considered for patients with MELD-Na score <10.

PMID- 28586377
TI  - Psychometric properties of a Power Mobility Caregiver Assistive Technology
      Outcome Measure.
AB  - Caregiver burnout is a serious concern among informal caregivers, especially for
      those who provide care to individuals with more severe limitations such as power
      mobility users. The Power Wheelchair Caregiver Assistive Technology Outcome
      Measure tool measures device specific and overall burden experienced by informal
      caregivers of power mobility users. A one-month, test-retest study was conducted
      to examine the reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the
      Power Wheelchair Caregiver Assistive Technology Outcome Measure. Two construct
      validity measures were administered: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
      and the Late Life Disability Index. The test-retest-reliabilities of part 1
      (power wheelchair specific burden) and part 2 (general caregiving burden) were
      0.769 and 0.843 respectively. Scores on part 1 were moderately and positively
      correlated with part 2 and with frequency of participation. Scores on part 2 were
      moderately and negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, and positively
      with perceived limitation of participation. The strength and direction of these
      correlations provide support for the construct validity of the measure and
      suggest part 1 and part 2 provide complementary information. Further testing is
      needed to assess the clinical utility and responsiveness of the measure.

PMID- 28586378
TI  - Quantification of gammadelta T cells and HLA-DR+ NK cells does not predict
      emergence of new contrast enhancing lesions in MS patients suspending natalizumab
      treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natalizumab (NTZ) is a drug that has been widely used in the
      treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). NTZ is very effective in suppressing
      inflammation, but if treatment is suspended many patients will experience
      relapses. OBJECTIVE: To investigate if quantification of gammadelta T cells and
      HLA-DR+ NK cells could predict early disease reactivation after NTZ suspension.
      METHODS: Absolute counts of gammadelta T cells and HLA-DR+ NK cells in whole
      blood were determined with flow cytometry in fifteen patients treated with NTZ.
      NTZ treatment was then withdrawn and patients were followed with clinical visits
      and MR investigations. RESULTS: Patients with recurrent disease had higher
      absolute counts of gammadelta T cells 129 (+/-156) cells/MUl in comparison to
      patients with stable disease 50.0 (+/-51.0) cells/MUl but the difference was not
      statistically significant and largely driven by outliers. Patients with recurrent
      and stable disease had similar absolute counts of HLA-DR+ NK cells. CONCLUSION:
      Quantification of gammadelta T cells and HLA-DR+ NK cells could not predict
      active disease after NTZ suspension.

PMID- 28586380
TI  - Correction: Micro-level explanations for emergent patterns of self-governance
      arrangements in small-scale fisheries-A modeling approach.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175532.].

PMID- 28586379
TI  - LAMP-2 absence interferes with plasma membrane repair and decreases T. cruzi host
      cell invasion.
AB  - Trypanosoma cruzi enters host cells by subverting the mechanism of cell membrane
      repair. In this process, the parasite induces small injuries in the host cell
      membrane leading to calcium entry and lysosomal exocytosis, which are followed by
      compensatory endocytosis events that drive parasites into host cells. We have
      previously shown that absence of both LAMP-1 and 2, major components of lysosomal
      membranes, decreases invasion of T. cruzi into host cells, but the mechanism by
      which they interfere with parasite invasion has not been described. Here we
      investigated the role of these proteins in parasitophorous vacuole morphology,
      host cell lysosomal exocytosis, and membrane repair ability. First, we showed
      that cells lacking only LAMP-2 present the same invasion phenotype as LAMP1/2-/-
      cells, indicating that LAMP-2 is an important player during T. cruzi invasion
      process. Second, neither vacuole morphology nor lysosomal exocytosis was altered
      in LAMP-2 lacking cells (LAMP2-/- and LAMP1/2-/- cells). We then investigated the
      ability of LAMP-2 deficient cells to perform compensatory endocytosis upon
      lysosomal secretion, the mechanism by which cells repair their membrane and T.
      cruzi ultimately enters cells. We observed that these cells perform less
      endocytosis upon injury when compared to WT cells. This was a consequence of
      impaired cholesterol traffic in cells lacking LAMP-2 and its influence in the
      distribution of caveolin-1 at the cell plasma membrane, which is crucial for
      plasma membrane repair. The results presented here show the major role of LAMP-2
      in caveolin traffic and membrane repair and consequently in T. cruzi invasion.

PMID- 28586381
TI  - Correction: Return Customers: Foraging Site Fidelity and the Effect of
      Environmental Variability in Wide-Ranging Antarctic Fur Seals.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120888.].

PMID- 28586382
TI  - Vibrio cholerae ensures function of host proteins required for virulence through
      consumption of luminal methionine sulfoxide.
AB  - Vibrio cholerae is a diarrheal pathogen that induces accumulation of lipid
      droplets in enterocytes, leading to lethal infection of the model host Drosophila
      melanogaster. Through untargeted lipidomics, we provide evidence that this
      process is the product of a host phospholipid degradation cascade that induces
      lipid droplet coalescence in enterocytes. This infection-induced cascade is
      inhibited by mutation of the V. cholerae glycine cleavage system due to
      intestinal accumulation of methionine sulfoxide (MetO), and both dietary
      supplementation with MetO and enterocyte knock-down of host methionine sulfoxide
      reductase A (MsrA) yield increased resistance to infection. MsrA converts both
      free and protein-associated MetO to methionine. These findings support a model in
      which dietary MetO competitively inhibits repair of host proteins by MsrA.
      Bacterial virulence strategies depend on functional host proteins. We propose a
      novel virulence paradigm in which an intestinal pathogen ensures the repair of
      host proteins essential for pathogenesis through consumption of dietary MetO.

PMID- 28586383
TI  - At-risk and intervention thresholds of occupational stress using a visual
      analogue scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The visual analogue scale (VAS) is widely used in clinical practice
      by occupational physicians to assess perceived stress in workers. However, a
      single cut-off (black-or-white decision) inadequately discriminates between
      workers with and without stress. We explored an innovative statistical approach
      to distinguish an at-risk population among stressed workers, and to establish a
      threshold over which an action is urgently required, via the use of two cut-offs.
      METHODS: Participants were recruited during annual work medical examinations by a
      random sample of workers from five occupational health centres. We previously
      proposed a single cut-off of VAS stress in comparison with the Perceived Stress
      Scale (PSS14). Similar methodology was used in the current study, along with a
      gray zone approach. The lower limit of the gray zone supports sensitivity ("at
      risk" threshold; interpreted as requiring closer surveillance) and the upper
      limit supports specificity (i.e. "intervention" threshold-emergency action
      required). RESULTS: We included 500 workers (49.6% males), aged 40+/-11 years,
      with a PSS14 score of 3.8+/-1.4 and a VAS score of 4.0+/-2.4. Using a receiver
      operating characteristic curve and the PSS cut-off score of 7.2, the optimal VAS
      threshold was 6.8 (sensitivity = 0.89, specificity = 0.87). The lower and upper
      thresholds of the gray zone were 5 and 8.2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We
      identified two clinically relevant cut-offs on the VAS of stress: a first cut-off
      of 5.0 for an at-risk population, and a second cut-off of 8.2 over which an
      action is urgently required. Future investigations into the relationships between
      this upper threshold and deleterious events are required.

PMID- 28586384
TI  - Multi-level characterization of balanced inhibitory-excitatory cortical neuron
      network derived from human pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - Generation of neuronal cultures from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)
      serve the studies of human brain disorders. However we lack neuronal networks
      with balanced excitatory-inhibitory activities, which are suitable for single
      cell analysis. We generated low-density networks of hPSC-derived GABAergic and
      glutamatergic cortical neurons. We used two different co-culture models with
      astrocytes. We show that these cultures have balanced excitatory-inhibitory
      synaptic identities using confocal microscopy, electrophysiological recordings,
      calcium imaging and mRNA analysis. These simple and robust protocols offer the
      opportunity for single-cell to multi-level analysis of patient hiPSC-derived
      cortical excitatory-inhibitory networks; thereby creating advanced tools to study
      disease mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders.

PMID- 28586385
TI  - Receptor-transporting protein (RTP) family members play divergent roles in the
      functional expression of odorant receptors.
AB  - Receptor transporting protein (RTP) family members, RTP1S and RTP2, are accessory
      proteins to mammalian odorant receptors (ORs). They are expressed in the
      olfactory sensory neurons and facilitate OR trafficking to the cell-surface
      membrane and ligand-induced responses in heterologous cells. We previously
      identified different domains in RTP1S that are important for different stages of
      OR trafficking, odorant-mediated responses, and interaction with ORs. However,
      the exact roles of RTP2 and the significance of the requirement of the seemingly
      redundant co-expression of the two RTP proteins in vivo have received less
      attention in the past. Here we attempted to dissect the functional differences
      between RTP1S and RTP2 using a HEK293T cell-based OR heterologous expression
      system. When a set of 24 ORs were tested against 28 cognate ligands, unlike
      RTP1S, which always showed a robust ability to support odorant-mediated
      responses, RTP2 had little or no effect on OR responses and exhibited a
      suppressive effect over that of RTP1S for a subset of the ORs tested. RTP1S and
      RTP2 showed no significant difference in OR ligand selectivity and co
      transfection with RTP2 increased the detection threshold for some ORs. A protein
      protein interaction analysis showed positive interactions among OR, RTP1S, and
      RTP2, corroborating the functional linkages among the three molecules. Finally,
      further cell-surface and permeabilized immunocytochemical studies revealed that
      OR and the co-expressed RTP1S proteins were retained in the Golgi when co
      transfected with RTP2, indicating that RTP1S and RTP2 could play different roles
      in the OR trafficking process. By examining the functional differentiations
      between the two RTP family members, we provided a molecular level explanation to
      the suppressive effect exerted by RTP2, shedding light on the divergent
      mechanisms underlying the RTP proteins in regulating the functional expression of
      ORs.

PMID- 28586386
TI  - Differential Th17 response induced by the two clades of the pandemic ST258
      Klebsiella pneumoniae clonal lineages producing KPC-type carbapenemase.
AB  - The spread of KPC-type carbapenemases is mainly attributed to the global
      dissemination of Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) strains belonging to the clonal group
      (CG) 258, including sequence type (ST) 258 and other related STs. Two distinct
      clades of CG258-KP have evolved, which differ mainly for the composition of their
      capsular polysaccharides, and recent studies indicate that clade 1 evolved from
      an ancestor of clade 2 by recombination of a genomic fragment carrying the
      capsular polysaccharide (cps) locus. In this paper, we investigated the ability
      of two ST258-KP strains, KKBO-1 and KK207-1, selected as representatives of ST258
      KP clade 2 and clade 1, respectively, to activate an adaptive immune response
      using ex vivo-stimulation of PBMC from normal donors as an experimental model.
      Our data showed that KKBO-1 (clade 2) induces a Th17 response more efficiently
      than KK207-1 (clade 1): the percentage of CD4+IL17+ cells and the production of
      IL-17A were significantly higher in cultures with KKBO-1 compared to cultures
      with KK207-1. While no differences in the rate of bacterial internalization or in
      the bacteria-induced expression of CD86 and HLA-DR by monocytes and myeloid
      dendritic cells were revealed, we found that the two strains significantly differ
      in inducing the production of cytokines involved in the adaptive immune response,
      as IL-1beta, IL-23 and TNF-alpha, by antigen-presenting cells, with KKBO-1 being
      a more efficient inducer than KK207-1. The immune responses elicited by KK207-1
      were comparable to those elicited by CIP 52.145, a highly virulent K. pneumoniae
      reference strain known to escape immune-inflammatory responses. Altogether,
      present results suggest that CG258-KP of the two clades are capable of inducing a
      different response of adaptive immunity in the human host.

PMID- 28586387
TI  - Salsalate ameliorates metabolic disturbances by reducing inflammation in
      spontaneously hypertensive rats expressing human C-reactive protein and by
      activating brown adipose tissue in nontransgenic controls.
AB  - Chronic low-grade inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of
      insulin resistance. In the current study, we tested the effects of salsalate, a
      non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, in an animal model of inflammation and
      metabolic syndrome using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) that
      transgenically express human C-reactive protein (SHR-CRP rats). We treated 15
      month-old male transgenic SHR-CRP rats and nontransgenic SHR with salsalate (200
      mg/kg/day) mixed as part of a standard diet for 4 weeks. A corresponding
      untreated control group of male transgenic SHR-CRP and SHR rats were fed a
      standard diet without salsalate. In the SHR-CRP transgenic strain, salsalate
      treatment decreased circulating concentrations of the inflammatory markers TNF
      alpha and MCP-1, reduced oxidative stress in the liver and kidney, increased
      sensitivity of skeletal muscles to insulin action and improved tolerance to
      glucose. In SHR controls with no CRP-induced inflammation, salsalate treatment
      reduced body weight, decreased concentrations of serum free fatty acids and total
      and HDL cholesterol and increased palmitate oxidation and incorporation in brown
      adipose tissue. Salsalate regulated inflammation by affecting the expression of
      genes from MAPK signalling and NOD-like receptor signalling pathways and lipid
      metabolism by affecting hepatic expression of genes that favour lipid oxidation
      from PPAR-alpha signalling pathways. These findings suggest that salsalate has
      metabolic effects beyond suppressing inflammation.

PMID- 28586388
TI  - A prospective pilot study of genome-wide exome and transcriptome profiling in
      patients with small cell lung cancer progressing after first-line therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that has progressed after first-line
      therapy is an aggressive disease with few effective therapeutic strategies. In
      this prospective study, we employed next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify
      therapeutically actionable alterations to guide treatment for advanced SCLC
      patients. METHODS: Twelve patients with SCLC were enrolled after failing platinum
      based chemotherapy. Following informed consent, genome-wide exome and RNA
      sequencing was performed in a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited environment.
      Actionable targets were identified and therapeutic recommendations made from a
      pharmacopeia of FDA-approved drugs. Clinical response to genomically-guided
      treatment was evaluated by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)
      1.1. RESULTS: The study completed its accrual goal of 12 evaluable patients. The
      minimum tumor content for successful NGS was 20%, with a median turnaround time
      from sample collection to genomics-based treatment recommendation of 27 days. At
      least two clinically actionable targets were identified in each patient, and six
      patients (50%) received treatment identified by NGS. Two had partial responses by
      RECIST 1.1 on a clinical trial involving a PD-1 inhibitor + irinotecan (indicated
      by MLH1 alteration). The remaining patients had clinical deterioration before NGS
      recommended therapy could be initiated. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive genomic
      profiling using NGS identified clinically-actionable alterations in SCLC patients
      who progressed on initial therapy. Recommended PD-1 therapy generated partial
      responses in two patients. Earlier access to NGS guided therapy, along with
      improved understanding of those SCLC patients likely to respond to immune-based
      therapies, should help to extend survival in these cases with poor outcomes.

PMID- 28586390
TI  - Detection of genome-edited mutant clones by a simple competition-based PCR
      method.
AB  - Genome editing by the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short
      palindromic repeats / CRISPR-associated protein 9) system is a revolutionary
      strategy to study gene functions. Since the efficiency of gene disruption in cell
      culture does not reach 100% typically, cloning of mutant cells is often performed
      to obtain fully mutated cells. Therefore, a method to discriminate accurately
      mutated clones easily and quickly is crucial to accelerate the research using
      CRISPR/Cas9. Here, we show that knockout cells can be discriminated by a
      competition-based PCR, using a mixture of three primers, among which one primer
      overlaps with the Cas9 cleavage site. Together, we show how to optimize primer
      design in order to improve the effectiveness of the discrimination. Finally, we
      applied this method to show that mutations conferring drug resistance can be
      detected with high accuracy. The provided method is easy to perform and requires
      only basic laboratory equipment, making it suitable for almost all laboratories.

PMID- 28586389
TI  - Characterization of the species Malassezia pachydermatis and re-evaluation of its
      lipid dependence using a synthetic agar medium.
AB  - The genus Malassezia includes lipophilic yeasts, which are part of the skin
      microbiota of various mammals and birds. Unlike the rest of Malassezia species,
      M. pachydermatis is described as non-lipid-dependent, as it is able to grow on
      Sabouraud glucose agar (SGA) without lipid supplementation. In this study we have
      examined the phenotypic variability within M. pachydermatis and confirmed its
      lipid-dependent nature using a synthetic agar medium. We used a selection of
      representative non-lipid-dependent strains from different animal species and
      three atypical lipid-dependent strains of this species, which were not able to
      grow after multiple passages on SGA. More than 400 lipid-dependent Malassezia
      isolates from animals were studied in order to detect the three lipid-dependent
      strains of M. pachydermatis. The identity of the atypical strains was confirmed
      by DNA sequencing. On the other hand, we have modified the Tween diffusion test,
      which is widely used in the characterization of these yeasts, by using a
      synthetic agar-based medium instead of SGA. This modification has proved to be
      useful for differentiation of M. pachydermatis strains, providing reproducible
      results and a straightforward interpretation. The finding of these peculiar lipid
      dependent strains exemplifies the large variability within the species M.
      pachydermatis, which involves rare atypical strains with particular growth
      requirements.

PMID- 28586391
TI  - Affective temperament, job stress and professional burnout in nurses and civil
      servants.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The risk of professional burnout is constituted by job-related as
      well as individual factors. The latter involve affective temperament, which
      influences the perception of job-related stress. The aim of the present study was
      to assess the affective temperament, the level of job stress and professional
      burnout, as well as the relationships between these variables, in public servants
      and nurses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 100 civil servants and 100 nurses were enrolled
      in the study. Affective temperament and burnout were assessed by means of TEMPS-A
      and MBI questionnaires, respectively. To measure the level of job-related stress,
      we have designed a 6-item self-reported questionnaire, which considered stressors
      common for both professions. RESULTS: Compared to the civil servants, nurses
      showed higher rate of anxious temperament and experienced greater intensity of
      job-related stress. The groups did not differ in the intensity of burnout
      symptoms. The rates of cyclothymic and anxious temperaments correlated with the
      intensity of stress, and burnout symptoms in the group of nurses. Within the
      civil servants group, the level of stress correlated with intensity of burnout,
      however no correlations with affective temperament were observed. The regression
      analysis performed in both groups revealed the significant effect of stress and
      cyclothymic temperament on burnout, while the effect of anxious temperament was
      not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclothymic and anxious temperaments are related to
      the level of experienced job stress and the risk of burnout. In professions like
      nursing, where employees show elevated rates of these temperaments, burnout
      prevention and stress management education is of particular importance.

PMID- 28586392
TI  - Desire for a child and eating disorders in women seeking infertility treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of EDs in
      women seeking treatment for infertility, and to better characterize their
      clinical profile. STUDY DESIGN: Sixty participants completed self-report measures
      that assessed EDs, desire for a child, body preoccupations, quality of life,
      anxiety and depression. RESULTS: Ten patients (17%) met criteria for a past or
      current ED. We showed a significant association between greater body
      dissatisfaction and a more ambivalent desire for a child. Furthermore, an ED was
      associated with (i) a lower quality of life, and (ii) more anxiety disorders.
      CONCLUSION: Screening for a history of ED in infertile women is recommended to
      plan for adapted care regarding infertility but also regarding ED and psychiatric
      comorbidities. Therefore, the assessment has to take into account the desire for
      a child and the body satisfaction, that are essential parts of the ED process on
      the one hand and infertility process on the other. This could help with the
      infertility treatment and the prevention of negative maternal and fetal outcomes.

PMID- 28586393
TI  - A numerical framework for interstitial fluid pressure imaging in poroelastic MRE.
AB  - A numerical framework for interstitial fluid pressure imaging (IFPI) in biphasic
      materials is investigated based on three-dimensional nonlinear finite element
      poroelastic inversion. The objective is to reconstruct the time-harmonic pore
      pressure field from tissue excitation in addition to the elastic parameters
      commonly associated with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). The unknown
      pressure boundary conditions (PBCs) are estimated using the available full-volume
      displacement data from MRE. A subzone-based nonlinear inversion (NLI) technique
      is then used to update mechanical and hydrodynamical properties, given the
      appropriate subzone PBCs, by solving a pressure forward problem (PFP). The
      algorithm was evaluated on a single-inclusion phantom in which the elastic
      property and hydraulic conductivity images were recovered. Pressure field and
      material property estimates had spatial distributions reflecting their true
      counterparts in the phantom geometry with RMS errors around 20% for cases with 5%
      noise, but degraded significantly in both spatial distribution and property
      values for noise levels > 10%. When both shear moduli and hydraulic conductivity
      were estimated along with the pressure field, property value error rates were as
      high as 58%, 85% and 32% for the three quantities, respectively, and their
      spatial distributions were more distorted. Opportunities for improving the
      algorithm are discussed.

PMID- 28586394
TI  - Polyamine transporter potABCD is required for virulence of encapsulated but not
      nonencapsulated Streptococcus pneumoniae.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae is commonly found in the human nasopharynx and is the
      causative agent of multiple diseases. Since invasive pneumococcal infections are
      associated with encapsulated pneumococci, the capsular polysaccharide is the
      target of licensed pneumococcal vaccines. However, there is an increasing
      distribution of non-vaccine serotypes, as well as nonencapsulated S. pneumoniae
      (NESp). Both encapsulated and nonencapsulated pneumococci possess the polyamine
      oligo-transport operon (potABCD). Previous research has shown inactivation of the
      pot operon in encapsulated pneumococci alters protein expression and leads to a
      significant reduction in pneumococcal murine colonization, but the role of the
      pot operon in NESp is unknown. Here, we demonstrate deletion of potD from the
      NESp NCC1 strain MNZ67 does impact expression of the key proteins pneumolysin and
      PspK, but it does not inhibit murine colonization. Additionally, we show the
      absence of potD significantly increases biofilm production, both in vitro and in
      vivo. In a chinchilla model of otitis media (OM), the absence of potD does not
      significantly affect MNZ67 virulence, but it does significantly reduce the
      pathogenesis of the virulent encapsulated strain TIGR4 (serotype 4). Deletion of
      potD also significantly reduced persistence of TIGR4 in the lungs but increased
      persistence of PIP01 in the lungs. We conclude the pot operon is important for
      the regulation of protein expression and biofilm formation in both encapsulated
      and NCC1 nonencapsulated Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, in contrast to
      encapsulated pneumococcal strains, polyamine acquisition via the pot operon is
      not required for MNZ67 murine colonization, persistence in the lungs, or full
      virulence in a model of OM. Therefore, NESp virulence regulation needs to be
      further established to identify potential NESp therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28586395
TI  - The HER2 phenotype of circulating tumor cells in HER2-positive early breast
      cancer: A translational research project of a prospective randomized phase III
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HER2 is one of the predominant therapeutic targets in breast cancer.
      The metastatic selection process may lead to discrepancies between the HER2
      status of the primary tumor and circulating tumor cells (CTCs). This study
      analyzed the HER2 status of CTCs in patients with HER2-positive primary breast
      cancer at the time of diagnosis. Aim of the study was to assess potential
      discordance of HER2 status between primary tumor and CTCs, as this may have
      important implications for the use of HER2-targeted therapy. METHODS: The number
      and HER2 status of CTCs out of 30ml peripheral blood were assessed in 642
      patients using the CellSearch System (Janssen Diagnostics, USA). The cutoff for
      CTC positivity was the presence of at least 1 CTC, and the cutoff for HER2
      positivity of CTCs was the presence of at least 1 CTC with a strong HER2
      staining. RESULTS: 258 (40.2%) of the 642 patients were positive for CTCs (median
      2; range 1-1,689). 149 (57.8%) of these 258 patients had at least 1 CTC with
      strong HER2 staining. The presence of HER2-positive CTCs was not associated with
      tumor size (p = 0.335), histopathological grading (p = 0.976), hormone receptor
      status (ER: p = 0.626, PR: p = 0.263) or axillary lymph node involvement (p =
      0.430). Overall, 83 (32.2%) of the CTC-positive patients exclusively had CTCs
      with strong HER2 staining, whereas 31 (12.0%) had only CTCs with negative HER2
      staining. Within-sample variation in the HER2 status of CTCs was found in 86
      (57.8%) of the 149 patients with more than 1 CTC. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrated that discordance between the HER2 expression of CTCs and that of the
      primary tumor frequently occurs in early breast cancer. Future follow-up
      evaluation will assess whether this discrepancy may contribute to trastuzumab
      resistance.

PMID- 28586396
TI  - Prevalence, incidence and correlates of HSV-2 infection in an HIV incidence
      adolescent and adult cohort study in western Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections are associated with
      increased risk of HIV transmission. We determined HSV-2 prevalence, incidence and
      associated risk factors, incidence among persons with indeterminate results, and
      prevalence of HSV-2/HIV co-infection among young adults (18-34 years) and
      adolescents (16-17 years) enrolled in an HIV incidence cohort study in western
      Kenya. METHODS: Participants (n = 1106; 846 adults) were screened and those HIV-1
      negative were enrolled and followed-up quarterly for one year. HSV-2 was assessed
      using the Kalon enzyme immunoassay. HSV-2 incidence was calculated separately
      among HSV-2 seronegative participants and those indeterminate at baseline.
      Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of HSV-2 infection and Poisson
      regression was used to assess HSV-2 incidence and associated factors. RESULTS:
      Overall, HSV-2 prevalence was 26.6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 23.9-29.4] and
      was higher in adults (31.5% [95% CI: 28.3-34.9]) than adolescents (10.7% [95% CI:
      7.1-15.3]). Factors associated with prevalent HSV-2 included female gender,
      increasing age, HIV infection, history of sexually transmitted infection, low
      level of education, multiple sexual partners, and being married, divorced,
      separated or widowed. Overall HSV-2 incidence was 4.0 per 100 person-years
      (/100PY) 95% CI: 2.7-6.1 and was higher in adults (4.5/100PY) and females
      (5.1/100PY). In multivariable analysis only marital status was associated with
      HSV-2 incidence. Among 45 participants with indeterminate HSV-2 results at
      baseline, 22 seroconverted, resulting in an incidence rate of 53.2 /100PY [95%
      CI: 35.1-80.9]. Inclusion of indeterminate results almost doubled the overall
      incidence rate to 7.8 /100 PY [95% CI: 5.9-10.5]. Prevalence of HIV/HSV-2 co
      infection was higher in female adults than female adolescents (17.1 [95% CI: 13.6
      21.0] versus 3.4 [95% CI: 1.1-7.8]). CONCLUSION: The high incidence rate among
      persons with indeterminate results underscores the public health concerns for HSV
      2 spread and underreporting of the HSV-2 burden. Careful consideration is needed
      when interpreting HSV-2 serology results in these settings.

PMID- 28586397
TI  - Serum from dengue virus-infected patients with and without plasma leakage
      differentially affects endothelial cells barrier function in vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although most of cases of dengue infections are asymptomatic or mild
      symptomatic some individuals present warning signs progressing to severe dengue
      in which plasma leakage is a hallmark. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The
      present study used Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS(r)) which
      allows for electrical monitoring of cellular barrier function measuring changes
      in Transendothelial Electric Resistance (TEER) to investigate the parameters
      associated with dengue induced leakage. Three groups of individuals were tested:
      dengue-positives with plasma leakage (leakage), dengue-positives without plasma
      leakage (no leakage), and dengue-negatives (control). Data show that TEER values
      of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was significantly lower after
      incubation with serum from subjects of the leakage group in comparison to the no
      leakage or control groups. The serum levels of CXCL1, EGF, eotaxin, IFN-gamma,
      sCD40L, and platelets were significantly decreased in the leakage group, while IL
      10, IL-6, and IP-10 levels were significantly increased. We also found a strong
      correlation between TEER values and augmented levels of IP-10, GM-CSF, IL-1alpha,
      and IL-8, as well as decreased levels of CXCL1 and platelets.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The present work shows that the magnitude of the immune
      response contributes to the adverse plasma leakage outcomes in patients and that
      serum components are important mediators of changes in endothelial homeostasis
      during dengue infections. In particular, the increased levels of IP-10 and the
      decreased levels of CXCL1 and platelets seem to play a significant role in the
      disruption of vascular endothelium associated with leakage outcomes after DENV
      infection. These findings may have important implications for both diagnostic and
      therapeutic approaches to predict and mitigate vascular permeabilization in those
      experiencing the most severe clinical disease outcomes after dengue infection.

PMID- 28586398
TI  - The protective effects of Zhen-Wu-Tang against cisplatin-induced acute kidney
      injury in rats.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical condition that confers a risk of
      progression of chronic kidney disease and a high risk of death. The purpose of
      the current study is to investigate the anti-apoptotic and anti-fibrotic effects
      of Zhen-Wu-Tang (ZWT) on cisplatin (CIS)-induced renal injury and elucidate the
      involvement of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), the PI3K/Akt
      signaling pathway, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta and the Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway in the positive effects of Zhen-Wu-Tang on the kidneys. Wistar
      rats were randomly assigned into six groups of 6 rats each as follows: normal
      control 1; normal control 2; CIS 1 and CIS 2, which received single
      intraperitoneal injections of CIS (6 mg/kg); CIS+ZWT 4 and CIS+ZWT 10, which
      received ZWT (1 ml/100 g/day, ig) starting days after the CIS injection for 4 and
      10 days, respectively. Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining was performed to identify
      the amelioration of histopathological changes in the kidneys and apoptosis of the
      renal proximal tubular cells. Picrosirius red staining was used to evaluate renal
      fibrosis after ZWT treatment. The relationship between ZWT and the upregulation
      of Nrf2, phosphorylation of Akt, and the downregulation of TGF-beta and WNT/beta
      catenin were determined by Western blotting. At the end of the experiment, serum
      was isolated from the orbital blood of rats, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and
      creatinine (Cr) levels were measured. The results showed that ZWT restored the
      histological alterations, aberrant collagen deposition in the kidneys and the BUN
      and Cr levels that were increased by CIS. Treatment with ZWT reduced the
      expression levels of TGF-beta and Wnt and increased the expression levels of
      Nrf2, PI3K and Akt in the CIS-exposed kidney tissues. Furthermore, ZWT
      downregulated apoptosis and fibrosis by modulating the expression levels of
      caspase-3, Bax and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA). In conclusion, this
      study provides evidence for the anti-fibrotic and anti-apoptotic roles of ZWT in
      CIS-induced experimental kidney injury.

PMID- 28586399
TI  - The relationship between the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale and its
      revised form and child outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and its revised version
      (ECERS-R) were designed as global measures of quality that assess structural and
      process aspects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) programs. Despite
      frequent use of the ECERS/ECERS-R in research and applied settings, associations
      between it and child outcomes have not been systematically reviewed. The
      objective of this research was to evaluate the association between the
      ECERS/ECERS-R and children's wellbeing. Searches of Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC,
      websites of large datasets and reference sections of all retrieved articles were
      completed up to July 3, 2015. Eligible studies provided a statistical link
      between the ECERS/ECERS-R and child outcomes for preschool-aged children in ECEC
      programs. Of the 823 studies selected for full review, 73 were included in the
      systematic review and 16 were meta-analyzed. The combined sample across all
      eligible studies consisted of 33, 318 preschool-aged children. Qualitative
      systematic review results revealed that ECERS/ECERS-R total scores were more
      generally associated with positive outcomes than subscales or factors. Seventeen
      separate meta-analyses were conducted to assess the strength of association
      between the ECERS/ECERS-R and measures that assessed children's language, math
      and social-emotional outcomes. Meta-analyses revealed a small number of weak
      effects (in the expected direction) between the ECERS/ECERS-R total score and
      children's language and positive behavior outcomes. The Language-Reasoning
      subscale was weakly related to a language outcome. The enormous heterogeneity in
      how studies operationalized the ECERS/ECERS-R, the outcomes measured and
      statistics reported limited our ability to meta-analyze many studies. Greater
      consistency in study methodology is needed in this area of research. Despite
      these methodological challenges, the ECERS/ECERS-R does appear to capture aspects
      of quality that are important for children's wellbeing; however, the strength of
      association is weak.

PMID- 28586400
TI  - Patients with schizophrenia activate behavioural intentions facilitated by
      counterfactual reasoning.
AB  - METHOD: The main variables assessed were: answer to complete a target task (wrong
      or correctly), and percentage gain in the reaction time (RT) to complete a target
      task correctly depending on whether the prime was a counterfactual or a neutral
      control cue. These variables were assessed in 37 patients with schizophrenia and
      37 healthy controls. Potential associations with clinical status and socio
      demographic characteristics were also explored. RESULTS: When a counterfactual
      prime was presented, the probability of giving an incorrect answer was lower for
      the entire sample than when a neutral prime was presented (OR 0.58; CI 95% 0.42
      to 0.79), but the schizophrenia patients showed a higher probability than the
      controls of giving an incorrect answer (OR 3.89; CI 95% 2.0 to 7.6). Both the
      schizophrenia patients and the controls showed a similar percentage gain in RT to
      a correct answer of 8%. CONCLUSIONS: Challenging the results of previous
      research, our findings suggest a normal activation of behavioural intentions
      facilitated by CFT in schizophrenia. Nevertheless, the patients showed more
      difficulty than the controls with the task, adding support to the concept of CFT
      as a potential new target for consideration in future therapeutic approaches for
      this illness.

PMID- 28586401
TI  - 3D printing and milling a real-time PCR device for infectious disease
      diagnostics.
AB  - Diagnosing infectious diseases using quantitative polymerase chain reaction
      (qPCR) offers a conclusive result in determining the infection, the strain or
      type of pathogen, and the level of infection. However, due to the high-cost
      instrumentation involved and the complexity in maintenance, it is rarely used in
      the field to make a quick turnaround diagnosis. In order to provide a higher
      level of accessibility than current qPCR devices, a set of 3D manufacturing
      methods is explored as a possible option to fabricate a low-cost and portable
      qPCR device. The key advantage of this approach is the ability to upload the
      digital format of the design files on the internet for wide distribution so that
      people at any location can simply download and feed into their 3D printers for
      quick manufacturing. The material and design are carefully selected to minimize
      the number of custom parts that depend on advanced manufacturing processes which
      lower accessibility. The presented 3D manufactured qPCR device is tested with 20
      MUL samples that contain various concentrations of lentivirus, the same type as
      HIV. A reverse-transcription step is a part of the device's operation, which
      takes place prior to the qPCR step to reverse transcribe the target RNA from the
      lentivirus into complementary DNA (cDNA). This is immediately followed by qPCR
      which quantifies the target sequence molecules in the sample during the PCR
      amplification process. The entire process of thermal control and time-coordinated
      fluorescence reading is automated by closed-loop feedback and a microcontroller.
      The resulting device is portable and battery-operated, with a size of 12 * 7 * 6
      cm3 and mass of only 214 g. By uploading and sharing the design files online, the
      presented low-cost qPCR device may provide easier access to a robust diagnosis
      protocol for various infectious diseases, such as HIV and malaria.

PMID- 28586402
TI  - Effect of food intake on 92 biomarkers for cardiovascular disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study evaluates the effect of food intake on 92 biomarkers
      for cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: Twenty two healthy subjects (11 male
      and 11 female aged 25.9+/-4.2 years) were investigated. A total of 92 biomarkers
      were measured before a standardized meal as well as 30 and 120 minutes afterwards
      with the Proseek Multiplex CVD III kit. RESULTS: The levels for eight biomarkers
      decreased significantly (P<0.05) 30 minutes after food intake. The levels for
      seven biomarkers remained significantly decreased 120 minutes after food intake.
      Nine biomarker decreased significantly at 120 minutes after food intake. The
      changes were between 4-30%, most commonly around 5%. Only six biomarkers showed a
      difference of 10% or more due to food intake. The biggest differences were
      observed for Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 (30%); Azurocidin,
      Cystatin-B, and Myeloperoxidase (13%); Monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (11%); and
      Myeloblastin (10%), all 120 minutes after food intake. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      shows that food intake affects several different CVD biomarkers, but the effect
      is predominantly modest. Timing of blood sampling in relation to food intake,
      therefore, appears not to be a major concern. Further studies are warranted in
      older healthy subjects and in patients with various cardiac diseases to determine
      whether the findings are reproducible.

PMID- 28586403
TI  - Evolution of class 1 integrons: Mobilization and dispersal via food-borne
      bacteria.
AB  - Class 1 integrons have played a major role in the global dissemination of
      antibiotic resistance. Reconstructing the history of class 1 integrons might help
      us control further spread of antibiotic resistance by understanding how human
      activities influence microbial evolution. Here we describe a class 1 integron
      that represents an intermediate stage in the evolutionary history of clinical
      integrons. It was embedded in a series of nested transposons, carried on an IncP
      plasmid resident in Enterobacter, isolated from the surface of baby spinach
      leaves. Based on the structure of this integron, we present a modified hypothesis
      for integron assembly, where the ancestral clinical class 1 integron was captured
      from a betaproteobacterial chromosome to form a Tn402-like transposon. This
      transposon then inserted into a plasmid-borne Tn21-like ancestor while in an
      environmental setting, possibly a bacterium resident in the phyllosphere. We
      suggest that the qacE gene cassette, conferring resistance to biocides, together
      with the mercury resistance operon carried by Tn21, provided a selective
      advantage when this bacterium made its way into the human commensal flora via
      food. The integron characterized here was located in Tn6007, which along with
      Tn6008, forms part of the larger Tn6006 transposon, itself inserted into another
      transposable element to form the Tn21-like transposon, Tn6005. This element has
      previously been described from the human microbiota, but with a promoter mutation
      that upregulates integron cassette expression. This element we describe here is
      from an environmental bacterium, and supports the hypothesis that the ancestral
      class 1 integron migrated into anthropogenic settings via foodstuffs. Selection
      pressures brought about by early antimicrobial agents, including mercury, arsenic
      and disinfectants, promoted its initial fixation, the acquisition of promoter
      mutations, and subsequent dissemination into various species and pathogens.

PMID- 28586404
TI  - Left ventricular thrombus or pseudothrombus? A rare cardiac CT artifact.

PMID- 28586405
TI  - The trapped mitral regurgitation.

PMID- 28586406
TI  - A solitary cardiac plasmacytoma: features in multimodality imaging.

PMID- 28586407
TI  - A Bayesian hierarchical model for network meta-analysis of multiple diagnostic
      tests.
AB  - To compare the accuracy of multiple diagnostic tests in a single study, three
      designs are commonly used (i) the multiple test comparison design; (ii) the
      randomized design, and (iii) the non-comparative design. Existing meta-analysis
      methods of diagnostic tests (MA-DT) have been focused on evaluating the
      performance of a single test by comparing it with a reference test. The
      increasing number of available diagnostic instruments for a disease condition and
      the different study designs being used have generated the need to develop
      efficient and flexible meta-analysis framework to combine all designs for
      simultaneous inference. In this article, we develop a missing data framework and
      a Bayesian hierarchical model for network MA-DT (NMA-DT) and offer important
      promises over traditional MA-DT: (i) It combines studies using all three designs;
      (ii) It pools both studies with or without a gold standard; (iii) it combines
      studies with different sets of candidate tests; and (iv) it accounts for
      heterogeneity across studies and complex correlation structure among multiple
      tests. We illustrate our method through a case study: network meta-analysis of
      deep vein thrombosis tests.

PMID- 28586409
TI  - Retirement Sequences of Older Americans: Moderately Destandardized and Highly
      Stratified Across Gender, Class, and Race.
AB  - Purpose of the Study: A destandardization of labor-force patterns revolving
      around retirement has been observed in recent literature. It is unclear, however,
      to which degree and of which kind. This study looked at sequences rather than
      individual statuses or transitions and argued that differentiating older
      Americans' retirement sequences by type, order, and timing and considering
      gender, class, and race differences yields a less destandardized picture. Design
      and Methods: Sequence analysis was employed to analyze panel data from the Health
      and Retirement Study (HRS) for 7,881 individuals observed 6 consecutive times
      between ages 60-61 and 70-71. Results: As expected, types of retirement sequences
      were identified that cannot be subsumed under the conventional model of complete
      retirement from full-time employment around age 65. However, these retirement
      sequences were not entirely destandardized, as some irreversibility and age
      grading persisted. Further, the degree of destandardization varied along gender,
      class, and race. Unconventional sequences were archetypal for middle-level
      educated individuals and Blacks. Also, sequences for women and individuals with
      lower education showed more unemployment and part-time jobs, and less age
      grading. Implications: A sequence-analytic approach that models group differences
      uncovers misjudgments about the degree of destandardization of retirement
      sequences. When a continuous process is represented as individual transitions,
      the overall pattern of retirement sequences gets lost and appears destandardized.
      These patterns get further complicated by differences in social structures by
      gender, class, and race in ways that seem to reproduce advantages that men, more
      highly educated individuals, and Whites enjoy in numerous areas over the life
      course.

PMID- 28586410
TI  - A newborn intracardiac mass after coronary stenting: a case of left atrial
      intramural haematoma.

PMID- 28586411
TI  - Incidence and treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding in general practice.
AB  - Background: Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is a common problem in women of
      reproductive age. In 2008, the Dutch guideline for general practitioners (GPs)
      was revised to recommend the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) as a
      first-choice treatment for HMB. However, GP prescribing practices have not been
      studied in depth. Objectives: To investigate the incidence and initial treatment
      of HMB in general practice, and to identify if there were changes in prescribing
      practices after the revision of the national guideline in 2008. Methods:
      Retrospective analysis of data from the Registration Network Groningen, the
      Netherlands. We selected data for prescriptions and referrals related to women
      consulting their GP for HMB between 2004 and 2013. We calculated the incidence
      rates and investigated potential trends in prescribing over time, with particular
      attention to the prescribing of LNG-IUS. Results: Over 10 years, 881 women
      consulted their GP for HMB, with a mean annual incidence of 9.3 per 1000 person
      years (95% confidence interval: 8.5-10.2). Most women received hormonal treatment
      (406/881; 46%) within three months of diagnosis, but many (387/881; 44%) received
      no medication. The LNG-IUS was prescribed for 2.4%, but there was no significant
      increase in the number of prescriptions over time. Conclusion: In this cohort,
      most women with HMB were treated with oral hormone therapy, and few received the
      LNG-IUS. If patients are to benefit from the LNG-IUS, further research is needed
      into the reasons for this lack of change in prescribing practices.

PMID- 28586412
TI  - High-Fat Diet and Female Fertility.
AB  - The prevalence of obesity is high among reproductive-age women and is associated
      with impaired reproductive function. Obesity is multifactorial in origin, yet
      many cases of obesity result from overconsumption of a diet high in fat. Excess
      dietary fat increases both adipose and nonadipose tissue lipid content and,
      through lipotoxicity, leads to cell dysfunction and death. High dietary fat
      intake, with or without the development of obesity, impairs female hypothalamic
      pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis functionality and fertility. Based on the current
      evidence, it appears the reproductive dysfunction involves increased leptin and
      insulin signaling at the various levels of the HPO axis, as well as changes in
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma actions and increased
      inflammation, yet other mechanisms may also be involved. This review summarizes
      the current body of knowledge on impaired female reproductive function after high
      fat diet exposure, as well as discusses proposed mechanisms through which this
      may occur.

PMID- 28586413
TI  - Role of the tricuspid regurgitation after mitraclip and transcatheter aortic
      valve implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Aims: Treatment of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is common after surgery for
      mitral and/or aortic valves. The prognostic role of moderate to severe TR in
      patients undergoing mitraclip or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
      is not well-defined. Thus, the aim of this article is to perform a systematic
      review and meta-analysis of articles valuing the prognostic role of TR for
      patients undergoing mitraclip and TAVI. Methods and results: Articles were
      searched in Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and Biomed Central in
      September 2016. Inclusion criteria: observational or randomized clinical trials
      with data on the prognostic role of TR in patients undergoing mitraclip or TAVI.
      Primary outcome was all-cause mortality expressed as hazard ratio (HR). Six
      articles fulfilled inclusion criteria, three were on mitraclip and three on TAVI.
      A total of 2329 patients were analysed (mean age was 78.38 (3.09), 63% male):
      1328 treated with TAVI and 1001 with mitraclip. The HR for all-cause mortality of
      moderate to severe TR was 2.0 (95% CI 1.57-2.55, I2 = 0%). Data were confirmed
      also after subgroup analysis for mitraclip vs. TAVI. None of the factor
      considered in meta-regression analyses was affecting the primary outcome.
      Conclusions: The current meta-analysis suggests that the presence of moderate to
      severe TR in patients undergoing mitraclip or TAVI might be a major determinant
      of all-cause mortality. New studies are needed to confirm it and to plan possible
      intervention in order to reduce its impact.

PMID- 28586415
TI  - A Technique Using the Suction-Assisted Endoscope Sheath to Transfer SMAS for Lip
      Augmentation.

PMID- 28586414
TI  - Adverse events related to hospital care: a retrospective medical records review
      in a Swiss hospital.
AB  - Objective: Retrospective records reviews carried out in several countries have
      shown substantial rates of adverse events (AE) among hospitalized patients,
      preventable in half the cases. As no such data have been recorded in Switzerland,
      we estimated the incidence of AE in one acute care hospital as a basis for a
      safety improvement program. Design: A two steps retrospective records review
      (screening criteria and full review of positively screened records). Setting: A
      medium size community hospital. Participants: A stratified sample of 400 surgical
      and 600 medical hospitalizations whose records fulfilled a set of information
      quality criteria. Intervention(s): Not applicable. Main outcome measure(s):
      Adverse events, preventable adverse events and extent of resulting harm. Results:
      The proportion of hospitalizations with at least one AE was 12.3% (95% CI: 10.4
      14.1) whereas the overall hospital incidence rate was 14.1% (95% CI: 12.0-16.2).
      Nearly half of AE were judged preventable, corresponding to one or more
      preventable AE in 6.4% of hospitalizations (95% CI: 5.0-7.8). Sixty percent of AE
      resulted in no or minor impairment at discharge whereas 23% resulted in severe
      disability. AE were twice more frequent in surgical patients, and preventable AE
      resulted more often in severe impairment than unpreventable AE. No death was
      attributed to an AE. The proportion of stays with an AE increased with age and
      length of stay. Conclusions: The incidence of preventable AE in patients
      hospitalized in one Swiss hospital is comparable to previously reported rates.
      Further, patient safety improvement is needed, especially among older patients,
      and for surgical procedures.

PMID- 28586416
TI  - Bridging the Gap between Reproducibility and Translation: Data Resources and
      Approaches.
AB  - Animal research has constituted a fundamental means to achieve groundbreaking
      therapies for human disease. However, for complex diseases, promising preclinical
      results have failed to translate to the clinic. Reasons for this disparity are
      multifactorial. These include the challenges inherent in modeling complex disease
      in animals, as well issues of study design, reproducibility and operational norms
      within the biomedical research enterprise. In this issue, we explore the range of
      information resources available for the comparative study of disease, as well as
      challenges to the ultimate translation of preclinical findings. Genomics
      resources in support of translational research are described for zebrafish, mice,
      rats and non-human primates. The utility of transcriptomics to explore the
      temporal basis of lesion development in toxicologic pathology is reviewed.
      Integration of the ever-increasing volume of text-based and bioinformatics data
      is a significant challenge, and in this issue, informatics resources and general
      text mining methodologies to explore and aggregate text data are described.
      Finally, factors contributing to both reproducibility and translatability are
      examined. Guidelines designed to address reproducibility are essential to
      improving individual studies. To this end, a viewpoint from the National
      Institutes of Health on measures needed to enhance rigor and reproducibility is
      given, as well as an overview of the role of the Institutional Animal Care and
      Use Committee in this regard. The challenge of improving generalizability of
      animal experiments so that their findings can be more frequently extended to the
      intended human population remains. Reasons why models that replicate key aspects
      of human disease fail to be predictive in humans are explored in two fields in
      which translation has been a challenge: sepsis and neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28586408
TI  - Engineering tolerance to industrially relevant stress factors in yeast cell
      factories.
AB  - The main focus in development of yeast cell factories has generally been on
      establishing optimal activity of heterologous pathways and further metabolic
      engineering of the host strain to maximize product yield and titer. Adequate
      stress tolerance of the host strain has turned out to be another major challenge
      for obtaining economically viable performance in industrial production. Although
      general robustness is a universal requirement for industrial microorganisms,
      production of novel compounds using artificial metabolic pathways presents
      additional challenges. Many of the bio-based compounds desirable for production
      by cell factories are highly toxic to the host cells in the titers required for
      economic viability. Artificial metabolic pathways also turn out to be much more
      sensitive to stress factors than endogenous pathways, likely because regulation
      of the latter has been optimized in evolution in myriads of environmental
      conditions. We discuss different environmental and metabolic stress factors with
      high relevance for industrial utilization of yeast cell factories and the
      experimental approaches used to engineer higher stress tolerance. Improving
      stress tolerance in a predictable manner in yeast cell factories should
      facilitate their widespread utilization in the bio-based economy and extend the
      range of products successfully produced in large scale in a sustainable and
      economically profitable way.

PMID- 28586417
TI  - Development and validation study of a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease risk
      scoring model among adults in China.
AB  - Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common
      liver diseases in China. It is usually asymptomatic and transabdominal ultrasound
      (USS) is the usual means for diagnosis, but it may not be feasible to have USS
      screening of the whole population. Objective: To develop a risk scoring model for
      predicting the presence of NAFLD using parameters that can be easily obtain in
      clinical settings. Methods: A retrospective study on the data of 672 adults who
      had general health check including a transabdominal ultrasound. Fractional
      polynomial and multivariable logistic regressions of sociodemographic and
      biochemical variables on NAFLD were used to identify the predictors. A risk score
      was assigned to each predictor using the scaled standardized beta-coefficient to
      create a risk prediction algorithm. The accuracy for NAFLD detection by each cut
      off score in the risk algorithm was evaluated. Results: The prevalence of NAFLD
      in our study population was 33.0% (222/672). Six significant factors were
      selected in the final prediction model. The areas under the curve (AUC) was 0.82
      (95% CI: 0.78-0.85). The optimal cut-off score, based on the ROC was 35, with a
      sensitivity of 76.58% (95% CI: 70.44-81.98%) and specificity of 74.89% (95% CI:
      70.62-78.83%). Conclusion: A NAFLD risk scoring model can be used to identify
      asymptomatic Chinese people who are at risk of NAFLD for further USS
      investigation.

PMID- 28586419
TI  - Evaluating quality improvement methods and economics of preventable adverse
      events in the healthcare: From Africa to Europe.

PMID- 28586418
TI  - Nocturnal but not Diurnal Hypertension Is Associated to Insulin Resistance
      Markers in Subjects With Normal or Mildly Elevated Office Blood Pressure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the relationships among insulin resistance
      markers and nocturnal and diurnal hypertension in normotensive or mildly
      untreated hypertensive adults. METHODS: The study was performed in both female
      and male adults referred to the Cardiometabolic Unit of the Hospital San Martin,
      La Plata, Argentina, in order to perform an ambulatory blood pressure measurement
      (ABPM) for the evaluation of a possible hypertensive disorder. The population was
      stratified according to their ABPM in: 1-presence or absence of diurnal
      hypertension and 2-presence or absence of nocturnal hypertension; both conditions
      were analyzed separately. Fasting plasma insulin (FPI), homeostasis model
      assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and triglycerides (TG)/high-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio were used as surrogate markers of insulin
      resistance and compared among subjects with vs. without diurnal or nocturnal
      hypertension. RESULTS: One hundred and five patients, 55 women, 47 (11) years
      old, and 50 men, 44 (16) years old, were included. Diurnal and nocturnal
      hypertension were found in 60% and 64% of the sample, respectively. There were no
      significant differences among the levels of insulin resistance markers between
      individuals with or without diurnal hypertension. In contrast, individuals with
      nocturnal hypertension were more insulin resistant irrespectively of whether they
      were evaluated using FPI (P = 0.016), HOMA-IR (P = 0.019), or TG/HDL-C ratio (P =
      0.011); FPI differences remained significant after adjustment for sex, age, and
      obesity indicators (P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: Nocturnal but not diurnal
      hypertension was related to higher levels of 3 insulin resistance markers in
      normotensive and untreated mildly hypertensive adults; this relationship seems
      partially independent of obesity.

PMID- 28586420
TI  - Appropriateness criteria for the use of cardiovascular imaging in heart valve
      disease in adults: a European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging report of
      literature review and current practice.
AB  - Heart valve disease is common and a major indication for imaging.
      Echocardiography is the first-line imaging technique for diagnosis, assessment,
      and serial surveillance. However, other modalities, notably cardiac magnetic
      resonance imaging and computerized tomography, are used if echocardiographic
      imaging is suboptimal or to obtain complementary information, particularly to aid
      risk assessment in individual patients. This review is a summary of current
      evidence for state-of-the-art clinical practice to inform appropriateness
      criteria for heart valve disease. It is divided according to common clinical
      scenarios: detection of valve disease, assessment of the valve and other cardiac
      structures, risk assessment, screening, and intervention.

PMID- 28586421
TI  - FRUITFULL controls SAUR10 expression and regulates Arabidopsis growth and
      architecture.
AB  - MADS-domain transcription factors are well known for their roles in plant
      development and regulate sets of downstream genes that have been uncovered by
      high-throughput analyses. A considerable number of these targets are predicted to
      function in hormone responses or responses to environmental stimuli, suggesting
      that there is a close link between developmental and environmental regulators of
      plant growth and development. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis MADS-domain
      factor FRUITFULL (FUL) executes several functions in addition to its noted role
      in fruit development. Among the direct targets of FUL, we identified SMALL AUXIN
      UPREGULATED RNA 10 (SAUR10), a growth regulator that is highly induced by a
      combination of auxin and brassinosteroids and in response to reduced R:FR light.
      Interestingly, we discovered that SAUR10 is repressed by FUL in stems and
      inflorescence branches. SAUR10 is specifically expressed at the abaxial side of
      these branches and this localized activity is influenced by hormones, light
      conditions and by FUL, which has an effect on branch angle. Furthermore, we
      identified a number of other genes involved in hormone pathways and light
      signalling as direct targets of FUL in the stem, demonstrating a connection
      between developmentally and environmentally regulated growth programs.

PMID- 28586423
TI  - The transcriptome of human oocytes is related to age and ovarian reserve.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: How does the human oocyte transcriptome change with age and
      ovarian reserve? SUMMARY ANSWER: Specific sets of human oocyte messenger RNAs
      (mRNAs) and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are affected independently by age and
      ovarian reserve. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Although it is well established that the
      ovarian reserve diminishes with increasing age, and that a woman's age is
      correlated with lower oocyte quality, the interplay of a diminished reserve and
      age on oocyte developmental competence is not clear. After maturation, oocytes
      are mostly transcriptionally quiescent, and developmental competence prior to
      embryonic genome activationrelies on maternal RNA and proteins. STUDY DESIGN,
      SIZE, DURATION: A total of 36 vitrified/warmed MII oocytes from 30 women
      undergoing oocyte donation were included in this study, processed and analyzed
      individually. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Total RNA from each
      oocyte was independently isolated, amplified, labeled, and hybridized on HTA 2.0
      arrays (Affymetrix). Data were analyzed using TAC software, in four groups, each
      including nine oocytes, according to the woman's age and antral follicular count
      (AFC) (mean +/- SD): Young with High AFC (YH; age 21 +/- 1 years and 24 +/- 3
      follicles); Old with High AFC (OH; age 32 +/- 2 years and 29 +/- 7 follicles);
      Young with Low AFC (YL; age 24 +/- 2 years and 8 +/- 2 follicles); Old with Low
      AFC (OL; age 34 +/- 1 years and 7 +/- 1 follicles). qPCR was performed to
      validate arrays. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: We identified a set of 30
      differentially expressed mRNAs when comparing oocytes from women with different
      ages and AFC. In addition, 168 non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) were differentially
      expressed in relation to age and/or AFC. Few mRNAs have been identified as
      differentially expressed transcripts, and among ncRNAs, a set of Piwi-interacting
      RNAs clusters (piRNAs-c) and precursor microRNAs (pre-miRNAs) were identified as
      increased in high AFC and old groups, respectively. Our results indicate that age
      and ovarian reserve are associated with specific ncRNA profiles, suggesting that
      oocyte quality might be mediated by ncRNA pathways. LARGE SCALE DATA: Data can be
      found via GEO accession number GSE87201. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The
      oldest woman included in the study was 35 years old, thus our results cannot
      readily be extrapolated to women older than 35 or infertile women. WIDER
      IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: We show, for the first time, that several non
      coding RNAs, usually regulating DNA transcription, are differentially expressed
      in relation to age and/or ovarian reserve. Interestingly, the mRNA transcriptome
      of in vivo matured oocytes remains remarkably stable across ages and ovarian
      reserve, suggesting the possibility that changes in the non-coding transcriptome
      might regulate some post-transcriptional/translational mechanisms which might, in
      turn, affect oocyte developmental competence. STUDY FUNDING AND COMPETING
      INTEREST(S): This work was supported by intramural funding of Clinica EUGIN and
      by the Secretary for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Economy and
      Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia. J.H. and A.S. are employees of
      Affymetrix, otherwise there are no competing interests.

PMID- 28586422
TI  - Tomato ethylene sensitivity determines interaction with plant growth-promoting
      bacteria.
AB  - Background and Aims: Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) are soil micro
      organisms able to interact with plants and stimulate their growth, positively
      affecting plant physiology and development. Although ethylene plays a key role in
      plant growth, little is known about the involvement of ethylene sensitivity in
      bacterial inoculation effects on plant physiology. Thus, the present study was
      pursued to establish whether ethylene perception is critical for plant-bacteria
      interaction and growth induction by two different PGPB strains, and to assess the
      physiological effects of these strains in juvenile and mature tomato ( Solanum
      lycopersicum ) plants. Methods: An experiment was performed with the ethylene
      insensitive tomato never ripe and its isogenic wild-type line in which these two
      strains were inoculated with either Bacillus megaterium or Enterobacter sp. C7.
      Plants were grown until juvenile and mature stages, when biomass, stomatal
      conductance, photosynthesis as well as nutritional, hormonal and metabolic
      statuses were analysed. Key Results: Bacillus megaterium promoted growth only in
      mature wild type plants. However, Enterobacter C7 PGPB activity affected both
      wild-type and never ripe plants. Furthermore, PGPB inoculation affected
      physiological parameters and root metabolite levels in juvenile plants; meanwhile
      plant nutrition was highly dependent on ethylene sensitivity and was altered at
      the mature stage. Bacillus megaterium inoculation improved carbon assimilation in
      wild-type plants. However, insensitivity to ethylene compromised B. megaterium
      PGPB activity, affecting photosynthetic efficiency, plant nutrition and the root
      sugar content. Nevertheless, Enterobacter C7 inoculation modified the root amino
      acid content in addition to stomatal conductance and plant nutrition.
      Conclusions: Insensitivity to ethylene severely impaired B. megaterium
      interaction with tomato plants, resulting in physiological modifications and loss
      of PGPB activity. In contrast, Enterobacter C7 inoculation stimulated growth
      independently of ethylene perception and improved nitrogen assimilation in
      ethylene-insensitive plants. Thus, ethylene sensitivity is a determinant for B.
      megaterium , but is not involved in Enterobacter C7 PGPB activity.

PMID- 28586424
TI  - Role of ERalpha in Mediating Female Uterine Transcriptional Responses to IGF1.
AB  - Estrogen (E2) signaling through its nuclear receptor, E2 receptor alpha (ERalpha)
      increases insulinlike growth factor 1 (IGF1) in the rodent uterus, which then
      initiates further signals via the IGF1 receptor. Directly administering IGF1
      results in similar biological and transcriptional uterine responses. Our studies
      using global ERalpha-null mice demonstrated a loss of uterine biological
      responses of the uterus to E2 or IGF1 treatment, while maintaining
      transcriptional responses to IGF1. To address this discrepancy in the need for
      uterine ERalpha in mediating the IGF1 transcriptional vs growth responses, we
      assessed the IGF1 transcriptional responses in PgrCre+Esr1f/f (called
      ERalphaUtcKO) mice, which selectively lack ERalpha in progesterone receptor (PGR)
      expressing cells, including all uterine cells, while maintaining ERalpha
      expression in other tissues and cells that do not express Pgr. Additionally, we
      profiled IGF1-induced ERalpha binding sites in uterine chromatin using chromatin
      immunoprecipitation sequencing. Herein, we explore the transcriptional and
      molecular signaling that underlies our findings to refine our understanding of
      uterine IGF1 signaling and identify ERalpha-mediated and ERalpha-independent
      uterine transcriptional responses. Defining these mechanisms in vivo in whole
      tissue and animal contexts provides details of nuclear receptor mediated
      mechanisms that impact biological systems and have potential applicability to
      reproductive processes of humans, livestock and wildlife.

PMID- 28586425
TI  - Mothers of Deaf Children in the 21st Century. Dynamic Positioning Between the
      Medical and Cultural-Linguistic Discourses.
AB  - Traditional research examining the communicational choices made by families with
      deaf children tends to emanate from the premise that families engage with either
      of the two grand discourses on deafness (i.e., the medical or cultural-linguistic
      perspective). This study investigated hearing mother's engagement with the
      educational options for their child from a dynamic, poststructural perspective.
      Three Flemish mothers were interviewed in-depth at the child's ages of 6, 9, 12,
      18, and 24 months. The data were analyzed within a theoretical model that
      describes the positioning process of the mothers. This method yielded alternative
      explanations for former findings concerning mothers' decision-making processes,
      especially the difficulty of learning sign language as a second language in an
      effort to provide a bilingual-bicultural education, and highlighted the
      importance of having rich experiences. It further showed that a bilingual
      bicultural position was scarcely available and poorly supported for these
      mothers. These findings are discussed in relation to recent international
      consensus statements on best practices in early intervention.

PMID- 28586428
TI  - Valvular heart disease: new risk factors and new challenges.

PMID- 28586426
TI  - A Sensitive Method for Detecting Zika Virus Antigen in Patients' Whole-Blood
      Specimens as an Alternative Diagnostic Approach.
AB  - Background: Epidemics caused by the reemergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) warrant the
      need to develop new diagnostic measures to complement currently used detection
      methods. In this study, we explored the detection of ZIKV antigen in a defined
      leukocyte subset from patients' whole-blood specimens. Methods: Whole-blood
      samples were obtained at the acute and early convalescent phases from ZIKV
      infected patients during the Singapore outbreak in August-September 2016.
      Presence of ZIKV antigen was determined by flow cytometry staining for
      intracellular ZIKV NS3, using a ZIKV-specific polyclonal antibody. The presence
      of ZIKV antigen was determined in CD45+CD14+ monocytes. Results: Data showed that
      ZIKV NS3 antigen could be detected in CD45+CD14+ monocytes. The levels of
      detection were further categorized into 3 groups: high (positivity among >40% of
      monocytes), moderate (positivity among 10%-40%), and low (positivity among <10%).
      While a majority of patients showed a decrease in the amount of ZIKV antigen
      detected at later time points, some patients displayed higher levels as the
      disease progressed. Conclusions: Our data highlights an alternative approach in
      using flow cytometry as a sensitive method for detecting ZIKV antigen in whole
      blood. Importantly, it further confirms the role of CD14+ monocytes as an
      important cellular target for ZIKV infection during the viremic phase.

PMID- 28586427
TI  - Benefits of flooding-induced aquatic adventitious roots depend on the duration of
      submergence: linking plant performance to root functioning.
AB  - Background and Aims: Temporal flooding is a common environmental stress for
      terrestrial plants. Aquatic adventitious roots (aquatic roots) are commonly
      formed in flooding-tolerant plant species and are generally assumed to be
      beneficial for plant growth by supporting water and nutrient uptake during
      partial flooding. However, the actual contribution of these roots to plant
      performance under flooding has hardly been quantified. As the investment into
      aquatic root development in terms of carbohydrates may be costly, these costs may
      - depending on the specific environmental conditions - offset the beneficial
      effects of aquatic roots. This study tested the hypothesis that the balance
      between potential costs and benefits depends on the duration of flooding, as the
      benefits are expected to outweigh the costs in long-term but not in short-term
      flooding. Methods: The contribution of aquatic roots to plant performance was
      tested in Solanum dulcamara during 1-4 weeks of partial submergence and by
      experimentally manipulating root production. Nutrient uptake by aquatic roots,
      transpiration and photosynthesis were measured in plants differing in aquatic
      root development to assess the specific function of these roots. Key Results: As
      predicted, flooded plants benefited from the presence of aquatic roots. The
      results showed that this was probably due to the contribution of roots to
      resource uptake. However, these beneficial effects were only present in long-term
      but not in short-term flooding. This relationship could be explained by the
      correlation between nutrient uptake and the flooding duration-dependent size of
      the aquatic root system. Conclusions: The results indicate that aquatic root
      formation is likely to be selected for in habitats characterized by long-term
      flooding. This study also revealed only limited costs associated with
      adventitious root formation, which may explain the maintenance of the ability to
      produce aquatic roots in habitats characterized by very rare or short flooding
      events.

PMID- 28586429
TI  - Hafnia, an enterobacterial genus naturally resistant to colistin revealed by
      three susceptibility testing methods.
AB  - Objectives: To determine the susceptibility to colistin of Hafnia alvei and
      Hafnia paralvei, and to compare methods for colistin resistance detection in the
      Hafnia genus. Methods: A collection of 25 Hafnia isolates was studied. Species
      were identified by using 16S rRNA gene sequencing with subsequent phylogeny
      analysis. Susceptibility to colistin was determined using the broth microdilution
      (BMD) reference method, the Phoenix automated system, the Rapid Polymyxin NP
      test, the Etest system and the disc diffusion method. Results: The collection
      consisted of 15 H. alvei and 10 H. paralvei isolates. Based on the 16S rRNA
      analysis, a close relationship of the Hafnia genus with naturally colistin
      resistant enterobacterial genera (Proteus, Morganella, Providencia and Serratia)
      was identified. Susceptibility testing performed using the BMD method, the
      Phoenix automated system and the Rapid Polymyxin NP test revealed a high rate of
      colistin resistance (96%). Underestimation of colistin resistance using Etest
      strips (72%) and the disc diffusion method (0%) was observed. Conclusions: The
      high rate of colistin resistance observed within the Hafnia genus and its close
      phylogenetic relationship with naturally colistin-resistant genera suggest that
      Hafnia is a naturally colistin-resistant enterobacterial genus.

PMID- 28586430
TI  - National Study of Excellence and Innovation in Physical Therapist Education: Part
      1-Design, Method, and Results.
AB  - Background: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching commissioned
      the Preparation for the Professions Program, a qualitative study of professional
      education in 5 professions: medicine, nursing, law, engineering, and clergy.
      These studies identified curricular structures, instructional practices,
      assessment approaches, and environmental characteristics that support the
      preparation of professionals and led to educational reforms. The physical therapy
      profession has not had any in-depth, national investigation of physical therapist
      education since the Catherine Worthingham studies conducted more than 50 years
      ago. Objectives: This research was a Carnegie-type study, investigating elements
      of excellence and innovation in academic and clinical physical therapist
      education in the United States. Design: Five physical therapist education
      researchers from across the United States used a qualitative multiple-case study
      design. Methods: Six academic and 5 clinical programs were selected for the
      study. The academic institutions and clinical agencies studied were diverse in
      size, institutional setting, geography, and role in residency education.
      Qualitative case studies were generated from review of artifacts, field
      observations, and interviews (individual and focus group), and they provided the
      data for the study. Results: A conceptual framework grounded in 3 major
      dimensions was generated, with 8 supporting elements: (1) culture of excellence
      (shared beliefs and values, leadership and vision, drive for excellence, and
      partnerships), (2) praxis of learning (signature pedagogy, practice-based
      learning, creating adaptive learners, and professional formation), and (3)
      organizational structures and resources. Conclusion: Building on the work of the
      Carnegie Foundation's Preparation for the Professions Program, a conceptual model
      was developed, representing the dimensions and elements of excellence in physical
      therapist education that is centered on the foundational importance of a nexus of
      linked and highly valued aims of being learner centered and patient centered in
      all learning environments, both academic and clinical.

PMID- 28586431
TI  - Proteomic Analysis of Calcium Effects on Soybean Root Tip under Flooding and
      Drought Stresses.
AB  - Flooding and drought are disadvantageous environmental conditions that induce
      cytosolic calcium in soybean. To explore the effects of flooding- and drought
      induced increases in calcium, a gel-free/label-free proteomic analysis was
      performed. Cytosolic calcium was decreased by blocking calcium channels in the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and plasma membrane under both stresses. Calnexin,
      protein disulfide isomerase, heat shock proteins and thioredoxin were
      predominantly affected as the ER proteins in response to calcium, and ER
      associated degradation-related proteins of HCP-like superfamily protein were up
      regulated under stress exposure and then down-regulated. Glycolysis,
      fermentation, the tricarboxylic acid cycle and amino acid metabolism were mainly
      induced as the types of cellular metabolism in response to calcium under both
      stresses. Pyruvate decarboxylase was increased and decreased under flooding and
      drought, respectively, and was further decreased by the reduction of cytosolic
      calcium; however, it was recovered by exogenous calcium under both stresses.
      Furthermore, pyruvate decarboxylase activity was increased under flooding, but
      decreased under drought. These results suggest that calcium is involved in
      protein folding in the ER, and ER-associated degradation might alleviate ER
      stress during the early stage of both stresses. Furthermore, calcium appears to
      modify energy metabolism, and pyruvate decarboxylase may be a key enzyme in this
      process under flooding and drought.

PMID- 28586432
TI  - Locus-specific ChIP combined with NGS analysis reveals genomic regulatory regions
      that physically interact with the Pax5 promoter in a chicken B cell line.
AB  - Chromosomal interactions regulate genome functions, such as transcription, via
      dynamic chromosomal organization in the nucleus. In this study, we attempted to
      identify genomic regions that physically bind to the promoter region of the Pax5
      gene, which encodes a master regulator for B cell lineage commitment, in a
      chicken B cell line, DT40, with the goal of obtaining mechanistic insight into
      transcriptional regulation through chromosomal interaction. We found that the
      Pax5 promoter bound to multiple genomic regions using locus-specific chromatin
      immunoprecipitation (locus-specific ChIP), a method for locus-specific isolation
      of target genomic regions, in combination with next-generation sequencing (NGS).
      Comparing chromosomal interactions in wild-type DT40 with those in a macrophage
      like counterpart, we found that some of the identified chromosomal interactions
      were organized in a B cell-specific manner. In addition, deletion of a B cell
      specific interacting genomic region in chromosome 11, which was marked by active
      enhancer histone modifications, resulted in moderate but significant down
      regulation of Pax5 transcription. Together, these results suggested that Pax5
      transcription in DT40 is regulated by B cell-specific inter-chromosomal
      interactions. Moreover, these analyses showed that locus-specific ChIP combined
      with NGS analysis is useful for non-biased identification of functional genomic
      regions that physically interact with a locus of interest.

PMID- 28586433
TI  - Speech Intelligibility and Psychosocial Functioning in Deaf Children and Teens
      with Cochlear Implants.
AB  - Deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) are at risk for psychosocial
      adjustment problems, possibly due to delayed speech-language skills. This study
      investigated associations between a core component of spoken-language ability
      speech intelligibility-and the psychosocial development of prelingually deaf CI
      users. Audio-transcription measures of speech intelligibility and parent reports
      of psychosocial behaviors were obtained for two age groups (preschool, school
      age/teen). CI users in both age groups scored more poorly than typically hearing
      peers on speech intelligibility and several psychosocial scales. Among preschool
      CI users, five scales were correlated with speech intelligibility: functional
      communication, attention problems, atypicality, withdrawal, and adaptability.
      These scales and four additional scales were correlated with speech
      intelligibility among school-age/teen CI users: leadership, activities of daily
      living, anxiety, and depression. Results suggest that speech intelligibility may
      be an important contributing factor underlying several domains of psychosocial
      functioning in children and teens with CIs, particularly involving socialization,
      communication, and emotional adjustment.

PMID- 28586436
TI  - Response to the letter regarding the impact of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures
      and our seizure assessment tool.

PMID- 28586434
TI  - The Arabidopsis Cys2/His2 zinc finger transcription factor ZAT18 is a positive
      regulator of plant tolerance to drought stress.
AB  - Environmental stress poses a global threat to plant growth and reproduction,
      especially drought stress. Zinc finger proteins comprise a family of
      transcription factors that play essential roles in response to various abiotic
      stresses. Here, we found that ZAT18 (At3g53600), a nuclear C2H2 zinc finger
      protein, was transcriptionally induced by dehydration stress. Overexpression (OE)
      of ZAT18 in Arabidopsis improved drought tolerance while mutation of ZAT18
      resulted in decreased plant tolerance to drought stress. ZAT18 was preferentially
      expressed in stems, siliques, and vegetative rosette leaves. Subcellular location
      results revealed that ZAT18 protein was predominantly localized in the nucleus.
      ZAT18 OE plants exhibited less leaf water loss, lower content of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS), higher leaf water content, and higher antioxidant enzyme
      activities after drought treatment when compared with the wild type (WT). RNA
      sequencing analysis showed that 423 and 561 genes were transcriptionally
      modulated by the ZAT18 transgene before and after drought treatment,
      respectively. Pathway enrichment analysis indicated that hormone metabolism,
      stress, and signaling were over-represented in ZAT18 OE lines. Several stress
      responsive genes including COR47, ERD7, LEA6, and RAS1, and hormone signaling
      transduction-related genes including JAZ7 and PYL5 were identified as putative
      target genes of ZAT18. Taken together, ZAT18 functions as a positive regulator
      and plays a crucial role in the plant response to drought stress.

PMID- 28586435
TI  - Fetal Exposure to High Maternal Thyroid Hormone Levels Causes Central Resistance
      to Thyroid Hormone in Adult Humans and Mice.
AB  - Context: Fetuses exposed to the high thyroid hormone (TH) levels of mothers with
      resistance to thyroid hormone beta (RTH-beta), due to mutations in the THRB gene,
      have low birth weight and suppressed TSH. Objective: Determine if such exposure
      to high TH levels in embryonic life has a long-term effect into adulthood.
      Design: Observations in humans with a parallel design on animals to obtain a
      preliminary information regarding mechanism. Setting: University research
      centers. Patients or other participants: Humans and mice with no RTH-beta exposed
      during intrauterine life to high TH levels from mothers who were euthyroid due to
      RTH-beta. Controls were humans and mice of the same genotype but born to fathers
      with RTH-beta and mothers without RTH-beta and thus, with normal serum TH levels.
      Interventions: TSH responses to stimulation with thyrotropin-releasing hormone
      (TRH) during adult life in humans and male mice before and after treatment with
      triiodothyronine (T3). We also measured gene expression in anterior pituitaries,
      hypothalami, and cerebral cortices of mice. Results: Adult humans and mice
      without RTH-beta, exposed to high maternal TH in utero, showed persistent central
      resistance to TH, as evidenced by reduced responses of serum TSH to TRH when
      treated with T3. In mice, anterior pituitary TSH-beta and deiodinase 3 (D3)
      mRNAs, but not hypothalamic and cerebral cortex D3, were increased. Conclusions:
      Adult humans and mice without RTH-beta exposed in utero to high maternal TH
      levels have persistent central resistance to TH. This is likely mediated by the
      increased expression of D3 in the anterior pituitary, enhancing local T3
      degradation.

PMID- 28586437
TI  - Psychological issues and cognitive impairment in adults with familial
      hypercholesterolemia.
AB  - A literature review about depression, anxiety, illness perception and
      neurocognitive impairment in adults with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) was
      performed. Through PubMed and PsycINFO published studies from 1980 until March
      2017 were searched. Two papers assessed depression and anxiety. Four papers
      explored illness perception. Five studies assessed cognitive impairment. Mean
      depression and anxiety scores were within normal range. From the reviewed
      research, it can be concluded that deficits in executive functioning and memory
      appear in FH patients between 18 and 40 years old, and mild cognitive impairment
      in older than 50. The research in the field of the present review is relatively
      recent: all the studies have been published in the current century. Further
      research should be done using complete standardized neuropsychological assessment
      and brain imaging techniques. Studies exploring the possible influence of
      cognitive deficits on adherence should be conducted also.

PMID- 28586438
TI  - COSINE: non-seeding method for mapping long noisy sequences.
AB  - Third generation sequencing (TGS) are highly promising technologies but the long
      and noisy reads from TGS are difficult to align using existing algorithms. Here,
      we present COSINE, a conceptually new method designed specifically for aligning
      long reads contaminated by a high level of errors. COSINE computes the context
      similarity of two stretches of nucleobases given the similarity over
      distributions of their short k-mers (k = 3-4) along the sequences. The results on
      simulated and real data show that COSINE achieves high sensitivity and
      specificity under a wide range of read accuracies. When the error rate is high,
      COSINE can offer substantial advantages over existing alignment methods.

PMID- 28586440
TI  - Circumferential Wall Enhancement on Magnetic Resonance Imaging is Useful to
      Identify Rupture Site in Patients with Multiple Cerebral Aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of rupture sites in patients with multiple
      intracranial aneurysms is largely based on aneurysm size, location, and shape.
      Finding circumferential enhancement along the aneurysm wall (CEAW) on magnetic
      resonance (MR) vessel wall imaging was recently shown to be indicative of
      ruptured aneurysm. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypothesis that a higher degree
      of CEAW would identify the site of rupture in patients with multiple aneurysms.
      METHODS: We prospectively performed quantitative analysis of CEAW in consecutive
      patients with both aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and multiple aneurysms (26
      patients with a total of 62 aneurysms), using MR vessel wall imaging. Three
      dimensional T1-weighted fast spin-echo sequences were obtained before and after
      injection of contrast media, and the wall enhancement index (WEI) was calculated.
      Aneurysm characteristics (size, location, irregular shape, aspect ratio [neck-to
      dome length/neck width], and WEI) were compared between ruptured and unruptured
      aneurysms. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for ruptures were calculated
      with conditional univariable logistic regression analysis. Analyses were repeated
      after adjustment for aneurysm size. RESULTS: Large aneurysm size, high aspect
      ratio, WEI (above the median values), and irregular shape were significantly
      associated with aneurysm rupture. After adjustment for aneurysm size, WEI
      (adjusted odds ratio: 8.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-72.6) as well as
      irregular shape and aspect ratio showed a strong association with rupture.
      CONCLUSION: CEAW is associated with rupture of intracranial aneurysm independent
      of aneurysm size and patient characteristics. Contrast-enhanced MR vessel wall
      imaging helps to identify the site of rupture in patients with multiple
      aneurysms.

PMID- 28586439
TI  - RAMP2 Influences Glucagon Receptor Pharmacology via Trafficking and Signaling.
AB  - Endogenous satiety hormones provide an attractive target for obesity drugs.
      Glucagon causes weight loss by reducing food intake and increasing energy
      expenditure. To further understand the cellular mechanisms by which glucagon and
      related ligands activate the glucagon receptor (GCGR), we investigated the
      interaction of the GCGR with receptor activity modifying protein (RAMP)2, a
      member of the family of receptor activity modifying proteins. We used a
      combination of competition binding experiments, cell surface enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay, functional assays assessing the Galphas and Galphaq pathways
      and beta-arrestin recruitment, and small interfering RNA knockdown to examine the
      effect of RAMP2 on the GCGR. Ligands tested were glucagon; glucagonlike peptide-1
      (GLP-1); oxyntomodulin; and analog G(X), a GLP-1/glucagon coagonist developed in
      house. Confocal microscopy was used to assess whether RAMP2 affects the
      subcellular distribution of GCGR. Here we demonstrate that coexpression of RAMP2
      and the GCGR results in reduced cell surface expression of the GCGR. This was
      confirmed by confocal microscopy, which demonstrated that RAMP2 colocalizes with
      the GCGR and causes significant GCGR cellular redistribution. Furthermore, the
      presence of RAMP2 influences signaling through the Galphas and Galphaq pathways,
      as well as recruitment of beta-arrestin. This work suggests that RAMP2 may modify
      the agonist activity and trafficking of the GCGR, with potential relevance to
      production of new peptide analogs with selective agonist activities.

PMID- 28586441
TI  - The development and testing of the Person-centred Practice Inventory - Staff
      (PCPI-S).
AB  - Objective: The aim of the study was to develop and test an instrument,
      underpinned by a recognized theoretical framework, that examines how staff
      perceive person-centred practice, using proven methods of instrument design and
      psychometric analysis. Design: The study used a mixed method multiphase research
      design involving: two Delphi studies to agree definitions and items to measure
      the constructs aligned to the person-centred practice theoretical framework
      (Phase 1); and a large-scale quantitative cross-sectional survey (Phase 2).
      Setting: Phase 1 was an international study involving representatives from seven
      countries across Europe and Australia, with Phase 2 conducted in one country
      across five organizations. Participants: Two international panels of experts (n =
      33) in person-centred practice took part in the Delphi study and a randomly
      selected sample of registered nurses (n = 703, 23.8%) drawn from across a wide
      range of clinical settings completed the Person-centred Practice Inventory -
      Staff (PCPI-S). Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome is to establish a measure
      of staff perceptions of person-centred Practice. Results: Broad consensus on
      definitions relating to 17 constructs drawn from a person-centred practice
      framework was achieved after two rounds; likewise with the generation of 108
      items to measure the constructs; a final instrument comprising 59 items with
      proven psychometric properties was achieved. Conclusions: The PCPI-S is
      psychometrically acceptable instrument validated by an international expert panel
      that maps specifically to a theoretical framework for person-centred practice and
      provides a generic measure of person-centredness.

PMID- 28586442
TI  - The relationship between shared decision-making and health-related quality of
      life among patients in Hong Kong SAR, China.
AB  - Objective: To elucidate the association between health-related quality of life
      and shared decision-making among patients in Hong Kong after adjustment for
      potential confounding variables. Design: A telephone survey was conducted with
      patients attending all public specialist outpatient clinics in Hong Kong between
      July and December 2014. The Specialist Outpatient Patient Experience
      Questionnaire and EQ-5D questionnaire were used to evaluate shared decision
      making and quality of life, respectively. We performed a Tobit regression
      analysis to examine the associations between shared decision-making and quality
      of life after adjustment for known social, economic and health-related factors.
      Setting: Twenty-six of the Hospital Authority's specialist outpatient clinics.
      Participants: Patients aged 18 years or older who attended one of the Hospital
      Authority's specialist outpatient clinics between July and November 2014. Main
      Outcome Measure(s): Shared decision-making and quality of life score. Results:
      Overall, 13 966 patients completed the study. The group reporting partial
      involvement in decision-making had slightly higher EQ-5D scores than the 'not
      involved' group and the 'fully involved' group. EQ-5D scores were higher among
      subjects who were younger, male, and had a higher level of education. Respondents
      living alone and living in institutions scored lower on the EQ-5D than patients
      living with families. Conclusions: Important differences in the relationship
      between the attitudes towards shared decision-making and quality of life were
      identified among patients. These associations should be taken into consideration
      when promoting patient-centred care and improving health professional-patient
      communication.

PMID- 28586443
TI  - Deconstructing One Medical School's Pain Curriculum: II. Partnering with Medical
      Students on an Evidence-Guided Redesign.
AB  - Objective: To reshape medical education about pain to present it as a population
      based public health process as well as a neuron-centered phenomenon. Design:
      Collaborate with students to apply a recent inventory of pain-related preclinical
      curricular content and clinical training in order to modify the current multiyear
      presentation and offer a broadened social perspective on pain. Appraise fourth
      year medical students' pain-related educational needs by surveying their
      knowledge, attitudes, experience with the curriculum, and self-reported
      assessment of pain-related competencies. Setting and subjects: University
      affiliated medical school and its fourth-year medical students. Methods: Analysis
      of a detailed inventory of first- and second-year curricula. Survey of graduating
      medical students assessing attitudes, skills, and confidence. Construction of a
      fourth-year pain education elective and collaboration with enrollees to better
      integrate pain throughout the four-year curriculum. Results: This student-faculty
      collaboration produced an evidence-guided proposal to reorganize pain-related
      content across the longitudinal medical curriculum. An
      attitudes/skills/confidence survey of graduating medical students (104
      respondents of 200 polled) found that 70% believed chances for successful
      outcomes treating chronic pain were low. Self-evaluated competency was high for
      evaluating (82%) and managing (69%) acute pain; for chronic pain, both were lower
      (evaluating = 38%; managing = 6%). Self-evaluated knowledge of pain physiology
      and neurobiology was poor (14%), fair (54%), or good (30%), but rarely excellent
      (2%). Conclusions: To meet graduating students' desire for increased competency
      in pain, pain-related curricula can and should be reorganized to include pain as
      a disease state and a widespread public health burden, not merely a symptom.

PMID- 28586444
TI  - Technical Communication: Admixture of Bupivacaine-Clonidine-Buprenorphine
      Dexamethasone at the Bedside in a Tertiary Care Hospital Block Room Is Not
      Associated with Any Apparent Burdens of Endotoxin or Microbial Growth.

PMID- 28586446
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28586445
TI  - Relative Conspicuity of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents in Interventional Pain
      Procedures.
AB  - Objective: To assess the relative radiographic conspicuity of gadolinium-based
      contrast agents (GBCAs) that may be used in spinal injection procedures when
      iodine-based contrast agents are contraindicated. Methods: Eight GBCAs and three
      iodinated agents of varying iodine concentrations were radiographed under
      conditions representative of lumbar spinal injections at four kilovoltage peak
      (kVp) values. Radiographic contrast of each agent was measured as the percent
      pixel value difference with respect to background. Results: Gadobutrol (Gadovist,
      1 mM/mL) had the highest radiographic contrast among the gadolinium agents
      tested. Measured radiographic contrast correlated with the molar concentration of
      gadolinium. Gadobutrol radiographic contrast lies between the contrast of iohexol
      concentrations of 240 and 140 mgI/mL. All agents have decreasing contrast as kVp
      increases, but GBCAs decrease less than iodine-based agents. Conclusions:
      Gadobutrol is the GBCA with the greatest conspicuity for use in spinal injection
      procedures. It also has the highest molar concentration of gadolinium, and
      potential neural toxicity from intrathecal delivery must be considered.

PMID- 28586447
TI  - Seizure control as a new metric in assessing efficacy of tumor treatment in low
      grade glioma trials-impact of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

PMID- 28586448
TI  - Letter to the Editor: "Characteristics of Men Who Report Persistent Sexual
      Symptoms After Finasteride Use for Hair Loss".

PMID- 28586449
TI  - Response to Letter: "Characteristics of Men Who Report Persistent Sexual Symptoms
      After Finasteride Use for Hair Loss".

PMID- 28586450
TI  - Letter to the Editor: What Is the Role of Serum Thyroglobulin Measurement in
      Patients With Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Treated Without Radioactive Iodine?

PMID- 28586451
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Severe Rebound-Associated Vertebral Fractures After
      Denosumab Discontinuation.

PMID- 28586452
TI  - Letter to the Editor: "Pediatric Obesity-Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention:
      An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline".

PMID- 28586453
TI  - Response to Letter: "Pediatric Obesity-Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention: An
      Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline".

PMID- 28586455
TI  - Erratum for "IGSF1 Deficiency: Lessons From an Extensive Case Series and
      Recommendations for Clinical Management".

PMID- 28586454
TI  - Erratum for "Everolimus in Patients With Advanced Follicular-Derived Thyroid
      Cancer: Results of a Phase II Clinical Trial".

PMID- 28586456
TI  - Response to Letter: Severe Rebound-Associated Vertebral Fractures After Denosumab
      Discontinuation.

PMID- 28586457
TI  - Response to Letter: What Is the Role of Serum Thyroglobulin Measurement in
      Patients With Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Treated Without Radioactive Iodine?

PMID- 28586458
TI  - Disease Stabilization of DYT1-Positive Primary Generalized Dystonia With Deep
      Brain Stimulation of the Globus Pallidus Interna: A 15-Year Follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Primary generalized dystonia (PGD) is a genetic form
      of dystonia that frequently displays pharmacological resistance and progresses
      quickly after onset. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been used successfully to
      treat refractory dystonia, specifically globus pallidus interna (GPi) DBS for
      DYT1-positive PGD patients. Long-term follow-up of the safety and efficacy falls
      short of the longevity seen in other diseases treated with DBS. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A male patient presented for neurosurgical evaluation with scapular
      winging, hand contractures, and violent truncal spasms, which forced him to be
      bedridden. After failing conservative therapy, the 18-yr-old patient was
      implanted with bilateral GPi-DBS. DBS parameter adjustments were made primarily
      within the first 3 yr after implantation, with nominal changes thereafter.
      Initial settings were contact of 3 + 0-, amplitude of 4.9 V, frequency of 185 Hz,
      and pulse width of 270 MUsec on the left and 3 + 0-, 2.8 V, 185 Hz, and 120 MUsec
      on the right. Current settings are 3 + 2 + 1-, 5.2 V, 130 Hz, 330 MUsec on the
      left and 3 + 0-, 3.5 V, 185 Hz, and 180 MUsec on the right and have been
      relatively unchanged in the past 4 yr. Unified dystonia rating scale scores
      reveal a significant decrease in dystonic symptoms. CONCLUSION: While prior
      reports have shown that GPi-DBS is effective for dystonia, this is the first with
      15 yr of long-term follow-up showing disease stabilization, suggesting that
      stimulation is efficacious and can potentially prevent disease progression. This
      report reaffirms previous reports that recommend early surgical intervention
      before the onset of permanent musculoskeletal deficits.

PMID- 28586460
TI  - A pre-in vitro maturation medium containing cumulus oocyte complex ligand
      receptor signaling molecules maintains meiotic arrest, supports the cumulus
      oocyte complex and improves oocyte developmental competence.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Can a pre-in vitro maturation (pre-IVM) medium containing
      signaling molecules rather than chemical/pharmaceutical agents, sustain meiotic
      arrest and improve developmental competence of in vitro matured oocytes in CF1
      outbred mice? SUMMARY ANSWER: A short 2 h period of pre-IVM prevents spontaneous
      meiotic resumption, improves mitochondria activity in subsequently matured
      oocytes, and increases developmental competence, pregnancy rate and implantation
      of resulting embryos. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Spontaneous resumption of meiosis in
      vitro is detrimental for oocyte developmental competence. Pre-IVM systems that
      prevent spontaneous meiotic resumption with chemical/pharmaceutical agents are a
      promising approach to improving IVM oocyte competence; however, the success of
      these methods has proven to be inconsistent. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This
      study consisted of a series of experiments using cumulus oocyte complexes (COC)
      derived from outbred mice following ovarian stimulation. The study was designed
      to examine if a novel, ligand/receptor-based pre-IVM treatment could sustain
      meiotic arrest in vitro and improve oocyte developmental competence, compared to
      control IVM. Two pre-IVM durations (2 h and 24 h) were evaluated, and the effect
      of the mitochondrial stimulator PQQ during 24 h pre-IVM was studied.
      PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Murine (outbred CF1) immature COC were
      cultured in vitro in the presence of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) (30 nM),
      estradiol (100 nM), FSH (1 * 10-4 IU/ml) and bone morphogenic protein 15 (BMP15)
      (100 ng/ml) for 2 h or 24 h prior to IVM. Meiotic status during pre-IVM and IVM
      was analyzed using orcein staining, and functionality of gap junction
      communication was confirmed using the functional gap junction inhibitor
      carbenoxolone (CBX). Oocytes exposed to pre-IVM treatment were compared to
      control oocytes collected on the same day from the same females and undergoing
      standard IVM. Developmental competence and embryo viability was assessed by
      oocyte mitochondrial activity and ATP concentration, in vitro embryo development
      following IVF and in vitro culture, blastocyst cell number and allocation, embryo
      morphokinetics, and embryo transfer. Differences were determined to be
      significant when P < 0.05. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Both a short (2
      h) and long (24 h) pre-IVM period successfully prevented spontaneous resumption
      of meiosis. Moreover, gap junctions remained open during the pre-IVM period, as
      shown by the resumption of meiosis (95.9 +/- 2.1%) in the presence of CBX during
      pre-IVM. A 2 h pre-IVM treatment improved blastocyst development after 96 h of
      culture per cleaved embryo compared to control (71.9 +/- 7.4% versus 53.3 +/-
      6.2%, respectively), whereas a longer 24 h pre-IVM had no effect on development.
      A short 2 h period of pre-IVM increased mitochondrial activity in mature oocytes.
      On the contrary, mitochondrial activity was reduced in mature oocytes following
      24 h of arrest and IVM. Treatment of arrested COC with pyrroloquinoline quinone
      (PQQ) during the 24 h pre-IVM period successfully maintained mitochondrial
      activity equal to control. However, PQQ was not able to improve blastocyst
      development compared to pre-IVM 24 h without PQQ. Moreover, ATP concentration in
      mature oocytes following pre-IVM and/or IVM, did not differ between treatments. A
      2 h pre-IVM period prior to IVM improved pregnancy rate following transfer to
      recipient females. Implantation was also improved after transfer of embryos
      derived from oocytes arrested for either 2 h or 24 h prior to IVM, compared to
      control IVM derived embryos (41.9 +/- 9%, 37.2 +/- 9.5% and 17.2 +/- 8.3%,
      respectively), although fetal development did not differ. LIMITATIONS, REASONS
      FOR CAUTION: Slower meiotic resumption and enhanced mitochondrial activity likely
      contribute to improved developmental competence of oocytes exposed to pre-IVM for
      2 h, but further experiments are required to identify specific mechanisms.
      Maintaining oocytes in meiotic arrest for 24 h with this approach could be a
      potential window to improve oocyte quality. However, an initial attempt to
      utilize this period of arrest to manipulate quality with PQQ, a mitochondrial
      stimulator, did not improve oocyte competence. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE
      FINDINGS: IVM could be an attractive clinical alternative to conventional IVF,
      with reduced time, cost and reliance on high doses of exogenous hormones to
      stimulate follicle growth, thus eliminating ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
      (OHSS). Currently IVM is not widely used as it results in reduced embryo
      development and lower pregnancy outcomes compared to embryos produced from in
      vivo matured oocytes. Our approach to IVM, incorporating a ligand/receptor pre
      IVM period, could improve human oocyte quality following IVM leading to routine
      adoption of this patient friendly technology. In addition, our methodology of pre
      IVM containing signaling molecules rather than chemical/pharmaceutical agents may
      prove to be more consistent at improving oocyte quality than those focusing only
      on cAMP modulation with pharmacological agents. Finally, a reliable method of
      maintaining oocytes in meiotic arrest in vitro provides a novel window of
      opportunity in which the oocyte may be manipulated to address specific
      physiological deficiencies prior to meiotic resumption. LARGE SCALE DATA: N/A.
      STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This study was supported by the Colorado
      Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM, Lone Tree, Colorado USA). We declare no
      conflict of interest.

PMID- 28586459
TI  - FASTmiR: an RNA-based sensor for in vitro quantification and live-cell
      localization of small RNAs.
AB  - Small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs),
      play a variety of important regulatory roles in many eukaryotes. Their small size
      has made it challenging to study them directly in live cells. Here we describe an
      RNA-based fluorescent sensor for small RNA detection both in vitro and in vivo,
      adaptable for any small RNA. It utilizes an sxRNA switch for detection of miRNA
      mRNA interactions combined with a fluorophore-binding sequence 'Spinach', a GFP
      like RNA aptamer for which the RNA-fluorophore complex exhibits strong and
      consistent fluorescence under an excitation wavelength. Two example sensors,
      FASTmiR171 and FASTmiR122, can rapidly detect and quantify the levels of miR171
      and miR122 in vitro. The sensors can determine relative levels of miRNAs in total
      RNA extracts with sensitivity similar to small RNA sequencing and northern blots.
      FASTmiR sensors were also used to estimate the copy number range of miRNAs in
      total RNA extracts. To localize and analyze the spatial distribution of small
      RNAs in live, single cells, tandem copies of FASTmiR122 were expressed in
      different cell lines. FASTmiR122 was able to quantitatively detect the
      differences in miR122 levels in Huh7 and HEK293T cells demonstrating its
      potential for tracking miRNA expression and localization in vivo.

PMID- 28586461
TI  - Genetically low vitamin D concentrations and myopic refractive error: a Mendelian
      randomization study.
AB  - Background: Myopia prevalence has increased in the past 20 years, with many
      studies linking the increase to reduced time spent outdoors. A number of recent
      observational studies have shown an inverse association between vitamin D
      [25(OH)D] serum levels and myopia. However, in such studies it is difficult to
      separate the effects of time outdoors and vitamin D levels. In this work we use
      Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess if genetically determined 25(OH)D levels
      contribute to the degree of myopia. Methods: We performed MR using results from a
      meta-analysis of refractive error (RE) genome-wide association study (GWAS) that
      included 37 382 and 8 376 adult participants of European and Asian ancestry,
      respectively, published by the Consortium for Refractive Error And Myopia
      (CREAM). We used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the DHCR7, CYP2R1, GC
      and CYP24A1 genes with known effects on 25(OH)D concentration as instrumental
      variables (IV). We estimated the effect of 25(OH)D on myopia level using a Wald
      type ratio estimator based on the effect estimates from the CREAM GWAS. Results:
      Using the combined effect attributed to the four SNPs, the estimate for the
      effect of 25(OH)D on refractive error was -0.02 [95% confidence interval (CI) 
      0.09, 0.04] dioptres (D) per 10 nmol/l increase in 25(OH)D concentration in
      Caucasians and 0.01 (95% CI -0.17, 0.19) D per 10 nmol/l increase in Asians.
      Conclusions: The tight confidence intervals on our estimates suggest the true
      contribution of vitamin D levels to degree of myopia is very small and
      indistinguishable from zero. Previous findings from observational studies linking
      vitamin D levels to myopia were likely attributable to the effects of confounding
      by time spent outdoors.

PMID- 28586462
TI  - Preclinical Models to Investigate Mechanisms of Negative Symptoms in
      Schizophrenia.

PMID- 28586463
TI  - Crowding-induced transcriptional bursts dictate polymerase and nucleosome density
      profiles along genes.
AB  - During eukaryotic transcription, RNA polymerase (RNAP) translocates along DNA
      molecules covered with nucleosomes and other DNA binding proteins. Though the
      interactions between a single nucleosome and RNAP are by now fairly well
      understood, this understanding has not been synthesized into a description of
      transcription on crowded genes, where multiple RNAP transcribe through
      nucleosomes while preserving the nucleosome coverage. We here take a deductive
      modeling approach to establish the consequences of RNAP-nucleosome interactions
      for transcription in crowded environments. We show that under physiologically
      crowded conditions, the interactions of RNAP with nucleosomes induce a strong
      kinetic attraction between RNAP molecules, causing them to self-organize into
      stable and moving pelotons. The peloton formation quantitatively explains the
      observed nucleosome and RNAP depletion close to the initiation site on heavily
      transcribed genes. Pelotons further translate into short-timescale
      transcriptional bursts at termination, resulting in burst characteristics
      consistent with instances of bursty transcription observed in vivo. To facilitate
      experimental testing of our proposed mechanism, we present several analytic
      relations that make testable quantitative predictions.

PMID- 28586464
TI  - Does unmeasured confounding influence associations between the retail food
      environment and body mass index over time? The Coronary Artery Risk Development
      in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.
AB  - Background: Findings in the observational retail food environment and obesity
      literature are inconsistent, potentially due to a lack of adjustment for residual
      confounding. Methods: Using data from the CARDIA study (n = 12 174 person
      observations; 6 examinations; 1985-2011) across four US cities (Birmingham, AL;
      Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Oakland, CA), we used instrumental-variables (IV)
      regression to obtain causal estimates of the longitudinal associations between
      the percentage of neighbourhood food stores or restaurants (per total food
      outlets within 1 km network distance of respondent residence) with body mass
      index (BMI), adjusting for individual-level socio-demographics, health
      behaviours, city, year, total food outlets and market-level prices. To determine
      the presence and extent of bias, we compared the magnitude and direction of
      results with ordinary least squares (OLS) and random effects (RE) regression,
      which do not control for residual confounding, and with fixed effects (FE)
      regression, which does not control for time-varying residual confounding.
      Results: Relative to neighbourhood supermarkets (which tend to be larger and have
      healthier options than grocery stores), a higher percentage of grocery stores
      [mean = 53.4%; standard deviation (SD) = 31.8%] was positively associated with
      BMI [beta = 0.05; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.01, 0.10] using IV regression.
      However, associations were negligible or null using OLS (beta = -0.001; 95% CI = 
      0.01, 0.01), RE (beta = -0.003; 95% CI = -0.01, 0.0001) and FE (beta = -0.003;
      95% CI = -0.01, 0.0002) regression. Neighbourhood convenience stores and fast
      food restaurants were not associated with BMI in any model. Conclusions:
      Longitudinal associations between neighbourhood food outlets and BMI were greater
      in magnitude using a causal model, suggesting that weak findings in the
      literature may be due to residual confounding.

PMID- 28586465
TI  - ROS Induces Anthocyanin Production Via Late Biosynthetic Genes and Anthocyanin
      Deficiency Confers the Hypersensitivity to ROS-Generating Stresses in
      Arabidopsis.
AB  - Anthocyanins are known to have antioxidant activities. Their accumulation can be
      triggered by many chemical and environmental factors, including reactive oxygen
      species (ROS). However, the mechanism of ROS-induced anthocyanin accumulation and
      the role of anthocyanins in the response of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) to
      different stresses are largely unknown. Here, we study the cross-regulation
      between ROS and anthocyanin production. Ten Arabidopsis mutants covering the main
      anthocyanin regulatory and biosynthetic genes are systematically analyzed under
      ROS-generating stresses. We find that ROS triggers anthocyanin accumulation by up
      regulating the anthocyanin late biosynthetic and the corresponding regulatory
      genes. The anthocyanin-deficient mutants have more endogenous ROS and are more
      sensitive to ROS-generating stresses while having decreased antioxidant capacity.
      Supplementation with cyanidin makes them less susceptible to ROS, with increased
      anthocyanin and reduced ROS accumulation. In contrast, pap1-D, which
      overaccumulates anthocyanins, shows the opposite responses. Gene expression
      analysis reveals that photosynthetic capacity is more impaired in anthocyanin
      deficient mutants under high-light stress. Expression levels of ROS-scavenging
      enzyme genes are not correlated with the radical-scavenging activity in different
      mutants. We conclude that ROS are an important source signal to induce
      anthocyanin accumulation by up-regulating late biosynthetic and the corresponding
      regulatory genes and, as a feed-back regulation, anthocyanins modulate the ROS
      level and the sensitivity to ROS-generating stresses in maintaining
      photosynthetic capacity.

PMID- 28586466
TI  - Health and Economic Impact of a Tender-Based, Sex-Neutral Human Papillomavirus
      16/18 Vaccination Program in the Netherlands.
AB  - Background: Uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among girls in the Dutch
      immunization program has plateaued at around 60%. Vaccinating boys may be an
      appealing complementary strategy for the prevention of HPV-related diseases,
      especially since tender negotiations and reduced dosing schemes have driven down
      the cost of vaccination. Methods: We expanded a previously published Bayesian
      synthesis framework to account for all vaccine type-related cancers and herd
      immunity effects from vaccinating girls and boys. We evaluated the efficiency of
      vaccinating boys relative to increasing vaccine uptake among girls and assessed
      the cost-effectiveness of a sex-neutral program. Results: Vaccinating 40% of boys
      along with 60% of girls yielded the same gain in life-years (LYs) as increasing
      the uptake in girls from 60% to 80%. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
      (ICER) of vaccinating boys was ?9134/LY (95% credible interval [CrI], ?7323/LY
      ?11231/LY) under 3% discounting. The ceiling vaccination costs at which the ICER
      remained below the per capita gross domestic product threshold was ?240 (95% CrI,
      ?200-?280) per vaccinated boy. If girls' uptake increased to 90%, the ceiling
      costs decreased to ?70 (95% CrI, ?40-?100) per vaccinated boy. Conclusions:
      Vaccinating boys along with girls is only modestly less efficient than increasing
      uptake among girls and highly likely to be cost-effective under current vaccine
      costs and uptake in the Netherlands.

PMID- 28586468
TI  - National Study of Excellence and Innovation in Physical Therapist Education: Part
      2-A Call to Reform.
AB  - This perspective shares recommendations that draw from (1) the National Study of
      Excellence and Innovation in Physical Therapist Education research findings and a
      conceptual model of excellence in physical therapist education, (2) the Carnegie
      Foundation's Preparation for the Professions Program (PPP), and (3) research in
      the learning sciences. The 30 recommendations are linked to the dimensions
      described in the conceptual model for excellence in physical therapist education:
      Culture of Excellence, Praxis of Learning, and Organizational Structures and
      Resources. This perspective proposes a transformative call for reform framed
      across 3 core categories: (1) creating a culture of excellence, leadership, and
      partnership, (2) advancing the learning sciences and understanding and enacting
      the social contract, and (3) implementing organizational imperatives. Similar to
      the Carnegie studies, this perspective identifies action items (9) that should be
      initiated immediately in a strategic and systematic way by the major
      organizational stakeholders in physical therapist education. These
      recommendations and action items provide a transformative agenda for physical
      therapist education, and thus the profession, in meeting the changing needs of
      society through higher levels of excellence.

PMID- 28586467
TI  - Plastidial Folate Prevents Starch Biosynthesis Triggered by Sugar Influx into Non
      Photosynthetic Plastids of Arabidopsis.
AB  - Regulation of sucrose-starch interconversion in plants is important to maintain
      energy supplies necessary for viability and growth. Arabidopsis mutants were
      screened for aberrant responses to sucrose to identify candidates with a defect
      in the regulation of starch biosynthesis. One such mutant, fpgs1-4, accumulated
      substantial amounts of starch in non-photosynthetic cells. Dark-grown mutant
      seedlings exhibited shortened hypocotyls and accumulated starch in etioplasts
      when supplied with exogenous sucrose/glucose. Similar starch accumulation from
      exogenous sucrose was observed in mutant chloroplasts, when photosynthesis was
      prevented by organ culture in darkness. Molecular genetic analyses revealed that
      the mutant was defective in plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase, one of the
      enzymes engaged in folate biosynthesis. Active folate derivatives are important
      biomolecules that function as cofactors for a variety of enzymes. Exogenously
      supplied 5-formyl-tetrahydrofolate abrogated the mutant phenotypes, indicating
      that the fpgs1-4 mutant produced insufficient folate derivative levels. In
      addition, the antifolate agents methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil induced starch
      accumulation from exogenously supplied sucrose in dark-grown seedlings of wild
      type Arabidopsis. These results indicate that plastidial folate suppresses starch
      biosynthesis triggered by sugar influx into non-photosynthetic cells,
      demonstrating a hitherto unsuspected link between plastidial folate and starch
      metabolism.

PMID- 28586469
TI  - Dormancy-Associated MADS-Box (DAM) and the Abscisic Acid Pathway Regulate Pear
      Endodormancy Through a Feedback Mechanism.
AB  - In the pear 'Kosui' (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai), the dormancy-associated MADS-box
      (PpDAM1 = PpMADS13-1) gene has been reported to play an essential role in bud
      endodormancy. Here, we found that PpDAM1 up-regulated expression of 9-cis
      epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (PpNCED3), which is a rate-limiting gene for ABA
      biosynthesis. Transient assays with a dual luciferase reporter system (LUC assay)
      and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) showed that PpDAM1 activated
      PpNCED3 expression by binding to the CArG motif in the PpNCED3 promoter. PpNCED3
      expression was increased toward endodormancy release in lateral flower buds of
      'Kosui', which is consistent with the induced levels of ABA, its catabolism (ABA
      8'-hydroxylase) and signaling genes (type 2C protein phosphatase genes and SNF1
      related protein kinase 2 genes). In addition, we found that an ABA response
      element (ABRE)-binding transcription factor, PpAREB1, exhibiting high expression
      concomitant with endodormancy release, bound to three ABRE motifs in the promoter
      region of PpDAM1 and negatively regulated its activity. Taken together, our
      results suggested a feedback regulation between PpDAM1 and the ABA metabolism and
      signaling pathway during endodormancy of pear. This first evidence of an
      interaction between a DAM and ABA biosynthesis in vitro will provide further
      insights into bud endodormancy regulatory mechanisms of deciduous trees including
      pear.

PMID- 28586470
TI  - The IDA-LIKE peptides IDL6 and IDL7 are negative modulators of stress responses
      in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Small signalling peptides have emerged as important cell to cell messengers in
      plant development and stress responses. However, only a few of the predicted
      peptides have been functionally characterized. Here, we present functional
      characterization of two members of the IDA-LIKE (IDL) peptide family in
      Arabidopsis thaliana, IDL6 and IDL7. Localization studies suggest that the
      peptides require a signal peptide and C-terminal processing to be correctly
      transported out of the cell. Both IDL6 and IDL7 appear to be unstable transcripts
      under post-transcriptional regulation. Treatment of plants with synthetic IDL6
      and IDL7 peptides resulted in down-regulation of a broad range of stress
      responsive genes, including early stress-responsive transcripts, dominated by a
      large group of ZINC FINGER PROTEIN (ZFP) genes, WRKY genes, and genes encoding
      calcium-dependent proteins. IDL7 expression was rapidly induced by hydrogen
      peroxide, and idl7 and idl6 idl7 double mutants displayed reduced cell death upon
      exposure to extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Co-treatment of the
      bacterial elicitor flg22 with IDL7 peptide attenuated the rapid ROS burst induced
      by treatment with flg22 alone. Taken together, our results suggest that IDL7, and
      possibly IDL6, act as negative modulators of stress-induced ROS signalling in
      Arabidopsis.

PMID- 28586473
TI  - Exome Sequencing Identifies Two Variants of the Alkylglycerol Monooxygenase Gene
      as a Cause of Relapses in Visceral Leishmaniasis in Children, in Sudan.
AB  - Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar, KA) is the most severe form of
      leishmaniasis, characterized by fever, weight loss, hepatosplenomegaly, and
      lymphadenopathy. During an outbreak of KA in Babar El Fugara (Sudan), 5.7% of
      cured patients displayed relapses, with familial clustering in half the cases.
      Methods: We performed whole-exome sequencing on 10 relapsing individuals and 11
      controls from 5 nuclear families. Results: Rare homozygous and compound
      heterozygous nonsense (c.1213C > T, rs139309795, p.Arg405*) and missense (c.701A
      > G, rs143439626, p.Lys234Arg) mutations of the alkylglycerol monooxygenase
      (AGMO) gene were associated with KA relapse in 3 families. Sequencing in
      additional family members confirmed the segregation of these mutations with
      relapse and revealed an autosomal dominant mode of transmission. These mutations
      were detected heterozygous in 2 subjects among 100 unrelated individuals with KA
      who never relapsed after cure, suggesting incomplete penetrance of AGMO
      deficiency. AGMO is expressed in hematopoietic cells, and is strongly expressed
      in the liver. AGMO modulates PAF production by mouse macrophages, suggesting that
      it may act through the PAF/PAF receptor pathway previously shown to have anti
      Leishmania activity. Conclusions: This is the first demonstration that relapses
      after a first episode of KA are due to differences in human genetic
      susceptibility and not to modifications of parasite pathogenicity.

PMID- 28586472
TI  - Maternal consumption of artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy, and
      offspring growth through 7 years of age: a prospective cohort study.
AB  - Background: Artificial sweeteners are widely replacing caloric sweeteners. Data
      on long-term impact of artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption during
      pregnancy on offspring obesity risk are lacking. We prospectively investigated
      intake of ASBs and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) during pregnancy in relation
      to offspring growth through age 7 years among high-risk children born to women
      with gestational diabetes. Methods: In a prospective study of 918 mother
      singleton child dyads from the Danish National Birth Cohort, maternal dietary
      intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire during pregnancy. Offspring
      body mass index z-scores (BMIZ) and overweight/obesity status were derived using
      weight and length/height at birth, 5 and 12 months and 7 years. Linear regression
      and Poisson regression with robust standard errors were used, adjusting for major
      risk factors. Results: Approximately half of women reported consuming ASBs during
      pregnancy and 9% consumed daily. Compared to never consumption, daily ASB intake
      during pregnancy was positively associated with offspring large-for-gestational
      age [adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.57; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.35 at birth], BMIZ
      (adjusted beta 0.59; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.96) and overweight/obesity (aRR 1.93; 95%
      CI; 1.24, 3.01) at 7 years. Per-serving-per-day substitution of ASBs with water
      during pregnancy was related to a lower overweight/obesity risk at 7 years (aRR
      0.83; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.91), whereas SSB substitution with ASBs was not related to
      a lower risk (aRR 1.14; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.31). Conclusions: Our findings
      illustrated positive associations between intrauterine exposure to ASBs and birth
      size and risk of overweight/obesity at 7 years. Data with longer follow-up are
      warranted.

PMID- 28586474
TI  - Epidemiology in the age of sustainable development.

PMID- 28586476
TI  - Development and Validation of a Novel Adult Spinal Deformity Surgical
      Invasiveness Score: Analysis of 464 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A surgical invasiveness index (SII) has been validated in general
      spine procedures but not adult spinal deformity (ASD). OBJECTIVE: To assess the
      ability of the SII to determine the invasiveness of ASD surgery and to create and
      validate a novel ASD index incorporating deformity-specific factors, which could
      serve as a standardized metric to compare outcomes and risk stratification of
      different ASD procedures for a given deformity. METHODS: Four hundred sixty-four
      patients who underwent ASD surgery between 2009 and 2012 were identified in 2
      multicenter prospective registries. Multivariable models of estimated blood loss
      (EBL) and operative time were created using deformity-specific factors. Beta
      coefficients derived from these models were used to attribute points to each
      component. Scoring was iteratively refined to determine the R2 value of
      multivariate models of EBL and operative time using adult spinal deformity
      surgical (ASD-S) as an independent variable. Similarly, we determined weighting
      of postoperative changes in radiographical parameters, which were incorporated
      into another index (adult spinal deformity-surgical and radiographical [ASD-SR]).
      The ability of these models to predict surgical invasiveness was assessed in a
      validation cohort. RESULTS: Each index was a significant, independent predictor
      of EBL and operative time (P < .001). On multivariate analysis, ASD-S and ASD-SR
      explained more variability in EBL and operative time than did the SII (P < .001).
      The ASD-SR explained 21% of the variation in EBL and 10% of the variation in
      operative time, whereas the SII explained 17% and 3.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      The ASD-SR, which incorporates deformity-specific components, more accurately
      predicts the magnitude of ASD surgery than does the SII.

PMID- 28586471
TI  - Intranasal Oxytocin May Improve High-Level Social Cognition in Schizophrenia, But
      Not Social Cognition or Neurocognition in General: A Multilevel Bayesian Meta
      analysis.
AB  - While there is growing interest in the potential for intranasal oxytocin (IN-OT)
      to improve social cognition and neurocognition (ie, nonsocial cognition) in
      schizophrenia, the extant literature has been mixed. Here, we perform a Bayesian
      meta-analysis of the efficacy of IN-OT to improve areas of social and
      neurocognition in schizophrenia. A systematic search of original research
      publications identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of IN-OT as a
      treatment for social and neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia for inclusion.
      Standardized mean differences (SMD) and corresponding variances were used in
      multilevel Bayesian models to obtain meta-analytic effect-size estimates. Across
      a total of 12 studies (N = 273), IN-OT did not improve social cognition (SMD =
      0.07, 95% credible interval [CI] = [-0.06, 0.17]) or neurocognition (SMD = 0.12,
      95% CI = [-0.12, 0.34]). There was moderate between study heterogeneity for
      social cognition outcomes (taus= 0.12). Moderator analyses revealed that IN-OT
      had a significantly larger effect on high-level social cognition (ie, mentalizing
      and theory of mind) compared to low-level social cognition (ie, social cue
      perception) (b = 0.19, 95% CI = [0.05, 0.33]). When restricting our analysis to
      outcomes for high-level social cognition, there was a significant effect of IN-OT
      (SMD = 0.20, 95 % CI = [0.05, 0.33]) but the effect was not robust to sensitivity
      analyses. The present analysis indicates that IN-OT may have selective effects on
      high-level social cognition, which provides a more focused target for future
      studies of IN-OT.

PMID- 28586475
TI  - Aging in Activity Space: Results From Smartphone-Based GPS-Tracking of Urban
      Seniors.
AB  - Objectives: Prior research emphasizes the importance of the residential
      neighborhood context during later life but little attention has been afforded to
      other areas that older adults encounter as they move beyond their residential
      environments for daily activities and social interactions. This study examines
      the predominance of the residential context within older adults' everyday lives.
      Method: We provided 60 older adults in four New York City neighborhoods with
      iPhones, which captured Global Positioning Systems (GPS) locations at 5-min
      intervals over 1 week (n = 55,561) and 17 ecological momentary assessments (EMAs)
      over 4 days (n = 757) to assess real-time activities. Results: Older adults in
      our sample spent nearly 40% of their time outside of their residential tracts and
      they visited 28 other tracts, on average. Exercising, shopping, socializing, and
      social activities were especially likely to take place outside of residential
      tracts. Differences in residential and nonresidential poverty exposure vary
      across gender, race/ethnicity, education, car ownership, and residential areas.
      Discussion: Measuring activity space, rather than relying on residential tracts,
      allows examination of the social environments that are relevant for older adults'
      everyday lives. Variation in characteristics of activity spaces may be an
      underexplored source of differences in health and well-being during later life.

PMID- 28586477
TI  - Affinity purification with metabolomic and proteomic analysis unravels diverse
      roles of nucleoside diphosphate kinases.
AB  - Interactions between metabolites and proteins play an integral role in all
      cellular functions. Here we describe an affinity purification (AP) approach in
      combination with LC/MS-based metabolomics and proteomics that allows, to our
      knowledge for the first time, analysis of protein-metabolite and protein-protein
      interactions simultaneously in plant systems. More specifically, we examined
      protein and small-molecule partners of the three (of five) nucleoside diphosphate
      kinases present in the Arabidopsis genome (NDPK1-NDPK3). The bona fide role of
      NDPKs is the exchange of terminal phosphate groups between nucleoside
      diphosphates (NDPs) and triphosphates (NTPs). However, other functions have been
      reported, which probably depend on both the proteins and small molecules
      specifically interacting with the NDPK. Using our approach we identified 23, 17,
      and 8 novel protein partners of NDPK1, NDPK2, and NDPK3, respectively, with
      nucleotide-dependent proteins such as actin and adenosine kinase 2 being
      enriched. Particularly interesting, however, was the co-elution of glutathione S
      transferases (GSTs) and reduced glutathione (GSH) with the affinity-purified
      NDPK1 complexes. Following up on this finding, we could demonstrate that NDPK1
      undergoes glutathionylation, opening a new paradigm of NDPK regulation in plants.
      The described results extend our knowledge of NDPKs, the key enzymes regulating
      NDP/NTP homeostasis.

PMID- 28586478
TI  - Autoregulation of RBM10 and cross-regulation of RBM10/RBM5 via alternative
      splicing-coupled nonsense-mediated decay.
AB  - Mutations in the spliceosomal RNA binding protein RBM10 cause TARP syndrome and
      are frequently observed in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We have previously shown
      that RBM10 enhances exon skipping of its target genes, including its paralog
      RBM5. Here, we report that RBM10 negatively regulates its own mRNA and protein
      expression and that of RBM5 by promoting alternative splicing-coupled nonsense
      mediated mRNA decay (AS-NMD). Through computational analysis and experimental
      validation, we identified RBM10-promoted skipping of exon 6 or 12 in RBM10 and
      exon 6 or 16 in RBM5 as the underlying AS-NMD events. Importantly, we showed that
      LUAD-associated mutations affecting splice sites of RBM10 exons 6 or 12 abolished
      exon inclusion and correlated with reduced expression of RBM10 RNA. Together, our
      investigations have revealed novel molecular mechanisms underlying RBM10
      autoregulation and cross-regulation of RBM5, thereby providing insights
      concerning the functions of RBM10 under various physiological and pathological
      conditions. Our combined computational and experimental approach should be useful
      for elucidating the role of AS-NMD in auto- and cross-regulation by other
      splicing regulators.

PMID- 28586479
TI  - Advanced multi-loop algorithms for RNA secondary structure prediction reveal that
      the simplest model is best.
AB  - Algorithmic prediction of RNA secondary structure has been an area of active
      inquiry since the 1970s. Despite many innovations since then, our best techniques
      are not yet perfect. The workhorses of the RNA secondary structure prediction
      engine are recursions first described by Zuker and Stiegler in 1981. These have
      well understood caveats; a notable flaw is the ad-hoc treatment of multi-loops,
      also called helical-junctions, that persists today. While several advanced models
      for multi-loops have been proposed, it seems to have been assumed that
      incorporating them into the recursions would lead to intractability, and so no
      algorithms for these models exist. Some of these models include the classical
      model based on Jacobson-Stockmayer polymer theory, and another by Aalberts and
      Nadagopal that incorporates two-length-scale polymer physics. We have realized
      practical, tractable algorithms for each of these models. However, after
      implementing these algorithms, we found that no advanced model was better than
      the original, ad-hoc model used for multi-loops. While this is unexpected, it
      supports the praxis of the current model.

PMID- 28586481
TI  - Dietary fiber and digestive health in children.
AB  - Digestive health is an expanding area in nutrition research due to the interest
      in how food components such as fiber affect gastrointestinal tolerance, stool
      form, defecation frequency, transit time, and gut microbial composition and
      metabolic activity. In children, however, digestive health studies that intervene
      with dietary fiber are limited due to legal and ethical concerns. To better
      understand if fiber improves digestive health in children, a literature review
      was conducted to answer the following research question: What are the effect(s)
      of fiber-containing foods and/or supplements on digestive health outcomes in
      children? A search of the PubMed database identified a total of 12 studies that
      fit the inclusion criteria established for this review. Most of the evidence in
      children shows beneficial effects of partially hydrolyzed guar gum, glucomannan,
      and bran on digestive health outcomes; however, the existing evidence is not
      conclusive. Furthermore, limited data exists on the effect of whole-grain sources
      of dietary fiber, such as oats. Additional well-designed intervention trials are
      needed to determine whether outcomes of digestive health such as stool form,
      gastrointestinal tolerance, and stool frequency are improved by increasing the
      fiber content of children's diets with whole-grain sources.

PMID- 28586480
TI  - Lifetime Prevalence and Correlates of Schizophrenia-Spectrum, Affective, and
      Other Non-affective Psychotic Disorders in the Chinese Adult Population.
AB  - Lifetime prevalence of psychotic disorders varies widely across studies.
      Epidemiological surveys have rarely examined prevalences of specific psychotic
      disorders other than schizophrenia, and the majority used a single-phase design
      without employing clinical reappraisal interview for diagnostic verification. The
      current study investigated lifetime prevalence, correlates and service
      utilization of schizophrenia-spectrum, affective, and other non-affective
      psychotic disorders in a representative sample of community-dwelling Chinese
      adult population aged 16-75 years (N = 5719) based on a territory-wide,
      population-based household survey for mental disorders in Hong Kong. The survey
      adopted a 2-phase design comprising first-phase psychosis screening and second
      phase diagnostic verification incorporating clinical information from
      psychiatrist-administered semi-structured interview and medical record review to
      ascertain DSM-IV lifetime diagnosis for psychotic disorders. Data on
      sociodemographics, psychosocial characteristics and service utilization were
      collected. Our results showed that lifetime prevalence was 2.47% for psychotic
      disorder overall, 1.25% for schizophrenia, 0.15% for delusional disorder, 0.38%
      for psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, 0.31% for bipolar disorder with
      psychosis, and 0.33% for depressive disorder with psychosis. Schizophrenia
      spectrum disorder was associated with family history of psychosis, cigarette
      smoking and variables indicating socioeconomic disadvantage. Victimization
      experiences were significantly related to affective psychoses and other non
      affective psychoses. Around 80% of participants with any psychotic disorder
      sought some kind of professional help for mental health problems in the past
      year. Using comprehensive diagnostic assessment involving interview and record
      data, our results indicate that approximately 2.5% of Chinese adult population
      had lifetime psychotic disorder which represents a major public health concern.

PMID- 28586482
TI  - Determination of tRNA aminoacylation levels by high-throughput sequencing.
AB  - Transfer RNA (tRNA) decodes mRNA codons when aminoacylated (charged) with an
      amino acid at its 3' end. Charged tRNAs turn over rapidly in cells, and
      variations in charged tRNA fractions are known to be a useful parameter in
      cellular responses to stress. tRNA charging fractions can be measured for
      individual tRNA species using acid denaturing gels, or comparatively at the
      genome level using microarrays. These hybridization-based approaches cannot be
      used for high resolution analysis of mammalian tRNAs due to their large sequence
      diversity. Here we develop a high-throughput sequencing method that enables
      accurate determination of charged tRNA fractions at single-base resolution
      (Charged DM-tRNA-seq). Our method takes advantage of the recently developed DM
      tRNA-seq method, but includes additional chemical steps that specifically remove
      the 3'A residue in uncharged tRNA. Charging fraction is obtained by counting the
      fraction of A-ending reads versus A+C-ending reads for each tRNA species in the
      same sequencing reaction. In HEK293T cells, most cytosolic tRNAs are charged at
      >80% levels, whereas tRNASer and tRNAThr are charged at lower levels. These low
      charging levels were validated using acid denaturing gels. Our method should be
      widely applicable for investigations of tRNA charging as a parameter in
      biological regulation.

PMID- 28586485
TI  - Development of a Clinically Useful Algorithm for Tractography-Based Ventral
      Intermediate Nucleus Targeting.

PMID- 28586484
TI  - Can Electroencephalogram Detect Vasospasm Before We Do?

PMID- 28586483
TI  - Isolated Mitochondria Transfer Improves Neuronal Differentiation of Schizophrenia
      Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Rescues Deficits in a Rat Model of the
      Disorder.
AB  - Dysfunction of mitochondria, key players in various essential cell processes, has
      been repeatedly reported in schizophrenia (SZ). Recently, several studies have
      reported functional recovery and cellular viability following mitochondrial
      transplantation, mostly in ischemia experimental models. Here, we aimed to
      demonstrate beneficial effects of isolated active normal mitochondria (IAN-MIT)
      transfer in vitro and in vivo, using SZ-derived induced pluripotent stem cells
      (iPSCs) differentiating into glutamatergic neuron, as well as a rodent model of
      SZ. First, we show that IAN-MIT enter various cell types without manipulation.
      Next, we show that IAN-MIT transfer into SZ-derived lymphoblasts induces long
      lasting improvement in various mitochondrial functions including cellular oxygen
      consumption and mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta psi m). We also
      demonstrate improved differentiation of SZ-derived iPSCs into neurons, by
      increased expression of neuronal and glutamatergic markers beta3-tubulin,
      synapsin1, and Tbr1 and by an activation of the glutamate-glutamine cycle. In the
      animal model, we show that intra-prefrontal cortex injection of IAN-MIT in
      adolescent rats exposed prenatally to a viral mimic prevents mitochondrial Delta
      psi m and attentional deficit at adulthood. Our results provide evidence for a
      direct link between mitochondrial function and SZ-related deficits both in vitro
      and in vivo and suggest a therapeutic potential for IAN-MIT transfer in diseases
      with bioenergetic and neurodevelopmental abnormalities such as SZ.

PMID- 28586486
TI  - Fasudil Slows Development of Cavernous Malformations.

PMID- 28586487
TI  - Intraventricular Thrombolytics in Intraventricular Hemorrhage: Their Role is not
      so Clear.

PMID- 28586488
TI  - Use of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells as a Potential Therapeutic for
      Glioblastoma.

PMID- 28586489
TI  - BRCA1-Regulated RRM2 Expression Protects Glioblastoma Cells from Endogenous
      Replication Stress and Promotes Tumorigenicity.

PMID- 28586490
TI  - A Decline in Cognitive Decline: The Brain's Modifiable Fate.

PMID- 28586491
TI  - Intracortical Microstimulation of Human Somatosensory Cortex Reproduces Touch in
      Spinal Cord Injury Patient.

PMID- 28586492
TI  - Advances in Implanted Brain-Computer Interfaces Allow for Independent
      Communication in a Locked-In Patient.

PMID- 28586494
TI  - Global Brain Initiatives.

PMID- 28586493
TI  - A Randomized Clinical Trial of Conscious Sedation vs General Anesthesia on
      Outcomes in Patients Receiving Thrombectomy for Ischemic Stroke.

PMID- 28586496
TI  - Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) for Hyperopia: Optical Zone Diameter
      and Spherical Aberration Induction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate optical zone diameter efficacy and spherical aberration
      change in hyperopic small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). METHODS:
      Prospective study of 60 consecutive hyperopic SMILE procedures using the VisuMax
      femtosecond laser (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany) and matched LASIK
      procedures with the VisuMax and MEL 80 excimer (Carl Zeiss Meditec) lasers.
      Inclusion criteria were maximum attempted hyperopic meridian of between +1.00 and
      +7.00 diopters (D). For SMILE, the transition zone was 2 mm and the mean optical
      programmed zone was 6.37 mm (range: 6.3 to 6.7 mm). Two LASIK control groups (6.5
      and 7-mm optical zone) matched for spherical equivalent treated were generated.
      Both tangential and axial curvature difference maps were generated for each eye
      at 3 months. A fixed grid and set of concentric circles were superimposed on the
      difference map to measure the achieved optical zone diameter. RESULTS: Mean
      attempted spherical equivalent refraction was +5.58 +/- 0.95 D (range: +3.20 to
      +6.50 D) in the SMILE group. By tangential mapping, SMILE programmed at a mean
      optical zone of 6.37 mm achieved a diameter of 5.03 +/- 0.30 mm, similar to 7-mm
      LASIK (4.96 +/- 0.25 mm, P = 0.33) but larger than 6.5-mm LASIK (4.53 +/- 0.25
      mm, P < .001). By axial mapping, the achieved optical zone diameter was 6.75 +/-
      0.31 mm for 6.37-mm SMILE, larger than for both 6.5-mm (6.61 +/- 0.21 mm) and 7
      mm (6.92 +/- 0.14 mm) LASIK (P < .01). Spherical aberration changed on average by
      -0.45 +/- 0.22 MUm for 6.37-mm SMILE, similar to 7-mm LASIK (-0.50 +/- 0.21 MUm,
      P = .29) and less than for 6.5-mm LASIK (-0.69 +/- 0.22 MUm, P < .001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The mean achieved optical zone diameter of hyperopic SMILE was found
      to be larger than the mean achieved optical zone diameter of hyperopic LASIK.
      Consequently, spherical aberration induction was similar for 6.37-mm SMILE and 7
      mm LASIK. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):370-376.].

PMID- 28586495
TI  - Meta-analysis of the FDA Reports on Patient-Reported Outcomes Using the Three
      Latest Platforms for LASIK.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the impact of the three latest U.S. Food and Drug
      Administration (FDA)-approved lasers on patient-reported outcomes after LASIK.
      METHODS: In this meta-analysis of patient-reported FDA data, an aggregated total
      of 718 eyes undergoing LASIK using VISX iDesign (Abbott Medical Optics
      Manufacturing, Milpitas, CA), Alcon Contoura (Alcon Research, Ltd., Fort Worth,
      TX), and Nidek CATz (Nidek Co. Ltd., Gamagori, Japan) lasers were evaluated for
      overall changes in visual symptoms postoperatively. Statistical significance was
      calculated when appropriate to assess changes. A P value of less than .05 was
      considered statistically significant. RESULTS: At 12 months following LASIK,
      there was a decrease in the postoperative difficulty driving at night (29%) with
      respect to preoperative values. There was a significant postoperative reduction
      in prior moderate to severe symptoms for light sensitivity (9%), difficulty
      driving at night (22%), reading difficulty (8%), double vision (2%), glare (12%),
      and halos (6%) at 12 months following LASIK. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the FDA
      data shows that modern lasers have significantly improved patient-reported visual
      outcomes after LASIK. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):362-368.].

PMID- 28586497
TI  - A Three-Year Observation of Corneal Backscatter After Small Incision Lenticule
      Extraction (SMILE).
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate changes in corneal backscatter after small incision
      lenticule extraction (SMILE). METHODS: One eye was randomly selected from 34
      patients who underwent SMILE procedures. Corneal backscatter was analyzed using
      Scheimpflug technology before surgery and at postoperative 1 day, 1 week, 1
      month, 3, 6, and 12 months, and 3 years. Three different corneal depths (the
      anterior 120 um, the center, and the posterior 60 um) and three concentric radial
      zones (0 to 2, 2 to 6, and 6 to 10 mm) were analyzed. Another 40 eyes of 40
      patients who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK (FS-LASIK) were examined
      before surgery and at postoperative 1 day and 3 years as the control group.
      RESULTS: At postoperative day 1, a significant increase in corneal backscatter
      was detected in the SMILE group compared to preoperative values in the central 0
      to 6 mm zone of the anterior layer and the 0 to 2 mm zone of the central layer
      (all P < .01). This increase was higher than the increase in the FS-LASIK group
      in the central 0 to 6 mm zone of the anterior and central layers (all P < .01).
      No significant differences in corneal backscatter were detected between
      preoperative values and the 1-week, and 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up visits
      in the SMILE group (all P > .05). Moreover, a significant decrease in corneal
      backscatter was detected in the three zones of all three layers in the two groups
      at 3 years postoperatively compared to preoperative values (all P < .001) and no
      significant difference was found between the two groups (all P < .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Corneal backscatter peaks and declines to the baseline in the early
      period after SMILE and corneal transparency achieves an improvement within 3
      years postoperatively. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):377-382.].

PMID- 28586498
TI  - Increased Hair Cortisol Concentrations in Patients With Progressive Keratoconus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a biochemical
      correlate of chronic psychological stress, and its relationship to the
      progression of keratoconus. METHODS: Eighty-six participants were included in
      this prospective observational study (32 patients with progressive keratoconus,
      32 patients with stable keratoconus, and 22 healthy controls). Hair cortisol
      concentrations were determined from 3-cm hair strands collected near the scalp
      from patients and controls as an index of cumulative cortisol secretion during
      the 3-month period prior to hair sampling. In addition, self-reported chronic
      stress was assessed using the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic
      Stress screening scale. RESULTS: Patients with progressive keratoconus exhibited
      higher hair cortisol concentrations (mean value: 29.11 pg/mg; 95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 22.13 to 38.28) than patients with stable keratoconus (mean value:
      15.88 pg/mg; 95% CI: 12.25 to 20.65; P = .007) and healthy controls (mean value:
      16.98 pg/mg; 95% CI: 12.30 to 23.44; P = .049). There were no significant
      differences in hair cortisol concentrations between healthy controls and patients
      with stable keratoconus (P = .991). Group differences were not affected by
      relevant covariates (body mass index, age, or sex). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows
      that increased hair cortisol concentration seems to be associated with the
      progression of keratoconus. There are a variety of causes of increased hair
      cortisol concentration. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):383-388.].

PMID- 28586499
TI  - A New Extended Depth of Focus Intraocular Lens Based on Spherical Aberration.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a new extended depth of focus intraocular lens (IOL) design
      offering multifocality by the variation of spherical aberration in the central
      optical zone. METHODS: The new IOL (Mini WELL; SIFI, Catania, Italy) is an
      aspheric IOL with positive spherical aberration in the central 2-mm zone and
      negative spherical aberration in the pericentral 1-mm annulus, the amount of
      which was determined by specific optic calculation. The new IOL design was tested
      at the optical bench to investigate depth of focus and sensitivity to tilt,
      decentration, and angle Kappa. Visual acuity simulations were obtained from
      distance (4 m) to near (0.5 m). RESULTS: Modulation transfer function (MTF) for a
      3-mm pupil was 0.35 to 0.40 for distance vision and 0.25 to 0.30 for intermediate
      and near vision. MTF for a 4.5-mm pupil was 0.40 to 0.55 and 0.10 to 0.20,
      respectively. These values were not influenced by tilt up to +/-2.5 degrees , by
      decentration up to +/-0.5 mm, or by angle Kappa up to 9 degrees . Visual acuity
      simulations indicated good visual acuity up to 2.00 D of pseudoaccommodation.
      CONCLUSIONS: The new IOL with double spherical aberration in the central 3-mm
      zone offered good MTF over a wide dioptric interval, suggesting good visual
      acuity between 4 m and 50 cm. This extended depth of focus IOL with no
      diffractive rings is expected to produce lower unwanted optical phenomena than
      current multifocal IOLs. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):389-394.].

PMID- 28586500
TI  - Implantation of Implantable Collamer Lenses After Radial Keratotomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the predictability, efficacy, and safety of posterior chamber
      phakic implantable collamer lens (ICL) implantation after radial keratotomy.
      METHODS: In a retrospective non-comparative interventional case series, outcomes
      in 6 consecutive eyes of 4 patients with residual refraction after radial
      keratotomy were analyzed after the implantation of ICLs. All of the lenses were
      implanted to correct the residual refractive error, ranging from -12.00 to +3.50
      diopters (D) for sphere and from -0.75 to -3.75 D for cylinder. RESULTS: The mean
      uncorrected distance visual acuity after ICL implantation was 0.31 +/- 0.36
      logMAR and the corrected distance visual acuity was 0.12 +/- 0.10 logMAR. The
      mean efficacy index was 0.86. No eyes lost lines of visual acuity, two eyes did
      not change after surgery, two eyes gained one line, and two eyes gained two
      lines. The mean safety index was 1.17. No intraoperative complications were found
      and ICL explantation or repositioning was not required during the follow-up. No
      cases of cataract, pigment dispersion glaucoma, pupillary block, or other vision
      threatening complications were found. CONCLUSIONS: ICL implantation may be
      considered a reasonable surgical procedure for correcting residual refractive
      errors after radial keratotomy. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):395-398.].

PMID- 28586501
TI  - Biomechanical Characterization of Subclinical Keratoconus Without Topographic or
      Tomographic Abnormalities.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present a case series of patients with subclinical keratoconus with
      normal topometric (anterior curvature) and tomographic findings in one eye who
      showed abnormalities detected by Corvis ST (Oculus Optikgerate GmbH, Wetzlar,
      Germany) in vivo biomechanical assessment. METHODS: All patients had a complete
      ophthalmic examination, including the Corvis ST biomechanical measurements,
      optical tomography, and pachymetry with Pentacam (Oculus Optikgerate GmbH), and
      Placido-based topography with either the Nidek (OPD III Nidek, Gamagori, Japan)
      or CSO platform (Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici, Florence, Italy). Inclusion
      criteria were a clinical diagnosis of ectasia in one eye and normal topometric
      and tomographic findings in the fellow eye (subclinical keratoconus), including a
      Belin/Ambrosio Enhanced Ectasia total deviation index from the Pentacam with less
      than 1.6 standard deviations from normative values and a Corvis Biomechanical
      Index score of greater than 0.5 in both eyes. RESULTS: Tomographic and
      topographic analysis was normal in one eye and abnormal in the fellow eye in 12
      patients. The biomechanical results with the Corvis Biomechanical Index were
      shown to be abnormal in both eyes of all patients and aided the diagnosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Biomechanical analysis showed abnormalities, whereas tomography and
      topography were normal. Basing on these findings, the authors suggest the use of
      biomechanics as an additional diagnostic tool. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):399
      407.].

PMID- 28586502
TI  - Biomechanical Changes After LASIK Flap Creation Combined With Rapid Cross-Linking
      Measured With Brillouin Microscopy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the biomechanical changes occurring after LASIK flap
      creation and rapid corneal cross-linking (CXL) measured with Brillouin light
      microscopy. METHODS: Porcine eyes (n = 11) were evaluated by Brillouin light
      microscopy sequentially in the following order: virgin state, after LASIK flap
      creation, and after rapid CXL. Each eye served as its own control. Depth profile
      of the Brillouin frequency shift was computed to reveal the depth-dependent
      changes in corneal stiffness. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant
      reduction of Brillouin shift (reduced corneal stiffness) after LASIK flap
      creation compared to virgin corneas across total corneal thickness (-0.035 GHz, P
      = .0195) and within the anterior stromal region (-0.104 GHz, P = .0039). Changes
      in the central (-0.029 GHz, P = .0391) and posterior (-0.005 GHz, P = .99)
      stromal regions were not significant. There was a small increase in Brillouin
      shift after rapid cross-linking that was not statistically or clinically
      significant across total corneal thickness (0.006 GHz, P = .4688 for any specific
      stromal region; 0.002 to 0.009 GHz, P > .46 for all). CONCLUSIONS: LASIK flap
      creation significantly reduced Brillouin shift in the anterior third of the
      stroma in porcine eyes. Rapid corneal cross-linking had no significant effect on
      Brillouin shift after LASIK flap creation in porcine eyes. With further
      validation, non-contact, non-perturbative Brillouin microscopy could become a
      useful monitoring tool to evaluate the biomechanical impact of corneal refractive
      procedures and corneal cross-linking protocols. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):408
      414.].

PMID- 28586503
TI  - Questionnaires for Measuring Refractive Surgery Outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the questionnaires used to assess refractive surgery
      outcomes, assess the available questionnaires in regard to their psychometric
      properties, validity, and reliability, and evaluate the performance of the
      available questionnaires in measuring refractive surgery outcomes. METHODS: An
      extensive literature search was done on PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL,
      Cochrane, and Web of Science databases to identify articles that described or
      used at least one questionnaire to assess refractive surgery outcomes. The
      information on content quality, validity, reliability, responsiveness, and
      psychometric properties was extracted and analyzed based on an extensive set of
      quality criteria. RESULTS: Eighty-one articles describing 27 questionnaires (12
      refractive error-specific, including 4 refractive surgery-specific, 7 vision-but
      non-refractive, and 8 generic) were included in the review. Most articles (56,
      69.1%) described refractive error-specific questionnaires. The Quality of Life
      Impact of Refractive Correction (QIRC), the Quality of Vision (QoV), and the Near
      Activity Visual Questionnaire (NAVQ) were originally constructed using Rasch
      analysis; others were developed using the Classical Test Theory. The National Eye
      Institute Refractive Quality of Life questionnaire was the most frequently used
      questionnaire, but it does not provide a valid measurement. The QoV, QIRC, and
      NAVQ are the three best existing questionnaires to assess visual symptoms,
      quality of life, and activity limitations, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This review
      identified three superior quality questionnaires for measuring different aspects
      of quality of life in refractive surgery. Clinicians and researchers should
      choose a questionnaire based on the concept being measured with superior
      psychometric properties. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):416-424.].

PMID- 28586504
TI  - Removal of Persistent Cellular Deposits After Foldable Iris-Fixated Phakic IOL
      Implantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of severe recurrent cellular deposits after Artiflex
      intraocular lens (Ophtec B. V., Groningen, The Netherlands) implantation.
      METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 25-year-old woman underwent uneventful Artiflex
      intraocular lens implantation in both eyes. After 3 months, severe cellular
      deposits were seen in the posterior surface of the lens in one eye. Topical
      steroids were administered, with temporary improvement. Four months later, the
      deposits recurred and did not respond to topical steroids. Corrected distance
      visual acuity lost five lines. Treatment by polishing the posterior surface of
      the lens 10 months after the initial implantation was performed and resulted in
      complete visual recovery. No recurrence of the deposits were observed after 2
      years of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent cellular deposits after Artiflex
      intraocular lens implantation may cause severe visual loss and may need surgical
      intervention. Polishing the posterior surface of the lens to mechanically remove
      the deposits was an effective long-term solution. [J Refract Surg. 2017;33(6):426
      428.].

PMID- 28586505
TI  - Cellular stress response mechanisms as therapeutic targets of ginsenosides.
AB  - Ginseng, one of the most widely used traditional herbal medicines and dietary
      supplements, has historically been recognized as a tonic herb and adaptogen that
      can enhance the body's tolerance to various adversities. Ginsenosides are a
      diverse group of steroidal saponins that comprise the major secondary metabolites
      of ginseng and are responsible for its multiple pharmacological effects. Emerging
      evidence suggests that hormetic phytochemicals produced by environmentally
      stressed plants can activate the moderate cellular stress response mechanisms at
      a subtoxic level in humans, which may enhance tolerance against severe
      dysfunction or disease. In this review, we initially describe the role of
      ginsenosides in the chemical defense of plants from the genus Panax suffering
      from biotic and abiotic stress. Next, we summarize the diverse evolutionarily
      conserved cellular stress response pathways regulated by ginsenosides and the
      subsequent stress tolerance against various dysfunctions or diseases. Finally,
      the structure-activity relationship involved in the effect of ginsenosides is
      also analyzed. The evidence presented in this review implicates that ginseng as
      "the King of all herbs" could be regarded as a well-characterized example of the
      critical role of cellular stress response mechanisms in understanding the health
      benefits provided by herbal medicines from an evolutionary and ecological
      perspective.

PMID- 28586506
TI  - Second-Trimester Uterine Model for Teaching Ultrasound-Guided Obstetric
      Procedures.
AB  - The declining number of ultrasound-guided obstetric procedures in clinical
      practice mandates a shift toward simulation-based teaching. Current uterine
      simulation aids are animal tissue-sourced or expensive, and improvement is
      needed. We describe a low-cost reusable uterine model with "fetus," cord and
      skin, constructed from synthetic gel and silicone rubber. Ultrasound appearance
      and tactile feedback approximate clinical use, and all parts of the model are
      portable, durable, and shelf-stable. Those made of ballistics gel can be recycled
      numerous times without noticeable effect. This appears to be ideal for proctored
      learning and independent practice within an ultrasound procedural curriculum.

PMID- 28586507
TI  - Patterns of glucose-lowering therapies and neonatal outcomes in the treatment of
      gestational diabetes in Canada, 2009-2014.
AB  - AIM: To examine patterns of use of different glycaemic control agents for
      treating gestational diabetes mellitus. METHODS: This was a large, retrospective,
      population-based cohort study of pregnant women with gestational diabetes from
      Alberta, Canada. We linked data from the Alberta Vital Statistics - Birth
      database with administrative claims data. Alberta Vital Statistics - Birth data
      were used to identify births that occurred between 1 January 2009 and 31 December
      2014. We used International Classification of Diseases version 9/10 codes to
      identify women with gestational diabetes, and we excluded women with pre-existing
      diabetes. RESULTS: Our cohort consisted of 16 857 women with gestational
      diabetes, with a total of 18 761 birth events between 2009 and 2014. Over the
      study period, the proportion of women with gestational diabetes who were treated
      with glycaemic control therapies increased from 25.0% to 31.4% (P<0.0001). The
      number of pregnancies treated with insulin only increased (from 23.6% to 28.3%;
      P<0.0001), as did the number treated with metformin, +/- insulin (from 1.4% to
      3.2%; P<0.0001). Rates of large-for-gestational-age infants were significantly
      higher among pregnancies treated with insulin only (17%) or metformin (16.5%)
      than among pregnancies that did not receive any pharmacological treatment
      (12.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show increasing use of insulin and metformin
      in women with gestational diabetes. Rates of large-for-gestational-age infants
      were similar among pregnant women receiving either pharmacological treatment, and
      higher than among pregnant women who did not receive any pharmacological
      treatment. Future research should explore the long-term outcomes and safety of
      metformin as an alternative for treating gestational diabetes.

PMID- 28586509
TI  - Association between neoadjuvant chemoradiation and survival for patients with
      locally advanced rectal cancer.
AB  - AIM: To examine the overall survival differences for the following neoadjuvant
      therapy modalities - no therapy, chemotherapy alone, radiation alone and
      chemoradiation - in a large cohort of patients with locally advanced rectal
      cancer. METHOD: Adults with clinical Stage II and III rectal adenocarcinoma were
      selected from the National Cancer Database and grouped by type of neoadjuvant
      therapy received: no therapy, chemotherapy only, radiotherapy only or
      chemoradiation. Multivariable regression methods were used to compare adjusted
      differences in perioperative outcomes and overall survival. RESULTS: Among 32 978
      patients included, 9714 (29.5%) received no neoadjuvant therapy, 890 (2.7%)
      chemotherapy only, 1170 (3.5%) radiotherapy only and 21 204 (64.3%)
      chemoradiation. Compared with no therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy alone were
      not associated with any adjusted differences in surgical margin positivity,
      permanent colostomy rate or overall survival (all P > 0.05). With adjustment,
      neoadjuvant chemoradiation vs no therapy was associated with a lower likelihood
      of surgical margin positivity (OR 0.74, P < 0.001), decreased rate of permanent
      colostomy (OR 0.77, P < 0.001) and overall survival [hazard ratio (HR) 0.79, P <
      0.001]. When compared with chemotherapy or radiotherapy alone, chemoradiation
      remained associated with improved overall survival (vs chemotherapy alone HR
      0.83, P = 0.04; vs radiotherapy alone HR 0.83, P < 0.019). CONCLUSION:
      Neoadjuvant chemoradiation, not chemotherapy or radiotherapy alone, is important
      for sphincter preservation, R0 resection and survival for patients with locally
      advanced rectal cancer. Despite this finding, one-third of patients in the United
      States with locally advanced rectal cancer fail to receive stage-appropriate
      chemoradiation.

PMID- 28586510
TI  - A 10-second sprint does not blunt hormonal counter-regulation to subsequent
      hypoglycaemia.
AB  - AIM: To investigate whether a 10-second (s) sprint impairs the counter-regulatory
      response to subsequent hypoglycaemia. METHODS: Nine people (five male, four
      female) with Type 1 diabetes, aged 21.1 +/- 4.5 years, performed a 10-s rest or a
      10-s maximum-effort sprint in random order on different days, while subjected to
      an euinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp. This was followed by a hyperinsulinaemic
      hypoglycaemic glucose clamp 2.5 h later to induce hypoglycaemia for 40 min. At
      timed intervals, the counter-regulatory hormonal responses to hypoglycaemia were
      measured. Blood pressure, heart rate and hypoglycaemic symptoms were also
      assessed. RESULTS: During the hypoglycaemic clamp, epinephrine, norepinephrine,
      growth hormone and cortisol levels increased significantly from baseline, and
      their responses were similar after both rest and sprint conditions. In
      particular, plasma epinephrine rose eightfold, from 197 +/- 103 pmol/l to 1582 +/
      1118 pmol/l after the rest condition, and from 219 +/- 119 pmol/l to 1900 +/-
      898 pmol/l after the sprint condition. CONCLUSION: A 10-s sprint is unlikely to
      blunt the subsequent hormonal counter-regulation to hypoglycaemia in individuals
      with Type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 28586508
TI  - Overexpressing wild-type gamma2 subunits rescued the seizure phenotype in
      Gabrg2+/Q390X Dravet syndrome mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The mutant gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA ) receptor
      gamma2(Q390X) subunit (Q351X in the mature peptide) has been associated with the
      epileptic encephalopathy, Dravet syndrome, and the epilepsy syndrome genetic
      epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+). The mutation generates a premature
      stop codon that results in translation of a stable truncated and misfolded gamma2
      subunit that accumulates in neurons, forms intracellular aggregates, disrupts
      incorporation of gamma2 subunits into GABAA receptors, and affects trafficking of
      partnering alpha and beta subunits. Heterozygous Gabrg2+/Q390X knock-in (KI) mice
      had reduced cortical inhibition, spike wave discharges on electroencephalography
      (EEG), a lower seizure threshold to the convulsant drug pentylenetetrazol (PTZ),
      and spontaneous generalized tonic-clonic seizures. In this proof-of-principal
      study, we attempted to rescue these deficits in KI mice using a gamma2 subunit
      gene (GABRG2) replacement therapy. METHODS: We introduced the GABRG2 allele by
      crossing Gabrg2+/Q390X KI mice with bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)
      transgenic mice overexpressing HA (hemagglutinin)-tagged human gamma2HA subunits,
      and compared GABAA receptor subunit expression by Western blot and
      immunohistochemical staining, seizure threshold by monitoring mouse behavior
      after PTZ-injection, and thalamocortical inhibition and network oscillation by
      slice recording. RESULTS: Compared to KI mice, adult mice carrying both mutant
      allele and transgene had increased wild-type gamma2 and partnering alpha1 and
      beta2/3 subunits, increased miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current (mIPSC)
      amplitudes recorded from layer VI cortical neurons, reduced thalamocortical
      network oscillations, and higher PTZ seizure threshold. SIGNIFICANCE: Based on
      these results we suggest that seizures in a genetic epilepsy syndrome caused by
      epilepsy mutant gamma2(Q390X) subunits with dominant negative effects could be
      rescued potentially by overexpression of wild-type gamma2 subunits.

PMID- 28586511
TI  - Factors affecting dance exercise performance in students at a special needs
      school.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Japan, dance exercise has been introduced as a compulsory element
      of health and physical education, but there is a considerable discrepancy in the
      levels of performance among students with intellectual disability (ID) at special
      needs schools. The aim of this study was therefore to identify the factors
      affecting the performance of dance exercise in students with ID. METHODS: A 4
      month dance exercise program was implemented for junior high school students at a
      special needs school, and the performance of 32 students at 22 sessions was
      assessed quantitatively according to calorie use during exercise and performance
      proficiency score. The measures were compared according to gender, age, body mass
      index, diagnosis, and development quotient (DQ) score. RESULTS: Performance in
      many students improved with repetition and reached the highest attainment level
      at around the third month. Male gender and older age had a significant positive
      impact on calorie use, whereas diagnosis of Down syndrome and higher DQ score had
      a significant positive impact on proficiency score. Four students with poor
      performance were all female students with autism. CONCLUSION: This study provides
      some possible explanations for differences in the levels of dance performance
      among students with ID.

PMID- 28586512
TI  - Ellagic acid and rosmarinic acid attenuate doxorubicin-induced testicular injury
      in rats.
AB  - The anticancer drug doxorubicin causes testicular toxicity as an undesirable
      effect. The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible protection
      of ellagic acid and rosmarinic acid during doxorubicin administration. For this
      purpose eight groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were used (n = 10), one group
      received vehicle served as control, and other groups received 5 mg/kg doxorubicin
      twice a week for 2 weeks for a cumulative dose of 20 mg/kg, ellagic acid (10
      mg/kg/day, 14 consecutive days p.o.), rosmarinic acid (75 mg/kg/day, 14
      consecutive days p.o.), ellagic acid and rosmarinic acid. The latter three
      regimens were given to control and doxorubicin-received rats. Doxorubicin
      decreased testicular relative weight, sperm count, motility, serum testosterone,
      testicular glycogen, and sialic acid with increased incidence of
      histopathological changes, oxidative stress, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, as well
      as cholinesterase activity. Conversely, ellagic and rosmarinic acid treatment
      ameliorated such damage, thus showing the possibility to use as an adjuvant
      during doxorubicin treatment.

PMID- 28586513
TI  - The association between the physical environment and the well-being of older
      people in residential care facilities: A multilevel analysis.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the associations between the quality of the physical
      environment and the psychological and social well-being of older people living in
      residential care facilities. BACKGROUND: Many older people in care facilities
      have cognitive and physical frailties and are at risk of experiencing low levels
      of well-being. High-quality physical environments can support older people as
      frailty increases and promote their well-being. Although the importance of the
      physical environment for residents' well-being is recognized, more research is
      needed. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey of 20 care facilities from each of which
      10 residents were sampled. As the individual resident data were nested in the
      facilities, a multilevel analysis was conducted. METHODS: Data were collected
      during 2013 and 2014. The care facilities were purposely sampled to ensure a high
      level of variation in their physical characteristics. Residents' demographic and
      health data were collected via medical records and interviews. Residents' well
      being and perceived quality of care were assessed via questionnaires and
      interviews. Environmental quality was assessed with a structured observational
      instrument. RESULTS: Multilevel analysis indicated that cognitive support in the
      physical environment was associated with residents' social well-being, after
      controlling for independence and perceived care quality. However, no significant
      association was found between the physical environment and residents'
      psychological well-being. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates the role of the
      physical environment for enhancing the social well-being of frail older people.
      Professionals and practitioners involved in the design of care facilities have a
      responsibility to ensure that such facilities meet high-quality specifications.

PMID- 28586515
TI  - Spotlights on our sister journals: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 25/2017.

PMID- 28586514
TI  - >Corrigendum: Type III Polyketide Synthases: Functional Classification and
      Phylogenomics.

PMID- 28586516
TI  - Corrigendum: Acid-Mediated Formation of Radicals or Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation
      from Criegee Adducts.

PMID- 28586517
TI  - Extracellular vesicles in the tumor microenvironment: Therapeutic resistance,
      clinical biomarkers, and targeting strategies.
AB  - Numerous studies have proved that cell-nonautonomous regulation of neoplastic
      cells is a distinctive and essential characteristic of tumorigenesis. Two way
      communications between the tumor and the stroma, or within the tumor
      significantly influence disease progression and modify treatment responses. In
      the tumor microenvironment (TME), malignant cells utilize paracrine signaling
      initiated by adjacent stromal cells to acquire resistance against multiple types
      of anticancer therapies, wherein extracellular vesicles (EVs) substantially
      promote such events. EVs are nanoscaled particles enclosed by phospholipid
      bilayers, and can mediate intercellular communications between cancerous cells
      and the adjacent microenvironment to accelerate pathological proceeding. Here we
      review the most recent studies of EV biology and focus on key cell lineages of
      the TME and their EV cargoes that are biologically active and responsible for
      cancer resistance, including proteins, RNAs, and other potentially essential
      components. Since EVs are emerging as novel but critical elements in establishing
      and maintaining hallmarks of human cancer, timely and insightful understanding of
      their molecular properties and functional mechanisms would pave the road for
      clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and effective targeting in the global landscape of
      precision medicine. Further, we address the potential of EVs as promising
      biomarkers in cancer clinics and summarize the technical improvements in EV
      preparation, analysis, and imaging. We highlight the practical issues that should
      be exercised with caution to guide the development of targeting agents and
      therapeutic methodologies to minimize cancer resistance driven by EVs, thereby
      allowing to effectively control the early steps of disease exacerbation.

PMID- 28586519
TI  - [2.2]Paracyclophane-Bis(triazole) Systems: Synthesis and Photochemical Behavior.
AB  - Mono-, pseudo-gem, and pseudo-para ethynylcyclophanes and bis(azides) have been
      employed as addition partners in CuAAC reactions to design and build complex
      extended molecular scaffolds. The reactivity of the resulting triazoles was
      investigated under photochemical conditions. A variety of newly substituted
      [2.2]paracyclophanes were identified; deazotization of pseudo-gem and pseudo-para
      adducts provided indolophane derivatives. An intramolecular stabilization effect
      was observed in the case of pseudo-gem derivatives. A photochemical rearrangement
      from a pseudo-para adduct to a pseudo-ortho product was identified.

PMID- 28586518
TI  - Combination therapy with multiple oral hypoglycaemic agents together with short
      term basal insulin in new-onset Type 2 diabetes mellitus with marked
      hyperglycaemia.

PMID- 28586520
TI  - Registered Nurses' and nurse assistants' responses to older persons' expressions
      of emotional needs in home care.
AB  - AIM: This study aims to explore nurse assistants' and Registered Nurses'
      responses to older persons' expressions of emotional needs during home care
      visits. BACKGROUND: Communication is a central aspect of care. Older persons
      might express different emotions and needs during home care visits and such
      expressions can be challenging to respond to. Little is known about communication
      in home care or nursing staff responses to older persons' expressed emotional
      needs. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional design on nursing staff responses to
      older persons' negative emotions in home care. METHODS: Collected data consisted
      of audio recordings of home care visits between older persons and nursing staff.
      Data were collected between August 2014-November 2015. The nursing staff
      responses to older persons' negative emotions in the communication were analysed
      with the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES). RESULTS:
      The nursing staff most often give non-explicit responses, providing space for
      further disclosure of older persons' expressed negative emotions. Such responses
      were more frequent if the nursing staff had elicited the older persons'
      expressions of a negative emotion than if such expressions were elicited by the
      older persons themselves. Most frequent types of responses were backchannel,
      active invitation or information advice. CONCLUSION: The nursing staff responses
      were mainly non-explicit responses providing space for older persons to tell more
      about their experiences. Such responses can be discussed in terms of person
      centred communication and is important for the comfort of emotional concerns.

PMID- 28586521
TI  - An Auto-Inductive Cascade for the Optical Sensing of Thiols in Aqueous Media:
      Application in the Detection of a VX Nerve Agent Mimic.
AB  - A new auto-inductive protocol employs a Meldrum's-acid-based conjugate acceptor
      (1) as a latent source of thiol for signal amplification, as well as optical
      detection of thiols. The auto-induction is initiated by a thiol-disulfide
      exchange that leads to the generation of beta-mercaptoethanol, which in turn
      decouples the conjugate acceptor to release more thiols, resulting in a self
      propagating cycle that continues until all the conjugate acceptor is consumed.
      Using 1 in a two-step integrated protocol yields a rapid, sensitive, and precise
      diagnostic assay for the ultratrace quantitation of a thiophosphate nerve agent
      surrogate.

PMID- 28586523
TI  - Increased Arctic sea ice drift alters adult female polar bear movements and
      energetics.
AB  - Recent reductions in thickness and extent have increased drift rates of Arctic
      sea ice. Increased ice drift could significantly affect the movements and the
      energy balance of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) which forage, nearly exclusively,
      on this substrate. We used radio-tracking and ice drift data to quantify the
      influence of increased drift on bear movements, and we modeled the consequences
      for energy demands of adult females in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas during two
      periods with different sea ice characteristics. Westward and northward drift of
      the sea ice used by polar bears in both regions increased between 1987-1998 and
      1999-2013. To remain within their home ranges, polar bears responded to the
      higher westward ice drift with greater eastward movements, while their movements
      north in the spring and south in fall were frequently aided by ice motion. To
      compensate for more rapid westward ice drift in recent years, polar bears covered
      greater daily distances either by increasing their time spent active (7.6%-9.6%)
      or by increasing their travel speed (8.5%-8.9%). This increased their calculated
      annual energy expenditure by 1.8%-3.6% (depending on region and reproductive
      status), a cost that could be met by capturing an additional 1-3 seals/year.
      Polar bears selected similar habitats in both periods, indicating that faster
      drift did not alter habitat preferences. Compounding reduced foraging
      opportunities that result from habitat loss; changes in ice drift, and associated
      activity increases, likely exacerbate the physiological stress experienced by
      polar bears in a warming Arctic.

PMID- 28586522
TI  - Is sweat chloride predictive of severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease assessed
      by chest computed tomography?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung disease is characterized by a marked
      heterogeneity. Sweat chloride-level is a functional marker of the CF
      Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) protein and could be an important predictor of
      later disease severity. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis children from the
      Rotterdam CF clinic with available sweat chloride level at diagnosis and at least
      one routine spirometry-controlled volumetric chest CT scan in follow-up were
      included. CT scans were scored using the CF-CT scoring system (% of maximum).
      Associations between sweat chloride-levels and CF-CT scores were calculated using
      linear regression models, adjusting for age at sweat test and age at follow-up.
      Because structural lung damage develops over the course of many years, effect
      modification by the age at follow-up CT-scan was tested for by age
      stratification. RESULTS: In 59 children (30 male) sweat chloride was measured at
      diagnosis (median age 0.5 years, range 0-13) and later chest CT performed (median
      age 14 years, range 6-18). Sweat chloride was associated with significantly
      higher CT-CT total score, bronchiectasis score, and mucus plugging score.
      Stratification for age at follow-up in tertiles showed this association remained
      only in the oldest age group (range 15-18 years). In that subgroup associations
      were found with all but one of the CF-CT subscores, as well as with all tested
      lung functions parameters. CONCLUSION: Sweat chloride-level is a significant
      predictor of CF lung disease severity as determined by chest CT and lung
      function. This association could only be demonstrated in children with follow-up
      to age 15 years and above.

PMID- 28586524
TI  - Experiential Self-Focus in Social Anxiety Disorder: Is it Beneficial?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Self-focused processing is a significant maintaining factor in
      cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD), but it may also be analytic
      (detached, evaluative, maladaptive) or experiential (concrete, nonevaluative,
      adaptive). The current study aimed to investigate the effect of self-focus modes
      in a sample meeting criteria for SAD as previous studies have yielded mixed
      results. METHOD: Individuals meeting criteria for SAD and nonanxious controls (N
      = 80, 77.5% female; mean age = 19.46) were randomly allocated to complete a task
      inducing analytic or experiential self-focused processing, followed by a social
      interaction task, including measurement of affective and cognitive variables.
      RESULTS: Controls demonstrated the expected benefits of experiential compared to
      analytic self-focus on social anxiety, negative affect, and self-beliefs.
      Unexpectedly, SAD participants reported no difference between self-focus
      conditions. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that experiential processing may have no
      benefit for SAD individuals proximal to a social threat. Implications of these
      findings are discussed.

PMID- 28586525
TI  - Novel therapeutic clues in thyroid carcinomas: The role of targeting cancer stem
      cells.
AB  - Thyroid carcinomas (TCs), the most common endocrine tumors, represent the eighth
      most common cancer diagnosed worldwide in both women and men. To treat these
      malignancies, several drugs are now available and a number of novel ones have
      been enrolling in clinical trials, addressing both oncogenic pathways in cancer
      cells and angiogenic pathways in tumor endothelial cells. However, their use is
      not devoid of serious toxicities and their efficacy is limited, being dependent
      on carcinoma typology and the occurrence of acquired resistance. Accordingly, it
      is time to recast therapeutic strategies against these types of tumors to get to
      newer and fully effective drugs. In this perspective, latest findings demonstrate
      that cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a challenging target to strike. They
      possess core traits of self-renewal and differentiation, being resistant to the
      effects of chemotherapy and radiation and playing a key role in mediating
      metastasis. Therefore, basic molecular elements sustaining both development of
      thyroid cancer stem cells and their residence in the stemness condition represent
      a set of innovative and still unexplored targets to address. In this review, a
      thorough literature survey has been accomplished, to take stock of mechanisms
      governing thyroid carcinomas and to point out both their currently available
      treatments and the novel forthcoming ones. Pubmed, Scifinder and
      ClinicalTrials.gov were exploited as research applications and registry database,
      respectively. Original articles, reviews, and editorials published within the
      last ten years, as well as open clinical investigations in the field, were
      analyzed to suggest new exciting therapeutic opportunities for people affected by
      TCs.

PMID- 28586526
TI  - Weaning attempts, cough strength and albumin are independent risk factors of
      reintubation in medical patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reintubation is associated with increased hospital mortality. It is
      necessary to identify risk factors associated with reintubation. METHODS: A
      prospective observational study was performed in a respiratory intensive care
      unit. Medical patients who successfully completed a spontaneous breathing trial
      (SBT) were enrolled. Before extubation, age, gender, vital signs, acute
      physiology and chronic health evaluation II score, SBT attempts, cough peak flow,
      arterial blood gas tests and albumin were recorded. RESULTS: We enrolled 139
      patients. Of these, 22 (15.8%) patients experienced reintubation within 72 hours
      after extubation. SBT attempts (odds ratio [OR] = 1.446, 95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 1.095-1.910), cough peak flow (OR = 0.975, 95% CI: 0.956-0.994) and albumin
      (OR = 0.847, 95% CI: 0.752-0.954) were independent risk factors for reintubation.
      In patients with 1, 2 and >=3 SBT attempts, reintubation rates were 7.3%, 21.1%
      and 45.8%, respectively (P < .01). In patients with cough peak flow <=60, 61-89
      and >=90 L/min, reintubation rates were 29.4%, 16.7% and 1.9%, respectively (P <
      .01). In patients with albumin <=25, 26-30 and >=31 g/L, reintubation rates were
      32.4%, 11.1% and 9.8%, respectively (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple SBT
      attempts, weak cough and low albumin were associated with increased reintubation
      in medical patients. This study provides information for clinical practitioners
      in the consideration of patient extubation.

PMID- 28586527
TI  - Generation of the membrane potential and its impact on the motility, ATP
      production and growth in Campylobacter jejuni.
AB  - The generation of a membrane potential (Deltapsi), the major constituent of the
      proton motive force (pmf), is crucial for ATP synthesis, transport of nutrients
      and flagellar rotation. Campylobacter jejuni harbors a branched electron
      transport chain, enabling respiration with different electron donors and
      acceptors. Here, we demonstrate that a relatively high Deltapsi is only generated
      in the presence of either formate as electron donor or oxygen as electron
      acceptor, in combination with an acceptor/donor respectively. We show the
      necessity of the pmf for motility and growth of C. jejuni. ATP generation is not
      only accomplished by oxidative phosphorylation via the pmf, but also by substrate
      level phosphorylation via the enzyme AckA. In response to a low oxygen tension,
      C. jejuni increases the transcription and activity of the donor complexes formate
      dehydrogenase (FdhABC) and hydrogenase (HydABCD) as well as the transcription of
      the alternative respiratory acceptor complexes. Our findings suggest that in the
      gut of warm-blooded animals, C. jejuni depends on at least formate or hydrogen as
      donor (in the anaerobic lumen) or oxygen as acceptor (near the epithelial cells)
      to generate a pmf that sustains efficient motility and growth for colonization
      and pathogenesis.

PMID- 28586528
TI  - Coping and Psychopathological Profile in Nonsuicidal Self-Injurious Chilean
      Adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to establish the roles of coping
      typologies and the psychological problems associated with nonsuicidal self-injury
      (NSSI) and to identify adolescents who are at greater risk of engaging in this
      practice. METHOD: The total sample comprised 965 adolescents (57% girls, aged 12
      18 years) from several Chilean schools who answered the Inventory of Statements
      About Self-Injury questionnaire. RESULTS: Young people with and without NSSI
      present different coping patterns, especially when compared by gender.
      Adolescents with repetitive NSSI (R-NSSI) report using escape, search for
      friendship, and venting feelings as coping strategies as well as a more avoidant
      style and less search for family support than those adolescents without NSSI.
      Adolescents who present avoidance coping typology are three times more likely
      (relative risk = 3.5) to engage in NSSI than adolescents who present approach
      coping typology. R-NSSI adolescents present higher scores on psychological
      symptomatology (within clinical ranges) than their N-NSSI counterparts. Girls
      were more likely to present psychological symptoms than boys. CONCLUSION: The
      authors highlight the usefulness of coping typologies for the detection of high
      risk populations for NSSI as well as the need to consider the gender variable.
      Professionals who detect clinical levels of symptomatology should also assess the
      presence of NSSI.

PMID- 28586529
TI  - Reproducibility of the plasma glucose response to moderate-intensity exercise in
      adolescents with Type 1 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of the study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the plasma
      glucose response to moderate-intensity exercise performed on different days under
      controlled conditions in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. METHODS: Eight
      adolescents with Type 1 diabetes on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion
      completed two exercise sessions, each on two separate days, under basal insulin
      and fasting conditions. On each day, participants cycled twice for 30 min at 55%
      of their peak rate of oxygen consumption, with each exercise session separated by
      a 30-min rest. RESULTS: Plasma insulin levels were similar between testing days
      and exercise sessions. The mean absolute drop in plasma glucose from the
      commencement to the end of exercise was 1.6 +/- 0.5 mmol/l on day 1 and 1.9 +/-
      0.7 mmol/l on day 2 (P = 0.3). In response to the first exercise session, plasma
      glucose levels relative to baseline did not change significantly (0.2 +/- 0.6 and
      -0.2 +/- 0.5 mmol/l on days 1 and 2). By contrast, the change in plasma glucose
      during the second exercise session was -1.1 +/- 0.7 and -1.3 +/- 0.7mmol/l on
      days 1 and 2, respectively. The mean absolute intra-individual difference in the
      change in plasma glucose between testing days were 0.7 +/- 0.5 [95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.4-1.0] and 0.7 +/- 0.4 (95% CI 0.4-1.0) mmol/l, at the end of the
      first and second exercise sessions respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The plasma glucose
      response to moderate-intensity exercise under similar glycaemic and basal insulin
      conditions can be reproducible in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 28586530
TI  - Increase in the incidence of severe hypoglycaemia in people with Type 2 diabetes
      in spite of new drugs: analysis based on health insurance data from Germany.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the use of new anti-hyperglycaemic agents that offer effective
      glycaemic control while reducing risk of hypoglycaemia, by analysing the
      incidence rates of severe hypoglycaemia in 2006 vs 2011 in relation to the
      medication. METHODS: This cross-sectional, population-based study used German
      health insurance data. All adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (extrapolated to the German population: 6.35 million in 2006 and 7.52 million in
      2011) were screened for severe hypoglycaemia. Anti-hyperglycaemic agents were
      identified by their Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical code, and defined daily doses
      of each medication were calculated. RESULTS: The severe hypoglycaemic event rate
      was 460 per 100,000 people/year in 2006 and 490 per 100,000 people/year in 2011.
      In 2006 and 2011, 10.9% and 7.3%, respectively, of all people with severe
      hypoglycaemia were on sulfonylureas, while 12.7% and 9.3%, respectively, were on
      a combination therapy of metformin and sulfonylureas. Among those with severe
      hypoglycaemia, there were no prescriptions of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors
      or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists in 2006, but in 2011, 1.55% and
      0.17%, of those with severe hypoglycaemia were receiving the respective
      treatments. In 2006 vs 2011, human insulin was prescribed for 11.3% vs 10.3% of
      people with severe hypoglycaemia, while insulin analogues were prescribed for
      5.4% vs 8.1%, and mixed human insulins for 19.7% vs 14.0% of patients with severe
      hypoglycaemia. People receiving insulin analogue therapy had a higher risk of
      severe hypoglycaemia than those receiving metformin, after adjusting for age,
      gender, nephropathy diagnosis and year of survey (odds ratio 14.6; CI 13.3-15.9).
      CONCLUSION: The incidence of severe hypoglycaemic events in Germany increased
      between 2006 and 2011, despite increased use of newer anti-hyperglycaemic agents
      and decreased use of insulins.

PMID- 28586531
TI  - Anion Exchange Renders Hydrophobic Capsules and Cargoes Water-Soluble.
AB  - Control over the solubility properties of container molecules is a central
      challenge in host-guest chemistry. Herein we present a simple anion-exchange
      protocol that allows the dissolution in water of various hydrophobic metal
      organic container molecules prepared by iron(II)-templated subcomponent self
      assembly. Our process involved the exchange of less hydrophilic
      trifluoromethanesulfonate anions for hydrophilic sulfate; the resulting water
      soluble cages could be rendered water-insoluble through reverse anion exchange.
      Notably, this strategy allowed cargoes within capsules, including polycyclic
      aromatic compounds and complex organic drugs, to be brought into water.
      Hydrophobic effects appeared to enhance binding, as many of these cargoes were
      not bound in non-aqueous media. Studies of the scope of this method revealed that
      cages containing tetratopic and tritopic ligands were more stable in water,
      whereas cages with ditopic ligands disassembled.

PMID- 28586532
TI  - Periodontal status and serum biomarker levels in HFE haemochromatosis patients. A
      case-series study.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the association between periodontal status and serum
      biomarkers in patients with HFE haemochromatosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This
      clinical case series included 84 HFE-C282Y homozygous patients. Periodontal
      evaluation was performed using clinical attachment level, probing depth, gingival
      bleeding index, visible plaque index and gingival index. Serum markers of iron
      metabolism were collected from medical records. The relationship between serum
      biomarkers of iron burden and the severity of periodontitis was investigated.
      RESULTS: The study population consisted of 47 men and 37 women, routinely treated
      in the Unit of Hepatology, University Hospital, Rennes. All patients presented
      with periodontitis (mild: n = 1, moderate: n = 37 and severe: n = 46). There was
      a positive association between transferrin saturation >45% and the severity of
      periodontitis (adjusted odds ratio = 5.49, p = .002). CONCLUSION: Severe
      periodontitis is associated with the severity of iron burden in patients with HFE
      related hereditary haemochromatosis. Dental examination should be included in the
      initial assessment of all these patients.

PMID- 28586534
TI  - Working Alliance, Interpersonal Problems, and Depressive Symptoms in Tele
      Interpersonal Psychotherapy for HIV-infected Rural Persons: Evidence for Indirect
      Effects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has demonstrated efficacy for the
      treatment of depression, yet little is known about its therapeutic mechanisms. As
      a specific treatment, IPT has been shown to directly reduce depressive symptoms,
      although it is unclear whether these reductions occur via interpersonal changes.
      Within IPT, the potential role of the working alliance, a common factor, as a
      predictor of depression and interpersonal changes is also unclear. METHOD:
      Participants were 147 depressed persons living with HIV in rural communities of
      28 U.S. states enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. Seventy-five patients
      received up to 9 sessions of telephone-administered IPT (tele-IPT) plus standard
      care and 72 patients received standard care only. Two models were tested; one
      included treatment condition (tele-IPT vs. control) and another included the
      working alliance as independent variables. RESULTS: The first model found an
      indirect effect whereby tele-IPT reduced depression via decreased social
      avoidance. There was a direct effect between tele-IPT and reduced depression. In
      the second model, the working alliance influenced depressive symptom relief via
      reductions in social avoidance. Both goal and task working alliance subscales
      were indirectly associated with reductions in depressive symptoms, also through
      reductions in social avoidance. There were no direct effects involving the
      working alliance. Tele-IPT's influence on depressive symptom reduction was
      primarily through a direct effect, whereas the influence of working alliance
      depression was almost entirely via an indirect effect through interpersonal
      problems. CONCLUSION: Study findings have implications for IPT when intervening
      with depressed rural people living with HIV/AIDS over the telephone.

PMID- 28586535
TI  - Ultrafast Excited-State Deactivation Dynamics of Cyclotrisazobenzene-A Novel Type
      of UV-B Absorber.
AB  - Azobenzenes are widely utilized as molecular photoswitches for control of
      nanoscale processes. Their photoisomerization reaction is highly robust and is
      retained even in extremely rigid systems. Currently, it is not clear what
      geometric restrictions are required to block this isomerization successfully. We
      present here a combined experimental and theoretical study on the ultrafast
      dynamics of cyclotrisazobenzene (CTA) and demonstrate that the structural
      constraints in CTA prevent isomerization of the photoswitch units. In the
      developed molecular picture, the N=N bonds respond elastically to the motion
      along the isomerization coordinates, which leads to ultrafast and complete
      dissipation of the UV excitation as heat. Based on this property, CTA and
      possibly other similarly designed molecules can be utilized as UV absorbers, for
      example in sunscreens; other potential applications are also envisioned.

PMID- 28586533
TI  - Characterization of rapid extraction protocols for high-throughput metabolomics.
AB  - RATIONALE: In the last five years, high-throughput metabolomics has significantly
      advanced scientific research and holds the potential to promote strides in the
      fields of clinical metabolomics and personalized medicine. While innovations in
      the field of flow-injection mass spectrometry and three-minute metabolomics
      methods now allow investigators to process hundreds to thousands of samples per
      day, time-sensitive clinical applications, particularly in the emergency
      department, are limited by a lack of rapid extraction methods. METHODS: Here we
      characterized the efficacy of fast liquid-liquid extractions for characterization
      of hydrophilic compounds through ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography/mass
      spectrometry. Internal stable-isotope-labeled standards were used to
      quantitatively characterize markers of energy and oxidative metabolism in human
      whole blood, plasma and red blood cells - three common matrices of clinical
      relevance. RESULTS: For all the tested matrices, vortexing time (4-60 min) did
      not significantly affect extraction yields for the tested hydrophilic
      metabolites. Coefficients of variations <<20% for all tested compounds, except
      for the redox-sensitive metabolite cystine (accumulating over time). Internal
      standards and second extractions confirmed recoveries >80% for all tested
      metabolites, except for basic amino acids and polyamines, which showed
      reproducible yields ranging from 50 to 75%. Global profiling and absolute
      quantitation of 24 metabolites revealed similarities between the plasma and red
      blood cell metabolomes. CONCLUSIONS: Rapid extraction (~4 min) of hydrophilic
      compounds is a viable and potentially automatable strategy to perform
      quantitative analysis of whole blood, plasma and red blood cells for research or
      clinical applications.

PMID- 28586536
TI  - Should recommendations for clinical use be restricted to patients who were
      enrolled in a pivotal clinical trial?

PMID- 28586538
TI  - Non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism for the treatment of
      cardiovascular and renal disease.

PMID- 28586537
TI  - Patient-reported outcomes in the SOluble guanylate Cyclase stimulatoR in heArT
      failurE patientS with PRESERVED ejection fraction (SOCRATES-PRESERVED) study.
AB  - AIMS: Exploratory assessment of the potential benefits of the novel soluble
      guanylate cyclase stimulator vericiguat on health status in patients with heart
      failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction. METHODS AND RESULTS: The SOCRATES
      PRESERVED trial randomized patients with chronic HF and ejection fraction >= 45%
      within 4 weeks of decompensation to 12 weeks of treatment with titrated doses of
      vericiguat (1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg once daily) or placebo. Health status was
      assessed with the disease-specific Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire
      (KCCQ) and the generic health-related quality of life measure EQ-5D. In total,
      477 patients were randomized 12.9 +/- 9.0 days after hospitalization or if
      requiring outpatient treatment with intravenous diuretics for HF. Baseline KCCQ
      clinical summary score (CSS), a combination of symptom and physical function
      domains, was 52.3 +/- 20.4 in the 10 mg arm and 54.1 +/- 23.0 in placebo, and EQ
      5D US index score was 0.74 +/- 0.2 and 0.73 +/- 0.2, respectively. A larger
      proportion of patients treated with vericiguat in the 10 mg arm, compared with
      placebo, achieved clinically meaningful improvements in KCCQ-CSS (82.0% vs.
      59.0%, number needed to treat = 4.35, P = 0.0052). Important domains of the KCCQ
      as well as EQ-5D scores demonstrated a dose-dependent relationship with
      vericiguat. In the 10 mg arm, the mean physical limitations domain increased by
      +17.2 +/- 19.1 at 12 weeks, compared with +4.5 +/- 21.6 in placebo (P = 0.0009).
      The EQ-5D US index score increased by +0.064 +/- 0.167 in the 10 mg arm, compared
      with a decrease of -0.009 +/- 0.195 in placebo (P = 0.0461). Improvements in KCCQ
      and EQ-5D scores paralleled physician-assessed NYHA class and clinical
      congestion. CONCLUSION: Vericiguat, in exploratory hypothesis-generating
      analyses, was associated with clinically important improvements in patients'
      health status, as assessed by the KCCQ and EQ-5D. Further studies should be
      conducted to test the hypothesis that vericiguat improves physical functioning
      and health-related quality of life in patients with HF with preserved ejection
      fraction.

PMID- 28586539
TI  - June 2017 at a glance: biomarkers and medical treatment.

PMID- 28586540
TI  - Quantification and risk assessment of organic products resulting from non-thermal
      plasma removal of toluene in nitrogen.
AB  - RATIONALE: Non-thermal plasma (NTP) has proven to be an effective approach for
      the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, harmful organic by
      products, produced during NTP-mediated removal of VOCs, hinder practical
      applications of this technology. It is necessary to characterize the organic by
      products to assess their health risks. METHODS: A method is proposed for
      analyzing and evaluating organic by-products for NTP-mediated removal of VOCs in
      this work. NTP generated by a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor
      was used for the removal of a model VOC, toluene, in nitrogen. Organic products
      were characterized using a real-time proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS) apparatus. RESULTS: The PTR-TOF-MS apparatus has been
      shown to be effective for real-time high-sensitivity detection of trace VOCs. The
      main observed organic compounds, with concentrations on the order of ppb/ppm,
      were hydrogen cyanide, acetonitrile, propanenitrile, benzene, benzonitrile, and
      benzyl nitrile, etc. CONCLUSIONS: A health-related index (HRI) was introduced to
      assess the health risks associated with these organic products. The HRI was not
      correlated with the removal efficiency (eta), with higher eta possibly yielding
      higher HRI, associated with higher health risks. Specific input energy (SIE) was
      a key factor affecting the formation of the observed organic products and their
      HRI values. We conclude that in practical applications, SIE, HRI, and eta must be
      balanced.

PMID- 28586541
TI  - Sex differences in telomeres and lifespan in Soay sheep: From the beginning to
      the end.
AB  - There is tremendous diversity in ageing rates and lifespan not only among taxa
      but within species, and particularly between the sexes. Women often live longer
      than men, and considerable research on this topic has revealed some of the
      potential biological, psychological and cultural causes of sex differences in
      human ageing and lifespan. However, sex differences in lifespan are widespread in
      nonhuman animals suggesting biology plays a prominent role in variation in ageing
      and lifespan. Recently, evolutionary biologists have borrowed techniques from
      biomedicine to identify whether similar mechanisms causing or contributing to
      variation in ageing and lifespan in humans and laboratory animals also operate in
      wild animals. Telomeres are repetitive noncoding DNA sequences capping the ends
      of chromosomes that are important for chromosomal stability but that can shorten
      during normal cell division and exposure to stress. Telomere shortening is
      hypothesized to directly contribute to the ageing process as once telomeres
      shorten to some length, the cells stop dividing and die. Men tend to have shorter
      telomeres and faster rates of telomere attrition with age than women, suggesting
      one possible biological cause of sex differences in lifespan. In this issue of
      Molecular Ecology, Watson et al. () show that telomere lengths in wild Soay sheep
      are similar between females and males near the beginning of life but quickly
      diverge with age because males but not females showed reduced telomere lengths at
      older ages. The authors further show that some of the observed sex difference in
      telomere lengths in old age may be due to male investment in horn growth earlier
      in life, suggesting that sexually dimorphic allocation to traits involved in
      sexual selection might underlie sex differences in telomere attrition. This study
      provides a rare example of how biological mechanisms potentially contributing to
      sex differences in lifespan in humans may also operate in free-living animals.
      However, future studies using a longitudinal approach are necessary to confirm
      these observations and identify the ultimate and proximate causes of any sex
      differences in telomere lengths. Collaborations between evolutionary biologists
      and gerontologists are especially needed to identify whether telomere lengths
      have a causal role in ageing, particularly in natural conditions, and whether
      this directly contributes to sex differences in lifespan.

PMID- 28586542
TI  - Terra incognita of soil biodiversity: unseen invasions under our feet.
AB  - Whilst cartographers of the 19th century endeavoured to chart the last unknown
      lands, the great challenge for biologists in the 21st century is to fill the gaps
      on the biodiversity map of the Earth. And one of the largest gaps concerns the
      biodiversity of soils, a terra incognita right under our feet. The study of soil
      biodiversity, and particularly the complex communities of small invertebrates,
      has suffered from a severe 'taxonomic impediment' (Decaens ) leading to great
      uncertainties about total species richness, phylogenetic diversity, geographical
      structure, temporal dynamics of soil organisms, and consequently about their role
      on ecosystem function (Bardgett & van der Putten ). However, the revolution in
      high-throughput sequencing is now revealing the hidden biodiversity of the soil
      with unprecedented detail (e.g. Arribas et al. ). In a noteworthy from the Cover
      article in this issue of Molecular Ecology, Cicconardi et al. () apply these new
      tools to study soil communities of Collembola in three distant oceanic islands of
      volcanic origin, obtaining a striking result: only 38 of 70 species (54%) are
      exclusively found in a single island, with the remaining shared among islands or
      with other distant regions, suggesting a massive recent introduction of soil
      species, whose impact is entirely unknown.

PMID- 28586543
TI  - Acute fatigue predicts sickness absence in the workplace: A 1-year retrospective
      cohort study in paediatric nurses.
AB  - AIMS: To examine the relationship between fatigue and sickness absence in nurses
      from a paediatric hospital over 12 months of follow-up. A secondary aim was to
      identify other work and personal factors that predict sickness absence.
      BACKGROUND: Sickness absence is often related to worker-fatigue, yet few studies
      have explored this relationship in nurses despite documented high fatigue levels.
      DESIGN: The study used retrospective cohort design. METHODS: Baseline data on 40
      nurses from an intervention study were linked to absence data using the
      hospital's attendance records (2012-2013). A total of 6,057 work shifts were
      studied of which 5.2% were absence episodes. Fatigue was measured by the
      Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery scale. The questionnaire included
      instruments assessing sleep disturbances, workload and personal characteristics.
      Generalized linear mixed models were used to test the associations between
      fatigue, work, personal factors and sickness absence, while accounting for non
      independency of repeated measures. RESULTS: With 1SD increase in acute fatigue
      scores, nurses were 1.29 times more likely to be absent from work. Factors such
      as intershift recovery, perceived workload, obstructive sleep apnoea and marital
      status also predicted sickness absence, that is, with 1SD increase in workload
      scores, nurses were 1.23 times more likely to be absent from work. Nurses with
      obstructive sleep apnoea had two times higher odds of sickness absence.
      CONCLUSION: Sickness absence is related to acute fatigue in paediatric nurses and
      to workload. Nursing leaders can monitor these factors to reduce sickness absence
      and screen for sleep apnoea and assist nurses in receiving the appropriate
      treatments.

PMID- 28586544
TI  - Segmental and regional quantification of 3D cellular density of human meniscus
      from osteoarthritic knee.
AB  - The knee menisci have important roles in the knee joint. Complete healing of the
      meniscus remains a challenge in the clinics. Cellularity is one of the most
      important biological parameters that must be taken into account in regenerative
      strategies. However, knowledge on the 3D cellularity of the human meniscus is
      lacking in the literature. The aim of this study was to quantify the 3D cellular
      density of human meniscus from the osteoarthritic knee in a segmental and
      regional manner with respect to laterality. Human lateral menisci were
      histologically processed and stained with Giemsa for histomorphometric analysis.
      The cells were counted in an in-depth fashion. 3D cellular density in the
      vascular region (27 199 cells/mm3 ) was significantly higher than in the
      avascular region (12 820 cells/mm3 ). The cells were observed to possess two
      distinct morphologies, roundish or flattened. The 3D density of cells with
      fibrochondrocyte morphology (14 705 cells/mm3 ) was significantly greater than
      the 3D density of the cells with fibroblast-like cell morphology (5539 cells/mm3
      ). The best-fit equation for prediction of the 3D density of cells with
      fibrochondrocyte morphology was found to be: Density of cells with
      fibrochondrocyte morphology = 1.22 * density of cells withfibroblast-like cell
      morphology + 7750. The present study revealed the segmental and regional 3D
      cellular density of human lateral meniscus from osteoarthritic knee with respect
      to laterality. This crucial but so far missing information will empower cellular
      strategies aiming at meniscus tissue regeneration. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley
      & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28586545
TI  - Multifaceted therapeutic benefits of factors derived from stem cells from human
      exfoliated deciduous teeth for acute liver failure in rats.
AB  - In acute liver failure (ALF), a poorly controlled innate immune response causes
      massive hepatic destruction, which elicits a systemic inflammatory response,
      progressive multiple organ failure and ultimate sudden death. Although the liver
      has inherent tissue-repairing activities, its regeneration during ALF fails, and
      orthotopic liver transplantation is the only curative approach. Here we show that
      a single intravenous administration of stem cells derived from human exfoliated
      deciduous teeth (SHEDs) or of SHED-derived serum-free conditioned medium (SHED
      CM) into the d-galactosamine-induced rat model of ALF markedly improved the
      condition of the injured liver and the animals' survival rate. The engraftment of
      infused SHEDs was very low, and both SHEDs and SHED-CM exerted similar levels of
      therapeutic effect, suggesting that the SHEDs reversed ALF by paracrine
      mechanisms. Importantly, SHED-CM attenuated the ALF-induced pro-inflammatory
      response and generated an anti-inflammatory/tissue-regenerating environment,
      which was accompanied by the induction of anti-inflammatory M2-like hepatic
      macrophages. Secretome analysis by cytokine antibody array revealed that the SHED
      CM contained multiple tissue-regenerating factors with known roles in anti
      apoptosis/hepatocyte protection, angiogenesis, macrophage differentiation and the
      proliferation/differentiation of liver progenitor cells. Taken together, our
      findings suggest that SHEDs produce factors that provide multifaceted therapeutic
      benefits for AFL. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28586546
TI  - A bioartificial environment for kidney epithelial cells based on a supramolecular
      polymer basement membrane mimic and an organotypical culture system.
AB  - Renal applications in healthcare, such as renal replacement therapies and
      nephrotoxicity tests, could potentially benefit from bioartificial kidney
      membranes with fully differentiated and functional human tubular epithelial
      cells. A replacement of the natural environment of these cells is required to
      maintain and study cell functionality cell differentiation in vitro. Our approach
      was based on synthetic supramolecular biomaterials to mimic the natural basement
      membrane (BM) on which these cells grow and a bioreactor to provide the desired
      organotypical culture parameters. The BM mimics were constructed from
      ureidopyrimidinone (UPy)-functionalized polymer and bioactive peptides by
      electrospinning. The resultant membranes were shown to have a hierarchical
      fibrous BM-like structure consisting of self-assembled nanofibres within the
      electrospun microfibres. Human kidney-2 (HK-2) epithelial cells were cultured on
      the BM mimics under organotypical conditions in a custom-built bioreactor. The
      bioreactor facilitated in situ monitoring and functionality testing of the
      cultures. Cell viability and the integrity of the epithelial cell barrier were
      demonstrated inside the bioreactor by microscopy and transmembrane leakage of
      fluorescently labelled inulin, respectively. Furthermore, HK-2 cells maintained a
      polarized cell layer and showed modulation of both gene expression of membrane
      transporter proteins and metabolic activity of brush border enzymes when
      subjected to a continuous flow of culture medium inside the new bioreactor for 21
      days. These results demonstrated that both the culture and study of renal
      epithelial cells was facilitated by the bioartificial in vitro environment that
      is formed by synthetic supramolecular BM mimics in our custom-built bioreactor.
      Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28586548
TI  - Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia Severity Index (FFASI): a call for a more inclusive
      and globally relevant severity index for frontal fibrosing alopecia.

PMID- 28586547
TI  - PCL-HA microscaffolds for in vitro modular bone tissue engineering.
AB  - The evolution of microscaffolds and bone-bioactive surfaces is a pivotal point in
      modular bone tissue engineering. In this study, the design and fabrication of
      porous polycaprolactone (PCL) microscaffolds functionalized with hydroxyapatite
      (HA) nanoparticles by means of a bio-safe and versatile thermally-induced phase
      separation process is reported. The ability of the as-prepared nanocomposite
      microscaffolds to support the adhesion, growth and osteogenic differentiation of
      human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in standard and osteogenic media and using
      dynamic seeding/culture conditions was investigated. The obtained results
      demonstrated that the PCL-HA nanocomposite microparticles had an enhanced
      interaction with hMSCs and induced their osteogenic differentiation, even without
      the exogenous addition of osteogenic factors. In particular, calcium deposition,
      alizarin red assay, histological analysis, osteogenic gene expression and
      collagen I secretion were assessed. The results of these tests demonstrated the
      formation of bone microtissue precursors after 28 days of dynamic culture. These
      findings suggest that PCL-HA nanocomposite microparticles represent an excellent
      platform for in vitro modular bone tissue engineering. Copyright (c) 2015 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28586550
TI  - Commentary on Ostergaard et al. (2017): Evidence of an association between
      cannabis use and suicide in subjects with bipolar disorder.

PMID- 28586552
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28586551
TI  - New developments and opportunities for preventing hepatitis C virus (HCV) among
      people who use and inject drugs-announcing an Addiction series.

PMID- 28586549
TI  - Effect of pregnancy planning on maternal and neonatal outcomes in women with Type
      1 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: To assess the effect of pregnancy planning on maternal and neonatal
      outcomes in women with Type 1 diabetes. METHODS: Pregnancy planning was assessed
      retrospectively in a cohort of women who participated in the Diabetes and Pre
      eclampsia Intervention Trial (DAPIT). Pregnancy planning was determined based on
      self-report as to whether pregnancy was planned or unplanned. The effect of
      pregnancy planning on maternal and neonatal outcomes was examined, controlling
      for confounding variables. RESULTS: A total of 747 women were included in the
      study, of whom 39% considered their pregnancy unplanned. Characteristics
      associated with unplanned pregnancy included being younger (P<0.001), being a
      current smoker (P<0.001), being from a lower social class (P<0.001) and having
      higher HbA1c values prior to and throughout pregnancy (P<=0.005). Significantly
      fewer women with unplanned vs planned pregnancies received pre-pregnancy
      counselling (24% vs 64%; P<0.001). Infants of women with unplanned pregnancies
      were more likely to be small for gestational age (<5th centile; P=0.004), to be
      admitted to the neonatal care unit (P=0.001) and to have a longer stay in
      hospital (P=0.01). Outcomes did not differ between the groups in relation to pre
      eclampsia, congenital malformations or a composite adverse outcome. CONCLUSIONS:
      Risks associated with diabetes in pregnancy need to be highlighted to all women,
      their partners and families, and healthcare professionals. Further research is
      required to determine if these groups are fully aware of the risks associated
      with diabetes in pregnancy.

PMID- 28586553
TI  - Commentary on Halonen et al. (2017): Pondering the latent class trajectories of
      retiring older adults.

PMID- 28586555
TI  - Commentary on Gountas et al. (2017): Time to focus on empirical evidence for HCV
      treatment as prevention.

PMID- 28586556
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28586557
TI  - Opiod Misuse, Abuse and Addiction Part 2: Opiod Prescriber Responsibilities and
      Resources.

PMID- 28586558
TI  - Announcing the 2017 Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Awards.

PMID- 28586559
TI  - Legislative Update.

PMID- 28586560
TI  - New Jersey Combats rise in Sexually Transmitted Disease.

PMID- 28586561
TI  - Infantile Paralysis: The Newark Polio Epidemic of 1916.

PMID- 28586562
TI  - The Dangers of Concussions in Young Athletes: An interview with John Shumko, MD.

PMID- 28586564
TI  - Advocating for Cultural Competency n the Medical Profession.

PMID- 28586563
TI  - Top Tips For Physicians: Understand the Importance of Coding and Billing
      Accuracy.

PMID- 28586565
TI  - POV: The Effect of Hospital Mergers on Healthcare.

PMID- 28586566
TI  - New Jersey's Opiod Addiction Health Crisis.

PMID- 28586567
TI  - Ending the HIV epidemic with the Help of biomedical Prevention Interventions.

PMID- 28586568
TI  - Perspectives on Healthcare from the 2017 Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine
      Honorees.

PMID- 28586570
TI  - Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School: A Historical
      Persepctive.

PMID- 28586569
TI  - Spring Legistlative.

PMID- 28586571
TI  - Promoting the Vitality of Faculty to Combat Burnout.

PMID- 28586572
TI  - Igniting Passion in Your People.

PMID- 28586573
TI  - The Value of Mentorship.

PMID- 28586574
TI  - Bundled Payment for Physician Group Practices and Organized Delivery Systems.

PMID- 28586575
TI  - And Yet One More Adds To The Sorrow.
AB  - Chikungunya is one of the vector borne diseases. It is caused by Chikungunya
      virus, an alpha virus, spread by the bite of female Aedes mosquito. Chikungunya
      is a non-fatal, self-limiting Dengue like illness which is characterized by high
      grade fever, headache, skin rash, and prolong debilitating arthralgia mostly
      affecting peripheral small joints. Treatment is usually supportive for the
      symptoms which includes antipyretic, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs.
      Current outbreak in Karachi is the first declared outbreak in Pakistan. To
      control the current outbreak, integrated vector management approach must be used
      to control Aedes not only to combat the current outbreak but also to reduce the
      endemicity and to prevent introduction of other Aedes borne diseases.

PMID- 28586576
TI  - Non arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; does Anticoagulation help?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NAION) is the most
      common acute optic neuropathy in patients over 50 years of age. This study was
      conducted to determine the beneficial effects of anticoagulation with Heparin and
      Warfarin in patients with NAION presenting within 4 weeks of onset of symptoms.
      METHODS: A prospective, interventional, pilot study was conducted in Eye- A unit
      of Khyber Teaching Hospital from July 2010 onwards on patients with NAION
      presenting within 4 weeks of onset of symptoms. Patients underwent complete
      ophthalmological examination including Snellen's visual acuity (latter converted
      to Log MAR), pupil examination, fundus examination and automated Humphrey visual
      field analysis. Hematologic tests, Thrombophilia screening, Echocardiography and
      carotid Doppler ultrasound were carried on patients. All patients were
      anticoagulated with Heparin and Warfarin after obtaining informed written
      consent. Patients were examined at 1 Month, 3 months and 6 months' time period.
      Primary parameter measured was improvement in visual acuity. RESULTS: Total
      number of patients in our study was 24. Regarding visual outcome total number of
      patients having significant improvement of visual acuity in our study was 16
      (66.6%), while 4 (16.7%) patients had marginal improvement of visual acuity.
      Three (12.5%) patients maintained stable visual acuity of 6/6 throughout the
      study period in presence of thrombophilic disorders. One patient (4.1%) suffered
      a decline in visual acuity compared to VA at baseline presentation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Anticoagulation using heparin and warfarin does benefit patients with NAION
      presenting within 4 weeks of onset of symptoms. In our study a higher proportion
      of patients experienced significant improvement of visual acuity following
      anticoagulation as compared to the highest reported spontaneous improvement in
      such patients.

PMID- 28586577
TI  - Pattern and profile of electric burn injury cases at a Burn centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electrical burns are quite different from thermal and chemical burns.
      This study is from a centre which deals with job related electric burn injuries
      alone and thus can give a pure account of the electric burns and discuss the
      related peculiarities. Study aims to highlight the differences in the mechanism
      of electric burn injury, its mode of presentation, morbidity, complications and
      thus the treatment strategies as compared to rest of the burn injuries. METHODS:
      This is a descriptive case series study of first consecutive 61 electric burn
      victims treated at a Burn Unit and Plastic Surgery centre. Cases were admitted
      and resuscitated at the emergency, and further treated at burn unit. Thorough
      history, examination findings and operative procedures were recorded. Patients
      were photographed for record as well. Emergency operative procedures, wound
      management, soft tissue coverage procedures and complications during the hospital
      stay were recorded and studied. RESULTS: Twenty cases (33%) were in the fifth
      decade of life. High voltage electric burn injury was seen in 42 (69%) of the
      cases. Whereas only 9 cases were treated conservatively, other 52 cases had 24
      fasciotomies and 71 debridements. Series witnessed 10 expiries, and 22
      amputations and all these were result of high voltage electric burns. Twenty
      eight soft tissue coverage procedures were carried out. CONCLUSIONS: Electric
      burn injuries are altogether different from rest of the burn injuries and must be
      treated accordingly. These injuries are peculiar for ongoing damage, extensive
      trauma, complications and prolonged morbidity. Treatment requires a high degree
      of suspicion, more aggressive management to unfold and minimize the deep seated
      insult.

PMID- 28586578
TI  - Electrophysiological changes in patients with liver cirrhosis in a tertiary care
      hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electrophysiological changes in cirrhosis are well known but least
      investigated especially in our country hence we wanted to see
      electrophysiological changes especially QT interval in cirrhotic patients.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital
      Karachi (AKUH) in which medical records (duration 2008-2010) of cirrhotic
      patients were reviewed. RESULTS: Three hundred and eighty cirrhotic patients'
      charts were studied, 227 (59.7 %) were male and mean age of this cohort was
      52.8+/-12.6 years. The most common cause for CLD was Hepatitis C (CHC) in 260
      (68.4%), NBNC in 56(14.7%) and HBV in 51 (13.4%). Only 225 had complete ECG
      workup, the mean corrected QT interval was 0.44+/-0.067sec. Among the
      electrophysiological abnormalities, 79 (35%) had a prolonged corrected QT
      interval, 7 (3.1%) had a prolonged PR interval (>0.22s) and prolonged QRS
      duration was seen in 23 (10.4%) patients. QT prolongation was seen in 1 of the 5
      patients with Child Class A (20%), 22 of the 73 patients with Child Class B
      (30.1%), and 25 of the 61 patients with Child Class C (41%). However, this
      difference however was not statistically significant. (p-value=.331).
      CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that QT prolongation is more frequent in patients with
      liver cirrhosis especially when the disease is more advanced like in Child C
      hence these patients are more prone to sudden cardiac death. Moreover, this study
      shows that the risk associated with QT prolongation is present through all
      classes of liver cirrhosis. We recommend that routine cardiac screening with ECG
      of all cirrhotic patients be performed.

PMID- 28586580
TI  - Impact of antenatal corticosteroids on frequency and mortality due to respiratory
      distress syndrome in preterm neonates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prematurity is still a major problem for health care services
      throughout the world. Before the late 1980s, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)
      was the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in preterm new-borns. Frequency
      of RDS and ensuing mortality in infants treated with antenatal steroid is less
      than those delivered without this therapy. Many pregnant females deliver before
      term or 37 weeks, hence may be advised this prophylactic therapy without creating
      significant maternal or foetal side effects. METHODS: It was a descriptive case
      series conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, unit II of
      Jinnah Hospital Lahore for a period of 6 months. RESULTS: The study sample of 230
      was divided into two groups on the basis of exposure to dexamethasone. RDS was
      reported 76 (33.0%) cases (preterm neonates) in the study, out of these 26
      (22.4%) cases belonged to exposed group and 50 (43.9%) cases belonged to non
      exposed group. Mortality due to RDS among all preterm neonates with RDS occurred
      in total 29 (12.6%) preterm neonates in the study, out of these 5 (4.3%) cases
      belonged to exposed group and 24 (21.1%) belonged to non-exposed group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Frequency of RDS and mortality due to this disease in group of
      infants treated with antenatal steroid is far less than the group of preterm new
      borns delivered without this therapy.

PMID- 28586579
TI  - Exploration of variations in positions of upper and Lower incisors, overjet,
      overbite, and irregularity Index in orthodontic patients with dissimilar depths
      of Curve of spee.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The position and arrangement of teeth as well as the entire scheme of
      occlusion differs from one individual to the other .The purpose of this study was
      to examine differences in position and inclination of incisors, overjet, overbite
      and lower arch crowding in subjects with different depths of curve of Spee and to
      determine correlations between depth of curve of Spee and these variables.
      METHODS: The sample comprised of 114 patients (55 females and 59 males) with
      fully erupted permanent second molars (age 12-25 years), having no history of
      previous orthodontic treatment, no craniofacial anomalies, and no missing
      permanent teeth. Study parameters were assessed by using pretreatment lateral
      cephalograms and dental casts of orthodontic patients. The entire sample was
      divided into three groups according to depth of curve of Spee (mild Spee=38,
      moderate Spee=38, severe Spee=38). Descriptive statistics were calculated.
      Differences between the Spee groups were assessed by analysis of variance. In
      addition, correlation coefficients were calculated between curve of Spee and
      other parameters. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found in
      upper incisor inclination (p=0.000), lower incisor inclination (p=0.003),
      Steiner's mandibular plane angle (p=0.000), overjet (p=0.001), overbite (p=0.000)
      and irregularity index (p=0.008) among the Spee groups. Moreover, statistically
      significant positive correlations were found between curve of Spee and overjet,
      overbite and irregularity index. Upper and lower incisor inclinations as well as
      mandibular plane angle were found to have statistically significant but negative
      correlations with curve of Spee. CONCLUSIONS: Overjet and overbite in severe Spee
      group are larger than in mild and moderate Spee groups. There is negative
      correlation between curve of Spee depth and inclinations of upper and lower
      incisors. There is positive correlation between curve of Spee depth and severity
      of lower anterior crowding and Steiner's mandibular plane angle.

PMID- 28586581
TI  - Difficulties in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Conversion versus surgeon's
      failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered to be gold standard
      treatment for symptomatic gall stones. Despite several benefits there are still
      disadvantages of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in difficult cases where anatomy is
      disturbed even in experienced hand. Aim of this study is to identify advantages
      of early conversion to open cholecystectomy in difficult cases and how it should
      not be associated with surgeon's failure. METHODS: Observational study was
      conducted at tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan from January 2012 till
      June 2015. All patients who presented to general surgery department with
      symptomatic gall stones and planned for laparoscopic cholecystectomy was included
      in the study. Demographic data was collected. Preoperative workup includes
      baselines investigations with liver profile test and imaging study (ultrasound
      scan). All patient underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy at first. Operative
      difficulties, incidence of conversion, reason for conversion and complication
      intra-operative or postoperative were recorded. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20.
      RESULTS: Out of 1026 patients, 78.26% (803) were female. Mean age of patients
      were 41.30+/-8.43 years (range 26-68 years). Common presenting symptoms were pain
      at upper abdomen and dyspepsia. Most of the patients had multiple gall stones
      (93.85%). Nine hundred and ninety-two patients (96.68%) of patients underwent
      successful laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This includes patients in whom
      dissections were difficult because of disturbed anatomy of calots triangle. Only
      3.13% of patients were converted to open cholecystectomy. There was a significant
      difference (<0.05) in complications observed between completed and converted
      cholecystectomies. CONCLUSIONS: Conversion from laparoscopic to open procedure
      should be done in cases of technically difficult situations to avoid significant
      mortality and morbidity. Surgeons experience had a pivotal role in determining
      its need and justification.

PMID- 28586582
TI  - Isolated Gastric Tuberculosis Mimicking Malignancy.
AB  - Isolated tuberculosis of upper gastrointestinal tract is a rare pathology, often
      mimicking malignancy in clinical presentation and radiological features. We
      present a case of middle aged gentleman with isolated tuberculosis of stomach,
      proven on histopathology and showing remarkable improvement on follow up.

PMID- 28586583
TI  - Eales Disease.
AB  - Eales disease is an eponym after a British ophthalmologist Henry Eales. The
      aetiology behind Eales disease is ill-understood and stands controversial.
      Various systemic diseases associated with peripheral retinal revascularization
      and Retinal vasculitis could imitate the proliferative and inflammatory phases of
      Eales' disease, respectively. We present a case of a 30 years old female patient
      with Eales disease and discuss the clinical features, treatment plan and its
      outcome in our patient. Tuberculosis appears to be the cause of Eales disease but
      the relation is yet to be established and clinically proven. Steroid therapy is
      usually the main stay of treatment with tapering doses of systemic
      corticosteroids. Other interventions are vitrectomy, photocogulation or
      cryotherapy.

PMID- 28586584
TI  - Hypothyroidism In Hepatitis C Patients On Pegylated Interferon Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis has become a major health problem all over the
      world especially in the third world countries. The most common cause of chronic
      hepatitis in Pakistan is hepatitis C which can lead Toliver cirrhosis and
      hepatocellular carcinoma. In Pakistan Pegylated Interferon Alpha is still corner
      stone of therapy for chronic hepatitis C. One of the major side effects of this
      therapy is the development of thyroid dysfunction, i.e., hypothyroidism and
      hyperthyroidism. This study was done to assess the frequency of hypothyroidism in
      hepatitis C patients after three months of pegylated interferon therapy. METHODS:
      This study was conducted from 1st October 2013 to 31st march 2014 at outpatients
      department (OPD) of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Lahore General Hospital
      Lahore. Descriptive case series study design was used. The sample of 200 patients
      was taken from the patients who visited OPD and fulfil the inclusion criteria of
      the study. Serum thyroid stimulating hormone level (TSH) was done before and
      after completion of three months therapy at centre for Nuclear Medicine (CENUM)
      laboratory, Mayo Hospital, Lahore by immune-radiometric assay (IRMA) and patients
      having TSH>4.0 mIU/L (normal range: 0.2-4.0 mIU/L) were considered hypothyroid.
      RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 36.29+/-8.5 years. One hundred and
      twenty-three (61.5%) were male and 77 (38.5%) were female. After 3 months of
      interferon therapy, 163 (81.5%) patients were euthyroid and 37(18.5%) patients
      were having thyroid dysfunction. There were total 29 (14.5%) hypothyroid
      patients; 8 (27.6%) were male and 21 (72.4%) female. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded
      from this study that frequency of hypothyroidism in patients with chronic
      hepatitis C was 14.5% after treatment with pegylated interferon therapy for 3
      months. Female patients were more prone to develop hypothyroidism as compared to
      male patients.

PMID- 28586585
TI  - Efficacy Of Local Anaesthesia In Repair Of Inguinal Hernia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local anaesthesia has been identified as the most favourable
      anaesthesia for elective inguinal hernia repair with respect to complication
      rate, cost effectiveness and overall patients' satisfaction. This study was
      conducted to determine the efficacy of local anaesthesia in inguinal hernia in
      terms of pain relief, wound infection and hospital stay. METHODS: In this
      randomized controlled trial (RCT), 60 patients with inguinal hernia were included
      at the General Surgical 'B' Unit, Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. RESULTS: The
      day-case rates were significantly higher when patients underwent surgery under LA
      compared to GA (82.6% versus 42.6%). The incidence of urinary retention was
      higher in the GA group (p<0.05). There were 17 (2.9%) re-admissions overall. The
      reasons for readmission included haematoma (n=6), severe pain (n=4), infection
      (n=3), fainting (n=2) and urinary retention (n=2). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrates that local anaesthesia for inguinal hernia repair has better
      efficacy as compared to general anaesthesia.

PMID- 28586586
TI  - Comparative Analysis Of Anterior Knee Pain In Transpatellar And Medial
      Parapatellar Tendon Approaches In Tibial Interlocking Nailing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior knee pain is the most common complaint after intramedullary
      nail of the tibia. The incidence of anterior knee pain ranges from 10-86% and the
      exact ethology is unclear. Transpatellar tendon approach is commonly used for
      tibial intramedullary interlocking nailing but it can also be done through medial
      parapatellar tendon approach. The objective of the study was to compare post
      operative anterior knee pain after intramedullary nailing technique by
      transpatellar approach compared to medial parapatellar approach. METHODS: This
      randomized controlled trial was carried out in Department of Orthopaedic and
      Spine Surgery, Ghurki trust teaching hospital, Lahore from 20th February to 19th
      Nov 2015. Sixty patients who presented at emergency department for the treatment
      of simple tibial shaft fractures were included in the study. They were divided
      into two groups with 30 patients in each group, Group A containing patients
      operated through transpatellar tendon approach while group B containing patients
      operated through medial parapatellar tendon approach. RESULTS: In Group A, 27
      patients were male and 3 patients were female with a mean age of 28.667+/-9.63
      while in Group B, 28 were male and 2 were female with a mean age of 34.63+/
      15.82. The main causes of tibial shaft fractures were RTA followed by fall. In
      Group A mean anterior knee pain was 4.4 while in Group B, it was was 2.5 with a p
      value of .000. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that medial parapatellar tendon
      approach causes less pain as compared to transpatellar approach.

PMID- 28586587
TI  - Laser Myringotomy Versus Ventilation Tubes In Otitis Media With Effusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a leading cause of difficulty in
      hearing in paediatric population. Otitis media with effusion must be detected and
      managed early to prevent conductive hearing loss in children. It was aimed to
      compare results of laser myringotomy and ventilation tube insertion, in terms of
      hearing improvement and recurrence of Middle ear effusion (MEE). METHODS: This
      randomized controlled trial was conducted from February 2012 to January 2015.
      Children of 4- 12 years of age with decreased hearing due to OME were included in
      the study. These children were investigated with pure tone audiometry (PTA) and
      tympanometry to confirm conductive hearing loss. Patients were put in 2 groups,
      group one comprised of patients treated with laser myringotomy and group 2,
      treated with ventilation tube insertion. The objective was to evaluate and
      compare results of the two procedures in terms of resolution of middle ear
      effusion (MEE) and improvement of hearing. The two procedures were also compared
      in terms of complications like otorrhea, persistence of perforation, hypertrophic
      scar and thinning of tympanic membrane (TM). RESULTS: Middle ear effusion cleared
      in 35 out of 68 ears with laser myringotomy (LM) as compared to 52 out of 62 ears
      with ventilation tubes (VT). The myringotomy was still patent in 21 ears treated
      with LM while tube was in site in 50 years with VT after 3 months. The hearing
      level improved with LM by 10-15 dB after first 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: The aim in
      Otitis media with effusion is ventilation of tympanic cavity. Laser myringotomy
      can be substitute to ventilation tube insertion (VT). But it remains patent for
      shorter time and less effective than VT. The ears with refractory or recurrent
      MEE should have VT insertion.

PMID- 28586588
TI  - Outcome Analysis Of Two Different Injection Solutions For Epidural Injection In
      Radicular Lumbar Backache Syndromes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Backache is a significant source of disability and suffering in our
      society. The treatment modalities need continued enhancement in order to achieve
      the desired goals of lowering morbidity and financial losses while improving the
      response of the patient. METHODS: This prospective comparative study was
      conducted at the department of Orthopaedics and Spine Surgery, Khyber Teaching
      Hospital Peshawar from July 2013 to June 2015. Two interventional groups were
      designated; Group 1 was comprised of 54 patients who were injected with epidural
      bupivacaine plus methylprednisolone while Group 2 included 55 patients who were
      injected with bupivacaine only. Outcome was assessed using the visual analogue
      scale and Oswestry disability index (ODI). RESULTS: Fifty-five female and 54 male
      patients with mean age 49.37 years+/-10.46 SD, Mean symptoms duration was 15.01
      months+/-9.32 SD. Common presenting symptoms were backache (77.1%), lower limbs
      pain (66.1%), dermatomal paresthesias (54.1%) and neurogenic claudication in
      57.8% patients. The mean visual analogue score (VAS) after injection was 3.18+/
      1.29 while mean ODI after injection was 23.615. There was a statistically
      significant reduction in VAS scores (2-sided p=0.003, OR =4.03, 95% CI: 1.535
      10.60) following the injection. CONCLUSIONS: An epidural spinal injection is a
      viable option for achieving relief of pain & improves functioning in individuals
      with radicular backache. However, further research is advised in order to clarify
      the role of ESI for long-term relief.

PMID- 28586589
TI  - Cephalic Tetanus: A Case Report In 68-Year-Old Man.
AB  - Cephalic tetanus is an emergency condition, which is commonly observed in child
      age group here we report a case of 68-year-old man with the complain of right
      sided weakness for one day, associated with difficulty in breathing and speech,
      history of fall also present, case was diagnosed as cephalic tetanus. Here we
      report a case of cephalic tetanus in an elderly patient.

PMID- 28586590
TI  - Diagnostic Dilemma Of Biotinidase Deficiency: Case Of A Child From Pakistan.
AB  - Biotinidase deficiency is an autosomal recessive in born error of metabolism
      which is characterized by the lack of cleavage of biotin. This disease has been
      reported very rarely with the incidence found to be 1 per 60,089 and 1 per
      112,271 of live births, respectively. This condition has profound effects on the
      neurological system, various neurocutaneous manifestations and metabolic
      derangements. We report a case of 3-year-old male child who presented in ER with
      severe respiratory distress for 1 day in a tertiary care set up. He had been
      referred from multiple peripheral centres. His associated complaints included
      severe rash, restlessness and progressive mental deterioration for 2 years. He
      was managed on symptomatically initially, later a diagnosis of Biotinidase
      deficiency was made, he responded well on supplemental biotin. Our intention to
      document this case was for sake of its uniqueness with very common symptoms,
      varied presentation and rarity of the disease which makes it a diagnostic
      dilemma.

PMID- 28586591
TI  - Celiac Crisis: A Rare Or Rarely Recognized Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Celiac crisis is a serious life threatening complication of celiac
      disease characterized by profuse diarrhoea, severe dehydration and metabolic
      disturbances leading to neuromuscular weakness, cardiac arrhythmias and sudden
      death. It has been described as rare condition and not well documented in the
      literature. To improve awareness and facilitate diagnosis of this condition, we
      studied risk factors, pattern of presentation and management plans of celiac
      crisis. METHODS: It was a descriptive cross sectional study. Patients presenting
      in emergency room(ER) with profuse diarrhoea leading to severe dehydration,
      neuromuscular weakness, and metabolic acidosis and electrolyte abnormalities
      enrolled in the studies after positive serology and small bowel biopsy suggestive
      of celiac disease. RESULTS: Total 126 patients out of 350 fulfilled the criteria
      including 54 (42.8%) male and 71 (56.3%) female. The mean age at presentation was
      5.25+/-1.18 years. Risk factors were poor social status (97.60%), consanguinity
      (96.77%), early weaning with gluten contained diet (93.54%), and Presenting
      complaints were loose motion (100%), loss of neck holding (96.77%), dehydration
      (96.77%), polyuria (95.96%), inability to walk (67.74%), abdominal distension
      (85.86%). Electrolytes imbalances were hypokalaemia (2.4+/-0.55), hypocalcaemia
      (7.29+/-0.66), hypomagnesaemia (1.89+/-0.50), hypophosphatemia (2.8+/-0.68),
      hypoalbuminemia (3.05+/-0.48) and metabolic acidosis (96%). One hundred & twenty
      patients were stabilized with GFD and correction of dehydration, acidosis and
      electrolyte imbalance. Six patients needed parenteral steroids ant total
      parenteral nutrition (TPN). Recovery time from crisis was mean 5.4+/-2.73 days
      (range 3-20 days). CONCLUSIONS: Celiac crisis is a common but under recognized
      problem in developing countries. Commonest presenting feature is neuromuscular
      paralysis and biochemical abnormality is hypokalaemia.

PMID- 28586592
TI  - Ultrasound Assistance In Differentiating Malignant Thyroid Nodules From Benign
      Ones.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The search is ongoing for simple, effective ways to identify and
      differentiate thyroid nodules in order to avoid invasive procedures. This study
      aims to perform an ultrasound assessment of clinically suspected patients with
      malignant nodules, to perform a fine needle biopsy on them, and to compare the
      results obtained. METHODS: In total, 135 patients with thyroid nodules suspected
      to be malignant in the ultrasound underwent ultrasound-guided fine needle
      biopsies. The patients' gender, age, ultrasound views (echogenicity, shape, and
      calcification type), nodule size, number of nodules, and needle biopsy results
      were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 135 patients, 117 (86.7%) were
      female and 18 (13.3%) were male. In terms of age, 67 (49.16%) were younger than
      40 and the rest were older. According to the Chi-square test, a significant
      relationship was found between the type of nodule and calcification found in the
      ultrasound views (p=0.001). The nodule type was not significantly related to
      gender (p=0.563) or to the number of nodules (p=0.128); however, there was a
      significant relationship between nodule size and type (p=0.001). Ultrasound
      specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy
      for differentiating benign from malignant nodules were 93.2%, 93.8%, 81.1%, 98%,
      and 93.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound views (comet tail artefact and
      linear echogenic foci) were better predictors of benign nodules than of malignant
      ones, while round, echogenic foci, brighter and larger than typical micro
      calcifications without any visible echoes and multiple punctuate round echogenic
      foci were better predicted malignancy.

PMID- 28586593
TI  - Immune Response And Anamnestic Immune Response In Children After A 3-Dose Primary
      Hepatitis B Vaccination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diseases caused by Hepatitis B virus (HBV) have a worldwide
      distribution. Pakistan adopted the recommendations of World Health Organization
      (WHO) for routine universal infant vaccination against hepatitis B in 2002,
      currently being administered at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age in a combination
      vaccine. This study was conducted to determine the immune response & anamnestic
      immune response in children, 9 months-10 years of age, after a 3dose primary
      Hepatitis B vaccination. METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted in the
      Department of Paediatrics, King Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital, Lahore,
      Pakistan, from January to June, 2014. A total of 200 children of either sex
      between the ages of 9 months to 10 years, documented to have received 3 doses of
      hepatitis B vaccines according to Expanded Program of Immunization (6,10,14
      weeks) schedule in infancy, were recruited by consecutive sampling. The level of
      serum antiHBsAb by ELIZA was measured. Children with antiHBs titers >=10 mIU/mL
      were considered to be immune. Those with anti HBsAb levels <10 mIU/mL were
      offered a booster dose of infant recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. The second
      serum sample was obtained 21-28 days following the administration of the booster
      dose and the anamnestic immune response was measured. Data was analysed using
      SPSS 17 to determine the relation between time interval since last vaccination
      and antibody titer. Chi square test was applied. RESULTS: Of the 200 children,
      protective antibody response was found in 58%. Median serological response was
      18.60 (range 2.82 - 65.15). Antibody levels were found to have a statistically
      significant ( pvalue 0.019) negative correlation with the time since last
      administration of vaccine. A booster dose of Hepatitis B vacci ne was
      administered to all nonresponders, with each registering a statistically
      significant (pvalue 0.00) anamnestic response. CONCLUSIONS: The vaccination
      schedule with short dosage interval was unable to provide protection to 42% of
      the study population. Introduction of birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine to the
      existing schedule is recommended.

PMID- 28586594
TI  - Risk Factors For Necrotizing Fasciitis And Its Outcome At A Tertiary Care Centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a serious and potentially fatal
      condition where there is rapid progression of inflammation of skin, subcutaneous
      tissue, and superficial fascia and can be mono-microbial or poly-microbial. The
      disease is rapidly progressive in nature and if not promptly treated leads to
      significant morbidity or even mortality. This study was designed to explore the
      various risk factors commonly present and study the outcome of the disease.
      METHODS: This was a cross sectional study done in tertiary centre over period of
      one year from April 2014 to March 2015. Patient admitted with soft tissue
      infection were presumptively made diagnosis of NF based on clinical features and
      final diagnosis was made after pre-operative surgical findings. RESULTS: Forty
      two (40.38%) patients had final diagnosis of NF out of 102 soft tissue
      infections. Twentynine (69%) of 42 patients with NF fully recovered with surgical
      and medical management. Eleven (26.2%) of these patients succumbed to their
      illness and two (4.8%) needed amputation of limb to control the infection. The
      most common co-morbid condition was alcoholism, followed by diabetes mellitus.
      CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of necrotizing fasciitis in patients admitted with
      soft tissue infection was 40.38%. Mortality and morbidity due to this condition
      was found to be high.

PMID- 28586595
TI  - Patterns And Determinants Of Breast Feeding Among Mother Infant Pairs In Dera
      Ghazi Khan, Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proper breastfeeding practices are effective ways for reducing
      childhood morbidity and mortality. The objective of the present study was to
      determine the patterns and explore the determinants associated with breast
      feeding practices among the nursing women in Dera Ghazi Khan. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted on randomly selected lactating mother infant pairs
      in Dera Ghazi Khan. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection.
      Analysis was done by using SPSS, chi square test was applied to see the
      association between breast feeding practices and its determinants such as
      knowledge of breast feeding practices. RESULTS: Majority 372 (93%) of mothers
      mentioned that they had ever breastfed the youngest child. About 292 (73%)
      mothers gave colostrum to the child, and 48 (12%) exclusively breastfed. Weaning
      babies before four month of age was practiced by 84 (21%) of the mothers, 120
      (55%) mothers started weaning at 4-6 months of child age, while 72 (18%) started
      to give additional food after baby turned six months old. Out of total 276 (69%)
      mothers reported that they had knowledge regarding breast feeding. Significant
      association was found between knowledge of breastfeeding and initiation and
      Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF) practices (p-values <0.05). Income, family type,
      mode of delivery and assistance for child were significantly associated with
      initiation of breastfeeding within one hour after birth (p-value <0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Breast feeding practices in the studied area were not up to the
      mark. There is a strong need to improve the breastfeeding practices by Behavior
      Change Communication.

PMID- 28586596
TI  - Histological Pattern Of Endometrial Samples In Postmenopausal Women With Abnormal
      Uterine Bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal uterine bleeding is one of the most common clinical problems
      in gynaecological practice and is an indicator of various underlying disorders.
      An endometrial biopsy should be done in all women over 35 years with AUB to rule
      out endometrial cancer or pre-malignant lesion and to initiate treatment.
      However, wide range of histological patterns on endometrial biopsy offer a
      diagnostic challenge to practicing pathologists. The objective of this study was
      to determine histological patterns of endometrium in postmenopausal women with
      abnormal uterine bleeding. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in
      the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed women and
      children teaching hospital, Abbottabad from 15/11/2014 to 14/05/2015. This study
      involved 110 postmenopausal women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding. A
      written informed consent was obtained from every patient. RESULTS: The mean age
      of the patients was 61.60+/-6.17 years and the mean duration of AUB was 5.20+/
      2.80 years. Most of the patients were para 6 (28.2%) and para 5 (28.2%) followed
      by para 4 (18.2%) and para 3 (17.3%) while only 8.2% were para 1. The most common
      histological pattern observed was complex hyperplasia without atypia (30.9%)
      followed by atrophic endometrium (24.5%), simple hyperplasia (23.6%), malignancy
      (12.7%), complex hyperplasia with atypia (4.5%) and benign endometrial polyp
      (3.6%). When stratified the data, there was no significant difference of
      histological patterns across various age groups (p=.673), duration of AUB
      (p=.064) and parity (p=.242). CONCLUSIONS: The most common histological pattern
      observed in postmenopausal women with AUB was complex hyperplasia without atypia
      (30.9%) followed by atrophic endometrium (24.5%), simple hyperplasia (23.6%),
      malignancy (12.7%), complex hyperplasia with atypia (4.5%) and benign endometrial
      polyp (3.6%).

PMID- 28586597
TI  - Identification Of Mutation Sites In Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 3a In Non
      Responders To Combination Therapy With Interferon- Alphalfa And Ribavirin In
      Residents Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was carried out to search for mutations in the gene
      encoding for Non- Structural Protein 5A, specifically in the interferon
      sensitivity determining region of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3a, isolated
      from serum samples of patients not responding to treatment with oral Ribavirin
      and Interferon alpha injections. METHODS: This descriptive case series was
      conducted on HCV patients reporting in the attached teaching hospitals of
      Peshawar Medical College selected by consecutive sampling technique from 1st July
      to 31st December 2012. Amino acid sequencing was performed at the Centre of
      Applied Molecular Biology Lahore. Patients showing no clinical response after 6
      months of combination therapy with Injection Interferon alpha + Ribavirin and
      still having positive polymerase chain reaction (Declared Non-Responders) were
      included in this study. RESULTS: Amino acid sequencing was performed on HCV
      isolates from twenty non-responder and five responder patients. All these
      sequences were compared with Newzealand1 (NZL1) sequence from the gene bank for
      mutations; 0-7 mutations were observed in responders as compared to 10-27
      mutations in non-responder patients (p value <0.005). CONCLUSIONS: We were able
      to determine that there is a positive correlation between the number of mutations
      in NS5A ISDR and non-response to combination therapy. Synonymous mutations >10
      and non-synonymous mutations >7 in this region suggest poor response to
      treatment.

PMID- 28586598
TI  - An Unusual Pathogen Causing Native Valve Endocarditis.
AB  - We present the case of a gentleman who was being evaluated for restrictive lung
      disease and was incidentally found to have mitral valve stenosis on an HRCT.
      During the surgical procedure for valve replacement, he was found to have an
      abscess around the native mitral valve which was drained. Pus from the abscess as
      well as the valve tissue grew Propionibacterium acnes after holding the cultures
      long. The patient was treated with IV ceftriaxone with good response to therapy.
      While Propionibacterium acnes is known to cause prosthetic valve infections there
      are rare case reports with native valves. This is the first case to be reported
      from our country.

PMID- 28586600
TI  - Liddle's Syndrome.
AB  - Hypertension in paediatric age group is commonly secondary to a known cause. It
      is crucial to identify the cause of hypertension and treat it before development
      of any associated complications to prevent morbidity and mortality. Paediatric
      Hypertension is one of the important clinical finding in a child with certain
      clinical syndrome. We are presenting a case of a 10 month old child presenting
      with hypertension and hypokalaemia, after excluding all identifiable causes and
      her positive response to therapy, that is amiloride, along with supportive
      biochemical data she was diagnosed as a case of monogenic type of hypertension
      known as Liddle's syndrome.

PMID- 28586599
TI  - C-Reactive Protein Level In Coronary Artery Disease And Its Correlation With
      Serum D-Dimer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: C-reactive protein concentration has continuous associations with
      risk of coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke and death from several cancers.
      In addition, several studies have shown that CRP could be used to predict first
      ever myocardial infarction and stroke in healthy subjects, as well as outcome in
      acute setting. High levels of another biomarker, D-dimer, have been found to be
      independently associated with occurrence of coronary events. METHODS: This
      correlational study was carried out at the Department of Cardiology, Ayub
      Teaching Hospital Abbottabad, in collaboration with the department of
      Biochemistry Postgraduate Medical Institute Lahore from 15th July 2013 to 15th
      May 2014. Patients aged 30 years or more of either gender having coronary artery
      disease was included in the study. Their serum D-dimer levels and Creactive
      protein levels were measured for correlation with coronary artery disease.
      RESULTS: A total of 50 patients of CAD were included in this study. Out of these
      30 (60%) were males and 20 (40%) were females. Elevated CRP levels and D-dimer
      levels were noted in all of these patients. Pearson correlation coefficient test
      was performed on both CRP and D-dimer levels. Pearson correlation coefficient was
      calculated to be r= -0.1522 and when a p value was calculated, it was found to be
      0.292 which implied that the results were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study showed that there is no correlation between CRP levels and D-dimer levels
      in patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

PMID- 28586601
TI  - Outcome Of Two Column Acetabular Fractures Treated Operatively Through Single
      Posterior Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Involvement of both columns in acetabular fractures is a common
      presentation; these fractures create a challenging situation for the surgeons in
      terms of understanding the dimensions of osseous injury and selection of surgical
      approach. The study was done with an objective to evaluate the efficacy of single
      posterior approach for acetabular fractures involving both columns directly
      reducing the posterior wall and column and indirectly reducing the anterior
      column. METHODS: An evaluation of 25 adult patients 18 male and 7 female
      presenting in the accident and emergency department of Khyber Teaching Hospital
      from December 2013 to June 2015 having acetabular fracture involving both the
      anterior and posterior column were included in this case series study. All
      patients were operated within 8 days of injury by a single operating team.
      Exposing and reducing the posterior acetabular column through kockerlengenbeck
      approach did open reduction and internal fixation with reconstruction plate and
      cortical screws. Additional lag screw was used to stabilize anterior column after
      indirect reduction with confirmation through C- arm and digital palpation through
      the greater sciatic notch. Patients were followed up for 6 months and Harris Hip
      score was evaluated after the end of the follow up period and the result was
      analysed. RESULTS: Majority of the patients 20 out of 25 had haris hip score more
      than 90 after 6 months of the operative management. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested
      that acetabular that fractures involving both the acetabular columns in certain
      situations, may be managed by a single posterior approach as it is associated
      with good clinical outcome and involves lesser soft tissue complications.

PMID- 28586602
TI  - Frequency Of Metabolic Syndrome In Asthmatic Patients Of Hazara Division.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is a common disease and most asthmatics are obese.
      Both asthma and obesity are showing parallel trends in their increasing
      prevalence. Obesity is also the main component of metabolic syndrome and several
      studies have shown metabolic syndrome to be associated with bronchial asthma. The
      present study was, therefore, designed to determine the frequency of metabolic
      syndrome among patients with chronic asthma in our setup. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted in Department of Medicine, Ayub Teaching Hospital,
      Abbottabad from May to November, 2014. One hundred and fifty-four asthmatic
      patients were enrolled in this study. Samples for blood glucose, triglycerides
      and HDL Cholesterol were taken after an overnight fast. Sitting blood pressure
      was measured with mercury sphygmomanometer after 10 minutes of rest. Waist
      circumference was measured at the level of the midpoint between the high point of
      the iliac crest and the last rib. RESULTS: Out of 154 patients, 80 were males and
      74 were females. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 46 (29.87%) patients. When
      metabolic syndrome was stratified according to age, sex and duration of asthma,
      the results were found to be insignificant (p-0.89, 0.30 and 0.85). CONCLUSIONS:
      This study showed that metabolic syndrome was present in almost one third of
      study population.

PMID- 28586603
TI  - Evaluating The Risk Of Osteoporosis Through Bone Mass Density.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a bone disorder, characterized by loss of bone mass
      density. Osteoporosis affects more than 30% of post-menopausal women.
      Osteoporosis is often associated with restricted body movement, pain and joint
      deformities. Early identification and early intervention can help in reducing
      these complications. The primary objective of this study was to estimate the
      burden of Osteoporosis in Urban setting of Sindh among women of different age
      groups and to access the effect of different protective measures that can reduce
      the risk of Osteoporosis. METHODS: In this study, 500 women's of 3 major cities
      of Sindh were approached by non-probability convenience sampling technique. Women
      bearing age 20 years or more were included. Women who fall under inclusion
      criteria were screened for BMD (Bone mineral density) test and were classified as
      Healthy, Osteopenic and Osteoporotic based on their T-score. The association of
      different protective measures and risk of osteoporosis was assessed by prevalence
      relative risk (PRR). RESULTS: The result of this study indicate that the burden
      of Osteoporosis is very high among the women of Sindh, only 17.4% (84) women were
      found to have normal BMD score. The life style of majority of women was
      sedentary. The PRR calculated for Exposure to sunlight, regular exercise, and use
      of nutritional supplement was 12.5, 5.19 and 2.72 folds respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of study reveal that exposure to sunlight, regular
      physical exercise and use of nutritional supplements found to be effective in
      reducing the risk of osteoporosis among women of all age group. Health education
      and promotion toward osteoporosis prevention can significantly contribute in
      reducing the morbidity of osteoporosis.

PMID- 28586604
TI  - Orbital Involvement In Sinonasal Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Orbital involvement in sinonasal diseases can present as proptosis,
      ophthalmoplegia or even as blindness due to optic nerve damage. There are a
      number of sinonasal diseases which can involve eyes. The purpose of this study
      was to enlist diagnoses of all the patients with sinonasal disease, in which
      orbit was also involved unilaterally or bilaterally and to analyse the management
      strategy and final outcome in all the cases. METHODS: Hundred consecutive
      patients having orbital symptoms along with sinonasal complaints that presented
      in ENT department of Shaikh Zayed federal postgraduate medical institute were
      included in our prospective study. CT scan and/or MRI were done in all the cases
      and ophthalmological consultation was done. Patients with sinonasal complaints
      without clinical involvement of orbit and those with primary orbital pathology
      were excluded from our study. Final diagnosis was made after histopathological
      confirmation. RESULTS: A total of 37% of the patients were diagnosed to be having
      "Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis" 17% had "mucormycosis", 16% had "chronic
      invasive fungal sinusitis". Other pathologies identified were Nasopharyngeal CA
      (4%), Squamous cell Ca (4%), cavernous sinus thrombosis (3%), Adenocarcinoma
      (3%), Angiofibroma (2%) fibrous dysplasia (2%) and Acute complicated
      Rhinosinusitis (2%) Following rare pathologies were identified in only one
      patient each. These included Lymphoma, Osteoma, and Rhabdomyosarcoma,
      Transitional cell carcinoma arising from inverted papilloma, Hemangiopericytoma,
      Spindle cell sarcoma, Pituitary adenoma, Giant cell sarcoma, malignant
      undifferentiated tumour, plexiform neurofibroma and sinonasal tuberculosis. Most
      common orbital symptom was proptosis. Eighty-one patients had proptosis followed
      by 23 patients with diplopia, 22 patients with ophthalmoplegia, 16 patients with
      visual loss and 15 patients with ptosis. CONCLUSIONS: Orbital involvement in most
      of the sinonasal diseases indicate extensive and aggressive nature of the
      pathology and many of these, even if they are not malignancies are difficult to
      treat. This is especially true for acute fulminant and chronic invasive fungal
      rhinosinusitis.

PMID- 28586605
TI  - Burden Of Atherosclerosis Risk Among Different Ethinicity: A Hidden Health
      Challenge.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis risk and incidence of developing chronic
      cardiovascular conditions vary greatly between ethnic groups in South Asian
      population. To evaluate different ethnic groups in Pakistan, population based
      study was conducted at Karachi, the largest metropolitan city of Pakistan; to
      assess ten years and lifetime estimated cardiovascular disease risks without
      preexisting cardiovascular disease in Pakistani subjects by using Pooled Cohort
      Risk equation (calculator) as per American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the
      American Heart Association (AHA) 2013 guidelines. METHODS: For the study,
      consecutive subjects (n=437) with multi-ethnic background, aged 20-79 years and
      having non-atherosclerotic disease were enrolled at site of National Institute of
      Cardio-Vascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, Pakistan. RESULTS: Within each ethnic
      group and overall, the risk of developing atherosclerosis was common in all
      ethnic groups especially Urdu speaking are mostly at the high with all the
      factors above the borderline values, followed by Punjabis and Pathans that may
      point toward associated higher risk for prevalence of cardiovascular disease.
      These ethnic groups showed increased prevalence of dyslipidemia, obesity, and
      much greater abnormalities asunique risk. Although there are differences in these
      altered factors but the changes in lifestyle, urbanization, genetic profile and
      physiological makeup are the main reasons that could be a trigger to increase
      cardiovascular events. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides the first evidence
      and may serve as useful guidance to calculate the estimated risk both 10 years
      and lifetime in the non-atherosclerotic Pakistani population with different
      ethnic background.

PMID- 28586606
TI  - Varicocele Embolization Following Failure Of Varicocelectomy: A Case Series And
      Review Of Literature.
AB  - Varicocelectomy remains the same mainstay of treatment for varicoceles. However,
      with growing focus on minimally invasive techniques, recent literature has
      investigated the use of venous embolization for the treatment of varicoceles in
      patients with recurrence after surgical treatment. Embolization has many
      advantages, including use of local anaesthesia, lower operating time, decreased
      risk of hydrocele and faster recovery times. In addition to this direct
      visualization of the vasculature during embolization allows for identification of
      any anatomic variants or collateral vessel accounting for the recurrence. This
      permits more definitive treatment in case of prior surgical failure. We present a
      case series where venous embolization is successfully done following failure of
      varicocelectomy. For patients who experience recurrence after a varicocelectomy,
      we recommend consideration for varicocele embolization.

PMID- 28586607
TI  - Role Of Symptomatic Treatment In Comparison To Antibiotics In Uncomplicated
      Urinary Tract Infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common
      bacterial infections among women presenting to primary care causing rapidly
      increasing strains of resistant bacteria to the growing antibiotic industry.
      Restricting antibiotics to necessary indications is the only solution. The
      objectives of the study were to compare the efficacy of symptomatic treatment vs
      antibiotic in patients with uncomplicated UTI, in terms of individual symptom
      score, i.e., frequency, urgency, dysuria, supra pubic pain scores and total
      symptoms scores. METHODS: A randomized control trial (RCT) in 100 women (15-50
      years) with symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency, dysuria and pain supra pubic
      region, associated with uncomplicated UTI, at Urology department, AMI,
      Abbottabad. Two treatment strategies were compared in uncomplicated UTI patient).
      Patients were randomized to antibiotic or symptomatic treatment groups on
      consecutive non-probability basis (50 in each group) given for 05 days. Efficacy
      of medications was assessed by comparing pre and post treatment symptom scores
      along with the post treatment scores of both groups compared to see statistical
      significance of difference by independent samples t-test. RESULTS: There was a
      statistically significant difference in symptoms improvement in both treatment
      arms of all scores, i.e., p-value=0.000. Whereas only dysuria score was able to
      show a statistically significance of difference in post Rx scores comparison of
      both groups, p-value=0.004. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic treatment is not inferior to
      antibiotic treatment when proper patient selection is undertaken, resulting in
      decreased need for unnecessary antibiotics use.

PMID- 28586608
TI  - Adherence To Diabetes Mellitus Treatment Guidelines From Theory To Practice: The
      Missing Link.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is a complex multisystem disease that requires high quality
      care. Clinical practice guidelines help physicians and patients make the best
      possible health care decisions and improve health care management of diabetic
      patients. These guidelines provide the norms for clinical management as well as
      monitoring of diabetes care. They are not simple algorithms but are based on
      structured evidence based diabetic management protocols developed from randomized
      controlled trials. Despite the widespread availability of this diabetic
      guideline, their use is suboptimal at best. There are several factors blamed for
      contributing to this missing link from available theoretical guideline
      recommendations to practical applications of these guidelines. We present a brief
      review based on available literature review for an ongoing interventional study
      being done by authors in two tertiary care hospital in Lahore Pakistan for
      improving adherence to diabetes guidelines. We will discuss guideline
      implementation cycle and also present a framework encompassing various factors
      involved in adherence to guidelines. Until recently the emphasis to improve the
      guideline adherence targeted the factors relating to individual health care
      professionals in reference to their knowledge, attitude practice of the
      guidelines. However, we will discuss that broader range of health care systems,
      organizational factors, and factors relating to patients which may also
      significantly impact the adherence to the guidelines. The framework emphasises
      that it is important to understand the factors that act as barriers and
      contribute to the missing link between theory and practice of diabetic
      guidelines. This will help plan appropriate strategies in the pre-implementation
      stage for effective and improved diabetes guidelines adherence and management.

PMID- 28586609
TI  - Comparison Of Ultrasound Evaluation Of Patients Of Obstructive Jaundice With
      Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography Findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography has proven to be quite effective in differentiating
      hepatocellular from obstructive cause of jaundice in various studies. This study
      was conducted with the aim to determine the efficacy of ultrasonography and
      Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography (ERCP) in the diagnosis of
      obstructive reason of jaundice. METHODS: In this descriptive case series, 200
      patients with >15 years age of either gender with cholestatic liver enzymes were
      included, i.e., those patients who had an ultrasound prior to ERCP at the
      department of gastroenterology of Patel Hospital, Karachi. Patients known to have
      liver disease with cholestatic jaundice had imaging other than ultrasound were
      excluded. The results of ultrasonography and ERCPs were compared in particularly
      looking for the cause of obstruction. RESULTS: Out of total 200 patients, mean
      age was 41.22+/-12.46 years with 107 (53.5%) females. Ability of ultrasound in
      correctly diagnosing obstructive reason for stone CBD was found to be 72.5%,
      dilated CBD without reason 41.7%, proximal obstruction, 63.15%, distal CBD
      obstruction 60%, and sludge 66.7%. Overall ability of ultrasound in correctly
      diagnosing the cause of obstruction was 64.17%. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound is
      recommended as the initial examination, which provides a guide to choose patients
      for either a more advanced noninvasive imaging like MRCP or to an invasive
      procedure like ERCP.

PMID- 28586610
TI  - Weight Changes In Patients With Hodgkin Lymphoma Following Treatment: Experience
      From A Cancer Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some recent studies have suggested that patients with Hodgkin
      lymphoma who undergo remission following treatment are likely to experience
      significant weight gain and may become overweight or obese. The association
      between treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma and subsequent weight gain has not been
      explored in Pakistan. We undertook a review of weight changes in adult Hodgkin
      lymphoma patients who received treatment at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer
      Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore. METHODS: In this longitudinal study, we
      collected and analysed secondary data including adult patients who received
      treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma at our institute from January 2010 till December
      2013. We retrospectively noted baseline demographic, clinical characteristics,
      details about treatment received and change in weight from baseline at start of
      treatment to 6, 12, and 18 months after start of treatment. RESULTS: A total of
      470 patients registered for Hodgkin lymphoma at our centre. Data were available
      for 402 patients who were included in this study. Progressive increase in weight
      was observed in patients after treatment. The mean weight gain from the start of
      treatment to 6, 12, and 18 months was 3.1 kg, 7.1 kg, and 9.5 kg, respectively.
      Weight gain was not significantly associated with age or sex of patients. Weight
      gain was significantly associated with higher stages of cancer, response to
      treatment and B symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of Hodgkin lymphoma
      patients after treatment demonstrated considerable tendency for weight gain.
      Further work is warranted to explore this association and its impact on HL
      survivors.

PMID- 28586611
TI  - Occlusal Outcome Of Non-Extraction And All First Premolars Extraction Treatment
      In Patients With Class-I Malocclusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Class-1 malocclusion commonly presents with crowding and poses an
      aesthetic concern to patients. An orthodontist may encounter a variety of dental
      problems and must handle them strategically to establish adequate occlusal
      relationships. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the occlusal
      characteristics of patients who have undergone non-extraction or all first
      premolars extraction treatment for class I malocclusion using the peer assessment
      rating (PAR) index. METHODS: The pre-treatment and post treatment dental casts of
      94 subjects with class-I malocclusion were retrospectively screened. The sample
      was distributed into two groups, i.e., nonextraction and all first premolars
      extraction groups. The Mann Whitney-U test was used to compare the mean
      percentage improvement in the PAR scores between the two groups. A p-value of
      <=0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean percentage
      improvement in the non-extraction group was 74.28% in the non-extraction group
      and 74.5% in the all first premolars extraction group. A significant difference
      (p=0.04) was found between the pretreatment PAR scores for the two treatment
      modalities. There was no significant difference between the post treatment PAR
      scores (p=0.45) and the mean percentage improvement in PAR scores (p=0.41)
      between the treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: The improvement in occlusal
      characteristics in patients who underwent non-extraction treatment and all first
      premolar extraction treatment was comparable as assessed through mean percentage
      improvement in PAR scores.

PMID- 28586612
TI  - Comparison Of Bipolar And Monopolar Cautry Use In Turp For Treatment Of Enlarged
      Prostate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, bipolar Transurethral resection of prostate (TURP)
      has been increasingly being used by urologist instead of conventional monopolar
      TURP for the treatment of enlarge prostate. Bipolar TURP is considered to be more
      efficacious and has better clinical outcome in comparison with monopolar TURP. We
      compared both procedures to assess their clinical out-comes and efficacy by
      comparing their different parameters. METHODS: This randomized control trial was
      conducted in the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Transplant Peshawar over 220
      consecutive patients from Sep 2013 to Dec 2014. Patients were randomly divided in
      two groups. Maximum flow rate (Q max), duration of resection, weight of tissue
      resected, TUR syndrome, blood transfusion and duration of hospital stay and
      catheterization were compared in both groups. RESULTS: There were 110 patients in
      both groups each. Post-operative Q max, duration of resection, weight of tissue
      resected, duration of hospital stay, duration of catheterization was
      statistically insignificant. While statistically significant difference was found
      only the duration of procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar and monopolar have the same
      clinical out-come and complication rates, yet the monopolar TURP requires
      significantly less operating time in comparison to bipolar TURP efficacy. Both
      procedures can be used for the treatment equally however if urologist want to
      save the time he should use monopolar TURP.

PMID- 28586613
TI  - Hyperlactetemia And Its Trends In Critically Ill Children Admitted In Pediatric
      Intensive Care Unit Of A Developing Country.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that in setting of critical ailments
      clinical signs lag biomarkers like Lactate and hyperlactetemia can be the only
      marker for this disorder. This study was conducted to describe the incidence of
      hyperlactatemia in critically ill children and its association with outcome.
      METHODS: Retrospective review of medical records of all children who had their
      lactic acid (LA) levels measured during their admission in PICU from January 2014
      to December 2015 was done. Demographic and clinical variables were recorded along
      with PICU therapies, outcome (Survived or expired) and development of multi-organ
      dysfunction. Results are presented as frequency with percentages and mean with
      standard deviation. Appropriate statistical tests were applied and p-value of
      <0.05 was taken as significant. RESULTS: Total 300 patients had their LA measured
      and 202 were included in the study. Males were 130 (64%) and mean age was 5.7+/
      4.6 years. Hyperlactatemia was found in 68 (33%) patients and another 75 (37%)
      had a second LA level >4 mmol/L. Increasing LA trend was found in 79 (39%)
      patients. Diagnostic categories included cardiovascular diseases (45, 22%),
      central nervous system diseases (40, 20%), respiratory diseases (31, 15%), sepsis
      (28, 14%), and gastrointestinal diseases14 (7%). 168 (83%) needed mechanical
      ventilation. Mean pH was 7.31+/-0.15 and metabolic acidosis was observed in 91
      patients (45%). Mean LA levels in survivors and non survivors were 3.3+/-3.12 and
      5.35+/-5.47 respectively. Hyperlactatemia was associated with death (p=0.01) and
      development of MODS (p=0.03) on univariate analysis. On multivariate logistic
      regression rising lactate and development of MODS were significantly associated
      with death (p=<0.05, odds ratio (OR) 9.24 (95% confidence interval 1.55-55.20).
      CONCLUSIONS: Hyperlactatemia and increasing LA trend in critically ill children
      are associated with worse outcome in PICU.

PMID- 28586614
TI  - Frequency, Indications And Complications Of Pulmonary Artery Catheter Insertion
      In Adult Open-Heart Surgery Patients Of A Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients presenting for cardiac surgery have unstable cardiovascular
      disease and haemodynamics with multiple coexisting diseases. Optimal monitoring
      in the perioperative period is very important for best perioperative outcome. The
      introduction of the flow-directed pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) into clinical
      practice is one of the most important and popular advances in the field of
      cardiac anaesthesia. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency,
      indications and complications of pulmonary artery catheter insertion in adult
      open-heart surgery patients. METHODS: A Prospective observational study was
      conducted at cardiac operating rooms and Cardiac Intensive care unit (CICU) of
      Aga Khan University Hospital for a period of six months from Nov 2015 to April
      2016.Two hundred and seven patients were included in this study. PAC was inserted
      through right/left internal jugular vein or subclavian vein. Complications noted
      were arrhythmias (atrial and ventricular), right bundle branch block, coiling and
      knotting, pulmonary artery rupture, and infection up to 72 hours of PAC
      insertion. Frequency and percentage were computed for gender, comorbids
      (Hypertension, Diabetes, Chronic kidney disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
      Disease) and PAC frequency of insertion, indications and complications were
      noted. RESULTS: The frequency of PAC insertion was 47.83%. Major indications for
      PAC insertion were poor left ventricular function, acute coronary syndrome,
      cardiogenic shock, significant left main disease and valvular heart disease
      patients. Minor complications were found in 23.22% cases, which included
      arrhythmia in 19.2% cases and coiling in 4.02%. CONCLUSIONS: TPulmonary artery
      catheter insertion is a safe technique with useful clinical application in the
      management of high-risk cardiac surgical patients. The PAC insertion rationale
      must be standardized to confirm the judicious use.

PMID- 28586615
TI  - Association Of Smoking With Recurrence Of Pulmonary Kochs; After Completion Of
      Antituberculous Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smoking is one of the most important yet modifiable risk factors for
      incidence, morbidity, recurrence and mortality from Pulmonary Koch's or
      tuberculosis. This study attempted to demonstrate the association between smoking
      and recurrence risk of Pulmonary Koch's in Pakistani male population. METHODS:
      This case control study was conducted at Federal Government Tuberculosis
      Hospital, Rawalpindi from 2015 to 2016. It included 332 study participants; 166
      recurrent cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis within two years of completion of Anti
      tuberculous therapy (ATT) and 166 non-recurrent controls. Smoking status of all
      study participants was assessed. RESULTS: Amongst 166 cases of recurrence, 75
      (63.6%) had continued smoking after ATT compared to 43 (36.4%) controls who
      continued smoking (p-value 0.00, OR=2.35, 95% CI=1.48 to 3.74, NNH=4.75). Highly
      statistically significant associations of recurrence were observed with
      smoking>10 years (p-value 0.00, OR=3.67, CI=1.55-8.71 NNH=4.75) and if ever
      smoked in life (p-value 0.00, OR=2.05, CI=1.32-3.19, NNH=5.61). Mean duration of
      smoking in cases (12.37+/-8.72 years) was statistically different from controls
      (9.54+/-7.01 years), with p-value of 0.04. CONCLUSIONS: There is strong
      association of recurrence of Pulmonary Kochs with continuation of smoking within
      2 years of completion of ATT, with ever smoking in life and smoking >10 years in
      life.

PMID- 28586616
TI  - Why should the faculty adopt reciprocal teaching as part of the medical
      curriculum?
AB  - Understanding the text is crucial to achieve depth in understanding of complex
      concepts for students at all levels of education for whom English is not their
      first language. Reciprocal teaching is an instructional activity that stimulate
      learning through a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of
      text. The process of summarizing, question-generating, clarifying and predicting
      allows the gaps to be recognised and filled by the student, who is in control of
      the learning process and able to analyse and reflect upon the reading material.
      Whereas reciprocal teaching has been applied at school and college level, little
      is known about its effectiveness in medical education. Incorporating reciprocal
      teaching in early years of medical education such as reading the literature and
      summarizing the flow of information in the study of integrated body systems could
      be an area to explore. Feasibility exercises and systematic validation studies
      are required to confirm authors' assertion.

PMID- 28586617
TI  - Effect Of Non- Surgical Periodontal Treatment On Glycemic Control Among Type 2
      Diabetes Mellitus Patients With Periodontitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periodontitis and Diabetes Mellitus are two closely, bidirectional
      linked disease where periodontitis is a well-known complication of diabetes it is
      also considered to be a cause for poor glycaemic control. The present study
      objective was to evaluate the glycaemic control in patients suffering from both
      Diabetes Mellitus and Periodontitis after non-surgical periodontal treatment.
      METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted with two groups of
      patients attending Diabetic Clinic, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, during six months
      from September 2013 to February 2014. Forty-six diabetes mellitus subjects who
      were undergoing non-surgical treatment of periodontal disease that includes
      mechanical removal of supra- and sub gingival bacterial plaque with scalers,
      antibiotics and or root canal if required while 46 subjects with diabetic
      mellitus having periodontal disease did not had treatment for periodontal
      disease. HbA1c was compared at base line and at three months. Data was compiled
      and analysed through SPSS version 16. Quantitative variables like HbA1c was
      presented as mean+/-SD. Qualitative variables like gender, education status,
      economic status, treatment for diabetes mellitus and periodontal disease were
      described by using frequency percentages. The t-test was applied to assess
      statistical significance in mean difference HbA1c between two groups. p-value
      <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Forty-six subjects who received non
      surgical treatment for periodontitis 43 (93.5%) received scaling only while 3
      (6.5%) received scaling plus antibiotics. Fall in the level of HbA1c was observed
      among subjects with treatment of periodontal disease indicating a good control of
      diabetes while in group without treatment there was either no change or increase
      in HbA1c. Mean HbA1c at baseline in group with treatment of periodontitis at
      baseline was 7.672+/-.6414 and without treatment was 6.957+/-.3494. (t= -1.008,
      p<.279). Mean HbA1c after 3 months in group with treatment of periodontitis was
      6.867+/-.6168, and in group without treatment was 6.983+/-.3678. (t=6.641,
      p<.000). CONCLUSIONS: Non-surgical periodontal treatment is associated with
      improved glycaemic control (reduced HbA1c level) in type 2 diabetic patients.

PMID- 28586618
TI  - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs vs. Paracetamol: drug availability,
      patients' preference and knowledge of toxicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-medication is a common practice which is influenced by level of
      education, society factors and health care facilities availability. In our
      region, Pakistan, it is very common and awareness regarding prescription
      implementation needs to be ensured. Hence the current study highlights the
      preference, availability and knowledge of toxicity of non-steroidal
      antiinflammatory medications and paracetamol in Pakistan. METHODS: It was a
      Descriptive, cross sectional, conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan
      from May to august 2012. A total of 1000 questionnaires comprising of 21
      questions were distributed to the persons with age groups from 18 years to 40
      years. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used for results
      deduction. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The most
      commonly used medicine was Mefenamic acid (n=191, 40.8%). Paracetamol was second
      on the priority list (n=146, 31.3%). About 178 out of 467(38.1%) used these
      medications for headache. Very few responders knew about the toxic doses of the
      medicines they used. Only 52 (11%) were aware of the raised bleeding tendency
      being the most common side effect of acetylsalicylic acid and 129 (28%) were
      aware of liver damage by paracetamol toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: In Pakistan, common
      people take NSAIDs and Paracetamol without prescription and majority of them are
      unaware of the side effects of these medicines. This is the reason it is
      important to make the general public aware of the problems they may face if they
      misuse or over use the drugs without the prescription.

PMID- 28586619
TI  - Role Of Stretching Exercises In The Management Of Constipation In Spastic
      Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constipation is considered as one of the most common non-motor
      manifestations in cerebral palsy (CP). Along with other reasons, spasticity also
      contributes in developing constipation in CP, by decreasing mobility of trunk and
      lower extremities and abdominal viscera. Stretching exercises of upper
      extremities, trunk and lower extremities are routine management of spasticity in
      CP children. The objective of the study was to determine the role of stretching
      exercises in improving constipation symptoms in children with spastic cerebral
      palsy and to explore the association between spasticity and constipation among
      cerebral palsy children. METHODS: Single-group Pretest-Posttest Design (Quasi
      Experimental Study Design). The study was conducted at Physiotherapy Department
      of National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) Islamabad. Thirty spastic
      CP children - both male and female - with complaints of constipation were
      recruited through non-probability, convenience sampling. The mean age of the
      children was 7.55+/-1.33 years. Each child was assessed for defecation frequency
      (DF), constipation severity by constipation assessment scale (CAS) and level of
      spasticity by modified ash worth scale for spasticity (MASS) at baseline.
      Stretching exercises were performed for 30 seconds with five repetitions and at
      least once a day for six week, followed by positioning of patients in reflex
      inhibiting posture. Final data was collected using the same tools as done at the
      baseline. Paired samples t-test was used to analyse the rehabilitation-induced
      changes after 6 weeks. To determine association between spasticity and
      constipation Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used. The data
      was analysed through SPSS 20. RESULTS: Significant changes, compared to the
      baseline scores, were observed after 6 weeks of stretching exercises in MASS
      (2.53+/-0.62 Vs 1.53+/-0.77), DF (2.43+/-0.67 Vs 3.70+/-1.02) and CAS (7.23+/
      1.50 Vs 5.43+/-1.73) with p<=0.05. The results also showed significant
      correlation between changes in levels of spasticity and severity of constipation
      (r = 0.37; p=0.04). Finally, significant correlation was present between
      improvement in spasticity and defecation frequency (r =-0.39; p=0.02).
      CONCLUSIONS: Stretching exercises administered for the management of spasticity
      in CP can significantly improve the symptoms of constipation in such children.
      The results of the study showed that constipation is strongly associated with
      level of spasticity in CP children.

PMID- 28586620
TI  - Density Functional Study of Neutral and Charged Silver Clusters Agn with n = 2
      22. Evolution of Properties and Structure.
AB  - Geometries and electronic properties of neutral Agn, cationic Agn+, and anionic
      Agn- silver clusters with n = 2-22 were investigated by density functional theory
      (DFT) with M06 functional. For neutral clusters, transition from planar to "empty
      cage" structure occurs at n = 7, "empty cage" to "cage with one Ag atom" at n =
      18, and to "cage with two Ag atoms" at n = 22. For lowest-energy Agn clusters,
      Ag8 and Ag18 show lowest polarizability due to closed-shell valence electron
      configurations 1S2/1P6 and 1S2/1P6/1D10. High stability of Ag8 is manifested in
      small dissociation energies of Ag9 to Ag8 plus Ag1 and Ag10 cluster to Ag8 plus
      Ag2. Cluster Ag20 with configuration 1S2/1P6/1D10/2S2 is stable due to low
      dissociation energy of Ag21 to Ag1 and Ag22 to Ag2. Cationic clusters with even n
      namely Ag10+ (9 valence electrons), Ag16+ (15 valence electrons), and Ag22+ (21
      valence electrons) dissociate to Ag1 and closed-shell Ag9+ (1S2/1P6), Ag15+
      (1S2/1D10/2S2) and Ag21+ (1S2/1P6/1D10/2S2). For odd n, Ag11+ and Ag17+
      dissociate to Ag2 and closed-shell Ag9+ and Ag15+. For anionic clusters Agn-,
      cohesion energy Ecoh and binding energy (BE) show maxima at n = 7 and n = 17 due
      to stable Ag7- and Ag17- clusters. Small Agn- clusters (n = 4-11) with even n
      (except n = 8) have lower dissociation energy for loss of Ag1 while those with
      odd n have lower dissociation energy for loss of Ag2. For n = 12-22, all clusters
      have lower dissociation energy for loss of Ag1.

PMID- 28586622
TI  - Atelocollagen Enhances the Healing of Rotator Cuff Tendon in Rabbit Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Failure of rotator cuff healing is a common complication despite the
      rapid development of surgical repair techniques for the torn rotator cuff.
      PURPOSE: To verify the effect of atelocollagen on tendon-to-bone healing in the
      rabbit supraspinatus tendon compared with conventional cuff repair. STUDY DESIGN:
      Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: A tear of the supraspinatus tendon was
      created and repaired in 46 New Zealand White rabbits. They were then randomly
      allocated into 2 groups (23 rabbits per group; 15 for histological and 8 for
      biomechanical test). In the experimental group, patch-type atelocollagen was
      implanted between bone and tendon during repair; in the control group, the torn
      tendon was repaired without atelocollagen. Each opposite shoulder served as a
      sham (tendon was exposed only). Histological evaluation was performed at 4, 8,
      and 12 weeks. Biomechanical tensile strength was tested 12 weeks after surgery.
      RESULTS: Histological evaluation scores of the experimental group (4.0 +/- 1.0)
      were significantly superior to those of the control group (7.7 +/- 2.7) at 12
      weeks ( P = .005). The load to failure was significantly higher in the
      experimental group (51.4 +/- 3.9 N) than in the control group (36.4 +/- 5.9 N) (
      P = .001). CONCLUSION: Histological and biomechanical studies demonstrated better
      results in the experimental group using atelocollagen in a rabbit model of the
      supraspinatus tendon tear. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Atelocollagen patch could be used
      in the cuff repair site to enhance healing.

PMID- 28586623
TI  - Longitudinal Trends in Vaccine Hesitancy in a Cohort of Mothers Surveyed in
      Washington State, 2013-2015.
AB  - Parents who refuse or delay vaccines because of vaccine hesitancy place children
      at increased risk for vaccine-preventable disease. How parental vaccine hesitancy
      changes as their children age is not known. In 2015, we conducted a follow-up
      survey of 237 mothers enrolled in a 2-arm clinic-level cluster randomized trial
      (n = 488) in Washington State that was completed in 2013. We surveyed mothers at
      their baby's birth, age 6 months, and age 24 months using a validated measure of
      vaccine hesitancy. Both mean hesitancy scores (mean 4.1-point reduction; 95% CI,
      2.5-5.6; P = .01) and the proportion of mothers who were vaccine hesitant (9.7%
      at baseline vs 5.9% at 24 months; P = .01) decreased significantly from child's
      birth to age 24 months. Changes from baseline were similar for first-time mothers
      and experienced mothers. Individual item analysis suggested that the decrease may
      have been driven by increases in maternal confidence about the safety and
      efficacy of vaccines. Our results suggest that hesitancy is a dynamic measure
      that may peak around childbirth and may remit as experience with vaccines
      accumulates.

PMID- 28586625
TI  - Advocacy: IBCLCs Advocating for Global Breastfeeding Through Skilled Lactation
      Support.

PMID- 28586624
TI  - Does Participation in Sports Affect Osteoarthritic Progression After
      Periacetabular Osteotomy?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is an effective treatment for
      symptomatic acetabular dysplasia. However, whether postoperative participation in
      sports leads to progression of the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade of osteoarthritis
      (OA) in these patients is unclear. PURPOSE: To investigate (1) participation in
      sports before and after PAO and (2) whether postoperative participation in sports
      leads to progression of the KL grade. STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study; Level of
      evidence, 3. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed data on 161 patients
      (183 hips) who underwent PAO for symptomatic acetabular dysplasia with
      preoperative KL grade 1 or 2 between 1998 and 2011. The mean age at the time of
      surgery was 42.0 +/- 10.9 years (range, 12-64 years), and the mean follow-up
      duration was 100 months (range, 13-180 months). Data included participation in
      sports, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) activity scale score,
      age at the time of surgery, body mass index, follow-up duration, history of
      treatment for developmental hip dislocations, Merle d'Aubigne-Postel score,
      Oxford Hip Score, center-edge angle, and KL grade. Univariate and multivariate
      analyses were applied to determine which factors were associated with progression
      to KL grade 3 or 4 after PAO. RESULTS: The number of patients who participated in
      sports significantly increased from 50 (31.1%) preoperatively to 89 (55.3%)
      postoperatively. The mean UCLA score significantly increased from 4.7 +/- 2.1
      preoperatively to 5.5 +/- 2.0 postoperatively. The KL grade progressed to grade 3
      or 4 in 16 hips, including 4 hips that underwent conversion to total hip
      arthroplasty. No significant differences were found in postoperative
      participation in sports (89 hips [53.3%] vs 11 hips [68.8%], respectively; P =
      .24) and the UCLA score (5.6 +/- 2.0 vs 5.1 +/- 2.0, respectively; P = .30)
      between hips with KL grade 1 or 2 and KL grade 3 or 4. A multivariate analysis
      revealed that no factors, including postoperative participation in sports, were
      significantly associated with progression to KL grade 3 or 4. CONCLUSION:
      Postoperative participation in sports after PAO did not significantly and
      negatively influence progression of the KL grade at midterm follow-up.

PMID- 28586621
TI  - Evaluating the Use of Electronic Health Records for Type 2 Diabetes Surveillance
      in 2 California Counties, 2010-2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic laboratory records
      (ELRs) are increasingly seen as a rich source of data for performing public
      health surveillance activities and monitoring community health status. Their
      potential for surveillance of chronic illness, however, may be underused. Our
      objectives were to (1) evaluate the use of EHRs and ELRs for diabetes
      surveillance in 2 California counties and (2) examine disparities in diabetes
      prevalence by geography, income, and race/ethnicity. METHODS: We obtained data on
      a clinical diagnosis of diabetes and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test results for
      adult members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California living in Contra Costa
      County or Solano County at any time during 2010-2014. We evaluated the validity
      of using HbA1c test results to determine diabetes prevalence, using clinical
      diagnoses as a gold standard. We estimated disparities in diabetes prevalence by
      combining HbA1c test results with US Census data on income, race, and ethnicity.
      RESULTS: When compared with a clinical diagnosis of diabetes, data on a patient's
      5-year maximum HbA1c value >=6.5% yielded the best combination of sensitivity
      (87.4%) and specificity (99.2%). The prevalence of 5-year maximum HbA1c >=6.5%
      decreased with increasing median family income and increased with greater
      proportions of residents who were either non-Hispanic black or Hispanic.
      CONCLUSIONS: Timely diabetes surveillance data from ELRs can be used to document
      disparities, target interventions, and evaluate changes in population health. ELR
      data may be easier to access than a patient's entire EHR, but outcome metric
      validation with diabetes diagnoses would need to be ongoing. Future research
      should validate ELR and EHR data across multiple providers.

PMID- 28586626
TI  - Delayed and Unreported Drug-Susceptibility Testing Results in the US National
      Tuberculosis Surveillance System, 1993-2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Drug-susceptibility testing (DST) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is
      necessary for identifying drug-resistant tuberculosis, administering effective
      treatment regimens, and preventing the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis. DST
      is recommended for all culture-confirmed cases of tuberculosis. We examined
      trends in delayed and unreported DST results in the Centers for Disease Control
      and Prevention's National Tuberculosis Surveillance System. METHODS: We analyzed
      culture-confirmed tuberculosis cases reported to the National Tuberculosis
      Surveillance System during 1993-2014 for annual trends in initial DST reporting
      for first-line antituberculosis drugs and trends in on-time, delayed, and
      unreported results. We defined on-time reporting as DST results received during
      the same calendar year in which the patient's case was reported or <=4 months
      after the calendar year ended and delayed reporting as DST results received after
      the calendar year. We compared cases with on-time, delayed, and unreported DST
      results by patient and tuberculosis program characteristics. RESULTS: The
      proportion of cases with reported results for all first-line antituberculosis
      drugs increased during 1993-2011. Reporting of pyrazinamide results was lower
      than reporting of other drugs. However, during 2000-2012, of 134 787 tuberculosis
      cases reported to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System, reporting was on
      time for 125 855 (93.4%) cases, delayed for 5332 (4.0%) cases, and unreported for
      3600 (2.7%) cases. CONCLUSIONS: Despite increases in the proportion of cases with
      on-time DST results, delayed and unreported results persisted. Carefully
      assessing causes for delayed and unreported DST results should lead to more
      timely reporting of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

PMID- 28586627
TI  - Validation of a Syndromic Case Definition for Detecting Emergency Department
      Visits Potentially Related to Marijuana.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Reliable methods are needed to monitor the public health impact of
      changing laws and perceptions about marijuana. Structured and free-text emergency
      department (ED) visit data offer an opportunity to monitor the impact of these
      changes in near-real time. Our objectives were to (1) generate and validate a
      syndromic case definition for ED visits potentially related to marijuana and (2)
      describe a method for doing so that was less resource intensive than traditional
      methods. METHODS: We developed a syndromic case definition for ED visits
      potentially related to marijuana, applied it to BioSense 2.0 data from 15
      hospitals in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area for the period September
      through October 2015, and manually reviewed each case to determine true positives
      and false positives. We used the number of visits identified by and the positive
      predictive value (PPV) for each search term and field to refine the definition
      for the second round of validation on data from February through March 2016.
      RESULTS: Of 126 646 ED visits during the first period, terms in 524 ED visit
      records matched >=1 search term in the initial case definition (PPV, 92.7%). Of
      140 932 ED visits during the second period, terms in 698 ED visit records matched
      >=1 search term in the revised case definition (PPV, 95.7%). After another
      revision, the final case definition contained 6 keywords for marijuana or
      derivatives and 5 diagnosis codes for cannabis use, abuse, dependence, poisoning,
      and lung disease. CONCLUSIONS: Our syndromic case definition and validation
      method for ED visits potentially related to marijuana could be used by other
      public health jurisdictions to monitor local trends and for other emerging
      concerns.

PMID- 28586628
TI  - Effectiveness of Radial Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (rESWT) When Combined
      With Supervised Exercises in Patients With Subacromial Shoulder Pain: A Double
      Masked, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subacromial shoulder pain is a common complaint, and radial
      extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) is increasingly used to treat this
      condition. Although many therapists use rESWT in combination with supervised
      exercises, no studies have evaluated the additional effect of rESWT with
      supervised exercises for subacromial shoulder pain. PURPOSE: To assess whether
      rESWT is more effective than sham rESWT when combined with supervised exercises
      for improving pain and function in patients with subacromial shoulder pain. STUDY
      DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. METHODS: Patients
      between 25 and 70 years of age with subacromial shoulder pain with and without
      calcification in the rotator cuff lasting at least 3 months were assessed for
      eligibility; 143 patients were recruited. Participants were allocated (1:1) by
      computer-generated randomization in blocks of 20 to receive either rESWT or sham
      rESWT in addition to supervised exercises. The rESWT and sham rESWT were
      performed once a week with additional supervised exercises once a week for the
      first 4 weeks. The following 8 weeks, the patients received supervised exercises
      twice a week. The primary outcome was change in the Shoulder Pain and Disability
      Index (SPADI) after 24 weeks. Patients and outcome assessors were masked to group
      assignment. RESULTS: At 24 weeks, participants in both the sham group and the
      rESWT group had improved ( P < .001) in SPADI score compared with baseline (-23.9
      points [SD, 23.8 points] and -23.3 points [SD, 25.0 points], respectively), but
      there were no differences between the groups (mean difference 0.7; 95% CI, -6.9
      to 8.3; P = .76). Prespecified subgroup analysis of patients with calcification
      in rotator cuff showed that the rESWT group had a greater improvement in SPADI
      score after 24 weeks (mean difference -12.8; 95% CI, -24.8 to -0.8; P = .018).
      CONCLUSION: Radial ESWT offered no additional benefit to supervised exercises in
      the treatment of subacromial shoulder pain after 24 weeks, except in the subgroup
      of patients with calcification in the rotator cuff. Registration: NCT01441830 (
      ClinicalTrials.gov identifier).

PMID- 28586629
TI  - Case Finding Using Syndromic Surveillance Data During an Outbreak of Shiga Toxin
      Producing Escherichia coli O26 Infections, Oregon, 2015.
AB  - Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes an estimated 265 000
      infections in the United States annually. Of emerging non-O157:H7 STEC serotypes,
      O26 is the most commonly recognized. During an outbreak of STEC O26 in Oregon in
      2015, we used syndromic surveillance data to supplement case finding by
      laboratory reporting. From 157 records retrieved by querying syndromic
      surveillance data, we detected 4 confirmed and 5 suspected cases. However, none
      of the suspected cases were confirmed by stool culture, and by the time that the
      data were being analyzed, the confirmed cases were already known to
      investigators. Syndromic surveillance data can potentially supplement case
      finding during outbreaks of foodborne disease. To be an effective case-finding
      strategy, timely completion of all steps, including collecting specimens from
      suspected cases, should be performed in real time.

PMID- 28586630
TI  - Engaging Community and Faith-Based Organizations in the Zika Response, United
      States, 2016.

PMID- 28586631
TI  - TGF-beta1 Improves Biomechanical Strength by Extracellular Matrix Accumulation
      Without Increasing the Number of Tenogenic Lineage Cells in a Rat Rotator Cuff
      Repair Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) positively regulates the
      tenogenic marker genes scleraxis ( Scx) and tenomodulin ( Tnmd) in mesenchymal
      progenitors in vitro. However, little is known about the effect of TGF-beta1 on
      the expression of tenogenic markers during rotator cuff (RC) healing in rats.
      HYPOTHESIS: TGF-beta1 improves the biomechanical properties and histological
      maturity of reparative tissue in a rat RC repair model by stimulating the growth
      of tenogenic cells. STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: Adult
      male Sprague-Dawley rats (N = 180) underwent unilateral supraspinatus tendon-to
      bone surgical repair and were randomly treated with a gelatin hydrogel presoaked
      in TGF-beta1 (100 ng) or phosphate-buffered saline. The effects of TGF-beta1 on
      RC healing were investigated at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks postoperatively by
      immunostaining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen, by real-time reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization or
      immunostaining for enthesis-related markers (SRY-box containing gene 9 [ Sox9],
      Scx, and Tnmd), and by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction
      and immunostaining for type I and III collagen. At 6 and 12 weeks
      postoperatively, biomechanical testing, micro-computed tomography, and
      biochemical analysis were also performed. At 2 and 4 weeks postoperatively,
      mesenchymal stem cell-related markers, phospho-Smad2, and matrix
      metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and MMP-13 were assessed by immunostaining. RESULTS:
      The TGF-beta1-treated group had significantly higher ultimate load to failure and
      tissue volume at 6 and 12 weeks postoperatively and a higher collagen content at
      12 weeks compared with the saline group. Tendon-related gene expression,
      histological maturity, cell proliferation, and mesenchymal stem cell-related
      marker immunoreactivity were not affected by exogenously administrated TGF-beta1
      at all time points. In the TGF-beta1-treated group, the percentage of phospho
      Smad2-positive cells within the healing tissue increased, whereas the expression
      of MMP-9 and MMP-13 significantly decreased at 2 and 4 weeks postoperatively.
      CONCLUSION: TGF-beta1 enhances formation of tough fibrous tissues at the healing
      site by inhibiting MMP-9 and MMP-13 expression to increase collagen accumulation
      but without the growth of tenogenic lineage cells. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: These
      findings suggest that TGF-beta1 could be used for enhancing biomechanical
      strength after RC surgical repair.

PMID- 28586632
TI  - Antibody Profile of Colostrum and the Effect of Processing in Human Milk Banks:
      Implications in Immunoregulatory Properties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When feeding preterm infants, donor milk is preferred if the mother's
      own milk is unavailable. Pasteurization may have detrimental effects on
      bioactivity, but more information is needed about its effects on the
      immunological compounds. Research aim: This work has two main aims: evaluate the
      antibody profile of colostrum and study the quantitative variations in the
      antibodies' level and specific reactivity after undergoing Holder pasteurization.
      The authors focused on immunoregulatory components of colostrum (antidietary
      antibodies and TGF-beta2) in the neonatal gut. METHODS: This is a descriptive
      cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 67 donated colostrum samples at
      different days after delivery, both raw and pasteurized. Antibody profiles were
      analyzed at different times during breastfeeding, and total and specific
      antibodies (IgM, IgA, and IgG subclasses) were compared with tetanus toxoid and
      ovalbumin using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The processing effect on total
      and specific antibodies, as well as TGF-beta2, was evaluated by paired analyses.
      RESULTS: No variations in immunological compounds were observed throughout the
      colostrum stage. The TGF-beta2, antibodies' concentrations, and antibodies'
      specific reactivity after pasteurization did not vary significantly as days of
      lactation varied. Changes in antibody levels were dependent on isotype and IgG
      subclass, and IgG4 showed remarkable resistance to heating. Moreover, the effect
      of the pasteurization on specific reactivity was antigen dependent. CONCLUSION:
      The supply of relevant immunological components is stable throughout the
      colostrum stage. The effects of pasteurization on antibodies depend on isotype,
      subclass, and specificity. This information is relevant to improving the
      immunological quality of colostrum, especially for preterm newborns.

PMID- 28586633
TI  - Aqueous Solubility Enhancement for Bioassays of Insoluble Inhibitors and QSPR
      Analysis: A TNF-alpha Study.
AB  - The aim of this study is to improve the aqueous solubility of a group of
      compounds without interfering with their bioassay as well as to create a relevant
      prediction model. A series of 55 potential small-molecule inhibitors of tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha; SPD304 and 54 analogues), many of which cannot
      be bioassayed because of their poor solubility, was used for this purpose. The
      solubility of many of the compounds was sufficiently improved to allow
      measurement of their respective dissociation constants (Kd). Parameters such as
      dissolution time, initial state of the solute (solid/liquid), co-solvent addition
      (DMSO and PEG3350), and sample filtration were evaluated. Except for filtration,
      the remaining parameters affected aqueous solubility, and a solubilization
      protocol was established according to these. The aqueous solubility of the 55
      compounds in 5% DMSO was measured with this protocol, and a predictive
      quantitative structure property relationship model was developed and fully
      validated based on these data. This classification model separates the insoluble
      from the soluble compounds and predicts the solubility of potential small
      molecule inhibitors of TNF-alpha in aqueous solution (containing 5% DMSO as co
      solvent) with an accuracy of 81.2%. The domain of applicability of the model
      indicates the type of compounds for which estimation of aqueous solubility can be
      confidently predicted.

PMID- 28586634
TI  - Where do hypotheses come from?
AB  - Why are human inferences sometimes remarkably close to the Bayesian ideal and
      other times systematically biased? In particular, why do humans make near
      rational inferences in some natural domains where the candidate hypotheses are
      explicitly available, whereas tasks in similar domains requiring the self
      generation of hypotheses produce systematic deviations from rational inference.
      We propose that these deviations arise from algorithmic processes approximating
      Bayes' rule. Specifically in our account, hypotheses are generated stochastically
      from a sampling process, such that the sampled hypotheses form a Monte Carlo
      approximation of the posterior. While this approximation will converge to the
      true posterior in the limit of infinite samples, we take a small number of
      samples as we expect that the number of samples humans take is limited. We show
      that this model recreates several well-documented experimental findings such as
      anchoring and adjustment, subadditivity, superadditivity, the crowd within as
      well as the self-generation effect, the weak evidence, and the dud alternative
      effects. We confirm the model's prediction that superadditivity and subadditivity
      can be induced within the same paradigm by manipulating the unpacking and
      typicality of hypotheses. We also partially confirm our model's prediction about
      the effect of time pressure and cognitive load on these effects.

PMID- 28586635
TI  - Tin protoporphyrin activates the oxidant-dependent NRF2-cytoprotective pathway
      and mitigates acute kidney injury.
AB  - Tin protoporphyrin (SnPP), a heme oxygenase (HO) inhibitor, can paradoxically
      protect against diverse forms of acute kidney injury (AKI). This study sought
      potential underlying mechanisms. CD-1 mice received intravenous SnPP, followed 4
      18 hours later by a variety of renal biochemical, histologic, and genomic
      assessments. Renal resistance to ischemic-reperfusion injury (IRI) was also
      sought. SnPP was rapidly taken up by kidney and was confined to proximal tubules.
      Transient suppression of renal heme synthesis (decreased delta aminolevulinic
      acid synthase expression), a 2.5-fold increase in "catalytic" Fe levels and
      oxidant stress resulted (decreased glutathione; increased malondialdehyde, and
      protein carbonyl content). Nrf2 nuclear translocation (~2x Nrf2 increase;
      detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Western blotting), with
      corresponding activation of ~20 Nrf2-sensitive genes (RNA-Seq) were observed. By
      18 hours after SnPP injection, marked protection against IRI emerged. This
      represented "preconditioning", not a direct SnPP effect, given that SnPP
      administered at the time of IRI exerted no protective effect. The importance of
      transient oxidant stress in SnPP "preconditioning" was exemplified by the
      following: (1) oxidant stress induced by a different mechanism (myoglobin
      injection) recapitulated SnPP's protective action; (2) GSH treatment blunted
      SnPP's protective influence; (3) SnPP raised cytoprotective heavy chain ferritin
      (Fhc), a response enhanced by exogenous Fe injection; and (4) SnCl2, a ~35- to 50
      fold HO-1 inducer (not inhibitor) evoked neither oxidant stress nor mitigated IRI
      (seemingly excluding HO-1 activity in SnPP's protective effect). SnPP
      specifically accumulates within proximal tubule cells; transient "catalytic" Fe
      overload and oxidative stress result; Nrf2-cytoprotective pathways are
      upregulated; and these changes help protect against ischemic AKI.

PMID- 28586636
TI  - Effectiveness of an Online Natural Family Planning Program for Breastfeeding
      Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effectiveness of an online, nurse-managed natural
      family planning (NFP) program among breastfeeding women and subgroups of these
      women. DESIGN: Longitudinal comparative cohort study. SETTING: A university-based
      online NFP education program and menstrual cycle charting system. PARTICIPANTS:
      Women (N = 816) with a mean age of 30.3 years (standard deviation = 4.5) who
      registered to use the online NFP system and indicated they were breastfeeding.
      METHODS: Participants tracked their fertile times with an electronic hormone
      fertility monitor (EHFM), cervical mucus monitoring, or both. All unintended
      pregnancies were evaluated by professional nurses. RESULTS: The correct use
      pregnancy rates were 3 per 100 users over 12 cycles of use, and typical rates
      were 14 per 100 at 12 cycles of use. At 12 cycles of use, total pregnancy rates
      were 16 per 100 for electronic hormone fertility monitor users (n = 380), 81 per
      100 among mucus-only users (n = 45), and 14 per 100 for electronic hormone
      fertility monitor plus mucus users (n = 391). CONCLUSION: Use of a nurse-managed
      online NFP program for women can be effective to help women avoid pregnancy while
      breastfeeding, especially with correct and consistent use.

PMID- 28586637
TI  - Association Between Severe Dental Caries and Child Abuse and Neglect.
AB  - PURPOSE: In their maxillofacial practice, the authors have encountered some
      children with severe dental caries whose teeth had to be removed; many later
      appeared to be abused children. The authors hypothesized that in the group of
      children who underwent multiple tooth extractions for caries under general
      anesthesia, a larger percentage would be found to be abused compared with the
      normal population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The authors identified children who
      underwent multiple tooth extractions under general anesthesia in a well-defined
      region in the Netherlands in 2005 and 2006. Subsequently, they sought these
      children in the database of the Dutch national organization against domestic
      violence and child abuse (Veilig Thuis) in 2015. RESULTS: Of the total group of
      376 children, 205 (55%) underwent the procedure because of caries during this
      period. Child abuse and neglect was established by Veilig Thuis in 47 of these
      children (23%; 95% confidence interval, 20-26), whereas the procedure occurred
      before the child abuse was established in 27. CONCLUSION: There appears to be a
      strong association between severe dental caries and child abuse and neglect.
      Hence, severe dental caries could be regarded as an early symptom of child abuse
      and neglect.

PMID- 28586638
TI  - Efficacy of Codeine When Added to Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) and Ibuprofen for
      Relief of Postoperative Pain After Surgical Removal of Impacted Third Molars: A
      Double-Blinded Randomized Control Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of opioids in combination with nonopioids is common practice for
      acute pain management after third molar surgery. One such combination is
      paracetamol, ibuprofen, and codeine. The authors assessed the efficacy of codeine
      when added to a regimen of paracetamol and ibuprofen for pain relief after third
      molar surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a randomized, double
      blinded, placebo-controlled trial conducted in patients undergoing the surgical
      removal of at least 1 impacted mandibular third molar requiring bone removal.
      Participants were randomly allocated to a control group (paracetamol 1,000 mg and
      ibuprofen 400 mg) or an intervention group (paracetamol 1,000 mg, ibuprofen 400
      mg, and codeine 60 mg). All participants were treated under intravenous sedation
      and using identical surgical conditions and technique. Postoperative pain was
      assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) every 3 hours (while awake) for the
      first 48 hours after surgery. Pain was globally assessed using a questionnaire on
      day 3 after surgery. RESULTS: There were 131 participants (36% men; control
      group, n = 67; intervention group, n = 64). Baseline characteristics were similar
      for the 2 groups. Data were analyzed using a modified intention-to-treat analysis
      and, for this, a linear mixed model was used. The model showed that the baseline
      VAS score was associated with subsequent VAS scores and that, with each 3-hour
      period, the VAS score increased by an average of 0.08. The treatment effect was
      not statistically meaningful, indicating there was no difference in recorded pain
      levels between the 2 groups during the first 48 hours after mandibular third
      molar surgery. Similarly, the 2 groups did not differ in their global ratings of
      postoperative pain. CONCLUSION: Codeine 60 mg added to a regimen of paracetamol
      1,000 mg and ibuprofen 400 mg does not improve analgesia after third molar
      surgery.

PMID- 28586639
TI  - The Bony Side of Endothelial Cells in Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer bone metastases are primarily osteoblastic, but the source of
      bone-forming cells in these lesions remains poorly defined. In this issue of
      Developmental Cell, Lin et al. (2017) demonstrate that tumor-associated
      endothelial cells can give rise to osteoblasts in prostate cancer through
      endothelial-to-osteoblast (EC-to-OSB) conversion.

PMID- 28586640
TI  - At the Crossroads between Cell Polarity and Adhesion in Neocortical Development.
AB  - In this issue of Developmental Cell, Jossin et al. (2017) show that the tumor
      suppressor protein Lgl1 interacts with N-cadherin to stabilize apical junctions
      in brain stem cells. Neural progenitors lacking Lgl1 had decreased N-cadherin
      internalization and abnormal cell junctions, generating an ectopic neuronal layer
      that resembles cerebral cortex abnormalities in humans.

PMID- 28586641
TI  - Tregs Expand the Skin Stem Cell Niche.
AB  - Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are emerging as an essential stem cell niche component
      that promotes wound repair in adipose, muscle, and lung tissues. Recently in
      Cell, Ali et al. (2017) report that skin resident Tregs facilitate the
      proliferation and differentiation of hair follicle stem cells through Notch
      signaling.

PMID- 28586642
TI  - R-spondin Is More Than Just Wnt's Sidekick.
AB  - The intestinal crypt and its stem cells are dependent on the Wnt pathway.
      Reporting in Nature, Yan et al. (2017) show that Wnts and Wnt signaling
      potentiator R-spondins have non-interchangeable roles. Both are necessary for
      intestinal stem cell (ISC) maintenance, and R-spondins are the limiting factor
      that defines ISC number.

PMID- 28586643
TI  - On the Formation of Digits and Joints during Limb Development.
AB  - Critical steps in forming the vertebrate limb include the positioning of digits
      and the positioning of joints within each digit. Recent studies have proposed
      that the iterative series of digits is established by a Turing-like mechanism
      generating stripes of chondrogenic domains. However, re-examination of available
      data suggest that digits are actually patterned as evenly spaced spots, not
      stripes, which then elongate into rod-shaped digit rays by incorporating new
      cells at their tips. Moreover, extension of the digit rays and the patterning of
      the joints occur simultaneously at the distal tip, implying that an integrated
      model is required to fully understand these processes.

PMID- 28586645
TI  - The Protein Phosphatase 4 and SMEK1 Complex Dephosphorylates HYL1 to Promote
      miRNA Biogenesis by Antagonizing the MAPK Cascade in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Phosphorylation plays an essential role in microRNA (miRNA) processing by
      regulating co-factors of the miRNA biogenesis machinery. HYL1 (Hyponastic Leaves
      1), a core co-factor in plant miRNA biogenesis, is a short-lived phosphoprotein.
      However, the precise balance and regulatory mechanism of the stability and
      phosphorylation of HYL1 remain unclear. Here, we show that a highly conserved PP4
      (Protein Phosphatase 4) and SMEK1 (Suppressor of MEK 1) complex dephosphorylates
      HYL1 to promote miRNA biogenesis, by antagonizing the MAPK cascade in
      Arabidopsis. The smek1 mutants exhibit defective miRNA biogenesis due to
      accelerated degradation of HYL1. SMEK1 stabilizes HYL1 in a dual manner: SMEK1,
      as a suppressor, inhibits MAPK activation to attenuate HYL1 phosphorylation;
      SMEK1 assembles a functional PP4 to target HYL1 for dephosphorylation. Moreover,
      the protein level of SMEK1 is increased in response to abscisic acid. Our results
      provide insights into the delicate balance between a protein kinase and a
      phosphatase during miRNA biogenesis.

PMID- 28586644
TI  - Endothelial-to-Osteoblast Conversion Generates Osteoblastic Metastasis of
      Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer (PCa) bone metastasis is frequently associated with bone-forming
      lesions, but the source of the osteoblastic lesions remains unclear. We show that
      the tumor-induced bone derives partly from tumor-associated endothelial cells
      that have undergone endothelial-to-osteoblast (EC-to-OSB) conversion. The tumor
      associated osteoblasts in PCa bone metastasis specimens and patient-derived
      xenografts (PDXs) were found to co-express endothelial marker Tie-2. BMP4,
      identified in PDX-conditioned medium, promoted EC-to-OSB conversion of 2H11
      endothelial cells. BMP4 overexpression in non-osteogenic C4-2b PCa cells led to
      ectopic bone formation under subcutaneous implantation. Tumor-induced bone was
      reduced in trigenic mice (Tie2cre/Osxf/f/SCID) with endothelial-specific deletion
      of osteoblast cell-fate determinant OSX compared with bigenic mice (Osxf/f/SCID).
      Thus, tumor-induced EC-to-OSB conversion is one mechanism that leads to
      osteoblastic bone metastasis of PCa.

PMID- 28586646
TI  - Nuclear Pores Regulate Muscle Development and Maintenance by Assembling a
      Localized Mef2C Complex.
AB  - Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are multiprotein channels connecting the nucleus
      with the cytoplasm. NPCs have been shown to have tissue-specific composition,
      suggesting that their function can be specialized. However, the physiological
      roles of NPC composition changes and their impacts on cellular processes remain
      unclear. Here we show that the addition of the Nup210 nucleoporin to NPCs during
      myoblast differentiation results in assembly of an Mef2C transcriptional complex
      required for efficient expression of muscle structural genes and microRNAs. We
      show that this NPC-localized complex is essential for muscle growth, myofiber
      maturation, and muscle cell survival and that alterations in its activity result
      in muscle degeneration. Our findings suggest that NPCs regulate the activity of
      functional gene groups by acting as scaffolds that promote the local assembly of
      tissue-specific transcription complexes and show how nuclear pore composition
      changes can be exploited to regulate gene expression at the nuclear periphery.

PMID- 28586647
TI  - Phosphate Starvation-Dependent Iron Mobilization Induces CLE14 Expression to
      Trigger Root Meristem Differentiation through CLV2/PEPR2 Signaling.
AB  - Low inorganic phosphate (Pi) availability causes terminal differentiation of the
      root apical meristem (RAM), a phenomenon known as root meristem exhaustion or
      determined growth. Here, we report that the CLE14 peptide acts as a key player in
      this process. Low Pi stress induces iron mobilization in the RAM through the
      action of LPR1/LPR2, causing expression of CLE14 in the proximal meristem region.
      CLV2 and PEPR2 receptors perceive CLE14 and trigger RAM differentiation, with
      concomitant downregulation of SHR/SCR and PIN/AUXIN pathway. Our results reveal
      multiple steps of the molecular mechanism of one of the most physiologically
      important root nutrient responses.

PMID- 28586649
TI  - Altered Bowel Habits and Pelvic Fullness in a 75-Year-Old Woman.

PMID- 28586650
TI  - E6 proteins of alpha and beta cutaneous HPV types differ in their ability to
      potentiate Wnt signaling.
AB  - We recently showed that E6 protein of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16, a mucosal
      high-risk alpha-PV type, can potentiate Wnt/beta-catenin/TCF signaling. Here we
      investigated the transcriptional activities of E6 proteins of cutaneous HPV types
      from the beta and alpha genera. Results from reporter-gene assays showed that
      similar to HPV16 E6, E6 of HPV10, a cutaneous alpha-HPV type that is prevalent in
      skin warts, efficiently enhances and stimulates Wnt/beta-catenin/TCF
      transcription. HPV10 E6 also effectively elevated the expression levels of beta
      catenin and promoted its nuclear accumulation. E6 proteins of beta-HPV types 8,
      24, 38 and 49, which are prevalent in skin cancer, exhibited lower activities in
      all tested functions. The differences in activity correlated with E6's competence
      to interact with the ubiquitin ligase E6AP. This study reveals a role for E6
      proteins of diverse cutaneous HPV types in potentiation of Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling, irrespective of their carcinogenic potential.

PMID- 28586648
TI  - Objective features of subjective cognitive decline in a United States national
      database.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Functional and cognitive features of subjective cognitive decline
      (SCD) were identified in a longitudinal database from the National Alzheimer's
      Coordinating Center. METHODS: Cognitively normal older adults with (SCD+) and
      without (SCD-) self-reported memory complaints (N = 3915) were compared on (1)
      baseline Functional Assessment Questionnaire ratings, (2) baseline scores and
      longitudinal rate of change estimates from nine neuropsychological tests, and (3)
      final clinical diagnoses. RESULTS: SCD+ had higher baseline ratings of functional
      impairment, reduced episodic memory practice effects and poorer performance on
      neuropsychological tests of psychomotor speed and language, and higher
      frequencies of mild cognitive impairment and dementia diagnoses at the end of
      follow-up compared with the SCD-group. DISCUSSION: Subtle clinical features of
      SCD identified in this large cohort are difficult to detect at the individual
      level. More sensitive tests are needed to identify those with SCD who are
      vulnerable to cognitive decline and dementia.

PMID- 28586651
TI  - Optimization of degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and electricity generation
      in solar photocatalytic fuel cell system.
AB  - The photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) system was developed in order to study the
      effect of several operating parameters in degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5)
      and its electricity generation. Light irradiation, initial dye concentration,
      aeration, pH and cathode electrode are the operating parameters that might give
      contribution in the efficiency of PFC system. The degradation of RB5 depends on
      the presence of light irradiation and solar light gives better performance to
      degrade the azo dye. The azo dye with low initial concentration decolorizes
      faster compared to higher initial concentration and presence of aeration in PFC
      system would enhance its performance. Reactive Black 5 rapidly decreased at
      higher pH due to the higher amount of OH generated at higher pH and Pt-loaded
      carbon (Pt/C) was more suitable to be used as cathode in PFC system compared to
      Cu foil and Fe foil. The rapid decolorization of RB5 would increase their voltage
      output and in addition, it would also increase their Voc, Jsc and Pmax. The
      breakage of azo bond and aromatic rings was confirmed through UV-Vis spectrum and
      COD analysis.

PMID- 28586652
TI  - Accelerated biodegradation of BPA in water-sediment microcosms with Bacillus sp.
      GZB and the associated bacterial community structure.
AB  - Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical primarily used to produce polycarbonate
      plastics and epoxy resins. Significant industrial and consumer's consumption of
      BPA-containing products has contributed to extensive contamination in different
      environmental matrices. In this study, microcosms bioaugmented with Bacillus sp.
      GZB were constructed to investigate BPA biodegradation, identify the main
      bacterial community, and evaluate bacterial community responses in the
      microcosms. Under aerobic conditions, BPA was quickly depleted as a result of
      bioaugmentation with Bacillus sp. GZB in water-sediment contaminated with
      pollutants. The pollutants used were generally associated with the electronic
      wastes (mobile phones, computers, televisions) dismantling process. Adding BPA
      affected the bacterial community composition in the water-sediment. Furthermore,
      BPA biodegradation was enhanced by adding electron donors/co-substrates: humic
      acid, NaCl, glucose, and yeast extract. Metagenomic analysis of the total 16S
      rRNA genes from the BPA-degrading microcosms with bioaugmentation illustrated
      that the genera Bacillus, Thiobacillus, Phenylobacterium, and Cloacibacterium
      were dominant after a 7-week incubation period. A consortium of microorganisms
      from different bacterial genera may be involved in BPA biodegradation in
      electronic waste contaminated water-sediment. This study provides new insights
      about BPA bioaugmentation and bacterial ecology in the BPA-degrading environment.

PMID- 28586653
TI  - Interactions of carbon nanotubes and/or graphene with manganese peroxidase during
      biodegradation of endocrine disruptors and triclosan.
AB  - Molecular-level biodegradation processes of bisphenol A (BPA), nonylphenol (NP)
      and triclosan (TCS) mediated by manganese peroxidase (MnP) were investigated with
      and without single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and/or graphene (GRA). Although
      the incorporation of SWCNT, GRA or their combination (SWCNT+GRA) did not break up
      the complexes composed of manganese peroxidase (MnP) and these substrates, they
      had different effects on the native contacts between the substrates and MnP. GRA
      tended to decrease the overall stability of the binding between MnP and its
      substrates. SWCNT or SWCNT+GRA generally had a minor impact on the mean binding
      energy between MnP and its substrates. We detected some sensitive residues from
      MnP that were dramatically disturbed by the GRA, SWCNT or SWCNT+GRA.
      Nanomaterials changed the number and behavior of water molecules adjacent to both
      MnP and its substrates, which was not due to the destruction of H-bond network
      formed by sensitive regions and water molecules. The present results are useful
      for understanding the molecular basis of pollutant biodegradation affected by the
      nanomaterials in the environment, and are also helpful in assessing the risks of
      these materials to the environment.

PMID- 28586654
TI  - Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of antibiotics in the surface water
      of Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China.
AB  - SPE-UPLC-MS/MS was used to investigate the occurrence of 18 target antibiotics in
      the surface water of Poyang Lake over different seasons of 2014-2015. The maximum
      concentrations of sulfadiazine, oxytetracycline, and doxycycline were 56.2, 48.7,
      and 39.7 ng/L, respectively. Compared with those in the other lakes or surface
      waters, the surface water of Poyang Lake contained moderate or below-average
      levels of antibiotics. The significantly lower concentrations (P < 0.01) of
      roxithromycin in June 2015 likely resulted from the dilution effect of water flow
      during the flood season. Antibiotic concentrations were higher in site P3-1 than
      in other sites (P < 0.01), whereas those in other sites (P1-1, P2-1, P5-1, P6-1,
      P7-1, P13-1, P16-1, P17-1, P18-1) were not significantly different (P > 0.05).
      Given that tetracyclines and sulfonamides are common veterinary medicines, the
      high concentrations of oxytetracycline, doxycycline, and sulfadiazine in site P3
      1 might be closely related to agricultural production in the surrounding areas.
      The risk assessment of the main antibiotic contaminants revealed that the
      majority of the risk quotients of the target antibiotics were below 0.01, thereby
      indicating the minimal risk of these antibiotics to organisms at three different
      trophic levels. Sulfadimidine and sulfadiazine were identified as the main
      antibiotics that contribute to ecological risk in Poyang Lake, and that the
      daphnid is the main model organism exposed to these risks. This study provides
      important data for antibiotic pollution control and environmental protection in
      the study area and enriches environmental monitoring data on a global scale.

PMID- 28586655
TI  - Short-term social memory deficits in adult female mice exposed to tannery
      effluent and possible mechanism of action.
AB  - The accumulated organic residues in tannery-plant courtyards are an eating
      attraction to small rodents; however, the contact of these animals with these
      residues may change their social behavior. Thus, the aim of the present study is
      to investigate whether the exposure to tannery effluent (TE) can damage the
      social recognition memory of female Swiss mice, as well as to assess whether
      vitamin C supplementation could provide information about how TE constituents can
      damage these animals' memory. We have observed that resident females exposed to
      TE (without vitamin supplementation) did not explore the anogenital region, their
      body or chased intruding females for shorter time or with lower frequency during
      the retest session of the social recognition test, fact that indicates social
      recognition memory deficit in these animals. Such finding is reinforced by the
      confirmation that there was no change in the animals' olfactory function during
      the buried food test, or locomotor changes in females exposed to the pollutant.
      Since no behavioral change was observed in the females exposed to TE and treated
      with vitamin C (before or after the exposure), it is possible saying that these
      social cognitive impairments seem to be directly related to the imbalance between
      the cellular production of reactive oxygen species and the counteracting
      antioxidant mechanisms (oxidative stress) in female mice exposed to the pollutant
      (without vitamin supplementation). Therefore, the present study evidences that
      the direct contact with tannery effluent, even for a short period-of-time, may
      cause short-term social memory deficits in adult female Swiss mice.

PMID- 28586656
TI  - Heterologous expression of mlrA gene originated from Novosphingobium sp. THN1 to
      degrade microcystin-RR and identify the first step involved in degradation
      pathway.
AB  - Information on the catalytic role of mlrA gene-encoded enzyme (MlrA) in
      microcystin-RR (MC-RR) biodegradation was limited. This study succeeded in
      expressing mlrA homolog of Novosphingobium sp. THN1 in heterologous host for the
      first time, by constructing a recombinant bacterium. Mass spectrometric analysis
      showed that the recombinant MlrA hydrolyzed MC-RR into linear intermediate
      product by cleaving the peptide bond between Adda and arginine residue, greatly
      detoxifying MC-RR. This finding clearly manifested that the MlrA homolog of THN1
      strain possesses its original catalytic function, and ring-opening constituted
      the first step in MC-RR biodegradation pathway of THN1 strain. Moreover, MC-RR
      degradation by intact recombinant cells and cell-free crude enzyme (CE) from
      recombinant was compared. Results exhibited that intact recombinant was able to
      degrade 20 MUg mL-1 MC-RR more quickly than CE, with the maximum rate of 9.22 MUg
      mL-1 h-1 in the first 8 h. Thus, this study provided new insights on the
      catalytic activity and roles of MlrA originated from THN1 strain in MC-RR
      biodegradation process, which lay a foundation for efficiently removing and
      detoxifying MC-RR, and exploring downstream steps in MC-RR biodegradation pathway
      of THN1 strain.

PMID- 28586657
TI  - The use of carbon adsorbents for the removal of perfluoroalkyl acids from potable
      reuse systems.
AB  - Bench- and pilot-scale sorption tests were used to probe the performance of
      several biochars at removing perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA) from field waters,
      compared to granular activated carbon (GAC). Screening tests using organic matter
      free water resulted in hardwood (HWC) (Kd = 41 L g-1) and pinewood (PWC) (Kd = 49
      L g-1) biochars having the highest perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) removal
      performance that was comparable to bituminous coal GAC (Kd = 41 L g-1). PWC and
      HWC had a stronger affinity for PFOA sorbed in Lake Mead surface water (KF = 11
      mg(1-n) Ln g-1) containing a lower (2 mg L-1) dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
      concentration than in a tertiary-filtered wastewater (KF = 8 mg(1-n) Ln g-1) with
      DOC of 4.9 mg L-1. A pilot-scale study was performed using three parallel
      adsorbers (GAC, anthracite, and HWC biochar) treating the same tertiary-filtered
      wastewater. Compared to HWC, and anthracite, GAC was the most effective in
      mitigating perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPnA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PHxA), PFOA,
      perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and DOC (45-67% removed at 4354 bed
      volumes) followed by HWC, and then anthracite. Based on bench- and pilot-scale
      results, shorter-chain PFAA [perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), PFPnA, or PFHxA] were
      more difficult to remove with both biochar and GAC than the longer-chain, PFOS
      and PFOA.

PMID- 28586658
TI  - Beauty Requires Thought.

PMID- 28586659
TI  - A Simple Computational Model of the Bee Mushroom Body Can Explain Seemingly
      Complex Forms of Olfactory Learning and Memory.

PMID- 28586660
TI  - Seminal fluid.
AB  - Seminal fluid does more than transport sperm. Hopkins et al., describe the
      diverse features and functions of seminal fluid, and its role in evolution and
      medicine.

PMID- 28586661
TI  - Mucus-secreting lips offer protection to suction-feeding corallivorous fishes.
AB  - Of the 6,000 reef fish species, only 128 feed on corals [1,2]. Despite being
      widely available on tropical reefs, corals appear to represent a particularly
      challenging trophic resource, with mucus- and nematocyst-laden tissues spread
      over a sharp coral skeleton. Here we report that coral-feeding tubelip wrasses
      use highly modified lips to suck material from the coral surface. These lips have
      a specialized mushroom-like lamellar epithelium that secretes mucus. This mucus
      may facilitate suction and reduce damage by nematocysts in a manner akin to
      anemonefishes. The remarkable lip specializations observed in tubelip wrasses
      highlight the potential role of soft tissues in shaping the trophic ability of
      fishes.

PMID- 28586662
TI  - Evolution: Of X-Cells and X-Men.
AB  - Humans are obsessed with labels, constantly seeking to name and categorise
      unknowns, or 'X-things'. DNA sequencing has finally solved the identity of
      mysterious X-cells associated with tumours in marine fish, but how should we
      approach X in people?

PMID- 28586663
TI  - Neural Coding: Bumps on the Move.
AB  - By meticulously deconstructing the Drosophila head-direction neural circuit, two
      recent studies have revealed the mechanism of how the fly's body rotations are
      translated into a continuously updated internal compass representation.

PMID- 28586664
TI  - Flagellum Length Control: How Long Is Long Enough?
AB  - The bacterial flagellum is an organelle that self-assembles outside the cell
      body. Recent work has uncovered the mechanism for length control of this self
      assembly process.

PMID- 28586665
TI  - Cerebellar Granule Cells: Dense, Rich and Evolving Representations.
AB  - For half a century it was assumed that granule cells use ultra-sparse encoding,
      but now in vivo calcium-imaging studies have shown that large ensembles of
      granule cells provide dense signals, which themselves evolve and adapt during
      training.

PMID- 28586666
TI  - Prefrontal Cortex: A Mystery of Belated Memories.
AB  - A recent study suggests that the prefrontal cortex gradually becomes critical as
      a storage site for remotely acquired memories. How do we interpret this
      observation in light of the well-known functional role of the prefrontal cortex
      in cognition and memory?

PMID- 28586667
TI  - Cell Biology: Control of Partner Lifetime in a Plant-Fungus Relationship.
AB  - Arbuscules are tree-shaped fungal structures inside plant root cells that
      facilitate the exchange of nutrients delivered by the fungus with carbon sources
      from the host. To maintain symbiotic efficiency, plant cells can trigger
      degeneration of underperforming arbuscules. A recent study reveals the first
      transcription factor, which induces genes encoding hydrolytic enzymes, to mediate
      arbuscule degeneration.

PMID- 28586668
TI  - Neuroscience: Formation of a Percept in the Rat Cortex.
AB  - It has long been known that we subjectively experience longer stimuli as being
      more intense. A recent study sheds light on the neural mechanisms underlying this
      bias by tracking the formation of a percept of intensity in the rat brain.

PMID- 28586669
TI  - Evolution: Contingent Predictability in Mammalian Evolution.
AB  - Convergence of distantly related species to similar forms speaks to the
      predictability of evolution, but we still lack general insights into whether
      convergence is more common or rare than we would expect. Using a global dataset
      of mammalian species, Mazel and colleagues find that both convergence and
      divergence occur more often than expected. Convergence was especially common at
      broad scales that involved Australia, speaking to the extraordinary replicate
      mammalian communities found there.

PMID- 28586670
TI  - Hippocampus: Activity-Driven Maturation of Neural Circuits for Navigation.
AB  - New research reveals that neural activity is required for post-natal maturation
      of hippocampal neural circuits underlying memory and navigation; this activity
      dependent maturation occurs sequentially along the classic 'tri-synaptic'
      pathway, following the direction of information flow found in the adult
      hippocampus.

PMID- 28586671
TI  - Trends and frontiers for the science and management of the oceans.
AB  - People have an enduring fascination with the biology of the oceans. When the
      BBC's 'Blue Planet' series first aired on British television almost a quarter of
      the nation tuned in. As the diversity of science in this special issue of Current
      Biology attests, the ocean presents a challenging environment for study while
      also exhibiting some of the most profound and disruptive symptoms of global
      change. Marine science has made major advances in the past few decades, which
      were primarily made possible through important technological innovations. This
      progress notwithstanding, there are persistent challenges in achieving an
      understanding of marine processes at appropriate scales and delivering meaningful
      insights to guide ocean policy and management. Naturally, the examples chosen
      below betray my ecological leanings, but I hope that many of the issues raised
      resonate with readers in many different disciplines.

PMID- 28586672
TI  - Seagrass meadows.
AB  - Seagrass meadows are an important and threatened ecosystem.

PMID- 28586673
TI  - Marine microplastics.
AB  - Galloway and Lewis discuss marine microplastics and their devastating effects on
      ocean ecosystems.

PMID- 28586674
TI  - Prochlorococcus.
AB  - Move over plants-make way for tiny Prochlorococcus, the smallest and most
      abundant photosynthetic cell on earth! Penny Chisholm tells us all about this
      powerhouse marine bacterium.

PMID- 28586675
TI  - Seabirds.
AB  - In this Quick Guide, Votier and Sherley explain how diverse seabirds play
      important roles in ecosystem functioning, global nutrient cycling and climate
      regulation, but are declining in the face of multiple threats.

PMID- 28586676
TI  - Hydrothermal vents.
AB  - William Brazelton introduces deep sea hydrothermal vents and the unusual life
      forms they host.

PMID- 28586677
TI  - Cryptobenthic reef fishes.
AB  - Christopher Goatley and Simon Bran introduce the 'hidden' small fishes found on
      coral reefs.

PMID- 28586678
TI  - Polar oceans in a changing climate.
AB  - Most of Earth's surface is blue or white, but how much of each would depend on
      the time of observation. Our planet has been through phases of snowball (all
      frozen), greenhouse (all liquid seas) and icehouse (frozen and liquid). Even
      during current icehouse conditions, the extent of ice versus water has changed
      considerably between ice ages and interglacial periods. Water has been vital for
      life on Earth and has driven and been influenced by transitions between
      greenhouse and icehouse. However, neither the possession of water nor having
      liquid and frozen seas are unique to Earth (Figure 1). Frozen water oceans on the
      moons Enceladus and Europa (and possibly others) and the liquid and frozen
      hydrocarbon oceans on Titan probably represent the most likely areas to find
      extraterrestrial life. We know very little about life in Earth's polar oceans,
      yet they are the engine of the thermohaline 'conveyor-belt', driving global
      circulation of heat, oxygen, carbon and nutrients as well as setting sea level
      through change in ice-mass balance. In regions of polar seas, where surface water
      is particularly cold and dense, it sinks to generate a tropic-ward flow on the
      ocean floor of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Cold water holds more
      gas, so this sinking water exports O2 and nutrients, thereby supporting life in
      the deep sea, as well as soaking up CO2 from the atmosphere. Water from mid
      depths at lower latitudes flows in to replace the sinking polar surface water.
      This brings heat. The poles are cold because they receive the least energy from
      the sun, and this extreme light climate varies on many different time scales. To
      us, the current warm, interglacial conditions seem normal, yet such phases have
      represented only ~10% of Homo sapiens' existence. Variations in Earth's orbit (so
      called 'Milankovitch cycles') have driven cyclical alternation of glaciations
      (ice ages) and warmer interglacials. Despite this, Earth's polar regions have
      been our planet's most environmentally constant surface regions for several
      millions of years, with most land ice-covered and much of the ocean seasonally
      freezing. The two poles have much in common, such as light climate, temperature
      and water viscosity, winter calm and summer (iceberg and storm) disturbance and
      resources. However, they are also regions of striking contrasts: the Arctic Ocean
      is near surrounded by land compared with the Antarctic continent, which is
      surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Polar oceans contrast in size, age, isolation,
      depth, oceanography, biology and human factors, such as governance and human
      habitation. The simplest foodwebs with the smallest residents live on the 1% of
      Antarctica that is ice free, whilst the largest animals that have ever lived on
      Earth (Blue and Fin whales) feed in the Arctic and Southern Oceans.

PMID- 28586679
TI  - The deep-sea under global change.
AB  - The deep ocean encompasses 95% of the oceans' volume and is the largest and least
      explored biome of Earth's Biosphere. New life forms are continuously being
      discovered. The physiological mechanisms allowing organisms to adapt to extreme
      conditions of the deep ocean (high pressures, from very low to very high
      temperatures, food shortage, lack of solar light) are still largely unknown. Some
      deep-sea species have very long life-spans, whereas others can tolerate toxic
      compounds at high concentrations; these characteristics offer an opportunity to
      explore the specialized biochemical and physiological mechanisms associated with
      these responses. Widespread symbiotic relationships play fundamental roles in
      driving host functions, nutrition, health, and evolution. Deep-sea organisms
      communicate and interact through sound emissions, chemical signals and
      bioluminescence. Several giants of the oceans hunt exclusively at depth, and new
      studies reveal a tight connection between processes in the shallow water and some
      deep-sea species. Limited biological knowledge of the deep-sea limits our
      capacity to predict future response of deep-sea organisms subject to increasing
      human pressure and changing global environmental conditions. Molecular tools,
      sensor-tagged animals, in situ and laboratory experiments, and new technologies
      can enable unprecedented advancement of deep-sea biology, and facilitate the
      sustainable management of deep ocean use under global change.

PMID- 28586680
TI  - Emergence of modern marine ecosystems.
AB  - The structure and function of marine ecosystems are not fixed. Instead, major
      innovations - from the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis, to the evolution of
      reefs or of deep bioturbation, to the rise of pelagic calcifiers - have changed
      biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem dynamics. As a result, modern marine
      ecosystems are fundamentally different from those in the distant past.

PMID- 28586681
TI  - Ocean currents and marine life.
AB  - Ocean currents have many profound impacts on marine life, moving not only animals
      and plants around the ocean but also redistributing heat and nutrients. While
      some of these impacts have been well known for many decades, there have been
      major recent developments in this area. Biologists are increasingly collaborating
      with physical oceanographers. At the same time, methods to accurately predict
      ocean currents and their variability have improved over a broad range of spatial
      and temporal scales. Emerging from these initiatives is an understanding of how
      currents impact the connectivity of marine populations, how they influence the
      migration of strong swimmers, including whales and turtles, and how changing
      currents, as part of global climate change, may re-shape entire communities.

PMID- 28586683
TI  - Plankton.
AB  - Plankton comprises unicellular plants - phytoplankton - and generally small
      (millimetres or less) animals - zooplankton - that are adrift on the currents.
      Phytoplankton are responsible for about 45% of global annual primary production
      and are grazed by zooplankton, which in turn are suitably sized food items for
      predators including commercially important fish and great whales. Plankton are
      vital components of marine and freshwater water-column ecosystems. They also make
      major contributions to global biogeochemical cycling, and ameliorate atmospheric
      accumulation of carbon dioxide by 'pumping' carbon to the deep sea. The integrity
      of these roles is under threat from climate-related physiological impacts on
      individual organisms and on the wide-scale distribution of plankton communities.

PMID- 28586682
TI  - Nutrients that limit growth in the ocean.
AB  - Phytoplankton form the basis of the marine food web and are responsible for
      approximately half of global carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation (~ 50 Pg of carbon per
      year). Thus, these microscopic, photosynthetic organisms are vital in controlling
      the atmospheric CO2 concentration and Earth's climate. Phytoplankton are
      dependent on sunlight and their CO2-fixation activity is therefore restricted to
      the upper, sunlit surface ocean (that is, the euphotic zone). CO2 usually does
      not limit phytoplankton growth due to its high concentration in seawater.
      However, the vast majority of oceanic surface waters are depleted in inorganic
      nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and/or silica; nutrients that limit primary production
      in the ocean (Figure 1). Phytoplankton growth is mainly supported by either the
      recycling of nutrients or by reintroduction of nutrients from deeper waters by
      mixing. A small percentage of primary production, though, is fueled by 'external'
      or 'new' nutrients and it is these nutrients that determine the amount of carbon
      that can be sequestered long term in the deep ocean. For most nutrients such as
      phosphorus, iron, and silica, the external supply is limited to atmospheric
      deposition and/or coastal and riverine inputs, whereas their main sink is the
      sedimentation of particulate matter. Nitrogen, however, has an additional,
      biological source, the fixation of N2 gas, as well as biological sinks via the
      processes of denitrification and anammox. Despite the comparatively small
      contributions to the overall turnover of nutrients in the ocean, it is these
      biological processes that determine the ocean's capacity to sequester CO2 from
      the atmosphere on time scales of ocean circulation (~ 1000 years). This primer
      will highlight shifts in the traditional paradigms of nutrient limitation in the
      ocean, with a focus on the uniqueness of the nitrogen cycling and its biological
      sources and sinks.

PMID- 28586685
TI  - Marine microbial diversity.
AB  - Invisible to the naked eye, yet dominating life with some 1030 cells, bacteria
      and archaea (referred to herein as 'microbes') play key roles in the global
      cycling of nutrients, matter and energy in our oceans. Having experimented for
      over 3.5 billion years since their first appearance, they are true master
      chemists that are capable of carrying out the most diverse and complex of
      chemical reactions. One of the most abundant groups, cyanobacteria, converts
      light into chemical energy by fixing carbon dioxide into organic matter. Part of
      this fixed carbon is consumed by higher trophic levels, while another fraction
      sinks to the deep sediments where, over geological time scales, it fossilizes
      into the natural resources that we tap into for our everyday lives. Despite our
      knowledge of their global importance and significant recent advances in marine
      microbiome research (Figure 1), some of the most fundamental questions still
      remain unanswered, and serve as active drivers of current research in this field:
      How many microbes are out there, and how many different types? What are they?
      What are their functional roles? How are they globally distributed? How do they
      adapt to varying environmental conditions and how will they respond to future
      environmental changes? This Primer provides a brief overview on how these
      questions have been addressed in the context of developing technologies. We
      discuss new insights, as well as new concepts and more refined questions, and we
      highlight some of the future promises and challenges that lie ahead.

PMID- 28586684
TI  - Herbivory in the marine realm.
AB  - Herbivory occurs when animals consume plants; but the term hides two
      fundamentally different processes. One relates to the animal's nutrition, the
      other to the plant's survival and abundance. Both are central to the ecological
      process called herbivory. Evolutionary innovations in herbivore function have
      shaped shallow marine ecosystems from kelp forests to coral reefs.

PMID- 28586686
TI  - Vision and lack of vision in the ocean.
AB  - As land-locked animals, when we visualise the ocean our mind's eye may see
      crashing waves or a vast blue expanse stretching to the horizon, a raft of
      torpedoing penguins, a glimpse of colourful coral reef fish from the shark-free
      safety of a sandy beach. Underwater, the crystal-clear, and in fact not at all
      silent, world of Jacques Cousteau, or more recently David Attenborough, is a
      wonderland that some cannot wait to witness first hand as divers, while others
      are content to see it on a screen. Spend a bit of time underwater, in the English
      Channel for example, and a few facts emerge. Most obviously, much of this
      underwater realm is visually very different to land and indeed to the cherry
      picked clear waters of documentaries. It may be disappointingly murky and
      monochromatic. Perhaps surprisingly, therefore, on close inspection the diversity
      of eye designs and light sensing mechanisms that evolved in the ocean are more
      varied than on land, reflecting the greater range of light environments and
      lifestyles of the marine world. Particularly in the last ten years, the
      destructive influence we are having on the oceans has become visibly obvious, not
      just to fisheries biologists and ecologists, but to anyone returning to a
      favourite dive spot or reef resort. Climate change, as a result of burning fossil
      fuels, human greed and carelessness with plastic disposal, are rapidly degrading
      entire oceanic ecosystems.

PMID- 28586687
TI  - Marine bioacoustics.
AB  - The marine environment is the planet's largest, yet in many respects the least
      accessible. Our human sensory repertoire, with its emphasis on vision and air
      adapted hearing, does not serve us well underwater. Underwater vision is often
      limited and as divers we find hearing of little, or no, use. Yet we know from the
      physics that underwater sound has properties well suited to serve as sensory and
      communication channels for suitably-adapted marine animals. The rapidly
      developing area of marine bioacoustics seeks to characterise underwater sound in
      relation to the acoustic capability of particular species (acoustic habitat), and
      discover the role of acoustics in the lives of marine animals (acoustic ecology)
      (Clarke et al., 2011).

PMID- 28586688
TI  - Marine ecosystem services.
AB  - Coastal and marine environments can begin up to 100 kilometers inland, extend to
      the continental shelf, and include ocean systems with waters up to 50 meters in
      depth. The distinct marine ecosystems found in these environments include
      estuarine and coastal wetlands, such as marshes and mangroves, sand beaches and
      dunes, seagrass beds, and coral and oyster reefs.

PMID- 28586689
TI  - Marine Biodiversity, Biogeography, Deep-Sea Gradients, and Conservation.
AB  - The oceans appear ideal for biodiversity - they have unlimited water, a large
      area, are well connected, have less extreme temperatures than on land, and
      contain more phyla and classes than land and fresh waters. Yet only 16% of all
      named species on Earth are marine. Species richness decreases with depth in the
      ocean, reflecting wider geographic ranges of deep sea than coastal species. Here,
      we assess how many marine species are named and estimated to exist, paying
      particular regard to whether discoveries of deep-sea organisms, microbes and
      parasites will change the proportion of terrestrial to marine species. We then
      review what factors have led to species diversification, and how this knowledge
      informs conservation priorities. The implications of this understanding for
      marine conservation are that the species most vulnerable to extinction will be
      large and endemic. Unfortunately, these species are also the most threatened by
      human impacts. Such threats now extend globally, and thus the only refuges for
      these species will be large, permanent, fully protected marine reserves.

PMID- 28586690
TI  - The Vulnerability and Resilience of Reef-Building Corals.
AB  - Reef-building corals provide the foundation for the structural and biological
      diversity of coral-reef ecosystems. These massive biological structures, which
      can be seen from space, are the culmination of complex interactions between the
      tiny polyps of the coral animal in concert with its unicellular symbiotic algae
      and a wide diversity of closely associated microorganisms (bacteria, archaea,
      fungi, and viruses). While reef-building corals have persisted in various forms
      for over 200 million years, human-induced conditions threaten their function and
      persistence. The scope for loss associated with the destruction of coral reef
      systems is economically, biologically, physically and culturally immense. Here,
      we provide a micro-to-macro perspective on the biology of scleractinian corals
      and discuss how cellular processes of the host and symbionts potentially affect
      the response of these reef builders to the wide variety of both natural and
      anthropogenic stressors encountered by corals in the Anthropocene. We argue that
      the internal physicochemical settings matter to both the performance of the host
      and microbiome, as bio-physical feedbacks may enhance stress tolerance through
      environmentally mediated host priming and effects on microbiome ecological and
      evolutionary dynamics.

PMID- 28586691
TI  - Marine Protists Are Not Just Big Bacteria.
AB  - The study of marine microbial ecology has been completely transformed by
      molecular and genomic data: after centuries of relative neglect, genomics has
      revealed the surprising extent of microbial diversity and how microbial processes
      transform ocean and global ecosystems. But the revolution is not complete: major
      gaps in our understanding remain, and one obvious example is that microbial
      eukaryotes, or protists, are still largely neglected. Here we examine various
      ways in which protists might be better integrated into models of marine microbial
      ecology, what challenges this will present, and why understanding the limitations
      of our tools is a significant concern. In part this is a technical challenge -
      eukaryotic genomes are more difficult to characterize - but eukaryotic
      adaptations are also more dependent on morphology and behaviour than they are on
      the metabolic diversity that typifies bacteria, and these cannot be inferred from
      genomic data as readily as metabolism can be. We therefore cannot simply follow
      in the methodological footsteps of bacterial ecology and hope for similar
      success. Understanding microbial eukaryotes will require different approaches,
      including greater emphasis on taxonomically and trophically diverse model
      systems. Molecular sequencing will continue to play a role, and advances in
      environmental sequence tag studies and single-cell methods for genomic and
      transcriptomics offer particular promise.

PMID- 28586692
TI  - Functional Innovations and the Conquest of the Oceans by Acanthomorph Fishes.
AB  - The world's oceans are home to many fantastic creatures, including about 16,000
      species of actinopterygian, or ray-finned, fishes. Notably, 85% of marine fish
      species come from a single actinopterygian subgroup, the acanthomorph or spiny
      rayed fishes. Here, we review eight functional innovations found in marine
      acanthomorphs that have been instrumental in the adaptive radiation of this group
      in the marine realm. Jaw protrusion substantially enhances the suction feeding
      mechanism found in all fish. Fin spines serve as a major deterrent to predators
      and enhance the locomotor function of fins. Pharyngognathy, a specialization of
      the second pair of jaws in the pharynx, enhances the ability of fishes to process
      hard and tough prey. Endothermy allows fishes to function at high levels of
      physiological performance in cold waters and facilitates frequent movement across
      strong thermal gradients found in the open ocean. Intramandibular joints enhance
      feeding for fishes that bite and scrape prey attached to hard surfaces.
      Antifreeze proteins prevent ice crystal growth in extracellular fluids, allowing
      fish to function in cold waters that would otherwise freeze them. Air-breathing
      allowed fishes at the water's edge to exploit terrestrial habitats. Finally,
      bioluminescence functions in communication, attracting prey and in hiding from
      predators, particularly for fishes of the deep ocean. All of these innovations
      have evolved multiple times in fishes. The frequent occurrence of convergent
      evolution of these complex functional novelties speaks to the persistence and
      potency of the selective forces in marine environments that challenge fishes and
      stimulate innovation.

PMID- 28586693
TI  - The Ecological Rise of Whales Chronicled by the Fossil Record.
AB  - The evolution of cetaceans is one of the best examples of macroevolution
      documented from the fossil record. While ecological transitions dominate each
      phase of cetacean history, this context is rarely stated explicitly. The first
      major ecological phase involves a transition from riverine and deltaic
      environments to marine ones, concomitant with dramatic evolutionary
      transformations documented in their early fossil record. The second major phase
      involves ecological shifts associated with evolutionary innovations: echolocation
      (facilitating hunting prey at depth) and filter-feeding (enhancing foraging
      efficiency on small prey). This latter phase involves body size shifts,
      attributable to changes in foraging depth and environmental forcing, as well as
      re-invasions of freshwater systems on continental basins by multiple lineages.
      Modern phenomena driving cetacean ecology, such as trophic dynamics and arms
      races, have an evolutionary basis that remains mostly unexamined. The fossil
      record of cetaceans provides an historical basis for understanding current
      ecological mechanisms and consequences, especially as global climate change
      rapidly alters ocean and river ecosystems at rates and scales comparable to those
      over geologic time.

PMID- 28586694
TI  - Challenges and Priorities in Shark and Ray Conservation.
AB  - Sharks, rays, and chimaeras (Class Chondrichthyes; herein 'sharks') are the
      earliest extant jawed vertebrates and exhibit some of the greatest functional
      diversity of all vertebrates. Ecologically, they influence energy transfer
      vertically through trophic levels and sometimes trophic cascades via direct
      consumption and predation risk. Through movements and migrations, they connect
      horizontally and temporally across habitats and ecosystems, integrating energy
      flows at large spatial scales and across time. This connectivity flows from
      ontogenetic growth in size and spatial movements, which in turn underpins their
      relatively low reproductive rates compared with other exploited ocean fishes.
      Sharks are also ecologically and demographically diverse and are taken in a wide
      variety of fisheries for multiple products (e.g. meat, fins, teeth, and gills).
      Consequently, a range of fisheries management measures are generally preferable
      to 'silver bullet' and 'one size fits all' conservation actions. Some species
      with extremely low annual reproductive output can easily become endangered and
      hence require strict protections to minimize mortality. Other, more prolific
      species can withstand fishing over the long term if catches are subject to
      effective catch limits throughout the species' range. We identify, based on the
      IUCN Red List status, 64 endangered species in particular need of new or stricter
      protections and 514 species in need of improvements to fisheries management. We
      designate priority countries for such actions, recognizing the widely differing
      fishing pressures and conservation capacity. We hope that this analysis assists
      efforts to ensure this group of ecologically important and evolutionarily
      distinct animals can support both ocean ecosystems and human activities in the
      future.

PMID- 28586695
TI  - Brief note: Applying developmental intergroup perspectives to the social
      ecologies of bullying: Lessons from developmental social psychology.
AB  - Over the past decades, the field of bullying research has seen dramatic growth,
      notably with the integration of the social-ecological approach to understanding
      bullying. Recently, researchers (Hymel et al., 2015; Hawley & Williford, 2015)
      have called for further extension of the field by incorporating constructs of
      group processes into our investigation of the social ecologies of bullying. This
      brief note details the critical connections between power, social identity, group
      norms, social and moral reasoning about discrimination and victimization, and
      experiences of, evaluations of, and responses to bullying. The authors highlight
      a parallel development in the bridging of developmental social-ecological and
      social psychological perspectives utilized in the field of social exclusion that
      provides a roadmap for extending the larger field of bullying research. This
      article is part of a Special Issue entitled [VSI: Bullying] IG000050.

PMID- 28586696
TI  - Precision and accuracy of the new XPrecia Stride mobile coagulometer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) with coumarins (vitamin K
      antagonist) is the most used against thromboembolism. Prothrombin time (PT)
      International Normalized Ratio (INR) monitoring is fundamental to establish
      coumarins dosage and prevent bleeding complications or thrombotic events. In this
      contest, the method and apparatus used for providing the INR measurements are
      crucial. Several studies have been published regarding the precision and accuracy
      of mobile coagulometers with different conclusions. No studies have been
      published regarding the new XPrecia Stride Mobile Coagulometer (Siemens). The aim
      of this work is to analyze precision and accuracy of the new XPrecia Stride
      mobile coagulometer to provide recommendations for clinical use and quality
      control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 163 patients (mean age=77.4years old)
      under Warfarin OAT for whom the INR was assessed by both the traditional cs 2100i
      Sysmex and the new Xprecia Stride Mobile Coagulometer were included in this pilot
      study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The precision of the new mobile coagulometer
      resulted very good (CV<3%). The analytical accuracy was also within the
      acceptable ranges of reliability (Lin's concordance=0.962). Finally, the clinical
      accuracy was also acceptable (deviation>15% from the true value in 20% of cases).
      Considering the overall results obtained by the new Xprecia Stride in comparison
      to that ones obtained from the other commercial devices, we can conclude that the
      new coagulometer is enough reliable for clinical settings. However, a larger
      trial to confirm these data is needed.

PMID- 28586697
TI  - The diagnostic management of upper extremity deep vein thrombosis: A review of
      the literature.
AB  - Upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEDVT) accounts for 4% to 10% of all cases
      of deep vein thrombosis. UEDVT may present with localized pain, erythema, and
      swelling of the arm, but may also be detected incidentally by diagnostic imaging
      tests performed for other reasons. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is crucial to
      prevent pulmonary embolism and long-term complications as the post-thrombotic
      syndrome of the arm. Unlike the diagnostic management of deep vein thrombosis
      (DVT) of the lower extremities, which is well established, the work-up of
      patients with clinically suspected UEDVT remains uncertain with limited evidence
      from studies of small size and poor methodological quality. Currently, only one
      prospective study evaluated the use of an algorithm, similar to the one used for
      DVT of the lower extremities, for the diagnostic workup of clinically suspected
      UEDVT. The algorithm combined clinical probability assessment, D-dimer testing
      and ultrasonography and appeared to safely and effectively exclude UEDVT.
      However, before recommending its use in routine clinical practice, external
      validation of this strategy and improvements of the efficiency are needed,
      especially in high-risk subgroups in whom the performance of the algorithm
      appeared to be suboptimal, such as hospitalized or cancer patients. In this
      review, we critically assess the accuracy and efficacy of current diagnostic
      tools and provide clinical guidance for the diagnostic management of clinically
      suspected UEDVT.

PMID- 28586698
TI  - Multiscale characterization of the hierarchical structure of Dynastes hercules
      elytra.
AB  - Beetle elytra are thickened forewings, they are lightweight and tough to protect
      the hindwings without hindering flight capacities. Dynastes hercules elytra are
      known for their hygrochromic properties. However, the whole structure of the
      elytron remains to be characterized. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM),
      Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and to our knowledge for the first time X
      Ray tomography were undertaken on adult male Dynastes hercules to characterize
      their multi-scale structure. Trabeculae present a periodic arrangement over a
      short distance. Two inferred models describe the heights of plies in endocuticles
      of dorsal and ventral cuticles. We hypothesize that this study could provide
      inspiration for biomimetic materials.

PMID- 28586699
TI  - Measuring anxiety in depressed patients: A comparison of the Hamilton anxiety
      rating scale and the DSM-5 Anxious Distress Specifier Interview.
AB  - DSM-5 included criteria for an anxious distress specifier for major depressive
      disorder (MDD). In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve
      Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project we examined whether a measure
      of the specifier, the DSM-5 Anxious Distress Specifier Interview (DADSI), was as
      valid as the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) as a measure of the severity of
      anxiety in depressed patients. Two hundred three psychiatric patients with MDD
      were interviewed by trained diagnostic raters who administered the Structured
      Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) supplemented with questions to rate the
      DADSI, HAMA, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD). The patients completed
      self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and irritability. Sensitivity to
      change was examined in 30 patients. The DADSI and HAMA were significantly
      correlated (r = 0.60, p < 0.001). Both the DADSI and HAMA were more highly
      correlated with measures of anxiety than with measures of the other symptom
      domains. The HAMD was significantly more highly correlated with the HAMA than
      with the DADSI. For each anxiety disorder, patients with the disorder scored
      significantly higher on both the DADSI and HAMA than did patients with no current
      anxiety disorder. A large effect size of treatment was found for both measures
      (DADSI: d = 1.48; HAMA: d = 1.37). Both the DADSI and HAMA were valid measures of
      anxiety severity in depressed patients, though the HAMA was more highly
      confounded with measures of depression than the DADSI. The DADSI is briefer than
      the HAMA, and may be more feasible to use in clinical practice.

PMID- 28586700
TI  - Injection into the jugular vein among people who inject drugs in the United
      Kingdom: Prevalence, associated factors and harms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While people who inject drugs (PWID) typically use peripheral veins,
      some inject into their central veins, including the femoral and jugular veins.
      Injection into the jugular vein can have serious adverse health consequences,
      including jugular vein thrombosis, deep neck infections, pneumothorax,
      endocarditis and sepsis. This study examined the prevalence of, and factors
      associated with, jugular vein injection among a large sample of PWID in the
      United Kingdom. METHOD: Unlinked anonymous surveys (2011-14) recruited PWID from
      agencies providing services to this population. Self-reported demographic and
      injection-related data were collected from consenting respondents using a brief
      questionnaire and dried blood spot samples were tested for exposure to HIV,
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). Univariate and multivariable
      logistic regression were used to examine factors associated with jugular vein
      injection. RESULTS: Among 5261 PWID, one third had injected into a central vein
      in the previous 28 days, including 6% (n=339) who had injected into their jugular
      vein and 1% (n=52) who had used this site exclusively for recent injections.
      Factors independently associated with recent jugular vein injection in
      multivariable analysis included female gender, a lifetime history of
      imprisonment, sharing needles and syringes, poly-drug injection and injection
      into multiple body sites. Jugular vein injection was also associated with
      experiencing injection-related injuries, although no associations were identified
      with respect to exposure to blood borne viral infections. CONCLUSION: A
      significant minority of PWID inject into the jugular vein in the United Kingdom.
      Public health responses should investigate ways to support and promote good
      injection site management in order to minimise vascular damage and reduce
      problems with peripheral venous access. Women who inject drugs, PWID with a
      history of imprisonment and those people who are experiencing early signs of
      injection-related skin and soft tissue injuries are priority sub-populations for
      interventions.

PMID- 28586702
TI  - First principle electron transport modeling of Be-doped organic molecular
      junctions.
AB  - The transport properties of beryllium doped anthracene molecular junction are
      investigated using density functional non-equillibrium Green's function method.
      The equilibrium conductance of anthracene Metal-molecule-Metal (MmM) junction
      increases by approximately 77% by adding beryllium impurity to it. The electronic
      transport characteristics under both zero bias as well as finite bias are
      explored of such molecular junction. We observe novel attributes such as
      molecular rectification and NDR behavior for the molecular junction under
      consideration. It is found that the doping effect of Be- atom significantly
      changes the transport properties of aromatic molecular junction. Our findings
      shed light on the electron transport metrics that affect the conductance of MmM
      junctions within appreciable transmission limits. We firmly believe that the
      results deduced in this paper can be generalized for other aromatic molecular
      junctions as well.

PMID- 28586703
TI  - Exploring the potential of boron-doped nanographene as efficient charge transport
      and nonlinear optical material: A first-principles study.
AB  - Owing to their excellent electrochemical properties, graphenes found applications
      in several fields ranging from semiconductors, solar cells, field effect
      transistors, and nanoscale electronic devices as well as in nonlinear optical
      (NLO) applications. The structural features, electro-optical, charge transport
      and nonlinear optical properties of the boron-doped graphene (BG) compound 1 were
      studied using density functional theory methods The BG compound comprises a
      central electron deficient site of boron atoms, which can serve as electron
      acceptor while terminal alkoxy groups as donors leading to powerful donor-pi
      acceptor (D-pi-A) configuration. The experimental crystal structure was
      successfully reproduced by optimized ground state geometry at PBE0/6-311G* level
      of theory for isolated molecule. The experimental lattice parameters, geometries,
      crystal presentation and alignment of molecules in the unit cells as well as
      their packing orientation of BG compound 1 was also efficiently reproduced by
      applying periodic boundary conditions (PBC) at PBE level. The comprehensive
      intramolecular charge transfer (CT) was realized from terminal rings of the HOMO
      to the electron deficient sites of boron atoms of the LUMO. The nature of BG
      compound 1 might be more towards hole transport even though its hole
      reorganization energy is twice than that of the electron one due to the
      significant higher hole transfer integral values. The superior hole transfer
      integrals and intrinsic mobility values of the BG compound 1 might lead
      remarkable hole transport contender as compared to many other organic materials.
      The narrow band gap, density of states profile, dielectric function, uniform
      conductivity functions and noteworthy electronic as well as CT properties
      revealed that the BG compound 1 might be proficient optoelectronic contestant
      having intermolecular CT as well as intramolecular CT with optimal stability. A
      comparison of static third-order polarizability <gamma> of BG compound 1, as
      calculated in present investigation, was also performed with some standard NLO
      molecules as well as graphene nanoflakes. Moreover, longitudinal component
      gammazzzz of parent compound has been found 12 and 4 times larger than those of
      previously reported open-shell poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Interestingly,
      by increasing the donor ability, i.e., introduction of C2H2PhNH2 groups in place
      of OC4H9 groups (BG compound 3) at terminal positions boosts the <gamma>
      amplitude~8 times than that of its parent BG compound 1.

PMID- 28586701
TI  - The extent of and factors associated with self-reported overdose and self
      reported receipt of naloxone among people who inject drugs (PWID) in England,
      Wales and Northern Ireland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overdose is a major cause of death among PWID, and for opioid
      overdoses naloxone administration can reduce harm. However, globally there is
      limited national level data on the extent of non-fatal overdose and naloxone
      uptake. The first national level data on the extent of self-reported overdose and
      self-reported receipt of naloxone among UK PWID, providing a baseline to monitor
      the impact of the recent policy change regarding naloxone availability, is
      presented. METHODS: Data on self-reported overdose and receipt of naloxone during
      the preceding year for 2013-2014 from a national survey of PWID was analysed.
      Participants who reported injecting during the preceding year were included.
      RESULTS: Participants (3850) were predominantly male (75%); mean age was 36
      years. The most commonly injected drugs were: heroin (91%), crack (45%) and
      amphetamine (29%). 15% (591) reported overdosing during the preceding year. There
      were no differences in the proportion reporting overdose by age or gender, but
      overdose was more common among those who: injected multiple drugs; recently
      ceased addiction treatment; injected with used needles/syringes; ever had
      transactional sex; had used a sexual health clinic or emergency department and
      lived in Wales or Northern Ireland. Among those reporting an overdose during the
      preceding year, a third reported two to four overdoses and 7.5% five or more
      overdoses; half reported receiving naloxone. Those reporting naloxone receipt in
      the preceding year were more likely to: live in Wales or Northern Ireland; ever
      received used needles/syringes; ever been imprisoned; and less likely to have
      injected two drug types. CONCLUSION: These data provide a baseline for monitoring
      the impact of the 2015 UK policy change to improve take-home naloxone access.
      Interventions tackling overdose should promote naloxone awareness and access, and
      target those who; are poly-drug injectors, have ceased treatment, share
      needles/syringes and whose drug use links to sexual activity.

PMID- 28586704
TI  - Study of inactive layer uniformity and charge collection efficiency of a p-type
      point-contact germanium detector.
AB  - The characteristics of the surface inactive layer of a 1-kg-mass p-type point
      contact germanium detector were studied. The thickness of the inactive layer and
      its uniformity on the top and lateral surfaces were measured. A charge collection
      efficiency function was developed according to the Monte Carlo simulation to
      describe the charge collection capacity along the depth within this inactive
      layer. In the energy range below 18keV, the surface, bulk, and total spectra of
      57Co, 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co from simulations based on the charge collection
      efficiency function were well consistent with those from experiments.

PMID- 28586705
TI  - Late-onset seizures, underlying etiology and antiepileptic drugs: A gordian knot?

PMID- 28586706
TI  - LGI1-antibody encephalitis is characterised by frequent, multifocal clinical and
      subclinical seizures.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe clinical and electrographic characteristics of seizures LGI1
      antibody encephalitis, and their correlations with two-year outcomes. METHODS:
      Video-electroencephalography recordings were performed on a cohort of 16
      consecutive patients with LGI1-antibodies from two UK neuroscience-centers over
      five-years. RESULTS: From 14 of 16 patients (13 males; age-range 53-92years), 86
      faciobrachial dystonic seizures were recorded at a median frequency of 0.4 per
      hour (range 0.1-9.8), and ictal EEG changes accompanied 5/86 events. In addition,
      11/16 patients showed 53 other seizures - subclinical (n=18), motor (n=16), or
      sensory (n=19) - at a median of 0.1 per hour (range 0.1-2) associated with
      temporal and frontal discharges. The sensory events were most commonly thermal
      sensations or body-shuddering, and the motor events were frequently automatisms
      or vocalisations. Furthermore, multifocal interictal epileptiform discharges,
      from temporal, frontal and parietal regions, and interictal slow-wave activity
      were observed in 25% and 69% of patients, respectively. Higher observed seizure
      frequency correlated with poorer functional recovery at two-years (p=0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Multiple frequent seizure semiologies, in addition to numerous
      subclinical seizures and interictal epileptiform discharges, are hallmarks of
      LGI1-antibody encephalitis. High overall seizure frequency may predict more
      limited long-term recovery. These observations should encourage closer monitoring
      and proactive treatment of seizure activity in these patients.

PMID- 28586708
TI  - Impact of comorbidity on survival by tumour location: Breast, colorectal and lung
      cancer (2000-2014).
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the impact of comorbidity, measured by the Charlson
      Comorbidity Index (CCI), on survival in breast, colorectal and lung cancer.
      METHODS: We identified 3455 breast cancer, 3336 colorectal cancer and 2654 lung
      cancer patients through the Hospital del Mar cancer registry. The prevalence of
      comorbidities according to the CCI was calculated. Kaplan-Meier curves and the
      log-rank test were used to compare survival curves for each cancer location. Cox
      regression was used to calculate survival hazard ratios and 1-, 3- and 5-year
      mortality rate ratios adjusted by age, sex, CCI, place of first consultation,
      stage, treatment and period of diagnosis. RESULTS: The overall unadjusted 5-year
      follow-up survival proportion was 82.6% for breast cancer, 55.7% for colorectal
      cancer, and 16.3% for lung cancer. Overall survival was associated with CCI>=3 in
      breast cancer (HR: 2.33 95%CI: 1.76-3.08), colorectal cancer (HR: 1.39; 95%CI:
      1.13-1.70) and lung cancer (HR: 1.22; 95%CI: 1.06-1.40). In breast cancer, the
      higher the CCI, the higher the adjusted mortality rate ratio and differences were
      greater in 5-year than in 1-year follow-up survival. CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidity is
      a significant predictor of overall survival in cancer patients; however, it has a
      stronger impact on survival in breast cancer than in colorectal and lung cancer.

PMID- 28586707
TI  - Consensus-based guidelines for Video EEG monitoring in the pre-surgical
      evaluation of children with epilepsy in the UK.
AB  - PURPOSE: Paediatric Epilepsy surgery in the UK has recently been centralised in
      order to improve expertise and quality of service available to children. Video
      EEG monitoring or telemetry is a highly specialised and a crucial component of
      the pre-surgical evaluation. Although many Epilepsy Monitoring Units work to
      certain standards, there is no national or international guideline for paediatric
      video telemetry. METHODS: Due to lack of evidence we used a modified Delphi
      process utilizing the clinical and academic expertise of the clinical
      neurophysiology sub-specialty group of Children's Epilepsy Surgical Service
      (CESS) centres in England and Wales. This process consisted of the following
      stages I: Identification of the consensus working group, II: Identification of
      key areas for guidelines, III: Consensus practice points and IV: Final review.
      Statements that gained consensus (median score of either 4 or 5 using a five
      point Likerttype scale) were included in the guideline. RESULTS: Two rounds of
      feedback and amendments were undertaken. The consensus guidelines includes the
      following topics: referral pathways, neurophysiological equipment standards,
      standards of recording techniques, with specific emphasis on safety of video EEG
      monitoring both with and without drug withdrawal, a protocol for testing
      patient's behaviours, data storage and guidelines for writing factual reports and
      conclusions. All statements developed received a median score of 5 and were
      adopted by the group. CONCLUSION: Using a modified Delphi process we were able to
      develop universally-accepted video EEG guidelines for the UK CESS. Although these
      recommendations have been specifically developed for the pre-surgical evaluation
      of children with epilepsy, it is assumed that most components are transferable to
      any paediatric video EEG monitoring setting.

PMID- 28586709
TI  - The motor repertoire in 3- to 5-month old infants with Down syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Even though Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal cause of
      intellectual disability, studies on early development are scarce. AIM: To
      describe movements and postures in 3- to 5-month-old infants with Down syndrome
      and assess the relation between pre- and perinatal risk factors and the eventual
      motor performance. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Exploratory study; 47 infants with
      Down syndrome (26 males, 27 infants born preterm, 22 infants with congenital
      heart disease) were videoed at 10-19 weeks post-term (median=14 weeks). We
      assessed their Motor Optimality Score (MOS) based on postures and movements
      (including fidgety movements) and compared it to that of 47 infants later
      diagnosed with cerebral palsy and 47 infants with a normal neurological outcome,
      matched for gestational and recording ages. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The MOS
      (median=13, range 10-28) was significantly lower than in infants with a normal
      neurological outcome (median=26), but higher than in infants later diagnosed with
      cerebral palsy (median=6). Fourteen infants with Down syndrome showed normal
      fidgety movements, 13 no fidgety movements, and 20 exaggerated, too fast or too
      slow fidgety movements. A lack of movements to the midline and several atypical
      postures were observed. Neither preterm birth nor congenital heart disease was
      related to aberrant fidgety movements or reduced MOS. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: The heterogeneity in fidgety movements and MOS add to an
      understanding of the large variability of the early phenotype of Down syndrome.
      Studies on the predictive values of the early spontaneous motor repertoire,
      especially for the cognitive outcome, are warranted. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: The
      significance of this exploratory study lies in its minute description of the
      motor repertoire of infants with Down syndrome aged 3-5 months. Thirty percent of
      infants with Down syndrome showed age-specific normal fidgety movements. The rate
      of abnormal fidgety movements (large amplitude, high/slow speed) or a lack of
      fidgety movements was exceedingly high. The motor optimality score of infants
      with Down syndrome was lower than in infants with normal neurological outcome but
      higher than in infants who were later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Neither
      preterm birth nor congenital heart disease were related to the motor performance
      at 3-5 months.

PMID- 28586710
TI  - Regulation of gastrulation movements by emergent cell and tissue interactions.
AB  - It is during gastrulation that the primordial germ layers are specified,
      embryonic axes become morphologically manifest, and the embryonic body plan
      begins to take shape. As morphogenetic movements push and pull nascent tissues
      into position within the gastrula, new interactions are established between
      neighboring cells and tissues. These interactions represent an emergent property
      within gastrulating embryos, and serve to regulate and promote ensuing
      morphogenesis that establishes the next set of cell/tissue contacts, and so on.
      Several recent studies demonstrate the critical roles of such interactions during
      gastrulation, including those between germ layers, along embryonic axes, and at
      tissue boundaries. Emergent tissue interactions result from - and result in -
      morphogen signaling, cell contacts, and mechanical forces within the gastrula.
      Together, these comprise a dynamic and complex regulatory cascade that drives
      gastrulation morphogenesis.

PMID- 28586711
TI  - An eye tracking system for monitoring face scanning patterns reveals the
      enhancing effect of oxytocin on eye contact in common marmosets.
AB  - Eye tracking systems are used to investigate eyes position and gaze patterns
      presumed as eye contact in humans. Eye contact is a useful biomarker of social
      communication and known to be deficient in patients with autism spectrum
      disorders (ASDs). Interestingly, the same eye tracking systems have been used to
      directly compare face scanning patterns in some non-human primates to those in
      human. Thus, eye tracking is expected to be a useful translational technique for
      investigating not only social attention and visual interest, but also the effects
      of psychiatric drugs, such as oxytocin, a neuropeptide that regulates social
      behavior. In this study, we report on a newly established method for eye tracking
      in common marmosets as unique New World primates that, like humans, use eye
      contact as a mean of communication. Our investigation was aimed at characterizing
      these primates face scanning patterns and evaluating the effects of oxytocin on
      their eye contact behavior. We found that normal common marmosets spend more time
      viewing the eyes region in common marmoset's picture than the mouth region or a
      scrambled picture. In oxytocin experiment, the change in eyes/face ratio was
      significantly greater in the oxytocin group than in the vehicle group. Moreover,
      oxytocin-induced increase in the change in eyes/face ratio was completely blocked
      by the oxytocin receptor antagonist L-368,899. These results indicate that eye
      tracking in common marmosets may be useful for evaluating drug candidates
      targeting psychiatric conditions, especially ASDs.

PMID- 28586712
TI  - Ultrasound shear wave elastography in the assessment of passive biceps brachii
      muscle stiffness: influences of sex and elbow position.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess differences in biceps brachii muscle (BBM) stiffness as
      evaluated by ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE). METHODS: The passive
      stiffness of the BBM was quantified with shear wave velocity (SWV) measurements
      obtained from 10 healthy volunteers (5 men and 5 women, mean age 50years, age
      range 42-63 years) with the elbow at full extension and 30 degrees  flexion in
      this IRB-approved study. Potential differences between two depths within the
      muscle, two elbow positions, the two arms, and sexes were assessed by using two
      tailed t-test. The reproducibility of SWV measurements was tested by using
      intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: Significantly higher passive
      BBM stiffness was found at full elbow extension compared to 30 degrees  of
      flexion (p<=0.00006 for both arms). Significantly higher passive stiffness in
      women was seen for the right arm (p=0.04 for both elbow positions). Good
      correlation of shear wave velocity measured at the different depths. The ICC for
      interobserver and intraobserver variation was high. CONCLUSIONS: SWE is a
      reliable quantitative tool for assessing BBM stiffness, with differences in
      stiffness based on elbow position demonstrated and based on sex suggested.

PMID- 28586713
TI  - A randomized controlled trial of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for
      perfectionism including an investigation of outcome predictors.
AB  - Being highly attentive to details can be a positive feature. However, for some
      individuals, perfectionism can lead to distress and is associated with many
      psychiatric disorders. Cognitive behavior therapy has been shown to yield many
      benefits for those experiencing problems with perfectionism, but the access to
      evidence-based care is limited. The current study investigated the efficacy of
      guided Internet-based Cognitive Behavior Therapy (ICBT) and predictors of
      treatment outcome. In total, 156 individuals were included and randomized to an
      eight-week treatment or wait-list control. Self-report measures of perfectionism,
      depression, anxiety, self-criticism, self-compassion, and quality of life were
      distributed during screening and at post-treatment. Intention-to-treat were used
      for all statistical analyses. Moderate to large between-group effect sizes were
      obtained for the primary outcome measures, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism
      Scale, subscales Concerns over Mistakes and Personal Standards, Cohen's d = 0.68
      1.00, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [0.36-1.33], with 35 (44.9%) of the patients
      in treatment being improved. Predictors were also explored, but none were related
      to treatment outcome. In sum, guided ICBT can be helpful for addressing problems
      with clinical perfectionism, but research of its long-term benefits is warranted.

PMID- 28586714
TI  - Towards a taxonomy of conjugative plasmids.
AB  - Conjugative plasmids are the keystone of horizontal gene transfer. Metagenomic
      research and clinical understanding of plasmid transmission beg for a taxonomical
      approach to conjugative plasmid classification. Up to now, a meaningful
      classification was difficult to achieve for lack of appropriate analytical tools.
      The advent of the genomic era revolutionized the landscape, offering a plethora
      of plasmid sequences as well as bioinformatic analytical tools. Given the need
      and the opportunity, in view of the available evidence, a taxonomy of conjugative
      plasmids is proposed in the hope that it will leverage plasmid studies.

PMID- 28586715
TI  - Hostility predicts alcohol consumption over a 21-year follow-up in the Gazel
      cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hostility has been found to be positively associated with alcohol
      intake in cross-sectional studies. Our aim was to examine prospectively the long
      lasting association of hostility with alcohol consumption. METHODS: We included
      10,612 men and 3834 women from the French Gazel cohort with mean ages in 1993 of
      48.6 (SD=2.9) and 45.7(SD=4.2), respectively. Hostility (i.e., total, cognitive
      and behavioral) was assessed in 1993 with the Buss and Durkee Hostility
      Inventory. Alcohol consumption was self-reported annually from 1994 to 2014.
      Hostility scores were introduced successively in general linear mixed models with
      annual alcohol consumption in drinks per week as dependent variable.
      Multivariable analyses were adjusted for age, occupational status, marital
      status, retirement status and depression score. All the analyses were stratified
      by sex. RESULTS: Among men (women), 83.0% (76.2%) completed at least 75% of all
      annual assessment of alcohol consumption over a 21-year follow-up. In univariate
      analysis, alcohol consumption was associated with total and behavioral hostility
      in both sex (all p<0.001). In multivariable analyses, these associations remained
      significant with a greater size effect for behavioral hostility. Estimated means
      of alcohol consumptions ranged from 10.50 [95CI%: 10.01-10.92] drinks per week to
      13.32 [95%CI: 12.90-13.74] in men and from 4.09 [95%CI: 3.71-4.46] to 5.78
      [95%CI: 5.39-6.17] in women, for the first and last quartiles respectively (p
      trends<0.001 and all pairwise comparisons<0.01). Similar effects were observed
      among participants with at-risk alcohol consumption at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: In
      both men and women, behavioral hostility predicted alcohol consumption over a 21
      year follow-up. Interventions aiming at modulating behavioral hostility may help
      reducing its long-lasting influence on alcohol consumption.

PMID- 28586716
TI  - Design, synthesis and characterization of novel quinacrine analogs that
      preferentially kill cancer over non-cancer cells through the down-regulation of
      Bcl-2 and up-regulation of Bax and Bad.
AB  - Both quinacrine, which contains a 9-aminoacridine scaffold, and thiazolidin-4-one
      are promising anticancer leads. In an attempt to develop effective and
      potentially safe anticancer agents, we synthesized 23 novel hybrid compounds by
      linking the main structural unit of the 9-aminoacridine ring with the thiazolidin
      4-one ring system, followed by examination of their anticancer effects against
      three human breast tumor cell lines and matching non-cancer cells. Most of the
      hybrid compounds showed good activities, and many of them possessed the
      preferential killing property against cancer over non-cancer cells. In
      particular, 3-[3-(6-chloro-2-methoxy-acridin-9-ylamino)-propyl]-2-(2,6-difluoro
      phenyl)-thiazolidin-4-one (11; VR118) effectively killed/inhibited proliferation
      of cancer cells at IC50 values in the range of 1.2-2.4 MUM. Furthermore, unlike
      quinacrine or cisplatin, compound 11 showed strong selectivity for cancer cell
      killing, as it could kill cancer cells 7.6-fold (MDA-MB231 vs MCF10A) to 14.7
      fold (MCF7 vs MCF10A) more effectively than matching non-cancer cells. Data from
      flow cytometry, TUNEL and Western blot assays showed that compound 11 kills
      cancer cells by apoptosis through the down-regulation of Bcl-2 (but not Bcl-XL)
      survival protein and up-regulation of Bad and Bax pro-apoptotic proteins. Thus,
      compound 11 is a highly promising lead for an effective and potentially
      anticancer therapy.

PMID- 28586717
TI  - Conjugation of platinum(IV) complexes with chlorambucil to overcome cisplatin
      resistance via a "joint action" mode toward DNA.
AB  - Two platinum(IV) complexes were designed and prepared by conjugation of cisplatin
      and oxaliplatin units with a DNA-damaging agent, chlorambucil, respectively. By
      taking a joint action to enhance the damage of DNA, the conjugates displayed
      potent antitumor activity against all the tested cancer cell lines comparable to
      cisplatin and oxaliplatin, and notably could overcome cisplatin resistance at
      certain degree. Complex 4, a hybrid of cisplatin and chlorambucil, arrested the
      cell cycle at the S and G2 phases, distinctive from those of cisplatin and
      oxaliplatin. Apoptosis studies revealed that complex 4 could induce cell
      apoptosis significantly in both SGC7901 and SGC7901/CDDP cells. Moreover, further
      investigation indicated that complex 4 suppressed the drug resistance by the
      improvement of the platinum uptake and the inhibition of PRAP-1 protein. These
      results show that the "joint action" on DNA is an effective strategy to overcome
      cisplatin resistance.

PMID- 28586718
TI  - Discovery of a series of dihydroquinoxalin-2(1H)-ones as selective BET inhibitors
      from a dual PLK1-BRD4 inhibitor.
AB  - Recent years have seen much effort to discover new chemotypes of BRD4 inhibitors.
      Interestingly, some kinase inhibitors have been demonstrated to be potent
      bromodomain inhibitors, especially the PLK1 inhibitor BI-2536 and the JAK2
      inhibitor TG101209, which can bind to BRD4 with IC50 values of 0.025 MUM and 0.13
      MUM, respectively. Although the concept of dual inhibition is intriguing,
      selective BRD4 inhibitors are preferred as they may diminish off-target effects
      and provide more flexibility in anticancer drug combination therapy. Inspired by
      BI-2536, we designed and prepared a series of dihydroquinoxalin-2(1H)-one
      derivatives as selective bromodomain inhibitors. We found compound 54 had
      slightly higher activity than (+)-JQ1 in the fluorescence anisotropy assay and
      potent antiproliferative cellular activity in the MM.1S cell line. We have
      successfully solved the cocrystal structure of 52 in complex with BRD4-BD1,
      providing a solid structural basis for the binding mode of compounds of this
      series. Compound 54 exhibited high selectivity over most non-BET subfamily
      members and did not show bioactivity towards the PLK1 kinase at 10 or 1 MUM. From
      in vivo studies, compound 54 demonstrated a good PK profile, and the results from
      in vivo pharmacological studies clearly showed the efficacy of 54 in the mouse
      MM.1S xenograft model.

PMID- 28586719
TI  - A heparin conjugate, LHbisD4, inhibits lymphangiogenesis and attenuates lymph
      node metastasis by blocking VEGF-C signaling pathway.
AB  - Clinical studies have found that the incidence of cancer metastasis through the
      lymphatic vessels are 3-5 times higher than that through the blood vessels. These
      findings suggest the potency of anti-lymphangiogenic therapy in reducing the
      incidence of cancer metastasis. Previously, we reported LHbisD4, which is the
      conjugate of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and four bis-deoxycholates as a
      potent anti-angiogenic drug with less toxicity and orally active property. Here,
      we show that LHbisD4 could also suppress the formation of new lymphatic vessels
      and attenuate the incidence of metastasis by blocking VEGF-C signaling pathway.
      LHbisD4 significantly enhanced binding affinity with VEGF-C when compared with
      LMWH, which enables LHbisD4 to suppress the proliferation, migration and
      formation of tubular structures of human dermal lymphatic endothelial
      cells(HDLECs) in in vitro condition even in the presence of excessive amounts of
      VEGF-C. Similarly, we found that the density of lymphatic vessels in the primary
      tumor tissue in breast cancer bearing mice was significantly diminished when
      LHbisD4 was administered compared with the control group. Also, the incidence of
      axillary lymph nodes and distant organ metastasis was significantly reduced in
      the LHbisD4 administered group, which demonstrates that LHbisD4 could
      successfully lower the incidence of metastasis through blocking VEGF-C induced
      lymphangiogenesis. Based on these results, we propose LHbisD4 as a potent anti
      cancer drug that can reduce the incidence of metastasis by suppressing
      lymphangiogenesis through blocking VEGF-C signaling pathway.

PMID- 28586720
TI  - Study of Galfenol direct cytotoxicity and remote microactuation in cells.
AB  - Remote microactuators are of great interest in biology and medicine as minimally
      invasive tools for cellular stimulation. Remote actuation can be achieved by
      active magnetostrictive transducers which are capable of changing shape in
      response to external magnetic fields thereby creating controlled displacements.
      Among the magnetostrictive materials, Galfenol, the multifaceted iron-based smart
      material, offers high magnetostriction with robust mechanical properties. In
      order to explore these capabilities for biomedical applications, it is necessary
      to study the feasibility of material miniaturization in standard fabrication
      processes as well as evaluate the biocompatibility. Here we develop a technology
      to fabricate, release, and suspend Galfenol-based microparticles, without
      affecting the integrity of the material. The morphology, composition and magnetic
      properties of the material itself are characterized. The direct cytotoxicity of
      Galfenol is evaluated in vitro using human macrophages, osteoblast and
      osteosarcoma cells. In addition, cytotoxicity and actuation of Galfenol
      microparticles in suspension are evaluated using human macrophages. The
      biological parameters analyzed indicate that Galfenol is not cytotoxic, even
      after internalization of some of the particles by macrophages. The microparticles
      were remotely actuated forming intra- and extracellular chains that did not
      impact the integrity of the cells. The results propose Galfenol as a suitable
      material to develop remote microactuators for cell biology studies and
      intracellular applications.

PMID- 28586721
TI  - Antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of the metabolites isolated from the
      culture of the mangrove-derived endophytic fungus Eurotium chevalieri KUFA 0006.
AB  - Five previously undescribed metabolites, including acetylquestinol, two
      prenylated indole 3-carbaldehyde derivatives, an anthranilic acid derivative and
      an isochromone derivative, were isolated, in addition to eleven known compounds:
      palmitic acid, ergosterol 5,8-endoperoxide, emodin, physcion, questin, questinol,
      (11S, 14R)-cyclo(tryptophylvalyl), preechinulin, neoechinulin E, echinulin and
      eurocristatine, from the culture of the endophytic fungus Eurotium chevalieri
      KUFA 0006. The structures of the previously undescribed compounds were
      established based on an extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectral analysis as well as HRMS
      and IR data. In case of 2-(2, 2-dimethylcyclopropyl)-1H-indole-3-carbaldehyde and
      6, 8-dihydroxy-3-(2S-hydroxypropyl)-7-methylisochromone, the absolute
      configurations of their stereogenic carbons were established based on comparison
      of their experimental and calculated ECD spectra. All the compounds, except for
      palmitic acid and ergosterol 5, 8-endoperoxide, were evaluated for their
      antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against two Gram-positive and two Gram
      negative bacteria, as well as multidrug-resistant isolates from the environment.
      Emodin not only exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against the Gram
      positive bacteria but also showed strong synergistic association with oxacillin
      against MRSA Staphylococcus aureus.

PMID- 28586722
TI  - Childhood obesity and maternal education in Ireland.
AB  - This paper analyses the socioeconomic gradient of childhood obesity in Ireland
      using the Growing Up in Ireland data with three innovations compared to previous
      work in the area. A different measure of socioeconomic status, maternal
      education, is employed. In addition, the depth and severity of obesity are
      examined as well as the incidence. Finally, the use of two waves of longitudinal
      data permits the analysis of the persistence of obesity. Results show that
      overall childhood obesity stabilised between the two waves. However the
      socioeconomic gradient becomes steeper in wave 2 for girls and in particular when
      depth, severity and persistence of obesity are accounted for. Girls whose mothers
      fail to complete secondary education are shown to be at a particular
      disadvantage.

PMID- 28586724
TI  - Sub-1min separation in sequential injection chromatography for determination of
      synthetic water-soluble dyes in pharmaceutical formulation.
AB  - Sequential Injection Chromatography (SIC) evolved from fast and automated non
      separation Sequential Injection Analysis (SIA) into chromatographic separation
      method for multi-element analysis. However, the speed of the measurement (sample
      throughput) is due to chromatography significantly reduced. In this paper, a sub
      1min separation using medium polar cyano monolithic column (5mm*4.6mm) resulted
      in fast and green separation with sample throughput comparable with non
      separation flow methods The separation of three synthetic water-soluble dyes
      (sunset yellow FCF, carmoisine and green S) was in a gradient elution mode (0.02%
      ammonium acetate, pH 6.7 - water) with flow rate of 3.0mLmin-1 corresponding with
      sample throughput of 30h-1. Spectrophotometric detection wavelengths were set to
      480, 516 and 630nm and 10Hz data collection rate. The performance of the
      separation was described and discussed (peak capacities 3.48-7.67, peak
      symmetries 1.72-1.84 and resolutions 1.42-1.88). The method was represented by
      validation parameters: LODs of 0.15-0.35mgL-1, LOQs of 0.50-1.25mgL-1,
      calibration ranges 0.50-150.00mgL-1 (r>0.998) and repeatability at 10.0mgL-1 of
      RSD<=0.98% (n=6). The method was used for determination of the dyes in "forest
      berries" colored pharmaceutical cough-cold formulation. The sample matrix -
      pharmaceuticals and excipients were not interfering with vis determination
      because of no retention in the separation column and colorless nature. The
      results proved the concept of fast and green chromatography approach using very
      short medium polar monolithic column in SIC.

PMID- 28586723
TI  - Validation of liquid and gaseous calibration techniques for quantification of
      propofol in breath with sorbent tube Thermal Desorption System GC-MS.
AB  - Plasma concentrations of intravenous drugs cannot currently be evaluated in real
      time to guide clinical dosing. However, a system for estimating plasma
      concentration of the anesthetic propofol from exhaled breath may soon be
      available. Developing reliable calibration and analytical validation techniques
      is thus necessary. We therefore compared the established sorbent tube liquid
      injection technique with a gas injection procedure using a reference gas
      generator. We then quantified propofol with Tenax sorbent tubes in combination
      with gas-chromatography coupled mass spectrometry in the breath of 15 patients
      (101 measurements). Over the clinically relevant concentration range from 10 to
      50 ppbv, coefficient of determination was 0.995 for gas calibration; and over the
      range from 10 to 100ng, coefficient of determination was 0.996 for liquid
      calibration. A regression comparing gas to liquid calibration had a coefficient
      of determination of 0.89; slope 1.05+/-0.01 (standard deviation). The limit of
      detection was 0.74ng and the lower limit of quantification was 1.12ng for liquid;
      the limit of detection was 0.90 ppbv and the lower limit of quantification was
      1.36 ppbv for gas. Loaded sorbent tubes were stable for at least 14days without
      significant propofol loss as determined with either method. Measurements from
      liquid or gas samples were comparably suitable for evaluation of patient breath
      samples.

PMID- 28586725
TI  - Cadmium, arsenic, selenium and iron- Implications for tumor progression in breast
      cancer.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine Cd (cadmium) and As (arsenic) contents in
      human breast cancer tissues, investigate their interactions with Se (selenium)
      and Fe (iron), and assess their further implications for tumor progression. Metal
      contents were determined in 42 tissue sets (tumor and adjacent tissue) collected
      from 42 women diagnosed with primary breast cancer. Analytical methods included
      AAS and ICP-MS techniques. Significantly higher contents of Cd (p=0.0003), Se
      (p<0.0001) and Fe (p=0.0441) whereas significantly lower content of As (p<0.0001)
      were observed in tumors as compared to adjacent tissues. There was a significant
      positive correlation between Cd and As contents in tumor tissue. However, only Cd
      was significantly associated with histological type of tumor, its size, grading
      and progesterone receptor status. This study support the role of Cd in breast
      cancer risk and progression. The possible link between As exposure and breast
      cancer is still not clear.

PMID- 28586726
TI  - Evaluation of cytotoxicity of hematite nanoparticles in bacteria and human cell
      lines.
AB  - Metal nanoparticles have a great impact and even change the composition of soil
      microbial communities. This poses the risk of their accumulation in the
      ecosystem, which may call on health hazard. Statistical techniques such as
      Plackett-Burman design, Response Surface Methodology were used for optimizing
      medium constituents for Bacillus cereus SVK1 and other critical variables
      responsible for the production of biomolecules and biosynthesis of hematite
      nanoparticles. The effect of hematite nanoparticles on the growth of soil
      bacteria were tested by agar-well diffusion method and dynamic growth curve
      techniques. Bacterial growth inhibition was not observed with hematite
      nanoparticle concentration of up to 25mg/mL. In addition, hematite nanoparticles
      enhanced the growth of the soil bacteria. The results show that hematite
      nanoparticles were non-toxic to soil bacteria indicating their scope for wide
      range of applications. The effective cytotoxic concentration (CTC50) of hematite
      nanoparticles against MCF-7, A549, Hep3B and Vero cell lines was found to be
      207.58, 224.69, 193.26 and 2530MUg/mL respectively. Hematite nanoparticles didn't
      cause lysis of red blood cells.

PMID- 28586729
TI  - Biocompatible zwitterionic phosphorylcholine polymers with aggregation-induced
      emission feature.
AB  - Two novel zwitterionic phosphorylcholine polymers (MTP1 and MTP2) with
      aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature were prepared through reversible
      addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization between an AIE monomer with
      vinyl end group and a zwitterionic phosphorylcholine monomer. The synthesized
      copolymers were characterized and confirmed by 1H NMR, FT-IR, and X-ray
      photoelectron spectra. By introduction of the zwitterionic phosphorylcholine
      component, the synthesized copolymers showed amphiphilic properties and tended to
      self-assemble into fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles (FPNs) in water. The
      dynamic light scattering results indicated the size distribution of the MTP1 FPNs
      was 345+/-22nm, and that of the MTP2 FPNs was 147+/-36nm. The transmission
      electron microscopy results demonstrated spherical nanoparticle morphology for
      the FPNs. The high dispersibility of the FPNs in water was proved by the UV-vis
      absorption study with high transmittance of the solution. Fluorescent spectra of
      the prepared FPNs revealed bright green fluorescence with high fluorescence
      quantum yield of 45% for MTP1 and 34% for MTP2. More importantly, the FPNs showed
      excellent particle stability with low critical micelle concentration of 0.008mgmL
      1 for MTP1 and 0.007mgmL-1 for MTP2. The cytotoxicity evaluation confirmed high
      cytocompatibility of the prepared FPNs at different concentrations, and
      demonstrated excellent biocompatibility for cell imaging. In virtue of the high
      performance MTP1 and MTP2 FPNs, including high water dispersion, good particle
      stability, and excellent cytocompatibility, this work would inspire more
      researches about high-performance biocompatible fluorescent polymers for
      biomedical application.

PMID- 28586730
TI  - A multifunctional organosilica cross-linker for the bio-conjugation of gold
      nanorods.
AB  - We report on the use of organosilica shells to couple gold nanorods to functional
      peptides and modulate their physiochemical and biological profiles. In
      particular, we focus on the case of cell penetrating peptides, which are used to
      load tumor-tropic macrophages and implement an innovative drug delivery system
      for photothermal and photoacoustic applications. The presence of organosilica
      exerts subtle effects on multiple parameters of the particles, including their
      size, shape, electrokinetic potential, photostability, kinetics of endocytic
      uptake and cytotoxicity, which are investigated by the interplay of colorimetric
      methods and digital holographic microscopy. As a rule of thumb, as the thickness
      of organosilica increases from none to ~30nm, we find an improvement of the
      photophysical performances at the expense of a deterioration of the biological
      parameters. Therefore, detailed engineering of the particles for a certain
      application will require a careful trade-off between photophysical and biological
      specifications.

PMID- 28586727
TI  - Cobalt and titanium nanoparticles influence on mesenchymal stem cell elasticity
      and turgidity.
AB  - Bone cells are damaged by wear particles originating from total joint replacement
      implants. We investigated Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) nanomechanical properties
      when exposed to cobalt and titanium nanoparticles (resembling wear debris) of
      different sizes for up to 3days using AFM nanoindentation; along with flow
      cytometry and MTT assay. The results demonstrated that cells exposed to
      increasing concentrations of nanoparticles had a lower value of elasticity and
      spring constant without significant effect on cell metabolic activity and
      viability but some morphological alteration (bleeping). Cobalt induced greater
      effects than titanium and this is consistent with the general knowledge of cyto
      compatibility of the later. This work demonstrates for the first time that metal
      nanoparticles do not only influence MSCs enzymes activity but also cell
      structure; however, they do not result in full membrane damage. Furthermore, the
      mechanical changes are concentration and particles composition dependent but
      little influenced by the particle size.

PMID- 28586728
TI  - Adhesion of Bacillus subtilis and Pseudoalteromonas lipolytica to steel in a
      seawater environment and their effects on corrosion.
AB  - In a marine environment, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudoalteromonas lipolytica are
      commonly found in the biofilms adherent to low-alloy engineering steel, and they
      have distinct effects on corrosion. In the present work, this phenomenon was
      investigated through the study of various materials characterization methods,
      electrochemical techniques, and contact angle measurements. It was found that the
      surface film formed on the steel in the presence of B. subtilis was compact,
      uniform, free of cracks, and hydrophobic. However, the film formed in the
      presence of P. lipolytica was loose, rough, heterogeneous, and hydrophilic. The
      main components of the films formed in the presence of B. subtilis and P.
      lipolytica were polysaccharides/TasA amyloid fibers and proteins/carboxylic acid,
      respectively. The composition, structure, and properties of the surface films
      formed on the steel were associated with different effects on corrosion. The
      presence of B. subtilis enhances the steel's resistance to corrosion, whereas
      corrosion was increased by the presence of P. lipolytica. In short, the compact
      and hydrophobic biofilm of B. subtilis appears to inhibit the corrosion of steel,
      while the loose, hydrophilic film of P. lipolytica tends to induce pitting
      corrosion.

PMID- 28586731
TI  - Cellular interactions of zinc oxide nanoparticles with human embryonic kidney
      (HEK 293) cells.
AB  - Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have potential biomedical, industrial and
      commercial applications. So they constantly come into contact with the body parts
      during applications. Safety concerns about ZnO NPs are increasing today and yet
      only few reports are available about their toxicity in kidney cells. It is very
      essential to analyze the toxicity on kidney because kidney plays a decisive role
      in nanoparticles excretion. Therefore, the present study focuses on the
      interaction of ZnO NPs with human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) cells in vitro.
      The results showed that the cellular viability was much affected by ZnO NPs in a
      dose and time dependent manner. Oxidative stress increased the formation of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS), was found to be the prime mechanism of
      cytotoxicity. Formation of ROS eventually induced loss of mitochondrial membrane
      potential, lysosomal activity and nuclear condensation, which ultimately leads to
      apoptosis.

PMID- 28586733
TI  - The influence of vegetation, mesoclimate and meteorology on urban atmospheric
      microclimates across a coastal to desert climate gradient.
AB  - Many cities are increasing vegetation in part due to the potential for
      microclimate cooling. However, the magnitude of vegetation cooling and
      sensitivity to mesoclimate and meteorology are uncertain. To improve
      understanding of the variation in vegetation's influence on urban microclimates
      we asked: how do meso- and regional-scale drivers influence the magnitude and
      timing of vegetation-based moderation on summertime air temperature (Ta),
      relative humidity (RH) and heat index (HI) across dryland cities? To answer this
      question we deployed a network of 180 temperature sensors in summer 2015 over 30
      high- and 30 low-vegetated plots in three cities across a coastal to inland to
      desert climate gradient in southern California, USA. In a followup study, we
      deployed a network of temperature and humidity sensors in the inland city. We
      found negative Ta and HI and positive RH correlations with vegetation intensity.
      Furthermore, vegetation effects were highest in evening hours, increasing across
      the climate gradient, with reductions in Ta and increases in RH in low-vegetated
      plots. Vegetation increased temporal variability of Ta, which corresponds with
      increased nighttime cooling. Increasing mean Ta was associated with higher
      spatial variation in Ta in coastal cities and lower variation in inland and
      desert cities, suggesting a climate dependent switch in vegetation sensitivity.
      These results show that urban vegetation increases spatiotemporal patterns of
      microclimate with greater cooling in warmer environments and during nighttime
      hours. Understanding urban microclimate variation will help city planners
      identify potential risk reductions associated with vegetation and develop
      effective strategies ameliorating urban microclimate.

PMID- 28586732
TI  - The virtual approach to the assessment of skeletal injuries in human skeletal
      remains of forensic importance.
AB  - While assessing skeletal injuries in human skeletal remains, forensic
      anthropologists are frequently presented with fractured, fragmented, or otherwise
      modified skeletal remains. The examination of evidence and the mechanisms of
      skeletal injuries often require that separate osseous elements be permanently or
      temporarily reassembled or reconstructed. If not dealt with properly, such
      reconstructions may impede accurate interpretation of the evidence. Nowadays,
      routine forensic examinations increasingly incorporate digital imaging
      technologies. As a result, a variety of PC-assisted imaging techniques,
      collectively referred to as the virtual approach, have been made available to
      treat fragmentary skeletal remains. The present study employs a 3D virtual
      approach to assess mechanisms of skeletal injuries, and provides an expert
      opinion of causative tools in three forensic cases involving human skeletal
      remains where integrity was compromised by multiple peri- or postmortem
      alterations resulting in fragmentation and/or incompleteness. Three fragmentary
      skulls and an incomplete set of foot bones with evidence of perimortem fractures
      (gunshot wounds) and sharp force trauma (saw marks) were digitized using a
      desktop laser scanner. The digitized skeletal elements were reassembled in the
      virtual workspace using functionalities incorporated in AMIRA(r) version 5.0
      software, and simultaneously in real physical space by traditional reconstructive
      approaches. For this study, the original skeletal fragments were substituted by
      replicas built by 3D printing. Inter-method differences were quantified by mesh
      based comparison after the physically reassembled elements had been re-digitized.
      Observed differences were further reinforced by visualizing local variations
      using colormaps and other advanced 3D visualization techniques. In addition,
      intra-operator and inter-operator error was computed. The results demonstrate
      that the importance of incorporating the virtual approach into the assessment of
      skeletal injuries increases with the complexity and state of preservation of a
      forensic case. While in relatively simple cases the virtual approach is a welcome
      extension to a traditional approach, which merely facilitates the analysis, in
      more complex and extensively fragmentary cases such as multiple gunshot wounds or
      dismemberment, the virtual approach can be a crucial step in applying the
      principles of gunshot wounds or sharp force traumatic mechanisms. The
      unrestricted manipulation with digital elements enabling limitless repairs and
      adjustments to a "best-case scenario" also produced smaller inter-operator
      variation in comparison to the traditional approach.

PMID- 28586734
TI  - Sorption of Cu by humic acid from the decomposition of rice straw in the absence
      and presence of clay minerals.
AB  - The sorption of Cu on humic acid (HA) from the decomposition of rice straw in the
      absence (Ck-HA) and presence of montmorillonite (M-HA), kaolinite (K-HA),
      gibbsite (Gi-HA) and goethite (Go-HA) was investigated at pH 5.0 by using batch
      studies combined with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and atomic force
      microscopy (AFM). Characterization by elemental analysis and potentiometric
      titration showed the composition difference among these five HA. The sorption
      capacity and rate increased in the order: M-HA < K-HA < Gi-HA < Ck-HA < Go-HA.
      ITC results revealed that the sorption process was spontaneous and endothermic.
      The aggregation of HA particles after sorption were observed by AFM images. The
      influence of pH and positive correlations between the sorption capacity and the
      content of acidic functional groups of HA indicated that the dissociated acidic
      functional groups, especially the dissociation of carboxylic groups in HA played
      an important role in Cu sorption. Sequential desorption of sorbed Cu showed that
      the surface bonded fraction (97.6-99.0%) was significantly higher than the ion
      exchanged fraction (1.0-2.4%). Markedly positive entropies (DeltaS, 94.4-104.3 J
      mol-1 K-1) further demonstrated that Cu binding to HA by forming inner-sphere
      complexes. The findings of this study would promote the understanding on the
      environmental impact of the decomposition of organic waste from agricultural
      production.

PMID- 28586735
TI  - Palliative systemic therapy and overall survival of 1,395 patients with advanced
      breast cancer - Results from the prospective German TMK cohort study.
AB  - Data on treatment and outcome of advanced breast cancer in routine practice are
      rare, especially concerning recurrent disease, but important to complement the
      results from clinical trials and to improve the standard of care. We present data
      on choice of systemic first-line treatment, number of treatment lines, and
      survival of patients treated by medical oncologists in Germany. 1395 patients
      recruited by 124 sites at start of first-line therapy into the ongoing,
      prospective German clinical cohort study TMK (Tumour Registry Breast Cancer)
      between February 2007 and October 2015 were analysed. The median OS was 33.8
      months (95% CI 30.2-40.2) for HR-positive/HER2-negative, 38.2 months (95% CI 31.3
      43.0) for HER2-positive and 16.8 months (95% CI 11.5-22.0) for triple negative
      breast cancer. Patients with triple negative tumours more often died before start
      of a third-line therapy than patients with HR-positive or HER2-positive tumours
      (44% vs. 25%). Use of taxane-based chemotherapies has increased since 2007, with
      65% of all first-line chemotherapy-treatments containing taxanes in 2013-15 (60%
      HR-positive/HER2-negative, 75% HER2-positive, 56% triple negative). 52% of the
      patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative tumours received first-line endocrine
      therapy in 2013-15; when restricted to patients with only non-visceral metastases
      this percentage increased to 63%. To our knowledge, this is the first cohort
      study showing systemic first-line therapy for all subtypes of advanced breast
      cancer. Overall survival in the TMK is comparable to that reported by clinical
      trials despite the inclusion of older and comorbid patients.

PMID- 28586737
TI  - Efficient reductive elimination of bromate in water using zero-valent zinc
      prepared by acid-washing treatments.
AB  - Although zero valent zinc (ZVZ) is a strong reductant, studies using ZVZ for
      bromate reduction are rare. In this study, ZVZ is prepared by acid-washing zinc
      powder with HCl and used to reduce bromate. The effect of acid-washing on the
      morphology of zinc powder is also examined. Zinc powder inefficiently reduces
      bromate, but ZVZ obtained by acid-washing zinc powder eliminates bromate and
      converts it to bromide. A higher dose of ZVZ enhances elimination efficiency
      perhaps because the formation of a passivation layer of zinc oxide could be
      scattered on the large surface of ZVZ. Elevated temperature also substantially
      improves both elimination efficiency and kinetics. The effect of pH is shown to
      have the most significant impact on the bromate elimination; elimination
      efficiency and kinetics are tremendously bolstered at pH = 3, whereas the
      elimination of bromate is completely suppressed under alkaline conditions. ZVZ
      can reduce bromate to bromide even in the presence of other anions and also be
      reused multiple times. Thus, ZVZ can be easily prepared and used to efficiently
      reduce bromate to bromide. The findings presented here are essential to the
      design and implementation of bromate elimination in water using zero-valent
      metals.

PMID- 28586738
TI  - Fast MinMax energy-based phase correction method for NMR spectra with linear
      phase distortion.
AB  - This paper addresses the problem of phase correction of dense NMR spectra on the
      example of the etoxy derivative of the fused heterocyclic system 5,6,10b
      triazaacephenanthrylene (TAAP-OEt). A new estimation method for the linear phase
      correction coefficients is proposed that successfully extends the min-max
      (minimization of maximum errors) approach of Siegel (1981). Distinctive to the
      Siegel method, the smallest values of the real part of the discrete Fourier
      transform (DFT) spectrum are maximized, not for the whole spectrum but only for
      DFT bins near the peaks selected by anew energy-based criterion. Additionally,
      the method makes use of two one-parameter optimizations for finding the phase
      correction line coefficients and not the single two-parameter search. The new
      method is demonstrated to be precise, fast and robust against additive noise. The
      method's properties are verified in comparison with the state-of-the-art
      algorithms of Chen et al. (2002) and Bao et al. (2013) for laboratory recorded
      TAAP-OEt FID data and for simulated TAAP-OEt signal consisting of the sum of more
      than 100 complex damped exponentials. Extensive simulations were also conducted
      on the set of test signals derived from the TAAP-OEt signal by deterministic and
      pseudorandom manipulation of its content. The components of the signal model were
      identified by the Bertocco-Yoshida Interpolated DFT (IpDFT) algorithm with a
      spectral leakage correction. Simulated signals were embedded in the additive
      Gaussian noise, and the noise-robustness of all of the algorithms was evaluated.
      The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the Chen
      and the Bao algorithms, being more than 100 times faster than the Bao method (for
      a signal having 216 samples).

PMID- 28586736
TI  - Mixed surfactant systems of sucrose esters and lecithin as a synergistic approach
      for oil structuring.
AB  - In order to modify the self-assembly of sucrose esters (SEs) in sunflower oil, we
      added sunflower lecithin (SFL) as co-surfactant. It is hypothesized that SFL
      modifies the self-assembly of SEs by interrupting the extensive hydrogen bonding
      between SEs monomers. The addition of SFL into SEs induced gelation of the mixed
      surfactant system oleogels at all studied ratios. The 7:3 SEs:SFL combination
      showed enhanced rheological properties compared to the other studied ratios,
      which suggests better molecular ordering induced by SFL. The modifications might
      have been caused by interference in the hydrogen bonding, connecting the polar
      heads of SEs molecules in the presence of SFL. This effect was confirmed by
      thermal behavior and small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXD) analysis. From the
      crystallization and melting analyses, it was shown that the peak temperature,
      shape and enthalpy decreased as the SFL ratio increases. Meanwhile, the bi
      component oleogels exhibited new peaks in the SAXD profile, which imply a self
      assembly modification. The microscopic study through polarized and electrons
      revealed a change in the structure. Therefore, it can be concluded that a
      synergistic effect between SEs and SFL, more particularly at 7:3 ratio, towards
      sunflower oil structuring could be obtained. These findings shed light for
      greater applications of SEs as structuring and carrier agent in foods and
      pharmaceutical.

PMID- 28586739
TI  - A method for longitudinal relaxation time measurement in inhomogeneous fields.
AB  - The spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) plays a crucial role in the study of spin
      dynamics, signal optimization and data quantification. However, the measurement
      of chemical shift-specific T1 constants is hampered by the magnetic field
      inhomogeneity due to poorly shimmed external magnetic fields or intrinsic
      magnetic susceptibility heterogeneity in samples. In this study, we present a new
      protocol to determine chemical shift-specific T1 constants in inhomogeneous
      fields. Based on intermolecular double-quantum coherences, the new method can
      resolve overlapped peaks in inhomogeneous fields. The measurement results are in
      consistent with the measurements in homogeneous fields using the conventional
      method. Since spatial encoding technique is involved, the experimental time for
      the new method is very close to that for the conventional method. With the aid of
      T1 knowledge, some concealed information can be exploited by T1 weighting
      experiments.

PMID- 28586740
TI  - Umbelliferone arrest cell cycle at G0/G1 phase and induces apoptosis in human
      oral carcinoma (KB) cells possibly via oxidative DNA damage.
AB  - Umbelliferone (UMB) has widespread pharmacological activity, comprising anti
      inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-genotoxic and anti-immunomodulatory but the
      anticancer activity remains unknown in human oral carcinoma (HOC) KB cells. MTT
      assay determinations was revealed that treatment of KB cells with UMB, prevent
      and reduce the cell proliferation with the IC50 - 200MUM as well as induces loss
      of cell viability, morphology change and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in a
      concentration dependent manner. Acridine orange and ethidium bromide dual
      staining assay established that UMB induced apoptosis in KB cells in a dose
      dependent manner. Alkaline comet assay determination revealed UMB has the
      potential to increase oxidative DNA damage in KB cells through DNA tail formation
      significantly (p<0.05). Furthermore, UMB brought a dose-dependent elevation of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is evidenced by the DCF fluorescence,
      altered the mitochondrial membrane potential in KB cells. Similarly, we observed
      increased DNA damage stimulated apoptotic morphological changes in UMB treated
      cells. Taken together, the present study suggests that UMB exhibits anticancer
      effect on KB cell line with the increased generation of intracellular ROS,
      triggered oxidative stress mediated depolarization of mitochondria, which
      contributes cell death via DNA damage as well as cell cycle arrest at G0/G1
      phase. The results have also provided us insight in the pharmacological
      backgrounds for the potential use of UMB, to target divergent pathways of cell
      survival and cell death. To conclude UMB could develop as a novel candidate for
      cancer chemoprevention and therapy, which is our future focus and to develop a
      connectivity map between in vivo and in vitro activity.

PMID- 28586741
TI  - Libidibia ferrea presents antiproliferative, apoptotic and antioxidant effects in
      a colorectal cancer cell line.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is noted for being one of the most frequent of tumors, with
      expressive morbidity and mortality rates. In new drug discovery, plants stand out
      as a source capable of yielding safe and high-efficiency products. Well known in
      Brazilian popular medicine, Libidibia ferrea (Mart. Ex Tul.) L.P. Queiroz var.
      ferrea (better known as "ironwood" or "juca"), has been used to treat a wide
      spectrum of conditions and to prevent cancer. Using methodologies that involved
      flow cytometry, spectrophotometry and RT-qPCR assays, crude extracts of the
      fruits of L. ferrea (20T, 40T, 60T and 80T) were evaluated at 24h and/or 48h for:
      their ability to inhibit cell proliferation; induce apoptosis through Bcl-2,
      caspase-3 and Apaf-1; their antioxidant activity and effects on important targets
      related to cell proliferation (EGFR and AKT) in the HT-29 human colorectal cancer
      lineage. The results revealed high antiproliferative potential as compared to the
      controls, induction of apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway, and probable
      tumor inhibition activity under the mediation of important targets in
      tumorigenesis. In addition, L. ferrea revealed antioxidant, lipid peroxidation
      and chemoprotective effects in healthy cells. Thus, L. ferrea derivatives have
      important anticancer effects, and may be considered promising candidate for
      colorectal cancer therapy.

PMID- 28586742
TI  - A network meta-analysis for efficacy and safety of seven regimens in the
      treatment of type II diabetes.
AB  - The efficacy and safety of seven regimens based on metformin (placebo plus
      metformin, dapagliflozin plus metformin, vildagliptin plus metformin, saxagliptin
      plus metformin, empagliflozin plus metformin, exenatide plus metformin and
      sitagliptin plus metformin) on type 2 diabetes (T2D) were compared based on
      network meta-analysis. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were applied in the
      computer-based retrieval process. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which were
      related with the above seven regimens based on metformin in the treatment of T2D
      were included in this study. Network meta-analysis merged the direct and indirect
      comparison evidence for the estimation of the weighted mean difference (WMD), odd
      ratios (ORs) and surface under the cumulative sequencing ranking curve (SUCRA)
      values. Eight eligible RCTs were applied in this network meta-analysis. The
      results demonstrated that: in terms of efficacy, the glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)
      levels of T2D patients receiving vildagliptin plus metformin were relatively
      lower when compared with placebo plus metformin (WMD=-1.95, 95%CI=-3.70--0.23);
      in comparison with exenatide plus metformin, the triglyceride level in T2D
      patients taking vildagliptin plus metformin remained relatively lower (WMD=-1.36,
      95%CI=-2.64--0.01). In terms of safety, the rate of adverse events in patients
      with T2D who received empagliflozin plus metformin was relatively lower when
      compared with saxagliptin plus metformin (OR=0.37, 95%CI=0.14-0.98). Furthermore,
      the SUCRA value of vildagliptin plus metformin was comparatively higher in
      efficacy, and that the SUCRA value of saxagliptin plus metformin was relatively
      lower in safety. The efficacy of vildagliptin plus metformin in patients with T2D
      is relatively better, while the safety of saxagliptin plus metformin in patients
      with T2D is relatively poorer.

PMID- 28586743
TI  - Agmatine for combined treatment of epilepsy, depression and cognitive impairment
      in chronic epileptic animals.
AB  - Epilepsy is fourth most common neurological disorders associated with depression
      and cognitive deficits. As per present scenario, none of the antiseizure drugs
      have been reported successful to have ameliorative effect on epilepsy associated
      depression and cognitive deficits. Thus, the study was envisioned to assess an
      ameliorative potential of agmatine on epilepsy and its efficacy and safety for
      management of associated depression and cognitive deficits. The animals were made
      epileptic employing pentylenetetrazole (35mg/kg i.p. every 48+/-2h) kindling
      model of epilepsy and subsequently were treated with vehicle, valproic acid
      (300mg/kg/day i.p.) and agmatine (2.5, 5, and 10mg/kg)/day/i.p. for 15days.
      Except naive, all the groups were challenged with same pentylenetetrazole dose as
      employed during kindling on days 5, 10, and 15 to evaluate seizure severity. Two
      hours after seizure severity test, tail suspension test and passive shock
      avoidance paradigm was employed to evaluate depression and cognitive behavior
      respectively. Results suggested that epileptic animals were significantly
      associated with depression and cognitive impairment. Chronic valproate treatment
      significantly reduced seizure severity, but was found unable to mitigate
      depression and cognitive deficits. However, agmatine treatment dose dependently
      ameliorated seizure severity as well as associated depression and cognitive
      deficits. On 15th day, animals were euthanized and pertinent neurochemical
      estimations were carried out in cortical and hippocampal areas of the mice brain.
      Thus, study concluded that agmatine ameliorated seizure severity, depression and
      cognitive impairment in epileptic animals, possibly via restoring glutamate-GABA
      neurotransmission and serotonin synthesis with decreased nitrosative stress.

PMID- 28586744
TI  - Protective effects of green tea on olanzapine-induced-metabolic syndrome in rats.
AB  - Atypical antipsychotics particularly olanzapine are associated with obesity and
      serious metabolic disturbances. As green tea (Camellia sinensis) is generally
      associated with beneficial effects on obesity and other metabolic disturbances,
      this study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of green tea aqueous extract
      (GTAE) on olanzapine induced weight gain and metabolic abnormalities in rats.
      Male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups: control, olanzapine (5mg/kg/day,
      IP.), GTAE (25, 50 and 100mg/kg/day, IP.) plus olanzapine and GTAE (25, 50 and
      100mg/kg/day, IP.). Treatments were continued for 11 days. Body weight gain,
      average food and water intake were measured during the experiment. Plasma lipid,
      glucose and leptin levels, mean systolic blood pressure and total locomotion were
      evaluated at the end of experiment. Olanzapine induced significant weight gain at
      the end of treatment (10.38% of body weight) when compared to control (3.13% of
      body weight) in male Wistar rats. Average food and water intake were increased by
      olanzapine treatment. 11days olanzapine administration led to hyperleptinemia,
      hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. Olanzapine also increased mean systolic blood
      pressure and decreased total locomotion. GTAE decreased significantly body weight
      gain and average food and water intake, improved the changes in lipid profile as
      well as fasting blood glucose, and finally decreased hyperleptinemia and
      hypertension induced by olanzapine. Results of this study demonstrated that GTAE
      could exert protective effects against olanzapine induced obesity partially due
      to its lowering effect on leptin. GTAE improved other metabolic abnormalities
      including dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension induced by olanzapine in
      rats.

PMID- 28586745
TI  - (-)-Kusunokinin and piperloguminine from Piper nigrum: An alternative option to
      treat breast cancer.
AB  - Several studies have reported that active compounds isolated from Piper nigrum
      possess anticancer properties. However, there are no data on anticancer activity
      of (-)-kusunokinin and piperlonguminine. The purposes of this study were to
      isolate active compounds from P. nigrum and identify the molecular mechanisms
      underlying growth and apoptosis pathway in breast cancer cells. Two bioactive
      compounds, (-)-kusunokinin and piperlonguminine, were isolated from P. nigrum.
      Cytotoxicity and the molecular mechanism were measured by methyl thiazolyl
      tetrazolium (MTT) assay, flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. We found that
      the active compounds, which effect cancer cell lines were (-)-kusunokinin and
      piperlonguminine. These compounds have potent cytotoxic effects on breast cancer
      cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468) and colorectal cells (SW-620). (-)-Kusunokinin
      demonstrated a cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 with IC50 values of 1.18
      and 1.62MUg/mL, respectively. Piperlonguminine had a cytotoxic effect on MCF-7
      and MDA-MB-468 with IC50 values of 1.63 and 2.19MUg/mL, respectively. Both
      compounds demonstrated lower cytotoxicity against normal breast cell lines with
      IC50 values higher than 11MUg/mL. Cell cycle and apoptotic analysis using flow
      cytometry, showed that the (-)-kusunokinin and piperlonguminine induced cell
      undergoing apoptosis and drove cells towards the G2/M phase. Moreover, both
      compounds decreased topoisomerase II and bcl-2. The increasing of p53 levels
      further increased p21, bax, cytochrome c, caspase-8, -7 and -3 activities, except
      caspase-9. These results suggest that the (-)-kusunokinin and piperlonguminine
      have been shown to have potent anticancer activities through extrinsic pathway
      and G2/M phase arrest.

PMID- 28586746
TI  - Biochar reduces the bioaccumulation of PAHs from soil to carrot (Daucus carota
      L.) in the rhizosphere: A mechanism study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to reveal the mechanisms on how biochar reduces
      bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tuberous
      vegetables. Corn straw-derived biochar pyrolyzed at 300 degrees C (CB300) or
      bamboo-derived biochar pyrolyzed at 700 degrees C (BB700) was amended into PAH
      contaminated soil planted with carrot (Daucus carota L.). After 150days, 2% CB300
      or 2% BB700 amendments significantly reduced the bioaccumulation of PAHs in
      carrot root (p<0.05), especially for high-molecular-weight PAHs. In the non
      rhizosphere, either CB300 or BB700 suppressed PAH dissipation and decreased the
      bioavailability via adsorption processes. Compared to the control, the total
      concentration of PAHs in the rhizosphere was higher in the 2% BB700 treatment but
      the bioavailable concentration was lower. This indicates that BB700 decreased the
      bioavailability of PAHs primarily via immobilization (adsorption processes). By
      contrast, the total and bioavailable PAH concentrations were both lower in the 2%
      CB300 treatment than those in the control. The abundance of bacteria such as
      Arthrobacter and Flavobacterium and the total number of genes playing important
      roles in microbial PAH degradation processes increased significantly (p<0.05),
      which were likely responsible for the rapid dissipation of PAHs in the 2% CB300
      treatment in the rhizosphere. These results indicate that CB300 decreased the PAH
      bioavailability primarily via increasing degradation of PAHs by indigenous
      microorganisms. The two biochars both showed better effectiveness at reducing the
      bioavailability of high-molecular-weight PAHs than the low-molecular-weight PAHs
      in the rhizosphere. Therefore, the mechanisms on how biochar reduces the PAH
      uptake into carrot are dependent on the type of biochar (e.g., pyrolysis
      temperature and feedstock) and root presence.

PMID- 28586747
TI  - Estimating the biomass of unevenly distributed aquatic vegetation in a lake using
      the normalized water-adjusted vegetation index and scale transformation method.
AB  - Satellite remote sensing is advantageous for the mapping and monitoring of
      aquatic vegetation biomass at large spatial scales. We proposed a scale
      transformation (CT) method of converting the field sampling-site biomass from the
      quadrat to pixel scale and a new normalized water-adjusted vegetation index
      (NWAVI) based on remotely sensed imagery for the biomass estimation of aquatic
      vegetation (excluding emergent vegetation). We used a modeling approach based on
      the proposed CT method and NWAVI as well as statistical analyses including
      linear, quadratic, logarithmic, cubic, exponential, inverse and power regression
      to estimate the aquatic vegetation biomass, and we evaluated the performance of
      the biomass estimation. We mapped the spatial distribution and temporal change of
      the aquatic vegetation biomass using a geographic information system in a test
      lake in different months. The exponential regression models based on CT and the
      NWAVI had optimal adjusted R2, F and Sig. values in both May and August 2013. The
      scatter plots of the observed versus the predicted biomass showed that most of
      the validated field sites were near the 1:1 line. The RMSE, ARE and RE values
      were small. The spatial distribution and change of the aquatic vegetation biomass
      in the study area showed clear variability. Among the NWAVI-based and other
      vegetation index-based models, the CT and NWAVI-based models had the largest
      adjusted R2, F and the smallest ARE values in both tests. The proposed modeling
      scheme is effective for the biomass estimation of aquatic vegetation in lakes. It
      indicated that the proposed method can provide a most accurate spatial
      distribution map of aquatic vegetation biomass for lake ecological management.
      More accurate biomass maps of aquatic vegetation are essential for implementing
      conservation policy and for reducing uncertainties in our understanding of the
      lake carbon cycle.

PMID- 28586748
TI  - Haematological malignancies following temozolomide treatment for paediatric high
      grade glioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temozolomide (TMZ) is widely used in high-grade glioma (HGG). There
      is a major concern of treatment-induced secondary haematological malignancies
      (SHMs). Due to the poor overall survival of HGG patients, the true incidence is
      yet elusive. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the risk of SHMs
      following TMZ in paediatric HGG. METHODS: We analysed 487 patients from the HIT
      HGG database of the German-speaking Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology
      with follow up beyond 1 year. RESULTS: The incidence of SHM was 7.7 +/- 3.2% at
      10 years. No SHM occurred in 194 patients after first-line TMZ therapy, but four
      out of 131 patients treated with TMZ for relapse following first-line multiagent
      chemotherapy experienced SHM (20% at 10 years; p = 0.041). SHMs occurred in two
      out of 162 patients who underwent multiagent chemotherapy without TMZ (4.1% at 10
      years). Gender, patient age and acute haematological toxicity during treatment
      did not affect the incidence of SHMs. CONCLUSION: Data of our cohort do not
      indicate an increased risk of SHM following TMZ treatment when compared to
      previous chemotherapy regimen. However, if TMZ is administered as a second-line
      treatment following conventional chemotherapy regimen, the risk might be
      disproportionately increasing.

PMID- 28586750
TI  - Microbial decolorization and detoxification of emerging environmental pollutant:
      Cosmetic hair dyes.
AB  - Since the usage of hair dyes has increased in recent time, the removal of
      residual dye from environment is also an emerging issue. Hair dye contains
      mixture of chemicals including genotoxic chemical, p-phenylenediamine (p-PD or
      PPD). The present study reports bioremediation of hair dye using bacteria
      isolated from saloon effluent. Sugarcane bagasse powder (SBP) was used as a
      source of nutrient and surface for bacterial growth. The 16S rDNA sequencing
      confirmed the isolate as Enterobacter cloacae which was designated as DDB I. The
      decolourization of dye was studied using UV-vis spectrophotometer. The
      detoxification study was conducted on microbes isolated from fresh ponds using
      well diffusion assay. The 1mg/ml of dye was effectively decolourised within 18h
      of DDB I treatment in the minimal medium containing 30mg/ml of SBP.

PMID- 28586749
TI  - Everolimus-induced pneumonitis associates with favourable outcome in patients
      with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors may induce pneumonitis. We
      analysed the association of pneumonitis with outcomes in everolimus treated
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty
      five mRCC patients received everolimus at Helsinki University Hospital (cohort
      A). Computed tomography (CT) verified pneumonitis was correlated with outcome
      using Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression and logistic regression. An independent cohort
      of 148 everolimus treated mRCC patients (cohort B) at Aarhus University Hospital
      was assessed for validation. RESULTS: In cohort A, CT-verified pneumonitis (N =
      29, 34.1%) was associated with improved overall survival (OS) (24.7 versus 8.5
      months; P < 0.001), progression-free survival (PFS) (5.5 versus 3.2 months; P =
      0.002) and clinical benefit rate (CBR) 57.1% versus 24.1% (P = 0.003). In
      multivariate analyses pneumonitis was associated with improved OS (hazard ratio
      [HR], 0.22; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.12-0.44; P < 0.001), PFS (HR 0.37; 95%
      CI 0.21-0.66; P = 0.001) and CBR (odds ratio [OR] 4.11; 95% CI 1.42-11.95; P =
      0.01). In cohort B, CT-verified pneumonitis (N = 29, 19.6%) was associated with
      improved OS (12.9 versus 6.0 months; P = 0.02), PFS (6.0 versus 2.8 months; P =
      0.02) and CBR (79.3% versus 39.5%; P < 0.001). In multivariate analyses
      pneumonitis was associated with improved OS (HR 0.58; 95% CI 0.36-0.94; P =
      0.03), PFS (HR 0.61; 95% CI 0.39-0.95; P = 0.03) and CBR (OR 5.65; 95% CI 2.10
      15.18; P = 0.001). In a combined multivariate analysis (N = 233), with
      pneumonitis as a time-dependent covariate, CT-verified pneumonitis was associated
      with longer OS (HR, 0.67; 95% CI 0.46-0.97; P = 0.03). Furthermore, in a landmark
      analysis, pneumonitis was associated with longer OS (17.4 versus 7.8 months; P =
      0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Everolimus-induced pneumonitis is associated with improved
      outcome in patients with mRCC and may serve as a biomarker of everolimus
      efficacy.

PMID- 28586751
TI  - Direct separation of arsenic and antimony oxides by high-temperature filtration
      with porous FeAl intermetallic.
AB  - A temperature-controlled selective filtration technology for synchronous removal
      of arsenic and recovery of antimony from the fume produced from reduction
      smelting process of lead anode slimes was proposed. The chromium (Cr) alloyed
      FeAl intermetallic with an asymmetric pore structure was developed as the high
      temperature filter material after evaluating its corrosive resistance, structural
      stability and mechanical properties. The results showed that porous FeAl alloyed
      with 20wt.% Cr had a long term stability in a high-temperature sulfide-bearing
      environment. The separation of arsenic and antimony trioxides was realized
      principally based on their disparate saturated vapor pressures at specific
      temperature ranges and the asymmetric membrane of FeAl filter elements with a
      mean pore size of 1.8MUm. Pilot-scale filtration tests showed that the direct
      separation of arsenic and antimony can be achieved by a one-step or two-step
      filtration process. A higher removal percentage of arsenic can reach 92.24% at
      the expense of 6~7% loss of antimony in the two-step filtration process at
      500~550 degrees C and 300~400 degrees C. The FeAl filters had still good
      permeable and mechanical properties with 1041h of uninterrupted service, which
      indicates the feasibility of this high-temperature filtration technology.

PMID- 28586752
TI  - Heterogeneously catalyzed persulfate with a CuMgFe layered double hydroxide for
      the degradation of ethylbenzene.
AB  - CuMgFe layered double hydroxide (CuMgFe-LDH) was successfully synthesized and
      characterized as an efficient catalyst of persulfate (PS) for the degradation of
      ethylbenzene. Under the conditions of 0.2gL-1 CuMgFe-LDH and 4.0mmolL-1
      persulfate at pH 7.6, the degradation efficiency of 0.08mmolL-1 ethylbenzene was
      93.7% with TOC removal efficiency of 65.2% in 24h, and the concentration of Cu
      leached into the solution was as low as 0.095mgL-1 after the reaction. The reuse
      of CuMgFe-LDH showed that the catalyst was highly stable after 5 recycles.
      Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) test and free radical quenching experiment
      indicated that SO4- and OH radicals were the dominant species accounted for the
      degradation of ethylbenzene in the CuMgFe-LDH/persulfate system. Catalytic
      mechanism of the formation of a complex of Cu(II)O3SOOSO32- and the subsequent
      redox cycle of Cu(II)/Cu(III) accounted for the generation of radicals was
      proposed.

PMID- 28586763
TI  - Aminochrome as preclinical model for Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28586753
TI  - Ozonation as a pretreatment process for nanofiltration brines: Monitoring of
      transformation products and toxicity evaluation.
AB  - Considerable interest has been given to using nanofiltration (NF) in lieu of
      reverse osmosis for water reclamation schemes due to lower energy consumption,
      higher flux rates while ensuring good micropollutants rejection. The application
      NF results in the generation of a large concentrated waste stream. Treatment of
      the concentrate is a major hurdle for the implementation of membrane technologies
      since the concentrate is usually unusable due to a large pollutants content. This
      work focuses on the application of ozonation as pretreatment of urban NF
      concentrates, the generation of transformation products and their relative
      toxicity. Three pharmaceutical micropollutants largely encountered in water cycle
      were selected as target molecules: acetaminophen, carbamazepine and atenolol.
      Through accurate-mass Q-TOF LC-MS/MS analyses, more than twenty ozonation
      products were detected, structure proposals and formation pathways were
      elaborated. Attempts were made to understand the correlation between the
      transformation products and acute toxicity on Vibrio fischeri strain. It is the
      first time that an integrated study reported on the ozonation of pharmaceuticals
      in urban membrane concentrates, in terms of transformation products, kinetics,
      degradation mechanisms, as well as toxicity assessment.

PMID- 28586764
TI  - Ca2+ activated Cl- channels as targets for analgesics.

PMID- 28586765
TI  - Lipid Laden Macrophages in Respiratory Disease.

PMID- 28586766
TI  - SEM-induced shrinkage and site-selective modification of single-crystal silicon
      nanopores.
AB  - Solid-state nanopores with feature sizes around 5 nm play a critical role in bio
      sensing fields, especially in single molecule detection and sequencing of DNA,
      RNA and proteins. In this paper we present a systematic study on shrinkage and
      site-selective modification of single-crystal silicon nanopores with a
      conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM). Square nanopores with measurable
      sizes as small as 8 nm * 8 nm and rectangle nanopores with feature sizes (the
      smaller one between length and width) down to 5 nm have been obtained, using the
      SEM-induced shrinkage technique. The analysis of energy dispersive x-ray
      spectroscopy and the recovery of the pore size and morphology reveal that the
      grown material along with the edge of the nanopore is the result of deposition of
      hydrocarbon compounds, without structural damage during the shrinking process. A
      simplified model for pore shrinkage has been developed based on observation of
      the cross-sectional morphology of the shrunk nanopore. The main factors impacting
      on the task of controllably shrinking the nanopores, such as the accelerating
      voltage, spot size, scanned area of e-beam, and the initial pore size have been
      discussed. It is found that single-crystal silicon nanopores shrink linearly with
      time under localized irradiation by SEM e-beam in all cases, and the pore
      shrinkage rate is inversely proportional to the initial equivalent diameter of
      the pore under the same e-beam conditions.

PMID- 28586767
TI  - Quantification and Dosing of Renal Replacement Therapy in Acute Kidney Injury: A
      Reappraisal.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Delivered dialysis therapy is routinely measured in the
      management of patients with end-stage renal disease; yet, the quantification of
      renal replacement prescription and delivery in acute kidney injury (AKI) is less
      established. While continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is widely
      understood to have greater solute clearance capabilities relative to intermittent
      therapies, neither urea nor any other solute is specifically employed for CRRT
      dose assessments in clinical practice at present. Instead, the normalized
      effluent rate is the gold standard for CRRT dosing, although this parameter does
      not provide an accurate estimation of actual solute clearance for different
      modalities. METHODS: Because this situation has created confusion among
      clinicians, we reappraise dose prescription and delivery for CRRT. RESULTS: A
      critical review of RRT quantification in AKI is provided. CONCLUSION: We propose
      an adaptation of a maintenance dialysis parameter (standard Kt/V) as a benchmark
      to supplement effluent-based dosing of CRRT. Video Journal Club "Cappuccino with
      Claudio Ronco" at http://www.karger.com/?doi=475457.

PMID- 28586768
TI  - A Role of Remote Organs Effect in Acute Kidney Injury Outcome.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been associated with both short- and long-term
      outcomes. To date, there is still a debate whether the increase risk of morbidity
      and mortality is directly due to AKI occurrence. There is, however, a potential
      causal impact of AKI on outcome, but evidence of this association is yet lacking.
      The hypothesis of remote organ damage and dysfunction (heart, lung, liver, brain,
      etc.) has emerged over the last decade and may explain the reason for the
      potential negative impact of AKI on outcome. The aim of this review was to
      describe findings concerning the remote effect of AKI in animal models and human
      studies.

PMID- 28586770
TI  - Ureteroscopic Lithotripsy versus Laparoscopic Ureterolithotomy or Percutaneous
      Nephrolithotomy in the Management of Large Proximal Ureteral Stones: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing
      ureterolithotripsy (URS) with percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) or
      laparoscopic ureterolithotomy (LU) techniques for the management of large
      proximal ureteral stones (diameter greater than 10 mm). METHODS: A literature
      search was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, Web of Science, and Cochrane
      Library to identify suitable studies until November 2016. We used weighted mean
      difference to measure operative time and hospital stay, OR to measure stone free
      rate (SFR), and complication rate. Subgroup analyses were assessed for
      heterogeneity. RESULTS: Fourteen publications strictly met our eligibility
      criteria of which 7 were randomized control studies (RCTs) and 7 non-RCTs. Meta
      analysis of extractable data showed that LU and PCNL had higher SFR than URS. URS
      led to a similar hospital stay like that of LU. However, it had a shorter
      operative time and lower complication rate than LU. When we compared URS with
      PCNL, we found a shorter hospital stay in the URS group. However, there was no
      significant difference in terms of the operative time and complication rate
      between URS and PCNL. CONCLUSION: URS should be considered standard therapy for
      treating large proximal ureteral stones.

PMID- 28586769
TI  - Validation of Surrogates of Urine Osmolality in Population Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The importance of vasopressin and/or urine concentration in various
      kidney, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases has been emphasized recently. Due
      to technical constraints, urine osmolality (Uosm), a direct reflect of urinary
      concentrating activity, is rarely measured in epidemiologic studies. METHODS: We
      analyzed 2 possible surrogates of Uosm in 4 large population-based cohorts (total
      n = 4,247) and in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD, n = 146). An
      estimated Uosm (eUosm) based on the concentrations of sodium, potassium, and
      urea, and a urine concentrating index (UCI) based on the ratio of creatinine
      concentrations in urine and plasma were compared to the measured Uosm (mUosm).
      RESULTS: eUosm is an excellent surrogate of mUosm, with a highly significant
      linear relationship and values within 5% of mUosm (r = 0.99 or 0.98 in each
      population cohort). Bland-Altman plots show a good agreement between eUosm and
      mUosm with mean differences between the 2 variables within +/-24 mmol/L. This was
      verified in men and women, in day and night urine samples, and in CKD patients.
      The relationship of UCI with mUosm is also significant but is not linear and
      exhibits more dispersed values. Moreover, the latter index is no longer
      representative of mUosm in patients with CKD as it declines much more quickly
      with declining glomerular filtration rate than mUosm. CONCLUSION: The eUosm is a
      valid marker of urine concentration in population-based and CKD cohorts. The UCI
      can provide an estimate of urine concentration when no other measurement is
      available, but should be used only in subjects with normal renal function.

PMID- 28586771
TI  - Can In-Bag Manual Morcellation Represent an Alternative to Uncontained Power
      Morcellation in Laparoscopic Myomectomy? A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - AIMS: The study aimed to evaluate feasibility and safety of in-bag manual
      morcellation compared to uncontained power morcellation during laparoscopic
      myomectomy. METHODS: A total of 72 women undergoing laparoscopic myomectomy were
      randomized into 2 treatment groups: 34 patients underwent in-bag manual
      morcellation (experimental group) and 38 were submitted to uncontained power
      morcellation (control group). The primary end point was the comparison of
      morcellation operative time (MOT). Total operative time (TOT), rate of
      intraoperative complication, and postoperative outcomes in the 2 groups were
      regarded as secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Mean MOT and TOT were longer in the
      experimental group than in the control one (MOT: 9.47 +/- 5.05 vs. 6.16 +/- 7.73
      min; p = 0.01; TOT: 113.24 +/- 28.12 vs. 96.74 +/- 33.51 min; p = 0.01). No
      intraoperative complications occurred in either group and no cases of bag
      disruption or laparotomic conversion were recorded. No significant difference in
      hemoglobin drop, hospital stay, and postoperative outcomes was reported between
      groups. CONCLUSION: In-bag manual morcellation appears a safe and feasible
      procedure and, despite slightly longer operative time, could represent an
      alternative to uncontained power morcellation.

PMID- 28586772
TI  - Clinical Features and Recurrence Pattern of Perianal Abscess in Patients with
      Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Perianal abscess may develop during neutropenia periods in patients
      with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The standard of care for perianal abscess in
      AML is unclear. METHODS: We retrospectively collected patient data in our
      institute from 2009 to 2012. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-two patients with AML
      were analyzed. In total, 1,051 chemotherapy sessions were administered. Twenty
      three patients experienced perianal abscess. Patients with perianal abscess were
      younger than those without (44 vs. 60 years, p < 0.0001). Perianal abscess
      developed in various phases of treatment and in the stem cell transplantation
      period. Twelve recurrences developed in 6 patients. Patients with a prior
      perianal abscess have a 10-fold risk of developing a subsequent abscess following
      further chemotherapy. The microbiology profile revealed that most pathogens were
      derived from the intestinal tracts, which was similar to the findings of previous
      studies. The 28-day mortality was 14.3% and the direct cause of death was not
      perianal abscess in any case. Surgical interventions had no impact on recurrence
      or survival. CONCLUSION: In patients with AML, perianal abscess results from
      gastrointestinal tract pathogens. Many patients do not require surgical
      interventions. The mortality is low but recurrence is common following subsequent
      chemotherapies. Therefore, awareness of recurrence is important for the timely
      management of perianal abscess in AML.

PMID- 28586773
TI  - Comparison of the Clinical Effectiveness of Ultrasound-Guided Corticosteroid
      Injection with and without Needle Release of the Transverse Carpal Ligament in
      Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To compare the clinical effectiveness of ultrasound-guided
      corticosteroid injection with and without needle release of the transverse carpal
      ligament (TCL) in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). METHODS: Between May 2014 and
      June 2016, 52 patients (56 wrists) with CTS were included in this study. Among
      these patients, 28 wrists were treated with ultrasound-guided corticosteroid
      injection plus needle release of the TCL (group A) and 28 wrists were treated
      with a single ultrasound-guided corticosteroids injection (group B). The
      following parameters were assessed and compared including postoperative results
      of procedure based on relief of symptoms, electrophysiological parameters (distal
      motor latency, sensory conduction velocity, and sensory nerve action potential of
      median nerve), and ultrasound parameters (anteroposterior diameter and cross
      sectional area of the median nerve at the levels of pisiform and hamate bone, and
      the thicknesses of TCL on the cross-section at the level of hamate bone).
      RESULTS: The overall excellent and good rate regarding the postoperative results
      of procedure based on the relief of symptoms at 1 month postoperatively was 82.1%
      in group A and 46.4% in group B (p = 0.004). There was significant difference in
      the above electrophysiological and ultrasound parameters between the preoperative
      and postoperative values in both groups (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, a
      significant difference was also observed in the postoperative values of the above
      mentioned electrophysiological and ultrasound parameters in the 2 groups (all p <
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both approaches had treatment benefit in CTS. Ultrasound
      guided corticosteroid injection in combination with needle release of the TCL is
      superior to the single ultrasound-guided corticosteroids injection.

PMID- 28586774
TI  - The Use of Mouse Asthma Models to Successfully Discover and Develop Novel Drugs.
AB  - The past 20 years have seen a proliferation of scientific data on the
      pathophysiology of asthma. Most of these data were generated in mice using tool
      reagents, gene-deficient or transgenic animals. In contrast, studies on disease
      pathogenesis in patients are scarce. Previously, a good novel antiasthma target
      for drug development was one that abrogated asthma in mice when it was knocked
      out, neutralized or induced asthma when it was overexpressed. This type of
      approach led to many drug candidates that worked in mice but unfortunately failed
      in patients, thereby demonstrating that the results of experiments in mice are
      not always predictive of clinical efficacy. Currently, there is active debate
      about the use of mouse models in drug discovery. In this review, we summarize the
      obstacles and challenges faced when using experimental mouse models of asthma in
      drug discovery. We propose that the initial selection of a novel drug target
      begins with defining the unmet medical need and specific patient population,
      followed by a thorough evaluation of available human data, and, only then, well
      planned and executed mouse asthma experiments. Using this approach, we argue that
      mouse models lend support for the target when the models are tailored for the
      specific asthma patient population, and that targeted, reliable, and predictive
      mouse models can indeed improve and accelerate the drug discovery process.

PMID- 28586775
TI  - [Auswirkungen von Flohsamen (Psyllium) auf Parameter des Glukosestoffwechsels:
      Eine Ubersicht].
AB  - Ziel dieser Literaturubersicht war es, den klinischen Stellenwert von Flohsamen
      (Psyllium) und deren Auswirkungen auf Parameter des Glukosestoffwechsels zu
      bewerten. Hierzu wurde in den Datenbanken CAMbase, CAM-QUEST, Cochrane Library,
      EMBASE und PubMed die Literatur zur glukosesenkenden Wirkung von Flohsamen
      herangezogen und letztmalig am 16. September 2015 systematisch erfasst. Von
      ursprunglich 107 als potenziell relevant identifizierten Veroffentlichungen
      erwiesen sich 11 als randomisierte, kontrollierte klinische Studien, in denen 417
      Testpersonen Psyllium eingenommen hatten. Das Phytotherapeutikum zeigte in 2
      Studien signifikante Senkungen der Nuchternglukose. In 1 Studie konnte durch die
      Einnahme von Flohsamen der Hamoglobin-A1c (HbA1c)-Wert signifikant um 1,6%
      gesenkt werden. Signifikant Auswirkungen von Psyllium auf den postprandialen
      Glukosewert konnten in 4 Studien gemessen werden. Ebenfalls reduzierte Psyllium
      in 4 Studien den Insulinspiegel nach Nahrungsaufnahme signifikant. Der Jadad
      Score fur die ausgewerteten Publikationen lag im Durchschnitt bei 3 Punkten, das
      Minimum bei 1 Punkt, das Maximum bei 5 Punkten. Gegenwartig ist die Evidenz aus
      publizierten, randomisierten Studien fur eine glukosesenkende Wirkung von
      Flohsamen fur eine behordliche Empfehlung oder eine Aufnahme in therapeutische
      Richtlinien ungenugend. Da aber in einigen, teilweise kleineren Studien positive
      Auswirkungen des pflanzlichen Arzneimittels auf Parameter des
      Glukosestoffwechsels beobachtet wurden, erscheint die Prufung der
      glukosesenkenden Wirkung von Flohsamen in grobetaeren, methodisch einwandfreien
      Studien sinnvoll.

PMID- 28586776
TI  - Mortality of Stroke and Its Subtypes in China: Results from a Nationwide
      Population-Based Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In China, stroke is the leading cause of death and contributes to a
      heavy disease burden. However, a nationwide population-based survey of the
      mortality of stroke and its subtypes is lacking for this country. METHODS: Data
      derived from the National Epidemiological Survey of Stroke in China, which was a
      multistage, stratified clustering sampling-designed, cross-sectional survey, were
      analyzed. Mortality rate analyses were performed for 476,156 participants >=20
      years old from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013. RESULTS: Of the 476,156
      participants in the investigated population, 364 died of ischemic stroke, 373 of
      hemorrhagic stroke, and 21 of stroke of undetermined pathological type. The age
      standardized mortality rates per 100,000 person-years among those aged >=20 years
      were 114.8 for total stroke, 56.5 for ischemic stroke, and 55.8 for hemorrhagic
      stroke. The age-standardized mortality rates of total stroke, ischemic stroke,
      and hemorrhagic stroke were all higher in rural areas than those in urban areas.
      The stroke mortality rate was higher in the northern regions than in the south.
      An estimated 1.12 million people aged >=20 years in China died of stroke during
      the period from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of
      stroke in China is still heavy. Greater attention should be paid to improve
      strategies for preventing stroke.

PMID- 28586777
TI  - Patients with Fever of Unknown Origin and Splenomegaly: Diagnostic Value of
      Splenectomy and Preoperative Risk Factors Suggestive of Underlying Lymphomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We reviewed patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO) and
      splenomegaly and assessed the diagnostic value of splenectomy and measured risk
      factors suggestive of an underlying lymphoma. METHODS: FUO patients (n = 83) who
      had splenomegaly and underwent splenectomy were enrolled into this retrospective
      single-center study. Clinical presentations were documented and risk factors
      suggestive of an underlying lymphoma were tested. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients
      (89.2%) had a diagnosis of lymphoma or not after splenectomy and follow-up. Of
      those (55.4%) diagnosed with lymphoma, 29 had B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 12
      had T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The remaining 33 (44.6%) had diseases other than
      lymphoma. Using multivariate logistic analysis, the following 3 independent risk
      factors were found to be related to a final diagnosis of lymphoma: age
      (continuous) (HR 1.086; 95% CI 1.033-1.141; p = 0.001), massively enlarged spleen
      (HR 7.797; 95% CI 1.267-47.959; p = 0.027), and enlarged intra-abdominal lymph
      nodes (HR 63.925; 95% CI 7.962-513.219; p < 0.001). The calibration of the model
      was satisfactory (p = 0.248 using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test), and the
      discrimination power was good (area under the receiver operating characteristic
      curve 0.925; 95% CI 0.863-0.987). CONCLUSIONS: Splenectomy is an effective
      diagnostic procedure for patients with FUO and splenomegaly and lymphoma is a
      common cause. Older age, a massively enlarged spleen, and enlarged intra
      abdominal lymph nodes are risk factors suggesting an underlying lymphoma, and
      surgery for high-risk patients should be considered.

PMID- 28586778
TI  - Autobiographical Memory in Bipolar Disorder and Its Link to Neuropsychological
      Functioning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the specificity of
      autobiographical memory (AM) in bipolar disorder (BD) and to investigate the
      association between AM and neuropsychological functions. METHOD: Twenty bipolar
      patients and 22 matched healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. AM
      was assessed with an extended version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT)
      including rejection cue words. A neuropsychological test battery was used to
      examine verbal memory, executive functions, and attention. RESULTS: Across both
      groups, the number of specific memories in the AMT was significantly smaller in
      response to rejection cue words and positive cue words than in response to
      negative cue words. Participants with BD and HCs did not differ significantly in
      neuropsychological measures. Across both groups, scores of verbal memory,
      executive functions, and attention were significantly correlated with specificity
      of retrieved memories. LIMITATIONS: Although our clinical sample consisted of
      clinically stable outpatients, 6 out of 20 patients were not rated as euthymic
      but as mildly depressed. All BD patients were medicated. CONCLUSION: Contrary to
      previous results, patients with BD did not differ in the number of specific
      memories compared to an HC group. Our findings suggest that neuropsychological
      functioning is associated with AMT specificity. Further research is required to
      gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms which may influence the
      ease of memory retrieval.

PMID- 28586779
TI  - Effect of Anesthesia on the Developing Brain: Infant and Fetus.
AB  - The potential for commonly used anesthetics and sedatives to cause neuroapoptosis
      and other neurodegenerative changes in the developing mammalian brain has become
      evident in animal studies over the past 15 years. This concern has led to a
      number of retrospective studies in human infants and young children, and some of
      these studies observed an association between exposure to general anesthesia as
      an infant, and later neurobehavioral problems in childhood. This association is
      particularly evident for prolonged or repeated exposures. Because of the
      significant growth of fetal interventions requiring sedation and analgesia for
      the fetus, or because of maternal anesthetic effects, this concern about
      anesthetic neurotoxicity is relevant for the fetus. The potential for anesthetic
      neurotoxicity is the most important clinical and research problem in the field of
      pediatric anesthesiology. This review will first briefly summarize the rapid
      brain growth and development in the fetus and neonate. Next, animal model data of
      anesthetic neurotoxicity in the fetus and neonate will be presented, followed by
      a review of recent human clinical anesthetic neurotoxicity trials. Finally, the
      rationale for studying dexmedetomidine as a potential neuroprotectant agent in
      anesthetic neurotoxicity will be reviewed along with study design for two human
      clinical trials involving dexmedetomidine.

PMID- 28586781
TI  - House Dust Mites Induce Production of Endothelin-1 and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9
      in Keratinocytes via Proteinase-Activated Receptor-2 Activation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease
      characterized by skin barrier dysfunction and abnormal immune response. House
      dust mites (HDM) are a major source of allergens, some of which have cysteine and
      serine protease activities. Keratinocytes stimulated by HDM-derived proteases
      have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of AD by producing various
      cytokines. However, whether keratinocytes contribute to the induction of pruritus
      in AD, especially by producing pruritus-related mediators upon stimulation with
      HDM-derived proteases, has not been fully elucidated. METHODS: We examined
      whether the production of endothelin-1 (ET-1), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2,
      and MMP-9 in keratinocytes can be induced by stimulation with Dermatophagoides
      farinae extracts, and if so, whether pretreatment with a protease inhibitor or
      proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) antagonist affects the production of
      these mediators in keratinocytes. RESULTS: Although MMP-2 levels were
      undetectable in the culture supernatants, the production of ET-1 and MMP-9 was
      increased upon stimulation with HDM extracts in a concentration- and time
      dependent manner and suppressed by pretreatment of HDM extracts with serine
      protease inhibitor, but not with cysteine protease inhibitor. Mite-derived serine
      proteases also induced ET-1 and MMP-9 production in a concentration- and time
      dependent manner. Moreover, pretreatment with a PAR-2 antagonist inhibited the
      production of ET-1 and MMP-9 in keratinocytes. CONCLUSION: These results suggest
      that the activation of PAR-2 on keratinocytes by HDM-derived serine proteases
      induces the production of ET-1 and MMP-9, and may contribute to the induction of
      pruritus in AD.

PMID- 28586782
TI  - Are Cystic Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors an Indolent Entity Results from a
      Single-Center Surgical Series.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cystic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (CPanNETs) represent an
      uncommon variant of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs). Due to their
      rarity, there is a lack of knowledge with regard to clinical features and
      postoperative outcome. METHODS: The prospectively maintained surgical database of
      a high-volume institution was queried, and 46 resected CPanNETs were detected
      from 1988 to 2015. Clinical, demographic, and pathological features and survival
      outcomes of CPanNETs were described and matched with a population of 92 solid
      PanNETs (SPanNETs) for comparison. RESULTS: CPanNETs accounted for 7.8% of the
      overall number of resected PanNETs (46/587). CPanNETs were mostly sporadic (n =
      42, 91%) and nonfunctioning (39%). Two functioning CPanNETs were detected (4.3%),
      and they were 2 gastrinomas. The median tumor diameter was 30 mm (range 10-120).
      All tumors were well differentiated, with 38 (82.6%) G1 and 8 (17.4%) G2 tumors.
      Overall, no CPanNET showed a Ki-67 >5%. A correct preoperative diagnosis of a
      CPanNET was made in half of the cases. After a median follow-up of >70 months,
      the 5- and 10-year overall survival of resected CPanNETs was 93.8 and 62.5%,
      respectively, compared to 92.7 and 84.6% for SPanNETs (p > 0.05). The 5- and 10
      year disease-free survival rates were 94.5 and 88.2% for CPanNETs and 81.8 and
      78.9% for SPanNETs, respectively (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the setting of a
      surgical cohort, CPanNETs are rare, nonfunctional, and well-differentiated
      neoplasms. After surgical resection, they share the excellent outcome of their
      well-differentiated solid counterparts for both survival and recurrence.

PMID- 28586780
TI  - Serum Levels of MicroRNA371a-3p: A Highly Sensitive Tool for Diagnosing and
      Staging Testicular Germ Cell Tumours: A Clinical Case Series.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: MicroRNA (miR)371a-3p was suggested to be a sensitive and specific
      new serum biomarker of germ cell tumours (GCTs); however, its clinical usefulness
      remains unproven. PATIENTS, METHODS: In 312 consecutive cases with various
      testicular diseases, serum levels of miR371a-3p were measured. Measurement
      results became available only after completion of treatment. Five patients with
      testicular seminoma were selected for review because of unanticipated clinical
      courses. RESULTS: In each two patients, elevated miR levels heralded undetected
      primary testicular GCT and metastases despite inconclusive radiological findings.
      In one case, a normal miR371a-3p level correctly pointed to the absence of
      metastases contrary to clinical assessment. In all cases, knowledge about the
      miR371a-3p levels would have altered the clinical management. CONCLUSIONS: These
      cases highlight the exceptional usefulness of the new GCT biomarker. In contrast
      to classical markers, miR371a-3p can identify primary testicular GCT. The marker
      can aid in clinical decision making in cases with ambiguous clinical findings.

PMID- 28586788
TI  - Trends in Reoperation After Initial Lumpectomy for Breast Cancer: Addressing
      Overtreatment in Surgical Management.
AB  - Importance: Surgery after initial lumpectomy to obtain more widely clear margins
      is common and may lead to mastectomy. Objective: To describe surgeons' approach
      to surgical margins for invasive breast cancer, and changes in postlumpectomy
      surgery rates, and final surgical treatment following a 2014 consensus statement
      endorsing a margin of "no ink on tumor." Design, Setting, and Participants: This
      was a population-based cohort survey study of 7303 eligible women ages 20 to 79
      years with stage I and II breast cancer diagnosed in 2013 to 2015 and identified
      from the Georgia and Los Angeles County, California, Surveillance, Epidemiology,
      and End Results registries. A total of 5080 (70%) returned a survey. Those with
      bilateral disease, missing stage or treatment data, and with ductal carcinoma in
      situ were excluded, leaving 3729 patients in the analytic sample; 98% of these
      identified their attending surgeon. Between April 2015 and May 2016, 488 surgeons
      were surveyed regarding lumpectomy margins; 342 (70%) responded completely.
      Pathology reports of all patients having a second surgery and a 30% sample of
      those with 1 surgery were reviewed. Time trends were analyzed with multinomial
      regression models. Main Outcomes and Measures: Rates of final surgical procedure
      (lumpectomy, unilateral mastectomy, bilateral mastectomy) and rates of additional
      surgery after initial lumpectomy over time, and surgeon attitudes toward an
      adequate lumpectomy margin. Results: The 67% rate of initial lumpectomy in the
      3729 patient analytic sample was unchanged during the study. The rate of final
      lumpectomy increased by 13% from 2013 to 2015, accompanied by a decrease in
      unilateral and bilateral mastectomy (P = .002). Surgery after initial lumpectomy
      declined by 16% (P < .001). Pathology review documented no significant
      association between date of treatment and positive margins. Of 342 responding
      surgeons, 69% endorsed a margin of no ink on tumor to avoid reexcision in
      estrogen receptor-positive progesterone receptor-positive cancer and 63% for
      estrogen receptor-negative progesterone- receptor-negative cancer. Surgeons
      treating more than 50 breast cancers annually were significantly more likely to
      report this margin as adequate (85%; n = 105) compared with those treating 20
      cases or fewer (55%; n = 131) (P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: Additional
      surgery after initial lumpectomy decreased markedly from 2013 to 2015 concomitant
      with dissemination of clinical guidelines endorsing a minimal negative margin.
      These findings suggest that surgeon-led initiatives to address potential
      overtreatment can reduce the burden of surgical management in patients with
      cancer.

PMID- 28586791
TI  - Incorrect Conflicts of Interest Disclosures.

PMID- 28586789
TI  - The Effect of Positive SWOG Treatment Trials on Survival of Patients With Cancer
      in the US Population.
AB  - Importance: Recently, tremendous prominence has been given to the investigation
      of the effect of different research processes as part of the Cancer Moonshot.
      More than half a century ago, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) established a
      network of publicly funded cancer cooperative research groups to systematically
      evaluate new treatments for efficacy and safety. Objective: To examine the extent
      to which positive NCI-sponsored cancer treatment trials have benefited patients
      with cancer in the US population. Design, Setting, and Participants: This
      investigation used study data from SWOG, an NCI-sponsored network cooperative
      research group. All treatment trials during SWOG's 60-year history (1956-2016)
      were identified for which the new, experimental therapy provided a statistically
      significant improvement in overall survival. It was assumed that the new, proven
      treatments from these trials established new standards for cancer care in the
      treatment community. Twenty-three positive SWOG treatment trials were identified
      from a variety of different disease settings. Main Outcomes and Measures: This
      study estimated population life-years gained from the 23 treatment trials through
      2015 by mapping the effect of the new treatments onto the US cancer population
      using an area under the Kaplan-Meier survival curve approach that combined trial
      specific hazard function and hazard ratio results, along with Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results program and life table data. Calculations were age
      adjusted. The US dollar return on investment was estimated as the ratio of the
      total investment by the NCI in the treatment trial program divided by the
      estimate of life-years gained. Results: In total, 12 361 patients were enrolled
      to the 23 positive trials from 1965 to 2012. The study estimated that 3.34
      million (95% confidence limit, 2.39-4.15 million) life-years were gained from
      these 23 trials through 2015. Estimates were greater than 2 million life-years
      gained under most model simulations. The US dollar return on investment was $125
      per life-year gained. Conclusions and Relevance: SWOG treatment trials have had a
      substantial impact on population survival for patients with cancer over 60 years.
      The NCI's investment in its cancer cooperative group research program has
      provided exceptional value and benefit to the American public through its
      research programs generating positive cancer treatment trials. Trial
      Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifiers: NCT00004001, NCT00075764, and
      NCT00644228.

PMID- 28586792
TI  - Your Child's First Cell Phone.

PMID- 28586790
TI  - Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials: A Requirement of the International
      Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

PMID- 28586793
TI  - Errors in Author Names and Affiliations.

PMID- 28586797
TI  - In Vivo Confocal Imaging of the Conjunctiva as a Predictive Tool for the Glaucoma
      Filtration Surgery Outcome.
AB  - Purpose: To examine the preoperative conjunctival dendritic cell density (DCD),
      goblet cell density (GCD), and stromal meshwork reflectivity (SMR) in
      glaucomatous patients undergoing filtration surgery, using in vivo confocal
      microscopy (IVCM). Methods: Sixty-six patients were enrolled. At baseline, IVCM
      was performed at the site planned for surgery, and was repeated after 12 months
      at bleb site. Surgery was successful when a one-third reduction of baseline IOP
      was obtained at the last follow-up. The main outcomes were baseline DCD, GCD, and
      SMR, and 12 months IOP. The relations between baseline confocal parameters and 12
      months IOP were analyzed. Results: Filtration surgery was successful in 43
      patients (group 1: complete success, 25; group 2: qualified success, 18), and
      unsuccessful in 23 patients (group 3). Baseline IOP (mm Hg) was 27.6 +/- 2.8,
      28.8 +/- 4.1, and 27.7 +/- 3.2 in groups 1 to 3, respectively. Preoperative DCD
      and SMR were lower in group 1 compared with groups 2 (P < 0.001, P < 0.05), and 3
      (P < 0.001); preoperative GCD was higher in group 1 compared with groups 2 and 3
      (P < 0.001). DCD and GCD were also different between groups 2 and 3 (P < 0.05, P
      < 0.001). At 12 months, IOP reduced by 43.3%, 38.4%, and 15.8% in groups 1 to 3.
      Twelve-month IOP reduction negatively correlated with baseline DCD and SMR (P <
      0.001, r = -0.786; P < 0.05, r = -0.618), and positively with GCD (P < 0.001, r =
      0.752). Conclusions: Preoperative DCD, GCD, and SMR are parameters correlated
      with the filtration surgery outcome, with DCD presenting the strongest
      correlation. IVCM of the conjunctiva may represent an imaging tool to predict the
      surgical success in glaucoma.

PMID- 28586796
TI  - Functional Activity of Matrix Metalloproteinases 2 and 9 in Tears of Patients
      With Glaucoma.
AB  - Purpose: To evaluate the differential expression of tear matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9 in of patients with various forms of glaucoma.
      Methods: Tear samples were collected with a Schirmer's strip from 148 eyes of 113
      patients (medically naive patients with primary open-angle [POAG] or angle
      closure glaucoma [PACG] and those with pseudoexfoliation syndrome [PXF] or
      glaucoma [PXG]). These were compared to patients undergoing cataract surgery
      (controls) for this cross-sectional study. Functional activities of tear MMP-9
      and MMP-2 were analyzed by gelatin zymography. Tenon's capsules (n = 15) were
      harvested from the inferior quadrant in those undergoing cataract surgery and
      protein expression of MMP-9 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Hydrogen
      peroxide (H2O2) stress-induced effects on in vitro activities of MMP-9 in human
      trabecular meshwork (HTM) cells were analyzed. Results: The MMP-9 activity in
      tears was increased significantly in POAG, (n = 27), PACG (n = 24), and PXF (n =
      40) eyes compared to controls (n = 35), and was increased significantly in eyes
      with glaucoma compared to moderate/severe glaucoma (P < 0.001). The MMP-9
      expression was significantly lower in PXG (n = 22) eyes. Immunohistochemistry of
      Tenon's capsule revealed increased expression of MMP-9 in primary glaucoma eyes.
      Increased MMP-9 activity was seen in in vitro by gelatin zymography and was
      confirmed by Western and immunofluorescent assay on HTM upon 800 and 1000 MUM
      H2O2-induced stress for 2 to 3 hours with approximately 80% cell death.
      Conclusions: Increased tear MMP-9 activity in early glaucoma and
      pseudoexfoliation syndrome suggesting activation of extracellular matrix (ECM)
      degradation can be used as a tear-based predictive biomarker. Decreased
      expression in advanced stages suggests exhaustion of the degradation response.

PMID- 28586799
TI  - Error in Data Presentation in Figure and Text.

PMID- 28586798
TI  - Parkinson Disease and Autoimmune Disorders-What Can We Learn From Genome-wide
      Pleiotropy?

PMID- 28586801
TI  - More Rigorous Study Needed Before Claiming No Harm of Blood Glucose Test Strip
      Limits for Patients Using Insulin.

PMID- 28586802
TI  - When to Adjust for Potentially Confounding Variables.

PMID- 28586803
TI  - Could the Adoption of Unleaded Gasoline in the 1970s Play a Role in the
      Precipitous Decline in Dementia Prevalence?

PMID- 28586804
TI  - Glycemic Control and Functionality in Nursing Homes-More Than HbA1c.

PMID- 28586805
TI  - Promoting Compliance to Practice Guidelines May Improve Primary Care for Thyroid
      Diseases.

PMID- 28586806
TI  - Patient and Public Safety Maximized by Rapid Opioid Taper.

PMID- 28586807
TI  - Could the Adoption of Unleaded Gasoline in the 1970s Play a Role in the
      Precipitous Decline in Dementia Prevalence?-Reply.

PMID- 28586808
TI  - When to Adjust for Potentially Confounding Variables-Reply.

PMID- 28586809
TI  - More Rigorous Study Needed Before Claiming No Harm of Blood Glucose Test Strip
      Limits for Patients Using Insulin-Reply.

PMID- 28586810
TI  - Glycemic Control and Functionality in Nursing Homes-More Than HbA1c-Reply.

PMID- 28586811
TI  - Promoting Compliance to Practice Guidelines May Improve Primary Care for Thyroid
      Diseases-Reply.

PMID- 28586812
TI  - Patient and Public Safety Maximized by Rapid Opioid Taper-Reply.

PMID- 28586814
TI  - Alternating Ventricular Complexes After Overdose From an Herbal Medication.

PMID- 28586815
TI  - Speech Motor Sequence Learning: Acquisition and Retention in Parkinson Disease
      and Normal Aging.
AB  - Purpose: The aim of the current investigation was to examine speech motor
      sequence learning in neurologically healthy younger adults, neurologically
      healthy older adults, and individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) over a 2-day
      period. Method: A sequential nonword repetition task was used to examine learning
      over 2 days. Participants practiced a sequence of 6 monosyllabic nonwords that
      was retested following nighttime sleep. The speed and accuracy of the nonword
      sequence were measured, and learning was inferred by examining performance within
      and between sessions. Results: Though all groups exhibited comparable
      improvements of the nonword sequence performance during the initial session,
      between-session retention of the nonword sequence differed between groups.
      Younger adult controls exhibited offline gains, characterized by an increase in
      the speed and accuracy of nonword sequence performance across sessions, whereas
      older adults exhibited stable between-session performance. Individuals with PD
      exhibited offline losses, marked by an increase in sequence duration between
      sessions. Conclusions: The current results demonstrate that both PD and normal
      aging affect retention of speech motor learning. Furthermore, these data suggest
      that basal ganglia dysfunction associated with PD may affect the later stages of
      speech motor learning. Findings from the current investigation are discussed in
      relation to studies examining consolidation of nonspeech motor learning.

PMID- 28586816
TI  - Thrombophilia Testing in Provoked Venous Thromboembolism: A Teachable Moment.

PMID- 28586817
TI  - Trends in Visits to Specialist Physicians Involving Nurse Practitioners and
      Physician Assistants, 2001 to 2013.

PMID- 28586819
TI  - Physician Speech and Firearm Safety: Wollschlaeger v Governor, Florida.
AB  - To provide the highest-quality medical care, physicians must be able to
      communicate openly with their patients and provide advice in conformance with
      professional standards of care. Although states have the power to regulate many
      aspects of medical practice, laws that interfere with speech by preventing
      physicians from discussing specific subjects with patients are constitutionally
      suspect. In 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit struck down
      key provisions of a Florida law that prohibited physicians from speaking with
      their patients about firearm safety as a violation of the First Amendment. We
      discuss this case, Wollschlaeger v Governor, Florida, and the implications of the
      ruling. Although courts may rule that physician "gag laws," such as the one in
      Florida, are unconstitutional, this area of the law remains unsettled.
      Legislative mandates that interfere with medical practice may decrease the
      quality of care by substituting politics and legislative judgment for medical
      expertise.

PMID- 28586818
TI  - Association Between Persistent Pain and Memory Decline and Dementia in a
      Longitudinal Cohort of Elders.
AB  - Importance: Chronic pain is common among the elderly and is associated with
      cognitive deficits in cross-sectional studies; the population-level association
      between chronic pain and longitudinal cognition is unknown. Objective: To
      determine the population-level association between persistent pain, which may
      reflect chronic pain, and subsequent cognitive decline. Design, Setting, and
      Participants: Cohort study with biennial interviews of 10 065 community-dwelling
      older adults in the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study who
      were 62 years or older in 2000 and answered pain and cognition questions in both
      1998 and 2000. Data analysis was conducted between June 24 and October 31, 2016.
      Exposures: "Persistent pain," defined as a participant reporting that he or she
      was often troubled with moderate or severe pain in both the 1998 and 2000
      interviews. Main Outcomes and Measures: Coprimary outcomes were composite memory
      score and dementia probability, estimated by combining neuropsychological test
      results and informant and proxy interviews, which were tracked from 2000 through
      2012. Linear mixed-effects models, with random slope and intercept for each
      participant, were used to estimate the association of persistent pain with slope
      of the subsequent cognitive trajectory, adjusting for demographic characteristics
      and comorbidities measures in 2000 and applying sampling weights to represent the
      2000 US population. We hypothesized that persistent pain would predict
      accelerated memory decline and increased probability of dementia. To quantify the
      impact of persistent pain on functional independence, we combined our primary
      results with information on the association between memory and ability to manage
      medications and finances independently. Results: Of the 10 065 eligible HRS
      sample members, 60% were female, and median baseline age was 73 years
      (interquartile range, 67-78 years). At baseline, persistent pain affected 10.9%
      of participants and was associated with worse depressive symptoms and more
      limitations in activities of daily living. After covariate adjustment, persistent
      pain was associated with 9.2% (95% CI, 2.8%-15.0%) more rapid memory decline
      compared with those without persistent pain. After 10 years, this accelerated
      memory decline implied a 15.9% higher relative risk of inability to manage
      medications and an 11.8% higher relative risk of inability to manage finances
      independently. Adjusted dementia probability increased 7.7% faster (95% CI, 0.55%
      14.2%); after 10 years, this translates to an absolute 2.2% increase in dementia
      probability for those with persistent pain. Conclusions and Relevance: Persistent
      pain was associated with accelerated memory decline and increased probability of
      dementia.

PMID- 28586820
TI  - Sodium Reduction in US Households' Packaged Food and Beverage Purchases, 2000 to
      2014.
AB  - Importance: Initiatives to reduce sodium in packaged foods have been launched in
      the United States, yet corresponding changes in the amount of sodium that US
      households obtain from packaged foods have not been evaluated, to our knowledge.
      Objective: To assess 15-year changes in the amount of sodium that US households
      acquire from packaged food purchases, the sodium content of purchases, and the
      proportion of households that have purchases with optimal sodium density. Design,
      Setting, and Participants: Longitudinal study of US households in the 2000 to
      2014 Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel, a population-based sample of households
      that used barcode scanners to record all packaged foods purchased throughout the
      year. Time-varying brand- and product-specific nutrition information was used for
      1 490 141 products. Main Outcomes and Measures: Sociodemographic-adjusted changes
      in mean sodium per capita (mg/d) and sodium content (mg/100 g), overall and for
      top food group sources of sodium, and the proportion of households that have
      total purchases with sodium density of 1.1 mg/kcal or less. Results: In a
      nationwide sample of 172 042 US households (754 608 year-level observations), the
      amount of sodium that households acquired from packaged food and beverage
      purchases decreased significantly between 2000 and 2014 by 396 mg/d (95% CI, -407
      to -385 mg/d) per capita. The sodium content of households' packaged food
      purchases decreased significantly during this 15-year period by 49 mg/100 g (95%
      CI, -50 to -48 mg/100 g), a 12.0% decline; decreases began in 2005 and continued
      through 2014. Moreover, the sodium content of households' purchases decreased
      significantly for all top food sources of sodium between 2000 and 2014, including
      declines of more than 100 mg/100 g for condiments, sauces, and dips (-114 mg/100
      g; 95% CI, -117 to -111 mg/100 g) and salty snacks (-142 mg/100 g; 95% CI, -144
      to -141 mg/100 g). However, in all years, less than 2% of US households had
      packaged food and beverage purchases with sodium density of 1.1 mg/kcal or less.
      Conclusions and Relevance: In this nationwide study, significant reductions in
      sodium from packaged food purchases were achieved in the past 15 years.
      Nonetheless, most US households had food and beverage purchases with excessive
      sodium density. Findings suggest that more concerted sodium reduction efforts are
      needed in the United States.

PMID- 28586821
TI  - Overall Survival Results of a Trial Assessing Patient-Reported Outcomes for
      Symptom Monitoring During Routine Cancer Treatment.

PMID- 28586823
TI  - Cross-Linguistic Differences in Bilinguals' Fundamental Frequency Ranges.
AB  - Purpose: We investigated cross-linguistic differences in fundamental frequency
      range (FFR) in Welsh-English bilingual speech. This is the first study that
      reports gender-specific behavior in switching FFRs across languages in bilingual
      speech. Method: FFR was conceptualized as a behavioral pattern using measures of
      span (range of fundamental frequency-in semitones-covered by the speaker's voice)
      and level (overall height of fundamental frequency maxima, minima, and means of
      speaker's voice) in each language. Results: FFR measures were taken from
      recordings of 30 Welsh-English bilinguals (14 women and 16 men), who read 70
      semantically matched sentences, 35 in each language. Comparisons were made within
      speakers across languages, separately in male and female speech. Language
      background and language use information was elicited for qualitative analysis of
      extralinguistic factors that might affect the FFR. Conclusions: Cross-linguistic
      differences in FFR were found to be consistent across female bilinguals but
      random across male bilinguals. Most female bilinguals showed distinct FFRs for
      each language. Most male bilinguals, however, were found not to change their FFR
      when switching languages. Those who did change used different strategies than
      women when differentiating FFRs between languages. Detected cross-linguistic
      differences in FFR can be explained by sociocultural factors. Therefore,
      sociolinguistic factors are to be taken into account in any further study of
      language-specific pitch setting and cross-linguistic differences in FFR.

PMID- 28586822
TI  - Sign Language Echolalia in Deaf Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Purpose: We present the first study of echolalia in deaf, signing children with
      autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We investigate the nature and prevalence of sign
      echolalia in native-signing children with ASD, the relationship between sign
      echolalia and receptive language, and potential modality differences between sign
      and speech. Method: Seventeen deaf children with ASD and 18 typically developing
      (TD) deaf children were video-recorded in a series of tasks. Data were coded for
      type of signs produced (spontaneous, elicited, echo, or nonecho repetition).
      Echoes were coded as pure or partial, and timing and reduplication of echoes were
      coded. Results: Seven of the 17 deaf children with ASD produced signed echoes,
      but none of the TD deaf children did. The echoic children had significantly lower
      receptive language scores than did both the nonechoic children with ASD and the
      TD children. Modality differences also were found in terms of the directionality,
      timing, and reduplication of echoes. Conclusions: Deaf children with ASD
      sometimes echo signs, just as hearing children with ASD sometimes echo words, and
      TD deaf children and those with ASD do so at similar stages of linguistic
      development, when comprehension is relatively low. The sign language modality
      might provide a powerful new framework for analyzing the purpose and function of
      echolalia in deaf children with ASD.

PMID- 28586824
TI  - The Downside of Greater Lexical Influences: Selectively Poorer Speech Perception
      in Noise.
AB  - Purpose: Although lexical information influences phoneme perception, the extent
      to which reliance on lexical information enhances speech processing in
      challenging listening environments is unclear. We examined the extent to which
      individual differences in lexical influences on phonemic processing impact speech
      processing in maskers containing varying degrees of linguistic information (2
      talker babble or pink noise). Method: Twenty-nine monolingual English speakers
      were instructed to ignore the lexical status of spoken syllables (e.g., gift vs.
      kift) and to only categorize the initial phonemes (/g/ vs. /k/). The same
      participants then performed speech recognition tasks in the presence of 2-talker
      babble or pink noise in audio-only and audiovisual conditions. Results:
      Individuals who demonstrated greater lexical influences on phonemic processing
      experienced greater speech processing difficulties in 2-talker babble than in
      pink noise. These selective difficulties were present across audio-only and
      audiovisual conditions. Conclusion: Individuals with greater reliance on lexical
      processes during speech perception exhibit impaired speech recognition in
      listening conditions in which competing talkers introduce audible linguistic
      interferences. Future studies should examine the locus of lexical
      influences/interferences on phonemic processing and speech-in-speech processing.

PMID- 28586826
TI  - Goal-Directed Drinking Behaviors Can Be Modified Through Behavioral Mimicry.
AB  - Purpose: This study tested whether behavioral mimicry can alter drinking
      behavior. It was hypothesized that participants would increase drinking behaviors
      given increased confederate drinking but not cup touching. Methods: Nineteen
      healthy adults (Mage = 20.32 years) completed 2 picture description tasks; during
      1 task, a confederate frequently sipped water (complete drinking gesture), and
      during the other, the confederate touched her cup but did not drink (partial
      gesture). Outcome measures included number of drinks per minute, number of cup
      touches per minute, percentage of time spent drinking, and percentage of time
      spent touching the cup. Results: Participants spent more time drinking and had an
      increased drinking rate during the drinking condition versus the cup-touching
      condition. For a majority of participants, drinking rate increased during the
      drinking condition versus baseline. Drinking, but not cup touching, rate also
      increased given increased confederate cup touching for many. Conclusions: Mimicry
      likely contributes to social modeling of drinking behaviors. This effect appears
      more robust given a complete target gesture (full drink); however, a partial goal
      directed drinking gesture may also yield a mimicked response. Beyond the
      theoretical implications, these results provide directions for research
      investigating more naturalistic mechanisms for increasing dietary intake in
      various patient populations (e.g., individuals with dysphagia).

PMID- 28586825
TI  - Typical Toddlers' Participation in "Just-in-Time" Programming of Vocabulary for
      Visual Scene Display Augmentative and Alternative Communication Apps on Mobile
      Technology: A Descriptive Study.
AB  - Purpose: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) promotes communicative
      participation and language development for young children with complex
      communication needs. However, the motor, linguistic, and cognitive demands of
      many AAC technologies restrict young children's operational use of and influence
      over these technologies. The purpose of the current study is to better understand
      young children's participation in programming vocabulary "just in time" on an AAC
      application with minimized demands. Method: A descriptive study was implemented
      to highlight the participation of 10 typically developing toddlers (M age: 16
      months, range: 10-22 months) in just-in-time vocabulary programming in an AAC app
      with visual scene displays. Results: All 10 toddlers participated in some
      capacity in adding new visual scene displays and vocabulary to the app just in
      time. Differences in participation across steps were observed, suggesting
      variation in the developmental demands of controls involved in vocabulary
      programming. Conclusions: Results from the current study provide clinical
      insights toward involving young children in AAC programming just in time and
      steps that may allow for more independent participation or require more
      scaffolding. Technology designed to minimize motor, cognitive, and linguistic
      demands may allow children to participate in programming devices at a younger
      age.

PMID- 28586828
TI  - The Effects of Enhanced Milieu Teaching With Phonological Emphasis on the Speech
      and Language Skills of Young Children With Cleft Palate: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the extent to which a
      naturalistic communication intervention, enhanced milieu teaching with
      phonological emphasis (EMT+ PE), improved the language and speech outcomes of
      toddlers with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). Method: Nineteen children between
      15 and 36 months (M = 25 months) with nonsyndromic CL/P and typical cognitive
      development were randomly assigned to a treatment (EMT+PE) or nontreatment,
      business-as-usual (BAU), experimental condition. Participants in the treatment
      group received forty-eight 30-min sessions, biweekly during a 6-month period.
      Treatment was delivered in a university clinic by trained speech language
      pathologists; fidelity of treatment was high across participants. Results:
      Children in the treatment group had significantly better receptive language
      scores and a larger percentage of consonants correct than children in the BAU
      group at the end of intervention. Children in the treatment group made greater
      gains than children in the BAU group on most language measures; however, only
      receptive language, expressive vocabulary (per parent report), and consonants
      correct were significant. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study
      indicate that EMT+PE is a promising early intervention for young children with
      CL/P. Replication with a larger sample and long-term follow-up measures are
      needed.

PMID- 28586827
TI  - Genome-wide Pleiotropy Between Parkinson Disease and Autoimmune Diseases.
AB  - Importance: Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and pathway analyses
      supported long-standing observations of an association between immune-mediated
      diseases and Parkinson disease (PD). The post-GWAS era provides an opportunity
      for cross-phenotype analyses between different complex phenotypes. Objectives: To
      test the hypothesis that there are common genetic risk variants conveying risk of
      both PD and autoimmune diseases (ie, pleiotropy) and to identify new shared
      genetic variants and their pathways by applying a novel statistical framework in
      a genome-wide approach. Design, Setting, and Participants: Using the conjunction
      false discovery rate method, this study analyzed GWAS data from a selection of
      archetypal autoimmune diseases among 138 511 individuals of European ancestry and
      systemically investigated pleiotropy between PD and type 1 diabetes, Crohn
      disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, psoriasis, and
      multiple sclerosis. NeuroX data (6927 PD cases and 6108 controls) were used for
      replication. The study investigated the biological correlation between the top
      loci through protein-protein interaction and changes in the gene expression and
      methylation levels. The dates of the analysis were June 10, 2015, to March 4,
      2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was a list of novel loci
      and their pathways involved in PD and autoimmune diseases. Results: Genome-wide
      conjunctional analysis identified 17 novel loci at false discovery rate less than
      0.05 with overlap between PD and autoimmune diseases, including known PD loci
      adjacent to GAK, HLA-DRB5, LRRK2, and MAPT for rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative
      colitis and Crohn disease. Replication confirmed the involvement of HLA, LRRK2,
      MAPT, TRIM10, and SETD1A in PD. Among the novel genes discovered, WNT3, KANSL1,
      CRHR1, BOLA2, and GUCY1A3 are within a protein-protein interaction network with
      known PD genes. A subset of novel loci was significantly associated with changes
      in methylation or expression levels of adjacent genes. Conclusions and Relevance:
      The study findings provide novel mechanistic insights into PD and autoimmune
      diseases and identify a common genetic pathway between these phenotypes. The
      results may have implications for future therapeutic trials involving anti
      inflammatory agents.

PMID- 28586831
TI  - Pediatricians, Firearms, and the First Amendment.

PMID- 28586829
TI  - The Changing View of Input in the Treatment of Children With Grammatical
      Deficits.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present 3 approaches that emphasize
      the role that input plays in the treatment of grammatical deficits in children
      with language impairments. Method: These approaches-input informativeness,
      competing sources of input, and high variability-were selected because they go
      beyond issues of token frequency and emphasize instead type frequency, relative
      frequency, and frequency at an abstract as well as a concrete level of grammar.
      Each of these approaches can be applied to the grammatical deficits seen in
      children with specific language impairment and can be readily used with well
      established procedures, such as focused stimulation and recasting. Results: Each
      approach is supported by a body of laboratory research with children with typical
      language skills, and the feasibility of each has been tested in studies with a
      treatment design. Furthermore, the assumptions of the 3 approaches are largely
      compatible, permitting application of combinations of these approaches without
      violating any of their principles. Conclusion: The positive findings from each of
      these approaches should serve as a basis for further clinical research.

PMID- 28586830
TI  - Social Confidence in Early Adulthood Among Young People With and Without a
      History of Language Impairment.
AB  - Purpose: The purposes of this study were to test the predictions that lower self
      esteem and higher shyness in individuals with a history of language impairment
      (LI) would continue from adolescence into early adulthood and that those with LI
      would have lower social self-efficacy in early adulthood. Method: Participants
      were young people with a history of LI and a comparison group of age-matched
      peers. Both groups were tested at ages 17 and 24 years. Participants completed
      measures of language ability, nonverbal IQ, shyness, global self-esteem, and (at
      age 24 years only) social self-efficacy. Results: Young adults with LI scored
      lower than age-matched peers on self-esteem, higher on shyness, and lower on
      social self-efficacy (medium to large effect sizes). In line with expectations,
      in the group with LI, language ability in adolescence predicted shyness in young
      adulthood, which, in turn, was negatively associated with self-esteem. There was
      also a direct association between language ability in adolescence and self-esteem
      in young adulthood. Conclusions: Young people with a history of LI are likely to
      be entering adulthood less socially confident than their peers. Interventions may
      be desirable for young adults with LI, and the present findings indicate social
      self-efficacy as a key area of social confidence that calls for practitioners'
      attention.

PMID- 28586832
TI  - Sound Health: An NIH-Kennedy Center Initiative to Explore Music and the Mind.

PMID- 28586843
TI  - Making Conscious the Unconscious.

PMID- 28586845
TI  - New Opportunities for Evidence in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

PMID- 28586842
TI  - Association Between Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Craniofacial Shape of Children
      at 12 Months of Age.
AB  - Importance: Children who receive a diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
      may have a characteristic facial appearance in addition to neurodevelopmental
      impairment. It is not well understood whether there is a gradient of facial
      characteristics of children who did not receive a diagnosis of fetal alcohol
      spectrum disorder but who were exposed to a range of common drinking patterns
      during pregnancy. Objective: To examine the association between dose, frequency,
      and timing of prenatal alcohol exposure and craniofacial phenotype in 12-month
      old children. Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective cohort study was
      performed from January 1, 2011, to December 30, 2014, among mothers recruited in
      the first trimester of pregnancy from low-risk, public maternity clinics in
      metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. A total of 415 white children were included in
      this analysis of 3-dimensional craniofacial images taken at 12 months of age.
      Analysis was performed with objective, holistic craniofacial phenotyping using
      dense surface models of the face and head. Partial least square regression models
      included covariates known to affect craniofacial shape. Exposures: Low, moderate
      to high, or binge-level alcohol exposure in the first trimester or throughout
      pregnancy. Main Outcomes and Measures: Anatomical differences in global and
      regional craniofacial shape between children of women who abstained from alcohol
      during pregnancy and children with varying levels of prenatal alcohol exposure.
      Results: Of the 415 children in the study (195 girls and 220 boys; mean [SD] age,
      363.0 [8.3] days), a consistent association between craniofacial shape and
      prenatal alcohol exposure was observed at almost any level regardless of whether
      exposure occurred only in the first trimester or throughout pregnancy. Regions of
      difference were concentrated around the midface, nose, lips, and eyes.
      Directional visualization showed that these differences corresponded to general
      recession of the midface and superior displacement of the nose, especially the
      tip of the nose, indicating shortening of the nose and upturning of the nose tip.
      Differences were most pronounced between groups with no exposure and groups with
      low exposure in the first trimester (forehead), moderate to high exposure in the
      first trimester (eyes, midface, chin, and parietal region), and binge-level
      exposure in the first trimester (chin). Conclusions and Relevance: Prenatal
      alcohol exposure, even at low levels, can influence craniofacial development.
      Although the clinical significance of these findings is yet to be determined,
      they support the conclusion that for women who are or may become pregnant,
      avoiding alcohol is the safest option.

PMID- 28586844
TI  - Skeletal Muscle Involvement in Antisynthetase Syndrome.
AB  - Importance: Antisynthetase syndrome, characterized by myositis, interstitial lung
      disease, skin rash, arthropathy, and Raynaud phenomenon, is a clinical entity
      based on the presence of aminoacyl transfer RNA synthetase (ARS) antibodies in
      patients' serum. However, antisynthetase syndrome is not included in the
      histological subsets of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Objective: To
      elucidate the clinical features of myositis in patients with antisynthetase
      syndrome. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this cohort study, muscle biopsy
      and blood samples were collected from 460 patients with idiopathic inflammatory
      myositis from various regional referral centers throughout Japan between October
      2010 and December 2014. Data were analyzed in March 2016. Exposures: Six
      different anti-ARS antibodies were detected in serum by RNA immunoprecipitation.
      Line blot assay and protein immunoprecipitation were also performed. HLA-DRB1
      alleles were genotyped. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were muscle
      manifestations and histological findings. Predisposing factors, extramuscular
      symptoms, and follow-up information were also studied. Results: Of 460 patients
      with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, 51 (11.1%) had anti-ARS antibodies. Of
      this subset, 31 (61%) were women, with a mean (SD) age at disease onset of 60.2
      (16.1) years. Among 6 different anti-ARS antibodies, only 1-the anti-OJ antibody
      was not detected by line blot assay but by RNA immunoprecipitation. There were no
      significant HLA-DRB1 alleles associated with anti-ARS antibodies. All 51 patients
      presented with muscle limb weakness; 14 (27%) had severe limb weakness, 17 (33%)
      had neck muscle weakness, 15 (29%) had dysphagia, and 15 (29%) had muscle
      atrophy. Although patients with anti-OJ antibodies showed severe muscle weakness,
      the clinical presentations of antisynthetase syndrome were relatively
      homogeneous. In histology, perifascicular necrosis, the characteristic finding of
      antisynthetase syndrome, was found in 24 patients (47%). Myositis with anti-ARS
      antibodies responded to the combination of immunosuppressive therapy with
      favorable outcomes. Interstitial lung disease, found in 41 patients (80%), was
      more closely associated with mortality than myositis. Conclusions and Relevance:
      Although clinical presentations of antisynthetase syndrome were relatively
      homogeneous, anti-OJ antibodies were associated with severe muscle involvement.
      Antisynthetase syndrome is a clinical and histological subset among idiopathic
      inflammatory myopathies.

PMID- 28586853
TI  - Development and application of the near-infrared and white-light thoracoscope
      system for minimally invasive lung cancer surgery.
AB  - In minimally invasive surgery, the white-light thoracoscope as a standard imaging
      tool is facing challenges of the low contrast between important anatomical or
      pathological regions and surrounding tissues. Recently, the near-infrared (NIR)
      fluorescence imaging shows superior advantages over the conventional white-light
      observation, which inspires researchers to develop imaging systems to improve
      overall outcomes of endoscopic imaging. We developed an NIR and white-light dual
      channel thoracoscope system, which achieved high-fluorescent signal acquisition
      efficiency and the simultaneously optimal visualization of the NIR and color dual
      channel signals. The system was designed to have fast and accurate image
      registration and high signal-to-background ratio by optimizing both software
      algorithms and optical hardware components for better performance in the NIR
      spectrum band. The system evaluation demonstrated that the minimally detectable
      concentration of indocyanine green (ICG) was 0.01 ?? ? M , and the spatial
      resolution was 35 ?? ? m . The in vivo feasibility of our system was verified by
      the preclinical experiments using six porcine models with the intravenous
      injection of ICG. Furthermore, the system was successfully applied for guiding
      the minimally invasive segmentectomy in three lung cancer patients, which
      revealed that our system held great promise for the clinical translation in lung
      cancer surgeries.

PMID- 28586852
TI  - Dental optical tomography with upconversion nanoparticles-a feasibility study.
AB  - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have the unique ability to emit multiple
      colors upon excitation by near-infrared (NIR) light. Herein, we investigate the
      potential use of UCNPs as contrast agents for dental optical tomography, with a
      focus on monitoring the status of fillings after dental restoration. The
      potential of performing tomographic imaging using UCNP emission of visible or NIR
      light is established. This in silico and ex vivo study paves the way toward
      employing UCNPs as theranostic agents for dental applications.

PMID- 28586854
TI  - Noninvasive assessment of articular cartilage surface damage using reflected
      polarized light microscopy.
AB  - Articular surface damage occurs to cartilage during normal aging, osteoarthritis,
      and in trauma. A noninvasive assessment of cartilage microstructural alterations
      is useful for studies involving cartilage explants. This study evaluates
      polarized reflectance microscopy as a tool to assess surface damage to cartilage
      explants caused by mechanical scraping and enzymatic degradation. Adult bovine
      articular cartilage explants were scraped, incubated in collagenase, or underwent
      scrape and collagenase treatments. In an additional experiment, cartilage
      explants were subject to scrapes at graduated levels of severity. Polarized
      reflectance parameters were compared with India ink surface staining, features of
      histological sections, changes in explant wet weight and thickness, and
      chondrocyte viability. The polarized reflectance signal was sensitive to surface
      scrape damage and revealed individual scrape features consistent with India ink
      marks. Following surface treatments, the reflectance contrast parameter was
      elevated and correlated with image area fraction of India ink. After extensive
      scraping, polarized reflectance contrast and chondrocyte viability were lower
      than that from untreated explants. As part of this work, a mathematical model was
      developed and confirmed the trend in the reflectance signal due to changes in
      surface scattering and subsurface birefringence. These results demonstrate the
      effectiveness of polarized reflectance microscopy to sensitively assess surface
      microstructural alterations in articular cartilage explants.

PMID- 28586855
TI  - Using Pupillometry to Investigate Sentence Comprehension in Children With and
      Without Specific Language Impairment.
AB  - Purpose: In this study pupillometry was used to investigate the allocation of
      attentional resources associated with sentence comprehension in children with and
      without specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Eighteen children with SLI
      (age: M = 6.4 years) and 18 typically developing (TD) children (age: M = 6.3
      years) participated in the study. A sentence comprehension task was presented
      that comprised items designated as easy or hard. Easy sentences contained 4 or 5
      words, and hard sentences contained 6 or 7 words. Results: For the TD group,
      pupil size was significantly larger when comprehending hard sentences compared
      with easy sentences. There was no effect of sentence difficulty on pupil size in
      the SLI group. Comparisons between groups revealed pupil sizes for the SLI group
      were significantly larger than those for the TD group for easy sentences. There
      were no group differences for the hard sentences. Conclusion: In TD children,
      pupillometry was sensitive to the attentional demands associated with sentence
      comprehension. Between-subjects comparisons indicated that the TD group allocated
      less attention than did the children with SLI for the easy sentences but not for
      the hard sentences. This study provides evidence of attentional differences
      between children with SLI and TD children under conditions of low processing
      demands.

PMID- 28586867
TI  - Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: No Safe Amount.

PMID- 28586868
TI  - Fogarty International Center, a Linchpin of Global Health Research.

PMID- 28586869
TI  - Unfolding the Clinical Potential of DNA and Protein Origami.

PMID- 28586856
TI  - Comparative Effectiveness of Clinical-Community Childhood Obesity Interventions:
      A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Novel approaches to care delivery that leverage clinical and
      community resources could improve body mass index (BMI) and family-centered
      outcomes. Objective: To examine the extent to which 2 clinical-community
      interventions improved child BMI z score and health-related quality of life, as
      well as parental resource empowerment in the Connect for Health Trial. Design,
      Setting, and Participants: This 2-arm, blinded, randomized clinical trial was
      conducted from June 2014 through March 2016, with measures at baseline and 1 year
      after randomization. This intent-to-treat analysis included 721 children ages 2
      to 12 years with BMI in the 85th or greater percentile from 6 primary care
      practices in Massachusetts. Interventions: Children were randomized to 1 of 2
      arms: (1) enhanced primary care (eg, flagging of children with BMI >= 85th
      percentile, clinical decision support tools for pediatric weight management,
      parent educational materials, a Neighborhood Resource Guide, and monthly text
      messages) or (2) enhanced primary care plus contextually tailored, individual
      health coaching (twice-weekly text messages and telephone or video contacts every
      other month) to support behavior change and linkage of families to neighborhood
      resources. Main Outcomes and Measures: One-year changes in age- and sex-specific
      BMI z score, child health-related quality of life measured by the Pediatric
      Quality of Life 4.0, and parental resource empowerment. Results: At 1 year, we
      obtained BMI z scores from 664 children (92%) and family-centered outcomes from
      657 parents (91%). The baseline mean (SD) age was 8.0 (3.0) years; 35% were white
      (n = 252), 33.3% were black (n = 240), 21.8% were Hispanic (n = 157), and 9.9%
      were of another race/ethnicity (n = 71). In the enhanced primary care group,
      adjusted mean (SD) BMI z score was 1.91 (0.56) at baseline and 1.85 (0.58) at 1
      year, an improvement of -0.06 BMI z score units (95% CI, -0.10 to -0.02) from
      baseline to 1 year. In the enhanced primary care plus coaching group, the
      adjusted mean (SD) BMI z score was 1.87 (0.56) at baseline and 1.79 (0.58) at 1
      year, an improvement of -0.09 BMI z score units (95% CI, -0.13 to -0.05).
      However, there was no significant difference between the 2 intervention arms
      (difference, -0.02; 95% CI, -0.08 to 0.03; P = .39). Both intervention arms led
      to improved parental resource empowerment: 0.29 units (95% CI, 0.22 to 0.35)
      higher in the enhanced primary care group and 0.22 units (95% CI, 0.15 to 0.28)
      higher in the enhanced primary care plus coaching group. Parents in the enhanced
      primary care plus coaching group, but not in the enhanced care alone group,
      reported improvements in their child's health-related quality of life (1.53
      units; 95% CI, 0.51 to 2.56). However, there were no significant differences
      between the intervention arms in either parental resource empowerment (0.07
      units; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.16) or child health-related quality of life (0.89
      units; 95% CI, -0.56 to 2.33). Conclusions and Relevance: Two interventions that
      included a package of high-quality clinical care for obesity and linkages to
      community resources resulted in improved family-centered outcomes for childhood
      obesity and improvements in child BMI. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov
      Identifier: NCT02124460.

PMID- 28586871
TI  - Incorrect Data in Abstract, Text, and Figure.

PMID- 28586870
TI  - Error in 2 Figures.

PMID- 28586872
TI  - JAK2 V617F Mutation Testing in Patients Presenting With Hepatic and Portal Vein
      Thrombosis.

PMID- 28586873
TI  - Progress Toward Achieving UNAIDS 90-90-90 in Rural Communities in East Africa.

PMID- 28586875
TI  - New AML Therapy and Diagnostic.

PMID- 28586874
TI  - Gestational Weight Gain and Outcomes for Mothers and Infants.

PMID- 28586876
TI  - Therapy for Rare Nerve Cell Disease.

PMID- 28586877
TI  - Liver Cancer Treatment Approved.

PMID- 28586878
TI  - Dietary Intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids From Fish and Risk of Diabetic Retinopathy.

PMID- 28586880
TI  - The Fogarty International Center, a National Treasure for Global Health.

PMID- 28586881
TI  - The Duty of the Medical Profession in This War.

PMID- 28586882
TI  - Measurement of Hemoglobin A1c in Patients With Sickle Cell Trait.

PMID- 28586883
TI  - Adjustment Strategies in Studies of Therapy.

PMID- 28586884
TI  - Measurement of Hemoglobin A1c in Patients With Sickle Cell Trait-Reply.

PMID- 28586885
TI  - Adjustment Strategies in Studies of Therapy-Reply.

PMID- 28586886
TI  - Prevention of Migraine.

PMID- 28586889
TI  - Umbilical Hernia.

PMID- 28586887
TI  - Association of Gestational Weight Gain With Maternal and Infant Outcomes: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - Importance: Body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain are increasing
      globally. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided specific
      recommendations regarding the ideal gestational weight gain. However, the
      association between gestational weight gain consistent with theIOM guidelines and
      pregnancy outcomes is unclear. Objective: To perform a systematic review, meta
      analysis, and metaregression to evaluate associations between gestational weight
      gain above or below the IOM guidelines (gain of 12.5-18 kg for underweight women
      [BMI <18.5]; 11.5-16 kg for normal-weight women [BMI 18.5-24.9]; 7-11 kg for
      overweight women [BMI 25-29.9]; and 5-9 kg for obese women [BMI >=30]) and
      maternal and infant outcomes. Data Sources and Study Selection: Search of EMBASE,
      Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, MEDLINE, and MEDLINE In-Process between January
      1, 1999, and February 7, 2017, for observational studies stratified by
      prepregnancy BMI category and total gestational weight gain. Data Extraction and
      Synthesis: Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Odds ratios (ORs) and
      absolute risk differences (ARDs) per live birth were calculated using a random
      effects model based on a subset of studies with available data. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Primary outcomes were small for gestational age (SGA), preterm birth,
      and large for gestational age (LGA). Secondary outcomes were macrosomia, cesarean
      delivery, and gestational diabetes mellitus. Results: Of 5354 identified studies,
      23 (n = 1 309 136 women) met inclusion criteria. Gestational weight gain was
      below or above guidelines in 23% and 47% of pregnancies, respectively.
      Gestational weight gain below the recommendations was associated with higher risk
      of SGA (OR, 1.53 [95% CI, 1.44-1.64]; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 4%-6%]) and preterm birth
      (OR, 1.70 [1.32-2.20]; ARD, 5% [3%-8%]) and lower risk of LGA (OR, 0.59 [0.55
      0.64]; ARD, -2% [-10% to -6%]) and macrosomia (OR, 0.60 [0.52-0.68]; ARD, -2% [
      3% to -1%]); cesarean delivery showed no significant difference (OR, 0.98 [0.96
      1.02]; ARD, 0% [-2% to 1%]). Gestational weight gain above the recommendations
      was associated with lower risk of SGA (OR, 0.66 [0.63-0.69]; ARD, -3%; [-4% to 
      2%]) and preterm birth (OR, 0.77 [0.69-0.86]; ARD, -2% [-2% to -1%]) and higher
      risk of LGA (OR, 1.85 [1.76-1.95]; ARD, 4% [2%-5%]), macrosomia (OR, 1.95 [1.79
      2.11]; ARD, 6% [4%-9%]), and cesarean delivery (OR, 1.30 [1.25-1.35]; ARD, 4% [3%
      6%]). Gestational diabetes mellitus could not be evaluated because of the nature
      of available data. Conclusions and Relevance: In this systematic review and meta
      analysis of more than 1 million pregnant women, 47% had gestational weight gain
      greater than IOM recommendations and 23% had gestational weight gain less than
      IOM recommendations. Gestational weight gain greater than or less than guideline
      recommendations, compared with weight gain within recommended levels, was
      associated with higher risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes.

PMID- 28586891
TI  - It's a Beautiful Thing.

PMID- 28586888
TI  - Association of Implementation of a Universal Testing and Treatment Intervention
      With HIV Diagnosis, Receipt of Antiretroviral Therapy, and Viral Suppression in
      East Africa.
AB  - Importance: Antiretroviral treatment (ART) is now recommended for all HIV
      positive persons. UNAIDS has set global targets to diagnose 90% of HIV-positive
      individuals, treat 90% of diagnosed individuals with ART, and suppress viral
      replication among 90% of treated individuals, for a population-level target of
      73% of all HIV-positive persons with HIV viral suppression. Objective: To
      describe changes in the proportions of HIV-positive individuals with HIV viral
      suppression, HIV-positive individuals who had received a diagnosis, diagnosed
      individuals treated with ART, and treated individuals with HIV viral suppression,
      following implementation of a community-based testing and treatment program in
      rural East Africa. Design, Setting, and Participants: Observational analysis
      based on interim data from 16 rural Kenyan (n = 6) and Ugandan (n = 10)
      intervention communities in the SEARCH Study, an ongoing cluster randomized
      trial. Community residents who were 15 years or older (N = 77 774) were followed
      up for 2 years (2013-2014 to 2015-2016). HIV serostatus and plasma HIV RNA level
      were measured annually at multidisease health campaigns followed by home-based
      testing for nonattendees. All HIV-positive individuals were offered ART using a
      streamlined delivery model designed to reduce structural barriers, improve
      patient-clinician relationships, and enhance patient knowledge and attitudes
      about HIV. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcome was viral suppression
      (plasma HIV RNA<500 copies/mL) among all HIV-positive individuals, assessed at
      baseline and after 1 and 2 years. Secondary outcomes included HIV diagnosis, ART
      among previously diagnosed individuals, and viral suppression among those who had
      initiated ART. Results: Among 77 774 residents (male, 45.3%; age 15-24 years,
      35.1%), baseline HIV prevalence was 10.3% (7108 of 69 283 residents). The
      proportion of HIV-positive individuals with HIV viral suppression at baseline was
      44.7% (95% CI, 43.5%-45.9%; 3464 of 7745 residents) and after 2 years of
      intervention was 80.2% (95% CI, 79.1%-81.2%; 5666 of 7068 residents), an increase
      of 35.5 percentage points (95% CI, 34.4-36.6). After 2 years, 95.9% of HIV
      positive individuals had been previously diagnosed (95% CI, 95.3%-96.5%; 6780 of
      7068 residents); 93.4% of those previously diagnosed had received ART (95% CI,
      92.8%-94.0%; 6334 of 6780 residents); and 89.5% of those treated had achieved HIV
      viral suppression (95% CI, 88.6%-90.3%; 5666 of 6334 residents). Conclusions and
      Relevance: Among individuals with HIV in rural Kenya and Uganda, implementation
      of community-based testing and treatment was associated with an increased
      proportion of HIV-positive adults who achieved viral suppression, along with
      increased HIV diagnosis and initiation of antiretroviral therapy. In these
      communities, the UNAIDS population-level viral suppression target was exceeded
      within 2 years after program implementation. Trial Registration:
      clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01864683.

PMID- 28586893
TI  - Growth and Rupture Risk of Small Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - Background: Small unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) are increasingly
      diagnosed. Management depends on growth and rupture risks, which may vary by
      aneurysm size. Purpose: To summarize evidence about the growth and rupture risk
      of UIAs 7 mm and smaller and to explore differences in growth and rupture risks
      of very small (<=3 mm) and small (<=5 mm) aneurysms. Data Sources: MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library from inception to 2017 (with no language
      restrictions). Study Selection: Published case series and observational studies
      that reported natural history data on UIAs 7 mm and smaller. Data Extraction: 2
      reviewers abstracted study information, evaluated study quality, and graded
      strength of evidence. Data Synthesis: Of 26 studies, 5, 10, and 8 described the
      growth rate of aneurysms 3 mm and smaller, 5 mm and smaller, and 7 mm and
      smaller, respectively, whereas rupture rates were reported in 7, 11, and 13
      studies for aneurysms 3 mm and smaller, 5 mm and smaller, and 7 mm and smaller,
      respectively. The annualized growth rate was less than 3% in all but 1 study for
      all 3 size categories. The annualized rupture rate was 0%, less than 0.5%, and
      less than 1% for the 3 size categories, respectively. Strength of evidence was
      very low quality for growth rates and low quality for rupture rates. Limitation:
      Heterogeneous definitions of growth; heterogeneous and selective treatment and
      follow-up methods, particularly in high-risk patients. Conclusion: Poor-quality
      evidence suggests that small UIAs have low growth and rupture rates and very
      small UIAs have little or no risk for rupture. Primary Funding Source: None.

PMID- 28586894
TI  - Association Between Cirrhosis and Stroke in a Nationally Representative Cohort.
AB  - Importance: Cirrhosis is associated with hemorrhagic and thrombotic extrahepatic
      complications. The risk of cerebrovascular complications is less well understood.
      Objective: To investigate the association between cirrhosis and various stroke
      types. Design, Setting, and Participants: We performed a retrospective cohort
      study using inpatient and outpatient Medicare claims data from January 1, 2008,
      through December 31, 2014, for a random 5% sample of 1 618 059 Medicare
      beneficiaries older than 66 years. Exposures: Cirrhosis, as defined by a
      validated diagnosis code algorithm. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary
      outcome was stroke, and secondary outcomes were ischemic stroke, intracerebral
      hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage as defined by validated diagnosis code
      algorithms. Results: Among 1 618 059 beneficiaries, 15 586 patients (1.0%) had
      cirrhosis (mean [SD] age, 74.1 [6.9] years; 7263 [46.6%] female). During a mean
      (SD) of 4.3 (1.9) years of follow-up, 77 268 patients were hospitalized with a
      stroke. The incidence of stroke was 2.17% (95% CI, 1.99%-2.36%) per year in
      patients with cirrhosis and 1.11% (95% CI, 1.10%-1.11%) per year in patients
      without cirrhosis. After adjustment for demographic characteristics and stroke
      risk factors, patients with cirrhosis had a higher risk of stroke (hazard ratio
      [HR], 1.4; 95% CI, 1.3-1.5). The magnitude of association appeared to be higher
      for intracerebral hemorrhage (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.5-2.4) and subarachnoid
      hemorrhage (HR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.7-3.5) than for ischemic stroke (HR, 1.3; 95% CI,
      1.2-1.5). Conclusions and Relevance: In a nationally representative sample of
      Medicare beneficiaries, cirrhosis was associated with an increased risk of
      stroke, particularly hemorrhagic stroke. A potential explanation of these
      findings implicates the mixed coagulopathy observed in cirrhosis.

PMID- 28586895
TI  - Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials: A Requirement of the International
      Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

PMID- 28586896
TI  - Cortical sources of Vernier acuity in the human visual system: An EEG-source
      imaging study.
AB  - Vernier acuity determines the relative position of visual features with a
      precision better than the sampling resolution of cone receptors in the retina.
      Because Vernier displacement is thought to be mediated by orientation-tuned
      mechanisms, Vernier acuity is presumed to be processed in striate visual cortex
      (V1). However, there is considerable evidence suggesting that Vernier acuity is
      dependent not only on structures in V1 but also on processing in extrastriate
      cortical regions. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging-informed
      electroencephalogram source imaging to localize the cortical sources of Vernier
      acuity in observers with normal vision. We measured suprathreshold and near
      threshold responses to Vernier onset/offset stimuli at different stages of the
      visual cortical hierarchy, including V1, hV4, lateral occipital cortex (LOC), and
      middle temporal cortex (hMT+). These responses were compared with responses to
      grating on/off stimuli, as well as to stimuli that control for lateral motion in
      the Vernier task. Our results show that all visual cortical regions of interest
      (ROIs) responded to both suprathreshold Vernier and grating stimuli. However,
      thresholds for Vernier displacement (Vernier acuity) were lowest in V1 and LOC
      compared with hV4 and hMT+, whereas all visual ROIs had identical thresholds for
      spatial frequency (grating acuity) and for relative motion. The cortical
      selectivity of sensitivity to Vernier displacement provides strong evidence that
      LOC, in addition to V1, is involved in Vernier acuity processing. The robust
      activation of LOC might be related to the sensitivity to the relative position of
      features, which is common to Vernier displacement and to some kinds of texture
      segmentation.

PMID- 28586897
TI  - Specular motion and 3D shape estimation.
AB  - Dynamic visual information facilitates three-dimensional shape recognition. It is
      still unclear, however, whether the motion information generated by moving
      specularities across a surface is congruent to that available from optic flow
      produced by a matte-textured shape. Whereas the latter is directly linked to the
      first-order properties of the shape and its motion relative to the observer, the
      specular flow, the image flow generated by a specular object, is less sensitive
      to the object's motion and is tightly related to second-order properties of the
      shape. We therefore hypothesize that the perceived bumpiness (a perceptual
      attribute related to curvature magnitude) is more stable to changes in the type
      of motion in specular objects compared with their matte-textured counterparts.
      Results from two two-interval forced-choice experiments in which observers judged
      the perceived bumpiness of perturbed spherelike objects support this idea and
      provide an additional layer of evidence for the capacity of the visual system to
      exploit image information for shape inference.

PMID- 28586898
TI  - Web Exclusives. Annals Graphic Medicine - Draw the Line.

PMID- 28586899
TI  - Scientific Misconduct Hurts.

PMID- 28586900
TI  - Scientific Misconduct Hurts.

PMID- 28586901
TI  - Management of Gout.

PMID- 28586902
TI  - Management of Gout.

PMID- 28586903
TI  - More Than a Rape Kit.

PMID- 28586905
TI  - Correction: Update in General Internal Medicine.

PMID- 28586904
TI  - Should This Patient Have Weight Loss Surgery?: Grand Rounds Discussion From Beth
      Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
AB  - Obesity is an important public health priority in the United States. One third of
      U.S. adults are obese and therefore can expect higher rates of diabetes mellitus,
      other obesity-related comorbidities, and mortality. In 2013, the American
      Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the Obesity Society, and the American
      Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery issued a guideline that recommended
      weight loss (bariatric) surgery for all patients with a body mass index (BMI) of
      40 kg/m2 or higher and for those with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or greater in the
      presence of at least 1 obesity-related comorbidity. Among the 3 most commonly
      performed surgeries, the amount of excess weight reduction ranges from 49% for
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding to 76% for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In
      accredited centers, perioperative mortality averages 0.3%. In this Beyond the
      Guidelines, 2 experts in obesity management, a bariatric surgeon and a general
      internist, discuss the role of weight loss surgery versus dietary and lifestyle
      modification, both in general and for a specific patient who is eligible for
      surgery. Ethnic and age-related variability in the effects of obesity on
      mortality, as well as potential long-term benefits and risks of weight loss
      surgery for patient subgroups, are discussed.

PMID- 28586906
TI  - Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
AB  - This issue provides a clinical overview of irritable bowel syndrome, focusing on
      diagnosis, treatment, and practice improvement. The content of In the Clinic is
      drawn from the clinical information and education resources of the American
      College of Physicians (ACP), including MKSAP (Medical Knowledge and Self
      Assessment Program). Annals of Internal Medicine editors develop In the Clinic in
      collaboration with the ACP's Medical Education and Publishing divisions and with
      the assistance of additional science writers and physician writers.

PMID- 28586908
TI  - Could This Be the Last Word on Hypertonic Saline?

PMID- 28586909
TI  - Sensitivity of the Speech Intelligibility Index to the Assumed Dynamic Range.
AB  - Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the sensitivity of the speech
      intelligibility index (SII) to the assumed speech dynamic range (DR) in different
      languages and with different types of stimuli. Method: Intelligibility prediction
      uses the absolute transfer function (ATF) to map the SII value to the predicted
      intelligibility for a given stimuli. To evaluate the sensitivity of the predicted
      intelligibility to the assumed DR, ATF-transformed SII scores for English
      (words), Korean (sentences), and Mandarin (sentences) were derived for DRs
      ranging from 10 dB to 60 dB. Results: Increasing the assumed DR caused steeper
      ATFs for all languages. However, high correlation coefficients between predicted
      and measured intelligibility scores were observed for DRs from 20 dB to 60 dB for
      ATFs in English, Korean, and Mandarin. Conclusions: Results of the present study
      indicate that the intelligibility computed from the SII is not sensitive to the
      assumed DR. The 30-dB DR commonly used in computing the SII is thus a reasonable
      assumption that produces accurate predictions for different languages and
      different types of stimuli.

PMID- 28586910
TI  - Corneal Potential Maps Measured With Multi-Electrode Electroretinography in Rat
      Eyes With Experimental Lesions.
AB  - Purpose: Conventional full-field flash electroretinography (ERG) yields a single
      response waveform that can be useful in the early detection and diagnosis of many
      diseases affecting the retina. It is an objective measurement that probes the
      entire retina. However, localized areas of dysfunction have relatively small
      influence on ERG amplitudes compared to normal ranges. Here we evaluate the use
      of corneal potential maps obtained in response to full-field flash stimuli for
      sensitivity to local areas of retinal damage. Methods: A contact lens electrode
      array was used to record 25 ERG waveforms simultaneously following saturating
      full-field flash stimuli (multi-electrode electroretinography, meERG) in rats.
      Waveforms were evaluated for a-wave and b-wave amplitudes; these values were
      normalized and further evaluated for spatial differences across the corneal
      surface. Cluster analysis and a support vector machine approach were used to
      classify meERG responses from healthy eyes and eyes with central
      (photocoagulation) or peripheral (cryocoagulation) experimental lesions. Results:
      A normative normalized corneal potential map was obtained from healthy eyes (n =
      26). Corneal potential maps from eyes with experimental lesions (n = 13) could be
      classified with sensitivity and specificity of approximately 80% based solely on
      the normalized spatial distribution of corneal potentials, that is, with no
      knowledge of absolute amplitudes. Conclusions: Corneal potential maps obtained in
      response to full-field flash stimuli are altered in eyes with scotomas in the
      central and far-peripheral retina. The meERG approach yields useful spatial
      information following a single brief flash, analogous to body-surface potential
      maps used to evaluate heart and brain.

PMID- 28586911
TI  - SERPINA3K Ameliorates the Corneal Oxidative Injury Induced by 4-Hydroxynonenal.
AB  - Purpose: We previously demonstrated that SERPINA3K has anti-inflammatory,
      antiangiogenic, and antioxidant effects in corneas. Here we further investigated
      the effects of SERPINA3K on the corneal oxidant injury setting recently developed
      and induced by 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE). Methods: We applied the 4-HNE-induced
      corneal oxidant stress in cultured human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells in vitro
      and to the cornea of rats in vivo. The following experiments were conducted: cell
      counting kit 8 assay to detect cell viability; quantitative real-time PCR assay;
      Western blotting and immunofluorescent staining to measure gene expressions or
      protein levels of key reactive oxygen species (ROS)-associated factors (3
      nitrotyrosine [3-NT]; nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate [NADPH]-oxidase
      4 [NOX4]; superoxide dismutase [SOD]); catalase and nuclear factor [erythroid
      derived 2]-like 2 [NRF2]); as well as main factors of the Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway (p-LRP6, beta-catenin and transcription factor 4 [TCF4]);
      histologic staining; and TUNEL staining to examine sections of rat corneas.
      Results: We found that SERPINA3K concentration dependently protected cell
      viability, decreased levels of ROS marker 3-NT, suppressed NOX4, and upregulated
      SOD and catalase. Furthermore, SERPINA3K inhibited the activation of the ROS
      pathway NRF2 and its downstream factors, NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (quinone) 1 (NQO1)
      and heme oxygenase 1 (HO1), and also suppressed the activation of the Wnt
      signaling pathway p-LRP6, beta-catenin, and TCF4 in HCE cells treated with 4-HNE.
      Meanwhile, SERPINA3K ameliorated the oxidant injury of rat corneas induced by 4
      HNE and downregulated ROS systems and the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. Conclusions:
      Our findings show that SERPINA3K protected the oxidant damage induced by 4-HNE in
      the cornea and its underlying mechanism was through suppression of the ROS system
      and inhibition of the activated Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway.

PMID- 28586913
TI  - Repeatability and Reproducibility of Retinal Blood Flow Measurement Using a
      Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography Flowmeter in Healthy Subjects.
AB  - Purpose: To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of retinal blood flow
      (RBF) measurements in humans by using new auto-alignment and measurement software
      in a commercially available Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) system.
      Methods: The DOCT flowmeter assessed the intrasession repeatability and the
      intersession and interobserver reproducibility of the RBF measurements. For
      intrasession repeatability, the coefficients of variation (CVs) of five repeated
      RBF measurements were calculated at the retinal arteries and veins in 20 normal
      eyes of 20 healthy volunteers. For intersession reproducibility, two sets of
      three measurements obtained by one observer on 2 different days were compared.
      For interobserver reproducibility, two sets of three measurements obtained by two
      observers on the same day were compared. Intraclass correlation coefficients
      (ICCs) also were used to evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility. The
      relevance of the DOCT flowmeter and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) also was
      assessed. Results: Regarding intrasession repeatability, the ICC of the RBF
      exceeded 0.90 in arterioles and venules (ICC: 0.994 and 0.970, respectively). The
      CVs of the RBF in the arterioles and venules were 6.0% +/- 3.4% and 8.8% +/-
      5.1%, respectively. The intersession and interobserver RBF values had high
      reproducibility in the arterioles (ICC: 0.980 and 0.993, respectively) and
      venules (ICC: 0.982 and 0.986, respectively). The RBF measured with the DOCT
      flowmeter was correlated strongly with LDV in the arterioles (r = 0.76; P <
      0.001). Conclusions: The DOCT flowmeter had good reproducibility in the
      arterioles and venules and precisely measured the RBF as compared to the LDV in
      the arterioles.

PMID- 28586912
TI  - Comparison of MicroRNA Expression in Aqueous Humor of Normal and Primary Open
      Angle Glaucoma Patients Using PCR Arrays: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Purpose: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, endogenous noncoding RNAs that have been
      detected in human aqueous humor (AH). Prior studies have pooled samples to obtain
      sufficient quantities for analysis or used next-generation sequencing. Here, we
      used PCR arrays with preamplification to identify and compare miRNAs from
      individual AH samples between patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)
      and normal controls. Methods: AH was collected before cataract surgery from six
      stable, medically treated POAG patients and eight age-matched controls. Following
      reverse transcription and preamplification, individual patient samples were
      profiled on Taqman Low Density MicroRNA Array Cards. Differentially expressed
      miRNAs were stratified for fold changes larger than +/-2 and for significance of
      P < 0.05. Significant Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways influenced
      by the differentially expressed miRNAs were identified using the predicted target
      module of the miRWalk 2.0 database. Results: This approach detected 181 discrete
      miRNAs, which were consistently expressed across all samples of both experimental
      groups. Significant up-regulation of miR-518d and miR-143, and significant down
      regulation of miR-660, was observed in the AH of POAG patients compared with
      controls. These miRNAs were predicted to reduce cell proliferation and
      extracellular matrix remodeling, endocytosis, Wnt signaling, ubiquitin-mediated
      proteolysis, and adherens junction function. Conclusions: This pilot study
      demonstrates that miRNA expression within the AH of POAG patients differs from
      age-matched controls. AH miRNAs exhibit potential as biomarkers of POAG, which
      merits further investigation in a larger case-controlled study. This technique
      provides a cost-effective and sensitive approach to assay miRNAs in individual
      patient samples without the need for pooling.

PMID- 28586914
TI  - Visual Performance and Optical Quality of Standardized Asymmetric Soft Contact
      Lenses in Patients With Keratoconus.
AB  - Purpose: To evaluate the visual performance and optical quality of a standardized
      asymmetric soft contact lens (SCL) used for correction of higher-order
      aberrations (HOAs) in eyes with keratoconus. Methods: We included 30 eyes (26
      patients) with keratoconus (average K: 45.7 +/- 2.3 diopters [D]). The patients
      were subjected to corneal tomography, aberrometry, measurements of manifest
      refraction and visual acuity (VA), and visual analog scale (VAS) assessments. The
      study lenses were made using a molding method and consisted of six standardized
      types, in which an asymmetric power distribution of approximately 2 to 12 D (2-D
      step) was used to correct HOAs. The lens type suitable for each eye was selected
      based on the corneal tomography and aberrometry data. The on-eye performance of
      the lens was evaluated using aberrometry (4-mm pupil), over refraction, VA, and
      VAS. Results: The standardized asymmetric SCL improved the best spectacle
      corrected VA from -0.07 +/- 0.09 to -0.11 +/- 0.08 logMAR (P < 0.05) and the mean
      VAS score from 66.2 +/- 21.8 to 75.4 +/- 20.5 (P < 0.05). Vertical coma decreased
      significantly (-0.50 +/- 0.36 MUm without SCL; -0.36 +/- 0.34 MUm with SCL; P <
      0.01). In subgroup analysis, subjects in the high VAS group (score >= 75)
      accounted for 70% of all subjects, and this was the group in which the vertical
      coma decreased significantly from the level without the lens. Conclusions: A
      standardized asymmetric SCL can reduce HOAs and improve vision quality when
      compared with spectacles in patients with keratoconus who wear rigid gas
      permeable lenses.

PMID- 28586915
TI  - Specific Alleles of CLN7/MFSD8, a Protein That Localizes to Photoreceptor
      Synaptic Terminals, Cause a Spectrum of Nonsyndromic Retinal Dystrophy.
AB  - Purpose: Recessive mutations in CLN7/MFSD8 usually cause variant late-infantile
      onset neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (vLINCL), a poorly understood
      neurodegenerative condition, though mutations may also cause nonsyndromic
      maculopathy. A series of 12 patients with nonsyndromic retinopathy due to novel
      CLN7/MFSD8 mutation combinations were investigated in this study. Methods:
      Affected patients and their family members were recruited in ophthalmic clinics
      at each center where they were examined by retinal imaging and detailed
      electrophysiology. Whole exome or genome next generation sequencing was performed
      on genomic DNA from at least one affected family member. Immunofluorescence
      confocal microscopy of murine retina cross-sections were used to localize the
      protein. Results: Compound heterozygous alleles were identified in six cases, one
      of which was always p.Glu336Gln. Such combinations resulted in isolated macular
      disease. Six further cases were homozygous for the variant p.Met454Thr,
      identified as a founder mutation of South Asian origin. Those patients had
      widespread generalized retinal disease, characterized by electroretinography as a
      rod-cone dystrophy with severe macular involvement. In addition, the photopic
      single flash electroretinograms demonstrated a reduced b- to a-wave amplitude
      ratio, suggesting dysfunction occurring after phototransduction. Immunohistology
      identified MFSD8 in the outer plexiform layer of the retina, a site rich in
      photoreceptor synapses. Conclusions: This study highlights a hierarchy of MFSD8
      variant severity, predicting three consequences of mutation: (1) nonsyndromic
      localized maculopathy, (2) nonsyndromic widespread retinopathy, or (3) syndromic
      neurological disease. The data also shed light on the underlying pathogenesis by
      implicating the photoreceptor synaptic terminals as the major site of retinal
      disease.

PMID- 28586916
TI  - High Glucose Induces Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Retinal Muller Cells:
      Implications for Diabetic Retinopathy.
AB  - Purpose: To investigate whether high glucose (HG) induces mitochondrial
      dysfunction and promotes apoptosis in retinal Muller cells. Methods: Rat retinal
      Muller cells (rMC-1) grown in normal (N) or HG (30 mM glucose) medium for 7 days
      were subjected to MitoTracker Red staining to identify the mitochondrial network.
      Digital images of mitochondria were captured in live cells under confocal
      microscopy and analyzed for mitochondrial morphology changes based on form factor
      (FF) and aspect ratio (AR) values. Mitochondrial metabolic function was assessed
      by measuring oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate
      (ECAR) using a bioenergetic analyzer. Cells undergoing apoptosis were identified
      by differential dye staining and TUNEL assay, and cytochrome c levels were
      assessed by Western blot analysis. Results: Cells grown in HG exhibited
      significantly increased mitochondrial fragmentation compared to those grown in N
      medium (FF = 1.7 +/- 0.1 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.1; AR = 2.1 +/- 0.1 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.2; P <
      0.01). OCR and ECAR were significantly reduced in cells grown in HG medium
      compared to those grown in N medium (steady state: 75% +/- 20% of control, P <
      0.02; 64% +/- 22% of control, P < 0.02, respectively). These cells also exhibited
      a significant increase (~2-fold) in the number of apoptotic cells compared to
      those grown in N medium (P < 0.01), with a concomitant increase in cytochrome c
      levels (247% +/- 94% of control, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Findings indicate that
      HG-induced mitochondrial morphology changes and subsequent mitochondrial
      dysfunction may contribute to retinal Muller cell loss associated with diabetic
      retinopathy.

PMID- 28586917
TI  - Toward the Virtual Benchmarking of Pneumatic Ventricular Assist Devices:
      Application of a Novel Fluid-Structure Interaction-Based Strategy to the Penn
      State 12 cc Device.
AB  - The pediatric use of pneumatic ventricular assist devices (VADs) as a bridge to
      heart transplant still suffers for short-term major complications such as
      bleeding and thromboembolism. Although numerical techniques are increasingly
      exploited to support the process of device optimization, an effective virtual
      benchmark is still lacking. Focusing on the 12 cc Penn State pneumatic VAD, we
      developed a novel fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model able to capture the
      device functioning, reproducing the mechanical interplay between the diaphragm,
      the blood chamber, and the pneumatic actuation. The FSI model included the
      diaphragm mechanical response from uniaxial tensile tests, realistic VAD pressure
      operative conditions from a dedicated mock loop system, and the behavior of VAD
      valves. Our FSI-based benchmark effectively captured the complexity of the
      diaphragm dynamics. During diastole, the initial slow diaphragm retraction in the
      air chamber was followed by a more rapid phase; asymmetries were noticed in the
      diaphragm configuration during its systolic inflation in the blood chamber. The
      FSI model also captured the major features of the device fluid dynamics. In
      particular, during diastole, a rotational wall washing pattern is promoted by the
      penetrating inlet jet with a low-velocity region located in the center of the
      device. Our numerical analysis of the 12 cc Penn State VAD points out the
      potential of the proposed FSI approach well resembling previous experimental
      evidences; if further tested and validated, it could be exploited as a virtual
      benchmark to deepen VAD-related complications and to support the ongoing
      optimization of pediatric devices.

PMID- 28586921
TI  - Progress on Decreasing Salt Consumption.

PMID- 28586918
TI  - Effect of Nebulized Hypertonic Saline Treatment in Emergency Departments on the
      Hospitalization Rate for Acute Bronchiolitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Acute bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization among
      infants. Previous studies, underpowered to examine hospital admission, have found
      a limited benefit of nebulized hypertonic saline (HS) treatment in the pediatric
      emergency department (ED). Objective: To examine whether HS nebulization
      treatment would decrease the hospital admission rate among infants with a first
      episode of acute bronchiolitis. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Efficacy
      of 3% Hypertonic Saline in Acute Viral Bronchiolitis (GUERANDE) study was a
      multicenter, double-blind randomized clinical trial on 2 parallel groups
      conducted during 2 bronchiolitis seasons (October through March) from October 15,
      2012, through April 15, 2014, at 24 French pediatric EDs. Among the 2445 infants
      (6 weeks to 12 months of age) assessed for inclusion, 777 with a first episode of
      acute bronchiolitis with respiratory distress and no chronic medical condition
      were included. Interventions: Two 20-minute nebulization treatments of 4 mL of
      HS, 3%, or 4 mL of normal saline (NS), 0.9%, given 20 minutes apart. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: Hospital admission rate in the 24 hours after enrollment.
      Results: Of the 777 infants included in the study (median age, 3 months;
      interquartile range, 2-5 months; 468 [60.2%] male), 385 (49.5%) were randomized
      to the HS group and 387 (49.8%) to the NS group (5 patients did not receive
      treatment). By 24 hours, 185 of 385 infants (48.1%) in the HS group were admitted
      compared with 202 of 387 infants (52.2%) in the NS group. The risk difference for
      hospitalizations was not significant according to the mixed-effects regression
      model (adjusted risk difference, -3.2%; 95% CI, -8.7% to 2.2%; P = .25). The mean
      (SD) Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument score improvement was greater in
      the HS group (-3.1 [3.2]) than in the NS group (-2.4 [3.3]) (adjusted difference,
      -0.7; 95% CI, -1.2 to -0.2; P = .006) and similarly for the Respiratory
      Assessment Change Score. Mild adverse events, such as worsening of cough,
      occurred more frequently among children in the HS group (35 of 392 [8.9%]) than
      among those in the NS group (15 of 384 [3.9%]) (risk difference, 5.0%; 95% CI,
      1.6%-8.4%; P = .005), with no serious adverse events. Conclusions and Relevance:
      Nebulized HS treatment did not significantly reduce the rate of hospital
      admissions among infants with a first episode of acute moderate to severe
      bronchiolitis who were admitted to the pediatric ED relative to NS, but mild
      adverse events were more frequent in the HS group. Trial Registration:
      clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01777347.

PMID- 28586919
TI  - Small Cerebral Aneurysms: Can We Identify Patients at Risk for Rupture?

PMID- 28586924
TI  - Scoring Systems for Estimating the Risk of Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism.
AB  - The risk of recurrence after suspension of anticoagulant treatment in patients
      with a first episode of unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE) is highly
      variable from patient to patient. Not all patients are candidates for life-long
      anticoagulant therapy, essentially because there remain concerns for such an
      option regarding hemorrhagic complications and clinical monitoring. Thus, the
      "treat all" approach may be inadequate for some patients at low risk of relapse.
      Proper assessment of the recurrence risk may be helpful to decide the optimal
      therapeutic strategy in such patients. In recent years, attempts have been made
      to develop and validate clinical prediction rules to estimate the absolute risk
      of VTE recurrence in individual patients. This article highlights the advantages
      and disadvantages of such options, presenting three different prediction rules
      that have been published so far.

PMID- 28586923
TI  - Presence of Human Hepegivirus-1 in a Cohort of People Who Inject Drugs.
AB  - Background: Next-generation metagenomic sequencing (NGMS) has opened new
      frontiers in microbial discovery but has been clinically characterized in only a
      few settings. Objective: To explore the plasma virome of persons who inject drugs
      and to characterize the sensitivity and accuracy of NGMS compared with
      quantitative clinical standards. Design: Longitudinal and cross-sectional
      studies. Setting: A clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01285050) and a well
      characterized cohort study of persons who have injected drugs. Participants:
      Persons co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV. Measurements: Viral
      nucleic acid in plasma by NGMS and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
      Results: Next-generation metagenomic sequencing generated a total of 600 million
      reads, which included the expected HIV and HCV RNA sequences. HIV and HCV reads
      were consistently identified only when samples contained more than 10 000
      copies/mL or IU/mL, respectively, as determined by quantitative PCR. A novel RNA
      virus, human hepegivirus-1 (HHpgV-1), was also detected by NGMS in 4 samples from
      2 persons in the clinical trial. Through use of a quantitative PCR assay for
      HHpgV-1, infection was also detected in 17 (10.9%) of 156 members of a cohort of
      persons who injected drugs. In these persons, HHpgV-1 viremia persisted for a
      median of at least 4538 days and was associated with detection of other
      bloodborne viruses, such as HCV RNA and SEN virus D. Limitation: The medical
      importance of HHpgV-1 infection is unknown. Conclusion: Although NGMS is
      insensitive for detection of viruses with relatively low plasma nucleic acid
      concentrations, it may have broad potential for discovery of new viral infections
      of possible medical importance, such as HHpgV-1. Primary Funding Source: National
      Institutes of Health.

PMID- 28586925
TI  - Inhibitory Effect of Abitylguanide on Adenovirus Replication.
AB  - N'N'-anhydro-bis(beta-hydroxy-ethyl)biguanide.HCl (abitylguanide) demonstrated a
      marked inhibitory effect on replication in cell cultures of a broad spectrum of
      human adenoviruses both standard laboratory strains and strains isolated from
      epidemic keratoconjunctivitis patients. The strongest inhibitory activity was
      found in viruses belonging to subgroup C (Rosen's subgroup III). The compound
      susceptible period of human adenovirus 5 replication in primary cell cultures of
      human embryo kidney cells included the total replication cycle and was especially
      pronounced during the exponential phase of the virus growth curve. Electron
      microscopy established that the compound decreased the percentage of cells in
      which mature or empty virions with the characteristic nuclear localization were
      observed; a complete absence of paracrystals was registered and the number of
      cells with virus particles arranged in crystals in the nucleoplasm was strongly
      decreased. Abitylguanide can be considered as a ligand of adenovirus capsid
      protein(s).

PMID- 28586922
TI  - Noncomprehension Signaling in Males and Females With Fragile X Syndrome.
AB  - Purpose: This study used a prospective longitudinal design to evaluate the
      trajectory and predictors of noncomprehension signaling in male and female youth
      with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Method: A direction-following task in which some
      of the directions were inadequate was administered. Participants were 52 youth
      (36 boys, 16 girls) with FXS. Upon study entry, participants ranged from 10 to 16
      years. The average number of annual assessments per participant was 3.65 (range =
      1-4), providing 198 data points for analysis. Results: Participants with FXS were
      less likely to signal noncomprehension than younger, typically developing,
      cognitively matched children. The average rate of change in noncomprehension
      signaling was not significantly different from 0 for either boys or girls,
      suggesting a plateau. Both FMRP and nonverbal IQ were significant independent
      predictors of noncomprehension signaling for boys. Variability in
      noncomprehension signaling among girls was not explained by any of the
      predictors, but trends similar to those observed for boys were observed.
      Conclusions: Noncomprehension signaling appears to be an area of weakness for
      individuals with FXS. Because the failure to signal noncomprehension can have
      negative, cumulative effects on comprehension, the results suggest a need for
      interventions targeting the requisite cognitive skills.

PMID- 28586927
TI  - [Editorial: Rare Diseases and Rare Therapies - Management in Specialised Centres
      Does Make Sense!]

PMID- 28586926
TI  - Cytoprotective Effects of Pumpkin (Cucurbita Moschata) Fruit Extract against
      Oxidative Stress and Carbonyl Stress.
AB  - Background Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine disorder that is associated
      with significant mortality and morbidity due to microvascular and macrovascular
      complications. Diabetes complications accompanied with oxidative stress and
      carbonyl stress in different organs of human body because of the increased
      generation of free radicals and impaired antioxidant defense systems. In the
      meantime, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive carbonyl species (RCS) have
      key mediatory roles in the development and progression of diabetes complications.
      Therapeutic strategies have recently focused on preventing such diabetes-related
      abnormalities using different natural and chemical compounds. Pumpkin (Cucurbita
      moschata) is one of the most important vegetables in the world with a broad-range
      of pharmacological activities such as antihyperglycemic effect. Methods In the
      present study, the cytoprotective effects of aqueous extract of C. moschata fruit
      on hepatocyte cytotoxicity induced by cumene hydroperoxide (oxidative stress
      model) or glyoxal (carbonylation model) were investigated using freshly isolated
      rat hepatocytes. Results The extract of C. moschata (50 MUg/ml) excellently
      prevented oxidative and carbonyl stress markers, including hepatocyte lysis, ROS
      production, lipid peroxidation, glutathione depletion, mitochondrial membrane
      potential collapse, lysosomal damage, and cellular proteolysis. In addition,
      protein carbonylation was prevented by C. moschata in glyoxal-induced carbonyl
      stress. Conclusion It can be concluded that C. moschata has cytoprotective
      effects in oxidative stress and carbonyl stress models and this valuable
      vegetable can be considered as a suitable herbal product for the prevention of
      toxic subsequent of oxidative stress and carbonyl stress seen in chronic
      hyperglycemia.

PMID- 28586928
TI  - [Biomaterials or Donor Tissue - What is the Future of Tissue Engenieering for
      Cornea Reconstruction?]
AB  - For the replacement of corneal tissue, corneal grafts or amniotic membrane are
      still used as a standard material. Since this is biological tissue, there is only
      a limited standardization regarding preparation, tissue properties and behaviour
      after transplantation. In addition, there is a risk of disease transmission, and
      the availability of both human corneas and amniotic membrane is insufficient in
      many regions of the world, which is why alternative biomaterials have been
      explored for many years now. Among the natural biomaterials, materials based on
      collagen or keratin provide characteristics that make them good candidates for
      corneal tissue replacement. However, there are still many unsolved problems,
      particularly regarding the degradation after implantation and the seam strength
      of the materials. Initial clinical studies with different biomaterials based on
      collagen prove their good biocompatibility to integrate and their low
      immunogenicity. Currently, there is no biomaterial that meets the requirements in
      every situation. It can be assumed that different biomaterials will be available
      in the future, which, depending on the underlying corneal disease, will fulfill
      different functions and thus make a patient- and disease-specific care possible.

PMID- 28586929
TI  - [Keratoprosthesis with Biological Haptic - The Dusseldorf-Offenburg-Experience
      with Osteo-Odonto- and Tibia-Keratoprosthesis].
AB  - In severe ocular surface disease with limbal stem cell deficiency associated with
      severe dry eye, penetrating keratoplasty is likely to fail. In these cases, and
      provided the posterior segment is normal, keratoprosthesis surgery (KPro) can
      achieve visual rehabilitation. In KPros with an autologous biological haptic, a
      bone-tooth-complex (osteo-odonto-keratoprothesis, OOKPro) or a piece of tibial
      cortex (tibia-keratoprosthesis, TKPro) is used to carry a PMMA cylinder. This
      construct can successfully be implanted even in severely dry eyes and in those
      with autoimmune disease, in which other KPro designs frequently fail. Herein we
      review the published anatomic long-term results of OOKPro and TKPro on our own
      patients. With a mean follow-up of 7.5 years (max. 20.6) for OOKPro and 4.5 years
      (max. 13.3) for TKPro patients, the retention rate was 91 and 86%, respectively.
      We are unaware of any other technique for artificial replacement of the cornea
      with equally positive long-term results as KPros with a biological haptic.

PMID- 28586930
TI  - [Mid- and Longterm Experiences with the Boston-Keratoprosthesis. The Cologne and
      Salzburg Perspective].
AB  - Background Eyes with severe corneal opacifications and insufficient prognosis for
      high-risk corneal transplantation can be considered for the implantation of a
      Boston-keratoprosthesis. Since 2013, this technique of "artificial" corneal
      replacement is provided to high-risk eyes at the Department of Ophthalmology,
      University of Cologne and for 9 years at the University of Salzburg. In the
      meantime, a type I Boston keratoprosthesis (BI-KPro) has been implanted in 24
      eyes in Cologne and in 28 eyes in Salzburg. Methods In this article, results and
      complications according to BI-KPro are discussed, both from the literature in
      PubMed, as well as from our own experiences. Results Twenty-four eyes of 22
      patients had been provided with a BI-KPro since September 2013, of which only one
      keratoprosthesis could not be obtained thus far, and an increase in visual acuity
      could be achieved in 23 eyes (96%). On average, 1.5 revisions per eye were
      required during the postoperative course. Since 2007, a BI-KPro has been
      implanted in 28 eyes in Salzburg. In 62% (16 of 26 eyes), visual acuity increased
      postoperatively, with a complication rate of 81% in a longer follow-up period. In
      both cohorts, the spectrum of complications ranged from retroprosthetic membrane
      formation, to secondary glaucoma, to infectious keratitis with or without graft
      melting, to vitritis, to endophthalmitis. Conclusion The range of possible
      complications according to BI-KPro is broad, but the BI-KPro represents currently
      the most widely used form of artificial corneal replacement in high-risk eyes and
      leads to visual improvement in most patients.

PMID- 28586931
TI  - [Bowman Layer Transplantation in Progressive Keratoconus - What Is It Good For?]

PMID- 28586932
TI  - ?

PMID- 28586933
TI  - A Case of Pituitary Carcinoma Initially Diagnosed as an Ectopic Growth Hormone
      Producing Pituitary Adenoma with a High Ki-67 Labeling Index.
AB  - We report a case of a 66-year-old woman with a malignant transformation of a
      growth hormone (GH)-producing pituitary adenoma that was mainly located in the
      clivus. The patient originally presented with left oculomotor and abducens nerve
      palsies. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a clival tumor separated from the
      normal pituitary gland, and the patient subsequently underwent transsphenoidal
      surgery. Analysis of the resected clival tissue revealed proliferation of tumor
      cells with slightly irregular nuclei but no mitosis. Although the Ki-67 labeling
      index was as high as 8.7%, p53 was negative. Histologic analysis confirmed the
      diagnosis of a GH-producing pituitary adenoma. Two months after the first
      operation, the tumor acutely enlarged and caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
      Pathologic findings of the second surgical specimen showed significant nuclear
      atypia. The Ki-67 labeling index increased to 27.7% and the p53 was positive;
      there was no GH immunoreactivity. Following the second surgical intervention, the
      patient was diagnosed with an atypical pituitary adenoma and underwent
      postoperative local radiotherapy (50 Gy in 25 fractions). Twenty months after the
      first surgery, multiple bone metastases were detected that led to the diagnosis
      of pituitary carcinoma. This is the first report of a clival pituitary adenoma
      undergoing malignant transformation. Because neuroimaging may underestimate local
      invasiveness in ectopic pituitary tumors, it is essential to conduct a histologic
      examination to evaluate it. Further analysis of similar cases is necessary to
      improve clinical management for this confused diagnostic criterion.

PMID- 28586934
TI  - Brain Metastases of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Prognostic Factors in Patients
      with Surgical Resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS:  Bronchogenic carcinoma is the cancer that most
      commonly metastasizes to the brain. The standard treatment schedule for these
      patients is still unclear, although recommendation level 1 class I advocates for
      surgical resection together with postoperative whole-brain radiotherapy for
      patients with good Karnofsky performance status (KPS). We performed a study to
      identify prognostic factors for the long-term survival of patients with brain
      metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS:  This retrospective
      single-center study included 71 patients with brain metastases from NSCLC having
      undergone surgical metastasectomy between January 2002 and January 2015. RESULTS:
      The average age was 58.8 years. A total of 85.9% of the lesions were located in
      the supratentorial region, 61.9% of the lesions were < 3 cm, and 80.3% of cases
      were solitary brain metastases. Complete resection was achieved in 90.1% of
      patients. Clinical debut with motor involvement was associated with higher rates
      of incomplete surgical resection. Patients with motor deficits had a worse
      preoperative KPS. The preoperative KPS was > 70 in 74.6% of patients, and the
      postoperative KPS was > 70 in 85.9% of patients. Overall, 84.5% of the brain
      surgeries had no complications. Brain metastases were diagnosed as a synchronous
      presentation in 64.7% of patients.The average survival after brain surgery was
      20.38 months. The survival rate was 66.2% at 6 months, 45.1% at 12 months, 22.5%
      at 24 months, 14.1% at 36 months, and 8.5% at 48 months. Patients < 55 years of
      age showed a higher survival rate at 12 months and 48 months. Patients > 70 years
      of age showed a higher mortality rate at 6 months. Complete surgical brain
      metastasis resection was associated with an increased survival at 6 months, and
      patients undergoing primary lung surgery had better survival rates at 48 months.
      A preoperative KPS > 70% improved the prognosis of patients at 6 and 24 months.
      Surgical complications reduced survival at 6 and 12 months. CONCLUSION:  Surgical
      resection may be beneficial for a given group of patients: a preoperative KPS >
      70; age < 55 years, complete surgical brain metastasis resection, no surgical
      complications, patients with primary lung surgery, and complete radiotherapy
      treatment. We did not find any significant difference regarding further factors
      that probably affect survival rates such as size or number of metastases.

PMID- 28586936
TI  - Completely Thrombosed Aneurysms of the Posterior Cerebral Artery: A Comprehensive
      Review.

PMID- 28586935
TI  - Endoscopic Management of Arnold-Chiari Malformation Type I with or without
      Syringomyelia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION:  Several different surgical techniques have been used in the
      treatment of patients with symptomatic Arnold-Chiari malformation type 1 (ACM-1)
      with or without syrinx. Endoscope-assisted decompression of the posterior fossa
      has been found to be safe and effective. We report our initial experience of
      endoscopic management of ACM-I. MATERIAL AND METHODS:  This was a prospective
      study of 15 symptomatic patients. Pre- and postoperative clinical status and
      computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings were recorded.
      Suboccipital bone of ~ 3 cm distance from the foramen of magnum and posterior
      arch of atlas was removed. Partial splitting of the dura mater with preservation
      of the inner portion and the arachnoid membrane was performed. Any change in
      axial and sagittal length of the syrinx, tonsillar ascension, shape of the tonsil
      tip, appearance of cerebrospinal fluid posterior to the tonsil, and formation of
      the cisterna magna were recorded. Patients with atlantoaxial instability,
      tethered cord, associated myelomeningocele, hydrocephalus, or elevated
      intracranial pressure were excluded. RESULTS:  Age of patients ranged from 26 to
      48 years. There were nine female patients. There were six patients with ACM-I
      without and nine with ACM-I with syrinx. Average pre- and postoperative Karnofsky
      performance score was 78 and 93, respectively. Average operative time was 130
      minutes (110-190 minutes), and blood loss was 30 mL (20-180 mL). Follow-up ranged
      from 9 to 21 months. CONCLUSION:  Although the study is limited by the small
      number of patients with a short follow-up, endoscopic decompression in selected
      patients of ACM-I with or without syrinx with dural splitting was a safe and
      effective alternative to microsurgical treatment.

PMID- 28586937
TI  - Telemetric Intracranial Pressure Recording via a Shunt System Integrated Sensor:
      A Safety and Feasibility Study.

PMID- 28586938
TI  - Superficial Temporal Artery-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass Using a Thick STA after
      Endarterectomy: A Rescue Technique.
AB  - Background and Objective Superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral artery
      (MCA) bypass is a procedure to reconstruct cerebral blood flow in the MCA
      territory. In some cases, the STA wall is thickened and the size discrepancy
      between STA and MCA is apparent. In such a situation, STA-MCA bypass is
      challenging. We present two patients who underwent STA-MCA bypass using STA in
      which a thickened intima was removed. We discuss the usefulness of this rescue
      technique. Patients and Results A patient with an atherosclerotic MCA occlusion
      and another with an occluded internal carotid artery are included. Endarterectomy
      of STA was performed before or during anastomosis, and the intima-resected STA
      was anastomosed to MCA. In both cases, the STA was thick and hard, and it was
      difficult to anastomose the STA as it was to the MCA. Patency of the bypass was
      confirmed by postoperative angiography. Conclusion Endarterectomy of a thickened
      STA might be an effective rescue technique in cases with severely atherosclerotic
      STA in STA-MCA bypass.

PMID- 28586939
TI  - [Urgent Visits to Nursing Homes: A General Practitioner's Perspective].
AB  - Aim of the study Due to demographic changes, home visits to nursing care
      facilities are increasing. Urgent home visits represent a challenge for general
      practitioners. There are no recommendations for the implementation of urgent home
      visits. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how GP practices deal with
      urgent home visits and what improvements can be made to the medical emergency
      care. Methods A total of 15 teaching doctors of the Department of Family Medicine
      at the University of Bonn were interviewed using semi-structured interviews on
      the subject. We evaluated the interviews with the qualitative content analysis
      according to Mayring. Results Urgent house visits were requested by telephone or
      fax. The home visits were carried out usually after the consultation hours during
      the lunch break of the doctors. General practitioners consider forwarding the
      request for a house visit to the rescue service as an absolute exception. At the
      nursing home, there were waiting times until the responsible nursing staff could
      do a joint emergency visit. In addition, there were clear differences in the
      qualifications of nurses and in dealing with emergencies. The physicians
      therefore saw improvements in their ability to provide further training to the
      nursing staff, to preventive house visits, and to assess the urgency of home
      visits. Conclusion To improve emergency care in elderly homes, the suggestions
      for improvement proposed by the family doctors should be tested in controlled
      studies. In addition, the cooperation between general practitioners and nursing
      homes could be strengthened by joint training in geriatric emergency care.

PMID- 28586940
TI  - [Morbidity Compression in Stroke: Longitudinal Analyses on Changes in the
      Incidence of Stroke].
AB  - Summary According to Fries, morbidity compression occurs if age at onset of
      disease/disability and age at death increase. Morbidity compression is also
      present if disease/disability rates decrease to the same or to a larger extent
      than standardized death rates. In all cases, healthy lifetime is gained. Not many
      studies on morbidity compression are available, and only a small number of them
      refer to specific diseases. Stroke is used as an example for examining whether
      morbidity compression has occurred over an observation period of 9 years. Methods
      The study was based on pseudonymized data of a statutory health insurance
      covering 2006-2014 with 2 million insured per year. Analyses were performed for
      all types of stroke, separately for cerebral infarction, and for hemorrhages (ICD
      10: I60-I62). Calculations were performed by means of survival analyses and with
      multiple regression. Results In women and in men, rates decreased only for
      hemorrhagic strokes, while changes of onset age were difficult to interpret.
      Standardized death rates dropped only in males. Conclusions Evidence in favor of
      morbidity compression was found only for decreasing rates of hemorrhagic strokes.
      It has, however, to be kept in mind that the findings refer to a single disease
      occurring relatively late in the life course. Comprehensive assessments of
      morbidity compression are only possible taking into consideration a broader
      spectrum of diseases.

PMID- 28586941
TI  - [Patients are Satisfied with the Physician-Patient Communication: A Pilot Study
      Applying the "Individual Clinician Feedback" Questionnaire].
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Patient-centeredness as an essential aspect of quality of
      patient care is becoming increasingly important. The aim of the pilot study is to
      gain insight into the physician-patient communication from the patient's
      perspective. A German questionnaire in a maximum care hospital was tested.
      METHODS: The German "Individual Clinician Feedback" questionnaire (ICF) was
      tested in a pilot study in the special consultation in a voluntary cohort of
      surgeons. In the survey period from June to August 2015, the questionnaire was
      given to the patient. The physicians received their assessment results as a
      compressed score. They were rated on a scale of 1-10 on which 10 is "very good".
      RESULTS: 12 physicians were recruited from five departments. There was a high
      response rate of 46% (n=219). The patients evaluated the communication as very
      good (on average over all items and physicians 8.5 to 9.5 points). 89% of the
      patients had the feeling that the doctor took adequate time for them, while 50%
      of the patients had a consultation time of 11-20 min. 12% of the patients had
      still open questions after treatment that they did not ask. 19% and 21% of
      patients reported that the physician has not asked them if they had any
      questions, or that they just forgot about it at the end of treatment. CONCLUSION:
      The results of the pilot study are associated with a good response rate and
      patients were mostly very satisfied with the physician-patient communication.
      However, a selection bias among participating physicians is likely.

PMID- 28586942
TI  - [Drawing up a Guideline for Handling Information and Communication Technology,
      Flexibility and Availability in Small and Medium Enterprises].
AB  - Background Within the last decades the world of work has changed enormously. Due
      to new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), working at any time from
      any place has become possible. Flexibility, availability and the dissolution of
      boundaries between work and private life are the possible results of this
      development. The spread of this development and possible consequences on the
      affected employee's health and wellbeing have been examined so far especially in
      big companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are rarely subjects of
      scientific studies in this context. Objective of this paper The aim of this work
      was to develop a guideline based on experiences and results of a study regarding
      flexibility in the business world (FlexA), as well as a systematic literature
      research. The target populations of this guideline are SMEs, focusing on
      integrating a health promoting way in dealing with ICT, flexibility and
      availability within the corporate culture. Methods In order to delineate the
      current state in of research in ICT-related work interventions, a systematic
      review in data bases e. g. PsycINFO, EconLit and Medline was carried out. The
      search strategy used the key words "work", "intervention", "ICT", "mental
      strain", "flexibility" and "availability". In addition, grey literature and
      findings from the FlexA study were used to formulate the current guideline.
      Results Based on the exclusion criteria, all studies from the systematic
      literature search were excluded after title and abstract screening. Within grey
      literature research, 4 relevant publications could be identified. The measures,
      developed during the corporate workshops of the FlexA study, e. g. the
      implementation of collective regulations in the company, were included in the
      guideline. Conclusion Due to the ongoing development of ICT and flexibility in
      daily business life, it is getting more and more important to follow this
      progress. Executives and corporate management are responsible to actively shape
      this trend in a health-promoting way in their enterprises. The current guideline
      was made to support the corporate management in this task and it is an important
      instrument for a health-promoting use of ICT in daily business life taking in to
      consideration flexibility and availability.

PMID- 28586944
TI  - Defining Prognostic Biomarkers and Optimal Adjuvant Treatment for Gynecologic
      Cancer.

PMID- 28586943
TI  - Oxytocin and Its Relationship to Body Composition, Bone Mineral Density, and Hip
      Geometry Across the Weight Spectrum.
AB  - Context: Oxytocin (OXT), an anorexigenic hypothalamic hormone anabolic to bone,
      may reflect energy availability. Basal serum OXT levels are lower in anorexia
      nervosa (AN, state of energy deficit) than healthy controls (HC) and negatively
      associated with spine bone mineral density (BMD). Reports are conflicting
      regarding OXT levels in overweight/obesity (OB, state of energy excess).
      Relationships between OXT and BMD in OB and hip geometry across the weight
      spectrum are unknown. Objective: To determine whether overnight serum OXT levels
      are (1) elevated in OB and (2) associated with body composition, BMD, and hip
      geometry across the weight spectrum. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Clinical
      research center. Participants: Fifty-nine women, ages 18 to 45 years: amenorrheic
      AN (N = 16), eumenorrheic HC (N = 24), eumenorrheic OB (N = 19). Main Outcome
      Measures: Serum sampled every 20 minutes from 8 pm to 8 am and pooled for
      integrated overnight OXT levels. Body composition, BMD, and hip structural
      analysis measured by dual x-ray absorptiometry. Results: OXT levels were lowest
      in AN, higher in HC, and highest in OB (P <= 0.02). There were positive
      associations between OXT and (1) body mass index (P = 0.0004); (2) total,
      visceral, and subcutaneous fat (P <= 0.0002); (3) spine and hip BMD Z-scores (P
      <= 0.01); and (4) favorable hip geometry, namely buckling ratio (P <= 0.05). In a
      subset analysis of HC and OB, relationships between OXT and body composition, but
      not bone parameters, remained significant. Conclusions: These data suggest OXT is
      a marker of energy availability and may be a mediator of bone density, structure,
      and strength. OXT pathways may provide targets for obesity and osteoporosis
      treatment.

PMID- 28586945
TI  - Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Versus Cryotherapy in Low- and Intermediate-Risk
      Prostate Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cryotherapy and brachytherapy are definitive local treatment options for
      low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer. There are both prospective and
      retrospective data for brachytherapy, but the use of cryotherapy has been limited
      primarily to single-institution retrospective studies. Currently, no published
      evidence has compared low-dose-rate brachytherapy versus cryotherapy. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Institutional review board approval was obtained to conduct a
      retrospective chart review of consecutive patients treated at our institution
      from 1990 to 2012. For inclusion, patients must have received a prostate cancer
      diagnosis and have been considered to have low- to intermediate-risk disease
      according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria. All patients
      received brachytherapy or cryotherapy treatment. Disease specifics and failure
      details were collected for all patients. Failure was defined as prostate-specific
      antigen nadir +2 ng/mL. RESULTS: A total of 359 patients were analyzed. The
      groups comprised 50 low-risk cryotherapy (LRC), 92 intermediate-risk cryotherapy
      (IRC), 133 low-risk brachytherapy (LRB), and 84 intermediate-risk brachytherapy
      (IRB) patients. The median prostate-specific antigen follow-up periods were 85.6
      months (LRC), 59.2 months (IRC), 74.9 months (LRB), and 59.8 months (IRB). The 5
      year biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS) rate was 57.9% in the
      cryotherapy group versus 89.6% in the brachytherapy group (P<.0001). The 5-year
      bPFS rate was 70.0% (LRC), 51.4% (IRC), 89.4% (LRB), and 89.7% (IRB). The bPFS
      rate was significantly different between brachytherapy and cryotherapy for low-
      and intermediate-risk groups (P<.05). The mean nadir temperature reached for
      cryotherapy patients was -35 degrees C (range, -96 degrees C to -6 degrees C).
      Cryotherapy used a median of 2 freeze-thaw cycles (range, 2-4 freeze-thaw
      cycles). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study suggest that cryotherapy is
      inferior to brachytherapy for patients with low- to intermediate-risk prostate
      cancer. Patient selection criteria for consideration of cryotherapy and
      brachytherapy are similar in terms of anesthesia candidacy. Therefore,
      cryotherapy would not be recommended as a first-line local therapy for this
      particular patient subset.

PMID- 28586946
TI  - Increasing Fractional Doses Increases the Probability of Benign PSA Bounce in
      Patients Undergoing Definitive HDR Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) bounce is a temporary elevation of the
      PSA level above a prior nadir. The purpose of this study was to determine whether
      the frequency of a PSA bounce following high-dose-rate (HDR) interstitial
      brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer is associated with individual
      treatment fraction size. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 1999 and 2014, 554
      patients underwent treatment of low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer with
      definitive HDR brachytherapy as monotherapy and had >=3 subsequent PSA
      measurements. Four different fraction sizes were used: 950 cGy * 4 fractions,
      1200 cGy * 2 fractions, 1350 cGy * 2 fractions, 1900 cGy * 1 fraction. Four
      definitions of PSA bounce were applied: >=0.2, >=0.5, >=1.0, and >=2.0 ng/mL
      above the prior nadir with a subsequent return to the nadir. RESULTS: The median
      follow-up period was 3.7 years. The actuarial 3-year rate of PSA bounce for the
      entire cohort was 41.3%, 28.4%, 17.4%, and 6.8% for nadir +0.2, +0.5, +1.0, and
      +2.0 ng/mL, respectively. The 3-year rate of PSA bounce >0.2 ng/mL was 42.2%,
      32.1%, 41.0%, and 59.1% for the 950-, 1200-, 1350-, and 1900-cGy/fraction levels,
      respectively (P=.002). The hazard ratio for bounce >0.2 ng/mL for patients
      receiving a single fraction of 1900 cGy compared with those receiving treatment
      in multiple fractions was 1.786 (P=.024). For patients treated with a single 1900
      cGy fraction, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year rates of PSA bounce exceeding the Phoenix
      biochemical failure definition (nadir +2 ng/mL) were 4.5%, 18.7%, and 18.7%,
      respectively, higher than the rates for all other administered dose levels
      (P=.025). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of PSA bounce increases with single-fraction
      HDR treatment. Knowledge of posttreatment PSA kinetics may aid in decision making
      regarding management of potential biochemical failures.

PMID- 28586947
TI  - Adjuvant Therapy in High-Risk Stage III Cutaneous Melanoma.

PMID- 28586948
TI  - Clinical Outcomes of Image Guided Adaptive Hypofractionated Weekly Radiation
      Therapy for Bladder Cancer in Patients Unsuitable for Radical Treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: We report on the clinical outcomes of a phase 2 study
      assessing image guided hypofractionated weekly radiation therapy in bladder
      cancer patients unsuitable for radical treatment. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fifty
      five patients with T2-T4aNx-2M0-1 bladder cancer not suitable for cystectomy or
      daily radiation therapy treatment were recruited. A "plan of the day" radiation
      therapy approach was used, treating the whole (empty) bladder to 36 Gy in 6
      weekly fractions. Acute toxicity was assessed weekly during radiation therapy, at
      6 and 12 weeks using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version
      3.0. Late toxicity was assessed at 6 months and 12 months using Radiation Therapy
      Oncology Group grading. Cystoscopy was used to assess local control at 3 months.
      Cumulative incidence function was used to determine local progression at 1 at 2
      years. Death without local progression was treated as a competing risk. Overall
      survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Median age was 86
      years (range, 68-97 years). Eighty-seven percent of patients completed their
      prescribed course of radiation therapy. Genitourinary and gastrointestinal grade
      3 acute toxicity was seen in 18% (10/55) and 4% (2/55) of patients, respectively.
      No grade 4 genitourinary or gastrointestinal toxicity was seen. Grade >=3 late
      toxicity (any) at 6 and 12 months was seen in 6.5% (2/31) and 4.3% (1/23) of
      patients, respectively. Local control after radiation therapy was 92% of assessed
      patients (60% total population). Cumulative incidence of local progression at 1
      year and 2 years for all patients was 7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2%-17%)
      and 17% (95% CI 8%-29%), respectively. Overall survival at 1 year was 63% (95% CI
      48%-74%). CONCLUSION: Hypofractionated radiation therapy delivered weekly with a
      plan of the day approach offers good local control with acceptable toxicity in a
      patient population not suitable for radical bladder treatment.

PMID- 28586950
TI  - Encourage Enrollment in Clinical Trials of Neoadjuvant or Adjuvant Systemic
      Therapy, and Consider Adjuvant Radiation Therapy to Prevent Morbid Recurrence.

PMID- 28586951
TI  - Radiation Therapy Followed by Ipilimumab Is Appropriate.

PMID- 28586949
TI  - Phase 1/2 Trial of 5-Fraction Stereotactic Radiosurgery With 5-mm Margins With
      Concurrent and Adjuvant Temozolomide in Newly Diagnosed Supratentorial
      Glioblastoma: Health-Related Quality of Life Results.
AB  - PURPOSE: We report a longitudinal assessment of health-related quality of life
      (HRQOL) in patients with glioblastoma (GBM) treated on a prospective dose
      escalation trial of 5-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (25-40 Gy in 5
      fractions) with concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide. METHODS: HRQOL was assessed
      using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)
      quality of life questionnaire core-30 (QLQ-C30) general, the EORTC quality of
      life questionnaire-brain cancer specific module (QLQ-BN20), and the M.D. Anderson
      Symptom Inventory-Brain Tumor (MDASI-BT). Questionnaires were completed at
      baseline and at every follow-up visit after completion of radiosurgery. Changes
      from baseline for 9 predefined HRQOL measures (global quality of life, physical
      functioning, social functioning, emotional functioning, motor dysfunction,
      communication deficit, fatigue, insomnia, and future uncertainty) were calculated
      at every time point. RESULTS: With a median follow-up time of 10.4 months (range,
      0.4-52 months), 139 total HRQOL questionnaires were completed by the 30 patients
      on trial. Compliance with HRQOL assessment was 76% at 12 months. Communication
      deficit significantly worsened over time, with a decline of 1.7 points per month
      (P=.008). No significant changes over time were detected in the other 8 scales of
      our primary analysis, including global quality of life. Although 8 patients (27%)
      experienced adverse radiation effects (ARE) on this dose escalation trial, it was
      not associated with a statistically significant decline in any of the primary
      HRQOL scales. Disease progression was associated with communication deficit, with
      patients experiencing an average worsening of 13.9 points per month after
      progression compared with 0.7 points per month before progression (P=.01).
      CONCLUSION: On this 5-fraction dose escalation protocol for newly diagnosed GBM,
      overall HRQOL remained stable and appears similar to historical controls of 30
      fractions of radiation therapy. Tumor recurrence was associated with worsening
      communication deficit, and ARE did not correlate with a decline in HRQOL.

PMID- 28586953
TI  - Dry Eye Syndrome After Proton Therapy of Ocular Melanomas.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether proton therapy (PT) performs safely in
      superotemporal melanomas, in terms of risk of dry-eye syndrome (DES). METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Tumor location, DES grade, and dose to ocular structures were analyzed
      in patients undergoing PT (2005-2015) with 52 Gy (prescribed dose, not accounting
      for biologic effectiveness correction of 1.1). Prognostic factors of DES and
      severe DES (sDES, grades 2-3) were determined with Cox proportional hazard
      models. Visual acuity deterioration and enucleation rates were compared by sDES
      and tumor locations. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 44 months (interquartile
      range, 18-60 months). Of 853 patients (mean age, 64 years), 30.5% had temporal
      and 11.4% superotemporal tumors. Five-year incidence of DES and sDES was 23.0%
      (95% confidence interval [CI] 19.0%-27.7%) and 10.9% (95% CI 8.2%-14.4%),
      respectively. Multivariable analysis showed a higher risk for sDES in
      superotemporal (hazard ratio [HR] 5.82, 95% CI 2.72-12.45) and temporal tumors
      (HR 2.63, 95% CI 1.28-5.42), age >=70 years (HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.09-3.32), distance
      to optic disk >=5 mm (HR 2.71, 95% CI 1.52-4.84), >=35% of retina receiving 12 Gy
      (HR 2.98, 95% CI 1.54-5.77), and eyelid rim irradiation (HR 2.68, 95% CI 1.49
      4.80). The same risk factors were found for DES. Visual acuity deteriorated more
      in patients with sDES (0.86 +/- 1.10 vs 0.64 +/- 0.98 logMAR, P=.034) but not
      between superotemporal/temporal and other locations (P=.890). Enucleation rates
      were independent of sDES (P=.707) and tumor locations (P=.729). CONCLUSIONS:
      Severe DES was more frequent in superotemporal/temporal melanomas. Incidence of
      vision deterioration and enucleation was no higher in patients with
      superotemporal melanoma than in patients with tumors in other locations. Tumor
      location should not contraindicate PT.

PMID- 28586952
TI  - Brain Metastasis Velocity: A Novel Prognostic Metric Predictive of Overall
      Survival and Freedom From Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy After Distant Brain
      Failure Following Upfront Radiosurgery Alone.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prior statistical models attempted to identify risk factors for time to
      distant brain failure (DBF) or time to salvage whole-brain radiation therapy
      (WBRT) to predict the benefit of early WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery
      (SRS) alone. We introduce a novel clinical metric, brain metastasis velocity
      (BMV), for predicting clinical outcomes after initial DBF following upfront SRS
      alone. METHODS AND MATERIALS: BMV was defined as the cumulative number of new
      brain metastases that developed over time since first SRS in years. Patients were
      classified by BMV into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, consisting of
      <4, 4 to 13, and >13 new metastases per year, respectively. Histology, number of
      metastases at the time of first SRS, and systemic disease status were assessed
      for effect on BMV. RESULTS: Of 737 patients treated at our institution with
      upfront SRS without WBRT, 286 had >=1 DBF event. A lower BMV predicted for
      improved overall survival (OS) following initial DBF (log-rank P<.0001). Median
      OS for the low, intermediate, and high BMV groups was 12.4 months (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 10.4-16.9 months), 8.2 months (95% CI, 5.0-9.7 months), and 4.3
      months (95% CI, 2.6-6.7 months), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that
      BMV remained the dominant predictor of OS, with a hazard ratio of 2.75 for the
      high BMV group (95% CI, 1.94-3.89; P<.0001) and a hazard ratio of 1.65 for the
      intermediate BMV group (95% CI, 1.18-2.30; P<.004). A lower BMV was associated
      with decreased rates of salvage WBRT (P=.02) and neurologic death (P=.008).
      Factors predictive for a higher BMV included >=2 initial brain metastases
      (P=.004) and melanoma histology (P=.008). CONCLUSIONS: BMV is a novel metric
      associated with OS, neurologic death, and need for salvage WBRT after initial DBF
      following upfront SRS alone.

PMID- 28586954
TI  - Consider Adjuvant Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy to the Lymph Node Basin,
      Especially If the Melanoma Is BRAF Wild Type.

PMID- 28586955
TI  - Adjuvant Therapy in High-Risk Stage III Cutaneous Melanoma.

PMID- 28586956
TI  - Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Fractionated Stereotactic Radiation Therapy for the
      Treatment of Uveal Melanoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate treatment results of stereotactic radiosurgery or
      fractionated stereotactic radiation therapy (SRS/FSRT) for uveal melanoma.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: We retrospectively evaluated 181 patients with 182 uveal
      melanomas receiving SRS/FSRT between 2007 and 2013. Treatment was administered
      with CyberKnife. RESULTS: According to Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study
      criteria, tumor size was small in 1%, medium in 49.5%, and large in 49.5% of the
      patients. Seventy-one tumors received <45 Gy, and 111 received >=45 Gy. Median
      follow-up time was 24 months. Complete and partial response was observed in 8 and
      104 eyes, respectively. The rate of 5-year overall survival was 98%, disease-free
      survival 57%, local recurrence-free survival 73%, distant metastasis-free
      survival 69%, and enucleation-free survival 73%. There was a significant
      correlation between tumor size and disease-free survival, SRS/FSRT dose and
      enucleation-free survival; and both were prognostic for local recurrence-free
      survival. Enucleation was performed in 41 eyes owing to progression in 26 and
      complications in 11. CONCLUSIONS: The radiation therapy dose is of great
      importance for local control and eye retention; the best treatment outcome was
      achieved using >=45 Gy in 3 fractions.

PMID- 28586957
TI  - Adjuvant and Neoadjuvant Therapy in High-Risk Stage III Cutaneous Melanoma.

PMID- 28586958
TI  - Reporting Quality of Randomized, Controlled Trials Evaluating Combined
      Chemoradiotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To comprehensively assess the reporting quality of randomized,
      controlled trials (RCTs) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and to identify
      significant predictors of quality. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Two investigators
      searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for RCTs published between January 1988 and December
      2015 that assessed the effect of combined chemoradiotherapy for NPC. The overall
      quality of each report was assessed using a 28-point overall quality score (OQS)
      based on the 2010 Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement.
      To provide baseline data for further evaluation, we also investigated the
      reporting quality of certain important issues in detail, including key
      methodologic items (allocation concealment, blinding, intention-to-treat
      principle), endpoints, follow-up, subgroup analyses, and adverse events. RESULTS:
      We retrieved 24 relevant RCTs including 6591 patients. Median 2010 OQS was 15.5
      (range, 10-24). Half of the items in the 2010 OQS were poorly reported in at
      least 40% of trials. Multivariable regression models revealed that publication
      after 2010 and high impact factor were significant predictors of improved 2010
      OQS. Additionally, many issues that we consider significant were not reported
      adequately. CONCLUSIONS: Despite publication of the CONSORT statement more than a
      decade ago, overall reporting quality for RCTs in NPC was unsatisfactory.
      Additionally, substantial selectivity and heterogeneity exists in reporting of
      certain crucial issues. This survey provides the first prompt for NPC trial
      investigators to improve reporting quality according to the CONSORT statement;
      increased scrutiny and diligence by editors and peer reviewers is also required.

PMID- 28586959
TI  - The Ever-Evolving Role of the Academic Clinical Physicist.

PMID- 28586960
TI  - Preliminary Results of a Phase 1 Dose-Escalation Trial for Early-Stage Breast
      Cancer Using 5-Fraction Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Partial-Breast
      Irradiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the tolerability of a dose-escalated 5-fraction stereotactic
      body radiation therapy for partial-breast irradiation (S-PBI) in treating early
      stage breast cancer after partial mastectomy; the primary objective was to
      escalate dose utilizing a robotic stereotactic radiation system treating the
      lumpectomy cavity without exceeding the maximum tolerated dose. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Eligible patients included those with ductal carcinoma in situ or
      invasive nonlobular epithelial histologies and stage 0, I, or II, with tumor size
      <3 cm. Patients and physicians completed baseline and subsequent cosmesis outcome
      questionnaires. Starting dose was 30 Gy in 5 fractions and was escalated by 2.5
      Gy total for each cohort to 40 Gy. RESULTS: In all, 75 patients were enrolled,
      with a median age of 62 years. Median follow-up for 5 cohorts was 49.9, 42.5,
      25.7, 20.3, and 13.5 months, respectively. Only 3 grade 3 toxicities were
      experienced. There was 1 dose-limiting toxicity in the overall cohort. Ten
      patients experienced palpable fat necrosis (4 of which were symptomatic).
      Physicians scored cosmesis as excellent or good in 95.9%, 100%, 96.7%, and 100%
      at baseline and 6, 12, and 24 months after S-PBI, whereas patients scored the
      same periods as 86.5%, 97.1%, 95.1%, and 95.3%, respectively. The disagreement
      rates between MDs and patients during those periods were 9.4%, 2.9%, 1.6%, and
      4.7%, respectively. There have been no recurrences or distant metastases.
      CONCLUSION: Dose was escalated to the target dose of 40 Gy in 5 fractions, with
      the occurrence of only 1 dose-limiting toxicity. Patients felt cosmetic results
      improved within the first year after surgery and stereotactic body radiation
      therapy. Our results show minimal toxicity with excellent cosmesis; however,
      further follow-up is warranted in future studies. This study is the first to show
      the safety, tolerability, feasibility, and cosmesis results of a 5-fraction dose
      escalated S-PBI treatment for early-stage breast cancer in the adjuvant setting.

PMID- 28586961
TI  - Long-Term Results of a Highly Performing Conformal Electron Therapy Technique for
      Chest Wall Irradiation After Mastectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate locoregional control and survival after mastectomy, as well
      as toxicity, in patients irradiated by a previously described postmastectomy
      highly conformal electron beam radiation therapy technique (PMERT). METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: We included all women irradiated by postmastectomy electron beam
      radiation therapy for nonmetastatic breast cancer between 2007 and 2011 in our
      department. Acute and late toxicities were retrospectively assessed using Common
      Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0 criteria. RESULTS: Among the
      796 women included, 10.1% were triple-negative, 18.8% HER2-positive, and 24.6%
      received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT). Multifocal lesions were observed in 51.3%
      of women, and 64.6% had at least 1 involved lymph node (LN). Internal mammary
      chain, supraclavicular, infraclavicular, and axillary LNs were treated in 85.6%,
      88.3%, 77.9%, and 14.9% of cases, respectively. With a median follow-up of 64
      months (range, 6-102 months), 5-year locoregional recurrence-free survival and
      overall survival were 90% (95% confidence interval 88.1%-92.4%) and 90.9% (95%
      confidence interval 88.9%-93%), respectively. Early skin toxicity was scored as
      grade 1 in 58.5% of patients, grade 2 in 35.9%, and grade 3 in 4.5%. Concomitant
      CT was associated with increased grade 3 toxicity (P<.001). At long-term follow
      up, 29.8% of patients presented temporary or permanent hyperpigmentation or
      telangiectasia or fibrosis (grade 1: 23.6%; grade 2: 5.2%; grade 3: 1%), with
      higher rates among smokers (P=.06); 274 patients (34.4%) underwent breast
      reconstruction. Only 24 patients (3%) had early esophagitis of grade 1. Only 3
      patients developed ischemic heart disease: all had been treated by anthracycline
      based CT with or without trastuzumab, all had been irradiated to the left chest
      wall and LN, and all presented numerous cardiovascular risk factors (2-4
      factors). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the good efficacy of this
      technique in terms of locoregional control and survival, and good short-term and
      long-term safety. Longer follow-up is required to analyze chronic cardiac events.

PMID- 28586963
TI  - In Reply to Jenelle and Chang.

PMID- 28586962
TI  - Nature of Medical Malpractice Claims Against Radiation Oncologists.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine characteristics of medical malpractice claims involving
      radiation oncologists closed during a 10-year period. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Malpractice claims filed against radiation oncologists from 2003 to 2012
      collected by a nationwide liability insurance trade association were analyzed.
      Outcomes included the nature of claims and indemnity payments, including
      associated presenting diagnoses, procedures, alleged medical errors, and injury
      severity. We compared the likelihood of a claim resulting in payment in relation
      to injury severity categories (death as referent) using binomial logistic
      regression. RESULTS: There were 362 closed claims involving radiation oncology,
      102 (28%) of which were paid, resulting in $38 million in indemnity payments. The
      most common alleged errors included "improper performance" (38% of closed claims,
      18% were paid; 29% [$11 million] of total indemnity), "errors in diagnosis" (25%
      of closed claims, 46% were paid; 44% [$17 million] of total indemnity), and "no
      medical misadventure" (14% of closed claims, 8% were paid; less than 1%
      [$148,000] of total indemnity). Another physician was named in 32% of claims, and
      consent issues/breach of contract were cited in 18%. Claims for injury resulting
      in death represented 39% of closed claims and 25% of total indemnity. "Improper
      performance" was the primary alleged error associated with injury resulting in
      death. Compared with claims involving death, major temporary injury (odds ratio
      [OR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.29-5.85, P=.009), significant permanent
      injury (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.48-6.46, P=.003), and major permanent injury (OR 5.5,
      95% CI 1.89-16.15, P=.002) had a higher likelihood of a claim resulting in
      indemnity payment. CONCLUSIONS: Improper performance was the most common alleged
      malpractice error. Claims involving significant or major injury were more likely
      to be paid than those involving death. Insights into the nature of liability
      claims against radiation oncologists may help direct efforts to improve quality
      of care and minimize the risk of being sued.

PMID- 28586964
TI  - In Regard to Dr Vapiwala.

PMID- 28586965
TI  - In Regard to Shaverdian et al.

PMID- 28586966
TI  - In Reply to Scott.

PMID- 28587049
TI  - Female Representation in the Academic Oncology Physician Workforce: Radiation
      Oncology Losing Ground to Hematology Oncology.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our purpose was to assess comparative female representation trends for
      trainees and full-time faculty in the academic radiation oncology and hematology
      oncology workforce of the United States over 3 decades. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Simple linear regression models with year as the independent variable were used
      to determine changes in female percentage representation per year and associated
      95% confidence intervals for trainees and full-time faculty in each specialty.
      RESULTS: Peak representation was 48.4% (801/1654) in 2013 for hematology oncology
      trainees, 39.0% (585/1499) in 2014 for hematology oncology full-time faculty,
      34.8% (202/581) in 2007 for radiation oncology trainees, and 27.7% (439/1584) in
      2015 for radiation oncology full-time faculty. Representation significantly
      increased for trainees and full-time faculty in both specialties at approximately
      1% per year for hematology oncology trainees and full-time faculty and 0.3% per
      year for radiation oncology trainees and full-time faculty. Compared with
      radiation oncology, the rates were 3.84 and 2.94 times greater for hematology
      oncology trainees and full-time faculty, respectively. CONCLUSION: Despite
      increased female trainee and full-time faculty representation over time in the
      academic oncology physician workforce, radiation oncology is lagging behind
      hematology oncology, with trainees declining in recent years in radiation
      oncology; this suggests a de facto ceiling in female representation. Whether such
      issues as delayed or insufficient exposure, inadequate mentorship, or specialty
      competitiveness disparately affect female representation in radiation oncology
      compared to hematology oncology are underexplored and require continued
      investigation to ensure that the future oncologic physician workforce reflects
      the diversity of the population it serves.

PMID- 28587050
TI  - Application of Critical Volume-Dose Constraints for Stereotactic Body Radiation
      Therapy in NRG Radiation Therapy Trials.

PMID- 28587052
TI  - Clinical Development of Cancer Drugs in Combination With External Beam Radiation
      Therapy: US Food and Drug Administration Perspective.

PMID- 28587051
TI  - Evaluating Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy Relative to Passive Scattering
      Proton Therapy for Increased Vertebral Column Sparing in Craniospinal Irradiation
      in Growing Pediatric Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: At present, proton craniospinal irradiation (CSI) for growing children
      is delivered to the whole vertebral body (WVB) to avoid asymmetric growth. We
      aimed to demonstrate the feasibility and potential clinical benefit of delivering
      vertebral body sparing (VBS) versus WVB CSI with passively scattered (PS) and
      intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) in growing children treated for
      medulloblastoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Five plans were generated for
      medulloblastoma patients, who had been previously treated with CSI PS proton
      radiation therapy: (1) single posteroanterior (PA) PS field covering the WVB (PS
      PA-WVB); (2) single PA PS field that included only the thecal sac in the target
      volume (PS-PA-VBS); (3) single PA IMPT field covering the WVB (IMPT-PA-WVB); (4)
      single PA IMPT field, target volume including thecal sac only (IMPT-PA-VBS); and
      (5) 2 posterior-oblique (-35 degrees , +35 degrees ) IMPT fields, with the target
      volume including the thecal sac only (IMPT2F-VBS). For all cases, 23.4 Gy
      (relative biologic effectiveness [RBE]) was prescribed to 95% of the spinal
      canal. The dose, linear energy transfer, and variable-RBE-weighted dose
      distributions were calculated for all plans using the tool for particle
      simulation, version 2, Monte Carlo system. RESULTS: IMPT VBS techniques
      efficiently spared the anterior vertebral bodies (AVBs), even when accounting for
      potential higher variable RBE predicted by linear energy transfer distributions.
      Assuming an RBE of 1.1, the V10 Gy(RBE) decreased from 100% for the WVB
      techniques to 59.5% to 76.8% for the cervical, 29.9% to 34.6% for the thoracic,
      and 20.6% to 25.1% for the lumbar AVBs, and the V20 Gy(RBE) decreased from 99.0%
      to 17.8% to 20.0% for the cervical, 7.2% to 7.6% for the thoracic, and 4.0% to
      4.6% for the lumbar AVBs when IMPT VBS techniques were applied. The corresponding
      percentages for the PS VBS technique were higher. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced proton
      techniques can sufficiently reduce the dose to the vertebral body and allow for
      vertebral column growth for children with central nervous system tumors requiring
      CSI. This was true even when considering variable RBE values. A clinical trial is
      planned for VBS to the thoracic and lumbosacral spine in growing children.

PMID- 28587053
TI  - Quantitative Approach to Failure Mode and Effect Analysis for Linear Accelerator
      Quality Assurance.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine clinic-specific linear accelerator quality assurance (QA)
      TG-142 test frequencies, to maximize physicist time efficiency and patient
      treatment quality. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A novel quantitative approach to
      failure mode and effect analysis is proposed. Nine linear accelerator-years of QA
      records provided data on failure occurrence rates. The severity of test failure
      was modeled by introducing corresponding errors into head and neck intensity
      modulated radiation therapy treatment plans. The relative risk of daily linear
      accelerator QA was calculated as a function of frequency of test performance.
      RESULTS: Although the failure severity was greatest for daily imaging QA (imaging
      vs treatment isocenter and imaging positioning/repositioning), the failure
      occurrence rate was greatest for output and laser testing. The composite ranking
      results suggest that performing output and lasers tests daily, imaging versus
      treatment isocenter and imaging positioning/repositioning tests weekly, and
      optical distance indicator and jaws versus light field tests biweekly would be
      acceptable for non-stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic body radiation therapy
      linear accelerators. CONCLUSIONS: Failure mode and effect analysis is a useful
      tool to determine the relative importance of QA tests from TG-142. Because there
      are practical time limitations on how many QA tests can be performed, this
      analysis highlights which tests are the most important and suggests the frequency
      of testing based on each test's risk priority number.

PMID- 28587054
TI  - Later Life Changes in Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Behavioral Functions After Low
      Dose Prenatal Irradiation at Early Organogenesis Stage.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate long-term changes in behavioral functions of mice after
      exposure to low-dose prenatal radiation at an early organogenesis stage. METHODS
      AND MATERIALS: Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were irradiated (20 cGy) at postcoitus day
      5.5. The male and female offspring were subjected to different behavioral assays
      for affective, motor, and cognitive functions at 3, 6, and 12 months of age.
      Behavioral functions were further correlated with the population of CA1 and CA3
      pyramidal neurons and immature neurons in hippocampal dentate gyrus. RESULTS:
      Prenatally exposed mice of different age groups showed a sex-specific pattern of
      sustained changes in behavioral functions. Male mice showed significant changes
      in anxiety-like phenotypes, learning, and long-term memory at age 3 months. At 6
      months of age such behavioral functions were recovered to a normal level but
      could not be sustained at age 12 months. Female mice showed an appreciable
      recovery in almost all behavioral functions at 12 months. Patterns of change in
      learning and long-term memory were comparable to the population of CA1 and CA3
      pyramidal neurons and doublecortin-positive neurons in hippocampus. CONCLUSION:
      Our finding suggests that prenatal (early organogenesis stage) irradiation even
      at a lower dose level (20 cGy) is sufficient to cause potential changes in
      neurobehavioral function at later stages of life. Male mice showed relatively
      higher vulnerability to radiation-induced neurobehavioral changes as compared
      with female.

PMID- 28587055
TI  - Radiation-Specific Clinical Data Should Be Included in Existing Large-Scale
      Genomic Datasets.

PMID- 28587056
TI  - Tolerance of the Brachial Plexus to High-Dose Reirradiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the tolerance of the brachial plexus to high doses of radiation
      exceeding historically accepted limits by analyzing human subjects treated with
      reirradiation for recurrent tumors of the head and neck. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Data from 43 patients who were confirmed to have received overlapping dose to the
      brachial plexus after review of radiation treatment plans from the initial and
      reirradiation courses were used to model the tolerance of this normal tissue
      structure. A standardized instrument for symptoms of neuropathy believed to be
      related to brachial plexus injury was utilized to screen for toxicity. Cumulative
      dose was calculated by fusing the initial dose distributions onto the
      reirradiation plan, thereby creating a composite plan via deformable image
      registration. The median elapsed time from the initial course of radiation
      therapy to reirradiation was 24 months (range, 3-144 months). RESULTS: The
      dominant complaints among patients with symptoms were ipsilateral pain (54%),
      numbness/tingling (31%), and motor weakness and/or difficulty with manual
      dexterity (15%). The cumulative maximum dose (Dmax) received by the brachial
      plexus ranged from 60.5 Gy to 150.1 Gy (median, 95.0 Gy). The cumulative mean
      (Dmean) dose ranged from 20.2 Gy to 111.5 Gy (median, 63.8 Gy). The 1-year
      freedom from brachial plexus-related neuropathy was 67% and 86% for subjects with
      a cumulative Dmax greater than and less than 95.0 Gy, respectively (P=.05). The 1
      year complication-free rate was 66% and 87%, for those reirradiated within and
      after 2 years from the initial course, respectively (P=.06). CONCLUSION: The
      development of brachial plexus-related symptoms was less than expected owing to
      repair kinetics and to the relatively short survival of the subject population.
      Time-dose factors were demonstrated to be predictive of complications.

PMID- 28587059
TI  - Selected Risk Nutritional Factors for Chemotherapy-Induced Polyneuropathy.
AB  - The present study seeks to identify the nutritional risk factors involved in the
      development of neuropathies induced by chemotherapeutic treatments. Unlike the
      gastrointestinal or hematological adverse effects of chemotherapy there is no
      protective treatment strategy for polyneuropathy. The aim of this study was to
      find possible deficiencies in nutritional factors, which can be used for
      supplementation in the future for prevention of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy
      development. We analyzed 70 patients undergoing paclitaxel chemotherapy and
      evaluated the risk factors involved in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
      (CIPN). Several risk factors were considered in the development of CIPN,
      including deficiency of vitamin B1, B6, and D and fatty acids. The occurrence of
      CIPN complication in 60% cases was observed. We found significant differences in
      vitamin D and saturated fatty acid concentration. Vitamin D levels in the group
      without CIPN were estimated to be 38.2 (24.95, 47.63) nmol/L, whereas in the
      group with CIPN it was determined to be 25.6 (19.7, 32.55) nmol/L, p = 0.008. The
      level of total saturated fatty acids in the group without CIPN was of 32.613 Area
      % (31.322; 36.262), whereas in the group with CIPN it was of 34.209 Area %
      (32.86; 39.386), p = 0.01. The obtained results suggest a diet lower in saturated
      fatty acid content during chemotherapy. The most significant finding was that
      supplementation of vitamin D before chemotherapy could be an efficient
      neuroprotective in CIPN prophylaxis, as significantly lower levels 25OH
      derivative of vitamin D were observed in the CIPN group throughout the study
      period.

PMID- 28587060
TI  - Is Root Catalase a Bifunctional Catalase-Peroxidase?
AB  - Plant catalases exhibit spatial and temporal distribution of their activity.
      Moreover, except from the typical monofunctional catalase, a bifunctional
      catalase-peroxidase has been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate
      whether the leaf and root catalases from six different plant species (Lactuca
      sativa, Cichorium endivia, Apium graveolens, Petroselinum crispum, Lycopersicon
      esculentum, and Solanum melongena) correspond to the monofunctional or the
      bifunctional type based on their sensitivity to the inhibitor 3-amino-1,2,4
      triazole (3-AT). The leaf catalases from all species seem to be monofunctional
      since they are very sensitive to 3-AT. On the other hand, the root enzymes from
      Lactuca sativa, Cichorium endivia, Lycopersicon esculentum, and Solanum melongena
      seem to be bifunctional catalase-peroxidases, considering that they are
      relatively insensitive to 3-AT, whereas the catalases from Apium graveolens and
      Petroselinum crispum display the same monofunctional characteristics as the
      leaves' enzymes. The leaf catalase activity is usually higher (Lactuca sativa,
      Petroselinum crispum, and Solanum melongena) or similar (Cichorium endivia and
      Apium graveolens) to the root one, except for the enzyme from Lycopersicon
      esculentum, while in all plant species the leaf protein concentration is
      significantly higher than the root protein concentration. These results suggest
      that there are differences between leaf and root catalases-differences that may
      correspond to their physiological role.

PMID- 28587057
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy for Renal Cell
      Carcinoma Extracranial Metastases.
AB  - PURPOSE: Renal cell carcinoma is refractory to conventional radiation therapy but
      responds to higher doses per fraction. However, the dosimetric data and clinical
      factors affecting local control (LC) are largely unknown. We aimed to evaluate
      the safety and efficacy of stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SAbR) for
      extracranial renal cell carcinoma metastases. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We reviewed
      175 metastatic lesions from 84 patients treated with SAbR between 2005 and 2015.
      LC and toxicity after SAbR were assessed with Response Evaluation Criteria in
      Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1 and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse
      Events (CTCAE) version 4.0. Predictors of local failure were analyzed with chi2,
      Kaplan-Meier, and log-rank tests. RESULTS: In most cases (74%), SAbR was
      delivered with total doses of 40 to 60 Gy, 30 to 54 Gy, and 20 to 40 Gy in 5
      fractions, 3 fractions, and a single fraction, respectively. The median
      biologically effective dose (BED) using the universal survival model was 134.5
      Gy. The 1-year LC rate after SAbR was 91.2% (95% confidence interval, 84.9%
      95.0%; median follow-up, 16.7 months). Local failures were associated with prior
      radiation therapy (hazard ratio [HR], 10.49; P<.0001), palliative-intent
      radiation therapy (HR, 4.63; P=.0189), spinal location (HR, 5.36; P=.0041),
      previous systemic therapy status (0-1 vs >1; HR, 3.52; P=.0217), and BED <115 Gy
      (HR, 3.45; P=.0254). Dose received by 99% of the target volume was the strongest
      dosimetric predictor for LC. Upon multivariate analysis, dose received by 99% of
      the target volume greater than BED of 98.7 Gy and systemic therapy status
      remained significant (HR, 0.12 and 3.64, with P=.0014 and P=.0472, respectively).
      Acute and late grade 3 toxicities attributed to SAbR were observed in 3 patients
      (1.7%) and 5 patients (2.9%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SAbR demonstrated
      excellent LC of metastatic renal cell carcinoma with a favorable safety profile
      when an adequate dose and coverage were applied. Multimodality treatment with
      surgery should be considered for reirradiation or vertebral metastasis. A higher
      radiation dose may be required in patients who received previous systemic
      therapies.

PMID- 28587061
TI  - Enhanced Osseointegration of a Modified Titanium Implant with Bound Phospho
      Threonine: A Preliminary In Vivo Study.
AB  - Implant surface topography is a key factor in achieving osseointegration. l
      Threonine can be chemically and stably bonded to titanium surfaces by
      phosphorylation. This study investigated the degree of in vivo osseointegration
      of an implant with a novel o-phospho-l-threonine (p-Thr)-binding surface. MC3T3
      E1 cells were seeded on the p-Thr binding surface and machined surface disks, and
      initial cell attachment was evaluated. p-Thr-binding and machined surface
      implants were tested in vivo by implantation into the femurs of three male New
      Zealand white rabbits, and the osseointegration was assessed by measurement of
      removal torque (RT) and bone-implant contact (BIC) ratio. Initial cell attachment
      was greater for the p-Thr-binding than for the machined surface implant group (P
      < 0.05). In addition, RT and BIC values were higher for the p-Thr-binding surface
      than for the machined surface (P < 0.05). These results indicate that our implant
      with a p-Thr-binding surface can achieve enhanced osseointegration.

PMID- 28587063
TI  - A Relative Deficiency of Lysosomal Acid Lypase Activity Characterizes Non
      Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) is a key enzyme in lipid metabolism. Initial reports
      have suggested a role for a relative acquired LAL deficiency in non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-however, it is still unclear whether this mechanism
      is specific for NAFLD. We aimed to determine LAL activity in a cohort of NAFLD
      subjects and in a control group of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients,
      investigating the role of liver cirrhosis. A total of 81 patients with a
      diagnosis of NAFLD, and 78 matched controls with HCV-related liver disease were
      enrolled. For each patient, LAL activity was determined on peripheral dried blood
      spots (DBS) and correlated with clinical and laboratory data. A subgroup analysis
      among cirrhotic patients was also performed. LAL activity is significantly
      reduced in NAFLD, compared to that in HCV patients. This finding is particularly
      evident in the pre-cirrhotic stage of disease. LAL activity is also correlated
      with platelet and white blood cell count, suggesting an analytic interference of
      portal-hypertension-induced pancytopenia on DBS-determined LAL activity. NAFLD is
      characterized by a specific deficit in LAL activity, suggesting a pathogenetic
      role of LAL. We propose that future studies on this topic should rely on tissue
      specific analyses, as peripheral blood tests are also influenced by confounding
      factors.

PMID- 28587065
TI  - Amorphous SiC/c-ZnO-Based Quasi-Lamb Mode Sensor for Liquid Environments.
AB  - The propagation of the quasi-Lamb modes along a-SiC/ZnO thin composite plates was
      modeled and analysed with the aim to design a sensor able to detect the changes
      in parameters of a liquid environment, such as added mass and viscosity changes.
      The modes propagation was modeled by numerically solving the system of coupled
      electro-mechanical field equations in three media. The mode shape, the power
      flow, the phase velocity, and the electroacoustic coupling efficiency (K2) of the
      modes were calculated, specifically addressing the design of enhanced-coupling,
      microwave frequency sensors for applications in probing the solid/liquid
      interface. Three modes were identified that have predominant longitudinal
      polarization, high phase velocity, and quite good K2: the fundamental quasi
      symmetric mode (qS0) and two higher order quasi-longitudinal modes (qL1 and qL2)
      with a dominantly longitudinal displacement component in one plate side. The
      velocity and attenuation of these modes were calculated for different liquid
      viscosities and added mass, and the gravimetric and viscosity sensitivities of
      both the phase velocity and attenuation were theoretically calculated. The
      present study highlights the feasibility of the a-SiC/ZnO acoustic waveguides for
      the development of high-frequency, integrated-circuit compatible electroacoustic
      devices suitable for working in a liquid environment.

PMID- 28587066
TI  - Mapping Winter Wheat with Multi-Temporal SAR and Optical Images in an Urban
      Agricultural Region.
AB  - Winter wheat is the second largest food crop in China. It is important to obtain
      reliable winter wheat acreage to guarantee the food security for the most
      populous country in the world. This paper focuses on assessing the feasibility of
      in-season winter wheat mapping and investigating potential classification
      improvement by using SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) images, optical images, and
      the integration of both types of data in urban agricultural regions with complex
      planting structures in Southern China. Both SAR (Sentinel-1A) and optical
      (Landsat-8) data were acquired, and classification using different combinations
      of Sentinel-1A-derived information and optical images was performed using a
      support vector machine (SVM) and a random forest (RF) method. The interference
      coherence and texture images were obtained and used to assess the effect of
      adding them to the backscatter intensity images on the classification accuracy.
      The results showed that the use of four Sentinel-1A images acquired before the
      jointing period of winter wheat can provide satisfactory winter wheat
      classification accuracy, with an F1 measure of 87.89%. The combination of SAR and
      optical images for winter wheat mapping achieved the best F1 measure-up to
      98.06%. The SVM was superior to RF in terms of the overall accuracy and the kappa
      coefficient, and was faster than RF, while the RF classifier was slightly better
      than SVM in terms of the F1 measure. In addition, the classification accuracy can
      be effectively improved by adding the texture and coherence images to the
      backscatter intensity data.

PMID- 28587064
TI  - Prostaglandin E2-Induced COX-2 Expressions via EP2 and EP4 Signaling Pathways in
      Human LoVo Colon Cancer Cells.
AB  - Metastasis is the most dangerous risk faced by patients with hereditary non
      polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC). The expression of matrix metalloproteinases
      (MMPs) has been observed in several types of human cancers and regulates the
      efficacy of many therapies. Here, we show that treatment with various
      concentrations of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2; 0, 1, 5 or 10 MUM) promotes the
      migration ability of the human LoVo colon cancer cell line. As demonstrated by
      mRNA and protein expression analyses, EP2 and EP4 are the major PGE2 receptors
      expressed on the LoVo cell membrane. The Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3
      kinase (PI3K)/Akt cell survival pathway was upregulated by EP2 and EP4
      activation. Following the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, beta-catenin
      translocated into the nucleus and triggered COX2 transcription via LEF-1 and TCF
      4 and its subsequent translation. COX2 expression correlated with the elevation
      in the migration ability of LoVo cells. The experimental evidence shows a
      possible mechanism by which PGE2 induces cancer cell migration and further
      suggests PGE2 to be a potential therapeutic target in colon cancer metastasis. On
      inhibition of PGE2, in order to determine the downstream pathway, the levels of
      PI3K/Akt pathway were suppressed and the beta-catenin expression was also
      modulated. Inhibition of EP2 and EP4 shows that PGE2 induces protein expression
      of COX-2 through EP2 and EP4 receptors in LoVo colon cancer cells.

PMID- 28587062
TI  - MYC Deregulation in Primary Human Cancers.
AB  - MYC regulates a complex biological program by transcriptionally activating and
      repressing its numerous target genes. As such, MYC is a master regulator of many
      processes, including cell cycle entry, ribosome biogenesis, and metabolism. In
      cancer, the activity of the MYC transcriptional network is frequently
      deregulated, contributing to the initiation and maintenance of disease.
      Deregulation often leads to constitutive overexpression of MYC, which can be
      achieved through gross genetic abnormalities, including copy number alterations,
      chromosomal translocations, increased enhancer activity, or through aberrant
      signal transduction leading to increased MYC transcription or increased MYC mRNA
      and protein stability. Herein, we summarize the frequency and modes of MYC
      deregulation and describe both well-established and more recent findings in a
      variety of cancer types. Notably, these studies have highlighted that with an
      increased appreciation for the basic mechanisms deregulating MYC in cancer, new
      therapeutic vulnerabilities can be discovered and potentially exploited for the
      inhibition of this potent oncogene in cancer.

PMID- 28587067
TI  - Diet-Induced Low-Grade Metabolic Acidosis and Clinical Outcomes: A Review.
AB  - Low-grade metabolic acidosis is a condition characterized by a slight decrease in
      blood pH, within the range considered normal, and feeding is one of the main
      factors that may influence the occurrence of such a condition. The excessive
      consumption of acid precursor foods (sources of phosphorus and proteins), to the
      detriment of those precursors of bases (sources of potassium, calcium, and
      magnesium), leads to acid-base balance volubility. If this condition occurs in a
      prolonged, chronic way, low-grade metabolic acidosis can become significant and
      predispose to metabolic imbalances such as kidney stone formation, increased bone
      resorption, reduced bone mineral density, and the loss of muscle mass, as well as
      the increased risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus,
      hypertension, and non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis. Considering the increase in
      the number of studies investigating the influence of diet-induced metabolic
      acidosis on clinical outcomes, this review gathers the available evidence
      evaluating the association of this disturbance and metabolic imbalances, as well
      as related mechanisms. It is necessary to look at the western dietary pattern of
      most countries and the increasing incidence of non-comunicable diseases for the
      balance between fruit and vegetable intake and the appropriate supply of protein,
      mainly from animal sources, so that it does not exceed the daily recommendations.

PMID- 28587070
TI  - Development and Initial Assessment of a Patient Education Video about
      Pharmacogenetics.
AB  - As few patient-friendly resources about pharmacogenetics are currently available,
      we aimed to create and assess a patient educational video on pharmacogenetic
      testing. A primary literature and resources review was conducted to inform the
      content and the format of the video. The educational video was then created using
      a commercially available animation program and pilot tested in focus groups of
      the general public and by an online survey of pharmacists. Emerging themes from
      the focus groups and survey indicate a desire for appropriate risk
      contextualization and specific examples when pharmacogenetic testing may be
      beneficial. Focus group participants also expressed a preference for a video with
      live action, and more text to reinforce concepts. Pharmacists generally felt that
      the video was understandable for patients and relevant for decision-making
      regarding testing. Using this initial feedback and the identification of
      important concepts to include in pharmacogenetics educational tools, we plan to
      revise the video, perform additional evaluations, and publish the video for
      public use in the future.

PMID- 28587069
TI  - Taste Perception of Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, and Umami and Changes Due to l
      Arginine Supplementation, as a Function of Genetic Ability to Taste 6-n
      Propylthiouracil.
AB  - Behavioral reaction to different taste qualities affects nutritional status and
      health. 6-n-Propylthiouracil (PROP) tasting has been reported to be a marker of
      variation in taste perception, food preferences, and eating behavior, but results
      have been inconsistent. We showed that l-Arg can enhance the bitterness intensity
      of PROP, whilst others have demonstrated a suppression of the bitterness of
      quinine. Here, we analyze the taste perception of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and
      umami and the modifications caused by l-Arg supplementation, as a function of
      PROP-taster status. Taste perception was assessed by testing the ability to
      recognize, and the responsiveness to, representative solutions of the five
      primary taste qualities, also when supplemented with l-Arg, in subjects
      classified as PROP-tasting. Super-tasters, who showed high papilla density, gave
      higher ratings to sucrose, citric acid, caffeine, and monosodium l-glutamate than
      non-tasters. l-Arg supplementation mainly modified sucrose perception, enhanced
      the umami taste, increased NaCl saltiness and caffeine bitterness only in
      tasters, and decreased citric acid sourness. Our findings confirm the role of
      PROP phenotype in the taste perception of sweet, sour, and bitter and show its
      role in umami. The results suggest that l-Arg could be used as a strategic tool
      to specifically modify taste responses related to eating behaviors.

PMID- 28587068
TI  - Genetic Variants Involved in One-Carbon Metabolism: Polymorphism Frequencies and
      Differences in Homocysteine Concentrations in the Folic Acid Fortification Era.
AB  - Folate and other B vitamins are essential co-factors of one-carbon metabolism,
      and genetic variants, such as polymorphisms, can alter the metabolism.
      Furthermore, the adoption of food fortification with folic acid showed a decrease
      of homocysteine concentration. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      frequencies of the polymorphisms of enzymes and carrier proteins involved in one
      carbon metabolism, and to evaluate homocysteine concentrations in the presence of
      these genetic variants in a population exposed to mandatory food fortification
      with folic acid. Using data from a population-based cross-sectional study in Sao
      Paulo, Brazil, the study population comprised 750 participants above 12 years of
      age of both genders. A linear regression model was used to evaluate the
      homocysteine concentrations according to genetic variants and folate level. The
      results showed that the minor allelic frequencies were 0.33 for MTHFR
      (rs1801133), 0.24 for MTHFR (rs1801131), 0.19 for MTR (rs1805087), 0.42 for MTRR
      (rs1801394), 0.46 for RFC1 (rs1051266), and 0.47 for DHFR (19-bp deletion). The
      genetic variants of MTHFR 677C>T, MTRR 66A>G and RFC-1 80G>A were different
      according to race. The homocysteine concentrations increased in the CT and TT
      compared to CC genotypes of polymorphism MTHFR 677C>T in all populations, and
      differences between the homocysteine concentrations according to the genotypes of
      MTHFR 677C>T were observed regardless of folate level.

PMID- 28587071
TI  - Traffic Sign Detection System for Locating Road Intersections and Roundabouts:
      The Chilean Case.
AB  - This paper presents a traffic sign detection method for signs close to road
      intersections and roundabouts, such as stop and yield (give way) signs. The
      proposed method relies on statistical templates built using color information for
      both segmentation and classification. The segmentation method uses the RGB
      normalized (ErEgEb) color space for ROIs (Regions of Interest) generation based
      on a chromaticity filter, where templates at 10 scales are applied to the entire
      image. Templates consider the mean and standard deviation of normalized color of
      the traffic signs to build thresholding intervals where the expected color should
      lie for a given sign. The classification stage employs the information of the
      statistical templates over YCbCr and ErEgEb color spaces, for which the
      background has been previously removed by using a probability function that
      models the probability that the pixel corresponds to a sign given its
      chromaticity values. This work includes an analysis of the detection rate as a
      function of the distance between the vehicle and the sign. Such information is
      useful to validate the robustness of the approach and is often not included in
      the existing literature. The detection rates, as a function of distance, are
      compared to those of the well-known Viola-Jones method. The results show that for
      distances less than 48 m, the proposed method achieves a detection rate of 87.5 %
      and 95.4 % for yield and stop signs, respectively. For distances less than 30 m,
      the detection rate is 100 % for both signs. The Viola-Jones approach has
      detection rates below 20 % for distances between 30 and 48 m, and barely improves
      in the 20-30 m range with detection rates of up to 60 % . Thus, the proposed
      method provides a robust alternative for intersection detection that relies on
      statistical color-based templates instead of shape information. The experiments
      employed videos of traffic signs taken in several streets of Santiago, Chile,
      using a research platform implemented at the Robotics and Automation Laboratory
      of PUC to develop driver assistance systems.

PMID- 28587072
TI  - Automatic Detection of Driver Fatigue Using Driving Operation Information for
      Transportation Safety.
AB  - Fatigued driving is a major cause of road accidents. For this reason, the method
      in this paper is based on the steering wheel angles (SWA) and yaw angles (YA)
      information under real driving conditions to detect drivers' fatigue levels. It
      analyzes the operation features of SWA and YA under different fatigue statuses,
      then calculates the approximate entropy (ApEn) features of a short sliding window
      on time series. Using the nonlinear feature construction theory of dynamic time
      series, with the fatigue features as input, designs a "2-6-6-3" multi-level back
      propagation (BP) Neural Networks classifier to realize the fatigue detection. An
      approximately 15-h experiment is carried out on a real road, and the data
      retrieved are segmented and labeled with three fatigue levels after expert
      evaluation, namely "awake", "drowsy" and "very drowsy". The average accuracy of
      88.02% in fatigue identification was achieved in the experiment, endorsing the
      value of the proposed method for engineering applications.

PMID- 28587073
TI  - Epidemiological Features and Forecast Model Analysis for the Morbidity of
      Influenza in Ningbo, China, 2006-2014.
AB  - This study aimed to identify circulating influenza virus strains and vulnerable
      population groups and investigate the distribution and seasonality of influenza
      viruses in Ningbo, China. Then, an autoregressive integrated moving average
      (ARIMA) model for prediction was established. Influenza surveillance data for
      2006-2014 were obtained for cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) (n = 129,528)
      from the municipal Centers for Disease Control and virus surveillance systems of
      Ningbo, China. The ARIMA model was proposed to predict the expected morbidity
      cases from January 2015 to December 2015. Of the 13,294 specimens, influenza
      virus was detected in 1148 (8.64%) samples, including 951 (82.84%) influenza type
      A and 197 (17.16%) influenza type B viruses; the influenza virus isolation rate
      was strongly correlated with the rate of ILI during the overall study period (r =
      0.20, p < 0.05). The ARIMA (1, 1, 1) (1, 1, 0)12 model could be used to predict
      the ILI incidence in Ningbo. The seasonal pattern of influenza activity in Ningbo
      tended to peak during the rainy season and winter. Given those results, the model
      we established could effectively predict the trend of influenza-related
      morbidity, providing a methodological basis for future influenza monitoring and
      control strategies in the study area.

PMID- 28587074
TI  - Erratum: Jiang, J.; et al. Expeditious Synthesis of Dianionic-Headed 4
      Sulfoalkanoic Acid Surfactants. Molecules 2017, 22, 640.
AB  - The authors wish to make the following change to their paper [1]. [...].

PMID- 28587076
TI  - Structure Modification of an Active Azo-Compound as a Route to New Antimicrobial
      Compounds.
AB  - Some novel (phenyl-diazenyl)phenols 3a-g were designed and synthesized to be
      evaluated for their antimicrobial activity. A previously synthesized molecule,
      active against bacteria and fungi, was used as lead for modifications and
      optimization of the structure, by introduction/removal or displacement of
      hydroxyl groups on the azobenzene rings. The aim of this work was to evaluate the
      consequent changes of the antimicrobial activity and to validate the hypothesis
      that, for these compounds, a plausible mechanism could involve an interaction
      with protein receptors, rather than an interaction with membrane. All newly
      synthesized compounds were analyzed by 1H-NMR, DSC thermal analysis and UV-Vis
      spectroscopy. The in vitro minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of each
      compound was determined against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and
      Candida albicans. Compounds 3b and 3g showed the highest activity against S.
      aureus and C. albicans, with remarkable MIC values of 10 ug/mL and 3 ug/mL,
      respectively. Structure-activity relationship studies were capable to rationalize
      the effect of different substitutions on the phenyl ring of the azobenzene on
      antimicrobial activity.

PMID- 28587075
TI  - Identification of Anthocyanin Composition and Functional Analysis of an
      Anthocyanin Activator in Solanum nigrum Fruits.
AB  - Solanum nigrum fruits have been conventionally used in beverages due to their
      nutritional substances such as minerals, vitamins, amino acids, proteins, sugars,
      polyphenols, and anthocyanins. The characterization of components and regulatory
      mechanism of anthocyanins in S. nigrum fruits have rarely been reported. In this
      study, we determined that the peel and flesh of S. nigrum fruits shared similar
      HPLC profiles but different contents and total antioxidant activities for
      anthocyanins. After an efficient purification method, mainly including extraction
      with pH 1.0 distilled water and then desorption with pH 1.0 95% ethanol after a
      DM-130 resin adsorption step to obtain more pure anthocyanin extracts, the purity
      of anthocyanins extracted from S. nigrum fruits reached 56.1%. Moreover, eight
      anthocyanins from S. nigrum fruit were identified with HPLC-MS/MS for the first
      time. A typical R2R3-MYB transcription factor gene, SnMYB, was also cloned for
      the first time by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR from S. nigrum.
      Moreover, the contents of anthocyanins were shown to correlate well (r = 0.93)
      with the expression levels of SnMYB gene during the fruit's developmental stages.
      Most significantly, SnMYB gene successfully produced high anthocyanin content
      (1.03 mg/g) when SnMYB gene was transiently expressed in tobacco leaves. Taken
      together, S. nigrum fruits are a promising resource for anthocyanin extraction,
      and SnMYB gene is an activator that positively regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis
      in S. nigrum.

PMID- 28587077
TI  - Floral Scent Chemistry of Luculia yunnanensis (Rubiaceae), a Species Endemic to
      China with Sweetly Fragrant Flowers.
AB  - Luculia plants are famed ornamentals with sweetly fragrant flowers. Luculia
      yunnanensis Hu is an endemic plant from Yunnan Province, China. Headspace-solid
      phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was
      used to identify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of the different flower
      development stages of L. yunnanensis for the evaluation of floral volatile
      polymorphism. The results showed that a total of 40 compounds were identified at
      four different stages. The main aroma-active compounds were 3-carene, alpha
      cubebene, alpha-copaene, delta-cadinene, and isoledene. Floral scent emission had
      the tendency to ascend first and descend in succession, reaching its peak level
      at the initial-flowering stage. The richest diversity of floral volatiles was
      detected at the full-flowering stage. Principal component analysis (PCA)
      indicated that the composition and its relative content of floral scent differed
      at the whole flower development stage. In comparison with the other two species
      of Luculia (L. pinceana and L. gratissima), the composition and its relative
      content of floral scent were also different among the tree species.

PMID- 28587079
TI  - Immunomodulatory Effect of Agave tequilana Evaluated on an Autoimmunity Like-SLE
      Model Induced in Balb/c Mice with Pristane.
AB  - In this work, the immunomodulatory activity of the acetone extract and the
      fructans obtained from Agave tequilana were evaluated, on the systemic
      autoimmunity type-SLE model generated by the administration of 2,6,10,14
      tetramethylpentadecane (TMPD, also known as pristane) on Balb/c female mice. The
      systemic autoimmunity type-SLE was observed seven months after the application of
      TMPD, in which the animals from the negative control group (animals with damage
      and without any other treatment) developed articular inflammation, proteinuria,
      an increment of the antinuclear antibody titters and tissue pro-inflammatory
      cytokines levels (IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha e IFN-gamma) as well as the anti
      inflammatory cytokine IL-10. The administration of the different treatments and
      the extracts of A. tequilana, provoked the decrease of: articular inflammation,
      the development of proteinuria, ssDNA/dsDNA antinuclear antibody titters and
      cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and IL-10. The phytochemical
      analysis of the acetone extract identified the presence of the following
      compounds: beta-sitosterol glycoside; 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol
      (phytol); octadecadienoic acid-2,3-dihydroxypropyl ester; stigmasta-3,5-dien-7
      one; cycloartenone and cycloartenol. Therefore, A. tequilana contains active
      compounds with the capacity to modify the evolution of the systemic autoimmunity
      type-SLE on a murine model.

PMID- 28587078
TI  - Morinda citrifolia Linn. (Noni) and Its Potential in Obesity-Related Metabolic
      Dysfunction.
AB  - Cultural and economic shifts in the early 19th century led to the rapid
      development of companies that made good profits from technologically-produced
      commodities. In this way, some habits changed in society, such as the
      overconsumption of processed and micronutrient-poor foods and devices that gave
      rise to a sedentary lifestyle. These factors influenced host-microbiome
      interactions which, in turn, mediated the etiopathogenesis of "new-era" disorders
      and diseases, which are closely related, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes
      mellitus, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hypertension, and inflammatory bowel
      disease, which are characterized by chronic dysregulation of metabolic and immune
      processes. These pathological conditions require novel and effective therapeutic
      approaches. Morindacitrifolia (noni) is well known as a traditional healing plant
      due to its medicinal properties. Thus, many studies have been conducted to
      understand its bioactive compounds and their mechanisms of action. However, in
      obesity and obesity-related metabolic (dysfunction) syndrome, other studies are
      necessary to better elucidate noni's mechanisms of action, mainly due to the
      complexity of the pathophysiology of obesity and its metabolic dysfunction. In
      this review, we summarize not only the clinical effects, but also important cell
      signaling pathways in in vivo and in vitro assays of potent bioactive compounds
      present in the noni plant which have been reported in studies of obesity and
      obesity-associated metabolic dysfunction.

PMID- 28587080
TI  - Predicting Zoonotic Risk of Influenza A Viruses from Host Tropism Protein
      Signature Using Random Forest.
AB  - Influenza A viruses remain a significant health problem, especially when a novel
      subtype emerges from the avian population to cause severe outbreaks in humans.
      Zoonotic viruses arise from the animal population as a result of mutations and
      reassortments, giving rise to novel strains with the capability to evade the host
      species barrier and cause human infections. Despite progress in understanding
      interspecies transmission of influenza viruses, we are no closer to predicting
      zoonotic strains that can lead to an outbreak. We have previously discovered
      distinct host tropism protein signatures of avian, human and zoonotic influenza
      strains obtained from host tropism predictions on individual protein sequences.
      Here, we apply machine learning approaches on the signatures to build a
      computational model capable of predicting zoonotic strains. The zoonotic strain
      prediction model can classify avian, human or zoonotic strains with high
      accuracy, as well as providing an estimated zoonotic risk. This would therefore
      allow us to quickly determine if an influenza virus strain has the potential to
      be zoonotic using only protein sequences. The swift identification of potential
      zoonotic strains in the animal population using the zoonotic strain prediction
      model could provide us with an early indication of an imminent influenza
      outbreak.

PMID- 28587081
TI  - Tea Drinking and Its Association with Active Tuberculosis Incidence among Middle
      Aged and Elderly Adults: The Singapore Chinese Health Study.
AB  - Experimental studies showed that tea polyphenols may inhibit growth of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, no prospective epidemiologic study has
      investigated tea drinking and the risk of active tuberculosis. We investigated
      this association in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a prospective population
      based cohort of 63,257 Chinese aged 45-74 years recruited between 1993 and 1998
      in Singapore. Information on habitual drinking of tea (including black and green
      tea) and coffee was collected via structured questionnaires. Incident cases of
      active tuberculosis were identified via linkage with the nationwide tuberculosis
      registry up to 31 December 2014. Cox proportional hazard models were used to
      estimate the relation of tea and coffee consumption with tuberculosis risk. Over
      a mean 16.8 years of follow-up, we identified 1249 incident cases of active
      tuberculosis. Drinking either black or green tea was associated with a dose
      dependent reduction in tuberculosis risk. Compared to non-drinkers, the hazard
      ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) was 1.01 (0.85-1.21) in monthly tea
      drinkers, 0.84 (0.73-0.98) in weekly drinkers, and 0.82 (0.71-0.96) in daily
      drinkers (p for trend = 0.003). Coffee or caffeine intake was not significantly
      associated with tuberculosis risk. In conclusion, regular tea drinking was
      associated with a reduced risk of active tuberculosis.

PMID- 28587084
TI  - A Max-Flow Based Algorithm for Connected Target Coverage with Probabilistic
      Sensors.
AB  - Coverage is a fundamental issue in the research field of wireless sensor networks
      (WSNs). Connected target coverage discusses the sensor placement to guarantee the
      needs of both coverage and connectivity. Existing works largely leverage on the
      Boolean disk model, which is only a coarse approximation to the practical sensing
      model. In this paper, we focus on the connected target coverage issue based on
      the probabilistic sensing model, which can characterize the quality of coverage
      more accurately. In the probabilistic sensing model, sensors are only be able to
      detect a target with certain probability. We study the collaborative detection
      probability of target under multiple sensors. Armed with the analysis of
      collaborative detection probability, we further formulate the minimum epsilon
      connected target coverage problem, aiming to minimize the number of sensors
      satisfying the requirements of both coverage and connectivity. We map it into a
      flow graph and present an approximation algorithm called the minimum vertices
      maximum flow algorithm (MVMFA) with provable time complex and approximation
      ratios. To evaluate our design, we analyze the performance of MVMFA theoretically
      and also conduct extensive simulation studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of
      our proposed algorithm.

PMID- 28587083
TI  - Design, Synthesis, and Biological Activities of Novel Pyrazole Oxime Compounds
      Containing a Substituted Pyridyl Moiety.
AB  - In this paper, in order to find novel biologically active pyrazole oximes, a
      series of pyrazole oxime compounds bearing a substituted pyridyl unit were
      prepared. Bioassays showed that some target compounds were found to have good
      acaricidal activity against Tetranychus cinnabarinus at a concentration of 500
      MUg/mL, compound 9q especially displayed potent acaricidal activity against T.
      cinnabarinus when the concentration was reduced to 100 MUg/mL. Interestingly,
      most target compounds possessed excellent insecticidal activities against
      Oriental armyworm at 500 MUg/mL. Moreover, some compounds were active against
      Aphis medicaginis and Nilaparvata lugens at 500 MUg/mL. Additionally, compounds
      9b, 9g, 9l, 9p, 9q, 9r, 9s, 9t, 9u, and 9v displayed significant
      antiproliferative activities against HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 1.53-17.27
      MUM, better than that of the control 5-fluorouracil (IC50 = 35.67 MUM).

PMID- 28587085
TI  - A Novel Complex-Coefficient In-Band Interference Suppression Algorithm for
      Cognitive Ultra-Wide Band Wireless Sensors Networks.
AB  - With the rapid development of wireless communication systems and electronic
      techniques, the limited frequency spectrum resources are shared with various
      wireless devices, leading to a crowded and challenging coexistence circumstance.
      Cognitive radio (CR) and ultra-wide band (UWB), as sophisticated wireless
      techniques, have been considered as significant solutions to solve the harmonious
      coexistence issues. UWB wireless sensors can share the spectrum with primary user
      (PU) systems without harmful interference. The in-band interference of UWB
      systems should be considered because such interference can severely affect the
      transmissions of UWB wireless systems. In order to solve the in-band interference
      issues for UWB wireless sensor networks (WSN), a novel in-band narrow band
      interferences (NBIs) elimination scheme is proposed in this paper. The proposed
      narrow band interferences suppression scheme is based on a novel complex
      coefficient adaptive notch filter unit with a single constrained zero-pole pair.
      Moreover, in order to reduce the computation complexity of the proposed scheme,
      an adaptive complex-coefficient iterative method based on two-order Taylor series
      is designed. To cope with multiple narrow band interferences, a linear cascaded
      high order adaptive filter and a cyclic cascaded high order matrix adaptive
      filter (CCHOMAF) interference suppression algorithm based on the basic adaptive
      notch filter unit are also presented. The theoretical analysis and numerical
      simulation results indicate that the proposed CCHOMAF algorithm can achieve
      better performance in terms of average bit error rate for UWB WSNs. The proposed
      in-band NBIs elimination scheme can significantly improve the reception
      performance of low-cost and low-power UWB wireless systems.

PMID- 28587086
TI  - Evaluation and Comparison of the Processing Methods of Airborne Gravimetry
      Concerning the Errors Effects on Downward Continuation Results: Case Studies in
      Louisiana (USA) and the Tibetan Plateau (China).
AB  - Gravity data gaps in mountainous areas are nowadays often filled in with the data
      from airborne gravity surveys. Because of the errors caused by the airborne
      gravimeter sensors, and because of rough flight conditions, such errors cannot be
      completely eliminated. The precision of the gravity disturbances generated by the
      airborne gravimetry is around 3-5 mgal. A major obstacle in using airborne
      gravimetry are the errors caused by the downward continuation. In order to
      improve the results the external high-accuracy gravity information e.g., from the
      surface data can be used for high frequency correction, while satellite
      information can be applying for low frequency correction. Surface data may be
      used to reduce the systematic errors, while regularization methods can reduce the
      random errors in downward continuation. Airborne gravity surveys are sometimes
      conducted in mountainous areas and the most extreme area of the world for this
      type of survey is the Tibetan Plateau. Since there are no high-accuracy surface
      gravity data available for this area, the above error minimization method
      involving the external gravity data cannot be used. We propose a semi-parametric
      downward continuation method in combination with regularization to suppress the
      systematic error effect and the random error effect in the Tibetan Plateau; i.e.,
      without the use of the external high-accuracy gravity data. We use a Louisiana
      airborne gravity dataset from the USA National Oceanic and Atmospheric
      Administration (NOAA) to demonstrate that the new method works effectively.
      Furthermore, and for the Tibetan Plateau we show that the numerical experiment is
      also successfully conducted using the synthetic Earth Gravitational Model 2008
      (EGM08)-derived gravity data contaminated with the synthetic errors. The
      estimated systematic errors generated by the method are close to the simulated
      values. In addition, we study the relationship between the downward continuation
      altitudes and the error effect. The analysis results show that the proposed semi
      parametric method combined with regularization is efficient to address such
      modelling problems.

PMID- 28587088
TI  - LOCALI: Calibration-Free Systematic Localization Approach for Indoor Positioning.
AB  - Recent advancements in indoor positioning systems are based on infrastructure
      free solutions, aimed at improving the location accuracy in complex indoor
      environments without the use of specialized resources. A popular infrastructure
      free solution for indoor positioning is a calibration-based positioning, commonly
      known as fingerprinting. Fingerprinting solutions require extensive and error
      free surveys of environments to build radio-map databases, which play a key role
      in position estimation. Fingerprinting also requires random updates of the
      database, when there are significant changes in the environment or a decrease in
      the accuracy. The calibration of the fingerprinting database is a time-consuming
      and laborious effort that prevents the extensive adoption of this technique. In
      this paper, we present a systematic LOCALIzation approach, "LOCALI", for indoor
      positioning, which does not require a calibration database and extensive updates.
      The LOCALI exploits the floor plan/wall map of the environment to estimate the
      target position by generating radio maps by integrating path-losses over certain
      trajectories in complex indoor environments, where triangulation using time
      information or the received signal strength level is highly erroneous due to the
      fading effects caused by multi-path propagation or absorption by environmental
      elements or varying antenna alignment. Experimental results demonstrate that by
      using the map information and environmental parameters, a significant level of
      accuracy in indoor positioning can be achieved. Moreover, this process requires
      considerably lesser effort compared to the calibration-based techniques.

PMID- 28587082
TI  - Natural Products as Alternative Choices for P-Glycoprotein (P-gp) Inhibition.
AB  - Multidrug resistance (MDR) is regarded as one of the bottlenecks of successful
      clinical treatment for numerous chemotherapeutic agents. Multiple key regulators
      are alleged to be responsible for MDR and making the treatment regimens
      ineffective. In this review, we discuss MDR in relation to P-glycoprotein (P-gp)
      and its down-regulation by natural bioactive molecules. P-gp, a unique ATP
      dependent membrane transport protein, is one of those key regulators which are
      present in the lining of the colon, endothelial cells of the blood brain barrier
      (BBB), bile duct, adrenal gland, kidney tubules, small intestine, pancreatic
      ducts and in many other tissues like heart, lungs, spleen, skeletal muscles, etc.
      Due to its diverse tissue distribution, P-gp is a novel protective barrier to
      stop the intake of xenobiotics into the human body. Over-expression of P-gp leads
      to decreased intracellular accretion of many chemotherapeutic agents thus
      assisting in the development of MDR. Eventually, the effectiveness of these drugs
      is decreased. P-gp inhibitors act by altering intracellular ATP levels which are
      the source of energy and/or by affecting membrane contours to increase
      permeability. However, the use of synthetic inhibitors is known to cause serious
      toxicities. For this reason, the search for more potent and less toxic P-gp
      inhibitors of natural origin is underway. The present review aims to recapitulate
      the research findings on bioactive constituents of natural origin with P-gp
      inhibition characteristics. Natural bioactive constituents with P-gp modulating
      effects offer great potential for semi-synthetic modification to produce new
      scaffolds which could serve as valuable investigative tools to recognize the
      function of complex ABC transporters apart from evading the systemic toxicities
      shown by synthetic counterparts. Despite the many published scientific findings
      encompassing P-gp inhibitors, however, this article stand alones because it
      provides a vivid picture to the readers pertaining to Pgp inhibitors obtained
      from natural sources coupled with their mode of action and structures. It
      provides first-hand information to the scientists working in the field of drug
      discovery to further synthesise and discover new P-gp inhibitors with less
      toxicity and more efficacies.

PMID- 28587087
TI  - Taurine Biosynthesis in a Fish Liver Cell Line (ZFL) Adapted to a Serum-Free
      Medium.
AB  - Although taurine has been shown to play multiple important physiological roles in
      teleosts, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying dietary
      requirements. Cell lines can provide useful tools for deciphering biosynthetic
      pathways and their regulation. However, culture media and sera contain variable
      taurine levels. To provide a useful cell line for the investigation of taurine
      homeostasis, an adult zebrafish liver cell line (ZFL) has been adapted to a
      taurine-free medium by gradual accommodation to a commercially available
      synthetic medium, UltraMEMTM-ITES. Here we show that ZFL cells are able to
      synthesize taurine and be maintained in medium without taurine. This has allowed
      for the investigation of the effects of taurine supplementation on cell growth,
      cellular amino acid pools, as well as the expression of the taurine biosynthetic
      pathway and taurine transporter genes in a defined fish cell type. After taurine
      supplementation, cellular taurine levels increase but hypotaurine levels stay
      constant, suggesting little suppression of taurine biosynthesis. Cellular
      methionine levels do not change after taurine addition, consistent with
      maintenance of taurine biosynthesis. The addition of taurine to cells grown in
      taurine-free medium has little effect on transcript levels of the biosynthetic
      pathway genes for cysteine dioxygenase (CDO), cysteine sulfinate decarboxylase
      (CSAD), or cysteamine dioxygenase (ADO). In contrast, supplementation with
      taurine causes a 30% reduction in transcript levels of the taurine transporter,
      TauT. This experimental approach can be tailored for the development of cell
      lines from aquaculture species for the elucidation of their taurine biosynthetic
      capacity.

PMID- 28587089
TI  - Prevent Effects of Lactobacillus Fermentum HY01 on Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced
      Colitis in Mice.
AB  - The aim of this study is to assess the preventive effects of Lactobacillus
      fermentum HY01 (LF-HY01) to dextran sulfate sodium induced-colitis. We observed
      the ratio of colon weight to its length, colon pathological changes, and the
      concentrations of pro-inflammatory factors (IFN-gamma, IL-12, TNFalpha, and IL-6)
      in serum. We also took account of the protein levels of IkappaBalpha, NF-kappaB
      p65, iNOS, and COX-2, and we measured the best effects of different doses of
      Lactobacillus fermentum HY01 (low dose group was 108 CFU/kg.bw, high dose group
      was 1010 CFU/kg.bw) on dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis mice. The results
      were remarkable, suggesting that Lactobacillus fermentum HY01 had significant
      preventive effects in dextran sulfate sodium induced-colitis; simultaneously, the
      high dose group showed the best results among other groups. It can effectively
      alleviate the shortened colon length, reduce the ratio of colon weight to its
      length, reduce edema, inflammatory cells infiltration, and colon mucosa injury,
      and play an important role in the down-regulation of concentrations of pro
      inflammatory factors (IFN-gamma, IL-12, TNFalpha, and IL-6). Above all,
      Lactobacillus fermentum HY01 shows promising prevention for IkappaBalpha
      degradation, inhibition of NF-kappaB p65 phosphorylation cascades, and decreases
      the protein levels of iNOS and COX-2 as well.

PMID- 28587090
TI  - Bioactive Diphenyl Ethers and Isocoumarin Derivatives from a Gorgonian-Derived
      Fungus Phoma sp. (TA07-1).
AB  - Three new diphenyl ether derivatives-phomaethers A-C (1-3) and five known
      compounds-including a diphenyl ether analog, 2,3'-dihydroxy-4-methoxy-5',6
      dimethyl diphenyl ether (4); and four isocoumarin derivatives, diaportinol (5),
      desmethyldiaportinol (6), citreoisocoumarinol (7), and citreoisocoumarin (8)-were
      isolated from a gorgonian-derived fungus Phoma sp. (TA07-1). Their structures
      were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic investigation. The absolute
      configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by acid hydrolysis reactions. It was
      the first report to discover the diphenyl glycoside derivatives from coral
      derived fungi. Compounds 1, 3, and 4 showed selective strong antibacterial
      activity against five pathogenic bacteria with the minimum inhibiting
      concentration (MIC) values and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values
      between 0.156 and 10.0 MUM.

PMID- 28587091
TI  - Two Isomeric C16 Oxo-Fatty Acids from the Diatom Chaetoceros karianus Show Dual
      Agonist Activity towards Human Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors
      (PPARs) alpha/gamma.
AB  - The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) function as ligand
      activated transcription factors that convert signals in the form of lipids to
      physiological responses through the activation of metabolic target genes. Due to
      their key roles in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, the PPARs are important
      drug targets. However, for several of the PPAR drugs currently in use, adverse
      side effects have been reported. In an effort to identify compounds from marine
      organisms that may serve as molecular scaffolds for the development of novel and
      safer PPAR-targeting drugs, we performed a bioassay-guided screening of organic
      extracts made from organisms supplied by the Norwegian Biobank of Arctic Marine
      Organisms (Marbank). Among several interesting hits, we identified two poorly
      described isomeric oxo-fatty acids from the microalgae Chaetoceros karianus for
      which we provide the first evidence that they might display dual specificity
      towards human PPARalpha and PPARgamma. Principal component analysis showed that
      C. karianus stood out from other Chaetoceros species, both with respect to the
      metabolic profile and the PPAR activity. The isolation of these compounds holds
      the potential of uncovering a PPAR pharmacophore with tunable activity and
      specificity.

PMID- 28587092
TI  - NF-kappaB Members Left Home: NF-kappaB-Independent Roles in Cancer.
AB  - Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) has been long considered a master regulator of
      inflammation and immune responses. Additionally, aberrant NF-kappaB signaling has
      been linked with carcinogenesis in many types of cancer. In recent years, the
      study of NF-kappaB members in NF-kappaB unrelated pathways provided novel
      attractive targets for cancer therapy, specifically linked to particular
      pathologic responses. Here we review specific functions of IkappaB kinase
      complexes (IKKs) and IkappaBs, which have distinctly tumor promoting or
      suppressing activities in cancer. Understanding how these proteins are regulated
      in a tumor-related context will provide new opportunities for drug development.

PMID- 28587093
TI  - Protective Effect of Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa L.) Extract against Cadmium
      Impact on the Biomechanical Properties of the Femur: A Study in a Rat Model of
      Low and Moderate Lifetime Women Exposure to This Heavy Metal.
AB  - The hypothesis that the consumption of Aronia melanocarpa berries (chokeberries)
      extract, recently reported by us to improve bone metabolism in female rats at low
      level and moderate chronic exposure to cadmium (1 and 5 mg Cd/kg diet for up to
      24 months), may increase the bone resistance to fracture was investigated.
      Biomechanical properties of the neck (bending test with vertical head loading)
      and diaphysis (three-point bending test) of the femur of rats administered 0.1%
      aqueous chokeberry extract (65.74% of polyphenols) or/and Cd in the diet (1 and 5
      mg Cd/kg) for 3, 10, 17, and 24 months were evaluated. Moreover, procollagen I
      was assayed in the bone tissue. The low-level and moderate exposure to Cd
      decreased the procollagen I concentration in the bone tissue and weakened the
      biomechanical properties of the femoral neck and diaphysis. Chokeberry extract
      administration under the exposure to Cd improved the bone collagen biosynthesis
      and femur biomechanical properties. The results allow for the conclusion that the
      consumption of chokeberry products under exposure to Cd may improve the bone
      biomechanical properties and protect from fracture. This study provides support
      for Aronia melanocarpa berries being a promising natural agent for skeletal
      protection under low-level and moderate chronic exposure to Cd.

PMID- 28587094
TI  - Burnout and Its Relationships with Alexithymia, Stress, and Social Support among
      Romanian Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - Medical school students often experience emotional difficulties when handling the
      challenges of their formation, occasionally leading to burnout. In this study, we
      measured the prevalence of burnout and its relationships with perceived stress,
      perceived social support, and alexithymia in medical students from the largest
      academic medical community in Romania. A cross-sectional survey was administered
      to a randomized sample of 299 preclinical medical students at the University of
      Medicine in Bucharest. Participants completed four standardized questionnaires.
      In addition to the assessment of burnout prevalence, stepwise backward regression
      was used to establish which variables had the highest correlation to burnout
      components. Further, t-tests were run to assess gender-related differences.
      Overall, burnout prevalence was 15.05%. Perceived stress was found to be the
      strongest predictor of emotional exhaustion and lack of accomplishment, while the
      strongest predictors of depersonalization were low perceived social support (in
      women) and alexithymia (in men). Women appear to be more vulnerable to two of the
      components of burnout (emotional exhaustion and low personal accomplishment) and
      associate higher perceived stress and alexithymia. These results suggest that
      interventions addressing academic burnout could benefit from being gender
      specific, with focus on key elements, such as perceived stress and alexithymia.

PMID- 28587096
TI  - The Effect of Platelet-Rich Fibrin, Calcium Sulfate Hemihydrate, Platelet-Rich
      Plasma and Resorbable Collagen on Soft Tissue Closure of Extraction Sites.
AB  - Rapid and complete soft tissue healing after tooth extraction minimizes surgical
      complications and facilitates subsequent implant placement. We used four
      treatment methods and assessed changes in soft tissue socket closure following
      tooth extraction in humans. The effects of platelet-rich fibrin-calcium sulfate
      hemihydrate (PRF-CSH), platelet-rich plasma-calcium sulfate hemihydrate (PRP
      CSH), a resorbable collagen dressing (RCD), and no grafting material were
      compared in a randomized, controlled pilot study with a blinded parallel design
      (N = 23). Patients with a hopeless tooth scheduled for extraction were randomly
      assigned to one of the four treatment groups. Socket measurements were obtained
      immediately after extraction and treatment, as well as after 21 days. There was a
      significant decrease in the total epithelialized external surface area of the
      extraction sockets in each group at all time points. However, there were no
      significant differences in soft tissue closure (p > 0.05) at any time point and
      PRF-CSH or PRP-CSH did not provide any additional benefit to enhance the soft
      tissue closure of extraction sockets compared with either RCD or sites without
      graft.

PMID- 28587097
TI  - Metabolomic Profiling of Soybeans (Glycine max L.) Reveals the Importance of
      Sugar and Nitrogen Metabolism under Drought and Heat Stress.
AB  - Soybean is an important crop that is continually threatened by abiotic stresses,
      especially drought and heat stress. At molecular levels, reduced yields due to
      drought and heat stress can be seen as a result of alterations in metabolic
      homeostasis of vegetative tissues. At present an incomplete understanding of
      abiotic stress-associated metabolism and identification of associated metabolites
      remains a major gap in soybean stress research. A study with a goal to profile
      leaf metabolites under control conditions (28/24  degrees C), drought [28/24 
      degrees C, 10% volumetric water content (VWC)], and heat stress (43/35  degrees
      C) was conducted in a controlled environment. Analyses of non-targeted
      metabolomic data showed that in response to drought and heat stress, key
      metabolites (carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, cofactors, nucleotides, peptides
      and secondary metabolites) were differentially accumulated in soybean leaves. The
      metabolites for various cellular processes, such as glycolysis, the tricarboxylic
      acid (TCA) cycle, the pentose phosphate pathway, and starch biosynthesis, that
      regulate carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, peptide metabolism, and
      purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis, were found to be affected by drought as well
      as heat stress. Computationally based regulatory networks predicted additional
      compounds that address the possibility of other metabolites and metabolic
      pathways that could also be important for soybean under drought and heat stress
      conditions. Metabolomic profiling demonstrated that in soybeans, keeping up with
      sugar and nitrogen metabolism is of prime significance, along with phytochemical
      metabolism under drought and heat stress conditions.

PMID- 28587095
TI  - Comparative Study of Lectin Domains in Model Species: New Insights into
      Evolutionary Dynamics.
AB  - Lectins are present throughout the plant kingdom and are reported to be involved
      in diverse biological processes. In this study, we provide a comparative analysis
      of the lectin families from model species in a phylogenetic framework. The
      analysis focuses on the different plant lectin domains identified in five
      representative core angiosperm genomes (Arabidopsisthaliana, Glycine max, Cucumis
      sativus, Oryza sativa ssp. japonica and Oryza sativa ssp. indica). The genomes
      were screened for genes encoding lectin domains using a combination of Basic
      Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), hidden Markov models, and InterProScan
      analysis. Additionally, phylogenetic relationships were investigated by
      constructing maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees. The results demonstrate that
      the majority of the lectin families are present in each of the species under
      study. Domain organization analysis showed that most identified proteins are
      multi-domain proteins, owing to the modular rearrangement of protein domains
      during evolution. Most of these multi-domain proteins are widespread, while
      others display a lineage-specific distribution. Furthermore, the phylogenetic
      analyses reveal that some lectin families evolved to be similar to the phylogeny
      of the plant species, while others share a closer evolutionary history based on
      the corresponding protein domain architecture. Our results yield insights into
      the evolutionary relationships and functional divergence of plant lectins.

PMID- 28587099
TI  - A Transcriptome Survey Spanning Life Stages and Sexes of the Harlequin Bug,
      Murgantia histrionica.
AB  - The harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica (Hahn), is an agricultural pest in the
      continental United States, particularly in southern states. Reliable gene
      sequence data are especially useful to the development of species-specific,
      environmentally friendly molecular biopesticides and effective biolures for this
      insect. Here, mRNAs were sampled from whole insects at the 2nd and 4th nymphal
      instars, as well as sexed adults, and sequenced using Illumina RNA-Seq
      technology. A global assembly of these data identified 72,540 putative unique
      transcripts bearing high levels of similarity to transcripts identified in other
      taxa, with over 99% of conserved single-copy orthologs among insects being
      detected. Gene ontology and protein family analyses were conducted to explore the
      functional potential of the harlequin bug's gene repertoire, and phylogenetic
      analyses were conducted on gene families germane to xenobiotic detoxification,
      including glutathione S-transferases, carboxylesterases and cytochrome P450s.
      Genic content in harlequin bug was compared with that of the closely related
      invasive pest, the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stal).
      Quantitative analyses of harlequin bug gene expression levels, experimentally
      validated using quantitative real-time PCR, identified genes differentially
      expressed between life stages and/or sexes.

PMID- 28587100
TI  - Excimer Laser Surgery: Biometrical Iris Eye Recognition with Cyclorotational
      Control Eye Tracker System.
AB  - A prospective comparative study assessing the importance of the intra-operative
      dynamic rotational tracking-especially in the treatment of astigmatisms in
      corneal refractive Excimer laser correction-concerning clinical outcomes is
      presented. The cyclotorsion from upright to supine position was measured using
      iris image comparison. The Group 1 of patients was additionally treated with
      cyclorotational control and Group 2 only with X-Y control. Significant
      differences were observed between the groups regarding the mean postoperative
      cylinder refraction (p < 0.05). The mean cyclotorsion can be calculated to 3.75
      degrees  with a standard deviation of 3.1 degrees . The total range of torsion
      was from -14.9 degrees  to +12.6 degrees . Re-treatment rate was 2.2% in Group 1
      and 8.2% in Group 2, which is highly significant (p < 0.01). The investigation
      confirms that the dynamic rotational tracking system used for LASIK results in
      highly predictable refraction quality with significantly less postoperative re
      treatments.

PMID- 28587098
TI  - Function of Metallothionein-3 in Neuronal Cells: Do Metal Ions Alter Expression
      Levels of MT3?
AB  - A study of factors proposed to affect metallothionein-3 (MT3) function was
      carried out to elucidate the opaque role MT3 plays in human
      metalloneurochemistry. Gene expression of Mt2 and Mt3 was examined in tissues
      extracted from the dentate gyrus of mouse brains and in human neuronal cell
      cultures. The whole-genome gene expression analysis identified significant
      variations in the mRNA levels of genes associated with zinc homeostasis,
      including Mt2 and Mt3. Mt3 was found to be the most differentially expressed gene
      in the identified groups, pointing to the existence of a factor, not yet
      identified, that differentially controls Mt3 expression. To examine the
      expression of the human metallothioneins in neurons, mRNA levels of MT3 and MT2
      were compared in BE(2)C and SH-SY5Y cell cultures treated with lead, zinc,
      cobalt, and lithium. MT2 was highly upregulated by Zn2+ in both cell cultures,
      while MT3 was not affected, and no other metal had an effect on either MT2 or
      MT3.

PMID- 28587103
TI  - StandFood: Standardization of Foods Using a Semi-Automatic System for Classifying
      and Describing Foods According to FoodEx2.
AB  - The European Food Safety Authority has developed a standardized food
      classification and description system called FoodEx2. It uses facets to describe
      food properties and aspects from various perspectives, making it easier to
      compare food consumption data from different sources and perform more detailed
      data analyses. However, both food composition data and food consumption data,
      which need to be linked, are lacking in FoodEx2 because the process of
      classification and description has to be manually performed-a process that is
      laborious and requires good knowledge of the system and also good knowledge of
      food (composition, processing, marketing, etc.). In this paper, we introduce a
      semi-automatic system for classifying and describing foods according to FoodEx2,
      which consists of three parts. The first involves a machine learning approach and
      classifies foods into four FoodEx2 categories, with two for single foods: raw (r)
      and derivatives (d), and two for composite foods: simple (s) and aggregated (c).
      The second uses a natural language processing approach and probability theory to
      describe foods. The third combines the result from the first and the second part
      by defining post-processing rules in order to improve the result for the
      classification part. We tested the system using a set of food items (from
      Slovenia) manually-coded according to FoodEx2. The new semi-automatic system
      obtained an accuracy of 89% for the classification part and 79% for the
      description part, or an overall result of 79% for the whole system.

PMID- 28587105
TI  - Internal Model-Based Robust Tracking Control Design for the MEMS Electromagnetic
      Micromirror.
AB  - The micromirror based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology is
      widely employed in different areas, such as scanning, imaging and optical
      switching. This paper studies the MEMS electromagnetic micromirror for scanning
      or imaging application. In these application scenarios, the micromirror is
      required to track the command sinusoidal signal, which can be converted to an
      output regulation problem theoretically. In this paper, based on the internal
      model principle, the output regulation problem is solved by designing a robust
      controller that is able to force the micromirror to track the command signal
      accurately. The proposed controller relies little on the accuracy of the model.
      Further, the proposed controller is implemented, and its effectiveness is
      examined by experiments. The experimental results demonstrate that the
      performance of the proposed controller is satisfying.

PMID- 28587104
TI  - C1q/TNF-Related Protein-9 Ameliorates Ox-LDL-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction via
      PGC-1alpha/AMPK-Mediated Antioxidant Enzyme Induction.
AB  - Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) accumulation is one of the critical
      determinants in endothelial dysfunction in many cardiovascular diseases such as
      atherosclerosis. C1q/TNF-related protein 9 (CTRP9) is identified to be an
      adipocytokine with cardioprotective properties. However, the potential roles of
      CTRP9 in endothelial function remain largely elusive. In the present study, the
      effects of CTRP9 on the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, angiogenesis, nitric
      oxide (NO) production and oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells (HUVECs) exposed to ox-LDL were investigated. We observed that treatment
      with ox-LDL inhibited the proliferation, migration, angiogenesis and the
      generation of NO, while stimulated the apoptosis and reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) production in HUVECs. Incubation of HUVECs with CTRP9 rescued ox-LDL
      induced endothelial injury. CTRP9 treatment reversed ox-LDL-evoked decreases in
      antioxidant enzymes including heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), nicotinamide adenine
      dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H) dehydrogenase quinone 1, and glutamate-cysteine
      ligase (GCL), as well as endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Furthermore,
      CTRP9 induced activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co
      activator 1alpha (PGC1-alpha) and phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate
      activated protein kinase (AMPK). Of interest, AMPK inhibition or PGC1-alpha
      silencing abolished CTRP9-mediated antioxidant enzymes levels, eNOS expressions,
      and endothelial protective effects. Collectively, we provided the first evidence
      that CTRP9 attenuated ox-LDL-induced endothelial injury by antioxidant enzyme
      inductions dependent on PGC-1alpha/AMPK activation.

PMID- 28587106
TI  - Transfection of Antisense Oligonucleotides Mediated by Cationic Vesicles Based on
      Non-Ionic Surfactant and Polycations Bearing Quaternary Ammonium Moieties.
AB  - Three different ionene polymers with varying quaternary ammonium moieties were
      used as a proof of concept for the formulation of antisense oligonucleotides,
      which are capable of inhibiting Renilla luciferase messenger ribonucleic acid
      (mRNA). Cationic vesicles, consisting of cationic polymer, antisense
      oligonucleotide (Luc) and non-ionic surfactant polysorbate 80, were investigated
      regarding their zeta potential, cytotoxicity and transfection efficiency.
      Deoxyribonucleic acid- (DNA) forming complexes in the presence of cationic
      vesicles were also investigated in terms of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS).
      The studied cationic vesicles showed very little, if any, toxicity against HeLa
      cells. Transfection abilities proved to vary strongly depending on the present
      quaternary ammonium moiety.

PMID- 28587102
TI  - Perturbations in the Replication Program Contribute to Genomic Instability in
      Cancer.
AB  - Cancer and genomic instability are highly impacted by the deoxyribonucleic acid
      (DNA) replication program. Inaccuracies in DNA replication lead to the increased
      acquisition of mutations and structural variations. These inaccuracies mainly
      stem from loss of DNA fidelity due to replication stress or due to aberrations in
      the temporal organization of the replication process. Here we review the
      mechanisms and impact of these major sources of error to the replication program.

PMID- 28587101
TI  - Therapeutic Applications of Rose Hips from Different Rosa Species.
AB  - Rosa species, rose hips, are widespread wild plants that have been traditionally
      used as medicinal compounds for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. The
      therapeutic potential of these plants is based on its antioxidant effects caused
      by or associated with its phytochemical composition, which includes ascorbic
      acid, phenolic compounds and healthy fatty acids among others. Over the last few
      years, medicinal interest in rose hips has increased as a consequence of recent
      research that has studied its potential application as a treatment for several
      diseases including skin disorders, hepatotoxicity, renal disturbances, diarrhoea,
      inflammatory disorders, arthritis, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, obesity and cancer.
      In this review, the role of different species of Rosa in the prevention of
      treatment of various disorders related to oxidative stress, is examined, focusing
      on new therapeutic approaches from a molecular point of view.

PMID- 28587107
TI  - Sleep Duration, Sleep Quality, Body Mass Index, and Waist Circumference among
      Young Adults from 24 Low- and Middle-Income and Two High-Income Countries.
AB  - Obesity and its comorbidities have emerged as a leading public health concern.
      The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between body mass index
      (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and sleep patterns, including duration and
      disturbances. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey and anthropometric
      measurements were conducted with undergraduate university students that were
      randomly recruited in 26 universities in 24 low- and middle-income and two high
      income countries. The sample included 18,211 (42.1% male and 57.9% female, mean
      age 21.0 in male and 20.7 years in female students) undergraduate university
      students. The overall BMI was a mean of 22.5 kg/m2 for men and 22.0 kg/m2 for
      women, and the mean WC was 78.4 cm for men and 73.8 cm for women. More than 39%
      of the students reported short sleep duration (<=6 h/day) and over 30% reported
      moderate to extreme sleep problems. In a linear multivariable regression,
      adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, short sleep duration was
      positively associated with BMI in both men and women, and was positively
      associated with WC among women but not among men. Sleep quality or problems among
      men were not associated with BMI, while among women mild sleep problems were
      inversely associated with BMI, and poor sleep quality or problems were positively
      associated with WC both among men and women. The study confirmed an association
      between short sleep duration and increased BMI and, among women, increased WC,
      and an association between poor sleep quality and increased WC but not BMI.
      Further, differences in the association between sleep characteristics and BMI and
      WC were found by region and country income.

PMID- 28587108
TI  - Compliance with Nutritional and Lifestyle Recommendations in 13,000 Patients with
      a Cardiometabolic Disease from the Nutrinet-Sante Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A healthy diet has been shown to prevent cardiovascular diseases
      complications. The objective of this study was to assess dietary intakes and
      compliance with nutritional and lifestyle recommendations in French adults
      diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia or cardiovascular disease
      compared with healthy individuals. METHODS: Data was collected from 26,570
      subjects aged 35 to 70 years (13,285 patients and 13,285 controls matched by sex
      and age) of the French cohort NutriNet-Sante. Dietary intakes were assessed using
      three 24-h records. Mean food and nutrient intakes of patients were compared to
      those of healthy subjects using multivariable mixed logistic and linear
      regressions. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, adults reporting
      cardiometabolic diseases had lower intakes of sweetened products, higher intakes
      of fish and seafood and a better compliance with dairy products. However,
      overall, they reported unhealthier lifestyles and dietary habits. Indeed, they
      were less often physically active and had similar habits regarding alcohol and
      tobacco consumption. They also had lower intakes of fruit, higher intakes of
      meat, processed meat and added fats. It is noteworthy that diabetic subjects
      tended to show the highest compliance with certain dietary recommendations
      (vegetables, pulses and whole grain products). CONCLUSION: Our study brings into
      focus the fact that some nutritional aspects still need to be improved among
      individuals with a cardiometabolic disease. We should encourage higher intakes of
      fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, and lower intakes of meat and
      sodium, as well as healthy lifestyle (physical activity, no-smoking and limited
      intake of alcohol) in order to encourage a healthier management after being
      diagnosed.

PMID- 28587109
TI  - Identification of Non-Electrophilic Nrf2 Activators from Approved Drugs.
AB  - Oxidative damage can lead to a wide range of diseases. Nrf2 is an important
      transcription factor that regulates many of the cytoprotective enzymes involved
      in the oxidative stress response. Therefore, targeting the regulation of Nrf2
      activation is one logical and effective strategy to prevent or lower the risk of
      oxidative stress-related diseases. Until now, most research has focused on
      electrophilic indirect Nrf2 activators, but the risk of 'off-target' effects may
      be associated with these activators. To find novel small non-electrophilic
      modulators of Nrf2, we started from chemical agents derived from a connectivity
      map (cMap) and identified 22 non-electrophilic potential Nrf2-activating drugs
      through a drug repositioning tactic. By determining the expression changes of
      antioxidant genes in MCF7 cells that were treated with the potential Nrf2
      activators using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction RT-PCR (real
      time polymerase chain reaction) (qRT-PCR), astemizole was found to have a greater
      scale of upregulating antioxidant genes NQO1, HO-1, and GCLM than the positive
      control d,l-sulforaphane, although the testing concentration was lower than that
      of the control. Astemizole is a good potential redox regulator and deserves more
      pharmacodynamic experimentation to test and verify its feasibility for use as an
      Nrf2 activator.

PMID- 28587111
TI  - Development of a Flexible Artificial Lateral Line Canal System for Hydrodynamic
      Pressure Detection.
AB  - Surface mounted 'smart skin' can enhance the situational and environmental
      awareness of marine vehicles, which requires flexible, reliable, and light-weight
      hydrodynamic pressure sensors. Inspired by the lateral line canal system in fish,
      we developed an artificial lateral line (ALL) canal system by integrating
      cantilevered flow-sensing elements in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) canal.
      Polypropylene and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) layers were laminated together
      to form the cantilevered flow-sensing elements. Both the ALL canal system and its
      superficial counterpart were characterized using a dipole vibration source.
      Experimental results showed that the peak frequencies of both the canal and
      superficial sensors were approximately 110 Hz, which was estimated to be the
      resonance frequency of the cantilevered flow-sensing element. The proposed ALL
      canal system demonstrated high-pass filtering capabilities to attenuate low
      frequency stimulus and a pressure gradient detection limit of approximately 11
      Pa/m at a frequency of 115 +/- 1 Hz. Because of its structural flexibility and
      noise immunity, the proposed ALL canal system shows significant potential for
      underwater robotics applications.

PMID- 28587110
TI  - Current Perspective on In Vivo Molecular Imaging of Immune Cells.
AB  - Contemporaneous development of improved immune cell-based therapies, and powerful
      imaging tools, has prompted growth in technologies for immune cell tracking in
      vivo. Over the past couple of decades, imaging tools such as magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) and optical imaging have successfully monitored the trafficking
      patterns of therapeutic immune cells and assisted the evaluation of the success
      or failure of immunotherapy. Recent advancements in imaging technology have made
      imaging an indispensable module of immune cell-based therapies. In this review,
      emerging applications of non-radiation imaging modalities for the tracking of a
      range of immune cells are discussed. Applications of MRI, NIR, and other imaging
      tools have demonstrated the potential of non-invasively surveying the fate of
      both phagocytic and non-phagocytic immune cells in vivo.

PMID- 28587114
TI  - A Multiple Sensors Platform Method for Power Line Inspection Based on a Large
      Unmanned Helicopter.
AB  - Many theoretical and experimental studies have been carried out in order to
      improve the efficiency and reduce labor for power line inspection, but problems
      related to stability, efficiency, and comprehensiveness still exist. This paper
      presents a multiple sensors platform method for overhead power line inspection
      based on the use of a large unmanned helicopter. Compared with the existing
      methods, multiple sensors can realize synchronized inspection on all power line
      components and surrounding objects within one sortie. Flight safety of unmanned
      helicopter, scheduling of sensors and exact tracking on power line components are
      very important aspects when using the proposed multiple sensors platform,
      therefore this paper introduces in detail the planning method for the flight path
      of the unmanned helicopter and tasks of the sensors before inspecting power
      lines, and the method used for tracking power lines and insulators automatically
      during the inspection process. To validate the method, experiments on a
      transmission line at Qingyuan in Guangdong Province were carried out, the results
      show that the proposed method is effective for power line inspection.

PMID- 28587113
TI  - The Therapeutic Targeting of HGF/c-Met Signaling in Hepatocellular Carcinoma:
      Alternative Approaches.
AB  - The poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most devastating
      cancers worldwide, is due to frequent recurrence and metastasis. Among the
      metastatic factors in the tumor microenvironment, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)
      has been well known to play critical roles in tumor progression, including HCC.
      Therefore, c-Met is now regarded as the most promising therapeutic target for the
      treatment of HCC. However, there are still concerns about resistance and the side
      effects of using conventional inhibitors of c-Met, such as tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors. Recently, many alternative strategies of c-Met targeting have been
      emerging. These include targeting the downstream effectors of c-Met, such as
      hydrogen peroxide-inducible clone 5 (Hic-5), to block the reactive oxygen species
      (ROS)-mediated signaling for HCC progression. Also, inhibition of endosomal
      regulators, such as PKCepsilon and GGA3, may perturb the c-Met endosomal
      signaling for HCC cell migration. On the other hand, many herbal antagonists of c
      Met-dependent signaling, such as saponin, resveratrol, and LZ-8, were identified.
      Taken together, it can be anticipated that more effective and safer c-Met
      targeting strategies for preventing HCC progression can be established in the
      future.

PMID- 28587112
TI  - Is There a Role for Genomics in the Management of Hypertension?
AB  - Hypertension (HTN) affects about 1 billion people worldwide and the lack of a
      single identifiable cause complicates its treatment. Blood pressure (BP) levels
      are influenced by environmental factors, but there is a strong genetic component.
      Linkage analysis has identified several genes involved in Mendelian forms of HTN
      and the associated pathophysiological mechanisms have been unravelled, leading to
      targeted therapies. The majority of these syndromes are due to gain-of-function
      or loss-of-functions mutations, resulting in an alteration of mineralocorticoid,
      glucocorticoid, or sympathetic pathways. The diagnosis of monogenic forms of HTN
      has limited practical implications on the population and a systematic genetic
      screening is not justifiable. Genome-wide linkage and association studies (GWAS)
      have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which influence BP. Forty
      three variants have been described with each SNP affecting systolic and diastolic
      BP by 1.0 and 0.5 mmHg, respectively. Taken together Mendelian inheritance and
      all GWAS-identified HTN-associated variants explain 2-3% of BP variance.
      Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, histone modification and non
      coding RNAs, have become increasingly recognized as important players in BP
      regulation and may justify a further part of missing heritability. In this
      review, we will discuss how genetics and genomics may assist clinicians in
      managing patients with HTN.

PMID- 28587115
TI  - Complete Tri-Axis Magnetometer Calibration with a Gyro Auxiliary.
AB  - Magnetometers combined with inertial sensors are widely used for orientation
      estimation, and calibrations are necessary to achieve high accuracy. This paper
      presents a complete tri-axis magnetometer calibration algorithm with a gyro
      auxiliary. The magnetic distortions and sensor errors, including the misalignment
      error between the magnetometer and assembled platform, are compensated after
      calibration. With the gyro auxiliary, the magnetometer linear interpolation
      outputs are calculated, and the error parameters are evaluated under linear
      operations of magnetometer interpolation outputs. The simulation and experiment
      are performed to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm. After calibration,
      the heading errors calculated by magnetometers are reduced to 0.5 degrees 
      (1sigma). This calibration algorithm can also be applied to tri-axis
      accelerometers whose error model is similar to tri-axis magnetometers.

PMID- 28587116
TI  - Corrugated-Diaphragm Based Fiber Laser Hydrophone with Sub-100 MUPa/Hz1/2
      Resolution.
AB  - In this work, a beat-frequency encoded fiber laser hydrophone is developed for
      high-resolution acoustic detection by using an elastic corrugated diaphragm. The
      diaphragm is center-supported by the fiber. Incident acoustic waves deform the
      diaphragm and induce a concentrated lateral load on the laser cavity. The
      acoustically induced perturbation changes local optical phases and frequency
      modulates the radio-frequency beat signal between two orthogonal lasing modes of
      the cavity. Theoretical analysis reveals that a higher corrugation
      depth/thickness ratio or larger diaphragm area can provide higher transduction
      efficiency. The experimentally achieved average sensitivity in beat-frequency
      variation is 185.7 kHz/Pa over a bandwidth of 1 kHz. The detection capability can
      be enhanced by shortening the cavity length to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio.
      The minimum detectable acoustic pressure reaches 74 uPa/Hz1/2 at 1 kHz, which is
      comparable to the zeroth order sea noise.

PMID- 28587117
TI  - DeepMap+: Recognizing High-Level Indoor Semantics Using Virtual Features and
      Samples Based on a Multi-Length Window Framework.
AB  - Existing indoor semantic recognition schemes are mostly capable of discovering
      patterns through smartphone sensing, but it is hard to recognize rich enough high
      level indoor semantics for map enhancement. In this work we present DeepMap+, an
      automatical inference system for recognizing high-level indoor semantics using
      complex human activities with wrist-worn sensing. DeepMap+ is the first deep
      computation system using deep learning (DL) based on a multi-length window
      framework to enrich the data source. Furthermore, we propose novel methods of
      increasing virtual features and virtual samples for DeepMap+ to better discover
      hidden patterns of complex hand gestures. We have performed 23 high-level indoor
      semantics (including public facilities and functional zones) and collected wrist
      worn data at a Wal-Mart supermarket. The experimental results show that our
      proposed methods can effectively improve the classification accuracy.

PMID- 28587118
TI  - Nerve Growth Factor and Related Substances: A Brief History and an Introduction
      to the International NGF Meeting Series.
AB  - Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a protein whose importance to research and its
      elucidation of fundamental mechanisms in cell and neurobiology far outstrips its
      basic physiological roles. It was the first of a broad class of cell regulators,
      largely acting through autocrine and paracrine interactions which will be
      described herein. It was of similar significance in establishing the identity and
      unique roles of neurotrophic factors in the development and maintenance of the
      peripheral and central nervous systems. Finally, it contributed to many advances
      in the elaboration of cell surface receptor mechanisms and intracellular cell
      signaling. As such, it can be considered to be a "molecular Rosetta Stone". In
      this brief review, the highlights of these various studies are summarized,
      particularly as illustrated by their coverage in the 13 NGF international
      meetings that have been held since 1986.

PMID- 28587120
TI  - Fast Preparation of Porous MnO/C Microspheres as Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion
      Batteries.
AB  - Porous MnO/C microspheres have been successfully fabricated by a fast co
      precipitation method in a T-shaped microchannel reactor. The structures,
      compositions, and electrochemical performances of the obtained MnO/C microspheres
      are characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron
      microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Brunauer-Emmett
      Teller analysis, charge-discharge testing, cyclic voltammograms, and
      electrochemical impedance spectra. Experimental results reveal that the as
      prepared MnO/C, with a specific surface area of 96.66 m2.g-1 and average pore
      size of 24.37 nm, exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, with a
      discharge capacity of 655.4 mAh.g-1 after cycling 50 times at 1 C and capacities
      of 808.3, 743.7, 642.6, 450.1, and 803.1 mAh.g-1 at 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, and 0.2 C,
      respectively. Moreover, the controlled method of using a microchannel reactor,
      which can produce larger specific surface area porous MnO/C with improved cycling
      performance by shortening lithium-ion diffusion distances, can be easily applied
      in real production on a large scale.

PMID- 28587122
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Brazilian Green Propolis Encapsulated in a gamma
      Cyclodextrin Complex in Mice Fed a Western-Type Diet.
AB  - Ageing is often accompanied by chronic inflammation. A fat- and sugar-rich
      Western-type diet (WTD) may accelerate the ageing phenotype. Cell culture studies
      have indicated that artepillin C-containing Brazilian green propolis exhibits
      anti-inflammatory properties. However, little is known regarding its anti
      inflammatory potential in mouse liver in vivo. In this study, female C57BL/6NRj
      wild-type mice were fed a WTD, a WTD supplemented with Brazilian green propolis
      supercritical extract (GPSE) encapsulated in gamma-cyclodextrin (gammaCD) or a
      WTD plus gammaCD for 10 weeks. GPSE-gammaCD did not affect the food intake, body
      weight or body composition of the mice. However, mRNA levels of the tumour
      necrosis factor alpha were significantly downregulated (p < 0.05) in these mice
      compared to those in the WTD-fed controls. Furthermore, the gene expression
      levels of other pro-inflammatory markers, including serum amyloid P, were
      significantly (p < 0.001) decreased following GPSE-gammaCD treatment. GPSE
      gammaCD significantly induced hepatic ferritin gene expression (p < 0.01), which
      may contribute to its anti-inflammatory properties. Conversely, GPSE-gammaCD did
      not affect the biomarkers of endogenous antioxidant defence, including catalase,
      glutathione peroxidase-4, paraoxonase-1, glutamate cysteine ligase and nuclear
      factor erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2). Overall, the present data suggest
      that dietary GPSE-gammaCD exhibits anti-inflammatory, but not antioxidant
      activity in mouse liver in vivo. Thus, GPSE-gammaCD has the potential to serve as
      a natural hepatoprotective bioactive compound for dietary-mediated strategies
      against chronic inflammation.

PMID- 28587119
TI  - Trigger-Responsive Gene Transporters for Anticancer Therapy.
AB  - In the current era of gene delivery, trigger-responsive nanoparticles for the
      delivery of exogenous nucleic acids, such as plasmid DNA (pDNA), mRNA, siRNAs,
      and miRNAs, to cancer cells have attracted considerable interest. The cationic
      gene transporters commonly used are typically in the form of polyplexes,
      lipoplexes or mixtures of both, and their gene transfer efficiency in cancer
      cells depends on several factors, such as cell binding, intracellular
      trafficking, buffering capacity for endosomal escape, DNA unpacking, nuclear
      transportation, cell viability, and DNA protection against nucleases. Some of
      these factors influence other factors adversely, and therefore, it is of critical
      importance that these factors are balanced. Recently, with the advancements in
      contemporary tools and techniques, trigger-responsive nanoparticles with the
      potential to overcome their intrinsic drawbacks have been developed. This review
      summarizes the mechanisms and limitations of cationic gene transporters. In
      addition, it covers various triggers, such as light, enzymes, magnetic fields,
      and ultrasound (US), used to enhance the gene transfer efficiency of trigger
      responsive gene transporters in cancer cells. Furthermore, the challenges
      associated with and future directions in developing trigger-responsive gene
      transporters for anticancer therapy are discussed briefly.

PMID- 28587124
TI  - Comparison Study between RMS and Edge Detection Image Processing Algorithms for a
      Pulsed Laser UWPI (Ultrasonic Wave Propagation Imaging)-Based NDT Technique.
AB  - In this study, a non-contact laser ultrasonic propagation imaging technique was
      applied to detect the damage of plate-like structures. Lamb waves were generated
      by an Nd:YAG pulse laser system, while a galvanometer-based laser scanner was
      used to scan the preliminarily designated area. The signals of the structural
      responses were measured using a piezoelectric sensor attached on the front or
      back side of the plates. The obtained responses were analyzed by calculating the
      root mean square (RMS) values to achieve the visualization of structural defects
      such as crack, corrosion, and so on. If the propagating waves encounter the
      damage, the waves are scattered at the damage and the energy of the scattered
      waves can be expressed by the RMS values. In this study, notch and corrosion were
      artificially formed on aluminum plates and were considered as structural defects.
      The notches were created with different depths and angles on the aluminum plates,
      and the corrosion damage was formed with different depths and areas. To visualize
      the damage more clearly, edge detection methodologies were applied to the RMS
      images and the feasibility of the methods was investigated. The results showed
      that most of the edge detection methods were good at detecting the shape and/or
      the size of the damage while they had poor performance of detecting the depth of
      the damage.

PMID- 28587123
TI  - Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders and Risk Factors among Chinese Medical
      Staff of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
AB  - Medical staff in the department of obstetrics and gynecology are a group of
      professionals reportedly at high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders
      (WMSD), however, little is known about the current status of this problem in
      China. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence and risk factors of
      work-related musculoskeletal disorders among this population in China. A self
      developed questionnaire was distributed to 1017 obstetrics and gynecology
      practitioners to collect information on musculoskeletal symptoms and relevant
      factors. Prevalence and severity of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in
      different parts of the body were calculated and the relationship between personal
      and ergonomic factors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders was analyzed
      using Chi-square test and unconditional logistic regression models. The results
      indicated a high prevalence of 85.5% among the subjects, with the shoulder (n =
      575, 62.0%), neck (n = 560, 60.3%) and lower back (n = 504, 54.3%) being the
      three most affected regions. Individual, postural, work-environmental as well as
      psychosocial factors were recognized to be associated with WMSDs in different
      body parts. Therefore, attention must be given to the problem of musculoskeletal
      disorders among Chinese obstetrics and gynecology staff. It is recommended to
      develop good life habits, improve work environment, adjust work organization as
      well as train on proper postures in their daily operation.

PMID- 28587121
TI  - Chemotherapeutic Drugs: DNA Damage and Repair in Glioblastoma.
AB  - Despite improvements in therapeutic strategies, glioblastoma (GB) remains one of
      the most lethal cancers. The presence of the blood-brain barrier, the
      infiltrative nature of the tumor and several resistance mechanisms account for
      the failure of current treatments. Distinct DNA repair pathways can neutralize
      the cytotoxicity of chemo- and radio-therapeutic agents, driving resistance and
      tumor relapse. It seems that a subpopulation of stem-like cells, indicated as
      glioma stem cells (GSCs), is responsible for tumor initiation, maintenance and
      recurrence and they appear to be more resistant owing to their enhanced DNA
      repair capacity. Recently, attention has been focused on the pivotal role of the
      DNA damage response (DDR) in tumorigenesis and in the modulation of therapeutic
      treatment effects. In this review, we try to summarize the knowledge concerning
      the main molecular mechanisms involved in the removal of genotoxic lesions caused
      by alkylating agents, emphasizing the role of GSCs. Beside their increased DNA
      repair capacity in comparison with non-stem tumor cells, GSCs show a constitutive
      checkpoint expression that enables them to survive to treatments in a quiescent,
      non-proliferative state. The targeted inhibition of checkpoint/repair factors of
      DDR can contribute to eradicate the GSC population and can have a great potential
      therapeutic impact aiming at sensitizing malignant gliomas to treatments,
      improving the overall survival of patients.

PMID- 28587125
TI  - Equine Welfare during Exercise: An Evaluation of Breathing, Breathlessness and
      Bridles.
AB  - Horses engaged in strenuous exercise display physiological responses that
      approach the upper functional limits of key organ systems, in particular their
      cardiorespiratory systems. Maximum athletic performance is therefore vulnerable
      to factors that diminish these functional capacities, and such impairment might
      also lead to horses experiencing unpleasant respiratory sensations, i.e.,
      breathlessness. The aim of this review is to use existing literature on equine
      cardiorespiratory physiology and athletic performance to evaluate the potential
      for various types of breathlessness to occur in exercising horses. In addition,
      we investigate the influence of management factors such as rein and bit use and
      of respiratory pathology on the likelihood and intensity of equine breathlessness
      occurring during exercise. In ridden horses, rein use that reduces the jowl
      angle, sometimes markedly, and conditions that partially obstruct the nasopharynx
      and/or larynx, impair airflow in the upper respiratory tract and lead to
      increased flow resistance. The associated upper airway pressure changes,
      transmitted to the lower airways, may have pathophysiological sequelae in the
      alveolae, which, in their turn, may increase airflow resistance in the lower
      airways and impede respiratory gas exchange. Other sequelae include decreases in
      respiratory minute volume and worsening of the hypoxaemia, hypercapnia and
      acidaemia commonly observed in healthy horses during strenuous exercise. These
      and other factors are implicated in the potential for ridden horses to experience
      three forms of breathlessness-"unpleasant respiratory effort", "air hunger" and
      "chest tightness"-which arise when there is a mismatch between a heightened
      ventilatory drive and the adequacy of the respiratory response. It is not known
      to what extent, if at all, such mismatches would occur in strenuously exercising
      horses unhampered by low jowl angles or by pathophysiological changes at any
      level of the respiratory tract. However, different combinations of the three
      types of breathlessness seem much more likely to occur when pathophysiological
      conditions significantly reduce maximal athletic performance. Finally, most
      horses exhibit clear behavioural evidence of aversion to a bit in their mouths,
      varying from the bit being a mild irritant to very painful. This in itself is a
      significant animal welfare issue that should be addressed. A further major point
      is the potential for bits to disrupt the maintenance of negative pressure in the
      oropharynx, which apparently acts to prevent the soft palate from rising and
      obstructing the nasopharynx. The untoward respiratory outcomes and poor athletic
      performance due to this and other obstructions are well established, and suggest
      the potential for affected animals to experience significant intensities of
      breathlessness. Bitless bridle use may reduce or eliminate such effects. However,
      direct comparisons of the cardiorespiratory dynamics and the extent of any
      respiratory pathophysiology in horses wearing bitted and bitless bridles have not
      been conducted. Such studies would be helpful in confirming, or otherwise, the
      claimed potential benefits of bitless bridle use.

PMID- 28587126
TI  - Lithium in the Natural Waters of the South East of Ireland.
AB  - The South East of Ireland (County Carlow) contains a deposit of the valuable
      lithium-bearing mineral spodumene (LiAl(SiO3)2). This resource has recently
      attracted interest and abstractive mining in the area is a possibility for the
      future. The open cast mining of this resource could represent a potential hazard
      in the form of metalliferous pollution to local water. The population of County
      Carlow is just under 60,000. The local authority reports that approximately 75.7%
      of the population's publicly supplied drinking water is abstracted from surface
      water and 11.6% from groundwater. In total, 12.7% of the population abstract
      their water from private groundwater wells. Any potential entry of extraneous
      metals into the area's natural waters will have implications for people in county
      Carlow. It is the goal of this paper to establish background concentrations of
      lithium and other metals in the natural waters prior to any mining activity. Our
      sampling protocol totaled 115 sites along five sampling transects, sampled
      through 2015. From this dataset, we report a background concentration of
      dissolved lithium in the natural waters of County Carlow, surface water at x - =
      0.02, SD = 0.02 ranging from 0 to 0.091 mg/L and groundwater at x - = 0.023, SD =
      0.02 mg/L ranging from 0 to 0.097 mg/L.

PMID- 28587127
TI  - Gender Differences of Arterial Stiffness and Arterial Age in Smokers.
AB  - The present study aimed to find gender differences for arterial stiffness and
      arterial aging in smokers. A total of 147 smokers (71 male and 76 female, matched
      for age) were explored using an Arteriograph in a cross-sectional survey. Pulse
      wave velocity (PWV), arterial age (AA), brachial and aortic augmentation index
      (AixBrach, AixAo), and blood pressure variables were assessed. Data about smoking
      intensity, such as the number of cigarettes smoked daily, smoking period, and
      smoking pack years (SPY) were used. No significant differences were found for
      PWV, AA, AixBrach and AixAo. Significant correlations were found between SPY and
      PWV, augmentation indices, and AA, respectively. The cut-off values for SPY were
      higher for an increased arterial stiffness in male compared to female smokers
      (18.5 and 7.5 pack year, respectively). SPY is significantly associated with an
      increased arterial stiffness in smokers regardless of gender, and with an
      increased SBPAo only in female smokers. The results of our study indicate gender
      differences for arterial stiffness and arterial age in smokers.

PMID- 28587128
TI  - Yeast Extract Stimulates Ginsenoside Production in Hairy Root Cultures of
      American Ginseng Cultivated in Shake Flasks and Nutrient Sprinkle Bioreactors.
AB  - One of the most effective strategies to enhance metabolite biosynthesis and
      accumulation in biotechnological systems is the use of elicitation processes.
      This study assesses the influence of different concentrations of yeast extract
      (YE) on ginsenoside biosynthesis in Panax quinquefolium (American ginseng) hairy
      roots cultivated in shake flasks and in a nutrient sprinkle bioreactor after 3
      and 7 days of elicitation. The saponin content was determined using HPLC. The
      maximum yield (20 mg g-1 d.w.) of the sum of six examined ginsenosides (Rb1, Rb2,
      Rc, Rd, Re and Rg1) in hairy roots cultivated in shake flasks was achieved after
      application of YE at 50 mg L-1 concentration and 3 day exposure time. The
      ginsenoside level was 1.57 times higher than that attained in control medium. The
      same conditions of elicitation (3 day time of exposure and 50 mg L-1 of YE) also
      favourably influenced the biosynthesis of studied saponins in bioreactor
      cultures. The total ginsenoside content was 32.25 mg g-1 d.w. and was higher than
      that achieved in control medium and in shake flasks cultures. Obtained results
      indicated that yeast extract can be used to increase ginsenoside production in
      hairy root cultures of P. quinquefolium.

PMID- 28587130
TI  - New Knowledge in Analytical, Technological, and Biological Aspects of the
      Maillard Reaction.
AB  - n/a.

PMID- 28587129
TI  - Characterization of Acetyl-CoA Carboxylases in the Basal Dinoflagellate
      Amphidinium carterae.
AB  - Dinoflagellates make up a diverse array of fatty acids and polyketides. A
      necessary precursor for their synthesis is malonyl-CoA formed by carboxylating
      acetyl CoA using the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). To date, information on
      dinoflagellate ACC is limited. Through transcriptome analysis in Amphidinium
      carterae, we found three full-length homomeric type ACC sequences; no heteromeric
      type ACC sequences were found. We assigned the putative cellular location for
      these ACCs based on transit peptide predictions. Using streptavidin Western
      blotting along with mass spectrometry proteomics, we validated the presence of
      ACC proteins. Additional bands showing other biotinylated proteins were also
      observed. Transcript abundance for these ACCs follow the global pattern of
      expression for dinoflagellate mRNA messages over a diel cycle. This is one of the
      few descriptions at the transcriptomic and protein level of ACCs in
      dinoflagellates. This work provides insight into the enzymes which make the CoA
      precursors needed for fatty acid and toxin synthesis in dinoflagellates.

PMID- 28587131
TI  - A Smart Power Electronic Multiconverter for the Residential Sector.
AB  - The future of the grid includes distributed generation and smart grid
      technologies. Demand Side Management (DSM) systems will also be essential to
      achieve a high level of reliability and robustness in power systems. To do that,
      expanding the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Energy Management
      Systems (EMS) are necessary. The trend direction is towards the creation of
      energy resource hubs, such as the smart community concept. This paper presents a
      smart multiconverter system for residential/housing sector with a Hybrid Energy
      Storage System (HESS) consisting of supercapacitor and battery, and with local
      photovoltaic (PV) energy source integration. The device works as a distributed
      energy unit located in each house of the community, receiving active power set
      points provided by a smart community EMS. This central EMS is responsible for
      managing the active energy flows between the electricity grid, renewable energy
      sources, storage equipment and loads existing in the community. The proposed
      multiconverter is responsible for complying with the reference active power set
      points with proper power quality; guaranteeing that the local PV modules operate
      with a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm; and extending the lifetime
      of the battery thanks to a cooperative operation of the HESS. A simulation model
      has been developed in order to show the detailed operation of the system.
      Finally, a prototype of the multiconverter platform has been implemented and some
      experimental tests have been carried out to validate it.

PMID- 28587133
TI  - Time Series Data Analysis of Wireless Sensor Network Measurements of Temperature.
AB  - Wireless sensor networks have gained significant traction in environmental signal
      monitoring and analysis. The cost or lifetime of the system typically depends on
      the frequency at which environmental phenomena are monitored. If sampling rates
      are reduced, energy is saved. Using empirical datasets collected from
      environmental monitoring sensor networks, this work performs time series analyses
      of measured temperature time series. Unlike previous works which have
      concentrated on suppressing the transmission of some data samples by time-series
      analysis but still maintaining high sampling rates, this work investigates
      reducing the sampling rate (and sensor wake up rate) and looks at the effects on
      accuracy. Results show that the sampling period of the sensor can be increased up
      to one hour while still allowing intermediate and future states to be estimated
      with interpolation RMSE less than 0.2  degrees C and forecasting RMSE less than 1
      degrees C.

PMID- 28587132
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Activity of a Polymeric Proanthocyanidin from Serjania
      schiedeana.
AB  - The ethyl acetate extract (SsAcOEt) from Serjania schiedeana, select fractions (F
      6, F-12, F-13, F-14), and one isolated compound, were evaluated in 12-O
      tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) ear edema and kaolin/carrageenan (KC)
      induced monoarthritis assays. SsEtOAc induced edema inhibition of 90% (2.0
      mg/ear), fractions showed activity within a range of 67-89%. Due to the fact F-14
      showed the highest effect, it was separated, yielding a proanthocyanidin-type
      called epicatechin-(4beta -> 8)-epicatechin-(4beta -> 8, 2beta -> O -> 7)
      epicatechin (ETP). This compound (2.0 mg/ear) provoked 72% of edema inhibition
      (ED50 = 0.25 mg/ear, Emax = 52.9%). After 9 days of treatment, joint inflammation
      was decreasing, and on the last day, SsEtOAc (400 mg/kg), F-14 and ETP (10
      mg/kg), SsEtOAc (200 mg/kg), methotrexate (MTX) 1.0 mg/kg and meloxicam (MEL) 1.5
      mg/kg, produced an inhibition articulate edema of 94, 62, 36, 21, 80, and 54%,
      respectively. In the joint, pro-inflammatory molecules were elevated in animals
      without treatment (vehicle group, VEH). Treatments from S. schiedeana induced a
      decrease in the concentration of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-17, and IL-6, and
      SsEtOAc at a higher dose diminished tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha). IL-10 and
      IL-4 were fewer in the VEH group in comparison with healthy mice; the animals
      with treatments from S. schiedeana induced an increment in the levels of these
      cytokines in joint and spleen.

PMID- 28587134
TI  - Measuring Blue Space Visibility and 'Blue Recreation' in the Everyday Lives of
      Children in a Capital City.
AB  - Blue spaces (water bodies) may promote positive mental and physical health
      through opportunities for relaxation, recreation, and social connections.
      However, we know little about the nature and extent of everyday exposure to blue
      spaces, particularly in settings outside the home or among children, nor whether
      exposure varies by individual or household characteristics. Wearable cameras
      offer a novel, reliable method for blue space exposure measurement. In this
      study, we used images from cameras worn over two days by 166 children in
      Wellington, New Zealand, and conducted content and blue space quantification
      analysis on each image (n = 749,389). Blue space was identified in 24,721 images
      (3.6%), with a total of 23 blue recreation events. Visual exposure and
      participation in blue recreation did not differ by ethnicity, weight status,
      household deprivation, or residential proximity to the coastline. Significant
      differences in both visual exposure to blue space and participation in blue
      recreation were observed, whereby children from the most deprived schools had
      significantly higher rates of blue space exposure than children from low
      deprivation schools. Schools may be important settings to promote equitable blue
      space exposures. Childhood exposures to blue space may not follow the expected
      income inequality trends observed among adults.

PMID- 28587136
TI  - Use of the Ketogenic Diet to Treat Intractable Epilepsy in Mitochondrial
      Disorders.
AB  - Mitochondrial disorders are a clinically heterogeneous group of disorders that
      are caused by defects in the respiratory chain, the metabolic pathway of the
      adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) production system. Epilepsy is a common and
      important feature of these disorders and its management can be challenging.
      Epileptic seizures in the context of mitochondrial disease are usually treated
      with conventional anti-epileptic medication, apart from valproic acid. However,
      in accordance with the treatment of intractable epilepsy where there are limited
      treatment options, the ketogenic diet (KD) has been considered as an alternative
      therapy. The use of the KD and its more palatable formulations has shown
      promising results. It is especially indicated and effective in the treatment of
      mitochondrial disorders due to complex I deficiency. Further research into the
      mechanism of action and the neuroprotective properties of the KD will allow more
      targeted therapeutic strategies and thus optimize the treatment of both epilepsy
      in the context of mitochondrial disorders but also in other neurodegenerative
      disorders.

PMID- 28587137
TI  - Modelling and Optimization of Four-Segment Shielding Coils of Current
      Transformers.
AB  - Applying shielding coils is a practical way to protect current transformers (CTs)
      for large-capacity generators from the intensive magnetic interference produced
      by adjacent bus-bars. The aim of this study is to build a simple analytical model
      for the shielding coils, from which the optimization of the shielding coils can
      be calculated effectively. Based on an existing stray flux model, a new
      analytical model for the leakage flux of partial coils is presented, and finite
      element method-based simulations are carried out to develop empirical equations
      for the core-pickup factors of the models. Using the flux models, a model of the
      common four-segment shielding coils is derived. Furthermore, a theoretical
      analysis is carried out on the optimal performance of the four-segment shielding
      coils in a typical six-bus-bars scenario. It turns out that the "all parallel"
      shielding coils with a 45 degrees  starting position have the best shielding
      performance, whereas the "separated loop" shielding coils with a 0 degrees 
      starting position feature the lowest heating value. Physical experiments were
      performed, which verified all the models and the conclusions proposed in the
      paper. In addition, for shielding coils with other than the four-segment
      configuration, the analysis process will generally be the same.

PMID- 28587135
TI  - RGD-Binding Integrins in Head and Neck Cancers.
AB  - Alterations in integrin expression and function promote tumour growth, invasion,
      metastasis and neoangiogenesis. Head and neck cancers are highly vascular tumours
      with a tendency to metastasise. They express a wide range of integrin receptors.
      Expression of the alphav and beta1 subunits has been explored relatively
      extensively and linked to tumour progression and metastasis. Individual receptors
      alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 have proved popular targets for diagnostic and
      therapeutic agents but lesser studied receptors, such as alphavbeta6,
      alphavbeta8, and beta1 subfamily members, also show promise. This review presents
      the current knowledge of integrin expression and function in squamous cell
      carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC), with a particular focus on the arginine
      glycine-aspartate (RGD)-binding integrins, in order to highlight the potential of
      integrins as targets for personalised tumour-specific identification and therapy.

PMID- 28587138
TI  - Toxin Variability Estimations of 68 Alexandrium ostenfeldii (Dinophyceae) Strains
      from The Netherlands Reveal a Novel Abundant Gymnodimine.
AB  - Alexandrium ostenfeldii is a toxic dinoflagellate that has recently bloomed in
      Ouwerkerkse Kreek, The Netherlands, and which is able to cause a serious threat
      to shellfish consumers and aquacultures. We used a large set of 68 strains to the
      aim of fully characterizing the toxin profiles of the Dutch A. ostenfeldii in
      consideration of recent reports of novel toxins. Alexandrium ostenfeldii is known
      as a causative species of paralytic shellfish poisoning, and consistently in the
      Dutch population we determined the presence of several paralytic shellfish toxins
      (PST) including saxitoxin (STX), GTX2/3 (gonyautoxins), B1 and C1/C2. We also
      examined the production of spiroimine toxins by the Dutch A. ostenfeldii strains.
      An extensive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis
      revealed a high intraspecific variability of spirolides (SPX) and gymnodimines
      (GYM). Spirolides included 13-desMethyl-spirolide C generally as the major
      compound and several other mostly unknown SPX-like compounds that were detected
      and characterized. Besides spirolides, the presence of gymnodimine A and 12
      Methyl-gymnodimine A was confirmed, together with two new gymnodimines. One of
      these was tentatively identified as an analogue of gymnodimine D and was the most
      abundant gymnodimine (calculated cell quota up to 274 pg cell-1, expressed as GYM
      A equivalents). Our multi-clonal approach adds new analogues to the increasing
      number of compounds in these toxin classes and revealed a high strain variability
      in cell quota and in toxin profile of toxic compounds within a single population.

PMID- 28587139
TI  - Is Housing a Health Insult?
AB  - In seeking to understand the relationship between housing and health, research
      attention is often focussed on separate components of people's whole housing
      'bundles'. We propose in this paper that such conceptual and methodological
      abstraction of elements of the housing and health relationship limits our ability
      to understand the scale of the accumulated effect of housing on health and
      thereby contributes to the under-recognition of adequate housing as a social
      policy tool and powerful health intervention. In this paper, we propose and
      describe an index to capture the means by which housing bundles influence health.
      We conceptualise the index as reflecting accumulated housing 'insults to health'
      an Index of Housing Insults (IHI). We apply the index to a sample of 1000 low
      income households in Australia. The analysis shows a graded association between
      housing insults and health on all outcome measures. Further, after controlling
      for possible confounders, the IHI is shown to provide additional predictive power
      to the explanation of levels of mental health, general health and clinical
      depression beyond more traditional proxy measures. Overall, this paper reinforces
      the need to look not just at separate housing components but to embrace a broader
      understanding of the relationship between housing and health.

PMID- 28587140
TI  - Synthesis and Structural Modification of Marine Natural Products.
AB  - In the last decades, marine natural products (MNPs), have attracted extensive
      interest from both chemists and pharmacologists due to their chemical and
      bioactive diversities. This special issue, collecting total synthesis and
      structural modification of six different type of bioactive MNPs, is expected to
      inspire and attract more research effects invested into MNP research.

PMID- 28587141
TI  - LEM Characterization of Synthetic Jet Actuators Driven by Piezoelectric Element:
      A Review.
AB  - In the last decades, Synthetic jet actuators have gained much interest among the
      flow control techniques due to their short response time, high jet velocity and
      absence of traditional piping, which matches the requirements of reduced size and
      low weight. A synthetic jet is generated by the diaphragm oscillation (generally
      driven by a piezoelectric element) in a relatively small cavity, producing
      periodic cavity pressure variations associated with cavity volume changes. The
      pressured air exhausts through an orifice, converting diaphragm electrodynamic
      energy into jet kinetic energy. This review paper considers the development of
      various Lumped-Element Models (LEMs) as practical tools to design and manufacture
      the actuators. LEMs can quickly predict device performances such as the frequency
      response in terms of diaphragm displacement, cavity pressure and jet velocity, as
      well as the efficiency of energy conversion of input Joule power into useful
      kinetic power of air jet. The actuator performance is also analyzed by varying
      typical geometric parameters such as cavity height and orifice diameter and
      length, through a suited dimensionless form of the governing equations. A
      comprehensive and detailed physical modeling aimed to evaluate the device
      efficiency is introduced, shedding light on the different stages involved in the
      process. Overall, the influence of the coupling degree of the two oscillators,
      the diaphragm and the Helmholtz frequency, on the device performance is discussed
      throughout the paper.

PMID- 28587142
TI  - Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals and the Environmental Quality of Soil in the
      Northern Plateau of Spain by Geostatistical Methods.
AB  - The environmental quality of soil in the central part of the Northern Plateau of
      Spain has been analyzed by studying the heavy metal content of 166 samples
      belonging to the horizons A, B and C of 89 soil profiles. The analysis to assess
      the environmental risk of heavy metals in the soil was carried out by means of
      the spatial distribution of nine heavy metals and the use of several pollution
      indices. The results showed that the concentration values of heavy metals (x +/-
      S) in the superficial soil horizons were the following: With a total of 6.71 +/-
      3.51 mg kg -1, the contents of Cd is 0.08 +/- 0.06 mg kg-1, Co is 6.49 +/- 3.21
      mg kg-1, Cu is 17.19 +/- 10.69 mg kg-1, Cr is 18.68 +/- 12.28 mg kg-1, Hg is
      0.083 +/- 0.063 mg kg-1, Ni is 12.05 +/- 6.76 mg kg-1, Pb is 14.10 +/- 11.32 mg
      kg-1 and Zn is 35.31 +/- 14.63 mg kg-1. These nine metals exceed the values of
      the natural geological background level of Tertiary period sediments and rocks
      that form part of the Northern Plateau in Spain. Nemerow and Potential Ecological
      Risk indices were calculated, with the "improved" Nemerow index allowing
      pollution within the soil superficial horizons to be determined. The data
      obtained indicated that the majority of the soil (54.61%) showed low to moderate
      contamination, 22.31% showed moderate contamination and 21.54% of the samples
      were not contaminated. If we consider the Potential of Ecological Risk Index
      (RI), the largest percentage of soil samples showed low (70.79%) to moderate
      (25.38%) ecological risk of potential contamination, where the rest of the soil
      presented a considerable risk of contamination. The nine trace elements were
      divided into three principal components: PC1 (Cu, Cr, Ni, Co and Zn), PC2 (As and
      Hg) and PC3 (Cd). All metals accumulated in the soil came from parent rock,
      agricultural practices and the run-off of residual waters towards rivers and
      streams caused by industrial development and an increase in population density.
      Finally, cartography of the spatial distribution of the heavy metal contents in
      the soil of the Northern Plateau of Spain was generated using Kriging
      interpolation methods. Furthermore, the total heavy metal contents in three soil
      orders present in the area, namely Entisols, Inceptisols, and Alfisols, were
      analyzed. Other soil parameters, such as the organic matter content, pH, clay
      content and cation exchange capacity, was measured to determine their influence
      on and correlation with the heavy metal contents.

PMID- 28587143
TI  - Improving Outcomes in Patients with CRC: The Role of Patient Reported Outcomes-An
      ESDO Report.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide and
      nearly half of patients will develop metastatic disease at some point during the
      course of their disease. The goal of anticancer therapy in this context is to
      extend survival, while trying to maximise the patient's health-related quality of
      life. To this end, we need to understand how to incorporate patient-reported
      outcomes into clinical trials and routine practice to accurately assess if
      treatment strategies are providing clinical benefit for the patient. This review
      reflects the proceedings of a 2016 European Society of Digestive Oncology
      workshop, where the authors discussed the use of patient-reported outcomes to
      measure health-related quality of life when evaluating treatment during the
      management of colorectal cancer. A summary of the challenges associated with
      implementing patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials is provided, as well as
      a review of the current clinical evidence surrounding patient-reported outcomes
      in metastatic colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28587144
TI  - Inhibitory Activities of Blasticidin S Derivatives on Aflatoxin Production by
      Aspergillus Flavus.
AB  - Blasticidin S (BcS) is a protein synthesis inhibitor which shows strong growth
      inhibitory activity against a number of microorganisms. However, BcS inhibited
      aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus without affecting its growth. In order
      to obtain information about the structure-activity relationship of BcS as an
      aflatoxin production inhibitor, BcS derivatives were prepared and their aflatoxin
      production inhibitory activities were evaluated. Among five derivatives,
      blasticidin S carboxymethyl ester, deaminohydroxyblasticidin S, and
      pyrimidinoblasticidin S showed inhibitory activity, while the others did not. The
      IC50 value for aflatoxin production of the carboxymethyl ester derivative was one
      fifth of that of BcS although their antimicrobial activities were almost the
      same. These results indicate that the inhibitory activity of BcS against
      aflatoxin production was enhanced by esterification of its carboxyl group and
      that the carboxymethyl ester derivative might be more suitable for practical use
      than BcS because of the specificity of the carboxymethyl ester derivative, which
      inhibited aflatoxin production more than BcS.

PMID- 28587145
TI  - Influence of Cooking (Microwaving and Broiling) on Cylindrospermopsin
      Concentration in Muscle of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and
      Characterization of Decomposition Products.
AB  - Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) has become increasingly important as a freshwater algal
      toxin, showing cytotoxic effects. This toxin is able to bioaccumulate in
      freshwater food webs, representing a serious human health problem. Normally, fish
      is cooked before consumption, and CYN concentration can be altered. For the first
      time, the effects of microwaving and broiling for 1 and 2 min on CYN
      concentration and its decomposition products in fish muscle (Oreochromis
      niloticus) contaminated in the laboratory were investigated, using UPLC-MS/MS and
      Orbitrap. The results show that cooking the fish reduced unconjugated CYN levels
      by 11, 10 and 15% after microwaving for 1 and 2 min, and broiling for 2 min,
      respectively, compared to control fish. Different CYN decomposition products with
      m/z 416.1234 (7-epi-CYN) and m/z 336.16663 (diasteroisomers C-3A, C-3C, C-3D, C
      3E, C-3F) are generated in fish samples submitted to cooking. Based on the
      relative abundance of the decomposition products, the possible degradation
      pathways taking place by microwaving may be through the formation of 7-epi-CYN
      and m/z 336.16663 compounds, whereas in the case of broiling the last route is
      the only one observed in this study. The influence of cooking and the toxicity
      characterization of the degradation products generated in CYN-contaminated fish
      are of importance for more realistic risk evaluation related to their
      consumption.

PMID- 28587147
TI  - Toxoplasma gondii in the Food Supply.
AB  - Toxoplasmosis is caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma
      gondii. Infections are usually either asymptomatic or develop mild symptoms that
      are self-limited, but infections in immunosuppressed persons can be severe.
      Infections in pregnant women can cause serious health problems in the child such
      as mental retardation and blindness. Infection with T. gondii in immunocompetent
      adults can lead to impaired eyesight. Toxoplasmosis has ranked very highly in two
      studies of death and disability attributable to foodborne pathogens. The
      consumption of raw or undercooked meat containing T. gondii tissue cysts and the
      consumption of raw vegetables or water contaminated with T. gondii oocysts from
      cat feces is most frequently associated with human illness. The risk of acquiring
      a Toxoplasma infection via food varies with cultural and eating habits in
      different human populations.

PMID- 28587146
TI  - Evaluation of the Dietary Intake of Cadmium, Lead and Mercury and Its
      Relationship with Bone Health among Postmenopausal Women in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, are absorbed
      through contaminated food sources and water. Few studies have investigated the
      extent to which dietary heavy metals are associated with low bone mineral
      density. AIMS: We aimed to characterize the dietary intake of the heavy metals
      lead, cadmium and mercury among healthy, non-smoking postmenopausal women in
      Spain. Furthermore, we sought to establish a putative relationship between bone
      health and the intake of these heavy metals in this population. STUDY DESIGN: The
      daily intake of the heavy metals considered for the different food groups was
      calculated by accounting for food content and consumption in 281 postmenopausal
      women. Bone measurements were performed using a Quantitative Bone Ultrasound
      (QUS), a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and a Peripheral Quantitative
      Computed Tomography (pQCT). RESULTS: The average estimated dietary cadmium
      exposure among the 281 women studied was 29.87 MUg/day (20.41-41.04) and 3.03
      MUg/kg body weight (b.w.; 2.17-4.40). Dietary lead exposure was 46.24 MUg/day
      (38.11-54.77) and 4.87 MUg/kg b.w. (4.00-6.14). The estimated dietary mercury
      exposure was 11.64 MUg/day and 1.19 MUg/kg b.w. (0.82-1.76). Participants were
      classified according to their heavy metal intake (above or below the respective
      medians). After further adjustment for potential confounding factors, no
      significant differences were found in all the measured parameters (p > 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: We did not find associations between bone health and the dietary
      intake of three heavy metals in postmenopausal women. Dietary intake of the
      measured heavy metals were within the recommended values.

PMID- 28587149
TI  - Suppression of Osteoclastogenesis by Melatonin: A Melatonin Receptor-Independent
      Action.
AB  - In vertebrates, melatonin is primarily secreted from the pineal gland but it
      affects various biological processes including the sleep-wake cycle, vasomotor
      control, immune system and bone homeostasis. Melatonin has been known to promote
      osteoblast differentiation and bone maturation, but a direct role of melatonin on
      osteoclast differentiation is still elusive. The present study investigated the
      effect of melatonin on the differentiation of macrophages to osteoclasts. The
      presence of melatonin significantly reduced receptor activator of nuclear factor
      kappaB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis and the siRNA-mediated knockdown
      of the melatonin receptor failed to overcome the anti-osteoclastogenic effect of
      melatonin. Although melatonin treatment did not affect the phosphorylation of
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase
      (JNK), it markedly inhibited the activation of NF-kappaB and subsequent induction
      of nuclear factor of activated T cell cytoplasmic 1(NFATc1). Thus, our results
      suggest that melatonin could suppress osteoclast differentiation through
      downregulation of NF-kappaB pathway with concomitant decrease in the NFATc1
      transcription factor induction. Furthermore, melatonin seems to have an anti
      osteoclastogenic effect independent of plasma membrane melatonin receptors. In
      addition to previously reported properties of melatonin, our study proposes
      another aspect of melatonin and bone homeostasis.

PMID- 28587151
TI  - Geographical Environment Factors and Risk Assessment of Tick-Borne Encephalitis
      in Hulunbuir, Northeastern China.
AB  - Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is one of natural foci diseases transmitted by
      ticks. Its distribution and transmission are closely related to geographic and
      environmental factors. Identification of environmental determinates of TBE is of
      great importance to understanding the general distribution of existing and
      potential TBE natural foci. Hulunbuir, one of the most severe endemic areas of
      the disease, is selected as the study area. Statistical analysis, global and
      local spatial autocorrelation analysis, and regression methods were applied to
      detect the spatiotemporal characteristics, compare the impact degree of
      associated factors, and model the risk distribution using the heterogeneity. The
      statistical analysis of gridded geographic and environmental factors and TBE
      incidence show that the TBE patients mainly occurred during spring and summer and
      that there is a significant positive spatial autocorrelation between the
      distribution of TBE cases and environmental characteristics. The impact degree of
      these factors on TBE risks has the following descending order: temperature,
      relative humidity, vegetation coverage, precipitation and topography. A high-risk
      area with a triangle shape was determined in the central part of Hulunbuir; the
      low-risk area is located in the two belts next to the outside edge of the central
      triangle. The TBE risk distribution revealed that the impact of the geographic
      factors changed depending on the heterogeneity.

PMID- 28587153
TI  - Nanoporous Gold Films Prepared by a Combination of Sputtering and Dealloying for
      Trace Detection of Benzo[a]pyrene Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - A wavelength-interrogated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on a
      nanoporous gold (NPG) film has been fabricated for the sensitive detection of
      trace quantities of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in water. The large-area uniform NPG
      film was prepared by a two-step process that includes sputtering deposition of a
      60-nm-thick AuAg alloy film on a glass substrate and chemical dealloying of the
      alloy film in nitric acid. For SPR sensor applications, the NPG film plays the
      dual roles of analyte enrichment and supporting surface plasmon waves, which
      leads to sensitivity enhancement. In this work, the as-prepared NPG film was
      first modified with 1-dodecanethiol molecules to make the film hydrophobic so as
      to improve BaP enrichment from water via hydrophobic interactions. The SPR sensor
      with the hydrophobic NPG film enables one to detect BaP at concentrations as low
      as 1 nmol.L-1. In response to this concentration of BaP the sensor produced a
      resonance-wavelength shift of DeltalambdaR = 2.22 nm. After the NPG film was
      functionalized with mouse monoclonal IgG1 that is the antibody against BaP, the
      sensor's sensitivity was further improved and the BaP detection limit decreased
      further down to 5 pmol.L-1 (the corresponding DeltalambdaR = 1.77 nm). In
      contrast, the conventional SPR sensor with an antibody-functionalized dense gold
      film can give a response of merely DeltalambdaR = 0.9 nm for 100 pmol.L-1 BaP.

PMID- 28587152
TI  - Long Term Physiologic and Behavioural Effects of Housing Density and
      Environmental Resource Provision for Adult Male and Female Sprague Dawley Rats.
AB  - There is considerable interest in refining laboratory rodent environments to
      promote animal well-being, as well as research reproducibility. Few studies have
      evaluated the long term impact of enhancing rodent environments with resources
      and additional cagemates. To that end, male and female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats
      were housed singly (n = 8/sex), in pairs (n = 16/sex), or in groups of four (n =
      16/sex) for five months. Single and paired rats were housed in standard cages
      with a nylon chew toy, while group-housed rats were kept in double-wide cages
      with two PVC shelters and a nylon chew toy and were provided with food enrichment
      three times weekly. Animal behaviour, tests of anxiety (open field, elevated plus
      maze, and thermal nociception), and aspects of animal physiology (fecal corticoid
      levels, body weight, weekly food consumption, organ weights, and cerebral stress
      signaling peptide and receptor mRNA levels) were measured. Significant
      differences were noted, primarily in behavioural data, with sustained positive
      social interactions and engagement with environmental resources noted throughout
      the study. These results suggest that modest enhancements in the environment of
      both male and female SD rats may be beneficial to their well-being, while
      introducing minimal variation in other aspects of behavioural or physiologic
      responses.

PMID- 28587150
TI  - Variability and Global Distribution of Subgenotypes of Bovine Viral Diarrhea
      Virus.
AB  - Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a globally-distributed agent responsible
      for numerous clinical syndromes that lead to major economic losses. Two species,
      BVDV-1 and BVDV-2, discriminated on the basis of genetic and antigenic
      differences, are classified in the genus Pestivirus within the Flaviviridae
      family and distributed on all of the continents. BVDV-1 can be segregated into at
      least twenty-one subgenotypes (1a-1u), while four subgenotypes have been
      described for BVDV-2 (2a-2d). With respect to published sequences, the number of
      virus isolates described for BVDV-1 (88.2%) is considerably higher than for BVDV
      2 (11.8%). The most frequently-reported BVDV-1 subgenotype are 1b, followed by 1a
      and 1c. The highest number of various BVDV subgenotypes has been documented in
      European countries, indicating greater genetic diversity of the virus on this
      continent. Current segregation of BVDV field isolates and the designation of
      subgenotypes are not harmonized. While the species BVDV-1 and BVDV-2 can be
      clearly differentiated independently from the portion of the genome being
      compared, analysis of different genomic regions can result in inconsistent
      assignment of some BVDV isolates to defined subgenotypes. To avoid non
      conformities the authors recommend the development of a harmonized system for
      subdivision of BVDV isolates into defined subgenotypes.

PMID- 28587154
TI  - Redistribution of Endosomal Membranes to the African Swine Fever Virus
      Replication Site.
AB  - African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection causes endosomal reorganization. Here,
      we show that the virus causes endosomal congregation close to the nucleus as the
      infection progresses, which is necessary to build a compact viral replication
      organelle. ASFV enters the cell by the endosomal pathway and reaches
      multivesicular late endosomes. Upon uncoating and fusion, the virus should exit
      to the cytosol to start replication. ASFV remodels endosomal traffic and
      redistributes endosomal membranes to the viral replication site. Virus
      replication also depends on endosomal membrane phosphoinositides (PtdIns)
      synthesized by PIKfyve. Endosomes could act as platforms providing membranes and
      PtdIns, necessary for ASFV replication. Our study has revealed that ASFV
      reorganizes endosome dynamics, in order to ensure a productive infection.

PMID- 28587157
TI  - Adaptive Estimation of Multiple Fading Factors for GPS/INS Integrated Navigation
      Systems.
AB  - The Kalman filter has been widely applied in the field of dynamic navigation and
      positioning. However, its performance will be degraded in the presence of
      significant model errors and uncertain interferences. In the literature, the
      fading filter was proposed to control the influences of the model errors, and the
      H-infinity filter can be adopted to address the uncertainties by minimizing the
      estimation error in the worst case. In this paper, a new multiple fading factor,
      suitable for the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Inertial Navigation
      System (INS) integrated navigation system, is proposed based on the optimization
      of the filter, and a comprehensive filtering algorithm is constructed by
      integrating the advantages of the H-infinity filter and the proposed multiple
      fading filter. Measurement data of the GPS/INS integrated navigation system are
      collected under actual conditions. Stability and robustness of the proposed
      filtering algorithm are tested with various experiments and contrastive analysis
      are performed with the measurement data. Results demonstrate that both the filter
      divergence and the influences of outliers are restrained effectively with the
      proposed filtering algorithm, and precision of the filtering results are improved
      simultaneously.

PMID- 28587148
TI  - The Role of Caveolin 1 in HIV Infection and Pathogenesis.
AB  - Caveolin 1 (Cav-1) is a major component of the caveolae structure and is
      expressed in a variety of cell types including macrophages, which are susceptible
      to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Caveolae structures are present
      in abundance in mechanically stressed cells such as endothelial cells and
      adipocytes. HIV infection induces dysfunction of these cells and promotes
      pathogenesis. Cav-1 and the caveolae structure are believed to be involved in
      multiple cellular processes that include signal transduction, lipid regulation,
      endocytosis, transcytosis, and mechanoprotection. Such a broad biological role of
      Cav-1/caveolae is bound to have functional cross relationships with several
      molecular pathways including HIV replication and viral-induced pathogenesis. The
      current review covers the relationship of Cav-1 and HIV in respect to viral
      replication, persistence, and the potential role in pathogenesis.

PMID- 28587156
TI  - Differential Sarcomere and Electrophysiological Maturation of Human iPSC-Derived
      Cardiac Myocytes in Monolayer vs. Aggregation-Based Differentiation Protocols.
AB  - Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a powerful human model to
      study cardiac disease in vitro, notably channelopathies and sarcomeric
      cardiomyopathies. Different protocols for cardiac differentiation of iPSCs have
      been proposed either based on embroid body formation (3D) or, more recently, on
      monolayer culture (2D). We performed a direct comparison of the characteristics
      of the derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) on day 27 +/- 2 of differentiation
      between 3D and 2D differentiation protocols with two different Wnt-inhibitors
      were compared: IWR1 (inhibitor of Wnt response) or IWP2 (inhibitor of Wnt
      production). We firstly found that the level of Troponin T (TNNT2) expression
      measured by FACS was significantly higher for both 2D protocols as compared to
      the 3D protocol. In the three methods, iPSC-CM show sarcomeric structures.
      However, iPSC-CM generated in 2D protocols constantly displayed larger sarcomere
      lengths as compared to the 3D protocol. In addition, mRNA and protein analyses
      reveal higher cTNi to ssTNi ratios in the 2D protocol using IWP2 as compared to
      both other protocols, indicating a higher sarcomeric maturation. Differentiation
      of cardiac myocytes with 2D monolayer-based protocols and the use of IWP2 allows
      the production of higher yield of cardiac myocytes that have more suitable
      characteristics to study sarcomeric cardiomyopathies.

PMID- 28587158
TI  - Low-Symmetry Mixed Fluorinated Subphthalocyanines as Fluorescence Imaging Probes
      in MDA-MB-231 Breast Tumor Cells.
AB  - Boron subphthalocyanines (SPcs) are aromatic macrocycles that possess a
      combination of physical and optical properties that make them excellent
      candidates for application as fluorescent imaging probes. These molecules have
      intense electronic absorption and emission, and structural versatility that
      allows for specific tuning of physical properties. Herein, we report the
      synthesis of a series of low-symmetry fluorinated SPcs and compare them to
      analogous compounds with varying numbers of peripheral fluorine atoms and varied
      aromaticity. Across the series, with increasing addition of fluorine atoms to the
      periphery of the ring, a downfield chemical shift in 19F NMR and a bathochromic
      shift of electronic absorption were observed. Expanding the size of the aromatic
      ring by replacing peripheral benzo- groups with naphtho- groups prompted a far
      more drastic bathochromic shift to absorption and emission. Fluorescence quantum
      yields (Phif) proved to be sufficiently high to observe intracellular
      fluorescence from MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cells in vitro by epifluorescence
      microscopy; fluorination proved vital for this purpose to improve solubility.
      This report lays the groundwork for the future development of these promising
      SPcs for their ultimate application as near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent imaging
      probes in biological systems.

PMID- 28587161
TI  - Structural Health Monitoring for a Z-Type Special Vehicle.
AB  - Nowadays there exist various kinds of special vehicles designed for some
      purposes, which are different from regular vehicles in overall dimension and
      design. In that case, accidents such as overturning will lead to large economical
      loss and casualties. There are still no technical specifications to follow to
      ensure the safe operation and driving of these special vehicles. Owing to the
      poor efficiency of regular maintenance, it is more feasible and effective to
      apply real-time monitoring during the operation and driving process. In this
      paper, the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are used to monitor the safety of a
      z-type special vehicle. Based on the structural features and force distribution,
      a reasonable structural health monitoring (SHM) scheme is presented. Comparing
      the monitoring results with the finite element simulation results guarantees the
      accuracy and reliability of the monitoring results. Large amounts of data are
      collected during the operation and driving progress to evaluate the structural
      safety condition and provide reference for SHM systems developed for other
      special vehicles.

PMID- 28587155
TI  - Dietary Intervention by Phytochemicals and Their Role in Modulating Coding and
      Non-Coding Genes in Cancer.
AB  - Phytochemicals are natural compounds synthesized as secondary metabolites in
      plants, representing an important source of molecules with a wide range of
      therapeutic applications. These natural agents are important regulators of key
      pathological processes/conditions, including cancer, as they are able to modulate
      the expression of coding and non-coding transcripts with an oncogenic or tumour
      suppressor role. These natural agents are currently exploited for the development
      of therapeutic strategies alone or in tandem with conventional treatments for
      cancer. The aim of this paper is to review the recent studies regarding the role
      of these natural phytochemicals in different processes related to cancer
      inhibition, including apoptosis activation, angiogenesis and metastasis
      suppression. From the large palette of phytochemicals we selected
      epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), genistein,
      morin and kaempferol, due to their increased activity in modulating multiple
      coding and non-coding genes, targeting the main hallmarks of cancer.

PMID- 28587159
TI  - Effects of Low-Dose Non-Caloric Sweetener Consumption on Gut Microbiota in Mice.
AB  - Abstract: Non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NASs) provide sweet tastes to food
      without adding calories or glucose. NASs can be used as alternative sweeteners
      for controlling blood glucose levels and weight gain. Although the consumption of
      NASs has increased over the past decade in Japan and other countries, whether
      these sweeteners affect the composition of the gut microbiome is unclear. In the
      present study, we examined the effects of sucralose or acesulfame-K ingestion (at
      most the maximum acceptable daily intake (ADI) levels, 15 mg/kg body weight) on
      the gut microbiome in mice. Consumption of sucralose, but not acesulfame-K, for 8
      weeks reduced the relative amount of Clostridiumcluster XIVa in feces. Meanwhile,
      sucralose and acesulfame-K did not increase food intake, body weight gain or
      liver weight, or fat in the epididymis or cecum. Only sucralose intake increased
      the concentration of hepatic cholesterol and cholic acid. Moreover, the relative
      concentration of butyrate and the ratio of secondary/primary bile acids in
      luminal metabolites increased with sucralose consumption in a dose-dependent
      manner. These results suggest that daily intake of maximum ADI levels of
      sucralose, but not acesulfame-K, affected the relative amount of the Clostridium
      cluster XIVa in fecal microbiome and cholesterol bile acid metabolism in mice.

PMID- 28587160
TI  - Advances in Drug Discovery of New Antitubercular Multidrug-Resistant Compounds.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused mainly by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      (Mtb), is according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the infectious disease
      responsible for the highest number of deaths worldwide. The increased number of
      multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) strains, and
      the ineffectiveness of the current treatment against latent tuberculosis are
      challenges to be overcome in the coming years. The scenario of drug discovery
      becomes alarming when it is considered that the number of new drugs does not
      increase proportionally to the emergence of drug resistance. In this review, we
      will demonstrate the current advances in antitubercular drug discovery, focusing
      on the research of compounds with potent antituberculosis activity against MDR-TB
      strains. Herein, active compounds against MDR-TB with minimum inhibitory
      concentrations (MICs) less than 11 uM and low toxicity published in the last 4
      years in the databases PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus will be presented and
      discussed.

PMID- 28587162
TI  - Glutathione-Mediated Cu(I)/Cu(II) Complexes: Valence-Dependent Effects on
      Clearance and In Vivo Imaging Application.
AB  - Contrast imaging agents need to be cleared in a reasonable time (less than 72 h),
      so it is quite urgent to understand the structure, biocompatibility, and
      metabolism features of imaging agents. In this work, luminescent Cu(I)-GSH
      complex and their derivative oxidized Cu(II)-GSSG complex have been easily
      synthesized. Through systematically probing the renal clearance and
      biodistribution of the as-prepared copper complexes, we found that Cu(I)-GSH
      complex revealed much more efficient renal clearance and remarkably lower liver
      accumulation than that of their oxidation states, which could be due to strong
      protein binding of partial forms of Cu(II)-GSSG complex. Besides, we also
      attempted to incorporate radioactive copper-64 into Cu(I)-GSH complex for the
      synthesis of radioactive contrast agent. Indeed, the as-prepared radioactive
      Cu(I)-GSH complex also showed consistent high efficiency renal excretion,
      allowing them to be potential PET imaging agents in clinical translation.

PMID- 28587164
TI  - Chemical Methods to Knock Down the Amyloid Proteins.
AB  - Amyloid proteins are closely related with amyloid diseases and do tremendous harm
      to human health. However, there is still a lack of effective strategies to treat
      these amyloid diseases, so it is important to develop novel methods. Accelerating
      the clearance of amyloid proteins is a favorable method for amyloid disease
      treatment. Recently, chemical methods for protein reduction have been developed
      and have attracted much attention. In this review, we focus on the latest
      progress of chemical methods that knock down amyloid proteins, including the
      proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) strategy, the "recognition-cleavage"
      strategy, the chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) strategy, the selectively light
      activatable organic and inorganic molecules strategy and other chemical
      strategies.

PMID- 28587165
TI  - Dynamic In Vivo Profiling of DNA Damage and Repair after Radiotherapy Using
      Canine Patients as a Model.
AB  - Time resolved data of DNA damage and repair after radiotherapy elucidates the
      relation between damage, repair, and cell survival. While well characterized in
      vitro, little is known about the time-course of DNA damage response in tumors
      sampled from individual patients. Kinetics of DNA damage after radiotherapy was
      assessed in eight dogs using repeated in vivo samples of tumor and co-irradiated
      normal tissue analyzed with comet assay and phosphorylated H2AX (gammaH2AX)
      immunohistochemistry. In vivo results were then compared (in silico) with a
      dynamic mathematical model for DNA damage formation and repair. Maximum %DNA in
      tail was observed at 15-60 min after irradiation, with a rapid decrease. Time
      courses of gammaH2AX-foci paralleled these findings with a small time delay and
      were not influenced by covariates. The evolutionary parameter search based on
      %DNA in tail revealed a good fit of the DNA repair model to in vivo data for
      pooled sarcoma time-courses, but fits for individual sarcoma time-courses suffer
      from the heterogeneous nature of the in vivo data. It was possible to follow
      dynamics of comet tail intensity and gammaH2AX-foci during a course of radiation
      using a minimally invasive approach. DNA repair can be quantitatively
      investigated as time-courses of individual patients by integrating this resulting
      data into a dynamic mathematical model.

PMID- 28587166
TI  - Exploring Adenosine Receptor Ligands: Potential Role in the Treatment of
      Cardiovascular Diseases.
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases remain the number one diseases affecting patients'
      morbidity and mortality. The adenosine receptors are G-protein coupled receptors
      which have been of interest for drugs target for the treatment of multiple
      diseases ranging from cardiovascular to neurological. Adenosine receptors have
      been connected to several biological pathways affecting the physiology and
      pathology of the cardiovascular system. In this review, we will cover the
      different adenosine receptor ligands that have been identified to interact with
      adenosine receptors and affect the vascular system. These ligands will be
      evaluated from clinical as well as medicinal chemistry perspectives with more
      emphasis on how structural changes in structure translate into ligand potency and
      efficacy. Adenosine receptors represent a novel therapeutic target for
      development of treatment options treating a wide variety of diseases, including
      vascular disease and obesity.

PMID- 28587167
TI  - New Mild and Simple Approach to Isothiocyanates: A Class of Potent Anticancer
      Agents.
AB  - In our current work, acetyl chloride-mediated synthesis of phenethyl
      isothiocyanate (PEITC) derivatives proves to be convenient and provides the
      expected products at good to excellent yields. Biological evaluation and
      structure-activity relationship analysis found that the novel compound 7 showed
      the best anticancer activity against human cancer cell line Panc1 and HGC27
      compared with PEITC. Compounds 6 and 7 induced more apoptosis in pancreatic
      cancer cells but less toxicity in non-cancer cells. Further biological study
      demonstrated that 7 substantially increased intracellular reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) and depleted glutathione (GSH), leading to an oxidative stress to kill
      cancer cell.

PMID- 28587169
TI  - Meta-Analyses of QTLs Associated with Protein and Oil Contents and Compositions
      in Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] Seed.
AB  - Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a valuable and nutritious crop in part due to
      the high protein meal and vegetable oil produced from its seed. Soybean producers
      desire cultivars with both elevated seed protein and oil concentrations as well
      as specific amino acid and fatty acid profiles. Numerous studies have identified
      quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with seed composition traits, but
      validation of these QTLs has rarely been carried out. In this study, we have
      collected information, including genetic location and additive effects, on each
      QTL for seed contents of protein and oil, as well as amino acid and fatty acid
      compositions from over 80 studies. Using BioMercator V. 4.2, a meta-QTL analysis
      was performed with genetic information comprised of 175 QTLs for protein, 205
      QTLs for oil, 156 QTLs for amino acids, and 113 QTLs for fatty acids. A total of
      55 meta-QTL for seed composition were detected on 6 out of 20 chromosomes. Meta
      QTL possessed narrower confidence intervals than the original QTL and candidate
      genes were identified within each meta-QTL. These candidate genes elucidate
      potential natural genetic variation in genes contributing to protein and oil
      biosynthesis and accumulation, providing meaningful information to further
      soybean breeding programs.

PMID- 28587168
TI  - Physicochemical Properties, Biological Activity, Health Benefits, and General
      Limitations of Aged Black Garlic: A Review.
AB  - Garlic (Allium sativum) has been used as a medicinal food since ancient times.
      However, some people are reluctant to ingest raw garlic due to its unpleasant
      odor and taste. Therefore, many types of garlic preparations have been developed
      to reduce these attributes without losing biological functions. Aged black garlic
      (ABG) is a garlic preparation with a sweet and sour taste and no strong odor. It
      has recently been introduced to Asian markets as a functional food. Extensive in
      vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that ABG has a variety of biological
      functions such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-obesity, anti
      diabetic, anti-allergic, cardioprotective, and hepatoprotective effects. Recent
      studies have compared the biological activity and function of ABG to those of raw
      garlic. ABG shows lower anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulation, immunomodulatory,
      and anti-allergic effects compared to raw garlic. This paper reviews the
      physicochemical properties, biological activity, health benefits, adverse
      effects, and general limitations of ABG.

PMID- 28587171
TI  - Optimal Time Allocation in Backscatter Assisted Wireless Powered Communication
      Networks.
AB  - This paper proposes a wireless powered communication network (WPCN) assisted by
      backscatter communication (BackCom). This model consists of a power station, an
      information receiver and multiple users that can work in either BackCom mode or
      harvest-then-transmit (HTT) mode. The time block is mainly divided into two parts
      corresponding to the data backscattering and transmission periods, respectively.
      The users first backscatter data to the information receiver in time division
      multiple access (TDMA) during the data backscattering period. When one user works
      in the BackCom mode, the other users harvest energy from the power station.
      During the data transmission period, two schemes, i.e., non-orthogonal multiple
      access (NOMA) and TDMA, are considered. To maximize the system throughput, the
      optimal time allocation policies are obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the
      superiority of the proposed model.

PMID- 28587170
TI  - The Combination of Arginine Deprivation and 5-Fluorouracil Improves Therapeutic
      Efficacy in Argininosuccinate Synthetase Negative Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS), a key enzyme to synthesize arginine is down
      regulated in many tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Similar to
      previous reports, we have found the decrease in ASS expression in poorly
      differentiated HCC. These ASS(-) tumors are auxotrophic for arginine. Pegylated
      arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20), which degrades arginine, has shown activity in
      these tumors, but the antitumor effect is not robust and hence combination
      treatment is needed. Herein, we have elucidated the effectiveness of ADI-PEG20
      combined with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) in ASS(-)HCC by targeting urea cycle and
      pyrimidine metabolism using four HCC cell lines as model. SNU398 and SNU387
      express very low levels of ASS or ASS(-) while Huh-1, and HepG2 express high ASS
      similar to normal cells. Our results showed that the augmented cytotoxic effect
      of combination treatment only occurs in SNU398 and SNU387, and not in HepG2 and
      Huh-1 (ASS(+)) cells, and is partly due to reduced anti-apoptotic proteins X
      linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), myeloid leukemia cell
      differentiation protein (Mcl-1) and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2). Importantly, lack
      of ASS also influences essential enzymes in pyrimidine synthesis (carbamoyl
      phosphate synthetase2, aspartate transcarbamylase and dihydrooratase (CAD) and
      thymidylate synthase (TS)) and malate dehydrogenase-1 (MDH-1) in TCA cycle. ADI
      PEG20 treatment decreased these enzymes and made them more vulnerable to 5-FU.
      Transfection of ASS restored these enzymes and abolished the sensitivity to ADI
      PEG20 and combination treatment. Overall, our data suggest that ASS influences
      multiple enzymes involved in 5-FU sensitivity. Combining ADI-PEG20 and 5-FU may
      be effective to treat ASS(-)hepatoma and warrants further clinical investigation.

PMID- 28587163
TI  - A Tox21 Approach to Altered Epigenetic Landscapes: Assessing Epigenetic Toxicity
      Pathways Leading to Altered Gene Expression and Oncogenic Transformation In
      Vitro.
AB  - An emerging vision for toxicity testing in the 21st century foresees in vitro
      assays assuming the leading role in testing for chemical hazards, including
      testing for carcinogenicity. Toxicity will be determined by monitoring key steps
      in functionally validated molecular pathways, using tests designed to reveal
      chemically-induced perturbations that lead to adverse phenotypic endpoints in
      cultured human cells. Risk assessments would subsequently be derived from the
      causal in vitro endpoints and concentration vs. effect data extrapolated to human
      in vivo concentrations. Much direct experimental evidence now shows that
      disruption of epigenetic processes by chemicals is a carcinogenic mode of action
      that leads to altered gene functions playing causal roles in cancer initiation
      and progression. In assessing chemical safety, it would therefore be advantageous
      to consider an emerging class of carcinogens, the epigenotoxicants, with the
      ability to change chromatin and/or DNA marks by direct or indirect effects on the
      activities of enzymes (writers, erasers/editors, remodelers and readers) that
      convey the epigenetic information. Evidence is reviewed supporting a strategy for
      in vitro hazard identification of carcinogens that induce toxicity through
      disturbance of functional epigenetic pathways in human somatic cells, leading to
      inactivated tumour suppressor genes and carcinogenesis. In the context of human
      cell transformation models, these in vitro pathway measurements ensure high
      biological relevance to the apical endpoint of cancer. Four causal mechanisms
      participating in pathways to persistent epigenetic gene silencing were
      considered: covalent histone modification, nucleosome remodeling, non-coding RNA
      interaction and DNA methylation. Within these four interacting mechanisms, 25
      epigenetic toxicity pathway components (SET1, MLL1, KDM5, G9A, SUV39H1, SETDB1,
      EZH2, JMJD3, CBX7, CBX8, BMI, SUZ12, HP1, MPP8, DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, TET1,
      MeCP2, SETDB2, BAZ2A, UHRF1, CTCF, HOTAIR and ANRIL) were found to have
      experimental evidence showing that functional perturbations played "driver" roles
      in human cellular transformation. Measurement of epigenotoxicants presents
      challenges for short-term carcinogenicity testing, especially in the high
      throughput modes emphasized in the Tox21 chemicals testing approach. There is
      need to develop and validate in vitro tests to detect both, locus-specific, and
      genome-wide, epigenetic alterations with causal links to oncogenic cellular
      phenotypes. Some recent examples of cell-based high throughput chemical screening
      assays are presented that have been applied or have shown potential for
      application to epigenetic endpoints.

PMID- 28587173
TI  - Design and Implementation of a Hypothermic Machine Perfusion Device for Clinical
      Preservation of Isolated Organs.
AB  - The imbalance between limited organ supply and huge potential need has hindered
      the development of organ-graft techniques. In this paper a low-cost hypothermic
      machine perfusion (HMP) device is designed and implemented to maintain suitable
      preservation surroundings and extend the survival life of isolated organs. Four
      necessary elements (the machine perfusion, the physiological parameter
      monitoring, the thermostatic control and the oxygenation apparatus) involved in
      this HMP device are introduced. Especially during the thermostatic control
      process, a modified Bayes estimation, which introduces the concept of improvement
      factor, is realized to recognize and reduce the possible measurement errors
      resulting from sensor faults and noise interference. Also, a fuzzy-PID controller
      contributes to improve the accuracy and reduces the computational load using the
      DSP. Our experiments indicate that the reliability of the instrument meets the
      design requirements, thus being appealing for potential clinical preservation
      applications.

PMID- 28587174
TI  - Chang'E-5T Orbit Determination Using Onboard GPS Observations.
AB  - In recent years, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has played an
      important role in Space Service Volume, the region enclosing the altitudes above
      3000 km up to 36,000 km. As an in-flight test for the feasibility as well as for
      the performance of GNSS-based satellite orbit determination (OD), the Chinese
      experimental lunar mission Chang'E-5T had been equipped with an onboard high
      sensitivity GNSS receiver with GPS and GLONASS tracking capability. In this
      contribution, the 2-h onboard GPS data are evaluated in terms of tracking
      performance as well as observation quality. It is indicated that the onboard
      receiver can track 7-8 GPS satellites per epoch on average and the ratio of
      carrier to noise spectral density (C/N0) values are higher than 28 dB-Hz for 90%
      of all the observables. The C1 code errors are generally about 4.15 m but can be
      better than 2 m with C/N0 values over 36 dB-Hz. GPS-based Chang'E-5T OD is
      performed and the Helmert variance component estimation method is investigated to
      determine the weights of code and carrier phase observations. The results reveal
      that the orbit consistency is about 20 m. OD is furthermore analyzed with GPS
      data screened out according to different C/N0 thresholds. It is indicated that
      for the Chang'E-5T, the precision of OD is dominated by the number of observed
      satellite. Although increased C/N0 thresholds can improve the overall data
      quality, the available number of GPS observations is greatly reduced and the
      resulting orbit solution is poor.

PMID- 28587172
TI  - The Rising Tide of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture: Sources, Sinks and
      Solutions.
AB  - As the human population increases there is an increasing reliance on aquaculture
      to supply a safe, reliable, and economic supply of food. Although food production
      is essential for a healthy population, an increasing threat to global human
      health is antimicrobial resistance. Extensive antibiotic resistant strains are
      now being detected; the spread of these strains could greatly reduce medical
      treatment options available and increase deaths from previously curable
      infections. Antibiotic resistance is widespread due in part to clinical overuse
      and misuse; however, the natural processes of horizontal gene transfer and
      mutation events that allow genetic exchange within microbial populations have
      been ongoing since ancient times. By their nature, aquaculture systems contain
      high numbers of diverse bacteria, which exist in combination with the current and
      past use of antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and other treatment regimens
      singularly or in combination. These systems have been designated as "genetic
      hotspots" for gene transfer. As our reliance on aquaculture grows, it is
      essential that we identify the sources and sinks of antimicrobial resistance, and
      monitor and analyse the transfer of antimicrobial resistance between the
      microbial community, the environment, and the farmed product, in order to better
      understand the implications to human and environmental health.

PMID- 28587175
TI  - UHPLC-TQ-MS Coupled with Multivariate Statistical Analysis to Characterize
      Nucleosides, Nucleobases and Amino Acids in Angelicae Sinensis Radix Obtained by
      Different Drying Methods.
AB  - To explore the nutrients in roots of Angelica sinensis (Angelicae Sinensis Radix,
      ASR), a medicinal and edible plant, and evaluate its nutritional value, a rapid
      and reliable UHPLC-TQ-MS method was established and used to determine the
      potential nutritional compounds, including nucleosides, nucleobases and amino
      acids, in 50 batches of ASR samples obtained using two drying methods. The
      results showed that ASR is a healthy food rich in nucleosides, nucleobases and
      amino acids, especially arginine. The total average content of nucleosides and
      nucleobases in all ASR samples was 3.94 mg/g, while that of amino acids reached
      as high as 61.79 mg/g. Principle component analysis showed that chemical profile
      differences exist between the two groups of ASR samples prepared using different
      drying methods, and the contents of nutritional compounds in samples dried with
      the tempering-intermittent drying processing method (TIDM) were generally higher
      than those dried using the traditional solar processing method. The above results
      suggest that ASR should be considered an ideal healthy food and TIDM could be a
      suitable drying method for ASR when taking nucleosides, nucleobases and amino
      acids as the major consideration for their known human health benefits.

PMID- 28587177
TI  - Classification of K-Pop Dance Movements Based on Skeleton Information Obtained by
      a Kinect Sensor.
AB  - This paper suggests a method of classifying Korean pop (K-pop) dances based on
      human skeletal motion data obtained from a Kinect sensor in a motion-capture
      studio environment. In order to accomplish this, we construct a K-pop dance
      database with a total of 800 dance-movement data points including 200 dance types
      produced by four professional dancers, from skeletal joint data obtained by a
      Kinect sensor. Our classification of movements consists of three main steps.
      First, we obtain six core angles representing important motion features from 25
      markers in each frame. These angles are concatenated with feature vectors for all
      of the frames of each point dance. Then, a dimensionality reduction is performed
      with a combination of principal component analysis and Fisher's linear
      discriminant analysis, which is called fisherdance. Finally, we design an
      efficient Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU)-based Extreme Learning Machine Classifier
      (ELMC) with an input layer composed of these feature vectors transformed by
      fisherdance. In contrast to conventional neural networks, the presented
      classifier achieves a rapid processing time without implementing weight learning.
      The results of experiments conducted on the constructed K-pop dance database
      reveal that the proposed method demonstrates a better classification performance
      than those of conventional methods such as KNN (K-Nearest Neighbor), SVM (Support
      Vector Machine), and ELM alone.

PMID- 28587176
TI  - Bifunctional Enzyme JMJD6 Contributes to Multiple Disease Pathogenesis: New Twist
      on the Old Story.
AB  - Jumonji domain-containing protein 6 (JMJD6) is a non-heme Fe(II) 2-oxoglutarate
      (2OG)-dependent oxygenase with arginine demethylase and lysyl hydroxylase
      activities. Its initial discovery as a dispensable phosphatidylserine receptor
      (PSR) in the cell membrane of macrophages for phagocytosis was squashed by newer
      studies which revealed its nuclear localization and bifunctional enzymatic
      activity. Though its interaction with several nuclear and cytoplasmic target
      proteins has been demonstrated, the exact mechanisms and clinical significance of
      these various biologic interplays are not yet well established. Recent
      investigations have shed the light on the multiple pathways by which JMJD6 can
      regulate cell proliferation and cause tumorigenesis. Clinically, JMJD6 has been
      associated with more aggressive and metastatic disease, poorer prognosis, and
      lower overall survival rates-particularly in lung colon and oral cancers. JMJD6
      is a novel biomarker for predicting future disease outcomes and is a target for
      new therapeutic treatments in future studies. Aberrant expression and
      dysregulation of JMJD6 are implicated in various other processes such as impaired
      T-cell proliferation and maturation, inoculation, and virulence of foot-and-mouth
      disease virus (FMDV), and impaired methylation of innate immunity factor. This
      article reviews the association of JMJD6 with various pathological processes
      particularly, its role in tumorigenesis and virological interactions.

PMID- 28587178
TI  - Survey of Motion Tracking Methods Based on Inertial Sensors: A Focus on Upper
      Limb Human Motion.
AB  - Motion tracking based on commercial inertial measurements units (IMUs) has been
      widely studied in the latter years as it is a cost-effective enabling technology
      for those applications in which motion tracking based on optical technologies is
      unsuitable. This measurement method has a high impact in human performance
      assessment and human-robot interaction. IMU motion tracking systems are indeed
      self-contained and wearable, allowing for long-lasting tracking of the user
      motion in situated environments. After a survey on IMU-based human tracking, five
      techniques for motion reconstruction were selected and compared to reconstruct a
      human arm motion. IMU based estimation was matched against motion tracking based
      on the Vicon marker-based motion tracking system considered as ground truth.
      Results show that all but one of the selected models perform similarly (about 35
      mm average position estimation error).

PMID- 28587179
TI  - Screening of Deoxynivalenol Producing Strains and Elucidation of Possible
      Toxigenic Molecular Mechanism.
AB  - In this study, seven strains of Fusarium graminearum were isolated from wheat, of
      which six were identified to produce deoxynivalenol and the production of
      deoxynivalenol was assessed. F. graminearum strain Fg1 was noted to produce 1.0
      MUg/g deoxynivalenol during the incubation period in the Czapek yeast broth,
      while none was detected in F. graminearum strain Fg2. Hence, the differences in
      proteomes and transcriptomes of Fg1 and Fg2 were compared to analyze the
      mechanism underlying deoxynivalenol production. Among the 66 significantly
      differentially expressed proteins in Fg1, 39 and 27 were more or less abundant
      expressed. Functional analysis suggested that the enzymes involved in the
      methylerythritol 4-phosphate and mevalonate pathways, which provide a substrate
      for biosynthesis of farnesyl pyrophosphate, a precursor of DON, were activated in
      Fg1. The transcriptomics data demonstrated that the expression level of a
      majority of genes, including trichothecene biosynthetic genes, protein kinases,
      and transcription factors, involved in trichothecene biosynthesis was higher in
      Fg1 than in Fg2. The results also revealed differential expression profiles of
      deoxynivalenol biosynthesis genes in strains Fg1 and Fg2, which emphasized their
      deoxynivalenol producing ability and the underlying mechanism.

PMID- 28587180
TI  - Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment on Lipids in Obese Children.
AB  - Obesity in children is associated with several co-morbidities including
      dyslipidemia. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly seen in obese children.
      In adults, diagnosis of OSA independent of obesity is associated with
      cardiometabolic risk factors including dyslipidemia. There is limited data on the
      impact of treatment of OSA on lipids in children. The objective of the study was
      to examine the impact of treatment of OSA on lipids in 24 obese children.
      Methods: Seventeen children were treated with continuous positive airway pressure
      (CPAP) and five underwent adenotonsillectomy. Mean apnea hypopnea index prior to
      treatment was 13.0 + 12.1 and mean body mass index (BMI) was 38.0 + 10.6 kg/m2.
      Results: Treatment of OSA was associated with improvement in total cholesterol
      (mean change = -11 mg/dL, p < 0.001), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (mean change = -8.8 mg/dL, p = 0.021). Conclusion: Obese children should be
      routinely screened for OSA, as treatment of OSA favorably influences lipids and
      therefore decreases their cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 28587181
TI  - Chronic Inflammatory Diseases and Green Tea Polyphenols.
AB  - Chronic inflammatory diseases affect millions of people globally and the
      incidence rate is on the rise. While inflammation contributes to the tissue
      healing process, chronic inflammation can lead to life-long debilitation and loss
      of tissue function and organ failure. Chronic inflammatory diseases include
      hepatic, gastrointestinal and neurodegenerative complications which can lead to
      malignancy. Despite the millennial advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic
      modalities, there remains no effective cure for patients who suffer from
      inflammatory diseases. Therefore, patients seek alternatives and complementary
      agents as adjunct therapies to relieve symptoms and possibly to prevent
      consequences of inflammation. It is well known that green tea polyphenols (GrTPs)
      are potent antioxidants with important roles in regulating vital signaling
      pathways. These comprise transcription nuclear factor-kappa B mediated I kappa B
      kinase complex pathways, programmed cell death pathways like caspases and B-cell
      lymphoma-2 and intervention with the surge of inflammatory markers like cytokines
      and production ofcyclooxygenase-2. This paper concisely reviews relevant
      investigations regarding protective effects of GrTPs and some reported adverse
      effects, as well as possible applications for GrTPs in the treatment of chronic
      and inflammatory complications.

PMID- 28587183
TI  - Socioeconomic Disparity in Later-Year Group Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms:
      Role of Health and Social Engagement Change.
AB  - This study explored heterogeneous change patterns of South Korean older adults'
      depressive symptoms by poverty status, focusing on health status and social
      engagement changes. We used data from four waves (2006-2012) of the Korean
      Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). Our sample contained 2461 poor and 1668 non
      poor individuals. All were 65 years old or older at baseline. We used latent
      class growth analysis to identify trajectory groups' depressive symptoms.
      Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine how a range of changes in
      health conditions and social engagement was associated with trajectories among
      poor and non-poor participants. Among the poor, five heterogeneous trajectories
      with clear patterns were identified: high-to-moderate, stable-high, slightly
      increasing, steeply-increasing, and stable-low. Among non-poor, high-to-moderate,
      steeply-increasing, and stable-low groups were found. A decrease in health
      conditions was the most vulnerable subgroup's (steeply-increasing) primary risk
      factor. Poor older adults who reduced participation in, or decreased contact
      with, social networks were likely to belong to the steeply-increasing group. Our
      study provides impetus for organizational and/or environmental support systems to
      facilitate social engagement among poor older adults. Future research should
      examine whether the significance of social engagement among poor elders applies
      in less-developed and developed countries.

PMID- 28587185
TI  - Air Flow Detection in Crude Oil by Infrared Light.
AB  - In this paper, we used infrared light in the range of 8-12 MUm to develop and
      test an optical imaging system to detect air bubbles flowing in oil. The system
      basically comprises a broadband light source and a 31 * 32 thermopile array to
      generate images. To analyze the effects related to light absorption, reflection,
      and refraction on air-oil boundaries, a numerical model was developed and the
      predominance of the refraction instead of the absorption in bubbles with
      diameters below a certain critical value was observed. The IR region of the
      electromagnetic spectrum has both optical and thermic behavior. To understand the
      limits of each effect on the oil flow imaging, a study of the influence of
      temperature variation on the petroleum optical detection was performed. The
      developed optical imaging system allowed the detection of air flow in static oil
      and in oil-air two-phase flow. With the presented system, it was possible to
      achieve images through up to 12 mm of oil volumes, but this may be enhanced by
      the use of optimized IR sources and detectors.

PMID- 28587182
TI  - Preoperative Nutritional Conditioning of Crohn's Patients-Systematic Review of
      Current Evidence and Practice.
AB  - Crohn's disease is an incurable and frequently progressive entity with major
      impact on affected patients. Up to half of patients require surgery in the first
      10 years after diagnosis and over 75% of operated patients require at least one
      further surgery within lifetime. In order to minimize surgical risk, modifiable
      risk factors such as nutritional status need to be optimized. This systematic
      review on preoperative nutritional support in adult Crohn's patients between 1997
      and 2017 aimed to provide an overview on target populations, screening
      modalities, routes of administration, and expected benefits. Pertinent study
      characteristics (prospective vs. retrospective, sample size, control group,
      limitations) were defined a priori. Twenty-nine studies were retained, of which
      14 original studies (9 retrospective, 4 prospective, and 1 randomized controlled
      trial) and 15 reviews. Study heterogeneity was high regarding nutritional
      regimens and outcome, and meta-analysis could not be performed. Most studies were
      conducted without matched control group and thus provide modest level of
      evidence. Consistently, malnutrition was found to be a major risk factor for
      postoperative complications, and both enteral and parenteral routes were
      efficient in decreasing postoperative morbidity. Current guidelines for nutrition
      in general surgery apply also to Crohn's patients. The route of administration
      should be chosen according to disease presentation and patients' condition.
      Further studies are needed to strengthen the evidence.

PMID- 28587184
TI  - Real-Time Expression Analysis of Selected Anticarsia gemmatalis multiple
      nucleopolyhedrovirus Gene Promoters during Infection of Permissive,
      Semipermissive and Nonpermissive Cell Lines.
AB  - Baculovirus infection follows a transcriptionally controlled sequence of gene
      expression that occurs by activation of different viral gene promoter sequences
      during infection. This sequence of promoter activation may be disrupted by
      cellular defenses against viral infection, which might interfere with viral
      progeny formation. In this work, the activity of the ie1, gp64, lef-1, vp39, p6.9
      and polh promoters of the Anticarsia gemmatalis multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus was
      assessed during infection of permissive, semipermissive and nonpermissive cell
      lines by a novel methodology that detects reporter protein luminescence in real
      time. This technique allowed us to characterize in rich detail the AgMNPV
      promoters in permissive cell lines and revealed differential profiles of
      expression in cells with limited permissivity that correlate well with
      limitations in viral DNA replication. Semipermissive and nonpermissive cell lines
      presented delays and restrictions in late and very late promoter expression.
      Cells undergoing apoptosis did not inhibit late gene expression; however, viral
      progeny formation is severely affected. This work demonstrates the application of
      the real-time luminescence detection methodology and how the promoter expression
      profile may be used to diagnose cellular permissivity to baculovirus infection.

PMID- 28587186
TI  - Measuring Neighborhood Walkable Environments: A Comparison of Three Approaches.
AB  - Multiple studies have revealed the impact of walkable environments on physical
      activity. Scholars attach considerable importance to leisure and health-related
      walking. Recent studies have used Google Street View as an instrument to assess
      city streets and walkable environments; however, no study has compared the
      validity of Google Street View assessments of walkable environment attributes to
      assessments made by local residents and compiled from field visits. In this
      study, we involved nearby residents and compared the extent to which Google
      Street View assessments of the walkable environment correlated with assessments
      from local residents and with field visits. We determined the assessment
      approaches (local resident or field visit assessments) that exhibited the highest
      agreement with Google Street View. One city with relatively high-quality walkable
      environments and one city with relatively low-quality walkable environments were
      examined, and three neighborhoods from each city were surveyed. Participants in
      each neighborhood used one of three approaches to assess the walkability of the
      environment: 15 local residents assessed the environment using a map, 15
      participants made a field visit to assess the environment, and 15 participants
      used Google Street View to assess the environment, yielding a total of 90 valid
      samples for the two cities. Findings revealed that the three approaches to
      assessing neighborhood walkability were highly correlated for traffic safety,
      aesthetics, sidewalk quality, and physical barriers. Compared with assessments
      from participants making field visits, assessments by local residents were more
      highly correlated with Google Street View assessments. Google Street View
      provides a more convenient, low-cost, efficient, and safe approach to assess
      neighborhood walkability. The results of this study may facilitate future large
      scale walkable environment surveys, effectively reduce expenses, and improve
      survey efficiency.

PMID- 28587187
TI  - A Spawn Mobile Agent Itinerary Planning Approach for Energy-Efficient Data
      Gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks.
AB  - Mobile agent (MA), a part of the mobile computing paradigm, was recently proposed
      for data gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The MA-based approach
      employs two algorithms: Single-agent Itinerary Planning (SIP) and Multi-mobile
      agent Itinerary Planning (MIP) for energy-efficient data gathering. The MIP was
      proposed to outperform the weakness of SIP by introducing distributed multi MAs
      to perform the data gathering task. Despite the advantages of MIP, finding the
      optimal number of distributed MAs and their itineraries are still regarded as
      critical issues. The existing MIP algorithms assume that the itinerary of the MA
      has to start and return back to the sink node. Moreover, each distributed MA has
      to carry the processing code (data aggregation code) to collect the sensory data
      and return back to the sink with the accumulated data. However, these assumptions
      have resulted in an increase in the number of MA's migration hops, which
      subsequently leads to an increase in energy and time consumption. In this paper,
      a spawn multi-mobile agent itinerary planning (SMIP) approach is proposed to
      mitigate the substantial increase in cost of energy and time used in the data
      gathering processes. The proposed approach is based on the agent spawning such
      that the main MA is able to spawn other MAs with different tasks assigned from
      the main MA. Extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to test the
      performance of the proposed approach against some selected MIP algorithms. The
      results show that the proposed SMIP outperforms the counterpart algorithms in
      terms of energy consumption and task delay (time), and improves the integrated
      energy-delay performance.

PMID- 28587189
TI  - Roles of Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NADPH) Oxidase in
      Angiogenesis: Isoform-Specific Effects.
AB  - Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from preexisting ones and is
      implicated in physiologic vascular development, pathologic blood vessel growth,
      and vascular restoration. This is in contrast to vasculogenesis, which is de novo
      growth of vessels from vascular precursors, or from vascular repair that occurs
      when circulating endothelial progenitor cells home into an area and develop into
      blood vessels. The objective of this review is to discuss the isoform-specific
      role of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX) in
      physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis and vascular repair, but will not
      specifically address vasculogenesis. As the major source of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) in vascular endothelial cells (ECs), NOX has gained increasing
      attention in angiogenesis. Activation of NOX leads to events necessary for
      physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis, including EC migration, proliferation
      and tube formation. However, activation of different NOX isoforms has different
      effects in angiogenesis. Activation of NOX2 promotes pathologic angiogenesis and
      vascular inflammation, but may be beneficial in revascularization in the hindlimb
      ischemic model. In contrast, activation of NOX4 appears to promote physiologic
      angiogenesis mainly by protecting the vasculature during ischemia, hypoxia and
      inflammation and by restoring vascularization, except in models of oxygen-induced
      retinopathy and diabetes where NOX4 activation leads to pathologic angiogenesis.

PMID- 28587188
TI  - A Review of Activity Trackers for Senior Citizens: Research Perspectives,
      Commercial Landscape and the Role of the Insurance Industry.
AB  - The objective assessment of physical activity levels through wearable inertial
      based motion detectors for the automatic, continuous and long-term monitoring of
      people in free-living environments is a well-known research area in the
      literature. However, their application to older adults can present particular
      constraints. This paper reviews the adoption of wearable devices in senior
      citizens by describing various researches for monitoring physical activity
      indicators, such as energy expenditure, posture transitions, activity
      classification, fall detection and prediction, gait and balance analysis, also by
      adopting consumer-grade fitness trackers with the associated limitations
      regarding acceptability. This review also describes and compares existing
      commercial products encompassing activity trackers tailored for older adults,
      thus providing a comprehensive outlook of the status of commercially available
      motion tracking systems. Finally, the impact of wearable devices on life and
      health insurance companies, with a description of the potential benefits for the
      industry and the wearables market, was analyzed as an example of the potential
      emerging market drivers for such technology in the future.

PMID- 28587192
TI  - High Dynamic Range Spectral Imaging Pipeline For Multispectral Filter Array
      Cameras.
AB  - Spectral filter arrays imaging exhibits a strong similarity with color filter
      arrays. This permits us to embed this technology in practical vision systems with
      little adaptation of the existing solutions. In this communication, we define an
      imaging pipeline that permits high dynamic range (HDR)-spectral imaging, which is
      extended from color filter arrays. We propose an implementation of this pipeline
      on a prototype sensor and evaluate the quality of our implementation results on
      real data with objective metrics and visual examples. We demonstrate that we
      reduce noise, and, in particular we solve the problem of noise generated by the
      lack of energy balance. Data are provided to the community in an image database
      for further research.

PMID- 28587190
TI  - Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Still a Work in Progress?
AB  - Minimal residual disease evaluation refers to a series of molecular and
      immunophenotypical techniques aimed at detecting submicroscopic disease after
      therapy. As such, its application in acute myeloid leukemia has greatly increased
      our ability to quantify treatment response, and to determine the chemosensitivity
      of the disease, as the final product of the drug schedule, dose intensity,
      biodistribution, and the pharmakogenetic profile of the patient. There is now
      consistent evidence for the prognostic power of minimal residual disease
      evaluation in acute myeloid leukemia, which is complementary to the baseline
      prognostic assessment of the disease. The focus for its use is therefore shifting
      to individualize treatment based on a deeper evaluation of chemosensitivity and
      residual tumor burden. In this review, we will summarize the results of the major
      clinical studies evaluating minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia in
      adults in recent years and address the technical and practical issues still
      hampering the spread of these techniques outside controlled clinical trials. We
      will also briefly speculate on future developments and offer our point of view,
      and a word of caution, on the present use of minimal residual disease
      measurements in "real-life" practice. Still, as final standardization and
      diffusion of the methods are sorted out, we believe that minimal residual disease
      will soon become the new standard for evaluating response in the treatment of
      acute myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 28587191
TI  - New Insights in the Cytogenetic Practice: Karyotypic Chaos, Non-Clonal
      Chromosomal Alterations and Chromosomal Instability in Human Cancer and Therapy
      Response.
AB  - Recently, non-clonal chromosomal alterations previously unappreciated are being
      proposed to be included in cytogenetic practice. The aim of this inclusion is to
      obtain a greater understanding of chromosomal instability (CIN) and tumor
      heterogeneity and their role in cancer evolution and therapy response. Although
      several genetic assays have allowed the evaluation of the variation in a
      population of cancer cells, these assays do not provide information at the level
      of individual cells, therefore limiting the information of the genomic diversity
      within tumors (heterogeneity). The karyotype is one of the few available
      cytogenetic techniques that allow us not only to identify the chromosomal
      alterations present within a single cell, but also allows us to profile both
      clonal (CCA) and non-clonal chromosomal alterations (NCCAs). A greater
      understanding of CIN and tumor heterogeneity in cancer could not only improve
      existing therapeutic regimens but could also be used as targets for the design of
      new therapeutic approaches. In this review we indicate the importance and
      significance of karyotypic chaos, NCCAs and CIN in the prognosis of human
      cancers.

PMID- 28587193
TI  - Stability of BDNF in Human Samples Stored Up to 6 Months and Correlations of
      Serum and EDTA-Plasma Concentrations.
AB  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important neural growth factor, has
      gained growing interest in neuroscience, but many influencing physiological and
      analytical aspects still remain unclear. In this study we assessed the impact of
      storage time at room temperature, repeated freeze/thaw cycles, and storage at -80
      degrees C up to 6 months on serum and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)
      plasma BDNF. Furthermore, we assessed correlations of serum and plasma BDNF
      concentrations in two independent sets of samples. Coefficients of variations
      (CVs) for serum BDNF concentrations were significantly lower than CVs of plasma
      concentrations (n = 245, p = 0.006). Mean serum and plasma concentrations at all
      analyzed time points remained within the acceptable change limit of the inter
      assay precision as declared by the manufacturer. Serum and plasma BDNF
      concentrations correlated positively in both sets of samples and at all analyzed
      time points of the stability assessment (r = 0.455 to rs = 0.596; p < 0.004). In
      summary, when considering the acceptable change limit, BDNF was stable in serum
      and in EDTA-plasma up to 6 months. Due to a higher reliability, we suggest
      favoring serum over EDTA-plasma for future experiments assessing peripheral BDNF
      concentrations.

PMID- 28587195
TI  - The Use of Chemoprophylaxis after Floods to Reduce the Occurrence and Impact of
      Leptospirosis Outbreaks.
AB  - Record-breaking and devastating rainfall events have occurred in the past decade.
      Rain and floods are considered the main risk factors for leptospirosis and
      several outbreaks have been reported following extreme weather events. In such
      situations, one possible intervention to prevent leptospirosis cases in high-risk
      groups is the use of chemoprophylaxis. However, not enough evidence of its effect
      is available. The objectives of this study were to review the literature on the
      current practices of chemoprophylaxis for leptospirosis and to explore, using a
      mathematical model, how various chemoprophylaxis scenarios may affect the
      progression of a leptospirosis outbreak. Twenty-six peer-reviewed publications
      were selected (10 quantitative studies, two systematic reviews and 14 articles of
      other types). Oral doxycycline was the most used antibiotic for chemoprophylaxis
      of leptospirosis. Post-exposure prophylaxis was assessed in four studies
      following a natural disaster. Although evidence of the effectiveness of post
      exposure prophylaxis is inconsistent, the direction of association supported a
      protective effect for morbidity and mortality. The theoretical model showed how
      the assumed benefit of chemoprophylaxis was influenced by the time and rate of
      administration. Future models should consider the heterogeneity of affected
      communities, improved estimates of the effect of chemoprophylaxis on
      leptospirosis infection and disease, as well as potential detrimental impacts.
      Additional research is critical to provide clear evidence-based recommendations
      for leptospirosis control during an outbreak. The results of this study suggest
      that chemoprophylaxis may provide some protection in reducing the number of
      leptospirosis cases after a high-risk exposure; however, the effective benefit
      may depend on a variety of factors such as the timing and coverage of
      prophylaxis. The information summarized can be used to support decision-making
      during a high-risk event.

PMID- 28587196
TI  - Optimizing the Removal of Rhodamine B in Aqueous Solutions by Reduced Graphene
      Oxide-Supported Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron (nZVI/rGO) Using an Artificial Neural
      Network-Genetic Algorithm (ANN-GA).
AB  - Rhodamine B (Rh B) is a toxic dye that is harmful to the environment, humans, and
      animals, and thus the discharge of Rh B wastewater has become a critical concern.
      In the present study, reduced graphene oxide-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron
      (nZVI/rGO) was used to treat Rh B aqueous solutions. The nZVI/rGO composites were
      synthesized with the chemical deposition method and were characterized using
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy,
      N2-sorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The effects of
      several important parameters (initial pH, initial concentration, temperature, and
      contact time) on the removal of Rh B by nZVI/rGO were optimized by response
      surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network hybridized with genetic
      algorithm (ANN-GA). The results suggest that the ANN-GA model was more accurate
      than the RSM model. The predicted optimum value of Rh B removal efficiency
      (90.0%) was determined using the ANN-GA model, which was compatible with the
      experimental value (86.4%). Moreover, the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin
      isotherm equations were applied to fit the adsorption equilibrium data, and the
      Freundlich isotherm was the most suitable model for describing the process for
      sorption of Rh B onto the nZVI/rGO composites. The maximum adsorption capacity
      based on the Langmuir isotherm was 87.72 mg/g. The removal process of Rh B could
      be completed within 20 min, which was well described by the pseudo-second order
      kinetic model.

PMID- 28587194
TI  - Cross-Kingdom Regulation of Putative miRNAs Derived from Happy Tree in Cancer
      Pathway: A Systems Biology Approach.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are well-known key regulators of gene expression primarily at
      the post-transcriptional level. Plant-derived miRNAs may pass through the
      gastrointestinal tract, entering into the body fluid and regulate the expression
      of endogenous mRNAs. Camptotheca acuminata, a highly important medicinal plant
      known for its anti-cancer potential was selected to investigate cross-kingdom
      regulatory mechanism and involvement of miRNAs derived from this plant in cancer
      associated pathways through in silico systems biology approach. In this study,
      total 33 highly stable putative novel miRNAs were predicted from the publically
      available 53,294 ESTs of C. acuminata, out of which 14 miRNAs were found to be
      regulating 152 target genes in human. Functional enrichment, gene-disease
      associations and network analysis of these target genes were carried out and the
      results revealed their association with prominent types of cancers like breast
      cancer, leukemia and lung cancer. Pathways like focal adhesion, regulation of
      lipolysis in adipocytes and mTOR signaling pathways were found significantly
      associated with the target genes. The regulatory network analysis showed the
      association of some important hub proteins like GSK3B, NUMB, PEG3, ITGA2 and DLG2
      with cancer-associated pathways. Based on the analysis results, it can be
      suggested that the ingestion of the C. acuminata miRNAs may have a functional
      impact on tumorigenesis in a cross-kingdom way and may affect the physiological
      condition at genetic level. Thus, the predicted miRNAs seem to hold potentially
      significant role in cancer pathway regulation and therefore, may be further
      validated using in vivo experiments for a better insight into their mechanism of
      epigenetic action of miRNA.

PMID- 28587198
TI  - Resonance-Based Sparse Signal Decomposition and its Application in Mechanical
      Fault Diagnosis: A Review.
AB  - Mechanical equipment is the heart of industry. For this reason, mechanical fault
      diagnosis has drawn considerable attention. In terms of the rich information
      hidden in fault vibration signals, the processing and analysis techniques of
      vibration signals have become a crucial research issue in the field of mechanical
      fault diagnosis. Based on the theory of sparse decomposition, Selesnick proposed
      a novel nonlinear signal processing method: resonance-based sparse signal
      decomposition (RSSD). Since being put forward, RSSD has become widely recognized,
      and many RSSD-based methods have been developed to guide mechanical fault
      diagnosis. This paper attempts to summarize and review the theoretical
      developments and application advances of RSSD in mechanical fault diagnosis, and
      to provide a more comprehensive reference for those interested in RSSD and
      mechanical fault diagnosis. Followed by a brief introduction of RSSD's
      theoretical foundation, based on different optimization directions, applications
      of RSSD in mechanical fault diagnosis are categorized into five aspects: original
      RSSD, parameter optimized RSSD, subband optimized RSSD, integrated optimized
      RSSD, and RSSD combined with other methods. On this basis, outstanding issues in
      current RSSD study are also pointed out, as well as corresponding instructional
      solutions. We hope this review will provide an insightful reference for
      researchers and readers who are interested in RSSD and mechanical fault
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28587199
TI  - Impact of Sweet Potato Starch-Based Nanocomposite Films Activated With Thyme
      Essential Oil on the Shelf-Life of Baby Spinach Leaves.
AB  - Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhi) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) have been
      responsible for an increasing number of outbreaks linked to fresh produce, such
      as baby spinach leaves, in the last two decades. More recently, antimicrobial
      biodegradable packaging systems have been attracting much attention in the food
      packaging industry as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastic
      packaging. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of
      antibacterial nanocomposite films on inoculated spinach leaves and on the sensory
      properties of these leaves during eight days of refrigerated storage. In this
      study, an antibacterial film comprised of sweet potato starch (SPS),
      montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclays and thyme essential oil (TEO) as a natural
      antimicrobial agent was developed. Our results showed that the incorporation of
      TEO in the film significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the population of E. coli and S.
      Typhi on fresh baby spinach leaves to below detectable levels within five days,
      whereas the control samples without essential oil maintained approximately 4.5
      Log colony forming unit (CFU)/g. The sensory scores for spinach samples wrapped
      in films containing TEO were higher than those of the control. This study thus
      suggests that TEO has the potential to be directly incorporated into a SPS film
      to prepare antimicrobial nanocomposite films for food packaging applications.

PMID- 28587197
TI  - Resveratrol, 4' Acetoxy Resveratrol, R-equol, Racemic Equol or S-equol as
      Cosmeceuticals to Improve Dermal Health.
AB  - Phytochemicals are botanical compounds used in dermatology applications as
      cosmeceuticals to improve skin health. Resveratrol and equol are two of the best
      known polyphenolic or phytoestrogens having similar chemical structures and some
      overlapping biological functions to 17beta-estradiol. Human skin gene expression
      was reviewed for 28 different biomarkers when resveratrol, 4' acetoxy resveratrol
      (4AR), R-equol, racemic equol or S-equol were tested. Sirtuin 1 activator (SIRT
      1) was stimulated by resveratrol and 4AR only. Resveratrol, R-equol and racemic
      equol were effective on the aging biomarkers proliferating cell nuclear factor
      (PCNA), nerve growth factor (NGF), 5alpha-reductase and the calcium binding
      proteins S100 A8 and A9. Racemic equol and 4AR displayed among the highest levels
      for the collagens, elastin and tissue inhibitor of the matrix metalloproteinase 1
      (TIMP 1). S-equol displayed the lowest level of effectiveness compared to the
      other compounds. The 4AR analog was more effective compared to resveratrol by 1.6
      fold. R-equol and racemic equol were almost equal in potency displaying greater
      inhibition vs. resveratrol or its 4' analog for the matrix metalloproteinases
      (MMPs), but among the inflammatory biomarkers, resveratrol, 4AR, R-equol and
      racemic equol displayed high inhibition. Thus, these cosmeceuticals display
      promise to improve dermal health; however, further study is warranted to
      understand how phytochemicals protect/enhance the skin.

PMID- 28587200
TI  - Antioxidant and Antihypertensive Effects of a Chemically Defined Fraction of
      Syrah Red Wine on Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.
AB  - A particularly phenolic-rich fraction extracted from red wine from the Sao
      Francisco valley (Northeastern Brazil) was chemically characterized and its
      hypotensive and antioxidant effects on spontaneously hypertensive rats were
      studied both in vitro and in vivo. The liquid-liquid pH dependent fractionation
      scheme afforded a fraction with high content of bioactive phenolics such as
      flavonols, flavonol glycosides, phenolic acids and anthocyanins, whose identities
      were confirmed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis.
      Pretreatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats with this wine fraction at doses
      of 50 and 100 mg/kg by gavage. for 15 days was able to decrease mean arterial
      pressure and heart rate as well as decrease serum lipid peroxidation. The
      fraction at concentrations of 0.01-1000 ug/mL induced concentration-dependent
      relaxation of isolated rat superior mesenteric artery rings pre-contracted with
      phenylephrine and this effect was not attenuated by endothelium removal. Our
      results demonstrate it is possible for phenolic constituents of red wine that are
      orally bioavailable to exert in vivo hypotensive and antioxidant effects on
      intact endothelial function.

PMID- 28587201
TI  - Laurus nobilis: Composition of Essential Oil and Its Biological Activities.
AB  - Laurus nobilis is native to the southern Mediterranean region and cultivated
      mainly in Europe and the USA as an ornamental and medicinal plant. The chemical
      composition of the essential oil (EO) from leaves of L. nobilis, collected in
      Southern Italy, was studied by GC and GC-MS. In all, 55 compounds were
      identified, accounting for 91.6% of the total oil. 1,8-Cineole (31.9%), sabinene
      (12.2%), and linalool (10.2%) were the main components. Antimicrobial and
      antifungal activities of EO and 1,8-cineole were determined in vitro. The
      cytotoxicity of the EO was evaluated against SH-SY5Y cell line, as well as the
      influence of the EO on the expression of adenylate cyclase 1 (ADCY1), suggesting
      possible oil effects on the Central Nervous System.

PMID- 28587202
TI  - Running the Stop Sign: Readthrough of a Premature UAG Termination Signal in the
      Translation of a Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Taurine Biosynthetic Enzyme.
AB  - The UAG termination codon is generally recognized as the least efficient and
      least frequently used of the three universal stop codons. This is substantiated
      by numerous studies in an array of organisms. We present here evidence of a
      translational readthrough of a mutant nonsense UAG codon in the transcript from
      the cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (csad) gene (ENSDARG00000026348) in
      zebrafish. The csad gene encodes the terminal enzyme in the taurine biosynthetic
      pathway. Taurine is a critical amino acid for all animals, playing several
      essential roles throughout the body, including modulation of the immune system.
      The sa9430 zebrafish strain (ZDB-ALT-130411-5055) has a point mutation leading to
      a premature stop codon (UAG) 20 amino acids 5' of the normal stop codon, UGA.
      Data from immunoblotting, enzyme activity assays, and mass spectrometry provide
      evidence that the mutant is making a CSAD protein identical to that of the wild
      type (XP_009295318.1) in terms of size, activity, and amino acid sequence. UAG
      readthrough has been described in several species, but this is the first
      presentation of a case in fish. Also presented are the first data substantiating
      the ability of a fish CSAD to utilize cysteic acid, an alternative to the
      standard substrate cysteine sulfinic acid, to produce taurine.

PMID- 28587204
TI  - Comparative Analysis of gamma-Oryzanol, beta-Glucan, Total Phenolic Content and
      Antioxidant Activity in Fermented Rice Bran of Different Varieties.
AB  - Rice bran, a by-product derived from processing rice, is a rich source of
      bioactive compounds. Recent studies have suggested that the fermentation can
      improve their biological activities. This study aimed to determined the level of
      gamma-oryzanol, beta-glucan and total phenol contents of fermented rice bran from
      21 Korean varieties, as well as to evaluate their antioxidant activities. We also
      assessed the validation of the analytical method for determining gamma-oryzanol
      content in fermented rice brans. Among the fermented rice brans, the Haedam rice
      bran contained the highest level of total phenol content (156.08 mg gallic acid
      equivalents/g), DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity
      (71.30%) and ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value (1101.31 MUM trolox
      equivalents/g). Furthermore, the fermented Migwang rice bran showed the highest
      level of gamma-oryzanol content (294.77 +/- 6.74 mg/100 g).

PMID- 28587203
TI  - Effect of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation on Metabolic and
      Inflammatory Biomarkers in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is accompanied by chronic low-grade
      inflammation, with an imbalance in the secretion of adipokines and, worsening
      insulin resistance. Supplementation with n-3 PUFA in T2DM decreases inflammatory
      markers, the purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of n-3 PUFA
      supplementation on adipokines, metabolic control, and lipid profile in T2DM
      Mexican adults. METHODS: In a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled pilot
      study, 54 patients with T2DM received 520 mg of DHA + EPA-enriched fish-oil (FOG)
      or a placebo (PG) daily. Baseline and 24-week anthropometric and biochemical
      measurements included glucose, insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin (Hb1Ac), leptin,
      adiponectin, resistin, and lipid profile; n-3 PUFA intake was calculated in
      g/day. RESULTS: Waist circumference and blood glucose showed significant
      reductions in the FOG group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.011, respectively). Hb1Ac (p =
      0.009 and p = 0.004), leptin (p < 0.000 and p < 0.000), and leptin/adiponectin
      ratio (p < 0.000 and p < 0.000) decreased significantly in both groups after 24
      weeks (FOG and PG respectively). Serum resistin (FOG p < 0.000 and PG p = 0.001),
      insulin (FOG p < 0.000 and PG p < 0.000), and HOMA-IR (FOG p = 0.000 and PG p <
      0.000) increased significantly in both groups. FOG had an overall improvement in
      the lipid profile with a significant decrease in triacylgycerols (p = 0.002) and
      atherogenic index (p = 0.031); in contrast, the PG group had increased total
      cholesterol (p < 0.000), non-HDL cholesterol (p < 0.000), and atherogenic index
      (p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: We found a beneficial effect of n-3 PUFA
      supplementation on waist circumference, glucose, Hb1Ac, leptin,
      leptin/adiponectin ratio, and lipid profile, without significant changes in
      adiponectin, and increases in resistin, insulin, and HOMA-IR in both groups.

PMID- 28587205
TI  - Conformational Flexibility Differentiates Naturally Occurring Bet v 1 Isoforms.
AB  - The protein Bet v 1 represents the main cause for allergic reactions to birch
      pollen in Europe and North America. Structurally homologous isoforms of Bet v 1
      can have different properties regarding allergic sensitization and Th2
      polarization, most likely due to differential susceptibility to proteolytic
      cleavage. Using NMR relaxation experiments and molecular dynamics simulations, we
      demonstrate that the initial proteolytic cleavage sites in two naturally
      occurring Bet v 1 isoforms, Bet v 1.0101 (Bet v 1a) and Bet v 1.0102 (Bet v 1d),
      are conformationally flexible. Inaccessible cleavage sites in helices and strands
      are highly flexible on the microsecond-millisecond time scale, whereas those
      located in loops display faster nanosecond-microsecond flexibility. The data
      consistently show that Bet v 1.0102 is more flexible and conformationally
      heterogeneous than Bet v 1.0101. Moreover, NMR hydrogen-deuterium exchange
      measurements reveal that the backbone amides in Bet v 1.0102 are significantly
      more solvent exposed, in agreement with this isoform's higher susceptibility to
      proteolytic cleavage. The differential conformational flexibility of Bet v 1
      isoforms, along with the transient exposure of inaccessible sites to the protein
      surface, may be linked to proteolytic susceptibility, representing a potential
      structure-based rationale for the observed differences in Th2 polarization and
      allergic sensitization.

PMID- 28587206
TI  - Glyphosate Residues in Groundwater, Drinking Water and Urine of Subsistence
      Farmers from Intensive Agriculture Localities: A Survey in Hopelchen, Campeche,
      Mexico.
AB  - The use of pesticides in Mexican agriculture creates an interest in learning
      about the presence of these substances in different environmental matrices.
      Glyphosate (GLY) is an herbicide widely used in the state of Campeche, located in
      the Mayan zone in the western Yucatan peninsula. Despite the fact that GLY is
      considered a non-toxic pesticide to humans, its presence in water bodies through
      spillage, runoff, and leaching are a risk to human health or biota that inhabit
      these ecosystems. In the present study, glyphosate residues were determined in
      groundwater, bottled drinking water, and the urine of subsistence farmers from
      various localities of the Hopelchen municipality in Campeche. Determination of
      GLY was carried out using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The highest
      concentrations of GLY were observed in the groundwater (1.42 MUg/L) of Ich-Ek and
      urine (0.47 MUg/L) samples of subsistence farmers from the Francisco J. Mujica
      communities. The glyphosate concentrations in groundwater and bottled drinking
      water indicate an exposure and excessive use of glyphosate in these agricultural
      communities. This is one of the first studies that reports glyphosate
      concentration levels in human urine and bottled drinking water in Mexico and in
      the groundwater in the Yucatan Peninsula as part of a prospective pilot study, to
      which a follow-up will be performed to monitor this trend over time.

PMID- 28587207
TI  - (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells by
      Suppressing Wnt/beta-Catenin Pathway.
AB  - The beneficial effects of tea consumption on cancer prevention have been
      generally reported, while (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major
      active component from green tea. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a crucial role in
      the process of cancer development. Targeting CSCs may be an effective way for
      cancer intervention. However, the effects of EGCG on colorectal CSCs and the
      underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Spheroid formation assay was used to enrich
      colorectal CSCs from colorectal cancer cell lines. Immunoblotting analysis and
      quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to measure the
      alterations of critical molecules expression. Immunofluorescence staining
      analysis was also used to determine the expression of CD133. We revealed that
      EGCG inhibited the spheroid formation capability of colorectal cancer cells as
      well as the expression of colorectal CSC markers, along with suppression of cell
      proliferation and induction of apoptosis. Moreover, we illustrated that EGCG
      downregulated the activation of Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, while upregulation of
      Wnt/beta-catenin diminished the inhibitory effects of EGCG on colorectal CSCs.
      Taken together, this study suggested that EGCG could be an effective natural
      compound targeting colorectal CSCs through suppression of Wnt/beta-catenin
      pathway, and thus may be a promising agent for colorectal cancer intervention.

PMID- 28587208
TI  - Xyloketal B Attenuates Fatty Acid-Induced Lipid Accumulation via the SREBP-1c
      Pathway in NAFLD Models.
AB  - The goal of this study was to examine the effects of xyloketal B on nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying
      its effects in both in vivo and in vitro models. We discovered an association
      between xyloketal B and the sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP
      1c) signaling pathway, which is related to lipid metabolism. Mice were dosed with
      xyloketal B (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg/d) and atorvastatin (15 mg/kg/d) via
      intraperitoneal injection once daily for 40 days after being fed a high fat diet
      plus 10% high fructose liquid (HFD+HFL) for 8 weeks. Xyloketal B significantly
      improved HFD+HFL-induced hepatic histological lesions and attenuated lipid and
      glucose accumulation in the blood as well as lipid accumulation in the liver.
      Xyloketal B increased the expression of CPT1A, and decreased the expression of
      SREBP-1c and its downstream targeting enzymes such as ACC1, ACL, and FAS.
      Xyloketal B also significantly reduced lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells treated
      with free fatty acids (FFAs). These data suggested that xyloketal B has lipid
      lowering effects via the SREBP-1c pathway that regulate lipid metabolism. Thus,
      targeting SREBP-1c activation with xyloketal B may be a promising novel approach
      for NAFLD treatment.

PMID- 28587209
TI  - Variability in the Content of Trans-Resveratrol, Trans-epsilon-Viniferin and R2
      Viniferin in Grape Cane of Seven Vitis vinifera L. Varieties during a Three-Year
      Study.
AB  - Grape canes are a waste product from viticulture that show potential as an
      industrially extractable source of stilbenes, which are valuable for medical and
      other purposes. In this work, grape canes collected in three consecutive years
      (2014-2016) at six different places in South Moravia, Czech Republic were
      extracted, and the contents of trans-resveratrol, trans-epsilon-viniferin, and r2
      viniferin were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The study
      included three blue grape varieties of Vitis vinifera L. (Cabernet Moravia,
      Blaufrankisch, and Piwi variety Laurot) and four white grape varieties
      (Chardonnay, Green Veltliner, Piwi variety Hibernal, and Piwi variety Malverina).
      From the viewpoint of producing extracts with high stilbenes content, the
      Hibernal variety is clearly the best. The mean amounts of the stilbenes for this
      variety at all localities and for all three years were 4.99 g/kg for trans
      resveratrol, 3.24 g/kg for trans-epsilon-viniferin, and 1.73 g/kg for r2
      viniferin. The influence of vintage, locality, and variety on the amounts of
      stilbenes was studied using PCA analysis. In contrast to expectations, there was
      no strong impact of locality on stilbenes content. The differences were varietal
      for most varieties, regardless of the area of cultivation. Laurot and Hibernal
      varieties did differ significantly in that respect, however, as they exhibited
      clear dependence on location.

PMID- 28587211
TI  - Changes in Microbial (Bacteria and Archaea) Plankton Community Structure after
      Artificial Dispersal in Grazer-Free Microcosms.
AB  - Microbes are considered to have a global distribution due to their high dispersal
      capabilities. However, our knowledge of the way geographically distant microbial
      communities assemble after dispersal in a new environment is limited. In this
      study, we examined whether communities would converge because similar taxa would
      be selected under the same environmental conditions, or would diverge because of
      initial community composition, after artificial dispersal. To this aim, a
      microcosm experiment was performed, in which the temporal changes in the
      composition and diversity of different prokaryoplankton assemblages from three
      distant geographic coastal areas (Banyuls-sur-Mer in northwest Mediterranean Sea,
      Pagasitikos Gulf in northeast Mediterranean and Woods Hole, MA, USA in the
      northwest Atlantic), were studied. Diversity was investigated using amplicon
      pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA. The three
      assemblages were grown separately in particle free and autoclaved Banyuls-sur-mer
      seawater at 18  degrees C in the dark. We found that the variability of
      prokaryoplankton community diversity (expressed as richness, evenness and
      dominance) as well as the composition were driven by patterns observed in
      Bacteria. Regarding community composition, similarities were found between
      treatments at family level. However, at the OTU level microbial communities from
      the three different original locations diverge rather than converge during
      incubation. It is suggested that slight differences in the composition of the
      initial prokaryoplankton communities, resulted in separate clusters the following
      days even when growth took place under identical abiotic conditions.

PMID- 28587213
TI  - Functionalizing Graphene Oxide with Alkylamine by Gamma-ray Irradiation Method.
AB  - A gamma-ray irradiation technique was used to functionalize graphene oxide (GO)
      with alkylamines of various alkyl chain lengths. Functionalization of the alkyl
      chains onto the GO was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), Fourier
      transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FTIR of the
      functionalized GO showed the appearance of significant peaks around 2960-2850 cm
      1 (-CH2) which came from long alkyl chains, together with a peak around 1560-1450
      cm-1, indicating the formation of C-NH-C. XRD showed an additional diffraction
      peak at a lower 2theta angle, indicating that the intercalation of the alkylamine
      was successful. The effects on the morphological and thermal properties of GO
      functionalized with alkyl chains of various lengths were investigated. Scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed an increase in surface roughness when
      the alkyl chain length was increased. The addition of alkyl chains on GO surfaces
      significantly improved the thermal stability of the GO, suggesting that these
      surfaces have great potential for use as a hydrophobic material in industry.

PMID- 28587210
TI  - Curcumin Inhibits LIN-28A through the Activation of miRNA-98 in the Lung Cancer
      Cell Line A549.
AB  - Metastasis is common in lung cancer and is associated with poor clinical outcomes
      and increased mortality. Curcumin is a natural anti-cancer agent that inhibits
      the metastasis of various cancers by modulating the expression of micro (mi) RNAs
      such as miR-98, which acts as a tumor suppressor. This study investigated the
      effect of curcumin on miR-98 expression and in vitro cell line growth and
      invasiveness in lung cancer. Curcumin treatment enhanced the expression of miR-98
      and reduced that of the miR-98 target gene LIN28A as well as matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 and MMP9 in vitro and in vivo. MiR-98 overexpression
      suppressed lung cancer cell migration and invasion by inhibiting LIN28A-induced
      MMP2 and MMP9 expression. Meanwhile, LIN28A level was downregulated by
      overexpression of miR-98 mimic. Induction of miR-98 by curcumin treatment
      suppressed MMP2 and MMP9 by targeting LIN28A. These findings provide insight into
      the mechanisms by which curcumin suppresses lung cancer cell line growth in vitro
      and in vivo and invasiveness in vitro.

PMID- 28587212
TI  - Manufacturing of Human Extracellular Vesicle-Based Therapeutics for Clinical Use.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from stem and progenitor cells may have
      therapeutic effects comparable to their parental cells and are considered
      promising agents for the treatment of a variety of diseases. To this end,
      strategies must be designed to successfully translate EV research and to develop
      safe and efficacious therapies, whilst taking into account the applicable
      regulations. Here, we discuss the requirements for manufacturing, safety, and
      efficacy testing of EVs along their path from the laboratory to the patient.
      Development of EV-therapeutics is influenced by the source cell types and the
      target diseases. In this article, we express our view based on our experience in
      manufacturing biological therapeutics for routine use or clinical testing, and
      focus on strategies for advancing mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-derived EV-based
      therapies. We also discuss the rationale for testing MSC-EVs in selected diseases
      with an unmet clinical need such as critical size bone defects, epidermolysis
      bullosa and spinal cord injury. While the scientific community, pharmaceutical
      companies and clinicians are at the point of entering into clinical trials for
      testing the therapeutic potential of various EV-based products, the
      identification of the mode of action underlying the suggested potency in each
      therapeutic approach remains a major challenge to the translational path.

PMID- 28587214
TI  - Optimization of Ultrasonic-assisted Extraction of Fatty Acids in Seeds of Brucea
      Javanica (L.) Merr. from Different Sources and Simultaneous Analysis Using High
      Performance Liquid Chromatography with Charged Aerosol Detection.
AB  - Our research aimed to optimize the oil extraction process and determine the fatty
      acids in Brucea javanica (L.) Merr. seeds. The extraction technology was
      optimized using response surface methodology. A Box-Behnken design was employed
      to investigate the effects of three independent variables on an ultrasonic
      assisted extraction technique, namely, sonication time (X1: 20-40 min), liquid
      solid ratio (X2: 16:1 mL/g-24:1 mL/g), and ethanol concentration (X3: 90%-100%).
      The optimum conditions of sonication time, liquid-solid ratio, and ethanol
      concentration were 40 min, 24:1 mL/g, and 100%, respectively. The content of
      fatty acids and the oil yield were 14.64 mg/g and 16.87%, respectively, which
      match well with the predicted models. The optimum number of extraction times was
      eventually identified as two. A new rapid method for the qualitative and
      quantitative analysis of the fatty acids of B. javanica (L.) Merr. seed oil using
      HPLC with a charged aerosol detector was described. The fatty acid contents of 14
      batches of B. javanica (L.) Merr. seed oil were determined, and the relevance and
      difference were analyzed by fingerprint analysis. The fingerprint has five common
      peaks, and the similarity was greater than 0.991. HPLC analysis represents a
      specialized and rational approach for the quality identification and
      comprehensive evaluation of B. javanica (L.) Merr. seed oils.

PMID- 28587215
TI  - The Use of Flexible Ultrasound Transducers for the Detection of Laser-Induced
      Guided Waves on Curved Surfaces at Elevated Temperatures.
AB  - In this study, a flexible ultrasonic transducer (FUT) was applied in a laser
      ultrasonic technique (LUT) for non-destructive characterization of metallic pipes
      at high temperatures of up to 176  degrees C. Compared with normal ultrasound
      transducers, a FUT is a piezoelectric film made of a PZT/PZT sol-gel composite
      which has advantages due to its high sensitivity, curved surface adaptability and
      high temperature durability. By operating a pulsed laser in B-scan mode along
      with the integration of FUT and LUT, a multi-mode dispersion spectrum of a
      stainless steel pipe at high temperature can be measured. In addition, dynamic
      wave propagation behaviors are experimentally visualized with two dimensional
      scanning. The images directly interpret the reflections from the interior defects
      and also can locate their positions. This hybrid technique shows great potential
      for non-destructive evaluation of structures with complex geometry, especially in
      high temperature environments.

PMID- 28587217
TI  - Multi-Shaped Ag Nanoparticles in the Plasmonic Layer of Dye-Sensitized Solar
      Cells for Increased Power Conversion Efficiency.
AB  - The use of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is widespread owing to their high
      power conversion efficiency (PCE) and low cost of manufacturing. We prepared
      multi-shaped Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and introduced them into DSSCs to further
      enhance their PCE. The maximum absorption wavelength of the multi-shaped Ag NPs
      is 420 nm, including the shoulder with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 121
      nm. This is a broad absorption wavelength compared to spherical Ag NPs, which
      have a maximum absorption wavelength of 400 nm without the shoulder of 61 nm
      FWHM. Therefore, when multi-shaped Ag NPs with a broader plasmon-enhanced
      absorption were coated on a mesoporous TiO2 layer on a layer-by-layer structure
      in DSSCs, the PCE increased from 8.44% to 10.22%, equivalent to an improvement of
      21.09% compared to DSSCs without a plasmonic layer. To confirm the plasmon
      enhanced effect on the composite film structure in DSSCs, the PCE of DSSCs based
      on the composite film structure with multi-shaped Ag NPs increased from 8.58% to
      10.34%, equivalent to an improvement of 20.51% compared to DSSCs without a
      plasmonic layer. This concept can be applied to perovskite solar cells, hybrid
      solar cells, and other solar cells devices.

PMID- 28587216
TI  - Selenium Enrichment of Horticultural Crops.
AB  - The ability of some crops to accumulate selenium (Se) is crucial for human
      nutrition and health. Selenium has been identified as a cofactor of the enzyme
      glutathione peroxidase, which is a catalyzer in the reduction of peroxides that
      can damage cells and tissues, and can act as an antioxidant. Plants are the first
      link in the food chain, which ends with humans. Increasing the Se quantity in
      plant products, including leafy and fruity vegetables, and fruit crops, without
      exceeding the toxic threshold, is thus a good way to increase animal and human Se
      intake, with positive effects on long-term health. In many Se-enriched plants,
      most Se is in its major organic form. Given that this form is more available to
      humans and more efficient in increasing the selenium content than inorganic
      forms, the consumption of Se-enriched plants appears to be beneficial. An
      antioxidant effect of Se has been detected in Se-enriched vegetables and fruit
      crops due to an improved antioxidative status and to a reduced biosynthesis of
      ethylene, which is the hormone with a primary role in plant senescence and fruit
      ripening. This thus highlights the possible positive effect of Se in preserving a
      longer shelf-life and longer-lasting quality.

PMID- 28587218
TI  - Determination and Pharmacokinetic Study of Three Diterpenes in Rat Plasma by
      UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS after Oral Administration of Rosmarinus officinalis L. Extract.
AB  - Rosmarinus officinalis L. is commonly used as a spice and flavoring agent.
      Diterpenes are the main active compounds of R. officinalis. An Ultra High
      Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS)
      method was developed for the determination of carnosol, rosmanol, and carnosic
      acid isolated from R. officinalis in rat plasma, and applied to a pharmacokinetic
      study after oral administration of R. officinalis extract. Sample preparation
      involved a liquid-liquid extraction of the analytes with ethyl acetate.
      Butylparaben was employed as an internal standard (I.S.). Chromatographic
      separation was carried out on a C18 column (ACQUITY UPLC(r) HSS T3, 1.8 MUm, 2.1
      mm * 100 mm) with a gradient system consisting of the mobile phase solution A
      (0.1% formic acid in water) and solution B (acetonitrile) at the flow rate of 0.3
      mL/min. The quantification was obtained using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)
      mode with electrospray ionization (ESI). The UHPLC-MS/MS assay was validated for
      linearity, accuracy, precision, extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability.
      This study described a simple, sensitive and validated UHPLC-MS/MS method for the
      simultaneous determination of three diterpene compounds in rat plasma after oral
      administration of R. officinalis extract, and investigated on their
      pharmacokinetic studies as well.

PMID- 28587219
TI  - In Vitro Study of the Metabolic Characteristics of Eight Isoquinoline Alkaloids
      from Natural Plants in Rat Gut Microbiota.
AB  - Gut microbiota is populated with an immense number of microorganisms, which can
      be regulated by dietary components and drugs to markedly affect the nutritional
      and health status of the host. Eight medicinal isoquinoline alkaloids from
      natural plants were cultured anaerobically with rat gut microbiota and an LC/MSn
      IT-TOF technique was used to identify the resulting metabolites. Palmatine,
      tetrahydropalmatine, dauricine, and tetrandrine containing nitro-hexatomic
      isoquinoline rings could be easily transformed by the intestinal flora in vitro
      and a total of nine demethylated metabolites were detected. However, sinomenine,
      homoharringtonine, harringtonine, and galanthamine, which all contained
      benzazepine, could not undergo demethylation. Computer-assisted docking was used
      to analyze the binding between these compounds and sterol 14alpha-demethylase.
      The computational results demonstrated that hydrophobic interactions were the
      main driving force for binding, but the steric hindrance produced by the
      benzazepine structure resulted in a weak interaction between the hit compounds
      and the enzyme. This work illustrated that gut microbiota were important in the
      metabolism of isoquinoline alkaloids.

PMID- 28587220
TI  - A Novel Real-Time Path Servo Control of a Hardware-in-the-Loop for a Large-Stroke
      Asymmetric Rod-Less Pneumatic System under Variable Loads.
AB  - This project aims to develop a novel large stroke asymmetric pneumatic servo
      system of a hardware-in-the-loop for path tracking control under variable loads
      based on the MATLAB Simulink real-time system. High pressure compressed air
      provided by the air compressor is utilized for the pneumatic proportional servo
      valve to drive the large stroke asymmetric rod-less pneumatic actuator. Due to
      the pressure differences between two chambers, the pneumatic actuator will
      operate. The highly nonlinear mathematical models of the large stroke asymmetric
      pneumatic system were analyzed and developed. The functional approximation
      technique based on the sliding mode controller (FASC) is developed as a
      controller to solve the uncertain time-varying nonlinear system. The MATLAB
      Simulink real-time system was a main control unit of a hardware-in-the-loop
      system proposed to establish driver blocks for analog and digital I/O, a linear
      encoder, a CPU and a large stroke asymmetric pneumatic rod-less system. By the
      position sensor, the position signals of the cylinder will be measured
      immediately. The measured signals will be viewed as the feedback signals of the
      pneumatic servo system for the study of real-time positioning control and path
      tracking control. Finally, real-time control of a large stroke asymmetric
      pneumatic servo system with measuring system, a large stroke asymmetric pneumatic
      servo system, data acquisition system and the control strategy software will be
      implemented. Thus, upgrading the high position precision and the trajectory
      tracking performance of the large stroke asymmetric pneumatic servo system will
      be realized to promote the high position precision and path tracking capability.
      Experimental results show that fifth order paths in various strokes and the sine
      wave path are successfully implemented in the test rig. Also, results of variable
      loads under the different angle were implemented experimentally.

PMID- 28587223
TI  - Density and Habitat Relationships of the Endemic White Mountain Fritillary
      (Boloria chariclea montinus) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).
AB  - We conducted point counts in the alpine zone of the Presidential Range of the
      White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA, to estimate the distribution and density of
      the rare endemic White Mountain Fritillary (Boloria chariclea montinus).
      Incidence of occurrence and density of the endemic White Mountain Fritillary
      during surveys in 2012 and 2013 were greatest in the herbaceous-snowbank plant
      community. Densities at points in the heath-shrub-rush plant community were
      lower, but because this plant community is more widespread in the alpine zone, it
      likely supports the bulk of adult fritillaries. White Mountain Fritillary used
      cushion-tussock, the other alpine plant community suspected of providing habitat,
      only sparingly. Detectability of White Mountain Fritillaries varied as a
      consequence of weather conditions during the survey and among observers,
      suggesting that raw counts yield biased estimates of density and abundance. Point
      counts, commonly used to study and monitor populations of birds, were an
      effective means of sampling White Mountain Fritillary in the alpine environment
      where patches of habitat are small, irregularly shaped, and widely spaced,
      rendering line-transect methods inefficient and difficult to implement.

PMID- 28587221
TI  - Optimal Design of an Hourglass in-Fiber Air Fabry-Perot Microcavity-Towards
      Spectral Characteristics and Strain Sensing Technology.
AB  - An hourglass in-fiber air microcavity Fabry-Perot interferometer is proposed in
      this paper, and its second reflecting surface of in-fiber microcavity is designed
      to be a concave reflector with the best curvature radius in order to improve the
      spectral characteristics. Experimental results proved that the extinction ratio
      of Fabry-Perot interferometer with cavity length of 60 MUm and concave reflector
      radius of 60 MUm is higher than for a rectangular Fabry-Perot interferometer with
      cavity length of 60 MUm (14 dB: 11 dB). Theory and numerical simulation results
      show that the strain sensitivity of sensor can be improved by reducing the
      microcavity wall thickness and microcavity diameter, and when the in-fiber
      microcavity length is 40 MUm, the microcavity wall thickness is 10 MUm, the
      microcavity diameter is 20 MUm, and the curvature radius of reflective surface II
      is 50 MUm, the interference fringe contrast of is greater than 0.97, an Axial
      pull sensitivity of 20.46 nm/N and resolution of 1 mN can be achieved in the
      range of 0-1 N axial tension. The results show that the performance of hourglass
      in-fiber microcavity interferometer is far superior to that of the traditional
      Fabry-Perot interferometer.

PMID- 28587224
TI  - Design and Performance of a Metal-Shielded Piezoelectric Sensor.
AB  - In certain circumstances when acoustic measurements are required in the presence
      of explosive atmospheres the sensor must be placed inside a Faraday Cage.
      Piezoelectric active materials are suitable for this purpose as they do not need
      an electrical power supply, although the metal shielding can considerably reduce
      sensor sensitivity, which is already low at the acoustic frequency range (<20
      kHz). This paper describes a metal-shielded piezoelectric sensor designed to work
      in the range of frequencies between 1 and 2 kHz and in these environmental
      conditions. The main idea was to add a thin material layer to the front face of
      the piezoelectric ceramic in order to force the system to vibrate in flexure mode
      at low frequencies. The resonant frequency and sensitivity of the system was
      studied as a function of the radius, thickness, and material of the thin layer.
      The study includes a comparison of theoretical model, FEM simulation, and real
      data measured using three aluminum and three steel prototypes of different sizes.

PMID- 28587222
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Phenolic Acid Esters from the Roots and Rhizomes of
      Notopterygium incisium and Their Permeability in the Human Caco-2 Monolayer Cell
      Model.
AB  - A new ferulic acid ester named 4-methyl-3-trans-hexenylferulate (1), together
      with eight known phenolic acid esters (2-9), was isolated from the methanolic
      extract of the roots and rhizomes of Notopterygium incisium. Their structures
      were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic techniques, including 2D NMR
      spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. 4-Methoxyphenethyl ferulate (8) NMR data is
      reported here for the first time. The uptake and transepithelial transport of the
      isolated compounds 1-9 were investigated in the human intestinal Caco-2 cell
      monolayer model. Compounds 2 and 6 were assigned for the well-absorbed compounds,
      compound 8 was assigned for the moderately absorbed compound, and compounds 1, 3,
      4, 5, 7, and 9 were assigned for the poorly absorbed compounds. Moreover, all of
      the isolated compounds were assayed for the inhibitory effects against nitric
      oxide (NO) production in the lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW264.7 macrophages
      model and L-N6-(1-iminoethyl)-lysine (L-NIL) was used as a positive control.
      Compounds 1, 5, 8, and 9 exhibited potent inhibitory activity on NO production
      with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 1.01, 4.63, 2.47,
      and 2.73 MUM, respectively, which were more effective than L-NIL with IC50 values
      of 9.37 MUM. These findings not only enriched the types of anti-inflammatory
      compounds in N. incisum but also provided some useful information for predicting
      their oral bioavailability and their suitability as drug leads or promising anti
      inflammatory agents.

PMID- 28587226
TI  - Identifying Factors Associated with Risk Assessment Competencies of Public Health
      Emergency Responders.
AB  - This study aimed to better understand the current situation of risk assessment
      and identify the factors associated with competence of emergency responders in
      public health risk assessment. The participants were selected by a multi-stage,
      stratified cluster sampling method in Heilongjiang Centers for Disease Control
      and Prevention (CDC). The questionnaires that measured their perceptions on risk
      assessment competences were administered through the face-to-face survey. A final
      sample of 1889 staff was obtained. Of this sample, 78.6% of respondents rated
      their own risk assessment competences as "relatively low", contrasting with 21.4%
      rated as "relatively high". Most of the respondents (62.7%) did not participate
      in any risk assessment work. Only 13.7% and 42.7% of respondents reported
      participating in risk assessment training and were familiar with risk assessment
      tools. There existed statistical significance between risk assessment-related
      characteristics of respondents and their self-rated competences scores. Financial
      support from the government and administrative attention were regarded as the
      important factors contributing to risk assessment competences of CDC responders.
      Higher attention should be given to risk assessment training and enhancing the
      availability of surveillance data. Continuous efforts should be made to remove
      the financial and technical obstacles to improve the competences of risk
      assessment for public health emergency responders.

PMID- 28587225
TI  - Associations among Screen Time and Unhealthy Behaviors, Academic Performance, and
      Well-Being in Chinese Adolescents.
AB  - Screen time is negatively associated with markers of health in western youth, but
      very little is known about these relationships in Chinese youth. Middle-school
      and high-school students (n = 2625) in Wuhan, China, completed questionnaires
      assessing demographics, health behaviors, and self-perceptions in spring/summer
      2016. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine
      whether, after adjustment for covariates, screen time was associated with body
      mass index (BMI), eating behaviors, average nightly hours of sleep, physical
      activity (PA), academic performance, and psychological states. Watching
      television on school days was negatively associated with academic performance,
      PA, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Television viewing on non-school days was
      positively associated with sleep duration. Playing electronic games was
      positively associated with snacking at night and less frequently eating
      breakfast, and negatively associated with sleep duration and self-esteem.
      Receiving electronic news and study materials on non-school days was negatively
      associated with PA, but on school days, was positively associated with anxiety.
      Using social networking sites was negatively associated with academic
      performance, but positively associated with BMI z-score, PA and anxiety. Screen
      time in adolescents is associated with unhealthy behaviors and undesirable
      psychological states that can contribute to poor quality of life.

PMID- 28587227
TI  - Photoreceptor PhyB Involved in Arabidopsis Temperature Perception and Heat
      Tolerance Formation.
AB  - The influence of temperature on plants is essential. However, our knowledge on
      the intricate regulation process underlying heat stress (HS) response in plants
      is limited. Recently, information about thermal sensors in vivo has begun to
      emerge. In this study, another primary environmental stimulus, light, was
      verified once again to work with temperature synergistically on plants, through
      the modulation of numerous biological processes. With the application of
      transcriptomic analysis, a substantial number of heat-responsive genes were
      detected involved in both light- and phytohormone-mediated pathways in
      Arabidopsis. During this process, phytoreceptor phyB acts as a molecular switch
      to turn on or turn off several other genes HS response, under different light
      conditions. Furthermore, a morphological study showed the afunction of phyB
      enhanced plants thermal tolerance, confirming the important role of this
      phytochrome in temperature perception and response in plants. This study adds
      data to the picture of light and temperature signaling cross-talk in plants,
      which is important for the exploration of complicated HS responses or light
      mediated mechanisms. Furthermore, based on its influence on Arabidopsis thermal
      response in both morphological and physiological levels, phyB is a photoreceptor,
      as revealed before, as well as an essential thermal sensor in plants.

PMID- 28587228
TI  - Fine Mapping and Transcriptome Analysis Reveal Candidate Genes Associated with
      Hybrid Lethality in Cabbage (Brassica Oleracea).
AB  - Hybrid lethality is a deleterious phenotype that is vital to species evolution.
      We previously reported hybrid lethality in cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and
      performed preliminary mapping of related genes. In the present study, the fine
      mapping of hybrid lethal genes revealed that BoHL1 was located on chromosome C1
      between BoHLTO124 and BoHLTO130, with an interval of 101 kb. BoHL2 was confirmed
      to be between insertion-deletion (InDels) markers HL234 and HL235 on C4, with a
      marker interval of 70 kb. Twenty-eight and nine annotated genes were found within
      the two intervals of BoHL1 and BoHL2, respectively. We also applied RNA-Seq to
      analyze hybrid lethality in cabbage. In the region of BoHL1, seven differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) and five resistance (R)-related genes (two in common,
      i.e., Bo1g153320 and Bo1g153380) were found, whereas in the region of BoHL2, two
      DEGs and four R-related genes (two in common, i.e., Bo4g173780 and Bo4g173810)
      were found. Along with studies in which R genes were frequently involved in
      hybrid lethality in other plants, these interesting R-DEGs may be good candidates
      associated with hybrid lethality. We also used SNP/InDel analyses and
      quantitative real-time PCR to confirm the results. This work provides new insight
      into the mechanisms of hybrid lethality in cabbage.

PMID- 28587232
TI  - Fabrication of Defect-Free Cellulose Acetate Hollow Fibers by Optimization of
      Spinning Parameters.
AB  - Spinning of cellulose acetate (CA) with the additive polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)
      in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent under different conditions was
      investigated. The spinning parameters of air gap, bore fluid composition, flow
      rate of bore fluid, and quench bath temperature were optimized based on the
      orthogonal experiment design (OED) method and multivariate analysis. FTIR and
      scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the membrane structure and
      morphology. Based on the conjoint analysis in Statistical Product and Service
      Solutions (SPSS) software, the importance of these parameters was identified as:
      air gap > bore fluid composition > flow rate of bore fluid > quench bath
      temperature. The optimal spinning condition with the bore fluid (water + NMP
      (85%)), air gap (25 mm), flow rate of bore fluid (40% of dope rate), and
      temperature of quench bath (50  degrees C) was identified to make high PVP
      content, symmetric cross-section and highly cross-linked CA hollow fibers. The
      results can be used to guide the spinning of defect-free CA hollow fiber
      membranes with desired structures and properties as carbon membrane precursors.

PMID- 28587229
TI  - Ataxin-2: From RNA Control to Human Health and Disease.
AB  - RNA-binding proteins play fundamental roles in the regulation of molecular
      processes critical to cellular and organismal homeostasis. Recent studies have
      identified the RNA-binding protein Ataxin-2 as a genetic determinant or risk
      factor for various diseases including spinocerebellar ataxia type II (SCA2) and
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), amongst others. Here, we first discuss the
      increasingly wide-ranging molecular functions of Ataxin-2, from the regulation of
      RNA stability and translation to the repression of deleterious accumulation of
      the RNA-DNA hybrid-harbouring R-loop structures. We also highlight the broader
      physiological roles of Ataxin-2 such as in the regulation of cellular metabolism
      and circadian rhythms. Finally, we discuss insight from clinically focused
      studies to shed light on the impact of molecular and physiological roles of
      Ataxin-2 in various human diseases. We anticipate that deciphering the
      fundamental functions of Ataxin-2 will uncover unique approaches to help cure or
      control debilitating and lethal human diseases.

PMID- 28587231
TI  - A Novel Lid-Covering Peptide Inhibitor of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors
      Derived from alphaD-Conotoxin GeXXA.
AB  - Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play a fundamental role in nervous
      signal transmission, therefore various antagonists and agonists are highly
      desired to explore the structure and function of nAChRs. Recently, a novel
      dimeric alphaD-conotoxin GeXXA was identified to inhibit nAChRs by binding at the
      top surface of the receptors, and the monomeric C-terminal domain (CTD) of alphaD
      GeXXA retains some inhibitory activity. In this study, the internal dimeric N
      terminal domain (NTD) of this conopeptide was further investigated. We first
      developed a regio-selective protection strategy to chemically prepare the anti
      parallel dimeric NTD, and found that the isolated NTD part of GeXXA possesses the
      nAChR-inhibitory activity, the subtype-dependence of which implies a preferred
      binding of NTD to the beta subunits of nAChR. Deletion of the NTD N-terminal
      residues did not affect the activity of NTD, indicating that the N-terminus is
      not involved in the interaction with nAChRs. By optimizing the sequence of NTD,
      we obtained a fully active single-chain cyclic NTD, based on which 4 Arg residues
      were found to interact with nAChRs. These results demonstrate that the NTD part
      of alphaD-GeXXA is a "lid-covering" nAChR inhibitor, displaying a novel
      inhibitory mechanism distinct from other allosteric ligands of nAChRs.

PMID- 28587230
TI  - Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) Reduces Ethanol-Induced Gastric Damage via
      Regulation of HSP-70, NF-kappaB, and MCP-1 Signaling.
AB  - Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Ell. belongs to the Rosaceae family. The purpose of
      this study is to explore the gastroprotective effect of the Aronia melanocarpa
      hydro-alcoholic extract (AMHAE) against ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in a rat
      model. Different concentrations (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) of AMHAE, or 30 mg/kg of
      omeprazole, significantly inhibited the gastric injury formation. The ethanol
      induced ulcer group showed significant increases of malondialdehyde (MDA),
      myeloperoxidase (MPO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, nuclear factor-kappaB
      p65 (NF-kappaB p65), and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, and decreased
      activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase
      (GSH-px), and interleukin (IL)-4. However, AMHAE (200 mg/kg) pretreatment
      significantly reversed the altered pathophysiological levels of these
      biomolecules to near normal stages. The gastroprotective activity of AMHAE was
      abolished by pretreatment with l-NAME, naloxone, capsazepine, and indomethacin,
      demonstrating the participation of nitric oxide (NO), opioids, TRPV (vanilloid
      receptor-related transient receptor potential), and prostaglandins in AMHAE
      assisted gastroprotection against ethanol-induced gastric injuries. This
      gastroprotective effect of AMHAE might be due to the downregulation of TNF-alpha
      based NF-kappaB, MCP-1 signaling and strong antioxidant properties.

PMID- 28587233
TI  - Sex Differences in the Association of Urinary Concentrations of Phthalates
      Metabolites with Self-Reported Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases in Shanghai
      Adults.
AB  - Phthalate exposure was reported to be associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) and
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, reported associations and the potential sex
      differences are inconsistent. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 2330
      participants in the Fall of 2012. Urinary metabolites of 10 phthalates were
      measured. The status of having DM and CVD-related outcomes were self-reported. In
      the overall study population, the logistic regression analyses showed that the
      urinary levels of mono-2-ethyl-5-oxohexyphthalate (MEOHP), mono-2-ethyl-5
      hydroxyhexylphthalate(MEHHP) and mono-2-ethyl-5-carboxypentylphthalate (MECPP)
      were positively associated with DM. Higher urinary levels of monomethyl phthalate
      (MMP) and mono-2-carboxymethyl-hexyl phthalate (MCMHP) were associated with
      increased odds of hyperlipidemia, while mono-2-ethylhexylphthalate (MEHP) was
      significantly inverse-associated with hyperlipidemia. We did not observe
      significant associations for other CVD-related outcomes with phthalate
      metabolites. When stratifying by sex, MEHHP, MEOHP, MECPP, MCMHP and the
      micromolar sums of the oxidative metabolites of DEHP (SigmaDEHPox) were all
      significantly related to DM in males, but not in females. No significant sex
      differences were found in CVD-related outcomes, except the sporadic associations
      between phthalates and hyperlipidemia. These findings highlight the importance of
      investigating the sex-specific relationship between phthalates exposure and DM.

PMID- 28587236
TI  - Parents' Qualitative Perspectives on Child Asking for Fruit and Vegetables.
AB  - Children can influence the foods available at home, but some ways of approaching
      a parent may be better than others; and the best way may vary by type of parent.
      This study explored how parents with different parenting styles would best
      receive their 10 to 14 years old child asking for fruits and vegetables (FV). An
      online parenting style questionnaire was completed and follow-up qualitative
      telephone interviews assessed home food rules, child influence on home food
      availability, parents' preferences for being asked for food, and common barriers
      and reactions to their child's FV requests. Parents (n = 73) with a 10 to 14
      years old child were grouped into authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or
      uninvolved parenting style categories based on responses to questionnaires, and
      interviewed. Almost no differences in responses were detected by parenting style
      or ethnicity. Parents reported their children had a voice in what foods were
      purchased and available at home and were receptive to their child's asking for
      FV. The most important child asking characteristic was politeness, especially
      among authoritarian parents. Other important factors were asking in person,
      helping in the grocery store, writing requests on the grocery shopping list, and
      showing information they saw in the media. The barrier raising the most concern
      was FV cost, but FV quality and safety outside the home environment were also
      considerations.

PMID- 28587237
TI  - Risk Perceptions on Hurricanes: Evidence from the U.S. Stock Market.
AB  - This article examines the market reaction of the main Property and Casualty (P &
      C) insurance companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to seven most
      recent hurricanes that hit the East Coast of the United States from 2005 to 2012.
      For this purpose, we run a standard short horizon event study in order to test
      the existence of abnormal returns around the landfalls. P & C companies are one
      of the most affected sectors by such events because of the huge losses to
      rebuild, help and compensate the inhabitants of the affected areas. From the
      financial investors' perception, this kind of events implies severe losses, which
      could influence the expected returns. Our research highlights the existence of
      significant cumulative abnormal returns around the landfall event window in most
      of the hurricanes analyzed, except for the Katrina and Sandy Hurricanes.

PMID- 28587238
TI  - Machine Learning-Based Calibration of Low-Cost Air Temperature Sensors Using
      Environmental Data.
AB  - The measurement of air temperature is strongly influenced by environmental
      factors such as solar radiation, humidity, wind speed and rainfall. This is
      problematic in low-cost air temperature sensors, which lack a radiation shield or
      a forced aspiration system, exposing them to direct sunlight and condensation. In
      this study, we developed a machine learning-based calibration method for air
      temperature measurement by a low-cost sensor. An artificial neural network (ANN)
      was used to balance the effect of multiple environmental factors on the
      measurements. Data were collected over 305 days, at three different locations in
      Japan, and used to evaluate the performance of the approach. Data collected at
      the same location and at different locations were used for training and testing,
      and the former was also used for k-fold cross-validation, demonstrating an
      average improvement in mean absolute error (MAE) from 1.62 to 0.67 by applying
      our method. Some calibration failures were noted, due to abrupt changes in
      environmental conditions such as solar radiation or rainfall. The MAE was shown
      to decrease even when the data collected in different nearby locations were used
      for training and testing. However, the results also showed that negative effects
      arose when data obtained from widely-separated locations were used, because of
      the significant environmental differences between them.

PMID- 28587235
TI  - Flexible Proteins at the Origin of Life.
AB  - Almost all modern proteins possess well-defined, relatively rigid scaffolds that
      provide structural preorganization for desired functions. Such scaffolds require
      the sufficient length of a polypeptide chain and extensive evolutionary
      optimization. How ancestral proteins attained functionality, even though they
      were most likely markedly smaller than their contemporary descendants, remains a
      major, unresolved question in the origin of life. On the basis of evidence from
      experiments and computer simulations, we argue that at least some of the earliest
      water-soluble and membrane proteins were markedly more flexible than their modern
      counterparts. As an example, we consider a small, evolved in vitro ligase, based
      on a novel architecture that may be the archetype of primordial enzymes. The
      protein does not contain a hydrophobic core or conventional elements of the
      secondary structure characteristic of modern water-soluble proteins, but instead
      is built of a flexible, catalytic loop supported by a small hydrophilic core
      containing zinc atoms. It appears that disorder in the polypeptide chain imparts
      robustness to mutations in the protein core. Simple ion channels, likely the
      earliest membrane protein assemblies, could also be quite flexible, but still
      retain their functionality, again in contrast to their modern descendants. This
      is demonstrated in the example of antiamoebin, which can serve as a useful model
      of small peptides forming ancestral ion channels. Common features of the
      earliest, functional protein architectures discussed here include not only their
      flexibility, but also a low level of evolutionary optimization and heterogeneity
      in amino acid composition and, possibly, the type of peptide bonds in the protein
      backbone.

PMID- 28587234
TI  - Peptidylarginine Deiminases-Roles in Cancer and Neurodegeneration and Possible
      Avenues for Therapeutic Intervention via Modulation of Exosome and Microvesicle
      (EMV) Release?
AB  - Exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) are lipid bilayer-enclosed structures released
      from cells and participate in cell-to-cell communication via transport of
      biological molecules. EMVs play important roles in various pathologies, including
      cancer and neurodegeneration. The regulation of EMV biogenesis is thus of great
      importance and novel ways for manipulating their release from cells have recently
      been highlighted. One of the pathways involved in EMV shedding is driven by
      peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) mediated post-translational protein deimination,
      which is calcium-dependent and affects cytoskeletal rearrangement amongst other
      things. Increased PAD expression is observed in various cancers and
      neurodegeneration and may contribute to increased EMV shedding and disease
      progression. Here, we review the roles of PADs and EMVs in cancer and
      neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28587240
TI  - Adaptive Temporal Matched Filtering for Noise Suppression in Fiber Optic
      Distributed Acoustic Sensing.
AB  - Distributed vibration sensing based on phase-sensitive optical time domain
      reflectometry ( phi -OTDR) is being widely used in several applications. However,
      one of the main challenges in coherent detection-based phi -OTDR systems is the
      fading noise, which impacts the detection performance. In addition, typical
      signal averaging and differentiating techniques are not suitable for detecting
      high frequency events. This paper presents a new approach for reducing the effect
      of fading noise in fiber optic distributed acoustic vibration sensing systems
      without any impact on the frequency response of the detection system. The method
      is based on temporal adaptive processing of phi -OTDR signals. The fundamental
      theory underlying the algorithm, which is based on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
      maximization, is presented, and the efficacy of our algorithm is demonstrated
      with laboratory experiments and field tests. With the proposed digital processing
      technique, the results show that more than 10 dB of SNR values can be achieved
      without any reduction in the system bandwidth and without using additional
      optical amplifier stages in the hardware. We believe that our proposed adaptive
      processing approach can be effectively used to develop fiber optic-based
      distributed acoustic vibration sensing systems.

PMID- 28587239
TI  - Magnetic Lateral Flow Strip for the Detection of Cocaine in Urine by Naked Eyes
      and Smart Phone Camera.
AB  - Magnetic lateral flow strip (MLFS) based on magnetic bead (MB) and smart phone
      camera has been developed for quantitative detection of cocaine (CC) in urine
      samples. CC and CC-bovine serum albumin (CC-BSA) could competitively react with
      MB-antibody (MB-Ab) of CC on the surface of test line of MLFS. The color of MB-Ab
      conjugate on the test line relates to the concentration of target in the
      competition immunoassay format, which can be used as a visual signal.
      Furthermore, the color density of the MB-Ab conjugate can be transferred into
      digital signal (gray value) by a smart phone, which can be used as a quantitative
      signal. The linear detection range for CC is 5-500 ng/mL and the relative
      standard deviations are under 10%. The visual limit of detection was 5 ng/mL and
      the whole analysis time was within 10 min. The MLFS has been successfully
      employed for the detection of CC in urine samples without sample pre-treatment
      and the result is also agreed to that of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA). With the popularization of smart phone cameras, the MLFS has large
      potential in the detection of drug residues in virtue of its stability,
      speediness, and low-cost.

PMID- 28587241
TI  - Termite Species Distribution and Flight Periods on Oahu, Hawaii.
AB  - Termites are economically-important structural pests, costing residents of Hawaii
      over $100 million annually. On Oahu, the last published termite swarming survey
      occurred from 1969 to 1971, and the last termite hand-collection survey occurred
      from 1998 to 2000. To contribute data on termite occurrences on Oahu, a light
      trap survey took place from February 2011 to September 2012, and a hand
      collection survey occurred from September to November 2012. Formosan subterranean
      termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, swarming was compared over the duration
      of the study, finding peak swarming in May 2011. C. formosanus alate activity
      density was regressed with environmental factors, finding a negative correlation
      with average wind speed and a positive correlation with average rainfall.
      Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) alates were observed in April, June, and July 2011
      and in June 2012. Four species of termites were found in the hand-collection
      survey of 44 sites: Incisitermes immigrans (Snyder) (n = 8/44), C. formosanus (n
      = 2/44), Cryptotermes cynocephalus Light (n = 1/44), and Neotermes sp. (n =
      1/44). This study contributes to distribution data for termite species on Oahu
      and records alate activity for two important termite pests.

PMID- 28587242
TI  - Cell Microarray Technologies for High-Throughput Cell-Based Biosensors.
AB  - Due to the recent demand for high-throughput cellular assays, a lot of efforts
      have been made on miniaturization of cell-based biosensors by preparing cell
      microarrays. Various microfabrication technologies have been used to generate
      cell microarrays, where cells of different phenotypes are immobilized either on a
      flat substrate (positional array) or on particles (solution or suspension array)
      to achieve multiplexed and high-throughput cell-based biosensing. After
      introducing the fabrication methods for preparation of the positional and
      suspension cell microarrays, this review discusses the applications of the cell
      microarray including toxicology, drug discovery and detection of toxic agents.

PMID- 28587244
TI  - Quality of Life of Post-Mastectomy Women Living in a Semi-Arid Region of Brazil.
AB  - Health is the major reference regarding quality of life; when it comes to breast
      cancer in particular, the loss of a breast traumatically affects a woman's life,
      reflecting on her quality of life. Recognizing this problem, our aim was to
      investigate the quality of life of women who live in a semi-arid region of Brazil
      after breast cancer mastectomy. In this exploratory, transversal and
      observational study, a Brazilian variantof the shorter version of the original
      instrument from the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF),
      applied in the study population, was analyzed and their socio-demographic profile
      was obtained. The sample was composed of 50 mastectomized women. The 50 included
      patients comprised women at a mean age of 54 years. Most of them had finished
      elementary school, and their average income was one Brazilian minimum monthly
      wage. Regarding the data related to quality of life, the highest score was found
      in the social relationships domain (4.29) followed by the psychological (4.09)
      and environmental (3.88) domains. The lowest score observed was for the physical
      domain (3.48). With these findings we can say that social and psychological
      parameters are driving factors of the quality of life in post-mastectomy women.
      Therefore, these results are useful to establish strategies to improve the
      quality of life of breast cancer mastectomy patients.

PMID- 28587246
TI  - Proof of Concept of Home IoT Connected Vehicles.
AB  - The way in which we interact with our cars is changing, driven by the increased
      use of mobile devices, cloud-based services, and advanced automotive technology.
      In particular, the requirements and market demand for the Internet of Things
      (IoT) device-connected vehicles will continuously increase. In addition, the
      advances in cloud computing and IoT have provided a promising opportunity for
      developing vehicular software and services in the automotive domain. In this
      paper, we introduce the concept of a home IoT connected vehicle with a voice
      based virtual personal assistant comprised of a vehicle agent and a home agent.
      The proposed concept is evaluated by implementing a smartphone linked with home
      IoT devices that are connected to an infotainment system for the vehicle, a
      smartphone-based natural language interface input device, and cloud-based home
      IoT devices for the home. The home-to-vehicle connected service scenarios that
      aim to reduce the inconvenience due to simple and repetitive tasks by improving
      the urban mobility efficiency in IoT environments are substantiated by analyzing
      real vehicle testing and lifestyle research. Remarkable benefits are derived by
      making repetitive routine tasks one task that is executed by a command and by
      executing essential tasks automatically, without any request. However, it should
      be used with authorized permission, applied without any error at the right time,
      and applied under limited conditions to sense the habitants' intention correctly
      and to gain the required trust regarding the remote execution of tasks.

PMID- 28587243
TI  - Genomic Variations in Pancreatic Cancer and Potential Opportunities for
      Development of New Approaches for Diagnosis and Treatment.
AB  - Human pancreatic cancer has a very poor prognosis with an overall five-year
      survival rate of less than 5% and an average median survival time of six months.
      This is largely due to metastatic disease, which is already present in the
      majority of patients when diagnosed. Although our understanding of the molecular
      events underlying multi-step carcinogenesis in pancreatic cancer has steadily
      increased, translation into more effective therapeutic approaches has been
      inefficient in recent decades. Therefore, it is imperative that novel and
      targeted approaches are designed to facilitate the early detection and treatment
      of pancreatic cancer. Presently, there are numerous ongoing studies investigating
      the types of genomic variations in pancreatic cancer and their impact on tumor
      initiation and growth, as well as prognosis. This has led to the development of
      therapeutics to target these genetic variations for clinical benefit. Thus far,
      there have been minimal clinical successes directly targeting these genomic
      alterations; however research is ongoing to ultimately discover an innovative
      approach to tackle this devastating disease. This review will discuss the genomic
      variations in pancreatic cancer, and the resulting potential diagnostic and
      therapeutic implications.

PMID- 28587247
TI  - Membranes of Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIM-1) Modified by
      Poly(ethylene glycol).
AB  - Until now, the leading polymer of intrinsic microporosity PIM-1 has become quite
      famous for its high membrane permeability for many gases in gas separation,
      linked, however, to a rather moderate selectivity. The combination with the
      hydrophilic and low permeable poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(ethylene
      oxides) (PEO) should on the one hand reduce permeability, while on the other hand
      enhance selectivity, especially for the polar gas CO2 by improving the
      hydrophilicity of the membranes. Four different paths to combine PIM-1 with PEG
      or poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) were studied: physically
      blending, quenching of polycondensation, synthesis of multiblock copolymers and
      synthesis of copolymers with PEO/PPO side chain. Blends and new, chemically
      linked polymers were successfully formed into free standing dense membranes and
      measured in single gas permeation of N2, O2, CO2 and CH4 by time lag method. As
      expected, permeability was lowered by any substantial addition of PEG/PEO/PPO
      regardless the manufacturing process and proportionally to the added amount.
      About 6 to 7 wt % of PEG/PEO/PPO added to PIM-1 halved permeability compared to
      PIM-1 membrane prepared under similar conditions. Consequently, selectivity from
      single gas measurements increased up to values of about 30 for CO2/N2 gas pair, a
      maximum of 18 for CO2/CH4 and 3.5 for O2/N2.

PMID- 28587245
TI  - Has Inositol Played Any Role in the Origin of Life?
AB  - Phosphorus, as phosphate, plays a paramount role in biology. Since phosphate
      transfer reactions are an integral part of contemporary life, phosphate may have
      been incorporated into the initial molecules at the very beginning. To facilitate
      the studies into early phosphate utilization, we should look retrospectively to
      phosphate-rich molecules present in today's cells. Overlooked by origin of life
      studies until now, inositol and the inositol phosphates, of which some species
      possess more phosphate groups that carbon atoms, represent ideal molecules to
      consider in this context. The current sophisticated association of inositol with
      phosphate, and the roles that some inositol phosphates play in regulating
      cellular phosphate homeostasis, intriguingly suggest that inositol might have
      played some role in the prebiotic process of phosphate exploitation. Inositol can
      be synthesized abiotically and, unlike glucose or ribose, is chemically stable.
      This stability makes inositol the ideal candidate for the earliest
      organophosphate molecules, as primitive inositol phosphates. I also present
      arguments suggesting roles for some inositol phosphates in early chemical
      evolution events. Finally, the possible prebiotic synthesis of inositol
      pyrophosphates could have generated high-energy molecules to be utilized in
      primitive trans-phosphorylating processes.

PMID- 28587248
TI  - Understanding the Challenges of Improving Sanitation and Hygiene Outcomes in a
      Community Based Intervention: A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Tanzania.
AB  - Good sanitation and clean water are basic human rights yet they remain elusive to
      many rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We carried out a cross
      sectional study to examine the impact of a four-year intervention aimed at
      improving access to water and sanitation and reducing waterborne disease,
      especially diarrhea in children under five years old. The study was carried out
      in April and May 2015 in Busangi, Chela and Ntobo wards of Kahama District of
      Tanzania. The interventions included education campaigns and improved water
      supply, and sanitation. The percentage of households (HHs) with access to water
      within 30 min increased from 19.2 to 48.9 and 17.6 to 27.3 in the wet and dry
      seasons, respectively. The percentage of HHs with hand washing facilities at the
      latrine increased from 0% to 13.2%. However, the incidence of diarrhea among
      children under five years increased over the intervention period, RR 2.91 95% CI
      2.71-3.11, p < 0.0001. Availability of water alone may not influence the
      incidence of waterborne diseases. Factors such as water storage and usage, safe
      excreta disposal and other hygiene practices are critical for interventions
      negating the spread of water borne diseases. A model that articulates the extent
      to which these factors are helpful for such interventions should be explored.

PMID- 28587250
TI  - Removal of Carmine from Aqueous Solution by Carbonated Hydroxyapatite Nanorods.
AB  - In this study, carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA) nanorods were prepared by a novel
      hydrothermal method. The crystallinity and chemical structure of synthesized CHA
      nanorods was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray
      diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),
      respectively. Carmine was selected as representative organic dyes to study the
      adsorption capacities of CHA nanorods. Mechanistic studies of carmine adsorption
      by CHA nanorods show that the adsorption processes both follow the pseudo-second
      order kinetic model and fit the Langmuir isotherm model well. The CHA nanorods
      exhibited a high adsorption capacity of 85.51 mg/g for carmine at room
      temperature. The experimental results prove that CHA nanorods can be promising
      absorbents for removing organic dye pollutants in wastewater from paper and
      textile plants.

PMID- 28587249
TI  - Investigation of the Maillard Reaction between Polysaccharides and Proteins from
      Longan Pulp and the Improvement in Activities.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the Maillard reaction between
      polysaccharides and proteins from longan pulp and the effects of reaction on
      their in vitro activities. The polysaccharide-protein mixtures of fresh longan
      pulp (LPPMs) were co-prepared by an alkali extraction-acid precipitation method.
      They were then dry-heated under controlled conditions for monitoring the
      characterization of the Maillard reaction by the measurement of the free amino
      group content, ultraviolet-visible spectrum, Fourier transform infrared spectrum
      and molecular weight distribution. All the physicochemical analyses indicated the
      development of the Maillard reaction between polysaccharides and proteins. The in
      vitro activity evaluation indicated that the Maillard reaction could effectively
      enhance the antioxidant, antitumor and immunostimulating activities of LPPMs. The
      enhancement of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and
      ferric reducing antioxidant power displayed both a positive correlation with the
      reaction time (p < 0.05). LPPMs dry-heated for three days obtained relatively
      strong inhibitory activity against HepG2 cells and SGC7901 cells, as well as
      strong immunostimulating effects on the nitric oxide production and tumor
      necrosis factor alpha secretion of macrophages. Maillard-type intermacromolecular
      interaction is suggested to be an effective and controllable method for improving
      the functional activities of polysaccharides and proteins from longan pulp.

PMID- 28587251
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and Tissue Distribution Kinetics of Puerarin in Rats Using
      Indirect Competitive ELISA.
AB  - Puerarin (PUE) is a compound isolated from the roots of Pueraria lobata. We
      studied the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution kinetics of PUE in Sprague
      Dawley rats following intraperitoneal administration of three concentrations.
      Indirect competitive ELISA based on an anti-PUE monoclonal antibody was used to
      determine the concentration of PUE in the blood, heart, liver, spleen, lung,
      kidney, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and striatum. The plasma and tissue
      distribution kinetic characteristics following a single injection of PUE (20, 40
      and 80 mg/kg) were calculated using a non-compartment model. In the high-dose (80
      mg/kg) and medium-dose (40 mg/kg) groups, the kinetic profile of PUE in blood and
      kidney samples showed two absorption peaks, while that of the other tissues
      showed only one peak. In the low-dose (20 mg/kg) group, there was only one peak,
      irrespective of the sample type. Pharmacokinetic parameters, such as the area
      under the curve, Cmax, and Tmax varied according to the administered dose. AUC
      and Cmax values increased dose-dependently. PUE was widely distributed in areas
      of the brain such as the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and striatum, providing a
      foundation for guiding the use of PUE in the treatment of cerebral ischaemic
      stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28587252
TI  - Multi-Axis Force Sensor for Human-Robot Interaction Sensing in a Rehabilitation
      Robotic Device.
AB  - Human-robot interaction sensing is a compulsory feature in modern robotic systems
      where direct contact or close collaboration is desired. Rehabilitation and
      assistive robotics are fields where interaction forces are required for both
      safety and increased control performance of the device with a more comfortable
      experience for the user. In order to provide an efficient interaction feedback
      between the user and rehabilitation device, high performance sensing units are
      demanded. This work introduces a novel design of a multi-axis force sensor
      dedicated for measuring pelvis interaction forces in a rehabilitation exoskeleton
      device. The sensor is conceived such that it has different sensitivity
      characteristics for the three axes of interest having also movable parts in order
      to allow free rotations and limit crosstalk errors. Integrated sensor electronics
      make it easy to acquire and process data for a real-time distributed system
      architecture. Two of the developed sensors are integrated and tested in a complex
      gait rehabilitation device for safe and compliant control.

PMID- 28587253
TI  - Identification of Proteases and Protease Inhibitors in Allergenic and Non
      Allergenic Pollen.
AB  - Pollen is one of the most common causes of allergy worldwide, making the study of
      their molecular composition crucial for the advancement of allergy research.
      Despite substantial efforts in this field, it is not yet clear why some plant
      pollens strongly provoke allergies while others do not. However, proteases and
      protease inhibitors from allergen sources are known to play an important role in
      the development of pollen allergies. In this study, we aim to uncover differences
      in the transcriptional pattern of proteases and protease inhibitors in Betula
      verrucosa and Pinus sylvestris pollen as models for high and low allergenic
      potential, respectively. We applied RNA sequencing to Betula verrucosa and Pinus
      sylvestris pollen. After de-novo assembly we derived general functional profiles
      of the protein coding transcripts. By utilization of domain based functional
      annotation we identified potential proteases and protease inhibitors and compared
      their expression in the two types of pollen. Functional profiles are highly
      similar between Betula verrucosa and Pinus sylvestris pollen. Both pollen contain
      proteases and inhibitors from 53 and 7 Pfam families, respectively. Some of the
      members comprised within those families are implicated in facilitating allergen
      entry, while others are known allergens themselves. Our work revealed several
      candidate proteins which, with further investigation, represent exciting new
      leads in elucidating the process behind allergic sensitization.

PMID- 28587255
TI  - A Forward GPS Multipath Simulator Based on the Vegetation Radiative Transfer
      Equation Model.
AB  - Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have been widely used in navigation,
      positioning and timing. Nowadays, the multipath errors may be re-utilized for the
      remote sensing of geophysical parameters (soil moisture, vegetation and snow
      depth), i.e., GPS-Multipath Reflectometry (GPS-MR). However, bistatic scattering
      properties and the relation between GPS observables and geophysical parameters
      are not clear, e.g., vegetation. In this paper, a new element on bistatic
      scattering properties of vegetation is incorporated into the traditional GPS-MR
      model. This new element is the first-order radiative transfer equation model. The
      new forward GPS multipath simulator is able to explicitly link the vegetation
      parameters with GPS multipath observables (signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), code
      pseudorange and carrier phase observables). The trunk layer and its corresponding
      scattering mechanisms are ignored since GPS-MR is not suitable for high forest
      monitoring due to the coherence of direct and reflected signals. Based on this
      new model, the developed simulator can present how the GPS signals (L1 and L2
      carrier frequencies, C/A, P(Y) and L2C modulations) are transmitted (scattered
      and absorbed) through vegetation medium and received by GPS receivers. Simulation
      results show that the wheat will decrease the amplitudes of GPS multipath
      observables (SNR, phase and code), if we increase the vegetation moisture
      contents or the scatters sizes (stem or leaf). Although the Specular-Ground
      component dominates the total specular scattering, vegetation covered ground soil
      moisture has almost no effects on the final multipath signatures. Our simulated
      results are consistent with previous results for environmental parameter
      detections by GPS-MR.

PMID- 28587254
TI  - Molecular, Genetic and Agronomic Approaches to Utilizing Pulses as Cover Crops
      and Green Manure into Cropping Systems.
AB  - Cover crops constitute one of the most promising agronomic practices towards a
      more sustainable agriculture. Their beneficial effects on main crops, soil and
      environment are many and various, while risks and disadvantages may also appear.
      Several legumes show a high potential but further research is required in order
      to suggest the optimal legume cover crops for each case in terms of their
      productivity and ability to suppress weeds. The additional cost associated with
      cover crops should also be addressed and in this context the use of grain legumes
      such as cowpea, faba bean and pea could be of high interest. Some of the aspects
      of these grain legumes as far as their use as cover crops, their genetic
      diversity and their breeding using conventional and molecular approaches are
      discussed in the present review. The specific species seem to have a high
      potential for use as cover crops, especially if their noticeable genetic
      diversity is exploited and their breeding focuses on several desirable traits.

PMID- 28587256
TI  - Biochemical and Computational Insights on a Novel Acid-Resistant and Thermal
      Stable Glucose 1-Dehydrogenase.
AB  - Due to the dual cofactor specificity, glucose 1-dehydrogenase (GDH) has been
      considered as a promising alternative for coenzyme regeneration in biocatalysis.
      To mine for potential GDHs for practical applications, several genes encoding for
      GDH had been heterogeneously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) for primary
      screening. Of all the candidates, GDH from Bacillus sp. ZJ (BzGDH) was one of the
      most robust enzymes. BzGDH was then purified to homogeneity by immobilized metal
      affinity chromatography and characterized biochemically. It displayed maximum
      activity at 45  degrees C and pH 9.0, and was stable at temperatures below 50 
      degrees C. BzGDH also exhibited a broad pH stability, especially in the acidic
      region, which could maintain around 80% of its initial activity at the pH range
      of 4.0-8.5 after incubating for 1 hour. Molecular dynamics simulation was
      conducted for better understanding the stability feature of BzGDH against the
      structural context. The in-silico simulation shows that BzGDH is stable and can
      maintain its overall structure against heat during the simulation at 323 K, which
      is consistent with the biochemical studies. In brief, the robust stability of
      BzGDH made it an attractive participant for cofactor regeneration on practical
      applications, especially for the catalysis implemented in acidic pH and high
      temperature.

PMID- 28587257
TI  - Graphene-Supported Spinel CuFe2O4 Composites: Novel Adsorbents for Arsenic
      Removal in Aqueous Media.
AB  - A graphene nanoplate-supported spinel CuFe2O4 composite (GNPs/CuFe2O4) was
      successfully synthesized by using a facile thermal decomposition route. Scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy
      (HRTEM), Electron Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X
      ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the prepared
      composite. The arsenic adsorption behavior of the GNPs/CuFe2O4 composite was
      investigated by carrying out batch experiments. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich
      models were employed to describe the adsorption isotherm, where the sorption
      kinetics of arsenic adsorption by the composite were found to be pseudo-second
      order. The selectivity of the adsorbent toward arsenic over common metal ions in
      water was also demonstrated. Furthermore, the reusability and regeneration of the
      adsorbent were investigated by an assembled column filter test. The GNPs/CuFe2O4
      composite exhibited significant, fast adsorption of arsenic over a wide range of
      solution pHs with exceptional durability, selectivity, and recyclability, which
      could make this composite a very promising candidate for effective removal of
      arsenic from aqueous solution. The highly sensitive adsorption of the material
      toward arsenic could be potentially employed for arsenic sensing.

PMID- 28587258
TI  - Combination of Near Infrared Light-Activated Photodynamic Therapy Mediated by
      Indocyanine Green with Etoposide to Treat Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Indocyanine green (ICG) has been reported as a potential near-infrared (NIR)
      photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. However the application
      of ICG-mediated PDT is both intrinsically and physiologically limited. Here we
      report a combination of ICG-PDT with a chemotherapy drug etoposide (VP-16),
      aiming to enhance the anticancer efficacy, to circumvent limitations of PDT using
      ICG, and to reduce side effects of VP-16. We found in controlled in vitro cell
      based assays that this combination is effective in killing non-small-cell lung
      cancer cells (NSCLC, A549 cell line). We also found that the combination of ICG
      PDT and VP-16 exhibits strong synergy in killing non-small-cell lung cancer cells
      partially through inducing more DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), while it has a
      much weaker synergy in killing human normal cells (GM05757). Furthermore, by
      studying the treatment sequence dependence and the cytotoxicity of laser
      irradiated mixtures of ICG and VP-16, we found that the observed synergy involves
      direct/indirect reactions between ICG and VP-16. We further propose that there
      exists an electron transfer reaction between ICG and VP-16 under irradiation.
      This study therefore shows the anticancer efficacy of ICG-PDT combined with VP
      16. These findings suggest that ICG-mediated PDT may be applied in combination
      with the chemotherapy drug VP-16 to treat some cancers, especially the non-small
      cell lung cancer.

PMID- 28587259
TI  - New Benzenoid Derivatives and Other Constituents from Lawsonia inermis with
      Inhibitory Activity against NO Production.
AB  - Three new benzenoid derivatives, lawsoinermone (1), inermidioic acid (2), and
      inermic acid (3) have been isolated from the aerial part of Lawsonia inermis,
      together with 11 known compounds (4-14). The structures of three new compounds
      were determined through spectroscopic and MS analyses. Compounds 1, 4-6, 13 and
      14 were evaluated for inhibition of nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated
      product of nitrite in RAW 264.7 cells with IC50 values of 6.12, 16.43, 18.98,
      9.30, 9.30 and 14.90 MUg/mL, respectively.

PMID- 28587260
TI  - An Enzyme-Induced Novel Biosensor for the Sensitive Electrochemical Determination
      of Isoniazid.
AB  - In this present work, a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified primarily with
      multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and a composite of MWCNTs and titanium
      oxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs). The enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was
      immobilized to enhance the sensing ability of GCE. The proposed biosensor was
      used for the sensitive determination of isoniazid (INZ) in various pharmaceutical
      samples. The electrochemical behaviour of the developed MWCNT-TiO2NPs-HRP-GCE
      biosensor was studied by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse
      voltammetric (DPV) techniques. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X
      ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TGA) and transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) techniques were used to characterize the developed sensor.
      Phosphate buffer solution (PBS) with pH 7 was used as supporting electrolyte in
      the present investigation. The cyclic voltammetric results revealed that the
      increment of anodic peak currents for the enzyme-induced sensor was almost 8-fold
      greater than that of a bare GCE. The DPV technique exhibited good limit of
      detection and limit of quantification values, viz., 0.0335 MUM and 0.1118 MUM,
      respectively. Moreover, the developed sensor showed long-lasting stability and
      repeatability without any interferents. This strongly indicates that the
      fabricated sensor shows outstanding electrochemical performance towards INZ, with
      excellent selectivity and sensitivity. The developed sensor was successfully
      applied to pharmaceutical samples and gave good percentages of recoveries.

PMID- 28587261
TI  - Ulmus macrocarpa Hance Extracts Attenuated H2O2 and UVB-Induced Skin Photo-Aging
      by Activating Antioxidant Enzymes and Inhibiting MAPK Pathways.
AB  - To protect from reactive oxygen species (ROS) damages, skin cells have evolved to
      have antioxidant enzymes, such as copper and zinc-dependent superoxide dismutase
      (SOD1), mitochondrial manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase (SOD2), catalase
      (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and glutathione reductase (GR), and
      suppressed the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) through the mitogen
      activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways, such as c-Jun N-terminal
      kinase (JNK) and p38. Bioactive compounds analyses were performed using a high
      performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA) system.
      The antioxidant activity of Ulmus macrocarpa Hance (UMH) extracts was estimated
      in vitro. The anti-aging activity of UMH extracts was estimated in vivo using the
      SKH-1 hairless mice. The UMH extracts reduced the H2O2-induced intracellular ROS
      production and the cell damages in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). Moreover, the
      H2O2-induced phosphorylation of JNK and p38 was detected in HDF and UMH extracts
      blocked the phosphorylation. These results suggest that UMH extracts can reduce
      the expression of MMPs and the reduced MMPs lead to the inhibition of collagen
      degradation. In addition, oral administration of the UMH extracts decreased the
      depth, thickness, and length of wrinkles on UVB exposed hairless mice. Therefore,
      UMH extracts play an advantage of the functional materials in antioxidant and
      anti-aging of skin.

PMID- 28587262
TI  - Trends in Pediatric and Adolescent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in
      Victoria, Australia 2005-2015.
AB  - Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in children and adolescents have been
      the focus of recent media attention and parental concern, given their potential
      for adverse long-term health outcomes and healthcare costs. However, there is
      limited formal evidence on trends in the incidence of ACL injuries in children.
      This study utilizes the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) to
      characterize epidemiologic trends of hospital-admitted ACL injuries in those aged
      5 to 14 years over a period of 10 years from 2005 to 2015. There was a total of
      320 cases and the overall annual rate of ACL injuries increased by 147.8% from
      2.74 per 100,000 population in 2005/2006 to 6.79 per 100,000 in 2014/2015. The
      majority (96.9%) of these injuries were in 10- to 14-year-olds. The main in
      hospital procedure provided to over 80% of the hospitalized cases involved ACL
      reconstruction. Sporting activities accounted for 56.6% of ACL injuries. For
      females, over half (52.4%) of ACL injuries occurred whilst playing ball sports,
      compared to 35.4% of males. The large increase in ACL injuries in 5- to 14-year
      olds in the state of Victoria, Australia over a 10-year period indicates they are
      a significant and emerging health burden. Population-wide ACL prevention policies
      are required to halt these trends. Cost effective prevention programs that
      involve neuromuscular training must be implemented in schools and junior sports
      teams.

PMID- 28587263
TI  - Iron for Africa-Report of an Expert Workshop.
AB  - Scientific experts from nine countries gathered to share their views and
      experience around iron interventions in Africa. Inappropriate eating habits,
      infections and parasitism are responsible for significant prevalence of iron
      deficiency, but reliable and country-comparable prevalence estimates are lacking:
      improvements in biomarkers and cut-offs values adapted to context of use are
      needed. Benefits of iron interventions on growth and development are indisputable
      and outweigh risks, which exist in populations with a high infectious burden.
      Indeed, pathogen growth may increase with enhanced available iron, calling for
      caution and preventive measures where malaria or other infections are prevalent.
      Most African countries programmatically fortify flour and supplement pregnant
      women, while iron deficiency in young children is rather addressed at individual
      level. Coverage and efficacy could improve through increased access for target
      populations, raised awareness and lower cost. More bioavailable iron forms,
      helping to decrease iron dose, or prebiotics, which both may lower risk of
      infections are attractive opportunities for Africa. Fortifying specific food
      products could be a relevant route, adapted to local context and needs of
      population groups while providing education and training. More globally,
      partnerships involving various stakeholders are encouraged, that could tackle all
      aspects of the issue.

PMID- 28587264
TI  - Being-in-the-Chemotherapy-Suite versus Being-in-the-Oncology-Ward: An Analytical
      View of Two Hospital Sites Occupied by People Experiencing Cancer.
AB  - How do people with cancer occupy places within the health system during their
      journey through palliative care? The answer to this question was explored by the
      authors as part of a wider ethnographic study of eight people's journeys from
      referral to palliative care services to the end of life. This article reports on
      findings that have emerged from ongoing analysis that has been completed in the
      years proceeding data collection. An ethnographic research design was used to
      collect data about the participants and their family members over a three-year
      period. Data was collected using participant observation and semi-structured
      interviews. Over 380 transcripts based on field note entries and taped interviews
      were produced during the 1121 h of contact with participants and family members
      that made up the research period. Analysis of these texts identified two focal
      sites within Christchurch Hospital that were occupied by the participants. These
      were the Chemotherapy Suite and the Oncology Ward. Drawing on literature
      concerning previous anthropological analysis, research was conducted to
      understand how places affect people and how people affect places. The researchers
      have used a model outlined by the American ethnographer Miles Richardson to
      analyse two distinct sites within one hospital. As explained in Richardson's
      article, whose title is used to model the title of this article, a sense of place
      becomes apparent when comparing and contrasting two sites within the same
      location. Richardson's article is highly interpretative and relies not only on
      pre-existing theoretical frameworks but also on personal interpretation. The same
      approach has been used in the current article. Here, ethnographic methods require
      the researcher's interpretation of how participants occupied these sites.
      Following this approach, the Chemotherapy Suite is presented as a place where
      medicine dominates illness, and appears as distinct from the Oncology Ward, where
      disease predominates and death is secreted away.

PMID- 28587266
TI  - Comparison and Evaluation of Annual NDVI Time Series in China Derived from the
      NOAA AVHRR LTDR and Terra MODIS MOD13C1 Products.
AB  - Time series of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from
      multiple satellite sensors are crucial data to study vegetation dynamics. The
      Land Long Term Data Record Version 4 (LTDR V4) NDVI dataset was recently released
      at a 0.05 * 0.05 degrees  spatial resolution and daily temporal resolution. In
      this study, annual NDVI time series that are composited by the LTDR V4 and
      Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI datasets (MOD13C1) are
      compared and evaluated for the period from 2001 to 2014 in China. The spatial
      patterns of the NDVI generally match between the LTDR V4 and MOD13C1 datasets.
      The transitional zone between high and low NDVI values generally matches the
      boundary of semi-arid and sub-humid regions. A significant and high coefficient
      of determination is found between the two datasets according to a pixel-based
      correlation analysis. The spatially averaged NDVI of LTDR V4 is characterized by
      a much weaker positive regression slope relative to that of the spatially
      averaged NDVI of the MOD13C1 dataset because of changes in NOAA AVHRR sensors
      between 2005 and 2006. The measured NDVI values of LTDR V4 were always higher
      than that of MOD13C1 in western China due to the relatively lower atmospheric
      water vapor content in western China, and opposite observation appeared in
      eastern China. In total, 18.54% of the LTDR V4 NDVI pixels exhibit significant
      trends, whereas 35.79% of the MOD13C1 NDVI pixels show significant trends. Good
      agreement is observed between the significant trends of the two datasets in the
      Northeast Plain, Bohai Economic Rim, Loess Plateau, and Yangtze River Delta. By
      contrast, the datasets contrasted in northwestern desert regions and southern
      China. A trend analysis of the regression slope values according to the
      vegetation type shows good agreement between the LTDR V4 and MOD13C1 datasets.
      This study demonstrates the spatial and temporal consistencies and discrepancies
      between the AVHRR LTDR and MODIS MOD13C1 NDVI products in China, which could
      provide useful information for the choice of NDVI products in subsequent studies
      of vegetation dynamics.

PMID- 28587265
TI  - Ultrasensitive Magnetic Nanoparticle Detector for Biosensor Applications.
AB  - Ta/Ru/Co/Ru/Co/Cu/Co/Ni80Fe20/Ta spin-valve giant magnetoresistive (GMR)
      multilayers were deposited using UHV magnetron sputtering and optimized to
      achieve a 13% GMR ratio before patterning. The GMR multilayer was patterned into
      12 sensor arrays using a combination of e-beam and optical lithographies. Arrays
      were constructed with 400 nm * 400 nm and 400 nm * 200 nm sensors for the
      detection of reporter nanoparticles. Nanoparticle detection was based on
      measuring the shift in high-to-low resistance switching field of the GMR sensors
      in the presence of magnetic particle(s). Due to shape anisotropy and the
      corresponding demag field, the resistance state switching fields were
      significantly larger and the switching field distribution significantly broader
      in the 400 nm * 200 nm sensors as compared to the 400 nm * 400 nm sensors. Thus,
      sensor arrays with 400 nm * 400 nm dimensions were used for the demonstration of
      particle detection. Detection of a single 225 nm Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticle and
      a small number (~10) of 100 nm nanoparticles was demonstrated. With appropriate
      functionalization for biomolecular recognition, submicron GMR sensor arrays can
      serve as the basis of ultrasensitive chemical and biological sensors.

PMID- 28587268
TI  - Influence of Membrane Equivalent Weight and Reinforcement on Ionic Species
      Crossover in All-Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.
AB  - One of the major sources of lost capacity in all-vanadium redox flow batteries
      (VRFBs) is the undesired transport (usually called crossover) of water and
      vanadium ions through the ion-exchange membrane. In this work, an experimental
      assessment of the impact of ion-exchange membrane properties on vanadium ion
      crossover and capacity decay of VRFBs has been performed. Two types of cationic
      membranes (non-reinforced and reinforced) with three equivalent weights of 800,
      950 and 1100 g.mol-1 were investigated via a series of in situ performance and
      capacity decay tests along with ex situ vanadium crossover measurement and
      membrane characterization. For non-reinforced membranes, increasing the
      equivalent weight (EW) from 950 to 1100 g.mol-1 decreases the V(IV) permeability
      by ~30%, but increases the area-specific resistance (ASR) by ~16%. This increase
      in ASR and decrease in V(IV) permeability was accompanied by increased through
      plane membrane swelling. Comparing the non-reinforced with reinforced membranes,
      membrane reinforcement increases ASR, but V(IV) permeability decreases. It was
      also shown that there exists a monotonic correlation between the discharge
      capacity decay over long-term cycling and V(IV) permeability values. Thus, V(IV)
      permeability is considered a representative diagnostic for assessing the overall
      performance of a particular ion-exchange membrane with respect to capacity fade
      in a VRFB.

PMID- 28587267
TI  - Insulin Treatment May Alter Fatty Acid Carriers in Placentas from Gestational
      Diabetes Subjects.
AB  - There is little information available on the effect of Gestational diabetes
      mellitus (GDM) treatment (diet or insulin) on placental lipid carriers, which may
      influence fetal fat accretion. Insulin may activate placental insulin receptors
      protein kinase (AKT) and extracellular signal regulated kinase ERK mediators,
      which might affect lipid metabolism. Placenta was collected from 25 control
      women, 23 GDM-Diet and 20 GDM-Insulin. Western blotting of insulin signaling
      mediators and lipid carriers was performed. The human choricarcinoma-derived cell
      line BeWo was preincubated with insulin inhibitors protein kinase (AKT) and
      extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) and ERK inhibitors to evaluate
      insulin regulation of lipid carriers. Maternal serum insulin at recruitment
      correlated to ultrasound fetal abdominal circumference in offspring of GDM and
      placental endothelial lipase (EL). Lipoprotein lipase in placenta was
      significantly reduced in both GDM, while most of the other lipid carriers tended
      to higher values, although not significantly. There was a significant increase in
      both phosphorylated-Akt and ERK in placentas from GDM-Insulin patients; both were
      associated to placental fatty acid translocase (FAT), fatty acid binding protein
      (A-FABP), and EL. BeWo cells treated with insulin pathway inhibitors
      significantly reduced A-FABP, fatty acid transport protein (FATP-1), and EL
      levels, confirming the role of insulin on these carriers. We conclude that
      insulin promotes the phosphorylation of placental insulin mediators contributing
      to higher levels of some specific fatty acid carriers in the placenta and fetal
      adiposity in GDM.

PMID- 28587269
TI  - Convolutional Neural Network-Based Finger-Vein Recognition Using NIR Image
      Sensors.
AB  - Conventional finger-vein recognition systems perform recognition based on the
      finger-vein lines extracted from the input images or image enhancement, and
      texture feature extraction from the finger-vein images. In these cases, however,
      the inaccurate detection of finger-vein lines lowers the recognition accuracy. In
      the case of texture feature extraction, the developer must experimentally decide
      on a form of the optimal filter for extraction considering the characteristics of
      the image database. To address this problem, this research proposes a finger-vein
      recognition method that is robust to various database types and environmental
      changes based on the convolutional neural network (CNN). In the experiments using
      the two finger-vein databases constructed in this research and the SDUMLA-HMT
      finger-vein database, which is an open database, the method proposed in this
      research showed a better performance compared to the conventional methods.

PMID- 28587270
TI  - Borrelidins C-E: New Antibacterial Macrolides from a Saltern-Derived Halophilic
      Nocardiopsis sp.
AB  - Chemical investigation of a halophilic actinomycete strain belonging to the genus
      Nocardiopsis inhabiting a hypersaline saltern led to the discovery of new 18
      membered macrolides with nitrile functionality, borrelidins C-E (1-3), along with
      a previously reported borrelidin (4). The planar structures of borrelidins C-E,
      which are new members of the rare borrelidin class of antibiotics, were
      elucidated by NMR, mass, IR, and UV spectroscopic analyses. The configurations of
      borrelidines C-E were determined by the interpretation of ROESY NMR spectra, J
      based configuration analysis, a modified Mosher's method, and CD spectroscopic
      analysis. Borrelidins C and D displayed inhibitory activity, particularly against
      the Gram-negative pathogen Salmonella enterica, and moderate cytotoxicity against
      the SNU638 and K562 carcinoma cell lines.

PMID- 28587271
TI  - Development of Activity and Participation Norms among General Adult Populations
      in Taiwan.
AB  - : Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and
      Health (ICF) and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0
      (WHODAS 2.0), The Functioning Disability Evaluation Scale-Adult version (FUNDES
      Adult) began development in 2011. The FUNDES-Adult was designed to assess the
      difficulty level of an individual's activities and participation in daily life.
      There is a lack of research regarding the profile of activity and participation
      for the general adult population. The purposes of this study were to establish
      activity and participation norms for the general adult population in Taiwan and
      to describe, discuss, and compare the activity and participation profile with
      other population. METHOD: A population-based survey was administered in 2013
      using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system (CATI system). Using
      probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling and systematic sampling with
      random digit dialing (RDD), 1500 adults from Taiwan's general population were
      selected to participate in the survey. The FUNDES-Adult with six domains and two
      dimensions (performance and capability) was used to obtain data on activities and
      participation levels. A higher domain score indicated higher participation
      restriction. RESULTS: Approximately 50% of the respondents were male, and the
      average age of the respondents was 45.23 years. There were no significant
      differences in the demographic features between the sample and the population.
      Among the six domains, the self-care domain score was the lowest (least
      restriction) and the participation domain score was the highest (most
      restriction). Approximately 90% of the sample scored were less than 15, and only
      0.1% scored more than 80. This is the first cross-national population-based
      survey to assess norms of activity and participation relevant to the general
      population of Taiwan. As such, the results of this survey can be used as a
      reference for comparing the activity and participation (AP) functioning of other
      countries and subgroups.

PMID- 28587274
TI  - Parent Perspective on Care Coordination Services for Their Child with Medical
      Complexity.
AB  - The overarching goal of care coordination is communication and co-management
      across settings. Children with medical complexity require care from multiple
      services and providers, and the many benefits of care coordination on health and
      patient experience outcomes have been documented. Despite these findings, parents
      still report their greatest challenge is communication gaps. When this occurs,
      parents assume responsibility for aggregating and sharing health information
      across providers and settings. A new primary-specialty care coordination
      partnership model for children with medical complexity works to address these
      challenges and bridge communication gaps. During the first year of the new
      partnership, parents participated in focus groups to better understand how they
      perceive communication and collaboration between the providers and services
      delivering care for their medically complex child. Our findings from these
      sessions reflect the current literature and highlight additional challenges of
      rural families, as seen from the perspective of the parents. We found that
      parents appreciate when professional care coordination is provided, but this is
      often the exception and not the norm. Additionally, parents feel that the local
      health system's inability to care for their medically complex child results in
      unnecessary trips to urban-based specialty care. These gaps require a system
      level approach to care coordination and, consequently, new paradigms for delivery
      are urgently needed.

PMID- 28587273
TI  - Proteases of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus.
AB  - Since the discovery that Der p 1 is a cysteine protease, the role of proteolytic
      activity in allergic sensitization has been explored. There are many allergens
      with proteolytic activity; however, exposure from dust mites is not limited to
      allergens. In this paper, genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data on
      Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (DP) was mined for information regarding the
      complete degradome of this house dust mite. D. pteronyssinus has more proteases
      than the closely related Acari, Dermatophagoides farinae (DF) and Sarcoptes
      scabiei (SS). The group of proteases in D. pteronyssinus is found to be more
      highly transcribed than the norm for this species. The distribution of protease
      types is dominated by the cysteine proteases like Der p 1 that account for about
      half of protease transcription by abundance, and Der p 1 in particular accounts
      for 22% of the total protease transcripts. In an analysis of protease stability,
      the group of allergens (Der p 1, Der p 3, Der p 6, and Der p 9) is found to be
      more stable than the mean. It is also statistically demonstrated that the
      protease allergens are simultaneously more highly expressed and more stable than
      the group of D. pteronyssinus proteases being examined, consistent with common
      assumptions about allergens in general. There are several significant non
      allergen outliers from the normal group of proteases with high expression and
      high stability that should be examined for IgE binding. This paper compiles the
      first holistic picture of the D. pteronyssinus degradome to which humans may be
      exposed.

PMID- 28587272
TI  - Association of Smoking, Alcohol Use, and Betel Quid Chewing with Epigenetic
      Aberrations in Cancers.
AB  - Numerous environmental factors such as diet, alcohol use, stress, and
      environmental chemicals are known to elicit epigenetic changes, leading to
      increased rates of cancers and other diseases. The incidence of head and neck
      cancer, one of the most common cancers in Taiwanese males, is increasing: oral
      cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma are ranked fourth and tenth respectively,
      among the top ten cancers in this group, and a major cause of cancer-related
      deaths in Taiwanese males. Previous studies have identified smoking, alcohol use,
      and betel quid chewing as the three major causes of head and neck cancers; these
      three social habits are commonly observed in Taiwanese males, resulting in an
      increasing morbidity rate of head and neck cancers in this population. In this
      literature review, we discuss the association between specific components of
      betel quid, alcohol, and tobacco, and the occurrence of head and neck cancers,
      lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, and urethral cancer. We focus on
      regulatory mechanisms at the epigenetic level and their oncogenic effects. The
      review further discusses the application of FDA-approved epigenetic drugs as
      therapeutic strategies against cancer.

PMID- 28587275
TI  - A High-Speed Target-Free Vision-Based Sensor for Bus Rapid Transit Viaduct
      Vibration Measurements Using CMT and ORB Algorithms.
AB  - Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has become an increasing source of concern for public
      transportation of modern cities. Traditional contact sensing techniques during
      the process of health monitoring of BRT viaducts cannot overcome the deficiency
      that the normal free-flow of traffic would be blocked. Advances in computer
      vision technology provide a new line of thought for solving this problem. In this
      study, a high-speed target-free vision-based sensor is proposed to measure the
      vibration of structures without interrupting traffic. An improved keypoints
      matching algorithm based on consensus-based matching and tracking (CMT) object
      tracking algorithm is adopted and further developed together with oriented brief
      (ORB) keypoints detection algorithm for practicable and effective tracking of
      objects. Moreover, by synthesizing the existing scaling factor calculation
      methods, more rational approaches to reducing errors are implemented. The
      performance of the vision-based sensor is evaluated through a series of
      laboratory tests. Experimental tests with different target types, frequencies,
      amplitudes and motion patterns are conducted. The performance of the method is
      satisfactory, which indicates that the vision sensor can extract accurate
      structure vibration signals by tracking either artificial or natural targets.
      Field tests further demonstrate that the vision sensor is both practicable and
      reliable.

PMID- 28587276
TI  - Changes in Typical Portion Sizes of Commonly Consumed Discretionary Foods among
      Australian Adults from 1995 to 2011-2012.
AB  - This study aimed to examine the changes in typical portion sizes of commonly
      consumed discretionary foods among Australian adults from 1995 to 2011-2012. Data
      of adults (age >=19 years) from the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey and
      2011-2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey were used. Typical
      portion sizes (median portion) of fourteen discretionary foods that contributed
      the most to energy intake were determined. Ten out of fourteen food categories
      demonstrated a significant change in kJ per typical portion from 1995 to 2011
      2012 (p <= 0.001). kJ per typical portion increased for pizza, cake, sausage,
      cereal bar, processed meat, ice cream and wine, with pizza and cake demonstrating
      the largest increases (+570 kJ and +950 kJ in 2011-2012, respectively; both +66%
      above 1995). In contrast, kJ per typical portion of pastry, snack food and potato
      fries decreased by 10-40% over time, and did not change for biscuit, chocolate,
      sugar-sweetened beverage and beer. Similar changes were observed for grams per
      typical portion consumed. Temporal trends in typical portion sizes were similar
      according to age group, gender and socioeconomic status. The findings suggest
      that population-wide strategies that enable consumers to choose smaller portions
      of discretionary foods are needed to reduce the excess consumption of these
      products.

PMID- 28587278
TI  - Tryptophan Levels during Grape Ripening: Effects of Cultural Practices.
AB  - Some cultural practices that are carried out during the grape ripening period are
      associated with vine stress, including leaf removal, grape bunch removal, and
      vegetable cover crops. Additionally, several nitrogen and sulfur supplements have
      also been used directly on leaves during the last stage of the ripening period.
      In the work described here, five different cultural practices and the reference
      were applied in three replicates in the same vineyard. The evolution of
      tryptophan levels was evaluated from just after grape veraison until the harvest
      date. In some cases, certain specific treatments were also evaluated after the
      regular harvest date. The cultural techniques that involved the application of
      nitrogen led to higher levels of tryptophan at the harvest day when compared to
      other cultural techniques. It was also found that the application of nitrogen
      without sulfur had a faster effect on the level of tryptophan. It was established
      that a period of around 20 days is needed for the grapes to show clear
      differences in tryptophan levels after the application of nitrogen.

PMID- 28587277
TI  - Weight Status Is Related with Gender and Sleep Duration but Not with Dietary
      Habits and Physical Activity in Primary School Italian Children.
AB  - The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children has risen greatly worldwide.
      Diet and poor physical activity are the two risk factors usually examined, but
      epidemiological evidence exists suggesting a link between sleep duration and
      overweight/obesity in children. The aim of this study was to describe the
      relationship among body mass index (BMI), diet quality, physical activity level,
      and sleep duration in 690 children attending the 5th grade in primary schools (9
      11 years old) in the city of Parma (Italy) involved in the Giocampus educational
      program. This was achieved through (i) measuring anthropometric data to compute
      body mass index; (ii) administering a food questionnaire to evaluate adherence to
      the Mediterranean Diet (KIDMED score); and (iii) administering a lifestyle
      questionnaire to classify children physical activity level (PAL), sleep duration,
      and school achievement. A highly significant negative association was found
      between BMI and sleep hours. Moreover, there was a significant positive
      association between PAL and KIDMED scores. No evidence was found of association
      between BMI and PAL, nor between BMI and KIDMED score. Data from this study
      established that BMI is correlated to gender and sleep duration, defining sleep
      habits as one of the factors linked to overweight and obesity.

PMID- 28587279
TI  - Seroprevalence of Measles Antibodies and Predictors for Seropositivity among
      Chinese Children.
AB  - Background: Supplementary measles immunization has been implemented since 2010
      throughout China, yet few studies have reported its effect in the northwest
      regions. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among children aged 2 to
      4 years old (n = 755) from February to September 2014 in 25 towns of Qian County,
      Shaanxi Province. Blood samples were analyzed for measles antibodies using enzyme
      linked immunosorbent immunoglobulin G (IgG) assays. Socio-demographic factors
      were assessed by questionnaire. Data on vaccine dose were collected from town
      medical records. Univariate and logistic regression analyses were used to
      determine factors associated with measles antibody seropositivity. Results:
      Measles antibody seroprevalence was 91.13% (95% CI: 89.52-92.83) in our sample.
      Compared with children whose mother's highest education was primary school,
      seroprevalence was higher in children whose maternal education was middle school
      (adjusted OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 0.7-2.8), high school (adjusted OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3
      7.7), and college/university (adjusted OR: 2.9, 95% CI: 1.2-9.3). Vaccine dose
      was positively associated with seropositivity. Conclusions: Measles
      seroprevalence is high in China and is associated with the mother's education and
      vaccine dose.

PMID- 28587281
TI  - Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Salinity Stress-Responsive
      miRNAs in Wild Emmer Wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides).
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous small noncoding RNAs which regulate
      diverse molecular and biochemical processes at a post-transcriptional level in
      plants. As the ancestor of domesticated wheat, wild emmer wheat (Triticum
      turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) has great genetic potential for wheat improvement.
      However, little is known about miRNAs and their functions on salinity stress in
      wild emmer. To obtain more information on miRNAs in wild emmer, we systematically
      investigated and characterized the salinity-responsive miRNAs using deep
      sequencing technology. A total of 88 conserved and 124 novel miRNAs were
      identified, of which 50 were proven to be salinity-responsive miRNAs, with 32
      significantly up-regulated and 18 down-regulated. miR172b and miR1120a, as well
      as mi393a, were the most significantly differently expressed. Targets of these
      miRNAs were computationally predicted, then Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto
      Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis found that the targets of
      salinity-responsive miRNAs were enriched in transcription factors and stress
      related proteins. Finally, we investigated the expression profiles of seven
      miRNAs ranging between salt-tolerant and sensitive genotypes, and found that they
      played critical roles in salinity tolerance in wild emmer. Our results
      systematically identified the salinity-responsive miRNAs in wild emmer, not only
      enriching the miRNA resource but also laying the foundation for further study on
      the biological functions and evolution of miRNAs in wild wheat and beyond.

PMID- 28587280
TI  - Levo-Corydalmine Alleviates Neuropathic Cancer Pain Induced by Tumor Compression
      via the CCL2/CCR2 Pathway.
AB  - Background: Tumor compression-induced pain (TCIP) is a complex pathological
      cancer pain. Spinal glial cells play a critical role in maintenance of cancer
      pain by releasing proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. In this study, we
      verified the role of levo-corydalmine (l-CDL) on TCIP. Methods: Spontaneous pain,
      paw withdrawal threshold and latency were assessed using TCIP mouse model.
      Immunofluorescence was used to identify the reactions of glia. RT-PCR and western
      blot or ELISA were used to determine mRNA or protein expression of tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interlukin-1beta (IL-1beta), CC chemokine ligand 2
      (CCL2) and chemotactic cytokine receptor 2 (CCR2) in vivo and in vitro. Results:
      l-CDL significantly attenuated TCIP hypersensitivity, accompanying with
      downregulation of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta expression levels and declined
      astrocytes and microglial activation. It also significantly decreased the
      expression of the mRNA and protein level for CCL2 and CCR2. Further, l-CDL could
      suppress TNF-alpha-induced astrocytes activation and IL-1beta expression through
      downregulating the CCL2/CCR2. Besides, CCL2-induced BV-microglia activation and
      inflammatory factors secretion were suppressed by l-CDL via CCR2. Conclusions:
      Suppression of CCL2/CCR2 by l-CDL may contribute to alleviate TCIP, offering an
      alternative medication for TCIP.

PMID- 28587282
TI  - Curcumin Anti-Apoptotic Action in a Model of Intestinal Epithelial Inflammatory
      Damage.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to determine if a preventive treatment with curcumin
      can protect intestinal epithelial cells from inflammatory damage induced by
      IFNgamma. To achieve this goal we have used a human intestinal epithelial cell
      line (HT29) treated with IFNgamma to undergo apoptotic changes that can reproduce
      the damage of intestinal epithelia exposed to inflammatory cytokines. In this
      model, we measured the effect of curcumin (curcuminoid from Curcuma Longa) added
      as a pre-treatment at different time intervals before stimulation with IFNgamma.
      Curcumin administration to HT29 culture before the inflammatory stimulus IFNgamma
      reduced the cell apoptosis rate. This effect gradually declined with the
      reduction of the curcumin pre-incubation time. This anti-apoptotic action by
      curcumin pre-treatment was paralleled by a reduction of secreted IL7 in the HT29
      culture media, while there was no relevant change in the other cytokine levels.
      Even though curcumin pre-administration did not impact the activation of the NF
      kappaB pathway, a slight effect on the phosphorylation of proteins in this
      inflammatory signaling pathway was observed. In conclusion, curcumin pre
      treatment can protect intestinal cells from inflammatory damage. These results
      can be the basis for studying the preventive role of curcumin in inflammatory
      bowel diseases.

PMID- 28587283
TI  - Influence of Hesperidin on the Systemic and Intestinal Rat Immune Response.
AB  - Polyphenols, widely found in edible plants, influence the immune system.
      Nevertheless, the immunomodulatory properties of hesperidin, the predominant
      flavanone in oranges, have not been deeply studied. To establish the effect of
      hesperidin on in vivo immune response, two different conditions of immune system
      stimulations in Lewis rats were applied. In the first experimental design, rats
      were intraperitoneally immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) plus Bordetella pertussis
      toxin and alum as the adjuvants, and orally given 100 or 200 mg/kg hesperidin. In
      the second experimental design, rats were orally sensitized with OVA together
      with cholera toxin and fed a diet containing 0.5% hesperidin. In the first
      approach, hesperidin administration changed mesenteric lymph node lymphocyte
      (MLNL) composition, increasing the TCRalphabeta+ cell percentage and decreasing
      that of B lymphocytes. Furthermore, hesperidin enhanced the interferon (IFN)
      gamma production in stimulated MLNL. In the second approach, hesperidin intake
      modified the lymphocyte composition in the intestinal epithelium (TCRgammadelta+
      cells) and the lamina propria (TCRgammadelta+, CD45RA+, natural killer, natural
      killer T, TCRalphabeta+CD4+, and TCRalphabeta+CD8+ cells). Nevertheless,
      hesperidin did not modify the level of serum anti-OVA antibodies in either study.
      In conclusion, hesperidin does possess immunoregulatory properties in the
      intestinal immune response, but this effect is not able to influence the
      synthesis of specific antibodies.

PMID- 28587285
TI  - Study on an Indoor Positioning System for Harsh Environments Based on Wi-Fi and
      Bluetooth Low Energy.
AB  - This paper presents a study of positioning system that provides advanced
      information services based on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technologies.
      It uses Wi-Fi for rough positioning and BLE for fine positioning. It is designed
      for use in public transportation system stations and terminals where the
      conditions are "hostile" or unfavourable due to signal noise produced by the
      continuous movement of passengers and buses, data collection conducted in the
      constant presence thereof, multipath fading, non-line of sight (NLOS) conditions,
      the fact that part of the wireless communication infrastructure has already been
      deployed and positioned in a way that may not be optimal for positioning
      purposes, variable humidity conditions, etc. The ultimate goal is to provide a
      service that may be used to assist people with special needs. We present
      experimental results based on scene analysis; the main distance metric used was
      the Euclidean distance but the Mahalanobis distance was also used in one case.
      The algorithm employed to compare fingerprints was the weighted k-nearest
      neighbor one. For Wi-Fi, with only three visible access points, accuracy ranged
      from 3.94 to 4.82 m, and precision from 5.21 to 7.0 m 90% of the time. With
      respect to BLE, with a low beacon density (1 beacon per 45.7 m2), accuracy ranged
      from 1.47 to 2.15 m, and precision from 1.81 to 3.58 m 90% of the time. Taking
      into account the fact that this system is designed to work in real situations in
      a scenario with high environmental fluctuations, and comparing the results with
      others obtained in laboratory scenarios, our results are promising and
      demonstrate that the system would be able to position users with these reasonable
      values of accuracy and precision.

PMID- 28587284
TI  - Bioluminescence Assays for Monitoring Chondrogenic Differentiation and Cartilage
      Regeneration.
AB  - Since articular cartilage has a limited regeneration potential, for developing
      biological therapies for cartilage regeneration it is important to study the
      mechanisms underlying chondrogenesis of stem cells. Bioluminescence assays can
      visualize a wide range of biological phenomena such as gene expression,
      signaling, metabolism, development, cellular movements, and molecular
      interactions by using visible light and thus contribute substantially to
      elucidation of their biological functions. This article gives a concise review to
      introduce basic principles of bioluminescence assays and applications of the
      technology to visualize the processes of chondrogenesis and cartilage
      regeneration. Applications of bioluminescence assays have been highlighted in the
      methods of real-time monitoring of gene expression and intracellular levels of
      biomolecules and noninvasive cell tracking within animal models. This review
      suggests that bioluminescence assays can be applied towards a visual
      understanding of chondrogenesis and cartilage regeneration.

PMID- 28587286
TI  - Novel Structurally Related Flavones Augment Cell Death Induced by rhsTRAIL.
AB  - TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) was identified as
      a powerful activator of apoptosis in tumor cells and one of the most promising
      candidates for cancer therapy with no toxicity against normal tissues. However,
      many tumor cells are resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. The aim of this work
      was to analyze the improvement of the anticancer effect of rhsTRAIL (recombinant
      human soluble TRAIL) by nine flavones: 5-Hydroxyflavone, 6-Hydroxyflavone, 7
      Hydroxyflavone and their new synthetic derivatives 5-acetoxyflavone, 5
      butyryloxyflavone, 6-acetoxyflavone, 6-butyryloxyflavone, 7-acetoxyflavone and 7
      butyryloxyflavone. We examined the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of rhsTRAIL
      enhanced by novel structurally-related flavones on SW480 and SW620 colon cancer
      cells using the3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test,
      the lactate dehydrogenase assay and annexin V-FITC fluorescence staining. We
      observed a slight difference in the activities of the flavones that was dependent
      on their chemical structure. Our study indicates that all nine flavones
      significantly augment cell death by rhsTRAIL (cytotoxicity range 36.8 +/- 1.7%
      91.4 +/- 1.7%; apoptosis increase of 33.0 +/- 0.7%-78.5 +/- 0.9%). Our study
      demonstrates the potential use of tested flavones in TRAIL-based anticancer
      therapy and prevention.

PMID- 28587287
TI  - A Routine 'Top-Down' Approach to Analysis of the Human Serum Proteome.
AB  - Serum provides a rich source of potential biomarker proteoforms. One of the major
      obstacles in analysing serum proteomes is detecting lower abundance proteins
      owing to the presence of hyper-abundant species (e.g., serum albumin and
      immunoglobulins). Although depletion methods have been used to address this,
      these can lead to the concomitant removal of non-targeted protein species, and
      thus raise issues of specificity, reproducibility, and the capacity for
      meaningful quantitative analyses. Altering the native stoichiometry of the
      proteome components may thus yield a more complex series of issues than dealing
      directly with the inherent complexity of the sample. Hence, here we targeted
      method refinements so as to ensure optimum resolution of serum proteomes via a
      top down two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) approach that enables the
      routine assessment of proteoforms and is fully compatible with subsequent mass
      spectrometric analyses. Testing included various fractionation and non
      fractionation approaches. The data show that resolving 500 ug protein on 17 cm 3
      10 non-linear immobilised pH gradient strips in the first dimension followed by
      second dimension resolution on 7-20% gradient gels with a combination of lithium
      dodecyl sulfate (LDS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) detergents markedly
      improves the resolution and detection of proteoforms in serum. In addition, well
      established third dimension electrophoretic separations in combination with deep
      imaging further contributed to the best available resolution, detection, and thus
      quantitative top-down analysis of serum proteomes.

PMID- 28587288
TI  - Work-Related Eye Injuries: A Relevant Health Problem. Main Epidemiological Data
      from a Highly-Industrialized Area of Northern Italy.
AB  - The province of Modena is one of the most industrialized areas of Northern Italy.
      The medical records of the Ophthalmological Emergency Department (OED) of Modena
      University Hospital were studied: there were 13,470 OED accesses in 2014 and in
      754 cases that an occupational eye injury occurred. The frequency of work-related
      eye injuries (30/00) was lower compared to other published studies, but the
      absolute number is still relevant, showing the need for more adequate prevention,
      especially in metal work, construction work, and agriculture, where the worst
      prognoses were observed. Intervention programs must be implemented as early as
      possible in the working life, considering that the frequency in younger workers
      is about double that of the oldest age class (3.50/00 vs. 1.80/00), and special
      attention should also be given to foreigners, who have a 50% higher injury risk.
      Furthermore, the planning of specific interventions for eye-injured workers may
      be useful, considering that a previous injury does not appear to encourage the
      adoption of preventive interventions, and a subgroup of eye-injured workers have
      a potential risk for new injuries. Finally, the data presented here indicates how
      OED records, integrated with specific occupational information, can be applied
      for studies on work-related eye injuries.

PMID- 28587289
TI  - Dendritic Cell-Airway Epithelial Cell Cross-Talk Changes with Age and Contributes
      to Chronic Lung Inflammatory Diseases in the Elderly.
AB  - Age-associated dysregulated immune and inflammatory responses are one of the
      major factors responsible for the prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases in
      the older population. Pulmonary dendritic cells (DCs) are present below the
      airway epithelial cells (AECs) and are critical in initiating effective immune
      responses to harmful pathogens while maintaining tolerance against harmless
      antigens. The interaction between DCs and AECs plays a crucial role in lung
      immunity at homeostasis and during infections. The functions of both DCs and AECs
      are impacted with age. The present report reviews how the potential crosstalk
      between pulmonary DCs and AECs is dysregulated in the elderly impairing the
      capacity to maintain tolerance at the respiratory surfaces, which results in
      severe and chronic respiratory inflammatory diseases. We also discuss how such DC
      AECs crosstalk will provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the increased
      susceptibility of the elderly to pulmonary inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 28587291
TI  - In Vitro Evaluation of the Antioxidant, Cytoprotective, and Antimicrobial
      Properties of Essential Oil from Pistacia vera L. Variety Bronte Hull.
AB  - Although the chemical composition and biological properties of some species of
      the genus Pistacia has been investigated, studies on hull essential oil of
      Pistacia vera L. variety Bronte (HEO) are currently lacking. In this work, we
      have carried out an in-depth phytochemical profile elucidation by Gas
      Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, and an evaluation of
      antioxidant scavenging properties of HEO, using several different in vitro
      methods, checking also its cytoprotective potential on lymphocytes treated with
      tert-butyl hydroperoxide. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity against Gram
      positive and Gram-negative strains, both American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)
      and clinical isolates, was also investigated. GC-MS analysis highlighted the
      richness of this complex matrix, with the identification of 40 derivatives. The
      major components identified were 4-Carene (31.743%), alpha-Pinene (23.584%), d
      Limonene (8.002%), and 3-Carene (7.731%). The HEO showed a strong iron chelating
      activity and was found to be markedly active against hydroxyl radical, while
      scarce effects were found against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical.
      Moreover, pre-treatment with HEO was observed to significantly increase the cell
      viability, decreasing the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. HEO was
      bactericidal against all the tested strains at the concentration of 7.11 mg/mL,
      with the exception of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027. The obtained results
      demonstrate the strong free-radical scavenging activity of HEO along with
      remarkable cytoprotective and antimicrobial properties.

PMID- 28587290
TI  - Interpreting Microbial Biosynthesis in the Genomic Age: Biological and Practical
      Considerations.
AB  - Genome mining has become an increasingly powerful, scalable, and economically
      accessible tool for the study of natural product biosynthesis and drug discovery.
      However, there remain important biological and practical problems that can
      complicate or obscure biosynthetic analysis in genomic and metagenomic sequencing
      projects. Here, we focus on limitations of available technology as well as
      computational and experimental strategies to overcome them. We review the unique
      challenges and approaches in the study of symbiotic and uncultured systems, as
      well as those associated with biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) assembly and
      product prediction. Finally, to explore sequencing parameters that affect the
      recovery and contiguity of large and repetitive BGCs assembled de novo, we
      simulate Illumina and PacBio sequencing of the Salinispora tropica genome
      focusing on assembly of the salinilactam (slm) BGC.

PMID- 28587292
TI  - Detection of HBV Covalently Closed Circular DNA.
AB  - Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection affects approximately 240 million
      people worldwide and remains a serious public health concern because its complete
      cure is impossible with current treatments. Covalently closed circular DNA
      (cccDNA) in the nucleus of infected cells cannot be eliminated by present
      therapeutics and may result in persistence and relapse. Drug development
      targeting cccDNA formation and maintenance is hindered by the lack of efficient
      cccDNA models and reliable cccDNA detection methods. Southern blotting is
      regarded as the gold standard for quantitative cccDNA detection, but it is
      complicated and not suitable for high-throughput drug screening, so more
      sensitive and simple methods, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based
      methods, Invader assays, in situ hybridization and surrogates, have been
      developed for cccDNA detection. However, most methods are not reliable enough,
      and there are no unified standards for these approaches. This review will
      summarize available methods for cccDNA detection. It is hoped that more robust
      methods for cccDNA monitoring will be developed and that standard operation
      procedures for routine cccDNA detection in scientific research and clinical
      monitoring will be established.

PMID- 28587293
TI  - Pathological Analysis of Ocular Lesions in a Murine Model of Sjogren's Syndrome.
AB  - Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by severe
      inflammation of exocrine glands such as the salivary and lacrimal glands. When it
      affects the lacrimal glands, many patients experience keratoconjunctivitis due to
      severely dry eyes. This study investigated the pathological and immunological
      characteristics of ocular lesions in a mouse model of SS. Corneal epithelial
      injury and hyperplasia were confirmed pathologically. The number of conjunctival
      mucin-producing goblet cells was significantly decreased in the SS model mice
      compared with control mice. Expression levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)
      beta, interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and C-X-C motif
      chemokine (CXCL) 12 were significantly higher in the corneal epithelium of the SS
      model mice than in control mice. Inflammatory lesions were observed in the
      Harderian, intraorbital, and extraorbital lacrimal glands in the SS model mice,
      suggesting that the ocular glands were targeted by an autoimmune response. The
      lacrimal glands of the SS model mice were infiltrated by cluster of
      differentiation (CD)4+ T cells. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) revealed significantly increased mRNA expression of TNF-alpha,
      TGF-beta, CXCL9, and lysozyme in the extraorbital lacrimal glands of the SS model
      mice compared with control mice. These results add to the understanding of the
      complex pathogenesis of SS and may facilitate development of new therapeutic
      strategies.

PMID- 28587294
TI  - Sesquiterpene Variation in West Australian Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum).
AB  - West Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) has long been exploited for its
      fragrant, sesquiterpene-rich heartwood; however sandalwood fragrance qualities
      vary substantially, which is of interest to the sandalwood industry. We
      investigated metabolite profiles of trees from the arid northern and southeastern
      and semi-arid southwestern regions of West Australia for patterns in composition
      and co-occurrence of sesquiterpenes. Total sesquiterpene content was similar
      across the entire sample collection; however sesquiterpene composition was highly
      variable. Northern populations contained the highest levels of desirable
      fragrance compounds, alpha- and beta-santalol, as did individuals from the
      southwest. Southeastern populations were higher in E,E-farnesol, an undesired
      allergenic constituent, and low in santalols. These trees generally also
      contained higher levels of alpha-bisabolol. E,E-farnesol co-occurred with
      dendrolasin. Contrasting alpha-santalol and E,E-farnesol chemotypes revealed
      potential for future genetic tree improvement. Although chemical variation was
      evident both within and among regions, variation was generally lower within
      regions. Our results showed distinct patterns in chemical diversity of S.
      spicatum across its natural distribution, consistent with earlier investigations
      into sandalwood population genetics. These results are relevant for plantation
      tree improvement and conservation efforts.

PMID- 28587296
TI  - Diagnosis of Compound Fault Using Sparsity Promoted-Based Sparse Component
      Analysis.
AB  - Compound faults often occur in rotating machinery, which increases the difficulty
      of fault diagnosis. In this case, blind source separation, which usually includes
      independent component analysis (ICA) and sparse component analysis (SCA), was
      proposed to separate mixed signals. SCA, which is based on the sparsity of target
      signals, was developed to sever the compound faults and effectively diagnose the
      fault due to its advantage over ICA in underdetermined conditions. However, there
      is an issue regarding the vibration signals, which are inadequately sparse, and
      it is difficult to represent them in a sparse way. Accordingly, to overcome the
      above-mentioned problem, a sparsity-promoted approach named wavelet modulus
      maxima is applied to obtain the sparse observation signal. Then, the potential
      function is utilized to estimate the number of source signals and the mixed
      matrix based on the sparse signal. Finally, the separation of the source signals
      can be achieved according to the shortest path method. To validate the
      effectiveness of the proposed method, the simulated signals and vibration signals
      measured from faulty roller bearings are used. The faults that occur in a roller
      bearing are the outer-race flaw, the inner-race flaw and the rolling element
      flaw. The results show that the fault features acquired using the proposed
      approach are evidently close to the theoretical values. For instance, the inner
      race feature frequency 101.3 Hz is very similar to the theoretical calculation
      101 Hz. Therefore, it is effective to achieve the separation of compound faults
      utilizing the suggest method, even in underdetermined cases. In addition, a
      comparison is applied to prove that the proposed method outperforms the
      traditional SCA method when the vibration signals are inadequate.

PMID- 28587295
TI  - Postnatal Migration of Cerebellar Interneurons.
AB  - Due to its continuing development after birth, the cerebellum represents a unique
      model for studying the postnatal orchestration of interneuron migration. The
      combination of fluorescent labeling and ex/in vivo imaging revealed a cellular
      highway network within cerebellar cortical layers (the external granular layer,
      the molecular layer, the Purkinje cell layer, and the internal granular layer).
      During the first two postnatal weeks, saltatory movements, transient stop phases,
      cell-cell interaction/contact, and degradation of the extracellular matrix mark
      out the route of cerebellar interneurons, notably granule cells and
      basket/stellate cells, to their final location. In addition, cortical-layer
      specific regulatory factors such as neuropeptides (pituitary adenylate cyclase
      activating polypeptide (PACAP), somatostatin) or proteins (tissue-type
      plasminogen activator (tPA), insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1)) have been shown to
      inhibit or stimulate the migratory process of interneurons. These factors show
      further complexity because somatostatin, PACAP, or tPA have opposite or no effect
      on interneuron migration depending on which layer or cell type they act upon.
      External factors originating from environmental conditions (light stimuli,
      pollutants), nutrients or drug of abuse (alcohol) also alter normal cell
      migration, leading to cerebellar disorders.

PMID- 28587297
TI  - Biogenic Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Using a Biosurfactant Extracted from
      Corn and Their Antimicrobial Properties.
AB  - A new and promising biosurfactant extracted from corn steep liquor has been used
      for the green synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs) in a one-step
      procedure induced by temperature. Most of the biosurfactants proposed in the
      literature are produced by pathogenic microorganisms; whereas the biosurfactant
      used in the current work was extracted from a liquid stream, fermented
      spontaneously by lactic acid bacteria, which are "generally recognized as safe"
      (GRAS) microorganisms. The reduction of a gold precursor in the presence of a
      biosurfactant gives rise to a mixture of nanospheres and nanoplates with distinct
      optical features. Moreover, the growth of nanoplates can be promoted by
      increasing the reaction temperature to 60  degrees C. In the case of silver, the
      biosurfactant just induces the formation of pseudo-spherical NPs. The
      biosurfactant plays a key role in the reduction of the metal precursor, as well
      as in the stabilization of the resulting NPs. Furthermore, the antimicrobial
      activity of the resulting silver colloids has been analyzed against Escherichia
      coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The biosurfactant
      stabilized NPs slightly increased the inhibition of E. coli in comparison with
      citrate stabilized Ag NPs. The use of this biosurfactant extracted from corn
      steep liquor for the synthesis of metal NPs contributes to enhancing the
      application of green technologies and increasing the utilization of clean, non
      toxic and environmentally safe production processes. Therefore, it can help to
      reduce environmental impact, minimize waste and increase energy efficiency in the
      field of nanomaterials.

PMID- 28587299
TI  - Remote Sensing Image Change Detection Based on NSCT-HMT Model and Its
      Application.
AB  - Traditional image change detection based on a non-subsampled contourlet transform
      always ignores the neighborhood information's relationship to the non-subsampled
      contourlet coefficients, and the detection results are susceptible to noise
      interference. To address these disadvantages, we propose a denoising method based
      on the non-subsampled contourlet transform domain that uses the Hidden Markov
      Tree model (NSCT-HMT) for change detection of remote sensing images. First, the
      ENVI software is used to calibrate the original remote sensing images. After
      that, the mean-ratio operation is adopted to obtain the difference image that
      will be denoised by the NSCT-HMT model. Then, using the Fuzzy Local Information C
      means (FLICM) algorithm, the difference image is divided into the change area and
      unchanged area. The proposed algorithm is applied to a real remote sensing data
      set. The application results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively
      suppress clutter noise, and retain more detailed information from the original
      images. The proposed algorithm has higher detection accuracy than the Markov
      Random Field-Fuzzy C-means (MRF-FCM), the non-subsampled contourlet transform
      Fuzzy C-means clustering (NSCT-FCM), the pointwise approach and graph theory (PA
      GT), and the Principal Component Analysis-Nonlocal Means (PCA-NLM) denosing
      algorithm. Finally, the five algorithms are used to detect the southern boundary
      of the Gurbantunggut Desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, and the
      results show that the proposed algorithm has the best effect on real remote
      sensing image change detection.

PMID- 28587298
TI  - Serotype-Specific Killing of Large Cell Carcinoma Cells by Reovirus.
AB  - Reovirus is under development as a therapeutic for numerous types of cancer. In
      contrast to other oncolytic viruses, the safety and efficacy of reovirus have not
      been improved through genetic manipulation. Here, we tested the oncolytic
      capacity of recombinant strains (rs) of prototype reovirus laboratory strains T1L
      and T3D (rsT1L and rsT3D, respectively) in a panel of non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC) cell lines. We found that rsT1L was markedly more cytolytic than rsT3D in
      the large cell carcinoma cell lines tested, whereas killing of adenocarcinoma
      cell lines was comparable between rsT1L and rsT3D. Importantly, non-recombinant
      T1L and T3D phenocopied the kinetics and magnitude of cell death induced by
      recombinant strains. We identified gene segments L2, L3, and M1 as viral
      determinants of strain-specific differences cell killing of the large cell
      carcinoma cell lines. Together, these results indicate that recombinant
      reoviruses recapitulate the cell killing properties of non-recombinant, tissue
      culture-passaged strains. These studies provide a baseline for the use of reverse
      genetics with the specific objective of engineering more effective reovirus
      oncolytics. This work raises the possibility that type 1 reoviruses may have the
      capacity to serve as more effective oncolytics than type 3 reoviruses in some
      tumor types.

PMID- 28587301
TI  - Bridging Plant and Human Radiation Response and DNA Repair through an In Silico
      Approach.
AB  - The mechanisms of response to radiation exposure are conserved in plants and
      animals. The DNA damage response (DDR) pathways are the predominant molecular
      pathways activated upon exposure to radiation, both in plants and animals. The
      conserved features of DDR in plants and animals might facilitate
      interdisciplinary studies that cross traditional boundaries between animal and
      plant biology in order to expand the collection of biomarkers currently used for
      radiation exposure monitoring (REM) in environmental and biomedical settings.
      Genes implicated in trans-kingdom conserved DDR networks often triggered by
      ionizing radiation (IR) and UV light are deposited into biological databases. In
      this study, we have applied an innovative approach utilizing data pertinent to
      plant and human genes from publicly available databases towards the design of a
      'plant radiation biodosimeter', that is, a plant and DDR gene-based platform that
      could serve as a REM reliable biomarker for assessing environmental radiation
      exposure and associated risk. From our analysis, in addition to REM biomarkers, a
      significant number of genes, both in human and Arabidopsis thaliana, not yet
      characterized as DDR, are suggested as possible DNA repair players. Last but not
      least, we provide an example on the applicability of an Arabidopsis thaliana
      based plant system monitoring the role of cancer-related DNA repair genes BRCA1,
      BARD1 and PARP1 in processing DNA lesions.

PMID- 28587300
TI  - The 5' and 3' Untranslated Regions of the Flaviviral Genome.
AB  - Flaviviruses are enveloped arthropod-borne viruses with a single-stranded,
      positive-sense RNA genome that can cause serious illness in humans and animals.
      The 11 kb 5' capped RNA genome consists of a single open reading frame (ORF), and
      is flanked by 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTR). The ORF is a polyprotein that
      is processed into three structural and seven non-structural proteins. The UTRs
      have been shown to be important for viral replication and immune modulation. Both
      of these regions consist of elements that are essential for genome cyclization,
      resulting in initiation of RNA synthesis. Genome mutation studies have been
      employed to investigate each component of the essential elements to show the
      necessity of each component and its role in viral RNA replication and growth.
      Furthermore, the highly structured 3'UTR is responsible for the generation of
      subgenomic flavivirus RNA (sfRNA) that helps the virus evade host immune
      response, thereby affecting viral pathogenesis. In addition, changes within the
      3'UTR have been shown to affect transmissibility between vector and host, which
      can influence the development of vaccines.

PMID- 28587304
TI  - Node Scheduling Strategies for Achieving Full-View Area Coverage in Camera Sensor
      Networks.
AB  - Unlike conventional scalar sensors, camera sensors at different positions can
      capture a variety of views of an object. Based on this intrinsic property, a
      novel model called full-view coverage was proposed. We study the problem that how
      to select the minimum number of sensors to guarantee the full-view coverage for
      the given region of interest (ROI). To tackle this issue, we derive the
      constraint condition of the sensor positions for full-view neighborhood coverage
      with the minimum number of nodes around the point. Next, we prove that the full
      view area coverage can be approximately guaranteed, as long as the regular
      hexagons decided by the virtual grid are seamlessly stitched. Then we present two
      solutions for camera sensor networks in two different deployment strategies. By
      computing the theoretically optimal length of the virtual grids, we put forward
      the deployment pattern algorithm (DPA) in the deterministic implementation. To
      reduce the redundancy in random deployment, we come up with a local neighboring
      optimal selection algorithm (LNSA) for achieving the full-view coverage. Finally,
      extensive simulation results show the feasibility of our proposed solutions.

PMID- 28587305
TI  - An Approach to Speed up Single-Frequency PPP Convergence with Quad-Constellation
      GNSS and GIM.
AB  - The single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) technique has attracted
      increasing attention due to its high accuracy and low cost. However, a very long
      convergence time, normally a few hours, is required in order to achieve a
      positioning accuracy level of a few centimeters. In this study, an approach is
      proposed to accelerate the single-frequency PPP convergence by combining quad
      constellation global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and global ionospheric
      map (GIM) data. In this proposed approach, the GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo
      observations are directly used in an uncombined observation model and as a result
      the ionospheric and hardware delay (IHD) can be estimated together as a single
      unknown parameter. The IHD values acquired from the GIM product and the multi
      GNSS differential code bias (DCB) product are then utilized as pseudo-observables
      of the IHD parameter in the observation model. A time varying weight scheme has
      also been proposed for the pseudo-observables to gradually decrease its
      contribution to the position solutions during the convergence period. To evaluate
      the proposed approach, datasets from twelve Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) stations
      on seven consecutive days are processed and analyzed. The numerical results
      indicate that the single-frequency PPP with quad-constellation GNSS and GIM data
      are able to reduce the convergence time by 56%, 47%, 41% in the east, north, and
      up directions compared to the GPS-only single-frequency PPP.

PMID- 28587303
TI  - The Role of Lipid and Lipoprotein Metabolism in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver
      Disease.
AB  - Due to the epidemic of obesity across the world, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
      (NAFLD) has become one of the most prevalent chronic liver disorders in children
      and adolescents. NAFLD comprises a spectrum of fat-associated liver conditions
      that can result in end-stage liver disease and the need for liver
      transplantation. Simple steatosis, or fatty liver, occurs early in NAFLD and may
      progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, fibrosis and cirrhosis with increased
      risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanism of the liver injury in NAFLD is
      currently thought to be a "multiple-hit process" where the first "hit" is an
      increase in liver fat, followed by multiple additional factors that trigger the
      inflammatory activity. At the onset of disease, NAFLD is characterized by hepatic
      triglyceride accumulation and insulin resistance. Liver fat accumulation is
      associated with increased lipotoxicity from high levels of free fatty acids, free
      cholesterol and other lipid metabolites. As a consequence, mitochondrial
      dysfunction with oxidative stress and production of reactive oxygen species and
      endoplasmic reticulum stress-associated mechanisms, are activated. The present
      review focuses on the relationship between intra-cellular lipid accumulation and
      insulin resistance, as well as on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in NAFLD.

PMID- 28587302
TI  - The Functions of MicroRNA-200 Family in Ovarian Cancer: Beyond Epithelial
      Mesenchymal Transition.
AB  - The majority of studies on microRNA-200 family members (miR-200s) in human
      cancers are based on the premise that miR-200s maintain epithelial cell integrity
      by suppressing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through direct inhibition
      of mesenchymal transcription factors zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1/2
      (ZEB1/ZEB2) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a potent inducer of
      EMT. Hence, downregulation of miR-200 in cancer cells promotes EMT and cancer
      metastasis. Yet, miR-200s are highly expressed in ovarian cancer, and ovarian
      cancer metastasizes primarily by dissemination within the pelvic cavity. In this
      review, we will refocus the epithelial property of ovarian cancer cells and the
      role of miR-200s in safeguarding this property, as well as the diverse roles of
      miR-200s in inclusion cyst formation, cancer cell growth, collective movement,
      angiogenesis, exosome-mediated cell communication, and chemoresponse. Taken
      together, miR-200s play a significant role in the initiation, progression and
      metastasis of ovarian cancer and may serve as diagnostic biomarkers and a target
      in therapeutic development.

PMID- 28587306
TI  - Correction: Moreno, A., et al. Design of a Cooperative ITS Architecture Based on
      Distributed RSUs.
AB  - n/a.

PMID- 28587307
TI  - Improved Short-Term Clock Prediction Method for Real-Time Positioning.
AB  - The application of real-time precise point positioning (PPP) requires real-time
      precise orbit and clock products that should be predicted within a short time to
      compensate for the communication delay or data gap. Unlike orbit correction,
      clock correction is difficult to model and predict. The widely used linear model
      hardly fits long periodic trends with a small data set and exhibits significant
      accuracy degradation in real-time prediction when a large data set is used. This
      study proposes a new prediction model for maintaining short-term satellite clocks
      to meet the high-precision requirements of real-time clocks and provide clock
      extrapolation without interrupting the real-time data stream. Fast Fourier
      transform (FFT) is used to analyze the linear prediction residuals of real-time
      clocks. The periodic terms obtained through FFT are adopted in the sliding window
      prediction to achieve a significant improvement in short-term prediction
      accuracy. This study also analyzes and compares the accuracy of short-term
      forecasts (less than 3 h) by using different length observations. Experimental
      results obtained from International GNSS Service (IGS) final products and our own
      real-time clocks show that the 3-h prediction accuracy is better than 0.85 ns.
      The new model can replace IGS ultra-rapid products in the application of real
      time PPP. It is also found that there is a positive correlation between the
      prediction accuracy and the short-term stability of on-board clocks. Compared
      with the accuracy of the traditional linear model, the accuracy of the static PPP
      using the new model of the 2-h prediction clock in N, E, and U directions is
      improved by about 50%. Furthermore, the static PPP accuracy of 2-h clock products
      is better than 0.1 m. When an interruption occurs in the real-time model, the
      accuracy of the kinematic PPP solution using 1-h clock prediction product is
      better than 0.2 m, without significant accuracy degradation. This model is of
      practical significance because it solves the problems of interruption and delay
      in data broadcast in real-time clock estimation and can meet the requirements of
      real-time PPP.

PMID- 28587308
TI  - Two-Dimensional DOA Estimation for Coherently Distributed Sources with Symmetric
      Properties in Crossed Arrays.
AB  - In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed for the two-dimensional (2D) central
      direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of coherently distributed (CD) sources.
      Specifically, we focus on a centro-symmetric crossed array consisting of two
      uniform linear arrays (ULAs). Unlike the conventional low-complexity methods
      using the one-order Taylor series approximation to obtain the approximate
      rotational invariance relation, we first prove the symmetric property of angular
      signal distributed weight vectors of the CD source for an arbitrary
      centrosymmetric array, and then use this property to establish two generalized
      rotational invariance relations inside the array manifolds in the two ULAs.
      Making use of such relations, the central elevation and azimuth DOAs are obtained
      by employing a polynomial-root-based search-free approach, respectively. Finally,
      simple parameter matching is accomplished by searching for the minimums of the
      cost function of the estimated 2D angular parameters. When compared with the
      existing low-complexity methods, the proposed algorithm can greatly improve
      estimation accuracy without significant increment in computation complexity.
      Moreover, it performs independently of the deterministic angular distributed
      function. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the performance of the
      proposed algorithm.

PMID- 28587309
TI  - Dynamics of Hierarchical Urban Green Space Patches and Implications for
      Management Policy.
AB  - Accurately quantifying the variation of urban green space is the prerequisite for
      fully understanding its ecosystem services. However, knowledge about the
      spatiotemporal dynamics of urban green space is still insufficient due to
      multiple challenges that remain in mapping green spaces within heterogeneous
      urban environments. This paper uses the city of Hangzhou to demonstrate an
      analysis methodology that integrates sub-pixel mapping technology and landscape
      analysis to fully investigate the spatiotemporal pattern and variation of
      hierarchical urban green space patches. Firstly, multiple endmember spectral
      mixture analysis was applied to time series Landsat data to derive green space
      coverage at the sub-pixel level. Landscape metric analysis was then employed to
      characterize the variation pattern of urban green space patches. Results indicate
      that Hangzhou has experienced a significant loss of urban greenness, producing a
      more fragmented and isolated vegetation landscape. Additionally, a remarkable
      amelioration of urban greenness occurred in the city core from 2002 to 2013,
      characterized by the significant increase of small-sized green space patches. The
      green space network has been formed as a consequence of new urban greening
      strategies in Hangzhou. These strategies have greatly fragmented the built-up
      areas and enriched the diversity of the urban landscape. Gradient analysis
      further revealed a distinct pattern of urban green space landscape variation in
      the process of urbanization. By integrating both sub-pixel mapping technology and
      landscape analysis, our approach revealed the subtle variation of urban green
      space patches which are otherwise easy to overlook. Findings from this study will
      help us to refine our understanding of the evolution of heterogeneous urban
      environments.

PMID- 28587310
TI  - Viral Encephalitis of Unknown Cause: Current Perspective and Recent Advances.
AB  - Viral encephalitis causes acute inflammation of the brain parenchyma and is a
      significant cause of human morbidity and mortality. Although Herpes Simplex
      encephalitis is the most frequent known cause of fatal sporadic encephalitis in
      humans, an increasingly wide range of viruses and other microbial pathogens are
      implicated. Up to 60% of cases of presumed viral encephalitis remain unexplained
      due to the failure of conventional laboratory techniques to detect an infectious
      agent. High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies have the potential to detect
      any microbial nucleic acid present in a biological specimen without any prior
      knowledge of the target sequence. While there remain challenges intrinsic to
      these technologies, they have great promise in virus discovery in unexplained
      encephalitis.

PMID- 28587311
TI  - Genetic Variation Controlling Wrinkled Seed Phenotypes in Pisum: How Lucky Was
      Mendel?
AB  - One of the traits studied by Mendel in pea (Pisum sativum L.) was the wrinkled
      seeded phenotype, and the molecular basis for a mutation underlying this
      phenotype was discovered in the 1990s. Although the starch-branching enzyme gene
      mutation identified at the genetic locus r is most likely to be that in seeds
      available to Mendel in the mid-1800s, it has remained an open question as to
      whether or not additional natural mutations in this gene exist within Pisum
      germplasm collections. Here, we explore this question and show that all but two
      wrinkled-seeded variants in one such collection correspond to either the mutant
      allele described previously for the r locus or a mutation at a second genetic
      locus, rb, affecting the gene encoding the large subunit of Adenosine
      diphosphoglucose (ADP-glucose) pyrophosphorylase; the molecular basis for the rb
      mutation is described here. The genetic basis for the phenotype of one (JI 2110)
      of the two lines which are neither r nor rb has been studied in crosses with a
      round-seeded variant (JI 281); for which extensive genetic marker data were
      expected. In marked contrast to the trait studied by Mendel and the rb phenotype;
      the data suggest that the wrinkled-seeded phenotype in JI 2110 is maternally
      determined, controlled by two genetic loci, and the extent to which it is
      manifested is very sensitive to the environment. Metabolite analysis of the
      cotyledons of JI 2110 revealed a profile for sucrose and sucrose-derived
      compounds that was more similar to that of wild-type round-seeded, than that of
      wrinkled-seeded r, pea lines. However, the metabolite profile of the seed coat
      (testa) of JI 2110 was distinct from that of other round-seeded genotypes tested
      which, together with analysis of recombinant inbred progeny lines, suggests an
      explanation for the seed phenotype.

PMID- 28587312
TI  - Molecular Typing of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Patients with Autosomal
      Dominant Hyper IgE Syndrome.
AB  - Autosomal dominant hyper IgE syndrome (AD-HIES) is a primary immunodeficiency
      caused by a loss-of-function mutation in the Signal Transducer and Activator of
      Transcription 3 (STAT3). This immune disorder is clinically characterized by
      increased susceptibility to cutaneous and sinopulmonary infections, in particular
      with Candida and Staphylococcus aureus. It has recently been recognized that the
      skin microbiome of patients with AD-HIES is altered with an overrepresentation of
      certain Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive staphylococci. However, these
      alterations have not been characterized at the species- and strain-level. Since
      S. aureus infections are influenced by strain-specific expression of virulence
      factors, information on colonizing strain characteristics may provide insights
      into host-pathogen interactions and help guide management strategies for
      treatment and prophylaxis. The aim of this study was to determine whether the
      immunodeficiency of AD-HIES selects for unique strains of colonizing S. aureus.
      Using multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), protein A (spa) typing, and PCR-based
      detection of toxin genes, we performed a detailed analysis of the S. aureus
      isolates (n = 13) found on the skin of twenty-one patients with AD-HIES. We found
      a low diversity of sequence types, and an abundance of strains that expressed
      methicillin resistance, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), and staphylococcal
      enterotoxins K and Q (SEK, SEQ). Our results indicate that patients with AD-HIES
      may often carry antibiotic-resistant strains that harbor key virulence factors.

PMID- 28587313
TI  - MicroRNA-223-3p Regulates Ovarian Cancer Cell Proliferation and Invasion by
      Targeting SOX11 Expression.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) often display different expression in many cancers and other
      diseases in current research studies. miR-223 expression is upregulated in
      rheumatoid arthritis. Also, miR-223 expression has been demonstrated to be highly
      expressed in pancreatic cancer and gastric cancer in comparison with normal
      tissue. However, whether miR-223 displays different expression in ovarian cancer
      and what its underlying functions are in ovarian cancer have remained unclear. In
      this study, we demonstrated that miR-223-3p was upregulated in ovarian cancer
      tissue. Next, we explored the functional role of miR-223-3p in ovarian cancer
      using SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cell lines. Our results suggested that miR-223-3p mimic
      promoted ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro.
      However, miR-223-3p inhibitor displayed the opposite effects. In addition, we
      demonstrated that miR-223-3p mimic promoted tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, we
      found SOX11 (sex determining region Y-box 11) was inversely expressed with miR
      223-3p in ovarian cancer (OC) cell lines and tissue specimens. miR-223-3p mimic
      decreased SOX11 expression. Overexpressing SOX11 inhibited ovarian cancer cell
      proliferation and invasion, which indicated that miR-223-3p regulated OC cell
      proliferation and invasion through targeting SOX11 expression. In conclusion, the
      findings of the present study demonstrated that miR-223-3p could be a potential
      therapeutic for ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28587314
TI  - Cellular Morphology-Mediated Proliferation and Drug Sensitivity of Breast Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - The interpretation of the local microenvironment of the extracellular matrix for
      malignant tumor cells is in intimate relation with metastatic spread of cancer
      cells involving the associated issues of cellular proliferation and drug
      responsiveness. This study was aimed to assess the combination of both surface
      topographies (fiber alignments) and different stiffness of the polymeric
      substrates (poly(l-lactic acid) and poly(epsilon-caprolactone), PLLA and PCL,
      respectively) as well as collagen substrates (coat and gel) to elucidate the
      effect of the cellular morphology on cellular proliferation and drug
      sensitivities of two different types of breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 and MCF
      7). The morphological spreading parameter (nucleus/cytoplasm area ratio) induced
      by the anthropogenic substrates has correlated intimately with the cellular
      proliferation and the drug sensitivity the half maximal inhibitory concentration
      (IC50) of cancer cells. This study demonstrated the promising results of the
      parameter for the evaluation of cancer cell malignancy.

PMID- 28587315
TI  - Getting to Know a Place: Built Environment Walkability and Children's Spatial
      Representation of Their Home-School (h-s) Route.
AB  - The literature on environmental walkability to date has mainly focused on walking
      and related health outcomes. While previous studies suggest associations between
      walking and spatial knowledge, the associations between environmental walkability
      and spatial knowledge is yet to be explored. The current study addresses this
      lacuna in research by exploring children's mental representations of their home
      school (h-s) route, vis.

PMID- 28587317
TI  - Designed Synthesis of Nanostructured Magnetic Hydroxyapatite Based Drug
      Nanocarrier for Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery toward the Treatment of Human
      Epidermoid Carcinoma.
AB  - Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles on hydroxyapatite nanorod based
      nanostructures (Fe3O4/HAp) were synthesized using hydrothermal techniques at 180 
      degrees C for 12 h and were used as drug delivery nanocarriers for cancer cell
      therapeutic applications. The synthesized Fe3O4/HAp nanocomposites were
      characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Field emission scanning
      electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR),
      Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET)-analysis, and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM).
      The morphologies of the Fe3O4/HAp nanocomposites show 15 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles
      dispersed in the form of rods. The BET result shows that the synthesized samples
      have a high specific surface area of 80 m2 g-1 with mesoporous structures.
      Magnetic measurements revealed that the sample has high saturation magnetization
      of 18 emu/g with low coercivity. The Fe3O4/HAp nanocomposites had a large
      specific surface area (SSA), high mesoporous volume, and good magnetic property,
      which made it a suitable nanocarrier for targeted drug delivery systems. The
      chemotherapeutic agent, andrographolide, was used to investigate the drug
      delivery behavior of the Fe3O4/HAp nanocomposites. The human epidermoid skin
      cancer cells (A431) were used as the model targeting cell lines by treating with
      andrographolide loaded Fe3O4/HAp nanosystems and were further evaluated for their
      antiproliferative activities and the induction of apoptosis. Also, the present
      nanocomposite shows better biocompatibility, therefore it can be used as suitable
      drug vehicle for cancer therapy applications.

PMID- 28587318
TI  - Risk Assessment of Face Skin Exposure to UV Irradiance from Different Rotation
      Angle Ranges.
AB  - Ultraviolet (UV) is one of the environmental pathogenic factors causing skin
      damage. Aiming to assess the risk of face skin exposure to UV irradiance from
      different rotation angles, a rotating model was used to monitor the exposure of
      the skin on the face to UV irradiance, with skin damage action spectra used to
      determine the biologically effective UV irradiance (UVBEskin) and UVBEskin
      radiant exposure (HBEskin) causing skin damage. The results indicate that the
      UVBEskin is directly influenced by variations in rotation angles. A significant
      decrease of approximately 52.70% and 52.10% in UVBEskin was found when the cheek
      and nose measurement sites was rotated from 0 degrees  to 90 degrees , while a
      decrease of approximately 62.70% was shown when the forehead measurement sites
      was rotated from an angle of 0 degrees  to 108 degrees . When HBEskin was
      compared to the exposure limits (ELs; 30 J.m-2), the maximum relative risk ratios
      (RR) for cheek, nose, and forehead were found to be approximately 2.01, 2.40, and
      2.90, respectively, which were all measured at a rotation angle of 0 degrees .
      The maximal increase in the percentage of the average HBEskin for rotation angles
      of 60 degrees , 120 degrees , 180 degrees , and 360 degrees  facing the sun to
      ELs were found to be approximately 62.10%, 52.72%, 43.43%, and 26.27% for the
      cheek; approximately 130.61%, 109.68%, 86.43%, and 50.06% for the nose; and
      approximately 178.61%, 159.19%, 134.38%, and 83.41% for the forehead,
      respectively.

PMID- 28587319
TI  - Seawater-drowning-induced acute lung injury: From molecular mechanisms to
      potential treatments.
AB  - Drowning is a crucial public safety problem and is the third leading cause of
      accidental fatality, claiming ~372,000 lives annually, worldwide. In near
      drowning patients, acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome
      (ARDS) is one of the most common complications. Approximately 1/3 of near
      drowning patients fulfill the criteria for ALI or ARDS. In the present article,
      the current literature of near-drowning, pathophysiologic changes and the
      molecular mechanisms of seawater-drowning-induced ALI and ARDS was reviewed.
      Seawater is three times more hyperosmolar than plasma, and following inhalation
      of seawater the hyperosmotic seawater may cause serious injury in the lung and
      alveoli. The perturbing effects of seawater may be primarily categorized into
      insufficiency of pulmonary surfactant, blood-air barrier disruption, formation of
      pulmonary edema, inflammation, oxidative stress, autophagy, apoptosis and various
      other hypertonic stimulation. Potential treatments for seawater-induced ALI/ARDS
      were also presented, in addition to suggestions for further studies. A total of
      nine therapeutic strategies had been tested and all had focused on modulating the
      over-activated immunoreactions. In conclusion, seawater drowning is a complex
      injury process and the exact mechanisms and potential treatments require further
      exploration.

PMID- 28587316
TI  - Bacteria from Animals as a Pool of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes.
AB  - Antimicrobial agents are used in both veterinary and human medicine. The
      intensive use of antimicrobials in animals may promote the fixation of
      antimicrobial resistance genes in bacteria, which may be zoonotic or capable to
      transfer these genes to human-adapted pathogens or to human gut microbiota via
      direct contact, food or the environment. This review summarizes the current
      knowledge of the use of antimicrobial agents in animal health and explores the
      role of bacteria from animals as a pool of antimicrobial resistance genes for
      human bacteria. This review focused in relevant examples within the ESC(K)APE
      (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile (Klebsiella
      pneumoniae), Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and
      Enterobacteriaceae) group of bacterial pathogens that are the leading cause of
      nosocomial infections throughout the world.

PMID- 28587320
TI  - Distribution characteristics of Staphylococcus spp. in different phases of
      periprosthetic joint infection: A review.
AB  - Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating condition and
      Staphylococcus spp. are the predominant pathogens responsible, particularly
      coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Staphylococcus aureus. The aim of the
      present systematic review was to evaluate the distribution characteristics of
      specific Staphylococcus spp. in different PJI phases, reveal the effect of
      pathogens' feature on their distribution and suggest recommendations for
      antibiotic treatment of Staphylococcal PJI. The present systematic review was
      performed using PubMed and EMBASE databases with the aim to identify existing
      literature that presented the spectrum of Staphylococcus spp. that occur in PJI.
      Once inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 20 cohort studies involving
      3,344 cases in 3,199 patients were included. The predominant pathogen involved in
      PJI was indicated to be CoNS (31.2%), followed by S. aureus (28.8%). This trend
      was more apparent in hip replacement procedures. In addition, almost equal
      proportions of CoNS and S. aureus (28.6 and 30.0%, respectively) were indicated
      in the delayed phase. CoNS (36.6%) were the predominant identified organism in
      the early phase, whereas S. aureus (38.3%) occurred primarily in the late phase.
      In PJI caused by S. aureus, the number of cases of methicillin-sensitive
      Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) was ~2.5-fold greater than that of methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA occurred predominantly in the early
      phase, whereas MSSA was largely observed in the delayed and late phases. With
      regards to antibiotic treatment, the feature of various pathogens and the phases
      of PJI were the primary considerations. The present review provides useful
      information for clinical practice and scientific research of PJI.

PMID- 28587321
TI  - Clinical evaluation of CENP-B and Scl-70 autoantibodies in silicosis patients.
AB  - Silicosis patients (SIL) suffer from respiratory disorders and dysregulation of
      autoimmunity. Frequent complications such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic
      sclerosis (SSc) and vasculitis are known in SIL. Furthermore, we reported
      previously that some SIL exhibited better respiratory conditions in association
      with a worse immunological status. In this study, the clinical roles of anti-CENP
      B and Scl-70 autoantibodies in SIL were analyzed. The titer index (Log10) of anti
      CENP-B autoantibody in SIL was higher than that of healthy volunteers (HV), and
      that of SSc was higher than those of HV and SIL. This titer index was positively
      correlated with an assumed immune status of 1 for HV, 2 for SIL, and 3 for SSc.
      Moreover, although factor analysis revealed that the titer index of the anti-CENP
      B autoantibody formed the same factor with the anti-Scl-70 autoantibody, IgG
      value and age in SIL cases, another extracted factor indicated that the IgA value
      and anti-Scl-70 antibody were positively related, but anti-CENP-B showed an
      opposite pattern in the results of the factor analysis. These findings indicated
      that the titer index of anti-CENP-B autoantibody may be a biomarker for
      dysregulation in SIL cases. Future clinical follow-up of SIL may therefore
      require both respiratory and immunological assessment.

PMID- 28587322
TI  - Novel variant in the FGD1 gene causing Aarskog-Scott syndrome.
AB  - Aarskog-Scott syndrome (ASS) is a rare, X-linked recessive inherited disorder.
      Affected individuals may develop short stature and exhibit distinctive skeletal
      and genital development. Mutations in the FYVE, rhogef and pleckstrin homology
      domain-containing protein 1 (FGD1) gene, located within the Xp11.21 region, are
      responsible for the occurrence of ASS. Since it is rare and complex, it can take
      a long time to obtain a definitive clinical diagnosis unless clinicians are
      familiar with the disease. In the present study, whole-exome sequencing (WES) was
      performed to screen for causal variants in a Chinese pediatric patient who
      exhibited a number of clinical symptoms of ASS, including short stature, facial
      abnormalities, stubby metacarpals and swollen testis. DNA sequencing revealed a
      novel c.1270 A>G mutation in exon 6 of the FGD1 gene, which led to an amino acid
      conversion of asparagine to aspartic acid on codon 424 and in silico analysis
      indicated that this novel missense mutation was pathogenic. The present study
      identified a novel variant of the FGD1 gene and to the best of our knowledge, is
      the first report of ASS in a Chinese individual. The results indicated that WES
      is an effective tool for the diagnosis of rare and complex syndromes such as ASS.

PMID- 28587323
TI  - Clinical relevance of gemstone spectral CT in the diagnosis of carotid
      atherosclerosis.
AB  - A variety of imaging methods can be used in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic
      plaques. In the present study, we investigated the morphology and composition of
      atherosclerotic plaque associated with ischemic cerebral infarction by comparing
      gemstone spectral computed tomography (GSCT) and traditional multi-slice CT
      (MSCT). In total, 200 patients were enrolled and divided into the experimental
      group (n=100), which underwent GSCT, and the control group (n=100), which
      underwent MSCT. All the cases were followed up to observe disease outcomes in
      patients with different atherosclerotic plaque types, and adverse events in
      carotid artery stenosis or cerebral infarction were recorded. Compared with
      traditional MSCT, sensitivity (93.2%), specificity (84.5%), and accuracy (91.0%)
      of GSCT were significantly higher. We found a correlation between vulnerable
      plaque of carotid atherosclerotic plaque and the occurrence of cerebral
      infarction. These results suggest the advantages of GSCT in analyzing
      atherosclerotic plaque and predicting the risk of ischemic cerebral infarction.

PMID- 28587324
TI  - In vitro activity of chlorogenic acid against Aspergillus fumigatus biofilm and
      gliotoxin production.
AB  - Aspergillus (A.) fumigatus, one of the most common causes of life-threatening
      fungal infections in immunocompromised patients, shows resistance to antifungal
      agents as has a high propensity to forming a biofilm. The present study aimed to
      investigate the effects of chlorogenic acid (CRA) on A. fumigatus biofilm
      formation and integrity. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was performed to
      determine the inhibitory effects of CRA against A. fumigatus biofilm formation.
      Transmission electron microscopy was performed to investigate the ultrastructural
      changes of A. fumigatus biofilm after CRA exposure. High-performance liquid
      chromatography and reverse-transcription quantitative PCR were performed to
      determine the expression of gliotoxin production in biofilm culture. The results
      showed that CRA at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations inhibited A. fumigatus
      biofilm formation. In addition, CRA could decreased the gliotoxin production in
      the biofilm culture supernatant through inhibiting the expression of master genes
      involved in gliotoxin biosynthesis. The present study provided useful information
      for the development of novel strategies to reduce the incidence of A. fumigatus
      biofilm-associated diseases.

PMID- 28587325
TI  - Sildenafil suppresses the proliferation and enhances the apoptosis of hemangioma
      endothelial cells.
AB  - Treatment of infantile hemangiomas (IH) with propranolol was first reported in
      2008. Regressions of lymphatic malformations combined with pulmonary hypertension
      was first reported in 2012 after three children received treatment with oral
      sildenafil, which serves as an antagonist of phosphodiesterase isoform-5 (PDE-5).
      A marked expression of endothelial cells in the cytoplasm of IH tissues was
      obtained in our previous study. Therefore, the present study hypothesized that
      the antagonist of PDE-5, sildenafil, may lead to the regression of hemangiomas.
      To assess this hypothesis, the proliferation and apoptosis of specimen-derived
      hemangioma endothelial cells (HemECs) was determined in vitro by an MTT assay and
      flow cytometry, respectively, following treatment with sildenafil. The potential
      mechanisms underlying the mRNA and protein expression levels of inhibitor of
      differentiation 1 (Id-1) were determined by reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The results demonstrated that 5
      uM sildenafil suppressed the proliferation of HemECs and significantly enhanced
      the rate of apoptosis after 24 h. Additionally, the mRNA and protein expression
      levels of Id-1 were downregulated following treatment with sildenafil. Therefore,
      the present study concluded that PDE-5 may be a potential therapeutic target for
      hemangiomas and Id-1 may serve a vital role in the associated signaling
      transduction pathways.

PMID- 28587326
TI  - Degradation of Mg-6Zn alloy stents does not influence the healing of the common
      bile duct in vivo.
AB  - To investigate the effects of Mg-6Zn alloy on the healing of the common bile duct
      (CBD), Mg-6Zn alloy stents were implanted into the CBDs of rabbits. Stainless
      steel stents were transplanted into a second group of rabbits to serve as a
      control. Computed tomography (CT) scanning was performed and weight loss was
      recorded to evaluate the in vivo degradation process. Hematoxylin and eosin
      staining and immunohistochemical analyses were performed to determine the
      expressions of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and evaluate CBD healing.
      The Mg-6Zn stents maintained ~82 and ~50% of the original length, and ~90 and
      ~43% of the original CT value at 1 and 2 weeks post-operatively, respectively.
      The residual weights of the Mg-6Zn stents were ~89, ~42 and ~9% of the original
      weights at 1, 2 and 3 weeks post-operatively, respectively. At 3 weeks post
      surgery, the CBD was completely healed, with no wounds observed in the 3 groups.
      VEGF expression in the Mg-6Zn stent group was lower than that in the stainless
      steel stent group at 3 weeks post-surgery (P=0.002). No significant differences
      were observed between the mean expressions of the TGF-beta1 and bFGF genes at 1
      and 2 weeks post-surgery. The results of the present study suggest that
      degradation of the Mg-6Zn alloy may not affect healing of the CBD.

PMID- 28587327
TI  - Microarray profiling of long non-coding RNAs associated with idiopathic pulmonary
      arterial hypertension.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a fatal disease with a poor
      prognosis and the molecular pathways underlying the pathogenesis of IPAH are not
      fully understood. In the present study, the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and mRNA
      expression profiles of lymphocytes obtained from 12 IPAH patients and 12 healthy
      controls were analyzed using Arraystar Human lncRNA Microarray v2.0, and their
      roles in the pathogenesis of IPAH were characterized using comprehensive
      bioinformatic tools. A total of 2,511 lncRNAs (2,004 upregulated and 507
      downregulated) and 1,169 mRNAs (609 upregulated and 560 downregulated) were
      aberrantly expressed in IPAH patients with a fold-change of >2.0. Gene ontology
      analysis indicated that the coexpressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were involved in the
      process of translation, while pathway analysis indicated that the coexpressed
      RNAs were enriched during the process of oxidative phosphorylation and in the
      ribosome. It was concluded that dysregulated lncRNAs are potentially associated
      with IPAH, and aberrant lncRNA expression in blood cells may serve as a
      diagnostic marker of IPAH.

PMID- 28587328
TI  - MicroRNA-143 inhibits tumorigenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma by downregulating
      GATA6.
AB  - MicroRNAs serve a critical role in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      progression. However, the exact role of microRNA-143 (miR-143) in HCC remains
      unclear. The current study investigates the molecular mechanism of miR-143 in
      HCC. In cultured HepG2 and Bel7402 cell lines, miR-143 levels were raised by
      lentivirus transduction. This significantly inhibited HCC progression in terms of
      cell invasion and proliferation in both HepG2 and Bel7402 cell lines (P<0.05).
      MiR-143 also significantly decreased tumor implantation in vivo (P<0.05).
      Regulation of miR-143 on its direct target, GATA-binding factor 6 (GATA6), was
      investigated by multiple strategies, including dual-luciferase assay,
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. The results
      indicated that miR-143 was downregulated in both HCC cell lines and human tumors.
      GATA6 was identified as the downstream target of miR-143 in HCC, and
      overexpressing GATA6 was able to counter the tumor-suppressive effect of miR-143
      on HCC in HepG2 and Bel7402 cells by significantly increasing proliferation and
      invasion rates (P<0.05). Therefore, a novel epigenetic pathway was identified in
      which miR-143 may suppress the malignancy of HCC by targeting GATA6.

PMID- 28587329
TI  - Mosapride combined with probiotics on gastrointestinal function and growth in
      premature infants.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mosapride combined with
      probiotics on gastrointestinal function and growth and development in premature
      infants. A total of 240 premature infants treated at Weifang People's Hospital
      between June 2012 and May 2015 who matched our criteria were randomly divided
      into three groups of 80 cases each. Group A received routine treatment, group B
      received routine treatment combined with live B. subtilis and E. faecium granules
      with multivitamins (Medilac-Vita), and group C received routine treatment and
      Saccharomyces boulardii sachets (Bioflor). Mosapride was administered to patients
      in groups B and C to promote intestinal peristalsis. Gastrin and bilirubin
      levels, as well as jaundice fade time, were recorded. Growth and development
      condition (i.e., head circumference and weight), duration and incidence of
      feeding intolerance (FI), as well as other symptoms were also analyzed. By day
      14, gastrin concentrations in groups B and C were significantly higher than those
      in group A (P<0.05). Serum bilirubin levels in groups B and C showed a
      progressive decline from day 7 to day 14, and jaundice duration in group A was
      significantly longer (P<0.05). Furthermore, at 2 weeks, the average weight growth
      rate and head circumference were significantly greater in groups B and C, weight
      loss recovery time was shorter, and EUGR incidence was lower (P<0.05). The
      incidence rate of gastric retention and FI were lower in groups B and C than
      group A (P<0.05), and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, parenteral nutrition
      associated cholestasis, necrotizing enterocolitis, and neonatal sepsis incidence
      was significantly lower in groups B and C (P<0.05). Mosapride combined with
      probiotics can effectively reduce FI incidence in premature infants, shorten
      enteral feeding time, promote the absorption of required nutrients, and promote
      the development and recovery of early physiological weight loss in preterm
      infants.

PMID- 28587330
TI  - Principles of antibiotic application in children with lobar pneumonia: Step-up or
      step-down.
AB  - In order to provide a scientific basis for rational use of antibiotics, we
      studied and compared the therapeutic effects of step-down and step-up antibiotic
      treatment schemes in children with lobar pneumonia. Eighty cases of children with
      lobar pneumonia were enrolled in this study and were randomly divided into two
      groups: The observation group and the control group, with 40 cases in each group.
      In the observation group, there were 23 cases with mild and 17 cases with severe
      lobar pneumonia, and in the control group, 25 were mild and 15 were severe cases.
      Patients in the control group were treated with antibiotics using step-up therapy
      method, while patients in the observation group were treated using step-down
      antibiotic therapy. Our results showed no significant differences in white blood
      cell (WBC) reduction rate, the course of antibiotic treatment, disappearance time
      of pulmonary rales and total efficiency in children with mild lobar pneumonia in
      the observation group after 72 h of treatment. The level of high-sensitivity C
      reactive protein (hs-CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) in the observation group were
      significantly lower. After 72 h of treatment of children with severe lobar
      pneumonia in the observation group, the rate of WBC reduction accelerated
      significantly. Compared to the patients in the control group, the course of
      antibiotic treatment and disappearance time of pulmonary rales were shortened
      significantly, while the total efficiency of treatment was improved considerably
      in the observation group. Also in the observation group, hs-CRP and PCT levels
      were significantly lower than that in the control group. In severe cases, step
      down therapy showed a better result in relieving the inflammatory reactions. The
      disappearance time of pulmonary rales and the effective rate of treatment was
      significantly higher than those of step-up therapy. It was obvious that for
      children with severe lobar pneumonia, step-down therapy produced better results
      in relieving the inflammatory reaction.

PMID- 28587331
TI  - Directly reprogramming fibroblasts into adipogenic, neurogenic and hepatogenic
      differentiation lineages by defined factors.
AB  - The reprogramming of adult cells into pluripotent cells or directly into
      alternative adult cell types represents a great potential technology for
      regenerative medicine. In the present study, the potential of key developmental
      adipogenic, neurogenic and hepatogenic regulators to reprogram human fibroblasts
      into adipocytes, neurocytes and hepatocytes was investigated. The results
      demonstrated that direct reprogramming of octamer-binding transcription factor 4
      (Oct4) and CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP)beta activated C/EBPalpha and
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma expression, inducing the
      conversion of fibroblasts into adipocytes. Similarly, direct reprogramming of the
      transcription factors sex determining region-box 2, trans-acting T-cell specific
      transcription factor (GATA-3) and neurogenic differentiation 1 in fibroblasts may
      induce neurogenic differentiation through hemagglutinating virus of Japan
      envelope (HVJ-E) transfection. Moreover, hepatogenic differentiation was induced
      by combining the direct reprogramming of Oct4, GATA-3, hepatocyte nuclear factor
      1 homeobox alpha and forkhead box protein A2 in fibroblasts. These results
      demonstrate that specific transcription factors and reprogramming factors are
      able to directly reprogram fibroblasts into adipogenic, neurogenic and
      hepatogenic differentiation lineages by HVJ-E transfection.

PMID- 28587332
TI  - Three-dimensional arterial spin labeling imaging and dynamic susceptibility
      contrast perfusion-weighted imaging value in diagnosing glioma grade prior to
      surgery.
AB  - The current study aimed to investigate whole-brain three-dimensional arterial
      spin labeling imaging (3D ASL) and dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion
      weighted imaging (DSC-PWI), in regards to their diagnostic value of preoperative
      glioma grade. The parameter values obtained after correction will be correlated
      with the diagnostic value of 3D ASL and DSC-PWI perfusion. In the current study,
      50 patients with gliomas confirmed by pathology were used, including 27 low-grade
      gliomas (LGGs) and 23 high-grade gliomas (HGGs). Prior to surgery all patients
      underwent 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 3D ASL, DSC-PWI and
      conventional enhanced MRI scans to obtain original 3D ASL and DSC-PWI images, and
      the tumor regions with the most obvious parenchyma perfusion and contralateral
      normal white matter were selected. In these areas, the ASL-relative cerebral
      blood flow (ASL-rCBF), DSC-relative cerebral blood flow (DSC-rCBF) and DSC
      relative cerebral blood volume (DSC-rCBV) parameter values were then obtained
      after correction for individual differences. The results of the present study
      show that ASL-CBF, DSC-CBF, DSC-CBV values and ASL-rCBF, DSC-rCBF, DSC-rCBV
      values increased as the grade of the glioma being imaged increased, and there was
      a marked difference between the HGGs and the LGGs. ASL-rCBF was significantly
      positively correlated with DSC-rCBF (r=0.580, P<0.01). In addition, ASL-rCBF was
      significantly positively correlated with DSC-rCBV (r=0.431, P<0.01). Receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to compare the two perfusion
      parameters of DSC-PWI and 3D ASL in the diagnosis of glioma grade. ASL-rCBF had
      the highest area value under the ROC curve (0.836). The areas under the ROC curve
      of DSC-rCBF and DSC-rCBV were analyzed using the Z test, but the difference was
      not statistically significant. When ASL-rCBF, DSC-rCBF and DSC-rCBV were cutoff
      at 2.24, 1.85 and 1.68, the sensitivity of HGG diagnosis was 83.2, 91.3 and
      91.3%, and the specificity was 77.7, 63.9 and 66.7%, respectively.

PMID- 28587333
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of oral administration of collagen peptides on an
      experimental rat osteoarthritis model.
AB  - Collagen is an extracellular matrix protein present in the skin, tendon,
      cartilage and bone. Collagen peptides (CP) are produced by the hydrolysis of
      gelatin (heat-denatured collagen) by proteases and are utilized as a component of
      nutraceuticals. The current study investigated the effect of CP on the articular
      cartilage of OA by evaluating the serum levels of biomarkers (CTX-II for type II
      collagen degradation and CPII for type II collagen synthesis), histopathological
      changes (Mankin score, based on the toluidine blue staining of proteoglycans),
      and immunohistochemical staining of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 and type II
      collagen, using a rat experimental osteoarthritis (OA) model. Anterior cruciate
      ligament transection (ACLT) was performed on the right knee joint to surgically
      induce OA. Animals were divided into four groups: Control group (Control), sham
      operated group (Sham), ACLT group without collagen peptide (ACLT group) and ACLT
      group with oral administration of CP (CP group). ACLT induced histological
      damages and significantly increased the Mankin score (P<0.05). However, CP
      administration markedly suppressed the Mankin score, although this difference was
      not significant. In addition, serum CTX-II levels were significantly decreased in
      CP group compared with those in the ACLT group (P<0.05). By contrast, serum CPII
      levels did not differ significantly among the four groups. Moreover,
      immunohistochemical staining of type II collagen and MMP-13 (an important type II
      collagen-degrading enzyme) indicated that the amount of type II collagen
      increased, whereas the number of MMP-13 positive chondrocytes decreased in the CP
      group compared with ACLT group. These observations suggest that CP has the
      potential to exert chondroprotective action on OA by inhibiting MMP-13 expression
      and type II collagen degeneration.

PMID- 28587334
TI  - Effect of acute peritonitis on rocuronium-induced intraperitoneal pressure
      reduction and the uptake function of the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
AB  - Previous studies have reported the incomplete relaxation effect of neuromuscular
      blockers on skeletal muscles in acute peritonitis (AP) and other inflammatory
      processes; however, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this effect have
      not yet been satisfactorily identified. The impaired removal of cytosolic Ca2+
      through sarcoendoplasmic Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) and defects in sarcoplasmic
      reticulum (SR) Ca2+ uptake are the major contributing factors to diastolic
      dysfunction. Previous studies on the effects of neuromuscular blockers have
      primarily focused on neuromuscular transmission. Because of the reduced calcium
      uptake in the SR itself, even when neuromuscular transmission is fully blocked,
      the muscle is not able to relax effectively. In the present study, the impact of
      AP on rocuronium-induced intraperitoneal pressure reduction and rectus abdominal
      muscle relaxation, and SERCA uptake function was investigated. AP was induced via
      gastric perforation and changes in the intraperitoneal pressure before and after
      the administration of rocuronium were recorded. Muscle contractile properties,
      uptake and release functions and SERCA activity in the rectus abdominal muscles
      of AP model rats were measured. The half-relaxation time in the AP group was
      significantly prolonged compared with that in the control group (P<0.01). The
      peak rate of SR Ca2+ uptake for whole muscle homogenates was significantly
      reduced (P<0.05) in AP model rats without reduction of the rate of Ca2+ release
      evoked through AgNO3. In conclusion, gastric perforation-induced AP attenuates
      the intraperitoneal pressure-reducing effect of rocuronium, and AP induces
      diastolic dysfunction of the rectus abdominal muscle. The SR Ca2+-ATPase uptake
      rate was also reduced by AP.

PMID- 28587336
TI  - Effects of polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine on tendon-bone healing in a rabbit extra
      articular model.
AB  - Polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine (PVP-I) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, but
      its effects on tendon-bone healing are unclear. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the effects of PVP-I on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in
      vitro and on tendon-bone healing in vivo. In this study, following investigation
      of the concentration-dependent effects of PVP-I on the viability and osteogenic
      differentiation of BMSCs, the appropriate concentration of PVP-I was selected for
      animal experiments. New Zealand white rabbits received autologous tendon
      transplantation with and without PVP-I treatment of the graft tendon.
      Subsequently, histological examination, biomechanical testing and reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analyses were
      conducted. At 6 weeks post-surgery, connective tissue and osteogenesis was
      observed at the tendon-bone interface in the PVP-I group. At 12 weeks post
      surgery, the interface width in the PVP-I group was much narrower compared with
      that of the control group. Furthermore, the biomechanical properties of the PVP-I
      group were significantly stronger than those in the control group (P<0.05). RT
      qPCR examination revealed that the mRNA levels of bone morphogenetic protein-2
      and osteopontin in the PVP-I group were higher than those in the control group at
      6 weeks (P<0.05). In conclusion, these results indicated that PVP-I promoted
      tendon-bone healing via osteogenesis.

PMID- 28587335
TI  - Sex-related differences of urethane and sodium valproate effects on Ki-67
      expression in urethane-induced lung tumors of mice.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate sex differences in tumorigenesis by
      assessing the number of Ki-67-positive cells [Ki-67(+)] in urethane-induced mice
      lung tumors and the effect of sodium valproate (NaVP) in BALB/c mice. Gonad
      intact and gonadectomized female and male mice were divided into the following
      groups: i) Treated with urethane, ii) treated with urethane and NaVP and iii)
      gonad-intact or gonadectomized control. Urethane (total 50 mg/mouse) was injected
      intraperitoneally. The NaVP 0.4% solution was administered orally for 6 months.
      Histologically, lung tumors were divided into adenomas and adenocarcinomas and
      assessed immunohistochemically using antibodies against Ki-67. The Ki-67(+) was
      calculated per one mm2 of a tumor. In adenomas, Ki-67(+) in the urethane-treated
      gonad-intact males was significantly higher than in females (P=0.001) and in
      castrated males (P<0.01); Ki-67(+) in adenomas of the urethane-treated gonad
      intact males was significantly higher than in urethane-NaVP-treated ones
      (P<0.04). No significant differences were found in analogous female groups. In
      adenocarcinomas, Ki-67(+) in urethane-treated gonad-intact males was
      significantly higher than in females and gonadectomized mice of both sexes
      (P<0.001), and in ovariectomized females was significantly higher than in ovary
      intact group (P=0.01). A significantly higher number of Ki-67(+) cells were
      observed in gonad-intact adenocarcinomas of the urethane-NaVP-treated females
      compared with the urethane-treated ones (P<0.001). Comparing between urethane
      NaVP-treated gonadectomized males and females in adenocarcinomas, determined that
      Ki-67(+) was significantly lower in females (P=0.005). In adenocarcinomas, Ki
      67(+) in urethane-NaVP-treated gonadectomized males and females was significantly
      lower than in gonad-intact mice of the same sex (P<0.001). In summary,
      gonadectomy with NaVP treatment decreased Ki-67(+) in adenocarcinomas for mice of
      both sexes. The results of the present study indicate sex-related differences in
      mice lung tumorigenesis, and a sex-related effect of NaVP on progression in
      urethane-induced BALB/c mice lung tumors.

PMID- 28587337
TI  - Effect of adiponectin on macrophage reverse cholesterol transport in adiponectin
      /- mice and its mechanism.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of adiponectin
      (APN) on macrophage reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) in adiponectin-/-
      knockout mice (APN-/-mice) and its possible anti-atherosclerotic mechanism. A
      total of 30 male APN-/-mice were randomly divided into the control group and four
      intervention groups. The intervention groups were treated with intraperitoneal
      injections of APN, at doses of 50, 150, 200 and 250 ug/(kg/day), respectively,
      for 4 weeks. The control group received normal saline. After 4 weeks, serum lipid
      levels were measured, the degree of severity of atherosclerotic lesions was
      observed by light microscopy, the 3H-TC (APN-/-mice treated with intraperitoneal
      injections of 3H-TC-labeled macrophages) radioactivity in serum, liver, and
      feces, and the expression of ABCA1 mRNA and protein in liver were determined.
      Compared with the control group, serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low
      density lipoproteins levels in the intervention groups were significantly
      decreased, while high-density lipoprotein was increased. The severity of aortic
      atherosclerotic lesions in the intervention groups was milder than in the control
      group, which had obvious aortic atherosclerotic lesions, large lipid deposition
      on vessel walls, and the formation of atheromatous plaques. In the intervention
      groups, serum 3H-TC content was significantly decreased (P<0.05), but the 3H-TC
      content in liver and feces was significantly increased (P<0.05). The levels of
      ABCA1 mRNA in liver of the intervention groups were significantly increased in a
      dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, APN can promote RCT and intracellular
      cholesterol efflux by upregulating the expression of ABCA1, to delay the
      occurrence and development of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28587338
TI  - Mediation of insulin growth factor-1 in Alzheimer's disease and the mechanism of
      PRNP genetic expression and the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
AB  - The aim of the study was to examine the mediation of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF
      1) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as the underlying mechanism of the PRNP
      genetic expression and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. The Abeta25-35-incubated rat
      adrenal pheochromocytoma cell (PC12) in vitro was established, constituting the
      AD model. Different doses (0, 20, 40 and 80 ng/ml) of IGF-1 were used in PC12
      cells and the level of PRNP mRNA was tested after 24 h using the quantitative PCR
      method and the level of APP protein was assessed using western blot analysis.
      PC12 cells were divided into the control group (PC12 cells without Abeta25-35
      treatment), model group (PC12 cells with Abeta25-35 treatment), IGF-1 80 ng/ml
      group, IGF-1 80 ng/ml+PI3K inhibitor LY294002 25 umol/l group, and IGF-1 80
      ng/ml+LY294002 50 umol/l group, whose PRNP mRNA level and Akt, pAkt and APP
      protein level were tested 24 h later. As the dose of IGF-1 increases, the
      expression levels of PRNP mRNA and APP protein were more highly expressed. The
      difference between them was significant (P<0.05). In addition, regarding Akt
      protein, the expression levels of PRNP mRNA, APP protein and pAkt protein in the
      IGF-1 groups were significantly higher than those in the control and model
      groups. With the LY concentration increasing, the levels of expression of the
      three substances gradually decreased significantly (P<0.05). In conclusion, IGF-I
      can mediate the expression of the PRNP gene and APP protein through the PI3K/Akt
      signaling pathway, in a rat model.

PMID- 28587339
TI  - ORF3 as a sensitive and specific diagnostic index for hepatitis E.
AB  - We explored the significance of the expression of hepatitis E virus (HEV) open
      reading frame 3 (ORF3) in hepatitis E rat models. We also investigated its
      diagnostic value. Forty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were infected with HEV and 10
      uninfected rats were selected for the control group. Rats were sacrificed at 14,
      21, 35 and 70 days after infection. They were divided into 4 groups: Model group
      1, model group 2, model group 3 and model group 4. ORF3 protein expression level
      in liver tissue, level of adipokines [fatty acid synthase (FAS), tissue inhibitor
      of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor 2
      (ACE-2)], Th1/Th2 cells balance [interferon (IFN), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and
      Th1/Th2] and the level of immune outcome (levels of CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocytes and
      CD4+/CD8+) were measured and compared among groups. Our results showed that HEV
      IgG and HEV RNA levels in the model group 3 were higher than those in the other 3
      groups. Compared with the control group, expression level of ORF3 protein in the
      liver tissue as well as Fas and TIMP levels were significantly higher in the
      model group 3. ACE-2 level was significantly lower than that of the control group
      (P<0.05). In the model group 3, IFN-gamma, IL-4 and Th1/Th2 levels were
      meaningfully higher than those of the control group. CD4+ T lymphocytes and
      CD4+/CD8+ ratio were obviously lower than those in the control group (P<0.05).
      The expression level of ORF3 was positively correlated with levels of Fas, TIMP-2
      and Th1/Th2. It was negatively correlated with ACE-2 and CD4+/CD8+ levels
      (P<0.05). We concluded that ORF3 expression level was directly related to
      severity and prognosis, and that ORF3 protein can be considered as a sensitive
      and specific diagnostic index.

PMID- 28587340
TI  - Brain cell apoptosis inhibition by butylphthalide in Alzheimer's disease model in
      rats.
AB  - The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that butylphthalide
      protects the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) model rats by inhibiting
      apoptosis. Ninety Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into drug, control
      and blank groups of 30 rats in each. The rats in the drug and control groups were
      treated to induce AD. Then, the rats in the drug group were administered with
      butylphthalide daily, the rats in the AD control group were given normal saline,
      and the rats in the healthy group were fed routinely. All rats were sacrificed
      after 30 days; the brain tissues were used for testing for apoptosis by the
      terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL)
      staining method, for determining mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), ERK and
      P21 protein by western blot analysis, and their cognate mRNA levels by RT-PCR.
      The results of the TUNEL staining indicated that apoptosis of the brain tissues
      of rats in the drug group was significantly less than that in the control group
      and blank group. The protein expression levels of MAPK in the drug group were
      significantly lower than that in the control group, but higher than that in the
      normal healthy group (P<0.05). The mRNA expression levels of MAPK in the drug
      group were significantly lower than those in the control group, but higher than
      those in the normal healthy group (P<0.05). Based on these results,
      butylphthalide showed a protective apoptosis-inhibition effect on the brain
      tissues of the AD rats and this seems to be a consequence of its inhibition of
      the expressions of MAPK mRNA and MAPK protein in the brain of the rat.

PMID- 28587341
TI  - Histological and functional assessment of the efficacy of constraint-induced
      movement therapy in rats following neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.
AB  - Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is used in stroke rehabilitation to
      promote recovery of upper limb motor function. However, its efficacy in improving
      functional outcomes in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy has not been
      clearly determined in clinical or experimental research. The aim of our study was
      to assess the efficacy of a new experimental model of CIMT, evaluated in terms of
      mortality, stress, motor and cognitive function in rats having undergone a
      neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury. Neonatal HI injury was induced at
      post-natal day 7 through unilateral ligation of the common carotid artery
      followed by exposure to hypoxia for 2 h. CIMT was implemented at 3 weeks, post-HI
      injury, using a pouch to constrain the unimpaired forelimb and forcing use of the
      affected forelimb using a motorized treadmill. After HI injury, animals
      demonstrated motor and cognitive deficits, as well as volumetric decreases in the
      ipsilateral hemisphere to arterial occlusion. CIMT yielded a modest recovery of
      motor and cognitive function, with no effect in reducing the size of the HI
      lesion or post-HI volumetric decreases in brain tissue. Therefore, although
      animal models of stroke have identified benefits of CIMT, CIMT was not sufficient
      to enhance brain tissue development and functional outcomes in an animal model of
      hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Based on our outcomes, we suggest that CIMT can be
      used as an adjunct treatment to further enhance the efficacy of a program of
      rehabilitation in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

PMID- 28587342
TI  - Experimental study of the anti-atherosclerotic effect of demethylzeylasteral.
AB  - This study aimed to confirm that atherosclerosis (AS) is a systemic immune
      mediated chronic inflammatory disease and to investigate the anti-atherosclerotic
      effect of demethylzeylasteral by testing the immunocompetent cells and
      inflammatory mediators in the blood and atherosclerotic plaques of the rabbit
      model of AS. For this purpose, 60 male New Zealand white rabbits were given 150 g
      high-fat diet (1% cholesterol, 5% lard, and 15% egg yolk powder) daily for a
      total of 90 days. On day 61, the rabbits were randomly divided into the saline
      group (n=15), the rosuvastatin group (n=15), the low-dose demethylzeylasteral
      group (n=15), and the high-dose demethylzeylasteral group (n=15). The CD3+ T
      lymphocytes and the subsets CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+, as well as the soluble
      interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) were measured before and after the treatment. The
      contents of immunoglobulins IgG, IgA and IgM and the levels of complements C3 and
      C4 were also monitored. In addition, the level of anti-oxidized low-density
      lipoprotein (ox-LDL) antibody, the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-6 and metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), the blood lipids
      triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured, and the severity of plaque
      lesions was also evaluated. Our results showed that the saline group, the
      rosuvastatin group and the low-dose demethylzeylasteral group had significantly
      lower activated T lymphocyte parameters CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ and CD4+/CD8+ (P<0.05),
      and significantly higher levels of sIL-2R, immunoglobulins IgG, IgA and IgM,
      complements C3 and C4, anti-ox-LDL antibody, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and MMP-9 (P<0.01)
      when compared with the high-dose demethylzeylasteral group. Moreover, TG, TC, LDL
      C contents were found significantly lower and their HDL-C contents were
      significantly higher in high-dose demethylzeylasteral group (P<0.01) as compared
      to the other three groups. Furthermore, Sudan staining and haematoxylin and eosin
      staining of the thoracic aorta showed that, after 30-day treatment, the high-dose
      demethylzeylasteral group had the smoothest intima and the lightest plaque
      lesions among the four groups. Based on these results, we concluded that AS is a
      systemic immune-mediated chronic inflammatory disease and the relatively high
      dose of demethylzeylasteral used in the treatment of atherosclerotic rabbits
      could significantly alleviate AS. This implies that demethylzeylasteral may be
      considered as a suitable drug for anti-immunization therapy.

PMID- 28587344
TI  - Acquired uterine arteriovenous fistula due to a previous cornual pregnancy with
      placenta accreta: A case report.
AB  - The present report describes a case of an acquired uterine arteriovenous fistula,
      which, following surgery and postoperative pathological analysis, was confirmed
      as a previous cornual pregnancy with placenta accreta. The patient was a 37-year
      old woman (gravida 3; para 2) who had previously delivered two children via
      cesarean section (in 2004 and 2010, respectively) and also had a spontaneous
      abortion (2008). She had experienced continuous menstrual bleeding for ~20 days
      and had a history of prolonged (~30 days) vaginal bleeding 13 months earlier.
      Other pregnancy-related diseases were excluded following a negative serum human
      chorionic gonadotropin test, and the diagnosis was confirmed by Doppler
      ultrasonography. An emergency hysterectomy was subsequently performed due to the
      large amount of vaginal bleeding. Postoperative pathology confirmed the uterine
      arteriovenous malformation and demonstrated that the cause was a previous cornual
      pregnancy with placental implantation. The patient successfully recovered
      following the surgery.

PMID- 28587343
TI  - Alteration of stomach microbiota compositions in the progression of gastritis
      induces nitric oxide in gastric cell.
AB  - Atrophic gastritis is considered to be an antecedent to intestinal metaplasia and
      gastric cancer. A previous study identified that Helicobacter pylori was absent
      at the severe atrophic gastritis stage, and alterations in the gastric microbial
      composition resembled those in gastric cancer. To explore the role of the
      bacteria absence of H. pylori in gastric carcinogenesis, in the current study, we
      compared the microbiota of clinically collected H. pylori-free gastric fluids
      from 30 patients with non-atrophic gastritis (N) and 22 patients with severe
      atrophic gastritis (S). We estimated the bacterial loads in the N and S groups by
      colony counting in culture agar as well as by measuring the concentration of the
      extracted DNA. The results showed a significant increase in bacterial load in
      patients with atrophic gastritis in comparison to non-atrophic gastritis. Then,
      we analyzed the microbial communities of the gastric fluids from all 52 patients
      using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons. The Chao 1, Shannon and
      Simpson diversity indexes demonstrated that the bacterial richness and diversity
      were not significantly different between the N and S groups. Moreover, principal
      component analysis illustrated that the microbiomes from the S group were more
      scattered. Microbiota composition analysis showed that the entire dataset was
      clustered into 27 phyla, 61 classes, 106 orders, 177 families, 292 genera and 121
      species. At the genus level, only the abundance of Prevotella was significantly
      different between the N and S groups. Further analysis showed that all the higher
      taxonomic categories were significantly different between the N and S groups. To
      assess the effects of the metabolic products of Prevotella spp. on gastric cell
      physiology, we treated the human gastric epithelial cell line AGS with acetic
      acid and monitored nitric oxide (NO) production. The results showed that acetic
      acid at low concentrations (0.5 and 5 uM) significantly inhibited AGS cells to
      secrete NO compared to phosphate buffer saline-treated control cells. These
      results suggest that the microbiota in non-atrophic gastritis may influence
      gastric epithelial cell physiology.

PMID- 28587345
TI  - Palmitoleate inhibits insulin transcription by activating the ERK1/2 pathway in
      rat pancreatic beta-cells.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of palmitoleate on
      insulin secretion and insulin mRNA levels, and to investigate the transcriptional
      regulation of insulin. INS-1 rat insulinoma cells were treated with palmitoleate
      in the presence of high glucose, and the amount of secreted insulin was measured
      via radioimmunoassay. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction was performed to evaluate the mRNA levels of insulin and pancreatic and
      duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX1) under palmitoleate treatment. The levels of PDX1,
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG), extracellular signal
      regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and phosphorylated ERK1/2 were measured using western
      blot analysis. Low concentrations of palmitoleate significantly induced insulin
      secretion (P=0.024), whereas the mRNA levels of insulin and PDX1 were markedly
      reduced. However, the inhibitory effects were reversed with the addition of
      U0126, suggesting that the ERK1/2-mediated pathway may be the underlying
      mechanism responsible for palmitoleate-induced downregulation of insulin mRNA.
      Exposure of INS-1 cells to high glucose significantly increased the
      phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (P=0.039), which was further enhanced by palmitoleate
      (P=0.025). Exposure of INS-1 cells to high glucose significantly decreased PPARG
      (P=0.001), which was further decreased by the addition of palmitoleate. U0126 was
      able to reverse the palmitoleate-induced effects. In conclusion, the present
      study suggested that palmitoleate may induce insulin secretion and inhibit
      insulin mRNA expression in pancreatic beta-cells.

PMID- 28587346
TI  - LFG-500, a newly synthesized flavonoid, induces apoptosis in human ovarian
      carcinoma SKOV3 cells with involvement of the reactive oxygen species
      mitochondria pathway.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is the main cause of gynecologic malignancy-related mortality in
      women. Therefore, the disease requires improvements in treatment options and in
      the potency of chemotherapeutic drugs. The study of apoptosis in tumor cells is
      an important field for cancer therapy and cancer molecular biology. It has
      recently been established that LFG-500, a new synthesized flavonoid with a
      piperazine and benzyl group substitution, has strong anticancer activity.
      However, its exact molecular mechanism is not fully understood. The present study
      aimed to examine the effects of LFG-500 on human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells, as
      well as to identify its underlying mechanisms. The data showed that LFG-500
      inhibited the growth of SKOV3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. It was
      found that LFG-500 induced apoptosis in SKOV3 cells, detected by DAPI staining
      and an Annexin V/PI double-staining assay. Moreover, LFG-500 reduced caspase-3
      protein expression and increased the Bcl-2-associated X protein/B-cell lymphoma 2
      protein ratio. Further findings revealed that LFG-500 treatment resulted in
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and loss of mitochondrial
      transmembrane potential. Collectively, these results demonstrated that LFG-500
      efficiently induced apoptosis in SKOV3 cells, an event possibly associated with
      the trigging of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway through ROS accumulation.
      Therefore, LFG-500 shows potential as a potent anticancer agent for the treatment
      of ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28587347
TI  - Effect of mesenchymal stem cells on Sjogren-like mice and the microRNA expression
      profiles of splenic CD4+ T cells.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) serve immuno-regulatory functions and offer a
      promising novel treatment for certain autoimmune diseases. The present study
      investigated the therapeutic effect of mice bone marrow (BM)-MSCs on mice with
      relatively late stage of Sjogren-like disease and the impact of BM-MSCs on the
      microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of splenic CD4+ T cells. Female NOD/Ltj mice
      were randomized into two groups: The disease group (n=8) and the MSC-treated
      group (n=8). Female ICR mice served as the healthy control group (n=8). The MSC
      treated group received an injection of MSCs when they were 26 weeks old. Water
      intake, blood glucose and salivary flow rate were measured and submandibular
      glands were resected and stained with hematoxylin and eosin to calculate the
      focus score. The concentrations of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, hepatocyte growth
      factor, interferon gamma, IL-10, prostaglandin E2, transforming growth factor
      beta1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in serum were measured using ELISA. The
      expression of miRNAs in splenic CD4+ T cells were measured using deep sequencing.
      The results demonstrated that treatment with BM-MSCs prevented a decline in the
      salivary flow rate and lymphocyte infiltration in the salivary glands of NOD
      mice, indicating that MSC-treatment had a therapeutic effect on NOD mice with
      relatively late stage of Sjogren-like disease. ELISA and deep sequencing results
      showed that the three groups of mice had different serum concentrations of
      cytokines/growth factors and different miRNA expression profiles of splenic CD4+
      T cells. This implies that the alteration in serum levels of cytokines/growth
      factors and miRNA expression profiles of splenic CD4+ T cells may explain the
      therapeutic effect MSCs have on Sjogren's syndrome.

PMID- 28587348
TI  - Hepatoprotective effects of litchi (Litchi chinensis) procyanidin A2 on carbon
      tetrachloride-induced liver injury in ICR mice.
AB  - Drug tolerance, lacking liver regenerative activity and inconclusive inhibition
      of steatosis and cirrhosis by silymarin treatment during chronic liver injury
      have increased the demand for novel alternative or synergistic treatments for
      liver damage. Litchi fruit is abundant in polyphenolic compounds and is used in
      traditional Chinese medicine for treatments that include the strengthening of
      hepatic and pancreatic functions. Unique polyphenolic compounds obtained from
      litchi pericarp extract (LPE) were studied in vitro and in vivo for
      hepatoprotection. Epicatechin (EC) and procyanidin A2 (PA2) of LPE were obtained
      by fractionated-extraction from pulverized litchi pericarps. All fractions,
      including LPE, were screened against silymarin in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)
      treated murine embryonic liver cell line (BNL). The effects of daily gavage
      feeding of LPE, silymarin (200 mg/kg body weight) or H2O in CCl4-intoxicated male
      ICR mice were evaluated by studying serum chemicals, liver pathology and
      glutathione antioxidative enzymes. The effects of EC and PA2 on liver cell
      regenerative activity were investigated using a scratch wound healing assay and
      flow cytometric cell cycle analysis; the results of which demonstrated that LPE
      protected BNL from CCl4-intoxication. Gavage-feeding of LPE decreased serum
      glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamic pyruvic transaminase levels, and
      exhibited superior retention of the hexagonal structure of hepatocytes and
      reduced necrotic cells following liver histopathological examinations in CCl4
      intoxicated ICR mice. Glutathione peroxidise and glutathione reductase activities
      were preserved as the normal control level in LPE groups. EC and PA2 were
      principle components of LPE. PA2 demonstrated liver cell regenerative activity in
      scratch wound healing assays and alcohol-induced liver cell injury in vitro. The
      present findings suggest that litchi pericarp polyphenolic extracts, including EC
      and PA2, may be a synergistic alternative to silymarin in hepatoprotection and
      liver cell regeneration.

PMID- 28587349
TI  - Gut flora profiling and fecal metabolite composition of colorectal cancer
      patients and healthy individuals.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the world and its
      morbidity and mortality rates are increasing due to alterations to human
      lifestyle and dietary habits. The relationship between human gut flora and
      colorectal cancer has attracted increasing attention. In the present study, a
      metabolic fingerprinting technique that combined pyrosequencing with gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilized to compare the differences in gut
      flora profiling and fecal metabolites between healthy individuals and patients
      with colorectal cancer. The results demonstrated that there were no significant
      differences in the abundance and diversity of gut flora between healthy
      individuals and patients with colorectal cancer (P>0.05) and the dominant
      bacterial phyla present in the gut of both groups included Firmicutes,
      Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia. At the bacterial strain/genus level,
      significant differences were observed in the relative abundance of 18 species of
      bacteria (P<0.05). Analysis of fecal metabolites demonstrated that the metabolic
      profiles of healthy individuals and patients with colorectal cancer were
      distinct. The levels of short-chain fatty acid metabolites, including acetic
      acid, valeric acid, isobutyric acid and isovaleric acid, and of nine amino acids
      in patients with colorectal cancer were significantly higher than those in
      healthy individuals (P<0.05). However, the levels of butyrate, oleic acid, trans
      oleic acid, linoleic acid, glycerol, monoacyl glycerol, myristic acid,
      ursodesoxycholic acid and pantothenic acid in patients with colorectal cancer
      were significantly lower than those in healthy individuals (P<0.05). Pearson rank
      correlation analysis demonstrated that there was a correlation between gut flora
      profiling and metabolite composition. These findings suggest that gut flora
      disorder results in the alteration of bacterial metabolism, which may be
      associated with the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. The results of the present
      study are useful as a foundation for further studies to elucidate a potential
      colorectal cancer diagnostic index and therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28587350
TI  - Effects of hyperbaric factors on lidocaine-induced apoptosis in spinal neurons
      and the role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in rats with diabetic
      neuropathic pain.
AB  - The application of lidocaine can lead to nerve damage. Evidence suggests that
      patients with diabetic neuropathy are at a higher risk for neurotoxicity. In the
      present study, the successful induction of diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) in
      rats via a high-sugar, high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection of 1%
      streptozotocin was verified and pronounced tactile allodynia was observed. It was
      found that intrathecal injections of hyperbaric lidocaine produced motor blocks
      of longer durations in the DNP model rats than in nondiabetic rats, or in DNP
      model rats injected with isobaric lidocaine. Histology of the lumbar 4-5 spinal
      cord revealed a significant difference in neuropathology between the DNP and
      nondiabetic rats. Moreover, edematous neurons and TUNEL-positive cells were
      observed in the hyperbaric lidocaine group. It was also found that the inhibition
      of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) played a neuroprotective role
      in response to hyperbaric lidocaine-induced apoptosis in DNP rats, which
      indicates that p38MAPK plays a key role in the regulation of hyperbaric lidocaine
      induced apoptosis in DNP rats. These findings suggest that hyperbaric lidocaine
      can promote spinal cord neuronal apoptosis in rats with DNP. Furthermore, p38MAPK
      might play a key role in the regulation of hyperbaric lidocaine-induced apoptosis
      in rats with DNP.

PMID- 28587351
TI  - Role of RANK and Akt1 activation in human osteosarcoma progression: A
      clinicopathological study.
AB  - The receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB (RANK) axis is the fundamental
      signaling pathway in bone formation as well as bone tumor pathophysiology. The
      aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the expression of RANK and
      its downstream signaling molecule Akt1 on tumor progression in patients with
      osteosarcoma. Expression of RANK and Akt1 was examined in 78 human osteosarcoma
      samples by immunohistochemistry using formalin-fixed samples. Following this,
      each graded immunohistochemistry result was correlated with clinicopathological
      parameters and patient survival. In total, 60 osteosarcomas (76.9%) expressed
      RANK and 58 cases (74.4%) showed expression of Akt1. In addition, expression of
      RANK was negatively correlated with disease-free survival by Kaplan-Meier
      analysis. A resistance was observed to chemotherapy in RANK-expressing cases,
      which was statistically significant (P<0.05). In addition, chemotherapy and
      staging of the tumor were found to independent factors that have an effect on
      patient survival (P<0.05). Thus, RANK was identified as a negative prognostic
      factor of osteosarcoma survival.

PMID- 28587352
TI  - Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist expression is inversely associated with
      outcomes of hepatitis B-related acute-on-chronic liver failure.
AB  - Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) is a naturally occurring anti
      inflammatory antagonist of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1, a critical factor
      in many inflammatory diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate
      the role of IL-1ra in hepatitis B-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HB
      ACLF). Serum cytokine concentrations were measured using a Q-Plex array in 31
      patients with HB-ACLF, 28 patients with acute hepatitis B (AHB), 31 patients with
      chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 15 healthy control patients (HCs). Additionally,
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with HB-ACLF were
      incubated with PBS or lipopolysaccharide and/or different concentrations of
      recombinant human IL-1ra (rhIL-1ra) in vitro. Cytokines in the supernatant were
      measured using a Q-Plex array. The median serum IL-1ra level in patients with HB
      ACLF was 186.46 (350.22) pg/ml, which was significantly higher than all other
      groups (AHB, P=0.012; CHB, P<0.001; HCs, P<0.001). However, the ratio of IL
      1ra/IL-1beta was significantly lower in the HB-ACLF group compared with the AHB
      group (P=0.048). Median serum IL-1ra levels in patients with AHB were also
      significantly increased compared with those in the CHB (P<0.001) and HC (P<0.001)
      groups. Patients who succumbed to mortality within 3 months of the study were
      found to have significantly lower IL-1ra concentrations (P=0.02) and IL-1ra/IL
      1beta ratios (P=0.007) compared with surviving patients with HB-ACLF.
      Furthermore, serum IL-1ra concentrations were negatively associated with the
      Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (r=-0.870; P<0.001). Cytokine secretion
      by PBMCs in vitro was significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by rhIL
      1ra (125-500 ng/ml; all P<0.05). These results suggest that IL-1ra is associated
      with the development of liver inflammation, which is reduced in patients with HB
      ACLF and inversely associated with disease severity.

PMID- 28587353
TI  - Clinical analysis of the effect of anti-allergy treatment on pocket-related
      complications following pacemaker implantation.
AB  - A total number of 339 patients who received a pacemaker implantation between June
      2012 and June 2014 at Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College (Wuhan, China)
      were investigated in the present study. The aims of the present study were to
      explore the risk factors of pocket hematoma following pacemaker implantation, and
      to analyze the effect of anti-allergy treatment on pocket-related complications
      following pacemaker implantation. Predictors of hematoma occurrence were
      determined and analyzed via a Chi-square test. Patients suffering from pocket
      hematoma, which were indicated to be partially caused by an allergic reaction to
      the pacemaker component, were distinguished by routine blood parameters.
      Furthermore, the pacemaker component was distinguished by histopathological
      examinations in one patient. Promethazine (25 mg/day) was used to treat allergic
      patients. The results demonstrated that in patients with a history of allergies,
      the rate of pocket hematoma was significantly higher when compared with patients
      without a history of allergies (22.00 vs. 7.61%; P=0.027). A significantly
      increased incidence of hematoma was indicated in patients with a lower body mass
      index when compared with patients of normal weight (15.79 vs. 7.38%; P=0.042).
      Furthermore, implantation of larger-sized devices, such as an implantable
      cardioverter-defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy, were
      significantly predictive of hematoma development (29.63 vs. 8.01%; P=0.015).
      Patients with diabetes were also identified to exhibit a significantly high
      incidence of hematoma (22.22 vs. 8.25%; P=0.023). Promethazine administration
      significantly decreased the incidence of re-operating (P=0.017) and the duration
      of hospital stay (P=0.038) in patients whose pocket hematoma was caused by an
      allergy. In conclusion, promethazine may be a beneficial agent to treat pocket
      hematoma caused by allergic reactions following pacemaker surgery.

PMID- 28587354
TI  - Th1/Th2 PB balance and CD200 expression of patients with active severe alopecia
      areata.
AB  - Th1/Th2 peripheral blood balance and CD200 expression in patients with severe
      alopecia areata (SAA) in the active stage were investigated. Fifty patients with
      active SAA, 50 patients with stable SAA and 50 healthy controls were continuously
      selected and expression of Th1/Th2 of peripheral T lymphocytes, and peripheral B
      lymphocytes was detected by flow cytometry; RT-PCR was used to detect the
      expression of the PBMC CD200 mRNA and the expression of CD200 in hair follicles
      of alopecia area was detected by immunohistochemically staining; ELISA was used
      to detect expression levels of serum LFN-gamma and serum interleukin (IL)-10. The
      expression of CD200 in patients with alopecia areata in active phase on CD3+ T
      lymphocytes and CD19+ B lymphocytes was significantly lower (P<0.05) than those
      in stable phase and of the control group. CD200 expression in patients with
      alopecia areata in stable phase on T lymphocytes was greatly lower than that of
      the control group (P<0.05). However, the comparison of expression of CD200 in
      patients with alopecia areata in stable phase on B lymphocytes with the control
      group were statistically non-significant. The level of the expression of CD200
      mRNA in active phase was obviously lower than those of the other two groups and
      the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); the moderate positive and
      strong positive percentage of CD200 in the active phase was significantly lower
      than those of the other two groups. Positive expression rate of CK15 among the
      three groups were compared with each other; the differences had no statistical
      significance. The level of LFN-gamma in the active phase had obviously increased
      while the IL-10 level decreased significantly (P<0.05). In conclusion, the level
      of expression of CD200 on peripheral blood and hair follicle outer root sheath of
      patients with SAA was decreased. This may be associated with the imbalance of the
      Th1/Th2 equilibrium.

PMID- 28587355
TI  - Morphological and functional changes in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in
      rats with heart failure.
AB  - The changes in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), in terms of
      cell morphology and protein expression in rats with heart failure, were studied.
      Pressure overload chronic heart failure rat model was induced with partial
      constriction of the abdominal aorta. BMSCs from the model and the sham operation
      groups were isolated and cultured (cell density, 108 cells/l), and supernatant
      was collected after 72 h. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure
      HGF, IGF-1, PDGF, SCF, FGF and VEGF levels in the supernatant. Results showed
      that in the model group, the minimum cell diameter, the average cell area and the
      protein expression in single BMSCs were significantly less than those in the sham
      operation group. In the model group, SCF and PDGF levels were significantly lower
      than those in the sham operation group. VEGF concentration in the model group was
      significantly higher than that in the sham operation group. Compared with normal
      rats, the morphology of BMSCs in rats with heart failure changed considerably,
      the protein expression of a single cell and the ability to secrete cytokines
      decreased in a meaningful way.

PMID- 28587356
TI  - Areca nut extract protects against ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in mice.
AB  - Estrogen deficiency increases the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
      which is a crucial pathogenic factor for osteoporosis. Areca nuts are rich in
      phenolics, which have high antioxidant activity. In the present study, an
      ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis mouse model was used to investigate the
      protective effects of areca nut extract (ANE) on bone loss and related processes.
      A total of 24 8-week-old female mice were randomly divided into three groups (n=8
      per group): I Sham-operated control; II, bilateral OVX; and III, bilateral OVX +
      ANE. Group III were treated orally with ANE at a single dose of 300 mg/kg body
      weight daily for 6 months. ANE supplementation for 6 months improved trabecular
      bone microarchitecture and significantly increased bone mineral density in the
      distal femur (P<0.05) compared with Group II. Furthermore, serum levels of the
      osteoclast differentiation-inducing factors, receptor activator of nuclear factor
      kappaB ligand and osteoprotegerin were significantly increased and decreased,
      respectively (both P<0.05), in OVX mice and these effects were significantly
      inhibited by ANE treatment (both P<0.05). ANE supplementation also resulted in
      significantly decreased serum hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde levels
      compared with Group II, while the levels of glutathione and catalase activity
      were significantly increased (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). The current study
      indicated that the protective effects of ANE against bone loss were mediated, at
      least in part, via inhibition of the release of ROS and bone resorption. These
      results suggested that ANE could have therapeutic value in the treatment of
      osteoporosis.

PMID- 28587357
TI  - Differential proteomic screening and identification for non-traumatic necrotic
      femoral osseous tissue.
AB  - Currently, there is a lack of effective early screening and detection methods for
      femoral head necrosis. Current research on most orthopedic diseases focuses on
      proteomics in the preliminary stage. The recent fluorescence differential in gel
      electrophoresis (DIGE) has advantages such as a high reproducibility, high
      sensitivity, high throughput, and high dynamic range. It is currently one of the
      most widely used quantitative proteomic research means. We conducted this study
      to investigate the pathogenesis of non-traumatic femoral head necrosis using the
      fluorescence DIGE to screen non-traumatic femoral head necrosis based on
      proteomics and provide a theoretical basis for screening possible biomarkers and
      molecular targeted treatment. The DIGE technique was used to separate the
      protein. An electrophoretogram was established on the basis of scanning and
      analysis. Identification and a bioinformatics analysis were conducted for the
      differential protein. The protein with differential expression of over 2-fold was
      excavated and ionized by means of substrate assisted laser desorption. The flight
      time was identified with a mass spectrometer (matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, MALDI-TOF/TOF). The
      formation on sequences, structures and functions of these proteins were obtained
      through database retrieval. Western blot analysis was used to verify the
      differential protein expression and the reliability of the DIGE result was
      verified. DIGE was used to successfully separate 1,500+/-40 protein spots. There
      were 252 significant differential protein spots. The EttanTM Spot Picker
      automatic work station was used to excavate 49 significant differential protein
      spots with expression difference over 2-fold. The MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer
      was used to identify these differential protein spots. Six proteins were
      identified in total, which include apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1), fibrous protein
      original chain, fibrous protein original chain, serum albumin, sulfur-oxygen
      protein peroxiredoxin 2 (PRDX2) and actin. APOA1 and PRDX2 were subject to
      western blot analysis detection; results were consistent with the DIGE result.
      Based on an analysis of the biological information, these proteins may be
      associated with the incidence and progression of femoral head necrosis.

PMID- 28587358
TI  - A meta-analysis of PDE-gene polymorphism and cerebral infarction risk.
AB  - Previous studies identified that phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) gene polymorphism
      might be associated with cerebral infarction or ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic
      stroke in human populations. However, as yet, no meta-analysis has revealed any
      detailed association. We retrospectively reviewed studies regarding the
      relationship of PDE4D gene polymorphism with ischemic stroke (IS) published
      during the period January 2003 to September 2012. According to the inclusion
      criteria, 9 of 105 initial studies were included in the subsequent analysis. The
      PubMed, Embase and CNKI of China were searched to identify the relevant studies.
      A total of 186 young patients with IS were included for the meta-analysis and 232
      matched control subjects were enrolled and results were presented. The
      association of PDE4D gene polymorphism with IS in various populations was
      examined. The results suggested that single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), SNP 83
      in PDE4D gene was significantly related with susceptibility to IS. The meta
      analysis also showed that PDE4D gene was associated with an enhanced risk of IS.
      The meta-analysis suggested that PDE4D SNP 87 constitutes an independent risk
      factor for IS development. To the best of our knowledge, the present meta
      analysis reveals a number of possible associations between PDE4D gene
      polymorphism and IS.

PMID- 28587359
TI  - Effect of three-dimensional reconstruction-assisted 23G micro-invasive vitrectomy
      in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated the effect of optical coherence tomography
      (OCT) three-dimensional reconstruction-assisted 23G micro-invasive vitrectomy
      (abbreviated to'23G') in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
      A total of 66 PDR patients (66 eyes) were continuously selected and randomly
      divided into the control and observation groups with 33 patients in each group.
      Patients in the control group were treated with routine OCT examination while the
      patients in the observation group were treated with OCT three-dimensional retinal
      reconstruction. The 23G surgical method was applied to the two groups, and a
      comparison was made on the clinical effects in the two groups. The follow-up
      visits lasted for approximately 6 months, and it was found that the operative
      time, occurrence rate of intraoperative complications and postoperative
      complications as shown in the observation group were significantly less than
      those in the control group (P<0.05). The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was
      improved, the intraocular pressure was increased and retinal thickness was
      decreased after the treatment. The BCVA of patients in the observation group was
      significantly greater than that of patients in the control group while the
      intraocular pressure and retinal thickness of patients in the observation group
      were significantly less than those of patients in the control group (P<0.05). In
      conclusion, the effect of 23G surgical method in PDR patients can be improved and
      corresponding complications can be reduced under the assistance of OCT three
      dimensional reconstruction.

PMID- 28587360
TI  - The value of Sonoclot detection technology to guide the clinical medication of
      the perioperative anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute
      myocardial infarction undergoing emergent PCI.
AB  - The value of Sonoclot detection technology to guide the clinical medication of
      the perioperative anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute
      myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing emergent percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) was estimated. One hundred and twenty-eight patients were
      randomly divided into control group and observation group with 64 cases in each
      group. Control group adopted routine blood coagulation indexes, including
      prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen and plasma
      thrombin time, platelet count and platelet aggregation turbidity analysis;
      observation group adopted Sonoclot detection technology, including activated
      clotting time, coagulation rate and platelet function. Anticoagulant therapy
      selected was of low molecular weight heparin calcium perioperatively,
      intraoperative unfractionated heparin, and clopidogrel (75 mg) combined with
      aspirin enteric-coated tablets (100 mg) as antiplatelet drugs. The therapy was
      administered in accordance with blood coagulation results. The blood coagulation
      time, postoperative creatine kinase isoenzyme MB, cardiac troponin I and B-type
      natriuretic peptide levels in the observation group are significantly lower than
      those in the control group (P<0.05) though the operating time and specifications
      of the stenting did not show any significant difference (P>0.05). The incidence
      of recurrent myocardial infarction, microembolism, acute and subacute thrombosis
      and bleeding events in the observation group are significantly lower than those
      in the control group (P<0.05). In the control group, there is no difference in
      the coagulation indexes of the patients with thrombosis events or bleeding events
      or no event (P>0.05). Whereas, in the observation group, there is significant
      difference in coagulation indexes of the patients with thrombosis events or
      bleeding events or no event (P<0.05). In conclusion, Sonoclot detection
      technology instructs emergent PCI treatment in AMI patients to shorten the
      detection time of blood coagulation, reduce the degree of myocardial injury,
      reduce the incidence of perioperative thrombosis and bleeding events.
      Furthermore, it has great value in guiding the clinical medication of
      anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy.

PMID- 28587361
TI  - Biocompatibility of polypropylene mesh scaffold with adipose-derived stem cells.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the rejection of the synthetic patch and human
      tissues in the host. We observed the growth of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs)
      cultured with polypropylene mesh in vitro. The results of flow cytometry showed
      that the expression of CD44, CD73, CD90, CD45, CD14 and CD34 was 98.54, 95.32,
      98.49, 1.21, 3.01 and 2.14%, respectively. ADSCs were isolated from rabbit
      subcutaneous adipose tissue after collagenase digestion, filtration and
      centrifugation. The ADSCs of passage 3 were seeded onto the polypropylene mesh
      scaffolds. New Zealand White female breeder rabbits were implanted with
      polypropylene mesh, ADSC-fixed polypropylene mesh in the abdomen. After 4 weeks,
      adhesion was performed and the erosion of the mesh was evaluated. It was found
      that polypropylene mesh, ADSC-fixed polypropylene mesh all had different degrees
      of corrosion, and adhesion, but polypropylene mesh was more corroded. ADSC-fixed
      polypropylene mesh induced a milder chronic inflammation response compared with
      polypropylene, had significantly lower scores for inflammation (t=11.083), and
      had significantly higher scores for neovascularization (t=14.362) and
      fibroblastic proliferation (t=15.979). The relative amount of VEGF mRNA was
      significantly lower for ADSC-fixed polypropylene compared with the other
      polypropylene meshes (t=94.6). In conclusion, polypropylene mesh scaffold with
      ADSCs exhibit excellent cellular compatibility and are promising in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28587362
TI  - Effects of release and decompression techniques on nerve roots through
      percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy on patients with central lumbar
      disc herniation.
AB  - The clinical effects and safety of release and decompression techniques on nerve
      roots through percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) while
      treating patients with central lumbar disc herniation (CLDH) were explored.
      Patient cases of lumbar and leg pain treated in Bethune International Peace
      Hospital from July 2013 to October 2015 were collected retrospectively. The
      patients in these cases received imaging examinations such as computed tomography
      and magnetic resonance imaging. Among these cases, 37 CLDH patients with no other
      complications were selected for this study. A total of 22 males and 15 females
      aged 28-54 years, with an average age of 36.8+/-1.5 years, were the subjects of
      the study. Their disease course was from 1 month to 3 years, with a median course
      time of 1.5 years. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Japanese Orthopaedic Association
      (JOA) scoring and the MacNab method were used to evaluate treatment effects.
      After permission from patients or their family members, release and decompression
      techniques of nerve roots were performed through PTED. All patients had
      successful surgery. Their average surgery time was 41.3 (25.5-57.1) min. A
      physician followed-up each patient from 0 to 18 months after surgery, with the
      average follow-up period of 12.1 months. VAS scoring of lower limbs was 7.95+/
      0.82 before surgery and 2.28+/-0.35, 3 months after surgery. VAS scoring of lower
      limbs was 2.06+/-0.58, 1 year after surgery and 2.12+/-0.23 at the last follow-up
      appointment. JOA scoring was 12.6+/-0.72 before surgery and 20.4+/-1.08, 3 months
      after surgery. JOA scoring was 21.1+/-0.82 1 year after surgery and 21.2+/-0.36
      at the last follow-up. Differences are of statistical significance (P<0.05).
      There were no complications for any of the cases. One patient did not improve
      after surgery, so a laminectomy and bone grafting internal fixation were
      performed. Two patients relapsed after surgery and received laminectomy and bone
      grafting internal fixation. The total percentage of excellent and good rates was
      83.5%. In conclusion, release and decompression techniques on nerve roots using
      PTED while treating CLDH resulted in a safe, effective and less traumatic outcome
      with fewer complications and quicker pain relief than alternative treatments. Due
      to the results of this study, the use of these techniques in treating CLDH should
      be more widely considered.

PMID- 28587364
TI  - Cytotoxic effects of 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 alone and in
      combination with dasatinib against uterine sarcoma in vitro.
AB  - Effective chemotherapeutic strategies for uterine sarcoma are lacking; existing
      therapies achieve poor response rates. Previous studies have identified the
      prostaglandin 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) as a potential
      anticancer treatment; however, its effectiveness in uterine sarcoma has not been
      examined. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms underlying the cytotoxic
      mechanism of 15d-PGJ2 remain unclear. Here, we evaluated the effects of 15d-PGJ2
      alone and in combination with the tyrosine kinas inhibitor (TKI) dasatinib in
      uterine sarcoma cell lines (MES-SA, MES-SA/DX5 and SKN). 15d-PGJ2 inhibited cell
      growth and increased apoptosis. Western blotting demonstrated that 15d-PGJ2
      treatment increased MEK and ERK phosphorylation, and decreased levels of
      phosphorylated AKT. Dasatinib in combination with 15d-PGJ2 significantly reduced
      cell proliferation compared with 15d-PGJ2 alone, and repressed both the AKT and
      MAPK pathways. The cell growth inhibition rate in the PGJ2 was 21.5+/-12.0,
      35.3+/-5.4 and 28.3+/-4.2%, respectively (MES-SA, MES-SA/DX5 and SKN cell lines)
      and the cell growth inhibition rate in the combination therapy was significantly
      higher compared with 15d-PGJ2 alone (MES-SA; 64.2+/-0.8, MES-SA/DX5;23.9+/-8.2
      and SKN; 41.4+/-17.6%). The PGJ2 IC50 determined by MTT assay was 27.41,10.46 and
      17.38 umol/l, respectively (MES-SA, MES-SA/DX5 and SKN cell lines) and the
      dasatinib IC50 was 6.68,17.30 and 6.25 umol/l, respectively. Our findings
      demonstrate that 15d-PGJ2 suppresses proliferation by inactivating the AKT
      pathway in uterine sarcoma. Furthermore, combining 15d-PGJ2 with dasatinib
      produced a synergistic effect on cancer cell inhibition by repressing 15d-PGJ2
      mediated activation of MAPK signaling, and further repressing AKT signaling.
      These results suggest that 15d-PGJ2 could be used in combination with dasatinib
      as a potential therapeutic approach for uterine sarcoma.

PMID- 28587363
TI  - Local influence of high molecular polyethylene particles on heterotopic
      ossification.
AB  - We studied the effect of molecular polyethylene particles on local heterotopic
      ossification. A total of 36 healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided
      into the control group (n=18) and the observation group (n=18). High molecular
      polyethylene particles were injected to rupture Achilles tendon position in the
      observation group, and normal saline was injected in the control group. X-ray
      examinations were conducted on Achilles tendon in the 4th, 8th and 12th week
      after operation. The incidence rate of heterotopic ossification was evaluated,
      and bone trabecula morphological structure was studied under optical microscope
      after hematoxylin and eosin staining. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2),
      transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and matrix
      metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression levels were also measured. Our results
      showed that heterotopic ossification incidence in the observation group was
      significantly lower than that in the control group. Achilles tendon structure in
      the control group increased in volume, and its texture was harder and cartilage
      like. In the observation group, trabecular bone volume, thickness and quantity
      were more than those observed in the control group. BMP-2, TGF-beta, IL-1, TNF
      alpha, Runx2 and MMP-9 levels in the observation group were significantly lower
      than those in the control group. We concluded that, high molecular polyethylene
      particles had a significant inhibiting effect on local heterotopic ossification.

PMID- 28587365
TI  - Assessment of different loading doses of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride in
      preventing adverse reaction after combined spinal-epidural anesthesia.
AB  - We conducted the present study to investigate the effects of the different
      loading doses of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride in the prevention of adverse
      reactions after combined spinal-epidural anesthesia. A total of 200 patients that
      were admitted to the Department of Obstetrics at the Second Affiliated Hospital
      of Xi'an Jiaotong University hospital and treated with cesarean section through
      the use of combined spinal-epidural anesthesia from December, 2014 to June, 2016,
      were randomly divided into 4 groups. The therapeutic regimens of patients were
      shown as follows: group A was administered an intravenous pump of 10 ml/l
      physiological saline in surgery until the end of the delivery. group B was
      administered 0.2 ug/kg dexmedetomidine. group C was administered 0.4 ug/kg
      dexmedetomidine. group D was administered 0.6 ug/kg dexmedetomidine. The
      anesthesia plane was adjusted to the level below the T10 plane. After the onset
      of anesthesia, participants of each group were treated with an intravenous pump
      of dexmedetomidine at loading dose. After intravenous pumping for 10 min in each
      group during the surgery, patients were administered with an intraoperative
      maintenance dose of 0.2 ug/kg/h until the end of the delivery. The heart rate
      (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), Narcotrend index (NI), Ramsay sedation score
      and the incidence of adverse reactions at each time-point of the start of drug
      administration (T0), 10 min (T2), 30 min (T3), 60 min (T4), 90 min (T5) and the
      end of surgery (T6) were recorded. Within 24 h post-delivery, the degree of
      amnesia from using dexmedetomidine until the end of the delivery were followed
      up. Compared to group A and T0, the HRs of participants at T3-6 in groups B and C
      were decreased. The MAP at T1 in group D was increased. In groups B and C, the
      NIs were significantly decreased at T2-6, the Ramsay scores were increased at T3
      6, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The follow-up
      within 24 h after delivery showed that the degree of anterograde amnesia from
      groups B to D was significantly higher than group A, with statistically
      significant difference (P<0.05). A combined spinal-epidural anesthesia with 0.6
      ug/kg loading dose of dexmedetomidine, by intravenous pumping within 10 min
      before cesarean section, can achieve a satisfied sedative effect at 30 min after
      administration. It maintains the characteristics of intraoperative hemodynamic
      stability and less adverse reactions. Therefore, it is of great significance to
      improve the quality of cesarean section delivery.

PMID- 28587366
TI  - Investigation of the predictive value of speckle tracking imaging for the
      assessment of cardiac function and clinical prognosis in patients with
      hypercholesterolemia.
AB  - The predictive value of speckle tracking imaging (STI) for the assessment of
      cardiac function and clinical prognosis in patients with hypercholesterolemia was
      explored. One hundred forty-seven patients with hypercholesterolemia diagnosed in
      our hospital and 137 healthy adults from our health examination center over the
      same period were included in this study. Using STI and color Doppler ultrasound,
      we carried out follow-up of cardiac function in patients with
      hypercholesterolemia and statistical analysis based on collected data. Global
      longitudinal strain, global circumferential strain, and the strains of apical
      long-axis, four-chamber and two-chamber planes, and short-axis mitral valve,
      short-axis papillary muscle, and short-axis apical levels in the
      hypercholesterolemia group were significantly lower than those in the control
      group. Global systolic and early diastolic strain rates were significantly lower
      than those in the control group. In the coronaries, the percentage of segments
      with significant differences was 80% (24/30) in the left anterior descending
      coronary artery (LAD), 66.7% (9/12) in the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX),
      and 75% (8/12) in the right coronary artery (RCA). The average strains in the
      long axis, radial, and circumferential directions (StrainSL, SC, SR - Avg) in the
      three main coronaries were significantly different between the
      hypercholesterolemia group and control group (P<0.0001). In the three coronaries
      and their basal and mid segments, there were significant differences between LCX
      and LAD, and between LCX and RCA (P<0.0001). In conclusion, the application of
      STI for monitoring cardiac function in patients with hypercholesterolemia
      provides physicians with useful information related to hypercholesterolemia to
      achieve early diagnosis and effective treatment.

PMID- 28587367
TI  - Seasonal trends in the prevalence of hypospadias: Aetiological implications.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to examine the seasonality of hypospadias in
      Greece in an attempt to elucidate the aetiology. All boys born between 1991-1998,
      who underwent hypospadias repair at 'Aghia Sophia' Children's Hospital, Athens
      (n=542) were analysed. All Greek live-born males during the same period
      (population at risk; m=421,175) served as the controls. Seasonality by month of
      birth was evaluated with specific statistical tools. Meteorological parameters
      were also analysed. All tests yielded significant results, suggesting a simple
      harmonic prevalence pattern (highest/lowest: autumn, peak in October/spring,
      trough in April). Therefore, the first trimester of hypospadiac gestations
      coincides more frequently with winter. Meteorological parameters varied
      seasonally (maximal sunlight; air temperature in summer/minimal in winter,
      maximal rainfall in winter/minimal in summer) and were strongly associated
      pairwise. Hypospadiac birth prevalence follows a simple harmonic seasonal pattern
      and is associated with that of cryptorchidism in Greece. The coincidence of the
      first or third trimester of a potentially genetically influenced gestation with
      winter could lead to the phenotypic expression of hypospadias or cryptorchidism,
      respectively. The potential role of a cyclic-varied androgen-production
      stimulator, such as human chorionic gonadotrophin may be speculated. The
      seasonality of a common environmental factor acting directly/indirectly may
      contribute to these patterns, and possibly to the common pathogenesis of these
      congenital malformations.

PMID- 28587368
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of recombinant thrombomodulin on a lipopolysaccharide
      induced murine sepsis model.
AB  - To evaluate the effect of recombinant human thrombomodulin (rTM) on sepsis, the
      levels of nucleosome as well as high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and cytokines
      in sera and peritoneal fluids were measured in a mouse model of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis after administration of rTM. C57BL/6 mice
      were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (15 mg/kg; Escherichia coli O111:B4)
      with or without the intravenous administration of rTM (3 mg/kg; 30 min prior to
      or 2 h after LPS injection). The survival rates were evaluated and levels of
      tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, monocyte chemoattractant
      protein (MCP)-1, HMGB1 and nucleosome in sera and peritoneal fluids were analyzed
      by ELISA. Administration of rTM prior to or after LPS improved the survival rate
      of septic mice. In addition, rTM administered prior to or after LPS suppressed
      the level of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha in sera at 1-3 h after LPS
      injection, whereas only the administration of rTM after LPS suppressed the levels
      of HMGB1 and nucleosome (late-phase mediators of sepsis) (9-12 h) in sera after
      the LPS injection. Furthermore, administration of rTM prior to or after LPS
      suppressed the level of TNF-alpha in the peritoneal fluids at 1-3 h after LPS
      injection, whereas only the administration of rTM after LPS suppressed the levels
      of IL-6 and MCP-1 in the peritoneal fluids at 6-9 h after LPS injection. These
      observations indicated that administration of rTM significantly improves the
      survival rate and suppresses the increased levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, MCP-1,
      HMGB1 and nucleosome in the LPS-induced septic shock model. Thus, rTM may exert a
      protective action on sepsis and reduce mortality, possibly by reducing not only
      the levels of cytokines and chemokine but also the levels of late-phase mediators
      of sepsis.

PMID- 28587369
TI  - Efficacy and indications of transradial and transfemoral approaches for
      peripheral artery stent implantation.
AB  - The transradial approach (TRA) has become an attractive alternative to the
      transfemoral approach (TFA) in percutaneous coronary intervention. To date,
      however, these two approaches have not been systematically compared in various
      percutaneous peripheral artery interventions (PPAIs). In the present study 258
      patients with peripheral artery disease that underwent PPAI via the TRA (n=75) or
      the TFA (n=183) were analyzed. Clinical factors and outcomes in these two groups
      were compared. The puncture time was significantly longer (P<0.05) and the
      prevalence of artery vasospasm significantly higher (P<0.05) in patients who
      underwent PPAI via the TRA rather than via the TFA. However, the complication
      rate was significantly lower (P<0.05) and the artery compression time (P<0.05)
      and time bedridden (P<0.05) were significantly shorter via the TRA than via the
      TFA. These results suggest that PPAI via the TRA was associated with a lower
      complication rate, and shorter artery compression time and bedridden time than
      PPAI via the TFA. The TRA may be preferable for bilateral vertebral artery
      stenosis, whereas the TFA may be preferable for interventional treatment of
      carotid and subclavian artery stenosis. Therefore, the catheter length, artery
      support and push force should be comprehensively considered before choosing the
      TRA or TFA in the interventional treatment of renal artery stenosis.

PMID- 28587370
TI  - A novel noninvasive ocular surface analyzer for the assessment of dry eye with
      Meibomian gland dysfunction.
AB  - Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a major cause of dry eye, and the purpose of
      the present study was to evaluate the differences between dry eye patients with
      MGD and controls using a novel noninvasive ocular surface analyzer. A total of 33
      dry eye patients with MGD and 31 controls were enrolled in the present study.
      Testing included administration of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI),
      followed by Keratogragh 5M (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany), measurements of the
      noninvasive tear film break-up times (NITBUTs), the first tear film break-up
      point and the morphology of meibomian gland. Meibomian gland loss (MGL) on the
      upper lid was evaluated using noncontact meibography. The first NITBUT (NITBUTf)
      was significantly shorter than the average NITBUT (NITBUTav; Mann-Whitney U-test,
      P<0.01). There was a weak negative Spearman correlation between NITBUTf and OSDI
      (rs=-0.251, P=0.046) as well as between NITBUTav and OSDI (rs=-0.250, P=0.046).
      Furthermore, MGL showed a statistically significant Spearman correlation with
      OSDI (rs=0.562; P<0.01). In the MGD group, NITBUTf was significantly shorter
      (P<0.01), and MGL and OSDI score were significantly greater (P<0.01 and <0.01,
      respectively) than in the control group. In the MGD group, the first tear film
      break-up point was most frequently located in the inferonasal quadrant, while it
      was most frequently located in the supertemporal quadrant in the control group,
      and there was a significant difference with this regard (chi2=3.937, P=0.047). In
      the MGD group, there were significantly more breakups in the lower quadrant than
      in the upper quadrant (P=0.011), whereas no differences in the number of breakups
      in each quadrant were observed in the control group (P=0.429). Furthermore, there
      was no significant difference in the breakups in the lower quadrants of the two
      groups (chi2=0.525, P=0.469). In the MGD group, there were significantly more
      breakups in the lower quadrant than in the upper quadrant (P=0.011), whereas no
      differences in the number of breakups in each quadrant were observed in the
      control group (P=0.429). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the
      breakups in the lower quadrants of the two groups (chi2=0.525, P=0.469). As the
      NITBUTs showed only a weak correlation with OSDI, they may not be a strong
      indicator of the OSDI. However, MGL indicated changes of meibomian gland
      morphology in the MGD group and the first tear film break-up point was likely
      located in the inferonasal quadrant in the MGD group.

PMID- 28587371
TI  - Outcome of antegrade intramedullary fixation for juvenile fifth metacarpal neck
      fracture with titanium elastic nail.
AB  - The purpose of the current study was to assess the outcome of antegrade
      intramedullary fixation with titanium elastic nail (TEN) in displaced fifth
      metacarpal neck fractures. The present study included 69 consecutive juvenile
      patients with displaced fifth metacarpal fractures. The head-shaft angle of the
      fifth metacarpal and range of motion (ROM) of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint
      were evaluated. A disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) questionnaire
      was used to assess upper arm function. The head-shaft angle of the affected side
      was significantly improved postoperatively (P<0.05). No marked difference was
      observed between the affected and unaffected side in head-shaft angle and ROM.
      The average DASH score was 1.7 (range, 0-6.0). All patients obtained anatomical
      reduction postoperatively and the average healing time was 5.7+/-1.09 weeks
      (range, 5-10 weeks) with no non-union cases. Therefore antegrade intramedullary
      fixation with TEN is recommended as an easy, reliable and minimally invasive
      surgical technique for treating displaced fifth metacarpal neck fractures.

PMID- 28587372
TI  - Di-Huang-Yi-Zhi herbal formula attenuates amyloid-beta-induced neurotoxicity in
      PC12 cells.
AB  - Traditional Chinese medicine can be used for Alzheimer's disease management, such
      as the modern herbal formula Di-Huang-Yi-Zhi (DHYZ). In the present study,
      neuronal differentiated PC12 cells were used as a model to evaluate the effects
      of DHYZ against amyloid-beta peptide 25-35 (Abeta25-35) induced neurotoxicity,
      particularly regarding cell proliferation, apoptosis and related events.
      Following treatment with DHYZ, cell viability, cell membrane damage, apoptosis,
      mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome c release, caspase-3 activity and
      levels of reactive oxygen species in PC12 cells were detected. The results
      demonstrated that pretreatment with DHYZ significantly protected PC12 cells from
      Abeta25-35-induced proliferation inhibition, lactate dehydrogenase release and
      apoptosis, as well as upregulating mitochondrial membrane potential and
      downregulating cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation. DHYZ also inhibited
      the Abeta25-35-induced reactive oxygen species generation in PC12 cells. These
      observations suggest that DHYZ protected PC12 cells from the Abeta-induced
      neurotoxicity.

PMID- 28587373
TI  - Thrombophilia with an onset symptom of intracranial venous thrombosis: A case
      report and review of the literature.
AB  - Thrombophilia may be hereditary or acquired and is associated with a high risk of
      thrombosis. The diagnosis rate for thrombophilia is low, particularly for
      patients with non-specific symptoms. The present study describes a patient with
      thrombophilia, presenting with onset symptoms for intracranial venous thrombosis.
      The patient had increased serum homocysteine and anticardiolipin immunoglobulin G
      antibodies and decreased protein S activities. In addition, the patient was obese
      and had a one-week history of fatigue, immobilization and insufficient water
      intake. Radiological findings identified multiple venous thrombosis. Since the
      patient had multiple risk factors for thrombosis, the diagnosis of thrombophilia
      was made. No mutations with definite clinical significance were identified in the
      assessments for mutations of the protein S-alpha (PROS1) gene. The current case
      highlights the importance of correct diagnosis for thrombophilia in patients who
      present with the onset symptoms of intracranial venous thrombosis.

PMID- 28587374
TI  - Protective effect of Shenmai injection on knee articular cartilage of
      osteoarthritic rabbits and IL-1beta-stimulated human chondrocytes.
AB  - Shenmai injection (SMI) has been widely used as a therapy to treat a number of
      diseases. However, its anti-osteoarthritic properties have not yet been fully
      investigated. In the present study, the protective effect of SMI on knee
      articular cartilage of anterior cruciate ligament transected rabbits and
      interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-stimulated human chondrocytes was investigated. For
      the in vivo study, knee osteoarthritis (KOA) was induced in female New Zealand
      white rabbits by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) in the knee of
      right hind limb. Rabbits either underwent sham surgery or ACLT surgery. Out of
      the rabbits receiving ACLT surgery, half of the rabbits received one 0.3 ml
      Shenmai intra-articular injection in the knee per week for four weeks, following
      ACLT surgery. The other rabbits received the same volume of normal saline
      solution. The cartilage was subsequently collected for histological evaluation.
      For the in vitro study, cultured human chondrocytes were treated with 10 ng/ml IL
      1beta in the presence or absence of 5 and 2% (v/v) SMI for 24 h. Nitric oxide
      (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels in cell culture supernatant were assessed
      using a Griess reaction and ELISA respectively. The mRNA expression of
      cyclooxgenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-13 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1
      (TIMP-1) in chondrocytes were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. The results of the current study revealed that
      treatment with SMI ameliorated cartilage degradation in the ACLT rabbit model,
      and decreased levels of NO and PGE2. Furthermore, treatment with SMI decreased
      levels of COX-2, iNOS, MMP-1 and MMP-13 mRNA expression and increased TIMP-1 mRNA
      expression in IL-1beta-stimulated human chondrocytes. These results indicate that
      SMI suppresses inflammation and ameliorated cartilage degradation, making it a
      potential and promising therapeutic option to treat KOA.

PMID- 28587376
TI  - Clinical progress of human papillomavirus genotypes and their persistent
      infection in subjects with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance
      cytology: Statistical and latent Dirichlet allocation analysis.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate differences in prognosis based on human
      papillomavirus (HPV) infection, persistent infection and genotype variations for
      patients exhibiting atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS)
      in their initial Papanicolaou (PAP) test results. A latent Dirichlet allocation
      (LDA)-based tool was developed that may offer a facilitated means of
      communication to be employed during patient-doctor consultations. The present
      study assessed 491 patients (139 HPV-positive and 352 HPV-negative cases) with a
      PAP test result of ASCUS with a follow-up period >=2 years. Patients underwent
      PAP and HPV DNA chip tests between January 2006 and January 2009. The HPV
      positive subjects were followed up with at least 2 instances of PAP and HPV DNA
      chip tests. The most common genotypes observed were HPV-16 (25.9%, 36/139), HPV
      52 (14.4%, 20/139), HPV-58 (13.7%, 19/139), HPV-56 (11.5%, 16/139), HPV-51 (9.4%,
      13/139) and HPV-18 (8.6%, 12/139). A total of 33.3% (12/36) patients positive for
      HPV-16 had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)2 or a worse result, which was
      significantly higher than the prevalence of CIN2 of 1.8% (8/455) in patients
      negative for HPV-16 (P<0.001), while no significant association was identified
      for other genotypes in terms of genotype and clinical progress. There was a
      significant association between clearance and good prognosis (P<0.001).
      Persistent infection was higher in patients aged >=51 years (38.7%) than in those
      aged <=50 years (20.4%; P=0.036). Progression from persistent infection to CIN2
      or worse (19/34, 55.9%) was higher than clearance (0/105, 0.0%; P<0.001). In the
      LDA analysis, using symmetric Dirichlet priors alpha=0.1 and beta=0.01, and
      clusters (k)=5 or 10 provided the most meaningful groupings. Statistical and LDA
      analyses produced consistent results regarding the association between persistent
      infection of HPV-16, old age and long infection period with a clinical
      progression of CIN2 or worse. Therefore, LDA results may be presented as
      explanatory evidence during time-constrained patient-doctor consultations in
      order to deliver information regarding the patient's status.

PMID- 28587375
TI  - C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 promotes endothelial cell homing via the Akt
      signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway to accelerate healing of
      ischemic and hypoxic skin ulcers.
AB  - C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL-8) promotes cell homing and angiogenesis.
      However, under hypoxic conditions, the role of CXCL-8 in the homing of human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and its effect on the healing of skin
      ulcers caused by ischemia and hypoxia remain unknown. In the current study,
      assays measuring cell proliferation, in vitro angiogenesis and cell migration
      were performed to evaluate alterations in the proliferation, angiogenic capacity
      and chemotaxis of HUVECs treated with CXCL-8 protein and/or an Akt inhibitor
      (AZD5363 group) under hypoxic conditions. Changes in the levels of Akt, signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF), malondialdehyde (MDA) and total-superoxide dismutase (total-SOD)
      were also detected by western blotting and ELISA. In addition, in vivo
      experiments were performed using a skin ulcer model in mice. Ischemic and hypoxic
      skin ulcers were created on the thighs of C57BL/6J mice, and the effects of CXCL
      8 and HUVEC transplantation on the healing capacity of skin ulcers was determined
      by injecting mice with HUVECs and/or CXCL-8 recombinant protein (CXCL-8, HUVEC
      and HUVEC + CXCL-8 groups). Vascular endothelial cell homing, changes in vascular
      density and the expression of VEGF, SOD, EGF and MDA within the ulcer tissue were
      subsequently measured. In vitro experiments demonstrated that HUVEC
      proliferation, migration and tube forming capacity were significantly increased
      by CXCL-8 under hypoxic conditions. Additionally, levels of VEGF, MDA and SOD
      were significantly higher in the CXCL-8 group, though were significantly
      decreased by the Akt and STAT3 inhibitors. In vivo experiments demonstrated that
      the expression of VEGF, total-SOD and EGF proteins were higher in the skin ulcer
      tissue of mice treated with CXCL-8 + HUVEC, relative to mice treated with HUVECs
      alone. Furthermore, vascular endothelial cell homing and vascular density were
      significantly increased in the CXCL-8 + HUVEC group, indicating that combined use
      of HUVECs and CXCL-8 may promote the healing of ischemic skin ulcers. The present
      results demonstrate that CXCL-8 may stimulate vascular endothelial cells to
      secrete VEGF, SOD and other cytokines via the Akt-STAT3 pathway, which in turn
      serves a key regulatory role in the recruitment of vascular endothelial cells,
      reduction of hypoxia-related injury and promotion of tissue repair following
      hypoxic/ischemic injury.

PMID- 28587377
TI  - Network of microRNA, transcription factors, target genes and host genes in human
      mesothelioma.
AB  - Significant progress has been made into the elucidation of the etiology of
      mesothelioma at the level of the genes and miRNA. Nevertheless, researchers in
      this field remain unable to systematically construct a network that demonstrates
      the specific relationships between genes, miRNA and transcription factors (TFs).
      TFs are key regulatory elements that control gene expression. In the present
      study, according to the transcriptional regulatory rule, three regulatory
      networks were constructed using experimentally validated elements to explore the
      pathogenesis of mesothelioma. We focused on the regulatory relationship between
      the miRNA and its host gene, the miRNA and its target gene, and the miRNA and
      TFs. Expressed, related and global networks were constructed, and the
      similarities and differences between them were analyzed. Notably, the
      differentially expressed network used in the present study, which was based on
      experimentally validated data, contained numerous incorrect expression signal
      pathways for the pathogenesis of mesothelioma. In theory, if these errors are
      corrected, this cancer may be prevented or cured. Subsequent analysis of the
      differentially expressed nodes and pathways may help to explain the pathogenesis
      of mesothelioma. Notably, some of these exhibited a self-adaption relationship,
      which was detected by listing the upstream and downstream elements in a table
      with differentially expressed genes and miRNA. The findings of the present study
      demonstrated detailed transcriptional regulation, which may serve as a reference
      to aid further elucidation of the pathogenesis of mesothelioma.

PMID- 28587378
TI  - Protective role of alpha-lipoic acid in hyperuricemia-induced endothelial
      dysfunction.
AB  - The aim of the current study was to determine the effects of alpha-lipoic acid
      (LA) on hyperuricemia and endothelial dysfunction, and to uncover the underlying
      mechanism of its action. A hyperuricemic rat model was established by
      administration of uric acid (UA) and the rats were orally fed with 2 g/kg/day LA
      or phosphate-buffered saline. Primary rat aortic endothelial cells were
      subsequently isolated, and a cell viability assay, apoptosis assay, enzyme nitric
      oxide synthase (eNOS) activity assay and mitochondrial function assay were all
      performed. For the in vitro study, human umbilical vein endothelial cells were
      used and western blotting was performed to assess Akt signaling activity. The
      results of the current study indicated that LA inhibited apoptosis, enhanced eNOS
      activity and production of nitric oxide (NO), and rescued mitochondrial mass and
      function in uric acid (UA)-treated endothelial cells. LA activated Akt signaling
      and inhibition of Akt signaling abolished the effects of LA on cell viability, NO
      production, ROS production and ATP levels in UA-treated endothelial cells.
      Therefore, the current study demonstrated that LA attenuated oxidant stress and
      inhibited apoptosis in UA-treated endothelial cells by activating Akt signaling.
      The results indicate that LA may serve as a therapeutic approach to treat
      hyperuricemia-induced endothelial dysfunction.

PMID- 28587379
TI  - Long non-coding RNA MALAT1 is upregulated and involved in cell proliferation,
      migration and apoptosis in ovarian cancer.
AB  - Ovarian cancer (OC) is the leading cause of mortality among gynecological
      malignancies. Although microRNAs are known to have a key regulatory role in OC,
      the involvement of long non-coding RNAs in the disease is less established.
      Previous studies have demonstrated that metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma
      transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a tumor oncogene in many cancers, though its role in OC
      remains unclear. The present study reported that MALAT1 expression was markedly
      upregulated in OC, by knockdown of MALAT1 expression in vivo, using RNA
      interference (RNAi) with small-interfering RNA (siRNA). It was found that MALAT1
      expression was positively correlated with the International Federation of
      Gynecology and Obstetrics stages of OC, tumor histological grade and lymph node
      metastasis. In addition, the differential MALAT1 levels between a human ovarian
      epithelial cell line (HOSE) and OC cell lines (ES-2, OVCAR3, SKOV3 and HO8910)
      were compared in vitro. Notably, MALAT1 was expressed to a high level in OC
      cells. Furthermore, exogenous knockdown of MALAT1 significantly repressed growth
      and migration of OC cells, and promoted their apoptosis. Collectively, the
      current findings suggest that upregulation of MALAT1 in OC may facilitate
      tumorigenesis and metastasis. Knockdown of MALAT1 expression has potential as a
      novel target for the diagnosis and therapy of OC.

PMID- 28587380
TI  - A meta-analysis to determine the efficacy and tolerability of anti-B-cell
      monoclonal antibodies in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - The present study performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in
      multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anti-B
      cell monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). To the best of our knowledge, no previous meta
      analysis has evaluated this. Relevant studies published until March 2015 were
      retrieved from the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library using the following
      keywords: 'Clinical trial', 'randomized', 'multiple sclerosis' or 'MS' and
      'monoclonal antibodies' or 'mAbs'. Two authors independently selected the
      articles and extracted the data. The meta-analysis was performed using Review
      Manager version 5.3 software. Four randomized clinical trials comprising a total
      of 745 patients were selected. Anti-B-cell mAb treatment reduced the formation of
      gadolinium-enhancing lesions [mean difference (MD)=-5.62; 95% confidence interval
      (CI)=-8.00 to -3.24; P<0.001) and was associated with smaller volume changes of
      lesions on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MD=-604.40; 95% CI=-941.23 to 
      267.57; P<0.001). It also significantly reduced the proportion of MS patients
      having at least one relapse [odds ratio (OR)=0.25; 95% CI=0.14-0.44; P<0.001).
      Compared to placebo, anti-B-cell mAb treatment did not increase the frequency of
      adverse events (OR=0.90; 95% CI=0.54-1.49; P=0.68) and serious adverse events
      (OR=1.13; 95% CI=0.70-1.80; P=0.62). In conclusion, the present meta-analysis
      suggested that anti-B-cell mAbs are a relatively effective and safe treatment for
      MS.

PMID- 28587382
TI  - Effect of VBC-1814/7J, a poly-phytocompound, on a non-infectious model of
      pharyngitis.
AB  - Pharyngitis presents as an inflammation of the oropharynx, and clinical
      examination often shows evidence of nasopharyngitis. In numerous cases the
      condition occurs as a self-limiting illness of non-infectious aetiology, whose
      clinical management remains a matter for debate given the inappropriateness of
      antibiotics, the reported worsening following steroid use and the recent
      discouragement of the use of Chinese herbal medicine. The aim of the present
      study was thus to test VBC-1814/7J, a poly-phytocompound with known anti
      inflammatory and immune-response enhancing properties, in an experimental model
      of non-infectious pharyngitis. Experimental non-infectious pharyngitis was
      induced by applying a pyridine solution to the surface of the pharyngeal mucosa
      in rats that were either normally fed (group A) or fed VBC-1814/7J three days
      prior to and three days subsequent to the induction of pharyngitis (group B).
      Healthy rats treated with topical saline were used as a control (group C). At
      time-points of 0, one hour, one day and three days sacrifices were carried out
      and microscopic examination, Evans blue (EB) dye extravasation and tissue
      concentrations of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6 and mRNA
      of alpha- and beta-defensins were studied. As compared with group C, group A
      showed significant microscopic damage, EB extravasation, and increases in the
      levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6, as well as in the mRNA of three defensins (P<0.001)
      on the third day of observation. VBC-1814/7J significantly mitigated these
      microscopic and inflammatory markers while allowing a prompter and wider defensin
      reaction (P<0.05 vs. group A). These data suggest that VBC-1814/7J, as
      demonstrated in earlier studies, has the potential to address non-infectious
      pharyngitis in clinical practice.

PMID- 28587381
TI  - Antitumor activity of high-dose pulsatile gefitinib in non-small-cell lung cancer
      with acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors.
AB  - Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) have
      demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). However, their clinical efficacy is limited by acquired resistance. Drug
      resistance may be mediated by EGFR transduction, and a number of clinical trials
      have demonstrated that high-dose pulsatile TKIs may be effective at treating
      patients with acquired resistance, though their underlying mechanisms of action
      remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antitumor
      activity of high-dose pulsatile gefitinib in NSCLC model cell lines, namely the
      EGFR-TKI-sensitive cell line PC9, as a control group, and the EGFR-TKI-resistant
      cell lines H1975 and H1650. The cell lines were administered with different doses
      of gefitinib and cell viability was measured using an MTT assay. Cell apoptosis
      and cycling were also determined by flow cytometry and the expression of phospho
      (p)-EGFR, EGFR, p-AKT and AKT were measured by western blot analysis. It was
      observed that the apoptotic rate of H1975 cells treated with high-dose pulsatile
      gefitinib significantly increased, while levels of p-EGFR and p-AKT were
      decreased. However, there was no significant difference in the apoptotic rate or
      level of p-AKT in gefitinib-treated H1650 cells, while p-EGFR levels decreased.
      By contrast, the EGFR-TKI-sensitive cell line PC9 exhibited sensitivity to
      gefitinib. It was demonstrated that the apoptosis rates were markedly increased
      when treated with high dose pulsatile gefitinib in PC9 cell line, while a
      decrease was noted in p-EGFR and p-AKT. These data suggest that high-dose
      pulsatile gefitinib treatment may overcome acquired resistance in NSCLC, though
      its efficacy is dependent on the type of drug resistance mutation(s) present.
      Furthermore, high-dose pulsatile gefitinib may inhibit tumor growth and induce
      cell apoptosis by blocking the EGFR signaling pathway. Therefore, if the
      signaling pathways involved in drug resistance are not activated by the EGFR
      gene, high-dose pulsatile gefitinib may have little efficacy in the treatment of
      NSCLC.

PMID- 28587383
TI  - Mechanism of the protective effects of the combined treatment with rhynchophylla
      total alkaloids and sinapine thiocyanate against a prothrombotic state caused by
      vascular endothelial cell inflammatory damage.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect and the underlying
      mechanism of the combined treatment of rhynchophylla total alkaloids (RTA) and
      sinapine thiocyanate for protection against a prothrombotic state (PTS)
      associated with the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced inflammatory
      injury of vascular endothelial cells (VECs). A TNF-alpha-induced VEC inflammatory
      injury model was established, and cell morphology of VECs was evaluated using
      scanning electron microscopy. In addition, reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were performed to examine the
      mRNA and protein expression of coagulation-related factors, including nuclear
      factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), tissue
      factor (TF), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), protease-activation
      receptors (PAR-1) and protein kinase C (PKC-alpha) in VECs. Combined treatment
      with RTA and sinapine thiocyanate was demonstrated to reduce, to a varying
      extent, the mRNA and protein expression of NF-kappaB, TGF-beta1, TF, PAR-1, PKC
      alpha and PAI-1. Furthermore, combined treatment with RTA and sinapine
      thiocyanate was able to downregulate the expression of coagulation-related
      factors in injured VECs, thereby inhibiting the PTS induced by vascular
      endothelial injury. The underlying mechanism is partially associated with the TF
      mediated activation of the thrombin-receptor signaling pathway that suppresses
      coagulation during inflammation and balances fibrinolysis in order to inhibit
      fibrin generation and deposition.

PMID- 28587384
TI  - Upregulation of glutamate metabolism by BYHWD in cultured astrocytes following
      oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation in part depends on the activation of p38
      MAPK.
AB  - Recent studies have demonstrated that Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BYHWD) decreased
      glutamate levels subsequent to cerebral ischemia. Glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1)
      and glutamine synthetase (GS), which are located in astrocytes, mainly contribute
      to glutamate transportation, thus reducing glutamate concentration. BYHWD has
      previously been demonstrated to upregulate GLT-1 and GS following ischemia in
      vivo. However, whether BYHWD can directly influence astrocytic GLT-1/GS levels
      remains unknown. In the present study, the effect of BYHWD containing serum
      (BYHWD-CS) on GLT-1/GS levels in astrocytes following oxygen-glucose
      deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) was investigated. The results revealed that
      BYHWD-CS enhanced the expression levels of GLT-1 and GS in cultured astrocytes,
      which reduced glutamate concentration in the culture medium. Meanwhile, increased
      p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) was phosphorylated (activation
      form) by BYHWD-CS in cultured astrocytes, and the specific p38 inhibitor SB203580
      blocked the increase of GLT-1/GS accompanied by decreased cell viability.
      Furthermore, SB203580 suppressed the effect of BYHWD-CS on the level of glial
      fibrillary acidic protein (an astrocytic marker), thus confirming that astrocytes
      are directly involved in the protective role of BYHWD after OGD/R. These findings
      suggest that BYHWD upregulates GLT-1 and GS via p38 MAPK activation, and protects
      cultured astrocytes from death caused by OGD/R (typical in vitro model), which
      complemented the role of astrocytes in the protective effect of BYHWD.

PMID- 28587385
TI  - GnRH antagonist for patients with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing controlled
      ovarian hyperstimulation for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in fresh
      cycles.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of a gonadotropin
      releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist compared with a GnRH agonist on the in vitro
      fertilization cycle outcome in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. The
      outcomes of pregnancy were evaluated. The area under the curve (AUC) of the
      receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was also used to evaluate whether
      the endometrial thickness (cm) and estradiol (E2) level (pg/ml) on the day of
      human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration (the hCG day) had the best
      sensitivity and specificity for predicting a clinical pregnancy. The results
      demonstrated that there were significant differences in the E2 and progesterone
      levels between the two treatment groups on the hCG day. Furthermore, the mean
      number of total oocytes retrieved, mean number of 2 pronuclei oocytes, mean
      number of oocytes cleaved (P<0.05), mean number of embryos available (P=0.022)
      and mean number of embryos transferred (P=0.014) were significantly different.
      Additionally, the rates of ectopic pregnancy (P=0.984) and ovarian
      hyperstimulation syndrome (P=0.976) did not differ significantly between the
      treatment groups. Although the biochemical pregnancy (P=0.592), clinical
      pregnancy (P=0.617) and live birth (P=0.365) rates were lower with the GnRH
      antagonist than with the GnRH agonist, there were no significant differences in
      the outcomes between the two groups. Analysis of the influence of endometrial
      thickness with respect to the clinical pregnancy using the ROC (AUC) method
      revealed that when the best cutoff of 9.75 cm was used, the sensitivity was
      62.5%, the specificity was 43.1% and the AUC was 0.53. Additionally, the Youden
      index was 0.056. Analysis of the influence of the E2 level on the hCG day on
      clinical pregnancy, using the ROC (AUC) method showed that the best cutoff was
      2,984.5 pg/ml, which had a sensitivity of 68.8% and specificity of 52.9%, while
      the AUC was 0.573 (with a Youden index of 0.217). Furthermore, the results
      demonstrated that neither the endometrial thickness nor the E2 level on the hCG
      day had the best sensitivity and specificity for predicting a clinical pregnancy.

PMID- 28587386
TI  - SOCS3 overexpression inhibits advanced glycation end product-induced EMT in
      proximal tubule epithelial cells.
AB  - Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is among the most severe complications of diabetes
      mellitus, and may lead to end-stage renal disease. Sustained exposure to advanced
      glycation end products (AGEs) typically causes renal tubular epithelial cells
      (TECs) to suffer from an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However,
      there remains no consensus regarding the mechanism underlying the cause of EMT in
      TECs as induced by AGEs. In the present study, we investigated the promotion of
      EMT in TECs by AGEs, and the activation of Janus kinase/signal transducers and
      activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) signaling. In addition, we constructed a
      recombinant adenovirus (Ad) that overexpressed suppressor of cytokine signaling 3
      (SOCS3), and examined the regulatory role of SOCS3 in the activation of JAK/STAT
      signaling and the promotion of EMT in TECs. The results demonstrated that AGE
      bovine serum albumin (BSA) treatment significantly promoted the expression of EMT
      associated proteins, while reducing the expression of the epithelial cell marker,
      E-cadherin. Furthermore, the Ad-mediated SOCS3 overexpression markedly inhibited
      the AGE-BSA-induced JAK2/STAT3 activation; phosphorylated JAK2 and phosphorylated
      STAT3 expression levels were reduced by the Ad-SOCS3 infection, compared with the
      control Ad (Ad-con) infection, in HK-2 cells subject to AGE-BSA. Moreover, the
      overexpression of SOCS3 markedly inhibited the AGE-BSA-promoted EMT in HK-2
      cells. AGE-BSA-promoted EMT-associated proteins, such as alpha-smooth muscle
      actin and collagen I, were reduced by the Ad-SOCS3 virus infection, in contrast
      to the Ad-con virus infection. Furthermore, reduced E-cadherin expression was
      reversed by the Ad-SOCS3 virus infection, in contrast to the Ad-con virus
      infection, in epithelial HK-2 cells. In conclusion, the present study confirmed
      the inhibitory role of SOCS3 in the AGE-induced EMT in renal TECs, implying the
      protective role of SOCS3 in DN.

PMID- 28587387
TI  - Functions of endothelin-1 in apoptosis and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in
      China and the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The mechanisms
      involved in the development and progression of HCC are not well understood. In
      the present study, the functions of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in HCC were studied and
      its underlying mechanisms were investigated. ET-1, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl
      2 related protein 4 (Bax), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 expression
      was measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and
      western blotting. Cell proliferation was measured via Cell Counting kit-8 assay.
      Flow cytometry was performed for cell cycle and apoptosis analysis. Migration was
      measured via Transwell assay. The results demonstrated that ET-1 expression
      significantly increased in HCC tissues compared with the normal tissues of
      patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset (P<0.01). Furthermore, downregulation
      of ET-1 was able to significantly inhibit cell proliferation and growth in vitro
      (P<0.01) and in vivo (P<0.01), and induce cell cycle arrest (P<0.05) and
      apoptosis (P<0.01) in the HCC SMMC-7721 cell line. Bioinformatics analysis
      demonstrated that the cell apoptosis signaling pathway was activated by ET-1. The
      ratio of B-cell lymphoma (Bcl-2) -related protein 4 (Bax)/Bcl-2 was significantly
      increased by downregulation of ET-1 (P<0.01). ET-1 downregulation also inhibited
      migration of SMMC-7721 cells (P<0.05) via decreasing levels of matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP) -2 (P<0.05) and MMP-9 (P>0.05). These results suggest
      that ET-1 may be able to affect the apoptosis and migration of HCC cells via
      modulation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9, which
      indicates that ET-1 maybe a potential novel target for HCC treatment.

PMID- 28587388
TI  - Roles of the u-opioid receptor and its related signaling pathways in the
      pathogenesis of premenstrual syndrome liver-qi stagnation.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the roles of the u-opioid receptor (MOR)
      and its related signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of premenstrual syndrome
      (PMS) liver-qi stagnation, along with the therapeutic effects of the Shu-Yu
      capsule in treating the condition. A PMS liver-qi stagnation rat model was
      established using a chronic restraint stress method. The protein expression level
      of MOR within rat hippocampal tissue was detected via western blot analysis and
      cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels within the supernatant of a rat
      hippocampal cell culture were determined by ELISA. The western blot analysis
      indicated that the hippocampal expression level of MOR was significantly elevated
      in the PMS liver-qi stagnation model group. However, subsequent treatment with a
      Shu-Yu capsule was found to significantly decrease the level of MOR expression.
      In addition, in vitro experiments were performed, whereby primary hippocampal
      neurons were treated with model rat serum. It was observed that the level of MOR
      expression was significantly elevated, while brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      (BDNF) and cAMP levels in the culture supernatant were significantly decreased.
      These effects were reversed by treatment with serum from the Shu-Yu capsule
      treated rats. Furthermore, when treated with the MOR activator DAMGO, the
      following were significantly decreased in the primary neurons: Phosphorylation
      levels of cAMP response element binding protein and extracellular signal
      regulated protein kinases (ERK); BDNF expression; and cAMP content in the culture
      supernatant. These effects were reversed in primary neurons treated with DAMGO
      and Shu-Yu-containing rat serum. Collectively, the data suggest that increased
      MOR expression and activation of the cAMP/ERK signaling pathway in the
      hippocampus may be involved in the pathogenesis of PMS liver-qi stagnation.
      Furthermore, the efficacy of the Shu-Yu capsule in treating the condition may be
      via its regulation of MOR receptor signaling.

PMID- 28587389
TI  - Comparison of the hemodynamics and dynamics of fluid shift of Ringer's solution
      before surgery in children and adults.
AB  - The present study investigated the hemodynamics, vascular and extravascular
      volume expansion induced by infusion of lactated Ringer's solution in children
      and adults before surgery. This was a prospective randomized double-blind study.
      A total of 28 patients (14 children and 14 adult patients; American Society of
      Anesthesiology status I) scheduled for similar minor pelvic, anal rectal or lower
      limb surgery were recruited for the present study. All patients were administered
      with 10 ml/kg of lactated Ringer's solution at a constant rate over 20 min. After
      fluid infusion, plasma dilutions were calculated based on the concentration of
      hemoglobin. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and urine output were
      measured before anesthesia was administered for surgery. Results demonstrated
      that the plasma dilution within 90 min of infusion initiation of lactated
      Ringer's solution was less pronounced in children compared with adult patients
      (0.07 vs. 0.16; P<0.001). Children also excreted more of the infused fluid
      through the kidney within 90 min of infusion initiation than the adults (55% vs.
      24%; P=0.01). Following completion of fluid infusion, the volume expansion
      efficiency was higher in adults [0.82 (0.52-1.00)] than in children [0.46 (0.26
      0.68)]. The relative changes in HR were significantly greater in children than in
      adults 15-60 min after infusion initiation (P<0.01). After 60 min, HRs were
      comparable between the groups; however, MAP declined significantly from 25-90 min
      after infusion initiation in children (P<0.05), yet remained nearly constant in
      adults (P>0.05). Simple regression analysis revealed a positive relationship
      between the relative changes in MAP and the plasma dilution, and the reduction in
      MAP in children was able to explain 47% of the variation in plasma dilution
      (R2=0.47; P=0.007). In conclusion, different hemodynamics and dynamics of fluid
      shift of Ringer's solution prior to surgery in children and adults may provide
      anesthesiologists with new information of how to administer fluid treatment for
      each patient.

PMID- 28587390
TI  - MicroRNA-137 acts as a tumor suppressor in osteosarcoma by targeting enhancer of
      zeste homolog 2.
AB  - MicroRNA (miR) are short non-coding RNA that bind to the 3'-untranslational
      region of their target genes, inhibiting translation and causing mRNA
      degradation. miR deregulation has been implicated in human cancer; however, the
      detailed regulatory mechanism of miR-137 in osteosarcoma (OS) remains largely
      unknown. In the present study, miR-137 and enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2)
      mRNA and protein expression levels were analyzed using reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. MTT
      and transwell assays were performed to evaluate cell viability and invasion
      capacities and a luciferase reporter gene assay was used to determine the
      targeting relationship. The results of the current study indicated that miR-137
      expression was significantly downregulated in OS tissues and cell lines (P<0.01).
      Moreover, it was observed that low miR-137 expression levels were significantly
      associated with lung metastasis and advanced TMN stage (P<0.05), but not
      associated with age, gender, tumor size, location, serum lactate dehydrogenase or
      serum alkaline phosphatase. Increasing levels of miR-137 significantly inhibited
      U2OS cell viability and invasion (P<0.01). By contrast, knockdown of miR-137
      markedly increased U2OS cell viability and invasion. EZH2 was identified as a
      direct target gene of miR-137 in U2OS cells by luciferase reporter assay and EZH2
      expression was found to be significantly increased in OS tissues and cell lines
      (P<0.01). EZH2 was significantly downregulated following miR-137 overexpression
      (P<0.01), and was upregulated following miR-137 knockdown in U2OS cells.
      Furthermore, EZH2 overexpression significantly attenuated the suppressive effects
      of miR-137 on U2OS cell viability and invasion (P<0.01), suggesting that miR-137
      inhibits the viability and invasion of OS cells by targeting EZH2. Therefore, the
      results of the current study suggest that the miR-137/EZH2 axis may be a
      potential target for novel potential therapeutic strategies to treat OS.

PMID- 28587391
TI  - Immunoregulatory effects of the traditional Dai prescription Yajieshaba on food
      allergic mice.
AB  - The Dai prescription Yajieshaba is widely used in Traditional Dai Medicine to
      treat food allergies and intolerance. However, information on the active chemical
      ingredients, effects and mechanisms of action of Yajieshaba is limited. The
      present study aimed to elucidate the effects and underlying mechanisms of
      Yajieshaba in the treatment of food allergies. Liquid chromatography with a diode
      array detector was used to measure the levels of palmatine and berberine, the
      active ingredients of Yajieshaba. A food allergy model was established in female
      BALB/c mice by three injections of ovalbumin (OVA) at 0, 48, and 96 h. OVA
      sensitized mice recieved no treatments (control), Yajieshaba, loratadine,
      palmatine or berberine. The scratching frequency, serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G,
      IgE, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, IL-17, IL-21, interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha levels were assessed at 50 and 98 h. The percentage of regulatory T
      cells (Tregs) was evaluated by flow cytometry at 98 h. The scratching frequency
      induced by OVA was significantly suppressed in mice treated with loratadine,
      palmatine, berberine or 3.50 and 4.70 g/kg Yajieshaba. The frequency of
      CD4+CD25+Treg in the spleen increased from 6.80% in mice in the control group to
      12.50% in mice treated with 4.70 g/kg body weight Yajieshaba. Mice treated with
      palmatine or 4.70 g/kg body weight Yajieshaba had increased forkhead box p3
      expression compared with those in the control group. Treatment with Yajieshaba
      decreased the scratching frequency and increased CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg frequency
      in the spleen. This indicated that symptoms of allergic reaction were alleviated
      following Yajieshaba treatment. Palmatine was identified as one of the major
      active components of Yajieshaba. The present study identified the possible
      mechanism through which Yajieshaba treatment may alleviate food allergy symptoms.

PMID- 28587392
TI  - The effects of 7-nitroindazole on serum neuron-specific enolase and astroglia
      derived protein (S100beta) levels after traumatic brain injury.
AB  - We investigated the possible role of 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) in regulating serum
      neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100beta levels in a rat model of traumatic
      brain injury (TBI). We also explored the possible mechanism by which 7-NI may
      affect the level of NSE and S100beta. A total of 160 healthy adult male Sprague
      Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: i) The saline-treated group and
      ii) the 7-NI-treated group. Using the random number table, the groups were
      further divided into four subgroups: i) The sham-injured group; ii) the TBI 6 h
      group; iii) the TBI 12 h group; and iv) the TBI 24 h group (n=20). Controlled
      cortical impact in rats was established. Serum NSE and S100beta levels, nitric
      oxide (NO) level, water content, Evans blue (EB) content, malondialdehyde (MDA)
      level and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) level in the brain tissue were
      measured. NO synthase (NOS) activity was measured at 6, 12 and 24 h after TBI.
      Pathological changes in brain tissue were studied by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)
      staining at each time-point. NSE and S100beta levels, NO content, water content,
      EB content and MDA level in the brain tissue increased significantly after TBI.
      NOS activity was also increased significantly after TBI while T-SOD content in
      brain tissue was significantly reduced after TBI. H&E staining showed that brain
      damage was aggravated gradually after TBI. We concluded that the early
      application of 7-NI significantly reduced serum NSE and S100beta levels after
      TBI. The neuroprotective effects of 7-NI may be associated with reduced NOS
      activity, reduced NO content, alleviated brain edema, lower blood-brain barrier
      permeability and oxidative stress. Serum NSE and S100beta levels can reflect the
      therapeutic effect of 7-NI, which suggest a good diagnostic value.

PMID- 28587393
TI  - Effects of hypoxia on differentiation of menstrual blood stromal stem cells
      towards tenogenic cells in a co-culture system with Achilles tendon cells.
AB  - Achilles tendons have a very poor capacity for intrinsic regeneration. The cell
      based treatment strategy for Achilles tendinitis includes the application of
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which have high proliferative and multipotent
      differentiation ability, and is a promising approach. The aim of the present
      study was to explore the tenogenic potential of human menstrual blood stromal
      stem cells (MenSCs) in a co-culture system and to compare the tenogenic
      capability under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. MenSCs were co-cultured
      indirectly with Achilles tendon cells in a Transwell co-culture system for 1, 2,
      or 3 weeks in two different concentrations of oxygen (20 and 2% O2), whereas the
      control contained only MenSCs. The extracellular matrix of MenSCs in each system
      was evaluated by Alcian blue staining assay, histological staining, reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and western blot
      analysis. Alcian blue staining assay revealed a significant increase (P<0.05) in
      proteoglycan secretion by the differentiated MenSCs. Identical results were
      obtained by RT-qPCR for collagen I, which was validated by western blot analysis.
      Considerably increased collagen I and collagen III gene expression levels were
      exhibited by cells in the co-culture treatment group when compared with the
      control (P<0.05); however, no significant difference was detected between the
      normoxic (20% O2) and hypoxic treatment (2% O2) groups. RT-qPCR was utilized to
      determine the expression levels of thrombospondin 4, scleraxis and tenascin C in
      the differentiated MenSCs; a significant increase in the expression of these
      specific genes was indicated in the co-culture treatment group compared with the
      control (P<0.05). Although the expression levels were markedly higher in hypoxia
      than in normoxia conditions, this difference was not significant. To conclude,
      the present study indicated that MenSCs manifested a strong proliferative and
      multipotent capacity for differentiation and differentiated into Achilles
      tenogenic cells. Therefore, the use of MenSCs may be considered in Achilles
      tendinitis therapy.

PMID- 28587394
TI  - miR-206 inhibits FN1 expression and proliferation and promotes apoptosis of rat
      type II alveolar epithelial cells.
AB  - Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a syndrome of respiratory distress caused by
      chronic lung injury, primarily in preterm infants. miR-206 and fibronectin 1
      (FN1) are associated with the development of BPD. The present study used rat type
      II alveolar epithelial cells (AECII) to investigate the underlying mechanisms of
      BPD. AECII were isolated using a primary cell culture prior to alkaline
      phosphatase staining and immunofluorescence of surfactant protein C (SP-C). These
      were used to verify the presence of AECII. AECII were then divided into four
      groups, which were transfected with four different plasmids. Reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to
      determine the relative expression of miR-206 in the each group. The gene and
      protein expression level of FN1 was detected by RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence.
      The proliferation of AECII in each of the four groups was evaluated using an MTT
      assay 48 h following transfection. The percentage of apoptotic cells was
      determined by flow cytometric analysis. The present study demonstrated that
      upregulation of miR-206 decreased the expression of FN1 (P<0.05) and low levels
      of miR-206 led to increased expression of FN1 (P<0.05) in AECII. Furthermore, the
      forced expression of miR-206 suppressed proliferation and promoted apoptosis of
      AECII while downregulation of miR-206 had the opposite effect (P<0.05). The
      results of the current study provide valuable insights into the prevention of BPD
      and suggest that miR-206 may be used as a potential molecular target for BPD
      therapy in the future.

PMID- 28587395
TI  - Effectiveness of imatinib mesylate over etoposide in the treatment of sensitive
      and resistant chronic myeloid leukaemia cells in vitro.
AB  - Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a form of leukaemia derived from the myeloid
      cell lineage. Imatinib mesylate, the breakpoint cluster region-abelson murine
      leukeamia kinase inhibitor, is a specific reagent used in the clinical treatment
      of CML. The DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor, etoposide, is also employed as a
      therapeutic, though it is used to a lesser extent. The present study aims to
      evaluate the effects of CML-targeted therapy, utilising imatinib mesylate and
      etoposide in the in vitro treatment of parental sensitive and adriamycin
      resistant CML in the K562 and K562/ADM cell lines, respectively. Preliminary work
      involved the screening of multidrug resistant (MDR) gene expression, including
      MDR1, MRP1 and B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) at the mRNA levels. The sensitive and
      resistant CML cell lines expressed the MRP1 gene, though the sensitive K562 cells
      expressed low, almost undetectable levels of MDR1 and BCL-2 genes relative to the
      K562/ADM cells. Following treatment with imatinib mesylate or etoposide, the IC50
      for imatinib mesylate did not differ between the sensitive and resistant cell
      lines (0.492+/-0.024 and 0.378+/-0.029, respectively), indicating that imatinib
      mesylate is effective in the treatment of CML regardless of cell
      chemosensitivity. However, the IC50 for etoposide in sensitive K562 cells was
      markedly lower than that of K562/ADM cells (50.6+/-16.5 and 194+/-8.46 uM,
      respectively), suggesting that the higher expression levels of MDR1 and/or BCL-2
      mRNA in resistant cells may be partially responsible for this effect. This is
      supported by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling data,
      whereby a higher percentage of apoptotic cells were found in the sensitive and
      resistant K562 cells treated with imatinib mesylate (29.3+/-0.2 and 31.9+/-16.7%,
      respectively), whereas etoposide caused significant apoptosis of sensitive K562
      cells (18.3+/-8.35%) relative to K562/ADM cells (5.17+/-3.3%). In addition, the
      MDR genes in K562/ADM cells were knocked down by short interfering RNAs. The
      percentage knockdowns were 15.4% for MRP1, 17.8% for MDR and 30.7% for BCL-2,
      which resulted in a non-significant difference in the half maximal inhibitory
      concentration value of K562/ADM cells relative to K562 cells upon treatment with
      etoposide.

PMID- 28587396
TI  - Identification of the miRNA-target gene regulatory network in intracranial
      aneurysm based on microarray expression data.
AB  - Intracranial aneurysm (IA) remains one of the most devastating neurological
      conditions. However, the pathophysiology of IA formation and rupture still
      remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to identify the crucial
      microRNA (miRNA/miR) and genes involved in IAs and elucidate the mechanisms
      underlying the development of IAs. In the present study, novel miRNA regulation
      activities in IAs were investigated through the integration of public gene
      expression data of miRNA and mRNA using the Gene Expression Omnibus database,
      combined with bioinformatics prediction. A total of 15 differentially expressed
      miRNA and 1,447 differentially expressed mRNA between IAs and controls were
      identified. A number of miRNA-target gene pairs (770), whose expression levels
      were inversely correlated, were used to construct a regulatory network of miRNA
      target genes in IAs. The biological functions and pathways of these target genes
      were revealed to be associated with IAs. Specific miRNA and genes, such as hsa
      let-7f, hsa-let-7d, hsa-miR-7, RPS6KA3, TSC1 and IGF1 may possess key roles in
      the development of IAs. The integrated analysis in the present study may provide
      insights into the understanding of underlying molecular mechanisms of IAs and
      novel therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28587397
TI  - Herbal acupuncture for type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Herbal acupuncture (HA) is a modern adjunctive technique in which natural herbs
      or biologic substances are injected into acupuncture points. The objective of
      this systematic review was to evaluate evidence of the effectiveness of HA for
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Three databases were searched. The included
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluated HA in controls and patients with
      T2DM and reported at least one of the following: Fasting blood glucose (FBG),
      postprandial (PP2hr) glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). In a meta-analysis
      of seven RCTs (n=598 patients), HA significantly reduced levels of FBG, PP2hr
      glucose and HbA1c (P<0.0001, P=0.0005 and P=0.004, respectively). There was no
      significant effect of HA on total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
      cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or triglyceride level.
      High degrees of heterogeneity were present for all analyses except HDL
      cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. HA might have a beneficial effect on FBG, PP2hr
      glucose and HbA1c levels in patients with T2DM; however, because of several
      limitations, the results are inconclusive. Therefore, additional rigorous RCTs
      are warranted to overcome the limitations of previous studies.

PMID- 28587398
TI  - Diazoxide protects rat vascular endothelial cells against hypoxia and cold
      induced damage.
AB  - The present study aimed to examine the effects of hypoxia and cold on vascular
      endothelial cells (VECs), as well as the protective ability of novel VECs
      protective drugs against these injuries. A rat model simulating exposure to
      hypoxia and cold at high altitude environments was established. Based on these
      animal experiments, rat aortic VECs were established as injury models and exposed
      to hypoxia and/or adrenaline (ADR) in vitro. The results revealed that hypoxia
      significantly altered the levels of nitric oxide and vascular endothelial growth
      factor, while the cold temperature significantly increased the release of ADR and
      noradrenaline. Exposure to hypoxia combined with cold temperature significantly
      affected all these indices. In vitro experiments demonstrated that hypoxia, ADR
      (which was used to simulate cold in the animal experiments) and the combination
      of the two factors resulted in damage to the VECs and endothelial dysfunction. In
      addition, the results also showed that diazoxide, a highly selective mitoKATP
      opener, protected VECs against these injuries. In conclusion, hypoxia and cold
      temperature induced endothelial cell dysfunction and endocrine disorders,
      respectively. Improving endothelial function using diazoxide may be an effective
      therapeutic strategy in patients with altitude-associated disorders. However, the
      potential for clinical application requires further study.

PMID- 28587399
TI  - Cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of black widow spiderling extract against HeLa
      cells.
AB  - Black widow spiders contain toxic components not only in the venom glands but
      also in other parts of the spider body, including the legs and abdomen.
      Additionally, both the eggs and newborn spiderlings of the black widow spider
      contain venom. It is important to investigate their potential effects on cancer
      cells. In the present study, the effects of newborn black widow spiderling
      extract on human HeLa cells were evaluated in vitro. When applied at different
      concentrations, the total extract decreased HeLa cell viability in a dose
      dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 158 ug/ml. Flow cytometry indicated that
      treatment of HeLa cells with the total extract of the spiderlings induced
      apoptosis in HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner and led to cell cycle arrest
      in the S-phase. Additionally, application of the total extract at different
      concentrations increased apoptosis-related caspase 3 activity in a dose-dependent
      manner. HeLa cells treated with the total extract appeared to be morphologically
      changed, exhibiting membrane blebbing, nuclear fragmentation and condensation of
      chromatin. Further separation and activity screening demonstrated that the
      cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of the total extract were attributable mainly
      to its high molecular mass proteins, one of which was purified and characterized
      to determine its anti-tumor activities on HeLa cells. The results of the present
      study therefore have expanded understanding regarding the effect of spider toxins
      on cancer cells and suggested that components of black widow spiderlings may be
      developed as a promising novel agent to treat cancer.

PMID- 28587400
TI  - Improvement of cytomegalovirus pp65 DNA vaccine efficacy by co-administration of
      siRNAs targeting BAK and BAX.
AB  - The efficacy of DNA vaccines may be improved by small interfering (si)RNA
      adjuvants targeting pro-apoptotic genes. The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the capacity of siRNAs targeting B-cell lymphoma 2 homologous
      antagonist killer (BAK) and B-cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein (BAX) to
      improve the efficacy of a cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine. BALB/c mice were divided
      into four groups (n=18 in each): unimmunized and immunized with pcDNA 3.1-pp65
      expressing CMV 65 kDa matrix phosphoprotein and BAK + BAX siRNAs, pcDNA 3.1-pp65
      and control siRNA, or control pcDNA 3.1 and BAK + BAX siRNAs. Immunizations were
      performed twice with an interval of 3 weeks. CMV-specific mouse splenocyte
      interferon (IFN)-gamma secretion was assessed by ELISPOT; furthermore, an in vivo
      cytotoxic T lymphocyte assay was performed 2 weeks after the last immunization.
      After lethal CMV challenge of the mice, body weight, virus titers in the spleens
      and salivary glands as well as survival were recorded. The amount of splenocytes
      secreting IFN-gamma in response to CMV pp65 peptides and specific lysis of
      peptide-pulsed target cells were significantly higher in mice administered
      pcDNA3.1-pp65 and BAK + BAX siRNAs than those in mice administered pcDNA3.1-pp65
      and control siRNA (P<0.05 for each). After the virus challenge, the virus titers
      in the spleens and salivary glands of mice given pcDNA3.1-pp65 and BAK + BAX
      siRNAs were significantly lower than those in mice immunized with pcDNA3.1-pp65
      and control siRNA (P<0.05 for each). Furthermore, mice immunized with pcDNA 3.1
      pp65 and control siRNA or BAK + BAX siRNAs survived for longer, and at 21 days
      after lethal CMV challenge, 66 and 100% of these mice survived, respectively.
      These mice also experienced less weight loss compared with mice immunized with
      pcDNA3.1-pp65 and control siRNA (P<0.05). In conclusion, intradermal
      administration of siRNAs targeting BAK and BAX improved the efficacy of CMV pp65
      DNA vaccine.

PMID- 28587401
TI  - Antioxidant properties of the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis collected on the
      North West Algerian coast.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate the total phenolic and lipid
      content, fatty acids profiles and in vitro antioxidant activities of aqueous and
      solvent extracts of the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis, through six
      different investigations. The present study demonstrated that phenol contents (mg
      gallic acid/g dry weight) were highest in the aqueous and methanolic extracts,
      followed by the ethanolic, hydroethanolic and hydromethanolic extracts. The
      lowest phenol contents were identified in the three remaining extracts:
      Butanolic, petroleum ether and acetone extracts. Furthermore, the total lipid
      content of the algae powder amounted to 2.85% of dry weight. The fatty acid
      methyl ester profiles analysed by gas-liquid chromatography represented indicated
      that fatty acids comprised 91.0+/-0.3% of total algae lipids. The saturated to
      unsaturated fatty acid contents amounted to 23.2+/-0.1 and 67.9+/-0.4%
      respectively. C13:0 (tridecanoate), C15:0 (pentadecanoate) and C17:0
      (heptadecanoate) represented 47.4% of the total saturated fatty acids. Notably,
      the two most abundant unsaturated fatty acids, C15:1 (pentadecenoate) and C18:2
      (octadecadienoate) represented 13.4 and 11.4% respectively, of the total
      unsaturated fatty acid content. Furthermore, the results of the antioxidant
      screening performed at 1.0 mg/ml, revealed that aqueous and methanolic extracts
      exhibited higher inhibition against superoxide and nitric oxide radicals and
      excellent radical scavenging activity [with half maximal inhibitory concentration
      (IC50) values 5.1 and 15.0 ug/ml, respectively], demonstrating improved
      antioxidant behavior when compared with standard ascorbic acid (which has an IC50
      value of 3.7 ug/ml). Scavenging activity of the aqueous and methanolic extracts
      exhibited a strong peroxidation inhibition against linoleic acid emulsion system
      at a concentration of 300 ug/ml in comparison to the butylated hydroxyltoluene.
      Although all the studied extracts exhibited ferric reducing power, the aqueous
      and methanolic extracts had greater hydrogen donating ability. By contrast,
      hydromethanolic, ethanolic, hydroethanolic, butanolic, acetone and petroleum
      ether extracts exhibited weak antioxidant behavior. The antioxidant activity of
      potent seaweed species identified in the current study means that as well as
      being used as a functional food, they may be developed as novel pharmaceutical
      compounds and may be used as anti-ageing agents.

PMID- 28587402
TI  - Establishment and evaluation of a reversible two-kidney, one-clip renovascular
      hypertensive rat model.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to establish and evaluate a novel and reversible
      two-kidney, one-clip renovascular hypertensive rat model with a titanium vascular
      clip. A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were evenly and randomly divided
      into a sham-operated group, and 3, 7, 12 and 28D groups (namely removing the
      vascular clip in the renovascular hypertensive model after 3, 7, 12 and 28 days,
      respectively). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) and plasma renin activity (PRA)
      were measured, and color duplex imaging was conducted before placing the clips,
      as well as before and after removing them. After placing the vascular clips, SBP
      and PRA in the 3, 7, 12 and 28D groups were significantly increased (SBP: Sham
      operated vs. 3D groups, P=0.020; 3 vs. 7D groups, P=0.008; 7 vs. 28D groups,
      P=0.019; 12 vs. 28D groups, P=0.039, and between other groups P<0.001. PRA: 3 vs.
      7D groups, P=0.001; 7 vs. 12D groups, P=0.004; 12 vs. 28D groups, P=0.040, and
      between other groups, P<0.001). After removing the clips, SBP were significantly
      reduced in the 3 and 7D groups (P=0.023, 0.040, 0.066 and 0.314 in the 3, 7, 12
      and 28D groups, respectively), but were still significantly higher than that
      before placing clips in the 7, 12 and 28D groups (P=0.067, P=0.005, P<0.001 and
      P<0.001 in the 3, 7, 12 and 28D groups, respectively). After removing the clips,
      PRA was significantly reduced in each group (P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.012 and
      P=0.049 in 3, 7, 12 and 28D groups, respectively), but still higher than that
      before placing the clips (P<0.001, P=0.001, P=0.001 and P=0.003 in 3, 7, 12 and
      28D groups, respectively). Vascular imaging also indicates this model has a
      reversible property. In conclusion, a reversible renovascular hypertension rat
      model is feasible, and provides a basis for research on clinical ischemic
      nephropathy and renal artery revascularization.

PMID- 28587403
TI  - Effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on the local bone renin-angiotensin system in
      a murine model of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.
AB  - Active vitamin D is closely related to the circulating renin-angiotensin system
      (RAS) in experimental animal models and humans; however, corresponding local bone
      data remain limited. The present study examined whether 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3
      supplementation altered local bone RAS elements in a murine model of
      glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). A total of 36 8-week-old mice were
      randomized into three equal-sized groups: The sham, GIOP and 1,25
      dihydroxyvitamin D3 treatment groups. After 12 weeks, the cancellous bone
      microstructure of the third lumbar vertebra and left femur from the mice from
      each group were examined using micro-computed tomography. To access the impact of
      glucocorticoid use, the effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on cancellous bone
      microstructure, the expression of bone turnover markers, circulation and
      expression of the main RAS components was assessed. Results demonstrated that
      bone volume fraction, trabecular number and trabecular thickness of the treatment
      and sham groups were significantly higher than the GIOP group (P<0.05).
      Furthermore, the structure model index, trabecular separation and bone surface to
      bone volume ratio of the sham and treatment groups were significantly reduced
      compared with the GIOP group (P<0.05). All assessed parameters exhibited no
      significant differences between the treatment and sham groups. mRNA expression
      levels of local bone angiotensin type 1 and 2 receptors and receptor activator of
      nuclear factor-kappaB ligand were significantly lower in the treatment group than
      in the GIOP group (P<0.05); however, there were no significant differences in
      circulating protein levels between the groups (P>0.05). In conclusion, 1,25
      dihydroxyvitamin D3 may modulate bone metabolism by downregulating the local bone
      RAS in mice with GIOP.

PMID- 28587404
TI  - Glucose-regulated protein 78 is an antiviral against hepatitis A virus
      replication.
AB  - Infection with hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a major cause of acute hepatitis
      globally and it is important to identify the mechanisms of HAV replication.
      Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone
      and serves a role in unfolded protein response pathways. Previous studies have
      demonstrated that GRP78 functions as an endogenous antiviral factor. In the
      present study, two loss-of-function studies using GRP78 were completed to
      elucidate the role of GRP78 in HAV infection. HAV replication was observed to be
      enhanced by deficient GRP78 although GRP78-deficiency also led to lower
      expression of ER stress molecules downstream of GRP78. Therefore, GRP78 appears
      to be a potential novel defensive molecule against HAV in hepatocytes.

PMID- 28587405
TI  - miRNA-186 inhibits prostate cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth by
      targeting YY1 and CDK6.
AB  - microRNAs (miRNAs) are known to be important in tumor initiation and progression.
      Recent studies have demonstrated that miR-186 is critical in several types of
      cancer, including human non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer and pancreatic
      ductal adenocarcinoma. However, the functions of miR-186 in prostate cancer (PCa)
      are still unclear. In the present study, downregulation of miR-186 in PCa cells
      was detected when compared with the normal prostate cell line. When miR-186
      overexpressed in PCa cells, cell proliferation in vitro was evidently inhibited
      as shown using cell counting kit-8 assays and cell-cycle analysis, and tumor
      growth in vivo was decreased as shown by tumor growth assays in nude mice.
      Furthermore, through bioinformatics prediction and biochemical analyses, Yin Yang
      1 (YY1) and cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) have been proven to act as direct
      targets of miR-186. These results indicate that miR-186 is a negative regulator
      in PCa by inhibiting PCa cell proliferation via targeting YY1 and CDK6.

PMID- 28587406
TI  - Neuroprotective mechanisms of miR-124 activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in
      ischemic stroke.
AB  - The neuroprotective mechanisms of miR-124 activating phosphoinositide 3-kinase
      (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway in ischemic stroke were investigated. The oxygen
      glucose deprivation model of nerve cells induced by PC12 cells was established in
      vitro, then miR-124 mimics or inhibitor was transfected and synthesized by
      liposome. Cells were divided into the blank control, model, mimics and inhibitor
      groups, and the apoptotic rate was determined using flow cytometry. Additionally,
      the expression levels of PI3K, Akt, Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 mRNA and protein were
      tested by quantitative PCR and western blot analysis at 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h,
      respectively. The apoptotic rate at each time-point in the blank control group
      was not significantly different. The apoptotic rate of the model and inhibitor
      groups increased over time, whereas the mimics group decreased (P<0.05). The
      apoptotic rate at each time-point in the mimics group was significantly lower
      than that of the model and inhibitor groups, and the rate of the inhibitor group
      was higher than that of the model group (P<0.05). PI3K, Akt and Bcl-2 mRNA and
      protein expression levels at the different time-points in the mimics group were
      significantly higher than those of the remaining groups (P<0.05). The expression
      levels of Bax and caspase-3 mRNA and protein in the inhibitor group were the
      highest, followed by the model and mimics groups, while that of the blank control
      group was the lowest (P<0.05). The results suggest that miR-124 participates in
      the neural protection of ischemic stroke by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling
      pathway.

PMID- 28587407
TI  - Clinical study of botulinum toxin A injection combined with spasmodic muscle
      therapeutic instrument on lower limb spasticity in patients with stroke.
AB  - The clinical effect of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injection combined with
      spasmodic muscle therapeutic instrument with simple BTX-A injection was compared.
      Eighty patients with stroke were randomly divided into the treatment and control
      groups of 41 and 39 cases, respectively. The two groups of patients were given
      routine rehabilitation therapy. Ultrasound-guide positioning technology was used;
      treatment group was administered BTX-A injection combined spasmodic muscle
      therapeutic instrument while the control group received only BTX-A injection.
      Muscle tension and motor function were evaluated at 1, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after
      treatments by rehabilitation physician who was not aware of the grouping of the
      patients. Muscle tension was significantly reduced after BTX-A injection in the
      treatment and control groups. Modified Ashworth scale scores of the treatment and
      control groups 1 and 4 weeks after treatment were significantly lower than those
      before treatment. Motor function of lower limbs of patients, 1 and 4 weeks after
      treatment improved significantly. The comparison of step size and walking speed
      of the groups showed obvious differences with statistical significance (P<0.01).
      In conclusion, ultrasonic guidance BTX-A injection is easy to operate with good
      safety. It can effectively improve extensor myospasm of lower limb of patients
      with rapid onset and the spasm relief can last for three months. Spasmodic muscle
      therapeutic instrument can improve the spasm condition of lower limb muscle after
      stroke as well as motor function of lower limbs and activity of daily living,
      which can make spasmolysis of BTX-A last for a longer period of time.

PMID- 28587408
TI  - Normalization of regulatory T cells, serum TGF-beta1, and LTN after 5
      aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic therapy in patients with condyloma acuminate.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in peripheral blood
      regulatory T (Treg) cells, serum transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1),
      and lymphotactin (LTN) following treatment of patients with condyloma acuminata
      (CA) with 5-aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic. A total of 46 patients with CA were
      selected as the experimental group and 43 healthy individuals were included in
      the control group. Before the treatment, the CA patients had a higher number of
      CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells and CD4+CD25+ Treg cells than the healthy group. CA
      patients also had lower levels of serum TGF-beta1 and LTN than the healthy
      controls. After the treatment, the number of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells and
      CD4+CD25+ Treg cells decreased significantly in the CA patients and normalized to
      the levels in the control group after 3 weeks. The treatment also elevated the
      levels of serum TGF-beta1 and LTN in the CA patients, which were close to the
      values in the control group after 3 weeks. The results showed that low levels of
      serum TGF-beta1 and LTN played important roles in the occurrence and development
      of CA and cellular immune functions were closely related to the occurrence and
      development of CA.

PMID- 28587409
TI  - Correlation between NF-kappaB signal pathway-mediated caspase-4 activation and
      Kawasaki disease.
AB  - The aim of the study was to investigate the role and mechanisms of action of
      nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB)-mediated caspase-4 activation in the induction
      of inflammatory cytokines during Kawasaki disease (KD) and coronary artery
      endothelial cell injury. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated
      from KD patients and healthy controls and cultured. Double antibody sandwich
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect tumor necrosis
      factor (TNF)-alpha levels in activated PBMC-conditioned culture media. To
      establish a culture model for human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs),
      we employed KD patient-origin PBMC culture-conditioned media to induce HCAEC
      transformation and detected the nuclear activation of NF-kappaB p65 and
      intracellular caspase-4 protein concentrations using western blot analysis. We
      also investigated the nuclear transfer of NF-kappaB p65 using immunofluorescence,
      as well as HCAEC interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1beta secretion using ELISA. Finally,
      we investigated HCAEC apoptosis using using Annexin V/PI double staining. After
      PBMCs were stimulated in vitro, TNF-alpha secretion was significantly higher in
      the KD group versus controls (P<0.01). HCAEC cells treated with supernatant
      conditioned by cells from KD patients showed a significant elevation of NF-kappaB
      p65 and caspase-4 protein expression versus HCAEC cells treated with supernatant
      conditioned by control cells (P<0.01). Similarly, IL-6 and IL-1beta secretion, as
      well as apoptotic rate, were significantly elevated (P<0.01). SN50, an NF-kappaB
      inhibitor, significantly attenuated caspase-4 expression, secretion of IL-6, IL
      1beta, and TNF-alpha, as well as HCAEC apoptosis in cells treated with KD patient
      PBMC-conditioned media. NF-kappaB can induce the generation of various
      inflammatory factors including IL-6 and IL-1beta, mediate the expression of
      caspase-4 in HCAEC cells, and affect apoptosis and injury of HCAEC cells.
      Therefore, the expression of caspase-4, mediated by NF-kappaB signal pathway,
      plays a critical role in KD.

PMID- 28587410
TI  - A case report of the orbit, ocular association and the lung in granulomatosis
      with polyangiitis: A diagnostic challenge.
AB  - Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a systemic form of vasculitis that
      involves small to medium sized vessels and is associated with high morbidity and
      mortality. GPA presents a continuous and difficult clinical diagnostic concern,
      due to the rarity of the disease and the diversity of the manifestations. This
      case report discusses the unusual symptoms presented by a particular patient,
      discusses these manifestations and explains how the final diagnosis was
      identified as GPA. A 40-year old Chinese woman was initially referred to the
      present institution for a progressive worsening pain, redness and gradual
      decrease in visual acuity in the eyes over the past 7-year period. Previous
      therapeutic interventions included noncompliant topical and intravenous
      dexamethasone for 6 years. A pre-operative examination conducted in a differing
      hospital to search for the presence of an orbital mass, resulted in the
      identification of an asymptomatic space-occupying lesion in the right middle
      lung, which was surgically removed in March 2015. A total of four weeks later,
      surgery was then applied to remove a left orbital mass, in the same hospital. A
      total of three months later, the patient was diagnosed with peripheral ulcerative
      keratitis associated with GPA, at the present institution. The corneal lesions
      were then treated bilaterally with cryotherapy and oral prednisone and
      cyclophosphamide were administered. Following surgery, the condition of the eyes
      appeared to be stable. A total of seven months later, the redness and pain of the
      right eye recurred, followed by a deep lamellar keratoplasty for the treatment of
      necrotizing scleritis. The condition of the two eyes was subsequently observed to
      be stable during the nine month follow-up. The present case study reviews various
      points to consider in a rare, complicated and potentially blinding case of GPA.
      GPA must therefore be considered in the differential diagnosis of further
      inflammatory conditions and tumors. Early diagnosis and an appropriate
      interdisciplinary approach to management, are required to decrease recurrence and
      morbidity in patients with GPA-mediated inflammatory ocular disease.

PMID- 28587411
TI  - Erythropoietin and sildenafil protect against ischemia/reperfusion injury
      following testicular torsion in adult rats.
AB  - Testicular torsion/detorsion causes severe tissue damage due to
      ischemia/reperfusion injury. The present study investigated the protective effect
      of erythropoietin and sildenafil against ischemia/reperfusion injury following
      unilateral testicular torsion/detorsion in adult rats. A total of 28 adult male
      rats were included, and were divided into the following groups: Group A (n=5),
      sham operated; groups B (n=5), C (n=5), D (n=5) and E (n=8), undergoing right
      testis torsion and detorsion after 90 min. Group B received no drug treatment.
      Rats in the groups C and D received low-dose (1,000 IU/kg) or high-dose (3,000
      IU/kg) erythropoietin, while those in group E received sildenafil (0.7 mg/kg),
      through intraperitoneal injection after 60 min of torsion. The right testis was
      extracted 24 h after detorsion, and the tissue was subjected to histopathological
      examination and immunohistochemical assessment of cleaved caspase-3 expression.
      Histological alterations and the quality of spermatogenesis were scored according
      to the Cosentino and the Johnsen scoring systems, respectively. The results
      demonstrated normal testicular architecture in group A, while the other groups
      showed ischemic cellular damages, with the worst scores observed in group B.
      Groups D and E presented better scores compared with group C. Regarding the
      quality of spermatogenesis, the best scores were observed in group A, and the
      worst in group B. Groups C, D and E presented similar results, which were
      improved in comparison to group B, however, not compared to group A. Furthermore,
      cleaved caspase-3 levels were lower in groups A, D and E, with equal results
      observed. Group C had higher levels of cleaved caspase-3 compared with these
      groups, but lower than group B, which presented the highest cleaved caspase-3
      levels. In conclusion, erythropoietin and sildenafil protect testis from
      ischemia/reperfusion injury by decreasing cellular damage and attenuating
      apoptosis.

PMID- 28587412
TI  - ERK1/2 pathway regulates coxsackie and adenovirus receptor expression in mouse
      cardiac stem cells.
AB  - Cardiac stem cells (CSCs) are the most promising and effective candidates for the
      therapy of cardiac regenerative diseases; however, they have marked limitations.
      For instance, the implantation of CSCs is hampered by factors such as their
      sustainability and long-term durability. Gene modification appears to be the most
      effective method of optimizing CSCs and gene therapy trials have demonstrated
      that efficient gene transfer is key to achieving therapeutic efficacy. However,
      the transduction ability of adenovirus (Ad) is limited. Previous studies have
      reported that low expression of coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in target
      cells decreases the transduction efficiency. A promising method for improving Ad
      mediated gene transfer is to increase CAR expression in target cells. The present
      study investigated the effect of the Raf-mitogen-associated protein kinase (MAPK)
      kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-associated protein kinase (ERK) signaling
      pathway on the expression of CAR on CSCs, as this pathway decreases cell-cell
      adhesion via cell surface molecules. The results demonstrated that interference
      with the Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway by knockdown of ERK1/2 upregulated the
      expression of CAR. The entry of the Ad into the cells was increased following
      inhibition of ERK1/2. Moreover, following knockdown of CAR, the entry of Ad into
      cells was decreased. However, knockdown of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 as
      other components of the MAPK pathway did not affect CAR expression. Therefore,
      CAR expression in CSCs may be mediated via the Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway.
      Upregulation of CAR by knockdown of ERK1/2 may significantly improve Ad-mediated
      genetic modification of CSCs in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28587413
TI  - Decreased trabecular bone deterioration of proximal tibiae and lumbar vertebrae
      in postmenopausal women with osteoarthritis.
AB  - Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis (OA) are two common age-related skeletal
      disorders, which are associated with substantial morbidity and disability,
      particularly among elderly women. The present study was performed to investigate
      the trabecular bone deterioration of proximal tibiae and lumbar vertebrae in
      postmenopausal women with OA. The results demonstrated that the histomorphometric
      section of trabecular bone below the growth plate was markedly different between
      the healthy control and OA group. However, the loss of trabecular bone underneath
      the growth plate in the healthy control group was significantly worse than that
      of the OA group. Hematoxylin and eosin staining demonstrated the increased
      disconnection and separation of the trabecular bone network as well as the
      reduction of trabecular bone mass of primary and secondary spongiosa throughout
      the proximal metaphysis of tibia in the healthy control compared to the OA group;
      similar results were found when the same experiment was repeated on the lumbar
      vertebrae of healthy control subjects and OA patients from postmenopausal women.
      The biological properties of trabecular bone in the proximal tibia and lumbar
      vertebrae were measured in postmenopausal women with OA. Spearman's rank
      correlation analysis revealed that the bone volume fraction was both positively
      correlated with radiographic severity and Western Ontario McMaster University
      Osteoarthritis Index scores in in the proximal tibia and lumbar vertebrae from
      postmenopausal women with OA. In conclusion, the structural properties of the
      proximal tibia and lumbar vertebrae supported that an inverse correlation existed
      between postmenopausal women with OA and healthy controls. Moreover, there is an
      important protective mechanism of OA on trabecular microstructure in proximal
      tibiae and lumbar vertebrae from postmenopausal women.

PMID- 28587414
TI  - Effect of intravitreal injection of ranibizumab on retinal ganglion cells and
      microvessels in the early stage of diabetic retinopathy in rats with
      streptozotocin-induced diabetes.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of intravitreal
      injection of ranibizumab on retinal ganglion cells and microvessels at the early
      stage of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes
      mellitus (DM). DM was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg
      body weight streptozotocin. A total of 80 diabetic rats were randomly assigned to
      four treatment groups (n=20 in each group) and were treated with an oculus dexter
      intravitreal injection of ranibizumab. Groups A and B were injected with
      ranibizumab two and four weeks after DM-induction, respectively, while groups a
      and b (controls) were injected with phosphate-buffered saline at the same time
      points. In addition, 20 normal rats were assigned to group N (blank control;
      without intraocular injection). Vitreous humors were isolated for vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A ELISA and retinas were obtained for
      hematoxylin and eosin staining, periodic acid-Schiff staining and fluorescence
      imaging techniques at six and eight weeks after the onset of DM. At six and eight
      weeks, a significantly increased in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) was observed in
      group A compared with group a (P<0.01), and in group B compared with group b
      (P<0.01). In addition, there was a significant difference in the RGC level
      between groups A and B at six weeks after DM induction (P<0.01), but not at eight
      weeks (P>0.05). VEGF-A concentrations in rat vitreous humors were significantly
      lower in groups A and B compared with groups a and b at six and eight weeks after
      DM induction (P<0.01). Furthermore, the ratio of endotheliocytes to pericytes in
      groups A and B was significantly lower compared with groups a and b at six and
      eight weeks (P<0.05). Furthermore, it was also demonstrated that type IV collagen
      positive strands were not present in group A during the eight-week observation
      period, which was significantly different from groups a, b and B (P<0.01). In
      conclusion, intravitreal injection of ranibizumab at a very early stage of DR in
      streptozotocin-induced DM rats slowed the progression of DR by reducing vascular
      regression or damage and maintaining RGC numbers, as well as reducing VEGF-A
      concentrations.

PMID- 28587415
TI  - Lymph node tuberculosis mimicking malignancy on 18F-FDG PET/CT in two patients: A
      case report.
AB  - 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT)
      imaging, an established procedure for evaluation of malignancy, reports an
      increased 18F-FDG uptake in acute or chronic inflammatory condition. Lymph node
      tuberculosis (LNTB) is the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.
      However, the absence of clinical symptoms and bacteriological basis makes it
      difficult to diagnose. In the current case report, two patients with LNTB
      mimicking malignant lymphoma are presented by 18F-FDG PET/CT. The objective of
      the present report is to emphasize that LNTB should be considered as a noteworthy
      differential diagnosis in patients with enlarged lymph nodes, particularly in
      tuberculosis-endemic countries, and that lymph node biopsy serves a vital role in
      diagnosing LNTB.

PMID- 28587416
TI  - Berberine alleviates dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis by improving
      intestinal barrier function and reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.
AB  - Berberine has demonstrated efficacy in alleviating experimental colitis in vivo
      and in vitro. However, the anti-colitis mechanisms of berberine that enable it to
      promote intestinal barrier function in vivo remain unclear. The present study
      aimed to evaluate the effect of berberine on intestinal epithelial barrier
      function, expression of tight junction proteins and the levels of inflammatory
      and oxidative stress factors in the intestinal mucosa of dextran sulfate sodium
      (DSS)-induced colitis mice. Berberine (100 mg/kg) was administered for five days
      to mice with established colitis, induced by administration of DSS (3% w/v) for
      six days. Intestinal barrier function and the presence of proinflammatory
      factors, oxidative stress and active signaling pathways in the colon were
      determined principally by western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. It was observed that berberine reduced weight loss,
      shortening of the colon and colon damage in DSS-colitis mice. In addition,
      berberine significantly inhibited the increase of fluorescein isothiocyanate
      dextran in serum and the decrease of zonula occluden-1 (also known as tight
      junction protein-1), occludin and epithelial cadherin expression in colonic
      tissue, relative to a DSS-treated control group. Berberine also significantly
      inhibited the expression of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6 and tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha mRNA and phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 3. Furthermore, berberine reduced the levels of myeloperoxidase and
      increased the levels of superoxide dismutase and catalase in colon and serum
      samples relative to the control group. The expression of cluster of
      differentiation 68 in the colon of colitis mice was also reduced by berberine.
      Collectively, these data suggest that berberine alleviates colitis principally by
      improving intestinal barrier function and promoting anti-inflammatory and
      antioxidative stress responses. In turn these effects inhibit macrophage
      infiltration into the colon and thus may be central to the anti-colitis activity
      of berberine.

PMID- 28587417
TI  - A comparative study for the short-term effects of targeted high-intensity UVB and
      narrow-band UVB in the treatment of vitiligo.
AB  - Vitiligo is a common acquired depigmentation disorder for which many treatments
      have previously been used with varying effects. The aim of the present study was
      to evaluate the efficacy and safety of targeted high-intensity (TH) and narrow
      band (NB) ultraviolet B light (UVB) for vitiligo treatment. A total of 33
      patients with vitiligo were enrolled in the present study. Patients with a
      symmetrical or near-symmetrical distribution of lesions on their bodies were
      selected for the present study. For each patient, half of the body was treated
      with TH-UVB and the other with NB-UVB twice weekly over a period of 12 weeks (24
      times total). The patients were assessed each week for repigmentation of lesions.
      All data were analyzed using SPSS software, and a total of 30 patients were
      evaluated. The effective rate was significantly higher in the TH-UVB group
      (56.7%) compared with the NB-UVB group (20.0%; P<0.05). Additionally, the mean
      number of radiations necessary for initial repigmentation was significantly lower
      in the TH-UVB group (7.95+/-3.43) compared with the NB-UVB group (15.36+/-3.43;
      P<0.05). No correlation was found between the clinical features of patients and
      the efficacy of treatment. In summary, the results of the present study suggest
      that TH-UVB is a more effective treatment for vitiligo than NB-UVB.

PMID- 28587419
TI  - Regulation of the angiotensin II-p22phox-reactive oxygen species signaling
      pathway, apoptosis and 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase 1 retrieval in hyperoxia
      induced lung injury and fibrosis in rats.
AB  - The present study was designed to explore the impact of hyperoxia on lung injury
      and fibrosis via the angiotensin II (AngII)-p22phox-reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      signaling pathway, apoptosis and 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) repair
      enzyme. Newborn Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided in the newborn air
      group, newborn hyperoxia group and newborn intervention group, the latter of
      which was administered the chymotrypsin inhibitor, 2-(5-formylamino-6-oxo-2
      phenyl-1, 6-dihydropyrimidine-1-yl)-N-[4-dioxo-1-phenyl-7-(2-pyridyloxy)] 2
      heptyl-acetamide (NK3201). A group of adult rats also received hyperoxic
      treatment. Histomorphological changes in lung tissues were dynamically observed.
      AngII, ROS, angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) and p22phox messenger RNA (mRNA)
      levels, and OGG1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma)
      protein levels in the lung tissues were detected at various times after
      hyperoxia. Hyperoxia led to traumatic changes in the lungs of newborn rats that
      resulted in decreased viability, increased mortality, morphological changes and
      the apoptosis of alveolar type II epithelial cells (AT-II), as well as increased
      expression levels of AngII, AT1R and p22phox, which would ultimately lead to
      secondary diseases. NK3201 significantly inhibited the hyperoxia-induced
      increased expression of AngII, AT1R and p22phox and further promoted OGG1 and
      PPARgamma protein expression, thus reducing the intrapulmonary ROS level, the
      apoptotic index and caspase-3 levels. However, the adult hyperoxia group only
      exhibited tachypnea and reduced viability. This study suggested that the AngII
      p22phox-ROS signaling pathway, PPARgamma and OGG1 together contributed to the
      hyperoxia-induced lung injury and that NK3201 was able to reverse the effects of
      hyperoxia.

PMID- 28587418
TI  - Synergistic inhibition of leukemia WEHI-3 cell growth by arsenic trioxide and
      Hedyotis diffusa Willd extract in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is clinically used to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia
      (APL); however, the therapeutic dose of ATO may prompt critical cardiac side
      effects. Combination therapy may be used to improve the therapeutic efficiency.
      To evaluate this possibility, the present study determined the combined effects
      of Hedyotis diffusa Willd (HDW) extract and ATO in leukemic WEHI-3 cells. The
      results demonstrated that co-treatment of HDW with ATO resulted in a synergistic
      augmentation of cytotoxicity in cells at the concentration tested. In order to
      investigate the potential therapeutic application for leukemia, the combined
      effects of HDW and ATO were analyzed on the WEHI-3 cell-induced orthotopic
      leukemia animal model in vivo. The WEHI-3 cells in mice with leukemia were
      established by injecting murine WEHI-3 cells into BALB/c mice, and treating them
      with HDW and/or combined with ATO. The results indicated that HDW alone or HDW
      combined with ATO promoted the total survival rate of mice with leukemia, and
      these effects are dose-dependent. HDW alone or HDW combined with ATO did not
      affect the body weight, decreased the spleen weight and did not affect the liver
      weight. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that HDW alone or HDW combined with
      ATO resulted in a synergistic augmentation of apoptosis in WEHI-3 cells at the
      concentration tested. In order to further reveal the detailed mechanism of this
      synergistic effect on apoptosis, apoptosis-related proteins were also evaluated.
      The data revealed that HDW alone or HDW combined with ATO induced the expression
      of death receptor 4 (DR4) and DR5 and the activation of poly adenosine
      diphosphate ribose polymerase, caspase-3, -8 and -9. Furthermore, HDW alone or
      HDW combined with ATO decreased the expression levels of B-cell lymphoma 2, B
      cell lymphoma-extra large and survivin, and increased the expression levels of
      Bak and t-Bid. Altogether, the results indicate that the combination of HDW with
      ATO may be a promising strategy used to increase the clinical efficacy of ATO in
      the treatment of APL.

PMID- 28587420
TI  - Suppressive effect of microRNA-138 on the proliferation and invasion of
      osteosarcoma cells via targeting SIRT1.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, function as key regulators in
      gene expression through binding to the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of their
      target mRNA, which further leads to translational repression or mRNA degradation.
      Recently, miR-138 has been found to have a tumor suppressive role in a variety of
      human malignancies. However, the exact role of miR-138 in regulating the
      malignant phenotypes of osteosarcoma (OS) has remained to be elucidated. In the
      present study, reverse-transcription PCR analysis showed that the expression of
      miR-138 was markedly reduced in OS tissues compared to that in matched adjacent
      non-tumorous tissues. Furthermore, it was also downregulated in several common OS
      cell lines, when compared with that in a normal human osteoblast cell line.
      Overexpression of miR-138 suppressed cell proliferation and invasion and led to a
      significant decrease in the protein expression of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), which was
      further identified as a direct target gene of miR-138 in MG63 cells. Moreover,
      restoration of SIRT1 expression reversed the suppressive effects of miR-138 on
      MG63 cell proliferation and invasion. Finally, the expression of SIRT1 was found
      to be significantly upregulated in OS tissues compared to that in matched
      adjacent tissues, and SIRT1 levels were inversely correlated with the miR-138
      levels in OS tissues. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that miR-138 has
      a role in inhibiting OS cell proliferation and invasion via directly targeting
      SIRT1, and suggested that the miR-138/SIRT1 axis may become a promising
      therapeutic target for OS.

PMID- 28587421
TI  - Effect of Suo Quan Wan on the bladder function of aging rats based on the beta
      adrenoceptor.
AB  - Suo Quan Wan (SQW) has been used to treat lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in
      elderly patients for hundreds of years in China. beta-adrenoceptors (beta-ARs),
      particularly beta3-adrenoceptor (beta3-AR), was reported to be important in the
      bladder dysfunction of the elderly. The present study was conducted to explore
      the effect of beta-AR, and particularly the beta3-adrenoceptor, in aging rat
      bladder function in vitro and to test the therapeutic effect of SQW on LUTS in an
      aging rat model based on the beta3-adrenoceptor. Briefly, the bladder detrusor
      muscles of young (age, 3 months) and aging (age, 15 months) female rats were
      separated. A beta-AR non-selective agonist, isoprenaline (ISO), subtype beta3-AR
      agonist (BRL37344A) and beta3-AR antagonist (SR59230A) were used to define the
      tension change of detrusor muscles between young and aging rats in vitro. For
      blank controls, 12 young rats were marked, and 48 aging female rats were randomly
      divided into four groups as follows: Model, SQW high, SQW middle and SQW low.
      Following oral administration of SQW for 6 weeks in aging rats, urodynamic and
      bladder detrusor tests were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of SQW. The
      expression of beta3-AR mRNA was investigated using reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Using ISO and BRL37344A in vitro, maximum
      relaxation (Emax), intrinsic activity (IA), and log (50% effective concentration)
      (PD2) were significantly decreased in aging rats compared with that in young rats
      (P<0.05). Significant changes were also observed in the beta3-AR antagonist
      experiment, which blocked ISO-induced relaxation, with significant decreases
      observed in Emax, IA and PD2, and a significant increase observed in PA2 for the
      aging rats compared with the young controls (P<0.05). SQW was demonstrated to
      enhance bladder control, storage and contraction ability. Furthermore, SQW was
      able to increase the sensitivity and expression of beta3-AR in an aging rat. In
      conclusion, the decrease in beta3-AR sensitivity in aging rats and the expression
      resulted in bladder detrusor dysfunction. In addition, the therapeutic effect of
      SQW against LUTS relies on the former's effect on the urethral sphincter, bladder
      detrusor and beta3-AR.

PMID- 28587422
TI  - Application of vibration response imaging technology in patients with community
      acquired pneumonia before and after the treatment.
AB  - The value of vibration response imaging (VRI) technology in patients with
      community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was assessed. The VRI images of 62 cases of
      CAP patients with normal lung functions before and after treatment were observed
      and the changes in images before and after treatment were compared. The maximum
      vibration energy value of CAP patients was 1.64+/-0.32, patients with unsmoothed
      vibration energy curve accounted for 88.71%, 41 cases (66.12%) had unordered
      dynamic images, 56 cases (90.32%) jumping images, 54 cases (87.10%) desynchrony,
      58 cases (93.55%) delay and 52 cases (83.87%) showed contrary events. The maximum
      vibration energy value after treatment was 1.59+/-0.29 and the difference was not
      statistically significant (P=0.93). Patients with unsmoothed vibration energy
      curve accounted for 20.97%, 11 cases (17.74%) appeared as unordered dynamic
      images, 28 cases (45.16%) of jumping images, 21 cases (33.87%) desynchrony, 18
      cases (29.03%) delay and 10 cases (16.13%) with contrary events. The differences
      of these symptoms before and after treatment were statistically significant. The
      image scores of CAP patients before treatment were 10.33+/-1.95, higher (P<0.001)
      than after treatment (3.49+/-2.29). In conclusion, the changes of VRI images of
      CAP patients are relatively obvious and this technology can be used for the
      evaluation of CAP curative effects.

PMID- 28587423
TI  - Notch4 signaling pathway in a Kawasaki disease mouse model induced by
      Lactobacillus casei cell wall extract.
AB  - The present study aimed to explore the role of the Notch4 signaling pathway in a
      mouse model of Kawasaki disease (KD) induced by Lactobacillus casei cell wall
      extract (LCWE). BALB/c male mice (4-6 weeks old) were intraperitoneally injected
      with 500 ug LCWE in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or PBS alone (control group).
      At days 3, 7, 14 and 28, the numbers of circulating endothelial progenitor cells
      (EPCs) in the peripheral blood and the expression of Notch4 on the surface of
      EPCs were detected. In addition, the levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1
      (VCAM-1) and P-selectin in the roots of coronary arteries were evaluated. The
      results demonstrated that the level of circulating EPCs increased significantly
      at day 3, decreased progressively from day 3 onwards, and recovered to the normal
      level at day 28. Furthermore, the expression of Notch4 on the surface of EPCs was
      evidently higher in the KD model compared with that in the control group at day
      7. In the endothelial cells of the coronary artery root, the protein levels of
      VCAM-1 and P-selectin protein increased in the KD model. In conclusion, the
      Notch4 signaling pathway participated in the coronary artery lesions in the KD
      animal model induced by LCWE.

PMID- 28587424
TI  - Dynamic relationship between infantile hepatitis syndrome and cytomegalovirus
      infection.
AB  - We investigated the correlation between cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and
      infantile hepatitis syndrome and the correlation between blood ammonia levels in
      children with CMV-induced hepatitis syndrome and liver function indicators. To
      analyze the relationship between the positive-negative attributes of CMV
      infection and the recurrence rate of infantile hepatitis syndrome, a total of 86
      cases of children with hepatitis syndrome admitted to Xuzhou Children's Hospital
      from January 2014 to March 2015 were selected for the study group. Furthermore,
      86 cases of healthy children who visited our hospital for a physical examination
      during the same period were selected as the control group. From the two groups,
      serum CMV-immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels were determined via enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay, and urinary CMV-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was ascertained
      by fluorescent ratio polymerase chain reaction. These levels were then compared
      between the two groups and analyzed. A fully automatic biochemical analyzer was
      utilized to evaluate the blood ammonia and liver function indicators of the
      children with infantile hepatitis syndrome induced by CMV infection and to
      analyze the correlation of these factors. A mean follow-up of 12 months after the
      children's discharge was adopted to observe the relationship between the negative
      positive attributes of CMV infection and the recurrence rate in the children upon
      cure. The positive detection rate for the serum CMV-IgM was 24.4%, and that for
      the urinary CMV-DNA was 34.9%; both values were significantly higher than that
      for the control group (P<0.05). The blood ammonia levels of the children with
      infantile hepatitis syndrome induced by CMV infection were not correlated with
      the liver function indicators, such as total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, alanine
      aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, total
      bile acid, and cholinesterase (P>0.05), but they were negatively correlated with
      blood albumin (ALB) (P<0.05). The recurrence rate of hepatitis syndrome among the
      children with negative CMV infection was 3.8%, which was significantly lower than
      that among the children with positive CMV infection (62.5%, P<0.05). A
      significant correlation was found between CMV infection and infantile hepatitis
      syndrome, with the former being a risk factor for the latter. Changes in the
      conditions of infantile hepatitis syndrome may be reflected by blood ammonia and
      ALB indicators. Through improved monitoring, these indicators facilitate the
      early diagnosis and treatment of children with hepatitis syndrome induced by CMV
      infection. Sufficient attention should be paid to preventive measures to reduce
      the incidence rate of infantile hepatitis syndrome.

PMID- 28587426
TI  - Evaluation of the shape, viability, stemness and osteogenic differentiation of
      cell spheroids formed from human gingiva-derived stem cells and osteoprecursor
      cells.
AB  - The present study was performed to create stem cell spheroids from human gingiva
      derived stem cells and osteoprecursor cells and to evaluate the maintenance of
      the stemness, the viability and osteogenic differentiation of the cell spheroids.
      Gingiva-derived stem cells were isolated, and a total of 6*105 stem cells and
      osteoprecursor cells were seeded into concave micromolds at various ratios.
      Gingiva-derived stem cells and/or osteoprecursor cells formed spheroids in
      concave microwells. The spheroids demonstrated a smaller diameter when the number
      of osteoprecursor cells seeded was lower. The majority of cells in the spheroids
      were identified to be live cells and the cell spheroids preserved viability
      throughout the experimental period. The cell spheroids, which contained stem
      cells, were positive for stem-cell markers. Cell spheroids in concave microwells
      demonstrated a statistically significant increase in alkaline phosphatase
      activity as time progressed (P<0.05). A statistically significant difference in
      phosphatase activity was observed in the stem cell alone group when compared with
      the osteoprecursor cell group at day 5 (P<0.05). Mineralized extracellular
      deposits were observed in each group after Alizarin Red S staining. Within the
      limits of the present study, cell spheroids from gingival cells and
      osteoprecursor cells maintained shape, viability, stemness and osteogenic
      differentiation potential.

PMID- 28587427
TI  - MRI features of growth hormone deficiency in children with short stature caused
      by pituitary lesions.
AB  - We verified the advantages of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for
      improving the diagnostic quality of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children
      with short stature caused by pituitary lesions. Clinical data obtained from 577
      GHD patients with short stature caused by pituitary lesions were retrospectively
      analyzed. There were 354 cases (61.3%) with anterior pituitary dysplasia; 45
      cases (7.8%) of pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS); 15 cases (2.6%) of
      pituitary hyperplasia due to primary hypothyroidism; 38 cases (6.6%) of Rathke
      cleft cyst; 68 cases (11.8%) of empty sella syndrome; 16 cases (2.8%) of
      pituitary invasion from Langerhans cell histiocytosis; 2 cases (0.3%) of sellar
      regional arachnoid cyst and 39 cases (6.8%) of craniopharyngioma. MRI results
      showed that the height of anterior pituitary in patients was less than normal.
      Location, size and signals of posterior pituitary and pituitary stalk were normal
      in anterior pituitary dysplasia. In all cases pituitary hyperplasia was caused by
      hypothyroidism. MRI results showed that anterior pituitary was enlarged, and we
      detected upward apophysis and obvious homogeneous enhancement. There were no
      pituitary stalk interruption and abnormal signal. We also observed that after
      hormone replacement therapy the size of pituitary gland was reduced. Anterior
      pituitary atrophy was observed in Rathke cleft cyst, empty sella syndrome, sellar
      regional arachnoid cyst and craniopharyngioma. The microstructure of hypophysis
      and sellar region was studied with MRI. We detected pituitary lesions, and the
      characteristics of various pituitary diseases of GHD in children with short
      stature. It was concluded that in children with GHD caused by pituitary lesions,
      MRI was an excellent method for early diagnosis. This method offers clinical
      practicability and we believe it can be used for differential diagnosis and to
      monitor the therapeutic effects.

PMID- 28587425
TI  - Bathing effects of east saline groundwater concentrates on allergic (atopic)
      dermatitis-like skin lesions induced by 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene in hairless
      mice.
AB  - In the present study, it was evaluated whether east saline groundwater
      concentration solution (ESGWc) exerted a favorable inhibitory effect on 2,4
      dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced allergic/atopic-like dermatitis (AD). AD was
      induced and boosted by sensitization with DNCB via topical application on the
      dorsal back skins. Mice with DNCB-induced AD were bathed in 100-, 200- and 400
      fold diluted ESGWc. After 6 weeks bathing, changes to body weight, clinical skin
      severity scores, scratching behavior, serum total immunoglobulin (Ig)E levels,
      submandibular lymph node and spleen weights, splenic cytokine levels, skin
      cytokine mRNA expressions, antioxidant defense systems and superoxide anion
      productions were recorded to determine the effects of bathing on the
      histopathology of dorsal back skin tissues. All DNCB-induced mice demonstrated
      that the induction of AD through IgE-mediated hypersensitivities, oxidative
      stresses, activation of MMP and apoptosis of keratinocytes resulted in no
      significant differences in body weight between the different groups at each time
      point following initial sensitization. However, markers of DNCB-induced AD were
      significantly inhibited (P<0.05) in a concentration-dependent manner following
      bathing in all concentrations of ESGWc. The results obtained in the present study
      suggest that bathing in ESGWc may have favorable protective effects against DNCB
      induced AD due to favorable systemic and local immunomodulatory effects, active
      cytoprotective anti-apoptotic effects, inhibitory effects of matrix
      metalloproteinase activity, and anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects.

PMID- 28587428
TI  - Early diagnosis of bacterial infection in patients with septicopyemia by
      laboratory analysis of PCT, CRP and IL-6.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the early diagnostic values of
      measuring procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (lL-6)
      levels in patients with bacterial infections and septicopyemia. Ninety-two
      patients with septicopyemia who were diagnosed and treated in the First
      Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University between December 2012 and
      October 2013 were randomly selected. Based on results of hemoculture, the
      patients were divided into the Gram-negative bacterial infection group (n=47) and
      the Gram-positive bacterial infection group (n=45). Immune nephelometry was used
      for measuring serum CRP levels, electrochemiluminescence assay was used to
      measure serum PCT and IL-6. The levels of serum CRP, PCT, and IL-6 in the Gram
      negative bacterial infection group were significantly higher than in the Gram
      positive group. Analysis with Spearman's correlation coefficient showed that
      there were positive correlations between the levels of PCT and CRP, and between
      PCT and IL-6 (P<0.05). The diagnosis of Gram-negative bacterial infections was as
      follows: The area under the PCT curve was 0.974 (P<0.05) with sensitivity and
      specificity of 96.8 and 93.5%, respectively. The area under the CRP curve was
      0.953 (P<0.05) with sensitivity and specificity of 94.2 and 91.7%, respectively.
      The area under the IL-6 curve was 0.925 (P<0.05) with sensitivity and specificity
      of 93.6 and 90.5%, respectively. The diagnosis of Gram-negative bacterial
      infections was as follows: The area under the PCT curve was 0.854 (P<0.05) with
      sensitivity and specificity of 92.7 and 91.8%, respectively. The area under the
      CRP curve was 0.832 (P<0.05) with sensitivity and specificity of 90.2 and 89.3%,
      respectively. The area under the IL-6 curve was 0.817 (P<0.05) with sensitivity
      and specificity of 89.4 and 81.5%, respectively. In conclusion, PCT, CRP, and lL
      6 can act as early diagnostic markers for bacterial infections in patients with
      septicopyemia.

PMID- 28587429
TI  - Variation in the levels of IL-6 in pediatric patients with severe bacterial
      infectious diseases and correlation analysis between the levels of IL-6 and
      procalcitonin.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to investigate variations in the levels of
      interleukin (IL)-6, procalcitonin (PCT), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in children
      with severe bacterial infectious diseases and to analyze the correlation between
      the levels of IL-6 and PCT to determine the value of combined diagnosis with IL-6
      and PCT. We analyzed 126 patients admitted to Xuzhou Children's Hospital for
      treatment, who were divided into severe bacterial infection (observation group,
      n=65) and non-bacterial infection groups (control group, n=61). The levels of IL
      6, PCT, and CRP were measured and compared between the two groups. Data from both
      groups were statistically analyzed. The levels of IL-6, PCT, and CRT in the
      observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group
      (P<0.01); in the observation group, the levels of IL-6 and PCT on the 5th and
      10th day after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment
      (P<0.01); PCT showed better value for diagnosing severe bacterial infections
      compared with IL-6 and CRP; there was a positive correlation between the levels
      of IL-6 and PCT in the observation group; and the sensitivity and specificity of
      combined diagnosis with IL-6 and PCT for severe bacterial infection was 93.84%
      and 96.72%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those for
      diagnosis with only IL-6 (P<0.01). In conclusion, IL-6 combined with PCT can
      serve as an indicator with high sensitivity for detection of severe bacterial
      infections in children, which is of great significance for the differential
      diagnosis of severe bacterial infections in the early stage.

PMID- 28587430
TI  - The role and mechanism of NF-kappaB in viral encephalitis of children.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyze the concentration changes of nuclear factor
      kappaB (NF-kappaB) and the related inflammatory factors of pre-treatment and post
      treatment in children with viral encephalitis, to examine the mechanism of NF
      kappaB in the pathogenesis of child viral encephalitis. Twenty-two children with
      severe viral encephalitis, 13 children with mild viral encephalitis and 12 normal
      children, who were treated in our hospital, were randomly selected. Before and
      after treatment, the concentrations of inflammation-related factors in serum
      including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)
      were detected by ELISA and comparative analysis were performed. The expression of
      NF-kappaB in peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) before and after
      treatment was detected by RT-PCR and western blotting, while the difference of NF
      kappaB expressions between viral encephalitis children and normal children was
      analyzed. The concentrations of inflammation-related factors in serum of children
      with viral encephalitis, including IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha were significantly
      higher than those of normal children (P<0.01), and after treatment, the
      concentrations of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha were distinctly lower than those of
      pre-treatment (P<0.01). The concentrations of NF-kappaB in peripheral blood and
      CSF of children with viral encephalitis in the mild group and severe group were
      evidently increased compared to those of pre-treatment, while the degree of
      increase in the severe group was higher than that in mild group, which was higher
      than that in the control group (P<0.01). After treatment, the concentrations of
      serum NF-kappaB of children in the severe and mild groups were distinctly lower
      than those of pre-treatment (P<0.01), with statistically significant difference.
      In conclusion, the NF-kappaB level in serum and CSF of children with viral
      encephalitis was positively related to the severity of the disease. The higher
      the concentration of pre-treatment was, the more serious the disease would be.
      Our results indicate that NF-kappaB plays an important role in the occurrence and
      development of viral encephalitis in children.

PMID- 28587431
TI  - Rare de novo inversion-duplication case with pure 3qter duplication syndrome
      including an overlap of the dup(3q) critical region: A case report.
AB  - We report here a very rare case of de novo inversion-duplication chromosomal
      abnormality with a pure 3qter duplication syndrome. Interestingly, the 3q
      duplication includes an overlap of the syndromes critical region. Although there
      have only been 9 cases of this syndrome reported in the past, our patient had
      more severe neurological abnormalities than anticipated. In this regard, we have
      gathered the 3q chromosomal duplication abnormalities known to cause pure 3q
      duplication syndrome to date as a reference for comparisons and we discuss the
      particulars of our case.

PMID- 28587432
TI  - Comparison of acute cholangitis with or without common bile duct dilatation.
AB  - To improve the management of patients with acute cholangitis, the present study
      compared laboratory test variables between acute cholangitis patients with or
      without common bile duct (CBD) dilatation [CBDdil(+) and CBDdil(-),
      respectively]. The medical records of patients diagnosed with acute cholangitis
      and subjected to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography between February
      2008 and May 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The present study consisted of
      40 men (aged 69.4+/-8.8 years) and 37 women (aged 68.8+/-11.6 years). It was
      observed that CBDdil(-) patients were slightly younger than CBDdil(+) patients
      (P=0.0976), and levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly higher in
      CBDdil(-) patients than in CBDdil(+) patients (P=0.0392). In addition, logistic
      regression analysis indicated that CRP levels were associated with the presence
      of CBD dilatation (P=0.0392). These data indicate that patients with acute
      cholangitis without CBD dilatation tend to be younger and have higher levels of
      CRP. Thus, in acute cholangitis patients without CBD dilatation, diagnosis should
      be determined using clinical symptoms and laboratory data.

PMID- 28587433
TI  - StatSensor-i point-of-care creatinine analyzer may identify patients at high-risk
      of contrast-induced nephropathy.
AB  - The current study assessed the accuracy of the StatSensor-i (STA) point-of-care
      creatinine analyzer prior to and following adjustment (offset correction) by
      linear regression scatter plots produced by the reference samples from patients
      and volunteers for detecting high risk of contrast-induced nephropathy in
      patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate <45 ml/min/1.73 m2. Blood
      samples were obtained from 233 consecutive outpatients scheduled for contrast
      enhanced CT studies. Of the 233 patients, 123 patient samples were evaluated
      prior to adjustment and the other 110 following adjustment. Serum creatinine
      levels and estimated glomerular filtration rate were measured using the analyzer
      and compared with the values returned by laboratory tests. Analysis was with the
      paired t-test, the Pearson correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plotting. The
      sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), and
      accuracy for detecting patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate <45
      ml/min/1.73 m2 were subsequently calculated. Mean serum creatinine levels
      measured with the analyzer were significantly higher than those returned by
      laboratory tests before (P<0.0001) and after adjustment (P<0.01). Following
      adjustment, the difference in serum creatinine values obtained with the STA
      analyzer and by laboratory methods did not exceed 0.3 mg/dl. Prior to adjustment,
      9.7% of the samples were overdiagnosed as having an estimated glomerular
      filtration rate of <45 ml/min/1.73 m2; following adjustment, the overdiagnosis
      rate was 2.7%. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy were 100, 89,
      50, 100 and 90.2% before and 100, 96.3, 33.3, 100 and 96.4% after adjustment,
      respectively. With the adjusted point-of-care creatinine analyzer, estimated
      glomerular filtration rate may be reliably evaluated in the radiology suite.

PMID- 28587434
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background body
      signal suppression/T2-weighted image fusion for the detection of abdominal solid
      cancer.
AB  - Diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background body signal suppression
      (DWIBS) images show significant contrast for cancer tissues against non-cancerous
      tissues. Fusion of a DWIBS and a T2-weighted image (DWIBS/T2) can be used to
      obtain functional, as well as anatomic, information. In the present study, the
      performance of DWIBS/T2 in the diagnosis of abdominal solid cancer was evaluated.
      The records of 14 patients were retrospectively analyzed [5 patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 4 with metastatic liver cancer, 3 with pancreatic
      cancer, 1 with renal cellular carcinoma and 1 with malignant lymphoma of the para
      aortic lymph node]. T1WI and T2WI scans did not detect pancreatic cancer in
      certain cases, whereas DWIs and DWIBS/T2 clearly demonstrated pancreatic cancer
      in all cases. In addition, metastatic liver cancer and HCC were successfully
      detected with abdominal US and CECT; however, US did not detect pancreatic cancer
      in 1 case, while CECT and DWIBS/T2 detected pancreatic cancer in all cases. In
      conclusion, the diagnostic performance of DWIBS/T2 was the same as that of
      abdominal US and CECT in detecting primary and metastatic liver cancer. DWIBS/T2
      enabled the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in cases where it was not detected
      with US, T1WI or T2WI.

PMID- 28587435
TI  - Effect of topical rebamipide on goblet cells in the lid wiper of human
      conjunctiva.
AB  - It has been demonstrated that topical administration of rebamipide, which is an
      antiulcer agent, increases the mucin level of the tear film and ameliorates
      ocular surface conditions such as lid wiper epitheliopathy. The aim of the
      present study was to analyze the changes in goblet cell number, cell
      proliferation, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) induced by topical
      rebamipide addition to the lid wiper of humans. A total of 30 eyelid tissue
      samples were obtained during involutional entropion surgeries, fixed in
      paraformaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and divided into two groups: Rebamipide or
      non-rebamipide. The tissues in the rebamipide group were obtained from patients
      who had a medical history of topical rebamipide use prior to surgery. The number
      of goblet cells was counted under light microscopy. A total of 22 eyelid tissue
      samples were further examined using immunohistochemistry with anti-Ki-67 and anti
      EGFR antibodies to evaluate cell proliferation and EGFR expression, respectively.
      Histologically, the lid wiper and palpebral conjunctiva were clearly identified
      in the tissues. The number of goblet cells was significantly higher in the
      rebamipide group compared with the non-rebamipide group (P=0.0367). There was no
      significant difference in lid wiper cell proliferation between the rebamipide and
      non-rebamipide groups. Immunohistochemistry revealed that EGFR levels in the lid
      wiper epithelial cells were significantly higher in the rebamipide group compared
      with the non-rebamipide group (P=0.0237). These results suggest that topical
      rebamipide application increases the number of goblet cells in the lid wiper,
      which in turn upregulates the expression of EGFR. These findings may be
      clinically relevant and provide a therapeutic basis for the treatment of ocular
      disease such as dry eye and lid wiper epitheliopathy.

PMID- 28587436
TI  - Pathology comparative study on the characteristic CT signs in solid
      pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas.
AB  - In order to analyze characteristic CT signs in the solid pseudopapillary tumor of
      the pancreas, a retrospective analysis was conducted on 49 patients with
      pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas who where treated in Liaoning Cancer
      Hospital. All of the patients were confirmed by pathology, CT signs were analyzed
      and a pathology contrast was conducted. Furthermore, all cases had single
      lesions; 7 cases in the pancreatic head, 23 cases in the pancreatic body, 15
      cases in the pancreatic body-tail and 4 cases in the pancreatic tail. The
      boundaries of the lesions were clear and the tumors, which may outline the
      pancreas, were composed of solid and polycystic parts. In addition,
      calcifications could be observed in the lesions and CT results revealed varying
      degrees of contrast enhancement of the solid components in the arterial phase, as
      well as a gradual contrast enhancement in the venous and delayed phase.
      Enhancement of capsule could be observed, and the enhancement region was observed
      in the solid part, no enhancement in cystic part.. In conclusion, CT
      manifestations of solid pseudopapillary tumors of the pancreas are specific,
      which is helpful to the diagnosis.

PMID- 28587437
TI  - Overexpression and correlation of HIF-2alpha, VEGFA and EphA2 in residual
      hepatocellular carcinoma following high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment:
      Implications for tumor recurrence and progression.
AB  - Rapid growth of residual tumors can occur as a result of their recurrence and
      progression. The present study aimed to investigate the expression of hypoxia
      inducible factor-2 subunit alpha (HIF-2alpha), vascular endothelial growth factor
      A (VEGFA), erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular A2 (EphA2) and angiogenesis in
      residual hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), following treatment with high-intensity
      focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation, in order to investigate the association
      between protein expression and tumor recurrence and growth. Athymic BALB/c
      (nu/nu) mice were subcutaneously inoculated with the HCC cell line HepG2, in
      order to create xenograft tumors. Approximately 30 days post-inoculation, eight
      mice were treated with HIFU, whereas eight mice received no treatment and acted
      as the control group. Residual tumor tissues were obtained from the experimental
      groups after one month. Levels of HIF-2alpha, VEGFA, EphA2 and cluster of
      differentiation 31 (CD31) expression was measured by immunohistochemical
      staining. CD31-positive vascular endothelial cells were counted to calculate
      microvascular density (MVD), and western blot analysis was performed to determine
      levels of HIF-2alpha, VEGFA, and EphA2 protein. It was found that the expression
      levels of HIF-2alpha, VEGFA, EphA2, and MVD proteins in residual HCC tissues were
      significantly higher than in the control group tissues (P<0.05). Tumor MVD was
      strongly correlated with VEGFA (R=0.957, P<0.01) and EphA2 (R=0.993, P<0.01)
      protein expression levels. Furthermore, there was a significant positive
      correlation between HIF-2alpha and EphA2 expression (R=0.991, P<0.01). The
      correlation between VEGFA and EphA2 expression was also positive (R=0.985,
      P<0.01). These data suggest that overexpression of HIF-2alpha, VEGFA and EphA2 is
      related to angiogenesis in residual HCC following HIFU ablation, potentially via
      their association with key mediators of recurrence.

PMID- 28587438
TI  - Clinical application of the Innovance D-dimer assay in the diagnosis of acute
      pulmonary thromboembolism.
AB  - Patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism (APTE) have a high short-term
      mortality rate. The current study aimed to investigate the use of D-dimer in the
      diagnosis of APTE in suspected APTE patients. All suspected APTE patients were
      classified into diagnosis or control groups according to the results of a
      computed tomography pulmonary angiogram. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H
      tests were used to evaluate the association between D-dimer values and APTE. Area
      under the curve (AUC) values and the Youden Index were used to determine D-dimer
      cut-off levels for the prediction of APTE. The data of 112 suspected APTE
      patients (54.8% women; mean age, 70.5 years) were analyzed prospectively. There
      were no significant differences in age (74.5 vs. 73.5 years, P=0.538) or gender
      distribution (female ratio 56.5 vs. 53.0%, P=0.847) between the diagnosis and
      control groups. The incidence of symptoms including dyspnea (67.4 vs. 33.3%;
      P<0.01), chest distress (47.8 vs. 25.8%; P<0.05) and elevated D-dimer (8.49 vs.
      0.97 mg/l; P<0.001) were significantly higher in patients with APTE compared with
      the control group. D-dimer values >3.32 mg/l fibrinogen equivalent units (FEU)
      were indicative of APTE and the Youden Index was 0.69. The maximum AUC was 0.87
      (95% CI: 0.79-0.92), the sensitivity and specificity were 89.13 and 80.30%,
      respectively, the positive and negative likelihood ratios were 4.53 and 0.14,
      respectively, and the positive and negative predictive values were 75.90 and
      91.40%, respectively. A D-dimer value <0.60 mg/l FEU was the optimal threshold
      for excluding APTE diagnosis, with a sensitivity of 100.0% and a specificity of
      28.79%. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 1.40 and 0.00,
      respectively, and the positive and negative predictive values were 49.50 and
      100.00%, respectively. Thus, D-dimer levels, combined with clinical assessment,
      yield high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing APTE.

PMID- 28587439
TI  - Small-Angle Scattering from Nanoscale Fat Fractals.
AB  - Small-angle scattering (of neutrons, x-ray, or light; SAS) is considered to
      describe the structural characteristics of deterministic nanoscale fat fractals.
      We show that in the case of a polydisperse fractal system, with equal probability
      for any orientation, one obtains the fractal dimensions and scaling factors at
      each structural level. This is in agreement with general results deduced in the
      context of small-angle scattering analysis of a system of randomly oriented, non
      interacting, nano-/micro-fractals. We apply our results to a two-dimensional fat
      Cantor-like fractal, calculating analytic expressions for the scattering
      intensities and structure factors. We explain how the structural properties can
      be computed from experimental data and show their correlation to the variation of
      the scaling factor with the iteration number. The model can be used to interpret
      recorded experimental SAS data in the framework of fat fractals and can reveal
      structural properties of materials characterized by a regular law of changing of
      the fractal dimensions. It can describe successions of power-law decays, with
      arbitrary decreasing values of the scattering exponents, and interleaved by
      regions of constant intensity.

PMID- 28587440
TI  - Comparative metabolomics in vanilla pod and vanilla bean revealing the
      biosynthesis of vanillin during the curing process of vanilla.
AB  - High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used for
      comprehensive metabolomic fingerprinting of vanilla fruits prepared from the
      curing process. In this study, the metabolic changes of vanilla pods and vanilla
      beans were characterized using MS-based metabolomics to elucidate the
      biosynthesis of vanillin. The vanilla pods were significantly different from
      vanilla beans. Seven pathways of vanillin biosynthesis were constructed, namely,
      glucovanillin, glucose, cresol, capsaicin, vanillyl alcohol, tyrosine, and
      phenylalanine pathways. Investigations demonstrated that glucose, cresol,
      capsaicin, and vanillyl alcohol pathway were detected in a wide range of
      distribution in microbial metabolism. Thus, microorganisms might have
      participated in vanillin biosynthesis during vanilla curing. Furthermore, the ion
      strength of glucovanillin was stable, which indicated that glucovanillin only
      participated in the vanillin biosynthesis during the curing of vanilla.

PMID- 28587441
TI  - Evaluation of brewers' spent grain as a novel media for yeast growth.
AB  - Brewers' spent grain (BSG) is a by-product generated from the beer manufacturing
      industry, which is extremely rich in protein and fiber. Here we use low cost BSG
      as the raw material for the production of a novel growth media, through a
      bioconversion process utilizing a food grade fungi to hydrolyze BSG. The novel
      fermentation media was tested on the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides, a natural
      yeast producing carotenoid. The yeast growth was analysed using the growth curve
      and the production of intracellular fatty acids and carotenoids. Untargeted GCMS
      based metabolomics was used to analyse the constituents of the different growth
      media, followed by multivariate data analysis. Growth media prepared using
      fermented BSG was found to be able to support the growth in R. toruloides (21.4
      mg/ml) in comparable levels to YPD media (24.7 mg/ml). Therefore, the fermented
      BSG media was able to fulfill the requirement as a nitrogen source for R.
      toruloides growth. This media was able to sustain normal metabolomics activity in
      yeast, as indicated by the level of fatty acid and carotenoid production. This
      can be explained by the fact that, in the fermented BSG media metabolites and
      amino acids were found to be higher than in the unfermented media, and close to
      the levels in YPD media. Taken together, our study provided evidence of a growth
      media for yeast using BSG. This should have potential in replacing components in
      the current yeast culture media in a sustainable and cost effective manner.

PMID- 28587442
TI  - Expanding the range of polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesized by methanotrophic
      bacteria through the utilization of omega-hydroxyalkanoate co-substrates.
AB  - The first methanotrophic syntheses of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) that contain
      repeating units beyond 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate are reported. New
      PHAs synthesized by methanotrophs include poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4
      hydroxybutyrate) (P(3HB-co-4HB)), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-5-hydroxyvalerate-co
      3-hydroxyvalerate) (P(3HB-co-5HV-co-3HV)), and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-6
      hydroxyhexanoate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) (P(3HB-co-6HHx-co-4HB)). This was achieved
      from a pure culture of Methylocystis parvus OBBP where the primary substrate is
      methane and the corresponding omega-hydroxyalkanoate monomers are added as a co
      substrate after the cells are subjected to nitrogen-limited conditions.

PMID- 28587443
TI  - In vitro antimicrobial potential of extracts and phytoconstituents from Gymnema
      sylvestre R.Br. leaves and their biosafety evaluation.
AB  - The in vitro antimicrobial screening of Gymnema sylvestre leaves against 13 test
      pathogens established its broad spectrum activity with average inhibition zone
      ranging from 14 to 23 mm. The antimicrobial activity of the classically-
      optimized aqueous extract was enhanced up to 1.45 folds, when subjected to
      statistical optimization using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and was
      thermostable. Ethyl acetate was found to be the best organic extractant with
      Klebsiella pneumoniae 1 (31.5 mm) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (25.5 mm) being
      the most sensitive among Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria, respectively.
      Among the major group of phytoconstituents detected, tannins were the most
      abundant followed by flavonoids and phytosterols, while triterpenes were absent.
      Flavonoids and cardiac glycosides exhibited a broad range of antimicrobial
      potential, with inhibition zone ranging from 13 to 35 mm, where Candida albicans
      was the most sensitive organism. Ethyl acetate extract showed better potency with
      lowest Minimum inhibitory concentration (0.1-1 mg ml-1) than the aqueous extract
      (1-3 mg ml-1) and all partially purified phytoconstituents (0.1-10 mg ml-1). The
      ethyl acetate extract and flavonoids were highly potent, as they exhibited a
      total activity potency ranging from 41.4 to 1045 ml g-1. Time kill studies
      revealed their microbicidal action, where ethyl acetate extract had a kill time
      from 0 to 12 h. However, among phytoconstituents, flavonoids were the most
      effective (0-8 h). The MIC and time kill study was also compared to that of
      standard antibiotics. These findings indicate that Gymnema sylvestre can be a
      potential source for development of leading metabolites against pathogens of
      clinical importance like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Escherichia
      coli, Staphylococcus aureus etc. They were neither mutagenic nor cytotoxic, as
      revealed by Ames and MTT assay.

PMID- 28587444
TI  - Assessment of changes in the content of anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and
      antioxidant property of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mediated fermented black rice
      bran.
AB  - Studies on phytochemical properties and bioactivities of rice bran revealed the
      wealth of natural complex antioxidant compounds. The composition and the
      properties of the rice bran get altered after fermentation by several microbes.
      This study was designed to optimize the black rice bran fermentation conditions
      for the total anthocyanin (ACN) content, total antioxidant properties, and
      relative activity of beta-glucosidase (BGS) by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Box
      Behnken design and response surface methodology was employed to achieve the
      maximum response in fermentation. The kinetic analysis of HPLC based
      phytochemical determination and bioconversion of ACN, and in vitro antioxidant
      assays were performed during fermentation. The optimum pH, temperature and NaCl
      concentration to achieve maximum ACN content, antioxidant capacity, and BGS
      activity were pH 4.0, 40  degrees C, and 0.5%, respectively. Bioconversion of
      cyanidin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-glucoside to cyanidin and peonidin was
      recorded at a significant level, respectively. The maximum activity of BGS on
      rice bran was noticed at 24 h of fermentation. The results suggested that
      phytochemical content was not changed significantly, whereas the antioxidant
      properties of rice bran were slightly enhanced after 24 h of fermentation.
      Additional detailed in vivo evaluation is required to explain the impact of
      submerged fermentation on the bioactivity of rice bran.

PMID- 28587445
TI  - Directing Stem Cell Differentiation via Electrochemical Reversible Switching
      between Nanotubes and Nanotips of Polypyrrole Array.
AB  - Control of stem cell behaviors at solid biointerfaces is critical for stem-cell
      based regeneration and generally achieved by engineering chemical composition,
      topography, and stiffness. However, the influence of dynamic stimuli at the
      nanoscale from solid biointerfaces on stem cell fate remains unclear. Herein, we
      show that electrochemical switching of a polypyrrole (Ppy) array between
      nanotubes and nanotips can alter surface adhesion, which can strongly influence
      mechanotransduction activation and guide differentiation of mesenchymal stem
      cells (MSCs). The Ppy array, prepared via template-free electrochemical
      polymerization, can be reversibly switched between highly adhesive hydrophobic
      nanotubes and poorly adhesive hydrophilic nanotips through an electrochemical
      oxidation/reduction process, resulting in dynamic attachment and detachment to
      MSCs at the nanoscale. Multicyclic attachment/detachment of the Ppy array to MSCs
      can activate intracellular mechanotransduction and osteogenic differentiation
      independent of surface stiffness and chemical induction. This smart surface,
      permitting transduction of nanoscaled dynamic physical inputs into biological
      outputs, provides an alternative to classical cell culture substrates for
      regulating stem cell fate commitment. This study represents a general strategy to
      explore nanoscaled interactions between stem cells and stimuli-responsive
      surfaces.

PMID- 28587446
TI  - Stiff, Thermally Stable and Highly Anisotropic Wood-Derived Carbon Composite
      Monoliths for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding.
AB  - Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials for electronic devices in
      aviation and aerospace not only need lightweight and high shielding
      effectiveness, but also should withstand harsh environments. Traditional EMI
      shielding materials often show heavy weight, poor thermal stability, short
      lifetime, poor tolerance to chemicals, and are hard-to-manufacture. Searching for
      high-efficiency EMI shielding materials overcoming the above weaknesses is still
      a great challenge. Herein, inspired by the unique structure of natural wood,
      lightweight and highly anisotropic wood-derived carbon composite EMI shielding
      materials have been prepared which possess not only high EMI shielding
      performance and mechanical stable characteristics, but also possess thermally
      stable properties, outperforming those metals, conductive polymers, and their
      composites. The newly developed low-cost materials are promising for specific
      applications in aerospace electronic devices, especially regarding extreme
      temperatures.

PMID- 28587447
TI  - Identification of N-Glycosites in Chicken Egg White Proteins Using an Omics
      Strategy.
AB  - Chicken egg white (CEW) is a perfect source of natural proteins that possesses
      outstanding functional properties and various bioactivities. The glycosylation
      structure of CEW proteins plays important roles in their functions,
      bioactivities, and allergies. The present work attempted to identify N-glycosites
      of CEW proteins using an omics strategy. CEW proteins were digested with trypsin
      and chymotrypsin; glycopeptides were enriched and deglycosylated using PNGase F
      in H218O water, followed by analysis using high-performance liquid
      chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). A total of 71 N-glycosites
      in 26 CEW glycoproteins were identified. Web-Logo analysis showed that most of
      the N-glycosites were at N-X-T (55%) and N-X-S (32%). Furthermore, two
      dimensional electrophoresis of CEW clusterin demonstrated a series of spots
      horizontally distributed at 35-37 kDa with an extremely wide isoelectric point
      range of 4.54-6.68, indicating the heterogeneity of glycosylation of CEW
      clusterin. These results provided important information for the understanding of
      the structures, functions, and bioactivities of CEW glycoproteins.

PMID- 28587448
TI  - From Si(II) to Si(IV) and Back: Reversible Intramolecular Carbon-Carbon Bond
      Activation by an Acyclic Iminosilylene.
AB  - Reversibility is fundamental for transition metal catalysis, but equally for main
      group chemistry and especially low-valent silicon compounds, the interplay
      between oxidative addition and reductive elimination is key for a potential
      catalytic cycle. Herein, we report a highly reactive acyclic iminosilylsilylene
      1, which readily performs an intramolecular insertion into a C?C bond of its
      aromatic ligand framework to give silacycloheptatriene (silepin) 2. UV-vis
      studies of this Si(IV) compound indicated a facile transformation back to Si(II)
      at elevated temperatures, further supported by density functional theory
      calculations and experimentally demonstrated by isolation of a silylene-borane
      adduct 3 following addition of B(C6F5)3. This tendency to undergo reductive
      elimination was exploited in the investigation of silepin 2 as a synthetic
      equivalent of silylene in the activation of small molecules. In fact, the first
      monomeric, four-coordinate silicon carbonate complex 4 was isolated and fully
      characterized in the reaction with carbon dioxide under mild conditions.
      Additionally, the exposure of 2 to ethylene or molecular hydrogen gave silirane 5
      and Si(IV) dihydride 6, respectively.

PMID- 28587449
TI  - Synthesis of Lipophilic Guanine N-9 Derivatives: Membrane Anchoring of
      Nucleobases Tailored to Fatty Acid Vesicles.
AB  - Covalent or noncovalent surface functionalization of soft-matter structures is an
      important tool for tailoring their function and stability. Functionalized
      surfaces and nanoparticles have found numerous applications in drug delivery and
      diagnostics, and new functionalization chemistry is continuously being developed
      in the discipline of bottom-up systems chemistry. The association of polar
      functional molecules, e.g., molecular recognition agents, with soft-matter
      structures can be achieved by derivatization with alkyl chains, allowing
      noncovalent anchoring into amphiphilic membranes. We report the synthesis of five
      new guanine-N9 derivatives bearing alkyl chains with different attachment
      chemistries, exploiting a synthesis pathway that allows a flexible choice of
      hydrophobic anchor moiety. In this study, these guanine derivatives were
      functionalized with C10 chains for insertion into decanoic acid bilayer
      structures, in which both alkyl chain length and attachment chemistry determined
      their interaction with the membrane. Incubation of these guanine conjugates, as
      solids, with a decanoic acid vesicle suspension, showed that ether- and triazole
      linked C10 anchors yielded an increased partitioning of the guanine derivative
      into the membranous phase compared to directly N-9-linked saturated alkyl
      anchors. Decanoic acid vesicle membranes could be loaded with up to 5.5 mol %
      guanine derivative, a 6-fold increase over previous limits. Thus, anchor
      chemistries exhibiting favorable interactions with a bilayer's hydrophilic
      surface can significantly increase the degree of structure functionalization.

PMID- 28587450
TI  - Dynamic Kinetic Resolution in Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Arylation of
      Phospholene Oxides.
AB  - The reaction of 2,5-dihydro-1H-phosphole 1-oxide 1 with ArB(pin) 3 in the
      presence of a chiral (R)-segphos-rhodium catalyst under highly basic conditions
      (10 equiv of KOH) gave high yields of (1S,3S)-3-arylphospholane 1-oxide 4 with
      high diastereoselectivity as well as high enantioselectivity. Equilibration of 1
      with its 2,3-dihydro isomer 2, which is chiral and racemic, by base-catalyzed
      olefin isomerization followed by kinetic resolution of 2 with the chiral rhodium
      catalyst realized the present dynamic kinetic resolution.

PMID- 28587451
TI  - Halogen Bonding in the Complexes of CH3I and CCl4 with Oxygen-Containing Halogen
      Bond Acceptors.
AB  - Methyl iodine (CH3I) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) are both important volatile
      precursors for atmospheric ozone destruction. CH3I and CCl4 can act as halogen
      bond donors to form molecular complexes with atmospheric organic species, such as
      2,5-dihydrofuran, tetrahydrofuran, and acetone. This study characterized the
      halogen bonds in the CH3I and CCl4 complexes using matrix isolation infrared
      spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. With the combination of
      vibrational frequencies in spectra and the calculated interaction energies,
      frequencies and atoms-in-molecules analyses, we confirmed the formation of
      halogen-bonded complexes. CH3I as a halogen-bond donor is comparable or slightly
      weaker than CCl4, and furans involving ether oxygens are better halogen acceptors
      than acetone. The results help to understand the possibilities of formation of
      atmospheric molecular complexes that may influence the atmospheric chemical
      activities and enhance the aerosol formation.

PMID- 28587452
TI  - Genetic Toxicity of Complex Mixtures of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons:
      Evaluating Dose-Additivity in a Transgenic Mouse Model.
AB  - This study evaluates the risk assessment approach currently employed for
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated media, wherein carcinogenic
      hazards are evaluated using a dose-addition model that employs potency
      equivalency factors (PEFs) for targeted carcinogenic PAHs. Here, MutaMouse mice
      were subchronically exposed to PAH mixtures (p.o.), and mutagenic potency (MP)
      values were determined for five tissues. Predicted dose-additive mixture MPs were
      generated by summing the products of the concentrations and MPs of the individual
      targeted PAHs; values were compared to the experimental MPs of the mixtures to
      evaluate dose-additivity. Additionally, the PEF-determined BaP-equivalent
      concentrations were compared to those determined using a bioassay-derived method
      (BDM) (i.e., an additivity-independent approach). In bone marrow, mixture
      mutagenicity was less than dose-additive and the PEF-method provided higher
      estimates of BaP-equivalents than the BDM. Conversely, mixture mutagenicity in
      site-of-contact tissues (e.g., small intestine) was generally more than dose
      additive and the PEF-method provided lower estimates of BaP-equivalents than the
      BDM. Overall, this study demonstrates that dose-additive predictions of mixture
      mutagenic potency based on the concentrations and potencies of a small number of
      targeted PAHs results in values that are surprisingly close to those determined
      experimentally, providing support for the dose-additive assumption employed for
      human health risk assessment of PAH mixtures.

PMID- 28587453
TI  - Tetranuclear Manganese Models of the OEC Displaying Hydrogen Bonding
      Interactions: Application to Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation to Hydrogen
      Peroxide.
AB  - Toward the development of structural and functional models of the oxygen evolving
      complex (OEC) of photosystem II, we report the synthesis of site-differentiated
      tetranuclear manganese complexes featuring three six-coordinate and one five
      coordinate Mn centers. To incorporate biologically relevant second coordination
      sphere interactions, substituents capable of hydrogen bonding are included as
      pyrazolates with arylamine substituents. Complexes with terminal anionic ligands,
      OH- or Cl-, bound to the lower coordinate metal center are supported through the
      hydrogen-bonding network in a fashion reminiscent of the enzymatic active site.
      The hydroxide complex was found to be a competent electrocatalyst for O-O bond
      formation, a key transformation pertinent to the OEC. In an acetonitrile-water
      mixture, at neutral pH, electrochemical water oxidation to hydrogen peroxide was
      observed, albeit with low (15%) Faradaic yield, likely due to competing reactions
      with organics. In agreement, 9,10-dihydroanthracene is electrochemically oxidized
      in the presence of this cluster both via H-atom abstraction and oxygenation with
      ~50% combined Faradaic yield.

PMID- 28587454
TI  - Solution Growth of Ultralong Gold Nanohelices.
AB  - Metallic nanohelices are extremely rare and, to date, have never been synthesized
      by a direct solution method. In this work, we report ultralong Au nanohelices
      grown in solution under ambient conditions. They are ultralong with several tens
      of micrometers in length, with extraordinary aspect ratio (length/diameter
      greater than 22 300) and the number of pitches (more than 22 000 pitches). The
      pitch and width are uniform within each helix but vary widely among the helices.
      Crystal analyses showed that the facets, twin boundaries, grain sizes, and
      orientations are aperiodic along the helices. The apparent smooth curving is only
      possible with a large number of surface steps, suggesting that these structural
      features are the mere consequence of the helix formation rather than the cause.
      We propose that the nanowires are formed by the active surface growth mechanism
      and that the helicity originates from the random and asymmetrical blocking of
      nuclei embedded within the floccules of ligand complexes, in the form of either
      asymmetric binding of ligands or asymmetric diffusion of growth materials through
      the floccules. The separate growth environment of these nuclei causes constant
      helicity within each helix but differing helicity among the individuals. The
      embedding also provides a robust environment for the sustained growth of the
      nanohelices, leading to their record length and consistency.

PMID- 28587456
TI  - Effective Fragment Potential Method for H-Bonding: How To Obtain Parameters for
      Nonrigid Fragments.
AB  - Accuracy of the effective fragment potential (EFP) method was explored for
      describing intermolecular interaction energies in three dimers with strong H
      bonded interactions, formic acid, formamide, and formamidine dimers, which are a
      part of HBC6 database of noncovalent interactions. Monomer geometries in these
      dimers change significantly as a function of intermonomer separation. Several EFP
      schemes were considered, in which fragment parameters were prepared for a
      fragment in its gas-phase geometry or recomputed for each unique fragment
      geometry. Additionally, a scheme in which gas-phase fragment parameters are
      shifted according to relaxed fragment geometries is introduced and tested. EFP
      data are compared against the coupled cluster with single, double, and
      perturbative triple excitations (CCSD(T)) method in a complete basis set (CBS)
      and the symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT). All considered EFP schemes
      provide a good agreement with CCSD(T)/CBS for binding energies at equilibrium
      separations, with discrepancies not exceeding 2 kcal/mol. However, only the
      schemes that utilize relaxed fragment geometries remain qualitatively correct at
      shorter than equilibrium intermolecular distances. The EFP scheme with shifted
      parameters behaves quantitatively similar to the scheme in which parameters are
      recomputed for each monomer geometry and thus is recommended as a computationally
      efficient approach for large-scale EFP simulations of flexible systems.

PMID- 28587455
TI  - Insights on the Interaction between Transthyretin and Abeta in Solution. A
      Saturation Transfer Difference (STD) NMR Analysis of the Role of Iododiflunisal.
AB  - Several strategies against Alzheimer disease (AD) are directed to target Abeta
      peptides. The ability of transthyretin (TTR) to bind Abeta-peptides and the
      positive effect exerted by some TTR stabilizers for modulating the TTR-Abeta
      interaction have been previously studied. Herein, key structural features of the
      interaction between TTR and the Abeta(12-28) peptide (3), the essential
      recognition element of Abeta, have been unravelled by STD-NMR spectroscopy
      methods in solution. Molecular aspects related to the role of the TTR stabilizer
      iododiflunisal (IDIF, 5) on the TTR-Abeta complex have been also examined. The
      NMR results, assisted by molecular modeling protocols, have provided a structural
      model for the TTR-Abeta interaction, as well as for the ternary complex formed in
      the presence of IDIF. This basic structural information could be relevant for
      providing light on the mechanisms involved in the ameliorating effects of AD
      symptoms observed in AD/TTR+/- animal models after IDIF treatment and eventually
      for designing new molecules toward AD therapeutic drugs.

PMID- 28587457
TI  - Unsymmetrical and Symmetrical Push-Pull Phenothiazines.
AB  - A series of unsymmetrical and symmetrical push-pull phenothiazines (3-7) were
      designed and synthesized by the Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction
      and subsequent [2 + 2] cycloaddition-retroelectrocyclization reaction with
      tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ). The effect
      of systematic variation of the number and nature of cyano-based acceptor TCNE and
      TCNQ units on the photophysical, electrochemical, and computational studies was
      investigated. The single-photon absorption on phenothiazines 3-7 reveals that
      substitution of 1,1,4,4-tetracyanobutadiene (TCBD) and a cyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4
      diylidene-expanded TCBD unit results in strong intramolecular charge transfer and
      lowering of the LUMO energy level. The TCBD-linked and cyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4
      diylidene-expanded TCBD-linked phenothiazines 3-7 exhibit multiredox waves. The
      computational studies on phenothiazines 3-7 exhibit substantial stabilization of
      the LUMO with the increase in acceptor strength, which results in lowering of the
      HOMO-LUMO gap.

PMID- 28587458
TI  - The U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) Condensed Tannin NMR Database.
AB  - This Perspective describes a solution-state NMR database for flavan-3-ol monomers
      and condensed tannin dimers through tetramers obtained from the literature to
      2015, containing data searchable by structure, molecular formula, degrees of
      polymerization, and 1H and 13C chemical shifts of the condensed tannins.
      Citations for all literature references are provided and should serve as valuable
      resource for scientists working in the field of condensed tannin research. The
      database will be periodically updated as additional information becomes
      available, typically on a yearly basis and is available for use, free of charge,
      from the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) Website.

PMID- 28587459
TI  - Singlet vs Triplet Reactivity of Photogenerated alpha,n-Didehydrotoluenes.
AB  - The reactivity of alpha,n-didehydrotoluenes (DHTs) in protic media
      (organic/aqueous mixtures) was explored by means of a combined computational and
      experimental approach. These intermediates were generated via a photoinduced
      double elimination process occurring in (chlorobenzyl)trimethylsilanes and led to
      the formation of a varied products distribution, depending on the isomer tested.
      Irradiation of ortho- and para-derivatives resulted, respectively, in the
      formation of triplet alpha,2- and alpha,4-DHTs, whose diradical reactivity led to
      both radical and polar products. On the other hand, irradiation of the meta
      precursor led to the singlet alpha,3-DHT isomer. The latter showed a marked
      preference for the formation of polar products and this was rationalized, as
      supported by computational evidence, via the involvement of a zwitterionic
      species arising through interaction of the nucleophilic solvent with the benzylic
      position of the DHT.

PMID- 28587460
TI  - Molecular Mechanisms Underlying gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Accumulation in
      Giant Embryo Rice Seeds.
AB  - To uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying GABA accumulation in giant embryo
      rice seeds, we analyzed the expression levels of GABA metabolism genes and
      contents of GABA and GABA metabolic intermediates in developing grains and
      germinated brown rice of giant embryo rice 'Shangshida No. 5' and normal embryo
      rice 'Chao2-10' respectively. In developing grains, the higher GABA contents in
      'Shangshida No. 5' were accompanied with upregulation of gene transcripts and
      intermediate contents in the polyamine pathway and downregulation of GABA
      catabolic gene transcripts, as compared with those in 'Chao2-10'. In germinated
      brown rice, the higher GABA contents in 'Shangshida No. 5' were parallel with
      upregulation of OsGAD and polyamine pathway gene transcripts and Glu and
      polyamine pathway intermediate contents and downregulation of GABA catabolic gene
      transcripts. These results are the first to indicate that polyamine pathway and
      GABA catabolic genes play a crucial role in GABA accumulation in giant embryo
      rice seeds.

PMID- 28587461
TI  - Compounds Interfering with Embryonic Lethal Abnormal Vision (ELAV) Protein-RNA
      Complexes: An Avenue for Discovering New Drugs.
AB  - RNA-binding proteins play a key role in post-transcriptional processes. Among
      these proteins, embryonic lethal abnormal vision (ELAV) proteins are among the
      best described. ELAV proteins predominantly act as positive regulators of gene
      expression, and their dysregulation is involved in several pathologies, such as
      cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases. Only a few structurally
      unrelated compounds interfering with ELAV protein-mRNA complexes have been
      identified by applying high-throughput screening approaches. Considering the
      structural diversity of the compounds discovered so far and the different
      techniques employed for screening their ability to interfere with ELAV protein
      mRNA complexes, drawing conclusions from structure-activity relationships remains
      a challenge. We performed docking studies to understand the interactions of
      compounds reported over the past decade to be inhibitors of ELAV proteins and to
      evaluate the potential of computer-aided drug design to target this family of
      proteins for further drug discovery.

PMID- 28587462
TI  - Crystal Structural Effect of AuCu Alloy Nanoparticles on Catalytic CO Oxidation.
AB  - Controlling the physical and chemical properties of alloy nanoparticles (NPs) is
      an important approach to optimize NP catalysis. Unlike other tuning knobs, such
      as size, shape, and composition, crystal structure has received limited attention
      and not been well understood for its role in catalysis. This deficiency is mainly
      due to the difficulty in synthesis and fine-tuning of the NPs' crystal structure.
      Here, Exemplifying by AuCu alloy NPs with face centered cubic (fcc) and face
      centered tetragonal (fct) structure, we demonstrate a remarkable difference in
      phase segregation and catalytic performance depending on the crystal structure.
      During the thermal treatment in air, the Cu component in fcc-AuCu alloy NPs
      segregates more easily onto the alloy surface as compared to that in fct-AuCu
      alloy NPs. As a result, after annealing at 250  degrees C in air for 1 h, the fcc
      and fct-AuCu alloy NPs are phase transferred into Au/CuO and AuCu/CuO core/shell
      structures, respectively. More importantly, this variation in heterostructures
      introduces a significant difference in CO adsorption on two catalysts, leading to
      a largely enhanced catalytic activity of AuCu/CuO NP catalyst for CO oxidation.
      The same concept can be extended to other alloy NPs, making it possible to fine
      tune NP catalysis for many different chemical reactions.

PMID- 28587463
TI  - Lipidomics Profiling of Human Adipose Tissue Identifies a Pattern of Lipids
      Associated with Fish Oil Supplementation.
AB  - To understand the interaction between diet and health, biomarkers that accurately
      reflect consumption of foods of perceived health relevance are needed. The aim of
      this investigation was to use direct infusion-mass spectrometry (DI-MS)
      lipidomics to determine the effects of fish oil supplementation on lipid profiles
      of human adipose tissue. Adipose tissue samples from an n-3 polyunsaturated fatty
      acid (PUFA) supplementation study (n = 66) were analyzed to compare the pattern
      following supplementation equivalent to zero or four portions of oily fish per
      week. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were
      incorporated into highly unsaturated (>=5 double bonds) triglycerides (TGs),
      phosphocholines, and phosphoethanolamines as well as being detected directly as
      the nonesterified fatty acid forms. Multivariate statistics demonstrated that
      phospholipids were the most accurate and sensitive lipids for the assessing EPA
      and DHA incorporation into adipose tissue. Potential confounding factors
      (adiposity, age, and sex of the subject) were also considered in the analysis,
      and adiposity was also associated with an increase in highly unsaturated TGs as a
      result of incorporation of the n-6 PUFA arachidonic acid. DI-MS provides a high
      throughput analysis of fatty acid status that can monitor oily fish consumption,
      suitable for use in cohort studies.

PMID- 28587464
TI  - Copper Binding Sites in the Manganese-Oxidizing Mnx Protein Complex Investigated
      by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.
AB  - Manganese-oxide minerals (MnOx) are widely distributed over the Earth's surface,
      and their geochemical cycling is globally important. A multicopper oxidase (MCO)
      MnxG protein from marine Bacillus bacteria plays an essential role in producing
      MnOx minerals by oxidizing Mn2+(aq) at rates that are 3 to 5 orders of magnitude
      faster than abiotic rates. The MnxG protein is isolated as part of a multiprotein
      complex denoted as "Mnx" that includes accessory protein subunits MnxE and MnxF,
      with an estimated stoichiometry of MnxE3F3G and corresponding molecular weight of
      ~211 kDa. Herein, we report successful expression and isolation of the MCO MnxG
      protein without the E3F3 hexamer. This isolated MnxG shows activity for Mn2+(aq)
      oxidation to form manganese oxides. The complement of paramagnetic Cu(II) ions in
      the Mnx protein complex was examined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)
      spectroscopy. Two distinct classes of type 2 Cu sites were detected. One class of
      Cu(II) site (denoted as T2Cu-A), located in the MnxG subunit, is identified by
      the magnetic parameters g? = 2.320 and A? = 510 MHz. The other class of Cu(II)
      sites (denoted as T2Cu-B) is characterized by g? = 2.210 and A? = 615 MHz and
      resides in the putative hexameric MnxE3F3 subunit. These different magnetic
      properties correlate with the differences in the reduction potentials of the
      respective Cu(II) centers. These studies provide new insights into the molecular
      mechanism of manganese biomineralization.

PMID- 28587465
TI  - Clarifying the Catalytic Mechanism of Human Glutamine Synthetase: A QM/MM Study.
AB  - Glutamine synthetase (GS) is a crucial enzyme responsible for the elimination of
      both neurotoxic glutamate and toxic ammonium, by combining them into glutamine.
      Alterations on the GS activity are associated with severe liver and
      neurodegenerative diseases and its absence or malformation results in death. In
      this work, the catalytic mechanism of human GS has been investigated with high
      level QM/MM calculations, showing a two-phase reaction cycle. During phase 1, GS
      activates the reactants (NH4+ and glutamate) with extreme efficiency, through
      NH4+ deprotonation by E305 and glutamate phosphorylation by ATP, in two
      spontaneous and barrierless reactions. At phase 2, NH3 attacks the gamma-glutamyl
      phosphate being concomitantly deprotonated by the leaving PO43-, forming the
      glutamine and HPO42- products. The second phase contains the rate limiting step,
      with a DeltaG? of 19.2 kcal.mol-1 associated with the nucleophilic substitution
      of the phosphate by NH3. The final reaction free energy is -34.5 kcal.mol-1. Both
      phases are exergonic, the first by -22.9 kcal.mol-1 and the second by -11.6
      kcal.mol-1. Direct NH4+ attack is shown to be inefficient; the possible bases
      that perform the NH4+ deprotonation were systematically investigated. Negative
      E305 was shown to be the only one possibly responsible for NH4+ deprotonation.
      Altogether, these results provide a clear atomic level picture of the reaction
      cycle of GS, consistent with experimental and theoretical studies on GS of this
      and other organisms, and provide the necessary insights for the development of
      more specific therapeutic GS inhibitors.

PMID- 28587466
TI  - Tailor-Made Dispersion and Distribution of Stereocomplex Crystallites in Poly(l
      lactide)/Elastomer Blends toward Largely Enhanced Crystallization Rate and Impact
      Toughness.
AB  - Stereocomplex (SC) crystallites, formed between poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(d
      lactide), exhibit great potential to substantially enhance crystallization rate
      of PLLA-based materials as an eco-friendly nucleating agent. However, the
      nucleation efficiency of the SC crystallites is still far below an expected
      level, mostly on account of their strong aggregation tendency in PLLA/PDLA melts.
      Herein, taking PLLA/poly(ethylene-methyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate) (E-MA
      GMA) blends as an example, we report a unique and facile strategy to control the
      dispersion and distribution of SC crystallites within the PLLA matrix by using
      elastomeric E-MA-GMA as carrier for the incorporation of PDLA. To do this, PDLA
      was first blended with E-MA-GMA or chemically grafted onto the E-MA-GMA. During
      subsequent melt-blending of PLLA and the E-MA-GMA/PDLA master batch, the PDLA
      chain clusters predispersed in the E-MA-GMA phase can gradually migrate into PLLA
      matrix and then collaborate with the matrix chains to form large amounts of tiny
      and well-dispersed SC crystallites. Compared with the SC-crystallite agglomerates
      formed by the direct melt-blending of PLLA and PDLA components, such tiny SC
      crystallites are much more effective in accelerating PLLA matrix crystallization.
      More interestingly, when PDLA chains are grafted onto the EMA-GMA, the formed SC
      crystallites tend to preferentially distribute at the blend interface and thus
      induce not only optimal nucleation efficiency but also superior impact toughness
      because these interface-localized SC crystallites can also serve as bridges to
      enhance interface adhesion. This work could open a new avenue in designing heat
      resistant and supertough PLLA blends via controllable construction of SC
      crystallites.

PMID- 28587467
TI  - Highly Efficient Light-Emitting Diodes of Colloidal Metal-Halide Perovskite
      Nanocrystals beyond Quantum Size.
AB  - Colloidal metal-halide perovskite quantum dots (QDs) with a dimension less than
      the exciton Bohr diameter DB (quantum size regime) emerged as promising light
      emitters due to their spectrally narrow light, facile color tuning, and high
      photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE). However, their size-sensitive
      emission wavelength and color purity and low electroluminescence efficiency are
      still challenging aspects. Here, we demonstrate highly efficient light-emitting
      diodes (LEDs) based on the colloidal perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) in a dimension
      > DB (regime beyond quantum size) by using a multifunctional buffer hole
      injection layer (Buf-HIL). The perovskite NCs with a dimension greater than DB
      show a size-irrespective high color purity and PLQE by managing the recombination
      of excitons occurring at surface traps and inside the NCs. The Buf-HIL composed
      of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and
      perfluorinated ionomer induces uniform perovskite particle films with complete
      film coverage and prevents exciton quenching at the PEDOT:PSS/perovskite particle
      film interface. With these strategies, we achieved a very high PLQE (~60.5%) in
      compact perovskite particle films without any complex post-treatments and
      multilayers and a high current efficiency of 15.5 cd/A in the LEDs of colloidal
      perovskite NCs, even in a simplified structure, which is the highest efficiency
      to date in green LEDs that use colloidal organic-inorganic metal-halide
      perovskite nanoparticles including perovskite QDs and NCs. These results can help
      to guide development of various light-emitting optoelectronic applications based
      on perovskite NCs.

PMID- 28587468
TI  - Human Platelet Vesicles Exhibit Distinct Size and Proteome.
AB  - In the past 50 years, isolated blood platelets have had restricted use in wound
      healing, cancer therapy, and organ and tissue transplant, to name a few. The
      major obstacle for its unrestricted use has been, among others, the presence of
      ultrahigh concentrations of growth factors and the presence of both pro
      angiogenic and anti-angiogenic proteins. To overcome this problem requires the
      isolation and separation of the membrane bound secretory vesicles containing the
      different factors. In the current study, high-resolution imaging of isolated
      secretory vesicles from human platelets using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and
      mass spectrometry enabled characterization of the remaining vesicles size and
      composition following their immunoseparation. The remaining vesicles obtained
      following osmotic lysis, when subjected to immunoseparation employing antibody to
      different vesicle-associated membrane proteins (VAMPs), demonstrate for the first
      time that VAMP-3-, VAMP-7-, and VAMP-8-specific vesicles each possesses distinct
      size range and composition. These results provide a window into our understanding
      of the heterogeneous population of vesicles in human platelets and their
      stability following both physical manipulation using AFM and osmotic lysis of the
      platelet. This study further provides a platform for isolation and the detailed
      characterization of platelet granules, with promise for their future use in
      therapy. Additionally, results from the study demonstrate that secretory vesicles
      of different size found in cells reflect their unique and specialized composition
      and function.

PMID- 28587470
TI  - Surface engineering of poly(methylmethacrylate): Effects on fluorescence
      immunoassay.
AB  - The authors present surface engineering modifications through chemistry of
      poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) that have dramatic effects on the result of
      surface-bound fluorescence immunoassays, both for specific and nonspecific
      signals. The authors deduce the most important effect to be clustering of
      antibodies on the surface leading to significant self-quenching. Secondary
      effects are attributable to the formation of sparse multilayers of antibody. The
      authors compare PMMA as an antibody support surface with ultraviolet-ozone
      oxidized PMMA and also to substrates that were, after the oxidation, surface
      modified by a four-unit poly(ethyleneglycol) carboxylic acid (PEG4), a branched
      tricarboxylic acid, and a series of carboxylic acid-terminated dendrimers, from
      generation 1.5 to 5.5. Fluorescence immunoassay and neutron reflectometry were
      used to compare the apparent antibody surface loading, antigen binding and
      nonspecific binding on these various surfaces using anti-human IgG as a model
      antibody, chemically coupled to the surface by amide formation. Simple physical
      adsorption of the antibody on PMMA resulted in a thick antibody multilayer with
      small antigen binding capacity. On the carboxylated surfaces, with chemical
      coupling, a simple monolayer was formed. The authors deduce that antibody
      clustering was driven by conformational inflexibility and high carboxylate
      density. The PEG4-modified surface was the most conformationally flexible. The
      dendrimer-modified interfaces showed a collapse and densification. In
      fluorescence immunoassay, the optimal combination of high specific and low
      nonspecific fluorescence signal was found for the G3.5 dendrimer.

PMID- 28587472
TI  - Key Strategies for Physical Activity Interventions Among Older Women: Process
      Evaluation of a Clinical Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe strategies salient to physical activity (PA) initiation and
      maintenance among older women who participated in a clinical trial that tested a
      PA intervention. DESIGN: A descriptive phenomenological, qualitative design for a
      process evaluation of a successful clinical trial. SETTING: Senior primary care
      clinics associated with a large medical center in a southern state. PARTICIPANTS:
      A total of 20 older women at least 60 years without advanced frailty. METHOD:
      Purposive sampling using maximum variation technique was used to select
      participants. A semi-structured interview guide facilitated individual, in-depth
      interviews lasting 45 to 90 minutes. Narratives were analyzed using content
      analysis with constant comparison technique to summarize the data. RESULTS: Eight
      African American and 12 white older women with a mean age of 68 from control and
      intervention arms participated. Five central themes described salient strategies
      to promote and maintain PA: sensed benefits, motivation, and self-efficacy were
      central to success, while a reduction in barriers was essential before
      maintaining PA. The last theme, a life-changing awareness indicated that PA had
      become a shared value. An explanatory model describing interrelationships is
      presented. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests key strategies to include in PA
      interventions with older women. An unexpected finding was that PA became a shared
      value, an action promoted by the Culture of Health initiative to improve
      population health and well-being.

PMID- 28587473
TI  - Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Iraqi Kurdistan: a challenge.

PMID- 28587471
TI  - Factors That Impact the Success of Interorganizational Health Promotion
      Collaborations: A Scoping Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore published empirical literature in order to identify factors
      that facilitate or inhibit collaborative approaches for health promotion using a
      scoping review methodology. DATA SOURCE: A comprehensive search of MEDLINE,
      CINAHL, ScienceDirect, PsycINFO, and Academic Search Complete for articles
      published between January 2001 and October 2015 was conducted in accordance with
      the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
      guidelines. STUDY INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA: To be included studies had
      to: be an original research article, published in English, involve at least 2
      organizations in a health promotion partnership, and identify factors
      contributing to or constraining the success of an established (or prior)
      partnership. Studies were excluded if they focused on primary care collaboration
      or organizations jointly lobbying for a cause. DATA EXTRACTION: Data extraction
      was completed by 2 members of the author team using a summary chart to extract
      information relevant to the factors that facilitated or constrained collaboration
      success. DATA SYNTHESIS: NVivo 10 was used to code article content into the
      thematic categories identified in the data extraction. RESULTS: Twenty-five
      studies across 8 countries were identified. Several key factors contributed to
      collaborative effectiveness, including a shared vision, leadership, member
      characteristics, organizational commitment, available resources, clear
      roles/responsibilities, trust/clear communication, and engagement of the target
      population. CONCLUSION: In general, the findings were consistent with previous
      reviews; however, additional novel themes did emerge.

PMID- 28587474
TI  - Pollution by Nonylphenol in river, tap water, and aquatic in an acid rain-plagued
      city in southwest China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Nonylphenol (NP) has provoked much environmental concern because of
      their weak estrogenic activities; however, few data are available on the
      environmental levels of the chemical in China. METHOD: Environmental or river
      samples were assayed for NP by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
      technique. RESULTS: The concentration for NP measured in Xiangjiang River,
      ranging from 0.174 to 3.411 MUg/L with a mean value of 1.73 MUg/L, was lower than
      the Water Quality Criteria for NP of the US (6.6 MUg/L); however, the NP
      concentration was maintained at a higher level compare to the developed countries
      and other civil cities. NP concentration in downstream water was markedly higher
      than that both in midstream and upstream water. Tissue accumulation of NP was
      observed in aquatics. A ratio of mean concentration of NP in aquatic (chlamys
      farreri and hemiculter leucisculus) to that in river water was 241 and 1087,
      respectively. The presence of NP in tap water in two urban districts of Zunyi was
      common with a detectable rate reached 100.0%. Mean NP concentration in terminal
      tap water in Huichuan district was six times as high as Honghuagang district,
      which was above Standards for the Drinking Water Quality for Phenols of China (2
      MUg/L). CONCLUSION: The pollution of NP in Xiangjiang River, tap water, and
      aquatic in Zunyi belongs to moderate or severe level in the world.

PMID- 28587475
TI  - Management of Severe Equinovalgus in Patients With Cerebral Palsy by
      Naviculectomy in Combination With Midfoot Arthrodesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Equinovalgus deformity is the second most common deformity in
      cerebral palsy and may be flexible or rigid. Several operative methods from joint
      sparing to arthrodesis have been described with varying success rates. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the effectiveness of naviculectomy in combination
      with midfoot arthrodesis (talo-cuneiform and calcaneocuboid arthrodesis) in the
      correction of a rigid equinovalgus foot deformity in cerebral palsy. METHODS:
      Forty-eight rigid equinovalgus feet were operated upon in 30 patients from 2008
      to 2013. Of these, 44 feet in 26 patients with cerebral palsy (Gross Motor
      Function Classification System III, IV, or V) with follow-up of more than 2 years
      were included in the study. The mean age at surgery was 18.1 years. The outcomes
      were measured objectively using radiographic angles and subjectively using 5
      questions to be answered by the caregiver. The feet were then graded into
      excellent, good, fair, and poor. The mean follow-up was 5.0 +/- 1.7 years.
      RESULTS: Excellent to good results were obtained in 81% of the feet. Both
      objective and subjective outcomes improved significantly postoperatively ( P <
      .001). Three feet in 2 patients were graded as poor and underwent a revision
      operation for pain and recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Naviculectomy in combination with
      midfoot arthrodesis enabled a good 3-dimensional correction of the forefoot.
      However, the procedure did not necessarily correct the fixed subtalar joint
      deformity. Several additional bony and soft-tissue procedures were necessary to
      achieve a complete correction in these difficult feet. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level
      IV, retrospective case series.

PMID- 28587476
TI  - Do the New FDA Guidance Documents Help Improving Performance of Blood Glucose
      Monitoring Systems Compared With ISO 15197?
AB  - Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published guidance documents for
      point-of-care testing (POCT) and over-the-counter (OTC) blood glucose monitoring
      systems (BGMS). These are expected to improve weaknesses of the already
      established ISO 15197:2013 standard accuracy evaluation for OTC BGMS; however,
      the proposed criteria and procedures rather raise new questions. As an example,
      the OTC guidance stipulates tighter accuracy criteria in the low glycemic range
      than the POCT guidance for no obvious reason. Furthermore, a clear definition of
      requirements for the reference method is missing under consideration of the
      strict accuracy criteria. External surveillance of BGMS after introduction to the
      market is an issue that is addressed neither in the FDA documents, nor in ISO
      15197, but in the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline
      POCT12-A3.

PMID- 28587477
TI  - A review of binimetinib for the treatment of mutant cutaneous melanoma.
AB  - Although significant progress has been made in the treatment of unresectable or
      metastatic melanoma, at least half of all advanced melanoma patients eventually
      progress and pass away due to their disease. In particular, patients with NRAS
      mutated melanoma still face limited therapeutic options, with immunotherapy being
      the current treatment type of choice. Binimetinib is a selective inhibitor of
      MEK, a central kinase in the tumor-promoting MAPK pathway. The results of a
      recent Phase III trial rendered binimetinib the first targeted therapy agent to
      significantly improve progression-free survival in NRAS-mutated melanoma. This
      review will summarize the development and clinical data of binimetinib in
      melanoma in general and also explore the potential future role of this substance
      as single agent or combination therapy.

PMID- 28587478
TI  - Operative Treatment of the Ingrown Toenail With a Less-Invasive Technique:
      Flashback to the Original Winograd Technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the partial nail
      plate excision and curettage of nail bed and matrix (the original Winograd
      technique) in patients with ingrown toenail. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with
      ingrown toenail who were treated surgically from May 2014 to June 2015, with a
      minimum follow-up of 1 year were included in this study. Those who had previous
      ingrown toenail surgery were excluded. Partial nail plate excision with curettage
      of nail bed and nail matrix was performed for all patients. Rifampicin soaked
      sterile gauze was placed onto the wounds after the procedure. RESULTS: The study
      population included 100 males and 89 females with a mean age of 30 years. Eight
      patients (4.2%) had stage 1, 71 patients (37.6%) had stage 2, and 110 patients
      (58.2%) had stage 3 ingrown toenails. The mean operation time was 4.8 minutes. No
      complication occurred during the procedure. It was found that 15 patients (7.9%)
      had recurrence during the follow-up. CONCLUSION: The original Winograd technique
      is an efficient and less-invasive technique for the treatment of ingrown toenail,
      with lower rates of recurrence and complications. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic
      Case Series Study, Level IV.

PMID- 28587479
TI  - Using 'WeChat' online social networking in a real-world needs analysis of family
      members of youths at clinical high risk of psychosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The argument surrounding the safety and effectiveness of interventions
      for the population of individuals at a clinical high risk of developing psychosis
      has been ongoing for the past 30 years. However, few studies have assessed the
      needs of this special young population, who are struggling with the recent onset
      of psychotic symptoms. METHOD: The sample consisted of 171 family members of 108
      clinical high-risk individuals included from the ShangHai at Risk for Psychosis
      research programme. A 'WeChat' group was established to provide mutual support.
      There were 22,007 valid messages sent within the group between 1 April 2015 and
      27 June 2016. Chat records were subsequently analysed to determine the needs of
      families during intervention at the early stages of psychosis. RESULTS: Families
      of clinical high-risk individuals were highly involved in the entire medical
      process, and the major concerns of the families of clinical high-risk individuals
      focused on both functional recovery and medication. The themes of 'take
      medication', 'go to school' and 'study in school' were often discussed within the
      group. CONCLUSION: A family-focused intervention targeting functional recovery
      and real-time professional explanations of medication would meet the major needs
      of families of Chinese clinical high-risk individuals.

PMID- 28587480
TI  - Nutritional composition, antioxidant activity and isolation of scopoletin from
      Senecio nutans: support of ancestral and new uses.
AB  - Continuing with our study characterising Senecio nutans Sch. Bip., we have
      isolated and identified a simple coumarin, scopoletin, that could be relevant for
      the biological properties of the species related with the ancestral medical uses.
      This is the first report of scopoletin from S. nutans. In addition, the extract
      was analysed for its antioxidant activity using the ABTS and FRAP method as well
      as providing the first nutritional analyses of this plant from northern Chile
      highlands.

PMID- 28587481
TI  - Increased Incidence of Critical Illness in Psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of comorbid disease.
      Despite the recognition of increased morbidity in psoriasis, the effects on
      health care utilisation remain incompletely understood. Little is known about the
      risk of intensive care unit (ICU) admission in persons with psoriasis. OBJECTIVE:
      To compare the incidence of ICU admission and post-ICU mortality rates in a
      psoriasis population compared with a matched population without psoriasis.
      METHODS: Using population-based administrative data from Manitoba, Canada, we
      identified 40 930 prevalent cases of psoriasis and an age-, sex-, and
      geographically matched cohort from the general population (n = 150 210). We
      compared the incidence of ICU admission between populations using incidence rates
      and Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and
      comorbidity and compared mortality after ICU admission. RESULTS: Among incident
      psoriasis cases (n = 30 150), the cumulative 10-year incidence of ICU admission
      was 5.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.3%-5.8%), 21% higher than in the
      matched cohort (incidence rate ratio, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.15-1.27). In the prevalent
      psoriasis cohort, crude mortality in the ICU was 11.5% (95% CI, 9.9%-13.0%), 32%
      higher than observed in the matched population admitted to the ICU (8.7%; 95% CI,
      8.3%-9.1%). Mortality rates after ICU admission remained elevated at all time
      points in the psoriasis cohort compared with the matched cohort. CONCLUSION:
      Psoriasis is associated with an increased risk for ICU admission and with an
      increased risk of mortality post-ICU admission.

PMID- 28587482
TI  - What is the impact of volunteers providing care and support for people with
      dementia in acute hospitals? A systematic review.
AB  - A quarter of acute hospital beds are occupied by people with dementia, and a
      hospital stay may impact negatively on their health and wellbeing. The
      development and implementation of volunteers to provide social, activity-based,
      one-to-one support for people with dementia in acute hospitals has become routine
      practice. However, the evidence to support this practice has not been identified
      or evaluated. This systematic review considers the effect of volunteers on the
      care and experience of people with co-morbid cognitive impairment/dementia in
      acute hospitals. The systematic search identified 444 papers, although only three
      papers included specific analysis relating to the impact of volunteers. The
      evidence suggests volunteers may have potential to enhance the experiences of
      people with dementia in acute hospitals; however, there is currently a marked
      lack of evidence to support the widespread implementation of volunteers. There is
      therefore an urgent need for multi-site robust research to provide evidence of
      the impact of volunteers supporting people with cognitive impairment/dementia
      during an acute hospital stay.

PMID- 28587483
TI  - Day care for people with dementia: A qualitative study comparing experiences from
      Norway and Scotland.
AB  - Potential benefits from day care attendance are reported in the literature for
      both people with dementia and caregivers, although the evidence-base is limited.
      The study aimed to explore and compare experiences of day care services for
      people with dementia as described by day care attendees and their caregivers in
      Norway and Scotland. Whereas day care receives prominence in Norway's national
      dementia plan, Scotland does not highlight day care in its national dementia
      strategy. A qualitative cross-national comparative study was undertaken. Semi
      structured interviews were conducted with 17 people with dementia and 17
      caregivers in Norway, and 19 people with dementia and 15 caregivers in Scotland.
      Data were analyzed thematically and comparatively to explore the experiences and
      outcomes of the participants. Findings indicate positive outcomes from day care
      for both people with dementia and caregivers. Satisfaction with services related
      to meaningful activities, getting out of the home, strengthening social
      connections and careful staff facilitation to create a positive and welcoming
      atmosphere. There were strong similarities in the content of services and
      experiences reported in the two countries. Some minor differences were noted,
      with caregiver support being an area of notable divergence in experiences.
      Specialist day care for people with dementia seems to provide important support
      and positive outcomes for people with dementia, and respite and reassurance for
      their caregivers. More research is needed to further explore the effect of day
      care designed for people with dementia both on the attendees and their
      caregivers.

PMID- 28587484
TI  - Seven-Year Follow-up of Matrix-Induced Autologous Implantation in Talus Articular
      Defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) are difficult to treat
      because of the poor intrinsic healing capability of articular cartilage. Matrix
      induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) has been shown to be a
      reliable method for treating cartilage lesions that fail to respond to
      traditional microfracture and debridement. The purpose of this study was to
      assess 7-year clinical follow-up data of this technique and demonstrate midterm
      success of this implant. METHODS: A prospective investigation of MACI was
      performed on 10 patients with OLTs who had failed previous arthroscopic
      treatment. In all, 5 male and 5 female patients were included in the study. Of
      the 10 patients, 9 were available for 7-year follow-up. Functional and clinical
      evaluations were done at 7 years postoperatively using the American Orthopaedic
      Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot evaluation and the Short Form Health
      Survey (SF-36) and compared with preoperative values. RESULTS: SF-36 data at 7
      years showed significant improvements in Physical Functioning (P < .01), Lack of
      Bodily Pain (P < .1), and Social Functioning (P < .001) compared with
      preoperative data. The mean AOFAS hindfoot scores of the 9 patients at 7 years
      was 78.3 +/- 18.1 (P = .05) compared with their preoperative mean of 61.8 +/-
      14.3. CONCLUSIONS: MACI provides a stable midterm chondral replacement strategy
      for osteochondral lesions that fail initial microfracture. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE:
      Level IV: Prospective case series.

PMID- 28587485
TI  - Management of Nonunited Talar Fractures With Avascular Necrosis by Resection of
      Necrotic Bone, Bone Grafting, and Fusion With an Intramedullary Nail.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of nonunion of a talar fracture with displacement,
      together with complete avascular necrosis, is a challenging entity to treat.
      METHODS: Twelve patients, 8 men (66.7%) and 4 women (33.3%), with nonunited talar
      fractures and extensive avascular necrosis of the talus were included. The
      average age was 27.7 years (range, 19-38 years). After exclusion of infection,
      the patients underwent resection of necrotic bone, bulk autograft, and fusion
      using an intramedullary nail. The posterior approach was used in 11 patients and
      the anterior approach in 1 patient. The primary outcome was solid osseous union
      at the ankle and subtalar level and between the talar head anteriorly and the
      posterior construct, as evidenced by computed tomographic examination. Functional
      assessment was performed with the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society score
      and subjective patient satisfaction Results: After a mean follow-up duration of
      23 months (range, 12-60 months), solid osseous union was achieved in 8 patients
      (66.7%). Stable fibrous union was seen in 1 patient (8.3%). Three patients (25%)
      required reoperation, and osseous fusion was finally achieved. American
      Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society score improved from a mean of 39.3 (range, 12
      56) preoperatively to 76.6 (range, 62-86) at last follow-up. Subjective patient
      satisfaction was graded good or excellent in all cases. CONCLUSION: Resection of
      necrotic talar body and bulk autograft with tibiotalocalcaneal fusion by an
      intramedullary nail through a posterior approach was a reasonable option for the
      management of type IV posttraumatic talar deformity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV,
      case series.

PMID- 28587486
TI  - Morphological and physicochemical evaluation of the propranolol HCl-Eudragit(r)
      RS100 electrosprayed nanoformulations.
AB  - The aim of this study was to fabricate propranolol hydrochloride (Prop. HCl) (as
      a water-soluble drug):Eudragit(r) RS100 (Eud) nanobeads and nanofibres applying
      the electrospraying method as an economical and one-step technique. Different
      ratios of Prop. HCl:Eud (i.e. 1:5 and 1:10) at total solution concentrations of
      10-20% W/V were investigated. The FE-SEM studies revealed that morphology and
      size of the samples were highly affected by the solution concentration; so that,
      the nanobeads (a mean diameter of 82.9 nm) were formed in low concentration and
      at the highest concentration of the solution, nanofibres (a mean diameter of
      232.3 nm) were resulted. Besides the morphological changes, the size of processed
      nanoformulations was increased with an increment of the solution concentrations.
      X-ray diffraction results as well as DSC thermograms clearly indicated that the
      drug crystallinity decreased in the electrosprayed samples. Furthermore, in vitro
      dissolution test showed that the electrosprayed samples had relatively slower
      release patterns toward the pure drug and physical mixtures, where the samples
      with the drug:polymer ratio of 1:10 indicated a faster release rate toward 1:5
      ratio; nevertheless, the concentration of the injected formulations did not
      remarkably impressed the release behaviours. The current study established the
      suitability of electrospraying method in the fabrication of the water-soluble
      drugs nanobeads/nanofibres; however, in vivo effectiveness of the prepared
      nanoformulations should be meticulously considered.

PMID- 28587487
TI  - Chemical constituents and biological activities of Dianthus elegans var. elegans.
AB  - Chemical investigation of the aerial parts of Dianthus elegans var. elegans
      afforded two previously undescribed saponins, named dianosides M-N (1-2),
      together with four oleanane-type triterpenoid glycosides (3-6). Their structures
      were elucidated as 3-O-alpha-L-arabinofuranosyl-16alpha-hydroxyolean-12-ene
      23alpha, 28beta-dioic acid (1) and 3-O-alpha-L-arabinofuranosyl-(1 -> 3)-beta-D
      glucopyranosyl 16alpha-hydroxyolean-12-ene-23alpha-oic acid, 28-O-beta-D
      glucopyranosyl-(1 -> 6)-beta-D-glycosyl ester (2) by chemical and extensive
      spectroscopic methods including IR, 1D, 2D NMR and HRESIMS. Both of the saponins
      were evaluated for their cytotoxicities against HEK-293, A-549 and HeLa human
      cancer cells using the MTT method. All compounds showed no substantial cytotoxic
      activity against tested cell lines. However, dianosides M-N and the n-butanol
      fraction exhibited considerable haemolysis in human erythrocyte cells. The
      immunomodulatory properties of dianosides M-N were also evaluated in activated
      whole blood cells by PMA plus ionomycin. Dianosides M-N increased IL-1beta
      concentration significantly whereas the n-butanol fraction slightly augmented IL
      1beta secretion. All compounds did not change IL-2 and IFN-gamma levels
      considerably.

PMID- 28587488
TI  - Running multiple marathons is not a risk factor for premature subclinical
      vascular impairment.
AB  - Background In contrast to the well-accepted benefits of moderate exercise, recent
      research has suggested potential deleterious effects of repeated marathon running
      on the cardiovascular system. We thus performed a comprehensive analysis of
      markers of subclinical vascular damage in a cohort of runners having finished
      multiple marathon races successfully. Design This was a prospective,
      observational study. Methods A total of 97 healthy male Munich marathon
      participants (mean age 44 +/- 10 years) underwent detailed training history,
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing for assessment of peak oxygen uptake, ultrasound
      for assessment of intima-media-thickness as well as non-invasive assessments of
      ankle-brachial index, augmentation index, pulse wave velocity and reactive
      hyperaemia index. Results Runners had previously completed a median of eight
      (range 1-500) half marathons, six (1-100) full marathons and three (1-40)
      ultramarathons; mean weekly and annual training volumes were 59 +/- 23 and 1639
      +/- 979 km. Mean peak oxygen uptake was 50 +/- 8 ml/min/kg, and the Munich
      marathon was finished in 3:45 +/- 0:32 h. Runners showed normal mean values for
      intima-media-thickness (0.60 +/- 0.14 mm), ankle-brachial index (1.2 +/- 0.1),
      augmentation index (17 +/- 13%), pulse wave velocity (8.7 +/- 1.4 cm/s) and
      reactive hyperaemia index (1.96 +/- 0.50). Age was significantly and
      independently associated with intima-media-thickness ( r = 0.531; p < 0.001),
      augmentation index ( r = 0.593; p < 0.001) and pulse wave velocity ( r = 0.357; p
      < 0.001). However, no independent associations of peak oxygen uptake, marathon
      finishing time, number of completed races or weekly and annual training km with
      any of the vascular parameters were observed. Conclusions In this cohort of
      healthy male runners, running multiple marathon races did not pose an additional
      risk factor for premature subclinical vascular impairment beyond age.

PMID- 28587490
TI  - Ethical challenges in pregnant women with brain injury.

PMID- 28587489
TI  - Laboratory evaluation of an optimised internet-based speech-in-noise test for
      occupational high-frequency hearing loss screening: Occupational Earcheck.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The "Occupational Earcheck" (OEC) is a Dutch online self-screening
      speech-in-noise test developed for the detection of occupational high-frequency
      hearing loss (HFHL). This study evaluates an optimised version of the test and
      determines the most appropriate masking noise. DESIGN: The original OEC was
      improved by homogenisation of the speech material, and shortening the test. A
      laboratory-based cross-sectional study was performed in which the optimised OEC
      in five alternative masking noise conditions was evaluated. STUDY SAMPLE: The
      study was conducted on 18 normal-hearing (NH) adults, and 15 middle-aged
      listeners with HFHL. RESULTS: The OEC in a low-pass (LP) filtered stationary
      background noise (test version LP 3: with a cut-off frequency of 1.6 kHz, and a
      noise floor of -12 dB) was the most accurate version tested. The test showed a
      reasonable sensitivity (93%), and specificity (94%) and test reliability (intra
      class correlation coefficient: 0.84, mean within-subject standard deviation: 1.5
      dB SNR, slope of psychometric function: 13.1%/dB SNR). CONCLUSIONS: The improved
      OEC, with homogenous word material in a LP filtered noise, appears to be suitable
      for the discrimination between younger NH listeners and older listeners with
      HFHL. The appropriateness of the OEC for screening purposes in an occupational
      setting will be studied further.

PMID- 28587491
TI  - Local uterine resection for placenta percreta: technical details are important.

PMID- 28587492
TI  - Digits and narratives of the experience of Italian families facing premature
      births.
AB  - The objective of the research was to understand the experience of families living
      a premature birth and to outline the current care plan in Italy. The survey was
      addressed to 150 parents of children born under the 34th week of pregnancy.
      Topics of the investigation were the implications on their family, social and
      working contexts, determined through a questionnaire enriched by a collection of
      narratives. Written testimonies were clustered through a Narrative Medicine
      method and matched with quantitative information. The main respondents were
      mothers of severe and moderate preterm children. Except for the Kangaroo Care,
      services were not uniformed amongst the centers and few home care supports
      resulted available for families. Sixty-seven percent of the mothers could not
      obtain a prolonged maternity leave and described the impacts on their working
      activities. Narratives revealed a low level of prevention, information and
      awareness on the risks of prematurity amongst families, few local networks among
      Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) teams, gynecologists and pediatricians, and
      the shortage of support for parents at work; these actions were collected in a
      Position Paper. Findings showed the integration between families' coping
      strategies and the offered care services for preterm births. Narrative tools
      could represent the bridge between families and health care teams.

PMID- 28587493
TI  - A randomized controlled trial of a new treatment for labor dystocia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Labor dystocia is an intransigent, high-profile issue in obstetric
      care. Amniotic fluid lactate (AFL) reflects the uterine metabolic status. High
      levels associate with subsequent need for operative intervention due to dystocia.
      In sports medicine, it is known that lactic acid can affect muscular performance
      and can be decreased by bicarbonate given orally before physical activity.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two hundred dystocic deliveries were included. At the
      confirmation of dystocia, the AFL-level was analyzed. Deliveries were randomized
      to an intake of bicarbonate or not. In the "non-bicarbonate-group", stimulation
      with oxytocin was started immediately. In the "bicarbonate-group", bicarbonate
      was given; and oxytocin was started 1 hour after the intake. New sampling of AF
      was performed after 1 hour in both groups. OUTCOME MEASURED: if an oral intake of
      bicarbonate changes the AFL levels and enhances delivery outcome in dystocic
      deliveries. RESULTS: Bicarbonate decreases the AFL levels (p < .001). The
      spontaneous vaginal delivery rate after treatment with bicarbonate was increased
      (p = .007), without affecting the fetal outcome. CONCLUSIONS: An increase of
      spontaneous vaginal deliveries resulted from bicarbonate ingestion by dystocic
      women. A decreased level of AFL-level was shown. This simple, low cost treatment
      has the potential to improve maternal morbidity and satisfaction worldwide.

PMID- 28587494
TI  - Impact of information and communication technology on interprofessional
      collaboration for chronic disease management: a systematic review.
AB  - Objectives Information and communication technology is often lauded as the key to
      enhancing communication among health care providers. However, its impact on
      interprofessional collaboration is unclear. The objective of this study was to
      determine the extent to which it improves communication and, subsequently,
      enhances interprofessional collaboration in chronic disease management. Methods A
      systematic review of academic literature using two electronic platforms:
      HealthSTAR and Web of Science (core collection and MEDLINE). To be eligible for
      inclusion in the review, articles needed to be peer-reviewed; accessible in
      English and focused on how technology supports, or might support, collaboration
      (through enhanced communication) in chronic disease management. Studies were
      assessed for quality and a narrative synthesis conducted. Results The searches
      identified 289 articles of which six were included in the final analysis (three
      used qualitative methods, two were descriptive and one used mixed methods).
      Various forms of information and communication technology were described
      including electronic health records, online communities/learning resources and
      telehealth/telecare. Three themes emerged from the studies that may provide
      insights into how communication that facilitates collaboration in chronic disease
      management might be enhanced: professional conflict, collective engagement and
      continuous learning. Conclusions The success of technology in enhancing
      collaboration for chronic disease management depends upon supporting the social
      relationships and organization in which the technology will be placed. Decision
      makers should take into account and work toward balancing the impact of
      technology together with the professional and cultural characteristics of health
      care teams.

PMID- 28587496
TI  - Review article: a practical approach to the clinical management of NSAID
      enteropathy.
AB  - Co-prescription of acid suppressive therapy, together with advances in small
      bowel imaging techniques, have shifted the burden of NSAID-related toxicity from
      gastro-duodenal to more distal small bowel injury. Due to predominantly
      subclinical disease, NSAID enteropathy remains under-recognised, with an
      incidence of 53-80% amongst healthy short-term users, and a prevalence of 50-71%
      following long-term (>3 months) use. Despite their distinct pathogenesis, those
      at risk of NSAID-related gastro-duodenal and small bowel complications share
      several risk factors. Clinical complications of NSAID enteropathy such as protein
      losing enteropathy, small bowel strictures and diaphragm disease, confer
      significant morbidity, and are often irreversible. Small bowel prophylaxis has
      proven of modest efficacy after short-term, high-dose NSAID use in asymptomatic
      patients. While selective COX-2 inhibitors are associated with fewer gastro
      duodenal complications relative to non-selective NSAIDs, their comparative
      benefit in protecting against small bowel enteropathy remains unclear.
      Prophylaxis should be considered in those at high risk of small bowel
      complications, as treatment options for established disease remain limited;
      however, the optimal agent remains unclear. We propose a clinical algorithm that
      may help prevent, monitor, investigate, and manage the sequelae of NSAID-induced
      small bowel toxicity.

PMID- 28587497
TI  - Accelerated leukemic transformation after haplo-identical transplantation for
      hydroxyurea-treated sickle cell disease.

PMID- 28587495
TI  - Allele-specific interaction between glutathione peroxidase 1 and manganese
      superoxide dismutase affects the levels of Bcl-2, Sirt3 and E-cadherin.
AB  - Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is a mitochondrial-resident enzyme that
      reduces superoxide to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which can be further reduced to
      water by glutathione peroxidase (GPX1). Data from human studies have indicated
      that common polymorphisms in both of these proteins are associated with the risk
      of several cancers, including breast cancer. Moreover, polymorphisms in MnSOD and
      GPX1 were shown to interact to increase the risk of breast cancer. To gain an
      understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind these observations, we
      engineered human MCF-7 breast cancer cells to exclusively express GPX1 and/or
      MnSOD alleles and investigated the consequences on the expression of several
      proteins associated with cancer aetiology. Little or no effect was observed on
      the ectopic expression of these genes on the phosphorylation of Akt, although
      allele-specific effects and interactions were observed for the impact on the
      levels of Bcl-2, E-cadherin and Sirt3. The patterns observed were not consistent
      with the steady-state levels of H2O2 determined in the transfected cells. These
      results indicate plausible contributing factors to the effects of allelic
      variations on cancer risk observed in human epidemiological studies.

PMID- 28587499
TI  - Loss in translation.

PMID- 28587500
TI  - Evaluation of Health Equity Impact of Structural Policies: Overview of Research
      Methods Used in the SOPHIE Project.
AB  - This article briefly assesses the research methods that were applied in the
      SOPHIE project to evaluate the impact of structural policies on population health
      and health inequalities. The evaluation of structural policies is one of the key
      methodological challenges in today's public health. The experience in the SOPHIE
      project was that mixed methods are essential to identify, understand, and predict
      the health impact of structural policies. On the one hand, quantitative studies
      that included spatial comparisons or time trend analyses, preferably in a quasi
      experimental design, showed that some structural policies were associated with
      improved population health and smaller health inequalities. On the other hand,
      qualitative studies, often inspired by realist approaches, were important to
      understand how these policies could have achieved the observed impact and why
      they would succeed in some settings but fail in others. This review ends with
      five recommendations for future studies that aim to evaluate, understand, and
      predict how health inequalities can be reduced through structural policies.

PMID- 28587498
TI  - Surface EEG-Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Closed-Loop System.
AB  - Conventional transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) protocols rely on
      applying electrical current at a fixed intensity and duration without using
      surrogate markers to direct the interventions. This has led to some mixed
      results; especially because tDCS induced effects may vary depending on the
      ongoing level of brain activity. Therefore, the objective of this preliminary
      study was to assess the feasibility of an EEG-triggered tDCS system based on EEG
      online analysis of its frequency bands. Six healthy volunteers were randomized to
      participate in a double-blind sham-controlled crossover design to receive a
      single session of 10[Formula: see text]min 2[Formula: see text]mA cathodal and
      sham tDCS. tDCS trigger controller was based upon an algorithm designed to detect
      an increase in the relative beta power of more than 200%, accompanied by a
      decrease of 50% or more in the relative alpha power, based on baseline EEG
      recordings. EEG-tDCS closed-loop-system was able to detect the predefined EEG
      magnitude deviation and successfully triggered the stimulation in all
      participants. This preliminary study represents a proof-of-concept for the
      development of an EEG-tDCS closed-loop system in humans. We discuss and review
      here different methods of closed loop system that can be considered and potential
      clinical applications of such system.

PMID- 28587502
TI  - Ethical values in nurse education perceived by students and educators.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Education is considered the first function and mission of the
      university, and observing educational ethics guarantees the health of the
      teaching-learning process in the university. AIM: The aim of this study was to
      explore ethical values in nursing education from the perspective of Iranian
      nursing students and educators. RESEARCH DESIGN: This qualitative study was
      conducted using the Thematic Content Analyses method. The data were collected
      from seven semi-structured individual interviews and three focus group
      discussions from July to November 2015. Participants and research context: The
      participants were faculty educators of nursing and nursing students in Tehran,
      capital of Iran, who were selected through purposive sampling. They were
      recruited gradually. Sampling was continued until data saturation when no new
      codes were extracted. Ethical committee: This study was conducted after obtaining
      the approval of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Ethics Committee,
      and informed consent were ensured before conducting the research. The principles
      of voluntariness, confidentiality, and anonymity were respected during the
      research process. FINDINGS: Seven major themes emerged: human dignity,
      constructive human relations, educational justice, competency enhancement,
      excellence view, wisdom, and commitment and accountability. CONCLUSION: The
      results of this study indicated that although many of the values, as universal
      values, were similar to those of other countries-which can be a reflection of the
      globalization process in the nursing profession and the presence of humanistic
      and spiritual approaches at the roots of the discipline, some differences could
      be found in the content of values due to factors such as the people's beliefs,
      culture, and religion. Iranian nursing students and educators revealed a unique
      and culture-based set of ethical values.

PMID- 28587503
TI  - Sense of responsibility in ICU end-of-life decision-making: Relatives'
      experiences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relatives of intensive care unit patients who lack or have reduced
      capacity to consent are entitled to information and participation in decision
      making together with the patient. Practice varies with legislation in different
      countries. In Norway, crucial decisions such as withdrawing treatment are made by
      clinicians, usually morally justified to relatives with reference to the
      principle of non-maleficence. The relatives should, however, be consulted about
      whether they know what the patient would have wished in the situation. RESEARCH
      OBJECTIVES: To examine and describe relatives' experiences of responsibility in
      the intensive care unit decision-making process. RESEARCH DESIGN: A secondary
      analysis of interviews with bereaved relatives of intensive care unit patients
      was performed, using a narrative analytical approach. Participants and research
      context: In all, 27 relatives of 21 deceased intensive care unit patients were
      interviewed about their experiences from the end-of-life decision-making process.
      Most interviews took place in the participants' homes, 3-12 months after the
      patient's death. Ethical considerations: Based on informed consent, the study was
      approved by the Data Protection Official of the Norwegian Social Science Data
      Services and by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics.
      FINDINGS: The results show that intensive care unit relatives experienced a sense
      of responsibility in the decision-making process, independently of clinicians'
      intention of sparing them. Some found this troublesome. Three different variants
      of participation were revealed, ranging from paternalism to a more active role
      for relatives. DISCUSSION: For the study participants, the sense of
      responsibility reflects the fact that ethics and responsibility are grounded in
      the individual's relationship to other people. Relatives need to be included in a
      continuous dialogue over time to understand decisions and responsibility.
      CONCLUSION: Nurses and physicians should acknowledge and address relatives' sense
      of responsibility, include them in regular dialogue and help them separate their
      responsibility from that of the clinicians.

PMID- 28587501
TI  - Crude Exploration: Portraying Industrial Disaster in Deepwater Horizon, a Film
      Directed By Peter Berg, 2016 Crude Exploration: Portraying Industrial Disaster in
      Deepwater Horizon, a Film Directed By Peter Berg, 2016 .
AB  - The 2016 film Deepwater Horizon offers a rare portrayal of industrial disaster.
      It is novel as there are few film-based treatments of this issue. The film
      enables the public to learn about the disaster, the lives lost, and the stories
      of survival, but it also provides the opportunity to examine how industrial
      disaster and, by extension, occupational health and safety may be publicly framed
      and understood. This article presents an analysis of Deepwater Horizon. Four
      primary industrial disaster frames are identified in the film: profit
      maximization, technology and technology failure, managerial conflict, and worker
      portrayals. Each frame offers advantages and limitations for enhancing public
      understandings of industrial disaster. Missing from the film is the regulatory
      environment of the oil drilling industry, whose omission serves to potentially
      reproduce messages that privilege individualistic, isolated, views of industrial
      disasters and prioritize immediate over distal causes.

PMID- 28587504
TI  -  Attention to Perceive, to Learn, and to Respond.
AB  - Mackintosh and his collaborators (e.g., McLaren, Kaye, & Mackintosh, 1989) put
      forward an account of perceptual learning effects based, in part, on learned
      changes in stimulus salience. In the workshop held to mark Mackintosh's
      retirement, and published as a special issue of this journal, Hall (2003)
      discussed Mackintosh's theory, and proposed his own alternative account. We now
      want to take the story forward in the light of findings and theoretical
      perspectives that have emerged since then. Specifically, we will argue that
      neither Mackintosh nor Hall was correct in his account of the principles that
      govern how changes in salience occur. Both supposed (in different ways) that such
      changes depend on the way in which the stimulus (or stimulus element) is
      predicted by another event. In contrast, theories of attentional learning
      (Mackintosh, 1975, Pearce & Hall, 1980) have stressed the notion that changes in
      the properties of a stimulus might depend on the way in which it predicts its
      consequences. These theories have been concerned with attention-for-learning
      (associability). We now consider how the general principle they both employ might
      be relevant to the other forms of attention (for perception and for performance)
      that are, we will argue, critical for the perceptual learning effect.

PMID- 28587507
TI  - ADHD Is Comorbid to Migraine in Childhood: A Population-Based Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recurrent headaches and ADHD are prevalent in the pediatric
      population. Herein, we assess if ADHD is comorbid to headaches overall, to
      headache subtypes (e.g., migraine), and to headache frequency. METHOD: Informed
      consent and analyzable data were obtained for 5,671 children aged 5 to 12 years
      (65.9% of the target sample). Parents and teachers were interviewed using
      validated questionnaires based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5). Relative risks were modeled using univariate and
      multivariate analyses. RESULTS: As contrasted to nonheadache controls, the
      prevalence of ADHD was significantly higher in children with migraine ( p < .001)
      but not in those with tension-type headaches. In children with migraine, risk of
      ADHD increased as a function of headache frequency ( p < .05). CONCLUSION:
      Migraine and frequent migraine are comorbid to ADHD. Future studies should focus
      on the impact of the association on the burden to the children and their
      families.

PMID- 28587505
TI  - Chronic cervical radiculopathic pain is associated with increased excitability
      and hyperpolarization-activated current ( Ih) in large-diameter dorsal root
      ganglion neurons.
AB  - Cervical radiculopathic pain is a very common symptom that may occur with
      cervical spondylosis. Mechanical allodynia is often associated with cervical
      radiculopathic pain and is inadequately treated with current therapies. However,
      the precise mechanisms underlying cervical radiculopathic pain-associated
      mechanical allodynia have remained elusive. Compelling evidence from animal
      models suggests a role of large-diameter dorsal root ganglion neurons and
      plasticity of spinal circuitry attached with Abeta fibers in mediating
      neuropathic pain. Whether cervical radiculopathic pain condition induces plastic
      changes of large-diameter dorsal root ganglion neurons and what mechanisms
      underlie these changes are yet to be known. With combination of patch-clamp
      recording, immunohistochemical staining, as well as behavioral surveys, we
      demonstrated that upon chronic compression of C7/8 dorsal root ganglions, large
      diameter cervical dorsal root ganglion neurons exhibited frequent spontaneous
      firing together with hyperexcitability. Quantitative analysis of
      hyperpolarization-activated cation current ( Ih) revealed that Ih was greatly
      upregulated in large dorsal root ganglion neurons from cervical radiculopathic
      pain rats. This increased Ih was supported by the enhanced expression of
      hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-modulated channels subunit 3 in
      large dorsal root ganglion neurons. Blockade of Ih with selective antagonist,
      ZD7288 was able to eliminate the mechanical allodynia associated with cervical
      radiculopathic pain. This study sheds new light on the functional plasticity of a
      specific subset of large-diameter dorsal root ganglion neurons and reveals a
      novel mechanism that could underlie the mechanical allodynia associated with
      cervical radiculopathy.

PMID- 28587506
TI  - Extracorporeal photopheresis for GVHD prophylaxis after reduced intensity
      conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a prospective
      multicenter phase 2 study.
AB  - We performed a prospective multicenter phase 2 study to evaluate the safety and
      efficacy of prophylactic Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP) in adult patients
      with hematological malignancies early after RIC allo-HSCT on day 21 twice per
      week during the first two weeks and then once per week for the next four weeks
      for a total of eight ECP courses. A total of 20 patients were included; 10 were
      males, median age was 60 years. All patients engrafted, 17 (85%) received the
      total eight ECP courses. There were no adverse effects related to ECP. Seven
      patients developed acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), with 15% grade >= II
      cumulative incidence at day 100. The cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD at 2
      years was 22%. The 2 years probability of overall survival (OS) and progression
      free survival (PFS) were 84 and 74%, respectively. This study shows encouraging
      results with low acute and chronic GVHD incidence and no interference with graft
      versus-leukemia (GVL) effect.

PMID- 28587508
TI  - Threats or violence from patients was associated with turnover intention among
      foreign-born GPs - a comparison of four workplace factors associated with
      attitudes of wanting to quit one's job as a GP.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: General practitioners (GPs) are crucial in medical healthcare, but
      there is currently a shortage of GPs in Sweden and elsewhere. Recruitment of GPs
      from abroad is essential, but foreign-born physicians face difficulties at work
      that may be related to turnover intention, i.e. wanting to quit one's job. The
      study aims to explore the reasons to why foreign-born GPs may intend to quit
      their job. DESIGN: Survey data were used to compare four work-related factors
      that can be associated with turnover intentions; patient-related stress, threats
      or violence from patients, control of work pace, and empowering leadership, among
      native-born and foreign-born GPs. These work-related factors were subsequently
      examined in relation to turnover intention among the foreign-born GPs by means of
      linear hierarchical regression analyses. The questionnaire consisted of items
      from the QPS Nordic and items constructed by the authors. SETTING: A primary care
      setting in a central area of Sweden. SUBJECTS: Native-born (n = 208) and foreign
      born GPs (n = 73). RESULTS: Turnover intention was more common among foreign-born
      GPs (19.2% compared with 14.9%), as was the experience of threats or violence
      from patients (22% compared with 3% of the native-born GPs). Threats or violence
      was also associated with increased turnover intention. Control of work pace and
      an empowering leadership was associated with reduced turnover intention. PRACTICE
      IMPLICATIONS: The organisations need to recognise that foreign-born GPs may face
      increased rates of threats and/or violence from patients, which may ultimately
      cause job turnover and be harmful to the exposed individual.

PMID- 28587509
TI  - Differential involvement of reactive oxygen species in a mouse model of capsaicin
      induced secondary mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia.
AB  - Abstract: Intradermally injected capsaicin induces secondary mechanical
      hyperalgesia and allodynia outside the primary (i.e., capsaicininjected)site.
      This secondary mechanical hypersensitivity is attributed to central sensitization
      in which reactive oxygenspecies (ROS) play a key role. We examined whether ROS
      would be differentially involved in secondary mechanical hyperalgesiaand
      allodynia using a mouse intraplantar capsaicin injection model. In mice,
      capsaicin-induced secondary mechanicalhyperalgesia outlasted its allodynia
      counterpart. Unlike the hyperalgesia, the allodynia was temporarily abolished by
      ananesthetic given at the capsaicin-injected site. The ROS scavenger phenyl-N
      tert-butylnitrone slowed the development ofboth secondary mechanical hyperalgesia
      and allodynia when administered before intraplantar capsaicin injection, whereas
      itinhibited only the allodynia when administered after capsaicin had already
      induced secondary mechanical hyperalgesia andallodynia. Intrathecal injection of
      the ROS donor KO2 induced both mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia with the
      formeroutlasting the latter. Metformin, an activator of redox-sensitive adenosine
      monophosphate-activated protein kinase, selectivelyinhibited capsaicin-induced
      secondary mechanical allodynia and intrathecal KO2-induced mechanical allodynia.
      Theseresults suggest that ROS is required for rapid activation of central
      sensitization mechanisms for both secondary mechanicalhyperalgesia and allodynia
      after intraplantar capsaicin injection. Once activated, the mechanism for the
      hyperalgesia is longlastingwithout being critically dependent on ongoing afferent
      activities arising from the capsaicin-injected site and thecontinuous presence of
      ROS. On the contrary, the ongoing afferent activities, ROS presence and adenosine
      monophosphate-activatedprotein kinase inhibition are indispensable for the
      maintenance mechanism for capsaicin-induced secondarymechanical allodynia.

PMID- 28587511
TI  - Diagnosis and management of clinical reasoning difficulties: Part II. Clinical
      reasoning difficulties: Management and remediation strategies.
AB  - Part II of this AMEE Guide provides a detailed overview of the main difficulties
      in clinical reasoning, including the cues to look out for in clinical
      supervision, the root causes of each difficulty and targeted remediation
      strategies. Specific challenges and issues related to the management of clinical
      reasoning difficulties will also be discussed.

PMID- 28587512
TI  - Accuracy of predicted haemoglobin concentration on cardiopulmonary bypass in
      paediatric cardiac surgery: effect of different formulae for estimating patient
      blood volume.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: When applying a blood-conserving approach in paediatric cardiac
      surgery with the aim of reducing the transfusion of homologous blood products,
      the decision to use blood or blood-free priming of the cardiopulmonary bypass
      (CPB) circuit is often based on the predicted haemoglobin concentration (Hb) as
      derived from the pre-CPB Hb, the prime volume and the estimated blood volume. We
      assessed the accuracy of this approach and whether it may be improved by using
      more sophisticated methods of estimating the blood volume. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Data from 522 paediatric cardiac surgery patients treated with CPB with blood
      free priming in a 2-year period from May 2013 to May 2015 were collected.
      Inclusion criteria were body weight <15 kg and available Hb data immediately
      prior to and after the onset of CPB. The Hb on CPB was predicted according to
      Fick's principle from the pre-CPB Hb, the prime volume and the patient blood
      volume. Linear regression analyses and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess the
      accuracy of the Hb prediction. Different methods to estimate the blood volume
      were assessed and compared. RESULTS: The initial Hb on CPB correlated well with
      the predicted Hb (R2=0.87, p<0.001). A Bland-Altman plot revealed little bias at
      0.07 g/dL and an area of agreement from -1.35 to 1.48 g/dL. More sophisticated
      methods of estimating blood volume from lean body mass did not improve the Hb
      prediction, but rather increased bias. CONCLUSION: Hb prediction is reasonably
      accurate, with the best result obtained with the simplest method of estimating
      the blood volume at 80 mL/kg body weight. When deciding for or against blood-free
      priming, caution is necessary when the predicted Hb lies in a range of +/- 2 g/dL
      around the transfusion trigger.

PMID- 28587510
TI  - Effects of Fluticasone Furoate Nasal Spray on Parameters of Eosinophilic
      Inflammation in Patients With Nasal Polyposis and Perennial Allergic Rhinitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES)
      and eotaxin-2 have been postulated to be responsible for eosinophilia in
      chronically inflamed nasal mucosa. This study evaluated mucosal production of
      RANTES and eotaxin-2 in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) and
      nonallergic and allergic form of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps
      (CRSwNP) before and after nasal corticosteroid treatment. METHODS: Twenty
      patients with PAR, 20 nonallergic and 20 allergic CRSwNP patients, and 20 healthy
      controls were included. The RANTES and eotaxin-2 levels were measured in nasal
      secretion samples. The patients with chronic inflammation were treated with
      fluticasone furoate nasal spray for 2 weeks. Cytological examination and
      measurement of RANTES and eotaxin-2 in nasal fluid were performed before and
      after the treatment. RESULTS: The levels of RANTES were higher in patients with
      PAR ( P < .05) and nonallergic ( P < .01) and allergic CRSwNP patients ( P <
      .001) compared to controls. Eotaxin-2 levels were higher in all 3 inflammation
      groups compared to healthy subjects ( P < .001). After the treatment, we found a
      significant decrease of RANTES and eotaxin-2 concentrations ( P < .001) in all 3
      groups of patients. CONCLUSION: The levels of RANTES and eotaxin-2 in nasal fluid
      could be reliable markers for assessing corticosteroid administration outcomes.

PMID- 28587513
TI  - Delayed care-seeking and outcome of dengue-infected patients.
AB  - A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess the effect of early (1-4
      days after fever onset) and delayed (>=5 days) care-seeking on outcomes of dengue
      infected patients. We used data of adult dengue-infected patients treated in
      Bangkok, Thailand between June 2012 and September 2013. There were 110 patients
      in the early care-seeking group and 100 in the delayed care-seeking group. There
      were no deaths. Bleeding complications were not significantly different between
      the two groups while the latter group had a significantly higher rate of
      admission compared with the former (98% versus 91.8%, respectively; P = 0.04).
      Being female was the only factor significantly associated with delayed care
      seeking (63.0% versus 45.5%; P = 0.01).

PMID- 28587515
TI  - Reply to Moreno-Garcia et al.: Using Parents and Teachers Integral to Delivering
      Behavior Therapy as Raters Likely Biased the Report of Outcomes.

PMID- 28587514
TI  - Pre-hospital oily chloramphenicol treatment in meningitis outbreaks in low
      resources environments.
AB  - Bacterial meningitis is an important cause of death and disability in sub-Saharan
      Africa and, with pre-treatment in peripheral health centres, the poorest
      populations could avoid early death, especially if they live far from hospital.
      During the 2001 meningitis epidemic in south Chad, Moyen Chari sanitary district
      peripheral health centres were equipped with oily chloramphenicol (CAP) to
      administer before hospital referral in suspected cases of meningitis. Eighty-six
      patients treated with CAP in whom the diagnosis was definitively confirmed
      subsequently in hospital were compared with patients receiving CAP at hospital
      admission during the same period. A statistically significant reduction in
      lethality rate, need of second line treatment or adjunctive antibiotics, and mean
      hospital stay were confirmed in pre-treated patients.

PMID- 28587516
TI  - Noise Reduction in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement
      Initiative.
AB  - Exogenous noise has deleterious effects on the developing fetus and infant. The
      aim of this quality improvement project was to lower the mean ambient noise level
      within a level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by 10% from the baseline in
      one year. Multiple noise reduction strategies were tested through Plan-Do-Study
      Act cycles based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model for
      improvement. Strategies targeted environmental and behavioral modifications.
      Noise levels were recorded continuously; means and peaks were calculated. The
      mean noise level decreased from 62.4 dB to 56.1 dB, and peak noise level
      decreased from 115 dB to 76 dB within 12 months. Day shift noise level decreased
      by 7.7 dB; night shift noise level decreased by 4.9 dB from baseline. Targeted
      education, behavioral, and environmental modifications decreased the noise level
      in the NICU as per the study aim. To create a change in culture, constant
      dialogue between the project champions and the NICU staff is necessary.

PMID- 28587517
TI  - Effects of low-temperature pretreatment on enhancing properties of refuse-derived
      fuel via microwave irradiation.
AB  - The present study focuses on pretreatment of enhancing the properties of refuse
      derived fuel (RDF) via low-temperature microwave irradiation. These improved
      properties include lower chlorine content, a more porous surface structure and
      better combustion characteristics. In this study, low-temperature microwave
      irradiation was carried out in a modified microwave apparatus and the range of
      temperature was set to be 220-300C. We found that the microwave absorbability of
      RDF was enhanced after being partly carbonized. Moreover, with the increasing of
      the final temperature, the organochlorine removal ratio was greatly increased to
      80% and the content of chlorine was dramatically decreased to an extremely low
      level. It was also interesting to find that the chlorine of RDF was mainly
      released as HCl rather than organic chloride volatiles. The finding is just the
      same as the polyvinyl chloride pyrolysis process. In addition, pores and channels
      emerged during the modifying operation and the modified RDF has better
      combustibility and combustion stability than traditional RDF. This work revealed
      that low-temperature modification of RDF via microwave irradiation is significant
      for enhancing the quality of RDF and avoiding HCl erosion of equipment
      substantially.

PMID- 28587518
TI  - An investigation into UK medical students' knowledge of lifestyle factors on
      cancer.
AB  - Background and aim Lifestyle factor modification (alcohol, smoking, obesity,
      diet, physical activity) has the potential to reduce cancer incidence and cancer
      survival. This study assessed the knowledge of lifestyle factors and cancer in
      undergraduate medical students. Methods and results A total of 218 students (7 UK
      universities) completed an online survey of nine questions in three areas:
      knowledge (lifestyle factors and cancer); information sources; clinical practice
      (witnessed clinical counselling). Diet, alcohol, smoking and physical activity
      were recognised as lifestyle factors by 98% of responders, while only 69%
      reported weight. The links of lung cancer/smoking and alcohol/liver cancer were
      recognised by >90%, while only 10% reported weight or physical activity being
      linked to any cancer. University teaching on lifestyle factors and cancer was
      reported by 78%: 34% rating it good/very good. GPs were witnessed giving
      lifestyle advice by 85% of responders. Conclusions Most respondents were aware of
      a relationship between lifestyle factors and cancer, mainly as a result of
      undergraduate teaching. Further work may widen the breadth of knowledge, and
      potentially improve primary and secondary cancer prevention.

PMID- 28587519
TI  - Inactivation of a putative efflux pump (LmrB) in Streptococcus mutans results in
      altered biofilm structure and increased exopolysaccharide synthesis: implications
      for biofilm resistance.
AB  - Efflux pumps are a mechanism associated with biofilm formation and resistance.
      There is limited information regarding efflux pumps in Streptococcus mutans, a
      major pathogen in dental caries. The aim of this study was to investigate
      potential roles of a putative efflux pump (LmrB) in S. mutans biofilm formation
      and susceptibility. Upon lmrB inactivation and antimicrobial exposure, the
      biofilm structure and expression of other efflux pumps were examined using
      confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and qRT-PCR. lmrB inactivation resulted
      in biofilm structural changes, increased EPS formation and EPS-related gene
      transcription (p < 0.05), but no improvement in susceptibility was observed. The
      expression of most efflux pump genes increased upon lmrB inactivation when
      exposed to antimicrobials (p < 0.05), suggesting a feedback mechanism that
      activated the transcription of other efflux pumps to compensate for the loss of
      lmrB. These observations imply that sole inactivation of lmrB is not an effective
      solution to control biofilms.

PMID- 28587520
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Trial Examination of a Remote Parenting Intervention:
      Engagement and Effects on Parenting Behavior and Child Abuse Potential.
AB  - Technology advances increasingly allow for access to remotely delivered
      interventions designed to promote early parenting practices that protect against
      child maltreatment. Among low-income families, at somewhat elevated risk for
      child maltreatment, there is some evidence that parents do engage in and benefit
      from remote-coaching interventions. However, little is known about the
      effectiveness of such programs to engage and benefit families at high risk for
      child maltreatment due to multiple stressors associated with poverty. To address
      this limitation, we examined engagement and outcomes among mothers at heightened
      risk for child abuse, who were enrolled in a randomized controlled, intent-to
      treat trial of an Internet adaptation of an evidence-based infant parenting
      intervention. We found that engagement patterns were similar between higher and
      lower risk groups. Moreover, an intervention dose by condition effect was found
      for increased positive parent behavior and reduced child abuse potential.

PMID- 28587522
TI  - Protective effect of Alstonia scholaris Linn. R. Br. against Bleomycin induced
      chromosomal damage in cultured human lymphocytes, in vitro.
AB  - It is both interesting and necessary to identify and develop nontoxic
      radioprotective compounds. Bleomycin (BLM), a known radiomimetic drug was used as
      a clastogen in the present study. The possible protective effects against BLM (15
      MUg/ml) induced clastogenicity by aqueous and methanolic extracts from Alstonia
      scholaris bark, stem and leaves were compared. The treatment of bark extracts
      significantly (p < 0.01) reduced total chromosomal aberrations. Such a reduction
      was not seen in case of stem and leaf treatments. The dose of 50 MUg/ml was fixed
      for all extracts throughout the study. To understand the mechanism involved with
      the protective property of bark extracts, sensitive G2 assay was performed.
      Lymphocyte cultures from 12 healthy volunteers were exposed to aqueous (50
      MUg/ml) and methanolic (50 MUg/ml) extracts of A. scholaris bark alone as well as
      in combination with Bleomycin under two different growth phases, G0 and G2. There
      was a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the total chromatid
      breaks in all cultures which were exposed at G2 phase as compared to respective
      cultures exposed at G0 phase. The highest level (p < 0.0001) of reduction in
      total chromatid breaks was observed in cultures treated with aqueous bark
      extracts at G2 phase than those at G0 phase. This indicated that there could be
      certain compound(s) present in aqueous bark extracts which enhance DNA repair
      capacity. Therefore, the bark of A. scholaris could be further utilized to
      identify and bring out front line radio protective agents in the market with
      effective formulations.

PMID- 28587521
TI  - Can Medicaid Claims Validly Ascertain Foster Care Status?
AB  - Medicaid claims have been used to identify populations of children in foster care
      in the current literature; however, the ability of such an approach to validly
      ascertain a foster care population is unknown. This study linked children in the
      National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being-I to their Medicaid claims
      from 36 states using their Social Security numbers. Using this match, we examined
      discordance between caregiver report of foster care placement and the foster care
      eligibility code contained in the child's Medicaid claims. Only 73% of youth
      placed in foster care for at least a year displayed a Medicaid code for foster
      care eligibility. Half of all youth coming into contact with child welfare
      displayed discordance between caregiver report and Medicaid claims. Children with
      emergency department utilization, and those in primary care case management
      health insurance arrangements, had the highest odds of accurate ascertainment.
      The use of Medicaid claims to identify a cohort of children in foster care
      results in high rates of underascertainment. Supplementing administrative data
      with survey data is one way to enhance validity of ascertainment.

PMID- 28587523
TI  - Defatted wheat germ application: Influence on cookies' properties with regard to
      its particle size and dough moisture content.
AB  - The introduction of agro-food industry by-products rich in bioactive compounds
      represents major challenge in food industry sector. The influence of wheat germ
      particle size (<150 um, 150-1000 um, and 800-2000 um), wheat germ content (5, 10,
      and 15%), and dough moisture content (20, 22, and 24%) on chemical, textural, and
      sensory characteristics of cookies was investigated using the Box-Behnken
      experimental design. The substitution of wheat flour with wheat germ increased
      the protein, fat, mineral, and fiber content of the cookies. The particle size of
      wheat germ affected the textural properties of cookies. As the particle size of
      wheat germ increased, the hardness of cookies decreased. The color of the cookie
      was most influenced by the interaction of dough moisture content and wheat germ
      particle size. Wheat germ level up to 15% had no significant effect on the
      sensory characteristics of cookies. A suitable combination of defatted wheat germ
      level, its particle size, and dough moisture content can improve the nutritional
      value of cookies, without causing a negative effect on the cookies' sensory
      characteristics.

PMID- 28587524
TI  - The Role of Peroxiredoxins in the Transduction of H2O2 Signals.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is produced on stimulation of many cell
      surface receptors and serves as an intracellular messenger in the regulation of
      diverse physiological events, mostly by oxidizing cysteine residues of effector
      proteins. Mammalian cells express multiple H2O2-eliminating enzymes, including
      catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and peroxiredoxin (Prx). A conserved
      cysteine in Prx family members is the site of oxidation by H2O2. Peroxiredoxins
      possess a high-affinity binding site for H2O2 that is lacking in catalase and GPx
      and which renders the catalytic cysteine highly susceptible to oxidation, with a
      rate constant several orders of magnitude greater than that for oxidation of
      cysteine in most H2O2 effector proteins. Moreover, Prxs are abundant and present
      in all subcellular compartments. The cysteines of most H2O2 effectors are
      therefore at a competitive disadvantage for reaction with H2O2. Recent Advances:
      Here we review intracellular sources of H2O2 as well as H2O2 target proteins
      classified according to biochemical and cellular function. We then highlight two
      strategies implemented by cells to overcome the kinetic disadvantage of most
      target proteins with regard to H2O2-mediated oxidation: transient inactivation of
      local Prx molecules via phosphorylation, and indirect oxidation of target
      cysteines via oxidized Prx. Critical Issues and Future Directions: Recent studies
      suggest that only a small fraction of the total pools of Prxs and H2O2 effector
      proteins localized in specific subcellular compartments participates in H2O2
      signaling. Development of sensitive tools to selectively detect phosphorylated
      Prxs and oxidized effector proteins is needed to provide further insight into
      H2O2 signaling. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 28, 537-557.

PMID- 28587525
TI  - The Conundrum of Hydrogen Peroxide Signaling and the Emerging Role of
      Peroxiredoxins as Redox Relay Hubs.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is known to act as a messenger in signal
      transduction. How H2O2 leads to selective and efficient oxidation of specific
      thiols on specific signaling proteins remains one of the most important open
      questions in redox biology. Recent Advances: Increasing evidence implicates thiol
      peroxidases as mediators of protein thiol oxidation. Recently, this evidence has
      been extended to include the peroxiredoxins (Prxs). Prxs are exceptionally
      sensitive to H2O2, abundantly expressed and capture most of the H2O2 that is
      generated inside cells. CRITICAL ISSUES: The overall prevalence and importance of
      Prx-based redox signaling relays are still unknown. The same is true for
      alternative mechanisms of redox signaling. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: It will be
      important to clarify the relative contributions of Prx-mediated and direct thiol
      oxidation to H2O2 signaling. Many questions relating to Prx-based redox relays
      remain to be answered, including their mechanism, structural organization, and
      the potential role of adaptor proteins. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 28, 558-573.

PMID- 28587526
TI  - Optimal teicoplanin dosage regimens for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus infections in endocarditis patients and renal failure patients.
AB  - This study aimed to assess whether traditional initial loading and maintenance
      doses of teicoplanin were appropriate in endocarditis and renal failure patients
      with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and to
      recommend optimal dosage regimens. Pharmacokinetic parameters and physicochemical
      properties of teicoplanin were performed to develop pharmacokinetic models using
      GastroPlusTM. Concentration-time curves of teicoplanin in endocarditis and renal
      failure patients with MRSA infections were simulated by changing clearance (CL)
      and volume of distribution of the central compartment (Vc). Different teicoplanin
      dosage regimens were assessed according to the target trough concentration, and
      optimal teicoplanin dosage regimens were recommended. Dosage regimen of four
      teicoplanin doses of 6 mg/kg q12 h followed by 6 mg/kg qd is recommended for
      renal failure patients infected by MRSA. And optimal dosage regimen is five
      teicoplanin doses of 15 mg/kg q12 h followed by doses of 12 mg/kg qd for
      endocarditis patients infected by MRSA.

PMID- 28587527
TI  - Comparison of INTERGROWTH-21 and Fenton growth standards to assess size at birth
      and extrauterine growth in very preterm infants.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to compare the recently published prescriptive INTERGROWTH
      21st standards with commonly used intrauterine based Fenton growth standards in
      terms of birth size classification and extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR)
      incidence in a sample of very preterm infants. METHODS: The anthropometric
      measures of preterm infants born before 32 weeks of gestation at the Dokuz Eylul
      University Hospital during the period from January 2012 to February 2016 were
      obtained at birth, at the 36th gestational weeks or at the time of discharge.
      Birth and growth data were presented as percentiles according to the two
      reference standards. RESULTS: A total of 248 infants with mean gestational age of
      29.1 +/- 2.1 weeks were included. The small for gestational age (SGA) rate was
      significantly higher (12 versus 15%, p = .004) and the EUGR rate was
      significantly lower (40.2 versus 31.5%, p < .001) with the INTERGROWTH-21st
      charts compared with the Fentons'. Twenty-four per cent of the infants who were
      accepted as SGA according to the INTERGROWTH-21st standards were appropriate for
      gestational age (AGA) according to the Fenton preterm growth charts. However,
      these newly identified SGA infants according to the Intergrowth-21st standards
      did not have increased risks of early morbidities. Furthermore, 77% of the cases
      who had EUGR due to the Fenton standards were categorized as EUGR when evaluated
      using the INTERGROWTH-21st standards. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that almost
      one out of every five cases assessed as EUGR according to Fenton standards was
      within the normal interval according to Intergrowth standards. On the contrary,
      one out of every four cases assessed as SGA according to the INTERGROWTH-21st
      standards was within the normal interval according to Fentons'. These differences
      observed with INTERGROWTH-21st standards may affect in-hospital and postdischarge
      nutrition plan of these vulnerable infants. However, new standards are needed to
      be evaluated against currently used ones before they are implemented and further
      studies should be conducted to evaluate the functional impact of these
      differences on long-term outcomes including neurologic and cardio-metabolic
      morbidities.

PMID- 28587529
TI  - Colonoscopic surveillance - a cost-effective method to prevent hereditary and
      familial colorectal cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Approximately 20-30% of all colorectal cancer (CRC) cases may have a
      familial contribution. The family history of CRC can be prominent (e.g.,
      hereditary colorectal cancer (HCRC)) or more moderate (e.g., familial colorectal
      cancer (FCRC)). For family members at risk, colonoscopic surveillance is a well
      established method to prevent both HCRC and FCRC, although the evidence for the
      exact procedures of the surveillance is limited. Surveillance can come at a high
      price if individuals are frequently examined, as this may result in unnecessary
      colonoscopies in relation to actual risk for CRC. This study analyses the cost
      effectiveness of a surveillance programme implemented in the Northern Sweden
      Health Care Region. METHODS: The study includes 259 individuals prospectively
      recorded in the colonoscopic surveillance programme registry at the Cancer
      Prevention Clinic, Umea University Hospital. We performed a cost-utility analysis
      with a contrafactual design: we compared observed costs and loss of quality
      adjusted life years (QALYs) due to CRC with the surveillance programme to an
      expected outcome without surveillance. The main measure was the incremental cost
      effectiveness ratio (ICER) between surveillance and non-surveillance. Scenario
      analysis was used to explore uncertainty. RESULTS: The ICER between surveillance
      and non-surveillance in the base model was 3596?/QALY. The ICER varied from 
      4620? in the best-case scenario to 33,779? in the worst-case scenario.
      CONCLUSION: Colonoscopic surveillance is a very cost-effective method to prevent
      HCRC and FCRC compared to current thresholds for cost-effectiveness and other
      cancer preventive interventions.

PMID- 28587528
TI  - A prospective observational cohort study of exposure to womb-like sounds to
      stabilize breathing and cardiovascular patterns in preterm neonates.
AB  - PURPOSE: We exposed premature infants to womb-like sounds to evaluate such
      exposure on breathing and cardiovascular patterns. We hypothesized that these
      sounds would reduce apnea and intermittent hypoxemia, enhance parasympathetic
      outflow, and improve cardiovascular patterns. METHODS: A total of 20 cases and 5
      control infants at <=32-36 weeks corrected gestational age participated in a
      prospective observational cohort study. Twenty-four hours of continuous ECG,
      respiratory and oxygen saturation data were collected in all infants. Womb-like
      sounds were played intermittently in 6-hour blocks. Salivary samples were
      collected at study beginning and end for cortisol. Apnea, intermittent hypoxemia,
      and bradycardia were evaluated, and heart rate variability was assessed by time
      domain and spectral techniques. RESULTS: Intermittent hypoxemia and bradycardia
      significantly declined after sound exposure. No significant differences in apnea,
      cortisol levels, or heart rate variability were evident among the study infants.
      CONCLUSIONS: Exposing premature infants to womb-like sounds has the potential to
      reduce hypoxemic and bradycardic events, and be used as an intervention to
      stabilize breathing and cardiac control in preterm infants.

PMID- 28587531
TI  - Dapagliflozin for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 2017, the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) remains
      intriguing for the clinician, who has to balance between adequate glycemic
      control and untoward events related to insulin up-titration. Thus, agents that
      will complement insulin actions and reduce adverse effects are highly welcome.
      Areas covered: In this review, the authors summarize results from studies on the
      sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor dapagliflozin in T1DM. Expert
      opinion: In T1DM, dapagliflozin is associated with significant antihyperglycemic
      and metabolic properties, which are achieved with reduction or stabilization of
      insulin dose and with a very low trend for hypoglycemia. However, there is a lot
      to learn with respect to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), bone fractures and lower
      limb ischemia.

PMID- 28587530
TI  - Endovascular treatment of wide-neck intracranial bifurcation aneurysms with 'Y'
      configuration, double Neuroform(r) stents-assisted coiling technique: Experience
      in a single center.
AB  - Background Intracranial wide-neck aneurysms at the arterial bifurcations,
      especially in the aneurysms where the bifurcating branches emanate directly from
      the base of the aneurysm, have been particularly difficult on which to perform
      endovascular treatment. The 'Y'-configuration, double stent-assisted coil
      embolization is an option for the treatment of these difficult aneurysms,
      allowing the closure of the aneurysm, preserving the parent arteries. Material
      and methods In a nine-year period, 546 intracranial aneurysms in 493 patients
      were treated at our center by endovascular approach. We have reviewed the medical
      records and arteriographies from November 2007 to January 2017 of 45 patients who
      were treated using 'Y'-configuration double Neuroform(r) stent-assisted coil
      embolization. Results All patients were successfully treated. The location of the
      aneurysms were: middle cerebral artery (MCA) 20 (44.4%), anterior communicating
      artery (AComA) 17 (37.7%), basilar four (8.9%), internal carotid artery (ICA)
      bifurcation three (6.6%) and posterior communicating artery (PComA) one (2.2%).
      The mRS at hospital discharge was: mRS 0: 42 (93.3%), mRS 1: 1 (2.2%), mRS 2: 1
      (2.2%) and mRS 5: 1 (2.2%). The Modified Raymond-Roy Occlusion Classification, in
      the control at six months, was: Class I: 41 (91.1%), Class II: 2 (4.4%), Class
      IIIa: 1 (2.2%) and Class IIIb: 1 (2.2%). Forty-four (97.8%) patients had a good
      outcome (mRS < 2) at six months. One (2.2%) patient had a poor outcome (mRS > 2)
      at six months that was due to sequelae of SAH. There was no mortality at six
      months. Conclusions This technique is safe and effective for the endovascular
      treatment of difficult wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms, allowing the stable
      closure of the aneurysm, preserving the parent arteries.

PMID- 28587532
TI  - Novel tetrazole and cyanamide derivatives as inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2
      enzyme: design, synthesis, anti-inflammatory evaluation, ulcerogenic liability
      and docking study.
AB  - Nineteen new compounds containing tetrazole and/or cyanamide moiety have been
      designed and synthesised. Their structures were confirmed using spectroscopic
      methods and elemental analyses. Anti-inflammatory activity for all the
      synthesised compounds was evaluated in vivo. The most active compounds 4c, 5a, 5d
      f, 8a and b and 9a and b were further investigated for their ulcerogenic
      liability and analgesic activity. Pyrazoline derivatives 9b and 8b bearing
      trimethoxyphenyl part and SO2NH2 or SO2Me pharmacophore showed equal or nearly
      the same ulcerogenic liability (UI: 0.5, 0.75, respectively), to celecoxib (UI:
      0.50). Most of tested compounds showed potent central and/or peripheral analgesic
      activities. Histopathological investigations were done to evaluate test compounds
      effect on rat's gastric tissue. The obtained results were in consistent with the
      in vitro data on COX evaluation. Docking study was also done for all the target
      compounds inside COX-2-active site.

PMID- 28587533
TI  - Public Attitudes and Support for a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax in America's
      Heartland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Policy and environmental strategies are part of a comprehensive
      approach to obesity prevention. We investigated the association between public
      attitudes about how the environment influences health and support for a sugar
      sweetened beverage (SSB) tax in Kansas. METHOD: We collected data via a 2014
      representative dual-frame (cellular and landline) telephone survey of 2,203 adult
      Kansans regarding healthy eating policy support and beliefs about obesity causes
      and solutions. RESULTS: A significant proportion of Kansas adults (40%) support
      an SSB tax. Support was significantly stronger among females, young people, and
      liberals. Causal and responsibility attributions of obesity were significantly
      associated with policy support. Individuals who attribute more responsibility for
      the solution to the obesity epidemic to environmental factors were more likely to
      support a tax, regardless of their political affiliation. CONCLUSIONS: Messaging
      that focuses on the role of the environment in creating opportunities for health
      may be useful in framing discussions around SSB taxes.

PMID- 28587534
TI  - Diagnosis and management of clinical reasoning difficulties: Part I. Clinical
      reasoning supervision and educational diagnosis.
AB  - There are many obstacles to the timely identification of clinical reasoning
      difficulties in health professions education. This guide aims to provide readers
      with a framework for supervising clinical reasoning and identifying the potential
      difficulties as they may occur at each step of the reasoning process.

PMID- 28587535
TI  - A fatal case of hypothermia caused by dog bites.
AB  - Death from hypothermia usually *We presented a fatal case of hypothermia after
      being bitten by dog in this article. occurs among people exposed to cold and
      humid environmental conditions when they are homeless, aged, suffering from
      natural or psychiatric diseases and drug or alcohol intoxication. A normal
      healthy person dying from hypothermia due to dog bites is unusual and rare. Here,
      we present a fatal case of hypothermia following dog bites causing blood loss and
      multiple wounds on the body. A 56-year-old man was found dead in a remote
      roadside puddle of a small village, early in the morning. He was naked, and his
      body trunk and limbs had multiple irregular wounds. Gray animal hairs could be
      seen in parts of the wound cavities and surrounding areas. In addition, there was
      a kennel near the scene. Family members argued that the deceased was bitten to
      death by a dog. However, autopsy revealed several findings which were strongly
      supportive of fatal hypothermia. Moreover, we saw no obvious changes caused by
      blood loss, either on the body surface or internal organs. Accordingly, we
      concluded the true cause of his death was fatal hypothermia; bites from a dog was
      a necessary causative factor.

PMID- 28587536
TI  - Commotio cordis: A review.
AB  - Commotio cordis is an increasingly reported fatal mechano-electric syndrome and
      is the second most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. It is
      most commonly associated with a sports-related injury, wherein, there is a high
      velocity impact between a projectile and the precordium. By virtue of this
      impact, malignant arrhythmias consequently develop leading to the individual's
      immediate demise, accompanied by a relatively normal post-mortem analysis. The
      importance of an autopsy remains paramount to exclude other causes of sudden
      death. With increasing awareness and reporting, survival rates are beginning to
      improve; however, prevention of the development of this condition remains the
      best approach for survival.

PMID- 28587537
TI  - Implementation of ultra-low-dose lung protocols in CT-guided lung biopsies:
      feasibility and safety in the clinical setting.
AB  - Objective To evaluate the use of ultra-low-dose computed tomography (ULDCT) for
      CT-guided lung biopsy versus standard-dose CT (SDCT). Methods CT-guided lung
      biopsies from 115 patients (50 ULDCT, 65 SDCT) were analyzed retrospectively.
      SDCT settings were 120 kVp with automatic mAs modulation. ULDCT settings were 80
      kVp with fixed exposure (20 mAs). Two radiologists evaluated image quality (i.e.,
      needle artifacts, lesion contouring, vessel recognition, visibility of interlobar
      fissures). Complications and histological results were also evaluated. Results
      ULDCT was considered feasible for all lung interventions, showing the same
      diagnostic accuracy as SDCT. Its mean total radiation dose (dose-length product)
      was significantly reduced to 34 mGy-cm (SDCT 426 mGy-cm). Image quality and
      complication rates ( P = 0.469) were consistent. Conclusions ULDCT for CT-guided
      lung biopsies appears safe and accurate, with a significantly reduced radiation
      dose. We therefore recommend routine clinical use of ULDCT for the benefit of
      patients and interventionalists.

PMID- 28587538
TI  - Plasma microRNA-9 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Purpose Emerging evidence indicates that circulating microRNAs (miRs) might act
      as noninvasive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. We examined the
      expression pattern and clinical significance of plasma miR-9 in patients with
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods Venous blood samples (6 mL)
      were collected from 131 patients with ESCC and 131 healthy controls, and the
      plasma miR-9 concentration was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction. The association of plasma miR-9 expression with clinicopathologic
      factors and survival of patients with ESCC was evaluated. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to evaluate the clinical value of
      plasma miR-9 for ESCC diagnosis. Results The plasma miR-9 expression levels in
      patients with ESCC were significantly upregulated compared with normal controls.
      High plasma miR-9 concentrations were significantly correlated with poor tumor
      differentiation, large tumor size, deep local invasion, lymph node metastasis,
      advanced clinical stage, and poor survival. ROC curve analysis showed that the
      plasma miR-9 concentration could efficiently distinguish patients with ESCC from
      healthy controls. Multivariate survival analysis confirmed plasma miR-9 as an
      independent prognostic factor for ESCC. Conclusions Plasma miR-9 expression was
      upregulated in ESCC and might act as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.

PMID- 28587539
TI  - Treatment of patients with aortic disease during pregnancy and after delivery.
AB  - Objective This study aimed to review treatment of patients with aortic disease
      during pregnancy and after delivery in Beijing Anzhen Hospital. Methods A
      retrospective study was conducted using data from 12 patients with aortic disease
      during pregnancy and after delivery in our institution from May 2005 to December
      2014. Patients were provided different treatments based on the type of aortic
      disease and clinical characteristics. Results The mean age was 29.83 +/- 4.17
      years, mean height was 171.7 +/- 8.22 cm, mean weight was 68.55 +/- 10.62 kg, and
      mean body mass index was 23.18 +/- 2.93 kg/m2. Two patients with Stanford type A
      aortic dissection died of renal failure after surgery. All of the other patients
      were discharged. Six foetuses survived. One patient continued her pregnancy after
      an aortic operation. The gestational age of the remaining five patients was less
      than 28 weeks at the time of the operation and all foetuses of these five
      patients died. Conclusions A suitable treatment strategy for aortic disease
      during pregnancy and after delivery should be chosen based on an individual's
      comprehensive clinical condition. Foetal management should be chosen based on
      gestational age and severity of aortic disease.

PMID- 28587540
TI  - INTERTAN nail versus proximal femoral nail antirotation-Asia for
      intertrochanteric femur fractures in elderly patients with primary osteoporosis.
AB  - Objectives To compare the long-term functional and radiographic outcomes of the
      proximal femoral nail antirotation-Asia (PFNA-II) and INTERTAN nail (IT) in the
      management of intertrochanteric femoral fractures (IFFs) (AO/OTA Type 31A1.1
      A2.3) in elderly patients with primary osteoporosis. Methods A retrospective
      comparative study was performed in our institution. From January 2009 to March
      2012, 243 patients with osteoporosis (243 hips) with IFFs (AO/OTA Type 3.1A1.1
      A2.3) underwent repair with either a PFNA-II or IT. Follow-up assessments were
      performed 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postoperatively and every year thereafter.
      All implant position changes were noted. Patient-related functional outcomes were
      evaluated based on the Harris hip score. Results In total, 174 patients with
      osteoporosis (IT, n = 86; PFNA-II, n = 88) were evaluated during a mean follow-up
      period of 40 months (range, 38-60 months). An increased risk of femoral shaft
      fracture after implant removal was observed at month 9 of follow-up in 0.0% and
      4.4% of the IT and PFNA-II groups, respectively. This difference remained over
      time with rates of 1.1% and 6.8%, respectively, at the last follow-up. Conclusion
      The IT nail appears to be a reliable implant in the management of IFFs (AO/OTA
      Type 3.1A1.1-A2.3) in elderly patients with primary osteoporosis.

PMID- 28587541
TI  - Evaluation of left ventricular strain in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Objective Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) can cause structural and functional
      changes in the left ventricle (LV). In this study, we evaluated whether cardiac
      magnetic resonance tissue-tracking (MR-TT) can be applied to the detection of LV
      abnormalities in patients with DCM. Methods We used MR-TT to analyze the global
      peak radial strain (GPRS), global peak circumferential strain (GPCS), and global
      peak longitudinal strain (GPLS) in every segment of the LV in 23 patients with
      DCM and 25 controls. The LV ejection fraction was also measured as a function
      indicator. Results Compared with the controls, the GPRS, GPCS, and GPLS were
      significantly reduced in patients with DCM, indicating global LV function
      impairment in all directions. We also identified a significant linear correlation
      between the GPRS, GPCS, and GPLS and the LV ejection fraction, indicating that LV
      function relies on coordinated wall motion from all directions. Moreover, we
      found that patients with DCM had a significantly reduced magnitude of the PRS,
      PCS, and PLS in most segments at different levels, indicating impaired myocardial
      function in most LV regions. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that LV
      myocardial strain in patients with DCM can be sensitively detected by MR-TT (not
      only the global LV function changes but also the segmental strain), which can
      help to identify the injured segment at an early stage and guide clinical
      treatment.

PMID- 28587542
TI  - Evaluation of cerebral glioma using 3T diffusion kurtosis tensor imaging and the
      relationship between diffusion kurtosis metrics and tumor cellularity.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the clinical utility of diffusion kurtosis tensor imaging in
      the characterization of cerebral glioma and investigate correlations between
      diffusion and kurtosis metrics with tumor cellularity. Materials and Methods A
      group of 163 patients (age: 40.5 +/- 11.5 years) diagnosed with cerebral glioma
      underwent diffusion kurtosis tensor imaging with a 3 T scanner. Diffusion and
      kurtosis metrics were measured in the solid part of tumors, and their abilities
      to distinguish between tumor grades was evaluated. In addition, we analyzed
      correlations between the metrics and tumor cellularity. Results Mean kurtosis
      (MK) revealed a significant difference between each pair of tumor grades ( P <
      0.05) and produced the best performance in a receiver operating characteristics
      analysis (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.89, sensitivity/specificity = 83.3/90).
      In contrast, mean diffusivity (MD) revealed a significant difference only for
      tumor grade II versus IV ( P < 0.05). No significant differences between grades
      were detected with fractional anisotropy (FA; P > 0.05). Thus, kurtosis metrics
      exhibited a positive and strong correlation with tumor cellularity, while MD
      exhibited a negative or weak correlation with tumor cellularity. Conclusion
      Diffusion kurtosis metrics, particularly MK, demonstrated superior performance in
      distinguishing cerebral glioma of different grades compared with conventional
      diffusion metrics, and were closely associated with tumor cellularity.

PMID- 28587543
TI  - Clinical and prognostic factors in 98 patients with malignant melanoma in China.
AB  - Objective To investigate clinical and prognostic factors in patients with
      malignant melanoma (MM) in China. Methods A total of 98 MM patients were enrolled
      in the study. Enumeration data were analyzed using Fisher's exact probability
      tests or chi2 tests. Survival rates were calculated using log-rank tests. A Cox
      multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine independent
      prognostic factors. Results The male: female incidence ratio was 1.88:1. The
      highest incidence rate was seen in the 45-65 year age group. Primary lesion
      ulceration was seen in 60.2% of patients. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival
      rates were 85.7%, 34.7% and 13.3%, respectively. In univariate analyses, the 5
      year survival rate in patients was significantly associated with ulceration (P <
      0.01), clinical stage (P < 0.01) and surgical excision of the tumor (P < 0.01).
      Cox multivariate regression analysis confirmed that ulceration and clinical stage
      were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions Some clinical characteristics of
      MM patients in China are significantly different from those of patients in
      Western countries. Ulceration and clinical stage are independent risk factors for
      poor survival in MM patients.

PMID- 28587545
TI  - Skilled Reach Performance Correlates With Corpus Callosum Structural Integrity in
      Individuals With Mild Motor Impairment After Stroke: A Preliminary Investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recovery of arm function after stroke is often incomplete. An
      improved understanding of brain structure-motor behavior relationships is needed
      for the development of novel and targeted rehabilitation interventions.
      OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between skilled reach performance and the
      integrity of two putative white matter motor pathways, corticospinal tract and
      corpus callosum, after stroke. METHODS: Eleven individuals with chronic stroke
      (poststroke duration, mean 62.5 +/- 42.4 months) and mild motor impairment (upper
      extremity Fugl-Meyer score, mean 54.2 +/- 7.6) reached to six targets presented
      at three distances and two directions. Fractional anisotropy (FA) obtained from
      diffusion tensor imaging was used to determine the structural integrity of the
      corticospinal tract and the corpus callosum. RESULTS: Overall reach performance
      was decreased in the paretic arm compared with the nonparetic arm. While FA was
      decreased in the ipsilesional corticospinal tract, FA in the corticospinal tract
      did not correlate with variability in reach performance between individuals.
      Instead, FA in the premotor section of the corpus callosum correlated with reach
      performance; individuals with higher FA in premotor corpus callosum tended to
      reach faster with both the paretic and nonparetic arms. CONCLUSIONS: The
      structural connections between the two premotor and supplemental cortices that
      traverse the premotor corpus callosum may play an important role in supporting
      motor control and could become a target for interventions aimed at improved arm
      function in this population.

PMID- 28587544
TI  - Postoperative recurrence of adult renal cell carcinoma associated with Xp11.2
      translocation/TFE3 gene fusion.
AB  - Objective To analyze the postoperative recurrence of renal cell carcinoma
      associated with Xp11.2 translocation/TFE3 gene fusion (Xp11.2 tRCC). Methods This
      retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board and performed
      in accordance with the ethical standards established by the institution.
      Demographic, clinical, pathological, and follow-up data were compiled for the
      study cohort. Results During a mean follow-up of 41.3 months (range, 3-104
      months), 8 of 34 patients with Xp11.2 tRCC were confirmed to have recurrence.
      Three of these patients died with poor outcomes due to a vena cava tumor embolus,
      and one died of distant metastasis 48 months after the initial nephrectomy during
      which lymph node metastasis was found. Three patients survived after
      cytoreduction surgery. One patient was diagnosed with lung metastasis 11 months
      postoperatively. Conclusions The TNM classification provides significant
      prognostic information for Xp11.2 tRCC. A relatively active surveillance
      algorithm is recommended, and cytoreduction surgery is an effective approach for
      recurrent Xp11.2 tRCC. Larger studies are required to more extensively
      investigate the recurrence of these potentially aggressive tumors.

PMID- 28587547
TI  - A mutation in PTPN11 may drive leukemic transformation in a case of essential
      thrombocythemia.

PMID- 28587546
TI  - Attention and Executive Disorders in Neurofibromatosis 1: Comparison Between NF1
      With ADHD Symptomatology (NF1 + ADHD) and ADHD Per Se.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare children with Neurofibromatosis type 1 and associated ADHD
      symptomatology (NF1 + ADHD) with children having received a diagnosis of ADHD
      without NF1. The idea was that performance differences in tasks of attention
      between these two groups would be attributable not to the ADHD symptomatology,
      but to NF1 alone. METHOD: One group of children with NF1 + ADHD ( N = 32), one
      group of children with ADHD ( N = 31), and one group of healthy controls ( N =
      40) participated in a set of computerized tasks assessing intensive, selective,
      and executive aspects of attention. RESULTS: Differences were found between the
      two groups of patients in respect of several aspects of attention. Children with
      NF1 + ADHD did not always perform worse than children with ADHD. Several double
      dissociations can be established between the two groups of patients. CONCLUSION:
      ADHD symptomatology in NF1 does not contribute to all attention deficits, and
      ADHD cannot account for all attention impairments in NF1.

PMID- 28587548
TI  - A brief panorama of Brazil's contributions to psychiatry.

PMID- 28587549
TI  - The social action of the psychiatrist (1943).

PMID- 28587550
TI  - Mental illnesses in tropical climates (1906).

PMID- 28587551
TI  - Conceptualizations of illness among relatives of patients diagnosed with
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Family concepts of a relative's illness are an important part of the coping
      process and reveal the cultural construction of the experience of illness. As
      part of a qualitative study conducted in the Schizophrenia Outpatient Clinic of
      the Department of Psychiatry, Escola Paulista de Medicina - UNIFESP, 14 relatives
      of eight outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were interviewed and invited to
      talk freely about their ideas and feelings concerning their relative's problem.
      Qualitative analysis was used to identify categories of illness representations.
      Three main categories were discussed, including Problema de Nervoso, Problema na
      Cabeca and Problema Espiritual (Problem of the Nerves, Problem in the Head and
      Spiritual Problem). The authors present evidence of these categories as cultural
      constructions, and discuss the relevance of popular notions of illness to the
      understanding of the course and outcome of schizophrenia, and the planning of
      culturally meaningful interventions.

PMID- 28587552
TI  - Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa - a psychotherapeutic cognitive
      constructivist approach.
AB  - Of the eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the ones that
      have made adolescent patients-often females and aged younger and younger-seek for
      help. This help is provided through a multidisciplinary treatment involving
      psychiatrists, psychologists and dietists. Psychotherapy has shown to be an
      efficient component for these patients' improvement. The present article aims at
      presenting a proposal of psychotherapeutic treatment based on a cognitive
      constructivist approach.

PMID- 28587553
TI  - Guidelines of the Brazilian Association of Studies on Alcohol and Other Drugs
      (ABEAD) for diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric comorbidity with alcohol and
      other substance and dependence.
AB  - In recent years, several studies have been focused on the comorbidity of
      psychiatric disorders with alcohol and other substance dependence. In this
      context, the Brazilian Association of Studies on Alcohol and Other Drugs
      initiated a project to establish Brazilian Guidelines. The aim of this study was
      to review diagnostic and therapeutic criteria for the most prevalent psychiatric
      comorbidities. Randomized clinical trials, epidemiological studies, animal
      testing and other forms of research are reviewed herein. The main psychiatric
      comorbidities are investigated and data published in the literature are reviewed,
      based on guidelines adopted by other countries. Epidemiological aspects,
      diagnostic criteria, integrated treatment and the organization of specialized
      service, as well as details regarding psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment
      are discussed. The guidelines of the Brazilian Association of Studies on Alcohol
      and Other Drugs reinforce the importance of adequate diagnosis and treatment
      regarding alcoholic and drug dependent patients suffering of comorbid psychiatric
      disorders.

PMID- 28587554
TI  - Quality-of-life and spirituality.
AB  - Spirituality has been identified as an important dimension of quality-of-life.
      The objective of this study was to review the literature on quality-of-life and
      spirituality, their association, and assessment tools. A search was conducted of
      the keyterms 'quality-of-life' and 'spirituality' in abstract or title in the
      databases PsycINFO and PubMed/Medline between 1979-2005, complemented by a new
      search at PUBMED from 2006-2016. Quality-of-life is a new concept, which
      encompasses and transcends the concept of health, being composed of multiple
      domains: physical, psychological, environmental, among others. The missing
      measure in health has been defined as the individual's perception of their
      position in life in the context of culture and value system in which they live
      and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. There is
      consistent evidence of an association between quality-of-life and
      religiosity/spirituality (R/S), through studies with reasonable methodological
      rigour, using several variables to assess R/S (e.g. religious affiliation,
      religious coping, and prayer/spirituality). There are also several valid and
      reliable instruments to evaluate quality-of-life and spirituality. Further
      studies are needed, however, especially in Brazil. Such studies will provide
      empirical data to be used in planning health interventions based on spirituality,
      seeking a better quality-of-life. In the last 10 years, research is consistently
      growing about quality-of-life and spirituality in many countries, and also in
      many areas of health research.

PMID- 28587555
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28587556
TI  - Methodological guidelines to investigate altered states of consciousness and
      anomalous experiences.
AB  - Anomalous experiences (AE) (uncommon experiences or one that is believed to
      deviate from the usually accepted explanations of reality: hallucinations,
      synesthesia, experiences interpreted as telepathic...) and altered states of
      consciousness (ASC) have been described in all societies of all ages. Even so,
      scientists have long neglected the studies on this theme. To study AE and ASC is
      not necessary to share the beliefs we explore, they can be investigated as
      subjective experiences and correlated with other data, like any other human
      experience. This article presents some methodological guidelines to investigate
      these experiences, among them: to avoid dogmatic prejudice and to 'pathologize'
      the unusual; the value of a theory and a comprehensive literature review; to
      utilize a variety of criteria for pathology and normality; the investigation of
      clinical and non-clinical populations; development of new appropriate research
      instruments; to be careful to choose the wording to describe the AE; to
      distinguished the lived experience from its interpretations; to take into account
      the role of culture; to evaluate the validity and reliability of reports and,
      last but not least, creativity and diversity in choosing methods.

PMID- 28587557
TI  - The madness epidemic of Canudos: Antonio Conselheiro and the Jaguncos (1897).

PMID- 28587558
TI  - Patient trajectories in a Norwegian unit of municipal emergency beds.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Coordination reform was implemented in Norway from 2012, aiming at
      seamless patient trajectories. All municipalities are required to establish
      emergency care beds (MEBs) to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. We aimed to
      examine occupancy rate, patient characteristics, diagnoses and discharge level of
      municipal care in a small MEB unit. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study.
      SETTING: A two-bed emergency care unit. SUBJECTS: All patients admitted to the
      unit during one year. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients' age and gender,
      comorbidity, main diagnoses and municipal care level on admission and discharge,
      diagnostic and therapeutic initiatives, occupancy rate. RESULTS: Sixty admissions
      were registered, with total bed occupancy 194 days, and an occupancy rate of
      0.27. The patients (median age 83 years, 57% women) had mostly infections,
      musculoskeletal symptoms or undefined conditions. Some 48% of the stays exceeded
      three days and 43% of the patients were subsequently transferred to nursing homes
      or hospitals. CONCLUSION: Occupancy rate was low. Patient selection was not
      according to national standards, and stays were longer. Many patients were
      transferred to nursing homes, indicating that the unit was an intermediate
      pathway or a short cut to institutional care. It is unclear whether the unit
      avoided hospital admissions.

PMID- 28587559
TI  - Species differences in ciprofloxacin resistance among Gram-negative bacteria: can
      "anti-mutant" ratios of the area under the concentration-time curve to the MIC be
      achieved clinically?
AB  - To explore if the 'anti-mutant' ratios of 24-h area under the concentration-time
      curve (AUC24) to the MIC overlap the clinically attainable AUC24/MICs, the
      selection of ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
      Klebsiella pneumoniae mutants was studied in dynamic model that simulates human
      pharmacokinetics of ciprofloxacin. Four strains each of E. coli and P. aeruginosa
      and three strains of K. pneumoniae were exposed to ciprofloxacin over a 50-400
      fold range of the AUC24/MIC ratio. Based on population analysis data, areas under
      the bacterial mutant concentration-time curves (AUBCMs) were determined for
      subpopulations resistant to 4*, 8* and 16* MIC of the antibiotic. The emergence
      of resistance among three Gram-negative organisms was concentration dependent.
      Based on the AUBCM vs. AUC24/MIC curves, the predicted 'anti-mutant' AUC24/MIC
      ratios were clinically attainable with E. coli but not with P. aeruginosa and K.
      pneumoniae. The emergence of fluoroquinolone resistance in a clinical setting can
      be predicted using dynamic models.

PMID- 28587560
TI  - Effectiveness of originator (Neupogen) and biosimilar (Zarzio) filgrastim in
      autologous peripheral blood stem cell mobilization in adults with acute myeloid
      leukemia: a single-center retrospective study.

PMID- 28587561
TI  - Short-Term Motor Learning and Retention During Visually Guided Walking in Persons
      With Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ability to adapt, a form of short-term motor learning, and retain
      this adaptation, is essential for rehabilitation and for day-to-day living. Yet
      little research is available on this topic in persons with multiple sclerosis
      (PwMS), particularly in relation to complex walking tasks. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the ability of PwMS to learn and retain a novel relationship between
      visual input and motor output-or visuomotor map-during visually guided walking.
      METHODS: Nineteen PwMS and 17 healthy controls performed a precision walking task
      while adapting to prism lenses that altered the normal visuomotor map on 1 day,
      and again after a 1-week delay. The task required individuals to walk and step
      onto 2 targets without stopping. To quantify motor performance, we determined
      foot placement error relative to the targets. RESULTS: PwMS with mild disability
      and healthy controls attenuated foot placement error over repeated trials when
      exposed to the novel mapping and demonstrated a similar rate and magnitude of
      adaptation in the first learning session. Both groups equally retained the
      adaptation 1 week later, reflected by reduced foot placement error and a faster
      rate of error reduction in that session. CONCLUSION: PwMS can learn and retain a
      novel visuomotor mapping during a precision-based walking task. This suggests
      that PwMS with mild disability have the capacity for short-term motor learning
      and retention, indicating that neural plasticity is preserved.

PMID- 28587562
TI  - A method to induce human cortical long-term potentiation by acoustic stimulation.
AB  - OBJECT: Acoustic stimulation induced LTP in the human auditory cortex was
      successfully recorded for the first time by electroencephalography (EEG) using a
      stimulus of 1 kHz pure-tone in 2005. However, it was barely reproduced, given
      considerable challenges to reliably elicit and accurately record the enhanced
      potentials in vivo. The purpose of this paper was to explore whether acoustic
      stimuli other than 1 kHz pure-tone could generate LTP or not. MEASURES: To answer
      this question, we proposed a tetanic-stimulation paradigm of pure-tones, narrow
      band noises (NBNs) and white noise (WN) to elicit LTP in human subjects. RESULTS:
      The results showed that pure-tones with different frequency could elicit LTP in
      human auditory cortex, and proved for the first time that NBNs and WN could also
      achieve the same goal. Interestingly, it was also shown that the noises with
      certain bandwidth induced the greatest LTP and the WN induced LTP had the least
      variation over time and across subjects in comparison with pure-tones and NBNs.
      CONCLUSIONS: In light of the results, we suggested to use the paradigm for
      broader studies of human in vivo cortical plasticity.

PMID- 28587563
TI  - How Precise Are Preinterventional Measurements Using Centerline Analysis
      Applications? Objective Ground Truth Evaluation Reveals Software-Specific
      Centerline Characteristics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate different centerline analysis applications using objective
      ground truth from realistic aortic aneurysm phantoms with precisely defined
      geometry and centerlines to overcome the lack of unknown true dimensions in
      previously published in vivo validation studies. METHODS: Three aortic phantoms
      were created using computer-aided design (CAD) software and a 3-dimensional (3D)
      printer. Computed tomography angiograms (CTAs) of phantoms and 3 patients were
      analyzed with 3 clinically approved and 1 research software application. The 3D
      centerline coordinates, intraluminal diameters, and lengths were validated
      against CAD ground truth using a dedicated evaluation software platform. RESULTS:
      The 3D centerline position mean error ranged from 0.7+/-0.8 to 2.9+/-2.5 mm
      between tested applications. All applications calculated centerlines
      significantly different from ground truth. Diameter mean errors varied from 0.5+/
      1.2 to 1.1+/-1.0 mm among 3 applications, but exceeded 8.0+/-11.0 mm with one
      application due to an unsteady distortion of luminal dimensions along the
      centerline. All tested commercially available software tools systematically
      underestimated centerline total lengths by -4.6+/-0.9 mm to -10.4+/-4.3 mm
      (maximum error -14.6 mm). Applications with the highest 3D centerline accuracy
      yielded the most precise diameter and length measurements. CONCLUSION: One
      clinically approved application did not provide reproducible centerline-based
      analysis results, while another approved application showed length errors that
      might influence stent-graft choice and procedure success. The variety and
      specific characteristics of endovascular aneurysm repair planning software tools
      require scientific evaluation and user awareness.

PMID- 28587565
TI  - Anterolateral Popliteal Puncture Technique: A Novel Retrograde Approach for
      Chronic Femoropopliteal Occlusions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the feasibility and safety of an anterolateral popliteal
      puncture technique as a retrograde access to chronic total occlusions (CTOs) in
      the femoropopliteal segment. METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients (mean age
      75.1+/-10.9 years; 13 women) with symptomatic femoropopliteal occlusive disease
      underwent endovascular therapy via a retrograde access using the anterolateral
      popliteal puncture technique. With the patient supine, the P3 segment of the
      popliteal artery was accessed with a sheathless technique intended to provide
      minimally invasive access. Subsequent to a wire rendezvous technique in the CTO,
      the antegrade guidewire was advanced to the below-the-knee artery. Hemostasis
      across the P3 segment was secured with balloon inflation alone or combined with
      thrombin-blood patch (TBP) injection. RESULTS: Both the anterolateral popliteal
      puncture technique and subsequent revascularization were successful in all
      patients. Mean hemostasis time for balloon inflation only was 7.73+/-4.03 vs
      4.78+/-0.78 minutes for balloon inflation with TBP injection. There were no in
      hospital deaths or complications, including pseudoaneurysms, arteriovenous
      fistulas, hematomas, embolic complications, or nerve damage. CONCLUSION: The
      anterolateral popliteal puncture technique is useful as an alternative retrograde
      access vs a conventional transpopliteal approach for CTOs in the femoropopliteal
      segment if antegrade recanalization has failed. This technique may become one
      option for retrograde access in patients with severe below-the-knee lesions or
      with CTOs that extend to the P2 segment of the popliteal artery. Furthermore,
      this technique has the added benefit of allowing patients to remain in the supine
      position throughout treatment.

PMID- 28587564
TI  - How to Confirm Catheterization of Inner Branches in Aortic Endografting: The
      Universal Flush Test.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a quick, simple, and reliable technique to confirm
      successful catheterization of a branched thoracic endograft's inner branch.
      TECHNIQUE: Accurate cannulation of inner branches can be verified through
      insertion and mild retraction of a Universal Flush angiographic catheter, whose
      tip hooks the branch and slightly opens. CONCLUSION: The use of an angiographic
      catheter with a curved tip is a safe and easy procedure that can be adopted to
      check the correct position inside the branch of an endograft designed for
      treatment of the aortic arch.

PMID- 28587566
TI  - Buddy Needle Technique to Facilitate Retrograde Puncture of Heavily Calcified
      Tibial Vessels.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a technical trick to overcome a prior failed retrograde
      puncture of the tibial vessels secondary to arterial calcification. TECHNIQUE:
      Following a prior failed retrograde puncture attempt, the needle is left in place
      next to the artery. The tip of the needle is then moved toward the artery as a
      lever so that the artery is fixed between the needle, the skin, and the
      surrounding tissues. With the artery fixed, a standard puncture procedure is
      performed. Alternatively, if additional support is needed, 2 micropuncture
      needles are inserted one on either side of the artery, crossing under the target
      vessel and hence trapping it between them, providing additional support and
      therefore enhancing the chance of successful arterial access. CONCLUSION: The
      buddy needle technique may be considered as an alternative procedure in a
      retrograde pedal/tibial approach after prior failed standard attempts in patients
      with heavily calcified vessels.

PMID- 28587567
TI  - Quality of care in oncology: quality indicators in testicular cancer: a hospital
      based approach.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) conducted a
      literature search leading to twelve quality indicators for testicular cancer.
      Data obtained from three nationwide databases, showed only five fully measurable
      quality indicators, one was partially measurable, and two could be determined
      using a proxy indicator. The four remaining indicators could not be assessed. In
      this study, we aimed to investigate if these quality indicators were registered
      and measurable in a medium-volume center. METHODS: In our medium-volume cancer
      center new testicular cancer diagnoses were registered since 2003. 48 patients
      were diagnosed with testicular cancer between 2004 and 2014. Through medical file
      review we measured and evaluated the predefined set of indicators. The results
      were pooled in a database and compared to the KCE report (KCE Reports 149A.
      D2010/10.273/96). RESULTS: All 12 indicators could be measured in the entire
      patient cohort of 48 patients. Mean age was 34.9 years (range 16-85). In
      comparison with the KCE report, we documented higher rates of tumor marker
      assessment (98% vs. 73%), staging imaging (100% vs. 95%), multidisciplinary board
      discussion (100% vs. 58%), orchidectomy (98% vs. 84%), follow-up imaging (100%
      vs. 54%), and active surveillance (77% vs. 21%). In contrast, we found a lower
      rate of radiotherapy (6% vs. 20.3%) and chemotherapy (41.6% vs. 53%). Two
      patients were lost to follow-up, the remaining 46 patients are still alive. Four
      patients relapsed, all were seminomas. CONCLUSION: Implementation of quality
      indicators for testicular cancer is feasible for a medium-volume peripheral
      cancer center.

PMID- 28587568
TI  - Ultrasonographic examination of the ruptured cord after collagenase treatment or
      needle fasciotomy for Dupuytren's contracture.
AB  - : Local treatment of Dupuytren's contracture, either by collagenase or needle
      fasciotomy, allows disruption of the pathological cord during forced extension.
      The purpose of this study was to investigate the cord before and after both
      treatments by ultrasound. A total of 39 patients with a minimum of 20 degrees 
      contracture in the metacarpophalangeal joint were included and randomized to
      treatment with either collagenase (20 patients) or needle fasciotomy (19
      patients). The distance between the distal and the proximal parts of the ruptured
      cord was measured by ultrasound and the difference in passive joint movement
      before and after treatment was measured with a goniomenter. There were no
      significant differences between the collagenase and needle fasciotomy groups in
      the size of the rupture or gain of mobility. Most cords treated with collagenase
      and subsequent forced extension had the same ultrasonographic appearance as cords
      disrupted mechanically by needle fasciotomy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 28587569
TI  - Will CURE trials introduce an uncomfortable revolution in the field of HIV
      research?

PMID- 28587570
TI  - Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 Supernatant on Cytokine and Chemokine
      Output From Human Amnion Cells Treated With Lipoteichoic Acid and
      Lipopolysaccharide.
AB  - Preterm birth occurs in 9% to 13% of all human pregnancies and accounts for 80%
      of all neonatal morbidities and mortalities. Approximately 40% of all preterm
      births are idiopathic and about half are associated with infection and/or an
      activated inflammatory process. Further to studies showing anti-inflammatory
      effects of supernatant from the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 (GR-1), we
      tested its ability to modulate cytokine and chemokine production from amnion
      cells in response to stimulation by bacterial wall components, lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS), and lipoteichoic acid (LTA). Placentae were collected from women
      undergoing elective cesarean section at term. Amnion cells were cultured for 48
      hours to confluence, serum starved for 12 hours, and then treated with GR-1
      supernatant (1:20 dilution), followed after 12 hours by LPS (100 ng/mL) or LTA
      (10 ng/mL) for an additional 12 hours. Both LTA and LPS caused significant
      increases in the concentration of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha; 103.9 +/- 67.5 pg/mL and 368.3 +/- 65.7 pg/mL,
      respectively) in medium from cultured amnion cells compared to control (<4
      pg/mL). There was no significant effect of GR-1 supernatant alone on TNF-alpha
      output, but there was significant reduction after LPS treatment. The basal output
      of the immunomodulatory cytokine, interleukin 6, was 613 +/- 170 pg/mL and
      increased significantly after addition of GR-1 supernatant, LTA, LPS, and
      combinations of LTA/LPS with GR-1 supernatant. In conclusion, probiotic L
      rhamnosus GR-1 attenuates the effect of both LPS and LTA in stimulating the
      output of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha from mixed cultures of human
      amnion cells in keeping with previous findings in human trophoblast cells.

PMID- 28587571
TI  - Expression Profiling of lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs and Their Differential
      Expression in Leiomyoma Using Next-Generation RNA Sequencing.
AB  - The objective of this study was to identify the expression profile of long
      noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) with concurrent assessment of microRNA (miRNA) and
      messenger RNA (mRNA) profiles in leiomyomas and paired myometrium using next
      generation RNA sequencing and assembly of RNA transcripts. Total RNA was isolated
      from leiomyoma and paired myometrium (N = 8) and samples from 3 pairs were
      subjected to RNA sequencing. Normalized assembly of over 48 000 lncRNAs resulted
      in identification of 45 936 lncRNAs. Of these lncRNAs, 22 148 representing
      overlapping, intergenic, intronic, and antisense subtypes were expressed in all
      paired tissues, with 5941 (2813 up- and 3128 downregulated at >=1.5 fold)
      differentially expressed in leiomyomas. Concurrent RNA sequencing revealed the
      expression of 2588 miRNAs and 21 814 mRNAs, of which 392 miRNAs and 16 559 mRNAs
      were expressed in all paired tissues. Of these transcripts, 56 and 92 miRNAs and
      2030 and 1825 mRNAs were up- or downregulated at >=1.5 fold, respectively, in
      leiomyoma as compared to myometrium. Using quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR), we confirmed the expression of
      hepatocellular carcinoma upregulated (HULC), lnc-maternally expressed 3 (MEG3),
      long intergenic ncRNA 890 (LINC00890), TSIX, long intergenic ncRNA 473
      (LINC00473), lnc-KLF9-1, and lnc-POTEM-3 (lncRNA-ATB) in leiomyoma and matched
      myometrium (N = 8). Collectively, the results presented here provide a
      comprehensive expression profile of lncRNAs in leiomyomas with concurrent
      integrated expression of miRNAs and mRNAs and implicate potential regulatory
      functions of lncRNAs through interactions with specific miRNAs and mRNAs which
      are known to be critical in the pathogenesis of leiomyoma.

PMID- 28587572
TI  - Neomacrodione: a new degraded diterpenoid from the roots of Neoboutonia
      macrocalyx Beng (Euphorbiaceae).
AB  - One new degraded diterpenoid 3,6-dihydroxy-1,7-dimethyl-9,10-phenantroquinone
      (neomacrodione) (1) together seven known compounds were isolated from the roots
      of Neoboutonia macrocalyx (Euphorbiaceae). The structures of the compounds were
      established based on their NMR and mass spectrometric data in conjunction with
      those previously reported in the literature. Compound (1) displayed moderate
      antibacterial activities.

PMID- 28587573
TI  - "They take care of their own": healthcare professionals' constructions of Sami
      persons with dementia and their families' reluctance to seek and accept help
      through attributions to multiple contexts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Norwegian government white papers have stated that the Sami
      population is reluctant to seek help from healthcare services and has traditions
      of self-help and the use of local networks. OBJECTIVE: In this article we explore
      healthcare professionals' discursive constructions of Sami persons with dementia
      and their families' reluctance to seek and accept help from healthcare services.
      DESIGN: The article is based on an analysis of focus group interviews with
      healthcare professionals (n = 18) in four municipalities in Northern Norway with
      multiethnic populations. A narrative context analysis, which involved an
      examination of sequences of discourse, was employed. RESULTS: Reluctance to seek
      and accept help among Sami service users and assumptions about self-support were
      recurring themes in the focus groups. The reluctance was attributed to macro
      contexts, such as socio-historical processes and cultural norms, and to micro
      contexts, such as individual and interpersonal factors including the healthcare
      professionals' cultural backgrounds and language competence. The healthcare
      professionals' positioning as insiders or outsiders (Sami or non-Sami) affected
      their attributions. CONCLUSIONS: Local healthcare professionals are at the front
      line for providing and assessing service users' needs for healthcare services.
      Consequently, their perceptions of service users' needs are pivotal for achieving
      equity in healthcare. The established opinion that Sami "take care of their own"
      and are reluctant to seek and accept help may lead to omissions or neglect.
      Healthcare professionals' awareness about how present encounters in healthcare
      settings are framed and shaped by the service users' previous and prevailing
      experiences of marginalisation and subordination is crucial to avoid omissions or
      neglect resulting from assumptions about cultural preferences. Discursively
      shaped boundaries and differences between groups may create the impression that
      the distance between the groups is too wide to traverse, which in turn may lead
      to further marginalisation of service users in healthcare encounters.

PMID- 28587574
TI  - Adverse Childhood Experiences of Violent Female Offenders: A Comparison of
      Homicide and Sexual Perpetrators.
AB  - Adverse childhood experiences are associated with a multitude of health and
      social problems. In addition to an increased risk of poor health, mental
      disorders, and substance abuse, childhood maltreatment is also significantly
      related to adult violent offending. Although gender-specific analyses suggest
      that early childhood maltreatment precedes later violence for males across
      offense categories, it is unknown whether this association also applies to
      different types of female offenders. This study explores the types and quantity
      of adverse childhood experiences for two groups of violent female offenders:
      perpetrators of intentional homicide ( N = 28) and perpetrators of sexual
      offenses ( N = 47). A nonparametric analysis using odds ratios (OR) indicated
      that female homicide perpetrators experienced significantly more adverse
      childhood experiences (as measured by the Adverse Childhood Experiences
      Questionnaire) than female sex offenders. Implications for future research are
      discussed.

PMID- 28587576
TI  - Risk factors for wound complications and 30-day mortality after major lower limb
      amputations in patients with peripheral arterial disease.
AB  - Purpose Risk factors for wound complications or 30-day mortality after major
      amputation in patients with peripheral arterial disease remain unclear. We
      investigated the outcomes of major amputation in patients with peripheral
      arterial disease. Methods Patients who underwent major amputation from 2008 to
      2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The main outcome measures were risk factors
      for wound complications and 30-day mortality after major lower limb amputations.
      Major amputation was defined as above-knee amputation or below-knee amputation.
      Wound complications were defined as surgical site infection or wound dehiscence.
      Results In total, 106 consecutive patients underwent major amputation. The
      average age was 77.3 +/- 11.2 years, 67.9% of patients had diabetes mellitus and
      35.8% were undergoing hemodialysis. Patients who underwent primary amputation
      constituted 61.9% of the cohort, and the proportions of above-knee amputation and
      below-knee amputation were 66.9% and 33.1%, respectively. The wound complication
      rate was 13.3% overall, 10.3% in above-knee amputation, and 19.5% in below-knee
      amputation. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk factors for wound
      complications were female sex (hazard ratio, 4.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.40
      17.3; P = 0.01) and below-knee amputation (hazard ratio, 4.36; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.20-17.6; P = 0.03). The 30-day mortality rate was 7.6%, pneumonia
      comprised the most frequent cause of 30-day mortality, followed by sepsis and
      cardiac death. Multivariate analysis showed that a low serum albumin
      concentration (hazard ratio, 3.87; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-16.3; P = 0.03)
      was a risk factor for 30-day mortality. Conclusions Female sex and below-knee
      amputation were risk factors for wound complications. A low serum albumin
      concentration was a risk factor for 30-day mortality after major amputation in
      Japanese patients with peripheral arterial disease.

PMID- 28587575
TI  - Comparison of Multisegmental Foot and Ankle Motion Between Total Ankle
      Replacement and Ankle Arthrodesis in Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total ankle replacement (TAR) and ankle arthrodesis (AA) are usually
      performed for severe ankle arthritis. We compared postoperative foot segmental
      motion during gait in patients treated with TAR and AA. METHODS: Gait analysis
      was performed in 17 and 7 patients undergoing TAR and AA, respectively. Subjects
      were evaluated using a 3-dimensional multisegmental foot model with 15 markers.
      Temporal gait parameters were calculated. The maximum and minimum values and the
      differences in hallux, forefoot, hindfoot, and arch in 3 planes (sagittal,
      coronal, transverse) were compared between the 2 groups. One hundred healthy
      adults were evaluated as a control. RESULTS: Gait speed was faster in the TAR ( P
      = .028). On analysis of foot and ankle segmental motion, the range of hindfoot
      sagittal motion was significantly greater in the TAR (15.1 vs 10.2 degrees in AA;
      P = .004). The main component of motion increase was hindfoot dorsiflexion (12.3
      and 8.6 degrees). The range of forefoot sagittal motion was greater in the TAR
      (9.3 vs 5.8 degrees in AA; P = .004). Maximum ankle power in the TAR (1.16) was
      significantly higher than 0.32 in AA; P = .008). However, the range of hindfoot
      and forefoot sagittal motion was decreased in both TAR and AA compared with the
      control group ( P = .000). CONCLUSION: Although biomechanical results of TAR and
      AA were not similar to those in the normal controls, joint motions in the TAR
      more closely matched normal values. Treatment decision making should involve
      considerations of the effect of surgery on the adjacent joints. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level III, case-control study.

PMID- 28587577
TI  - Vitamin K2 can suppress the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4,
      and inhibit calcification of aortic intima in ApoE-/- mice as well as smooth
      muscle cells.
AB  - Background and objectives Vascular calcification is a common complication in
      atherosclerosis. Accumulating evidence showed that Toll-like receptors (TLRs)
      mediate pro-inflammatory and atherosclerosis. Recent studies demonstrated that
      vascular calcification is one of the detrimental effects of vitamin K (Vit K)
      antagonists. However, the effects of Vit K on the expression of TLR2 and 4 and
      intimal calcification in artery remained unidentified. Methods and results
      Eighteen ApoE-/- mice were randomly divided into model group, Vit K-treated
      group, and control group. The mice of model and Vit K-treated group were fed with
      high-fat diet, while control group mice were fed with normal diet. Mice of Vit K
      treated group were administered orally with vitamin K2 (40 mg.kg-1.day-1) for 12
      weeks. Twelve weeks later the aortic sections of mice were acquired and stained
      with hematoxylin and eosin and von Kossa, respectively. Calcium content and
      activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) at aortic tissues were measured. The
      expression levels of TLR2 and TLR4 in aorta sections were detected by
      immunohistochemisty and RT-PCR, respectively. The effects of Vit K on cellular
      calcification were further studied in A7r5 SMCs. Results demonstrated that high
      fat diet induced typical atherosclerosis with intimal calcification in ApoE-/-
      mice, while in Vit K-treated group atherosclerosis and calcium deposits were not
      serious; Vit K2 also inhibited cellular calcification in A7r5 SMCs. Quantitative
      analysis showed that calcium and ALP activity at aortic tissues in the Vit K
      treated mice were significantly lower than that of the model group ( P < 0.01);
      Compared to the control group, the expression levels of TLR2 and TLR4 in the
      model group were significantly higher ( P < 0.05), while in Vit K-treated group
      the levels of TLR2 and 4 were significantly lower than that in the model group.
      Furthermore, the content of calcium was positively related to the expression
      levels of TLR2 and TLR4 mRNA at aortic tissues ( r = 0.77 and r = 0.79,
      respectively, both P < 0.001). Conclusion VitK2 can inhibit intimal calcification
      of aortic artery induced by high-fat diet in ApoE-/- mice and A7r5 SMCs
      calcification induced by beta-sodium glycerophosphate, and meanwhile can reduce
      the expression of TLR2 and TLR4. These results suggested that the effects of
      VitK2 on vascular calcification may be associated with the expression of TLR2 and
      TLR4.

PMID- 28587578
TI  - Extra-vascular findings in patients undergoing magnetic resonance angiography of
      the abdomen, pelvis and lower extremities: A retrospective study of 352 patients.
AB  - Background The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and clinical
      significance of extra-vascular findings in patients undergoing magnetic resonance
      angiography of the abdomen, pelvis and lower extremities. Materials and methods
      Three hundred fifty-two patients underwent abdominal, pelvic and lower extremity
      1.5 T magnetic resonance angiography. Clinically relevant vascular and extra
      vascular findings were identified. Relevant vascular findings were classified as
      stenosis, occlusion, aneurysm, sclerosis, dissection or vasculitis. Relevant
      extra-vascular findings were categorized as 'safe' (Group A), intermediate -
      requiring additional investigation - (Group B) and malignant/endangering -
      requiring change of therapy (Group C). Results A total of 2152 clinically
      relevant vascular findings was identified (6.1/patient). The most frequent
      vascular finding was femoral artery stenosis (10.6%). Four hundred fifty-one
      extra-vascular findings were observed (1.3/patient) and classified into Group A
      (78%), Group B (19.5%) and Group C findings (2.4%). The most frequent malignant
      findings were lung cancer, lymphoma, osteosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and
      renal cell carcinoma (7/352 patients). Conclusions Extravascular findings are
      frequently encountered in magnetic resonance angiography performed for vascular
      indications. Clinically relevant findings are seen in a substantial part of
      patients and should prompt further diagnostic work-up.

PMID- 28587580
TI  - Remote Ischemic Conditioning in Cardiovascular Surgery.
AB  - The existing clinical studies on remote ischemic preconditioning in patients
      undergoing cardiovascular surgery are critically reviewed, with a focus on
      infarct size reduction and clinical outcome as end points. Confounders, notably
      the use of propofol anesthesia are identified. The need for better designed
      trials with a more targeted approach is emphasized.

PMID- 28587579
TI  - Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - The United States is experiencing its greatest life expectancy ever. Nonetheless,
      the general health of the US population is far from at an all-time high. An
      important contributor to the pandemic of cardiovascular disease is that
      overweight and obesity are also the major determinants of metabolic syndrome, an
      all too common and all too serious clinical and public health challenge.
      Clinicians have traditionally evaluated each of the major risk factors
      contributing to metabolic syndrome on an individual basis. There is evidence,
      however, that the risk factors are more than additive. The overlap of these
      factors in each disease state, resulting in increased atherogenic risks, is worth
      examining as a broader entity rather than separately. While therapeutic lifestyle
      changes (TLCs) should be strongly recommended, clinicians should not let the
      perfect be the enemy of the possible. Evidence-based doses of statins, aspirin
      and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or angiotensin II receptor blockers
      should be prescribed as adjuncts, not alternatives, to TLCs. In fact, there is
      cogent evidence that the benefits of these pharmacologic therapies may also be at
      least additive.

PMID- 28587582
TI  - The Effect of Clopidogrel on the Response to Ischemia Reperfusion.
AB  - Reperfusion in the setting of acute ischemia is essential in limiting tissue
      necrosis. However, reperfusion itself is associated with significant adverse
      effects. There is animal evidence that platelets play a role in the adverse
      effects of ischemia and reperfusion (IR) injury. We examined whether clopidogrel
      would have favorable effects on endothelial dysfunction induced by an episode of
      IR. Using a parallel design, we administered clopidogrel 600 mg or matching
      placebo to normal volunteers (n = 20) 24 hours before an episode of IR. Flow
      mediated dilatation (FMD, radial artery) was assessed before and after 20 minutes
      of upper arm ischemia. Following IR, there was a highly significant decrease in
      FMD in the placebo group (7.6% +/- 1.3% vs 3.4% +/- 0.1%; P < .001). In the
      clopidogrel group, there was no change in FMD post-IR (8.3% +/- 0.8% vs 7.1% +/-
      1.2%; P = not significant). Following IR, FMD in the placebo group was
      significantly smaller than that observed in the clopidogrel group ( P < .01).
      Ischemia and reperfusion caused no change in plasma levels of biomarkers of
      inflammation (intercellular adhesion molecule 1, chemokine ligand 5, and
      interleukin 6) in either group. Therefore, a single dose of clopidogrel given 24
      hours prior to an episode of IR had protective effects, limiting the adverse
      effects of ischemia on endothelial function.

PMID- 28587581
TI  - ACE Phenotyping as a Guide Toward Personalized Therapy With ACE Inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (ACEI) are widely used
      in the management of cardiovascular diseases but with significant interindividual
      variability in the patient's response. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether
      interindividual variability in the response to ACE inhibitors is explained by the
      "ACE phenotype"-for example, variability in plasma ACE concentration, activity,
      and conformation and/or the degree of ACE inhibition in each individual. METHODS:
      The ACE phenotype was determined in plasma of 14 patients with hypertension
      treated chronically for 4 weeks with 40 mg enalapril (E) or 20 mg E + 16 mg
      candesartan (EC) and in 20 patients with hypertension treated acutely with a
      single dose (20 mg) of E with or without pretreatment with hydrochlorothiazide.
      The ACE phenotyping included (1) plasma ACE concentration; (2) ACE activity (with
      2 substrates: Hip-His-Leu and Z-Phe-His-Leu and calculation of their ratio); (3)
      detection of ACE inhibitors in patient's blood (indicator of patient compliance)
      and the degree of ACE inhibition (ie, adherence); and (4) ACE conformation.
      RESULTS: Enalapril reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure in most
      patients; however, 20% of patients were considered nonresponders. Chronic
      treatment results in 40% increase in serum ACE concentrations, with the exception
      of 1 patient. There was a trend toward better response to ACEI among patients who
      had a higher plasma ACE concentration. CONCLUSION: Due to the fact that "20% of
      patients do not respond to ACEI by blood pressure drop," the initial blood ACE
      level could not be a predictor of blood pressure reduction in an individual
      patient. However, ACE phenotyping provides important information about
      conformational and kinetic changes in ACE of individual patients, and this could
      be a reason for resistance to ACE inhibitors in some nonresponders.

PMID- 28587584
TI  - Strategies to Optimize Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Coronary Artery Stenting
      in Acute Coronary Syndrome.
AB  - The use of aspirin and a P2Y12 receptor antagonist as dual antiplatelet therapy
      (DAPT) has become the treatment of choice in patients with acute coronary
      syndrome (ACS) and percutaneous coronary intervention to prevent recurrent
      thrombotic events. Although DAPT is beneficial for most patients, few patients
      still experience recurrent thrombotic events and increased bleeding episodes.
      This article reviews current literature to identify various approaches that may
      enhance the DAPT benefit-risk ratio in patients with ACS. Three strategies
      addressed in this article include the following-(1) use of more potent
      antiplatelet agents other than clopidogrel; (2) addition of direct oral
      anticoagulants (DOACs) to DAPT; and (3) optimizing DAPT duration. Although the
      use of prasugrel or ticagrelor improves treatment efficacy, their use has been
      associated with increased risk of bleeding compared to clopidogrel. The
      combination of DOACs and DAPT may not be the most viable strategy because of its
      limited cardiovascular benefits and increased bleeding risks. The optimal
      duration of DAPT duration remains controversial. Most guidelines recommend 6 to
      12 months of DAPT, whereas emerging studies have shown benefit for both shorter
      and longer duration of treatment. Risk stratification tools such as the DAPT
      score may play a role in individualizing DAPT duration according to patient's
      ischemic and bleeding risks.

PMID- 28587583
TI  - Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibition.
AB  - The novel combination sacubitril/valsartan represents a new therapeutic approach
      in the management of heart failure. With the simultaneous blockage of the enzyme
      neprilysin (by sacubitril) and angiotensin II receptors (by valsartan), this
      combination reduces the degradation of natriuretic peptides and other
      counterregulatory peptide systems while avoiding the deleterious effect of
      angiotensin II receptors activation and thereby encompasses a beneficial impact
      of 2 important neurohormonal pathways activated in heart failure. As opposed to
      previously tested neprilysin inhibitors, sacubitril/valsartan represents a more
      effective method in reducing morbidity and mortality in heart failure, while
      preserving a safety profile comparable to well-established, standard, angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitor's therapy.

PMID- 28587585
TI  - The impact of biological treatments on the anti-dsDNA and anti-nucleosome tests.
AB  - Background Anti-double stranded DNA antibodies are a very heterogeneous group of
      antibodies, quite specific for systemic lupus erythematosus. Newer technologies,
      such as addressable laser bead immunoassays (ALBIA), show great potential as a
      diagnostic application. The production of anti-double stranded DNA antibodies is
      often encountered in inflammatory arthritis; however, literature reports that the
      actual onset of drug induced lupus in patients treated with biological drugs is a
      rare event. False positive results for anti-double stranded DNA and anti
      nucleosome antibodies detected in patients with inflammatory arthritis treated
      with different biologics prompted the investigation of full autoantibody profiles
      to evaluate each biomarker's diagnostic performance in systemic lupus
      erythematosus. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic performance of
      anti-double stranded DNA antibody and anti-nucleosome antibody methods and to
      evaluate the value of simultaneously measuring anti-double stranded DNA and anti
      nucleosome antibodies, along with other anti-nuclear antibody analytes, as
      biomarkers for systemic lupus erythematosus, using a more appropriate control
      cohort including inflammatory arthritis patients with a non-clinical drug induced
      lupus. Methods Anti-double stranded DNA and anti-nucleosome antibody levels were
      evaluated in 247 patient samples: 70 systemic lupus erythematosus, 177 disease
      controls (including 97 inflammatory arthritis during treatment with different
      biologics) using the Bio-Rad BioPlex(r) 2200. Results Anti-nucleosome antibodies
      demonstrated greater clinical sensitivity and specificity than anti-double
      stranded DNA antibodies. At the manufacturers' cut-off range, considering the two
      markers as a single or combined test, the "anti-double stranded DNA test or anti
      nucleosome antibodies" was the most sensitive combination (0.400) with the best
      negative likelihood ratio (0.62) and negative predictive value (0.803).
      Conclusion Anti-nucleosome antibodies are a more sensitive and specific biomarker
      of systemic lupus erythematosus than anti-double stranded DNA antibodies. Anti
      nucleosome antibodies and anti-double stranded DNA antibodies are independent and
      complementary markers of systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis and, therefore,
      are strongly suggested as combined tests (positive predictive value = 0.938).
      Moreover, the combined use of the two tests may help to overcome the decreased
      specificity percentage of the anti-double stranded DNA test, when considering an
      inflammatory arthritis cohort under biological therapies. The ALBIA method for
      anti-nuclear specificity detection allows a full autoantibody assessment,
      resulting in a much higher clinical specificity for systemic lupus erythematosus
      in the presence of >=3 positive markers and significantly more positive
      likelihood ratio when >=2 positive markers are present.

PMID- 28587586
TI  - Depression in systemic lupus erythematosus: gender differences in the performance
      of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Center for Epidemiologic Studies
      Depression Scale (CES-D), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
AB  - The prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients with systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE) varies widely between different cohorts (17-75%), primarily
      due to factors such as the heterogeneity of the samples and the instruments used
      to detect depressive symptoms. Most of these instruments are self-administered
      questionnaires that have different characteristics and approaches to depressive
      symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate gender differences in the performance of
      three questionnaires used to assess depressive symptoms in patients with SLE: the
      Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression
      Scale (CES-D), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). This study
      included 54 male and 54 female SLE patients. Depressive symptoms were assessed
      using BDI (cutoffs 13 and 15), CES-D and HADS. The gold standard method used was
      the diagnostic criteria of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical
      Manual of Mental Disorders. Regarding the performance of the BDI questionnaire,
      no significant differences in sensitivity or specificity were found between the
      genders. The specificity of the CES-D questionnaire was significantly greater for
      the male group (83% vs. 62.5%, p = 0.0309), and its sensitivity was non
      significantly higher for the female group (92.9% for women and 71.4% for men; p =
      0.2474). Regarding the performance of the HADS, we found similar sensitivities
      between the genders (71.4%) but a higher specificity among the men (95.7% in men
      and 82.5% in women, p = 0.0741). In conclusion, our results suggest the presence
      of gender differences in the performance of the questionnaires in SLE patients.
      The BDI had the most similar performances between the male and female groups. In
      contrast, the CES-D and HADS-D showed considerable variation in performances
      between men and women with SLE.

PMID- 28587588
TI  - Contemporary Management of Renal Transplant Recipients With De Novo Urolithiasis:
      A Single Institution Experience and Review of the Literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We report on the long-term follow-up of managing allograft stones at
      a single tertiary referral institution and review the relevant literature.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of renal allograft recipient
      charts was performed to identify patients who developed allograft lithiasis
      between 1974 and 2009. Patient and stone characteristics, diagnoses, treatments,
      and outcomes were described. RESULTS: Sixteen patients developed 22 stones after
      a median follow-up of 170 months (range, 51-351 mo). The mean (standard
      deviation) and median diameter of the stones were 13.8 (8.5) mm and 11 mm. Among
      these, 3 stones were treated conservatively, 3 by shock-wave lithotripsy, and 7
      by cystolitholapaxy. Seven patients underwent percutaneous treatment in the form
      of percutaneous nephrostomy tube fixation and spontaneous passage of stone (1
      stone), shock-wave lithotripsy (1 stone), antegrade stenting (1 stone), and
      percutaneous nephrolithotomy (6 stones). All patients were stone free after
      treatment, except for 2 patients whose stones were stable and peripheral on long
      term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Allograft lithiasis requires a multimodal treatment
      tailored according to stone and graft characteristics. Protocols regarding
      spontaneous passage can be adopted if there is no harm to the graft and the
      patient is compliant. Careful attention to the anatomy during percutaneous
      nephrostomy tube placement is mandatory to avoid intestinal loop injury. A more
      attentive follow-up is required for early stone management.

PMID- 28587590
TI  - RNA sequencing and transcriptome arrays analyses show opposing results for
      alternative splicing in patient derived samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and microarrays are two transcriptomics
      techniques aimed at the quantification of transcribed genes and their isoforms.
      Here we compare the latest Affymetrix HTA 2.0 microarray with Illumina 2000 RNA
      seq for the analysis of patient samples - normal lung epithelium tissue and
      squamous cell carcinoma lung tumours. Protein coding mRNAs and long non-coding
      RNAs (lncRNAs) were included in the study. RESULTS: Both platforms performed
      equally well for protein-coding RNAs, however the stochastic variability was
      higher for the sequencing data than for microarrays. This reduced the number of
      differentially expressed genes and genes with predictive potential for RNA-seq
      compared to microarray data. Analysis of this variability revealed a lack of
      reads for short and low abundant genes; lncRNAs, being shorter and less abundant
      RNAs, were found especially susceptible to this issue. A major difference between
      the two platforms was uncovered by analysis of alternatively spliced genes.
      Investigation of differential exon abundance showed insufficient reads for many
      exons and exon junctions in RNA-seq while the detection on the array platform was
      more stable. Nevertheless, we identified 207 genes which undergo alternative
      splicing and were consistently detected by both techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Despite
      the fact that the results of gene expression analysis were highly consistent
      between Human Transcriptome Arrays and RNA-seq platforms, the analysis of
      alternative splicing produced discordant results. We concluded that modern
      microarrays can still outperform sequencing for standard analysis of gene
      expression in terms of reproducibility and cost.

PMID- 28587589
TI  - Sexual selection and the evolution of male pheromone glands in philanthine wasps
      (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexual selection is thought to promote evolutionary changes and
      diversification. However, the impact of sexual selection in relation to other
      selective forces is difficult to evaluate. Male digger wasps of the tribe
      Philanthini (Hymenoptera, Philanthinae) scent mark territories to attract
      receptive females. Consequently, the organs for production and storage of the
      marking secretion, the mandibular gland (MG) and the postpharyngeal gland (PPG),
      are subject to sexual selection. In female Philanthini, these glands are most
      likely solely subject to natural selection and show very little morphological
      diversity. According to the hypothesis that sexual selection drives interspecific
      diversity, we predicted that the MG and PPG show higher interspecific variation
      in males than in females. Using histological methods, 3D-reconstructions, and
      multivariate statistical analysis of morphological characters, we conducted a
      comparative analysis of the MG and the PPG in males of 30 species of Philanthini
      and three species of the Cercerini and Aphilanthopsini, two related tribes within
      the Philanthinae. RESULTS: We found substantial interspecific diversity in gland
      morphology with regard to gland incidence, size, shape and the type of associated
      secretory cells. Overall there was a phylogenetic trend: Ensuing from the large
      MGs and small PPGs of male Cercerini and Aphilanthopsini, the size and complexity
      of the MG was reduced in male Philanthini, while their PPG became considerably
      enlarged, substantially more complex, and associated with an apparently novel
      type of secretory cells. In some clades of the Philanthini the MG was even lost
      and entirely replaced by the PPG. However, several species showed reversals of
      and exceptions from this trend. Head gland morphology was significantly more
      diverse among male than among female Philanthinae. CONCLUSION: Our results show
      considerable variation in male head glands including the loss of an entire gland
      system and the evolution of a novel kind of secretory cells, confirming the
      prediction that interspecific diversity in head gland morphology is higher in
      male than in female Philanthini. We discuss possible causes for the remarkable
      evolutionary changes in males and we conclude that this high diversity has been
      caused by sexual selection.

PMID- 28587591
TI  - Microarray expression profiling in the denervated hippocampus identifies long
      noncoding RNAs functionally involved in neurogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The denervated hippocampus provides a proper microenvironment for the
      survival and neuronal differentiation of neural progenitors. While thousands of
      lncRNAs were identified, only a few lncRNAs that regulate neurogenesis in the
      hippocampus are reported. The present study aimed to perform microarray
      expression profiling to identify long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that might
      participate in the hippocampal neurogenesis, and investigate the potential roles
      of identified lncRNAs in the hippocampal neurogenesis. RESULTS: In this study,
      the profiling suggested that 74 activated and 29 repressed (|log fold
      change|>1.5) lncRNAs were differentially expressed between the denervated and the
      normal hippocampi. Furthermore, differentially expressed lncRNAs associated with
      neurogenesis were found. According to the tissue-specific expression profiles,
      and a novel lncRNA (lncRNA2393) was identified as a neural regulator in the
      hippocampus in this study. The expression of lncRNA2393 was activated in the
      denervated hippocampus. FISH showed lncRNA2393 specially existed in the
      subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus and in the cytoplasm of
      neural stem cells (NSCs). The knockdown of lncRNA2393 depletes the EdU-positive
      NSCs. Besides, the increased expression of lncRNA2393 was found to be triggered
      by the change in the microenvironment. CONCLUSION: We concluded that expression
      changes of lncRNAs exists in the microenvironment of denervated hippocampus, of
      which promotes hippocampal neurogenesis. The identified lncRNA lncRNA2393
      expressed in neural stem cells, located in the subgranular zone of the dentate
      gyrus, which can promote NSCs proliferation in vitro. Therefore, the question is
      exactly which part of the denervated hippocampus induced the expression of
      lncRNA2393. Further studies should aim to explore the exact molecular mechanism
      behind the expression of lncRNA2393 in the hippocampus, to lay the foundation for
      the clinical application of NSCs in treating diseases of the central nervous
      system.

PMID- 28587592
TI  - Bayesian hierarchical piecewise regression models: a tool to detect trajectory
      divergence between groups in long-term observational studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bayesian hierarchical piecewise regression (BHPR) modeling has not
      been previously formulated to detect and characterise the mechanism of trajectory
      divergence between groups of participants that have longitudinal responses with
      distinct developmental phases. These models are useful when participants in a
      prospective cohort study are grouped according to a distal dichotomous health
      outcome. Indeed, a refined understanding of how deleterious risk factor profiles
      develop across the life-course may help inform early-life interventions. Previous
      techniques to determine between-group differences in risk factors at each age may
      result in biased estimate of the age at divergence. METHODS: We demonstrate the
      use of Bayesian hierarchical piecewise regression (BHPR) to generate a point
      estimate and credible interval for the age at which trajectories diverge between
      groups for continuous outcome measures that exhibit non-linear within-person
      response profiles over time. We illustrate our approach by modeling the
      divergence in childhood-to-adulthood body mass index (BMI) trajectories between
      two groups of adults with/without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the
      Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS). RESULTS: Using the proposed BHPR
      approach, we estimated the BMI profiles of participants with T2DM diverged from
      healthy participants at age 16 years for males (95% credible interval (CI):13.5
      18 years) and 21 years for females (95% CI: 19.5-23 years). These data suggest
      that a critical window for weight management intervention in preventing T2DM
      might exist before the age when BMI growth rate is naturally expected to
      decrease. Simulation showed that when using pairwise comparison of least-square
      means from categorical mixed models, smaller sample sizes tended to conclude a
      later age of divergence. In contrast, the point estimate of the divergence time
      is not biased by sample size when using the proposed BHPR method. CONCLUSIONS:
      BHPR is a powerful analytic tool to model long-term non-linear longitudinal
      outcomes, enabling the identification of the age at which risk factor
      trajectories diverge between groups of participants. The method is suitable for
      the analysis of unbalanced longitudinal data, with only a limited number of
      repeated measures per participants and where the time-related outcome is
      typically marked by transitional changes or by distinct phases of change over
      time.

PMID- 28587593
TI  - Low genetic and phenotypic divergence in a contact zone between freshwater and
      marine sticklebacks: gene flow constrains adaptation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Distinct hybrid zones and phenotypic and genomic divergence is often
      observed between marine and freshwater threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus
      aculeatus). Nevertheless, cases also exist where marine-freshwater divergence is
      diffuse despite seemingly similar environmental settings. In order to assess what
      characterizes these highly different outcomes, we focused on the latter kind of
      system in the Odder River, Denmark. Here, a previous study based on RAD
      (Restriction site Associated DNA) sequencing found non-significant genome-wide
      differentiation between marine and freshwater sticklebacks. In the present study,
      we analyzed samples on a finer geographical scale. We assessed if the system
      should be regarded as panmictic, or if fine-scale genetic structure and local
      selection was present but dominated by strong migration. We also asked if
      specific population components, that is the two sexes and different lateral plate
      morphs, contributed disproportionally more to dispersal. RESULTS: We assessed
      variation at 96 SNPs and the Eda gene that affects lateral plate number,
      conducted molecular sex identification, and analyzed morphological traits.
      Genetic differentiation estimated by FST was non-significant throughout the
      system. Nevertheless, spatial autocorrelation analysis suggested fine scale
      genetic structure with a genetic patch size of 770 m. There was no evidence for
      sex-biased dispersal, but full-plated individuals showed higher dispersal than
      low- and partial-plated individuals. The system was dominated by full-plated
      morphs characteristic of marine sticklebacks, but in the upstream part of the
      river body shape and frequency of low-plated morphs changed in the direction
      expected for freshwater sticklebacks. Five markers including Eda were under
      possible diversifying selection. However, only subtle clinal patterns were
      observed for traits and markers. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that gene flow from
      marine sticklebacks overwhelms adaptation to freshwater conditions, but the short
      genetic patch size means that the effect of gene flow on the most upstream region
      must be indirect and occurs over generations. The occurrence of both weak
      unimodal and strong bimodal hybrid zones within the same species is striking. We
      suggest environmental and demographic factors that could determine these
      outcomes, but also highlight the possibility that long-term population history
      and the presence or absence of genomic incompatibilities could be a contributing
      factor.

PMID- 28587594
TI  - Construction of a high-density linkage map and mapping of sex determination and
      growth-related loci in the mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) is an important and widely
      cultured fish in China. However, the lack of selective breeding of mandarin fish
      in previous decades has resulted in a decline in the growth rate of pond-cultured
      fish, a shortened period of sexual maturity, and reduced disease resistance;
      these issues seriously affect the quality and safety of the fish products.
      Therefore, it is necessary to establish a selective breeding program for the
      mandarin fish to improve the economical traits of the fish and to sustain the
      development of the mandarin fish industry. RESULTS: We constructed a high-density
      linkage map for it based on double digest restriction site associated DNA
      sequencing (ddRAD-Sequencing). This map contained 3283 dimorphic single
      nucleotide polymorphism markers and 24 linkage groups (LGs). The total map-length
      was 1972.01 cM, with an average interlocus distance of 0.61 cM. One significant
      quantitative trait locus (QTL) for sex determination trait was detected on LG23,
      which was supported by five markers, clustered between 60.27 and 68.71 cM. The
      highest logarithm of odds value (17.73) was located at 60.27 cM, near the marker
      r1_73194, accounting for 53.3% of the phenotypic variance. Genotypes of all the
      male fish on r1_33008 were homozygous, whereas those of all females were
      heterozygous. Thus, LG23 was considered a sex-related linkage group. Eleven
      significant QTLs, for three growth traits, at two growth stages and the increased
      values were distributed on four LGs; their contributions to the phenotypic
      variation were quite low (12.4-17.2%), suggesting that multiple genes affected
      the growth traits. CONCLUSION: This high-resolution genetic map provides a
      valuable resource for fine-mapping of important traits and for identification of
      sex-related markers that should facilitate breeding of all-female mandarin fish
      for aquaculture and mechanistic studies on sex determination.

PMID- 28587597
TI  - "On the same page"? The effect of GP examiner feedback on differences in rating
      severity in clinical assessments: a pre/post intervention study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robust and defensible clinical assessments attempt to minimise
      differences in student grades which are due to differences in examiner severity
      (stringency and leniency). Unfortunately there is little evidence to date that
      examiner training and feedback interventions are effective; "physician raters"
      have indeed been deemed "impervious to feedback". Our aim was to investigate the
      effectiveness of a general practitioner examiner feedback intervention, and
      explore examiner attitudes to this. METHODS: Sixteen examiners were provided with
      a written summary of all examiner ratings in medical student clinical case
      examinations over the preceding 18 months, enabling them to identify their own
      rating data and compare it with other examiners. Examiner ratings and examiner
      severity self-estimates were analysed pre and post intervention, using non
      parametric bootstrapping, multivariable linear regression, intra-class
      correlation and Spearman's correlation analyses. Examiners completed a survey
      exploring their perceptions of the usefulness and acceptability of the
      intervention, including what (if anything) examiners planned to do differently as
      a result of the feedback. RESULTS: Examiner severity self-estimates were
      relatively poorly correlated with measured severity on the two clinical case
      examination types pre-intervention (0.29 and 0.67) and were less accurate post
      intervention. No significant effect of the intervention was identified, when
      differences in case difficulty were controlled for, although there were fewer
      outlier examiners post-intervention. Drift in examiner severity over time prior
      to the intervention was observed. Participants rated the intervention as
      interesting and useful, and survey comments indicated that fairness, reassurance,
      and understanding examiner colleagues are important to examiners. CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite our participants being receptive to our feedback and wanting to be "on
      the same page", we did not demonstrate effective use of the feedback to change
      their rating behaviours. Calibration of severity appears to be difficult for
      examiners, and further research into better ways of providing more effective
      feedback is indicated.

PMID- 28587595
TI  - Proteomic analysis by iTRAQ-MRM of soybean resistance to Lamprosema Indicate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lamprosema indicate is a major leaf feeding insect pest to soybean,
      which has caused serious yield losses in central and southern China. To explore
      the defense mechanisms of soybean resistance to Lamprosema indicate, a highly
      resistant line (Gantai-2-2) and a highly susceptible line (Wan 82-178) were
      exposed to Lamprosema indicate larval feedings for 0 h and 48 h, and the
      differential proteomic analyses of these two lines were carried out. RESULTS: The
      results showed that 31 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified
      in the Gantai-2-2 when comparing 48 h feeding with 0 h feeding, and 53 DEPs were
      identified in the Wan 82-178. 28 DEPs were identified when comparing Gantai-2-2
      with Wan 82-178 at 0 h feeding. The bioinformatic analysis results showed that
      most of the DEPs were associated with ribosome, linoleic acid metabolism,
      flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, peroxisome, stilbenoid,
      diarylheptanoid and gingerol biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, pant hormone
      signal transduction, and flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, as well as other
      resistance related metabolic pathways. The MRM analysis showed that the iTRAQ
      results were reliable. CONCLUSIONS: According to the analysis of the DEPs
      results, the soybean defended or resisted the Lamprosema indicate damage by the
      induction of a synthesis of anti-digestive proteins which inhibit the growth and
      development of insects, reactive oxygen species scavenging, signaling pathways,
      secondary metabolites synthesis, and so on.

PMID- 28587596
TI  - A systematic evaluation of nucleotide properties for CRISPR sgRNA design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CRISPR is a versatile gene editing tool which has revolutionized
      genetic research in the past few years. Optimizing sgRNA design to improve the
      efficiency of target/DNA cleavage is critical to ensure the success of CRISPR
      screens. RESULTS: By borrowing knowledge from oligonucleotide design and
      nucleosome occupancy models, we systematically evaluated candidate features
      computed from a number of nucleic acid, thermodynamic and secondary structure
      models on real CRISPR datasets. Our results showed that taking into account
      position-dependent dinucleotide features improved the design of effective sgRNAs
      with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) >0.8, and the
      inclusion of additional features offered marginal improvement (~2% increase in
      AUC). CONCLUSION: Using a machine-learning approach, we proposed an accurate
      prediction model for sgRNA design efficiency. An R package predictSGRNA
      implementing the predictive model is available at
      http://www.ams.sunysb.edu/~pfkuan/softwares.html#predictsgrna .

PMID- 28587598
TI  - Methodologic considerations in the design and analysis of nested case-control
      studies: association between cytokines and postoperative delirium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nested case-control study (NCC) design within a prospective
      cohort study is used when outcome data are available for all subjects, but the
      exposure of interest has not been collected, and is difficult or prohibitively
      expensive to obtain for all subjects. A NCC analysis with good matching
      procedures yields estimates that are as efficient and unbiased as estimates from
      the full cohort study. We present methodological considerations in a matched NCC
      design and analysis, which include the choice of match algorithms, analysis
      methods to evaluate the association of exposures of interest with outcomes, and
      consideration of overmatching. METHODS: Matched, NCC design within a longitudinal
      observational prospective cohort study in the setting of two academic hospitals.
      Study participants are patients aged over 70 years who underwent scheduled major
      non-cardiac surgery. The primary outcome was postoperative delirium from in
      hospital interviews and medical record review. The main exposure was IL-6
      concentration (pg/ml) from blood sampled at three time points before delirium
      occurred. We used nonparametric signed ranked test to test for the median of the
      paired differences. We used conditional logistic regression to model the risk of
      IL-6 on delirium incidence. Simulation was used to generate a sample of cohort
      data on which unconditional multivariable logistic regression was used, and the
      results were compared to those of the conditional logistic regression. Partial R
      square was used to assess the level of overmatching. RESULTS: We found that the
      optimal match algorithm yielded more matched pairs than the greedy algorithm. The
      choice of analytic strategy-whether to consider measured cytokine levels as the
      predictor or outcome-- yielded inferences that have different clinical
      interpretations but similar levels of statistical significance. Estimation
      results from NCC design using conditional logistic regression, and from simulated
      cohort design using unconditional logistic regression, were similar. We found
      minimal evidence for overmatching. CONCLUSIONS: Using a matched NCC approach
      introduces methodological challenges into the study design and data analysis.
      Nonetheless, with careful selection of the match algorithm, match factors, and
      analysis methods, this design is cost effective and, for our study, yields
      estimates that are similar to those from a prospective cohort study design.

PMID- 28587599
TI  - Participation trends in holistic movement practices: a 10-year comparison of
      yoga/Pilates and t'ai chi/qigong use among a national sample of 195,926
      Australians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent decades, the evidence supporting the physical and mental
      health benefits of holistic movement practices such as yoga and t'ai chi have
      become increasingly established. Consequently, investigating the participation
      prevalence and patterns of these practices is a relevant pursuit in the public
      health field. Few studies have provided population-level assessment of
      participation rates, however, and even fewer have focused on patterns over time.
      The purpose of this study was to examine participation prevalence and trends in
      yoga/Pilates and t'ai chi/qigong over a ten-year period in a nationally
      representative sample of Australians aged 15 years and over, with particular
      attention to sex and age. A secondary purpose was to juxtapose these findings
      with participation trends in traditional fitness activities over the same period.
      METHODS: Data comprised modes and types of physical activity, age, and sex
      variables collected through the Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey (ERASS), a
      series of independent cross-sectional Australia-wide surveys conducted yearly
      between 2001 and 2010. For each year, weighted population estimates were
      calculated for those participating in yoga/Pilates, t'ai chi/qigong, and fitness
      activities (e.g. aerobics, calisthenics). Linear regression and multiple logistic
      regression analyses were used to examine trends in prevalence rates over time and
      differences among sex and age (15-34; 35-54; 55+ years) groups, respectively.
      RESULTS: Average prevalence rates between 2001 and 2010 were 3.0% (95% CI 2.9
      3.1) for yoga/Pilates, 0.6% (95% CI 0.5-0.6) for t'ai chi/qigong, and 19.2% (95%
      CI 18.9-19.4) for fitness activities. Across the decade, overall participation
      rates remained relatively stable for yoga/Pilates and t'ai chi/qigong, while
      increasing linearly for fitness activities. For both genders and in all three age
      groups, participation in fitness activities increased, whereas only in the 55+
      age group was there a significant increase in yoga/Pilates participation;
      participation in t'ai chi/qigong declined significantly in the two younger age
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Participation rates in yoga/Pilates and t'ai chi/qigong in
      Australia were low and relatively stable. As fitness activities increased in
      popularity across the decade, holistic movement practices did not. These findings
      point to the need to investigate activity-specific barriers and facilitators to
      participation, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, organisational, and
      environmental factors.

PMID- 28587600
TI  - Performance comparison of CareStartTM HRP2/pLDH combo rapid malaria test with
      light microscopy in north-western Tigray, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are alternative methods for microscopy
      in the diagnosis of malaria in resource limited settings. Among commercially
      available RDTs, CareStartTM Malaria test was found to show reliable results. This
      study evaluated the performance of CareStartTM Malaria Combo test kit in
      Northwestern Tigray in Ethiopia. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 320
      malaria-suspected patients at Mayani Hospital in Northwestern Tigray from
      December 2015 to March 2016. All blood samples were examined using both light
      microscopy and CareStartTM Malaria HRP2/pLDH Combo Test kit. Statistical analyses
      were performed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The overall parasite positivity
      using light microscopy and CareStartTM RDT was 41 (12.8%) and 43 (13.4%),
      respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of CareStartTM RDT, regardless of
      species, were found to be 95.4 and 99.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the
      sensitivity of CareStartTM RDT for Plasmodium falciparum or mixed infection and
      non-falciparum malaria parasites was 94.4 and 85.0%, respectively while the
      specificity was found to be 98.9 and 99.7%, respectively. The agreement between
      the two test methods was "excellent" with a kappa value of 0.92. CONCLUSION:
      CareStartTM RDT has very good sensitivity and specificity for malaria diagnosis.
      The test kit also has an excellent agreement with light microscopy. It is
      therefore useful in resource-limited areas where microscopy is not available.

PMID- 28587601
TI  - Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with Chiari-like malformation and Syringomyelia
      have increased variability of spatio-temporal gait characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chiari-like malformation in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a
      herniation of the cerebellum and brainstem into or through the foramen magnum.
      This condition predisposes to Syringomyelia; fluid filled syrinxes within the
      spinal cord. The resulting pathology in spinal cord and cerebellum create
      neuropathic pain and changes in gait. This study aims to quantify the changes in
      gait for Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with Chiari-like malformation and
      Syringomyelia. METHODS: We compared Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with Chiari
      like malformation with (n = 9) and without (n = 8) Syringomyelia to Border
      Terriers (n = 8). Two video cameras and manual tracking was used to quantify gait
      parameters. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We found a significant increase in
      coefficient of variation for the spatio-temporal characteristics and ipsilateral
      distance between paws and a wider base of support in the thoracic limbs but not
      in the pelvic limbs for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels compared with the border
      terrier.

PMID- 28587602
TI  - Health care workers indicate ill preparedness for Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in
      Ashanti Region of Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic that hit some countries
      in West Africa underscores the need to train front line high-risk health workers
      on disease prevention skills. Although Ghana did not record (and is yet to) any
      case, and several health workers have received numerous training schemes, there
      is no record of any study that assessed preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWS)
      regarding EVD and any emergency prone disease in Ghana. We therefore conducted a
      hospital based cross sectional study involving 101 HCWs from two facilities in
      Kumasi, Ghana to assess the level of preparedness of HCWs to respond to any
      possible EVD. METHODS: We administered a face-to-face questionnaire using an
      adapted WHO (2015) and CDC (2014) Checklist for Ebola Preparedness and assessed
      overall knowledge gaps, and preparedness of the Ghanaian HCWs in selected health
      facilities of the Ashanti Region of Ghana from October to December 2015. RESULTS:
      A total 92 (91.09%) HCWs indicated they were not adequately trained to handle an
      EVD suspected case. Only 25.74% (n = 26) considered their facilities sufficiently
      equipped to handle and manage EVD patients. When asked which disinfectant to use
      after attending to and caring for a suspected patient with EVD, only 8.91% (n =
      9) could correctly identify the right disinfectant (chi2 = 28.52, p = 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates poor knowledge and ill preparedness and
      unwillingness of many HCWs to attend to EVD. Beyond knowledge acquisition, there
      is the need for more training from time to time to fully prepare HCWs to handle
      any possible EVD case.

PMID- 28587603
TI  - Vienna Summer School on Oncology: how to teach clinical decision making in a
      multidisciplinary environment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical decision making in oncology is based on both inter- and
      multidisciplinary approach. Hence teaching future doctors involved in oncology or
      general health practice is crucial. The aim of the Vienna Summer School on
      Oncology (VSSO) as an international, integrated, undergraduate oncology course is
      to teach medical students interdisciplinary team communication and application of
      treatment concepts/algorithms in a multidisciplinary setting. METHOD: The
      teaching is based on an inter- and multidisciplinary faculty and a multimodal
      education approach to address different learning styles. The participants rated
      their satisfaction of the program voluntarily after finishing the course
      according to a grading scale from one (not good) to five (very good). The
      learning success was assessed by a compulsory pre-VSSO and post-VSSO single
      choice questionnaire. RESULTS: Program organisation was rated with a mean score
      of 4.47 out of 5.0 (SD 0.51), composition of the program and range of topics with
      a mean score of 4.68 (SD 0.58) and all teachers with a mean score of 4.36 (SD
      0.40) points. Student evaluation at the beginning and end of the program
      indicated significant knowledge acquisition -i.e., general aspects of cancer:
      median 8.75 points (IQR 7.5-9.4) vs.10.0 points (IQR 9.4-10.0) p = 0.005;
      specific aspects of cancer: median 4.87 points (IQR 3.33-5.71) vs. 8.72 points
      (IQR 6.78-9.49) p <= 0.001, respectively. CONCLUSION: Even though the
      participants represent a selection of students with special interest in cancer,
      the results of the VSSO indicate the benefit of an inter- and multidisciplinary
      teaching approach within an oncology module.

PMID- 28587605
TI  - Evaluation of arterial digital blood flow using Doppler ultrasonography in
      healthy dairy cows.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local circulatory disturbances have been implicated in the
      development of foot disorders in cattle. The goals of this study were to evaluate
      the suitability of the interdigital artery in the pastern region in both hind
      limbs using pulsed-wave (PW) Doppler ultrasonography and to investigate
      quantitative arterial blood flow variables at that site in dairy cows. An Esaote
      MyLabOne ultrasound machine with a 10-MHz linear transducer was used to assess
      blood flow in the interdigital artery in the pastern region in both hind limbs of
      22 healthy German Holstein cows. The cows originated from three commercial farms
      and were restrained in a standing hoof trimming chute without sedation. RESULTS:
      A PW Doppler signal suitable for analysis was obtained in 17 of 22 cows. The
      blood flow profiles were categorised into four curve types, and the following
      quantitative variables were measured in three uniform cardiac cycles: vessel
      diameter, pulse rate, maximum systolic velocity, maximum diastolic velocity, end
      diastolic velocity, reverse velocity, maximum time-averaged mean velocity, blood
      flow rate, resistance index and persistence index. The measurements did not
      differ among cows from the three farms. Maximum systolic velocity, vessel
      diameter and pulse rate did not differ but other variables differed significantly
      among blood flow profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in weight-bearing are thought
      to be responsible for the normal variability of blood flow profiles in healthy
      cows. The scanning technique used in this report for evaluation of blood flow in
      the interdigital artery appears suitable for further investigations in healthy
      and in lame cows.

PMID- 28587604
TI  - KCNJ11, ABCC8 and TCF7L2 polymorphisms and the response to sulfonylurea treatment
      in patients with type 2 diabetes: a bioinformatics assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a worldwide epidemic with considerable
      health and economic consequences. Sulfonylureas are widely used drugs for the
      treatment of patients with T2D. KCNJ11 and ABCC8 encode the Kir6.2 (pore-forming
      subunit) and SUR1 (regulatory subunit that binds to sulfonylurea) of pancreatic
      beta cell KATP channel respectively with a critical role in insulin secretion and
      glucose homeostasis. TCF7L2 encodes a transcription factor expressed in
      pancreatic beta cells that regulates insulin production and processing. Because
      mutations of these genes could affect insulin secretion stimulated by
      sulfonylureas, the aim of this study is to assess associations between molecular
      variants of KCNJ11, ABCC8 and TCF7L2 genes and response to sulfonylurea treatment
      and to predict their potential functional effects. METHODS: Based on a
      comprehensive literature search, we found 13 pharmacogenetic studies showing that
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in KCNJ11: rs5219 (E23K), ABCC8:
      rs757110 (A1369S), rs1799854 (intron 15, exon 16 -3C/T), rs1799859 (R1273R), and
      TCF7L2: rs7903146 (intron 4) were significantly associated with responses to
      sulfonylureas. For in silico bioinformatics analysis, SIFT, PolyPhen-2, PANTHER,
      MutPred, and SNPs3D were applied for functional predictions of 36 coding (KCNJ11:
      10, ABCC8: 24, and TCF7L2: 2; all are missense), and HaploReg v4.1, RegulomeDB,
      and Ensembl's VEP were used to predict functions of 7 non-coding (KCNJ11: 1,
      ABCC8: 1, and TCF7L2: 5) SNPs, respectively. RESULTS: Based on various in silico
      tools, 8 KCNJ11 missense SNPs, 23 ABCC8 missense SNPs, and 2 TCF7L2 missense SNPs
      could affect protein functions. Of them, previous studies showed that mutant
      alleles of 4 KCNJ11 missense SNPs and 5 ABCC8 missense SNPs can be successfully
      rescued by sulfonylurea treatments. Further, 3 TCF7L2 non-coding SNPs (rs7903146,
      rs11196205 and rs12255372), can change motif(s) based on HaploReg v4.1 and are
      predicted as risk factors by Ensembl's VEP. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that
      a personalized medicine approach by tailoring sulfonylurea therapy of T2D
      patients according to their genotypes of KCNJ11, ABCC8, and TCF7L2 could attain
      an optimal treatment efficacy.

PMID- 28587606
TI  - Quality of anticoagulation management with warfarin among outpatients in a
      tertiary hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a retrospective cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Warfarin is the most widely used anticoagulant in the world. The
      difficulty of managing warfarin contributes to great potential for patient harm,
      both from excessive anticoagulation and insufficient anticoagulation. This study
      assessed the International Normalized Ratio (INR) control outcome measures and
      warfarin dose adjustment practices at cardiology and hematology outpatient
      clinics at a teaching hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: The study was
      based on a cross - sectional study design involving 360 retrospective patients'
      chart review among outpatients who received warfarin for its various indications.
      RESULTS: The mean frequency of INR monitoring per patient was 62.9 days (17.2
      143.7 days). Patients spent 52.2%, 29.0% and 18.8% of the time in sub
      therapeutic, therapeutic and supra-therapeutic ranges, respectively. The daily
      warfarin dose was increased 50.9% and 36.9% and decreased in 52.8% and 60.9% of
      the time for occurrences of sub-therapeutic and supra-therapeutic INRs to achieve
      target ranges of 2.0-3.0 and 2.5-3.5, respectively. CONCLUSION: The quality of
      anticoagulation management with warfarin among outpatients in Tikur Anbessa
      Specialized Hospital was sub-optimal. This was reflected by low Time in
      Therapeutic Range (TTR), longer than recommended INR monitoring frequency, and
      minimal actions taken to adjust warfarin dose after occurrences of non
      therapeutic INRs.

PMID- 28587607
TI  - Design of a syndemic based intervention to facilitate care for men who have sex
      with men with high risk behaviour: the syn.bas.in randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) constitute a risk group for sexual
      transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Despite counselling interventions,
      risk behaviour remains high. Syndemic theory holds that psychosocial problems
      often co-occur, interact and mutually reinforce each other, thereby increasing
      high risk behaviours and co-occurring diseases. Therefore, if co-occurring
      psychosocial problems were assessed and treated simultaneously, this might
      decrease high risk behaviour and disease. METHOD: An open label randomized
      controlled trial will be conducted among 150 MSM with high risk behaviour
      recruited from the STI clinic of Amsterdam. Inclusion criteria are: HIV negative
      MSM with two STI and/or PEP treatment in the last 24 months, or HIV positive MSM
      with one STI in the last 24 months. All participants get questionnaires on the
      following syndemic domains: ADHD, depression, anxiety disorder, alexithymia and
      sex- and drug addiction. Participants in the control group receive standard care:
      STI screenings every three months and motivational interviewing based
      counselling. Participants in the experimental group receive standard care plus
      feedback based on the results of the questionnaires. All participants can be
      referred to co-located mental health or addiction services. The primary outcome
      is help seeking behaviour for mental health problems and/or drug use problems.
      The secondary outcomes are STI incidence and changes in sexual risk behaviour
      (i.e. condom use, number of anal sex partners, drug use during sex). DISCUSSION:
      This study will provide information on syndemic domains among MSM who show high
      risk behaviour and on the effect of screening and referral on help seeking
      behaviour and health (behaviour) outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial Registration
      at clinicaltrail.gov, identifier NCT02859935 .

PMID- 28587608
TI  - Integrating clinical decision support systems for pharmacogenomic testing into
      clinical routine - a scoping review of designs of user-system interactions in
      recent system development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pharmacogenomic clinical decision support systems (CDSS) have the
      potential to help overcome some of the barriers for translating pharmacogenomic
      knowledge into clinical routine. Before developing a prototype it is crucial for
      developers to know which pharmacogenomic CDSS features and user-system
      interactions have yet been developed, implemented and tested in previous
      pharmacogenomic CDSS efforts and if they have been successfully applied. We
      address this issue by providing an overview of the designs of user-system
      interactions of recently developed pharmacogenomic CDSS. METHODS: We searched
      PubMed for pharmacogenomic CDSS published between January 1, 2012 and November
      15, 2016. Thirty-two out of 118 identified articles were summarized and included
      in the final analysis. We then compared the designs of user-system interactions
      of the 20 pharmacogenomic CDSS we had identified. RESULTS: Alerts are the most
      widespread tools for physician-system interactions, but need to be implemented
      carefully to prevent alert fatigue and avoid liabilities. Pharmacogenomic test
      results and override reasons stored in the local EHR might help communicate
      pharmacogenomic information to other internal care providers. Integrating
      patients into user-system interactions through patient letters and online portals
      might be crucial for transferring pharmacogenomic data to external health care
      providers. Inbox messages inform physicians about new pharmacogenomic test
      results and enable them to request pharmacogenomic consultations. Search engines
      enable physicians to compare medical treatment options based on a patient's
      genotype. CONCLUSIONS: Within the last 5 years, several pharmacogenomic CDSS have
      been developed. However, most of the included articles are solely describing
      prototypes of pharmacogenomic CDSS rather than evaluating them. To support the
      development of prototypes further evaluation efforts will be necessary. In the
      future, pharmacogenomic CDSS will likely include prediction models to identify
      patients who are suitable for preemptive genotyping.

PMID- 28587610
TI  - Trends in GP prescribing of psychotropic medications among young patients aged 16
      24 years: a case study analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current clinical guidelines recommend non-pharmacological
      interventions as first-line treatments for young patients aged 16-24 years with a
      mental health condition (MHC). However, several studies have noted increasing
      trends in psychotropic prescribing for this age group, especially in
      antidepressant prescribing. In Australia, the vast majority of psychotropic
      medications prescribed to young people come from the general practice setting. To
      assess whether Australian General Practitioners (GPs) are prescribing in
      accordance with clinical guideline recommendations, this study examined trends in
      GP prescribing of psychotropic medications to young patients aged 16-24 years.
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of routine general practice data
      from 9112 patients aged 16-24 years with a MHC. Data were extracted from the
      Melbourne East Monash General Practice Database from 1/01/2009 to 31/12/2014. The
      main outcome measures included the number of consultations for patients with
      MHCs, psychotropic prescribing by GPs, and patient characteristics associated
      with the likelihood of being prescribed a psychotropic. RESULTS: In total, 9112
      out of a total of 77,466 young patients were identified as having a MHC in this
      study, and 11,934 psychotropic prescriptions were provided to 3967 (43.5%) of
      them over the study period. Antidepressants accounted for 81.4% of total
      psychotropic prescriptions, followed by anxiolytics (9.6%) and antipsychotics
      (9.0%). The number of prescriptions issued to individuals with MHCs increased
      over time. Women and patients aged 21-24 years had higher incidence rates for
      prescription than men and those aged 16-17 (IRR: 1.15, 95% CI 1.08-1.22, IRR:
      1.93, 95% CI 1.750-2.11). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate an increasing
      trend in GP prescribing of psychotropics to young people over the study period
      with higher levels of prescribing to women and those 21-24 years of age. Although
      GP prescribing corresponded with guideline recommendations on the whole, there
      were discrepancies between GP's antidepressant prescribing and guideline
      recommendations, reasons for which were unclear. Research is needed to
      investigate GPs decision-making processes underlying their prescribing, to target
      interventions to improve existing data in GP records to improve management, and
      to identify areas of further training if needed to facilitate greater concordance
      between clinical practice and guideline recommendations.

PMID- 28587609
TI  - Hypertension with unsatisfactory sleep health (HUSH): study protocol for a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insomnia is common in primary care medical practices. Although
      behavioral treatments for insomnia are safe, efficacious, and recommended in
      practice guidelines, they are not widely-available, and their effects on comorbid
      medical conditions remain uncertain. We are conducting a pragmatic clinical trial
      to test the efficacy of two cognitive behavioral treatments for insomnia (Brief
      Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia (BBTI) and Sleep Healthy Using the Internet
      (SHUTi)) versus an enhanced usual care condition (EUC). METHODS/DESIGN: The study
      is a three-arm, parallel group, randomized controlled trial. Participants include
      625 adults with hypertension and insomnia, recruited via electronic health
      records from primary care practices affiliated with a large academic medical
      center. After screening and baseline assessments, participants are randomized to
      treatment. BBTI is delivered individually with a live therapist via web
      interface/telehealth sessions, while SHUTi is a self-guided, automated,
      interactive, web-based form of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
      Participants in EUC receive an individualized sleep report, educational
      resources, and an online educational video. Treatment outcomes are measured at 9
      weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. The primary outcome is patient-reported sleep
      disturbances. Secondary outcomes include other self-reported sleep measures, home
      blood pressure, body mass index, quality of life, health functioning, healthcare
      utilization, and side effects. DISCUSSION: This randomized clinical trial
      compares two efficacious insomnia interventions to EUC, and provides a cost
      effective and efficient examination of their similarities and differences. The
      pragmatic orientation of this trial may impact sleep treatment delivery in real
      world clinical settings and advance the dissemination and implementation of
      behavioral sleep interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      (Identifier: NCT02508129 ; Date Registered: July 21, 2015).

PMID- 28587611
TI  - Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis beginning with a solitary lesion of
      the ilium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is an idiopathic
      inflammatory disease. The initial lesions are typically found in the metaphyses,
      generally without periosteal reaction. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a
      14-year-old female teenager with relapsing and remitting right iliac pain. There
      was no evidence of infectious organisms, neoplastic processes, or hematologic
      malignancy based on laboratory tests. Initial computed tomography (CT) and
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated atypical periosteal proliferation
      in the right ilium. Histopathology demonstrated only non-specific chronic
      inflammation compatible with CRMO. Two years later, this patient developed left
      humeral pain. MRI and CT images revealed thickening and marrow edema involving
      the humeral cortex. CONCLUSIONS: This case highlights that CRMO can begin as a
      unifocal lesion and also possibly within the ilium, despite usually being
      multifocal and involving the long bone metaphysis.

PMID- 28587612
TI  - Lipodox(r) (generic doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome injection): in vivo
      efficacy and bioequivalence versus Caelyx(r) (doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome
      injection) in human mammary carcinoma (MX-1) xenograft and syngeneic fibrosarcoma
      (WEHI 164) mouse models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Doxorubicin (DXR) hydrochloride (HCl) liposome injection is an
      important part of the treatment armamentarium for a number of cancers. With
      growing needs for affordable and effective anticancer treatments, the development
      of generics is becoming increasingly important to facilitate patient access to
      vital medications. We conducted studies in relevant mouse models of cancer to
      compare the preclinical antitumour efficacy and plasma pharmacokinetic profile of
      a proposed generic DXR HCl liposome injection developed by Sun Pharmaceutical
      Industries Ltd. (SPIL DXR HCl liposome injection) with Caelyx(r) (reference DXR
      HCl liposome injection). METHODS: Syngeneic fibrosarcoma (WEHI 164)-bearing
      BALB/c mice and athymic nude mice transplanted with MX-1 human mammary carcinoma
      xenografts were treated with SPIL DXR HCl liposome injection, reference DXR HCl
      liposome injection or placebo, to compare tumour volume, antitumour activity
      (percentage test/control [%T/C] ratio, tumour regression, and specific tumour
      growth delay) and toxicity (survival and weight changes) in response to
      treatment. The pharmacokinetic profile of the SPIL and reference product was also
      studied in syngeneic fibrosarcoma-bearing mice. RESULTS: Treatment with either
      SPIL or reference DXR HCl liposome injection resulted in significant reduction in
      tumour volume from baseline in both models at all doses tested. High antitumour
      activity (%T/C <= 10) was seen from Day 21 and Day 14 onwards in SPIL and
      reference DXR HCl liposome injection-treated syngeneic fibrosarcoma-bearing mice,
      respectively, at 9 mg/kg. Moderate antitumour activity (%T/C <= 20) was seen from
      Day 17 and Day 24 onwards in SPIL and reference DXR HCl liposome injection
      treated MX-1-bearing mice, respectively, at 6 mg/kg. No significant differences
      in tumour volume and %T/C were observed between SPIL and reference DXR HCl
      liposome injection-treated groups at any dose (p >= 0.05). Toxicity profiles were
      considered to be generally comparable. Evaluation of test/reference (A/B) ratios
      and 90% confidence intervals (CIs) for peak serum concentration (Cmax) and area
      under the curve (AUC0-t, and AUC0-infinity) demonstrated bioequivalence of SPIL
      and reference DXR HCl liposome injections. CONCLUSIONS: Establishing similarity
      is of critical importance during the development of generic treatments. SPIL and
      reference DXR HCl liposome injections were shown to be comparable with regards to
      antitumour activity, toxicity and pharmacokinetics.

PMID- 28587614
TI  - Host specificity, molecular phylogeny and morphological differences of
      Phyllodistomum pseudofolium Nybelin, 1926 and Phyllodistomum angulatum Linstow,
      1907 (Trematoda: Gorgoderidae) with notes on Eurasian ruffe as final host for
      Phyllodistomum spp.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Host-specificity patterns are not well-defined for trematodes of the
      genus Phyllodistomum Braun, 1899. The Eurasian ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus L.,
      has been recorded as a definitive host for Phyllodistomum folium (Olfers, 1816),
      P. angulatum Linstow, 1907 and P. megalorchis Nybelin, 1926 and as the type-host
      for P. pseudofolium Nybelin (1926). A wide range of other host fishes have been
      recorded for these species as well. All present host records have been based on
      light microscopy and the life-cycles of P. pseudofolium, P. angulatum and P.
      megalorchis are unknown. The validity of P. pseudofolium and P. megalorchis
      require verification. In this study, rDNA sequences generated from adult
      Phyllodistomum spp., as well as from larval stages developing in Pisidium amnicum
      Muller, were analysed to establish the real number of Phyllodistomum species
      utilizing G. cernuus, and to associate larvae with the corresponding adult forms.
      RESULTS: Phylogenetic analyses of adult and larval stages of Phyllodistomum spp.
      based on ITS2 and partial 28S rDNA data allowed the confirmation of the validity
      of P. pseudofolium. A macrocercous cercaria, known as Phyllodistomum sp. from P.
      amnicum is genetically identical to adult P. pseudofolium. Phyllodistomum
      megalorchis obtained from its type-host, Lota lota L., showed no genetic
      differences from P. angulatum parasitizing Sander lucioperca L. In our analysis,
      P. pseudofolium, P. angulatum and P. macrocotyle formed a highly supported clade
      despite the fact that these species appear to be associated with distinct
      patterns of first intermediate host identity and cercarial morphology. Some
      morphological differences between gravid specimens of P. pseudofolium and P.
      angulatum were observed and their SEM tegumental surface topography is described.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results lead us to the perception that macroevolutionary host
      switching in the genus Phyllodistomum is independent of host phylogeny. This
      study suggests strict host-specificity (oioxeny) for P. pseudofolium using one
      first intermediate host species (P. amnicum) and one definitive host species (G.
      cernuus). Phyllodistomum megalorchis is to be regarded as a synonym of P.
      angulatum. The close phylogenetic relatives, P. pseudofolium and P. angulatum,
      can be differentiated by morphological traits, the micromorphology and tegumental
      surface topography of these two species is intended to provide useful data for
      their identification and support the use of such features as a valuable taxonomic
      criterion. Molecular data showed that G. cernuus is a definitive host for two
      species: the oioxenous P. pseudofolium and the euryxenous P. folium.

PMID- 28587615
TI  - Genome-wide scans for the identification of Plasmodium vivax genes under positive
      selection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current trend of Plasmodium vivax cases imported from Southeast
      Asia into China has sharply increased recently, especially from the China-Myanmar
      border (CMB) area. High recombination rates of P. vivax populations associated
      with varied transmission intensity might cause distinct local selective
      pressures. The information on the genetic variability of P. vivax in this area is
      scant. Hence, this study assessed the genetic diversity of P. vivax genome
      sequence in CMB area and aimed to provide information on the positive selection
      of new gene loci. RESULTS: This study reports a genome-wide survey of P. vivax in
      CMB area, using blood samples from local patients to identify population-specific
      selective processes. The result showed that considerable genetic diversity and
      mean pair-wise divergence among the sequenced P. vivax isolates were higher in
      some important gene families. Using the standardized integrated haplotype score
      (|iHS|) for all SNPs in chromosomal regions with SNPs above the top 1%
      distribution, it was observed that the top score locus involved 356 genes and
      most of them are associated with red blood cell invasion and immune evasion. The
      XP-EHH test was also applied and some important genes associated with anti
      malarial drug resistance were observed in high positive scores list. This result
      suggests that P. vivax in CMB area is facing more pressure to survive than any
      other region and this has led to the strong positive selection of genes that are
      associated with host-parasite interactions. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that
      greater genetic diversity in P. vivax from CMB area and positive selection
      signals in invasion and drug resistance genes are consistent with the history of
      drug use during malaria elimination programme in CMB area. Furthermore, this
      result also demonstrates that haplotype-based detecting selection can assist the
      genome-wide methods to identify the determinants of P. vivax diversity.

PMID- 28587613
TI  - Prognostic value of plasma DPP4 activity in ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) regulates blood glucose levels and
      inflammation, and it is also implicated in the pathophysiological process of
      myocardial infarction (MI). Plasma DPP4 activity (DPP4a) may provide prognostic
      information regarding outcomes for ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI) patients.
      METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from 625 consecutively admitted,
      percutaneous coronary intervention-treated STEMI patients with a mean age of 57
      years old. DPP4a was quantified using enzymatic assays. RESULTS: The median
      follow-up period was 30 months. Multivariate Cox-regression analyses (adjusted
      for confounding variables) showed that a 1 U/L increase of DPP4a did not
      associate with risks of major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events (MACCE),
      cardiovascular mortality, MI, heart failure readmission, stroke, non
      cardiovascular mortality and repeated revascularization. However, in a subset of
      149 diabetic STEMI patients, DPP4a associated with an increased risk of MACCE (HR
      1.16; 95% CI 1.04-1.30; p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: DPP4a did not associate with
      cardiovascular events and non-cardiovascular mortality in non-diabetic STEMI
      patients. However, DPP4a may be associated with future MACCE in diabetic STEMI
      patients. Trial registration NCT03046576, registered on 5 February, 2017,
      retrospectively registered.

PMID- 28587616
TI  - A double-blind randomised controlled investigation into the efficacy of
      Mirococept (APT070) for preventing ischaemia reperfusion injury in the kidney
      allograft (EMPIRIKAL): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delayed graft function (DGF) is traditionally defined as the
      requirement for dialysis during the first week after transplantation. DGF is a
      common complication of renal transplantation, and it negatively affects short-
      and long-term graft outcomes. Ischaemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is a prime
      contributor to the development of DGF. It is well established that complement
      system activation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of IRI. Mirococept is
      a highly effective complement inhibitor that can be administered ex vivo to the
      donor kidney just before transplantation. Preclinical and clinical evidence
      suggests that Mirococept inhibits inflammatory responses that follow IRI. The
      EMPIRIKAL trial (REC 12/LO/1334) aims to evaluate the efficacy of Mirococept in
      reducing the incidence of DGF in cadaveric renal transplantation. METHODS/DESIGN:
      EMPIRIKAL is a multicentre double-blind randomised case-control trial designed to
      test the superiority of Mirococept in the prevention of DGF in cadaveric renal
      allografts, as compared to standard cold perfusion fluid (Soltran(r)). Patients
      will be randomised to Mirococept or placebo (Pbo) and will be enrolled in cohorts
      of N = 80 with a maximum number of 7 cohorts. The first cohort will be randomised
      to 10 mg of Mirococept or Pbo. After the completion of each cohort, an interim
      analysis will be carried out in order to evaluate the dose allocation for the
      next cohort (possible doses: 5-25 mg). Immunosuppression therapy, antibiotic and
      antiviral prophylaxis will be administered as per local centre protocols. The
      enrolment will take approximately 24 months, and patients will be followed for 12
      months. The primary endpoint is DGF, defined as the requirement for dialysis
      during the first week after transplantation. Secondary endpoints include duration
      of DGF, functional DGF, renal function at 12 months, acute rejection episodes at
      6 and 12 months, primary non-function and time of hospital stay on first
      admission and in the first year following transplant. Safety evaluation will
      include the monitoring of laboratory data and the recording of all adverse
      events. DISCUSSION: The EMPIRIKAL trial is the first study to evaluate the
      efficacy of an ex vivo administered complement inhibitor (Mirococept) in
      preventing DGF in cadaveric human renal transplantation. Mirococept has a unique
      'cytotopic' property that permits its retention in the organ microvasculature.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN49958194 . Registered on 3 August
      2012.

PMID- 28587617
TI  - Construction of energy-conserving sucrose utilization pathways for improving poly
      gamma-glutamic acid production in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sucrose is an naturally abundant and easily fermentable feedstock for
      various biochemical production processes. By now, several sucrose utilization
      pathways have been identified and characterized. Among them, the pathway consists
      of sucrose permease and sucrose phosphorylase is an energy-conserving sucrose
      utilization pathway because it consumes less ATP when comparing to other known
      pathways. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens NK-1 strain can use sucrose as the feedstock
      to produce poly-gamma-glutamic acid (gamma-PGA), a highly valuable biopolymer.
      The native sucrose utilization pathway in NK-1 strain consists of
      phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system and sucrose-6-P hydrolase
      and consumes more ATP than the energy-conserving sucrose utilization pathway.
      RESULTS: In this study, the native sucrose utilization pathway in NK-1 was
      firstly deleted and generated the B. amyloliquefaciens 3Delta strain. Then four
      combination of heterologous energy-conserving sucrose utilization pathways were
      constructed and introduced into the 3Delta strain. Results demonstrated that the
      combination of cscB (encodes sucrose permease) from Escherichia coli and sucP
      (encodes sucrose phosphorylase) from Bifidobacterium adolescentis showed the
      highest sucrose metabolic efficiency. The corresponding mutant consumed 49.4%
      more sucrose and produced 38.5% more gamma-PGA than the NK-1 strain under the
      same fermentation conditions. CONCLUSIONS: To our best knowledge, this is the
      first report concerning the enhancement of the target product production by
      introducing the heterologous energy-conserving sucrose utilization pathways. Such
      a strategy can be easily extended to other microorganism hosts for reinforced
      biochemical production using sucrose as substrate.

PMID- 28587618
TI  - Effect of tryptase inhibition on joint inflammation: a pharmacological and
      lentivirus-mediated gene transfer study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing evidences indicate that an unbalance between tryptases and
      their endogenous inhibitors, leading to an increased proteolytic activity, is
      implicated in the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of the present
      study was to evaluate the impact of tryptase inhibition on experimental
      arthritis. METHODS: Analysis of gene expression and regulation in the mouse knee
      joint was performed by RT-qPCR and in situ hybridization. Arthritis was induced
      in male C57BL/6 mice with mBSA/IL-1beta. Tryptase was inhibited by two
      approaches: a lentivirus-mediated heterologous expression of the human endogenous
      tryptase inhibitor, sperm-associated antigen 11B isoform C (hSPAG11B/C), or a
      chronic treatment with the synthetic tryptase inhibitor APC366. Several
      inflammatory parameters were evaluated, such as oedema formation, histopathology,
      production of IL-1beta, -6, -17A and CXCL1/KC, myeloperoxidase and tryptase-like
      activities. RESULTS: Spag11c was constitutively expressed in chondrocytes and
      cells from the synovial membrane in mice, but its expression did not change 7
      days after the induction of arthritis, while tryptase expression and activity
      were upregulated. The intra-articular transduction of animals with the lentivirus
      phSPAG11B/C or the treatment with APC366 inhibited the increase of tryptase-like
      activity, the late phase of oedema formation, the production of IL-6 and
      CXCL1/KC. In contrast, neutrophil infiltration, degeneration of hyaline cartilage
      and erosion of subchondral bone were not affected. CONCLUSIONS: Tryptase
      inhibition was effective in inhibiting some inflammatory parameters associated to
      mBSA/IL-1beta-induced arthritis, notably late phase oedema formation and IL-6
      production, but not neutrophil infiltration and joint degeneration. These results
      suggest that the therapeutic application of tryptase inhibitors to rheumatoid
      arthritis would be restrained to palliative care, but not as disease-modifying
      drugs. Finally, this study highlighted lentivirus-based gene delivery as an
      instrumental tool to study the relevance of target genes in synovial joint
      physiology and disease.

PMID- 28587619
TI  - Contraceptive practices among married women of reproductive age in Bangladesh: a
      review of the evidence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bangladesh has experienced a sevenfold increase in its contraceptive
      prevalence rate (CPR) in less than forty years from 8% in 1975 to 62% in 2014.
      However, despite this progress, almost one-third of pregnancies are still
      unintended which may be attributed to unmet need for family planning and
      discontinuation and switching of methods after initiation of their use. METHODS:
      We conducted an extensive literature review on contraceptive use among married
      women of reproductive age (MWRA) in Bangladesh. A total of 263 articles were
      identified through database search and after final screening ten articles were
      included in this synthesis. RESULTS: Findings showed that method discontinuation
      and switching, method failure, and method mix may offset achievements in the CPR.
      Most of the women know of at least one contraceptive method. Oral pill is the
      most widely used (27%) method, followed by injectables (12.4%), condoms (6.4%),
      female sterilization (4.6%), male sterilization (1.2%), implants (1.7%), and IUDs
      (0.6%). There has been a decline in the use of long acting and permanent methods
      over the last two decades. Within 12 months of initiation, the rate of method
      discontinuation particularly the short-acting methods remain high at 36%. It is
      important to recognize the trends as married Bangladeshi women, on average,
      wanted 1.6 children, but the rate of actual children was 2.3. CONCLUSIONS: A
      renewed commitment from government bodies and independent organizations is needed
      to implement and monitor family planning strategies in order to ensure the
      adherence to and provision of the most appropriate contraceptive method for
      couples.

PMID- 28587620
TI  - Comparing the effect of buprenorphine and methadone in the reduction of
      methamphetamine craving: a randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to test the effectiveness of methadone and buprenorphine in
      the treatment of methamphetamine withdrawal craving over a 17-day treatment
      period. METHODS: Patients were randomized into one of two groups. The study
      sample comprised 40 male subjects dependent on methamphetamine who met criteria
      of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, for
      methamphetamine dependence and withdrawal and were seeking treatment.
      Furthermore, they should have a history of daily methamphetamine use for at least
      6 months and should have discontinued their use just before starting the
      protocol. Patients received 40 mg of methadone or 8 mg of buprenorphine per day
      and were treated in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. We used methamphetamine
      craving score, negative urine drug screening test (thin-layer chromatography)
      during the study, and retention in treatment. RESULTS: All 40 patients completed
      the study. Both drugs were effective in decreasing methamphetamine craving during
      methamphetamine withdrawal. Reduction of craving in the buprenorphine group was
      significantly more than in the methadone group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The
      results favor the efficacy and safety of buprenorphine as a short-term treatment
      for methamphetamine withdrawal craving. We should mention that it is to be
      expected that craving declines over time without any medication. Therefore, the
      conclusion may not be that methadone and buprenorphine both reduce the craving.
      Because buprenorphine is superior to methadone, only buprenorphine surely reduces
      craving. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials identifier:
      IRCT2015112125160N1 . Registered on 4 June 2016.

PMID- 28587621
TI  - Comparing counselling models for the hazardous use of alcohol at the Swedish
      National Alcohol Helpline: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hazardous and harmful consumption of alcohol is a leading cause of
      preventable disease and premature deaths. Modifying the amount and pattern of
      risky alcohol consumption conveys substantial benefits to individuals and to
      society at large. Telephone helplines provide a feasible alternative to face-to
      face counselling in order to increase the reach of brief interventions aiming at
      modifying the hazardous and harmful use of alcohol. However, there is a lack of
      studies on the implementation and evaluation of population-based telephone
      services for the prevention and treatment of alcohol misuse. METHODS/DESIGN: A
      randomised controlled trial was designed to compare a brief, structured
      intervention to usual care within the Swedish National Alcohol Helpline (SAH),
      concerning their effectiveness on decreasing the hazardous use of alcohol.
      Between May 2015 and December 2017, about 300 callers are to be individually
      randomised with a 1:1 ratio to a brief, structured intervention (n = 150) or to
      usual care (n = 150). The brief, structured intervention consists of the delivery
      of a self-help booklet followed by one proactive call from SAH counsellors to
      monitor and give feedback about the client's progression. Callers assigned to
      usual care receive telephone counselling according to existing practice, i.e.,
      motivational interviewing in a tailored and client-driven combination of
      proactive and reactive calls. The primary outcome is defined as a change from a
      higher to a lower AUDIT risk-level category between baseline and follow-up.
      General linear modeling will be used to calculate risk ratios of the outcome
      events. The primary analysis will follow an intention-to-treat (ITT) approach.
      DISCUSSION: The trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness in decreasing the
      hazardous and harmful consumption of alcohol of a brief, structured intervention
      compared to usual care when delivered at the SAH. The results of the study will
      be used locally to improve the effectiveness of the service provided at the SAH.
      Additionally, they will expand the evidence base about optimal counselling models
      in population-based telephone services for alcohol misuse prevention and
      treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCNT.com, ID: ISRCTN13160878 . Retrospectively
      registered on 18 January 2016.

PMID- 28587622
TI  - The validity and reliability of the Mandarin Chinese version of the drug abuse
      screening test among adolescents in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the
      Mandarin Chinese version of the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20) among
      adolescents, as well as examining the test's predictability with regard to the
      actual level of drug abuse. METHOD: A total of 100 adolescent participants were
      recruited with their consent, in which 49 were current drug users and 51 were non
      users. Based on the frequency of their drug use, participants who had used drugs
      at least once every week during the past year were classified as regular users
      (34 participants); participants who had not reached the regular use frequency of
      once every week during the past year were classified as occasional users (15
      participants). All of the participants were required to answer a sociodemographic
      questionnaire, and undergo a DAST-20 (Mandarin Chinese version). RESULTS: The
      DAST-20, which has a high reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88, and a
      construct validity accounting for 61.87% of the variance. The area under the
      receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was 0.96 between the users and
      nonusers, and 0.93 between the occasional users and non-occasional users. A cut
      off of three points could identify 93.5% of the drug users and 88.9% of nonusers,
      whereas a cut-off of six points could identify 85.3% of the regular users and
      92.4% of non-regular users. CONCLUSIONS: The DAST-20 was the strongest predictor
      of adolescents who were regular users, occasional users, and non-users after
      controlling for other potential covariates. The Mandarin Chinese version of the
      DAST is simple to use and has a satisfactory validity and reliability. It is an
      effective screening tool for drug users among adolescents.

PMID- 28587623
TI  - Intersection of neighborhood dynamics and socioeconomic status in small-area
      walkability: the Heart Healthy Hoods project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies found a complex relationship between area-level
      socioeconomic status (SES) and walkability. These studies did not include
      neighborhood dynamics. Our aim was to study the association between area-level
      SES and walkability in the city of Madrid (Spain) evaluating the potential effect
      modification of neighborhood dynamics. METHODS: All census sections of the city
      of Madrid (n = 2415) were included. Area-level SES was measured using a composite
      index of 7 indicators in 4 domains (education, wealth, occupation and living
      conditions). Two neighborhood dynamics factors were computed: gentrification,
      proxied by change in education levels in the previous 10 years, and neighborhood
      age, proxied by median year of construction of housing units in the area.
      Walkability was measured using a composite index of 4 indicators (Residential
      Density, Population Density, Retail Destinations and Street Connectivity). We
      modeled the association using linear mixed models with random intercepts.
      RESULTS: Area-level SES and walkability were inversely and significantly
      associated. Areas with lower SES showed the highest walkability. This pattern did
      not hold for areas with an increase in education level, where the association was
      flat (no decrease in walkability with higher SES). Moreover, the association was
      attenuated in newly built areas: the association was stronger in areas built
      before 1975, weaker in areas built between 1975 and 1990 and flat in areas built
      from 1990 on. CONCLUSION: Areas with higher neighborhood socioeconomic status had
      lower walkability in Madrid. This disadvantage in walkability was not present in
      recently built or gentrified areas.

PMID- 28587624
TI  - Genome analysis of the thermoacidophilic archaeon Acidianus copahuensis focusing
      on the metabolisms associated to biomining activities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several archaeal species from the order Sulfolobales are interesting
      from the biotechnological point of view due to their biomining capacities. Within
      this group, the genus Acidianus contains four biomining species (from ten known
      Acidianus species), but none of these have their genome sequenced. To get
      insights into the genetic potential and metabolic pathways involved in the
      biomining activity of this group, we sequenced the genome of Acidianus
      copahuensis ALE1 strain, a novel thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon (optimum growth:
      75  degrees C, pH 3) isolated from the volcanic geothermal area of Copahue at
      Neuquen province in Argentina. Previous experimental characterization of A.
      copahuensis revealed a high biomining potential, exhibited as high oxidation
      activity of sulfur and sulfur compounds, ferrous iron and sulfide minerals (e.g.:
      pyrite). This strain is also autotrophic and tolerant to heavy metals, thus, it
      can grow under adverse conditions for most forms of life with a low nutrient
      demand, conditions that are commonly found in mining environments. RESULTS: In
      this work we analyzed the genome of Acidianus copahuensis and describe the
      genetic pathways involved in biomining processes. We identified the enzymes that
      are most likely involved in growth on sulfur and ferrous iron oxidation as well
      as those involved in autotrophic carbon fixation. We also found that A.
      copahuensis genome gathers different features that are only present in particular
      lineages or species from the order Sulfolobales, some of which are involved in
      biomining. We found that although most of its genes (81%) were found in at least
      one other Sulfolobales species, it is not specifically closer to any particular
      species (60-70% of proteins shared with each of them). Although almost one fifth
      of A. copahuensis proteins are not found in any other Sulfolobales species, most
      of them corresponded to hypothetical proteins from uncharacterized metabolisms.
      CONCLUSION: In this work we identified the genes responsible for the biomining
      metabolisms that we have previously observed experimentally. We provide a
      landscape of the metabolic potentials of this strain in the context of
      Sulfolobales and propose various pathways and cellular processes not yet fully
      understood that can use A. copahuensis as an experimental model to further
      understand the fascinating biology of thermoacidophilic biomining archaea.

PMID- 28587625
TI  - Anti-nuclear autoantibodies in the general German population: prevalence and lack
      of association with selected cardiovascular and metabolic disorders-findings of a
      multicenter population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We determined the prevalence of anti-nuclear autoantibodies (ANAs) in
      the German adult population and examined the association between ANAs and
      cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. METHODS: We used data and blood samples
      from the pretest phases of the German National Cohort, obtained from six of the
      18 study centers (n = 1199). All centers applied standardized instruments
      including face-to-face interviews, anthropometric measurements and collection of
      blood samples. Self-reported histories of diabetes mellitus, heart attack and
      elevated blood cholesterol and/or lipids were recorded. Height, weight and blood
      pressure were measured. ANAs were detected using a semi-automated system
      (AKLIDES(r); Medipan GmbH, Dahlewitz, Germany). A positive ANA was defined as a
      titer >= 1:80. ANA were classified as weakly (1:80 or 1:160), moderately (1:320
      or 1:640) or strongly (>=1:1280) positive. Specific autoantibodies against
      nuclear antigens were detected with second-step assays according to the ANA
      staining pattern. Associations between the assessed disorders and ANA positivity
      and pattern were examined using sex and age-adjusted mixed-effects logistic
      regression models. RESULTS: Thirty-three percent (95% confidence interval; 31
      36%) of the 1196 participants (measurements could not be obtained from three
      samples) were ANA positive (titer >= 1:80). The proportions of weakly, moderately
      and strongly positive ANA were 29%, 3.3% and 1.3%, respectively. ANA positivity
      was more common among women than men across all titers (chi2, p = 0.03). ANA
      positivity, even when stratified according to height of titer or
      immunofluorescent pattern, was not associated with diabetes, elevated blood
      cholesterol and/or lipids, obesity or hypertension. Second-step autoantibody
      assays were positive in 41 of the 83 samples (49%) tested, with anti-DFS70 (n =
      13) and anti-dsDNA (n = 7) being most frequent. These subgroups were too small to
      test for associations with the disorders assessed. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of
      ANA positivity in the German general population was similar to values reported
      from other countries. Contrary to other studies, there was no association with
      selected self-reported and objectively measured cardiovascular and metabolic
      variables.

PMID- 28587626
TI  - Evaluation of a novel antibody to define histone 3.3 G34R mutant brain tumours.
AB  - Missense somatic mutations affecting histone H3.1 and H3.3 proteins are now
      accepted as the hallmark of paediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG),
      non-brain stem paediatric high grade gliomas (pHGG) as well as a subset of adult
      glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Different mutations give rise to one of three
      amino acid substitutions at two critical positions within the histone tails,
      K27M, G34R/V. Several studies have highlighted gene expression and epigenetic
      changes associated with histone H3 mutations; however their precise roles in
      tumourigenesis remain incompletely understood. Determining how such amino acid
      substitutions in a protein affect its properties can be challenging because of
      difficulties in detecting and tracking mutant proteins within cells and tissues.
      Here we describe a strategy for the generation of antibodies to discriminate G34R
      and G34V mutant histone H3 proteins from their wild-type counterparts. Antibodies
      were validated by western blotting and immunocytochemistry, using recombinant
      H3.3 proteins and paediatric GBM cell lines. The H3-G34R antibody demonstrated a
      high degree of selectivity towards its target sequence. Accordingly,
      immunostaining on a cohort of 22 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tumours with a
      previously known H3.3 G34R mutation status, detected successfully the
      corresponding mutant protein in 11/11 G34R cases. Since there was a high
      concordance between genotype and immunohistochemical analysis of G34R mutant
      tumour samples, we analysed a series of tissue microarrays (TMAs) to assess the
      specificity of the antibody in a range of paediatric brain tumours, and noted
      immunoreactivity in 2/634 cases. Importantly, we describe the generation and
      validation of highly specific antibodies for G34 mutations. Overall our work adds
      to an extremely valuable portfolio of antibodies, not only for histopathologic
      detection of tumour-associated mutant histone sequences, but also facilitating
      the study of spatial/anatomical aspects of tumour formation and the
      identification of downstream targets and pathways in malignant glioma
      progression.

PMID- 28587627
TI  - Analysis of the lipid body proteome of the oleaginous alga Lobosphaera incisa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lobosphaera incisa (L. incisa) is an oleaginous microalga that stores
      triacylglycerol (TAG) rich in arachidonic acid in lipid bodies (LBs). This
      organelle is gaining attention in algal research, since evidence is accumulating
      that proteins attached to its surface fulfill important functions in TAG storage
      and metabolism. RESULTS: Here, the composition of the LB proteome in L incisa was
      investigated by comparing different cell fractions in a semiquantitative
      proteomics approach. After applying stringent filters to the proteomics data in
      order to remove contaminating proteins from the list of possible LB proteins
      (LBPs), heterologous expression of candidate proteins in tobacco pollen tubes,
      allowed us to confirm 3 true LBPs: A member of the algal Major Lipid Droplet
      Protein family, a small protein of unknown function and a putative lipase. In
      addition, a TAG lipase that belongs to the SUGAR DEPENDENT 1 family of TAG
      lipases known from oilseed plants was identified. Its activity was verified by
      functional complementation of an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant lacking the major
      seed TAG lipases. CONCLUSIONS: Here we describe 3 LBPs as well as a TAG lipase
      from the oleaginous microalga L. incisa and discuss their possible involvement in
      LB metabolism. This study highlights the importance of filtering LB proteome
      datasets and verifying the subcellular localization one by one, so that
      contaminating proteins can be recognized as such. Our dataset can serve as a
      valuable resource in the identification of additional LBPs, shedding more light
      on the intriguing roles of LBs in microalgae.

PMID- 28587628
TI  - Osteoclast profile of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to
      bisphosphonate therapy: a comparison with osteoradionecrosis and osteomyelitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to
      bisphosphonate therapy [MRONJ (BP)] is characterized by non-healing exposed bone
      in the maxillofacial region. The pathogenesis of MRONJ (BP) is not fully
      understood. Giant, hypernucleated, inactive osteoclasts were found in MRONJ (BP)
      tissues, which indicated that accelerated cell-cell fusion might play a role.
      Dendritic cell-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP) is associated with the
      cell-cell fusion of osteoclasts and precursor cells. Tartrate-resistant acid
      phosphatase (TRAP) is essential for osteoclastic bone resorption. The cell-cell
      fusion, as part of the osteoclastogenesis, and the resorptive activity can
      determine the morphology of osteoclasts. This study analyzed jaw bone from
      patients with MRONJ (BP), osteomyelitis (OM) and osteoradionecrosis (ORN) because
      a comparison with the osteoclast profiles of OM and ORN is essential for
      characterizing the osteoclast profile of MRONJ (BP). METHODS: Formalin-fixed
      routine jaw bone specimens from 70 patients [MRONJ (BP) n = 30; OM: n = 15, ORN:
      n = 15, control: n = 10] were analyzed retrospectively for osteoclast quantity,
      morphology and the expression of TRAP and DC-STAMP. The specimens were processed
      for hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E), histochemistry (TRAP) and
      immunohistochemistry (anti-DC-STAMP) and were analyzed via virtual microscopy.
      RESULTS: The quantity, diameter and nuclearity of osteoclasts were significantly
      higher in MRONJ (BP) specimens than in OM, ORN and control specimens. Giant,
      hypernucleated osteoclasts were detected in MRONJ (BP) specimens only.
      Osteoclastic TRAP expression was lower in MRONJ (BP) and ORN specimens than in OM
      and control specimens. The DC-STAMP expression of osteoclasts and mononuclear
      cells was significantly higher in MRONJ (BP) and ORN specimens than in OM and
      control specimens. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the osteoclast profile
      of MRONJ (BP) is characterized by osteoclast inactivation and a high cell-cell
      fusion rate; however, the presence of giant, hypernucleated osteoclasts cannot be
      attributed to increased DC-STAMP-triggered cell-cell fusion alone. The incidental
      characterization of the osteoclast profiles of OM and ORN revealed differences
      that might facilitate the histopathological differentiation of these diseases
      from MRONJ (BP), which is essential because their therapies are somewhat
      different.

PMID- 28587630
TI  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension in scleroderma: care gaps in screening.
AB  - One in six patients with systemic sclerosis will develop pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH). Screening with echocardiography and possibly pulmonary
      function testing (to determine the diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide) is
      recommended to detect PAH at a less severe stage. However, real-world screening
      programs have problems. Registries where echocardiograms are to be performed
      annually should have the best-case scenario of nearly perfect screening and
      referral for right heart catheterization of those highly suspect for PAH.
      However, registries demonstrate care gaps where patients are not referred for
      appropriate confirmatory testing when PAH is suspected.

PMID- 28587629
TI  - Efficacy of the Ubiquitous Spaced Retrieval-based Memory Advancement and
      Rehabilitation Training (USMART) program among patients with mild cognitive
      impairment: a randomized controlled crossover trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spaced retrieval training (SRT) is a nonpharmacological intervention
      for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia that trains the learning and
      retention of target information by recalling it over increasingly long intervals.
      We recently developed the Ubiquitous Spaced Retrieval-based Memory Advancement
      and Rehabilitation Training (USMART) program as a convenient, self-administered
      tablet-based SRT program. We also demonstrated the utility of USMART for
      improving memory in individuals with MCI through an open-label uncontrolled
      trial. METHODS: This study had an open-label, single-blind, randomized,
      controlled, two-period crossover design. Fifty patients with MCI were randomized
      into USMART-usual care and usual care-USMART treatment sequences. USMART was
      completed or usual care was provided biweekly over a 4-week treatment period with
      a 2-week washout period between treatment periods. Primary outcome measures
      included the Word List Memory Test, Word List Recall Test (WLRT), and Word List
      Recognition Test. Outcomes were measured at baseline, week 5, and week 11 by
      raters who were blinded to intervention type. An intention-to-treat analysis and
      linear mixed modeling were used. RESULTS: Of 50 randomized participants, 41
      completed the study (18% dropout rate). The USMART group had larger improvements
      in WLRT score (effect size = 0.49, p = 0.031) than the usual care group. There
      were no significant differences in other primary or secondary measures between
      the USMART and usual care groups. Moreover, no USMART-related adverse events were
      reported. CONCLUSIONS: The 4-week USMART modestly improved information retrieval
      in older people with MCI, and was well accepted with minimal technical support.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01688128 . Registered 12 September
      2012.

PMID- 28587631
TI  - Bacterial etiologic agents causing neonatal sepsis and associated risk factors in
      Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal sepsis is a blood stream infection which is seen in the
      first month of life of the neonate. Bacterial profile of neonatal septicemia is
      constantly changing thus, current knowledge on the patterns of bacterial
      isolates, its antibiotic resistance profile, and associated factors, are
      essential to design and implement appropriate interventions. Therefore, the aim
      of this study was to identify bacterial etiologic agents, their antimicrobial
      susceptibility pattern and associated risk factors of neonatal sepsis among
      neonates. METHODS: A cross- sectional study was conducted among neonates
      suspected to sepsis attending University of Gondar Hospital from September/2015
      to May/2016. A total of 251 consecutive neonates with clinical sign and symptoms
      of sepsis were included in the study. Blood sample was collected and directly
      inoculated into Trypton soya broth bottle and incubated at 37  degrees C. After
      24 h of incubation it was sub- cultured in to blood agar plate, chocolate agar
      plate, manitol salt agar and Macconkey. The bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial
      susceptibility tests were identified using standard microbiological methods.
      Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify possible
      associated risk factors. Prior to the study ethical clearance was obtained from
      the School of Biomedical and Laboratory Sciences, University of Gondar. RESULTS:
      Of the 251 study participants suspected of neonatal sepsis, 117 (46.6%) showed
      bacterial growths, of them 120 bacteria were isolated. Gram positive bacteria
      were commonly isolated 81 (67.5%).The commonly isolated bacterial species were S.
      aureus 49 (40.8%) followed by coagulase negative Staphylococci 26 (21.6%) and K.
      pneumoniae19 (15.8%). The overall rate of multidrug resistance isolates was 78
      (65%: CI 95%: 56.7-72.5%). Multidrug resistant (MDR) among Gram positive and
      negative bacteria were 56 (69.1%) and 22 (56.4%), respectively. Independent risk
      factors for the occurrence of neonatal sepsis were; Apgar score < 7/5 min
      (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.5), birth weight < 1.5 kg (AOR = 12.37), birth
      weight, 1.5-2.5 kg (AOR = 2.6), gestational week <37 weeks (AOR = 9) and
      caesarian section delivery (AOR = 5.2). CONCLUSION: The isolation rate of
      bacterial pathogens in neonatal sepsis was considerably high. In addition, nearly
      70% of isolates were MDR strains. Low birth weight, low Apgar score, preterm
      delivery and caesarian section modes of delivery were associated risk factors.
      Therefore, appropriate antenatal care follow up, and health education should be
      encouraged, especially on the importance of natural way of delivery.

PMID- 28587632
TI  - Meta-analysis of cell- specific transcriptomic data using fuzzy c-means
      clustering discovers versatile viral responsive genes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite advances in the gene-set enrichment analysis methods;
      inadequate definitions of gene-sets cause a major limitation in the discovery of
      novel biological processes from the transcriptomic datasets. Typically, gene-sets
      are obtained from publicly available pathway databases, which contain generalized
      definitions frequently derived by manual curation. Recently unsupervised
      clustering algorithms have been proposed to identify gene-sets from
      transcriptomics datasets deposited in public domain. These data-driven
      definitions of the gene-sets can be context-specific revealing novel biological
      mechanisms. However, the previously proposed algorithms for identification of
      data-driven gene-sets are based on hard clustering which do not allow overlap
      across clusters, a characteristic that is predominantly observed across
      biological pathways. RESULTS: We developed a pipeline using fuzzy-C-means (FCM)
      soft clustering approach to identify gene-sets which recapitulates topological
      characteristics of biological pathways. Specifically, we apply our pipeline to
      derive gene-sets from transcriptomic data measuring response of monocyte derived
      dendritic cells and A549 epithelial cells to influenza infections. Our approach
      apply Ward's method for the selection of initial conditions, optimize parameters
      of FCM algorithm for human cell-specific transcriptomic data and identify robust
      gene-sets along with versatile viral responsive genes. CONCLUSION: We validate
      our gene-sets and demonstrate that by identifying genes associated with multiple
      gene-sets, FCM clustering algorithm significantly improves interpretation of
      transcriptomic data facilitating investigation of novel biological processes by
      leveraging on transcriptomic data available in the public domain. We develop an
      interactive 'Fuzzy Inference of Gene-sets (FIGS)' package (GitHub:
      https://github.com/Thakar-Lab/FIGS ) to facilitate use of of pipeline. Future
      extension of FIGS across different immune cell-types will improve mechanistic
      investigation followed by high-throughput omics studies.

PMID- 28587633
TI  - Insidious intraoperative ureteral injury as a complication in oblique lumbar
      interbody fusion surgery: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oblique lumbar interbody fusion surgery is a recently introduced
      minimally invasive lateral interbody fusion surgery for degenerative lumbar
      disease. There have been no reports of associated ureteral injury. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 77-year-old Japanese woman underwent oblique lumbar interbody
      fusion surgery for lumbar spondylolisthesis with refractory low back pain and
      pain in both legs. The patient experienced abdominal pain 2 days after surgery.
      Delayed contrast-enhanced computed tomography and retrograde urography revealed
      leakage of contrasted urine from the ureter into the retroperitoneal space,
      indicating a ureteral injury. Immediate percutaneous nephrostomy was performed to
      recover her condition, followed by additional ureteral stenting. She is now free
      from preoperative symptoms but requires periodic changing of the ureteral stent,
      with no urinary symptoms. CONCLUSION: The current report described a rare but
      possible case of ureteral injury following oblique lumbar interbody fusion
      surgery. Iatrogenic ureteral injury, as reported in the current case, is uncommon
      following oblique lumbar interbody fusion surgery, and the injury may have been
      caused by a procedural error. Considering the findings from urological
      examinations, we speculate that the thread pin that fixates the retractor injured
      the ureter during its installation. This case highlights the importance of
      careful attention while exposing the retroperitoneal space to avoid minor organs,
      including the ureters, as well as major organs. Ureteral injuries should ideally
      be detected and diagnosed as soon as possible by careful physical and
      radiological examinations, such as with delayed contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography and retrograde urography, to salvage the injured nephroureteral
      system. The current report also highlights that careful use of surgical
      instruments is key for preventing intraoperative complications, including
      ureteral injury.

PMID- 28587634
TI  - Sinapic acid or its derivatives interfere with abscisic acid homeostasis during
      Arabidopsis thaliana seed germination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sinapic acid and its esters have broad functions in different stages
      of seed germination and plant development and are thought to play a role in
      protecting against ultraviolet irradiation. To better understand the interactions
      between sinapic acid esters and seed germination processes in response to various
      stresses, we analyzed the role of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) in the
      regulation of sinapic acid esters involved in seed germination and early seedling
      growth. RESULTS: We found that exogenous sinapic acid promotes seed germination
      in a dose-dependent manner in Arabidopsis thaliana. High-performance liquid
      chromatography mass spectrometry analysis showed that exogenous sinapic acid
      increased the sinapoylcholine content of imbibed seeds. Furthermore, sinapic acid
      affected ABA catabolism, resulting in reduced ABA levels and increased levels of
      the ABA-glucose ester. Using mutants deficient in the synthesis of sinapate
      esters, we showed that the germination of mutant sinapoylglucose accumulator 2
      (sng2) and bright trichomes 1 (brt1) seeds was more sensitive to ABA than the
      wild-type. Moreover, Arabidopsis mutants deficient in either abscisic acid
      deficient 2 (ABA2) or abscisic acid insensitive 3 (ABI3) displayed increased
      expression of the sinapoylglucose:choline sinapoyltransferase (SCT) and
      sinapoylcholine esterase (SCE) genes with sinapic acid treatment. This treatment
      also affected the accumulation of sinapoylcholine and free choline during seed
      germination. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that sinapoylcholine, which constitutes
      the major phenolic component in seeds among various minor sinapate esters,
      affected ABA homeostasis during seed germination and early seedling growth in
      Arabidopsis. Our findings provide insights into the role of sinapic acid and its
      esters in regulating ABA-mediated inhibition of Arabidopsis seed germination in
      response to drought stress.

PMID- 28587636
TI  - Recognizing RNA structural motifs in HT-SELEX data for ribosomal protein S15.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proteins recognize many different aspects of RNA ranging from single
      stranded regions to discrete secondary or tertiary structures. High-throughput
      sequencing (HTS) of in vitro selected populations offers a large scale method to
      study RNA-proteins interactions. However, most existing analysis methods require
      that the binding motifs are enriched in the population relative to earlier
      rounds, and that motifs are found in a loop or single stranded region of the
      potential RNA secondary structure. Such methods do not generalize to all RNA
      protein interaction as some RNA binding proteins specifically recognize more
      complex structures such as double stranded RNA. RESULTS: In this study, we use HT
      SELEX derived populations to study the landscape of RNAs that interact with
      Geobacillus kaustophilus ribosomal protein S15. Our data show high sequence and
      structure diversity and proved intractable to existing methods. Conventional
      programs identified some sequence motifs, but these are found in less than 5-10%
      of the total sequence pool. Therefore, we developed a novel framework to analyze
      HT-SELEX data. Our process accounts for both sequence and structure components by
      abstracting the overall secondary structure into smaller substructures composed
      of a single base-pair stack, which allows us to leverage existing approaches
      already used in k-mer analysis to identify enriched motifs. By focusing on
      secondary structure motifs composed of specific two base-pair stacks, we
      identified significantly enriched or depleted structure motifs relative to
      earlier rounds. CONCLUSIONS: Discrete substructures are likely to be important to
      RNA-protein interactions, but they are difficult to elucidate. Substructures can
      help make highly diverse sequence data more tractable. The structure motifs
      provide limited accuracy in predicting enrichment suggesting that G. kaustophilus
      S15 can either recognize many different secondary structure motifs or some
      aspects of the interaction are not captured by the analysis. This highlights the
      importance of considering secondary and tertiary structure elements and their
      role in RNA-protein interactions.

PMID- 28587637
TI  - Literature evidence in open targets - a target validation platform.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We present the Europe PMC literature component of Open Targets - a
      target validation platform that integrates various evidence to aid drug target
      identification and validation. The component identifies target-disease
      associations in documents and ranks the documents based on their confidence from
      the Europe PMC literature database, by using rules utilising expert-provided
      heuristic information. The confidence score of a given document represents how
      valuable the document is in the scope of target validation for a given target
      disease association by taking into account the credibility of the association
      based on the properties of the text. The component serves the platform regularly
      with the up-to-date data since December, 2015. RESULTS: Currently, there are a
      total number of 1168365 distinct target-disease associations text mined from >26
      million PubMed abstracts and >1.2 million Open Access full text articles. Our
      comparative analyses on the current available evidence data in the platform
      revealed that 850179 of these associations are exclusively identified by
      literature mining. CONCLUSIONS: This component helps the platform's users by
      providing the most relevant literature hits for a given target and disease. The
      text mining evidence along with the other types of evidence can be explored
      visually through https://www.targetvalidation.org and all the evidence data is
      available for download in json format from
      https://www.targetvalidation.org/downloads/data .

PMID- 28587635
TI  - Improved detection of gene-microbe interactions in the mouse skin microbiota
      using high-resolution QTL mapping of 16S rRNA transcripts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies highlight the utility of quantitative trait locus
      (QTL) mapping for determining the contribution of host genetics to
      interindividual variation in the microbiota. We previously demonstrated that
      similar to the gut microbiota, abundances of bacterial taxa in the skin are
      significantly influenced by host genetic variation. In this study, we analyzed
      the skin microbiota of mice from the 15th generation of an advanced intercross
      line using a novel approach of extending bacterial trait mapping to both the 16S
      rRNA gene copy (DNA) and transcript (RNA) levels, which reflect relative
      bacterial cell number and activity, respectively. RESULTS: Remarkably, the
      combination of highly recombined individuals and 53,203 informative SNPs allowed
      the identification of genomic intervals as small as <0.1 megabases containing
      single genes. Furthermore, the inclusion of 16S rRNA transcript-level mapping
      dramatically increased the number of significant associations detected, with five
      versus 21 significant SNP-bacterial trait associations based on DNA- compared to
      RNA-level profiling, respectively. Importantly, the genomic intervals identified
      contain many genes involved in skin inflammation and cancer and are further
      supported by the bacterial traits they influence, which in some cases have known
      genotoxic or probiotic capabilities. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that
      profiling based on the relative activity levels of bacterial community members
      greatly enhances the capability of detecting interactions between the host and
      its associated microbes. Finally, the identification of several genes involved in
      skin cancer suggests that similar to colon carcinogenesis, the resident
      microbiota may play a role in skin cancer susceptibility and its potential
      prevention and/or treatment.

PMID- 28587638
TI  - Erratum to: Maternal near miss and mortality due to postpartum infection: a cross
      sectional analysis from Rwanda.

PMID- 28587639
TI  - Unravelling mummies: cryptic diversity, host specificity, trophic and
      coevolutionary interactions in psyllid - parasitoid food webs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parasitoids are hyperdiverse and can contain morphologically and
      functionally cryptic species, making them challenging to study. Parasitoid
      speciation can arise from specialisation on niches or diverging hosts. However,
      which process dominates is unclear because cospeciation across multiple
      parasitoid and host species has rarely been tested. Host specificity and trophic
      interactions of the parasitoids of psyllids (Hemiptera) remain mostly unknown,
      but these factors are fundamentally important for understanding of species
      diversity, and have important applied implications for biological control.
      RESULTS: We sampled diverse parasitoid communities from eight Eucalyptus-feeding
      psyllid species in the genera Cardiaspina and Spondyliaspis, and characterised
      their phylogenetic and trophic relationships using a novel approach that
      forensically linked emerging parasitoids with the presence of their DNA in post
      emergence insect mummies. We also tested whether parasitoids have cospeciated
      with their psyllid hosts. The parasitoid communities included three Psyllaephagus
      morphospecies (two primary and, unexpectedly, one heteronomous hyperparasitoid
      that uses different host species for male and female development), and the
      hyperparasitoid, Coccidoctonus psyllae. However, the number of genetically
      delimited Psyllaephagus species was three times higher than the number of
      recognisable morphospecies, while the hyperparasitoid formed a single generalist
      species. In spite of this, cophylogenetic analysis revealed unprecedented
      codivergence of this hyperparasitoid with its primary parasitoid host, suggesting
      that this single hyperparasitoid species is possibly diverging into host-specific
      species. Overall, parasitoid and hyperparasitoid diversification was
      characterised by functional conservation of morphospecies, high host specificity
      and some host switching between sympatric psyllid hosts. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude
      that host specialisation, host codivergence and host switching are important
      factors driving the species diversity of endoparasitoid communities of specialist
      host herbivores. Specialisation in parasitoids can also result in heteronomous
      life histories that may be more common than appreciated. A host generalist
      strategy may be rare in endoparasitoids of specialist herbivores despite the high
      conservation of morphology and trophic roles, and endoparasitoid species richness
      is likely to be much higher than previously estimated. This also implies that the
      success of biological control requires detailed investigation to enable accurate
      identification of parasitoid-host interactions before candidate parasitoid
      species are selected as biological control agents for target pests.

PMID- 28587640
TI  - Using technology to engage hospitalised patients in their care: a realist review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient participation in health care is associated with improved
      outcomes for patients and hospitals. New technologies are creating vast potential
      for patients to participate in care at the bedside. Several studies have explored
      patient use, satisfaction and perceptions of health information technology (HIT)
      interventions in hospital. Understanding what works for whom, under what
      conditions, is important when considering interventions successfully engaging
      patients in care. This realist review aimed to determine key features of
      interventions using bedside technology to engage hospital patients in their care
      and analyse these in terms of context, mechanisms and outcomes. METHODS: A
      realist review was chosen to explain how and why complex HIT interventions work
      or fail within certain contexts. The review was guided by Pawson's realist review
      methodology, involving: clarifying review scope; searching for evidence; data
      extraction and evidence appraisal; synthesising evidence and drawing conclusions.
      Author experience and an initial literature scope provided insight and review
      questions and theories (propositions) around why interventions worked were
      developed and iteratively refined. A purposive search was conducted to find
      evidence to support, refute or identify further propositions, which formed an
      explanatory model. Each study was 'mined' for evidence to further develop the
      propositions and model. RESULTS: Interactive learning was the overarching theme
      of studies using technology to engage patients in their care. Several
      propositions underpinned this, which were labelled: information sharing; self
      assessment and feedback; tailored education; user-centred design; and support in
      use of HIT. As studies were mostly feasibility or usability studies, they
      reported patient-centred outcomes including patient acceptability, satisfaction
      and actual use of HIT interventions. For each proposition, outcomes were proposed
      to come about by mechanisms including improved communication, shared decision
      making, empowerment and self-efficacy; which acted as facilitators to patient
      participation in care. Overall, there was a stronger representation of health
      than IT disciplines in studies reviewed, with a lack of IT input in terms of
      theoretical underpinning, methodological design and reporting of outcomes.
      CONCLUSION: HIT interventions have great potential for engaging hospitalised
      patients in their care. However, stronger interdisciplinary collaboration between
      health and IT researchers is needed for effective design and evaluation of HIT
      interventions.

PMID- 28587641
TI  - Changing educational inequalities in sporting inactivity among adults in Germany:
      a trend study from 2003 to 2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social inequalities in health can be explained in part by the social
      patterning of leisure-time physical activity, such as non-participation in
      sports. This study is the first to explore whether absolute and relative
      educational inequalities in sporting inactivity among adults have changed in
      Germany since the early 2000s. METHODS: Data from four cross-sectional national
      health surveys conducted in 2003 (n = 6890), 2009 (n = 16,418), 2010 (n = 17,145)
      and 2012 (n = 13,744) were analysed. The study population was aged 25-69 years in
      each survey. Sporting inactivity was defined as no sports participation during
      the preceding 3 months. The regression-based Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and
      Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were calculated to estimate the extent of
      absolute and relative educational inequalities in sporting inactivity,
      respectively. RESULTS: Sporting inactivity was consistently more prevalent in
      less-educated groups. The overall prevalence of sporting inactivity declined
      significantly over time. However, the decline was observed only in the high and
      medium education groups, while no change was observed in the low education group.
      Both absolute and relative educational inequalities in sporting inactivity were
      found to have widened significantly between 2003 (SII = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.25-0.35;
      RII = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.83-2.38) and 2012 (SII = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.37-0.45; RII =
      3.44, 95% CI = 3.03-3.91). Interaction analysis showed that these increases in
      inequalities were larger in the younger population under the age of 50 than among
      the elderly. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the gap in sports
      participation between adults with high and low educational attainment has widened
      in both absolute and relative terms because of an increase in sports
      participation among the better educated. Health-enhancing physical activity
      interventions specifically targeted to less-educated younger adults are needed to
      prevent future increases in social inequalities in health.

PMID- 28587642
TI  - Differential expression analysis at the individual level reveals a lncRNA
      prognostic signature for lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deregulations of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated
      in cancer initiation and progression. Current methods can only capture
      differential expression of lncRNAs at the population level and ignore the
      heterogeneous expression of lncRNAs in individual patients. METHODS: We propose a
      method (LncRIndiv) to identify differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs in
      individual cancer patients by exploiting the disrupted ordering of expression
      levels of lncRNAs in each disease sample in comparison with stable normal
      ordering. LncRIndiv was applied to lncRNA expression profiles of lung
      adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Based on the expression profile of LUAD individual-level
      DE lncRNAs, we used a forward selection procedure to identify prognostic
      signature for stage I-II LUAD patients without adjuvant therapy. RESULTS: In both
      simulated data and real pair-wise cancer and normal sample data, LncRIndiv method
      showed good performance. Based on the individual-level DE lncRNAs, we developed a
      robust prognostic signature consisting of two lncRNA (C1orf132 and TMPO-AS1) for
      stage I-II LUAD patients without adjuvant therapy (P = 3.06 * 10-6, log-rank
      test), which was confirmed in two independent datasets of GSE50081 (P = 1.82 * 10
      2, log-rank test) and GSE31210 (P = 7.43 * 10-4, log-rank test) after adjusting
      other clinical factors such as smoking status and stages. Pathway analysis showed
      that TMPO-AS1 and C1orf132 could affect the prognosis of LUAD patients through
      regulating cell cycle and cell adhesion. CONCLUSIONS: LncRIndiv can successfully
      detect DE lncRNAs in individuals and be applied to identify prognostic signature
      for LUAD patients.

PMID- 28587644
TI  - Current and future perspectives on the management of polypharmacy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of ageing populations, the growth in the number of people
      with multi-morbidity and greater compliance with disease-specific guidelines,
      polypharmacy is becoming increasingly common. Although the correct drug treatment
      in patients with complex medical problems can improve clinical outcomes, quality
      of life and life expectancy, polypharmacy is also associated with an increased
      risk of adverse drug events, some severe enough to result in hospital admission
      and even death. Hence, having systems in place to ensure that medications are
      started only when there is a suitable indication, ensuring patients are fully
      aware of the benefits and complications that may arise from their treatment, and
      reviewing patients regularly to ensure their medication regime remains
      appropriate, are essential. DISCUSSION: The development and rapid uptake of
      electronic patient records - particularly in primary care settings where the
      majority of prescribing takes place - makes monitoring of patients more
      straightforward than in the past; and allows identification of sub-groups of
      patients at particularly high risk of adverse drug events and complications. It
      also facilitates 'deprescribing' the process by which medications are reviewed
      and stopped if not clinically beneficial. In recent years, we have also seen the
      development of smartphone 'apps' to improve communication between patients and
      healthcare professionals, improve people's understanding of their conditions and
      their treatment, and maintain a record of changes made to patient's medication.
      In the longer term, developments such as the introduction of artificial
      intelligence and clinical decision support systems also have the potential to
      improve prescribing and minimise the risks from polypharmacy. Finally, there is
      considerable scope to improve the quality of prescribing and reduce risks from
      poly-pharmacy using non-medical groups such as pharmacists, specialist nurses and
      physician assistants. Polypharmacy has increased in recent decades and will
      continue to increase as populations age and the number of people with multiple
      long-term conditions increases. As with all areas of medicine, the evidence-base
      in this area continues to evolve. Further trials on the impact on patients with
      polypharmacy of new interventions such as technology-based solutions and the use
      of different professional groups are needed to improve the evidence-base in this
      area.

PMID- 28587643
TI  - Effects of topical insulin on second-intention wound healing in the red-eared
      slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) - a controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared with mammals, wound healing in reptiles is characterized by
      reduced wound contraction and longer healing times. The aim of this study is to
      describe the clinical and histopathological effects of topical insulin on second
      intention healing of experimentally induced wounds in skin without dermal bony
      plates of Trachemys scripta elegans exposed to daily variations in ambient
      temperature and in an aquatic environment. Forty-four healthy adult females were
      assigned to two groups: Group 1 (n = 24) was used to assess clinical features
      such as wound contraction; Group 2 (n = 20) was used for histological evaluation
      and morphometric analysis. Topical porcine insulin (5 IU/ml diluted in glycerol)
      was applied daily 1 week. For each control time (2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post
      wounding), re-epithelisation and wound remodelling were evaluated histologically
      and the number of main inflammatory cells (heterophils, macrophages, lymphocytes
      and fibroblasts) was scored. RESULTS: Mean wound contraction was higher in the
      insulin-treated group at each time point and differences were significant at day
      28 (P < 0.0001). Histologically, these clinical findings were associated with
      better re-epithelisation, inflammatory response, collagen synthesis and
      remodelling of the wounds. Morphometrically, insulin-treated wounds had
      significantly higher mean counts of heterophils (day 7), macrophages (days 2, 7
      and 14) and fibroblasts (days 14 and 21), whereas lymphocyte counts were
      significantly lower at day 21. These results demonstrate that topical insulin
      modifies the inflammatory response of turtle skin up-regulating inflammatory
      cells at early stages and promoting wound healing. CONCLUSIONS: Topical insulin
      is a potentially useful therapy in skin wounds of Trachemys scripta and should be
      evaluated in non-experimental wounds of turtles and other reptiles.

PMID- 28587645
TI  - Transcriptome profiling of Staphylococci-infected cow mammary gland parenchyma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome-wide gene expression profiling allows for identification of
      genes involved in the defense response of the host against pathogens. As
      presented here, transcriptomic analysis and bioinformatics tools were applied in
      order to identify genes expressed in the mammary gland parenchyma of cows
      naturally infected with coagulase-positive and coagulase-negative Staphylococci.
      RESULTS: In cows infected with coagulase-positive Staphylococci, being in 1st or
      2nd lactation, 1700 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified.
      However, examination of the 3rd or 4th lactations revealed 2200 DEGs. Gene
      ontology functional classification showed the molecular functions of the DEGs
      overrepresented the activity of cytokines, chemokines, and their receptors. In
      cows infected with coagulase-negative Staphylococci, in the 1st or 2nd lactations
      418 DEGs, while in the 3rd or 4th lactations, 1200 DEGs were identified that
      involved in molecular functions such as protein, calcium ion and lipid binding,
      chemokine activity, and protein homodimerization. Gene network analysis showed
      DEGs associated with inflammation, cell migration, and immune response to
      infection, development of cells and tissues, and humoral responses to infections
      caused by both types of Staphylococci. CONCLUSION: A coagulase-positive
      Staphylococci infection caused a markedly stronger host response than that of
      coagulase-negative, resulting in vastly increased DEGs. A significant increase in
      the expression of the FOS, TNF, and genes encoding the major histocompatibility
      complex proteins (MHC) was observed. It suggests these genes play a key role in
      the synchronization of the immune response of the cow's parenchyma against
      mastitis-causing bacteria. Moreover, the following genes that belong to several
      physiological pathways (KEGG pathways) were selected for further studies as
      candidate genes of mammary gland immune response for use in Marker Assisted
      Selection (MAS): chemokine signaling pathway (CCL2, CXCL5, HCK, CCR1), cell
      adhesion molecules (CAMs) pathway (BOLA-DQA2, BOLA-DQA1, F11R, ITGAL, CD86),
      antigen processing and presentation pathway (CD8A, PDIA3, LGMN, IFI30, HSPA1A),
      and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway (TNF, IL8, IL18, NFKBIA).

PMID- 28587646
TI  - Trends in sex differences in the receipt of quality of care indicators among
      adults with diabetes: United States 2002-2011.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests disparities in quality of care (QoC) indicators
      based on sex exist in adults diagnosed with diabetes; however, this research is
      limited. Therefore, the objective of this research study was to assess
      differences in QOC indicators in a nationally representative sample of men and
      women with diabetes. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 17,702 men and women (>=18
      years of age) with diabetes from the 2002-2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
      Household Component. Sex was the main predictor variable, and the dependent
      variables were five binary indicators to measure QOC, which included testing of
      hemoglobin A1c, examining feet annually, getting eyes dilated, checking blood
      pressure, and visiting the doctor annually. Sample demographics by sex were
      assessed. Unadjusted analyses were computed for descriptive statistics by sex and
      proportions of QOC indicators over time. Logistic regression evaluated
      associations between QOC indicators and sex, while controlling for
      sociodemographic characteristics, time, and comorbid conditions. RESULTS:
      Approximately 44% and 56% of the sample was comprised of men and women,
      respectively. Unadjusted analyses showed significant differences in A1c testing
      (p < 0.001) and foot examinations (p = 0.002) for the entire sample, and
      significant differences in A1c testing (p = 0.027), foot examinations (p = 0.01),
      and dilated eye exams (p = 0.026) among men and A1c testing (p < 0.001) among
      women overtime. Adjusted analyses found women to be significantly more likely to
      have dilated eye examinations during a given year (OR = 1.14; 95% CI 1.04, 1.24),
      to get their blood pressure checked by a doctor in a given year (OR = 1.44; 95%
      CI 1.13, 1.84), and to visit a doctor annually (OR = 1.39; 95% CI 1.22, 1.58)
      compared to men. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of adults with diabetes, women had
      significantly higher odds of receiving quality of care compared to men. These
      findings suggest the importance of educating patients about appropriate metrics
      of diabetes management, especially men, and the need for continuous empowerment
      of women to receive proper and optimal care. Additional research is needed to
      identify causes and reduce sex and gender disparities associated with diabetes
      quality of care.

PMID- 28587647
TI  - Risk factors and implications of progressive coronary dilatation in children with
      Kawasaki disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis that occurs in
      children and may lead to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Progressive
      coronary dilatation for at least 2 months is associated with worse late coronary
      outcomes in patients with KD having medium or giant aneurysms. However, the risk
      factors and occurrence of progressive coronary dilatation in patients with KD but
      without medium or giant aneurysms have been insufficiently explored. METHODS: We
      retrospectively enrolled 169 patients with KD from a tertiary medical center in
      Taiwan during 2009-2013. Medical records of all patients were reviewed.
      Echocardiography was performed during the acute KD phase and at 3-4 weeks, 6-8
      weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after KD onset. Progressive coronary dilatation
      was defined as the progressive enlargement of coronary arteries on three
      consecutive echocardiograms. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to
      evaluate the potential risk factors for coronary aneurysms and progressive
      coronary dilatation. RESULTS: Of a total of 169 patients with KD, 31 (18.3%) had
      maximal coronary Z-scores of >= + 2.5 during the acute KD phase, 16 (9.5%;
      male/female: 9/7) had coronary aneurysms at 1 month after KD onset, and 5 (3.0%)
      satisfied the definition of progressive coronary dilatation. Multivariate
      logistic regression analysis revealed that an initial maximal coronary Z-score of
      >= + 2.5 [odds ratio (OR): 5.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.31-21.3, P =
      0.020] and hypoalbuminemia (OR: 4.83, 95% CI: 1.11-20.9, P = 0.035) were
      independent risk factors for coronary aneurysms and were significantly associated
      with progressive coronary dilatation. However, the association between
      intravenous immunoglobulin unresponsiveness and the development of coronary
      aneurysms at 1 month after KD onset didn't reach the level of significance (P =
      0.058). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, 3% (5/169) of patients with KD had
      progressive coronary dilatation, which was associated with persistent coronary
      aneurysms at 1 year after KD onset. Initial coronary dilatation and
      hypoalbuminemia were independently associated with the occurrence of progressive
      coronary dilatation. Therefore, such patients may require intensive cardiac
      monitoring and adjuvant therapies apart from immunoglobulin therapies.

PMID- 28587648
TI  - Timing of menarche in Norwegian girls: associations with body mass index, waist
      circumference and skinfold thickness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research studies show conflicting results regarding the association
      between menarche and body weight. The purpose of the present study was to
      investigate if anthropometric indicators of body composition, body mass index
      (BMI), waist circumference (WC), triceps (TSF) and subscapular skinfold (SSF)
      thicknesses, were differentially associated with age at menarche in Norwegian
      girls. METHODS: The association between menarche and BMI, WC, TSF and SSF was
      investigated in 1481 girls aged 8-15.5 years, and in a subgroup of 181 girls with
      menarche during the 12 months prior to examination. Anthropometric measures were
      categorized as low (< -1SDS), average (-1 <= SDS <= +1) or high (> 1SDS), and
      menarche according to this classification was analysed with Kaplan-Meier curves
      and unadjusted and adjusted Cox regression. RESULTS: The median age at menarche
      in the total sample was 13.1 years. In the unadjusted models, low categories of
      all traits were associated with later menarche, and high categories with earlier
      menarche. When adjusted for other covariates, earlier menarche was only related
      with a high BMI (Hazard Ratio 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07, 1.85), and
      later menarche with a low BMI (HR 0.53, 95%CI 0.38, 0.75) and low SSF (HR 0.54,
      95%CI 0.39, 0.75). In girls with recent menarche, early menarche was
      significantly associated with a high BMI in the final model (HR 1.79, 95%CI 1.23,
      2.62). CONCLUSIONS: The timing of menarche was associated with the BMI, WC, TSF
      and SSF, but more strongly so with the BMI. These associations may be related to
      a common tempo of growth, as the mean age at menarche has remained stable during
      the last decades during a time period while the prevalence of overweight and
      obesity has increased significantly.

PMID- 28587649
TI  - COgnitive behavioural therapy versus standardised medical care for adults with
      Dissociative non-Epileptic Seizures (CODES): statistical and economic analysis
      plan for a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dissociative seizures (DSs), also called psychogenic non-epileptic
      seizures, are a distressing and disabling problem for many patients in
      neurological settings with high and often unnecessary economic costs. The
      COgnitive behavioural therapy versus standardised medical care for adults with
      Dissociative non-Epileptic Seizures (CODES) trial is an evaluation of a
      specifically tailored psychological intervention with the aims of reducing
      seizure frequency and severity and improving psychological well-being in adults
      with DS. The aim of this paper is to report in detail the quantitative and
      economic analysis plan for the CODES trial, as agreed by the trial steering
      committee. METHODS: The CODES trial is a multicentre, pragmatic, parallel group,
      randomised controlled trial performed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and
      cost-effectiveness of 13 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) plus
      standardised medical care (SMC) compared with SMC alone for adult outpatients
      with DS. DISCUSSION: The objectives and design of the trial are summarised, and
      the aims and procedures of the planned analyses are illustrated. The proposed
      analysis plan addresses statistical considerations such as maintaining blinding,
      monitoring adherence with the protocol, describing aspects of treatment and
      dealing with missing data. The formal analysis approach for the primary and
      secondary outcomes is described, as are the descriptive statistics that will be
      reported. This paper provides transparency to the planned inferential analyses
      for the CODES trial prior to the extraction of outcome data. It also provides an
      update to the previously published trial protocol and guidance to those
      conducting similar trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN05681227
      (registered on 5 March 2014); ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02325544 (registered on 15
      December 2014).

PMID- 28587651
TI  - Erratum to: Pancreatic beta-cell regeneration: advances in understanding the
      genes and signaling pathways involved.

PMID- 28587650
TI  - Impact of diabetes duration and degree of carotid artery stenosis on major
      adverse cardiovascular events: a single-center, retrospective, observational
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the impact of diabetes duration and carotid
      artery stenosis (CAS) on the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events
      (MACE) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) without clinical
      cardiovascular disease. METHODS: A total of 2006 patients with T2DM, without
      clinical cardiovascular disease, aged >50 years, and who underwent baseline
      carotid Doppler ultrasound screening with regular follow-ups at the outpatient
      clinic of our diabetes center, were stratified into four subgroups according to
      diabetes duration and CAS degree. The primary outcomes included the occurrence of
      MACE, defined as fatal or nonfatal stroke and myocardial infarction, and all
      cause mortality. RESULTS: The difference in the MACE incidence was significantly
      greater in patients with a longer diabetes duration (>=10 years) and significant
      CAS (50-69% luminal narrowing) (p < 0.001). Analysis of individual MACE
      components indicated a trend towards an increased incidence of stroke (p <
      0.001), parallel to a longer diabetes duration and significant CAS. In contrast,
      the risk of myocardial infarction was significantly higher in patients with a
      diabetes duration <10 years and significant CAS (p = 0.039). Multivariate
      regression analysis showed that patients with both a longer diabetes duration and
      significant CAS demonstrated additive and very high risks of MACE (hazard ratio
      [HR], 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-3.66; p = 0.012) and stroke (HR,
      3.38; 95% CI 1.54-7.44; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of MACE is
      significantly greater in patients with T2DM, without clinical cardiovascular
      disease, who have both a longer diabetes duration and significant CAS, compared
      with those who have a shorter duration and/or nonsignificant CAS.

PMID- 28587653
TI  - The short term burden of ambient fine particulate matter on chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease in Ningbo, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have found associations between ambient fine
      particulate matter (PM2.5) and increased mortality risk. However, little evidence
      is available on associations between PM2.5 and years of life lost (YLL). We aimed
      to estimate the YLL due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality
      related to ambient PM2.5 exposure. METHODS: A time-series study was conducted
      based on the data on air pollutants, meteorological conditions and 18,472
      registered COPD deaths in Ningbo, China, 2011-2015. The effects of PM2.5 on YLL
      and daily death of COPD were estimated, after controlling long term trend,
      meteorological index and other confounders. RESULTS: The impact of PM2.5 on YLL
      due to COPD lasted for 5 days (lag 0-4). Per 10 MUg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was
      associated with 0.91 (95%CI: 0.16, 1.66) years increase in YLL. The excess YLL of
      COPD mortality were 8206 years, and 0.38 day per person in Ningbo from 2011 to
      2015. The exposure-response curve of PM2.5 and YLL due to COPD showed a non
      linear pattern, with relatively steep at low levels and flattened out at higher
      exposures.. Furthermore, the effects were significantly higher in the elderly
      than those in the younger. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings explored burden of PM2.5 on
      YLL due to COPD and highlight the importance and urgency of ambient PM2.5
      pollution control and protection of the vulnerable populations.

PMID- 28587652
TI  - Nanospan, an alternatively spliced isoform of sarcospan, localizes to the
      sarcoplasmic reticulum in skeletal muscle and is absent in limb girdle muscular
      dystrophy 2F.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sarcospan (SSPN) is a transmembrane protein that interacts with the
      sarcoglycans (SGs) to form a tight subcomplex within the dystrophin-glycoprotein
      complex that spans the sarcolemma and interacts with laminin in the extracellular
      matrix. Overexpression of SSPN ameliorates Duchenne muscular dystrophy in murine
      models. METHODS: Standard cloning approaches were used to identify nanospan, and
      nanospan-specific polyclonal antibodies were generated and validated. Biochemical
      isolation of skeletal muscle membranes and two-photon laser scanning microscopy
      were used to analyze nanospan localization in muscle from multiple murine models.
      Duchenne muscular dystrophy biopsies were analyzed by immunoblot analysis of
      protein lysates as well as indirect immunofluorescence analysis of muscle
      cryosections. RESULTS: Nanospan is an alternatively spliced isoform of sarcospan.
      While SSPN has four transmembrane domains and is a core component of the
      sarcolemmal dystrophin-glycoprotein complex, nanospan is a type II transmembrane
      protein that does not associate with the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. We
      demonstrate that nanospan is enriched in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
      fractions and is not present in the T-tubules. SR fractions contain membranes
      from three distinct structural regions: a region flanking the T-tubules (triadic
      SR), a SR region across the Z-line (ZSR), and a longitudinal SR region across the
      M-line (LSR). Analysis of isolated murine muscles reveals that nanospan is mostly
      associated with the ZSR and triadic SR, and only minimally with the LSR.
      Furthermore, nanospan is absent from the SR of delta-SG-null (Sgcd-/-) skeletal
      muscle, a murine model for limb girdle muscular dystrophy 2F. Analysis of
      skeletal muscle biopsies from Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients reveals that
      nanospan is preferentially expressed in type I (slow) fibers in both control and
      Duchenne samples. Furthermore, nanospan is significantly reduced in Duchenne
      biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: Alternative splicing of proteins from the SG-SSPN complex
      produces delta-SG3, microspan, and nanospan that localize to the ZSR and the
      triadic SR, where they may play a role in regulating resting calcium levels as
      supported by previous studies (Estrada et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun 340:865
      71, 2006). Thus, alternative splicing of SSPN mRNA generates three protein
      isoforms (SSPN, microspan, and nanospan) that differ in the number of
      transmembrane domains affecting subcellular membrane association into distinct
      protein complexes.

PMID- 28587654
TI  - Determinants of self-perceived health for Canadians aged 40 and older and policy
      implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perceived health status indicates people's overall perception of
      their health, including both physical and psychological dimensions. The aim of
      this study was to examine the determinants of self-perceived health for Canadians
      aged 40 and older using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2010).
      METHODS: Multiple logistic regression models were employed to identify factors
      associated with self-perceived health in two age groups: Adults aged 65+ and
      Adults aged 40-64. RESULTS: We found that higher income was significantly
      associated with better health status while chronic conditions and stress were
      associated with worse health status. In the 40-64 and 65+ age groups, individuals
      in the highest income bracket were 4.65 and 1.94 times, respectively, more likely
      to report better health than individuals in the lowest income bracket. The
      difference in the level of income associated health inequities between the two
      age groups point to the need for understanding the reasons behind lower
      inequities among seniors and how much the social protections provided by the
      Canadian government to seniors contribute to lowering inequities. CONCLUSIONS:
      Though Canada has a national public health insurance system providing coverage to
      all Canadians, health inequities associated with income persist providing further
      evidence of the importance of the social determinants of health. Examining the
      extent of these inequities and what factors influence them helps direct policy
      attention. In addition to documenting inequities, this paper discusses policy
      options for reducing the identified inequities.

PMID- 28587655
TI  - Gout and subsequent erectile dysfunction: a population-based cohort study from
      England.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An association has been suggested between gout and erectile
      dysfunction (ED), however studies quantifying the risk of ED amongst gout
      patients are lacking. We aimed to precisely determine the population-level
      absolute and relative rate of ED reporting among men with gout over a decade in
      England. METHODS: We utilised the UK-based Clinical Practice Research Datalink to
      identify 9653 men with incident gout age- and practice-matched to 38,218
      controls. Absolute and relative rates of incident ED were calculated using Cox
      regression models. Absolute rates within specific time periods before and after
      gout diagnosis were compared to control using a Poisson regression model.
      RESULTS: Overall, the absolute rate of ED post-gout diagnosis was 193 (95%
      confidence interval (CI): 184-202) per 10,000 person-years. This corresponded to
      a 31% (hazard ratio (HR): 1.31 95%CI: 1.24-1.40) increased relative risk and 0.6%
      excess absolute risk compared to those without gout. We did not observe
      statistically significant differences in the risk of ED among those prescribed
      ULT within 1 and 3 years after gout diagnosis. Compared to those unexposed, the
      risk of ED was also high in the year before gout diagnosis (relative rate = 1.63
      95%CI 1.27-2.08). Similar findings were also observed for severe ED warranting
      pharmacological intervention. CONCLUSIONS: We have shown a statistically
      significant increased risk of ED among men with gout. Our findings will have
      important implications in planning a multidisciplinary approach to managing
      patients with gout.

PMID- 28587656
TI  - The correlations between DNA methylation and polymorphisms in the promoter region
      of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene with postoperative
      recurrence in patients with thyroid carcinoma (TC).
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims at exploring the correlations between DNA methylation
      and polymorphisms in the promoter region of the human telomerase reverse
      transcriptase (hTERT) gene and postoperative recurrence in patients with thyroid
      carcinoma (TC). METHODS: A total of 312 patients diagnosed with TC were chosen
      for the study and categorized into recurrence (n = 75) and non-recurrence (n =
      237) groups. The hTERT rs2736100 and rs2736098 polymorphisms were detected by
      performing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.
      DNA methylation in the promoter region of hTERT gene was evaluated by
      pyrosequencing. A telephonic and/or outpatient follow-up was conducted for all
      patients. The correlations of DNA methylation and polymorphisms in the promoter
      region of hTERT with postoperative recurrence of TC patients underwent analysis.
      RESULTS: The patient in the recurrence group showed evidently different
      pathological types and tumor stages in comparison to the non-recurrence group.
      The GG genotype of hTERT rs2736100 might increase the recurrence risk of TC
      patients. No correlations between hTERT rs2736098 polymorphisms and recurrence
      risk were observed. Compared to the TT + TG genotype frequency, the rs2736100 GG
      genotype frequency increased in patients without multicentricity, patients with
      extrathyroidal invasion, patients with lymph node metastasis, patients with
      undifferentiated carcinoma, and patients in the III + IV stage. The recurrence
      group showed significantly higher DNA methylation level compared to the non
      recurrence group. The DNA methylation level was closely associated to tumor stage
      and lymph node metastasis of TC patients in the recurrence group. CONCLUSIONS:
      The DNA methylation and rs2736100 polymorphisms in the promoter region of hTERT
      gene might be in correlation to postoperative recurrence of TC patients.

PMID- 28587657
TI  - Modified pedicle screw-rod fixation as a minimally invasive treatment for
      anterior pelvic ring injuries: an initial case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unstable pelvic ring injuries often involve high mortality and
      morbidity. This study was aimed to evaluate the modified minimally invasive
      pedicle screw-rod fixation for anterior pelvic ring injuries, in the respects of
      its feasibility, merits, and limitations. METHODS: Twenty-three patients with
      unstable pelvic ring injuries underwent the modified anterior pedicle screw-rod
      fixation, with or without posterior fixation. The clinical outcomes were assessed
      using Majeed scores, and the quality of reduction was evaluated according to the
      criteria of Matta. RESULTS: Majeed scores showed that the clinical outcomes at
      postoperatively 1 year were excellent in 14 patients, good in 7, and fair in 2.
      One woman complained of persistent pain at the pubic tubercle during sexual
      intercourse. Iatrogenic neuropraxia of the unilateral lateral femoral cutaneous
      nerve occurred in 3 patients. Unilateral femoral nerve palsy occurred in 1
      patient. The reduction was found to be excellent in 12 patients, good in 8, and
      fair in 3. Heterotopic ossification occurred in 8 patients, all being
      asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS: The modified pedicle screw-rod fixation with the
      minimally invasive technique offered an effective alternative for unstable
      anterior pelvic ring injuries.

PMID- 28587658
TI  - MRI evidence of structural changes in the sacroiliac joints of patients with non
      radiographic axial spondyloarthritis even in the absence of MRI inflammation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that structural lesions may be present in patients
      with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). However, the relevance
      of structural lesions in these patients is unclear, particularly without signs of
      inflammation on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We assessed the presence of
      structural lesions at baseline on MRI in the sacroiliac joints (SIJ) of patients
      with nr-axSpA with and without SIJ inflammation on MRI. METHODS: Bone marrow
      edema (BME) was assessed on short tau inversion recovery (STIR) scans from 185
      patients with nr-axSpA, by two independent readers at baseline using the
      Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) score. Structural
      lesions were evaluated on T1 weighted spin echo scans, with readers blinded to
      STIR scans, using the SPARCC MRI SIJ structural score. Disease characteristics
      and structural lesions were compared in patients with SIJ BME (score >=2) and
      without SIJ BME (score <2). RESULTS: Both SIJ BME and structural lesions scores
      were available for 183 patients; 128/183 (69.9%) patients had SIJ BME scores >=2
      and 55/183 (30.1%) had scores <2. Frequencies of MRI structural lesions in
      patients with vs without SIJ BME were: erosions (45.3% vs 10.9%, P < 0.001),
      backfill (20.3% vs 0%, P < 0.001), fat metaplasia (10.9% vs 1.8%, P = 0.04), and
      ankylosis (2.3% vs 1.8%, P = ns). Significantly more patients with both SIJ BME
      and structural lesions were male and/or HLA-B27 positive than patients with only
      SIJ BME. Mean (SD) spinal scores (23 discovertebral units) were significantly
      higher in patients with SIJ structural lesions than without: 6.5 (11.5) vs 3.3
      (5.1), respectively, P = 0.01. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with nr-axSpA, SIJ
      structural lesions, particularly erosions, may be present on MRI when radiographs
      are normal or inconclusive, even in patients negative for MRI SIJ inflammation.
      They may reflect more severe disease with greater spinal inflammation. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01258738 . Registered on 9 December 2010.

PMID- 28587660
TI  - Recommendations for cerebrospinal fluid collection for the analysis by ELISA of
      neurogranin trunc P75, alpha-synuclein, and total tau in combination with Abeta(1
      42)/Abeta(1-40).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathophysiology of neurodegeneration is complex. Its diagnosis
      requires an early identification of sequential changes in several hallmarks in
      the brains of affected subjects. The presence of brain pathology can be
      visualized in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by protein profiling. It is clear
      that the field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) will benefit from an integration of
      algorithms including CSF concentrations of individual proteins, especially as an
      aid in clinical decision-making or to improve patient enrolment in clinical
      trials. The protein profiling approach requires standard operating procedures for
      collection and storage of CSF which must be easy to integrate into a routine
      clinical lab environment. Our study provides recommendations for analysis of
      neurogranin trunc P75, alpha-synuclein, and tau, in combination with the ratio of
      beta-amyloid Abeta(1-42)/Abeta(1-40). METHODS: Protocols for CSF collection were
      compared with CSF derived from subjects with normal pressure hydrocephalus (n =
      19). Variables included recipient type (collection, storage), tube volume, and
      addition of detergents at the time of collection. CSF biomarker analysis was
      performed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Data were analyzed
      with linear repeated measures and mixed effects models. RESULTS: Adsorption to
      recipients is lower for neurogranin trunc P75, alpha-synuclein, and tau (<10%),
      as compared to Abeta(1-42). For neurogranin trunc P75 and total tau, there is
      still an effect on analyte concentrations as a function of the tube volume.
      Protocol-related differences for Abeta(1-42) can be normalized at the (pre
      )analytical level using the ratio Abeta(1-42)/Abeta(1-40), but not by using the
      ratio Abeta(1-42)/tau. The addition of detergent at the time of collection
      eliminates differences due to adsorption. CONCLUSIONS: Our study recommends the
      use of low protein binding tubes for quantification in CSF (without additives) of
      all relevant CSF biomarkers. Pre-analytical factors have less effect on alpha
      synuclein, neurogranin trunc P75, and total tau, as compared to Abeta(1-42). The
      ratio of Abeta(1-42)/Abeta(1-40), but not Abeta(1-42)/tau, can be used to adjust
      for pre-analytical differences in analyte concentrations. Our study does not
      recommend the inclusion of detergents at the time of collection of CSF. The
      present results provide an experimental basis for new recommendations for
      parallel analysis of several proteins using one protocol for collection and
      storage of CSF.

PMID- 28587659
TI  - Glutaminyl cyclase activity correlates with levels of Abeta peptides and
      mediators of angiogenesis in cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer's disease patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pyroglutamylation of truncated Abeta peptides, which is catalysed by
      enzyme glutaminyl cyclase (QC), generates pE-Abeta species with enhanced
      aggregation propensities and resistance to most amino-peptidases and endo
      peptidases. pE-Abeta species have been identified as major constituents of Abeta
      plaques and reduction of pE-Abeta species is associated with improvement of
      cognitive tasks in animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Pharmacological
      inhibition of QC has thus emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for AD.
      Here, we question whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) QC enzymatic activity differs
      between AD patients and controls and whether inflammatory or angiogenesis
      mediators, some of which are potential QC substrates, and/or Abeta peptides may
      serve as pharmacodynamic read-outs for QC inhibition. METHODS: QC activity, Abeta
      peptides and inflammatory or angiogenesis mediators were measured in CSF of a
      clinically well-characterized cohort of 20 mild AD patients, 20 moderate AD
      patients and 20 subjective memory complaints (SMC) controls. Correlation of these
      parameters with core diagnostic CSF AD biomarkers (Abeta42, tau and p-tau) and
      clinical features was evaluated. RESULTS: QC activity shows a tendency to
      decrease with AD progression (p = 0.129). The addition of QC activity to
      biomarkers tau and p-tau significantly increases diagnostic power (ROC-AUCTAU =
      0.878, ROC-AUCTAU&QC = 0.939 and ROC-AUCpTAU = 0.820, ROC-AUCpTAU&QC = 0.948). In
      AD and controls, QC activity correlates with Abeta38 (r = 0.83, p < 0.0001) and
      Abeta40 (r = 0.84, p < 0.0001), angiogenesis mediators (Flt1, Tie2, VEGFD, VCAM-1
      and ICAM-1, r > 0.5, p < 0.0001) and core diagnostic biomarkers (r > 0.35, p =
      <0.0057). QC activity does not correlate with MMSE or ApoE genotype. CONCLUSIONS:
      Abeta38, Abeta40 and angiogenesis mediators (Flt1, Tie2, VEGFD, VCAM-1 and ICAM
      1) are potential pharmacodynamic markers of QC inhibition, because their levels
      closely correlate with QC activity in AD patients. The addition of QC activity to
      core diagnostic CSF biomarkers may be of specific interest in clinical cases with
      discordant imaging and biochemical biomarker results.

PMID- 28587662
TI  - A nonparametric multiple imputation approach for missing categorical data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incomplete categorical variables with more than two categories are
      common in public health data. However, most of the existing missing-data methods
      do not use the information from nonresponse (missingness) probabilities. METHODS:
      We propose a nearest-neighbour multiple imputation approach to impute a missing
      at random categorical outcome and to estimate the proportion of each category.
      The donor set for imputation is formed by measuring distances between each
      missing value with other non-missing values. The distance function is calculated
      based on a predictive score, which is derived from two working models: one fits a
      multinomial logistic regression for predicting the missing categorical outcome
      (the outcome model) and the other fits a logistic regression for predicting
      missingness probabilities (the missingness model). A weighting scheme is used to
      accommodate contributions from two working models when generating the predictive
      score. A missing value is imputed by randomly selecting one of the non-missing
      values with the smallest distances. We conduct a simulation to evaluate the
      performance of the proposed method and compare it with several alternative
      methods. A real-data application is also presented. RESULTS: The simulation study
      suggests that the proposed method performs well when missingness probabilities
      are not extreme under some misspecifications of the working models. However, the
      calibration estimator, which is also based on two working models, can be highly
      unstable when missingness probabilities for some observations are extremely high.
      In this scenario, the proposed method produces more stable and better estimates.
      In addition, proper weights need to be chosen to balance the contributions from
      the two working models and achieve optimal results for the proposed method.
      CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the proposed multiple imputation method is a
      reasonable approach to dealing with missing categorical outcome data with more
      than two levels for assessing the distribution of the outcome. In terms of the
      choices for the working models, we suggest a multinomial logistic regression for
      predicting the missing outcome and a binary logistic regression for predicting
      the missingness probability.

PMID- 28587663
TI  - Parent experiences and information needs relating to procedural pain in children:
      a systematic review protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There exist many evidence-based interventions available to manage
      procedural pain in children and neonates, yet they are severely underutilized.
      Parents play an important role in the management of their child's pain; however,
      many do not possess adequate knowledge of how to effectively do so. The purpose
      of the planned study is to systematically review and synthesize current knowledge
      of the experiences and information needs of parents with regard to the management
      of their child's pain and distress related to medical procedures in the emergency
      department. METHODS: We will conduct a systematic review using rigorous methods
      and reporting based on the PRISMA statement. We will conduct a comprehensive
      search of literature published between 2000 and 2016 reporting on parents'
      experiences and information needs with regard to helping their child manage
      procedural pain and distress. Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid PsycINFO, CINAHL, and PubMed
      will be searched. We will also search reference lists of key studies and gray
      literature sources. Two reviewers will screen the articles following inclusion
      criteria defined a priori. One reviewer will then extract the data from each
      article following a data extraction form developed by the study team. The second
      reviewer will check the data extraction for accuracy and completeness. Any
      disagreements with regard to study inclusion or data extraction will be resolved
      via discussion. Data from qualitative studies will be summarized thematically,
      while those from quantitative studies will be summarized narratively. The second
      reviewer will confirm the overarching themes resulting from the qualitative and
      quantitative data syntheses. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Qualitative
      Research Checklist and the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies will
      be used to assess the quality of the evidence from each included study.
      DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, no published review exists that comprehensively
      reports on the experiences and information needs of parents related to the
      management of their child's procedural pain and distress. A systematic review of
      parents' experiences and information needs will help to inform strategies to
      empower them with the knowledge necessary to ensure their child's comfort during
      a painful procedure. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016043698.

PMID- 28587661
TI  - Symbionts in waiting: the dynamics of incipient endosymbiont complementation and
      replacement in minimal bacterial communities of psyllids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obligate bacterial primary (P-) endosymbionts that are maternally
      inherited and codiverge with hosts are widespread across insect lineages with
      nutritionally restricted diets. Secondary (S-) endosymbionts are mostly
      facultative, but in some hosts, they complement P-endosymbiont function and
      therefore become obligate. Phylogenetic evidence exists for host switching and
      replacement of S-endosymbionts. The community dynamics that precede endosymbiont
      replacement and complementation have been little studied across host species, yet
      they are fundamental to the evolution of endosymbiosis. RESULTS: We performed
      bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of 25 psyllid species (Hemiptera,
      Psylloidea) across different developmental stages and ecological niches by
      focusing on the characterisation of the bacteria other than the universally
      present P-endosymbiont Carsonella (Gammaproteobacteria). Most species harboured
      only one dominant representative of diverse gammaproteobacterial S-endosymbionts
      that was consistently detected across all host individuals and populations
      (Arsenophonus in eight species, Sodalis or Sodalis-like bacteria in four species,
      unclassified Enterobacteriaceae in eight species). The identity of this dominant
      obligate S-endosymbiont varied across closely related host species. Unexpectedly,
      five psyllid species had two or three co-occurring endosymbiont species other
      than Carsonella within all host individuals, including a Rickettsiella-like
      bacterium (Gammaproteobacteria) in one psyllid species. Based on standard and
      quantitative PCR, all psyllids carried Carsonella, at higher titres than their
      dominant S-endosymbionts. Some psyllids also had Alphaproteobacteria (Lariskella,
      Rickettsia, Wolbachia) at varying prevalence. Incidence of other bacteria,
      including known plant pathogens, was low. Ecological niche of gall-forming, lerp
      forming and free-living psyllid species did not impact endosymbiont communities.
      Two flush-feeding psyllid species had population-specific differences, and this
      was attributable to the higher endosymbiont diversity in native ranges and the
      absence of some endosymbionts in invasive ranges. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support
      the hypothesis of strict vertical transmission of minimal core communities of
      bacteria in psyllids. We also found evidence for S-endosymbiont replacement
      across closely related psyllid species. Multiple dominant S-endosymbionts present
      in some host species, including at low titre, constitute potential examples of
      incipient endosymbiont complementation or replacement. Our multiple comparisons
      of deep-sequenced minimal insect bacterial communities exposed the dynamics
      involved in shaping insect endosymbiosis.

PMID- 28587664
TI  - Characterization of tau prion seeding activity and strains from formaldehyde
      fixed tissue.
AB  - Tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) feature progressive intraneuronal
      deposition of aggregated tau protein. The cause is unknown, but in experimental
      systems trans-cellular propagation of tau pathology resembles prion pathogenesis.
      Tau aggregate inoculation into mice produces transmissible pathology, and tau
      forms distinct strains, i.e. conformers that faithfully replicate and create
      predictable patterns of pathology in vivo. The prion model predicts that tau seed
      formation will anticipate neurofibrillary tau pathology. To test this idea
      requires simultaneous assessment of seed titer and immunohistochemistry (IHC) of
      brain tissue, but it is unknown whether tau seed titer can be determined in
      formaldehyde-fixed tissue. We have previously created a cellular biosensor system
      that uses flow cytometry to quantify induced tau aggregation and thus determine
      seed titer. In unfixed tissue from PS19 tauopathy mice that express 1 N,4R tau
      (P301S), we have measured tau seeding activity that precedes the first observable
      histopathology by many months. Additionally, in fresh frozen tissue from human AD
      subjects at early to mid-neurofibrillary tangle stages (NFT I-IV), we have
      observed tau seeding activity in cortical regions predicted to lack
      neurofibrillary pathology. However, we could not directly compare the same
      regions by IHC and seeding activity in either case. We now describe a protocol to
      extract and measure tau seeding activity from small volumes (.04 mm3) of
      formaldehyde-fixed tissue immediately adjacent to that used for IHC. We validated
      this method with the PS19 transgenic mouse model, and easily observed seeding
      well before the development of phospho-tau pathology. We also accurately isolated
      two tau strains, DS9 and DS10, from fixed brain tissues in mice. Finally, we have
      observed robust seeding activity in fixed AD brain, but not controls. The
      successful coupling of classical IHC with seeding and strain detection should
      enable detailed study of banked brain tissue in AD and other tauopathies.

PMID- 28587665
TI  - Hospitalization for community-acquired febrile urinary tract infection:
      validation and impact assessment of a clinical prediction rule.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a lack of severity assessment tools to identify adults
      presenting with febrile urinary tract infection (FUTI) at risk for complicated
      outcome and guide admission policy. We aimed to validate the Prediction Rule for
      Admission policy in Complicated urinary Tract InfeCtion LEiden (PRACTICE), a
      modified form of the pneumonia severity index, and to subsequentially assess its
      use in clinical practice. METHODS: A prospective observational multicenter study
      for model validation (2004-2009), followed by a multicenter controlled clinical
      trial with stepped wedge cluster-randomization for impact assessment (2010-2014),
      with a follow up of 3 months. Paricipants were 1157 consecutive patients with a
      presumptive diagnosis of acute febrile UTI (787 in validation cohort and 370 in
      the randomized trial), enrolled at emergency departments of 7 hospitals and 35
      primary care centers in the Netherlands. The clinical prediction rule contained
      12 predictors of complicated course. In the randomized trial the PRACTICE
      included guidance on hospitalization for high risk (>100 points) and home
      discharge for low risk patients (<75 points), in the control period the standard
      policy regarding hospital admission was applied. Main outcomes were effectiveness
      of the clinical prediction rule, as measured by primary hospital admission rate,
      and its safety, as measured by the rate of low-risk patients who needed to be
      hospitalized for FUTI after initial home-based treatment, and 30-day mortality.
      RESULTS: A total of 370 patients were included in the randomized trial, 237 in
      the control period and 133 in the intervention period. Use of PRACTICE
      significantly reduced the primary hospitalization rate (from 219/237, 92%, in the
      control group to 96/133, 72%, in the intervention group, p < 0.01). The secondary
      hospital admission rate after initial outpatient treatment was 6% in control
      patients and 27% in intervention patients (1/17 and 10/37; p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although the proposed PRACTICE prediction rule is associated with a
      lower number of hospital admissions of patients presenting to the ED with
      presumptive febrile urinary tract infection, futher improvement is necessary to
      reduce the occurrence of secondary hospital admissions. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      NTR4480 http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4480 ,
      registered retrospectively 25 mrt 2014 (during enrollment of subjects).

PMID- 28587666
TI  - Protocol for a systematic review of the efficacy of fat grafting and platelet
      rich plasma for wound healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of fat grafting as a reconstructive surgical option is
      becoming much more common. Adipose-derived stem cells found in fat grafts are
      believed to facilitate wound healing via differentiation into fibroblasts and
      keratinocytes and the release of pro-healing growth factors. Several small
      studies have shown a positive effect of fat grafting in healing of wounds of a
      variety of aetiologies. When fat is combined with autologous platelet-rich plasma
      (PRP), there may be enhanced healing effects. This may be due to the pro
      angiogenic and anti-inflammatory effects of PRP. We aim to synthesise the current
      evidence on combination fat grafting and PRP for wound healing to establish the
      efficacy of this technique. METHODS/DESIGN: We will conduct a comprehensive
      literature search in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Science Citation Index, and
      Google Scholar databases (up to July 2017) to identify studies on fat grafting
      and PRP for wound healing. All primary studies and systematic reviews of these
      studies will be included, except case reports and case series with fewer than
      three patients, to evaluate the outcome of fat grafting and PRP on wound healing
      either on its own or when compared to other studies. Primary outcome measures are
      expected to be the proportion of total wounds healed at 12 weeks and the average
      wound healing time (time for 100% re-epithelialisation). Expected secondary
      outcome measures are the proportion of wounds achieving 50% wound healing, the
      type of wound benefitting most from fat grafting, economic evaluation, health
      related quality of life, and adverse events. Subgroup analysis will be performed
      for the proportions of wounds healed based on wound aetiology. DISCUSSION: This
      review will provide robust evidence of the efficacy of fat grafting and PRP for
      wound healing. This is an emerging technique, and this review is expected to
      guide clinical practice and ongoing research aimed at improving wound care.
      SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016049881.

PMID- 28587668
TI  - Alterations of hair cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone in mother-infant-dyads
      with maternal childhood maltreatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment (CM) has severe effects on psychological and
      physical health. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the major stress
      system of the body, is dysregulated after CM. The analysis of cortisol and
      dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in scalp hair presents a new and promising
      methodological approach to assess chronic HPA axis activity. This study
      investigated the effects of CM on HPA axis activity in the last trimester of
      pregnancy by measuring the two important signaling molecules, cortisol and DHEA
      in hair, shortly after parturition. In addition, we explored potential effects of
      maternal CM on her offspring's endocrine milieu during pregnancy by measuring
      cortisol and DHEA in newborns' hair. METHODS: CM was assessed with the Childhood
      Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Cortisol and DHEA were measured in hair samples of 94
      mothers and 30 newborns, collected within six days after delivery. Associations
      of maternal CM on her own and her newborn's cortisol as well as DHEA
      concentrations in hair were analyzed with heteroscedastic regression models.
      RESULTS: Higher CM was associated with significantly higher DHEA levels, but not
      cortisol concentrations in maternal hair. Moreover, maternal CM was positively,
      but only as a non-significant trend, associated with higher DHEA levels in the
      newborns' hair. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the steroid milieu of the
      mother, at least on the level of DHEA, is altered after CM, possibly leading to
      non-genomic transgenerational effects on the developing fetus in utero. Indeed,
      we observed on an explorative level first hints that the endocrine milieu for the
      developing child might be altered in CM mothers. These results need extension and
      replication in future studies. The measurement of hair steroids in mothers and
      their newborns is promising, but more research is needed to better understand the
      effects of a maternal history of CM on the developing fetus.

PMID- 28587667
TI  - The effects of basal insulin peglispro vs. insulin glargine on lipoprotein
      particles by NMR and liver fat content by MRI in patients with diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Phase 2/3 studies of basal insulin peglispro (BIL) compared to
      insulin glargine, patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes previously treated with
      insulin and randomized to BIL had an increase in serum triglycerides (TGs). To
      further understand lipoprotein changes, a lipid substudy which included liver fat
      content was designed to assess relationships among the measured variables for
      each diabetes cohort and compare the hepato-preferential insulin BIL to glargine.
      METHODS: In three cohorts of patients with diabetes (type 1, type 2 insulin
      naive, and type 2 previously on insulin; n = 652), liver fat content (LFC) was
      determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and blood lipids were analyzed by
      nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at baseline, 26 and 52 weeks of
      treatment. Apolipoproteins, adiponectin, and other lipid parameters were also
      measured. Descriptive statistics were done, as well as correlation analyses to
      look for relationships among LFC and lipoproteins or other lipid measures.
      RESULTS: In patients with type 1 diabetes treated with BIL, but not glargine,
      small LDL and medium and large VLDL subclass concentrations increased from
      baseline. In patients with type 2 diabetes previously on insulin and treated with
      BIL, large VLDL concentration increased from baseline. In insulin naive patients
      with type 2 diabetes treated with BIL, there were very few changes, while in
      those treated with glargine, small LDL and large VLDL decreased from baseline.
      Baseline LFC correlated significantly in one or more cohorts with baseline large
      VLDL, small LDL, VLDL size, and Apo C3. Changes in LFC by treatment showed
      generally weak correlations with lipoprotein changes, except for positive
      correlations with large VLDL and VLDL size. Adiponectin was higher in patients
      with type 1 diabetes compared to patients with type 2 diabetes, but decreased
      with treatment with both BIL and glargine. CONCLUSIONS: The lipoprotein changes
      were in line with the observed changes in serum TGs; i.e., the cohorts
      experiencing increased TGs and LFC with BIL treatment had decreased LDL size and
      increased VLDL size. These data and analyses add to the currently available
      information on the metabolic effects of insulins in a very carefully
      characterized cohort of patients with diabetes. Clinicaltrials.gov registration
      numbers and dates NCT01481779 (2011), NCT01435616 (2011), NCT01454284 (2011),
      NCT01582451 (2012).

PMID- 28587669
TI  - Ivermectin-treated cattle reduces blood digestion, egg production and survival of
      a free-living population of Anopheles arabiensis under semi-field condition in
      south-eastern Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anopheles arabiensis feed on cattle and contributes to residual
      transmission of malaria in areas with high coverage of long-lasting insecticide
      treated nets and indoor residual spraying in East Africa. This study aimed to
      evaluate the effects of ivermectin-treated cattle as a complementary vector
      control tool against population of An. arabiensis under the semi-field conditions
      in south-eastern Tanzania. METHODS: The free-living population of An. arabiensis
      was allowed to forage on untreated or ivermectin-treated cattle in alternating
      nights within the semi-field system in south-eastern Tanzania. Fresh blood fed
      mosquitoes were collected in the morning using mouth aspirators and assessed for
      their blood meal digestion, egg production, and survivorship. The residual
      activity of ivermectin-treated cattle was also determined by exposing mosquitoes
      to the same treatments after every 2 days until day 21 post-treatments. These
      experiments were replicated 3 times using different individual cattle. RESULTS:
      Overall, the ivermectin-treated cattle reduced blood meal digestion in the
      stomach of An. arabiensis, and their subsequent egg production and survival over
      time. The ivermectin-treated cattle halved blood meal digestion in mosquitoes,
      but reduced their egg production for up to 15 days. The ivermectin-treated cattle
      reduced the survival, and median survival times (1-3 days) of An. arabiensis than
      control cattle. The daily mortality rates of mosquitoes fed on ivermectin-treated
      cattle increased by five-fold relative to controls in the first week, and it
      gradually declined up to 21 days after treatment. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrates that long-lasting effects of ivermectin-treated cattle on egg
      production and survival of An. arabiensis may sustainably suppress their vector
      density, and reduce residual transmission of malaria. This study suggests that
      ivermectin-treated non-lactating cattle (i.e. calves, heifers and bulls) could be
      suitable option for large-scale malaria vector control without limiting
      consumption of milk and meat by communities in rural settings. Furthermore,
      simulation models are underway to predict the impact of ivermectin-treated cattle
      alone, or in combination with LLIN/IRS, the frequency of treatment, and their
      coverage required to significantly suppress population of An. arabiensis and
      reduce residual transmission of malaria.

PMID- 28587670
TI  - High mobility group box-1 contributes to anti-myeloperoxidase antibody-induced
      glomerular endothelial cell injury through a moesin-dependent route.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous study found that circulating and urinary levels of high
      mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) were closely associated with disease activity in
      patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis
      (AAV). Moreover, HMGB1 participates in ANCA-induced neutrophil activation. Cross
      reactivity between moesin and anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) antibody has been
      reported in both human and mouse. The current study investigated whether HMGB1
      participated in MPO-ANCA-induced glomerular endothelial cell (GEnC) injury, which
      is one of the most important aspects in the pathogenesis of AAV. METHODS: The
      effects of HMGB1 on expression of moesin on GEnCs and anti-MPO antibody binding
      to GEnCs were measured. MPO expression on GEnCs was explored. The effects of
      HMGB1 in MPO-ANCA induced GEnC injury were measured, during which the role of
      moesin was explored. Antagonists for various relevant receptors were employed.
      RESULTS: Sera from AAV patients at the active stage could mediate GEnC injury,
      while this effect could be attenuated by preblocking HMGB1. HMGB1 could increase
      the expression of moesin on GEnCs and the binding of anti-MPO antibody to moesin.
      The colocalization of moesin expression and anti-MPO antibody binding can be
      detected. Little, if any, MPO was expressed in GEnCs. HMGB1 increased GEnC
      activation and injury in the presence of patient-derived MPO-ANCA-positive IgGs
      through moesin. The effects of HMGB1 on expression of moesin on GEnCs, anti-MPO
      antibody binding to GEnCs, GEnC activation and injury were mainly toll like
      receptor 4 (TLR4) dependent. CONCLUSIONS: HMGB1 can increase the expression of
      moesin but not MPO on GEnCs, and can further participate in MPO-ANCA-induced GEnC
      activation and injury by cross-reactivity between moesin and anti-MPO antibody.

PMID- 28587672
TI  - Exploring parent-reported barriers to supporting their child's health behaviors:
      a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parents can influence the health behaviors of their children by
      engaging in supportive behaviors (e.g., playing outside with their child,
      limiting recreational screen time). How, and the extent to which parents engage
      in supportive behaviors may be influenced by perceived barriers. The purpose of
      this study is to explore whether the frequency, and types, of barriers to
      providing parental support are dependent on the type of child health behavior
      being supported (i.e., physical activity, recreational screen time reduction,
      healthy eating, and sleep). METHODS: Study participants were 1140 Ontario parents
      with at least one child under the age of 18 who completed a Computer Assisted
      Telephone Interview (CATI) survey about parental support behaviors. Open-ended
      responses about perceived barriers to parental support were coded, and aggregated
      to meta-categories adopted from the social-ecological model (i.e., individual
      child, individual parent, interpersonal, environmental). Freidman rank sum tests
      were used to assess differences across child behaviors. Wilcoxon rank sum tests
      with Bonferroni adjustments were used as a post hoc test for significant Freidman
      results. RESULTS: There were more barriers reported for supporting physical
      activity than for any other child behavior (ps < .01, As >= .53). Parents
      reported more parent level and environmental level barriers to supporting child
      physical activity versus other behaviors (ps < .001, As >= .55), child level
      barriers were more frequently reported for supporting healthy eating and sleep
      (ps < .001, As >= .57), and interpersonal barriers were more frequently reported
      for supporting recreational screen time reduction (ps < .001, As >= .52).
      Overall, parents reported more child and parent level barriers versus
      interpersonal and environmental barriers to supporting child health. CONCLUSIONS:
      Parents experience a variety of barriers to supporting their children's health
      behaviors. Differences in types of barriers across child health behaviors
      emerged; however, some frequently reported barriers (e.g., child preferences)
      were common across behaviors. Interventions promoting parental support should
      consider strategies that can accommodate parents' busy schedules, and relate to
      activities that children find enjoyable. Creating supportive environments that
      help facilitate support behaviors, while minimizing parent level barriers, may be
      of particular benefit. Future research should explore the impact of barriers on
      parental support behaviors, and effective strategies for overcoming common
      barriers.

PMID- 28587671
TI  - Integrative taxonomy by molecular species delimitation: multi-locus data
      corroborate a new species of Balkan Drusinae micro-endemics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Taxonomy offers precise species identification and delimitation and
      thus provides basic information for biological research, e.g. through assessment
      of species richness. The importance of molecular taxonomy, i.e., the
      identification and delimitation of taxa based on molecular markers, has increased
      in the past decade. Recently developed exploratory tools now allow estimating
      species-level diversity in multi-locus molecular datasets. RESULTS: Here we use
      molecular species delimitation tools that either quantify differences in intra-
      and interspecific variability of loci, or divergence times within and between
      species, or perform coalescent species tree inference to estimate species-level
      entities in molecular genetic datasets. We benchmark results from these methods
      against 14 morphologically readily differentiable species of a well-defined
      subgroup of the diverse Drusinae subfamily (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae). Using a
      3798 bp (6 loci) molecular data set we aim to corroborate a geographically
      isolated new species by integrating comparative morphological studies and
      molecular taxonomy. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that only multi-locus
      species delimitation provides taxonomically relevant information. The data
      further corroborate the new species Drusus zivici sp. nov. We provide
      differential diagnostic characters and describe the male, female and larva of
      this new species and discuss diversity patterns of Drusinae in the Balkans. We
      further discuss potential and significance of molecular species delimitation.
      Finally we argue that enhancing collaborative integrative taxonomy will
      accelerate assessment of global diversity and completion of reference libraries
      for applied fields, e.g., conservation and biomonitoring.

PMID- 28587673
TI  - Pathohistological investigation of osteochondral tissue obtained during total
      knee arthroplasty after osteochondral autologous transfer: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteochondral autologous transfer is one of the repair techniques for
      cartilage defects of knee with promising knee function recovery. There are no
      reports including histopathological images concerning human osteochondral tissue
      after osteochondral autologous transfer. This is the first report to present
      pathohistological findings of transplanted plugs and host tissues extracted from
      the human body 3 years after osteochondral autologous transfer. This study aimed
      to explore the cause factor of chronic pain using histological techniques. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 67-year-old Japanese man presented with adjusted total knee
      arthroplasty 3 years after osteochondral autologous transfer. Although in pain,
      arthroscopic assessment was not severe. The specimens which was gained during
      total knee arthroplasty were investigated in gross and microscopically using
      immunohistochemical staining technic. Histological examination revealed that the
      gap between grafted plugs and host osteochondral tissues was filled with fibrous
      tissue that stained positive for type I collagen. A degenerative change and some
      neovascularity were observed in the regenerated tissue and host trabecular bone.
      Furthermore, cysts and bone marrow edema were observed. CONCLUSION: Our data
      suggests that the host osteochondral morbidity around grafted plugs might be
      related to chronical pain and revision surgery.

PMID- 28587674
TI  - NaviSE: superenhancer navigator integrating epigenomics signal algebra.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Superenhancers are crucial structural genomic elements determining
      cell fate, and they are also involved in the determination of several diseases,
      such as cancer or neurodegeneration. Although there are pipelines which use
      independent pieces of software to predict the presence of superenhancers from
      genome-wide chromatin marks or DNA-interaction protein binding sites, there is
      not yet an integrated software tool that processes automatically algebra
      combinations of raw data sequencing into a comprehensive final annotated report
      of predicted superenhancers. RESULTS: We have developed NaviSE, a user-friendly
      streamlined tool which performs a fully-automated parallel processing of genome
      wide epigenomics data from sequencing files into a final report, built with a
      comprehensive set of annotated files that are navigated through a graphic user
      interface dynamically generated by NaviSE. NaviSE also implements an 'epigenomics
      signal algebra' that allows the combination of multiple activation and repression
      epigenomics signals. NaviSE provides an interactive chromosomal landscaping of
      the locations of superenhancers, which can be navigated to obtain annotated
      information about superenhancer signal profile, associated genes, gene ontology
      enrichment analysis, motifs of transcription factor binding sites enriched in
      superenhancers, graphs of the metrics evaluating the superenhancers quality,
      protein-protein interaction networks and enriched metabolic pathways among other
      features. We have parallelised the most time-consuming tasks achieving a
      reduction up to 30% for a 15 CPUs machine. We have optimized the default
      parameters of NaviSE to facilitate its use. NaviSE allows different entry levels
      of data processing, from sra-fastq files to bed files; and unifies the processing
      of multiple replicates. NaviSE outperforms the more time-consuming processes
      required in a non-integrated pipeline. Alongside its high performance, NaviSE is
      able to provide biological insights, predicting cell type specific markers, such
      as SOX2 and ZIC3 in embryonic stem cells, CDK5R1 and REST in neurons and CD86 and
      TLR2 in monocytes. CONCLUSIONS: NaviSE is a user-friendly streamlined solution
      for superenhancer analysis, annotation and navigation, requiring only basic
      computer and next generation sequencing knowledge. NaviSE binaries and
      documentation are available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/navise
      superenhancer/ .

PMID- 28587675
TI  - Bactericidal effects of 310 nm ultraviolet light-emitting diode irradiation on
      oral bacteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultraviolet (UV) light is used for phototherapy in dermatology, and
      UVB light (around 310 nm) is effective for treatment of psoriasis and atopic
      dermatitis. In addition, it is known that UVC light (around 265 nm) has a
      bactericidal effect, but little is known about the bactericidal effect of UVB
      light. In this study, we examined the bactericidal effects of UVB-light emitting
      diode (LED) irradiation on oral bacteria to explore the possibility of using a
      310 nm UVB-LED irradiation device for treatment of oral infectious diseases.
      METHODS: We prepared a UVB (310 nm) LED device for intraoral use to examine
      bactericidal effects on Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sauguinis,
      Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Fusobacterium nucleatum and also to examine the
      cytotoxicity to a human oral epithelial cell line (Ca9-22). We also examined the
      production of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide from Ca9-22 cells after
      irradiation with UVB-LED light. RESULTS: Irradiation with the 310 nm UVB-LED at
      105 mJ/cm2 showed 30-50% bactericidal activity to oral bacteria, though 17.1
      mJ/cm2 irradiation with the 265 nm UVC-LED completely killed the bacteria. Ca9-22
      cells were strongly injured by irradiation with the 265 nm UVC-LED but were not
      harmed by irradiation with the 310 nm UVB-LED. Nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide
      were produced by Ca9-22 cells with irradiation using the 310 nm UVB-LED. P.
      gingivalis was killed by applying small amounts of those reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) in culture, but other bacteria showed low sensitivity to the ROS.
      CONCLUSIONS: Narrowband UVB-LED irradiation exhibited a weak bactericidal effect
      on oral bacteria but showed low toxicity to gingival epithelial cells. Its
      irradiation also induces the production of ROS from oral epithelial cells and may
      enhance bactericidal activity to specific periodontopathic bacteria. It may be
      useful as a new adjunctive therapy for periodontitis.

PMID- 28587677
TI  - Anti-obesity activity, acute toxicity, and chemical constituents of aqueous and
      ethanol Viola mandshurica extracts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viola mandshurica has traditionally been used as an expectorant,
      diuretic, and anti-inflammatory drug. The present study was designed to test the
      hypothesis that low doses of two different V. mandshurica extracts have anti
      obesity effects. METHODS: We evaluated the effects of ethanol extract (VME) and
      aqueous extract (VMA) from V. mandshurica on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese
      mice as well as the acute oral toxicities and chemical compositions of both
      extracts. RESULTS: Oral administration of VME or VMA (50, 100, or 200 mg/kg)
      decreased body weight gain, liver and adipose tissue mass, adipocyte size, and
      serum lipid levels. Both extracts increased adiponectin serum concentrations and
      mRNA expression in epididymal adipose tissue. VME and VMA also reversed the HFD
      induced mRNA expression of lipogenic genes such as CCAAT/enhancer binding protein
      (C/EBP)alpha, C/EBPbeta, sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c, and leptin
      in adipose tissue, whereas they increased mRNA expression of uncoupling protein 2
      and adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK). VME and VMA
      increased the phosphorylation of AMPK and acetyl-coA carboxylase with a
      concomitant decrease in fat accumulation in the liver. High performance liquid
      chromatography analysis revealed that both VME and VMA contained esculetin
      (0.566% for VME, 0.231% for VMA) and schaftoside (0.147% for VME, 0.126% for
      VMA). In a 2-week acute toxicity study, administration of a single oral dose of
      VME or VMA (5000 mg/kg) caused no signs of toxicity or mortality. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results suggest that both VM extracts exert anti-obesity effects in HFD
      induced obese mice by suppressing lipogenesis and activating AMPK in the liver
      and adipose tissue. Our findings suggest that VM extracts could be a safe and
      effective treatment for obesity.

PMID- 28587679
TI  - Somatic cell selection for chlorsulfuron-resistant mutants in potato:
      identification of point mutations in the acetohydroxyacid synthase gene.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Somatic cell selection in plants allows the recovery of spontaneous
      mutants from cell cultures. When coupled with the regeneration of plants it
      allows an effective approach for the recovery of novel traits in plants. This
      study undertook somatic cell selection in the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)
      cultivar 'Iwa' using the sulfonylurea herbicide, chlorsulfuron, as a positive
      selection agent. RESULTS: Following 5 days' exposure of potato cell suspension
      cultures to 20 MUg/l chlorsulfuron, rescue selection recovered rare potato cell
      colonies at a frequency of approximately one event in 2.7 * 105 of plated cells.
      Plants that were regenerated from these cell colonies retained resistance to
      chlorsulfuron and two variants were confirmed to have different independent point
      mutations in the acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) gene. One point mutation
      involved a transition of cytosine for thymine, which substituted the equivalent
      of Pro-197 to Ser-197 in the AHAS enzyme. The second point mutation involved a
      transversion of thymine to adenine, changing the equivalent of Trp-574 to Arg
      574. The two independent point mutations recovered were assembled into a chimeric
      gene and binary vector for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of wild-type
      'Iwa' potato. This confirmed that the mutations in the AHAS gene conferred
      chlorsulfuron resistance in the resulting transgenic plants. CONCLUSIONS: Somatic
      cell selection in potato using the sulfonylurea herbicide, chlorsulfuron,
      recovered resistant variants attributed to mutational events in the AHAS gene.
      The mutant AHAS genes recovered are therefore good candidates as selectable
      marker genes for intragenic transformation of potato.

PMID- 28587676
TI  - Access barriers to obstetric care at health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa-a
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since 2000, the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which
      included a goal to improve maternal health by the end of 2015, has facilitated
      significant reductions in maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. However,
      despite more focused efforts made especially by low- and middle-income countries,
      targets were largely unmet in sub-Saharan Africa, where women are plagued by many
      challenges in seeking obstetric care. The aim of this review was to synthesise
      literature on barriers to obstetric care at health institutions in sub-Saharan
      Africa. METHODS: This review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for
      Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. PubMed, Cumulative Index
      to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Scopus databases were
      electronically searched to identify studies on barriers to health facility-based
      obstetric care in sub-Saharan Africa, in English, and dated between 2000 and
      2015. Combinations of search terms 'obstetric care', 'access', 'barriers',
      'developing countries' and 'sub-Saharan Africa' were used to locate articles.
      Quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies were considered. A narrative
      synthesis approach was employed to synthesise the evidence and explore
      relationships between included studies. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty articles
      met the inclusion criteria. Currently, obstetric care access is hindered by
      several demand- and supply-side barriers. The principal demand-side barriers
      identified were limited household resources/income, non-availability of means of
      transportation, indirect transport costs, a lack of information on health care
      services/providers, issues related to stigma and women's self
      esteem/assertiveness, a lack of birth preparation, cultural beliefs/practices and
      ignorance about required obstetric health services. On the supply-side, the most
      significant barriers were cost of services, physical distance between health
      facilities and service users' residence, long waiting times at health facilities,
      poor staff knowledge and skills, poor referral practices and poor staff
      interpersonal relationships. CONCLUSION: Despite similarities in obstetric care
      barriers across sub-Saharan Africa, country-specific strategies are required to
      tackle the challenges mentioned. Governments need to develop strategies to
      improve healthcare systems and overall socioeconomic status of women, in order to
      tackle supply- and demand-side access barriers to obstetric care. It is also
      important that strategies adopted are supported by research evidence appropriate
      for local conditions. Finally, more research is needed, particularly, with regard
      to supply-side interventions that may improve the obstetric care experience of
      pregnant women. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 2014 CRD42014015549.

PMID- 28587678
TI  - SMCHD1 regulates a limited set of gene clusters on autosomal chromosomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is in most cases caused
      by a contraction of the D4Z4 macrosatellite repeat on chromosome 4 (FSHD1) or by
      mutations in the SMCHD1 or DNMT3B gene (FSHD2). Both situations result in the
      incomplete epigenetic repression of the D4Z4-encoded retrogene DUX4 in somatic
      cells, leading to the aberrant expression of DUX4 in the skeletal muscle. In
      mice, Smchd1 regulates chromatin repression at different loci, having a role in
      CpG methylation establishment and/or maintenance. METHODS: To investigate the
      global effects of harboring heterozygous SMCHD1 mutations on DNA methylation in
      humans, we combined 450k methylation analysis on mononuclear monocytes from
      female heterozygous SMCHD1 mutation carriers and unaffected controls with reduced
      representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) on FSHD2 and control myoblast cell
      lines. Candidate loci were then evaluated for SMCHD1 binding using ChIP-qPCR and
      expression was evaluated using RT-qPCR. RESULTS: We identified a limited number
      of clustered autosomal loci with CpG hypomethylation in SMCHD1 mutation carriers:
      the protocadherin (PCDH) cluster on chromosome 5, the transfer RNA (tRNA) and 5S
      rRNA clusters on chromosome 1, the HOXB and HOXD clusters on chromosomes 17 and
      2, respectively, and the D4Z4 repeats on chromosomes 4 and 10. Furthermore, minor
      increases in RNA expression were seen in FSHD2 myoblasts for some of the PCDHbeta
      cluster isoforms, tRNA isoforms, and a HOXB isoform in comparison to controls, in
      addition to the previously reported effects on DUX4 expression. SMCHD1 was bound
      at DNAseI hypersensitivity sites known to regulate the PCDHbeta cluster and at
      the chromosome 1 tRNA cluster, with decreased binding in SMCHD1 mutation carriers
      at the PCDHbeta cluster sites. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to investigate
      the global methylation effects in humans resulting from heterozygous mutations in
      SMCHD1. Our results suggest that SMCHD1 acts as a repressor on a limited set of
      autosomal gene clusters, as an observed reduction in methylation associates with
      a loss of SMCHD1 binding and increased expression for some of the loci.

PMID- 28587680
TI  - In vitro antineoplastic effects of brivaracetam and lacosamide on human glioma
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a frequent symptom in patients with glioma. Although
      treatment with antiepileptic drugs is generally effective in controlling
      seizures, drug-resistant patients are not uncommon. Multidrug resistance proteins
      (MRPs) and P-gp are over-represented in brain tissue of patients with drug
      resistant epilepsy, suggesting their involvement in the clearance of
      antiepileptic medications. In addition to their anticonvulsant action, some drugs
      have been documented for cytotoxic effects. Aim of this study was to evaluate
      possible in vitro cytotoxic effects of two new-generation antiepileptic drugs on
      a human glioma cell line U87MG. METHODS: Cytotoxicity of brivaracetam and
      lacosamide was tested on U87MG, SW1783 and T98G by MTS assay. Expression of
      chemoresistance molecules was evaluated using flow cytometry in U87MG and human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). To investigate the putative anti
      proliferative effect, apoptosis assay, microRNA expression profile and study of
      cell cycle were performed. RESULTS: Brivaracetam and lacosamide showed a dose
      dependent cytotoxic and anti-migratory effects. Cytotoxicity was not related to
      apoptosis. The exposure of glioma cells to brivaracetam and lacosamide resulted
      in the modulation of several microRNAs; particularly, the effect of miR-195-5p
      modulation seemed to affect cell cycle, while miR-107 seemed to be implicated in
      the inhibition of cells migration. Moreover, brivaracetam and lacosamide
      treatment did not modulate the expression of chemoresistance-related molecules
      MRPs1-3-5, GSTpi, P-gp on U87MG and HUVECs. CONCLUSION: Based on antineoplastic
      effect of brivaracetam and lacosamide on glioma cells, we assume that patients
      with glioma could benefit by the treatment with these two molecules, in addition
      to standard therapeutic options.

PMID- 28587681
TI  - PET/CT-guided dose-painting versus CT-based intensity modulated radiation therapy
      in locoregional advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT)-guided dose-painting intensity
      modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma (NPC) is unclear. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and toxicity
      of such combination. METHODS: From 2012 to 2014, 213 patients with stage III-IVB
      NPC received chemoradiotherapy by PET/CT-guided DP-IMRT (group A, n = 101) or CT
      based IMRT (group B, n = 112). In group A, subvolume GTVnx-PET (gross tumor
      volume of nasopharynx in PET images) was defined within GTVnx (gross tumor volume
      of nasopharynx) as the SUV50%max isocontour; the dose to GTVnx-PET was escalated
      to DT 75.2 Gy/32 and 77.55 Gy/33 Fx, respectively, for patients with T1-2 and T3
      4 disease, respectively. In group B, PGTVnx was irradiated at DT 70.4-72.6 Gy/32
      33 Fx in 2.2 Gy per fraction. RESULTS: Complete response rates were 99.0%
      (100/101) and 92.9% (104/112) in groups A and B, respectively (P = 0.037).
      Compared with CT-based IMRT, FDG-PET/CT guided DP-IMRT significantly improved 3
      year local failure-free survival (LFFS, 98.8% vs. 91.3%; P = 0.032), locoregional
      failure-free survival (LRFFS, 97.2 vs. 91.2%; P = 0.049), distant metastasis-free
      survival (DMFS, 92.9% vs. 87.4%; P = 0.041), disease free survival (DFS, 87.9%
      vs. 82.4%; P = 0.02), and overall survival (OS, 91.8% vs. 82.6%; P = 0.049). No
      statistically significant differences in acute and late toxic effects were
      observed. Multivariate analysis showed that dose painting (PET/CT-guided DP-IMRT
      vs CT-based IMRT without DP) was a significant independent prognostic factor for
      LFFS and DFS. CONCLUSION: FDG-PET/CT guided DP-IMRT plus chemotherapy is
      associated with a considerable survival benefit, without increasing toxicity in
      patients with locoregional advanced NPC. Further randomized trials are needed to
      fully assess the role of PET/CT-guided DP-IMRT.

PMID- 28587684
TI  - CASTE DIFFERENTIALS IN DEATH CLUSTERING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN INDIAN STATES.
AB  - This study assessed caste differentials in family-level death clustering, linked
      survival prospects of siblings (scarring) and mother-level unobserved
      heterogeneity affecting infant mortality risk in the central and eastern Indian
      states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Family-level infant
      death clustering was examined using bivariate analysis, and the linkages between
      the survival prospects of siblings and mother-specific unobserved heterogeneity
      were captured by applying a random effects logit model in the selected Indian
      states using micro-data from the National Family Health Survey-III (2005-06). The
      raw data clustering analysis showed the existence of clustering in all four
      states and among all caste groups with the highest clustering found in the
      Scheduled Castes of Jharkhand. The important factor from the model that increased
      the risk of infant deaths in all four states was the causal effect of a previous
      infant death on the risk of infant death of the subsequent sibling, after
      controlling for mother-level heterogeneity and unobserved factors. The results
      show that among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, infant death
      clustering is mainly affected by the scarring factor in Jharkhand and Madhya
      Pradesh, while mother-level unobserved factors were important in Odisha and both
      (scarring and mother-level unobserved factors) were key factors in Chhattisgarh.
      Similarly, the Other Caste Group was mainly influenced by the scarring factor
      only in Odisha, mother-level unobserved factors in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and
      both (scarring and mother-level unobserved factors) in Madhya Pradesh. From a
      government policy perspective, these results would help in identifying high-risk
      clusters of women among all caste groups in the four central and eastern Indian
      states that should be targeted to address maternal and child health related
      indicators.

PMID- 28587682
TI  - PLGF, a placental marker of fetal brain defects after in utero alcohol exposure.
AB  - Most children with in utero alcohol exposure do not exhibit all features of fetal
      alcohol syndrome (FAS), and a challenge for clinicians is to make an early
      diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) to avoid lost opportunities
      for care. In brain, correct neurodevelopment requires proper angiogenesis. Since
      alcohol alters brain angiogenesis and the placenta is a major source of
      angiogenic factors, we hypothesized that it is involved in alcohol-induced brain
      vascular defects. In mouse, using in vivo repression and overexpression of PLGF,
      we investigated the contribution of placenta on fetal brain angiogenesis. In
      human, we performed a comparative molecular and morphological analysis of
      brain/placenta angiogenesis in alcohol-exposed fetuses. Results showed that
      prenatal alcohol exposure impairs placental angiogenesis, reduces PLGF levels and
      consequently alters fetal brain vasculature. Placental repression of PLGF altered
      brain VEGF-R1 expression and mimicked alcohol-induced vascular defects in the
      cortex. Over-expression of placental PGF rescued alcohol effects on fetal brain
      vessels. In human, alcohol exposure disrupted both placental and brain
      angiogenesis. PLGF expression was strongly decreased and angiogenesis defects
      observed in the fetal brain markedly correlated with placental vascular
      impairments. Placental PGF disruption impairs brain angiogenesis and likely
      predicts brain disabilities after in utero alcohol exposure. PLGF assay at birth
      could contribute to the early diagnosis of FASD.

PMID- 28587683
TI  - Spatial and temporal distribution of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Acre
      state, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acre has reported the highest incidence of American cutaneous
      leishmaniasis (ACL) in Brazil in recent years. The present study seeks to
      identify high and low risk agglomerations of ACL in space and space-time during
      the period from 2007 to 2013 in Acre, and also to characterize the occurrence of
      the disease in time and according to sociodemographic variables. METHODS: This is
      an ecological study, the study population of which consisted of autochthonous ACL
      cases notified in the municipalities of Acre by an epidemiological surveillance
      system. Scan statistics of SaTScanTM software were used to identify spatial and
      space-time clusters. In addition, the cases were characterized by sex, age, home
      situation (in a rural or urban area), and temporal tendency. RESULTS: Acre
      reported an incidence rate of 12.4 cases per 10 000 inhabitant-years in the study
      period, with the rates varied greatly (standard deviation of 21.8) among their 22
      municipalities. One agglomeration of high risk and three of low risk were
      detected in space and space-time. Four of the five micro-regions of Acre
      presented a stationary temporal tendency. The profile of transmission varied
      according to the micro-region. Generally speaking, the disease occurred more
      often among young people, those of male gender, and those living in rural areas.
      CONCLUSIONS: Acre has stood out within the Brazilian national context due to its
      high rates of ACL incidence in the central region of the Acre Valley. The high
      rates in the micro-region of Brasileia are related to the disease's
      intra/peridomiciliary occurrence, and it would seem that the municipality of Sena
      Madureira is approaching a transmission pattern similar to that of Brasileia. In
      other micro-regions, the profile of the disease's transmission is mainly related
      to the forest/sylvatic cycle of ACL.

PMID- 28587685
TI  - Carotenoid dietary intakes and plasma concentrations are associated with heel
      bone ultrasound attenuation and osteoporotic fracture risk in the European
      Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort.
AB  - Carotenoids are found in abundance in fruit and vegetables, and may be involved
      in the positive association of these foods with bone health. This study aimed to
      explore the associations of dietary carotenoid intakes and plasma concentrations
      with bone density status and osteoporotic fracture risk in a European population.
      Cross-sectional analyses (n 14 803) of bone density status, using calcaneal
      broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and longitudinal analyses (n 25 439) of
      fracture cases were conducted on data from the prospective European Prospective
      Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk cohort of middle-aged and older
      men and women. Health and lifestyle questionnaires were completed, and dietary
      nutrient intakes were derived from 7-d food diaries. Multiple regression
      demonstrated significant positive trends in BUA for women across quintiles of
      dietary alpha-carotene intake (P=0.029), beta-carotene intake (P=0.003), beta
      cryptoxanthin intake (P=0.031), combined lutein and zeaxanthin intake (P=0.010)
      and lycopene intake (P=0.005). No significant trends across plasma carotenoid
      concentration quintiles were apparent (n 4570). The Prentice-weighted Cox
      regression showed no trends in fracture risk across dietary carotenoid intake
      quintiles (mean follow-up time 12.5 years), except for a lower risk for wrist
      fracture in women with higher lutein and zeaxanthin intake (P=0.022);
      nevertheless, inter-quintile differences in fracture risk were found for both
      sexes. Analysis of plasma carotenoid data (mean follow-up time 11.9 years) showed
      lower hip fracture risk in men across higher plasma alpha-carotene (P=0.026) and
      beta-carotene (P=0.027) quintiles. This study provides novel evidence that
      dietary carotenoid intake is relevant to bone health in men and women,
      demonstrating that associations with bone density status and fracture risk exist
      for dietary intake of specific carotenoids and their plasma concentrations.

PMID- 28587687
TI  - Physiological importance of polyamines.
AB  - Polyamines are polycationic molecules that contain two or more amino groups (-NH3
      +) and are present in all eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Polyamines are
      synthesized from arginine, ornithine, and proline, and from methionine as the
      methyl-group donor. In the traditional pathway for polyamine synthesis, arginase
      converts arginine into ornithine, which is decarboxylated by ornithine
      decarboxylase (ODC1) to generate putrescine. The latter is converted to
      spermidine and spermine. Recent studies have indicated the existence of 'non
      classical pathways' for the generation of putrescine from arginine and proline in
      animal cells. Specifically, arginine decarboxylase (ADC) catalyzes the conversion
      of arginine into agmatine, which is hydrolyzed by agmatinase (AGMAT) to form
      putrescine. Additionally, proline is oxidized by proline oxidase to yield
      pyrroline-5-carboxylate, which undergoes transamination with glutamate to produce
      ornithine for decarboxylation by ODC1. Intracellular production of polyamines is
      controlled by antizymes binding to and inactivating ODC1. Polyamines exert
      effects that include stimulation of cell division and proliferation, gene
      expression for the survival of cells, DNA and protein synthesis, regulation of
      apoptosis, oxidative stress, angiogenesis, and cell-cell communication activity.
      Accordingly, polyamines are essential for early embryonic development and
      successful pregnancy outcome in mammals. In this paper the main concepts on the
      history, structure and molecular pathways of polyamines as well as their
      physiological role on angiogenesis, and reproductive physiology are reviewed.

PMID- 28587686
TI  - SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVE ON COST DRIVERS FOR HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN SINDH,
      PAKISTAN.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Understanding cost-drivers and estimating societal costs are
      important challenges for economic evaluation of health technologies in low- and
      middle-income countries (LMICs). This study assessed community experiences of
      health resource usage and perceived cost-drivers from a societal perspective to
      inform the design of an economic model for the Community Level Interventions for
      Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) trials. METHODS: Qualitative research was undertaken
      alongside the CLIP trial in two districts of Sindh province, Pakistan. Nine focus
      groups were conducted with a wide range of stakeholders, including pregnant
      women, mothers-in-law, husbands, fathers-in-law, healthcare providers at
      community and health facility-levels, and health decision/policy makers at
      district-level. The societal perspective included out-of-pocket (OOP), health
      system, and program implementation costs related to CLIP. Thematic analysis was
      performed using NVivo software. RESULTS: Most pregnant women and male decision
      makers reported a large burden of OOP costs for in- and out-patient care,
      informal care from traditional healers, self-medication, childbirth, newborn
      care, transport to health facility, and missed wages by caretakers. Many
      healthcare providers identified health system costs associated with human
      resources for hypertension risk assessment, transport, and communication about
      patient referrals. Health decision/policy makers recognized program
      implementation costs (such as the mobile health infrastructure, staff training,
      and monitoring/supervision) as major investments for the health system.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation of care-seeking practices revealed financial
      implications for families of pregnant women, and program implementation costs for
      the health system. The societal perspective provided comprehensive knowledge of
      cost drivers to guide an economic appraisal of the CLIP trial in Sindh, Pakistan.

PMID- 28587688
TI  - Hot and cold executive functions in youth with psychotic symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychotic symptoms are common in children and adolescents and may be
      early manifestations of liability to severe mental illness (SMI), including
      schizophrenia. SMI and psychotic symptoms are associated with impairment in
      executive functions. However, previous studies have not differentiated between
      'cold' and 'hot' executive functions. We hypothesized that the propensity for
      psychotic symptoms is specifically associated with impairment in 'hot' executive
      functions, such as decision-making in the context of uncertain rewards and
      losses. METHODS: In a cohort of 156 youth (mean age 12.5, range 7-24 years)
      enriched for familial risk of SMI, we measured cold and hot executive functions
      with the spatial working memory (SWM) task (total errors) and the Cambridge
      Gambling Task (decision-making), respectively. We assessed psychotic symptoms
      using the semi-structured Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and
      Schizophrenia interview, Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, Funny
      Feelings, and Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument - Child and Youth version.
      RESULTS: In total 69 (44.23%) youth reported psychotic symptoms on one or more
      assessments. Cold executive functioning, indexed with SWM errors, was not
      significantly related to psychotic symptoms [odds ratio (OR) 1.36, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.85-2.17, p = 0.204). Poor hot executive functioning, indexed as
      decision-making score, was associated with psychotic symptoms after adjustment
      for age, sex and familial clustering (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.25-4.50, p = 0.008). The
      association between worse hot executive functions and psychotic symptoms remained
      significant in sensitivity analyses controlling for general cognitive ability and
      cold executive functions. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired hot executive functions may be an
      indicator of risk and a target for pre-emptive early interventions in youth.

PMID- 28587690
TI  - Family members' experience of the pre-diagnostic phase of dementia: a synthesis
      of qualitative evidence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most research on family members' experience of dementia has focused
      on the time after diagnosis. Yet, once people reach clinical attention, families
      have already been living with the changes for some time. These pre-diagnosis
      experiences can influence later caregiving. We aimed to synthesize qualitative
      research exploring family members' experiences of the pre-diagnostic phase of
      dementia to inform clinical practice. METHODS: We conducted a thematic synthesis
      of 11 studies that met our inclusion criteria following a comprehensive
      literature search. RESULTS: An overarching theme, sense-making, captured the
      primary process that family members engage in throughout the pre-diagnostic
      period. Within this, four major analytic themes were extracted as central
      concepts in understanding family members' experiences of the pre-diagnostic phase
      of dementia: the nature of change; appraisals of change; reactions to change; and
      the influence of others. CONCLUSIONS: Relevant features of the family experience
      of dementia onset can be characterized within several major themes. These
      findings highlight the complex process of recognizing early symptoms of dementia
      for people living with this condition and their families. Our findings also
      provide the foundation for developing theoretical frameworks that will ultimately
      assist with improving recognition of dementia onset, clinical communication with
      family members, and interventions to reduce family burden.

PMID- 28587689
TI  - Neurocognitive subtypes in patients with bipolar disorder and their unaffected
      siblings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous work revealed substantial heterogeneity in the cognitive
      profile of bipolar disorder (BD) due to the presence of three underlying
      cognitive subgroups characterized as: globally impaired, selectively impaired, or
      cognitively intact. In an effort to determine whether these subgroups are
      differentially related to genetic risk for the illness, we investigated whether
      cognitive deficits were more pronounced in unaffected siblings (UAS) of BD
      probands within identified clusters. METHODS: Cluster analysis was used to
      identify cognitive clusters in BD (N = 60). UAS (N = 49) were classified into
      groups according to their proband sibling's cluster assignment; comparisons were
      made across all clusters and healthy controls (HCs; N = 71). RESULTS: Three
      cognitive clusters in BD emerged: a globally impaired (36.7%), a selectively
      impaired (30%), and a cognitively intact cluster (33.3%). UAS showed a
      qualitatively similar pattern to their BD siblings; UAS of the globally impaired
      BD cluster showed verbal memory and general cognitive impairments relative to
      HCs. In contrast, UAS of the other two clusters did not differ from HCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study corroborates findings from prior work regarding the
      presence of cognitive heterogeneity in BD. UAS of subjects in the globally
      impaired BD cluster presented with a qualitatively similar cognitive profile to
      their siblings and performed worse than all other BD clusters and UAS groups.
      This suggests that inherited risk factors may be contributing to cognitive
      deficits more notably in one subgroup of patients with BD, pointing toward
      differential causes of cognitive deficits in discrete subgroups of patients with
      the disorder.

PMID- 28587691
TI  - Exploring the influence of local food environments on food behaviours: a
      systematic review of qualitative literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Systematic reviews investigating associations between objective
      measures of the food environment and dietary behaviours or health outcomes have
      not established a consistent evidence base. The present paper aims to synthesise
      qualitative evidence regarding the influence of local food environments on food
      and purchasing behaviours. DESIGN: A systematic review in the form of a
      qualitative thematic synthesis. SETTING: Urban localities. SUBJECTS: Adults.
      RESULTS: Four analytic themes were identified from the review including community
      and consumer nutrition environments, other environmental factors and individual
      coping strategies for shopping and purchasing decisions. Availability,
      accessibility and affordability were consistently identified as key determinants
      of store choice and purchasing behaviours that often result in less healthy food
      choices within community nutrition environments. Food availability, quality and
      food store characteristics within consumer nutrition environments also greatly
      influenced in-store purchases. Individuals used a range of coping strategies in
      both the community and consumer nutrition environments to make optimal purchasing
      decisions, often within the context of financial constraints. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings from the current review add depth and scope to quantitative literature
      and can guide ongoing theory, interventions and policy development in food
      environment research. There is a need to investigate contextual influences within
      food environments as well as individual and household socio-economic
      characteristics that contribute to the differing use of and views towards local
      food environments. Greater emphasis on how individual and environmental factors
      interact in the food environment field will be key to developing stronger
      understanding of how environments can support and promote healthier food choices.

PMID- 28587692
TI  - Atomic Scale Structural Characterization of Epitaxial (Cd,Cr)Te Magnetic
      Semiconductor.
AB  - A detailed knowledge of the atomic structure of magnetic semiconductors is
      crucial to understanding their electronic and magnetic properties, which could
      enable spintronic applications. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) in the
      scanning transmission electron microscope and atom probe tomography (APT)
      experiments reveal the formation of Cr-rich regions in Cd1-x Cr x Te layers grown
      by molecular beam epitaxy. These Cr-rich regions occur on a length scale of 6-10
      nm at a nominal Cr composition of x=0.034 and evolve toward an ellipsoidal shape
      oriented along directions at a composition of x=0.083. Statistical analysis of
      the APT reconstructed volume reveals that the Cr aggregation increases with the
      average Cr composition. The correlation with the magnetic properties of such
      (Cd,Cr)Te layers is discussed within the framework of strongly inhomogeneous
      materials. Finally, difficulties in accurately quantifying the Cr distribution in
      the CdTe matrix on an atomic scale by EDX and APT are discussed.

PMID- 28587694
TI  - A survey of front-line paramedics examining the professional relationship between
      paramedics and physician medical oversight.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Paramedicine is often dependent on physician medical directors and
      their associated programs for direction and oversight. A positive relationship
      between paramedics and their oversight physicians promotes safety and quality
      care while a strained or ineffective one may threaten these goals. The objective
      of this study was to explore and understand the professional relationship between
      paramedics and physician medical oversight as viewed by front-line paramedics.
      METHODS: All active front-line paramedics from four municipal paramedic services
      involving three medical oversight groups in Ontario were invited to complete an
      online survey. RESULTS: Five hundred and four paramedics were invited to
      participate in the study, with 242 completing the survey (48% response rate); 66%
      male, 76% primary care paramedics with an average of 13 (SD=9) years of
      experience. Paramedics had neutral or positive perceptions regarding their
      autonomy, opportunities to interact with their medical director, and medical
      director understanding of the prehospital setting. Paramedics perceived medical
      directives as rigid and ambiguous. A significant amount of respondents reported a
      perception of having provided suboptimal patient care due to fear of legal or
      disciplinary consequences. Issues of a lack of support for critical thinking and
      a lack of trust between paramedics and medical oversight groups were often
      raised. CONCLUSIONS: Paramedic perceptions of physician medical oversight were
      mixed. Concerning areas identified were perceptions of ambiguous written
      directives and concerns related to the level of trust and support for critical
      thinking. These perceptions may have implications for the system of care and
      should be explored further.

PMID- 28587693
TI  - Content analysis of targeted food and beverage advertisements in a Chinese
      American neighbourhood.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The current descriptive study aimed to: (i) quantify the number and
      type of advertisements (ads) located in a Chinese-American neighbourhood in a
      large, urban city; and (ii) catalogue the targeted marketing themes used in the
      food/beverage ads. DESIGN: Ten pairs of trained research assistants photographed
      all outdoor ads in a 0.6 mile2 (1.6 km2) area where more than 60.0 % of residents
      identify as Chinese American. We used content analysis to assess the marketing
      themes of ads, including references to: Asian cultures; health; various
      languages; children; food or beverage type (e.g. sugar-sweetened soda). SETTING:
      Lower East Side, a neighbourhood located in the borough of Manhattan in New York
      City, USA. SUBJECTS: Ads (n 1366) in the designated neighbourhood. RESULTS:
      Food/beverage ads were the largest ad category (29.7 %, n 407), followed by
      services (e.g. mobile phone services; 21.0 %, n 288). Sixty-seven per cent (66.9
      %) of beverages featured were sugar-sweetened, and 50.8 % of food ads promoted
      fast food. Fifty-five per cent (54.9 %) of food/beverage ads targeted Asian
      Americans through language, ethnicity of person(s) in the ad or inclusion of
      culturally relevant images. Fifty per cent (50.2 %) of ads were associated with
      local/small brands. CONCLUSIONS: Food/beverage marketing practices are known to
      promote unhealthy food and beverage products. Research shows that increased
      exposure leads to excessive short-term consumption among consumers and influences
      children's food preferences and purchase requests. Given the frequency of
      racially targeted ads for unhealthy products in the current study and increasing
      rates of obesity-related diseases among Asian Americans, research and policies
      should address the implications of food and beverage ads on health.

PMID- 28587695
TI  - Hyper-responsivity to losses in the anterior insula during economic choice scales
      with depression severity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Commonly observed distortions in decision-making among patients with
      major depressive disorder (MDD) may emerge from impaired reward processing and
      cognitive biases toward negative events. There is substantial theoretical support
      for the hypothesis that MDD patients overweight potential losses compared with
      gains, though the neurobiological underpinnings of this bias are uncertain.
      METHODS: Twenty-one unmedicated patients with MDD were compared with 25 healthy
      controls (HC) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) together with an
      economic decision-making task over mixed lotteries involving probabilistic gains
      and losses. Region-of-interest analyses evaluated neural signatures of gain and
      loss coding within a core network of brain areas known to be involved in
      valuation (anterior insula, caudate nucleus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex).
      RESULTS: Usable fMRI data were available for 19 MDD and 23 HC subjects. Anterior
      insula signal showed negative coding of losses (gain > loss) in HC subjects
      consistent with previous findings, whereas MDD subjects demonstrated significant
      reversals in these associations (loss > gain). Moreover, depression severity
      further enhanced the positive coding of losses in anterior insula, ventromedial
      prefrontal cortex, and caudate nucleus. The hyper-responsivity to losses
      displayed by the anterior insula of MDD patients was paralleled by a reduced
      influence of gain, but not loss, stake size on choice latencies. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with MDD demonstrate a significant shift from negative to positive
      coding of losses in the anterior insula, revealing the importance of this
      structure in value-based decision-making in the context of emotional
      disturbances.

PMID- 28587696
TI  - Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in the emergency department: a review of
      local practice patterns.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the number of urine cultures ordered for women who
      presented to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms of uncomplicated UTI,
      and whether a culture result impacted subsequent management. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective chart review of non-pregnant women aged 18-39 presenting to one of
      two academic EDs with a discharge diagnosis of uncomplicated UTI over a one-year
      study period. Patients were excluded if there was documentation of fever,
      immunocompromised state, diabetes mellitus, absence of lower urinary tract
      symptoms, ED administration of intravenous antibiotics, a previous UTI treated
      with antibiotics in the last 90 days, two weeks post-partum or post
      instrumentation. RESULTS: Of the 512 charts included in the analysis, 494 (96.5%)
      patients had a urinalysis, of which 463 (93.7%) had positive leukocyte esterase
      and 90 (18.2%) had positive nitrites. 370 patients (72.3%) had urine cultures
      performed, of which 236 (63.8%) were positive. 505 (98.6%) patients received
      antibiotics (53.9% Macrobid; 22.6% Ciprofloxacin; 15.0% Septra; 6.7% other; 1.8%
      not documented). 7 (1.9%) cultures grew organisms resistant to the prescribed
      antibiotic; 2 (0.5%) patients received new prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: For the
      majority of young female patients with an uncomplicated UTI, urine cultures did
      not change management in the ED setting. However, when the diagnosis is uncertain
      based on symptomology and urinalyses alone, a urine culture may be warranted.
      Greater efforts should be directed towards educating emergency physicians on
      accurately diagnosing uncomplicated cystitis and the limited impact of urine
      cultures on treatment once a diagnosis has been made.

PMID- 28587697
TI  - ppGpp and cytotoxicity diversity in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)
      isolates.
AB  - Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a known food pathogen, which
      main reservoir is the intestine of ruminants. The abundance of different STEC
      lineages in nature reflect a heterogeneity that is characterised by the
      differential expression of certain genotypic characteristics, which in turn are
      influenced by the environmental conditions to which the microorganism is exposed.
      Bacterial homeostasis and stress response are under the control of the alarmone
      guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), which intrinsic levels varies across the E.
      coli species. In the present study, 50 STEC isolates from healthy sheep were
      evaluated regarding their ppGpp content, cytotoxicity and other relevant genetic
      and phenotypic characteristics. We found that the level of ppGpp and cytotoxicity
      varied considerably among the examined strains. Isolates that harboured the stx2
      gene were the least cytotoxic and presented the highest levels of ppGpp. All stx2
      isolates belonged to phylogroup A, while strains that carried stx1 or both stx1
      and stx2 genes pertained to phylogroup B1. All but two stx2 isolates belonged to
      the stx2b subtype. Strains that belonged to phylogroup B1 displayed on average
      low levels of ppGpp and high cytotoxicity. Overall, there was a negative
      correlation between cytotoxicity and ppGpp.

PMID- 28587699
TI  - Accurate diagnosis of CHD by Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology.
AB  - : Introduction Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology assess children with a
      full history, examination, and often perform an echocardiogram. A minority are
      then referred to an outreach clinic run jointly with a visiting paediatric
      cardiologist. The accuracy of the echocardiography diagnosis made by the
      Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology is unknown. Materials and methods We
      conducted a retrospective review of clinic letters for children seen in the
      outreach clinic for the first time between March, 2004 and March, 2011. Children
      with CHD diagnosed antenatally or elsewhere were excluded. We recorded the
      echocardiography diagnosis made by the paediatric cardiologist and previously by
      the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology. RESULTS: The Paediatrician with
      Expertise in Cardiology referred 317/3145 (10%) children seen in the local
      cardiac clinics to the outreach clinic over this period, and among them 296 were
      eligible for inclusion. Their median age was 1.5 years (range 1 month-15.1
      years). For 244 (82%) children, there was complete diagnostic agreement between
      the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology and the paediatric cardiologist.
      For 29 (10%) children, the main diagnosis was identical with additional findings
      made by the paediatric cardiologist. The abnormality had resolved in 17 (6%)
      cases by the time of clinic attendance. In six (2%) patients, the paediatric
      cardiologist made a different diagnosis. In total, 138 (47%) patients underwent a
      surgical or catheter intervention. Discussion Paediatricians with Expertise in
      Cardiology can make accurate diagnoses of CHD in children referred to their
      clinics. This can allow effective triage of children attending the outreach
      clinic, making best use of limited specialist resources.

PMID- 28587698
TI  - Folate status in women of childbearing age with obesity: a review.
AB  - Several studies have described a positive association between elevated BMI and
      birth defects risk. Data on plasma concentration of folate in pregnant women with
      obesity have shown values far below those recommended, regardless of diet, while
      folate levels should increase before pregnancy to reduce neural tube defects. We
      report a descriptive review of the most recent studies (from 2005 to 2015) to
      evaluate folate status through a population of women of childbearing age affected
      by obesity. The literature contains few studies, which present conflicting
      results regarding folate status in non-pregnant women of childbearing age
      affected by obesity, and it appears that there is a modification in folate
      metabolism, with a reduction in plasma folate levels and an increase in
      erythrocyte folate uptake. In conclusion, the folate status in women of
      childbearing age should be assessed by both plasma and erythrocyte levels to
      start a personalised and more adequate supplementation before conception. Further
      studies need to be conducted in a larger population, which take into account
      variables that can affect folate metabolism, such as dietary intake, lifestyle
      and genetic factors, oral contraceptives or other drug use, previous weight-loss
      programmes, or a history of bariatric surgery.

PMID- 28587700
TI  - The Composition of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) (PET) Surface Precipitates
      Determined at High Resolving Power by Tandem Mass Spectrometry Imaging.
AB  - We present the first demonstration of a general method for the chemical
      characterization of small surface features at high magnification via simultaneous
      collection of mass spectrometry (MS) imaging and tandem MS imaging data. High
      lateral resolution tandem secondary ion MS imaging is employed to determine the
      composition of surface features on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) that
      precipitate during heat treatment. The surface features, probed at a lateral
      resolving power of<200 nm using a surface-sensitive ion beam, are found to be
      comprised of ethylene terephthalate trimer at a greater abundance than is
      observed in the surrounding polymer matrix. This is the first chemical
      identification of PET surface precipitates made without either an extraction step
      or the use of a reference material. The new capability employed for this study
      achieves the highest practical lateral resolution ever reported for tandem MS
      imaging.

PMID- 28587701
TI  - Brain atrophy is a frequent finding in elderly patients with first episode
      psychosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To characterize the yearly incidence, diagnostic distribution, and
      neuro-radiologic findings in patients aged over 60 years, referred to psychiatric
      treatment with first episode psychosis (FEP). METHODS: A computerized search,
      including all patients referred to psychiatric treatment during 12 consecutive
      months with a de novo diagnosis of psychosis was performed in the Helsinki region
      catchment area with 1.2 million inhabitants. Diagnoses based on hospital records
      were made by a group of one neurologist and three psychiatrists. MRI- or CT scans
      performed as a part of routine clinical management were used when available.
      RESULTS: 107 patients (27 males and 80 females) with FEP were identified and
      categorized into four diagnostic groups: schizophrenia, delusional disorder,
      psychotic depression, and psychosis due to another medical condition. No patients
      with de novo onset mania were found. Psychosis due to another medical condition
      was the most common diagnosis. A high frequency of signs of cortical brain
      atrophy was seen in all diagnostic groups, while central atrophy was more
      frequent in patients with psychosis due to another medical condition than in the
      other groups. CONCLUSION: Organic brain changes related to ageing or degenerative
      illnesses may be an etiologic factor in elderly patients with FEP.

PMID- 28587703
TI  - Make it two: A case report of dual sequential external defibrillation.
AB  - ABSTRACTDual sequential external defibrillation (DSED) is the process of near
      simultaneous discharge of two defibrillators with differing pad placement to
      terminate refractory arrhythmias. Previously used in the electrophysiology suite,
      this technique has recently been used in the emergency department and prehospital
      setting for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We present a case of
      successful DSED in the emergency department with neurologically intact survival
      to hospital discharge after refractory ventricular fibrillation (RVF) and review
      the putative mechanisms of action of this technique.

PMID- 28587702
TI  - Protective Effects of Coenzyme Q10 on Developmental Competence of Porcine Early
      Embryos.
AB  - Coenzyme Q10 (Q10) plays an important role in the cellular antioxidant system by
      protecting the cells from free-radical oxidative damage and apoptosis. In the
      present study, we have investigated the effect of Q10 on the preimplantation
      development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos, as well as the underlying
      mechanism. The results showed that 100 MUM was the optimal concentration of Q10,
      which resulted in significantly increased cleavage and blastocyst formation rates
      and improvement of blastocyst quality. Q10 improved the blastocyst hatching rate
      and cellular proliferation rate in hatching blastocysts and increased the
      expression of hatching-related genes. Furthermore, Q10 not only decreased
      reactive oxygen species production, DNA damage levels, and apoptosis in the
      blastocysts from H2O2-induced oxidative injury, but also maintained mitochondrial
      function. Taken together, these results indicate that Q10 has beneficial effects
      on the development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos by preventing oxidative
      damage and apoptosis.

PMID- 28587704
TI  - Between- and within-site variation in medication choices and adverse events
      during procedural sedation for electrical cardioversion of atrial fibrillation
      and flutter.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although procedural sedation for cardioversion is a common event in
      emergency departments (EDs), there is limited evidence surrounding medication
      choices. We sought to evaluate geographic and temporal variation in sedative
      choice at multiple Canadian sites, and to estimate the risk of adverse events due
      to sedative choice. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of one health records
      review, the Recent Onset Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter-0 (RAFF-0 [n=420, 2008])
      and one prospective cohort study, the Recent Onset Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter
      1 (RAFF-1 [n=565, 2010 - 2012]) at eight and six Canadian EDs, respectively.
      Sedative choices within and among EDs were quantified, and the risk of adverse
      events was examined with adjusted and unadjusted comparisons of sedative regimes.
      RESULTS: In RAFF-0 and RAFF-1, the combination of propofol and fentanyl was most
      popular (63.8% and 52.7%) followed by propofol alone (27.9% and 37.3%). There
      were substantially more adverse events in the RAFF-0 data set (13.5%) versus RAFF
      1 (3.3%). In both data sets, the combination of propofol/fentanyl was not
      associated with increased adverse event risk compared to propofol alone.
      CONCLUSION: There is marked variability in procedural sedation medication choice
      for a direct current cardioversion in Canadian EDs, with increased use of
      propofol alone as a sedation agent over time. The risk of adverse events from
      procedural sedation during cardioversion is low but not insignificant. We did not
      identify an increased risk of adverse events with the addition of fentanyl as an
      adjunctive analgesic to propofol.

PMID- 28587705
TI  - Cultural effects on neurodevelopmental testing in children from six European
      countries: an analysis of NUTRIMENTHE Global Database.
AB  - Cultural background is an important variable influencing neuropsychological
      performance. Multinational projects usually involve gathering data from
      participants from different countries and/or different cultures. Little is known
      about the influence of culture on neuropsychological testing results in children
      and especially in European children. The objectives of this study were to compare
      neuropsychological performance of children from six European countries (Belgium,
      Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland and Spain) using a comprehensive
      neuropsychological battery and to apply a statistical procedure to reduce the
      influence of country/cultural differences in neuropsychological performance. As
      expected, the results demonstrated differences in neuropsychological performance
      among children of the six countries involved. Cultural differences remained after
      adjusting for other confounders related to neuropsychological execution, such as
      sex, type of delivery, maternal age, gestational age and maternal educational
      level. Differences between countries disappeared and influence of culture was
      considerably reduced when standardised scores by country and sex were used. These
      results highlight the need for developing specific procedures to compare
      neuropsychological performance among children from different cultures to be used
      in multicentre studies.

PMID- 28587707
TI  - Periungual Fibroma.

PMID- 28587706
TI  - Coma After Acute Head Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coma after acute head injury is always alarming. Depending on the
      type of injury, immediate treatment may be life-saving. About a quarter of a
      million patients are treated for traumatic brain injury in Germany each year.
      Treatment recommendations must be updated continually in the light of advancing
      knowledge. METHODS: This review of treatment recommendations, prognostic factors,
      and the pathophysiology of coma after acute head injury is based on a 2015 German
      guideline for the treatment of head injury in adults and on pertinent
      publications retrieved by a selective search in PubMed for literature on post
      traumatic coma. RESULTS: As soon as the vital functions have been secured,
      patients with acute head injury should undergo cranial computed tomography, which
      is the method of choice for identifying intracranial injuries needing immediate
      treatment. Patients who have an intracranial hematoma with mass effect should be
      taken to surgery at once. The prognosis is significantly correlated with the
      patient's age, the duration of coma, accompanying neurological manifestations,
      and the site of brain injury. The case fatality rate of patients who have been
      comatose for 24 hours and who have accompanying lateralizing signs, a
      unilaterally absent pupillary light reflex, or hemiparesis lies between 30% and
      50%. This figure rises to 50-60% in patients with abnormal extensor reflexes and
      to over 90% in those with bilaterally absent pupillary light reflexes. Current
      neuropathological and neuroradiological studies indicate that coma after acute
      head injury is due to reversible or irreversible dysfunction of the brainstem.
      CONCLUSION: Brain tissue can tolerate ischemia and elevated pressure only for a
      very limited time. Comatose head-injured patients must therefore be evaluated
      urgently to determine whether they can be helped by the surgical removal of a
      hematoma or by a decompressive hemicraniectomy.

PMID- 28587708
TI  - Complication Rates in Colonoscopy Screening for Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Screening colonoscopy has been offered in Germany since 2002.
      Complications during colonoscopy were reported to be rare, but data on potential
      complications after colonoscopy are sparse. We aimed to comprehensively assess
      the frequency of complications arising during or within four weeks of screening
      colonoscopy. METHODS: Residents of the German federal state of Saarland without a
      history of colorectal cancer and without previous polypectomy who underwent a
      screening colonoscopy between 2010 and 2013 were included. A follow-up was
      conducted three months after the screening colonoscopy, including participant
      questionnaires and subsequent validation of self-reported complications arising
      during or within four weeks of screening colonoscopy, by reviewing colonoscopy
      records and contacting the treating physicians. A comprehensive mortality follow
      up was conducted for non-responders. RESULTS: We recruited a total of 5527
      participants from 26 practices (median age 61 years, 52% women). 5252 (95%) fully
      completed the questionnaire on complications and met the inclusion criteria for
      analysis. Among these participants, 16 cases of physician-confirmed bleeding
      (0.30%) and four cases of physician-confirmed perforation (0.08%) occurred during
      or within four weeks of colonoscopy. According to consistent reports from
      patients and physicians, bleeding and perforation led to hospitalization in 5
      (0.095%) and 2 (0.04%) cases, respectively. Three participants died within three
      months of colo - noscopy. In none of these cases was the cause of death related
      to colonoscopy. CONCLUSION: We found the risk of complications of screening
      colonoscopy to be low, even when taking into account a potential delay of up to
      four weeks.

PMID- 28587709
TI  - An Ongoing Task.

PMID- 28587710
TI  - Video-based Approaches.

PMID- 28587711
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 28587712
TI  - Questionnaire Should not Be Used any Longer.

PMID- 28587713
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 28587714
TI  - Real-world effectiveness of sucroferric oxyhydroxide in patients on chronic
      hemodialysis: A retrospective analysis of pharmacy data?.
AB  - AIMS: Hyperphosphatemia has been associated with an increased risk of mortality
      in patients with end-stage renal disease. We sought to assess the real-world
      effectiveness of sucroferric oxyhydroxide (SO), an iron-based phosphate binder
      (PB), in control of serum phosphorus levels, and to determine the associated pill
      burden in hemodialysis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult, in-center
      hemodialysis patients first prescribed SO through a renal pharmacy service as
      part of routine clinical care between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015 were
      included in the analysis. The proportion of patients with phosphorus levels <=
      5.5 mg/dL and the mean prescribed PB pills/day were compared between baseline (3
      months prior to SO) and SO follow-up at 3 (SO 1 - 3) and 6 months (SO 4 - 6).
      Mineral bone disease markers, hemoglobin, iron indices, and erythropoiesis
      stimulating agents and intravenous iron use were assessed. RESULTS: At baseline,
      all patients (n = 1,029) were prescribed PB, and 13.9% had mean serum phosphorus
      <= 5.5 mg/dL. Comparing baseline to SO 1 - 3, the mean prescribed PB pills/day
      declined from 9.6 to 3.8 pills/day (p < 0.001), and the proportion of patients
      with serum phosphorus <= 5.5 mg/dL increased from 13.9 to 26.1% (+88%). Comparing
      baseline to SO 4 - 6 (n = 424), the mean prescribed PB pills/day declined from
      9.7 to 4.0 pills/day (p < 0.001), and the proportion of patients with serum
      phosphorus <= 5.5 mg/dL increased from 15.6 to 30.4% (+95%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Prescription of SO was associated with an increase in the proportion of patients
      achieving serum phosphorus levels <= 5.5 mg/dL along with fewer prescribed PB
      pills/day.?.

PMID- 28587715
TI  - Diffusion-weighted whole-body MRI for evaluation of early response in multiple
      myeloma.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the modifications of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in
      myelomatous lesions before and after induction treatment and the correlation with
      patient response to therapy according to International Myeloma Working Group
      (IMWG) criteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A homogeneous group of 18 patients with a
      diagnosis of symptomatic multiple myeloma who underwent whole-body MRI with
      diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI-MRI) before and after bortezomib-based induction
      chemotherapy were evaluated prospectively. Quantitative analysis of ADC maps of
      myelomatous lesions was performed with the following pattern types: focal
      pattern, diffuse pattern (moderate and severe), and "salt and pepper" pattern.
      Lesions were evaluated by quantitative image analysis including measurement of
      the mean ADC in three measurements. Imaging results were compared to laboratory
      results as the clinical reference standard. RESULTS: A statistically significant
      increase in ADC values were found in the lesions of patients that responded to
      treatment. Interestingly, focal lesions showed a strongly significant increase in
      ADC values in responders, whereas no significant variation in ADC value in non
      focal lesions (diffuse pattern and "salt and peppers" pattern) between responders
      and non-responders group was demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: DWI-MRI could provide
      additional quantitative information useful in monitoring early therapy response
      according to ADC changes of focal lesions.

PMID- 28587717
TI  - Hyperkeratotic lesions on legs.

PMID- 28587716
TI  - [Predictive factors of functional decline at hospital discharge in elderly
      patients hospitalised due to acute illness].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare baseline characteristics and those found during
      hospitalisation as predictors of functional decline at discharge (FDd) in elderly
      patients hospitalised due to acute illness. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A review was
      made of the computerized records of patients admitted to a Geriatric Acute Unit
      of a tertiary hospital over a 10 year period. A record was made of demographic,
      clinical, functional and health-care variables. Functional decline at discharge
      (FDd) was defined by the difference between the previous Barthel Index (pBI) and
      the discharge Barthel Index (dBI). The percentage of FDd (%FDd=(pBI-dBI/pBI)*100)
      was calculated. The variables associated with greater %FDd in the bivariate
      analysis were included in multivariate logistic regression models. The predictive
      capacity of each model was assessed using the area under the ROC curve. RESULTS:
      The factors associated with greater %FDd were advanced age, female gender, to
      live in a nursing home, cognitive impairment, better baseline functional status
      and worse functional status at admission, number of diagnoses, and prolonged
      stay. The area under the ROC curve for the predictive models of %FDd was 0.638
      (95% CI: 0.615-0.662) based on the previous situation, 0.756 (95% CI: 0.736
      0.776) based on the situation during admission, and 0.952 (95% CI: 0.944-0.959)
      based on a combination of these factors. CONCLUSIONS: The overall assessment of
      patient characteristics, both during admission and baseline, may have greater
      value in prediction of FDd than analysis of factors separately in elderly
      patients hospitalised due to acute illness.

PMID- 28587718
TI  - beta-Amyloid Precursor Protein Intracellular Domain Controls Mitochondrial
      Function by Modulating Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog-Induced Kinase 1
      Transcription in Cells and in Alzheimer Mice Models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitophagy and mitochondrial dynamics alterations are two major
      hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases. Dysfunctional mitochondria accumulate in
      Alzheimer's disease-affected brains by yet unexplained mechanisms. METHODS: We
      combined cell biology, molecular biology, and pharmacological approaches to
      unravel a novel molecular pathway by which presenilins control phosphatase and
      tensin homolog-induced kinase 1 (Pink-1) expression and transcription. In vivo
      approaches were carried out on various transgenic and knockout animals as well as
      in adeno-associated virus-infected mice. Functional readout and mitochondrial
      physiology (mitochondrial potential) were assessed by combined procedures
      including flow cytometry, live imaging analysis, and immunohistochemistry.
      RESULTS: We show that presenilins 1 and 2 trigger opposite effects on promoter
      transactivation, messenger RNA, and protein expression of Pink-1. This control is
      linked to gamma-secretase activity and beta-amyloid precursor protein but is
      independent of phosphatase and tensin homolog. We show that amyloid precursor
      protein intracellular domain (AICD) accounts for presenilin-dependent phenotype
      and upregulates Pink-1 transactivation in cells as well as in vivo in a Forkhead
      box O3a-dependent manner. Interestingly, the modulation of gamma-secretase
      activity or AICD expression affects Pink-1-related control of mitophagy and
      mitochondrial dynamics. Finally, we show that parkin acts upstream of presenilins
      to control Pink-1 promoter transactivation and protein expression. CONCLUSIONS:
      Overall, we delineate a molecular cascade presenilins-AICD-Forkhead box O3a
      linking parkin to Pink-1. Our study demonstrates AICD-mediated Pink-1-dependent
      control of mitochondrial physiology by presenilins. Furthermore, it unravels a
      parkin-Pink-1 feedback loop controlling mitochondrial physiology that could be
      disrupted in neurodegenerative conditions.

PMID- 28587719
TI  - Clinical audits to improve critical care: Part 2: Analyse, benchmark and
      feedback.
AB  - Clinical audits are an essential part of the cycle designed to ensure that
      patients receive the best quality of care. By measuring the care delivered
      against established best practice standards, it becomes possible to identify
      shortcomings and to plan targeted strategies and processes for continuous
      improvement. The success of a clinical audit depends upon defined goals,
      motivation of stakeholders, appropriate tools and resources, and clear
      communication. In part 1 of this series, an overview of the structures and
      processes needed to prepare and collect data for clinical audits in the critical
      care setting was provided [A.J. Ullman, G. Ray-Barruel, C.M. Rickard, M. Cooke,
      Clinical audits to improve critical care: Part 1 Prepare and collect data, Aust
      Crit Care, 2017, in press]. In part 2, we discuss how to analyse the collected
      audit data, benchmark findings with internal and external data sets, and feedback
      audit results to critical care clinicians to promote evidence-based practice and
      improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28587720
TI  - Stabilization of systems with interval time-varying delay based on delay
      decomposing approach.
AB  - The paper considers the stabilization for systems with interval time-varying
      delay. By decomposing the delay interval into multiple equidistant subintervals
      and considering the triple integral terms, a novel Lyapunov-krasovskii
      functional(LKF) is defined. Then extended integral inequality and convex
      combination approach are used to estimate the derivative of the constructed
      functional, and as a result, the new stability criterion with less conservatism
      and decision variables is obtained. On this basis, the state feedback controller
      is designed, by using linearization method, the existence condition of controller
      is obtained in terms of linear matrix inequalities(LMIs), and the specific form
      of controller is also given, moreover, by selecting the appropriate parameter
      value, the stabilization time of the system can be reduced. Numerical examples
      are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

PMID- 28587721
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28587722
TI  - Comparative evaluation of topographical data of dental implant surfaces applying
      optical interferometry and scanning electron microscopy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Comparability of topographical data of implant surfaces in literature
      is low and their clinical relevance often equivocal. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the ability of scanning electron microscopy and optical
      interferometry to assess statistically similar 3-dimensional roughness parameter
      results and to evaluate these data based on predefined criteria regarded relevant
      for a favorable biological response. METHODS: Four different commercial dental
      screw-type implants (NanoTite Certain Prevail, TiUnite Branemark Mk III, XiVE S
      Plus and SLA Standard Plus) were analyzed by stereo scanning electron microscopy
      and white light interferometry. Surface height, spatial and hybrid roughness
      parameters (Sa, Sz, Ssk, Sku, Sal, Str, Sdr) were assessed from raw and filtered
      data (Gaussian 50MUm and 5MUm cut-off-filters), respectively. Data were
      statistically compared by one-way ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test. For a
      clinically relevant interpretation, a categorizing evaluation approach was used
      based on predefined threshold criteria for each roughness parameter. RESULTS: The
      two methods exhibited predominantly statistical differences. Dependent on
      roughness parameters and filter settings, both methods showed variations in
      rankings of the implant surfaces and differed in their ability to discriminate
      the different topographies. Overall, the analyses revealed scale-dependent
      roughness data. Compared to the pure statistical approach, the categorizing
      evaluation resulted in much more similarities between the two methods.
      SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggests to reconsider current approaches for the
      topographical evaluation of implant surfaces and to further seek after proper
      experimental settings. Furthermore, the specific role of different roughness
      parameters for the bioresponse has to be studied in detail in order to better
      define clinically relevant, scale-dependent and parameter-specific thresholds and
      ranges.

PMID- 28587723
TI  - 'Organising objects': Adult safeguarding practice and article 16 of the United
      Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

PMID- 28587724
TI  - Corrigendum to "Effects of co-administration of ketamine and ethanol on the
      dopamine system via the cortex-striatum circuitry" [Life Sci. (Apr 25 2017) pii:
      S0024-3205(17)30198-4].

PMID- 28587725
TI  - A hermeneutic phenomenological explorations of living in old age.
AB  - Although there have been some studies that explore the meaning of aging and give
      voice to older people, the impact that the aging experience can have on them
      justifies continued research in this area. In this study, with a hermeneutic
      phenomenological design and an interpretation method inspired by the philosophy
      of Ricoeur, we conducted in-depth interviews with 14 elderly people at a social
      day center in Rome (Italy). The analysis revealed three central themes associated
      with the experience of being old: changes and limitations related with being
      aged, the experience that comes from having lived a long life, and an awareness
      of death. The findings could help health professionals, families and caregivers
      to achieve a deeper understanding of what old age entails, and may also serve as
      a platform for interventions that seek to enable older people to experience aging
      as a meaningful and positive process.

PMID- 28587726
TI  - Occult cancer detection in patients with hemostatic disorder and venous
      thromboembolism.
AB  - There are physiologic ties between Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) and circulating
      tumor cells. VWF appears to play a role in tumor biology, but it is unclear
      whether cancer behavior differs in Von Willebrand Disease. In patients presenting
      with venous thromboembolism (VTE), occult cancer is frequently considered as an
      underlying cause. The prevalence of occult cancer after provoked VTE is low (3%);
      therefore, cancer screening in these patients is not routinely recommended. In
      those with unprovoked VTE, occult cancer is more prevalent, estimated between 4
      and 10%. Due to this elevated risk, occult cancer screening is recommended in
      this population. Multiple studies have investigated whether a "limited" approach
      (including history and physical exam, basic labs, and chest X-ray) versus
      "extensive" approach (addition of advanced imaging, such as computer tomography)
      is more effective. Current data fails to demonstrate extensive screening
      strategies diagnose more occult cancer, miss fewer cancers during follow up, or
      improve cancer-related mortality. Furthermore, many patients may be needlessly
      exposed to unnecessary diagnostic procedures with their associated complications
      and costs, as well as significant anxiety. Therefore, the decision to perform
      additional testing should be made on a case-by-case basis. Additional studies are
      needed to identify subgroups of patients with unprovoked VTE at highest risk for
      occult cancer.

PMID- 28587727
TI  - [Sleep bruxism in children].
AB  - Bruxism is defined as repetitive activity of the masticatory muscles,
      characterized by clenching the teeth or teeth grinding and/or by tapping and
      swaying. This study investigated sleep bruxism. The etiology is multifactorial:
      mainly central (neuropathic disorder, anxiety) but also genetic and local
      (posture, mouth breathing). The diagnosis is based primarily on the anamnesis and
      examination of dental wear and progression over time (photos and dental
      castings). A diagnostic guide is proposed in this article. Frequently found in
      children, bruxism is not always considered pathological. The severity criteria
      relate intensity (number of dental attrition facets) as well as the context found
      in children: anxiety, ventilation disorders, and fragile dental structures.
      Management is multidisciplinary and depends on the etiologic diagnosis.

PMID- 28587728
TI  - Incidence of children at risk for obstructive sleep apnea undergoing common day
      surgery procedures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of sleep
      related breathing disorders (SRBD) in children undergoing elective day surgery
      procedures. METHODS: A validated Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) was
      distributed to the parents of children aged 2months to 18 years who met inclusion
      criteria and were undergoing urologic, otolaryngologic, and general surgical day
      surgery procedures a 3-month period of time. The prevalence of children at risk
      for pediatric SRBD was determined from PSQ results. RESULTS: From a total of 288
      PSQ Questionnaires, 9.1% of urology, 11.1% of general surgery, and 51.9% of
      otolaryngology patients admitted to day surgery were found to be at risk for
      sleep disordered breathing. The median PSQ score for the children at risk was 9.2
      for urological surgeries, 10.9 for general surgery, and 11.3 for
      otolaryngological procedures. CONCLUSIONS: There is an increased prevalence of
      children at risk of SRBD awaiting common day surgery procedures than previously
      expected based on existing literature. Patients undergoing otolaryngological
      procedures were at greater risk of sleep-related breathing disorders when
      compared with patients undergoing urological or general surgical procedures.
      There may be a role for screening of pediatric patients with a PSQ prior to day
      surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Type of study: prognosis study, level IV.

PMID- 28587729
TI  - Glycolysis-related proteins are broad spectrum vaccine candidates against
      aquacultural pathogens.
AB  - Reverse vaccinology (RV) has become a popular method for developing vaccines.
      Although Edwardsiella tarda is deemed to be an important fish pathogen, so far,
      no reports have used a genome-based approach to screen vaccine candidates against
      E. tarda. In the current study, protective antigens of E. tarda were screened
      using RV. Large-scale cloning, expression and purification of potential
      candidates were carried out, and their immunoprotective potential was evaluated.
      A candidate fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) exhibited broad spectrum
      protection, as did another glycolysis-related protein glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
      dehydrogenase (GAPDH), which we reported previously, indicating the potential of
      other glycolysis-related proteins of E. tarda as broad spectrum protective
      antigens. In total, half (5 out 10) of these proteins showed prominent
      immunoprotective potential. Therefore, we suggest that glycolysis-related
      proteins are a class of potential broad spectrum protective antigens and that
      these proteins should be preferentially selected.

PMID- 28587730
TI  - Deep brain stimulation failure due to external cardioversion in a patient with
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - We report a case of deep brain stimulation (DBS) hardware failure due to
      emergently performed subcutaneous coronary angioplasties complicated by
      cardioversion for rapid worsening of angina pectoris and some trouble shooting
      problems emerged after invasive cardiovascular procedures. The patient with prior
      implantation of permanent pacemaker due to vasovagal syndrome underwent
      successful left-sided unilateral electrode implantation into the subthalamic
      nucleus. During 21 months follow-up period the patient experienced 2 times
      episodes of aggravation of unstable angina pectoris 15 and 21 months
      respectively, which necessities emergent coronary angioplasties. After the first
      emergently performed coronary angioplasty with cardioversion the interrogation of
      DBS system revealed the depletion of an internal pulse generator (IPG). The
      secondly performed coronary angioplasty complicated by ventricular
      tachyarrhythmia with DBS system switched on during emergent cardioversion
      resulted in partial dysfunction of DBS electrode. Patients harboring
      cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) and DBS systems require
      special attention and good cooperation of neurosurgeons, interventional
      cardiologist, and neurologist. Some emergently performed invasive cardiovascular
      procedures which necessities cardioversion may cause DBS hardware failure with
      subsequent worsening of movement disorder symptoms.

PMID- 28587731
TI  - Prediction of clinical outcome using blood flow volume in the superior mesenteric
      artery in patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei treated by cytoreductive surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare carcinomatosis limited to the
      peritoneal cavity, mainly supplied by the superior mesenteric artery (SMA). The
      only curative treatment is cytoreductive surgery (CRS) associated with
      hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This study aimed to evaluate the
      ability of blood flow volume (BFV) recorded in the SMA using Doppler
      ultrasonography pre-operatively to predict the extent and resectability of the
      disease and post-operatively to assess clinical outcome. METHODS: BFV was
      measured in the SMA of forty-nine patients before and the year following CRS.
      Patients were categorized in 3 groups according to clinical and surgical
      outcomes: group-1 (n = 22): patient with completed CRS, group-2 (n = 16):
      incomplete resection with slowly progressive disease (alive at 2 years without
      severe clinical symptoms), group-3 (n = 11): incomplete resection and with severe
      clinical symptoms or dead within two years. RESULTS: Pre-operative mean SMA BFV
      was higher in group-2 (510 mL/min, p = 0.027) and in group-3 (572 mL/min, p =
      0.004) than in group-1 (378 mL/min). After surgery, BFV dropped to normal values
      (203 mL/min, p = 0.001) in group-1, and to 423 mL/min (p = 0.047) in group-2. It
      remained elevated in group-3 (626 mL/min, p = 0.566). BFV allowed stratification
      of 1) resectability before CRS (group-2 and -3 vs group-1, area under the ROC
      curve: 0.794 [0.650-0.939]), and 2) non progression after incomplete CRS (group-3
      vs group-2, area under the ROC curve: 0.827 [0.565-1.00]. CONCLUSIONS: Pre
      operative BFV in the SMA correlates with extent and resectability of PMP. After
      incomplete surgery, post-operative BFV might aid in identifying patients who may
      benefit of post-operative therapy.

PMID- 28587732
TI  - For Certain, SIRT4 Activities!
AB  - Despite the fact that SIRT4 regulates important biological processes, its primary
      enzymatic activity has remained ambiguous. A recent study by Anderson, Huynh et
      al. has uncovered deacylase activities of SIRT4 towards newly described lysine
      modifications derived from reactive acyl-CoAs generated in leucine catabolism.

PMID- 28587733
TI  - Corrigendum to "Novel high-throughput and widely-targeted liquid chromatography
      time of flight mass spectrometry method for d-amino acids in foods" [J. Biosci.
      Bioeng. 123 (2017) 126-133].

PMID- 28587734
TI  - Editorial-Sequences and topology.

PMID- 28587736
TI  - A combination of low-dose systemic etretinate and topical
      calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate treatment for hyperkeratosis and itching
      in Olmsted syndrome associated with a TRPV3 mutation.

PMID- 28587735
TI  - The invasive MenC cc103 lineage with penicillin reduced susceptibility persisting
      in Brazil.
AB  - Penicillin is the antibiotic of choice for the treatment of meningococcal
      infections, and mutations in penA gene are involved with reduced susceptibility
      (penI) emergence to this antibiotic. This study aimed to characterize the penA
      allelic diversity, their association with penI phenotype and distribution among
      prevalent meningococci serogroups in Brazil. The entire penA from 49 invasive
      strains of distinct serogroups circulating in Brazil for more than two decades
      were obtained by PCR and sequencing. Additionally, the penA from 22 publicly
      available complete Neisseria meningitidis genomes from Brazil were included in
      the study. The allelic diversity was determined and a genetic tree was built
      using the penA sequence alignment. The penicillin MIC was obtained by the E-Test
      method. In general, the identified penA alleles correlated with the observed penI
      phenotype. The canonical penA1 was the most prevalent allele, however, several
      altered penA were also identified in strains presenting increased penicillin
      MICs. It was identified a new penA amino acid position (residue 480) that
      possibly influence the penicillin MIC in some strains. Interestingly, the altered
      penA14 was found in penI invasive MenC cc103 strains spread in Brazil and
      persisting since 2011, indicating that the biological cost imposed by penI
      phenotype can be ameliorated by particular features present in this lineage,
      which represents an additional public health threat.

PMID- 28587737
TI  - Overexpression of Human Leukocyte Antigen-G and Interleukin 10 in acral
      lentiginous melanoma.

PMID- 28587738
TI  - Important Non-Technical Skills in Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery Lobectomy:
      Team Perspectives.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Safety in the operating room is dependent on the team's non-technical
      skills. The importance of non-technical skills appears to be different for
      minimally invasive surgery as compared with open surgery. The aim of this study
      was to identify which non-technical skills are perceived by team members to be
      most important for patient safety, in the setting of video-assisted thoracoscopic
      surgery (VATS) lobectomy. METHODS: This was an explorative, semistructured
      interview-based study with 21 participants from all four thoracic surgery centers
      in Denmark that perform VATS lobectomy. Data analysis was deductive, and directed
      content analysis was used to code the text into the Oxford Non-Technical Skills
      system for evaluating operating teams' non-technical skills. RESULTS: The most
      important non-technical skills described by the VATS teams were planning and
      preparation, situation awareness, problem solving, leadership, risk assessment,
      and teamwork. These non-technical skills enabled the team to achieve shared
      mental models, which in turn facilitated their efforts to anticipate next steps.
      This was viewed as important by the participants as they saw VATS lobectomy as a
      high-risk procedure with complementary and overlapping scopes of practice between
      surgical and anesthesia subteams. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified six non
      technical skills that serve as the foundation for shared mental models of the
      patient, the current situation, and team resources. These findings contribute
      three important additions to the shared mental model construct: planning and
      preparation, risk assessment, and leadership. Shared mental models are crucial
      for patient safety because they enable VATS teams to anticipate problems through
      adaptive patterns of both implicit and explicit coordination.

PMID- 28587740
TI  - Evaluation of traditional and novel echocardiographic methods of cardiac
      diastolic dysfunction post radiotherapy in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate alterations in left ventricular (LV) diastolic
      function using traditional and novel echocardiographic parameters, following
      radiation therapy (RT) in breast cancer patients in the acute setting. METHODS:
      40 chemotherapy-naive women with left-sided breast cancer undergoing RT were
      prospectively recruited. A comprehensive transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) was
      performed at baseline, during RT and 6weeks post-RT. Traditional
      echocardiographic diastolic parameters and diastolic strain rate were measured
      and analysed. The relationship between alterations in diastolic parameters,
      changes in global longitudinal systolic strain (GLS) and radiation dose were
      investigated. RESULTS: Traditional diastolic parameters remained largely
      unchanged; however diastolic strain parameters, E-Sr and A-Sr were significantly
      reduced 6weeks post-RT [Longitudinal E-Sr (s-1) 1.47+/-0.32 vs 1.29+/-0.27*;
      Longitudinal A-Sr (s-1) 1.19+/-0.31 vs 1.03+/-0.24*; *p<0.05 vs baseline]. When
      patients were divided by a reduction >=10% versus <10% in GLS post-RT, a greater
      reduction in both traditional diastolic and diastolic strain parameters was
      observed in the group with >10% reduction in systolic function as evaluated by
      GLS. When patients were divided by mean v30 dose, a greater % change in E-Sr was
      noted in those receiving more than mean V30 dose. CONCLUSION: Diastolic
      dysfunction was only evident acutely, post-RT with the use of newer methods like
      strain analysis. A significant reduction in diastolic function was seen in the
      patient subgroup with >=10% reduction in systolic function, enhancing the notion
      of diastolic function as a potential indicator for systolic dysfunction. Future
      longitudinal studies are required to determine the specific prognostic value of
      these observations.

PMID- 28587739
TI  - Aortic Valve Pathology as a Predictive Factor for Acute Aortic Dissection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, the effect of aortic valve (AV) pathology on local
      hemodynamic conditions was evaluated as a potential trigger for the onset of
      acute type A and B aortic dissection. METHODS: A time- and pressure-related four
      dimensional (4-D) computed fluid dynamic model of the aorta was established. In
      an experimental setup, AV stenosis and AV insufficiency were created. 4-D
      pressure-related geometry of the aortic root (AR) with valve insufficiency and
      valve stenosis were determined by high-fidelity (200 Hz) microsonometric
      crystals. Flow and pressure were obtained at the left ventricle, ascending aorta,
      and aortic arch. RESULTS: Expansion of the AR in AV insufficiency was higher with
      expansion in AV stenosis, at peak ejection, and at the end of systole. In AV
      insufficiency, there was low shear stress (0 to 0.6 Pa), turbulent flow, and high
      pressure (80 to 95 mm Hg) at the anterior wall of the ascending aorta, at the
      proximal aortic arch, and at the aortic isthmus. In stenosis, high shear stress
      (>2 Pa) and high pressure (>95 mm Hg) were found at the ascending aorta and at
      the bifurcation of the brachiocephalic trunk. CONCLUSIONS: In AV insufficiency,
      low shear stresses and turbulent flow regions were documented at the traditional
      levels of entry tears for acute type A and B dissection. In AV stenosis, high
      shear stress with elevated pressure at the ascending aorta may be a trigger
      element for vessel dilatation, aneurysm formation, and intimal tear, which is
      typical for type A aortic dissection.

PMID- 28587741
TI  - Plasma level of big endothelin-1 predicts the prognosis in patients with
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac remodeling is one of major pathological process in
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Endothelin-1 has been linked to cardiac
      remodeling. Big endothelin-1 is the precursor of endothelin-1. METHODS: A total
      of 245 patients with HCM were enrolled from 1999 to 2011 and partitioned to low,
      middle and high level groups according to their plasma big endothelin-1 levels.
      RESULTS: At baseline, significant associations were found between high level of
      big endothelin-1 and left atrium size, heart function and atrial fibrillation.
      Big endothelin-1 was positively correlated with N-terminal B-type natriuretic
      peptide (r=0.291, p<0.001) and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on magnetic
      resonance imaging (r=0.222, p=0.016). During a follow-up of 3 (range, 2-5) years,
      big endothelin-1 level was positively associated with the risks of all-cause
      mortality, cardiovascular death and progression to NYHA class 3 or 4 (p=0.020,
      0.044 and 0.032, respectively). The rate of above events in the highest tertile
      were 18.1%, 15.7%, 24.2%, respectively. After adjusting for multiple factors
      related to survival and cardiac function, the significance remained in the
      association of big endothelin-1 with the risk of all-cause mortality (hazard
      ratio (HR)=4.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-22.88; p=0.041) and
      progression to NYHA class 3 or 4 (HR=4.10, 95%CI 1.32-12.75, p=0.015).
      CONCLUSION: Our study showed that high level of plasma big endothelin-1 predicted
      prognosis for patients with HCM and it can be added to the marker panel in
      stratifying HCM patients for giving treatment priority to those at high risk.

PMID- 28587742
TI  - Systemic Th17/IL-17A response appears prior to hippocampal neurodegeneration in
      rats exposed to low doses of ozone.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Exposure to low doses of O3 leads to a state of oxidative stress.
      Some studies show that oxidative stress can modulate both the CNS and systemic
      inflammation, which are important factors in the development of Alzheimer disease
      (AD). OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate changes in the frequency of Th17
      like cells (CD3+CD4+IL-17A+), the concentration of IL-17A in peripheral blood,
      and hippocampal immunoreactivity to IL-17A in rats exposed to low doses of O3.
      METHODS: One hundred eight male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 6 groups
      (n=18) receiving the following treatments: control (O3 free) or O3 exposure
      (0.25ppm, 4hours daily) over 7, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days. Twelve animals from each
      group were decapitated and a peripheral blood sample was taken to isolate plasma
      and mononuclear cells. Plasma IL-17A was quantified using LUMINEX, while Th17
      like cells were counted using flow cytometry. The remaining 6 rats were deeply
      anaesthetised and underwent transcardial perfusion for immunohistological study
      of the hippocampus. RESULTS: Results show that exposure to O3 over 7 days
      resulted in a significant increase in the frequency of Th17-like cells and levels
      of IL-17A in peripheral blood. However, levels of Th17/IL-17A in peripheral blood
      were lower at day 15 of exposure. We also observed increased IL-17A in the
      hippocampus beginning at 30 days of exposure. CONCLUSION: These results indicate
      that O3 induces a short-term, systemic Th17-like/IL-17A effect and an increase of
      IL-17A in the hippocampal tissue during the chronic neurodegenerative process.

PMID- 28587743
TI  - A novel alignment-free vector method to cluster protein sequences.
AB  - Classification of protein are crucial topics in biology. The number of protein
      sequences stored in databases increases sharply in the past decade.
      Traditionally, comparison of protein sequences is usually carried out through
      multiple sequence alignment methods. However, these methods may be unsuitable for
      clustering of protein sequences when gene rearrangements occur such as in viral
      genomes. The computation is also very time-consuming for large datasets with long
      genomes. In this paper, based on three important biochemical properties of amino
      acids: the hydropathy index, polar requirement and chemical composition of the
      side chain, we propose a 24 dimensional feature vector describing the composition
      of amino acids in protein sequences. Our method not only utilizes the chemical
      properties of amino acids but also counts on their numbers and positions. The
      results on beta-globin, mammals, and three virus datasets show that this new tool
      is fast and accurate for classifying proteins and inferring the phylogeny of
      organisms.

PMID- 28587744
TI  - Mathematical comparison of memory functions between mutual activation and
      repression networks in a stochastic environment.
AB  - Biological memory is a ubiquitous function that can generate a sustained response
      to a transient inductive stimulus. To better understand this function, we must
      consider the mechanisms by which different structures of genetic networks achieve
      memory. Here, we investigated two competitive gene regulatory network models: the
      regulated mutual activation network (MAN) and the regulated mutual repression
      network (MRN). Stochasticity deteriorated the persistence of memory of both the
      MAN and the MRN. Mathematical comparison by simulation and theoretical analysis
      identified functional differences in the stochastic memory between the
      competitive models: specifically, the MAN provided much more robust, persistent
      memory than the MRN. The stochastic persistent memory pattern of the MAN can be
      adjusted by changing the binding strength of the activators, whereas the MRN
      required highly cooperative and strong binding repressors for robust memory.

PMID- 28587745
TI  - An ex vivo spinal cord injury model to study ependymal cells in adult mouse
      tissue.
AB  - Traumatic spinal cord injury is characterized by an initial cell loss that is
      followed by a concerted cellular response in an attempt to restore the damaged
      tissue. Nevertheless, little is known about the signaling mechanisms governing
      the cellular response to injury. Here, we have established an adult ex vivo
      system that exhibits multiple hallmarks of spinal cord injury and allows the
      study of complex processes that are difficult to address using animal models. We
      have characterized the ependymal cell response to injury in this model system and
      found that ependymal cells can become activated, proliferate, migrate out of the
      central canal lining and differentiate in a manner resembling the in vivo
      situation. Moreover, we show that these cells respond to external adenosine
      triphosphate and exhibit spontaneous Ca2+ activity, processes that may play a
      significant role in the regulation of their response to spinal cord injury. This
      model provides an attractive tool to deepen our understanding of the ependymal
      cell response after spinal cord injury, which may contribute to the development
      of new treatment options for spinal cord injury.

PMID- 28587746
TI  - Corrigendum to "Quantitative prediction of histamine H1 receptor occupancy by the
      sedative and non-sedative antagonists in the human central nervous system based
      on systemic exposure and preclinical data" [Drug Metab Pharmacokinet 32 (2017)
      135-144].

PMID- 28587747
TI  - Flexible endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of esophageal stenosis in children
      with noninvasive ventilation support.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Esophageal stenosis (ES) is characterized by dysphagia, failure to
      thrive, and long-term disability. It requires repeated management because it is
      refractory. Traditionally, these procedures are performed under general
      anesthesia with airway intubation. PURPOSE: This study investigated the safety
      and efficacy of the management of interventional flexible endoscopy (IFE)
      performed with a novel noninvasive ventilation (NIV) support. METHODS: Use of a
      short-length flexible endoscope with NIV of pharyngeal oxygen, nose closure, and
      abdominal compression during IFE was investigated. Medical charts of patients
      aged <=10 years with a diagnosis of ES in our hospital between 1990 and 2014 were
      reviewed and analyzed. The outcome measurement included the number of IFE with
      balloon dilatation (BD), laser therapy (LT), stent placement, procedural
      complications, and the success rate. RESULTS: Ten patients were enrolled. The
      most common etiologies were esophageal atresia with/without tracheoesophageal
      fistula (n = 6), followed by caustic injury (n = 2), and unknown etiology (n =
      2). Nine patients who were considered successfully managed received an average of
      2.8 BD sessions and 1.6 LT sessions. The complication rate of IFE in this study
      was 1.08% (1/93). One esophageal perforation developed after BD (1/63) and none
      after LT (0/30). CONCLUSION: In this study, IFE with this NIV support is a safe,
      feasible and valuable modality which could rapidly examine and manage ES.

PMID- 28587749
TI  - Pluripotent stem cell models of Blau syndrome reveal an IFN-gamma-dependent
      inflammatory response in macrophages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blau syndrome, or early-onset sarcoidosis, is a juvenile-onset
      systemic granulomatosis associated with a mutation in nucleotide-binding
      oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2). The underlying mechanisms of Blau syndrome
      leading to autoinflammation are still unclear, and there is currently no
      effective specific treatment for Blau syndrome. OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the
      mechanisms of autoinflammation in patients with Blau syndrome, we sought to
      clarify the relation between disease-associated mutant NOD2 and the inflammatory
      response in human samples. METHODS: Blau syndrome-specific induced pluripotent
      stem cell (iPSC) lines were established. The disease-associated NOD2 mutation of
      iPSCs was corrected by using a CRISPR-Cas9 system to precisely evaluate the in
      vitro phenotype of iPSC-derived cells. We also introduced the same NOD2 mutation
      into a control iPSC line. These isogenic iPSCs were then differentiated into
      monocytic cell lineages, and the statuses of nuclear factor kappaB pathway and
      proinflammatory cytokine secretion were investigated. RESULTS: IFN-gamma acted as
      a priming signal through upregulation of NOD2. In iPSC-derived macrophages with
      mutant NOD2, IFN-gamma treatment induced ligand-independent nuclear factor kappaB
      activation and proinflammatory cytokine production. RNA sequencing analysis
      revealed distinct transcriptional profiles of mutant macrophages both before and
      after IFN-gamma treatment. Patient-derived macrophages demonstrated a similar IFN
      gamma-dependent inflammatory response. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the
      significance of ligand-independent autoinflammation in the pathophysiology of
      Blau syndrome. Our comprehensive isogenic disease-specific iPSC panel provides a
      useful platform for probing therapeutic and diagnostic clues for the treatment of
      patients with Blau syndrome.

PMID- 28587748
TI  - Liquid biopsy of PIK3CA mutations in cervical cancer in Hong Kong Chinese women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common female cancer worldwide.
      The prognosis for women with advanced-stage or recurrent cervical cancer remains
      poor and response to treatment is variable. Standardized management protocols
      leave little room for individualization. We report on a novel blood-based liquid
      biopsy for specific PIK3CA mutations as a clinically useful biomarker in patients
      with invasive cervical cancer. METHODS: One hundred seventeen Hong Kong Chinese
      women with primary invasive cervical cancer and their pre-treatment plasma
      samples were investigated. Two PIK3CA mutations, p.E542K and p.E545K were
      measured in cell free DNA (cfDNA) extracted from plasma using droplet digital
      PCR. This liquid biopsy of PIK3CA in cervical cancer was correlated to clinico
      pathological features to verify the potential of PIK3CA as a clinically useful
      molecular biomarker for predicting disease prognosis and monitoring for
      progression. RESULTS: PIK3CA mutations, either p.E542K or p.E545K, were detected
      in plasma cfDNA from 22.2% of the patients. PIK3CA mutation status was
      significantly correlated to median tumor size (p<0.01). PIK3CA mutations detected
      in the plasma were significantly associated with decreased disease-free survival
      and overall survival (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As a liquid molecular biopsy,
      analysis of circulating PIK3CA mutations shows promise as a way to refine risk
      stratification of individual patients with cervical cancer, and provides a
      platform for further research to offer individualized therapy with the purpose of
      improving outcomes.

PMID- 28587750
TI  - Dieulafoy of cecum: A rare cause of a refractory gastrointestinal bleeding in an
      uncommon location.

PMID- 28587753
TI  - Comment on relative brain size in early primates and the use of encephalization
      quotients in primate evolution.

PMID- 28587752
TI  - Dickkopf-1 inhibits Wnt3a-induced migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      of human lens epithelial cells.
AB  - Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) is a major post-operative complication of
      cataract surgery. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to PCO. We
      previously indicated that Wnt3a induces the EMT of human lens epithelial cells
      (LECs) and plays an important role in the development of PCO. The present study
      aimed to test the potential effect of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) on Wnt3a-induced cell
      migration and the EMT of LECs and to explore possible cellular mechanisms. The
      secretion of Dkk1 was reduced in the rabbit PCO model, and Dkk1 injected into the
      eyes post-surgical manipulation prevented PCO formation. Cultured HLE-B3 cells
      were then transfected with Wnt3a in the presence or absence of Dkk1. Dkk1
      treatment restored the epithelial phenotype and reversed the expression of EMT
      associated proteins induced by Wnt3a. Dkk1 suppressed LEC migration and the
      expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), and the activity of MMP-2 and
      MMP-9. Dkk1 inhibited the nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin, which is the key
      regulator of the canonical Wnt signaling. Our results indicate that Dkk1 inhibits
      Wnt3a-induced migration and the EMT of human LECs.The results contribute to the
      prevention of PCO formation and development.

PMID- 28587751
TI  - Usability of a home-based test for the measurement of fecal calprotectin in
      asymptomatic IBD patients.
AB  - : The aim of our work was to test the usability of fecal calprotectin (FC) home
      based test in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. METHODS: IBD patients
      were prospectively recruited. They had to measure FC with a dedicated tool and
      smartphone application, 5 times at two weeks intervals over an 8 weeks period.
      They had to fill in a usability questionnaire at the first and the last FC
      measurement. A System Usability Scale (SUS: 0-100) and the Global Score of
      Usability (GSU: 0-85) were calculated. FC was also centrally measured by ELISA.
      RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients were recruited. Forty-two performed at least one FC
      measurement and 27 performed all the FC requested measurements. The median (IQR)
      SUS (0-100) at the first and last use were 85 (78-90) and 81 (70-88),
      respectively; the median (IQR) GSU (0-85) at the first and last use were 74 (69
      80) and 77 (68-83), respectively. Adherence to the planned measurements and
      usability of the tool were higher in females and in less severe disease. The
      intra-class correlation coefficient between home-based and centrally measured FC
      was 0.88. CONCLUSION: The adherence to home-based measurement of FC was fair.
      Usability scores for the home-based test were high. There was a good correlation
      with the centrally measured FC by ELISA.

PMID- 28587754
TI  - Delirium screening in intensive care: A life saving opportunity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delirium is described as 'acute brain failure' and constitutes a
      medical emergency which presents a hazard for people cared for in intensive care
      units. The Scottish intensive care society audit group recommend that all people
      cared for in intensive care units be screened for signs of delirium so that
      treatment and management of complications can be implemented at an early stage.
      CLINICAL IMPLICATION: There is inconsistent evidence about when and how the
      assessment of delirium is carried out by nursing staff in the intensive care
      setting. AIM: This narrative review explores the pathophysiology and current
      practices of delirium screening in intensive care. Consideration is given to the
      role of the nurse in detecting and managing delirium and some barriers to routine
      daily delirium screening are critically debated. CONCLUSION: It is argued that
      routine delirium screening is an essential element of safe, effective and person
      centred nursing care which has potential to reduce morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28587755
TI  - Empathy, loneliness, burnout, and life satisfaction in Chilean nurses of
      palliative care and homecare services.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Empathy has been described as an essential competence of healthcare
      professionals who are working in palliative care and homecare services. In these
      services, usually accompanied by a high risk of physical and emotional burnout,
      empathy can play an important role in the improvement of occupational wellbeing.
      The aim of this study was to confirm the role of empathy in the prevention of
      loneliness and burn out, and in the promotion of life satisfaction. METHODS: In
      2016, an observational study was carried out in Chile with professional nurses
      who were working in palliative care and homecare services. Empathy with the
      patients, loneliness, life satisfaction, and burnout were measured using
      psychometric scales. Correlation analyses were applied to confirm relationships
      among the elements measured. RESULTS: In a sample of 64 participants, positive
      correlations were confirmed between empathy and life satisfaction (P = 0.40; p =
      0.003), and between empathy and professional experience (P = 0.29; p = 0.04). On
      the other hand, inverse correlations were confirmed between empathy and burnout
      (P = -0.38; p = 0. 01), and between empathy and loneliness (P = -0.41; p =
      0.004). CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the important role that empathy plays
      in the prevention of loneliness and burnout, and in the promotion of life
      satisfaction. Evidence found suggests that empathetic abilities can be improved
      by the professional experience.

PMID- 28587756
TI  - Perceived self-efficacy, personality and bioethics before a heart rehabilitation
      programme in primary health care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is a clear evidence of the benefit of cardiac rehabilitation
      after a cardiovascular event on patients' mood and perceived self-efficacy in
      terms of their own health care. Our aim is to define the correlation between mood
      related variables, biotype and self-efficacy in this population. DESIGN:
      Descriptive study. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS: The entire population of patients
      discharged from thecardiac rehabilitation unit over 12 months. MAIN MEASUREMENTS:
      Universal anthropometric and psychometric (general self-efficacy scale, Salamanca
      personality traits questionnaire, Hamilton anxiety scale and Beck depression
      inventory) variables are determined. Descriptive statistics and association
      between variables (correlation) is determined. RESULTS: This study involved 88
      patients, response rate 92%. The average age was 53 years old, 80.23% were males.
      Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations for the main dependent variable
      and associated variables is performed. Significant evidence is shown, self
      efficacy is negatively correlated with anxiety (r=-0.4009) and depression (r=
      0.4152), as well as dependent(r=-03 175) and impulsive (r=-0.4243) personality
      traits. Higher levels of anxiety positively correlate with endomorph biotype
      (r=0.3304), and depression-associated symptoms (r=0.2563). Age and gender do not
      correlate with self-perceived efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Self-efficacy in the study
      population is correlated with personality traits, mood and body biotype.

PMID- 28587757
TI  - CEVL interactive - Best surgical practices for Open Mitrofanoff Procedure.

PMID- 28587758
TI  - Epigenetics for Plant Improvement: Current Knowledge and Modeling Avenues.
AB  - Epigenetic variations are involved in the control of plant developmental
      processes and participate in shaping phenotypic plasticity to the environment.
      Intense breeding has eroded genetic diversity, and epigenetic diversity now
      emerge as a new source of phenotypic variations to improve adaptation to changing
      environments and ensure the yield and quality of crops. Here, we review how the
      characterization of the stability and heritability of epigenetic variations is
      required to drive breeding strategies, which can be assisted by process-based
      models. We propose future directions to hasten the elucidation of complex
      epigenetic regulatory networks that should help crop modelers to take epigenetic
      modifications into account and assist breeding strategies for specific
      agronomical traits.

PMID- 28587759
TI  - Con: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Should Not Routinely Replace
      Cardiopulmonary Bypass As the Preferred Method of Support During Lung
      Transplantation.

PMID- 28587760
TI  - Protective Lung Strategy During Bronchoscopic Laser Resection of Tracheobronchial
      Tumors: A Case Series.

PMID- 28587761
TI  - ITV, mid-ventilation, gating or couch tracking - A comparison of respiratory
      motion-management techniques based on 4D dose calculations.
AB  - PURPOSE: Respiratory motion-management techniques (MMT) aim to ensure tumor dose
      coverage while sparing lung tissue. Dynamic treatment-couch tracking of the
      moving tumor is a promising new MMT and was compared to the internal-target
      volume (ITV) concept, the mid-ventilation (MidV) principle and the gating
      approach in a planning study based on 4D dose calculations. METHODS: For twenty
      patients with lung lesions, planning target volumes (PTV) were adapted to the MMT
      and stereotactic body radiotherapy treatments were prepared with the 65%-isodose
      enclosing the PTV. For tracking, three concepts for target volume definition were
      considered: Including the gross tumor volume of one phase (single-phase
      tracking), including deformations between phases (multi-phase tracking) and
      additionally including tracking latencies of a couch tracking system (reliable
      couch tracking). The accumulated tumor and lung doses were estimated with 4D dose
      calculations based on 4D-CT datasets and deformable image registration. RESULTS:
      Single-phase tracking showed the lowest ipsilateral lung Dmean (median: 3.3Gy),
      followed by multi-phase tracking, gating, reliable couch tracking, MidV and ITV
      concepts (3.6, 3.8, 4.1, 4.3 and 4.8Gy). The 4D dose calculations showed the MidV
      and single-phase tracking overestimated the target mean dose (-2.3% and -1.3%),
      while it was slightly underestimated by the other MMT (<+1%). CONCLUSION: The ITV
      concept ensures tumor coverage, but exposes the lung tissue to a higher dose. The
      MidV, gating and tracking concepts were shown to reduce the lung dose. Neglecting
      non-translational changes of the tumor in the target volume definition for
      tracking results in a slightly reduced target coverage. The slightly inferior
      dose coverage for MidV should be considered when applying this technique
      clinically.

PMID- 28587762
TI  - Two novel roles of buffalo milk lactoperoxidase, antibiofilm agent and
      immunomodulator against multidrug resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and
      Listeria monocytogenes.
AB  - The increasing occurrence of multidrug resistant bacteria causing bacteremia
      infection, constitutes a major health problem, difficult-to-treat bacteremia due
      to its ability to form biofilm. Buffalo milk lactoperoxidase (BMLpo) is effective
      and safe to use as bacteriostatic agent. The MIC of BMLpo and amikacin were used
      to evaluate the antibiofilm activity against resistant L. monocytogenes and S.
      typhi. Prophylactic effects of BMLpo against L. monocytogenes and S. typhi
      bacteremia in vivo have been tested and ELISA test used to evaluate serum
      cytokines. Significant antibiofilm activity of BMLpo observed against the highest
      biofilm producer isolates. Our results showed that the prophylactic effect of
      BMLpo in BALB/c mice bacteremic model. A significant clearance of L.
      monocytogenes and S. typhi, investigated in blood and different organs tissues in
      BMLpo-treated infected groups when compared to the non-treated groups. Further,
      analysis of serum cytokines levels revealed that BMLpo prophylaxis modulates
      their release in different way when it compared to the control. This study
      showed, BMLpo effects as an alternative antibiofilm agent to compact gram
      negative pathogens, and protects the host against bacteremia infection. Moreover,
      the BMLpo role as an immunomodulatory. These investigations indicated the BMLpo
      crucial role in the practical clinical applications.

PMID- 28587763
TI  - Mechano-electrical feedback in the clinical setting: Current perspectives.
AB  - Mechano-electric feedback (MEF) is an established mechanism whereby myocardial
      deformation causes changes in cardiac electrophysiological parameters. Extensive
      animal, laboratory and theoretical investigation has demonstrated that abnormal
      patterns of cardiac strain can induce alteration of electrical excitation and
      recovery through MEF, which can potentially contribute to the establishment of
      dangerous arrhythmias. However, the clinical relevance of MEF in patients with
      heart disease remains to be established. This paper reviews up-to date
      experimental evidence describing the response to different types of mechanical
      stimuli in the intact human heart with the support of new data collected during
      cardiac surgery. It discusses modulatory effects of MEF that may contribute to
      increase the vulnerability to arrhythmia and describes MEF interaction with
      clinical conditions where mechanically induced changes in cardiac
      electrophysiology are likely to be more relevant. Finally, directions for future
      studies, including the need for in-vivo human data providing simultaneous
      assessment of the distribution of structural, functional and electrophysiological
      parameters at the regional level, are identified.

PMID- 28587765
TI  - Comparative aspects of GnRH-Stimulated signal transduction in the vertebrate
      pituitary - Contributions from teleost model systems.
AB  - Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a major regulator of reproduction
      through actions on pituitary gonadotropin release and synthesis. Although it is
      often thought that pituitary cells are exposed to only one GnRH, multiple GnRH
      forms are delivered to the pituitary of teleost fishes; interestingly this can
      include the cGnRH-II form usually thought to be non-hypophysiotropic. GnRHs can
      regulate other pituitary cell-types, both directly as well as indirectly, and
      multiple GnRH receptors (GnRHRs) may also be expressed in the pituitary, and even
      within a single pituitary cell-type. Literature on the differential actions of
      native GnRH isoforms in primary pituitary cells is largely derived from teleost
      fishes. This review will outline the diversity and complexity of GnRH-GnRHR
      signal transduction found within vertebrate gonadotropes as well as extra
      gonadotropic sites with special emphasis on comparative studies from fish models.
      The implications that GnRHR transduction mechanisms are GnRH isoform-, function-,
      and cell-specific are also discussed.

PMID- 28587764
TI  - Toxicity of phenolipids: Protocatechuic acid alkyl esters trigger disruption of
      mitochondrial membrane potential and caspase activation in macrophages.
AB  - Phenolipids are a class of phenolic compounds with a lipidic moiety that have
      been receiving increasing attention due to their promising biological activities;
      however data regarding their toxicity and mechanism of action are scarce. A
      series of 11 phenolipids consisting of alkyl esters derivatives of the natural
      molecule protocatechuic acid was synthesized and evaluated against a panel of
      cancer and non-cancer cell lines. The macrophage cell line RAW 264.7, widely used
      as a tool for screening anti-inflammatory drugs, was more susceptible to the
      toxicity of these molecules than human cancer cells, reason for which mechanist
      studies were conducted. The parent molecule was not toxic up to 100MUM, however
      structural modifications by inclusion of carbon side chains resulted in increased
      toxicity, compounds bearing 8-14 carbons being the most toxic and displaying IC50
      in the nanomolar range. Mechanistic studies showed that phenolipids elicit
      chromatin condensation, loss of cell viability and disruption of mitochondrial
      membrane potential (DeltaPsim), increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      activation of caspase-9/3, thus pointing to the involvement of mitochondria in
      the programmed cell death process taking place. This is the first study
      addressing the toxicity and mechanism of action of protocatechuic acid
      derivatives, which is relevant in light of the recent interest in these
      molecules.

PMID- 28587766
TI  - Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and prognosis of lung cancer patients: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested a possible influence of circulating 25
      hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level on the prognosis of lung cancer patients, but
      conflicting findings were reported. A systematic review and meta-analysis was
      thus conducted to comprehensively assess the influence of circulating 25(OH)D
      level on the prognosis of lung cancer patients. METHODS: Prospective or
      retrospective cohort studies assessing the influence of circulating 25(OH)D level
      on the prognosis of lung cancer patients were considered eligible. Hazard Ratios
      (HR) were pooled using meta-analysis. RESULTS: Eight studies with 2166 lung
      cancer patients were included. Meta-analysis of unadjusted HRs from four studies
      showed low circulating 25(OH)D level was significantly correlated with poor
      overall survival in lung cancer (HR=1.30, 95%CI 1.08-1.55, P=0.004). Meta
      analysis of adjusted HRs from eight studies suggested that low circulating
      25(OH)D level was not significantly correlated with poor overall survival
      (HR=1.25; P=0.13). However, sensitivity analysis suggested an obvious change in
      the pooled HRs when excluding single study by turns. When the study by Liu et al.
      was omitted, low circulating 25(OH)D level was significantly correlated with poor
      overall survival (HR=1.34; P=0.04). CONCLUSION: The present systematic review and
      meta-analysis suggested a correlation between low circulating 25(OH)D level and
      poor overall survival in lung cancer. More studies are needed to further validate
      the finding above.

PMID- 28587768
TI  - Small things matter: Implications of APP intracellular domain AICD nuclear
      signaling in the progression and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease with tens
      of millions of people affected worldwide. The pathogenesis is still poorly
      understood and various therapeutical approaches targeting the amyloid beta
      (Abeta) peptide, a product of the amyloidogenic cleavage of the amyloid precursor
      protein (APP), failed. Moreover, a couple of studies critically questioned the
      relevance of Abeta in the pathogenesis of AD. Thus, new ideas need to be studied
      and one highly interesting hypothesis is the APP mediated signal transduction to
      the nucleus. As a consequence nuclear -potentially toxic- structures emerge,
      which were recently found to a high extent in human AD tissue and thus, may
      contribute to neurodegeneration. Relevant for the signaling machinery are
      modifications at the very C-terminal end of the precursor protein, the APP
      intracellular domain (AICD). In this review we update the knowledge on mechanisms
      on AICD referring to our 2008 article: The amyloid precursor protein
      intracellular domain (AICD) as modulator of gene expression, apoptosis, and
      cytoskeletal dynamics-Relevance for Alzheimer's disease (T. Muller, et al.,
      2008). We summarize how AICD is generated and degraded, we describe its
      intramolecular motifs, translational modifications, and how those as well as APP
      dimerization influence AICD generation and function. Moreover, we resume the AICD
      interactome and elucidate AICDs involvement in nuclear signaling, transcriptional
      regulation, cell death, DNA repair and cell cycle re-entry and we give insights
      in its physiological function. Results are summarized in the comprehensive poster
      "The world of AICD".

PMID- 28587767
TI  - Frontal alpha asymmetry predicts inhibitory processing in youth with attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Atypical asymmetry in brain activity has been implicated in the
      behavioral and attentional dysregulation observed in ADHD. Specifically,
      asymmetry in neural activity in the right versus left frontal regions has been
      linked to ADHD, as well as to symptoms often associated with ADHD such as
      heightened approach behaviors, impulsivity and difficulties with inhibition.
      Clarifying the role of frontal asymmetry in ADHD-like traits, such as
      disinhibition, may provide information on the neurophysiological processes
      underlying these behaviors. METHOD: ADHD youth (ADHD: n = 25) and healthy,
      typically developing controls (TD: n = 25) underwent an electroencephalography
      (EEG) recording while completing a go/no-go task-a commonly used test measuring
      behavioral inhibition. In addition, advanced signal processing for source
      localization estimated the location of signal generators underlying frontal alpha
      asymmetry (FA) during correct and incorrect trials. RESULTS: This is the first
      study in ADHD to demonstrate that the dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
      may be responsible for generating frontal alpha. During failed inhibition trials,
      ADHD youth displayed greater FA than TD youth. In addition, within the ADHD
      group, frontal asymmetry during later processing stages (i.e., 400-800ms after
      stimulus) predicted a higher number of commission errors throughout the task.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that frontal alpha asymmetry may be a specific
      biomarker of cognitive disinhibition among youth with ADHD.

PMID- 28587769
TI  - Device to stablise nasoendotracheal tube during intraoral or orthognathic
      surgery.

PMID- 28587771
TI  - Hypercholesterolemia: The role of PCSK9.
AB  - Heart disease ends the life of more people than any other disease in the United
      States. High levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol cause heart
      diseases by increasing the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Proprotein
      convertase subtilisin/kexin-9 (PCSK9) indirectly regulates plasma LDL levels by
      controlling the LDL receptor expression at the plasma membrane. PCSK9 also
      appears to modulate glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, abdominal obesity,
      inflammation, and hypertension. The magnitude of PCSK9's involvement in the onset
      of these metabolic abnormalities appears to be associated with age, sex, and
      ethnic background. Another regulator, the inducible degrader of the LDL receptor
      (IDOL), works by enhancing the ubiquitination of the LDL receptor. Herein, we
      will review the functions and regulatory mechanisms of PCSK9. The effects of
      PCSK9 on the LDL receptor, the relationship of this convertase with IDOL, and
      treatments currently available against hypercholesterolemia are also discussed.

PMID- 28587770
TI  - Functional communication between PKC-targeted cardiac troponin I phosphorylation
      sites.
AB  - Increased protein kinase C (PKC) activity is associated with heart failure, and
      can target multiple cardiac troponin I (cTnI) residues in myocytes, including
      S23/24, S43/45 and T144. In earlier studies, cTnI-S43D and/or -S45D augmented
      S23/24 and T144 phosphorylation, which suggested there is communication between
      clusters. This communication is now explored by evaluating the impact of phospho
      mimetic cTnI S43/45D combined with S23/24D (cTnIS4D) or T144D (cTnISDTD). Gene
      transfer of epitope-tagged cTnIS4D and cTnISDTD into adult cardiac myocytes
      progressively replaced endogenous cTnI. Partial replacement with cTnISDTD or
      cTnIS4D accelerated the time to peak (TTP) shortening and time to 50% re
      lengthening (TTR50%) on day 2, but peak shortening was only diminished by
      cTnIS4D. Extensive cTnIS4D replacement continued to accelerate TTP, and decrease
      shortening amplitude, while TTR50% returned to baseline levels on day 4. In
      contrast, cTnISDTD modestly reduced shortening amplitude and continued to
      accelerate myocyte TTP and TTR50%. These results indicate cTnIS43/45 communicates
      with S23/24 and T144, with S23/24 exacerbating and T144 attenuating the S43/45D
      dependent functional deficit. In addition, more severe functional alterations in
      cTnIS4D myocytes were accompanied by higher levels of secondary phosphorylation
      compared to cTnISDTD. These results suggest that secondary phosphorylation helps
      to maintain steady-state contractile function during chronic cTnI phosphorylation
      at PKC sites.

PMID- 28587772
TI  - Gastric inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor identified as ectopic pancreas and
      treated by endoscopic submucosal dissection.

PMID- 28587773
TI  - Colovesical fistula: visualization of the bladder during colonoscopy.

PMID- 28587774
TI  - Is a low FODMAP diet beneficial for patients with inflammatory bowel disease? A
      meta-analysis and systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: To assess the current evidence regarding the benefit of a low
      fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyol (FODMAP)
      diet in the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS:
      Databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Medline were comprehensively searched
      for relevant studies through January 2017. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and
      weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to
      analyze the dichotomous variables (diarrhea response, abdominal pain and
      bloating, etc.) and the continuous variables. Random- and fixed-effects models
      were chosen according to heterogeneity. RESULTS: Two RCTs and four before-after
      studies with a total of 319 patients (96% in remission) were identified. Except
      for the constipation response, there was a significant improvement in other
      symptoms: diarrhea response (OR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.11-0.52, p = 0.0003),
      satisfaction with gut symptoms (OR: 26.84, 95% CI: 4.6-156.54, p < 0.00001),
      abdominal bloating (OR: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.06-0.16, p < 0.00001), abdominal pain
      (OR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.16-0.35, p < 0.00001), fatigue (OR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.24-0.66,
      p = 0.0003) and nausea (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.31-0.85, p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: The
      present meta-analysis offers proof to support that a low FODMAP diet is
      beneficial for reducing gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with quiescent IBD.
      With the inherent limitations, the findings of this analysis remain to be
      confirmed and updated by further high-volume, well-designed and long-term follow
      up studies.

PMID- 28587775
TI  - Diagnosis of exclusion in works of art.

PMID- 28587776
TI  - Pharmacological characterization of a novel potent, selective, and orally active
      phosphodiesterase 2A inhibitor, PDM-631.
AB  - Recently, we identified a novel phosphodiesterase 2A (PDE2A) inhibitor, PDM-631
      ((S)-3-cyclopropyl-6-methyl-1-(1-(4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)propan-2-yl)-1,5
      dihydro-4H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-one). PDM-631 showed potent inhibitory
      activities for human and rat PDE2A with IC50 values of 1.5 and 4.2nM,
      respectively and more than 2000-fold selectivity against other
      phosphodiesterases. In rat studies, PDM-631 showed oral bioavailability and good
      brain penetration, and increased the cGMP levels in the cortex. These data
      indicate that PDM-631 is a potent, selective, orally active, and brain-penetrable
      PDE2A inhibitor. In behavioral studies using rat models, PDM-631 (3-30mg/kg)
      resulted in better discrimination between a novel object and a familiar one 48h
      after the acquisition phase in the novel object recognition test, thus indicating
      that PDM-631 increased object recognition memory. In contrast, PDM-631 did not
      attenuate the conditioned avoidance response at the same dose range (3-30mg/kg)
      in rats, indicating that PDM-631 did not show an antipsychotic-like effect. In
      test for extrapyramidal side effect, PDM-631 had no effect on catalepsy at the
      effective doses (10 and 30mg/kg) in the novel object recognition test, while
      haloperidol caused catalepsy at a dose of 3mg/kg. Our results suggest that PDM
      631 is a good pharmacological tool that can be used to investigate the role of
      PDE2A and may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of cognitive
      impairments associated with schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disorders,
      without any extrapyramidal side effects.

PMID- 28587777
TI  - Effect of ionic strength on the aggregation kinetics of the amidated amyloid beta
      peptide Abeta (1-40) in aqueous solutions.
AB  - In this work we study the effect of solution ionic strength on the structural
      evolution of amidated amyloid beta peptide Abeta (1-40) oligomers at the early
      stages of fibril formation. By light scattering, we follow the time evolution of
      the structure and short-time dynamics of peptide structures at low ionic
      strengths. Our results allow identifying initial oligomer structures as the
      effective building blocks in the amyloid fibrils formation and indicate that the
      oligomers growth pathway, from compact structures to flexible chain-like
      structures, becomes faster as the solution ionic strength is increased.
      Furthermore, we find no evidence of structural branching what suggests that
      elongation of amyloid fibrils is dominated by linear association. To describe our
      results we adapt a phenomenological model based on population balance equations
      and linear polymer growth, where the parameters required are obtained from the
      experiments. Model calculations are in good agreement with experimentally
      obtained estimates for the radius of gyration of Abeta (1-40) oligomers, thus
      further supporting our findings. Additionally, we introduce a model for the
      effective interaction among initial Abeta structures that captures the dependence
      of the effective association rates on solution ionic strength.

PMID- 28587778
TI  - Advanced method optimization for volatile aroma profiling of beer using two
      dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
AB  - The complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the headspace
      of Trappist and craft beers was studied to illustrate the efficiency of thermal
      desorption (TD) comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight
      mass spectrometry (GC*GC-TOFMS) for highlighting subtle differences between
      highly complex mixtures of VOCs. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME),
      multiple (and classical) stir bar sorptive extraction (mSBSE), static headspace
      (SHS), and dynamic headspace (DHS) were compared for the extraction of a set of
      21 representative flavor compounds of beer aroma. A Box-Behnken surface response
      methodology experimental design optimization (DOE) was used for convex hull
      calculation (Delaunay's triangulation algorithms) of peak dispersion in the
      chromatographic space. The predicted value of 0.5 for the ratio between the
      convex hull and the available space was 10% higher than the experimental value,
      demonstrating the usefulness of the approach to improve optimization of the GC*GC
      separation. Chemical variations amongst aligned chromatograms were studied by
      means of Fisher Ratio (FR) determination and F-distribution threshold filtration
      at different significance levels (alpha=0.05 and 0.01) and based on z-score
      normalized area for data reduction. Statistically significant compounds were
      highlighted following principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster
      analysis (HCA). The dendrogram structure not only provided clear visual
      information about similarities between products but also permitted direct
      identification of the chemicals and their relative weight in clustering. The
      effective coupling of DHS-TD-GC*GC-TOFMS with PCA and HCA was able to highlight
      the differences and common typical VOC patterns among 24 samples of different
      Trappist and selected Canadian craft beers.

PMID- 28587779
TI  - Use of dual-filtering to create training sets leading to improved accuracy in
      quantitative structure-retention relationships modelling for hydrophilic
      interaction liquid chromatographic systems.
AB  - The development of quantitative structure retention relationships (QSRR) having
      sufficient accuracy to support high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
      method development is still a major issue. To tackle this challenge, this study
      presents a novel QSRR methodology to select a training set of compounds for QSRR
      modelling (i.e. to filter the database to identify the most appropriate compounds
      for the training set). This selection is based on a dual filtering strategy which
      combines Tanimoto similarity (TS) searching as the primary filter and retention
      time (tR) similarity clustering as the secondary filter, using a database of
      pharmaceutical compound retention times collected over a wide range of
      hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) systems. To employ tR
      similarity filtering, correlation to a molecular descriptor is used as a measure
      of retention time. For the retention time of a compound to be modelled a
      relationship between experimental chromatographic data and various molecular
      descriptors is calculated using a genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA
      PLS) regression. The proposed dual-filtering-based QSRR model significantly
      improves the retention time predictability compared to the diverse, global, and
      TS-based QSRR models, with an average root mean square error in prediction
      (RMSEP) of 11.01% over five different HILIC stationary phases. The average CPU
      time for implementing the proposed approach is less than 10min, which makes it
      quite favorable for rapid method development in HILIC. In addition,
      interpretation of the molecular descriptors selected by this novel approach
      provided some insight into the HILIC mechanism.

PMID- 28587780
TI  - A pressure-affected headspace-gas chromatography method for determining calcium
      carbonate content in paper sample.
AB  - The present work reports on the development of a pressure-affected based
      headspace (HS) analytical technique for the determination of calcium carbonate
      content in paper samples. By the acidification, the carbonate in the sample was
      converted to CO2 and released into the headspace of a closed vial and then
      measured by gas chromatography (GC). When the amount of carbonate in the sample
      is significant, the pressure created by the CO2 affects the accuracy of the
      method. However, the pressure also causes a change in the O2 signal in the HS-GC
      measurement, which is a change that can be used as an indirect measure of the
      carbonate in the sample. The results show that the present method has a good
      precision (the relative standard deviation<2.32%), and good accuracy (the
      relative differences compared to a reference method was<5.76%). Coupled with the
      fact that the method is simple, rapid, and accurate, it is suitable for a variety
      of applications that call for the analysis of high carbonate content in paper
      samples.

PMID- 28587782
TI  - Fragility Fracture Special Issue: Optimum care and avoiding a second fracture.

PMID- 28587783
TI  - The use of diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) and related flavoring substances as
      flavorings added to foods-Workplace safety issues.
AB  - In 2001, staff of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
      (NIOSH) identified diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) as a "marker" of exposure in a
      microwave popcorn manufacturing facility in which workers developed severe
      respiratory illness. Subsequent investigations identified additional workers in
      food and flavor manufacturing facilities also with severe respiratory illness.
      The flavor industry, NIOSH, and federal and state regulators conducted
      significant programs to address workplace safety concerns related to the
      manufacture of flavors and foods containing added flavors. These programs,
      initiated in 2001, continue today. Key to the success of these programs is
      understanding what flavors added to foods are and how they are manufactured, how
      they are incorporated into foods, the specific characteristics of diacetyl and
      related flavoring substances, and what actions may be taken to assure the safest
      workplaces possible.

PMID- 28587781
TI  - Wnt5a induces catabolic signaling and matrix metalloproteinase production in
      human articular chondrocytes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aberrant Wnt signaling may contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) but the
      Wnt family members involved have not been fully identified. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the role of Wnt5a as a potential mediator of cartilage
      destruction in OA. DESIGN: Immunohistochemistry to detect Wnt5a was performed
      using normal and OA human articular cartilage. Cultured normal human chondrocytes
      were treated with fibronectin fragments (FN-f) as a catabolic stimulus or
      recombinant Wnt5a protein with or without pretreatment using a panel of signaling
      inhibitors. Expression of Wnt5a, anabolic genes and catabolic genes were
      determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Production of Wnt5a protein and matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) as well as activation of signaling proteins were
      analyzed by immunoblotting. RESULTS: Wnt5a was present in human articular
      cartilage with OA changes and its expression and secretion were increased in FN-f
      stimulated chondrocytes. FN-f stimulated Wnt5a production through the c-Jun N
      terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) pathways.
      Wnt5a reduced aggrecan gene expression after 48 h of treatment. Wnt5a seemed to
      promote MMP1, -3, and -13 expression as well as MMP1 and MMP13 protein production
      in normal human chondrocytes. Wnt5a inhibitor peptides did not affect FN-f
      induced MMP production. Wnt5a activated beta-catenin independent signaling
      including calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), JNK, p38, ERK1/2, p65
      and Akt. Inhibition of JNK, p38, ERK, PI-3 kinase and CaMKII by specific
      signaling inhibitors suppressed Wnt5a mediated MMP1 and MMP13 production.
      CONCLUSIONS: Wnt5a is present in human OA cartilage and can promote chondrocyte
      catabolic activity through non-canonical Wnt signaling, which suggests a
      potential role in OA.

PMID- 28587785
TI  - Dihydrotestosterone as mediator for cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity: New insight
      down the road.

PMID- 28587784
TI  - Gender-specific expression of ATP-binding cassette (Abc) transporters and
      cytoprotective genes in mouse choroid plexus.
AB  - The choroid plexus (CP) and blood-brain barrier (BBB) control the movement of
      several drugs and endogenous compounds between the brain and systemic
      circulation. The multidrug resistance associated protein (Mrp) efflux
      transporters form part of these barriers. Several Mrp transporters are positively
      regulated by the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor
      (Nrf2) in liver. The Mrps, Nrf2 and Nrf2-dependent genes are cytoprotective and
      our aim was to examine basal gender differences in expression of Mrp
      transporters, Nrf2 and Nrf2-dependent genes (Nqo1 and Ho-1) in the brain
      barriers. Previous studies have shown higher expression of Mrp1, Mrp2 and Mrp4 in
      female mouse liver and kidney. We hypothesized that similar renal/hepatic gender
      specific patterns are present in the brain-barrier epithelia interfaces. qPCR and
      immunoblot analyses showed that Mrp4, Ho-1 and Nqo1 expression was higher in
      female CP. Mrp1, Mrp2 and Nrf2 expression in the CP had no gender pattern. Female
      Mrp1, Mrp2 and Mrp4 mouse brain expressions in remaining brain areas, excluding
      CP, were higher than male. Functional analysis of Mrp4 in CP revealed active
      accumulation of the Mrp4 model substrate fluo-cAMP. WT female CP had 10-fold
      higher accumulation in the vascular spaces than males and 60% higher than Mrp4-/-
      females. Probenecid blocked all transport. Methotrexate did as well except in
      Mrp4-/- females where it had no effect, suggesting compensatory induction of
      transport occurred in Mrp4-/-. Collectively, our findings indicate significant
      gender differences in expression of Mrp transporters and cytoprotective genes in
      the CP and BBB.

PMID- 28587786
TI  - The history of bone densitometry.
AB  - Bone densitometry (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry-DXA) is a vital medical tool
      needed for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in non-fractured patients; predicting
      future fracture risk; and monitoring bone mineral density (BMD) in untreated or
      treated patients. The history of the pivotal international society involved in
      the science and clinical interpretation of DXA, the International Society for
      Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) is defined in this manuscript. Since DXA and
      Osteoporosis management are intimately linked, the ISCD has over the years
      developed strong bonds with both the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) and
      the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). The positive impact that ISCD
      has led in the proper performance and clinical interpretation of bone mass
      measurements has been enormous worldwide.

PMID- 28587787
TI  - Importance of N- and C-terminal residues of substance P 1-7 for alleviating
      allodynia in mice after peripheral administration.
AB  - The heptapeptide SP1-7 (1, Arg1-Pro2-Lys3-Pro4-Gln5-Gln6-Phe7) is the major
      bioactive metabolite formed after proteolytic processing of the neuropeptide
      substance P (SP, Arg1-Pro2-Lys3-Pro4-Gln5-Gln6-Phe7-Phe8-Gly9-Leu10-Met11-NH2).
      The heptapeptide 1 frequently exhibits opposite effects to those induced by SP,
      such as exerting antinociception, or attenuating thermal hyperalgesia and
      mechanical allodynia. The heptapeptide SP1-7 amide (2, Arg1-Pro2-Lys3-Pro4-Gln5
      Gln6-Phe7-NH2) is often more efficacious than 1 in experimental pain models. We
      have now assessed the anti-allodynic outcome after systemic administration of 2
      and a series of Ala-substituted and truncated analogues of 2, in the spared nerve
      injury (SNI) mice model and the results obtained were correlated with in vitro
      plasma stability and permeability measurements. It is herein demonstrated that an
      intact Arg1 in SP1-7 amide analogues is fundamental for retaining a potent in
      vivo effect, while Lys3 of 2 is less important. A displacement with Ala1 or
      truncation rendered the peptide analogues either inactive or with a significantly
      attenuated in vivo activity. Thus, the pentapeptide SP3-7 amide (7, t1/2=11.1
      min) proven to be the major metabolite of 2, demonstrated an in vivo effect
      itself although considerably less significant than 2 in the SNI model.
      Intraperitoneal administration of 2 in a low dose furnished the most powerful
      anti-allodynic effect in the SNI model of all the analogous evaluated, despite a
      fast proteolysis of 2 in plasma (t1/2=6.4 min). It is concluded that not only the
      C-terminal residue, that we previously demonstrated, but also the N-terminal with
      its basic side chain, are important for achieving effective pain relief. This
      information is of value for the further design process aimed at identifying more
      drug-like SP1-7 amide related peptidomimetics with pronounced anti-allodynic
      effects.

PMID- 28587788
TI  - Two novel cocrystals of lamotrigine with isomeric bipyridines and in situ
      monitoring of the cocrystallization.
AB  - Crystal engineering strategy was applied to develop new solid forms of
      lamotrigine. Two novel cocrystals of lamotrigine forming with 4,4'-bipyridine
      (2:1) and 2,2'-bipyridine cocrystal (1:1.5) were successfully obtained by neat
      grinding and liquid assisted grinding. The novel cocrystals were fully
      characterized and confirmed by X-ray diffraction, thermal and spectroscopic
      analysis. DXRxi Raman microscope was also used to identify the cocrystals. The
      factors such as solvent and the structure of coformers which influenced the
      cocrystal formation were discussed. Furthermore, the novel cocrystals were both
      obtained by slurry crystallization. Process analytical technologies including
      focused beam reflectance measurement and attenuated total reflectance Fourier
      Transform Infrared were applied to investigate the cocrystallization process and
      the mechanism. HPLC analysis showed that the dissolution rate and the solubility
      of the two novel cocrystals were both improved.

PMID- 28587790
TI  - Better information sharing and reinforcement of facts needed during transition of
      young people with epilepsy.

PMID- 28587789
TI  - Once weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist albiglutide vs. prandial
      insulin added to basal insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Results
      over 52 weeks.
AB  - We have previously reported that once-weekly albiglutide was noninferior to
      thrice-daily lispro for glycemic lowering, with decreased weight and risk of
      hypoglycemia, in patients inadequately controlled on basal insulin over 26 weeks.
      Findings after 52 weeks reveal similar responses to albiglutide as an add-on to
      insulin glargine.

PMID- 28587791
TI  - Evaluation of anti-botulinum neurotoxin single domain antibodies with additional
      optimization for improved production and stability.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is a highly potent and lethal toxin, which even in
      minute quantities can lead to death. BoNT occurs in seven well described
      serotypes, A-G, and it is critical to not only detect the presence of BoNT, but
      also to determine the serotype to which a person has been exposed, as the degree
      of toxicity and persistence of symptoms varies greatly between the various types.
      Recently, Conway et al. 2010 developed single domain antibodies (sdAb), the
      recombinant variable domains of heavy-chain-only antibodies derived from
      camelids, for the detection of all seven serotypes of BoNT; identifying pairs of
      sdAb for each serotype they demonstrated the sensitive detection of each toxin.
      Using the sequence information provided in that work, fourteen of their sdAb were
      recreated with one goal being confirmation of their binding ability and
      specificity for the seven serotypes of BoNT. This was accomplished using a direct
      binding assay with the toxins immobilized on microtiter plates. In addition, the
      melting temperatures and production yields from E. coli shake flask fermentation
      were determined for each of the sdAb produced. In several instances, alternatives
      or variants of the previously described sdAb were prepared, either to improve the
      stability or production yields of the anti-BoNT sdAb. Insertion of four framework
      1 point mutations (1E or D, 3Q, 5V, and 6E) gave repeated improvement in thermal
      stability by 5-9  degrees C, offering a method for increasing sdAb melting
      temperatures. This work provides for the independent verification of the ability
      of these sdAb to recognize all seven serotypes of BoNT, furnishing melting
      temperature, relative affinity, and production yield information that will allow
      for their future utilization with increased confidence.

PMID- 28587792
TI  - Breaking fat! How mycobacteria and other intracellular pathogens manipulate host
      lipid droplets.
AB  - Tuberculosis (Tb) is a lung infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).
      With one third of the world population latently infected, it represents the most
      prevalent bacterial infectious diseases worldwide. Typically, persistence is
      linked to so-called "dormant" slow-growing bacteria, which have a low metabolic
      rate and a reduced response to antibiotic treatments. However, dormant bacteria
      regain growth and virulence when the immune system is weakened, leading again to
      the active form of the disease. Fatty acids (FAs) released from host
      triacylglycerols (TAGs) and sterols are proposed to serve as sole carbon sources
      during infection. The metabolism of FAs requires beta-oxidation as well as
      gluconeogenesis and the glyoxylate shunt. Interestingly, the Mtb genome encodes
      more than hundred proteins involved in the five reactions of beta-oxidation,
      clearly demonstrating the importance of lipids as energy source. FAs have also
      been proposed to play a role during resuscitation, the resumption of replicative
      activities from dormancy. Lipid droplets (LDs) are energy and carbon reservoirs
      and have been described in all domains. TAGs and sterol esters (SEs) are stored
      in their hydrophobic core, surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer. Importantly,
      host LDs have been described as crucial for several intracellular bacterial
      pathogens and viruses and specifically translocate to the pathogen-containing
      vacuole (PVC) during mycobacteria infection. FAs released from host LDs are used
      by the pathogen as energy source and as building blocks for membrane synthesis.
      Despite their essential role, the mechanisms by which pathogenic mycobacteria
      induce the cellular redistribution of LDs and gain access to the stored lipids
      are still poorly understood. This review describes recent evidence about the dual
      interaction of mycobacteria with host LDs and membrane phospholipids and
      integrates them in a broader view of the underlying cellular processes
      manipulated by various intracellular pathogens to gain access to host lipids.

PMID- 28587793
TI  - Miglustat therapy in a case of early-infantile Niemann-Pick type C.
AB  - Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) is a rare, progressive autosomal recessive
      disease. It is caused by mutations in either the NPC1 or NPC2 genes, resulting in
      defective regulation of intracellular lipid trafficking. Miglustat, which
      reversibly inhibits glucosylceramide synthase, reportedly has beneficial effects
      on the progressive neurological symptoms of NPC and was approved in Japan in
      2012. Some reports suggested that miglustat therapy delayed the onset or
      progression of NPC when treatment was initiated before the onset of neurological
      manifestation or at an early stage. We report here a patient with the early
      infantile form of NPC who started on miglustat at 4months of ages. To our
      knowledge, this patient is the youngest reported patient with NPC in which
      miglustat therapy was initiated. Our patient, who had hypotonia and developmental
      delay before treatment, remained stable and showed no new neurological symptoms.
      In addition, pulmonary involvement was improved during miglustat therapy. Our
      case and previous reports underscore the importance of early initiation of
      miglustat therapy for NPC.

PMID- 28587794
TI  - Biomechanical analysis of ankle ligamentous sprain injury cases from televised
      basketball games: Understanding when, how and why ligament failure occurs.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ankle sprains due to landing on an opponent's foot are common in
      basketball. There is no analysis to date that provides a quantification of this
      injury mechanism. The aim of this study was to quantify the kinematics of this
      specific injury mechanism and relate this to lateral ankle ligament biomechanics.
      DESIGN: Case series. METHODS: The model-based image-matching technique was used
      to quantify calcaneo-fibular-talar kinematics during four ankle inversion sprain
      injury incidents in televised NBA basketball games. The four incidents follow the
      same injury pattern in which the players of interest step onto an opponent's foot
      with significant inversion and a diagnosed ankle injury. A geometric analysis was
      performed to calculate the in vivo ligament strains and strain rates for the
      anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) and the calcaneofibular ligament (CFL).
      RESULTS: Despite the controlled selection of cases, the results show that there
      are two distinct injury mechanisms: sudden inversion and internal rotation with
      low levels of plantarflexion; and a similar mechanism without internal rotation.
      The first of these mechanisms results in high ATFL and CFL strains, whereas the
      second of these strains the CFL in isolation. CONCLUSIONS: The injury mechanism
      combined with measures of the ligament injury in terms of percentage of strain to
      failure correlate directly with the severity of the injury quantified by return
      to-sport. The opportunity to control excessive internal rotation through
      proprioceptive training and/or prophylactic footwear or bracing could be utilised
      to reduce the severity of common ankle injuries in basketball.

PMID- 28587795
TI  - Bullying, Social Support, and Psychological Distress: Findings From RELACHS
      Cohorts of East London's White British and Bangladeshi Adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to test whether bullying in adolescents
      relates to poor mental health and whether social support mitigated this effect.
      METHODS: In 2001, 28 schools in East London were randomly selected for surveys of
      two representative mixed ability classes: year 7 (11-12 years) and year 9 (13-14
      years). Repeated measures were obtained from the same pupils 2 years later, using
      the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (total difficulties score [TDS]) as
      a measure of psychological distress. A simple one-level random intercepts model
      with measurements nested within pupils was used to investigate the effects of
      bullying and social support from friends and family on TDS. We also assessed
      whether culturally congruent friendships offered a mental health advantage.
      RESULTS: Bullying was associated with a higher mean TDS (coefficient, 95%
      confidence interval: White British: 2.15, 1.41-2.88; Bangladeshi: 1.65, .91-2.4);
      a high level of family social support was associated with a lower TDS (White
      British: -2.36, -3.33 to -1.39; Bangladeshi: -2.34, -3.15 to -.149). Social
      support from friends was helpful for White British adolescents (-1.06, -2.07 to 
      .04). Culturally congruent friendships offered no general advantage. CONCLUSION:
      Bullying is associated with psychological distress; family social support is
      independently associated with less psychological distress.

PMID- 28587796
TI  - Effect of Hospitalization on Percent Median Body Mass Index at One Year, in
      Underweight Youth With Restrictive Eating Disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE: Data from low-weight patients with restrictive eating disorders (EDs)
      treated in outpatient adolescent medicine-based ED treatment programs were
      analyzed to determine whether there was an association between hospitalization
      and gain to at least 90% median body mass index (mBMI) at 1-year follow-up.
      METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected for 322 low-weight (<85% mBMI at
      intake) patients aged 9-21 years, who presented with restrictive EDs to 14
      adolescent medicine-based ED programs in 2010. Positive outcome was defined as
      being at least 90% mBMI (%mBMI = patient's body mass index/mBMI for age * 100) at
      1-year follow-up. Association between treatment at a higher level of care and
      gain to at least 90% mBMI was analyzed for 140 patients who were <85% mBMI at the
      time of presentation, had not been previously hospitalized, and had 1-year follow
      up data available. RESULTS: For patients presenting at <85% mBMI, those who were
      hospitalized in the year following intake had 4.0 (95% confidence interval: 1.6
      10.1) times the odds of gain to at least 90% mBMI, compared with patients who
      were not hospitalized, when controlling for baseline %mBMI. CONCLUSION: In this
      national cohort of patients with restrictive EDs presenting to adolescent
      medicine-based ED programs at <85% mBMI, those who were hospitalized had greater
      odds of being at least 90% mBMI at 1-year follow-up.

PMID- 28587798
TI  - Is Vein Bypass Truly Superior to Endovascular Intervention for Tibial Disease
      With "Severe" Limb Ischaemia?

PMID- 28587797
TI  - Comparison of Long-term Outcomes of Heparin Bonded Polytetrafluoroethylene and
      Autologous Vein Below Knee Femoropopliteal Bypasses in Patients with Critical
      Limb Ischaemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Endovascular first is the preferred therapy approach to
      critical limb ischaemia (CLI). However, in spite of new endovascular techniques,
      bypass surgery still plays an important role, especially in patients with complex
      anatomy in whom endovascular therapy is not considered feasible, or has failed.
      The goal of this study was to analyse the outcomes of prosthetic or autologous
      vein for femoropopliteal (P3) bypasses performed under the abovementioned
      conditions. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent a
      femoropopliteal (P3) bypass for CLI (March 2007-December 2015) was conducted.
      Endovascular therapy was not possible. Patency rates, limb salvage, major adverse
      limb event (MALE) free survival, and survival after 5 years were analysed.
      RESULTS: In total, 151 cases were included in the analysis (rest pain 35.8%,
      ulcer/gangrene 64.3%). The graft material was autologous vein in 76 cases (vein
      group) and heparin bonded expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (HePTFE) in 75 cases
      (HePTFE group). Indications, risk factors, previous revascularisation procedures,
      and runoff vessels were similar in both groups. Thirty day mortality was 6.6% in
      the vein group and 5.3% in the HePTFE group (p = .508), early graft occlusion
      (6.6% vs. 5.3%; p = .508) and 30 day major amputation rate (0% vs. 2.7%; p =
      .245) were similar between the two groups. Overall primary patency was 51.7%
      (55.5% [vein group] vs. 51.7% [HePTFE group]; p = .897) and overall secondary
      patency was 64.2% (74.6% [vein group] vs. 55.6% [HePTFE group]; p = .119), all
      without significance after 5 years. However, limb salvage (79.1%) was
      significantly different (90.0% [vein group] vs. 62.9% [HePTFE group]; p = .021).
      Survival was similar between the groups (47.3% vs. 42.9%; p = .582) as well as
      MALE free survival (69.4% vs. 55.0%; p = .348). CONCLUSION: Bypasses to the below
      knee popliteal artery show good results in patients with CLI unsuitable for
      endovascular therapy. Vein is still the first line graft material.

PMID- 28587799
TI  - Factors Associated With Lower Extremity Dysmorphia Caused by Lower Extremity
      Lymphoedema: Comment on Data Sparsity.

PMID- 28587800
TI  - Commentary on "Factors Associated with Lower Extremity Dysmorphia Caused by Lower
      Extremity Lymphedema".

PMID- 28587802
TI  - Cytokine filtration modulates pulmonary metabolism and edema formation during ex
      vivo lung perfusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) has improved the process of donor lung
      management. Cytokine accumulation during EVLP has been shown to correlate with
      worse outcome after lung transplantation. Our objective in this study was to test
      the safety and efficacy of cytokine filtration during EVLP in a large animal
      model. METHODS: Pig donor lungs were preserved for 24 hours at 4 degrees C,
      followed by 12 hours of EVLP, according to the Toronto protocol. The perfusate
      was continuously run through an absorbent device (CytoSorb) via a veno-venous
      shunt from the reservoir in the filter group. EVLP was performed according to the
      standard protocol in the control group (n = 5 each). EVLP physiology, lung X-ray,
      perfusate biochemistry, inflammatory response and microscopic injury were
      assessed. RESULTS: Cytokine filtration significantly improved airway pressure and
      dynamic compliance during the 12-hour perfusion period. Lung X-rays acquired at
      the end of perfusion showed increased consolidation in the control group.
      Electrolyte imbalance, determined by increased hydrogen, potassium and calcium
      ion concentrations in the perfusate, was markedly worsened in the control group.
      Glucose consumption and lactate production were markedly reduced, along with the
      lactate/pyruvate ratio in the filter group. Cytokine expression profile, tissue
      myeloperoxidase activity and microscopic lung injury were significantly reduced
      in the filter group. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous perfusate filtration through sorbent
      beads is effective and safe during prolonged EVLP. Cytokine removal decreased the
      development of pulmonary edema and electrolyte imbalance through the suppression
      of anaerobic glycolysis and neutrophil activation in this setting. Further
      studies are needed to test the beneficial effect of cytokine filtration on post
      transplant lung function.

PMID- 28587801
TI  - Response to Commentary on "Is There an Accurate Pre-operative Criterion for
      Dialysis Access Artery or Vein Diameter?"

PMID- 28587803
TI  - Effects of moisture content of food waste on residue separation, larval growth
      and larval survival in black soldier fly bioconversion.
AB  - In order to foster sustainable management of food waste, innovations in food
      waste valorization technologies are crucial. Black soldier fly (BSF)
      bioconversion is an emerging technology that can turn food waste into high
      protein fish feed through the use of BSF larvae. The conventional method of BSF
      bioconversion is to feed BSF larvae with food waste directly without any moisture
      adjustment. However, it was reported that difficulty has been experienced in the
      separation of the residue (larval excreta and undigested material) from the
      insect biomass due to excessive moisture. In addition to the residue separation
      problem, the moisture content of the food waste may also affect the growth and
      survival aspects of BSF larvae. This study aims to determine the most suitable
      moisture content of food waste that can improve residue separation as well as
      evaluate the effects of the moisture content of food waste on larval growth and
      survival. In this study, pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste with different
      moisture content (70%, 75% and 80%) was fed to BSF larvae in a temperature
      controlled rotary drum reactor. The results show that the residue can be
      effectively separated from the insect biomass by sieving using a 2.36mm sieve,
      for both types of food waste at 70% and 75% moisture content. However, sieving of
      the residue was not feasible for food waste at 80% moisture content. On the other
      hand, reduced moisture content of food waste was found to slow down larval
      growth. Hence, there is a trade-off between the sieving efficiency of the residue
      and the larval growth rate. Furthermore, the larval survival rate was not
      affected by the moisture content of food waste. A high larval survival rate of at
      least 95% was achieved using a temperature-controlled rotary drum reactor for all
      treatment groups. The study provides valuable insights for the waste management
      industry on understanding the effects of moisture content when employing BSF
      bioconversion for food waste recycling.

PMID- 28587804
TI  - Extraction of lead from waste CRT funnel glass by generating lead sulfide - An
      approach for electronic waste management.
AB  - Waste cathode ray tube (CRT) funnel glass is the key and difficult points in
      waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) disposal. In this paper, a novel
      and effective process for the detoxification and reutilization of waste CRT
      funnel glass was developed by generating lead sulfide precipitate via a high
      temperature melting process. The central function in this process was the
      generation of lead sulfide, which gathered at the bottom of the crucible and was
      then separated from the slag. Sodium carbonate was used as a flux and reaction
      agent, and sodium sulfide was used as a precipitating agent. The experimental
      results revealed that the lead sulfide recovery rate initially increased with an
      increase in the amount of added sodium carbonate, the amount of sodium sulfide,
      the temperature, and the holding time and then reached an equilibrium value. The
      maximum lead sulfide recovery rate was approximately 93%, at the optimum sodium
      carbonate level, sodium sulfide level, temperature, and holding time of 25%, 8%,
      1200 degrees C, and 2h, respectively. The glass slag can be made into sodium and
      potassium silicate by hydrolysis in an environmental and economical process.

PMID- 28587805
TI  - The effect of temperature, storage time and collection method on biomethane
      potential of source separated household food waste.
AB  - The aim of this study was to mimic real conditions for storage and transport and
      to evaluate how much of the biomethane potential is lost before the organic
      fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) from households in Sweden reaches the
      biogas plant. The laboratory biomethane potential (BMP) experiments was carried
      out with respect to the storage time, collection method (paper or plastic bag)
      and storage temperature (22 degrees C and 6 degrees C) in order to evaluate the
      effect of these factors on the biomethane potential. A recipe representative for
      OFMSW from households in Sweden was designed with the help of literature and
      modification of recipes from technical reports and scientific literature.
      Laboratory experiments showed that the difference in the BMP of OFMSW stored in
      plastic- compared to paper bags were obvious at 22 degrees C with a lower
      biomethane potential for paper bags, but there was no difference at 6 degrees C.
      Provided that the loss of organic matter during pre-treatment is equivalent for
      both paper and plastic bags it is possible to get more biomethane from OFMSW
      collected in plastic bags during the warmest part of the year, since they have a
      more preservative effect on OFMSW than paper bags. This could be explained by the
      plastic bags being denser than paper and therefore maintain the volatile organic
      compounds inside the bag and promote a pre-hydrolysis of the material rather than
      aerobic degradation.

PMID- 28587806
TI  - Thermodynamic performance of SNG and power coproduction from MSW with recovery of
      chemical unreacted gas.
AB  - A cogeneration system for simultaneously producing synthetic natural gas (SNG)
      and electric power from municipal solid waste (MSW) is developed. This process
      provides a disposal method for MSW that is environmentally sustainable and uses
      as an alternative energy sources. Rather than converting all of the synthesis gas
      into end products, in the proposed system the unconverted gas is recovered for
      power generation in a combined-cycle unit. The overall efficiency of the proposed
      system is 36.33%. The energy efficiency of this system is approximately 8.7%
      higher than that of a standalone SNG production system, and 15.02% higher than
      that of an MSW incineration system. A sensitivity analysis shows that by
      increasing the H2/CO ratio (alpha), SNG production and SNG conversion efficiency
      can be increased, but the overall efficiency does not increase. Increasing the
      recycling ratio of the unconverted gas (Ru) benefits for the SNG yield up to a
      value before Ru/(Ru+1)=0.7, and the overall system efficiency reaches its maximum
      value at Ru/(Ru+1)=0.9. Therefore, partial recycling of the unreacted gas is more
      efficient up to a point, and higher recycling ratios are less efficient.

PMID- 28587808
TI  - Retinoic acid prevents synaptic deficiencies induced by alcohol exposure during
      gastrulation in zebrafish embryos.
AB  - In this study, we examined the effects of alcohol exposure during gastrulation on
      zebrafish embryos, specifically focusing on excitatory synaptic activity
      associated with neurons (Mauthner cells) that are born during gastrulation.
      Furthermore, we determined whether co-treatment of alcohol and retinoic acid (RA)
      could prevent the effects of alcohol exposure during gastrulation. We exposed
      zebrafish embryos to ethanol (150mM), RA (1nM), or a combination of RA (1nM) plus
      ethanol (150mM) for 5.5h from 5.25h post fertilization (hpf) to 10.75 hpf
      (gastrulation). Ethanol treatment resulted in altered hatching rates,
      survivability and body lengths. Immunohistochemical analysis of Mauthner cells (M
      cells) suggested that ethanol treatment resulted in smaller M-cell bodies and
      thinner axons, while electrophysiological recordings of AMPA miniature excitatory
      postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) associated with M-cells showed that ethanol
      treated animals had a significantly reduced mEPSC frequency. Other mEPSC
      parameters such as amplitude, rise times and decay kinetics were not altered by
      exposure to alcohol. Locomotor studies showed that ethanol treatment resulted in
      altered C-bend escape responses. For instance, the C-bends of alcohol-treated
      fish were larger than control embryos. Thus, ethanol treatment during
      gastrulation altered a range of features in embryonic zebrafish. Importantly, co
      treatment with RA prevented all of the effects of ethanol including
      survivability, body length, M-cell morphology, AMPA mEPSC frequency and escape
      response movements. Together these findings show that ethanol exposure during the
      brief period of gastrulation has a significant effect on neuronal morphology and
      activity, and that this can be prevented with RA co-treatment.

PMID- 28587807
TI  - Association of MRI T1 relaxation time with neuropsychological test performance in
      manganese- exposed welders.
AB  - This study examines the results of neuropsychological testing of 26 active
      welders and 17 similar controls and their relationship to welders' shortened MRI
      T1 relaxation time, indicative of increased brain manganese (Mn) accumulation.
      Welders were exposed to Mn for an average duration of 12.25 years to average
      levels of Mn in air of 0.11+/-0.05mg/m3. Welders scored significantly worse than
      controls on Fruit Naming and the Parallel Lines test of graphomotor tremor.
      Welders had shorter MRI T1 relaxation times than controls in the globus pallidus,
      substantia nigra, caudate nucleus, and the anterior prefrontal lobe. 63% of the
      variation in MRI T1 relaxation times was accounted for by exposure group. In
      welders, lower relaxation times in the caudate nucleus and substantia nigra were
      associated with lower neuropsychological test performance on tests of verbal
      fluency (Fruit Naming), verbal learning, memory, and perseveration (WHO-UCLA
      AVLT). Results indicate that verbal function may be one of the first cognitive
      domains affected by brain Mn deposition in welders as reflected by MRI T1
      relaxation times.

PMID- 28587809
TI  - Inpatient interventions are infrequent during pediatric hospitalizations for food
      induced anaphylaxis.

PMID- 28587810
TI  - Subcellular localization of Na/K-ATPase isoforms in ventricular myocytes.
AB  - The sodium/potassium ATPase (NKA) is essential for establishing the normal
      intracellular [Na+] and [K+] and transmembrane gradients that are essential for
      many cellular functions, including cardiac electrophysiology and contractility.
      Different NKA isoforms exhibit differential expression levels, cellular
      localization, and function in different tissues and species. Prior work has
      indicated that the NKA-alpha1 isoform is quantitatively predominant in cardiac
      myocytes, but that the alpha2 isoform is preferentially concentrated in the
      transverse tubules (TT), possibly at junctions with the sarcoplasmic reticulum
      (SR) where alpha2 may preferentially modulate cardiac contractility. Here we
      measured subcellular localization of NKA-alpha1 and alpha2 using super-resolution
      microscopy (STED and STORM) and isoform-selective antibodies in mouse ventricular
      myocytes. We confirm the preferential localization of NKA-alpha2 in TT vs.
      surface sarcolemma, but also show that alpha2 is relatively excluded from
      longitudinal TT elements. In contrast NKA-alpha1 is relatively uniformly
      expressed in all three sarcolemmal regions. We also tested the hypothesis that
      NKA-alpha2 (vs. alpha1) is preferentially concentrated at SR junctional sites
      near ryanodine receptors (RyR2). The results refute this hypothesis, in that NKA
      alpha1 and alpha2 were equally close to RyR2 at the TT, with no preferential NKA
      isoform localization near RyR2. We conclude that in contrast to relatively
      uniform NKA-alpha1 distribution, NKA-alpha2 is preferentially concentrated in the
      truly transverse (and not longitudinal) TT elements. However, NKA-alpha2 does not
      preferentially cluster at RyR2 junctions, so the TT NKA-alpha2 concentration may
      suffice for preferential effects of NKA-alpha2 inhibition on cardiac
      contractility.

PMID- 28587811
TI  - Dansylglycine, a fluorescent probe for specific determination of halogenating
      activity of myeloperoxidase and eosinophil peroxidase.
AB  - Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) are enzymes present in
      neutrophil and eosinophil leukocytes, respectively. Here, we present the
      development of a sensitive and specific assay for determination of the
      halogenating enzymatic activity of MPO and EPO based on the electrophilic attack
      of HOCl and HOBr on aromatic ring of dansylglycine (DG). We found that the
      intrinsic fluorescence of DG was promptly depleted by the action of these acids.
      In the presence of the enzymes, the fluorescence bleaching was dependent of
      chloride (Cl-) and bromide (Br-), which makes the assay able to distinguish the
      halogenating from the peroxidase activity. A linear correlation was obtained
      between the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration and the fluorescent decay.
      Similarly, the enzyme activity was measured by keeping constant H2O2. The method
      was applied for studding MPO/EPO specific inhibitors as 5-fluortryptamine
      (reversible inhibitor) and 4-hydroxybenzhydrazide (irreversible inhibitor).
      Differently of the taurine chloramine/3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine assay, which
      is among the most used technique, the dansylglycine assay was able to
      differentiate these inhibitors based on their kinetic behavior. In conclusion,
      this assay can differentiate the peroxidase and halogenating activity of MPO and
      EPO. Moreover, the method is adequate for real-time measurement of the production
      of HOCl and HOBr.

PMID- 28587812
TI  - Why is systolic blood pressure drop >=10mmHg post RSD in patients with resistant
      hypertension considered responsiveness to the treatment? Should we interpret as
      science or arbitrariness?

PMID- 28587813
TI  - Abnormal regional homogeneity as a potential imaging biomarker for adolescent
      onset schizophrenia: A resting-state fMRI study and support vector machine
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Structural and functional abnormalities have been reported in the
      brain of patients with adolescent-onset schizophrenia (AOS). The brain regional
      functional synchronization in patients with AOS remains unclear. METHODS: We
      analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance scans in 48 drug-naive
      patients with AOS and 31 healthy controls by using regional homogeneity (ReHo), a
      measurement that reflects brain local functional connectivity or synchronization
      and indicates regional integration of information processing. Then, receiver
      operating characteristic curves and support vector machines were used to evaluate
      the effect of abnormal regional homogeneity in differentiating patients from
      controls. RESULTS: Patients with AOS showed significantly increased ReHo values
      in the bilateral superior medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and significantly
      decreased ReHo values in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), right precentral
      lobule, right inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and left paracentral lobule when
      compared with controls. A combination of the ReHo values in bilateral superior
      MPFC, left STG, and right IPL was able to discriminate patients from controls
      with the sensitivity of 88.24%, specificity of 91.89%, and accuracy of 90.14%.
      CONCLUSION: The brain regional functional synchronization abnormalities exist in
      drug-naive patients with AOS. A combination of ReHo values in these abnormal
      regions might serve as potential imaging biomarker to identify patients with AOS.

PMID- 28587814
TI  - Motion energy analysis reveals altered body movement in youth at risk for
      psychosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that movement abnormalities occur prior to
      the onset of psychosis. Innovations in technology and software provide the
      opportunity for a fine-tuned and sensitive measurement of observable behavior
      that may be particularly useful to detecting the subtle movement aberrations
      present during the prodromal period. METHODS: In the present study, 54 youth at
      ultrahigh risk (UHR) for psychosis and 62 healthy controls participated in
      structured clinical interviews to assess for an UHR syndrome. The initial 15min
      of the baseline clinical interview was assessed using Motion Energy Analysis
      (MEA) providing frame-by-frame measures of total movement, amplitude, speed, and
      variability of both head and body movement separately. RESULTS: Result showed
      region-specific group differences such that there were no differences in head
      movement but significant differences in body movement. Specifically, the UHR
      group showed greater total body movement and speed of body movements, and lower
      variation in body movement compared to healthy controls. However, there were no
      significant associations with positive, negative or disorganized symptom domains.
      CONCLUSION: This study represents an innovative perspective on gross motor
      function in the UHR group. Importantly, the automated approach used in this study
      provides a sensitive and objective measure of body movement abnormalities,
      potentially guiding novel assessment and prevention of symptom development in
      those at risk for psychosis.

PMID- 28587815
TI  - The role of estradiol in schizophrenia diagnosis and symptoms in postmenopausal
      women.
AB  - Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses in our society,
      affecting up to 1% of the population. There has been an increase in the number of
      people who are living longer with schizophrenia and people are being diagnosed
      later in life, with the majority of those later diagnoses being in women. In
      addition, there is a spike in diagnoses after women go through menopause,
      suggesting an important role for gonadal steroids in the disease. This paper
      examined aspects of aging and schizophrenia in the context of hormonal changes in
      women. With the rising prevalence rate of schizophrenia and the unique challenges
      that women face while aging with this disease, the idea of estrogen as a
      therapeutic agent to reduce symptom severity in postmenopausal women should be
      considered. In addition, we reviewed literature that suggests that estrogen
      interacts with the dopaminergic system to affect cognition and this should be
      studied further in older women with schizophrenia. Positive results in these
      studies have the potential to drastically improve the aging process for
      postmenopausal women with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28587816
TI  - Prognostic Value of the Preoperative Platelet-to-leukocyte Ratio for Oncologic
      Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, stratification of patients with bladder cancer (BC) mainly
      relies on histopathologic and clinical staging. Furthermore, inflammation plays
      an important role in the pathogenesis of BC. With the preoperative platelet-to
      leukocyte ratio (PLR), we introduce a novel prognostic marker based on routine
      hematologic values in patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC). PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: In our cohort of 665 patients undergoing RC (2004-2015) for urothelial
      carcinoma of the bladder (UCB), we analyzed a variety of preoperative hematologic
      parameters. We investigated the effect of thrombocytosis, leukocytosis, and the
      PLR on the oncologic outcomes, including cancer-specific survival (CSS),
      progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Both univariate (log
      rank test) and multivariate (Cox regression) analysis were performed. The
      prevalence of thrombocytosis and leukocytosis and differences in the PLR was
      assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The cutoff levels for leukocytosis,
      thrombocytosis, and the PLR were defined using receiver operating characteristic
      curve analysis, with the 5-year CSS as the binary classifier. RESULTS: A PLR of
      <= 28 (CSS, P = .033; OS, P = .029) and leukocytosis (CSS, P = .01; OS, P = .001;
      PFS, P = .003) were significantly associated with adverse oncologic outcomes
      using the log-rank test. On multivariate regression analysis, the PLR (CSS, P =
      .022; OS, P = .025) remained a significant prognostic marker among the standard
      staging variables and hemoglobin level. Advanced BC disease was significantly
      more prevalent in the patient subgroup with a low PLR (pT2-pT4, 35%; vs. pT <= 1,
      24%; P = .006) and leukocytosis (pT2-pT4, 46%; vs. pT <= 1, 30%; P < .001; pN+,
      49%; vs. pN0, 39%; P < .047). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, the
      present study is the first report of the preoperative PLR as a prognostic factor
      in patients undergoing RC for UCB. Compared with other inflammatory markers in
      BC, the PLR can be assessed without additional effort. External validation and
      its combination with other parameters might improve current prognostication
      systems for UCB.

PMID- 28587817
TI  - Human renal tubular cells contain CD24/CD133 progenitor cell populations:
      Implications for tubular regeneration after toxicant induced damage using cadmium
      as a model.
AB  - The proximal tubules of the kidney are target sites of injury by various
      toxicants. Cadmium (Cd+2), an environmental nephrotoxicant can cause adverse
      effects and overt renal damage. To decipher the mechanisms involved in
      nephrotoxicity, an in vitro model system is required. Mortal cultures of human
      proximal tubule (HPT) cells have served, as models but are difficult to acquire
      and do not lend themselves to stable transfection. The immortalized human
      proximal tubule cell line HK-2, has served as a model but it lacks vectorial
      active transport and shows signs of lost epithelial features. Recently a new
      proximal tubule cell line was developed, the RPTEC/TERT1, and the goal of this
      study was to determine if this cell line could serve as a model to study
      nephrotoxicity. Global gene expression analysis of this cell line in comparison
      to the HK-2 and HPT cells showed that the RPTEC/TERT1 cells had gene expression
      patterns similar to HPT cells when compared to the HK-2 cells. The HPT and the
      RPTEC/TERT1 cell line had an increased population of stem/progenitor cells co
      expressing CD24 and CD133 when compared to the HK-2 cells. The level of
      expression of cadherins, claudins and occludin molecules was also similar between
      the RPTEC/TERT1 and the HPT cells. Acute exposure to Cd+2 resulted in necrosis of
      the RPTEC/TERT1 cells when compared to the HK-2 cells which died by apoptosis.
      Thus, the RPTEC/TERT1 cells are similar to HPT cells and can serve as a good
      model system to study mechanisms involved in toxicant induced renal damage.

PMID- 28587818
TI  - Astrocyte-derived CCL2 participates in surgery-induced cognitive dysfunction and
      neuroinflammation via evoking microglia activation.
AB  - Neuroinflammation induced by peripheral trauma plays a key role in the
      development of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Substantial evidence
      points to reactive glia as a pivotal factor during the inflammation process.
      However, little is known about the functional interactions between astrocytes and
      microglia. Recent evidence suggests the involvement of the CCL2-CCR2 pathway in
      CNS inflammation-related diseases. Our previous studies have suggested that
      astrocyte-derived CCL2 can induce microglial activation in vitro. Within this
      context, we sought to determine if the CCL2/CCR2 axis is involved in the
      crosstalk between astrocytes and microglia, contributing to increased
      neuroinflammation. Here, we show that tibial fracture surgery promoted CCL2
      upregulation in activated astrocytes, increased CCR2 expression in activated
      microglia, and induced deficits in learning and memory. Site-directed pre
      injection of RS504393, a CCR2 antagonist, inhibited this effect by reducing
      microglial activation, M1 polarization, inflammatory cytokines, and neuronal
      injury and death and improving cognitive function. Taken together, these data
      implicate CCL2-CCR2 signaling in astrocyte-mediated microglial activation in
      central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and suggest that interference with CCL2
      signaling could constitute another potential therapeutic target for POCD.

PMID- 28587821
TI  - Structural development of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-type positive allosteric
      modulators of prostacyclin receptor (IPPAMs) to improve metabolic stability, and
      investigation of metabolic fate.
AB  - We synthesized a series of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-type positive
      allosteric modulators of prostacyclin receptor (IPPAMs), aiming to improve the
      metabolic stability of the previously identified hit compound IPPAM-3 (2). Our
      results indicated that the 3-position of the 2-substituted phenyl ring in this
      series of IPPAM-3 derivatives is a hot spot for metabolism catalyzed by human
      hepatic microsomes. This conclusion was confirmed by the finding that 8, in which
      the 3-position is blocked by a fluorine substituent, exhibited superior metabolic
      stability (t1/2 21min versus 7min for parent compound 2). The primary route of
      metabolism of 8 was found to be oxidative defluorination, i.e., ipso-substitution
      of the fluorine atom to a hydroxyl group, affording catechol derivative 12. The
      primary metabolite 12 underwent further hydroxylation mainly on the 1,2,3,4
      tetrahydroisoquinoline moiety. These findings should be helpful for design of
      IPPAMs with longer duration of action.

PMID- 28587820
TI  - Fluorescence detection of serum albumin with a turnover-based sensor utilizing
      Kemp elimination reaction.
AB  - The Kemp elimination reaction is a well-known chemical reaction that is
      facilitated on a protein surface microenvironment, and in particular is highly
      accelerated in a unique binding pocket of serum albumin. We have designed and
      synthesized a fluorescently activatable coumarin derivative with a benzisoxazole
      scaffold to enable monitoring of the Kemp elimination reaction in terms of
      fluorescence change for the first time. We show that this fluorescent sensor can
      sensitively and selectively quantitate serum albumin in blood samples. It also
      works in a dry-chemistry format.

PMID- 28587819
TI  - Prodepressant- and anxiogenic-like effects of serotonin-selective, but not
      noradrenaline-selective, antidepressant agents in mice lacking alpha2-containing
      GABAA receptors.
AB  - Deficits in neuronal inhibition via gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A
      receptors (GABAA-Rs) are implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive
      disorder and the therapeutic effects of current antidepressant treatments,
      however, the relevant GABAA-R subtype as defined by its alpha subunit is still
      unknown. We previously reported anxiety- and depressive-like behavior in alpha2+/
      and alpha2-/- mice, respectively (Vollenweider, 2011). We sought to determine
      whether this phenotype could be reversed by chronic antidepressant treatment.
      Adult male mice received 4 or 8mg/kg fluoxetine or 53mg/kg desipramine in their
      drinking water for four weeks before undergoing behavioral testing. In the
      novelty suppressed feeding test, desipramine had anxiolytic-like effects reducing
      the latencies to bite and to eat the pellet in both wild-type and alpha2+/- mice.
      Surprisingly, 4mg/kg fluoxetine had anxiogenic-like effects in alpha2+/- mice
      increasing latency to bite and to eat while 8mg/kg fluoxetine increased the
      latency to eat in both wild-type and alpha2+/- mice. In the forced swim and tail
      suspension tests, chronic desipramine treatment increased latency to immobility
      in wild-type and alpha2-/- mice. In contrast, chronic fluoxetine treatment
      increased immobility in alpha2-/- mice in both tasks while generally having no
      effect in wild-type mice. These findings suggest that in preclinical paradigms of
      anxiety and behavioral despair the antidepressant-like effects of desipramine are
      independent of alpha2-containing GABAA-Rs, while a reduction in alpha2 expression
      leads to an increased sensitivity to anxiogenic- and prodepressant-like effects
      with chronic fluoxetine treatment, pointing to a potential role of alpha2
      containing GABAA-Rs in the response to serotonin-selective antidepressants.

PMID- 28587822
TI  - Initial evaluation of Cu-64 labeled PARPi-DOTA PET imaging in mice with
      mesothelioma.
AB  - Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) has emerged as an important molecular target
      for the treatment of several oncological diseases. A couple of molecular probes
      based on Olaparib scaffold have been developed by incorporation of F-18 or
      fluorophore for positron emission tomography (PET) or optical imaging in several
      types of tumor. PARP has been reported overexpressed in mesothelioma. We hereby
      synthesized an analogue of Olaparib containing DOTA moiety and radiolabeled it
      with Cu-64 to evaluate its utility of PET tracer for mesothelioma. The Cu-64
      labeling was conveniently achieved at 90% yield with final compound at >99%
      radiochemistry purity. The biodistribution and PET imaging were performed at 0.5,
      1, 2 and 18h to confirm the in vivo tumor targeting. The tumor uptake in study
      group was significant higher than that in control group (3.45+/-0.47% ID/g vs
      2.26+/-0.30% ID/g) and tumor were clearly detected by PET imaging. These results
      suggest the feasibility to develop an Olaparib-based theranostic agent for
      mesothelioma.

PMID- 28587824
TI  - Enterovirus inhibitory activity of C-8-tert-butyl substituted 4-aryl-6,7,8,9
      tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrimidin-5(4H)-ones.
AB  - Members of a series of 4-aryl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]thieno[3,2
      e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrimidin-5(4H)-ones (1, Fig. 2) were prepared and tested
      against representative enteroviruses including Human Coxsackievirus B1 (Cox B1),
      Human Coxsackievirus B3 (Cox B3), human Poliovirus 3 (PV3), human Rhinovirus 14
      (HRV14), human Rhinovirus 21 (HRV 21) and human Rhinovirus 71 (HRV 71). The C-8
      tert-butyl group on the tetrahydrobenzene ring in these substances was found to
      be crucial for their enterovirus activity. One member of this group, 1e, showed
      single digit micromolar activities (1.6-8.85MUM) against a spectrum of viruses
      screened, and the highest selectivity index (SI) values for Cox B1 (>11.2), for
      Cox B3 (>11.5), and for PV3 (>51.2), respectively. In contrast, 1p, was the most
      active analog against the selected HRVs (1.8-2.6MUM), and showed the highest
      selectivity indices among the group of compounds tested. The SI values for 1p
      were 11.5 for HRV14, 8.4 for HRV21, and 12.1 for HRV71, respectively.

PMID- 28587823
TI  - Identification and synthesis of novel inhibitors of mycobacterium ATP synthase.
AB  - A non-diaryl quinoline scaffold 6,7-dihydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrazin-4-one was
      identified by screening of diverse set of compounds against M. smegmatis ATP
      synthase. Herein, we disclose our efforts to develop the structure activity
      relationship against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb.H37Rv strain) around the
      identified hit 1. A scaffold hopping approach was used to identify compounds 14a,
      14b and 24a with improved activity against MTb.H37Rv.

PMID- 28587825
TI  - Synthesis of 3- and 29-substituted celastrol derivatives and structure-activity
      relationship studies of their cytotoxic activities.
AB  - A series of 3-carbamate and 29-ester celastrol derivatives (compounds 1-26) were
      designed and synthesized. These analogues were evaluated for their cytotoxic
      activities against several cancer cell lines. Cytotoxicity data revealed that the
      properties of substituents and substitution position had important influence on
      cytotoxic activity. Modification of C-3 hydroxyl with size-limited groups did not
      reduce the activity obviously. The introduction of polarity group like piperazine
      could improve the solubility. Compound 23 was chosen to further evaluate anti
      tumor efficacy in vivo. It showed higher inhibition rate and better safety than
      celastrol during in vivo experiment by intragastric administration. The
      preliminary antitumor studies of compound 23in vivo showed that it might be
      promising for the development of new antitumor agents.

PMID- 28587826
TI  - Safety assessment of cultivated fruiting body of Ophiocordyceps sinensis
      evaluated through subacute toxicity in rats.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung, J.M.
      Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora is one of the most renowned traditional Chinese
      medicine used as tonic, renal, respiratory and reproductive health, promote
      longevity and overall improvement in quality of life. Natural production of O.
      sinensis is limited due to its extreme specificity in host range and confined
      geographic distribution. Therefore, cultivation of the fungus was developed to
      meet high demand for commercialization as nutraceutical. O. sinensis fruiting
      body has recently been successfully cultivated in large scale using rice based
      solid medium, providing wider source options for consumers and scientific
      researchers. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The present study aims to establish safety
      profile for the consumption of cultivated fruiting body of O. sinensis (FBOS) by
      28-days sub-acute toxicity study in Sprague Dawley rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Rats were orally administered with cultivated FBOS at three graded doses (250,
      500 and 1000mg/kg), once daily for 28 consecutive days. Control group received
      distilled water. General observations (gross behavioral changes and toxic
      symptoms) and body weight of each animal were monitored daily. Haematological,
      serum biochemical and histopathological analysis were carried out at the end of
      the experiment (Day 29). RESULTS: No behavioral changes, toxic symptoms or death
      was observed in rats throughout the dosing period. Cultivated FBOS treatment up
      to 1000mg/kg did not cause any adverse effect on the growth of the animals.
      Results from haematology and serum biochemistry revealed no toxic effect
      following cultivated FBOS treatment at three graded doses for 28 days. In
      addition, no treatment related histopathological changes were noted in heart,
      spleen, kidney, lung and liver of the animals. CONCLUSION: The present study
      revealed that oral administration of cultivated FBOS for 28 days, at dosage up to
      1000mg/kg did not pose toxicological concern in rats. Therefore, the no-observed
      adverse-effect level (NOAEL) dose of cultivated FBOS in 28-days subacute toxicity
      study is higher than 1000mg/kg.

PMID- 28587827
TI  - Combined effects of deoxynivalenol and zearalenone on oxidative injury and
      apoptosis in porcine splenic lymphocytes in vitro.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) are the two most common mycotoxins in
      animal feed. In this study, we examined oxidative injury and apoptosis of porcine
      splenic lymphocytes induced by DON or ZEA and their combination in vitro. Based
      on IC50 values, porcine splenic lymphocytes were treated with 0.06, 0.3, 1.5, and
      7.5MUg/mL DON, 0.08, 0.4, 2, and 10MUg/mL ZEA, or both DON and ZEA at 0.06 and
      0.08MUg/mL, 0.3 and 0.4MUg/mL, and 1.5 and 2MUg/mL, respectively. After 48h of
      DON and/or ZEA exposure, the cells were analyzed for antioxidant functions,
      apoptosis, and mRNA and protein expression of apoptosis-related genes p53, Bcl-2,
      Bax, caspase-3, and caspase-8 to determine their apoptosis and oxidative damage
      effects and mechanisms. The results showed that, compared with the control group,
      SOD, CAT, GPx, GSH, and Bcl-2 mRNA and protein expression levels were
      significantly reduced in exposed groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Furthermore, MDA
      contents, apoptosis rates, and p53, Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-8 protein and mRNA
      expression levels were increased significantly (P<0.01). The effects of DON and
      ZEA were dose dependent and synergistic in combination. These data suggest that
      DON and ZEA induce oxidative damage and apoptosis of porcine splenic lymphocytes.

PMID- 28587828
TI  - Diphytanoyl lipids as model systems for studying membrane-active peptides.
AB  - The branched chains in diphytanoyl lipids provide membranes with unique
      properties, such as high chemical/physical stability, low water permeability, and
      no gel-to-fluid phase transition at ambient temperature. Synthetic diphytanoyl
      phospholipids are often used as model membranes for electrophysiological
      experiments. To evaluate whether these sturdy lipids are also suitable for solid
      state NMR, we have examined their interactions with a typical amphiphilic peptide
      in comparison with straight-chain lipids. First, their phase properties were
      monitored using 31P NMR, and the structural behaviour of the antimicrobial
      peptide PGLa was studied by 19F NMR and circular dichroism in oriented membrane
      samples. Only lipids with choline headgroups (DPhPC) were found to form stable
      lipid bilayers in oriented samples, while DPhPG, DPhPE and DPhPS display non
      lamellar structures. Hence, the experimental temperature and hydration are
      crucial factors when using supported diphytanoyl lipids, as both parameters must
      be maintained in an appropriate range to avoid the formation of non-bilayer
      structures. For the same reason, a high content of other diphytanoyl lipids
      besides DPhPC in mixed lipid systems is not favourable. Unlike the situation in
      straight-chain membranes, we found that the alpha-helical PGLa was not able to
      insert into the tightly packed fluid bilayer of DPhPC but remained in a surface
      bound state even at very high peptide concentration. This behaviour can be
      explained by the high cohesivity and the negative spontaneous curvature of the
      diphytanoyl lipids. These characteristic features must therefore be taken into
      consideration, both, in electrophysiological studies, and when interpreting the
      structural behaviour of membrane-active peptides in such lipid environment.

PMID- 28587829
TI  - PEGylation with the thiosuccinimido butylamine linker significantly increases the
      stability of haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA.
AB  - Haloalkane dehalogenase (HLD) can catalyze the hydrolytic dehalogenation of
      halogenated compounds. However, HLD suffers from the poor stability to resist the
      environmental stress. PEGylation is an effective approach to enhance the
      stability of enzymes. The linker is an important stabilization factor of
      PEGylation. Thus, the linkers of the PEGylated HLD were optimized to improve the
      stability of HLD in the present study. The PEGylated haloalkane dehalogenase
      DhaAs with methylamine (Ml), carbamate (Cm) and thiosuccinimido butylamine (Tb)
      linkers were prepared, respectively. The effects of the Ml, Cm and Tb linkers on
      the stability of the PEGylated DhaAs were investigated under different
      environmental stresses. Among the three linkers, the Tb linker showed the highest
      efficacy to improve the stability of the PEGylated DhaA. The Tb linker
      significantly increased the thermal stability of the PEGylated DhaA by slowing
      its structural unfolding, and the pH stability of the PEGylated DhaA by slowing
      the protonation process. In addition, the PEGylated DhaA with the Tb linker
      showed the maximum resistance to high ionic strength (1M NaCl) and organic
      solvent (40% DMSO). PEGylation with the Tb linker is of general interest to
      effectively improve the stability of proteins, particularly the protein with poor
      stability.

PMID- 28587831
TI  - Clinical characteristics and risk factors for mortality in adult patients with
      persistent candidemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the clinical characteristics and risk factors for
      mortality in adults with persistent candidemia. METHODS: All patients >=18 years
      old with candidemia in two Korean tertiary hospitals from 2007 to 2014 were
      investigated. Persistent candidemia was defined as isolation of the same Candida
      species >=5 days after initiation of antifungal therapy. Non-persistent
      candidemia was defined as candidemia persisting for <=3 days after initiation of
      antifungal therapy. RESULTS: Candida tropicalis (29.2%) was the most common
      pathogen in persistent candidemia, and Candida albicans (35.9%) was the most
      common in non-persistent candidemia. Central venous catheter (CVC) (OR, 1.99; 95%
      CI, 1.05-3.78; P = 0.034), longer hospital stay (OR 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01-1.02; P =
      0.025), and severe sepsis (OR 2.25; 95% CI, 1.11-4.56; P = 0.024) were
      independent risk factors for persistent candidemia. C. tropicalis was
      independently related to 30-day mortality (OR, 4.12; 95% CI, 1.27-13.36; P =
      0.018), together with septic shock (OR, 5.81; 95% CI, 1.32-24.70; P = 0.017) and
      use of a corticosteroids (OR, 5.31; 95% CI, 1.07-26.29; P = 0.041) in persistent
      candidemia. CONCLUSION: C. tropicalis is the predominant pathogen and cause of
      death in patients with persistent candidemia.

PMID- 28587832
TI  - Identification and expression analysis of three XCR1-like receptors from
      Epinephelus coioides after Cryptocaryon irritans infection.
AB  - The unique receptor XCR1 of the XC subfamily of chemokines is specially expressed
      in CD8alpha-like dendritic cells. This receptor has one ligand in mice (XCL1) and
      two ligands in humans (XCL1 and XCL2). In mammals, the XCR1-XCL1 complex performs
      a vital role in regulating the localization and function of T cells, dendritic
      cells, and other cell types. In this study, three XCR1-like receptors (EcXCR1,
      EcXCR1L, and EcCCR12) were identified from a transcriptome database of orange
      spotted grouper. The open reading frames (ORFs) of EcXCR1, EcXCR1L, and EcCCR12
      predictably encode 337, 348, and 358 amino acids, respectively. All receptors are
      seven trans-membrane proteins, and contain conserved functional regions, and
      conserved sites, that are crucial for the role of chemokine receptors in mammals.
      Conserved features include four cysteine residues in the extracellular regions, a
      "DRY" motif in the second intracellular loop, and common characteristics at the N
      terminus that are important for ligand interaction. In healthy grouper, EcXCR1,
      EcXCR1L, and EcCCR12 were broadly expressed in all the tissues tested. EcXCR1 was
      expressed at high levels in the liver, and EcXCR1L, and EcCCR12 in the thymus.
      After grouper infection with Cryptocaryon irritans, EcXCR1 and EcCCR12 were up
      regulated in the skin and the spleen, and EcCCR12 in the skin, gill, and spleen.
      EcXCR1L expression changed only slightly. These results imply that EcXCR1 and
      EcCCR12 may be involved in host defense against parasite infection. A polyclonal
      antibody was produced against EcCCR12, and used to detect EcCCR12-positive cells
      in peripheral blood. These results will contribute considerably to elucidate the
      biological role of piscine XCR1-like receptors and their ligands system in the
      future.

PMID- 28587830
TI  - Early Detection of Cancer in Blood Using Single-Cell Analysis: A Proposal.
AB  - Here, we explore the potential of single-cell genomic analysis in blood for early
      detection of cancer; we consider a method that screens the presence of recurrent
      patterns of copy number (CN) alterations using sparse single-cell sequencing. We
      argue for feasibility, based on in silico analysis of existing single-cell data
      and cancer CN profiles. Sampling procedures from existing diploid single cells
      can render data for a cell with any given profile. Sampling from multiple
      published tumor profiles can interrogate cancer clonality via an algorithm that
      tests the multiplicity of close pairwise similarities among single-cell cancer
      genomes. The majority of common solid cancers would be detectable in this manner.
      As any early detection method must be verifiable and actionable, we describe how
      further analysis of suspect cells can aid in determining risk and anatomic
      origin. Future affordability rests on currently available procedures for tumor
      cell enrichment and inexpensive methods for single-cell analysis.

PMID- 28587833
TI  - An update on mechanism of entry of white spot syndrome virus into shrimps.
AB  - Host-parasite relationships can be best understood at the level of protein
      protein interaction between host and pathogen. Such interactions are instrumental
      in understanding the important stages of life cycle of pathogen such as
      adsorption of the pathogen on host surface followed by effective entry of
      pathogen into the host body, movement of the pathogen across the host cytoplasm
      to reach the host nucleus and replication of the pathogen within the host. White
      Spot Disease (WSD) is a havoc for shrimps and till date no effective treatment is
      available against the disease. Moreover information regarding the mechanism of
      entry of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) into shrimps, as well as knowledge
      about the protein interactions occurring between WSSV and shrimp during viral
      entry are still at very meagre stage. A cumulative and critically assessed
      information on various viral-shrimp interactions occurring during viral entry can
      help to understand the exact pathway of entry of WSSV into the shrimp which in
      turn can be used to device drugs that can stop the entry of virus into the host.
      In this context, we highlight various WSSV and shrimp proteins that play role in
      the entry mechanism along with the description of the interaction between host
      and pathogen proteins.

PMID- 28587835
TI  - Effect of physicochemical properties of peptides from soy protein on their
      antimicrobial activity.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) kill microbial cells through insertion and
      damage/permeabilization of the cytoplasmic cell membranes and has applications in
      food safety and antibiotic replacement. Soy protein is an attractive, abundant
      natural source for commercial production of AMPs. In this research, explicit
      solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was employed to investigate the
      effects of (i) number of total and net charges, (ii) hydrophobicity (iii)
      hydrophobic moment and (iv) helicity of peptides from soy protein on their
      ability to bind to lipid bilayer and their transmembrane aggregates to form
      pores. Interaction of possible AMP segments from soy protein with 1-palmitoyl-2
      oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3
      phosphoglycerol (POPC/POPG) bilayers, a mimic of bacterial cell membrane, was
      investigated. Pore formation was insensitive to helicity and occurred for
      hydrophobicity threshold in the range of -0.3-0kcal/mol, hydrophobic moment
      threshold of 0.3kcal/mol, net charge threshold of 2. Though low hydrophobicity
      and high number of charges help in the formation of water channel for
      transmembrane aggregates, insertion of peptides with these properties requires
      overcome of energy barrier, as shown by potential of mean force calculations,
      thereby resulting in low antimicrobial activity. Experimental evaluation of
      antimicrobial activity of these peptides against Gram positive L. monocytogenes
      and Gram negative E. coli as obtained by spot-on-lawn assay was consistent with
      simulation results. These results should help in the development of guidelines
      for selection of peptides with antimicrobial activity based on their
      physicochemical properties.

PMID- 28587834
TI  - Spasmogenic Effects of the Proteasome Inhibitor Carfilzomib on Coronary
      Resistance, Vascular Tone and Reactivity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carfilzomib (CFZ) is a new proteasome inhibitor used for the
      treatment of multiple myeloma. Besides heart failure, angina and myocardial
      ischemia occurred following administration of CFZ, which is not contraindicated
      in patients with recent myocardial infarction/unstable angina excluded from the
      safety trials. AIM OF STUDY: To test the effects of CFZ (10-9 to 10-7mol/L) on
      vascular tone and reactivity in the isolated rabbit heart and aorta. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: CFZ administered by bolus injection to the isolated heart increased
      coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) at all tested concentrations and mildly raised
      left ventricular pressure and heart rate, only at the highest concentration.
      Addition of CFZ directly into the organ bath increased the basal tone of isolated
      aortic strips with contraction plateau reached after 10min. This spasmogenic
      effect doubled following ablation of the endothelium. Pretreatment with CFZ
      amplified the vasospastic action exerted by KCl, noradrenaline (NA) and
      angiotensin II (A) on aortic strips, and impaired vasodilation following
      administration of nitroglycerin (NTG) and nifedipine (NFP) on the contraction
      plateau induced by KCl, NA and A. Aortic strips pretreated with CFZ exhibited
      impaired relaxation, as compared to untreated strips, following administration of
      acetylcholine (Ach), an endothelium-dependent vasodilating agent, on the plateau
      of NA contraction (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CFZ increased CPP, resting
      vasoconstricting tone and the spasmogenic effect of different agents.
      Preincubation with CFZ decreased the anti-spasmogenic activity of NTG and NFP, as
      well as reduced by over 50% the vasodilating effect of Ach, suggesting that CFZ
      can impair vasodilation via an endothelium dependent mechanism. Further studies
      are warranted to establish its clinical safety in patients with known CAD and
      prior history of coronary spasm.

PMID- 28587837
TI  - A Response.

PMID- 28587836
TI  - Functional characterization of Aedes aegypti alkaline phosphatase ALP1 involved
      in the toxicity of Cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis and
      jegathesan.
AB  - Presently three major groups of proteins from Aedes aegypti, cadherin, alkaline
      phosphatases (ALP) and aminopeptidases N (APN), have been identified as Cry11Aa
      toxin receptors. To further characterize their role on toxicity, transgenic
      mosquitoes with silenced Aedes cadherin expression were previously generated and
      the role of cadherin in mediating the toxicity of four different mosquitocidal
      toxins (Cry11Aa, Cry11Ba, Cry4Aa and Cry4Ba) was demonstrated. Here, we
      investigated the role of another reported Cry11Aa receptor, ALP1. As with Aedes
      cadherin, this protein is localized in the apical cell membrane of distal and
      proximal gastric caecae and the posterior midgut. We also successfully generated
      transgenic mosquitoes that knockdowned ALP1 transcript levels using an inducible
      Aedes heat shock promoter, Hsp70A driving dsALP1RNA. Four different mosquitocidal
      toxins were used for larval bioassays against this transgenic mosquito. Bioassay
      results show thatCry11Aa toxicity to these transgenic larvae following a heat
      shock decreased (4.4 fold) and Cry11Ba toxicity is slightly attenuated. But
      Cry4Aa and Cry4Ba toxicity to ALP1 silenced larvae is unchanged. Without heat
      shock, toxicity of all four toxins does not change, suggesting this heat shock
      promoter is heat-inducible. Notably, transgenic mosquitoes with ALP1 knockdown
      are about 3.7 times less resistant to Cry11Aa toxin than those with Aedes
      cadherin knockdown. These results demonstrate that the ALP1 is an important
      secondary receptor for Cry11Aa and Cry11Ba, but it might not be involved in
      Cry4Aa and Cry4Ba toxicity.

PMID- 28587838
TI  - Effects of water pH on the uptake and elimination of the piscicide, 3
      trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM), by larval sea lamprey.
AB  - Invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations in the Great Lakes are
      controlled by applying the piscicide, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM), to
      infested streams with larval sea lamprey (ammocoetes). While treatment mortality
      is >90%, surviving lamprey, called residuals, can undermine control efforts. A
      key determinant of TFM effectiveness is water pH, which can fluctuate daily and
      seasonally in surface waters. The objectives of this research were to evaluate
      the influence of pH on the uptake, elimination, and accumulation of TFM by larval
      sea lamprey using radio-labeled TFM (14C-TFM), when exposed to a nominal
      concentration of 4.6mgTFML-1 or 7.6mgTFML-1, 3h or 1h, respectively. TFM uptake
      rates were approximately 5.5-fold greater at low pH (6.86) compared to the high
      pH (8.78), most likely due to the unionized, lipophilic form of TFM existing in
      greater amounts at a lower pH. In contrast, elimination rates following the
      injection of 85nmolTFMg-1 body mass were 1.7-1.8 fold greater at pH8.96 than at
      pH6.43 during 2-4h of depuration in TFM-free water. Greater initial excretion
      rates at pH8.96 were presumably due to predicted increases in outward
      concentration gradients of un-ionized TFM. The present findings suggest that TFM
      is mainly taken-up in its un-ionized form, more lipophilic form, but there is
      also significant uptake of the ionized form of TFM via an unknown mechanism.
      Moreover, we provide an explanation to how small increases in pH can undermine
      lampricide treatment success increasing residual lamprey populations.

PMID- 28587839
TI  - Leishmaniasis in Turkey: Visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by
      Leishmania donovani in Turkey.
AB  - In Turkey, the main causative agents are Leishmania tropica (L. tropica) and
      Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and L.
      infantum for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). In this study, we investigated
      leishmaniasis cases caused by L. donovani and established animal models for
      understanding its tropism in in vivo conditions. Clinical samples (lesion
      aspirations and bone marrow) obtained from CL/VL patients were investigated using
      parasitological (smear/NNN) and DNA-based techniques. For species identification,
      a real time ITS1-PCR was performed using isolates and results were confirmed by
      hsp70 PCR-N/sequencing and cpb gene PCR/sequencing in order to reveal Leishmania
      donovani and Leishmania infantum discrimination. Clinical materials from CL and
      VL patients were also inoculated into two experimental groups (Group CL and Group
      VL) of Balb/C mice intraperitoneally for creating clinical picture of Turkish L.
      donovani strains. After 45days, the samples from visible sores of the skin were
      taken, and spleens and livers were removed. Measurements of the internal organs
      were done and touch preparations were prepared for checking the presence of
      amastigotes. The strains were isolated from all patients and amastigotes were
      seen in all smears of the patients, and then isolates were immediately stored in
      liquid nitrogen. In real time ITS1-PCR, the melting temperatures of all samples
      were out of range of L. infantum, L. tropica and L. major. Sequencing of hsp70
      PCR-N showed that all isolates highly identical to previously submitted L.
      donovani sequences in GenBank, and cpb gene sequencing showed five isolates had
      longer cpbF allele, whereas one isolate contained a mixed sequence of both cpbF
      and cpbE. All mice in both experimental groups became infected. Compared to
      controls, the length and width of both liver and spleen were significantly
      elevated (p<0.001) in both groups of mice. However, the weight of the liver
      increased significantly in all mice whereas the weight of spleen increased only
      in VL group. Amastigotes were also seen in all touch preparations prepared from
      skin sores, spleen and liver. L. donovani strain was isolated from autocutaneous
      a VL patient first time in Turkey. Animal models using clinical samples were
      successfully established and important clinical differences of the isolated
      strains were observed.

PMID- 28587840
TI  - Control of biting lice, Mallophaga - a review.
AB  - The chewing lice (Mallophaga) are common parasites of different animals. Most of
      them infest terrestrial and marine birds, including pigeons, doves, swans,
      cormorants and penguins. Mallophaga have not been found on marine mammals but
      only on terrestrial ones, including livestock and pets. Their bites damage
      cattle, sheep, goats, horses and poultry, causing itch and scratch and arousing
      phthiriasis and dermatitis. Notably, Mallophaga can vector important parasites,
      such as the filarial heartworm Sarconema eurycerca. Livestock losses due to
      chewing lice are often underestimated, maybe because farmers notice the presence
      of the biting lice only when the infestation is too high. In this review, we
      examined current knowledge on the various strategies available for Mallophaga
      control. The effective management of their populations has been obtained through
      the employ of several synthetic insecticides. However, pesticide overuse led to
      serious concerns for human health and the environment. Natural enemies of
      Mallophaga are scarcely studied. Their biological control with predators and
      parasites has not been explored yet. However, the entomopathogenic fungus
      Metarhizium anisopliae has been reported as effective in vitro and in vivo
      experiments against Damalinia bovis infestation on cattle. Furthermore, different
      Bacillus thuringiensis preparations have been tested against Mallophaga, the most
      effective were B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki, kenyae and morrisoni. Lastly,
      plant-borne insecticides have been evaluated against Mallophaga. Tested products
      mainly contained bioactive principles from two Meliaceae, Azadirachta indica, and
      Carapa guianensis. High efficacy of neem-borne preparations was reported, leading
      to the development of several products currently marketed. Overall, our review
      highlighted that our knowledge about Mallophaga vector activity and control is
      extremely patchy. Their control still relied on the employ of chemical pesticides
      widely used to fight other primary pests and vectors of livestock, such as ticks,
      while the development of eco-friendly control tool is scarce. Behavior-based
      control of Mallophaga, using pheromone-based lures or even the Sterile Insect
      Technique (SIT) may also represent a potential route for their control, but our
      limited knowledge on their behavioral ecology and chemical communication strongly
      limit any possible approach.

PMID- 28587841
TI  - 3'nucleotidase/nuclease in protozoan parasites: Molecular and biochemical
      properties and physiological roles.
AB  - 3'-nucleotidase/nuclease (3'NT/NU) is a bi-functional enzyme that is able to
      hydrolyze 3'-monophosphorylated nucleotides and nucleic acids. This review
      summarizes the major molecular and biochemical properties of this enzyme in
      different trypanosomatid species. Sequence analysis of the gene encoding 3'NT/NU
      in Leishmania and Crithidia species showed that the protein possesses five highly
      conserved regions that are characteristic of members of the class I nuclease
      family. 3'NT/NU presents a molecular weight of approximately 40 kDa, which is
      conserved among the studied species. Throughout the review, we discuss inhibitors
      and substrate specificity, relating them to the putative structure of the enzyme.
      Finally, we present the major biological roles performed by 3'NT/NU. The
      involvement of 3'NT/NU in the purine salvage pathway was confirmed by the
      increase of activity and expression of the enzyme when the parasites were
      submitted to purine starvation. The generation of extracellular adenosine is also
      important to the modulation of the host immune response. Interaction assays
      involving Leishmania parasites and macrophages indicated that 3'-nucleotidase
      activity increases the association index between them. Recently, it was shown
      that 3'NT/NU plays a role in parasite escape from neutrophil extracellular traps,
      one of the first mechanisms of the host immune system for preventing infection.

PMID- 28587843
TI  - Prevalence of urinary incontinence and its relation with sedentarism in Spain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence in the elderly
      Spanish population of both sexes and identify a possible relationship between
      physical activity habits and the presence of urinary incontinence in the elderly.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used data from 8146 individuals older than 60 years (age
      range, 60-94 years), from which data from a 15-year cohort were obtained. Of
      these, 4745 (58.2%) were women and 3401 (41.8%) were men. We analysed the
      presence of urinary incontinence, physical activity habits and the influence of
      other variables such as sex, age, weight and body mass index. RESULTS: We
      detected a prevalence of urinary incontinence of 15% for the women and 11.6% for
      the men. Those with urinary incontinence had a greater average age, weight and
      body mass index than the healthy participants. At the same time, the patient
      group with incontinence showed more sedentary habits compared with the healthy
      participants. CONCLUSIONS: A strong relationship was observed between the body
      mass index and prevalence of urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence was also
      related to attitudinal aspects such as physical inactivity, a behaviour that
      predisposes the elderly to developing incontinence. For the first time, we
      observed a reduction in the prevalence of incontinence compared with previous
      studies.

PMID- 28587844
TI  - Postoperative management of radical cystectomy. Review of the evidence on the
      prevention and treatment of urological complications.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: This review article focuses on the prevention and
      management of the most common postoperative urological complications of radical
      cystectomy. We reviewed the current literature and conducted an analysis of
      frequency, prevention and treatment of complications. ACQUISITION OF EVIDENCE: We
      conducted a search on Medline to identify original articles, literature reviews
      and editorials focusing on the urological complications of radical cystectomy
      during the first 90 days after surgery. We identified those series that included
      more than 100 patients. SYNTHESIS OF THE EVIDENCE: The literature regarding the
      prevention and treatment of complications after cystectomy is in general
      retrospective and nonstandardised. The level of evidence is generally low, and it
      is difficult to make evidence-based recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Progress has
      been made in recent years in reducing mortality and preventing the complications
      of cystectomy. The most common complications are gastrointestinal, for which
      significant efforts have been made to implement ERAS and Fast Track protocols.
      The complications that can most significantly change patients' quality of life
      are urinary stoma.

PMID- 28587842
TI  - Sustained sensitizing effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha on sensory nerves in
      lung and airways.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) plays a significant role in the
      pathogenesis of airway inflammatory diseases. Inhalation of aerosolized TNFalpha
      induced airway hyperresponsiveness accompanied by airway inflammation in healthy
      human subjects, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. We recently
      reported a series of studies aimed to investigate if TNFalpha elevates the
      sensitivity of vagal bronchopulmonary sensory nerves in a mouse model; these
      studies are summarized in this mini-review. Our results showed that intratracheal
      instillation of TNFalpha induced pronounced airway inflammation 24 h later, as
      illustrated by infiltration of eosinophils and neutrophils and the release of
      inflammatory mediators and cytokines in the lung and airways. Accompanying these
      inflammatory reactions, the sensitivity of vagal pulmonary C-fibers and silent
      rapidly adapting receptors to capsaicin, a selective agonist of transient
      receptor potential vanilloid type 1 receptor, was markedly elevated after the
      TNFalpha treatment. A distinct increase in the sensitivity to capsaicin induced
      by TNFalpha was also observed in isolated pulmonary sensory neurons, suggesting
      that the sensitizing effect is mediated primarily through a direct action of
      TNFalpha on these neurons. Furthermore, the same TNFalpha treatment also induced
      a lingering (>7days) cough hyperresponsiveness to inhalation challenge of NH3 in
      awake mice. Both the airway inflammation and the sensitizing effect on pulmonary
      sensory neurons caused by the TNFalpha treatment were abolished in the TNF
      receptor double homozygous mutant mice, indicating the involvement of TNF
      receptor activation. These findings suggest that the TNFalpha-induced
      hypersensitivity of vagal bronchopulmonary afferents may be responsible for, at
      least in part, the airway hyperresponsiveness caused by inhaled TNFalpha in
      healthy individuals.

PMID- 28587845
TI  - Trends in the management of urolithiasis in Latin America, Spain and Portugal:
      results of a survey in the Confederacion Americana de Urologia (CAU).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the trends in the current management of urolithiasis in
      the Confederacion Americana de Urologia (CAU) setting to recognise patterns of
      clinical practice and identify educational needs. MATERIAL AND METHOD: An online
      survey was created with 31 multiple-choice questions (Spanish and Portuguese)
      through www.caunet.org, which revealed demographic data, patterns of clinical
      practice and approaches for specific clinical conditions. RESULTS: A total of 463
      practitioners from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Chile and other
      countries (3.96% of the members of CAU) completed the survey. All participants
      performed some type of urolithiasis treatment: 98.5% performed semirigid
      ureteroscopy (URS), 83.8% performed percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), 78.2%
      performed flexible URS, and 67.2% performed extracorporeal lithotripsy. The
      youngest physicians tended to perform PCNL (P<.001), and the proportion of users
      of flexible URS was greater in the Portuguese countries (P=.037). The main energy
      source was laser (60.7%). Small-calibre PCNL was performed by 15.3% of the
      respondents, more often in university hospitals (P<.01) and by older
      practitioners (P<.01). Only 3.2% of the respondents used percutaneous access to
      the kidney guided exclusively by ultrasound, especially the older practitioners
      (P<.001). The supine position was used by 40.4% of the respondents, more often in
      Spain (P<.001) and in the university setting (P=.017). PCNL without nephrostomy
      was practiced by 3.9% of the respondents. For flexible URS, 19.2% of the
      respondents did not use ureteral access sheaths, and the older practitioners
      preferred thinner calibre sheaths (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The management of
      lithiasis in the CAU setting follows a profile similar to that recognised in the
      European and American clinical guidelines, although there are interesting
      variations based on the practitioner's age and preferences. We identified
      potential areas for improvement in small-calibre PCNL and ultrasound-guided
      puncture.

PMID- 28587846
TI  - Approach of the patient with renal cancer: Is there a collaboration between
      urology and oncology?

PMID- 28587847
TI  - Molecular cloning and tissue distribution of Crh and Pomc mRNA in the fat-tailed
      dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), an Australian marsupial.
AB  - Like all vertebrates, marsupials respond to stressors with the activation of the
      hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. However, peptides operating at the higher
      regulatory levels of this hormonal system, i.e. corticotropin-releasing hormone
      (CRH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), have not been investigated in
      marsupials. Here we report the molecular cloning of the precursor cDNAs of CRH
      (prepro-CRH) and of ACTH (proopiomelanocortin; POMC) in an Australian marsupial,
      the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata). Dunnart POMC and prepro-CRH
      are predicted to be peptides of 399 and 200 amino acids, respectively. While the
      ACTH and beta-endorphin sequences within the POMC sequence are highly conserved,
      the POMC sequence shows some unique features in this species, and perhaps all
      Australian marsupials, including the loss of a gamma-melanotropin sequence and
      duplications of the ACTH sequence. Mature dunnart CRH is identical to CRH in
      human, mouse, rat and chicken. Pomc and Crh mRNA is mainly expressed in dunnart
      pituitary gland and brain, respectively, but both are also present in a range of
      peripheral tissues.

PMID- 28587848
TI  - miR-148a-3p regulates adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation by targeting
      lysine-specific demethylase 6b.
AB  - Recent emerging studies of miRNAs in mesenchymal stem cell commitment toward
      adipocyte and osteoblast provide new insights for the understanding of the
      molecular basis of adipogenesis and osteogenesis. The current study revealed that
      miR-148a-3p was altered in primary cultured marrow stromal cells and established
      stromal ST2 line after adipogenic and/or osteogenic treatment. Supplementing miR
      148a-3p activity inhibited cell growth and induced ST2 to differentiate into
      mature adipocytes. Conversely, inactivation of the endogenous miR-148a-3p
      suppressed ST2 to fully differentiate. By contrast, supplementation of the miR
      148a-3p blunted osteoblast differentiation. Lysine-specific demethylase 6b
      (Kdm6b), a recently identified regulator of osteoblast differentiation was shown
      to be a direct target of miR-148a-3p by using the luciferase assay.
      Overexpression of Kdm6b attenuated miR-148a-3p stimulation of adipogenic
      differentiation. Taken together, our study provides evidences that miR-148a-3p
      reciprocally regulates adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation through directly
      targeting Kdm6b.

PMID- 28587850
TI  - Frailty and Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Hospitalized Older Adults: A Comparison
      of Different Frailty Measures.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of data for the assessment of frailty in acutely
      ill hospitalized older adults. We aim to (1) compare the performance of frailty
      measures [5-item scale of fatigue, resistance, ambulation, illnesses, and loss of
      weight) (FRAIL), Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), and Clinical Frailty Scale
      (CFS)] in identifying frailty, using the widely adopted Frailty Index (FI) as
      "gold standard," and (2) compare their ability to predict negative outcomes among
      hospitalized older adults. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Acute
      inpatient care. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 210 patients (mean age 89.4 +/- 4.6
      years, 69.5% female) admitted to the Department of Geriatric Medicine.
      MEASUREMENTS: Premorbid frailty status was assessed by FI, FRAIL, TFI, and CFS.
      We collected data on comorbidities, severity of illness, functional status, and
      cognitive status. We compared area under receiver operator characteristic curves
      for FRAIL, TFI, and CFS against the reference FI. Multiple logistic regression
      was performed to examine the association between frailty and the primary outcome
      of in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Frailty prevalence estimates were 87.1% (FI),
      50% (FRAIL), 80% (TFI), and 81% (CFS). Area under receiver operator
      characteristics against FI ranged from 0.81 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72
      0.90: FRAIL] to 0.91 (95% CI 0.87-0.95: CFS), with no significant difference on
      receiver operating characteristic curve contrast. Frailty, as defined by FRAIL
      score >=3, was associated with higher in-hospital mortality (6.7% vs 1.0%, P =
      .031) and length of hospitalization [10 days (6.0-17.5) vs 8 days (5.0-14.0), P =
      .043]. FI [odds ratio (OR) = 1.15, 95% CI 1.00-1.33, P = .05], FRAIL (OR = 3.31,
      95% CI 1.43-7.67, P = .005), and CFS (OR = 2.57, 95% CI 1.14-5.83, P = .023)
      independently predicted in-hospital mortality adjusted for age, sex, and severity
      of illness. CONCLUSIONS: FRAIL and CFS are simple frailty measures that may
      identify older adults at highest risk of adverse outcomes of hospitalization.
      FRAIL performed better in predicting in-hospital mortality.

PMID- 28587849
TI  - MicroRNA profiling in kidney disease: Plasma versus plasma-derived exosomes.
AB  - Liquid biopsies have advanced rapidly in recent years for use in diagnostic and
      prognostic applications. One important aspect of this advancement is the growth
      in our understanding of microRNA (miRNA) biology. The measurement of miRNAs
      packaged within exosomes, which are constantly released into the blood stream,
      may reflect pathological changes within the body. The current study performed
      miRNA profiling using plasma and plasma-derived exosome samples from two animal
      models of kidney disease, the 5/6th partial nephrectomy (PNx) and two-kidney-one
      clip (2K1C) models. The RT-qPCR-based profiling results revealed that the overall
      miRNA expression level was much higher in plasma than in plasma-derived exosomes.
      With 200MUl of either plasma or exosomes derived from the same volume of plasma,
      629 out of 665 total miRNAs analyzed were detectable in plasma samples from sham
      operated rats, while only 403 were detectable in exosomes with a cutoff value set
      at 35cycles. Moreover, the average miRNA expression level in plasma was about 16
      fold higher than that in exosomes. We also found a select subset of miRNAs that
      were enriched within exosomes. The number of detectable miRNAs from plasma
      derived exosomes was increased in rats subjected to PNx or 2K1C surgery compared
      to sham-operated animals. Importantly, we found that the changes of individual
      miRNAs measured in plasma had very poor concordance with that measured in plasma
      derived exosomes in both animal models, suggesting that miRNAs in plasma and
      plasma-derived exosomes are differentially regulated in these disease conditions.
      Interestingly, PNx and 2K1C surgeries induced similar changes in miRNA
      expression, implying that common pathways were activated in these two disease
      models. Pathway analyses using DIANA-miRPath v3.0 showed that significantly
      changed exosomal miRNAs were associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) receptor
      interaction and mucin type-O-glycan synthesis pathways, which are related with
      tissue fibrosis and kidney injury, respectively. In conclusion, our results
      demonstrated that due to the differential changes in miRNAs, the measurement of
      exosomal miRNAs cannot be replaced by the measurement of miRNAs in plasma, or
      vice versa. We also showed that a set of miRNAs related with kidney injury and
      organ fibrosis were dysregulated in plasma-derived exosomes from animal models of
      kidney disease.

PMID- 28587851
TI  - Incidence of Pressure Ulcers During Home and Institutional Care Among Long-Term
      Care Insurance Beneficiaries With Dementia Using the Korean Elderly Cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether type of long-term care service is a risk factor of
      the incidence of pressure ulcers among older adults with dementia who are
      receiving long-term care insurance (LTCI). METHODS: Data from LTCI beneficiaries
      (benefit level 1 or 2) with dementia, aged 60 and older (n = 7841), in the Korean
      Elderly Cohort data set from 2008 to 2013 were used. Type of long-term care
      service was categorized into home or institutional care using the LTCI Claims
      Database. The National Health Insurance Claims Database was used to identify the
      incidence of pressure ulcers as the outcome variable in a survival analysis using
      the time-dependent Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: Of the 7841
      participants, 98 (1.2%) exhibited pressure ulcers. Compared with beneficiaries
      receiving home care, those receiving institutional care had a higher adjusted
      hazard ratio for pressure ulcers (hazard ratio 6.48, 95% confidence interval 3.48
      10.86). These associations were particularly strong among beneficiaries without
      pressure ulcers during the mandatory assessment for benefit eligibility and who
      were partially ambulatory. DISCUSSION: Beneficiaries receiving institutional care
      were more likely to have pressure ulcers than were those receiving home care. The
      government must monitor the quality of institutional long-term care services and
      encourage service providers to improve such care.

PMID- 28587852
TI  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Current indications and infectious
      complications.

PMID- 28587853
TI  - Fulminant reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome.

PMID- 28587854
TI  - Farmer's lung disease: Analysis of 75 cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Farmer's lung disease (FLD) is a common form of hypersensitivity
      pneumonitis possibly underdiagnosed in our midst. The aim of this study was to
      describe clinical characteristics, evolution and factors that influence the
      prognosis of patients with FLD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study that
      included all patients diagnosed with FLD presenting an environmental exposure
      risk, a clinic, lung function and a compatible radiology, in which antigen
      sensitisation was demonstrated and/or a concordant pathology. RESULTS: We
      selected 75 patients with FLD, 50 with acute or subacute form (ASF) and 25 with
      chronic form (CF). Forty-four percent of patients (n=33) were diagnosed during
      the months of March and April, especially those with ASF compared to CF (52 vs.
      28%; P=.0018). In the ASF group, DLco showed an improvement during follow-up
      (P=.047). The determination of specific IgG antibodies was positive in 39
      patients (78%) with ASF (44% of them against Aspergillus) and CF 12 (48%). The
      realisation of antigenic avoidance (OR 9.26, 95% CI 1.3-66.7, P=.026) and the
      administration of immunosuppressive therapy (OR 16.13, 95% CI 1.26-200, P=.033)
      were predictors of better disease progression. CONCLUSIONS: FLD is predominantly
      seasonal in our environment. CF usually has a negative specific IgG antibodies
      unlike ASF, where antibodies against Aspergillus are the most common. The
      realisation of antigenic avoidance and immunosuppressive treatment are possible
      predictors of better disease progression.

PMID- 28587855
TI  - Pheophorbide a, a compound isolated from the leaves of Arrabidaea chica, induces
      photodynamic inactivation of Trypanosoma cruzi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 6-7 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi,
      the etiological agent of Chagas' disease. Only two therapeutic compounds have
      been found to be useful against this disease: nifurtimox and benznidazole. These
      drugs have been effective in the acute phase of the disease but less effective in
      the chronic phase; they also have many side effects. Thus, the search for new
      compounds with trypanocidal action is necessary. Natural products can be the
      source of many important substances for the development of drugs to treat this
      infection. The present study evaluated the biological activity of an extract and
      fractions of Arrabidaea chica against T. cruzi and observed morphological and
      ultrastructural characteristics of parasites exposed to the isolated compound
      pheophorbide a. METHODS: The crude hydroethanolic extract of A. chica was
      prepared. Fractions were obtained by partition and separated by liquid
      chromatography. RESULTS: We observed a progressive increase in activity against
      epimastigote, trypomastigote, and amastigote forms of the parasite over the
      course of the fractionation process. Interestingly, we isolated a compound known
      as a photosensitizer that is used in photodynamic therapy. This method of
      treatment involving a photosensitizer, activation light and molecular oxygen is
      of great importance due to its selectivity. Pheophorbide a had activity against
      the protozoan in the presence of light and caused morphological and
      ultrastructural changes, demonstrating its potential in photodynamic therapy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on the ability of pheophorbide a to eliminate bloodstream
      forms of T. cruzi, we suggest its use in blood banks for hemoprophylaxis.

PMID- 28587856
TI  - Optimization and characterization of a murine lung infection model for the
      evaluation of novel therapeutics against Burkholderia cenocepacia.
AB  - Several B. cenocepacia mouse models are available to study the pulmonary
      infection by this Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) species. However, a
      characterized B. cenocepacia mouse model to evaluate the efficacy of potential
      new antibacterial therapies is not yet described. Therefore, we optimized and
      validated the course of infection (i.e. bacterial proliferation in lung, liver
      and spleen) and the efficacy of a reference antibiotic, tobramycin (TOB), in a
      mouse lung infection model. Furthermore, the local immune response and
      histological changes in lung tissue were studied during infection and treatment.
      A reproducible lung infection was observed when immunosuppressed BALB/c mice were
      infected with B. cenocepacia LMG 16656. Approximately 50 to 60% of mice infected
      with this BCC species demonstrated a dissemination to liver and spleen. TOB
      treatment resulted in a two log reduction in lung burden, prevented dissemination
      of B. cenocepacia to liver and spleen and significantly reduced levels of
      proinflammatory cytokines. As this mouse model is characterized by a reproducible
      course of infection and efficacy of TOB, it can be used as a tool for the in vivo
      evaluation of new antibacterial therapies.

PMID- 28587857
TI  - Comparison of the XTT and resazurin assays for quantification of the metabolic
      activity of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm.
AB  - We assessed whether resazurin was as efficient as XTT in the measurement of the
      metabolic activity of 209 clinical Staphylococcus aureus biofilm using an vitro
      model comparing the percentage of formazan and resorufin. The overall categorical
      agreement was 61.2% (r=0.024), which means that resazurin can not substitute XTT.

PMID- 28587858
TI  - Rebamipide reduces amyloid-beta 1-42 (Abeta42) production and ameliorates Abeta43
      lowered cell viability in cultured SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - Amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides, Abeta 1-42 (Abeta42) and Abeta43, in particular,
      have been implicated in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease such as
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Rebamipide (REB), a gastrointestinal protective drug,
      can cross the blood-brain barrier after oral administration; however, the effects
      of REB on neuronal cells have not yet been reported. In this study, we
      investigated the effects of REB on Abeta43-induced cytotoxicity (monomers, 10MUM)
      in cultured SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. Addition of REB (10-1000nM) into
      the media partially ameliorated the reduced cell viability observed after Abeta43
      treatment, which was determined by the MTT assay. REB reduced the levels of
      intracellular Abeta oligomers (100-150kDa) that were formed from the exogenous
      addition of Abeta43 monomers. In addition, REB (30nM) reduced endogenous Abeta42
      secretion, which was analyzed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      Furthermore, REB enhanced the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      converting enzyme/a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17, neprilysin, matrix
      metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14)/membrane type-1 MMP, cyclooxygenase-2, and sirtuin
      1, even in cells challenged with Abeta43. These results suggest that REB improves
      the cell viability by inducing genes that regulate Abeta levels and also genes
      that are cytoprotective. The secondary use of REB may have potential in the
      prevention of Abeta-mediated diseases, particularly AD.

PMID- 28587859
TI  - Characterization and function of a tachylectin 5-like immune molecule in Penaeus
      monodon.
AB  - Tachylectin5A and its homolog, tachylectin5B both contain a fibrinogen-related
      domain (FReD) and have been studied in horseshoe crabs, Tachypleus tridentatus
      and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and shown to be involved in host defense. Here,
      we demonstrate the presence of tachylectin5-like genes in shrimp, Penaeus
      monodon, designated as Penlectin5-1 (PL5-1) and Penlectin5-2 (PL5-2), which both
      contain a signal peptide and a single FReD with an acetyl group and a calcium
      binding sites and they are both structurally similar to horseshoe crab
      tachylectin/carcinolectin5. The PL5-1and PL5-2 transcript were expressed in
      various shrimp tissues in normal shrimp, and their expression was upregulated in
      tissues such as hemocytes and hindgut following challenge with pathogenic Vibrio
      harveyi. The PL5-2 protein was detected in various tissues as well as in cell
      free hemolymph. The biological function of the PL5-2 protein is to recognize some
      Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria regardless whether they are non
      pathogenic or pathogenic. They have hemagglutination activity on human
      erythrocyte and bacterial agglutination activity to both Gram negative and Gram
      positive bacteria. Possible binding sites of PL5-2 to bacteria could be at the N
      acetyl moiety of the GlcNAc-MurNAc cell wall of the peptidoglycan since the
      binding could be inhibited by GlcNAc or GalNAC. The presence of PL5-2 protein in
      both circulating hemolymph and intestine, where host and microbes are usually
      interacting, may suggest that the physiological function of shrimp tachylectin
      like proteins is to recognize and bind to invading bacteria to immobilize and
      entrap these microbes and subsequently clear them from circulation and the host
      body, and probably to control and maintain the normal flora in the intestine.

PMID- 28587860
TI  - The oyster immunity.
AB  - Oysters, the common name for a number of different bivalve molluscs, are the
      worldwide aquaculture species and also play vital roles in the function of
      ecosystem. As invertebrate, oysters have evolved an integrated, highly complex
      innate immune system to recognize and eliminate various invaders via an array of
      orchestrated immune reactions, such as immune recognition, signal transduction,
      synthesis of antimicrobial peptides, as well as encapsulation and phagocytosis of
      the circulating haemocytes. The hematopoietic tissue, hematopoiesis, and the
      circulating haemocytes have been preliminary characterized, and the detailed
      annotation of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas genome has revealed massive
      expansion and functional divergence of innate immune genes in this animal.
      Moreover, immune priming and maternal immune transfer are reported in oysters,
      suggesting the adaptability of invertebrate immunity. Apoptosis and autophagy are
      proved to be important immune mechanisms in oysters. This review will summarize
      the research progresses of immune system and the immunomodulation mechanisms of
      the primitive catecholaminergic, cholinergic, neuropeptides, GABAergic and nitric
      oxidase system, which possibly make oysters ideal model for studying the origin
      and evolution of immune system and the neuroendocrine-immune regulatory network
      in lower invertebrates.

PMID- 28587861
TI  - Evolutionary dynamics of an expressed MHC class IIbeta locus in the Ranidae
      (Anura) uncovered by genome walking and high-throughput amplicon sequencing.
AB  - The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a genomic region encoding immune
      loci that are important and frequently used markers in studies of adaptive
      genetic variation and disease resistance. Given the primary role of infectious
      diseases in contributing to global amphibian declines, we characterized the
      hypervariable exon 2 and flanking introns of the MHC Class IIbeta chain for 17
      species of frogs in the Ranidae, a speciose and cosmopolitan family facing
      widespread pathogen infections and declines. We find high levels of genetic
      variation concentrated in the Peptide Binding Region (PBR) of the exon. Ten
      codons are under positive selection, nine of which are located in the mammal
      defined PBR. We hypothesize that the tenth codon (residue 21) is an amphibian
      specific PBR site that may be important in disease resistance. Trans-species and
      trans-generic polymorphisms are evident from exon-based genealogies, and co
      phylogenetic analyses between intron, exon and mitochondrial based
      reconstructions reveal incongruent topologies, likely due to different locus
      histories. We developed two sets of barcoded adapters that reliably amplify a
      single and likely functional locus in all screened species using both 454 and
      Illumina based sequencing methods. These primers provide a resource for
      multiplexing and directly sequencing hundreds of samples in a single sequencing
      run, avoiding the labour and chimeric sequences associated with cloning, and
      enabling MHC population genetic analyses. Although the primers are currently
      limited to the 17 species we tested, these sequences and protocols provide a
      useful genetic resource and can serve as a starting point for future disease,
      adaptation and conservation studies across a range of anuran taxa.

PMID- 28587862
TI  - Brain networks activated to form object recognition memory.
AB  - Object recognition memory allows discrimination of familiar and novel objects.
      Previous studies have shown the importance of several brain regions for object
      recognition memories; however, the mechanisms underlying the consolidation of
      object recognition (OR) memory at the anatomic level remain unknown. Here, we
      analyzed the brain network for the generation of OR memory in mice by measuring
      the expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos. We found that c-fos expression
      was induced in the hippocampus (CA1 and CA3 regions), insular cortex (IC),
      perirhinal cortex (PRh), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) when OR memory was
      generated, suggesting that gene expression in these brain regions contributes to
      the formation of OR memory. Consistently, inhibition of protein synthesis in the
      mPFC blocked the formation of long-term OR memory. Importantly, network analyses
      suggested that the hippocampus, IC, PRh and mPFC show increased connectivity with
      other brain regions when OR memory is formed. Thus, we suggest that a brain
      network composed of the hippocampus, IC, PRh, and mPFC is required for the
      generation of OR memory by connecting with other brain regions.

PMID- 28587863
TI  - The mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between bullying
      victimization and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Findings from
      community and inpatient mental health settings in Ontario, Canada.
AB  - Although bullying victimization has been linked to a number of behavioral and
      emotional problems among adolescents, few studies have investigate the mechanism
      through which bullying victimization affect non-suicidal self-injury. The
      objectives of this study were to examine the effect of bullying victimization on
      non-suicidal self-injury and the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the
      relationship between bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury among
      adolescents. Data for this study came from the interRAI Child and Youth Mental
      Health dataset. A total of 1650 adolescents aged 12-18 years (M =14.56; SD =1.79;
      54.2% males) were analyzed. Binary logistic and Poisson regression models were
      conducted to identify the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the
      relationship between bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury. Of the
      1650 adolescents studied, 611 representing 37% engaged in non-suicidal self
      injury and 26.7% were victims of bullying. The effect of bullying victimization
      on non-suicidal self-injury was partially mediated by depressive symptoms after
      adjusting for the effect of demographic characteristics, history of childhood
      abuse, social support, and mental health diagnoses. The contribution of bullying
      victimization and depression to non-suicidal self-injury adds to the case for the
      development of trauma-focused interventions in reducing the risk of non-suicidal
      self-injury among adolescents.

PMID- 28587864
TI  - Up-regulation of circulating miRNA146a correlates with viral load via IRAK1 and
      TRAF6 in hepatitis C virus-infected patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a life threatening human pathogen. It has
      been found that miRNA146a regulates innate immunity, inflammatory response and
      antiviral pathway. We evaluated miRNA146a expression by real-time PCR and IL-1
      receptor associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) and TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6)
      levels by ELISA in serum of 36 HCV viremia patients and 42 age and gender matched
      healthy controls. RESULTS: miRNA146a expression was significantly higher in HCV
      patients with a best cut off value 1.63 to discriminate between HCV patients and
      healthy controls. Meanwhile, it was negatively correlated to IRAK1 and TRAF6
      levels and positively correlated to viral load in HCV patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      miRNA146a has a potential role in HCV infection and viral replication through
      IRAK1 and TRAF6. It can also serve as a new screening method for HCV.

PMID- 28587865
TI  - Impact of Vat resistance in melon on viral epidemics and genetic structure of
      virus populations.
AB  - Cultivar choice is at the heart of cropping systems and resistant cultivars
      should be at the heart of disease management strategies whenever available. They
      are the easiest, most efficient and environmentally friendly way of combating
      viral diseases at the farm level. Among the melon genetic resources, Vat is a
      unique gene conferring resistance to both the melon aphid Aphis gossypii and the
      viruses it carries. The 'virus side' of this pleiotropic phenotype is seldom
      regarded as an asset for virus control. Indeed, the effect of Vat on virus
      epidemics in the field is expected to vary according to the composition of aphid
      populations in the environment and long-term studies are needed to draw a correct
      trend. Therefore, the first objective of the study was to re-evaluate the
      potential of Vat to reduce viral diseases in melon crops. The second objective
      was to investigate the potential of Vat to exert a selection pressure on virus
      populations. We monitored the epidemics of Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus
      (CABYV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) and Zucchini
      yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) in two melon lines having a common genetic background,
      a resistant line (R) and a susceptible line (S), in eight field trials conducted
      in southeastern France between 2011 and 2015. Vat had limited impact if any on
      WMV epidemics probably because A. gossypii is not the main vector of WMV in the
      field, but a favorable impact on CMV, yet of variable intensity probably related
      to the importance of A. gossypii in the total aphid population. Vat had a
      significant impact on CABYV epidemics with mean incidence reduction exceeding 50%
      in some trials. There was no effect of Vat on the structure of virus populations,
      both for the non-persistent WMV transmitted by numerous aphid species and for the
      persistent CABYV transmitted predominantly by A. gossypii.

PMID- 28587866
TI  - Digging more in the genetic risk prediction of hepatitis C virus epidemic in
      Egypt: Apoptosis genes polymorphisms in the susceptibility of hepatitis C virus
      and association with viral load.
AB  - Egypt is confronted with the highest hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic. Apoptosis
      and cellular immune responses are crucial to the clearance or persistence of
      viral infections. This case-control study was carried out to detect whether
      apoptosis genes single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) confer risk to HCV in a
      cohort of Egyptian patients and to explore their association with viral load. One
      hundred and ninety six blood samples were withdrawn from 96 HCV patients and 100
      controls. The Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) 
      1525G>A and FasL-844T>C SNPs were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction
      restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Hepatitis C viral load was
      measured using Real time PCR. Results Genotypes distributions of TRAIL -1525G>A
      and FasL-844 T>C polymorphisms in controls were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg
      equilibrium (p>0.05). The study showed a statistically significant difference in
      the distribution of the TRAIL -1525G>A polymorphism genotypes and the FasL-844
      T>C polymorphism genotypes between the HCV patients and the controls (p=0.001 and
      0.02 respectively), with association of the -1525GA genotype and -844 TT genotype
      with increased risk of HCV infection (OR=2.68, 1.942 respectively, 95% CI=1.482
      4.846, 1.1-3.43, respectively). No significant association was detected between
      TRAIL, FasL and the viral load. Our results suggest that the FasL -844T>C SNP is
      implicated in the susceptibility to HCV in Egyptian patients and firstly report
      the involvement of TRAIL gene polymorphism in the risk of the disease. Therefore
      we recommend national programs to delineate genetic factors that may put
      individuals at risk for contracting HCV.

PMID- 28587867
TI  - Spatiotemporal dynamics of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in Brazil during the pandemic
      and post-pandemic periods.
AB  - Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was responsible for the first global flu pandemic in 21st
      century affecting all the world. In Brazil, A(H1N1)pdm09 is still circulating as
      a seasonal virus, causing deaths every year. Nevertheless, the viral diffusion
      process that yearly seeds new influenza strains in the country was not
      investigated yet. The aim of the current study was to describe the phylodynamics
      and phylogeography of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in Brazil between 2009 and 2014.
      Neuraminidase sequences from Brazil and other regions of the World were retrieved
      and analyzed. Bayesian phylogeographic and phylodynamic model approaches were
      used to reconstruct the spatiotemporal and demographic history of influenza
      A(H1N1)pdm09 in Brazil (divided in subtropical and tropical regions) and related
      countries. Our analyses reveal that new influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 lineages are
      seeded in Brazil in almost each year and the main sources of viral diversity are
      North America, Europe and East Asia. The phylogeographic asymmetric model also
      revealed that Brazil, mainly the subtropical region, seeds viral lineages into
      other countries. Coalescent analysis of the compiled dataset reconstructed the
      peak of viral transmissions in the winter months of Southern hemisphere. The
      results presented in this study can be informative to public health, guide
      intervention strategies and in the understanding of flu virus migration, which
      helps to predict antigenic drift and consequently the developing of new vaccines.

PMID- 28587868
TI  - 'You do not cross them': Hierarchy and emotion in doctors' narratives of power
      relations in specialist training.
AB  - Studies of medical education often focus on experiences and socialisation
      processes among undergraduate students, with fewer examining emotionality among
      postgraduate trainees. This article explores the relationship between power and
      emotion, questioning how affective relations between senior and junior doctors
      are patterned on the hierarchical structure of medicine. The study employs
      qualitative methods of in-depth, face-to-face and telephone interviews with fifty
      doctors at initial and advanced stages of specialist postgraduate training in
      teaching hospitals across Ireland, conducted between May and July, 2015. The
      study found that respect for hierarchy, anger and fear, intimidation, and
      disillusion were key themes in participants' narratives of relationships with
      senior staff who oversaw their postgraduate training. The implications of these
      emotional subjectivities for quality of training, patient care and willingness of
      junior doctors to pursue careers in Ireland, are discussed and recommendations
      and areas for further research proposed.

PMID- 28587869
TI  - Genetic and biochemical characterisation of CTX-M-37 extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase from an Enterobacter cloacae clinical isolate from Mongolia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to determine the resistance level of a
      blaCTX-M-37-carrying Enterobacter cloacae isolate from Mongolia, to analyse
      kinetic parameters of the purified enzyme and to compare the genetic environment
      of the gene. METHODS: Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined
      using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) agar dilution
      method. Purified CTX-M-37 enzyme was used to determined kinetic parameters. The
      genetic environment of the blaCTX-M-37 gene in E. cloacae was compared with a
      Kluyvera cryocrescens isolate. RESULTS: The E. cloacae isolate showed relatively
      low-level resistance to cefotaxime (MIC=16mg/L) compared with a CTX-M-3-producing
      strain (MIC=256mg/L), and CTX-M-37 had a lower kcat/Km value for cefotaxime
      (2.0MUM-1s-1) compared with CTX-M-3 (3.5MUM-1s-1), possibly due to Asn114Asp
      substitution. The blaCTX-M-37 gene in the E. cloacae isolate was carried on a
      conjugative plasmid and was associated with an ISEcp1 element containing the -35
      and -10 putative promoter sequences TTGAAA and TACAAT, respectively, unlike in
      the K. cryocrescens isolate. CONCLUSIONS: The CTX-M-37-producing E. cloacae
      isolate showed relatively low-level resistance to cefotaxime and the purified
      enzyme had lower kinetic parameters as the result of Asn114Asp substitution.
      Presence of an ISEcp1 element and putative promoters upstream of the blaCTX-M-37
      gene in E. cloacae, but not in the K. cryocrescens isolate, indicated their roles
      in mobilisation and expression of the gene.

PMID- 28587870
TI  - Evaluation of the in vitro antimicrobial activity of selected Saudi scorpion
      venoms tested against multidrug-resistant micro-organisms.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Scorpion venoms are a rich source of bioactive peptides with
      promising clinical value that may lead to the discovery and development of new
      drugs. The present study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial
      activities of the venoms extracted from three medically important Saudi scorpions
      (Androctonus crassicauda, Androctonus bicolor and Leiurus quinquestriatus).
      METHODS: Antimicrobial assays were performed using a microplate growth inhibition
      assay against 10 multidrug-resistant (MDR) micro-organisms (4 Gram-negative
      bacteria, 2 Gram-positive bacteria and 4 fungi and yeasts) at concentrations
      ranging from 0 to 20mg/mL of each venom. Following qualitative analysis, dose
      response assays were performed for bacterial and fungal killing curves using the
      MTT colorimetric assay. RESULTS: Among the three tested scorpion venoms, only L.
      quinquestriatus venom showed significant broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in
      a dose-dependent manner from 5 to 20mg/mL. Leiurus quinquestriatus venom
      inhibited the growth and survival of MDR Escherichia coli (55.2%), Acinetobacter
      baumannii (50.6%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (35.1%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (31.3%),
      Staphylococcus aureus (36.4%), Enterococcus faecalis (47.6%), Candida albicans
      (31.2%) and Candida glabrata (39.0%), whereas no significant activity against
      Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus flavus was observed. In contrast, the venoms
      of A. crassicauda and A. bicolor did not show noticeable antimicrobial activity
      against any of the tested organisms. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the current
      study demonstrate that L. quinquestriatus venom possesses antimicrobial activity
      and thus can be used as a template for designing and development of novel
      antimicrobial drugs.

PMID- 28587871
TI  - Synthesis, docking study and neuroprotective effects of some novel pyrano[3,2
      c]chromene derivatives bearing morpholine/phenylpiperazine moiety.
AB  - Novel pyrano[3,2-c]chromene derivatives bearing morpholine/phenylpiperazine
      moiety were synthesized and evaluated against acetylcholinestrase (AChE) and
      butylcholinestrase (BuChE). Among the synthesized compounds, N-(3-cyano-4-(4
      methoxyphenyl)-5-oxo-4,5-dihydropyrano[3,2-c]chromen-2-yl)-2-(4-phenylpiperazin-1
      yl)acetamide (6c) exhibited the highest acetylcholinestrase inhibitory (AChEI)
      activity (IC50=1.12uM) and most of them showed moderate butylcholinestrase
      inhibitory activity (BChEI). Kinetic study of compound 6c confirmed mixed type of
      inhibition towards AChE which was in covenant with the results obtained from
      docking study. Also, it was evaluated against beta-secretase which demonstrated
      low activity (inhibition percentage: 18%). It should be noted that compounds 6c,
      7b, 6g, and 7d showed significant neuroprotective effects against H2O2-induced
      PC12 oxidative stress.

PMID- 28587872
TI  - Validation of an automated tractography method for the optic radiations as a
      biomarker of visual acuity in neurofibromatosis-associated optic pathway glioma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fractional anisotropy (FA) of the optic radiations has been
      associated with vision deficit in multiple intrinsic brain pathologies including
      NF1 associated optic pathway glioma, but hand-drawn regions of interest used in
      previous tractography methods limit consistency of this potential biomarker. We
      created an automated method to identify white matter tracts in the optic
      radiations and compared this method to previously reported hand-drawn
      tractography. METHOD: Automated tractography of the optic radiation using
      probabilistic streamline fiber tracking between the lateral geniculate nucleus of
      the thalamus and the occipital cortex was compared to the hand-drawn method
      between regions of interest posterior to Meyer's loop and anterior to tract
      branching near the calcarine cortex. Reliability was assessed by two independent
      raters in a sample of 20 healthy child controls. Among 50 children with NF1
      associated optic pathway glioma, the association of FA and visual acuity deficit
      was compared for both tractography methods. RESULTS: Hand-drawn tractography
      methods required 2.6+/-0.9min/participant; automated methods were performed in
      <1min of operator time for all participants. Cronbach's alpha was 0.83 between
      two independent raters for FA in hand-drawn tractography, but repeated automated
      tractography resulted in identical FA values (Cronbach's alpha=1). On univariate
      and multivariate analyses, FA was similarly associated with visual acuity loss
      using both methods. Receiver operator characteristic curves of both multivariate
      models demonstrated that both automated and hand-drawn tractography methods were
      equally able to distinguish normal from abnormal visual acuity. CONCLUSION:
      Automated tractography of the optic radiations offers a fast, reliable and
      consistent method of tract identification that is not reliant on operator time or
      expertise. This method of tract identification may be useful as DTI is developed
      as a potential biomarker for visual acuity.

PMID- 28587875
TI  - The effectiveness of the anti-CD11d treatment is reduced in rat models of spinal
      cord injury that produce significant levels of intraspinal hemorrhage.
AB  - We have previously reported that administration of a CD11d monoclonal antibody
      (mAb) improves recovery in a clip-compression model of SCI. In this model the
      CD11d mAb reduces the infiltration of activated leukocytes into the injured
      spinal cord (as indicated by reduced intraspinal MPO). However not all anti
      inflammatory strategies have reported beneficial results, suggesting that success
      of the CD11d mAb treatment may depend on the type or severity of the injury. We
      therefore tested the CD11d mAb treatment in a rat hemi-contusion model of
      cervical SCI. In contrast to its effects in the clip-compression model, the CD11d
      mAb treatment did not improve forelimb function nor did it significantly reduce
      MPO levels in the hemi-contused cord. To determine if the disparate results using
      the CD11d mAb were due to the biomechanical nature of the cord injury
      (compression SCI versus contusion SCI) or to the spinal level of the injury (12th
      thoracic level versus cervical) we further evaluated the CD11d mAb treatment
      after a T12 contusion SCI. In contrast to the T12 clip compression SCI, the CD11d
      mAb treatment did not improve locomotor recovery or significantly reduce MPO
      levels after T12 contusion SCI. Lesion analyses revealed increased levels of
      hemorrhage after contusion SCI compared to clip-compression SCI. SCI that is
      accompanied by increased intraspinal hemorrhage would be predicted to be
      refractory to the CD11d mAb therapy as this approach targets leukocyte diapedesis
      through the intact vasculature. These results suggest that the disparate results
      of the anti-CD11d treatment in contusion and clip-compression models of SCI are
      due to the different pathophysiological mechanisms that dominate these two types
      of spinal cord injuries.

PMID- 28587874
TI  - Neuropathies in the setting of Neurofibromatosis tumor syndromes: Complexities
      and opportunities.
AB  - The term 'Neurofibromatosis' (NF) comprises a group of rare diseases with related
      clinical presentations but distinct genetic conditions. All currently known types
      - NF1, NF2 and Schwannomatosis - predispose afflicted individuals to the
      development of glial cell-derived (gliogenic) tumors. Furthermore, the occurrence
      of neuropathic symptoms, which add to the overall neurologic disability of
      patients, has been described in all disease entities. We show that neuropathic
      symptoms are a common and clinically important, yet infrequently studied feature
      in the NF spectrum. However, the clinical relevance and respective underlying
      pathogenesis, varies greatly among the different NF types. In this review, we
      summarize and interpret the latest basic research findings, as well as clinical
      observations, in respect of Neurofibromatosis-associated neuropathies.

PMID- 28587873
TI  - Regulation of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V1 protein
      synthesis by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway in colonic
      hypersensitivity.
AB  - The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1),
      also known as the capsaicin receptor or vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1), is expressed
      in nociceptive neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and participates in the
      transmission of pain. The present study investigated the underlying molecular
      mechanisms by which TRPV1 was regulated by nerve growth factor (NGF) signaling
      pathways in colonic hypersensitivity in response to colitis. We found that during
      colitis TRPV1 protein levels were significantly increased in specifically labeled
      colonic afferent neurons in both L1 and S1 DRGs. TRPV1 protein up-regulation in
      DRG was also enhanced by NGF treatment. We then found that TRPV1 protein up
      regulation in DRG was regulated by activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase
      (PI3K)/Akt pathway both in vivo and in vitro. Suppression of endogenous PI3K/Akt
      activity during colitis or NGF treatment with a specific PI3K inhibitor LY294002
      reduced TRPV1 protein production in DRG neurons, and also reduced colitis-evoked
      TRPV1-mediated visceral hypersensitivity tested by hyper-responsiveness to
      colorectal distention (CRD) and von Frey filament stimulation of abdomen. Further
      studies showed that TRPV1 mRNA levels in the DRG were not regulated by either
      colitis or NGF. We then found that an up-regulation of the protein synthesis
      pathway was involved by which both colitis and NGF caused a PI3K-dependent
      increase in the phosphorylation level of eukaryotic translation initiation factor
      4E-binding protein (4E-BP)1. These results suggest a novel mechanism in colonic
      hypersensitivity which involves PI3K/Akt-mediated TRPV1 protein, not mRNA, up
      regulation in primary afferent neurons, likely through activation of the protein
      synthesis pathways.

PMID- 28587878
TI  - It is better to be readmitted than dead.

PMID- 28587877
TI  - Cardiothoracic surgical training in Canada and the United States: Divergent
      paths, converging goals.

PMID- 28587879
TI  - Toward a more rational approach in treating type B aortic dissection.

PMID- 28587876
TI  - Strength of cholinergic tone dictates the polarity of dopamine D2 receptor
      modulation of striatal cholinergic interneuron excitability in DYT1 dystonia.
AB  - Balance between cholinergic and dopaminergic signaling is central to striatal
      control of movement and cognition. In dystonia, a common disorder of movement,
      anticholinergic therapy is often beneficial. This observation suggests there is a
      pathological increase in cholinergic tone, yet direct confirmation is lacking. In
      DYT1, an early-onset genetic form of dystonia caused by a mutation in the protein
      torsinA (TorA), the suspected heightened cholinergic tone is commonly attributed
      to faulty dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) signaling where D2R agonists cause
      excitation of striatal cholinergic interneurons (ChIs), rather than the normal
      inhibition of firing observed in wild-type animals, an effect known as
      "paradoxical excitation". Here, we provide for the first time direct measurement
      of elevated striatal extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) in a knock-in mouse model
      of human DYT1 dystonia (TorA?E/+ mice), confirming a striatal hypercholinergic
      state. We hypothesized that this elevated extracellular ACh might cause chronic
      over-activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) and disrupt normal
      D2R function due to their shared coupling to Gi/o-proteins. We tested this
      concept in vitro first using a broad-spectrum mAChR antagonist, and then using a
      M2/M4 mAChR selective antagonist to specifically target mAChRs expressed by ChIs.
      Remarkably, we found that mAChR inhibition reverses the D2R-mediated paradoxical
      excitation of ChIs recorded in slices from TorA?E/+ mice to a typical inhibitory
      response. Furthermore, we recapitulated the paradoxical D2R excitation of ChIs in
      striatal slices from wild-type mice within minutes by simply increasing
      cholinergic tone through pharmacological inhibition of acetylcholinesterase
      (AChE) or by prolonged agonist activation of mAChRs. Collectively, these results
      show that enhanced mAChR tone itself is sufficient to rapidly reverse the
      polarity of D2R regulation of ChI excitability, correcting the previous notion
      that the D2R mediated paradoxical ChI excitation causes the hypercholinergic
      state in dystonia. Further, using a combination of genetic and pharmacological
      approaches, we found evidence that this switch in D2R polarity results from a
      change in coupling from the preferred Gi/o pathway to non-canonical beta-arrestin
      signaling. These results highlight the need to fully understand how the mutation
      in TorA leads to pathologically heightened extracellular ACh. Furthermore the
      discovery of this novel ACh-dopamine interaction and the participation of beta
      arrestin in regulation of cholinergic interneurons is likely important for other
      basal ganglia disorders characterized by perturbation of ACh-dopamine balance,
      including Parkinson and Huntington diseases, l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia and
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 28587880
TI  - ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATION: Colorado-Retinopathy of Prematurity (CO-ROP) Screening
      Algorithm: a validation study at a tertiary care center.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.03.009. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be
      found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28587881
TI  - ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATION: MR Imaging Findings in Children with Spasmus Nutans.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.03.001. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be
      found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28587882
TI  - ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATION: Combined Vitrectomy and Glaucoma Drainage Device
      Implantation Surgical Approach for Complex Pediatric Glaucomas.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.02.001. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be
      found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28587883
TI  - ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATION: Investigation of the effect of hemoglobin F and A levels
      on development of retinopathy of prematurity.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.03.006. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be
      found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28587884
TI  - Carbon source effects on the mono/dirhamnolipid ratio produced by Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa L05, a new human respiratory isolate.
AB  - Pseudomonas strains produce rhamnolipid mixtures (RLs) that generally consist of
      one or two molecules of rhamnose linked to one or two molecules of 3
      hydroxyalkanoic acid. This study evaluates carbon source effects (glycerol,
      glucose, myristic acid, and Brassica carinata oil) on the synthesis of
      monorhamnolipids (mono-RLs) versus dirhamnolipids (di-RLs) in a human isolate of
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAL05. Spectrophotometry, an emulsifying index (E24) test,
      and an orcinol assay confirmed the production of RLs by PAL05. Purified RLs were
      characterized by 1H NMR analysis. PAL05 primarily produces mono-RLs when provided
      carbon sources containing long chain fatty acids (FAs) (myristic acid and B.
      carinata oil) and di-RLs when provided glycerol or glucose. qRT-PCR analysis
      showed that delayed expression of rhlC occurred when B. carinata oil was used,
      but not glycerol, glucose, or myristic acid. Our data show that the carbon source
      influenced the transcriptional expression of the rhlC gene and, consequently, the
      predominance of mono-RLs or di-RLs in PAL05 cultures.

PMID- 28587885
TI  - Destination bioeconomy - The path towards a smarter, more sustainable future.
AB  - Five years following the publication of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, this article
      discusses the state of play of the bioeconomy in Europe. Placing specific focus
      on Industrial Biotech, it outlines ten pragmatic recommendations from BIO-TIC
      [BIO-TIC, A roadmap to a thriving industrial biotechnology sector in Europe,
      2015], an EU FP7 funded project completed in 2015 and coordinated by EuropaBio,
      comprehensively examining the hurdles to the development of a bioeconomy in
      Europe, enabled by industrial biotech. These include improving opportunities for
      feedstock producers within the bioeconomy; investigating the scope for using
      novel biomass; developing a workforce which can maintain Europe's competitiveness
      in industrial biotechnology; introducing a long-term, stable and transparent
      policy and incentive framework to promote the bioeconomy; improving public
      perception and awareness of industrial biotechnology and bio-based products;
      identifying, leveraging and building upon EU capabilities for pilot and
      demonstration facilities; promoting the use of co-products from processing;
      improving the bioconversion and downstream processing steps; improving access to
      financing for large-scale biorefinery projects; developing stronger relationships
      between conventional and non-conventional players.

PMID- 28587886
TI  - Microbial selection strategies for polyhydroxyalkanoates production from crude
      glycerol: Effect of OLR and cycle length.
AB  - Crude glycerol from biodiesel manufacture can be used as carbon source for
      microbial fermentations. The production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by manipulating
      the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) selection stage of microbial mixed cultures
      (MMC) using high organic loading rates (OLR, 50CmM/day) and different cycles
      lengths (6, 12 and 24h) were optimized. Batch-production of polyhydroxybutyrate
      (PHB) presented an accumulation capacity in the high range (0.44g/g) after 3
      pulses of 50CmM, with a final content of 59% PHB/wt., for the culture selected
      with 50CmM/day and a 24h cycle length. These values were in the range to those
      obtained with pure cultures and higher than the ones for MMC. With this strategy
      three main advantages in terms of the PHA production can be considered:
      utilization of a real waste without the resort to pure microbial cultures and a
      pre-fermentation step, consolidating the role of MMC in the valorisation of
      complex wastes/by-products.

PMID- 28587887
TI  - Effect of diet and gut environment on the gastrointestinal formation of N-nitroso
      compounds: A review.
AB  - Diet is associated with the development of cancer in the gastrointestinal (GI)
      tract, because dietary nitrate and nitrite are the main nitrosating agents that
      are responsible for the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) when
      nitrosatable substrates, such as amine and amide, are present in the GI tract.
      However, whether the nitroso compounds become beneficial S-nitroso compounds or
      carcinogenic NOCs might depend on dietary and environmental factors including
      food stuffs, gastric acidity, microbial flora, and the mean transit time of
      digesta. This review focused on GI NOC formation and environmental risk factors
      affecting its formation to provide appropriate nutritional strategies to prevent
      the development of GI cancer.

PMID- 28587889
TI  - Corrigendum to 'An Anatomic Investigation Into the Relationship Between Posterior
      Condylar Offset and Posterior Tibial Slope of One Thousand One Hundred Thirty
      Eight Cadaveric Knees' [The Journal of Arthroplasty 32 (2017) 1659-1664].

PMID- 28587888
TI  - Outcome of 4 Surgical Treatments for Wear and Osteolysis of Cementless Acetabular
      Components.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Loosening and periprosthetic osteolysis are some of the most common
      long-term complications after hip arthroplasty. The decision-making process and
      surgical treatment options are controversial. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed 96 acetabular revisions (91 patients) performed between 2002 and 2012,
      with a minimum of 2 years of follow-up and a mean of 5.7 years of follow-up.
      Clinical outcome was assessed using the Harris Hip Score. The size and location
      of osteolytic lesions were evaluated using the preoperative radiographs; healing
      of the defects was categorized using a standardized protocol. RESULTS: Thirty
      three (34.4%) hips had isolated liner exchanges (ILEs), 10 (10.4%) hips had
      cemented liners into well-fixed shells (CLS), 45 (46.9%) hips had full acetabular
      revisions (FARs), and 8 (8.3%) hips had revision with a roof ring/antiprotrusio
      cage (RWC). All procedures showed significant improvement in Harris Hip Score
      after revision (P <= .001). Fifteen patients had moderate residual pain (pain
      score <=20): 8 (24%) ILE, 3 (30%) CLS, and 4 (9%) FAR. Complete bone defect
      healing after grafting was lower with acetabular component retention procedures
      (ILE and CLS; 27%) compared with full acetabular component revision procedures
      (FAR and RWC; 57%). Fifteen patients underwent reoperation: 3 ILE, 1 CLS, 8 FAR,
      and 3 RWC. CONCLUSION: Acetabular component retention demonstrates a low risk of
      reoperation; however, residual pain and limited potential for bone graft
      incorporation are a concern. FAR is technically challenging and may have an
      elevated risk of reoperation; however, higher degrees of bone graft incorporation
      and satisfactory clinical outcome can be expected.

PMID- 28587890
TI  - Spectral-dynamic representation of DNA sequences.
AB  - A graphical representation of DNA sequences in which the distribution of a
      particular base B=A,C,G,T is represented by a set of discrete lines has been
      formulated. The methodology of this approach has been borrowed from two areas of
      physics: spectroscopy and dynamics. Consequently, the set of discrete lines is
      referred to as the B-spectrum. Next, the B-spectrum is transformed to a rigid
      body composed of material points. In this way a dynamic representation of the DNA
      sequence has been obtained. The centers of mass of these rigid bodies, divided by
      their moments of inertia, have been taken as the descriptors of the spectra and,
      thus, of the DNA sequences. The performance of this method on a standard set of
      data commonly applied by authors introducing new approaches to bioinformatics
      (the first exons of beta-globin genes of different species) proved to be very
      good.

PMID- 28587891
TI  - The accessibility, readability, and quality of online resources for gender
      affirming surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The transgender population is disproportionally affected by health
      disparities related to access to care. In many communities, transgender
      specialists are geographically distant and locally available medical
      professionals may be unfamiliar with unique needs of transgender patients. As a
      result, use of Internet resources for information about gender affirming surgery
      is particularly important. This study simulates a patient search for online
      educational material about gender affirming surgery and evaluates the
      accessibility, readability, and quality of the information. METHODS: An Internet
      search for the term "transgender surgery" was performed, and the first 10
      relevant hits were identified. Readability was assessed using 10 established
      tests: Coleman-Liau, Flesch-Kincaid, FORCAST, Fry, Gunning Fog, New Dale-Chall,
      New Fog Count, Raygor Estimate, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch
      Reading Ease. Quality was assessed using Journal of the American Medical
      Association criteria and the DISCERN instrument. RESULTS: Review of 69 results
      was required to identify 10 sites with relevant patient information. There were
      97 articles collected; overall mean reading level was 14.7. Individual Web site
      reading levels ranged from 12.0 to 17.5. All articles and Web sites exceeded the
      recommended sixth grade level. Quality ranged from 0 to 4 (Journal of the
      American Medical Association) and 35 to 79 (DISCERN) across Web sites.
      CONCLUSIONS: Web sites with relevant patient information about gender affirming
      surgery were difficult to identify from search results. The content of these
      sites universally exceeded the recommended reading level. A wide range of Web
      site quality was noted, and this may further complicate successful navigation.
      Barriers in access to appropriately written patient information on the Internet
      may contribute to disparities in referral, involvement, satisfaction, and
      outcomes.

PMID- 28587893
TI  - Comparison of estimates of neuronal number obtained using the isotropic
      fractionator method and unbiased stereology in day old chicks (Gallus
      domesticus).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relative size and neuronal density of brain regions are important
      metrics in both comparative and experimental studies in neuroscience.
      Consequently, it is imperative to have accurate, reliable and reproducible
      methods of quantifying cell number. NEW METHOD: The isotropic fractionator (IF)
      method estimates the number of neurons and non-neurons in the central nervous
      system by homogenizing tissue into discrete nuclei and determining the proportion
      of neurons from non-neurons using immunohistochemistry (Herculano- Herculano
      Houzel and Lent, 2005). COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD: One of the advantages of
      IF is that it is considerably faster than stereology. However, as the method is
      relatively new, concerns about its accuracy remain, particularly whether
      homogenization results in underestimation of cell number. In this study, we
      compared estimates of neuronal number in the telencephalon and 'rest of brain'
      (i.e. the diencephalon and brainstem excluding the optic lobes) of day old chicks
      using the IF method and stereology. RESULTS: In the telencephalon, there was a
      significant difference in estimates of neuronal number between the 2 methods, but
      not estimates of neuronal density (neurons/mg of tissue). Whereas in the 'rest of
      brain', there was a significant difference in estimates of neuronal density, but
      not neuronal number. In all cases, stereological estimates were lower than those
      obtained using the IF method. CONCLUSION: Despite the statistically significant
      differences, there was considerable overlap (all estimates were within 16% of one
      another) between estimates obtained using the two methods suggesting that the two
      methods provide comparable estimates of neuronal number in birds.

PMID- 28587892
TI  - The modified frailty index to predict morbidity and mortality for retroperitoneal
      sarcoma resections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The modified frailty index (mFI) is an important method to risk
      stratify surgical patients and has been validated for general surgery and
      selected surgical subspecialties. However, there are currently no data assessing
      the efficacy of the mFI to predict acute morbidity and mortality in patients
      undergoing surgery for retroperitoneal sarcoma. METHODS: Using the American
      College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program from 2007 to
      2012, we performed a retrospective analysis of patients with a diagnosis of
      primary malignant retroperitoneal neoplasm who underwent surgical resection. The
      mFI was calculated according to standard published methods. Univariate and
      multivariate statistical analyses including chi2 and logistic regression were
      used to identify predictors of 30-d overall morbidity, 30-d severe morbidity
      (Clavien III/IV), and 30-d mortality. RESULTS: We identified 846 patients with
      the diagnosis of primary malignant retroperitoneal neoplasm who underwent
      surgical resection. The distribution mFI scores was 0 (48.5%) or 1 (36.3%), with
      only 4.5% of patients presenting with a score >=3. Rates of 30-d overall
      morbidity, serious morbidity, and mortality were 22.6%, 12.9%, and 1.2%,
      respectively. Only selected mFI scores were associated with serious morbidity and
      overall morbidity on multivariate analysis (P < 0.05), and mFI did not predict 30
      d mortality (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that the majority of
      patients undergoing retroperitoneal sarcoma resections have few, if any,
      comorbidities. The mFI was a limited predictor of overall and serious
      complications and was not a significant predictor of mortality. Better
      discriminators of preoperative risk stratification may be needed for this patient
      population.

PMID- 28587894
TI  - Burrowing as a novel voluntary strength training method for mice: A comparison of
      various voluntary strength or resistance exercise methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Voluntary strength training methods for rodents are necessary to
      investigate the effects of strength training on cognition and the brain. However,
      few voluntary methods are available. NEW METHOD: The current study tested
      functional and muscular effects of two novel voluntary strength training methods,
      burrowing (digging a substrate out of a tube) and unloaded tower climbing, in
      male C57Bl6 mice. To compare these two novel methods with existing exercise
      methods, resistance running and (non-resistance) running were included. Motor
      coordination, grip strength and muscle fatigue were measured at baseline, halfway
      through and near the end of a fourteen week exercise intervention. Endurance was
      measured by an incremental treadmill test after twelve weeks. RESULTS: Both
      burrowing and resistance running improved forelimb grip strength as compared to
      controls. Running and resistance running increased endurance in the treadmill
      test and improved motor skills as measured by the balance beam test. Post-mortem
      tissue analyses revealed that running and resistance running induced Soleus
      muscle hypertrophy and reduced epididymal fat mass. Tower climbing elicited no
      functional or muscular changes. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: As a voluntary
      strength exercise method, burrowing avoids the confounding effects of stress and
      positive reinforcers elicited in forced strength exercise methods. Compared to
      voluntary resistance running, burrowing likely reduces the contribution of
      aerobic exercise components. CONCLUSIONS: Burrowing qualifies as a suitable
      voluntary strength training method in mice. Furthermore, resistance running
      shares features of strength training and endurance (aerobic) exercise and should
      be considered a multi-modal aerobic-strength exercise method in mice.

PMID- 28587895
TI  - A novel operant task to assess social reward and motivation in rodents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social reward plays a critical role in the development of beneficial
      social relationships, and disorders of the mechanisms controlling social reward
      are involved in the etiology of many psychiatric diseases. NEW METHOD: We present
      a novel operant social preference task to quantify social reward in rodents using
      an apparatus with three chambers separated by one-way vertical-swing doors. The
      experimental animal is placed in the larger chamber while the two smaller
      chambers either remain empty or contain a stimulus animal or other potential
      reward stimulus. Adding weights to the door can alter effort required for
      rewards. RESULTS: Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) entered the chamber containing
      a stimulus hamster significantly more frequently than an empty chamber. When the
      reinforcing effects of social interactions were compared to food reward under
      progressive cost requirements, the reinforcing effects of social interaction and
      sunflower seeds were similar. Progressively increasing the door weight decreased
      number of entries, but increased time spent attempting to open the doors.
      COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: The quantification of the rewarding properties
      of social interactions has almost exclusively used the conditioned place
      preference (CPP) paradigm. Although robust and reliable, CPP includes a memory
      component, because it relies on the association of place with the social
      interaction while the operant task presented here does not. CONCLUSIONS: This
      task allows for detailed and direct assessment of social and non-social rewards
      that may serve as effective behavioral reinforcers in this operant conditioning
      model, and it can be used to investigate the neural mechanisms regulating
      motivation.

PMID- 28587896
TI  - Development of a histologically validated segmentation protocol for the
      hippocampal body.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent findings have demonstrated that hippocampal subfields can be
      selectively affected in different disease states, which has led to efforts to
      segment the human hippocampus with in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
      However, no studies have examined the histological accuracy of subfield
      segmentation protocols. The presence of MRI-visible anatomical landmarks with
      known correspondence to histology represents a fundamental prerequisite for in
      vivo hippocampal subfield segmentation. In the present study, we aimed to: 1)
      develop a novel method for hippocampal body segmentation, based on two MRI
      visible anatomical landmarks (stratum lacunosum moleculare [SLM] & dentate gyrus
      [DG]), and assess its accuracy in comparison to the gold standard direct
      histological measurements; 2) quantify the accuracy of two published segmentation
      strategies in comparison to the histological gold standard; and 3) apply the
      novel method to ex vivo MRI and correlate the results with histology. METHODS:
      Ultra-high resolution ex vivo MRI was performed on six whole cadaveric
      hippocampal specimens, which were then divided into 22 blocks and histologically
      processed. The hippocampal bodies were segmented into subfields based on
      histological criteria and subfield boundaries and areas were directly measured. A
      novel method was developed using mean percentage of the total SLM distance to
      define subfield boundaries. Boundary distances and subfield areas on histology
      were then determined using the novel method and compared to the gold standard
      histological measurements. The novel method was then used to determine ex vivo
      MRI measures of subfield boundaries and areas, which were compared to
      histological measurements. RESULTS: For direct histological measurements, the
      mean percentages of total SLM distance were: Subiculum/CA1 = 9.7%, CA1/CA2 =
      78.4%, CA2/CA3 = 97.5%. When applied to histology, the novel method provided
      accurate measures for CA1/CA2 (ICC = 0.93) and CA2/CA3 (ICC = 0.97) boundaries,
      but not for the Subiculum/CA1 (ICC = -0.04) boundary. Accuracy was poorer using
      previous techniques for CA1/CA2 (maximum ICC = 0.85) and CA2/CA3 (maximum ICC =
      0.88), with the previously reported techniques also performing poorly in defining
      the Subiculum/CA1 boundary (maximum ICC = 0.00). Ex vivo MRI measurements using
      the novel method were linearly related to direct measurements of SLM length (r2 =
      0.58), CA1/CA2 boundary (r2 = 0.39) and CA2/CA3 boundary (r2 = 0.47), but not for
      Subiculum/CA1 boundary (r2 = 0.01). Subfield areas measured with the novel method
      on histology and ex vivo MRI were linearly related to gold standard histological
      measures for CA1, CA2, and CA3/CA4/DG. CONCLUSIONS: In this initial proof of
      concept study, we used ex vivo MRI and histology of cadaveric hippocampi to
      develop a novel segmentation protocol for the hippocampal body. The novel method
      utilized two anatomical landmarks, SLM & DG, and provided accurate measurements
      of CA1, CA2, and CA3/CA4/DG subfields in comparison to the gold standard
      histological measurements. The relationships demonstrated between histology and
      ex vivo MRI supports the potential feasibility of applying this method to in vivo
      MRI studies.

PMID- 28587898
TI  - A decade of decoding reward-related fMRI signals and where we go from here.
AB  - Information about potential rewards in the environment is essential for guiding
      adaptive behavior, and understanding neural reward processes may provide insights
      into neuropsychiatric dysfunctions. Over the past 10 years, multivoxel pattern
      analysis (MVPA) techniques have been used to study brain areas encoding
      information about expected and experienced outcomes. These studies have
      identified reward signals throughout the brain, including the striatum, medial
      prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and
      parietal cortex. This review article discusses some of the assumptions and models
      that are used to interpret results from these studies, and how they relate to
      findings from animal electrophysiology. The article reviews and summarizes some
      of the key findings from MVPA studies on reward. In particular, it first focuses
      on studies that, in addition to mapping out the brain areas that process rewards,
      have provided novel insights into the coding mechanisms of value and reward.
      Then, it discusses examples of how multivariate imaging approaches are being used
      more recently to decode features of expected rewards that go beyond value, such
      as the identity of an expected outcome or the action required to obtain it. The
      study of such complex and multifaceted reward representations highlights the key
      advantage of using representational methods, which are uniquely able to reveal
      these signals and may narrow the gap between animal and human research. Applied
      in a clinical context, MVPA may advance our understanding of neuropsychiatric
      disorders and the development of novel treatment strategies.

PMID- 28587897
TI  - Comparison of multiple tau-PET measures as biomarkers in aging and Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - The recent development of tau-specific positron emission tomography (PET) tracers
      enables in vivo quantification of regional tau pathology, one of the key lesions
      in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Tau PET imaging may become a useful biomarker for
      clinical diagnosis and tracking of disease progression but there is no consensus
      yet on how tau PET signal is best quantified. The goal of the current study was
      to evaluate multiple whole-brain and region-specific approaches to detect
      clinically relevant tau PET signal. Two independent cohorts of cognitively normal
      adults and amyloid-positive (Abeta+) patients with mild cognitive impairment
      (MCI) or AD-dementia underwent [18F]AV-1451 PET. Methods for tau tracer
      quantification included: (i) in vivo Braak staging, (ii) regional uptake in Braak
      composite regions, (iii) several whole-brain measures of tracer uptake, (iv)
      regional uptake in AD-vulnerable voxels, and (v) uptake in a priori defined
      regions. Receiver operating curves characterized accuracy in distinguishing Abeta
      controls from AD/MCI patients and yielded tau positivity cutoffs. Clinical
      relevance of tau PET measures was assessed by regressions against cognition and
      MR imaging measures. Key tracer uptake patterns were identified by a factor
      analysis and voxel-wise contrasts. Braak staging, global and region-specific tau
      measures yielded similar diagnostic accuracies, which differed between cohorts.
      While all tau measures were related to amyloid and global cognition, memory and
      hippocampal/entorhinal volume/thickness were associated with regional tracer
      retention in the medial temporal lobe. Key regions of tau accumulation included
      medial temporal and inferior/middle temporal regions, retrosplenial cortex, and
      banks of the superior temporal sulcus. Our data indicate that whole-brain tau PET
      measures might be adequate biomarkers to detect AD-related tau pathology.
      However, regional measures covering AD-vulnerable regions may increase
      sensitivity to early tau PET signal, atrophy and memory decline.

PMID- 28587899
TI  - Anticonvulsant effect of flupirtine in an animal model of neonatal hypoxic
      ischemic encephalopathy.
AB  - Research studies suggest that neonatal seizures, which are most commonly
      associated with hypoxic-ischemic injury, may contribute to brain injury and
      adverse neurologic outcome. Unfortunately, neonatal seizures are often resistant
      to treatment with current anticonvulsants. In the present study, we evaluated the
      efficacy of flupirtine, administered at clinically relevant time-points, for the
      treatment of neonatal seizures in an animal model of hypoxic-ischemic injury that
      closely replicates features of the human syndrome. We also compared the efficacy
      of flupirtine to that of phenobarbital, the current first-line drug for neonatal
      seizures. Flupirtine is a KCNQ potassium channel opener. KCNQ channels play an
      important role in controlling brain excitability during early development. In
      this study, hypoxic-ischemic injury was induced in neonatal rats, and
      synchronized video-EEG records were acquired at various time-points during the
      experiment to identify seizures. The results revealed that flupirtine,
      administered either 5 min after the first electroclinical seizure, or following
      completion of 2 h of hypoxia, i.e., during the immediate reperfusion period,
      reduced the number of rats with electroclinical seizures, and also the frequency
      and total duration of electroclinical seizures. Further, daily dosing of
      flupirtine decreased the seizure burden over 3 days following HI-induction, and
      modified the natural evolution of acute seizures. Moreover, compared to a
      therapeutic dose of phenobarbital, which was modestly effective against
      electroclinical seizures, flupirtine showed greater efficacy. Our results
      indicate that flupirtine is an extremely effective treatment for neonatal
      seizures in rats and provide evidence for a trial of this medication in newborn
      humans.

PMID- 28587900
TI  - Altered reactivity of central amygdala to GABAAR antagonist in the BACHD rat
      model of Huntington disease.
AB  - In Huntington's disease (HD), dysfunctional affective processes emerge as key
      symptoms of disturbances. In human HD and transgenic rat models of the disease,
      the amygdala was previously shown to have a reduced volume and to carry a high
      load of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) aggregates. In search of the pathophysiology of
      affective dysregulation in HD, we hypothesized a specific role of the central
      amygdala (CeA), known to be particularly involved in emotional regulation. Using
      transgenic BACHD rats carrying full-length human mHTT, we compared behavioral
      consequences of pharmacological modulation of CeA function by infusing GABAA
      receptor (GABAAR) antagonist picrotoxin into ~4.5 month old BACHD and WT rats
      before confronting them to potentially threatening situations. Our results show
      that disinhibition of the CeA induced differential behaviors in WT and BACHD rats
      in our tasks: it increased social contacts and responses to the threatening
      warning signal in an avoidance task in BACHD rats but not in WT animals. At the
      cellular level, analyzes of amygdala alteration/dysfunction showed (1) an age
      dependent increase in number and size of mHTT aggregates specifically in the CeA
      of BACHD rats; (2) no alteration of GABA and GABAAR expression level, but (3) an
      increased neuronal reactivity (Arc labelling) to a threatening stimulus in the
      medial part of this nucleus in 4.5 months old BACHD rats. These results suggest a
      basal pathological hyper-reactivity in the CeA (in particular its medial part) in
      the transgenic animals. Such amygdala dysfunction could account, at least in
      part, for affective symptoms in HD patients.

PMID- 28587903
TI  - Cardiac arrest among patients with infections.

PMID- 28587901
TI  - Flexible weighting of diverse inputs makes hippocampal function malleable.
AB  - Classic theories of hippocampal function have emphasized its role as a dedicated
      memory system, but recent research has shown that it contributes broadly to many
      aspects of cognition, including attention and perception. We propose that the
      reason the hippocampus plays such a broad role in cognition is that its function
      is particularly malleable. We argue that this malleability arises because the
      hippocampus receives diverse anatomical inputs and these inputs are flexibly
      weighted based on behavioral goals. We discuss examples of how hippocampal
      representations can be flexibly weighted, focusing on hippocampal modulation by
      attention. Finally, we suggest some general neural mechanisms and core
      hippocampal computations that may enable the hippocampus to support diverse
      cognitive functions, including attention, perception, and memory. Together, this
      work suggests that great progress can and has been made in understanding the
      hippocampus by considering how the domain-general computations it performs allow
      it to dynamically contribute to many different behaviors.

PMID- 28587902
TI  - Involvement of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease gene mitofusin 2 expression in
      paclitaxel-induced mechanical allodynia in rats.
AB  - Paclitaxel induces peripheral neuropathy, which is dose-limiting and results in
      loss of quality of life. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of paclitaxel
      induced peripheral neuropathy are major concerns in clinical cancer therapy.
      However, the detailed mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. It has recently
      been reported that allelic variability in the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)
      genes, mitofusin 2 (MFN2), Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 10 (ARHGEF10),
      and periaxin (PRX), affected paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in clinical
      cases. Therefore, we hypothesized that paclitaxel may induce peripheral
      neuropathy due to changes in Mfn2, Arhgef10, and Prx mRNA expression. Paclitaxel
      (6mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally, on two consecutive days per week for
      4 weeks in rats. Paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy was measured by the von
      Frey test and acetone test, mechanical allodynia, and cold hyperalgesia,
      respectively, on days 0, 3, 10, 17, and 24. Mfn2, Arhgef10, and Prx mRNA
      expression in the spinal cord were analyzed by qRT-PCR on days 3 and 24.
      Paclitaxel induced mechanical allodynia from days 17-24, but did not induce cold
      hyperalgesia. In addition, paclitaxel reduced Mfn2 mRNA expression, but not
      Arhgef10 or Prx mRNA expression, on days 3 and 24. In addition, Mfn2 mRNA level
      was decreased before the appearance of mechanical allodynia. The results of the
      present study suggest that a reduction in Mfn2 mRNA expression contributes to
      paclitaxel-induced mechanical allodynia.

PMID- 28587904
TI  - Evaluation of a novel line probe assay to detect resistance to pyrazinamide, a
      key drug used for tuberculosis treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The development of rapid molecular diagnostic assays for pyrazinamide
      (PZA) resistance is considered technically challenging as mutations are highly
      diverse, scattered along the full length of the pncA gene and not all are
      associated with PZA resistance. We evaluated the performance of the novel
      Genoscholar PZA-TB II line probe assay (PZA-LPA2; NIPRO Corporation, Japan).
      METHODS: To evaluate the applicability of the PZA-LPA2 in clinical settings, we
      compared the performance of the PZA-LPA2 to a composite reference standard pncA
      Sanger and Illumina sequencing plus phenotypic susceptibility testing on a panel
      of 87 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from World Health Organization (WHO)
      drug resistance surveys, harbouring mutations previously classified as associated
      or not associated with resistance according to data from peer-reviewed
      literature. In addition, the PZA-LPA2 was challenged against a selection of
      isolates with lineage-specific and non-resistance-associated mutations, for which
      the frequency among clinical isolates is unknown, and tested directly on 59
      sputum extracts. RESULTS: For the survey isolates, the PZA-LPA2 reached an
      overall agreement with the composite reference of 97.6% (80/82) or 94.3% (82/87)
      excluding or including heteroresistance, respectively. The PZA-LPA2 failed on
      8.5% (5/59) of clinical samples; among valid results, 100% (14/14) sensitivity
      and 100% (7/7) specificity was reached relative to pncA Sanger sequencing.
      CONCLUSIONS: The PZA-LPA2 represents a valid and rapid alternative for indirect
      PZA susceptibility testing. Preliminary findings on clinical samples show promise
      for direct testing. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical risk of
      missing heteroresistance and falsely detecting lineage-specific, silent and
      nonassociated mutations.

PMID- 28587905
TI  - Rapid identification of imported influenza viruses at Xiamen International
      Airport via an active surveillance program.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The cross-border transmission of infectious diseases is a worldwide
      public health issue. Current border screening measures are insufficiently
      sensitive. The study objectives were to describe the epidemiologic pattern of
      influenza infection among incoming travellers at Xiamen International Airport
      during nonpandemic periods and to assess the performance of a rapid influenza
      diagnostic test in border screening. METHODS: Between May 2015 and May 2016,
      travellers with influenza-like illnesses entering China at Xiamen International
      Airport were screened with a rapid test, Flu Dot-ELISA, and the collected
      specimens were further subjected to virus isolation and phylogenetic analysis.
      RESULTS: Of the 1 540 076 incoming travellers, 1224 cases of influenza-like
      illness were identified; 261 tested positive in the rapid test, and 176 were
      confirmed to be influenza through virus culture. The sensitivity and specificity
      of the rapid test were demonstrated to be 96.6% (170/176) and 91.3% (957/1048),
      respectively, and the positive predictive and negative predictive values were
      65.1% (170/261) and 99.4% (957/963), respectively. The epidemiologic study
      indicated that H3N2 and (H1N1)pdm09 were dominant in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
      In 2016, an increased number of influenza B isolates and cocirculation of both
      Victoria and Yamagata lineage influenza B viruses were observed, and mismatches
      between circulating influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and influenza B Victoria lineage
      strains and vaccine strains also occurred. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the
      suitability and value of a high-sensitivity rapid influenza test in border
      screening and highlighted the importance of incoming travellers as a source of
      imported infectious diseases.

PMID- 28587906
TI  - [Early hypophosphataemia in at risk newborns. Frequency and magnitude].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency and magnitude of neonatal hypophosphataemia
      (<4mg/dL) in a neonatal Intensive Care Unit and to describe risk groups. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Retrospective study of hospitalised newborns over a 44 month period
      (phase 1). Retrospective study of <1,500g/<32 weeks of gestation newborns over a
      6 month period (phase 2). Prospective study of <1,500g or 1,550-2,000g, and
      intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) newborns. Measurements were made on the
      1st, 3rd, 7th, and 14th days of life (phase 3). RESULTS: Phase 1: 34 (2.4%) of
      1,394 patients had a diagnosis of hypophosphataemia, 76% of them <=32 weeks of
      gestation and <1500 grams, and 24% >32 weeks with weight<P10. Phase 2: 12 (16.4%)
      of 73 patients had a diagnosis of hypophosphataemia, with <2mg/dL in 5 (6.8%).
      Eight (75%) of those with hypophosphataemia had IUGR, and 4 (25%) weighed
      <1,000g. Five cases had associated hypokalaemia, and three hypercalcaemia. Phase
      3: 9 (45%) of 20 patients had hypophosphataemia, all of them <1,000g or<1,200g
      and weight percentile <10. Thirty-three percent of samples on days 1, 3, and 7
      showed hypophosphataemia, four of them <2mg/dL. There was mild hypokalaemia in 5
      (55%), and mild hypercalcaemia in 2 (22%) cases. Hypophosphataemia was associated
      with lower enteral nutrition and higher parenteral amino acid intake in the early
      days of life. CONCLUSIONS: Hypophosphataemia is common, and can be severe, in the
      first week of life in premature infants <1,000 grams, and newborns<1,200g with
      foetal malnutrition and receiving amino acids in early parenteral nutrition.

PMID- 28587907
TI  - [A family history of renal lithiasis in children diagnosed of urinary tract
      infection by Escherichia coli].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli)
      are common in patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria. As both UTI and
      hypercalciuria (prelithiasis) have a genetic basis, we wanted to know whether the
      family history of urolithiasis is more common in children with UTIs caused by E.
      coli. Secondarily, we wondered if the renal scars are more common in children
      with prelithiasis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ambispective study with collected data
      from 104 patients (40 male, 64 female) followed after having been diagnosed of
      UTI by E. coli at least once. These patients were asked about the existence of
      urolithiasis in relatives. The calcium and citrate urinary elimination was
      qunatified in 80 children. RESULTS: In the total sample, family history was
      positive for urolithiasis in a significantly higher frequency in those children
      (n=71; 68.3%) than in the control population in our area (29.7%; previously
      published data). Prelithiasis frequency in children with UTI was 47.5% (38/80).
      An association was observed between the diagnosis of prelithiasis both with
      family history of urolithiasis (P=.030) and the diagnosis of vesicoureteral
      reflux (P=.034). Children who developed renal scarring had an increased risk of
      prelithiasis (OR 5.3; P=.033). CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of family history of
      urolithiasis in children with UTI caused by E. coli is very high. Based on our
      results we hypothesize that the predisposition to lithiasis can involve a
      constitutively altered defense to E. coli and, therefore, a greater possibility
      for renal scars.

PMID- 28587908
TI  - Elevating 4-hydroxycoumarin production through alleviating thioesterase-mediated
      salicoyl-CoA degradation.
AB  - Acyl-CoAs are essential intermediates in the biosynthetic pathways of a number of
      industrially and pharmaceutically important molecules. When these pathways are
      reconstituted in a heterologous microbial host for metabolic engineering
      purposes, the acyl-CoAs may be subject to undesirable hydrolysis by the host's
      native thioesterases, resulting in a waste of cellular energy and decreased
      intermediate availability, thus impairing bioconversion efficiency. 4
      hydroxycoumarin (4HC) is a direct synthetic precursor to the commonly used oral
      anticoagulants (e.g. warfarin) and rodenticides. In our previous study, we have
      established an artificial pathway for 4HC biosynthesis in Escherichia coli, which
      involves the thioester intermediate salicoyl-CoA. Here, we utilized the 4HC
      pathway as a demonstration to examine the negative effect of salicoyl-CoA
      degradaton, identify and inactivate the responsible thioesterase, and eventually
      improve the 4HC production. We screened a total of 16 E. coli thioesterases and
      tested their hydrolytic activity towards salicoyl-CoA in vitro. Among all the
      tested candidate enzymes, YdiI was found to be the dominant contributor to the
      salicoyl-CoA degradation in E. coli. Remarkably, the ydiI knockout strain
      carrying the 4HC pathway exhibited an up to 300% increase in 4HC production. An
      optimized 4HC pathway construct introduced in the ydiI knockout strain led to the
      accumulation of 935mg/L of 4HC in shake flasks, which is about 1.5 folds higher
      than the wild-type strain. This study demonstrates a systematic strategy to
      alleviate the undesirable hydrolysis of thioester intermediates, allowing
      production enhancement for other biosynthetic pathways with similar issues.

PMID- 28587910
TI  - Evaluation of tetrodotoxins in puffer fish caught along the Mediterranean coast
      of Spain. Toxin profile of Lagocephalus sceleratus.
AB  - Although consumption of Tetraodontidae species is prohibited in the EU,
      intoxications are still reported. The evaluation of tetrodotoxins (TTXs) by mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS and LC-HRMS) and a screening immunoassay (mELISA) in
      tetraodontid fishes caught along the Western Mediterranean Sea revealed high
      concentrations of TTXs in Lagocephalus sceleratus while no TTXs were identified
      in L. lagocephalus and Sphoeroides pachygaster individuals. The high TTXs content
      found in the L. sceleratus analysed herein demonstrate the occurrence of highly
      toxic puffer fish in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Being L. sceleratus a recent
      invasive species in the Mediterranean, surveillance, risk assessment and risk
      management measures are necessary. The strategy used within this research work
      could be a valuable tool for future food safety monitoring.

PMID- 28587909
TI  - Identification of a flavonoid C-glycoside as potent antioxidant.
AB  - Flavonoids have been documented to have good antioxidant activities in vitro.
      However, reports on the cellular antioxidant activities of flavonoid C-glycosides
      are very limited. In this work, an apigenin C-glycoside was purified from
      Artocarpus heterophyllus by column chromatography and was identified to be 2"-O
      beta-D-xylosylvitexin by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The cellular
      antioxidant activity and anticancer activity of 2"-O-beta-D-xylosylvitexin were
      evaluated for the first time. The quantitative structure-activity relationship
      was analysed by molecular modeling. Apigenin presented an unexpected cellular
      antioxidation behaviour. It had an antioxidant activity at low concentration and
      a prooxidant activity at high concentration, whereas 2"-O-beta-D-xylosylvitexin
      showed a dose-dependent cellular antioxidant activity. It indicated that C
      glycosidation improved the cellular antioxidation performance of apigenin and
      eliminated the prooxidant effect. The ortho-dihydroxyl at C-3'/C-4' and C-3
      hydroxyl in the flavonoid skeleton play important roles in the antioxidation
      behaviour. The cell proliferation assay revealed a low cytotoxicity of 2"-O-beta
      D-xylosylvitexin.

PMID- 28587912
TI  - Development of groundwater vulnerability zones in a data-scarce eogenetic karst
      area using Head-Guided Zonation and particle-tracking simulation methods.
AB  - Delineation of groundwater vulnerability zones based on a valid groundwater model
      is crucial towards an accurate design of management strategies. However, limited
      data often restrain the development of a robust groundwater model. This study
      presents a methodology to develop groundwater vulnerability zones in a data
      scarce area. The Head-Guided Zonation (HGZ) method was applied on the recharge
      area of Oemau Spring in Rote Island, Indonesia, which is under potential risk of
      contamination from rapid land use changes. In this method the model domain is
      divided into zones of piecewise constant into which the values of subsurface
      properties are assigned in the parameterisation step. Using reverse particle
      tracking simulation on the calibrated and validated groundwater model, the
      simulation results (travel time and pathline trajectory) were combined with the
      potential groundwater contamination risk from human activities (land use type and
      current practice) to develop three vulnerability zones. The corresponding
      preventive management strategies were proposed to protect the spring from
      contamination and to ensure provision of safe and good quality water from the
      spring.

PMID- 28587911
TI  - Impact of feed carbohydrates and nitrogen source on the production of soluble
      microbial products (SMPs) in anaerobic digestion.
AB  - Six stirred fill-and-draw batch reactors with a range of carbohydrate feeds
      (glucose, fructose and sucrose), and nitrogen sources (NH4Cl, urea) at various
      concentrations were used to investigate the effect of feed composition on the
      production of soluble microbial products (SMPs) during anaerobic digestion (AD).
      To gain greater insights into the SMPs produced, the composition of various
      fractions was analyzed, while the low molecular weight (MW) SMPs generated with
      different feeds and nutrients were collected and chemically analyzed using GC-MS.
      Other organic solutes such as free amino acids were determined using HPLC, and
      this level of chemical analysis has never been carried out in past work because
      of analytical limitations. It was found that the presence of ammonium salts
      rather than urea at 200 mg/L stimulated the production of not only volatile fatty
      acids, but also SMPs of different MW fractions, and reduced the production of
      biogas significantly. The study also revealed that the type of SMP that dominates
      in a particular system depends on the chemical characteristics of the feed, and
      this insight has implications on the composition of the effluent from anaerobic
      digesters (and their potential chlorination by-products), and membrane fouling in
      membrane bioreactors.

PMID- 28587913
TI  - Fast ADM1 implementation for the optimization of feeding strategy using near
      infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - Optimization of feeding strategy is an essential issue of anaerobic co-digestion
      that can be greatly assisted with simulation tools such as the Anaerobic
      Digestion Model 1. Using this model, a set of parameters, such as the biochemical
      composition of the waste to be digested, its methane production yield and
      kinetics, has to be defined for each new substrate. In the recent years, near
      infrared analyses have been reported as a fast and accurate solution for the
      estimation of methane production yield and biochemical composition. However, the
      estimation of methane production kinetics requires time-consuming analysis. Here,
      a partial least square regression model was developed for a fast and efficient
      estimation of methane production kinetics using near infrared spectroscopy on 275
      bio-waste samples. The development of this characterization reduces the time of
      analysis from 30 days to a matter of minutes. Then, biochemical composition and
      methane production yield and kinetics predicted by near infrared spectroscopy
      were implemented in a modified Anaerobic Digestion Model n degrees 1 in order to
      simulate the performance of anaerobic digestion processes. This approach was
      validated using different data sets and was demonstrated to provide a powerful
      predictive tool for advanced control of anaerobic digestion plants and feeding
      strategy optimization.

PMID- 28587914
TI  - The Chaoborus pump: Migrating phantom midge larvae sustain hypolimnetic oxygen
      deficiency and nutrient internal loading in lakes.
AB  - Hypolimnetic oxygen demand in lakes is often assumed to be driven mainly by
      sediment microbial processes, while the role of Chaoborus larvae, which are
      prevalent in eutrophic lakes with hypoxic to anoxic bottoms, has been overlooked.
      We experimentally measured the respiration rates of C. flavicans at different
      temperatures yielding a Q10 of 1.44-1.71 and a respiratory quotient of 0.84-0.98.
      Applying the experimental data in a system analytical approach, we showed that
      migrating Chaoborus larvae can significantly add to the water column and sediment
      oxygen demand, and contribute to the observed linear relationship between water
      column respiration and depth. The estimated phosphorus excretion by Chaoborus in
      sediment is comparable in magnitude to the required phosphorus loading for
      eutrophication. Migrating Chaoborus larvae thereby essentially trap nutrients
      between the water column and the sediment, and this continuous internal loading
      of nutrients would delay lake remediation even when external inputs are stopped.

PMID- 28587915
TI  - Acrylfentanyl: Another new psychoactive drug with fatal consequences.
AB  - The European Nordic Countries are the most exposed to opioid-related deaths.
      Between April and October 2016, a series of forty lethal intoxications occurred
      in Sweden, in which the presence of the synthetic opioid acrylfentanyl was
      determined to be the main - or a contributing - cause of death. In the reported
      cases, the blood concentration of acrylfentanyl - mostly detected in combination
      with other drugs - ranged from 0.01ng/g to 5ng/g; victims were predominantly
      males (34 males and 6 females), and their age varied between 18 and 53 years. We
      further describe five cases, representative of the different drug administration
      route (nasal spray, tablets) and intentions (accidental or voluntary
      intoxication). Moreover, we address nine cases of non-lethal intoxication, in
      single (8 cases) or polydrug scenario (1 case). We discuss the present
      characteristics of the Swedish drug market for fentanyl-analogs in general and
      acrylfentanyl in particular, reporting a structural difficulty to effectively
      counteracting the appearance of unscheduled substances due to the constant
      turnover of new molecules on the recreational drug market.

PMID- 28587918
TI  - Computerized Tomography Based Diagnosis of Visceral Obesity and Hepatic Steatosis
      is Associated with Low Urine pH.
AB  - PURPOSE: Uric acid nephrolithiasis is associated with an elevated visceral fat
      area in kidney stone formers. Hepatic steatosis has also been linked to visceral
      obesity and nephrolithiasis. We evaluated the association of noncontrast
      computerized tomography based diagnosis of visceral obesity and hepatic steatosis
      with 24-hour urine parameters and stone composition in kidney stone formers.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 98 kidney stone formers were included in study
      who had computerized tomography imaging and 24-hour urine studies available. For
      each patient a single computerized tomography axial area measurement was obtained
      of the visceral fat area. Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed by comparing the HU of
      regions from the liver and spleen. Univariate analysis was performed to compare
      patients with or without an elevated visceral fat area and hepatic steatosis.
      Multivariate linear and logistic regression was done to assess for variables
      associated with 24-hour urine parameters and stone composition. RESULTS: An
      elevated visceral fat area was associated with higher 24-hour urine sodium (175
      vs 157 mg per day, p <0.036) and lower 24-hour urine pH (5.724 vs 6.478,
      <0.0001). Urine pH less than 6 (OR 2.52) was associated with hepatic steatosis.
      Low urine pH less than 6 (OR 11.1, p = 0.004) and stone volume greater than 65
      mm3 (OR 5.12, p = 0.023) were associated with an elevated visceral fat area. Low
      urine pH less than 6 (OR 5.87) and visceral fat area greater than 48% (OR 5.33)
      were associated with uric acid stones. Linear regression demonstrated that the
      percent of visceral fat area was associated with lower 24-hour urine pH (beta
      coefficient -0.438, p <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Noncontrast computerized tomography
      based diagnosis of visceral obesity is associated with low urine pH, high urinary
      sodium and uric acid stone formation. Hepatic steatosis is associated with low
      urine pH.

PMID- 28587916
TI  - Measurement of body temperature in normothermic and febrile rats: Limitations of
      using rectal thermometry.
AB  - Stress-induced hyperthermia following rectal thermometry is reported in
      normothermic rats, but appears to be muted or even absent in febrile rats. We
      therefore investigated whether the use of rectal thermometry affects the accuracy
      of temperature responses recorded in normothermic and febrile rats. Using intra
      abdominally implanted temperature-sensitive radiotelemeters we measured the
      temperature response to rectal temperature measurement in male Sprague Dawley
      rats (~200g) injected subcutaneously with Brewer's yeast (20ml/kg of a 20%
      Brewer's yeast solution=4000mg/kg) or saline (20ml/kg of 0.9% saline). Rats had
      been pre-exposed to, or were naive to rectal temperature measurement before the
      injection. The first rectal temperature measurement was taken in the plateau
      phase of the fever (18h after injection) and at hourly intervals thereafter. In
      normothermic rats, rectal temperature measurement was associated with an increase
      in abdominal temperature (0.66+/-0.27 degrees C) that had a rapid onset (5
      10min), peaked at 15-20min and lasted for 35-50min. The hyperthermic response to
      rectal temperature measurement was absent in febrile rats. Exposure to rectal
      temperature measurement on two previous occasions did not reduce the
      hyperthermia. There was a significant positive linear association between
      temperatures recorded using the two methods, but the agreement interval
      identified that rectal temperature measured with a thermocouple probe could
      either be 0.7 degrees C greater or 0.5 degrees C lower than abdominal temperature
      measured with radiotelemeter. Thus, due to stress-induced hyperthermia, rectal
      thermometry does not ensure accurate recording of body temperature in short
      spaced, intermittent intervals in normothermic and febrile rats.

PMID- 28587917
TI  - Home Urodynamic Pressures and Volume Measurement for the Neurogenic Bladder:
      Initial Validation Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated the ability of a bladder pressure/volume diary to identify
      patients at risk for increased intravesical pressures. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Patients dependent on clean intermittent catheterization used ruler based
      manometry to measure intravesical pressures before leakage or scheduled drainage
      at home. We prospectively collected clinical, urodynamic and bladder
      pressure/volume diary data in patients with spina bifida who were optimized on
      anticholinergic therapy and clean intermittent catheterization. Measurements were
      taken with patients in the supine position with relaxed abdominal muscles. We
      defined increased pressure as detrusor pressure greater than 30 cm water as
      measured by urodynamics. ROCs were plotted to correlate bladder pressure/volume
      diary variables with abnormal intravesical pressures, and the most sensitive
      variable in determining abnormal intravesical pressures was sought as the end
      point. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients with a mean age of 10 years (range 1 to
      20) were included. Home pressures measured at maximal clean intermittent
      catheterization volume and mean bladder pressure/volume diary pressures were most
      reliable in predicting urodynamic pressures greater than 30 cm water (AUC 0.93
      and 0.87, respectively). Home pressures measured at maximal clean intermittent
      catheterization volumes less than 20 cm water were associated with normal bladder
      pressures (less than 30 cm water) on urodynamics, with a sensitivity of 100% and
      a specificity of 80%. CONCLUSIONS: Home manometry less than 20 cm water provides
      a reliable measurement of safe pressures. A bladder pressure/volume diary is
      feasible and can aid in monitoring pressures at home without the additional cost
      and morbidity of urodynamics. A bladder pressure/volume diary may be a useful
      tool to help identify patients who would benefit from urodynamic testing.

PMID- 28587919
TI  - Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System (PROMIS(r)) for Patients with
      Urolithiasis: Initial Report.
AB  - PURPOSE: Health related quality of life is increasingly important in quality
      improvement efforts for medical conditions. However, it has proved challenging to
      measure health related quality of life for urolithiasis, given the distinct
      chronic and acute phases of this disease. We evaluated the use of PROMIS(r)
      (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System) to assess the patient experience
      through acute stone episode stages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PROMIS pain measures
      (intensity and interference) were obtained from patients at a subspecialty kidney
      stone clinic. Four types of clinical encounters were considered, including
      emergency department followup, trial of passage, stent removal and 1-month
      postoperative findings. Raw scores were translated into population normed T
      scores with a T-score of 50 considered the reference population mean and a score
      of 60 considered 1 SD above the mean. T-scores were compared across encounter
      types on univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2,018 complete
      surveys were available from 1,162 patients. Mean pain intensity and pain
      interference T-scores differed significantly by encounter type (p <0.001). On
      multivariate analysis the OR of T-scores greater than 60 was higher for pain
      intensity and interference for all encounter types relative to postoperative
      findings, including emergency department followup 37.9 vs 124.9, passage trial
      5.4 vs 10.5 and stent removal 9.4 vs 30.2 (p <0.001). Additionally, female gender
      and younger age were independent risk factors for T-scores greater than 60.
      CONCLUSIONS: PROMIS pain measures are responsive to the phase of care during
      symptomatic stone events. Further application of this instrument holds great
      potential as a valuable tool to improve the quality of urolithiasis care.

PMID- 28587920
TI  - [What would you do with an adult patient who consults due to head muscle weakness
      and has dropped head?]
AB  - The dropped head syndrome, whether due to muscle weakness, rigidity, or
      ankylosis, is not uncommon in the elderly. It is characterised by a "chin-on
      chest" reducible kyphosis, which is secondary to head muscle debility. It may be
      associated with a neuromuscular group of diseases such as polymyositis, chronic
      Inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis, and inclusion-body myositis. Some cases associated with hypothyroidism
      and hyperparathyroidism have also been described. Prognosis without treatment is
      poor. Therefore, familiarity with this condition, together with a complete
      anamnesis and physical examination, should lead us to the clinical suspicion and
      selection of the appropriate complementary tests. In this article, a case of
      dropped head syndrome is reported, as well as an algorithm for its diagnosis.

PMID- 28587921
TI  - CXCL1/CXCR2 signaling in pathological pain: Role in peripheral and central
      sensitization.
AB  - Pathological pain conditions can be triggered after peripheral nerve injury
      and/or inflammation. It is associated with plasticity of nociceptive pathway in
      which pain is prolonged even after healing of the injured tissue. Generally
      combinations of analgesic drugs are not sufficient to achieve selective
      palliation from chronic pain, besides causing a greater number of side effects.
      In order to identify novel alternatives for more effective treatments, it is
      necessary to clarify the underlying mechanisms of pathological pain. It is well
      established that there are two main components in pathological pain development
      and maintenance: (i) primary sensory neuron sensitization (peripheral
      sensitization), and (ii) central sensitization. In both components cytokines and
      chemokines act as key mediators in pain modulation. CXCL1 is a chemokine that
      promote both nociceptor and central sensitization via its main receptor CXCR2,
      which is a promising target for novel analgesic drugs. Here, we reviewed and
      discussed the role of the CXCL1/CXCR2 signaling axis in pathological pain
      conditions triggered by either peripheral inflammation or nerve injury.

PMID- 28587922
TI  - Molecular Basis for K63-Linked Ubiquitination Processes in Double-Strand DNA
      Break Repair: A Focus on Kinetics and Dynamics.
AB  - Cells are exposed to thousands of DNA damage events on a daily basis. This damage
      must be repaired to preserve genetic information and prevent development of
      disease. The most deleterious damage is a double-strand break (DSB), which is
      detected and repaired by mechanisms known as non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ)
      and homologous recombination (HR), which are components of the DNA damage
      response system. NHEJ is an error-prone first line of defense, whereas HR invokes
      error-free repair and is the focus of this review. The functions of the protein
      components of HR-driven DNA repair are regulated by the coordinated action of
      post-translational modifications including lysine acetylation, phosphorylation,
      ubiquitination, and SUMOylation. The latter two mechanisms are fundamental for
      recognition of DSBs and reorganizing chromatin to facilitate repair. We focus on
      the structures and molecular mechanisms for the protein components underlying
      synthesis, recognition, and cleavage of K63-linked ubiquitin chains, which are
      abundant at damage sites and obligatory for DSB repair. The forward flux of the
      K63-linked ubiquitination cascade is driven by the combined activity of E1
      enzyme, the heterodimeric E2 Mms2-Ubc13, and its cognate E3 ligases RNF8 and
      RNF168, which is balanced through the binding and cleavage of chains by the
      deubiquitinase BRCC36, and the proteasome, and through the binding of chains by
      recognition modules on repair proteins such as RAP80. We highlight a number of
      aspects regarding our current understanding for the role of kinetics and dynamics
      in determining the function of the enzymes and chain recognition modules that
      drive K63 ubiquitination.

PMID- 28587923
TI  - Generation and Validation of Intracellular Ubiquitin Variant Inhibitors for USP7
      and USP10.
AB  - Post-translational modification of the p53 signaling pathway plays an important
      role in cell cycle progression and stress-induced apoptosis. Indeed, a large body
      of work has shown that dysregulation of p53 and its E3 ligase MDM2 by the
      ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) promotes carcinogenesis and malignant
      transformation. Thus, drug discovery efforts have focused on the restoration of
      wild-type p53 activity or inactivation of oncogenic mutant p53 by targeted
      inhibition of UPS components, particularly key deubiquitinases (DUBs) of the
      ubiquitin-specific protease (USP) class. However, development of selective small
      molecule USP inhibitors has been challenging, partly due to the highly conserved
      structural features of the catalytic sites across the class. To tackle this
      problem, we devised a protein engineering strategy for rational design of
      inhibitors for DUBs and other UPS proteins. We employed a phage-displayed
      ubiquitin variant (UbV) library to develop inhibitors targeting the DUBs USP7 and
      USP10, which are involved in regulating levels of p53 and MDM2. We were able to
      identify UbVs that bound USP7 or USP10 with high affinity and inhibited
      deubiquitination activity. We solved the crystal structure of UbV.7.2 and
      rationalized the molecular basis for enhanced affinity and specificity for USP7.
      Finally, cell death was increased significantly by UbV.7.2 expression in a colon
      cancer cell line that was treated with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin,
      demonstrating the therapeutic potential of inhibiting USP7 by this approach.

PMID- 28587924
TI  - PRMT7 Interacts with ASS1 and Citrullinemia Mutations Disrupt the Interaction.
AB  - Protein arginine methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) catalyzes the introduction of
      monomethylation marks at the arginine residues of substrate proteins. PRMT7 plays
      important roles in the regulation of gene expression, splicing, DNA damage,
      paternal imprinting, cancer and metastasis. However, little is known about the
      interaction partners of PRMT7. To address this, we performed yeast two-hybrid
      screening of PRMT7 and identified argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS1) as a
      potential interaction partner of PRMT7. We confirmed that PRMT7 directly
      interacts with ASS1 using pull-down studies. ASS1 catalyzes the rate-limiting
      step of arginine synthesis in urea cycle and citrulline-nitric oxide cycle. We
      mapped the interface of PRMT7-ASS1 complex through computational approaches and
      validated the predicted interface in vivo by site-directed mutagenesis.
      Evolutionary analysis revealed that the ASS1 residues important for PRMT7-ASS1
      interaction have co-evolved with PRMT7. We showed that ASS1 mutations linked to
      type I citrullinemia disrupt the ASS1-PRMT7 interaction, which might explain the
      molecular pathogenesis of the disease.

PMID- 28587925
TI  - SIgA-Shigella Immune Complexes Interact with Dectin-1 and SIGNR3 to
      Differentially Regulate Mouse Peyer's Patch and Mesenteric Lymph Node Dendritic
      Cell's Responsiveness.
AB  - In addition to contributing to immune exclusion at mucosal surfaces, secretory
      IgA (SIgA) made of polymeric IgA and secretory component is able to selectively
      reenter via microfold cells into Peyer's patches (PPs) present along the
      intestine and to associate with dendritic cells (DCs) of the
      CD11c+CD11b+MHCII+F4/80-CD8-phenotype in the subepithelial dome region and the
      draining mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). However, the nature of the receptor(s)
      for SIgA on murine PP and MLN DCs is unknown. We find that glycosylated secretory
      component moiety and polymeric IgA are both involved in the specific interaction
      with these cells. Using blocking antibodies and competition experiments, we
      identify Dectin-1 and specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3 grabbing non
      integrin receptor 3 (SIGNR3) as receptors for SIgA. While SIgA-commensal immune
      complexes (ICs) contribute to local homeostasis upon interaction with mucosal
      DCs, the picture is less clear for pathogenic agents. We find that in comparison
      with incubation of Shigella flexneri alone, association of the enteropathogen
      with SIgA prompts freshly isolated DCs from PPs and MLNs to invert the production
      of pro- versus non-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines. The sum of the data
      suggests that in contrast to IgG-based ICs boosting immune reactivity of antigen
      presenting cells, SIgA produced during an ongoing immune response can, in
      addition to its known function of immune exclusion, modulate mucosal DC
      conditioning via specific interaction with Dectin-1 and SIGNR3.

PMID- 28587926
TI  - Comparison of in silico prediction and experimental assessment of ABCB4 variants
      identified in patients with biliary diseases.
AB  - Genetic variations of the phosphatidylcholine transporter, ABCB4 cause several
      biliary diseases. The large number of reported variations makes it difficult to
      foresee a comprehensive study of each variation. To appreciate the reliability of
      in silico prediction programs, 1) we confronted them with the assessment in cell
      models of two ABCB4 variations (E528D and P1161S) identified in patients with low
      phospholipid-associated cholelithiasis (LPAC); 2) we extended the confrontation
      to 19 variations that we had previously characterized in cellulo. Four programs
      (Provean, Polyphen-2, PhD-SNP and MutPred) were used to predict the degree of
      pathogenicity. The E528D and P1161S variants were studied in transfected HEK293
      and HepG2 cells by immunofluorescence, immunoblotting and measurement of
      phosphatidylcholine secretion. All prediction tools qualified the P1161S
      variation as deleterious, but provided conflicting results for E528D. In cell
      models, both mutants were expressed and localized as the wild type but their
      activity was significantly reduced, by 48% (P1161S) and 33% (E528D). These
      functional defects best correlated with MutPred predictions. MutPred program also
      proved the most accurate to predict the pathogenicity of the 19 ABCB4 variants
      that we previously characterized in cell models, and the most sensitive to
      predict the pathogenicity of 65 additional mutations of the Human Gene Mutation
      Database. These results confirm the pathogenicity of E528D and P1161S variations
      and suggest that even a moderate decrease (by less than 50%) of
      phosphatidylcholine secretion can cause LPAC syndrome. They highlight the
      reliability of in silico prediction tools, most notably MutPred, as a first
      approach to predict the pathogenicity of ABCB4 variants.

PMID- 28587928
TI  - Beneficial potential of intravenously administered IL-6 in improving outcome
      after murine experimental stroke.
AB  - Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine with neuroprotective properties.
      Still, the therapeutic potential of IL-6 after experimental stroke has not yet
      been investigated in a clinically relevant way. Here, we investigated the
      therapeutic use of intravenously administered IL-6 and the soluble IL-6 receptor
      (sIL-6R) alone or in combination, early after permanent middle cerebral artery
      occlusion (pMCAo) in mice. IL-6 did not affect the infarct volume in C57BL/6
      mice, at neither 24 nor 72h after pMCAo but reduced the infarct volume in IL-6
      knockout mice at 24h after pMCAo. Assessment of post-stroke behavior showed an
      improved grip strength after a single IL-6 injection and also improved rotarod
      endurance after two injections, in C57BL/6 mice at 24h. An improved grip strength
      and a better preservation of sensory functions was also observed in IL-6 treated
      IL-6 knockout mice 24h after pMCAo. Co-administration of IL-6 and sIL-6R
      increased the infarct volume, the number of infiltrating polymorphonuclear
      leukocytes and impaired the rotarod endurance of C57BL/6 mice 24h after pMCAo. IL
      6 administration to naive C57BL/6 mice lead after 45min to increased plasma
      levels of CXCL1 and IL-10, whereas IL-6 administration to C57BL/6 mice lead to a
      reduction in the ischemia-induced increase in IL-6 and CXCL1 at both mRNA and
      protein level in brain, and of IL-6 and CXCL1 in serum. We also investigated the
      expression of IL-6 and IL-6R after pMCAo and found that cortical neurons
      upregulated IL-6 mRNA and protein, and upregulated IL-6R after pMCAo. In
      conclusion, the results show a complex but potentially beneficial effect of
      intravenously administered IL-6 in experimental stroke.

PMID- 28587927
TI  - The beta4 subunit of the voltage-gated calcium channel (Cacnb4) regulates the
      rate of cell proliferation in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells.
AB  - The beta subunits of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel (VGCC) are cytosolic proteins
      that interact with the VGCC pore -forming subunit and participate in the
      trafficking of the channel to the cell membrane and in ion influx regulation.
      beta subunits also exert functions independently of their binding to VGCC by
      translocation to the cell nucleus including the control of gene expression.
      Mutations of the neuronal Cacnb4 (beta4) subunit are linked to human
      neuropsychiatric disorders including epilepsy and intellectual disabilities. It
      is believed that the pathogenic phenotype induced by these mutations is
      associated with channel-independent functions of the beta4 subunit. In this
      report, we investigated the role of beta4 subunit in cell proliferation and cell
      cycle progression and examined whether these functions could be altered by a
      pathogenic mutation. To this end, stably transfected Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO
      K1) cells expressing either rat full-length beta4 or the rat C-terminally
      truncated epileptic mutant variant beta1-481 were generated. The subcellular
      localization of both proteins differed significantly. Full-length beta4 localizes
      almost exclusively in the cell nucleus and concentrates into the nucleolar
      compartment, while the C-terminal-truncated beta1-481 subunit was less
      concentrated within the nucleus and absent from the nucleoli. Cell proliferation
      was found to be reduced by the expression of beta4, while it was unaffected by
      the epileptic mutant. Also, full-length beta4 interfered with cell cycle
      progression by presumably preventing cells from entering the S-phase via a
      mechanism that partially involves endogenous B56delta, a regulatory subunit of
      the phosphatase 2A (PP2A) that binds beta4 but not beta1-481. Analysis of beta4
      subcellular distribution during the cell cycle revealed that the protein is
      highly expressed in the nucleus at the G1/S transition phase and that it is
      translocated out of the nucleus during chromatin condensation and cell division.
      These results suggest that nuclear accumulation of beta4 at the G1/S transition
      phase affects the progression into S-phase resulting in a decrease in the rate of
      cell proliferation. Regulation of the cell cycle exit is a critical step in
      determining the number of neuronal precursors and neuronal differentiation
      suggesting that mutations of the beta4 subunit could affect neural development
      and formation of the mature central nervous system.

PMID- 28587929
TI  - A shear-enhanced CNT-assembly nanosensor platform for ultra-sensitive and
      selective protein detection.
AB  - Detection and quantification of low-concentration proteins in heterogeneous media
      are generally plagued by two distinct obstacles: lack of sensitivity due to high
      dissociation equilibrium constant KD and non-specificity due to an abundance of
      non-targets with similar KD. Herein, we report a nanoscale protein-sensing
      platform with a non-equilibrium on-off switch that employs dielectrophoretic and
      hydrodynamic shear forces to overcome these thermodynamic limitations with
      irreversible kinetics. The detection sensitivity is achieved with complete
      association of the antibody-antigen-antibody (Ab-Ag-Ab) complex by precisely and
      rapidly assembling carbon nanotubes (CNT) across two parallel electrodes via
      sequential DC electrophoresis and AC dielectrophoresis (DEP), and with single-CNT
      electron tunneling conductance. The high selectivity is achieved with a critical
      hydrodynamic shear rate between the activated dissociation shear rates of target
      and non-target linkers of the aligned CNTs. We are able to reach detection limits
      of 100 attomolar (aM) and 10 femtomolar (fM) in pure samples for two ELISA assays
      with low and high dissociation constant: biotin/streptavidin (10 fM) and
      HER2/HER2 antibody (0.44 +/- 0.07nM), respectively. For both models, irreversible
      capture and shearing allow us to tune the dynamic range up to 5 decades by
      increasing the CNT numbers. We also demonstrate in spiked serum sample high
      selectivity towards target HER2 proteins against non-target HER2 isoform of a
      similar KD. The detection limit for HER2 in serum is lower than 100fM.

PMID- 28587930
TI  - Electrostatic interaction of positive charges on the surface of Psb31 with
      photosystem II in the diatom Chaetoceros gracilis.
AB  - Psb31, a novel extrinsic protein found in diatom photosystem II (PSII), directly
      binds to PSII core subunits, independent of the other extrinsic proteins, and
      functions to maintain optimum oxygen evolution. However, how Psb31
      electrostatically interacts with PSII intrinsic proteins remains to be clarified.
      In this study, we examined electrostatic interaction of Psb31 with PSII complexes
      isolated from the diatom Chaetoceros gracilis. Positive or negative charges of
      isolated Psb31 proteins were modified with N-succinimidyl propionate (NSP) or
      glycine methyl ester (GME), respectively, resulting in formation of uncharged
      groups. NSP-modified Psb31 did not bind to PSII with a concomitant increase in
      NSP concentration, whereas GME-modified Psb31 clearly bound to PSII with
      retention of oxygen-evolving activity, indicating that positive charges of Lys
      residues and the N-terminus on the surface of Psb31 are involved in electrostatic
      interactions with PSII intrinsic proteins. Mass spectrometry analysis of NSP
      modified Psb31 and sequence comparisons of Psb31 from C. gracilis with other
      chromophyte algae led to identification of three Lys residues as possible binding
      sites to PSII. Based on these findings, together with our previous cross-linking
      study in diatom PSII and a red algal PSII structure, we discuss binding
      properties of Psb31 with PSII core proteins.

PMID- 28587931
TI  - The C-terminus of PufX plays a key role in dimerisation and assembly of the
      reaction center light-harvesting 1 complex from Rhodobacter sphaeroides.
AB  - In bacterial photosynthesis reaction center-light-harvesting 1 (RC-LH1) complexes
      trap absorbed solar energy by generating a charge separated state. Subsequent
      electron and proton transfers form a quinol, destined to diffuse to the
      cytochrome bc1 complex. In bacteria such as Rhodobacter (Rba.) sphaeroides and
      Rba. capsulatus the PufX polypeptide creates a channel for quinone/quinol traffic
      across the LH1 complex that surrounds the RC, and it is therefore essential for
      photosynthetic growth. PufX also plays a key role in dimerization of the RC-LH1
      PufX core complex, and the structure of the Rba. sphaeroides complex shows that
      the PufX C-terminus, particularly the region from X49-X53, likely mediates
      association of core monomers. To investigate this putative interaction we
      analysed mutations PufX R49L, PufX R53L, PufX R49/53L and PufX G52L by measuring
      photosynthetic growth, fractionation of detergent-solubilised membranes,
      formation of 2-D crystals and electron microscopy. We show that these mutations
      do not affect assembly of PufX within the core or photosynthetic growth but they
      do prevent dimerization, consistent with predictions from the RC-LH1-PufX
      structure. We obtained low resolution structures of monomeric core complexes with
      and without PufX, using electron microscopy of negatively stained single
      particles and 3D reconstruction; the monomeric complex with PufX corresponds to
      one half of the dimer structure whereas LH1 completely encloses the RC if the
      gene encoding PufX is deleted. On the basis of the insights gained from these
      mutagenesis and structural analyses we propose a sequence for assembly of the
      dimeric RC-LH1-PufX complex.

PMID- 28587933
TI  - Novel signals in the regulation of Pi starvation responses in plants: facts and
      promises.
AB  - Plants have evolved numerous adaptive developmental and metabolic responses to
      cope with growth in conditions of limited phosphate (Pi). Regulation of these Pi
      starvation responses (PSR) at the organism level involves not only cellular Pi
      perception in different organs, but also inter-organ communication of Pi levels
      via systemic signaling. Here we summarize recent discoveries on Pi starvation
      sensing and signaling, with special emphasis on structure-function studies that
      showed a role for inositol polyphosphates (InsP) as intracellular Pi signals, and
      on genomic studies that identified a large number of mRNAs with inter-organ
      mobility, which provide an immense source of potential systemic signals in the
      control of PSR and other responses.

PMID- 28587932
TI  - Preliminary evidence that age and sex affect exercise-induced hTERT expression.
AB  - The ability to repair cellular damage is reduced with aging, resulting in
      cellular senescence. Telomeres shorten as cells divide but the rate of telomere
      attrition is modulated by telomerase, an enzyme that adds nucleotides to the
      chromosome. Shelterin is a protein complex that acts as a negative regulator of
      telomerase. The aim of the present study was to investigate age-related
      differences in telomerase and shelterin responses to acute exercise. We
      hypothesized that acute exercise would stimulate an increased activity of
      telomerase (measured by telomerase reverse transcriptase, hTERT) without an
      increase in activity of shelterin (measured by telomeric repeat binding factor 2,
      TRF2) in both young and older individuals and that hTERT response would be
      attenuated in older individuals. Young (22+/-2y, n=11) and older (60+/-2y, n=8)
      men and women performed 30min of cycling. Blood was collected pre-exercise and
      30, 60, and 90-min post-exercise. The trial induced a significant hTERT response
      in the cohort as a whole (p<0.05) with greater increases in the young as compared
      to the older group (time-by-group interaction p<0.05). As expected, TRF2 did not
      change in response to the trial, however older individuals had a higher TRF2
      response at 60min (p<0.05). There was an unexpected sex difference, regardless of
      age, where men had significantly greater hTERT and TRF2 responses to the acute
      exercise as compared to women (p<0.05). These data support the hypothesis that
      aging is associated with attenuated telomerase activation in response to high
      intensity exercise; however, this was only evident in men.

PMID- 28587934
TI  - Ankle and knee biomechanics during normal walking following ankle plantarflexor
      fatigue.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of unilateral
      ankle plantarflexor fatigue on bilateral knee and ankle biomechanics during gait.
      Lower leg kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activation were assessed before and
      after an ankle plantarflexor fatiguing protocol in 31 healthy individuals.
      Fatigue (defined as >10% reduction in maximal isometric ankle plantarflexor
      torque production and a downward shift in the median power frequency of both
      heads of the gastrocnemius muscle of the fatigued limb) was achieved in 18
      individuals, and only their data were used for analysis purposes. Compared to pre
      fatigue walking trials, medial gastrocnemius activity was significantly reduced
      in the study (fatigued) limb. Other main changes following fatigue included
      significantly more knee flexion during loading, and an associated larger external
      knee flexion moment in the study limb. At the ankle joint, participants exhibited
      significantly less peak plantarflexion (occurring at toe-off) with fatigue. No
      significant differences were observed in the contralateral (non-fatigued) limb.
      Findings from this study indicate that fatigue of the ankle plantarflexor muscle
      does not produce widespread changes in gait biomechanics, suggesting that small
      to moderate changes in maximal ankle plantarflexor force production capacity
      (either an increase or decrease) will not have a substantial impact on normal
      lower limb functioning during gait.

PMID- 28587935
TI  - Human antimicrobial peptides in ocular surface defense.
AB  - Sight depends on the passage of light through the transparent cornea and being
      focused on the fovea. Its exposed position renders it vulnerable to microbial
      infection. The cornea has developed a wide array of defense mechanisms against
      infection, of which endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are key. AMPs are
      essentially small molecular weight cationic peptides with a wide range of
      activity against virus, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Some proteins such as
      RNases and S100As are also included in this group. Several AMPs act
      synergistically allowing low expression of multiple AMPs to act efficiently. AMPs
      also have a range of non-microbicidal functions and serve as signaling molecules,
      immunomodulators; show anti-tumour activity, and influence vascularization and
      wound healing. Different toll-like receptors (TLR) have been implicated in the
      preferential induction of specific AMPs. A range of bacteria, including
      mycobacteria tuberculosis, viruses including herpes virus, fungi and parasites
      including acanthamoeba, that cause ocular infections have been shown to induce
      specific AMPs via TLR activation. Non-TLR mediated induction of AMP expression
      can occur and several molecules such as L-isoleucine, sodium butyrate, vitamin
      D3, phenylbutyrate, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and etinostat have been
      identified in this regard. Given the rising microbe resistance to antibiotics,
      the slow rate of development of new antibiotics and the limited access to
      effective antibiotics by patients living in the developing world, an ideal
      solution would be to find AMPs that are effective singly or in combination with
      each other or other antimicrobial proteins to reduce, if possible eliminate
      reliance on antibiotics alone.

PMID- 28587936
TI  - Intra-hippocampal microinjection of oxytocin produced antiepileptic effect on the
      pentylenetetrazol-induced epilepsy in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In addition to its role as a circulating hormone, oxytocin can also
      act as a neurotransmitter and a neuromodulator within the brain. In this study,
      we investigated the intra-hippocampal effect of oxytocin on an experimental
      seizure model induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in rats. We also used atosiban
      (oxytocin antagonist), diazepam and flumazenil (gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA
      benzodiazepine receptor agonist and antagonist, respectively) to clarify the
      involved mechanism. METHOD: In ketamine-xylazine anesthetized rats, the right and
      left sides of the dorsal hippocampus (CA1) were implanted with two guide
      cannulas. Epileptic behaviors were induced by intraperitoneal (ip) injection of
      PTZ (60mg/kg), and the latency time to onset of first myoclonic jerk, and the
      duration of epileptic seizures were determined for 30min. RESULTS: Intra
      hippocampal microinjections of oxytocin at doses of 10 and 20ng/site, diazepam
      (100 and 200ng/site) and co-administration of their ineffective doses
      significantly (p<0.01) increased the onset of first myoclonic jerk and decreased
      duration of epileptic seizure. Antiepileptic effects of oxytocin (20ng/site) were
      inhibited by atosiban (20 and 40ng/site) and flumazenil (100 and 200ng/site)
      pretreatments. On the other hand, prior administration of flumazenil (100 and
      200ng/site) and atosiban (20 and 40ng/site) prevented the antiepileptic effects
      induced by diazepam (100 and 200ng/site). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present
      study showed that at the level of the hippocampus oxytocin suppressed the
      severity of epileptic behaviors. A hippocampal GABA-benzodiazepine receptor
      mechanism may be involved in antiepileptic effect of oxytocin.

PMID- 28587937
TI  - Anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of strontium ranelate on the
      zymosan-induced temporomandibular joint inflammatory hypernociception in rats
      depend on TNF-alpha inhibition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders show inflammatory components,
      heavily impacting on quality of life. Strontium ranelate has previously shown
      anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects on other experimental inflammatory
      pain models. Thus, we aim to investigate the strontium ranelate efficacy in
      reducing the zymosan-induced inflammatory hypernociception in the TMJ of rats by
      evaluating the TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) involvement.
      METHODS: Wistar rats were treated with strontium ranelate (0.5, 5 or 50 mg/kg,
      per os) 1 h before zymosan injection (iart). Mechanical threshold was assessed by
      Von Frey test and synovial lavage was collected for leukocyte counting and
      myeloperoxidase measurement, joint tissue and trigeminal ganglion were excised
      for histopathological analysis (H&E) and TNF-alpha/IL-1beta levels dosage
      (ELISA). Moreover, rats were pre-treated with ZnPP-IX (3 mg/kg, sc), a specific
      HO-1 inhibitor, before strontium ranelate administration (0.5 mg/kg, per os), and
      Evans Blue (5 mg/kg, iv) was administered to assess plasma extravasation. Pre
      treatment with indomethacin (5 mg/kg, sc) was used as positive control while the
      sham group received 0.9% sterile saline (per os and iart). RESULTS: Strontium
      ranelate did not reduce leukocyte counting, myeloperoxidase activity, Evans Blue
      extravasation, IL-1beta levels, and TNF-alpha/IL-1beta immunolabeling; but it
      increased the nociceptive threshold and reduced TNF-alpha levels. Additionally,
      HO-1 inhibition did not change the strontium ranelate effects. CONCLUSION:
      Strontium ranelate may achieve its antinociceptive effects through the reduction
      of TNF-alpha levels in the trigeminal ganglion, but not suppressing IL-1beta
      expression nor inducing the HO-1 pathway.

PMID- 28587939
TI  - Temozolomide and sorafenib as programmed cell death inducers of human glioma
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gliomas are aggressive brain tumors with very high resistance to
      chemotherapy. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the
      effectiveness of sorafenib and Temozolomide in elimination of human glioma cells
      through apoptosis and autophagy. METHODS: MOGGCCM (anaplastic astrocytoma) and
      T98G (glioblastoma multiforme) cell lines incubated with sorafenib and/or
      Temozolomide were used in the experiments. Cell morphology (ER stress, apoptosis,
      autophagy, and necrosis) was analyzed microscopically while apoptosis and
      mitochondrial membrane potential were assessed with flow cytometry. Beclin1, LC3,
      p62, Hsp27, and Hsp72 levels were analyzed by immunoblotting. The activity of
      caspase 3, 8, and 9 was evaluated fluorometrically. Expression of Hsps was
      blocked by transfection with specific siRNA. RESULTS: In MOGGCCM cells,
      Temozolomide most frequently induced autophagy, which was accompanied by
      decreased p62 and increased beclin1 and LC3II levels. Sorafenib initiated mainly
      apoptosis. Additional incubation with Temozolomide, synergistically potentiated
      the pro-apoptotic properties of sorafenib, but it was mediated in a caspase
      independent way. In T98G cells, the effect of the analyzed drugs on programmed
      cell death induction was different from that in MOGGCCM cells. Sorafenib induced
      autophagy, while Temozolomide initiated mainly apoptosis. After simultaneous drug
      application, apoptosis dominated, suggesting synergistic action of both drugs.
      Inhibition of Hsp27 and Hsp72 expression increased the sensitivity of both cell
      lines to ER stress and, to a lesser extent, to induction of apoptosis, but not
      autophagy. CONCLUSIONS: Sorafenib and Temozolomide applied in combination are
      potent apoptosis inducers in T98G and MOGGCCM cells. ER stress precedes the
      elimination. Blocking of Hsp expression has a greater impact on ER stress rather
      than apoptosis induction.

PMID- 28587938
TI  - Etidronate down-regulates Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 ligand-induced
      proinflammatory cytokine production by inhibiting NF-kappaB activation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Etidronate is a non-nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (non-NBP) used
      for anti-bone resorptive therapy as well as having inhibitory effects on
      atherosclerotic plaques. The present study examined the effects of etidronate on
      the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines by the macrophage-like
      cell line, J774.1, incubated with Pam3Cys-Ser-(Lys)4 (Pam3CSK4, a Toll-like
      receptor (TLR) 2 agonist) and lipid A (a TLR4 agonist). METHODS: J774.1 cells and
      human monocytic THP-1 cells were pretreated with or without etidronate for 5min,
      and then incubated with or without Pam3CSK4 or lipid A for 24h. Levels of
      secreted interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha
      (MIP-1alpha) in culture supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay (ELISA). Cytotoxicity was determined by LDH activity in the supernatants.
      We also examined the effects of etidronate on the activation of nuclear factor
      kappaB (NF-kappaB) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in J774.1
      cells by ELISA and Western blotting. RESULTS: Treatment of J774.1 cells with
      etidronate down-regulated TLR2 ligand-induced production of IL-6, TNF-alpha, MCP
      1, and MIP-1alpha. Etidronate also inhibited Pam3CSK4-induced MCP-1 and TNF-alpha
      production by THP-1 cells. However, etidronate did not induce cytotoxicity and
      reduced lipid A-induced cytotoxicity in J774.1 cells. In addition, this agent did
      not down-regulate TLR4 ligand-induced proinflammatory cytokine production.
      Furthermore, etidronate inhibited the translocation of NF-kappaB but not p38 MAPK
      in J774.1 cells stimulated with Pam3CSK4 or lipid A. CONCLUSION: Etidronate
      likely inhibits proinflammatory cytokine production in J774.1 cells by
      suppressing NF-kappaB activation in the TLR2 and not the TLR4 pathway.

PMID- 28587940
TI  - Learning to make things happen: Infants' observational learning of social and
      physical causal events.
AB  - Infants learn about cause and effect through hands-on experience; however, they
      also can learn about causality simply from observation. Such observational causal
      learning is a central mechanism by which infants learn from and about other
      people. Across three experiments, we tested infants' observational causal
      learning of both social and physical causal events. Experiment 1 assessed
      infants' learning of a physical event in the absence of visible spatial contact
      between the causes and effects. Experiment 2 developed a novel paradigm to assess
      whether infants could learn about a social causal event from third-party
      observation of a social interaction between two people. Experiment 3 compared
      learning of physical and social events when the outcomes occurred
      probabilistically (happening some, but not all, of the time). Infants
      demonstrated significant learning in all three experiments, although learning
      about probabilistic cause-effect relations was most difficult. These findings
      about infant observational causal learning have implications for children's rapid
      nonverbal learning about people, things, and their causal relations.

PMID- 28587942
TI  - The association of addictive-like eating with food intake in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The potential role of an addictive process in problematic eating is a
      growing area of interest and debate. Children are more vulnerable to the negative
      effects of addictive substances than adults and may be at increased risk for
      addictive-like eating behavior. No prior study has evaluated the association of
      addictive-like eating with objectively measured eating behavior in adults or
      children. We examined the association between "food addiction" and observed food
      consumption among children and whether age moderated this association. METHOD:
      Seventy children participated in an observed dinner meal, completed a dietary
      recall interview, and answered the Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS
      C), a questionnaire assessing symptoms of "food addiction". Children's total
      calories ordered, calories consumed at dinner, calories consumed post-dinner, and
      a total of calories consumed at dinner and post-dinner were calculated along with
      their BMI percentile. We used generalized estimated equation models to
      investigate the relationship between the YFAS-C and food consumption. RESULTS:
      Elevated "food addiction" symptoms, but not BMI percentile, were positively
      associated with an increased amount of calories consumed at dinner and post
      dinner. Age significantly moderated the relationship between YFAS-C and caloric
      intake, with only younger children exhibiting this association. CONCLUSIONS: As
      the first study of objectively measured eating behavior, we found addictive-like
      eating scores in children were positively associated with the total amount of
      calories consumed. Among younger children, "food addiction" was more strongly
      associated with the total calories consumed than BMI percentile, highlighting the
      importance of assessing behavioral phenotypes when evaluating caloric intake.
      This association between addictive-like eating and caloric intake among younger,
      but not older children may be due to differences in inhibitory control and
      dietary restraint.

PMID- 28587943
TI  - Delivering direct acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C to highly marginalised
      and current drug injecting populations in a targeted primary health care setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) is a community-based public health
      facility in Sydney, Australia, that provides healthcare to people who inject
      drugs (PWID), including hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment. From March 2016, the
      Australian Government has provided access to direct-acting antivirals (DAA) for
      adults with chronic HCV, without liver disease stage or drug and alcohol use
      restrictions. The aim of this study was to report DAA treatment outcomes among
      highly marginalised PWID treated at KRC. METHODS: All individuals initiating DAA
      treatment at KRC and due for sustained virological response (SVR12) testing by
      end 2016 were included. Demographic, drug use behaviour, clinical parameters,
      adherence support and HCV treatment outcomes, including SVR12 were recorded.
      Factors associated with SVR12, loss-to-follow-up (LTFU) and delayed SVR12 testing
      (>SVR16) were assessed by multivariate analysis. SVR12 was assessed by intention
      to-treat (ITT) and modified ITT, the latter excluding individuals with an end-of
      treatment response (ETR) but no SVR12 assessment, or who postponed their SVR12
      date due to treatment interruption. RESULTS: A total of 72 individuals commencing
      DAAs were included, of whom 67% were male, 30% homeless, and 32% Aboriginal. All
      had a lifetime history of injecting drug use, with 75% having injected within the
      last six months, and 44% injecting at least weekly; 25% were also enrolled in
      opioid substitution therapy. Twenty-five (35%) individuals elected to receive an
      enhanced adherence-support package. Fifty-nine of 72 (82%) individuals due for
      SVR12 attended for testing, of whom 59/59 (100%) achieved SVR, providing an ITT
      SVR of 82%. A further six individuals had undetectable HCV RNA at ETR, but no
      SVR12 assessment, and one interrupted treatment, providing a mITT SVR of 91%.
      Homelessness was associated with delayed SVR12 testing (OR 24.9 95%CI 2.9-212.8,
      p=0.003). There was no association between LTFU and frequency of drug injection,
      last drug injected, or planned treatment duration. CONCLUSION: This study
      confirms that PWID can be successfully treated for HCV in a real-world setting
      using an integrated primary health care model. It also demonstrates feasibility
      to upscale DAA therapy in high-risk PWID populations, with potential individual
      and population-level public health benefits. Enhanced efforts are required to
      optimise post-treatment follow-up.

PMID- 28587941
TI  - Family food talk, child eating behavior, and maternal feeding practices.
AB  - Families discuss food and eating in many ways that may shape child eating habits.
      Researchers studying how families talk about food have examined this process
      during meals. Little work has examined parent-child food-related interactions
      outside of mealtime. We assessed family food talk at home outside of mealtime and
      tested whether food talk was associated with obesogenic child eating behaviors,
      maternal feeding practices, or child weight. Preschool and school-aged mother
      child dyads (n = 61) participated in naturalistic voice recording using a LENA
      (Language ENvironment Analysis) recorder. A coding scheme was developed to
      reliably characterize different types of food talk from LENA transcripts. Mothers
      completed the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and Child Feeding
      Questionnaire (CFQ) to assess child eating behaviors and maternal feeding
      practices. Child weight and height were measured and body mass index z-score
      (BMIz) calculated. Bivariate associations among food talk types, as a proportion
      of total speech, were examined and multivariate regression models used to test
      associations between food talk and child eating behaviors, maternal feeding
      practices, and child BMIz. Proportion of child Overall Food Talk and Food
      Explanations were positively associated with CEBQ Food Responsiveness and
      Enjoyment of Food (p's < 0.05). Child food Desire/Need and child Prep/Planning
      talk were positively associated with CEBQ Enjoyment of Food (p < 0.05). Child
      Food Enjoyment talk and mother Overt Restriction talk were positively associated
      with CEBQ Emotional Over-Eating (p < 0.05). Mother Monitoring talk was positively
      associated with CFQ Restriction (p < 0.05). Mother Prep/Planning talk was
      negatively associated with child BMIz. Food talk outside of mealtimes related to
      child obesogenic eating behaviors and feeding practices in expected ways;
      examining food talk outside of meals is a novel way to consider feeding practices
      and child eating behavior.

PMID- 28587945
TI  - A new "on-off-on" fluorescent probe containing triarylimidazole chromophore to
      sequentially detect copper and sulfide ions.
AB  - A novel compound TPI-H containing triphenylimidazole chromophore is synthesized
      and employed as fluorescent probe for sequential detection of Cu2+ and S2-. With
      three binding sites in its molecular structure, TPI-H exhibits highly selective
      binding towards Cu2+ and results in an apparent fluorescence "on-off" behavior.
      Fluorescence intensity is linear with the Cu2+ concentration, and the detection
      limit can be down to 8.7nM. Furthermore, the in-situ generated ensemble between
      TPI-H and Cu2+ (TPI-H-Cu(II)) can be used to detect S2- with a low detection
      limit of 15.6nM through Cu2+ displacement method. In addition, the potential
      utility of the probe for the detection of Cu2+ and further S2- in biological
      system is investigated by cell imaging.

PMID- 28587944
TI  - Short-term injection drug use changes following hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      assessment and treatment among persons who inject drugs with acute HCV infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether treatment and care for hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      infection can help people who inject drugs (PWID) modify their injection drug use
      behaviours. This study examined changes in injection drug use among PWID with
      acute HCV systematically referred for HCV clinical assessment and treatment and
      offered targeted health care services, over the course of one year. METHODS: The
      study sample included PWID with documented acute HCV infection recruited and
      followed-up semi-annually at least twice in IMPACT (2007-2015), a longitudinal
      community-based prospective study in Montreal, Canada. Following enrolment,
      participants with contra-indications to treatment due to severe co-morbidity were
      offered targeted health care services. Pegylated interferon-alpha (12-24 weeks)
      was offered to all other participants who did not spontaneously resolve their
      infection. At each study visit, data were collected on socio-demographic factors
      and drug use patterns. Logistic regression was used to assess changes in
      injection drug use at one-year follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 87 eligible
      participants (mean age: 35.6; 78.2% male), 21.8% received treatment [(RT),
      Sustained virological response: 84.2%], 25.3% spontaneously resolved their
      infection (SR), 14.9% had contra-indication(s) (CI) and 37.9% chose not to engage
      in HCV care post-diagnosis (NE). In multivariate analyses adjusting for age,
      gender and injection drug use at baseline, the RT [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR):
      0.18; 95% Confidence interval (CI): 0.04-0.76], SR (AOR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.08
      1.40), and CI (AOR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.05-1.22) groups were less likely to report
      injection drug use at follow-up relative to the NE group. CONCLUSION: PWID who
      received treatment, spontaneously resolved their infection or presented with
      treatment contra-indication(s) reported reduced injection drug use at one-year
      follow-up relative to those who did not engage in therapy. Findings suggest that
      the benefits of HCV assessment and treatment may extent to helping PWID modify
      their injection drug use patterns.

PMID- 28587946
TI  - New approach for the quantification of metallic species in healthcare products
      based on optical switching of a Schiff base possessing ONO donor set.
AB  - A new method is reported for the quantification of some metallic components of
      healthcare products utilizing a Schiff base chelator derived from 2
      hydroxyacetophenone and ethanolamine. The Schiff base chelator recognizes some
      metallic species such as iron, copper and zinc (important components of some
      healthcare products), and cadmium (common contaminant in healthcare products)
      giving colorimetric/fluorimetric response. It coordinates with Fe2+/Fe3+ and Cu2+
      ions via ONO donor set and switches the colour to bright red, green and orange,
      respectively. Similarly, it switches 'ON' a fluorometric response when
      coordinates with Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions. In the present approach, detailed studies on
      the colorimetric and fluorimetric response of ONO Schiff base is investigated in
      detail. The Job plot for the complexation of ONO switch with various metal ions
      suggested formation of 1:1 (metal-chelator) complex with Fe2+, Fe3+, and Cu2+
      while 1:2 (metal-chelator) for Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions. The limit of detection, limit
      of quantification are 6.73, 18.0, 25.0, 0.65, 1.10MUM and 27.0, 72.0, 100.0, 2.60
      and 4.40MUM for Fe2+, Fe3+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions, respectively. Under the
      optimized conditions, chelator was used for the quantification of important
      metals present in healthcare products via direct dissolution and furnace
      treatment during sample preparation. The results were found precise and accurate
      for both sample preparation techniques using the developed method.

PMID- 28587947
TI  - Colorimetric assay of copper ions based on the inhibition of peroxidase-like
      activity of MoS2 nanosheets.
AB  - The peroxidase-like catalytic activity of MoS2 nanomaterials has been utilized
      for colorimetric bioassays and medical diagnostics. However, the application of
      peroxidase-like catalytic activity of MoS2 nanomaterials in environmental
      analysis was seldom explored. Herein, copper ions were found to inhibit the
      peroxidase-like catalytic activity of MoS2 nanosheets, which can catalyze the
      oxidation of 3, 3', 5, 5'-tetramethylbenzidine by H2O2 to produce a colorimetric
      product. Based on this finding, a simple sensitive colorimetric method for the
      detection of copper ions was developed. In the presence of copper ions, the
      absorbance and color of the solution decreased with the increasing concentration
      of copper ions. The color of the solution can be used to semi-quantitative on
      site assay of copper ions by naked eyes. A linear relationship between the
      absorbance and the concentration of copper ions was observed in the range of 0.4
      4.0MUmolL-1 with a detection limit of 92nmolL-1, which was much lower than the
      maximum contaminant level of copper in drinking water legislated by the
      Environmental Protection Agency of USA and the World Health Organization. The
      method was applied to detect copper ions in environmental water samples with
      satisfactory results.

PMID- 28587948
TI  - Digoxin use in atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 28587950
TI  - Anemia considerations when assessing natriuretic peptide levels in ED patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of heart failure (HF) has reached epidemic levels in
      western populations, and the majority of these patients are admitted to hospitals
      through the emergency department (ED). We aimed to aid clinicians assessing
      natriuretic peptide (NP) levels in cases with suspected HF. In this study, we
      investigated the effect of anemia on amino-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) and on B
      type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. METHODS: This retrospective study examined
      patients who were admitted to the ED with suspected HF. After admission, the
      treating physician requested complete blood count and creatinine tests with NT
      proBNP (n=2.637) or BNP (n=11.159). The exclusion criteria were used to minimize
      the factors that could affect the NT-proBNP and BNP results. We examined the data
      using the Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, Spearman correlation test, and
      multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: The NT-proBNP and BNP levels
      were statistically higher in the groups with anemia (p=0.016 and p=0.009,
      respectively). There was a statistically significant negative correlation between
      hemoglobin and NP levels (r=-0.272, p<0.001 for NT-proBNP and r=-0.179, p<0.001
      for BNP). The results indicated that advanced age and low hemoglobin levels were
      significantly associated with the increase in NT-proBNP (p=0.024 and p=0.004,
      respectively). Advanced age, low hemoglobin and low GFR-MDRD levels were
      significantly associated with the increase in BNP (p<0.001, p=0.002 and p=0.013,
      respectively). DISCUSSION: The data suggest that clinicians examining patients
      admitted to the ED with suspected HF should consider that anemia could lead to
      increases in NT-proBNP and BNP levels.

PMID- 28587949
TI  - Usefulness of direct W-plasty application to wound debridement for minimizing
      scar formation in the ED.
AB  - PURPOSE: A suture line placed with the same direction as the relaxed skin tension
      line leads to good healing, but a suture line with over 30 degrees of angle from
      the relaxed skin tension line leads to longer healing time and more prominent
      scarring. W-plasty is widely used to change the direction of the scar or to
      divide it into several split scars. In this study, we applied W-plasty to
      patients with facial lacerations in the emergency department. METHODS: From June
      2012 to December 2014, 35 patients underwent simple repair or W-plasty for facial
      lacerations. Patients in the simple repair group underwent resection following a
      thermal margin, and the W-plasty group was resected within a pre-designed margin
      of W-shaped laceration. We assessed prognosis using the Stony Brook Scar
      Evaluation Scale (SBSES) after 10 days (short-term) and six months (long-term),
      respectively, following suture removal. RESULTS: Among 35 patients, 15 (42.9%)
      underwent simple debridement and 20 (57.1%) underwent W-plasty. In the W-plasty
      group, there was no difference between short-term and long-term follow-up showing
      high SBSES, but in the simple debridement group, long-term follow-up SBSES
      significantly decreased. W-plasty SBSES was higher than simple debridement at
      short-term as well as long-term follow-up. CONCLUSION: We experienced good
      results of direct W-plasty application at six-month long-term follow-up.
      Therefore, W-plasty application is more effective in reducing scar appearance
      than a simple debridement method for facial laceration patients with an angle of
      30 degrees or more to the relaxed skin tension line.

PMID- 28587951
TI  - Treatment-naive spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome in metastatic prostate
      adenocarcinoma: An unusual suspect.
AB  - Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a potentially fatal condition defined both by
      laboratory and clinical criteria. It is caused by the catabolism of tumor cells
      which leads to considerable release and elevated levels of phosphate, potassium
      and uric acid in the bloodstream. These electrolyte derangements predispose
      patients to renal tubule uric acid precipitation, acute kidney injury,
      arrhythmias, neuromuscular irritability and even seizures. Although this
      phenomenon is well described with hematological malignancies, it is also known to
      occur among solid tumors. We present a rare case of treatment-naive spontaneous
      TLS that occurred in a 69-year-old male with metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma
      with hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia, hyperphosphatemia, hypocalcemia, elevated liver
      enzymes, AKI and hemodynamic instability. Despite our best resuscitative efforts
      with intravenous hydration, electrolyte monitoring, Rasburicase and renal
      replacement therapy, the patient continued to decline, was made comfort care and
      expired shortly thereafter. Physicians encountering patients with the above
      presentation must entertain a diagnosis of TLS despite its rarity in solid
      tumors, as early diagnosis leads to timely treatment, thereby maximizing
      patients' chances at survival.

PMID- 28587953
TI  - Can we imagine a survival chain also for ischemic stroke?

PMID- 28587952
TI  - The effect of trimetazidine treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes undergoing
      percutaneous coronary intervention for AMI.
AB  - PURPOSE: Trimetazidine (TMZ) improves clinical outcomes in patients with chronic
      heart failure and stable coronary artery disease. No study has yet evaluated the
      efficacy of TMZ in type 2 diabetes patients with acute myocardial infarction
      (AMI) undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI). We performed this
      study to evaluate the efficacy TMZ in DM patients with AMI undergoing PCI, such
      as the effect on reductions in myocardial enzyme, improvements in liver function,
      modulation of glucose levels, and improvement in cardiac function. METHODS: For
      this randomized study, we enrolled 173 AMI patients with type 2 diabetes
      undergoing PCI between January 1, 2014, and January 1, 2016. All patients
      received aspirin and ticagrelor upon admission and throughout their
      hospitalization. Patients in the experimental group were treated with a loading
      dose of 60mg TMZ at admission, and 20 mg TMZ three times a day thereafter. 89
      patients were included in experimental group, and 84 patients were included in
      control group. All patients received PCI treatments. The endpoints evaluated were
      serum creatine kinase and its isoenzyme (CK and CK-MB), cardiac troponin I
      (cTNI), serum creatinine (Cr), serum urea, blood glucose, serum glutamic pyruvic
      transaminase (ALT), serum glutamic oxaloacetictransaminase (AST), left atrial
      dimension (LA), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end
      diastolic dimension (LVEDD), and cardiac output (CO). FINDINGS: Compared with the
      control group, TMZ treatment significantly reduced CK and CK-MB on the second day
      in hospital ([797+/-582] vs. [1092+/-1114]; [80+/-60] vs. [105+/-100]; p=0.029,
      p=0.041, respectively), and cTNI after one and six days in hospital ([13.5+/
      12.7] vs. [19.8+/-19.2]; [3.3+/-3.2] vs. [4.8+/-4.7]; two-tailed p=0.012). In
      addition, TMZ significantly lowered liver enzymes (ALT, AST) at 6days ([29.0+/
      11.6] vs. [42.4+/-24.5]; [39.8+/-17.3] vs. [69.2+/-70.0]; two-tailed p=0.000),
      lowered glucose after 6days ([6.80+/-2.12] vs. [7.59+/-2.24]; p=0.019), and
      increased LVEF after ten to fourteen days ([58.4+/-8.6] vs. [54.9+/-8.4];
      p=0.008). There were no significant effect on Cr and serum urea (p=0.988,
      p=0.569, respectively), nor on LA, LVEDD, and CO ([36.3+/-4.5] vs. [37.0+/-4.1],
      p=0.264; [52.0+/-4.9] vs. [53.1+/-4.6], p=0.128; [5.4+/-0.9] vs. [5.4+/-0.9],
      p=0.929, respectively). IMPLICATIONS: Among type 2 diabetic patients with AMI
      undergoing PCI, TMZ significantly reduces serum myocardial enzyme, improves liver
      function, adjusts blood glucose and improves cardiac function.

PMID- 28587954
TI  - Increased admission serum cold-inducible RNA-binding protein concentration is
      associated with prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) is a pro-inflammatory
      cytokine. This study assessed its relation to disease severity and major adverse
      events (namely local complications, organ failure and in-hospital mortality) of
      severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and its discriminatory ability for SAP. METHODS:
      This prospective and observational study recruited a total of 102 SAP patients,
      48 patients with mild acute pancreatitis and 102 healthy individuals. Serum CIRP
      concentrations were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS:
      Serum CIRP concentrations were significantly higher in patients compared to
      controls. Serum CIRP concentrations were highly correlated with the circulating
      concentrations of common inflammatory mediators (i.e., procalcitonin, C-reactive
      protein and white blood cell) and the traditional predictors of disease severity
      (namely Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Care Evaluation II score, Ranson
      score, multiple organ dysfunction score and sequential organ failure assessment
      score). CIRP in serum was an independent predictor for major adverse events.
      Serum CIRP concentrations showed high predictive value for major adverse events,
      and possessed high discriminatory performance for SAP. Moreover, its effects
      significantly exceeded those of the preceding inflammatory mediators.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increased serum CIRP concentrations clearly reflect SAP severity and
      prognosis and significantly distinguish SAP, substantializing CIRP as a potential
      SAP biomarker.

PMID- 28587955
TI  - "Daisy-like" crystals: A rare and unknown type of urinary crystal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Crystals are well known structures of urinary sediment, most of which
      are identified by the combined knowledge of crystal morphology, birefringence
      features at polarized light, and urine pH. In this paper, we report on a cohort
      of subjects whose urine contained a very rare type of crystal, which we first
      described in 2004 and which, based on its peculiar morphology, we define as
      "daisy-like crystal" (DLcr). METHODS: Reports on DLcr were spontaneously sent to
      our laboratory over a 10.5-year period by different laboratory professionals and
      by one veterinary clinician who, in their everyday work, had come across DLcr.
      After the examination of DLcr images submitted, a number of other information
      were requested and partly obtained. RESULTS: DLcr were found in 9 human beings in
      7 different laboratories, located in 4 countries (Italy, Belgium, Croatia,
      France). DLcr were found mostly in female (8/9), at all ages (3.5 to 93years),
      mostly in alkaline urine (pH6.0 to 7.5), at variable specific gravity values
      (1.010 to 1.030), either as isolated particles (2/8) or in association with other
      crystals (5/8) and/or leucocytes or bacteria (3/8). In addition, DLcr were found
      in the urine of a 1-year-old dog, examined in a veterinary clinic of Czech
      Republic. In 3 cases, DLcr were identified by manual microscopy, while in 7 cases
      by automated urine sediment analyzers. CONCLUSIONS: This paper confirms the
      possible presence in the urine of DLcr. However, further cases are needed to
      clarify their frequency, clinical meaning, and composition.

PMID- 28587957
TI  - Role of physical exercise on cognitive function in healthy older adults: A
      systematic review of randomized clinical trials.
AB  - Cognitive impairment has a harmful effect on quality of life, is associated with
      functional limitations and disability in older adults. Physical activity (PA) has
      shown to have beneficial effects on cognition but the results and conclusions of
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are less consistent. Update of knowledge was
      necessary to examine the effects on cognitive function of new training modalities
      developed in recent years, such as multicomponent exercise training. Therefore,
      the purpose of this review was to examine the role of multicomponent training
      versus aerobic or resistance training alone on cognition in healthy older adults
      (>65 years) without known cognitive impairment. The mean differences (MD) of the
      parameters from pre-intervention to post-intervention between groups were pooled
      using a random-effects model. Twenty-one RCTs published between 2002 and 2016
      were included. Multicomponent exercise training may have the most positive
      effects on cognitive function in older adults. The small number of included
      studies and the large variability in study populations, study design, exercise
      protocols, adherence rates and outcome measures complicate the interpretation of
      the results and contribute to discrepancies within the exercise research
      literature.

PMID- 28587956
TI  - Activated Natural Killer Cells Mediate the Suppressive Effect of Interleukin-4 on
      Tumor Development via STAT6 Activation in an Atopic Condition Melanoma Model.
AB  - A protective effect of allergy for cancer has been suggested, but the results are
      somewhat conflicting, and the mechanism remains elusive. Interleukin-4 (IL-4)
      signaling has been identified as a potentially important pathway in the
      development of allergies and the suppression of cancer development. To evaluate
      the allergy responses in IL-4-mediated tumor development, we compared the growth
      of B16F10 melanoma cells in 4% phthalic anhydride (PA)-treated IL-4/Luc/CNS-1
      transgenic mice (IL-4 mice) and acetone-olive oil (AOO)-treated IL-4 mice as a
      control for 3 weeks. Much higher allergic responses and natural killer (NK) and
      STAT6 activation were found in PA-treated IL-4 mice compared with AOO-treated IL
      4 control mice. Tumor volume and weight showed an inverse association with the
      higher allergic response and were significantly reduced in the PA-treated IL-4
      mice when compared with those of AOO-treated IL-4 control mice. Significantly
      higher activation of STAT6, as well as IL-4 and NK cell activation, was found in
      the tumor tissues of PA-treated IL-4 mice. Infiltration of immune cells and
      cytokine levels were also higher in the tumor tissues of PA-treated IL-4 mice. We
      further found that IL-4-activated NK-92MI cells showed increased anticancer
      effects in human melanoma cells. Overall, these results showed that allergy
      responses further accelerated the IL-4-induced inhibition of tumor development
      through the activation of STAT6 pathways.

PMID- 28587958
TI  - Calcium and TNFalpha additively affect the chondroitinase ABC I activity.
AB  - Experimental models have repeatedly shown the therapeutic potential of cABC I in
      spinal cord injury (SCI) by degrading chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans that
      hinder neurite outgrowth. Following SCI, some molecules are released from injured
      cells. This study is designed to determine the effects of some of these molecules
      at the SCI loci on activity, stability and structure of wild type and Q140A
      variant of cABC I. The effect of Ca2+, ATP, adenosine, Asp, Glu, Gln, TNFalpha,
      and a combination of them in physiologic and pathologic concentrations was
      assessed. The results showed that Ca2+ and TNFalpha have increasing and additive
      effects on the enzymes activity. Meanwhile, the other molecules had neither
      considerable effect on the activity nor on thermal stability of the enzymes,
      significantly. Structural analyses of wild type and mutant cABC I in the presence
      and absence of Ca2+ were also carried out using fluorescence and far-UV circular
      dichroism techniques. Although, the secondary and tertiary structure of enzymes
      showed no significant alterations in the presence of Ca2+, but fluorescence
      quenching data indicated that calcium increases flexibility of the wild type
      enzyme, slightly. Therefore, it can be concluded that this ion affect enzyme
      activity without remarkable conformational changes.

PMID- 28587959
TI  - Cellulose nanocrystals from Actinidia deliciosa pruning residues combined with
      carvacrol in PVA_CH films with antioxidant/antimicrobial properties for packaging
      applications.
AB  - Kiwi Actinidia deliciosa pruning residues were here used for the first time as
      precursors for the extraction of high performing cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) by
      applying a bleaching treatment followed by an acidic hydrolysis. The resultant
      cellulosic nanostructures, obtained by an optimize extraction procedure (0.7%
      wt/v two times of sodium chlorite NaClO2) followed by an hydrolysis step, were
      then used as reinforcements phases in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blended with
      natural chitosan (CH) based films and also combined, for the first time, with
      carvacrol used here as active agent. Morphological and optical characteristics,
      mechanical response, thermal and migration properties, moisture content and
      antioxidant and antimicrobial assays were conducted. The morphological, optical
      and colorimetric results underlined that no particular alterations were induced
      on the transparency and color of PVA and PVA_CH blend by the presence of CNC and
      carvacrol, while they were able to modulate the mechanical responses, to induce
      antioxidant activities maintaining the migration levels below the permitted
      limits and suggesting the possible application in industrial sectors. Finally,
      inhibitions on bacterial development were detected for multifunctional systems,
      suggesting their protective function against microorganisms contamination.

PMID- 28587960
TI  - Mathematical modeling of gallic acid release from chitosan films with grape seed
      extract and carvacrol.
AB  - Controlled release of antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds from packaging
      films is of utmost importance for extending the shelf-life of perishable foods.
      This study focused on the mathematical modeling of gallic acid release into an
      aqueous medium from three chitosan films, formulated with grape seed extract
      (GSE) and carvacrol. We quantified the release by HPLC technique during 30days at
      three temperatures (5, 25 and 45 degrees C). The diffusion coefficients, varying
      with temperature according to an Arrhenius-type relationship, and the respective
      activation energies for Film-1 and Film-2 were, respectively [Formula: see text]
      m2s-1 and [Formula: see text] m2s-1, Ea1=58kJmol-1 and Ea2=60kJmol-1 as obtained
      from the Fickian fit. The low concentrations of gallic acid released by Film-3
      could not be detected by HPLC, therefore the respective diffusion coefficient was
      not estimated. This study will help with the development and optimization of
      active packaging (AP) films aiming at improved food preservation and shelf-life
      extension.

PMID- 28587961
TI  - Expression and comparative characterization of complete and C-terminally
      truncated forms of saccharifying alpha-amylase from Lactobacillus plantarum S21.
AB  - Lactobacillus plantarum S21 alpha-amylase possesses 475 amino acids at the C
      terminal region identified as the starch-binding domain (SBD) and has been
      previously reported to play a role in raw starch degradation. To understand the
      specific roles of this SBD, cloning and expression of the complete (AmyL9) and C
      terminally truncated (AmyL9DeltaSBD) forms of alpha-amylase were conducted for
      enzyme purification and comparative characterization. AmyL9 and AmyL9DeltaSBD
      were overproduced in Escherichia coli at approximately 10- and 20-times increased
      values of volumetric productivity when compared to alpha-amylase produced by the
      wild type, respectively. AmyL9DeltaSBD was unable to hydrolyze raw starch and
      exhibited substrate specificity in a similar manner to that of AmyL9, but it was
      weakly active toward amylopectin and glycogen. The hydrolysis products obtained
      from the amylaceous substrates of both enzymes were the same. In addition,
      AmyL9DeltaSBD showed comparatively higher Km values than AmyL9 when it reacted
      with starch and amylopectin, and lower values for other kinetic constants namely
      vmax, kcat, and kcat/Km. The results indicated that the C-terminal SBDs of L.
      plantarum S21 alpha-amylase contribute to not only substrate preference but also
      substrate affinity and the catalytic efficiency of the alpha-amylase without any
      changes in the degradation mechanisms of the enzyme.

PMID- 28587962
TI  - An overview on cellulose-based material in tailoring bio-hybrid nanostructured
      photocatalysts for water treatment and renewable energy applications.
AB  - A combination between the nanostructured photocatalyst and cellulose-based
      materials promotes a new functionality of cellulose towards the development of
      new bio-hybrid materials for various applications especially in water treatment
      and renewable energy. The excellent compatibility and association between
      nanostructured photocatalyst and cellulose-based materials was induced by bio
      combability and high hydrophilicity of the cellulose components. The electron
      rich hydroxyl group of celluloses helps to promote superior interaction with
      photocatalyst. The formation of bio-hybrid nanostructured are attaining huge
      interest nowadays due to the synergistic properties of individual cellulose-based
      material and photocatalyst nanoparticles. Therefore, in this review we introduce
      some cellulose-based material and discusses its compatibility with nanostructured
      photocatalyst in terms of physical and chemical properties. In addition, we
      gather information and evidence on the fabrication techniques of cellulose-based
      hybrid nanostructured photocatalyst and its recent application in the field of
      water treatment and renewable energy.

PMID- 28587963
TI  - A polysaccharide of Dendrobium officinale ameliorates H2O2-induced apoptosis in
      H9c2 cardiomyocytes via PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways.
AB  - Dendrobium officinale is one valuable traditional Chinese medicine, which has
      skyscraping medicinal value. Polysaccharide is the main active ingredient in D.
      officinale; its antioxidant activity is a hot research topic nowadays. Oxidative
      stress plays an important role in the pathological progress of a variety of
      cardiovascular disease, as one of key factors of cardiomyocyte apoptosis. This
      research adopts a model of H2O2 induction-H9c2 cardiomyocytes apoptosis, aiming
      to study the effect of Dendrobium officinale Polysaccharide (DOP-GY) for
      cardiomyocyte apoptosis caused by oxidative stress and its possible mechanism.
      Our results showed that pretreatment of DOP-GY (low dose: 6.25MUg/mL, medium
      dose: 12.5MUg/mL, high dose: 25MUg/mL) followed by a 2h incubation with 200MUM
      H2O2 elevated the survival rate, cutted the LDH leakage, reduced lipid
      peroxidation damage, improved the activity of the endogenous antioxidant enzymes.
      In addition, the pretreatment of DOP-GY significantly inhibited the production of
      ROS, declined of the mitochondrial membrane potential, down-regulated pro
      apoptosis protein and up-regulated anti-apoptosis protein. The protective effect
      was correlated with the PI3K/Akt and MAPK signal pathway. Collectively, these
      observations suggest that DOY-GY has the potential to exert cardioprotective
      effects against H2O2-induced H9c2 cardiomyocyte apoptosis.

PMID- 28587964
TI  - Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 1(nAChRalpha1) subunit peptides as
      potential antiviral agents against rabies virus.
AB  - Rabies virus (RABV) is neurotropic and infects all warm-blooded animals. The
      binding of the virus with host cell receptor components is critical for
      infection. The present study reports the interaction of nicotinic acetylcholine
      receptor alpha 1 (nAChRalpha1) peptides with the rabies virus glycoprotein
      (RABVG) to design potential anti-rabies agents. The nAChRalpha1peptide sequences
      from different species (bovine, human and electric fish/torpedo) were synthesized
      and their secondary structures were characterized using CD spectroscopy. The
      molecular docking analysis of nAChRalpha1 peptides with RABVG indicated the
      involvement of specific domains and their particular amino acid contributions.
      Bovine peptide (C-32) (docking score of 14146kJ/mol) and torpedo peptide (T-32)
      (docking score of 13704kJ/mol) were found to interact strongly with RABVG. T-32
      peptides had the highest binding and inhibiting property against RABV compared to
      other peptide sequences. The results of both computational and experimental
      methods demonstrated that nAChRalpha1 peptides and their analogs may serve as
      potential antiviral agents against RABV infection.

PMID- 28587965
TI  - Preparation and characterization of dialdehyde starch by one-step acid hydrolysis
      and oxidation.
AB  - Dialdehyde starch was prepared by one-step synthesis of acid hydrolysis and
      oxidation, using corn starch as the raw material, sodium periodate (NaIO4) as the
      oxidant, and hydrochloric acid (HCl) as the acid solution. The prepared
      dialdehyde starch was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and gel permeation
      chromatography (GPC). The results confirmed that oxidation occurred between the
      starch and NaIO4. The acid hydrolysis reaction reduced the molecular weight of
      starch and effectively improved the aldehyde group contents (92.7%). Scanning
      electron microscope (SEM) analysis indicated that the average particle size
      decreased after acid hydrolysis and oxidation reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD)
      and thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) analysis demonstrated that the
      crystallinity of the obtained dialdehyde starch showed a downward trend and a
      decelerated thermal decomposition rate. The starch after acid hydrolysis and
      oxidation exhibited lower hot paste viscosity and higher reactivity.

PMID- 28587966
TI  - Bio-composites based on polylactic acid and argan nut shell: Production and
      properties.
AB  - The aim of this work is to develop a new bio-composite based on polylactic acid
      (PLA) reinforced with argan nut shells (ANS). In this study, the effect of ANS
      chemical surface treatments on the morphological, mechanical, thermal, and
      rheological properties of PLA was investigated. In particular, a comparison
      between three chemical treatments (alkali, bleaching, and silane) is made for two
      filler concentrations (8 and 15% wt.). Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical
      analysis, and tensile measurements were used to determine the morphology
      (particle distribution/dispersion/adhesion), thermal stability, mechanical
      behavior and rheological properties of the bio-composites compared with neat PLA.
      The results showed that the highest Young's modulus improvement (16%) was
      obtained with 15% of bleached ANS particles, while the highest tensile strength
      (1%) and strain at yield (8.5%) improvements were obtained with a silane
      treatment. These results were associated with good ANS-PLA interfacial adhesion
      and distribution in the matrix. Nevertheless, lower thermal stability (onset
      degradation temperature) for all the bio-composites was observed when compared to
      neat PLA. To complete the characterizations, water absorption and water contact
      angle were determined indicating better resistance of the bio-composites when ANS
      surface treatment was applied.

PMID- 28587968
TI  - Fabrication, characterization and stability of oil in water nano-emulsions
      produced by apricot gum-pectin complexes.
AB  - In this study, the effects of apricot gum-apple pectin (AG/pectin) complex as an
      emulsifier and stabilizer on the sunflower oil in water nano-emulsion parameters
      including droplet size, zeta-potential, and the creaming index was investigated.
      The first independent variables were AG concentration in AG/pectin complex.
      Applying a 21.4 (w/w) ratio of AG/pectin resulted in nano-emulsions with the
      highest creaming stability, and most stable droplet size and zeta-potential
      during 10days storage. Then, droplet size, zeta-potential, and stability of this
      emulsion (21.4 (w/w) ratio) were further investigated under environmental and
      process stresses including thermal processing, sonication, and pH changes.
      Emulsions with smaller droplet sizes, higher zeta-potentials, and higher creaming
      stability were obtained by applying sonication treatment. A 10min ultrasound
      treatment with the amplitude of 25% was proposed as the optimum conditions for
      ultra-sonication. Also, emulsions prepared by AG/pectin ratio of 21.4 (w/w)
      showed best stability at 60 degrees C and pH of 2.

PMID- 28587967
TI  - Thermal stability of red algal galactans: Effect of molecular structure and
      counterions.
AB  - Thermal degradation of kappa-, iota-, lambda-carrageenans, furcellaran, funoran
      and agarose samples in dry and sol states was investigated. The polysaccharides
      subjected to heat treatment were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FTIR
      spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography and static rheometry methods. The
      microstructure of galactan gels was studied using a cryofixation method in
      combination with freeze-drying and SEM techniques. Thermal stability at high
      temperatures decreases in the order of agarose>furcellaran>funoran>kappa
      carrageenan>lambda-carrageenan>iota-carrageenan for dry preparations. The
      respective sequence for sol state is iota-carrageenan>lambda-carrageenan>kappa
      carrageenan>furcellaran>funoran>agarose. The presence of methoxy groups
      stabilizes algal polysaccharides whereas divalent cations as counterions increase
      the susceptibility towards thermal degradation. In dry state the thermal
      treatment leads to significant desulfation of the galactan before the complete
      depolymerization occurs. Depending on the sulfation degree and the presence of
      3,6-anhydrogalactose residues in the galactan, a notable amount of 5
      hydroxymethylfurfural (yield 0.7-21.8%) is formed during the decomposition in sol
      state.

PMID- 28587969
TI  - Understanding physicochemical properties changes from multi-scale structures of
      starch/CNT nanocomposite films.
AB  - From the view of multi-scale structures of hydroxypropyl starch (HPS)/carbon
      nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite films, the film physicochemical properties were
      affected by comprehensive factors including molecular interaction, short range
      molecular conformation, crystalline structure and aggregated structure. The less
      original HPS hydrogen bonding that was broken, less decreased order of HPS short
      range molecular conformation, lower film crystallinity and larger size of micro
      ordered regions contributed to higher tensile strength and Young's modulus of the
      film with CNT content of 0.5% (g/g, CNT in HPS). The higher film overall
      crystallinity and larger size of micro-ordered regions of the film with CNT
      content of 0.05%-0.3% compared with those of control contributed to better film
      barrier property. The addition of CNT with the content of 0.05%-0.5% broke the
      original HPS hydrogen bonding and decreased the order of starch short range
      molecular conformation, which counteracted the positive effect of CNT on the
      thermal stability of the material, thus thermal degradation temperature of these
      nanocomposite films did not increase. But the sharp increase of film
      crystallinity increased film thermal degradation temperature. This study provided
      a better understanding of film physicochemical properties changes which guides to
      rational design of starch-based nanocomposite films for packaging and coating
      application.

PMID- 28587970
TI  - Bacterial cellulose in biomedical applications: A review.
AB  - Bacterial cellulose (BC) derived materials represents major advances to the
      current regenerative and diagnostic medicine. BC is a highly pure, biocompatible
      and versatile material that can be utilized in several applications -
      individually or in the combination with different components (e.g. biopolymers
      and nanoparticles) - to provide structural organization and flexible matrixes to
      distinct finalities. The wide application and importance of BC is described by
      its common utilization as skin repair treatments in cases of burns, wounds and
      ulcers. BC membranes accelerate the process of epithelialization and avoid
      infections. Furthermore, BC biocomposites exhibit the potential to regulate cell
      adhesion, an important characteristic to scaffolds and grafts; ultra-thin films
      of BC might be also utilized in the development of diagnostic sensors for its
      capability in immobilizing several antigens. Therefore, the growing interest in
      BC derived materials establishes it as a great promise to enhance the quality and
      functionalities of the current generation of biomedical materials.

PMID- 28587971
TI  - A case of clear cell sarcoma-A rare malignancy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Clear cell sarcoma (CCS) is a rare tumour of the soft tissue often
      misdiagnosed, as it shares characteristics with malignant melanoma (MM).
      Previously, CCS has been characterised, as malignant melanoma of the soft tissue,
      contemporary immunohistochemical techniques, however, have made this designation
      obsolete. The true incidence remains unknown, but CCS is believed to represent
      less than one percent of all sarcomas. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 22-year-old
      patient presented with a mass sized 2.6*2.7*2.7cm of the left gluteal region,
      pain, and malaise. Initially, the symptoms were interpreted as an infection.
      Subsequent, pathological diagnosis after surgical removal was tentatively MM
      albeit definitive pathological diagnosis was CCS. DISCUSSION: The patient of this
      case underwent definitive surgical treatment with 2cm margin. In spite of time
      delay, because of prolonged time for definitive diagnosis, PET-CT and sentinel
      lymph node biopsy did not show any metastasis. One-year postoperatively,
      multidisciplinary follow-up is without suspicion of relapse. CONCLUSION: Accurate
      and timely diagnosis of CCS are imperative, as initial misdiagnosis, may cause
      delay and further tumour growth, which is correlated to the prognosis.

PMID- 28587972
TI  - Salvage photodynamic therapy accompanied by extended lymphadenectomy for advanced
      esophageal carcinoma: A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Salvage surgery for locoregional failures after definitive
      chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) for esophageal cancer is widely practiced, but treatment
      options complementing it are also needed due to the high morbidity and mortality
      and low rate of curative resection. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 58-year-old man with
      a surgical history of right upper lobectomy for lung cancer was diagnosed as
      having esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Computed tomography revealed swelling
      of the lesser curvature lymph node, and it had invaded the stomach, the body and
      tail of the pancreas and the left gastric artery, splenic artery and celiac
      artery. The patient underwent definitive-dose radiation with chemotherapy.
      Complete response was attained for the primary tumor, but the metastatic lymph
      node infiltrating the stomach, pancreas and major vessels remained. Therefore,
      the Appleby operation was proposed to the patient and subsequently performed
      aiming at curability. However, the primary tumor recurred 38 months after
      surgery, so the novel modality of photodynamic therapy using talaporfin sodium
      and a diode laser was performed, and a complete response was attained for this
      lesion. The patient is alive at 50 months after the salvage Appleby operation.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Salvage lymphadenectomy for esophageal cancer may be
      insufficient as a curative treatment because of regrowth of the primary lesion.
      However, photodynamic therapy may be applicable as a curative treatment option
      for recurrence of the primary lesion after salvage lymphadenectomy.

PMID- 28587973
TI  - Role of centrally active cardiovascular agents in cognitive disorders.
AB  - Cardiovascular drugs are used to treat patients with cardiac function and
      hemodynamic problems. Because of the relationship between the cardiovascular
      (CVS), and central nervous (CNS) systems, alteration of CVS activity can
      potentially alter CNS function. Of particular concern is regulation of lipids,
      because of the link between neural functionality, lipids, and cognitive
      disorders, and perfusion, because of the link between hypo-perfusion and vascular
      dementia. Positive and negative evidence of the effect of CVS drugs in cognitive
      disorders is available. Awareness of the need to tailor treatments with CVS drugs
      to patients with consideration of gender, race, lifestyle, and co-morbidities is
      increasing. Evidence for the importance of cerebral perfusion in vascular
      dementia development is strong, supporting the importance of physician vigilance
      in the treatment of hypertension, particularly in vulnerable populations.
      Evidence for the role of plasma lipid control in development of Alzheimer disease
      is not as strong. However, physician vigilance in treating hyperlipidemias is
      strongly encouraged, particularly in vulnerable populations.

PMID- 28587974
TI  - A randomized controlled trial of sitafloxacin vs. ertapenem as a switch therapy
      after treatment for acute pyelonephritis caused by extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase-producing Escherichia coli: A pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The overuse and misuse of carbapenems have contributed to the
      antibiotic resistance crisis. The role of oral fluoroquinolones as a switch
      therapy for the treatment of urinary tract infection from Escherichia coli (ESBL
      EC) is limited. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical and bacteriological efficacy
      of sitafloxacin and ertapenem for non-bacteremic acute pyelonephritis caused by
      ESBL-EC. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled trial of patients with
      acute pyelonephritis caused by ESBL-EC was performed as a pilot study. One of the
      carbapenems was initially given to the patients. After day 3, patients were
      randomized to receive either sitafloxacin or ertapenem. RESULTS: Thirty-six
      patients were enrolled: 19 (52.8%) in the sitafloxacin group and 17 (47.2%) in
      the ertapenem group. There was no statistically significant difference in
      baseline characteristics between the two groups except a lower proportion of
      previous urinary catheter insertion in the sitafloxacin group (15.8% vs. 52.9%, p
      = 0.018). Signs and symptoms at presentation were similar between the two groups
      except a higher proportion of patients with chills in the sitafloxacin group
      (68.4% vs. 29.4%, p = 0.019). At day 10, all but one patient in the ertapenem
      group had clinical cure. Microbiological eradication was comparable between the
      sitafloxacin and ertapenem groups (84.2% vs. 75%, p = 0.677). There were no
      significant adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of non-bacteremic acute
      pyelonephritis caused by ESBL-EC with carbapenem followed by oral sitafloxacin is
      effective and well-tolerated. Sitafloxacin may be considered as an alternative
      choice of switch therapy in this clinical setting.

PMID- 28587975
TI  - ROS signalling in the biology of cancer.
AB  - Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production has been detected in various
      cancers and has been shown to have several roles, for example, they can activate
      pro-tumourigenic signalling, enhance cell survival and proliferation, and drive
      DNA damage and genetic instability. Counterintuitively ROS can also promote anti
      tumourigenic signalling, initiating oxidative stress-induced tumour cell death.
      Tumour cells express elevated levels of antioxidant proteins to detoxify elevated
      ROS levels, establish a redox balance, while maintaining pro-tumourigenic
      signalling and resistance to apoptosis. Tumour cells have an altered redox
      balance to that of their normal counterparts and this identifies ROS manipulation
      as a potential target for cancer therapies. This review discusses the generation
      and sources of ROS within tumour cells, the regulation of ROS by antioxidant
      defence systems, as well as the effect of elevated ROS production on their
      signalling targets in cancer. It also provides an insight into how pro- and anti
      tumourigenic ROS signalling pathways could be manipulated in the treatment of
      cancer.

PMID- 28587977
TI  - Combination of straight and tilted implants for supporting screw-retained dental
      prostheses in atrophic posterior maxillae: A 2-year prospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the two-year survival rate (SR) and marginal bone loss
      (MBL) of fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) supported by straight (S) and tilted (T)
      implants under the influence of diverse study variables. METHODS: A prospective
      investigation comprising 21 patients provided with a total of 27 maxillary screw
      retained restorations fixed to 70 dental implants was developed. Two groups of
      implants were considered depending on their inclination with respect to the
      occlusal plane: Group 1 (S, n=37): straight/axial implants and Group 2 (T, n=33):
      tilted/angled fixations. Each FDP was supported by a combination of S and T
      implants. SR and MBL were assessed at the time of loading and two years after
      surgery. Patient-, surgical- and/or rehabilitation-related information was
      gathered. Data were statistically analysed at the alpha=0.05 significance level.
      RESULTS: After 24 months, a 100% SR was achieved and the MBL of S and T implants
      were statistically similar. T implants located in the molar region showed lower
      MBL than did those replacing premolars (p=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: Upright and angled
      fixations inserted at posterior maxillary areas resulted in comparable survival
      rates and peri-implant MBL after two years. The marginal bone resorption around
      tilted implants depended on their location. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Screw-retained
      restorations fixed to straight and tilted implants seem to be a safe treatment
      option in posterior atrophic maxillae.

PMID- 28587976
TI  - Mechanosensing of matrix by stem cells: From matrix heterogeneity, contractility,
      and the nucleus in pore-migration to cardiogenesis and muscle stem cells in vivo.
AB  - Stem cells are particularly 'plastic' cell types that are induced by various cues
      to become specialized, tissue-functional lineages by switching on the expression
      of specific gene programs. Matrix stiffness is among the cues that multiple stem
      cell types can sense and respond to. This seminar-style review focuses on
      mechanosensing of matrix elasticity in the differentiation or early maturation of
      a few illustrative stem cell types, with an intended audience of biologists and
      physical scientists. Contractile forces applied by a cell's acto-myosin
      cytoskeleton are often resisted by the extracellular matrix and transduced
      through adhesions and the cytoskeleton ultimately into the nucleus to modulate
      gene expression. Complexity is added by matrix heterogeneity, and careful
      scrutiny of the evident stiffness heterogeneity in some model systems resolves
      some controversies concerning matrix mechanosensing. Importantly, local stiffness
      tends to dominate, and 'durotaxis' of stem cells toward stiff matrix reveals a
      dependence of persistent migration on myosin-II force generation and also rigid
      microtubules that confer directionality. Stem and progenitor cell migration in 3D
      can be further affected by matrix porosity as well as stiffness, with nuclear
      size and rigidity influencing niche retention and fate choices. Cell squeezing
      through rigid pores can even cause DNA damage and genomic changes that contribute
      to de-differentiation toward stem cell-like states. Contraction of acto-myosin is
      the essential function of striated muscle, which also exhibit mechanosensitive
      differentiation and maturation as illustrated in vivo by beating heart cells and
      by the regenerative mobilization of skeletal muscle stem cells.

PMID- 28587979
TI  - Diet and metabolic state are the main factors determining concentrations of
      perfluoroalkyl substances in female polar bears from Svalbard.
AB  - Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been detected in organisms worldwide,
      including Polar Regions. The polar bear (Ursus maritimus), the top predator of
      Arctic marine ecosystems, accumulates high concentrations of PFASs, which may be
      harmful to their health. The aim of this study was to investigate which factors
      (habitat quality, season, year, diet, metabolic state [i.e. feeding/fasting],
      breeding status and age) predict PFAS concentrations in female polar bears
      captured on Svalbard (Norway). We analysed two perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs:
      PFHxS and PFOS) and C8-C13 perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) in 112 plasma
      samples obtained in April and September 2012-2013. Nitrogen and carbon stable
      isotope ratios (delta15N, delta13C) in red blood cells and plasma, and fatty acid
      profiles in adipose tissue were used as proxies for diet. We determined habitat
      quality based on movement patterns, capture position and resource selection
      functions, which are models that predict the probability of use of a resource
      unit. Plasma urea to creatinine ratios were used as proxies for metabolic state
      (i.e. feeding or fasting state). Results were obtained from a conditional model
      averaging of 42 general linear mixed models. Diet was the most important
      predictor of PFAS concentrations. PFAS concentrations were positively related to
      trophic level and marine diet input. High PFAS concentrations in females feeding
      on the eastern part of Svalbard, where the habitat quality was higher than on the
      western coast, were likely related to diet and possibly to abiotic factors.
      Concentrations of PFSAs and C8-C10 PFCAs were higher in fasting than in feeding
      polar bears and PFOS was higher in females with cubs of the year than in solitary
      females. Our findings suggest that female polar bears that are exposed to the
      highest levels of PFAS are those 1) feeding on high trophic level sea ice
      associated prey, 2) fasting and 3) with small cubs.

PMID- 28587978
TI  - A new arginine-based dental adhesive system: formulation, mechanical and anti
      caries properties.
AB  - : Secondary caries at the margins of composite restorations has been attributed
      to adhesive failure and consequent accumulation of cariogenic biofilms.
      OBJECTIVES: To develop and evaluate an etch-and-rinse adhesive system containing
      arginine for sustainable release and recharge without affecting its mechanical
      properties. Arginine metabolism by oral bacteria generates ammonia, which
      neutralizes glycolytic acids and creates a neutral environmental pH that is less
      favorable to the growth of caries pathogens, thus reducing the caries risk at the
      tooth-composite interface. METHODS: Experimental adhesives were formulated with
      methacrylate monomers and arginine at 5%, 7%, and 10% or no arginine (control).
      Adhesives were tested for: (i) mechanical properties of true stress (FS and UTS),
      modulus of elasticity (E), degree of conversion (DC), Knoop hardness number (KHN)
      and dentin microtensile bond strength (MU-TBS), (ii) arginine release and
      recharge, and (iii) antibacterial activities. Data was analyzed by t-test, one
      way ANOVA and Tukey's tests. RESULTS: FS and UTS results showed no statistically
      significant differences between the 7% arginine-adhesive and control, while the
      results for E, DC, KHN and MU-TBS showed no difference among all groups. The 7%
      arginine-adhesive showed a high release rate of arginine (75.0MUmol/cm2) at 2h,
      and a more sustainable, controlled release rate (up to 0.2MUmol/cm2) at 30days.
      CONCLUSIONS: Incorporation of 7% arginine did not affect the physical and
      mechanical properties of the adhesive. Arginine was released from the adhesive at
      a rate and concentration that exhibited antibacterial effects, regardless of
      shifts in biofilm conditions such as sugar availability and pH. CLINICAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: Secondary caries is recognized as the main reason for failure of
      dental restorations. The development of an arginine-based adhesive system has the
      potential to dramatically reduce the incidence and severity of secondary caries
      in adhesive restorations in a very economical fashion.

PMID- 28587980
TI  - Classification of Meningiomas Based on Their Surgical Removal, World Health
      Organization Grade, and Cytogenetic Profile: A Treatment Algorithm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumor, but the
      lack of prospective randomized trials has led to different guidelines for their
      treatment. We proposed a classification of meningiomas that considers surgical
      removal, histology, and cytogenetic profile, based on a literature review of
      these 3 criteria. The classification can be used to guide adjuvant treatment and
      follow-up. METHODS: A retrospective literature review was performed of PubMed
      from 2007 to 2016. Search terms were "meningioma," "surgery," "WHO
      classification," "cytogenetic," and "algorithm." RESULTS: Meningiomas were
      classified into 5 groups (A-E) according to the Simpson resection grade, World
      Health Organization grade, and cytogenetic profile. Adjuvant therapy, follow-up
      magnetic resonance imaging, and management of recurrence and/or regrowth were
      proposed according to the classification. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed meningioma
      classification was based on our experience and retrospective evidence collated
      from the literature and supported by recommendations. The application of the
      classification criteria yielded an algorithm for treatment and follow-up of
      patients with meningioma.

PMID- 28587981
TI  - Predatory Publishing and Academic Integrity.

PMID- 28587982
TI  - The Histological Effects of Ozone Therapy on Sciatic Nerve Crush Injury in Rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Peripheral nerve injury is a common, important problem that lacks a
      definitive, effective treatment. It can cause neurologic deficits ranging from
      paresthesia to paralysis. This study evaluated the effect of ozone therapy on
      sciatic nerve crush injury in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four male rats
      were divided into control sham surgery, sciatic nerve injury, and sciatic nerve
      injury with ozone groups (each n = 8). The sciatic nerve injury was inflicted via
      De Koning's crush-force method. The sciatic nerve injury group received medical
      air and the sciatic nerve injury ozone group received 0.7 mg/kg ozone. Sciatic
      nerve samples were obtained 4 weeks after injury. Vascular congestion,
      vacuolization, edema formation, S100 expression, and the thicknesses of the
      perineurium and endoneurium and diameter of the injured sciatic nerves were
      evaluated. RESULTS: The diameter of the sciatic nerve and thicknesses of the
      perineurium and epineurium were significantly greater in the sciatic nerve injury
      group (P < 0.05) and significantly less in the sciatic nerve injury with ozone
      group (P < 0.001). High S100 immunoreactivity was seen in the sciatic nerve
      injury group compared with the other 2 groups (P < 0.05). The distributions of
      vascular congestion and vacuolization were significantly less in the sciatic
      nerve injury with ozone group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Ozone therapy improved
      sciatic nerve injury recovery without causing an increase in fibrotic tissue.
      Ozone reduced fibrosis, vascular congestion, vacuolization, and edema in rodents.
      Ozone treatment might be used to assist in sciatic nerve injury.

PMID- 28587983
TI  - Ophiopogonin D and EETs ameliorate Ang II-induced inflammatory responses via
      activating PPARalpha in HUVECs.
AB  - CYP2J2 is highly expressed in cardiovascular tissue including the heart and
      vascular endothelial cells. CYP2J2 and the EETs have been shown owning diverse
      biological effects. Our previous study found that ophiopogonin D (OP-D)
      suppressed drug-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by upregulating the
      levels of CYP2J3/EETs in cardiomyocytes. The aim of this research was to
      investigate whether CYP2J2/EETs-PPARalpha pathway involved in endothelium
      protective effects of OP-D in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).
      The results showed that OP-D significantly inhibited Ang II induced NF-kappaB
      nuclear translocation, IkappaBalpha down-regulation and activation of pro
      inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6 and VCAM-1) by increasing the expression
      of CYP2J2/EETs and PPARalpha in HUVECs. Furthermore, treatment with exogenous
      11,12-EET attenuated endothelial inflammation induced by Ang II as evidenced by
      inhibited NF-kappaB nuclear translocation, increased IkappaBalpha expression and
      decreased inflammation factor level. Finally, the activation of NF-kappaB nuclear
      translocation induced by Ang II was also markedly suppressed by fenofibrate. Co
      incubation with 6-(2-proparglyloxyphenyl) hexanoic acid (PPOH) and PPARalpha
      inhibitor GW6471 before drug treatment abolished the endothelium protective
      effects of OP-D. Taken together, these data suggest that OP-D has the endothelial
      protective effect through activation of CYP2J and increasing EETs, and PPARalpha
      involves in this process.

PMID- 28587984
TI  - Abcb1a but not Abcg2 played a predominant role in limiting the brain distribution
      of Huperzine A in mice.
AB  - Huperzine A has been used for improving symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Its
      cholinergic side effect is thought to be an exaggerated pharmacological outcome
      linked to its high brain or CNS concentrations. Although Huperzine A is brain
      penetrable, its interaction with efflux transporters (ABCB1 and ABCG2) has not
      been fully investigated. The aim of the present study was to characterize roles
      of ABCB1 and ABCG2 in the transmembrane transport of Huperzine A and identify a
      rate limiting step in its brain distribution. Data obtained from stably
      transfected MDCK II cells showed that Huperzine A is a substrate of ABCB1 but not
      ABCG2. ABCB1 inhibitors significantly inhibited ABCB1 mediated efflux of
      Huperzine A. In Abcb1a-/- mice, the brain to plasma concentration ratio of
      Huperzine A was significantly increased as compared to the wild type mice, while
      there were no obvious differences between the wild type and Abcg2-/- mice. Taken
      together, the present study demonstrated that ABCB1 but not ABCG2 played a
      predominant role in the efflux of Huperzine A across BBB. The current finding is
      clinically relevant as changes in ABCB1 activity in the presence of ABCB1
      inhibitors or genetic polymorphism may affect efficacy and safety of Huperzine A.

PMID- 28587985
TI  - Naturally occurring xanthone and benzophenone derivatives exert significant anti
      proliferative and proapoptotic effects in vitro on synovial fibroblasts and
      macrophages from rheumatoid arthritis patients.
AB  - There is a need for novel, safer and cheaper drugs for the therapy of rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA), better targeted against the cellular processes involved in the
      disease pathogenesis. Using advanced analysis of microscopic images and flow
      cytometry, we demonstrate that naturally occurring xanthone and benzophenone
      derivatives exert strong, dose- and O2 concentration-dependent anti-proliferative
      and pro-apoptotic effects on RA patients' fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and
      macrophages. Suspensions containing fibroblasts, macrophages and other
      infiltrating cells were obtained from inflamed synovial tissue collected from
      female RA patients. Cells were grown in the presence of xanthone (mangiferin,
      isomangiferin, neomangiferin, norathyriol) or benzophenone (iriflophenone 3-C
      glucoside, maclurin) derivatives for 48h or 7days, at 5% or 21% O2. Proportions
      of macrophages, FLS and infiltrating T cells undergoing apoptosis (annexin- or
      annexin and 7-AAD-positive) were determined by flow cytometry. The extent of late
      apoptosis (DNA degradation) was assessed by fluorescent microscopy and image
      analysis in cultures where DNA was stained with Hoechst 33342. Majority of tested
      compounds exert anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic, O2-dependent effects on T
      cells, FLS and macrophages. The results indicate that xanthone- and benzophenone
      rich plant products provide a basis for the development of dietary strategy for
      rheumatoid arthritis management.

PMID- 28587987
TI  - Sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) allosteric inhibitors that target the dimerization
      site.
AB  - The sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1)/sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) signaling pathway is
      a crucial target for numerous human diseases from cancer to cardiovascular
      diseases. However, available SK1 inhibitors that target the active site suffer
      from poor potency, selectivity and pharmacokinetic properties. The selectivity
      issue of the kinases, which share a highly-conserved ATP-pocket, can be overcome
      by targeting the less-conserved allosteric sites. SK1 is known to function
      minimally as a dimer; however, the crystal structure of the SK1 dimer has not
      been determined. In this study, a template-based algorithm implemented in PRISM
      was used to predict the SK1 dimer structure and then the possible allosteric
      sites at the dimer interface were determined via SiteMap. These sites were used
      in a virtual screening campaign that includes an integrated workflow of structure
      based pharmacophore modeling, virtual screening, molecular docking, re-screening
      of common scaffolds to propose a series of compounds with different scaffolds as
      potential allosteric SK1 inhibitors. Finally, the stability of the SK1-ligand
      complexes was analyzed by molecular dynamics simulations. As a final outcome,
      ligand 7 having a 4,9-dihydro-1H-purine scaffold and ligand 12 having a 2,3,4,9
      tetrahydro-1H-beta-carboline scaffold were found to be potential selective
      inhibitors for SK1.

PMID- 28587988
TI  - Codon usage bias and its influencing factors for Y-linked genes in human.
AB  - The non-uniform usage of synonymous codons during translation of a protein is the
      codon usage bias and is mainly influenced by natural selection and mutation
      pressure. We have used bioinformatic approaches to analyze codon usage bias of
      human Y-linked genes. Effective number of codon (ENC) suggested that the overall
      extent of codon usage bias of genes was low. The relative synonymous codon usage
      (RSCU) analysis revealed that AGA and CTG codons were over-represented in Y
      linked genes. Compositional constraint under mutation pressure influenced the
      codon usage pattern as revealed by the correspondence analysis (COA). Parity plot
      suggests that both natural selection and mutation pressure might have influenced
      the codon usage bias of Y-linked genes.

PMID- 28587986
TI  - Angle-ply biomaterial scaffold for annulus fibrosus repair replicates native
      tissue mechanical properties, restores spinal kinematics, and supports cell
      viability.
AB  - : Annulus fibrosus (AF) damage commonly occurs due to intervertebral disc (IVD)
      degeneration/herniation. The dynamic mechanical role of the AF is essential for
      proper IVD function and thus it is imperative that biomaterials developed to
      repair the AF withstand the mechanical rigors of the native tissue. Furthermore,
      these biomaterials must resist accelerated degradation within the proteolytic
      environment of degenerate IVDs while supporting integration with host tissue. We
      have previously reported a novel approach for developing collagen-based, multi
      laminate AF repair patches (AFRPs) that mimic the angle-ply architecture and
      basic tensile properties of the human AF. Herein, we further evaluate AFRPs for
      their: tensile fatigue and impact burst strength, IVD attachment strength, and
      contribution to functional spinal unit (FSU) kinematics following IVD repair.
      Additionally, AFRP resistance to collagenase degradation and cytocompatibility
      were assessed following chemical crosslinking. In summary, AFRPs demonstrated
      enhanced durability at high applied stress amplitudes compared to human AF and
      withstood radially-directed biaxial stresses commonly borne by the native tissue
      prior to failure/detachment from IVDs. Moreover, FSUs repaired with AFRPs and
      nucleus pulposus (NP) surrogates had their axial kinematic parameters restored to
      intact levels. Finally, carbodiimide crosslinked AFRPs resisted accelerated
      collagenase digestion without detrimentally effecting AFRP tensile properties or
      cytocompatibility. Taken together, AFRPs demonstrate the mechanical robustness
      and enzymatic stability required for implantation into the damaged/degenerate IVD
      while supporting AF cell infiltration and viability. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
      The quality of life for millions of individuals globally is detrimentally
      impacted by IVD degeneration and herniation. These pathologies often result in
      the structural demise of IVD tissue, particularly the annulus fibrosus (AF).
      Biomaterials developed for AF repair have yet to demonstrate the mechanical
      strength and durability required for utilization in the spine. Herein, we
      demonstrate the development of an angle-ply AF repair patch (AFRP) that can
      resist the application of physiologically relevant stresses without failure and
      which contributes to the restoration of functional spinal unit axial kinematics
      following repair. Furthermore, we show that this biomaterial can resist
      accelerated degradation in a simulated degenerate environment and supports AF
      cell viability.

PMID- 28587989
TI  - Hypertension alters the endothelial-dependent biphasic response of bradykinin in
      isolated Microminipig basilar artery.
AB  - Angiotensin (Ang) II is known to promote vascular disease and hypertension,
      partly through its effect on vascular endothelium. Bradykinin (BK) is an
      endothelium-dependent agonist that induces relaxation followed by contraction of
      the porcine basilar artery through release of NO and PGF2alpha, respectively. In
      this study, we evaluated the effect of Ang II-induced hypertension on basilar
      artery responsiveness to BK in the Microminipig (MMPig). Ang II (200ng/kg/min) or
      vehicle was infused into MMPigs for 14days using an osmotic mini-pump and blood
      pressure was monitored regularly. The responsiveness of subsequently isolated
      basilar arteries was then measured using a micro organ bath system. MMPig basilar
      artery endothelial cells were cultured and stimulated with Ang II or vehicle for
      48h. Mean blood pressure was significantly (P<0.05; n=5) higher in Ang II-infused
      MMPigs than in vehicle-infused MMPigs. In vitro, BK-induced endothelium-dependent
      dilation of isolated basilar artery specimens was abolished and BK-induced
      contraction was significantly increased (Emax: 15.85+/-2.42% and 56.54+/-2.71% of
      60mM KCl in control and Ang II group respectively at 10-7M concentration of BK;
      P<0.01; n=5) in Ang II-infused MMPigs. Ang II stimulation of the endothelial
      cells significantly decreased (54.15% at 24h; P<0.05; n=three independent
      experiment performed in triplicate) the amount of BK-elicited NO and increased
      (44.27% at 24h; P<0.05; n=three independent experiment performed in triplicate)
      the amount of BK-elicited PGF2alpha. These results suggest that the decrease of
      NO and increase of PGF2alpha production from endothelial cells are responsible
      for cerebrovascular dysfunction in hypertension, possibly causing cerebrovascular
      contraction and thus increasing the risk of brain infarction.

PMID- 28587990
TI  - Suppression of the beta-carotene hydroxylase gene increases beta-carotene content
      and tolerance to abiotic stress in transgenic sweetpotato plants.
AB  - beta-carotene, a carotenoid that plays a key photo-protective role in plants is
      converted into zeaxanthin by beta-carotene hydroxylase (CHY-beta). Previous work
      showed that down-regulation of IbCHY-beta by RNA interference (RNAi) results in
      higher levels of beta-carotene and total carotenoids, as well as salt stress
      tolerance, in cultured transgenic sweetpotato cells. In this study, we introduced
      the RNAi-IbCHY-beta construct into a white-fleshed sweetpotato cultivar (cv.
      Yulmi) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Among the 13 resultant
      transgenic sweetpotato plants (referred to as RC plants), three lines were
      selected for further characterization on the basis of IbCHY-beta transcript
      levels. The RC plants had orange flesh, total carotenoid and beta-carotene
      contents in storage roots were 2-fold and 16-fold higher, respectively, than
      those of non-transgenic (NT) plants. Unlike storage roots, total carotenoid and
      beta-carotene levels in the leaves of RC plants were slightly increased compared
      to NT plants. The leaves of RC plants also exhibited tolerance to methyl viologen
      (MV)-mediated oxidative stress, which was associated with higher 2,2-diphenyl-1-
      picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity. In addition, RC plants
      maintained higher levels of chlorophyll and higher photosystem II efficiency than
      NT plants after 250 mM NaCl stress. Yield of storage roots did not differ
      significantly between RC and NT plants. These observations suggest that RC plants
      might be useful as a nutritious and environmental stress-tolerant crop on
      marginal lands around the world.

PMID- 28587991
TI  - Controlled water deficit during ripening affects proanthocyanidin synthesis,
      concentration and composition in Cabernet Sauvignon grape skins.
AB  - The influence of controlled water deficit on the phenolic composition and gene
      expression of VvLAR2, VvMYBPA1, VvMYBPA2 and VvMYB4a in Cabernet Sauvignon grape
      skins throughout ripening was investigated. The assay was carried out on own
      rooted Vitis vinifera plants cv. Cabernet Sauvignon in a commercial vineyard from
      veraison until commercial harvest. Three irrigation regimes were used from
      veraison until harvest with the following treatments: T1: 3.6 mm day-1; T2: 1.8
      mm day-1 and T3: 0.3 mm day-1. The content of total phenols and total
      anthocyanins in grape skins increased during ripening, but water deficit did not
      produce differences among treatments in the total anthocyanin concentration.
      Proanthocyanidins (PAs) decreased throughout ripening, although approximately 25
      days after veraison (DAV), their content slightly increased. This effect was more
      pronounced in the most restrictive treatment (T3). A similar pattern was observed
      in the transcript abundance of VvLAR2, VvMYBPA1 and VvMYB4a. PAs separation
      revealed differences in concentration but not in the proportion among fractions
      among the irrigation treatments. Additionally, controlled water deficit increased
      the mean degree of polymerization and the flavan-3-ol polymeric concentration in
      grape skins throughout ripening but with no effects on the extent of PAs
      galloylation. Our results suggest that the water status of Cabernet Sauvignon
      grapevines affects the gene expression for proteins involved in the synthesis of
      PAs, increasing their concentration and also their composition, with further
      evidence for the efficacy of a convenient, controlled water deficit strategy for
      grapevine cultivation.

PMID- 28587992
TI  - The isolation and functional characterization of three liverwort genes encoding
      cinnamate 4-hydroxylase.
AB  - The plant phenylpropanoid pathway is responsible for the synthesis of a wide
      variety of secondary metabolites. The second step in phenylpropanoid synthesis is
      carried out by the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase enzyme cinnamate 4-hydroxylase
      (C4H), which catalyzes the p-hydroxylation of trans-cinnamic acid to p-coumarate.
      Genes encoding C4H have been characterized in many vascular plant species, but as
      yet not in any bryophyte species. Here, a survey of the transcriptome sequences
      of four liverwort species was able to identify eight putative C4Hs. The three
      liverwort C4H genes taken forward for isolation and functional characterization
      were harbored by Plagiochasma appendiculatum (PaC4H) and Marchantia paleacea
      (MpC4H1 and MpC4H2). When the genes were heterologously expressed in yeast
      culture, an assay of enzyme activity indicated that PaC4H and MpC4H1 had a higher
      level of activity than MpC4H2. The favored substrate (trans-cinnamic acid) of all
      three liverwort C4Hs was the same as that of higher plant C4Hs. The co-expression
      of PaC4H in yeast cells harboring PaPAL (a P. appendiculatum ene encoding
      phenylalanine ammonia lyase) allowed the conversion of L-phenylalanine to p
      coumaric acid. Furthermore, the expression level of PaC4H was enhanced after
      treatment with abiotic stress inducers UV irradiation or salicylic acid in the
      thallus of P. appendiculatum. The likelihood is that high activity C4Hs evolved
      in the liverworts and have remained highly conserved across the plant kingdom.

PMID- 28587994
TI  - Functional analyses of NDPK2 in Populus trichocarpa and overexpression of PtNDPK2
      enhances growth and tolerance to abiotic stresses in transgenic poplar.
AB  - Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPKs) are multifunctional proteins that regulate
      a variety of eukaryotic cellular activities, including cell proliferation,
      development, and differentiation. NDPK2 regulates the expression of antioxidant
      genes in plants. In a previous study, the Arabidopsis thaliana NDPK2 gene
      (AtNDPK2) was found to be associated with H2O2-mediated mitogen-activated protein
      kinase signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proteins from transgenic plants
      overexpressing AtNDPK2 showed higher levels of autophosphorylation and NDPK
      activity and lower levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than those of wild
      type (WT) plants. Therefore, constitutive overexpression of AtNDPK2 in
      Arabidopsis plants conferred enhanced tolerance to multiple environmental
      stresses that elicit ROS accumulation in situ. In this study, we cloned the
      Populus trichocarpa NDPK2 gene and analyzed its molecular structure and function.
      We generated and evaluated transgenic poplar plants expressing the PtNDPK2 gene
      under the control of the 35S promoter to achieve enhanced tolerance to various
      abiotic stresses. Transgenic poplar plants showed enhanced tolerance to salt and
      drought stress at the whole-plant level. The transgenic poplar plants showed
      significantly greater tolerance to 200 mM NaCl and drought stresses than WT
      poplar plants. In addition, the transgenic plants exhibited better growth due to
      increased expression of auxin-related indole acetic acid genes under normal
      growth conditions compared with WT plants. Our results suggest that induction of
      PtNDPK2 overexpression in poplars will be useful for increasing biomass
      production in the presence of various abiotic stresses.

PMID- 28587995
TI  - Duffy blood group system: New genotyping method and distribution in a Brazilian
      extra-Amazonian population.
AB  - Duffy blood group system is of interest in several fields of science including
      transfusion medicine, immunology and malariology. Although some methods have been
      developed for Duffy polymorphism genotyping, not all of them have been
      sufficiently described and validated, and all present limitations. At the same
      time, the frequency of Duffy alleles and antigens in some densely populated
      regions of the world are still missing. In this study we present new tests for
      genotyping the major alleles of the Duffy blood system and describe Duffy alleles
      and antigens in blood donors and transfusion-dependent patients in Minas Gerais,
      Brazil. A simple and reproducible strategy was devised for Duffy genotyping based
      on real-time PCR that included SNPs rs12075 and rs2814778. No significant
      differences between the allele frequencies were observed comparing blood donors
      and patients. Among the blood donors, the phenotype Fy(a-b+) was the most common
      and the Fy(a-b-) phenotype, associated with populations of African descent, was
      remarkably less common among subjects who self-identified as black in comparison
      to other ethnoracial categories. However, the African ancestry estimated by
      molecular markers was significantly higher in individuals with the allele
      associated to the Duffy null phenotype. The genotyping method presented may be
      useful to study Duffy genotypes accurately in different contexts and populations.
      The results suggest a reduced risk of alloimmunization for Duffy antigens and
      increased susceptibility for malaria in Minas Gerais, considering the high
      frequency of Duffy-positive individuals.

PMID- 28587996
TI  - Women's health in Africa: a major issue in the new sustainable development goals.

PMID- 28587993
TI  - Superoxide-responsive gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays.
AB  - Superoxide (O2-) and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated in
      response to numerous biotic and abiotic stresses. Different ROS have been
      reported to elicit different transcriptional responses in plants, and so ROS
      responsive marker genes and promoter::reporter gene fusions have been proposed as
      indirect means of detecting ROS and discriminating among different species.
      However, further information about the specificity of transcriptional responses
      to O2- is needed in order to assess potential markers for this critical stress
      responsive signaling molecule. Using qRT-PCR, the expression of 12 genes
      previously reported to be upregulated by O2- was measured in Arabidopsis thaliana
      plants exposed to elicitors of common stress-responsive ROS: methyl viologen (an
      inducer of O2-), rose bengal (an inducer of singlet oxygen, 1DeltaO2), and
      exogenous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Surprisingly, Zinc-Finger Protein 12
      (AtZAT12), which had previously been used as a reporter for H2O2, responded more
      strongly to O2- than to H2O2; moreover, the expression of an AtZAT12 promoter
      reporter fusion (AtZAT12::Luc) was enhanced by diethyldithiocarbamate, which
      inhibits dismutation of O2- to H2O2. These results suggest that AtZAT12 is
      transcriptionally upregulated in response to O2-, and that AtZAT12::Luc may be a
      useful biosensor for detecting O2- generation in vivo. In addition, transcripts
      encoding uncoupling proteins (AtUCPs) showed selectivity for O2- in Arabidopsis,
      and an AtUCP homolog upregulated by methyl viologen was also identified in maize
      (Zea mays L.), indicating that there are O2--responsive members of this family in
      monocots. These results expand our limited knowledge of ROS-responsive gene
      expression in monocots, as well as O2--selective responses in dicots.

PMID- 28587998
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Clinical and genetic analysis of two Chinese families with vitamin D
      dependent rickets type IA and follow-up.
AB  - Ahead of Print article withdrawn by publisher.

PMID- 28587997
TI  - Long-term follow-up of two siblings with adult-onset neuronal ceroid
      lipofuscinosis, Kufs type A.
AB  - Reports on the clinical presentation of adult-onset neuronal ceroid
      lipofuscinoses (NCL) are scarce compared to infantile- and childhood-onset forms.
      Here, we aimed to present detailed temporal evolution of clinical and
      electrophysiological features of two siblings with adult-onset NCL and homozygous
      mutation in the CLN6 gene. We retrospectively analysed medical records and
      electrophysiological data in order to delineate evolution of clinical and
      electrophysiological findings. Electrophysiological studies included routine EEG
      and video-EEG, as well as polymyographic analysis of myoclonus and brainstem
      reflex studies. Both patients had seizures and cerebellar signs. Despite the slow
      progression of ataxia, they developed no mental deterioration, but had severe
      obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. EEG revealed frequent generalized
      spikes, polyspikes, and waves, prominent on awakening and during photic
      stimulation without significant change throughout the clinical course.
      Abnormalities concerning the blink reflex, auditory startle response, and startle
      response to somatosensory inputs manifested within four years. The patients
      underwent transient and mild improvement with valproate, whereas ataxia and
      seizures were dramatically ameliorated following high-dose piracetam. Patients
      with adult-onset NCL may present with slowly progressive ataxia, persistent
      photosensitivity, and seizures without dementia or extrapyramidal findings.
      Brainstem abnormalities become more evident with time, in line with ataxia.
      Piracetam is effective for both seizures and ataxia.

PMID- 28587999
TI  - Liver Transplantation in a Patient with Acquired Dysfibrinogenemia Who Presented
      with Subdural Hematoma: A Case Report.

PMID- 28588000
TI  - Effect of Maternal Obesity on Fetal Growth and Expression of Placental Fatty Acid
      Transporters.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of maternal high-fat (HF) diet-induced obesity
      on fetal growth and the expression of placental nutrient transporters. METHODS:
      Maternal obesity was established in rats by 8 weeks of pre-pregnancy fed HF diet,
      while rats in the control group were fed normal (CON) diet. Diet-induced obesity
      (DIO) rats and diet-induced obesity-resistant (DIR) rats were selected according
      to body weight gain over this period. After copulation, the CON rats were divided
      into two groups: switched to HF diet (CON-HF group) or maintained on the CON diet
      (CON-CON group). The DIO rats and DIR rats were maintained on the HF diet
      throughout pregnancy. Pregnant rats were euthanized at day 21 gestation, fetal
      and placental weights were recorded, and placental tissue was collected. Reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to determine mRNA expression of
      placental nutrient transporters. Protein expression was determined by Western
      blot. RESULTS: Average fetal weight of DIO dams was reduced by 6.9%, and the
      placentas of CON-HF and DIO dams were significantly heavier than the placentas of
      CON-CON and DIR dams at day 21 of gestation (p<0.05). The fetal/placental weight
      ratio of DIO dams was significantly reduced compared with the fetal/placental
      weight ratio of CON-CON dams (p<0.05). The mRNA expression of GLUT-1 and SNAT-2
      were not significantly different between groups. The mRNA and protein expression
      levels of CD36, FATP-1, and FATP-4 in DIO dams were decreased significantly
      (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Maternal obesity induced by a HF diet led to intrauterine
      growth retardation and down-regulated the expression of placental fatty acid
      transporters.

PMID- 28588001
TI  - Successful Growth Hormone Therapy in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome.
AB  - Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is a both clinically and genetically
      heterogeneous syndrome. In its classical form, it is characterised by distinctive
      facial features, intra-uterine growth retardation, short stature, developmental
      delay, and anomalies in multiple organ systems. NIPBL, SMC1A, SMC3, RAD21 and
      HDAC8, all involved in the cohesin pathway, have been identified to cause CdLS.
      Growth hormone (GH) secretion has been reported as normal, and to our knowledge,
      there are no reports on the effect of recombinant human GH treatment in CdLS
      patients. We present a patient born small for gestational age with persistent
      severe growth retardation [height -3.4 standard deviation score (SDS)] and mild
      dysmorphic features, who was treated with GH from 4.3 years of age onward and was
      diagnosed 6 years later with CdLS using whole-exome sequencing. Treatment led to
      a height gain of 1.6 SDS over 8 years. Treatment was interrupted shortly due to
      high serum insulin-like growth factor-1 serum values. In conclusion, GH therapy
      may be effective and safe for short children with CdLS.

PMID- 28588002
TI  - Myelodysplastic Syndrome in Pakistan: Clinicohematological Characteristics,
      Cytogenetic Profile, and Risk Stratification.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a group of bone marrow diseases that
      not only have variable morphological presentation and heterogeneous clinical
      courses but also have a wide range of cytogenetic abnormalities.
      Clinicohematological parameters have a significant role in diagnosis and along
      with identification of cytogenetic abnormalities are important for prognostic
      scoring and risk stratification of patients to plan management and make treatment
      decisions. This study aimed to determine the clinicohematological
      characteristics, cytogenetic abnormalities, and risk stratification of newly
      diagnosed de novo MDS patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study
      was conducted in the Department of Hematology, Armed Forces Institute of
      Pathology, Rawalpindi, from January 2013 to January 2017. Patients were diagnosed
      on the basis of World Health Organization criteria for MDS, clinicohematological
      parameters were noted, and cytogenetic analysis was performed. Risk
      stratification was done using the Revised International Prognostic Scoring
      System. RESULTS: A total of 178 cases of MDS were analyzed, including 119 males
      (66.9%) and 59 females (33.1%). The median age was 58 years. The most common
      presenting feature was anemia in 162 (91%) of the patients. MDS with multilineage
      dysplasia was the most common diagnosis, seen in 103 (57.9%) patients. A normal
      karyotype was seen in 95 (53.4%), while 83 (46.6%) showed clonal karyotypic
      abnormalities at diagnosis. Of these, the common abnormalities found were trisomy
      8, complex karyotype, and del 5q. Risk stratification revealed low-risk disease
      in 73 (41%) patients. CONCLUSION: Cytogenetic analysis showed the normal
      karyotype to be the most common while risk stratification revealed a predominance
      of low-risk disease at the time of presentation.

PMID- 28588003
TI  - Pituitary Adenoma Apoplexy in an Adolescent: A Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - We present a 13-year-old boy who was admitted with complaints of a state of
      progressive sleepiness and a sudden headache with vomiting and fever. Laboratory
      testing showed hypoglycemia, multiple pituitary hormonal deficiencies, and an
      elevated C-reactive protein level. A cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      showed an opaque sphenoid sinus and an intrasellar mass suggesting hemorrhage, so
      that we suspected pituitary apoplexy (PA) originating from a non-functioning
      adenoma, although a pituitary abscess could not completely be excluded. The boy
      was treated with antibiotics, hydrocortisone, and levothyroxine. Due to his rapid
      clinical improvement, no surgery was performed and we considered the diagnosis of
      PA as confirmed. At follow-up, the MRI scan showed a small residual lesion.
      Pituitary deficiencies of growth hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH),
      thyroid-stimulating hormone, and vasopressin persisted. A literature search of
      all well-documented cases of PA in children or adolescents (n=30, 13 boys and 17
      girls) indicated that this condition is rare below 20 years of age but must be
      considered when a patient experiences headache with or without visual
      disturbances, even in the presence of clinical and laboratory signals suggestive
      of pituitary abscess. MRI neuroimaging is helpful in the differential diagnosis.
      In both conditions, the possibility of ACTH deficiency should always be
      considered, investigated, and treated. In cases without severe neuro
      ophthalmological deficits and/or with a rapid and positive response to acute
      medical management, one can abstain from surgical treatment.

PMID- 28588004
TI  - Long-Term Follow-up of a Case with Proprotein Convertase 1/3 Deficiency:
      Transient Diabetes Mellitus with Intervening Diabetic Ketoacidosis During Growth
      Hormone Therapy.
AB  - Proprotein convertase 1/3 (PC1/3) deficiency is a very rare disease characterized
      by severe intractable diarrhea in the first years of life, followed by obesity
      and several hormonal deficiencies later. Diabetes mellitus requiring insulin
      treatment and diabetic ketoacidosis have not been reported in this disorder. We
      herein present a girl with PC1/3 deficiency who has been followed from birth to
      17 years of age. She developed deficiencies of all pituitary hormones over time
      as well as diabetes mellitus while receiving growth hormone (GH) therapy. She was
      complicated with diabetic ketoacidosis during dietary management of diabetes
      mellitus, thus insulin treatment was initiated. Insulin requirement to regulate
      hyperglycemia was short-lived. Repeat oral glucose tolerance test five years
      later was normal. The findings of this patient show that diabetes mellitus can
      develop at any time during follow-up of cases with proportein convertase 1/3
      deficiency especially under GH therapy.

PMID- 28588005
TI  - Delivering Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Young Adults With Symptoms of Depression
      and Anxiety Using a Fully Automated Conversational Agent (Woebot): A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Web-based cognitive-behavioral therapeutic (CBT) apps have
      demonstrated efficacy but are characterized by poor adherence. Conversational
      agents may offer a convenient, engaging way of getting support at any time.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the feasibility,
      acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a fully automated conversational agent
      to deliver a self-help program for college students who self-identify as having
      symptoms of anxiety and depression. METHODS: In an unblinded trial, 70
      individuals age 18-28 years were recruited online from a university community
      social media site and were randomized to receive either 2 weeks (up to 20
      sessions) of self-help content derived from CBT principles in a conversational
      format with a text-based conversational agent (Woebot) (n=34) or were directed to
      the National Institute of Mental Health ebook, "Depression in College Students,"
      as an information-only control group (n=36). All participants completed Web-based
      versions of the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item
      Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and the Positive and Negative Affect
      Scale at baseline and 2-3 weeks later (T2). RESULTS: Participants were on average
      22.2 years old (SD 2.33), 67% female (47/70), mostly non-Hispanic (93%, 54/58),
      and Caucasian (79%, 46/58). Participants in the Woebot group engaged with the
      conversational agent an average of 12.14 (SD 2.23) times over the study period.
      No significant differences existed between the groups at baseline, and 83%
      (58/70) of participants provided data at T2 (17% attrition). Intent-to-treat
      univariate analysis of covariance revealed a significant group difference on
      depression such that those in the Woebot group significantly reduced their
      symptoms of depression over the study period as measured by the PHQ-9 (F=6.47;
      P=.01) while those in the information control group did not. In an analysis of
      completers, participants in both groups significantly reduced anxiety as measured
      by the GAD-7 (F1,54= 9.24; P=.004). Participants' comments suggest that process
      factors were more influential on their acceptability of the program than content
      factors mirroring traditional therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Conversational agents appear
      to be a feasible, engaging, and effective way to deliver CBT.

PMID- 28588008
TI  - David Oliver: Unproductive activity and NHS consultants.

PMID- 28588006
TI  - Attitudes Toward the Ethics of Research Using Social Media: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although primarily used for social networking and often used for
      social support and dissemination, data on social media platforms are increasingly
      being used to facilitate research. However, the ethical challenges in conducting
      social media research remain of great concern. Although much debated in the
      literature, it is the views of the public that are most pertinent to inform
      future practice. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to ascertain attitudes on
      the ethical considerations of using social media as a data source for research as
      expressed by social media users and researchers. METHODS: A systematic review was
      conducted, wherein 16 databases and 2 Internet search engines were searched in
      addition to handsearching, reference checking, citation searching, and contacting
      authors and experts. Studies that conducted any qualitative methods to collect
      data on attitudes on the ethical implications of research using social media were
      included. Quality assessment was conducted using the quality of reporting tool
      (QuaRT) and findings analyzed using inductive thematic synthesis. RESULTS: In
      total, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Attitudes varied from overly
      positive with people expressing the views about the essential nature of such
      research for the public good, to very concerned with views that social media
      research should not happen. Underlying reasons for this variation related to
      issues such as the purpose and quality of the research, the researcher
      affiliation, and the potential harms. The methods used to conduct the research
      were also important. Many respondents were positive about social media research
      while adding caveats such as the need for informed consent or use restricted to
      public platforms only. CONCLUSIONS: Many conflicting issues contribute to the
      complexity of good ethical practice in social media research. However, this
      should not deter researchers from conducting social media research. Each Internet
      research project requires an individual assessment of its own ethical issues.
      Guidelines on ethical conduct should be based on current evidence and
      standardized to avoid discrepancies between, and duplication across, different
      institutions, taking into consideration different jurisdictions.

PMID- 28588007
TI  - A Medical Student-Delivered Smoking Prevention Program, Education Against
      Tobacco, for Secondary Schools in Germany: Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More than 8.5 million Germans suffer from chronic diseases
      attributable to smoking. Education Against Tobacco (EAT) is a multinational
      network of medical students who volunteer for school-based prevention in the
      classroom setting, amongst other activities. EAT has been implemented in 28
      medical schools in Germany and is present in 13 additional countries around the
      globe. A recent quasi-experimental study showed significant short-term smoking
      cessation effects on 11-to-15-year-old adolescents. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this
      study was to provide the first randomized long-term evaluation of the optimized
      2014 EAT curriculum involving a photoaging software for its effectiveness in
      reducing the smoking prevalence among 11-to-15-year-old pupils in German
      secondary schools. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was undertaken with
      1504 adolescents from 9 German secondary schools, aged 11-15 years in grades 6-8,
      of which 718 (47.74%) were identifiable for the prospective sample at the 12
      month follow-up. The experimental study design included measurements at baseline
      (t1), 6 months (t2), and 12 months postintervention (t3), via questionnaire. The
      study groups consisted of 40 randomized classes that received the standardized
      EAT intervention (two medical student-led interactive modules taking 120 minutes
      total) and 34 control classes within the same schools (no intervention). The
      primary endpoint was the difference in smoking prevalence from t1 to t3 in the
      control group versus the difference from t1 to t3 in the intervention group. The
      differences in smoking behavior (smoking onset, quitting) between the two groups,
      as well as gender-specific effects, were studied as secondary outcomes. RESULTS:
      None of the effects were significant due to a high loss-to-follow-up effect
      (52.26%, 786/1504). From baseline to the two follow-up time points, the
      prevalence of smoking increased from 3.1% to 5.2% to 7.2% in the control group
      and from 3.0% to 5.4% to 5.8% in the intervention group (number needed to treat
      [NNT]=68). Notable differences were observed between the groups for the female
      gender (4.2% to 9.5% for control vs 4.0% to 5.2% for intervention; NNT=24 for
      females vs NNT=207 for males), low educational background (7.3% to 12% for
      control vs 6.1% to 8.7% for intervention; NNT=30), and migrational background
      (students who claimed that at least one parent was not born in Germany) at the 12
      month follow-up. The intervention appears to prevent smoking onset (NNT=63) but
      does not appear to initiate quitting. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention appears to
      prevent smoking, especially in females and students with a low educational
      background.

PMID- 28588010
TI  - Micronuclei Frequency in Tumors Is a Predictive Biomarker for Genetic Instability
      and Sensitivity to the DNA Repair Inhibitor AsiDNA.
AB  - Therapeutic strategies targeting DNA repair pathway defects have been widely
      explored, but often only benefit small numbers of patients. Here we characterized
      potential predictive biomarkers for treatment with AsiDNA, a novel first-in-class
      DNA repair inhibitor. We evaluated genetic instability and DNA repair defects by
      direct and indirect assays in 12 breast cancer cell lines to estimate the
      spontaneous occurrence of single-strand and double-strand breaks (DSB). For each
      cell line, we monitored constitutive PARP activation, spontaneous DNA damage by
      alkaline comet assay, basal micronuclei levels, the number of large-scale
      chromosomal rearrangements (LST), and the status of several DNA repair pathways
      by transcriptome and genome analysis. Sensitivity to AsiDNA was associated with a
      high spontaneous frequency of cells with micronuclei and LST and specific
      alterations in DNA repair pathways that essentially monitor DSB repair defects. A
      high basal level of micronuclei as a predictive biomarker for AsiDNA treatment
      was validated in 43 tumor cell lines from various tissues and 15 models of cell-
      and patient-derived xenografts. Micronuclei quantification was also possible in
      patient biopsies. Overall, this study identified genetic instability as a
      predictive biomarker for sensitivity to AsiDNA treatment. That micronuclei
      frequency can be measured in biopsies and does not reveal the same genetic
      instability as conventional genome assays opens new perspectives for refining the
      classification of tumors with genetic instability. Cancer Res; 77(16); 4207-16.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28588011
TI  - Relationship between rate of fentanyl infusion and time to achieve sedation in
      nonobese and obese critically ill children.
AB  - PURPOSE: The relationship between initial fentanyl infusion dosage and time to
      goal sedation in nonobese and obese critically ill children was examined.
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 75 fentanyl infusions initiated in
      mechanically ventilated children age 2-17 years with an inpatient admission
      between January 1, 2012, and May 31, 2014, who subsequently received a fentanyl
      infusion was conducted. The primary outcomes of the study included the time to
      goal sedation and fentanyl dosage characteristics (i.e., underdosage, optimal
      dosage, or overdosage). Sedation scores were assessed by the State Behavioral
      Scale, a validated instrument to assess sedation in children. Key independent
      (predictor) variables were collected, including baseline demographics and
      admission diagnoses. Multivariable regression models were used to examine the
      association between initial fentanyl infusion dosage and time to goal sedation or
      dosing characteristics while controlling for obesity status and other modifying
      or confounding factors. RESULTS: A total of 75 infusions met the study's
      inclusion criteria, representing 74 patients. The majority of patients (52%) were
      boys, and the median age was 8.1 years. Eighteen children (24%) were obese. The
      median time to goal sedation was 10.9 hours. Among nonobese children, every 10
      MUg/hr increase in initial fentanyl dosage was associated with a 19% lower
      probability of achieving goal sedation at any point in time. Initial fentanyl
      dosage was not associated with time to goal sedation in obese children.
      CONCLUSION: Fentanyl infusion rates in obese and nonobese children varied widely
      in the time needed to achieve goal sedation. At any given time, initial fentanyl
      infusion rates were less likely to result in goal sedation in nonobese than in
      obese children.

PMID- 28588009
TI  - Exosome-Derived miR-25-3p and miR-92a-3p Stimulate Liposarcoma Progression.
AB  - Despite the development of combined modality treatments against liposarcoma in
      recent years, a significant proportion of patients respond only modestly to such
      approaches, possibly contributing to local or distant recurrence. Early detection
      of recurrent or metastatic disease could improve patient prognosis by triggering
      earlier clinical intervention. However, useful biomarkers for such purposes are
      lacking. Using both patient plasma samples and cell lines, we demonstrate here
      that miR-25-3p and miR-92a-3p are secreted by liposarcoma cells through
      extracellular vesicles and may be useful as potential biomarkers of disease. Both
      miR-25-3p and miR-92a-3p stimulated secretion of proinflammatory cytokine IL6
      from tumor-associated macrophages in a TLR7/8-dependent manner, which in turn
      promoted liposarcoma cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis via this
      interaction with the surrounding microenvironment. Our findings provide novel and
      previously unreported insight into liposarcoma progression, identifying
      communication between liposarcoma cells and their microenvironment as a process
      critically involved in liposarcoma progression. This study establishes the
      possibility that the pattern of circulating miRNAs may identify recurrence prior
      to radiological detectability while providing insight into disease outcome and as
      a possible approach to monitor treatment efficacy. Cancer Res; 77(14); 3846-56.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28588012
TI  - GP vows to keep up pressure over Brexiteers' use of NHS logo.

PMID- 28588013
TI  - Building a visual aid for a triage tool in a developing health service.
AB  - Resources in the modern day emergency department are often stretched, and this
      holds true more so in developing services. With limited manpower, it is essential
      that efficient tools are created so that processes can be run safely. Here we
      pilot the use of a vital signs matrix in a medical camp in Dhaka to screen
      patients at triage. We further modified this matrix to include the National Early
      Warning Score as our recording of the NEWS have remained poor in triage. A trial
      and validation study for the use of this matrix in an NHS setting is currently
      underway.

PMID- 28588014
TI  - Different Approaches for Catheter Ablation of Para-Hisian Accessory Pathways:
      Implications for Mapping and Ablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation of para-Hisian accessory pathways (APs) can be
      challenging because of adjacent conduction tissue. Some different approaches for
      ablation, including the inferior vena cava approach (IVC-A), the noncoronary cusp
      approach (NCC-A), or the superior vena cava approach (SVC-A), have been reported.
      However, when should para-Hisian APs be mapped and ablated by the IVC-A, NCC-A,
      or SVC-A is not well established. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study included 55
      consecutive patients (mean age, 53+/-11 years, 36 males) with para-Hisian APs. On
      the basis of the approach resulting in successful ablation, patients were divided
      into IVC-A, NCC-A, and SVC-A groups. The clinical characteristics, surface ECG,
      intracardiac electrogram findings, and response to ablation were analyzed. Para
      Hisian APs were eliminated by IVC-A in 48 of the 55 (87%) patients. The rates of
      para-Hisian APs requiring NCC-A (4/55 patients, 7%) and SVC-A (3/55 patients, 6%)
      were relatively low. During mapping at the para-Hisian region, the local
      ventricular and atrial potentials were well fused during retrograde AP conduction
      in 45 of the 48 patients in IVC-A group, 0 of the 4 patients in NCC-A group, and
      1 of the 3 patients in SVC-A group, respectively. There was no significant
      difference in the preexcitation characteristics among the 3 groups. CONCLUSION:
      Most para-Hisian APs can be safely and effectively ablated by IVC-A, and ablation
      in the NCC is not an initial or a preferred approach. The degree of local
      ventriculoatrial fusion in the para-Hisian region during retrograde AP conduction
      can differentiate or predict the successful ablation site.

PMID- 28588015
TI  - Intravesical BCG Induces CD4+ T-Cell Expansion in an Immune Competent Model of
      Bladder Cancer.
AB  - Intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is the standard of care
      in treating non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, yet its mechanism of action
      remains elusive. Both innate and adaptive immune responses have been implicated
      in BCG activity. Although prior research has indirectly demonstrated the
      importance of T cells and shown a rise in CD4+ T cells in bladder tissue after
      BCG, T-cell subpopulations have not been fully characterized. We investigated the
      relationship between effector and regulatory T cells in an immune competent,
      clinically relevant rodent model of bladder cancer. Our data demonstrate that
      cancer progression in the N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) rat model of bladder
      cancer was characterized by a decline in the CD8/FoxP3 ratio, consistent with
      decreased adaptive immunity. In contrast, treatment with intravesical BCG led to
      a large, transient rise in the CD4+ T-cell population in the urothelium and was
      both more effective and immunogenic compared with intravesical chemotherapy.
      Whole-transcriptome expression profiling of posttreatment intravesical CD4+ and
      CD8+ T cells revealed minimal differences in gene expression after BCG treatment.
      Together, our results suggest that although BCG induces T-cell recruitment to the
      bladder, the T-cell phenotype does not markedly change, implying that combining T
      cell-activating agents with BCG might improve clinical activity. Cancer Immunol
      Res; 5(7); 594-603. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28588017
TI  - CD27 marks murine embryonic hematopoietic stem cells and type II prehematopoietic
      stem cells.

PMID- 28588016
TI  - Commensal microbes provide first line defense against Listeria monocytogenes
      infection.
AB  - Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that causes septicemia, meningitis
      and chorioamnionitis and is associated with high mortality. Immunocompetent
      humans and animals, however, can tolerate high doses of L. monocytogenes without
      developing systemic disease. The intestinal microbiota provides colonization
      resistance against many orally acquired pathogens, and antibiotic-mediated
      depletion of the microbiota reduces host resistance to infection. Here we show
      that a diverse microbiota markedly reduces Listeria monocytogenes colonization of
      the gut lumen and prevents systemic dissemination. Antibiotic administration to
      mice before low dose oral inoculation increases L. monocytogenes growth in the
      intestine. In immunodeficient or chemotherapy-treated mice, the intestinal
      microbiota provides nonredundant defense against lethal, disseminated infection.
      We have assembled a consortium of commensal bacteria belonging to the
      Clostridiales order, which exerts in vitro antilisterial activity and confers in
      vivo resistance upon transfer into germ free mice. Thus, we demonstrate a
      defensive role of the gut microbiota against Listeria monocytogenes infection and
      identify intestinal commensal species that, by enhancing resistance against this
      pathogen, represent potential probiotics.

PMID- 28588018
TI  - Outcome of children with acute leukemia given HLA-haploidentical HSCT after
      alphabeta T-cell and B-cell depletion.
AB  - Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from an HLA
      haploidentical relative (haplo-HSCT) is a suitable option for children with acute
      leukemia (AL) either relapsed or at high-risk of treatment failure. We developed
      a novel method of graft manipulation based on negative depletion of alphabeta T
      and B cells and conducted a prospective trial evaluating the outcome of children
      with AL transplanted with this approach. Eighty AL children, transplanted between
      September 2011 and September 2014, were enrolled in the trial. All children were
      given a fully myeloablative preparative regimen. Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin from
      day -5 to -3 was used for preventing graft rejection and graft-versus-host
      disease (GVHD); no patient received any posttransplantation GVHD prophylaxis. Two
      children experienced primary graft failure. The cumulative incidence of skin
      only, grade 1-2 acute GVHD was 30%; no patient developed extensive chronic GVHD.
      Four patients died, the cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality being 5%,
      whereas 19 relapsed, resulting in a 24% cumulative incidence of relapse. With a
      median follow-up of 46 months for surviving patients, the 5-year probability of
      chronic GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) is 71%. Total body irradiation
      containing preparative regimen was the only variable favorably influencing
      relapse incidence and GRFS. The outcomes of these 80 patients are comparable to
      those of 41 and 51 children given transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling
      or a 10/10 allelic-matched unrelated donor in the same period. These data
      indicate that haplo-HSCT after alphabeta T- and B-cell depletion represents a
      competitive alternative for children with AL in need of urgent allograft. This
      trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01810120.

PMID- 28588023
TI  - What is oncolytic virotherapy?

PMID- 28588019
TI  - Enasidenib induces acute myeloid leukemia cell differentiation to promote
      clinical response.
AB  - Recurrent mutations at R140 and R172 in isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) occur
      in many cancers, including ~12% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In preclinical
      models these mutations cause accumulation of the oncogenic metabolite R-2
      hydroxyglutarate (2-HG) and induce hematopoietic differentiation block. Single
      agent enasidenib (AG-221/CC-90007), a selective mutant IDH2 (mIDH2) inhibitor,
      produced an overall response rate of 40.3% in relapsed/refractory AML (rrAML)
      patients with mIDH2 in a phase 1 trial. However, its mechanism of action and
      biomarkers associated with response remain unclear. Here, we measured 2-HG, mIDH2
      allele burden, and co-occurring somatic mutations in sequential patient samples
      from the clinical trial and correlated these with clinical response. Furthermore,
      we used flow cytometry to assess inhibition of mIDH2 on hematopoietic
      differentiation. We observed potent 2-HG suppression in both R140 and R172 mIDH2
      AML subtypes, with different kinetics, which preceded clinical response.
      Suppression of 2-HG alone did not predict response, because most nonresponding
      patients also exhibited 2-HG suppression. Complete remission (CR) with
      persistence of mIDH2 and normalization of hematopoietic stem and progenitor
      compartments with emergence of functional mIDH2 neutrophils were observed. In a
      subset of CR patients, mIDH2 allele burden was reduced and remained undetectable
      with response. Co-occurring mutations in NRAS and other MAPK pathway effectors
      were enriched in nonresponding patients, consistent with RAS signaling
      contributing to primary therapeutic resistance. Together, these data support
      differentiation as the main mechanism of enasidenib efficacy in
      relapsed/refractory AML patients and provide insight into resistance mechanisms
      to inform future mechanism-based combination treatment studies.

PMID- 28588021
TI  - Accelerometer-Measured Daily Activity in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection
      Fraction: Clinical Correlates and Association With Standard Heart Failure
      Severity Indices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Daily physical activity assessed by accelerometers represents a novel
      method to assess the impact of interventions on heart failure (HF) patients'
      functional status. We hypothesized that daily activity varies by patient
      characteristics and correlates with established measures of HF severity in HF
      with preserved ejection fraction. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this ancillary study of
      the NEAT-HFpEF trial (Nitrate's Effects on Activity Tolerance in HF With
      Preserved Ejection Fraction), average daily accelerometer units (ADAU) and hours
      active per day were assessed during a 14-day period before starting isosorbide
      mononitrate or placebo (n=110). Baseline ADAU was negatively associated with age,
      female sex, height, and body mass index, and these variables accounted for 28% of
      the variability in ADAU (P<0.007 for all). Adjusting for these factors, patients
      with lower ADAU were more likely to have had an HF hospitalization, orthopnea,
      diabetes mellitus and anemia, be treated with beta-blockers, have higher ejection
      fraction, relative wall thickness and left atrial volume, and worse New York
      Heart Association class, HF-specific quality of life scores, 6-minute walk
      distance, and NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide; P<0.05 for
      all). Associations between hours active per day and clinical characteristics were
      similar. Relative to baseline, there were no significant associations between
      changes in ADAU or hours active per day and changes in standard functional
      assessments (New York Heart Association, quality of life, 6-minute walk distance,
      and NT-proBNP) with isosorbide mononitrate. CONCLUSIONS: Daily activity is a
      measure of HF-related and global functional status in HF with preserved ejection
      fraction. As compared with intermittently assessed standard HF assessments,
      change in daily activity may provide unique information about the impact of HF
      interventions on functional status. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT02053493.

PMID- 28588020
TI  - Enasidenib in mutant IDH2 relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Recurrent mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) occur in ~12% of
      patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Mutated IDH2 proteins neomorphically
      synthesize 2-hydroxyglutarate resulting in DNA and histone hypermethylation,
      which leads to blocked cellular differentiation. Enasidenib (AG-221/CC-90007) is
      a first-in-class, oral, selective inhibitor of mutant-IDH2 enzymes. This first-in
      human phase 1/2 study assessed the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), pharmacokinetic
      and pharmacodynamic profiles, safety, and clinical activity of enasidenib in
      patients with mutant-IDH2 advanced myeloid malignancies. We assessed safety
      outcomes for all patients and clinical efficacy in the largest patient subgroup,
      those with relapsed or refractory AML, from the phase 1 dose-escalation and
      expansion phases of the study. In the dose-escalation phase, an MTD was not
      reached at doses ranging from 50 to 650 mg per day. Enasidenib 100 mg once daily
      was selected for the expansion phase on the basis of pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamic profiles and demonstrated efficacy. Grade 3 to 4 enasidenib
      related adverse events included indirect hyperbilirubinemia (12%) and IDH
      inhibitor-associated differentiation syndrome (7%). Among patients with relapsed
      or refractory AML, overall response rate was 40.3%, with a median response
      duration of 5.8 months. Responses were associated with cellular differentiation
      and maturation, typically without evidence of aplasia. Median overall survival
      among relapsed/refractory patients was 9.3 months, and for the 34 patients
      (19.3%) who attained complete remission, overall survival was 19.7 months.
      Continuous daily enasidenib treatment was generally well tolerated and induced
      hematologic responses in patients for whom prior AML therapy had failed. Inducing
      differentiation of myeloblasts, not cytotoxicity, seems to drive the clinical
      efficacy of enasidenib. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as
      #NCT01915498.

PMID- 28588024
TI  - Bromodomain and extraterminal inhibitors block the Epstein-Barr virus lytic cycle
      at two distinct steps.
AB  - Lytic infection by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) poses numerous health risks, such
      as infectious mononucleosis and lymphoproliferative disorder. Proteins in the
      bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) family regulate multiple stages of viral life
      cycles and provide promising intervention targets. Synthetic small molecules can
      bind to the bromodomains and disrupt function by preventing recognition of
      acetylated lysine substrates. We demonstrate that JQ1 and other BET inhibitors
      block two different steps in the sequential cascade of the EBV lytic cycle. BET
      inhibitors prevent expression of the viral immediate-early protein BZLF1. JQ1
      alters transcription of genes controlled by the host protein BACH1, and BACH1
      knockdown reduces BZLF1 expression. BET proteins also localize to the lytic
      origin of replication (OriLyt) genetic elements, and BET inhibitors prevent viral
      late gene expression. There JQ1 reduces BRD4 recruitment during reactivation to
      preclude replication initiation. This represents a rarely observed dual mode of
      action for drugs.

PMID- 28588025
TI  - Molecular simulations and free-energy calculations suggest conformation-dependent
      anion binding to a cytoplasmic site as a mechanism for Na+/K+-ATPase ion
      selectivity.
AB  - Na+/K+-ATPase transports Na+ and K+ ions across the cell membrane via an ion
      binding site becoming alternatively accessible to the intra- and extracellular
      milieu by conformational transitions that confer marked changes in ion-binding
      stoichiometry and selectivity. To probe the mechanism of these changes, we used
      molecular simulation and free-energy perturbation approaches to identify probable
      protonation states of Na+- and K+-coordinating residues in E1P and E2P
      conformations of Na+/K+-ATPase. Analysis of these simulations revealed a
      molecular mechanism responsible for the change in protonation state: the
      conformation-dependent binding of an anion (a chloride ion in our simulations) to
      a previously unrecognized cytoplasmic site in the loop between transmembrane
      helices 8 and 9, which influences the electrostatic potential of the crucial Na+
      coordinating residue Asp926 This mechanistic model is consistent with
      experimental observations and provides a molecular-level picture of how E1P to
      E2P enzyme conformational transitions are coupled to changes in ion-binding
      stoichiometry and selectivity.

PMID- 28588026
TI  - Discovery and characterization of family 39 glycoside hydrolases from rumen
      anaerobic fungi with polyspecific activity on rare arabinosyl substrates.
AB  - Enzyme activities that improve digestion of recalcitrant plant cell wall
      polysaccharides may offer solutions for sustainable industries. To this end,
      anaerobic fungi in the rumen have been identified as a promising source of novel
      carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) that modify plant cell wall polysaccharides
      and other complex glycans. Many CAZymes share insufficient sequence identity to
      characterized proteins from other microbial ecosystems to infer their function;
      thus presenting challenges to their identification. In this study, four rumen
      fungal genes (nf2152, nf2215, nf2523, and pr2455) were identified that encode
      family 39 glycoside hydrolases (GH39s), and have conserved structural features
      with GH51s. Two recombinant proteins, NF2152 and NF2523, were characterized using
      a variety of biochemical and structural techniques, and were determined to have
      distinct catalytic activities. NF2152 releases a single product, beta1,2
      arabinobiose (Ara2) from sugar beet arabinan (SBA), and beta1,2-Ara2 and alpha
      1,2-galactoarabinose (Gal-Ara) from rye arabinoxylan (RAX). NF2523 exclusively
      releases alpha-1,2-Gal-Ara from RAX, which represents the first description of a
      galacto-(alpha-1,2)-arabinosidase. Both beta-1,2-Ara2 and alpha-1,2-Gal-Ara are
      disaccharides not previously described within SBA and RAX. In this regard, the
      enzymes studied here may represent valuable new biocatalytic tools for
      investigating the structures of rare arabinosyl-containing glycans, and
      potentially for facilitating their modification in industrial applications.

PMID- 28588030
TI  - Sixty seconds on . . . #crazysocks4docs.

PMID- 28588028
TI  - The lysine methyltransferase SMYD2 methylates the kinase domain of type II
      receptor BMPR2 and stimulates bone morphogenetic protein signaling.
AB  - Lysine methylation of chromosomal and nuclear proteins is a well-known mechanism
      of epigenetic regulation, but relatively little is known about the role of this
      protein modification in signal transduction. Using an RNAi-based functional
      screening of the SMYD family of lysine methyltransferases (KMTs), we identified
      SMYD2 as a KMT essential for robust bone morphogenic protein (BMP)- but not
      TGFbeta-induced target gene expression in HaCaT keratinocyte cells. A role for
      SMYD2 in BMP-induced gene expression was confirmed by shRNA knockdown and
      CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-out of SMYD2 We further demonstrate that SMYD2
      knockdown or knock-out impairs BMP-induced phosphorylation of the signal
      transducing protein SMAD1/5 and SMAD1/5 nuclear localization and interaction with
      SMAD4. The SMYD2 KMT activity was required to facilitate BMP-mediated signal
      transduction, as treatment with the SMYD2 inhibitor AZ505 suppressed BMP2-induced
      SMAD1/5 phosphorylation. Furthermore, we present evidence that SMYD2 likely
      modulates the BMP response through its function in the cytosol. We show that,
      although SMYD2 interacted with multiple components in the BMP pathway, it
      specifically methylated the kinase domain of BMP type II receptor BMPR2. Taken
      together, our findings suggest that SMYD2 may promote BMP signaling by directly
      methylating BMPR2, which, in turn, stimulates BMPR2 kinase activity and
      activation of the BMP pathway.

PMID- 28588027
TI  - Exogenous neutrophil elastase enters bronchial epithelial cells and suppresses
      cigarette smoke extract-induced heme oxygenase-1 by cleaving sirtuin 1.
AB  - An imbalance between oxidative stress and antioxidant activity plays an important
      role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
      Cigarette smoke, a major risk factor of COPD, induces cellular oxidative stress,
      but levels of antioxidants such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) are reduced in
      individuals with severe COPD. In this study, we evaluated the molecular mechanism
      of reduced HO-1 expression in human bronchial epithelial cells. We found that
      cigarette smoke extract (CSE) increases HO-1 levels via activation of NFE2
      related factor 2 (Nrf2). However, pretreating cells with the protease neutrophil
      elastase (NE) suppressed the CSE-induced expression of HO-1 mRNA and protein. NE
      also decreased the sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) level, but did not inhibit CSE-induced
      nuclear translocation and DNA-binding activity of Nrf2. Transfection of cells
      with a Myc/His-tagged SIRT1 expression vector completely blocked the NE-mediated
      suppression of HO-1 expression. We further noted that the NE-induced down
      regulation of SIRT1 was not due to decreased transcription or
      proteasomal/lysosomal degradation or loss of solubility. Immunofluorescence
      staining revealed that NE enters the cell cytoplasm, and we observed that NE
      directly cleaved SIRT1 in vitro, indicating that SIRT1 levels are decreased via
      direct degradation by internalized NE. Of note, we observed decreased SIRT1
      levels in NE-treated primary human bronchial epithelial cells and in lung
      homogenates from both smokers and patients with COPD. In conclusion, NE
      suppresses CSE-induced HO-1 expression by cleaving SIRT1. This finding indicates
      the importance of cross-talk between oxidative stress and protease responses in
      the pathogenesis of COPD.

PMID- 28588029
TI  - TGF-beta inhibits IL-7-induced proliferation in memory but not naive human CD4+ T
      cells.
AB  - TGF-beta is a potent suppressor of T cell activation and expansion. Although the
      antiproliferative effects of TGF-beta are well characterized in TCR-activated
      cells, the effects of TGF-beta on T cell proliferation driven by homeostatic
      cytokines, such as IL-7, are poorly defined. In the current study, we found that
      TGF-beta inhibits IL-7-induced proliferation in memory, but not in naive human
      CD4+ T cells. TGF-beta impaired c-myc induction in all CD4+ T cell maturation
      subsets, although the impairment was less sustained in naive CD4+ T cells. TGF
      beta had no discernible effect on IL-7R signaling (p-STAT-5, p-Akt, or p-S6) in
      memory T cells but selectively enhanced p-S6 signaling in naive T cells. The
      inhibitory effects of TGF-beta on memory T cell proliferation were partially
      overcome by chemical inhibition of GSK-3, which also led to enhanced c-myc
      expression. These data suggest that TGF-beta could play an important role in
      limiting homeostatic proliferation of memory T cells. Our observations also point
      toward a novel strategy to subvert TGF-beta-mediated inhibition of memory T cells
      by targeting GSK-3 for inhibition.

PMID- 28588031
TI  - Digital innovation is needed to deal with complexity of current medicine.

PMID- 28588034
TI  - A helping hand.

PMID- 28588033
TI  - What is the best treatment to reduce the need for caesarean section in
      nulliparous women at term with delayed first stage of labour?

PMID- 28588032
TI  - Inactivation of gamma-secretases leads to accumulation of substrates and non
      Alzheimer neurodegeneration.
AB  - gamma-Secretases are a family of intramembrane cleaving aspartyl proteases and
      important drug targets in Alzheimer's disease. Here, we generated mice deficient
      for all gamma-secretases in the pyramidal neurons of the postnatal forebrain by
      deleting the three anterior pharynx defective 1 (Aph1) subunits (Aph1abc cKO
      Cre+). The mice show progressive cortical atrophy, neuronal loss, and gliosis.
      Interestingly, this is associated with more than 10-fold accumulation of membrane
      bound fragments of App, Aplp1, Nrg1, and Dcc, while other known substrates of
      gamma-secretase such as Aplp2, Lrp1, and Sdc3 accumulate to lesser extents.
      Despite numerous reports linking neurodegeneration to accumulation of membrane
      bound App fragments, deletion of App expression in the combined Aph1 knockout
      does not rescue this phenotype. Importantly, knockout of only Aph1a- or Aph1bc
      secretases causes limited and differential accumulation of substrates. This was
      not associated with neurodegeneration. Further development of selective Aph1
      gamma-secretase inhibitors should be considered for treatment of Alzheimer's
      disease.

PMID- 28588035
TI  - Control of a Novel Spermatocyte-Promoting Factor by the Male Germline Sex
      Determination Factor PHF7 of Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - A key aspect of germ cell development is to establish germline sexual identity
      and initiate a sex-specific developmental program to promote spermatogenesis or
      oogenesis. Previously, we have identified the histone reader Plant Homeodomain
      Finger 7 (PHF7) as an important regulator of male germline identity. To
      understand how PHF7 directs sexual differentiation of the male germline, we
      investigated the downstream targets of PHF7 by combining transcriptome analyses,
      which reveal genes regulated by Phf7, with genomic profiling of histone H3K4me2,
      the chromatin mark that is bound by PHF7. Through these genomic experiments, we
      identify a novel spermatocyte factor Receptor Accessory Protein Like 1 (REEPL1)
      that can promote spermatogenesis and whose expression is kept off by PHF7 in the
      spermatogonial stage. Loss of Reepl1 significantly rescues the spermatogenesis
      defects in Phf7 mutants, indicating that regulation of Reepl1 is an essential
      aspect of PHF7 function. Further, increasing REEPL1 expression facilitates
      spermatogenic differentiation. These results indicate that PHF7 controls
      spermatogenesis by regulating the expression patterns of important male germline
      genes.

PMID- 28588037
TI  - Dennis Newton.

PMID- 28588036
TI  - Brown fat depots in adult humans remain static in their locations on PET/CT
      despite changes in seasonality.
AB  - Active brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans has been demonstrated through use of
      positron emission tomography with 2-deoxy-2-(fluorine-18) fluoro-D-glucose
      integrated with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) scans. The aim of our study
      was to determine whether active human BAT depots shown on 18F-FDG PET/CT scans
      remain static in their location over time. This was a retrospective study. Adult
      human subjects (n = 15) who had had 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging (n = 38 scans in
      total) for clinical reasons were included on the basis of 18F-FDG uptake patterns
      consistent with BAT activity. For each subject, 18F-FDG BAT uptake pattern on
      serial 18F-FDG PET/CT images was compared to an index 18F-FDG PET/CT image with
      the largest demonstrable BAT volume. Object-based colocalization was expressed as
      Mander's correlation coefficient (where 1 = 100% overlap, 0 = no overlap).
      Distribution of 18F-FDG BAT activity over time and across multiple 18F-FDG BAT
      scans was equivalent in 60% (n = 9) of the subjects. The degree of consistency in
      the pattern of 18F-FDG BAT uptake in each subject over time was greater than
      expected by chance in 87% (n = 13) of the subjects (pair-wise agreement 75-100%,
      Fleiss' kappa 0.4-1). The degree of BAT colocalization on serial scans was
      greater than that expected by chance in 93% (n = 14) of the subjects (mean
      Mander's coefficient 0.81 +/- 0.21 [95% CI]). To our knowledge, our study
      provides the most conclusive evidence to date to support the notion that active
      BAT depots in humans (volumes and activities of which were measured through use
      of 18F-FDG PET/CT scans) remain static in location over sustained periods.

PMID- 28588038
TI  - The AMP-Related Kinase (AMPK) Induces Ca2+-Independent Dilation of Resistance
      Arteries by Interfering With Actin Filament Formation.
AB  - RATIONALE: Decreasing Ca2+ sensitivity of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) allows for
      vasodilation without lowering of cytosolic Ca2+. This may be particularly
      important in states requiring maintained dilation, such as hypoxia. AMP-related
      kinase (AMPK) is an important cellular energy sensor in VSM. Regulation of Ca2+
      sensitivity usually is attributed to myosin light chain phosphatase activity, but
      findings in non-VSM identified changes in the actin cytoskeleton. The potential
      role of AMPK in this setting is widely unknown. OBJECTIVE: To assess the
      influence of AMPK on the actin cytoskeleton in VSM of resistance arteries with
      regard to potential Ca2+ desensitization of VSM contractile apparatus. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: AMPK induced a slowly developing dilation at unchanged cytosolic
      Ca2+ levels in potassium chloride-constricted intact arteries isolated from mouse
      mesenteric tissue. This dilation was not associated with changes in
      phosphorylation of myosin light chain or of myosin light chain phosphatase
      regulatory subunit. Using ultracentrifugation and confocal microscopy, we found
      that AMPK induced depolymerization of F-actin (filamentous actin). Imaging of
      arteries from LifeAct mice showed F-actin rarefaction in the midcellular portion
      of VSM. Immunoblotting revealed that this was associated with activation of the
      actin severing factor cofilin. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments indicated that
      AMPK leads to the liberation of cofilin from 14-3-3 protein. CONCLUSIONS: AMPK
      induces actin depolymerization, which reduces vascular tone and the response to
      vasoconstrictors. Our findings demonstrate a new role of AMPK in the control of
      actin cytoskeletal dynamics, potentially allowing for long-term dilation of
      microvessels without substantial changes in cytosolic Ca2+.

PMID- 28588040
TI  - Five sentence letter from 1980 helped create US opioid addiction crisis, study
      concludes.

PMID- 28588039
TI  - Alcohol consumption and brain health.

PMID- 28588041
TI  - Trauma staff change routines in wake of terrorist attack.

PMID- 28588042
TI  - The need for incorporating emotional intelligence and mindfulness training in
      modern medical education.

PMID- 28588044
TI  - Treatment of obesity in adolescents: where should interventions focus?

PMID- 28588043
TI  - Heme A synthesis and CcO activity are essential for Trypanosoma cruzi infectivity
      and replication.
AB  - Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, presents a complex life
      cycle and adapts its metabolism to nutrients' availability. Although T. cruzi is
      an aerobic organism, it does not produce heme. This cofactor is acquired from the
      host and is distributed and inserted into different heme-proteins such as
      respiratory complexes in the parasite's mitochondrion. It has been proposed that
      T. cruzi's energy metabolism relies on a branched respiratory chain with a
      cytochrome c oxidase-type aa3 (CcO) as the main terminal oxidase. Heme A, the
      cofactor for all eukaryotic CcO, is synthesized via two sequential enzymatic
      reactions catalyzed by heme O synthase (HOS) and heme A synthase (HAS).
      Previously, TcCox10 and TcCox15 (Trypanosoma cruzi Cox10 and Cox15 proteins) were
      identified in T. cruzi They presented HOS and HAS activity, respectively, when
      they were expressed in yeast. Here, we present the first characterization of
      TcCox15 in T. cruzi, confirming its role as HAS. It was differentially detected
      in the different T. cruzi stages, being more abundant in the replicative forms.
      This regulation could reflect the necessity of more heme A synthesis, and
      therefore more CcO activity at the replicative stages. Overexpression of a non
      functional mutant caused a reduction in heme A content. Moreover, our results
      clearly showed that this hindrance in the heme A synthesis provoked a reduction
      on CcO activity and, in consequence, an impairment on T. cruzi survival,
      proliferation and infectivity. This evidence supports that T. cruzi depends on
      the respiratory chain activity along its life cycle, being CcO an essential
      terminal oxidase.

PMID- 28588046
TI  - Breastfeeding and obesity.

PMID- 28588045
TI  - Assessing the impact of in-utero exposures: potential effects of paracetamol on
      male reproductive development.
AB  - Human male reproductive disorders (cryptorchidism, hypospadias, testicular cancer
      and low sperm counts) are common and some may be increasing in incidence
      worldwide. These associated disorders can arise from subnormal testosterone
      production during fetal life. This has resulted in a focus on in-utero
      environmental influences that may result in reproductive effects on the offspring
      in later life. Over recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the
      scientific literature describing associations between in-utero environmental
      exposures (eg, industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals) and subsequent
      reproductive outcomes in male offspring. This includes studies investigating a
      potential role for in-utero analgesic exposure(s) on the fetal testis; however,
      providing definitive evidence of such effects presents numerous challenges. In
      this review, we describe an approach to assessing the potential clinical
      relevance of in-utero (and postnatal) environmental exposures on subsequent male
      reproductive function using exposure to the analgesic paracetamol as an example.

PMID- 28588047
TI  - Availability and Quality of Family Planning Services in the Democratic Republic
      of the Congo: High Potential for Improvement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the availability and quality of family planning services
      within health facilities throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
      METHODS: Data were collected for the cross-sectional study from April 2014 to
      June 2014 by the Ministry of Public Health. A total of 1,568 health facilities
      that reported data to the National Health Information System were selected by
      multistage random sampling in the 11 provinces of the DRC existing at that time.
      Data were collected through interviews, document review, and direct observation.
      Two dependent variables were measured: availability of family planning services
      (consisting of a room for services, staff assigned to family planning, and
      evidence of client use of family planning) and quality of family planning
      services (assessed as "high" if the facility had at least 1 trained staff member,
      family planning service delivery guidelines, at least 3 types of methods, and a
      sphygmomanometer, or "low" if the facility did not meet any of these 4 criteria).
      Pearson's chi-square test and odds ratios (ORs) were used to test for significant
      associations, using the alpha significance level of .05. RESULTS: We successfully
      surveyed 1,555 facilities (99.2%) of those included in the sample. One in every 3
      facilities (33%) offered family planning services as assessed by the index of
      availability, of which 20% met all 4 criteria for providing high-quality
      services. Availability was greatest at the highest level of the health system
      (hospitals) and decreased incrementally with each health system level, with
      disparities between provinces and urban and rural areas. Facilities in urban
      areas were more likely than in rural areas to meet the standard for high-quality
      services (P<.001). Public facilities were less likely than private facilities to
      have high-quality services (P=.02). Among all 1,555 facilities surveyed, 14% had
      at least 3 types of methods available at the time of the survey; the most widely
      available methods were male condoms, combined oral contraceptive pills, and
      progestin-only injectable contraceptives. CONCLUSION: Availability and quality of
      family planning services in health facilities in the DRC remain low, with
      inequitable distribution of services throughout the country. To improve access to
      and use of family planning, efforts should focus on improving availability and
      quality at lower health system levels and in rural areas where the majority of
      the population lives.

PMID- 28588049
TI  - Junior doctors hesitate to speak up over unprofessional behaviour, study finds.

PMID- 28588048
TI  - The sphingosine 1-phosphate breakdown product, (2E)-hexadecenal, forms protein
      adducts and glutathione conjugates in vitro.
AB  - Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid involved in various
      physiological processes such as cell proliferation and apoptosis, can be
      irreversibly cleaved by S1P lyase, yielding phosphoethanolamine and (2E)
      hexadecenal (2EHD). The latter metabolite, an alpha,beta-unsaturated fatty
      aldehyde, may be susceptible to nucleophilic attack by cellular biomolecules.
      Hence, we studied whether 2EHD forms reaction products with GSH and proteins in
      vitro. Using LC-MS/MS and stable isotopically labeled reference material, we
      identified a total of nine novel reaction products of 2EHD in a cell-free
      approach: two GSH conjugates and seven l-amino acid adducts. Both GSH conjugates
      were also found in HepG2 cell lysates incubated with 2EHD. Likewise, we detected
      four out of seven amino acid adducts released from the model protein, BSA, and
      proteins extracted from HepG2 cells. On this occasion, the 2EHD Michael adduct
      with l-histidine proved to be the most prominent adduct. Most interestingly,
      inhibition of the enzymatically driven oxidative degradation of 2EHD resulted in
      increased levels of both GSH conjugates and protein adducts in HepG2 cell
      lysates. Hence, our data provide new insights into sphingolipid metabolism and
      will be useful to investigate certain disorders linked to an impaired fatty
      aldehyde metabolism in more detail.

PMID- 28588051
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Correlations of CTLA-4 exon-1 rs231775A>G and promoter region
      rs5742909C>T polymorphisms with the therapeutic efficacy of 131I radionuclide in
      Graves' disease.
AB  - The Accepted Manuscript version of this article (published on 6 June 2017) was
      withdrawn on 16 November 2017 at the request of the authors.

PMID- 28588052
TI  - Effects of monovalent cations on folding kinetics of G-quadruplexes.
AB  - G-quadruplexes are special structures existing at the ends of human telomeres,
      the folding kinetics of which are essential for their functions, such as in the
      maintenance of genome stability and the protection of chromosome ends. In the
      present study, we investigated the folding kinetics of G-quadruplex in different
      monovalent cation environments and determined the detailed kinetic parameters for
      Na+- and K+-induced G-quadruplex folding, and for its structural transition from
      the basket-type Na+ form to the hybrid-type K+ form. More interestingly, although
      Li+ was often used in previous studies of G-quadruplex folding as a control ion
      supposed to have no effect, we have found that Li+ can actually influence the
      folding kinetics of both Na+- and K+-induced G-quadruplexes significantly and in
      different ways, by changing the folding fraction of Na+-induced G-quadruplexes
      and greatly increasing the folding rates of K+-induced G-quadruplexes. The
      present study may shed new light on the roles of monovalent cations in G
      quadruplex folding and should be useful for further studies of the underlying
      folding mechanism.

PMID- 28588056
TI  - Inner Workings: Listening in on the deep sea.

PMID- 28588050
TI  - Development of a Novel Maternal-Fetal Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model
      I: Insights into Factors that Determine Fetal Drug Exposure through Simulations
      and Sensitivity Analyses.
AB  - Determining fetal drug exposure (except at the time of birth) is not possible for
      both logistical and ethical reasons. Therefore, we developed a novel maternal
      fetal physiologically based pharmacokinetic (m-f-PBPK) model to predict fetal
      exposure to drugs and populated this model with gestational age-dependent changes
      in maternal-fetal physiology. Then, we used this m-f-PBPK to: 1) perform a series
      of sensitivity analyses to quantitatively demonstrate the impact of fetoplacental
      metabolism and placental transport on fetal drug exposure for various drug-dosing
      regimens administered to the mother; 2) predict the impact of gestational age on
      fetal drug exposure; and 3) demonstrate that a single umbilical venous
      (UV)/maternal plasma (MP) ratio (even after multiple-dose oral administration to
      steady state) does not necessarily reflect fetal drug exposure. In addition, we
      verified the implementation of this m-f-PBPK model by comparing the predicted
      UV/MP and fetal/MP AUC ratios with those predicted at steady state after an
      intravenous infusion. Our simulations yielded novel insights into the
      quantitative contribution of fetoplacental metabolism and/or placental transport
      on gestational age-dependent fetal drug exposure. Through sensitivity analyses,
      we demonstrated that the UV/MP ratio does not measure the extent of fetal drug
      exposure unless obtained at steady state after an intravenous infusion or when
      there is little or no fluctuation in MP drug concentrations after multiple-dose
      oral administration. The proposed m-f-PBPK model can be used to predict fetal
      exposure to drugs across gestational ages and therefore provide the necessary
      information to assess the risk of drug toxicity to the fetus.

PMID- 28588057
TI  - Core Concept: How Bose-Einstein condensates keep revealing weird physics.

PMID- 28588054
TI  - Sustained Neurological Recovery After Stroke in Aged Rats Treated With a Novel
      Prostacyclin Analog.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Targeting the prostaglandin I2 prostanoid (IP) receptor
      to reduce stroke injury has been hindered by the lack of selective drugs. MRE-269
      is the active metabolite of selexipag showing a high selectivity toward the IP
      receptor. Selexipag has been recently approved for clinical use in pulmonary
      hypertension. We hypothesized that postischemic treatment with MRE-269 provides
      long-lasting neuroprotection with improved neurological outcomes in a clinically
      relevant rat stroke model. METHODS: Aged male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent
      transient middle cerebral artery occlusion and were randomly selected to receive
      either vehicle or MRE-269 (0.25 mg/kg) intravenously starting at 4.5 hours post
      ischemia. Accelerating rotarod and adhesive removal tests were conducted before
      and at 3, 7, 14, and 21 days after stroke. Infarct volume was quantified by
      magnetic resonance imaging at 48 hours and 21 days post middle cerebral artery
      occlusion. In parallel experiments, cerebral cortex samples from stroke and
      nonstroke sides from vehicle- and MRE-269-treated groups were collected at 18
      hours post middle cerebral artery occlusion for molecular biology analyses.
      RESULTS: Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging data showed that postischemic
      MRE-269 treatment significantly reduced infarct volume compared with vehicle
      treated rats at both 48 hours and 3 weeks after stroke. MRE-269 treatment
      resulted in a significant long-term recovery in both locomotor and somatosensory
      functions after middle cerebral artery occlusion, which was associated with a
      reduced weight loss in animals receiving the IP receptor agonist. Postischemic
      MRE-269 treatment reduced proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines and oxidative
      stress. Damage to the blood-brain barrier, as assessed by extravasation of
      immunoglobulin G to the ischemic brain, was significantly reduced by MRE-269,
      which was associated with a reduction in matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity in
      the brain of stroked aged rats given the IP agonist at 4.5 hours after ischemia
      onset. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that targeting the IP receptor with MRE-269
      is a novel strategy to reduce cerebral ischemia injury and promote long-term
      neurological recovery in ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28588060
TI  - Sending CAR T Cells After Multiple Myeloma.
AB  - Preliminary results from an ongoing phase I clinical trial in China suggest that
      chimeric antigen receptor T cells engineered to home in on a protein called BCMA
      may be a potent therapeutic option for multiple myeloma. The therapy was well
      tolerated and induced complete, durable responses in patients with
      relapsed/refractory disease.

PMID- 28588061
TI  - Dual HER2 Blockade Helps Prevent Breast Cancer Return.
AB  - Adding pertuzumab to an adjuvant regimen of trastuzumab for women with early
      stage HER2+ breast cancer reduces the risk of disease recurrence, especially
      among those with node-positive and hormone receptor-negative disease. Results
      from the phase III APHINITY trial, which could help pertuzumab earn full approval
      for this indication, were presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical
      Oncology Annual Meeting.

PMID- 28588059
TI  - Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy Targeting Prostate Cancer with Prostate-Specific
      Membrane Antigen (PSMA) Antibody.
AB  - Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a membrane protein that is
      overexpressed manifold in prostate cancer and provides an attractive target for
      molecular therapy. Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a highly
      selective tumor treatment that employs an antibody-photoabsorber conjugate (APC).
      Here, we describe the efficacy of NIR-PIT, using a fully human IgG1 anti-PSMA
      monoclonal antibody (mAb), conjugated to the photoabsorber, IR700DX, in a PSMA
      expressing PC3 prostate cancer cell line. Anti-PSMA-IR700 showed specific binding
      and cell-specific killing was observed after exposure of the cells to NIR light
      in vitro In the in vivo study, anti-PSMA-IR700 showed high tumor accumulation and
      high tumor-background ratio. Tumor-bearing mice were separated into 4 groups: (i)
      no treatment; (ii) 100 MUg of anti-PSMA-IR700 i.v.; (iii) NIR light exposure;
      (iv) 100 MUg of anti-PSMA-IR700 i.v., NIR light exposure was administered. These
      were performed every week for up to 3 weeks. Tumor growth was significantly
      inhibited by NIR-PIT treatment compared with the other control groups (P <
      0.001), and significantly prolonged survival was achieved (P < 0.0001 vs. other
      control groups). More than two thirds of tumors were cured with NIR-PIT. In
      conclusion, the anti-PSMA antibody is suitable as an APC for NIR-PIT.
      Furthermore, NIR-PIT with the anti-PSMA-IR700 antibody is a promising candidate
      of the treatment of PSMA-expressing tumors and could be readily translated to
      humans.Implications: NIR-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) using a fully
      human anti-PSMA-IR700 conjugate showed potential therapeutic effects against a
      PSMA-expressing prostate cancer that is readily translated to humans. Mol Cancer
      Res; 15(9); 1153-62. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28588062
TI  - Secondary Somatic Mutations Restoring RAD51C and RAD51D Associated with Acquired
      Resistance to the PARP Inhibitor Rucaparib in High-Grade Ovarian Carcinoma.
AB  - High-grade epithelial ovarian carcinomas containing mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2
      (BRCA1/2) homologous recombination (HR) genes are sensitive to platinum-based
      chemotherapy and PARP inhibitors (PARPi), while restoration of HR function due to
      secondary mutations in BRCA1/2 has been recognized as an important resistance
      mechanism. We sequenced core HR pathway genes in 12 pairs of pretreatment and
      postprogression tumor biopsy samples collected from patients in ARIEL2 Part 1, a
      phase II study of the PARPi rucaparib as treatment for platinum-sensitive,
      relapsed ovarian carcinoma. In 6 of 12 pretreatment biopsies, a truncation
      mutation in BRCA1, RAD51C, or RAD51D was identified. In five of six paired
      postprogression biopsies, one or more secondary mutations restored the open
      reading frame. Four distinct secondary mutations and spatial heterogeneity were
      observed for RAD51CIn vitro complementation assays and a patient-derived
      xenograft, as well as predictive molecular modeling, confirmed that resistance to
      rucaparib was associated with secondary mutations.Significance: Analyses of
      primary and secondary mutations in RAD51C and RAD51D provide evidence for these
      primary mutations in conferring PARPi sensitivity and secondary mutations as a
      mechanism of acquired PARPi resistance. PARPi resistance due to secondary
      mutations underpins the need for early delivery of PARPi therapy and for
      combination strategies. Cancer Discov; 7(9); 984-98. (c)2017 AACR.See related
      commentary by Domchek, p. 937See related article by Quigley et al., p. 999See
      related article by Goodall et al., p. 1006This article is highlighted in the In
      This Issue feature, p. 920.

PMID- 28588063
TI  - Moderate alcohol consumption as risk factor for adverse brain outcomes and
      cognitive decline: longitudinal cohort study.
AB  - Objectives To investigate whether moderate alcohol consumption has a favourable
      or adverse association or no association with brain structure and function.Design
      Observational cohort study with weekly alcohol intake and cognitive performance
      measured repeatedly over 30 years (1985-2015). Multimodal magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) was performed at study endpoint (2012-15).Setting Community
      dwelling adults enrolled in the Whitehall II cohort based in the UK (the
      Whitehall II imaging substudy).Participants 550 men and women with mean age 43.0
      (SD 5.4) at study baseline, none were "alcohol dependent" according to the CAGE
      screening questionnaire, and all safe to undergo MRI of the brain at follow-up.
      Twenty three were excluded because of incomplete or poor quality imaging data or
      gross structural abnormality (such as a brain cyst) or incomplete alcohol use,
      sociodemographic, health, or cognitive data.Main outcome measures Structural
      brain measures included hippocampal atrophy, grey matter density, and white
      matter microstructure. Functional measures included cognitive decline over the
      study and cross sectional cognitive performance at the time of scanning.Results
      Higher alcohol consumption over the 30 year follow-up was associated with
      increased odds of hippocampal atrophy in a dose dependent fashion. While those
      consuming over 30 units a week were at the highest risk compared with abstainers
      (odds ratio 5.8, 95% confidence interval 1.8 to 18.6; P<=0.001), even those
      drinking moderately (14-21 units/week) had three times the odds of right sided
      hippocampal atrophy (3.4, 1.4 to 8.1; P=0.007). There was no protective effect of
      light drinking (1-<7 units/week) over abstinence. Higher alcohol use was also
      associated with differences in corpus callosum microstructure and faster decline
      in lexical fluency. No association was found with cross sectional cognitive
      performance or longitudinal changes in semantic fluency or word
      recall.Conclusions Alcohol consumption, even at moderate levels, is associated
      with adverse brain outcomes including hippocampal atrophy. These results support
      the recent reduction in alcohol guidance in the UK and question the current
      limits recommended in the US.

PMID- 28588067
TI  - Consultant is struck off for dishonesty over sildenafil prescription.

PMID- 28588064
TI  - Autotaxin-lysophosphatidic acid-LPA3 signaling at the embryo-epithelial boundary
      controls decidualization pathways.
AB  - During pregnancy, up-regulation of heparin-binding (HB-) EGF and cyclooxygenase-2
      (COX-2) in the uterine epithelium contributes to decidualization, a series of
      uterine morphological changes required for placental formation and fetal
      development. Here, we report a key role for the lipid mediator lysophosphatidic
      acid (LPA) in decidualization, acting through its G-protein-coupled receptor LPA3
      in the uterine epithelium. Knockout of Lpar3 or inhibition of the LPA-producing
      enzyme autotaxin (ATX) in pregnant mice leads to HB-EGF and COX-2 down-regulation
      near embryos and attenuates decidual reactions. Conversely, selective
      pharmacological activation of LPA3 induces decidualization via up-regulation of
      HB-EGF and COX-2. ATX and its substrate lysophosphatidylcholine can be detected
      in the uterine epithelium and in pre-implantation-stage embryos, respectively.
      Our results indicate that ATX-LPA-LPA3 signaling at the embryo-epithelial
      boundary induces decidualization via the canonical HB-EGF and COX-2 pathways.

PMID- 28588065
TI  - The Hierarchical Cortical Organization of Human Speech Processing.
AB  - Speech comprehension requires that the brain extract semantic meaning from the
      spectral features represented at the cochlea. To investigate this process, we
      performed an fMRI experiment in which five men and two women passively listened
      to several hours of natural narrative speech. We then used voxelwise modeling to
      predict BOLD responses based on three different feature spaces that represent the
      spectral, articulatory, and semantic properties of speech. The amount of variance
      explained by each feature space was then assessed using a separate validation
      dataset. Because some responses might be explained equally well by more than one
      feature space, we used a variance partitioning analysis to determine the fraction
      of the variance that was uniquely explained by each feature space. Consistent
      with previous studies, we found that speech comprehension involves hierarchical
      representations starting in primary auditory areas and moving laterally on the
      temporal lobe: spectral features are found in the core of A1, mixtures of
      spectral and articulatory in STG, mixtures of articulatory and semantic in STS,
      and semantic in STS and beyond. Our data also show that both hemispheres are
      equally and actively involved in speech perception and interpretation. Further,
      responses as early in the auditory hierarchy as in STS are more correlated with
      semantic than spectral representations. These results illustrate the importance
      of using natural speech in neurolinguistic research. Our methodology also
      provides an efficient way to simultaneously test multiple specific hypotheses
      about the representations of speech without using block designs and segmented or
      synthetic speech.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To investigate the processing steps
      performed by the human brain to transform natural speech sound into meaningful
      language, we used models based on a hierarchical set of speech features to
      predict BOLD responses of individual voxels recorded in an fMRI experiment while
      subjects listened to natural speech. Both cerebral hemispheres were actively
      involved in speech processing in large and equal amounts. Also, the
      transformation from spectral features to semantic elements occurs early in the
      cortical speech-processing stream. Our experimental and analytical approaches are
      important alternatives and complements to standard approaches that use segmented
      speech and block designs, which report more laterality in speech processing and
      associated semantic processing to higher levels of cortex than reported here.

PMID- 28588069
TI  - Special Meeting Sections.

PMID- 28588066
TI  - Identification of AICP as a GluN2C-Selective N-Methyl-d-Aspartate Receptor
      Superagonist at the GluN1 Glycine Site.
AB  - N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-type ionotropic glutamate receptors mediate
      excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system and are critically
      involved in brain function. NMDA receptors are also implicated in psychiatric and
      neurological disorders and have received considerable attention as therapeutic
      targets. In this regard, administration of d-cycloserine (DCS), which is a
      glycine site NMDA receptor agonist, can enhance extinction of conditioned fear
      responses. The intriguing behavioral effects of DCS have been linked to its
      unique pharmacological profile among NMDA receptor subtypes (GluN1/2A-D), in
      which DCS is a superagonist at GluN2C-containing receptors compared with glycine
      and a partial agonist at GluN2B-containing receptors. Here, we identify (R)-2
      amino-3-(4-(2-ethylphenyl)-1H-indole-2-carboxamido)propanoic acid (AICP) as a
      glycine site agonist with unique GluN2-dependent differences in agonist efficacy
      at recombinant NMDA receptor subtypes. AICP is a full agonist at GluN1/2A (100%
      response compared with glycine), a partial agonist at GluN1/2B and GluN1/2D (10%
      and 27%, respectively), and a highly efficacious superagonist at GluN1/2C
      receptors (353%). Furthermore, AICP potencies are enhanced compared with DCS with
      EC50 values in the low nanomolar range (1.7 nM at GluN1/2C). We show that
      GluN1/2C superagonism of AICP and DCS is mediated by overlapping but distinct
      mechanisms and that AICP selectively enhances responses from recombinant GluN1/2C
      receptors in the presence of physiological glycine concentrations. This
      functional selectivity of AICP for GluN2C-containing NMDA receptors is more
      pronounced compared with DCS, suggesting that AICP can be a useful tool compound
      for uncovering the roles of GluN2C subunits in neuronal circuit function and in
      the development of new therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28588070
TI  - Risk Factors for Fractures in Children Hospitalized in Intensive and Intermediate
      Care Units.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Fragility fractures are increasingly recognized in
      hospitalized children. Our study aim was to identify risk factors for fracture in
      children hospitalized in intensive and intermediate care units. METHODS: We
      conducted a retrospective, case-control study comparing the clinical
      characteristics of children with fractures (cases) to children without fractures
      (controls) matched for age, sex, hospital unit, admission quarter and year, ICU
      length of stay, severity of illness, and resource utilization. Bivariate
      comparisons and matched multivariable logistic regression modeling were used to
      determine associations between potential risk factors and fracture. RESULTS:
      Median age at fracture for the 35 patients was 5.0 months (interquartile range
      2.0 to 10.0 months) and at a comparable interval for the 70 matched controls was
      3.5 months (interquartile range 2.0 to 7.0 months). In bivariate analyses,
      factors associated with fracture included: primary diagnosis of tracheoesophageal
      fistula, esophageal atresia and stenosis; diagnosis of kidney disease; and per 5
      day increase in median cumulative ICU days at risk. In the final model, a
      respiratory disease diagnosis (odds ratio 3.9, 95% confidence interval 1.1-13.7)
      and per 5-day increase in median cumulative ICU days at risk (odds ratio 1.3, 95%
      confidence interval 1.0-1.6) were significant independent risk factors for
      fracture. CONCLUSIONS: Children prone to fracture in the hospital are young,
      medically complex patients who require extended periods of intensive level
      medical care and potentially life-sustaining treatment modalities. The children
      who would benefit most from fracture reduction efforts are those with respiratory
      disease and prolonged ICU stays.

PMID- 28588071
TI  - The RNA helicase DHX9 establishes nucleolar heterochromatin, and this activity is
      required for embryonic stem cell differentiation.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in the regulation of
      chromatin conformation and epigenetic patterns. lncRNA expression levels are
      widely taken as an indicator for functional properties. However, the role of RNA
      processing in modulating distinct features of the same lncRNA is less understood.
      The establishment of heterochromatin at rRNA genes depends on the processing of
      IGS-rRNA into pRNA, a reaction that is impaired in embryonic stem cells (ESCs)
      and activated only upon differentiation. The production of mature pRNA is
      essential since it guides the repressor TIP5 to rRNA genes, and IGS-rRNA
      abolishes this process. Through screening for IGS-rRNA-binding proteins, we here
      identify the RNA helicase DHX9 as a regulator of pRNA processing. DHX9 binds to
      rRNA genes only upon ESC differentiation and its activity guides TIP5 to rRNA
      genes and establishes heterochromatin. Remarkably, ESCs depleted of DHX9 are
      unable to differentiate and this phenotype is reverted by the addition of pRNA,
      whereas providing IGS-rRNA and pRNA mutants deficient for TIP5 binding are not
      sufficient. Our results reveal insights into lncRNA biogenesis during development
      and support a model in which the state of rRNA gene chromatin is part of the
      regulatory network that controls exit from pluripotency and initiation of
      differentiation pathways.

PMID- 28588068
TI  - Comprehensive global genome dynamics of Chlamydia trachomatis show ancient
      diversification followed by contemporary mixing and recent lineage expansion.
AB  - Chlamydia trachomatis is the world's most prevalent bacterial sexually
      transmitted infection and leading infectious cause of blindness, yet it is one of
      the least understood human pathogens, in part due to the difficulties of in vitro
      culturing and the lack of available tools for genetic manipulation. Genome
      sequencing has reinvigorated this field, shedding light on the contemporary
      history of this pathogen. Here, we analyze 563 full genomes, 455 of which are
      novel, to show that the history of the species comprises two phases, and conclude
      that the currently circulating lineages are the result of evolution in different
      genomic ecotypes. Temporal analysis indicates these lineages have recently
      expanded in the space of thousands of years, rather than the millions of years as
      previously thought, a finding that dramatically changes our understanding of this
      pathogen's history. Finally, at a time when almost every pathogen is becoming
      increasingly resistant to antimicrobials, we show that there is no evidence of
      circulating genomic resistance in C. trachomatis.

PMID- 28588074
TI  - The long-term health risks of ART: Epidemiological data and research on animals
      indicate that in vitro fertilization might create health problems later in life.

PMID- 28588073
TI  - Brd4-Brd2 isoform switching coordinates pluripotent exit and Smad2-dependent
      lineage specification.
AB  - Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) hold great clinical potential, as they possess the
      capacity to differentiate into fully specialised tissues such as pancreas, liver,
      neurons and cardiac muscle. However, the molecular mechanisms that coordinate
      pluripotent exit with lineage specification remain poorly understood. To address
      this question, we perform a small molecule screen to systematically identify
      novel regulators of the Smad2 signalling network, a key determinant of PSC fate.
      We reveal an essential function for BET family bromodomain proteins in Smad2
      activation, distinct from the role of Brd4 in pluripotency maintenance.
      Mechanistically, BET proteins specifically engage Nodal gene regulatory elements
      (NREs) to promote Nodal signalling and Smad2 developmental responses. In
      pluripotent cells, Brd2-Brd4 occupy NREs, but only Brd4 is required for
      pluripotency gene expression. Brd4 downregulation facilitates pluripotent exit
      and drives enhanced Brd2 NRE occupancy, thereby unveiling a specific function for
      Brd2 in differentiative Nodal-Smad2 signalling. Therefore, distinct BET
      functionalities and Brd4-Brd2 isoform switching at NREs coordinate pluripotent
      exit with lineage specification.

PMID- 28588072
TI  - Salt-inducible kinase induces cytoplasmic histone deacetylase 4 to promote
      vascular calcification.
AB  - A pathologic osteochondrogenic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells
      (VSMCs) promotes arterial calcifications, a process associated with significant
      morbidity and mortality. The molecular pathways promoting this pathology are not
      completely understood. We studied VSMCs, mouse aortic rings, and human aortic
      valves and showed here that histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) is upregulated early in
      the calcification process. Gain- and loss-of-function assays demonstrate that
      HDAC4 is a positive regulator driving this pathology. HDAC4 can shuttle between
      the nucleus and cytoplasm, but in VSMCs, the cytoplasmic rather than the nuclear
      activity of HDAC4 promotes calcification, and a nuclear-localized mutant of HDAC4
      fails to promote calcification. The cytoplasmic location and function of HDAC4 is
      controlled by the activity of salt-inducible kinase (SIK). Pharmacologic
      inhibition of SIK sends HDAC4 to the nucleus and inhibits the calcification
      process in VSMCs, aortic rings, and in vivo In the cytoplasm, HDAC4 binds and its
      activity depends on the adaptor protein ENIGMA (Pdlim7) to promote vascular
      calcification. These results establish a cytoplasmic role for HDAC4 and identify
      HDAC4, SIK, and ENIGMA as mediators of vascular calcification.

PMID- 28588075
TI  - Cerebral Perfusion and the Risk of Dementia: A Population-Based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral hypoperfusion has previously been associated with mild
      cognitive impairment and dementia in various cross-sectional studies, but whether
      hypoperfusion precedes neurodegeneration is unknown. We prospectively determined
      the association of cerebral perfusion with subsequent cognitive decline and
      development of dementia. METHODS: Between 2005 and 2012, we measured cerebral
      blood flow by 2-dimensional phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging in
      participants of the population-based Rotterdam Study without dementia. We
      determined the association of cerebral perfusion (mL/100mL/min) with risk of
      dementia (until 2015) using a Cox model, adjusting for age, sex, demographics,
      cardiovascular risk factors, and apolipoprotein E genotype. We repeated analyses
      for Alzheimer disease and accounting for stroke. We used linear regression to
      determine change in cognitive performance during 2 consecutive examination rounds
      in relation to perfusion. Finally, we investigated whether associations were
      modified by baseline severity of white matter hyperintensities. RESULTS: Of 4759
      participants (median age 61.3 years, 55.2% women) with a median follow-up of 6.9
      years, 123 participants developed dementia (97 Alzheimer disease). Lower cerebral
      perfusion was associated with higher risk of dementia (adjusted hazard ratio,
      1.31; 95% confidence interval per standard deviation decrease, 1.07-1.61),
      similar for Alzheimer disease only, and unaltered by accounting for stroke. Risk
      of dementia with hypoperfusion was higher with increasing severity of white
      matter hyperintensities (with severe white matter hyperintensities; hazard ratio,
      1.54; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-2.14). At cognitive reexamination after on
      average 5.7 years, lower baseline perfusion was associated with accelerated
      decline in cognition (global cognition: beta=-0.029, P=0.003), which was similar
      after excluding those with incident dementia, and again most profound in
      individuals with higher volume of white matter hyperintensities (P value for
      interaction=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral hypoperfusion is associated with
      accelerated cognitive decline and an increased risk of dementia in the general
      population.

PMID- 28588078
TI  - Walking as a Window to Risk and Resiliency.

PMID- 28588077
TI  - Predictors and Association With Clinical Outcomes of the Changes in Exercise
      Capacity After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: At present, there are no objective data specifically examining the
      clinical impact of variations in exercise capacity post-transcatheter aortic
      valve replacement (TAVR). We describe the changes in exercise capacity between
      baseline and 6 months post-TAVR, and ascertain factors associated with and
      clinical implications of a lack of improvement in exercise capacity post-TAVR.
      METHODS: A total of 305 patients (mean age, 79+/-9 years; 44% men; Society of
      Thoracic Surgeons predicted risk mortality score, 6.7+/-4.2%) undergoing TAVR
      completed both baseline and follow-up exercise capacity assessments at 6 months
      post-TAVR. Exercise capacity was evaluated by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT).
      Clinical outcomes were compared between patients displaying greater than (n=152;
      improving group) versus less than (n=153; nonimproving group) the median
      percentage change in distance walked between baseline and 6-month follow-up
      examinations. The primary outcome measure was clinical event rates, measured from
      the 6-month post-TAVR period onward. Further dichotomization according to
      baseline 6MWT distance (less than versus more than median walking distance, or
      slow walker versus fast walker) was also assessed. RESULTS: The mean overall
      distances walked pre- and post-TAVR (6 months post-TAVR) were 204+/-119 and 263+/
      116 m, respectively (Delta6MWT=60+/-106 m), with 219 (72%) patients demonstrating
      an increase in their walking distance (median percentage increase of the entire
      population was 20% [interquartile range, 0%-80%]). Factors independently
      correlated with reduced exercise capacity improvement included a range of
      baseline clinical characteristics (older age, female sex, chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease; P<0.05 for all), periprocedural major or life-threatening
      bleeding (P=0.009) and new-onset anemia at 6 months post-TAVR (P=0.009). Failure
      to improve the 6MWT distance by at least 20% was independently associated with
      all-cause mortality (P=0.002) and cardiovascular death or rehospitalization for
      cardiovascular causes (P=0.001). Baseline slow walkers who were able to improve
      the 6MWT distance presented with significantly better outcomes than nonimprovers
      (P=0.01 for all-cause mortality; P=0.001 for cardiovascular end point).
      CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one-third of patients undergoing TAVR did not improve
      their exercise capacity postprocedure. The lack of functional improvement post
      TAVR was predicted by a mix of baseline and periprocedural factors translating
      into poorer clinical outcomes. These results suggest that systematically
      implementing exercise capacity assessment pre- and post-TAVR may help to improve
      patient risk stratification.

PMID- 28588076
TI  - Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type I Controls Cardiomyocyte Transforming Growth
      Factor-beta and Cardiac Fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibrosis is the pathological consequence of stress-induced tissue
      remodeling and matrix accumulation. Increased levels of plasminogen activator
      inhibitor type I (PAI-1) have been shown to promote fibrosis in multiple organ
      systems. Paradoxically, homozygous genetic deficiency of PAI-1 is associated with
      spontaneous age-dependent, cardiac-selective fibrosis in mice. We have identified
      a novel PAI-1-dependent mechanism that regulates cardiomyocyte-derived fibrogenic
      signals and cardiac transcriptional pathways during injury. METHODS: Cardiac
      fibrosis in subjects with homozygous mutation in SERPINE-1 was evaluated with
      late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. A murine cardiac
      injury model was performed by subcutaneous infusion of either saline or
      Angiotensin II by osmotic minipumps. We evaluated blood pressure, cardiac
      function (by echocardiography), fibrosis (with Masson Trichrome staining), and
      apoptosis (with TUNEL staining), and we performed transcriptome analysis (with
      RNA sequencing). We further evaluated fibrotic signaling in isolated murine
      primary ventricular myocytes. RESULTS: Cardiac fibrosis was detected in 2
      otherwise healthy humans with complete PAI-1 deficiency because of a homozygous
      frameshift mutation in SERPINE-1. In addition to its suppressive role during
      spontaneous cardiac fibrosis in multiple species, we hypothesized that PAI-1 also
      regulates fibrosis during cardiac injury. Treatment of young PAI-1-/- mice with
      Angiotensin II induced extensive hypertrophy and fibrotic cardiomyopathy, with
      increased cardiac apoptosis and both reactive and replacement fibrosis. Although
      Angiotensin II-induced hypertension was blunted in PAI-1-/- mice, cardiac
      hypertrophy was accelerated. Furthermore, ventricular myocytes were found to be
      an important source of cardiac transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and PAI
      1 regulated TGF-beta synthesis by cardiomyocytes in vitro as well as in vivo
      during cardiac injury. Transcriptome analysis of ventricular RNA after
      Angiotensin II treatment confirmed that PAI-1 deficiency significantly enhanced
      multiple TGF-beta signaling elements and transcriptional targets, including genes
      for extracellular matrix components, mediators of extracellular matrix
      remodeling, matricellular proteins, and cardiac integrins compared with wild-type
      mice. CONCLUSIONS: PAI-1 is an essential repressor of cardiac fibrosis in
      mammals. We define a novel cardiomyocyte-specific regulatory mechanism for TGF
      beta production by PAI-1, which explains the paradoxical effect of PAI-1
      deficiency in promoting cardiac-selective fibrosis. Thus, PAI-1 is a molecular
      switch that controls the cardiac TGF-beta axis and its early transcriptional
      effects that lead to myocardial fibrosis.

PMID- 28588079
TI  - Focal accumulation of preribosomes outside the nucleolus during metaphase
      anaphase in budding yeast.
AB  - Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains one nucleolus that remains intact in the mother
      cell side of the nucleus throughout most of mitosis. Based on this, it is assumed
      that the bulk of ribosome production during cell division occurs in the mother
      cell. Here, we show that the ribosome synthesis machinery localizes not only in
      the nucleolus but also at a center that is present in the bud side of the nucleus
      after the initiation of mitosis. This center can be visualized by live microscopy
      as a punctate body located in close proximity to the nuclear envelope and
      opposite to the nucleolus. It contains ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and precursors of
      both 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits. Proteins that actively participate in
      ribosome synthesis, but not functionally defective variants, accumulate in that
      site. The formation of this body occurs in the metaphase-to-anaphase transition
      when discrete regions of rDNA occasionally exit the nucleolus and move into the
      bud. Collectively, our data unveil the existence of a previously unknown
      mechanism for preribosome accumulation at the nuclear periphery in budding yeast.
      We propose that this might be a strategy to expedite the delivery of ribosomes to
      the growing bud.

PMID- 28588080
TI  - Radiation inhibits salivary gland function by promoting STIM1 cleavage by caspase
      3 and loss of SOCE through a TRPM2-dependent pathway.
AB  - Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is critical for salivary gland fluid secretion.
      We report that radiation treatment caused persistent salivary gland dysfunction
      by activating a TRPM2-dependent mitochondrial pathway, leading to caspase-3
      mediated cleavage of stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) and loss of SOCE.
      After irradiation, acinar cells from the submandibular glands of TRPM2+/+ , but
      not those from TRPM2-/- mice, displayed an increase in the concentrations of
      mitochondrial Ca2+ and reactive oxygen species, a decrease in mitochondrial
      membrane potential, and activation of caspase-3, which was associated with a
      sustained decrease in STIM1 abundance and attenuation of SOCE. In a salivary
      gland cell line, silencing the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter or caspase-3 or
      treatment with inhibitors of TRPM2 or caspase-3 prevented irradiation-induced
      loss of STIM1 and SOCE. Expression of exogenous STIM1 in the salivary glands of
      irradiated mice increased SOCE and fluid secretion. We suggest that targeting the
      mechanisms underlying the loss of STIM1 would be a potentially useful approach
      for preserving salivary gland function after radiation therapy.

PMID- 28588083
TI  - Science Signaling Podcast for 6 June 2017: Calcium signaling and dry mouth.
AB  - This Podcast features a conversation with Indu Ambudkar, senior author of a
      Research Resource that appears in the 6 June 2017 issue of Science Signaling,
      about how activation of the cation channel TRPM2 is involved in radiation-induced
      dry mouth. Patients who receive radiation therapy for head and neck cancers often
      develop dry mouth as a side effect, and this condition is frequently permanent.
      Radiation does not kill cells in the salivary gland, yet it causes the acinar
      cells of the gland to reduce the amount of saliva they secrete. Liu et al found
      that radiation-induced activation of the cation channel TRPM2 triggered cleavage
      of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ sensor STIM1, thus inhibiting store-operated
      Ca2+ entry and interfering with saliva production. These findings identify
      proteins that could potentially be targeted to prevent dry mouth in patients
      undergoing radiation therapy.Listen to Podcast.

PMID- 28588084
TI  - Highlight: Understanding radiation sialadenitis.
AB  - A nonapoptotic function of caspase-3 underlies the salivary gland complications
      of radiation therapy of head and neck cancers.

PMID- 28588081
TI  - Intercellular transmission of the unfolded protein response promotes survival and
      drug resistance in cancer cells.
AB  - Increased protein translation in cells and various factors in the tumor
      microenvironment can induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which initiates
      the unfolded protein response (UPR). We have previously reported that factors
      released from cancer cells mounting a UPR induce a de novo UPR in bone marrow
      derived myeloid cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells that facilitates
      protumorigenic characteristics in culture and tumor growth in vivo. We
      investigated whether this intercellular signaling, which we have termed
      transmissible ER stress (TERS), also operates between cancer cells and what its
      functional consequences were within the tumor. We found that TERS signaling
      induced a UPR in recipient human prostate cancer cells that included the cell
      surface expression of the chaperone GRP78. TERS also activated Wnt signaling in
      recipient cancer cells and enhanced resistance to nutrient starvation and common
      chemotherapies such as the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and the microtubule
      inhibitor paclitaxel. TERS-induced activation of Wnt signaling required the UPR
      kinase and endonuclease IRE1. However, TERS-induced enhancement of cell survival
      was predominantly mediated by the UPR kinase PERK and a reduction in the
      abundance of the transcription factor ATF4, which prevented the activation of the
      transcription factor CHOP and, consequently, the induction of apoptosis. When
      implanted in mice, TERS-primed cancer cells gave rise to faster growing tumors
      than did vehicle-primed cancer cells. Collectively, our data demonstrate that
      TERS is a mechanism of intercellular communication through which tumor cells can
      adapt to stressful environments.

PMID- 28588085
TI  - An adenosine receptor for olfaction.
AB  - Extracellular processing of ATP in the fish olfactory epithelium produces
      adenosine that is perceived by olfactory neurons.

PMID- 28588082
TI  - IRE1alpha promotes viral infection by conferring resistance to apoptosis.
AB  - The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an ancient cellular pathway that detects
      and alleviates protein-folding stresses. The UPR components X-box binding protein
      1 (XBP1) and inositol-requiring enzyme 1alpha (IRE1alpha) promote type I
      interferon (IFN) responses. We found that Xbp1-deficient mouse embryonic
      fibroblasts and macrophages had impaired antiviral resistance. However, this was
      not because of a defect in type I IFN responses but rather an inability of Xbp1
      deficient cells to undergo viral-induced apoptosis. The ability to undergo
      apoptosis limited infection in wild-type cells. Xbp1-deficient cells were
      generally resistant to the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis through an indirect
      mechanism involving activation of the nuclease IRE1alpha. We observed an
      IRE1alpha-dependent reduction in the abundance of the proapoptotic microRNA miR
      125a and a corresponding increase in the amounts of the members of the
      antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family. The activation of IRE1alpha by the hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) protein NS4B in XBP1-proficient cells also conferred apoptosis resistance
      and promoted viral replication. Furthermore, we found evidence of IRE1alpha
      activation and decreased miR-125a abundance in liver biopsies from patients
      infected with HCV compared to those in the livers of healthy controls. Our
      results reveal a prosurvival role for IRE1alpha in virally infected cells and
      suggest a possible target for IFN-independent antiviral therapy.

PMID- 28588090
TI  - Associations Between Cardiac Troponin, Mechanism of Myocardial Injury, and Long
      Term Mortality After Noncardiac Vascular Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The time-sensitive hazard of perioperative cardiac troponin T (cTnT)
      elevation and whether long-term mortality differs by mechanism of myocardial
      injury are poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this observational study of
      12 882 patients who underwent noncardiac vascular surgery, patients were assessed
      for cTnT sampling within 96 hours postoperatively. Mortality out to 5-years was
      stratified by cTnT level and mechanism of myocardial injury. During a median
      follow-up of 26.9 months, there were 2149 (16.7%) deaths. By multivariable Cox
      proportional hazards analysis, there was a graded increase in mortality with any
      detectable cTnT compared to <0.01 ng/mL; cTnT 0.01 to 0.029 ng/mL hazard ratio
      (HR) 1.54 (95% CI 1.18-2.00, P=0.002), 0.03 to 0.099 ng/mL HR 1.86 (95% CI 1.49
      2.31, P<0.001), 0.10 to 0.399 ng/mL HR 1.83 (95% CI 1.46-2.31, P<0.001), >=0.40
      ng/mL HR 2.62 (95% CI 2.06-3.32, P<0.001). Mortality for each mechanism of injury
      was greater than for patients with normal cTnT; baseline cTnT elevation HR 1.71
      (95% CI 1.31-2.24; P<0.001), Type 2 myocardial infarction HR 1.88 (95% CI 1.57
      2.24; P<0.001), Type 1 MI HR 2.56 (95% CI 2.56, 1.82-3.60; P<0.001). On Kaplan
      Meier analysis, long-term survival did not differ between mechanisms. The hazard
      of mortality was greatest within the first 10 months postsurgery. Consistent
      results were obtained in confirmatory propensity-score matched analyses.
      CONCLUSIONS: Any detectable cTnT >=0.01 ng/mL is associated with increased long
      term mortality after vascular surgery. This risk is greatest within the first 10
      months postoperatively. While short-term mortality is greatest with Type 1
      myocardial infarction, long-term mortality appears independent of the mechanism
      of injury.

PMID- 28588089
TI  - Role of Circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Measurement in Primary Prevention
      of Coronary Heart Disease Among Chinese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has demonstrated beneficial
      effects on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. In cross-sectional studies, an
      association of raised circulating FGF21 levels with coronary heart disease (CHD)
      was found in some but not all studies. Here we investigated prospectively whether
      baseline serum FGF21 levels could predict incident CHD in subjects with type 2
      diabetes mellitus and no known cardiovascular diseases. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Baseline serum FGF21 levels were measured in 3528 Chinese subjects with type 2
      diabetes mellitus recruited from the Hong Kong West Diabetes Registry. The role
      of baseline serum FGF21 levels in predicting incident CHD over a median follow-up
      of 3.8 years was analyzed using Cox regression analysis. Among 3528 recruited
      subjects without known cardiovascular diseases, 147 (4.2%) developed CHD over a
      mean follow-up of 4 years. Baseline serum log-transformed FGF21 levels were
      significantly higher in those who had incident CHD than those who did not (222.7
      pg/mL [92.8-438.4] versus 151.1 pg/mL [75.6-274.6]; P<0.001). On multivariable
      Cox regression analysis, baseline serum FGF21 levels, using an optimal cutoff of
      206.22 pg/mL derived from our study, independently predicted incident CHD (hazard
      ratio, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.10-2.19; P=0.013) and significantly improved net
      reclassification index and integrated discrimination improvement after adjustment
      for conventional cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated,
      for the first time, that serum FGF21 level is an independent predictor of
      incident CHD and might be usefully utilized as a biomarker for identifying type 2
      diabetes mellitus subjects with raised CHD risk, for primary prevention.

PMID- 28588091
TI  - Associations of Abdominal Obesity and New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in the
      General Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Higher height and weight are known to be associated with higher risk
      of atrial fibrillation (AF); however, whether the risk of AF is related to
      abdominal obesity is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 501 690 adults
      (mean age: 47.6+/-14.3 years; 250 664 women [50.0%]) without baseline AF in the
      National Sample Cohort released by the National Health Insurance Service in
      Korea. Body mass index (underweight defined as <18.5; normal, 18.5 to <25.0;
      overweight, 25.0 to <30.0; and obese, >=30.0) and waist circumference (abdominal
      obesity defined as >=90 cm for men and >=80 cm for women) were evaluated. During
      a mean follow-up of 3.9+/-1.3 years, 3443 participants (1432 women [41.6%])
      developed AF. In multivariable models adjusted for clinical variables, the AF
      risk of underweight, overweight, and obese individuals increased by 21% (95%
      confidence interval, 1.01-1.45, P=0.043), 14% (95% confidence interval, 1.06
      1.23, P<0.001), and 52% (95% confidence interval, 1.30-1.78, P<0.001),
      respectively, compared with those with normal body mass index. AF risk with
      confounder-adjusted hazards for abdominal obesity was 18% (95% confidence
      interval, 1.10-1.27, P<0.001). The increased AF risk was present in abdominally
      obese individuals regardless of body mass index except for the obese group. In
      subgroup analysis, abdominal obesity by waist circumference conferred increased
      risk of new-onset AF, particularly in participants without comorbidities.
      CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal obesity is an important, potentially modifiable risk
      factor for AF in nonobese Asian persons. These data suggest that interventions to
      decrease abdominal obesity may reduce the population burden of AF.

PMID- 28588092
TI  - Stunning and Right Ventricular Dysfunction Is Induced by Coronary Balloon
      Occlusion and Rapid Pacing in Humans: Insights From Right Ventricular Conductance
      Catheter Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to determine whether right ventricular stunning could be
      detected after supply (during coronary balloon occlusion [BO]) and supply/demand
      ischemia (induced by rapid pacing [RP] during transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement) in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ten subjects with single-vessel
      right coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with
      normal ventricular function were studied in the BO group. Ten subjects undergoing
      transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement were studied in the RP group.
      In both, a conductance catheter was placed into the right ventricle, and pressure
      volume loops were recorded at baseline and for intervals over 15 minutes after a
      low-pressure BO for 1 minute or a cumulative duration of RP for up to 1 minute.
      Ischemia-induced diastolic dysfunction was seen 1 minute after RP (end-diastolic
      pressure [mm Hg]: 8.1+/-4.2 versus 12.1+/-4.1, P<0.001) and BO (end-diastolic
      pressure [mm Hg]: 8.1+/-4.0 versus 8.7+/-4.0, P=0.03). Impairment of systolic and
      diastolic function after BO remained at 15-minutes recovery (ejection fraction
      [%]: 55.7+/-9.0 versus 47.8+/-6.3, P<0.01; end-diastolic pressure [mm Hg]: 8.1+/
      4.0 versus 9.2+/-3.9, P<0.01). Persistent diastolic dysfunction was also evident
      in the RP group at 15-minutes recovery (end-diastolic pressure [mm Hg]: 8.1+/-4.1
      versus 9.9+/-4.4, P=0.03) and there was also sustained impairment of load
      independent indices of systolic function at 15 minutes after RP (end-systolic
      elastance and ventriculo-arterial coupling [mm Hg/mL]: 1.25+/-0.31 versus 0.85+/
      0.43, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: RP and right coronary artery balloon occlusion both
      cause ischemic right ventricular dysfunction with stunning observed later during
      the procedure. This may have intraoperative implications in patients without
      right ventricular functional reserve.

PMID- 28588093
TI  - Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Therapy in Arrhythmogenic Right
      Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy: Predictors of Appropriate Therapy,
      Outcomes, and Complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy is
      characterized by ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Once the
      diagnosis is established, risk stratification to determine whether implantable
      cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placement is warranted is critical. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: The cohort included 312 patients (163 men, age at presentation 33.6+/
      13.9 years) with definite arrhythmogenic right ventricular
      dysplasia/cardiomyopathy who received an ICD. Over 8.8+/-7.33 years, 186
      participants (60%) had appropriate ICD therapy and 58 (19%) had an intervention
      for ventricular fibrillation/flutter. Ventricular tachycardia at presentation
      (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-2.49; P<0.001),
      inducibility on electrophysiology study (HR: 3.14; 95% CI, 1.95-5.05; P<0.001),
      male sex (HR: 1.62; 95% CI, 1.20-2.19; P=0.001), inverted T waves in >=3
      precordial leads (HR: 1.66; 95% CI, 1.09-2.52; P=0.018), and premature
      ventricular contraction count >=1000/24 hours (HR: 2.30; 95% CI, 1.32-4.00;
      P=0.003) were predictors of any appropriate ICD therapy. Inducibility at
      electrophysiology study (HR: 2.28; 95% CI, 1.10-4.70; P=0.025) remained as the
      only predictor after multivariable analysis. The predictors for ventricular
      fibrillation/flutter were premature ventricular contraction >=1000/24 hours (HR:
      4.39; 95% CI, 1.32-14.61; P=0.016), syncope (HR: 1.85; 95% CI, 1.10-3.11;
      P=0.021), aged <=30 years at presentation (HR: 1.76; 95% CI, 1.04-3.00; P<0.036),
      and male sex (HR: 1.73; 95% CI, 1.01-2.97; P=0.046). Younger age at presentation
      (HR: 3.14; 95% CI, 1.32-7.48; P=0.010) and high premature ventricular contraction
      burden (HR: 4.43; 95% CI, 1.35-14.57; P<0.014) remained as independent predictors
      of ventricular fibrillation/flutter. Complications occurred in 66 participants
      (21%), and 64 (21%) had inappropriate ICD interventions. Overall mortality was
      low at 2%, and 4% underwent heart transplantation. CONCLUSION: These findings
      represent an important step in identifying predictors of ICD therapy for
      potentially fatal ventricular fibrillation/flutter and should be considered when
      developing a risk stratification model for arrhythmogenic right ventricular
      dysplasia/cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28588096
TI  - CNS beta3-adrenergic receptor activation regulates feeding behavior, white fat
      browning, and body weight.
AB  - Pharmacological beta3-adrenergic receptor (beta3AR) activation leads to increased
      mitochondrial biogenesis and activity in white adipose tissue (WAT), a process
      commonly referred to as "browning", and transiently increased insulin release.
      These effects are associated with improved metabolic function and weight loss. It
      is assumed that this impact of beta3AR agonists is mediated solely through
      activation of beta3ARs in adipose tissue. However, beta3ARs are also found in the
      brain, in areas such as the brain stem and the hypothalamus, which provide
      multisynaptic innervation to brown and white adipose depots. Thus, contrary to
      the current adipocentric view, the central nervous system (CNS) may also have the
      ability to regulate energy balance and metabolism through actions on central
      beta3ARs. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate whether CNS beta3ARs can
      regulate browning of WAT and other aspects of metabolic regulation, such as food
      intake control and insulin release. We found that acute central injection of
      beta3AR agonist potently reduced food intake, body weight, and increased
      hypothalamic neuronal activity in rats. Acute central beta3AR stimulation was
      also accompanied by a transient increase in circulating insulin levels. Moreover,
      subchronic central beta3AR agonist treatment led to a browning response in both
      inguinal (IWAT) and gonadal WAT (GWAT), along with reduced GWAT and increased BAT
      mass. In high-fat, high-sugar-fed rats, subchronic central beta3AR stimulation
      reduced body weight, chow, lard, and sucrose water intake, in addition to
      increasing browning of IWAT and GWAT. Collectively, our results identify the
      brain as a new site of action for the anorexic and browning impact of beta3AR
      activation.

PMID- 28588098
TI  - Information technology in the NHS: aspirations and reality.

PMID- 28588097
TI  - High-intensity interval training and calorie restriction promote remodeling of
      glucose and lipid metabolism in diet-induced obesity.
AB  - Calorie restriction (CR) decreases adiposity, but the magnitude and defense of
      weight loss is less than predicted due to reductions in total daily energy
      expenditure (TEE). The purpose of the current investigation was to determine
      whether high-intensity interval training (HIIT) would increase markers of
      sympathetic activation in white adipose tissue (WAT) and rescue CR-mediated
      reductions in EE to a greater extent than moderate-intensity aerobic exercise
      training (MIT). Thirty-two 5-wk-old male C57BL/6J mice were placed on ad libitum
      HFD for 11 wk, followed by randomization to one of four groups (n = 8/group) for
      an additional 15 wk: 1) CON (remain on HFD), 2) CR (25% lower energy intake), 3)
      CR + HIIT (25% energy deficit created by 12.5% CR and 12.5% EE through HIIT), and
      4) CR + MIT (25% energy deficit created by 12.5% CR and 12.5% EE through MIT).
      Markers of adipose thermogenesis (Ucp1, Prdm16, Dio2, and Fgf21) were unchanged
      in either exercise group in inguinal or epididymal WAT, whereas CR + HIIT
      decreased Ucp1 expression in retroperitoneal WAT and brown adipose tissue. HIIT
      rescued CR-mediated reductions in lean body mass (LBM) and resting energy
      expenditure (REE), and both were associated with improvements in glucose/insulin
      tolerance. Improvements in glucose metabolism in the CR + HIIT group appear to be
      linked to a molecular signature that enhances glucose and lipid storage in
      skeletal muscle. Exercise performed at either moderate or high intensity does not
      increase markers of adipose thermogenesis when performed in the presence of CR
      but remodels skeletal muscle metabolic and thermogenic capacity.

PMID- 28588100
TI  - Higher Plasma Methylglyoxal Levels Are Associated With Incident Cardiovascular
      Disease in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes: A 12-Year Follow-up Study.
AB  - Methylglyoxal (MGO), a major precursor for advanced glycation end products, is
      increased in diabetes. In diabetic rodents, inhibition of MGO prevents
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). Whether plasma MGO levels are associated with
      incident CVD in people with type 1 diabetes is unknown. We included 159
      individuals with persistent normoalbuminuria and 162 individuals with diabetic
      nephropathy (DN) from the outpatient clinic at Steno Diabetes Center. We measured
      MGO at baseline and recorded fatal and nonfatal CVD over a median follow-up of
      12.3 years (interquartile range 7.6-12.5 years). Data were analyzed by Cox
      regression, with adjustment for sex, age, HbA1c, DN, diabetes duration, smoking,
      systolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medication, and BMI. During follow-up,
      73 individuals suffered at least one CVD event (36 fatal and 53 nonfatal). Higher
      MGO levels were associated with total, fatal, and nonfatal incident CVD (hazard
      ratios [HRs] 1.47 [95% CI 1.13-1.91], 1.42 [1.01-1.99], and 1.46 [1.08-1.98],
      respectively). We observed a similar trend for total mortality (HR 1.24 [0.99
      1.56]). This study shows for the first time in our knowledge that plasma MGO
      levels are associated with cardiovascular events in individuals with type 1
      diabetes. MGO may explain, at least in part, the increased risk for CVD in type 1
      diabetes.

PMID- 28588099
TI  - Age-Dependent Decline in the Coordinated [Ca2+] and Insulin Secretory Dynamics in
      Human Pancreatic Islets.
AB  - Aging is associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes, resulting from
      reduced insulin sensitivity and secretion. Reduced insulin secretion can result
      from reduced proliferative capacity and reduced islet function. Mechanisms
      underlying altered beta-cell function in aging are poorly understood in mouse and
      human islets, and the impact of aging on intraislet communication has not been
      characterized. Here, we examine how beta-cell [Ca2+] and electrical communication
      are impacted during aging in mouse and human islets. Islets from human donors and
      from mice were studied using [Ca2+] imaging, static and perifusion insulin
      secretion assays, and gap junction permeability measurements. In human islets,
      [Ca2+] dynamics were coordinated within distinct subregions of the islet,
      invariant with islet size. There was a marked decline in the coordination of
      [Ca2+] dynamics, gap junction coupling, and insulin secretion dynamics with age.
      These age-dependent declines were reversed by pharmacological gap junction
      activation. These results show that human islet function declines with aging,
      which can reduce insulin action and may contribute to increased risk of type 2
      diabetes.

PMID- 28588101
TI  - Eggs in Early Complementary Feeding and Child Growth: A Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eggs are a good source of nutrients for growth and development. We
      hypothesized that introducing eggs early during complementary feeding would
      improve child nutrition. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in
      Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, from March to December 2015. Children ages 6 to 9
      months were randomly assigned to treatment (1 egg per day for 6 months [n = 83])
      and control (no intervention [n = 80]) groups. Both arms received social
      marketing messages to encourage participation in the Lulun Project (lulun meaning
      "egg" in Kichwa). All households were visited once per week to monitor morbidity
      symptoms, distribute eggs, and monitor egg intakes (for egg group only). Baseline
      and end point outcome measures included anthropometry, dietary intake
      frequencies, and morbidity symptoms. RESULTS: Mothers or other caregivers
      reported no allergic reactions to the eggs. Generalized linear regression
      modeling showed the egg intervention increased length-for-age z score by 0.63
      (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38-0.88) and weight-for-age z score by 0.61 (95%
      CI, 0.45-0.77). Log-binomial models with robust Poisson indicated a reduced
      prevalence of stunting by 47% (prevalence ratio [PR], 0.53; 95% CI, 0.37-0.77)
      and underweight by 74% (PR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10-0.70). Children in the treatment
      group had higher dietary intakes of eggs (PR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.28-1.92) and
      reduced intake of sugar-sweetened foods (PR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.51-0.97) compared
      with control. CONCLUSIONS: The findings supported our hypothesis that early
      introduction of eggs significantly improved growth in young children. Generally
      accessible to vulnerable groups, eggs have the potential to contribute to global
      targets to reduce stunting.

PMID- 28588102
TI  - Best Fed Beginnings: A Nationwide Quality Improvement Initiative to Increase
      Breastfeeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In response to a low number of Baby-Friendly-designated
      hospitals in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
      funded the National Institute for Children's Health Quality to conduct a national
      quality improvement initiative between 2011 and 2015. The initiative was entitled
      Best Fed Beginnings and enrolled 90 hospitals in a nationwide initiative to
      increase breastfeeding and achieve Baby-Friendly designation. METHODS: The
      intervention period lasted from July 2012 to August 2014. During that period,
      data on process indicators aligned with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
      and outcome measures (overall and exclusively related to breastfeeding) were
      collected. In addition, data on the Baby-Friendly designation were collected
      after the end of the intervention through April 2016. Hospitals assembled
      multidisciplinary teams that included parent partners and community
      representatives. Three in-person learning sessions were interspersed with remote
      learning and tests of change, and a Web-based platform housed resources and data
      for widespread sharing. RESULTS: By April 2016, a total of 72 (80%) of the 90
      hospitals received the Baby-Friendly designation, nearly doubling the number of
      designated hospitals in the United States. Participation in the Best Fed
      Beginnings initiative had significantly high correlation with designation
      compared with hospital applicants not in the program (Pearson's r [235]: 0.80; P
      < .01). Overall breastfeeding increased from 79% to 83% (t = 1.93; P = .057), and
      exclusive breastfeeding increased from 39% to 61% (t = 9.72; P < .001).
      CONCLUSIONS: A nationwide initiative of maternity care hospitals accomplished
      rapid transformative changes to achieve Baby-Friendly designation. These changes
      were accompanied by a significant increase in exclusive breastfeeding.

PMID- 28588103
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv3615c is a highly immunodominant antigen and
      specifically induces potent Th1-type immune responses in tuberculosis pleurisy.
AB  - T-cell responses have been demonstrated to be essential for preventing
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The Th1-cytokines produced by T cells, such
      as INF-gamma, IL-2, and TNF-alpha, not only limit the invasion of M. tuberculosis
      but also eliminate the pathogen at the site of infection. Bacillus Calmette
      Guerin (BCG) is known to induce Th1-type responses but the protection is
      inadequate. Identification of immunogenic components, in addition to those
      expressed in BCG, and induction of a broad spectrum of Th1-type responses provide
      options for generating sufficient adaptive immunity. Here, we studied human
      pulmonary T-cell responses induced by the M. tuberculosis-specific antigen
      Rv3615c, a protein with a similar size and sequence homology to ESAT-6 and CFP
      10, which induced dominant CD4+ T-cell responses in human tuberculosis (TB)
      models. We characterized T-cell responses including cytokine profiling, kinetics
      of activation, expansion, differentiation, TCR usage, and signaling of activation
      induced by Rv3615c compared with other M. tuberculosis-specific antigens. The
      expanded CD4+ T cells induced by Rv3615c predominately produced Th1, but less Th2
      and Th17, cytokines and displayed effector/memory phenotypes (CD45RO+CD27-CD127
      CCR7-). The magnitude of expansion and cytokine production was comparable to
      those induced by well-characterized the 6 kDa early secreted antigenic target
      (ESAT-6), the 10 kDa culture filtrate protein (CFP-10) and BCG. Rv3615c contained
      multiple epitopes Rv3615c1-15, Rv3615c6-20, Rv3615c66-80, Rv3615c71-85 and
      Rv3615c76-90 that activated CD4+ T cells. The Rv3615c-specific CD4+ T cells
      shared biased of T-cell receptor variable region of beta chain (TCR Vbeta) 1, 2,
      4, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2 and/or 22 chains to promote their differentiation and
      proliferation respectively, by triggering a signaling cascade. Our data suggest
      that Rv3615c is a major target of Th1-type responses and can be a highly
      immunodominant antigen specific for M. tuberculosis infection.

PMID- 28588104
TI  - A content analysis of outdoor non-alcoholic beverage advertisements in Ghana.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This was a two-part descriptive study designed to (1) assess the
      marketing themes and sugar content of beverages promoted in outdoor
      advertisements (ads) within a portion of Accra, Ghana and (2) quantify the types
      of ads that appeared along the Accra-Cape Coast Highway. SETTING: A 4.7 km2 area
      of Accra, Ghana and a 151 km region along the highway represented the target
      areas for collecting photos of outdoor beverage ads. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Number and types of beverage ads, sugar content of beverage
      products featured in ads and marketing themes used in ads. DESIGN: Two
      researchers photographed outdoor beverage ads in a 4.7 km2 area of Accra and used
      content analysis to assess marketing themes of ads, including the portrayal of
      children, local culture, music, sports and health. Researchers also recorded the
      number and type of ads along a 151 km stretch of the Accra-Cape Coast Highway.
      Researchers assessed the added sugar content to determine which beverages were
      sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). RESULTS: Seventy-seven photographed ads were
      analysed. Seventy-three per cent (72.7%) of ads featured SSBs, and Coca-Cola
      accounted for 59.7% of ads. Sixty-five per cent (64.9%) of all ads featured
      sodas, while 35.1% advertised energy drinks, bottled or canned juice drinks and
      coffee-based, milk-based and water-based beverages. Thirteen per cent (13%) of
      ads featured children and 5.2% were located near schools or playgrounds. Nine per
      cent (9.1%) of ads contained a reference to health and 7.8% contained a reference
      to fitness/strength/sport. Along the Accra-Cape Coast Highway, Coca-Cola
      accounted for 60% of branded ads. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the
      frequency of outdoor SSB ads within a 4.7 km2 area of Accra, Ghana. Coca-Cola was
      featured in the majority of ads, and the child-targeted nature of some ads
      indicates a need to expand the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising
      Initiative pledge to reduce child-targeted marketing on a global scale.

PMID- 28588105
TI  - A register-based 13-year to 43-year follow-up of 70 patients with obsessive
      compulsive disorder treated with capsulotomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the long-term medical status of patients with
      severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) undergoing capsulotomy, a
      neurosurgical last-resort treatment. The present study used national registers to
      identify all operated patients with OCD in Sweden and evaluated their long-term
      medical status, including mortality, hospital admissions and psychotropic
      medication after capsulotomy for OCD. DESIGN: Register-based long-term follow-up
      cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: We used the procedural and diagnostic codes in the
      Swedish National Patient Register to define the study population between 1970 and
      March 2013. Verification by manual review of medical records of the indication
      for surgery in those identified by the register yielded the final study cohort of
      70 patients, followed 13-43 years after surgery. The sensitivity of the case
      selection method was 86%. OUTCOME MEASURES: We studied hospitalisation 5 years
      before and after surgery. Mortality data were derived from the Causes of Death
      Register. The Prescribed Drug Register was used to study psychotropic drug
      utilisation. RESULTS: By March 2013, 29 of the 70 patients were deceased. Their
      mean age at the time of death was 68 years (SD=14). Two patients had committed
      suicide and one had died of suspected suicide. Seventy per cent had been admitted
      to a psychiatric ward in the 5 years preceding surgery, and 84% in the first five
      postoperative years. Seventy-five per cent of those alive in 2012 were prescribed
      at least two psychotropic medications, often at high doses, the most common being
      antidepressants. CONCLUSIONS: Malignant OCD has a poor long-term prognosis.
      Patients who are candidates for surgery should be informed that, while OCD
      symptoms may be ameliorated with surgery, they should not expect long-term
      freedom from medication and psychiatric care.

PMID- 28588106
TI  - Evidence for the effectiveness of minimum pricing of alcohol: a systematic review
      and assessment using the Bradford Hill criteria for causality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the evidence for price-based alcohol policy interventions
      to determine whether minimum unit pricing (MUP) is likely to be effective.
      DESIGN: Systematic review and assessment of studies according to Preferred
      Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines,
      against the Bradford Hill criteria for causality. Three electronic databases were
      searched from inception to February 2017. Additional articles were found through
      hand searching and grey literature searches. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: We
      included any study design that reported on the effect of price-based
      interventions on alcohol consumption or alcohol-related morbidity, mortality and
      wider harms. Studies reporting on the effects of taxation or affordability and
      studies that only investigated price elasticity of demand were beyond the scope
      of this review. Studies with any conflict of interest were excluded. All studies
      were appraised for methodological quality. RESULTS: Of 517 studies assessed, 33
      studies were included: 26 peer-reviewed research studies and seven from the grey
      literature. All nine of the Bradford Hill criteria were met, although different
      types of study satisfied different criteria. For example, modelling studies
      complied with the consistency and specificity criteria, time series analyses
      demonstrated the temporality and experiment criteria, and the analogy criterion
      was fulfilled by comparing the findings with the wider literature on taxation and
      affordability. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the Bradford Hill criteria for causality
      were satisfied. There was very little evidence that minimum alcohol prices are
      not associated with consumption or subsequent harms. However the overall quality
      of the evidence was variable, a large proportion of the evidence base has been
      produced by a small number of research teams, and the quantitative uncertainty in
      many estimates or forecasts is often poorly communicated outside the academic
      literature. Nonetheless, price-based alcohol policy interventions such as MUP are
      likely to reduce alcohol consumption, alcohol-related morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28588107
TI  - Staffs' and managers' perceptions of how and when discrete event simulation
      modelling can be used as a decision support in quality improvement: a focus group
      discussion study at two hospital settings in Sweden.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore healthcare staffs' and managers' perceptions of how and
      when discrete event simulation modelling can be used as a decision support in
      improvement efforts. DESIGN: Two focus group discussions were performed. SETTING:
      Two settings were included: a rheumatology department and an orthopaedic section
      both situated in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Healthcare staff and managers (n=13) from
      the two settings. INTERVENTIONS: Two workshops were performed, one at each
      setting. Workshops were initiated by a short introduction to simulation
      modelling. Results from the respective simulation model were then presented and
      discussed in the following focus group discussion. RESULTS: Categories from the
      content analysis are presented according to the following research questions: how
      and when simulation modelling can assist healthcare improvement? Regarding how,
      the participants mentioned that simulation modelling could act as a tool for
      support and a way to visualise problems, potential solutions and their effects.
      Regarding when, simulation modelling could be used both locally and by
      management, as well as a pedagogical tool to develop and test innovative ideas
      and to involve everyone in the improvement work. CONCLUSIONS: Its potential as an
      information and communication tool and as an instrument for pedagogic work within
      healthcare improvement render a broader application and value of simulation
      modelling than previously reported.

PMID- 28588108
TI  - Cross-sectional analysis of two social determinants of health in California
      cities: racial/ethnic and geographic disparities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the magnitude and direction of city-level racial and ethnic
      differences in poverty and education to characterise health equity and social
      determinants of health in California cities. DESIGN: We used data from the
      American Community Survey, United States Census Bureau, 2006-2010, and calculated
      differences in the prevalence of poverty and low educational attainment in adults
      by race/ethnicity and by census tracts within California cities. For
      race/ethnicity comparisons, when the referent group (p2) to calculate the
      difference (p1-p2) was the non-Hispanic White population (considered a
      historically advantaged group), a positive difference was considered a health
      inequity. Differences with a non-White reference group were considered health
      disparities. SETTING: Cities of the State of California, USA. RESULTS: Within
      city differences in the prevalence of poverty and low educational attainment
      disfavoured Black and Latinos compared with Whites in over 78% of the cities.
      Compared with Whites, the median within-city poverty difference was 7.0% for
      Latinos and 6.2% for Blacks. For education, median within-city difference was
      26.6% for Latinos compared with Whites. In a small, but not negligible proportion
      of cities, historically disadvantaged race/ethnicity groups had better social
      determinants of health outcomes than Whites. The median difference between the
      highest and lowest census tracts within cities was 14.3% for poverty and 15.7%
      for low educational attainment. Overall city poverty rate was weakly, but
      positively correlated with within-city racial/ethnic differences. CONCLUSIONS:
      Disparities and inequities are widespread in California. Local health departments
      can use these findings to partner with cities in their jurisdiction and design
      strategies to reduce racial, ethnic and geographic differences in economic and
      educational outcomes. These analytic methods could be used in an ongoing
      surveillance system to monitor these determinants of health.

PMID- 28588109
TI  - Finnish Subacromial Impingement Arthroscopy Controlled Trial (FIMPACT): a
      protocol for a randomised trial comparing arthroscopic subacromial decompression
      and diagnostic arthroscopy (placebo control), with an exercise therapy control,
      in the treatment of shoulder impingement syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD) is the most commonly
      performed surgical intervention for shoulder pain, yet evidence on its efficacy
      is limited. The rationale for the surgery rests on the tenet that symptom relief
      is achieved through decompression of the rotator cuff tendon passage. The primary
      objective of this superiority trial is to compare the efficacy of ASD versus
      diagnostic arthroscopy (DA) in patients with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS),
      where DA differs only by the lack of subacromial decompression. A third group of
      supervised progressive exercise therapy (ET) will allow for pragmatic assessment
      of the relative benefits of surgical versus non-operative treatment strategies.
      METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Finnish Subacromial Impingement Arthroscopy Controlled
      Trial is an ongoing multicentre, three-group randomised controlled study. We
      performed two-fold concealed allocation, first by randomising patients to
      surgical (ASD or DA) or conservative (ET) treatment in 2:1 ratio and then those
      allocated to surgery further to ASD or DA in 1:1 ratio. Our two primary outcomes
      are pain at rest and at arm activity, assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS).
      We will quantify the treatment effect as the difference between the groups in the
      change in the VAS scales with the associated 95% CI at 24 months. Our secondary
      outcomes are functional assessment (Constant score and Simple shoulder test),
      quality of life (15D and SF-36), patient satisfaction, proportions of responders
      and non-responders, reoperations/treatment conversions, all at 2 years post
      randomisation, as well as adverse effects and complications. We recruited a total
      of 210 patients from three tertiary referral centres. We will conduct the primary
      analysis on the intention-to-treat basis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was
      approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Pirkanmaa Hospital District and
      duly registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. The findings of this study will be
      disseminated widely through peer-reviewed publications and conference
      presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00428870; Pre-results.

PMID- 28588110
TI  - Clinicians' perspectives of parental decision-making following diagnosis of a
      severe congenital anomaly: a qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore clinicians' perspectives on supporting parents' decision
      making following diagnosis of a severe congenital anomaly, and how this is shaped
      by current policy. METHODS: This paper reports data collated as part of a larger
      project examining parents' decision-making following antenatal diagnosis. The
      focus of this paper is the data arising from semistructured interviews conducted
      with 18 clinicians, with findings further supported by data generated from
      consultations between clinicians and parents. All interviews and consultations
      were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with analysis based on the constant
      comparative approach. RESULTS: Three key themes emerged which together shape the
      practice of clinicians working in this area: first, the law governing termination
      of pregnancy (TOP) and how clinicians believe this influences the context in
      which decisions about whether to terminate or continue an affected pregnancy are
      made; second, approaches to the management of cases seen as particularly
      challenging; and third, how clinicians understand their role when working with
      parents. These themes combine to create a strong desire on the part of clinicians
      for parents to engage in a particular 'rational' form of decision-making and to
      be able to demonstrate the enactment of this. This is seen as important in order
      to ensure the 'right' decision has been reached and, particularly when the
      decision is to terminate, will withstand possible scrutiny. CONCLUSIONS: The
      policy context in which these decisions are made strongly shapes how clinicians
      practise and what they want to see from the parents with whom they work. The ways
      in which they seek to overcome the difficulties in interpreting the law may
      result in variations in the offer of late TOP, both between and within units.
      This may inadvertently affect the options available to women least able to engage
      in this idealised form of decision-making.

PMID- 28588111
TI  - Dietary determinants of serum total cholesterol among middle-aged and older
      adults: a population-based cross-sectional study in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the dietary determinants of serum total cholesterol. DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional population-based study. SETTING: Peri-urban region of Dar es
      Salaam, Tanzania. PARTICIPANTS: 347 adults aged 40 years and older from the Dar
      es Salaam Urban Cohort Hypertension Study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Serum total
      cholesterol measured using a point-of-care device. RESULTS: Mean serum total
      cholesterol level was 204 mg/dL (IQR 169-236 mg/dL) in women and 185 mg/dL (IQR
      152-216 mg/dL) in men. After adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle
      and dietary factors, participants who reported using palm oil as the major
      cooking oil had serum total cholesterol higher by 15 mg/dL (95% CI 1 to 29 mg/dL)
      compared with those who reported using sunflower oil. Consumption of one or more
      servings of meat per day (p for trend=0.017) and less than five servings of
      fruits and vegetables per day (p for trend=0.024) were also associated with
      higher serum total cholesterol. A combination of using palm oil for cooking,
      eating more than one serving of meat per day and fewer than five servings of
      fruits and vegetables per day, was associated with 46 mg/dL (95% CI 16 to 76
      mg/dL) higher serum total cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: Using palm oil for cooking
      was associated with higher serum total cholesterol levels in this peri-urban
      population in Dar es Salaam. Reduction of saturated fat content of edible oil may
      be considered as a population-based strategy for primary prevention of
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28588112
TI  - The Hoorn Diabetes Care System (DCS) cohort. A prospective cohort of persons with
      type 2 diabetes treated in primary care in the Netherlands.
AB  - PURPOSE: People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have a doubled morbidity and mortality
      risk compared with persons with normal glucose tolerance. Despite treatment,
      clinical targets for cardiovascular risk factors are not achieved. The Hoorn
      Diabetes Care System cohort (DCS) is a prospective cohort representing a
      comprehensive dataset on the natural course of T2D, with repeated clinical
      measures and outcomes. In this paper, we describe the design of the DCS cohort.
      PARTICIPANTS: The DCS consists of persons with T2D in primary care from the West
      Friesland region of the Netherlands. Enrolment in the cohort started in 1998 and
      this prospective dynamic cohort currently holds 12 673 persons with T2D. FINDINGS
      TO DATE: Clinical measures are collected annually, with a high internal validity
      due to the centrally organised standardised examinations. Microvascular
      complications are assessed by measuring kidney function, and screening feet and
      eyes. Information on cardiovascular disease is obtained by 1) self-report, 2)
      electrocardiography and 3) electronic patient records. In subgroups of the
      cohort, biobanking and additional measurements were performed to obtain
      information on, for example, lifestyle, depression and genomics. Finally, the DCS
      cohort is linked to national cancer and all-cause mortality registers. A
      selection of published findings from the DCS includes identification of subgroups
      with distinct development of haemoglobin A1c, blood pressure and retinopathy, and
      their predictors; validation of a prediction model for personalised retinopathy
      screening; the assessment of the role of genetics in development and treatment of
      T2D, providing options for personalised medicine. FUTURE PLANS: We will continue
      with the inclusion of persons with newly diagnosed T2D, follow-up of persons in
      the cohort and linkage to morbidity and mortality registries. Currently, we are
      involved in (inter)national projects on, among others, biomarkers and prediction
      models for T2D and complications and we are interested in collaborations with
      external researchers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN26257579.

PMID- 28588113
TI  - Interpregnancy weight changes and impact on pregnancy outcome in a cohort of
      women with a macrosomic first delivery: a prospective longitudinal study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the median interpregnancy maternal weight change between
      first and second pregnancies, and second and third pregnancies and to assess the
      impact of this weight change on pregnancy outcome in a cohort of women with a
      macrosomic first delivery. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal study conducted
      over three pregnancies from 2007 to 2015. SETTING: Tertiary referral maternity
      hospital, Dublin, Ireland. PARTICIPANTS: Women were recruited if their first baby
      weighed >4.0 kg. METHODS: The pregnancy outcomes in the second and third
      pregnancies were analysed separately. Data were also analysed for both
      interpregnancy intervals comparing outcomes for those who gained any weight, or
      more weight than the median, with those who did not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Recurrent fetal macrosomia >=4.0 kg and gestational diabetes mellitus. RESULTS:
      There were 280 women who delivered a third baby between 2011 and 2015. There were
      no differences in pregnancy outcomes for the second pregnancy in women who gained
      interpregnancy weight compared with those who did not and those who gained more
      interpregnancy weight than the median compared with those who did not. There was
      a statistically significant increase in birth weight >=4.0 kg (54.0% vs 39.6%
      p=0.03) in those women who gained any weight between the second and third
      pregnancies. In those women who gained more interpregnancy weight than the median
      (1.70 kg) between a second and third pregnancy, there was a significant increase
      in the rate of gestational diabetes (6.5% vs 1.4%, p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: This
      longitudinal study demonstrates that within this cohort maternal interpregnancy
      weight change between a second and third pregnancy is associated with an increase
      in birth weight >=4.0 kg. Additionally, a gain of more weight than the median
      (1.70 kg) is associated with a higher rate of gestational diabetes.

PMID- 28588114
TI  - Two Glycerol-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases from Chlamydomonas Have Distinct Roles in
      Lipid Metabolism.
AB  - The metabolism of glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) is important for environmental
      stress responses by eukaryotic microalgae. G3P is an essential precursor for
      glycerolipid synthesis and the accumulation of triacylglycerol (TAG) in response
      to nutrient starvation. G3P dehydrogenase (GPDH) mediates G3P synthesis, but the
      roles of specific GPDH isoforms are currently poorly understood. Of the five GPDH
      enzymes in the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, GPD2 and GPD3 were shown to
      be induced by nutrient starvation and/or salt stress. Heterologous expression of
      GPD2, a putative chloroplastic GPDH, and GPD3, a putative cytosolic GPDH, in a
      yeast gpd1Delta mutant demonstrated the functionality of both enzymes. C.
      reinhardtii knockdown mutants for GPD2 and GPD3 showed no difference in growth
      but displayed significant reduction in TAG concentration compared with the wild
      type in response to phosphorus or nitrogen starvation. Overexpression of GPD2 and
      GPD3 in C. reinhardtii gave distinct phenotypes. GPD2 overexpression lines showed
      only subtle metabolic phenotypes and no significant alteration in growth. In
      contrast, GPD3 overexpression lines displayed significantly inhibited growth and
      chlorophyll concentration, reduced glycerol concentration, and changes to lipid
      composition compared with the wild type, including increased abundance of
      phosphatidic acids but reduced abundance of diglycerides, triglycerides, and
      phosphatidylglycerol lipids. This may indicate a block in the downstream
      glycerolipid metabolism pathway in GPD3 overexpression lines. Thus, lipid
      engineering by GPDH modification may depend on the activities of other downstream
      enzyme steps. These results also suggest that GPD2 and GPD3 GPDH isoforms are
      important for nutrient starvation-induced TAG accumulation but have distinct
      metabolic functions.

PMID- 28588115
TI  - Hydroxystilbenes Are Monomers in Palm Fruit Endocarp Lignins.
AB  - Lignin, the plant cell wall polymer that binds fibers together but makes
      processing difficult, is traditionally formed from three monomers, the so-called
      monolignols (p-coumaryl, coniferyl, and sinapyl alcohols). Recently, we
      discovered, in grass lignins, a phenolic monomer that falls outside the canonical
      lignin biosynthetic pathway, the flavone tricin. As we show here, palm fruit
      (macauba [Acrocomia aculeata], carnauba [Copernicia prunifera], and coconut
      [Cocos nucifera]) endocarps contain lignin polymers derived in part from a
      previously unconsidered class of lignin monomers, the hydroxystilbenes, including
      the valuable compounds piceatannol and resveratrol. Piceatannol could be released
      from these lignins upon derivatization followed by reductive cleavage, a
      degradative method that cleaves beta-ether bonds, indicating that at least a
      fraction is incorporated through labile ether bonds. Nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy of products from the copolymerization of piceatannol and monolignols
      confirms the structures in the natural polymer and demonstrates that piceatannol
      acts as an authentic monomer participating in coupling and cross-coupling
      reactions during lignification. Therefore, palm fruit endocarps contain a new
      class of stilbenolignin polymers, further expanding the definition of lignin and
      implying that compounds such as piceatannol and resveratrol are potentially
      available in what is now essentially a waste product.

PMID- 28588116
TI  - High Oxygen Concentrations Adversely Affect the Performance of Pulmonary
      Surfactant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although effective in the neonatal population, exogenous pulmonary
      surfactant has not demonstrated a benefit in pediatric and adult subjects with
      hypoxic lung injury despite a sound physiologic rationale. Importantly, neonatal
      surfactant replacement therapy is administered in conjunction with low fractional
      FIO2 while pediatric/adult therapy is administered with high FIO2 . We suspected
      a connection between FIO2 and surfactant performance. Therefore, we sought to
      assess a possible mechanism by which the activity of pulmonary surfactant is
      adversely affected by direct oxygen exposure in in vitro experiments. METHODS:
      The mechanical performance of pulmonary surfactant was evaluated using 2 methods.
      First, Langmuir-Wilhelmy balance was utilized to study the reduction in surface
      area (deltaA) of surfactant to achieve a low bound value of surface tension after
      repeated compression and expansion cycles. Second, dynamic light scattering was
      utilized to measure the size of pulmonary surfactant particles in aqueous
      suspension. For both experiments, comparisons were made between surfactant
      exposed to 21% and 100% oxygen. RESULTS: The deltaA of surfactant was 21.1 +/-
      2.0% and 35.8 +/- 2.0% during exposure to 21% and 100% oxygen, respectively (P =
      .02). Furthermore, dynamic light-scattering experiments revealed a micelle
      diameter of 336.0 +/- 12.5 MUm and 280.2 +/- 11.0 MUm in 21% and 100% oxygen,
      respectively (P < .001), corresponding to a ~16% decrease in micelle diameter
      following exposure to 100% oxygen. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristics of pulmonary
      surfactant were adversely affected by short-term exposure to oxygen.
      Specifically, surface tension studies revealed that short-term exposure of
      surfactant film to high concentrations of oxygen expedited the frangibility of
      pulmonary surfactant, as shown with the deltaA. This suggests that reductions in
      pulmonary compliance and associated adverse effects could begin to take effect in
      a very short period of time. If these findings can be demonstrated in vivo, a
      role for reduced FIO2 during exogenous surfactant delivery may have a clinical
      benefit.

PMID- 28588117
TI  - Aerosol Delivery Through Adult High Flow Nasal Cannula With Heliox and Oxygen.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heliox (helium-oxygen mixture) has been shown to reduce turbulence
      and improve aerosol delivery in a range of clinical settings. We questioned
      whether heliox as compared with oxygen via high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) would
      affect aerosol delivery. We hypothesized that heliox would have a significant
      effect on aerosol delivery as compared with oxygen with both quiet and distressed
      breathing patterns. METHODS: A vibrating mesh nebulizer was placed at the inlet
      of a humidifier via HFNC with small adult cannula distal to the heated-wire
      circuit with prongs placed into simulated nares with a T-shaped trap and absolute
      filter connected to a breath simulator set to adult quiet and distressed
      breathing parameters. Albuterol sulfate (0.083% 2.5 mg/3 mL) was aerosolized with
      heliox (80:20) and oxygen (100%) at 10, 30, and 50 L/min. Drug eluted from the
      filter was assayed with UV spectrophotometry (276 nm). Descriptive statistics,
      Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis. P < .05
      was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Increasing flows with heliox
      and oxygen significantly decreased percentage inhaled dose (inhaled dose) of
      aerosol with a quiet breathing pattern (P = .02 and P = .030, respectively). In
      contrast, with a distressed breathing pattern, inhaled dose at 10 L/min was lower
      than at 30 and 50 L/min (P = .009 and P = .01, respectively) with both oxygen and
      heliox (P = .009 and P = .009, respectively). Despite a trend to higher aerosol
      deposition with heliox versus oxygen, the differences were not significant.
      CONCLUSIONS: With a distressed breathing pattern, aerosol delivery was greater at
      30 and 50 L/min than with a quiet breathing pattern. Trends toward higher inhaled
      dose with heliox during HFNC were not significant.

PMID- 28588118
TI  - Clinical Management Strategies for Airway Pressure Release Ventilation: A Survey
      of Clinical Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) is a commonly used mode of
      ventilation designed to increase mean airway pressure and thus oxygenation.
      Different strategies for clinical management have been described in the
      literature but are largely based on physiologic concepts, animal data, and small
      clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to determine how APRV is currently
      managed by surveying practicing respiratory therapists with experience using
      APRV. METHODS: A 15-item survey was developed by the authors and posted on the
      AARConnect online media platform in January 2016 after being declared exempt by
      our institution's institutional review board. Survey questions were derived from
      a literature review of recommended APRV settings. Responses were limited to one
      per institution. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 60 respondents who used
      APRV. Of the 4 key initial APRV settings (P high, P low, T high, and T low),
      there was good agreement among survey responders and published guidelines for
      setting initial T high (4-6 s) and initial P low (0 cm H2O). There was some
      disagreement regarding initial P high, with 48% of responders matching P high to
      conventional ventilation plateau pressures but another 31% using conventional
      ventilation mean airway pressure plus 2-5 cm H2O. The most disagreement was with
      the T low setting, with only 47% of survey responders agreeing with published
      guidelines about using the expiratory flow signal to set T low. There was good
      agreement among survey responders and published guidelines for what changes to
      make when gas exchange was outside of the targeted range. A substantial number of
      respondents accepted P high and APRV release volumes that may exceed lung
      protective limits. CONCLUSIONS: There is only limited consensus among
      practitioners for initial APRV settings, probably reflecting the paucity of good
      clinical outcome data and confusion surrounding the physiology of this mode.

PMID- 28588120
TI  - Nanoplatforms for Circulating Tumor Cell Detection in Lung Cancer.

PMID- 28588119
TI  - High-Flow Nasal Cannula Utilization in Pediatric Critical Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is increasingly utilized in
      pediatrics, delivering humidified air and oxygen for respiratory conditions
      causing hypoxia and distress. In the neonatal ICU, it has been associated with
      better tolerance, lower complications, and lower cost. Few data exist regarding
      indications for use and the epidemiology of disease/pathology that warrants HFNC
      in the pediatric ICU. METHODS: This study is a retrospective cohort study of
      patients admitted to a tertiary children's hospital pediatric ICU and placed on
      HFNC from October 1, 2011 to October 31, 2013. Descriptive statistics were used
      to describe demographics and utilization data. t test comparisons were used for
      comparison data. RESULTS: Over the enrollment study period, 620 subjects with
      HFNC were managed, which represented 27% of total ICU admissions. The average age
      was 3.74 y (range 0-18.1 y), and subjects were 44% female and 65% African
      American. Reported primary indications for the utilization of HFNC were status
      asthmaticus (24%), status asthmaticus with pneumonia (17%), and bronchiolitis
      (16%). Of the subjects admitted with a primary diagnosis of status asthmaticus,
      41% required management with terbutaline. Respiratory viral infections were
      detected by polymerase chain reaction in 334 subjects managed with HFNC (53.8%)
      and included 260 subjects testing positive for rhinovirus/enterovirus. When
      compared with all other respiratory viral illness, subjects with
      rhinovirus/enterovirus required a higher peak flow (14.9 L vs 13.1 L, P = .01);
      however, this was an older population, and peak oxygen concentration did not
      differ between the 2 groups (49.8% vs 47.1%, P = .25). HFNC was used as
      postextubation support in 16% of the subjects. Of the 63 subjects with congenital
      heart disease, 92% of the utilization was postextubation. CONCLUSIONS: HFNC was
      utilized in 27% of all pediatric ICU admissions for a wide range of indications.
      Development of protocols for the initiation, escalation, and weaning of HFNC
      would optimize the utilization.

PMID- 28588121
TI  - Assessing Agreement between Methods of Measurement.

PMID- 28588122
TI  - Patient Privacy and Clinical Laboratory Data.

PMID- 28588123
TI  - A Genoproteomic Approach to Detect Peptide Markers of Bacterial Respiratory
      Pathogens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rapid identification of respiratory pathogens may facilitate targeted
      antimicrobial therapy. Direct identification of bacteria in bronchoalveolar
      lavage (BAL) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry is confounded by interfering substances. We describe a method to
      identify unique peptide markers of 5 gram-negative bacteria by liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for direct pathogen
      identification in BAL. METHODS: In silico translation and digestion were
      performed on 14-25 whole genomes representing strains of Acinetobacter baumannii,
      Moraxella catarrhalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and
      Klebsiella pneumoniae. Peptides constituting theoretical core peptidomes in each
      were identified. Rapid tryptic digestion was performed; peptides were analyzed by
      LC-MS/MS and compared with the theoretical core peptidomes. High-confidence core
      peptides (false discovery rate <1%) were identified and analyzed with the lowest
      common ancestor search to yield potential species-specific peptide markers. The
      species specificity of each peptide was verified with protein BLAST. Further, 1
      or 2 pathogens were serially diluted into pooled inflamed BAL, and a targeted LC
      MS/MS assay was used to detect 25 peptides simultaneously. RESULTS: Five unique
      peptides with the highest abundance for each pathogen distinguished these
      pathogens with varied detection sensitivities. Peptide markers for A. baumannii
      and P. aeruginosa, when spiked simultaneously into inflamed BAL, were detected
      with as few as 3.6 (0.2) * 103 and 2.2 (0.6) * 103 colony-forming units,
      respectively, by targeted LC-MS/MS. CONCLUSIONS: This proof-of-concept study
      shows the feasibility of identifying unique peptides in BAL for 5 gram-negative
      bacterial pathogens, and it may provide a novel approach for rapid direct
      identification of bacterial pathogens in BAL.

PMID- 28588124
TI  - Antenatal consultations for preterm labour: how are future mothers reassured?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the antenatal consultation for preterm labour
      worries or reassures women, and to identify factors contributing to these
      feelings. DESIGN: This is a prospective survey study from April 2012 to September
      2013. This mixed-methodology tool was co-constructed with patients and first
      tested in a single-centre pilot study. SETTING: Three university-affiliated,
      tertiary care, high-risk obstetrics inpatient units in Quebec, Canada.
      PARTICIPANTS: Women hospitalised with threatened preterm labour between 26 and 32
      weeks' gestational age completed the survey within 72 hours of an antenatal
      consultation by neonatology. 341 women were invited to participate and 226
      mothers completed the survey (72% response rate), at a median gestational age of
      30 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participant worry, reassurance and change in
      perception after the antenatal consultation were the main outcome measures.
      Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with
      these outcomes. RESULTS: 23% of participants were worried by the consultation,
      and 87% were reassured by it. Lower gestational age and higher maternal education
      were associated with feeling worried (adjusted OR=0.83, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.99; and
      adjusted OR=2.15, 95% CI 1.04 to 4.44, respectively). Longer consultations were
      associated with reassurance (adjusted OR=8.21, 95% CI 2.67 to 25.26). Women were
      reassured by (1) feeling well informed about prematurity with optimistic
      outlooks, and (2) a trusting and reassuring expert neonatology team. High-quality
      interactions with neonatologists were associated with reassurance, while poorer
      communications were associated with feelings of worry. CONCLUSIONS: To be
      reassuring, neonatologists should strive to establish a trusting relationship
      with mothers, in which realistic and clear, but optimistic, information is
      offered.

PMID- 28588125
TI  - Neonatal ethanol exposure from ethanol-based hand sanitisers in isolettes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study is to measure the ethanol vapours in the
      isolette after use of hands cleaned with ethanol-based hand sanitiser (EBHS).
      METHODS: Two squirts (1.5 mL) of hand sanitiser were rubbed on hands for 10 or 20
      s before inserting the hands in the isolette for 5 min. Ethanol vapours were
      measured in the isolette with photoionisation detector and alcohol breathalyser
      for 30 min. RESULTS: Peak ethanol concentration in the isolette was considerably
      higher with a 10 s hand rub (381+/-192 ppm) compared with a 20 s hand rub (99+/
      50 ppm), and dissipated to <=5 ppm within 30 min. Under routine care, EBHS use by
      care providers exposes neonates in isolettes to 3.7-7.3 or 1.4-2.8 mg/kg ethanol
      per day with 10 or 20 s hand rubs, respectively. The expected blood level from
      average single exposure is 0.036 mg/dL with 10 s hand rub and may increase
      further with multiple exposures in a short period. CONCLUSION: Preterm neonates
      in the isolette are at risk of inadvertent exposure to ethanol. The expected
      blood alcohol level from this exposure is small and below 1 mg/dL level
      recommended by European Medicines Agency to limit the ethanol exposure in
      children. The unintended ethanol exposure can be avoided by rubbing hands for at
      least 20 s after applying EBHS.

PMID- 28588126
TI  - Differences in subependymal vein anatomy may predispose preterm infants to GMH
      IVH.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The anatomy of the deep venous system plays an important
      role in the pathogenesis of brain lesions in the preterm brain as shown by
      different histological studies. The aims of this study were to compare the
      subependymal vein anatomy of preterm neonates with germinal matrix haemorrhage
      intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH-IVH), as evaluated by susceptibility-weighted
      imaging (SWI) venography, with a group of age-matched controls with normal brain
      MRI, and to explore the relationship between the anatomical features of
      subependymal veins and clinical risk factors for GMH-IVH. METHODS: SWI
      venographies of 48 neonates with GMH-IVH and 130 neonates with normal brain MRI
      were retrospectively evaluated. Subependymal vein anatomy was classified into six
      different patterns: type 1 represented the classic pattern and types 2-6 were
      considered anatomic variants. A quantitative analysis of the venous curvature
      index was performed. Variables were analysed by using Mann-Whitney U and chi2
      tests, and a multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the
      association between anatomical features, clinical factors and GMH-IVH. RESULTS: A
      significant difference was noticed among the six anatomical patterns according to
      the presence of GMH-IVH (chi2=14.242, p=0.014). Anatomic variants were observed
      with higher frequency in neonates with GMH-IVH than in controls (62.2% and 49.6%,
      respectively). Neonates with GMH-IVH presented a narrower curvature of the
      terminal portion of subependymal veins (p<0.05). These anatomical features were
      significantly associated with GMH-IVH (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Preterm neonates with
      GMH-IVH show higher variability of subependymal veins anatomy confirming a
      potential role as predisposing factor for GMH-IVH.

PMID- 28588127
TI  - A 6-Nucleotide Regulatory Motif within the AbcR Small RNAs of Brucella abortus
      Mediates Host-Pathogen Interactions.
AB  - In Brucella abortus, two small RNAs (sRNAs), AbcR1 and AbcR2, are responsible for
      regulating transcripts encoding ABC-type transport systems. AbcR1 and AbcR2 are
      required for Brucella virulence, as a double chromosomal deletion of both sRNAs
      results in attenuation in mice. Although these sRNAs are responsible for
      targeting transcripts for degradation, the mechanism utilized by the AbcR sRNAs
      to regulate mRNA in Brucella has not been described. Here, two motifs (M1 and M2)
      were identified in AbcR1 and AbcR2, and complementary motif sequences were
      defined in AbcR-regulated transcripts. Site-directed mutagenesis of M1 or M2 or
      of both M1 and M2 in the sRNAs revealed transcripts to be targeted by one or both
      motifs. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed direct, concentration
      dependent binding of both AbcR sRNAs to a target mRNA sequence. These experiments
      genetically and biochemically characterized two indispensable motifs within the
      AbcR sRNAs that bind to and regulate transcripts. Additionally, cellular and
      animal models of infection demonstrated that only M2 in the AbcR sRNAs is
      required for Brucella virulence. Furthermore, one of the M2-regulated targets,
      BAB2_0612, was found to be critical for the virulence of B. abortus in a mouse
      model of infection. Although these sRNAs are highly conserved among
      Alphaproteobacteria, the present report displays how gene regulation mediated by
      the AbcR sRNAs has diverged to meet the intricate regulatory requirements of each
      particular organism and its unique biological niche.IMPORTANCE Small RNAs (sRNAs)
      are important components of bacterial regulation, allowing organisms to quickly
      adapt to changes in their environments. The AbcR sRNAs are highly conserved
      throughout the Alphaproteobacteria and negatively regulate myriad transcripts,
      many encoding ABC-type transport systems. In Brucella abortus, AbcR1 and AbcR2
      are functionally redundant, as only a double abcR1 abcR2 (abcR1/2) deletion
      results in attenuation in vitro and in vivo In the present study, we confirmed
      that the AbcR sRNAs have redundant regulatory functions and defined two six
      nucleotide motifs, M1 and M2, that the AbcR sRNAs utilize to control gene
      expression. Importantly, only M2 was linked to B. abortus virulence. Further
      investigation of M2-regulated targets identified BAB2_0612 as critical for
      colonization of B. abortus in mice, highlighting the significance of AbcR M2
      regulated transcripts for Brucella infection. Overall, our findings define the
      molecular mechanism of the virulence-associated AbcR system in the pathogenic
      bacterium B. abortus.

PMID- 28588128
TI  - Novel Chromosome Organization Pattern in Actinomycetales-Overlapping Replication
      Cycles Combined with Diploidy.
AB  - Bacteria regulate chromosome replication and segregation tightly with cell
      division to ensure faithful segregation of DNA to daughter generations. The
      underlying mechanisms have been addressed in several model species. It became
      apparent that bacteria have evolved quite different strategies to regulate DNA
      segregation and chromosomal organization. We have investigated here how the
      actinobacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum organizes chromosome segregation and
      DNA replication. Unexpectedly, we found that C. glutamicum cells are at least
      diploid under all of the conditions tested and that these organisms have
      overlapping C periods during replication, with both origins initiating
      replication simultaneously. On the basis of experimental data, we propose growth
      rate-dependent cell cycle models for C. glutamicumIMPORTANCE Bacterial cell
      cycles are known for few model organisms and can vary significantly between
      species. Here, we studied the cell cycle of Corynebacterium glutamicum, an
      emerging cell biological model organism for mycolic acid-containing bacteria,
      including mycobacteria. Our data suggest that C. glutamicum carries two pole
      attached chromosomes that replicate with overlapping C periods, thus initiating a
      new round of DNA replication before the previous one is terminated. The newly
      replicated origins segregate to midcell positions, where cell division occurs
      between the two new origins. Even after long starvation or under extremely slow
      growth conditions, C. glutamicum cells are at least diploid, likely as an
      adaptation to environmental stress that may cause DNA damage. The cell cycle of
      C. glutamicum combines features of slow-growing organisms, such as polar origin
      localization, and fast-growing organisms, such as overlapping C periods.

PMID- 28588129
TI  - Complete Biosynthesis of Anthocyanins Using E. coli Polycultures.
AB  - Fermentation-based chemical production strategies provide a feasible route for
      the rapid, safe, and sustainable production of a wide variety of important
      chemical products, ranging from fuels to pharmaceuticals. These strategies have
      yet to find wide industrial utilization due to their inability to economically
      compete with traditional extraction and chemical production methods. Here, we
      engineer for the first time the complex microbial biosynthesis of an anthocyanin
      plant natural product, starting from sugar. This was accomplished through the
      development of a synthetic, 4-strain Escherichia coli polyculture collectively
      expressing 15 exogenous or modified pathway enzymes from diverse plants and other
      microbes. This synthetic consortium-based approach enables the functional
      expression and connection of lengthy pathways while effectively managing the
      accompanying metabolic burden. The de novo production of specific anthocyanin
      molecules, such as calistephin, has been an elusive metabolic engineering target
      for over a decade. The utilization of our polyculture strategy affords milligram
      per-liter production titers. This study also lays the groundwork for significant
      advances in strain and process design toward the development of cost-competitive
      biochemical production hosts through nontraditional methodologies.IMPORTANCE To
      efficiently express active extensive recombinant pathways with high flux in
      microbial hosts requires careful balance and allocation of metabolic resources
      such as ATP, reducing equivalents, and malonyl coenzyme A (malonyl-CoA), as well
      as various other pathway-dependent cofactors and precursors. To address this
      issue, we report the design, characterization, and implementation of the first
      synthetic 4-strain polyculture. Division of the overexpression of 15 enzymes and
      transcription factors over 4 independent strain modules allowed for the division
      of metabolic burden and for independent strain optimization for module-specific
      metabolite needs. This study represents the most complex synthetic consortia
      constructed to date for metabolic engineering applications and provides a new
      paradigm in metabolic engineering for the reconstitution of extensive metabolic
      pathways in nonnative hosts.

PMID- 28588130
TI  - Lateral Gene Transfer Dynamics in the Ancient Bacterial Genus Streptomyces.
AB  - Lateral gene transfer (LGT) profoundly shapes the evolution of bacterial
      lineages. LGT across disparate phylogenetic groups and genome content diversity
      between related organisms suggest a model of bacterial evolution that views LGT
      as rampant and promiscuous. It has even driven the argument that species concepts
      and tree-based phylogenetics cannot be applied to bacteria. Here, we show that
      acquisition and retention of genes through LGT are surprisingly rare in the
      ubiquitous and biomedically important bacterial genus Streptomyces Using a
      molecular clock, we estimate that the Streptomyces bacteria are ~380 million
      years old, indicating that this bacterial genus is as ancient as land
      vertebrates. Calibrating LGT rate to this geologic time span, we find that on
      average only 10 genes per million years were acquired and subsequently
      maintained. Over that same time span, Streptomyces accumulated thousands of point
      mutations. By explicitly incorporating evolutionary timescale into our analyses,
      we provide a dramatically different view on the dynamics of LGT and its impact on
      bacterial evolution.IMPORTANCE Tree-based phylogenetics and the use of species as
      units of diversity lie at the foundation of modern biology. In bacteria, these
      pillars of evolutionary theory have been called into question due to the
      observation of thousands of lateral gene transfer (LGT) events within and between
      lineages. Here, we show that acquisition and retention of genes through LGT are
      exceedingly rare in the bacterial genus Streptomyces, with merely one gene
      acquired in Streptomyces lineages every 100,000 years. These findings stand in
      contrast to the current assumption of rampant genetic exchange, which has become
      the dominant hypothesis used to explain bacterial diversity. Our results support
      a more nuanced understanding of genetic exchange, with LGT impacting evolution
      over short timescales but playing a significant role over long timescales. Deeper
      understanding of LGT provides new insight into the evolutionary history of life
      on Earth, as the vast majority of this history is microbial.

PMID- 28588131
TI  - Rationally Designed Influenza Virus Vaccines That Are Antigenically Stable during
      Growth in Eggs.
AB  - Influenza virus vaccine production is currently limited by the ability to grow
      circulating human strains in chicken eggs or in cell culture. To facilitate cost
      effective growth, vaccine strains are serially passaged under production
      conditions, which frequently results in mutations of the major antigenic protein,
      the viral hemagglutinin (HA). Human vaccination with an antigenically drifted
      strain is known to contribute to poor vaccine efficacy. To address this problem,
      we developed a replication-competent influenza A virus (IAV) with an artificial
      genomic organization that allowed the incorporation of two independent and
      functional HA proteins with different growth requirements onto the same virion.
      Vaccination with these viruses induced protective immunity against both strains
      from which the HA proteins were derived, and the magnitude of the response was as
      high as or higher than vaccination with either of the monovalent parental strains
      alone. Dual-HA viruses also displayed remarkable antigenic stability; even when
      using an HA protein known to be highly unstable during growth in eggs, we
      observed high-titer virus amplification without a single adaptive mutation. Thus,
      the viral genomic design described in this work can be used to grow influenza
      virus vaccines to high titers without introducing antigenic mutations.IMPORTANCE
      Influenza A virus (IAV) is a major public health threat, and vaccination is
      currently the best available strategy to prevent infection. While there have been
      many advances in influenza vaccine production, the fact that we cannot predict
      the growth characteristics of a given strain under vaccine production conditions
      a priori introduces fundamental uncertainty into the process. Clinically relevant
      IAV strains frequently grow poorly under vaccine conditions, and this poor growth
      can result in the delay of vaccine production or the exchange of the recommended
      strain for one with favorable growth properties. Even in strains that grow to
      high titers, adaptive mutations in the antigenic protein hemagglutinin (HA) that
      make it antigenically dissimilar to the circulating strain are common. The
      genomic restructuring of the influenza virus described in this work offers a
      solution to the problem of uncertain or unstable growth of IAV during vaccine
      production.

PMID- 28588132
TI  - Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Adherence Fimbriae Drive Inflammatory Cell
      Recruitment via Interactions with Epithelial MUC1.
AB  - Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) causes diarrhea and intestinal
      inflammation worldwide. EAEC strains are characterized by the presence of
      aggregative adherence fimbriae (AAF), which play a key role in pathogenesis by
      mediating attachment to the intestinal mucosa and by triggering host inflammatory
      responses. Here, we identify the epithelial transmembrane mucin MUC1 as an
      intestinal host cell receptor for EAEC, demonstrating that AAF-mediated
      interactions between EAEC and MUC1 facilitate enhanced bacterial adhesion. We
      further demonstrate that EAEC infection also causes elevated expression of MUC1
      in inflamed human intestinal tissues. Moreover, we find that MUC1 facilitates AAF
      dependent migration of neutrophils across the epithelium in response to EAEC
      infection. Thus, we show for the first time a proinflammatory role for MUC1 in
      the host response to an intestinal pathogen.IMPORTANCE EAEC is a clinically
      important intestinal pathogen that triggers intestinal inflammation and diarrheal
      illness via mechanisms that are not yet fully understood. Our findings provide
      new insight into how EAEC triggers host inflammation and underscores the pivotal
      role of AAFs-the principal adhesins of EAEC-in driving EAEC-associated disease.
      Most importantly, our findings add a new dimension to the signaling properties of
      the transmembrane mucin MUC1. Mostly studied for its role in various forms of
      cancer, MUC1 is widely regarded as playing an anti-inflammatory role in response
      to infection with bacterial pathogens in various tissues. However, the role of
      MUC1 during intestinal infections has not been previously explored, and our
      results describe the first report of MUC1 as a proinflammatory factor following
      intestinal infection.

PMID- 28588133
TI  - Novel Nonreplicating Vaccinia Virus Vector Enhances Expression of Heterologous
      Genes and Suppresses Synthesis of Endogenous Viral Proteins.
AB  - Viruses are used as expression vectors for protein synthesis, immunology
      research, vaccines, and therapeutics. Advantages of poxvirus vectors include the
      accommodation of large amounts of heterologous DNA, the presence of a cytoplasmic
      site of transcription, and high expression levels. On the other hand, competition
      of approximately 200 viral genes with the target gene for expression and immune
      recognition may be disadvantageous. We describe a vaccinia virus (VACV) vector
      that uses an early promoter to express the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase; has
      the A23R intermediate transcription factor gene deleted, thereby restricting
      virus replication to complementing cells; and has a heterologous gene regulated
      by a T7 promoter. In noncomplementing cells, viral early gene expression and DNA
      replication occurred normally but synthesis of intermediate and late proteins was
      prevented. Nevertheless, the progeny viral DNA provided templates for abundant
      expression of heterologous genes regulated by a T7 promoter. Selective expression
      of the Escherichia coli lac repressor gene from an intermediate promoter reduced
      transcription of the heterologous gene specifically in complementing cells, where
      large amounts might adversely impact VACV replication. Expression of heterologous
      proteins mediated by the A23R deletion vector equaled that of a replicating VACV,
      was higher than that of a nonreplicating modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA)
      vector used for candidate vaccines in vitro and in vivo, and was similarly
      immunogenic in mice. Unlike the MVA vector, the A23R deletion vector still
      expresses numerous early genes that can restrict immunogenicity as demonstrated
      here by the failure of the prototype vector to induce interferon alpha. By
      deleting immunomodulatory genes, we anticipate further improvements in the
      system.IMPORTANCE Vaccines provide an efficient and effective way of preventing
      infectious diseases. Nevertheless, new and better vaccines are needed. Vaccinia
      virus, which was used successfully as a live vaccine to eradicate smallpox, has
      been further attenuated and adapted as a recombinant vector for immunization
      against other pathogens. However, since the initial description of this vector
      system, only incremental improvements largely related to safety have been
      implemented. Here we described novel modifications of the platform that increased
      expression of the heterologous target gene and decreased expression of endogenous
      vaccinia virus genes while providing safety by preventing replication of the
      candidate vaccine except in complementing cells used for vector propagation.

PMID- 28588136
TI  - A Cautionary Tale: Tn903 aph, Kanamycin Resistance Redux in the Environment.

PMID- 28588135
TI  - Spatial Distribution and Ribosome-Binding Dynamics of EF-P in Live Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - In vitro assays find that ribosomes form peptide bonds to proline (Pro) residues
      more slowly than to other residues. Ribosome profiling shows that stalling at Pro
      Pro-X triplets is especially severe but is largely alleviated in Escherichia coli
      by the action of elongation factor EF-P. EF-P and its eukaryotic/archaeal homolog
      IF5A enhance the peptidyl transfer step of elongation. Here, a superresolution
      fluorescence localization and tracking study of EF-P-mEos2 in live E. coli
      provides the first in vivo information about the spatial distribution and on-off
      binding kinetics of EF-P. Fast imaging at 2 ms/frame helps to distinguish
      ribosome-bound (slowly diffusing) EF-P from free (rapidly diffusing) EF-P. Wild
      type EF-P exhibits a three-peaked axial spatial distribution similar to that of
      ribosomes, indicating substantial binding. The mutant EF-PK34A exhibits a
      homogeneous distribution, indicating little or no binding. Some 30% of EF-P
      copies are bound to ribosomes at a given time. Two-state modeling and copy number
      estimates indicate that EF-P binds to 70S ribosomes during 25 to 100% of
      translation cycles. The timescale of the typical diffusive search by free EF-P
      for a ribosome-binding site is taufree ~ 16 ms. The typical residence time of an
      EF-P on the ribosome is very short, taubound ~ 7 ms. Evidently, EF-P binds to
      ribosomes during many or most elongation cycles, much more often than the
      frequency of Pro-Pro motifs. Emptying of the E site during part of the cycle is
      consistent with recent in vitro experiments indicating dissociation of the
      deacylated tRNA upon translocation.IMPORTANCE Ribosomes translate the codon
      sequence within mRNA into the corresponding sequence of amino acids within the
      nascent polypeptide chain, which in turn ultimately folds into functional
      protein. At each codon, bacterial ribosomes are assisted by two well-known
      elongation factors: EF-Tu, which aids binding of the correct aminoacyl-tRNA to
      the ribosome, and EF-G, which promotes tRNA translocation after formation of the
      new peptide bond. A third factor, EF-P, has been shown to alleviate ribosomal
      pausing at rare Pro-Pro motifs, which are translated very slowly without EF-P.
      Here, we use superresolution fluorescence imaging to study the spatial
      distribution and ribosome-binding dynamics of EF-P in live E. coli cells. We were
      surprised to learn that EF-P binds to and unbinds from translating ribosomes
      during at least 25% of all elongation events; it may bind during every elongation
      cycle.

PMID- 28588134
TI  - The Rcs-Regulated Colanic Acid Capsule Maintains Membrane Potential in Salmonella
      enterica serovar Typhimurium.
AB  - The Rcs phosphorelay and Psp (phage shock protein) systems are envelope stress
      responses that are highly conserved in gammaproteobacteria. The Rcs regulon was
      found to be strongly induced during metal deprivation of Salmonella enterica
      serovar Typhimurium lacking the Psp response. Nineteen genes activated by the
      RcsA-RcsB response regulator make up an operon responsible for the production of
      colanic acid capsular polysaccharide, which promotes biofilm development. Despite
      more than half a century of research, the physiological function of colanic acid
      has remained elusive. Here we show that Rcs-dependent colanic acid production
      maintains the transmembrane electrical potential and proton motive force in
      cooperation with the Psp response. Production of negatively charged
      exopolysaccharide covalently bound to the outer membrane may enhance the surface
      potential by increasing the local proton concentration. This provides a unifying
      mechanism to account for diverse Rcs/colanic acid-related phenotypes, including
      susceptibility to membrane-damaging agents and biofilm formation.IMPORTANCE
      Colanic acid is a negatively charged polysaccharide capsule produced by
      Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and other gammaproteobacteria. Research conducted
      over the 50 years since the discovery of colanic acid suggests that this
      exopolysaccharide plays an important role for bacteria living in biofilms.
      However, a precise physiological role for colanic acid has not been defined. In
      this study, we provide evidence that colanic acid maintains the transmembrane
      potential and proton motive force during envelope stress. This work provides a
      new and fundamental insight into bacterial physiology.

PMID- 28588138
TI  - When are species invasions useful for addressing fundamental questions in plant
      biology?

PMID- 28588137
TI  - The real significance of ancient DNA.

PMID- 28588139
TI  - Manipulating the ABCs of self-assembly via low-chi block polymer design.
AB  - Block polymer self-assembly typically translates molecular chain connectivity
      into mesoscale structure by exploiting incompatible blocks with large interaction
      parameters (chiij). In this article, we demonstrate that the converse approach,
      encoding low-chi interactions in ABC bottlebrush triblock terpolymers (chiAC
      [Formula: see text] 0), promotes organization into a unique mixed-domain lamellar
      morphology, which we designate LAMP Transmission electron microscopy indicates
      that LAMP exhibits ACBC domain connectivity, in contrast to conventional three
      domain lamellae (LAM3) with ABCB periods. Complementary small-angle X-ray
      scattering experiments reveal a strongly decreasing domain spacing with
      increasing total molar mass. Self-consistent field theory reinforces these
      observations and predicts that LAMP is thermodynamically stable below a critical
      chiAC, above which LAM3 emerges. Both experiments and theory expose close
      analogies to ABA' triblock copolymer phase behavior, collectively suggesting that
      low-chi interactions between chemically similar or distinct blocks intimately
      influence self-assembly. These conclusions provide fresh opportunities for block
      polymer design with potential consequences spanning all self-assembling soft
      materials.

PMID- 28588140
TI  - Reconstitution of a minimal machinery capable of assembling periplasmic type IV
      pili.
AB  - Type IV pili (Tfp), which are key virulence factors in many bacterial pathogens,
      define a large group of multipurpose filamentous nanomachines widespread in
      Bacteria and Archaea. Tfp biogenesis is a complex multistep process, which relies
      on macromolecular assemblies composed of 15 conserved proteins in model gram
      negative species. To improve our limited understanding of the molecular
      mechanisms of filament assembly, we have used a synthetic biology approach to
      reconstitute, in a nonnative heterologous host, a minimal machinery capable of
      building Tfp. Here we show that eight synthetic genes are sufficient to promote
      filament assembly and that the corresponding proteins form a macromolecular
      complex at the cytoplasmic membrane, which we have purified and characterized
      biochemically. Our results contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of
      the assembly of remarkable dynamic filaments nearly ubiquitous in prokaryotes.

PMID- 28588141
TI  - Tetragonal CH3NH3PbI3 is ferroelectric.
AB  - Halide perovskite (HaP) semiconductors are revolutionizing photovoltaic (PV)
      solar energy conversion by showing remarkable performance of solar cells made
      with HaPs, especially tetragonal methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3). In
      particular, the low voltage loss of these cells implies a remarkably low
      recombination rate of photogenerated carriers. It was suggested that low
      recombination can be due to the spatial separation of electrons and holes, a
      possibility if MAPbI3 is a semiconducting ferroelectric, which, however, requires
      clear experimental evidence. As a first step, we show that, in operando, MAPbI3
      (unlike MAPbBr3) is pyroelectric, which implies it can be ferroelectric. The next
      step, proving it is (not) ferroelectric, is challenging, because of the
      material's relatively high electrical conductance (a consequence of an optical
      band gap suitable for PV conversion) and low stability under high applied bias
      voltage. This excludes normal measurements of a ferroelectric hysteresis loop, to
      prove ferroelectricity's hallmark switchable polarization. By adopting an
      approach suitable for electrically leaky materials as MAPbI3, we show here
      ferroelectric hysteresis from well-characterized single crystals at low
      temperature (still within the tetragonal phase, which is stable at room
      temperature). By chemical etching, we also can image the structural fingerprint
      for ferroelectricity, polar domains, periodically stacked along the polar axis of
      the crystal, which, as predicted by theory, scale with the overall crystal size.
      We also succeeded in detecting clear second harmonic generation, direct evidence
      for the material's noncentrosymmetry. We note that the material's ferroelectric
      nature, can, but need not be important in a PV cell at room temperature.

PMID- 28588142
TI  - Recent evolution of extreme cestode growth suppression by a vertebrate host.
AB  - Parasites can be a major cause of natural selection on hosts, which consequently
      evolve a variety of strategies to avoid, eliminate, or tolerate infection. When
      ecologically similar host populations present disparate infection loads, this
      natural variation can reveal immunological strategies underlying adaptation to
      infection and population divergence. For instance, the tapeworm Schistocephalus
      solidus persistently infects 0-80% of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus
      aculeatus) in lakes on Vancouver Island. To test whether these heterogeneous
      infection rates result from evolved differences in immunity, we experimentally
      exposed laboratory-reared fish from ecologically similar high-infection and no
      infection populations to controlled doses of Schistocephalus We observed
      heritable between-population differences in several immune traits: Fish from the
      naturally uninfected population initiated a stronger granulocyte response to
      Schistocephalus infection, and their granulocytes constitutively generate
      threefold more reactive oxygen species in cell culture. Despite these
      immunological differences, Schistocephalus was equally successful at establishing
      initial infections in both host populations. However, the no-infection fish
      dramatically suppressed tapeworm growth relative to high-infection fish, and
      parasite size was intermediate in F1 hybrid hosts. Our results show that
      stickleback recently evolved heritable variation in their capacity to suppress
      helminth growth by two orders of magnitude. Data from many natural populations
      indicate that growth suppression is widespread but not universal and, when
      present, is associated with reduced infection prevalence. Host suppression of
      helminth somatic growth may be an important immune strategy that aids in parasite
      clearance or in mitigating the fitness costs of persistent infection.

PMID- 28588144
TI  - Effect of water flow and chemical environment on microbiota growth and
      composition in the human colon.
AB  - The human gut harbors a dynamic microbial community whose composition bears great
      importance for the health of the host. Here, we investigate how colonic
      physiology impacts bacterial growth, which ultimately dictates microbiota
      composition. Combining measurements of bacterial physiology with analysis of
      published data on human physiology into a quantitative, comprehensive modeling
      framework, we show how water flow in the colon, in concert with other
      physiological factors, determine the abundances of the major bacterial phyla.
      Mechanistically, our model shows that local pH values in the lumen, which
      differentially affect the growth of different bacteria, drive changes in
      microbiota composition. It identifies key factors influencing the delicate
      regulation of colonic pH, including epithelial water absorption, nutrient inflow,
      and luminal buffering capacity, and generates testable predictions on their
      effects. Our findings show that a predictive and mechanistic understanding of
      microbial ecology in the gut is possible. Such predictive understanding is needed
      for the rational design of intervention strategies to actively control the
      microbiota.

PMID- 28588145
TI  - Ecosystem-based management and the wealth of ecosystems.
AB  - We merge inclusive wealth theory with ecosystem-based management (EBM) to address
      two challenges in the science of sustainable management of ecosystems. First, we
      generalize natural capital theory to approximate realized shadow prices for
      multiple interacting natural capital stocks (species) making up an ecosystem.
      These prices enable ecosystem components to be better included in wealth-based
      sustainability measures. We show that ecosystems are best envisioned as
      portfolios of assets, where the portfolio's performance depends on the
      performance of the underlying assets influenced by their interactions. Second,
      changes in ecosystem wealth provide an attractive headline index for EBM,
      regardless of whether ecosystem wealth is ultimately included in a broader wealth
      index. We apply our approach to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, focusing on the
      interacting community of three commercially important fish species: cod, herring,
      and sprat. Our results incorporate supporting services embodied in the shadow
      price of a species through its trophic interactions. Prey fish have greater
      shadow prices than expected based on market value, and predatory fish have lower
      shadow prices than expected based on market value. These results are because
      correctly measured shadow prices reflect interdependence and limits to
      substitution. We project that ecosystem wealth in the Baltic Sea fishery
      ecosystem generally increases conditional on the EBM-inspired multispecies
      maximum sustainable yield management beginning in 2017, whereas continuing the
      current single-species management generally results in declining wealth.

PMID- 28588143
TI  - Ambient nitrogen reduction cycle using a hybrid inorganic-biological system.
AB  - We demonstrate the synthesis of NH3 from N2 and H2O at ambient conditions in a
      single reactor by coupling hydrogen generation from catalytic water splitting to
      a H2-oxidizing bacterium Xanthobacter autotrophicus, which performs N2 and CO2
      reduction to solid biomass. Living cells of X. autotrophicus may be directly
      applied as a biofertilizer to improve growth of radishes, a model crop plant, by
      up to ~1,440% in terms of storage root mass. The NH3 generated from nitrogenase
      (N2ase) in X. autotrophicus can be diverted from biomass formation to an
      extracellular ammonia production with the addition of a glutamate synthetase
      inhibitor. The N2 reduction reaction proceeds at a low driving force with a
      turnover number of 9 * 109 cell-1 and turnover frequency of 1.9 * 104 s-1?cell-1
      without the use of sacrificial chemical reagents or carbon feedstocks other than
      CO2 This approach can be powered by renewable electricity, enabling the
      sustainable and selective production of ammonia and biofertilizers in a
      distributed manner.

PMID- 28588146
TI  - PCSK9 Is Increased in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes.

PMID- 28588147
TI  - A Plutocratic Proposal: an ethical way for rich patients to pay for a place on a
      clinical trial.
AB  - Many potential therapeutic agents are discarded before they are tested in humans.
      These are not quack medications. They are drugs and other interventions that have
      been developed by responsible scientists in respectable companies or universities
      and are often backed up by publications in peer-reviewed journals. These possible
      treatments might ease suffering and prolong the lives of innumerable patients,
      yet they have been put aside. In this paper, we outline a novel mechanism-the
      Plutocratic Proposal-to revive such neglected research and fund early phase
      clinical trials. The central idea of the Proposal is that any patient who rescues
      a potential therapeutic agent from neglect by funding early phase clinical trials
      (either entirely or in large part) should be offered a place on the trial.

PMID- 28588148
TI  - Functional Optical Imaging of Primary Human Tumor Organoids: Development of a
      Personalized Drug Screen.
AB  - Primary tumor organoids are a robust model of individual human cancers and
      present a unique platform for patient-specific drug testing. Optical imaging is
      uniquely suited to assess organoid function and behavior because of its
      subcellular resolution, penetration depth through the entire organoid, and
      functional endpoints. Specifically, optical metabolic imaging (OMI) is highly
      sensitive to drug response in organoids, and OMI in tumor organoids correlates
      with primary tumor drug response. Therefore, an OMI organoid drug screen could
      enable accurate testing of drug response for individualized cancer treatment. The
      objective of this perspective is to introduce OMI and tumor organoids to a
      general audience in order to foster the adoption of these techniques in diverse
      clinical and laboratory settings.

PMID- 28588149
TI  - Tumor Metabolic Features Identified by 18F-FDG PET Correlate with Gene Networks
      of Immune Cell Microenvironment in Head and Neck Cancer.
AB  - The importance of 18F-FDG PET in imaging head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      (HNSCC) has grown in recent decades. Because PET has prognostic values, and
      provides functional and molecular information in HNSCC, the genetic and biologic
      backgrounds associated with PET parameters are of great interest. Here, as a
      systems biology approach, we aimed to investigate gene networks associated with
      tumor metabolism and their biologic function using RNA sequence and 18F-FDG PET
      data. Methods: Using RNA sequence data of HNSCC downloaded from The Cancer Genome
      Atlas data portal, we constructed a gene coexpression network. PET parameters
      including lesion-to-blood-pool ratio, metabolic tumor volume, and tumor lesion
      glycolysis were calculated. The Pearson correlation test was performed between
      module eigengene-the first principal component of modules' expression profile-and
      the PET parameters. The significantly correlated module was functionally
      annotated with gene ontology terms, and its hub genes were identified. Survival
      analysis of the significantly correlated module was performed. Results: We
      identified 9 coexpression network modules from the preprocessed RNA sequence
      data. A network module was significantly correlated with total lesion glycolysis
      as well as maximum and mean 18F-FDG uptake. The expression profiles of hub genes
      of the network were inversely correlated with 18F-FDG uptake. The significantly
      annotated gene ontology terms of the module were associated with immune cell
      activation and aggregation. The module demonstrated significant association with
      overall survival, and the group with higher module eigengene showed better
      survival than the other groups with statistical significance (P = 0.022).
      Conclusion: We showed that a gene network that accounts for immune cell
      microenvironment was associated with 18F-FDG uptake as well as prognosis in
      HNSCC. Our result supports the idea that competition for glucose between cancer
      cell and immune cell plays an important role in cancer progression associated
      with hypermetabolic features. In the future, PET parameters could be used as a
      surrogate marker of HNSCC for estimating molecular status of immune cell
      microenvironment.

PMID- 28588150
TI  - Dose Mapping After Endoradiotherapy with 177Lu-DOTATATE/DOTATOC by a Single
      Measurement After 4 Days.
AB  - Dosimetry of organs and tumors helps to assess risks and benefit of treatment
      with 177Lu-DOTATATE/DOTATOC. However, it is often not performed in clinical
      routine because of additional efforts, the complexity of data collection and
      analysis, and the additional burden for the patients. Aiming at a simplification
      of dosimetry, we analyzed the accuracy of a theoretically substantiated
      approximation, which allows the calculation of absorbed doses from a single
      measurement of the abdominal activity distribution. Methods: Activity kinetics
      were retrospectively assessed from planar images in 29 patients with
      neuroendocrine tumors (NETs; n = 21) or meningioma (n = 8) after the
      administration of 177Lu-DOTATATE (n = 22) or 177Lu-DOTATOC (n = 7). Mono- or
      biexponential functions were fitted to measured data in 54 kidneys, 25 livers, 27
      spleens, and 30 NET lesions. It was evaluated for each fit function how well the
      integral over time was represented by an approximation calculated as the product
      of the time tl of a single measurement, the expected reading at time tl, and the
      factor 2/ln(2). Tissue-specific deviations of the approximation from the time
      integral were calculated for time points tl of 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, and 144 h.
      Results: The correlation between time integral and approximation improved with
      increasing time tl Pearson r exceeded 0.95 for a tl of 96 h or more in all
      tissues. The lowest maximum errors were observed at a tl of 96 h, with deviations
      of the approximation from the time integral of median +5% (range, -9% to +17%)
      for kidneys, +6% (range, -7% to +12%) for livers, +8% (range, +2% to +20%) for
      spleens, and +6% (range, -11% to +16%) for NET lesions. Accuracy was reduced for
      measurements after 72 or 120 h. For measurements after 24, 48, and 144 h, the
      approximation led to large deviations for some of the patients, in particular
      unacceptable underestimates of the absorbed dose to the kidneys. Conclusion: A
      single quantitative measurement of the abdominal activity concentration by
      SPECT/CT 4 d after the administration of 177Lu-DOTATATE/DOTATOC provides a 3
      dimensional dose map and can be used to estimate the doses actually absorbed in
      the treatment cycle with minor additional resources and effort.

PMID- 28588151
TI  - In Vivo Imaging of the Programmed Death Ligand 1 by 18F PET.
AB  - Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immune regulatory ligand that binds to
      the T-cell immune check point programmed death 1. Tumor expression of PD-L1 is
      correlated with immune suppression and poor prognosis. It is also correlated with
      therapeutic efficacy of programmed death 1 and PD-L1 inhibitors. In vivo imaging
      may enable real-time follow-up of changing PD-L1 expression and heterogeneity
      evaluation of PD-L1 expression across tumors in the same subject. We have
      radiolabeled the PD-L1-binding Affibody molecule NOTA-ZPD-L1_1 with 18F and
      evaluated its in vitro and in vivo binding affinity, targeting, and specificity.
      Methods: The affinity of the PD-L1-binding Affibody ligand ZPD-L1_1 was evaluated
      by surface plasmon resonance. Labeling was accomplished by maleimide coupling of
      NOTA to a unique cysteine residue and chelation of 18F-AlF. In vivo studies were
      performed in PD-L1-positive, PD-L1-negative, and mixed tumor-bearing severe
      combined immunodeficiency mice. Tracer was injected via the tail vein, and
      dynamic PET scans were acquired for 90 min, followed by gamma-counting
      biodistribution. Immunohistochemical staining with an antibody specific for anti
      PD-L1 (22C3) was used to evaluate the tumor distribution of PD-L1.
      Immunohistochemistry results were then compared with ex vivo autoradiographic
      images obtained from adjacent tissue sections. Results: NOTA-ZPD-L1_1 was
      labeled, with a radiochemical yield of 15.1% +/- 5.6%, radiochemical purity of
      96.7% +/- 2.0%, and specific activity of 14.6 +/- 6.5 GBq/MUmol. Surface plasmon
      resonance showed a NOTA-conjugated ligand binding affinity of 1 nM. PET imaging
      demonstrated rapid uptake of tracer in the PD-L1-positive tumor, whereas the PD
      L1-negative control tumor showed little tracer retention. Tracer clearance from
      most organs and blood was quick, with biodistribution showing prominent kidney
      retention, low liver uptake, and a significant difference between PD-L1-positive
      (percentage injected dose per gram [%ID/g] = 2.56 +/- 0.33) and -negative (%ID/g
      = 0.32 +/- 0.05) tumors (P = 0.0006). Ex vivo autoradiography showed excellent
      spatial correlation with immunohistochemistry in mixed tumors. Conclusion: Our
      results show that Affibody ligands can be effective at targeting tumor PD-L1 in
      vivo, with good specificity and rapid clearance. Future studies will explore
      methods to reduce kidney activity retention and further increase tumor uptake.

PMID- 28588152
TI  - Treatment of Transverse with or without Posterior Wall Fractures of Acetabulum
      Using a Modified Smith-Petersen Combined with Kocher-Langenbeck Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore the surgical treatment of
      transverse with or without posterior wall fractures of the acetabulum. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS We surgically treated 21 consecutive cases of pure transverse (7
      cases) and with posterior wall (14 cases) fractures of the acetabulum. The
      anterior column fractures were firstly reduced, temporarily fixed through a
      modified Smith-Petersen small incision, and finally fixed after the fixation of
      the posterior column and wall fractures, which were reduced and fixed through a
      Kocher-Langenbeck approach. The operative time, intra-operative blood loss,
      quality of reduction (Matta criteria), perioperative complications, osseous
      union, subsequent complications, and hip function evaluation were recorded.
      RESULTS The mean operative time was 198.1 min and the mean intra-operative blood
      loss was 938.1 ml. Anatomic reduction of the anterior column was obtained in 20
      cases and was imperfect in 1 case. All posterior column and wall fractures were
      anatomically reduced. We followed up 18 cases for a mean duration of 16.3 (8-30)
      months. All the fractures achieved osseous union. The mean Harris score was 85.1
      points, with an excellent result in 7 cases, good in 8, fair in 2, and poor in 1.
      According to modified Merle d' Aubigne and Postel score system, the results were
      excellent in 2 cases, good in 15, and poor in 1. Avascular necrosis of the
      femoral head occurred in 1 case, heterotopic ossification in 3 cases, and
      numbness of the anterolateral thigh in 6 cases. CONCLUSIONS For transverse with
      or without posterior wall fractures of the acetabulum, reduction and fixation of
      anterior and posterior column should be done in sequence, and a modified Smith
      Petersen small incision might be a good choice in reduction and fixation of the
      anterior column because it possesses advantages of direct visualization and
      minimal invasion.

PMID- 28588153
TI  - Gastric Dilatation and Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in a Child with Prader
      Willi Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder characterized by
      initial muscular hypotonia and feeding difficulties, and later an insatiable
      appetite, hyperphagia and obesity along with mild to moderate intellectual
      impairment. Affected individuals' food-seeking behavior and suspected delayed
      gastric emptying can lead to gastric dilatation with subsequent necrosis and
      perforation. CASE REPORT We present the case of a 5-year-old boy diagnosed with
      Prader-Willi syndrome at neonatal age due to muscular hypotonia, who started
      growth hormone therapy at 20 months. He presented with two episodes of a rapidly
      progressing gastric dilatation that led to abdominal hypertension and secondary
      shock at the age of 2 and 5. No large amount of food was eaten before any of the
      episodes, and he had abdominal pain and vomiting on both occasions. On arrival at
      the emergency room, a nasogastric tube was placed and aspiration of food material
      was performed. Abdominal X-ray and CT scan revealed massive gastric dilatation.
      He was admitted at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and after a variable period
      of fasting, tolerated oral intake and could be discharged. CONCLUSIONS Gastric
      dilatation due to gastroparesis in PWS is a rare complication. However, it is a
      life-threatening situation and physicians should therefore maintain a high level
      of suspicion for gastric dilatation when patients present with warning symptoms
      such as abdominal pain or discomfort and vomiting.

PMID- 28588154
TI  - Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Palpable Breast Mass and Correlation with
      Histopathology.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second most common
      cause of cancer-related mortality. The distinction by physical examination of
      physiologic nodularity from abnormal masses can be difficult, while the clinical
      differentiation of a malignant mass from a benign one is difficult; the medical
      as well as potential legal consequences of missing a palpable carcinoma are high.
      There are significant number of reported cases of false-negative findings on
      mammography and the great desire not to miss a malignant lesion in the early
      stage of disease lead to aggressive biopsy, but the biopsy rate for cancer is
      only 10.0% to 30.0%. This means that 70.0% to 90.0% of breast biopsies are
      performed for benign diseases, which induce unnecessary patients discomfort and
      anxiety in addition to increasing costs to the patient. Clearly, there is a great
      need for development of additional reliable methods to complement the existing
      diagnostic procedures to avoid unnecessary biopsy. This cross sectional study was
      carried out on 43 patients having palpable breast mass, attended in the
      Department of Radiology and Imaging Mymensingh Medical College Hospital,
      Mymensingh from 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2013 for the period of two
      year. These patients were evaluated by USG at the Department of Radiology and
      Imaging and histopathological examination at the Department of Pathology of the
      same College to confirm the diagnosis. In diagnosis of malignant mass by USG,
      9(20.9%) cases were diagnosed as malignant and 34(79.1%) cases as other than
      malignant. Eight out of 9 were sonographically diagnosed as malignant lesions
      also proved as malignant lesion by histopathology and 1 other than malignant. Out
      of 34 sonographically diagnosed cases of other than malignant lesions 32 were
      proved histopathologically and 2 did not match with sonographic findings. USG, in
      diagnosis of malignant lesion, sensitivity was 80.0%, specificity 96.97%,
      positive predictive value (PPV) (88.89%), negative predictive value 94.12% and
      accuracy was 93.02% and comparable to other study. In diagnosis of benign lesion
      by USG, sensitivity was 96.97%, specificity 80.0%, positive predictive value
      (PPV) (94.12%), negative predictive value 88.89% and accuracy was 93.02%. So, USG
      is an appropriate imaging method for diagnosis & differential diagnosis of
      palpable breast mass.

PMID- 28588155
TI  - Effect of Obesity on Hemoglobin Concentration.
AB  - Obesity is a disorder of body weight regulatory systems characterized by an
      accumulation of excess body fat. World Health Organization recommended that 66%
      of deaths now occur in developing countries and recognizes obesity as a leading
      risk factor. Obesity is associated with chronic, low grade, systemic
      inflammation. The inflammatory state play a causal role in the development of
      insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. This descriptive
      type of cross sectional study will design to evaluate the relation between
      obesity with hemoglobin concentration. One hundred obese and 100 normal weight
      persons from both sexes, aged between 25 to 60 years will be selected from
      Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh and locality from July 2014 to January
      2016. Data are collected through a simple questionnaire after informed consent
      taken. The result was calculated and analyzed by using SPSS (statistical package
      for social science, version 11.5). Statistical significance of difference between
      two groups were evaluated by unpaired Student's 't' test. Data were expressed as
      Mean+/-SE. P value less than 0.05 was taken as the level of significance.
      Anthropometric measurements such as height and weight were taken in meter and
      kilogram respectively. Pulse, systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured
      by aneroid sphygmomanometer (ALPK2, Japan), laboratory analysis of hemoglobin was
      done by Cyanmethemoglobin Method. In this study we found that hemoglobin
      concentration is significantly increased in both male and female obese persons.

PMID- 28588156
TI  - Clinical Presentation of Adult Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB): A Study of 103 Cases
      from a Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - Tuberculosis, one of the oldest diseases known to affect humans, is a major cause
      of death worldwide. The disease, which is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis complex, usually affects the lungs, although other organs are
      involved in up to one-third of causes. If properly treated, tuberculosis caused
      by drug-susceptible strains is curable in virtually all cases. If untreated, the
      disease may be fatal within five years in 50-65% of cases. Transmission usually
      takes place through the airborne spread of droplet nuclei produced by patients
      with infectious pulmonary tuberculosis. This cross sectional observational study
      was conducted to detect various clinical presentations of pulmonary tuberculosis
      patients in the Department of Medicine, Sir Salimullah Medical College and
      Hospital from January 2009 to December 2009. Sample was selected through
      inclusion methods from patients who was admitted in to hospital and confirmed as
      pulmonary tuberculosis after appropriate investigations and who gave informed
      written consent was finally enrolled in this study. A total 103 patients were
      selected for the study. Out of 103 cases 34.9% were above 50 years old, followed
      by 26.2% between 30-40 years old, 22.3% between 40-50 years old and remaining
      16.5% bellow 30 years old. The male to female ratio was roughly 1.2:1. The most
      of the patients were housewife and farmer which were 31% and 28.1% respectively.
      The most of the patients came from low socio-economic group. About 55.3% cases
      were smoker and 43.7 were non smoker. Among the frequency of symptoms 73.7% were
      chronic cough for above one month followed by 70.8% were low grade fever, 41.8%
      were night sweats and the 2% were admitted in hospital for other complaints and
      after evaluation diagnosed as PTB. The most of the patients about 67% were
      suffering from less than six weeks duration. Among the physical findings the 67%
      cases were lost significant weight, 56.3% had fever and 56.3% had apical
      crepitation over chest. There was sputum positive for acid fast bacilli about
      64.7%. The traditional TB diagnosis methods are time consuming and the most of
      the patients are poor in our country, they are unable to afford the modern costly
      investigations. Therefore we should more emphasis on clinical examinations, so
      that we can diagnosis pulmonary TB rapidly and can start treatment as early as
      possible.

PMID- 28588158
TI  - Helicobacter Pylori Stool Antigen Assay in Hyperemesis Gravidarum.
AB  - Hyperemesis gravidarum is the most severe form of nausea and vomiting in
      pregnancy that seriously affects the pregnancy outcome. It is a disease with
      unknown etiology and varieties of contributing factors like hormonal changes,
      psychological and immunological factors. A significantly high prevalence of
      Helicobacter pylori among pregnant women with Hyperemesis gravidarum has been
      revealed recently. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out at
      antenatal ward, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mymensingh Medical
      College Hospital, Mymensingh for a period of twenty-one months among purposively
      selected thirty-six patients with Hyperemesis gravidarum with a view to assess
      the involvement of H. pylori in Hyperemesis gravidarum. Data were collected
      through interview, physical examinations and laboratory investigations by using
      case record form. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 for
      Windows. Highest number 16(44.44%) of respondents were in age group 20 to 24
      years with a mean of 23.81 years and a standard deviation (SD) of 4.55 years.
      Majority 29(80.56%) of the women had education less than 12 years, as many as
      28(77.78%) women were housewives, and at least 14(38.89%) women had unplanned
      pregnancies. An overwhelming majority 29(80.56%) of women had their pregnancy
      duration between 8 to 12 weeks with a mean duration of 10.64 weeks and a standard
      deviation of 2.35 weeks. Majority 20(55.56%) of women were pregnant for first
      time, as many as 19(52.78%) women had duration of illness for 5 to 9 weeks. Of 16
      multi-gravid women, 7(43.75%) had history of similar condition in their previous
      pregnancies. As many as 9 (25.00%) women had family history of similar condition
      in their mothers and sisters. First trimester was time of manifestation of the
      condition.At least 11 (30.56%) stool samples were positive for H. pylori stool
      antigen. Family history of Hyperemesis gravidarum and presence of H. pylori stool
      antigen are statistically associated (p<0.05). Pregnancy at young age, low
      educational status of women, nulliparity, unplanned pregnancy, past history,
      family history and H. pylori infection are the identified risk factors of
      Hyperemesis gravidarum.

PMID- 28588157
TI  - An Evaluation of Faculty Wise Teaching Performance in a Public Medical College of
      Bangladesh.
AB  - Teaching is a complex and demanding activity that involves Mastery of content,
      classroom control and techniques of organization and command of teaching skills.
      Teachers' continuous engagement in learning, skill acquisition and refinement to
      practice is essential for meeting student learning needs. Medical education is
      principally centered on the transmission of medical knowledge and assisting
      medical students to acquire the necessary skills and attitudes associated with
      medical practice. Evaluation of teaching is important in the teaching-learning
      process. The medical profession demands to be increasingly concerned with
      evaluation of teachers' performance as a part of its accountability. This study
      was designed to evaluate teaching performance in the department of Pharmacology,
      Forensic Medicine, Microbiology, Community Medicine and Pathology in Mymensingh
      Medical College and this descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 94
      students of 5th year MBBS students (session 2011-2012) of Mymensingh Medical
      College, Bangladesh from January 2016 to June 2016. A semi-structured self
      administered questionnaire was used for collection of data. All the respondents
      provided opinion regarding scholarship of teachers, methods of presentation,
      communication and interaction, learning, coverage of contents and approachability
      by a 5 points rating scale. Attained score was variable in the context of
      different statements and different faculties. Students were also asked to provide
      suggestions for improvement of teachers' performance in each subject. Remarkable
      number of the students demanded for deployment of subject-specific teachers in
      adequate number. A significant number of students called for more practical
      classes in Pathology, Microbiology and Pharmacology. They also desired for the
      improvement of teaching quality and student friendly attitude from the teachers.
      A significant number of students opined that teaching materials and other
      logistics in the class rooms and even the class rooms were inadequate and need
      improvement in this regards. Regular conduction of classes by adequate number of
      teachers having post-graduate degree in the relevant faculty with adequate skill
      in teaching, student-friendly attitude of the teachers, adequate physical
      facilities and teaching materials help in improvement of teaching quality.

PMID- 28588159
TI  - Ramadan Perspective Epidemiology and Education in Diabetes (RAPEED) Study.
AB  - Ramadan fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and is obligatory for all
      healthy adult and adolescent Muslims. A significant number of patients with
      diabetes observe fasting during Ramadan. The objectives of this Ramadan
      Perspective Epidemiology and Education in Diabetes (RAPEED) study were to find
      out the current knowledge, attitude, and practices about Ramadan fasting among
      people with diabetes in Bangladesh. This retrospective cross-sectional study
      recruited 648 subjects with diabetes mellitus attending the Endocrinology
      outpatient department of a tertiary level hospital of Bangladesh within two
      months of the end of Ramadan in 2016. Socio-demographic data, data related to
      diabetes treatment, complications and co-morbidities; changes in lifestyle and
      diabetes treatment during Ramadan and frequency of hypoglycemia were collected
      from all. The mean age of the study population was 50.32+/-12.1 years and the
      majority (98.6%) had type 2 diabetes and 63.9% were overweight or obese. The
      majority (89.35%) of the patients fasted in Ramadan and among them, more than
      half of the fasters received physicians' advice for Ramadan fasting (60.6%) and
      changed diabetes medication (69.90%) during Ramadan. Although the amount of total
      food consumption was unchanged in more than one half (60.6%) of the fasters,
      majority of them reduced sugar-sweet intake (75.5%), increased fluid drinking
      (75.8%) and decreased physical activity (75.8%) during the month. A large portion
      (37.48%) of them did not check blood glucose and more than half (54.06%) of
      fasters failed to visit their physicians during Ramadan. Among them 14.85%
      experienced mild to moderate episodes of hypoglycemia and none had severe
      hypoglycemia and the most (61.6%) episodes of hypoglycemia occurred in the late
      evening. Hypoglycemic episodes were more frequent among insulin users, patients
      who had received fasting advice from physicians and in those who had adjusted
      diabetes drugs before Ramadan fasting. Safe Ramadan fasting is a great challenge
      not only for the patients but also the consulting physicians. Current study
      reflects the necessity of both physicians' expertise and patients' awareness for
      safe fasting.

PMID- 28588160
TI  - Adherence Pattern of Lipid Lowering Drugs in a Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - Dyslipidemia is one of the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.
      Worldwide, dyslipidemia is estimated to cause about 2.6 million deaths annually.
      Low drug adherence has been found to be a significant problem leading to poor
      health outcome. Medication non-adherence in chronic conditions is a recognized,
      but understudied public health problem. The present study was conducted to
      observe pattern of adherence to lipid lowering drugs, to find out the causes of
      non-adherence to medication and see the medication adherence in relation to
      various factor. The study was performed among 125 cardiovascular disease patients
      (both indoor and outdoor) of Cardiology department in Mymensingh Medical College
      Hospital (MMCH) who received lipid lowering drugs at least 6 months.Among them
      21.6% patients were highly adherent, 34.4% patient showed medium adherent and 44%
      patients were low adherence to their treatment plan. Most important cause of non
      adherence was financial problem (52.04%). Among them 46-55 years age group were
      highly adherent, male were more adherent to medication than female. Rich patient
      were highly adherent. Patient with above higher secondary level of education were
      highly adherent than others. Patients lived in urban area were more adherent than
      rural patients. Immediate efforts are required to tackle this situation. Multiple
      kinds of processes are required to improve the drug adherence such as to provide
      proper health education focusing on preventive aspect as well as financial
      support for the care. Such acts might prevent future complication thereby
      reducing costs of health care and eventually turns out to be reducing morbidity
      and mortality in the long run.

PMID- 28588161
TI  - Multimodality Treatment Outcome of Hepatoblastoma in a Resource Limited Country.
AB  - Our objective is to review the records of management of hepatoblastoma (HB) at
      the Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (PHO) department in the Bangabandhu
      Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 2004 to
      December 2012. This is a retrospective study of clinical, radiological and
      pathological data of hepatoblastoma patients treated at our institution. Thirteen
      patients were treated for HB between 2004 and 2012. The records of clinical
      presentations, chemotherapy tolerance and response, surgical procedure
      undertaken, and complications were analyzed. Median age of the study population
      was 12 months (3-60 months) and male: female was 3.3:1. Nine patients were
      treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy consists of cisplatin and adriamycin.
      Primary surgery was done in four patients. Extent of hepatic resection in the
      operated patients varied. Mixed type was the predominant histopathological
      diagnosis. Adjuvant chemotherapy was well tolerated with no morbidity or
      mortality. Five-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) of all
      the 13 patients is 76.9%. All the nine patients who could complete multimodality
      treatment are alive with no evidence of disease or complications with median
      follow-up of 63 months (46-122 months). Treatment of HB with multidisciplinary
      approach was well tolerated. OS and EFS of patients were comparable with
      published studies.

PMID- 28588162
TI  - Role of pRIFLE Criteria in Early Diagnosis of Severity Staging of Neonatal AKI
      and its Impact on Management.
AB  - Mortality is high among sick neonates who have concomitant acute kidney injury
      (AKI). This observational study was done at Special Care Baby Unit (SCABU) of
      Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Bangladesh from October 2013 to March 2014
      to find out the role of pRIFLE criteria in prediction of severity stages of AKI
      in neonate and early intervention to see the immediate outcome. A total of 44
      neonates with AKI were included, all were treated conservatively and with
      intermittent peritoneal dialysis (IPD) as needed. The neonate of <=7 days old
      comprised the main bulk (n=28) and M: F = 21: 23. The diagnosis was based on eCCL
      criteria of pRIFLE showed that 40.9% neonates were at risk of AKI, 20.5% have had
      already injured. Higher proportions of neonates were classified as failure
      (38.6%). The distribution of biochemical parameters among three stages of AKI
      showed serum potassium was significantly higher in failure group (p<0.001). The
      serum creatinine both at baseline and at next evaluations were significantly
      raised in the failure group (p<0.001). However, failure group had a significantly
      longer hospital stay compared to risk and injury group (p<0.001). Multiorgan
      failure was found to be lower in the risk group compared to other two groups
      (p=0.026). Majority of the failure group needed dialysis as compared to the risk
      and injury group (p<0.001). The mortality was progressively higher from risk to
      failure groups (p=0.106). Overall 27% of the neonates diagnosed AKI by pRIFLE
      were died of the disease. The study concluded that pRIFLE staging in AKI is
      useful and sensitive in the diagnosis and management of AKI in neonates.

PMID- 28588163
TI  - Evaluation of Pelvic Lymphadenectomy during Radical Hysterectomy for Cervical
      Cancer.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women in developing countries
      comprising 20-30% of female cancer. More than 70% of cervical cancer patients of
      Bangladesh attend in hospital in inoperable stages (IIB, III & IV). Only 30%
      cases can be treated by primary surgery. This prospective cross-sectional study
      was conducted by Gynaecologic Oncology Division of the Department of Obstetrics &
      Gynaecology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Bangladesh
      from November 2011 to May 2012. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the
      number of pelvic lymph nodes removed, to determine the rate of pelvic lymph node
      involvement & also to evaluate the relationship between parametrial invasion and
      pelvic lymph node metastasis. During this period 105 cases underwent type III
      radical hysterectomy with bilateral pelvic lymph nodes dissection. Majority of
      the patients (60%) were in the age group of 31-50 years. Regarding histological
      type, most of the cases were invasive squamous cell carcinoma (85%), followed by
      adenocarcinoma (9%) and adenosquamous type (2%). According to grading of the
      tumours, grade I, II, III were 45%, 43%, 8% respectively and in 3% cases grading
      could not be identified.

PMID- 28588164
TI  - Diagnosis of Dermatophytosis by Conventional Methods and Comparatative analysis
      of Sabouraud Dextrose Agar and Dermatophyte Test Medium for Isolation of
      Dermatophytes.
AB  - Dermatophytosis is a fungal disease which ranked as one of the most common
      cutaneous condition in all over the world. The aim of this cross sectional
      observational study is to identify the etiological agent of dermatophytosis and
      comparison of Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and Dermatophyte test medium (DTM)
      for the primary isolation of dermatophytes among the clinically suspected cases
      of dermatophytosis from the outpatient Department of Dermatology and Venereology,
      Mymensingh Medical College Hospital from July 2013 to December 2015. Two hundred
      thirty clinically suspected cases of dermatophytosis were subjected in this
      study. Sixty three cases (27.4%) were positive for fungus in direct microscopy
      while 53(23%) were culture positive. Trichophyton rubrum (83%) was found common
      etiological dermatophyte species followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes 5(9.4%)
      and Epidermophyton floccosum 4(7.5%). There was no statistically significant
      difference between the SDA and DTM (p<0.01) in primary isolation of
      dermatophytes.

PMID- 28588165
TI  - Immediate & Short Term Outcome of Using Single Bolus Eptifibatide in Percutaneous
      Coronary Intervention: A Randomized Control Study.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess the immediate and short term outcome of
      single bolus dose of eptifibatide in elective percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI). We enrolled 146 patients who underwent elective PCI from May 2013 to May
      2014 in University Cardiac Centre, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University
      (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. Among 146 patients, seventy four patients received
      single bolus dose of eptifibatide (10 mg intra coronary single bolus dose) just
      after crossing the lesion were selected as case. The other 72 patients, who did
      not receive eptifibatide, were selected as control. All patients of both the
      groups were treated with aspirin, clopidogrel before and after the procedure and
      all received a single bolus dose of Clopidogrel (300mg) before the procedure. All
      patient received weight adjusted doses of heparin during and after the procedure.
      The outcome measures were 24-hours and 30-day morbidity (complications or adverse
      events) and mortality. The patients of eptifibatide group experienced
      significantly lower incidence of QMI lesions and complete absence of NQMI lesion
      in 24 hours of PCI as compared to 5.6% and 6.9% of the lesions respectively in
      their control counterparts (p=0.027 and p=0.025 respectively). However, the
      incidence of bleeding and target vessel revascularization (TVR) were no different
      between the groups (p=0.255 and p=0.117). There was no incidence of TVR at all in
      the eptifibatide group as opposed to 5.6% in the control group in 30 days
      following stenting (p=0.017). Single bolus dose of eptifibatite reduces the Major
      adverse cardiac events as immediate and short term outcome in elective
      percutaneous coronary intervention.

PMID- 28588166
TI  - Comparative Efficacy of Local Steroid and Therapeutic Ultrasound for Quicker
      Functional Improvement in Tennis Elbow.
AB  - Lateral epicondylitis or Tennis elbow is very common repetitive stress injury or
      cumulative trauma disorder among active professionals and tennis players. Local
      steroid injection can provide quick functional improvement as sought by most of
      the patients. Therapeutic ultrasound and eccentric exercises can also improve the
      function. This study was carried out to see the comparative efficacy of these two
      modalities of treatments in terms of quicker functional improvement and this
      randomized interventional clinical trial was carried out in a private
      rehabilitation hospital in Dhaka. Patients attended the authors private chamber
      from January 2013 to December 2013 with clinical diagnosis of tennis elbow were
      included. Eighty adult patients diagnosed as lateral epicondylitis or tennis
      elbow were randomly divided into two groups. Group A received local steroid
      injection (triamcinolone acetate) and group B received therapeutic ultrasound for
      two weeks. Both the groups received eccentric exercises and advised to avoid
      provocative activities like twisting and lifting activities. Pain, tenderness and
      functional improvements were measured in traditional methods like visual analogue
      scale (VAS) and tenderness grade 0 to 4. Data were analyzed by SPSS. Most of the
      patients were female. None of them were tennis player. Younger housewives were
      common sufferer. Almost all patients in group A had very little or no pain or
      tenderness and no difficulty in lifting object at one week and two weeks. VAS was
      13.62+/-6.503 and 4.15+/-5.517 respectively. Group B patients had mild
      improvement of pain and function at one week and moderate improvement at two
      weeks. VAS was 52.57+/-7.80 and 25.57+/-5.392 respectively. Similarly tenderness'
      were markedly improved in Group A at one and two weeks. They were 0.68+/-0.616
      and 0.02+/-0.405 respectively for Group A and 1.60+/-0.553 and 1.14+/-0.335
      respectively for Group B. Results were statistically significant in both groups
      at the end of two weeks. Local corticosteroid injections at extensor origin in
      tennis elbow patients are found to have better relief of pain and tenderness and
      quicker functional improvement than therapeutic ultrasound treatment. None of the
      patients were followed up for long term efficacy in either group.

PMID- 28588167
TI  - Primary and Revision Lumbar Discectomy: A Four-Year Review from Our Private
      Practice.
AB  - The surgical treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation is now focused on
      nerve root decompression with preservation of the bony and ligamentous
      stabilizers of the spine. Various techniques of discectomy have been devised in
      accordance with this principle and irrespective of the technique used; primary
      disc surgeries have generally known to give good results. This retrospective
      study was done in different private clinics & hospitals of Dhaka city, Bangladesh
      from January 2012 to December 2015. Of the 105 lumbar discectomies performed
      during the study period, 95(90.4%) patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and
      were included in the analysis. Of these, 90 patients had primary discectomy,
      while the remaining 5 were revision surgeries. The follow-up varied from 1-4
      years, but the clinical outcomes were evaluated at the end of one year from
      surgery in all the patients. In the primary surgery group there were 50(55.56%)
      men and 40(44.44%) women, while the revision group had 01(20%) men and 04(80%)
      women. The age distribution was similar in both the groups, with the maximum
      numbers (44% and 42.9%) in the fourth decade of life. Of the 05 patients who
      underwent revision surgery, 03 belonged to the primary surgery group of this
      study, while the remaining 02 had undergone their primary surgery elsewhere.
      Excluding the two residual discs, the remaining 03 patients with recurrences gave
      a history of complete resolution of symptoms after the primary surgery. Amongst
      these, 3(60%) had a history of a precipitating event prior to onset of pain, 2
      had a definitive history of significant lack of physical activity. The time
      interval between the primary and revision surgery ranged from three months to 10
      years (average 2.6 years).

PMID- 28588168
TI  - Randomized Controlled Trial of Slow Versus Rapid Enteral Feeding Advancements on
      the Clinical Outcomes in Very Low Birth Weight Neonates.
AB  - Starting and advancement of feeding in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are
      big challenges for the neonatal practitioners. Wide variations in volume of feed
      advancement have observed in earlier trials both in slow and rapid advancement
      groups. Volume advancement in slow advancement groups have ranged from
      10ml/kg/day to 23ml/kg/day and in rapid advancement groups have ranged from
      15ml/kg/day to 45ml/kg/day in earlier different studies. This randomized
      controlled trial was conducted in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of
      Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) from April 2013 to July 2014
      to evaluate the effects of slow versus rapid rates of feeding advancements on the
      clinical outcomes in very low birth weight infants. A total 95 infants were
      enrolled into two strata according to their birth weight. Infants of each stratum
      were randomly allocated to either slow or rapid advancement group during
      initiation of feeding. After gut priming over five days, feeding was advanced
      daily 10ml/kg in slow and 15ml/kg in rapid advancement group for 1000 - <1250gm
      weighing infants. For 1250 - <1500gm weighing infants, feeding was advanced daily
      15ml/kg in slow and 20ml/kg in rapid advancement group. The primary outcome
      variable was time taken to achieve full enteral feed. Total 82 infants completed
      the trial. Demographically both groups were same. Infants in the rapid feeding
      advancement group achieved full enteral feedings before the slow advancement
      group, had significantly fewer days of parenteral nutrition and regained birth
      weight earlier. There were no statistical differences in episodes of feed
      interruption, number of infants with apnea, feed intolerance or diagnosis of
      sepsis. Rapid enteral feeding advancements were well tolerated by very low birth
      weight infants.

PMID- 28588169
TI  - Outcome of Surgical Drainage of the Pancreatic Duct in Chronic Pancreatitis.
AB  - Abdominal pain, one of the major symptoms of chronic pancreatitis, is believed to
      be caused by obstruction of the pancreatic duct system by stones or strictures.
      This results in increased intraductal pressure and parenchymal ischemia. Surgical
      decompression of the duct and ductal drainage can achieve best pain relieve and
      slow the progression of the disease. We want to share our experience of surgical
      drainage of pancreatic duct in chronic pancreatitis in our hospital. We studied
      20 cases operated in our hospital between January 2010 and October 2015. Patients
      were selected with pre-operative ultrasonography. Dilatation of the main
      pancreatic duct by at least 7 mm proximal to the obstruction were recruited for
      operation. We did Roux-Y lateral pancreato-jejunostomy (LPJ) for patients with
      obstruction of the pancreatic duct due to stricture or intraductal stones or
      both. We did additional distal pancreatectomy in case of stone in the tail
      area.We did one Frey's operation for stone and fibro-calcification of the head.
      We evaluated their symptoms, their duration, post-operative hospital stay and
      complications following surgery. We studied their pain control, recurrence and
      mortality during this period. We followed these patients for more than 5 years.
      We found 16 out of 20 patients got complete remission of the abdominal pain with
      no progression of their disease. Ultrasonic evidence of chronic pancreatitis have
      improved or resolved. Ductal diameter has decreased. They did not develop
      diabetes or malabsorbtion. One had a recurrence of stone in the head within a
      year. Three died during this follow-up period. One died three months after LPJ
      due to massive gangrene of the small intestine distal to LPJ and jejuno
      jejunostomy and subsequent short bowel syndrome. Other two developed carcinoma of
      the pancreas within one year and six months after LPJ respectively. Rate of pain
      free survival is about 75% and recurrence is 5%. Mortality during this follow up
      period is 15%. In this small series, we found that surgery if done early, can
      have good remission of abdominal pain and can slow the progression of chronic
      pancreatitis in majority of patient. Patient with chronic calcific pancreatitis
      and diabetes are likely to have unfavorable outcome even after decompressive
      surgery.

PMID- 28588170
TI  - Early Postoperative Parathyroid Hormone Level as a Predictor of Hypocalcaemia
      after Total Thyroidectomy.
AB  - Postoperative transient hypocalcaemia is a common squeal after total
      thyroidectomy usually due to parathyroid insufficiency. Objective of this study
      is to find out the optimum cut-off value of parathyroid hormone (PTH) level in
      early postoperative period as a best predictor for hypocalcaemia. This
      prospective observational study was carried out from July 2013 to July 2014 in
      the Department of Surgery Sir Salimullah Medical College & Mitford Hospital
      (SSMC&MH), in collaboration with department of Otolaryngology SSMC&MH, department
      of Otolaryngology Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and
      department of Otolaryngology Dhaka Medical College & Hospital (DMC&H), Dhaka.
      Total 92 patients were selected those came for total thyroidectomy. PTH was
      measured at different percentile 6 hours after surgery to find out optimum cut
      off point. In 47.5th percentile at 8.02 cut-off point of PTH found with good
      combination of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value,
      accuracy and it was 83.33%, 91.66%, 90.90%, 84.62% and 91.30% respectively. We
      found PTH level as a predictor of hypocalcaemia and PTH 8.02pg/ml was the optimum
      cut-off point to predict hypocalcaemia within 6 hours after total thyroidectomy.

PMID- 28588171
TI  - Clinical and Laboratory Predictors of Esophageal Varices in Children with Chronic
      Liver Disease.
AB  - Esophageal varices are a serious consequence of portal hypertension in patients
      with chronic liver diseases. Several studies have evaluated possible noninvasive
      markers of esophageal varices to reduce the number of unnecessary endoscopies in
      patients with chronic liver disease. Aim of this study was to identify clinical
      and laboratory predictors of esophageal varices in children with chronic liver
      disease. This cross sectional observational study was done at Pediatric
      Gastroenterology and Nutrition Department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
      University, Dhaka, over a period of 6 months. Fifty (50) consecutive cases of
      chronic liver disease patient under 15 years of age were evaluated clinically,
      biochemically and endoscopically. Esophageal varices were classified into 4
      grades according to Conn's grading system. Based on endoscopic findings
      (presence/absence of esophageal varices) all the patients were categorized into
      two groups; Group I: Chronic liver disease with esophageal varices and Group II:
      Chronic liver disease without esophageal varices. Most (51.5%) of the patients in
      Group I belong to age 10-12 years and majority 35.3% of Group II patients belong
      to <=2 years. More than half of the (51.5%) patients had grade III varices
      followed by 24.2% grade II, 21.2% grade I and only 3.0% had grade IV. All
      patients had splenomegaly in Group I and 70.6% of Group II, which was
      significantly (p<0.05) higher in Group I. Jaundice, spider angioma, hepatomegaly
      and ascites werealmost alike between two groups. Platelet count <1,50,000/mm3 in
      72.73% patients of Group I and 41.18% in Group II, which was significantly
      (p<0.05) higher in Group I. Similarly, Serum albumin <3.5mg/dl in 78.79% patients
      of Group I and 47.6% of Group II, was also significantly (p<0.05) higher in Group
      I. Serum bilirubin, serum alanine aminotransferase and International normalized
      ratio (INR) were almost similar between two groups. Wilson's disease was found in
      42.4% of chronic liver disease with esophageal varices and 35.3% of Chronic liver
      disease without esophageal varices. Hepatitis B virus infections were 6.1% and
      5.9% in Group I and Group II respectively. Unknown cause was found 42.4% and
      17.6% in Group I and Group II respectively. Splenomegaly, Platelet count
      <1,50,000/mm3 and serum albumin <3.5mg/dl are important predictors of esophageal
      varices. These three parameters can be used independently to predict esophageal
      varices in children with chronic liver disease.

PMID- 28588172
TI  - Primary Angioplasty for the Treatment of Acute ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction:
      Single Centre Experience.
AB  - Worldwide primary angioplasty is a recommended strategy of reperfusion in patient
      with acute myocardial infarction as because it ensures reperfusion of the infarct
      related vessels more than 90% whereas, with thrombolytics it is only 60-70%. This
      retrospective observational study includes all patients treated with primary
      angioplasty at United Hospital from Between March 2007 to January 2011. Total 114
      consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction were treated with primary
      angioplasty included. Those presented beyond 12 hours of onset of chest pain, in
      cardiogenic shock, resuscitate and intubated before the procedure were excluded
      from the study. Majority (89%) of the patient were male, age was minimum 30 years
      and maximum 90 years, 41.5% were diabetics, 58.4% were hypertensive, 43.5% were
      dyslipidaemic, 17% were smoker, 29.3% with positive family history. Fifty seven
      percent patients presented with anterior MI , 42 % with inferior MI and 1% with
      lateral MI. Left anterior descending (LAD) is the most common vessel involved
      (57%), followed by Right coronary artery (RCA) 31%, Left circumflex artery (LCX)
      8 %, Ramus 1.3% and Graft vessel 2.7%. Our door to balloon time was minimum 23
      min, maximum 184 min. We used drug eluting stents for most of the patients, GP
      IIb- IIIa receptor blockers used in 50% cases and thrombus suction device were
      used when indicated. We faced complications like arrhythmias in 24%, hypotension
      in18%, no flow or slow flow in 45%, cardiac arrest in 3% and coronary perforation
      in 1%. Our overall survival was 97.9%. Primary angioplasty is an emerging area in
      context of our country. Many of the new centers start this novel strategy which
      helps to save many lives Primary angioplasty is feasible and safe method of
      reperfusion in patient with acute myocardial infarction in our center. With the
      help of our initial experience we can perform PAMI with confidence to those who
      can afford and who need most.

PMID- 28588173
TI  - Macrophage Activation Syndrome in Paediatric Rheumatic Diseases.
AB  - Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a potentially fatal complication of
      rheumatic disorders, which commonly occurs in systemic juvenile idiopathic
      arthritis (sJIA).This study was carried out with the aims of describing the
      clinical features, laboratory findings and outcomes of MAS associated with
      paediatric rheumatic diseases in the Department of Paediatrics, Bangabandhu
      Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and compare these results with previous
      studies on MAS. This retrospective study was conducted in the paediatric
      rheumatology wing of the Department of Paediatrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib
      Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. Clinical and laboratory profile of
      all the diagnosed cases of MAS were analyzed from the medical records from
      January 2010 to July 2015. Among 10 MAS patients, 6 were female and 4 were male.
      Seven patients of systemic JIA, two patients of SLE and one patient with Kawasaki
      Disease developed MAS in their course of primary disease. Mean duration of
      primary disease prior to development of MAS was 2.9 years and mean age of onset
      was 9.1 years. High continued fever and new onset hepatosplenomegaly were the
      hallmark of the clinical presentation. White blood cell count and platelet count
      came down from the mean of 16.2 to 10.2*109/L and 254 to 90*109/L. Mean
      erythrocyte sedimentation rate was dropped from 56 to 29 mm/hr. Six patients had
      abnormal liver enzyme level (ALT) and 5 had evidence of coagulopathy (prolonged
      prothrombin time and APTT) at the onset of disease. Hyperferritinnemia were found
      in all the patients. Bone marrow study was done in 5 patients but features of
      hamophagocytosis were found only in 2 patients. All patients received intravenous
      steroid and 3 patients who did not respond to steroid received additional
      cyclosporine. Mortality rate was 30% in this series. Macrophage activation
      syndrome is a fatal complication of paediatric rheumatic diseases among which s
      JIA was predominant. Early diagnosis and aggressive therapy is essential to
      reduce the morbidity and mortality of this illness.

PMID- 28588174
TI  - C-reactive Protein (CRP) as a Single Biomarker for Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis:
      A Comprehensive Meta-analysis.
AB  - Neonatal sepsis (NS) is a life-threatening disorder and an important cause of
      morbidity and mortality in neonates. Blood culture, the gold standard for
      diagnosis of neonatal sepsis is costly, not available at all centres and test
      result not readily available. CRP is low cost diagnostic test for neonatal sepsis
      which is possible to perform at all centres and test result is easily available.
      We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement to
      identify neonatal sepsis. We conducted this meta-analysis to investigate the
      diagnostic accuracy of the CRP in neonatal sepsis. The literature was searched in
      PUBMED, Cochrane Library, Google scholar and other Medical Databases using set
      search criteria. Each included study was evaluated by quality assessment of
      diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) tool. Four investigators independently
      extracted the data and study characteristics, and disagreements, if any, were
      resolved by consensus. Meta-disc software was used to calculate the pooled
      sensitivity, specificity and summary diagnostic odds ratio (SDOR), I2 or Cochrane
      Q to test heterogeneity. False positive report probability (FPRP) was calculated
      to confirm the significance of the results. Eleven studies (1557 neonates) were
      included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of CRP
      were 71% and 86% respectively, which had moderate accuracy in the diagnosis of
      NS. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under curve (AUC) was 19.10
      and 0.8535 (Q*=0.7845), respectively. The diagnostic threshold analysis showed
      that there was no threshold effect. Meta-analysis showed that CRP had a moderate
      accuracy (AUC=0.8535) for the diagnosis of NS. CRP is a helpful biomarker for
      diagnosis of NS. However, we should combine the results with clinical symptoms
      and signs, laboratory and microbial results.

PMID- 28588176
TI  - Evaluation of Bcr-Abl Gene Rearrangement among Bangladeshi Chronic Myeloid
      Leukaemia Patients.
AB  - Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproloferative disorder. Presence
      of molecular translocation t (9; 22) in CML patients can be confirmed by Reverse
      Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Among haematological
      malignancies CML is the commonest leukaemia of adults in Asia. Despite this,
      there are very few studies published from Bangladesh, documenting the frequency
      of bcr-abl fusion transcripts. So, we would like to perform this observational
      study to evaluate bcr-abl fusion transcripts and demographic status among RT-PCR
      positive chronic phase CML patients at BIRDEM & other two centers of Dhaka city,
      Bangladesh where patients admitted from different districts of Bangladesh in the
      period of January 2010 to June 2012. Twenty patients from three centers willing
      to perform RT-PCR test and showed positive PCR result, were enrolled under
      written consent before starting treatment with targeted molecular therapy. The
      age range of the sample was 18 to 52 years, with mean age of 34.80 and male -
      female ratio of 4:1. This study showed among chronic phase CML patients bcr-abl
      transcript rearrangement frequency was b3a2 (e14a 2) 45% while b2a2 (e13a2) was
      55% by RT-PCR testing method. Cytogenetic and molecular analysis has become
      mandatory in order to make a correct diagnosis and monitoring response to newer
      molecular targeted treatment modalities. So our health sector should be enriched
      with laboratories with modern technology to diagnose haemato-oncological diseases
      as per WHO guideline.

PMID- 28588175
TI  - HER2 status in Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Gastric carcinoma is a biologically heterogenous disease and survival varies
      among the patients with same stage. Recent studies have shown that a subset of
      gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma over express the HER2/neu
      protein and these patients can be treated by monoclonal antibody against HER2/neu
      protein. The purpose of this study was to detect the frequency of HER2 expression
      in gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma and to evaluate the
      relationship between HER2 expression and clinicopathological features in these
      patients. This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out at the
      Department of Pathology, Dhaka Medical College, from January 2013 to December
      2014. A total of 130 patients with primary gastric and gastroesophageal junction
      adenocarcinomas were included in this study. All the cases were evaluated for
      routine histological examination and immunohistochemical examination was done for
      HER2/neu protein. Among the 130 cases, HER2 over expression was found in 12.3%
      cases and was more frequent in gastroesophageal junction (28%) than in gastric
      carcinoma (8.6%) (P=0.026). HER2 positivity was found significantly more in
      intestinal type carcinoma (19%), papillary carcinoma (63%) and in fungating
      growth pattern (P=0.003, 0.001 and 0.001 respectively). HER2 expression was also
      positive in grade-I or grade-II tumor but negative in grade-III tumor (P=0.001).
      No significant association of HER2 expression was found with age, sex, lymph node
      metastasis and extent of tumor. In conclusion it can be stated that gastric and
      gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma of intestinal type or papillary and
      tubular type with well to moderate differentiation can be targeted for therapy
      using Herceptin.

PMID- 28588177
TI  - Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Bacteria Isolated From Various Specimens of
      Patients with Hematological Malignancy.
AB  - Infection is a life threatening complication in patients with hematological
      malignancy. So, proper treatment of infection with suitable antibiotic is very
      important in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the
      antibiotic susceptibility of bacteria isolated from various specimens of patients
      with hematological malignancy, so that, an appropriate regimen of empiric
      antibiotic treatment can be established for these patients. This observational
      study was done in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bangabandhu
      Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh from March 2012 to
      August 2012. Forty (40) diagnosed patients of hematological malignancies who were
      admitted in the Department of Hematology and Paediatric Hemato-oncology, BSMMU
      with symptoms of sepsis &/ or urinary tract infection (UTI) or respiratory tract
      infection (RTI) were enrolled in this study. Blood, throat swab and urine were
      collected from each patient and sputum was collected from four patients.
      Susceptibility pattern of Gram positive bacteria to antibiotics was satisfactory.
      But Gram negative bacteria were resistant to commonly used antibiotics.
      Enterobacteriaceae group of organisms were found completely resistant to
      Ceftriaxone & Aztreonam. The best drugs for them were Imipenem, Amikacin &
      Netilmicin. P. aeruginosa & Acinetobacter spp. were completely resistant to
      several antibiotics including Cephalosporines & Ciprofloxacin. The best drug for
      them was Imipenem, Netilmicin & combination of Tazobactam & Piperacilin.

PMID- 28588178
TI  - Assessment of Difficulties Associated with Endotracheal Intubation using Modified
      Mallampati and Upper Lip Bite Test.
AB  - This study was aimed at finding the parameters for prediction of difficulty in
      endotracheal intubation, that are easy to examine and that could better predict
      difficulty. The current observational prospective, cross sectional study was
      conducted in the department of Anaesthesia, Analgesia and Intensive Care
      Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh
      from March 2015 to September 2015 comprising 180 patient of both sexes requiring
      endotracheal intubation were arranged into two groups, Group A: Modified
      Mallampati test Group and Group B: Modified Mallampati & upper lip bite test
      group (combined) Assessment of difficulty in intubation was done by Cormack &
      Lehane direct Laryngoscopic grading. Outcome was measured as no difficulty or
      difficulty in intubation. In Group A 33 cases were true positive, 15 false
      negative, 26 false positive, 16 true negative. In Group B 53 cases were true
      positive, 1 false positive, 8 false negative, 28 true negative. The validity
      tests for Group A for evaluation of difficult intubation were indicated by
      sensitivity 55.9%, Specificity 51.6%, Accuracy 54.41%, Positive predictive value
      68.8% and Negative predictive value 38.1%. The values for Group-B were 86.9%,
      96.6%, 90.0%, 98.1% and 77.8% respectively. Combined modified Mallampati & Upper
      Lip Bite Test has definite value in the diagnosis of difficulty in intubation and
      can be regarded as sensitive & specific test for operative discrimination of the
      patient.

PMID- 28588179
TI  - Childhood Wilson Disease: Bangladesh Perspective.
AB  - Wilson's disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting copper
      metabolism causing copper induced damage to various organs. In children liver is
      commonly involved. Central nervous system, eyes, RBC, kidneys, brain and bones
      may also be affected. Aim of the study is to evaluate clinical & laboratory
      profile of Wilson's disease in children. This cross sectional descriptive study
      was conducted at the department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition,
      Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh, from
      January 2011 to December, 2013. One hundred consecutive children of WD between 3
      to 18 years of age were evaluated for clinical & biochemical profile. Mean age of
      studied children was 8.5+/-1.5 years. Male female ratio was 2:1. Ninety one
      percent patients were Muslim and nine percent Hindu. Consanguinity of marriage
      was found in 30% cases. Seven parents were first degree cousin. Family history of
      chronic liver disease was present in 15% of patients. Most (53%) cases of the
      hepatic WD presented between 5 to 10 years of age and most of the neurologic WD
      manifested in 10-15 years age group. Among 100 patients of WD, 69 children
      presented only with hepatic manifestations, 6 only with neurological
      manifestations, 14 with both hepatic & neurological manifestation, 10 children
      was asymptomatic and 1 patient presented with psychiatric features. WD presented
      as chronic liver disease (CLD) in 42%, CLD with portal hypertension in 34%, acute
      hepatitis in 20% and fulminant hepatic failure in 4% cases. Stigmata of chronic
      liver disease were found in 18% patients. Commonest stigmata was thenar and
      hypothenar wasting (n=8). Keiser- Fleischser ring (K-F ring) was found in 76% of
      the total patients. K-F ring was present in 84% ( 58 out of 69) of the hepatic
      only Wilsonian patients and in 90% (18 out of 20) of all neurologic Wilsonian
      patients. Asymptomatic and psychiatric patient had no K-F ring. About 26% of the
      WD patients had Coombs negative hemolytic anemia in PBF. Most of the WD patients
      had altered liver function. Elevated serum transaminase was found in 85% of all
      cases, prolonged prothrombin time in 59% cases & low serum albumin in 53% cases.
      Seventy three percent patients had low serum ceruloplasmin, basal urinary copper
      of >100MUgm/day was found in 81% cases and urinary copper following penicillamine
      challenge of >1200MUgm/day was found in 92% cases. In 28 cases with hepatic
      presentation esophageal varices were identified by upper gastrointestinal
      endoscopy. WD patient with hepatic presentations were given zinc sulphate along
      with penicillamine. All patients with neurological manifestation as well as
      asymptomatic cases were maintained on zinc therapy. WD is a treatable metabolic
      cause of liver disease. Majority of studied WD children presented with hepatic
      manifestation of which 76% presented with CLD. Any child presented with jaundice
      after the age of 3 years should be investigated for WD.

PMID- 28588180
TI  - Impact of Adrenocortical Insufficiency on Biochemical Parameters in
      Haemodynamically Stable Cirrhotic Patients with Ascites.
AB  - Cirrhosis has many complications regardless of the aetiology. Among them, adrenal
      insufficiency is recently identified entity. A prospective cohort study was done
      to evaluate the biochemical impact of adrenocortical insufficiency in
      haemodynamically stable, non-septic, cirrhotic patients with ascites and had been
      performed at the inpatient of GHPD department, BIRDEM, Dhaka from April 2011 to
      March 2012. A total of fifty three (53) patients fulfilling inclusion criteria
      were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A
      (patients of normal adrenal function) and Group B (patients of insufficient
      adrenal function) and those were followed up for the next 6 months. In Group A,
      the total number of patients was 25(47%) and in Group B it was 28(53%). Between
      two groups, mean age difference and gender difference were not statistically
      significant. (p value was 0.278 and 0.933, respectively). At enrollment, there
      was significant lower mean Hb concentration in Group B (p=0.008). There was no
      significant difference of means of WBC count and platelet count between two
      groups (p value was 0.829 and 0.333, respectively). There were significant
      abnormalities in serum bilirubin, serum albumin, INR, SBP, HRS, Serum Na
      concentration, TCO2 concentration in Group B patients at follow up after 6
      months. Adrenal insufficient decompensated cirrhotic patients have higher
      biochemical abnormalities, thus higher morbidities.

PMID- 28588181
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) Evaluation of Obstructive
      Jaundice in Comparison with Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography
      (ERCP).
AB  - This cross sectional study was carried out in the department of Radiology and
      Imaging in collaboration with Department of Gastroenterology of Bangabandhu
      Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2013 to June 2014 to
      evaluate the efficacy of Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and
      ERCP in the management of obstructive jaundice and also to determine diagnostic
      validity accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and
      negative predictive value (NPV) of MRCP in evaluation of obstructive jaundice.
      For this purpose, a total of 60 patients with obstructive jaundice who underwent
      MRCP and Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the above
      mentioned hospital were enrolled. More than one third (35.0%) patients were in
      5th decade and the mean age was 46.2+/-12.9 years. Male female ratio was 1.1:1.
      Most (45.0%) of the patients had filling defect, 28.3% had concentric stenosis
      and 26.7% eccentric stenosis. In MRCP findings more than one third (35.0%)
      patients had choledocholithiasis followed by 26.7% had cholangiocarcinoma, 10.0%
      benign CBD stricture and 8.3% had ascariasis. In ERCP findings 31.7% patients had
      choledocholithiasis followed by 16.7% had cholangiocarcinoma, 13.3% benign CBD
      stricture and 10.0% ascariasis. All patients had increased serum bilirubin.

PMID- 28588182
TI  - Role of Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Nasopharyngeal Mass.
AB  - In Indian subcontinent, all types of nasopharyngeal masses are rare. However,
      Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is not uncommon in Bangladesh. It is very important to
      differentiate malignant from benign lesions early in the disease process. In
      recent years, CT is the primary diagnostic screening modality for the detection
      of nasopharyngeal pathology. This cross sectional study was carried out in the
      Department of Radiology & Imaging, BSMMU in collaboration with Department of
      otolaryngology of the same hospital from July 2012 to June 2014. Sensitivity of
      CT scan in diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was 100%, specificity was
      93.10%, positive predictive value (PPV) was 93.94%, negative predictive value
      (NPV) was 100% and accuracy was 96.67%. Sensitivity of CT scan in diagnosis of
      benign angiofibroma was 78.26 %, specificity was 89.19%, positive predictive
      value (PPV) was 81.82%, negative predictive value (NPV) was 86.84% and accuracy
      was 85% of CT scan. CT scan findings of the present study correlated well in most
      of the cases with the histopathological evaluations. Considering the high
      validity parameter it can come to a conclusion that CT scan is as highly
      effective as histopathology in diagnosis of nasopharyngeal mass.

PMID- 28588183
TI  - Orlistat (The Lipase Inhibitor) Therapy in Overweight and Obese Subfertile Women.
AB  - This experimental study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of orlistat (a
      pancreatic lipase inhibitor) therapy over lifestyle change on weight reduction
      and ovulation in overweight and obese subfertile women. It was carried out in
      Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
      University (BSMMU) Dhaka, Bangladesh from August 2015 to January 2016. Subfertile
      obese and overweight female patients attending the study centre during study
      period was considered as study population. Subfertile women with normozoospermic
      husband with BMI (25-40) Kg/M2, age (18-35) years with no history of taking
      medication or dietary modification for weight loss currently or for the preceding
      3 months were included in this study but subfertile patients having laparoscopic
      ovarian drilling and metformin and those with structural abnormalities in
      reproductive tract and known hormonal and medical disorder were excluded from
      this study. Detailed history taking, physical examination including weight, Body
      Mass Index (BMI) and baseline relevant investigations were done. Transvaginal
      sonography (TVS) on day 12 and day 14 of menstrual cycle was done for evaluation
      of ovulatory status of the patients. Counseling was done about life style change
      by diet of low glycemic index and moderate exercise. Following written informed
      consent, 120 patients were enrolled into either of the two groups. Group I
      received capsule Orlistat 120 mg twice daily for 3 months period. Group II was
      counseled for life style modification only. Post treatment weight measurement and
      TVS on day 12 and 14 were done after completion of intervention. Then pre and
      post-treatment parameters were assessed between two groups. Mean age was (27.31+/
      4.58) years in Group I and (26.20+/-4.71) years in Group II. Majority patients,
      (78.3%) in Group I and (76.7%) in Group II had oligomenorrhoea. Hirsuitism was
      observed in (25%) in Group I and (43.3%) in Group II. Mean weight (kg) at booking
      was (72.26+/-7.81) in Group I and (67.10+/-5.93) in Group II; after 3 months
      (67.77+/-7.82) and (63.55+/-6.07). Reduction of weight (%): (6.52+/-2.28) in
      Group I and (5.33+/-2.14) in Group II which was significantly higher in Group I
      than that of Group II in (25.0-29.9) BMI. Ovulation assessed by TVS at booking
      and after 3 months in Group I: 13(21.7%) and 37 (61.7%) and in Group II: 14
      (23.3%) and 27 (45.0%). Ovulation was higher in Group I than that of Group II,
      but the difference was not statistically significant. Majority of the overweight
      and obese subfertile patients suffered from oligomenorrhoea and anovulation.
      Weight significantly reduced in both groups along with ovulation improvement,
      more in Group I, but insignificant in between groups. Therefore this study
      suggested that orlistat can improve ovulation as it acts indirectly by weight
      reduction more than life style modification alone.

PMID- 28588184
TI  - Association of Relationship between Periodontal Disease and Cardiovascular
      Disease.
AB  - The present study was undertaken to determine the relationship between
      periodontal and cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have shown some co
      relation between the two conditions. We included 186 patients divided into four
      groups. First two Groups (A1 & A2) were the patients with cardiac disease (100 in
      numbers) whilst Groups (B1 & B2) (86 in numbers) were treated as controls
      (without cardiac disease). Following markers of periodontal disease were assessed
      - plaque index, calculus index, gingival and periodontal index. Markers of
      cardiovascular disease included were LDL, HDL, total cholesterol and CRP.
      Ramfjords periodontal index was used to assess the extent of periodontal disease.
      In the present study there was a significant increase in CRP levels in Group A1
      (CVD + PD) compared to controls and overall the two cardiac groups showed a
      significant increase in CRP compared to controls. There was a non-significant
      change in lipid profile markers (LDL, HDL and total cholesterol). Periodontal
      Disease Index (PDI) was also increased in Group A1 compared to other groups
      except Group B1 and overall in cardiac groups compared to non-cardiac (PD)
      groups. In this study no correlation between periodontal and cardiovascular
      disease was found. This may be due intake of statins by few patients in Group A
      with a confirmed diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28588186
TI  - Post-operative Supplementary Motor Area Syndrome: A Case Report.
AB  - The supplementary motor area (SMA-proper) is important for the programming and
      execution of motor, speech, and other elaborative functions. SMA is frequently
      involved by brain tumors (particularly WHO grade II gliomas). Surgery in this
      area can be followed by the 'SMA syndrome', characterised by contralateral
      akinesia and mutism. We present a case of Falcine meningioma in the region of the
      right SMA which developed SMA syndrome. Our patient showed complete recovery of
      neurological function but the process was slow with a specific pattern.

PMID- 28588185
TI  - Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Appendix: A Case Report.
AB  - Primary tumors of the appendix are unusual and most of them are carcinoids. Their
      main presentation is that of an acute appendicitis or as a palpable mass, mainly
      in the right lower quadrant. A 40 years old male patient presented in Dhaka
      Community Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 31st October 2013 with
      mucous adenocarcinoma of the appendix, which primarily presented as heaviness in
      right lower abdomen and atypical abdominal pain. Diagnosis of the disease was
      made after right hemicolectomy and histopathological analysis of the specimen.
      Mucin producing adenocarcinomas of the appendix are a category of rare cancers of
      the gastrointestinal tract. Although at present they are a well studied
      pathological entity, the crucial issue of their preoperative diagnosis remains
      unsolved.

PMID- 28588187
TI  - Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis in a Young Female.
AB  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a liver disease characterized by
      inflammation and fibrosis of both intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts
      resulting in cholestasis. Due to nonspecific symptoms it is difficult to diagnose
      until complication arises. It is common in male and usually associated with other
      autoimmune diseases. Here, we report a case of PSC in a young female which was
      initially thought to be drug induced cholestasis without presence of any other
      autoimmunity.

PMID- 28588188
TI  - A Young Boy with L-asparaginase-Induced Seizure.
AB  - L-Asparaginase is a critical component in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia in children. It is known to cause coagulation abnormalities, thrombosis
      and hemorrhage in the central nervous system in addition to vasculitis and
      hypersensitivity reactions. This syndrome generally occurs after a few weeks of
      therapy and may occur after L-asparaginase therapy is completed. Seizures are
      uncommon symptoms. We report a case of seizure associated with L-asparaginase
      therapy but no evidence of hemorrhagic or thrombotic cerebrovascular events,
      completed in the department of Hematology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
      University during March & April 2016.

PMID- 28588189
TI  - Metabolic injury-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation dampens phospholipid
      degradation.
AB  - The collateral effects of obesity/metabolic syndrome include inflammation and
      renal function decline. As renal disease in obesity can occur independently of
      hypertension and diabetes, other yet undefined causal pathological pathways must
      be present. Our study elucidate novel pathological pathways of metabolic renal
      injury through LDL-induced lipotoxicity and metainflammation. Our in vitro and in
      vivo analysis revealed a direct lipotoxic effect of metabolic overloading on
      tubular renal cells through a multifaceted mechanism that includes intralysosomal
      lipid amassing, lysosomal dysfunction, oxidative stress, and tubular dysfunction.
      The combination of these endogenous metabolic injuries culminated in the
      activation of the innate immune NLRP3 inflammasome complex. By inhibiting the
      sirtuin-1/LKB1/AMPK pathway, NLRP3 inflammasome dampened lipid breakdown, thereby
      worsening the LDL-induced intratubular phospholipid accumulation. Consequently,
      the presence of NLRP3 exacerbated tubular oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage
      and malabsorption during overnutrition. Altogether, our data demonstrate a causal
      link between LDL and tubular damage and the creation of a vicious cycle of
      excessive nutrients-NLRP3 activation-catabolism inhibition during metabolic
      kidney injury. Hence, this study strongly highlights the importance of renal
      epithelium in lipid handling and recognizes the role of NLRP3 as a central hub in
      metainflammation and immunometabolism in parenchymal non-immune cells.

PMID- 28588191
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of a New Smartphone-controlled Vibrating Capsule on
      Defecation in Beagles.
AB  - Constipation, mainly manifesting as abdominal discomfort and painful defecation,
      is considered as a chronic disorder. Due to a lack of effective therapy, it
      imposes a significant economic burden and greatly impacts patients' quality of
      life which prompt searches for new, original approaches. Based on the research of
      vibrating capsule (VC) carried out by Ron et al., we investigated the safety and
      efficacy of an innovative, multi-mode VC in terms of its effect on defecation in
      animal studies. The parameters associated with different operation modes of VCs
      can be detected and adjusted by smartphone controlled external configuration
      device (ECD). The results of blood tests, physiological parameters, CT scan and
      pathological examination showed no significant abnormality, which undoubtedly
      confirmed the safety of VCs. For efficacy studies, defecation frequency of
      beagles increased after administration of these capsules without influence on
      stool characters. Meanwhile, the mean time of capsule evacuation tended to be
      reduced while showing no significant difference between different modes. In
      summary, this study elucidates the safety and effectiveness of VC in prompting
      the passage of gastrointestinal walls thus greatly increasing the defecation
      frequency. This study innovatively displays the promising application of VC in
      the treatment of constipation.

PMID- 28588192
TI  - Disentangling Auger decays in O2 by photoelectron-ion coincidences.
AB  - In non-resonant Auger electron spectroscopies, multi core-ionized states lead to
      numerous energetically close-lying electronic transitions in Auger spectra, this
      hampering the assignment and interpretation of the experimental results. Here we
      reveal a new method to overcome this intrinsic limitation of non-resonant inner
      shell spectroscopies. In a proof-of-principle experiment performed for the O2
      molecule, most of the Auger final states are dissociative, and we measure in
      coincidence the kinetic energy of the photoelectron and the kinetic energy
      release of the (O+, O+) ion pairs produced after the Auger decay of the O 1s-1
      core-ionized states. The Auger final states are assigned using energy
      conservation. We fully separate the contributions from the 4Sigma- and 2Sigma-
      intermediate ionic states and conclusively demonstrate that the Auger decay
      probability can dramatically depend on the different O2 1s -1 intermediate
      multiplet states. In addition, a metastable Auger final state also exists, with
      lifetime longer than 3.8 MUs, and clear changes are observed in both branching
      ratio and spectral profile of the O 1s photoelectron spectrum when they are
      recorded in coincidence with either [Formula: see text] or with other ionic
      species. These changes are attributed to the population of the metastable
      [Formula: see text] Auger final state via different intermediate states.

PMID- 28588190
TI  - An optimal distance cutoff for contact-based Protein Structure Networks using
      side-chain centers of mass.
AB  - Proteins are highly dynamic entities attaining a myriad of different
      conformations. Protein side chains change their states during dynamics, causing
      clashes that are propagated at distal sites. A convenient formalism to analyze
      protein dynamics is based on network theory using Protein Structure Networks
      (PSNs). Despite their broad applicability, few efforts have been devoted to
      benchmarking PSN methods and to provide the community with best practices. In
      many applications, it is convenient to use the centers of mass of the side chains
      as nodes. It becomes thus critical to evaluate the minimal distance cutoff
      between the centers of mass which will provide stable network properties.
      Moreover, when the PSN is derived from a structural ensemble collected by
      molecular dynamics (MD), the impact of the MD force field has to be evaluated. We
      selected a dataset of proteins with different fold and size and assessed the two
      fundamental properties of the PSN, i.e. hubs and connected components. We
      identified an optimal cutoff of 5 A that is robust to changes in the force field
      and the proteins. Our study builds solid foundations for the harmonization and
      standardization of the PSN approach.

PMID- 28588193
TI  - The anti-cholesterolaemic effect of a consortium of probiotics: An acute study in
      C57BL/6J mice.
AB  - Hypercholesterolaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and it
      has been found that some probiotic bacteria possess cholesterol-lowering
      capabilities. In this study, the ability of the Lab4 probiotic consortium to
      hydrolyse bile salts, assimilate cholesterol and regulate cholesterol transport
      by polarised Caco-2 enterocytes was demonstrated. Furthermore, in wild-type
      C57BL/6J mice fed a high fat diet, 2-weeks supplementation with Lab4 probiotic
      consortium plus Lactobacillus plantarum CUL66 resulted in significant reductions
      in plasma total cholesterol levels and suppression of diet-induced weight gain.
      No changes in plasma levels of very low-density lipoprotein/low-density
      lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, cytokines or bile acids
      were observed. Increased amounts of total and unconjugated bile acids in the
      faeces of the probiotic-fed mice, together with modulation of hepatic small
      heterodimer partner and cholesterol-7alpha-hydroxylase mRNA expression,
      implicates bile salt hydrolase activity as a potential mechanism of action. In
      summary, this study demonstrates the cholesterol-lowering efficacy of short-term
      feeding of the Lab4 probiotic consortium plus L. plantarum CUL66 in wild-type
      mice and supports further assessment in human trials.

PMID- 28588194
TI  - Electro-optic comb based real time ultra-high sensitivity phase noise measurement
      system for high frequency microwaves.
AB  - Recent progress in ultra low phase noise microwave generation indispensably
      depends on ultra low phase noise characterization systems. However, achieving
      high sensitivity currently relies on time consuming averaging via cross
      correlation, which sometimes even underestimates phase noise because of residual
      correlations. Moreover, extending high sensitivity phase noise measurements to
      microwaves beyond 10 GHz is very difficult because of the lack of suitable high
      frequency microwave components. In this work, we introduce a delayed self
      heterodyne method in conjunction with sensitivity enhancement via the use of
      higher order comb modes from an electro-optic comb for ultra-high sensitivity
      phase noise measurements. The method obviates the need for any high frequency RF
      components and has a frequency measurement range limited only by the bandwidth
      (100 GHz) of current electro-optic modulators. The estimated noise floor is as
      low as -133 dBc/Hz, -155 dBc/Hz, -170 dBc/Hz and -171 dBc/Hz without cross
      correlation at 1 kHz, 10 kHz, 100 kHz and 1 MHz Fourier offset frequency for a 10
      GHz carrier, respectively. Moreover, since no cross correlation is necessary, RF
      oscillator phase noise can be directly suppressed via feedback up to 100 kHz
      frequency offset.

PMID- 28588196
TI  - Direct measurement of optical trapping force gradient on polystyrene microspheres
      using a carbon nanotube mechanical resonator.
AB  - Optical tweezers based on optical radiation pressure are widely used to
      manipulate nanoscale to microscale particles. This study demonstrates direct
      measurement of the optical force gradient distribution acting on a polystyrene
      (PS) microsphere using a carbon nanotube (CNT) mechanical resonator, where a PS
      microsphere with 3 MUm diameter is welded at the CNT tip using laser heating.
      With the CNT mechanical resonator with PS microsphere, we measured the
      distribution of optical force gradient with resolution near the thermal noise
      limit of 0.02 pN/MUm in vacuum, in which condition enables us to high accuracy
      measurement using the CNT mechanical resonator because of reduced mechanical
      damping from surrounding fluid. The obtained force gradient and the force
      gradient distribution agree well with theoretical values calculated using Lorenz
      Mie theory.

PMID- 28588197
TI  - Piezoelectric Microstructured Fibers via Drawing of Multimaterial Preforms.
AB  - We demonstrate planar laminated piezoelectric generators and piezoelectric
      microstructured fibers based on BaTiO3-polyvinylidene and carbon-loaded
      polyethylene materials combinations. The laminated piezoelectric generators were
      assembled by sandwiching the electrospun BaTiO3-polyvinylidene mat between two
      carbon-loaded-polyethylene films. The piezoelectric microstructured fiber was
      fabricated via drawing of the multilayer fiber preform, and features a swissroll
      geometry that have ~10 alternating piezoelectric and conductive layers. Both
      piezoelectric generators have excellent mechanical durability, and could retain
      their piezoelectric performance after 3 day's cyclic bend-release tests. Compared
      to the laminated generators, the piezoelectric fibers are advantageous as they
      could be directly woven into large-area commercial fabrics. Potential
      applications of the proposed piezoelectric fibers include micro-power-generation
      and remote sensing in wearable, automotive and aerospace industries.

PMID- 28588195
TI  - Population genetics analysis of the Nujiang catfish Creteuchiloglanis macropterus
      through a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms resource generated by RAD
      seq.
AB  - Advances in genome scanning using high-throughput sequencing technologies has led
      to a revolution in studies of non-model organisms. The glyptosternoid fish
      Creteuchiloglanis macropterus, is widely distributed in the main stem and
      tributaries of the Nujiang River basin. Here, we analyzed IIB restriction-site
      associated DNA (2b-RAD) sequences and mitochondrial DNA sequences, to assess the
      genomic signature of adaptation by detecting and estimating the degree of genetic
      differentiation among ten Creteuchiloglanis macropterus populations from the
      Nujiang River. The analyses revealed significant population differentiation among
      the up-tributaries, main stem, mid-tributary and low-tributary. Annotation of
      contigs containing outlier SNPs revealed that the candidate genes showed
      significant enrichment in several important biological process terms between up
      tributaries and low-tributary, and exhibited prominent enrichment in the term
      macromolecular metabolic process between all tributaries and the main stem.
      Population dynamics analyses indicated that the Late Pleistocene glaciations
      strongly influenced the demographic history of C. macropterus. Our results
      provide strong evidence for the utility of RAD-seq in population genetics
      studies, and our generated SNP resource should provide a valuable tool for
      population genomics studies of C. macropterus in the future.

PMID- 28588198
TI  - In vitro assembly of the Rous Sarcoma Virus capsid protein into hexamer tubes at
      physiological temperature.
AB  - During a proteolytically-driven maturation process, the orthoretroviral capsid
      protein (CA) assembles to form the convex shell that surrounds the viral genome.
      In some orthoretroviruses, including Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV), CA carries a short
      and hydrophobic spacer peptide (SP) at its C-terminus early in the maturation
      process, which is progressively removed as maturation proceeds. In this work, we
      show that RSV CA assembles in vitro at near-physiological temperatures, forming
      hexamer tubes that effectively model the mature capsid surface. Tube assembly is
      strongly influenced by electrostatic effects, and is a nucleated process that
      remains thermodynamically favored at lower temperatures, but is effectively
      arrested by the large Gibbs energy barrier associated with nucleation. RSV CA
      tubes are multi-layered, being formed by nested and concentric tubes of capsid
      hexamers. However the spacer peptide acts as a layering determinant during tube
      assembly. If only a minor fraction of CA-SP is present, multi-layered tube
      formation is blocked, and single-layered tubes predominate. This likely prevents
      formation of biologically aberrant multi-layered capsids in the virion. The
      generation of single-layered hexamer tubes facilitated 3D helical image
      reconstruction from cryo-electron microscopy data, revealing the basic tube
      architecture.

PMID- 28588199
TI  - Contributions of the maternal oral and gut microbiome to placental microbial
      colonization in overweight and obese pregnant women.
AB  - A distinct bacterial signature of the placenta was reported, providing evidence
      that the fetus does not develop in a sterile environment. The oral microbiome was
      suggested as a possible source of the bacterial DNA present in the placenta based
      on similarities to the oral non-pregnant microbiome. Here, the possible origin of
      the placental microbiome was assessed, examining the gut, oral and placental
      microbiomes from the same pregnant women. Microbiome profiles from 37 overweight
      and obese pregnant women were examined by 16SrRNA sequencing. Fecal and oral
      contributions to the establishment of the placental microbiome were evaluated.
      Core phylotypes between body sites and metagenome predictive functionality were
      determined. The placental microbiome showed a higher resemblance and phylogenetic
      proximity with the pregnant oral microbiome. However, similarity decreased at
      lower taxonomic levels and microbiomes clustered based on tissue origin. Core
      genera: Prevotella, Streptococcus and Veillonella were shared between all body
      compartments. Pathways encoding tryptophan, fatty-acid metabolism and benzoate
      degradation were highly enriched specifically in the placenta. Findings
      demonstrate that the placental microbiome exhibits a higher resemblance with the
      pregnant oral microbiome. Both oral and gut microbiomes contribute to the
      microbial seeding of the placenta, suggesting that placental colonization may
      have multiple niche sources.

PMID- 28588200
TI  - Fluorometric evaluation of CYP3A4 expression using improved transgenic HepaRG
      cells carrying a dual-colour reporter for CYP3A4 and CYP3A7.
AB  - Primary human hepatocytes are necessary to evaluate cytotoxicity, drug
      metabolism, and drug-drug interactions for candidate compounds in early-phase
      drug discovery and development. However, these analyses are often hampered by
      limited resources and functional or genetic variation among lots. HepaRG human
      hepatocellular carcinoma cells can differentiate into mature hepatocyte-like
      cells (HepLCs) that possess similar metabolic activity to human hepatocytes. We
      previously established transgenic HepaRG cells carrying a dual reporter that
      express red fluorescent protein (RFP) under the transcriptional regulation of
      CYP3A7 in the hepatoblast-like cell state and enhanced green fluorescent protein
      (EGFP) under the transcriptional regulation of CYP3A4 following HepLC
      differentiation. In this study, we successfully isolated a subclone of transgenic
      CYP3A4G/7R HepaRG cells with an improved HepLC differentiation potency. Midazolam
      metabolism by CYP3A4 in these HepLCs was comparable to that in wild-type HepLCs.
      The EGFP fluorescence intensity was greatly induced by rifampicin (RIF)
      treatment. There was a strong correlation between fluorometric and metabolic
      analyses. The fold change in EGFP-positive cells was comparable to those in the
      CYP3A4 mRNA level and luminescence of proluciferin metabolites. RIF treatment and
      cell proliferation increased the RFP-positive cell number. Thus, CYP3A4G/7R
      HepLCs provide a real-time, multiwell-based system to co-evaluate CYP3A4
      induction and hepatic regeneration.

PMID- 28588201
TI  - Aureobasidium pullulans produced beta-glucan is effective to enhance Kurosengoku
      soybean extract induced Thrombospondin-1 expression.
AB  - Black yeast, Aureobasidium pullulans is extracellularly produced beta-(1,3),
      (1,6)-D-glucan (beta-glucan) under certain conditions. In this study, using
      Glycine max cv. Kurosengoku (Kurosengoku soybeans), the production of beta-glucan
      through fermentation of A. pullulans was evaluated, and the effects of A.
      pullulans cultured fluid (AP-CF) containing beta-glucan made with Kurosengoku
      soybeans (kAP-CF) on a human monocyte derived cell line, Mono Mac 6 cells were
      investigated. Concentration of beta-glucan in kAP-CF reached the same level as
      normal AP-CF. An anti-angiogenic protein, Thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) was
      effectively induced after the stimulation with kAP-CF for comparison with AP-CF.
      The THBS1 is also induced after stimulation with hot water extract of Kurosengoku
      soybeans (KS-E), while the combined stimulation of beta-glucan with KS-E more
      effectively induced THBS1 than that with KS-E alone. These results suggest
      effects of A. pullulans-produced beta-glucan on the enhancement of Kurosengoku
      soybean-induced THBS1 expression.

PMID- 28588202
TI  - Terahertz electromagnetic fences on a graphene surface plasmon polariton
      platform.
AB  - Controlling the loss of graphene can be used in the field of transformation
      optics. We propose a new concept of electromagnetic fence on a monolayer graphene
      surface plasmon polariton platform. Using a Dot-Density-Renderer quasicrystal
      metasurface, we can simulate the absorption of gradient index optics structures.
      Numerical simulations show that the incident waves to our designed
      electromagnetic fence are trapped toward the central lines and quickly absorbed
      by the high-loss region. Two basic types of electromagnetic fence and its
      composite structures have been designed and analyzed, which exhibit excellent
      broadband absorbing performances at 8 THz-12 THz. Because of its advantages in
      controlling the soft-boundary effects and easy manufacturing characteristics, the
      proposed electromagnetic fence seems very promising for THz-frequency
      transformation plasmonics applications.

PMID- 28588203
TI  - Quantum - coherent dynamics in photosynthetic charge separation revealed by
      wavelet analysis.
AB  - Experimental/theoretical evidence for sustained vibration-assisted electronic
      (vibronic) coherence in the Photosystem II Reaction Center (PSII RC) indicates
      that photosynthetic solar-energy conversion might be optimized through the
      interplay of electronic and vibrational quantum dynamics. This evidence has been
      obtained by investigating the primary charge separation process in the PSII RC by
      two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) and Redfield modeling of the
      experimental data. However, while conventional Fourier transform analysis of the
      2DES data allows oscillatory signatures of vibronic coherence to be identified in
      the frequency domain in the form of static 2D frequency maps, the real-time
      evolution of the coherences is lost. Here we apply for the first time wavelet
      analysis to the PSII RC 2DES data to obtain time-resolved 2D frequency maps.
      These maps allow us to demonstrate that (i) coherence between the excitons
      initiating the two different charge separation pathways is active for more than
      500 fs, and (ii) coherence between exciton and charge-transfer states, the
      reactant and product of the charge separation reaction, respectively; is active
      for at least 1 ps. These findings imply that the PSII RC employs coherence (i) to
      sample competing electron transfer pathways, and ii) to perform directed,
      ultrafast and efficient electron transfer.

PMID- 28588205
TI  - Human uterine lymphocytes acquire a more experienced and tolerogenic phenotype
      during pregnancy.
AB  - Pregnancy requires a delicate immune balance that nurtures the allogeneic fetus,
      while maintaining reactivity against pathogens. Despite increasing knowledge,
      data is lacking on the transition of pre-pregnancy endometrial lymphocytes to a
      pregnancy state. Here, we immunophenotyped lymphocytes from endometrium (MMC),
      term decidua parietalis (DPMC), and PBMC for direct comparison. We found that the
      immune cell composition of MMC and DPMC clearly differ from each other, with less
      NK-cells, and more NKT-cells and T-cells in DPMC. An increased percentage of
      central memory and effector memory T-cells, and less naive T-cells in DPMC
      indicates that decidual T-cells are more experienced than endometrial T-cells.
      The increased percentage of CD4+CD25highCD127- Treg in DPMC, including
      differentiated Treg, is indicative of a more experienced and tolerogenic
      environment during pregnancy. The Th cell composition of both MMC and DPMC was
      different from PBMC, with a preference for Th1 over Th2 in the uterine
      environment. Between MMC and DPMC, percentages of Th cell subsets did not differ
      significantly. Our results suggest that already before pregnancy a tightly
      controlled Th1/Th2/Th17 balance is present. These findings create opportunities
      to further investigate the underlying immune mechanism of pregnancy complications
      using menstrual blood as a source for endometrial lymphocytes.

PMID- 28588206
TI  - In-situ freeze-drying - forming amorphous solids directly within capsules: An
      investigation of dissolution enhancement for a poorly soluble drug.
AB  - Conversion into the amorphous form enhances the dissolution of poorly soluble
      drugs, however the barrier to market for medicines containing an amorphous drug
      is poor stability. The aim was to produce the amorphous form of a drug within a
      capsule, without thermal or mechanical stress during manufacture. To facilitate
      this aim, the mechanism for drug-polymer interaction was explored. Nifedipine and
      polyvinylpyrrolidone were dissolved in tert-butanol at different drug/polymer
      ratios. These solutions were dispensed into gelatin capsules and freeze-dried.
      Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) & novel FT-IR analysis based on peak
      symmetry measurements confirmed the absence of crystallinity when
      polyvinylpyrrolidone exceeded 50%w/w. Capsules containing 10 mg of nifedipine
      were amorphous and stable for over 3 months at ~40  degrees C. Evidence of
      hydrogen bonding between the N-H group of nifedipine and the C=O group of PVP was
      observed and this interaction inhibited nifedipine crystallisation. PVP's high
      affinity for water and the nifedipine-polymer interaction lead to a significant
      dissolution rate enhancement. The freeze-dried capsule, 10%w/w nifedipine/PVP,
      had the highest dissolution rate constant of 0.37 +/- 0.05 min-1, and the lowest
      time to achieve 50% dissolution or t1/2 of 1.88 +/- 0.05 min. This formulation
      reached 80% dissolved in less than 6 min whereas the equivalent marketed liquid
      filled nifedipine capsule took 3 times longer to reach 80% dissolution.

PMID- 28588204
TI  - Gut Dysbiosis and Neurobehavioral Alterations in Rats Exposed to Silver
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - Due to their antimicrobial properties, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are being
      used in non-edible and edible consumer products. It is not clear though if
      exposure to these chemicals can exert toxic effects on the host and gut
      microbiome. Conflicting studies have been reported on whether AgNPs result in gut
      dysbiosis and other changes within the host. We sought to examine whether
      exposure of Sprague-Dawley male rats for two weeks to different shapes of AgNPs,
      cube (AgNC) and sphere (AgNS) affects gut microbiota, select behaviors, and
      induces histopathological changes in the gastrointestinal system and brain. In
      the elevated plus maze (EPM), AgNS-exposed rats showed greater number of entries
      into closed arms and center compared to controls and those exposed to AgNC. AgNS
      and AgNC treated groups had select reductions in gut microbiota relative to
      controls. Clostridium spp., Bacteroides uniformis, Christensenellaceae, and
      Coprococcus eutactus were decreased in AgNC exposed group, whereas, Oscillospira
      spp., Dehalobacterium spp., Peptococcaeceae, Corynebacterium spp.,
      Aggregatibacter pneumotropica were reduced in AgNS exposed group. Bacterial
      reductions correlated with select behavioral changes measured in the EPM. No
      significant histopathological changes were evident in the gastrointestinal system
      or brain. Findings suggest short-term exposure to AgNS or AgNC can lead to
      behavioral and gut microbiome changes.

PMID- 28588208
TI  - Human dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 inhibition by proton pump
      inhibitors and the cardiovascular risk marker asymmetric dimethylarginine: in
      vitro and in vivo significance.
AB  - Proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-induced inhibition of dimethylarginine
      dimethylaminohydrolase 1 (DDAH1), with consequent accumulation of the nitric
      oxide synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), might explain the
      increased cardiovascular risk with PPI use. However, uncertainty exists regarding
      whether clinical PPI concentrations significantly inhibit DDAH1 under linear
      initial rate conditions, and whether PPI-induced DDAH1 inhibition significantly
      increases ADMA in humans. DDAH1 inhibition by esomeprazole, omeprazole,
      pantoprazole, lansoprazole and rabeprazole was determined by quantifying DDAH1
      mediated L-citrulline formation in vitro. Plasma ADMA was measured in PPI users
      (n = 134) and non-users (n = 489) in the Hunter Community Study (HCS). At
      clinical PPI concentrations (0.1-10 MUmol/L), DDAH1 retained >80% activity vs.
      baseline. A significant, reversible, time-dependent inhibition was observed with
      lansoprazole (66% activity at 240 min, P = 0.034) and rabeprazole (25% activity
      at 240 min, P < 0.001). In regression analysis, PPI use was not associated with
      ADMA in HCS participants (beta 0.012, 95% CI -0.001 to 0.025, P = 0.077).
      Furthermore, there were no differences in ADMA between specific PPIs (P = 0.748).
      At clinical concentrations, PPIs are weak, reversible, DDAH1 inhibitors in vitro.
      The lack of significant associations between PPIs and ADMA in HCS participants
      questions the significance of DDAH1 inhibition as a mechanism explaining the
      increased cardiovascular risk reported with PPI use.

PMID- 28588207
TI  - Capping Enzyme mRNA-cap/RNGTT Regulates Hedgehog Pathway Activity by Antagonizing
      Protein Kinase A.
AB  - Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays a pivotal role in animal development and its
      deregulation in humans causes birth defects and several types of cancer. Protein
      Kinase A (PKA) modulates Hh signaling activity through phosphorylating the
      transcription factor Cubitus interruptus (Ci) and G protein coupled receptor
      (GPCR) family protein Smoothened (Smo) in Drosophila, but how PKA activity is
      regulated remains elusive. Here, we identify a novel regulator of the Hh pathway,
      the capping-enzyme mRNA-cap, which positively regulates Hh signaling activity
      through modulating PKA activity. We provide genetic and biochemical evidence that
      mRNA-cap inhibits PKA kinase activity to promote Hh signaling. Interestingly,
      regulation of Hh signaling by mRNA-cap depends on its cytoplasmic capping-enzyme
      activity. In addition, we show that the mammalian homolog of mRNA-cap, RNGTT, can
      replace mRNA-cap to play the same function in the Drosophila Hh pathway and that
      knockdown of Rngtt in cultured mammalian cells compromised Shh pathway activity,
      suggesting that RNGTT is functionally conserved. Our study makes an unexpected
      link between the mRNA capping machinery and the Hh signaling pathway, unveils a
      new facet of Hh signaling regulation, and reveals a potential drug target for
      modulating Hh signaling activity.

PMID- 28588209
TI  - Identification of the functional variant driving ORMDL3 and GSDMB expression in
      human chromosome 17q12-21 in primary biliary cholangitis.
AB  - Numerous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been performed to identify
      susceptibility genes to various human complex diseases. However, in many cases,
      neither a functional variant nor a disease susceptibility gene have been
      clarified. Here, we show an efficient approach for identification of a functional
      variant in a primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)-susceptible region, chromosome
      17q12-21 (ORMDL3-GSDMB-ZPBP2-IKZF3). High-density association mapping was carried
      out based on SNP imputation analysis by using the whole-genome sequence data from
      a reference panel of 1,070 Japanese individuals (1KJPN), together with genotype
      data from our previous GWAS (PBC patients: n = 1,389; healthy controls: n =
      1,508). Among 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with P < 1.0 * 10-8,
      rs12946510 was identified as the functional variant that influences gene
      expression via alteration of Forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) binding affinity in
      vitro. Moreover, expression-quantitative trait locus (e-QTL) analyses showed that
      the PBC susceptibility allele of rs12946510 was significantly associated with
      lower endogenous expression of ORMDL3 and GSDMB in whole blood and spleen. This
      study not only identified the functional variant in chr.17q12-21 and its
      molecular mechanism through which it conferred susceptibility to PBC, but it also
      illustrated an efficient systematic approach for post-GWAS analysis that is
      applicable to other complex diseases.

PMID- 28588210
TI  - Curing the Toxicity of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes through Native Small
      molecule Drugs.
AB  - With the development and application of nanotechnology, large amounts of
      nanoparticles will be potentially released to the environment and possibly cause
      many severe health problems. Although the toxicity of nanoparticles has been
      investigated, prevention and treatment of damages caused by nanoparticles have
      been rarely studied. Therefore, isotope tracing and improved CT imaging
      techniques were used to investigate the biodistribution influence between
      oMWCNTs(oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes) and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3
      phosphocholine (DOPC)/or simvastatin (TD) in vivo. What's more, biochemical
      indices in plasma and tissue histology were measured to further study therapeutic
      effects on the damages of oMWCNTs in mice. Isotope tracing and improved CT
      imaging results showed that low dosages of DOPC and TD didn't affect the
      distribution of oMWCNTs in mice; conversely, the distribution and metabolism of
      DOPC and TD were influenced by oMWCNTs. Moreover, DOPC and/or TD improved the
      biocompatibility of oMWCNTs in erythrocyte suspension in vitro. Biochemical index
      and histopathological results indicated that DOPC and TD didn't prevent injuries
      caused by oMWCNTs effectively. But TD showed a good therapeutic effect for
      damages. This study is the first to investigate prevention and treatment effects
      of drugs on damages caused by oMWCNTs and provides new insights and breakthroughs
      for management of nanoparticles on health hazards.

PMID- 28588212
TI  - Changes in soil microbial community composition and organic carbon fractions in
      an integrated rice-crayfish farming system in subtropical China.
AB  - Integrated rice-crayfish farming system is a highly efficient artificial
      ecosystem in which the rice (Oryza sativa) variety 'Jianzhen 2' is cultivated in
      waterlogged paddy fields along with crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). We
      investigated soil carbon fractions and microbial community structure by
      phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) analysis in a 10-year field experiment using an
      integrated rice-crayfish (CR) model and a rice monoculture (MR) model at soil
      depths of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, and 30-40 cm. Compared with the MR model,
      the CR model had significantly more total organic carbon, particulate organic
      carbon, and dissolved organic carbon contents in all of the layers examined and
      microbial biomass carbon content in the 20-40 cm layer. Principal components
      analysis revealed that microbial community composition in the CR model differed
      from that in the MR model in the 20-30 cm layer. Higher proportions of gram
      negative bacteria, aerobic bacteria and fungi in the 20-30 cm soil layer were
      observed for the CR model than the MR model. These results indicate that the CR
      model increases soil carbon levels, and strongly affects microbial community
      composition and structure in the deeper layers of soil, thereby accelerating
      subsurface soil nutrient cycling.

PMID- 28588211
TI  - Transcription Factor Networks derived from Breast Cancer Stem Cells control the
      immune response in the Basal subtype.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and metastatic
      dissemination is the principal factor related to death by this disease. Breast
      cancer stem cells (bCSC) are thought to be responsible for metastasis and
      chemoresistance. In this study, based on whole transcriptome analysis from
      putative bCSC and reverse engineering of transcription control networks, we
      identified two networks associated with this phenotype. One controlled by SNAI2,
      TWIST1, BNC2, PRRX1 and TBX5 drives a mesenchymal or CSC-like phenotype. The
      second network is controlled by the SCML4, ZNF831, SP140 and IKZF3 transcription
      factors which correspond to immune response modulators. Immune response network
      expression is correlated with pathological response to chemotherapy, and in the
      Basal subtype is related to better recurrence-free survival. In patient-derived
      xenografts, the expression of these networks in patient tumours is predictive of
      engraftment success. Our findings point out a potential molecular mechanism
      underlying the balance between immune surveillance and EMT activation in breast
      cancer. This molecular mechanism may be useful to the development of new target
      therapies.

PMID- 28588213
TI  - Bacterial protease uses distinct thermodynamic signatures for substrate
      recognition.
AB  - Porphyromonas gingivalis and Porphyromonas endodontalis are important bacteria
      related to periodontitis, the most common chronic inflammatory disease in humans
      worldwide. Its comorbidity with systemic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, oral
      cancers and cardiovascular diseases, continues to generate considerable interest.
      Surprisingly, these two microorganisms do not ferment carbohydrates; rather they
      use proteinaceous substrates as carbon and energy sources. However, the
      underlying biochemical mechanisms of their energy metabolism remain unknown.
      Here, we show that dipeptidyl peptidase 11 (DPP11), a central metabolic enzyme in
      these bacteria, undergoes a conformational change upon peptide binding to
      distinguish substrates from end products. It binds substrates through an entropy
      driven process and end products in an enthalpy-driven fashion. We show that
      increase in protein conformational entropy is the main-driving force for
      substrate binding via the unfolding of specific regions of the enzyme ("entropy
      reservoirs"). The relationship between our structural and thermodynamics data
      yields a distinct model for protein-protein interactions where protein
      conformational entropy modulates the binding free-energy. Further, our findings
      provide a framework for the structure-based design of specific DPP11 inhibitors.

PMID- 28588214
TI  - Evidence for exocellular Arsenic in Fronds of Pteris vittata.
AB  - The arsenic (As) hyperaccumulating fern species Pteris vittata (PV) is capable of
      accumulating large quantities of As in its aboveground tissues. Transformation to
      AsIII and vacuolar sequestration is believed to be the As detoxification
      mechanism in PV. Here we present evidence for a preponderance of exocellular As
      in fronds of Pteris vittata despite numerous reports of a tolerance mechanism
      involving intracellular compartmentalization. Results of an extraction experiment
      show that 43-71% of the As extruded out of the fronds of PV grown in 0.67, 3.3
      and 6.7 mM AsV. SEM-EDX analysis showed that As was localized largely on the
      lower pinna surface, with smaller amounts on the upper surface, as crystalline
      deposits. X-ray fluorescence imaging of pinna cross-sections revealed
      preferential localization of As on the pinna surface in the proximity of veins,
      with the majority localized near the midrib. Majority of the As in the pinnae is
      contained in the apoplast rather than vacuoles. Our results provide evidence that
      exocellular sequestration is potentially a mechanism of As detoxification in PV,
      particularly at higher As concentrations, raising concern about its use for
      phytoremediation.

PMID- 28588215
TI  - Singlet Exciton Fraction in Electroluminescence from Conjugated Polymer.
AB  - The efficiency of electrofluorescent polymer light-emitting diodes is determined
      by singlet exciton fraction (chiS) formation and its value still remains
      controversial. In this work, chiS in spiropolyfluorene (SPF) is determined by
      analyzing transient emission of phosphor-dopant probe. The chiS is found to range
      from 50% to 76%, depending on applied voltage. Higher applied voltage gives
      larger chiS. Besides, more rapid increment in chiS with applied voltage is
      observed in the higher-molecular-weight polymer. The voltage or molecular weight
      dependence of chiS suggests the probability of singlet exciton (SE) generation
      through triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) is enhanced due to higher triplet
      exciton (TE) concentration at higher applied voltage or accommodation of more TEs
      in a polymer chain with high molecular weight, thereby increasing probability of
      TTA. At lower applied voltage, chiS is contributed by charge recombination. Its
      value (chiS ~50%) higher than the statistical limit 25% is in agreement with
      efficient interconversion between triplet and singlet polaron pairs (PP) and with
      larger formation rate of SE relative to that of TE.

PMID- 28588216
TI  - Size and specimen-dependent strategy for x-ray micro-ct and tem correlative
      analysis of nervous system samples.
AB  - Correlative approaches are a powerful tool in the investigation of biological
      samples, but require specific preparation procedures to maintain the strength of
      the employed methods. Here we report the optimization of the embedding protocol
      of nervous system samples for a correlative synchrotron X-ray computed
      microtomography (micro-CT) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) approach.
      We demonstrate that it is possible to locate, with the micrometric resolution of
      micro-CT, specific volumes of interest for a further ultrastructural
      characterization to be performed with TEM. This approach can be applied to
      samples of different size and morphology up to several cm. Our optimized method
      represents an invaluable tool for investigating those pathologies in which
      microscopic alterations are localized in few confined regions, rather than
      diffused in entire tissues, organs or systems. We present a proof of concept of
      our method in a mouse model of Globoid Cells Leukodistrophy.

PMID- 28588217
TI  - A Haptotaxis Assay for Neutrophils using Optical Patterning and a High-content
      Approach.
AB  - Neutrophil recruitment guided by chemotactic cues is a central event in host
      defense against infection and tissue injury. While the mechanisms underlying
      neutrophil chemotaxis have been extensively studied, these are just recently
      being addressed by using high-content approaches or surface-bound chemotactic
      gradients (haptotaxis) in vitro. Here, we report a haptotaxis assay, based on the
      classic under-agarose assay, which combines an optical patterning technique to
      generate surface-bound formyl peptide gradients as well as an automated imaging
      and analysis of a large number of migration trajectories. We show that human
      neutrophils migrate on covalently-bound formyl-peptide gradients, which influence
      the speed and frequency of neutrophil penetration under the agarose. Analysis
      revealed that neutrophils migrating on surface-bound patterns accumulate in the
      region of the highest peptide concentration, thereby mimicking in vivo events. We
      propose the use of a chemotactic precision index, gyration tensors and neutrophil
      penetration rate for characterizing haptotaxis. This high-content assay provides
      a simple approach that can be applied for studying molecular mechanisms
      underlying haptotaxis on user-defined gradient shape.

PMID- 28588219
TI  - Electron Ptychographic Diffractive Imaging of Boron Atoms in LaB6 Crystals.
AB  - Ptychographic diffractive imaging has the potential for structural determination
      of materials without the constraints of relatively small, isolated samples
      required for conventional coherent diffractive imaging. The increased
      illumination diversity introduced using multiple measurements (overlapped probe
      positions) also provides higher sensitivity to phase changes in weakly scattering
      samples. The resolution of a ptychographic reconstruction is ultimately
      determined by the diffraction limit for the wavelength of the radiation used.
      However, in practical experiments using electrons either the maximum collection
      angle of the detector used to record the data or the partial coherence of the
      source impose lower resolution limits. Nonetheless for medium energy electrons
      this suggests a potential sub 0.1 nm spatial resolution limit, comparable to that
      obtained using aberration corrected instruments. However, simultaneous
      visualization of light and heavier atoms in specimens using ptychography at sub
      0.1 nm resolution presents a significant challenge. Here, we demonstrate a
      ptychographic reconstruction of a LaB6 crystal in which light B atoms were
      clearly resolved together with the heavy La atoms in the reconstructed phase. The
      technique used is general and can also be applied to non-crystalline and extended
      crystalline samples. As such it offers an alternative future basis for imaging
      the atomic structure of materials, particularly those containing low atomic
      number elements.

PMID- 28588218
TI  - A semi high-throughput method for screening small bispecific antibodies with high
      cytotoxicity.
AB  - Small bispecific antibodies that induce T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity have the
      potential to damage late-stage tumor masses to a clinically relevant degree, but
      their cytotoxicity is critically dependent on their structural and functional
      properties. Here, we constructed an optimized procedure for identifying highly
      cytotoxic antibodies from a variety of the T-cell-recruiting antibodies
      engineered from a series of antibodies against cancer antigens of epidermal
      growth factor receptor family and T-cell receptors. By developing and applying a
      set of rapid operations for expression vector construction and protein
      preparation, we screened the cytotoxicity of 104 small antibodies with diabody
      format and identified some with 103-times higher cytotoxicity than that of
      previously reported active diabody. The results demonstrate that cytotoxicity is
      enhanced by synergistic effects between the target, epitope, binding affinity,
      and the order of heavy-chain and light-chain variable domains. We demonstrate the
      importance of screening to determine the critical rules for highly cytotoxic
      antibodies.

PMID- 28588220
TI  - Effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on UTIs and genital infections in type 2 diabetes
      mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Previous trial evidence suggested potential risk of serious urinary tract
      infections (UTIs) and genital infections in type 2 diabetes patients using sodium
      glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2) inhibitors. We conducted a systematic
      review and meta-analysis to assess the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on UTIs and
      genital infections in patients with type 2 diabetes. In total, 77 RCTs involving
      50,820 participants were eligible. The meta-analyses of randomized controlled
      trials (RCTs) showed no significant difference in UTIs between SGLT2 inhibitors
      versus control (2,526/29,086 vs. 1,278/14,940; risk ratio (RR) 1.05, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.98 to 1.12; moderate quality evidence), but suggested
      increased risk of genital infections with SGLT2 inhibitors (1,521/24,017 vs.
      216/12,552; RR 3.30, 95% CI 2.74 to 3.99; moderate quality evidence). Subgroup
      analyses by length of follow up (interaction p = 0.005), type of control
      (interaction p = 0.04) and individual SGLT2 inhibitors (interaction p = 0.03)
      also showed statistically significant differences in genital infections. The
      upcoming major trials may provide important additional insights on UTIs, and more
      efforts are needed to address comparative effects of each individual SGLT2
      inhibitors on the infections.

PMID- 28588222
TI  - Collective navigation of complex networks: Participatory greedy routing.
AB  - Many networks are used to transfer information or goods, in other words, they are
      navigated. The larger the network, the more difficult it is to navigate
      efficiently. Indeed, information routing in the Internet faces serious
      scalability problems due to its rapid growth, recently accelerated by the rise of
      the Internet of Things. Large networks like the Internet can be navigated
      efficiently if nodes, or agents, actively forward information based on hidden
      maps underlying these systems. However, in reality most agents will deny to
      forward messages, which has a cost, and navigation is impossible. Can we design
      appropriate incentives that lead to participation and global navigability? Here,
      we present an evolutionary game where agents share the value generated by
      successful delivery of information or goods. We show that global navigability can
      emerge, but its complete breakdown is possible as well. Furthermore, we show that
      the system tends to self-organize into local clusters of agents who participate
      in the navigation. This organizational principle can be exploited to favor the
      emergence of global navigability in the system.

PMID- 28588221
TI  - Ketogenic diet induces expression of the muscle circadian gene Slc25a25 via
      neural pathway that might be involved in muscle thermogenesis.
AB  - We recently found that the mRNA expression of Slc25a25, a Ca2+-sensitive ATP
      carrier in the inner mitochondrial membrane, fluctuates in a circadian manner in
      mouse skeletal muscle. We showed here that the circadian expression of muscle
      Slc25a25 was damped in Clock mutant, muscle-specific Bmal1-deficient, and global
      Bmal1-deficient mice. Furthermore, a ketogenic diet (KD) that induces time-of-day
      dependent hypothermia (torpor), induced Slc25a25 mRNA expression in skeletal
      muscle. Hypothermia induced by KD did not affect thermogenic genes such as
      Sarcolipin and Pgc1a in muscles and Ucp1 in adipose tissues. Sciatic denervation
      abolished circadian and KD-induced Slc25a25 expression, suggesting that the
      circadian clock regulates muscle Slc25a25 expression via neural pathways. We
      measured body temperature (Tb) in sciatic denervated mice fed with KD to
      determine the functional role of KD-induced Slc25a25 expression. Sciatic
      denervation abolished Slc25a25 expression and augmented KD-induced hypothermia
      compared with sham-operated mice, but did not affect Tb in mice given a normal
      diet. These findings suggest that KD feeding induces expression of the muscle
      circadian gene Slc25a25 via neural pathways, and that SLC25A25 might be involved
      in muscle thermogenesis under KD-induced hypothermia in mammals.

PMID- 28588223
TI  - D-cycloserine increases the effectiveness of vancomycin against vancomycin-highly
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Vancomycin is a widely used clinical drug to treat for infection by methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Some patients show a weak response to vancomycin
      treatment. We previously reported that beta-lactams increase the susceptibility
      to vancomycin by vancomycin-highly resistant S. aureus (VRSA) strains obtained
      following repeated in vitro mutagenesis and vancomycin selection. Here we found
      that the susceptibility of the VRSA strains to vancomycin was remarkably
      increased by combined treatment with D-cycloserine. On the other hand, VRSA did
      not show increased susceptibility to vancomycin in combination with bacitracin,
      fosfomycin, erythromycin, lincomycin, gentamicin, levofloxacin or nisin.
      Furthermore, in an in vivo infection model with silkworms, combined treatment
      with vancomycin and D-cycloserine exhibited therapeutic effects, whereas
      treatment with each compound alone did not. These findings suggest that combined
      treatment with vancomycin and D-cycloserine could be therapeutically effective
      against infectious diseases caused by VRSA.

PMID- 28588225
TI  - Albiducins A and B, salicylaldehyde antibiotics from the ash tree-associated
      saprotrophic fungus Hymenoscyphus albidus.

PMID- 28588226
TI  - The effects of Brazilian green propolis that contains flavonols against mutant
      copper-zinc superoxide dismutase-mediated toxicity.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease
      characterized by the selective and progressive loss of motor neurons. The purpose
      of this study was to clarify effects of brazilian green propolis and the active
      ingredient against ALS-associated mutant copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1)
      mediated toxicity. Ethanol extract of brazilian green propolis (EBGP) protected
      N2a cells against mutant SOD1-induced neurotoxicity and reduced aggregated mutant
      SOD1 by induction of autophagy. Kaempferide and kaempferol, the active
      ingredients of EBGP, also inhibited mutant SOD1-induced cell death and reduced
      the intracellular mutant SOD1 aggregates. Both kaempferide and kaempferol
      significantly suppressed mutant SOD1-induced superoxide in mitochondria. Western
      blot analysis showed that kaempferol potentially induced autophagy via the AMP
      activated protein kinase (AMPK) - the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)
      pathway. These results suggest that EBGP containing the active ingredient against
      mutant SOD1-mediated toxicity is a promising medicine or health food for
      prevention and treatment of ALS.

PMID- 28588227
TI  - Melon13-lipoxygenase CmLOX18 may be involved in C6 volatiles biosynthesis in
      fruit.
AB  - To better understand the function role of the melon CmLOX18 gene in the
      biosynthesis of C6 volatiles during fruit ripening, we biochemically
      characterized CmLOX18 and identified its subcellular localization in transgenic
      tomato plants. Heterologous expression in yeast cells showed that the molecular
      weight of the CmLOX18 protein was identical to that predicted, and that this
      enzyme possesseed lipoxygenase activity. Linoleic acid was demonstrated to be the
      preferred substrate for the purified recombinant CmLOX18 protein, which exhibited
      optimal catalytic activity at pH 4.5 and 30  degrees C. Chromatogram analysis of
      the reaction product indicated that the CmLOX18 protein exhibited positional
      specificity, as evidenced by its release of only a C-13 oxidized product.
      Subcellular localization analysis by transient expression in Arabidopsis
      protoplasts showed that CmLOX18 was localized to non-chloroplast organelles. When
      the CmLOX18 gene was transgenically expressed in tomato via Agrobacterium
      tumefaciens-mediated transformation, it was shown to enhance expression levels of
      the tomato hydroperoxide lyase gene LeHPL, whereas the expression levels of six
      TomLox genes were little changed. Furthermore, transgenic tomato fruits exhibited
      increases in the content of the C6 volatiles, namely hexanal, (Z)-3-hexanal, and
      (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, indicating that CmLOX18 probably plays an important role in the
      synthesis of C6 compounds in fruits.

PMID- 28588224
TI  - The salicylidene acylhydrazide INP0341 attenuates Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      virulence in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can be very hard to
      treat because of high resistance to different antibiotics and alternative
      treatment regimens are greatly needed. An alternative or a complement to
      traditional antibiotic is to inhibit virulence of the bacteria. The salicylidene
      acylhydrazide, INP0341, belongs to a class of compounds that has previously been
      shown to inhibit virulence in a number of Gram-negative bacteria. In this study,
      the virulence blocking effect of INP0341 on P. aeruginosa was studied in vitro
      and in vivo. Two important and closely related virulence system were examined,
      the type III secretion system (T3SS) that translocates virulence effectors into
      the cytosol of the host cell to evade immune defense and facilitate colonization
      and the flagella system, needed for motility and biofilm formation. INP0341 was
      shown to inhibit expression and secretion of the T3SS toxin exoenzyme S (ExoS)
      and to prevent bacterial motility on agar plates and biofilm formation. In
      addition, INP0341 showed an increased survival of P. aeruginosa-infected mice. In
      conclusion, INP0341 attenuates P. aeruginosa virulence.

PMID- 28588228
TI  - Photo-acoustic spectroscopy revealing resonant absorption of self-assembled GaAs
      based nanowires.
AB  - III-V semiconductors nanowires (NW) have recently attracted a significant
      interest for their potential application in the development of high efficiency,
      highly-integrated photonic devices and in particular for the possibility to
      integrate direct bandgap materials with silicon-based devices. Here we report the
      absorbance properties of GaAs-AlGaAs-GaAs core-shell-supershell NWs using photo
      acoustic spectroscopy (PAS) measurements in the spectral range from 300 nm to
      1100 nm wavelengths. The NWs were fabricated by self-catalyzed growth on Si
      substrates and their dimensions (length ~5 MUm, diameter ~140-150 nm) allow for
      the coupling of the incident light to the guided modes in near-infrared (IR) part
      of the spectrum. This coupling results in resonant absorption peaks in the
      visible and near IR clearly evidenced by PAS. The analysis reveal broadening of
      the resonant absorption peaks arising from the NW size distribution and the
      interaction with other NWs. The results show that the PAS technique, directly
      providing scattering independent absorption spectra, is a very useful tool for
      the characterization and investigation of vertical NWs as well as for the design
      of NW ensembles for photonic applications, such as Si-integrated light sources,
      solar cells, and wavelength dependent photodetectors.

PMID- 28588229
TI  - Diagnostic Performance of 18F-FDG PET/CT in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma with
      Negative 131I-WBS at first Postablation, Negative Tg and Progressively Increased
      TgAb Level.
AB  - Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients with negative serum thyroglobulin
      (Tg), negative 131I whole-body scintigraphy (131I-WBS) at first post-ablation and
      progressively increased TgAb level are a relatively rare entity in the follow-up
      after total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine therapy. The value of 18F-FDG
      PET/CT in detecting the recurrence of disease in these patients has only been
      reported in a small case series. The goal of this study was to investigate the
      diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT in detecting recurrent disease in these
      specific PTC patients and to identify risk factors for patients with positive 18F
      FDG PET/CT results. Eighty-two PTC patients who had 18F-FDG PET/CT scans with
      negative Tg, negative 131I-WBS at first post-ablation and progressively increased
      TgAb levels were included. We found that the sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT in
      this patient group were determined as 84%, 72%, 92%, 57% and 82%, respectively.
      18F-FDG PET/CT scan had a good diagnostic performance and should be performed
      routinely in PTC patients with negative Tg, negative 131I-WBS at first
      postablation and progressively increased TgAb level, especially when span for
      progressively increased TgAb level >= 3 years and/or progressively increased TgAb
      value up to 150 IU/mL.

PMID- 28588230
TI  - Characterization of developmental defects in the forebrain resulting from
      hyperactivated mTOR signaling by integrative analysis of transcriptomic and
      proteomic data.
AB  - Hyperactivated mTOR signaling in the developing brain has been implicated in
      multiple forms of pathology including tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). To date,
      various phenotypic defects such as cortical lamination irregularity, subependymal
      nodule formation, dysmorphic astrocyte differentiation and dendritic malformation
      have been described for patients and animal models. However, downstream networks
      affected in the developing brain by hyperactivated mTOR signaling have yet to be
      characterized. Here, we present an integrated analysis of transcriptomes and
      proteomes generated from wild-type and Tsc1/Emx1-Cre forebrains. This led to
      comprehensive lists of genes and proteins whose expression levels were altered by
      hyperactivated mTOR signaling. Further incorporation of TSC patient data followed
      by functional enrichment and network analyses pointed to changes in molecular
      components and cellular processes associated with neuronal differentiation and
      morphogenesis as the key downstream events underlying developmental and
      morphological defects in TSC. Our results provide novel and fundamental molecular
      bases for understanding hyperactivated mTOR signaling-induced brain defects which
      can in turn facilitate identification of potential diagnostic markers and
      therapeutic targets for mTOR signaling-related neurological disorders.

PMID- 28588231
TI  - Genome-wide association study of 1,5-anhydroglucitol identifies novel genetic
      loci linked to glucose metabolism.
AB  - 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) is a biomarker of hyperglycemic excursions
      associated with diabetic complications. Because of its structural similarity to
      glucose, genetic studies of 1,5-AG can deliver complementary insights into
      glucose metabolism. We conducted genome-wide association studies of serum 1,5-AG
      concentrations in 7,550 European ancestry (EA) and 2,030 African American
      participants (AA) free of diagnosed diabetes from the ARIC Study. Seven loci
      in/near EFNA1/SLC50A1, MCM6/LCT, SI, MGAM, MGAM2, SLC5A10, and SLC5A1 showed
      genome-wide significant associations (P < 5 * 10-8) among EA participants, five
      of which were novel. Six of the seven loci were successfully replicated in 8,790
      independent EA individuals, and MCM6/LCT and SLC5A10 were also associated among
      AA. Most of 1,5-AG-associated index SNPs were not associated with the clinical
      glycemic markers fasting glucose or the  HbA1c, and vice versa. Only the index
      variant in SLC5A1 showed a significant association with fasting glucose in the
      expected opposing direction. Products of genes in all 1,5-AG-associated loci have
      known roles in carbohydrate digestion and enteral or renal glucose transport,
      suggesting that genetic variants associated with 1,5-AG influence its
      concentration via effects on glucose metabolism and handling.

PMID- 28588233
TI  - Genomic Selection in Commercial Perennial Crops: Applicability and Improvement in
      Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.).
AB  - Genomic selection (GS) uses genome-wide markers to select individuals with the
      desired overall combination of breeding traits. A total of 1,218 individuals from
      a commercial population of Ulu Remis x AVROS (UR x AVROS) were genotyped using
      the OP200K array. The traits of interest included: shell-to-fruit ratio (S/F, %),
      mesocarp-to-fruit ratio (M/F, %), kernel-to-fruit ratio (K/F, %), fruit per bunch
      (F/B, %), oil per bunch (O/B, %) and oil per palm (O/P, kg/palm/year). Genomic
      heritabilities of these traits were estimated to be in the range of 0.40 to 0.80.
      GS methods assessed were RR-BLUP, Bayes A (BA), Cpi (BC), Lasso (BL) and Ridge
      Regression (BRR). All methods resulted in almost equal prediction accuracy. The
      accuracy achieved ranged from 0.40 to 0.70, correlating with the heritability of
      traits. By selecting the most important markers, RR-BLUP B has the potential to
      outperform other methods. The marker density for certain traits can be further
      reduced based on the linkage disequilibrium (LD). Together with in silico
      breeding, GS is now being used in oil palm breeding programs to hasten parental
      palm selection.

PMID- 28588232
TI  - Identification of MyoD-Responsive Transcripts Reveals a Novel Long Non-coding RNA
      (lncRNA-AK143003) that Negatively Regulates Myoblast Differentiation.
AB  - Myogenic differentiation factor (MyoD) is a master transcription factor in muscle
      development and differentiation. Although several long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)
      linked to MyoD have been found to influence muscle development, the functions of
      many lncRNAs have not been explored. Here we utilized lncRNA and mRNA microarray
      analysis to identify potential lncRNAs regulated by MyoD in muscle cells. A total
      of 997 differentially expressed lncRNAs (335 up-regulated and 662 down-regulated)
      and 1,817 differentially expressed mRNAs (148 up-regulated and 1,669 down
      regulated) were identified after MyoD knockdown in C2C12 cells. Functional
      predictions suggested that most lncRNAs are involved in the biological pathways
      related to muscle differentiation and cell cycle with co-expressed genes. To gain
      further insight into the MyoD-mediated lncRNA expression in muscle
      differentiation, tissue expression profiles and MyoD overexpression were
      performed, and we found one of the candidate lncRNAs-AK143003 was significantly
      regulated by MyoD. Further analyses showed its noncoding ability and cytoplasmic
      localisation. Silencing of AK143003 stimulated the accumulation of myogenic
      marker genes, whereas AK143003 overexpression led to their decreased synthesis.
      This study identified a multitude of MyoD-mediated lncRNAs for further
      investigation and identified a novel lncRNA, lnc-AK143003, which plays a role in
      controlling muscle differentiation.

PMID- 28588235
TI  - Parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita interactions with different Capsicum
      annum cultivars reveal the chemical constituents modulating root herbivory.
AB  - Plant volatile signatures are often used as cues by herbivores to locate their
      preferred hosts. Here, we report on the volatile organic compounds used by the
      subterranean root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita for host location. We
      compared responses of infective second stage juveniles (J2s) to root volatiles of
      three cultivars and one accession of the solanaceous plant, Capsicum annum
      against moist sand in dual choice assays. J2s were more attracted to the three
      cultivars than to the accession, relative to controls. GC/MS analysis of the
      volatiles identified common constituents in each plant, five of which were
      identified as alpha-pinene, limonene, 2-methoxy-3-(1-methylpropyl)-pyrazine,
      methyl salicylate and tridecane. We additionally identified thymol as being
      specific to the accession. In dose-response assays, a blend of the five
      components elicited positive chemotaxis (71-88%), whereas individual components
      elicited varying responses; Methyl salicylate (MeSA) elicited the highest
      positive chemotaxis (70-80%), alpha-pinene, limonene and tridecane were
      intermediate (54-60%), and 2-methoxy-3-(1-methylpropyl)-pyrazine the lowest (49
      55%). In contrast, thymol alone or thymol combined with either the preferred
      natural plant root volatiles or the five-component synthetic blend induced
      negative chemotaxis. Our results provide insights into RKN-host plant
      interactions, creating new opportunities for plant breeding programmes towards
      management of RKNs.

PMID- 28588234
TI  - Plasmon-induced nanoscale quantised conductance filaments.
AB  - Plasmon-induced phenomena have recently attracted considerable attention. At the
      same time, relatively little research has been conducted on electrochemistry
      mediated by plasmon excitations. Here we report plasmon-induced formation of
      nanoscale quantized conductance filaments within metal-insulator-metal
      heterostructures. Plasmon-enhanced electromagnetic fields in an array of gold
      nanodots provide a straightforward means of forming conductive CrOx bridges
      across a thin native chromium oxide barrier between the nanodots and an
      underlying metallic Cr layer. The existence of these nanoscale conducting
      filaments is verified by transmission electron microscopy and contact resistance
      measurements. Their conductance was interrogated optically, revealing quantised
      relative transmission of light through the heterostructures across a wavelength
      range of 1-12 MUm. Such plasmon-induced electrochemical processes open up new
      possibilities for the development of scalable devices governed by light.

PMID- 28588236
TI  - Foliar nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry of three wetland plants distributed
      along an elevation gradient in Dongting Lake, China.
AB  - We examined foliar nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry of 3 wetland
      plants (Phalaris arundinacea, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Carex brevicuspis)
      distributed along an elevation gradient in the Dongting Lake, China, and how this
      stoichiometry is related to soil physico-chemical characteristics, elevation, and
      flooding days. Plant and soil samples were collected from 3 lakeshore sites.
      Total N and P concentrations of plants and six physico-chemical characteristics
      of the soil were measured, in addition to the elevation and flooding days. P.
      arundinacea and M. sacchariflorus had higher total N and P concentrations than C.
      brevicuspis. The foliar N:P ratio decreased with increasing elevation, and only
      increased with increasing foliar total N concentration. Canonical correspondence
      analysis indicated that the foliar stoichiometry was primarily regulated by soil
      water content, followed by soil nutrient concentration. The foliar N and P
      stoichiometry of the 3 wetland plants was insignificantly correlated with soil
      total P concentration. However, foliar stoichiometric characteristics and soil
      total N concentration significantly differed among the 3 species. These results
      demonstrate that spatial variation of foliar stoichiometry in wetland plants
      exists along an elevation gradient, with this information being useful for the
      conservation and management of wetland plants in this lake.

PMID- 28588238
TI  - Disruption of Small GTPase Rab7 Exacerbates the Severity of Acute Pancreatitis in
      Experimental Mouse Models.
AB  - Although aberrations of intracellular vesicle transport systems towards lysosomes
      including autophagy and endocytosis are involved in the onset and progression of
      acute pancreatitis, the molecular mechanisms underlying such aberrations remain
      unclear. The pathways of autophagy and endocytosis are closely related, and Rab7
      plays crucial roles in both. In this study, we analyzed the function of Rab7 in
      acute pancreatitis using pancreas-specific Rab7 knockout (Rab7Deltapan) mice. In
      Rab7Deltapan pancreatic acinar cells, the maturation steps of both endosomes and
      autophagosomes were deteriorated, and the lysosomal functions were affected. In
      experimental models of acute pancreatitis, the histopathological severity, serum
      amylase concentration and intra-pancreatic trypsin activity were significantly
      higher in Rab7Deltapan mice than in wild-type mice. Furthermore, the autophagy
      process was blocked in Rab7Deltapan pancreas compared with wild-type mice. In
      addition, larger autophagic vacuoles that colocalize with early endosome antigen
      1 (EEA1) but not with lysosomal-associated membrane protein (LAMP)-1 were much
      more frequently formed in Rab7Deltapan pancreatic acinar cells. Accordingly, Rab7
      deficiency exacerbates the severity of acute pancreatitis by impairing the
      autophagic and endocytic pathways toward lysosomes.

PMID- 28588237
TI  - TCM-Mesh: The database and analytical system for network pharmacology analysis
      for TCM preparations.
AB  - With the advancement of systems biology research, we have already seen great
      progress in pharmacology studies, especially in network pharmacology. Network
      pharmacology has been proven to be effective for establishing the "compounds
      proteins/genes-diseases" network, and revealing the regulation principles of
      small molecules in a high-throughput manner, thus would be very effective for the
      analysis of drug combinations, especially for TCM preparations. In this work, we
      have proposed the TCM-Mesh system, which records TCM-related information
      collected from various resources and could serve for network pharmacology
      analysis for TCM preparations in a high-throughput manner
      (http://mesh.tcm.microbioinformatics.org/). Currently, the database contains
      6,235 herbs, 383,840 compounds, 14,298 genes, 6,204 diseases, 144,723 gene
      disease associations, 3,440,231 pairs of gene interactions, 163,221 side effect
      records and 71 toxic records, and web-based software construct a network between
      herbs and treated diseases, which will help to understand the underlying
      mechanisms for TCM preparations at molecular levels. We have used 1,293 FDA
      approved drugs, as well as compounds from an herbal material Panax ginseng and a
      patented drug Liuwei Dihuang Wan (LDW) for evaluating our database. By comparison
      of different databases, as well as checking against literature, we have
      demonstrated the completeness, effectiveness, and accuracy of our database.

PMID- 28588239
TI  - Down-dip variations in a subducting low-velocity zone linked to episodic tremor
      and slip: a new constraint from ScSp waves.
AB  - Fluids are thought to play an important role in controlling episodic tremor and
      slow slip (ETS) in subduction zones. Therefore, constraining the along-dip
      distribution of fluids is necessary to better understand source mechanism of ETS,
      and particularly the role played by fluids in ETS generation. Here, we report
      clear observations of coherent ScSp phases with a dense seismic array in western
      Shikoku, Japan, where ETS has been most active over the past decade. Using
      numerical simulations of elastic-wave propagation to reproduce the observed ScSp
      phases, we demonstrate that, relative to shallower depths, either the Vp/Vs ratio
      or the thickness of a low-velocity zone (LVZ) within the subducting oceanic crust
      increases with depth beneath the mantle wedge corner where ETS has been observed.
      Based on these depth dependences of the structural elements, a wide semi-ductile
      shear zone appears to be lubricated by high-pressurized fluid in the subducting
      oceanic crust at ETS source depths, and to be a key factor regulating ETS
      activity.

PMID- 28588240
TI  - Structural Modeling of Chromatin Integrates Genome Features and Reveals
      Chromosome Folding Principle.
AB  - How chromosomes fold into 3D structures and how genome functions are affected or
      even controlled by their spatial organization remain challenging questions. Hi-C
      experiment has provided important structural insights for chromosome, and Hi-C
      data are used here to construct the 3D chromatin structure which are
      characterized by two spatially segregated chromatin compartments A and B. By
      mapping a plethora of genome features onto the constructed 3D chromatin model, we
      show vividly the close connection between genome properties and the spatial
      organization of chromatin. We are able to dissect the whole chromatin into two
      types of chromatin domains which have clearly different Hi-C contact patterns as
      well as different sizes of chromatin loops. The two chromatin types can be
      respectively regarded as the basic units of chromatin compartments A and B, and
      also spatially segregate from each other as the two chromatin compartments.
      Therefore, the chromatin loops segregate in the space according to their sizes,
      suggesting the excluded volume or entropic effect in chromatin
      compartmentalization as well as chromosome positioning. Taken together, these
      results provide clues to the folding principles of chromosomes, their spatial
      organization, and the resulted clustering of many genome features in the 3D
      space.

PMID- 28588241
TI  - Tunable Magneto-Optical Kerr Effects of Nanoporous Thin Films.
AB  - Magnetoplasmonics, combining magnetic and plasmonic functions, has attracted
      increasing attention owing to its unique magnetic and optical properties in
      various nano-architectures. In this work, Ag, CoFeB and ITO layers are fabricated
      on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) porous films to form hybrid multi-layered
      nanoporous thin films by magnetron sputtering deposition process. The designed
      nanostructure supports localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and tunable
      magneto-optical (MO) activity, namely, the sign inversion, which can be
      controlled by AAO porous film geometry (pore diameter and inter-pore spacing)
      flexibly. The physical mechanism of this special MO phenomena is further analyzed
      and discussed by the correlation of Kerr rotation and electronic oscillations
      controlled by the surface plasmon resonance that is related to the nanoporous
      structure.

PMID- 28588242
TI  - Photoswitchable phospholipid FRET acceptor: Detergent free intermembrane transfer
      assay of fluorescent lipid analogs.
AB  - We have developed and characterized a novel photoswitchable phospholipid analog
      termed N-nitroBIPS-DPPG. The fluorescence can be switched on and off repeatedly
      with minimal photobleaching by UV or visible light exposure, respectively. The
      rather large photochromic head group is inserted deeply into the interfacial
      membrane region conferring a conical overall lipid shape, preference for a
      positive curvature and only minimal intermembrane transfer. Utilizing the
      switchable NBD fluorescence quenching ability of N-nitroBIPS-DPPG, a detergent
      free intermembrane transfer assay system for NBD modified lipids was demonstrated
      and validated. As NBD quenching can be turned off, total NBD associated sample
      fluorescence can be determined without the need of detergents. This not only
      reduces detergent associated systematic errors, but also simplifies assay
      handling and allows assay extension to detergent insoluble lipid species.

PMID- 28588243
TI  - A novel network regularized matrix decomposition method to detect mutated cancer
      genes in tumour samples with inter-patient heterogeneity.
AB  - Inter-patient heterogeneity is a major challenge for mutated cancer genes
      detection which is crucial to advance cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. To
      detect mutated cancer genes in heterogeneous tumour samples, a prominent strategy
      is to determine whether the genes are recurrently mutated in their interaction
      network context. However, recent studies show that some cancer genes in different
      perturbed pathways are mutated in different subsets of samples. Subsequently,
      these genes may not display significant mutational recurrence and thus remain
      undiscovered even in consideration of network information. We develop a novel
      method called mCGfinder to efficiently detect mutated cancer genes in tumour
      samples with inter-patient heterogeneity. Based on matrix decomposition framework
      incorporated with gene interaction network information, mCGfinder can
      successfully measure the significance of mutational recurrence of genes in a
      subset of samples. When applying mCGfinder on TCGA somatic mutation datasets of
      five types of cancers, we find that the genes detected by mCGfinder are
      significantly enriched for known cancer genes, and yield substantially smaller p
      values than other existing methods. All the results demonstrate that mCGfinder is
      an efficient method in detecting mutated cancer genes.

PMID- 28588244
TI  - Wandering behaviour prevents inter and intra oceanic speciation in a coastal
      pelagic fish.
AB  - Small pelagic fishes have the ability to disperse over long distances and may
      present complex evolutionary histories. Here, Old World Anchovies (OWA) were used
      as a model system to understand genetic patterns and connectivity of fish between
      the Atlantic and Pacific basins. We surveyed 16 locations worldwide using mtDNA
      and 8 microsatellite loci for genetic parameters, and mtDNA (cyt b; 16S) and
      nuclear (RAG1; RAG2) regions for dating major lineage-splitting events within
      Engraulidae family. The OWA genetic divergences (0-0.4%) are compatible with
      intra-specific divergence, showing evidence of both ancient and contemporary
      admixture between the Pacific and Atlantic populations, enhanced by high
      asymmetrical migration from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The estimated divergence
      between Atlantic and Pacific anchovies (0.67 [0.53-0.80] Ma) matches a severe
      drop of sea temperature during the Gunz glacial stage of the Pleistocene. Our
      results support an alternative evolutionary scenario for the OWA, suggesting a
      coastal migration along south Asia, Middle East and eastern Africa continental
      platforms, followed by the colonization of the Atlantic via the Cape of the Good
      Hope.

PMID- 28588245
TI  - Retinol-binding protein-4 expression marks the short-term mortality of critically
      ill patients with underlying liver disease: Lipid, but not glucose, matters.
AB  - The implications of retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP4) expression in critically ill
      patients with underlying liver diseases remain unclear. A prospective cohort
      study involving 200 liver intensive care unit (ICU) patients was conducted, with
      274 blood donors as controls. Patient outcomes were assessed using Cox and Kaplan
      Meier analyses. Of the 200 ICU patients (mean age: 56.0 yrs), 79.5% were male,
      72.5% were cirrhotic, 62% were septic, 29.5% were diabetic, and 29% expired in
      the ICU (median admission: 7.5 days). ICU patients had lower baseline RBP4
      (25.6+/-18.4 vs. 43.8+/-35.0 mg/L, p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (TC) levels
      than controls. The surviving ICU patients had lower baseline international
      normalized ratios (INRs) of prothrombin time, model for end-stage liver disease
      (MELD) scores and sepsis rates, but higher estimated glomerular filtration rates
      (eGFRs) and RBP4 levels than non-surviving patients. eGFRs, INRs and TC levels
      were independently associated with RBP4 levels. Only surviving patients exhibited
      significantly increased RBP4 levels after ICU discharge. Baseline RBP4 levels and
      MELD scores predicted 21-day (<=10 mg/L) and 1-year (>=25) mortality,
      respectively. In critically ill patients with underlying liver disease, with a
      link to eGFRs, INRs and TC levels, the baseline RBP4 may serve as a marker for
      short-term mortality.

PMID- 28588246
TI  - Phylogenetic evidence that both ancient vicariance and dispersal have contributed
      to the biogeographic patterns of anchialine cave shrimps.
AB  - Cave shrimps from the genera Typhlatya, Stygiocaris and Typhlopatsa (Atyidae) are
      restricted to specialised coastal subterranean habitats or nearby freshwaters and
      have a highly disconnected distribution (Eastern Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic,
      Mediterranean, Madagascar, Australia). The combination of a wide distribution and
      a limited dispersal potential suggests a large-scale process has generated this
      geographic pattern. Tectonic plates that fragment ancestral ranges (vicariance)
      has often been assumed to cause this process, with the biota as passive
      passengers on continental blocks. The ancestors of these cave shrimps are
      believed to have inhabited the ancient Tethys Sea, with three particular
      geological events hypothesised to have led to their isolation and divergence; (1)
      the opening of the Atlantic Ocean, (2) the breakup of Gondwana, and (3) the
      closure of the Tethys Seaway. We test the relative contribution of vicariance and
      dispersal in the evolutionary history of this group using mitochondrial genomes
      to reconstruct phylogenetic and biogeographic scenarios with fossil-based
      calibrations. Given that the Australia/Madagascar shrimp divergence postdates the
      Gondwanan breakup, our results suggest both vicariance (the Atlantic opening) and
      dispersal. The Tethys closure appears not to have been influential, however we
      hypothesise that changing marine currents had an important early influence on
      their biogeography.

PMID- 28588249
TI  - Estimating age-related incidence of HBsAg seroclearance in chronic hepatitis B
      virus infections of China by using a dynamic compartmental model.
AB  - The age-specific seroclearance pattern of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in
      chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections of China remains unclear. In this
      study, based on three national serosurvey data of hepatitis B in China, we
      propose an age- and time-dependent discrete model and use the method of non
      linear least squares to estimate the age-specific annual rate of HBsAg
      seroclearance. We found that the HBsAg seroclearance in chronic HBV infections of
      China aged 1-59 years occurred at an average annual rate of 1.80% (95% CI, 1.54
      2.06%) from 1993 to 2006. The HBsAg seroclearance occurred predominantly in the
      early childhood, 20-24 and 35-39 year age groups. Moreover, our model estimated
      that HBsAg seroclearance resulted in 23.38% of the decrease of total HBsAg
      prevalence for population aged 1-59 years in 2006. It also prevented 9.30% of new
      HBV infections (about 7.43 million people) and 9.95% of HBV-related deaths (about
      0.25 million people) from 1993 to 2006. This study develops a new and efficient
      method to estimate the age-specific incidence of HBsAg seroclearance at a
      population-level and evaluate its effect.

PMID- 28588247
TI  - High-resolution promoter map of human limbal epithelial cells cultured with
      keratinocyte growth factor and rho kinase inhibitor.
AB  - An in vitro model of corneal epithelial cells (CECs) has been developed to study
      and treat corneal disorders. Nevertheless, conventional CEC culture supplemented
      with epidermal growth factor (EGF) results in a loss of CEC characteristics. It
      has recently been reported that limbal epithelial cells (LECs) cultured with
      keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and the rho kinase inhibitor Y-27632 could
      maintain the expression of several CEC-specific markers. However, the molecular
      mechanism underlying the effect of culture media on LECs remains to be
      elucidated. To elucidate this mechanism, we performed comprehensive gene
      expression analysis of human LECs cultured with EGF or KGF/Y-27632, by cap
      analysis of gene expression (CAGE). Here, we found that LECs cultured with KGF
      and Y-27632 presented a gene expression profile highly similar to that of CECs in
      vivo. In contrast, LECs cultured with EGF lost the characteristic CEC gene
      expression profile. We further discovered that CEC-specific PAX6 promoters are
      highly activated in LECs cultured with KGF and Y-27632. Our results provide
      strong evidence that LECs cultured with KGF and Y-27632 would be an improved in
      vitro model in the context of gene expression. These findings will accelerate
      basic studies of CECs and clinical applications in regenerative medicine.

PMID- 28588248
TI  - Expanded CCUG repeat RNA expression in Drosophila heart and muscle trigger
      Myotonic Dystrophy type 1-like phenotypes and activate autophagocytosis genes.
AB  - Myotonic dystrophies (DM1-2) are neuromuscular genetic disorders caused by the
      pathological expansion of untranslated microsatellites. DM1 and DM2, are caused
      by expanded CTG repeats in the 3'UTR of the DMPK gene and CCTG repeats in the
      first intron of the CNBP gene, respectively. Mutant RNAs containing expanded
      repeats are retained in the cell nucleus, where they sequester nuclear factors
      and cause alterations in RNA metabolism. However, for unknown reasons, DM1 is
      more severe than DM2. To study the differences and similarities in the
      pathogenesis of DM1 and DM2, we generated model flies by expressing pure expanded
      CUG ([250]*) or CCUG ([1100]*) repeats, respectively, and compared them with
      control flies expressing either 20 repeat units or GFP. We observed surprisingly
      severe muscle reduction and cardiac dysfunction in CCUG-expressing model flies.
      The muscle and cardiac tissue of both DM1 and DM2 model flies showed DM1-like
      phenotypes including overexpression of autophagy-related genes, RNA mis-splicing
      and repeat RNA aggregation in ribonuclear foci along with the Muscleblind
      protein. These data reveal, for the first time, that expanded non-coding CCUG
      repeat-RNA has similar in vivo toxicity potential as expanded CUG RNA in muscle
      and heart tissues and suggests that specific, as yet unknown factors, quench CCUG
      repeat toxicity in DM2 patients.

PMID- 28588250
TI  - An atypical phosphodiesterase capable of degrading haloalkyl phosphate diesters
      from Sphingobium sp. strain TCM1.
AB  - Sphingobium sp. strain TCM1 can degrade tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) to
      inorganic phosphate and 2-chloroethanol. A phosphotriesterase (PTE),
      phosphodiesterase (PDE) and phosphomonoesterase (PME) are believed to be involved
      in the degradation of TCEP. The PTE and PME that respectively catalyze the first
      and third steps of TCEP degradation in TCM1 have been identified. However, no
      information has been reported on a PDE catalyzing the second step. In this study,
      we identified, purified, and characterized a PDE capable of hydrolyzing haloalkyl
      phosphate diesters. The final preparation of the enzyme had a specific activity
      of 29 umol min-1 mg-1 with bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BpNPP) as the substrate.
      It also possessed low PME activity with p-nitrophenyl phosphate (pNPP) as
      substrate. The catalytic efficiency (k cat/K m) with BpNPP was significantly
      higher than that with pNPP, indicating that the enzyme prefers the
      organophosphorus diester to the monoester. The enzyme degraded bis(2,3
      dibromopropyl) phosphate, bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate and bis(2
      chloroethyl) phosphate, suggesting that it is involved in the metabolism of
      haloalkyl organophosphorus triesters. The primary structure of the PDE from TCM1
      is distinct from those of typical PDE family members and the enzyme belongs to
      the polymerase and histidinol phosphatase superfamily.

PMID- 28588251
TI  - Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D Printed Tablets for Intragastric Floating
      Delivery of Domperidone.
AB  - The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of fused deposition modeling
      (FDM) 3D printing to prepare intragastric floating sustained release (FSR)
      tablets. Domperidone (DOM), an insoluble weak base, was chosen as a model drug to
      investigate the potential of FSR in increasing its oral bioavailability and
      reducing its administration frequency. DOM was successfully loaded into
      hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) filaments using hot melt extrusion (HME). The
      filaments were then printed into hollow structured tablets through changing the
      shell numbers and the infill percentages. Physical characterization results
      indicated that the majority of DOM gradually turned into the amorphous form
      during the fabrication process. The optimized formulation (contain 10% DOM, with
      2 shells and 0% infill) exhibited the sustained release characteristic and was
      able to float for about 10 h in vitro. Radiographic images showed that the BaSO4
      labeled tablets were retained in the stomach of rabbits for more than 8 h.
      Furthermore, pharmacokinetic studies showed the relative bioavailability of the
      FSR tablets compared with reference commercial tablets was 222.49 +/- 62.85%. All
      the results showed that FDM based 3D printing might be a promising way to
      fabricate hollow tablets for the purpose of intragastric floating drug delivery.

PMID- 28588252
TI  - Candida albicans Sap6 amyloid regions function in cellular aggregation and zinc
      binding, and contribute to zinc acquisition.
AB  - Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen colonizing the oral cavity.
      C. albicans secreted aspartic protease Sap6 is important for virulence during
      oral candidiasis since it degrades host tissues to release nutrients and
      essential transition metals. We found that zinc specifically increased C.
      albicans autoaggregation induced by Sap6; and that Sap6 itself bound zinc ions.
      In silico analysis of Sap6 predicted four amyloidogenic regions that were
      synthesized as peptides (P1-P4). All peptides, as well as full length Sap6,
      demonstrated amyloid properties, and addition of zinc further increased amyloid
      formation. Disruption of amyloid regions by Congo red significantly reduced
      auotoaggregation. Deletion of C. albicans genes that control zinc acquisition in
      the ZAP1 regulon, including zinc transporters (Pra1 and Zrt1) and other zinc
      regulated surface proteins, resulted in lower autoaggregation and reduction of
      surface binding of Sap6. Cells with high expression of PRA1 and ZRT1 also showed
      increased Sap6-mediated autoaggregation. C. albicans ?sap6 deletion mutants
      failed to accumulate intracellular zinc comparable to ?zap1, ?zrt1, and ?pra1
      cells. Thus Sap6 is a multi-functional molecule containing amyloid regions that
      promotes autoaggregation and zinc uptake, and may serve as an additional system
      for the community acquisition of zinc.

PMID- 28588254
TI  - Magnetic anisotropy and high-frequency property of flexible FeCoTa films
      obliquely deposited on a wrinkled topography.
AB  - We investigated the magnetic anisotropy and the high-frequency property of
      flexible Fe60Co26Ta14 (FeCoTa) thin films obtained by oblique sputtering onto a
      wrinkled surface. The sinuously wrinkled topography is produced by growing Ta
      layer on a pre-strained polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane. Due to the enhanced
      effect of shadowing, the oblique deposition of FeCoTa layer gives rise to a shift
      of wrinkle peak towards the incident atomic flux. With increasing the PDMS pre
      strain or increasing the oblique sputtering angle, both the uniaxial magnetic
      anisotropy and the ferromagnetic resonance frequency of FeCoTa films are
      enhanced, but the initial permeability decreases. The magnetization reversal
      mechanism of wrinkled FeCoTa films can be interpreted by a two-phase model
      composed of both coherent rotation and domain wall nucleation. With the
      enhancement of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, the domain wall nucleation becomes
      pronounced in FeCoTa films.

PMID- 28588253
TI  - Nucleotide excision repair is a potential therapeutic target in multiple myeloma.
AB  - Despite the development of novel drugs, alkylating agents remain an important
      component of therapy in multiple myeloma (MM). DNA repair processes contribute
      towards sensitivity to alkylating agents and therefore we here evaluate the role
      of nucleotide excision repair (NER), which is involved in the removal of bulky
      adducts and DNA crosslinks in MM. We first evaluated NER activity using a novel
      functional assay and observed a heterogeneous NER efficiency in MM cell lines and
      patient samples. Using next-generation sequencing data, we identified that
      expression of the canonical NER gene, excision repair cross-complementation group
      3 (ERCC3), significantly impacted the outcome in newly diagnosed MM patients
      treated with alkylating agents. Next, using small RNA interference, stable
      knockdown and overexpression, and small-molecule inhibitors targeting xeroderma
      pigmentosum complementation group B (XPB), the DNA helicase encoded by ERCC3, we
      demonstrate that NER inhibition significantly increases sensitivity and overcomes
      resistance to alkylating agents in MM. Moreover, inhibiting XPB leads to the dual
      inhibition of NER and transcription and is particularly efficient in myeloma
      cells. Altogether, we show that NER impacts alkylating agents sensitivity in
      myeloma cells and identify ERCC3 as a potential therapeutic target in MM.

PMID- 28588255
TI  - PKM2 promotes cell migration and inhibits autophagy by mediating PI3K/AKT
      activation and contributes to the malignant development of gastric cancer.
AB  - Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a key kinase of glycolysis and is characteristic of
      all proliferating cells. The role of PKM2 in gastric cancer (GC) is still
      ambiguous and yet to be determined. To better understand the role of PKM2 in both
      the migration and invasion of GC, we measured the expression of PKM2 in GC cell
      lines using qRT-PCR and western blot. The prognostic value of PKM2 was analyzed
      by Immunohistochemistry in a cohort containing 88 GC patients. PKM2 was knocked
      down by the short hairpin RNA plasmid vector in NCI-N87 and BGC-823 cells, and
      the biological behavior and downstream signaling pathways were also investigated
      in vitro. Subcutaneous xenografts and pulmonary metastases models were
      constructed in nude mice to compare the differences in tumorgenesis and
      metastasis after Knockdown of PKM2. Our results obtained from in vitro cell
      biological behavior, in vivo tumorigenicity studies, and primary GC samples
      revealed an oncogenic role for PKM2 in GC. Furthermore, for those GC patients who
      received radical resection, PKM2 might serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and
      target which would allow for a brand new treatment strategy for GC in the
      clinical settings.

PMID- 28588256
TI  - Rapamycin Attenuates Acute Seizure-induced Astrocyte Injury in Mice in Vivo.
AB  - Astrocytes have been implicated in epileptogenesis and seizure-induced brain
      injury. Pathological studies reveal a variety of structural abnormalities in
      astrocytes, such as vacuolization and astrogliosis. While in vivo imaging methods
      have demonstrated rapid changes in astrocytes under a variety of physiological
      and pathological conditions, the acute effects of seizures on astrocyte
      morphology in vivo and corresponding mechanisms of seizure-induced astrocytic
      injury have not been documented. In this study, we utilized in vivo two-photon
      imaging to directly monitor the acute structural effects of kainate-induced
      seizures on cortical astrocytes. Kainate seizures cause an immediate, but
      transient, vacuolization of astrocytes, followed over several days by
      astrogliosis. These effects are prevented by pre- or post-treatment with
      rapamycin, indicating the mTOR pathway is involved in mediating seizure-induced
      astrocyte injury. These finding have clinical implications for mechanisms of
      seizure-induced astrocyte injury and potential therapeutic applications with mTOR
      inhibitors.

PMID- 28588257
TI  - Gene expression: ACSS2 boosts local histone acetylation.

PMID- 28588258
TI  - Non-uniform salinity in the root zone alleviates salt damage by increasing
      sodium, water and nutrient transport genes expression in cotton.
AB  - Non-uniform salinity alleviates salt damage through sets of physiological
      adjustments in Na+ transport in leaf and water and nutrient uptake in the non
      saline root side. However, little is known of how non-uniform salinity induces
      these adjustments. In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis shown that
      the expression of sodium transport and photosynthesis related genes in the non
      uniform treatment were higher than that in the uniform treatment, which may be
      the reason for the increased photosynthetic (Pn) rate and decreased Na+ content
      in leaves of the non-uniform salinity treatment. Most of the water and nutrient
      transport related genes were up-regulated in the non-saline root side but down
      regulated in roots of the high-saline side, which might be the key reason for the
      increased water and nutrient uptake in the non-saline root side. Furthermore, the
      expression pattern of most differentially expressed transcription factor and
      hormone related genes in the non-saline root side was similar to that in the high
      saline side. The alleviated salt damage by non-uniform salinity was probably
      attributed to the increased expression of salt tolerance related genes in the
      leaf and that of water and nutrient uptake genes in the non-saline root side.

PMID- 28588259
TI  - Peritumoral Artery Scoring System: a Novel Scoring System to Predict Renal
      Function Outcome after Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy.
AB  - The present study aimed to assess the impact of peritumoral artery
      characteristics on renal function outcome prediction using a novel Peritumoral
      Artery Scoring System based on computed tomography arteriography. Peritumoral
      artery characteristics and renal function were evaluated in 220 patients who
      underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy and then validate in 51 patients with
      split and total glomerular filtration rate (GFR). In particular, peritumoral
      artery classification and diameter were measured to assign arteries into low,
      moderate, and high Peritumoral Artery Scoring System risk categories. Univariable
      and multivariable logistic regression analyses were then used to determine risk
      factors for major renal functional decline. The Peritumoral Artery Scoring System
      and four other nephrometry systems were compared using receiver operating
      characteristic curve analysis. The Peritumoral Artery Scoring System was
      significantly superior to the other systems for predicting postoperative renal
      function decline (p < 0.001). In receiver operating characteristic analysis, our
      category system was a superior independent predictor of estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) decline (area-under-the-curve = 0.865, p < 0.001) and
      total GFR decline (area-under-the-curve = 0.796, p < 0.001), and split GFR
      decline (area-under-the-curve = 0.841, p < 0.001). Peritumoral artery
      characteristics were independent predictors of renal function outcome after
      laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

PMID- 28588261
TI  - Persistent effects of the Yellow River on the Chinese marginal seas began at
      least ~880 ka ago.
AB  - The Yellow River (or Huanghe and also known as China's Sorrow in ancient times),
      with the highest sediment load in the world, provides a key link between
      continental erosion and sediment accumulation in the western Pacific Ocean.
      However, the exact age of its influence on the marginal sea is highly
      controversial and uncertain. Here we present high-resolution records of clay
      minerals and lanthanum to samarium (La/Sm) ratio spanning the past ~1 million
      years (Myr) from the Bohai and Yellow Seas, the potential sedimentary sinks of
      the Yellow River. Our results show a climate-driven provenance shift from small,
      proximal mountain rivers-dominance to the Yellow River-dominance at ~880 ka, a
      time period consistent with the Mid-Pleistocene orbital shift from 41-kyr to 100
      kyr cyclicity. We compare the age of this provenance shift with the available age
      data for Yellow River headwater integration into the marginal seas and suggest
      that the persistent influence of the Yellow River on the Chinese marginal seas
      must have occurred at least ~880 ka ago. To our knowledge, this study provides
      the first offshore evidence on the drainage history of the Yellow River within an
      accurate chronology framework.

PMID- 28588260
TI  - Remodeling pathway control of mitochondrial respiratory capacity by temperature
      in mouse heart: electron flow through the Q-junction in permeabilized fibers.
AB  - Fuel substrate supply and oxidative phosphorylation are key determinants of
      muscle performance. Numerous studies of mammalian mitochondria are carried out
      (i) with substrate supply that limits electron flow, and (ii) far below
      physiological temperature. To analyze potentially implicated biases, we studied
      mitochondrial respiratory control in permeabilized mouse myocardial fibers using
      high-resolution respirometry. The capacity of oxidative phosphorylation at 37 
      degrees C was nearly two-fold higher when fueled by physiological substrate
      combinations reconstituting tricarboxylic acid cycle function, compared with
      electron flow measured separately through NADH to Complex I or succinate to
      Complex II. The relative contribution of the NADH pathway to physiological
      respiratory capacity increased with a decrease in temperature from 37 to 25 
      degrees C. The apparent excess capacity of cytochrome c oxidase above
      physiological pathway capacity increased sharply under hypothermia due to
      limitation by NADH-linked dehydrogenases. This mechanism of mitochondrial
      respiratory control in the hypothermic mammalian heart is comparable to the
      pattern in ectotherm species, pointing towards NADH-linked mt-matrix
      dehydrogenases and the phosphorylation system rather than electron transfer
      complexes as the primary drivers of thermal sensitivity at low temperature.
      Delineating the link between stress and remodeling of oxidative phosphorylation
      is important for understanding metabolic perturbations in disease evolution and
      cardiac protection.

PMID- 28588263
TI  - Gut microbiota: Intestinal fungi fuel the inflammatory fire in alcoholic liver
      disease.

PMID- 28588264
TI  - Neurogastroenterology: Cell lineage relationships dictate ENS organization.

PMID- 28588262
TI  - Identification of New Shikonin Derivatives as Antitumor Agents Targeting STAT3
      SH2 Domain.
AB  - Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is hyper-activated in
      diversiform human tumors and has been validated as an attractive therapeutic
      target. Current research showed that a natural product, shikonin, along with its
      synthetic analogues, is able to inhibit the activity of STAT3 potently. The
      potential space of shikonin in developing novel anti-cancer agents encouraged us
      to carry out the investigation of the probable binding mode with STAT3. From this
      foundation, we have designed new types of STAT3 SH2 inhibitors. Combined
      simulations were performed to filter for the lead compound, which was then
      substituted, synthesized and evaluated by a variety of bioassays. Among the
      entities, PMM-172 exhibited the best anti-proliferative activity against MDA-MB
      231 cells with IC50 value 1.98 +/- 0.49 MUM. Besides, it was identified to
      decrease luciferase activity, induce cell apoptosis and reduce mitochondrial
      transmembrane potential in MDA-MB-231 cells. Also, PMM-172 inhibited
      constitutive/inducible STAT3 activation without affecting STAT1 and STAT5 in MDA
      MB-231 cells, and had no effect in non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cells. Moreover, PMM
      172 suppressed STAT3 nuclear localization and STAT3 downstream target genes
      expression. Overall, these results indicate that the antitumor activity of PMM
      172 is at least partially due to inhibition of STAT3 in breast cancer cells.

PMID- 28588266
TI  - Rumen Fluid Metabolomics Analysis Associated with Feed Efficiency on Crossbred
      Steers.
AB  - The rumen has a central role in the efficiency of digestion in ruminants. To
      identify potential differences in rumen function that lead to differences in
      average daily gain (ADG), rumen fluid metabolomic analysis by LC-MS and
      multivariate/univariate statistical analysis were used to identify differences in
      rumen metabolites. Individual feed intake and body-weight was measured on 144
      steers during 105 d on a high concentrate ration. Eight steers with the greatest
      ADG and 8 steers with the least-ADG with dry matter intake near the population
      average were selected. Blood and rumen fluid was collected from the 16 steers 26
      d before slaughter and at slaughter, respectively. As a result of the
      metabolomics analysis of rumen fluid, 33 metabolites differed between the ADG
      groups based on t-test, fold changes and partial least square discriminant
      analysis. These metabolites were primarily involved in linoleic and alpha
      linolenic metabolism (impact-value 1.0 and 0.75, respectively; P < 0.05); both
      pathways were down-regulated in the greatest-ADG compared with least-ADG group.
      Ruminal biohydrogenation might be associated with the overall animal production.
      The fatty acids were quantified in rumen and plasma using targeted MS to validate
      and evaluate the simple combination of metabolites that effectively predict ADG.

PMID- 28588265
TI  - Network Analysis Reveals the Recognition Mechanism for Dimer Formation of Bulb
      type Lectins.
AB  - The bulb-type lectins are proteins consist of three sequential beta-sheet
      subdomains that bind to specific carbohydrates to perform certain biological
      functions. The active states of most bulb-type lectins are dimeric and it is thus
      important to elucidate the short- and long-range recognition mechanism for this
      dimer formation. To do so, we perform comparative sequence analysis for the
      single- and double-domain bulb-type lectins abundant in plant genomes. In
      contrast to the dimer complex of two single-domain lectins formed via protein
      protein interactions, the double-domain lectin fuses two single-domain proteins
      into one protein with a short linker and requires only short-range interactions
      because its two single domains are always in close proximity. Sequence analysis
      demonstrates that the highly variable but coevolving polar residues at the
      interface of dimeric bulb-type lectins are largely absent in the double-domain
      bulb-type lectins. Moreover, network analysis on bulb-type lectin proteins show
      that these same polar residues have high closeness scores and thus serve as hubs
      with strong connections to all other residues. Taken together, we propose a
      potential mechanism for this lectin complex formation where coevolving polar
      residues of high closeness are responsible for long-range recognition.

PMID- 28588267
TI  - PHLDA3 impedes somatic cell reprogramming by activating Akt-GSK3beta pathway.
AB  - Reprogramming of adult somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells holds
      great promise in clinical therapy. Increasing evidences have shown that p53 and
      its target genes play important roles in somatic cell reprogramming. In this
      study, we report that PHLDA3, a p53 target gene, functions as a blockage of iPSCs
      generation by activating the Akt-GSK3beta pathway. Furthermore, PHLDA3 is found
      to be transcriptionally regulated by Oct4. These findings reveal that PHLDA3 acts
      as a new member of the regulatory network of somatic cell reprogramming.

PMID- 28588269
TI  - Temporal evolution of a seismic sequence induced by a gas injection in the
      Eastern coast of Spain.
AB  - Induced seismicity associated with energy production is becoming an increasingly
      important issue worldwide for the hazard it poses to the exposed population and
      structures. We analyze one of the rare cases of induced seismicity associated
      with the underwater gas storage operations observed in the Castor platform,
      located in the Valencia gulf, east Spain, near a complex and important geological
      structure. In September 2013, some gas injection operations started at Castor,
      producing a series of seismic events around the reservoir area. The larger
      magnitude events (up to 4.2) took place some days after the end of the injection,
      with EMS intensities in coastal towns up to degree III. In this work, the seismic
      sequence is analyzed with the aim of detecting changes in statistical parameters
      describing the earthquake occurrence before and after the injection and
      identifying possible proxies to be used for monitoring the sequence evolution.
      Moreover, we explore the potential predictability of these statistical parameters
      which can be used to control the field operations in injection/storage fluid
      reservoirs. We firstly perform a retrospective approach and next a perspective
      analysis. We use different techniques for estimating the value of the expected
      maximum magnitude that can occur due to antropogenic activities in Castor.

PMID- 28588268
TI  - Optimisation of a murine splenocyte mycobacterial growth inhibition assay using
      virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - In the absence of a validated correlate of protection or robust animal models for
      human tuberculosis, Mycobacterial growth inhibition assays (MGIAs) aim to assess
      vaccines ability to inhibit mycobacterial growth in-vitro. We optimised a
      reproducible murine splenocyte MGIA based on in-vitro infection with  virulent
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) Erdman. We identified splenocyte viability as a
      problem in state-of-art MGIA protocols, which can be improved by simple changes
      in culture conditions (viability increase from 21% to 46% at last day of
      culture). The growth inhibitory potential in mice immunised with either BCG,
      H56:CAF01 or H56:CAF01 administered side-by-side with BCG was significantly
      better compared to placebo in all groups (0.3 log10 CFU [+/-0.2, p = 0.049], 0.5
      [+/-0.2, p = 0.016] and 0.6 [+/-0.1, p = 0.0007], respectively) corresponding to
      the levels of in-vivo protection. Unexpectedly the CAF01 adjuvant control group
      also induced significant growth inhibition of 0.3 log10 CFU (+/-0.2, p = 0.047).
      Finally, we explored vaccine-associated T cell effector functions. Despite
      presence of high levels of vaccine-specific T cells, we found no increase in CD4+
      T cell number or cytokine expression profile, nor a difference in cytokine levels
      in the supernatant after four days culture with or without M.tb. Spontaneous IFN
      gamma release correlated with growth inhibition levels (p = 0.02), however the
      cellular source was not found.

PMID- 28588270
TI  - Maternal-placental-fetal biodistribution of multimodal polymeric nanoparticles in
      a pregnant rat model in mid and late gestation.
AB  - Multimodal polymeric nanoparticles have many exciting diagnostic and therapeutic
      applications, yet their uptake and passage by the placenta, and applications in
      the treatment of pregnancy complications have not been thoroughly investigated.
      In this work, the maternal-fetal-placental biodistribution of anionic and
      cationic multimodal poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) nanoparticles in pregnant
      rats at mid (ED10) and late (ED20) gestation was examined. Fluorescently-labelled
      and superparamagnetic PGMA nanoparticles functionalized with/without
      poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) were administered to pregnant rats at a clinically
      relevant dose and biodistribution and tissue uptake assessed. Quantitative
      measurement of fluorescence intensity or magnetic resonance relaxometry in tissue
      homogenates lacked the sensitivity to quantify tissue uptake. Confocal
      microscopy, however, identified uptake by maternal organs and the decidua
      (ectoplacental cone) and trophoblast giant cells of conceptuses at ED10. At ED20,
      preferential accumulation of cationic vs. anionic nanoparticles was observed in
      the placenta, with PGMA-PEI nanoparticles localised mainly within the chorionic
      plate. These findings highlight the significant impact of surface charge and
      gestational age in the biodistribution of nanoparticles in pregnancy, and
      demonstrate the importance of using highly sensitive measurement techniques to
      evaluate nanomaterial biodistribution and maternal-fetal exposure.

PMID- 28588272
TI  - Mechanism of superior luminescent and high-efficiency photocatalytic properties
      of Eu-doped calcium aluminate by low-cost self-propagating combustion synthesis
      technique.
AB  - Eu-doped calcium aluminate was synthesized via the low-cost self-propagating
      combustion synthesis (SPCS) technique, whose phase constitutions were identified
      as Ca9Al6O18 and Ca3Al2O6. The Ca2+ ions in Ca9Al6O18 rather than Ca3Al2O6 phase
      were replaced by Eu3+ ions. The product exhibits the superior luminescent
      property and photocatalytic activity, which may find potential applications in
      the display devices and environment treatments.

PMID- 28588273
TI  - Myricetin protects Galleria mellonella against Staphylococcus aureus infection
      and inhibits multiple virulence factors.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen related to a variety of life
      threatening infections but for which antimicrobial resistance is liming the
      treatment options. We report here that myricetin, but not its glycosylated form,
      can remarkably decrease the production of several S. aureus virulence factors,
      including adhesion, biofilm formation, hemolysis and staphyloxanthin production,
      without interfering with growth. Myricetin affects both surface proteins and
      secreted proteins which indicate that its action is unrelated to inhibition of
      the agr quorum sensing system. Analysis of virulence related gene expression and
      computational simulations of pivotal proteins involved in pathogenesis
      demonstrate that myricetin downregulates the saeR global regulator and interacts
      with sortase A and alpha-hemolysin. Furthermore, Myr confers a significant degree
      of protection against staphylococcal infection in the Galleria mellonella model.
      The present findings reveal the potential of Myr as an alternative multi-target
      antivirulence candidate to control S. aureus pathogenicity.

PMID- 28588274
TI  - Pre- and post-diagnostic beta-blocker use and lung cancer survival: A population
      based cohort study.
AB  - Beta-blockers have been associated with decreased cancer mortality. However,
      evidence for lung cancer is sparse and reported beneficial effects might be based
      on biased analyses. In this so far largest study we investigated the association
      between beta-blocker use and lung cancer survival. Therefore, patients with a
      lung cancer diagnosis between April 1998 and December 2011 were selected from a
      database linkage of the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the PHARMO Database
      Network. After matching eligible patients on the propensity score, adjusted
      hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were
      calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression to investigate the
      association between pre-diagnostic and time-dependent beta-blocker use and
      overall survival. Duration and dose-response analyses and stratified analyses by
      beta-blocker type, histological subgroups and stage were conducted. Of 3,340
      eligible lung cancer patients, 1437 (43%) took beta-blockers four months prior to
      diagnosis. Pre-diagnostic beta-blocker use was not associated with overall
      survival (HR 1.00 (0.92-1.08)) in the adjusted model. Time-dependent post
      diagnostic analysis showed similar results with a HR of 1.03 (0.94-1.11). Trend
      analyses showed no association for cumulative dose (HR 0.99 (0.97-1.02)) and
      cumulative duration (HR 1.00 (0.96-1.05)). In conclusion, beta-blocker use is not
      associated with reduced mortality among lung cancer patients.

PMID- 28588271
TI  - PP2A inhibition from LB100 therapy enhances daunorubicin cytotoxicity in
      secondary acute myeloid leukemia via miR-181b-1 upregulation.
AB  - Patients with secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) arising from
      myelodysplastic syndromes have a poor prognosis marked by an increased resistance
      to chemotherapy. An urgent need exists for adjuvant treatments that can enhance
      or replace current therapeutic options. Here we show the potential of LB100, a
      small-molecule protein phosphatase 2 A (PP2A) inhibitor, as a monotherapy and
      chemosensitizing agent for sAML using an in-vitro and in-vivo approach. We
      demonstrate that LB100 decreases cell viability through caspase activation and
      G2/M cell-cycle arrest. LB100 enhances daunorubicin (DNR) cytotoxicity resulting
      in decreased xenograft volumes and improved overall survival. LB100 profoundly
      upregulates miR-181b-1, which we show directly binds to the 3' untranslated
      region of Bcl-2 mRNA leading to its translational inhibition. MiR-181b-1 ectopic
      overexpression further diminishes Bcl-2 expression leading to suppression of sAML
      cell growth, and enhancement of DNR cytotoxicity. Our research highlights the
      therapeutic potential of LB100, and provides new insights into the mechanism of
      LB100 chemosensitization.

PMID- 28588275
TI  - De novo non-synonymous TBL1XR1 mutation alters Wnt signaling activity.
AB  - Here we report de novo non-synonymous single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) by
      conducting whole exome sequencing of 18 trios consisting of Japanese patients
      with sporadic schizophrenia and their parents. Among nine SNVs, we explored the
      functional impact of the de novo mutation in TBL1XR1 [c.30 C > G (p.Phe10Leu)], a
      gene previously found to be associated with autism spectrum disorder and
      epilepsy. Protein structural analysis revealed that Phe10Leu mutation may
      decrease the structural stability of the TBL1XR1 protein. We demonstrate that
      Phe10Leu mutation alters the interaction of TBL1XR1 with N-CoR and beta-catenin,
      which play critical roles in regulation of Wnt-mediated transcriptional activity.
      Consistently, TBL1XR1-mediated activation of Wnt signaling was up-regulated by
      Phe10Leu mutation. These results suggest that a de novo TBL1XR1 point mutation
      could alter Wnt/beta-catenin signaling activity. Further studies are required to
      clarify the involvement of TBL1XR1 mutations in neuropsychiatric conditions.

PMID- 28588277
TI  - Effects of hydraulic retention time on adsorption behaviours of EPS in an A/O
      MBR: biofouling study with QCM-D.
AB  - Extra-cellular polymeric substances (EPS) are a major cause of membrane fouling
      in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). In this study, an anoxic-oxic membrane bioreactor
      (A/O-MBR) was run continuously for 98 days. The runs were divided into three
      stages according to hydraulic retention time (HRT) (11.8, 12.5 and 14.3 h,
      respectively). EPS were extracted from the reactor under the different HRTs. A
      quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and Fourier
      transform infrared (FT-IR) were used to study the adherence layer structures and
      the adsorption behaviours of EPS on the membrane surface. The results indicated
      that the removal rate of TN was more susceptible to HRT than NH3-N. The
      observations in the QCM-D suggested that at the lowest HRT (11.8 h), the
      structure of the adsorption layer is loose and soft and the fluidity was better
      than for HRTs of 12.5 or 14.3 h. It is likely one of the major reasons for the
      rapidly blocking of the membrane pores. Furthermore, the higher EPS adherence as
      analyzed in the QCM-D and EPS concentration could induce a higher osmotic
      pressure effect, leading to a rapid membrane-fouling rate.

PMID- 28588276
TI  - Single-axon level morphological analysis of corticofugal projection neurons in
      mouse barrel field.
AB  - Corticofugal projection neurons are key components in connecting the neocortex
      and the subcortical regions. In the barrel field, these neurons have various
      projection targets and play crucial roles in the rodent whisker sensorimotor
      system. However, the projection features of corticofugal projection neurons at
      the single-axon level are far from comprehensive elucidation. Based on a brain
      wide positioning system with high-resolution imaging for Thy1-GFP M-line mice
      brains, we reconstructed and analyzed more than one hundred corticofugal
      projection neurons in both layer V and VI of barrel cortex. The dual-color
      imaging made it possible to locate the neurons' somata, trace their corresponding
      dendrites and axons and then distinguish the neurons as L5 type I/II or L6 type.
      The corticofugal projection pattern showed significant diversity across
      individual neurons. Usually, the L5 type I neurons have greater multi-region
      projection potential. The thalamus and the midbrain are the most frequent
      projection targets among the investigated multidirectional projection neurons,
      and the hypothalamus is particularly unique in that it only appears in
      multidirectional projection situations. Statistically, the average branch length
      of apical dendrites in multi-region projection groups is larger than that of
      single-region projection groups. This study demonstrated a single-axon-level
      analysis for barrel corticofugal projection neurons, which could provide a micro
      anatomical basis for interpreting whisker sensorimotor circuit function.

PMID- 28588279
TI  - Atomistic Corrective Scheme for Supercell Density Functional Theory Calculations
      of Charged Defects.
AB  - A new method to correct formation energies of charged defects obtained by
      supercell density-functional calculations is presented and applied to bulk,
      surface, and low-dimensional systems. The method relies on atomistic models and a
      polarizable force field to describe a material system and its dielectric
      properties. The polarizable force field is based on a minimal set of fitting
      parameters, it accounts for the dielectric screening arising from ions and
      electrons separately, and it can be easily implemented in any software for
      atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. This work illustrates both technical
      aspects and applications of the new corrective scheme. The method is tested on
      systems in vacuo to validate the energy scheme. It is applied to charged defects
      in the bulk and at the surface of realistic materials to achieve comparison with
      published results obtained by using available corrective schemes based on
      continuum electrostatics treatments. Moreover, to demonstrate its generality, the
      method is used to correct the formation energy obtained by DFT of a singly
      negatively charged S vacancy in monolayer, bilayer, trilayer and bulk MoS2.

PMID- 28588278
TI  - Associations among ADHD, Abnormal Eating and Overweight in a non-clinical sample
      of Asian children.
AB  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been found to be comorbid
      with obesity in adults, but the association in children is uncertain. Because the
      underlying mechanism of comorbidity in children has not been researched
      sufficiently, this study aims to explore the associations among ADHD, abnormal
      eating, and body mass index (BMI), as well as the mediating effect of depression
      in children. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 785 primary students in
      China. The parent-report version of ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHDRS-IV), the Child
      Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the Children's Eating Attitude Test
      (ChEAT) were used to identify ADHD symptoms and abnormal eating. The Child
      Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was applied to assess depression. Structural Equation
      Modeling was carried out to clarify the associations between ADHD symptoms,
      depression, abnormal eating, and overweight of students. We found that ADHD
      positively contributed to emotional eating and Bulimia Nervosa symptoms. However,
      neither emotional eating nor Bulimia Nervosa symptoms was related to BMI in
      children. We also found that ADHD significantly contributed to depression, and
      depression directly predicted emotional eating. In conclusion, ADHD increased the
      risk of abnormal eating in children, while no significant relationship existed
      between ADHD and BMI. Comorbid depression raised the risk of emotional eating,
      rather than Bulimia Nervosa symptoms.

PMID- 28588280
TI  - Heterogeneity of Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Tumours and the Surrounding Stroma
      for Prediction of Ki-67 Proliferation Status in Breast Cancer.
AB  - Breast tissue heterogeneity is related to risk factors that lead to more
      aggressive tumour growth and worse prognosis, yet such heterogeneity has not been
      well characterized. The aim of this study is to reveal the heterogeneous signal
      patterns of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of a tumour and its
      surrounding stromal tissue and to predict the Ki-67 proliferation status in
      oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer patients. A dataset of 82 patients
      who underwent diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) examination was collected. The ADC
      map was segmented into regions comprising the tumour and the surrounding stromal
      shells. To reflect correlations between each region in terms of its mean ADC
      value, a functional graph was constructed consisting of nodes as regions and
      edges as interactions between two nodes. Analysis of the graph revealed a higher
      average degree in samples over-expressing Ki-67 than in samples with low Ki-67
      expression. In the low-Ki-67 group, most of the identified edges represented
      correlations between adjacent regions, whereas additional edges representing
      correlations between non-adjacent regions were found in the high-Ki-67 group. The
      ADC signal in various breast stromal regions surrounding the tumour showed a
      discriminative pattern and would be valuable for estimating the Ki-67
      proliferation status by DWI.

PMID- 28588281
TI  - A Central Small Amino Acid in the VAMP2 Transmembrane Domain Regulates the Fusion
      Pore in Exocytosis.
AB  - Exocytosis depends on cytosolic domains of SNARE proteins but the function of the
      transmembrane domains (TMDs) in membrane fusion remains controversial. The TMD of
      the SNARE protein synaptobrevin2/VAMP2 contains two highly conserved small amino
      acids, G100 and C103, in its central portion. Substituting G100 and/or C103 with
      the beta-branched amino acid valine impairs the structural flexibility of the TMD
      in terms of alpha-helix/beta-sheet transitions in model membranes (measured by
      infrared reflection-absorption or evanescent wave spectroscopy) during increase
      in protein/lipid ratios, a parameter expected to be altered by recruitment of
      SNAREs at fusion sites. This structural change is accompanied by reduced membrane
      fluidity (measured by infrared ellipsometry). The G100V/C103V mutation nearly
      abolishes depolarization-evoked exocytosis (measured by membrane capacitance) and
      hormone secretion (measured biochemically). Single-vesicle optical (by TIRF
      microscopy) and biophysical measurements of ATP release indicate that G100V/C103V
      retards initial fusion-pore opening, hinders its expansion and leads to premature
      closure in most instances. We conclude that the TMD of VAMP2 plays a critical
      role in membrane fusion and that the structural mobility provided by the central
      small amino acids is crucial for exocytosis by influencing the molecular re
      arrangements of the lipid membrane that are necessary for fusion pore opening and
      expansion.

PMID- 28588282
TI  - Comparison and immunobiological characterization of retinoic acid inducible gene
      I-like receptor expression in mesenchymal stromal cells.
AB  - Due to their immunomodulatory and regenerative properties, Mesenchymal stromal
      cells (MSC) have generated major interests in several clinical settings including
      transplantation and inflammatory diseases. MSC functions can be influenced by
      their tissue origin. Their microenvironment strongly affects their biology
      notably through TLR sensing. In this study, we show that MSC isolated from four
      different sources express another type of cytosolic pathogen recognition
      receptors known as retinoic acid inducible gene-I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLR).
      RLR activation in MSC induces the production of Type I IFN (IFN-beta) and Type
      III IFN (IFN-lambda1). The highest producers are adipose tissue(AT)-MSC. We
      further show that Interferon production is induced through TBK1/IKK-epsilon
      signaling and IRF7 phosphorylation. Depending on MSC source, the knockdown of
      TLR3 and/or RIG-I decreases the MSC response to RLR ligand poly(I:C)/Lyovec.
      Among the different MSC types, AT-MSCs display the highest sensitivity to viral
      stimuli as shown by the alteration of their viability after prolonged
      stimulation. Our work indicates that this could be linked to an increase of pro
      apoptotic Noxa expression. Finally, the expression of IDO1 and LIF upon RLR
      activation indicate the increase of MSC immunomodulatory potential, especially in
      AT-MSCs. Altogether, these data should be considered when designing MSC-based
      therapy in clinical settings where inflammation or infection are present.

PMID- 28588283
TI  - Additional molecular testing of saliva specimens improves the detection of
      respiratory viruses.
AB  - Emerging infectious diseases in humans are often caused by respiratory viruses
      such as pandemic or avian influenza viruses and novel coronaviruses.
      Microbiological testing for respiratory viruses is important for patient
      management, infection control and epidemiological studies. Nasopharyngeal
      specimens are frequently tested, but their sensitivity is suboptimal. This study
      evaluated the incremental benefit of testing respiratory viruses in expectorated
      saliva using molecular assays. A total of 258 hospitalized adult patients with
      suspected respiratory infections were included. Their expectorated saliva was
      collected without the use of any special devices. In the first cohort of 159
      patients whose nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) tested positive for respiratory
      viruses during routine testing, the viral load was measured using quantitative
      reverse transcription PCR. Seventeen percent of the patients (27/159) had higher
      viral loads in the saliva than in the NPA. The second cohort consisted of 99
      patients whose NPAs tested negative for respiratory viruses using a direct
      immunofluorescence assay. Their NPA and saliva specimens were additionally tested
      using multiplex PCR. In these patients, the concordance rate by multiplex PCR
      between NPA and saliva was 83.8%. Multiplex PCR detected viruses in saliva
      samples from 16 patients, of which nine (56.3%) had at least one virus that was
      not detected in the NPA. Decisions on antiviral or isolation precautions would be
      affected by salivary testing in six patients. Although NPAs have high viral loads
      and remain the specimen of choice for most patients with respiratory virus
      infections, supplementary molecular testing of saliva can improve the clinical
      management of these patients.

PMID- 28588284
TI  - A novel preventive strategy against HIV-1 infection: combinatorial use of
      inhibitors targeting the nucleocapsid and fusion proteins.
AB  - The strategy of simultaneously attacking multiple targets is worthy of
      exploration in the field of microbicide development to combat HIV-1 sequence
      diversity and minimize the transmission of resistant variants. A combination of S
      acyl-2-mercaptobenzamide thioester-10 (SAMT10), an inhibitor of the HIV-1
      nucleocapsid protein (NCp7), and the fusion inhibitor sifuvirtide (SFT) may exert
      synergistic effects, since SFT can block viral fusion at an early stage of the
      viral cycle and SAMT10 can disrupt viral particles at a later stage. In this
      study, we investigated the effect of the combination of SAMT10 and SFT on HIV-1
      infection using in vitro cell culture and ex vivo mucosal explant models. A range
      of doses for each compound was tested at 10-fold serial dilutions based on their
      50% effective concentrations (EC50). We observed a synergistic effect of SAMT10
      and SFT in vitro against both the laboratory-adapted HIV-1 strain HIV-1IIIB
      (subtype B, X4) and three pseudotyped viruses prevalent in Chinese sexually
      transmitted populations (SVPB16 (subtype B, R5), SVPC12 (subtype C, R5) and
      SH1.81 (CRF01_AE, R5)). In the ex vivo study, the EC50 values of the inhibitor
      combinations were reduced 1.5- to 2-fold in colorectal mucosal explants compared
      to treatment with SAMT10 or SFT alone by using with HIV-1IIIB. These results may
      provide a novel strategy for microbicide development against HIV-1 sexual
      transmission.

PMID- 28588286
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype family strain isolated from naturally
      infected plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) in China.

PMID- 28588285
TI  - Isolation and characterization of Listeria species from rodents in natural
      environments in China.
AB  - Listeria is ubiquitous in a variety of environments and can be isolated from a
      wide range of animal hosts. Rodents are capable of carrying pathogenic bacteria
      in their intestines, such as Listeria, and can disseminate those pathogens into
      the natural environment and to where human activity occurs. In this study, we
      investigated the occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Listeria spp.
      isolated from wild rodents found in natural environments in China. We collected
      341 intestinal fecal samples of rodents from five different regions of China, all
      representing different rodent habitats. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the
      Listeria spp. isolates obtained were firstly assessed using the Kirby-Bauer disk
      diffusion method. Thirty-one samples were positive for Listeria spp., of which 11
      were positive for Listeria monocytogenes and seven were positive for Listeria
      ivanovii. Other species identified include Listeria innocua, Listeria
      fleischmannii and Listeria floridensis. All Listeria spp. isolates were sensitive
      to the majority of the antimicrobials tested, but largely resistant to oxacillin
      (94.1%) and cefuroxime (70.6%). All L. monocytogenes isolates were further
      characterized by serotyping, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field
      gel electrophoresis (PFGE). L. monocytogenes strains were grouped into three
      serotypes, five sequence types and five pulsotypes (PTs) by serotyping, MLST and
      PFGE, respectively. Almost half of the isolates (five of 11) belonged to serotype
      1/2b, ST87 and PT1. This study determined that Listeria is carried in the
      intestinal tracts of wild rodents from multiple regions at a low rate, filling an
      epidemiological data gap on Listeria in natural environments in China.

PMID- 28588287
TI  - Identification and evaluation of the novel immunodominant antigen Rv2351c from
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - There is an urgent need for new immunodominant antigens to improve the diagnosis
      of tuberculosis (TB) and the efficacy of the TB vaccine to control the disease
      worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic potential of a novel
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-specific antigen, Rv2351c, from region of
      difference (RD) 7 of the MTB genome, and investigated the potency of the vaccine
      by identifying its immunological function in human and animal immunological
      experiments. Twenty T-cell epitopes were identified using TEpredict and
      prediction tools from the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource. A total
      of 159 subjects, including 61 patients with pulmonary TB, 38 patients with no TB
      and 55 healthy donors, were recruited and analyzed with an enzyme-linked
      immunospot (ELISpot) assay. The ELISpot assay using Rv2351c to detect TB
      infection, as compared with bacteriological tests as the gold standard, had a
      sensitivity and specificity of 61.4% (35/57) and 91.4% (85/93), respectively. The
      ELISpot assay using Rv2351c had a good conformance (kappa=0.554) as compared with
      the bacteriological test. Rv2351c also elicited a potent cellular immune response
      with a high expression of cytokines (IFN-gamma (4978+/-596.7 MUg/mL) and IL-4
      (68.3+/-15.5 MUg/mL)) and a potent humoral immune response with a high
      concentration of IgG (1:2.2 * 106), IgG1 (1:4.5 * 105) and IgG2a (1:1.6 * 106) in
      immunized BALB/c mice. In addition, the ratio of IgG2a/IgG1 indicated that
      Rv2351c induced cellular immunity in the mice. The results of this study
      indicated that Rv2351c is an antigen with good immunogenicity that may
      potentially be used to develop diagnostic techniques and new TB vaccines.

PMID- 28588288
TI  - T-cell-dependent mechanisms promote Ebola VLP-induced antibody responses, but are
      dispensable for vaccine-mediated protection.
AB  - Humoral responses are essential for the protective efficacy of most Ebola virus
      (EBOV) candidate vaccines; however, the in vivo development of protective anti
      EBOV B-cell responses is poorly defined. Here, by using the virus-like particle
      (VLP) as a model antigen, we demonstrate that humoral responses are generated
      through follicular B-cell and T-cell-dependent mechanisms in a mouse model of
      EBOV infection. In addition, we show that the inclusion of the clinical-grade
      dsRNA adjuvant known as poly-ICLC in VLP vaccinations both augments and sustains
      germinal center B-cell reactions, antigen-specific B-cell frequencies and anti
      EBOV serum titers. Finally, we used mice that were deficient in either B-cells or
      T-cell-dependent antibody production to distinguish the contributing roles of
      EBOV humoral responses. We demonstrate that while anti-EBOV antibody responses
      promote protection, VLP-vaccinated mice can survive EBOV infection in the absence
      of detectable anti-EBOV antibodies. Moreover, we found that adjuvant signaling
      could circumvent the complete requirement for B-cell immunity in protection
      against EBOV. Collectively, these studies may prove valuable for the
      characterization and future development of additional EBOV vaccine candidates.

PMID- 28588289
TI  - West Nile virus infection in suspected febrile typhoid cases in Xinjiang, China.

PMID- 28588290
TI  - Comparative epidemiology of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS
      CoV) in Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
AB  - MERS-CoV infection emerged in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2012 and has
      spread to 26 countries. However, 80% of all cases have occurred in KSA. The
      largest outbreak outside KSA occurred in South Korea (SK) in 2015. In this
      report, we describe an epidemiological comparison of the two outbreaks. Data from
      1299 cases in KSA (2012-2015) and 186 cases in SK (2015) were collected from
      publicly available resources, including FluTrackers, the World Health
      Organization (WHO) outbreak news and the Saudi MOH (MOH). Descriptive analysis, t
      tests, Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression were conducted to compare
      demographic and other characteristics (comorbidity, contact history) of cases by
      nationality. Epidemic curves of the outbreaks were generated. The mean age of
      cases was 51 years in KSA and 54 years in SK. Older males (?70 years) were more
      likely to be infected or to die from MERS-CoV infection, and males exhibited
      increased rates of comorbidity in both countries. The epidemic pattern in KSA was
      more complex, with animal-to-human, human-to-human, nosocomial and unknown
      exposure, whereas the outbreak in SK was more clearly nosocomial. Of the 1186
      MERS cases in KSA with reported risk factors, 158 (13.3%) cases were hospital
      associated compared with 175 (94.1%) in SK, and an increased proportion of cases
      with unknown exposure risk was found in KSA (710, 59.9%). In a globally connected
      world, travel is a risk factor for emerging infections, and health systems in all
      countries should implement better triage systems for potential imported cases of
      MERS-CoV to prevent large epidemics.

PMID- 28588292
TI  - Recombinant feline parvovirus infection of immunized tigers in central China.

PMID- 28588291
TI  - Seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies against adenovirus type 14 and 55 in
      healthy adults in Southern China.
AB  - Re-emerging human adenovirus types 14 (Ad14) and 55 (Ad55) have caused severe
      respiratory diseases and even deaths during recent outbreaks. However, the
      seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) in healthy adults, which may
      reflect previous circulation and help to predict potential outbreaks, remains
      unclear. In this study, we established micro-neutralizing (MN) assays on the
      basis of recombinant Ad14 and Ad55 reporter viruses, and we investigated serum
      nAbs in healthy blood donors from Southern China. We found that the overall
      seropositive rates were 24.8% and 22.4% for Ad14 and Ad55 nAbs, respectively. The
      seropositive rates were low in individuals younger than 20, and they gradually
      increased with age. Ad55-seropositive individuals tended to have high nAb titers
      (>1000), while low (72-200) and moderate (201-1000) nAb levels were frequently
      observed in Ad14-seropositive ones. Surprisingly, the seropositive rates and nAb
      levels were associated with the blood type but not the gender of the blood
      donors, with type AB individuals displaying higher seropositive rates and nAb
      levels. Interestingly, a significant positive correlation was observed between
      Ad14 and Ad55 seroprevalence, and higher titers of nAbs were detected in double
      positive individuals compared to single-positive ones. These results clarified
      the human humoral immune responses against Ad14 and Ad55 and revealed a low level
      of herd immunity in some subpopulations, which emphasized the importance of
      monitoring these two highly virulent adenoviruses and reinforced the development
      of prophylactic vaccines.

PMID- 28588293
TI  - Human infections with novel reassortant H5N6 avian influenza viruses in China.

PMID- 28588294
TI  - Predictors of seropositivity for human herpesvirus type 8 in patients with mild
      cirrhosis.
AB  - The high seroprevalence of human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) in moderate or severe
      cirrhotics appears to be associated with male sex, hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      infection, alcoholism, and disease severity. The status of HHV-8 infection in
      mild cirrhotics remains unclear. Plasma samples collected from 93 mild cirrhotics
      and 93 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were analyzed for HHV-8 antibody and
      HHV-8 DNA. Mild cirrhotics had higher seropositivity for HHV-8 antibodies than
      healthy controls (P=0.0001). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed
      that an age >=55 years (odds ratio (OR) 2.88, P=0.02), hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      infection (OR 3.42, P=0.01), and hepatitis activity (OR 4.10, P=0.004) were
      associated with HHV-8 seropositivity in cirrhotics. Stepwise multivariate
      logistic regression analysis confirmed that age >=55 years (adjusted OR (aOR)
      1.92, P=0.04) and hepatitis activity (aOR 3.55, P=0.005) were independent
      factors. The rate of hepatitis activity was higher in HCV-infected than in HBV
      infected patients (P<0.0001) and in women than in men (P=0.0001). Cirrhotics who
      were seropositive for HHV-8 or HCV or had hepatitis activity were significantly
      older (P=0.02, <0.0001 and <0.0001, respectively). Plasma samples from all
      participants were negative for HHV-8 DNA. HHV-8 antibody titers in mild
      cirrhotics also markedly exceeded those in controls (P<0.0001), as did those in
      patients >=55 years old vs. younger patients (P=0.01), those in patients with vs.
      without HCV infection (P=0.0008), and those in patients with vs. without
      hepatitis activity (P=0.0005). Mild cirrhotics had high HHV-8 seroprevalence and
      HCV infection, and, in particular, old age and hepatitis activity were
      predictors.

PMID- 28588295
TI  - Cell fiber-based three-dimensional culture system for highly efficient expansion
      of human induced pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - Human pluripotent stem cells are a potentially powerful cellular resource for
      application in regenerative medicine. Because such applications require large
      numbers of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cells, a scalable culture system
      of human pluripotent stem cell needs to be developed. Several suspension culture
      systems for human pluripotent stem cell expansion exist; however, it is difficult
      to control the thickness of cell aggregations in these systems, leading to
      increased cell death likely caused by limited diffusion of gases and nutrients
      into the aggregations. Here, we describe a scalable culture system using the cell
      fiber technology for the expansion of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
      The cells were encapsulated and cultured within the core region of core-shell
      hydrogel microfibers, resulting in the formation of rod-shaped or fiber-shaped
      cell aggregations with sustained thickness and high viability. By encapsulating
      the cells with type I collagen, we demonstrated a long-term culture of the cells
      by serial passaging at a high expansion rate (14-fold in four days) while
      retaining its pluripotency. Therefore, our culture system could be used for large
      scale expansion of human pluripotent stem cells for use in regenerative medicine.

PMID- 28588296
TI  - PCDH18 is frequently inactivated by promoter methylation in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Protocadherin18 (PCDH18) was found to be preferentially methylated and
      inactivated in colorectal cancer (CRC) using bioinformatics tools. However, its
      biologic role in tumorgenesis remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to elucidate its
      epigenetic regulation and biological functions in CRC. The methylation status of
      PCDH18 was significant higher in CRC tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues
      (median, 15.17% vs. median, 0.4438%). Expression level of PCDH18 was
      significantly lower in primary CRCs than in nonmalignant tissues. Importantly,
      methylation status of PCDH18 in cell-free DNA of CRC patients was also
      significantly higher than in healthy subjects. PCDH18 was readily expressed in
      NCM460 cells, but downregulated in 100% (4/4) of CRC cell lines by promoter
      methylation, despite its expression could be restored through demethylation
      treatment. Overexpression of PCDH18 suppressed CRC cell viability, colony
      formation and migration. Meanwhile, the depletion of PCDH18 by siRNA in NCM460
      cells enhanced the colonogenicity and migration ability and promoted beta-catenin
      nuclear accumulation, whereas it inhibited cell cycle arrest. These effects were
      associated with upregulation of phospho-GSK-3beta and cyclin D1, and
      downregulation of caspase3 and p21. Our results suggested that PCDH18 was a
      putative tumor suppressor with epigenetic silencing in CRC and a potential
      biomarker for CRC diagnosis.

PMID- 28588298
TI  - Statistical study of ductility-dip cracking induced plastic deformation in
      polycrystalline laser 3D printed Ni-based superalloy.
AB  - Ductility-dip cracking in Ni-based superalloy, resulting from heat treatment, is
      known to cause disastrous failure, but its mechanism is still not completely
      clear. A statistical study of the cracking behavior as a function of crystal
      orientation in a laser 3D-printed DL125L Ni-based superalloy polycrystal is
      investigated here using the synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction. The dislocation
      slip system in each of the forty crystal grains adjacent to the 300 MUm long
      crack has been analyzed through Laue diffraction peak shapes. In all these
      grains, edge-type geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) dominate, and their
      dislocation line directions are almost parallel to the crack plane. Based on
      Schmid's law, the equivalent uniaxial tensile force direction is revealed normal
      to the trace of the crack. A qualitative mechanism is thus proposed. Thermal
      tensile stress perpendicular to the laser scanning direction is elevated due to a
      significant temperature gradient, and thus locations in the materials where the
      thermal stress exceeds the yield stress undergo plastic deformation mediated by
      GND activations. As the dislocations slip inside the crystal grains and pile up
      at the grain boundaries, local strain/stress keeps increasing, until the
      materials in these regions fail to sustain further deformation, leading to voids
      formation and cracks propagation.

PMID- 28588297
TI  - Targeted Patching and Dendritic Ca2+ Imaging in Nonhuman Primate Brain in vivo.
AB  - Nonhuman primates provide an important model not only for understanding human
      brain but also for translational research in neurological and psychiatric
      disorders. However, many high-resolution techniques for recording neural activity
      in vivo that were initially established for rodents have not been yet applied to
      the nonhuman primate brain. Here, we introduce a combination of two-photon
      targeted patching and dendritic Ca2+ imaging to the neocortex of adult common
      marmoset, an invaluable primate model for neuroscience research. Using targeted
      patching, we show both spontaneous and sensory-evoked intracellular dynamics of
      visually identified neurons in the marmoset cortex. Using two-photon Ca2+ imaging
      and intracellular pharmacological manipulation, we report both action-potential
      associated global and synaptically-evoked NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor
      mediated local Ca2+ signals in dendrites and spines of the superficial-layer
      cortical neurons. Therefore, we demonstrate the presence of synaptic Ca2+ signals
      in neuronal dendrites in living nonhuman primates. This work represents a proof
      of-principle for exploring the primate brain functions in vivo by monitoring
      neural activity and morphology at a subcellular resolution.

PMID- 28588299
TI  - Protective effect of rosiglitazone on kidney function in high-fat challenged
      human-CRP transgenic mice: a possible role for adiponectin and miR-21?
AB  - Obesity-related albuminuria is associated with decline of kidney function and is
      considered a first sign of diabetic nephropathy. Suggested factors linking
      obesity to kidney dysfunction include low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance
      and adipokine dysregulation. Here, we investigated the effects of two
      pharmacological compounds with established anti-inflammatory properties,
      rosiglitazone and rosuvastatin, on kidney dysfunction during high-fat diet (HFD)
      induced obesity. For this, human CRP transgenic mice were fed standard chow, a
      lard-based HFD, HFD+rosuvastatin or HFD+rosiglitazone for 42 weeks to study
      effects on insulin resistance; plasma inflammatory markers and adipokines; and
      renal pathology. Rosiglitazone but not rosuvastatin prevented HFD-induced
      albuminuria and renal fibrosis and inflammation. Also, rosiglitazone prevented
      HFD-induced KIM-1 expression, while levels were doubled with rosuvastatin. This
      was mirrored by miR-21 expression, which plays a role in fibrosis and is
      associated with renal dysfunction. Plasma insulin did not correlate with
      albuminuria. Only rosiglitazone increased circulating adiponectin concentrations.
      In all, HFD-induced albuminuria, and renal inflammation, injury and fibrosis is
      prevented by rosiglitazone but not by rosuvastatin. These beneficial effects of
      rosiglitazone are linked to lowered miR-21 expression but not connected with the
      selectively enhanced plasma adiponectin levels observed in rosiglitazone-treated
      animals.

PMID- 28588300
TI  - Pre-RC Protein MCM7 depletion promotes mitotic exit by Inhibiting CDK1 activity.
AB  - MCM7, a subunit of mini-chromosome maintenance proteins (MCM) complex, plays an
      important role in initiating DNA replication during the G1 phase and extending
      DNA strands during the S phase. Here, we demonstrated that MCM7 is not only
      sustained but maintains association with chromatin during M phase. Remarkably,
      MCM7 siRNA can accelerate mitotic exit. MCM7 depletion leads to CDK1 inactivation
      and promotes subsequent cohesin/RAD21 cleavage, which eventually leads to sister
      chromatin segregation. Moreover, MCM7 is co-localized with tubulin in the mitotic
      cells and MCM7 depletion results in aberrant mitosis. Our results indicate that
      MCM7 may exert certain functions on spindle formation to prevent cytokinesis
      during early mitosis by regulating CDK1 activity.

PMID- 28588301
TI  - Protective effects of gingerol on streptozotocin-induced sporadic Alzheimer's
      disease: emphasis on inhibition of beta-amyloid, COX-2, alpha-, beta - secretases
      and APH1a.
AB  - Gingerol is a major dietary compound that occurs in several plants belonging to
      the Zingiberaceae family. In the current study, the protective effect of gingerol
      on STZ-induced sporadic Alzheimer's disease (SAD) was determined. Gingerol was
      isolated from the seeds of Aframomum melegueta K. Schum and tested at doses of 10
      and 20 mg/kgbwt for its possible effect on the SAD model in mice, using celecoxib
      (30 mg/kg bwt) as a reference standard. The curative effects of gingerol were
      assessed through measurement of beta-amyloid (Abeta-42), alpha-, beta-
      secretases, APH1a and COX-2 levels. In addition, improvement in the cognitive
      deficit in mice after treatment was confirmed using the water maze and Y-maze
      with intra-maze cues. Gingerol improved the cognitive and behavioral impairment
      and AD-like pathology in streptozotocin model mice. These beneficial effects
      occurred with an increase in alpha-secretase activity and a decrease in cerebral
      Abeta-42, beta- secretase, APH1a activity and COX-2-linked neuro-inflammation.

PMID- 28588302
TI  - Spectral comb of highly chirped pulses generated via cascaded FWM of two
      frequency-shifted dissipative solitons.
AB  - Dissipative solitons generated in normal-dispersion mode-locked lasers are stable
      localized coherent structures with a mostly linear frequency modulation (chirp).
      The soliton energy in fiber lasers is limited by the Raman effect, but
      implementation of the intracavity feedback at the Stokes-shifted wavelength
      enables synchronous generation of a coherent Raman dissipative soliton. Here we
      demonstrate a new approach for generating chirped pulses at new wavelengths by
      mixing in a highly-nonlinear fiber of these two frequency-shifted dissipative
      solitons, as well as cascaded generation of their clones forming in the spectral
      domain a comb of highly chirped pulses. We observed up to eight equidistant
      components in the interval of more than 300 nm, which demonstrate compressibility
      from ~10 ps to ~300 fs. This approach, being different from traditional frequency
      combs, can inspire new developments in fundamental science and applications such
      as few-cycle/arbitrary-waveform pulse synthesis, comb spectroscopy, coherent
      communications and bio-imaging.

PMID- 28588303
TI  - Critical dynamics of endogenous fluctuations predict cognitive flexibility in the
      Go/NoGo task.
AB  - Fluctuations with power-law scaling and long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs)
      are characteristic to human psychophysical performance. Systems operating in a
      critical state exhibit such LRTCs, but phenomenologically similar fluctuations
      and LRTCs may also be caused by slow decay of the system's memory without the
      system being critical. Theoretically, criticality endows the system with the
      greatest representational capacity and flexibility in state transitions. Without
      criticality, however, slowly decaying system memory would predict inflexibility.
      We addressed these contrasting predictions of the 'criticality' and 'long-memory'
      candidate mechanisms of human behavioral LRTCs by using a Go/NoGo task wherein
      the commission errors constitute a measure of cognitive flexibility. Response
      time (RT) fluctuations in this task exhibited power-law frequency scaling,
      autocorrelations, and LRTCs. We show here that the LRTC scaling exponents,
      quantifying the strength of long-range correlations, were negatively correlated
      with the commission error rates. Strong LRTCs hence parallel optimal cognitive
      flexibility and, in line with the criticality hypothesis, indicate a functionally
      advantageous state. This conclusion was corroborated by a positive correlation
      between the LRTC scaling exponents and executive functions measured with the Rey
      Osterrieth Complex Figure test. Our results hence support the notion that LRTCs
      arise from critical dynamics that is functionally significant for human cognitive
      performance.

PMID- 28588304
TI  - Plasma FGF21 levels in obese patients undergoing energy-restricted diets or
      bariatric surgery: a marker of metabolic stress?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been suggested to be an
      endocrine signal of nutritional status and an active regulator of metabolism.
      However, there is no agreement on the effect of weight-loss therapies on
      circulating levels of FGF21 in humans. OBJECTIVE: To assess FGF21 circulating
      levels in adiposity excess and after different weight-loss strategies prescribed
      in five different groups from four independent centers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      Body composition, ketosis, insulin sensitivity and FGF21 were evaluated in 181
      excess body weight and 14 normal-weight subjects. From the excess body weight
      patients, two independent groups (discovery cohort; n=20 and validation cohort;
      n=28) undertook a very low-calorie ketogenic (VLCK) diet, a third group followed
      a low-calorie (LC) diet (n=84) and other two groups underwent bariatric surgery
      (discovery cohort; n=24 and validation cohort; n=25). The follow-up was 4 to 6 or
      12 months, respectively. RESULTS: FGF21 levels were higher in excess body weight
      patients than in normal-weight subjects. The energy-restriction therapy to lose
      weight induced a significant decrease, with respect to baseline, in circulating
      levels of FGF21 (VLCK: -62.5 pg ml-1 or -14.8 pg ml-1 and LC diet: -67.9 pg ml
      1). There were no differences in FGF21 levels between both energy-restriction
      treatments. On the contrary, after bariatric surgery morbidly obese patients
      showed a significant increase in FGF21, especially 1 month after surgery (148.8
      pg ml-1 higher than baseline). The FGF21 differential changes occur concomitantly
      with a non-induced ketosis situation (0.66+/-0.56 mm) in bariatric surgery, and
      an improvement in adiposity and insulin sensitivity induced by the three
      therapies. CONCLUSIONS: FGF21 levels were reduced after energy-restricted
      treatments and severely increased after bariatric surgery, independently of the
      weight reduction magnitude, insulin sensitivity or ketosis. Therefore, FGF21
      appears to be a marker of severe nutritional stress.

PMID- 28588305
TI  - Chronic maternal inflammation or high-fat-feeding programs offspring obesity in a
      sex-dependent manner.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The current world-wide obesity epidemic partially results
      from a vicious circle whereby maternal obesity during pregnancy predisposes the
      offspring for accelerated weight gain and development of metabolic syndrome. Here
      we investigate whether low-grade inflammation, characteristic of the obese state,
      provides a causal role for this disastrous fetal programming in mice. METHODS: We
      exposed pregnant and lactating C57BL/6JBom female mice to either high-fat diet
      (HFD), or continuous infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a potent trigger of
      innate immunity, and studied offspring phenotypes. RESULTS: Both maternal LPS or
      HFD treatments rendered the offspring hyperphagic and inept of coping with a HFD
      challenge during adulthood, increasing their adiposity and weight gain. The
      metabolic effects were more pronounced in female offspring, while exposed male
      offspring mounted a larger inflammatory response to HFD at adulthood.
      CONCLUSIONS: This supports our hypothesis and highlights the programming
      potential of inflammation in obese pregnancies.

PMID- 28588307
TI  - Irisin prevents and restores bone loss and muscle atrophy in hind-limb suspended
      mice.
AB  - We previously showed that Irisin, a myokine released from skeletal muscle after
      physical exercise, plays a central role in the control of bone mass. Here we
      report that treatment with recombinant Irisin prevented bone loss in hind-limb
      suspended mice when administered during suspension (preventive protocol) and
      induced recovery of bone mass when mice were injected after bone loss due to a
      suspension period of 4 weeks (curative protocol). MicroCT analysis of femurs
      showed that r-Irisin preserved both cortical and trabecular bone mineral density,
      and prevented a dramatic decrease of the trabecular bone volume fraction.
      Moreover, r-Irisin protected against muscle mass decline in the hind-limb
      suspended mice, and maintained the fiber cross-sectional area. Notably, the
      decrease of myosin type II expression in unloaded mice was completely prevented
      by r-Irisin administration. Our data reveal for the first time that Irisin
      retrieves disuse-induced bone loss and muscle atrophy. These findings may lead to
      development of an Irisin-based therapy for elderly immobile osteoporotic and
      physically disable patients, and might represent a countermeasure for astronauts
      subjected to microgravity-induced bone and muscle losses.

PMID- 28588306
TI  - Metabolomics allows the discrimination of the pathophysiological relevance of
      hyperinsulinism in obese prepubertal children.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Insulin resistance (IR) is the cornerstone of the obesity
      associated metabolic derangements observed in obese children. Targeted
      metabolomics was employed to explore the pathophysiological relevance of
      hyperinsulinemia in childhood obesity in order to identify biomarkers of IR with
      potential clinical application. SUBJECTS/METHODS: One hundred prepubertal obese
      children (50 girls/50 boys, 50% IR and 50% non-IR in each group), underwent an
      oral glucose tolerance test for usual carbohydrate and lipid metabolism
      determinations. Fasting serum leptin, total and high molecular weight-adiponectin
      and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured and the
      metabolites showing significant differences between IR and non-IR groups in a
      previous metabolomics study were quantified. Enrichment of metabolic pathways
      (quantitative enrichment analysis) and the correlations between lipid and
      carbohydrate metabolism parameters, adipokines and serum metabolites were
      investigated, with their discriminatory capacity being evaluated by receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-three metabolite sets
      were enriched in the serum metabolome of IR obese children (P<0.05, false
      discovery rate (FDR)<5%). The urea cycle, alanine metabolism and glucose-alanine
      cycle were the most significantly enriched pathways (PFDR<0.00005). The high
      correlation between metabolites related to fatty acid oxidation and amino acids
      (mainly branched chain and aromatic amino acids) pointed to the possible
      contribution of mitochondrial dysfunction in IR. The degree of body mass index
      standard deviation score (BMI-SDS) excess did not correlate with any of the
      metabolomic components studied. In the ROC analysis, the combination of leptin
      and alanine showed a high IR discrimination value in the whole cohort (area under
      curve, AUCALL=0.87), as well as in boys (AUCM=0.84) and girls (AUCF=0.91) when
      considered separately. However, the specific metabolite/adipokine combinations
      with highest sensitivity were different between the sexes. CONCLUSIONS: Combined
      sets of metabolic, adipokine and metabolomic parameters can identify
      pathophysiological relevant IR in a single fasting sample, suggesting a potential
      application of metabolomic analysis in clinical practice to better identify
      children at risk without using invasive protocols.

PMID- 28588308
TI  - A Four-Biomarker Blood Signature Discriminates Systemic Inflammation Due to Viral
      Infection Versus Other Etiologies.
AB  - The innate immune system of humans and other mammals responds to pathogen
      associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are conserved across broad classes of
      infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses. We hypothesized that a blood
      based transcriptional signature could be discovered indicating a host systemic
      response to viral infection. Previous work identified host transcriptional
      signatures to individual viruses including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus
      and dengue, but the generality of these signatures across all viral infection
      types has not been established. Based on 44 publicly available datasets and two
      clinical studies of our own design, we discovered and validated a four-gene
      expression signature in whole blood, indicative of a general host systemic
      response to many types of viral infection. The signature's genes are: Interferon
      Stimulated Gene 15 (ISG15), Interleukin 16 (IL16), 2',5'-Oligoadenylate
      Synthetase Like (OASL), and Adhesion G Protein Coupled Receptor E5 (ADGRE5). In
      each of 13 validation datasets encompassing human, macaque, chimpanzee, pig,
      mouse, rat and all seven Baltimore virus classification groups, the signature
      provides statistically significant (p < 0.05) discrimination between viral and
      non-viral conditions. The signature may have clinical utility for differentiating
      host systemic inflammation (SI) due to viral versus bacterial or non-infectious
      causes.

PMID- 28588309
TI  - Alteration of the gut microbiota in Chinese population with chronic kidney
      disease.
AB  - We evaluated differences in the compositions of faecal microbiota between 52 end
      stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and 60 healthy controls in southern China
      using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and high-throughput
      sequencing (16S ribosomal RNA V4-6 region) methods. The absolute quantification
      of total bacteria was significantly reduced in ESRD patients (p < 0.01). In three
      enterotypes, Prevotella was enriched in the healthy group whereas Bacteroides
      were prevalent in the ESRD group (LDA score > 4.5). 11 bacterial taxa were
      significantly overrepresented in samples from ESRD and 22 bacterial taxa were
      overrepresented in samples from healthy controls. The butyrate producing
      bacteria, Roseburia, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, Coprococcus and Prevotella
      were reduced in the ESRD group (LDA values > 2.0). Canonical correspondence
      analysis (CCA) indicated that Cystatin C (CysC), creatinine and eGFR appeared to
      be the most important environmental parameters to influence the overall microbial
      communities. In qPCR analysis, The butyrate producing species Roseburia spp.,
      Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Prevotella and Universal bacteria, were negatively
      related to CRP and CysC. Total bacteria in faeces were reduced in patients with
      ESRD compared to that in healthy individuals. The enterotypes change from
      Prevotella to Bacteroides in ESRD patients. The gut microbiota was associated
      with the inflammatory state and renal function of chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 28588311
TI  - Low frequency of NS5A relevant resistance-associated substitutions to Elbasvir
      among hepatitis C virus genotype 1a in Spain: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - Relevant resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) to elbasvir, the new HCV NS5A
      inhibitor, may limit its efficacy and lead to virological failure in HCV-GT1a
      infected patients. There are few data outside clinical trials evaluating their
      prevalence and impact of elbasvir/grazoprevir. A multicenter cross-sectional
      study of 617 HCV-GT1a-infected individuals attended in 84 Spanish hospitals from
      the 17 Autonomous Communities and two Autonomous cities was performed. HCV
      population sequencing was used to identify RASs to elbasvir and the mutational
      pattern and drug sensitivity were confirmed by geno2pheno[HCV]. Viruses bearing
      RASs to elbasvir were present in 6.2% of HCV-GT1a infected patients. The most
      common RASs were the Y93C/H/N and Q30E/H/R (2.4% and 2.3%; respectively). Only
      3.4% of patients had viruses with RASs that confer reduced susceptibility to
      elbasvir by geno2pheno[HCV] that identified exclusively the positions Q30H/R (n =
      7) and Y93C/H/N (n = 8) as single mutations and Q30H + Y93H (n = 4) and Q30R +
      Y93H (n = 2) as double mutations considered as RASs to elbasvir. Lower prevalence
      of RASs to elbasvir in our HCV-GT1a-Spanish cohort was observed than reported
      previously in clinical trials. This information may be essential to guiding the
      implementation of elbasvir/grazoprevir in Spain, expected at the beginning of
      2017 and the management of GT1a-infected patients.

PMID- 28588310
TI  - The development of fluorescent protein tracing vectors for multicolor imaging of
      clinically isolated Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Recent advances in fluorescent protein technology provide a wide variety of
      biological imaging applications; however current tools for bio-imaging in the
      Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus has necessitated further
      developments for fluorescence intensity and for a multicolor palette of
      fluorescent proteins. To enhance the expression of multicolor fluorescent
      proteins in clinical S. aureus strains, we developed new fluorescent protein
      expression vectors, containing the blaZ/sodp promoter consisting of the beta
      lactamase gene (blaZ) promoter and the ribosome binding site (RBS) of superoxide
      dismutase gene (sod). We found S. aureus-adapted GFP (GFPsa) driven by the
      blaZ/sodp promoter was highly expressed in the S. aureus laboratory strain
      RN4220, but not in the clinical strains, MW2 and N315, harboring the endogenous
      blaI gene, a repressor of the blaZ gene promoter. We therefore constructed a
      constitutively induced blaZ/sodp promoter (blaZ/sodp(Con)) by introducing
      substitution mutations into the BlaI binding motif, and this modification allowed
      enhanced expression of the multicolor GFP variants (GFPsa, EGFP, mEmerald,
      Citrine, Cerulean, and BFP) as well as codon-optimized reef coral fluorescent
      proteins (mCherry and AmCyan) in the S. aureus clinical strains. These new
      fluorescent probes provide new tools to enhance expression of multicolor
      fluorescent proteins and facilitate clear visualization of clinical S. aureus
      strains.

PMID- 28588312
TI  - Light generated bubble for microparticle propulsion.
AB  - Light activated motion of micron-sized particles with effective forces in the
      range of micro-Newtons is hereby proposed and demonstrated. Our investigation
      shows that this exceptional amount of force results from accumulation of light
      generated heat by a micron-sized particle that translates into motion due to a
      phase transition in the nearby water. High-speed imagery indicates the role of
      bubble expansion and later collapse in this event. Comparing observations with
      known models reveals a dynamic behavior controlled by polytropic trapped vapor
      and the inertia of the surrounding liquid. The potential of the proposed approach
      is demonstrated by realization of disordered optical media with binary light
      activated switching from opacity to high transparency.

PMID- 28588315
TI  - Psychosocial correlates of apparent treatment-resistant hypertension in the
      Jackson Heart Study.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/jhh.2016.100.

PMID- 28588314
TI  - Frequency of GNAS R201H substitution mutation in polyostotic fibrous dysplasia:
      Pyrosequencing analysis in tissue samples with or without decalcification.
AB  - Guanine nucleotide-binding protein/alpha-subunit (GNAS) mutations are involved in
      fibrous dysplasia (FD) pathogenesis. Here, we analyzed GNAS mutations in FD which
      were performed by pyrosequencing DNA isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin
      embedded (FFPE) tissue. The mutation detection rate was determined in FD
      specimens with and without decalcification. GNAS mutation was identified in 28
      cases out of 87 FDs (32.18%) [p.R201C (N = 14) and p.R201H (N = 14)]. GNAS
      mutation was more likely to occur in polyostotic FD (7/28, 25.0%); FD without
      GNAS mutation was mostly monostotic form (56/59, 94.9%, P = 0.011). The G > A
      (R201H) mutation was more frequent in polyostotic FD (6/14 patients, 42.9%) than
      the C > T (R201C) mutation (1/14, 7.1%) (P = 0.077). We divided the FD cases into
      two subgroups: tissue specimens that were not decalcified (N = 35, 40.2%), and
      tissue specimens that were decalcified (N = 52, 59.8%). GNAS mutation was more
      frequently identified in FD specimens that were not subjected to decalcification
      (23/35, 65.7%) than in FD specimens that were decalcified (5/52, 9.6%) (P =
      0.001). In conclusion, mutation analysis of GNAS by pyrosequencing has diagnostic
      value in FFPE tissue of patients with FD, especially in specimens that were not
      decalcified. The R201H substitution mutation of GNAS may be involved in the
      pathogenesis of polyostotic FD.

PMID- 28588313
TI  - Insoluble (1 -> 3), (1 -> 4)-beta-D-glucan is a component of cell walls in brown
      algae (Phaeophyceae) and is masked by alginates in tissues.
AB  - Brown algae are photosynthetic multicellular marine organisms. They belong to the
      phylum of Stramenopiles, which are not closely related to land plants and green
      algae. Brown algae share common evolutionary features with other photosynthetic
      and multicellular organisms, including a carbohydrate-rich cell-wall. Brown algal
      cell walls are composed predominantly of the polyanionic polysaccharides
      alginates and fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides. These polymers are
      prevalent over neutral and crystalline components, which are believed to be
      mostly, if not exclusively, cellulose. In an attempt to better understand brown
      algal cell walls, we performed an extensive glycan array analysis of a wide range
      of brown algal species. Here we provide the first demonstration that mixed
      linkage (1 -> 3), (1 -> 4)-beta-D-glucan (MLG) is common in brown algal cell
      walls. Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography analyses indicate that MLG in
      brown algae solely consists of trisaccharide units of contiguous (1 -> 4)-beta
      linked glucose residues joined by (1 -> 3)-beta-linkages. This regular
      conformation may allow long stretches of the molecule to align and to form well
      structured microfibrils. At the tissue level, immunofluorescence studies indicate
      that MLG epitopes in brown algae are unmasked by a pre-treatment with alginate
      lyases to remove alginates. These findings are further discussed in terms of the
      origin and evolution of MLG in the Stramenopile lineage.

PMID- 28588316
TI  - Renin-angiotensin blockade in atrial fibrillation: where are we now?

PMID- 28588317
TI  - A Pilot Study of 18F-Alfatide PET/CT Imaging for Detecting Lymph Node Metastases
      in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Angiogenesis plays a key role in tumor development and alphavbeta3 integrin are
      overexpressed on the endothelial cell surface of newly forming vessels. 18F
      Alfatide has favorable properties for alphavbeta3 integrin targeting and showed
      potential for imaging angiogenesis with Positron Emission Tomography
      (PET)/computed tomography (CT). In this study, 13 patients with non-small cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent 18F-Alfatide PET/CT before surgery were
      enrolled. The uptake of all dissected lymph nodes (LNs) of 18F-Alfatide were
      assessed visually and analyzed with a maximum and mean standard uptake value
      (SUVmax, SUVmean) and SUV ratios. LN metastases were pathologically confirmed and
      20 of 196 LNs were malignant. All malignant LNs were successfully visualized on
      18F-Alfatide PET/CT in patients and the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy was
      100.0%, 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. SUVmax, SUVmean and SUV ratios in
      malignant LNs were significantly higher than in benign LNs for NSCLC patients (P
      < 0.001). The same result was observed in patients with adenocarcinoma and
      squamous cell carcinoma (P < 0.001). The 18F-Alfatide parameter shows high
      sensitivity (83.9-100%), specificity (78.6-96.7%) and accuracy (81.7-96.9%)
      according to thresholds calculated from receiver operating characteristic curve.
      Our results suggest that 18F-Alfatide PET/CT is valuable in the diagnosis of
      metastatic LNs for NSCLC patients.

PMID- 28588318
TI  - Inhibition of autophagy prevents cadmium-induced prostate carcinogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cadmium, an established carcinogen, is a risk factor for prostate
      cancer. Induction of autophagy is a prerequisite for cadmium-induced
      transformation and metastasis. The ability of Psoralidin (Pso), a non-toxic,
      orally bioavailable compound to inhibit cadmium-induced autophagy to prevent
      prostate cancer was investigated. METHODS: Psoralidin was studied using cadmium
      transformed prostate epithelial cells (CTPE), which exhibit high proliferative,
      invasive and colony forming abilities. Gene and protein expression were evaluated
      by qPCR, western blot, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Xenograft
      models were used to study the chemopreventive effects in vivo. RESULTS: Cadmium
      transformed prostate epithelial cells were treated with Pso resulting in growth
      inhibition, without causing toxicity to normal prostate epithelial cells (RWPE
      1). Psoralidin-treatment of CTPE cells inhibited the expression of Placenta
      Specific 8, a lysosomal protein essential for autophagosome and autolysosome
      fusion, which resulted in growth inhibition. Additionally, Pso treatment caused
      decreased expression of pro-survival signalling proteins, NFkappaB and Bcl2, and
      increased expression of apoptotic genes. In vivo, Pso effectively suppressed CTPE
      xenografts growth, without any observable toxicity. Tumours from Pso-treated
      animals showed decreased autophagic morphology, mesenchymal markers expression
      and increased epithelial protein expression. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm
      that inhibition of autophagy by Pso plays an important role in the
      chemoprevention of cadmium-induced prostate carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28588319
TI  - Subcutaneous adiposity is an independent predictor of mortality in cancer
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prognostic significance of adiposity, at the time of cancer
      diagnosis, on survival is not clear. Body mass index (kg m-2) does not provide an
      appropriate assessment of body composition; therefore, the concept of the
      'obesity paradox' needs to be investigated based on the prognostic significance
      of fat and muscle. Independent prognostic significance of adipose tissue in
      predicting mortality, importance of visceral and subcutaneous adiposity in the
      presence and absence of sarcopenia on survival, was investigated. METHODS:
      Adiposity markers including total adipose index (TATI), visceral adipose tissue
      index (VATI) and subcutaneous adipose tissue index (SATI) were estimated for 1473
      gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer patients and 273 metastatic renal cell
      carcinoma patients using computed tomography. Univariate and multivariate
      analysis to determine mortality hazard ratios (HR) were conducted using cox
      proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Low SATI (SATI <50.0 cm2 m-2 in males and
      <42.0 cm2 m-2 in females) independently associated with increased mortality (HR:
      1.26; 95% CI: 1.11-1.43; P<0.001) and shorter survival (13.1 months; 95% CI, 11.4
      14.7) compared to patients with high SATI (19.3 months; 95% CI, 17.6-21.0;
      P<0.001). In the presence of sarcopenia, the longest survival was observed in
      patients with high subcutaneous adiposity. CONCLUSIONS: Subcutaneous adipose
      tissues appear to associate with reduction in mortality risk demonstrating the
      prognostic importance of fat distribution. The effect of sarcopenia on survival
      was more pronounced in patients with low subcutaneous adiposity.

PMID- 28588320
TI  - The influence of timing of radiation therapy following breast-conserving surgery
      on 10-year disease-free survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Dutch guidelines advise to start radiation therapy (RT) within 5
      weeks following breast-conserving surgery (BCS). However, much controversy exists
      regarding timing of RT. This study investigated its effect on 10-year disease
      free survival (DFS) in a Dutch population-based cohort. METHODS: All women
      diagnosed with primary invasive stage I-IIIA breast cancer in 2003 treated with
      BCS+RT were included. Two populations were studied. Population 1 excluded
      patients receiving chemotherapy before RT. Analyses were stratified for use of
      adjuvant systemic therapy (AST). Population 2 included patients treated with
      chemotherapy, and compared chemotherapy before (BCS-chemotherapy-RT) and after RT
      (BCS-RT-chemotherapy). DFS was estimated using multivariable Cox regression.
      Locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), distant metastasis-free survival
      (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) were secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Population 1
      (n=2759) showed better DFS and DMFS for a time interval of >55 than a time
      interval of <42 days. Patients treated with AST showed higher DFS for >55 days
      (hazards ratio (HR) 0.60 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38-0.94)) and 42-55
      days (HR 0.64 (95% CI: 0.45-0.91)) than <42 days. Results were similar for DMFS,
      while timing did not affect LRRFS and OS. For patients without AST, timing was
      not associated with DFS, DMFS and LLRFS, but 10-year OS was significantly lower
      for 42-55 and >55 days compared to <42 days. In population 2 (n=1120), timing did
      not affect survival in BCS-chemotherapy-RT. In BCS-RT-chemotherapy, DMFS was
      higher for >55 than <42 days. CONCLUSIONS: Starting RT shortly after BCS seems
      not to be associated with a better long-term outcome. The common position that RT
      should start as soon as possible following surgery in order to increase treatment
      efficacy can be questioned.

PMID- 28588321
TI  - MicroRNA-199b-5p attenuates TGF-beta1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates that N-cadherin is a cell adhesion
      molecule that has critical roles in tumour progression. However, the role of N
      cadherin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial. METHODS: This
      study aims to investigate the expression status of N-cadherin and its molecular
      mechanisms in HCC. RESULTS: The expression of N-cadherin was markedly
      overexpressed in HCC tissues and cell lines. We identified that miR-199b-5p binds
      to the 3'-UTR of N-cadherin mRNA, thus decreasing N-cadherin expression in HCC
      cells. We also found the downregulation of miR-199b-5p in HCC specimens, which
      was inversely correlated with N-cadherin upregulation, predicted poor clinical
      outcomes in HCC patients. Next, we determined that miR-199b-5p overexpression
      promoted cell aggregation, suppressed cell migration and invasion in HCC cells,
      and inhibited xenografts tumour metastasis in nude mice. Moreover, we
      demonstrated that miR-199b-5p attenuated TGF-beta1 induced epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT) -associated traits, while its effects could be partially
      reversed by N-cadherin restoration. Finally, we examined that N-cadherin
      downregulation or miR-199b-5p overexpression suppressed TGF-beta1-induced Akt
      phosphorylation, and inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway blocked TGF-beta1-induced N
      cadherin overexpression in HCC cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that N
      Cadherin was markedly overexpressed and miR-199b-5p was significantly
      downregulated in HCC. MiR-199b-5p exerts inhibitory effects on EMT, and directly
      targets N-cadherin in HCC, supporting the potential utility of miR-199b-5p as a
      promising strategy to treat HCC. Also, a positive regulatory loop exists between
      N-cadherin and Akt signalling represents a novel mechanism of TGF-beta1-mediated
      EMT in HCC cells.

PMID- 28588324
TI  - Raw food diets for pets.

PMID- 28588323
TI  - Impact of body mass index on ovarian cancer survival varies by stage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research on the effect of body mass index (BMI) on ovarian cancer
      survival is inconsistent, but previous studies did not consider the possible
      impact of ascites, bowel obstruction, or cachexia, which commonly occur in late
      stage disease. METHODS: We evaluated the association of BMI, before and around
      the time of diagnosis, with overall and disease-specific survival in a cohort
      study of primary invasive epithelial ovarian cancers diagnosed from 2000 to 2013
      in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) (n=1184). Deaths were identified
      through December 2014, with a median follow-up of 37 months. Proportional hazards
      regression was used to estimate overall and ovarian cancer-specific mortality,
      accounting for prognostic variables including age at diagnosis, race, stage,
      grade, histology, comorbidities, treatment, post-treatment CA125 levels, ascites,
      and bowel obstruction. RESULTS: There was no evidence of an association between
      BMI and overall or ovarian cancer-specific survival. However, we found strong
      effect modification by stage (Pinteraction<0.01). Compared with normal
      prediagnosis BMI (18.5-24.9 kg m-2), for women who were obese before diagnosis
      (BMI?35 kg m-2) ovarian cancer-specific survival was lower among those diagnosed
      at stages I/II (hazard ratio (HR): 3.40; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.16
      9.99), but increased among those diagnosed with stage IV disease (HR: 0.58; 95%
      CI: 0.35-0.96). Associations were attenuated after excluding those diagnosed with
      cachexia (n=82) and further adjustment for ascites and bowel obstruction, with no
      evidence of effect modification by these factors. CONCLUSIONS: Associations of
      obesity with ovarian cancer survival may differ by stage, with decreased survival
      among those with localised disease and increased survival among those with late
      stage disease. Stage-specific effects of obesity on survival suggest a tailored
      approach to improve prognosis may be appropriate.

PMID- 28588325
TI  - Ethical question of the month - June 2017.

PMID- 28588322
TI  - A phase Ib study of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced
      cancer (PembroPlus).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pembrolizumab (P) is an anti-PD-1 antibody that blocks the
      interaction between programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) on T-cells and PD-L1
      and PD-L2 on tumour cells. A phase Ib trial of P plus chemotherapy was undertaken
      to evaluate the safety and efficacy. METHODS: Patients with advanced, metastatic
      solid tumours were enrolled onto one of six treatment arms. Pembrolizumab was
      given: with gemcitabine (G), G+docetaxel (D), G+nab-paclitaxel (NP),
      G+vinorelbine (V) or irinotecan (I) until progression or toxicity, or with
      liposomal doxorubicin (LD) for up to 15 cycles, progression or toxicity. Safety
      monitoring and response assessments were conducted. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients
      were enrolled and treated. The most common adverse events were transaminitis,
      cytopenias, rash, diarrhoea, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Arm 2 was closed due
      to poor accrual. The recommended phase II dose (RP2D) was determined for Arms 1,
      3a, 4, 5 and 6. There were eight partial responses across multiple tumour types.
      CONCLUSIONS: Standard dose P can be safely combined with G, G+NP, G+V, I and LD.
      Efficacy was observed in multiple tumour types and evaluation to determine if
      response and duration of response are more robust than what would be expected for
      chemotherapy or immunotherapy alone requires further validation.

PMID- 28588326
TI  - Canine laparoscopic ovariectomy using two 3- and 5-mm portal sites: A prospective
      randomized clinical trial.
AB  - Laparoscopic ovariectomy (LapOve) was performed in 3 groups (2.7-mm/5-mm, 5-mm/3
      mm, and 5-mm telescope/5-mm bipolar forceps) of small dogs (n = 60). Surgical
      times, bleeding rates, complications, and laparoscopic visualization were
      recorded and compared among groups. Use of the 3-mm bipolar forceps significantly
      increased the surgical time and showed higher bleeding rates compared with the 5
      mm bipolar forceps. The 2.7-mm telescope significantly decreased the laparoscopic
      view. No complications were seen in any group. In conclusion, the 2.7-mm 30
      degrees  telescope or the 3-mm bipolar forceps combined with the 5-mm instruments
      could be used as an alternative technique for LapOve in dogs up to 10 kg. The 2.7
      mm telescope with the 5-mm bipolar forceps was the most efficient combination
      based on surgical time.

PMID- 28588327
TI  - Biosecurity practices and causes of enteritis on Ontario meat rabbit farms.
AB  - Infectious enterocolitis is a significant cause of mortality in meat rabbits.
      Disease risk is enhanced by intensive rearing practices and poor on-farm
      biosecurity. This investigation was undertaken in farmed meat rabbits during an
      Ontario-wide outbreak of enteritis with high mortality to determine the
      prevalence of causative agents. A survey evaluating on-farm biosecurity practices
      was also conducted to identify potential means of pathogen contamination and
      zoonotic risks. Gross and microscopic pathology evaluations combined with
      microbiologic testing were conducted on 95 rabbits over spring and winter months.
      Escherichia coli and Clostridium spiroforme were most commonly associated with
      enteritis in rabbits regardless of age or season and lesions were significantly
      more severe in mature does (P < 0.0001). The survey results demonstrated a lack
      of consistent on-farm biosecurity practices. The infectious nature of enteric
      disease of rabbits combined with poor biosecurity practices may contribute to
      disease transmission within and between farms.

PMID- 28588328
TI  - Internal fixation of fractured ribs in neonatal foals with nylon cable tie using
      a modified technique.
AB  - Nylon cable tie has been shown to be an effective and economical method for
      fixing fractured ribs in the neonatal foal. This article describes a modification
      of the previously described technique. Under general anesthesia, the fractured
      ribs were exposed and a hole was drilled in the dorsal and ventral fragments. The
      fracture was not reduced, leaving the fragments overriding each other. The nylon
      cable tie was passed through the hole in the dorsal fragment from the external
      surface of the rib. The free end of the cable tie was then passed through the
      hole in the ventral fragment from the external surface of the rib and the tie was
      tightened. This technique was used in 4 neonatal foals with no complications. The
      modification of the original technique represents a method to minimize soft
      tissue trauma, implant failure, and complications.

PMID- 28588329
TI  - Buccal feed impaction and surgical correction in captive reindeer.
AB  - An 8-year-old female captive reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) (1) was presented for
      evaluation of bilateral protrusion of the cheeks of 1-month duration. Several
      members of the herd displayed similar clinical signs. Examination revealed
      stretching and laxity of the cheek muscles and buccal food impaction. The defect
      of each cheek was surgically repaired in the field under heavy sedation and local
      anesthesia in staged procedures; no surgical complications were encountered. The
      patient recovered uneventfully and long-term prognosis is good. This report
      describes a surgical treatment for individual animals with cheek laxity and
      buccal food impaction.

PMID- 28588330
TI  - Supracutaneous plating using a locking plate for the treatment of a tibial
      fracture in a cat.
AB  - Radiographs revealed a slightly displaced long oblique diaphyseal tibial fracture
      with bone fissures running distally in a 2-year-old, 4.5 kg cat that had been hit
      by a car. An angle stable implant was applied in a supracutaneous fashion. The
      patient tolerated the external implant and had a satisfactory functional
      recovery. Radiographic follow-up after 60 days revealed sign of osseous union;
      therefore, the plate was removed.

PMID- 28588331
TI  - Presumptive primary pulmonary mast cell tumor in 2 dogs.
AB  - Two dogs were presented, each with a large solitary pulmonary mass, and cytology
      confirmed mast cell tumor (MCT) in each dog. One dog was euthanized following
      diagnosis. Thoracic computed tomography scan and exploratory thoracotomy of the
      second dog revealed a right pulmonary mass that would require a radical lung
      resection. The patient was euthanized and histopathology confirmed a poorly
      granulated MCT with characteristics suggestive of epitheliotropism, an uncommon
      finding with MCT. These represent the first reported cases of presumptive primary
      pulmonary MCT in dogs.

PMID- 28588332
TI  - Diaphragmatic hernia in a pet chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera).
AB  - A 10-year-old pet chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) was referred for ultrasound
      investigation of a thoracic mass. The mass was initially believed to be a
      pulmonary abscess or tumor based on radiographs and ultrasound. Cytological
      examination suggested the presence of a gastrointestinal structure in the thorax,
      and necropsy revealed a true diaphragmatic hernia subdividing the stomach into
      thoracic and abdominal portions.

PMID- 28588333
TI  - Bovine astrovirus infection in feedlot cattle with neurological disease in
      western Canada.
AB  - A novel bovine astrovirus (BoAstV CH13/NeuroS1) has been associated with
      encephalitis in cattle in Europe and the USA. We retrospectively analyzed feedlot
      cattle with encephalitis of unknown etiology for this virus by in-situ
      hybridization. Results suggest that BoAstV CH13/NeuroS1 is a major cause of
      encephalitis in western Canadian feedlot cattle.

PMID- 28588334
TI  - Use of a non-invasive surgical skin closure device in dogs following dorsolateral
      hemilaminectomy.
AB  - The ZipLine 16 surgical skin closure device (ZipLine 16; Zipline Medical,
      Campbell, California, USA) provides noninvasive surgical wound closure. This
      prospective study investigated its use in dogs undergoing a dorsolateral
      hemilaminectomy. Although the device produced normal appositional healing
      compared with controls, unacceptable traumatic dermatitis that is likely related
      to the device adhesive was noted after removal.

PMID- 28588335
TI  - Identification of bovine astrovirus in cases of bovine non-suppurative
      encephalitis in eastern Canada.
AB  - Bovine astrovirus (BoAstV) was identified by reverse transcriptase polymerase
      chain reaction on brain tissue of 2 feedlot cattle that died of non-suppurative
      encephalitis. Sequencing demonstrated a high degree of identity with neurotropic
      US and Swiss BoAstV strains. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report
      of BoAstV-associated encephalitis in cattle residing in eastern Canada.

PMID- 28588336
TI  - Outcomes in dogs with uncomplicated, presumptive bacterial pneumonia treated with
      short or long course antibiotics.
AB  - This is a prospective, observational investigation without a placebo arm to
      evaluate the resolution rate of pneumonia when using 14 days or less of
      antibiotic therapy compared to longer therapy in dogs. There was no significant
      difference in radiographic resolution or relapse rates between the 2 treatment
      groups.

PMID- 28588337
TI  - Intra-operative hyperthermia in a young Angus bull with a fatal outcome.
AB  - A healthy, 9-month-old black Angus bull was presented for elective penile
      preputial translocation and caudal epididymectomy. After premedication and
      induction, general anesthesia was maintained with inhalant anesthetic. Over an
      hour into the anesthetic period the bull developed severe hyperthermia and
      hypercapnia that resulted in fatality despite treatment efforts.

PMID- 28588338
TI  - Successful treatment of blastomycosis in a 7-year-old, female golden retriever
      dog on Manitoulin Island, Ontario.
AB  - A 7-year-old female golden retriever dog was presented with a 2-week history of
      coughing and inappetence. Examination, radiographs, and blood analysis showed
      classic evidence of blastomycosis, confirmed with the MVista EIA urine antigen
      test. A 2-month course of itraconazole and a course of mirtazapine, meloxicam,
      furosemide, and tetracycline resulted in a successful outcome.

PMID- 28588340
TI  - Comments on the Ethical Question of the Month: January 2017 (CVJ 2017;58:15).

PMID- 28588339
TI  - Becoming a vet; What may be in your first year.

PMID- 28588341
TI  - No-win communication.

PMID- 28588342
TI  - Cutaneous cytology and the dermatology patient.

PMID- 28588343
TI  - Mammary gland neoplasia in a Canadian mare: Challenges of diagnosis and treatment
      in a rural setting.

PMID- 28588346
TI  - A Rational Adoption of the High Sensitive Assay for Cardiac Troponin I in
      Diagnostic Routine.
AB  - We describe the adoption of high sensitive troponin I (hsTnI) in clinical
      practice in two hospital settings in Italy. Samples from 426 consecutive patients
      (mean age 68.8 +/- 17.0) admitted to the Emergency Department with a suspected
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have been tested at admittance and after 3 and 6
      hours by contemporary TnI and hsTnI. Results have been compared to the final
      clinical diagnosis. Troponin was detectable in 68.6% by TnI and 89.9% by hsTnI.
      Since hsTnI has a lower threshold for females, 38/41 patients with positive
      values only by hsTnI were women. The correlation between the assays was very high
      (r = 0.92). A diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was made in 45 cases
      (10.5%). The negative and positive predictive values for a 50% troponin variation
      at 3 hours were 95.8% and 66.7% for hsTnI and 95.0% and 52.6% for TnI and at 6
      hours 90.3% and 100% for hsTnI and 88.9% and 78.9% for TnI, respectively.
      Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated a greater
      efficiency by hsTnI at 3 hours versus 6 hours (AUC = 0.91 versus 0.72). The main
      benefits of hsTnI are the adoption of gender-specific 99th percentile and the
      shortening of time to decision.

PMID- 28588345
TI  - Neuroanatomic Variations in Graves' Dysthyroid Ophthalmopathy as Studied With
      MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether patients with Graves' dysthyroid ophthalmopathy
      (GDO) have changes in brain anatomy that can be assessed by neuroimaging as
      compared to age-matched controls. METHODS: We examined 10 female, euthyroid
      patients with GDO and 14 age and gender matched controls using high-resolution
      structural MRI scanning. An automatic cortical segmentation algorithm was used to
      estimate the thickness of each subject's gray matter across the brain. The
      resulting cortical thickness measurements were transferred to a standard
      reference space via a template-based warping procedure. A statistical analysis of
      between-group cortical thickness differences using a general linear model with a
      combination of cluster-based and bootstrapped corrections for multiple
      comparisons was performed. RESULTS: Patients with GDO have statistically
      significant thinning of the gray matter sheet in a minimum of eight locations:
      six in the right hemisphere (insula, paracentral, precuneus, superior frontal
      cingulate, superioparietal and postcentral) and two in the left hemisphere
      (lateral occipital sulcus, fusiform gyrus). Left hemisphere thinning occurred in
      portions of the occipital lobe while right hemisphere thinning occurred in a set
      of frontal and parietal areas known to be involved in self-evaluation and
      emotional and cognitive regulation. CONCLUSION: Patients with GDO exhibit
      localized changes in gray matter thickness. These changes may be associated with
      cognitive changes reported by GDO patients. Further research before and after
      treatment with larger patient cohorts and experimental protocols including
      psychiatric evaluation and functional MRI are recommended.

PMID- 28588347
TI  - Glycoprotein YKL-40 Levels in Plasma Are Associated with Fibrotic Changes on HRCT
      in Asbestos-Exposed Subjects.
AB  - YKL-40 is a chitinase-like glycoprotein produced by alternatively activated
      macrophages that are associated with wound healing and fibrosis. Asbestosis is a
      chronic asbestos-induced lung disease, in which injury of epithelial cells and
      activation of alveolar macrophages lead to enhanced collagen production and
      fibrosis. We studied if YKL-40 is related to inflammation, fibrosis, and/or lung
      function in subjects exposed to asbestosis. Venous blood samples were collected
      from 85 men with moderate or heavy occupational asbestos exposure and from 28
      healthy, age-matched controls. Levels of plasma YKL-40, CRP, IL-6, adipsin, and
      MMP-9 were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Plasma YKL-40
      levels were significantly higher in subjects with asbestosis (n = 19) than in
      those with no fibrotic findings in HRCT following asbestos exposure (n = 66) or
      in unexposed healthy controls. In asbestos-exposed subjects, plasma YKL-40
      correlated negatively with lung function capacity parameters FVC (Pearson's r 
      0.259, p = 0.018) and FEV1 (Pearson's r -0.240, p = 0.028) and positively with
      CRP (Spearman's rho 0.371, p < 0.001), IL-6 (Spearman's rho 0.314, p = 0.003),
      adipsin (Spearman's rho 0.459, p < 0.001), and MMP-9 (Spearman's rho 0.243, p =
      0.025). The present finding suggests YKL-40 as a biomarker associated with
      fibrosis and inflammation in asbestos-exposed subjects.

PMID- 28588348
TI  - Analysis of Microarray-Identified Genes and MicroRNAs Associated with Idiopathic
      Pulmonary Fibrosis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to identify potential microRNAs and genes associated
      with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) through web-available microarrays. The
      microRNA microarray dataset GSE32538 and the mRNA datasets GSE32537, GSE53845,
      and GSE10667 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.
      Differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs)/genes (DEGs) were screened with
      GEO2R, and their associations with IPF were analyzed by comprehensive
      bioinformatic analyses. A total of 45 DE-microRNAs were identified between IPF
      and control tissues, whereas 67 common DEGs were determined to exhibit the same
      expression trends in all three microarrays. Furthermore, functional analysis
      indicated that microRNAs in cancer and ECM-receptor interaction were the most
      significant pathways and were enriched by the 45 DE-miRNAs and 67 common DEGs.
      Finally, we predicted potential microRNA-target interactions between 17 DE-miRNAs
      and 17 DEGs by using at least three online programs. A microRNA-mediated
      regulatory network among the DE-miRNAs and DEGs was constructed that might shed
      new light on potential biomarkers for the prediction of IPF progression.

PMID- 28588351
TI  - Demonetized Cost of Neuroscience: Time for "Modi" Brain Fund.

PMID- 28588352
TI  - Building Genetic Database at Medical Institutes: Implement Patient Cost Audit and
      Improve Biomedical Research.

PMID- 28588349
TI  - Distinct Roles of Wnt/beta-Catenin Signaling in the Pathogenesis of Chronic
      Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
AB  - Wnt signaling pathways are tightly controlled under a physiological condition,
      under which they play key roles in many biological functions, including cell fate
      specification and tissue regeneration. Increasing lines of evidence recently
      demonstrated that a dysregulated activation of Wnt signaling, particularly the
      Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, was involved in the pathogenesis of chronic pulmonary
      diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In this respect, Wnt signaling interacts with other
      cellular signaling pathways to regulate the initiation and pathogenic procedures
      of airway inflammation and remodeling, pulmonary myofibroblast proliferation,
      epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and development of emphysema.
      Intriguingly, Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is activated in IPF; an inhibition of
      this signaling leads to an alleviation of pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in
      experimental models. Conversely, Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is inactivated in
      COPD tissues, and its reactivation results in an amelioration of airspace
      enlargement with a restored alveolar epithelial structure and function in
      emphysema models. These studies thus imply distinct mechanisms of Wnt/beta
      catenin signaling in the pathogenesis of these two chronic pulmonary diseases,
      indicating potential targets for COPD and IPF treatments. This review article
      aims to summarize the involvement and pathogenic roles of Wnt signaling pathways
      in the COPD and IPF, with a focus on the implication of Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling as underlying mechanisms and therapeutic targets in these two incurable
      diseases.

PMID- 28588350
TI  - Elevated Glucose and Interleukin-1beta Differentially Affect Retinal Microglial
      Cell Proliferation.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy is considered a neurovascular disorder, hyperglycemia being
      considered the main risk factor for this pathology. Diabetic retinopathy also
      presents features of a low-grade chronic inflammatory disease, including
      increased levels of cytokines in the retina, such as interleukin-1 beta (IL
      1beta). However, how high glucose and IL-1beta affect the different retinal cell
      types remains to be clarified. In retinal neural cell cultures, we found that IL
      1beta and IL-1RI are present in microglia, macroglia, and neurons. Exposure of
      retinal neural cell cultures to high glucose upregulated both mRNA and protein
      levels of IL-1beta. High glucose decreased microglial and macroglial cell
      proliferation, whereas IL-1beta increased their proliferation. Interestingly,
      under high glucose condition, although the number of microglial cells decreased,
      they showed a less ramified morphology, suggesting a more activated state, as
      supported by the upregulation of the levels of ED-1, a marker of microglia
      activation. In conclusion, IL-1beta might play a key role in diabetic
      retinopathy, affecting microglial and macroglial cells and ultimately
      contributing to neural changes observed in diabetic patients. Particularly, since
      IL-1beta has an important role in retinal microglia activation and proliferation
      under diabetes, limiting IL-1beta-triggered inflammatory processes may provide a
      new therapeutic strategy to prevent the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 28588353
TI  - Age-Wise Association of Carotid Intima Media Thickness in Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke is often a sequel of atherosclerotic risk factors.
      Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a surrogate marker of early
      atherosclerotic changes. PURPOSE: It was hypothesized that CIMT is associated
      with ischemic stroke in adults across all ages. METHODS: A case control study was
      performed on 163 diagnosed cases of first-time ischemic stroke and age-(+/-1 SD)
      and gender-matched healthy control attendants reporting at a tertiary care
      hospital. Data were collected on atherosclerotic risk factors for ischemic
      stroke. CIMT from both the carotids was measured using carotid vascular Doppler.
      The demographic profile and CIMT with atherosclerotic risk factors of cases and
      controls across different age groups were compared using unpaired t test if they
      passed the test of normality, else the Mann-Whitney test was used. OR for
      vascular risk factors for the development of stroke was calculated. The
      relationship of CIMT to atherosclerotic risk factors was analyzed by using
      Spearman correlation and regression analysis. The level of significance was set
      at 0.05. RESULTS: Age-specific value of CIMT was significantly higher in stroke
      cases than in age-matched controls across all age groups. Right CIMT, along with
      the history of hypertension (HTN; OR 2.3), are important risk factors for
      ischemic stroke in the younger age group (20-40 years). With increasing age along
      with the history of HTN and right CIMT (OR >7), presence of plaque (OR 6.3) and
      daily smoking (OR 5.1) are also significant risk factors. CIMT is significantly
      related to the daily alcohol and smoking intake and the presence of plaques.
      Right CIMT is positively related to increasing age in normal population (R2 =
      0.041; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Right CIMT and comorbid HTN are significant risk
      factors associated with the development of ischemic stroke across all adult age
      groups.

PMID- 28588354
TI  - Pax6 Binds to Promoter Sequence Elements Associated with Immunological
      Surveillance and Energy Homeostasis in Brain of Aging Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients having mutations of Pax6 bear phenotypes that match age
      associated neurological disorders. Mutations affect most cellular functions such
      as cell division, growth, differentiation, and cell death in brain, eyes,
      pituitary, pineal, and pancreas. The progressive reduction in the level of Pax6
      during aging has also been observed. However, information about downstream
      targets of Pax6 in brain is unclear. Therefore, it is presumed that age-dependent
      alterations of Pax6 may also affect cascades of promoter sequence recognition in
      brain during aging. PURPOSE: This study is aimed at studying the interaction of
      Pax6 with DNA sequence elements to explore alteration in gene targets and
      transcription networks of Pax6 in brain during aging. METHODS: Chromatin
      immunoprecipitation with anti-Pax6 using tissue extracts of brain from newborn,
      young, adult, and old mice was done. Pulled DNA from brain was analysed by gene
      specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Amplified PCR products were sequenced
      and analyzed. RESULTS: Age-associated alterations in binding to genetic sequence
      elements by Pax6 were observed. Promoter analysis predicts genes involved in
      neuronal survival (Bdnf, Sparc), specificity of astrocyte (S100beta, Gfap), cell
      proliferation (Pcna), inflammation and immune response (interferon-gamma, tumour
      necrosis factor-alpha), management of oxidative stress (Sod, Cat), and hypoxia
      (Ldh). CONCLUSION: The Pax6 either directly or indirectly binds to promoter
      sequences of genes essential for immunological surveillance and energy metabolism
      in brain that alters during aging.

PMID- 28588355
TI  - Gene Expression Analysis in Rat Pancreas Observed with Whole-Transcript Exon
      Array after Ventromedial Hypothalamic Lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It was reported previously that using Affymetrix Rat Genome 230 2.0,
      one of a class of standard 3' based arrays, ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH)
      lesions affected the expressions of cell proliferation-related genes, neuron
      related genes, and metabolism-related genes. The released Affymetrix Rat Gene 1.0
      ST array has 2 major differences compared with standard 3' based arrays,
      including Rat Genome 230 2.0: it interrogates the entire mRNA transcript and uses
      DNA targets. PURPOSE: This study is aimed at assessing the impact of these
      differences on the array performance. METHODS: The study used Rat Gene 1.0 ST
      array, one of a class of whole-transcript rat exon arrays to examine the cellular
      mechanisms of gene regulation in the rat pancreas after VMH lesions. RESULTS:
      Although the results showed that VMH lesions regulated genes involved in enzymes,
      metabolism, transport, binding differentiation, migration, morphology, apoptosis,
      neuron and immunity, the probes identified by these 2 arrays were remarkably
      different. CONCLUSION: This study also confirmed that VMH lesions may affect the
      expression of many functional genes in rat pancreas.

PMID- 28588357
TI  - Manesar Declaration for Integrative Medicine.

PMID- 28588359
TI  - Homecoming.

PMID- 28588358
TI  - Marchiafava-Bignami's Disease, as Etiologic Diagnosis of Athetosis.
AB  - The Marchiafava-Bignami disease, characterized by demyelination and necrosis of
      the corpus callosum, has typically been associated with chronic alcohol intake,
      and clinically has various symptoms and signs. However, several cases have been
      reported without alcohol association, and these - according to several
      publications - have some common points, such as preference for female, related to
      malnutrition, and radiological involvement of the splenium of the corpus
      callosum. We report a case of a patient with the characteristics described above
      and whose clinical manifestation was Athetosis. The authors associate this
      manifestation with the somatotopic distribution of the corpus callosum, and
      contribute to the etiologic diagnosis of Athetosis as a manifestation of the
      Marchiafava-Bignami disease, which has not been reported in the medical
      literature according to our review of the database.

PMID- 28588360
TI  - Arrow of Time or Providence Divine? An Amusing But Thought Provoking Poem on
      Relative Positioning of Primary Motor and Sensory Cortices of Human Brain.

PMID- 28588356
TI  - Molecular Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease: An Update.
AB  - Dementia is a chronic or progressive syndrome, characterized by impaired
      cognitive capacity beyond what could be considered a consequence of normal aging.
      It affects the memory, thinking process, orientation, comprehension, calculation,
      learning ability, language, and judgment; although awareness is usually
      unaffected. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia;
      symptoms include memory loss, difficulty solving problems, disorientation in time
      and space, among others. The disease was first described in 1906 at a conference
      in Tubingen, Germany by Alois Alzheimer. One hundred and ten years since its
      first documentation, many aspects of the pathophysiology of AD have been
      discovered and understood, however gaps of knowledge continue to exist. This
      literature review summarizes the main underlying neurobiological mechanisms in
      AD, including the theory with emphasis on amyloid peptide, cholinergic
      hypothesis, glutamatergic neurotransmission, the role of tau protein, and the
      involvement of oxidative stress and calcium.

PMID- 28588361
TI  - Caffeine and Cannabis Effects on Vital Neurotransmitters and Enzymes in the Brain
      Tissue of Juvenile Experimental Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caffeine and cannabis are globally consumed and abused psychoactive
      substances. While caffeine is legally used in various forms, including in tea and
      coffee as beverages, it is also consumed in soda and energy drinks as additives.
      Cannabis, on the other hand, is considered illegal in most countries; albeit, it
      is being consumed globally particularly by adolescents. PURPOSE: The adolescent
      stage marks a critical stage of brain development and maturation. Influences of
      agents on the brain at this stage may affect neuronal structural and functional
      attributes. To this end, the current experiment considered the effects of
      cannabis and caffeine on selected key neurotransmitters and enzymes in the brain
      tissues after regimented caffeine and cannabis treatment for 21 days. METHODS: A
      total of 72 juvenile Wistar rats that were approximately 40 days old were divided
      into 6 groups A-F. The group A served as the control. Other groups were
      administered various dosages of caffeine or cannabis in distilled water, using
      oral gavages as follows: group B animals received 100 mg/kg body weight of
      caffeine, group C animals received 50 mg/kg body weight of caffeine, group D
      animals received 500 mg/kg body weight of cannabis, group E animals received 200
      mg/kg body weight of cannabis, and group F received a low dose of cannabis (200
      mg/kg body weight) plus a low dose of caffeine (50 mg/kg body weight). The
      animals were killed by cervical dislocation 24 h after the last administration.
      The brain tissues were excised and homogenized. The enzymes cytochrome C oxidase
      and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were assayed to observe tissue energy
      metabolism while the neurotransmitters gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA),
      glutamate, and dopamine were assayed to observe the effects of the psychoactive
      substances on their activities relative to mental activities. RESULTS: GABA,
      glutamate, and dopamine were generally higher in the treated groups of animals.
      The levels of G-6-PDH were higher in all treated animals' brains. Caffeine
      produced quite more significant effects relative to cannabis and the combination
      of both increased the level of G-6-PDH significantly. CONCLUSION: Results showed
      that caffeine and cannabis influenced the activities of the enzymes and
      neurotransmitters in the brain. Both stimulants altered brain chemistry relative
      to the tested enzymes and neurotransmitters.

PMID- 28588363
TI  - Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent Functional MRI of Early Evidences of Brain
      Plasticity after Hemodialysis Session by Helixone Membrane of Patients with
      Indices of Adrenal Deficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various alterations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function
      have been described in patients with chronic renal failure. Nevertheless,
      controversial evidences were stated about the association between adrenal
      function deficiency (AD) and hemodialysis (HD). PURPOSE: The goal of this paper
      was to estimate indirect indices of the adrenal gland dysfunction which is
      potentially influenced by oxidative stress (OS) that still generates brain
      plasticity and reorganization of the functional control. METHODS: Two male
      patients undergoing HD by the synthetic Helixone membrane for more than 6 months
      at the HD Center of the University Hospital of Fez, Fez, Morocco, were recruited.
      They underwent identical assessment immediately before and after the full HD
      session; this consisted of a blood ionogram revealing rates of sodium and
      calcium, and brain blood oxygenation level-dependent functional MRI (BOLD-fMRI)
      using a motor paradigm in block design. RESULTS: The blood ionogram revealed
      hypercalcemia and hyponatremia in both patients. Both biological assessment and
      BOLD-fMRI study results revealed a high level of OS that induced activation of a
      significantly large brain volume area suggesting the occurrence of possible brain
      plasticity and functional control reorganization induced by free radicals and
      enhanced by AD. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of brain plasticity and functional
      control reorganization was demonstrated in both patients studied who were
      undergoing HD by BOLD-fMRI with a notable sensitivity; this plasticity is induced
      by elevated OS occasioned by HD technique itself and probably amplified by AD.
      Similar results were found in a previous study performed on the same patients
      undergoing HD by a polysulfone membrane.

PMID- 28588362
TI  - Folic Acid Modulates Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Expression, Alleviates
      Neuropathic Pain, and Improves Functional Recovery in Spinal Cord-Injured Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The molecular underpinnings of spinal cord injury (SCI) associated
      with neuropathic pain (NP) are unknown. Recent studies have demonstrated that
      matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) such as MMP2 play a critical role in inducing NP
      following SCI. Promoter methylation of MMPs is known to suppress their
      transcription and reduce NP. In this context, it has been shown in rodents that
      folic acid (FA), an FDA approved dietary supplement and key methyl donor in the
      central nervous system (CNS), increases axonal regeneration and repair of injured
      CNS in part via methylation. PURPOSE: Based on above observations, in this study,
      we test whether FA could decrease MMP2 expression and thereby decrease SCI
      induced NP. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 250-270 g received
      contusion spinal cord injuries (cSCIs) with a custom spinal cord impactor device
      that drops a 10 g weight from a height of 12.5 mm. The injured rats received
      either i.p. injections of FA (80 ug/kg) or water (control) 3 days prior and 17
      days post-cSCI (mid phase) or for 3 days pre-cSCI and 14 days post-cSCI ending on
      the 42nd day of cSCI (late phase). The functional neurological deficits due to
      cSCI were then assessed by Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scores either on
      post-impaction days 0 through 18 post-cSCI (mid phase) or on days 0, 2, 7, 14,
      21, 28, 35, and 42 (late phase). Baseline measurements were taken the day before
      starting treatments. Thermal hyperalgesia (TH) testing for pain was performed on
      4 days pre-cSCI (baseline data) and on days 18, 21, 28, 35, and 42 post-cSCI.
      Following TH testing, animals were euthanized and spinal cords harvested for MMP
      2 expression analysis. RESULT: The FA-treated groups showed higher BBB scores
      during mid phase (day 18) and in late phase (day 42) of injury compared to
      controls, suggesting enhanced functional recovery. There is a transient decline
      in TH in animals from the FA-treated group compared to controls when tested on
      days 18, 21, 28, and 35, indicative of a decrease in NP. However, when tested 25
      days after stopping FA administration on day 42 of cSCI, no significant
      difference in TH was observed between FA-treated and control animals. Western
      blot analysis of the injured spinal cord from FA-treated animals showed
      significant decline in MMP2 expression compared to spinal cord samples from water
      treated controls. CONCLUSION: Together, these data suggest that FA could
      alleviate NP and improve functional recovery post-SCI, possibly by reducing the
      expression of MMP2. Further studies will open up a novel and easy natural
      therapy, ideal for clinical translation with minimal side effects, for managing
      SCI-induced NP. Such studies might also throw light on a possible epigenetic
      mechanism in FA-induced recovery after SCI.

PMID- 28588364
TI  - Extinction of Contextual Fear with Timed Exposure to Enriched Environment: A
      Differential Effect.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extinction of fear memory depends on the environmental and emotional
      cues. Furthermore, consolidation of extinction is also dependent on the
      environmental exposure. But, the relationship of the time of the exposure to a
      variety of environmental cues is not well known. The important region involved in
      facilitation of extinction of fear memory is through diversion of the flow of
      information leaving the lateral nucleus of amygdala. PURPOSE: The study aimed to
      address a question to explain how these brain regions react to environmental
      stimulation during the retention and extinction of fear memory. METHODS: An
      enriched environment (EE) is assumed to mediate extinction of fear memory, we
      examined the apparent discrepancy between the effects of defensive response, the
      freezing behavior induced by Pavlovian classical fear conditioning by subjecting
      them to variance in the timing to EE. The different timing of EE exposure was 10
      days of EE either before fear conditioning and/or after extinction training to
      the rats. The local field potentials was recorded from CA1 hippocampus, lateral
      nucleus of amygdala and infralimbic region of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
      during the fear learning and extinction from the control rats and rats exposed to
      EE before and after fear conditioning. RESULTS: Exposure to EE before the fear
      conditioning and after extinction training was more effective in the extinction
      fear memory. In addition, we also found switching from exploratory locomotion to
      freezing during retention of contextual fear memory which was associated with
      decreased theta power and reduced synchronized theta oscillations in CA1
      hippocampus, lateral nucleus of amygdala, and infralimbic region of mPFC.
      CONCLUSION: Thus, we propose that the timing of exposure to EE play a key role in
      the extinction of fear memory.

PMID- 28588365
TI  - Prevalence and Trends in the Neuropsychological Burden of Patients having
      Intracranial Tumors with Respect to Neurosurgical Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The burden of neuropsychological symptoms evidenced by behavioral
      changes among patients with intracranial tumors has not been studied in detail.
      PURPOSE: This study was conducted to prospectively assess the neuropsychological
      symptoms in patients with intracranial tumors undergoing treatment. METHODS: A
      longitudinal study was conducted using purposive sampling to assess the
      neuropsychological symptoms in conscious and consenting patients with
      intracranial tumors who were availing treatment from a tertiary care center.
      Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), which identifies 12 behavioral
      disturbances, was assessed at baseline, and later at 1 month and 6 months after
      treatment, and scored as symptom severity as well as symptom scores. RESULTS:
      Among the 34 patients studied, all had experienced at least one
      neuropsychological symptom. The commonest neuropsychological symptoms at baseline
      were anxiety (82%), agitation (75%), irritability (74%), depression (74%), and
      sleep disturbances (70%). The neuropsychiatric symptom and severity scores were
      5.84 (SD +/-2.7) and 11.8 (+/-7.1) at baseline, which reduced significantly to
      4.3 (+/-3.1) and 5.6 (+/-3.2) at 1 month, and further to 2.3 (+/-2.9) and 3.6 (+/
      3.2) at 6 months, respectively. The neuropsychological symptoms persistent at 6
      months were anxiety (33%), depression (33%), sleep disturbances (33%), agitation
      (25%), irritability (25%), and disinhibition (25%). CONCLUSION: There is
      substantial neuropsychological burden among patients with intracranial tumors.
      The severity score improved immediately after surgery, while the symptom score
      improved gradually. The variable spectrum of improvement in neuropsychological
      symptoms at 6 months after surgical treatment needs further consideration.
      Addressing these symptoms should be one of the long-term goals of the neuro
      oncology teams.

PMID- 28588367
TI  - Neuroscience Symposium and Workshop on SAAPCON-2016, Nepal.
AB  - Physiological Society of Nepal, with support from the South Asian Association of
      Physiologists (SAAP), organized the 5th Biennial Conference of the South Asian
      Association of Physiologists in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Conference of
      Physiological Society of Nepal. The purpose of this conference is to bring the
      scientists, researchers, and students from the South Asian countries in one
      platform to share and discuss the recent advances and achievements in the field
      of physiology. Since physiology is the backbone of medical science which deals
      with the functions of the human body, the theme of the conference was given as
      "Redefining health in nature." Giving the emphasis on this theme, the conference
      was organized on November 10-14, 2016, in Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal.
      A total of 300 participants from 15 countries including the South Asian
      Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Non-SAARC countries participated
      in the conference. The scientific program of main conference, which ran for 2
      days, was divided into 7 symposia - neuroscience, cardiopulmonary physiology,
      cellular and integrative physiology, health and lifestyle, role of physiology and
      medical education, endocrine and reproductive physiology, and high altitude and
      respiratory physiology - to highlight the latest progresses made in the field of
      physiology around the globe. Neuroscience symposium held on the second day
      consisted of 7 advance lectures and 3 young scientist presentations and poster
      session. Post-conference workshop on system neuroscience was held in BP Koirala
      Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.

PMID- 28588368
TI  - Two Cases of Esophageal Injury Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion:
      One Overt and One Covert.
AB  - Esophageal perforation is a dreaded complication of anterior cervical spinal
      surgery. A 52-year-old diabetic man had undergone a surgery for a C6-C7 disc
      prolapse and developed spiking fever with chills and rigor on the 7th
      postoperative day. No cause could be found out but a CT scan of thorax done in
      the course of investigations revealed pneumomediastimum. The patient succumbed on
      the 10th day after surgery. Autopsy revealed the cause of death to be
      mediastinitis following iatrogenic esophageal perforation. A second patient, 53
      years of age, following surgery for C5-C6 disc prolapse and developed intractable
      dysphagia. Later, fever and purulent discharge from the wound prompted an MRI
      showing prevertebral collection extending to the superior mediastinum. Presuming
      only wound infection, debridement and implant removal was done. However
      persistent serous discharge from the wound revealed an esophageal injury. Late
      diagnosis precluded primary repair. With conservative treatment, the fistula
      finally closed after 42 days. Postoperative dysphagia, a common complaint
      following surgery, may not always be present in cases of esophageal injury. A
      high index of suspicion is required for diagnosing and initiating treatment for
      esophageal perforation before complications set in.

PMID- 28588370
TI  - About Melinda D. Maryniuk, MEd, RD, CDE, FADA: Guest Editor, Perspectives on Meal
      Planning.

PMID- 28588369
TI  - From Pyramids to Plates to Patterns: Perspectives on Meal Planning.

PMID- 28588366
TI  - Neurocognitive Effect of Nootropic Drug Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) in Alzheimer's
      Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the
      elderly. The rapid increase in its incidence has necessitated development of
      newer drugs. Ayurvedic herbal medications are increasingly researched due to
      their biosafety profile and usefulness in cognitive impairment. In this article,
      we critically reviewed one such Medhya Rasayana (nootropic drug) Brahmi-derived
      from extract of Bacopa monnieri (EBm). Studies have shown that EBm promotes free
      radical scavenger mechanisms and protects cells in prefrontal cortex,
      hippocampus, and striatum against cytotoxicity and DNA damage implicated in AD.
      It also reduces lipoxygenase activity reducing lipid peroxidation, increases
      glutathione peroxidase and chelates iron. Administration of EBm was seen to
      protect the cholinergic neurons and reduce anticholinesterase activity comparable
      to donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine. It also reduces hippocampal beta
      amyloid deposition and stress-induced hippocampal damage. The neuroprotective
      effect of EBm is also due to nitric oxide-mediated cerebral vasodilation. EBm
      improved the total memory score and maximum improvement was seen in logical
      memory and paired associate learning in humans and reversed phenytoin-induced
      memory impairment in experimental model. EBm has not shown any serious clinical,
      neurological, hematological complications, or vital organs damage in experimental
      studies. Rats showed marked reduction in fertility; however, libido was
      unaffected. There is no experimental evidence of genotoxicity or teratogenesis by
      use of EBm. Mild nausea and gastrointestinal upset are seen in humans. Brahmi
      promises to be a novel agent in AD; however, further human trials are recommended
      to verify the efficacy and rule out any side effects as evidenced by the
      experimental models.

PMID- 28588371
TI  - Mediterranean Eating Pattern.
AB  - IN BRIEF The Mediterranean-style eating pattern (MEP) has long been touted as a
      healthful way of eating. However, the health benefits of the eating pattern and
      key elements contributing to those benefits are still being researched. In people
      with type 2 diabetes, the majority of studies report that the MEP improves
      glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors. In people at risk for diabetes,
      the majority of studies report a protective effect of the MEP against the
      development of type 2 diabetes. Although more research is needed to determine
      whether study results can be achieved outside the Mediterranean geographical
      region, and especially in the United States, the high-quality individual foods
      and combinations of foods included in the MEP can be recommended as a healthful
      eating approach.

PMID- 28588372
TI  - DASH Eating Plan: An Eating Pattern for Diabetes Management.
AB  - IN BRIEF The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan is an
      acceptable eating pattern for people who have diabetes. In addition to promoting
      blood pressure control, this eating pattern has been shown to improve insulin
      resistance, hyperlipidemia, and even overweight/obesity. This balanced approach
      promotes consumption of a variety of foods (whole grains, fat-free or low-fat
      dairy products, fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish, and nuts) and is appropriate
      for the entire family.

PMID- 28588374
TI  - Mindful Eating With Diabetes.
AB  - IN BRIEF This article provides a description of mindfulness and mindful eating
      and addresses the application of mindful eating as a component of diabetes self
      management education. Mindful eating helps individuals cultivate awareness of
      both internal and external triggers to eating, interrupt automatic eating, and
      eat in response to the natural physiological cues of hunger and satiety. Mindful
      eating interventions have been effective in facilitating improvement in
      dysregulated eating and dietary patterns. Through practice over time, eating
      mindfully can interrupt habitual eating behaviors and provide greater regulation
      of food choice. More research is needed to determine the long-term impact of
      mindful eating programs.

PMID- 28588373
TI  - Vegetarian Diets in the Prevention and Management of Diabetes and Its
      Complications.
AB  - IN BRIEF Epidemiological studies have found a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes
      among vegetarians compared to nonvegetarians. This reduced risk is likely a
      function of improved weight status, higher intake of dietary fiber, and the
      absence of animal protein and heme iron in the diet. Interventional studies have
      shown that vegetarian diets, especially a vegan diet, are effective tools in
      glycemic control and that these diets control plasma glucose to a greater level
      than do control diets, including diets traditionally recommended for patients
      with diabetes (e.g., diets based on carbohydrate counting). Vegetarian diets are
      associated with improvement in secondary outcomes such as weight reduction, serum
      lipid profile, and blood pressure. Studies indicate that vegetarian diets can be
      universally used in type 2 diabetes prevention and as tools to improve blood
      glucose management.

PMID- 28588375
TI  - Insights From the National Diabetes Education Program National Diabetes Survey:
      Opportunities for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support.
AB  - IN BRIEF Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) provides the
      foundation to help people with diabetes (PWD) navigate the numerous self
      management decisions and complex care activities they face daily and has been
      shown to improve outcomes. Without DSMES, PWD often lack the skills and knowledge
      necessary to handle the demands of managing this chronic disease. Understanding
      self-management behaviors and responses to DSMES is essential for improving DSMES
      processes and diabetes outcomes. This article provides the most recent findings
      from questions regarding self-management behaviors and DSMES practices obtained
      through the National Diabetes Education Program National Diabetes Survey.
      Insights and gaps in self-management behaviors and DSMES delivery are examined to
      identify challenges and offer opportunities for improvement.

PMID- 28588376
TI  - Phosphate Additive Avoidance in Chronic Kidney Disease.
AB  - IN BRIEF Dietary guidelines for patients with diabetes extend beyond glycemic
      management to include recommendations for mitigating chronic disease risk. This
      review summarizes the literature suggesting that excess dietary phosphorus intake
      may increase the risk of skeletal and cardiovascular disease in patients who are
      in the early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) despite having normal serum
      phosphorus concentrations. It explores strategies for limiting dietary
      phosphorus, emphasizing that food additives, as a major source of highly
      bioavailable dietary phosphorus, may be a suitable target. Although the evidence
      for restricting phosphorus-based food additives in early CKD is limited, diabetes
      clinicians should monitor ongoing research aimed at assessing its efficacy.

PMID- 28588377
TI  - Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: Romantic Relationships and Implications for
      Well-Being.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study goal was to examine whether young adults with type 1
      diabetes involve romantic partners in their illness, and, if so, how their
      involvement is related to relationship quality and psychological well-being.
      METHODS: A total of 68 people (mean age 25.5 years, [SD 3.7 years]) with type 1
      diabetes (mean diabetes duration 6 years, [SD 6.7]) involved in a romantic
      relationship (mean relationship duration 25 months, [SD 27 months]) completed
      phone interviews. Communal coping (shared illness appraisal and collaborative
      problem-solving), partner supportive and unsupportive behavior, relationship
      quality, and psychological well-being were assessed with standardized measures.
      The study was partly descriptive in identifying the extent of communal coping and
      specific supportive and unsupportive behaviors and partly correlational in
      connecting communal coping and supportive or unsupportive behaviors to
      relationship quality and psychological well-being. RESULTS: Descriptive findings
      showed that partners were somewhat involved in diabetes, but communal coping was
      less common compared to other chronically ill populations. The most common
      partner supportive behaviors were emotional and instrumental support. The most
      common partner unsupportive behavior was worry about diabetes. Correlational
      results showed that communal coping was related to greater partner emotional and
      instrumental support, but also to greater partner overprotective and controlling
      behaviors (P <0.01 for all). Communal coping was unrelated to relationship
      quality or psychological distress. Partner overinvolvement in diabetes management
      had a mixed relation to outcomes, whereas partner underinvolvement was uniformly
      related to poor outcomes. CONCLUSION: People with type 1 diabetes may benefit
      from increased partner involvement in illness. This could be facilitated by
      health care professionals.

PMID- 28588378
TI  - The Gluten-Free Diet: Fad or Necessity?

PMID- 28588379
TI  - Interactive Video Telehealth Models to Improve Access to Diabetes Specialty Care
      and Education in the Rural Setting: A Systematic Review.

PMID- 28588381
TI  - Oxygen Therapy and Ventilatory Support.

PMID- 28588380
TI  - A Review of the Efficacy and Safety of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors:
      A Focus on Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

PMID- 28588382
TI  - County Smoke-Free Laws and Asthma Discharges: Evidence from 17 US States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although approximately 82 percent of the US population was covered by
      some form of law that restricted smoking in public establishments as of 2014,
      most research examining the relationship between smoke-free laws and health has
      been focused at the state level. PURPOSE: To examine the effect of county
      workplace smoke-free laws over and above the effect of other (restaurant or bar)
      smoke-free laws on adult asthma. METHODS: The study estimated the effect of rates
      of adult asthma discharges before and after the implementation of county
      nonhospitality workplace smoke-free laws and county restaurant and bar smoke-free
      laws. Data were from 2002 to 2009, and all analyses were performed in 2011
      through 2013. RESULTS: A statistically significant relationship (-5.43, p < .05)
      was found between county restaurant or bar smoke-free laws and reductions in
      working age adult asthma discharges. There was no statistically significant
      effect of nonhospitality workplace smoke-free laws over and above the effect of
      county restaurant or bar laws. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that further
      gains in preventable asthma-related hospitalizations in the US are more likely to
      be made by focusing on smoke-free laws in bars or restaurants rather than in
      nonhospitality workplaces.

PMID- 28588383
TI  - Comparison of Different Disease-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life
      Measurements in Patients with Long-Term Noninvasive Ventilation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two disease-specific questionnaires have been developed to assess
      health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with chronic respiratory
      failure: the Severe Respiratory Insufficiency (SRI) Questionnaire and the Maugeri
      Respiratory Failure (MRF) Questionnaire. We aimed to compare the characteristics
      of the SRI, MRF-26, and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) for use in
      patients with home noninvasive ventilation (NIV). METHODS: Fifty-six outpatients
      receiving long-term NIV were recruited and underwent assessments of pulmonary
      function, arterial blood gas, HRQL, dyspnea, and psychological status. RESULTS:
      Correlations of the SRI and MRF-26 with the SGRQ were modest. While pulmonary
      function was weakly related to only some domains of the SRI and MRF-26, the
      modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale and Hospital Anxiety and
      Depression Scale (HADS) were significantly related to all domains of the SRI and
      MRF-26. Multiple regression analyses showed that HADS depression and mMRC
      accounted for 34% and 27% of the variance in the SRI, 24% and 37% in the MRF-26,
      and 17% and 46% in the SGRQ, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The SRI and MRF-26 were
      reliable questionnaires for patients receiving long-term NIV. Dyspnea and
      psychological status were their main common determinants. The SRI covers more
      psychological health impairments than the MRF. This trial is registered with
      ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00905476.

PMID- 28588384
TI  - SNP-based association analysis for seedling traits in durum wheat (Triticum
      turgidum L. durum (Desf.)).
AB  - In the present study, 150 accessions of worldwide originated durum wheat
      germplasm (Triticum turgidum spp. durum) were observed for major seedling traits
      and their growth. The accessions were evaluated for major seedling traits under
      controlled conditions of hydroponics at the 13th, 20th, 27th and 34th day-after
      germination. Biomass traits were measured at the 34th day-after germination.
      Correlation analysis was conducted among the seedling traits and three field
      traits at maturity, plant height, grain weight and 1000-grain weight observed in
      four consecutive years. Associations of the measured seedling traits and SNP
      markers were analyzed based on the mixed linear model (MLM). The results
      indicated that highly significant genetic variation and robust heritability were
      found for the seedling and field mature traits. In total, 259 significant
      associations were detected for all the traits and four growth stages. The
      phenotypic variation explained (R2) by a single SNP marker is higher than 10% for
      most (84%) of the significant SNP markers. Forty-six SNP markers associated with
      multiple traits, indicating non-neglectable pleiotropy in seedling stage. The
      associated SNP markers could be helpful for genetic analysis of seedling traits,
      and marker-assisted breeding of new wheat varieties with strong seedling vigor.

PMID- 28588385
TI  - Linkage mapping of Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) resistance gene in
      soybean.
AB  - Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus (MYMIV) is one of the most prevalent pathogen
      that limits soybean production in India. In this study RILs derived from JS335,
      dominant but MYMIV susceptible variety and PI171443, donor of MYMIV resistance
      gene in most of the MYMIV resistant varieties released in India and F2 population
      derived from SL525, a resistant variety released for northern India and NRC101, a
      susceptible genotype were used to study the inheritance of MYMIV resistance and
      map the gene responsible for MYMIV resistance. F1s were found to be completely
      susceptible. F2:3 and RILs population segregated to fit a ratio of 1:2:1 and 1:1
      indicating that a single recessive gene controlled resistance to MYMIV. BSA was
      performed using 144 polymorphic SSR markers. MYMIV resistance gene was mapped on
      chr 6 (LG C2) within a 3.5-cM genome region between two SSR markers GMAC7L and
      Satt322 whose size was estimated to be 77.115 kb (position of 12,259,594
      12,336,709 bp). This is the first report on linkage mapping of MYMIV resistance
      gene in soybean. This will be helpful in breeding soybean varieties for
      resistance against MYMIV responsible for wide spread damage to soybean crop in
      India using Marker Assisted Selection.

PMID- 28588386
TI  - Detection of novel QTLs qDTH4.5 and qDTH6.3, which confer late heading under
      short-day conditions, by SSR marker-based and QTL-seq analysis.
AB  - Heading date is one of the most important traits in rice breeding. It is governed
      by multiple genes, including known quantitative trait loci (QTLs). In general,
      almost all japonica cultivars, including Nipponbare, head early under short-day
      (SD) conditions, but some indica cultivars, including Kasalath, head late. To
      explain this difference, we identified QTLs controlling heading date under SD
      conditions. We used NILs, CSSLs, and BILs from a cross between Nipponbare and
      Kasalath, and evaluated days to heading (DTH) under SD conditions. No NILs or
      CSSLs showed late heading, but two BILs (BIL-55 and BIL-78) had almost the same
      DTH as Kasalath. We developed an F2 population from a cross between BIL-55 and
      Nipponbare and performed QTL analysis using SSR markers. The late-heading
      phenotype was controlled by two known genes and at least two novel QTLs on
      chromosomes 4 and 6, named qDTH4.5 and qDTH6.3. These QTLs were confirmed by QTL
      seq. The QTLs and polymorphisms detected here will provide useful information for
      further genetic studies and breeding under SD conditions at lower latitudes.

PMID- 28588387
TI  - Application of a Bayesian ordinal animal model for the estimation of breeding
      values for the resistance to Monilinia fruticola (G.Winter) Honey in progenies of
      peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch].
AB  - Fruit brown rot caused by Monilinia spp. is the most important fungal disease of
      stone fruits worldwide. Several phenotyping protocols to accurately characterize
      and evaluate brown rot infection have been proposed; however, the outcomes from
      those studies have not led to consistent advances in resistance breeding
      programs. Breeding for disease resistance is one of the most challenging
      objectives for crop improvement because disease expression is tetrahedral: it is
      simultaneously influenced by agent, host, environment, and human management. The
      present study presents a strategy based on Bayesian inference to analyze a peach
      breeding progeny for resistance to brown rot, evaluated using a polytomous
      ordinal scale. A pedigree containing two sources of resistance, one from peach
      and the other from almond, several commercial cultivars, and two segregating
      populations were analyzed to estimate the narrow-sense heritability (h2 ) and
      breeding values (EBVs) for brown rot resistance in progenies. Results show
      promise for genetic improvement of disease resistance and other traits
      characterized by strong environmental interactions.

PMID- 28588388
TI  - Identification of environmentally stable QTLs controlling Saponin content in
      Glycine max.
AB  - Saponins are secondary metabolites that are widely distributed in plants. There
      are two major saponin precursors in soybean: soyasapogenol A, contributing to the
      undesirable taste, and soyasapogenol B, some of which have health benefits. It is
      important to control the ratio and content of the two major saponin groups to
      enhance the appeal of soybean as a health food. The structural diversity of
      saponin in the sugar chain composition makes it hard to quantify the saponin
      content. We measured the saponin content in soybean by removing the sugar chain
      from the saponin using acidic hydrolysis and detected novel quantitative trait
      loci (QTLs) for saponin content. Major QTLs in the hypocotyl were identified on
      chromosome 5 near the SSR marker, Satt 384, while those in the cotyledon were on
      chromosome 6 near Sat_312, which is linked to the T and E1 loci. Our results
      suggest that saponin contents in the hypocotyl and cotyledon are controlled by
      different genes and that it is difficult to increase the beneficial group B
      saponin and to decrease the undesirable group A saponin at the same time.

PMID- 28588389
TI  - Microsatellite markers for the Triticum timopheevi-derived leaf rust resistance
      gene Lr18 on wheat 5BL chromosome.
AB  - Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is a common wheat disease worldwide.
      Developing resistant cultivars through deploying new or pyramiding resistance
      genes in a suitable line, is the most effective approach to control this disease.
      However, to stack genes in a genotype, efficient and reliable markers are
      required. In the present study, F2 plants and their corresponding F3 families
      from a cross between the resistant line; Thatcher (Tc) Lr18, and the susceptible
      cultivar 'Boolani' were used to map rust resistance gene, Lr18 using SSR markers
      on chromosome 5BL of hexaploid wheat. The P. triticina pathotype no 15 was used
      to inoculate plants. Out of 20 primers tested, eight showed polymorphism between
      the two parents and were subsequently genotyped in the entire F2 population. The
      markers Xgpw7425 and Xwmc75 flanked the locus at a distance of 0.3 and 1.2 cM,
      respectively. Analysis of 81 genotypes from different backgrounds with these two
      markers confirmed their usefulness in screening absence or presence of Lr18.
      Therefore, these markers can be used for gene postulation and marker-assisted
      selection (MAS) of this gene in wheat breeding programs in future.

PMID- 28588390
TI  - Establishment of uracil auxotrophic dikaryotic strains of Lentinula edodes by
      crossbreeding.
AB  - The uracil auxotrophic monokaryotic strain 423-9 of Lentinula edodes was crossed
      with nine monokaryons (cro2-2-9, W66-1, xd2-3-2, QingKe 20A, 241-1-1, 9015-1, L66
      2, 241-1-2, and Qing 23A) derived from wild type strains of L. edodes. Nine
      dikaryotic hybrids were established from these crosses. These hybrids were
      fruited and 496 single spore isolates were obtained. Among these single spore
      isolates, 166 were identified as monokaryons under a microscope. We screened
      these monokaryons on selective medium and obtained 19 uracil auxotrophic
      monokaryons. By using the Monkaryon-monkaryon crossing method among the uracil
      auxotrophic monokaryons, 56 uracil auxotrophic dikaryotic strains were
      established on selective medium. These dikaryotic strains were unable to grow on
      minimal medium without uracil and exhibited slow growth rates on PDA plates
      compared to the wild type strain. The uracil auxotrophic dikaryotic strains also
      showed more vigorous growth on sawdust cultivation medium containing uracil than
      that without uracil. The fruiting tests showed that they formed normal fruiting
      bodies on the sawdust medium containing uracil. The results show that the uracil
      auxotrophic dikaryotic strain of L. edodes could be produced by mating, and will
      provide a valuable resource for future genetic studies and for spawn protection
      and identification.

PMID- 28588391
TI  - Genetic analysis and association of simple sequence repeat markers with storage
      root yield, dry matter, starch and beta-carotene content in sweetpotato.
AB  - Molecular markers are needed for enhancing the development of elite sweetpotato
      (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) cultivars with a wide range of commercially important
      traits in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted to estimate the
      heritability and determine trait correlations of storage root yield, dry matter,
      starch and beta-carotene content in a cross between 'New Kawogo' * 'Beauregard'.
      The study was also conducted to identify simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers
      associated with these traits. A total of 287 progeny and the parents were
      evaluated for two seasons at three sites in Uganda and genotyped with 250 SSR
      markers. Broad sense heritability (H2) for storage root yield, dry matter, starch
      and beta-carotene content were 0.24, 0.68, 0.70 and 0.90, respectively. Storage
      root beta-carotene content was negatively correlated with dry matter (r = -0.59,
      P < 0.001) and starch (r = -0.93, P < 0.001) content, while storage root yield
      was positively correlated with dry matter (r = 0.57, P = 0.029) and starch (r =
      0.41, P = 0.008) content. Through logistic regression, a total of 12, 4, 6 and 8
      SSR markers were associated with storage root yield, dry matter, starch and beta
      carotene content, respectively. The SSR markers used in this study may be useful
      for quantitative trait loci analysis and selection for these traits in future.

PMID- 28588392
TI  - Multiple organ gigantism caused by mutation in VmPPD gene in blackgram (Vigna
      mungo).
AB  - Seed size is one of the most important traits in leguminous crops. We obtained a
      recessive mutant of blackgram that had greatly enlarged leaves, stems and seeds.
      The mutant produced 100% bigger leaves, 50% more biomass and 70% larger seeds
      though it produced 40% less number of seeds. We designated the mutant as multiple
      organ-gigantism (mog) and found the mog phenotype was due to increase in cell
      numbers but not in cell size. We also found the mog mutant showed a rippled leaf
      (rl) phenotype, which was probably caused by a pleiotropic effect of the
      mutation. We performed a map-based cloning and successfully identified an 8 bp
      deletion in the coding sequence of VmPPD gene, an orthologue of Arabidopsis
      PEAPOD (PPD) that regulates arrest of cell divisions in meristematic cells. We
      found no other mutations in the neighboring genes between the mutant and the wild
      type. We also knocked down GmPPD genes and reproduced both the mog and rl
      phenotypes in soybean. Controlling PPD genes to produce the mog phenotype is
      highly valuable for breeding since larger seed size could directly increase the
      commercial values of grain legumes.

PMID- 28588394
TI  - The two-row malting barley cultivar 'New Sachiho Golden' with null lipoxygenase-1
      improves flavor stability in beer and was developed by marker-assisted selection.
AB  - Lipoxygenase-1 (LOX-1) null 'New Sachiho Golden' is a two-row malting barley
      (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar released in 2015 that was developed at the Tochigi
      Prefectural Agricultural Experimental Station by backcross breeding using the
      high-yield leading cultivar 'Sachiho Golden' as a recurrent parent and the LOX-1
      null mutant 'Daikei LM1' as a non-recurrent parent. To develop 'New Sachiho
      Golden' we used a simple LOX activity assay and marker-assisted selection. This
      is the first LOX-1 null malting barley cultivar in Japan that is resistant to
      barley yellow mosaic virus (types I-III). Agronomic characteristics and malting
      qualities of 'New Sachiho Golden' were similar to those of 'Sachiho Golden',
      except that 'New Sachiho Golden' had no LOX activity in ungerminated grains and
      had clearly lower LOX activity during malting than 'Sachiho Golden'. The
      concentrations of a trans-2-nonenal (T2N) precursor in wort and beer made from
      'New Sachiho Golden' were significantly lower than in those made from 'Sachiho
      Golden', both before and after storage.

PMID- 28588393
TI  - Quantitative trait loci analysis of blast resistance in Oryza sativa L. 'Hokuriku
      193'.
AB  - To investigate the genetic background responsible for blast resistance in Oryza
      sativa L. 'Hokuriku 193', QTL analysis was conducted using the F3 lines from the
      cross [ms-bo] Nekken 2 * Hokuriku 193 that were artificially infected with rice
      blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea). QTLs were detected on chromosomes 1, 4, 6 and
      12 that correlated with greater blast resistance in the Hokuriku 193-type lines.
      Notably, the QTL on chromosome 12 had a major effect and localized to the same
      region where Pi20(t), a broad-spectrum blast resistance gene, is positioned,
      suggesting strongly that the blast resistance of Hokuriku 193 was controlled by
      Pi20(t). Also, QTL analysis of the lines found to have no Pi20(t) detected two
      QTLs on chromosome 4 (qBR4-1 and qBR4-2) and one QTL on chromosome 6 (qBR6), of
      which qBR4-2 and qBR6 correlated with higher percentages of resistant plants in
      the Hokuriku 193-type lines. The blast susceptibility of BR_NIL (a NIL of
      Hokuriku 193 from which Pi20(t) was eliminated) was greater than that of Hokuriku
      193, suggesting that elimination of Pi20(t) may markedly increase blast
      susceptibility. The disease severity of BR_NIL was mild, which might be the
      effect of qBR4-2 and/or qBR6.

PMID- 28588395
TI  - Erratum: Evaluation of the yield of abiotic-stress-tolerant AtDREB1A transgenic
      potato under saline conditions in advance of field trials.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 703 in vol. 66, PMID: 28163586.].

PMID- 28588396
TI  - Results of a Qualitative Study to Develop a Patient Reported Outcome Measure for
      Patients with 4 Subtypes of Soft Tissue Sarcoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to develop a disease-specific
      symptom inventory for soft tissue sarcoma. METHODS: Literature review and
      clinical expert and patient interviews were conducted to determine disease
      specific symptoms important to patients with one of the four STS subtypes.
      Clinical experts identified the most relevant STS symptom items from the item
      pool developed from literature review. Concept elicitation interviews were
      conducted with patients to elicit their STS symptom experiences followed by a
      completion of the draft symptom list via web survey. A cognitive interview was
      conducted on the comprehension and importance of the symptom items. RESULTS:
      Eighty-three symptom items were compiled and discussed with three clinical
      experts who identified 26 symptoms specific to the four STS subtypes. A total
      sample of 27 STS participants with self-reported leiomyosarcoma (74%),
      undifferentiated sarcoma (15%), synovial sarcoma (7%), or liposarcoma (4%)
      diagnosis completed the web survey and 10 were interviewed. The draft 12-item STS
      specific symptom inventory includes abdominal pain, pressure in abdomen, early
      satiety, bloating, gastrointestinal pain, muscle pain, bone pain, heavy menstrual
      flow, shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and painful menstruation.
      CONCLUSION: A number of symptoms are common across STS subtypes and may form a
      single STS symptom inventory.

PMID- 28588397
TI  - Causal dissipation for the relativistic dynamics of ideal gases.
AB  - We derive a general class of relativistic dissipation tensors by requiring that,
      combined with the relativistic Euler equations, they form a second-order system
      of partial differential equations which is symmetric hyperbolic in a second-order
      sense when written in the natural Godunov variables that make the Euler equations
      symmetric hyperbolic in the first-order sense. We show that this class contains a
      unique element representing a causal formulation of relativistic dissipative
      fluid dynamics which (i) is equivalent to the classical descriptions by Eckart
      and Landau to first order in the coefficients of viscosity and heat conduction
      and (ii) has its signal speeds bounded sharply by the speed of light. Based on
      these properties, we propose this system as a natural candidate for the
      relativistic counterpart of the classical Navier-Stokes equations.

PMID- 28588398
TI  - A note on the self-similar solutions to the spontaneous fragmentation equation.
AB  - We provide a method to compute self-similar solutions for various fragmentation
      equations and use it to compute their asymptotic behaviours. Our procedure is
      applied to specific cases: (i) the case of mitosis, where fragmentation results
      into two identical fragments, (ii) fragmentation limited to the formation of
      sufficiently large fragments, and (iii) processes with fragmentation kernel
      presenting a power-like behaviour.

PMID- 28588399
TI  - From arteries to boreholes: steady-state response of a poroelastic cylinder to
      fluid injection.
AB  - The radially outward flow of fluid into a porous medium occurs in many practical
      problems, from transport across vascular walls to the pressurization of
      boreholes. As the driving pressure becomes non-negligible relative to the
      stiffness of the solid structure, the poromechanical coupling between the fluid
      and the solid has an increasingly strong impact on the flow. For very large
      pressures or very soft materials, as is the case for hydraulic fracturing and
      arterial flows, this coupling can lead to large deformations and, hence, to
      strong deviations from a classical, linear-poroelastic response. Here, we study
      this problem by analysing the steady-state response of a poroelastic cylinder to
      fluid injection. We consider the qualitative and quantitative impacts of
      kinematic and constitutive nonlinearity, highlighting the strong impact of
      deformation-dependent permeability. We show that the wall thickness (thick versus
      thin) and the outer boundary condition (free versus constrained) play a central
      role in controlling the mechanics.

PMID- 28588401
TI  - Elementary exact calculations of degree growth and entropy for discrete
      equations.
AB  - Second-order discrete equations are studied over the field of rational functions
      [Formula: see text], where z is a variable not appearing in the equation. The
      exact degree of each iterate as a function of z can be calculated easily using
      the standard calculations that arise in singularity confinement analysis, even
      when the singularities are not confined. This produces elementary yet rigorous
      entropy calculations.

PMID- 28588402
TI  - Well-posed continuum equations for granular flow with compressibility and MU(I)
      rheology.
AB  - Continuum modelling of granular flow has been plagued with the issue of ill-posed
      dynamic equations for a long time. Equations for incompressible, two-dimensional
      flow based on the Coulomb friction law are ill-posed regardless of the
      deformation, whereas the rate-dependent MU(I)-rheology is ill-posed when the non
      dimensional inertial number I is too high or too low. Here, incorporating ideas
      from critical-state soil mechanics, we derive conditions for well-posedness of
      partial differential equations that combine compressibility with I-dependent
      rheology. When the I-dependence comes from a specific friction coefficient MU(I),
      our results show that, with compressibility, the equations are well-posed for all
      deformation rates provided that MU(I) satisfies certain minimal, physically
      natural, inequalities.

PMID- 28588400
TI  - Quantum effects in biology: golden rule in enzymes, olfaction, photosynthesis and
      magnetodetection.
AB  - Despite certain quantum concepts, such as superposition states, entanglement,
      'spooky action at a distance' and tunnelling through insulating walls, being
      somewhat counterintuitive, they are no doubt extremely useful constructs in
      theoretical and experimental physics. More uncertain, however, is whether or not
      these concepts are fundamental to biology and living processes. Of course, at the
      fundamental level all things are quantum, because all things are built from the
      quantized states and rules that govern atoms. But when does the quantum
      mechanical toolkit become the best tool for the job? This review looks at four
      areas of 'quantum effects in biology'. These are biosystems that are very diverse
      in detail but possess some commonality. They are all (i) effects in biology:
      rates of a signal (or information) that can be calculated from a form of the
      'golden rule' and (ii) they are all protein-pigment (or ligand) complex systems.
      It is shown, beginning with the rate equation, that all these systems may contain
      some degree of quantumeffect, and where experimental evidence is available, it is
      explored to determine how the quantum analysis aids in understanding of the
      process.

PMID- 28588403
TI  - Dispersionless (3+1)-dimensional integrable hierarchies.
AB  - In this paper, we introduce a multi-dimensional version of the R-matrix approach
      to the construction of integrable hierarchies. Applying this method to the case
      of the Lie algebra of functions with respect to the contact bracket, we construct
      integrable hierarchies of (3+1)-dimensional dispersionless systems of the type
      recently introduced in Sergyeyev (2014 (http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.2122)).

PMID- 28588404
TI  - Probing quantum state space: does one have to learn everything to learn
      something?
AB  - Determining the state of a quantum system is a consuming procedure. For this
      reason, whenever one is interested only in some particular property of a state,
      it would be desirable to design a measurement set-up that reveals this property
      with as little effort as possible. Here, we investigate whether, in order to
      successfully complete a given task of this kind, one needs an informationally
      complete measurement, or if something less demanding would suffice. The first
      alternative means that in order to complete the task, one needs a measurement
      which fully determines the state. We formulate the task as a membership problem
      related to a partitioning of the quantum state space and, in doing so, connect it
      to the geometry of the state space. For a general membership problem, we prove
      various sufficient criteria that force informational completeness, and we
      explicitly treat several physically relevant examples. For the specific cases
      that do not require informational completeness, we also determine bounds on the
      minimal number of measurement outcomes needed to ensure success in the task.

PMID- 28588405
TI  - Aeroacoustic catastrophes: upstream cusp beaming in Lilley's equation.
AB  - The downstream propagation of high-frequency acoustic waves from a point source
      in a subsonic jet obeying Lilley's equation is well known to be organized around
      the so-called 'cone of silence', a fold catastrophe across which the amplitude
      may be modelled uniformly using Airy functions. Here we show that acoustic waves
      not only unexpectedly propagate upstream, but also are organized at constant
      distance from the point source around a cusp catastrophe with amplitude modelled
      locally by the Pearcey function. Furthermore, the cone of silence is revealed to
      be a cross-section of a swallowtail catastrophe. One consequence of these
      discoveries is that the peak acoustic field upstream is not only structurally
      stable but also at a similar level to the known downstream field. The fine
      structure of the upstream cusp is blurred out by distributions of symmetric
      acoustic sources, but peak upstream acoustic beaming persists when asymmetries
      are introduced, from either arrays of discrete point sources or perturbed
      continuum ring source distributions. These results may pose interesting questions
      for future novel jet-aircraft engine designs where asymmetric source
      distributions arise.

PMID- 28588406
TI  - [Formula: see text] graded discrete Lax pairs and Yang-Baxter maps.
AB  - We recently introduced a class of [Formula: see text] graded discrete Lax pairs
      and studied the associated discrete integrable systems (lattice equations). In
      this paper, we introduce the corresponding Yang-Baxter maps. Many well-known
      examples belong to this scheme for N=2, so, for N>=3, our systems may be regarded
      as generalizations of these. In particular, for each N we introduce a class of
      multi-component Yang-Baxter maps, which include HBIII (of Papageorgiou et al.
      2010 SIGMA 6, 003 (9 p). (doi:10.3842/SIGMA.2010.033)), when N=2, and that
      associated with the discrete modified Boussinesq equation, for N=3. For N>=5 we
      introduce a new family of Yang-Baxter maps, which have no lower dimensional
      analogue. We also present new multi-component versions of the Yang-Baxter maps
      FIV and FV (given in the classification of Adler et al. 2004 Commun. Anal. Geom.
      12, 967-1007. (doi:10.4310/CAG.2004.v12.n5.a1)).

PMID- 28588407
TI  - Passive vibration control: a structure-immittance approach.
AB  - Linear passive vibration absorbers, such as tuned mass dampers, often contain
      springs, dampers and masses, although recently there has been a growing trend to
      employ or supplement the mass elements with inerters. When considering possible
      configurations with these elements broadly, two approaches are normally used: one
      structure-based and one immittance-based. Both approaches have their advantages
      and disadvantages. In this paper, a new approach is proposed: the structure
      immittance approach. Using this approach, a full set of possible series-parallel
      networks with predetermined numbers of each element type can be represented by
      structural immittances, obtained via a proposed general formulation process.
      Using the structural immittances, both the ability to investigate a class of
      absorber possibilities together (advantage of the immittance-based approach), and
      the ability to control the complexity, topology and element values in resulting
      absorber configurations (advantages of the structure-based approach) are provided
      at the same time. The advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated
      through two case studies on building vibration suppression and automotive
      suspension design, respectively.

PMID- 28588408
TI  - Nonlinear waves in solids with slow dynamics: an internal-variable model.
AB  - In heterogeneous solids such as rocks and concrete, the speed of sound diminishes
      with the strain amplitude of a dynamic loading (softening). This decrease, known
      as 'slow dynamics', occurs at time scales larger than the period of the forcing.
      Also, hysteresis is observed in the steady-state response. The phenomenological
      model by Vakhnenko et al. (2004 Phys. Rev. E 70, 015602.
      (doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.70.015602)) is based on a variable that describes the
      softening of the material. However, this model is one dimensional and it is not
      thermodynamically admissible. In the present article, a three-dimensional model
      is derived in the framework of the finite-strain theory. An internal variable
      that describes the softening of the material is introduced, as well as an
      expression of the specific internal energy. A mechanical constitutive law is
      deduced from the Clausius-Duhem inequality. Moreover, a family of evolution
      equations for the internal variable is proposed. Here, an evolution equation with
      one relaxation time is chosen. By construction, this new model of the continuum
      is thermodynamically admissible and dissipative (inelastic). In the case of small
      uniaxial deformations, it is shown analytically that the model reproduces
      qualitatively the main features of real experiments.

PMID- 28588410
TI  - The effect of surface tension on steadily translating bubbles in an unbounded
      Hele-Shaw cell.
AB  - New numerical solutions to the so-called selection problem for one and two
      steadily translating bubbles in an unbounded Hele-Shaw cell are presented. Our
      approach relies on conformal mapping which, for the two-bubble problem, involves
      the Schottky-Klein prime function associated with an annulus. We show that a
      countably infinite number of solutions exist for each fixed value of
      dimensionless surface tension, with the bubble shapes becoming more exotic as the
      solution branch number increases. Our numerical results suggest that a single
      solution is selected in the limit that surface tension vanishes, with the scaling
      between the bubble velocity and surface tension being different to the well
      studied problems for a bubble or a finger propagating in a channel geometry.

PMID- 28588409
TI  - Simulating tubulin-associated unit transport in an axon: using bootstrapping for
      estimating confidence intervals of best-fit parameter values obtained from
      indirect experimental data.
AB  - In this paper, we first develop a model of axonal transport of tubulin-associated
      unit (tau) protein. We determine the minimum number of parameters necessary to
      reproduce published experimental results, reducing the number of parameters from
      18 in the full model to eight in the simplified model. We then address the
      following questions: Is it possible to estimate parameter values for this model
      using the very limited amount of published experimental data? Furthermore, is it
      possible to estimate confidence intervals for the determined parameters? The idea
      that is explored in this paper is based on using bootstrapping. Model parameters
      were estimated by minimizing the objective function that simulates the
      discrepancy between the model predictions and experimental data. Residuals were
      then identified by calculating the differences between the experimental data and
      model predictions. New, surrogate 'experimental' data were generated by randomly
      resampling residuals. By finding sets of best-fit parameters for a large number
      of surrogate data the histograms for the model parameters were produced. These
      histograms were then used to estimate confidence intervals for the model
      parameters, by using the percentile bootstrap. Once the model was calibrated, we
      applied it to analysing some features of tau transport that are not accessible to
      current experimental techniques.

PMID- 28588411
TI  - Crossing the quasi-threshold manifold of a noise-driven excitable system.
AB  - We consider the noise-induced escapes in an excitable system possessing a quasi
      threshold manifold, along which there exists a certain point of minimal quasi
      potential. In the weak noise limit, the optimal escaping path turns out to
      approach this particular point asymptotically, making it analogous to an ordinary
      saddle. Numerical simulations are performed and an elaboration on the effect of
      small but finite noise is given, which shows that the ridges where the prehistory
      probability distribution peaks are located mainly within the region where the
      quasi-potential increases gently. The cases allowing anisotropic noise are
      discussed and we found that varying the noise term in the slow variable would
      dramatically raise the whole level of quasi-potentials, leading to significant
      changes in both patterns of optimal paths and exit locations.

PMID- 28588412
TI  - An integral equation method for the homogenization of unidirectional fibre
      reinforced media; antiplane elasticity and other potential problems.
AB  - In Parnell & Abrahams (2008 Proc. R. Soc. A464, 1461-1482.
      (doi:10.1098/rspa.2007.0254)), a homogenization scheme was developed that gave
      rise to explicit forms for the effective antiplane shear moduli of a periodic
      unidirectional fibre-reinforced medium where fibres have non-circular cross
      section. The explicit expressions are rational functions in the volume fraction.
      In that scheme, a (non-dilute) approximation was invoked to determine leading
      order expressions. Agreement with existing methods was shown to be good except at
      very high volume fractions. Here, the theory is extended in order to determine
      higher-order terms in the expansion. Explicit expressions for effective
      properties can be derived for fibres with non-circular cross section, without
      recourse to numerical methods. Terms appearing in the expressions are identified
      as being associated with the lattice geometry of the periodic fibre distribution,
      fibre cross-sectional shape and host/fibre material properties. Results are
      derived in the context of antiplane elasticity but the analogy with the potential
      problem illustrates the broad applicability of the method to, e.g. thermal,
      electrostatic and magnetostatic problems. The efficacy of the scheme is
      illustrated by comparison with the well-established method of asymptotic
      homogenization where for fibres of general cross section, the associated cell
      problem must be solved by some computational scheme.

PMID- 28588413
TI  - Uncertainty relations on nilpotent Lie groups.
AB  - We give relations between main operators of quantum mechanics on one of most
      general classes of nilpotent Lie groups. Namely, we show relations between
      momentum and position operators as well as Euler and Coulomb potential operators
      on homogeneous groups. Homogeneous group analogues of some well-known
      inequalities such as Hardy's inequality, Heisenberg-Kennard type and Heisenberg
      Pauli-Weyl type uncertainty inequalities, as well as Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg
      inequality are derived, with best constants. The obtained relations yield new
      results already in the setting of both isotropic and anisotropic [Formula: see
      text], and of the Heisenberg group. The proof demonstrates that the method of
      establishing equalities in sharper versions of such inequalities works well in
      both isotropic and anisotropic settings.

PMID- 28588414
TI  - Innovative and collaborative industrial mathematics in Europe.
AB  - This paper presents a brief review of how industrial mathematics, inspired by the
      Oxford Study Group activity, organized itself in Europe, gave rise to the
      European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry, the series of European Study
      Groups with Industry, and to new modes of productive contacts between industry
      and applied mathematicians in academia.

PMID- 28588415
TI  - Curvature-driven morphing of non-Euclidean shells.
AB  - We investigate how thin structures change their shape in response to non
      mechanical stimuli that can be interpreted as variations in the structure's
      natural curvature. Starting from the theory of non-Euclidean plates and shells,
      we derive an effective model that reduces a three-dimensional stimulus to the
      natural fundamental forms of the mid-surface of the structure, incorporating
      expansion, or growth, in the thickness. Then, we apply the model to a variety of
      thin bodies, from flat plates to spherical shells, obtaining excellent agreement
      between theory and numerics. We show how cylinders and cones can either bend more
      or unroll, and eventually snap and rotate. We also study the nearly isometric
      deformations of a spherical shell and describe how this shape change is ruled by
      the geometry of a spindle. As the derived results stem from a purely geometrical
      model, they are general and scalable.

PMID- 28588416
TI  - Mathematics delivering the advantage: the role of mathematicians in manufacturing
      and beyond.
AB  - Much has been written about the benefits that mathematics can bring to the UK
      economy and the manufacturing sector in particular, but less on the value of
      mathematicians and a mathematical training. This article, written from an
      industry perspective, considers the value of mathematicians to the UK's
      industrial base and the importance to the UK economy of encouraging young people
      in the UK to choose to study mathematics at school as a gateway to a wide range
      of careers. The points are illustrated using examples from the author's 20 years'
      experience in the security and intelligence and manufacturing sectors.

PMID- 28588417
TI  - Photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes as highly connected networks:
      implications for robust energy transport.
AB  - Photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes (PPCs) are a vital component of the
      light-harvesting machinery of all plants and photosynthesizing bacteria, enabling
      efficient transport of the energy of absorbed light towards the reaction centre,
      where chemical energy storage is initiated. PPCs comprise a set of chromophore
      molecules, typically bacteriochlorophyll species, held in a well-defined
      arrangement by a protein scaffold; this relatively rigid distribution leads to a
      viewpoint in which the chromophore subsystem is treated as a network, where
      chromophores represent vertices and inter-chromophore electronic couplings
      represent edges. This graph-based view can then be used as a framework within
      which to interrogate the role of structural and electronic organization in PPCs.
      Here, we use this network-based viewpoint to compare excitation energy transfer
      (EET) dynamics in the light-harvesting complex II (LHC-II) system commonly found
      in higher plants and the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex found in green sulfur
      bacteria. The results of our simple network-based investigations clearly
      demonstrate the role of network connectivity and multiple EET pathways on the
      efficient and robust EET dynamics in these PPCs, and highlight a role for such
      considerations in the development of new artificial light-harvesting systems.

PMID- 28588419
TI  - Reviewers in 2016.

PMID- 28588420
TI  - Correction to 'Microprocessors: the engines of the digital age'.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2016.0893.].

PMID- 28588418
TI  - Biological imaging using light-addressable potentiometric sensors and scanning
      photo-induced impedance microscopy.
AB  - Light-addressable potentiometric sensors (LAPS) and scanning photo-induced
      impedance microscopy (SPIM) use photocurrent measurements at electrolyte
      insulator-semiconductor substrates for spatio-temporal imaging of electrical
      potentials and impedance. The techniques have been used for the interrogation of
      sensor arrays and the imaging of biological systems. Sensor applications range
      from the detection of different types of ions and the label-free detection of
      charged molecules such as DNA and proteins to enzyme-based biosensors. Imaging
      applications include the temporal imaging of extracellular potentials and dynamic
      concentration changes in microfluidic channels and the lateral imaging of cell
      surface charges and cell metabolism. This paper will investigate the current
      state of the art of the measurement technology with a focus on spatial and
      temporal resolution and review the biological applications, these techniques have
      been used for. An outlook on future developments in the field will be given.

PMID- 28588422
TI  - A rare case of poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma probably arising from a
      nodular goiter.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some poorly differentiated thyroid carcinomas (PDTC) arise from pre
      existing, well-differentiated carcinomas of follicular cell origin; however,
      others most likely arise de novo. The case of a PDTC adjacent to a pre-existing
      nodular goiter is very rare. CASE PRESENTATION: A patient had a PDTC, a widely
      invasive, cellular tumor with cells that lacked the nuclear features of a
      papillary thyroid carcinoma. Carcinoma cells were arranged in trabecular, solid,
      and microfollicular histological patterns and displayed high mitotic activity. A
      nodule partially encapsulated in a thick fibrous capsule was found adjacent to
      the PDTC. The nodule was composed of small or dilated follicles, without
      papillary carcinoma-like nuclear features, that were consistent with a nodular
      goiter. The PDTC showed a high Ki-67 labeling index and an NRAS gene mutation
      (codon 61, Q61K). CONCLUSION: These results support our diagnosis of a PDTC,
      probably arising from a nodular goiter.

PMID- 28588421
TI  - Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a novel product for the removal of
      impacted human cerumen.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This open-label study evaluated the safety and efficacy of a novel
      product for the removal of impacted cerumen in adult patients. METHODS: This was
      a prospective, single-center, single-arm, self-controlled clinical trial
      conducted in a community general practice setting. The novel product contains
      glycolic acid in an otologically-acceptable buffer containing sodium bicarbonate
      and glycerin and other buffering agents. The product was instilled into the ear
      canal prior to irrigation with warm water. Severity of cerumen impaction was
      graded using a 5-point scale. Improvement in tympanic membrane visualization was
      assessed after instillation and irrigation. RESULTS: A majority (83%, 25/30) of
      ears showed improvement with one application: with 53% (16/30) totally dissolved
      and gained 100% TM visualization. Total dissolution was observed in 80% (24/30)
      of the study ears per the intent-to-treat analysis and 86% (24/28) if irrigation
      instructions were followed. Most of the ears/participants that had cerumen
      blockage symptoms experienced significant improvement with the application.
      Feelings of fullness disappeared in 92% (11/12) of the affected ears; ears
      itching, 91% (10/11); water trapping or cracking, 78%, and decreased hearing
      disappeared in 71% (10/14). All (100%, 18) of the participants who completed the
      application satisfaction assessment were satisfied with the application process
      in terms of time needed and the overall rinse procedure. Only one mild adverse
      event (ear pruritis) occurred that was related to application. CONCLUSIONS: The
      tested cerumen removal product was effective and safe for removing moderate to
      severe blockage in patients with impacted cerumen. Procedure satisfaction for the
      product was high. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered on
      http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. The registration number is NCT02829294. The trial
      was retrospectively registered on July 8, 2016.

PMID- 28588423
TI  - Dysphagia screening after acute stroke: a quality improvement project using
      criteria-based clinical audit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysphagia is common after stroke and represents a major risk factor
      for developing aspiration pneumonia. Early detection can reduce the risk of
      pulmonary complications and death. Despite the fact that evidence-based
      guidelines recommend screening for swallowing deficit using a standardized
      screening tool, national audits has identified a gap between practice and this
      recommendation. The aim was to determine the level of adherence to an evidence
      based recommendation on swallow assessment and to take actions to improve
      practice if necessary. METHODS: We carried out a criteria-based clinical audit
      (CBCA) in a small stroke unit at a Norwegian hospital. Patients with hemorrhagic
      stroke, ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack were included. A power
      calculation informed the number of included patients at baseline (n = 80) and at
      re-audit (n = 35). We compared the baseline result with the evidence-based
      criteria and gave feedback to management and staff. A brainstorming session, a
      root-cause analysis and implementation science were used to inform the quality
      improvement actions which consisted of workshops, use of local opinion leaders,
      manual paper reminders and feedback. We completed a re-audit after
      implementation. Percentages and median are reported with 95% confidence intervals
      (CI). RESULTS: Among 88 cases at baseline, documentation of swallow screening was
      complete for 6% (95% CI 2-11). In the re-audit (n = 51) 61% (95% CI 45-74) had a
      complete screening. CONCLUSION: A CBCA involving management and staff, and using
      multiple tailored intervention targeting barriers, led to greater adherence with
      the recommendation for screening stroke patients for dysphagia.

PMID- 28588425
TI  - Retraction Note: Long noncoding RNA ANRIL is activated by hypoxia-inducible
      factor-1alpha and promotes osteosarcoma cell invasion and suppresses cell
      apoptosis upon hypoxia.
AB  - [This retracts the article DOI: 10.1186/s12935-016-0349-7.].

PMID- 28588424
TI  - The use of life stories and its influence on persons with dementia, their
      relatives and staff - a systematic mixed studies review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dementia is an important predictor of nursing home admissions. Due to
      progressive dementia symptoms, over time it becomes difficult for persons with
      dementia to communicate their wishes and participate in decisions concerning
      their everyday lives. Their well-being, sense of dignity, integrity and
      personhood are at risk. The persons' life stories have been highlighted as
      particularly important in dementia care and are referred to as seeing the person
      beyond the dementia. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the use of
      life stories and its influence on persons with dementia living in nursing homes,
      their relatives and staff. METHODS: A systematic mixed studies review was
      conducted. The literature searches were performed in the following databases:
      CINAHL, PubMed and PsycINFO and the Cochrane library, as well as by hand
      searching references in the studies included. An updated search was performed
      eight months after the first search. Data was synthesised inspired by integrative
      analysis. RESULTS: Three studies using quantitative design and two studies
      (presented in three papers) using qualitative design representing research from
      2006 to 2015 were included in the review. Life stories generally had a positive
      influence on the persons with dementia, their relatives, and staff. The use of
      life stories might contribute to 'Maintenance of the person with dementia as a
      whole person rather than a demented patient'. On the other hand, enabling persons
      with dementia to tell their own story could be a challenge. For the staff it
      could be challenging when sensitive information emerged uninvited. Involving
      relatives could also be difficult as to whose story were uncovered. CONCLUSIONS:
      The use of person's life story might be of significance, but there is not enough
      evidence to make any statement about its importance as the research is scarce.
      Studies, including randomised controlled trials, are needed to measure the impact
      of life story work on the physiological and psychological aspects of persons with
      dementia, and also how it influences their relatives and staff.

PMID- 28588428
TI  - Umbelliprenin Mediates Its Apoptotic Effect by Hormesis: A Commentary.

PMID- 28588426
TI  - Effects of Ramadan fasting on platelet reactivity in diabetic patients treated
      with clopidogrel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of Ramadan fasting (RF) on clopidogrel antiplatelet
      inhibition were not previously investigated. The present study evaluated the
      influence of RF on platelet reactivity in patients with high cardiovascular risk
      (CVR) in particular those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: A total of
      98 stable patients with >=2 CVR factors were recruited. All patients observed RF
      and were taking clopidogrel at a maintenance dose of 75 mg. Clinical findings and
      serum lipids data were recorded before Ramadan (Pre-R), at the last week of
      Ramadan (R) and 4 weeks after the end of Ramadan (Post-R). During each patient
      visit, nutrients intakes were calculated and platelet reactivity assessment using
      Verify Now P2Y12 assay was performed. RESULTS: In DM patients, the absolute PRU
      changes from baseline were +27 (p = 0.01) and +16 (p = 0.02) respectively at R
      and Post-R. In addition, there was a significant increase of glycemia and
      triglycerides levels with a significant decrease of high-density lipoprotein. In
      non DM patients there was no significant change in absolute PRU values and
      metabolic parameters. Clopidogrel resistance rate using 2 cut-off PRU values (235
      and 208) did not change significantly in DM and non DM patients. CONCLUSIONS: RF
      significantly decreased platelet sensitivity to clopidogrel in DM patients during
      and after Ramadan. This effect is possibly related to an increase of glycemia and
      serum lipids levels induced by fasting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov
      NCT02720133. Registered 24 July 2014.Retrospectively registered.

PMID- 28588427
TI  - Evaluation of anti-fatigue property of the extruded product of cereal grains
      mixed with Cordyceps militaris on mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a biological phenomenon that involves a feeling of extreme
      physical or mental tiredness that could potentially cause some severe chronic
      diseases. Recently, diet therapy has provided a new alternative to alleviate
      physical fatigue. In our previous study, addition of Cordyceps militaris (C.
      militaris) into an extruded product was shown to provide high nutrition and
      unique flavors; however, little is known whether this product has some scientific
      evidence regarding anti-fatigue property. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the anti-fatigue effects of extruded products of cereal grains (EC) and
      EC mixed with C. militaris (ECC). METHODS: The mice were divided into seven
      groups: one group received distilled water (Control group, n = 20), and the other
      groups received different dosages of EC (5, 10 and 20 g/kg body weight, n = 20
      per group) or of ECC (5, 10 and 20 g/kg body weight, n = 20 per group) solution
      in water. All of the mice were administered with distilled water, EC or ECC
      continuously for 30 days by gavage and the anti-fatigue activity was evaluated
      using a weight-loaded swimming test, along with assessments of fatigue-related
      indicators. The mode of fighting fatigue was investigated by determining changes
      in exercise endurance and biochemical markers, including exhaustive swimming
      time, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood lactic acid (BLA), creatine kinase (CK),
      blood urea nitrogen (BUN), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH
      Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and hepatic and muscle glycogen
      levels. RESULTS: EC and ECC prolonged the swimming endurance time of mice
      compared to the control. The content of BLA at high dose of ECC group (20 g/kg)
      was significantly lower than that in the negative control group. CK, BUN and MDA
      levels were significantly reduced by treatment with EC and ECC compared to the
      negative control, while the low and middle dose of EC had no significant effect
      on MDA levels. Additionally, only the middle and high dose of EC (10, 20 g/kg)
      could significantly decrease the BUN level. EC and ECC treatments increased
      glycogen, LDH, SOD, CAT and GSH-Px levels. Low and middle dose of EC had no
      significant effects on muscle glycogen. Moreover, low dose of EC could increase
      the level of SOD but it was not statistically significant. Compared to the EC
      treatment groups, ECC demonstrated the efficacy of anti-fatigue potential,
      particularly at a high dose of ECC, the best performance in relieving fatigue.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that EC and ECC could prevent exercise-induced
      fatigue in mice and ECC provided a better effect. In addition, C. militaris in
      ECC might play a crucial role in the anti-fatigue activity of ECC.

PMID- 28588429
TI  - The associations between cigarette smoking and health-related behaviors among
      Chinese school-aged adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence on the interrelations between cigarette smoking and a
      cluster of lifestyle behaviors is scarce for the Chinese youth population. This
      study is conducted to identify the associations between cigarette smoking and
      multiple health-related behaviors in a Chinese sample of adolescents. METHODS: We
      used data from 2012 Zhejiang Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is a school-based
      survey of 19,542 adolescents that assess risk behaviors using a self-reported
      questionnaire. The interrelations of cigarette smoking with lifestyle behaviors
      were investigated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking
      was significantly inversely associated with breakfast (AOR = 0.58), vegetables
      (AOR = 0.81), fruits (AOR = 0.81), milk consumption (AOR = 0.69) and attending
      physical education classes (AOR = 0.69), while positively associated with soft
      drinks (AOR = 2.05), fast food consumption (AOR = 1.21), muscle strengthening
      activity (AOR = 1.67), computer use (AOR = 1.93) and alcohol drinking (AOR =
      5.40). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that cigarette smoking was associated
      with a cluster of health-related behaviors in adolescents, which should be
      considered in health promotion interventions to target multiple health behaviors.

PMID- 28588430
TI  - Gut microbial diversity in health and disease: experience of healthy Indian
      subjects, and colon carcinoma and inflammatory bowel disease patients.
AB  - Background: The intestinal microbiota, through complex interactions with the gut
      mucosa, play a key role in the pathogenesis of colon carcinoma and inflammatory
      bowel disease (IBD). The disease condition and dietary habits both influence gut
      microbial diversity. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the gut
      microbial profile of healthy subjects and patients with colon carcinoma and IBD.
      Healthy subjects included 'Indian vegetarians/lactovegetarians', who eat plant
      produce, milk and milk products, and 'Indian non-vegetarians', who eat plant
      produce, milk and milk products, certain meats and fish, and the eggs of certain
      birds and fish. 'Indian vegetarians' are different from 'vegans', who do not eat
      any foods derived wholly or partly from animals, including milk products. Design:
      Stool samples were collected from healthy Indian vegetarians/lactovegetarians and
      non-vegetarians, and colon cancer and IBD patients. Clonal libraries of 16S
      ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of bacteria were created from each sample. Clones were
      sequenced from one representative sample of each group. Approximately 500 white
      colonies were picked at random from each sample and 100 colonies were sequenced
      after amplified rDNA restriction analysis. Results: The dominant phylum from the
      healthy vegetarian was Firmicutes (34%), followed by Bacteroidetes (15%). The
      balance was reversed in the healthy non-vegetarian (Bacteroidetes 84%, Firmicutes
      4%; ratio 21:1). The colon cancer and IBD patients had higher percentages of
      Bacteroidetes (55% in both) than Firmicutes (26% and 12%, respectively) but lower
      Bacteroidetes:Firmicutes ratios (3.8:1 and 2.4:1, respectively) than the healthy
      non-vegetarian. Bacterial phyla of Verrucomicrobiota and Actinobacteria were
      detected in 23% and 5% of IBD and colon patients, respectively. Conclusions:
      Ribosomal Database Project profiling of gut flora in this study population showed
      remarkable differences, with unique diversity attributed to different diets and
      disease conditions.

PMID- 28588431
TI  - Microbial trimethylamine-N-oxide as a disease marker: something fishy?
AB  - Production of trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) via the gut microbiota has recently
      been proposed as an important pathophysiological mechanism linking ingestion of
      'unhealthy foods', such as beef (containing carnitine) and eggs (containing
      choline), and the development of atherosclerosis. Hence, TMAO has gained
      attention as a novel biomarker for cardiovascular disease. However, fish and
      seafood contain considerable amounts of TMAO and are generally accepted as
      cardioprotective: a puzzling paradox that seems to have been neglected. We
      suspect that the TMAO story may be a red herring.

PMID- 28588432
TI  - Of Simple and Complex Genome Rearrangements, Chromothripsis, Chromoanasynthesis,
      and Chromosome Chaos.

PMID- 28588435
TI  - Variable Penetrance of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 Microduplication in a Family with
      Cognitive and Language Impairment.
AB  - The 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 region is found duplicated or deleted in people with
      cognitive, language, and behavioral impairment. We report on a family (a father
      and 3 male twin siblings) that presents with a duplication of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2
      region and a variable phenotype: the father and the fraternal twin are normal
      carriers, whereas the monozygotic twins exhibit severe language and cognitive
      delay as well as behavioral disturbances. The genes located within the duplicated
      region are involved in brain development and function, and some of them are
      related to language processing. The probands' phenotype may result from changes
      in the expression level of some of these genes important for cognitive
      development.

PMID- 28588434
TI  - Maternal Uniparental Disomy 14 (Temple Syndrome) as a Result of a Robertsonian
      Translocation.
AB  - Maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 14 (upd(14)mat) or Temple syndrome is
      an imprinting disorder associated with a relatively mild phenotype. The absence
      of specific congenital malformations makes this condition underdiagnosed in
      clinical practice. A boy with a de novo robertsonian translocation
      45,XY,rob(13;14)(q10;q10) is reported; a CGH/SNP array showed a loss of
      heterozygosity in 14q11.2q13.1. The final diagnosis of upd(14)mat was made by
      microsatellite analysis, which showed a combination of heterodisomy and isodisomy
      for different regions of chromosome 14. Obesity after initial failure to thrive
      developed, while compulsive eating habits were not present, which was helpful for
      the clinical differential diagnosis of Prader-Willi syndrome. In addition, the
      boy presented with many phenotypic features associated with upd(14)mat along with
      hypoesthesia to pain, previously unreported in this disorder, and bilateral
      cryptorchidism, also rarely described. These features, as well as other clinical
      manifestations (i.e., truncal obesity, altered pubertal timing), may suggest a
      hypothalamic-pituitary involvement. A detailed cytogenetic and molecular
      characterization of the genomic rearrangement is presented. Early genetic
      diagnosis permits a specific follow-up of children with upd(14)mat in order to
      optimize the long-term outcome.

PMID- 28588433
TI  - Intragenic CNTNAP2 Deletions: A Bridge Too Far?
AB  - Intragenic deletions of the contactin-associated protein-like 2 gene (CNTNAP2)
      have been found in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, intellectual
      disability (ID), obsessive compulsive disorder, cortical dysplasia-focal epilepsy
      syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, stuttering, and attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder. A variety of molecular mechanisms, such as loss
      of transcription factor binding sites and perturbation of penetrance and
      expressivity, have been proposed to account for the phenotypic variability
      resulting from CNTNAP2 mutations. Deletions of both CNTNAP2 alleles produced
      truncated proteins lacking the transmembrane or some of the extracellular
      domains, or no protein at all. This observation can be extended to heterozygous
      intragenic deletions by assuming that such deletion-containing alleles lead to
      expression of a Caspr2 protein lacking one or several extracellular domains. Such
      altered forms of Capr2 proteins will lack the ability to bridge the intercellular
      space between neurons by binding to partners, such as CNTN1, CNTN2, DLG1, and
      DLG4. This presumed effect of intragenic deletions of CNTNAP2, and possibly other
      genes involved in connecting neuronal cells, represents a molecular basis for the
      postulated neuronal hypoconnectivity in autism and probably other
      neurodevelopmental disorders, including epilepsy, ID, language impairments and
      schizophrenia. Thus, CNTNAP2 may represent a paradigmatic case of a gene
      functioning as a node in a genetic and cellular network governing brain
      development and acquisition of higher cognitive functions.

PMID- 28588436
TI  - Novel Marfan Syndrome-Associated Mutation in the FBN1 Gene Caused by Parental
      Mosaicism and Leading to Abnormal Limb Patterning.
AB  - Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue caused
      by mutations in the fibrillin-1 (FBN1) gene. Mutations affecting cysteine
      residues within the epidermal growith factor-like calcium-binding domains
      (EGF_CA) of FBN1 are associated with Marfan syndrome features and, especially,
      with ectopia lentis. We report a novel substitution, affecting the first cysteine
      of an EGF_CA-binding module encoded by exon 63 of FBN1 (C2571Y), in a patient
      presenting with typical Marfan syndrome features but without ectopia lentis. The
      involvement of this particular carboxi-terminal domain in bone morphogenetic
      protein signaling is evidenced by patterning defects in the apendicular skeleton
      shown by the gain of a phalange at digit 1 and the fusion of some wrist bones.
      Although the mutation appeared as sporadic, detailed analysis revealed that the
      asymptomatic father was a gonosomal mosaic, and that aproximately 25% of his body
      cells carry the mutation. Based on this and previous evidence on the origin of
      sporadic mutations, we would like to stress the importance of detailed parental
      genetic screening, so the risk of recurrence may be evaluated.

PMID- 28588437
TI  - Molecular Characterization of Koolen De Vries Syndrome in Two Girls with
      Idiopathic Intellectual Disability from Central Brazil.
AB  - Koolen de Vries syndrome (KDVS; MIM 610443) is a genomic disorder caused by a
      recurrent microdeletion derived from nonallelic homologous recombination mediated
      by flanking segmental duplications. Clinical manifestations of this syndrome are
      characterized by intellectual disability, hypotonia, a friendly behavior,
      distinctive facial features, and epilepsy. Herein, we report a case of 2 girls
      who revealed global developmental delay, mild facial dysmorphisms, friendly
      behavior, and epileptic seizure with a de novo 17q21.31 microdeletion detected by
      chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Conventional cytogenetics analysis by GTG
      banding showed a female karyotype 46,XX for both girls. CMA revealed a
      microdeletion spanning approximately 500 kb in 17q21.31 in both girls,
      encompassing the following genes: CRHR1, MGC57346, CRHR1-IT1, MAPT-AS1, SPPL2C,
      MAPT, MAPT-IT1, STH, and KANSL1. Haploinsufficiency of one or more of these genes
      within the deleted region is the most probable cause of the probands' phenotype
      and is responsible for the phenotype seen in KDVS. CMA is a powerful diagnostic
      tool and an effective method to identify the de novo 17q21.31 microdeletion
      associated with KDVS in our probands.

PMID- 28588438
TI  - A New Case of the Rare 10q22.3q23.2 Microdeletion Flanked by Low-Copy Repeats
      3/4.
AB  - Deletions in the 10q22.3q23.2 region are rare and mediated by 2 low-copy repeats
      (LCRs 3 and 4). These deletions have already been recognized as the 10q22q23
      deletion syndrome. The phenotype associated with this condition is rather
      uncharacteristic, and most common features are craniofacial dysmorphisms and
      developmental delay. We describe a boy with craniofacial dysmorphic features,
      developmental delay, tetralogy of Fallot, hand/foot abnormalities, and recurrent
      respiratory tract infections. Chromosomal microarray analysis disclosed a 7.8-Mb
      microdeletion at 10q22.3q23.2, flanked by LCRs 3/4, and an additional 16q12.1
      microdeletion of 189 kb. This article reviews the clinical signs of reported
      cases with similar deletions and compares them with our patient, contributing to
      a better understanding of genotype-phenotype correlation.

PMID- 28588439
TI  - DNA Methylation Changes in Intron 1 of Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid
      Cell 2 in Japanese Schizophrenia Subjects.
AB  - A hypothesis for schizophrenia (SCZ) called the "microglia hypothesis" has been
      suggested. In SCZ, expression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell 2
      (TREM2) mRNA is higher in leukocytes than in healthy individuals. Here, the
      methylation rates of four CpG sites in TREM2 intron 1 that may bind important
      transcription factors and the correlation between the methylation rate and mRNA
      expression were determined. We compared the methylation rates in SCZ patients and
      age-matched controls (n = 50 each). SCZ patients had significantly lower
      methylation rates of CpG 2 (17.0 +/- 6.7 vs. 20.2 +/- 5.0; p = 0.02) and CpG 3
      (23.8 +/- 8.2 vs. 28.1 +/- 6.2; p = 0.01). The average methylation rate (15.3 +/-
      5.2 vs. 17.6 +/- 3.9; p = 0.009) was also lower. A significant negative
      correlation was found between TREM2 mRNA expression and the methylation rate of
      CpG 2 (r = -0.252, p = 0.012). SCZ susceptibility markers may include low
      methylation at TREM2 intron 1 and increased TREM2 mRNA levels. Our pilot study
      requires validation with higher numbers of participants and with other myeloid
      cell types.

PMID- 28588440
TI  - Plasma Extracellular Vesicles Enriched for Neuronal Origin: A Potential Window
      into Brain Pathologic Processes.
AB  - Our team has been a pioneer in harvesting extracellular vesicles (EVs) enriched
      for neuronal origin from peripheral blood and using them as a biomarker discovery
      platform for neurological disorders. This methodology has demonstrated excellent
      diagnostic and predictive performance for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative
      diseases in multiple studies, providing a strong proof of concept for this
      approach. Here, we describe our methodology in detail and offer further evidence
      that isolated EVs are enriched for neuronal origin. In addition, we present
      evidence that EVs enriched for neuronal origin represent a more sensitive and
      accurate base for biomarkers than plasma, serum, or non-enriched total plasma
      EVs. Finally, we proceed to investigate the protein content of EVs enriched for
      neuronal origin and compare it with other relevant enriched and non-enriched
      populations of plasma EVs. Neuronal-origin enriched plasma EVs contain higher
      levels of signaling molecules of great interest for cellular metabolism,
      survival, and repair, which may be useful as biomarkers and to follow response to
      therapeutic interventions in a mechanism-specific manner.

PMID- 28588441
TI  - Tempering Proactive Cognitive Control by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
      of the Right (but Not the Left) Lateral Prefrontal Cortex.
AB  - Behavioral and neuroimaging data support the distinction of two different modes
      of cognitive control: proactive, which involves the active and sustained
      maintenance of task-relevant information to bias behavior in accordance with
      internal goals; and reactive, which entails the detection and resolution of
      interference at the time it occurs. Both control modes may be flexibly deployed
      depending on a variety of conditions (i.e., age, brain alterations, motivational
      factors, prior experience). Critically, and in line with specific predictions
      derived from the dual mechanisms of control account (Braver, 2012), findings from
      neuroimaging studies indicate that the same lateral prefrontal regions (i.e.,
      left dorsolateral cortex and right inferior frontal junction) may implement
      different control modes on the basis of temporal dynamics of activity, which
      would be modulated in response to external or internal conditions. In the present
      study, we aimed to explore whether transcraneal direct current stimulation over
      either the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or the right inferior frontal
      junction would differentially modulate performance on the AX-CPT, a well
      validated task that provides sensitive and reliable behavioral indices of
      proactive/reactive control. The study comprised six conditions of real
      stimulation [3 (site: left dorsolateral, right dorsolateral and right inferior
      frontal junction) * 2 (polarity: anodal and cathodal)], and one sham condition.
      The reference electrode was always placed extracephalically. Performance on the
      AX-CPT was assessed through two blocks of trials. The first block took place
      while stimulation was being delivered, whereas the second block was administered
      after stimulation completion. The results indicate that both offline cathodal
      stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and online anodal
      stimulation of the right inferior frontal junction led participants to be much
      less proactive, with such a dissociation suggesting that both prefrontal regions
      differentially contribute to the adjustment of cognitive control modes. tDCS of
      the left-DLPFC failed to modulate cognitive control. These results partially
      support the predictions derived from the dual mechanisms of control account.

PMID- 28588443
TI  - Differential GR Expression and Translocation in the Hippocampus Mediates
      Susceptibility vs. Resilience to Chronic Social Defeat Stress.
AB  - While social stress exposure is a common risk factor for affective disorders,
      most individuals exposed to it can maintain normal physical and psychological
      functioning. However, factors that determine susceptibility vs. resilience to
      social stress remain unclear. Here, the resident-intruder model of social defeat
      was used as a social stressor in male C57BL/6J mice to investigate the difference
      between susceptibility and resilience. As depression is often characterized by
      hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, we conducted the
      present study to further investigate the individual differences in the HPA axis
      response and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) protein expression and translocation
      between susceptible mice and resilient mice. We found that hypercortisolemia,
      induced by social defeat stress occurred in susceptible mice, but not in
      resilient mice. Moreover, susceptible mice exhibited significantly less GR
      protein expression and nuclear translocation in the hippocampus than resilient
      mice. Treatment with escitalopram could decrease the serum corticosterone (CORT),
      increase GR protein expression as well as nuclear translocation in the
      hippocampus and ultimately reverse social withdrawal behaviors in susceptible
      mice. These results indicate that the up-regulation of GR and the enhancement of
      GR nuclear translocation in the hippocampus play an important role in resilience
      to chronic social defeat stress.

PMID- 28588442
TI  - A Multifunctional Brain-Computer Interface Intended for Home Use: An Evaluation
      with Healthy Participants and Potential End Users with Dry and Gel-Based
      Electrodes.
AB  - Current brain-computer interface (BCIs) software is often tailored to the needs
      of scientists and technicians and therefore complex to allow for versatile use.
      To facilitate home use of BCIs a multifunctional P300 BCI with a graphical user
      interface intended for non-expert set-up and control was designed and
      implemented. The system includes applications for spelling, web access,
      entertainment, artistic expression and environmental control. In addition to new
      software, it also includes new hardware for the recording of electroencephalogram
      (EEG) signals. The EEG system consists of a small and wireless amplifier attached
      to a cap that can be equipped with gel-based or dry contact electrodes. The
      system was systematically evaluated with a healthy sample, and targeted end users
      of BCI technology, i.e., people with a varying degree of motor impairment tested
      the BCI in a series of individual case studies. Usability was assessed in terms
      of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Feedback of users was gathered
      with structured questionnaires. Two groups of healthy participants completed an
      experimental protocol with the gel-based and the dry contact electrodes (N = 10
      each). The results demonstrated that all healthy participants gained control over
      the system and achieved satisfactory to high accuracies with both gel-based and
      dry electrodes (average error rates of 6 and 13%). Average satisfaction ratings
      were high, but certain aspects of the system such as the wearing comfort of the
      dry electrodes and design of the cap, and speed (in both groups) were criticized
      by some participants. Six potential end users tested the system during supervised
      sessions. The achieved accuracies varied greatly from no control to high control
      with accuracies comparable to that of healthy volunteers. Satisfaction ratings of
      the two end-users that gained control of the system were lower as compared to
      healthy participants. The advantages and disadvantages of the BCI and its
      applications are discussed and suggestions are presented for improvements to pave
      the way for user friendly BCIs intended to be used as assistive technology by
      persons with severe paralysis.

PMID- 28588444
TI  - A Brain Unfixed: Unlimited Neurogenesis and Regeneration of the Adult Planarian
      Nervous System.
AB  - Powerful genetic tools in classical laboratory models have been fundamental to
      our understanding of how stem cells give rise to complex neural tissues during
      embryonic development. In contrast, adult neurogenesis in our model systems, if
      present, is typically constrained to one or a few zones of the adult brain to
      produce a limited subset of neurons leading to the dogma that the brain is
      primarily fixed post-development. The freshwater planarian (flatworm) is an
      invertebrate model system that challenges this dogma. The planarian possesses a
      brain containing several thousand neurons with very high rates of cell turnover
      (homeostasis), which can also be fully regenerated de novo from injury in just 7
      days. Both homeostasis and regeneration depend on the activity of a large
      population of adult stem cells, called neoblasts, throughout the planarian body.
      Thus, much effort has been put forth to understand how the flatworm can
      continually give rise to the diversity of cell types found in the adult brain.
      Here we focus on work using single-cell genomics and functional analyses to
      unravel the cellular hierarchies from stem cell to neuron. In addition, we will
      review what is known about how planarians utilize developmental signaling to
      maintain proper tissue patterning, homeostasis, and cell-type diversity in their
      brains. Together, planarians are a powerful emerging model system to study the
      dynamics of adult neurogenesis and regeneration.

PMID- 28588445
TI  - Lights from the Dark: Neural Responses from a Blind Visual Hemifield.
AB  - Here we present evidence that a hemianopic patient with a lesion of the left
      primary visual cortex (V1) showed an unconscious above-chance orientation
      discrimination with moving rather than static visual gratings presented to the
      blind hemifield. The patient did not report any perceptual experience of the
      stimulus features except for a feeling that something appeared in the blind
      hemifield. Interestingly, in the lesioned left hemisphere, following stimulus
      presentation to the blind hemifield, we found an event-related potential (ERP) N1
      component at a post-stimulus onset latency of 180-260 ms and a source generator
      in the left BA 19. In contrast, we did not find evidence of the early visual
      components C1 and P1 and of the later component P300. A positive component (P2a)
      was recorded between 250 and 320 ms after stimulus onset frontally in both
      hemispheres. Finally, in the time range 320-440 ms there was a negative peak in
      right posterior electrodes that was present only for the moving condition. In
      sum, there were two noteworthy results: Behaviorally, we found evidence of above
      chance unconscious (blindsight) orientation discrimination with moving but not
      static stimuli. Physiologically, in contrast to previous studies, we found
      reliable ERP components elicited by stimuli presented to the blind hemifield at
      various electrode locations and latencies that are likely to index either the
      perceptual report of the patient (N1 and P2a) or, the above-chance unconscious
      performance with moving stimuli as is the case of the posterior ERP negative
      component. This late component can be considered as the neural correlate of a
      kind of blindsight enabling feature discrimination only when stimuli are moving
      and that is subserved by the intact right hemisphere through interhemispheric
      transfer.

PMID- 28588446
TI  - Purkinje Cell Degeneration and Motor Coordination Deficits in a New Mouse Model
      of Autosomal Recessive Spastic Ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay.
AB  - Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) is an early
      onset neurodegenerative disorder. In 2007, a novel locus, SAX2, which is located
      on chromosome 17p13 and contains 3 genes, ankyrin repeat and FYVE domain
      containing 1 (ANKFY1), beta-arrestin 2 (ARRB2) and kinesin family member 1C
      (KIF1C), was linked to ARSACS. We generated Ankfy1 heterozygous (Ankfy1/+) mice
      to establish an animal model and examine the pathophysiological basis of ARSACS.
      The transgenic mice displayed an abnormal gait with progressive motor and
      cerebellar nerve dysfunction that was highly reminiscent of ARSACS. These
      clinical features were accompanied by an early-onset and progressive loss of
      Purkinje cells, followed by gliosis. Additionally, the loss of Ankfy1 function
      resulted in an abnormal expression of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) in the Ankfy1/+
      mouse cerebellum. Moreover, Purkinje cells cultured from neonatal Ankfy1/+ mice
      exhibited a shorter dendritic length and decreased numbers of dendritic spines.
      Importantly, cerebellar Purkinje cells from Ankfy1/+ mice and cells transfected
      with a lentiviral Ankfy1 shRNA underwent apoptosis. We propose that transgenic
      Ankfy1/+ mice are a useful model for studying the pathogenesis of ARSACS and for
      exploring the molecular mechanisms involved in this neurodegenerative disease.

PMID- 28588447
TI  - The Effects of Epidermal Neural Crest Stem Cells on Local Inflammation
      Microenvironment in the Defected Sciatic Nerve of Rats.
AB  - Cell-based therapy is a promising strategy for the repair of peripheral nerve
      injuries (PNIs). epidermal neural crest stems cells (EPI-NCSCs) are thought to be
      important donor cells for repairing PNI in different animal models. Following
      PNI, inflammatory response is important to regulate the repair process. However,
      the effects of EPI-NCSCs on regulation of local inflammation microenviroment have
      not been investigated extensively. In the present study, these effects were
      studied by using 10 mm defected sciatic nerve, which was bridged with 15 mm
      artificial nerve composed of EPI-NCSCs, extracellular matrix (ECM) and poly
      (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA). Then the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory
      cytokines, polarization of macrophages, regulation of fibroblasts and shwann
      cells (SCs) were assessed by western blot, immunohistochemistry,
      immunofluorescence staining at 1, 3, 7 and 21 days after bridging. The structure
      and the function of the bridged nerve were determined by observation under light
      microscope and by examination of right lateral foot retraction time (LFRT),
      sciatic function index (SFI), gastrocnemius wet weight and electrophysiology at 9
      weeks. After bridging with EPI-NCSCs, the expression of anti-inflammatory
      cytokines (IL-4 and IL-13) was increased, but decreased for pro-inflammatory
      cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-alpha) compared to the control bridging, which was
      consistent with increase of M2 macrophages and decrease of M1 macrophages at 7
      days after transplantation. Likewise, myelin-formed SCs were significantly
      increased, but decreased for the activated fibroblasts in their number at 21
      days. The recovery of structure and function of nerve bridged with EPI-NCSCs was
      significantly superior to that of DMEM. These results indicated that EPI-NCSCs
      could be able to regulate and provide more suitable inflammation microenvironment
      for the repair of defected sciatic nerve.

PMID- 28588448
TI  - Structural Changes of Amyloid Beta in Hippocampus of Rats Exposed to Ozone: A
      Raman Spectroscopy Study.
AB  - The aim of this work was to study the effect of oxidative stress on the
      structural changes of the secondary peptide structure of amyloid beta 1-42 (Abeta
      1-42), in the dentate gyrus of hippocampus of rats exposed to low doses of ozone.
      The animals were exposed to ozone-free air (control group) and 0.25 ppm ozone
      during 7, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days, respectively. The samples were studied by: (1)
      Raman spectroscopy to detect the global conformational changes in peptides with
      alpha-helix and beta-sheet secondary structure, following the deconvolution
      profile of the amide I band; and (2) immunohistochemistry against Abeta 1-42. The
      results of the deconvolutions of the amide I band indicate that, ozone exposure
      causes a progressively decrease in the abundance percentage of alpha-helix
      secondary structure. Furthermore, the beta-sheet secondary structure increases
      its abundance percentage. After 60 days of ozone exposure, the beta-sheet band is
      identified in a similar wavenumber of the Abeta 1-42 peptide standard.
      Immunohistochemistry assays show an increase of Abeta 1-42 immunoreactivity,
      coinciding with the conformational changes observed in the Raman spectroscopy of
      Abeta 1-42 at 60 and 90 days. In conclusion, oxidative stress produces changes in
      the folding process of amyloid beta peptide structure in the dentate gyrus,
      leading to its conformational change in a final beta-sheet structure. This is
      associated to an increase in Abeta 1-42 expression, similar to the one that
      happens in the brain of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients.

PMID- 28588449
TI  - Long-Term Assessment of AAV-Mediated Zinc Finger Nuclease Expression in the Mouse
      Brain.
AB  - Gene editing tools like TALENs, ZFNs and Crispr/Cas now offer unprecedented
      opportunities for targeted genetic manipulations in virtually all species. Most
      of the recent research in this area has concentrated on manipulation of the
      genome in isolated cells, which then give rise to transgenic animals or modified
      stem cell lines. Much less is known about applicability of genetic scissors in
      terminally differentiated, non-dividing cells like neurons of the adult brain. We
      addressed this question by expression of a pair of ZFNs targeting the murine
      cathepsin D gene in CNS neurons by means of an optimized AAV viral vector. We
      show that ZFN expression resulted in substantial depletion of cathepsin D from
      neuronal lysosomes, demonstrating a robust gene deletion. Importantly, long-term
      ZFN expression in CNS neurons did not impair essential neuronal functionality and
      did not cause inflammation or neurodegeneration, suggesting that potent genetic
      scissors can be expressed safely in the mouse brain. This finding opens up new
      venues to create novel research models for neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 28588451
TI  - Neurogenic to Gliogenic Fate Transition Perturbed by Loss of HMGB2.
AB  - Mouse cortical development relies heavily on a delicate balance between
      neurogenesis and gliogenesis. The lateral ventricular zone produces different
      classes of excitatory pyramidal cells until just before birth, when the
      production of astroglia begins to prevail. Epigenetic control of this fate shift
      is of critical importance and chromatin regulatory elements driving neuronal or
      astroglial development play an vital role. Different classes of chromatin binding
      proteins orchestrate the transcriptional repression of neuronal-specific genes,
      while allowing for the activation of astrocyte-specific genes. Through proteomic
      analysis of embryonic neural progenitor cells (NPCs) our group had previously
      identified high mobility group B2 (HMGB2), a chromatin protein dynamically
      expressed throughout embryonic development. In the current study using cultures
      of perinatal NPCs from HMGB2+/+ and HMGB2-/- mice we discovered that vital
      elements of the polycomb group (PcG) epigenetic complexes polycomb repressive
      complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1/2) were downregulated during the differentiation process
      of HMGB2-null NPCs. These epigenetic changes led to downstream changes in
      specific histone modification levels, specifically the trimethylation of H3K27,
      and a subsequent shift in the perinatal neurogenesis to gliogenesis fate
      transition. Collectively these results demonstrate that chromatin binding
      proteins, such as HMGB2, can have significant effects on the epigenetic landscape
      of perinatal neural stem/progenitor cells.

PMID- 28588450
TI  - Puzzling Out Synaptic Vesicle 2 Family Members Functions.
AB  - Synaptic vesicle proteins 2 (SV2) were discovered in the early 80s, but the clear
      demonstration that SV2A is the target of efficacious anti-epileptic drugs from
      the racetam family stimulated efforts to improve understanding of its role in the
      brain. Many functions have been suggested for SV2 proteins including ions or
      neurotransmitters transport or priming of SVs. Moreover, several recent studies
      highlighted the link between SV2 and different neuronal disorders such as
      epilepsy, Schizophrenia (SCZ), Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. In this review
      article, we will summarize our present knowledge on SV2A function(s) and its
      potential role(s) in the pathophysiology of various brain disorders.

PMID- 28588452
TI  - Structure-Function Analysis of the GlyR alpha2 Subunit Autism Mutation p.R323L
      Reveals a Gain-of-Function.
AB  - Glycine receptors (GlyRs) containing the alpha2 subunit regulate cortical
      interneuron migration. Disruption of the GlyR alpha2 subunit gene (Glra2) in mice
      leads to disrupted dorsal cortical progenitor homeostasis, leading to a depletion
      of projection neurons and moderate microcephaly in newborn mice. In humans, rare
      variants in GLRA2, which is located on the X chromosome, are associated with
      autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the hemizygous state in males. These include a
      microdeletion (GLRA2?ex8-9) and missense mutations in GLRA2 (p.N109S and p.R126Q)
      that impair cell-surface expression of GlyR alpha2, and either abolish or
      markedly reduce sensitivity to glycine. We report the functional characterization
      of a third missense variant in GLRA2 (p.R323L), associated with autism,
      macrocephaly, epilepsy and hypothyroidism in a female proband. Using
      heterosynapse and macroscopic current recording techniques, we reveal that GlyR
      alpha2R323L exhibits reduced glycine sensitivity, but significantly increased
      inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSC) rise and decay times. Site-directed
      mutagenesis revealed that the nature of the amino acid switch at position 323 is
      critical for impairment of GlyR function. Single-channel recordings revealed that
      the conductance of alpha2R323Lbeta channels was higher than alpha2beta channels.
      Longer mean opening durations induced by p.R323L may be due to a change in the
      gating pathway that enhances the stability of the GlyR open state. The slower
      synaptic decay times, longer duration active periods and increase in conductance
      demonstrates that the GlyR alpha2 p.R323L mutation results in an overall gain of
      function, and that GlyR alpha2 mutations can be pathogenic in the heterozygous
      state in females.

PMID- 28588453
TI  - Refining the Role of 5-HT in Postnatal Development of Brain Circuits.
AB  - Changing serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) brain levels during critical
      periods in development has long-lasting effects on brain function, particularly
      on later anxiety/depression-related behaviors in adulthood. A large part of the
      known developmental effects of 5-HT occur during critical periods of postnatal
      life, when activity-dependent mechanisms remodel neural circuits. This was first
      demonstrated for the maturation of sensory brain maps in the barrel cortex and
      the visual system. More recently this has been extended to the 5-HT raphe
      circuits themselves and to limbic circuits. Recent studies overviewed here used
      new genetic models in mice and rats and combined physiological and structural
      approaches to provide new insights on the cellular and molecular mechanisms
      controlled by 5-HT during late stages of neural circuit maturation in the raphe
      projections, the somatosensory cortex and the visual system. Similar mechanisms
      appear to be also involved in the maturation of limbic circuits such as
      prefrontal circuits. The latter are of particular relevance to understand the
      impact of transient 5-HT dysfunction during postnatal life on psychiatric
      illnesses and emotional disorders in adult life.

PMID- 28588454
TI  - Reelin Signaling Inactivates Cofilin to Stabilize the Cytoskeleton of Migrating
      Cortical Neurons.
AB  - Neurons are highly polarized cells. They give rise to several dendrites but only
      one axon. In addition, many neurons show a preferred orientation. For example,
      pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex extend their apical dendrites toward the
      cortical surface while their axons run in opposite direction toward the white
      matter. This characteristic orientation reflects the migratory trajectory of a
      pyramidal cell during cortical development: the leading process (the future
      apical dendrite) extends toward the marginal zone (MZ) and the trailing process
      (the future axon) toward the intermediate zone (IZ) while the cells migrate
      radially to reach their destination in the cortical plate (CP). In this review
      article, we summarize the function of Reelin, an extracellular matrix protein
      synthesized by Cajal-Retzius cells in the MZ, in the development of the
      characteristic orientation of the leading processes running perpendicular to the
      cortical surface. Reelin promotes migration toward the cortical surface since
      late-generated cortical neurons in the reeler mutant are unable to reach upper
      cortical layers. Likewise, Reelin is important for the orientation and
      maintenance of the leading processes of migrating neurons since they are
      misoriented in the developing reeler cortex, as are the apical dendrites of
      pyramidal cells in the mature mutant. Reelin-induced phosphorylation of cofilin,
      an actin-associated protein, is crucial since pyramidal neurons transfected by in
      utero electroporation (IUE) with a non-phosphorylatable form of cofilin
      (cofilinS3A) show severe migration defects reminiscent of those in the reeler
      mutant. Remarkably, migration of neurons in the cortex of reeler mice was
      partially rescued by transfecting them with LIM kinase 1 (LIMK1), the kinase that
      induces phosphorylation of cofilin at serine3, or with a pseudo-phosphorylated
      cofilin mutant (cofilinS3E). Together these results indicate that Reelin-induced
      phosphorylation of cofilin is an important component in the orientation and
      directed migration of cortical neurons and in their correct lamination.

PMID- 28588455
TI  - Circuits Regulating Pleasure and Happiness in Bipolar Disorder.
AB  - According to our model, the motivation for appetitive-searching vs. distress
      avoiding behaviors is regulated by two parallel cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical
      (CSTC) re-entry circuits that include the core and the shell parts of the nucleus
      accumbens, respectively. An entire series of basal ganglia, running from the
      caudate nucleus on one side to the centromedial amygdala on the other side,
      control the intensity of these reward-seeking and misery-fleeing behaviors by
      stimulating the activity of the (pre)frontal and limbic cortices. Hyperactive
      motivation to display behavior that potentially results in reward induces
      feelings of hankering (relief leads to pleasure); while, hyperactive motivation
      to exhibit behavior related to avoidance of aversive states results in dysphoria
      (relief leads to happiness). These two systems collaborate in a reciprocal
      fashion. We hypothesized that the mechanism inducing the switch from bipolar
      depression to mania is the most essential characteristic of bipolar disorder.
      This switch is attributed to a dysfunction of the lateral habenula, which
      regulates the activity of midbrain centers, including the dopaminergic ventral
      tegmental area (VTA). From an evolutionary perspective, the activity of the
      lateral habenula should be regulated by the human homolog of the habenula
      projecting globus pallidus, which in turn might be directed by the amygdaloid
      complex and the phylogenetically old part of the limbic cortex. In bipolar
      disorder, it is possible that the system regulating the activity of this reward
      driven behavior is damaged or the interaction between the medial and lateral
      habenula may be dysfunctional. This may lead to an adverse coupling between the
      activities of the misery-fleeing and reward-seeking circuits, which results in
      independently varying activities.

PMID- 28588457
TI  - Sensitivity to an Illusion of Sound Location in Human Auditory Cortex.
AB  - Human listeners place greater weight on the beginning of a sound compared to the
      middle or end when determining sound location, creating an auditory illusion
      known as the Franssen effect. Here, we exploited that effect to test whether
      human auditory cortex (AC) represents the physical vs. perceived spatial features
      of a sound. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure AC
      responses to sounds that varied in perceived location due to interaural level
      differences (ILD) applied to sound onsets or to the full sound duration. Analysis
      of hemodynamic responses in AC revealed sensitivity to ILD in both full-cue
      (veridical) and onset-only (illusory) lateralized stimuli. Classification
      analysis revealed regional differences in the sensitivity to onset-only ILDs,
      where better classification was observed in posterior compared to primary AC.
      That is, restricting the ILD to sound onset-which alters the physical but not the
      perceptual nature of the spatial cue-did not eliminate cortical sensitivity to
      that cue. These results suggest that perceptual representations of auditory space
      emerge or are refined in higher-order AC regions, supporting the stable
      perception of auditory space in noisy or reverberant environments and forming the
      basis of illusions such as the Franssen effect.

PMID- 28588456
TI  - Activity Dependent Modulation of Granule Cell Survival in the Accessory Olfactory
      Bulb at Puberty.
AB  - The vomeronasal system (VNS) is specialized in the detection of salient chemical
      cues triggering social and neuroendocrine responses. Such responses are not
      always stereotyped, instead, they vary depending on age, sex, and reproductive
      state, yet the mechanisms underlying this variability are unclear. Here, by
      analyzing neuronal survival in the first processing nucleus of the VNS, namely
      the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), through multiple bromodeoxyuridine
      birthdating protocols, we show that exposure of female mice to male soiled
      bedding material affects the integration of newborn granule interneurons mainly
      after puberty. This effect is induced by urine compounds produced by mature
      males, as bedding soiled by younger males was ineffective. The granule cell
      increase induced by mature male odor exposure is not prevented by pre-pubertal
      ovariectomy, indicating a lesser role of circulating estrogens in this
      plasticity. Interestingly, the intake of adult male urine-derived cues by the
      female vomeronasal organ increases during puberty, suggesting a direct
      correlation between sensory activity and AOB neuronal plasticity. Thus, as odor
      exposure increases the responses of newly born cells to the experienced stimuli,
      the addition of new GABAergic inhibitory cells to the AOB might contribute to the
      shaping of vomeronasal processing of male cues after puberty. Consistently, only
      after puberty, female mice are capable to discriminate individual male odors
      through the VNS.

PMID- 28588458
TI  - Modes of Effective Connectivity within Cortical Pathways Are Distinguished for
      Different Categories of Visual Context: An fMRI Study.
AB  - Context contributes to accurate and efficient information processing. To reveal
      the dynamics of the neural mechanisms that underlie the processing of visual
      contexts during the recognition of color, shape, and 3D structure of objects, we
      carried out functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of subjects while
      judging the contextual validity of the three visual contexts. Our results
      demonstrated that the modes of effective connectivity in the cortical pathways,
      as well as the patterns of activation in these pathways, were dynamical depending
      on the nature of the visual contexts. While the fusiform gyrus, superior parietal
      lobe, and inferior prefrontal gyrus were activated by the three visual contexts,
      the temporal and parahippocampal gyrus/Amygdala (PHG/Amg) cortices were activated
      only by the color context. We further carried out dynamic causal modeling (DCM)
      analysis and revealed the nature of the effective connectivity involved in the
      three contextual information processing. DCM showed that there were dynamic
      connections and collaborations among the brain regions belonging to the
      previously identified ventral and dorsal visual pathways.

PMID- 28588459
TI  - The Different Inhibition of Return (IOR) Effects of Emergency Managerial Experts
      and Novices: An Event-Related Potentials Study.
AB  - Inhibition of return (IOR) is an important effect of attention. However, the IOR
      of emergency managerial experts is unknown. By employing emergency and natural
      scene pictures in expert-novice paradigm, the present study explored the neural
      activity underlying the IOR effects for emergency managerial experts and novices.
      In behavioral results, there were no differences of IOR effects between novices
      and emergency managerial experts, while the event-related potentials (ERPs)
      results were different between novices and experts. In Experiment 1 (novice
      group), ERPs results showed no any IOR was robust at both stimulus-onset
      asynchrony (SOA) of 200 ms and 400 ms. In Experiment 2 (expert group), ERPs
      results showed an enhanced N2 at SOA of 200 ms and attenuated P3 at cued location
      in the right parietal lobe and adjacent brain regions than uncued location at SOA
      of 200 ms. The findings of the two experiments showed that, relative to the
      novices, IOR for the emergency managerial experts was robust, and dominated in
      the right parietal lobe and adjacent brain regions, suggesting more flexible
      attentional processing and higher visual search efficiency of the emergency
      managerial experts. The findings indicate that the P3, possible N2, over the
      right parietal lobe and adjacent brain regions are the biological indicators for
      IOR elicited by post-cued emergency pictures for emergency managerial experts.

PMID- 28588460
TI  - Aversive Learning of Colored Lights in Walking Honeybees.
AB  - The honeybee has been established as an important model organism in studies on
      visual learning. So far the emphasis has been on appetitive conditioning,
      simulating floral discrimination, and homing behavior, where bees perform
      exceptionally well in visual discrimination tasks. However, bees in the wild also
      face dangers, and recent findings suggest that what is learned about visual
      percepts is highly context dependent. A stimulus that follows an unpleasant
      period, is associated with the feeling of relief- or safety in humans and
      animals, thus acquiring a positive meaning. Whether this is also the case in
      honeybees is still an open question. Here, we conditioned bees aversively in a
      walking arena where each half was illuminated by light of a specific wavelength
      and intensity, one of which was combined with electric shocks. In this paradigm,
      the bees' preferences to the different lights were modified through nine
      conditioning trials, forming robust escape, and avoidance behaviors. Strikingly,
      we found that while 465 nm (human blue) and 590 nm (human yellow) lights both
      could acquire negative valences (inducing avoidance response), 525 nm (human
      green) light could not. This indicates that green light holds an innate meaning
      of safety which is difficult to overrule even through intensive aversive
      conditioning. The bees had slight initial preferences to green over the blue and
      the yellow lights, which could be compensated by adjusting light intensity.
      However, this initial bias played a minor role while the chromatic properties
      were the most salient characteristics of the light stimuli during aversive
      conditioning. Moreover, bees could learn the light signaling safety, revealing
      the existence of a relief component in aversive operant conditioning, similar to
      what has been observed in other animals.

PMID- 28588461
TI  - Modulation of Ethanol-Metabolizing Enzymes by Developmental Lead Exposure:
      Effects in Voluntary Ethanol Consumption.
AB  - This review article provides evidence of the impact of the environmental
      contaminant lead (Pb) on the pattern of the motivational effects of ethanol
      (EtOH). To find a mechanism that explains this interaction, the focus of this
      review article is on central EtOH metabolism and the participating enzymes, as
      key factors in the modulation of brain acetaldehyde (ACD) accumulation and
      resulting effect on EtOH intake. Catalase (CAT) seems a good candidate for the
      shared mechanism between Pb and EtOH due to both its antioxidant and its brain
      EtOH-metabolizing properties. CAT overactivation was reported to increase EtOH
      consumption, while CAT blockade reduced it, and both scenarios were modified by
      Pb exposure, probably as the result of elevated brain and blood CAT activity.
      Likewise, the motivational effects of EtOH were enhanced when brain ACD
      metabolism was prevented by ALDH2 inhibition, even in the Pb animals that
      evidenced reduced brain ALDH2 activity after chronic EtOH intake. Overall, these
      results suggest that brain EtOH metabolizing enzymes are modulated by Pb exposure
      with resultant central ACD accumulation and a prevalence of the reinforcing
      effects of the metabolite in brain against the aversive peripheral ACD
      accumulation. They also support the idea that early exposure to an environmental
      contaminant, even at low doses, predisposes at a later age to differential
      reactivity to challenging events, increasing, in this case, vulnerability to
      acquiring addictive behaviors, including excessive EtOH intake.

PMID- 28588462
TI  - Atypical Modulations of N170 Component during Emotional Processing and Their
      Links to Social Behaviors in Ex-combatants.
AB  - Emotional processing (EP) is crucial for the elaboration and implementation of
      adaptive social strategies. EP is also necessary for the expression of social
      cognition and behavior (SCB) patterns. It is well-known that war contexts induce
      socio-emotional atypical functioning, in particular for those who participate in
      combats. Thus, ex-combatants represent an ideal non-clinical population to
      explore EP modulation and to evaluate its relation with SCB. The aim of this
      study was to explore EP and its relation with SCB dimensions such as empathy,
      theory of mind and social skills in a sample of 50 subjects, of which 30 were ex
      combatants from illegally armed groups in Colombia, and 20 controls without
      combat experience. We adapted an Emotional Recognition Task for faces and words
      and synchronized it with electroencephalographic recording. Ex-combatants
      presented with higher assertion skills and showed more pronounced brain responses
      to faces than Controls. They did not show the bias toward anger observed in
      control participants whereby the latter group was more likely to misclassify
      neutral faces as angry. However, ex-combatants showed an atypical word valence
      processing. That is, words with different emotions yielded no differences in N170
      modulations. SCB variables were successfully predicted by neurocognitive
      variables. Our results suggest that in ex-combatants the links between EP and SCB
      functions are reorganized. This may reflect neurocognitive modulations associated
      to chronic exposure to war experiences.

PMID- 28588463
TI  - Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical
      Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution.
AB  - There is converging evidence that high doses of hallucinogenic drugs can produce
      significant alterations of self-experience, described as the dissolution of the
      sense of self and the loss of boundaries between self and world. This article
      discusses the relevance of this phenomenon, known as "drug-induced ego
      dissolution (DIED)", for cognitive neuroscience, psychology and philosophy of
      mind. Data from self-report questionnaires suggest that three
      neuropharmacological classes of drugs can induce ego dissolution: classical
      psychedelics, dissociative anesthetics and agonists of the kappa opioid receptor
      (KOR). While these substances act on different neurotransmitter receptors, they
      all produce strong subjective effects that can be compared to the symptoms of
      acute psychosis, including ego dissolution. It has been suggested that
      neuroimaging of DIED can indirectly shed light on the neural correlates of the
      self. While this line of inquiry is promising, its results must be interpreted
      with caution. First, neural correlates of ego dissolution might reveal the
      necessary neurophysiological conditions for the maintenance of the sense of self,
      but it is more doubtful that this method can reveal its minimally sufficient
      conditions. Second, it is necessary to define the relevant notion of self at play
      in the phenomenon of DIED. This article suggests that DIED consists in the
      disruption of subpersonal processes underlying the "minimal" or "embodied" self,
      i.e., the basic experience of being a self rooted in multimodal integration of
      self-related stimuli. This hypothesis is consistent with Bayesian models of
      phenomenal selfhood, according to which the subjective structure of conscious
      experience ultimately results from the optimization of predictions in perception
      and action. Finally, it is argued that DIED is also of particular interest for
      philosophy of mind. On the one hand, it challenges theories according to which
      consciousness always involves self-awareness. On the other hand, it suggests that
      ordinary conscious experience might involve a minimal kind of self-awareness
      rooted in multisensory processing, which is what appears to fade away during
      DIED.

PMID- 28588465
TI  - Electrophysiological Correlates of Subliminal Perception of Facial Expressions in
      Individuals with Autistic Traits: A Backward Masking Study.
AB  - People with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show difficulty in social
      communication, especially in the rapid assessment of emotion in faces. This study
      examined the processing of emotional faces in typically developing adults with
      high and low levels of autistic traits (measured using the Autism Spectrum
      Quotient-AQ). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during viewing of
      backward-masked neutral, fearful and happy faces presented under two conditions:
      subliminal (16 ms, below the level of visual conscious awareness) and
      supraliminal (166 ms, above the time required for visual conscious awareness).
      Individuals with low and high AQ differed in the processing of subliminal faces,
      with the low AQ group showing an enhanced N2 amplitude for subliminal happy
      faces. Some group differences were found in the condition effects, with the Low
      AQ showing shorter frontal P3b and N4 latencies for subliminal vs. supraliminal
      condition. Although results did not show any group differences on the face
      specific N170 component, there were shorter N170 latencies for supraliminal vs.
      subliminal conditions across groups. The results observed on the N2, showing
      group differences in subliminal emotion processing, suggest that decreased
      sensitivity to the reward value of social stimuli is a common feature both of
      people with ASD as well as people with high autistic traits from the normal
      population.

PMID- 28588464
TI  - Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review.
AB  - Background: Video gaming is an increasingly popular activity in contemporary
      society, especially among young people, and video games are increasing in
      popularity not only as a research tool but also as a field of study. Many studies
      have focused on the neural and behavioral effects of video games, providing a
      great deal of video game derived brain correlates in recent decades. There is a
      great amount of information, obtained through a myriad of methods, providing
      neural correlates of video games. Objectives: We aim to understand the
      relationship between the use of video games and their neural correlates, taking
      into account the whole variety of cognitive factors that they encompass. Methods:
      A systematic review was conducted using standardized search operators that
      included the presence of video games and neuro-imaging techniques or references
      to structural or functional brain changes. Separate categories were made for
      studies featuring Internet Gaming Disorder and studies focused on the violent
      content of video games. Results: A total of 116 articles were considered for the
      final selection. One hundred provided functional data and 22 measured structural
      brain changes. One-third of the studies covered video game addiction, and 14%
      focused on video game related violence. Conclusions: Despite the innate
      heterogeneity of the field of study, it has been possible to establish a series
      of links between the neural and cognitive aspects, particularly regarding
      attention, cognitive control, visuospatial skills, cognitive workload, and reward
      processing. However, many aspects could be improved. The lack of standardization
      in the different aspects of video game related research, such as the
      participants' characteristics, the features of each video game genre and the
      diverse study goals could contribute to discrepancies in many related studies.

PMID- 28588466
TI  - Attentional Bias for Uncertain Cues of Shock in Human Fear Conditioning: Evidence
      for Attentional Learning Theory.
AB  - We conducted a human fear conditioning experiment in which three different color
      cues were followed by an aversive electric shock on 0, 50, and 100% of the
      trials, and thus induced low (L), partial (P), and high (H) shock expectancy,
      respectively. The cues differed with respect to the strength of their shock
      association (L < P < H) and the uncertainty of their prediction (L < P > H).
      During conditioning we measured pupil dilation and ocular fixations to index
      differences in the attentional processing of the cues. After conditioning, the
      shock-associated colors were introduced as irrelevant distracters during visual
      search for a shape target while shocks were no longer administered and we
      analyzed the cues' potential to capture and hold overt attention automatically.
      Our findings suggest that fear conditioning creates an automatic attention bias
      for the conditioned cues that depends on their correlation with the aversive
      outcome. This bias was exclusively linked to the strength of the cues' shock
      association for the early attentional processing of cues in the visual periphery,
      but additionally was influenced by the uncertainty of the shock prediction after
      participants fixated on the cues. These findings are in accord with attentional
      learning theories that formalize how associative learning shapes automatic
      attention.

PMID- 28588468
TI  - Editorial: The Role of Primary Motor Cortex as a Marker and Modulator of Pain
      Control and Emotional-Affective Processing.

PMID- 28588467
TI  - Literature Review on the Effects of tDCS Coupled with Robotic Therapy in Post
      Stroke Upper Limb Rehabilitation.
AB  - Today neurological diseases such as stroke represent one of the leading cause of
      long-term disability. Many research efforts have been focused on designing new
      and effective rehabilitation strategies. In particular, robotic treatment for
      upper limb stroke rehabilitation has received significant attention due to its
      ability to provide high-intensity and repetitive movement therapy with less
      effort than traditional methods. In addition, the development of non-invasive
      brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
      (tDCS) has also demonstrated the capability of modulating brain excitability thus
      increasing motor performance. The combination of these two methods is expected to
      enhance functional and motor recovery after stroke; to this purpose, the current
      trends in this research field are presented and discussed through an in-depth
      analysis of the state-of-the-art. The heterogeneity and the restricted number of
      collected studies make difficult to perform a systematic review. However, the
      literature analysis of the published data seems to demonstrate that the
      association of tDCS with robotic training has the same clinical gain derived from
      robotic therapy alone. Future studies should investigate combined approach
      tailored to the individual patient's characteristics, critically evaluating the
      brain areas to be targeted and the induced functional changes.

PMID- 28588470
TI  - Examining Brain Morphometry Associated with Self-Esteem in Young Adults Using
      Multilevel-ROI-Features-Based Classification Method.
AB  - Purpose: This study is to exam self-esteem related brain morphometry on brain
      magnetic resonance (MR) images using multilevel-features-based classification
      method. Method: The multilevel region of interest (ROI) features consist of two
      types of features: (i) ROI features, which include gray matter volume, white
      matter volume, cerebrospinal fluid volume, cortical thickness, and cortical
      surface area, and (ii) similarity features, which are based on similarity
      calculation of cortical thickness between ROIs. For each feature type, a hybrid
      feature selection method, comprising of filter-based and wrapper-based
      algorithms, is used to select the most discriminating features. ROI features and
      similarity features are integrated by using multi-kernel support vector machines
      (SVMs) with appropriate weighting factor. Results: The classification performance
      is improved by using multilevel ROI features with an accuracy of 96.66%, a
      specificity of 96.62%, and a sensitivity of 95.67%. The most discriminating ROI
      features that are related to self-esteem spread over occipital lobe, frontal
      lobe, parietal lobe, limbic lobe, temporal lobe, and central region, mainly
      involving white matter and cortical thickness. The most discriminating similarity
      features are distributed in both the right and left hemisphere, including frontal
      lobe, occipital lobe, limbic lobe, parietal lobe, and central region, which
      conveys information of structural connections between different brain regions.
      Conclusion: By using ROI features and similarity features to exam self-esteem
      related brain morphometry, this paper provides a pilot evidence that self-esteem
      is linked to specific ROIs and structural connections between different brain
      regions.

PMID- 28588469
TI  - Oxytocin Increases the Perceived Value of Both Self- and Other-Owned Items and
      Alters Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activity in an Endowment Task.
AB  - The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) can influence self-processing and may help
      motivate us to value the attributes of others in a more self-like manner by
      reducing medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) responses. We do not know however
      whether this OXT effect extends to possessions. We tend to place a higher
      monetary value on specific objects that belong to us compared to others, known as
      the "endowment effect". In two double-blind, between-subject placebo (PLC)
      controlled experiments in subjects from a collectivist culture, we investigated
      the influence of intranasal OXT on the endowment effect, with the second study
      incorporating functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In the task, subjects
      decided whether to buy or sell their own or others'
      (mother/father/classmate/stranger) possessions at various prices. Both
      experiments demonstrated an endowment effect in the self-owned condition which
      extended to close others (mother/father) and OXT increased this for self and all
      other-owned items. This OXT effect was associated with reduced activity in the
      ventral mPFC (vmPFC) in the self-owned condition but increased in the mother
      condition. For the classmate- and stranger-owned conditions OXT increased
      activity in the dorsal mPFC (dmPFC). Changes in vmPFC activation were associated
      with the size of the endowment effect for self- and mother-owned items.
      Functional connectivity between the dmPFC and ventral striatum (VStr) was reduced
      by OXT in self- and mother-owned conditions and between vmPFC and precuneus in
      the self-condition. Overall our results show that OXT enhances the endowment
      effect for both self- and other-owned items in Chinese subjects. This effect is
      associated with reduced mPFC activation in the self-condition but enhanced
      activation in all other-conditions and involves differential actions on both
      dorsal and ventral regions as well as functional connectivity with brain reward
      and other self-processing regions. Overall our findings suggest that OXT
      increases the perceived value of both self- and other-owned items by acting on
      neural circuitry involved in self-processing and reward.

PMID- 28588472
TI  - Key Insights into Hand Biomechanics: Human Grip Stiffness Can Be Decoupled from
      Force by Cocontraction and Predicted from Electromyography.
AB  - We investigate the relation between grip force and grip stiffness for the human
      hand with and without voluntary cocontraction. Apart from gaining biomechanical
      insight, this issue is particularly relevant for variable-stiffness robotic
      systems, which can independently control the two parameters, but for which no
      clear methods exist to design or efficiently exploit them. Subjects were asked in
      one task to produce different levels of force, and stiffness was measured. As
      expected, this task reveals a linear coupling between force and stiffness. In a
      second task, subjects were then asked to additionally decouple stiffness from
      force at these force levels by using cocontraction. We measured the
      electromyogram from relevant groups of muscles and analyzed the possibility to
      predict stiffness and force. Optical tracking was used for avoiding wrist
      movements. We found that subjects were able to decouple grip stiffness from force
      when using cocontraction on average by about 20% of the maximum measured
      stiffness over all force levels, while this ability increased with the applied
      force. This result contradicts the force-stiffness behavior of most variable
      stiffness actuators. Moreover, we found the thumb to be on average twice as stiff
      as the index finger and discovered that intrinsic hand muscles predominate our
      prediction of stiffness, but not of force. EMG activity and grip force allowed to
      explain 72 +/- 12% of the measured variance in stiffness by simple linear
      regression, while only 33 +/- 18% variance in force. Conclusively the high signal
      to-noise ratio and the high correlation to stiffness of these muscles allow for a
      robust and reliable regression of stiffness, which can be used to continuously
      teleoperate compliance of modern robotic hands.

PMID- 28588471
TI  - Functional Network Connectivity Patterns between Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy
      with Myoclonic and Absence Seizures.
AB  - The extensive cerebral cortex and subcortical structures are considered as the
      major regions related to the generalized epileptiform discharges in idiopathic
      generalized epilepsy. However, various clinical syndromes and
      electroencephalogram (EEG) signs exist across generalized seizures, such as the
      loss of consciousness during absence seizures (AS) and the jerk of limbs during
      myoclonic seizures (MS). It is presumed that various functional systems affected
      by discharges lead to the difference in syndromes of these seizures. Twenty
      epileptic patients with MS, 21 patients with AS, and 21 healthy controls were
      recruited in this study. The functional network connectivity was analyzed based
      on the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. The statistical
      analysis was performed in three groups to assess the difference in the functional
      brain networks in two types of generalized seizures. Twelve resting-state
      networks were identified in three groups. Both patient groups showed common
      abnormalities, including decreased functional connectivity in salience network
      (SN), cerebellum network, and primary perceptional networks and decreased
      connection between SN and visual network, compared with healthy controls.
      Interestingly, the frontal part of high-level cognitive resting-state networks
      showed increased functional connectivity (FC) in patients with MS, but decreased
      FC in patients with AS. Moreover, patients with MS showed decreased negative
      connections between high-level cognitive networks and primary system. The common
      alteration in both patient groups, including SN, might reflect a similar
      mechanism associated with the loss of consciousness during generalized seizures.
      This study provided the evidence of brain network in generalized epilepsy to
      understand the difference between MS and AS.

PMID- 28588473
TI  - A Human-Robot Interaction Perspective on Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics.
AB  - Assistive and rehabilitation devices are a promising and challenging field of
      recent robotics research. Motivated by societal needs such as aging populations,
      such devices can support motor functionality and subject training. The design,
      control, sensing, and assessment of the devices become more sophisticated due to
      a human in the loop. This paper gives a human-robot interaction perspective on
      current issues and opportunities in the field. On the topic of control and
      machine learning, approaches that support but do not distract subjects are
      reviewed. Options to provide sensory user feedback that are currently missing
      from robotic devices are outlined. Parallels between device acceptance and
      affective computing are made. Furthermore, requirements for functional assessment
      protocols that relate to real-world tasks are discussed. In all topic areas, the
      design of human-oriented frameworks and methods is dominated by challenges
      related to the close interaction between the human and robotic device. This paper
      discusses the aforementioned aspects in order to open up new perspectives for
      future robotic solutions.

PMID- 28588475
TI  - Distinct Role of Striatal Functional Connectivity and Dopaminergic Loss in
      Parkinson's Symptoms.
AB  - Degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease.
      However, its link to Parkinson's disease symptoms remains unclear. Striatal
      resting state functional connectivity differentiates between Parkinson's disease
      patients and healthy controls and might be a potential mediator of the effects of
      striatal dopaminergic degeneration onto Parkinson's disease symptoms. Here, we
      evaluated the relationship between dopaminergic deficits, striatal functional
      connectivity (SFC) at rest and different Parkinson's disease clinical symptoms in
      the largest currently established cohort of de novo Parkinson's disease patients.
      We show that SFC is an independent predictor of symptom severity in Parkinson's
      disease in addition to striatal dopaminergic deficits. Furthermore, we find that
      distinct SFC networks are associated with symptoms reflecting the ability to
      perform daily routine automatized motor tasks and clinician-rated Parkinson's
      disease motor symptoms. We find that reduced SFC is a major and independent
      predictor of Parkinson's disease symptoms going beyond the mere reflection of
      striatal dopaminergic input loss. These findings indicate the high value of SFC
      as a clinically relevant biomarker in Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28588474
TI  - A Life-Long Approach to Physical Activity for Brain Health.
AB  - It is well established that engaging in lifelong Physical activity (PA) can help
      delay the onset of many chronic lifestyle related and non-communicable diseases
      such as cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory
      diseases. Additionally, growing evidence also documents the importance of PA for
      brain health, with numerous studies indicating regular engagement in physical
      activities may be protective against cognitive decline and dementia in late life.
      Indeed, the link between PA and brain health may be different at each stage of
      life from childhood, mid-life and late life. Building on this emerging body of
      multidisciplinary research, this review aims to summarize the current body of
      evidence linking regular PA and brain health across the lifespan. Specifically,
      we will focus on the relationship between PA and brain health at three distinct
      stages of life: childhood and adolescence, mid-life, late life in cognitively
      healthy adults and later life in adults living with age-related neurodegenerative
      disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

PMID- 28588476
TI  - Age-Related Differences in Dynamic Interactions Among Default Mode,
      Frontoparietal Control, and Dorsal Attention Networks during Resting-State and
      Interference Resolution.
AB  - Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) can identify large-scale brain networks, including
      the default mode (DMN), frontoparietal control (FPN) and dorsal attention (DAN)
      networks. Interactions among these networks are critical for supporting complex
      cognitive functions, yet the way in which they are modulated across states is not
      well understood. Moreover, it remains unclear whether these interactions are
      similarly affected in aging regardless of cognitive state. In this study, we
      investigated age-related differences in functional interactions among the DMN,
      FPN and DAN during rest and the Multi-Source Interference task (MSIT). Networks
      were identified using independent component analysis (ICA), and functional
      connectivity was measured during rest and task. We found that the FPN was more
      coupled with the DMN during rest and with the DAN during the MSIT. The degree of
      FPN-DMN connectivity was lower in older compared to younger adults, whereas no
      age-related differences were observed in FPN-DAN connectivity in either state.
      This suggests that dynamic interactions of the FPN are stable across cognitive
      states. The DMN and DAN were anti correlated and age-sensitive during the MSIT
      only, indicating variation in a task-dependent manner. Increased levels of
      anticorrelation from rest to task also predicted successful interference
      resolution. Additional analyses revealed that the degree of DMN-DAN
      anticorrelation during the MSIT was associated to resting cerebral blood flow
      (CBF) within the DMN. This suggests that reduced DMN neural activity during rest
      underlies an impaired ability to achieve higher levels of anticorrelation during
      a task. Taken together, our results suggest that only parts of age-related
      differences in connectivity are uncovered at rest and thus, should be studied in
      the functional connectome across multiple states for a more comprehensive
      picture.

PMID- 28588477
TI  - Associations between Mobility, Cognition, and Brain Structure in Healthy Older
      Adults.
AB  - Mobility limitations lead to a cascade of adverse events in old age, yet the
      neural and cognitive correlates of mobility performance in older adults remain
      poorly understood. In a sample of 387 adults (mean age 69.0 +/- 5.1 years), we
      tested the relationship between mobility measures, cognitive assessments, and MRI
      markers of brain structure. Mobility was assessed in 2007-2009, using gait,
      balance and chair-stands tests. In 2012-2015, cognitive testing assessed
      executive function, memory and processing-speed; gray matter volumes (GMV) were
      examined using voxel-based morphometry, and white matter microstructure was
      assessed using tract-based spatial statistics of fractional anisotropy, axial
      diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD). All mobility measures were
      positively associated with processing-speed. Faster walking speed was also
      correlated with higher executive function, while memory was not associated with
      any mobility measure. Increased GMV within the cerebellum, basal ganglia, post
      central gyrus, and superior parietal lobe was associated with better mobility. In
      addition, better performance on the chair-stands test was correlated with
      decreased RD and AD. Overall, our results indicate that, even in non-clinical
      populations, mobility measures can be sensitive to sub-clinical variance in
      cognition and brain structures.

PMID- 28588478
TI  - Lower Activation in Frontal Cortex and Posterior Cingulate Cortex Observed during
      Sex Determination Test in Early-Stage Dementia of the Alzheimer Type.
AB  - Face-labeling refers to the ability to classify faces into social categories.
      This plays a critical role in human interaction as it serves to define concepts
      of socially acceptable interpersonal behavior. The purpose of the current study
      was to characterize, what, if any, impairments in face-labeling are detectable in
      participants with early-stage clinically diagnosed dementia of the Alzheimer type
      (CDDAT) through the use of the sex determination test (SDT). In the current
      study, four (1 female, 3 males) CDDAT and nine (4 females, 5 males) age-matched
      neurotypicals (NT) completed the SDT using chimeric faces while undergoing BOLD
      fMRI. It was expected that CDDAT participants would have poor verbal fluency,
      which would correspond to poor performance on the SDT. This could be explained by
      decreased activation and connectivity patterns within the fusiform face area
      (FFA) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). DTI was also performed to test the
      association of pathological deterioration of connectivity in the uncinate
      fasciculus (UF) and verbally-mediated performance. CDDAT showed lower verbal
      fluency test (VFT) performance, but VFT was not significantly correlated to SDT
      and no significant difference was seen between CDDAT and NT for SDT performance
      as half of the CDDAT performed substantially worse than NT while the other half
      performed similarly. BOLD fMRI of SDT displayed differences in the left superior
      frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), but not the FFA or ACC.
      Furthermore, although DTI showed deterioration of the right inferior and superior
      longitudinal fasciculi, as well as the PCC, it did not demonstrate significant
      deterioration of UF tracts. Taken together, early-stage CDDAT may represent a
      common emerging point for the loss of face labeling ability.

PMID- 28588479
TI  - Theta and Alpha Alterations in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment in Semantic
      Go/NoGo Tasks.
AB  - Growing evidence suggests that cognitive control processes are impaired in
      amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI); however the nature of these
      alterations needs further examination. The current study examined differences in
      electroencephalographic theta and alpha power related to cognitive control
      processes involving response execution and response inhibition in 22 individuals
      with aMCI and 22 age-, sex-, and education-matched cognitively normal controls.
      Two Go/NoGo tasks involving semantic categorization were used. In the basic
      categorization task, Go/NoGo responses were made based on exemplars of a single
      car (Go) and a single dog (NoGo). In the superordinate categorization task,
      responses were made based on multiple exemplars of objects (Go) and animals
      (NoGo). Behavioral data showed that the aMCI group had more false alarms during
      the NoGo trials compared to controls. The EEG data revealed between group
      differences related to response type in theta (4-7 Hz) and low-frequency alpha (8
      10 Hz) power. In particular, the aMCI group differed from controls in theta power
      during the NoGo trials at frontal and parietal electrodes, and in low-frequency
      alpha power during Go trials at parietal electrodes. These results suggest that
      alterations in theta power converge with behavioral deterioration in response
      inhibition, whereas alterations in low-frequency alpha power appear to precede
      behavioral changes in response execution. Both behavioral and
      electrophysiological correlates combined provide a more comprehensive
      characterization of cognitive control deficits in aMCI.

PMID- 28588480
TI  - Reduced Gray Matter Volume in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - Background and Purpose: Previous studies of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) have
      found that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) exhibit gray matter
      alterations, but these findings are inconsistent and have not been quantitatively
      reviewed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a quantitative meta
      analysis of VBM studies of patients with T2DM. Materials and Methods: The seed
      based d mapping method was applied to quantitatively estimate the regional gray
      matter abnormalities in T2DM patients. We also used meta-regression to explore
      the effects of some demographics and clinical characteristics. Results: Seven
      studies, with 8 datasets comprising 530 participants with T2DM and 549 non-T2DM
      controls, were included. The pooled and subgroup meta-analyses found that T2DM
      patients showed robustly reduced gray matter in the bilateral superior temporal
      gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, medial superior frontal gyrus, insula, median
      cingulate cortex, precuneus cortex and the left lentiform nucleus extending into
      the parahippocampus. The meta-regression also found that the percentage of female
      patients with T2DM was negatively associated with gray matter in the right
      superior temporal gyrus and illness duration was negatively associated with gray
      matter in the right middle temporal gyrus. Conclusion: This meta-analysis
      indicates that T2DM patients have significantly and robustly reduced gray matter
      mainly in the cortical-striatal-limbic networks, which are associated with human
      cognition. Thereby implicating this finding in the pathophysiology of cognitive
      impairment in T2DM patients.

PMID- 28588481
TI  - Medicinally Used Asarum Species: High-Resolution LC-MS Analysis of Aristolochic
      Acid Analogs and In vitro Toxicity Screening in HK-2 Cells.
AB  - Species of Asarum are used in traditional Chinese medicine and, similar to
      members of the genus Aristolochia, they contain aristolochic acid analogs (AAAs).
      These compounds are known for their nephrotoxic and carcinogenic effects. So far,
      the phytochemistry and nephrotoxicity of species of Asarum is not well studied. A
      high-resolution LC-MS-based metabolomic approach was used to study the
      phytochemical variation in medicinally used Asarum species. The cytotoxicity of
      the samples was assessed using human kidney (HK-2) cells. The majority of samples
      contained potentially nephrotoxic AAAs, including 9-methoxy aristolactam (AL) IV,
      AL I, and AL IV. These compounds were present in methanol as well as water
      extracts. AAAs were detected in all parts of the plant. The majority of the
      extracts were not cytotoxic to HK-2 cells at the doses tested. However, other
      mechanisms relating to aristolochic acid nephropathy and cancer development, such
      as DNA adduct formation may occur. The results of this study provide a model for
      assessing lesser-known plant species for toxicity.

PMID- 28588484
TI  - AkrinorTM, a Cafedrine/ Theodrenaline Mixture (20:1), Increases Force of
      Contraction of Human Atrial Myocardium But Does Not Constrict Internal Mammary
      Artery In Vitro.
AB  - Background: Intraoperative hypotension is a common problem and direct or indirect
      sympathomimetic drugs are frequently needed to stabilize blood pressure.
      AkrinorTM consists of the direct and the indirect sympathomimetic noradrenaline
      and norephedrine. Both substances are covalently bound to the phosphodiesterase
      (PDE) inhibitor theophylline, yielding theodrenaline and cafedrine, respectively.
      We investigated pharmacodynamic effects of AkrinorTM and its constituents on
      contractile force and tension in human atrial trabeculae and internal A. mammaria
      rings. Methods: Isometric contractions were measured in human atrial trabeculae
      at 1 Hz and 37 degrees C. CGP 20712A and ICI 118,551 were used to elaborate beta1
      and beta2-adrenoceptor (AR) subtypes involved and phenoxybenzamine to estimate
      indirect sympathomimetic action. PDE-inhibition was measured as a potentiation of
      force increase upon direct activation of adenylyl cyclase by forskolin. Human A.
      mammaria preparations were used to estimate intrinsic vasoconstriction and impact
      on the noradrenaline-induced vasoconstriction. Results: Clinically relevant
      concentrations of AkrinorTM (4.2-420 mg/l) robustly increased force in human
      atrial trabeculae (EC50 41 +/- 3 mg/l). This direct sympathomimetic action was
      mediated via beta1-AR and the effect size was as large as with high
      concentrations of calcium. Only the highest and clinically irrelevant
      concentration of AkrinorTM increased the potency of forskolin to a minor extent.
      Norephedrine has lost its indirect sympathomimetic effect when bound to
      theophylline. Increasing concentrations of AkrinorTM (4.2-168 mg/l) alone did not
      affect the tension of human A. mammaria interna rings, but shifted the
      noradrenaline curve rightward from -logEC50 6.18 +/- 0.08 to 5.23 +/- 0.05 M.
      Conclusion: AkrinorTM increased cardiac contractile force by direct
      sympathomimetic actions and PDE inhibition, did not constrict A. mammaria
      preparations, but shifted the concentration-response curve to the right,
      compatible with an alpha-AR antagonistic effect or PDE inhibition. The
      pharmacodynamic profile and potency of AkrinorTM differs from noradrenaline and
      norephedrine in vitro. We anticipate metabolism of theodrenaline and cafedrine
      resulting in a different pharmacodynamic profile of AkrinorTMin vivo.

PMID- 28588482
TI  - Antioxidant Effect of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi Aqueous Extract in Ovariectomized
      Rats Is Mediated through Nox4-ROS-NF-kappaB Pathway.
AB  - Purpose: This study is designed to explore whether Fructus ligustri lucidi (FLL)
      exhibits antioxidant effect in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, and to identify the
      signaling pathway involved in this process. Methods: OVX rats were treated with
      FLL aqueous extract (3.5 g/kg) for 12 weeks. Serum, uteri, and tibias were
      harvested from the rats and the levels of total antioxidant capacity (TAC),
      nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-hydroxy-desoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and
      superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined. Changes in the levels of NF-kappaB
      p65, phosphorylation of NF-kappaB-p65 (NF-kappaB-pp65), NF-kappaB inhibitor alpha
      (IkappaBalpha), phosphorylation of IkappaBalpha (p-IkappaBalpha), and NADPH
      oxidase 4 (Nox4) in uteri and tibias were determined by western blot,
      immunofluorescent and immunohistochemical analysis, respectively. In addition,
      the expression of cytochrome C (Cyto-C) and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) were
      determined in the tibias of rats. Histopathological changes in the bones were
      evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Bone mineral density (BMD) was
      determined in rat femurs by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Treatment of OVX
      rats with FLL aqueous extract improved redox homeostasis by increasing the levels
      of TAC and NO as well as decreasing the levels of MDA and 8-OHdG in serum,
      tibias, and uteri. Further, FLL extract also downregulated the expression of
      Nox4, NF-kappaB-p65, NF-kappaB-pp65, and p-IkappaBalpha in the uteri and tibias.
      Furthermore, administration of FLL-OVX rats increased Bcl-2 expression and
      prevented cytoplasmic release of mitochondrial Cyto-C in the tibias. In addition,
      FLL treatment also improved bone microstructure and increased cortical bone
      thickness as well as increased BMD values in the femurs of OVX rats. Conclusions:
      FLL treatment may suppress oxidative stress response in OVX rats via regulating
      the Nox4/ROS/NF-kappaB signaling pathway. These results suggest the potential of
      using FLL as a natural antioxidant agent in preventing the development of
      osteoporosis.

PMID- 28588485
TI  - Beneficial Effects and Toxicity Studies of Xian-ling-gu-bao on Bone Metabolism in
      Ovariectomized Rats.
AB  - Xian-ling-gu-bao (XLGB) is a well-known patented traditional Chinese prescription
      widely used to treat osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, aseptic bone necrosis, or
      climacteric syndrome. However, recent reports have suggested that XLGB may cause
      liver injury in humans. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy
      of XLGB in the prevention of osteoporosis in the zebrafish and ovariectomized
      (OVX) rats, both of which have been used as osteoporosis models. The safety of
      XLGB after long-term administration to OVX rats was also assessed. OVX rats were
      administered by oral gavage 270 mg/kg (recommended daily dose), 1350 mg/kg, and
      1800 mg/kg of XLGB for 26 weeks. Bone mineral density, relative bone surface to
      bone volume, relative bone volume to total volume, trabecular number, mean
      trabecular thickness, and mean trabecular spacing in OVX rats were examined at
      the end of the 26-week dosing period. Additionally, OPG and RANKL expression in
      the femur were determined by western blot and immunohistochemical staining. To
      evaluate the safety of XLGB, body weight, hematology, serum biochemistry markers
      related to toxicology, and organ histopathology were determined in each group of
      OVX rats. Conversely, the zebrafish was treated with prednisolone to induce
      osteoporosis in the embryo. Disodium etidronate was used as a treatment control.
      XLGB was shown to be effective in preventing osteoporosis in both the OVX rats
      and the prednisolone-treated zebrafish. Similarly, XLGB increased OPG protein and
      decreased RANKL protein in OVX rats. Interestingly, no obvious toxicity was
      observed in the heart, liver, kidney, small intestine, or stomach at dosages of
      up to 1800 mg/kg after treating the OVX rats for 26 weeks. XLGB was shown to be
      very effective in treating osteoporosis in OVX rats. No obvious toxicity or
      adverse effects developed in OVX rats at dosages up to 1800 mg/kg, which is
      equivalent to six times the daily-recommended dose. Therefore, XLGB should be
      considered a good option for the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis.

PMID- 28588487
TI  - GYF-21, an Epoxide 2-(2-Phenethyl)-Chromone Derivative, Suppresses Innate and
      Adaptive Immunity via Inhibiting STAT1/3 and NF-kappaB Signaling Pathways.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central
      nervous system characterized by demyelinating plaques and axonal loss. Inhibition
      on over activation of innate and adaptive immunity provides a rationale strategy
      for treatment of multiple sclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the
      inhibitory effects of GYF-21, an epoxide 2-(2-phenethyl)-chromone derivative
      isolated from Chinese agarwood, on innate and adaptive immunity for revealing its
      potential to treat multiple sclerosis. The results showed that GYF-21 markedly
      inhibited the activation of microglia, and dendritic cells as well as
      neutrophils, all of which play important roles in innate immunity. Furthermore,
      GYF-21 significantly suppressed adaptive immunity via inhibiting the
      differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells into T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 17
      (Th17) cells, and suppressing the activation, proliferation, and IFN-gamma
      secretion of CD8+ T cells. The mechanism study showed that GYF-21 evidently
      inhibited the activation of STAT1/3 and NF-kappaB signaling pathways in
      microglia. In conclusion, we demonstrated that GYF-21 can significantly inhibit
      innate and adaptive immunity via suppressing STAT1/3 and NF-kappaB signaling
      pathways, and has potential to be developed into therapeutic drug for multiple
      sclerosis.

PMID- 28588483
TI  - Plastic and Neuroprotective Mechanisms Involved in the Therapeutic Effects of
      Cannabidiol in Psychiatric Disorders.
AB  - Beneficial effects of cannabidiol (CBD) have been described for a wide range of
      psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, psychosis, and depression. The
      mechanisms responsible for these effects, however, are still poorly understood.
      Similar to clinical antidepressant or atypical antipsychotic drugs, recent
      findings clearly indicate that CBD, either acutely or repeatedly administered,
      induces plastic changes. For example, CBD attenuates the decrease in hippocampal
      neurogenesis and dendrite spines density induced by chronic stress and prevents
      microglia activation and the decrease in the number of parvalbumin-positive GABA
      neurons in a pharmacological model of schizophrenia. More recently, it was found
      that CBD modulates cell fate regulatory pathways such as autophagy and others
      critical pathways for neuronal survival in neurodegenerative experimental models,
      suggesting the potential benefit of CBD treatment for psychiatric/cognitive
      symptoms associated with neurodegeneration. These changes and their possible
      association with CBD beneficial effects in psychiatric disorders are reviewed
      here.

PMID- 28588488
TI  - Antinociceptive Activity of Borreria verticillata: In vivo and In silico Studies.
AB  - Borreria verticillata (L.) G. Mey. known vassourinha has antibacterial,
      antimalarial, hepatoprotective, antioxidative, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory,
      however, its antinociceptive action requires further studies. Aim of the study
      evaluated the antinociceptive activity of B. verticillata hydroalcoholic extract
      (EHBv) and ethyl acetate fraction (FAc) by in vivo and in silico studies. In vivo
      assessment included the paw edema test, writhing test, formalin test and tail
      flick test. Wistar rats and Swiss mice were divided into 6 groups and given the
      following treatments oral: 0.9% NaCl control group (CTRL), 10 mg/kg memantine
      (MEM), 10 mg/kg indomethacin (INDO), 500 mg/kg EHBv (EHBv 500), 25 mg/kg FAc (FAc
      25) and 50 mg/kg FAc (FAc 50). EHBv, FAc 25 and 50 treatments exhibited anti
      edematous and peripheral antinociceptive effects. For in silico assessment,
      compounds identified in FAc were subjected to molecular docking with COX-2,
      GluN1a and GluN2B. Ursolic acid (UA) was the compound with best affinity
      parameters (binding energy and inhibition constant) for COX-2, GluN1a, GluN2B,
      and was selected for further analysis with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.
      In MD simulations, UA exhibited highly frequent interactions with residues Arg120
      and Glu524 in the COX-2 active site and NMDA, whereby it might prevent COX-2 and
      NMDA receptor activation. Treatment with UA 10 mg/Kg showed peripheral and
      central antinociceptive effect. The antinociceptive effect of B. verticillata
      might be predominantly attributed to peripheral actions, including the
      participation of anti-inflammatory components. Ursolic acid is the main active
      component and seems to be a promising source of COX-2 inhibitors and NMDA
      receptor antagonists.

PMID- 28588489
TI  - FH535 Suppresses Osteosarcoma Growth In Vitro and Inhibits Wnt Signaling through
      Tankyrases.
AB  - Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive primary bone tumor which exhibits aberrantly
      activated Wnt signaling. The canonical Wnt signaling cascade has been shown to
      drive cancer progression and metastasis through the activation of beta-catenin.
      Hence, small molecule inhibitors of Wnt targets are being explored as primary or
      adjuvant chemotherapy. In this study, we have investigated the ability of FH535,
      an antagonist of Wnt signaling, to inhibit the growth of OS cells. We found that
      FH535 was cytotoxic in all OS cell lines which were tested (143b, U2OS, SaOS-2,
      HOS, K7M2) but well tolerated by normal human osteoblast cells. Additionally, we
      have developed an in vitro model of doxorubicin-resistant OS and found that these
      cells were highly responsive to FH535 treatment. Our analysis provided evidence
      that FH535 strongly inhibited markers of canonical Wnt signaling. In addition,
      our findings demonstrate a reduction in PAR-modification of Axin2 indicating
      inhibition of the tankyrase 1/2 enzymes. Moreover, we observed inhibition of auto
      modification of PARP1 in the presence of FH535, indicating inhibition of PARP1
      enzymatic activity. These data provide evidence that FH535 acts through the
      tankyrase 1/2 enzymes to suppress Wnt signaling and could be explored as a potent
      chemotherapeutic agent for the control of OS.

PMID- 28588486
TI  - Potential of IL-1, IL-18 and Inflammasome Inhibition for the Treatment of
      Inflammatory Skin Diseases.
AB  - In 2002, intracellular protein complexes known as the inflammasomes were
      discovered and were shown to have a crucial role in the sensing of intracellular
      pathogen- and danger-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs and DAMPs). Activation
      of the inflammasomes results in the processing and subsequent secretion of the
      pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-18. Several autoinflammatory disorders
      such as cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes and Familial Mediterranean Fever
      have been associated with mutations of genes encoding inflammasome components.
      Moreover, the importance of IL-1 has been reported for an increasing number of
      autoinflammatory skin diseases including but not limited to deficiency of IL-1
      receptor antagonist, mevalonate kinase deficiency and PAPA syndrome. Recent
      findings have revealed that excessive IL-1 release induced by harmful stimuli
      likely contributes to the pathogenesis of common dermatological diseases such as
      acne vulgaris or seborrheic dermatitis. A key pathogenic feature of these
      diseases is IL-1beta-induced neutrophil recruitment to the skin. IL-1beta
      blockade may therefore represent a promising therapeutic approach. Several case
      reports and clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of IL-1 inhibition in
      the treatment of these skin disorders. Next to the recombinant IL-1 receptor
      antagonist (IL-1Ra) Anakinra and the soluble decoy Rilonacept, the anti-IL-1alpha
      monoclonal antibody MABp1 and anti-IL-1beta Canakinumab but also Gevokizumab,
      LY2189102 and P2D7KK, offer valid alternatives to target IL-1. Although less
      thoroughly investigated, an involvement of IL-18 in the development of cutaneous
      inflammatory disorders is also suspected. The present review describes the role
      of IL-1 in diseases with skin involvement and gives an overview of the relevant
      studies discussing the therapeutic potential of modulating the secretion and
      activity of IL-1 and IL-18 in such diseases.

PMID- 28588490
TI  - An Overview of Pickering Emulsions: Solid-Particle Materials, Classification,
      Morphology, and Applications.
AB  - Pickering emulsion, a kind of emulsion stabilized only by solid particles
      locating at oil-water interface, has been discovered a century ago, while being
      extensively studied in recent decades. Substituting solid particles for
      traditional surfactants, Pickering emulsions are more stable against coalescence
      and can obtain many useful properties. Besides, they are more biocompatible when
      solid particles employed are relatively safe in vivo. Pickering emulsions can be
      applied in a wide range of fields, such as biomedicine, food, fine chemical
      synthesis, cosmetics, and so on, by properly tuning types and properties of solid
      emulsifiers. In this article, we give an overview of Pickering emulsions,
      focusing on some kinds of solid particles commonly serving as emulsifiers, three
      main types of products from Pickering emulsions, morphology of solid particles
      and as-prepared materials, as well as applications in different fields.

PMID- 28588491
TI  - Therapeutic Effects of Breviscapine in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Review.
AB  - Breviscapine is a crude extract of several flavonoids of Erigeron breviscapus
      (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz., containing more than 85% of scutellarin, which has been
      traditionally used in China as an activating blood circulation medicine to
      improve cerebral blood supply. Accumulating evidence from various in vivo and in
      vitro studies has shown that breviscapine exerts a broad range of cardiovascular
      pharmacological effects, including vasodilation, protection against
      ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R), anti-inflammation, anticoagulation, antithrombosis,
      endothelial protection, myocardial protection, reduction of smooth muscle cell
      migration and proliferation, anticardiac remodeling, antiarrhythmia, blood lipid
      reduction, and improvement of erectile dysfunction. In addition, several clinical
      studies have reported that breviscapine could be used in conjunction with Western
      medicine for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) including coronary heart disease,
      myocardial infarction, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidaemia, viral
      myocarditis, chronic heart failure, and pulmonary heart disease. However, the
      protective effects of breviscapine on CVDs based on experimental studies along
      with its underlying mechanisms have not been reviewed systematically. This paper
      reviewed the underlying pharmacological mechanisms in the cardioprotective
      effects of breviscapine and elucidated its clinical applications.

PMID- 28588492
TI  - Cytotoxic and Enzyme Inhibitory Potential of Two Potentilla species (P. speciosa
      L. and P. reptans Willd.) and Their Chemical Composition.
AB  - In this work, the biological and chemical fingerprints of three extracts (ethyl
      acetate, methanol, and water) from two Potentilla species (Potentilla reptans and
      P. speciosa) were investigated. Antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, and cytotoxic
      activities were performed for the biological fingerprint. For the chemical
      characterization, total bioactive components, and individual phenolic components
      were determined using photometric and HPLC methods, respectively. The main
      identified phenolic compounds in these extracts were rutin and catechin. Methanol
      and water extracts contained the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content.
      The results of antioxidant assays showed that methanol and water extracts
      displayed higher antioxidant activity compared to the ethyl acetate extract.
      Generally, methanol and water extracts exhibited higher biological activities
      correlated with higher levels the bioactive components. For P. speciosa, the
      methanol extract exhibited the highest enzyme inhibitory activity (except BChE
      inhibitory activity). P. reptans exhibited also high antiproliferative activity
      against MCF-7 cells whilst P. speciosa had weak to moderate activity against both
      of A549 and MCF-7 cell lines. The results suggest that Potentilla species could
      be potential candidates for developing new phyto-pharmaceuticals and functional
      ingredients.

PMID- 28588494
TI  - Myosin Light Chain Kinase: A Potential Target for Treatment of Inflammatory
      Diseases.
AB  - Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) induces contraction of the perijunctional apical
      actomyosin ring in response to phosphorylation of the myosin light chain.
      Abnormal expression of MLCK has been observed in respiratory diseases,
      pancreatitis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease.
      The signaling pathways involved in MLCK activation and triggering of endothelial
      barrier dysfunction are discussed in this review. The pharmacological effects of
      regulating MLCK expression by inhibitors such as ML-9, ML-7, microbial products,
      naturally occurring products, and microRNAs are also discussed. The influence of
      MLCK in inflammatory diseases starts with endothelial barrier dysfunction. The
      effectiveness of anti-MLCK treatment may depend on alleviation of that primary
      pathological mechanism. This review summarizes evidence for the potential
      benefits of anti-MLCK agents in the treatment of inflammatory disease and the
      importance of avoiding treatment-related side effects, as MLCK is widely
      expressed in many different tissues.

PMID- 28588493
TI  - P2X4 Receptor Function in the Nervous System and Current Breakthroughs in
      Pharmacology.
AB  - Adenosine 5'-triphosphate is a well-known extracellular signaling molecule and
      neurotransmitter known to activate purinergic P2X receptors. Information has been
      elucidated about the structure and gating of P2X channels following the
      determination of the crystal structure of P2X4 (zebrafish), however, there is
      still much to discover regarding the role of this receptor in the central nervous
      system (CNS). In this review we provide an overview of what is known about P2X4
      expression in the CNS and discuss evidence for pathophysiological roles in
      neuroinflammation and neuropathic pain. Recent advances in the development of
      pharmacological tools including selective antagonists (5-BDBD, PSB-12062, BX430)
      and positive modulators (ivermectin, avermectins, divalent cations) of P2X4 will
      be discussed.

PMID- 28588496
TI  - Clinical Efficacy and Residue Depletion of 10% Enrofloxacin Enteric-Coated
      Granules in Pigs.
AB  - A new, more palatable formulation of 10% enrofloxacin enteric-coated granules was
      investigated to evaluate the pharmacokinetic effect in plasma, the residue
      elimination in tissues and the clinical efficacy against Actinobacillus
      pleuropneumonia (APP) and Mycoplasam suis (MS) in pigs. In this study, the
      enrofloxacin concentrations in plasma and tissues were detected using high
      performance liquid chromatography with phosphate buffer (pH = 3) and
      acetonitrile. The pharmacokinetics and elimination of enrofloxacin enteric-coated
      granules were performed after oral administration at a single dose of 10 mg/kg
      body weight (bw) and 5 mg/kg twice per day for 5 consecutive days, respectively.
      The in vivo antibacterial efficacy and clinical effectiveness of enrofloxacin
      enteric-coated granules against APP and MS were assayed at 2.5, 5, 10 mg/kg,
      compared with tiamulin (8 mg/kg) based on establishment of APP and MS infection
      models. 56 APP strains were selected and tested for in vitro antibacterial
      activity of enrofloxacin enteric-coated granules. The main parameters of
      elimination half-life (t1/2beta), Tmax, and area under the curve (AUC) were 14.99
      +/- 4.19, 3.99 +/- 0.10, and 38.93 +/- 1.52 MUg h/ml, respectively, revealing
      that the enrofloxacin concentration remained high and with a sustainable
      distribution in plasma. Moreover, the analysis on the evaluation of enrofloxacin
      and ciprofloxacin in muscle, fat, liver and kidney showed that the recovery were
      more than 84% recovery in accordance with the veterinary drug residue guidelines
      of United States pharmacopeia, and the withdrawal periods were 4.28, 3.81, 4.84,
      and 3.51 days, respectively, suggesting that the withdrawal period was 5 d after
      oral administration of 5 mg/kg twice per day. The optimal dosage of enrofloxacin
      enteric-coated granules against APP and MS was 5 mg/kg, with over 90% efficacy,
      which was significantly different (p < 0.05) to the 2.5 mg/kg group, but not to
      the 10 mg/kg group or the positive control group (tiamulin). In conclusion, 10%
      enrofloxacin enteric-coated granules had significant potential for treating APP
      and MS, and it provided an alternative enrofloxacin palatability formulation.

PMID- 28588495
TI  - A Brief History of IL-1 and IL-1 Ra in Rheumatology.
AB  - The history of what, in 1979, was called interleukin-1 (IL-1), orchestrator of
      leukocyte inter-communication, began many years before then, initially by the
      observation of fever induction via the endogenous pyrogen (EP) (1974) and then in
      rheumatology on the role in tissue destruction in rheumatoid diseases via the
      induction of collagenase and PGE2 in human synovial cells by a mononuclear cell
      factor (MCF) (1977). Since then, the family has exploded to presently 11 members
      as well as many membrane-bound and soluble receptor forms. The discovery of a
      natural Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) in human biological fluids has
      highlighted the importance of IL-1 and IL-1Ra in human diseases. Evidence
      delineating its role in autoinflammatory syndromes and the elucidation of the
      macromolecular complex referred to as "inflammasome" have been instrumental to
      our understanding of the link with IL-1. At present, the IL-1blockade as
      therapeutic approach is crucial for many hereditary autoinflammatory diseases, as
      well as for adult-onset Still's disease, crystal-induced arthropathies, certain
      skin diseases including neutrophil-triggered skin diseases, Behcet's disease and
      deficiency of IL-1Ra and other rare fever syndromes. Its role is only marginally
      important in rheumatoid arthritis and is still under debate with regard to
      osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
      This brief historical review focuses on some aspects of IL-1, mainly IL-1beta and
      IL-Ra, in rheumatology. There are many excellent reviews focusing on the IL-1
      family in general or with regard to specific diseases or biological discoveries.

PMID- 28588497
TI  - On the Integration of In Silico Drug Design Methods for Drug Repurposing.
AB  - Drug repurposing has become an important branch of drug discovery. Several
      computational approaches that help to uncover new repurposing opportunities and
      aid the discovery process have been put forward, or adapted from previous
      applications. A number of successful examples are now available. Overall, future
      developments will greatly benefit from integration of different methods,
      approaches and disciplines. Steps forward in this direction are expected to help
      to clarify, and therefore to rationally predict, new drug-target, target-disease,
      and ultimately drug-disease associations.

PMID- 28588498
TI  - A Comparison of Fully-Coupled 3D In-Stent Restenosis Simulations to In-vivo Data.
AB  - We describe our fully-coupled 3D multiscale model of in-stent restenosis, with
      blood flow simulations coupled to smooth muscle cell proliferation, and report
      results of numerical simulations performed with this model. This novel model is
      based on several previously reported 2D models. We study the effects of various
      parameters on the process of restenosis and compare with in vivo porcine data
      where we observe good qualitative agreement. We study the effects of stent
      deployment depth (and related injury score), reendothelization speed, and
      simulate the effect of stent width. Also we demonstrate that we are now capable
      to simulate restenosis in real-sized (18 mm long, 2.8 mm wide) vessel geometries.

PMID- 28588499
TI  - Intake of a Ketone Ester Drink during Recovery from Exercise Promotes mTORC1
      Signaling but Not Glycogen Resynthesis in Human Muscle.
AB  - Purpose: Ketone bodies are energy substrates produced by the liver during
      prolonged fasting or low-carbohydrate diet. The ingestion of a ketone ester (KE)
      rapidly increases blood ketone levels independent of nutritional status. KE has
      recently been shown to improve exercise performance, but whether it can also
      promote post-exercise muscle protein or glycogen synthesis is unknown. Methods:
      Eight healthy trained males participated in a randomized double-blind placebo
      controlled crossover study. In each session, subjects undertook a bout of intense
      one-leg glycogen-depleting exercise followed by a 5-h recovery period during
      which they ingested a protein/carbohydrate mixture. Additionally, subjects
      ingested a ketone ester (KE) or an isocaloric placebo (PL). Results: KE intake
      did not affect muscle glycogen resynthesis, but more rapidly lowered post
      exercise AMPK phosphorylation and resulted in higher mTORC1 activation, as
      evidenced by the higher phosphorylation of its main downstream targets S6K1 and
      4E-BP1. As enhanced mTORC1 activation following KE suggests higher protein
      synthesis rates, we used myogenic C2C12 cells to further confirm that ketone
      bodies increase both leucine-mediated mTORC1 activation and protein synthesis in
      muscle cells. Conclusion: Our results indicate that adding KE to a standard post
      exercise recovery beverage enhances the post-exercise activation of mTORC1 but
      does not affect muscle glycogen resynthesis in young healthy volunteers. In
      vitro, we confirmed that ketone bodies potentiate the increase in mTORC1
      activation and protein synthesis in leucine-stimulated myotubes. Whether, chronic
      oral KE intake during recovery from exercise can facilitate training-induced
      muscular adaptation and remodeling need to be further investigated.

PMID- 28588500
TI  - Temporal Expression Patterns of Clock Genes and Aquaporin 5/Anoctamin 1 in Rat
      Submandibular Gland Cells.
AB  - Circadian rhythms are essential for health and regulate various physiological
      functions. These rhythms are regulated by a negative-feedback loop involving
      clock genes in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and peripheral tissues. The rate
      of secretion of salivary substances, ions, and water follows a circadian rhythm,
      however, the relationship between the molecular mechanism of salivary secretion
      and peripheral circadian rhythm is not yet clear. Anoctamin 1 (ANO1, also known
      as TMEM16A) and Aquaporin 5 (AQP5) play an important role in the transport of
      ions and water in the submandibular glands (SGs). We examined the interaction
      between the rhythmic expression pattern of the clock genes, Ano1 and Aqp5, in rat
      whole SGs as well as isolated acinar and ductal cells. Circadian rhythmic
      expression for Bmal1, Per1, Per2, Clock, Cry1, Cry2, Roralpha, and Rev-erbalpha
      mRNAs, also called the clock genes, was observed in rat SGs by semi-quantitative
      RT-PCR analysis. We also observed rhythmic patterns in Ano1 and Aqp5 mRNA
      expression. The expression of ANO1 protein also showed circadian rhythm, as
      confirmed by western blot analysis. We could not observe any time delay between
      the peak expression of ANO1 protein and its mRNA. Expression levels of the clock
      gene mRNAs in the ductal cells was higher than that in acinar cells, however,
      rhythmic oscillations were observed in both. Our results suggest that SGs have
      peripheral clocks, and rhythmic expressions of Ano1 and Aqp5 along with the clock
      genes, may play an important role in the circadian regulation of salivary
      secretion.

PMID- 28588502
TI  - Transient Hypothyroidism: Dual Effect on Adult-Type Leydig Cell and Sertoli Cell
      Development.
AB  - Transient neonatal 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) induced hypothyroidism affects
      Leydig and Sertoli cell numbers in the developing testis, resulting in increased
      adult testis size. The hypothyroid condition was thought to be responsible, an
      assumption questioned by studies showing that uninterrupted fetal/postnatal
      hypothyroidism did not affect adult testis size. Here, we investigated effects of
      transient hypothyroidism on Leydig and Sertoli cell development, employing a
      perinatal iodide-deficient diet in combination with sodium perchlorate. This
      hypothyroidism inducing diet was continued until days 1, 7, 14, or 28 postpartum
      (pp) respectively, when the rats were switched to a euthyroid diet and followed
      up to adulthood. Continuous euthyroid and hypothyroid, and neonatal PTU-treated
      rats switched to the euthyroid diet at 28 days pp, were included for comparison.
      No effects on formation of the adult-type Leydig cell population or on Sertoli
      cell proliferation and differentiation were observed when the diet switched at/or
      before day 14 pp. However, when the diet was discontinued at day 28 pp, Leydig
      cell development was delayed similarly to what was observed in chronic
      hypothyroid rats. Surprisingly, Sertoli cell proliferation was 6- to 8-fold
      increased 2 days after the diet switch and remained elevated the next days. In
      adulthood, Sertoli cell number per seminiferous tubule cross-section and
      consequently testis weight was increased in this group. These observations
      implicate that increased adult testis size in transiently hypothyroid rats is not
      caused by the hypothyroid condition per se, but originates from augmented Sertoli
      cell proliferation as a consequence of rapid normalization of thyroid hormone
      concentrations.

PMID- 28588501
TI  - Genome-Wide Characterization and Expression Profiling of Sugar Transporter Family
      in the Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).
AB  - Sugar transporters (STs) play pivotal roles in the growth, development, and
      stress responses of phloem-sucking insects, such as the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.
      In this study, 137 sugar transporters (STs) were identified based on analysis of
      the genome and transcriptome of B. tabaci MEAM1. B. tabaci MEAM1 encodes a larger
      number of STs than other selected insects. Phylogenetic and molecular evolution
      analysis showed that the 137 STs formed three expanded clades and that the genes
      in Sternorrhyncha expanded clades had accelerated rates of evolution. B. tabaci
      sugar transporters (BTSTs) were divided into three groups based on their
      expression profiles across developmental stages; however, no host-specific BTST
      was found in B. tabaci fed on different host plants. Feeding of B. tabaci adults
      with feeding diet containing dsRNA significantly reduced the transcript level of
      the target genes in B. tabaci and mortality was significantly improved in B.
      tabaci fed on dsRNA compared to the control, which indicates the sugar
      transporters may be used as potential RNAi targets for B. tabaci bio-control.
      These results provide a foundation for further studies of STs in B. tabaci.

PMID- 28588503
TI  - Hepcidin Protects Neuron from Hemin-Mediated Injury by Reducing Iron.
AB  - Hemin plays a key role in mediating secondary neuronal injury after intracerebral
      hemorrhage (ICH) and the cell toxicity of hemin is thought to be due to iron that
      is liberated when hemin is degraded. In a recent study, we demonstrated the iron
      regulatory hormone hepcidin reduces brain iron in iron-overloaded rats.
      Therefore, we hypothesized that hepcidin might be able to reduce iron and then
      protect neurons from hemin or iron-mediated neurotoxicity in hemin-treated
      neuronal cells. Here, we tested the hypothesis and demonstrated that ad-hepcidin
      and hepcidin peptide both have the ability to suppress the hemin-induced increase
      in LDH release and apoptotic cell numbers, to reduce cell iron and ferritin
      contents, and to inhibit expression of transferrin receptor 1, divalent metal
      transporter 1, and ferroportin 1 in hemin-treated neurons. We conclude that
      hepcidin protects neuron from hemin-mediated injury by reducing iron via
      inhibition of expression of iron transport proteins.

PMID- 28588504
TI  - TNFalpha Modulates Cardiac Conduction by Altering Electrical Coupling between
      Myocytes.
AB  - Background: Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFalpha) upregulation during acute
      inflammatory response has been associated with numerous cardiac effects including
      modulating Connexin43 and vascular permeability. This may in turn alter cardiac
      gap junctional (GJ) coupling and extracellular volume (ephaptic coupling)
      respectively. We hypothesized that acute exposure to pathophysiological TNFalpha
      levels can modulate conduction velocity (CV) in the heart by altering electrical
      coupling: GJ and ephaptic. Methods and Results: Hearts were optically mapped to
      determine CV from control, TNFalpha and TNFalpha + high calcium (2.5 vs. 1.25 mM)
      treated guinea pig hearts over 90 mins. Transmission electron microscopy was
      performed to measure changes in intercellular separation in the gap junction
      adjacent extracellular nanodomain-perinexus (WP). Cx43 expression and
      phosphorylation were determined by Western blotting and Cx43 distribution by
      confocal immunofluorescence. At 90 mins, longitudinal and transverse CV (CVL and
      CVT, respectively) increased with control Tyrode perfusion but TNFalpha slowed
      CVT alone relative to control and anisotropy of conduction increased, but not
      significantly. TNFalpha increased WP relative to control at 90 mins, without
      significantly changing GJ coupling. Increasing extracellular calcium after 30
      mins of just TNFalpha exposure increased CVT within 15 mins. TNFalpha + high
      calcium also restored CVT at 90 mins and reduced WP to control values.
      Interestingly, TNFalpha + high calcium also improved GJ coupling at 90 mins,
      which along with reduced WP may have contributed to increasing CV. Conclusions:
      Elevating extracellular calcium during acute TNFalpha exposure reduces perinexal
      expansion, increases ephaptic, and GJ coupling, improves CV and may be a novel
      method for preventing inflammation induced CV slowing.

PMID- 28588506
TI  - The Role of Infection and Immune Responsiveness in a Case of Treatment-Resistant
      Pediatric Bipolar Disorder.
AB  - A case of psychotropic-resistant pediatric bipolar disorder is presented. Both
      awareness and proper treatment of previously unrecognized infections and their
      effects on the immune system were very important in stabilizing the patient's
      psychiatric symptoms.

PMID- 28588505
TI  - Multiple Calcium Export Exchangers and Pumps Are a Prominent Feature of Enamel
      Organ Cells.
AB  - Calcium export is a key function for the enamel organ during all stages of
      amelogenesis. Expression of a number of ATPase calcium transporting, plasma
      membrane genes (ATP2B1-4/PMCA1-4), solute carrier SLC8A genes (sodium/calcium
      exchanger or NCX1-3), and SLC24A gene family members (sodium/potassium/calcium
      exchanger or NCKX1-6) have been investigated in the developing enamel organ in
      earlier studies. This paper reviews the calcium export pathways that have been
      described and adds novel insights to the spatiotemporal expression patterns of
      PMCA1, PMCA4, and NCKX3 during amelogenesis. New data are presented to show the
      mRNA expression profiles for the four Atp2b1-4 gene family members (PMCA1-4) in
      secretory-stage and maturation-stage rat enamel organs. These data are compared
      to expression profiles for all Slc8a and Slc24a gene family members. PMCA1,
      PMCA4, and NCKX3 immunolocalization data is also presented. Gene expression
      profiles quantitated by real time PCR show that: (1) PMCA1, 3, and 4, and NCKX3
      are most highly expressed during secretory-stage amelogenesis; (2) NCX1 and 3,
      and NCKX6 are expressed during secretory and maturation stages; (3) NCKX4 is most
      highly expressed during maturation-stage amelogenesis; and (4) expression levels
      of PMCA2, NCX2, NCKX1, NCKX2, and NCKX5 are negligible throughout amelogenesis.
      In the enamel organ PMCA1 localizes to the basolateral membrane of both secretory
      and maturation ameloblasts; PMCA4 expression is seen in the basolateral membrane
      of secretory and maturation ameloblasts, and also cells of the stratum
      intermedium and papillary layer; while NCKX3 expression is limited to Tomes'
      processes, and the apical membrane of maturation-stage ameloblasts. These new
      findings are discussed in the perspective of data already present in the
      literature, and highlight the multiplicity of calcium export systems in the
      enamel organ needed to regulate biomineralization.

PMID- 28588508
TI  - Individual Differences in Subjective Utility and Risk Preferences: The Influence
      of Hedonic Capacity and Trait Anxiety.
AB  - Individual differences in decision-making are important in both normal
      populations and psychiatric conditions. Variability in decision-making could be
      mediated by different subjective utilities or by other processes. For example,
      while traditional economic accounts attribute risk aversion to a concave
      subjective utility curve, in practice other factors could affect risk behavior.
      This distinction may have important implications for understanding the biological
      basis of variability in decision-making and for developing interventions to
      improve decision-making. Another aspect of decision-making that may vary between
      individuals is the sensitivity of subjective utility to counterfactual outcomes
      (outcomes that could have occurred, but did not). We investigated decision-making
      in relation to hedonic capacity and trait anxiety, two traits that relate to
      psychiatric conditions but also vary in the general population. Subjects
      performed a decision-making task, in which they chose between low- and high-risk
      gambles to win 0, 20, or 40 points on each trial. Subjects then rated
      satisfaction after each outcome on a visual analog scale, indicating subjective
      utility. Hedonic capacity was positively associated with the subjective utility
      of winning 20 points but was not associated with the concavity of the subjective
      utility curve (constructed using the mean subjective utility of winning 0, 20, or
      40 points). Consistent with economic theory, concavity of the subjective utility
      curve was associated with risk aversion. Hedonic capacity was independently
      associated with risk seeking (i.e., not mediated by the shape of the subjective
      utility curve), while trait anxiety was unrelated to risk preferences. Contrary
      to our expectations, counterfactual sensitivity was unrelated to hedonic capacity
      and trait anxiety. Nevertheless, trait anxiety was associated with a self-report
      measure of regret-proneness, suggesting that counterfactual influences may occur
      via a pathway that is separate from immediate counterfactual processing biases.
      Taken together, our results show that hedonic capacity but not trait anxiety
      affects risk-taking through a mechanism that appears independent of the shape of
      the subjective utility curve, while hedonic capacity and trait anxiety do not
      affect the influence of counterfactual outcomes on subjective utility. The
      results have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of variable
      decision-making and for developing interventions to improve decision-making.

PMID- 28588509
TI  - Behavioral Effects of a Novel Benzofuranyl-Piperazine Serotonin-2C Receptor
      Agonist Suggest a Potential Therapeutic Application in the Treatment of Obsessive
      Compulsive Disorder.
AB  - Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the only effective
      pharmacological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Nonetheless,
      their generally limited efficacy, side-effects, and delayed onset of action
      require improved medications for this highly prevalent disorder. Preclinical and
      clinical findings have suggested serotonin2C (5-HT2C) receptors as a potential
      drug target. Data in rats and mice are presented here on the effects of a novel 5
      HT2C receptor agonist ((3S)-3-Methyl-1-[4-(trifluoromethyl)-7-benzofuranyl]
      piperazine) (CPD 1) with high potency and full efficacy at 5-HT2C receptors and
      less potency and partial agonism at 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B receptors. Effects of CPD 1
      on consummatory (schedule-induced polydipsia in rats) and non-consummatory
      behaviors (marble-burying and nestlet-shredding in mice) that are repetitive and
      non-habituating were studied. We also evaluated the effects of CPD 1 in rats with
      isoproterenol- and deprivation-induced drinking in rats to compare with the
      polydipsia studies. The SSRIs, fluoxetine, and chlomipramine decreased the high
      rates of drinking in rats engendered by a schedule of intermittent food delivery
      (schedule-induced polydipsia). The effects of fluoxetine, but not of d
      amphetamine, were prevented by the selective 5-HT2C receptor antagonist SB242084.
      The 5-HT2C receptor agonists Ro 60-0175 and CPD 1 also decreased drinking, but
      unlike the SSRIs and Ro 60-0175, CPD 1 dose-dependently decreased excessive
      drinking without affecting lever press responses that produced food. The effects
      of CPD 1 were prevented by SB242084. CPD 1 also suppressed drinking induced by
      isoproterenol and by water deprivation without affecting normative drinking
      behavior. CPD 1, like fluoxetine, also suppressed marble-burying and nestlet
      shredding in mice at doses that did not affect rotarod performance or locomotor
      activity. The behavioral specificity of effects of CPD 1 against repetitive and
      excessive behaviors suggests a potential therapeutic application in OCD.

PMID- 28588507
TI  - Neurovascular Unit Dysfunction and Blood-Brain Barrier Hyperpermeability
      Contribute to Schizophrenia Neurobiology: A Theoretical Integration of Clinical
      and Experimental Evidence.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations,
      negative symptoms, as well as behavioral and cognitive dysfunction. It is a
      pathoetiologically heterogeneous disorder involving complex interrelated
      mechanisms that include oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Neurovascular
      endothelial dysfunction and blood-brain barrier (BBB) hyperpermeability are
      established mechanisms in neurological disorders with comorbid psychiatric
      symptoms such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer's disease.
      Schizophrenia is frequently comorbid with medical conditions associated with
      peripheral vascular endothelial dysfunction, such as metabolic syndrome,
      cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus. However, the existence and
      etiological relevance of neurovascular endothelial dysfunction and BBB
      hyperpermeability in schizophrenia are still not well recognized. Here, we review
      the growing clinical and experimental evidence, indicating that neurovascular
      endotheliopathy and BBB hyperpermeability occur in schizophrenia patients. We
      present a theoretical integration of human and animal data linking oxidative
      stress and neuroinflammation to neurovascular endotheliopathy and BBB breakdown
      in schizophrenia. These abnormalities may contribute to the cognitive and
      behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia via several mechanisms involving reduced
      cerebral perfusion and impaired homeostatic processes of cerebral
      microenvironment. Furthermore, BBB disruption can facilitate interactions between
      brain innate and peripheral adaptive immunity, thereby perpetuating harmful
      neuroimmune signals and toxic neuroinflammatory responses, which can also
      contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia. Taken together, these findings
      support the "mild encephalitis" hypothesis of schizophrenia. If neurovascular
      abnormalities prove to be etiologically relevant to the neurobiology of
      schizophrenia, then targeting these abnormalities may represent a promising
      therapeutic strategy.

PMID- 28588510
TI  - The Representation of Motor (Inter)action, States of Action, and Learning: Three
      Perspectives on Motor Learning by Way of Imagery and Execution.
AB  - Learning in intelligent systems is a result of direct and indirect interaction
      with the environment. While humans can learn by way of different states of
      (inter)action such as the execution or the imagery of an action, their unique
      potential to induce brain- and mind-related changes in the motor action system is
      still being debated. The systematic repetition of different states of action
      (e.g., physical and/or mental practice) and their contribution to the learning of
      complex motor actions has traditionally been approached by way of performance
      improvements. More recently, approaches highlighting the role of action
      representation in the learning of complex motor actions have evolved and may
      provide additional insight into the learning process. In the present perspective
      paper, we build on brain-related findings and sketch recent research on learning
      by way of imagery and execution from a hierarchical, perceptual-cognitive
      approach to motor control and learning. These findings provide insights into the
      learning of intelligent systems from a perceptual-cognitive, representation-based
      perspective and as such add to our current understanding of action representation
      in memory and its changes with practice. Future research should build bridges
      between approaches in order to more thoroughly understand functional changes
      throughout the learning process and to facilitate motor learning, which may have
      particular importance for cognitive systems research in robotics, rehabilitation,
      and sports.

PMID- 28588511
TI  - Female vs. Male Ampelmannchen-Gender-Specific Reaction Times to Male and Female
      Traffic Light Figures.
AB  - Traffic signs are important visual guiding signals for the safe navigation
      through complex road traffic. Interestingly, there is little variation in the
      traffic signs for cars around the world. However, remarkable variation exists for
      pedestrian traffic signs. Following up from an earlier study, we investigated the
      visual efficacy of female vs. male German Ampelmannchen pedestrian traffic signs.
      In a Stroop-like test, 30 subjects were presented with female and male go and no
      go traffic light figures that were shown either in the corresponding or opposing
      color. Subjects had to indicate, based either solely on the form or the color of
      the figure, whether they were allowed to go. Accuracy and response times across
      all subjects did not differ for the female vs. male signs, indicating that
      Ampelfrau and Ampelmann signs have equal visual efficacy. However, subjects
      responded faster to signs of their own vs. the opposite gender. This preference
      for signs of one's own gender is in accordance with effects in social psychology
      described by social learning theory. An introduction of such novel traffic lights
      may, thus, contribute to higher compliance with the traffic sign signals.

PMID- 28588512
TI  - Temporal Changes in Individualism and Their Ramification in Japan: Rising
      Individualism and Conflicts with Persisting Collectivism.
AB  - Many studies have shown that American culture has become more individualistic
      over time. However, it was unclear whether other cultures, especially East Asian
      cultures, have also shifted toward greater individualism. Therefore, this article
      reviewed studies investigating temporal changes in individualism in Japan and
      their ramifications on psychology and behavior. Japan has experienced rapid and
      dramatic economic growth and urbanization and has adopted more social systems
      based on individualistic concepts in various contexts (e.g., workplace, school).
      Recent studies have suggested that, along with these socioeconomic changes,
      Japanese culture has become more individualistic over time. Specifically, the
      divorce rate increased and household size decreased. Moreover, people give more
      unique names to their children and dogs, and individualistic words such as
      "individual" and "uniqueness" appear more frequently in newspapers. Furthermore,
      social values became more individualistic. Yet, it has also been shown that some
      collectivistic values still remain. As a result, people have difficulty in
      adapting to this coexistence, which injures interpersonal relationships and well
      being. This paper discussed how Japanese culture changed over time and how such
      changes affected Japanese psychology and behavior.

PMID- 28588513
TI  - Testing Separability and Independence of Perceptual Dimensions with General
      Recognition Theory: A Tutorial and New R Package (grtools).
AB  - Determining whether perceptual properties are processed independently is an
      important goal in perceptual science, and tools to test independence should be
      widely available to experimental researchers. The best analytical tools to test
      for perceptual independence are provided by General Recognition Theory (GRT), a
      multidimensional extension of signal detection theory. Unfortunately, there is
      currently a lack of software implementing GRT analyses that is ready-to-use by
      experimental psychologists and neuroscientists with little training in
      computational modeling. This paper presents grtools, an R package developed with
      the explicit aim of providing experimentalists with the ability to perform full
      GRT analyses using only a couple of command lines. We describe the software and
      provide a practical tutorial on how to perform each of the analyses available in
      grtools. We also provide advice to researchers on best practices for experimental
      design and interpretation of results when applying GRT and grtools.

PMID- 28588515
TI  - Does Gender of Administrator Matter? National Study Explores U.S. University
      Administrators' Attitudes About Retaining Women Professors in STEM.
AB  - Omnipresent calls for more women in university administration presume women will
      prioritize using resources and power to increase female representation,
      especially in STEM fields where women are most underrepresented. However,
      empirical evidence is lacking for systematic differences in female vs. male
      administratorsAS attitudes. Do female administrators agree on which strategies
      are best, and do men see things differently? We explored United States college
      and university administratorsAS opinions regarding strategies, policies, and
      structural changes in their organizations designed to increase women professorsAS
      representation and retention in STEM fields. A comprehensive review of past
      research yielded a database of potentially-effective, recommended policies. A
      survey based on these policies was sent to provosts, deans, associate deans, and
      department chairs of STEM fields at 96 public and private research universities
      across the U.S. These administrators were asked to rate the quality and
      feasibility of each strategy; 474 provided data, of which 334 contained complete
      numerical data used in the analyses. Our data revealed that female (vs. male)
      administrators believed the 44 strategies were higher in quality overall-but not
      higher in feasibility-with 9 strategies perceived differently by women and men,
      after imposing conservative statistical controls. There was broad general
      agreement on the relative-quality rankings of the 44 strategies. Women (vs. men)
      gave higher quality ratings to increasing the value of teaching, service, and
      administrative experience in tenure/promotion decisions, increasing flexibility
      of federal-grant funding to accommodate mothers, conducting gender-equity
      research, and supporting shared tenure lines enabling work-life balance. Women
      (vs. men) believed it was more feasible for men to stop the tenure clock for 1
      year for childrearing and for universities to support requests for shared tenure
      lines, but less feasible for women to chair search committees. Our national
      survey thus supported the belief that placing women into administration creates
      greater endorsement of strategies to attract and retain women in STEM, although
      the effectiveness of these strategies was outside the scope of this research.
      Topics of disagreement between women and men are potentially important focuses of
      future policy, because female administrators may have insights into how to retain
      women that male administrators do not share.

PMID- 28588514
TI  - Pathways from Trauma to Psychotic Experiences: A Theoretically Informed Model of
      Posttraumatic Stress in Psychosis.
AB  - In recent years, empirical data and theoretical accounts relating to the
      relationship between childhood victimization and psychotic experiences have
      accumulated. Much of this work has focused on co-occurring Posttraumatic Stress
      Disorder or putative causal mechanisms in isolation from each other. The
      complexity of posttraumatic stress reactions experienced in psychosis remains
      poorly understood. This paper therefore attempts to synthesize the current
      evidence base into a theoretically informed, multifactorial model of
      posttraumatic stress in psychosis. Three trauma-related vulnerability factors are
      proposed to give rise to intrusions and to affect how people appraise and cope
      with them. First, understandable attempts to survive trauma become habitual ways
      of regulating emotion, manifesting in cognitive-affective, behavioral and
      interpersonal responses. Second, event memories, consisting of perceptual and
      episodic representations, are impacted by emotion experienced during trauma.
      Third, personal semantic memory, specifically appraisals of the self and others,
      are shaped by event memories. It is proposed these vulnerability factors have the
      potential to lead to two types of intrusions. The first type is anomalous
      experiences arising from emotion regulation and/or the generation of novel images
      derived from trauma memory. The second type is trauma memory intrusions
      reflecting, to varying degrees, the retrieval of perceptual, episodic and
      personal semantic representations. It is speculated trauma memory intrusions may
      be experienced on a continuum from contextualized to fragmented, depending on
      memory encoding and retrieval. Personal semantic memory will then impact on how
      intrusions are appraised, with habitual emotion regulation strategies influencing
      people's coping responses to these. Three vignettes are outlined to illustrate
      how the model accounts for different pathways between victimization and
      psychosis, and implications for therapy are considered. The model is the first to
      propose how emotion regulation and autobiographical memory may lead to a range of
      intrusive experiences in psychosis, and therefore attempts to explain the
      different phenomenological associations observed between trauma and intrusions.
      However, it includes a number of novel hypotheses that require empirical testing,
      which may lead to further refinement. It is anticipated the model will assist
      research and practice, in the hope of supporting people to manage the impact of
      victimization on their lives.

PMID- 28588516
TI  - Children's Failure in Analogical Reasoning Tasks: A Problem of Focus of Attention
      and Information Integration?
AB  - Children's improved performance with age in analogy tasks has been explained by
      an increase in semantic knowledge of the items and the relations between them or
      by the development of an increased ability to inhibit irrelevant information. We
      tested the so-called "unbalanced attentional focus hypothesis" that claims that a
      failure to choose the "analogical" match can be the result of a difficulty to
      focus on all the relevant information available. Previous eye-tracking research
      has suggested, in analogies of the A:B::C:D format, that 5-6 year-olds organize
      their search around the C item. They focused significantly less than adults on
      the A:B pair, thereby hindering their discovering the relation(s) between A and
      B. We hypothesized that inducing them to focus their attention on the A:B pair at
      the beginning of the trial would affect their performance. In Experiment 1,
      increasing children's focus on the A:B pair did, indeed, lead to better
      performance. In contrast, in Experiment 2, focusing their attention on the A:B
      pair impaired performance when the most salient relation holding between A and B
      was, in fact, irrelevant for the analogy. By contrast, the obvious-but-irrelevant
      relation in the A:B pair had no negative effect on performance when no explicit
      A:B focusing was induced. These results are discussed in terms of the temporal
      organization of the task and availability of information, and of children's
      difficulties to disengage from the main goal of the task, when necessary.

PMID- 28588519
TI  - Editorial: From Organizational Welfare to Business Success: Higher Performance in
      Healthy Organizational Environments.

PMID- 28588517
TI  - Sleep, Affect, and Social Competence from Preschool to Preadolescence: Distinct
      Pathways to Emotional and Social Adjustment for Boys and for Girls.
AB  - Using a normative sample of 1,057 children studied across 4 waves over 6 years
      with multiple informants, we investigated transactional relations for sleep
      problems, anxious-depressed symptoms, and social functioning from preschool to
      preadolescence, assessing cumulative effects on children's emotional and social
      adjustment. To examine sex differences in the developmental processes, we
      conducted separate analyses for boys and girls. For both boys and girls,
      longitudinal cross-lagged panel analyses showed that preschool sleep problems
      directly predicted anxious-depressed symptoms 2 years later; indirect effects
      continued into preadolescence. For girls, early and later sleep problems directly
      or indirectly predicted a wide variety of preadolescent emotional and social
      adjustment domains (e.g., depressive symptoms, school competence, emotion
      regulation, risk-taking behaviors). For boys, social competence played a more
      important role than sleep problems in predicting preadolescent adjustment. Among
      the first set of findings that demonstrate longitudinal relations between sleep
      problems and social functioning in middle childhood and preadolescence, these
      results support Dahl's and Walker's neurological models of sleep and emotional
      functioning. We discuss these findings in light of relations between sleep and
      affect during pre-pubertal development and discuss differential findings for boys
      and girls.

PMID- 28588518
TI  - "I Want It All, and I Want It Now": Lifetime Prevalence and Reasons for Using and
      Abstaining from Controlled Performance and Appearance Enhancing Substances (PAES)
      among Young Exercisers and Amateur Athletes in Five European Countries.
AB  - Doping use in recreational sports is an emerging issue that has received limited
      attention so far in the psychological literature. The present study assessed the
      lifetime prevalence of controlled performance and appearance enhancing substances
      (PAES), and used behavioral reasoning theory to identify the reasons for using
      and for avoiding using controlled PAES in young exercisers across five European
      countries, in the context of the "SAFE YOU" Project. Participants were 915 young
      amateur athletes and exercisers (M = 21.62; SD = 2.62) from Cyprus, Germany,
      Greece, Italy, and UK who completed an anonymous questionnaire that included
      measures of self-reported use of controlled PAES, as well as reasons for using
      and not using controlled PAES. The results of the descriptive analyses
      demonstrated that almost one out five exercisers in the sample had a previous
      experience with controlled PAES. Higher prevalence rates were found in Greece and
      Cyprus and lower in Italy. The most frequently reported reasons for using
      controlled PAES included achieving the desired results faster; pushing the self
      to the (physical) limits; and recovering faster after exercise/training.
      Furthermore, the most frequently reported reasons for not using controlled PAES
      involved worry about any possible adverse health effects; not feeling the need
      for using them; and wanting to see what can be achieved naturally without using
      any controlled PAES. The findings of the present study indicate that the use of
      controlled PAES is fast becoming a crisis in amateur sports and exercise settings
      and highlight the need for preventive action and concerted anti-doping education
      efforts.

PMID- 28588520
TI  - Emotional Expression in Simple Line Drawings of a Robot's Face Leads to Higher
      Offers in the Ultimatum Game.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated whether expressing emotional states using a
      simple line drawing to represent a robot's face can serve to elicit altruistic
      behavior from humans. An experimental investigation was conducted in which human
      participants interacted with a humanoid robot whose facial expression was shown
      on an LCD monitor that was mounted as its head (Study 1). Participants were asked
      to play the ultimatum game, which is usually used to measure human altruistic
      behavior. All participants were assigned to be the proposer and were instructed
      to decide their offer within 1 min by controlling a slider bar. The corners of
      the robot's mouth, as indicated by the line drawing, simply moved upward, or
      downward depending on the position of the slider bar. The results suggest that
      the change in the facial expression depicted by a simple line drawing of a face
      significantly affected the participant's final offer in the ultimatum game. The
      offers were increased by 13% when subjects were shown contingent changes of
      facial expression. The results were compared with an experiment in a
      teleoperation setting in which participants interacted with another person
      through a computer display showing the same line drawings used in Study 1 (Study
      2). The results showed that offers were 15% higher if participants were shown a
      contingent facial expression change. Together, Studies 1 and 2 indicate that
      emotional expression in simple line drawings of a robot's face elicits the same
      higher offer from humans as a human telepresence does.

PMID- 28588521
TI  - The Effect of Extreme Response and Non-extreme Response Styles on Testing
      Measurement Invariance.
AB  - Extreme and non-extreme response styles (RSs) are prevalent in survey research
      using Likert-type scales. Their effects on measurement invariance (MI) in the
      context of confirmatory factor analysis are systematically investigated here via
      a Monte Carlo simulation study. Using the parameter estimates obtained from
      analyzing a 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data set,
      a population model was constructed. Original and contaminated data with one of
      two RSs were generated and analyzed via multi-group confirmatory factor analysis
      with different constraints of MI. The results indicated that the detrimental
      effects of response style on MI have been underestimated. More specifically,
      these two RSs had a substantially negative impact on both model fit and parameter
      recovery, suggesting that the lack of MI between groups may have been caused by
      the RSs, not the measured factors of focal interest. Practical implications are
      provided to help practitioners to detect RSs and determine whether RSs are a
      serious threat to MI.

PMID- 28588523
TI  - Normal Theory GLS Estimator for Missing Data: An Application to Item-Level
      Missing Data and a Comparison to Two-Stage ML.
AB  - Structural equation models (SEMs) can be estimated using a variety of methods.
      For complete normally distributed data, two asymptotically efficient estimation
      methods exist: maximum likelihood (ML) and generalized least squares (GLS). With
      incomplete normally distributed data, an extension of ML called "full
      information" ML (FIML), is often the estimation method of choice. An extension of
      GLS to incomplete normally distributed data has never been developed or studied.
      In this article we define the "full information" GLS estimator for incomplete
      normally distributed data (FIGLS). We also identify and study an important
      application of the new GLS approach. In many modeling contexts, the variables in
      the SEM are linear composites (e.g., sums or averages) of the raw items. For
      instance, SEMs often use parcels (sums of raw items) as indicators of latent
      factors. If data are missing at the item level, but the model is at the composite
      level, FIML is not possible. In this situation, FIGLS may be the only
      asymptotically efficient estimator available. Results of a simulation study
      comparing the new FIGLS estimator to the best available analytic alternative, two
      stage ML, with item-level missing data are presented.

PMID- 28588522
TI  - The Positive and Negative Experiences of Caregiving for Siblings of Young People
      with First Episode Psychosis.
AB  - Background: The impact of first episode psychosis (FEP) upon parents' experience
      of caregiving has been well-documented. However, the determinants and nature of
      this remain poorly understood in siblings. It is hypothesized that siblings of
      young people with FEP are also impacted by caregiving and burden. This study
      aimed to characterize the experience of caregiving for siblings of young people
      with FEP. Method: Survey methodology was used to explore the experience of 157
      siblings in the first 18 months of their brother or sister's treatment for FEP.
      Participants reported on their appraisal of the negative and positive aspects of
      caregiving as measured by the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI).
      Descriptive statistics were used to establish the results for the total sample as
      well as for gender and birth order differences. A series of multivariate
      regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationships between illness
      characteristics and siblings' experience of caregiving. Results: Older brothers
      reported the lowest scores for negative experiences in caregiving and younger
      sisters reported the highest. Negative experiences in caregiving resulted in less
      warmth within the sibling relationship and impacted negatively upon quality of
      life. When the young person with FEP had attempted suicide and/or been physically
      violent, siblings experienced more caregiver burden. Multivariate analysis showed
      that female gender was a significant factor in explaining the impact of illness
      related variables on the experience of caregiving. Conclusion: Suicide attempts
      and a history of violence resulted in higher caregiving burden for siblings
      regardless of whether they lived with the young person experiencing FEP or not.
      Female siblings are at higher risk of negative experiences from caregiving
      resulting in a reduced quality of life and a changed sibling relationship.
      Suicide attempts and violence are indicators for intensive case management to
      improve outcomes for the individual with FEP which may in turn reduce the burden
      experienced by the sibling. Clinicians can use these findings to identify
      siblings, assertively intervene and provide increased psychological support,
      psychoeducation and practical problem solving to reduce the burden. The
      caregiving role that they already play for their ill brother or sister should be
      recognized.

PMID- 28588525
TI  - Interventions for Subjects with Depressive Symptoms with or without Unhealthy
      Alcohol Use: Are There Different Patterns of Change?
AB  - Background: It has been suggested that alcohol problems negatively affect
      therapeutic interventions for depression. This study examines the patterns of
      change in depressive symptoms following an intervention for depression, in
      participants with or without comorbid unhealthy alcohol use. Methods: Depressive
      symptoms (BDI-II), perceived control of depressive symptoms (UNCONTROL) and
      unhealthy alcohol use (AUDIT) were assessed in 116 patients before and after
      attending a cognitive behavioral psychoeducational intervention for depression.
      At pretest the mean score of AUDIT was 8.1, indicating a, on average, risk of
      harmful level of alcohol abuse. At pretest the majority of the total sample had a
      moderate degree of depressive symptoms, with a mean BDI-II score of 25.1 and
      36.2% had a risky use of alcohol as measured with AUDIT score at 8 points or
      above. To assess the relationship between depressive symptoms, perceived
      uncontrollability of depression and alcohol use across time, a cross-lagged panel
      model was estimated. Results: A clinical significant reduction of depressive
      symptoms, and a parallel and statistically significant increase in the perceived
      control of depressive symptoms, was identified after attending a cognitive
      behavioral psychoeducational intervention for depression. At posttest, the mean
      BDI-II score was 17.8, demonstrating a statistically significant decrease of 7.3
      points in depressive symptoms from before starting the course to 6 months later.
      The effect size (d-value) of 0.83 can be interpreted as a large decrease in
      depressive symptoms. In this sample alcohol use and depressive symptoms seemed to
      be unrelated. The cross-lagged correlation panel analysis indicated that a high
      degree of perceived control of depressive symptoms leads to a reduction in
      depressive symptoms, and not vice versa. Conclusion: We found that this
      intervention for depression were effective in reducing depressive symptoms. The
      patterns of change seemed to be independent of risky use of alcohol, although
      leaving the study was systematically associated with higher AUDIT-scores. As
      participants with or without unhealthy alcohol use show the same patterns of
      change regarding reduction of depressive symptoms and perceived control of
      depression, both groups could be offered the same cognitive behavioral
      psychoeducational interventions for depression.

PMID- 28588526
TI  - Reading Words or Pictures: Eye Movement Patterns in Adults and Children Differ by
      Age Group and Receptive Language Ability.
AB  - This study was conducted to explore the differences in the degree of attention
      given to Chinese print and pictures by children and adults when they read picture
      books with and without Chinese words. We used an eye tracker from SensoMotoric
      Instruments to record the visual fixations of the subjects. The results showed
      that the adults paid more attention to Chinese print and looked at the print
      sooner than the children did. The stronger the children's receptive language
      abilities were, the less time it took them to view the pictures. All participants
      spent the same amount of time looking at the pictures whether Chinese words were
      present or absent.

PMID- 28588524
TI  - Perceptual Plasticity for Auditory Object Recognition.
AB  - In our auditory environment, we rarely experience the exact acoustic waveform
      twice. This is especially true for communicative signals that have meaning for
      listeners. In speech and music, the acoustic signal changes as a function of the
      talker (or instrument), speaking (or playing) rate, and room acoustics, to name a
      few factors. Yet, despite this acoustic variability, we are able to recognize a
      sentence or melody as the same across various kinds of acoustic inputs and
      determine meaning based on listening goals, expectations, context, and
      experience. The recognition process relates acoustic signals to prior experience
      despite variability in signal-relevant and signal-irrelevant acoustic properties,
      some of which could be considered as "noise" in service of a recognition goal.
      However, some acoustic variability, if systematic, is lawful and can be exploited
      by listeners to aid in recognition. Perceivable changes in systematic variability
      can herald a need for listeners to reorganize perception and reorient their
      attention to more immediately signal-relevant cues. This view is not incorporated
      currently in many extant theories of auditory perception, which traditionally
      reduce psychological or neural representations of perceptual objects and the
      processes that act on them to static entities. While this reduction is likely
      done for the sake of empirical tractability, such a reduction may seriously
      distort the perceptual process to be modeled. We argue that perceptual
      representations, as well as the processes underlying perception, are dynamically
      determined by an interaction between the uncertainty of the auditory signal and
      constraints of context. This suggests that the process of auditory recognition is
      highly context-dependent in that the identity of a given auditory object may be
      intrinsically tied to its preceding context. To argue for the flexible neural and
      psychological updating of sound-to-meaning mappings across speech and music, we
      draw upon examples of perceptual categories that are thought to be highly stable.
      This framework suggests that the process of auditory recognition cannot be
      divorced from the short-term context in which an auditory object is presented.
      Implications for auditory category acquisition and extant models of auditory
      perception, both cognitive and neural, are discussed.

PMID- 28588528
TI  - Music Audiences 3.0: Concert-Goers' Psychological Motivations at the Dawn of
      Virtual Reality.
AB  - Reviewing consumers' motivations to attend performances in a continuously
      evolving social and technological context is essential because live concerts
      generate an important and growing share of revenues for the music industry.
      Evolving fans' preferences and technological innovations constantly alter the way
      music is distributed and consumed. In a marketing 3.0 era, what consumers do with
      music is becoming more significant than simply owning or listening to a song.
      These changes are not only blurring the lines between production and consumption
      (i.e., co-creation), but also distorting the concept of live attendance
      altogether. Although mediated performances typically lack presence and
      authenticity, recent advances in immersive technologies, such as spherical videos
      and virtual reality goggles, could represent a new form of experiencing live
      music.

PMID- 28588529
TI  - Program to Promote Personal and Social Responsibility in the Secondary Classroom.
AB  - The performance of school children has been studied by considering partial
      relationships between several personal variables such as the link between
      cognition and motivation. However, contextual variables, such as a child's
      willingness to accept social responsibility, also influence students' social and
      academic performance. Thus, students with greater responsibility have a better
      attitude toward their studies, resulting in higher academic achievement. This 2
      year study aims to reveal to what extent an intervention program affects student
      performance and is based on the Theory of Positive Action among young people
      proposed by Don Hellison and the Theory of Reasoned Action by Fishbein and Ajzen.
      The program focuses on positive influences on social and personal responsibility,
      taking into consideration parental styles, gender, and academic performance. The
      program was a part of the educational curricula in participating schools and it
      targeted four main areas: (a) teaching units using academic texts about social
      responsibility, (b) student training in mediation processes, (c) teacher
      training, and (d) family training and involvement. A total of 271 students took
      part from first and second year of Secondary Education (12-14 years old). The
      experimental group was made up of 132 students while the remaining 139 formed the
      control group. All participants completed the Assessment Scale of Social
      Responsibility Attitudes in Secondary Education and the Parent-Adolescent
      Communication Scale. Results show that students in the experimental group
      performed significantly better than those in the control group. Additionally, the
      issue of social responsibility seems to be related to commitment, self-discipline
      and perseverance. Regarding gender, males appear to score higher in the factor
      for well-mannered, friendly and tidy. Finally, a positive relationship has been
      identified between social responsibility attitudes and parenting with an open
      communicational style. This paper discusses the results so that schools can
      include programs aimed at improving social and personal responsibility.

PMID- 28588527
TI  - Unconscious Imagination and the Mental Imagery Debate.
AB  - Traditionally, philosophers have appealed to the phenomenological similarity
      between visual experience and visual imagery to support the hypothesis that there
      is significant overlap between the perceptual and imaginative domains. The
      current evidence, however, is inconclusive: while evidence from transcranial
      brain stimulation seems to support this conclusion, neurophysiological evidence
      from brain lesion studies (e.g., from patients with brain lesions resulting in a
      loss of mental imagery but not a corresponding loss of perception and vice versa)
      indicates that there are functional and anatomical dissociations between mental
      imagery and perception. Assuming that the mental imagery and perception do not
      overlap, at least, to the extent traditionally assumed, then the question arises
      as to what exactly mental imagery is and whether it parallels perception by
      proceeding via several functionally distinct mechanisms. In this review, we argue
      that even though there may not be a shared mechanism underlying vision for
      perception and conscious imagery, there is an overlap between the mechanisms
      underlying vision for action and unconscious visual imagery. On the basis of
      these findings, we propose a modification of Kosslyn's model of imagery that
      accommodates unconscious imagination and explore possible explanations of the
      quasi-pictorial phenomenology of conscious visual imagery in light of the fact
      that its underlying neural substrates and mechanisms typically are distinct from
      those of visual experience.

PMID- 28588530
TI  - Do Online Privacy Concerns Predict Selfie Behavior among Adolescents, Young
      Adults and Adults?
AB  - Selfies, or self-portraits, are often taken and shared on social media for online
      self-presentation reasons, which are considered essential for the psychosocial
      development and well-being of people in today's culture. Despite the growing
      popularity and widespread sharing of selfies in the online space, little is known
      about how privacy concerns moderate selfie behavior. In addition to this, it is
      also not known whether privacy concerns across age and gender groups influence
      selfie behavior. To address this timely issue, a survey assessing common selfie
      behaviors, that is, frequency of taking (individual and group selfies), editing
      (cropping and filtering), and posting selfies online, and social media privacy
      concerns (over personal data being accessed and misused by third parties) was
      conducted. The web-survey was administered to 3,763 Norwegian social media users,
      ranging from 13 to 50 years, with a preponderance of women (n = 2,509, 66.7%).
      The present study investigated the impact of privacy concerns on selfie behaviors
      across gender and age groups (adolescent, young adult, and adult) by use of the
      structural equation modeling approach. The results suggest that young adults have
      greater privacy concerns compared to adolescents and adults. Females have greater
      privacy concerns than males. Greater privacy concerns among female social media
      users were linked to lower engagement in selfie behavior, but privacy concerns
      did not influence selfie behavior in the case of male adolescents and young
      adults. Overall, privacy concerns were more consistently and inversely related to
      selfie behavior (taking and posting) among females than males. The study results
      have theoretical as well as practical implications for both researchers and
      policy makers.

PMID- 28588531
TI  - The Effects of Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status on Subjective Well
      Being among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: The Moderating Role of Subjective
      Social Mobility.
AB  - Although previous investigations have agreed that Chinese rural-to-urban
      migrants' socioeconomic status (SES) increases with their migration, the
      association between SES and subjective well-being is uncertain. To address this
      research gap, the present study proposed that the association between objective
      SES and subjective well-being is mediated by subjective SES. This model was
      tested with a sample of 432 Chinese rural-to-urban migrants. The results indicate
      a significant association between objective SES and subjective well-being and a
      partial mediating effect of subjective SES. Furthermore, subjective social
      mobility, which is one's expectation about the possibility to move upward in the
      social hierarchy, was found to moderate both the direct path from objective SES
      to subjective well-being and the indirect path from subjective SES to subjective
      well-being. These findings suggest that Chinese rural-to-urban migrants gained in
      subjective well-being not only because of direct financial achievement but also
      because of their perceptions and beliefs about their relative social status.

PMID- 28588532
TI  - Immune to Situation: The Self-Serving Bias in Unambiguous Contexts.
AB  - Traditionally, the self-serving bias has been investigated in ambiguous contexts
      in which participants work on tasks that measure novel abilities before making
      attributions without clear criteria for success or failure feedback. Prior
      studies have confirmed that the self-serving bias is pervasive in the general
      population, yet it varies significantly across situations involving ambiguous
      contexts. The present study features an unambiguous context encompassing
      interpersonal events that involved implicit causality (with the "self" as an
      actor or recipient), the inherent logic of which indicated attribution criteria.
      The aim of this study was to explore whether there is a self-serving bias in
      unambiguous contexts and to examine whether it is as sensitive to situation as it
      has been shown to be in ambiguous contexts. The results showed that, in an
      unambiguous context, participants exhibited self-serving bias in relation to
      attribution associated with negative interpersonal events. Additionally, the self
      serving bias was greater in the actor condition relative to the recipient
      condition (Study 1), and this effect was not affected by the level of self
      awareness, which was manipulated by the use or otherwise of a camera during the
      experiment (Study 2). Our findings provide evidence for the existence of the self
      serving bias in unambiguous contexts. Moreover, the self-serving bias was shown
      to be immune to situation in unambiguous contexts, but it did depend on factors
      associated with the events per se, such as the actor versus recipient role that
      the self played in interpersonal events.

PMID- 28588533
TI  - A Probabilistic Model of Meter Perception: Simulating Enculturation.
AB  - Enculturation is known to shape the perception of meter in music but this is not
      explicitly accounted for by current cognitive models of meter perception. We
      hypothesize that the induction of meter is a result of predictive coding:
      interpreting onsets in a rhythm relative to a periodic meter facilitates
      prediction of future onsets. Such prediction, we hypothesize, is based on
      previous exposure to rhythms. As such, predictive coding provides a possible
      explanation for the way meter perception is shaped by the cultural environment.
      Based on this hypothesis, we present a probabilistic model of meter perception
      that uses statistical properties of the relation between rhythm and meter to
      infer meter from quantized rhythms. We show that our model can successfully
      predict annotated time signatures from quantized rhythmic patterns derived from
      folk melodies. Furthermore, we show that by inferring meter, our model improves
      prediction of the onsets of future events compared to a similar probabilistic
      model that does not infer meter. Finally, as a proof of concept, we demonstrate
      how our model can be used in a simulation of enculturation. From the results of
      this simulation, we derive a class of rhythms that are likely to be interpreted
      differently by enculturated listeners with different histories of exposure to
      rhythms.

PMID- 28588535
TI  - Understanding Why Children Commit Scale Errors: Scale Error and Its Relation to
      Action Planning and Inhibitory Control, and the Concept of Size.
AB  - Scale error is a phenomenon where young children attempt to perform inappropriate
      actions on miniature object without considering the actual size of the object.
      The present study examined two hypotheses on what factors contribute to the
      occurrence of scale errors, focusing on the following possible factors: action
      planning and inhibitory control, and concept of size. Thus, we hypothesize that
      scale errors derived from either immaturity of their action planning and
      inhibitory control abilities or understanding of size concepts. The results
      revealed that the concept of size was significantly negatively associated with
      the occurrence of scale errors. However, action planning and inhibitory control
      were not significantly associated with the occurrence of scale errors. These
      results suggest that scale errors may arise from a misunderstanding of size
      concepts.

PMID- 28588534
TI  - Cognitive Effects of ThinkRx Cognitive Rehabilitation Training for Eleven
      Soldiers with Brain Injury: A Retrospective Chart Review.
AB  - Cognitive rehabilitation training is a promising technique for remediating the
      cognitive deficits associated with brain injury. Extant research is dominated by
      computer-based interventions with varied results. Results from clinician
      delivered cognitive rehabilitation are notably lacking in the literature. The
      current study examined the cognitive outcomes following ThinkRx, a clinician
      delivered cognitive rehabilitation training program for soldiers recovering from
      traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury. In a retrospective chart
      review, we examined cognitive outcomes of 11 cases who had completed an average
      of 80 h of ThinkRx cognitive rehabilitation training delivered by clinicians and
      supplemented with digital training exercises. Outcome measures included scores
      from six cognitive skill batteries on the Woodcock Johnson - III Tests of
      Cognitive Abilities. Participants achieved gains in all cognitive skills tested
      and achieved statistically significant changes in long-term memory, processing
      speed, auditory processing, and fluid reasoning with very large effect sizes.
      Clinically significant changes in multiple cognitive skills were also noted
      across cases. Results of the study suggest that ThinkRx clinician-delivered
      cognitive training supplemented with digital exercises may be a viable method for
      targeting the cognitive deficits associated with brain injury.

PMID- 28588536
TI  - Differential Signatures of Second Language Syntactic Performance and Age on the
      Structural Properties of the Left Dorsal Pathway.
AB  - In adult second language (L2) acquisition, individual differences are
      considerably large even among people with similar experiences. The neural
      mechanisms underlying this variability would include structural plasticity of
      language-related pathways. To elucidate such neuroplasticity, we focused on the
      transitional period of adolescence, which is associated with certain plasticity
      toward maturation following the sensitive period of language acquisition (<=12
      years old). The adolescent brain would thus be influenced by age-dependent
      factors, as well as performances in L2. Here, we examined individual differences
      in L2 performances controlling the duration of experience to reveal the
      differential signatures of performances and age on the plasticity of structural
      properties in major language-related pathways. We recruited Japanese students at
      two ages, i.e., junior (age: 13-14) and senior (age: 16-17) high-school students,
      all of whom started to expose to English at age 12 or 13. We divided them into
      subgroups, so that either L2 performance [Junior (High)/Senior (Low)] or age
      [Senior (Low)/Senior (High)] was matched in group comparisons; the duration of L2
      experience was also controlled between the Senior (Low) and Senior (High) groups.
      We then examined the thickness and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the dorsal and
      ventral pathways, i.e., the arcuate fasciculus (Arcuate) and inferior fronto
      occipital fasciculus (IFOF), respectively, using semi-automatic methods for
      selecting regions without branches. Regarding FA in the left Arcuate, the Senior
      (High) group showed significantly higher FA than the other two groups, indicating
      performance-related group differences. Further, FA in the left Arcuate was
      selectively correlated with the accuracy of a syntactic task. Regarding the
      thickness of the left Arcuate, the Senior (High) and Senior (Low) groups showed
      significantly larger thickness than the Junior (High) group, indicating age
      related group differences. These differential performance-related and age-related
      signatures were evident on the left Arcuate alone, in contrast to the right
      Arcuate that showed only mild differences in thickness, and to the bilateral IFOF
      that lacked either signature. Our results suggest that the left dorsal pathway
      continued to develop to adolescence, and that performance differences in a
      syntactic task can be predicted by its FA, independent of age and the duration of
      experience.

PMID- 28588537
TI  - Using CNN Features to Better Understand What Makes Visual Artworks Special.
AB  - One of the goal of computational aesthetics is to understand what is special
      about visual artworks. By analyzing image statistics, contemporary methods in
      computer vision enable researchers to identify properties that distinguish
      artworks from other (non-art) types of images. Such knowledge will eventually
      allow inferences with regard to the possible neural mechanisms that underlie
      aesthetic perception in the human visual system. In the present study, we define
      measures that capture variances of features of a well-established Convolutional
      Neural Network (CNN), which was trained on millions of images to recognize
      objects. Using an image dataset that represents traditional Western, Islamic and
      Chinese art, as well as various types of non-art images, we show that we need
      only two variance measures to distinguish between the artworks and non-art images
      with a high classification accuracy of 93.0%. Results for the first variance
      measure imply that, in the artworks, the subregions of an image tend to be filled
      with pictorial elements, to which many diverse CNN features respond (richness of
      feature responses). Results for the second measure imply that this diversity is
      tied to a relatively large variability of the responses of individual CNN feature
      across the subregions of an image. We hypothesize that this combination of
      richness and variability of CNN feature responses is one of properties that makes
      traditional visual artworks special. We discuss the possible neural underpinnings
      of this perceptual quality of artworks and propose to study the same quality also
      in other types of aesthetic stimuli, such as music and literature.

PMID- 28588538
TI  - Object Recognition in Mental Representations: Directions for Exploring Diagnostic
      Features through Visual Mental Imagery.
AB  - One of the fundamental goals of object recognition research is to understand how
      a cognitive representation produced from the output of filtered and transformed
      sensory information facilitates efficient viewer behavior. Given that mental
      imagery strongly resembles perceptual processes in both cortical regions and
      subjective visual qualities, it is reasonable to question whether mental imagery
      facilitates cognition in a manner similar to that of perceptual viewing: via the
      detection and recognition of distinguishing features. Categorizing the feature
      content of mental imagery holds potential as a reverse pathway by which to
      identify the components of a visual stimulus which are most critical for the
      creation and retrieval of a visual representation. This review will examine the
      likelihood that the information represented in visual mental imagery reflects
      distinctive object features thought to facilitate efficient object categorization
      and recognition during perceptual viewing. If it is the case that these
      representational features resemble their sensory counterparts in both spatial and
      semantic qualities, they may well be accessible through mental imagery as
      evaluated through current investigative techniques. In this review, methods
      applied to mental imagery research and their findings are reviewed and evaluated
      for their efficiency in accessing internal representations, and implications for
      identifying diagnostic features are discussed. An argument is made for the
      benefits of combining mental imagery assessment methods with diagnostic feature
      research to advance the understanding of visual perceptive processes, with
      suggestions for avenues of future investigation.

PMID- 28588539
TI  - What We Talk about When We Talk about Unconscious Processing - A Plea for Best
      Practices.
AB  - In this perspective article, we first outline the large diversity of methods,
      measures, statistical analyses, and concepts in the field of the experimental
      study of unconscious processing. We then suggest that this diversity implies that
      comparisons between different studies on unconscious processing are fairly
      limited, especially when stimulus awareness has been assessed in different ways.
      Furthermore, we argue that flexible choices of methods and measures will
      inevitably lead to an overestimation of unconscious processes. In the concluding
      paragraph, we briefly present solutions and strategies for future research. We
      make a plea for the introduction of "best practices," similar to previous
      attempts to constitute practicing standards for functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG).

PMID- 28588540
TI  - Evaluation-Dependent Representation in Risk Defusing.

PMID- 28588541
TI  - Parenting Stress, Mental Health, Dyadic Adjustment: A Structural Equation Model.
AB  - Objective: In the 1st year of the post-partum period, parenting stress, mental
      health, and dyadic adjustment are important for the wellbeing of both parents and
      the child. However, there are few studies that analyze the relationship among
      these three dimensions. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships
      between parenting stress, mental health (depressive and anxiety symptoms), and
      dyadic adjustment among first-time parents. Method: We studied 268 parents (134
      couples) of healthy babies. At 12 months post-partum, both parents filled out, in
      a counterbalanced order, the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Edinburgh
      Post-natal Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Dyadic
      Adjustment Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the potential
      mediating effects of mental health on the relationship between parenting stress
      and dyadic adjustment. Results: Results showed the full mediation effect of
      mental health between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment. A multi-group
      analysis further found that the paths did not differ across mothers and fathers.
      Discussion: The results suggest that mental health is an important dimension that
      mediates the relationship between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment in the
      transition to parenthood.

PMID- 28588543
TI  - Commentary: The poverty of embodied cognition.

PMID- 28588542
TI  - Prior Knowledge of Object Associations Shapes Attentional Templates and
      Information Acquisition.
AB  - Studies on attentional selection typically use unpredictable and meaningless
      stimuli, such as simple shapes and oriented lines. The assumption is that using
      these stimuli minimizes effects due to learning or prior knowledge, such that the
      task performance indexes a "pure" measure of the underlying cognitive ability.
      However, prior knowledge of the test stimuli and related stimuli acquired before
      or during the task impacts performance in meaningful ways. This mini review
      focuses on prior knowledge of object associations, because it is an important,
      yet often ignored, aspect of attentional selection. We first briefly review
      recent studies demonstrating that how objects are selected during visual search
      depends on the participant's prior experience with other objects associated with
      the target. These effects appear with both task-relevant and task-irrelevant
      knowledge. We then review how existing object associations may influence
      subsequent learning of new information, which is both a driver and a consequence
      of selection processes. These insights highlight the importance of one aspect of
      prior knowledge for attentional selection and information acquisition. We briefly
      discuss how this work with young adults may inform other age groups throughout
      the lifespan, as learners gradually increase their prior knowledge. Importantly,
      these insights have implications for developing more accurate measurements of
      cognitive abilities.

PMID- 28588544
TI  - Editorial: Personality and Cognition in Economic Decision Making.

PMID- 28588545
TI  - The Role of Motivation in Complex Problem Solving.

PMID- 28588546
TI  - Neuroprotective Effects of Physical Activity: Evidence from Human and Animal
      Studies.
AB  - In the present article, we provide a review of current knowledge regarding the
      role played by physical activity (PA) in preventing age-related cognitive decline
      and reducing risk of dementia. The cognitive benefits of PA are highlighted by
      epidemiological, neuroimaging and behavioral studies. Epidemiological studies
      identified PA as an influential lifestyle factor in predicting rates of cognitive
      decline. Individuals physically active from midlife show a reduced later risk of
      cognitive impairment. Neuroimaging studies documented attenuation of age-related
      brain atrophy, and also increase of gray matter and white matter of brain areas,
      including frontal and temporal lobes. These structural changes are often
      associated with improved cognitive performance. Importantly, the brain regions
      that benefit from PA are also those regions that are often reported to be
      severely affected in dementia. Animal model studies provided significant
      information about biomechanisms that support exercise-enhanced neuroplasticity,
      such as angiogenesis and upregulation of growth factors. Among the growth
      factors, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor seems to play a significant role.
      Another putative factor that might contribute to beneficial effects of exercise
      is the neuropeptide orexin-A. The beneficial effects of PA may represent an
      important resource to hinder the cognitive decline associated with aging.

PMID- 28588547
TI  - Improving Dual-Task Walking Paradigms to Detect Prodromal Parkinson's and
      Alzheimer's Diseases.
AB  - Gait control is a complex movement, relying on spinal, subcortical, and cortical
      structures. The presence of deficits in one or more of these structures will
      result in changes in gait automaticity and control, as is the case in several
      neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's
      disease (PD). By reviewing recent findings in this field of research, current
      studies have shown that gait performance assessment under dual-task conditions
      could contribute to predict both of these diseases. Such suggestions are relevant
      mainly for people at putatively high risk of developing AD (i.e., older adults
      with mild cognitive impairment subtypes) or PD (i.e., older adults with either
      Mild Parkinsonian signs or LRRK2 G2019S mutation). Despite the major importance
      of these results, the type of cognitive task that should be used as a concurrent
      secondary task has to be selected among the plurality of tasks proposed in the
      literature. Furthermore, the key aspects of gait control that represent sensitive
      and specific "gait signatures" for prodromal AD or PD need to be determined. In
      the present perspective article, we suggest the use of a Stroop interference task
      requiring inhibitory attentional control and a set-shifting task requiring
      reactive flexibility as being particularly relevant secondary tasks for
      challenging gait in prodromal AD and PD, respectively. Investigating how
      inhibition and cognitive flexibility interfere with gait control is a promising
      avenue for future research aimed at enhancing early detection of AD and PD,
      respectively.

PMID- 28588548
TI  - Thyroxine (T4) Transfer from Blood to Cerebrospinal Fluid in Sheep Isolated
      Perfused Choroid Plexus: Role of Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins and
      Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptides.
AB  - Thyroxine (T4) enters the brain either directly across the blood-brain barrier
      (BBB) or indirectly via the choroid plexus (CP), which forms the blood
      cerebrospinal fluid barrier (B-CSF-B). In this study, using isolated perfused CP
      of the sheep by single-circulation paired tracer and steady-state techniques, T4
      transport mechanisms from blood into lateral ventricle CP has been characterized
      as the first step in the transfer across the B-CSF-B. After removal of sheep
      brain, the CPs were perfused with 125I-T4 and 14C-mannitol. Unlabeled T4 was
      applied during single tracer technique to assess the mode of maximum uptake
      (Umax) and the net uptake (Unet) on the blood side of the CP. On the other hand,
      in order to characterize T4 protein transporters, steady-state extraction of 125I
      T4 was measured in presence of different inhibitors such as probenecid,
      verapamil, BCH, or indomethacin. Increasing the concentration of unlabeled-T4
      resulted in a significant reduction in Umax%, which was reflected by a complete
      inhibition of T4 uptake into CP. In fact, the obtained Unet% decreased as the
      concentration of unlabeled-T4 increased. The addition of probenecid caused a
      significant inhibition of T4 transport, in comparison to control, reflecting the
      presence of a carrier mediated process at the basolateral side of the CP and the
      involvement of multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRPs: MRP1 and MRP4) and
      organic anion transporting polypeptides (Oatp1, Oatp2, and Oatp14). Moreover,
      verapamil, the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrate, resulted in ~34% decrease in the
      net extraction of T4, indicating that MDR1 contributes to T4 entry into CSF.
      Finally, inhibition in the net extraction of T4 caused by BCH or indomethacin
      suggests, respectively, a role for amino acid "L" system and MRP1/Oatp1 in
      mediating T4 transfer. The presence of a carrier-mediated transport mechanism for
      cellular uptake on the basolateral membrane of the CP, mainly P-gp and Oatp2,
      would account for the efficient T4 transport from blood to CSF. The current study
      highlights a carrier-mediated transport mechanism for T4 movement from blood to
      brain at the basolateral side of B-CSF-B/CP, as an alternative route to BBB.

PMID- 28588549
TI  - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Myasthenia Gravis Overlap Syndrome: A Review of
      Two Cases and the Associated Literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of patients with amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis (ALS) and myasthenia gravis (MG) overlap syndrome and explore the
      relationship between the two diseases. METHODS: We conducted a search of medical
      records at Peking Union Medical University Hospital from 1983 to 2015 for
      coexistence of ALS and MG and searched the PubMed database for all literature
      describing ALS and MG overlap syndrome published through December 2016. We
      analyzed the clinical and neurophysiological characteristics of patients by
      groups according to strict diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: We presented 2 patients
      in our database with combined ALS and MG, and together with 25 cases reported in
      the literature, the patients were divided into 4 groups: 12 patients with MG
      followed by ALS, 8 patients with ALS followed by MG, 5 ALS patients with false
      positive anti-acetylcholine receptor, and the other 2 ALS patients with only
      myasthenia symptoms. Most patients had limb onset ALS, and myasthenia symptoms
      mainly affected ocular and bulbar muscles. Clinical and neurophysiological
      characteristics were summarized. CONCLUSION: These findings support the
      conclusion that immunological mechanisms and alterations in the neuromuscular
      junction are related to ALS pathogenesis.

PMID- 28588550
TI  - The Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma (PPARG) in
      Adipogenesis: Applying Knowledge from the Fish Aquaculture Industry to Biomedical
      Research.
AB  - The tropical freshwater zebrafish has recently emerged as a valuable model
      organism for the study of adipose tissue biology and obesity-related disease. The
      strengths of the zebrafish model system are its wealth of genetic mutants,
      transgenic tools, and amenability to high-resolution imaging of cell dynamics
      within live animals. However, zebrafish adipose research is at a nascent stage
      and many gaps exist in our understanding of zebrafish adipose physiology and
      metabolism. By contrast, adipose research within other, closely related, teleost
      species has a rich and extensive history, owing to the economic importance of
      these fish as a food source. Here, we compare and contrast knowledge on
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG)-mediated adipogenesis
      derived from both biomedical and aquaculture literatures. We first concentrate on
      the biomedical literature to (i) briefly review PPARG-mediated adipogenesis in
      mammals, before (ii) reviewing Pparg-mediated adipogenesis in zebrafish. Finally,
      we (iii) mine the aquaculture literature to compare and contrast Pparg-mediated
      adipogenesis in aquaculturally relevant teleosts. Our goal is to highlight
      evolutionary similarities and differences in adipose biology that will inform our
      understanding of the role of adipose tissue in obesity and related disease.

PMID- 28588552
TI  - Commentary: Prolactin Alters Blood Pressure by Modulating the Activity of
      Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase.

PMID- 28588551
TI  - Functional Thyroid Follicular Cells Differentiation from Human-Induced
      Pluripotent Stem Cells in Suspension Culture.
AB  - The replacement of regenerated thyroid follicular cells (TFCs) is a promising
      therapeutic strategy for patients with hypothyroidism. Here, we have succeeded in
      inducing functional TFCs from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in
      scalable suspension culture. Differentiation of iPSCs with Activin A treatment
      produced Sox17- and FoxA2-expressing definitive endodermal cells that also
      expressed thyroid transcription factors Pax8 and Nkx2-1. Further treatment with
      thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) induced TFCs expressing various types of
      thyroid proteins including TSH receptor, sodium-iodide symporter, thyroglobulin,
      and thyroid peroxidase. Interestingly, differentiated cells secreted free
      thyroxine in vitro. These results indicate successful differentiation of human
      iPSCs to functional TFCs that may enable us to fabricate thyroid tissues for
      regenerative medicine and disease models.

PMID- 28588553
TI  - Running from Disease: Molecular Mechanisms Associating Dopamine and Leptin
      Signaling in the Brain with Physical Inactivity, Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - Physical inactivity is a primary contributor to diseases such as obesity,
      cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Accelerometry data suggest that a
      majority of US adults fail to perform substantial levels of physical activity
      needed to improve health. Thus, understanding the molecular factors that
      stimulate physical activity, and physical inactivity, is imperative for the
      development of strategies to reduce sedentary behavior and in turn prevent
      chronic disease. Despite many of the well-known health benefits of physical
      activity being described, little is known about genetic and biological factors
      that may influence this complex behavior. The mesolimbic dopamine system
      regulates motivating and rewarding behavior as well as motor movement. Here, we
      present data supporting the hypothesis that obesity may mechanistically lower
      voluntary physical activity levels via dopamine dysregulation. In doing so, we
      review data that suggest mesolimbic dopamine activity is a strong contributor to
      voluntary physical activity behavior. We also summarize findings suggesting that
      obesity leads to central dopaminergic dysfunction, which in turn contributes to
      reductions in physical activity that often accompany obesity. Additionally, we
      highlight examples in which central leptin activity influences physical activity
      levels in a dopamine-dependent manner. Future elucidation of these mechanisms
      will help support strategies to increase physical activity levels in obese
      patients and prevent diseases caused by physical inactivity.

PMID- 28588556
TI  - Bioremediation of Wastewater by Iron Oxide-Biochar Nanocomposites Loaded with
      Photosynthetic Bacteria.
AB  - It has been reported that bacteria-mediated degradation of contaminants is a
      practical and innocuous wastewater treatment. In addition, iron oxide
      nanoparticles (NP) are wastewater remediation agents with great potentials due to
      their strong adsorption capacity, chemical inertness and superparamagnetism.
      Therefore, a combination of NPs and microbes could produce a very desirable
      alternative to conventional wastewater treatment. For this purpose, we first
      prepared Fe3O4/biochar nano-composites, followed by loading photosynthetic
      bacteria (PSB) onto them. It was found that Fe3O4/biochar nano-composites
      exhibited a high adsorption capacity for PSB (5.45 * 109 cells/g). The efficiency
      of wastewater pollutants removal by this PSB/Fe3O4/biochar agent was then
      analyzed. Our results indicated that when loaded onto Fe3O4/biochar nano
      composites, PSB's nutrient removal capability was significantly enhanced (P <
      0.05). This agent removed 83.1% of chemical oxygen demand, 87.5% of NH4+, and
      92.1% of PO43- from the wastewater in our study. Our experiments also
      demonstrated that such composites are outstanding recyclable agents. Their
      nutrient removal capability remained effective even after five cycles. In
      conclusion, we found the PSB/Fe3O4/biochar composites as a very promising
      material for bioremediation in the wastewater treatment.

PMID- 28588554
TI  - Female Reproductive Factors and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.
AB  - Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is markedly more common in women than men,
      the highest female-to-male ratio being recorded during the reproductive period.
      This evidence has led to the suggestion that female hormonal and reproductive
      factors may account for the observed DTC gender disparity. This review focuses on
      current evidence on the risk of DTC in conjunction with major female reproductive
      factors, including the impact of pregnancy on DTC occurrence and
      progression/recurrence. Overall, studies exploring the link between the risk of
      DTC and menstrual and menopausal factors, oral contraceptives and/or hormone
      replacement therapy, showed these associations, if any, to be generally weak.
      Nonetheless, there is some evidence that higher levels of exposure to estrogens
      during reproductive years may confer an increased risk of DTC. As far as
      pregnancy is concerned, it is unclear whether a potential association between
      parity and risk of DTC actually exists, and whether it is enhanced in the short
      term following delivery. A possible role for pregnancy-related factors in DTC
      progression has been recently suggested by some reports, the results of which are
      consistent with a worse outcome in the short-term of women diagnosed with DTC
      during gestation compared to non-pregnant control patients. Also, some
      progression of disease has been described in women with structural evidence of
      disease prior to pregnancy. However, there seems to be no impact from pregnancy
      in DTC-related death or overall survival. Several in vitro and animal studies
      have evaluated the influence of estrogens (E) and estrogen receptors (ERs) on
      thyroid cell proliferation. Presently available data are indicative of a role of
      E and ERs in thyroid cancer growth, although considerable discrepancies in
      respect to ER expression patterns in thyroid cancer tissues actually exist.
      Further studies providing more direct evidence on the possible role of E and of
      placental hormones and growth factors on thyroid growth may expand our knowledge
      on the mechanisms beyond the gender disparity of proliferative thyroid diseases.

PMID- 28588555
TI  - Bacterial Community Associated with the Reef Coral Mussismilia braziliensis's
      Momentum Boundary Layer over a Diel Cycle.
AB  - Corals display circadian physiological cycles, changing from autotrophy during
      the day to heterotrophy during the night. Such physiological transition offers
      distinct environments to the microbial community associated with corals: an
      oxygen-rich environment during daylight hours and an oxygen-depleted environment
      during the night. Most studies of coral reef microbes have been performed on
      samples taken during the day, representing a bias in the understanding of the
      composition and function of these communities. We hypothesized that coral
      circadian physiology alters the composition and function of microbial communities
      in reef boundary layers. Here, we analyzed microbial communities associated with
      the momentum boundary layer (MBL) of the Brazilian endemic reef coral Mussismilia
      braziliensis during a diurnal cycle, and compared them to the water column. We
      determined microbial abundance and nutrient concentration in samples taken within
      a few centimeters of the coral's surface every 6 h for 48 h, and sequenced
      microbial metagenomes from a subset of the samples. We found that dominant taxa
      and functions in the coral MBL community were stable over the time scale of our
      sampling, with no significant shifts between night and day samples.
      Interestingly, the two water column metagenomes sampled 1 m above the corals were
      also very similar to the MBL metagenomes. When all samples were analyzed
      together, nutrient concentration significantly explained 40% of the taxonomic
      dissimilarity among dominant genera in the community. Functional profiles were
      highly homogenous and not significantly predicted by any environmental variables
      measured. Our data indicated that water flow may overrule the effects of coral
      physiology in the MBL bacterial community, at the scale of centimeters, and
      suggested that sampling resolution at the scale of millimeters may be necessary
      to address diurnal variation in community composition.

PMID- 28588557
TI  - The Mechanism of Starch Over-Accumulation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii High
      Starch Mutants Identified by Comparative Transcriptome Analysis.
AB  - The focus of this study was the mechanism of starch accumulation in Chlamydomonas
      reinhardtii high-starch mutants. Three C. reinhardtii mutants showing high-starch
      content were generated using gamma irradiation. When grown under nitrogen
      deficient conditions, these mutants had more than twice as much starch than a
      wild-type control. The mechanism of starch over-accumulation in these mutants was
      studied with comparative transcriptome analysis. In all mutants, induction of
      phosphoglucomutase 1 (PGM1) expression was detected; PGM1 catalyzes the inter
      conversion of glucose 1-phosphate and glucose 6-phosphate in both starch
      biosynthetic and glycolytic pathway. Interestingly, transcript levels of
      phosphoglucose isomerase 1 (PGI1), fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase 1 and 2
      (FBA1 and FBA2) were down-regulated in all mutants; PGI1, FBA1, and FBA2 act on
      downstream of glucose 6-phosphate conversion in glycolytic pathway. Therefore,
      down-regulations of PGI1, FBA1, and FBA2 may lead to accumulation of upstream
      metabolites, notably glucose 6-phosphate, resulting in induction of PGM1
      expression through feed-forward regulation and that PGM1 overexpression caused
      starch over-accumulation in mutants. These results suggest that PGI1, FBA1, FBA2,
      and PGM1 correlate with each other in terms of coordinated transcriptional
      regulation and play central roles for starch over-accumulation in C. reinhardtii.

PMID- 28588558
TI  - Influenza Virus and Glycemic Variability in Diabetes: A Killer Combination?
AB  - Following the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, numerous studies identified the
      striking link between diabetes mellitus and influenza disease severity.
      Typically, influenza virus is a self-limiting infection but in individuals who
      have a pre-existing chronic illness, such as diabetes mellitus, severe influenza
      can develop. Here, we discuss the latest clinical and experimental evidence for
      the role of diabetes in predisposing the host to severe influenza. We explore the
      possible mechanisms that underlie this synergy and highlight the, as yet,
      unexplored role that blood glucose oscillations may play in disease development.
      Diabetes is one of the world's fastest growing chronic diseases and influenza
      virus represents a constant and pervasive threat to human health. It is therefore
      imperative that we understand how diabetes increases influenza severity in order
      to mitigate the burden of future influenza epidemics and pandemics.

PMID- 28588559
TI  - A Perspective on the Application of Pro-/Synbiotics in Clinical Practice.

PMID- 28588560
TI  - Molecular Epidemiology and Antifungal Susceptibility of Candida glabrata in China
      (August 2009 to July 2014): A Multi-Center Study.
AB  - Candida glabrata is an increasingly important cause of invasive candidiasis. In
      China, relatively little is known of the molecular epidemiology of C. glabrata
      and of its antifungal susceptibility patterns. Here we studied 411 non-duplicate
      C. glabrata isolates from 411 patients at 11 hospitals participating in the
      National China Hospital Invasive Fungal Surveillance Net program (CHIF-NET; 2010
      2014). Genotyping was performed using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) employing
      six genetic loci and by microsatellite analysis. Antifungal susceptibility
      testing was performed using Sensititre YeastOneTM YO10 methodology. Of 411
      isolates, 35 sequence types (ST) were identified by MLST and 79 different
      genotypes by microsatellite typing; the latter had higher discriminatory power
      than MLST in the molecular typing of C. glabrata. Using MLST, ST7 and ST3 were
      the most common STs (66.4 and 9.5% of all isolates, respectively) with 24 novel
      STs identified; the most common microsatellite types were T25 (30.4% of all
      isolates) and T31 (12.4%). Resistance to fluconazole (MIC > 32 MUg/mL) was seen
      in 16.5% (68/411) of isolates whilst MICs of >0.5 MUg/mL for voriconazole, >2
      MUg/mL for itraconazole and >2 MUg/mL for posaconazole were seen for 28.7, 6.8,
      and 7.3% of isolates, respectively; 14.8% of all isolates cross-resistant/non
      wide-type to fluconazole and voriconazole. Fluconazole resistant rates increased
      3-fold over the 5-year period whilst that of isolates with non-WT MICs to
      voriconazole, 7-fold. All echinocandins exhibited >99% susceptibility rates
      against all isolates but notably one isolate exhibited multi-drug resistance to
      the azoles and echinocandins. The study has provided a global picture of the
      molecular epidemiology and drug resistance rates of C. glabrata in China during
      the period of the study.

PMID- 28588561
TI  - Bacterial Biogeography across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum.
AB  - Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial biodiversity across the Amazon river
      ocean continuum were investigated along ~675 km of the lower Amazon River
      mainstem, in the Tapajos River tributary, and in the plume and coastal ocean
      during low and high river discharge using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes
      in whole water and size-fractionated samples (0.2-2.0 MUm and >2.0 MUm). River
      communities varied among tributaries, but mainstem communities were spatially
      homogeneous and tracked seasonal changes in river discharge and co-varying
      factors. Co-occurrence network analysis identified strongly interconnected river
      assemblages during high (May) and low (December) discharge periods, and weakly
      interconnected transitional assemblages in September, suggesting that this system
      supports two seasonal microbial communities linked to river discharge. In
      contrast, plume communities showed little seasonal differences and instead varied
      spatially tracking salinity. However, salinity explained only a small fraction of
      community variability, and plume communities in blooms of diatom-diazotroph
      assemblages were strikingly different than those in other high salinity plume
      samples. This suggests that while salinity physically structures plumes through
      buoyancy and mixing, the composition of plume-specific communities is controlled
      by other factors including nutrients, phytoplankton community composition, and
      dissolved organic matter chemistry. Co-occurrence networks identified
      interconnected assemblages associated with the highly productive low salinity
      near-shore region, diatom-diazotroph blooms, and the plume edge region, and
      weakly interconnected assemblages in high salinity regions. This suggests that
      the plume supports a transitional community influenced by immigration of ocean
      bacteria from the plume edge, and by species sorting as these communities adapt
      to local environmental conditions. Few studies have explored patterns of
      microbial diversity in tropical rivers and coastal oceans. Comparison of Amazon
      continuum microbial communities to those from temperate and arctic systems
      suggest that river discharge and salinity are master variables structuring a
      range of environmental conditions that control bacterial communities across the
      river-ocean continuum.

PMID- 28588562
TI  - Phylogeography and Coevolution of Bamboo Mosaic Virus and Its Associated
      Satellite RNA.
AB  - Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV), a plant potexvirus, has been found only in infected
      bamboo species. It is frequently associated with a large, linear single-stranded
      satellite RNA (satBaMV) that encodes a non-structural protein. Decades of
      collecting across a wide geographic area in Asia have accumulated a sizable
      number of BaMV and satBaMV isolates. In this study, we reconstructed the BaMV
      phylogeny and satBaMV phylogeny with partial coat protein gene sequences and
      partial genomic sequences, respectively. The evolutionary relationships allowed
      us to infer the phylogeography of BaMV and satBaMV on the Asian continent and its
      outlying islands. The BaMV phylogeny suggests that the BaMV isolates from Taiwan,
      unsurprisingly, are most likely derived from China. Interestingly, the newly
      available satBaMV isolates from China were found to be most closely related to
      the previously established Clade III, which is found in India. The general
      pattern of clustering along the China/India and Taiwan divide led us to
      hypothesize that the Taiwan Strait has been a physical barrier to gene flow in
      the past evolutionary history of both BaMV and satBaMV. Lastly, cophylogeny
      analyses revealed a complex association pattern between BaMV and satBaMV isolates
      from China. In general, closely related BaMV sequences tend to carry closely
      related satBaMV sequences as well; but instances of mismatching with distantly
      related satBaMV isolates were also found. We hypothesize plausible scenarios of
      infection and superinfection of bamboo hosts that may be responsible for the
      observed association pattern. However, a more systematic sampling throughout the
      geographic distribution of various bamboo species is needed to unambiguously
      establish the origin, movement, and evolution of BaMV and satBaMV.

PMID- 28588563
TI  - Insight into Potential Probiotic Markers Predicted in Lactobacillus pentosus MP
      10 Genome Sequence.
AB  - Lactobacillus pentosus MP-10 is a potential probiotic lactic acid bacterium
      originally isolated from naturally fermented Alorena green table olives. The
      entire genome sequence was annotated to in silico analyze the molecular
      mechanisms involved in the adaptation of L. pentosus MP-10 to the human
      gastrointestinal tract (GIT), such as carbohydrate metabolism (related with
      prebiotic utilization) and the proteins involved in bacteria-host interactions.
      We predicted an arsenal of genes coding for carbohydrate-modifying enzymes to
      modify oligo- and polysaccharides, such as glycoside hydrolases, glycoside
      transferases, and isomerases, and other enzymes involved in complex carbohydrate
      metabolism especially starch, raffinose, and levan. These enzymes represent key
      indicators of the bacteria's adaptation to the GIT environment, since they
      involve the metabolism and assimilation of complex carbohydrates not digested by
      human enzymes. We also detected key probiotic ligands (surface proteins, excreted
      or secreted proteins) involved in the adhesion to host cells such as adhesion to
      mucus, epithelial cells or extracellular matrix, and plasma components; also,
      moonlighting proteins or multifunctional proteins were found that could be
      involved in adhesion to epithelial cells and/or extracellular matrix proteins and
      also affect host immunomodulation. In silico analysis of the genome sequence of
      L. pentosus MP-10 is an important initial step to screen for genes encoding for
      proteins that may provide probiotic features, and thus provides one new routes
      for screening and studying this potentially probiotic bacterium.

PMID- 28588564
TI  - Viral-Induced Mortality of Prokaryotes in a Tropical Monsoonal Estuary.
AB  - Viruses are recognized as the most abundant and dynamic biological entities in
      the marine and estuarine environment. However, studies on the dynamics and
      activity of viruses in transient estuarine systems are limited. This study
      examines temporal and spatial variations in viral abundance (VA) and viral
      activity across the salinity gradient in a monsoon-driven tropical estuarine
      system (Cochin estuary, CE) along the southwest coast of India. Water samples
      were collected from five stations (with different hydrological settings) every 3
      h for 24 h period during two distinct seasons, namely pre-monsoon (PRM, dry
      season) and monsoon (MON, wet season). Time series measurements were made for a
      spring and neap tidal cycle for each season at all the stations. The results
      showed marked spatial and seasonal variability with relatively low diel and tidal
      variations in VA and lytic activity. Viral activity was found to be distinct in
      five stations studied with the maximum activity in the mesohaline regions
      (salinity <20) of the estuary. This region was characterized by high VA, lytic
      infection and viral production, accompanied by low (BGE) and high bacterial
      respiration. Based on viral lytic production, lytic viruses were found to be
      responsible for the release of ca. 72.9 +/- 58.5 MUg C L-1d-1 of bacterial
      carbon. The contribution of the viral shunt to the dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
      pool was higher during the dry season (PRM) than MON. Statistical analysis
      confirmed a significant association of viruses with the host availability and
      salinity. This work demonstrates the spatiotemporal distribution of viruses in a
      tropical estuarine ecosystem and highlights their role in microbial mortality
      across different salinity gradients. This study forms the first report on viral
      processes from a monsoon-driven tropical estuarine ecosystem.

PMID- 28588565
TI  - Diversity of Ligninolytic Enzymes and Their Genes in Strains of the Genus
      Ganoderma: Applicable for Biodegradation of Xenobiotic Compounds?
AB  - White-rot fungi (WRF) and their ligninolytic enzymes (laccases and peroxidases)
      are considered promising biotechnological tools to remove lignin related
      Persistent Organic Pollutants from industrial wastewaters and contaminated
      ecosystems. A high diversity of the genus Ganoderma has been reported in Cuba; in
      spite of this, the diversity of ligninolytic enzymes and their genes remained
      unexplored. In this study, 13 native WRF strains were isolated from decayed wood
      in urban ecosystems in Havana (Cuba). All strains were identified as Ganoderma
      sp. using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-method based on ITS
      sequences. All Ganoderma sp. strains produced laccase enzymes at higher levels
      than non-specific peroxidases. Native-PAGE of extracellular enzymatic extracts
      revealed a high diversity of laccase isozymes patterns between the strains,
      suggesting the presence of different amino acid sequences in the laccase enzymes
      produced by these Ganoderma strains. We determined the diversity of genes
      encoding laccases and peroxidases using a PCR and cloning approach with
      basidiomycete-specific primers. Between two and five laccase genes were detected
      in each strain. In contrast, only one gene encoding manganese peroxidase or
      versatile peroxidase was detected in each strain. The translated laccases and
      peroxidases amino acid sequences have not been described before. Extracellular
      crude enzymatic extracts produced by the Ganoderma UH strains, were able to
      degrade model chromophoric compounds such as anthraquinone and azo dyes. These
      findings hold promises for the development of a practical application for the
      treatment of textile industry wastewaters and also for bioremediation of polluted
      ecosystems by well-adapted native WRF strains.

PMID- 28588567
TI  - Biofilm vs. Planktonic Lifestyle: Consequences for Pesticide 2,4-D Metabolism by
      Cupriavidus necator JMP134.
AB  - The development of bacterial biofilms in natural environments may alter important
      functions, such as pollutant bioremediation by modifying both the degraders'
      physiology and/or interactions within the matrix. The present study focuses on
      the influence of biofilm formation on the metabolism of a pesticide, 2,4
      dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), by Cupriavidus necator JMP134. Pure cultures
      were established in a liquid medium with 2,4-D as a sole carbon source with or
      without sand grains for 10 days. Bacterial numbers and 2,4-D concentrations in
      solution were followed by spectrophotometry, the respiration rate by gas
      chromatography and the surface colonization by electron microscopy. In addition,
      isotopic techniques coupled with Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) profiling were
      used to determine possible metabolic changes. After only 3 days, approximately
      80% of the cells were attached to the sand grains and microscopy images showed
      that the porous medium was totally clogged by the development of a biofilm. After
      10 days, there was 25% less 2,4-D in the solution in samples with sand than in
      control samples. This difference was due to (1) a higher (+8%) mineralization of
      2,4-D by sessile bacteria and (2) a retention (15%) of 2,4-D in the biofilm
      matrix. Besides, the amount of carbohydrates, presumably constituting the biofilm
      polysaccharides, increased by 63%. Compound-specific isotope analysis revealed
      that the FAME isotopic signature was less affected by the biofilm lifestyle than
      was the FAME composition. These results suggest that sessile bacteria differ more
      in their anabolism than in their catabolism compared to their planktonic
      counterparts. This study stresses the importance of considering interactions
      between microorganisms and their habitat when studying pollutant dynamics in
      porous media.

PMID- 28588566
TI  - Gut Bacteria Missing in Severe Acute Malnutrition, Can We Identify Potential
      Probiotics by Culturomics?
AB  - Severe acute malnutrition is the world-leading cause of children under-five's
      death. Recent metagenomics studies have established a link between gut microbiota
      and severe acute malnutrition, describing an immaturity with a striking depletion
      in oxygen-sensitive prokaryotes. Amoxicillin and therapeutic diet cure most of
      the children with severe acute malnutrition but an irreversible disruption of the
      gut microbiota is suspected in the refractory and most severe cases. In these
      cases, therapeutic diet may be unable to reverse the microbiota alteration
      leading to persistent impaired development or death. In addition, as enteric
      sepsis is a major cause of death in this context, identification of missing gut
      microbes to be tested as probiotics (live bacteria that confer a benefit to the
      host) to restore rapidly the healthy gut microbiota and prevent the gut
      pathogenic invasion is of foremost importance. In this study, stool samples of
      malnourished patients with kwashiorkor and healthy children were collected from
      Niger and Senegal and analyzed by culturomics and metagenomics. We found a
      globally decreased diversity, a decrease in the hitherto unknown diversity (new
      species isolation), a depletion in oxygen-sensitive prokaryotes including
      Methanobrevibacter smithii and an enrichment in potentially pathogenic
      Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria and Streptococcus gallolyticus. A complex of 12
      species identified only in healthy children using culturomics and metagenomics
      were identified as probiotics candidates, providing a possible, defined,
      reproducible, safe, and convenient alternative to fecal transplantation to
      restore a healthy gut microbiota in malnourished children. Microbiotherapy based
      on selected strains has the potential to improve the current treatment of severe
      acute malnutrition and prevent relapse and death by reestablishing a healthy gut
      microbiota.

PMID- 28588569
TI  - Methane Dynamics in a Tropical Serpentinizing Environment: The Santa Elena
      Ophiolite, Costa Rica.
AB  - Uplifted ultramafic rocks represent an important vector for the transfer of
      carbon and reducing power from the deep subsurface into the biosphere and
      potentially support microbial life through serpentinization. This process has a
      strong influence upon the production of hydrogen and methane, which can be
      subsequently consumed by microbial communities. The Santa Elena Ophiolite (SEO)
      on the northwestern Pacific coast of Costa Rica comprises ~250 km2 of ultramafic
      rocks and mafic associations. The climatic conditions, consisting of strongly
      contrasting wet and dry seasons, make the SEO a unique hydrogeological setting,
      where water-rock reactions are enhanced by large storm events (up to 200 mm in a
      single storm). Previous work on hyperalkaline spring fluids collected within the
      SEO has identified the presence of microorganisms potentially involved in
      hydrogen, methane, and methanol oxidation (such as Hydrogenophaga,
      Methylobacterium, and Methylibium spp., respectively), as well as the presence of
      methanogenic Archaea (such as Methanobacterium). Similar organisms have also been
      documented at other serpentinizing sites, however their functions have not been
      confirmed. SEO's hyperalkaline springs have elevated methane concentrations,
      ranging from 145 to 900 MUM, in comparison to the background concentrations (<0.3
      MUM). The presence and potential activity of microorganisms involved in methane
      cycling in serpentinization-influenced fluids from different sites within the SEO
      were investigated using molecular, geochemical, and modeling approaches. These
      results were combined to elucidate the bioenergetically favorable methane
      production and/or oxidation reactions in this tropical serpentinizing
      environment. The hyperalkaline springs at SEO contain a greater proportion of
      Archaea and methanogens than has been detected in any terrestrial serpentinizing
      system. Archaea involved in methanogenesis and anaerobic methane oxidation
      accounted from 40 to 90% of total archaeal sequences. Genes involved in
      methanogenic metabolisms were detected from the metagenome of one of the alkaline
      springs. Methanogenic activities are likely to be facilitated by the movement of
      nutrients, including dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), from surface water and
      their infiltration into serpentinizing groundwater. These data provide new
      insight into methane cycle in tropical serpentinizing environments.

PMID- 28588568
TI  - Food Safety in the Age of Next Generation Sequencing, Bioinformatics, and Open
      Data Access.
AB  - Public health labs and food regulatory agencies globally are embracing whole
      genome sequencing (WGS) as a revolutionary new method that is positioned to
      replace numerous existing diagnostic and microbial typing technologies with a
      single new target: the microbial draft genome. The ability to cheaply generate
      large amounts of microbial genome sequence data, combined with emerging policies
      of food regulatory and public health institutions making their microbial
      sequences increasingly available and public, has served to open up the field to
      the general scientific community. This open data access policy shift has resulted
      in a proliferation of data being deposited into sequence repositories and of
      novel bioinformatics software designed to analyze these vast datasets. There also
      has been a more recent drive for improved data sharing to achieve more effective
      global surveillance, public health and food safety. Such developments have
      heightened the need for enhanced analytical systems in order to process and
      interpret this new type of data in a timely fashion. In this review we outline
      the emergence of genomics, bioinformatics and open data in the context of food
      safety. We also survey major efforts to translate genomics and bioinformatics
      technologies out of the research lab and into routine use in modern food safety
      labs. We conclude by discussing the challenges and opportunities that remain,
      including those expected to play a major role in the future of food safety
      science.

PMID- 28588570
TI  - The Profile and Antimicrobial Activity of Bacillus Lipopeptide Extracts of Five
      Potential Biocontrol Strains.
AB  - In this study the efficacy of two different methods for extracting lipopeptides
      produced by five Bacillus strains-ethyl acetate extraction, and acid
      precipitation followed by methanol extraction-was investigated using mass
      spectrometry. High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) was also used
      for the simultaneous separation of complex mixtures of lipopeptide extracts and
      for the determination of antimicrobial activity of their components. The mass
      spectra clearly showed well-resolved groups of peaks corresponding to different
      lipopeptide families (kurstakins, iturins, surfactins, and fengycins). The ethyl
      acetate extracts produced the most favorable results. The extracts of SS-12.6, SS
      13.1, and SS-38.4 showed the highest inhibition zones. An iturin analog is
      responsible for the inhibition of Xanthomonas arboricola and Pseudomonas syringae
      phytopathogenic strains. HPTLC bioautography effectively identified the active
      compounds from a mixture of lipopeptide extracts, proving in situ its potential
      for use in direct detection and determination of antimicrobials. In the test of
      potential synergism among individual extracts used in different mixtures,
      stronger antimicrobial effects were not observed. Biochemical and phylogenetic
      analysis clustered isolates SS-12.6, SS-13.1, SS-27.2, and SS-38.4 together with
      Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, while SS-10.7 was more closely related to Bacillus
      pumilus.

PMID- 28588571
TI  - Genome-Wide Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Extensive Alternative Splicing Events
      in the Protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis.
AB  - Alternative splicing (AS), as one of the most important topics in the post
      genomic era, has been extensively studied in numerous organisms. However, little
      is known about the prevalence and characteristics of AS in Echinococcus species,
      which can cause significant health problems to humans and domestic animals. Based
      on high-throughput RNA-sequencing data, we performed a genome-wide survey of AS
      in two major pathogens of echinococcosis-Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus
      multilocularis. Our study revealed that the prevalence and characteristics of AS
      in protoscoleces of the two parasites were generally consistent with each other.
      A total of 6,826 AS events from 3,774 E. granulosus genes and 6,644 AS events
      from 3,611 E. multilocularis genes were identified in protoscolex transcriptomes,
      indicating that 33-36% of genes were subject to AS in the two parasites.
      Strikingly, intron retention instead of exon skipping was the predominant type of
      AS in Echinococcus species. Moreover, analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes
      and Genomes pathway indicated that genes that underwent AS events were
      significantly enriched in multiple pathways mainly related to metabolism (e.g.,
      purine, fatty acid, galactose, and glycerolipid metabolism), signal transduction
      (e.g., Jak-STAT, VEGF, Notch, and GnRH signaling pathways), and genetic
      information processing (e.g., RNA transport and mRNA surveillance pathways). The
      landscape of AS obtained in this study will not only facilitate future
      investigations on transcriptome complexity and AS regulation during the life
      cycle of Echinococcus species, but also provide an invaluable resource for future
      functional and evolutionary studies of AS in platyhelminth parasites.

PMID- 28588572
TI  - Positively Selected Sites at HCMV gB Furin Processing Region and Their Effects in
      Cleavage Efficiency.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus is a ubiquitous infectious agent that affects mainly
      immunosuppressed, fetuses, and newborns. The virus has several polymorphic
      regions, in particular in the envelope glycoproteins. The UL55 gene encodes the
      glycoprotein B that has a variable region, containing a furin cleavage site and
      according to the variability different genotypes are characterized. Here we
      investigated variability and existence of selective pressure on the UL55 variable
      region containing the furin cleavage site in 213 clinical sequences from patients
      worldwide. We showed the occurrence of positive selective pressure on gB codons
      461 and 462, near the furin cleavage site. Cleavage analysis of synthesized
      peptides demonstrated that most mutations confer better cleavage by furin,
      suggesting that evolution is acting in order to increase the efficiency cleavage
      and supporting the hypothesis that gB processing is important in the host. We
      also demonstrated that peptides containing sequences, that characterize genotypes
      gB2 and 3, are differentially cleaved by furin. Our data demonstrate for the
      first time that variability in the cleavage site is related to degree of gB
      processing by furin.

PMID- 28588573
TI  - Bovine WC1+ and WC1neg gammadelta T Lymphocytes Influence Monocyte
      Differentiation and Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cell Maturation during In Vitro
      Mycobacterium avium Subspecies paratuberculosis Infection.
AB  - During early Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) infection,
      complex interactions occur between the bacteria, cells from the mononuclear
      phagocyte system (MPS) including both resident (macrophages and dendritic cells)
      and recruited (monocytes) cells, and other mucosal sentinel cells such as
      gammadelta T lymphocytes. Though the details of early host-pathogen interactions
      in cattle remain largely underexplored, our hypothesis is that these
      significantly influence development of host immunity and ultimate success or
      failure of the host to respond to Map infection. The aims of the present study
      were to first characterize monocyte-derived MPS cells from young calves with
      respect to their immunophenotype and function. Then, we set out to investigate
      the effects of WC1+ and WC1neg gammadelta T lymphocytes on (1) the
      differentiation of autologous monocytes and (2) the maturation of autologous
      monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDCs). To achieve this, peripheral blood WC1+
      or WC1neg gammadelta T lymphocytes were cocultured with either autologous freshly
      isolated peripheral blood-derived monocytes or autologous immature MDDCs
      (iMDDCs). We began by measuring several markers of interest on MPS cells. Useful
      markers to distinguish monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from MDDCs include
      CD11b, CD163, and CD172a, which are expressed significantly higher on MDMs
      compared with MDDCs. Function, but not phenotype, was influenced by WC1neg
      gammadelta T lymphocytes: viability of Map harvested from monocytes
      differentiated in the presence of WC1neg gammadelta T lymphocytes (dMonWC1neg)
      was significantly lower compared to MDMs and MDDCs. With respect to DC
      maturation, we first showed that mature MDDCs (mMDDCs) have significantly higher
      expression of CD11c, CD80, and CD86 compared with iMDDCs, and the phagocytic
      capacity of mMDDCs is significantly reduced compared to iMDDCs. We then showed
      that gammadelta T lymphocyte subsets induce functional (reduced phagocytosis) but
      not phenotypic (surface marker expression) iMDDC maturation. These data
      collectively show that gammadelta T lymphocytes influence differentiation,
      maturation, and ultimately the function of monocytes during Map infection, which
      has significant implications on survival of Map and success of host defense
      during early Map infection.

PMID- 28588574
TI  - Predicting RTS,S Vaccine-Mediated Protection from Transcriptomes in a Malaria
      Challenge Clinical Trial.
AB  - The RTS,S candidate malaria vaccine can protect against controlled human malaria
      infection (CHMI), but how protection is achieved remains unclear. Here, we have
      analyzed longitudinal peripheral blood transcriptome and immunogenicity data from
      a clinical efficacy trial in which healthy adults received three RTS,S doses 4
      weeks apart followed by CHMI 2 weeks later. Multiway partial least squares
      discriminant analysis (N-PLS-DA) of transcriptome data identified 110 genes that
      could be used in predictive models of protection. Among the 110 genes, 42 had
      known immune-related functions, including 29 that were related to the NF-kappaB
      signaling pathway and 14 to the IFN-gamma-signaling pathway. Post-dose 3 serum
      IFN-gamma concentrations were also correlated with protection; and N-PLS-DA of
      IFN-gamma-signaling pathway transcriptome data selected almost all (44/45) of the
      representative genes for predictive models of protection. Hence, the
      identification of the NF-kappaB and IFN-gamma pathways provides further insight
      into how vaccine-mediated protection may be achieved.

PMID- 28588575
TI  - Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue: A Key Tissue Inside the Mucosal Immune System of
      Hens Immunized with Escherichia coli F4.
AB  - Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) is the predominant antibody found in hen's (Gallus
      domesticus) egg yolk. This antibody, developed against several microorganisms in
      hen egg yolk, has been successfully used as an alternative to immunoglobulins
      from mammals for use in immunodiagnostics and immunotherapy. Enteropathogenic
      Escherichia coli (E.coli) F4 is the main etiological agent associated with swine
      neonatal diarrhea, and it causes notable economic losses in swine production. The
      aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between humoral immune
      response and the activation of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) in laying
      hens intramuscularly immunized with E. coli F4. Adult laying Shaver hens were
      immunized with a bacterin based on an inactivated lysate E. coli F4 strain that
      was originally isolated from neonatal piglet diarrhea, following a recommended
      schedule. The percentage of B lymphocytes in blood and spleen homogenates was
      determined by flow cytometry. Villi histomorphometry and the size of germinal
      centers (GC) activated in GALT and the spleen were measured in histological
      samples either stained with hematoxylin/eosin or through immunofluorescence.
      Antibody and isotype-specific antibodies in serum and egg yolk were measured
      using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Secretory and serum
      immunoglobulin A (IgA) were measured by ELISA tests. Laying hen with
      intramuscular immunization with E. coli F4 lysate, activated both mucosal and
      systemic protection. Mucosal protection was provided through B lymphocytes, and
      most of them were activated on Peyer's patches and esophageal tonsils, in GALT.
      Furthermore, increased B lymphocyte number in the lamina propria of the gut, and
      increased intraepithelial plasmatic cell number, produced high levels of mucosal
      IgA. Activated B lymphocytes interacted with absorptive cells, immune cells, and
      microbiota in the gut, producing signals that were translated into a powerful
      physical defense by producing a greater volume of mucin from an increased number
      of goblet cells. Systemic protection was provided through B lymphocyte activation
      of spleen GC, which produced hugely specific IgY serum levels. One week later,
      this specific IgY was deposited in the yolk. This suggests that GALT is a key
      immunologic tissue inside the mucosal immune system, acting as the "command
      center" for humoral reaction.

PMID- 28588577
TI  - Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome Unmasking or Worsening AIDS-Related
      Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy: A Literature Review.
AB  - Incidence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in HIV-infected
      patients has declined in the combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) era although
      a growing number of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related PML-immune
      reconstitution inflammatory syndromes (PML-IRIS) have been published during the
      same period. Therapeutic management of PML-IRIS is not consensual and mainly
      relies on corticosteroids. Our main aim was, in addition to provide a thoughtful
      analysis of published PML-IRIS cases, to assess the benefit of corticosteroids in
      the management of PML-IRIS, focusing on confirmed cases. We performed a
      literature review of the 46 confirmed cases of PML-IRIS cases occurring in HIV
      infected patients from 1998 to September 2016 (21 unmasking and 25 paradoxical
      PML-IRIS). AIDS-related PML-IRIS patients were mostly men (sex ratio 4/1) with a
      median age of 40.5 years (range 12-66). Median CD4 T cell count before cART and
      at PML-IRIS onset was 45/MUl (0-301) and 101/MUl (20-610), respectively. After
      cART initiation, PML-IRIS occurred within a median timescale of 38 days (18-120).
      Clinical signs were motor deficits (69%), speech disorders (36%), cognitive
      disorders (33%), cerebellar ataxia (28%), and visual disturbances (23%). Brain
      MRI revealed hyperintense areas on T2-weighted sequences and FLAIR images (76%)
      and suggestive contrast enhancement (87%). PCR for John Cunningham virus (JCV) in
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was positive in only 84% of cases; however, when
      performed, brain biopsy confirmed diagnosis of PML in 90% of cases and
      demonstrated histological signs of IRIS in 95% of cases. Clinical worsening
      related to PML-IRIS and leading to death was observed in 28% of cases.
      Corticosteroids were prescribed in 63% of cases and maraviroc in one case.
      Statistical analysis failed to demonstrate significant benefit from steroid
      treatment, despite spectacular improvement in certain cases. Diagnosis of PML
      IRIS should be considered in HIV-infected patients with worsening neurological
      symptoms after initiation or resumption of effective cART, independently of CD4
      cell count prior to cART. If PCR for JCV is negative in CSF, brain biopsy should
      be discussed. Only large multicentric randomized trials could potentially
      demonstrate the possible efficacy of corticosteroids and/or CCR5 antagonists in
      the management of PML-IRIS.

PMID- 28588576
TI  - PD-1 Blockade Promotes Emerging Checkpoint Inhibitors in Enhancing T Cell
      Responses to Allogeneic Dendritic Cells.
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors, which target coinhibitory T cell molecules to
      promote anticancer immune responses, are on the rise to become a new pillar of
      cancer therapy. However, current immune checkpoint-based therapies are successful
      only in a subset of patients and acquired resistances pose additional challenges.
      Finding new targets and combining checkpoint inhibitors might help to overcome
      these limitations. In this study, human T cells stimulated with allogeneic
      dendritic cells (DCs) were used to compare immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting
      TIM-3, BTLA, LAG-3, CTLA-4, and TIGIT alone or in combination with a PD-1
      antibody. We found that PD-1 blockade bears a unique potency to enhance T cell
      proliferation and cytokine production. Other checkpoint inhibitors failed to
      significantly augment T cell responses when used alone. However, antibodies to
      TIM-3, BTLA, LAG-3, and CTLA-4 enhanced T cell proliferation in presence of a PD
      1 antibody. Upregulation of coinhibitory T cell receptors upon PD-1 blockade was
      identified as a potential mechanism for synergistic effects between checkpoint
      inhibitors. Donor-specific variation in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors
      was attributed to the T cells rather than DCs. Additionally, we analyzed the
      regulation of checkpoint molecules and their ligands on T cells and allogeneic
      DCs in coculture, which suggested a PD-1 blockade-dependent crosstalk between T
      cells and APC. Our results indicate that several immune checkpoint inhibitors
      have the capacity to enhance T cell responses when combined with PD-1 blockade.
      Additional in vitro studies on human T cells will be useful to identify antibody
      combinations with the potential to augment T cell responses in cancer patients.

PMID- 28588578
TI  - GRP78 Impairs Production of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Cytokines by Interaction
      with CD14.
AB  - The 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) is a stress-inducible chaperone that
      resides primarily in the endoplasmic reticulum. GRP78 has been described to be
      released at times of cellular stress and as having extracellular properties that
      are anti-inflammatory or favor the resolution of inflammation. In the current
      study, we confirmed that GRP78 impaired the production of lipopolysaccharide
      induced pro-inflammatory cytokines in GRP78-treated bone-marrow-derived dendritic
      cells (DCs). To explore the underlying mechanism, first of all, GRP78 was checked
      to be bound to the plasma membrane. Interestingly, such binding promoted
      endocytosis of toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and reduction in TLR4 on the plasma
      surface had a key role in desensitization of GRP78-treated DCs to
      lipopolysaccharide. Given that cluster of differentiation (CD)14 is a crucial
      regulator of TLR4 endocytosis, interaction of GRP78 with CD14 was investigated
      next. Data showed that GRP78 co-localized with CD14 on the plasma membrane and
      glutathione-S-transferase-GRP78 precipitated CD14. In CD14 knockout mice, down
      regulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and reduction in TLR4 on the plasma
      surface were abrogated in GRP78-treated DCs. Overall, these data suggested that
      GRP78 mediates endocytosis of TLR4 by targeting CD14 to favor the resolution of
      inflammation.

PMID- 28588579
TI  - Pathophysiology of CD4+ T-Cell Depletion in HIV-1 and HIV-2 Infections.
AB  - The hall mark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a gradual loss
      of CD4+ T-cells and imbalance in CD4+ T-cell homeostasis, with progressive
      impairment of immunity that leads ultimately to death. HIV infection in humans is
      caused by two related yet distinct viruses: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-2 is typically
      less virulent than HIV-1 and permits the host to mount a more effective and
      sustained T-cell immunity. Although both infections manifest the same clinical
      spectrum, the much lower rate of CD4+ T-cell decline and slower progression of
      disease in HIV-2 infected individuals have grabbed the attention of several
      researchers. Here, we review the most recent findings on the differential rate of
      decline of CD4+ T-cell in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections and provide plausible
      reasons for the observed differences between the two groups.

PMID- 28588580
TI  - Specific Antibody Deficiency: Controversies in Diagnosis and Management.
AB  - Specific antibody deficiency (SAD) is a primary immunodeficiency disease
      characterized by normal immunoglobulins (Igs), IgA, IgM, total IgG, and IgG
      subclass levels, but with recurrent infection and diminished antibody responses
      to polysaccharide antigens following vaccination. There is a lack of consensus
      regarding the diagnosis and treatment of SAD, and its clinical significance is
      not well understood. Here, we discuss current evidence and challenges regarding
      the diagnosis and treatment of SAD. SAD is normally diagnosed by determining
      protective titers in response to the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide
      vaccine. However, the definition of an adequate response to immunization remains
      controversial, including the magnitude of response and number of pneumococcal
      serotypes needed to determine a normal response. Confounding these issues, anti
      polysaccharide antibody responses are age- and probably serotype dependent.
      Therapeutic strategies and options for patients with SAD are often based on
      clinical experience due to the lack of focused studies and absence of a robust
      case definition. The mainstay of therapy for patients with SAD is antibiotic
      prophylaxis. However, there is no consensus regarding the frequency and severity
      of infections warranting antibiotic prophylaxis and no standardized regimens and
      no studies of efficacy. Published expert guidelines and opinions have recommended
      IgG therapy, which are supported by observations from retrospective studies,
      although definitive data are lacking. In summary, there is currently a lack of
      evidence regarding the efficacy of therapeutic strategies for patients with SAD.
      We believe that it is best to approach each patient as an individual and progress
      through diagnostic and therapeutic interventions together with existing practice
      guidelines.

PMID- 28588582
TI  - Nanoparticle-Based Magnetic Resonance Imaging on Tumor-Associated Macrophages and
      Inflammation.
AB  - The inflammatory response, mediated by tissue-resident or newly recruited
      macrophages, is an underlying pathophysiological condition for many diseases,
      including diabetes, obesity, neurodegeneration, atherosclerosis, and cancer.
      Paradoxically, inflammation is a double-edged sword in oncology. Macrophages are,
      generally speaking, the major drivers of inflammatory insult. For many solid
      tumors, high density of cells expressing macrophage-associated markers have
      generally been found in association with a poor clinical outcome, characterized
      by inflamed microenvironment, a high level of dissemination and resistance to
      conventional chemotherapies. On another hand, radiation treatment also triggers
      an inflammatory response in tumors (often referred to as pseudoprogression),
      which can be associated with a positive treatment response. As such, non-invasive
      imaging of cancer inflammation and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) provides a
      revolutionary diagnostic tool and monitoring strategy for anti-inflammatory,
      immuno- and radiotherapies. Recently, quantitative T2-weighted magnetic resonance
      imaging (qT2wMRI), using injection of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles
      (SPIONs), has been reported for the assessment of TAMs non-invasively in animal
      models and in human trials. The SPIONs are magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      contrast agents that significantly decrease T2 MR relaxation times in inflamed
      tissues due to the macrophage-specific uptake and retention. It has been shown
      that macrophage-populated tumors and metastases will accumulate iron oxide
      nanoparticles and decrease T2-relaxation time that will result in a negative
      (dark) contrast in qT2wMRI. Non-invasive imaging of TAMs using SPION holds a
      great promise for staging the inflammatory microenvironment of primary and
      metastatic tumors as well monitoring the treatment response of cancer patients
      treated with radiation and immunotherapy.

PMID- 28588581
TI  - Role of Sphingosine-1-Phosphate in Mast Cell Functions and Asthma and Its
      Regulation by Non-Coding RNA.
AB  - Sphingolipid metabolites are emerging as important signaling molecules in
      allergic diseases specifically asthma. One of the sphingolipid metabolite,
      sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), is involved in cell differentiation,
      proliferation, survival, migration, and angiogenesis. In the allergic diseases,
      alteration of S1P levels influences the differentiation and responsiveness of
      mast cells (MCs). S1P is synthesized by two sphingosine kinases (SphKs),
      sphingosine kinase 1, and sphingosine kinase 2. Engagement of IgE to the
      FcepsilonRI receptor induces the activation of both the SphKs and generates S1P.
      Furthermore, SphKs are also essential to FcepsilonRI-mediated MC activation.
      Activated MCs export S1P into the extracellular space and causes inflammatory
      response and tissue remodeling. S1P signaling has dual role in allergic
      responses. Activation of SphKs and secretion of S1P are required for MC
      activation; however, S1P signaling plays a vital role in the recovery from
      anaphylaxis. Several non-coding RNAs have been shown to play a crucial role in
      controlling the MC-associated inflammatory and allergic responses. Thus, S1P
      signaling pathway and its regulation by non-coding RNA could be explored as an
      exciting potential therapeutic target for asthma and other MC-associated
      diseases.

PMID- 28588584
TI  - Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 Inhibition Upregulates Foxp3+ Regulatory T
      Cells Frequency and Function during the Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - Ulcerative colitis (UC) pathogenesis is related to imbalance of immune responses,
      and the equilibrium between inflammatory T cells and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells
      (Tregs) plays an important role in the intestinal homeostasis. Protein arginine
      methyltransferases (PRMTs) regulate chromatin remodeling and gene expression.
      Here, we investigated whether inhibition of PRMTs affects colitis pathogenesis in
      mice and inflammatory bowel disease patients and further explored the underlying
      mechanisms. In this study, we found that protein arginine N-methyltransferase
      inhibitor 1 (AMI-1) treatments increased Tregs frequency, function, and reduced
      colitis incidence. Adoptive transfer of AMI-1-treated Tregs could reduce the
      colitis incidence. Colitis was associated with increased local PRMT5 expression,
      which was inhibited by AMI-1 treatment. Additionally, PRMT5 knockdown T cells
      produced a better response to TGFbeta and promoted Tregs differentiation through
      decreased DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) expression. PRMT5 also enhanced
      H3K27me3 and DNMT1 binding to Foxp3 promoter, which restricted Tregs
      differentiation. Furthermore, PRMT5 knockdown led to decreased Foxp3 promoter
      methylation during Tregs induction. PRMT5 expression had a negative relationship
      with Tregs in UC patients, knockdown of PRMT5 expression increased Tregs
      frequency and decreased TNFalpha, IL-6, and IL-13 levels. Our study outlines a
      novel regulation of PRMT5 on Tregs development and function. Strategies to
      decrease PRMT5 expression might have therapeutic potential to control UC.

PMID- 28588583
TI  - Hypercapnia Impairs ENaC Cell Surface Stability by Promoting Phosphorylation,
      Polyubiquitination and Endocytosis of beta-ENaC in a Human Alveolar Epithelial
      Cell Line.
AB  - Acute lung injury is associated with formation of pulmonary edema leading to
      impaired gas exchange. Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
      require mechanical ventilation to improve oxygenation; however, the use of
      relatively low tidal volumes (to minimize further injury of the lung) often leads
      to further accumulation of carbon dioxide (hypercapnia). Hypercapnia has been
      shown to impair alveolar fluid clearance (AFC), thereby causing retention of
      pulmonary edema, and may lead to worse outcomes; however, the underlying
      molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. AFC is critically dependent
      on the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), which drives the vectorial transport of
      Na+ across the alveolar epithelium. Thus, in the current study, we investigated
      the mechanisms by which hypercapnia effects ENaC cell surface stability in
      alveolar epithelial cells (AECs). Elevated CO2 levels led to polyubiquitination
      of beta-ENaC and subsequent endocytosis of the alpha/beta-ENaC complex in AECs,
      which were prevented by silencing the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Nedd4-2. Hypercapnia
      induced ubiquitination and cell surface retrieval of ENaC were critically
      dependent on phosphorylation of the Thr615 residue of beta-ENaC, which was
      mediated by the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2. Furthermore,
      activation of ERK1/2 led to subsequent activation of AMP-activated protein kinase
      (AMPK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2 that in turn phosphorylated Nedd4-2
      at the Thr899 residue. Importantly, mutation of Thr899 to Ala markedly inhibited
      the CO2-induced polyubiquitination of beta-ENaC and restored cell surface
      stability of the ENaC complex, highlighting the critical role of Nedd4-2
      phosphorylation status in targeting ENaC. Collectively, our data suggest that
      elevated CO2 levels promote activation of the ERK/AMPK/JNK axis in a human AEC
      line, in which ERK1/2 phosphorylates beta-ENaC whereas JNK mediates
      phosphorylation of Nedd4-2, thereby facilitating the channel-ligase interaction.
      The hypercapnia-induced ENaC dysfunction may contribute to impaired alveolar
      edema clearance and thus, interfering with these molecular mechanisms may improve
      alveolar fluid balance and lead to better outcomes in patients with ARDS.

PMID- 28588585
TI  - Leaky Gut As a Danger Signal for Autoimmune Diseases.
AB  - The intestinal epithelial lining, together with factors secreted from it, forms a
      barrier that separates the host from the environment. In pathologic conditions,
      the permeability of the epithelial lining may be compromised allowing the passage
      of toxins, antigens, and bacteria in the lumen to enter the blood stream creating
      a "leaky gut." In individuals with a genetic predisposition, a leaky gut may
      allow environmental factors to enter the body and trigger the initiation and
      development of autoimmune disease. Growing evidence shows that the gut microbiota
      is important in supporting the epithelial barrier and therefore plays a key role
      in the regulation of environmental factors that enter the body. Several recent
      reports have shown that probiotics can reverse the leaky gut by enhancing the
      production of tight junction proteins; however, additional and longer term
      studies are still required. Conversely, pathogenic bacteria that can facilitate a
      leaky gut and induce autoimmune symptoms can be ameliorated with the use of
      antibiotic treatment. Therefore, it is hypothesized that modulating the gut
      microbiota can serve as a potential method for regulating intestinal permeability
      and may help to alter the course of autoimmune diseases in susceptible
      individuals.

PMID- 28588586
TI  - The Research Progress on Intestinal Stem Cells and Its Relationship with
      Intestinal Microbiota.
AB  - The intestine is home to trillions of microorganisms, and the vast diversity
      within this gut microbiota exists in a balanced state to protect the intestinal
      mucosal barrier. Research into the association of the intestinal microbiota with
      health and disease (including diet, nutrition, obesity, inflammatory bowel
      disease, and cancer) continues to expand, with the field advancing at a rapid
      rate. Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) are the fundamental component of the mucosal
      barrier; they undergo continuous proliferation to replace the epithelium, which
      is also intimately involved in intestinal diseases. The intestinal microbiota,
      such as Lactobacillus, communicates with ISCs both directly and indirectly to
      regulate the proliferation and differentiation of ISCs. Moreover, Salmonella
      infection significantly decreased the expression of intestinal stem cell markers
      Lgr5 and Bmi1. However, the detailed interaction of intestinal microbiota and
      ISCs are still unclear. This review considers the progress of research on the
      model and niches of ISCs, as well as the complex interplay between the gut
      microbiota and ISCs, which will be crucial for explaining the mechanisms of
      intestinal diseases related to imbalances in the intestinal microbiota and ISCs.

PMID- 28588587
TI  - A Dynamic Tandem Repeat in Monocotyledons Inferred from a Comparative Analysis of
      Chloroplast Genomes in Melanthiaceae.
AB  - Chloroplast genomes (cpDNA) are highly valuable resources for evolutionary
      studies of angiosperms, since they are highly conserved, are small in size, and
      play critical roles in plants. Slipped-strand mispairing (SSM) was assumed to be
      a mechanism for generating repeat units in cpDNA. However, research on the
      employment of different small repeated sequences through SSM events, which may
      induce the accumulation of distinct types of repeats within the same region in
      cpDNA, has not been documented. Here, we sequenced two chloroplast genomes from
      the endemic species Heloniopsis tubiflora (Korea) and Xerophyllum tenax (USA) to
      cover the gap between molecular data and explore "hot spots" for genomic events
      in Melanthiaceae. Comparative analysis of 23 complete cpDNA sequences revealed
      that there were different stages of deletion in the rps16 region across the
      Melanthiaceae. Based on the partial or complete loss of rps16 gene in cpDNA, we
      have firstly reported potential molecular markers for recognizing two sections
      (Veratrum and Fuscoveratrum) of Veratrum. Melathiaceae exhibits a significant
      change in the junction between large single copy and inverted repeat regions,
      ranging from trnH_GUG to a part of rps3. Our results show an accumulation of
      tandem repeats in the rpl23-ycf2 regions of cpDNAs. Small conserved sequences
      exist and flank tandem repeats in further observation of this region across most
      of the examined taxa of Liliales. Therefore, we propose three scenarios in which
      different small repeated sequences were used during SSM events to generate newly
      distinct types of repeats. Occasionally, prior to the SSM process, point mutation
      event and double strand break repair occurred and induced the formation of
      initial repeat units which are indispensable in the SSM process. SSM may have
      likely occurred more frequently for short repeats than for long repeat sequences
      in tribe Parideae (Melanthiaceae, Liliales). Collectively, these findings add new
      evidence of dynamic results from SSM in chloroplast genomes which can be useful
      for further evolutionary studies in angiosperms. Additionally, genomics events in
      cpDNA are potential resources for mining molecular markers in Liliales.

PMID- 28588589
TI  - Tolerance and Reduction of Chromium(VI) by Bacillus sp. MNU16 Isolated from
      Contaminated Coal Mining Soil.
AB  - The bacterium MNU16 was isolated from contaminated soils of coal mine and
      subsequently screened for different plant growth promoting (PGP) activities. The
      isolate was further identified by 16S rRNA sequencing as Bacillus subtilis MNU16
      with IAA concentration (56.95 +/- 0.43 6MUg/ml), siderophore unit (9.73 +/-
      2.05%), phosphate solubilization (285.13 +/- 1.05 MUg/ml) and ACC deaminase
      activity (116.79 +/- 0.019 MUmoles alpha-ketobutyrate/mg/24 h). Further, to
      evaluate the metal resistance profile of bacterium, the isolate was screened for
      multi-metal resistance (viz. 900 mg/L for Cr, 600 mg/L for As, 700 mg/L for Ni
      and 300 mg/L for Hg). Additionally, the resistance pattern of B. subtilis MNU16
      against Cr(VI) (from 50 to 300 mg/L) treatments were evaluated. An enriched
      population was observed at 0-200 mg/L Cr(VI) concentration while slight
      reductions were observed at 250 and 300 mg/L Cr(VI). Further, the chromium
      reduction ability at 50 mg/L of Cr(VI) highlighted that the bacterium B. subtilis
      MNU16 reduced 75% of Cr(VI) to 13.23 mg/L within 72 h. The localization of
      electron dense precipitates was observed in the TEM images of B. subtilis MNU16
      which is might be due to the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III). The data of
      fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry with respect to Cr(VI) treatments (50
      300 mg/L) showed a similar pattern and clearly revealed the less toxic effect of
      hexavalent chromium upto 200 mg/L Cr(VI) concentration. However, toxicity effects
      were more pronounced at 300 mg/L Cr(VI). Therefore, the present study suggests
      that the plant growth promoting potential and resistance efficacy of B. subtilis
      MNU16 will go a long way in developing an effective bioremediation approach for
      Cr(VI) contaminated soils.

PMID- 28588588
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Studies In Plant Pathosystems: Toward an Ecological
      Genomics Approach.
AB  - The emergence and re-emergence of plant pathogenic microorganisms are processes
      that imply perturbations in both host and pathogen ecological niches. Global
      change is largely assumed to drive the emergence of new etiological agents by
      altering the equilibrium of the ecological habitats which in turn places hosts
      more in contact with pathogen reservoirs. In this context, the number of
      epidemics is expected to increase dramatically in the next coming decades both in
      wild and crop plants. Under these considerations, the identification of the
      genetic variants underlying natural variation of resistance is a pre-requisite to
      estimate the adaptive potential of wild plant populations and to develop new
      breeding resistant cultivars. On the other hand, the prediction of pathogen's
      genetic determinants underlying disease emergence can help to identify plant
      resistance alleles. In the genomic era, whole genome sequencing combined with the
      development of statistical methods led to the emergence of Genome Wide
      Association (GWA) mapping, a powerful tool for detecting genomic regions
      associated with natural variation of disease resistance in both wild and
      cultivated plants. However, GWA mapping has been less employed for the detection
      of genetic variants associated with pathogenicity in microbes. Here, we reviewed
      GWA studies performed either in plants or in pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria,
      fungi and oomycetes). In addition, we highlighted the benefits and caveats of the
      emerging joint GWA mapping approach that allows for the simultaneous
      identification of genes interacting between genomes of both partners. Finally,
      based on co-evolutionary processes in wild populations, we highlighted a
      phenotyping-free joint GWA mapping approach as a promising tool for describing
      the molecular landscape underlying plant - microbe interactions.

PMID- 28588591
TI  - Molecular Mapping of Oil Content and Fatty Acids Using Dense Genetic Maps in
      Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.).
AB  - Enhancing seed oil content with desirable fatty acid composition is one of the
      most important objectives of groundnut breeding programs globally. Genomics
      assisted breeding facilitates combining multiple traits faster, however, requires
      linked markers. In this context, we have developed two different F2 mapping
      populations, one for oil content (OC-population, ICGV 07368 * ICGV 06420) and
      another for fatty acid composition (FA-population, ICGV 06420 * SunOleic 95R).
      These two populations were phenotyped for respective traits and genotyped using
      Diversity Array Technology (DArT) and DArTseq genotyping platforms. Two genetic
      maps were developed with 854 (OC-population) and 1,435 (FA-population) marker
      loci with total map distance of 3,526 and 1,869 cM, respectively. Quantitative
      trait locus (QTL) analysis using genotyping and phenotyping data identified eight
      QTLs for oil content including two major QTLs, qOc-A10 and qOc-A02, with 22.11
      and 10.37% phenotypic variance explained (PVE), respectively. For seven different
      fatty acids, a total of 21 QTLs with 7.6-78.6% PVE were identified and 20 of
      these QTLs were of major effect. Two mutant alleles, ahFAD2B and ahFAD2A, also
      had 18.44 and 10.78% PVE for palmitic acid, in addition to oleic (33.8 and 17.4%
      PVE) and linoleic (41.0 and 19.5% PVE) acids. Furthermore, four QTL clusters
      harboring more than three QTLs for fatty acids were identified on the three LGs.
      The QTLs identified in this study could be further dissected for candidate gene
      discovery and development of diagnostic markers for breeding improved groundnut
      varieties with high oil content and desirable oil quality.

PMID- 28588590
TI  - A Conserved Carbon Starvation Response Underlies Bud Dormancy in Woody and
      Herbaceous Species.
AB  - Plant shoot systems give rise to characteristic above-ground plant architectures.
      Shoots are formed from axillary meristems and buds, whose growth and development
      is modulated by systemic and local signals. These cues convey information about
      nutrient and water availability, light quality, sink/source organ activity and
      other variables that determine the timeliness and competence to maintain
      development of new shoots. This information is translated into a local response,
      in meristems and buds, of growth or quiescence. Although some key genes involved
      in the onset of bud latency have been identified, the gene regulatory networks
      (GRNs) controlled by these genes are not well defined. Moreover, it has not been
      determined whether bud dormancy induced by environmental cues, such as a low red
      to-far-red light ratio, shares genetic mechanisms with bud latency induced by
      other causes, such as apical dominance or a short-day photoperiod. Furthermore,
      the evolution and conservation of these GRNs throughout angiosperms is not well
      established. We have reanalyzed public transcriptomic datasets that compare
      quiescent and active axillary buds of Arabidopsis, with datasets of axillary buds
      of the woody species Vitis vinifera (grapevine) and apical buds of Populus
      tremula x Populus alba (poplar) during the bud growth-to-dormancy transition. Our
      aim was to identify potentially common GRNs induced during the process that leads
      to bud para-, eco- and endodormancy. In Arabidopsis buds that are entering eco-
      or paradormancy, we have identified four induced interrelated GRNs that
      correspond to a carbon (C) starvation syndrome, typical of tissues undergoing low
      C supply. This response is also detectable in poplar and grapevine buds before
      and during the transition to dormancy. In all eukaryotes, C-limiting conditions
      are coupled to growth arrest and latency like that observed in dormant axillary
      buds. Bud dormancy might thus be partly a consequence of the underlying C
      starvation syndrome triggered by environmental and endogenous cues that
      anticipate or signal conditions unfavorable for sustained shoot growth.

PMID- 28588592
TI  - In-Depth Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Five K+ Transporter Gene Families
      in Soybean Confirm Their Differential Expression for Nodulation.
AB  - Plants have evolved a sophisticated network of K+ transport systems to regulate
      growth and development. Limited K+ resources are now forcing us to investigate
      how plant demand can be satisfied. To answer this complex question, we must
      understand the genomic and transcriptomic portfolio of K+ transporters in plants.
      Here, we have identified 70 putative K+ transporter genes from soybean, including
      29 HAK/KT/KUP genes, 16 genes encoding voltage-gated K+ channels, 9 TPK/KCO
      genes, 4 HKT genes, and 12 KEA genes. To clarify the molecular evolution of each
      family in soybean, we analyzed their phylogeny, mode of duplication, exon
      structures and splice sites, and paralogs. Additionally, ortholog clustering and
      syntenic analysis across five other dicots further explored the evolution of
      these gene families and indicated that the soybean data is suitable as a model
      for all other legumes. Available microarray data sets from Genevestigator about
      nodulation was evaluated and further confirmed with the RNA sequencing data
      available by a web server. For each family, expression models were designed based
      on Transcripts Per Kilobase Million (TPM) values; the outcomes indicated
      differential expression linked to nodulation and confirmed the genes' putative
      roles. In-depth studies such as ours provides the basis for understanding K+
      inventories in all other plants.

PMID- 28588594
TI  - Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis for Deep-Sowing Germination Ability in the
      Maize IBM Syn10 DH Population.
AB  - Deep-sowing is an effective measure to ensure seeds absorbing water from deep
      soil layer and emerging normally in arid and semiarid regions. However, existing
      varieties demonstrate poor germination ability in deep soil layer and some key
      quantitative trait loci (QTL) or genes related to deep-sowing germination ability
      remain to be identified and analyzed. In this study, a high-resolution genetic
      map based on 280 lines of the intermated B73 * Mo17 (IBM) Syn10 doubled haploid
      (DH) population which comprised 6618 bin markers was used for the QTL analysis of
      deep-sowing germination related traits. The results showed significant
      differences in germination related traits under deep-sowing condition (12.5 cm)
      and standard-germination condition (2 cm) between two parental lines. In total,
      8, 11, 13, 15, and 18 QTL for germination rate, seedling length, mesocotyl
      length, plumule length, and coleoptile length were detected for the two sowing
      conditions, respectively. These QTL explained 2.51-7.8% of the phenotypic
      variance with LOD scores ranging from 2.52 to 7.13. Additionally, 32 overlapping
      QTL formed 11 QTL clusters on all chromosomes except for chromosome 8, indicating
      the minor effect genes have a pleiotropic role in regulating various traits.
      Furthermore, we identified six candidate genes related to deep-sowing germination
      ability, which were co-located in the cluster regions. The results provide a
      basis for molecular marker assisted breeding and functional study in deep-sowing
      germination ability of maize.

PMID- 28588593
TI  - Salinity-Induced Palmella Formation Mechanism in Halotolerant Algae Dunaliella
      salina Revealed by Quantitative Proteomics and Phosphoproteomics.
AB  - Palmella stage is critical for some unicellular algae to survive in extreme
      environments. The halotolerant algae Dunaliella salina is a good single-cell
      model for studying plant adaptation to high salinity. To investigate the
      molecular adaptation mechanism in salinity shock-induced palmella formation, we
      performed a comprehensive physiological, proteomics and phosphoproteomics study
      upon palmella formation of D. salina using dimethyl labeling and Ti4+-immobilized
      metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) proteomic approaches. We found that 151
      salinity-responsive proteins and 35 salinity-responsive phosphoproteins were
      involved in multiple signaling and metabolic pathways upon palmella formation.
      Taken together with photosynthetic parameters and enzyme activity analyses, the
      patterns of protein accumulation and phosphorylation level exhibited the
      mechanisms upon palmella formation, including dynamics of cytoskeleton and cell
      membrane curvature, accumulation and transport of exopolysaccharides,
      photosynthesis and energy supplying (i.e., photosystem II stability and activity,
      cyclic electron transport, and C4 pathway), nuclear/chloroplastic gene expression
      regulation and protein processing, reactive oxygen species homeostasis, and salt
      signaling transduction. The salinity-responsive protein-protein interaction (PPI)
      networks implied that signaling and protein synthesis and fate are crucial for
      modulation of these processes. Importantly, the 3D structure of phosphoprotein
      clearly indicated that the phosphorylation sites of eight proteins were localized
      in the region of function domain.

PMID- 28588595
TI  - The Role of SHI/STY/SRS Genes in Organ Growth and Carpel Development Is Conserved
      in the Distant Eudicot Species Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana.
AB  - Carpels are a distinctive feature of angiosperms, the ovule-bearing female
      reproductive organs that endow them with multiple selective advantages likely
      linked to the evolutionary success of flowering plants. Gene regulatory networks
      directing the development of carpel specialized tissues and patterning have been
      proposed based on genetic and molecular studies carried out in Arabidopsis
      thaliana. However, studies on the conservation/diversification of the elements
      and the topology of this network are still scarce. In this work, we have studied
      the functional conservation of transcription factors belonging to the SHI/STY/SRS
      family in two distant species within the eudicots, Eschscholzia californica and
      Nicotiana benthamiana. We have found that the expression patterns of EcSRS-L and
      NbSRS-L genes during flower development are similar to each other and to those
      reported for Arabidopsis SHI/STY/SRS genes. We have also characterized the
      phenotypic effects of NbSRS-L gene inactivation and overexpression in Nicotiana.
      Our results support the widely conserved role of SHI/STY/SRS genes at the top of
      the regulatory network directing style and stigma development, specialized
      tissues specific to the angiosperm carpels, at least within core eudicots,
      providing new insights on the possible evolutionary origin of the carpels.

PMID- 28588596
TI  - Evaluating Hyperspectral Vegetation Indices for Leaf Area Index Estimation of
      Oryza sativa L. at Diverse Phenological Stages.
AB  - Hyperspectral reflectance derived vegetation indices (VIs) are used for non
      destructive leaf area index (LAI) monitoring for precise and efficient N
      nutrition management. This study tested the hypothesis that there is potential
      for using various hyperspectral VIs for estimating LAI at different growth stages
      of rice under varying N rates. Hyperspectral reflectance and crop canopy LAI
      measurements were carried out over 2 years (2015 and 2016) in Meichuan, Hubei,
      China. Different N fertilization, 0, 45, 82, 127, 165, 210, 247, and 292 kg ha-1,
      were applied to generate various scales of VIs and LAI values. Regression models
      were used to perform quantitative analyses between spectral VIs and LAI measured
      under different phenological stages. In addition, the coefficient of
      determination and RMSE were employed to evaluate these models. Among the nine
      VIs, the ratio vegetation index, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI),
      modified soil-adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI), modified triangular vegetation
      index (MTVI2) and exhibited strong and significant relationships with the LAI
      estimation at different phenological stages. The enhanced vegetation index
      performed moderately. However, the green normalized vegetation index and blue
      normalized vegetation index confirmed that there is potential for crop LAI
      estimation at early phenological stages; the soil-adjusted vegetation index and
      optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index were more related to the soil optical
      properties, which were predicted to be the least accurate for LAI estimation. The
      noise equivalent accounted for the sensitivity of the VIs and MSAVI, MTVI2, and
      NDVI for the LAI estimation at phenological stages. The results note that LAI at
      different crop phenological stages has a significant influence on the potential
      of hyperspectral derived VIs under different N management practices.

PMID- 28588597
TI  - Protein Biochemistry and Expression Regulation of Cadmium/Zinc Pumping ATPases in
      the Hyperaccumulator Plants Arabidopsis halleri and Noccaea caerulescens.
AB  - P1B-ATPases are decisive for metal accumulation phenotypes, but mechanisms of
      their regulation are only partially understood. Here, we studied the Cd/Zn
      transporting ATPases NcHMA3 and NcHMA4 from Noccaea caerulescens as well as
      AhHMA3 and AhHMA4 from Arabidopsis halleri. Protein biochemistry was analyzed on
      HMA4 purified from roots of N. caerulescens in active state. Metal titration of
      NcHMA4 protein with an electrochromic dye as charge indicator suggested that HMA4
      reaches maximal ATPase activity when all internal high-affinity Cd2+ binding
      sites are occupied. Although HMA4 was reported to be mainly responsible for xylem
      loading of heavy metals for root to shoot transport, the current study revealed
      high expression of NcHMA4 in shoots as well. Further, there were additional 20
      and 40 kD fragments at replete Zn2+ and toxic Cd2+, but not at deficient Zn2+
      concentrations. Altogether, the protein level expression analysis suggested a
      more multifunctional role of NcHMA4 than previously assumed. Organ-level
      transcription analysis through quantitative PCR of mRNA in N. caerulescens and A.
      halleri confirmed the strong shoot expression of both NcHMA4 and AhHMA4. Further,
      in shoots NcHMA4 was more abundant in 10 MUM Zn2+ and AhHMA4 in Zn2+ deficiency.
      In roots, NcHMA4 was up-regulated in response to deficient Zn2+ when compared to
      replete Zn2+ and toxic Cd2+ treatment. In both species, HMA3 was much more
      expressed in shoots than in roots, and HMA3 transcript levels remained rather
      constant regardless of Zn2+ supply, but were up-regulated by 10 MUM Cd2+.
      Analysis of cellular expression by quantitative mRNA in situ hybridisation showed
      that in A. halleri, both HMA3 and HMA4 mRNA levels were highest in the mesophyll,
      while in N. caerulescens they were highest in the bundle sheath of the vein. This
      is likely related to the different final storage sites for hyperaccumulated
      metals in both species: epidermis in N. caerulescens, mesophyll in A. halleri.

PMID- 28588598
TI  - Genetic Gains in Grain Yield of a Maize Population Improved through Marker
      Assisted Recurrent Selection under Stress and Non-stress Conditions in West
      Africa.
AB  - Marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) is a breeding method used to
      accumulate favorable alleles that for example confer tolerance to drought in
      inbred lines from several genomic regions within a single population. A bi
      parental cross formed from two parents that combine resistance to Striga
      hermonthica with drought tolerance, which was improved through MARS, was used to
      assess changes in the frequency of favorable alleles and its impact on inbred
      line improvement. A total of 200 testcrosses of randomly selected S1 lines
      derived from the original (C0) and advanced selection cycles of this bi-parental
      population, were evaluated under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW)
      conditions at Ikenne and under artificial Striga infestation at Abuja and Mokwa
      in Nigeria in 2014 and 2015. Also, 60 randomly selected S1 lines each derived
      from the four cycles (C0, C1, C2, C3) were genotyped with 233 SNP markers using
      KASP assay. The results showed that the frequency of favorable alleles increased
      with MARS in the bi-parental population with none of the markers showing
      fixation. The gain in grain yield was not significant under DS condition due to
      the combined effect of DS and armyworm infestation in 2015. Because the parents
      used for developing the bi-parental cross combined tolerance to drought with
      resistance to Striga, improvement in grain yield under DS did not result in
      undesirable changes in resistance to the parasite in the bi-parental maize
      population improved through MARS. MARS increased the mean number of combinations
      of favorable alleles in S1 lines from 114 in C0 to 124 in C3. The level of
      heterozygosity decreased by 15%, while homozygosity increased by 13% due to the
      loss of some genotypes in the population. This study demonstrated the
      effectiveness of MARS in increasing the frequency of favorable alleles for
      tolerance to drought without disrupting the level of resistance to Striga in a bi
      parental population targeted as a source of improved maize inbred lines.

PMID- 28588599
TI  - Investigation of Amino Acids As Herbicides for Control of Orobanche minor
      Parasitism in Red Clover.
AB  - Certain amino acids induce inhibitory effects in plant growth due to feedback
      inhibition of metabolic pathways. The inhibition patterns depend on plant species
      and the plant developmental stage. Those amino acids with inhibitory action on
      specific weeds could be utilized as herbicides, however, their use for weed
      control has not been put into practice. Orobanche minor is a weed that
      parasitizes red clover. O. minor germination is stimulated by clover root
      exudates. The subsequent seedling is an obligated parasite that must attach
      quickly to the clover root to withdraw its nutrients. Early development of O.
      minor is vulnerable to amino acid inhibition and therefore, a series of in vitro,
      rhizotron, and field experiments were conducted to investigate the potential of
      amino acids to inhibit O. minor parasitism. In in vitro experiments it was found
      that among a collection of 20 protein amino acids, lysine, methionine and
      tryptophan strongly interfere with O. minor early development. Field research
      confirmed their inhibitory effect but revealed that methionine was more effective
      than lysine and tryptophan, and that two successive methionine applications at
      308 and 543 growing degree days inhibited O. minor emergence in red clover up to
      67%. We investigated additional effects with potential to influence the practical
      use of amino acids against broomrape weeds, whether the herbicidal effect may be
      reversible by other amino acids exuded by host plants or may be amplified by
      inducing host resistance barriers against O. minor penetration. This paper
      suggests that amino acids may have the potential to be integrated into
      biorational programs of broomrape management.

PMID- 28588600
TI  - Date Palm Tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.): Natural Products and Therapeutic
      Options.
AB  - Many plants, including some of the commonly consumed herbs and spices in our
      daily food, can be safely and effectively used to prevent and/or treat some
      health concerns. For example, caffeine the active ingredient found in coffee
      beans (Coffea), shows biological activity in the treatment of the central nervous
      system (CNS) disorders, indole-3-carbinol, and 3,3'-diindolylmethane are both
      broccoli (Brassica oleracea) derived phytochemicals with potential anti-cancer
      activity, and resveratrol, isolated from grape (Vitis vinifera), is reported to
      extend lifespan and provide cardio-neuro-protective, anti-diabetic, and anti
      cancer effects. Date palm fruits possess high nutritional and therapeutic value
      with significant antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-proliferative
      properties. This review focuses on the date fruit extracts and their benefits in
      individual health promoting conditions and highlights their applications as
      useful to the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries in the development of
      natural compound-based industrial products.

PMID- 28588602
TI  - The Sulfate Supply Maximizing Arabidopsis Shoot Growth Is Higher under Long- than
      Short-Term Exposure to Cadmium.
AB  - The processes involved in cadmium detoxification in plants deeply affect sulfate
      uptake and thiol homeostasis and generate increases in the plant nutritional
      request for sulfur. Here, we present an analysis of the dependence of Arabidopsis
      growth on the concentration of sulfate in the growing medium with the aim of
      providing evidence on how plants optimize growth at a given sulfate availability.
      Results revealed that short-term (72 h) exposure to a broad range of Cd
      concentrations (0.1, 1, and 10 MUM) inhibited plant growth but did not produce
      any significant effects on the growth pattern of both shoots and roots in
      relation to the external sulfate. Conversely, long-term (22 days) exposure to 0.1
      MUM Cd significantly changed the pattern of fresh weight accumulation of the
      shoots in relation to the external sulfate, without affecting that of the roots,
      although their growth was severely inhibited by Cd. Moreover, under long-term
      exposure to Cd, increasing the sulfate external concentration up to the critical
      value progressively reduced the inhibitory effects exerted by Cd on shoot growth,
      indicating the existence of sulfate-dependent adaptive responses protecting the
      shoot tissues against Cd injury. Transcriptional induction of the high-affinity
      sulfate transporter genes (SULTR1; 1 and SULTR1; 2) involved in sulfate uptake by
      roots was a common adaptive response to both short- and long-term exposure to Cd.
      Such a response was closely related to the total amount of non-protein thiols
      accumulated by a single plant under short-term exposure to Cd, but did not showed
      any clear relation with thiols under long-term exposure to Cd. In this last
      condition, Cd exposure did not change the level of non-protein thiols per plant
      and thus did not alter the nutritional need for sulfur. In conclusion, our
      results indicate that long term-exposure to Cd, although it induces sulfate
      uptake, decreases the capacity of the Arabidopsis roots to efficiently absorb the
      sulfate ions available in the growing medium making the adaptive response of
      SULTR1; 1 and SULTR1; 2 "per se" not enough to optimize the growth at sulfate
      external concentrations lower than the critical value.

PMID- 28588604
TI  - Effects of Light Quality on Morphology, Enzyme Activities, and Bioactive Compound
      Contents in Anoectochilus roxburghii.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of light quality on the
      morphological traits, leaf anatomical characteristics, antioxidant enzyme
      (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase) activities, photosynthetic
      pigments content, and bioactive compounds (phenols, flavonoids, and
      polysaccharides) content in Anoectochilus roxburghii. Plants of A. roxburghii
      were grown under light filtered through four differently colored films for 8
      months. The four treatments were red film (RF), blue film (BF), yellow film (YF),
      and colorless plastic film (control, CK). Compared with the A. roxburghii plants
      in CK, those in the BF treatment showed significantly greater stem diameter,
      fresh weight, leaf area, stomatal frequency, chlorophyll content (Chl a, Chl b,
      Chl a+b), antioxidant enzyme activities, and active compound (polysaccharides,
      flavones) content. The plants in the RF treatment showed the greatest plant
      height and phenolics contents. These results show that growing A. roxburghii
      plants under blue film is a useful technique to improve quality. This technique
      is conducive to achieving large-scale sustainable production of high-quality
      plant materials.

PMID- 28588601
TI  - In Favor of Establishment: Regulation of Chromatid Cohesion in Plants.
AB  - In eukaryotic organisms, the correct regulation of sister chromatid cohesion,
      whereby sister chromatids are paired and held together, is essential for accurate
      segregation of the sister chromatids and homologous chromosomes into daughter
      cells during mitosis and meiosis, respectively. Sister chromatid cohesion
      requires a cohesin complex comprised of structural maintenance of chromosome
      adenosine triphosphatases and accessory proteins that regulate the association of
      the complex with chromosomes or that are involved in the establishment or release
      of cohesion. The cohesin complex also plays important roles in the repair of DNA
      double-strand breaks, regulation of gene expression and chromosome condensation.
      In this review, we summarize progress in understanding cohesion dynamics in
      plants, with the aim of uncovering differences at specific stages. We also
      highlight dissimilarities between plants and other eukaryotes with respect to the
      key players involved in the achievement of cohesion, pointing out areas that
      require further study.

PMID- 28588603
TI  - Short Term Effect of Salt Shock on Ethylene and Polyamines Depends on Plant Salt
      Sensitivity.
AB  - In the present manuscript the short term effect (3-24 h) of a saline shock (NaCl
      100 mM) on fresh weight, water content, respiration rate, ethylene production and
      Na+, Cl-, ACC and polyamine concentration was studied in four plant species with
      different salt sensitivity, pepper, lettuce, spinach, and beetroot. Higher
      reduction in fresh weight and water content as a consequence of saline shock was
      found in pepper and lettuce plants than in spinach and beetroot, the latter
      behaving as more salinity tolerant. In general, salinity led to rapid increases
      in respiration rate, ethylene production and ACC and polyamine (putrescine,
      spermidine, and spermine) concentrations in shoot and root. These increases were
      related to plant salinity sensitivity, since they were higher in the most
      sensitive species and vice versa. However, ethylene and respiration rates in salt
      stressed plants recovered similar values to controls after 24 h of treatment in
      salt tolerant plants, while still remaining high in the most sensitive. On the
      other hand, sudden increases in putrescine, spermidine, and spermine
      concentration were higher and occurred earlier in pepper and lettuce, the most
      sensitive species, than in spinach and beetroot, the less sensitive ones. These
      increases tended to disappear after 24 h, except in lettuce. These changes would
      support the conclusion that ethylene and polyamine increases could be considered
      as a plant response to saline shock and related to the plant species sensitivity
      to this stress. In addition, no competition between polyamines and ethylene
      biosynthesis for their common precursor was observed.

PMID- 28588605
TI  - miR397/Laccase Gene Mediated Network Improves Tolerance to Fenoxaprop-P-ethyl in
      Beckmannia syzigachne and Oryza sativa.
AB  - Herbicide resistance can be either target-site or non-target-site based. The
      molecular mechanisms underlying non-target-site resistance (NTSR) are poorly
      understood, especially at the level of gene expression regulation. MicroRNAs
      (miRNAs) represent key post-transcriptional regulators of eukaryotic gene
      expression and play important roles in stress responses. In this study, the
      miR397 gene from Beckmannia syzigachne (referred to as bsy-miR397) was
      functionally characterized to determine its role in regulating fenoxaprop-P-ethyl
      resistance. We showed that (1) bsy-miR397 transcript level is constitutively
      higher in resistant than in sensitive B. syzigachne plants, whereas bsy-Laccase
      expression and activity show the opposite trend, and (2) bsy-miR397 suppresses
      the expression of bsy-Laccase in tobacco, indicating that it negatively regulates
      bsy-Laccase at the transcriptional level. We found evidences that miR397/laccase
      regulation might be involved in fenoxaprop-P-ethyl NTSR. First, the rice
      transgenic line overexpressing OXmiR397 showed improved fenoxaprop-P-ethyl
      tolerance. Second, following activation of bsy-Laccase gene expression by CuSO4
      treatment, fenoxaprop resistance in B. syzigachne tended to decrease. Therefore,
      we suggest that bsy-miR397 might play a role in fenoxaprop-P-ethyl NTSR in B.
      syzigachne by down-regulating laccase expression, potentially leading to the
      enhanced expression of three oxidases/peroxidases genes to introduce an active
      moiety into herbicide molecules in Phase-2 metabolism. Bsy-miR397, bsy-Laccase,
      and other regulatory components might form a regulatory network to detoxify
      fenoxaprop-P-ethyl in B. syzigachne, supported by the differential expression of
      transcription factors and oxidases/peroxidases in the rice transgenic line
      overexpressing OXmiR397. This implies how down-regulation of a gene (laccase) can
      enhance NTSR. Our findings shed light on the daunting task of understanding and
      managing complex NTSR in weedy plant species.

PMID- 28588607
TI  - Single-Cell RNA-Sequencing: Assessment of Differential Expression Analysis
      Methods.
AB  - The sequencing of the transcriptomes of single-cells, or single-cell RNA
      sequencing, has now become the dominant technology for the identification of
      novel cell types and for the study of stochastic gene expression. In recent
      years, various tools for analyzing single-cell RNA-sequencing data have been
      proposed, many of them with the purpose of performing differentially expression
      analysis. In this work, we compare four different tools for single-cell RNA
      sequencing differential expression, together with two popular methods originally
      developed for the analysis of bulk RNA-sequencing data, but largely applied to
      single-cell data. We discuss results obtained on two real and one synthetic
      dataset, along with considerations about the perspectives of single-cell
      differential expression analysis. In particular, we explore the methods
      performance in four different scenarios, mimicking different unimodal or bimodal
      distributions of the data, as characteristic of single-cell transcriptomics. We
      observed marked differences between the selected methods in terms of precision
      and recall, the number of detected differentially expressed genes and the overall
      performance. Globally, the results obtained in our study suggest that is
      difficult to identify a best performing tool and that efforts are needed to
      improve the methodologies for single-cell RNA-sequencing data analysis and gain
      better accuracy of results.

PMID- 28588606
TI  - Mutations in the NOT Genes or in the Translation Machinery Similarly Display
      Increased Resistance to Histidine Starvation.
AB  - The NOT genes encode subunits of the conserved Ccr4-Not complex, a global
      regulator of gene expression, and in particular of mRNA metabolism. They were
      originally identified in a selection for increased resistance to histidine
      starvation in the yeast S. cerevisiae. Recent work indicated that the Not5
      subunit, ortholog of mammalian CNOT3, determines global translation levels by
      defining binding of the Ccr4-Not scaffold protein Not1 to ribosomal mRNAs during
      transcription. This is needed for optimal translation of ribosomal proteins. In
      this work we searched for mutations in budding yeast that were resistant to
      histidine starvation using the same selection that originally led to the
      isolation of the NOT genes. We thereby isolated mutations in ribosome-related
      genes. This common phenotype of ribosome mutants and not mutants is in good
      agreement with the positive role of the Not proteins for translation. In this
      regard, it is interesting that frequent mutations in RPL5 and RPL10 or in CNOT3
      have been observed to accumulate in adult T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T
      ALL). This suggests that in metazoans a common function implicating ribosome
      subunits and CNOT3 plays a role in the development of cancer. In this perspective
      we suggest that the Ccr4-Not complex, according to translation levels and
      fidelity, could itself be involved in the regulation of amino acid biosynthesis
      levels. We discuss how this could explain why mutations have been identified in
      many cancers.

PMID- 28588608
TI  - An Enhancer's Length and Composition Are Shaped by Its Regulatory Task.
AB  - Enhancers drive the gene expression patterns required for virtually every process
      in metazoans. We propose that enhancer length and transcription factor (TF)
      binding site composition-the number and identity of TF binding sites-reflect the
      complexity of the enhancer's regulatory task. In development, we define
      regulatory task complexity as the number of fates specified in a set of cells at
      once. We hypothesize that enhancers with more complex regulatory tasks will be
      longer, with more, but less specific, TF binding sites. Larger numbers of binding
      sites can be arranged in more ways, allowing enhancers to drive many distinct
      expression patterns, and therefore cell fates, using a finite number of TF
      inputs. We compare ~100 enhancers patterning the more complex anterior-posterior
      (AP) axis and the simpler dorsal-ventral (DV) axis in Drosophila and find that
      the AP enhancers are longer with more, but less specific binding sites than the
      (DV) enhancers. Using a set of ~3,500 enhancers, we find enhancer length and TF
      binding site number again increase with increasing regulatory task complexity.
      Therefore, to be broadly applicable, computational tools to study enhancers must
      account for differences in regulatory task.

PMID- 28588609
TI  - Metabolic and Genetic Markers of Biological Age.
AB  - Biological age is a concept that takes into account the heterogeneity of the
      aging process in different individuals that results in differences in survival
      and variations in relative health. Any measure of biological age must be better
      than chronological age at predicting mortality. Several quantitative measures of
      biological age have been developed. Among them are frailty indices, one of which
      called FI34 is discussed here in greater detail. FI34 increases exponentially
      with age reflecting decline in health and function ability. It readily depicts
      different patterns and trajectories of aging, and it is moderately heritable.
      Thus, it has been used to identify a genomic region on chromosome 12 associated
      with healthy aging. FI34 has also been useful in describing the metabolic
      characteristics of this phenotype, revealing both sex and genetic differences.
      These differences give rise to specific, testable models regarding healthy aging,
      which involve cell and tissue damage and mitochondrial metabolism. FI34 has been
      directly compared to various metrics based on DNA methylation as a predictor of
      mortality, demonstrating that it outperforms them uniformly. This and other
      frailty indices take a top-down, systems based view of aging that is cognizant of
      the integrated function of the complex aging system.

PMID- 28588611
TI  - Refining Automatically Extracted Knowledge Bases Using Crowdsourcing.
AB  - Machine-constructed knowledge bases often contain noisy and inaccurate facts.
      There exists significant work in developing automated algorithms for knowledge
      base refinement. Automated approaches improve the quality of knowledge bases but
      are far from perfect. In this paper, we leverage crowdsourcing to improve the
      quality of automatically extracted knowledge bases. As human labelling is costly,
      an important research challenge is how we can use limited human resources to
      maximize the quality improvement for a knowledge base. To address this problem,
      we first introduce a concept of semantic constraints that can be used to detect
      potential errors and do inference among candidate facts. Then, based on semantic
      constraints, we propose rank-based and graph-based algorithms for crowdsourced
      knowledge refining, which judiciously select the most beneficial candidate facts
      to conduct crowdsourcing and prune unnecessary questions. Our experiments show
      that our method improves the quality of knowledge bases significantly and
      outperforms state-of-the-art automatic methods under a reasonable crowdsourcing
      cost.

PMID- 28588610
TI  - Ubiquitination and SUMOylation in Telomere Maintenance and Dysfunction.
AB  - Telomeres are essential nucleoprotein structures at linear chromosomes that
      maintain genome integrity by protecting chromosome ends from being recognized and
      processed as damaged DNA. In addition, they limit the cell's proliferative
      capacity, as progressive loss of telomeric DNA during successive rounds of cell
      division eventually causes a state of telomere dysfunction that prevents further
      cell division. When telomeres become critically short, the cell elicits a DNA
      damage response resulting in senescence, apoptosis or genomic instability,
      thereby impacting on aging and tumorigenesis. Over the past years substantial
      progress has been made in understanding the role of post-translational
      modifications in telomere-related processes, including telomere maintenance,
      replication and dysfunction. This review will focus on recent findings that
      establish an essential role for ubiquitination and SUMOylation at telomeres.

PMID- 28588613
TI  - Preoperative Serum IL-12p40 Is a Potential Predictor of Kasai Portoenterostomy
      Outcome in Infants with Biliary Atresia.
AB  - The standard-of-care treatment for biliary atresia (BA) is surgical restoration
      of bile flow by Kasai portoenterostomy. We aimed to study serum interleukin- (IL
      ) 12p40, a natural antagonist for the proinflammatory IL-12p70, and its relation
      to surgical outcomes of BA. The study included 75 infants with neonatal
      cholestasis: BA group (n = 25), non-BA cholestasis group (n = 30), and neglected
      BA group (n = 20), in addition to thirty healthy neonates serving as controls. IL
      12p40 was measured by ELISA in all individuals and a second assessment was
      performed 3 months postoperatively in the BA group. The surgical outcomes were
      classified as successful (bilirubin <= 2 mg/dl) or failed (bilirubin > 2 mg/dl).
      IL-12p40 was higher in BA compared to that in the non-BA and control groups (P
      values were 0.036 and <0.0001, resp.) but comparable to that in the neglected BA
      group. Preoperative IL-12p40 levels in BA patients were significantly higher in
      successful Kasai compared with failed Kasai and a cutoff level of 547.47 pg/ml
      could predict the successful outcome with 87.5% sensitivity and 82.4%
      specificity. Three-month postoperative IL-12p40 tended to decrease in both the
      successful and failed groups. In conclusion, preoperative serum IL-12p40 is a
      potential predictor of Kasai outcome. Serial postoperative measurements may
      anticipate the failure of an initially successful operation, hence the need for
      liver transplantation.

PMID- 28588614
TI  - Optimization of Aflatoxin B1 Aptasensing.
AB  - Combination of aptamers with DNAzymes attracted intense attention for development
      of DNA-based biosensors for detection of mycotoxins. In the present study a
      combination of aflatoxin B1 specific aptamer and HRP- (horseradish peroxidase-)
      mimicking DNAzyme was optimized for detecting aflatoxin B1. Detecting approach is
      based on the binding affinity of aflatoxin B1 to its specific aptamer and
      conversion of substrate to a detectable colorimetric signal by a linked DNAzyme.
      Compared to conventional methods for aflatoxin B1 detection, DNA-based assay has
      the advantages of low cost, long-term stability, and rapid, simple, and user
      friendly steps.

PMID- 28588612
TI  - The Roles of Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Liver Metastasis and Therapeutic
      Approaches.
AB  - Metastasis is a highly complicated and sequential process in which primary cancer
      spreads to secondary organic sites. Liver is a well-known metastatic organ from
      colorectal cancer. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is expressed in most
      gastrointestinal, breast, and lung cancer cells. Overexpression of CEA is closely
      associated with liver metastasis, which is the main cause of death from
      colorectal cancer. CEA is widely used as a diagnostic and prognostic tumor marker
      in cancer patients. It affects many steps of liver metastasis from colorectal
      cancer cells. CEA inhibits circulating cancer cell death. CEA also binds to
      heterogeneous nuclear RNA binding protein M4 (hnRNP M4), a Kupffer cell receptor
      protein, and activates Kupffer cells to secrete various cytokines that change the
      microenvironments for the survival of colorectal cancer cells in the liver. CEA
      also activates cell adhesion-related molecules. The close correlation between CEA
      and cancer has spurred the exploration of many CEA-targeted approaches as
      anticancer therapeutics. Understanding the detailed functions and mechanisms of
      CEA in liver metastasis will provide great opportunities for the improvement of
      anticancer approaches against colorectal cancers. In this report, the roles of
      CEA in liver metastasis and CEA-targeting anticancer modalities are reviewed.

PMID- 28588615
TI  - Relationship between Central Arterial Stiffness and Insulin Resistance in Chinese
      Community-Dwelling Population without Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Insulin resistance (IR) is a pathological condition present not only
      in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), but also in community-dwelling
      population without DM. Both central arterial stiffness and IR are closely
      correlated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The relationship between
      central arterial stiffness and IR has not been described in Chinese community
      dwelling population without DM. The current analysis was designed to investigate
      the relationship between central arterial stiffness and IR in Chinese community
      dwelling population without DM. METHODS: There were 1150 participants fully
      assessed for not only homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA
      IR) but also carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). RESULTS: Median age was
      39 (18-80) years, and 69.7% were men. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that
      cfPWV was significantly related to HOMA-IR (P < 0.05). Logistic regression
      analysis indicated that cfPWV was independently associated with HOMA-IR (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This community-based analysis testified that the relationship
      between central arterial stiffness and IR was evident as early as during
      nondiabetic stage. Early interventions in Chinese community-dwelling population
      without DM to improve the IR are also important in the prevention of
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28588616
TI  - A Comparison of Impact of Chronic Periodontal Diseases and Nonsurgical
      Periodontal Therapy on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of chronic periodontal diseases (PDs) and
      compare phases of nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) on oral health-related
      quality of life (OHRQoL) in patients attending a tertiary care center of eastern
      Nepal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Matched for socioeconomic status, participants were
      recruited in two groups: moderate-to-severe chronic periodontitis (n = 24, 43 +/-
      46 years) and chronic gingivitis (n = 25, 30 +/- 96 years). The treatment
      modalities were scaling and root surface debridement (RSD) and supragingival
      scaling, respectively. The impact of periodontal disease treatment status was
      assessed by a self-reported questionnaire of Nepali Oral Health Impact Profile
      (OHIP-14) at baseline and 9-12 weeks after NSPT. RESULTS: The median (IQR) OHIP
      14 total scores for PDs reduced from 7 (3-11) to 3 (1-7.5) after NSPT. Both
      groups showed a significant improvement on OHRQoL (p value < 0.001). The
      periodontitis group showed an increased median (IQR) reduction of 52% (35.22
      86.15) compared with the gingivitis group with 27% (0.00-50.00). The impact on
      orofacial pain, orofacial appearance, and psychosocial dimensions was observed,
      which improved after NSPT in both groups. CONCLUSION: PDs are directly associated
      with OHRQoL and treatment of the disease may enhance quality of life from a
      patient's perspective. Scaling and RSD provided better influence on OHRQoL than
      supragingival scaling.

PMID- 28588618
TI  - Ventilator Management of Bronchopleural Fistula Secondary to Methicillin
      Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Necrotizing Pneumonia in a Pregnant Patient with
      Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
AB  - Managing mechanical ventilation in patient with bronchopleural fistula with
      coexisting acute respiratory distress syndrome is a challenging situation for the
      intensivist. We are reporting a case of a pregnant patient with systemic lupus
      erythematosus on immunosuppressive medications who developed methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia complicated by
      bronchopleural fistula and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

PMID- 28588617
TI  - Outcomes of Six-Dose High-Dose Cytarabine as a Salvage Regimen for Patients with
      Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - Relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (RR-AML) is associated with poor
      prognosis and long-term disease-free survival requires allogeneic hematopoietic
      cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Limited data exists, regarding the optimal
      regimen to obtain remission prior to allo-HCT. Single agent high-dose cytarabine
      (10-12 doses administered every 12 hours) has been previously used as induction
      therapy. Six-dose high-dose cytarabine (HiDAC-6), commonly used as a
      consolidation regimen, has never been evaluated as induction therapy. We present
      a retrospective review of 26 consecutive patients with RR-AML receiving single
      agent cytarabine 3 g/m2 intravenously every 12 hours on days 1, 3, and 5 for a
      total of six doses (HiDAC-6). Median follow-up for surviving patients was 10.4
      months (range 1.6-112.2 months). Complete remission was obtained in 62% (54% CR
      and 8% CRi) of the patients. The median relapse-free survival (RFS) was 22.3
      months (range 0.7-112 months), event-free survival (EFS) was 4.7 months (range
      0.5-112 months), and the overall survival (OS) was 9.6 months (range 1-112
      months). Thirty-five percent of patients were able to subsequently proceed to
      allo-HCT. Treatment-related toxicities included neutropenic fever (38%),
      infection (35%), neurotoxicity (8%), and skin toxicity (8%). This is the first
      study to demonstrate HiDAC-6 as an active treatment option for younger patients
      with RR-AML which can effectively serve as a bridge to allo-HCT without
      significant toxicity.

PMID- 28588619
TI  - Portal Hypertensive Biliopathy Presents with Massive Bleeding during ERCP after
      Balloon Sphincteroplasty in a Noncirrhotic Saudi Sickler Patient.
AB  - Portal hypertensive biliopathy (PHB) is described as abnormalities of the walls
      of the biliary tree secondary to portal hypertension. Gastrointestinal bleeding
      caused by PHB is rare. PHB as a cause of serious bleeding after sphincteroplasty
      during ERCP is extremely rare. Here, we report a case of PHB in a young Saudi
      male with cell sickle anemia who developed massive hemorrhage during ERCP after
      balloon dilation of the ampulla of Vater. We further discussed the diagnosis and
      management. To the best of our knowledge, no such case has been reported.

PMID- 28588620
TI  - Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells Preserve Their Immunomodulatory
      and Chemotactic Properties When Expanded in a Human Plasma Derived Xeno-Free
      Medium.
AB  - Due to their immunomodulatory and chemotactic properties, hMSC are being explored
      to treat immune-related diseases. For their use in human therapies, it is
      necessary to culture hMSC in xeno-free conditions. In this study, the impact that
      a xeno-free medium based on a human plasma derivate has on these properties was
      analysed. Bone marrow-derived hMSC preserved their immunosuppressive and
      immunostimulatory properties, as observed with in vitro assays with hMSC
      cocultured with mixed leukocyte reactions or with mitogen-stimulated leukocytes.
      Moreover, hMSC expanded in xeno-free medium were recruited by macrophages in both
      migration and invasion assays, which indicates that the cells maintained their
      chemotactic properties. These data suggest that xeno-free expanded hMSC preserved
      their immunomodulatory and chemotactic properties, indicating that the described
      xeno-free medium composition is a potential candidate to culture and expand hMSC
      for human cell therapies.

PMID- 28588621
TI  - Environmental Factors That Influence Stem Cell Migration: An "Electric Field".
AB  - Environmental Stimulus of Electric Fields on Stem Cell Migration. The movement of
      cells in response to electric potential gradients is called galvanotaxis. In vivo
      galvanotaxis, powered by endogenous electric fields (EFs), plays a critical role
      during development and wound healing. This review aims to provide a perspective
      on how stem cells transduce EFs into directed migration and an understanding of
      the current literature relating to the mechanisms by which cells sense and
      transduce EFs. We will comment on potential EF-based regenerative medicine
      therapeutics.

PMID- 28588622
TI  - Delayed Mesoderm and Erythroid Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells in
      the Absence of the Transcriptional Regulator FUBP1.
AB  - The transcriptional regulator far upstream binding protein 1 (FUBP1) is essential
      for fetal and adult hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal, and the
      constitutive absence of FUBP1 activity during early development leads to
      embryonic lethality in homozygous mutant mice. To investigate the role of FUBP1
      in murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and in particular during differentiation
      into hematopoietic lineages, we generated Fubp1 knockout (KO) ESC clones using
      CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Although FUBP1 is expressed in undifferentiated ESCs and
      during spontaneous differentiation following aggregation into embryoid bodies
      (EBs), absence of FUBP1 did not affect ESC maintenance. Interestingly, we
      observed a delayed differentiation of FUBP1-deficient ESCs into the mesoderm germ
      layer, as indicated by impaired expression of several mesoderm markers including
      Brachyury at an early time point of ESC differentiation upon aggregation to EBs.
      Coculture experiments with OP9 cells in the presence of erythropoietin revealed a
      diminished differentiation capacity of Fubp1 KO ESCs into the erythroid lineage.
      Our data showed that FUBP1 is important for the onset of mesoderm differentiation
      and maturation of hematopoietic progenitor cells into the erythroid lineage, a
      finding that is supported by the phenotype of FUBP1-deficient mice.

PMID- 28588623
TI  - Angiogenic Capacity of Dental Pulp Stem Cell Regulated by SDF-1alpha-CXCR4 Axis.
AB  - Previously, the perivascular characteristics of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs)
      were reported, which suggested the potential application of DPSCs as perivascular
      cell source. In this study, we investigated whether DPSCs had angiogenic capacity
      by coinjection with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vivo; in
      addition, we determined the role of stromal cell-derived factor 1-alpha (SDF
      1alpha) and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) axis in the mutual
      interaction between DPSCs and HUVECs. Primarily isolated DPSCs showed mesenchymal
      stem cell- (MSC-) like characteristics. Moreover, DPSCs expressed perivascular
      markers such as NG2, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), platelet-derived
      growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRbeta), and CD146. In vivo angiogenic capacity
      of DPSCs was demonstrated by in vivo Matrigel plug assay. We could observe
      microvessel-like structures in the coinjection of DPSCs and HUVECs at 7 days
      postinjection. To block SDF-1alpha and CXCR4 axis between DPSCs and HUVECs,
      AMD3100, a CXCR4 antagonist, was added into Matrigel plug. No significant
      microvessel-like structures were observed at 7 days postinjection. In conclusion,
      DPSCs have perivascular characteristics that contribute to in vivo angiogenesis.
      The findings of this study have potential applications in neovascularization of
      engineered tissues and vascular diseases.

PMID- 28588624
TI  - Distribution of Parasites Detected in Stool Samples of Patients in Le Dantec
      University Hospital of Dakar, Senegal, from 2011 to 2015.
AB  - To identify the parasites responsible for intestinal parasitic infections
      diagnosed at Le Dantec University Hospital of Dakar, distribution of parasites
      detected in stool samples of patients was studied. From 2011 to 2015, 2578
      patients were included in the study. A direct examination and Ritchie technique
      were performed as parasite search techniques. In total, 408 samples were positive
      showing 440 intestinal parasites; this corresponds to prevalence of 15.8%.
      Parasites were detected in monoparasitism (85.7%) and multiparasitism (14.3%).
      The most common species found in monoparasitism were Entamoeba coli (38.9%), E.
      histolytica/dispar (12.7%), Giardia intestinalis (8%), and Ascaris lumbricoides
      (7.3%). The most common associations were A. lumbricoides-Trichuris trichiura
      (3.6%) and E. coli-G. intestinalis (2.7%). Nonhospitalized patients were
      significantly more affected with 65.4% compared to hospitalized counterparts; and
      also there were more men (50.7%) than women. With 67.4%, adults were the most
      affected age group, while the elderly were less affected with only 7% (p = 0.5).
      This study shows increasing prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections over
      the years. So health education should be promoted in addition to the already
      begun mass treatment program. This would help to limit or even halt the spread of
      these diseases.

PMID- 28588625
TI  - Change in BMI after radioactive iodine ablation for graves disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the extent of post-treatment weight gain that
      occurs in pediatric patients in the first year following radioactive iodine (RAI)
      therapy for Graves disease (GD) and its relationship to clinical characteristics.
      METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients receiving RAI therapy for GD
      between 1998-2015 was performed. Change in BMI SDS (?BMI SDS) from baseline to
      one year after treatment was determined. We also investigated whether individual
      clinical and/or biochemical factors were associated with the weight trajectory in
      these patients. RESULTS: One hundred fifty seven patients aged 12.7 +/- 3 years
      (80% girls) were included in the analysis. Average ?BMI SDS was 0.70 +/- 0.71 (p
      < 0.001) at 1 year. Patients with weight loss at presentation had a greater ?BMI
      SDS than those without (0.92 vs 0.56, p = 0.005), whereas no association was seen
      with gender, pubertal status, use of antithyroid drugs, history of ADHD, or Down
      syndrome. Baseline BMI SDS was negatively correlated with ?BMI SDS, with a
      stronger correlation in males. From baseline to 1 year, the proportion of
      overweight and obese patients increased from 9.6% to 18.5% and from 6.4% to 21%,
      respectively. In a subset of 81 patients, a positive correlation was noted
      between time to euthyroidism and ?BMI SDS, particularly in boys. CONCLUSIONS: The
      number of our patients in the overweight category doubled and the number in the
      obese category more than tripled in the first year following RAI treatment for
      GD. Anticipatory guidance regarding this important issue is badly needed.

PMID- 28588626
TI  - Clinical and paraclinical evaluation of partial nephrectomy using laparoscopy and
      open surgery in dogs: new suturing technique.
AB  - Partial nephrectomy, using open surgery or laparoscopy, is a standard surgical
      approach to treat renal disorders. The objective of this study was to compare and
      evaluate the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy using
      figure eight ligation technique. Mixed-breed dogs were randomly dedicated for
      partial nephrectomy using laparoscopy (n=6) and open surgery (n=6). During 30
      days after operation, clinical, hematological and ultrasonographic findings,
      intra- and post-operative complications, operation and ischemia times, urine
      analysis and incision length were recorded. Operations were performed
      successfully and dogs recovered without serious complications. All clinical and
      hematological findings were within normal range. Comparing two experimental
      groups, operation time and length of incisional scar were longer in open surgery
      and ischemia time was longer in laparoscopy (P<0.05). In conclusion, using figure
      eight ligation, laparoscopy seems to be safer, more feasible, less time consuming
      in association with less bleeding for partial nephrectomy compared with
      conventional open surgery in dog.

PMID- 28588627
TI  - Comparative investigations of infectious runting and stunting syndrome in
      vaccinated breeder chicks by inactivated reovirus and chicks from non-vaccinated
      breeders.
AB  - Reoviruses are important pathogens responsible for poor growth performance and
      silent losses in the poultry industry. They are associated with many disease and
      syndromes such as malabsorption (runting and stunting syndrome), respiratory
      diseases and immunosuppression. Broiler birds are most susceptible to viral
      infections during the early post hatching period. Therefore, the transfer of
      maternal immunity to embryonated eggs is proved to be a primary means of
      protection from viral infections. In the present investigation, growth
      performance and pathology in breeder vaccinated and non-vaccinated chicks were
      studied after a challenge with the homologous malabsorption strain of the
      reovirus. Improvements in growth performance (mean live body weight, feed
      conversion ratio, broiler performance efficiency index, and protein efficiency
      index) in breeder vaccinated chicks were compared with non-vaccinated breeder
      chicks. The non vaccinated chicks showed various signs and lesions indicative of
      the reoviral malabsorption syndrome (MAS), whereas the vaccinated chicks showed
      very minimal alterations, demonstrating that the vaccination of breeders with
      homologous strains of the reovirus is profitable, and can help to increase the
      performance of broiler birds.

PMID- 28588628
TI  - The effect of bovine viral diarrhea virus on bovine monocyte phenotype.
AB  - Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an economically important pathogen of the
      livestock industry worldwide. BVDV is classified into cytopathic (cp) and
      noncytopathic (ncp), depending on its effects on cultured cells. BVDV is known to
      alter the host's immune response. Of this, major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
      class II molecules play a central role in the development and function of the
      immune system, and are comprised of two types, DR and DQ, in cattle. In this
      study, we investigated the expression of MHC class II on monocytes infected with
      ncp BVDV1 or ncp BVDV2. Using flow cytometry (P<0.01), mRNA level quantification
      (quantitative real time RT-PCR, P<0.01), and western blot (P<0.001), we found
      that the expressions of MHC class IIDQ was significantly decreased in ncp BVDV2
      infected monocytes compared with that in ncp BVDV1-infected cells. Furthermore,
      interferon gamma (IFN) production was markedly decreased in ncp BVDV2-infected
      monocytes (P<0.001) compared to those with ncp BVDV1 infection. These findings
      suggest that ncp BVDV2 causes reduced expressions of MHC class II DQ and a
      decreased production of IFN, resulting in evasion of immune recognition and
      suppression of the antiviral defense mechanism of the innate immune response.
      Consequently, the results demonstrate that ncp BVDV1 and ncp BVDV2 interact
      differently with the host innate immune response. Thus, our data provide insight
      into the mechanism by which, unlike ncp BVDV1, ncp BVDV2 impairs antigen
      presentation, fails to control the viral infection, and causes more severe
      disease.

PMID- 28588629
TI  - In vitro and in vivo activity of Artemisia sieberi against Trichomonas gallinae.
AB  - In Iranian folk medicine Artemisia sieberi has been used for treatment of
      parasite infections in human and animals. The present study was designed to
      evaluate the in vitro and in vivo effects of A. sieberi essential oil (EO)
      against Trichomonas gallinae. Trichomonas gallinae were recovered by wet mount
      method from infected native pigeons. The in vitro assays were accomplished in
      multi-well plates containing metronidazole (MTZ) as a standard antitrichomonal
      and EO in final concentrations of 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 MUg/ml of culture
      medium containing 104 parasites. The invivo assay was performed on 40
      experimentally infected pigeons receiving 25 and 50 mg/kg of MTZ and EO for 7
      successive days. Gas chromatographic (GC) analysis was performed to reveal
      chemical constituents of the EO. At 20 ug/ml, MTZ resulted in no viable
      trophozoite in culture medium after 24 h incubation period. While the 24 h MIC of
      EO was 10 ug/ml. Treatment with EO at dose of 50 mg/kg after 4 days led to full
      recovery of infected pigeons but for MTZ at the same dose 5 days were spent.
      Major constituents of EO were alpha-thujone (31.5%) and beta-thujone (11.92%).
      Data of the present study introduced A. sieberi as a natural potent
      antitrichomonal agent effective against T. gallinae.

PMID- 28588630
TI  - Echocardiographic assessment of myocardial infarction: comparison of a rat model
      in two strains.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to induce myocardial infarction (MI) and compare
      the echocardiographic parameters and mortality ratio of Lewis inbred and Wistar
      outbred strain before and after the procedure to help choose the best one for MI
      studies. In this study MI was induced in 46 Lewis and 34 Wistar by occlusion of
      left anterior descending artery (LAD). Doppler, two-dimensional (2-D) and 2-D
      guided M-mode images were recorded from parasternal long-axis and parasternal
      short-axis and apical four-chamber views. The following parameters were acquired.
      Interventricular septum diastolic and systolic dimension (IVSd, s), diastolic and
      systolic left ventricular internal diameter (LVIDd, s), diastolic and systolic
      left ventricular posterior wall dimension (LVPWd, s), ejection fraction (EF), and
      fractional shortening (FS). The significant changes were observed in systolic
      IVS, LVID and EF and FS before and after MI and no significant difference was
      detected between Lewis and Wistar. The high mortality rate of 51% was seen in the
      procedure, including anesthesia in Lewis compared to 34% in Wistar. As a
      conclusion the echocardiographic parameters of these two strains were similar,
      but according to mortality rate and more cardiac anatomic variation in Lewis
      rats, Wistar is better for MI studies.

PMID- 28588631
TI  - Cloning and expression of fragment of the rabies virus nucleoprotein gene in
      Escherichia coli and evaluation of antigenicity of the expression product.
AB  - Rabies virus nucleoprotein (N protein) encapsidates genomic RNA of the virus and
      forms the viral ribonucleoprotein complex. These N proteins represent highly
      organized structures which activate proliferation of B cells and production
      antibodies against the N protein. In addition to the B cell, the rabies virus N
      protein has been shown to induce potent T helper cell responses resulting in a
      long-lasting and strong humoral immune response. Rabies virus N protein is a
      molecular target of choice for development of tools to diagnose acute rabies
      infection. We produced a recombinant immune reactive C-terminal fragment of the
      rabies virus N protein which contains an antigenic determinant located between
      positions 360-389. Synthetic gene encoding the N protein was cloned into an
      expression plasmid to produce the recombinant antigen in Escherichiacoli cells
      BL21 (DE3). SDS-PAGE showed presence of the product with expected molecular
      weight (44 kDa). The recombinant fragment of the N protein efficiently recognized
      antibodies in sera from mice immunized with an inactivated rabies virus. Thus
      produced recombinant antigen of the rabies virus N protein can be used in an
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for diagnosis of the rabies infection.

PMID- 28588632
TI  - Age-dependent electrocardiographic and echocardiographic changes in German
      Shepherd dogs.
AB  - By causing numerous changes in the cardiovascular system, ageing leads to a
      decreased threshold for clinical manifestation of heart disease. The aim of this
      study was to define the existence of cardiac structural and functional changes in
      healthy dogs of different age. Radiographic, electrocardiographic (ECG) and
      echocardiographic examinations of 20 clinically healthy German Shepherd dogs were
      performed in order to define the values of relevant parameters. Afterwards, the
      values of cardio examinations were compared between young and old dogs and
      statistically analyzed. The ECG recordings did not show the appearance of
      clinically significant arrhythmias, nor was their appearance significantly
      different between dogs of different age. Statistically significant differences in
      QRS duration (P<0.05) and R wave amplitude (P<0.05) existed between groups, but
      all values were within the range of ECG reference values for healthy dogs.
      Concerning structural changes, the left ventricle wall thickness at end-diastole
      (LVWd) and end-systole (LVWs), and the relative wall thickness (RWT) between
      young and old dogs differed significantly (P<0.001, P<0.05, P<0.05,
      respectively). These differences in heart structure were not accompanied by
      systolic dysfunction, estimated by a left ventricle shortening fraction. The
      diastolic wall stress index (WSID) was significantly decreased in old dogs
      (P<0.05). Young and old dogs showed similar electrical and systolic function. Old
      dogs had different cardiac structure compared to the young dogs, which could
      result in diastolic function change.

PMID- 28588633
TI  - Determination of renal handling of marbofloxacin in Lohi sheep (Ovis aries)
      following a single intravenous administration.
AB  - The objective of present study was to investigate renal clearance, urinary
      excretion and underlying excretory mechanism of marbofloxacin in Lohi sheep. For
      this purpose, marbofloxacin was administered intravenously (IV) as single bolus
      dose (2.5 mg/kg body weight) to eight healthy sheep of Lohi breed. After start of
      experiment, blood and urine samples were drawn at predetermined time intervals
      and marbofloxacin concentrations in the samples were measured by reverse phase
      high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using UV/Vis detector. The mean
      +/- SD values of creatinine in plasma and urine were 15.37 +/- 0.65 ug/ml and
      246.7 +/- 48.05 ug/ml, respectively. Glomerular filtration rate was 1.29 +/- 0.22
      ml/min/kg whereas urinary flow rate was observed to be 0.084 +/- 0.016 ml/min/kg.
      The renal clearance of marbofloxacin in Lohi sheep was 9.45 +/- 2.12 ml/min/kg.
      Cumulative percentage dose excreted was seen to be maximum at 24 h post drug
      administration. It was concluded that renal handling of marbofloxacin in Lohi
      sheep involved both glomerular filtration and active tubular secretion.

PMID- 28588634
TI  - In silico identification of epitopes from house cat and dog proteins as peptide
      immunotherapy candidates based on human leukocyte antigen binding affinity.
AB  - The objective of this descriptive study was to determine Felis domesticus (cat)
      and Canis familiaris (dog) protein epitopes that bind strongly to selected HLA
      class II alleles to identify synthetic vaccine candidate epitopes and to identify
      individuals/populations who are likely to respond to vaccines. FASTA amino acid
      sequences of experimentally validated allergenic proteins of house cat and dog
      were identified using International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS)
      allergen nomenclature database. NetMHCII 2.2 server was used to determine binding
      affinities in the form of 1-log 50 k and in nM with commonly found HLA II
      alleles. Screening of house cat and dog allergenic proteins identified 4 (with 2
      isoforms for chain 1 and 3 isoforms for chain 2 for fel d 1) and 6 proteins,
      respectively. Number of strong binders from each protein against each HLA type
      was determined as potential candidate for allergen immunotherapy. HLA-DRB1*0101
      bound maximum number of epitopes (207 and 275 from house cat and dog,
      respectively) while HLA-DRB1*0802 bound none. We conclude that HLA specific
      epitope prediction can help identify synthetic peptide vaccine candidates and
      predict response as well.

PMID- 28588635
TI  - Effects of using eucalyptus (Eucalyptusglobulus L.) leaf powder and its essential
      oil on growth performance and immune response of broiler chickens.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of eucalyptus leaf powder (ELP)
      and eucalyptus essential oil (EEO) on growth performance and immune response of
      broiler chickens. A total of 160 broiler chicks were assigned randomly into five
      dietary treatments from 7-42 days of age. Dietary treatments included: a control
      diet, control diets plus 1,000 or 3,000 mg/kg of ELP, and control diets plus 250
      or 500 mg/kg of EEO. Dietary inclusion of ELP decreased body weight gain (BWG)
      during 7-28 days of age. Broilers fed diet containing 3,000 mg/kg of ELP had
      lower feed intake (FI) during 7-28 days compared to the other treatments.
      Broilers fed ELP or EEO had greater primary antibody response to sheep red blood
      cells (SRBC) compared to the control, but differences in secondary antibody
      response were not significant. In conclusion, dietary EEO has the potential to
      enhance immune response of broiler chickens.

PMID- 28588636
TI  - A case of spontaneous abortion related to ovarian endometriosis in a Golden
      Retriever dog.
AB  - This report describes a case of spontaneous abortion in a 4-year-old Golden
      Retriever dog with ovarian endometriosis. Clinical findings indicated that there
      was not any senstivity in the abdomen and the viability parameters were within
      the reference values. On vaginal examination, serosanguineous discharge was
      determined. Ultrasonographic examination revealed that no fetus was observed in
      cornu uteri and an hypoechoic cystic structure, measuring 3.2 * 3.4 cm was found
      behind the left kidney. Ovarian cyst was suspected, and then ovariohysterectomy
      was performed. On laparotomy, the presence of a cystic structure was confirmed in
      the left ovary similar to ultrasonographic findings. Cyst was smooth, flat,
      hemorrhagic and thick-walled structure. Histopathologic examination of the
      ovarian stroma revealed covered luteinizing cells and midline hemorrhagic cyst.
      However, the internal surface of the cyst wall was covered by an endometrial
      lining. Interestingly, the endometriotic tissue had a maximal penetration into
      the cyst wall. It was thought that the ovarian endometriosis caused a failure in
      the luteinizing hormone action which is responsible for luteal function and
      spontaneous abortion was observed in this case. Although ovarian endometriosis is
      quite usual in human, this case could be the first report to describe ovarian
      endometriosis in a dog, and thus it has been reported to cause spontaneous
      abortion.

PMID- 28588637
TI  - Effect of Acupuncture on Endometrial Angiogenesis and Uterus Dendritic Cells in
      COH Rats during Peri-Implantation Period.
AB  - This study was to explore the mechanism of acupuncture on regulating the
      endometrial angiogenesis and uterus dendritic cells (uDCs) during the peri
      implantation period. Rats, in early pregnancy, were randomized into five groups:
      normal (N), model (M), acupuncture (A), progesterone (P), and A + P groups. The
      COH model was established using pregnant mare serum, combined with human
      chorionic gonadotrophin. Endometrium was collected on days 4, 6, and 8 (D4, D6,
      and D8) of gestation. Compared with group M, both VEGF and FGF-2 protein and mRNA
      levels were significantly lower on D4 and higher on D6 and D8 (P < 0.05), except
      for VEGF of group P on D8; the proportion of uterus dendritic cells (uDCs) in the
      endometrium was significantly lower on D4 and D6 and higher on D8 (P < 0.05). In
      vitro, except for the proliferation of group P on D8, proliferation, tube
      formation, and migration of uDCs were significantly decreased on D4 and increased
      on D8 (P < 0.05). In addition, acupuncture or progesterone regulated the
      secretion levels of VEGF, IL-15, and IL-18 secreted by uDCs instead of soluble
      sFLT-1. In conclusion, acupuncture may regulate angiogenesis of the endometrium
      and the number and roles of uDCs after COH, and the specific mechanism may be
      different with progesterone.

PMID- 28588638
TI  - Simultaneous Determination of 8 Compounds in Gancao-Ganjiang-Tang by HPLC-DAD and
      Analysis of the Relations between Compatibility, Dosage, and Contents of
      Medicines.
AB  - Gancao-Ganjiang-Tang (GGT) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription
      and is a representative prescription for recuperating depleted Yang in Treatise
      on Febrile Diseases. The TCM theory believes that the efficacy of medicinal herbs
      is decided by the multicompounds which consist of different kinds of chemical
      constituents with bioactivities, but not by a monomeric constituent. From ancient
      times until today, GGT have 5 different kinds of compatibilities that can be
      verified. In this study, a HPLC-DAD method was established for the simultaneous
      determination of 8 compounds including 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 6-shogaol,
      liquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritin, isoliquiritigenin, and glycyrrhizic
      acid in the five GGT. The total contents of the 8 compounds in GGT varied from
      555.56 to 956.33 MUg/mL. The effects showed that the dosage and compatibility of
      medicinal herbs have influenced the content of chemical compounds of TCM
      prescription while the content of chemical compounds has acted on clinical
      efficacy. Quality evaluation and active essence screening of TCM (including
      single herb and prescription) should be based on the TCM theory and clinical
      effectiveness. The method was proven to be suitable for quality control of GGT.

PMID- 28588639
TI  - Elephantorrhiza elephantina: Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology
      of an Important Medicinal Plant Species in Southern Africa.
AB  - Elephantorrhiza elephantina is used in southern Africa as traditional remedy for
      a wide range of human diseases and ailments including dermatological diseases,
      gastrointestinal system disorders, sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted
      infections, and wounds. The rhizome decoction of E. elephantina is widely used by
      small-scale farmers in Botswana and South Africa as ethnoveterinary medicine for
      cattle, goats, horses, pigs, poultry, and sheep. Several classes of phytochemical
      compounds including anthocyanidins, anthraquinones, esters, fatty acids, phenolic
      compounds, flavonoids, glycosides, polysterols, saponins, sugars, tannins, and
      triterpenoids have been isolated from E. elephantina. Scientific studies on E.
      elephantina indicate that it has a wide range of biological activities including
      anthelmintic, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive,
      antiplasmodial, antioxidant, antibabesial, and antirickettsial activities.
      Elephantorrhiza elephantina is a valuable source of traditional medicine in
      southern Africa that it is worth additional research attention because of its
      wide ethnomedicinal applications and promising biological activities. However,
      the current health-related information on E. elephantina is not sufficiently
      explored as diverse studies on its chemical and pharmacological activities are
      required to understand its mechanism of action and to characterize the
      metabolites responsible for these activities.

PMID- 28588641
TI  - The Significant Pathways and Genes Underlying the Colon Cancer Treatment by the
      Traditional Chinese Medicine PHY906.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We attempted to explore the molecular mechanism underlying PHY906
      intervention of colon cancer. METHODS: The microarray data of tumors treated by
      PHY906 and PBS alone were downloaded from the public Gene Expression Omnibus
      database. The dataset was further analyzed for the differentially expressed genes
      (DEGs) and their related biological functions were analyzed, followed by function
      and pathways. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and the
      significant nodes were screened by network centralities and then the significant
      modules analysis. Besides, they were clustered and transcriptional factors (TFs)
      were predicted. RESULTS: The gene expression patterns changed induced by PHY906
      treatment, including 414 upregulated and 337 downregulated DEGs. The biological
      process of response to steroid hormone stimulus and regulation of interferon
      gamma production were significantly enriched by DEGs. Ezh2 (enhancer of zeste 2)
      was found to be the key node in PPI network. There are 12 significant TFs
      predicted for module 1 genes and 3 TFs for module 2 genes. CONCLUSIONS: PHY906
      treatment may function in protecting the epithelial barrier against tumor cell
      invasion by modulating IFN-gamma level and mediating cancer cell death by
      activating the response to steroid hormone stimulus and activating the response
      to steroid hormone stimulus. E2f1, Hsfy2, and Nfyb may be therapeutic targets for
      colon cancer. PHY906 showed treatment efficacy in modulating cell apoptosis by
      intervening interferon-gamma production and response to steroid hormone stimulus.
      Ezh2 and its TFs such as E2f1, Hsfy2, and Nfyb may be the potential therapeutic
      targets for anticancer agents development.

PMID- 28588640
TI  - Compounds from Cynomorium songaricum with Estrogenic and Androgenic Activities
      Suppress the Oestrogen/Androgen-Induced BPH Process.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the phytoestrogenic and phytoandrogenic activities of
      compounds isolated from CS and uncover the role of CS in prevention of
      oestrogen/androgen-induced BPH. METHODS: Cells were treated with CS compounds,
      and immunofluorescence assay was performed to detect the nuclear translocation of
      ERalpha or AR in MCF-7 or LNCaP cells; luciferase reporter assay was performed to
      detect ERs or AR transcriptional activity in HeLa or AD293 cells; MTT assay was
      performed to detect the cell proliferation of MCF-7 or LNCaP cells.
      Oestrogen/androgen-induced BPH model was established in rat and the anti-BPH,
      anti-estrogenic, and anti-androgenic activities of CS in vivo were further
      investigated. RESULTS: The nuclear translocation of ERalpha was stimulated by
      nine CS compounds, three of which also stimulated AR translocation. The
      transcriptional activities of ERalpha and ERbeta were induced by five compounds,
      within which only ECG induced AR transcriptional activity as well. Besides, ECG
      stimulated the proliferation of both MCF-7 cells and LNCaP cells. CS extract
      suppressed oestrogen/androgen-induced BPH progress in vivo by downregulation of
      E2 and T level in serum and alteration of the expressions of ERalpha, ERbeta, and
      AR in the prostate. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrates that compounds from CS
      exhibit phytoestrogenic and phytoandrogenic activities, which may contribute to
      inhibiting the oestrogen/androgen-induced BPH development.

PMID- 28588642
TI  - The Preventive Control of Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis: Efficacy and Economic
      Evaluation.
AB  - Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis (ZVL) is one of the world's deadliest and
      neglected infectious diseases, according to World Health Organization. This
      disease is one of major human and veterinary medical significance. The sandfly
      and the reservoir in urban areas remain among the major challenges for the
      control activities. In this paper, we evaluated five control strategies (positive
      dog elimination, insecticide impregnated dog collar, dog vaccination, dog
      treatment, and sandfly population control), considering disease control results
      and cost-effectiveness. We elaborated a mathematical model based on a set of
      differential equations in which three populations were represented (human, dog,
      and sandfly). Humans and dogs were divided into susceptible, latent, clinically
      ill, and recovery categories. Sandflies were divided into noninfected, infected,
      and infective. As the main conclusions, the insecticide impregnated dog collar
      was the strategy that presented the best combination between disease control and
      cost-effectiveness. But, depending on the population target, the control results
      and cost-effectiveness of each strategy may differ. More and detailed studies are
      needed, specially one which optimizes the control considering more than one
      strategy in activity.

PMID- 28588643
TI  - Molecular cloning, expression, and characterization of four novel thermo
      alkaliphilic enzymes retrieved from a metagenomic library.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enzyme discovery is a promising approach to aid in the deconstruction
      of recalcitrant plant biomass in an industrial process. Novel enzymes can be
      readily discovered by applying metagenomics on whole microbiomes. Our goal was to
      select, examine, and characterize eight novel glycoside hydrolases that were
      previously detected in metagenomic libraries, to serve biotechnological
      applications with high performance. RESULTS: Here, eight glycosyl hydrolase
      family candidate genes were selected from metagenomes of wheat straw-degrading
      microbial consortia using molecular cloning and subsequent gene expression
      studies in Escherichia coli. Four of the eight enzymes had significant activities
      on either pNP-beta-d-galactopyranoside, pNP-beta-d-xylopyranoside, pNP-alpha-l
      arabinopyranoside or pNP-alpha-d-glucopyranoside. These proteins, denoted as
      proteins 1, 2, 5 and 6, were his-tag purified and their nature and activities
      further characterized using molecular and activity screens with the pNP-labeled
      substrates. Proteins 1 and 2 showed high homologies with (1) a beta-galactosidase
      (74%) and (2) a beta-xylosidase (84%), whereas the remaining two (5 and 6) were
      homologous with proteins reported as a diguanylate cyclase and an aquaporin,
      respectively. The beta-galactosidase- and beta-xylosidase-like proteins 1 and 2
      were confirmed as being responsible for previously found thermo-alkaliphilic
      glycosidase activities of extracts of E. coli carrying the respective source
      fosmids. Remarkably, the beta-xylosidase-like protein 2 showed activities with
      both pNP-Xyl and pNP-Ara in the temperature range 40-50  degrees C and pH range
      8.0-10.0. Moreover, proteins 5 and 6 showed thermotolerant alpha-glucosidase
      activity at pH 10.0. In silico structure prediction of protein 5 revealed the
      presence of a potential "GGDEF" catalytic site, encoding alpha-glucosidase
      activity, whereas that of protein 6 showed a "GDSL" site, encoding a 'new family'
      alpha-glucosidase activity. CONCLUSION: Using a rational screening approach, we
      identified and characterized four thermo-alkaliphilic glycosyl hydrolases that
      have the potential to serve as constituents of enzyme cocktails that produce
      sugars from lignocellulosic plant remains.

PMID- 28588644
TI  - Directed evolution of a beta-mannanase from Rhizomucor miehei to improve
      catalytic activity in acidic and thermophilic conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: beta-Mannanase randomly cleaves the beta-1,4-linked mannan backbone
      of hemicellulose, which plays the most important role in the enzymatic
      degradation of mannan. Although the industrial applications of beta-mannanase
      have tremendously expanded in recent years, the wild-type beta-mannanases are
      still defective for some industries. The glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 5 beta
      mannanase (RmMan5A) from Rhizomucor miehei shows many outstanding properties,
      such as high specific activity and hydrolysis property. However, owing to the low
      catalytic activity in acidic and thermophilic conditions, the application of
      RmMan5A to the biorefinery of mannan biomasses is severely limited. RESULTS: To
      overcome the limitation, RmMan5A was successfully engineered by directed
      evolution. Through two rounds of screening, a mutated beta-mannanase (mRmMan5A)
      with high catalytic activity in acidic and thermophilic conditions was obtained,
      and then characterized. The mutant displayed maximal activity at pH 4.5 and 65 
      degrees C, corresponding to acidic shift of 2.5 units in optimal pH and increase
      by 10  degrees C in optimal temperature. The catalytic efficiencies (kcat/Km) of
      mRmMan5A towards many mannan substrates were enhanced more than threefold in
      acidic and thermophilic conditions. Meanwhile, the high specific activity and
      excellent hydrolysis property of RmMan5A were inherited by the mutant mRmMan5A
      after directed evolution. According to the result of sequence analysis, three
      amino acid residues were substituted in mRmMan5A, namely Tyr233His, Lys264Met,
      and Asn343Ser. To identify the function of each substitution, four site-directed
      mutations (Tyr233His, Lys264Met, Asn343Ser, and Tyr233His/Lys264Met) were
      subsequently generated, and the substitutions at Tyr233 and Lys264 were found to
      be the main reason for the changes of mRmMan5A. CONCLUSIONS: Through directed
      evolution of RmMan5A, two key amino acid residues that controlled its catalytic
      efficiency under acidic and thermophilic conditions were identified. Information
      about the structure-function relationship of GH family 5 beta-mannanase was
      acquired, which could be used for modifying beta-mannanases to enhance the
      feasibility in industrial application, especially in biorefinery process. This is
      the first report on a beta-mannanase from zygomycete engineered by directed
      evolution.

PMID- 28588646
TI  - The effects of tolterodine on anterior segment and choroidal thickness in
      patients with overactive bladder syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of tolterodine on anterior segment and
      choroidal thickness by using the Pentacam system and optical coherence tomography
      (OCT) (Pentacam). METHODS: A total of 122 eyes of 61 patients (34 female; 27
      male) were included in the study. All patients underwent a regular ocular
      examination and intraocular pressure measurements before and after 3 months of
      antimuscarinic drug tolterodine treatment, in addition, pupil diameter, anterior
      chamber depth, anterior chamber volume, anterior chamber angle, and lens
      thickness were measured through Pentacam (Oculus Inc., Wetzlar, Germany) system.
      Measurements of choroidal thickness were performed by OCT (Spectralis(r),
      Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). RESULTS: The mean age was 58.4 +/-
      7.3 years and 56.5 +/- 11.1 years for female and male patients. The mean
      intraocular pressure was 15.10 +/- 2.75 mmHg before treatment and 15.18 +/- 2.65
      mmHg after treatment. Pupil diameters were 3.09 +/- 0.48 mm before treatment and
      3.12 +/- 0.43 mm after treatment. Anterior chamber depth, before and after
      treatment were 2.68 +/- 0.65 mm and 2.70 +/- 0.61 mm. The mean value for
      subfoveal choroidal thickness was 267.92 +/- 81.35 MUm before the administration
      of tolterodine, whereas the mean choroidal thickness was 271.83 +/- 75.42 MUm
      after the administration of tolterodine. The alterations in the subfoveal
      choroidal thickness were not statistically significant (p = 0.862). CONCLUSIONS:
      After 3 months of therapy with tolterodine, there were no significant changes in
      anterior segment parameters and choroidal thickness.

PMID- 28588645
TI  - Predisposing factors for recurrence of chronic posttraumatic osteomyelitis: a
      retrospective observational cohort study from a tertiary referral center in
      Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of posttraumatic osteomyelitis (PTO) is increasing
      despite new treatment strategies. Assessment of patients' outcomes following PTO
      is challenging due to multiple variables. The study goals are to determine the
      frequency of recurrence following PTO treatment and identify factors predisposing
      patients to treatment failure. METHODS: Between August 01, 2007 to August 30,
      2012, a single-center retrospective cohort study was performed among 193 patients
      diagnosed with PTO following orthopedic surgery for fracture care. Bone and soft
      tissues were collected for cultures and PTO was defined according to CDC/NHSN
      criteria. Patient, injury, surgery-associated variables, and microbiological
      records were reviewed for risk factors associated to recurrence of PTO.
      Univariate and multivariable analyses using logistic regression were performed,
      with p <0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients (20%) of 192
      diagnosed and treated for PTO failed their treatment. Factors associated with
      recurrence were age between 61 and 80 years [hazard ratio (HR) = 6.086, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) = 2.459;15.061, p = <0.001], age above 80 years [HR =
      9.975 (95% CI = 3.591;27.714), p = <0.001], intraoperative blood transfusion [HR
      = 2.239 (95% CI = 1.138;4.406), p = 0.020], and positive culture for Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa [HR = 2.700 (95% CI = 1.370;5.319), p = 0.004]. CONCLUSIONS: Risk
      factors associated with recurrence of PTO are difficult to measure. The present
      study revealed that elderly patients, intraoperative blood transfusions, and
      infection due to P. aeruginosa were independently associated with recurrence of
      PTO. These factors should warn clinicians of a higher failure rate following
      treatment of PTO. Trial registration: ISRCTN71648577. Registered 18 May 2017.
      Retrospectively registered.

PMID- 28588647
TI  - An update on best practice in the diagnosis and management of post-prostatectomy
      anastomotic strictures.
AB  - Postprostatectomy vesicourethral anastomotic stenosis (VUAS) remains a
      challenging problem for both patient and urologist. Improved surgical techniques
      and perioperative identification and treatment of risk factors has led to a
      decline over the last several decades. High-level evidence to guide management is
      lacking, primarily relying on small retrospective studies and expert opinion.
      Endourologic therapies, including dilation and transurethral incision or
      resection with or without adjunct injection of scar modulators is considered
      first-line management. Recalcitrant VUAS requires surgical reconstruction of the
      vesicourethral anastomosis, and in poor surgical candidates, a chronic indwelling
      catheter or urinary diversion may be the only option. This review provides an
      update in the diagnosis and management of postprostatectomy VUAS.

PMID- 28588649
TI  - Late recurrence of colorectal adenocarcinoma as a renal tumour by direct spread
      via the ureter.

PMID- 28588648
TI  - Strategies to minimize readmission rates following major urologic surgery.
AB  - Readmissions after major surgical procedures are prevalent across multiple
      disciplines. Specifically, in urology, with incorporation of early discharge and
      recovery pathways, readmissions are emerging as an important problem and
      effecting an epidemic proportion of urology patients. As expected, readmissions
      have garnered the attention of major healthcare payers in the United States who
      see readmissions as easy targets because of the association with astronomical
      costs. More importantly, readmissions have a significant negative impact on
      patient sense of wellbeing, and places economic and other hardships on the doors
      of our patients and their families. Here, we explore the reasons patients are
      readmitted, using radical cystectomy as a case study, and means to decrease the
      incidence of readmissions. Since time to readmission for most major urologic
      oncology surgeries is within the first 2 weeks after discharge, this time frame
      is critical for efforts to improve symptom identification and reduce the total
      number and severity of readmissions. Readmission reduction to zero is unlikely
      for any major surgery, but with effective coordinated strategies, we must strive
      to reduce the rates as much as possible, as a means to improve the care continuum
      for our patients.

PMID- 28588651
TI  - Testosterone suppression with a unique form of leuprorelin acetate as a solid
      biodegradable implant in patients with advanced prostate cancer: results from
      four trials and comparison with the traditional leuprorelin acetate microspheres
      formulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are two slow-release ready-to-use forms of leuprorelin acetate
      (1-month and 3-month) that are available as solid, biodegradable implants for the
      treatment of advanced, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. These implants have
      been shown to be as effective as traditional leuprorelin acetate microspheres for
      achieving successful testosterone suppression (?0.5 ng/ml) and lowering prostate
      specific antigen (PSA) levels. Here we further evaluate testosterone suppression
      levels from four clinical trials evaluating the 3-month leuprorelin implant,
      including analysis below the European Association of Urology (EAU) castration
      level (<0.2 ng/ml). METHODS: Studies were conducted in patients with locally
      advanced/metastatic prostate cancer: (1) a randomised, controlled single-dose
      study comparing the leuprorelin implant with leuprorelin microspheres; (2) a
      single-arm, single-dose study of the leuprorelin implant; (3 and 4) two long-term
      studies with the leuprorelin implant administered twice, 12 or 16 weeks apart.
      Patients received 3-month leuprorelin (5 mg) implant or 3-month leuprorelin
      (10.72 mg) microspheres. Testosterone levels were analysed using radioimmunoassay
      or ultrasensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Both
      the leuprorelin implant and the leuprorelin microspheres achieved mean
      testosterone suppression (?0.5 ng/ml) within 4 weeks for >3 months. In both long
      term, single-arm studies with the leuprorelin implant, median values of
      testosterone ?0.2 ng/ml were achieved at Week 4 and maintained until study
      completion (6 and 8 months); PSA decrease was also observed versus baseline.
      CONCLUSIONS: Long-lasting steady serum levels of testosterone, comparable with
      orchiectomy and consistent with the EAU-recommended castration level (<0.2
      ng/ml), were achieved at Week 4 and maintained up to 8 months in men with
      advanced prostate cancer who received the leuprorelin implant.

PMID- 28588652
TI  - Efficacy and safety of daily mirabegron 50 mg in male patients with overactive
      bladder: a critical analysis of five phase III studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral pharmacotherapies to treat overactive bladder (OAB) are used
      less in men despite a similar prevalence of storage symptoms as women. The
      efficacy and safety of once-daily mirabegron 50 mg was evaluated in male OAB
      patients from five phase III studies that included placebo or antimuscarinic
      (tolterodine ER 4 mg or solifenacin 5 mg) as a comparator. METHODS: Three pooled
      12-week placebo-controlled studies (mirabegron 50 mg versus placebo) and one 12
      week non-inferiority phase IIIb study (BEYOND; mirabegron 50 mg versus
      solifenacin 5 mg) were used for efficacy (daily micturition frequency, urgency
      and incontinence episodes) and safety analyses. An additional 52-week active
      controlled phase III safety study (mirabegron 50 mg versus tolterodine ER 4 mg)
      was included in the safety analysis. Male patients aged ?18 years with OAB for ?3
      months were included in the analyses. Patients may also have a history of lower
      urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia
      (BPH)/benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) or concomitant use of alpha1-blockers.
      RESULTS: In the pooled studies, mirabegron 50 mg demonstrated superiority versus
      placebo (treatment difference: -0.37 [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.74, 
      0.01]) for reducing micturition frequency; improvements in urgency and
      incontinence were not significantly different between mirabegron 50 mg and
      placebo. In BEYOND, mirabegron 50 mg was comparable with solifenacin 5 mg for
      reducing micturition frequency, urgency, and incontinence episodes. Mirabegron
      was well tolerated at 12 and 52 weeks and overall treatment-emergent adverse
      events (AEs) were similar to those with placebo. CONCLUSIONS: In a male OAB
      population with or without LUTS associated with BPH/BPE, mirabegron 50 mg
      provided similar improvements in urgency, frequency, and incontinence as
      solifenacin 5 mg, and is a well-tolerated alternative to antimuscarinics. In the
      three pooled 12-week studies, significant differences were not seen for urgency
      and incontinence versus placebo, although mirabegron 50 mg did demonstrate
      significant improvements versus placebo for frequency.

PMID- 28588653
TI  - Renal cell carcinoma with inferior vena cava thrombus extending to the right
      atrium diagnosed during pregnancy.
AB  - Only one case of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor
      thrombus diagnosed and treated during pregnancy has been reported in the
      literature. In that report, the tumor thrombus extended to the infrahepatic IVC
      (level II tumor thrombus). In the present case, a 37-year-old woman with lupus
      anticoagulant antibodies was diagnosed with RCC and IVC tumor thrombus extending
      to the right atrium (level IV tumor thrombus) at 24 weeks of pregnancy. The fetus
      was safely delivered by cesarean section at 30 weeks of gestation. At 4 days
      later, an open right radical nephrectomy and IVC and right atrial thrombectomy
      were performed on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) once the patient's hemodynamic
      status had been optimized. Fetal and maternal concerns included the risk of a
      thromboembolic event (due to increased hypercoagulability from pregnancy, active
      malignancy, and lupus anticoagulant), intraoperative hemorrhage risk (due to
      extensive venous collaterals and anticoagulation), and fetal morbidity and
      mortality (due to fetal lung immaturity). Standardized guidelines for treatment
      of RCC with or without IVC tumor thrombus during pregnancy are unavailable due to
      the infrequency of such cases. Treatment decisions are therefore individualized
      and this case report may inform the management of future patients diagnosed with
      RCC with level IV tumor thrombus during pregnancy.

PMID- 28588654
TI  - Complete genome sequence of Clostridium perfringens CBA7123 isolated from a
      faecal sample from Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clostridium perfringens is an opportunistic human pathogen that
      causes necrotic enteritis, mild diarrhea, clostridial myonecrosis or gas
      gangrene, sepsis, etc. In this study, we aim to determine the pathogenesis of
      this bacterium at the genomic level. The genome of strain CBA7123 was sequenced,
      and a comparative genomic analysis between strain CBA7123 and four other related
      C. perfringens strains was performed. RESULTS: The genome of strain CBA7123
      consisted of one circular chromosome and one plasmid that were 3,088,370 and
      46,640 bp long with 28.5 and 27.1 mol% G+C content, respectively. The genomic DNA
      was predicted to contain 2798 open reading frames (ORFs), 10 rRNA genes, and 94
      tRNA genes. The genomic comparison analysis between the five strains revealed the
      distinctive virulence properties of strain CBA7123 by highlighting certain strain
      specific genes. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the C. perfringens CBA7123 genome was
      sequenced and compared with other C. perfringens genomes. Among the various genes
      sequenced, the detection of antimicrobial resistance genes and those encoding
      various virulence factors may extend the understanding of the pathogenesis of C.
      perfringens strains.

PMID- 28588656
TI  - Measurement of combined glenoid and Hill-Sachs lesions in anterior shoulder
      instability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrent glenohumeral anterior instability (RGAI) frequently induces
      combined glenoid and Hill-Sachs bone lesions and is a risk factor for soft tissue
      repair failure. This cohort study describes a simple preoperative quantification
      method for bone loss, the Clock method, the first that combines glenoid and
      humeral lesions. METHODS: Computed tomography scans of 34 shoulders with RGAI
      were twice reviewed by three independent observers, who measured bone lesions
      using the new Clock method and existing validated methods. Intra- and inter
      observer reliability of the Clock method was evaluated (intraclass correlation
      coefficient). Pearson correlation was used to correlate Clock method with
      existing methods, and with function (Western Ontario Shoulder Instability, Quick
      Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand). RESULTS: Thirty-two patients met the
      inclusion criteria: three females and 29 males, mean age 28 years. The intra- and
      inter-observer reliability was excellent, with intraclass correlation coefficient
      ranging from 0.817 to 0.938 for the novel Clock method. Humeral Clock and Glenoid
      Clock strongly correlated with Humeral Ratio (r = 0.882, p < 0.001) and Glenoid
      Surface Area and Glenoid Ratio (r = 0.793 and 0.717, p < 0.001), respectively.
      The classic threshold of 25% of the glenoid diameter with the Glenoid Ratio
      method corresponds to 4 hours with the Glenoid Clock method. CONCLUSIONS: The
      Clock method is quick and reliable, with more studies being needed to investigate
      whether it is correlated with surgical outcomes.

PMID- 28588655
TI  - How should I fixate the subscapularis in total shoulder arthroplasty? A
      systematic review of pertinent subscapularis repair biomechanics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to review the biomechanical outcomes of
      subscapularis repair techniques during total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) to
      assist in clinical decision making. METHODS: A systematic review of multiple
      databases was performed by searching PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Google
      Scholar, and all databases within EBSCOhost to find biomechanical studies of
      subscapularis repair techniques in cadaveric models of TSA. RESULTS: Nine studies
      met the inclusion criteria. In the majority of studies, lesser tuberosity
      osteotomy (LTO) techniques had greater load to failure and less cyclic
      displacement compared to subscapularis tenotomy or peel methods. LTO repairs with
      sutures wrapped around the humeral stem demonstrated superior biomechanical
      outcomes compared to techniques using only a tension band. In terms of load to
      failure, the strongest repair of any study was a dual-row fleck LTO using four
      sutures wrapped around the stem. CONCLUSIONS: Several cadaveric studies have
      shown superior biomechanical outcomes with LTO techniques compared to tenotomy.
      In the majority of studies, the strongest subscapularis repair technique in terms
      of biomechanical outcomes is a compression LTO. Using three or more sutures
      wrapped around the implant and the addition of a tension suture may increase the
      biomechanical strength of the LTO repair.

PMID- 28588657
TI  - Analysis of hydrodilatation as part of a combined service for stiff shoulder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adhesive capsulitis is a common cause of stiff shoulder and may
      result in pain and restriction of movement. The study aimed to investigate the
      role of hydrodilatation of the glenohumeral joint in the management of adhesive
      capsulitis. METHODS: Patients referred from the shoulder clinic underwent
      hydrodilatation under ultrasound guidance. Of 209 referred for hydrodilatation,
      163 underwent the procedure and attended follow-up physiotherapy. Outcome
      measures were available for 118 patients (58 men and 60 women). Mean age of the
      study group was 52.6 years. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant
      improvement in both Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) and Disability Arm Shoulder Hand
      Scores (Quick DASH) in the first 4 weeks after the procedure, which was
      maintained but not improved to the end of the study period. Patients presenting
      with pain, those who had a history of steroid injections and older patients all
      had worse functional scores at presentation. Diabetes (both Type I and II),
      previous physiotherapy, length of history and whether pain or stiffness, or both,
      were the predominant symptom did not have any statistical significance at
      presentation. These factors were not predictors of any statistically significant
      improvement in functional scores. CONCLUSIONS: Hydrodilatation results in a
      significant improvement of symptoms in patients with adhesive capsulitis.

PMID- 28588658
TI  - Supraspinatus detachment causes musculotendinous degeneration and a reduction in
      bone mineral density at the enthesis in a rat model of chronic rotator cuff
      degeneration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate biological strategies that enhance tendon-bone healing in
      humans, it is imperative that suitable animal models accurately reproduce the
      pathological changes observed in the clinical setting following a tear. The
      purpose of the present study was to investigate rotator cuff degeneration in a
      rat, as well as assess the development of osteopenia at the enthesis following
      tendon detachment. METHODS: Eighteen female Wistar rats underwent unilateral
      detachment of the supraspinatus tendon. Specimens were retrieved at 4 weeks (n =
      6), 6 weeks (n = 6) and 9 weeks (n = 6) postoperatively for histological analysis
      and peripheral quantitative computer tomography. RESULTS: Three weeks following
      tendon detachment, there was a significant increase in the modified Movin score,
      characterized by a loss of muscle mass, fatty infiltration, an increase in
      musculotendinous cellularity, loss of normal collagen fibre
      structure/arrangement, rounded tenocyte nuclei and an increase in the number of
      vascular bundles. This was accompanied by a reduction in bone mineral density at
      the tendon insertion site. After 3 weeks however, these changes were less
      prominent. CONCLUSIONS: The rotator cuff tendon-muscle-bone unit in a rat model 3
      weeks after detachment of supraspinatus represents a valid model for
      investigating rotator cuff degeneration.

PMID- 28588659
TI  - The incidence of flare reaction and short-term outcome following steroid
      injection in the shoulder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the short-term effects following corticosteroid
      injection into the shoulder. METHODS: Type-specific shoulder injection was
      administered, followed by physiotherapy 7 days to 10 days later. One hundred and
      sixteen adult patients were prospectively followed-up. The primary outcome was a
      visual analogue score (VAS) for pain. Scores were recorded immediately before
      injection, 30 minutes after, daily until day 7 and then at 6 weeks. Post
      injection pain was defined as an increase of 2 or more points in the VAS score
      after the injection. The secondary outcome was determined at 6 months as
      successful discharge or progression onto surgery. RESULTS: The VAS showed a
      significant reduction from the pre-injection score for all patients at day 1 and
      was maintained until week 6. Forty-one (35.3%) patients experienced post
      injection pain. The mean duration of symptoms was 3.9 days. At 6 months, 81
      (69.8%) patients were discharged successfully and, at a mean of 23.2 months, did
      not require re-referral; 29 (25%) had surgery; and six (5.2%) were referred for a
      spinal opinion. CONCLUSIONS: One in three patients developed delayed post
      injection pain. Flare phenomenon had no determinate effect on outcome. Patients'
      pain response by 6 weeks is predictive of final outcome at 6 months and may help
      clinicians plan further treatment without delay.

PMID- 28588660
TI  - Simple elbow dislocation.
AB  - The elbow is the second most commonly dislocated major joint in adults. Good long
      term outcomes have been reported after non-operative management; however, a small
      proportion (<10%) of patients have a poor outcome and some do require surgical
      intervention. A review of the anatomy, pathoanatomy, management and outcomes of
      simple elbow dislocations is presented. Emphasis is placed on emerging concepts
      regarding the soft tissue injury, the stabilising structures that are injured,
      the sequence and mechanism of injury and the relationship to elbow stability. The
      benefits of nonsurgical and surgical management are discussed and a treatment
      algorithm based on the pathoanatomy is proposed.

PMID- 28588661
TI  - Quantification of the articular view of the elbow afforded by standard portals
      using 30 degrees  arthroscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study quantifies the field of view (FOV) from standard
      arthroscopy portals and aims to identify anatomical regions where the FOV is
      limited. METHODS: Eleven cadaveric elbows were examined through standard
      anteromedial, anterolateral and posterior portals. The FOV was marked with dye
      using a spinal needle. The articular surfaces were then exposed and the
      percentage FOV seen was calculated. FOV percentage areas were compared using a
      Student's t-test (JMP, version 10, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). P < 0.05
      was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean (SD) FOV percentage
      area seen from the anteromedial portal and anterolateral portal was 91.69%
      (3.63%) and 92.03% (3.93%), respectively, for the anterior humerus articular
      surface. There was no significant difference in the mean FOV percentage area seen
      from the anteromedial and anterolateral portals (p = 0.99). The mean (SD) FOV
      percentage area of the posterior humerus articular surface was 84.69% (2.28%).
      The mean (SD) FOV percentage area seen of the radial head and trochlear was
      16.05% (2.66%) and 4.14% (1.76%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is
      the first to quantify the FOV of elbow arthroscopy. The majority of the anterior
      and posterior humerus articular surface can be seen through standard portals. The
      limitations in FOV are primarily confined to the radial head and trochlear notch.

PMID- 28588662
TI  - Management of painful reverse shoulder arthroplasty.
AB  - Even though reverse shoulder arthroplasty is a very successful procedure, painful
      complications occur. During the initial postoperative years, the most common
      reasons for pain are instability, postoperative fracture of the acromion or
      spine, and periprosthetic infection. Later, aseptic loosening, with humeral
      loosening being more frequent that glenoid loosening, can be a source of pain and
      reduction in function. A careful patient history, clinical examination, plain
      radiographs, computed tomography and blood tests give an explanation for the pain
      in most cases. The majority of these complications can be successfully treated,
      maintaining a functional reverse shoulder arthroplasty. However, if all
      examinations are normal, it is important to remember that nonshoulder conditions
      such as tumour of the lung or degenerative changes of the cervical spine can give
      shoulder pain.

PMID- 28588663
TI  - MicroRNA-17-5p inhibits proliferation and triggers apoptosis in non-small cell
      lung cancer by targeting transforming growth factor beta receptor 2.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRs) are small non-coding RNAs that suppress gene expression by
      directly binding to the 3'-untranslated region of their target mRNAs. Specific
      miRs serve key roles in the development and progression of non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). The aim of the present study was to determine the mechanism of
      miR-17-5p in the regulation of NSCLC cell survival and proliferation. Reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction data indicated that miR-17
      5p was significantly downregulated in 28 NSCLC tissues compared with 7 non
      tumorous lung tissues. Furthermore, lower miR-17-5p expression was associated
      with a higher pathological stage in NSCLC patients. Lower miR-17-5p expression
      was also observed in several common NSCLC cell lines, including SK-MES-1, A549,
      SPCA-1, H460, H1229 and HCC827, compared with the bronchial epithelium cell line,
      BEAS-2B. Additionally, overexpression of miR-17-5p significantly inhibited
      proliferation while inducing the apoptosis of NSCLC H460 cells. Subsequently,
      transforming growth factor beta receptor 2 (TGFbetaR2) was identified as a direct
      target of miR-17-5p using a luciferase reporter assay. Western blot analysis
      confirmed that miR-17-5p negatively mediated the expression of TGFbetaR2 in NSCLC
      cells. Furthermore, small interfering RNA-induced downregulation of TGFbetaR2
      also suppressed the proliferation of H460 cells while triggering apoptosis.
      Therefore, the results of the current study suggest that miR-17-5p may inhibit
      proliferation and trigger apoptosis in NSCLC H460 cells at least partially by
      targeting TGFbetaR2.

PMID- 28588664
TI  - Impact of Botox-A SNAP-25 protein expression and the mechanism of inhibitory
      neurotransmitter imbalance in chronic sciatic nerve pain rat model.
AB  - The Botox-A impact on the expression of SNAP-25 protein in rat chronic sciatic
      nerve pain model was assessed and the mechanism of inhibitory neurotransmitter
      imbalance was studied. A chronic constriction injury (CCI) model consisted of 30
      healthy male rats. The rats were randomly divided into the sham-operated group,
      CCI group and BoNT/A intervention group, and during 1, 7 and 14 days we conducted
      mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) test and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL)
      test before and after operation. After 14 days, the animals were sacrificed. SNAP
      25 protein expression level, mRNA subunit NR2B within excitatory neurotransmitter
      glutamate GLT and protein expression level, as well as GAT mRNA, the inhibitory
      GABA neurotransmitter transporter and protein expression level were studied by RT
      polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. The difference between MWT
      and TWL at each point in time before and after operation showed no statistical
      significance (P>0.05) in the sham-operated group. For the CCI group at each time
      point, MWT and TWL were obviously lower than the sham-operated group and the
      difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) while the internal difference
      at each time point showed no statistical significance (P>0.05). The expression
      level of protein of SNAP-25 and NR2B mRNA in the CCI group was clearly higher
      than sham-operated group. Additionally, the expression level of GAT-1 mRNA and
      protein in CCI group was apparently lower than the sham-operated group. In
      conclusion, Botox-A helped reduce SNAP-25 within rat chronic sciatic nerve pain
      model thereby relieving pain.

PMID- 28588665
TI  - Role of S100A3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma and the anticancer effect of
      sodium cantharidinate.
AB  - The fifth most common cancer worldwide is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which
      has an annual mortality rate of ~800,000. Although surgical procedures for HCC,
      such as hepatic resection and liver transplantation, have progressed and the
      outcomes of patients have improved, HCC is still characterized by frequent
      recurrence, even after liver transplantation. In the present study the expression
      of the protein coding gene, S100 calcium binding protein A3 (S100A3), was
      observed in 62 HCC tissues and tumor-surrounding tissues. The present study
      indicated that S100A3 activation was involved in tumorigenesis and tumor
      aggressiveness. The protein and mRNA expression levels of S100A3 in the human HCC
      cell line (HepG2) were investigated using western blotting and reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, respectively. The
      function of sodium cantharidinate in inducing HCC cell apoptosis was also
      investigated. Sodium cantharidinate inhibited the protein and gene expression of
      S100A3 in HepG2 cells in vitro. These data suggested that S100A3 has an important
      role in human HCC. The present study indicates that the functional properties of
      sodium cantharidinate are promising for the development of a novel drug that may
      control the expression of S100A3 and improve the treatment of human HCC in the
      near future.

PMID- 28588666
TI  - Molecular analysis of the novel IDS allele in a Thai family with
      mucopolysaccharidosis type II: The c.928C>T (p.Gln310*) transcript is sensitive
      to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.
AB  - Hunter syndrome (or mucopolysaccharidosis type II, MPS II) is an X-linked
      recessive disorder induced by a deficiency of the iduronate 2-sulfatase (IDS)
      enzyme, resulting in the accumulation of glycosaminoglycan substrates, heparan
      sulfate and dermatan sulfate, in the lysosomes. The progressive accumulation of
      undegraded metabolites induces cell and tissue dysfunction, leading to multi
      systemic pathology. The heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes, ranging from mild
      to severe forms, results from different mutations in the IDS gene. To date, >550
      MPS II causal mutations have been reported in the IDS gene, of which ~10% are
      nonsense mutations that lead to premature protein termination. In the present
      study, the IDS mutation causing MPS II in an extended Thai family was identified
      using IDS enzyme assay and IDS gene exon sequencing. Three family members were
      enzymatically confirmed to have MPS II and to carry the novel IDS nonsense allele
      c.928C>T (p.Gln310*). The IDS mRNA levels were evaluated by reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction, which demonstrated that all patients
      exhibited a reduction of IDS mRNA, suggesting its degradation by nonsense
      mediated mRNA decay. Expression of wild type and mutant IDS in COS-7 cells
      revealed that the IDS p.Gln310* mutant lacked IDS activity, consistent with
      production of a nonfunctional, prematurely truncated protein. Taken together,
      these results indicate that the IDS c.928C>T (p.Gln310*) mutation is a severe
      disease-causing mutation for MPS II.

PMID- 28588667
TI  - Physical inactivity associated with the risk of non-communicable diseases in
      Japanese working mothers with young children: A cross-sectional study in Nagano
      city, Japan.
AB  - Physical activity helps to prevent the development of chronic non-communicable
      diseases. However, childbearing generally reduces parents' level of physical
      activity, particularly in mothers. Therefore, mothers with young children
      generally have lower levels of physical activity and have a higher risk of
      developing non-communicable diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine
      this risk in Japanese working mothers with young children. A cross-sectional
      study was conducted in four nursery schools in Nagano city, Japan. All mothers
      were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding abnormal findings at their
      proximate annual medical examination, and were asked to record their normal
      physical activity. A total of 182 mothers completed the questionnaires, and 36
      reported having abnormal findings (ABN group). Mothers in the ABN group were
      significantly older than those without abnormal findings (NOR; P=0.043). No
      significant differences in physical activity were observed between the two
      groups; however, mothers in the ABN group spent a significantly longer time
      sitting than those in the NOR group (P=0.028). Regarding socioeconomic
      characteristics, mothers in the ABN group had a significantly higher educational
      background (P=0.040) and a higher annual family income (P<0.001) compared with
      those in the NOR group, and significantly more mothers held full-time jobs (55.9
      vs. 36.0%; P=0.005). Full-time working mothers typically had a significantly
      higher family income (P<0.001) and spent a significantly longer time sitting
      (P<0.001) compared with mothers in part-time and other work. Therefore, the
      results of the present study suggest that sedentary lifestyles, namely the amount
      of time spent sitting, may increase the risk of Japanese working mothers with
      young children developing non-communicable diseases.

PMID- 28588668
TI  - Fluid-fluid level on magnetic resonance images may predict the occurrence of
      pituitary adenomas in cystic sellar-suprasellar masses.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate the value of identifying fluid-fluid
      level via preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) images in differentiating
      pituitary adenomas from craniopharyngioma, Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC), and other
      cystic sellar-suprasellar lesions. The data of 293 consecutive patients who
      underwent surgery for sellar-suprasellar lesions between July 2010 and December
      2012 was retrospectively reviewed, and a total of 133 cystic cases were included
      in the present study. MR images and pathological features of all subjects were
      examined. Among the 133 cystic sellar-suprasellar masses, there were 78 cases of
      pituitary adenomas, 31 cases of craniopharyngioma, 21 cases of RCC, one case of
      epidermoid cyst and two cases of abscess. Fluid-fluid levels were identified n 43
      cases (55.13%) of cystic pituitary adenomas, with a single fluid level in 23
      cases, two fluid levels in 8 cases, and three levels or more in 12 cases. Two
      cases (6.45%) of craniopharyngioma, and one case (4.76%) of RCC presented single
      fluid level. No instances of fluid-fluid levels were observed in epidermoid cyst
      or abscess. Fluid-fluid levels were typically exhibited on axial T2-weighted
      images. The identification of fluid-fluid level in cysts provides useful
      diagnostic value in distinguishing pituitary adenoma from other sellar
      suprasellar lesions. The findings of the present study suggest that a sellar
      suprasellar mass with a fluid-fluid level inside the tumor is most likely a
      pituitary adenoma, particularly if multiple fluid levels are observed in the same
      tumor. The fluid-fluid level is typically clearly depicted on axial or sagittal
      MR images, suggesting subacute or chronic hemorrhage in pituitary adenomas.

PMID- 28588669
TI  - Metformin combined with acarbose vs. single medicine in the treatment of type 2
      diabetes: A meta-analysis.
AB  - The present meta-analysis aimed to evaluate metformin combined with acarbose
      compared with monotherapy with either of the two drugs for type 2 diabetes
      (T2DM). Relevant trials were retrieved through searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane
      library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Chongqing VIP
      information network databases. Heterogeneous and homogeneous data were
      statistically combined using a random- and fixed-effects model, respectively. For
      dichotomous and continuous data, the merged effect size was presented as the risk
      ratio (RR) and weighted mean differences (WMD), respectively, with 95% confidence
      interval (CI). All included studies were divided into subgroups. A Funnel plot
      was used to detect publication bias. Review Manager 5.2 software was applied to
      perform the statistical analyses. Meta-analysis revealed that compared with
      metformin monotherapy, combined therapy was significantly more efficacious
      regarding indexes including the total effective rate, fasting blood glucose
      (FBG), blood glucose levels at two post-prandial hours (2HPG) and hemoglobin A1C
      (HbA1c). Similarly, combined therapy showed advantages on indexes including FBG,
      2HPG and HbA1c over acarbose therapy after 4 months of treatment. In conclusion,
      the findings of the present meta-analysis suggested that combined therapy of
      metformin and acarbose appears to be more efficacious than metformin or acarbose
      monotherapy.

PMID- 28588670
TI  - Anticancer effects of beta-elemene with hyperthermia in lung cancer cells.
AB  - beta-elemene is a novel, plant-derived anticancer drug, which has been used to
      target multiple solid tumor types. Hyperthermia is an adjuvant therapeutic
      modality to treat cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms associated with the
      efficacy of these two treatments are largely unknown. The aim of the present
      study was to evaluate the effects of beta-elemene combined with hyperthermia in
      lung cancer cell lines. An MTT assay was used to determine cell viability. The
      cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometry. The morphology of
      cells during apoptosis was determined using a transmission electron microscope.
      The expression levels of P21, survivin, caspase-9, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and
      Bcl-2-like protein 4 (Bax) mRNA were detected using quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction. beta-elemene with hyperthermia treatment significantly inhibited the
      viability and increased the apoptosis rate of A549 cells compared with beta
      elemene treatment alone (P<0.01), and significantly decreased the proportion of
      cells in S phase compared with the control (P<0.01). Morphological observation
      using transmission electron microscopy indicated cross-sectional features of
      apoptosis: Chromatin condensation, reduced integrity of the plasma membrane,
      increased cellular granularity, nuclear collapse and the formation of apoptotic
      bodies. beta-elemene with hyperthermia treatment significantly promoted P21 and
      Bax mRNA expression (P<0.01) and significantly decreased caspase-9, Bcl-2 and
      survivin mRNA expression (P<0.01) in A549 cells. In conclusion, beta-elemene with
      hyperthermia has a significant inhibitory effect on A549 cells. This occurs
      through reducing S phase and inducing apoptosis, via an increase in P21 and Bax
      expression and a decrease in caspase-9, Bcl-2 and survivin expression.

PMID- 28588671
TI  - Multiple sclerosis: Pathology, diagnosis and treatments.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurodegenerative disease affecting the
      central nervous system (CNS). The onset of MS has been typically observed in
      individuals aged from 20 to 40-years, with the female to male ratio of 1:2. MS
      appears as abrupt onset of focal sensory disturbances that is accompanied by
      unilateral painless damage of vision, double vision, limb weakness, unsteadiness
      of gait, and bowel or bladder symptoms. Whereas the exact etiology of the disease
      is unknown, observational research has suggested genetic and environment
      influences through an underlined pathophysiology widely believed to be autoimmune
      in nature. Indeed, plaque of demyelination inside of the CNS with relative
      conservation of axons remains the clinical symptoms of MS. However, considerable
      advances in understanding the pathology have contributed to an early diagnosis,
      particularly the exact neuroanatomical setting of plaques. Accordingly, magnetic
      resonance imaging has been considered as the primarily adjunctive modality for
      the constant detection of abnormal white matter. In addition, the analysis of
      cerebrospinal fluid contents has also been of interest for the diagnosis to
      discriminate other affections such infection or vasculitis. These resulted in a
      broad variety of therapies that considerably control the activity and change the
      course and prognosis of the disease. In the present review, we evaluate the
      current state of knowledge on MS with emphasis on the pathology itself, the
      diagnosis and common therapeutical approaches accurately used.

PMID- 28588672
TI  - ABCG1 as a potential oncogene in lung cancer.
AB  - ATP-binding cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1) is a member of the ABC transporter
      family and regulates cellular cholesterol homeostasis. It has important roles in
      cholesterol homeostasis and tumor immunity, which has, however, not been reported
      in lung cancer. The present study showed that ABCG1 protein is upregulated in
      lung cancer compared with adjacent normal tissues and furthermore, aberrant ABCG1
      expression was detected in lung cancer cell lines. ABCG1 was shown to promote the
      proliferation of HKULC4 lung cancer cells. Moreover, ABCG1 was found to regulate
      proliferation-, apoptosis- and cancer stem cell-associated markers in HKULC4
      cells, implying that ABCG1 has important roles not only in the regulation of
      proliferation but also of apoptosis and cancer stem cells. A microRNA microarray
      analysis showed that ABCG1 significantly downregulated miR-29a, -b and -c
      expression in HKULC4 cells. Finally, it was demonstrated that ABCG1 promoted the
      migration and invasion in HKULC4 cells. Thus, ABCG1 may be a novel therapeutic
      target to improve the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

PMID- 28588673
TI  - Modulatory effects of hydrochlorothiazide and triamterene on resistant
      hypertension patients.
AB  - The present study explored the modulatory potential of hydrochlorothiazide and
      triamterene on resistant hypertension patients. The mechanistic information for
      resistant hypertension was explored by studying the pressure-natriuresis curves
      between the salt sensitive population and non-salt sensitive population. A cohort
      of 23 patients with non-hypertension (NH) (13 males and 10 females; aged from 23
      to 62 years), 26 patients with controlled hypertension (CH) (14 males and 12
      females; aged from 19 to 72 years) and 23 patients with resistant hypertension
      (RH) (13 males and 10 females; aged from 19 to 76 years) were selected. The
      patients were divided into two main groups on the basis of salt sensitivity viz.
      salt sensitive (SS) and non-SS (NSS) groups. These two groups were further
      classified into four subgroups based on the diuretic drug used.
      Hydrochlorothiazide-treated subgroups were named as salt sensitive
      hydrochlorothiazide (SSHy) and non-SSHy (NSSHy) groups. Similarly, triamterene
      treated subgroups were named as salt sensitive triamterene (SSTr) and non-SSTr
      (NSSTr) groups. Treatment continued for 2 weeks and the pressure-natriuresis
      curves were recorded. Additionally, the plasma aldosterone and renin activity was
      monitored by radioimmunoassay. The pressure-natriuresis curves of the SS group
      were shifted towards the right relative to NSS group. On the other hand,
      hydrochlorothiazide and triamterene treatments reversed the changes of pressure
      natriuresis curves. Moreover, significant differences were observed among various
      important indices including plasma aldosterone, renin activity, office blood
      pressure as evaluated by the chronic salt load test and diuretic intervention
      tests. The study concludes that hydrochlorothiazide and triamterene hold good
      potential as an efficient modulator of resistive hypertension.

PMID- 28588674
TI  - Resveratrol ameliorates diabetic nephropathy in rats through negative regulation
      of the p38 MAPK/TGF-beta1 pathway.
AB  - Resveratrol (RSV) has been shown to have a renoprotective effect against diabetic
      nephropathy, but the underlying mechanisms of this have not been fully
      elucidated. The aim of the current study was to explore the mechanisms
      responsible for the therapeutic effects of RSV in rat mesangial cells in vitro
      and in a rat model of diabetic nephropathy. The viability of CRL-2573 rat
      mesangial cells and their expression levels of p38, phosphorylated (p)-p38,
      transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) and fibronectin were assessed in
      response to treatment with high glucose, with or without RSV. Diabetic
      nephropathy was also induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by streptozotocin treatment.
      At 8 weeks, basic biochemical parameters and histopathological abnormalities as
      well as the expression of p38, p-p38, TGF-beta1 and fibronectin in rat kidneys
      were compared between control diabetic rats and those treated with 20 mg/kg RSV
      daily for 4 weeks. In the mesangial cell line, RSV inhibited high glucose-induced
      increases in cell viability and fibronectin expression by significantly reducing
      p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and TGF-beta1 expression
      (P<0.05). In diabetic rats, RSV significantly decreased blood glucose, serum
      creatinine and urinary albumin levels, as well as the kidney weight and ratio of
      kidney weight/body weight compared with the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, RSV
      ameliorated renal histological changes and downregulated the expression of p-p38,
      TGF-beta1 and fibronectin in the kidneys of diabetic rats. These data suggested
      that RSV protected renal tissue from diabetes-induced injury and that this
      activity may be via inhibition of the p38 MAPK/TGF-beta1 signaling pathway.

PMID- 28588675
TI  - Fragmented QRS complex is a prognostic marker of microvascular reperfusion and
      changes in LV function occur in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction
      who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the in-hospital and long-term prognostic
      value of fragmented QRS complex (fQRS) for microvascular reperfusion and changes
      in left ventricular (LV) function in patients with ST elevation myocardial
      infarction (STEMI) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI). A total of 216 patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI were included in
      the current study. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence
      (n=126) or absence (n=90) of fQRS following electrocardiograms (ECGs) on
      admission. Following primary PCI and follow up, patients were divided into four
      groups based on new onset, resolution, persistence and absence of fQRS. Major
      adverse cardiac events were defined to include cardiovascular death, arrhythmia,
      heart failure, reinfarction and target vessel revascularization. The percentage
      of patients with heart failure and microvascular reperfusion differed
      significantly between the fQRS(+) and fQRS(-) groups. Levels of N-terminal pro
      brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), Peak creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and
      Troponin I levels were observed to be significantly higher in the fQRS(+) group
      compared with the fQRS(-) group. In univariate logistic regression analysis, left
      ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), NT-proBNP, Troponin I, Peak CK-MB and
      microvascular reperfusion were found to be associated with fQRS. Multivariate
      analysis identified that LVEF, NT-proBNP, Troponin I and microvascular
      reperfusion may be independent predictors of fQRS. The presence of fQRS was
      demonstrated to be associated with left ventricular dysfunction at follow up
      assessments. The presence of fQRS was not only significantly associated with
      myocardial microvascular reperfusion and left ventricular function, but was also
      a prognostic marker in STEMI.

PMID- 28588676
TI  - Xuebijing injection attenuates pulmonary injury by reducing oxidative stress and
      proinflammatory damage in rats with heat stroke.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the protective effect of Xuebijing
      injection (XBJ) on lung injury in heat-stroke rats and the underlying mechanisms.
      In total, 54 rats were randomly assigned to non-thermal, saline vehicle and XBJ
      groups. The rectal temperature (Tc), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and respiratory
      rate (RR) of the rats were recorded. The time-point of heat stroke and the time
      of survival were assessed, and indicators of arterial blood gas were regularly
      measured from 0 to 60 min. The concentration of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-10 was also determined. At the end of
      the experiment, lung tissue was harvested for histopathological analysis.
      Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression
      was measured by immunohistochemistry. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase
      mediated dUTP nick-end labeling was used to measure apoptosis. XBJ pretreatment
      prolonged the decline of clinical characteristics, as demonstrated by increases
      in Tc, MAP, RR and indicators in arterial blood gas in rats under heat stress.
      The time until heat stroke and the survival time in the Saline group were shorter
      than in rats treated with XBJ. The expression of iNOS in lung tissue and the
      concentration of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-10 in the bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluid of rats treated with saline was higher than in rats with XBJ pre-treatment.
      Contrarily, SOD expression in rats treated with saline was decreased compared
      with that in rats treated with XBJ. Moreover, the apoptotic rate in the lung
      tissues of rats with saline treatment was higher than that in rats treated with
      XBJ. In conclusion, XBJ delayed the development of heat stroke and increased the
      survival time in rats under heat-stress by ameliorating pulmonary failure and
      acute lung injury. The underlying mechanisms of this effect may be the reduction
      of inflammatory cytokines as well as attenuation of oxidative stress and
      apoptosis by XBJ.

PMID- 28588677
TI  - Comparative study of conventional US, contrast enhanced US and enhanced MR for
      the follow-up of prostatic radiofrequency ablation.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of
      different imaging methods during follow-up of prostatic radiofrequency ablation.
      Prostatic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was performed in 20 healthy beagle dogs.
      Various imaging examinations were used to monitor the results of RFA, including
      conventional ultrasound (US), contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and enhanced
      magnetic resonance (MR). Imaging exams were performed at five phases: Immediately
      following RFA, one week later, one month later, three months later and six months
      later. The morphology for each imaging test and histological results were
      recorded and compared in each phase. Based on the actual results from autopsy,
      the accuracy of those imaging exams was evaluated. The canine prostate gland
      demonstrated typical coagulative necrosis immediately following RFA. The lesion
      would develop into stable cyst if no other complications occurred within the six
      month follow-up. Regarding the RFA lesion volume measurement and the reflection
      of pathological changes, conventional US was not able to accurately measure the
      volume of RFA lesion and missed many more details concerning the RFA-treated area
      than CEUS and MR during the three months. The results from CEUS exhibited
      comparable accuracy to those from enhanced MR at each phase. However, there were
      no significant differences in the results from US, CEUS and MR at six months,
      which may contribute to the complete formation of lesion cyst. In the early
      phase, conventional US was not sufficient for evaluating the efficacy of RFA.
      Enhanced US and MR provided clear images and accurate information. However, CEUS
      has the advantage of being more economical, using more convenient equipment and
      faster scanning, thus identifying it as the more feasible choice. Furthermore, no
      notable advantages were observed among any image examinations in the long-term
      follow-up.

PMID- 28588678
TI  - Mechanism of N-acetyl-cysteine inhibition on the cytotoxicity induced by titanium
      dioxide nanoparticles in JB6 cells transfected with activator protein-1.
AB  - The present study investigated the mechanism of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC)
      inhibition on the cytotoxicity induced by titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles
      (NPs) using murine epidermal JB6 cells transfected with activator protein-1 (AP
      1), JB6-AP-1 cells. Confocal microscopy was performed to localize TiO2 NPs in
      cultured cells. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) present in cells was
      evaluated by staining with 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and
      dihydroethidium. AP-1 gene expression levels in the cells were detected using the
      luciferase assay. Confocal microscopy indicated that TiO2 NPs passed through the
      cell membrane into the cytoplasm; however, they did not penetrate the nuclear
      membrane. The present findings indicated that NAC markedly inhibited ROS
      generation and significantly inhibited cytotoxicity (P<0.05) induced by TiO2 NPs.
      Furthermore, alternative studies have demonstrated that AP-1 luciferase activity
      induced by TiO2 NPs may be significantly inhibited by NAC. In conclusion, the
      ability for NAC to inhibit the cytotoxicity induced by TiO2 NPs may primarily
      occur by blocking ROS generation in the cultured cells.

PMID- 28588679
TI  - microRNA-664 enhances proliferation, migration and invasion of lung cancer cells.
AB  - Altered microRNA (miR) expression serves an important role in the development and
      progression of lung cancer. In the present study, the effect of miR-664 on
      proliferation, migration and invasion of lung cancer cells was assessed. The
      proliferation of lung cancer cells with an overexpression of miR-664 was examined
      via MTT assay. The Caspase-Glo3/7 assay was used to examine the effect of miR-664
      on cisplatin-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. The migration and invasion
      of lung cancer cells were assessed by Transwell migration and matrigel invasion
      assays. Western blot analysis was used to examine the protein expression levels.
      miR-664 improved the proliferation of lung cancer cells and inhibited cisplatin
      induced apoptosis of A549 and A427 cells. Furthermore, altered expression of miR
      664 affected migration and invasion of lung cancer cells. In addition, a miR-664
      mimic decreased E-cadherin expression and increased vementin and Snail expression
      in lung cancer cells. Notably, the expression level of protein kinase B in A549
      cells was changed following altered expression of miR-664. The results of the
      present study suggest that miR-664 serves an essential role in tumor development
      and progression in lung cancer.

PMID- 28588680
TI  - Early clinical characteristics of bacterial endophthalmitis in retinopathy of
      prematurity after intravitreal bevacizumab injection: A case report.
AB  - Intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) is emerging as a safe and effective
      therapy for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP); however, follow-up investigations
      after IVB have indicated that endophthalmitis, a rare and devastating
      complication, may develop. The present study reports a case of an infant with ROP
      who developed endophthalmitis after IVB infection. The infant was administered
      with an intravitreal injection of broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat the
      endophthalmitis. A favorable anatomic outcome was achieved after follow-up. From
      this case, it was discovered that the early clinical characteristics of
      endophthalmitis infection secondary to IVB in premature infants include: i) The
      clinical symptoms of endophthalmitis infection appearing as early as 3-5 days
      after IVB; ii) a white membranous plaque on the retina surface with an obscure
      circular boundary; iii) a plaque that enlarges to a gray flocculent mass and
      intrudes the vitreous body, where the hazing surrounds the lesion; and iv)
      conjunctival hyperemia and cornea edema in the anterior segment of the affected
      eye. This case also indicated that timely retinal screening with RetCam or a
      binocular ophthalmoscope 3-5 days after IVB may be effective for detecting early
      stage endophthalmitis in infants who are unable to complain of a loss of visual
      acuity. From the present case report, it is advisable that the same type of
      screening be performed 3-5 days after other types of eye surgery, such as
      cataract extraction surgery, to detect early stage endophthalmitis. Furthermore,
      the present case also revealed that an early intravitreal injection of broad
      spectrum antibiotics may be an effective treatment for premature infants with
      bacterial endophthalmitis.

PMID- 28588681
TI  - Effects of Gui Zhu Yi Kun formula on the P53/AMPK pathway of autophagy in
      granulosa cells of rats with polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanism
      associated with the traditional Chinese medicine formula Gui Zhu Yi Kun formula
      (GZYKF), in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In this study,
      granulosa cells (GCs) of rats with PCOS were cultured and treated with
      testosterone propionate (TP) alone or with serum from rats treated with different
      doses of GZYKF. The effect of TP on cell growth was assayed using the MTT method.
      Expression levels of Beclin-1, light chain (LC)3, mechanistic target of rapamycin
      (mTOR), tumor suppressor p53 (p53), adenosine monophosphate-activated protein
      kinase (AMPK), sestrin2 and tuberous sclerosis protein 1/2 were evaluated using
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. It was demonstrated
      that TP increased the expression of Beclin-1 and LC3, whereas GZYKF significantly
      decreased the TP-induced expression of Beclin-1 (P<0.01). Additionally, GCs
      treated with GZYKF exhibited significant increases in mTOR, phosphorylated mTOR
      and AMPKalpha expression levels, and significant reductions in p53 and sestrin2
      expression levels were observed. In conclusion, the findings of the present study
      suggest that a reduction in ovarian GCs in rats with PCOS may be associated with
      GC autophagy. Furthermore, the effects of GZYKF in mediating the p53/AMPK pathway
      may inhibit GC autophagy, which suggests a possible novel mechanism underlying
      the treatment of PCOS with GZYKF.

PMID- 28588683
TI  - Expression and immunogenicity of NY-ESO-1 in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Serum assays of NY-ESO-1 antibodies provide a guide to discriminate between
      patients who suffer from different types of cancer. In the present study, the
      expression of NY-ESO-1 was detected with the aim to identify a novel tumor
      antigen in colorectal cancer (CRC). Sera were obtained from 89 healthy
      individuals and 236 patients with CRC with stage I, II, III and IV tumors. The NY
      ESO-1 autoantibody levels were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay. The mRNA and protein expression levels of NY-ESO-1 were detected using
      reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry,
      respectively, in 60 CRC and paired adjacent non-tumor tissues. NY-ESO-1 antibody
      was detected in 40 of the 236 (16.9%) patients with CRC. The NY-ESO-1 antibody
      combined with carcinoembryonic antigen enhanced the sensitivity, from 52.1 to
      62.7%, of the diagnosis of CRC. The frequency of antibody positivity increased
      with the TNM cancer stage (8.8 vs. 28.3% in stages I+II and III+IV,
      respectively). The mRNA and protein expression levels of NY-ESO-1 were
      significantly higher in CRC tissue than in adjacent non-tumor tissue. In
      conclusion, NY-ESO-1 is frequently expressed in CRC with the capacity of inducing
      a humoral immune response in CRC patients, exhibiting the potential to be a
      promising biomarker for CRC.

PMID- 28588684
TI  - Successful treatment of granulomatosis with polyangiitis with hydropneumothorax
      using corticosteroids and immunosuppressant.
AB  - Pneumothorax and pleural effusion is a rare and serious complication of
      granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). The present study reported a case with a
      history of sinusitis for 20 years, dry cough for three years and exacerbated
      purulent nasal discharge and recurrent skin ulcers for two years. The patient
      experienced sudden difficulty in breathing two months prior to presentation. Lung
      computed tomography (CT) showed multiple bilateral lung nodules and cavitary
      nodules as well as right hydropneumothorax. Paranasal sinus CT showed soft tissue
      infiltration. The cytoplasmic pattern of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (c
      ANCA) was positive and anti-proteinase 3 (PR3) antibodies, erythrocyte
      sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were elevated. After pleural drainage
      and methylprednisolone pulse treatment, followed by cyclophosphamide and
      cyclosporine, the patient's symptoms were ameliorated, lungs were re-expanded,
      and c-ANCA, PR3 and inflammatory markers returned to normal levels.

PMID- 28588682
TI  - Comparison of biological characteristics of nucleus pulposus mesenchymal stem
      cells derived from non-degenerative and degenerative human nucleus pulposus.
AB  - Cell therapy using mesenchymal stem cells provides a promising approach for the
      treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). In recent years, human
      nucleus pulposus mesenchymal stem cells (NPMSCs) have been identified in nucleus
      pulposus tissue and displayed great potential for the regeneration of IDD.
      However, biological differences between non-degenerative and degenerative nucleus
      pulposus-derived NPMSCs have remained to be defined. The aim of the present study
      was to compare the biological characteristics of human NPMSCs derived from non
      degenerative and degenerative nucleus pulposus. NPMSCs were isolated from non
      degenerative and degenerative nucleus pulposus, which were assessed using the
      Pfirrmann grading system. The biological characteristics of the NPMSCs, including
      the expression of surface markers, multipotent differentiation, colony formation,
      chemotactic cell migration, cell activity and stemness gene expression were
      compared. It was found that NPMSCs could be obtained from non-degenerative and
      degenerative human nucleus pulposus. However, degenerative nucleus pulposus
      derived NPMSCs displayed decreased ability of colony formation, chemotactic
      migration, cell activity and expression of stemness genes compared with non
      degenerative nucleus pulposus-derived NPMSCs. Therefore, NPMSCs derived from non
      degenerative and degenerative nucleus pulposus show different biological
      behaviors. The degenerative status of nucleus pulposus tissue should be
      considered when selecting NPMSCs as a source for clinical application.

PMID- 28588685
TI  - Lumbar spinal intradural neurocysticercosis: A case report.
AB  - Neurocysticercosis is a parasitic disease that results from the larvae of Taenia
      solium. While neurocysticercosis is considered as the most common parasitic
      infection of the nervous system, spinal neurocysticercosis is rare. The present
      case study investigated a 59-year-old woman, who was admitted to our hospital
      with pain in the bilateral lower limbs and urinary complaints in the form of
      straining of micturition with increasing frequency. Magnetic resonance imaging
      revealed an intradural extramedullary lesion extending from L1/2 to S1 of the
      spine. Subsequently, a laminectomy from L1 to S1 was performed 3 days post
      presentation. Intraoperatively, a thin-walled cyst with clear fluid was
      identified, extending from L2 to S1. The exposed, white and mucoid cysticerci was
      removed completely. Which on pathological examination was identified to be
      cysticercosis.

PMID- 28588687
TI  - Retroperitoneal fibrosis and constrictive pericarditis-IgG4 related diseases: A
      case report.
AB  - Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) is a rare disease characterized by infiltration of
      inflammatory cells and deposition of thickened fibrous tissues. The present study
      presents the case of a 53-year-old patient treated for generalized weakness and
      fatigue for 1 year prior to hospitalization. A cardiac ultrasound revealed
      pericardial effusion that required pericardiocentesis, during which 1,400 ml
      serous fluid with the characteristics of an exudate was aspirated. A
      pericardiectomy was performed due to persistent effusion and histological
      examination indicated pericardial fibrosis. A thoracic-abdominal computed
      tomography scan revealed the presence of retroperitoneal fibrosis. The patient
      was treated with corticosteroids and azathioprine. Follow-up examinations showed
      a significant reduction in the amount of abdominal fibrous tissue and no increase
      in pericardial effusion 1 year following the end of treatment. The patient
      continues to have regular follow-up control examinations with a cardiologist and
      nephrologist.

PMID- 28588686
TI  - Effect of continuous renal replacement therapy on kidney injury molecule-1 and
      neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in patients with septic acute kidney
      injury.
AB  - Kidney injury molecule-1 (Kim-1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin
      (NGAL) have been investigated as biomarkers for acute kidney injury (AKI).
      However, they are seldom investigated in patients with septic AKI treated with
      continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the therapeutic effectiveness and possible mechanisms of CRRT in
      septic AKI by observing the changes in Kim-1 and NGAL levels. A group of 38
      patients with septic AKI was randomly divided into the conventional drug
      treatment group (group A) and the CRRT group (group B). All patients were treated
      with standard antisepsis agents, and group B was additionally submitted to CRRT
      for 24 h. The levels of Kim-1 and NGAL in serum, urine and the ultrafiltrate of
      CRRT were measured prior to and at 12, 24, and 48 h after treatment. In group A,
      urinary Kim-1 (uKim-1) levels at 12, 24 and 48 h were lower than prior to
      treatment (P<0.05), whereas urinary NGAL (uNGAL) showed no difference among the
      various time points (P>0.05). In group B, uKim-1 was decreased at 24 and 48 h
      compared with before treatment (all P<0.05), whereas uNGAL was decreased at 48 h
      (P<0.05). Serum Kim-1 did not change with time in groups A and B (P>0.05),
      whereas serum NGAL was increased after treatment in group A (P<0.05) but did not
      change in group B (P>0.05). Kim-1 and NGAL were not detected in the ultrafiltrate
      of CRRT. uKim-1 and uNGAL decreased significantly after CRRT, and therefore may
      be used to reflect the change of renal function during CRRT and to evaluate the
      therapeutic effectiveness of the method.

PMID- 28588690
TI  - Insight into the binding interaction of kaempferol-7-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside
      with human serum albumin by multiple fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular
      modeling.
AB  - Human serum albumin (HSA) is a transporting protein that has multiple functions.
      The binding interaction between HSA and small molecules affects its function and
      efficacy of small molecules. The present study reports that kaempferol-7-O-alpha
      L-rhamnopyranoside (KR) interacts with HSA as indicated by multiple fluorescence
      spectroscopy and molecular modeling. KR can quench the intrinsic fluorescence of
      HSA through the formation of a KR-HSA complex in a static manner. In addition,
      the binding site is located in subdomain IIA as confirmed by competitive
      experiments using site-specific warfarin and ibuprofen, and the driving forces
      include hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces and electrostatic interaction
      derived from a thermodynamic analysis. The formation of KR-HSA is exothermic and
      spontaneous. Although there is no hydrophobic interaction around Tyr and Trp
      residues, the secondary structure of HSA changes through the formation of the KR
      HSA complex. In addition, docking results visualized and further supported these
      results. Finally, these results can provide more information to further
      investigate the use of KR on the prevention of diabetic complications.

PMID- 28588688
TI  - Combined effects of long-pulsed neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser,
      diprospan and 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of keloid scars.
AB  - Keloids are benign tumors that originate from scar tissues, but they usually
      overgrow beyond the original wounds. In a three-month single-center clinical
      trial, 69 patients were randomly divided into three groups. Patients in group 1
      were treated with intralesional injection of diprospan (2 mg betamethasone
      disodium phosphate and 5 mg betamethasone dipropionate in 1 ml) with one-month
      intervals for three months. Patients in groups 2 and 3 were injected with a
      combination of 0.5 ml 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 25 mg/ml) and diprospan as above for
      three months also. Prior to each injection, the keloids of patients in group 3
      were additionally irradiated by a 1,064-nm neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet
      (Nd:YAG) laser with a single pulse at an energy density of 90-100 J/cm2 and a
      pulse width of 12 msec. Clinical responses were evaluated by patient self
      assessment and overall assessment by an observer according to the clinical signs
      of erythema, pruritus and pliability. A total of sixty-two patients completed the
      tests of the present study. At 2 and 3 months, the patients in all treatment
      groups showed an acceptable improvement in nearly all measurements. At the end of
      the study, the erythema and toughness score was significantly reduced and itch
      reduction was significantly greater in the diprospan + 5-FU + Nd:YAG group when
      compared to those in the other groups (P<0.05 for all indexes). The acceptable
      responses (good to excellent improvements) reported by blinded observers were as
      follows: 12% in the diprospan group, 48% in the diprospan + 5-FU group and 69% in
      the diprospan + 5-FU + Nd:YAG group. All of the results indicated that the
      combination of diprospan + 5-FU + Nd:YAG was the most efficacious therapy for
      keloid scars.

PMID- 28588689
TI  - Safety of neural stem cell transplantation in patients with severe traumatic
      brain injury.
AB  - Neural stem cell (NSC) therapy is a promising treatment for traumatic brain
      injury (TBI). In addition, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been investigated
      for the treatment of TBI due to their functions in neural regeneration and their
      neurotrophic effect. In the present study, the safety, feasibility and biological
      effects of autologous MSC-derived NSC-like cell transplantation were investigated
      in 10 patients with severe TBI. All patients received intravenous or intrathecal
      injections of human NSC-like cells and were evaluated with physical and
      neurological examinations, routine laboratory tests and neuroradiological
      findings. The results indicated that the majority of patients experienced
      improved neurological function in different degrees during the follow-up period.
      No mortality or serious adverse events were observed in any patient subsequent to
      transplantation. Higher serum levels of nerve growth factor and brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor were detected following the transplantation, as compared with
      the levels prior to treatment. Overall, the present results suggest that
      transplantation of autologous NSC-like cells is feasible and appears to be safe
      for the treatment of non-acute severe TBI.

PMID- 28588691
TI  - Chronic hepatitis B patients with high liver fibrosis levels should receive
      antiviral treatment.
AB  - The present study aimed to evaluate improvements in liver stiffness (LS) measured
      by transient elastography (TE) and associated factors in Chinese patients with
      chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treated with entecavir (ETV). A total of 190
      consecutive CHB patients who received entecavir therapy and two LS measurements
      (LSMs) were enrolled in this retrospective study (average age, 47 years; 137
      males [72.1%]), including 111 patients without liver cirrhosis (group 0) and 79
      patients with liver cirrhosis (group 1). Each patient received LSM twice with an
      interval of six months. Normalized aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were
      accompanied by a significant reduction in LSM values (P<0.001) in each group.
      Multivariate analysis revealed that a higher initial LS value in groups 0 and 1,
      and a higher prothrombin time activity in group 1 was associated with a greater
      decline of the LS value. Higher initial quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen
      (qHBsAg) levels were correlated with a greater decline of the qHBsAg value in the
      two groups. In conclusion, LS values in CHB patients significantly improved after
      24 weeks of entecavir therapy. The results suggested that higher LSM values at
      baseline contributed to a greater regression of LSM, and higher initial qHBsAg
      values could lead to greater qHBsAg reduction during ETV therapy. Extrapolating
      our results, we might be able to consider CHB patients who have higher initial
      LSM values or have higher levels of qHBsAg values when enrolled would have more
      benefit during ETV treatment.

PMID- 28588692
TI  - Strategies for the evaluation of DNA damage and repair mechanisms in cancer.
AB  - DNA lesions and the repair mechanisms that maintain the integrity of genomic DNA
      are important in preventing carcinogenesis and its progression. Notably,
      mutations in DNA repair mechanisms are associated with cancer predisposition
      syndromes. Additionally, these mechanisms maintain the genomic integrity of
      cancer cells. The majority of therapies established to treat cancer are genotoxic
      agents that induce DNA damage, promoting cancer cells to undergo apoptotic death.
      Effective methods currently exist to evaluate the diverse effects of genotoxic
      agents and the underlying molecular mechanisms that repair DNA lesions. The
      current study provides an overview of a number of methods that are available for
      the detection, analysis and quantification of underlying DNA repair mechanisms.

PMID- 28588693
TI  - Effect of traditional Chinese medicine components on multidrug resistance in
      tumors mediated by P-glycoprotein.
AB  - Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major cause of chemotherapy failure. It occurs
      when an organism is resistant to one type of drug, but also develops resistance
      to other drugs with different structures and targets. There is a high incidence
      of MDR in cancer chemotherapy, therefore, finding an effective and non-toxic MDR
      reversal agent is an important goal, particularly for P-glycoprotein-mediated MDR
      in cancer. Improvements continue to be made to the status and understanding of
      traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), due to the advantages of low toxicity and
      relatively minor side effects. Therefore TCM is currently being used in the
      treatment of various types of diseases. In recent years, numerous components of
      TCM have been identified to be effective in reversing MDR by downregulating
      expression of the drug transporter membrane protein, recovering changes in
      enzymes involved in detoxification and metabolism and repairing the cell
      apoptosis pathway. The present study summarizes the anticancerous properties and
      MDR reversing components of traditional medicinal plants commonly used in the
      treatment of cancer.

PMID- 28588694
TI  - High level of calpain1 promotes cancer cell invasion and migration in oral
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Calpain1, termed conventional calpain and a member of the Ca2+-dependent neutral
      cysteine proteases, is considered to be involved in cancer formation and
      development. However, the effect of calpain1 on oral squamous cell carcinoma
      (OSCC) remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate
      the possibility of calpain1 as a potential molecular target for OSCC diagnosis
      and therapy. The present study demonstrates that calpain1 was overexpressed in
      OSCC cell lines and 4/7 of the tumor tissues in paired samples of tumor and
      noncancerous matched tissues (NCMT). In a cohort of 125 patients with primary
      OSCC, the high expression of calpain1 was an independent predictor for overall
      survival in a multivariate analysis (P=0.022). Furthermore, RNA interference
      mediated suppression of calpain1 expression reduced the proliferation, migration
      and invasion potential of the HSC3 and CAL27 OSCC cell lines, but did not
      increase their apoptosis. These findings indicate that calpain1 may be a useful
      biomarker for novel prognostic and therapeutic strategies in oral squamous cell
      carcinoma.

PMID- 28588696
TI  - MAPK/P53-mediated FASN expression in bone tumors.
AB  - The correlation between mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/P53 signaling
      dependent fatty acid synthase (FASN) expression and bone tumors was examined in
      the present study. We established the SH081 bone tumor cell line, which was used
      to determine the expression of FASN and MAPK/P53 at the mRNA and protein levels
      in bone tumor cells and normal cells. Compared with the normal cells, the
      expression of MAPK/P53 and FASN mRNA was significantly elevated, whereas
      inhibition of MAPK/P53 decreased FASN expression. Similarly, the expression of
      FASN and MAPK/P53 proteins were significantly elevated in the bone tumor cells
      and treatment with the MAPK/P53 inhibitor decreased the expression of FASN. To
      determine the role of MAPK/P53 in cell proliferation, bone cancer cells were
      treated with MAPK/P53 inhibitor and the results showed a reduced proliferation
      rate. Thus, FASN promotes the development of bone tumors and MAPK/P53 signaling
      contributes to bone tumors by upregulating the expression of FASN.

PMID- 28588695
TI  - Canonical and alternative transcript expression of PAX6 and CXCR4 in pancreatic
      cancer.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease with a propensity for invading and
      metastasizing into the surrounding tissues, including the liver and intestines. A
      number of factors are aberrantly overexpressed in this tumor type and actively
      promote cancer progression and metastasis. The present study demonstrates that
      paired box transcription factor 6 (PAX6) and C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4)
      are frequently co-expressed in primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma tumors and
      established cell lines. Expression analysis methods used in the present study
      included evaluation of protein expression by western blot analysis and
      immunofluorescence, transcript expression levels by reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and luciferase assays utilizing
      regulatory elements from the CXCR4 gene locus. Canonical PAX6 and alternative
      splice variant PAX6(5a) proteins are expressed in pancreatic cancer and can drive
      gene expression through a conserved enhancer element within the first intron of
      the CXCR4 gene. As demonstrated by the introduction of an exogenous reporter
      construct with or without the intronic enhancer, loss of this element inhibited
      gene expression within numerous pancreatic cancer cell lines including Panc1, MIA
      PaCa2 and BxPC3. All of the pancreatic cancer cell lines expressed the canonical
      CXCR4B transcript in addition to the alternatively spliced variant CXCR4A as
      determined by RT-qPCR experiments. The discovery of variant transcripts in
      pancreatic cancer cells may provide new candidates for future targeted therapies.

PMID- 28588697
TI  - MicroRNA-18a inhibits ovarian cancer growth via directly targeting TRIAP1 and
      IPMK.
AB  - The role of microRNA-18a (miRNA/miR-18a) as a tumor suppressor or promoter in a
      number of different types of cancer has been reported. However, to date, the
      expression and the effects of miR-18a in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remain
      elusive. In the present study, the expression of miR-18a in patient EOC tissues
      and ovarian cancer cell lines was investigated using the reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Luciferase assays and western blotting
      were performed to detect the potential direct targets of miR-18a. An A2780cp
      intraperitoneal mouse model, and Cell Counting Kit 8, flow cytometry and terminal
      deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assays, were used to
      investigate the effect of miR-18a on tumor growth in vivo and in vitro. The
      results indicated that the expression of miR-18a was reduced in EOC tissue and in
      the investigated ovarian cancer cell lines compared with non-malignant (normal)
      ovarian tissues and the human ovarian epithelium cell line, respectively.
      Overexpression of miR-18a in the A2780s and A2780cp cell lines significantly
      induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. It was demonstrated that miR-18a
      directly targets tumor protein p53-regulating inhibitor of apoptosis gene 1 and
      inositol phosphate multikinase, hence regulating the expression of downstream
      targets. The A2780cp intraperitoneal mouse model was employed and the results
      indicated that miR-18a may inhibit A2780cp intraperitoneal tumor growth in vivo
      by inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Together, the results of the
      present study demonstrated that miR-18a has a role as a tumor suppressor by
      inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Assessment of miR-18a expression
      may provide a novel method for diagnosis and be a therapeutic target for EOC.

PMID- 28588699
TI  - Irradiation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with 7.5 Gy X-rays prior to
      donor lymphocyte infusion inhibits proliferation while preserving cytotoxicity,
      and improves the effectiveness of HSCT in patients with hematological
      malignancies.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of different X-ray doses
      on the proliferation and cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs), particularly lymphocytes, in order to assess whether this reduces the
      incidence of graft vs. host disease (GVHD) while preserving the graft vs. tumor
      (GVT) effect in patients with hematological malignancies following hematopoietic
      stem cell transplantation (HSCT). PBMCs from healthy donors were irradiated with
      X-rays at doses of 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 25 or 50 Gy, and their proliferative
      activity was determined using a WST-8 assay kit. The cytotoxic activity of non
      irradiated PBMCs and PBMCs irradiated with 7.5 Gy X-rays was tested in the
      leukemic cell line K562 and its Adriamycin-resistant strain K562A using a lactate
      dehydrogenase assay. The clinical data of 7 patients who received 7.5 Gy X-ray
      irradiated PBMC infusions following autologous HSCT were analyzed. PBMCs
      irradiated with >=7.5 Gy X-rays exhibited a complete inhibition of proliferation.
      PBMCs irradiated with 7.5 Gy X-rays exhibited significantly increased cytotoxic
      activity towards K562 cells compared with K562A cells (P<0.05). There was no
      significant difference in cytotoxicity between irradiated and non-irradiated
      PBMCs, irrespective of the target cell, K562 or K562A (P>0.05). Based on the in
      vitro data, clinical data from patients who received 7.5 Gy X-ray-irradiated PBMC
      infusions following HSCT between January 2005 and January 2013 were assessed
      retrospectively. A total of 7 patients were included in the current study. The
      majority achieved various degrees of remission following donor lymphocyte
      infusion (DLI) and none suffered from GVHD. This indicates that 7.5 Gy-irradiated
      PMBCs have a potential application in DLI for the treatment of patients following
      HSCT. However, further studies on larger patient cohorts are required to assess
      the clinical potential of 7.5 Gy-irradiated PBMCs for preserving the GVT effect
      while avoiding GVHD following HSCT.

PMID- 28588698
TI  - Clinical significance of the estrogen-modifying enzymes steroid sulfatase and
      estrogen sulfotransferase in epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - 17beta-estradiol (E2) can contribute to the progression of epithelial ovarian
      cancer (EOC). Although the majority of patients with EOC are postmenopausal
      woman, when de novo estrogen production in the ovary has ceased, ovarian cancer
      cells remain exposed to estrogens synthesized locally in the cancer cells from
      inactive sulfonated steroid hormone precursors-such as estrone sulfate taken up
      from the circulation via the sulfatase pathway. An abundance of the estrogen
      modifying enzymes, including estrogen-activating steroid sulfatase (STS) and
      estrogen-inactivating estrogen-sulfotransferase (SULT1E1), is important for
      providing active estrogen to EOC cells. Therefore, the present study determined
      the levels of SULT1E1, STS and estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) protein in
      paraffin-embedded specimens from 206 patients with Federation of Gynecology and
      Obstetrics stage II-IV EOC treated with debulking surgery and standard platinum
      based adjuvant chemotherapy. The levels of STS, SULT1E1 and ERalpha were assessed
      by automated quantitative microscopy-based image analysis subsequent to
      immunohistochemical staining. Significantly higher SULT1E1 levels were observed
      in better differentiated EOC tumors compared to grade 3 EOC tumors (P=0.001). STS
      and SULT1E1 levels were positively associated with ERalpha abundance (P<0.001 and
      P=0.001, respectively). In advanced stage high-grade serous EOC (HGSOC; n=132),
      the most frequent and lethal type of ovarian cancer, SULT1E1 expression was
      significantly associated with a better overall survival rate (hazard ratio 0.66,
      95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.94; P=0.005). These results highlight the
      importance of SULT1E1-mediated estrogen inactivation in EOC, particularly HGSOC.
      Therefore, targeting the sulfatase pathway is a potential endocrine therapeutic
      intervention for certain patients with estrogen-responsive EOC.

PMID- 28588700
TI  - Relationship between DLK1 gene promoter region DNA methylation and non-small cell
      lung cancer biological behavior.
AB  - We investigated the possible association between DLKI gene promoter region
      methylation and the increased invasion capacity of non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). Lung cancer cell line H1299, as well as the gene transfection and RNA
      interference technology were used to build DLK gene overexpression and knockdown
      cells. An in vitro invasion assay was performed to observe the changes in the
      invasion ability of lung cancer cells. Western blot analysis was used to verify
      Notchl and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression levels and a sulfurous
      acid sequencing technique was used to test the DNA methylation level in the
      promoter region. Our results showed that the invasion ability of cells in the
      overexpression group was significantly enhanced. This ability was considerably
      reduced in the knockdown group. The Notchl and MMP-9 expression level increased
      significantly in the overexpression group, while it was reduced considerably in
      the knockdown group. We detected significantly lower levels of DNA methylation in
      the promoter region in the overexpression group. It was concluded that
      methylation of the DLK1 gene promoter region increased the invasion ability of
      NSCLC. Furthermore, it is possible that this process is related to the Notch
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 28588701
TI  - Aberrant expression of AID and AID activators of NF-kappaB and PAX5 is irrelevant
      to EBV-associated gastric cancers, but is associated with carcinogenesis in
      certain EBV-non-associated gastric cancers.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC) is a distinct subtype of
      gastric cancer characterized by clinicopathological features including
      lymphoepithelioma-like histology. Aberrant expression of activation-induced
      cytidine deaminase (AID) as a genomic modulator was demonstrated through pathogen
      related nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling in Helicobacter pylori
      associated gastric cancer. To elucidate whether or not AID expression is relevant
      to carcinogenesis in EBVaGC, immunohistochemical expression of AID and AID
      regulatory factors between EBVaGC and EBV-non-associated gastric carcinoma (GC)
      were evaluated, each using 15 cases of GC with lymphoid stroma (GCLS) and other
      types of GC. Aberrant expression of AID, NF-kappaB and paired box 5 (PAX5) were
      significantly decreased in EBVaGC (0/11, 1/11 and 1/11) compared with in EBV-non
      associated GC (7/19, 12/19 and 11/19) (P=0.025, 0.005 and 0.01, respectively);
      however, no significant difference in c-Myb proto-oncogene expression was
      identified. AID expression was also decreased in EBV-associated GCLS (0/10)
      compared with in EBV-non-associated GCLS (3/5). Unexpectedly, decreased
      expression of NF-kappaB and PAX5 was observed in GCLS (1/15 and 2/15) compared
      with in GC without LS (12/15 and 10/15) (P<0.001 and P=0.003, respectively).
      Decreased AID expression observed in EBVaGC is consistent with the reported
      molecular characterization of hypermethylation and rare somatic gene mutation in
      EBVaGC. Only PAX5 was identified to be significantly associated with venous
      invasion (P=0.022). The results of the present study suggest that pathogen
      induced AID expression may be irrelevant to carcinogenesis of EBVaGC, whereas it
      contributes to carcinogenesis in certain types of EBV-non-associated GC.

PMID- 28588702
TI  - miR-564 is downregulated in gastric carcinoma and targets E2F3.
AB  - Numerous aberrantly expressed microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) have been identified in
      gastric cancer (GC); however, only a fraction of these have been functionally
      investigated and novel deregulated miRNAs in GC remain to be explored. Through
      examining two public miRNA expression profile datasets, the present study
      identified aberrantly expressed miRNAs in GC. One of these miRNA, miR-564, was
      identified to be downregulated in GC, which was validated in tissue samples from
      patients with GC by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction
      analysis. Targets of miR-564 were then predicted bioinformatically, including
      transcription factor E2F3 (E2F3), which was identified to be functionally
      enriched in several cancer signaling pathways. Furthermore, overexpression of miR
      564 decreased the activity of a luciferase reporter carrying the 3'-untranslated
      region of E2F3, in addition to the mRNA and protein level of E2F3, indicating
      that miR-564 directly targets E2F3. These data suggest that by targeting E2F3,
      miR-564 may act as a tumor suppressor gene in gastric carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28588703
TI  - Decreased expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 is
      associated with gastric adenocarcinoma prognosis.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the expression and prognostic significance
      of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 (IGFBP-6) in gastric
      adenocarcinoma. The expression of IGFBP-6 was examined in 263 specimens from
      gastric adenocarcinoma patients using reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), western blotting and immunohistochemical
      (IHC) staining. The association between IGFBP-6 expression, clinicopathological
      factors and clinical outcomes was investigated. Akaike information criterion
      (AIC) and Harrell's concordance index (c-index) were used to evaluate the
      accuracy of the predictive prognosis. RT-qPCR and western blotting results showed
      that IGFBP-6 mRNA expression was lower in the tumors compared with that in
      adjacent non-tumor tissues. IGFBP-6 showed significantly decreased expression in
      170 out of 263 patients based on IHC data and this was associated with a larger
      tumor size (P<0.001) and poorly-differentiated adenocarcinoma (P=0.001), as well
      as with palliative gastrectomy (P=0.015). Additionally, decreased expression of
      IGFBP-6 was associated with stage T3/4a/4b disease and lymph node-positive
      metastasis (P<0.001). The association between decreased expression and a poor
      prognosis was revealed by Kaplan-Meier curves. Cox regression model identified
      IGFBP-6 as an independent prognostic factor. The prognostic value of the model
      with IGFBP-6 expression (AIC, 924.881; c-index, 0.878) was superior to that
      without IGFBP-6 expression (AIC, 947.164; c-index, 0.825). In conclusion, IGFBP-6
      involves the development and progression of gastric adenocarcinoma, and its
      decreased expression predicts poor clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28588704
TI  - Ell3 stimulates 5-FU resistance in a breast cancer cell line.
AB  - Ell3 is an RNA polymerase II transcription elongation factor that acts as a
      negative regulator of p53 expression, and regulates cell proliferation and
      survival. Recent studies by our group have demonstrated that ectopic expression
      of Ell3 in breast cancer cell lines enhances cell proliferation, potentiates
      cancer stem cell properties, and promotes 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) resistance. In
      the present study, the underlying mechanism for the induction of 5-FU resistance
      was investigated in Ell3 over-expressing MCF-7 cells (Ell3 OE cells). By
      comparing the gene expression profiles of Ell3 OE cells with control cells, the
      present data revealed that Lipocalin2 (LCN2) and Wnt signaling activity are
      associated with 5-FU resistance of Ell3 OE. siRNA-mediated suppression of LCN2
      reversed 5-FU resistance in Ell3 OE cells. Chemical inhibition of Wnt signaling
      also reversed 5-FU resistance in Ell3 OE cells. Furthermore, the expression
      levels of survivin, which is a direct transcriptional target of Wnt/beta-catenin
      and an inhibitor of apoptosis, were markedly elevated when Ell3 OE cells were
      treated with 5-FU, as detected by western blot analysis. These findings suggest
      that enhanced expression of LCN2 and activation of the Wnt signaling pathway may
      induce 5-FU resistance in Ell3 OE cells as a means of evading apoptosis.

PMID- 28588705
TI  - GALNT14 genotype is associated with perineural invasion, lymph node metastasis
      and overall survival in resected cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare, sporadic and aggressive type of cancer. The genetic
      basis of cholangiocarcinoma remains poorly understood. The present study
      investigated the prognostic role of the N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 14
      (GALNT14)-rs9679162 genotype, an effective therapeutic response predictor for
      hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cholangiocarcinoma receiving surgical
      resection. A cohort of patients with intrahepatic or perihilar cholangiocarcinoma
      (n=112) were retrospectively recruited. Of these patients, 31.3, 49.1 and 19.6%
      had GALNT14 'TT', 'TG' and 'GG' genotypes, respectively. The patient's genotype
      distributions did not deviate significantly from those of the ethnic reference
      cohorts, HapMap-Chinese Han Beijing and Chinese Han Metropolitan Denver. The
      genotype 'TT' was associated with unfavorable overall survival in univariate
      analysis (P=0.023). Furthermore, two tumor characteristics, perineural and
      vascular invasion, were independently associated with unfavorable overall
      survival (P=0.001 and P=0.002, respectively). The 'TT' genotypes were
      independently associated with two known predictors of unfavorable prognosis,
      perineural invasion (P=0.035) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.005) in a
      multivariate linear regression analysis. When compared with the two reference
      genotype cohorts, the 'TT' genotype was significantly higher in patients with
      perineural invasion (P=0.049, Beijing cohort; P=0.034, Denver cohort). Similar
      enrichment of the 'TT' genotype was also revealed in patients with lymph node
      metastasis (P=0.046, Beijing cohort; P=0.032 Denver cohort). In conclusion, the
      GALNT14-rs9679162 'TT' genotype was associated with perineural invasion and lymph
      node metastasis, as well as unfavorable overall survival in patients with
      resected cholangiocarcinoma.

PMID- 28588706
TI  - IL-17A promotes the proliferation of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through
      p300-mediated Akt1 acetylation.
AB  - Interleukin (IL)-17A is a T helper (Th)17 cell-secreted cytokine that is able to
      induce various inflammatory responses. There is emerging evidence that IL-17A is
      generated in the cancer microenvironment of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
      However, the role of IL-17A in NPC remains unclear. Thus, the present study aimed
      to examine the direct influence of IL-17A stimulation on the proliferation of
      human NPC cells and identify the underlying molecular mechanisms. Furthermore,
      E1A binding protein p300 (p300)-mediated AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (Akt1)
      acetylation and its role in regulating the proliferation of NPC cells was
      investigated. The results of the current study demonstrated that IL-17A
      stimulation in vitro increased the proliferation of human NPC cells. Furthermore,
      Akt1 acetylation was identified to be enhanced in human NPC cells induced by IL
      17A. Additionally, p300 induction was demonstrated to be required for Akt1
      acetylation in human NPC cells following exposure to IL-17A. Functionally, p300
      mediated Akt1 acetylation contributed to the proliferation of human NPC cells
      stimulated by IL-17A. In conclusion, the results of the present demonstrate a
      novel activity of IL-17A that promotes human NPC cell proliferation via p300
      mediated Akt1 acetylation. This may provide a potential strategy for the
      treatment of patients with NPC through the inhibition of IL-17A or its receptors.

PMID- 28588707
TI  - Identification of potential target genes associated with the effect of
      propranolol on angiosarcoma via microarray analysis.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to explore the effect of propranolol on
      angiosarcoma, and the potential target genes involved in the processes of
      proliferation and differentiation of angiosarcoma tumor cells. The mRNA
      expression profile (GSE42534) was downloaded from the Gene Expressed Omnibus
      database, including three samples without propranolol treatment (control), three
      samples with propranolol treatment for 4 h and three samples with propranolol
      treatment for 24 h. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in angiosarcoma
      tumor cells with or without propranolol treatment were obtained via the limma
      package of R and designated DEGs-4 h and DEGs-24 h. The DEGs-24 h group was
      divided into two sets. Set 1 contained the DEGs also contained in the DEGs-4 h
      group. Set 2 contained the remainder of the DEGs. Functional and pathway
      enrichment analysis of sets 1 and 2 was performed. The protein-protein
      interaction (PPI) networks of sets 1 and 2 were constructed, termed PPI 1 and PPI
      2, and visualized using Cytoscape software. Modules of the two PPI networks were
      analyzed, and their topological structures were simulated using the tYNA
      platform. A total of 543 and 2,025 DEGs were identified in angiosarcoma tumor
      cells treated with propranolol for 4 and 24 h, respectively, compared with the
      control group. A total of 401 DEGs were involved in DEGs-4 h and DEGs-24 h,
      including metallothionein 1, heme oxygenase 1, WW domain-binding protein 2 and
      sequestosome 1. Certain significantly enriched gene ontology (GO) terms and
      pathways of sets 1 and 2 were identified, containing 28 overlapping GO terms.
      Furthermore, 121 nodes and 700 associated pairs were involved in PPI 1, whereas
      1,324 nodes and 11,839 associated pairs were involved in PPI 2. A total of 45 and
      593 potential target genes were obtained according to the node degrees of PPI 1
      and PPI 2. The results of the present study indicated that a number of potential
      target genes, including AXL receptor tyrosine kinase, coatomer subunit alpha, DR1
      associated protein 1 and ERBB receptor feedback inhibitor 1 may be involved in
      the effect of propranolol on angiosarcoma.

PMID- 28588709
TI  - Growth inhibition of human breast carcinoma cells by overexpression of regulator
      of G-protein signaling 4.
AB  - Breast cancer remains the second largest cause of mortality in women with cancer
      and does not respond well to conventional therapies. Regulator of G-protein
      signaling 4 (RGS4) is a GTPase-activating protein of the heterotrimeric Gq and Gi
      proteins. Altered levels of RGS4 are reportedly linked with several human
      diseases, including cancer. The present study investigated whether overexpression
      of RGS4 inhibited the growth of human breast cancer cells. Protein expression was
      investigated by western blot analysis. Cell viability and apoptosis were analyzed
      by MTT assay and flow cytometric analysis, respectively. Cell cycle analysis was
      performed using propidium iodide staining in order to examine the anti
      proliferative function of increased RGS4 levels. Next, changes in the expression
      levels of G2/M cell cycle-related proteins were examined. Overexpression of RGS4
      led to the upregulation of phosphorylayed (p)-Ser216 cell division cycle (Cdc)25C
      and p-Tyr15 Cdc2. Importantly, MG132-induced proteasome blockade prevented
      degradation of RGS4. Suppression of proliferation was associated with G2/M-phase
      cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, enhanced endogenous RGS4 protein levels
      significantly inhibited breast cancer cell growth, which was reversed by a
      pharmacological inhibitor of RGS4. Taken together, these results suggest that
      overexpression of RGS4 in human breast cancer cells by molecular means may offer
      a potential therapeutic approach.

PMID- 28588710
TI  - The clinical analysis of small supernumerary marker chromosomes in 17 children
      with mos 45,X/46,X,+mar karyotype.
AB  - Small supernumerary maker chromosome (sSMC) is a type of structurally abnormal
      chromosome. In order to identify the origin, morphology and other characteristics
      of sSMCs in children with mos 45,X/46,X,+mar karyotype, 17 patients (16 females
      and 1 male) were analyzed. All patients underwent general physical examination,
      gonadal imaging and molecular cytogenetic analyses, including Giemsa banding,
      dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization and detection of the sex
      determining region Y gene by polymerase chain reaction. Cytogenetic analyses
      indicated sSMCs in 14/17 cases were derived from the X chromosome, of which 8
      individuals presented with ring-shaped sSMCs and 6 with centric minute-shaped
      sSMCs. The remaining 3 cases were derived from the Y chromosome, and all
      presented with minute-shaped sSMCs. All female patients exhibited short stature,
      gonadal dysgenesis and other typical features of Turner syndrome. The male
      patient exhibited short stature, hypospadias and bilateral cryptorchidism. In
      conclusion, the majority of the sSMCs in patients with a mos 45,X/46,X,+mar
      karyotype were derived from the sex chromosomes. The molecular cytogenetic
      features of sSMCs may provide useful information for genetic counseling, prenatal
      diagnosis and individualized treatment.

PMID- 28588708
TI  - Indolent growth of low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma of the cheek mimics benign
      lesions: A case report and literature review.
AB  - Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (LGMS) is a neoplasm of the soft tissue
      characterized by myofibroblastic differentiation. This type of tumor has been
      observed in various sites in the whole body, but frequently occurs in the head
      and neck region. It typically presents as a slow-growing painless mass, which is
      often mistaken for a benign lesion due to its indolent growth; however, LGMS is a
      malignant neoplasm. In the present study, a 43-year-old female presented with a
      14-mm LGMS lesion in the buccal subcutaneous tissues of the buccinator muscle.
      The patient had initially noticed the lesion 2-months prior to presenting at the
      hospital. Following biopsy, the tumor was surgically resected and no recurrence
      or metastasis was observed during a follow-up time of 2 years. To the best of our
      knowledge, this case is the first report of LGMS located in the buccal
      subcutaneous tissue of the buccinator muscle. The present study a literature
      review of 55 cases of this tumor type in the head and neck region was conducted,
      revealing that the indolent growth of these lesions may contribute to a delay in
      diagnosis. The average time between the onset of clinical symptoms and hospital
      admission is 3.9 months, and this form of tumor is frequently misdiagnosed as a
      benign lesion. Therefore, the present study suggests that an incisional biopsy
      may be performed to rule out LGMS when clinicians encounter patients with the
      aforementioned indolent lesions anywhere in the body. In addition, the avoidance
      of radiotherapy is recommended following resection of the LGMS tumor, as it may
      induce LGMS recurrence.

PMID- 28588711
TI  - Overexpression of microRNA-96-5p inhibits autophagy and apoptosis and enhances
      the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of human breast cancer cells.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNA/miR) are short non-coding RNAs that function in the endogenous
      regulation of genes. miRNAs serve important roles in cellular events such as
      apoptosis, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, autophagy and the cell cycle.
      They also control the genesis and progression of tumors. Autophagy is a self
      digestive process that occurs as a response to stress, and serves two opposite
      roles in tumor promotion or inhibition that may result in resistance to therapy.
      A number of studies have revealed that miRNAs control autophagic activity by
      targeting autophagy-associated genes, particularly in cancer. These previous
      studies demonstrated that miR-96-5p is upregulated in several types of malignant
      tumors. However, other functions of miR-96-5p in breast cancer, particularly
      those that are associated with autophagy, remain unknown. miR-96-5p expression
      was demonstrated to be upregulated in breast cancer cells compared with in normal
      breast epithelial cells. The overexpression of miR-96-5p inhibited autophagy,
      particularly starvation-induced autophagy, in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. In
      addition, this inhibitory effect may have resulted in the suppression of Forkhead
      box O1. Additionally, the overexpression of miR-96-5p may promote cell
      proliferation, migration and invasion and inhibit apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB
      231 cells. These data indicate that miR-96-5p is involved in the progression of
      breast cancer cells and may represent a potential therapeutic target for the
      treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 28588712
TI  - Maximum standardized uptake value on FDG-PET predicts survival in stage I non
      small cell lung cancer following carbon ion radiotherapy.
AB  - The present study (University Hospital Medical Information Network study no.
      UMIN000003797) aimed to evaluate whether the maximum standardized uptake value
      (SUVmax) of pretreatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG
      PET) is prognostic factor for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated
      with carbon ion radiotherapy (C-ion RT). Patients treated between June 2010 and
      June 2013 at Gunma University Heavy Ion Medical Center (Maebashi, Japan) on a
      prospective protocol were included in the present study. Patients with T1a-b and
      T2a NSCLC were treated with C-ion RT at a dose of 52.8 Gy [relative biological
      effectiveness (RBE)] and 60.0 Gy (RBE), respectively, in four fractions. Prior to
      treatment, all patients underwent FDG-PET, in which the SUVmax of primary tumors
      was evaluated. Local control, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall
      survival (OS) were calculated. A total of 45 patients were analyzed and the
      median follow-up period was 28.9 months. The 2-year local control, PFS and OS
      rates for all patients were 93, 78 and 89%, respectively. The mean SUVmax of
      primary tumors was 5.5, and patients were divided into higher (>=5.5) and lower
      (<5.5) SUVmax groups. The 2-year PFS rates were 61 and 89% for the higher and
      lower SUVmax groups, respectively (P=0.01), and the 2-year OS rates for the
      higher and lower SUVmax groups were 76 and 96%, respectively (P=0.01). The higher
      SUVmax group exhibited a significantly worse PFS and OS compared with the lower
      SUVmax group; however, the SUVmax was not associated with the local control rate.
      In total, 2 patients (4%) experienced grade 2 or 3 radiation pneumonitis, with
      their symptoms improved through conservative treatment. No patients experienced
      any grade 4 or 5 toxicities. The results of the present study indicate that
      pretreatment SUVmax is a prognostic indicator for outcomes in patients with stage
      I NSCLC treated with C-ion RT.

PMID- 28588714
TI  - Oxymatrine inhibits proliferation of human bladder cancer T24 cells by inducing
      apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.
AB  - Oxymatrine has been shown to exert an antitumor effect on several types of cancer
      cells. However, the role of oxymatrine in bladder cancer has not yet been
      evaluated. The present study was designed to investigate the potential anti
      proliferative effect of oxymatrine on bladder cancer T24 cells and the possible
      mechanisms involved. A 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium
      bromide assay was used to determine cell growth, and the cell morphology was
      examined using hematoxylin and eosin staining, wrights' staining and electron
      microscopy. The caspase-3 and survivin mRNA and protein levels were assessed
      using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western
      blot analysis, respectively. The expression of tumor protein p53 (p53), Bcl-2
      associated X protein (Bax) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) were analyzed using
      immunohistochemistry. Oxymatrine inhibited the proliferation of the T24 cells in
      a dose- and time-dependent manner. Oxymatrine also induced apoptosis and cell
      cycle arrest in the cells, in association with the upregulation of caspase-3 and
      Bax, and the downregulation of survivin, Bcl-2 and p53 expression. Overall,
      oxymatrine inhibits the proliferation of human bladder cancer cells by inducing
      apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via mechanisms that involve p53-Bax signaling and
      the downregulation of survivin expression.

PMID- 28588713
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in borderline resectable pancreatic cancer: A case
      report.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality and is
      associated with a poor overall survival even when diagnosed early and considered
      resectable. Complete surgical removal with negative histological margins is an
      independent predictor of survival and remains the only potential curative
      treatment. In borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma (BRPAC),
      preoperative systemic therapy may increase resectability and margin-negative
      resection rate. There is no current consensus on the optimal chemotherapy regimen
      for BRPAC. The present case describes a patient with BRPAC who achieved a
      pathological complete response to neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX (folinic acid,
      fluorouracil, irinotecan and oxaliplatin), but early relapse following a
      pancreaticoduodenectomy without vascular resection, with an uneventful
      postoperative course, except for a pulmonary embolism.

PMID- 28588715
TI  - AURKA mRNA expression is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients
      with non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Deregulation of mitotic spindle genes has been reported to contribute to the
      development and progression of malignant tumours. The aim of the present study
      was to explore the association between the expression profiles of Aurora kinases
      (AURKA, AURKB and AURKC), cytoskeleton-associated protein 5 (CKAP5), discs large
      associated protein 5 (DLGAP5), kinesin-like protein 11 (KIF11), microtubule
      nucleation factor (TPX2), monopolar spindle 1 kinase (TTK), and beta-tubulins
      (TUBB) and (TUBB3) genes and clinicopathological characteristics in human non
      small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction-based RNA gene expression profiles of 132 NSCLC and 44 adjacent
      wild-type tissues were generated, and Cox's proportional hazard regression was
      used to examine associations. With the exception of AURKC, all genes exhibited
      increased expression in NSCLC tissues. Of the 10 genes examined, only AURKA was
      significantly associated with prognosis in NSCLC. Multivariate Cox's regression
      analysis demonstrated that AURKA mRNA expression [hazard ratio (HR), 1.81; 95%
      confidence interval (CI), 1.16-2.84; P=0.009], age (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.06;
      P=0.020), pathological tumour stage 2 (HR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.16-5.10; P=0.019) and
      involvement of distal nodes (pathological node stage 2) (HR, 3.14; 95% CI, 1.24
      7.99; P=0.016) were independent predictors of poor prognosis in patients with
      NSCLC. Poor prognosis of patients with increased AURKA expression suggests that
      those patients may benefit from surrogate therapy with AURKA inhibitors.

PMID- 28588716
TI  - Low expression of miR-1469 predicts disease progression and unfavorable post
      surgical clinical outcomes in patients with esophageal squamous cell cancer.
AB  - Recent studies have demonstrated that deregulated microRNA (miRNA/miR) expression
      has a profound impact on biological and pathological processes; abnormal miR-1469
      expression was detected in several human malignancies. In the present study, the
      clinicopathological and prognostic significance of miR-1469 was assessed in 129
      patients with esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) who successfully underwent
      esophagectomy and esophagogastrostomy. Low miR-1469 expression was identified to
      be significantly associated with tumor invasion depth (P=0.026), lymph node
      metastasis status (P<0.001) and pathological tumor stage (P<0.001). Survival
      analysis demonstrated that patients with low miR-1469 expression had
      significantly poorer disease-free survival (DFS) (18.2 vs. 43.2%; P=0.004) and
      overall survival (29.1 vs. 47.3%; P=0.029) 5 years following surgery compared
      with patients with high miR-1469 expression. Univariate survival analysis
      demonstrated that low miR-1469 expression significantly predicted unfavorable 5
      year DFS among patients with N1-3 disease (7.1 vs. 31.8%; P=0.043). The results
      from the present study indicate that miR-1469 expression could be used in the
      clinic to predict ESCC progression and prognosis. This will aid in the
      identification of high-risk patients with ESCC that require more aggressive
      therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28588718
TI  - Renal cell carcinoma with synchronous ipsilateral urothelial carcinoma of the
      renal pelvis.
AB  - The simultaneous occurrence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and urothelial
      carcinoma (UC) in the same kidney is extraordinarily rare, and is also known as
      multiple primary malignant tumors. The present study reports the case of a 76
      year-old female with synchronous ipsilateral RCC and UC of the renal pelvis, who
      underwent operation, chemotherapy and reoperation when recurrence of RCC or UC
      was identified. Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) is one of the promising
      markers for identifying cancer stem cells in various solid tumors, along with
      aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 A1 (ALDH1A1). Detection of CD44 and ALDH1A1 prior to and
      subsequent to chemotherapy could provide useful prognostic information. New
      treatments against the cancer stem cells fraction should be used in combination
      with chemotherapy to improve the outcome for patients with overexpression of CSC
      markers.

PMID- 28588717
TI  - lncRNA C22orf32-1 contributes to the tumorigenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - The mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. The present
      study investigated the abnormal expression of long non-coding (lnc)RNAs in NPC
      tissues and one NPC cell line to identify the involvement of lncRNAs in the
      tumorigenesis of NPC. Using a quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-qPCR), the expression of lncRNA C22orf32-1 in NPC tissues and an NPC
      cell line was verified. The effects of lncRNA C22orf32-1 on NPC cells were
      investigated with a cell proliferation assay, cell scratch assay, Transwell assay
      and a cell apoptosis assay. The expression levels of lncRNA C22orf32-1 in NPC
      tissues and an NPC cell line were upregulated. lncRNA C22orf32-1 promoted the
      proliferation, migration and invasion of NPC cells, and reduced the apoptosis of
      NPC cells. The data demonstrated that lncRNA C22orf32-1 may facilitate the
      tumorigenesis of NPC, and may be used for the early diagnosis and treatment of
      NPC.

PMID- 28588719
TI  - E-cadherin: A potential biomarker of colorectal cancer prognosis.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and lethal disease. It is the third most
      common type of cancer in the world, behind lung and breast cancer, with almost
      1.4 million new cases diagnosed in 2012. The risk of developing CRC is influenced
      by environmental and genetic factors. Adenocarcinomas comprise the vast majority
      (98%) of CRCs. A patient's likelihood of survival is associated with the tumor
      stage at the time of diagnosis. With regular screening, CRC can be identified
      early, when treatment is the most effective. However, CRC is typically
      asymptomatic until the advanced stages. The combination of the absence of
      symptoms and current screening methodology results in a significant number of
      patients being diagnosed in advanced stages. The purpose of the present review is
      to discuss and summarize the biomarkers linked to CRC progression, particularly
      the controversial E-cadherin, which is a calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion
      molecule involved in the mesenchymal-epithelial transition.

PMID- 28588720
TI  - Synergistic activity of the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A and the
      proteasome inhibitor PS-341 against taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines.
AB  - Although a combination of platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy is recommended
      for at least 70% patients with ovarian cancer as treatment subsequent to surgery,
      the initial response to the chemotherapy is not durable and tumors become
      resistant. Histone deacetylase and proteasome inhibitors are novel therapeutic
      agents. However, the moderate antitumoral effect of the inhibitors has restricted
      their clinical use when used as single agents. The aim of the present study was
      to investigate the synergistic activity of trichostatin A (TSA) and PS-341 in
      ovarian cancer cells, along with the investigation of the molecular mechanisms of
      taxane resistance. The taxane-sensitive ovarian cancer A2780 cell line and its
      resistant variant, A2780T, were treated with taxane, TSA and PS-341 at various
      concentrations. An Annexin V assay was performed to determine the levels of cell
      viability and apoptosis, while flow cytometry and immunofluorescence staining for
      the mitotic phase-specific protein phosphorylated-histone H3 (Ser10) were used
      for cell cycle detection. The effects of combined TSA and PS-341 on cell cycle
      associated proteins were tested by western blot analysis. Furthermore, the
      present study examined the apoptosis and cell cycle arrest induced by the 3
      agents subsequent to overexpression or downregulation of cyclin B1 in A2780 and
      A2780T cells, respectively. It was found that TSA interacted synergistically with
      PS-341, resulting in a marked increase in apoptosis and the rate of G2/M arrest
      in A2780T cells. A lower basal level of cyclin B1 expression and the incompetence
      of the upregulation of the cyclin may explain the taxane resistance found in
      A2780T cells. Collectively, the combination of TSA and PS-341 increased cyclin B1
      expression level regardless of the basal expression level, resulting in the
      proliferation inhibition and apoptosis in A2780 and A2780T cells, which raised
      the possibility that a combination of the two drugs may represent a novel
      strategy for the treatment of ovarian cancer, particularly in taxane-resistant
      ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28588721
TI  - Palliative treatment of patients with inoperable locally advanced, recurrent or
      metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer, using a low-dose and personalized
      chemotherapeutic regimen.
AB  - Inoperable or metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) is known to
      be associated with a poor patient prognosis. First line therapies include a
      Taxol, platinum-based antineoplastic and fluorouracil (FU) treatment regimen
      (TPF) or a platinum-based antineoplastic, FU and EGFR inhibitor treatment regimen
      (PFE). The toxicity of these regimens is one of the major limiting factors,
      particularly for palliative treatment. The present study is a retrospective study
      of 15 patients with HNSCC, where the treatment goal was palliative. Of the 15
      patients, 8 received a TPF, while 7 received a PFE. A total of 129 treatment
      cycles were administered with a median of 9 cycles (range, 3-14). Chemotherapy
      began with low doses and was subsequently titrated up based on tolerance and
      response. Positive responses were noted with the lower doses compared with the
      conventional doses, and maximal doses were not required. The median dose of
      cisplatin, paclitaxel and 5-FU administered was 40 mg/m2, 80 mg/m2 and 360
      mg/m2/day for 5 days, respectively. Cetuximab was used at a standard dose. At the
      initial follow-up (mean, 64 days; 3 cycles), a 100% disease control rate (DCR)
      and 80% overall response rate (ORR) was achieved. A positive response, 60% DCR
      and 60% ORR, was maintained until the late stages of the study (mean, 217 days; 9
      cycles). Following termination of chemotherapy after >9 cycles, 4 patients
      remained disease free for ~1 year. A total of 3 patients exhibited a pathologic
      complete response despite radiologically exhibiting residual disease. The median
      progression-free survival time was 10.03 months and the overall survival time was
      15.77 months. The only grade 3 hematologic toxicity noted was neutropenia in 3
      (20%) patients. Grade 3 vomiting was noted in 1 (6.67%) patient and grade 3
      stomatitis was noted in 1 (6.67%) patient. Due to low toxicity patients exhibited
      improved tolerance to this approach, particularly in terms of palliative care.
      Furthermore, these results are in contrast to the axiom that increased doses are
      more effective.

PMID- 28588722
TI  - MED23 in endocrinotherapy for breast cancer.
AB  - We investigated the role of the transcriptional mediator subunit 23 (MED23) in
      everolimus drug resistance, invasion and metastasis during breast cancer
      treatment and its molecular mechanism. We also evaluated the endocrinotherapy and
      prevention method for breast cancer. Breast cancer cell strains were established
      that can continuously express MED23, as well as inducible MED23-shRNA expression
      plasmids. The inductive agent, doxycycline (Dox), was added to the water for long
      term silencing of MED23 in intratumoral cells. We conducted experiments on the
      role of MED23 in the regulation of invasion and metastasis of breast cancer using
      cell culture, western blotting, MTT proliferation experiment, fluorescent
      quantitative PCR and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). The silencing of MED23
      significantly inhibited cellular growth and proliferation as well as soft agar
      cloning. Silencing of MED23 strengthened the sensitivity of the everolimus
      resistant breast cancer cell strains BT474 and MCF-7/ADM cells to everolimus
      medication. The silencing of MED23, in combination with everolimus, inhibits the
      cell cycle progress of breast cancer cells. ChIP indicated that the mutual
      regulation of HER2 and MED23 also participates in the formation of the everolimus
      drug resistance mechanism. Therefore, MED23 plays an important role in everolimus
      drug resistance, invasion, and metastasis of breast cancer. As a potential
      molecular therapeutic target of breast cancer, MED23 overcomes drug resistance in
      clinical endocrinotherapy and controls the distal relapse and metastasis in
      breast cancer by the targeted silencing of MED23.

PMID- 28588724
TI  - Upregulation of microRNA-143 reverses drug resistance in human breast cancer
      cells via inhibition of cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor 1.
AB  - Cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor 1 (CIAPIN1), originally termed anamorsin, is
      an anti-apoptotic molecule that acts as a downstream effector of the receptor
      tyrosine kinase-Ras signaling pathway. Overexpression of CIAPIN1 contributes to
      multidrug resistance (MDR) and microRNA (miR)-143 is typically considered a tumor
      suppressor in breast cancer. The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic
      potential of miR-143 as a treatment for drug-resistant breast cancer via the
      downregulation of CIAPIN1 in vitro. The expression levels of miR-143 were
      measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and the expression levels
      of CIAPIN1 were detected via western blot analysis. Bioinformatic analyses was
      additionally conducted to search for miR-143, which may potentially target
      CIAPIN1. Luciferase reporter plasmids were created and used to verify direct
      targeting. In addition, Taxol-induced drug-resistant (TDR) breast cancer cell
      proliferation was evaluated using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay in vitro. The
      present study identified an inverse association between miR-143 and CIAPIN1
      protein expression levels in breast cancer MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-453 TDR
      cells. Specific targeting sites for miR-143 in the 3'-untranslated region of the
      CIAPIN1 gene were identified, which exhibit the ability to regulate CIAPIN1
      expression. It was revealed that the repression of CIAPIN1 via miR-143 suppressed
      the proliferation of breast cancer TDR cells. The findings of the present study
      verified the role of miR-143 as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer MDR via
      inhibition of CIAPIN1 translation.

PMID- 28588723
TI  - Analysis of the correlation between the expression of miR-655 and esophageal
      cancer prognosis.
AB  - The correlation between the expression level of microRNA (miR)-655 in esophageal
      cancer with proliferation, invasion and prognosis was investigated. Reverse
      transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique was used to detect
      the expression level of miR-655 in esophageal cancer cell lines KYSE410 and
      EC9706, tumor tissues and normal cancer-adjacent tissues of 63 cases of patients
      with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The expression of miR-655 was
      upregulated in ESCC cells through the transfection of miR-655 mimics, and the
      influence of miR-655 on proliferation and invasion ability of ESCC cells was
      observed. Combined with the clinical data, the correlation between the expression
      of miR-655 and the prognosis of esophageal cancer was analyzed. The expression of
      miR-655 was downregulated in 2 ESCC cell lines and 73.02% of ESCC tissues. The
      results showed that the increased expression of miR-655 via transfection of
      mimics inhibited the proliferation and invasion ability of ESCC cells. Combined
      with clinical data analysis, it was found that the low-expression of miR-655 was
      related to poorer progression-free survival. In conclusion, the high-expression
      of miR-655 can inhibit the proliferation and invasion of ESCC, and plays a
      negative regulation role in the prognosis process of tumor patients. The targeted
      regulation of miR-655 can be used as a new treatment method of ESCC.

PMID- 28588725
TI  - Molecular characterization of breast cancer cell lines by clinical
      immunohistochemical markers.
AB  - Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in females worldwide.
      Studies based on gene expression profiles have identified different breast cancer
      molecular subtypes, such as luminal A and B cells, cancer cells that are estrogen
      receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive, human epidermal growth
      factor 2 (HER2)-enriched cells, cancer cells that exhibit an overexpression of
      the oncogene HER2, and triple-negative cells, cancer cells that are negative for
      ER, PR and HER2 expression. Immunohistochemistry is the most common type of
      method used for the identification of these molecular subtypes, through the
      identification of specific cell receptors. The present study aimed to evaluate
      the ER, PR and HER2 receptor expression in human breast cancer cell lines, and to
      classify the corresponding molecular subtype comparing two alternative methods.
      In the present study, a panel of human mammary carcinoma cell lines: BT-20;
      Hs578T; MCF-7; MCF-7/AZ; MDA-MB-231; MDA-MB-468; SKBR3; and T47D were used.
      Immunohistochemical and immunocytochemistry assays were used to characterize the
      breast cancer subtypes of these cell lines according to the expression of ER, PR
      and HER2 receptors. The results revealed the molecular characterization of this
      panel of breast cancer cell lines, using the differential expression of classical
      and clinically used markers in concordance with previous studies. In addition,
      these data are important for additional in vitro studies of these specific
      receptors.

PMID- 28588726
TI  - Pathogenic mechanism of miR-21 in autoimmune lymphoid hyperplasia syndrome.
AB  - miR-21 plays an important role in immune responses and inflammatory diseases, but
      the mechanism of action of miR-21 in autoimmune lymphoid hyperplasia syndrome
      still remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to assess the mechanism
      of miR-21 in autoimmune disease, particularly, the autoimmune lymphoid
      hyperplasia syndrome. The pathology and immunity-related phenotypes of miR-21
      transgenic mice, and the lymphocyte subsets were analyzed. The related T cell
      subsets and germinal center B (GCB) cells generated at the germinal center were
      detected with flow cytometry. The target genes of miR-21 were evaluated with the
      luciferase reporter gene method. The homeostatic proliferation of the lymphocytes
      was detected with the EdU incorporation assay. Inflammatory infiltration occurred
      to the lung and liver of the transgenic mice at 8 weeks. The frequency of the
      regulatory helper T cells decreased slightly. Significantly increased double
      negative T cells were observed in the spleen of the transgenic mice (P<0.05). The
      immunoglobulins IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgG3 in the serum of the transgenic mice
      aged 8 weeks were significantly higher than those in the wild-type mice aged 8
      weeks (P<0.05). The percentages of the GCB cells in the peripheral lymphoid
      organs such as lymph nodes, mesenteric lymph nodes, PP and spleen in the
      transgenic mice aged 8-52 weeks increased significantly (P<0.05). The percentage
      (26.32%) of the newly-formed GCB cells derived from transgenic mice was
      significantly higher than that (3.87%) of the GCB cells derived from the wild
      type mice. miR-21 played a role of negative feedback regulation by inhibiting the
      NF-kappaB signal pathway. The highly-expressed miR-21 B cells promoted
      homeostatic proliferation of the T cells. miR-21 can promote homeostatic
      proliferation of lymphocytes by inhibiting the NF-kappaB signal pathway.

PMID- 28588727
TI  - Synergistic cytotoxic effects of a combined treatment of a Pinellia pedatisecta
      lipid-soluble extract and cisplatin on human cervical carcinoma in vivo.
AB  - Herbal medicines are known to have numerous benefits, including lower toxicity
      and fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapeutic drugs. In traditional
      Chinese medicine, the rhizome of Pinellia pedatisecta (PE) Schott has long been
      used to treat cancer, undiagnosed swelling and erythema toxicum. However, its
      medical benefits lack support from scientific evidence. A novel lipid-soluble
      extract from PE has been previously verified to enhance the cytotoxicity of cis
      dichlorodiammineplatinum-II (CDDP) against human cervical cancer cells in vitro.
      The present study evaluated the synergistic cytotoxic effects of PE and CDDP
      against human cervical cancer. Combination therapy of PE with CDDP exhibited
      synergistic cytotoxicity towards CaSki cell growth in mouse xenograft tumors. PE
      exhibited a cytotoxic effect on tumor size and weight, although the inhibitory
      ratio of tumor weight was only 26.3% in the PE-treated group. However, when mice
      were co-treated with PE and CDDP, the inhibitory ratio was higher than that of
      mice treated with CDDP alone (50.8 vs. 68.4%, respectively). The potential
      synergistic mechanism was likely via inhibiting the signaling E6/p53 pathway,
      restoring p53 function and inducing downstream tumor suppressor chain effects on
      apoptosis. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry indicated thatE6protein
      expression was significantly decreased upon treatment with combined PE and CDDP.
      The expression of p53 was increased in the combined PE and CDDP treatment group.
      Upregulation of p53-dependent apoptosis-associated proteins, including Bcl-2
      associated X protein and cleaved caspases-9 and -3, was observed in the combined
      PE and CDDP treatment group. Our results present a molecular basis for the future
      application of the combination of PE and CDDP in the treatment of cervical cancer
      as a novel and pharmacologically safe chemotherapeutic strategy.

PMID- 28588729
TI  - Grifolin induces apoptosis and promotes cell cycle arrest in the A2780 human
      ovarian cancer cell line via inactivation of the ERK1/2 and Akt pathways.
AB  - Grifolin, a secondary metabolic product isolated from the mushroom Albatrellus
      confluence, has been demonstrated to possess antitumor activities in a variety of
      malignant cells. However, the signaling pathways and the molecular mechanisms
      underlying the anticancer effects of the agent in human ovarian cancer remain to
      be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of grifolin
      treatment on the human ovarian cancer cell line, A2780. MTT and flow cytometry
      analysis were used to analyze the viability of A2780 cells following treatment
      with grifolin. Western blotting was used analyze the expression of apoptosis
      associated and cell cycle arrest-associated proteins. The results of MTT assays
      and flow cytometry analysis revealed that grifolin suppressed cell viability,
      induced apoptosis and triggered cell cycle arrest. Western blotting revealed that
      grifolin treatment resulted in inactivation of protein kinase B (Akt) and
      extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), accompanied by upregulation of
      Bcl-2 associated X, apoptosis regulator, cleaved-caspase-3 and cleaved-poly (ADP
      ribose) polymerase, and downregulation of B cell lymphoma-2, cyclin dependent
      kinase 4 and cyclinD1. The results of the present study indicated that grifolin
      had significant anti-cancer effects on the human ovarian cancer A2780 cells,
      which occurred via the Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways to at least a certain
      extent. These results demonstrate the therapeutic potential of grifolin as a
      treatment for ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28588728
TI  - Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition by regulating transforming growth factor-beta signaling.
AB  - Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) performs an important role in
      self-renewal and proliferation of progenitor cells or tumor stem cells, and is
      expressed in aggressive cancers, contributing to tumorigenesis. However, the
      function of MELK in metastasis is unknown. In the present study, the lung cancer
      A549 cell line was utilized in order to study the role of MELK in epithelial
      mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), the initial step of tumor metastasis. It was
      identified that transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) could downregulate the
      expression of MELK, and that MELK could inhibit EMT by regulating TGF-beta
      signaling. MELK can interact with Smad proteins, which represses TGF-beta/Smad
      mediated signaling activity. The findings of the present study identified the
      effect of MELK in TGF-beta signaling and the EMT process.

PMID- 28588730
TI  - Conversion to monotherapy with luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone agonist or
      orchiectomy after reaching PSA nadir following maximal androgen blockade is able
      to prolong progression-free survival in patients with metastatic prostate cancer:
      A propensity score matching analysis.
AB  - The present study evaluated androgen deprivation methods to determine the
      approach that most improves the progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with
      metastatic prostate cancer. Patients had received continuous maximal androgen
      blockade (MAB) or monotherapy [luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone (LHRH)
      agonist or orchiectomy] following the reaching of the prostate specific antigen
      (PSA) nadir. The medical records of 293 patients who received MAB following a
      diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer were retrospectively reviewed. Following
      attainment of the PSA nadir and treatment with MAB, patients were maintained on
      continuous MAB (group CMAB) or converted to monotherapy (group MONO). Disease
      progression, defined as progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer, was
      evaluated and compared between the treatment modalities. PFS was compared between
      patients who received CMAB vs. MONO using 2:1 (102:53) propensity score matching;
      the basic clinicopathological characteristics (age, Gleason score, PSA and extent
      of bone metastasis) were similar between the groups. Disease progression was
      observed in 70.9% of all patients, with a median treatment period of 22.7 months.
      The median PFS time was 19.5 months in the CMAB group and 28.8 months in the MONO
      group (P=0.008). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that PFS was significantly
      associated with the type of maintenance androgen deprivation therapy (ADT; log
      rank <0.005). Multivariate analysis revealed that the type of maintenance ADT and
      the pretreatment extent of bone metastasis were independent predictors of
      prolonged PFS. In this propensity score matched-analysis, conversion to
      monotherapy with a LHRH agonist or orchiectomy following attainment of the PSA
      nadir with initial MAB, prolonged the PFS, suggesting that monotherapy
      maintenance following initial MAB may benefit patients by reducing side effects
      without decreasing treatment efficacy.

PMID- 28588732
TI  - TRUS-guided transperineal prostate 12+X core biopsy with template for the
      diagnosis of prostate cancer.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to explore the clinical value and safety
      of trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided transperineal prostate 12+X core biopsy
      in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Patients who received a TRUS-guided
      transperineal prostate biopsy for suspected prostate cancer at the General
      Hospital of The People's Liberation Army between September 2009 and May 2014 were
      retrospectively analyzed, this consisted of 1,300 patients. These patients were
      randomly divided into the 12+X core group or the standard 12-core group. The mean
      age of all the patients was 70.5 years old. Levels of prostate-specific antigen,
      digital rectal examination, transrectal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) were checked and used as reference prior and subsequent to the biopsy
      procedure. The 12+X core group consisted of 937 patients and the 12-core group
      consisted of 363 patients. The mean number of core samples taken from both groups
      was 14.5 (ranging from 12 to 24) and the mean operative time of the whole group
      was 20.4 min (ranging from 15 to 40 min). The puncture positive detection rate of
      abnormal rectal examination, trans-rectal ultrasound, and MRI was 24.0, 30.1, and
      59.2%, respectively, whereas the puncture positive rate was 47.2% in 12+X core
      group and 34.5% in 12-core group. Improved prostate needle biopsy with 12+X cores
      was found to have significantly higher detection rate than that with 12 cores as
      well as fewer post-operative complications, therefore making the method ideal for
      diagnosing prostate cancer.

PMID- 28588731
TI  - Anti-rheumatic drug iguratimod protects against cancer-induced bone pain and bone
      destruction in a rat model.
AB  - The bone is one of the most common sites of metastasis in patients with cancer.
      Current treatments for bone metastases include bisphosphonates, denosumab, non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics, but each of them has certain
      limitations. Cytokines and mediators released from various cells in the bone
      microenvironment may drive a vicious cycle of osteolytic bone metastases.
      Iguratimod (T-614), a novel disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug, has
      demonstrated therapeutic effects by suppressing the production of inflammatory
      cytokines in rats and patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, the current
      study evaluated the hypothesis that iguratimod may protect against cancer-induced
      bone pain and bone metastasis in a rat model. For this purpose, rats inoculated
      with Walker 256 cells were treated with iguratimod from days 11-17 post-surgery.
      Mechanical paw withdrawal thresholds and expression levels of phosphorylated
      extracellular signal-related kinase (pERK) and c-Fos in the spinal cord were
      investigated to detect changes in bone pain. Bone destruction levels were
      detected using X-rays, hematoxylin and eosin and tartrate-resistant acid
      phosphatase staining. The results revealed that mechanical paw withdrawal
      thresholds and the expression levels of pERK and c-Fos declined in a dose
      dependent manner in rats treated with iguratimod, and bone destruction severity
      was also reduced. These findings may provide important new insights into the
      treatment of bone metastasis symptoms.

PMID- 28588733
TI  - Differences in the sensitivity of ovarian cancer to photodynamic therapy and the
      mechanisms for those differences.
AB  - Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) levels are crucial to the antitumor action of
      photodynamic therapy (PDT). In the present study, the underling molecular
      mechanisms for the variation in PpIX levels in ovarian cancer cells were
      investigated. Five ovarian cancer cell lines were subcutaneously grafted onto the
      backs of nude mice. Once tumors had developed, 5-aminolevulinic acid methyl ester
      hydrochloride (methyl-ALA) was administered intraperitoneally and the tumor was
      irradiated twice/week. PpIX levels in the tumor were assayed using high
      performance liquid chromatography. Enzymes involved in heme synthesis and
      degradation were screened using a microarray technique. Expression of the
      glutathione transferase Omega-1 (GSTO1) gene involved in the conversion of PpIX
      into heme in cells was quantified using the reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. In HTOA, HRA and DISS cells, PDT resulted in
      significant tumor shrinkage in comparison with the controls. In MCAS and TOV21G
      cells, no significant alterations in tumor growth were identified compared with
      the untreated cells. PpIX levels increased significantly in HTOA, DISS and HRA
      cells compared with in MCAS and TOV21G cells. A comparison of genetic profiles
      using PDT-sensitive DISS cells and PDT-resistant MCAS cells indicated that MCAS
      cells exhibited significantly increased levels of delta-aminolevulinate synthase
      (a rate-limiting enzyme in heme synthesis), heme oxygenase 2 (an enzyme that
      degrades heme into biliverdin), and biliverdin reductase B (an enzyme that
      reduces biliverdin into bilirubin) in comparison with DISS cells. The level of
      GSTO1 expression in HTOA, HRA and DISS cells was ~2.5-fold that in MCAS and
      TOV21G cells. Sensitivity to PDT is related to PpIX levels in cells. The results
      of the present study suggested that PpIX tends not to accumulate in PDT-resistant
      cells despite active heme synthesis and degradation, and that high levels of
      GSTO1 expression are associated with increased sensitivity to PDT.

PMID- 28588734
TI  - Plasma T790M and HGF as potential predictive markers for EGFR-TKI re-challenge.
AB  - Re-challenge with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      (EGFR-TKI) has been suggested to potentially improve survival in certain
      populations of patients with advanced lung cancer, but predictive markers for the
      success of EGFR-TKI re-challenge have not been identified. The present study
      analyzed 16 re-challenges with EGFR-TKI undertaken in 12 patients with lung
      adenocarcinoma by investigating T790M and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in
      plasma coupled with clinical characteristics. EGFR mutations in plasma DNA were
      detected using the wild inhibiting PCR and quenched probe system for exon 19
      deletions, and T790M and L858R were detected using the mutation-biased PCR and
      quenched probe system. HGF levels in the plasma were measured by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay, and the ratio of HGF levels prior to re-challenge to those
      prior to the previous EGFR-TKI treatment was calculated. Two re-challenges
      demonstrated partial response, six remained as stable disease and eight had
      progressive disease (PD). A total of 4 of the 5 patients with a history of T790M
      positivity based on plasma DNA levels had PD. A total of 7 of the 8 patients who
      had >=1.5-fold elevation of HGF prior to re-challenge with EGFR-TKI suffered PD.
      Elevation of the HGF ratio to >=1.5 was significantly associated with poor
      response to EGFR-TKI re-challenge. Having no history of T790M and an HGF ratio
      <1.5 was significantly associated with a positive response to EGFR-TKI re
      challenge. A combination of T790M detection and HGF quantification using plasma
      is a potentially useful assay system for predicting the effect of EGFR-TKI re
      challenge. Future prospective studies are required to confirm the predictive
      validity of these markers.

PMID- 28588735
TI  - Comparison of hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) and conventional
      laparotomy in patients with colorectal cancer: Final results from a single
      center.
AB  - In recent years, the use of laparoscopic surgery has been expanded to include
      radical curative resection. In a previous study, 212 patients with primary
      colorectal cancer (stages I-III) underwent radical curative resection by hand
      assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) (n=98) or conventional laparotomy (CL)
      (n=114) and were compared with respect to 3-year relapse-free survival (3Y-RFS)
      and 3-year overall survival (3Y-OS). The study included 210/212 patients who were
      followed up to 5 years, including 96 patients who underwent HALS and 114 treated
      with CL. The two groups were matched for stage, clinical background, and
      postoperative management. Patient characteristics were compared and the 5Y-RFS
      and 5Y-OS were determined. The 5-year follow-up rate was 97.6%. In stage I-III
      patients, 5Y-RFS and 5Y-OS showed no significant differences between HALS and CL.
      The patients with stage I disease accounted for 41.7% (40/96) of the patients
      undergoing HALS, while stage I patients only accounted for 23.7% (27/114) of the
      patients undergoing CL, and the difference was significant (P=0.005). Stage II
      patients undergoing CL were older than those treated with HALS (P=0.017).
      However, there were no differences in the characteristics of stage III patients
      undergoing HALS or CL. In conclusion, HALS achieved a similar survival to CL in
      patients with stage I to III colorectal cancer. Compared with CL, HALS was
      performed more safely and achieved superior cosmetic results.

PMID- 28588736
TI  - Treatment outcomes of concurrent hyperthermia and chemoradiotherapy for
      pancreatic cancer: Insights into the significance of hyperthermia treatment.
AB  - Patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer (LAUPC) have a poor
      prognosis. In addition their quality of life impaired by cancer pain and biliary
      tract infections. Therefore, multimodality therapy and selection of optimal
      treatment methods are essential for achieving prolonged survival. The present
      study investigated the significance of using hyperthermia concurrently with
      multimodality therapy to improve treatment outcomes in patients with LAUPC. In
      total, 13 patients receiving concurrent hyperthermia and chemoradiotherapy (HCR)
      or chemoradiotherapy (CR) alone for LAUPC between 2002 and 2013 were analyzed
      retrospectively. Of the 13 patients, 5 received concurrent HCR and 8 received CR.
      The chemotherapy regimens were 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in 5 patients and
      gemcitabine hydrochloride (GEM) in the other 8. Patients who gave consent for
      hyperthermia treatment received GEM plus CR. The median overall survival period
      for all patients was 12 months and the 1-year survival rate was 55%; the
      corresponding values were 12 months and 57% in the GEM CR group, and 15 months
      and 80% in the HCR group. Univariate analyses was perfomed to identify factors
      predicting recurrence after treatment. The potential prognostic factors analyzed
      were: Age, sex, performance status, location, tumor size, the tumor marker CA 19
      9, total radiation dose, chemotherapy and hyperthermia. Univariate analysis for
      factors associated with outcomes revealed a significant difference favoring the
      HCR group [relative risk=15.97 (95% confidence interval: 12.87-19.83) P=0.021].
      In conclusion, hyperthermia merits active recommendation to pancreatic cancer
      patients who have a positive attitude toward this treatment and whose performance
      status is satisfactory.

PMID- 28588737
TI  - Myricetin induces apoptosis and enhances chemosensitivity in ovarian cancer
      cells.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is the most lethal type of gynecological cancer and is the fifth
      leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in females globally. The majority of
      patients with ovarian cancer suffer from recurrent, progressive disease, due to
      the acquisition of a resistance phenotype towards various conventional
      chemotherapy drugs. Although paclitaxel has been demonstrated to be effective
      against ovarian tumors, there have been reports of the development of a resistant
      phenotype against Taxol(r) treatment. The multidrug resistance (MDR)-1/P
      glycoprotein has previously been demonstrated to be associated with the
      acquisition of paclitaxel resistance in certain ovarian tumors. Therefore, the
      screening of novel drug candidates able to target MDR-1 in ovarian cancer cells
      and increase the sensitivity to Taxol(r) is required in order to improve the
      treatment of this disease. In the present study, the underlying mechanisms by
      which the dietary flavonoid myricetin enhances the cytotoxic potential of
      paclitaxel in ovarian cancer cells, was investigated. It was observed that
      myricetin induced significant cytotoxicity in A2780 and OVCAR3 ovarian cancer
      cells, with the IC50 value obtained at 25 uM. Myricetin treatment also resulted
      in the induction of apoptosis in the two cell lines, accompanied by the
      modulation of certain pro- and anti-apoptotic markers. It was also determined
      that the pre-incubation of ovarian cancer cells with a lower dose of myricetin
      was able to increase the cytotoxicity of paclitaxel, due to the significant
      downregulation of MDR-1 in these cells.

PMID- 28588738
TI  - Prostate cancer downregulated SIRP-alpha modulates apoptosis and proliferation
      through p38-MAPK/NF-kappaB/COX-2 signaling.
AB  - The present study investigated the regulatory mechanism of signal-regulatory
      protein (SIRP)-alpha in the apoptosis and proliferation of prostate cancer (CaP)
      cells. The expression profile of SIRP-alpha in prostate cancer cells was analyzed
      using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western
      blotting. Then SIRP-alpha function in CaP cells was further analyzed with the
      overexpression and RNA interference of SIRP-alpha. The results revealed that SIRP
      alpha expression levels were decreased in CaP tissues and cell lines, with
      androgen-independent CaP exhibiting a lower SIRP-alpha expression compared with
      androgen-dependent CaP. Overexpression of SIRP-alpha resulted in a significantly
      reduced number of live CaP cells by enhancing apoptosis, whereas SIRP-alpha
      silencing increased CaP cell proliferation. Mechanistically, SIRP-alpha decreases
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and cytokine production by negatively
      regulating p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor-kappaB
      pathway. Therefore, SIRP-alpha knockdown decreases cell apoptosis by enhancing
      COX-2 expression. The present results indicate that SIRP-alpha may function as a
      novel negative regulator to modulate cellular proliferation, survival and
      migration in CaP cells. The heightened sensitivity of cells restoring SIRP-alpha
      function could be exploited in the development of therapeutics that may
      potentiate the antineoplastic effects of conventional cytokines or
      chemotherapeutic agents.

PMID- 28588739
TI  - The clinicopathological and prognostic role of thrombocytosis in patients with
      cancer: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Previous studies have linked the presence of thrombocytosis with the progression
      and development of cancer; however, this trend requires further investigation.
      The present study aimed to derive an estimation of the degree of association
      between thrombocytosis and the 5-year overall survival rate of patients with
      cancer, as well as common clinicopathological features, by performing a meta
      analysis of 20 (n=12,778) published studies. The PubMed and Embase databases were
      searched systematically for all relevant articles published in English. Odds
      ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a fixed
      effects or random effects model to evaluate the degree of the observed
      associations. The results suggested that thrombocytosis (platelet count,
      >400*109/l) correlated with a decreased 5-year overall survival rate (OR=2.70,
      95% CI=2.03-3.61) and an advanced tumor-node-metastasis stage (III + IV; OR=2.14,
      95% CI=1.58-2.90). Furthermore, these associations remained robust following
      stratification of the data by cancer type and ethnicity. In addition,
      thrombocytosis (platelet count, >300*109/l) correlated with a decreased 5-year
      overall survival rate in patients with colorectal cancer (OR=3.49, 95% CI=1.44
      8.46). Although certain biases were not able to be eliminated, the present meta
      analysis suggested that thrombocytosis is a valuable indicator for the evaluation
      of pathological diagnosis and prognosis for patients with cancer. Further studies
      are required to investigate the effect of thrombocytosis on the prognosis of
      patients with cancer.

PMID- 28588740
TI  - microRNA-497 overexpression decreases proliferation, migration and invasion of
      human retinoblastoma cells via targeting vascular endothelial growth factor A.
AB  - The expression level and roles of microRNA-497 (miR-497) have been frequently
      reported in previous studies on cancer. However, its expression, function and
      associated molecular mechanisms in retinoblastoma remain unknown. In the present
      study, miR-497 expression levels in human retinoblastoma tissues, normal retinal
      tissues and retinoblastoma cell lines were determined using reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In addition, a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay,
      cell migration assay, cell invasion assay, western blot analysis and Dual
      Luciferase reporter assay were used to explore the expression, functions and
      molecular mechanisms of miR-497 in human retinoblastoma. It was demonstrated that
      miR-497 was significantly downregulated in retinoblastoma tissues and cell lines
      compared with normal retinal tissues. Ectopic expression of miR-497 decreased the
      proliferation, migration and invasion of retinoblastoma cells. Furthermore, VEGFA
      was verified as a potential direct target of miR-497 in vitro. Taken together,
      the results indicate that miR-497 functions as a tumor suppressor in the
      carcinogenesis and progression of retinoblastoma via targeting VEGFA. miR-497
      should be investigated as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of
      retinoblastoma.

PMID- 28588741
TI  - Erratum: Vinflunine treatment in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer: A
      Nordic retrospective multicenter analysis.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.3892/ol.2016.4775.].

PMID- 28588743
TI  - ZAR1 is a novel epigenetically inactivated tumour suppressor in lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths with 1.8
      million new cases each year and poor 5-year prognosis. Promoter hypermethylation
      of tumour suppressors leads to their inactivation and thereby can promote cancer
      development and progression. RESULTS: In this study, we analysed ZAR1 (zygote
      arrest 1), which has been said to be a maternal-effect gene and its expression
      mostly limited to certain reproductive tissues. Our study shows that ZAR1 is
      expressed in normal lung but inactivated by promoter methylation in lung cancer.
      ZAR1 is hypermethylated in primary lung cancer samples (22% small cell lung
      carcinoma (SCLC) and 76% non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), p < 0.001) vs.
      normal control lung tissue (11%). In lung cancer cell lines, ZAR1 was
      significantly methylated in 75% of SCLC and 83% of NSCLC vs. normal tissue (p <
      0.005/0.05). In matching tumours and control tissues, we observed that NSCLC
      primary tumour samples exhibited a tumour-specific promoter methylation of ZAR1
      in comparison to the normal control lung tissue. Demethylation treatment of
      various lung cancer cell lines reversed ZAR1 promoter hypermethylation and
      subsequently re-established ZAR1 expression. In addition, we could show the
      growth inhibitory potential of ZAR1 in lung cancer cell lines and cancer cell
      lines. Exogenous expression of ZAR1 not only inhibited colony formation but also
      blocked cell cycle progression of cancer cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows
      for the first time the lung tumour-specific epigenetic inactivation of ZAR1 due
      to DNA methylation of its CpG island promoter. Furthermore, ZAR1 was
      characterised by the ability to block tumour growth through the inhibition of
      cell cycle progression in cancer cell lines. We propose that ZAR1 could serve as
      an epigenetically inactivated biomarker in lung cancer.

PMID- 28588745
TI  - Maternal characteristics and immunization status of children in North Central of
      Nigeria.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Routine immunization coverage in Nigeria is one of the lowest
      national coverage rates in the world. The objective of this study was to compare
      the mother' characteristics and the child's Immunization status in some selected
      rural and urban communities in the North central part of Nigeria. METHODS: A
      descriptive cross sectional study, using a multistage sampling technique to
      select 600 respondent women with an index child between 0-12 months. RESULTS:
      Mean age of rural respondents was 31.40+/-7.21 years and 32.72+6.77 years among
      urban respondents, though there was no statistically significant difference in
      age between the 2 locations (p-0.762). One hundred and ninetyseven (65.7%) and
      241(80.3%) of rural and urban respondents respectively were aware of
      immunization, the difference was statistically significant (p-0.016). knowledge
      in urban areas was better than among rural respondents. There was statistically
      significant association between respondents age, employment status, mothers'
      educational status and the child's immunization status (P<0.05), while variables
      like parity, age at marriage, marital status, No of children, household income
      and place of index were not statistically associated with immunization status as
      P>0.05. More than half 179(59.7%) of rural and 207(69.0%) of urban had good
      practice of immunization though the difference was not statistically significant
      (p-0.165). CONCLUSION: The immunization coverage in urban community was better
      than that of the rural community. The result of this study has clearly indicated
      that mothers in Nigeria have improved on taking their children for immunization
      in both rural and urban area compared to previous reports.

PMID- 28588742
TI  - Folate deficiency as predisposing factor for childhood leukaemia: a review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Folic acid and its derivates, known as folates, are chemoprotective
      micronutrients of great interest because of their essential role in the
      maintenance of health and genomic integrity. The supplementation of folic acid
      during pregnancy has long been known to reduce the risk of neural tube defects
      (NTDs) in the foetus. Folate metabolism can be altered by many factors, including
      adequate intake through diet. Folate deficiency can compromise the synthesis,
      repair and methylation of DNA, with deleterious consequences on genomic stability
      and gene expression. These processes are known to be altered in chronic diseases,
      including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. MAIN BODY: This review focuses on
      the association between folate intake and the risk of childhood leukaemia. Having
      compiled and analysed studies from the literature, we show the documented effects
      of folates on the genome and their role in cancer prevention and progression with
      particular emphasis on DNA methylation modifications. These changes are of
      crucial importance during pregnancy, as maternal diet has a profound impact on
      the metabolic and physiological functions of the foetus and the susceptibility to
      disease in later life. Folate deficiency is capable of modifying the methylation
      status of certain genes at birth in both animals and humans, with potential
      pathogenic and tumorigenic effects on the progeny. Pre-existing genetic
      polymorphisms can modify the metabolic network of folates and influence the risk
      of cancer, including childhood leukaemias. The protective effects of folic acid
      might be dose dependent, as excessive folic acid could have the adverse effect of
      nourishing certain types of tumours. CONCLUSION: Overall, maternal folic acid
      supplementation before and during pregnancy seems to confer protection against
      the risk of childhood leukaemia in the offspring. The optimal folic acid
      requirements and supplementation doses need to be established, especially in
      conjunction with other vitamins in order to determine the most successful
      combinations of nutrients to maintain genomic health and wellbeing. Further
      research is therefore needed to uncover the role of maternal diet as a whole, as
      it represents a main factor capable of inducing permanent changes in the foetus.

PMID- 28588744
TI  - Effect of personal exposure to black carbon on changes in allergic asthma gene
      methylation measured 5 days later in urban children: importance of allergic
      sensitization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma gene DNA methylation may underlie the effects of air pollution
      on airway inflammation. However, the temporality and individual susceptibility to
      environmental epigenetic regulation of asthma has not been fully elucidated. Our
      objective was to determine the timeline of black carbon (BC) exposure, measured
      by personal sampling, on DNA methylation of allergic asthma genes 5 days later to
      capture usual weather variations and differences related to changes in behavior
      and activities. We also sought to determine how methylation may vary by seroatopy
      and cockroach sensitization and by elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide
      (FeNO). METHODS: Personal BC levels were measured during two 24-h periods over a
      6-day sampling period in 163 New York City children (age 9-14 years), repeated 6
      months later. During home visits, buccal cells were collected as noninvasive
      surrogates for lower airway epithelial cells and FeNO measured as an indicator of
      airway inflammation. CpG promoter loci of allergic asthma genes (e.g.,
      interleukin 4 (IL4), interferon gamma (IFNgamma), inducible nitric oxide synthase
      (NOS2A)), arginase 2 (ARG2)) were pyrosequenced at the start and end of each
      sampling period. RESULTS: Higher levels of BC were associated with lower
      methylation of IL4 promoter CpG-48 5 days later. The magnitude of association
      between BC exposure and demethylation of IL4 CpG-48 and NOS2A CpG+5099 measured 5
      days later appeared to be greater among seroatopic children, especially those
      sensitized to cockroach allergens (RR [95% CI] 0.55 [0.37-0.82] and 0.67 [0.45
      0.98] for IL4 CpG-48 and NOS2A CpG+5099, respectively), compared to non
      sensitized children (RR [95% CI] 0.87 [0.65-1.17] and 0.95 [0.69-1.33] for IL4
      CpG-48 and NOS2A CpG+5099, respectively); however, the difference was not
      statistically different. In multivariable linear regression models, lower DNA
      methylation of IL4 CpG-48 and NOS2A CpG+5099 were associated with increased FeNO.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that exposure to BC may exert asthma
      proinflammatory gene demethylation 5 days later that in turn may link to airway
      inflammation. Our results further suggest that seroatopic children, especially
      those sensitized to cockroach allergens, may be more susceptible to the effect of
      acute BC exposure on epigenetic changes.

PMID- 28588746
TI  - The Stimulated Glycolytic Pathway Is Able to Maintain ATP Levels and Kinetic
      Patterns of Bovine Epididymal Sperm Subjected to Mitochondrial Uncoupling.
AB  - Studies have reported the importance of mitochondria in sperm functionality.
      However, for some species, the glycolytic pathway appears to be as important as
      oxidative phosphorylation in ATP synthesis and sperm kinetics. These mechanisms
      have not been fully elucidated for bovine spermatozoa. Therefore, the aim of this
      study was to evaluate the role of mitochondria and the glycolytic pathway in ATP
      synthesis, sperm movement patterns, and oxidative homeostasis of epididymal
      spermatozoa in bovine specimens. We observed that mitochondrial uncoupling with
      protonophores significantly reduced ATP levels. However, these levels were
      reestablished after stimulation of the glycolytic pathway. We verified the same
      pattern of results for sperm kinetic variables and the production of reactive
      oxygen species (ROS). Thus, we suggest that, after its appropriate stimulation,
      the glycolytic pathway is capable of maintaining ATP levels, sperm kinetic
      patterns, and oxidative balance of bovine epididymal spermatozoa submitted to
      mitochondrial uncoupling.

PMID- 28588747
TI  - Antifatigue Effect of Luteolin-6-C-Neohesperidoside on Oxidative Stress Injury
      Induced by Forced Swimming of Rats through Modulation of Nrf2/ARE Signaling
      Pathways.
AB  - Luteolin-6-C-neohesperidoside (LN) is a flavonoid isolated from moso bamboo leaf.
      This study was performed to evaluate the antifatigue effect of LN on a rat model
      undergoing the weight-loaded forced swimming test (FST). Briefly, male Sprague
      Dawley rats (20-22 weeks old) were forced to undertake exhaustive swimming every
      other day for 3 weeks. Each swimming session was followed by the administration
      of distilled water, LN (25-75 mg/kg), or ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg) 1 h later.
      Oral administration of LN significantly improved exercise endurance; normalized
      alterations in energy metabolic markers; and decreased serum lactic acid, lactate
      dehydrogenase, and blood urea nitrogen levels of rats that underwent FST.
      Moreover, LN enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant
      capacity, as measured by enzyme activity assays, RT-PCR, and Western blotting, as
      well as decreasing the levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and IL-6 and increasing the level of
      anti-inflammatory (IL-10) in the liver and skeletal muscle. These results
      suggested that LN reduces both physical and mental effects of chronic fatigue,
      probably by attenuating oxidative stress injury and inflammatory responses in the
      liver and skeletal muscle. This study thus supports the use of LN in functional
      foods for antifatigue and antioxidant effects.

PMID- 28588748
TI  - Camellia sinensis Prevents Perinatal Nicotine-Induced Neurobehavioral
      Alterations, Tissue Injury, and Oxidative Stress in Male and Female Mice
      Newborns.
AB  - Nicotine exposure during pregnancy induces oxidative stress and leads to
      behavioral alterations in early childhood and young adulthood. The current study
      aimed to investigate the possible protective effects of green tea (Camellia
      sinensis) against perinatal nicotine-induced behavioral alterations and oxidative
      stress in mice newborns. Pregnant mice received 50 mg/kg C. sinensis on
      gestational day 1 (PD1) to postnatal day 15 (D15) and were subcutaneously
      injected with 0.25 mg/kg nicotine from PD12 to D15. Nicotine-exposed newborns
      showed significant delay in eye opening and hair appearance and declined body
      weight at birth and at D21. Nicotine induced neuromotor alterations in both male
      and female newborns evidenced by the suppressed righting, rotating, and cliff
      avoidance reflexes. Nicotine-exposed newborns exhibited declined memory,
      learning, and equilibrium capabilities, as well as marked anxiety behavior. C.
      sinensis significantly improved the physical development, neuromotor maturation,
      and behavioral performance in nicotine-exposed male and female newborns. In
      addition, C. sinensis prevented nicotine-induced tissue injury and lipid
      peroxidation and enhanced antioxidant defenses in the cerebellum and medulla
      oblongata of male and female newborns. In conclusion, this study shows that C.
      sinensis confers protective effects against perinatal nicotine-induced
      neurobehavioral alterations, tissue injury, and oxidative stress in mice
      newborns.

PMID- 28588750
TI  - Image quality and diagnostic performance of free-breathing diffusion-weighted
      imaging for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To retrospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of free-breathing
      diffusion-weighted imaging (FB-DWI) with modified imaging parameter settings for
      detecting hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). METHODS: Fifty-one patients at risk
      for HCC were scanned with both FB-DWI and respiratory-triggered DWI with the
      navigator echo respiratory-triggering technique (RT-DWI). Qualitatively, the
      sharpness of the liver contour, the image noise and the chemical shift artifacts
      on each DWI with b-values of 1000 s/mm2 were independently evaluated by three
      radiologists using 4-point scoring. We compared the image quality scores of each
      observer between the two DWI methods, using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
      Quantitatively, we compared the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the liver
      parenchyma and lesion-to-nonlesion contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) after
      measuring the signal intensity on each DWI with a b-factor of 1000 s/mm2. The
      average SNRs and CNRs between the two DWI methods were compared by the paired t
      test. The detectability of HCC on each DWI was also analyzed by three
      radiologists. The detectability provided by the two DWI methods was compared
      using McNemar's test. RESULTS: For all observers, the averaged image quality
      scores of FB-DWI were: Sharpness of the liver contour [observer (Obs)-1, 3.08 +/-
      0.81; Obs-2, 2.98 +/- 0.73; Obs-3, 3.54 +/- 0.75], those of the distortion (Obs
      1, 2.94 +/- 0.50; Obs-2, 2.71 +/- 0.70; Obs-3, 3.27 +/- 0.53), and the chemical
      shift artifacts (Obs-1, 3.38 +/- 0.60; Obs-2, 3.15 +/- 1.07; Obs-3, 3.21 +/-
      0.85). The averaged image quality scores of RT-DWI were: Sharpness of the liver
      contour (Obs-1, 2.33 +/- 0.65; Obs-2, 2.37 +/- 0.74; Obs-3, 2.75 +/- 0.81),
      distortion (Obs-1, 2.81 +/- 0.56; Obs-2, 2.25 +/- 0.74; Obs-3, 2.96 +/- 0.71),
      and the chemical shift artifacts (Obs-1, 2.92 +/- 0.59; Obs-2, 2.21 +/- 0.85; Obs
      3, 2.77 +/- 1.08). All image quality scores of FB-DWI were significantly higher
      than those of RT-DWI (P < 0.05). The average SNR of the normal liver parenchyma
      by FB-DWI (11.0 +/- 4.8) was not significantly different from that shown by RT
      DWI (11.0 +/- 5.0); nor were the lesion-to-nonlesion CNRs significantly different
      (FB-DWI, 21.4 +/- 17.7; RT-DWI, 20.1 +/- 15.1). For all three observers, the
      detectability of FB-DWI (Obs-1, 43.6%; Obs-2, 53.6%; and Obs-3, 45.0%) was
      significantly higher than that of RT-DWI (Obs-1, 29.1%; Obs-2, 43.6%; and Obs-3,
      34.5%) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: FB-DWI showed better image quality and higher
      detectability of HCC compared to RT-DWI, without significantly reducing the SNRs
      of the liver parenchyma and lesion-to-nonlesion CNRs.

PMID- 28588749
TI  - Strategies to tackle the challenges of external beam radiotherapy for liver
      tumors.
AB  - Primary and metastatic liver cancer is an increasingly common and difficult to
      control disease entity. Radiation offers a non-invasive treatment alternative for
      these patients who often have few options and a poor prognosis. However, the
      anatomy and aggressiveness of liver cancer poses significant challenges such as
      accurate localization at simulation and treatment, management of motion and
      appropriate selection of dose regimen. This article aims to review the options
      available and provide information for the practical implementation and/or
      improvement of liver cancer radiation programs within the context of stereotactic
      body radiotherapy and image-guided radiotherapy guidelines. Specific patient
      inclusion and exclusion criteria are presented given the significant toxicity
      found in certain sub-populations treated with radiation. Indeed, certain sub
      populations, such as those with tumor thrombosis or those with larger lesions
      treated with transarterial chemoembolization, have been shown to have significant
      improvements in outcome with the addition of radiation and merit special
      consideration. Implementing a liver radiation program requires three primary
      challenges to be addressed: (1) immobilization and motion management; (2)
      localization; and (3) dose regimen and constraint selection. Strategies to deal
      with motion include simple internal target volume (ITV) expansions, non-gated ITV
      reduction strategies, breath hold methods, and surrogate marker methods to enable
      gating or tracking. Localization of the tumor and organs-at-risk are addressed
      using contrast infusion techniques to take advantage of different normal liver
      and cancer vascular anatomy, imaging modalities, and margin management. Finally,
      a dose response has been demonstrated and dose regimens appear to be converging.
      A more uniform approach to treatment in terms of technique, dose selection and
      patient selection will allow us to study liver radiation in larger and,
      hopefully, multicenter randomized studies.

PMID- 28588751
TI  - Protein tolerance to standard and high protein meals in patients with liver
      cirrhosis.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the plasma amino acid response and tolerance to normal or
      high protein meals in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: The plasma amino acid
      response to a 20 g mixed protein meal was compared in 8 biopsy-proven compensated
      cirrhotic patients and 6 healthy subjects. In addition the response to a high
      protein meal (1 g/kg body weight) was studied in 6 decompensated biopsy-proven
      cirrhotics in order to evaluate their protein tolerance and the likelihood of
      developing hepatic encephalopathy (HE) following a porto-caval shunt procedure.
      To test for covert HE, the "number connection test" (NCT) was done on all
      patients, and an electroencephalogram was recorded in patients considered to be
      at Child-Pugh C stage. RESULTS: The changes in plasma amino acids after a 20 g
      protein meal were similar in healthy subjects and in cirrhotics except for a
      significantly greater increase (P < 0.05) in isoleucine, leucine and tyrosine
      concentrations in the cirrhotics. The baseline branched chain amino
      acids/aromatic amino acids (BCAA/AAA) ratio was higher in the healthy persons and
      remained stable-but it decreased significantly after the meal in the cirrhotic
      group. After the high protein meal there was a marked increase in the levels of
      most amino acids, but only small changes occurred in the levels of taurine,
      citrulline, cysteine and histidine.The BCAA/AAA ratio was significantly higher
      180 and 240 min after the meal. Slightly elevated basal plasma ammonia levels
      showed no particular pattern. Overt HE was not observed in any patients.
      CONCLUSION: Patients with stable liver disease tolerate natural mixed meals with
      a standard protein content. The response to a high protein meal in decompensated
      cirrhotics suggests accumulation of some amino acids but it did not precipitate
      HE. These results support current nutritional guidelines that recommend a protein
      intake of 1.2-1.5 g/kg body weight/day for patients with cirrhosis.

PMID- 28588752
TI  - Inducible protein-10 as a predictive marker of antiviral hepatitis C treatment: A
      systematic review.
AB  - AIM: To investigate interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10's (IP-10) potential to
      anticipate rapid (RVR)- and sustained virological responses (SVR) to chronic
      hepatitis C (CHC) treatment. METHODS: We included case series examining RVR or
      SVR in relation to 24 or 48 wk treatment for CHC, in patients treatment free for
      at least six months, with genotype 1 or 4, and in relation to 24 wk treatment for
      genotype 2 and 3, with pegylated interferon in combination with ribavirin.
      Patients had to have both a baseline IP-10 level as well as a hepatitis C virus
      (HCV)-RNA determination 4 wk after treatment initiation or 24 wk after end of
      treatment. Studies including patients with liver diseases other than CHC, human
      immunodeficiency virus-infection, treatment with immunosuppresents or
      cytostatica, alcohol dependency or active intravenous drug-use were excluded. We
      found 81 articles by searching the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Eight studies
      were eligible for inclusion. Their quality were assesed using an 18 point
      checklist for case series, developed using a modified Delphi technique.
      Information was extracted from the articles, and no raw data was requisitioned.
      The review protocol was registered at the International Prospective Register of
      Systematic Reviews (reg. number: CRD42014008736). RESULTS: Three studies reported
      on baseline IP-10 level in association with RVR. A signigficant association was
      found for HCV genotype 1 infection by two studies. Only two studies reported on
      HCV genotype 4 infected and genotype 2 and 3 infected patients, respectively. A
      trend was seen for an association between RVR and baseline IP-10 for genotype 4,
      while no association was found for genotype 2 and 3. Seven studies provided
      information regarding baseline IP-10 and SVR. Following the pattern regarding
      rapid virological response all five studies examining SVR in relation to baseline
      IP-10 levels for HCV, genotype 1 infected patients showed a significant
      association. Likewise a significant association was seen for HCV, genotype 4
      infected, while no association was found for HCV, genotype 2 and 3 infected.
      Though only two studies examined the assosiation for HCV genotype 4 infected and
      HCV genotype 2 and 3 infected respectively. CONCLUSION: We found indications of a
      possible association between baseline IP-10 level and virological responses in
      patients with CHC genotype 1 and 4.

PMID- 28588753
TI  - Common therapeutic target for both cancer and obesity.
AB  - Obesity and cancer are two interrelated conditions of high epidemiological need,
      with studies showing that obesity is responsible for nearly 25% of the relative
      contribution to cancer incidence. Given the connection between these conditions,
      a drug that can operate on both obesity and cancer is highly desirable. Such a
      drug is accomplishable through the development of potent anti-angiogenesis agents
      due to the shared underlying role of angiogenesis in the development of both
      diseases. Prior research has demonstrated a key role of type-2 methionine
      aminopeptidase (MetAP2) for angiogenesis, which has led to the development of
      numerous of novel inhibitors. Several irreversible MetAP2 inhibitors have entered
      clinical trials without great success. Though this lack of success could be
      attributed to off-target adverse effects, the underlying causes remain unclear.
      More promising reversible inhibitors have been recently developed with excellent
      pre-clinical results. However, due to insufficient knowledge of the biological
      functions of N-terminal protein processing, it is hard to predict whether these
      novel inhibitors would successfully pass clinical trials and thereby benefit
      cancer and obesity patients. Significantly more efforts are needed to advance our
      understanding of the regulation of methionine aminopeptidases and the processes
      by which they govern the function of proteins.

PMID- 28588755
TI  - Role of pro- and anti-inflammatory phenomena in the physiopathology of type 2
      diabetes and obesity.
AB  - In obesity, persistent low-grade inflammation is considered as a major
      contributor towards the progression to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
      while in lean subjects the immune environment is non-inflammatory. Massive
      adipose tissue (AT) infiltration by pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages and several T
      cell subsets as obesity develops leads to the accumulation - both in the AT and
      systemically - of numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin
      1beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor alpha, IL-17 and IL-6 which are strongly
      associated with the progression of the obese phenotype towards the metabolic
      syndrome. At the same time, anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages and Th subsets
      producing the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10, IL-5 and interferon-gamma,
      including Th2 and T-reg cells are correlated to the maintenance of AT homeostasis
      in lean individuals. Here, we discuss the basic principles in the control of the
      interaction between the AT and infiltrating immune cells both in the lean and the
      obese condition with a special emphasis on the contribution of pro- and anti
      inflammatory cytokines to the establishment of the insulin-resistant state. In
      this context, we will discuss the current knowledge about alterations in the
      levels on pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in obesity, insulin resistance and
      type 2 diabetes mellitus, in humans and animal models. Finally, we also briefly
      survey the recent novel therapeutic strategies that attempt to alleviate or
      reverse insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes via the administration of
      recombinant inhibitory antibodies directed towards some pro-inflammatory
      cytokines.

PMID- 28588754
TI  - Endocrine disrupting chemicals in mixture and obesity, diabetes and related
      metabolic disorders.
AB  - Obesity and associated metabolic disorders represent a major societal challenge
      in health and quality of life with large psychological consequences in addition
      to physical disabilities. They are also one of the leading causes of morbidity
      and mortality. Although, different etiologic factors including excessive food
      intake and reduced physical activity have been well identified, they cannot
      explain the kinetics of epidemic evolution of obesity and diabetes with
      prevalence rates reaching pandemic proportions. Interestingly, convincing data
      have shown that environmental pollutants, specifically those endowed with
      endocrine disrupting activities, could contribute to the etiology of these
      multifactorial metabolic disorders. Within this review, we will recapitulate
      characteristics of endocrine disruption. We will demonstrate that metabolic
      disorders could originate from endocrine disruption with a particular focus on
      convincing data from the literature. Eventually, we will present how handling an
      original mouse model of chronic exposition to a mixture of pollutants allowed
      demonstrating that a mixture of pollutants each at doses beyond their active dose
      could induce substantial deleterious effects on several metabolic end-points.
      This proof-of-concept study, as well as other studies on mixtures of pollutants,
      stresses the needs for revisiting the current threshold model used in risk
      assessment which does not take into account potential effects of mixtures
      containing pollutants at environmental doses, e.g., the real life exposure.
      Certainly, more studies are necessary to better determine the nature of the
      chemicals to which humans are exposed and at which level, and their health
      impact. As well, research studies on substitute products are essential to
      identify harmless molecules.

PMID- 28588756
TI  - Immunological aspects of age-related diseases.
AB  - The proportion of elderly people rises in the developed countries. The increased
      susceptibility of the elderly to infectious diseases is caused by immune
      dysfunction, especially T cell functional decline. Age-related hematopoietic stem
      cells deviate from lymphoid lineage to myeloid lineage. Thymus shrinks early in
      life, which is followed by the decline of naive T cells. T-cell receptor
      repertoire diversity declines by aging, which is caused by cytomegalovirus-driven
      T cell clonal expansion. Functional decline of B cell induces antibody affinity
      declines by aging. Many effector functions including phagocytosis of myeloid
      cells are down regulated by aging. The studies of aging of myeloid cells have
      some controversial results. Although M1 macrophages have been shown to be
      replaced by anti-inflammatory (M2) macrophages by advanced age, many human
      studies showed that pro-inflammatory cytokines are elevated in older human. To
      solve this discrepancy here we divide age-related pathological changes into two
      categories. One is an aging of immune cell itself. Second is involvement of
      immune cells to age-related pathological changes. Cellular senescence and damaged
      cells in aged tissue recruit pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages, which produce pro
      inflammatory cytokines and proceed to age-related diseases. Underlying
      biochemical and metabolic studies will open nutritional treatment.

PMID- 28588757
TI  - Identification of neuron selective androgen receptor inhibitors.
AB  - AIM: To identify neuron-selective androgen receptor (AR) signaling inhibitors,
      which could be useful in the treatment of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy
      (SBMA), or Kennedy's disease, a neuromuscular disorder in which deterioration of
      motor neurons leads to progressive muscle weakness. METHODS: Cell lines
      representing prostate, kidney, neuron, adipose, and muscle tissue were developed
      that stably expressed the CFP-AR-YFP FRET reporter. We used these cells to screen
      a library of small molecules for cell type-selective AR inhibitors. Secondary
      screening in luciferase assays was used to identify the best cell-type specific
      AR inhibitors. The mechanism of action of a neuron-selective AR inhibitor was
      examined in vitro using luciferase reporter assays, immunofluorescence
      microscopy, and immunoprecipitations. Rats were treated with the most potent
      compound and tissue-selective AR inhibition was examined using RT-qPCR of AR
      regulated genes and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: We identified the thiazole
      class of antibiotics as compounds able to inhibit AR signaling in a neuronal cell
      line but not a muscle cell line. One of these antibiotics, thiostrepton is able
      to inhibit the activity of both wild type and polyglutamine expanded AR in
      neuronal GT1-7 cells with nanomolar potency. The thiazole antibiotics are known
      to inhibit FOXM1 activity and accordingly, a novel FOXM1 inhibitor FDI-6 also
      inhibited AR activity in a neuron-selective fashion. The selective inhibition of
      AR is likely indirect as the varied structures of these compounds would not
      suggest that they are competitive antagonists. Indeed, we found that FOXM1
      expression correlates with cell-type selectivity, FOXM1 co-localizes with AR in
      the nucleus, and that shRNA-mediated knock down of FOXM1 reduces AR activity and
      thiostrepton sensitivity in a neuronal cell line. Thiostrepton treatment reduces
      FOXM1 levels and the nuclear localization of beta-catenin, a known co-activator
      of both FOXM1 and AR, and reduces the association between beta-catenin and AR.
      Treatment of rats with thiostrepton demonstrated AR signaling inhibition in
      neurons, but not muscles. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that thiazole
      antibiotics, or other inhibitors of the AR-FOXM1 axis, can inhibit AR signaling
      selectively in motor neurons and may be useful in the treatment or prevention of
      SBMA symptoms.

PMID- 28588758
TI  - B-1 cells modulate the murine macrophage response to Leishmania major infection.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the modulatory effect of B-1 cells on murine peritoneal
      macrophages infected with Leishmania major (L. major) in vitro. METHODS:
      Peritoneal macrophages obtained from BALB/c and BALB/c XID mice were infected
      with L. major and cultured in the presence or absence of B-1 cells obtained from
      wild-type BALB/c mice. Intracellular amastigotes were counted, and interleukin-10
      (IL-10) production was quantified in the cellular supernatants using an enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. The levels of the lipid mediator prostaglandin E2
      (PGE2) were determined using a PGE2 enzyme immunoassay kit (Cayman Chemical, Ann
      Arbor, MI), and the number of lipid bodies was quantified in the cytoplasm of
      infected macrophages in the presence and absence of B-1 cells. Culturing the
      cells with selective PGE2-neutralizing drugs inhibited PGE2 production and
      confirmed the role of this lipid mediator in IL-10 production. In contrast, we
      demonstrated that B-1 cells derived from IL-10 KO mice did not favor the
      intracellular growth of L. major. RESULTS: We report that B-1 cells promote the
      growth of L. major amastigotes inside peritoneal murine macrophages. We
      demonstrated that the modulatory effect was independent of physical contact
      between the cells, suggesting that soluble factor(s) were released into the
      cultures. We demonstrated in our co-culture system that B-1 cells trigger IL-10
      production by L. major-infected macrophages. Furthermore, the increased secretion
      of IL-10 was attributed to the presence of the lipid mediator PGE2 in
      supernatants of L. major-infected macrophages. The presence of B-1 cells also
      favors the production of lipid bodies by infected macrophages. In contrast, we
      failed to obtain the same effect on parasite replication inside L. major-infected
      macrophages when the B-1 cells were isolated from IL-10 knockout mice.
      CONCLUSION: Our results show that elevated levels of PGE2 and IL-10 produced by B
      1 cells increase L. major growth, as indicated by the number of parasites in cell
      cultures.

PMID- 28588759
TI  - CRISPR-based gene replacement reveals evolutionarily conserved axon guidance
      functions of Drosophila Robo3 and Tribolium Robo2/3.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Axon guidance receptors of the Roundabout (Robo) family regulate a
      number of axon guidance outcomes in bilaterian animals in addition to their
      canonical role in Slit-dependent midline repulsion. In the fruit fly Drosophila
      melanogaster, three Robo paralogs (Robo1, Robo2, and Robo3) each have specialized
      roles in regulating midline crossing and the formation of longitudinal axon
      pathways in the embryonic ventral nerve cord. The number of robo genes differs in
      other insects, and it is unknown whether the roles and/or signaling mechanisms of
      Drosophila Robos are shared in other insect species. To directly compare the axon
      guidance activities of Robo receptors in Drosophila and the flour beetle
      Tribolium castaneum, I have used a CRISPR/Cas9-based approach to replace
      Drosophila robo3 with Tribolium robo2/3. RESULTS: I show that when expressed from
      the robo3 locus in Drosophila embryos, Tribolium Robo2/3 (TcRobo2/3) protein is
      properly translated and localized to axons, where it reproduces the normal
      expression pattern of Drosophila Robo3. In embryos expressing TcRobo2/3 in place
      of robo3, two distinct subsets of longitudinal axons are guided properly to their
      normal positions in the intermediate neuropile, indicating that TcRobo2/3 can
      promote Robo3-dependent axon guidance decisions in developing Drosophila neurons.
      CONCLUSIONS: These observations suggest that the mechanism by which Drosophila
      Robo3 promotes longitudinal pathway formation is evolutionarily conserved in
      Tribolium, where it is performed by TcRobo2/3. The CRISPR/Cas9-based gene
      replacement approach described here can be applied to comparative evolutionary
      developmental studies of other Drosophila genes and their orthologs in other
      species.

PMID- 28588760
TI  - The impact of database restriction on pharmacovigilance signal detection of
      selected cancer therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate whether database restriction
      can improve oncology drug pharmacovigilance signal detection performance.
      METHODS: We used spontaneous adverse event (AE) reports in the United States (US)
      Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS)
      database. Positive control (PC) drug medical concept (DMC) pairs were selected
      from safety information not included in the product's first label but
      subsequently added as label changes. These medical concepts (MCs) were mapped to
      the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) preferred terms (PTs)
      used in FAERS to code AEs. Negative controls (NC) were MCs with circumscribed PTs
      not included in the corresponding US package insert (USPI). We calculated
      shrinkage-adjusted observed-to-expected (O/E) reporting frequencies for the
      aforementioned drug-PT pairs. We also formulated an adjudication framework to
      calculate performance at the MC level. Performance metrics [sensitivity,
      specificity, positive and negative predictive value (PPV, NPV), signal/noise
      (S/N), F and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC)] were calculated for each
      analysis and compared. RESULTS: The PC reference set consisted of 11 drugs, 487
      PTs, 27 MCs, 37 drug-MC combinations and 638 drug-event combinations (DECs). The
      NC reference set consisted of 11 drugs, 9 PTs, 5 MCs, 40 drug-MC combinations and
      67 DECs. Most drug-event pairs were not highlighted by either analysis. A small
      percentage of signals of disproportionate reporting were lost, more noise than
      signal, with no gains. Specificity and PPV improved whereas sensitivity, NPV, F
      and MCC decreased, but all changes were small relative to the decrease in
      sensitivity. The overall S/N improved. CONCLUSION: This oncology drug restricted
      analysis improved the S/N ratio, removing proportionately more noise than signal,
      but with significant credible signal loss. Without broader experience and a
      calculus of costs and utilities of correct versus incorrect classifications in
      oncology pharmacovigilance such restricted analyses should be optional rather
      than a default analysis.

PMID- 28588761
TI  - Apixaban, concomitant medicines and spontaneous reports of haemorrhagic events.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the potential safety issues associated with
      apixaban in clinical practice and their reporting in spontaneous adverse event
      (SAE) databases. OBJECTIVE: To describe SAE reports associated with the oral
      anticoagulant apixaban from Australia, Canada and USA and to examine associated
      concomitant medicine use. METHODS: SAE report databases from Australia, Canada
      and the USA were examined for all reports of adverse events associated with
      apixaban and concomitant medicines from 1 January 2012 to 30 September 2014.
      Disproportionality analysis (proportional reporting ratio (PRR) and reporting
      odds ratio (ROR)) was conducted for the quantitative detection of signals using
      the USA database. RESULTS: There were 97 SAE reports associated with apixaban
      from Australia, 77 from Canada and 2877 from the USA. Reporting of haemorrhage
      (any type) was common, ranging from 18% for USA to 31% for Australia.
      Gastrointestinal (GI) haemorrhage was the most commonly reported haemorrhage,
      accounting for approximately 10% of adverse event reports across all countries.
      Positive signals were confirmed in the USA data (haemorrhage (any type) PRR,
      12.1; chi2, 5582.2 and ROR, 13.4; 95% CI: 12.13-14.6; GI haemorrhage PRR, 11.8;
      chi2, 2325.4 and ROR, 12.3; 95% CI, 10.8-14.0). Reporting of concomitant use of
      medicines with the potential to increase bleeding risk ranged from 47.6% in
      Canada to 65.5% in Australia. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of adverse event
      reports for apixaban were associated with use of concomitant medicines which may
      have increased the risk of haemorrhage.

PMID- 28588762
TI  - Baclofen overdose mimicking anoxic encephalopathy: a case report and review of
      the literature.
AB  - A patient who has overdosed on baclofen can present with significant neurological
      symptoms suggestive of a serious brain insult, but with appropriate diagnosis and
      treatment they often fully recover within 72 h. If the patient had been
      maintained on chronic baclofen therapy prior to the overdose, one must be
      watchful for signs of baclofen withdrawal as recovery from the overdose occurs.

PMID- 28588763
TI  - Proof of concept of faecal egg nematode counting as a practical means of
      veterinary engagement with planned livestock health management in a lower income
      country.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The wellbeing and livelihood of farmers in impoverished regions of
      the world is intrinsically linked to the health and welfare of their livestock;
      hence improved animal health is a pragmatic component of poverty alleviation.
      Prerequisite knowledge and understanding of the animal health challenges facing
      cattle keepers in Malawi is constrained by the lack of veterinary infrastructure,
      which inevitably accompanies under-resourced rural development in a poor country.
      METHODS: We collaborated with public and private paraveterinary services to
      locate 62 village Zebu calves and 60 dairy co-operative calves dispersed over a
      wide geographical area. All calves were visited twice about 2 to 3 weeks apart,
      when they were clinically examined and faecal samples were collected. The calves
      were treated with 7.5 mg/kg of a locally-available albendazole drench on the
      first visit, and pre- and post- treatment trichostrongyle and Toxocara faecal egg
      counts were performed using a modified McMaster method. RESULTS: Our clinical
      findings point towards a generally poor level of animal health, implying a role
      of ticks and tick-transmitted diseases in village calves and need for improvement
      in neonatal calf husbandry in the dairy co-operative holdings. High faecal
      trichostrongyle egg counts were not intuitive, based on our interpretation of the
      animal management information that was provided. This shows the need for better
      understanding of nematode parasite epidemiology within the context of local
      husbandry and environmental conditions. The albendazole anthelmintic was
      effective against Toxocara, while efficacy against trichostrongyle nematodes was
      poor in both village and dairy co-operative calves, demonstrating the need for
      further research to inform sustainable drug use. CONCLUSIONS: Here we describe
      the potential value of faecal nematode egg counting as a platform for
      communicating with and gaining access to cattle keepers and their animals,
      respectively, in southern Malawi, with the aim of providing informative
      background knowledge and understanding that may aid in the establishment of
      effective veterinary services in an under-resourced community.

PMID- 28580128
TI  - Imagining tomorrow's university in an era of open science.
AB  - As part of a recent workshop entitled "Imagining Tomorrow's University", we were
      asked to visualize the future of universities as research becomes increasingly
      data- and computation-driven, and identify a set of principles characterizing
      pertinent opportunities and obstacles presented by this shift. In order to
      establish a holistic view, we take a multilevel approach and examine the impact
      of open science on individual scholars and how this impacts as well as on the
      university as a whole. At the university level, open science presents a double
      edged sword: when well executed, open science can accelerate the rate of
      scientific inquiry across the institution and beyond; however, haphazard or half
      hearted efforts are likely to squander valuable resources, diminish university
      productivity and prestige, and potentially do more harm than good. We present our
      perspective on the role of open science at the university.

PMID- 28588765
TI  - Evidence of disease control: a realistic concept beyond NEDA in the treatment of
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Although no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) permits evaluation of response to
      treatment in the systematic follow-up of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS),
      its ability to accomplish detection of surreptitious activity of disease is
      limited, thus being unable to prevent patients from falling into a non-reversible
      progressive phase of disease. A protocol of evaluation based on the use of
      validated biomarkers that is conducted at an early stage of disease would permit
      the capture of abnormal neuroimmunological phenomena and lead towards
      intervention with modifying therapy before tissue damage has been reached.

PMID- 28588766
TI  - How externalities impact an evaluation of strategies to prevent antimicrobial
      resistance in health care organizations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rates of antimicrobial-resistant organisms (ARO) continue to
      increase for both hospitalized and community patients. Few resources have been
      allocated to reduce the spread of resistance on global, national and local
      levels, in part because the broader economic impact of antimicrobial resistance
      (i.e. the externality) is not fully considered when determining how much to
      invest to prevent AROs, including strategies to contain antimicrobial resistance,
      such as antimicrobial stewardship programs. To determine how best to measure and
      incorporate the impact of externalities associated with the antimicrobial
      resistance when making resource allocation decisions aimed to reduce
      antimicrobial resistance within healthcare facilities, we reviewed the literature
      to identify publications which 1) described the externalities of antimicrobial
      resistance, 2) described approaches to quantifying the externalities associated
      with antimicrobial resistance or 3) described macro-level policy options to
      consider the impact of externalities. Medline was reviewed to identify published
      studies up to September 2016. MAIN BODY: An externality is a cost or a benefit
      associated with one person's activity that impacts others who did not choose to
      incur that cost or benefit. We did not identify a well-accepted method of
      accurately quantifying the externality associated with antimicrobial resistance.
      We did identify three main methods that have gained popularity to try to take
      into account the externalities of antimicrobial resistance, including regulation,
      charges or taxes on the use of antimicrobials, and the right to trade permits or
      licenses for antimicrobial use. To our knowledge, regulating use of
      antimicrobials is the only strategy currently being used by health care systems
      to reduce antimicrobial use, and thereby reduce AROs. To justify expenditures on
      programs that reduce AROs (i.e. to formally incorporate the impact of the
      negative externality of antimicrobial resistance associated with antimicrobial
      use), we propose an alternative approach that quantifies the externalities of
      antimicrobial use, combining the attributable cost of AROs with time-series
      analyses showing the relationship between antimicrobial utilization and incidence
      of AROs. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this review, we propose a
      methodology that healthcare organizations can use to incorporate the impact of
      negative externalities when making resource allocation decisions on strategies to
      reduce AROs.

PMID- 28588767
TI  - Effectiveness of various cleaning and disinfectant products on Clostridium
      difficile spores of PCR ribotypes 010, 014 and 027.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In healthcare facilities, Clostridium difficile infections spread by
      transmission of bacterial spores. Appropriate sporicidal disinfectants are needed
      to prevent development of clusters and outbreaks. In this study different
      cleaning/disinfecting wipes and sprays were tested for their efficacy against
      spores of distinctive C. difficile PCR ribotypes. METHODS: Four different
      products were tested; 1) hydrogen peroxide 1.5%; 2) glucoprotamin 1.5%; 3) a
      mixture of ethanol, propane and N-alkyl amino propyl glycine; and 4) a mixture of
      didecyldimonium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, polyaminopropyl, biguanide and
      dimenthicone as active ingredients. Tiles were contaminated with a test solution
      containing a concentration of 5x106CFU/ml spores of C. difficile strains
      belonging to PCR ribotypes 010, 014 or 027. The tiles were left to dry for an
      hour and then wiped or sprayed with one of the sprays or wipes as intended by the
      manufacturers. When products neutralized after 5 min, microbiological cultures
      and ATP measures were performed. RESULTS: Irrespective of the disinfection
      method, the microbial count log10 reduction of C. difficile PCR ribotype 010 was
      highest, followed by the reduction of C. difficile 014 and C. difficile 027.
      Overall, the wipes performed better than the sprays with the same active
      ingredient. On average, although not significantly, a difference in relative
      light units (RLU) reduction between the wipes and sprays was found. The wipes had
      a higher RLU log10 reduction, but no significant difference for RLU reduction was
      observed between the different C. difficile strains (p = 0.16). CONCLUSION: C.
      difficile spores of PCR ribotypes 014 and 027 strains are more difficult to
      eradicate than non-toxigenic PCR ribotype 010. In general, impregnated
      cleaning/disinfection wipes performed better than ready-to-use sprays. Wipes with
      hydrogen peroxide (1.5%) showed the highest bactericidal activity.

PMID- 28588768
TI  - Ovarian function following targeted anti-angiogenic therapy with bevacizumab.
AB  - Improvements in cancer therapy have enabled further insight into the long-term
      effects of treatment, including the highly prevalent gonadal failure. The focus
      of treatment has been shifted to the preservation of fertility, which may be
      achieved by preventing ovarian toxicity. To this end, new molecular-targeted
      agents, including monoclonal antibodies, have been developed and used in a
      standard procedure for managing different cancers. However, the prolonged
      antitumor activity of these drugs may cause the emergence of new toxic effects.
      The aim of the present review was to discuss the leading toxic effect of the anti
      angiogenic agent bevacizumab on ovarian function in female patients of
      reproductive age, which may be observed and expected during in clinical practice.
      The majority of bevacizumab-induced side effects are expected to be transient and
      eliminated within the anticipated drug clearance time frame; however, fundamental
      investigations on these effects are required for generating more evidence-based
      practice guidelines.

PMID- 28588769
TI  - The Glasgow prognostic score: Useful information when prescribing palliative
      radiotherapy.
AB  - The purpose of the present retrospective study was to investigate whether a score
      reflecting systemic inflammatory processes [the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS)]
      provides relevant information for radiation oncologists. GPS is a three-tiered
      score [0: normal C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin; 1: one abnormal result; 2:
      increased CRP and low albumin]. Correlations between disease type and extent,
      resource utilization, survival and GPS were analyzed in 703 patients. In the
      subgroup with GPS 2, significantly higher rates of lung, adrenal gland and liver
      metastases were observed. An increasing GPS score was associated with a higher
      likelihood of anemia, leukocytosis and thrombocytosis. Comparable findings were
      made regarding utilization of palliative care resources, need for blood
      transfusion and intravenous administration of antibiotics. Compared with GPS 0 or
      1, more patients with GPS 2 did not complete their prescribed course of
      radiotherapy. One-third of patients with GPS 2 received treatment during the
      final month of life. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that GPS was a
      significant prognostic factor for overall survival (median, 479, 136, and 61
      days, for GPS 0, 1 and 2, respectively). In patients with GPS 2 and additional
      leukocytosis, the median survival was 38 days. In conclusion, GPS provides
      important prognostic information. This biomarker-based score may be considered
      for deciding fractionation, and should be validated further.

PMID- 28588771
TI  - Renal metastases as the initial presentation of papillary thyroid carcinoma: A
      case report and literature review.
AB  - Distant metastasis of thyroid carcinoma is rare, and it occurs particularly
      rarely in renal regions, which represent ~3% of all thyroid distant metastases,
      with fewer than 30 single case study reports existing in the literature. The
      present study (and subsequent literature review) of papillary thyroid carcinoma
      (PTC) reports the case of a 53-year-old male patient who presented with a left
      renal mass and who had no previous history of thyroid disease. Following renal
      and thyroid surgery, postoperative pathology confirmed the case to be a
      follicular variant of PTC, accompanied by renal metastasis. The patient exhibited
      brain metastasis during a later follow-up. In conclusion, thyroid metastases to
      the renal site are extremely rare events, particularly for men who present
      initially with renal neoplasms, which may easily be misdiagnosed as renal cell
      carcinoma. PTC tends to have a good prognosis; however, when it is accompanied by
      distant metastasis, the prognosis becomes less favorable.

PMID- 28588770
TI  - Radiation-associated colon cancer: A case report.
AB  - Radiation-associated colon cancer is a rare clinical entity. We herein describe
      the case of a patient with radiation-associated colon cancer who had undergone
      low anterior resection for rectal cancer following preoperative radiotherapy.
      Certain characteristics of radiation-associated colon cancer are highlighted. The
      patient was a 48-year-old man who had undergone low anterior resection for rectal
      cancer following preoperative radiotherapy at a total dose of 50 Gy, at the age
      of 29 years. When the patient presented at the University of Tokyo Hospital, 19
      years after the surgery, he complained of severe anal pain and frequent
      defecation. Colonoscopy revealed two flat tumors in the sigmoid colon, located 10
      cm to the oral side of the anastomosis site, which were diagnosed as well
      differentiated adenocarcinomas. In addition, colonoscopy identified five flat
      polyps near the tumors, which were resected endoscopically. Computed tomography
      and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass in the sigmoid colon and no
      evidence of distant metastasis. Laparoscopic-assisted intersphincteric resection
      of the rectum and sigmoid colon with diverting ileostomy was performed. There
      were no specific postoperative complications and the patient was discharged from
      the hospital on the 20th postoperative day. On pathological examination, the
      resected rectum and sigmoid colon contained two separate tumors and six flat
      polyps. The two tumors were diagnosed as well-differentiated adenocarcinomas with
      invasion of the subserosa and submucosa, respectively. A total of 17 regional
      lymph nodes without metastasis were resected. The six flat polyps were diagnosed
      as tubular adenomas. We herein present a case of a radiation-associated colon
      cancer in a patient who had undergone low anterior resection for rectal cancer
      following preoperative radiotherapy 19 years prior. Colonoscopic surveillance of
      radiation-associated colon cancer may be indicated for rectal cancer patients
      treated with preoperative radiotherapy, particularly for those with long-standing
      radiation-induced colitis.

PMID- 28588772
TI  - Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy for differential diagnosis of thyroid
      nodules: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (US-CNB) of thyroid nodules is a relatively
      new technique used in surgical workup. However, no systematic review of this
      method has yet been performed. In the present meta-analysis, literature databases
      consisting of Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, Scopus and Google Scholar were
      searched. Following eligibility assessments of the studies, quality appraisals
      were performed on the included studies using the Quality Assessment Tool for
      Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 method. The data were systematically analyzed by
      using Review Manager (version 5.3) and Meta-Disc (version 1.4). Eight
      investigations were included, and the study qualities were good. There were 1,621
      nodules included in the final meta-analysis. The summary estimated that US-CNB
      had a sensitivity of 0.96 [95% confidence interval (CI)=0.94-0.97] and a
      specificity of 0.96 (95% CI=0.94-0.97). Positive and negative likelihood ratios,
      and the diagnostic odds ratio of US-CNB were 18.20 (95% CI=2.21-156.41), 0.08
      (95% CI=0.02-0.27) and 250.60 (95% CI=19.11-3286.76), respectively. The area
      under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.979. Therefore,
      US-CNB may be considered as a reliable method in the assessment of thyroid
      nodules, and has an acceptable risk of complications.

PMID- 28588773
TI  - Target volume dose and clinical outcome in radiotherapy for primary marginal zone
      lymphoma of the ocular adnexa.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to determine the optimal dose and optimal target
      volume for marginal zone lymphoma of the ocular adnexa. Between January, 2008 and
      December, 2013, 40 patients with histologically proven primary marginal zone
      lymphoma of the ocular adnexa who underwent radiotherapy at the Tokyo Medical
      University were evaluated. The prescribed dose was 30 Gy in 15 fractions to the
      iso-center. Doses to the gross tumor volume (GTV), conjunctiva, bulbus oculi,
      retina and retrobulbar space were investigated, and the association between dose
      volume factors and clinical outcome was analyzed. The overall and local
      progression-free survival rates at 3 and 5 years were 100% during a median
      observation period of 32 months. Two patients relapsed in the contralateral
      ocular adnexa. The progression-free survival rates at 3 and 5 years were 100 and
      93.3%, respectively. The mean dose was 2.0 and 1.9 Gy for targets receiving 95%
      of the GTV dose (D95). The minimum dose was 0.9-2.0 Gy (median, 1.8 Gy). Thus,
      primary marginal zone lymphoma of the ocular adnexa favorably responded to lower
      doses of radiation, compared with prescribed doses to the iso-center. A radiation
      dose of 27 Gy in 15 fractions at D95 of GTV appeared to be optimal.

PMID- 28588774
TI  - Solitary pulmonary caseating granulomas: A 5-year retrospective single-center
      analysis.
AB  - Solitary pulmonary caseating granulomas (SPCGs) are a characteristic type of
      tuberculomas associated with infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM)
      and other microbes; however, their significance remains unclear. The aim of the
      present study was to describe the clinical characteristics of patients with SPCGs
      in terms of diagnosis, presence of lung cancer and treatment status. A
      retrospective analysis of 17 immunocompetent patients with histopathologically
      confirmed caseating granulomas after undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic
      surgery (VATS) was conducted at our center between 2011 and 2015. The patients
      comprised 10 men and 7 women with a mean age of 59.1+/-14.4 years. Of the 17
      patients, 14 (82.4%) were asymptomatic and the lesions were discovered
      incidentally. In 2 patients the SPCGs were accompanied by a small satellite
      nodule (SPCG mean diameter, 16.2+/-5.1 mm). Mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis (11.8%), Mycobacterium avium (11.8%) Mycobacterium kansasii (23.5%)
      and other Mycobacterium spp. (5.9%), were isolated from 9 of the patients
      (52.9%). Concurrent lung cancer was present in 3 patients (17.6%). When microbial
      agents could not be isolated, the interferon-gamma release assay was useful for
      diagnosis. Positron emission tomography was not found to be useful for
      differentiating SPCGs from lung cancer, or for differentiating tuberculomas from
      NTM pulmonary nodules (NTMPNs). NTMPNs in cases of SPCGs were diagnosed more
      frequently in men. The findings indicate that a course of observation may be
      sufficient for patients in whom an SPCG from NTM (NTMPN) is identified by VATS.
      However, the presence of concurrent lung cancer in certain cases indicates that
      malignancy should not necessarily be excluded, particularly in NTMPNs, and
      highlights the necessity of aggressive diagnosis by VATS.

PMID- 28588775
TI  - A meta-analysis: The diagnostic values of long non-coding RNA as a biomarker for
      gastric cancer.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as novel biomarkers for the
      diagnosis, staging and prognosis for gastric cancer. However, various studies
      have reported a series of significances based on different diagnostic values.
      Therefore, the current study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to
      evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of lncRNAs for gastric cancer, and to discuss
      lncRNA types and sources of heterogeneity. The Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Literature
      Database, the China Academic Journals Full-text Database and the Chinese
      Scientific Journals Database were systematically searched for potential studies.
      Studies were included if they were associated with lncRNAs, gastric cancer and
      reported diagnostic outcomes. Analysis of diagnostic values was used to summarize
      the overall test performance of lncRNAs. Ten studies were included in this meta
      analysis. The ranges of the diagnostic value of lncRNAs for gastric cancer were
      as follows: Sensitivity was 0.45-0.83, and pooled sensitivity was 0.63;
      specificity was 0.60-0.93, and pooled specificity was 0.75; positive likelihood
      ratio was 1.80-6.92, and pooled positive likelihood ratio was 2.51; negative
      likelihood ratio was 0.23-0.67, and pooled negative likelihood ratio was 0.50;
      diagnostic odds ratio was 3.33-13.75, and pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 5.47.
      An overall area under the curve value of the summary receiver operating
      characteristic curve was 0.7550. LncRNAs did not have a high accuracy for
      identifying gastric cancer at present, but may be a useful screening tool for
      diagnosing gastric cancer due to their correlation with gastric cancer biological
      features. LncRNAs are potential biomarkers for gastric cancer if the screening
      strategy is altered, or they are combined with other biomarkers to diagnose
      gastric cancer.

PMID- 28588776
TI  - Management of infusion reactions associated with cetuximab treatment: A case
      report.
AB  - Cetuximab is a drug targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor, which is
      indicated for the treatment of unresectable advanced or recurrent head and neck
      or colorectal cancer. Cetuximab also enhances the cytotoxic effects of radiation
      in squamous cell carcinoma. The severity of infusion reactions (IR) is
      categorized from grade 1 to 5; grades 3 and 4 are associated with life
      threatening reactions (anaphylaxis), whereas grade 5 indicates death. The
      incidence of grade 3-4 IR with premedication is reported to be 1.1%. We herein
      describe a case of a 77-year-old man who developed IR during intravenous
      administration of cetuximab. The patient developed grade 3-4 anaphylaxis with
      pruritus, rash and urticaria, followed by hypotension and bradycardia. The timely
      diagnosis and treatment with intravenous infusion of a vasopressor drug and
      Ringer's acetate solution proved to be effective. The case presented herein
      demonstrated an unfeatured aspect of cetuximab-related IR as dermatological
      reactions over the entire body followed by circulatory collapse.

PMID- 28588777
TI  - The combination of systemic chemotherapy and local treatment may improve the
      survival of patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer.
AB  - With the development of systemic chemotherapy, the survival time of patients with
      advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) has increased. In addition, local treatments,
      such as microwave ablation and radioactive seed implantation, have been shown to
      be effective. However, the number of studies reporting on the effect of systemic
      chemotherapy combined with local treatments is limited. The present study was
      conducted to determine the effect of local treatment combined with systemic
      chemotherapy in patients with initial unresectable metastatic CRC (mCRC).
      Clinicopathological and follow-up data from 273 patients with initial
      unresectable mCRC between April, 2007 and October, 2013 were retrospectively
      analyzed. A total of 51 patients received minimally invasive treatments combined
      with systemic chemotherapy and 39 patients achieved tumor-free survival (TFS).
      The median TFS time was 9 months (range, 2-45 months); the median overall
      survival (OS) time was 40 months (range, 12-108 months). In patients who did not
      achieve TFS, the OS was 37 months. Thus, patients who achieved TFS exhibited a
      significantly longer OS compared with those who did not achieve TFS (P=0.049).
      The results of the univariate analysis demonstrated that certain characteristics,
      such as the number of lesions and maximum tumor diameter, were associated with
      the achievement of TFS. The patients assessed herein achieved TFS in response to
      local treatments combined with systemic chemotherapy. Furthermore, the achieved
      TFS provided an OS benefit.

PMID- 28588778
TI  - Rexin-G(r), a tumor-targeted retrovector for malignant peripheral nerve sheath
      tumor: A case report.
AB  - Soft tissue sarcoma is a rare neoplasm of mesenchymal origin, accounting for only
      ~1% of all adult cancers and consisting of 75 histological subtypes. In the
      present report, the unique case of a 14 year-old female with metastatic malignant
      peripheral nerve sheath tumor (formerly, malignant melanotic schwannoma) of the
      parotid gland, who experienced a durable response and sustained tumor control
      with Rexin-G(r), a tumor-targeted retroviral expression vector encoding an anti
      cyclin G1 construct, is described. Post-parotidectomy, and prior to the
      administration of Rexin-G(r), the patient received various chemotherapy regimens,
      including doxorubicin, ifosfamide, temozolomide, sorafenib, and an immunological
      therapy with interleukin-2, which only resulted in the further progression of
      lung metastases. The patient subsequently participated in a Phase 1/2 gene
      therapy study, during which she received intravenous Rexin-G(r) as monotherapy
      for two years with minimal drug-associated adverse events. Currently, the patient
      has no evidence of active disease 9 years after commencing the Rexin-G(r)
      treatment, and with no additional anti-cancer therapy. In conclusion, Rexin-G(r)
      may be a viable therapeutic option for malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors,
      and should be further investigated in prospective histology-specific clinical
      trials for this type, and possibly other types, of chemotherapy-resistant
      sarcoma.

PMID- 28588779
TI  - Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma presenting with panniculitis, successfully
      treated with FOLFIRINOX: A case report.
AB  - Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma (PACC) is a rare tumor of the exocrine pancreas,
      representing only 1% of all pancreatic malignancies. A 50-year-old man presented
      with edema of the thumb joints bilaterally, followed by an appearance of masses
      in the bilateral lower extremities and fever (38 degrees C). The masses were
      diagnosed as panniculitis by skin biopsy, and multiple intraperitoneal masses
      were incidentally detected on pelvic magnetic resonance imaging performed to
      investigate the leg abnormalities. The patient was referred to the Kyushu
      University Hospital for further investigation, and fluorodeoxyglucose-positron
      emission tomography/computed tomography (CT) revealed high-uptake tumors in the
      pancreatic tail, in the periphery of the liver, and in the pelvis. Laboratory
      examinations revealed high serum concentrations of pancreatic exocrine enzymes,
      such as lipase, trypsin, elastase 1 and pancreatic phospholipase A2. Histological
      examination of a bioptic specimen obtained from a hepatic lesion revealed
      proliferation of atypical cells arranged in a tubular or glandular pattern.
      Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the atypical cells were positive for
      cytokeratin (CK)7, CK19 and lipase, but negative for CK20 and thyroid
      transcription factor-1, leading to a final diagnosis of acinar cell carcinoma of
      the pancreatic tail (T4bN0M1, stage IV according to the 7th edition of the TNM
      Classification of Malignant Tumors). Combined chemotherapy with oxaliplatin,
      irinotecan and fluorouracil (FOLFIRINOX) was administered and fever was soon
      alleviated. The serum levels of lipase also declined and panniculitis completely
      resolved. As of the start of the 8th course of chemotherapy, the levels of the
      pancreatic exocrine enzymes were within normal ranges and CT revealed partial
      response. Therefore, the severe lipase hypersecretion syndrome was well
      controlled by the FOLFIRINOX regimen and shrinkage of the mass was also achieved.
      Thus, the FOLFIRINOX regimen may represent an effective treatment option for
      advanced PACC.

PMID- 28588780
TI  - Clinical outcome of patients treated with re-irradiation for spine or pelvic bone
      metastasis: A multi-institutional analysis of 98 patients.
AB  - The present study aimed to describe the clinical results of re-irradiation (Re
      RT) for spine or pelvic bone metastasis at the same initial irradiated area.
      Between April 2010 and March 2014, cases involving 98 patients with spine or
      pelvic bone metastasis who had undergone Re-RT at five institutions were
      reviewed. The clinical outcomes following Re-RT were evaluated, including overall
      survival (OS) and severe adverse events. The median time interval from initial
      radiation therapy (RT) to Re-RT was 439 days (range, 23-4,993 days), and the
      median duration of patient follow-up was 256 days (range, 11-2,284 days). The
      median biological effective dose for the Re-RT was 150 Gy2 (range, 17-240 Gy2;
      alpha/beta = 2). Severe late adverse events occurred in two patients who
      underwent three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for lumbar spine or pelvic
      bone metastases, which may be associated with tumor progression. The median
      survival time following Re-RT was 255 days, and the actuarial OS rate at 1 year
      was 36%. The interval between initial RT and Re-RT, and their performance
      statuses (PS) were significant independent prognostic factors for OS rates in
      multivariate analysis. Re-RT for spine or pelvic bone metastases is a relatively
      acceptable option with low risk of anticipated severe adverse events,
      particularly for patients with good PS following a long disease-free interval.

PMID- 28588782
TI  - Rapidly progressing large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma arising from the uterine
      corpus: A case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is a high-grade neuroendocrine tumor.
      LCNECs arising from the genital organs are highly malignant and rare, with <20
      cases of LCNEC developing from the uterine endometrium reported to date. We
      herein present the case of a patient with LCNEC of the endometrium. The patient
      was a 52-year-old woman, who exhibited lower abdominal pain and rapid uterine
      enlargement during outpatient treatment for uterine myoma. The endometrial biopsy
      suggested a diagnosis of poorly differentiated carcinoma or carcinosarcoma. Based
      on magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography, endometrial stromal sarcoma was suspected. The serum lactate
      dehydrogenase level was abnormally high. Due to the suspicion of stage IIIC
      malignant tumor of the uterine corpus, surgery was performed. The pathological
      diagnosis was stage IIIC2 LCNEC of the endometrium. Recurrence occurred in the
      vaginal stump, and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was initiated 1 month
      after the surgery. The residual lesions markedly shrank, but metastasis to the
      upper abdominal region and cervix subsequently developed. CCRT was attempted, but
      the associated adverse effects were severe and was switched to palliative
      treatment. The patient eventually succumbed to the disease 309 days after
      surgery.

PMID- 28588781
TI  - p53 protein expression in patients with myelodysplasia treated with allogeneic
      bone marrow transplantation.
AB  - Tumor protein 53 mutations adversely affect the prognosis of myelodysplastic
      syndromes (MDS); however, few studies have reported on the prognostic
      significance of the expression of p53 protein in MDS. The current study
      investigated p53 immunoreactivity (p53-IR) in bone marrow biopsies (BMBs)
      obtained at diagnosis from 18 patients (6 females and 12 males; mean age, 50.5
      years) with MDS that underwent bone marrow transplantation (BMT) to determine the
      associations between clinical and histopathological data and outcome. There were
      5 refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD) and 13 refractory
      anemia with excess blasts, type 2 (RAEB-2) cases. p53-IR was assessed as the
      percentage of hematopoietic cells exhibiting intense nuclear staining. The cut
      off for positivity was 5% of stained cells. A positive p53-IR was detected in 7
      patients (38.9%) and was associated with age (P=0.005) and pattern of BM fibrosis
      (P=0.03). A positive p53-IR was more frequent in females, in highly cellular BMBs
      and in RAEB-2 cases. Overall survival (OS) was associated with patients' age
      (P=0.01), hemoglobin level (P=0.04), type of MDS (P=0.05), degree of BM fibrosis
      (P=0.006) and number of BM blasts (P=0.05). The OS of patients with negative p53
      IR tended to be longer compared with that of patients with positive p53-IR,
      although this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.1). Despite the
      limitation of the low number of cases, the present results indicate that a
      positive p53-IR at diagnosis is associated with clinically more aggressive MDS
      subtypes and adverse histological prognostic factors, such as BM fibrosis.
      Therefore, the evaluation of p53 expression of BMBs of patients with MDS may be
      introduced in the histopathological work-up of the disease.

PMID- 28588783
TI  - Salivary duct carcinoma treated with cetuximab-based targeted therapy: A case
      report.
AB  - Salivary duct carcinoma is a highly aggressive disease with a poor prognosis.
      Surgical resection is currently the only curative treatment, as there is no
      effective systemic therapy for this malignancy. Recently, trastuzumab has been
      shown to exhibit therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of salivary duct
      carcinoma; similarly, molecularly targeted agents, such as cetuximab, are
      expected to be useful for salivary duct carcinoma treatment. We herein describe
      the case of a 56-year-old man diagnosed with salivary duct carcinoma in the left
      submandibular region, with ipsilateral multiple metastases to the neck lymph
      nodes. Radical resection of the tumor and submandibular gland with neck
      dissection were performed. One month after radical surgery, computed tomography
      (CT) scans indicated metastasis in the lower lobe of the left lung. CT-guided
      transthoracic fine-needle aspiration biopsy revealed a single metastasis and lung
      metastasectomy was immediately performed. The tumor cells of the primary lesion
      and those of the lung metastasis were immunohistochemically positive for
      epidermal growth factor receptor. One month later, multiple right lung metastases
      appeared, and the patient was treated with cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (5-FU)
      chemotherapy plus cetuximab, achieving a complete radiographic response. However,
      multiple lung metastases developed during adjuvant weekly cetuximab monotherapy.
      Subsequently, treatment with S-1 and weekly cetuximab was initiated, and the
      multiple lung metastases have been maintained as stable disease for 5 months. To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of cetuximab use for the
      treatment of salivary duct carcinoma. Although cisplatin/5-FU chemotherapy plus
      cetuximab was efficacious in treating the lung metastasis, cetuximab monotherapy
      was insufficient for controlling tumor growth.

PMID- 28588784
TI  - Thyrolipomatosis: A case report with review of the literature.
AB  - Fatty tissue is not usually present within the thyroid gland. Only a few fat
      containing thyroid lesions have been reported to date, and thyrolipoma is the
      most common fat-containing lesion of the thyroid gland. Thyrolipomatosis is a
      condition characterized by diffuse mature adipose cell infiltration of the normal
      thyroid gland. In this report, we describe what is, to the best of our knowledge,
      the 12th documented case of thyrolipomatosis, and review the fat-containing
      lesions of the thyroid gland. A 68-year-old Japanese woman presented with a neck
      mass that had first been noticed ~7 years earlier. A computed tomography scan
      revealed diffuse thyroid gland enlargement and total thyroidectomy was performed.
      The histopathological examination revealed that mature fatty tissue was diffusely
      distributed throughout the thyroid gland, as well as among the hyperplastic
      follicles. Capsular formation or amyloid deposition were not observed. Nuclear
      grooves or intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions were not observed. Accordingly,
      thyrolipomatosis was diagnosed. Albeit rare, various neoplastic and non
      neoplastic thyroid lesions may contain mature fatty tissue. Therefore,
      thyrolipomatosis must be included in the differential diagnostic consideration of
      fat-containing lesions of the thyroid gland.

PMID- 28588785
TI  - Sporadic giant intra-abdominal desmoid tumor: A radiological case report.
AB  - Desmoid tumor (DT) is a locally invasive form of fibromatosis, comprising only
      0.03% of all tumors. DTs occur more frequently in patients with familial
      adenomatous polyposis and Gardner's syndrome, as intra-abdominal or anterior
      abdominal wall tumors, whereas sporadic DTs are more likely to be extra-abdominal
      (only 5% of sporadic DTs are intra-abdominal). There is also an association of
      DTs with prior trauma, surgery, estrogen exposure and childbirth. Imaging
      studies, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      are used for preoperative diagnosis and for the planning of the surgery.
      Following surgery, CT and MRI are used to detect recurrence and to monitor the
      tumor's response to radiotherapy or medical therapy for unresectable or recurrent
      tumors. We herein report a rare case of a sporadic giant intra-abdominal DT in a
      28-year-old female patient without any predisposing factors, and highlight the
      importance of including DT in the differential diagnosis of huge intra-abdominal
      masses.

PMID- 28588786
TI  - Isolated brain metastases prior to locoregional recurrence in hilar
      cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - Isolated brain metastases prior to locoregional recurrence from hilar
      cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA) following curative resection are an extremely rare
      event. Very few reports regarding brain metastasis prior to locoregional
      recurrence following curative resection have been published due to the fact that
      to differentiate brain metastases from HCCA recurrence is challenging, particular
      in the early stages, since the neurological findings of brain metastasis are
      occult and subtle. Any patient with HCCA who has undergone radical resection and
      subsequently presented with a further onset of neurological symptoms should be
      evaluated for brain involvement. The present case study describes a patient with
      HCCA who underwent curative resection, and experienced isolated brain metastases
      prior to locoregional recurrence.

PMID- 28588788
TI  - Survival of patients with lung cancer and diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus (DM) and lung cancer are two highly globally prevalent
      diseases. The current study aimed to determine the prognostic significance of DM
      comorbidity in patients with lung cancer. All patients diagnosed at Tsukuba
      Medical Center Hospital and Mito Medical Center, (University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki,
      Japan) between April 1999 and March 2012 were followed up to 2015 and were
      retrospectively analyzed. DM was defined as a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level
      >=126 mg/dl, a non-FPG level >=200 mg/dl, or a hemoglobin (Hb) A1c level >=6.5%.
      Additionally, patients taking medication for diabetes and those with a history of
      using such medications were also classified as having DM. During the study
      period, 1,798 patients with lung cancer were diagnosed. Within this cohort, 338
      (18.8%) were classed as having lung cancer and DM. In univariate and multivariate
      analyses, smoking status, poorer performance status, small cell lung cancer
      pathology, metastatic disease and supportive care were the only unfavorable
      prognostic factors (all P=0.001). Additionally, multivariate analysis revealed
      that existing DM was an unfavorable disease-modifying factor (P=0.03612).
      Therefore, DM comorbidity adversely affects lung cancer outcomes. To provide
      prolonged quality of survival, appropriate pre-evaluation of lung cancer, as well
      as the patient's medical condition, including DM, is required.

PMID- 28588787
TI  - Allogenic natural killer cell immunotherapy of sizeable ovarian cancer: A case
      report.
AB  - Masses are often detected in the abdomen of patients with sizeable ovarian
      cancer. There are currently no effective treatments available for late-stage
      ovarian cancer. Immunotherapy is gaining increasing attention worldwide in the
      clinical setting due to its ability to eliminate tumor cells and its favorable
      toxicity profile. We herein report the case of a 60-year-old woman who received
      allogenic natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy for a sizeable ovarian carcinoma
      and achieved a noteworthy response. NK cells were isolated from the patient's own
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and the cell numbers were increased to 8-10
      billion. The activated cells were expanded ex vivo for 14 days prior to
      intravenous infusion. After six infusions of NK cell therapy >3 months, the level
      of carbohydrate antigen 125 decreased significantly (from 11,270 to 580 U/ml).
      Furthermore, the size of the masses in the abdomen was markedly reduced. Overall,
      the treatment had few adverse effects and it prolonged patient survival. The
      present data and the patient response suggest that allogenic NK cell
      immunotherapy is a promising approach for ovarian cancer, with few treatment
      related adverse effects. The patient received six intravenous infusions of
      allogenic HANK cells between March, 2015 and June, 2015, but discontinued in
      October, 2015 and succumbed to the disease in March, 2016 following relapse.

PMID- 28588789
TI  - Curative effect of stereotactic body radiotherapy for unresectable massive
      primary liver cancer.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the curative effect of gamma knife
      stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for unresectable massive primary liver
      cancer. A total of 69 patients with unresectable massive (>10 cm) primary liver
      cancer who were treated by SBRT at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the
      323 Hospital of People's Liberation Army (Xi'an, China) between October, 2006 and
      October, 2010, were analyzed. According to the Union for International Cancer
      Control TNM staging guidelines, the patients were graded as stage T1 (n=8), T2
      (n=12), T3 (n=21) and T4 (n=28). None of the patients had lymph node metastasis,
      whereas 45 patients had portal vein tumor thrombosis. The Child-Pugh class was A
      (n=49), B (n=15) and C (n=5). The visible tumor volume +/- standard deviation was
      810+/-213 cm3. The patients received a total radiation dose of 50-60 Gy, with a
      dose fractionation of 4-6 Gy/fx, administered for a total of 9-12 times, 2-5
      times/week. A total of 8 patients succumbed to the disease within 3 months after
      gamma knife treatment and were not included in the evaluation of the curative
      effect. The total effectiveness rate was 59.0% (36/61) and the median survival
      was 17.4 months for all the patients included in the study. The 1-, 2-, and 3
      year overall survival rates were 71, 30 and 22%, respectively. In conclusion,
      SBRT appears to be effective for unresectable massive primary liver cancer.

PMID- 28588790
TI  - Ibuprofen and fatal lung cancer: A brief report of the prospective results from
      the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).
AB  - Chronic inflammation appears to increase the risk of lung cancer and,
      reciprocally, agents that reduce inflammation have been found to reduce this
      risk. However, few prospective studies have assessed whether there exists an
      association between lung cancer and the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
      drugs (NSAIDs). In the present study, the association between fatal lung cancer
      and NSAIDs was investigated using cohort data from the Third National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES III). Baseline data were collected on
      smoking, NSAID use and other lifestyle factors for 10,735 participants during
      1988-1994, with cause-specific mortality status ascertained through probabilistic
      record matching based on the National Death Index until 2006. Cox proportional
      hazards regression models were conducted to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and
      confidence intervals (CIs) for NSAID use and death from lung cancer, controlling
      for current smoking and other covariates. During the 18 years of follow-up, 269
      participants succumbed to lung cancer, of whom 252 (93.6%) reported a history of
      cigarette smoking. Since all but 17 of the 269 fatal lung cancer cases occurred
      among current or former smokers, estimates of NSAID effects were ascertained from
      a sub-cohort of 5,882 individuals who reported a history of past or current
      cigarette smoking. Multivariate regression models revealed that regular use of
      ibuprofen resulted in a 48% reduced risk of lung cancer mortality (HR=0.52, 95%
      CI: 0.33-0.82, P<0.01). The main effects of other compounds tested, such as
      aspirin or acetaminophen, were not statistically significant. Our results suggest
      that high-risk subgroups of smokers may benefit from the regular use of specific
      NSAIDs, which may prove to be a useful strategy for lung cancer prevention.

PMID- 28588791
TI  - Synchronous Adie's syndrome and type 1 antineuronal nuclear antibody (anti-Hu)
      related paraneoplastic neurological syndromes as predictors of complete response
      in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer: A case report.
AB  - Adie's syndrome (AS) and paraneoplastic sensorimotor neuropathy with cerebellar
      ataxia (PSN CA) are extremely rare, rapidly progressive, autoimmune diseases
      associated with the development of antibodies against neuronal-specific Hu
      proteins that are abnormally expressed in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). We
      herein present the unique case of a 55-year-old obese woman, previous heavy
      smoker, who, during treatment with standard cisplatin-etoposide chemotherapy for
      limited-stage SCLC, developed simultaneous AS and worsening symptoms consistent
      with PSN CA that led to significant neurological disability and severe axonal
      electrophysiological pattern on nerve conduction studies. Serology confirmed the
      presence of low-titre type 1 antineuronal nuclear antibodies (ANNA-1), previously
      referred to as anti-Hu antibodies. Following plasmapheresis, immunosuppressive
      therapy and physical rehabilitation, the neurological symptoms progressively
      improved. The tumour completely regressed, with no recurrence detected on
      subsequent radiological examinations. The aim of this case was to highlight the
      importance of a multidisciplinary team approach for early recognition and rapid
      treatment of paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) as key to achieving
      significant recovery and marked improvement of the neurological deficit. This
      report extends the literature by confirming earlier studies showing that the
      presence of serum ANNA-1 in SCLC, an aggressive type of pulmonary carcinoma that
      is challenging to treat, may portend a more favourable prognosis and response to
      chemotherapy. Thus, patients with SCLC and new-onset neurological symptoms should
      be tested for ANNA-1. The role of a multimodality approach to treating PNS is
      also emphasized.

PMID- 28588792
TI  - Erythropoietin for cancer-associated malignant anemia: A meta-analysis.
AB  - The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of erythropoietin (EPO) for
      improving cancer-associated malignant anemia. A search was performed for
      randomized clinical trials, conducted according to the Cochrane manual, using
      electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and
      ClinicalTrails.gov up to 15 August 2015. A total of 6 eligible studies from 5
      articles enrolling a total of 453 patients were entered into the current meta
      analysis. Upon EPO treatment, there were significant differences in the change in
      hemoglobin (HB) levels compared with the placebo at short-term follow-up [mean
      difference (MD)=0.66; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.14-1.18; I2=Not applicable;
      P=0.01) and long-term follow-up (MD=0.10; 95% CI, 0.02-0.18; I2=Not applicable;
      P=0.01) under the random effects model. For changes in hematocrit (HCT) compared
      with the placebo, the results revealed there were significant differences at
      short-term follow-up (MD=2.47; 95% CI, 0.75-4.19; I2=Not applicable; P=0.005) and
      long-term follow-up (MD=7.60; 95% CI, 6.15-9.05; I2=Not applicable; P<0.00001)
      under the random effects model. Compared with the placebo in short-term follow-up
      under the fixed effects model with homogeneity, the result was a significant
      difference for the transfusion ratio [relative risk (RR)=0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-
      0.97; I2=34%; P=0.02) and the transfusion requirements (MD=-0.45; 95% CI, -0.92,
      0.03; I2=6%; P=0.07). Funnel plots did not detect any publication bias. These
      results suggest that EPO was beneficial to alleviate cancer-associated anemia and
      improve survival outcomes for patients with cancer.

PMID- 28588793
TI  - Double-blind randomized study of oral glutamine on the management of
      radio/chemotherapy-induced mucositis and dermatitis in head and neck cancer.
AB  - This randomized clinical trial was designed to determine whether glutamine
      administration was effective in reducing the incidence and severity of mucositis
      and dermatitis induced by radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CHRT) in
      patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Fifty patients were randomized to
      receive orally either L-Glutamine or placebo (25 patients in each arm). In the
      glutamine-treated group, 10 g of oral glutamine was administered three times
      daily. The primary endpoint was to compare the appearance of clinical mucositis
      between groups at the 6th week, according to the Common Terminology Criteria for
      Adverse Events. Secondary endpoints were: Functional mucositis, mucositis onset,
      cervicofacial dermatitis, pain, weight loss and assessment of quality of life
      (according to the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck). In total, 76
      and 87.5% developed clinical mucositis in the glutamine and placebo group,
      respectively. The incidence and severity grade of mucositis at the 6th week did
      not exhibit statistically significantly differences between the two groups,
      although it had a higher value in the placebo group. Significant reduction of
      dermatitis incidence (P=0.038) and severity (P=0.032) was found in the glutamine
      group. There were no differences in other outcomes such as pain, weight loss and
      mucositis onset, in treatment parameters including concomitant chemotherapy,
      radiation dose and previous surgery, or in quality of life. The present study
      revealed that glutamine provided slight clinical effects compared with placebo in
      terms of reducing oral mucositis induced by RT or CHRT in patients with HNC at
      the 6th week; however, the results were not statistically significant. Although
      the findings suggested a significant benefit in reducing the incidence and
      severity of dermatitis, further confirmatory studies are required.

PMID- 28588794
TI  - Intrahepatic biloma following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for
      hepatocellular carcinoma: Incidence, imaging features and management.
AB  - Repeat transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) becomes more challenging
      for patients with intrahepatic biloma following TACE for hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical course,
      incidence, imaging features and outcome and to explore the reasonable therapy
      scheme for intrahepatic biloma following TACE for HCC.A total of 4,695 TACE
      procedures were performed for 1,923 patients with HCC. Twenty patients with
      intrahepatic biloma following TACE were studied retrospectively. The incidence of
      intrahepatic biloma was 1.04% in this study. The 20 patients underwent 55 TACE
      procedures (mean, 2.75). Portal vein invasion was found in half of the patients.
      Eleven patients developed round solitary or multiple cystic biloma, 6 patients
      had branched biloma and 3 patients developed both cystic and branched biloma.
      Percutaneous drainage was applied for 4 patients. One patient underwent partial
      hepatectomy and one mortality occurred due to progressive biloma and multiple
      organ failure. Although severe intrahepatic biloma following TACE is rare, the
      procedure should be performed with caution. Timely and appropriate management,
      including percutaneous drainage, partial hepatectomy and antibiotic
      administration should be performed in the case of any signs of infection.

PMID- 28588796
TI  - Analysis of the incidence of tumor lysis syndrome in patients with hematological
      malignancies treated with rasburicase.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of tumor lysis syndrome
      (TLS) in patients with hematological malignancies treated with rasburicase, and
      to evaluate the dose and duration of rasburicase administration. A total of 52
      patients were enrolled. The background of the patients, incidence of TLS and
      laboratory data were retrospectively examined; in addition, the dose and duration
      of rasburicase administration and the factors affecting the onset of TLS were
      evaluated and compared among TLS risk categories. During the study period, 2
      (3.8%) of the patients developed clinical TLS and 24 (46.2%) developed laboratory
      TLS (LTLS). Although the LTLS rate was very high, there were no life-threatening
      cases of TLS. The median daily dose of rasburicase administered to all patients
      was 7.5 mg/day (interquartile range, 7.5-9.0 mg/day), and the daily weight-based
      dose was 0.147 mg/kg/day (range, 0.126-0.178 mg/kg/day). The administration
      duration was 3 days (interquartile range, 3-4 days). Additionally, there was no
      significant association between TLS risk classification and daily rasburicase
      administration dose, duration, or post-administration laboratory data. The
      factors affecting the onset of TLS included serum uric acid level, as well as
      serum creatinine and phosphate levels. Rasburicase was highly effective in the
      prevention and management of hyperuricemia, even at a low-dose (7.5 mg/day) and a
      duration that was 3 days shorter compared with that recommended by the
      manufacturer. Therefore, clinicians should administer rasburicase based on their
      clinical judgment, taking into consideration the cost-effectiveness of this
      therapy.

PMID- 28588795
TI  - Cancer survival in Qidong between 1972 and 2011: A population-based analysis.
AB  - Population-based cancer survival is an improved index for evaluating the overall
      efficiency of cancer health services in a given region. The current study
      analysed the observed survival and relative survival of leading cancer sites from
      a population-based cancer registry between 1972 and 2011 in Qidong, China. A
      total of 92,780 incident cases with cancer were registered and followed-up for
      survival status. The main sites of the cancer types, based on the rank order of
      incidence, were the liver, stomach, lung, colon and rectum, oesophagus, breast,
      pancreas, leukaemia, brain and central nervous system (B and CNS), bladder, blood
      [non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)] and cervix. For all malignancies combined, the 5
      year observed survival was 13.18% and the relative survival was 15.80%. Females
      had higher observed survival and relative survival (19.32 and 22.71%,
      respectively) compared with males (9.63 and 11.68%, respectively). The cancer
      sites with the highest five-year relative survival rates were the female breast,
      bladder, cervix and colon and rectum; followed by NHL, stomach, B and CNS cancer
      and leukaemia. The poorest survival rates were cancers of oesophagus, lung,
      pancreas and liver. Higher survival rates were observed in younger patients
      compared with older patients. Cancers of the oesophagus, female breast and
      bladder were associated with higher survival in middle-aged groups. Improved
      survival rates in the most recent two 5-year calendar periods were identified for
      stomach, lung, colon and rectum, oesophagus, female breast and bladder cancer, as
      well as leukaemia and NHL. The observations of the current study provide the
      opportunity for evaluation of the survival outcomes of frequent cancer sites that
      reflects the changes and improvement in a rural area in China.

PMID- 28588797
TI  - Widespread subdural metastasis from breast cancer progressing rapidly with
      cerebral herniation: A case report.
AB  - We herein present the case of a 49-year-old female patient presenting with nausea
      and headache. The patient's medical history included breast cancer with bone and
      lymph node metastasis. Computed tomography (CT) examination revealed a high
      density lesion in the right subdural space, suggesting hematoma. During surgery
      planned for subdural hematoma drainage, an en plaque subdural yellowish-white
      tumor was identified, without hematoma. Histopathological examination revealed
      metastatic breast cancer. The patient was administered predonisolone and her
      neurological symptoms gradually recovered. However, 12 days after the first
      operation, the clinical course was complicated by vomiting and rapid loss of
      consciousness. Emergency CT revealed that the subdural tumor had enlarged and
      decompression was performed as life-saving surgery. However, the patient's
      condition progressively deteriorated and she finally succumbed to the disease 2
      months after the second operation. The aim of this study was to present the case
      of a patient with a large en plaque subdural tumor mimicking subdural hematoma
      and causing rapid loss of consciousness and cerebral herniation.

PMID- 28588798
TI  - Combination therapy with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for locally advanced
      unresectable pancreatic cancer.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the early treatment outcomes of
      combined gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel treatment for locally advanced
      unresectable pancreatic cancer (LURPC). The subjects comprised 7 patients with
      LURPC receiving the abovementioned combination therapy at the Hirosaki University
      Hospital (Hirosaki, Japan) between January and September, 2015. The
      clinicopathological factors, adverse events and response to treatment were
      investigated. To determine whether the cases were unresectable, the National
      Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, version 2. 201,) were applied. The
      patients underwent a median of 4 (range, 2-7) courses of treatment. The response
      to treatment was evaluated using the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid
      Tumors. The subjects included 1 male and 6 female LURPC patients, with a median
      age of 71 years (range, 59-78 years). The tumor was located in the head and body
      of the pancreas in 6 and 1 patients, respectively. No patients achieved a
      complete response, 5 achieved a partial response, 2 had stable disease, and none
      exhibited progressive disease. The response rate was 71%. The mean tumor diameter
      decreased significantly from 35 mm (range, 24-60 mm) prior to treatment to 22 mm
      (range, 20-35 mm) following treatment. Two patients were downstaged. The mean
      carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 values decreased significantly from 767 U/ml
      (range, 14-1,977 U/ml) prior to treatment to 35 U/ml (range, 14-123 U/ml)
      following treatment. Adverse events classified as grade >=3 occurred in 4
      patients (57%): 3 patients (43%) suffered from neutropenia and 1 patient (14%)
      developed bilateral cellulitis of the lower extremities. No patients experienced
      an increase in disease severity, and all were able to continue treatment
      following temporary withdrawal or dosage reduction. Therefore, combined treatment
      with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel had favorable tumor-reducing effects and was
      not associated with severe adverse events, suggesting that this is a useful
      therapeutic strategy for patients with LURPC.

PMID- 28588799
TI  - Determining the optimum way to maintain quality of life for very elderly patients
      with advanced bladder cancer and poor performance status: A case report.
AB  - Locally advanced bladder cancer causes unpleasant symptoms such as irritative
      voiding symptoms, lower abdominal pain, gross hematuria and urinary retention,
      and lowers the quality of life. Treatment decisions in elderly patients may be
      difficult, as elderly patients are physically and psychologically different from
      younger patients. An 89-year-old male was referred to hospital for the treatment
      of an invasive bladder tumor with right hydronephrosis from tumor obstruction.
      The patient was elderly and did not have a good performance status; therefore
      curative radical cystectomy or chemotherapy was not indicated. Left
      retroperitoneoscopic ureterocutaneostomy was performed to alleviate gross
      hematuria and voiding difficulty. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy was
      administered 9 days after the surgery to control bleeding in the bladder tumor.
      After completing 8 days of radiotherapy, the patient was discharged from
      hospital. The patient exhibited no signs of either postrenal failure or gross
      hematuria for 7 months prior to mortality. Retroperitoneoscopic
      ureterocutaneostomy for very elderly patients with advanced bladder cancer with a
      poor performance status may be an important procedure for alleviating symptoms
      and improving quality of life.

PMID- 28588800
TI  - Ibrutinib-induced severe liver injury.
AB  - Ibrutinib, an inhibitor of the Bruton's tyrosine kinase of the B-cell receptor
      pathway, is an effective therapeutic agent for B-cell lymphomas. As these drugs
      are novel, long-term or rare adverse events are not yet known. We report the
      first case of ibrutinib-induced severe liver injury in a patient with
      relapsed/refractory CLL.

PMID- 28588801
TI  - Interstitial lung disease of infancy caused by a new NKX2-1 mutation.
AB  - Patients with personal or family history of congenital hypothyroidism, and/or
      neurological findings that also have chronic respiratory symptoms may have a
      mutation in the NKX2.1 gene as the unifying cause of their disease. Brain-lung
      thyroid disease is the ensuing condition, which although rare, needs to be part
      of the differential diagnosis.

PMID- 28588802
TI  - Complications caused by adenosine during catheter ablation of atrial
      fibrillation.
AB  - Adenosine is increasingly used to assess for dormant conduction following
      pulmonary vein isolation during atrial fibrillation ablation. While the half-life
      of adenosine is typically short and side effects transient, operators should be
      aware of more serious, lasting adverse reactions including anaphylaxis and
      bronchospasm.

PMID- 28588803
TI  - Syndrome of progressive bone marrow failure and pancreatic insufficiency remains
      cryptic despite whole exome sequencing: variant of Shwachman-Diamond syndrome or
      new condition?
AB  - This case underscores the difficulty in diagnosis of bone marrow failure
      disorders, as the presentation of disease can be inconsistent, complicated by
      complex and ever-expanding genetic etiologies. A patient who presents with bone
      marrow failure and pancreatic insufficiency raises the question of Shwachman
      Diamond syndrome (SDS) or a new condition which resembles SDS.

PMID- 28588804
TI  - Peripartum cardiomyopathy, what if your patient plans to reconceive?
AB  - Patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) often express a desire to conceive
      again, and the risk of relapse in future pregnancies should be disclosed. No
      consensus is available that can determine that risk. Adequate contractile
      reserve, evidenced by a stress echocardiogram (exercise or dobutamine), can
      identify those with lower relapse risk.

PMID- 28588805
TI  - "Chronic myelogenous leukemia in primary blast crisis" rather than "de novo BCR
      ABL1-positive acute myeloid leukemia".
AB  - Differentiating chronic myelogenous leukemia in primary blast crisis (CML-BC)
      from de novo BCR-ABL1-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a diagnostic
      challenge with therapeutic consequences. In our case, a basophilia, the presence
      of the Philadelphia chromosome in all metaphases and the strict exclusion of
      molecular hallmarks of AML lead us to retain the diagnosis of CML-BC rather than
      BCR-ABL1+ AML.

PMID- 28588806
TI  - Hypoglycemia and decreased insulin requirement caused by malignant insulinoma in
      a type 1 diabetic patient: when the hoof beats are from a zebra, not a horse.
AB  - Insulinomas are uncommon tumors, and in patients with diabetes mellitus they are
      extremely rare. We describe a patient with type 1 diabetes who developed
      malignant insulinoma. When hypoglycemic episodes persist in a patient with
      diabetes and treatment-induced and other causes of hypoglycemia have been ruled
      out, an insulin-producing tumor should be considered.

PMID- 28588808
TI  - Pallister-Killian syndrome in a two-year-old boy.
AB  - Pallister-Killian syndrome (PKS) is a rare, sporadic, multisystem developmental
      disorder characterized by craniofacial dysmorphic features. We report a case of a
      two-year-old boy with PKS to highlight the cutaneous findings and emphasize the
      importance of diagnostic skin biopsies in patients with cutaneous pigmentation
      changes and distinctive facial features.

PMID- 28588807
TI  - Eosinophilic angiitis presenting with a true, fusiform, temporal artery aneurysm.
AB  - Temporal artery aneurysm is a rare cause of temporal artery swelling in the
      absence of preceding trauma. Vasculitis other than giant cell arteritis, such as
      eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, should be considered in such cases
      and a careful assessment of other medium-sized arteries undertaken.

PMID- 28588809
TI  - Cytopenia first - hepatitis second: an unusual sequence in aplastic anemia.
AB  - To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of aplastic anemia (AA)
      preceding autoantibody-negative autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) with successful
      treatment of both conditions with the same immunosuppressive regimen, resulting
      in hematopoietic reconstitution and remission of AIH.

PMID- 28588810
TI  - Shortened dental arch as a solution for maxillary sinus proximity in dental
      implant restoration.
AB  - This case report demonstrates the benefit of using the shortened dental arch
      (SDA) design for a comprehensive implant-supported restoration and the avoidance
      of the complexities of implant placement near the maxillary sinus. The SDA
      concept as a treatment option is encouraging in terms of function, patient
      satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness.

PMID- 28588811
TI  - Minimization of door-to-balloon time for ST-elevation acute myocardial
      infarction: a case report.
AB  - It is of utmost importance to minimize the door-to-balloon time for the initial
      treatment of ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction. In this case report, we
      made all kinds of efforts to minimize procedures in the emergency department (ED
      minimization) as well as in the catheter laboratory without sacrificing safety.

PMID- 28588812
TI  - Chronic sinusitis in a patient with selective IgG4 subclass deficiency controlled
      with enriched immunoglobulins.
AB  - A 71-year-old female patient with no major history of infection had presented
      with recurrent chronic purulent sinusitis over the past 3 years. These recurrent
      infections started in 2000 with otolaryngologists' support before diagnosis of
      IgG4 deficiency be asked. The patient was treated with increasingly extensive
      courses of antibiotics and underwent several maxillary and sphenoidal sinus
      washouts. She continued to present with purulent nasal discharge containing
      Staphylococcus epidermidis. The blood and immune work-ups were normal. Her
      antinuclear antibody count was 1/320, with no unusual types. The total
      immunoglobulin (Ig)E, serology, CD4 count, and lymphocyte B phenotype results
      were all normal. No humoral immune deficiency was detected. The analyses
      confirmed an underlying specific IgG4 deficiency with values of 3-4 mg/L over 4
      months. The patient was treated in March 2011 with prophylactic antibiotic
      therapy, sinus drainage, and IV infusions of enriched immunoglobulins (IVIg 10%)
      administered at the outpatient clinic every 4 weeks for 3 months. The IgIV
      treatment was not interrupted. Her general condition improved within a few
      months, with her IgG4 levels rising to 44 mg/L. The IVIg infusions were well
      tolerated. The purulent nasal discharge was controlled, and the antibiotics were
      stopped. The follow-up visits at 2 and 9 months after introduction of IVIg showed
      that her IgG4 level had improved, rising to 15 and 11 mg/L, respectively,
      although it had not yet returned to normal. The infusions were then given every 3
      weeks. At her last visit, the patient's clinical condition had substantially
      improved. She was able to start using the subcutaneous Ig concentrate form (20%
      SCIg), 15 g every 2 weeks, leading to a clear improvement in her clinical
      condition, with stabilization of her otolaryngologists' symptoms and signs. The
      complete blood count was normal, IgG4 were stable at 40 mg/L, and the other
      immunoglobulins and IgG subclasses were normal. It was then possible to reduce
      the SCIg dose to 10 g every 3 weeks, while continuing to monitor her clinical
      condition and laboratory test results. This is one of the rare cases of selective
      IgG4 subclass deficiency treated with immunoglobulins. Treatment resulted in a
      significant improvement in IgG4 levels versus pretreatment levels. The first
      improvement noted was the stabilization otolaryngologists' infections
      particularly purulent nasal discharge.

PMID- 28588813
TI  - Severe dermatitis might be caused by a cross-reaction between nickel and
      palladium and dental amalgam resolved following removal of dental restorations.
AB  - This report demonstrates a case of atopic dermatitis that was unresponsive to
      topical steroid therapy. This clinical report highlights the fact that metals
      used in dental treatment, such as mercury, as well as cross-reactions between
      nickel and palladium, may cause systemic hypersensitivity or toxicity.

PMID- 28588814
TI  - Coincidence of follicular lymphoma and hurtle cell thyroid carcinoma in a patient
      at presentation: which one is the source of bone metastasis? Case report and
      review of the literature.
AB  - Thyroid incidentaloma is defined as a new identified thyroid lesion occasionally
      detected during imaging studies. Incidence of thyroid incidentalomas is
      relatively rare in patients with lymphoma. Because of high rate of malignancy,
      these lesions with high intensity focal 18 FDG uptake detected on positron
      emission tomography with computed tomography (PET/CT) should undergo to biopsy
      regardless of size.

PMID- 28588815
TI  - Familial cerebral abscesses caused by hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.
AB  - In case of a cerebral abscess without known cause, Pulmonary arteriovenous
      malformations (PAVM) screening should be performed. If PAVM(s) is identified,
      Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is very likely and should always be
      considered. This case shows the benefit of familial screening for HHT and PAVM.

PMID- 28588816
TI  - Diabetic ketoacidosis inducing myocardial infarction secondary to treatment with
      dapagliflozin: a case report.
AB  - Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are able to provoke diabetic
      ketoacidosis (DKA) with absence or low levels of ketone bodies in urine and
      slightly elevated blood glucose levels, which could delay the diagnosis; however,
      the presence of high urine output, due to the excretion of glucose, can help to
      identify the true cause.

PMID- 28588817
TI  - Nasopharyngeal amyloidoma with osteolytic lesions leading to diagnosis of
      systemic light-chain amyloidosis.
AB  - Amyloidomas of the head and neck region are uncommon and generally considered a
      benign localized form of amyloidosis. Here, we describe "the unusual case of a
      young man" with a nasopharyngeal mass and osteolytic lesions caused by systemic
      light-chain amyloidosis treated successfully with a combined surgical and
      chemotherapy approach.

PMID- 28588818
TI  - Conglomeration of Trabecular and Psammomatoid variants of juvenile ossifying
      fibroma - a rare case report.
AB  - Juvenile ossifying fibroma is an uncommon benign fibro-osseous lesion occurring
      in the craniofacial skeleton with a high recurrence rate. It has two distinct
      histopathologic variants: one trabecular and the other which are exclusive to
      each other. This case reveals a rare and unique combination of both the patterns
      in the same lesion.

PMID- 28588819
TI  - Three cases of acute distal demyelinating neuropathy with recovery.
AB  - Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) may present as distal acute inflammatory
      demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), with severe distal demyelination of
      the peripheral nerves in the absence of radiculitis. Clinical course is benign,
      and prognosis seems favorable, but nerve conduction studies (NCS) findings at
      nadir may resemble some chronic forms of polyneuropathy, so close follow-up
      during recovery is needed.

PMID- 28588820
TI  - Endocardial and epicardial focal activation pattern due to microreentry
      ventricular tachycardia in a patient with cardiac sarcoidosis.
AB  - Majority of ventricular tachycardias (VTs) are caused by scar-related
      macroreentry in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis. These VTs usually exhibit the
      reentry circuit on electroanatomic maps. We here describe a rare case of VT that
      exhibits a focal activation pattern on the electroanatomic map despite reentrant
      VT.

PMID- 28588821
TI  - Coupling clinical exome sequencing with functional characterization studies to
      diagnose a patient with familial Mediterranean fever and MED13L
      haploinsufficiency syndromes.
AB  - Clinicians should consider that clinical exome sequencing provides the unique
      potential to disentangle complex phenotypes into multiple genetic etiologies.
      Further, functional studies on variants of uncertain significance are necessary
      to arrive at an accurate diagnosis for the patient.

PMID- 28588822
TI  - De novo balanced reciprocal translocation t(2;3)(q31;q27) in a fetus conceived
      using PGD in a t(2;14)(q35;q32.1) balanced reciprocal translocation carrier
      mother.
AB  - We reported a case of a t(2;14) balanced reciprocal translocation carrier mother
      that conceived by IVF accompanied by PGD/PGS using array-CGH; however, de novo
      t(2;3) was detected in the prenatal diagnosis. A healthy baby was delivered, and
      careful observation is needed for PGD/PGS cases.

PMID- 28588823
TI  - Achieving a satisfactory clinical and biochemical response in antiphospholipid
      syndrome and severe thrombocytopenia with rituximab: two case reports.
AB  - In AP syndrome (APS) with severe thrombocytopenia, rituximab represents a unique
      drug which can balance the effect of bleeding and thrombosis. By reducing the
      production of autoantibodies, rituximab can simultaneously raise the platelets
      and reduce the chance of thrombosis by suppressing APL antibodies. Rituximab can
      supersede splenectomy as second-line therapy in similar patients.

PMID- 28588824
TI  - Stress fractures in older athletes: a case report and literature review.
AB  - The incidence of stress injuries in older athletes is increasing, associated with
      a more active older population. The same principles apply for its prevention and
      treatment, but older athletes usually present a more adverse outcome. It is
      mandatory to raise awareness to this common, but frequently neglected pathology.

PMID- 28588825
TI  - A presentation of postcardiac injury syndrome after successful chronic total
      occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention using dissection re-entry
      techniques.
AB  - Retrograde dissection re-entry can cause pericardial trauma of sufficient degree
      to lead to the development of an auto-immune postpericardial injury syndrome.
      Clinical suspicion for this condition should be high in the event of fever,
      symptoms, pericardial/pleural effusion, and pleuritic chest pain following
      chronic total occlusion (CTO) Post cardiac injury syndromes (PCI).

PMID- 28588826
TI  - Novel case of resolution of hypsarrhythmia following tuber resection in a patient
      with infantile spasms and tuberous sclerosis.
AB  - This article describes a case involving the resolution of hypsarrhythmia, a
      generalized abnormal EEG pattern, following focal resection of a cortical tuber
      in a patient with tuberous sclerosis.

PMID- 28588827
TI  - A case of a pulmonary artery sling misdiagnosed as refractory asthma for 20
      years.
AB  - We report the case of a 25-year-old woman with a pulmonary artery sling who was
      misdiagnosed as having childhood-onset refractory asthma for approximately 20
      years. The use of computed tomography may be useful for diagnosing this rare
      condition.

PMID- 28588828
TI  - Measles hepatitis in a vaccinated liver transplant recipient: case report and
      review of literature.
AB  - Measles infection, postliver transplant, may lead to a fatal graft loss.
      Individuals who have been previously exposed to the measles antigen may have a
      modified disease presentation. Although vaccination may not provide solid
      immunity, it ameliorates the severity of the disease.

PMID- 28588829
TI  - Recurrent myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: a case report.
AB  - Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma is a rare sarcoma which typically presents
      in the extremities and is treated by definitive surgery. In recurrent disease,
      the reported utilization of radiotherapy is increasing, and more modern
      techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy may be improving long-term
      outcomes.

PMID- 28588830
TI  - Classification of the spliceogenic BRCA1 c.4096+3A>G variant as likely benign
      based on cosegregation data and identification of a healthy homozygous carrier.
AB  - BRCA1, c.4096+3A>G was identified in a consanguineous Danish family with several
      cases of breast/ovarian cancer. In silico analysis and splicing assays indicated
      that the variant caused aberrant splicing. However, based on segregation data and
      the finding of a healthy homozygous carrier, we classify the BRCA1 c.4096+3A>G
      variant as likely benign.

PMID- 28588831
TI  - Surgical and medical treatment of ocular disease in a dog with Ehlers-Danlos
      syndrome.
AB  - Correctional surgery was performed on a 3-year-old intact male shih tzu
      presenting with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, ocular disease, and skin fold dermatitis.
      A one-year follow-up showed that no further clinical corrections were needed.
      Therefore, surgery could be considered in some canine patients with Ehlers-Danlos
      syndrome.

PMID- 28588832
TI  - Diffuse hepatic hemangioma with single cutaneous hemangioma: an alerting
      occurrence.
AB  - Screening of infants with five or more cutaneous infantile hemangiomas with
      abdominal ultrasound is often recommended. However, diffuse hepatic hemangioma
      can develop even in patients with single cutaneous hemangioma. This highlights
      the importance of physical examination and screening ultrasound in these
      patients.

PMID- 28588833
TI  - Obinutuzumab-induced serum sickness following salvage therapy for chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - The incidence of serum sickness following treatment of CLL with obinutuzumab has
      not been fully characterized, but is likely rare. Consideration should be given
      to this diagnosis in appropriate circumstances so that effective corticosteroid
      therapy can be initiated to alleviate inflammatory symptoms and organ dysfunction
      in a timely manner.

PMID- 28588834
TI  - Successful bailout stenting strategy against lethal coronary dissection involving
      left main bifurcation.
AB  - Catheter-induced coronary dissection involving left main bifurcation is a rare
      complication during cardiac catheterization but can become lethal unless it is
      treated appropriately. Interventional cardiologists always have to pay attention
      to the risk of complications related to cardiac catheterization and prepare for
      determining the best bailout strategy for the situation.

PMID- 28588835
TI  - Concomitant imatinib and ibrutinib in a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia
      and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - The availability of kinase and other small-molecule inhibitors to treat
      hematologic malignancies is increasing. Accordingly, novel regimens that employ
      these therapeutics are rapidly evolving. Herein we report the safe and effective
      administration of two targeted kinase inhibitors in a patient with concomitant
      chronic myelogenous leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

PMID- 28588836
TI  - A case of HIV-negative plasmablastic lymphoma of the bone marrow with a unique
      immunophenotype.
AB  - We present an interesting case of plasmablastic lymphoma, which is a rare type of
      non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is typically diagnosed in HIV-positive patients and has
      an immunophenotype that overlaps with multiple myeloma. Our patient is unique
      because he is HIV-negative, has primary bone marrow disease, and has an atypical
      immunophenotype.

PMID- 28588837
TI  - Rare presentation of 6q16.3 microdeletion syndrome with severe upper limb
      reduction defects and duodenal atresia.
AB  - We present a patient with a 17.31 MB interstitial deletion of 6q16.3-6q22.31, who
      demonstrates a unique constellation of 6q- features. Among 6q- patients, he has
      limb reduction among the most severe reported, he is the second patient with
      duodenal atresia, and is the first documented case of diaphragmatic eventration.

PMID- 28588838
TI  - Lyme carditis with complete heart block: management with an external pacemaker.
AB  - Timely diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment is essential in Lyme carditis
      to achieve favorable prognosis. Externalized permanent pacemaker with an active
      fixation lead as supportive pacing modality is a feasible option till complete
      resolution of conduction block with continued antibiotic therapy.

PMID- 28588839
TI  - Human embryonic stem cell therapy for aplastic anemia.
AB  - Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) therapy is the potential therapeutic option for
      the treatment of patients with aplastic anemia (AA). The study showed a
      remarkable improvement in the AA patient subsequent to hESC administration. No
      adverse events occurred in the patient. hESC therapy is safe and effective for AA
      patients.

PMID- 28588840
TI  - Additional coronary sinus shocking lead as rescue therapy after multiple internal
      and external defibrillation failures.
AB  - High defibrillation threshold (DFT) and defibrillation failure can lead to
      intractable ventricular arrhythmias. Additional coronary sinus coil is an
      effective strategy to achieve marked reduction in DFT. However, physicians should
      retain this might prevent future coronary sinus lead placement in case the
      patient would develop complete left bundle branch block.

PMID- 28588841
TI  - Nasogastric tube-administered alectinib achieved long-term survival in a
      crizotinib-refractory nonsmall cell lung cancer patient with a poor performance
      status.
AB  - Alectinib shows remarkable efficacy against anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)
      positive nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with minimal adverse effects.
      Therefore, alectinib may provide a survival benefit to ALK-positive NSCLC
      patients with a poor performance status. If the medication cannot be taken by
      mouth, the patient may be given alectinib through a nasogastric tube.

PMID- 28588842
TI  - Neurological and immunological dysfunction in two patients with Bartonella
      henselae bacteremia.
AB  - Recently, BAPGM enrichment culture has documented Bartonella bacteremia in
      previously healthy, "nonimmunocompromised" patients following arthropod
      exposures. Neurobartonellosis should be among the differential diagnoses for
      patients with persistent or recurrent neurological symptoms of undetermined
      etiology. Microbiological and immunological testing should be concurrently
      pursued to determine whether defective immune function accompanies Bartonella
      bacteremia.

PMID- 28588843
TI  - Bilateral hydronephrosis due to obstructive ureteral stone associated with
      norovirus gastroenteritis.
AB  - Recently, cases of urinary tract calculi causing hydronephrosis and postrenal
      renal failure associated with viral gastroenteritis were documented, yet few were
      related to norovirus. During norovirus gastroenteritis, observation of oliguria,
      aciduria, low FENa value, and elevation of blood or urinary uric acid level may
      necessitate clinical workout for nephrolithiasis.

PMID- 28588844
TI  - Major salivary gland aplasia and hypoplasia in Down syndrome: review of the
      literature and report of a case.
AB  - Salivary gland aplasia and hypoplasia are rarely described in the medical
      literature. This article presents a case of aplasia and hypoplasia of the major
      salivary glands in a patient with Down syndrome. A literature review, as well as
      an overview of the diagnosis and management of this condition, is presented.

PMID- 28588845
TI  - Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor mimicking a relapse in a patient with
      Hodgkin's lymphoma: report of an unusual case and review of the literature.
AB  - New PET-positive lesions in previously treated patients with lymphomatous
      malignancies need further investigations. Relapse, sarcoidosis and secondary
      malignancies are the most important differential diagnosis. Inflammatory
      myofibroblastic tumors (IMT) is a rare complication after treatment of Hodgkin's
      disease and every PET-positive lesion should be biopsied to prevent unnecessary
      intervention.

PMID- 28588846
TI  - Early detection of twiddler syndrome due a congestion alert by remote monitoring.
AB  - There are often false-positive alerts of thoracic impedance monitoring; however,
      the "false-positive alerts" might indicate any clinical problem of patient. In
      the present case, an alert for a drop in intrathoracic impedance, which generally
      indicates exacerbation of heart failure, enabled early detection of twiddler
      syndrome.

PMID- 28588847
TI  - A case of long QT syndrome: challenges on a bumpy road.
AB  - Beta-agonist treatment during pregnancy may unmask the diagnosis of long QT
      syndrome. The QT prolongation can result in functional AV block. A history of
      seizure and/or sudden death in a family member should raise suspicion of
      ventricular tachycardia. More than one mutation may coexist. Refusal of beta
      blocker therapy complicates risk stratification.

PMID- 28588848
TI  - A case of megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts type 1 was
      identified with a novel compound heterozygous alteration (c.135delC; c.423+2dupT)
      in China.
AB  - We report a compound heterozygous mutation (c.135delC; c.423+2dupT) of MLC1 gene
      in a Chinese patient underlying infantile macrocephaly and neurological
      deterioration in early childhood. Brain MRI revealed diffusion abnormality in
      swollen white matter and a subcortical cyst. The cDNA sequencing analysis for the
      c.423+2dupT variant revealed skipping of exon 5.

PMID- 28588849
TI  - Acromelia-oligodontia syndrome.
AB  - This case report describes a patient with ankyloglossia, oligodontia, unilateral
      hypoplasia of the zygoma and mandible, along with bilateral distal reduction
      anomalies of his limbs without long bone abnormalities. This may represent a mild
      variant of oromandibular limb hypogenesis syndrome, expanding the phenotypic
      spectrum, or a previously unrecognized malformation syndrome.

PMID- 28588850
TI  - Case report of myometrial window following fetoscopic treatment of twin-twin
      transfusion syndrome: indications of underlying collagen vascular disease?
AB  - Intraperitoneal amniotic fluid leak is a known complication of fetoscopic
      procedures that usually resolves spontaneously with expectant management.
      Intraperitoneal amniotic fluid leak may persist after fetoscopic procedures due
      to a myometrial window as well as to persistent chorioamniotic membrane
      disruption, which may be amenable to surgical repair.

PMID- 28588851
TI  - Identification of EPCAM mutation: clinical use of microarray.
AB  - We report a case of an infant with congenital tufting enteropathy (CTE) who
      presented with severe failure to thrive despite multiple interventions. This
      study illustrates that CTE may be missed by endoscopy, and the use of chromosomal
      microarray and immunohistological analysis may be integral to diagnosis.

PMID- 28588852
TI  - Partial trisomy 9: prenatal diagnosis and recurrence within same family.
AB  - Trisomy 9 can be suspected and confirmed in the prenatal period since the 11-13.6
      weeks of screening. In cases of partial trisomy 9, the diagnosis is important
      especially to counseling the couple due to the increased likelihood of recurrence
      in subsequent pregnancies.

PMID- 28588853
TI  - Prenatal identification of two discontinuous maternally inherited chromosome
      7q36.3 microduplications totaling 507 kb including the sonic hedgehog gene in a
      fetus with multiple congenital anomalies.
AB  - Duplications of the SHH gene, an important developmental gene, are rare.
      Disruption of this gene produces a variable phenotype in humans from major
      anomalies to isolated facial defects. This is the first reported case of a
      maternally inherited 507 kb discontinuous chromosome 7q36.3 microduplication
      resulting in duplication of SHH and nearby enhancer sequences.

PMID- 28588854
TI  - A "tetra-axial" system in transfemoral lead extraction.
AB  - Pacemaker lead extractors must become familiar with transfemoral approaches for
      lead extraction as a bail-out procedure for a failed superior approach. We
      presented a "tetra-axial" system for transfemoral lead extraction. This system
      would be more widely applicable in cases with difficulties in extraction,
      resulting in more procedural success.

PMID- 28588855
TI  - Colchicine reduced pericardial effusion due to postcardiac injury syndrome
      following cardiac resynchronization therapy implantation.
AB  - We present a case of postcardiac injury syndrome with pericardial effusion
      following cardiac resynchronization therapy implantation which was treated by
      only colchicine. Although treatment using colchicine is not as common as NSAIDs
      or steroids, colchicine seems to be an effective and safe treatment option for
      the syndrome.

PMID- 28588856
TI  - Metastatic pulmonary artery sarcoma presented with tamponade: a case report.
AB  - Pulmonary artery sarcoma is a rare tumor with varying presentations including
      pericardial effusion and pulmonary metastasis. Single-nucleotide polymorphism
      array is a novel method that can be used to define tumor genome and be used as a
      guidance to choose the proper treatment regimen.

PMID- 28588857
TI  - Hemoglobin Titusville: a rare low oxygen affinity hemoglobinopathy.
AB  - The relevance of this case lies in the extensive diagnostic workup that can be
      avoided with proper laboratory evaluation of relatively unsophisticated tests.

PMID- 28588859
TI  - The successful use of autologous skin in management of guidewire-induced distal
      coronary perforation.
AB  - The successful use of autologous skin to management may provide a useful and
      widely applicable method for dealing with the troublesome complication of
      guidewire-induced coronary perforation.

PMID- 28588858
TI  - A chromosomal microdeletion of 15q in a female patient with epilepsy, ID, and
      autism spectrum disorder: a case report.
AB  - 15q deletions have been described in association with intellectual disability and
      autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous reports have supported the role of 15q24
      low copy repeats (LCRs) in mediating alternatively sized genomic rearrangements.
      Based on our reported finding of a 15q24 deletion coinciding with two LCR regions
      in a patient with epilepsy and ASD, we recommend that patients with 15q24
      deletions be evaluated for ASD for early institution of therapy.

PMID- 28588861
TI  - A rare cause of mechanical bowel obstruction: ingested vinyl glove. Unexpected
      diagnosis at laparoscopy.
AB  - The report suggests that, when the patient's history, clinical examination, and
      findings do not lead to a clear diagnosis in case of an acute abdomen, a
      laparoscopic approach, that has both, diagnostic and therapeutic value, is
      advised.

PMID- 28588860
TI  - Myocardial ischemia induced by major aortopulmonary collateral arteries treated
      with transcatheter coil embolization.
AB  - Major aortopulmonary collateral arteries branching from coronary arteries may
      cause coronary steal. The careful follow-up is needed irrespective of symptoms
      because increasing physical activities and oxygen demand along with the age may
      induce myocardial ischemia. Transcatheter intervention by well-trained physician
      would be a treatment option in patients with myocardial ischemia.

PMID- 28588862
TI  - Surfer's ear.
AB  - Exostosis in external auditory canal is common among surfers. Common symptoms are
      decreased hearing or loss of hearing, ear infection, and/or plugging sensation.
      Repeated exposure to cold water is a key clinical history to suspect this
      condition. Based on symptoms and existence of infection, surgical removal of the
      exostosis is recommended.

PMID- 28588863
TI  - Hemodynamic collapse due to the stenosis of four pulmonary veins in a patient
      with mediastinal tumor.
AB  - Cardiogenic shock can occur due to compression of the four pulmonary veins and
      the left atrium by a mediastinal tumor. Steroid infusion can be a temporary
      alternative therapy before obtaining a definite diagnosis and performing an
      intervention with stents to dilate the pulmonary veins.

PMID- 28588864
TI  - Coexistence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma, do the roots of
      these entities originate from the same place?
AB  - Multiple myeloma is a plasma cell disease, whereas CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic
      Leukemia) affects mature B-cell lymphocytes. Even though the coexistence of those
      two conditions is extremely rare, as both cell types differentiate from the same
      multipotent stem cells, the clinician should evaluate patients carefully not to
      misdiagnose such a concomitancy.

PMID- 28588865
TI  - Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma mimicking cardiac amyloidosis.
AB  - Our case highlights that cardiac lymphoma may mimic amyloid infiltration of the
      myocardium on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and is a particularly challenging
      diagnosis in the setting of transformed Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.
      Heightened suspicion and early diagnosis of cardiac lymphoma is paramount as
      chemotherapy has been demonstrated to portent an increased survival rate.

PMID- 28588866
TI  - Gastric foreign body: a comb.
AB  - The ingestion of a foreign body is a common occurrence. Psychiatric patients and
      prisoners may swallow objects on purpose. Occasionally emergent exploratory
      laparotomy may be indicated if the diagnosis is uncertain, and emergent removal
      of the foreign body may be needed to prevent substantial risk of serious
      complications including perforation, fistula, or gastrointestinal bleeding.

PMID- 28588867
TI  - Cardiac arrest reveals a mobile large left atrial myxoma.
AB  - Left atrial myxoma could be a rare cause of cardiac arrest as this mass could
      impinge on the mitral orifice causing left ventricular inflow tract obstruction.

PMID- 28588868
TI  - Fracture guide wire during an elective percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - Dose the fractured guide wire should be removed during or after percutaneous
      coronary interventions? In case when the patients have unstable hemodynamic
      status the fractured guide wire should be removed with percutaneous or surgical
      method. Antiplatelet drug administration should be considered after procedure to
      prevention of the coronary artery thrombosis.

PMID- 28588869
TI  - Mycobacterium genavense invading the bone marrow in a HIV-positive patient.
AB  - Nontuberculous mycobacteria infrequently cause disseminated infections in
      immunocompetent hosts. However, they are increasingly being recognized in
      immunocompromised patients. We present the case of a 40-year-old HIV-positive
      male presenting with lymphadenopathies and pancytopenia in whom disseminated
      infection, with bone marrow involvement by Mycobacterium genavense (M. genavense)
      was diagnosed.

PMID- 28588870
TI  - Virchow's node together with an Irish node.
AB  - Classical lymphadenopathies, such as Virchow's node (left supraclavicular lymph
      node metastasis) and Irish node (left axillary lymph node metastasis), are
      important findings that may indicate the presence of gastric cancer and other
      gastrointestinal malignancies.

PMID- 28588871
TI  - Post-radiosynovectomy imaging of Er-169 using scintigraphy and autoradiography.
AB  - Currently, there is no protocol for the detection of intra-articular distribution
      of Er-169 citrate after radiosynovectomy. We propose post-therapeutic imaging
      using scintigraphy and cobalt-57 pen-marker autoradiography. This technique
      evaluates the efficacy of the radiosynovectomy and patient safety and could be
      utilized for dosimetric protocol.

PMID- 28588872
TI  - Cefazolin as a cause of leukocytoclastic vasculitis.
AB  - Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV) is a cutaneous small vessel vasculitis
      characterized by cutaneous manifestations in the form of palpable purpura, and
      rarely bullae, vesicles, and ulcerations. Although rare, cephalosporins such as
      cefazolin, should be recognized to have a potential to trigger LCV.

PMID- 28588873
TI  - A 72-year-old with eyelid opening apraxia in Steele-Richardson-Olszewski
      syndrome.
AB  - In our patient with Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome presenting with apraxia
      of eyelid opening, there is a possibility to be readily confused with conditions
      presenting in similar pattern such as blepharospasm and eyelid ptosis. Therefore,
      it is essential to correlate the clinical findings with electromyographic
      recordings and dopamine transporter scan (DaT).

PMID- 28588874
TI  - Radiation-induced tongue myokymia with hypoglossal nerve damage, mimicker of
      motor neuron disease.
AB  - This teaching case of tongue myokymia offers clear electromyographic findings of
      myokymic discharges on two different sweeps. Radiation-induced tongue myokymia
      should be considered in the differential diagnosis for motor neuron disease
      (MND).

PMID- 28588876
TI  - Increased risk for metachronous gastric adenocarcinoma following gastric MALT
      lymphoma-A US population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (gMALT) and
      gastric adenocarcinoma (GC) are long-term complications of chronic Helicobacter
      pylori (HP) gastritis. Treatment of HP infection induces remission in most
      patients with gMALT. Endoscopic follow-up is not currently endorsed after
      complete remission. However, the risk of GC in these patients is unclear.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to estimate GC risk in gMALT patients.
      METHODS: The National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results
      13 (SEER) database-Nov 2014 Sub (1992-2012) was used to identify adult patients
      diagnosed with gMALT between 1992 and 2012. The standardized incidence ratio of
      second primary GC after a latency period of 12 months was calculated and compared
      to a reference SEER cohort of identical age, sex and time period. The risk of GC
      in these patients was also stratified by latency period (five years) and age.
      RESULTS: We identified 2195 cases of gMALT lymphoma, and 20 (0.91%) of them
      subsequently developed GC with a relative risk (RR) of 4.32 (95% CI 2.64-6.67)
      compared to the American population. The median latency time was five years and
      the risk was maintained afterward (RR 4.92, 95% CI 2.45-8.79). When stratified by
      age group the risk was highest for the 45-64 group (RR 14.04, 95% CI 5.64-28.93).
      CONCLUSION: gMALT lymphoma is associated with an increased risk of metachronous
      gastric adenocarcinoma. The risk is still present after more than five years of
      follow-up. Further studies may clarify the most adequate follow-up strategy.

PMID- 28588875
TI  - Management of chronic constipation in adults.
AB  - Chronic constipation (CC) is an extremely common condition with an estimated
      prevalence of up to 24%. Most patients with CC should be treated in primary care.
      Changes in lifestyle, including increased intake of dietary fibre, fluid, and
      exercise, should be attempted in most patients. Osmotic or stimulant laxatives
      are indicated if there are insufficient effects of lifestyle changes. Prokinetics
      and secretagogues should be restricted to those not responding to basic
      treatment. Anorectal physiology tests and assessment of colorectal transit time
      are indicated if medical treatment fails or if symptoms indicate severely
      obstructed defecation. If symptoms indicate an underlying structural disorder,
      barium or magnetic resonance evacuation proctography is indicated. Biofeedback
      therapy is effective in patients with dyssynergic defecation. In patients with
      other evacuation disorders, rectally administered laxatives or transanal
      irrigation should be attempted. Surgery is restricted to the minority of CC
      patients with very severe symptoms not responding to conservative treatment.

PMID- 28588877
TI  - Endoscopic removal of over-the-scope clips: Clinical experience with a bipolar
      cutting device.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over-the-scope clips (OTSCs) are increasingly used for the closure of
      perforations/fistulae, hemostasis and endoscopic full-thickness resection (FTRD
      system). When OTSC-associated complications occur or re-therapy at the OTSC site
      is needed, OTSC removal may be indicated. An experimental study in an animal
      model and a case series have shown good results for OTSC removal with a bipolar
      cutting device. We present a larger clinical study using this device. METHODS:
      Data of all consecutive patients with indication for OTSC removal were collected
      and analyzed retrospectively. OTSCs were cut at two opposing sites using a
      bipolar grasping device to apply short direct current impulses. OTSC fragments
      were extracted with a standard forceps and a cap at the tip of the endoscope to
      avoid tissue damage. RESULTS: Between December 2012 and February 2016 a total of
      42 OTSC removals in the upper (n = 25) and lower (n = 17) gastrointestinal tract
      have been performed at our department. Overall technical success, defined as
      cutting the OTSC at two opposing sites and extraction of both fragments, was
      achieved in 92.9% (39/42) of all cases. Successful fragmentation of the OTSC was
      achieved in 97.6% (41/42). Minor bleedings were rare and could be managed
      endoscopically in all cases. There were no perforations and no major or delayed
      bleedings. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic OTSC removal with a bipolar cutting device is
      feasible, effective and safe. This technique can be applied in the upper and
      lower gastrointestinal tract.

PMID- 28588878
TI  - A novel purgative protocol for capsule endoscopy of the small bowel produces
      better quality of visibility than 2 l of PEG: Timing is of the essence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The ideal way of preparing patients for small-bowel capsule
      endoscopy has been controversial. Previous studies have shown that ingestion of 2
      l of polyethylenglycol (PEG) 12 hours prior to capsule ingestion leads to
      improved visibility in comparison to no preparation at all. We speculated that
      using a post-ingestion (PI), booster-based cleansing protocol might provide an
      alternative to the PEG cleansing protocol. METHODS: This randomized, blinded,
      prospective study enrolled 45 individuals. Patients were allocated to either of
      two groups. The PEG group ingested 2 l PEG 12 hours prior to the exam (n = 22)
      and the PI group ingested one sachet of Picolax(r) dissolved in 250 ml of water
      one hour after swallowing the capsule with 500 ml of water (n = 18). Primary
      endpoints were overall small bowel and distal third of small bowel cleansing
      levels. Secondary endpoints were average gastric and small-bowel transit time.
      RESULTS: Forty-five patients participated in this study. Five individuals were
      excluded because of incomplete study. Percentage of patients with adequate
      visibility in the distal third of the small bowel in the PEG group was 9% vs 72%
      in the PI group (p < 0.0001). Average gastric time and total transit time were
      shorter in the PI group vs the PEG group (p = 0.0065). CONCLUSION: Timing of
      ingestion of the Picolax(r) purgative 60 minutes after swallowing the capsule
      endoscopy delivers better visibility in the distal third of the small bowel than
      the accepted cleansing protocol of ingesting 2 l PEG 12 hours prior to the
      capsule endoscopy procedure.

PMID- 28588880
TI  - Estimation of the prevalence of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the
      pancreas in the French population through patients waiting for liver
      transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Some studies have explored the prevalence of pancreatic
      cystic lesions (PCLs). Only one study based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      report examination focused specifically on intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasm (IPMN) in a European general population. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the prevalence of IPMN in a population of patients who had MRI for a non
      pancreatic disease. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, single-center study.
      All consecutive patients placed on the French liver transplant waiting list who
      had MRI for a non-pancreatic disease before liver transplantation between 2009
      and 2013 were included. Only diagnoses consistent with IPMN were retained
      (cyst(s) clearly communicating with the main pancreatic duct). RESULTS: Among 315
      patients on the national waiting list, 212 patients had an MRI. PCLs with ductal
      communication were diagnosed in 14 patients (6.6%; six women, eight men, median
      age 62 years (45-70)). Liver disease was caused by a virus in seven cases,
      alcohol in three cases, other in four cases (multiple causes possible). Four
      patients had hepatocellular carcinoma. No patient had clinical or radiological
      sign of chronic pancreatitis. The median diameter of the largest cystic lesion
      was 14 mm (7-22). The number of PCLs was one (n = 4), two (n = 2), four (n = 3),
      five (n = 2), > 5 (n = 3), respectively. There was no worrisome or main
      pancreatic duct involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of pancreatic cystic lesions
      consistent with the diagnosis of IPMN was 6.6% in French patients waiting for
      liver transplantation. These results underscore that IPMN can be considered as a
      public health problem and justify a screening.

PMID- 28588879
TI  - An international multicenter study of early intravenous fluid administration and
      outcome in acute pancreatitis.
AB  - AIMS: Early aggressive fluid resuscitation in acute pancreatitis is frequently
      recommended but its benefits remain unproven. The aim of this study was to
      determine the outcomes associated with early fluid volume administration in the
      emergency room (FVER) in patients with acute pancreatitis. METHODS: A four-center
      retrospective cohort study of 1010 patients with acute pancreatitis was
      conducted. FVER was defined as any fluid administered from the time of arrival to
      the emergency room to 4 h after diagnosis of acute pancreatitis, and was divided
      into tertiles: nonaggressive (<500 ml), moderate (500 to 1000 ml), and aggressive
      (>1000 ml). RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-nine (26.6%), 427 (42.3%), and 314 (31.1%)
      patients received nonaggressive, moderate, and aggressive FVER respectively.
      Compared with the nonaggressive fluid group, the moderate group was associated
      with lower rates of local complications in univariable analysis, and
      interventions, both in univariable and multivariable analysis (adjusted odds
      ratio (95% confidence interval): 0.37 (0.14-0.98)). The aggressive resuscitation
      group was associated with a significantly lower need for interventions, both in
      univariable and multivariable analysis (adjusted odds ratio 0.21 (0.05-0.84)).
      Increasing fluid administration categories were associated with decreasing
      hospital stay in univariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Early moderate to aggressive
      FVER was associated with lower need for invasive interventions.

PMID- 28588882
TI  - Transarterial chemoembolization vs bland embolization in hepatocellular
      carcinoma: A meta-analysis of randomized trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although transarterial chemoembolization is considered the standard
      of care for intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma patients, robust data in favor
      of a clear superiority of chemoembolization (with chemotherapy injection) over
      bland embolization are lacking. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to
      systematically analyze the results provided by randomized controlled trials
      comparing these two treatments in hepatocarcinoma patients. METHODS: A
      computerized bibliographic search on the main databases was performed. Survival
      rates assessed at one, two, and three years, objective response, one-year
      progression-free survival, and severe adverse event rate were analyzed.
      Comparisons were performed by using the Mantel-Haenszel test in cases of low
      heterogeneity or DerSimonian and Laird test in cases of high heterogeneity.
      RESULTS: Six trials with 676 patients were included. No difference in one-year
      (risk ratio: 0.93, 0.85-1.03, p = 0.16), two-year (risk ratio: 0.88, 0.74-1.06, p
      = 0.18) and three-year survival (risk ratio: 0.97, 0.74-1.27, p = 0.81) was
      observed. Objective response and one-year progression-free survival showed no
      significant difference between the two treatments (p = 0.36 and p = 0.40,
      respectively). A statistically significant increase in severe toxicity after
      chemoembolization was found (risk ratio: 1.44, 1.08-1.92, p = 0.01), although
      this result could be affected by the heterogeneity of techniques adopted.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis demonstrates a non-superiority of transarterial
      chemoembolization with respect to bland embolization in hepatocarcinoma patients.

PMID- 28588881
TI  - Endoscopic classification of the papilla of Vater. Results of an inter- and
      intraobserver agreement study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many endoscopists acknowledge that the appearance of the papilla of
      Vater seems to affect biliary cannulation. To assess the association between the
      macroscopic appearance of the papilla and biliary cannulation and other related
      clinical issues, a system is needed to define the appearance of the papilla.
      OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to validate an endoscopic classification
      of the papilla of Vater by assessing the interobserver and intraobserver
      agreements among endoscopist with varying experience. METHODS: An endoscopic
      classification, based on pictures captured from 140 different papillae,
      containing four types of papillae was proposed. The four types are (a) Type 1:
      regular papilla, no distinctive features, 'classic appearance'; (b) Type 2: small
      papilla, often flat, with a diameter <= 3 mm (approximately 9 Fr); (c) Type 3:
      protruding or pendulous papilla, a papilla that is standing out, protruding or
      bulging into the duodenal lumen or sometimes hanging down, pendulous with the
      orifice oriented caudally; and (d) Type 4: creased or ridged papilla, where the
      ductal mucosa seems to extend distally, rather out of the papillary orifice,
      either on a ridge or in a crease. To assess the level of interobserver agreement,
      a web-based survey was sent out to 18 endoscopists, containing 50 sets of still
      images of the papilla, distributed between the four different types. Three months
      later a follow-up survey, with images from the first survey was sent to the same
      endoscopists. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement was substantial (kappa = 0.62, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.58-0.65) and were similar for both experts and non
      experts. The intraobserver agreement assessed with the second survey was also
      substantial (kappa = 0.66, 95% CI 0.59-0.72). CONCLUSION: The proposed endoscopic
      classification of the papilla of Vater seems to be easy to use, irrespective of
      the level of experience of the endoscopist. It carries a substantial inter- and
      intraobserver agreement and now the clinical relevance of the four different
      papilla types awaits to be determined.

PMID- 28588883
TI  - Compliance with evidence-based multidisciplinary guidelines on perihilar
      cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Discrepancies are often noted between management of perihilar
      cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) in regional hospitals and the eventual treatment plan in
      specialized centers. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to evaluate
      whether regional centers adhere to guideline recommendations following
      implementation in 2013. METHODS: Data were analyzed from all consecutive patients
      with suspected PHC referred to our academic center between June 2013 and December
      2015. Frequency and quality of biliary drainage and imaging at referring centers
      were assessed as well as the impact of inadequate initial drainage. RESULTS:
      Biliary drainage was attempted at regional centers in 83 of 158 patients (52.5%),
      with a technical and therapeutic success rate of 79.5% and 50%, respectively, and
      a complication rate of 45.8%. The computed tomography protocol was not in
      accordance with guidelines in 52.8% of referrals. In 45 patients (54.2%) who
      underwent drainage in regional centers, additional drainage procedures were
      required after referral. Initial inadequate biliary drainage at a regional center
      was significantly associated with more procedures and a prolonged waiting time
      until surgery. A trend toward more drainage-related complications was observed
      among patients with inadequate initial drainage (54.7% vs. 39.0%, p = 0.061).
      CONCLUSION: Despite available guidelines, suboptimal management of PHC persists
      in many regional centers and affects eventual treatment strategies.

PMID- 28588884
TI  - Distinctive HLA-II association with primary biliary cholangitis on the Island of
      Sardinia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The HLA DRB1*08 allele associated with primary biliary cholangitis
      (PBC) among Caucasians is of low frequency in the Sardinian population.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to type a cohort of PBC patients from the
      island of Sardinia for HLA class II antigens. METHODS: Twenty Sardinian patients
      affected by PBC, 14 with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and 89 healthy controls (HCs)
      were typed for HLA class II alleles by dot-blot analysis. RESULTS: The PBC
      associated HLA DRB1*08 allele was detected in none of the studied individuals.
      The DRB1*0301-DQB1*0201 was the prevalent HLA haplotype, detected in 19 (47.5%)
      out of 40 PBC haplotypes (OR = 3.0; 95% CI 1.5-6.2) and in 11 (39.3%) out of 28
      AIH haplotypes (OR = 2.2; 95% CI 0.94-5.0), but in only 41 (23%) out of 178 HC
      haplotypes. Moreover, PBC patients showed an increased frequency of homozygosity
      for the DQB1*0201 allele (35% compared with 6.7% of the HCs; OR = 7.5; 95% CI 2.2
      25.7). The frequency of the DRB1*11 allele in the PBC group was about half of
      that seen in the Sardinian HCs (7.5% vs 15.7%) (p = ns). CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      confirmed the low frequency of the HLA DRB1*08 allele among Sardinians, either in
      the general population or PBC patients. The high prevalence of the HLA DRB1*0301
      DQB1*0201 haplotype is a distinctive genetic feature of PBC among Sardinians. Our
      study strengthens the hypothesis that still unknown genetic, epigenetic, and
      environmental factors must be involved in the pathogenesis of different HLA
      associated liver diseases, and it represents a pathfinder that warrants
      exploration in a future extensive study.

PMID- 28588885
TI  - Elevated trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is associated with poor prognosis in
      primary sclerosing cholangitis patients with normal liver function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is produced in the liver from
      trimethylamine, which is exclusively generated by gut bacteria. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of this article is to investigate the relationship between TMAO and
      primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and its clinical characteristics. METHODS:
      Serum TMAO was measured in 305 PSC patients, 90 ulcerative colitis patients and
      99 healthy controls. RESULTS: In PSC patients with normal liver function (n =
      197), TMAO was higher in patients reaching liver transplantation or death during
      follow-up than those who did not, with an optimal TMAO cut-off of 4.1 uM (AUC =
      0.64, p < 0.001). PSC patients with high TMAO (>4.1 uM, n = 77) exhibited shorter
      transplantation-free survival than patients with low TMAO (n = 120, log-rank
      test: p < 0.0001). High TMAO (>4.1 uM) was associated with reduced
      transplantation-free survival (HR 1.87, p = 0.011), independently of the Mayo
      risk score (HR 1.74, p < 0.001). Overall, PSC patients demonstrated reduced TMAO
      values compared with ulcerative colitis and healthy controls, mainly caused by
      PSC patients with reduced liver function (INR > 1.2), suggesting impaired
      oxidation of trimethylamine to TMAO. PSC patients with and without inflammatory
      bowel disease had similar TMAO levels. CONCLUSION: In PSC patients with normal
      liver function, elevated TMAO was associated with shorter transplantation-free
      survival, potentially reflecting clinically relevant metabolic changes resulting
      from dietary interactions with the gut microbiota.

PMID- 28588887
TI  - Risk factors for proximal disease extension and colectomy in left-sided
      ulcerative colitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to assess proximal disease
      extension of ulcerative colitis (UC) over time, with disease behaviour pattern
      and risk factors for proximal disease extension and colectomy as secondary aims.
      METHODS: All cumulative incident cases diagnosed with UC at the Academic Medical
      Center between January 1990 and December 2009 were studied. The cumulative risk
      of colectomy was calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The Cox proportional
      hazards regression was used to identify risk factors associated with proximal
      disease extension and colectomy. RESULTS: In total, 506 UC patients were included
      with a median age of 33 years (IQR 23-41) at diagnosis. Ninety-five (18.8%)
      patients underwent colectomy during follow-up. Median follow-up was 10 years (IQR
      5-15). Initial disease extent was evaluable in 416 patients, of whom 142 (34.1%)
      had proctitis, 155 (37.3%) left-sided colitis and 119 (28.6%) pancolitis.
      Proximal disease extension was observed in 120 (28.8%) patients during follow-up
      (51 proctitis to left-sided colitis, 39 proctitis to extensive colitis and 30
      left-sided to extensive colitis). Disease behaviour was evaluable in 378
      patients, of whom 244 (64.6%) had less than one relapse per year. Younger age at
      diagnosis (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-0.99) and continuous active disease (HR 2.18, 95%
      CI 1.27-3.73) were independent risk factors for proximal disease extension. The
      cumulative risk of colectomy did not change over time between patients diagnosed
      before and after the year 2000 (p = 0.341). Continuous active disease (HR 7.05,
      95% CI 4.23-11.77), systemic steroids (HR 3.25, 95% CI 1.37-7.71) and
      cyclosporine treatment (HR 2.80, 95% CI 1.66-4.72) were independent risk factors
      for colectomy, whereas proctitis at diagnosis (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.22-0.86) carried
      a lower risk. CONCLUSION: In one-third of UC patients, left-sided disease at
      diagnosis will extend proximally during 10 years of follow-up. Proximal disease
      extension was not a risk factor for colectomy, but the risk of colectomy is
      rather determined by continuous disease activity, and use of systemic steroids
      and cyclosporine.

PMID- 28588886
TI  - Laparoscopic versus open appendectomy in adults and children: A meta-analysis of
      randomized controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences of laparoscopic
      appendectomy (LA) versus open appendectomy (OA) in adults and children. METHODS:
      Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing LA and OA in adults and children
      between January 1992-March 2016 were included in this study. A meta-analysis was
      performed to evaluate wound infection, intra-abdominal abscess, postoperative
      complications, reoperation rate, operation time, postoperative stay, and return
      to normal activity. RESULT: Thirty-three studies including 3642 patients (1810
      LA, 1832 OA) were included. Compared with OA, LA in adults was associated with
      lower incidence of wound infection, fewer postoperative complications, shorter
      postoperative stay, and earlier return to normal activity, but a longer operation
      time. There was no difference in levels of intra-abdominal abscess and
      reoperation between the groups. Subgroup analysis in children did not reveal
      significant differences between the two techniques in wound infection,
      postoperative complications, postoperative stay, and return to normal activity.
      CONCLUSION: LA in adults is worth recommending as an effective and safe procedure
      for acute appendicitis, and further high-quality randomized trials comparing the
      two techniques in children are needed.

PMID- 28588888
TI  - Thioguanine in inflammatory bowel disease: Long-term efficacy and safety.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thioguanine (TG) is efficacious in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD),
      but its toxicity, particularly nodular regenerative hyperplasia (NRH) of the
      liver, has limited its use. We assessed the long-term clinical outcomes and
      safety of TG in patients whom were intolerant or refractory to conventional
      immunomodulators. METHODS: This is a retrospective, single-centre study of IBD
      patients treated with TG from 2001-2013. Response was defined as clinical
      remission (Harvey-Bradshaw Index < 5 for Crohn's disease (CD), Simple Clinical
      Colitis Activity Index < 4 for ulcerative colitis (UC)) without corticosteroids
      or, if receiving anti-tumour-necrosis-factor (anti-TNF) therapy, absence of dose
      escalation. We recorded TG failure, withdrawal and adverse events. Patients were
      monitored with biochemistry, liver biopsy and/or magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). RESULTS: 54 patients (47 CD and 7 UC) whom received TG (mean dose: 27 mg/d
      (range: 20-40 mg/d)) as monotherapy (n = 36) or concomitantly with anti-TNF (n =
      18) for a median inter-quartile range of 16 (5-37) months (126 patient-years of
      follow-up). 32 (59%) patients responded to TG at 6 months and 23 (43%) at 12
      months. Pancreatitis did not recur amongst the 19 patients with prior thiopurine
      induced pancreatitis. 16 (30%) patients ceased TG due to intolerance or toxicity
      (four serious); NRH was not observed. 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentrations did
      not correlate with efficacy nor with toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: TG was efficacious
      and well tolerated in one out of two patients who had previously failed
      conventional immunomodulators. NRH did not occur.

PMID- 28588889
TI  - Validation of the Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis questionnaire in patients with
      acute severe ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis questionnaire (CUCQ) has
      previously been validated in patients with mild to moderate Crohn's and
      ulcerative colitis (UC). The aim of this study was to validate the tool in
      patients with acute severe UC. METHODS: We undertook a validation of the CUCQ in
      patients recruited to the COmparison of iNfliximab and ciclosporin in STeroid
      Resistant Ulcerative Colitis Trial (CONSTRUCT). We carried out psychometric
      analysis to examine the underlying dimensions of the scale, internal consistency
      and construct validity. We carried out stepwise regression to examine which items
      accounted for the greatest variance in the scale. RESULTS: We obtained complete
      data for 270 patients. The internal consistency of the CUCQ was excellent
      (Cronbach's alpha > 0.8). The CUCQ scores achieved significant correlations with
      two generic quality of life scales (SF-12 and EQ-5D), demonstrating good
      construct validity. Stepwise regression identified 16 items that accounted for
      greater than 95% of the variance of the CUCQ. Only three of the eight items
      selected for a short form in mild to moderate patients were selected for patients
      with acute severe UC. CONCLUSIONS: The CUCQ demonstrated good validity in our
      sample of acute severe UC patients. Stepwise regression identified potential to
      shorten the tool, but that different items would be selected compared with less
      severe patients. If the tool is to be applied across the spectrum of disease it
      would be more appropriate to use the full 32 items in the scale. Further work to
      explore test-retest is required in acute patients.

PMID- 28588890
TI  - Cognitive impairment in Crohn's disease is associated with systemic inflammation,
      symptom burden and sleep disturbance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) frequently complain of cognitive
      difficulties such as problems with concentration and clouding of thought, yet
      this has scarcely been objectively defined and underlying mechanisms remain
      unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to objectively measure
      cognitive impairments in patients with CD compared with healthy controls, and if
      present, to identify potentially modifiable, contributing factors associated with
      cognitive impairment. METHODS: CD patients and healthy age-/sex-matched controls
      completed surveys encompassing clinical, demographic, psychiatric, fatigue and
      sleep parameters. Contemporaneously, disease activity assessment with serum CRP,
      faecal calprotectin, Harvey-Bradshaw Index and the Subtle Cognitive Impairment
      test (SCIT) were performed, with the primary measure of response time (SCIT-RT)
      compared between groups. Multiple linear regression assessed for factors
      associated with slower SCIT-RT, denoting subtle cognitive impairment. RESULTS: A
      total of 49 CD and 31 control individuals participated, with median age 44 years
      (range 22-65) and 43 years (21-63), respectively. Compared to controls, SCIT-RT
      was slower across all timepoints in CD patients (ANOVA p < 0.001). In
      multivariate analysis, serum CRP (standardised beta coefficient 0.27, 95% CI
      (0.02, 0.51)), abdominal pain (0.43 (0.16, 0.70)), plasma haemoglobin (1.55
      (1.42, 1.68)), and concurrent fatigue (0.56 (0.25, 0.88)) were each independently
      associated with slower SCIT-RT in CD (each p < 0.05), with a trend for poorer
      sleep quality 0.54 (-0.03, 1.11) (p = 0.06), yet conversely, higher faecal
      calprotectin titres were associated with faster SCIT-RT (-1.77 (-1.79, -1.76), p
      < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CD demonstrated subtle cognitive impairment
      utilising the objective SCIT, correlating with systemic inflammation and other
      disease burden measures, although higher faecal calprotectin titres were
      unexpectedly associated with less cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28588891
TI  - Prevalence and clinical features of opioid-induced constipation in the general
      population: A French study of 15,000 individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constipation is common during opioid therapy and can compromise
      analgesia. AIM: The aim of this article is to determine the prevalence and
      clinical characteristics of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in France. METHODS:
      A questionnaire study was conducted in a representative sample of the French
      general population. Participants completed a 31-item questionnaire covering
      opioid use during the previous six months, and the occurrence of constipation
      (defined as <3 bowel movements per week, straining during defaecation, or both)
      during opioid treatment. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 15,213 participants, of
      whom 4753 (31.2%) reported opioid use. Most analgesics (96.5%) were classified as
      World Health Organization step II analgesics, and the remainder were step III.
      The most common indications for opioids were bone or joint pain, and soft tissue
      pain. Overall, 414/4753 (8.7%) opioid users reported OIC while the prevalence of
      OIC reached 21% in case of regular or prolonged (>1 month) opioid use. Other
      characteristics associated with OIC included female gender, age >=50 years and
      use of step III opioids. Only 177/414 (42.8%) participants with OIC had used
      medications (most commonly osmotic laxatives) to treat constipation, and
      satisfaction with constipation medication was moderate (mean (SD) score 7.2 (1.3)
      on a scale of 0-10). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one-third of a representative
      French population had used opioids within the previous six months, and 9% of
      users had experienced OIC, which is more frequent in case of regular use. OIC
      appears to be under-treated, and participants' satisfaction with their
      constipation medications was only moderate, suggesting that significant unmet
      need remains in OIC management.

PMID- 28588892
TI  - Young GI angle: Effective data presentation.

PMID- 28588893
TI  - E-learning in gastroenterology-What have we learned so far?

PMID- 28588895
TI  - Evaluation of cough peak expiratory flow as a predictor of successful mechanical
      ventilation discontinuation: a narrative review of the literature.
AB  - A crucial step in the transition from mechanical ventilation to extubation is the
      successful performance of a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT). The American
      College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Guidelines recommend removal of the
      endotracheal tube upon successful completion of a SBT. However, this does not
      guarantee successful extubation as there remains a risk of re-intubation.
      Guidelines have outlined ventilator liberation protocols, selected use of non
      invasive ventilation on extubation, early mobilization, and dynamic ventilator
      metrics to prevent and better predict extubation failure. However, a significant
      percentage of patients still fail mechanical ventilation discontinuation. A
      common reason for re-intubation is having a weak cough strength, which reflects
      the inability to protect the airway. Evaluation of cough strength via objective
      measures using peak expiratory flow rate is a non-invasive and easily
      reproducible assessment which can predict extubation failure. We conducted a
      narrative review of the literature regarding use of cough strength as a
      predictive index for extubation failure risk. Results of our review show that
      cough strength, quantified objectively with a cough peak expiratory flow
      measurement (CPEF), is strongly associated with extubation success. Furthermore,
      various cutoff thresholds have been identified and can provide reasonable
      diagnostic accuracy and predictive power for extubation failure. These results
      demonstrate that measurement of the CPEF can be a useful tool to predict
      extubation failure in patients on MV who have passed a SBT. In addition, the data
      suggest that this diagnostic modality may reduce ICU length of stay, ICU
      expenditures, and morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28588894
TI  - Aetiological pathways to Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms in early
      adolescence: childhood dysregulated behaviour, maladaptive parenting and bully
      victimisation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developmental theories for the aetiology of Borderline Personality
      Disorder (BPD) suggest that both individual features (e.g., childhood
      dysregulated behaviour) and negative environmental experiences (e.g., maladaptive
      parenting, peer victimisation) may lead to the development of BPD symptoms during
      adolescence. Few prospective studies have examined potential aetiological
      pathways involving these two factors. METHOD: We addressed this gap in the
      literature using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
      (ALSPAC). We assessed mother-reported childhood dysregulated behaviour at 4, 7
      and 8 years using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); maladaptive
      parenting (maternal hitting, punishment, and hostility) at 8 to 9 years; and
      bully victimisation (child and mother report) at 8, 9 and 10 years. BPD symptoms
      were assessed at 11 years using the UK Childhood Interview for DSM-IV BPD.
      Control variables included adolescent depression (assessed with the Short Moods
      and Feelings Questionnaire-SMFQ) and psychotic symptoms (assessed with the
      Psychosis-Like Symptoms Interview-PLIKS) at 11 to 14 years, and mother's exposure
      to family adversity during pregnancy (assessed with the Family Adversity Scale
      FAI). RESULTS: In unadjusted logistic regression analyses, childhood dysregulated
      behaviour and all environmental risk factors (i.e., family adversity, maladaptive
      parenting, and bully victimisation) were significantly associated with BPD
      symptoms at 11 years. Within structural equation modelling controlling for all
      associations simultaneously, family adversity and male sex significantly
      predicted dysregulated behaviour across childhood, while bully victimisation
      significantly predicted BPD, depression, and psychotic symptoms. Children
      displaying dysregulated behaviour across childhood were significantly more likely
      to experience maladaptive parenting (beta = 0.075, p < 0.001) and bully
      victimisation (beta = 0.327, p < 0.001). Further, there was a significant
      indirect association between childhood dysregulated behaviour and BPD symptoms
      via an increased risk of bullying (beta = 0.097, p < 0.001). While significant
      indirect associations between dysregulated behaviour, bully victimisation and
      depression (beta = 0.063, p < 0.001) and psychotic (beta = 0.074, p < 0.001)
      outcomes were also observed, the indirect association was significantly stronger
      for the BPD outcome (BPD - depression = 0.034, p < 0.01; BPD - psychotic symptoms
      = 0.023, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Childhood dysregulated behaviour is associated
      with BPD in early adolescence via an increased risk of bully victimisation. This
      suggests that childhood dysregulation may influence the risk of bully
      victimisation, which in turn influences the development of BPD. Effective
      interventions should target dysregulated behaviour early on to reduce exposure to
      environmental risks and the subsequent development of BPD.

PMID- 28588896
TI  - Promoting transparency, accountability, and access through a multi-stakeholder
      initiative: lessons from the medicines transparency alliance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Barriers to expanding access to medicines include weak pharmaceutical
      sector governance, lack of transparency and accountability, inadequate attention
      to social services on the political agenda, and financing challenges. Multi
      stakeholder initiatives such as the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) may
      help overcome these barriers. Between 2008 and 2015, MeTA engaged stakeholders in
      the pharmaceutical sectors of seven countries (Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru,
      Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia) to promote access goals through greater
      transparency. METHODS: We reviewed archival data to document MeTA activities and
      results related to transparency and accountability in the seven countries where
      it was implemented. We identified common themes and content areas, noting
      specific activities used to make information transparent and accessible, how data
      were used to inform discussions, and the purpose and timing of meetings and
      advocacy activities to help set priorities and influence governance decisions.
      The cross-case analysis looked for pathways which might link the MeTA strategies
      to results such as better policies or program improvements. RESULTS: Countries
      used evidence gathering, open meetings, and proactive information dissemination
      to increase transparency. MeTA fostered policy dialogue to bring together the
      many government, civil society and private company stakeholders concerned with
      access issues, and provided them with information to understand barriers to
      access at policy, organizational, and community levels. We found strong evidence
      that transparency was enhanced. Some evidence suggests that MeTA efforts
      contributed to new policies and civil society capacity strengthening although the
      impact on government accountability is not clear. CONCLUSION: MeTA appears to
      have achieved its goal of creating a multi-stakeholder shared policy space in
      which government, civil society, and private sector players can come together and
      have a voice in the national pharmaceutical policy making process. Assuming that
      transparency is in place to leverage accountability, the success of MeTA's
      efforts to promote accountability by the government as well as other stakeholders
      in the pharmaceutical sector will depend on how well efforts are sustained over
      time.

PMID- 28588897
TI  - A physical fitness profile of state highway patrol officers by gender and age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Law enforcement officers perform physically demanding tasks that
      generally remain constant as they age. However, there is limited population
      specific research on age, gender and normative fitness values for law enforcement
      officers as opposed to those of the general population. The purpose of this study
      was to profile the current level of fitness for highway patrol officers based on
      age and gender and provide percentile ranking charts unique to this population.
      METHODS: Retrospective data for six-hundred and thirty-one state troopers (? =
      597; mean age = 39.52 +/- 8.09 yrs; mean height = 180.72 +/- 7.06 cm; mean weight
      = 93.66 +/- 15.72 kg: ? = 34; mean age = 36.20 +/- 8.45 years; mean height =
      169.62 +/- 6.65 cm; mean weight = 74.02 +/- 14.91 kg) collected in 2014-2015 were
      provided for analysis. Data included demographic (age), anthropometric (height
      and weight), and select fitness (VJ, push-ups, sit ups, isometric leg/back
      strength, isometric grip strength and 20 m shuttle run test) information.
      RESULTS: There were generally significant differences between genders for all
      anthropometric and fitness measures, most consistently in the 30-39 age groups.
      While there was a general decline in push-up and shuttle run performance in
      female officers, these results did not reach significance. For male officers,
      there were significant differences between the 20-29 year-old age group and the
      30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 year-old groups with the younger group performing better
      in VJ, push-ups, sit ups and number of shuttle runs than the older groups. There
      were no differences in isometric grip strength and leg back dynamometer measures
      between age groups. CONCLUSION: Male officers tended to be heavier, taller and
      perform significantly better than female officers in all measures bar sit-ups.
      While there appeared to be a general decline in certain physical characteristics
      across genders with increasing age the notable differences were between the
      youngest male age group (20-29 years) and all other male age groups with a
      potential reason being the lack of fitness requirements once typically younger
      cadets leave the academy. Percentile rankings for the assessed measures were
      found to have elements very specific to this population when compared to the
      general population and those provided in this paper can be used to inform future
      profiling and research in this population.

PMID- 28588898
TI  - Gender, alexithymia and physical inactivity associated with abdominal obesity in
      type 1 diabetes mellitus: a cross sectional study at a secondary care hospital
      diabetes clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity is linked to cardiovascular diseases and increasingly common
      in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) since the introduction of intensified insulin
      therapy. Our main aim was to explore associations between obesity and depression,
      anxiety, alexithymia and self-image measures and to control for lifestyle
      variables in a sample of persons with T1DM. Secondary aims were to explore
      associations between abdominal and general obesity and cardiovascular
      complications in T1DM. METHODS: Cross sectional study of 284 persons with T1DM
      (age 18-59 years, men 56%), consecutively recruited from one secondary care
      hospital diabetes clinic in Sweden. Assessments were performed with self-report
      instruments (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20
      items and Structural Analysis of Social Behavior). Anthropometrics and blood
      samples were collected for this study and supplemented with data from the
      patients' medical records. Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference
      men/women (meters): >=1.02/>=0.88, and general obesity as BMI >=30 kg/m2 for both
      genders. Abdominal obesity was chosen in the analyses due to the high association
      with cardiovascular complications. Different explanatory logistic regression
      models were elaborated for the associations and calibrated and validated for
      goodness of fit with the data variables. RESULTS: The prevalence of abdominal
      obesity was 49/284 (17%), men/women: 8%/29% (P < 0.001). Abdominal obesity was
      associated with women (AOR 4.9), physical inactivity (AOR 3.1), alexithymia (AOR
      2.6) and age (per year) (AOR 1.04). One of the three alexithymia sub factors,
      "difficulty identifying feelings" (AOR 3.1), was associated with abdominal
      obesity. Gender analyses showed that abdominal obesity in men was associated with
      "difficulty identifying feelings" (AOR 7.7), and in women with use of
      antidepressants (AOR 4.3) and physical inactivity (AOR 3.6). Cardiovascular
      complications were associated with abdominal obesity (AOR 5.2). CONCLUSIONS:
      Alexithymia, particularly the alexithymia subfactor "difficulty identifying
      feelings", physical inactivity, and women, as well as cardiovascular
      complications were associated with abdominal obesity. As abdominal obesity is
      detrimental in diabetes due to its association with cardiovascular complications,
      our results suggest two risk factor treatment targets: increased emotional
      awareness and increased physical activity.

PMID- 28588899
TI  - Mechanistic insights into ADXS11-001 human papillomavirus-associated cancer
      immunotherapy.
AB  - Immune responses to the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria
      monocytogenes (Lm) are robust and well characterized. Utilized for decades as a
      model of host-disease immunology, Lm is well suited for use as an
      immunotherapeutic bacterial vector for the delivery of foreign antigen. Genetic
      modification of Lm has been undertaken to create an attenuated organism that is
      deficient in its master transcriptional regulator, protein-related factor A, and
      incorporates a truncated, nonhemolytic version of the listeriolysin O (LLO)
      molecule to ensure its adjuvant properties while also preventing escape of the
      live organism from the phagolysosome. Delivery of a vaccine construct (Lm-LLO-E7;
      axalimogene filolisbac [AXAL] or ADXS11-001) in which the modified LLO molecule
      is fused with the E7 oncoprotein of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16)
      consistently stimulates strong innate and E7 antigen-specific adaptive immune
      responses, resulting in reduction of tumor burden in animal cancer models. In the
      clinical setting, AXAL has shown early promise in phase I/II trials of women with
      cervical cancer, and several more trials are currently underway to assess the
      efficacy and safety of this antitumor vaccine in patients with HPV-positive head
      and neck and anal cancers.

PMID- 28588902
TI  - Hypertensive response to exercise and exercise training in hypertension: odd
      couple no more.
AB  - The diagnostic and prognostic implication of exaggerated blood pressure response
      to exercise has been controversial, with opinions ranging from a benign process
      to a harbinger of potential cardiovascular morbidity. Nonetheless, lowering of
      blood pressure and prevention of hypertension is in first instance preferable by
      lifestyle changes, and many studies have shown the inverse association between
      physical activity level and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases suggesting
      low aerobic fitness as a strong predictor for future cardiovascular disease and
      all-cause mortality in both healthy and cardiovascular disease patients,
      including those with hypertension. Endothelial function, large artery stiffness
      and neurohormonal response are surely implicated both in the development of
      exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise and in the positive effect of
      physical exercise in the prevention and management of hypertension and
      cardiovascular disease in general. In their interesting and well documented
      review published in this issue Kim and Ha broadly described the possible
      pathophysiologic mechanisms of exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise
      and its clinical implications: in this regard, a very interesting issue could be
      represented by the role of exercise training. In fact, there is an the ample
      evidence in the literature that physical activity could positively affect
      endothelial function, arterial stiffness, neurohormonal response and finally
      blood pressure levels both in healthy men and in hypertensive patients and so
      should be considered a very important element in the prevention and management of
      cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28588903
TI  - Correction: Improving documentation of clinical care within a clinical
      information network: an essential initial step in efforts to understand and
      improve care in Kenyan hospitals.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000028.].

PMID- 28588901
TI  - Development and evaluation of adsorption sheet (HD safe sheet-U) using active
      carbon for the purpose of the preventing the contamination diffusion of urinary
      excreted anticancer drug.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Certain amount of anticancer drugs is excreted in the urine of
      patients receiving anticancer drugs, and urinary scattering including anticancer
      drugs at excretion has become a route of anticancer drug contamination.
      Therefore, we developed an active carbon sheet (HD safe sheet-U) that prevented
      diffusion by adsorbing anticancer drugs including that excreted in urine. The
      present study conducted a performance evaluation of this sheet. METHODS: The
      adsorption performance of active carbon to anticancer drug in the urine was
      evaluated by determining concentration changes in the active carbon suspension (5
      mg/mL) of 14 kinds of anticancer drugs (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide,
      carboplatin, cisplatin, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, cytarabine, gemcitabine,
      doxorubicin, epirubicin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, etoposide, and irinotecan)
      diluted with artificial urine. Adhesion of the anticancer drug dropping on the
      sheet to a slipper sole was evaluated because urine including anticancer drugs is
      scattered on the floor, which can spread by adhering to shoe soles of patients
      and healthcare workers. The performance of the active carbon sheet was compared
      with two other types of medical adsorption sheets used as control sheets.
      Anticancer drugs diluted with artificial urine (1 mL) were dropped on the active
      carbon sheet and the two control sheets. The sheets were trod with slippers made
      by polyvinyl chloride. The adhered anticancer drug was wiped off and its quantity
      was determined. RESULTS: A remarkable decrease in anticancer drug concentrations,
      except for cisplatin, was detected by mixture of active carbon in the artificial
      urine (0-79.6%). The quantity of anticancer drug adhesion to slipper soles from
      the active carbon sheet was significantly lower compared with that observed for
      the two control sheets for eight kinds of anticancer drugs (cyclophosphamide,
      ifosfamide, carboplatin, methotrexate, cytarabine, gemcitabine, doxorubicin, and
      docetaxel). There was no adhesion in cyclophosphamide and docetaxel. Furthermore,
      the quantities of adhesion in cytarabine, gemcitabine, doxorubicin, paclitaxel,
      and irinotecan were lower than determination limit. CONCLUSION: Active carbon
      might be effective in adsorbing urinary anticancer drugs. The active carbon sheet
      adsorbed urinary excreted anticancer drugs, and use of such sheets might prevent
      diffusion of contamination due to urinary excreted anticancer drugs.

PMID- 28588900
TI  - Associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and prevalent asthma among
      children living in communities with differing levels of urbanization: a cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prior evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency may increase the
      risk of asthma and atopy and impair pulmonary function in children. METHODS: In
      this cross-sectional analysis nested in a case-control study, we analyzed serum
      25(OH)D concentrations in 413 children with asthma and 471 children without
      asthma living in two geographically adjacent study communities (Pampas and Villa
      El Salvador). We measured total and antigen-specific IgE levels, pulmonary
      function, asthma control, and exhaled nitric oxide. RESULTS: Mean 25(OH)D
      concentrations were 25.2 ng/mL (SD 10.1) in children with asthma and 26.1 ng/mL
      (SD 13.7) in children without asthma (p = 0.28). Vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D <
      20 ng/ml) was more common in Pampas than in Villa El Salvador (52.7% vs. 10.5%; p
      < 0.001). In the overall study population, a 10 ng/ml decrease in serum 25(OH)D
      concentrations was not significantly associated with odds of asthma (OR 1.09, 95%
      CI: 0.94 to 1.25). However, vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 1.6-fold
      increase in odds of asthma in the overall cohort (95% CI: 1.14 to 2.25). After
      stratifying by site, a 10 ng/mL decrease in serum 25(OH)D concentrations was
      associated with 18% higher odds of having asthma in Pampas (OR = 1.18, 95% CI
      1.02 to 1.38), whereas there was no significant association between 25(OH)D
      concentrations and asthma in Villa El Salvador (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.05).
      Combined data from these geographically adjacent populations suggests a possible
      threshold for the relationship between 25(OH)D levels and asthma at approximately
      27.5 ng/ml. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were not clearly associated with asthma
      control, total serum IgE, atopy, or airway inflammation. CONCLUSION: Serum
      25(OH)D concentrations were inversely associated with asthma in one study
      community with a high prevalence of deficiency. Studies are needed to investigate
      a possible threshold 25(OH)D concentration after which higher vitamin D levels
      show no further benefit for asthma.

PMID- 28588904
TI  - Health impact of human rights testimony: harming the most vulnerable?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current legal efforts to document human rights violations typically
      include interviews in which survivors are asked to provide detailed descriptions
      of their traumatic experiences during a single meeting. Research on similar
      interview techniques used as part of a mental health treatment (eg, debriefing)
      has raised concerns that they might worsen mental health-more than doubling the
      risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in some studies. While controversy over
      the mental health impact of debriefing continues, debriefing treatments have been
      discontinued in most clinics nearly 2 decades ago. The purpose of this article is
      to promote the development and integration of preventative measures to limit
      potential mental health damage associated with legal endeavours to address human
      rights violations and international crimes. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Given the
      recent growth of the field of global mental health and its current capacity to
      provide feasible, acceptable, effective care in low-resource settings, we propose
      a research agenda to identify the mental health impact of current human rights
      legal practices and test a model of scalable medicolegal care that minimises risk
      by integrating mental health monitoring and applying up-to-date models of trauma
      treatment, including multiple meeting sessions, as indicated. CONCLUSIONS: As the
      fields of global health, human rights law, international criminal law and
      transitional justice increasingly overlap in their efforts to assist communities
      affected by grave violence, we propose that synchronising efforts may offer
      important opportunities to improve mental health for survivors.

PMID- 28588905
TI  - Data for development in health: a case study and monitoring framework from
      Kazakhstan.
AB  - Healthcare reforms are often not coupled with a relevant and appropriate
      monitoring framework, leaving policymakers and the public without evidence about
      the implications of such reforms. Kazakhstan has embarked on a large-scale reform
      of its healthcare system in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage. The
      health-related 2020 Strategic Development Goals reflect this political ambition.
      In a case-study approach and on the basis of published and unpublished evidence
      as well as personal involvement and experience (A) the indicators in the 2020
      Strategic Development Goals were assessed and (B) a 'data-mapping' exercise was
      conducted, where the WHO health system framework was used to describe the data
      available at present in Kazakhstan and comment on the different indicators
      regarding their usefulness for monitoring the current health-related 2020
      Strategic Development Goals in Kazakhstan. It was concluded that the country's
      current monitoring framework needs further development to track the progress and
      outcomes of policy implementation. The application of a modified WHO/World
      Bank/Global Fund health system monitoring framework was suggested to examine the
      implications of recent health sector reforms. Lessons drawn from the Kazakhstan
      experience on tailoring the suggested framework, collecting the data, and using
      the generated intelligence in policy development and decision-making can serve as
      a useful example for other middle-income countries, potentially enabling them to
      fast-track developments in the health sector.

PMID- 28588906
TI  - Trends in bidi and cigarette smoking in India from 1998 to 2015, by age, gender
      and education.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Smoking of cigarettes or bidis (small, locally manufactured smoked
      tobacco) in India has likely changed over the last decade. We sought to document
      trends in smoking prevalence among Indians aged 15-69 years between 1998 and
      2015. DESIGN: Comparison of 3 nationally representative surveys representing 99%
      of India's population; the Special Fertility and Mortality Survey (1998), the
      Sample Registration System Baseline Survey (2004) and the Global Adult Tobacco
      Survey (2010). SETTING: India. PARTICIPANTS: About 14 million residents from 2.5
      million homes, representative of India. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age-standardised
      smoking prevalence and projected absolute numbers of smokers in 2015. Trends were
      stratified by type of tobacco smoked, age, gender and education level. FINDINGS:
      The age-standardised prevalence of any smoking in men at ages 15-69 years fell
      from about 27% in 1998 to 24% in 2010, but rose at ages 15-29 years. During this
      period, cigarette smoking in men became about twofold more prevalent at ages 15
      69 years and fourfold more prevalent at ages 15-29 years. By contrast, bidi
      smoking among men at ages 15-69 years fell modestly. The age-standardised
      prevalence of any smoking in women at these ages was 2.7% in 2010. The smoking
      prevalence in women born after 1960 was about half of the prevalence in women
      born before 1950. By contrast, the intergenerational changes in smoking
      prevalence in men were much smaller. The absolute numbers of men smoking any type
      of tobacco at ages 15-69 years rose by about 29 million or 36% in relative terms
      from 79 million in 1998 to 108 million in 2015. This represents an average
      increase of about 1.7 million male smokers every year. By 2015, there were
      roughly equal numbers of men smoking cigarettes or bidis. About 11 million women
      aged 15-69 smoked in 2015. Among illiterate men, the prevalence of smoking rose
      (most sharply for cigarettes) but fell modestly among men with grade 10 or more
      education. The ex-smoking prevalence in men at ages 45-59 years rose modestly but
      was low: only 5% nationally with about 4 current smokers for every former smoker.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite modest decreases in smoking prevalence, the absolute numbers
      of male smokers aged 15-69 years has increased substantially over the last 15
      years. Cigarettes are displacing bidi smoking, most notably among young adult men
      and illiterate men. Tobacco control policies need to adapt to these changes, most
      notably with higher taxation on tobacco products, so as to raise the currently
      low levels of adult smoking cessation.

PMID- 28588907
TI  - Patterns of demand for non-Ebola health services during and after the Ebola
      outbreak: panel survey evidence from Monrovia, Liberia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The recent Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak was unprecedented in
      magnitude, duration and geographic scope. Hitherto there have been no population
      based estimates of its impact on non-EVD health outcomes and health-seeking
      behaviour. METHODS: We use data from a population-based panel survey conducted in
      the late-crisis period and two postcrisis periods to track trends in (1) the
      prevalence of adult and child illness, (2) subsequent usage of health services
      and (3) the determinants thereof. RESULTS: The prevalence of child and adult
      illness remained relatively steady across all periods. Usage of health services
      for children and adults increased by 77% and 104%, respectively, between the late
      crisis period and the postcrisis periods. In the late-crisis period, (1)
      socioeconomic factors weakly predict usage, (2) distrust in government strongly
      predicts usage, (3) direct exposure to the EVD outbreak, as measured by
      witnessing dead bodies or knowing Ebola victims, negatively predicts trust and
      usage and (4) exposure to government-organised community outreach predicts higher
      trust and usage. These patterns do not obtain in the post-crisis period.
      INTERPRETATION: Supply-side and socioeconomic factors are insufficient to account
      for lower health-seeking behaviour during the crisis. Rather, it appears that
      distrust and negative EVD-related experiences reduced demand during the outbreak.
      The absence of these patterns outside the crisis period suggests that the rebound
      after the crisis reflects recovery of demand. Policymakers should anticipate the
      importance of demand-side factors, including fear and trust, on usage of health
      services during health crises.

PMID- 28588909
TI  - Out of control: profit-seeking behaviour, unnecessary medical procedures and
      rising costs of private medical care in South Africa.
AB  - The World Health Assembly passed a resolution on the importance of engaging with
      the private health sector. However, the reality is that universal health coverage
      aspirations are particularly challenging when there is a significant private
      health sector. This sector in South Africa suffers from rapidly increasing costs,
      inflation and volume of services (unnecessary medical tests or treatments). This
      commentary draws on the international literature, particularly the Japanese model
      of healthcare, to illustrate that it is necessary and possible to curtail costs
      and volume in the private sector in South Africa, and possibly in other low
      income and middle-income settings.

PMID- 28588910
TI  - Improving hospital death certification in Viet Nam: results of a pilot study
      implementing an adapted WHO hospital death report form in two national hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viet Nam does not have a system for the national collection of death
      data that meets international requirements for mortality reporting. It is
      identified as a 'no-report' country by the WHO. Verbal autopsy reports are used
      in the community but exclude deaths in hospitals. METHODS: This project was
      undertaken in Bach Mai National General Hospital and Viet Duc Surgical and Trauma
      Hospital in Viet Nam from 1 March 2013 to 31 March 2015. In phase 1, a modified
      hospital death report form, consistent with the International Statistical
      Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, was
      developed. Small group training in use of the report form was delivered to 427
      doctors. In phase two, death data were collected, collated and analysed. In phase
      three, a random sample (7%) of all report forms was checked for accuracy and
      completeness against medical records. FINDINGS: During the 23 months of the
      study, 3956 deaths were recorded. Across both hospitals, 222 distinct causes of
      deaths were recorded. Traumatic cerebral oedema was the immediate cause of death
      (15% of cases, 575/3956 patients), followed by septic shock (13%, 528/3956),
      brain compression (11%, 416/3956), intracerebral haemorrhage (8%, 336/3956) and
      pneumonia (5%, 186/3956); 67% (2639/3956) of patients were discharged home to die
      and 33% (1314/3956) of deaths were due to a road traffic accident, or injury at
      home or at work. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the viability of implementing a
      death report form system compliant with international standards in hospitals in
      Viet Nam and provides the foundation for introducing a national death report form
      scheme. These data are critical to comprehensive knowledge of causes of death in
      Viet Nam. Death data about patients discharged home to die is presented for the
      first time, with implications for countries where this is a cultural preference.

PMID- 28588908
TI  - Global Surgery 2030: a roadmap for high income country actors.
AB  - The Millennium Development Goals have ended and the Sustainable Development Goals
      have begun, marking a shift in the global health landscape. The frame of
      reference has changed from a focus on 8 development priorities to an expansive
      set of 17 interrelated goals intended to improve the well-being of all people. In
      this time of change, several groups, including the Lancet Commission on Global
      Surgery, have brought a critical problem to the fore: 5 billion people lack
      access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care when needed. The
      magnitude of this problem and the world's new focus on strengthening health
      systems mandate reimagined roles for and renewed commitments from high income
      country actors in global surgery. To discuss the way forward, on 6 May 2015, the
      Commission held its North American launch event in Boston, Massachusetts. Panels
      of experts outlined the current state of knowledge and agreed on the roles of
      surgical colleges and academic medical centres; trainees and training programmes;
      academia; global health funders; the biomedical devices industry, and news media
      and advocacy organisations in building sustainable, resilient surgical systems.
      This paper summarises these discussions and serves as a consensus statement
      providing practical advice to these groups. It traces a common policy agenda
      between major actors and provides a roadmap for maximising benefit to surgical
      patients worldwide. To close the access gap by 2030, individuals and
      organisations must work collectively, interprofessionally and globally. High
      income country actors must abandon colonial narratives and work alongside low and
      middle income country partners to build the surgical systems of the future.

PMID- 28588913
TI  - UN-led Universal Periodic Review highly critical of Australia's record on human
      rights and health for Indigenous Australians.

PMID- 28588911
TI  - Design of a randomised intervention study: the effect of dumbbell exercise
      therapy on physical activity and quality of life among breast cancer survivors in
      Malaysia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Participation in physical activity has a positive impact on the
      overall health and quality of life, whereas physical inactivity is associated
      with a poor prognosis among breast cancer survivors. Despite the health-enhancing
      benefits of physical activity, the majority of Malaysian breast cancer survivors
      are not physically active. This paper presents the design of a randomised study
      to evaluate the feasibility and effect of exercise therapy intervention using
      light resistance dumbbell exercise to promote active lifestyle and improve the
      quality of life of breast cancer survivors in Malaysia. METHODS/DESIGN: This is
      an intervention study of a 12-week exercise therapy that will explore and compare
      the effects of light resistance and aerobic exercise on physical activity level
      and quality of life components in 102 female breast cancer survivors. Major
      eligibility criteria include histologically confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer
      stages I-III, 3-12 months post-diagnosis, and absence of any disorder
      contraindicating exercise. Participants will be stratified based on menopausal
      status (pre-menopause vs post-menopause) and then assigned randomly to one of
      three groups. Participants in group A will participate in a three-times weekly
      supervised resistance exercise using light resistance dumbbells; participants in
      group B will participate in a three-times weekly supervised aerobic exercise;
      while participants in group C (control group) will be given aerobic exercise
      after completion of the intervention. The primary end points include physical
      activity level and quality of life components. The secondary end points are body
      mass index, body composition, total caloric intake, and waist-to-hip ratio.
      DISCUSSION: Although there have been many studies of resistance exercise in
      breast cancer survivors, this is the first study using this specific mode of
      resistance. Findings will contribute data on the feasibility and effects of light
      resistance dumbbell exercises, and provide knowledge on the physical activity
      intervention programme that will maximally promote better overall health and well
      being of survivors.

PMID- 28588912
TI  - A landscape analysis of universal health coverage for mothers and children in
      South Asia.
AB  - The United Nations made universal health coverage (UHC) a key health goal in 2012
      and it is one of the Sustainable Development Goals' targets. This analysis
      focuses on UHC for mothers and children in the 8 countries of South Asia. A high
      level overview of coverage of selected maternal, newborn and child health
      services, equity, quality of care and financial risk protection is presented.
      Common barriers countries face in achieving UHC are discussed and solutions
      explored. In countries of South Asia, except Bhutan and Maldives, between 42% and
      67% of spending on health comes from out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) and
      government expenditure does not align with political aspirations. Even where
      reported coverage of services is good, quality of care is often low and the
      poorest fare worst. There are strong examples of ongoing successes in countries
      such as Bhutan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Related to this success are factors
      such as lower OOPE and higher spending on health. To make progress in achieving
      UHC, financial and non-financial barriers to accessing and receiving high-quality
      healthcare need to be reduced, the amount of investment in essential health
      services needs to be increased and allocation of resources must
      disproportionately benefit the poorest.

PMID- 28588914
TI  - Availability and provision of emergency obstetric care under a public-private
      partnership in three districts of Gujarat, India: lessons for Universal Health
      Coverage.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The state of Gujarat in India (population 60 million) has implemented
      a public-private partnership (PPP) with private obstetricians called the
      Chiranjeevi Yojana (CY) since 2006. This study investigated the adequacy of basic
      and comprehensive emergency obstetric care (BEmOC and CEmOC) services through the
      public and private sectors with reference to the United Nations (UN) guidelines.
      DESIGN: A cross-sectional facility survey was conducted in three districts.
      RESULTS: A total of 300 facilities, 151 public and 149 private, had provided
      obstetric services to a total of 53 896 births in the past 6 months. Nearly half,
      135 facilities (104 public and 31 private), individually reported <10 births per
      month (low load), and, as a group, reported only 4% of all births in the past 6
      months. The remaining 165 high-load facilities consisted of 23 (3 public; 20
      private) full CEmOC, 66 (1; 65) 'potential' CEmOC, 12 (3; 9) BEmOC and 57 (40;
      17) non-EmOC facilities. All the three districts exceeded the UN recommendation
      for EmOC availability by 3.3 to 11.3 times. Free provision, through both public
      and PPP facilities, ranged from 1.42 to 3.43. The actual performance was nearly
      double the recommendation for CEmOC but inadequate for BEmOC. CONCLUSIONS: Public
      sector EmOC availability and provision is negligible. Private sector availability
      is well beyond the recommended UN norms. The CY programme has resulted in
      increased availability and provision of EmOC services. However, the overall
      provision of EmOC is compromised due to the poor performance of BEmOC functions
      and clustering of private facilities in towns.

PMID- 28588915
TI  - Up-skilling associate clinicians in Malawi in emergency obstetric, neonatal care
      and clinical leadership: the ETATMBA cluster randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ETATMBA (Enhancing Training And Technology for Mothers and Babies
      in Africa) project-trained associate clinicians (ACs/clinical officers) as
      advanced clinical leaders in emergency obstetric and neonatal care. This trial
      aimed to evaluate the impact of training on obstetric health outcomes in Malawi.
      METHOD: A cluster randomised controlled trial with 14 districts of Malawi (8
      intervention, 6 control) as units of randomisation. Intervention districts housed
      the 46 ACs who received the training programme. The primary outcome was district
      (health facility-based) perinatal mortality rates. Secondary outcomes included
      maternal mortality ratios, neonatal mortality rate, obstetric and birth
      variables. The study period was 2011-2013. Mortality rates/ratios were examined
      using an interrupted time series (ITS) to identify trends over time. RESULTS: The
      ITS reveals an improving trend in perinatal mortality across both groups, but
      better in the control group (intervention, effect -3.58, SE 2.65, CI (-9.85 to
      2.69), p=0.20; control, effect -17.79, SE 6.83, CI (-33.95 to -1.64), p=0.03).
      Maternal mortality ratios are seen to have improved in intervention districts
      while worsening in the control districts (intervention, effect -38.11, SE 50.30,
      CI (-157.06 to 80.84), p=0.47; control, effect 11.55, SE 87.72, CI (-195.87 to
      218.98), p=0.90). There was a 31% drop in neonatal mortality rate in intervention
      districts while in control districts, the rate rises by 2%. There are no
      significant differences in the other secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This is one
      of the first randomised studies looking at the effect of structured training on
      health outcomes in this setting. Notwithstanding a number of limitations, this
      study suggests that up-skilling this cadre is possible, and could impact
      positively on health outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN63294155;
      Results.

PMID- 28588916
TI  - Modelling the health impact and cost-effectiveness of lymphatic filariasis
      eradication under varying levels of mass drug administration scale-up and
      geographic coverage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (GPELF) is
      underway, yet two key programmatic features are currently still lacking: (1) the
      extension of efforts to all lymphatic filariasis (LF) endemic countries, and (2)
      the expansion of geographic coverage of mass drug administration (MDA) within
      countries. For varying levels of scale-up of MDA, we assessed the health benefits
      and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) associated with LF
      eradication, projected the potential savings due to decreased morbidity
      management needs, and estimated potential household productivity gains as a
      result of reduced LF-related morbidity. METHODS: We extended an LF transmission
      model to track hydrocele and lymphoedema incidence in order to obtain estimates
      of the disability adjusted life years (DALYs) averted due to scaling up MDA over
      a period of 50 years. We then estimated the ICERs and the cost-effectiveness
      acceptability curves associated with different rates of MDA scale-up. Health
      systems savings were estimated by considering the averted morbidity, treatment
      seeking behaviour and morbidity management costs. Gains in worker productivity
      were estimated by multiplying estimated working days lost as a result of
      morbidity with country-specific per-worker agricultural wages. RESULTS: Our
      projections indicate that a massive scaling-up of MDA could lead to 4.38 million
      incremental DALYs averted over a 50-year time horizon compared to a scenario
      which mirrors current efforts against LF. In comparison to maintaining the
      current rate of progress against LF, massive scaling-up of MDA-pursuing LF
      eradication as soon as possible-was most likely to be cost-effective above a
      willingness to pay threshold of US$71.5/DALY averted. Intensified MDA scale-up
      was also associated with lower ICERs. Furthermore, this could result in health
      systems savings up to US$483 million. Extending coverage to all endemic areas
      could generate additional economic benefits through gains in worker productivity
      between US$3.4 and US$14.4 billion. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to ethical and
      political motivations for scaling-up MDA rapidly, this analysis provides economic
      support for increasing the intensity of MDA programmes.

PMID- 28588917
TI  - Improving the Standards-Based Management-Recognition initiative to provide high
      quality, equitable maternal health services in Malawi: an implementation research
      protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Government of Malawi is seeking evidence to improve
      implementation of its flagship quality of care improvement initiative-the
      Standards Based Management-Recognition for Reproductive Health (SBM-R(RH)).
      OBJECTIVE: This implementation study will assess the quality of maternal
      healthcare in facilities where the SBM-R(RH) initiative has been employed,
      identify factors that support or undermine effectiveness of the initiative and
      develop strategies to further enhance its operation. METHODS: Data will be
      collected in 4 interlinked modules using quantitative and qualitative research
      methods. Module 1 will develop the programme theory underlying the SBM-R(RH)
      initiative, using document review and in-depth interviews with policymakers and
      programme managers. Module 2 will quantitatively assess the quality and equity of
      maternal healthcare provided in facilities where the SBM-R(RH) initiative has
      been implemented, using the Malawi Integrated Performance Standards for
      Reproductive Health. Module 3 will conduct an organisational ethnography to
      explore the structures and processes through which SBM-R(RH) is currently
      operationalised. Barriers and facilitators will be identified. Module 4 will
      involve coordinated co-production of knowledge by researchers, policymakers and
      the public, to identify and test strategies to improve implementation of the
      initiative. POTENTIAL IMPACT: The research outcomes will provide empirical
      evidence of strategies that will enhance the facilitators and address the
      barriers to effective implementation of the initiative. It will also contribute
      to the theoretical advances in the emerging science of implementation research.

PMID- 28588918
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of club-foot treatment in low-income and middle-income
      countries by the Ponseti method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Club foot is a common congenital deformity affecting 150 000-200 000
      children every year. Untreated patients end up walking on the side or back of the
      affected foot, with severe social and economic consequences. Club foot is highly
      treatable by the Ponseti method, a non-invasive technique that has been described
      as highly suitable for use in resource-limited settings. To date, there has been
      no evaluation of its cost-effectiveness ratio, defined as the cost of averting
      one disability-adjusted life year (DALY), a composite measure of the impact of
      premature death and disability. In this study, we aimed to calculate the average
      cost-effectiveness ratio of the Ponseti method for correcting club foot in sub
      Saharan Africa. METHODS: Using data from 12 sub-Saharan African countries
      provided by the international non-profit organisation CURE Clubfoot, which
      implements several Ponseti treatment programmes around the world, we estimated
      the average cost of the point-of-care treatment for club foot in these countries.
      We divided the cost of treatment with the average number of DALYs that can be
      averted by the Ponseti treatment, assuming treatment is successful in 90% of
      patients. RESULTS: We found the average cost of the Ponseti treatment to be
      US$167 per patient. The average number of DALYs averted was 7.42, yielding a cost
      effectiveness ratio of US$22.46 per DALY averted. To test the robustness of our
      calculation different variables were used and these yielded a cost range of
      US$5.28-29.75. This is less than a tenth of the cost of many other treatment
      modalities used in resource-poor settings today. CONCLUSIONS: The Ponseti method
      for the treatment of club foot is cost-effective and practical in a low-income
      country setting. These findings could be used to raise the priority for
      implementing Ponseti treatment in areas where patients are still lacking access
      to the life-changing intervention.

PMID- 28588920
TI  - Associations between bride price obligations and women's anger, symptoms of
      mental distress, poverty, spouse and family conflict and preoccupations with
      injustice in conflict-affected Timor-Leste.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bride price is a widespread custom in many parts of the world,
      including in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. We
      hypothesised that problems relating to the obligatory ongoing remittances made by
      the husband and his family to the bride's family may be a source of mental
      disturbance (in the form of explosive anger and severe mental distress) among
      women. In addition, we postulated that problems arising with bride price would be
      associated with conflict with the spouse and family, poverty and women's
      preoccupations with injustice. DESIGN: A mixed-methods study comprising a total
      community household survey and semistructured qualitative interviews. SETTING:
      Two villages, one urban, the other rural, in Timor-Leste. PARTICIPANTS: 1193
      married women participated in the household survey and a structured subsample of
      77 women participated in qualitative interviews. RESULTS: Problems with bride
      price showed a consistent dose-effect relationship with sudden episodes of
      explosive anger, excessive anger and severe psychological distress. Women with
      the most severe problems with bride price had twice the poverty scores as those
      with no problems with the custom. Women with the most severe problems with bride
      price also reported a threefold increase in conflict with their spouse and a
      fivefold increase in conflict with family. They also reported heightened
      preoccupations with injustice. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to show
      consistent associations between problems with bride price obligations and mental
      distress, poverty, conflict with spouse and family and preoccupations with
      injustice among women in a low-income, postconflict country.

PMID- 28588919
TI  - IndOSS-Assam: investigating the feasibility of introducing a simple maternal
      morbidity surveillance and research system in Assam, India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of establishing a simple maternal morbidity
      surveillance system in Assam (Indian Obstetric Surveillance System-Assam (IndOSS
      Assam)) to investigate the incidence and trends in severe maternal complications.
      This study presents the surveillance platform of IndOSS-Assam. DESIGN: Four tasks
      were undertaken: (1) setting up of a steering committee; (2) establishing
      priorities for the region; (3) mapping of surveillance sites; (4) piloting case
      notification systems in selected centres. SETTING: Two government tertiary
      hospitals in the state. STUDY POPULATION: Pregnant women delivering in the
      hospitals between March and August 2015. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence and
      case fatality rates with 95% CIs. RESULTS: Local stakeholder ownership and a
      simple uncomplicated anonymous system for case notification were the key
      strengths of this project. Cases and deaths were reported for six conditions:
      eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage, puerperal sepsis, septic abortion, uterine
      rupture and anaemic heart failure. Among 10 475 women delivering over 6 months,
      402 had one of these conditions and 66 died (case fatality 16%). The incidence of
      eclampsia was 17 per 1000 deliveries (95% CI 14 to 19), postpartum haemorrhage
      was 11 per 1000 deliveries (95% CI 10 to 13) and anaemic heart failure was 3 per
      1000 deliveries (95% CI 2 to 5). For each of the other three conditions-puerperal
      sepsis, septic abortion and uterine rupture-the incidence rate was 2 per 1000
      deliveries. CONCLUSIONS: IndOSS-Assam was shown to be a feasible and simple
      system for ongoing surveillance of maternal morbidity that can be used to monitor
      the trends in the incidence of specific severe life-threatening conditions during
      pregnancy.

PMID- 28588921
TI  - Association between maternal anaemia and pregnancy outcomes: a cohort study in
      Assam, India.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between maternal anaemia and adverse
      maternal and infant outcomes, and to assess the feasibility of conducting
      epidemiological studies through the Indian Obstetric Surveillance System-Assam
      (IndOSS-Assam). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using anonymised hospital
      records. Exposure: maternal iron deficiency anaemia; outcomes: postpartum
      haemorrhage (PPH), low birthweight, small-for-gestational age babies, perinatal
      death. SETTING: 5 government medical colleges in Assam. STUDY POPULATION: 1007
      pregnant women who delivered in the 5 medical colleges from January to June 2015.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ORs with 95% CIs to estimate the association between
      maternal iron deficiency anaemia and the adverse maternal and infant outcomes.
      Potential interactive roles of infections and induction of labour on the adverse
      outcomes were explored. RESULTS: 35% (n=351) pregnant women had moderate-severe
      anaemia. Women with severe anaemia had a higher odds of PPH (adjusted OR (aOR)
      =9.45; 95% CI 2.62 to 34.05), giving birth to low birthweight (aOR=6.19; 95% CI
      1.44 to 26.71) and small-for-gestational age babies (aOR=8.72; 95% CI 1.66 to
      45.67), and perinatal death (aOR=16.42; 95% CI 4.38 to 61.55). Odds of PPH
      increased 17-fold among women with moderate-severe anaemia who underwent
      induction of labour, and 19-fold among women who had infection and moderate
      severe anaemia. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal iron deficiency anaemia is a major public
      health problem in Assam. Maternal anaemia was associated with increased risks of
      PPH, low birthweight, small-for-gestational age babies and perinatal death. While
      the best approach is prevention, a large number of women present with severe
      anaemia late in pregnancy and there is no clear guidance on how these women
      should be managed during labour and delivery.

PMID- 28588922
TI  - Ebola Holding Units at government hospitals in Sierra Leone: evidence for a
      flexible and effective model for safe isolation, early treatment initiation,
      hospital safety and health system functioning.
AB  - The 2014-2015 West African outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) claimed the
      lives of more than 11,000 people and infected over 27,000 across seven countries.
      Traditional approaches to containing EVD proved inadequate and new approaches for
      controlling the outbreak were required. The Ministry of Health & Sanitation and
      King's Sierra Leone Partnership developed a model for Ebola Holding Units (EHUs)
      at Government Hospitals in the capital city Freetown. The EHUs isolated screened
      or referred suspect patients, provided initial clinical care, undertook
      laboratory testing to confirm EVD status, referred onward positive cases to an
      Ebola Treatment Centre or negative cases to the general wards, and safely stored
      corpses pending collection by burial teams. Between 29th May 2014 and 19th
      January 2015, our five units had isolated approximately 37% (1159) of the 3097
      confirmed cases within Western Urban and Rural district. Nosocomial transmission
      of EVD within the units appears lower than previously documented at other
      facilities and staff infection rates were also low. We found that EHUs are a
      flexible and effective model of rapid diagnosis, safe isolation and early initial
      treatment. We also demonstrated that it is possible for international partners
      and government facilities to collaborate closely during a humanitarian crisis.

PMID- 28588923
TI  - Poverty-Related Diseases College: a virtual African-European network to build
      research capacity.
AB  - The Poverty-Related Diseases College was a virtual African-European college and
      network that connected young African and European biomedical scientists working
      on poverty-related diseases. The aim of the Poverty-Related Diseases College was
      to build sustainable scientific capacity and international networks in poverty
      related biomedical research in the context of the development of Africa. The
      Poverty-Related Diseases College consisted of three elective and mandatory
      training modules followed by a reality check in Africa and a science exchange in
      either Europe or the USA. In this analysis paper, we present our experience and
      evaluation, discuss the strengths and encountered weaknesses of the programme,
      and provide recommendations to policymakers and funders.

PMID- 28588924
TI  - Prioritising the care of critically ill children: a pilot study using SCREEN
      reduces clinic waiting times.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In low-resource settings, childhood mortality secondary to delays in
      triage and treatment remains high. This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the
      novel Sick Children Require Emergency Evaluation Now (SCREEN) tool on the waiting
      times of critically ill children who present for care to primary healthcare
      clinics in Cape Town, South Africa. METHODS: We used a pre/postevaluation study
      design to calculate the median waiting times of all children who presented to
      four randomly chosen clinics for 5 days before, and 5 days after, the
      implementation of SCREEN. FINDINGS: The SCREEN programme resulted in statistical
      and clinically significant reductions in waiting times for children with critical
      illness to see a professional nurse (2 hours 45 min to 1 hour 12 min; p<0.001).
      There was also a statistically significant reduction in the proportion of
      children who left without being seen by a professional nurse (25.8% to 18.48%;
      p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: SCREEN is a novel programme that uses readily available
      laypersons, trained to make a subjective assessment of children arriving at
      primary healthcare centres, and provides a low cost, simple methodology to
      prioritise children and reduce waiting times in low-resource healthcare clinics.

PMID- 28588925
TI  - No right to food and nutrition in the SDGs: mistake or success?
AB  - Although the recently approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly
      mention access to water, health and education as universally guaranteed human
      rights, access to affordable and sufficient food is not given such recognition.
      The SDGs road map assumes that market mechanisms will suffice to secure
      nutritious and safe food for all. We question how and why the right to food has
      disappeared from such an international agreement and we will provide insights on
      the likely causes of this and the options to make good on such a regrettable
      omission. Analysis of political stances of relevant western stakeholders, such as
      the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), is also included.

PMID- 28588926
TI  - Evidence-based medicine for all: what we can learn from a programme providing
      free access to an online clinical resource to health workers in resource-limited
      settings.
AB  - The rapidly changing landscape of medical knowledge and guidelines requires
      health professionals to have immediate access to current, reliable clinical
      resources. Access to evidence is instrumental in reducing diagnostic errors and
      generating better health outcomes. UpToDate, a leading evidence-based clinical
      resource is used extensively in the USA and other regions of the world and has
      been linked to lower mortality and length of stay in US hospitals. In 2009, the
      Global Health Delivery Project collaborated with UpToDate to provide free
      subscriptions to qualifying health workers in resource-limited settings. We
      evaluated the provision of UpToDate access to health workers by analysing their
      usage patterns. Since 2009, ~2000 individual physicians and healthcare
      institutions from 116 countries have received free access to UpToDate through our
      programme. During 2013-2014, users logged into UpToDate ~150 000 times; 61% of
      users logged in at least weekly; users in Africa were responsible for 54% of the
      total usage. Search patterns reflected local epidemiology with 'clinical
      manifestations of malaria' as the top search in Africa, and 'management of
      hepatitis B' as the top search in Asia. Our programme demonstrates that there are
      barriers to evidence-based clinical knowledge in resource-limited settings we can
      help remove. Some assumed barriers to its expansion (poor internet connectivity,
      lack of training and infrastructure) might pose less of a burden than
      subscription fees.

PMID- 28588927
TI  - Terrorist attack of 15 January 2016 in Ouagadougou: how resilient was Burkina
      Faso's health system?
AB  - In Africa, health systems are often not very responsive. Their resilience is
      often tested by health or geopolitical crises. The Ebola epidemic, for instance,
      exposed the fragility of health systems, and recent terrorist attacks have
      required countries to respond to urgent situations. Up until 2014, Burkina Faso's
      health system strongly resisted these pressures and reforms had always been
      minor. However, since late 2014, Burkina Faso has had to contend with several
      unprecedented crises. In October 2014, there was a popular insurrection. Then, in
      September 2015, the Security Regiment of the deposed president attempted a coup
      d'etat. Finally, on 15 January 2016, a terrorist attack occurred in the capital,
      Ouagadougou. These events involved significant human injury and casualties. In
      these crises, the Burkinabe health system was sorely tried, testing its
      responsiveness, resiliency and adaptability. We describe the management of the
      recent terrorist attack from the standpoint of health system resilience. It would
      appear that the multiple crises that had occurred within the previous 2 years led
      to appropriate management of that terrorist attack thanks to the rapid
      mobilisation of personnel and good communication between centres. For example,
      the health system had put in place a committee and an emergency response plan,
      adapted blood bank services and psychology services, and made healthcare free for
      victims. Nevertheless, the system encountered several challenges, including the
      development of framework documents for resources (financial, material and human)
      and their use and coordination in crisis situations.

PMID- 28588928
TI  - Boundary-spanning: reflections on the practices and principles of Global Health.
AB  - As Global Health evolves, not merely as a metaphor for international
      collaboration, but as a distinct field of practice, it warrants greater
      consideration of how it is practiced, by whom, and for what goals. We believe
      that, to become more relevant for the health systems and communities that are
      their intended beneficiaries, Global Health practices must actively span and
      disrupt boundaries of geography, geopolitics and constituency, some of which are
      rooted in imbalances of power and resources. In this process, fostering cross
      country learning networks and communities of practice, and building local and
      national institutions with a global outlook in low and middle-income countries,
      are critically important. Crucially, boundary-spanning practices in Global Health
      require a mindset of inclusiveness, awareness of and respect for different
      coexisting realities.

PMID- 28588929
TI  - Improving the detection of environmental enteric dysfunction: a lactulose,
      rhamnose assay of intestinal permeability in children aged under 5 years exposed
      to poor sanitation and hygiene.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is an asymptomatic intestinal
      disorder affecting populations living in conditions of poor sanitation and
      hygiene. The study tested intestinal barrier function in infants with EED.
      METHODS: We prospectively studied an advanced high-performance liquid
      chromatography mass spectrometry assay of urine collected after oral intake of
      the monosaccharide, L-rhamnose and the disaccharide, lactulose, in 112 children
      from three continents. FINDINGS: Compared to the US cohort (n=27), the cohorts of
      children from Peru (n=19) and Zambia (n=85) were older with evidence of growth
      impairment. The median (range) of age (months) was 8.0 (2.0 to 13.0), 27.0 (15.0
      to 29.0) and 21.0 (12.0 to 36.0), respectively. The median (range) of height for
      age Z score was -0.1 (-1.8 to 2.4), -1.8 (-3.3 to -0.2) and -2.3 (-8.5 to 1.2),
      respectively. Among children with valid sugar data (n=22 USA, n=19 Peru, n=73
      Zambia), there were no significant differences in the median rhamnose urine
      concentrations between the three groups. The median (range) lactulose
      concentration (ug/mL) was 6.78 (0.29 to 31.90), 47.60 (4.23 to 379.00) and 75.40
      (0.67 to 873.00) in the US, Peruvian and Zambian cohorts, respectively (p<0.001).
      The lactulose/rhamnose ratio (LRR) was higher in cohorts from Peru (0.75, 0.15,
      5.02) and Zambia (2.26, 0.08, 14.48) compared to the US (0.14, 0.06, 1.00) cohort
      (p<0.001). In a multivariate effect modification model, higher weight-for-age z
      scores were associated with lower post-dose lactulose when rhamnose excretion was
      constant (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This non-invasive two saccharide permeability
      protocol measures changes in intestinal permeability in children with EED and
      permits the identification of individuals for interventional trials.

PMID- 28588930
TI  - Validation of a portable, deployable system for continuous vital sign monitoring
      using a multiparametric wearable sensor and personalised analytics in an Ebola
      treatment centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa strained existing healthcare
      systems well beyond their capacities due to the extreme volume and severity of
      illness of the patients. The implementation of innovative digital technologies
      within available care centres could potentially improve patient care as well as
      healthcare worker safety and effectiveness. METHODS: We developed a Modular
      Wireless Patient Monitoring System (MWPMS) and conducted a proof of concept study
      in an Ebola treatment centre (ETC) in Makeni, Sierra Leone. The system was built
      around a wireless, multiparametric 'band-aid' patch sensor for continuous vital
      sign monitoring and transmission, plus sophisticated data analytics. Results were
      used to develop personalised analytics to support automated alerting of early
      changes in patient status. RESULTS: During the 3-week study period, all eligible
      patients (n=26) admitted to the ETC were enrolled in the study, generating a
      total of 1838 hours of continuous vital sign data (mean of 67.8 hours/patient),
      including heart rate, heart rate variability, activity, respiratory rate, pulse
      transit time (inversely related to blood pressure), uncalibrated skin temperature
      and posture. All patients tolerated the patch sensor without problems. Manually
      determined and automated vital signs were well correlated. Algorithm-generated
      Multivariate Change Index, pulse transit time and arrhythmia burden demonstrated
      encouraging preliminary findings of important physiological changes, as did ECG
      waveform changes. CONCLUSIONS: In this proof of concept study, we were able to
      demonstrate that a portable, deployable system for continuous vital sign
      monitoring via a wireless, wearable sensor supported by a sophisticated,
      personalised analytics platform can provide high-acuity monitoring with a
      continuous, objective measure of physiological status of all patients that is
      achievable in virtually any healthcare setting, anywhere in the world.

PMID- 28588931
TI  - The information problem in global health.

PMID- 28588932
TI  - Fasting with diabetes: a prospective observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of diabetic patients who develop adverse
      glycaemic events when fasting regularly. DESIGN: Prospective observational study
      conducted at a tertiary care hospital in South Asia. Five hundred and twenty
      three patients were assessed for eligibility, and 150 were included in the final
      analysis. Diabetic patients over 18 years of age who were willing to fast
      regularly and make a chart of their daily blood sugar levels were included in the
      study. The main outcome measures were hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic events.
      Frequencies and percentages were calculated for quantitative variables, while
      mean+/-SD were documented for qualitative variables. Relative risk was calculated
      as a measure of association. RESULTS: Of a total of 150 individuals, 10%
      experienced hypoglycaemia, while 3.3% reported hyperglycaemic episodes. Only 8.7%
      of the participants discontinued one or more fasts; however, none of them
      required hospitalisation. There is a negative association between a visit to a
      physician by diabetic patients before they begin to fast regularly and the risk
      of developing hypoglycaemia (relative risk 0.73). CONCLUSIONS: Many diabetic
      patients who fast regularly are at high risk of adverse glycaemic events. Most
      diabetics do not consult their physicians before fasting to adjust medications
      and lifestyle. Various strategies should be planned and implemented for the
      awareness and education of such patients to avoid adverse glycaemic events and
      subsequent complications.

PMID- 28588934
TI  - Need for a standardised procedure classification system in global surgery.

PMID- 28588935
TI  - The Internet of Things to come: digital technologies and the End TB Strategy.

PMID- 28588933
TI  - Can the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target be achieved? A systematic analysis of national HIV
      treatment cascades.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS)
      and partners set the '90-90-90 targets'; aiming to diagnose 90% of all HIV
      positive people, provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 90% of those diagnosed
      and achieve viral suppression for 90% of those treated, by 2020. This results in
      81% of all HIV positive people on treatment and 73% of all HIV positive people
      achieving viral suppression. We aimed to analyse how effective national HIV
      treatment programmes are at meeting these targets, using HIV care continuums or
      cascades. METHODS: We searched for HIV treatment cascades for 196 countries in
      published papers, conference presentations, UNAIDS databases and national
      reports. Cascades were constructed using reliable, generalisable, recent data
      from national, cross-sectional and longitudinal study cohorts. Data were
      collected for four stages; total HIV positive people, diagnosed, on treatment and
      virally suppressed. The cascades were categorised as complete (four stages) or
      partial (3 stages), and analysed for 'break points' defined as a drop >10% in
      coverage between consecutive 90-90-90 targets. RESULTS: 69 country cascades were
      analysed (32 complete, 37 partial). Diagnosis (target one-90%) ranged from 87%
      (the Netherlands) to 11% (Yemen). Treatment coverage (target two-81% on ART)
      ranged from 71% (Switzerland) to 3% (Afghanistan). Viral suppression (target
      three-73% virally suppressed) was between 68% (Switzerland) and 7% (China).
      CONCLUSIONS: No country analysed met the 90-90-90 targets. Diagnosis was the
      greatest break point globally, but the most frequent key break point for
      individual countries was providing ART to those diagnosed. Large disparities were
      identified between countries. Without commitment to standardised reporting
      methodologies, international comparisons are complex.

PMID- 28588936
TI  - Early initiation of breast feeding on the rise in India.

PMID- 28588937
TI  - Outsourcing: how to reform WHO for the 21st century.

PMID- 28588938
TI  - Primary healthcare policy implementation in South Asia.
AB  - Primary healthcare is considered an essential feature of health systems to secure
      population health and contain costs of healthcare while universal health coverage
      forms a key to secure access to care. This paper is based on a workshop at the
      2016 World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) South Asia regional conference,
      where the health systems of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were
      presented in relation to their provision of primary healthcare. The five
      countries have in recent years improved the health of their populations, but
      currently face the challenges of non-communicable diseases and ageing
      populations. Primary healthcare should be a core component in restructuring
      health systems. However, there is a lack of understanding among policymakers of
      the unique contribution of primary healthcare to the health of populations. This
      results in insufficient investment in facilities and low priority of specialty
      training in the community setting. Regional collaboration could strengthen the
      advocacy for primary healthcare to policymakers and other stakeholders.
      Priorities were investment in community-based health facilities, and access to
      healthcare through professionals specialty-trained in the primary healthcare
      setting. This development fits the strategy of the WHO South East Asian Region to
      use community-based healthcare in achieving universal health coverage for the
      Asian populations.

PMID- 28588939
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of triage testing for facility-based systematic screening of
      tuberculosis among Ugandan adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic screening is often proposed as a way to improve case
      finding for tuberculosis (TB), but the cost-effectiveness of specific strategies
      for systematic screening remains poorly studied. METHODS: We constructed a Markov
      based decision analytic model to analyse the cost-effectiveness of triage testing
      for TB in Uganda, compared against passive case detection with Xpert MTB/RIF. We
      assumed a triage algorithm whereby all adults presenting to healthcare centres
      would be screened for cough, and those with cough of at least 2 weeks would
      receive the triage test, with positive triage results confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF.
      We adopted the perspective of the TB control sector, using a primary outcome of
      the cost per year of life gained (YLG) over a lifetime time horizon. RESULTS:
      Systematic screening in a population with a 5% underlying prevalence of TB was
      estimated to cost US$610 per YLG (95% uncertainty range US$200-US$1859) with
      chest X-ray (CXR) (US$5 per test, specificity 0.67), or US$588 (US$221-US$1746)
      with C reactive protein (CRP) (US$3 per test, specificity 0.59). In addition to
      the cost and specificity of the triage test, cost-effectiveness was most
      sensitive to the underlying prevalence of TB, monthly risk of mortality in people
      with untreated TB and the proportion of patients with TB who would be treated in
      the absence of systematic screening. CONCLUSIONS: To optimise the cost
      effectiveness of facility-based systematic screening of TB with a triage test, it
      must be carried out in a high-risk population, or use triage tests that are
      cheaper or more specific than CXR or CRP.

PMID- 28588940
TI  - Wealth, education and urban-rural inequality and maternal healthcare service
      usage in Malawi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malawi is among the 5 sub-Saharan African countries presenting with
      very high maternal mortality rates, which remain a challenge. This study aims to
      examine the impact of wealth inequality and area of residence (urban vs rural)
      and education on selected indicators of maternal healthcare services (MHS) usage
      in Malawi. METHODS: This study was based on data from the 5th round of Multiple
      Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted in 2013-2014 in Malawi. Study
      participants were 7572 mothers aged between 15 and 49 years. The outcome variable
      was usage status of maternal health services of the following types: antenatal
      care, skilled delivery assistance and postpartum care. Univariate, bivariate and
      multivariate methods were used to describe the pattern of MHS usage in the sample
      population. Association between household wealth status, education as well as the
      type of residence, whether urban or rural, as independent variables and usage of
      MHS as dependent variables were analysed using the generalised estimating
      equations (GEE) method. RESULTS: Mean age of the sample population was 26.88 (SD
      6.68). Regarding the usage of MHS, 44.7% of women had at least 4 ANC visits,
      87.8% used skilled delivery attendants and 82.2% of women had used postnatal
      care. Regarding the wealth index, about a quarter of the women were in the
      poorest wealth quintile (23.6%) while about 1/6 were in the highest wealth
      quintile (15%). Rate of usage for all 3 types of services was lowest among women
      belonging to the lowest wealth quintile. In terms of education, only 1/5
      completed their secondary or a higher degree (20.1%) and nearly 1/10 of the
      population lives in urban areas (11.4%) whereas the remaining majority live in
      rural areas (88.6%). The rates of usage of MHS, although reasonable on an overall
      basis, were consistently lower in women with lower education and those residing
      in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal health service usage in Malawi appears to
      be reasonable, yet the high maternal mortality rate is disturbing and calls for
      analysing factors hindering the achievement of maternal health-related
      Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The findings of this study underscore the
      need to minimise the wealth inequality, urban-rural divide and the low level of
      education among mothers to improve the usage of MHS. An equity-based policy
      approach considering the sociodemographic inequity in terms of wealth index,
      education and urban-rural divide might prove beneficial in further improving the
      MHS usage, as well as addressing the possible issues of quality gaps in MHS,
      which might be beneficial towards reducing maternal mortality. It should be noted
      that the study of quality gaps in MHS is beyond the scope of this paper and calls
      for further research in this arena.

PMID- 28588941
TI  - Physicochemical equivalence of generic antihypertensive medicines (EQUIMEDS):
      protocol for a quality of medicines assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prevention and optimal management of hypertension in the general
      population is paramount to the achievement of the World Heart Federation (WHF)
      goal of reducing premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality by 25% by the
      year 2025 and widespread access to good quality antihypertensive medicines is a
      critical component for achieving the goal. Despite research and evidence relating
      to other medicines such as antimalarials and antibiotics, there is very little
      known about the quality of generic antihypertensive medicines in low-income and
      middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to determine the
      physicochemical equivalence (percentage of active pharmaceutical ingredient, API)
      of generic antihypertensive medicines available in the retail market of a
      developing country. METHODS: An observational design will be adopted, which
      includes literature search, landscape assessment, collection and analysis of
      medicine samples. To determine physicochemical equivalence, a multistage sampling
      process will be used, including (1) identification of the 2 most commonly
      prescribed classes of antihypertensive medicines prescribed in Nigeria; (2)
      identification of a random sample of 10 generics from within each of the 2 most
      commonly prescribed classes; (3) a geographical representative sampling process
      to identify a random sample of 24 retail outlets in Nigeria; (4) representative
      sample purchasing, processing to assess the quality of medicines, storage and
      transport; and (5) assessment of the physical and chemical equivalence of the
      collected samples compared to the API in the relevant class. In total, 20 samples
      from each of 24 pharmacies will be tested (total of 480 samples). DISCUSSION:
      Availability of and access to quality antihypertensive medicines globally is
      therefore a vital strategy needed to achieve the WHF 25*25 targets. However,
      there is currently a scarcity of knowledge about the quality of antihypertensive
      medicines available in developing countries. Such information is important for
      enforcing and for ensuring the quality of antihypertensive medicines.

PMID- 28588943
TI  - Towards an equitable internship programme at WHO: is reform nigh?

PMID- 28588942
TI  - Epidemiology of Zika virus, 1947-2007.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since 1947, Zika virus has been identified sporadically in humans
      in Africa and Asia; however, clinically consequential Zika virus disease had not
      been documented prior to the current outbreak in the Americas. Considering 6
      decades have passed since the first identification of the virus, it is perhaps
      unexpected that Zika virus was recognised only recently as capable of causing
      disease epidemics. Substantial work on understanding the epidemiology of Zika
      virus has been conducted since the virus' first outbreak in 2007 in Micronesia;
      however, there has been little study of the earlier data on Zika virus. METHODS:
      A systematic literature search was conducted to identify evidence of Zika virus
      infection in humans from 1947 to 2007. Data extracted included seroprevalence of
      Zika virus infection, age distributions of positive test results and serologic
      test modalities used. Country-level and age-specific seroprevalence was
      calculated. Estimates of seroprevalence by different serologic test modalities
      were compared. RESULTS: 12 026 citations were retrieved by the literature search,
      and 76 articles were included in this review. Evidence of Zika virus infection in
      humans was found in 29 countries in Africa, 8 countries in Asia and 1 country in
      Europe. Country-level seroprevalence of Zika virus infection ranged from 0.4% to
      53.3%. Seroprevalence of Zika virus infection was found to increase across the
      lifespan; 15-40% of reproductive-age individuals may have been previously
      infected. No significant difference was found between estimates of seroprevalence
      by different serologic test modalities. DISCUSSION: Zika virus has likely been
      endemic for decades in certain regions of the world; however, the majority of
      reproductive-age individuals have likely not been infected. Historical evidence
      of Zika virus infection exists regardless of the serologic test modality used.

PMID- 28588944
TI  - Onsite midwife-led birth units (OMBUs) for care around the time of childbirth: a
      systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To ensure timely access to comprehensive emergency obstetric care
      in low- and middle-income countries, a number of interventions have been
      employed. This systematic review assesses the effects of onsite midwife-led birth
      units (OMBUs) embedded within hospitals which provide comprehensive emergency
      obstetric and newborn care. METHODS: Both interventional and observational
      studies that compared OMBUs with standard medical-led obstetric care were
      eligible for inclusion. Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,
      PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Science Citation and Social Sciences Citation
      Index, Global Health Library and one Chinese database were searched. Meta
      analysis was conducted to synthesise data from randomised controlled trials
      (RCTs). Findings of observational studies were summarised by forest plots with
      brief narratives. RESULTS: Three RCTs, one controlled before-and-after study and
      six cohort studies were included. There were no or very few maternal and
      perinatal deaths in either OMBUs or standard obstetric units, with no significant
      differences between the two. Women giving birth in OMBUs were less likely to use
      epidural analgesia (risk ratio (RR) 0.67, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.82; three trials,
      n=2431). The UK national cohort study and two other cohorts in China and Nepal
      found less oxytocin augmentation, more spontaneous vaginal deliveries, fewer
      caesarean sections and fewer episiotomies performed in OMBUs than in standard
      obstetric units. These differences were not statistically significant in RCTs and
      the remaining cohorts. One study investigated satisfaction with midwife-led birth
      care among women and midwives, with positive findings in both groups favouring
      OMBUs. In addition, two studies found that the total cost of birth was lower in
      OMBUs than in standard obstetric units. CONCLUSIONS: OMBUs could be an
      alternative model for providing safe and cost-effective childbirth care, which
      may be particularly important in low- and middle-income countries to meet the
      growing demand for facility-based birth for low-risk women and improve efficiency
      of health systems.

PMID- 28588945
TI  - What the InBev merger means for health in Africa.

PMID- 28588947
TI  - Need for more and better implementation science in global health.

PMID- 28588948
TI  - Manmade earthquake: the hidden health effects of a blockade-induced fuel crisis
      in Nepal.

PMID- 28588946
TI  - Assessing the independent and combined effects of subsidies for antimalarials and
      rapid diagnostic testing on fever management decisions in the retail sector:
      results from a factorial randomised trial in western Kenya.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is an urgent need to understand how to improve targeting of
      artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) to patients with confirmed malaria
      infection, including subsidised ACTs sold over-the-counter. We hypothesised that
      offering an antimalarial subsidy conditional on a positive malaria rapid
      diagnostic test (RDT) would increase uptake of testing and improve rational use
      of ACTs. METHODS: We designed a 2*2 factorial randomised experiment evaluating 2
      levels of subsidy for RDTs and ACTs. Between July 2014 and June 2015, 444
      individuals with a malaria-like illness who had not sought treatment were
      recruited from their homes. We used scratch cards to allocate participants into 4
      groups in a ratio of 1:1:1:1. Participants were eligible for an unsubsidised or
      fully subsidised RDT and 1 of 2 levels of ACT subsidy (current retail price or an
      additional subsidy conditional on a positive RDT). Treatment decisions were
      documented 1 week later. Our primary outcome was uptake of malaria testing.
      Secondary outcomes evaluated ACT consumption among those with a negative test, a
      positive test or no test. RESULTS: Offering a free RDT increased the probability
      of testing by 18.6 percentage points (adjusted probability difference (APD), 95%
      CI 5.9 to 31.3). An offer of a conditional ACT subsidy did not have an additional
      effect on the probability of malaria testing when the RDT was free (APD=2.7; 95%
      CI -8.6 to 14.1). However, receiving the conditional ACT subsidy increased the
      probability of taking an ACT following a positive RDT by 19.5 percentage points
      (APD, 95% CI 2.2 to 36.8). Overall, the proportion who took ACT following a
      negative test was lower than those who took ACT without being tested, indicated
      improved targeting among those who were tested. CONCLUSIONS: Both subsidies
      improved appropriate fever management, demonstrating the impact of these costs on
      decision making. However, the conditional ACT subsidy did not increase testing.
      We conclude that each of the subsidies primarily impacts the most immediate
      decision. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02199977.

PMID- 28588949
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis of the adolescent HIV continuum of care in
      South Africa: the Cresting Wave.
AB  - CONTEXT: South Africa has the most HIV infections of any country in the world,
      yet little is known about the adolescent continuum of care from HIV diagnosis
      through viral suppression. OBJECTIVE: To determine the adolescent HIV continuum
      of care in South Africa. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Google Scholar and
      online conference proceedings from International AIDS Society (IAS),
      International AIDS Conference (AIDS) and Conference on Retrovirology and
      Opportunistic Infections (CROI) from 1 January 2005 to 31 July 2015. DATA
      EXTRACTION: We selected published literature containing South African cohorts and
      epidemiological data reporting primary data for youth (15-24 years of age) at any
      stage of the HIV continuum of care (ie, diagnosis, treatment, retention, viral
      suppression). For the meta-analysis we used six sources for retention in care and
      nine for viral suppression. RESULTS: Among the estimated 867 283 HIV-infected
      youth from 15 to 24 years old in South Africa in 2013, 14% accessed
      antiretroviral therapy (ART). Of those on therapy, ~83% were retained in care and
      81% were virally suppressed. Overall, we estimate that 10% of HIV-infected youth
      in South Africa in 2013 were virally suppressed. LIMITATIONS: This analysis
      relies on published data from large mostly urban South Africa cohorts limiting
      the generalisability to all adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a large increase in
      ART programmes in South Africa that have relatively high retention rates and
      viral suppression rates among HIV-infected youth, only a small percentage are
      virally suppressed, largely due to low numbers of adolescents and young adults
      accessing ART.

PMID- 28588950
TI  - Psychosocial wellbeing of patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis
      voluntarily confined to long-term hospitalisation in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patient isolation, which is a widely successful
      treatment strategy for tuberculosis (TB), has been suspected to have effects on
      patient psychosocial wellbeing. We assessed the psychosocial wellbeing of
      multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients in voluntary and isolated long-term
      hospitalisation in Nigeria. METHODS: 98 accessible and consenting patients in
      four drug-resistant treatment centres (University College Hospital and Government
      Chest Hospital, Ibadan; Mainland Hospital, Lagos, and Lawrence Henshaw Memorial
      Hospital, Calabar) were enrolled in this study. Data were collected using an 18
      item psychosocial wellbeing questionnaire including sociodemographic
      characteristics. We used descriptive statistics to present demographic
      characteristics; the chi2 test was used to assess associations between
      psychosocial wellbeing and independent variables and the relationship was
      modelled using logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was
      36.1+/-11.9 years and 63% were males. Respondents had been in hospital an average
      of 4.5+/-1.9 months. Females had more psychosocial concerns compared with males.
      The most common concerns recorded among respondents were concern that people will
      get to know that the respondent had a bad type of TB (70%), discontent with being
      separated from and longing for the company of their marital partner (72%),
      concerns that they may have taken too many drugs (73%), and displeasure with
      being unable to continue to engage in their usual social and economic activities
      (75%). Respondents who were employed had eight times the odds of having more
      psychosocial concerns than the median number among respondents. Respondents who
      were supported by their own families during hospitalisation experienced a lower
      burden of psychosocial concerns compared with those who were supported by third
      parties. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged hospitalisation resulted in significant
      psychosocial burden for the MDR-TB patients in our study centres. There is a need
      to consider alternative approaches that place less psychosocial burden on
      patients without compromising quality of care.

PMID- 28588951
TI  - Cholera in the time of war: implications of weak surveillance in Syria for the
      WHO's preparedness-a comparison of two monitoring systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Public health breakdown from the Syrian government's targeting of
      healthcare systems in politically unsympathetic areas has yielded a resurgence of
      infectious diseases. Suspected cholera recently reappeared but conflict-related
      constraints impede laboratory confirmation. Given the government's previous under
      reporting of infectious outbreaks and the reliance of the WHO on government
      reporting, we sought to assess the reliability of current surveillance systems.
      METHODS: We compared weekly surveillance reports of waterborne diseases from the
      Syrian government's (WHO-associated) Early Warning and Response System (EWARS),
      based in Damascus, and the independent, non-governmental Early Warning and
      Response Network (EWARN) headquartered in Gaziantep, Turkey. We compared raw case
      rates by EWARS and EWARN and assessed the quality of reporting against the WHO
      benchmarks. RESULTS: We identified significant under-reporting and delays in the
      government's surveillance. On average, EWARS reports were published 24 days
      (range 12-61) after the reference week compared with 11 days (5-21) for EWARN.
      Average completeness for EWARS was 75% (55-84%), compared with 92% for EWARN (85
      99%). Average timeliness for EWARS was 79% (51-100%), compared with 88% for EWARN
      (70-97%). EWARS made limited use of rapid diagnostic tests, and rates of
      collection of stool samples for laboratory cholera testing were well below
      reference levels. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of the current Syrian war, the
      government's surveillance is inadequate due to lack of access to non-government
      held territory, an incentive to under-report the consequence of government
      attacks on health infrastructure, and an impractical insistence on laboratory
      confirmation. These findings should guide the WHO reform for surveillance in
      conflict zones.

PMID- 28588952
TI  - Cooperative societies: a sustainable platform for promoting universal health
      coverage in Bangladesh.

PMID- 28588954
TI  - 'Women and babies are dying but not of Ebola': the effect of the Ebola virus
      epidemic on the availability, uptake and outcomes of maternal and newborn health
      services in Sierra Leone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to determine the impact of the Ebola virus epidemic on the
      availability, uptake and outcome of routine maternity services in Sierra Leone.
      METHODS: The number of antenatal and postnatal visits, institutional births,
      availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC), maternal deaths and stillbirths
      were assessed by month, by districts and by level of healthcare for 10 months
      during, and 12 months prior to, the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic. All
      healthcare facilities designated to provide comprehensive (n=13) or basic (n=67)
      EmOC across the 13 districts of Sierra Leone were included. RESULTS: Preservice
      students were not deployed during the EVD epidemic. The number of healthcare
      providers in facilities remained constant (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.03, 95%
      CI 1.00 to 1.07). Availability of antibiotics, oxytocics, anticonvulsants, manual
      removal of placenta, removal of retained products of conception, blood
      transfusion and caesarean section were not affected by the EVD epidemic. Across
      Sierra Leone, following the onset of the EVD epidemic, there was a 18% decrease
      in the number of women attending for antenatal (IRR 0.82, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.84);
      22% decrease in postnatal attendance (IRR 0.78, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.80) visits and
      11% decrease in the number of women attending for birth at a healthcare facility
      (IRR 0.89, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.91). There was a corresponding 34% increase in the
      facility maternal mortality ratio (IRR 1.34, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.69) and 24%
      increase in the stillbirth rate (IRR 1.24, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.35). CONCLUSIONS:
      During the EVD epidemic, fewer pregnant women accessed healthcare. For those who
      did, an increase in maternal mortality and stillbirth was observed. In the post
      Ebola phase, 'readiness' (or not) of the global partners for large-scale
      epidemics has been the focus of debate. The level of functioning of the health
      system with regard to ability to continue to provide high-quality effective
      routine care needs more attention.

PMID- 28588953
TI  - Trends and level of control of hypertension among adults attending an ambulatory
      HIV clinic in Kampala, Uganda: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With an ageing HIV-positive population, sub-Saharan Africa is now
      facing a dual epidemic of communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This
      study aimed to assess trends in the prevalence of hypertension and factors
      associated with hypertension, among adults attending an ambulatory HIV clinic in
      Kampala, Uganda. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review to identify
      patients with hypertension. We used a random number generator to select 400
      patient charts from each year from 2009 to 2014. Blood pressure, age, body mass
      index (BMI), WHO disease stage and Karnofsky scores were extracted. Logistic
      regression was used to estimate the strength of the association between each of
      these factors and the presence of hypertension. RESULTS: In total, 1996 charts
      were included in this analysis. The mean age of participants was 31 years and
      1311/1996 (65.7%) were female. The overall prevalence of hypertension was
      418/1996 (20.9%). This rose from 16.9% in 2009 to 32.3% in 2013. Of the patients
      with hypertension, 96/418 (23.0%) were receiving adequate treatment. Patients >50
      years of age had 3.12 times the odds of hypertension compared with patients aged
      20-29 years (95% CI 2.00 to 4.85). Men had 1.65 times the odds of hypertension
      compared with women (95% CI 1.34 to 2.03) and patients with a BMI of 35-39 kg/m2
      had 3.93 times the odds of hypertension compared with patients with a BMI <25
      kg/m2. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of hypertension is rising in the Ugandan HIV
      positive population. There remains inadequate management and control of
      hypertension in this group highlighting the need to better integrate NCD care
      within the HIV clinical settings.

PMID- 28588955
TI  - The importance of an integrating framework for achieving the Sustainable
      Development Goals: the example of health and well-being.
AB  - The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development came into force in January 2016 as
      the central United Nations (UN) platform for achieving 'integrated and
      indivisible' goals and targets across the three characteristic dimensions of
      sustainable development: the social, environmental and economic. We argue that,
      despite the UN adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework
      for operationalising them in an integrated fashion is lacking. This article puts
      forth a framework for integrating health and well-being across the SDGs as both
      preconditions and outcomes of sustainable development. We present a rationale for
      this approach, and identify the challenges and opportunities for implementing and
      monitoring such a framework through a series of examples. We encourage other
      sectors to develop similar integrating frameworks for supporting a more
      coordinated approach for operationalising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
      Development.

PMID- 28588956
TI  - Gender disparities in the experience, effects and reporting of electronic
      aggression among secondary school students in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic aggression is the use of electronic communication
      technologies to harass others. It is a problem among adolescents and young people
      worldwide. There is a dearth of information on this problem in developing
      countries in spite of the increasing use of electronic media technology in these
      countries. OBJECTIVE: To explore gender differences in the prevalence, effects
      and reporting of electronic aggression among secondary school students in Oyo
      state, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using mixed
      methods (a quantitative survey of 653 students and 18 in-depth interviews with
      victims and/or perpetrators). Survey students were selected using multi-stage
      sampling and in-depth interviewees were selected purposively. History of
      electronic aggression (as a perpetrator and/or victim) in the 3 months preceding
      the study was obtained. Respondents also provided information on the effects of
      the last incident of bullying on them and whether or not they reported this
      incident. RESULTS: 25.8% of males and 22.1% of females had perpetrated electronic
      aggression, while 42.7% of females were victims compared to 36.8% of males. More
      females (58.1%) than males (40.3%) perpetrated electronic aggression via phone
      calls and more males (33.8%) than females (22.6%) perpetrated electronic
      aggression via chatrooms. 45.4% of male victims and 39.4% of female victims felt
      angry following the last cyberbully incident. Findings from the in-depth
      interviewees corroborated the survey findings and a male victim reported feeling
      very sad and even tried to stay away from school following repeated episodes of
      electronic aggression. More female (59.1%) than male (42.7%) victims reported the
      incident to someone (p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Incidents of electronic aggression
      were common and the experiences of male and female students were comparable,
      although more female victims reported the incidents they had experienced.
      Victims, especially males, should be encouraged to report incidents so that the
      relevant authorities can institute interventions to address the problem.

PMID- 28588957
TI  - Spiritual issues of people living and dying with advanced heart failure in Kenya:
      a qualitative serial interview study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exploring patients' spiritual issues is vital for informing holistic
      care. The spiritual concerns of patients living and dying with advanced heart
      failure in sub-Saharan Africa remains unknown. Our aim was to describe spiritual
      issues in the context of the lived experiences of patients with heart failure in
      Kenya. METHODS: We purposively recruited 18 patients admitted with advanced heart
      failure at a rural district hospital in Kenya. We conducted serial in-depth
      interviews with patients at 0, 3 and 6 months after recruitment. We conducted
      bereavement interviews with their carers. Interviews were recorded, transcribed
      into English and analysed using a thematic approach, assisted by Nvivo software
      package. RESULTS: Patients expressed traditional and Christian spiritual beliefs
      in response to their illness. At diagnosis, some patients felt their illness had
      occurred because they had wronged God, while others felt betrayed by God. Some
      expressed comfort from God and optimism believing that God was in control and
      would heal their illness. During acute episodes patients questioned whether
      witchcraft or curses caused their illness. Younger patients experienced more
      spiritual distress. Although church fellowship generally offered spiritual and
      social support, some patients felt let down by the church which they perceived to
      favour those who offered more tithes. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to
      explore the spiritual issues of people living with advanced heart failure in
      Kenya. Understanding patients' spiritual concerns is important for developing
      evidence-based patient-centred holistic care to promote multidimensional well
      being.

PMID- 28588958
TI  - Women's health: a new global agenda.
AB  - Global efforts to improve the health of women largely focus on improving sexual
      and reproductive health. However, the global burden of disease has changed
      significantly over the past decades. Currently, the greatest burden of death and
      disability among women is attributable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), most
      notably cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, diabetes,
      dementia, depression and musculoskeletal disorders. Hence, to improve the health
      of women most efficiently, adequate resources need to be allocated to the
      prevention, management and treatment of NCDs in women. Such an approach could
      reduce the burden of NCDs among women and also has the potential to improve
      women's sexual and reproductive health, which commonly shares similar
      behavioural, biological, social and cultural risk factors. Historically, most
      medical research was conducted in men and the findings from such studies were
      assumed to be equally applicable to women. Sex differences and gender disparities
      in health and disease have therefore long been unknown and/or ignored. Since the
      number of women in studies is increasing, evidence for clinically meaningful
      differences between men and women across all areas of health and disease has
      emerged. Systematic evaluation of such differences between men and women could
      improve the understanding of diseases, as well as inform health practitioners and
      policymakers in optimising preventive strategies to reduce the global burden of
      disease more efficiently in women and men.

PMID- 28588959
TI  - Assessment of the implementation fidelity of the Arctic Char Distribution Project
      in Nunavik, Quebec.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In September 2011, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social
      Services began supporting the Arctic Char Distribution Project (AC/DP) for
      pregnant women. This initiative promoted consumption of the fish Arctic char-a
      traditional Inuit food-by pregnant women living in villages of Nunavik, an area
      in northern Quebec (Canada) inhabited predominantly by people of Inuit ethnicity.
      This intervention was intended to reduce exposure to contaminants and improve
      food security in Inuit communities. METHODS: We assessed the project's
      implementation based on data collected from background documentation, field notes
      and qualitative interviews with project recipients and implementers. Themes
      emerging from the data are critically discussed in the light of the framework for
      implementation fidelity developed by Carroll et al in 2007. RESULTS: Pregnant
      women fully embraced the initiative because of its cultural appropriateness.
      However, project implementation was incomplete: first because it did not cover
      all intended geographic areas, and second because of a recurring inconsistency in
      the supply and distribution of the fish. In addition, the initiative has been
      inconsistently funded and relies on multiple funding sources. DISCUSSION: This
      work highlights the extent to which project complexity can impede successful
      implementation, particularly in terms of communication and coordination. We
      provide recommendations for improving project implementation and suggest
      amendments to the implementation fidelity framework.

PMID- 28588960
TI  - Perspectives of host faculty and trainees on international visiting faculty to
      paediatric academic departments in East Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Investments in faculty exchanges to build physician workforce
      capacity are increasing. Little attention has been paid to the expectations of
      host institution faculty and trainees. This prospective qualitative research
      study explored faculty and resident perspectives about guest faculty in
      paediatric departments in East Africa, asking (1) What are the benefits and
      challenges of hosting guest faculty, (2) What factors influence the effectiveness
      of faculty visits and (3) How do host institutions prepare for faculty visits?
      METHODS: We recruited 36 faculty members and residents from among four paediatric
      departments in East Africa to participate in semistructured interviews which were
      audio recorded and transcribed. Data were qualitatively analysed using principles
      of open coding and thematic analysis. We achieved saturation of themes. RESULTS:
      Benefits of faculty visits varied based on the size and needs of host
      institutions. Emergent themes included the importance of guest faculty time
      commitment, and mutual preparation to ensure that visit goals and scheduling met
      host needs. We documented conflicts that developed around guest emotional
      responses and ethical approaches to clinical resource limitations, which some
      hosts tried to prepare for and mitigate. Imbalance in resources led to power
      differentials; some hosts sought partnerships to re-establish control over the
      process of having guests. CONCLUSIONS: We identified that guest faculty can
      assist paediatric institutions in building capacity; however, effective visits
      require: (1) mutually agreed on goals with appropriate scheduling, visit length
      and commitment to ensure that the visits meet the host's needs, (2) careful
      selection and preparation of guest faculty to meet the host's goals, (3)
      emotional preparation by prospective guests along with host orientation to
      clinical work in the host's setting and (4) attention to funding sources for the
      visit and mitigation of resulting power differentials.

PMID- 28588961
TI  - Lasting impact: insights from a surgical mission-based mentoring training
      programme in the Republic of Congo.
AB  - The global shortage of surgeons, anaesthetists and obstetricians is significant,
      especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs). A significant amount of
      LMIC surgical volume is provided by surgical missions and non-governmental
      organisations (NGOs) who are often well resourced, making them ideal environments
      for training. However, there are few publications addressing how to train in this
      setting, or the long-term impact of such training. Mercy Ships operates the
      largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world, the Africa Mercy, serving
      LMICs at the invitation of their President by providing free surgery and training
      for the surgical workforce. Mercy Ships developed and offered a comprehensive
      training programme across surgical specialties and disciplines in the Republic of
      Congo, 2013-2014. In this analysis paper, we present our experiences in
      developing and implementing the training portion of the programme. We also
      present the findings of an evaluation of the programme, which show a sustained
      positive impact and lasting change on personal and organisational practice 12-18
      months post-training. We also make recommendations to NGOs and surgical mission
      organisations seeking to augment the impact of surgical missions with effective
      surgical training programmes.

PMID- 28588962
TI  - Impact of a community-based package of interventions on child development in
      Zambia: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Community-based programmes are a critical platform for improving
      child health and development. We tested the impact of a community-based early
      childhood intervention package in rural Zambia. METHODS: We conducted a non
      blinded cluster randomised controlled trial in Southern Province, Zambia. 30
      clusters of villages were matched based on population density and distance from
      the nearest health centre, and randomly assigned to intervention (15 clusters and
      268 caregiver-child dyads) or control (15 clusters and 258 caregiver-child
      dyads). Caregivers were eligible if they had a child aged 6-12 months at
      baseline. In intervention clusters, health workers screened children for
      infections and malnutrition, and invited caregivers to attend fortnightly group
      meetings covering a nutrition and child development curriculum. 220 intervention
      and 215 control dyads were evaluated after 1 year. The primary outcomes were
      stunting and INTERGROWTH-21st neurodevelopmental assessment (NDA) scores. Weight
      for-age and height-for-age z-scores based on WHO growth standards were also
      analysed. Secondary outcomes were child illness symptoms, dietary intake and
      caregiver-child interactions based on self-report. Impact was estimated using
      intention-to-treat analysis. RESULTS: The intervention package was associated
      with a 0.12 SD increase in weight-for-age (95% CI -0.14 to 0.38), a 0.15 SD
      increase in height-for-age (95% CI -0.18 to 0.48) and a reduction in stunting (OR
      0.68; 95% CI 0.36 to 1.28), whereas there was no measurable impact on NDA score.
      Children receiving the intervention package had fewer symptoms, a more diverse
      diet and more caregiver interactions. CONCLUSIONS: In settings like Zambia,
      community-based early childhood programmes appear to be feasible and appreciated
      by caregivers, as evidenced by high rates of uptake. The intervention package
      improved parenting behaviours and had a small positive, though statistically
      insignificant, impact on child development. Given the short time frame of the
      project, larger developmental impact is likely if differential parenting
      behaviours persist. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02234726; Results.

PMID- 28588964
TI  - Persisting trend in the breach of medical neutrality: a wake-up call to the
      international community.

PMID- 28588963
TI  - 'Once there is life, there is hope' Ebola survivors' experiences, behaviours and
      attitudes in Sierra Leone, 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Sierra Leone, over 4000 individuals survived Ebola since the
      outbreak began in 2014. Because Ebola survivorship was largely unprecedented
      prior to this outbreak, little is known about survivor experiences during and
      post illness. METHODS: To assess survivors' experiences and attitudes related to
      Ebola, 28 in-depth interviews and short quantitative surveys with survivors from
      all four geographic regions of Sierra Leone were conducted in May 2015. RESULTS:
      Survivor experiences, emotions and attitudes changed over time as they moved from
      disease onset to treatment, discharge and life post-discharge. Survivors
      mentioned experiencing acute fear and depression when they fell ill. Only half
      reported positive experiences in holding centres but nearly all were positive
      about their treatment centre experiences. Survivor euphoria on discharge was
      followed by concerns about their financial situation and future. While all
      reported supportive attitudes from family members, about a third described
      discrimination and stigma from their communities. Over a third became unemployed,
      especially those previously engaged in petty trade. Survivor knowledge about
      sexual transmission risk reflected counselling messages. Many expressed
      altruistic motivations for abstinence or condom use. In addition, survivors were
      strongly motivated to help end Ebola and to improve the healthcare system. Key
      recommendations from survivors included improved counselling in holding centres
      and long-term government support for survivors, including opportunities for
      participation in Ebola response efforts. CONCLUSIONS: Survivors face myriad
      economic, social and health challenges. Addressing survivor concerns, including
      the discrimination they face, could facilitate their reintegration into
      communities and their contributions to future Ebola responses.

PMID- 28588965
TI  - Long shadow of fear in an epidemic: fearonomic effects of Ebola on the private
      sector in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The already significant impact of the Ebola epidemic on Guinea,
      Liberia and Sierra Leone, was worsened by a fear of contagion that aggravated the
      health crisis. However, in contrast to other Ebola-affected countries, Nigeria
      fared significantly better due to its swift containment of the disease. The
      objective of our study was to describe the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian
      private sector. This paper introduces and defines the term fearonomic effect as
      the direct and indirect economic effects of both misinformation as well as fear
      induced aversion behaviour, exhibited by individuals, organisations or countries
      during an outbreak or an epidemic. METHODS: This study was designed as a cross
      sectional mixed-methods study that used semistructured in-depth interviews and a
      supporting survey to capture the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector
      after the outbreak. Themes were generated from the interviews on the direct and
      indirect impact of Ebola on the private sector; the impact of misinformation and
      fear-based aversion behaviour in the private sector. RESULTS: Our findings reveal
      that the fearonomic effects of Ebola included health service outages and reduced
      healthcare usage as a result of misinformation and aversion behaviour by both
      patients and providers. Although certain sectors (eg, health sector, aviation
      sector, hospitality sector) in Nigeria were affected more than others, no
      business was immune to Ebola's fearonomic effects. We describe how sectors
      expected to prosper during the outbreak (eg, pharmaceuticals), actually suffered
      due to the changes in consumption patterns and demand shocks. CONCLUSION: In a
      high-stressor epidemic-like setting, altered consumption behaviour due to
      distorted disease perception, misinformation and fear can trigger short-term
      economic cascades that can disproportionately affect businesses and lead to
      financial insecurity of the poorest and the most vulnerable in a society.

PMID- 28588966
TI  - Challenges constraining access to insulin in the private-sector market of Delhi,
      India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: India's majority of patients-including those living with diabetes-seek
      healthcare in the private sector through out-of-pocket (OOP) payments. We studied
      access to insulin in the private-sector market of Delhi state, India. METHODS: A
      modified World Health Organization/Health Action International (WHO/HAI) standard
      survey to assess insulin availability and prices, and qualitative interviews with
      insulin retailers (pharmacists) and wholesalers to understand insulin market
      dynamics. RESULTS: In 40 pharmacy outlets analysed, mean availability of the
      human and analogue insulins on the 2013 Delhi essential medicine list was 44.4%
      and 13.1%, respectively. 82% of pharmacies had domestically manufactured human
      insulin phials, primarily was made in India under licence to overseas
      pharmaceutical companies. Analogue insulin was only in cartridge and pen forms
      that were 4.42 and 5.81 times, respectively, the price of human insulin phials.
      Domestically manufactured human phial and cartridge insulin (produced for foreign
      and Indian companies) was less expensive than their imported counterparts. The
      lowest paid unskilled government worker in Delhi would work about 1.5 and 8.6
      days, respectively, to be able to pay OOP for a monthly supply of human phial and
      analogue cartridge insulin. Interviews suggest that the Delhi insulin market is
      dominated by a few multinational companies that import and/or license in-country
      production. Several factors influence insulin uptake by patients, including
      doctor's prescribing preference. Wholesalers have negative perceptions about
      domestic insulin manufacturing. CONCLUSIONS: The Delhi insulin market is an
      oligopoly with limited market competition. Increasing competition from Indian
      companies is going to require some additional policies, not presently in place.
      As more Indian companies produce biosimilars, brand substitution policies are
      needed to be able to benefit from market competition.

PMID- 28588967
TI  - WHO Multi-Country Survey on Abortion-related Morbidity and Mortality in Health
      Facilities: study protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: According to the WHO, abortion accounts for about 8% (4.7-13.2) of
      maternal mortality worldwide. In 2010, the WHO Multi-Country Survey (MCS) on
      Maternal and Newborn Health collected data on over 300 000 women who were
      admitted in health facilities to receive pregnancy-related care. Abortion data
      were partially captured by centring on severe maternal outcomes (ie, near-miss or
      maternal deaths). Building on the experiences of the prior MCS as well as current
      WHO reproductive health projects, we are undertaking a multi-country survey to
      better capture the burden and severity of abortion-related complications and
      management among women presenting to the health facilities. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:
      This is a large cross-sectional study with prospective data collection. It will
      be implemented in health facilities in 30 countries across the WHO regions of
      Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South East Asia and Western
      Pacific. Countries and facilities will be identified through a multistage
      sampling methodology. Data collection will be at both the facility and individual
      levels, involving review of medical records and exit surveys with eligible women
      using audio computer-assisted self-interview. All women presenting to the health
      facilities with signs and symptoms of abortion complications will comprise the
      study population. Online data entry and management will be performed on a web
      based data management system. Analysis will include prevalence of abortion
      related complications and descriptive frequencies of procedural/non-procedural
      management and experience of care. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical issues of
      the consent process are addressed. Dissemination plans will involve the
      participating facilities and communities to further strengthen abortion-related
      research capacity within the MCS on Abortion (MCS-A) countries. Furthermore,
      dissemination of results will be an iterative process at both the facility and
      national level to potentially propagate positive changes to abortion-related
      policies and practices.

PMID- 28588968
TI  - WHO and national lists of essential medicines in Mexico, Central and South
      America, and the Caribbean: are they adequate to promote paediatric endocrinology
      and diabetes care?
AB  - Paediatric endocrinology and diabetes is a paediatric specialty with less common
      conditions and higher cost medicines. Access to medicines for our specialty in
      low and middle income countries remains limited. We analysed the content of the
      WHO (children and adults) and of all available national Model Lists of Essential
      Medicines (EMLs) for Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America from a
      paediatric endocrinology and diabetes standpoint. A master list of medicines
      deemed necessary in paediatric endocrinology and diabetes was established and
      compared with the WHO and national EMLs, taking into account the gross national
      income. The WHO EMLs, which are largely recognised as an international benchmark
      and drive the content of the national EMLs, included many but not all medicines
      present on our master list. Interestingly, several national EMLs from richer
      countries included medicines that were not present in the WHO EMLs. Our analysis
      suggests that these medicines could be considered by the WHO for inclusion in
      their EMLs, which may promote the adoption of more medicines by individual
      countries. We also propose several changes to the WHO and national EMLs that
      could facilitate access to medicines in our specialty: age cut-off for a child
      using physical maturity rather than a set age limit; greater standardisation of
      the formatting of the national EMLs for easier comparison and collaborations
      between countries; greater emphasis on age-specificity and population-specificity
      for some medicines; and formatting of the EMLs in a disease-focused manner rather
      than as individual medicines.

PMID- 28588969
TI  - It is time to revise the international Good Clinical Practices guidelines:
      recommendations from non-commercial North-South collaborative trials.
AB  - The Good Clinical Practices (GCP) codes of the WHO and the International
      Conference of Harmonization set international standards for clinical research.
      But critics argue that they were written without consideration for the challenges
      faced in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Based on our field experience
      in LMICs, we developed a non-exhaustive set of recommendations for the
      improvement of GCP. These cover 3 domains: ethical, legal and operational, and 8
      specific issues: the double ethical review of 'externally sponsored' trials; the
      informed consent procedure in minors and in illiterate people; post-trial access
      to newly-developed products for the trial communities; the role of communities as
      key research actors; the definition of sponsor; and the guidance for contractual
      agreements, laboratory quality management systems, and quality assurance of
      investigational medicinal products. Issues not covered in our analysis include
      among others biobanking, standard of care, and study designs. The international
      GCP codes de facto guide national legislators and funding agencies, so the
      current shortcomings may weaken the regulatory oversight of international
      research. In addition, activities neglected by GCP are less likely to be
      implemented or funded. If GCP are meant to serve the interests of global society,
      a comprehensive revision is needed. The revised guidelines should be strongly
      rooted in ethics, sensitive to different sociocultural perspectives, and allow
      consideration for trial-specific and context-specific challenges. This can be
      only achieved if all stakeholders, including researchers, sponsors, regulators,
      ethical reviewers and patients' representatives from LMICs, as well as non
      commercial researchers and sponsors from affluent countries, are transparently
      involved in the revision process. We hope that our limited analysis would foster
      advocacy for a broad and inclusive revision of the international GCP codes, to
      make them at the same time 'global', 'context centred' and 'patient centred'.

PMID- 28588970
TI  - Modifying the Interagency Emergency Health Kit to include treatment for non
      communicable diseases in natural disasters and complex emergencies.
AB  - The Interagency Emergency Health Kit (IEHK) provides a standard package of
      medicines and simple medical devices for aid agencies to use in emergencies such
      as disasters and armed conflicts. Despite the increasing burden of non
      communicable diseases (NCDs) in such settings, the IEHK includes few drugs and
      devices for management of NCDs. Using published data to model the population
      burden of acute and chronic presentations of NCDs in emergency-prone regions, we
      estimated the quantity of medications and devices that should be included in the
      IEHK. NCDs considered were cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension and
      chronic respiratory disease. In scenario 1 (the primary scenario), we assumed
      that resources in the IEHK would only include those needed to manage acute life
      threatening conditions. In scenario 2, we included resources required to manage
      both acute and chronic presentations of NCDs. Drugs and devices that might be
      required included amlodipine, aspirin, atenolol, beclomethasone, dextrose 50%,
      enalapril, furosemide, glibenclamide, glyceryl trinitrate, heparin, hydralazine,
      hydrochlorothiazide, insulin, metformin, prednisone, salbutamol and simvastatin.
      For scenario 1, the number of units required ranged from 12 (phials of
      hydralazine) to ~15 000 (tablets of enalapril). Space and weight requirements
      were modest and total cost for all drugs and devices was approximately US$2078.
      As expected, resources required for scenario 2 were much greater. Space and cost
      requirements increased proportionately: estimated total cost of scenario 2 was
      $22 208. The resources required to treat acute NCD presentations appear modest,
      and their inclusion in the IEHK seems feasible.

PMID- 28588972
TI  - Ethics in times of conflict: some reflections on Syria, in the backdrop of Iraq.
AB  - Ethical challenges facing research and reporting from conflict-affected zones are
      well known; among them is the difficulty of finding reliable information; the
      tendency to take sides and define actors as either good or evil; the precarious
      security situation of residents and the ever-changing scenarios on the ground. We
      observed, however, that these challenges go unacknowledged in research and
      reporting on health state and on the health system from the conflict in Iraq and
      Syria, with the lines between science and journalistic reporting routinely
      blurred in the literature. What should be the restraining factor of academic
      research against prejudiced reporting on injury, death and the healthcare system
      has mostly failed in the Syrian conflict. Even social media, with its promise of
      'independent' and 'citizens' voice', can be skewed, with much of the output in
      the Syria crisis coming from one side only, largely due to access issues. While
      researchers in conflict-affected zones, such as Syria, may need to take a
      position on one side or another when reporting, death, destruction and disease,
      it is important that they admit to the challenges of accessing unbiased data, the
      near impossibility of obtaining representative samples and the risk of the
      contamination of evidence, clinical or otherwise. The example of the Syrian and
      Iraqi conflicts (as context) indicates a need to reassess research ethics in
      conflict zones and their implications for policy.

PMID- 28588971
TI  - Rethinking the cost of healthcare in low-resource settings: the value of time
      driven activity-based costing.
AB  - Low-income and middle-income countries account for over 80% of the world's
      infectious disease burden, but <20% of global expenditures on health. In this
      context, judicious resource allocation can mean the difference between life and
      death, not just for individual patients, but entire patient populations.
      Understanding the cost of healthcare delivery is a prerequisite for allocating
      health resources, such as staff and medicines, in a way that is effective,
      efficient, just and fair. Nevertheless, health costs are often poorly understood,
      undermining effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. We outline
      shortcomings, and consequences, of common approaches to estimating the cost of
      healthcare in low-resource settings, as well as advantages of a newly introduced
      approach in healthcare known as time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). TDABC
      is a patient-centred approach to cost analysis, meaning that it begins by
      studying the flow of individual patients through the health system, and measuring
      the human, equipment and facility resources used to treat the patients. The
      benefits of this approach are numerous: fewer assumptions need to be made,
      heterogeneity in expenditures can be studied, service delivery can be modelled
      and streamlined and stronger linkages can be established between resource
      allocation and health outcomes. TDABC has demonstrated significant benefits for
      improving health service delivery in high-income countries but has yet to be
      adopted in resource-limited settings. We provide an illustrative case study of
      its application throughout a network of hospitals in Haiti, as well as a
      simplified framework for policymakers to apply this approach in low-resource
      settings around the world.

PMID- 28588973
TI  - Responding to ever-changing epidemiological dynamics of Ebola virus disease.
AB  - With the incidence and mortality rates of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea,
      Liberia and Sierra Leone now at zero and reports of the largest and most complex
      EVD outbreak in history no longer on the front pages of newspapers worldwide, the
      urgency of that crisis seems to have subsided. During this lull after the storm
      and before the next one, the international community needs to engage in a
      'lessons-learned' exercise with respect to our collective scientific, clinical
      and public health preparedness. This engagement must identify pragmatic,
      innovative mechanisms at multinational, national and community levels that allow
      research and development of next generation diagnostics and therapeutics, the
      safe and effective practice of medicine, and the maintenance of public health to
      keep pace with the rapid epidemiological dynamics of EVD and other deadly
      infectious diseases.

PMID- 28588974
TI  - Practical issues in the measurement of child survival in health systems trials:
      experience developing a digital community-based mortality surveillance programme
      in rural Nepal.
AB  - Child mortality measurement is essential to the impact evaluation of maternal and
      child healthcare systems interventions. In the absence of vital statistics
      systems, however, assessment methodologies for locally relevant interventions are
      severely challenged. Methods for assessing the under-5 mortality rate for cross
      country comparisons, often used in determining progress towards development
      targets, pose challenges to implementers and researchers trying to assess the
      population impact of targeted interventions at more local levels. Here, we
      discuss the programmatic approach we have taken to mortality measurement in the
      context of delivering healthcare via a public-private partnership in rural Nepal.
      Both government officials and the delivery organisation, Possible, felt it was
      important to understand child mortality at a fine-grain spatial and temporal
      level. We discuss both the short-term and the long-term approach. In the short
      term, the team chose to use the under-2 mortality rate as a metric for mortality
      measurement for the following reasons: (1) as overall childhood mortality
      declines, like it has in rural Nepal, deaths concentrate among children under the
      age of 2; (2) 2-year cohorts are shorter and thus may show an impact more readily
      in the short term of intervention trials; and (3) 2-year cohorts are smaller,
      making prospective census cohorts more feasible in small populations. In the long
      term, Possible developed a digital continuous surveillance system to capture
      deaths as they occur, at which point under-5 mortality assessment would be
      desirable, largely owing to its role as a global standard.

PMID- 28588975
TI  - Economic valuation of the impact of a large surgical charity using the value of
      lost welfare approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The assessment of the economic burden of surgical disease is integral
      to determining allocation of resources for health globally. We estimate the
      economic gain realised over an 11-year period resulting from a vertical surgical
      programme addressing cleft lip (CL) and cleft palate (CP). METHODS: The database
      from a large non-governmental organisation (Smile Train) over an 11-year period
      was analysed. Incidence-based disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted
      through the programme were calculated, discounted 3%, using disability weights
      from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study and an effectiveness factor for
      each surgical intervention. The effectiveness factor allowed for the lack of 100%
      resolution of the disability from the operation. We used the value of lost
      welfare approach, based on the concept of the value of a statistical life (VSL),
      to assess the economic gain associated with each operation. Using income
      elasticities (IEs) tailored to the income level of each country, a country
      specific VSL was calculated and the VSL-year (VSLY) was determined. The VSLY is
      the economic value of a DALY, and the DALYs averted were converted to economic
      gain per patient and aggregated to give a total value and an average per patient.
      Sensitivity analyses were performed based on the variations of IE applied for
      each country. RESULTS: Each CL operation averted 2.2 DALYs on average and each CP
      operation 3.3. Total averted DALYs were 1 325 678 (CP 686 577 and CL 639 102).
      The economic benefit from the programme was between US$7.9 and US$20.7 billion.
      Per patient, the average benefit was between US$16 133 and US$42 351. Expense per
      DALY averted was estimated to be $149. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing basic surgical
      needs in developing countries provides a massive economic boost through improved
      health. Expansion of surgical capacity in the developing world is of significant
      economic and health value and should be a priority in global health efforts.

PMID- 28588976
TI  - The How Project: understanding contextual challenges to global surgical care
      provision in low-resource settings.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: 5 billion people around the world do not have access to safe,
      affordable, timely surgical care. This series of qualitative interviews was
      launched by The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) with the aim of
      understanding the contextual challenges-the specific circumstances-faced by
      surgical care providers in low-resource settings who care for impoverished
      patients, and how those providers overcome these challenges. METHODS: From
      January 2014 to February 2015, 20 LCoGS collaborators conducted semistructured
      interviews with 148 surgical providers in low-resource settings in 21 countries.
      Stratified purposive sampling was used to include both rural and urban providers,
      and reputational case selection identified individuals. Interviewers were trained
      with an implementation manual. Following immersion into de-identified texts from
      completed interviews, topical coding and further analysis of coded texts was
      completed by an independent analyst with periodic validation from a second
      analyst. RESULTS: Providers described substantial financial, geographic and
      cultural barriers to patient access. Rural surgical teams reported a lack of a
      trained workforce and insufficient infrastructure, equipment, supplies and banked
      blood. Urban providers face overcrowding, exacerbated by minimal clinical and
      administrative support, and limited interhospital care coordination. Many
      providers across contexts identified national health policies that do not reflect
      the realities of resource-poor settings. Some findings were region-specific, such
      as weak patient-provider relationships and unreliable supply chains. In all
      settings, surgical teams have created workarounds to deliver care despite the
      challenges. DISCUSSION: While some differences exist between countries, the
      barriers to safe surgery and anaesthesia are overall consistent and resource
      dependent. Efforts to advance and expand global surgery must address these
      commonalities, while local policymakers can tailor responses to key contextual
      differences.

PMID- 28588978
TI  - Improving Ebola infection prevention and control in primary healthcare facilities
      in Sierra Leone: a single-group pretest post-test, mixed-methods study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accomplishing infection prevention and control (IPC) in health
      facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa is challenging. Owing to poor IPC, healthcare
      workers (HCWs) were frequently infected during Sierra Leone's Ebola epidemic. In
      late 2014, IPC was rapidly and nationally scaled up. We carried out workshops in
      sampled facilities to further improve adherence to IPC. We investigated HCW
      experiences and observed practice gaps, before and after the workshops. METHODS:
      We conducted an uncontrolled, before and after, mixed-methods study in eight
      health facilities in Bo and Kenema Districts during December 2014 and January
      2015. Quantitative methods administered to HCWs at baseline and follow-up
      included a survey on attitudes and self-efficacy towards IPC, and structured
      observations of behaviours. The intervention involved a workshop for HCWs to
      develop improvement plans for their facility. We analysed the changes between
      rounds in survey responses and behaviours. We used interviews to explore
      attitudes and self-efficacy throughout the study period. RESULTS: HCWs described
      IPC as 'life-saving' and personal protective equipment (PPE) as uncomfortable for
      providers and frightening for patients. At baseline, self-efficacy was high
      (median=4/strongly agree). Responses reflecting unfavourable attitudes were low
      for glove use (median=1/strongly disagree, IQR, 1-2) and PPE use with ill family
      members (median=1, IQR, 1-2), and mixed for PPE use with ill HCWs
      (median=2/disagree, IQR, 1-4). Observations demonstrated consistent glove reuse
      and poor HCW handwashing. The maintenance of distance (RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to
      1.16) and patient handwashing (RR 1.19, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.25) improved to >90%.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found favourable attitudes towards IPC and gaps in practice. Risk
      perceptions of HCWs and tendencies to ration PPE where chronic supply chain
      issues normally lead to PPE stock-outs may affect practice. As Sierra Leone's
      Ebola Recovery Strategy aims to make all facilities IPC compliant, socio
      behavioural improvements and a secure supply chain are essential.

PMID- 28588980
TI  - Addressing the challenges of diagnostics demand and supply: insights from an
      online global health discussion platform.
AB  - Several barriers challenge development, adoption and scale-up of diagnostics in
      low and middle income countries. An innovative global health discussion platform
      allows capturing insights from the global health community on factors driving
      demand and supply for diagnostics. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of
      the online discussion 'Advancing Care Delivery: Driving Demand and Supply of
      Diagnostics' organised by the Global Health Delivery Project (GHD)
      (http://www.ghdonline.org/) at Harvard University. The discussion, driven by 12
      expert panellists, explored what must be done to develop delivery systems,
      business models, new technologies, interoperability standards, and governance
      mechanisms to ensure that patients receive the right diagnostic at the right
      time. The GHD Online (GHDonline) platform reaches over 19 000 members from 185
      countries. Participants (N=99) in the diagnostics discussion included academics,
      non-governmental organisations, manufacturers, policymakers, and physicians. Data
      was coded and overarching categories analysed using qualitative data analysis
      software. Participants considered technical characteristics of diagnostics as
      smaller barriers to effective use of diagnostics compared with operational and
      health system challenges, such as logistics, poor fit with user needs, cost,
      workforce, infrastructure, access, weak regulation and political commitment.
      Suggested solutions included: health system strengthening with patient-centred
      delivery; strengthened innovation processes; improved knowledge base; harmonised
      guidelines and evaluation; supply chain innovations; and mechanisms for ensuring
      quality and capacity. Engaging and connecting different actors involved with
      diagnostic development and use is paramount for improving diagnostics. While the
      discussion participants were not representative of all actors involved, the
      platform enabled a discussion between globally acknowledged experts and
      physicians working in different countries.

PMID- 28588981
TI  - Community health workers in Ghana: the need for greater policy attention.
AB  - From the 1970s to the 1990s, the WHO, United Nations and other agencies mooted
      the idea of formally training and recognising community health workers (CHWs) to
      complement efforts to improve primary healthcare delivery in low and middle
      income countries. Recently, CHWs have been recognised as important players in the
      achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Despite
      this recognition, little understanding exists in Ghana about the activities of
      CHWs: who they are; how they are recruited; what they do; level of health policy
      support; contribution to healthcare delivery and the challenges they face. Based
      on a rapid scoping review of the existing literature, and our experience working
      in Ghana, this paper reflects on the role of CHWs in healthcare delivery in
      Ghana. We argue that CHWs have played critical roles in improving health service
      delivery and outcomes, including guinea worm eradication, expanded immunisation
      coverage, maternal and child health, and HIV/AIDS treatment and management.
      However, these achievements notwithstanding, CHWs face challenges which prevent
      them from being optimally productive, including capacity problems, neglect by the
      healthcare system, high attrition rates and inadequate supervision. Policymakers
      in Ghana therefore need to give increased attention to CHWs, provide remuneration
      for their activities, create career opportunities and other means of motivations
      to boost their productivity and sustain gains associated with their activities.

PMID- 28588979
TI  - Determinants of adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive adults in
      sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The rapid scale up of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in sub-Saharan
      Africa (SSA) has resulted in an increased focus on patient adherence. Non
      adherence can lead to drug-resistant HIV caused by failure to achieve maximal
      viral suppression. Optimal treatment requires the identification of patients at
      high risk of suboptimal adherence and targeted interventions. The aim of this
      review was to identify and summarise determinants of adherence to ART among HIV
      positive adults. DESIGN: Systematic review of adherence to ART in SSA from
      January 2002 to October 2014. METHODS: A systematic search was performed in 6
      databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, Popline, Global
      Health Library) for qualitative and quantitative articles. Risk of bias was
      assessed. A meta-analysis was conducted for pooled estimates of effect size on
      adherence determinants. RESULTS: Of the 4052 articles screened, 146 were included
      for final analysis, reporting on determinants of 161 922 HIV patients with an
      average adherence score of 72.9%. Main determinants of non-adherence were use of
      alcohol, male gender, use of traditional/herbal medicine, dissatisfaction with
      healthcare facility and healthcare workers, depression, discrimination and
      stigmatisation, and poor social support. Promoters of adherence included
      counselling and education interventions, memory aids, and active disclosure among
      people living with HIV. Determinants of health status had conflicting influence
      on adherence. CONCLUSIONS: The sociodemographic, psychosocial, health status,
      treatment-related and intervention-related determinants are interlinked and
      contribute to optimal adherence. Clinics providing ART in SSA should therefore
      design targeted interventions addressing these determinants to optimise health
      outcomes.

PMID- 28588982
TI  - Efficacy of three feeding regimens for home-based management of children with
      uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition: a randomised trial in India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF),
      centrally produced RUTF (RUTF-C) or locally prepared RUTF (RUTF-L) for home-based
      management of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) compared with
      micronutrient-enriched (augmented) energy-dense home-prepared foods (A-HPF, the
      comparison group). METHODS: In an individually randomised multicentre trial, we
      enrolled 906 children aged 6-59 months with uncomplicated SAM. The children
      enrolled were randomised to receive RUTF-C, RUTF-L or A-HPF. We provided foods,
      counselling and feeding support until recovery or 16 weeks, whichever was earlier
      and measured outcomes weekly (treatment phase). We subsequently facilitated
      access to government nutrition services and measured outcomes once 16 weeks later
      (sustenance phase). The primary outcome was recovery during treatment phase
      (weight-for-height >=-2 SD and absence of oedema of feet). RESULTS: Recovery
      rates with RUTF-L, RUTF-C and A-HPF were 56.9%, 47.5% and 42.8%, respectively.
      The adjusted OR was 1.71 (95% CI 1.20 to 2.43; p=0.003) for RUTF-L and 1.28 (95%
      CI 0.90 to 1.82; p=0.164) for RUTF-C compared with A-HPF. Weight gain in the RUTF
      L group was higher than in the A-HPF group (adjusted difference 0.90 g/kg/day,
      95% CI 0.30 to 1.50; p=0.003). Time to recovery was shorter in both RUTF groups.
      Morbidity was high and similar across groups. At the end of the study, the
      proportion of children with weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ) >-2 was similar
      (adjusted OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.95; p=0.464), higher for moderate
      malnutrition (WHZ<-2 and >=-3; adjusted OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.08; p=0.039),
      and lower for those with SAM (adjusted OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.85; p=0.005) in
      the RUTF-L when compared with the A-HPF group. CONCLUSIONS: This first randomised
      trial comparing options for home management of uncomplicated SAM confirms that
      RUTF-L is more efficacious than A-HPF at home. Recovery rates were lower than in
      African studies, despite longer treatment and greater support for feeding. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01705769; Pre-results.

PMID- 28588983
TI  - Breast feeding initiation rate across Western countries: does religion matter? An
      ecological study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast feeding initiation rates remain below 80% in some Western
      countries. Many individual-level determinants are known; however, less is known
      regarding cultural and societal determinants, such as religion, that could
      explain population-level variations. We examined the correlations of the
      proportions of Catholics and Protestants with the breast feeding initiation rates
      across and within Western countries. METHODS: Using publicly available data, we
      carried out an ecological study comparing the proportions of Catholics and
      Protestants with the rates of breast feeding initiation. We correlated data at
      the country level, and additionally explored within-country data in five Western
      countries: France (Departments), Ireland (counties), the UK (countries), Canada
      (provinces) and the USA (states). Our analyses accounted for human development
      index, gross domestic product and population density. RESULTS: We observed a
      negative correlation (r=-0.30) between the proportion of Catholics and the rate
      of breast feeding initiation in Western countries. This correlation was
      consistent when using within-country data in France (r=-0.27), Ireland (r=-0.23),
      the UK (r=-0.79) and Canada (r=-0.62). In the USA, the positive correlation
      (r=0.26) between a state's proportion of Catholics and its breast feeding
      initiation rate was confounded by race, education and socioeconomic status (SES).
      After controlling for education and SES, the state proportion of non-Hispanic
      white Catholics was negatively correlated (r=-0.29) with the rate of breast
      feeding initiation. CONCLUSIONS: In this ecological study, we found consistent
      negative correlations between Catholicism and breast feeding initiation rates.
      Qualitative and quantitative studies at the individual level are needed to
      confirm and explain our findings. Our results suggest that women living in a
      country or region where Catholicism has historically dominated are less likely to
      initiate breast feeding, and that breast feeding promotion policies should be
      adapted to better fit populations' cultural and religious norms.

PMID- 28588984
TI  - Providers' knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis using vignettes:
      evidence from rural Bihar, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Almost 25% of all new cases of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide are in
      India, where drug resistance and low quality of care remain key challenges.
      METHODS: We conducted an observational, cross-sectional study of healthcare
      providers' knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of TB in rural Bihar, India, from
      June to September 2012. Using data from vignette-based interviews with 395 most
      commonly visited healthcare providers in study areas, we scored providers'
      knowledge and used multivariable regression models to examine their relationship
      to providers' characteristics. FINDINGS: 80% of 395 providers had no formal
      medical qualifications. Overall, providers demonstrated low levels of knowledge:
      64.9% (95% CI 59.8% to 69.8%) diagnosed correctly, and 21.7% (CI 16.8% to 27.1%)
      recommended correct treatment. Providers seldom asked diagnostic questions such
      as fever (31.4%, CI 26.8% to 36.2%) and bloody sputum (11.1%, CI 8.2% to 14.7%),
      or results from sputum microscopy (20.0%, CI: 16.2% to 24.3%). After controlling
      for whether providers treat TB, MBBS providers were not significantly different,
      from unqualified providers or those with alternative medical qualifications, on
      knowledge score or offering correct treatment. MBBS providers were, however, more
      likely to recommend referrals relative to complementary medicine and unqualified
      providers (23.2 and 37.7 percentage points, respectively). INTERPRETATION:
      Healthcare providers in rural areas in Bihar, India, have low levels of knowledge
      regarding TB diagnosis and treatment. Our findings highlight the need for
      policies to improve training, incentives, task shifting and regulation to improve
      knowledge and performance of existing providers. Further, more research is needed
      on the incentives providers face and the role of information on quality to help
      patients select providers who offer higher quality care.

PMID- 28588986
TI  - EPHP 2016, Bangalore, 8-9 July 2016, Third national conference on bringing
      Evidence into Public Health Policy Equitable India: All for Health and Wellbeing.

PMID- 28588985
TI  - How did rapid scale-up of HIV services impact on workplace and interpersonal
      trust in Zambian primary health centres: a case-based health systems analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa, large amounts of funding continue to be
      directed towards HIV-specific care and treatment, often with claims of 'health
      system strengthening' effect. Such claims rarely account for the impact on human
      relationships and decisions that are core to functional health systems. This
      research examined how establishment of externally funded HIV services influenced
      trusting relationships in Zambian health centres. METHODS: An in-depth, multicase
      study included four health centres selected for urban, peri-urban and rural
      characteristics. Case data included healthcare worker (HCW) interviews (60);
      patient interviews (180); direct observation of facility operations (2
      weeks/centre) and key informant interviews (14) which were recorded and
      transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis adopted inductive and deductive coding
      guided by a framework incorporating concepts of workplace trust, patient-provider
      trust, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. RESULTS: HIV service scale-up impacted
      trust in positive and negative ways. Investment in HIV-specific infrastructure,
      supplies and quality assurance mechanisms strengthened workplace trust, HCW
      motivation and patient-provider trust in HIV departments in the short-term. In
      the health centres more broadly and over time, however, non-governmental
      organisation-led investment and support of HIV departments reinforced HCW's
      perceptions of the government as uninterested or unable to provide a quality work
      environment. Exacerbating existing perceptions of systemic workplace inequity and
      nepotism, uneven distribution of personal and professional opportunities related
      to HIV service establishment contributed to interdepartmental antagonism and
      reinforced workplace practices designed to protect individual HCW's interests.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings illustrate long-term negative effects of the vertical HIV
      resourcing and support structures which failed to address and sometimes
      exacerbated HCW (dis)trust with their own government and supervisors. The short
      term and long-term effects of weakened workplace trust on HCWs' motivation and
      performance signal the importance of understanding how such relationships play a
      role in generating virtuous or perverse cycles of actor interactions, with
      implications for service outcomes.

PMID- 28588987
TI  - Cognitive capital for children in Asia and Pacific.

PMID- 28588988
TI  - How prevention of violence in childhood builds healthier economies and smarter
      children in the Asia and Pacific region.
AB  - Investments in preventing violence against children in the Asia and Pacific
      region will bring important social and economic returns that contribute to
      building the region's 'cognitive capital'. An analysis of burden of violence
      research in the region is presented to identify the impacts of violence and to
      demonstrate these returns. Violence is an everyday experience in the lives of
      many children in the Asia-Pacific, and the toxic stress associated with such
      routine forms of violence may permanently impact the architecture and chemistry
      of the developing brain. This can undermine learning and affect behavioural,
      social and emotional functioning as children grow into adulthood. Given the
      hundreds of millions of children affected by violence in the region each year,
      its cumulative impact translates into the annual loss of hundreds of billions of
      dollars-or about 2% of gross domestic product of the Asia and Pacific region.
      Violence prevention can affect positively on health and productivity, reduce
      expenditure on crisis response, improve children's developmental and educational
      outcomes, and prevent crime. The sustainable development goals and the emerging
      global consensus on effective prevention strategies constitute a powerful new
      agenda to end violence against children, and there are critical steps that
      governments can take to accelerate action.

PMID- 28588989
TI  - Accelerating progress towards universal health coverage in Asia and Pacific:
      improving the future for women and children.
AB  - Universal health coverage generates significant health and economic benefits and
      enables governments to reduce inequity. Where universal health coverage has been
      implemented well, it can contribute to nation-building. This analysis reviews
      evidence from Asia and Pacific drawing out determinants of successful systems and
      barriers to progress with a focus on women and children. Access to healthcare is
      important for women and children and contributes to early childhood development.
      Universal health coverage is a political process from the start, and public
      financing is critical and directly related to more equitable health systems.
      Closing primary healthcare gaps should be the foundation of universal health
      coverage reforms. Recommendations for policy for national governments to improve
      universal health coverage are identified, including countries spending < 3% of
      gross domestic product in public expenditure on health committing to increasing
      funding by at least 0.3%/year to reach a minimum expenditure threshold of 3%.

PMID- 28588990
TI  - Cognitive capital, equity and child-sensitive social protection in Asia and the
      Pacific.
AB  - Promoting child development and welfare delivers human rights and builds
      sustainable economies through investment in 'cognitive capital'. This analysis
      looks at conditions that support optimal brain development in childhood and
      highlights how social protection promotes these conditions and strengthens the
      achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia and the Pacific.
      Embracing child-sensitive social protection offers multiple benefits. The region
      has been a leader in global poverty reduction but the underlying pattern of
      economic growth exacerbates inequality and is increasingly unsustainable. The
      strategy of channelling low-skilled rural labour to industrial jobs left millions
      of children behind with limited opportunities for development. Building child
      sensitive social protection and investing better in children's cognitive capacity
      could check these trends and trigger powerful long-term human capital development
      enabling labour productivity to grow faster than populations age. While
      governments are investing more in social protection, the region's spending
      remains low by international comparison. Investment is particularly inadequate
      where it yields the highest returns: during the first 1000 days of life. Five
      steps are recommended for moving forward: (1) building cognitive capital by
      adjusting the region's development paradigms to reflect better the economic and
      social returns from investing in children; (2) understand and track better child
      poverty and vulnerability; (3) progressively build universal, child-sensitive
      systems that strengthen comprehensive interventions within life cycle frameworks;
      (4) mobilise national resources for early childhood investments and child
      sensitive social protection; and (5) leverage the SDGs and other channels of
      national and international collaboration.

PMID- 28588991
TI  - Healthcare use and expenditure for diabetes in Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes imposes a huge social and economic impact on nations.
      However, information on the costs of treating and managing diabetes in developing
      countries is limited. The aim of this study was to estimate healthcare use and
      expenditure for diabetes in Bangladesh. METHODS: We conducted a matched case
      control study between January and July 2014 among 591 adults with diagnosed
      diabetes mellitus (DMs) and 591 age-matched, sex-matched and residence-matched
      persons without diabetes mellitus (non-DMs). We recruited DMs from consecutive
      patients and non-DMs from accompanying persons in the Bangladesh Institute of
      Health Science (BIHS) hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We estimated the impact of
      diabetes on healthcare use and expenditure by calculating ratios and differences
      between DMs and non-DMs for all expenses related to healthcare use and tested for
      statistical difference using Student's t-tests. RESULTS: DMs had two times more
      days of inpatient treatment, 1.3 times more outpatient visits, and 9.7 times more
      medications than non-DMs (all p<0.005). The total annual per capita expenditure
      on medical care was 6.1 times higher for DMs than non-DMs (US$635 vs US$104,
      respectively). Among DMs, 9.8% reported not taking any antidiabetic medications,
      46.4% took metformin, 38.7% sulfonylurea, 40.8% insulin, 38.7% any
      antihypertensive medication, and 14.2% took anti-lipids over the preceding 3
      months. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes significantly increases healthcare use and
      expenditure and is likely to impose a huge economic burden on the healthcare
      systems in Bangladesh. The study highlights the importance of prevention and
      optimum management of diabetes in Bangladesh and other developing countries, to
      gain a strong economic incentive through implementing multisectoral approach and
      cost-effective prevention strategies.

PMID- 28588992
TI  - Introducing rapid tests for malaria into the retail sector: what are the
      unintended consequences?
AB  - : The observation that many people in Africa seek care for febrile illness in the
      retail sector has led to a number of public health initiatives to try to improve
      the quality of care provided in these settings. The potential to support the
      introduction of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (mRDTs) into drug shops is
      coming under increased scrutiny. Those in favour argue that it enables the
      harmonisation of policy around testing and treatment for malaria and maintains a
      focus on market-based solutions to healthcare. Despite the enthusiasm among many
      global health actors for this policy option, there is a limited understanding of
      the consequences of the introduction of mRDTs in the retail sector. We undertook
      an interpretive, mixed methods study with drug shop vendors (DSVs), their clients
      and local health workers to explore the uses and interpretations of mRDTs as they
      became part of daily practice in drug shops during a trial in Mukono District,
      Uganda. This paper reports the unintended consequences of their introduction. It
      describes how the test engendered trust in the professional competence of DSVs;
      was misconstrued by clients and providers as enabling a more definitive diagnosis
      of disease in general rather than malaria alone; that blood testing made drug
      shops more attractive places to seek care than they had previously been; was
      described as shifting treatment-seeking behaviour away from formal health centres
      and into drug shops; and influenced an increase in sales of medications,
      particularly antibiotics. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01194557; Results.

PMID- 28588993
TI  - Analysis of out-of-pocket costs associated with hospitalised injuries in Vietnam.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Vietnam, over 39 000 people die and millions are hospitalised due
      to injuries every year. Injuries create a significant financial burden for
      families. In this study, we estimated out-of-pocket payment for medical care of
      injuries and the role of health insurance in containing such costs. METHOD: A
      prospective cohort study of 892 hospitalised injury patients admitted to a
      provincial general hospital in 2010 in Vietnam was conducted. Data on
      demographic, injury characteristics and costs by specific categories paid out-of
      pocket by patients were included in the analyses. Generalised linear models with
      log link and gamma distribution were employed to examine the associations between
      insurance status and total costs. RESULTS: The average total medical care costs
      paid out-of-pocket by patients during hospitalisation were over US$ 270. Major
      drivers of the costs related to surgery (nearly 25%), diagnostic test/examination
      (24%) and drugs (23%). Burns incurred the highest total costs during
      hospitalisation ($321) and assault incurred the lowest ($167). Total costs were
      higher for more severe injuries and those that required a more complex surgery.
      Patients using health insurance paid less those who did not. However, there were
      no statistically significant associations between health insurance and total
      costs, costs for surgery, diagnostic tests/examinations or drugs. CONCLUSIONS:
      The study provides estimates and distribution of medical care costs for injuries
      in hospital. In addition to ongoing efforts in prevention, the study provides
      further evidence on the limited benefits of health insurance in protecting
      patients and their family from the high costs of hospitalisation in Vietnam.

PMID- 28588994
TI  - Modelling the cost-effectiveness of introducing the RTS,S malaria vaccine
      relative to scaling up other malaria interventions in sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of introducing the RTS,S
      malaria vaccine in sub-Saharan Africa compared with further scale-up of existing
      interventions. DESIGN: A mathematical modelling and cost-effectiveness study.
      SETTING: Sub-Saharan Africa. PARTICIPANTS: People of all ages. INTERVENTIONS: The
      analysis considers the introduction and scale-up of the RTS,S malaria vaccine and
      the scale-up of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs), indoor
      residual spraying (IRS) and seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC). MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: The number of Plasmodium falciparum cases averted in all age groups over
      a 10-year period. RESULTS: Assuming access to treatment remains constant,
      increasing coverage of LLINs was consistently the most cost-effective
      intervention across a range of transmission settings and was found to occur early
      in the cost-effectiveness scale-up pathway. IRS, RTS,S and SMC entered the cost
      effective pathway once LLIN coverage had been maximised. If non-linear production
      functions are included to capture the cost of reaching very high coverage, the
      resulting pathways become more complex and result in selection of multiple
      interventions. CONCLUSIONS: RTS,S was consistently implemented later in the cost
      effectiveness pathway than the LLINs, IRS and SMC but was still of value as a
      fourth intervention in many settings to reduce burden to the levels set out in
      the international goals.

PMID- 28588995
TI  - Decentralising and integrating HIV services in community-based health systems: a
      qualitative study of perceptions at macro, meso and micro levels of the health
      system.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: HIV services at the community level in Kenya are currently
      delivered largely through vertical programmes. The funding for these programmes
      is declining at the same time as the tasks of delivering HIV services are being
      shifted to the community. While integrating HIV into existing community health
      services creates a platform for increasing coverage, normalising HIV and making
      services more sustainable in high-prevalence settings, little is known about the
      feasibility of moving to a more integrated approach or about how acceptable such
      a move would be to the affected parties. METHODS: We used qualitative methods to
      explore perceptions of integrating HIV services in two counties in Kenya,
      interviewing national and county policymakers, county-level implementers and
      community-level actors. Data were recorded digitally, translated, transcribed and
      coded in NVivo10 prior to a framework analysis. RESULTS: We found that a range of
      HIV-related roles such as counselling, testing, linkage, adherence support and
      home-based care were already being performed in the community in an ad hoc
      manner. However, respondents expressed a desire for a more coordinated approach
      and for decentralising the integration of HIV services to the community level as
      parallel programming had resulted in gaps in HIV service and planning. In
      particular, integrating home-based testing and counselling within government
      community health structures was considered timely. CONCLUSIONS: Integration can
      normalise HIV testing in Kenyan communities, integrate lay counsellors into the
      health system and address community desires for a household-led approach.

PMID- 28588996
TI  - Implementing One Health as an integrated approach to health in Rwanda.
AB  - It is increasingly clear that resolution of complex global health problems
      requires interdisciplinary, intersectoral expertise and cooperation from
      governmental, non-governmental and educational agencies. 'One Health' refers to
      the collaboration of multiple disciplines and sectors working locally, nationally
      and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment.
      One Health offers the opportunity to acknowledge shared interests, set common
      goals, and drive toward team work to benefit the overall health of a nation. As
      in most countries, the health of Rwanda's people and economy are highly dependent
      on the health of the environment. Recently, Rwanda has developed a One Health
      strategic plan to meet its human, animal and environmental health challenges.
      This approach drives innovations that are important to solve both acute and
      chronic health problems and offers synergy across systems, resulting in improved
      communication, evidence-based solutions, development of a new generation of
      systems-thinkers, improved surveillance, decreased lag time in response, and
      improved health and economic savings. Several factors have enabled the One Health
      movement in Rwanda including an elaborate network of community health workers,
      existing rapid response teams, international academic partnerships willing to
      look more broadly than at a single disease or population, and relative equity
      between female and male health professionals. Barriers to implementing this
      strategy include competition over budget, poor communication, and the need for
      improved technology. Given the interconnectedness of our global community, it may
      be time for countries and their neighbours to follow Rwanda's lead and consider
      incorporating One Health principles into their national strategic health plans.

PMID- 28588997
TI  - Taking the health aid debate to the subnational level: the impact and allocation
      of foreign health aid in Malawi.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cross-national studies provide inconclusive results as to the
      effectiveness of foreign health aid. We highlight a novel application of using
      subnational data to evaluate aid impacts, using Malawi as a case study. DESIGN:
      We employ two rounds of nationally representative household surveys (2004/2005
      and 2010/2011) and geo-referenced foreign aid data. We examine the determinants
      of Malawi's traditional authorities receiving aid according to health,
      environmental risk, socioeconomic and political factors. We use two approaches to
      estimate the impact of aid on reducing malaria prevalence and increasing
      healthcare quality: difference-in-difference models, which include traditional
      authority and month-of-interview fixed effects and control for individual and
      household level time-varying factors, and entropy balancing, where models balance
      on health-related and socioeconomic baseline characteristics. General health aid
      and four specific health aid sectors are examined. RESULTS: Traditional
      authorities with greater proportions of individuals living in urban areas, more
      health facilities and greater proportions of those in major ethnic groups were
      more likely to receive aid. Difference-in-difference models show health
      infrastructure and parasitic disease control aid reduced malaria prevalence by
      1.20 (95% CI -0.36 to 2.76) and 2.20 (95% CI 0.43 to 3.96) percentage points,
      respectively, and increased the likelihood of individuals reporting healthcare as
      more than adequate by 12.1 (95% CI 1.51 to 22.68) and 14.0 (95% CI 0.11 to 28.11)
      percentage points. Entropy balancing shows similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Aid was
      targeted to areas with greater existing health infrastructure rather than areas
      most in need, but still effectively reduced malaria prevalence and enhanced self
      reported healthcare quality.

PMID- 28588998
TI  - Significance of informal (on-the-job) learning and leadership development in
      health systems: lessons from a district finance team in South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The district health system (DHS) has a critical role to play in the
      delivery of primary healthcare (PHC). Effective district management, particularly
      leadership is considered to be crucial element of the DHS. Internationally, the
      debate around developing leadership competencies such as motivation or
      empowerment of staff, managing relationships, being solution driven as well as
      fostering teamwork are argued to be possible through approaches such as formal
      and informal training. Despite growing multidisciplinary evidence in fields such
      as engineering, computer sciences and health sciences there remains little
      empirical evidence of these approaches, especially the informal approach.
      Findings are based on a broader doctoral thesis which explored district financial
      management; although the core focus of this paper draws attention to the
      significance of informal learning and its practical value in developing
      leadership competencies. METHODS: A qualitative case study was conducted in one
      district in the Gauteng province, South Africa. Purposive and snowballing
      techniques yielded a sample of 18 participants, primarily based at a district
      level. Primary data collected through in-depth interviews and observations
      (participant and non-participant) were analysed using thematic analysis.
      FINDINGS: Results indicate the sorts of complexities, particularly financial
      management challenges which staff face and draws attention to the use of two
      informal learning strategies-learning from others (how to communicate, delegate)
      and fostering team-based learning. Such strategies played a role in developing a
      cadre of leaders at a district level who displayed essential competencies such as
      motivating staff, and problem solving. CONCLUSIONS: It is crucial for health
      systems, especially those in financially constrained settings to find cost
      effective ways to develop leadership competencies such as being solution driven
      or motivating and empowering staff. This study illustrates that it is possible to
      develop such competencies through creating and nurturing a learning environment
      (on-the-job training) which could be incorporated into everyday practice.

PMID- 28588999
TI  - What is the value of palliative care provision in low-resource settings?

PMID- 28589000
TI  - System-wide analysis of health financing equity in Cambodia: a study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess progress towards universal health coverage, countries like
      Cambodia require evidence on equity in the financing and distribution of
      healthcare benefits. This evidence must be based on a system-wide perspective
      that recognises the complex roles played by the public and private sectors in
      many contemporary healthcare systems. OBJECTIVE: To undertake a system-wide
      assessment of who pays and who benefits from healthcare in Cambodia and to
      understand the factors influencing this. METHODS: Financing and benefit incidence
      analysis will be used to calculate the financing burden and distribution of
      healthcare benefits across socioeconomic groups. Data on healthcare usage, living
      standards and self-assessed health status will be derived from a cross-sectional
      household survey designed for this study involving a random sample of 5000
      households. This will be supplemented by secondary data from the Cambodian
      National Health Accounts 2014 and the Cambodian Socioeconomic Survey (CSES) 2014.
      We will also collect qualitative data through focus group discussions and in
      depth interviews to inform the interpretation of the quantitative analyses.
      POTENTIAL IMPACT: This study will produce previously unavailable information on
      who pays for, and who benefits from, health services across the entire health
      system of Cambodia. This evidence comes at a critical juncture in healthcare
      reform in South-East Asia with so many countries seeking guidance on the equity
      impact of their current financing arrangements that include a complex mix of
      public and private providers.

PMID- 28589001
TI  - Multisite prospective investigation of psychological outcomes following cataract
      surgery in Vietnam.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cataract surgery is a low-cost and effective intervention. There is
      increasing evidence to suggest that cataract surgery is associated with
      improvements in mobility, overall functioning and reductions in psychological
      distress. Within low-income and middle-income countries, cataract surgery has
      also been documented to lead to reductions in psychological distress; however,
      differences in economic activity and engagement in paid and domestic work in
      these countries may moderate such reductions. We aimed to examine the
      psychological outcomes following cataract surgery among a diverse Vietnamese
      sample. METHODS: We report findings from the VISIONARY study, a 12-month
      multisite prospective study of cataract surgery outcomes conducted in Vietnam
      (N=462). Generalised estimating equations (GEEs) were used to identify the
      variables which were associated with reduced psychological distress. RESULTS: A
      high proportion of participants (56.6%) reported psychological distress before
      surgery and severity of psychological distress had decreased by 12 months
      following surgery (95% CI (4.13 to 4.95)). There were regional differences in the
      extent of improvement in psychological distress and change in paid and unpaid
      work. The extent of improvement in visual acuity, male gender, and increase in
      paid and unpaid work hours were significant predictors of reductions in
      psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Cataract surgery appears to result in the
      greatest reductions in psychological distress in communities where work
      engagement is highest. FUNDING: The VISIONARY study was funded by a grant
      provided by the Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia. During the course of this
      work, BME was in receipt of an Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship and a National
      Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) fellowship (1072148), SJ received an
      NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, MLH was in receipt of a National Heart
      Foundation Future Leader Fellowship 100034.

PMID- 28589002
TI  - Randomised controlled trial of a livestock productive asset transfer programme to
      improve economic and health outcomes and reduce intimate partner violence in a
      postconflict setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diverse economic empowerment programmes (eg, microcredit, village-led
      savings and loan, cash and productive asset transfers) for the poor have
      demonstrated mixed results as vehicles for improved economic stability, health
      and women's empowerment. However, limited rigorous evaluations exist on the
      impact of financial and non-financial outcomes of these programmes, especially in
      conflict-affected areas. METHODS: The team evaluated the effectiveness of an
      innovative livestock productive asset transfer intervention-Pigs for Peace (PFP)
      on economic, health and women's empowerment outcomes with participants in
      households in 10 villages in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Residual
      change analysis was used to examine the amount of change from baseline to 18
      months between the intervention and delayed control groups, controlling for
      baseline scores. FINDINGS: The majority of the 833 household participants were
      women (84%), 25 years of age or older, married, had on average 3 children and had
      never attended school. At 18 months postbaseline, the number of participants in
      the PFP households having outstanding credit/loans was 24.7% lower than
      households in the control group (p=0.028), and they had an 8.2% greater
      improvement in subjective health (p=0.026), a 57.1% greater reduction in symptoms
      of anxiety (p=0.020) and a 5.7% greater improvement in symptoms of post-traumatic
      stress disorder (p<-0.001). At 18 months postbaseline, partnered women and men
      reported a reduction in experience and perpetration of all forms of intimate
      partner violence, although not statistically significant between groups.
      INTERPRETATION: The findings support scalability of a livestock productive asset
      transfer programme in rural and conflict-affected settings where residents have
      extremely limited access to financial institutions or credit programmes, health
      or social services and where social norms that sustain gender inequality are
      strong. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02008708.

PMID- 28589003
TI  - Household expenditures on pneumonia and diarrhoea treatment in Ethiopia: a
      facility-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Out-of-pocket (OOP) medical payments can lead to catastrophic health
      expenditure and impoverishment. We quantified household OOP expenditure for
      treatment of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea and its impact on poverty for
      different socioeconomic groups in Ethiopia. METHODS: This study employs a mix of
      retrospective and prospective primary household data collection for direct
      medical and non-medical costs (2013 US$). Data from 345 pneumonia and 341
      diarrhoea cases (0-59 months of age) were collected retrospectively through exit
      interviews from 35 purposively sampled health facilities in Ethiopia. Prospective
      2-week follow-up interviews were conducted at the household level using a
      structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean total medical expenditures per
      outpatient visit were US$8 for pneumonia and US$6 for diarrhoea, while the mean
      for inpatient visits was US$64 for severe pneumonia and US$79 for severe
      diarrhoea. The mean associated direct non-medical costs (mainly transport costs)
      were US$2, US$2, US$13 and US$20 respectively. 7% and 6% of the households with a
      case of severe pneumonia and severe diarrhoea, respectively, were pushed below
      the extreme poverty threshold of purchasing power parity (PPP) US$1.25 per day.
      Wealthier and urban households had higher OOP payments, but poorer and rural
      households were more likely to be impoverished due to medical payments.
      CONCLUSIONS: Households in Ethiopia incur considerable costs for the treatment of
      childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia with catastrophic consequences and
      impoverishment. The present circumstances call for revisiting the existing health
      financing strategy for high-priority services that places a substantial burden of
      payment on households at the point of care.

PMID- 28589004
TI  - Aftermath of Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad Basin: a neglected global
      health threat.

PMID- 28589005
TI  - Synergies and tensions between universal health coverage and global health
      security: why we need a second 'Maximizing Positive Synergies' initiative.

PMID- 28589006
TI  - Modifying the Interagency Emergency Health Kit to include treatment for non
      communicable diseases in natural disasters and complex emergencies: the missing
      clinical, operational and humanitarian perspectives.

PMID- 28589007
TI  - Are national policies on global health in fact national policies on global health
      governance? A comparison of policy designs from Norway and Switzerland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since the signing of the Oslo Ministerial Declaration in 2007, the
      idea that foreign policy formulation should include health considerations has
      gained traction on the United Nations agenda as evidenced by annual General
      Assembly resolutions on global health and foreign policy. The adoption of
      national policies on global health (NPGH) is one way that some member states
      integrate health and foreign policymaking. This paper explores what these
      policies intend to do and how countries plan to do it. METHODS: Using a most
      similar systems design, we carried out a comparative study of two policy
      documents formally adopted in 2012. We conducted a directed qualitative content
      analysis of the Norwegian White Paper on Global health in foreign and development
      policy and the Swiss Health Foreign Policy using Schneider and Ingram's policy
      design framework. After replicating analysis methods for each document, we
      analysed them side by side to explore the commonalities and differences across
      elements of NPGH design. RESULTS: Analyses indicate that NPGH expect to influence
      change outside their borders. Targeting the international level, they aim to
      affect policy venues, multilateral partnerships and international institutions.
      Instruments for supporting desired changes are primarily those of health
      diplomacy, proposed as a tool for negotiating interests and objectives for global
      health between multiple sectors, used internally in Switzerland and externally in
      Norway. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that NPGH designs contribute to constructing
      the global health governance system by identifying it as a policy target, and
      policy instruments may elude the health sector actors unless implementation rules
      explicitly include them. Research should explore how future NPGH designs may
      construct different kinds of targets as politicised groups of actors on which
      national governments seek to exercise influence for global health decision
      making.

PMID- 28589008
TI  - Disease prevalence among nursery school children after the Great East Japan
      earthquake.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between personal experience of the
      Great East Japan Earthquake and various disease types among nursery school
      children. DESIGN: We conducted a nationwide survey of nursery school children
      born between 2 April 2006 and 1 April 2007. Nursery school teachers completed
      questionnaires if they agreed to join the study. Questionnaire items for children
      consisted of their birth year and month, sex, any history of moving into or out
      of the current nursery school, presence of diseases diagnosed by a physician at
      the age of 66-78 months and type of disaster experience. The survey was conducted
      from September 2012 to December 2012. SETTING: Japan, nationwide. PARTICIPANTS: A
      total of 60 270 nursery school children were included in the analysis, 840 of
      whom experienced the disaster on 11 March 2011. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The health
      status of children 1.5 years after the disaster based on nursery school records.
      RESULTS: Experiencing the disaster significantly affected the prevalence of
      overall and individual diseases. Furthermore, there was a difference in disease
      prevalence between boys and girls. In boys, experiencing the tsunami (OR 2.53,
      95% CI 1.22 to 5.24) and living in an evacuation centre (OR 2.92, 95% CI 1.46 to
      5.83) were remarkably associated with a higher prevalence of atopic dermatitis,
      but these trends were not observed among girls. Instead, the home being destroyed
      (OR 3.50, 95% CI 2.02 to 6.07) and moving house (OR 4.19, 95% CI 2.01 to 8.71)
      were positively associated with a higher prevalence of asthma among girls.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that experiencing the disaster may have affected
      the health status of nursery school children at least up to 1.5 years after the
      disaster. Continuous monitoring of the health status of children is necessary to
      develop strategic plans for child health.

PMID- 28589009
TI  - Impact of the global financial crisis on low birth weight in Portugal: a time
      trend analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 2007-2008 global financial crisis had adverse consequences on
      population health of affected European countries. Few contemporary studies have
      studied its effect on perinatal indicators with long-lasting influence on adult
      health. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the impact of the 2007-2008
      global financial crisis on low birth weight (LBW) in Portugal. METHODS: Data on 2
      045 155 singleton births of 1995-2014 were obtained from Statistics Portugal.
      Joinpoint regression analysis was performed to identify the years in which
      changes in LBW trends occurred, and to estimate the annual per cent changes
      (APC). LBW risk by time period expressed as prevalence ratios were computed using
      the Poisson regression. Contextual changes in sociodemographic and economic
      factors were provided by their trends. RESULTS: The joinpoint analysis identified
      3 distinct periods (2 jointpoints) with different APC in LBW, corresponding to
      1995-1999 (APC=4.4; 95% CI 3.2 to 5.6), 2000-2006 (APC=0.1; 95% CI -050 to 0.7)
      and 2007-2014 (APC=1.6; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0). For non-Portuguese, it was,
      respectively, 1995-1999 (APC=1.4; 95% CI -3.9 to 7.0%), 2000-2007 (APC=-4.2; 95%
      CI -6.4 to -2.0) and 2008-2014 (APC=3.1; 95% CI 0.8 to 5.5). Compared with 1995
      1999, all specific maternal characteristics had a 10-15% increase in LBW risk in
      2000-2006 and a 20-25% increase in 2007-2014, except among migrants, for which
      LBW risk remained lower than in 1995-1999 but increased after the crisis. The
      increasing LBW risk coincides with a deceleration in gross domestic product
      growth rate, reduction in health expenditure, social protection allocation on
      family/children support and sickness. CONCLUSIONS: The 2007-2008 global financial
      crisis was associated with a significant increase in LBW, particularly among
      infants of non-Portuguese mothers. We recommend strengthening social policies
      aimed at maternity protection for vulnerable mothers and health system
      maintenance of social equity in perinatal healthcare.

PMID- 28589010
TI  - Effects of economic downturns on child mortality: a global economic analysis,
      1981-2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyse how economic downturns affect child mortality both
      globally and among subgroups of countries of variable income levels. DESIGN:
      Retrospective observational study using economic data from the World Bank's
      Development Indicators and Global Development Finance (2013 edition). Child
      mortality data were sourced from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
      SETTING: Global. PARTICIPANTS: 204 countries between 1981 and 2010. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Child mortality, controlling for country-specific differences in
      political, healthcare, cultural, structural, educational and economic factors.
      RESULTS: 197 countries experienced at least 1 economic downturn between 1981 and
      2010, with a mean of 7.97 downturns per country (range 0-21; SD 0.45). At the
      global level, downturns were associated with significant (p<0.0001)
      deteriorations in each child mortality measure, in comparison with non-downturn
      years: neonatal (coefficient: 1.11, 95% CI 0.855 to 1.37), postneonatal (2.00,
      95% CI 1.61 to 2.38), child (2.93, 95% CI 2.26 to 3.60) and under 5 years of age
      (5.44, 95% CI 4.31 to 6.58) mortality rates. Stronger (larger falls in the growth
      rate of gross domestic product/capita) and longer (lasting 2 years rather than 1)
      downturns were associated with larger significant deteriorations (p<0.001).
      During economic downturns, countries in the poorest quartile experienced ~11/2
      times greater deterioration in neonatal mortality, compared with their own
      baseline; a 3-fold deterioration in postneonatal mortality; a 9-fold
      deterioration in child mortality and a 3-fold deterioration in under-5 mortality,
      than countries in the wealthiest quartile (p<0.0005). For 1-5 years after
      downturns ended, each mortality measure continued to display significant
      deteriorations (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Economic downturns occur frequently and
      are associated with significant deteriorations in child mortality, with worse
      declines in lower income countries.

PMID- 28589012
TI  - 'They will be afraid to touch you': LGBTI people and sex workers' experiences of
      accessing healthcare in Zimbabwe-an in-depth qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine experiences of key populations (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
      trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex
      workers) in Zimbabwe regarding access to, and experiences of, healthcare. DESIGN:
      Qualitative study using in-depth interviews and focus groups, with thematic
      analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty individuals from key populations in Zimbabwe.
      SETTING: Participants were recruited from four locations (Harare, Bulawayo,
      Mutare, Beitbridge/Masvingo). RESULTS: Participants described considerable unmet
      needs and barriers to accessing basic healthcare due to discrimination regarding
      key population status, exacerbated by the sociopolitical/legal environment. Three
      main themes emerged: (1) key populations' illnesses were caused by their
      behaviour; (2) equal access to healthcare is conditional on key populations
      conforming to 'sexual norms' and (3) perceptions that healthcare workers were ill
      informed about key populations, and that professionals' personal attitudes
      affected care delivery. Participants felt unable to discuss their key population
      status with healthcare workers. Their healthcare needs were expected to be met
      almost entirely by their own communities. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of very few
      studies of healthcare access beyond HIV for key populations in Africa.
      Discrimination towards key populations discourages early diagnosis, limits access
      to healthcare/treatment and increases risk of transmission of infectious
      diseases. Key populations experience unnecessary suffering from untreated
      conditions, exclusion from healthcare and extreme psychological distress.
      Education is needed to reduce stigma and enhance sensitive clinical interviewing
      skills. Clinical and public health implications of discrimination in healthcare
      must be addressed through evidence-based interventions for professionals,
      particularly in contexts with sociopolitical/legal barriers to equality.

PMID- 28589011
TI  - Modelling the health and economic impacts of the elimination of river blindness
      (onchocerciasis) in Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is endemic mostly in remote and
      rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The treatment goal for onchocerciasis has
      shifted from control to elimination in Africa. For investment decisions, national
      and global policymakers need evidence on benefits, costs and risks of elimination
      initiatives. METHODS: We estimated the health benefits using a dynamical
      transmission model, and the needs for health workforce and outpatient services
      for elimination strategies in comparison to a control mode. We then estimated the
      associated costs to both health systems and households and the potential economic
      impacts in terms of income gains. RESULTS: The elimination of onchocerciasis in
      Africa would avert 4.3 million-5.6 million disability-adjusted life years over
      2013-2045 when compared with staying in the control mode, and also reduce the
      required number of community volunteers by 45-53% and community health workers by
      56-60%. The elimination of onchocerciasis in Africa when compared with the
      control mode is predicted to save outpatient service costs by $37.2 million-$39.9
      million and out-of-pocket payments by $25.5 million-$26.9 million over 2013-2045,
      and generate economic benefits up to $5.9 billion-$6.4 billion in terms of income
      gains. DISCUSSION: The elimination of onchocerciasis in Africa would lead to
      substantial health and economic benefits, reducing the needs for health workforce
      and outpatient services. To realise these benefits, the support and collaboration
      of community, national and global policymakers would be needed to sustain the
      elimination strategies.

PMID- 28589013
TI  - Quality assurance of medicines supplied to low-income and middle-income
      countries: poor products in shiny boxes?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In today's context of globalisation of pharmaceutical production and
      distribution, international and national procurement agencies play a de facto key
      role in defining the quality of medicines available in sub-Saharan Africa. We
      evaluated the compliance of a sample of pharmaceutical distributors active in sub
      Saharan Africa with the standards of the WHO guideline 'Model Quality Assurance
      System (WHO MQAS) for procurement agencies', and we investigated factors
      favouring or hindering the adequate implementation of the guideline. METHODS: We
      used mixed-methods methodology to analyse quantitative and qualitative data. The
      quantitative study consisted of a retrospective secondary analysis of data
      collected by QUAMED (Quality Medicines for all), a partnership that pleads for
      universal access to quality-assured medicines. The qualitative survey consisted
      of formal and informal interviews with key informants. We adopted an embedded
      multiple-case study design. FINDINGS: Our analysis suggests that international
      distributors based in Europe perform, on average, better than sub-Saharan African
      distributors. However, some weaknesses are ubiquitous and concern critical
      processes, such as the initial selection of the products and the ongoing
      reassessment of their quality. This is due to several different factors: weak
      regulatory oversight, insufficient human/financial resources, weak negotiating
      power, limited judicial autonomy and/or lack of institutional commitment to
      quality. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that pharmaceutical distributors
      active in sub-Saharan Africa generally do not apply stringent criteria for
      selecting products and suppliers. Therefore, product quality is not consistently
      assured but depends on the requirements of purchasers. While long-term solutions
      are awaited, the WHO MQAS guideline should be used as an evaluation and training
      tool to upgrade current standards.

PMID- 28589014
TI  - Unethical randomised controlled trial of cervical screening in India: US Freedom
      of Information Act disclosures.
AB  - A randomised controlled trial conducted in Mumbai, India, compared invasive
      cervical cancer rates among women offered cervical screening with invasive
      cervical cancer rates among women offered no-screening. The US Office for Human
      Research Protections determined the Mumbai trial was unethical because informed
      consent was not obtained from trial participants. Reportedly, cervical screening
      in the Mumbai trial reduced invasive cervical cancer mortality rates, but not
      invasive cervical cancer incidence rates. Documents obtained through the US
      Freedom of Information Act disclose that the US National Cancer Institute funded
      the Mumbai trial from 1997 to 2015 to study 'visual inspection/downstaging'
      tests. However, 'visual inspection/downstaging' tests had been judged
      unsatisfactory for cancer control before the Mumbai trial began. 'Visual
      inspection/downstaging' tests failed to reduce invasive cervical cancer incidence
      rates in Mumbai because 'visual inspection/downstaging' tests, by design, failed
      to detect preinvasive cervical lesions. None of the 151 538 Mumbai trial
      participants, in either the intervention or control arms, received cervical
      screening tests that detected preinvasive cervical lesions. Because of
      missing/discrepant clinical staging data, it is uncertain whether 'visual
      inspection/downstaging' tests actually reduced invasive cervical cancer mortality
      rates in Mumbai. Documents obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act
      disclose that US National Cancer Institute leaders avoided accountability by
      making false and misleading statements to Congressional oversight staff. Our
      findings contradict assurances given to President Barack Obama that regulations
      pertaining to global health research supported by the US government adequately
      protect human participants from unethical treatment. US National Cancer Institute
      leaders should develop policies to compensate victims of unethical global health
      research. All surviving Mumbai trial participants should finally receive cervical
      screening tests that detect preinvasive cervical lesions.

PMID- 28589016
TI  - 'We identify, discuss, act and promise to prevent similar deaths': a qualitative
      study of Ethiopia's Maternal Death Surveillance and Response system.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ethiopia introduced national Maternal Death Surveillance and
      Response (MDSR) in 2013 and is among the first sub-Saharan African countries to
      capture data on facility-based and community-based maternal deaths. We
      interviewed frontline MDSR implementers about their experiences of the first 2
      years of MDSR, including perceptions of its introduction and outcomes for health
      services. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative case study in 4 zones in the
      largest regions, interviewing 69 key informants from regional, zonal, district
      and facility levels. RESULTS: A defining feature of Ethiopia's MDSR system is its
      integration within existing disease surveillance, with both benefits and
      challenges. Facilitators of the system's introduction were strong political
      support, alignment with broader health strategies and strong links across health
      system departments. Barriers included confusion around new responsibilities, high
      staff turnover and fear of legal repercussions. Stakeholders believed MDSR
      increased confidence in using local data to improve maternal health services and
      enhanced communication across the health system. CONCLUSIONS: MDSR systems take
      time to establish, encountering challenges in early implementation. Ensuring MDSR
      has a clear purpose, explicitly defined roles and responsibilities, and adequate
      supervisory support from the start will ensure it becomes embedded within the
      health system as routine practice rather than perceived as a stand-alone system.
      Countries planning to adopt or extend MDSR can learn from Ethiopia's experience,
      particularly the decision to make maternal mortality a weekly reportable
      condition within Public Health Emergency Management.

PMID- 28589017
TI  - Financing for universal health coverage in small island states: evidence from the
      Fiji Islands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Universal health coverage (UHC) is critical to global poverty
      alleviation and equity of health systems. Many low-income and middle-income
      countries, including small island states in the Pacific, have committed to UHC
      and reforming their health financing systems to better align with UHC goals. This
      study provides the first comprehensive evidence on equity of the health financing
      system in Fiji, a small Pacific island state. The health systems of such states
      are poorly covered in the international literature. METHODS: The study employs
      benefit and financing incidence analyses to evaluate the distribution of health
      financing benefits and burden across the public and private sectors. Primary data
      from a cross-sectional survey of 2000 households were used to assess healthcare
      benefits and secondary data from the 2008-2009 Fiji Household Income and
      Expenditure Survey to assess health financing contributions. These were analysed
      by socioeconomic groups to determine the relative benefit and financing incidence
      across these groups. FINDINGS: The distribution of healthcare benefits in Fiji
      slightly favours the poor-around 61% of public spending for nursing stations and
      26% of spending for government hospital inpatient care were directed to services
      provided to the poorest 20% of the population. The financing system is
      significantly progressive with wealthier groups bearing a higher share of the
      health financing burden. CONCLUSIONS: The healthcare system in Fiji achieves a
      degree of vertical equity in financing, with the poor receiving a higher share of
      benefits from government health spending and bearing a lower share of the
      financing burden than wealthier groups.

PMID- 28588977
TI  - Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in
      children in low-income and middle-income countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the
      provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource
      poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency
      abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally. METHODS:
      Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical
      units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for
      consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and
      December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to
      stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality,
      analysed by multilevel logistic regression. RESULTS: This study included 1409
      patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of
      age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and
      694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were
      appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of
      intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child
      mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95%
      CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009)
      countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per
      1000 procedures performed. CONCLUSIONS: Adjusted mortality in children following
      emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and
      middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of
      emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health
      agendas. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02179112; Pre-results.

PMID- 28589015
TI  - Going beyond personal protection against mosquito bites to eliminate malaria
      transmission: population suppression of malaria vectors that exploit both human
      and animal blood.
AB  - Protecting individuals and households against mosquito bites with long-lasting
      insecticidal nets (LLINs) or indoor residual spraying (IRS) can suppress entire
      populations of unusually efficient malaria vector species that predominantly feed
      indoors on humans. Mosquitoes which usually feed on animals are less reliant on
      human blood, so they are far less vulnerable to population suppression effects of
      such human-targeted insecticidal measures. Fortunately, the dozens of mosquito
      species which primarily feed on animals are also relatively inefficient vectors
      of malaria, so personal protection against mosquito bites may be sufficient to
      eliminate transmission. However, a handful of mosquito species are particularly
      problematic vectors of residual malaria transmission, because they feed readily
      on both humans and animals. These unusual vectors feed often enough on humans to
      be potent malaria vectors, but also often enough on animals to evade population
      control with LLINs, IRS or any other insecticidal personal protection measure
      targeted only to humans. Anopheles arabiensis and A. coluzzii in Africa, A.
      darlingi in South America and A. farauti in Oceania, as well as A. culicifacies
      species E, A. fluviatilis species S, A. lesteri and A. minimus in Asia, all feed
      readily on either humans or animals and collectively mediate residual malaria
      transmission across most of the tropics. Eliminating malaria transmission by
      vectors exhibiting such dual host preferences will require aggressive mosquito
      population abatement, rather than just personal protection of humans. Population
      suppression of even these particularly troublesome vectors is achievable with a
      variety of existing vector control technologies that remain underdeveloped or
      underexploited.

PMID- 28589018
TI  - Public health impact of the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa: seizing
      opportunities for the future.

PMID- 28589019
TI  - Provider-initiated delivery, late preterm birth and perinatal mortality: a
      secondary analysis of the WHO multicountry survey on maternal and newborn health.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In high-income countries, a reduced clinical threshold for
      obstetric interventions such as labour induction (LI) and prelabour caesarean
      delivery (PLCD) has played a substantial role in increasing rates of late preterm
      births. However, the association between provider-initiated delivery and
      perinatal outcomes have not been studied in a multicountry setting including low
      income and middle-income countries. METHODS: 286 hospitals in 29 countries
      participated in the WHO Multi-Country Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health and
      yielded 2 52 198 singleton births of at least 34 weeks in 2010-2011. We used an
      ecological analysis based on generalised estimating equations under multilevel
      logistic regression to estimate associations between hospital rates of PLCD and
      LI with rates of late preterm birth (34-36 weeks), stillbirth and intrahospital
      early neonatal death, in relation to country development based on the Human
      Development Index (HDI). RESULTS: Rates of LI were higher in hospitals from very
      high-HDI (median 10.9%) and high-HDI (11.2%) countries compared with medium-HDI
      (4.0%) or low-HDI (3.8%) countries. Rates of PLCD were by far the lowest in low
      HDI countries compared with countries in the other three categories (5.1% vs
      12.0%-17.9%). Higher rates of PLCD were associated with lower perinatal death
      rates (OR 0.87 (0.79, 0.95) per 5% increase in PLCD) and non-significantly with
      late preterm birth (1.04 (0.98, 1.10)) regardless of country development. LI
      rates were positively associated with late preterm birth (1.04 (1.01, 1.06))
      regardless of country development and with perinatal death (1.06 (0.98, 1.15))
      only in middle-HDI and low- HDI countries. CONCLUSION: PLCD was associated with
      reduced perinatal mortality and non-significantly with increased late preterm
      birth. LI was associated with increases in both late preterm birth and, in less
      developed countries, perinatal mortality. Efforts to provide sufficient, but
      avoid excessive, access to provider-initiated delivery should be tailored to the
      local context.

PMID- 28589021
TI  - Earned print media in advancing tobacco control in Himachal Pradesh, India: a
      descriptive study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Union-Bloomberg Initiative tobacco control projects were
      implemented in Himachal Pradesh (a hilly state in North India) from 2007 to 2014.
      The project focused on the establishment of an administrative framework;
      increasing the capacity of stakeholders; enforcement of legislation; coalition
      and networking with multiple stakeholders; awareness generation with focus on
      earned media and monitoring and evaluation with policy-focussed research. This
      study aimed to systematically analyse all earned print news items related to the
      projects. METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, quantitative
      content analysis of earned print news items was carried out using predetermined
      codes related to areas of tobacco control policies. We also carried out a cost
      description of the hypothetical value of this earned media. The area of the news
      item in cm2 was multiplied by the average rate of space for the paid news item in
      that particular newspaper. RESULTS: There were 6348 news items: the numbers
      steadily increased with time. Focus on Monitoring tobacco use, Protecting people
      from tobacco smoke, Offering help to quit, Warning about dangers of tobacco,
      Enforcing a ban on tobacco advertising and promotion, Raising tax on tobacco
      products was seen in 24, 17, 9, 23, 22 and 3% of news items, respectively. Press
      releases were highest at 44% and report by correspondents at 24%. Further, 55, 23
      and 21% news items focused on smoking, smokeless and both forms of tobacco use,
      respectively. Sixty-six per cent and 34% news items, respectively, were focused
      on youth and women. The news items had a hypothetical value of US$1503 628.3,
      which was three times more than the funds spent on all project activities.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of funding for paid media, the project strategically
      used earned media to promote tobacco control policies in the state.

PMID- 28589020
TI  - Countdown to 2015: an analysis of donor funding for prenatal and neonatal health,
      2003-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2015, 5.3 million babies died in the third trimester of pregnancy
      and first month following birth. Progress in reducing neonatal mortality and
      stillbirth rates has lagged behind the substantial progress in reducing
      postneonatal and maternal mortality rates. The benefits to prenatal and neonatal
      health (PNH) from maternal and child health investments cannot be assumed.
      METHODS: We analysed donor funding for PNH over the period 2003-2013. We used an
      exhaustive key term search followed by manual review and classification to
      identify official development assistance and private grant (ODA+) disbursement
      records in the Countdown to 2015 ODA+ Database. RESULTS: The value of ODA+
      mentioning PNH or an activity that would directly benefit PNH increased from $105
      million in 2003 to $1465 million in 2013, but this included a 3% decline between
      2012 and 2013. Projects exclusively benefitting PNH reached just $6 million in
      2013. Records mentioning PNH accounted for 3% of the $2708 million disbursed in
      2003 for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and increased to 13% of the
      $9287 million disbursed for MNCH in 2013. In 11 years, only nine records ($6
      million) mentioned stillbirth, miscarriage, or the fetus, although the two
      leading infectious causes of stillbirth were mentioned in records worth $832
      million. The USA disbursed the most ODA+ mentioning PNH ($2848 million, 40% of
      the total) and Unicef disbursed the most ODA+ exclusively benefitting PNH ($18
      million, 30%). We found evidence that funding mentioning and exclusively
      benefitting PNH was targeted to countries with greater economic needs, but the
      evidence of targeting to health needs was weak and inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS:
      Newborn health rose substantially on the global agenda between 2003 and 2013, but
      prenatal health received minimal attention in donor funding decisions. Declines
      in 2013 and persistently low funding exclusively benefitting PNH indicate a need
      for caution and continued monitoring of donors' support for newborn health.

PMID- 28589022
TI  - Developing an expanded vector control toolbox for malaria elimination.
AB  - Vector control using long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual
      spraying (IRS) accounts for most of the malaria burden reductions achieved
      recently in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). LLINs and IRS are highly
      effective, but are insufficient to eliminate malaria transmission in many
      settings because of operational constraints, growing resistance to available
      insecticides and mosquitoes that behaviourally avoid contact with these
      interventions. However, a number of substantive opportunities now exist for
      rapidly developing and implementing more diverse, effective and sustainable
      malaria vector control strategies for LMICs. For example, mosquito control in
      high-income countries is predominantly achieved with a combination of mosquito
      proofed housing and environmental management, supplemented with large-scale
      insecticide applications to larval habitats and outdoor spaces that kill off
      vector populations en masse, but all these interventions remain underused in
      LMICs. Programmatic development and evaluation of decentralised, locally managed
      systems for delivering these proactive mosquito population abatement practices in
      LMICs could therefore enable broader scale-up. Furthermore, a diverse range of
      emerging or repurposed technologies are becoming available for targeting
      mosquitoes when they enter houses, feed outdoors, attack livestock, feed on sugar
      or aggregate into mating swarms. Global policy must now be realigned to mobilise
      the political and financial support necessary to exploit these opportunities over
      the decade ahead, so that national malaria control and elimination programmes can
      access a much broader, more effective set of vector control interventions.

PMID- 28589023
TI  - Measuring, manipulating and exploiting behaviours of adult mosquitoes to optimise
      malaria vector control impact.
AB  - Residual malaria transmission can persist despite high coverage with effective
      long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and/or indoor residual spraying (IRS),
      because many vector mosquitoes evade them by feeding on animals, feeding
      outdoors, resting outdoors or rapidly exiting from houses after entering them.
      However, many of these behaviours that render vectors resilient to control with
      IRS and LLINs also make them vulnerable to some emerging new alternative
      interventions. Furthermore, vector control measures targeting preferred
      behaviours of mosquitoes often force them to express previously rare alternative
      behaviours, which can then be targeted with these complementary new
      interventions. For example, deployment of LLINs against vectors that historically
      fed predominantly indoors on humans typically results in persisting transmission
      by residual populations that survive by feeding outdoors on humans and animals,
      where they may then be targeted with vapour-phase insecticides and veterinary
      insecticides, respectively. So while the ability of mosquitoes to express
      alternative behaviours limits the impact of LLINs and IRS, it also creates
      measurable and unprecedented opportunities for deploying complementary additional
      approaches that would otherwise be ineffective. Now that more diverse vector
      control methods are finally becoming available, well-established entomological
      field techniques for surveying adult mosquito behaviours should be fully
      exploited by national malaria control programmes, to rationally and adaptively
      map out new opportunities for their effective deployment.

PMID- 28589024
TI  - Healthcare-seeking behaviour, barriers and mental health of non-domestic migrant
      workers in Singapore.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low-wage migrant workers are vulnerable to healthcare inequities. We
      sought to identify potential barriers to healthcare and risk factors for mental
      health issues in non-domestic migrant workers in Singapore, and identify high
      risk subgroups. METHODS: A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey of
      433 non-domestic migrant workers was conducted at subsidised clinics and a
      foreign worker dormitory from July to August 2016. Questions assessed healthcare
      usage patterns, affordability issues, barriers to care and psychological distress
      using a validated screening scale (Kessler-6). FINDINGS: Bangladeshi workers
      surveyed were more likely to be single, have more financial dependents, a lower
      level of education and salary and pay higher agent fees (p<0.01). 61.4% of
      workers reported that they had insurance, but had poor understanding of whether
      it covered inpatient/outpatient expenses. The majority of workers had not, or
      were not sure if they had, received information about company-bought insurance
      (72.4%). Among those who had, most reported that information was not in their
      native language (67.7%). Non-specific psychological distress was found in 21.9%,
      as estimated by the Kessler-6 scale. Multivariate analysis found that
      psychological distress was independently associated with Bangladeshi nationals
      (OR 2.98, 95% CI 1.58 to 5.62; p=0.001) and previous experience of financial
      barriers to healthcare (OR 3.86, 95% CI 2.25 to 6.62; p<0.0001). INTERPRETATION:
      We identified gaps in non-domestic migrant workers' knowledge of healthcare
      coverage, and substantial financial barriers to healthcare. The Bangladeshi
      population in our study was at higher risk of such barriers and psychological
      distress. These represent areas for further research and intervention.

PMID- 28589025
TI  - Assessing the Brazilian surgical system with six surgical indicators: a
      descriptive and modelling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brazil boasts a health scheme that aspires to provide universal
      coverage, but its surgical system has rarely been analysed. In an effort to
      strengthen surgical systems worldwide, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery
      proposed a collection of 6 standardised indicators: 2-hour access to surgery,
      surgical workforce density, surgical volume, perioperative mortality rate (POMR)
      and protection against impoverishing and catastrophic expenditure. This study
      aims to characterise the Brazilian surgical health system with these newly
      devised indicators while gaining understanding on the complexity of the
      indicators themselves. METHODS: Using Brazil's national healthcare database,
      commonly reported healthcare variables were used to calculate or simulate the 6
      surgical indicators. Access to surgery was calculated using hospital locations,
      surgical workforce density was calculated using locations of surgeons,
      anaesthesiologists and obstetricians (SAO), and surgical volume and POMR were
      identified with surgical procedure codes. The rates of protection against
      impoverishing and catastrophic expenditure were modelled using cost of surgical
      inpatient hospitalisations and a gamma distribution of incomes based on Gini and
      gross domestic product/capita. FINDINGS: In 2014, SAO density was 34.7/100 000
      population, surgical volume was 4433 procedures/100 000 people and POMR was
      1.71%. 79.4% of surgical patients were protected against impoverishing
      expenditure and 84.6% were protected against catastrophic expenditure due to
      surgery each year. 2-hour access to surgery was not able to be calculated from
      national health data, but a proxy measure suggested that 97.2% of the population
      has 2-hour access to a hospital that may be able to provide surgery. Geographic
      disparities were seen in all indicators. INTERPRETATION: Brazil's public surgical
      system meets several key benchmarks. Geographic disparities, however, are
      substantial and raise concerns of equity. Policies should focus on stimulating
      appropriate geographic allocation of the surgical workforce and better
      distribution of surgical volume. In some cases, where benchmarks for each
      indicator are met, supplemental analysis can further inform our understanding of
      health systems. This measured and systematic evaluation should be encouraged for
      all nations seeking to better understand their surgical systems.

PMID- 28589026
TI  - UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets to end the AIDS epidemic by 2020 are not realistic:
      comment on "Can the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target be achieved? A systematic analysis of
      national HIV treatment cascades".

PMID- 28589027
TI  - Developing a globally applicable evidence-informed competency framework to
      support capacity strengthening in clinical research.
AB  - Capacity development for clinical research is held back by a lack of recognition
      for the skills acquired through involvement in clinical trials and in other
      varied types of global health research studies. Although some competency
      frameworks and associated recognised career pathways exist for different clinical
      research roles, they mostly apply to a single role or study setting. Our
      experience supports the need for an integrated approach, looking at the many
      roles in parallel and at all types of clinical research beyond trials. Here, we
      propose a single, flexible framework which is applicable to the full global
      health research team, and can be used for recognising staff by highlighting
      acquired skills and possible progression between various roles. It can also
      illuminate where capacity needs strengthening and contribute to raising research
      engagement. Through systematic analysis of existing competency frameworks and
      current job descriptions covering 11 distinct, broad clinical research roles, we
      identified and defined 50 key competencies required by the team as a whole and
      throughout the study life cycle. The competencies are relevant and adaptable to
      studies that differ in design, geographical location or disease, and fall in five
      main areas-(1) Ethics, Quality and Risk Management; (2) Study and Site
      Management; (3) Research Operations; (4) Scientific Thinking; and (5)
      Professional Skills. A pilot framework and implementation tools are now available
      online and in paper format. They have the potential to be a new mechanism for
      enabling research skills development and career progression for all staff engaged
      in clinical research globally.

PMID- 28589028
TI  - Do changes to supply chains and procurement processes yield cost savings and
      improve availability of pharmaceuticals, vaccines or health products? A
      systematic review of evidence from low-income and middle-income countries.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Improving health systems performance, especially in low-resource
      settings facing complex disease burdens, can improve population health.
      Specifically, the efficiency and effectiveness of supply chains and procurement
      processes for pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other health products has important
      implications for health system performance. Pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other
      health products make up a large share of total health expenditure in low-income
      and middle-income countries (LMICs), and they are critical for delivering health
      services. Therefore, programmes which achieve cost savings on these expenditures
      may help improve a health system's efficiency, whereas programmes that increase
      availability of health products may improve a health system's effectiveness. This
      systematic review investigates whether changes to supply chains and procurement
      processes can achieve cost savings and/or improve the availability of drugs in
      LMICs. METHODS: Using the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we searched
      PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and the Health Economic Evaluation Database to identify.
      RESULTS: We identified 1264 articles, of which 38 were included in our study. We
      found evidence that centralised procurement and tendering can achieve direct cost
      savings, while supply chain management programmes can reduce drug stock outs and
      increase drug availability for populations. CONCLUSIONS: This research identifies
      a broad set of programmes which can improve the ways that health systems purchase
      and delivery health products. On the basis of this evidence, policymakers and
      programme managers should examine the root causes of inefficiencies in
      pharmaceutical supply chain and procurement processes in order to determine how
      best to improve health systems performance in their specific contexts.

PMID- 28589029
TI  - Redefining universal health coverage in the age of global health security.

PMID- 28589030
TI  - WHO's reply to 'Cholera in the time of War: implications of weak surveillance in
      Syria for the WHO's preparedness-a comparison of two monitoring systems.

PMID- 28589031
TI  - Governing the mixed health workforce: learning from Asian experiences.
AB  - Examination of the composition of the health workforce in many low and middle
      income countries (LMICs) reveals deep-seated heterogeneity that manifests in
      multiple ways: varying levels of official legitimacy and informality of practice;
      wide gradation in type of employment and behaviour (public to private) and
      diverse, sometimes overlapping, systems of knowledge and variably specialised
      cadres of providers. Coordinating this mixed workforce necessitates an approach
      to governance that is responsive to the opportunities and challenges presented by
      this diversity. This article discusses some of these opportunities and challenges
      for LMICs in general, and illustrates them through three case studies from
      different Asian country settings.

PMID- 28589032
TI  - Global health governance: we need innovation not renovation.

PMID- 28589033
TI  - Sex differences in coronary heart disease and stroke mortality: a global
      assessment of the effect of ageing between 1980 and 2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease mortality rates are well known to be lower in
      women than men and to increase with age. Whether these sex and age effects have
      changed over recent decades, and how much they differ by country, is unclear.
      METHOD: From the WHO Mortality Database, we obtained age-specific and sex
      specific coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke mortality rates for the world's
      most populous countries with data available between 1980 and 2010. We calculated
      age-specific, country-specific and period-specific men-to-women CHD and stroke
      mortality rate ratios for 26 countries and compared the differences between and
      within countries over time. RESULTS: CHD and stroke mortality decreased
      substantially between 1980 and 2010 in most countries, in both sexes. Mostly
      there was an attenuation of the effect of ageing over calendar time, more so in
      men than in women. CHD mortality was higher in men than in women throughout
      adulthood, but the magnitude of the difference varied by age. Men-to-women CHD
      mortality rate ratios were 4-5 in middle age (30-64 years) and 2 thereafter (65
      89 years). Stroke mortality was more similar between sexes, with men-to-women
      stroke mortality rate ratios of around 1.5-2 until old age. CONCLUSIONS: While
      CHD and stroke mortality rates declined considerably between 1980 and 2010 in
      both sexes, there was some indication for stronger age-specific reductions in CHD
      in men than women. Mortality from CHD and stroke remains higher among men than
      women until old age across a range of economically, socially and culturally
      diverse countries.

PMID- 28589036
TI  - Abstracts of the Eighth EDCTP Forum, 6-9 November 2016.

PMID- 28589035
TI  - India's plan to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025: converting rhetoric into reality.

PMID- 28589034
TI  - Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease through population-wide motivational
      strategies: insights from using smartphones in stroke prevention.
AB  - The fast increasing stroke burden across all countries of the world suggests that
      currently used primary stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention
      strategies are not sufficiently effective. In this article, we overview the gaps
      in, and pros and cons of, population-wide and high-risk prevention strategies. We
      suggest that motivating and empowering people to reduce their risk of having a
      stroke/CVD by using increasingly used smartphone technologies would bridge the
      gap in the population-wide and high-risk prevention strategies and reduce
      stroke/CVD burden worldwide. We emphasise that for primary stroke prevention to
      be effective, the focus should be shifted from high-risk prevention to prevention
      at any level of CVD risk, with the focus on behavioural risk factors. Such a
      motivational population-wide strategy could open a new page in primary prevention
      of not only stroke/CVD but also other non-communicable disorders worldwide.

PMID- 28589037
TI  - Review of Small Gauge Vitrectomy: Progress and Innovations.
AB  - Purpose. To summarise the surgical advances and evolution of small gauge
      vitrectomy and discuss its principles and application in modern vitreoretinal
      surgery. The advent of microincisional vitrectomy systems (MIVS) has created a
      paradigm shift away from twenty-gauge vitrectomy systems, which have been the
      gold standard in the surgical management of vitreoretinal diseases for over
      thirty years. Advances in biomedical engineering and surgical techniques have
      overcome the technical hurdles of shifting to smaller gauge instrumentation and
      sutureless surgery, improving surgical capabilities and expanding the indications
      for MIVS.

PMID- 28589038
TI  - Inhibition of alpha-Amylases by Condensed and Hydrolysable Tannins: Focus on
      Kinetics and Hypoglycemic Actions.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to compare the in vitro inhibitory effects on
      the salivary and pancreatic alpha-amylases and the in vivo hypoglycemic actions
      of the hydrolysable tannin from Chinese natural gall and the condensed tannin
      from Acacia mearnsii. The human salivary alpha-amylase was more strongly
      inhibited by the hydrolysable than by the condensed tannin, with the
      concentrations for 50% inhibition (IC50) being 47.0 and 285.4 MUM, respectively.
      The inhibitory capacities of both tannins on the pancreatic alpha-amylase were
      also different, with IC50 values being 141.1 MUM for the hydrolysable tannin and
      248.1 MUM for the condensed tannin. The kinetics of the inhibition presented
      complex patterns in that for both inhibitors more than one molecule can bind
      simultaneously to either the free enzyme of the substrate-complexed enzyme
      (parabolic mixed inhibition). Both tannins were able to inhibit the intestinal
      starch absorption. Inhibition by the hydrolysable tannin was concentration
      dependent, with 53% inhibition at the dose of 58.8 MUmol/kg and 88% inhibition at
      the dose of 294 MUmol/kg. For the condensed tannin, inhibition was not
      substantially different for doses between 124.4 MUmol/kg (49%) and 620 MUmol/kg
      (57%). It can be concluded that both tannins, but especially the hydrolysable
      one, could be useful in controlling the postprandial glycemic levels in diabetes.

PMID- 28589039
TI  - Gum Arabic Reduces C-Reactive Protein in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients without
      Affecting Urea or Indoxyl Sulfate Levels.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gum Arabic (GA) is a complex polysaccharide with proven prebiotic
      properties and potentially beneficial systemic effects. METHODS: We randomly
      allocated 36 chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients to receive 10, 20, or 40 grams
      daily of GA for four weeks and studied the systemic effects of this intervention.
      RESULTS: Thirty participants completed the study with baseline glomerular
      filtration rate 29.1 +/- 9.9 mL/min/1.7 m2. In contrast to previous observations,
      we found no effect on serum urea or creatinine levels. GA supplementation was
      associated with a small but statistically significant drop in serum sodium level
      (138 +/- 2 to 136 +/- 3 mmol/L, p = 0.002) without affecting other electrolytes,
      urine volume, or indoxyl sulfate (IS) levels. GA supplementation was also
      associated with a significant drop in C-reactive protein (CRP) level (3.5 +/- 1.5
      to 2.8 +/- 1.6 ng/mL, p = 0.02) even in patients who received only 10 g/day (4.4
      +/- 1.2 to 3.2 +/- 1.5 ng/mL, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Supplementing the diet of
      CKD patients with 10-40 g/day of GA significantly reduced CRP level which could
      have a positive impact on these patients' morbidity and mortality. This trial is
      registered with Saudi Clinical Trial Registry number 15011402.

PMID- 28589042
TI  - Pyridostigmine Induced Prolonged Asystole in a Patient with Myasthenia Gravis
      Successfully Treated with Hyoscyamine.
AB  - Reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are used as first-line treatment for
      myasthenia gravis. They improve symptoms by increasing concentration of
      acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction and stimulating nicotinic receptors.
      Serious bradyarrhythmias can occur from muscarinic stimulation in heart, which in
      rare cases may progress to asystole. These patients can initially be managed with
      hyoscyamine, a muscarinic antagonist. Persistence of bradyarrhythmias even after
      hyoscyamine treatment may warrant pacemaker placement. We present a case of 65
      year-old female patient who presented with diplopia, dysphagia, and muscle
      weakness who was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. She developed significant
      sinoatrial node block with prolonged asystole after starting treatment with
      pyridostigmine which was successfully treated with hyoscyamine, thus avoiding
      pacemaker placement.

PMID- 28589040
TI  - Long-Term Impairment of Sound Processing in the Auditory Midbrain by Daily Short
      Term Exposure to Moderate Noise.
AB  - Most citizen people are exposed daily to environmental noise at moderate levels
      with a short duration. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects
      of daily short-term exposure to moderate noise on sound level processing in the
      auditory midbrain. Sound processing properties of auditory midbrain neurons were
      recorded in anesthetized mice exposed to moderate noise (80 dB SPL, 2 h/d for 6
      weeks) and were compared with those from age-matched controls. Neurons in exposed
      mice had a higher minimum threshold and maximum response intensity, a longer
      first spike latency, and a higher slope and narrower dynamic range for rate level
      function. However, these observed changes were greater in neurons with the best
      frequency within the noise exposure frequency range compared with those outside
      the frequency range. These sound processing properties also remained abnormal
      after a 12-week period of recovery in a quiet laboratory environment after
      completion of noise exposure. In conclusion, even daily short-term exposure to
      moderate noise can cause long-term impairment of sound level processing in a
      frequency-specific manner in auditory midbrain neurons.

PMID- 28589041
TI  - Attenuated Late-Phase Arc Transcription in the Dentate Gyrus of Mice Lacking
      Egr3.
AB  - The dentate gyrus (DG) engages in sustained Arc transcription for at least 8
      hours following behavioral induction, and this time course may be functionally
      coupled to the unique role of the DG in hippocampus-dependent learning and
      memory. The factors that regulate long-term DG Arc expression, however, remain
      poorly understood. Animals lacking Egr3 show less Arc expression following
      convulsive stimulation, but the effect of Egr3 ablation on behaviorally induced
      Arc remains unknown. To address this, Egr3-/- and wild-type (WT) mice explored
      novel spatial environments and were sacrificed either immediately or after 5, 60,
      240, or 480 minutes, and Arc expression was quantified by fluorescence in situ
      hybridization. Although short-term (i.e., within 60 min) Arc expression was
      equivalent across genotypes, DG Arc expression was selectively reduced at 240 and
      480 minutes in mice lacking Egr3. These data demonstrate the involvement of Egr3
      in regulating the late protein-dependent phase of Arc expression in the DG.

PMID- 28589043
TI  - Anomalous Papillary Muscle Insertion Causing Dynamic Left Ventricular Outflow
      Tract Obstruction without Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Anomalous papillary muscle insertion directly into the surface of the mitral
      valve leaflet is rare, especially in a subject without apparent evidence of
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We present a case of this isolated congenital
      malformation producing two hemodynamic sequelae of dynamic left ventricular
      outflow tract obstruction and severe mitral regurgitation.

PMID- 28589045
TI  - Recurrent Enterolithiasis Small Bowel Obstruction: A Case Seldom Described.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enterolithiasis of the small bowel is a rare phenomenon in humans
      although it has been frequently described in equines. Primary enteroliths have
      been described including those occurring secondary to conditions like Crohn's
      disease, small bowel diverticula, tuberculous or postoperative strictures, and
      blind loops but those occurring in an otherwise normal gut are exceedingly rare.
      Of even greater rarity is a recurrent small bowel enterolith presenting with
      obstruction. This may be the first report of such kind. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70
      year-old man undergoing treatment for stable alcoholic liver disease presented to
      the emergency with gradually progressive diffuse abdominal pain associated with
      vomiting and constipation for 7 days. He had gaseous abdominal distention but was
      not obstipated. He had a history of 2 laparotomies in the past for small bowel
      obstruction secondary to enterolith impaction. He was initially managed
      conservatively but since there was no significant clinical improvement, he
      underwent an exploratory laparotomy. A recurrent enterolith 5 * 5 cm in size was
      found impacted in the mid ileum with multiple dense serosal adhesions and bands.
      Adhesiolysis and enterotomy with removal of enterolith were performed.
      CONCLUSION: Recurrent enterolithiasis of the small bowel is a rare phenomenon and
      may present with recurrent obstruction. Definitive preoperative diagnosis is not
      always possible and a high index of suspicion is required to avoid table
      misdiagnosis. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment once conservative measures
      fail. Laparoscopic methods may help in diagnosis and avoid possibility of a
      subsequent adhesive bowel obstruction but are associated with technical
      challenges.

PMID- 28589044
TI  - Asymmetric Expansion with a Modified Quad Helix for Treatment of Isolated
      Crossbite.
AB  - Unilateral posterior crossbite often involves only one tooth, especially upper
      first molar; in these cases it is never easy to obtain an asymmetrical movement
      of a molar and a proper planning of the orthodontic device with its anchorage is
      necessary to avoid arch overexpansion. Thanks to its simplicity and efficacy, the
      modified Quad Helix here described represents a valid therapeutic tool in cases
      of isolated posterior crossbite.

PMID- 28589046
TI  - Coexistence of Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia in
      a Patient with Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism.
AB  - Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a prothrombotic adverse drug reaction
      in which heparin forms complexes with platelet factor 4 forming neoantigens that
      are recognized by autoantibodies. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is similar to
      HIT in that it is mediated by autoantibodies that are also prothrombotic. We
      present a case of rare coexistence of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and
      heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 28589047
TI  - Native Valve Endocarditis due to Veillonella Species: A Case Report and Review of
      the Literature.
AB  - Veillonella species are fastidious bacteria that have been isolated from skin,
      dental, and respiratory tract infections and rarely have been implicated in
      serious infections like meningitis, endocarditis, and osteomyelitis. A 76-year
      old woman presented to our hospital with fever, vomiting, and generalized
      weakness for 3 days. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed a mobile structure on
      anterior mitral valve leaflet measuring 0.9 cm suggestive of vegetation. Empiric
      therapy with vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam was started with clinical
      resolution of her symptoms. On day 6, the blood culture drawn at admission grew
      Veillonella species. A transesophageal echocardiogram confirmed a 1.2 * 0.4 cm
      echo dense structure attached to the left ventricular side of the anterior mitral
      leaflet. The patient was discharged home after 10 days of inpatient antibiotic
      therapy and completed 4 weeks of IV ceftriaxone at home without any adverse
      events. She was reevaluated in the clinic after completion of treatment and
      repeat blood cultures remained negative. We report the first case of successful
      treatment of endocarditis due to Veillonella species with once daily ceftriaxone.

PMID- 28589048
TI  - The Cushing Reflex: Oliguria as a Reflection of an Elevated Intracranial
      Pressure.
AB  - Oliguria is one of the clinical hallmarks of renal failure. The broad
      differential diagnosis is well known, but a rare cause of oliguria is
      intracranial hypertension (ICH). The actual knowledge to explain this
      relationship is scarce. Almost all literature is about animals where authors
      describe the Cushing reflex in response to ICH. We hypothesize that the Cushing
      reflex is translated towards the sympathetic nervous system and renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone system with a subsequent reduction in medullary blood flow and
      oliguria. Recently, we were confronted with a patient who had complicated
      pituitary surgery and displayed multiple times an oliguria while he developed
      ICH.

PMID- 28589049
TI  - Chronic Lymphocytic Inflammation with Pontine Perivascular Enhancement Responsive
      to Steroids, with Cranial and Caudal Extension.
AB  - A 23-year-old lady presented with vertigo and imbalance in walking, blurring of
      vision, diplopia, and headache, in addition to numbness in the lower limbs over a
      period of six days. On examination patient had nystagmus, ataxia, positive
      Romberg test, and hyperreflexia. MRI examination of the brain and spinal cord
      showed evidence of faint bright signal intensity foci in T2/FLAIR involving
      bilateral cerebral hemispheres, subcortical deep white matter, bilateral thalami,
      posterior pons and left brachium pontis, and basal ganglia, with small nodular
      enhancement that aligned along curvilinear structures; those lesions also were
      apparent along the spinal cord at multiple levels. The clinical and radiological
      features suggested CLIPPERS (chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine
      perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids) syndrome. Symptoms improved
      dramatically with high dose oral corticosteroids. Our report addresses the
      radiological and clinical pattern of a case of CLIPPERS rhombencephalitis, with
      added superior and inferior extension to involve the brain and spinal cord, which
      is to emphasize the importance of raising the awareness of this disease and the
      combined role of radiologist and physicians for the diagnosis of this potentially
      treatable entity, responsive to glucocorticosteroid immunosuppression.

PMID- 28589050
TI  - A Case of Chronic Ectopic Pregnancy Manifested by Rectal Bleeding.
AB  - Ectopic pregnancy resulting in perforation of the rectum and rectal bleeding is
      clinically rare. We report an extremely rare case of chronic ectopic pregnancy
      with decreasing low levels of serum beta-HCG resulting in rectal bleeding. A 31
      year-old woman, gravida 3, para 3, with moderate abdominal pain and rectal
      bleeding was diagnosed with a tubal pregnancy. The tube was adherent to the
      rectum. Following salpingo-oophorectomy, the perforation of the rectum was
      sutured. Biopsies from the rectum as well as the tube confirmed chronic ectopic
      pregnancy. This case illustrates that diagnosing ectopic pregnancy is sometimes
      extremely challenging and it underlines the importance of follow-up consultations
      when the final diagnosis has not yet been reached.

PMID- 28589051
TI  - Review and Long-Term Outcomes of Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction versus
      Conservative Treatment in Siblings with Congenital Anterior Cruciate Ligament
      Aplasia.
AB  - There is no consensus on the best treatment for anterior cruciate ligament
      hypoplasia or aplasia. To our knowledge, no comparative study between operative
      and conservative treatment of this condition has ever been performed.
      Conservative treatment is a viable alternative to surgery for ACL aplasia. Two
      siblings were examined at our outpatient clinic. The male patient underwent
      bilateral ACL reconstruction, while his sister was treated conservatively. Our
      results show a worse long-term outcome for the operative patient. At her last
      follow-up, the female patient treated conservatively showed subjective
      improvement in stability and gait. A review of the literature shows inconsistent
      outcomes after reconstruction in contrast to reports with cruciate ligament
      agenesis that did not undergo reconstruction with acceptable to good outcomes.
      Cruciate reconstruction should be reserved for cases of impaired articular
      instability, objectively manifest in the frequency of giving-way episodes.
      Treatment depends on the patient's condition and expectations. Surgery should
      therefore only be suggested after proper patient counseling.

PMID- 28589052
TI  - Safe and Effective Reduction Technique for Intertrochanteric Fracture with
      Ipsilateral Below-Knee Amputated Limb.
AB  - The positioning of the patient on the fracture table is critical for the
      successful reduction and operative fixation of intertrochanteric hip fractures.
      However, this manipulation is challenging with patients who have undergone
      amputations of their legs. A 97-year-old man presented to the emergency
      department with symptom of right hip pain following a mechanical fall. He had a
      below-knee amputation on his right leg following a traffic accident as a 19-year
      old and had a below-knee patellar tendon bearing prosthesis fitted to his lower
      limb for mobility. Radiographs of his pelvis revealed a displaced
      intertrochanteric fracture of the right side femur. The patient was positioned on
      a fracture table, as in the standard procedure. The method of inverting the
      traction boot to accommodate the flexed knee and stump described by Al-Harthy
      could be used to provide traction and rotational control. Internal fixation was
      performed using a short femoral nail. Postoperatively, the patient could walk
      with full weight bearing using a prosthesis on his affected limb. The method of
      inverting the traction boot to accommodate the flexed knee and stump can be used
      safely and effectively to achieve and maintain fracture reduction during fixation
      of intertrochanteric fractures for patients with a below-knee amputated limb.

PMID- 28589053
TI  - High-Grade Transformation (Dedifferentiation) of Acinic Cell Carcinoma of the
      Parotid Gland: Report of an Unusual Variant.
AB  - Acinic cell carcinoma with high-grade transformation of the salivary gland is an
      unusual variant with less than fifty cases being reported in the literature. It
      is characterized by a low- and high-grade component juxtaposed with one another
      and tends to take on a more aggressive clinical course than its low-grade
      counterpart, suggesting a poor clinical outcome. We, hereby, report a case of
      acinic cell carcinoma in a 48-year-old woman with a 6-month history of a right
      parotid facial swelling rapidly increasing in size. The tumor was initially
      resected; however, residual focal tissue subsequently revealed areas typical of
      low-grade acinic cell carcinoma as well as high-grade
      transformation/dedifferentiation via histopathology.

PMID- 28589054
TI  - A Patient with MSUD: Acute Management with Sodium Phenylacetate/Sodium Benzoate
      and Sodium Phenylbutyrate.
AB  - In treatment of metabolic imbalances caused by maple syrup urine disease (MSUD),
      peritoneal dialysis, and hemofiltration, pharmacological treatments for
      elimination of toxic metabolites can be used in addition to basic dietary
      modifications. Therapy with sodium phenylacetate/benzoate or sodium
      phenylbutyrate (NaPB) in urea-cycle disorder cases has been associated with a
      reduction in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) concentrations when the patients
      are on adequate dietary protein intake. Moreover, NaPB in treatment of MSUD
      patients is also associated with reduction of BCAA levels in a limited number of
      cases. However, there are not enough studies in the literature about application
      and efficacy of this treatment. Our case report sets an example of an alternative
      treatment's efficacy when extracorporeal procedures are not available due to
      technical difficulties during attack period of the disease.

PMID- 28589055
TI  - Lingual Foramina and Canals of the Mandible: Anatomic Variations in a Lebanese
      Population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the mandibular lingual foramina
      (LF) and canals and their anatomic variations using cone-beam computed tomography
      (CBCT) technology in a Lebanese population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study,
      we analyzed CBCT images of 90 adult Lebanese patients (41 males and 49 females).
      We assessed the number and location of the LF. In additional, we measured: (a)
      The distance from both the alveolar crest and the inferior border of the mandible
      to the LF and (b) the length of the lingual canals (LCs). The data obtained was
      analyzed statistically using Shapiro-Wilk normality test, t-test, Chi-square, and
      Fisher's exact tests. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: In our
      sample, the LF and canals were present in 93.33% of the CBCT analyzed, and the
      majority (76.64%) was located above the genial tubercles. The distance from the
      foramen of the superior and the inferior LCs to the alveolar crest was 16.24 +/-
      2.82 mm and 25.49 +/- 2.43 mm, respectively. The distance from the foramen of the
      superior canal to the inferior border of the mandible was 14 +/- 2.32 mm. The
      mean length of the superior canal was 5.81 +/- 1.6 mm and 4.25 +/- 1.2 mm for the
      inferior one. There were no gender-related differences in the anatomic
      characteristics of the LF and canals except for the distance measured from the
      superior canal foramina to the alveolar crest where the measurement was
      significantly greater in males compared to females. Neither the number of canals
      nor the positions of the foramina were different between males and females.
      CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this study, we concluded that in our sample of
      Lebanese adults, there was substantial variability in the LF and canals anatomy
      and location.

PMID- 28589056
TI  - Vaginal Ewing Sarcoma: An Uncommon Clinical Entity in Pediatric Patients.
AB  - Ewing sarcoma, including classical Ewing sarcoma of the bone and primitive
      neuroectodermal tumors arising in bone or extraosseous primary sites, is a highly
      aggressive childhood neoplasm. We present two cases of Ewing sarcoma arising from
      the vagina in young girls. Previously reported cases in literature focused on
      their pathologic rather than radiographic features. We describe the spectrum of
      multimodality imaging appearances of Ewing sarcoma at this unusual primary site.
      Awareness of vaginal Ewing tumors may facilitate prompt diagnosis and lead to a
      different surgical approach than the more commonly encountered vaginal
      rhabdomyosarcoma.

PMID- 28589058
TI  - Metoprolol-induced Severe Liver Injury and Successful Management with Therapeutic
      Plasma Exchange.
AB  - Liver injury caused by metoprolol is very rare with current reports limited to an
      isolated elevation in transaminases. We report the first case of severe icteric
      liver injury leading to hepatic encephalopathy secondary to metoprolol use in a
      patient diagnosed with coronary heart disease. We also describe the
      histopathology of metoprolol-related liver injury, discuss mechanisms of injury
      with new insights on the immunological phenomenon, and shed light on the
      successful utility of early plasmapheresis as a salvage therapy in metoprolol
      induced severe liver damage.

PMID- 28589057
TI  - Treatment of Sydenham's Chorea: A Review of the Current Evidence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sydenham's chorea (SC), the neurologic manifestation of rheumatic
      fever, remains the most prevalent form of chorea in children. Suggested
      treatments of chorea in SC include prophylactic penicillin, symptomatic
      (antipsychotic and anticonvulsant) medications, and immunomodulatory therapy
      (steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and plasma exchange). In this
      manuscript, we undertook a systematic review of the published literature to
      examine the data supporting these therapeutic recommendations. METHODS: A search
      of PubMed, Embase, Psychinfo, and clinicaltrials.gov was conducted for
      publications pertaining to the treatment of SC/rheumatic chorea from 1956 to
      2016. RESULTS: Penicillin prophylaxis appears to reduce the likelihood of further
      cardiac complications and the recurrence rate of chorea. Data on symptomatic
      therapy for chorea are limited to individual case reports or series and rare
      comparison studies. The efficacy of steroid use is supported by a single placebo
      controlled study and several case series. Information on other immunomodulatory
      therapies such as IVIG and plasmapheresis are limited to a small number of
      reports and a single comparison study. DISCUSSION: Treatment decisions in SC are
      currently based on the treating physician's clinical experience, the desire to
      avoid side effects, and the existence of only limited scientific evidence. Based
      on a review of the available literature, chorea often improves with symptomatic
      therapy and immunotherapy tends to be reserved for those who fail to respond.
      Steroids are beneficial; however, data using IVIG and plasmapheresis are very
      limited. Larger, well-controlled studies, using standardized assessment scales,
      are required if therapeutic decisions for SC are to be based on meaningful
      information.

PMID- 28589059
TI  - Undetected Small Accessory Mental Foramina Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The accessory foramina could not be identified on some imaging
      modalities such as surface-rendered images. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the ability of surface-rendered images in detecting these foramina.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 20 accessory mental foramina (AMF) in nine
      mandibles removed from cadavers with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and
      assessed in surface-rendered images. All AMF were divided into three groups
      depending on their visibility. RESULTS: Group 1 included AMF that were clearly
      visible as foramina, Group 2 were not clearly visible but could be recognized
      with concave parts, and Group 3 were not visible and the smooth surface of the
      bone was observed. Group 1 ranged from 1.3 to 5.1 mm2, Group 2 from 0.3 to 3.8
      mm2, and Group 3 from 0.2 to 1.1 mm2. A statistically significant difference in
      the mean size between Groups 1 and 3 was observed. Even if the AMF are smaller
      (e.g., 1 mm in diameter), they should still be avoided to prevent injury.
      CONCLUSIONS: The clinician should be aware that smaller foramina might not be
      detected on these images.

PMID- 28589060
TI  - Seeding of a Pituitary Adenoma or Atypical Pituitary Carcinoma?
AB  - Pituitary carcinomas are defined as pituitary tumors with craniospinal and/or
      systemic metastasis. These are rare and highly aggressive lesions. We present an
      unusual case of a 52-year-old male who had a pituitary adenoma removed via
      craniotomy. The tumor recurred three years post-op near the surgical tract, and
      slowly enlarged before removal two years later. Technically, this lesion was
      defined as a pituitary carcinoma, even though the histology and clinical course
      were atypical. There is no standardized grading system for pituitary tumors and
      ideal criteria should correlate clinically. Treatment for pituitary carcinoma is
      multimodal and largely empiric. We believe this case illustrates that current
      definitions of pituitary carcinoma are incomplete.

PMID- 28589061
TI  - Importance Of Thorough Physical Examination: A Lost Art.
AB  - Several recent studies have described a deterioration in physical examination
      skills among modern physicians. Reasons hypothesized for this change are
      improvements in technology and time constraints. Poor physical exam skills are a
      noteworthy threat to patient safety as they can lead to incorrect as well as
      missed diagnoses, causing delays in timely implementation of life-saving
      treatments. Here, we present a case of extensive acute embolic strokes secondary
      to infective endocarditis. The patient was initially misdiagnosed as having
      Bell's palsy due to incorrect physical examination. Through this case, we
      highlight the importance of management guided by a thorough history and physical
      examination to minimize diagnostic errors.

PMID- 28589062
TI  - Impact of Caregiving on Various Aspects of the Lives of Caregivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess the impact of caregiving on the
      lives of the caregivers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between
      July and September 2015 at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants
      who were more than 18 years old and were involved in caregiving (former or
      current) of a family member were invited to participate in the study. The
      participants were recruited through consecutive sampling technique. A total of
      400 caregivers were interviewed. Written informed consent was obtained from all
      the participants. A pretest structured questionnaire was used for data collection
      and included sections on demographic details and impact of caregiving on various
      aspects of the lives of caregivers. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 19
      (IBM, NY, USA). RESULTS: Information about a total of 400 caregivers (215 men and
      185 women) was included in the final analysis. The majority (57.0%) of the
      participants were aged between 18 and 30 years. About three-fifths (60%) of the
      participants were single and the majority of the participants were students.
      Approximately 64% of the participants were currently involved in caregiving and
      about 48% of the participants responded that caregiving has an overall negative
      impact on various aspects, such as physical (40.8%), psychological (47.8%), and
      professional aspects (51.8%) of their lives. CONCLUSION: Negative impact of
      caregiving was observed among caregivers due to extensive demands of caregiving
      and limited resources. Therefore, it is imperative for health care providers to
      explore, identify and support caregivers to cope in a better way to the
      challenging task of caregiving.

PMID- 28589063
TI  - Teaching the Retropubic Midurethral Sling Using a Novel Cadaver and Model-Based
      Approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To measure the impact of a model-based teaching program on resident
      comfort and skill with retropubic midurethral sling (MUS). STUDY DESIGN:
      Residents were assessed before and after a retropubic MUS teaching session, which
      included a brief lecture and three interactive teaching stations (cadaver pelvis,
      retropubic MUS pelvic model, cystoscopy model). Self-assessment measures included
      MUS-related visual analog scale (VAS), Likert, and open-ended questions.
      Objective assessment measures were used to score blinded videos of trocar passage
      on a pelvic model, including a modified objective structured assessment of
      technical skills (mOSAT) and a retropubic MUS-specific checklist of surgical
      steps. Emerging themes from the open-ended questions were identified using
      grounded theory; analysis ceased once theme saturation was achieved. RESULTS:
      Twenty-five of 37 total residents participated in the training session and 24
      participated in this study. Following training, VAS scores, Likert scores, and
      qualitative analysis indicated greater resident comfort with performing
      retropubic MUS, with relevant anatomy, and with trocar passage. Residents
      demonstrated improvement in model trocar passage post-training, with a rise in
      mOSAT score (47% to 65%; p = .01) and a rise in checklist score (61% to 75%; p =
      .11). Residents expressed discomfort due to inexperience with MUS, concern
      regarding trocar passage, and worry over potential complications. Residents
      reported feeling more prepared to perform MUS after the session. They stressed
      the importance of repetition and a comfortable learning environment for surgical
      training, and praised the "hands-on" training session. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate
      success using a short, single-session, hands-on group training session to improve
      comfort and skill with retropubic MUS.

PMID- 28589065
TI  - Management of the Positive Axilla in 2017.
AB  - The role of surgery in breast cancer treatment and axillary staging is changing.
      It is not very far from today, when axillary dissection was the standard
      treatment and staging procedure for all stages of breast cancer. Today, we are on
      the edge of omitting axillary dissection even in patients with the axillary
      disease. In this review, we walked through the changes in axillary management
      throughout the past hundred years.

PMID- 28589064
TI  - Assessment and Improvement of Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Treatment
      for Head and Neck Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We compared the pre and post-treatment quality of life in head and
      neck cancer (HNC) patients and identified factors that could improve the quality
      of life in such patients.   Methods: The European Organization for Research and
      Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30)
      questionnaire was administered to 84 patients' pre and post-treatment. Patients
      who had non-metastatic, measurable, and untreated HNCs were invited, provided
      that their age was below 80 years. We did not discriminate based on treatment
      modality, stage of cancer, or co-morbidities. Patients who were mentally
      incapacitated, with secondary or recurrent HNC, distant metastasis, skin cancer,
      congenital anomaly of the head and neck, chronic illness, or any previous or
      current psychiatric illness were excluded from the study. A high mean score on
      the functional scale and a low score on symptom scale signify a better quality of
      life. We used the dependent t-test to compare pre and post-treatment scores.
      RESULTS: We found no statistically significant differences in any variables,
      except the four symptom scales of diarrhoea, constipation, nausea/vomiting, and
      financial difficulty. All of these variables had increased mean scores with p
      values of < 0.001. Also, we found no statistical significance (p = 0.250) when
      comparing the pre-treatment (59.4 +/- 18.3) and post-treatment (61.2 +/- 16.2)
      scores for the global health status. CONCLUSION: We found no improvement in the
      quality of life in HNC patients despite intervention. In fact, diarrhoea,
      constipation, nausea/vomiting, and financial difficulty of these patients
      worsened post-treatment.

PMID- 28589066
TI  - Differences in Parotid Dosimetry and Expected Normal Tissue Complication
      Probabilities in Whole Brain Radiation Plans Covering C1 Versus C2.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is no consensus standard regarding the placement of the
      inferior field border in whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) plans, with most
      providers choosing to cover the first versus (vs.) second cervical vertebrae (C1
      vs. C2). We hypothesize that extending coverage to C2 may increase predicted
      rates of xerostomia. METHODS: Fifteen patients underwent computed tomography (CT)
      simulation; two WBRT plans were then produced, one covering C2 and the other
      covering C1. The plans were otherwise standard, and patients were prescribed
      doses of 25, 30 and 37.5 gray (Gy). Dose-volume statistics were obtained and
      normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCPs) were estimated using the Lyman
      Burman-Kutcher model. Mean parotid dose and predicted xerostomia rates were
      compared for plans covering C2 vs. C1 using a two-sided patient-matched t-test.
      Plans were also evaluated to determine whether extending the lower field border
      to cover C2 would result in a violation of commonly accepted dosimetric planning
      constraints. RESULTS: The mean dose to both parotid glands was significantly
      higher in WBRT plans covering C2 compared to plans covering C1 for all dose
      prescriptions (p<0.01). Normal tissue complication probabilities were also
      significantly higher when covering C2 vs. C1, for all prescribed doses (p<0.01).
      Predicted median rates of xerostomia ranged from <0.03%-21% for plans covering C2
      vs. <0.001%-12% for patients treated with plans covering C1 (p<0.01), dependent
      on the treatment dose and NTCP model. Plans covering C2 were unable to constrain
      at least one parotid to <20 Gy in 31% of plans vs. 9% of plans when C1 was
      covered. A total parotid dose constraint of <25 Gy was violated in 13% of plans
      covering C2 vs. 0% of plans covering C1. CONCLUSIONS: Coverage of C2
      significantly increases the mean parotid dose and predicted NTCPs and results in
      more frequent violation of commonly accepted dosimetric planning constraints.

PMID- 28589067
TI  - Intraoperative Dexmedetomidine-Induced Polyuric Syndrome.
AB  - A 23-year-old male trauma patient with a cervical spine fracture underwent an
      anterior and posterior discectomy and spinal fusion surgery. The patient
      presented to the operating room with a stabilizing halo fixation device in place,
      and a fiberoptic intubation was performed with dexmedetomidine for sedation.
      During the surgical procedure, general anesthesia was maintained with a propofol
      and remifentanil infusion as the patient was monitored using somatosensory and
      motor evoked potentials. The patient's urine output increased gradually during
      the nine-hour surgical procedure from 150 mL/hour to over 700 mL/hour in the
      eighth hour of the procedure, where it remained until the end of the procedure.
      Postoperatively, the patient's laboratory values and urine output returned to
      baseline levels the following day. A search of the literature revealed few case
      reports of polyuria under similar conditions. Dexmedetomidine, being an alpha-2
      agonist that blocks arginine-vasopressin release, may be responsible for inducing
      the polyuria noted in this patient case.

PMID- 28589069
TI  - Looks Can Be Deceiving: A Case Report on Multicentric Reticulohistiocytosis
      Successfully Treated with Rituximab.
AB  - Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis (MRH) is an idiopathic multisystemic
      inflammatory disease characterized by symmetric erosive polyarthritis and typical
      papulonodular skin lesions. MRH can be associated with autoimmune diseases,
      malignancy, mycobacterial infections, and hyperlipidemia, and it is important to
      consider appropriate screening in this population. There is no specific
      diagnostic laboratory test for MRH. The gold standard for diagnosis is skin or
      synovial biopsy, which shows characteristic multinucleated non-Langerhans giant
      cells and ground glass eosinophilic cytoplasm. Although the disease spontaneously
      remits in approximately 10 years, MRH can rapidly progress to arthritis mutilans
      in the majority of cases. The diagnosis and treatment are challenging due to its
      low prevalence and lack of robust guidelines from major rheumatological
      societies. Corticosteroids and methotrexate are generally first-line treatment
      options. However, more recently, biologic agents have been increasingly used in
      refractory cases with some success. Early diagnosis is crucial in preventing
      disease progression. We report a case of MRH in a patient whose clinical
      presentation mimicked rheumatoid arthritis and was subsequently treated
      successfully with rituximab.

PMID- 28589068
TI  - Endovascular Treatment of Large Unruptured Fusiform Fenestrated Vertebrobasilar
      Junction Aneurysm.
AB  - Fenestrated vertebrobasilar junction aneurysms are rare vascular lesions.
      Microsurgical intervention is extremely difficult due to the complex anatomy in
      the vicinity of these aneurysms. Endovascular neurosurgery appears to be safe and
      should be considered as the first modality of treatment. This case study details
      the treatment of an unruptured fusiform fenestrated vertebrobasilar junction
      aneurysm with endovascular occlusion with stent-assisted coiling. The optimal
      angiographic exposure and selective microcatheterization of the aneurysm were
      challenging due to the patient's body habitus, and the aneurysm was large with
      one dominant fenestrated limb.

PMID- 28589070
TI  - Agranulocytosis - Sequelae of Chronic Cocaine Use: Case Series and Literature
      Review.
AB  - Agranulocytosis is a rare condition with a reported incidence ranging from one to
      five cases per million population per year. Most commonly, agranulocytosis is
      secondary to chemotherapeutic agents, however, other medications have also been
      associated with it. An immune mediated destruction of circulating granulocytes
      and/or granulocyte precursors secondary to drug-dependent or drug-induced
      antibodies is the postulated mechanism. Agranulocytosis has also been reported
      secondary to recreational drug use. Cocaine is one of the most commonly used
      recreational drugs and is often laced with Levamisole to enhance its
      psychostimulatory properties. Levamisole is an immune modulator and can cause
      bone marrow suppression. It can be detected in urine by gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry. We report two cases of recurrent agranulocytosis in non-oncology
      patients secondary to chronic cocaine abuse, who were treated with granulocyte
      colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) and broad spectrum antibiotics without sustained
      response. The high prevalence of cocaine use continues to be a serious public
      health concern. This case series discusses the association of adulterated cocaine
      as an etiology of unexplained neutropenia and highlights the diverse clinical
      complications of chronic cocaine abuse. Currently, the available literature is
      reviewed.

PMID- 28589072
TI  - Pediatric Intrafalcine Empyema from a Sinogenic Origin: A Case Report.
AB  - Sinusitis and otitis are common within the pediatric population. If left
      untreated, these can extend intracranially and lead to the development of
      infections in the various intracranial compartments resulting in a high rate of
      morbidity and mortality. We report the first case of an intrafalcine empyema,
      absent subdural purulence, in a patient with the likely spread from a sinogenic
      origin. This case illustrates the novelty of this as a pathological entity as
      well as the surgical considerations for intrafalcine purulence in the absence of
      expected subdural collections.

PMID- 28589071
TI  - A Case Report on Complicated Tuberculous Meningitis.
AB  - Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is associated with significant complications of
      central nervous system. It is accompanied by nonspecific and heterogeneous
      clinical symptoms. We focused on the significance of early diagnosis and prompt
      treatment. We describe a case of TBM in a 19-year-old Asian female. She had a
      progressive motor weakness with no sensory findings. She was started on
      antituberculous therapy. Her magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast of
      dorsolumbar spine showed syringomyelia. Her culture and sensitivity for
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) came negative. She was given a therapeutic trial
      of quinolones and Steroids. She had an uneventful recovery and was followed up
      for the past one year.

PMID- 28589073
TI  - Curated Collections for Educators: Five Key Papers about Program Evaluation.
AB  - The evaluation of educational programs has become an expected part of medical
      education. At some point, all medical educators will need to critically evaluate
      the programs that they deliver. However, the evaluation of educational programs
      requires a very different skillset than teaching. In this article, we aim to
      identify and summarize key papers that would be helpful for faculty members
      interested in exploring program evaluation. In November of 2016, the 2015-2016
      Academic life in emergency medicine (ALiEM) Faculty Incubator program highlighted
      key papers in a discussion of program evaluation. This list of papers was
      augmented with suggestions by guest experts and by an open call on Twitter. This
      resulted in a list of 30 papers on program evaluation. Our authorship group then
      engaged in a process akin to a Delphi study to build consensus on the most
      important papers about program evaluation for medical education faculty. We
      present our group's top five most highly rated papers on program evaluation. We
      also summarize these papers with respect to their relevance to junior medical
      education faculty members and faculty developers. Program evaluation is
      challenging. The described papers will be informative for junior faculty members
      as they aim to design literature-informed evaluations for their educational
      programs.

PMID- 28589075
TI  - Chylous Ascites in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Diagnostic Challenge.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown
      etiology. It can affect nearly any organ. Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement in
      SLE is frequent but is mostly related to medication side effects and concomitant
      infections. Chylous ascites is a rare form of ascites that is milky appearing due
      to the high concentration of triglycerides. Chylous ascites as a complication of
      SLE is atypical. Our case highlights an extremely rare presentation of chylous
      ascites in SLE as an initial manifestation of the disease itself, posing
      diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Through this case, we aim to raise
      awareness of SLE as a rare but reversible cause of chylous ascites.

PMID- 28589074
TI  - Liddle Syndrome in Association with Aortic Dissection.
AB  - Liddle syndrome is a rare form of autosomal dominant monogenic hypertension
      manifested as an early onset of resistant hypertension with either no response or
      suboptimal response to conventional antihypertensive therapy. If there is a delay
      in diagnosis, uncontrolled hypertension can lead to end organ damage. To our
      knowledge, aortic dissection has not been reported in association with this
      disease. We report a case of a dissecting aortic aneurysm occurring in
      association with Liddle syndrome..

PMID- 28589076
TI  - Non-Contrast Computed Tomography Scan Based Parameters of Ureteric Stones
      Affecting the Outcome of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE : To compare the non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) scan-based
      parameters of ureteric stones affecting the outcome of extracorporeal shock wave
      lithotripsy (ESWL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the pre
      procedure NCCT of 74 patients who had ESWL for solitary ureteric calculi of 5-20
      mm in diameter. We assessed the age, sex, basal metabolic index (BMI),
      laterality, location, presence of double 'J' (DJ) stent, skin to stone distance
      (SSD), stone maximum diameter, Hounsfield unit (HU), Hounsfield density (HD),
      area, and volume. All those who had no stone on follow-up imaging within 30 days
      were declared successful while those who had residual stone were declared
      failures. RESULTS: The overall success rate was 78% (58/74). Sixty (81.1%)
      patients were male. The success of ESWL was correlated with lower SSD, Hounsfield
      units (HU) and Hounsfield density (HD). However, in multivariate analysis, SSD,
      Hounsfield unit, and stone area showed correlation with success of procedure but
      Hounsfield density failed to show correlation. The success rate in patients with
      stone HU <500, 500-1000 and >1000 were 93.9%, 69%, and 58.3%, respectively.
      Patients with lower BMI (<30 kg/m2) and HD (<76 HU/mm) were more prone towards
      success of the procedure than those with higher BMI (>30 kg/m2) and higher HD
      (>76 HU/mm). CONCLUSION: BMI, SSD, stone Hounsfield units and Hounsfield unit
      density were strong predictors of outcome of ESWL for ureteric stone.

PMID- 28589078
TI  - Recent clinical trials of cancer immunogene therapy in companion animals.
AB  - This mini-review presents the results of veterinary clinical trials on immunogene
      therapy published from 2014 to 2016. A variety of tumors, among them melanoma
      (canine and equine), mastocytoma (canine), mammary adenocarcinoma (canine) and
      fibrosarcoma (feline) were treated by using diverse strategies. Non-viral vectors
      were usually employed to transfer genes of cytokines, suicide enzymes and/or
      tumor associated antigens. In general terms, minor or no adverse collateral
      effects were related to these procedures, and treated patients frequently
      improved their conditions (better quality of life, delayed or suppressed
      recurrence or metastatic spread, increased survival). Some of these new
      methodologies have a promising future if applied as adjuvant treatments of
      standard approaches. The auspicious results, derived from immunogene therapy
      studies carried out in companion animals, warrant their imperative usage in
      veterinary clinical oncology. Besides, they provide a strong preclinical basis
      (safety assays and proofs of concept) for analogous human clinical trials.

PMID- 28589077
TI  - Application of CRISPR/Cas9 in plant biology.
AB  - The CRISPR/Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR
      associated proteins) system was first identified in bacteria and archaea and can
      degrade exogenous substrates. It was developed as a gene editing technology in
      2013. Over the subsequent years, it has received extensive attention owing to its
      easy manipulation, high efficiency, and wide application in gene mutation and
      transcriptional regulation in mammals and plants. The process of CRISPR/Cas is
      optimized constantly and its application has also expanded dramatically.
      Therefore, CRISPR/Cas is considered a revolutionary technology in plant biology.
      Here, we introduce the mechanism of the type II CRISPR/Cas called CRISPR/Cas9,
      update its recent advances in various applications in plants, and discuss its
      future prospects to provide an argument for its use in the study of medicinal
      plants.

PMID- 28589079
TI  - Role of LIGHT in the pathogenesis of joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - AIM: To characterise the role of substitutes for receptor-activator nuclear
      factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) joint destruction.
      METHODS: Synovial fluid (SF) macrophages isolated from the knee joint of RA
      patients were incubated with 25 ng/mL macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M
      CSF) and 50 ng/mL LIGHT (lymphotoxin-like, exhibits inducible expression and
      competes with herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D for herpes virus entry
      mediator, a receptor expressed by T lymphocytes) in the presence and absence of
      25 ng/mL RANKL and 100 ng/mL osteoprotegerin (OPG) on glass coverslips and
      dentine slices. Osteoclastogenesis was assessed by the formation of
      multinucleated cells (MNCs) expressing tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)
      on coverslips and the extent of lacunar resorption pit formation on dentine
      slices. The concentration of LIGHT in RA and osteoarthritis (OA) synovial fluid
      was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the expression
      of LIGHT in RA and OA synovium was determined by immunohistochemistry using an
      indirect immunoperoxidase technique. RESULTS: In cultures of RA SF macrophages
      treated with LIGHT and M-CSF, there was significant formation of TRAP + MNCs on
      coverslips and extensive lacunar resorption pit formation on dentine slices. SF
      macrophage-osteoclast differentiation was not inhibited by the addition of OPG, a
      decoy receptor for RANKL. Resorption pits were smaller and less confluent than in
      RANKL-treated cultures but the overall percentage area of the dentine slice
      resorbed was comparable in LIGHT- and RANKL-treated cultures. LIGHT significantly
      stimulated RANKL-induced lacunar resorption compared with RA SF macrophages
      treated with either RANKL or LIGHT alone. LIGHT was strongly expressed by
      synovial lining cells, subintimal macrophages and endothelial cells in RA
      synovium and the concentration of LIGHT was much higher in RA compared with OA
      SF. CONCLUSION: LIGHT is highly expressed in RA synovium and SF, stimulates RANKL
      independent/dependent osteoclastogenesis from SF macrophages and may contribute
      to marginal erosion formation.

PMID- 28589081
TI  - Inhibitory Effect of 1,8-Cineol on beta-Catenin Regulation, WNT11 Expression, and
      Cellular Progression in HNSCC.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most
      common tumors worldwide. The high mortality rates have not changed during the
      last three decades, and thus there is an enormous need for innovative therapy
      approaches. Several recent studies suggest an important role of the Wnt/beta
      catenin signaling pathway in the tumorigenesis of HNSCC. We analyzed the effect
      of the monoterpene oxide 1,8-cineol on the regulation of the Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway and the cellular progression of different HNSCC cell lines.
      METHODS: Permanent HNSCC cell lines were exposed to varying concentrations and
      times of 1,8-cineol. Regulation and activity profiles of the Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling cascade were analyzed using Western hybridization experiments, MTT
      assays, real-time PCR-based epithelial to mesenchymal transition array, and
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Exposure of different cell lines to 1,8-cineol
      treatment resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of proliferation and a
      decreased activity of the WNT/beta-catenin pathway. We can show the inhibition of
      glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3)alpha/beta (Ser-9/21) as well as a
      corresponding decreased endolysosomal localization, leading to a decreased beta
      catenin activity. Furthermore, we can show that exposure to cineol functionally
      results in a reduced expression of WNT11. CONCLUSION: In this work, we
      demonstrate for the first time that 1,8-cineol acts as an inhibitor of the
      Wnt/beta-catenin activity in HNSCC via a decreased inhibition of GSK-3, which
      lead to reduced levels of WNT11 and a dose-dependent decrease of the cellular
      progression. Our data represent a new mechanism of 1,8-cineol activity, which may
      lead to novel molecular targets and treatment approaches of this natural drug.

PMID- 28589082
TI  - Genetically Engineered Vaccinia Viruses As Agents for Cancer Treatment, Imaging,
      and Transgene Delivery.
AB  - Despite advances in technology, the formidable challenge of treating cancer,
      especially if advanced, still remains with no significant improvement in survival
      rates, even with the most common forms of cancer. Oncolytic viral therapies have
      shown great promise for the treatment of various cancers, with the possible
      advantages of stronger treatment efficacy compared to conventional therapy due to
      higher tumor selectivity, and less toxicity. They are able to preferentially and
      selectively propagate in cancer cells, consequently destroying tumor tissue
      mainly via cell lysis, while leaving non-cancerous tissues unharmed. Several wild
      type and genetically engineered vaccinia virus (VACV) strains have been tested in
      both preclinical and clinical trials with promising results. Greater
      understanding and advancements in molecular biology have enabled the generation
      of genetically engineered oncolytic viruses for safer and more efficacious
      treatment, including arming VACVs with cytokines and immunostimulatory molecules,
      anti-angiogenic agents, and enzyme prodrug therapy, in addition to combining
      VACVs with conventional external and systemic radiotherapy, chemotherapy,
      immunotherapy, and other virus strains. Furthermore, novel oncolytic vaccinia
      virus strains have been generated that express reporter genes for the tracking
      and imaging of viral therapy and monitoring of therapeutic response. Further
      study is needed to unlock VACVs' full potential as part of the future of cancer
      therapy.

PMID- 28589084
TI  - Calreticulin in Essential Thrombocythemia: StressINg OUT the Megakaryocyte
      Nucleus.
AB  - Calreticulin (CALR) is a multifaceted protein primarily involved in intracellular
      protein control processes. The identification of CALR mutations in essential
      thrombocythemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis that are mutually exclusive with
      the JAK2 V617F mutation has stirred an intensive research interest about the
      molecular functions of CALR and its mutants in myeloproliferative neoplasms
      (MPNs) and its diagnostic/prognostic value. The recently characterized protein
      protein interaction of CALR mutants and MPL receptor has advanced our knowledge
      on the functional role of CALR mutants in thrombocythemia but it has also
      uncovered limitations of the current established research models. Human cell
      lines and mouse models provide useful information but they lack the advantages
      provided by ex vivo primary cultures of physiologically relevant to the disease
      cell types [i.e., megakaryocytes (MKs), platelets]. The results from gene
      expression and chromatin occupancy analysis have focused on the JAK-STAT pathway
      activated in both JAK2 V617F- and CALR-mutated MPN patient groups, although a
      more complete analysis is needed to be performed in MKs. Stress related processes
      seem to be affected in CALR mutant ET-MKs, but the precise mechanism is not known
      yet. Herein, we describe a culture method for human MKs from peripheral blood
      progenitors, which could help further toward an unbiased characterization of the
      role of CALR in ET and MK differentiation.

PMID- 28589083
TI  - The Concerted Action of Mitochondrial Dynamics and Positioning: New Characters in
      Cancer Onset and Progression.
AB  - Mitochondria are dynamic organelles whose morphology and activity are extremely
      variable, depending on the metabolic state of the cell. In particular, their
      shape and movements within the cell are finely regulated by an increasing number
      of proteins, which take part in the process of mitochondrial fission/fusion and
      connect the organelles to the cytoskeleton. As to their activities, mitochondria
      are considered to be at the crossroad between cell life and death since, on the
      one hand, they are essential in ATP production and in multiple metabolic pathways
      but, on the other, they are involved in the intrinsic apoptotic cascade,
      triggered by different stress conditions. Importantly, the process of
      mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, as well as the morphology and the dynamics of these
      organelles, is known to deeply impact on both pro-survival and pro-death
      mitochondrial activities. Recently, increasing evidence has accrued on a central
      role of deregulated mitochondrial functionalities in the onset and progression of
      different pathologies, ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to cancer. In this
      contribution, we will present the latest findings connecting alterations in the
      machineries that control mitochondrial dynamics and localization to specific
      cancer hallmarks, highlighting the importance of mitochondria for the viability
      of cancer cells and discussing their role as promising targets for the
      development of novel anticancer therapies.

PMID- 28589080
TI  - Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis.
AB  - Radiation-induced oral mucositis (RIOM) is a major dose-limiting toxicity in head
      and neck cancer patients. It is a normal tissue injury caused by
      radiation/radiotherapy (RT), which has marked adverse effects on patient quality
      of life and cancer therapy continuity. It is a challenge for radiation
      oncologists since it leads to cancer therapy interruption, poor local tumor
      control, and changes in dose fractionation. RIOM occurs in 100% of altered
      fractionation radiotherapy head and neck cancer patients. In the United Sates,
      its economic cost was estimated to reach 17,000.00 USD per patient with head and
      neck cancers. This review will discuss RIOM definition, epidemiology, impact and
      side effects, pathogenesis, scoring scales, diagnosis, differential diagnosis,
      prevention, and treatment.

PMID- 28589085
TI  - Immune System, Friend or Foe of Oncolytic Virotherapy?
AB  - Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are an emerging class of targeted anticancer therapies
      designed to selectively infect, replicate in, and lyse malignant cells without
      causing harm to normal, healthy tissues. In addition to direct oncolytic
      activity, OVs have shown dual promise as immunotherapeutic agents. The presence
      of viral infection and subsequently generated immunogenic tumor cell death
      trigger innate and adaptive immune responses that mediate further tumor
      destruction. However, antiviral immune responses can intrinsically limit OV
      infection, spread, and overall therapeutic efficacy. Host immune system can act
      both as a barrier as well as a facilitator and sometimes both at the same time
      based on the phase of viral infection. Thus, manipulating the host immune system
      to minimize antiviral responses and viral clearance while still promoting immune
      mediated tumor destruction remains a key challenge facing oncolytic virotherapy.
      Recent clinical trials have established the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of
      virotherapies in the treatment of a variety of malignancies. Most notably,
      talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), a genetically engineered oncolytic herpesvirus
      expressing granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor, was recently
      approved for the treatment of melanoma, representing the first OV to be approved
      by the FDA as an anticancer therapy in the US. This review discusses OVs and
      their antitumor properties, their complex interactions with the immune system,
      synergy between virotherapy and existing cancer treatments, and emerging
      strategies to augment the efficacy of OVs as anticancer therapies.

PMID- 28589086
TI  - Lymph Node Metastases in Papillary and Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Are
      Independent of Intratumoral Lymphatic Vessel Density.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood and lymph vessel invasion are well-recognized markers of tumor
      aggressiveness, as these are the routes that lead to metastases. Thyroid tumors,
      depending on the histological variant, tend to have distinctive biological
      behaviors and use different vascular routes to metastasize, yet the mechanisms
      underlying the metastatic process are still poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of this study was to assess how the lymph vessel density (LVD) in different
      histological types of thyroid tumors, and in their surrounding tissue, correlate
      with the presence of lymph node metastases (LNM) and tumor pathological features.
      METHODS: Lymph vessels of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), of the classical
      (CVPTC, n = 50) and follicular variants (FVPTC, n = 18), and medullary thyroid
      carcinomas (MTC, n = 34) were immunohistochemically stained against antigen D2
      40. The stained area was quantified using a computerized morphometric analysis
      tool and correlated with the tumor pathological characteristics. RESULTS: LVD
      within all analyzed thyroid tumor subtypes was significantly lower than in the
      surrounding thyroid tissues (p < 0.001). Despite intratumoral LVD being
      significantly higher in CVPTC than in FVPTC, and peritumoral LVD being
      significantly higher in MTC than in PTC (p < 0.05), no correlations were found
      between LVD (either intratumoral or peritumoral) and the presence of lymph node
      metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: As no LVD differences were found amongst thyroid tumors
      with or without LNM, dissemination is more likely to depend on the tumor ability
      to invade the abundant lymph vessel network of the surrounding thyroid tissue
      than on the ability of the tumor to promote de novo lymphangiogenesis.

PMID- 28589087
TI  - Nodular Thyroid Disease and Thyroid Cancer in the Era of Precision Medicine.
AB  - The management of thyroid nodules, one of the main clinical challenges in
      endocrine clinical practice, is usually straightforward. Although the most
      important concern is ruling out malignancy, there are grey areas where
      uncertainty is frequently present: the nodules labelled as indeterminate by
      cytology and the extent of therapy when thyroid cancer is diagnosed
      pathologically. There is evidence that the current available precision medicine
      tools (from all the "-omics" to molecular analysis, fine-tuning imaging or
      artificial intelligence) may help to fill present gaps in the future. We present
      here a commentary on some of the current challenges faced by endocrinologists in
      the field of thyroid nodules and cancer, and illustrate how precision medicine
      may improve their diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities in the future.

PMID- 28589088
TI  - A 2016 Italian Survey about Guidelines and Clinical Management of Thyroid
      Nodules.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While thyroid nodules are frequent in endocrine clinical practice,
      patients are often asymptomatic and euthyroid, and death is rare in cases of
      malignancy. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the perception of current international
      guidelines regarding thyroid nodule management among Italian endocrinologists,
      and to compare daily clinical practice with suggested recommendations. METHODS:
      Italian Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AME) members were invited to
      participate in a Web-based survey. RESULTS: A total of 566 physicians responded.
      About 50% had read the full text of the guidelines. Over half appreciated the
      suggested ultrasound (US) risk categories. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) was
      obtained more frequently than recommended. Follow-up of a cytologically benign
      nodule was largely performed according to the guidelines. Molecular testing would
      be most commonly requested when cytology reports showed atypia of undetermined
      significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) (TIR3A for
      Italian System). Iodine and/or levothyroxine were largely prescribed for
      cytologically benign asymptomatic nodules. Laser/radiofrequency ablation and
      percutaneous ethanol injection were commonly considered as alternatives to
      surgery (46.2 and 71.4%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Efforts are needed to make
      the guidelines more user-friendly and to encourage the use of codified risk
      categories in thyroid US reports. FNA indications remain a matter of debate as
      FNA is obtained in clinical practice more often than is recommended. Current US
      follow-up modalities for a benign nodule are correct, but probably could be
      performed less frequently without any harm. Molecular testing, if accessible,
      would be helpful in guiding clinicians' strategies in cases of AUS/FLUS-TIR3A
      cytologic results. Nonsurgical procedures are favorably embraced.

PMID- 28589089
TI  - Reference Values for TSH and Free Thyroid Hormones in Healthy Pregnant Women in
      Poland: A Prospective, Multicenter Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases in pregnant women
      remains a challenge. Various medical associations recommend establishing the
      reference intervals for thyroid hormones by a local laboratory. Considering
      differences within geophysical, socioeconomic conditions, and iodine prophylaxis
      in various populations, it is advisable to assess reference intervals for thyroid
      hormones specific to a region of residence. The objective was to assess trimester
      specific reference intervals for TSH, fT3, and fT4 for pregnant women in the
      Polish population. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a prospective study in 4
      centers representing different regions of Poland (Krakow, Warsaw, Poznan, and
      Bialystok). Our study included consecutive, healthy pregnant women (172
      patients), with an age range of 27-47 years. All women had a negative history for
      thyroid diseases, normal thyroid peroxidase antibody levels, and proper iodine
      prophylaxis. All newborns had TSH levels in the appropriate reference range.
      Serum TSH, fT3, fT4, and thyroid-peroxidase antibodies were measured in each
      trimester. The reference intervals were calculated using the percentile method,
      as recommended by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry. The
      reference values calculated were 0.009-3.177, 0.05-3.442, and 0.11-3.53 mIU/L for
      TSH; 3.63-6.55, 3.29-5.45, and 3.1-5.37 pmol/L for fT3; and 11.99-21.89, 10.46
      16.67, and 8.96-17.23 pmol/L for fT4 in consecutive trimesters of pregnancy.
      Reference intervals for pregnant women when compared to the general population
      showed a lower concentration of TSH in every trimester of pregnancy and lower fT4
      in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. CONCLUSIONS: Using appropriate trimester-specific
      reference intervals may improve care of pregnant women by preventing misdiagnosis
      and inadequate treatment.

PMID- 28589090
TI  - Neither Baseline nor Changes in Serum Triiodothyronine during
      Levothyroxine/Liothyronine Combination Therapy Predict a Positive Response to
      This Treatment Modality in Hypothyroid Patients with Persistent Symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite biochemical euthyroidism, some levothyroxine (L-T4)-treated
      hypothyroid patients report persisting symptoms and some of these patients are
      tentatively treated with a combination of L-T4 and liothyronine (L-T3).
      Combination therapy and the appropriate choice of blood tests to monitor
      treatment are highly debated among specialists and patients. AIM: To evaluate
      whether measuring serum triiodothyronine (S-T3) at baseline or during combination
      therapy can be used as an indicator of a positive effect from L-T4/L-T3
      combination therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational retrospective study of
      patients (n = 42) with persisting symptoms of hypothyroidism despite L-T4 therapy
      who had normal TSH levels and did not have any comorbidities that could explain
      their symptoms. All were then treated with L-T4/L-T3 combination therapy at a
      dose ratio of 17/1 according to European Thyroid Association guidelines. Based on
      patient-reported outcome, they were divided into responders and nonresponders.
      RESULTS: Five patients were lost to follow-up and thus excluded. At the 3-month
      follow-up, 11 were classified as nonresponders and 26 as responders. At 12 months
      these figures had changed to 13 (35%) and 24 (65%), respectively. When comparing
      responders versus nonresponders, no differences were seen at baseline or during
      follow-up in S-T3 and in free T3 estimates. Further, logistic regression showed
      no correlation between S-T3 and free T3 estimates and responder/nonresponder
      status. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that serum T3 measurements are not suitable
      to predict which patient will benefit from L-T4/L-T3 combination therapy, and
      treatment response cannot be followed by repeated T3 measurements either.

PMID- 28589091
TI  - When Is Thyroidectomy the Right Choice? Comparison between Fine-Needle Aspiration
      and Final Histology in a Single Institution Experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare SIAPEC-IAP-based cytological
      reports with their corresponding histological diagnoses to establish when
      thyroidectomy is the right choice in the management of thyroid diseases. STUDY
      DESIGN: This is a retrospective review of all the consecutive
      thyroidectomies/lobectomies performed at Maria Vittoria Hospital during the 10
      year period between January 2005 and December 2015. Patients who underwent both
      fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and surgical procedures in our institution were
      included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 260 patients underwent both FNA and a
      thyroid surgical procedure at Maria Vittoria Hospital; 111 (42.69%) had a
      malignant histological report. The final cytological diagnosis was nondiagnostic
      (TIR-1) in 19 cases (7.31%), benign (TIR-2) in 83 cases (31.92%), indeterminate
      (TIR-3) in 96 cases (36.92%), suspicious for malignancy (TIR-4) in 22 cases
      (8.46%), and diagnostic for malignancy (TIR-5) in 40 cases (15.38%). Among the 96
      cases with TIR-3 cytology, after the review, 44 (16.92%) were classified as TIR
      3A and 52 (20%) as TIR-3B. The prevalence of malignancy among TIR-3A cases was
      20.45% (9/44) and among TIR-3B cases 53.85% (28/52). The difference was
      statistically significant (p = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that follow
      up alone is not sufficient in TIR-3A patients given the high prevalence of
      malignancy within that diagnostic category (20.45%) and the low sensitivity
      (75.68%) and specificity (59.32%) in the distinction between TIR-3A and TIR-3B.
      Regarding patients with a multinodular goiter and TIR-2 at FNA, the surgical
      approach should not be excluded.

PMID- 28589092
TI  - "Nodule in Nodule" on Thyroid Ultrasonography: Possibility of Follicular
      Carcinoma Transformed from Benign Thyroid Tumor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is generally considered impossible to differentiate follicular
      carcinomas from follicular adenomas by means of ultrasonography or cytology
      before surgery. Therefore, follicular carcinoma is histopathologically diagnosed
      by verifying capsular and/or vascular invasion after surgery. However,
      ultrasonography may play an important role in diagnosing follicular carcinoma
      preoperatively in a small number of cases. CASE DESCRIPTION: Four cases of
      follicular carcinoma or follicular neoplasm that transformed from a benign
      thyroid tumor and demonstrated a "nodule in nodule" appearance on ultrasonography
      are presented in this report. Characteristic ultrasound features of such patients
      are: (1) a "nodule in nodule" appearance, (2) a well-defined boundary line
      between the nodules, and (3) separate distribution of blood signals within each
      nodule. CONCLUSION: A small number of patients with follicular carcinomas or
      follicular neoplasms may present with a "nodule in nodule" appearance on
      ultrasonography. It was suggested a long time ago that follicular carcinomas may
      develop from benign thyroid tumors. The fact that follicular carcinomas appear
      within benign tumors may be evidence of thyroid tumorigenesis.

PMID- 28589093
TI  - Successful Pretreatment Using Plasma Exchange before Thyroidectomy in a Patient
      with Amiodarone-Induced Thyrotoxicosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Amiodarone, used for the management of tachyarrhythmias, is
      associated with both hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis. Total thyroidectomy is an
      effective procedure for promptly reducing circulating thyroid hormone levels. It
      has been proposed in patients who have severe amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis
      (AIT) or are refractory to medical therapy, or when such therapy is
      contraindicated. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) may be considered as a
      pretreatment for restoring a euthyroid state preoperatively, thereby reducing a
      patient's symptoms and the potential perioperative risk associated with
      thyrotoxicosis. CASE REPORT: We describe the case of a 62-year-old man with type
      2 AIT who presented with severe unremitting thyrotoxicosis after 8 weeks of
      medical therapy with glucocorticosteroids, thiamazole, and potassium perchlorate.
      Given the severity of his presentation, a total thyroidectomy was indicated. TPE
      was performed preoperatively and was successful in rapidly restoring
      euthyroidism. This dramatically improved the patient's symptoms which had been
      suggestive of ischemic heart disease. Subsequently, the patient underwent total
      thyroidectomy under general anesthesia without any major complications.
      CONCLUSION: TPE is successful in rapidly restoring a clinical and biochemical
      euthyroid state, and may be used to decrease the perioperative risks associated
      with thyroidectomy in patients with life-threatening thyrotoxicosis or in cases
      refractory to medical treatment.

PMID- 28589094
TI  - Selenium in the Treatment of Thyroid Diseases.

PMID- 28589096
TI  - Identification of S-Nitrosylated (SNO) Proteins in Entamoeba histolytica Adapted
      to Nitrosative Stress: Insights into the Role of SNO Actin and In vitro
      Virulence.
AB  - We have recently reported that Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites can adapt to
      toxic levels of the nitric oxide (NO) donor, S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). Even if
      the consequences of this adaptation on the modulation of gene expression in NO
      adapted trophozoites (NAT) have been previously explored, insight on S
      nitrosylated (SNO) proteins in NAT is missing. Our study aims to fill this
      knowledge gap by performing a screening of SNO proteins in NAT. Employing SNO
      resin-assisted capture (RAC), we identified 242 putative SNO proteins with key
      functions in calcium binding, enzyme modulation, redox homeostasis, and actin
      cytoskeleton. Of the SNO proteins in NAT, proteins that are associated with actin
      family cytoskeleton protein are significantly enriched. Here we report that the
      formation of actin filaments (F-actin) is impaired in NAT. Consequently, the
      ability of NAT to ingest erythrocytes and their motility and their cytopathic
      activity are impaired. These phenotypes can be imitated by treating control
      parasite with cytochalasin D (CytD), a drug that binds to F-actin polymer and
      prevent polymerization of actin monomers. Removal of GSNO from the culture medium
      of NAT restored the sensitivity of the parasite to nitrosative stress (NS) and
      its ability to form F-actin formation and its virulence. These results establish
      the central role of NO in shaping the virulence of the parasite through its
      effect on F-actin formation and highlight the impressive ability of this parasite
      to adapt to NS.

PMID- 28589095
TI  - Diversity and Versatility of Phagocytosis: Roles in Innate Immunity, Tissue
      Remodeling, and Homeostasis.
AB  - Phagocytosis, a critical early event in the microbicidal response of neutrophils,
      is now appreciated to serve multiple functions in a variety of cell types.
      Professional phagocytes play a central role in innate immunity by eliminating
      pathogenic bacteria, fungi and malignant cells, and contribute to adaptive
      immunity by presenting antigens to lymphocytes. In addition, phagocytes play a
      part in tissue remodeling and maintain overall homeostasis by disposing of
      apoptotic cells, a task shared by non-professional phagocytes, often of
      epithelial origin. This functional versatility is supported by a vast array of
      receptors capable of recognizing a striking variety of foreign and endogenous
      ligands. Here we present an abbreviated overview of the different types of
      phagocytes, their varied modes of signaling and particle engulfment, and the
      multiple physiological roles of phagocytosis.

PMID- 28589097
TI  - AGO2 Negatively Regulates Type I Interferon Signaling Pathway by Competition
      Binding IRF3 with CBP/p300.
AB  - Viral infection triggers a series of signaling cascades and host innate immune
      responses, including interferon (IFN) production, which depends on coordinated
      activity of multiple transcription factors. IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and
      transcriptional coactivator CREB binding protein (CBP) and/or p300 are core
      factors that participate in transcriptional complex formation in the nucleus. In
      general, cells balance the production of IFNs through suppressive and stimulative
      mechanisms, but viral infections can disrupt such equilibrium. This study
      determined that H5N1 viral infection reduced the distribution of human argonaute
      2 (AGO2) in A549 cell nucleus. AGO2 did not block phosphorylation, nuclear
      translocation, and DNA binding ability of IRF3 but inhibited its association with
      CBP. Therefore, this newly revealed mechanism shows that cellular response leads
      to transfer of AGO2 from cell nucleus and promotes IFN-beta expression to
      increase host survival during viral infection.

PMID- 28589098
TI  - Manipulation of Neutrophils by Porphyromonas gingivalis in the Development of
      Periodontitis.
AB  - The pathogenesis of the chronic periodontal disease is associated with a skewed
      host inflammatory response to periodontal pathogens, such as Porphyromonas
      gingivalis, that accounts for the majority of periodontal tissue damage.
      Neutrophils are the most abundant leukocytes in periodontal pockets and depending
      on the stage of the disease, also plentiful PMNs are present in the inflamed
      gingival tissue and the gingival crevice. They are the most efficient phagocytes
      and eliminate pathogens by a variety of means, which are either oxygen-dependent
      or -independent. However, these secretory lethal weapons do not strictly
      discriminate between pathogens and host tissue. Current studies describe
      conflicting findings about neutrophil involvement in periodontal disease. On one
      hand literature indicate that hyper-reactive neutrophils are the main immune cell
      type responsible for this observed tissue damage and disease progression.
      Deregulation of neutrophil survival and functions, such as chemotaxis, migration,
      secretion of antimicrobial peptides or enzymes, and production of reactive oxygen
      species, contribute to observed tissue injury and the clinical signs of
      periodontal disease. On the other hand neutrophils deficiencies in patients and
      mice also result in periodontal phenotype. Therefore, P. gingivalis represents a
      periodontal pathogen that manipulates the immune responses of PMNs, employing
      several virulence factors, such as gingipains, serine proteases, lipid
      phosphatases, or fimbriae. This review will sum up studies devoted to
      understanding different strategies utilized by P. gingivalis to manipulate PMNs
      survival and functions in order to inhibit killing by a granular content, prolong
      inflammation, and gain access to nutrient resources.

PMID- 28589100
TI  - MicroRNA-21 Limits Uptake of Listeria monocytogenes by Macrophages to Reduce the
      Intracellular Niche and Control Infection.
AB  - MiRNAs are important post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. MiRNA
      expression is a crucial part of host responses to bacterial infection, however
      there is limited knowledge of their impact on the outcome of infections. We
      investigated the influence of miR-21 on macrophage responses during infection
      with Listeria monocytogenes, which establishes an intracellular niche within
      macrophages. MiR-21 is induced following infection of bone marrow-derived
      macrophages (BMDMs) with Listeria. MiR-21-/- macrophages display an increased
      bacterial burden with Listeria at 30 min and 2 h post-infection. This phenotype
      was reversed by the addition of synthetic miR-21 mimics to the system. To assess
      the immune response of wildtype (WT) and miR-21-/- macrophages, BMDMs were
      treated with bacterial LPS or infected with Listeria. There was no difference in
      IL-10 and IL-6 between WT and miR-21-/- BMDMs in response to LPS or Listeria. TNF
      alpha was increased in miR-21-/- BMDMs stimulated with LPS or Listeria compared
      to WT macrophages. We next assessed the production of nitric oxide (NO), a key
      bactericidal factor in Listeria infection. There was no significant difference in
      NO production between WT and miR-21-/- cells, indicating that the increased
      bacterial burden may not be due to impaired killing. As the increased bacterial
      load was observed early following infection (30 min), we questioned whether this
      is due to differences in uptake of Listeria by WT and miR-21-/- macrophages. We
      show that miR-21-deficiency enhances uptake of FITC-dextran and FITC-Escherichia
      coli bioparticles by macrophages. The previously observed Listeria burden
      phenotype was ablated by pre-treatment of cells with the actin polymerization
      inhibitor cytochalasin-D. From analysis of miR-21 targets, we selected the pro
      phagocytic regulators myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS) and
      Ras homolog gene family, member B (RhoB) for further investigation. MARCKS and
      RhoB are increased in miR-21-/- BMDMs, correlating with increased uptake of
      Listeria. Finally, intra-peritoneal infection of mice with Listeria led to
      increased bacterial burden in livers of miR-21-/- mice compared to WT mice. These
      findings suggest a possible role for miR-21 in regulation of phagocytosis during
      infection, potentially by repression of MARCKS and RhoB, thus serving to limit
      the availability of the intracellular niche of pathogens like L. monocytogenes.

PMID- 28589101
TI  - Recombineering in Streptococcus mutans Using Direct Repeat-Mediated Cloning
      Independent Markerless Mutagenesis (DR-CIMM).
AB  - Studies of the dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans have benefitted
      tremendously from its sophisticated genetic system. As part of our own efforts to
      further improve upon the S. mutans genetic toolbox, we previously reported the
      development of the first cloning-independent markerless mutagenesis (CIMM) system
      for S. mutans and illustrated how this approach could be adapted for use in many
      other organisms. The CIMM approach only requires overlap extension PCR (OE-PCR)
      protocols to assemble counterselectable allelic replacement mutagenesis
      constructs, and thus greatly increased the speed and efficiency with which
      markerless mutations could be introduced into S. mutans. Despite its utility, the
      system is still subject to a couple limitations. Firstly, CIMM requires negative
      selection with the conditionally toxic phenylalanine analog p-chlorophenylalanine
      (4-CP), which is efficient, but never perfect. Typically, 4-CP negative selection
      results in a small percentage of naturally resistant background colonies.
      Secondly, CIMM requires two transformation steps to create markerless mutants.
      This can be inherently problematic if the transformability of the strain is
      negatively impacted after the first transformation step, which is used to insert
      the counterselection cassette at the mutation site on the chromosome. In the
      current study, we develop a next-generation counterselection cassette that
      eliminates 4-CP background resistance and combine this with a new direct repeat
      mediated cloning-independent markerless mutagenesis (DR-CIMM) system to
      specifically address the limitations of the prior approach. DR-CIMM is even
      faster and more efficient than CIMM for the creation of all types of deletions,
      insertions, and point mutations and is similarly adaptable for use in a wide
      range of genetically tractable bacteria.

PMID- 28589099
TI  - Serine Protease Inhibitors in Ticks: An Overview of Their Role in Tick Biology
      and Tick-Borne Pathogen Transmission.
AB  - New tick and tick-borne pathogen control approaches that are both environmentally
      sustainable and which provide broad protection are urgently needed. Their
      development, however, will rely on a greater understanding of tick biology, tick
      pathogen, and tick-host interactions. The recent advances in new generation
      technologies to study genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes has resulted in a
      plethora of tick biomacromolecular studies. Among these, many enzyme inhibitors
      have been described, notably serine protease inhibitors (SPIs), whose importance
      in various tick biological processes is only just beginning to be fully
      appreciated. Among the multiple active substances secreted during tick feeding,
      SPIs have been shown to be directly involved in regulation of inflammation, blood
      clotting, wound healing, vasoconstriction and the modulation of host defense
      mechanisms. In light of these activities, several SPIs were examined and were
      experimentally confirmed to facilitate tick pathogen transmission. In addition,
      to prevent coagulation of the ingested blood meal within the tick alimentary
      canal, SPIs are also involved in blood digestion and nutrient extraction from the
      meal. The presence of SPIs in tick hemocytes and their involvement in tick innate
      immune defenses have also been demonstrated, as well as their implication in
      hemolymph coagulation and egg development. Considering the involvement of SPIs in
      multiple crucial aspects of tick-host-pathogen interactions, as well as in
      various aspects of the tick parasitic lifestyle, these molecules represent highly
      suitable and attractive targets for the development of effective tick control
      strategies. Here we review the current knowledge regarding this class of
      inhibitors in tick biology and tick-borne pathogen transmission, and their
      potential as targets for future tick control trials.

PMID- 28589104
TI  - Intratympanic Injection of Dexamethasone and Electrocochleographic Data in Cases
      of Definite One Sided Refractory Meniere's Disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Meniere's disease (MD) is a disease of the inner ear that presents
      itself with repeated episodes of vertigo (96.2%), tinnitus (91.1%), and
      sensorineural hearing loss (87.7 %). In this article we sought to assess the
      effects of intratympanic (IT) injections of dexamethasone on definite cases of MD
      using electrocochleography (ECOG). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this hospital-based
      case series in 36 patients, we measured audiometric values and ECOG in all
      patients before, 1 month and 6 months after 4-mg/mL IT injections of
      dexamethasone. RESULTS: Four patients (11%) had improved hearing following the
      intervention. No difference in pure tone audiometry (PTA) was observed following
      IT injections (P=0.492), while speech discrimination score (SDS) was
      significantly improved (P=0.008). There was a significant improvement in vertigo
      1 month after IT injections (P<0.001), although this effect did not last for 6
      months. No significant change in ECOG was observed between before and after
      treatment (P=0.052). CONCLUSION: IT dexamethasone injections can improve vertigo
      in definite cases of MD, although it seems that the effect is only temporary.

PMID- 28589103
TI  - Effect of symbiotic supplementation on glycemic control, lipid profiles and
      microalbuminuria in patients with non-obese type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double
      blind, clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalent raise of type 2 diabetes (T2D) around the globe, are
      creating higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and increasing strain on
      each country's health care budget in the world. Microalbuminuria has appeared as
      a key parameter in diabetic patients. Microalbuminuria is also related to
      increased cardiovascular morbidity in people who are non-obese diabetic. Some
      studies have suggested that consumption of symbiotic foods might help improve the
      metabolic profile, inflammatory factors and biomarkers of oxidative stress. The
      aim of trial was to determine the effect of symbiotic supplementation on glycemic
      control, lipid profiles and microalbuminuria in non-obese T2D. METHODS: In this
      randomized, double-blind, clinically controlled trial, 70 patients with T2D (28
      females, 42 males) were randomly divided into two groups (n = 35 for each group).
      The symbiotic group (SG) consumed 500 mg/d of symbiotic supplementations
      containing probiotics (Lactobacillus family, Bifidobacterium family, Streptococus
      thermophilus), Prebiotics (Fructo oligosaccharide) and B group vitamins (1 mg),
      lactose (0.5 mg), malt-dextrin, magnesium saturate and the placebo group (PG)
      consumed capsules filled with row starch and also B group vitamins (1 mg),
      lactose (0.5 mg), malt-dextrin, magnesium saturate for 9 weeks. Fasting blood
      glucose (FBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), blood lipid profiles, 24-h dietary
      recalls, and anthropometric measurements were measured at the baseline and at the
      end of trial. SPSS software, version 16 was used to test the data and the results
      were expressed as mean +/- standard deviation. Paired samples T-Test were used to
      compare continuous variables within groups. Comparison between different groups
      was performed through two independent samples T-Test. In the absence of normal
      distribution, the comparison between the groups was made using non-parametric
      Wilcoxon on signed ranks and Mann-Whitney tests. P values <0.05 was considered
      significant. RESULTS: Symbiotic supplementation decreased significantly, FBG (P =
      0.05) and HbA1c (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in lipid
      profiles within and between the groups at the end of study (P > 0.05).
      Microalbuminuria (P < 0.05) and HbA1c (P < 0.05) are increased significantly in
      PG at the end of the study. Furthermore, the mean changes of microalbuminuria and
      HbA1c experienced significant between the two groups. There was significant
      reduction in urea between two groups from baseline (P = 0.051). No significant
      changes in baseline were shown in creatinine among the two groups or within
      either groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The consumption of 500 mg/d symbiotic
      supplementation for 9 weeks could improve the HbA1c, BMI and Microalbuminuria in
      T2D. Although, No effect has been indicated on FBS, lipid profiles, urea and
      creatinine. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has been registered in the Iranian
      Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT2015072223284N1, identifier. Registered 21 May
      2016 "retrospectively registered".

PMID- 28589105
TI  - The Prevalence of Hearing Loss in Patients with Hepatitis B Infection Compared
      with Healthy Volunteers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B virus is a virus that creates significant hepatic and
      extra-hepatic complications, with widespread prevalence across the community and
      body systemic involvement, and can impact on hearing performance. This study aims
      to evaluate hearing loss among individuals with hepatitis B compared with healthy
      subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, 83 HBsAg-positive
      patients with a 1-year history of disease were selected for pure tone audiometry
      (PTA) testing, while 108 HBsAg-negative patients were selected as the control
      group. Subjects in both groups were aged 20-40 years. The threshold was set at 25
      db for hearing loss. Final data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS:
      Significant differences were found between the case group and control group in
      average PTA and hearing loss. There was also a significant difference between the
      two groups in average PTA at frequencies of 250, 4,000, and 8,000 Hz, but not at
      speech frequencies of 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Hz, despite the difference in average
      PTA. CONCLUSION: According to significant differences in average PTA between
      patients with hepatitis B virus and healthy subjects in this study, hearing loss
      may be attributed to the presence HBV of in the patient group.

PMID- 28589106
TI  - Rate of Occult Cervical Lymph Node Involvement in Supraglottic Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To assess the rate of cervical lymph node involvement in patients
      with supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with no lymph node in clinical
      assessments and radiological studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-six patients
      who underwent elective dissection of the cervical lymph node of the second
      through fourth level were enrolled, and pathologic evaluation of the dissected
      lymph nodes was performed. Lymph node involvement and association between tumor
      grade, smoking and gender with lymph node involvement were assessed. RESULTS: The
      rate of the occult neck metastasis in this series was 37.5%. There was no
      statistically significant association between lymph node involvement and tumor
      grade, smoking, or gender. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of our study, we
      recommend elective bilateral neck dissection in all stages of N0 supraglottic SCC
      patients.

PMID- 28589102
TI  - Heterogeneous Family of Cyclomodulins: Smart Weapons That Allow Bacteria to
      Hijack the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle and Promote Infections.
AB  - Some bacterial pathogens modulate signaling pathways of eukaryotic cells in order
      to subvert the host response for their own benefit, leading to successful
      colonization and invasion. Pathogenic bacteria produce multiple compounds that
      generate favorable conditions to their survival and growth during infection in
      eukaryotic hosts. Many bacterial toxins can alter the cell cycle progression of
      host cells, impairing essential cellular functions and impeding host cell
      division. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding cyclomodulins, a
      heterogeneous family of bacterial effectors that induce eukaryotic cell cycle
      alterations. We discuss the mechanisms of actions of cyclomodulins according to
      their biochemical properties, providing examples of various cyclomodulins such as
      cycle inhibiting factor, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, cytolethal distending
      toxins, shiga toxin, subtilase toxin, anthrax toxin, cholera toxin, adenylate
      cyclase toxins, vacuolating cytotoxin, cytotoxic necrotizing factor, Panton
      Valentine leukocidin, phenol soluble modulins, and mycolactone. Special attention
      is paid to the benefit provided by cyclomodulins to bacteria during colonization
      of the host.

PMID- 28589107
TI  - Head and Neck Cancers in North-East Iran: A 25 year Survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cancers are among the worst noncommunicable diseases around the
      world. Head and neck cancers are ranked as the fifth most common cancers
      worldwide. As there are different distributions of risk factors around the world,
      the incidence of these cancers varies from one place to another. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We conducted a descriptive analytic cross-sectional study, based on
      census-based records from the private oncology clinic in Mashhad, Iran. Data from
      1,075 patients with head and neck cancers were analyzed from 1986 to 2010. We
      categorized the duration of study into five periods: 1986-1990, 1991-1995, 1996
      2000, 2001-2005, and 2006-2010. Head and neck cancers refers to cancers
      originating from seven sites in the head and neck including the nasal cavity,
      oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, salivary glands, paranasal sinuses, and thyroid.
      RESULTS: Data of 1,075 patients were analyzed. 66.2% were male. Mean +/- standard
      deviation (SD) age at the time of diagnosis was 55.37+/-15.55 years. The most
      frequent type of head and neck cancer was larynx cancer (36%), followed by
      pharynx (28.5%), oral (17.5%), thyroid (6.8%), sinus (6.4%), salivary gland
      (4.10%), and nasal cancer (0.70%). although larynx cancer was the most frequent
      cancer over the whole study duration, there was a significant (P=0.04) difference
      in the relative frequency of these cancers across the five time periods. There
      was a significant difference in mean age between cancer categories (P<0.001). The
      only cancer with a different mean age at different time periods was pharynx
      cancer (P=0.02). There was a significant difference between sex and cancer
      categories (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Laryngeal cancer was the most common head and
      neck cancer over the whole duration of this study. The differences in the
      patterns of other head and neck cancers could be due to geographical differences
      and also different risk factors and lifestyles all over the world. Further
      investigations in these fields are suggested in future studies.

PMID- 28589108
TI  - Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis Correlation in Palm Tree Workers of Jahrom City in
      2016.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Allergic rhinitis and asthma can be related to occupation. The
      present study aimed to investigate the correlation between asthma or allergic
      rhinitis and employment in the palm tree gardens of Jahrom, Iran. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study including 50 palm tree garden workers
      and a control group of 50 office employees. Data collection included
      demographics, as well as standard International Study of Asthma and Allergies in
      Childhood (ISAAC) and A New Symptom-Based Questionnaire for Predicting the
      Presence of Asthma (ASQ) questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS22.
      Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t-test, and logistics regression were
      used to analyze data. RESULTS: The correlation between asthma and occupation was
      significant ( P=0.046); and asthma prevalence was higher in palm tree garden
      workers. However, no relationship was observed between age, duration of
      employment, smoking cigarettes, hookah, or opium addiction with asthma.
      Furthermore, in this study, no significant relation was observed between the
      prevalence of asthma and contact with dust, contact with pets' skin and hair,
      family history of asthma, or the use of perfume and air freshener. The symptoms
      of allergic rhinitis (including sneezing, runny nose, and blocked nose) were
      significantly greater in palm tree garden workers (P=0.038). These symptoms in
      both workers and office employees were higher in spring. CONCLUSION: In our
      study, allergic rhinitis and asthma were more common in palm tree garden workers
      than in the general population. According to our study, people working in this
      occupation should take necessary precautions.

PMID- 28589109
TI  - Laryngo-Tracheo-Bronchial Foreign Bodies in Children: Clinical Presentations and
      Complications.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Foreign-body (FB) aspiration in the airway of children is a life
      threatening clinical situation responsible for many deaths each year. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the different clinical presentations, methods of
      diagnosis, types and complications of FB inhalation in the pediatric age group.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included patients who presented with a
      definitive or suspicious history of FB aspiration. Detailed data for each patient
      were recorded concerning the age, sex, nature and site of the FB, presenting
      symptoms and signs, and radiological findings. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients were
      enrolled in this study. The age of patients ranged from 6 months to 14 years,
      with a mean age of 4.5 years. Sixty percent of patients were under 3 years of
      age. The time interval between aspiration of foreign body and onset of diagnosis
      ranged from 2 hours to 5 months. Thirty-four (60.7%) patients had normal chest X
      ray findings, while opaque FB was seen in eight patients (14.3%). Signs of
      bronchitis were seen in five patients (9%), while pneumonia and atelectasis were
      seen in six (10.7%) and three cases (5.3%), respectively. CONCLUSION: FB
      aspiration is a life-threatening clinical situation, with children <3 years of
      age being most commonly affected. FB aspiration must be considered a matter of
      emergency, especially in the case of organic FBs. This study aimed to increase
      the awareness of laryngo-tracheo-bronchial FBs, as early diagnosis and management
      decrease the incidence of complications and make removal of aspirated FB easier.

PMID- 28589110
TI  - Citelli's Abscess Following Otitis Media: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Citelli's abscess is an extratemporal complication of otitis media.
      It occurs when pus from the mastoid tip trickles down along the posterior belly
      of the digastric muscle to the occipital and cervical region. It is a very
      unusual presenting complication of chronic otitis media with no available data in
      the until now. CASE REPORT: A 10-year-old female was presented to our outpatient
      department with a 1 month history of hi-grade fever and headache and pain around
      the left half of the face. During physical examination a huge swelling present in
      the left temporal and occipital region was observed. The swelling crossed the
      midline, was tender to touch, and was fluctuant. During otological examination
      left sided chronic suppurative otitis media, of the attico-antral type with
      cholesteatoma, and a profuse foul smelling purulent discharge was observed. After
      complete investigation, drainage of the patient's abscess was performed under
      general anesthesia. A postaural incision was administered and around 500 ml of
      pus drained out. Immediately after the operation, the patient showed signs of
      recovery. After 3 weeks of parenteral antibiotic therapy, the primary focus was
      debrided by performing left modified radical mastoidectomy. CONCLUSION: Citelli's
      abscess is a rare complication of otitis media. Urgent radiology, followed by
      drainage of pus is performed to reduce pain and further progression of the
      infective process. The primary ear pathology is managed surgically after adequate
      treatment with intra venous antibiotics.

PMID- 28589111
TI  - Acute Otitis Media-Induced Gradenigo Syndrome, a Dramatic Response to Intravenous
      Antibiotic.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Petrositis is a rare but severe complication of acute otitis media
      and mastoiditis. Despite efficient antibiotic therapy, there are still reports of
      both intratemporal and intracranial complications of otitis media with the
      potential risk of high morbidity and mortality. Petrositis has traditionally been
      treated with surgery, but recent advances in imaging, with improved antibiotic
      treatment, allow more conservative management. CASE REPORT: In this case report
      we describe the clinical course and treatment of a 33-year-old man with petrous
      apicitis who presented with severe otalgia, retro-orbital pain, and sixth cranial
      nerve palsy Gradenigo syndrome. Our patient showed a dramatic response to
      intravenous antibiotics only, without need for any surgical intervention, even
      myringotomy. CONCLUSION: It seems that early detection and management of this
      syndrome before development of other intratemporal or intracranial complications
      may prevent the need for surgical intervention.

PMID- 28589112
TI  - Congenital Vomer Agenesis: Report of Two Cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Congenital vomer agenesis is an extremely rare condition in which
      the vomer bone does not fully develop, which can lead to septal perforation. CASE
      REPORT: We report two cases with a defect in the vomer bone in the
      posteroinferior portion of the septum, found accidentally while performing a pre
      operative CT scan for nasal obstruction evaluation. They were diagnosed with
      congenital vomer agenesis. CONCLUSION: There are afew reports of vomer agenesis
      in literatures. By increasing usage of sinonasal endoscopic examination,we expect
      to address more cases in the future.

PMID- 28589113
TI  - Chondroradionecrosis of the Larynx in a Patient with Laryngeal: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Actinomycosis of the larynx has been rarely reported in the
      literature and usually occurs in patients with a history of laryngeal carcinoma
      and radiation therapy. However, its co-existence with chondroradionecrosis due to
      radiotherapy is even rarer. The most common site of infection is the
      cervicofacial region, especially in the submandibular area. CASE REPORT: Here we
      report a 63-year-old male with a history of chemoradiotherapy because of
      laryngeal cancer 1 year earlier who presented with laryngeal actinomycosis. After
      prolonged penicillin-based treatment, the patient underwent thyroid cartilage
      defect reconstructive surgery because of a laryngocutaneous fistula due to
      chondroradionecrosis. The diagnosis, work-up, and management of the case are
      discussed, as well as a review of the literature. CONCLUSION: Although
      actinomycotic infection of the larynx is rare, it should be considered in the
      differential diagnosis of laryngeal complaints, especially in immunocompromised
      patients.

PMID- 28589114
TI  - Unexpected Findings in a Child with Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome: An
      Example of How Genomics Is Changing the Clinical Diagnostic Paradigm.
AB  - CBL is a tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 11 encoding a multivalent adaptor
      protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. Germline CBL mutations are dominant.
      Pathogenic de novo mutations result in a phenotype that overlaps Noonan syndrome
      (1). Some patients with CBL mutations go on to develop juvenile myelomonocytic
      leukemia (JMML), an aggressive malignancy that usually necessitates bone marrow
      transplantation. Using whole exome sequencing methods, we identified a known
      mutation in CBL in a 4-year-old Caucasian boy with atypical hemolytic uremic
      syndrome, moyamoya phenomenon, and dysmorphology consistent with a mild Noonan
      like phenotype. Exome data revealed loss of heterozygosity across chromosome 11q
      consistent with JMML but in the absence of clinical leukemia. Our finding
      challenges conventional clinical diagnostics since we have identified a
      pathogenic variant in the CBL gene previously only ascertained in children
      presenting with leukemia. The increasing affordability of expansive sequencing is
      likely to increase the scope of clinical profiles observed for previously
      identified pathogenic variants and calls into question the interpretability and
      indications for clinical management.

PMID- 28589116
TI  - Gene-Environment Interactions-What Can These Tell Us about the Relationship
      between Asthma and Allergy?
AB  - Asthma is a common condition, which is associated with atopy and allergic
      conditions including hay fever, eczema, and food allergies. Asthma and atopy are
      both complex conditions where genetic and environmental factors are implicated in
      causation. Interactions between genetic and environmental factors, likely via
      epigenetic mechanisms, are widely thought to be important in determining the risk
      for developing asthma and atopy. The nature of the relationship between asthma
      and atopy is unclear and the answer to the question "does atopy cause asthma?"
      remains unknown. This review explores the relationship between asthma and atopy
      from a gene-environment interaction perspective and tackles the question "are
      similar gene-environment interactions present for asthma and atopy?" The main
      finding is that gene-environment interactions are described for asthma and atopy
      in children but these interactions are seldom sought for both asthma and atopy in
      the same population. In the few instances where a gene-environment interaction is
      related to both asthma and atopy, there is no consistent evidence that similar
      interactions are common to asthma and atopy. Many plausible gene-environment
      interactions for asthma and atopy are yet to be explored. Overall, from the gene
      environment interaction perspective, there is absence of evidence to better
      understand the complex relationship between asthma and atopy.

PMID- 28589118
TI  - Innovative Programmable Bio-Nano-Chip Digitizes Biology Using Sensors That Learn
      Bridging Biomarker Discovery and Clinical Implementation.
AB  - The lack of standard tools and methodologies and the absence of a streamlined
      multimarker approval process have hindered the translation rate of new biomarkers
      into clinical practice for a variety of diseases afflicting humankind. Advanced
      novel technologies with superior analytical performance and reduced reagent
      costs, like the programmable bio-nano-chip system featured in this article, have
      potential to change the delivery of healthcare. This universal platform system
      has the capacity to digitize biology, resulting in a sensor modality with a
      capacity to learn. With well-planned device design, development, and distribution
      plans, there is an opportunity to translate benchtop discoveries in the genomics,
      proteomics, metabolomics, and glycomics fields by transforming the information
      content of key biomarkers into actionable signatures that can empower physicians
      and patients for a better management of healthcare. While the process is
      complicated and will take some time, showcased here are three application areas
      for this flexible platform that combines biomarker content with minimally
      invasive or non-invasive sampling, such as brush biopsy for oral cancer risk
      assessment; serum, plasma, and small volumes of blood for the assessment of
      cardiac risk and wellness; and oral fluid sampling for drugs of abuse testing at
      the point of need.

PMID- 28589119
TI  - A "Light Bulb Moment" in Understanding Public Health for Undergraduate Students:
      Evaluation of the Experiential "This Is Public Health" Photo Essay Task.
AB  - : A lack of understanding of the importance of public health both within the
      community and in the tertiary education setting is a significant impediment to
      improvement in population health. The international campaign "This is Public
      Health" (TIPH) has been promoted widely as a strategy to increase community
      awareness and attract and inspire the next generation of public health
      professionals. This paper describes and evaluates student perceptions of a TIPH
      photo essay and reflective task in order to explore the pedagogical and learning
      outcomes related to undergraduate students' public health knowledge. The aim of
      the analysis was to understand (1) if the task led to increased awareness of
      public health, and if so, the process of how an understanding of public health
      develops, and (2) how the interactive nature of the experiential TIPH task leads
      to depth of understanding. METHODS: This study was undertaken at the University
      of Newcastle (UON), NSW, Australia. A qualitative study design using a
      descriptive case study methodology was employed. One-hundred and thirty-nine
      undergraduate students taking part in a semester-long, introductory public health
      course provided informed consent and completed a TIPH photo essay and reflective
      task as a compulsory assessment. Analysis of the student reflections was
      performed using a general inductive approach to qualitative thematic analysis.
      RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Analysis of the reflections indicated that completion of
      the photo essay and reflective task revealed two strong thematic clusters each
      with a number of subthemes. The most important findings were the six strong data
      clusters around students' new and deeper understanding of Public Health.
      Additionally, four separate data clusters around the pedagogy of the task were
      revealed. The task also impacted beyond knowledge improvement and academic
      performance. Students alluded to an increased appreciation of their own health, a
      new recognition of the importance of preventative health measures, and an
      improved analytical awareness of health determinants and the measures in place to
      protect health. CONCLUSION: The TIPH photo essay and reflective task was
      successful in providing undergraduate students with an experiential activity that
      resulted in increased knowledge and understanding of public health strategies.
      The task was a valuable pedagogical experience.

PMID- 28589117
TI  - XMRV and Public Health: The Retroviral Genome Is Not a Suitable Template for
      Diagnostic PCR, and Its Association with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic
      Fatigue Syndrome Appears Unreliable.
AB  - A few years ago, a highly significant association between the xenotropic murine
      leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue
      syndrome (ME/CFS), a complex debilitating disease of poorly understood etiology
      and no definite treatment, was reported in Science, raising concern for public
      welfare. Successively, the failure to reproduce these findings, and the suspect
      that the diagnostic PCR was vitiated by laboratory contaminations, led to the
      retraction of the paper. Notwithstanding, XMRV continued to be the subject of
      researches and public debates. Occasional positivity in humans was also detected
      recently, even if the data always appeared elusive and non-reproducible. In this
      study, we discuss the current status of this controversial association and
      propose that a major role in the unreliability of the results was played by the
      XMRV genomic composition in itself. In this regard, we present bioinformatic
      analyses that show: (i) aspecific, spurious annealings of the available primers
      in multiple homologous sites of the human genome; (ii) strict homologies between
      whole XMRV genome and interspersed repetitive elements widespread in mammalian
      genomes. To further detail this scenario, we screen several human and mammalian
      samples by using both published and newly designed primers. The experimental data
      confirm that available primers are far from being selective and specific. In
      conclusion, the occurrence of highly conserved, repeated DNA sequences in the
      XMRV genome deeply undermines the reliability of diagnostic PCRs by leading to
      artifactual and spurious amplifications. Together with all the other evidences,
      this makes the association between the XMRV retrovirus and CFS totally
      unreliable.

PMID- 28589115
TI  - Regulatory T Cells in Allergy and Asthma.
AB  - The immune system's correct functioning requires a sophisticated balance between
      responses to continuous microbial challenges and tolerance to harmless antigens,
      such as self-antigens, food antigens, commensal microbes, allergens, etc. When
      this equilibrium is altered, it can lead to inflammatory pathologies, tumor
      growth, autoimmune disorders, and allergy/asthma. The objective of this review is
      to show the existing data on the importance of regulatory T cells (Tregs) on this
      balance and to underline how intrauterine and postnatal environmental exposures
      influence the maturation of the immune system in humans. Genetic and
      environmental factors during embryo development and/or early life will result in
      a proper or, conversely, inadequate immune maturation with either beneficial or
      deleterious effects on health. We have focused herein on Tregs as a reflection of
      the maturity of the immune system. We explain the types, origins, and the
      mechanisms of action of these cells, discussing their role in allergy and asthma
      predisposition. Understanding the importance of Tregs in counteracting
      dysregulated immunity would provide approaches to diminish asthma and other
      related diseases in infants.

PMID- 28589120
TI  - A CRISPR New World: Attitudes in the Public toward Innovations in Human Genetic
      Modification.
AB  - The potential to genetically modify human germlines has reached a critical
      tipping point with recent applications of CRISPR-Cas9. Even as researchers,
      clinicians, and ethicists weigh the scientific and ethical repercussions of these
      advances, we know virtually nothing about public attitudes on the topic.
      Understanding such attitudes will be critical to determining the degree of broad
      support there might be for any public policy or regulation developed for genetic
      modification research. To fill this gap, we gave an online survey to a large
      (2,493 subjects) and diverse sample of Americans. Respondents supported genetic
      modification research, although demographic variables influenced these attitudes
      conservatives, women, African-Americans, and older respondents, while supportive,
      were more cautious than liberals, men, other ethnicities, and younger
      respondents. Support was also was slightly muted when the risks (unanticipated
      mutations and possibility of eugenics) were made explicit. The information about
      genetic modification was also presented as contrasting vignettes, using one of
      five frames: genetic editing, engineering, hacking, modification, or surgery.
      Despite the fact that the media and academic use of frames describing the
      technology varies, these frames did not influence people's attitudes. These data
      contribute a current snapshot of public attitudes to inform policy with regard to
      human genetic modification.

PMID- 28589121
TI  - Pancreatic Beta Cell Identity in Humans and the Role of Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - Pancreatic beta cells uniquely synthetize, store, and release insulin. Specific
      molecular, functional as well as ultrastructural traits characterize their
      insulin secretion properties and survival phentoype. In this review we focus on
      human islet/beta cells, and describe the changes that occur in type 2 diabetes
      and could play roles in the disease as well as represent possible targets for
      therapeutical interventions. These include transcription factors, molecules
      involved in glucose metabolism and insulin granule handling. Quantitative and
      qualitative insulin release patterns and their changes in type 2 diabetes are
      also associated with ultrastructural features involving the insulin granules, the
      mitochondria, and the endoplasmic reticulum.

PMID- 28589123
TI  - Editorial: Second Line Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Clinical,
      Pathological and Molecular Aspects of Novel Promising Drugs.

PMID- 28589124
TI  - A Multidisciplinary Phenotyping and Genotyping Analysis of a Mapping Population
      Enables Quality to Be Combined with Yield in Rice.
AB  - In this study a mapping population (F8) of ca 200 progeny from a cross between
      the commercial rice varieties Apo and IR64 has been both genotyped and
      phenotyped. A genotyping-by-sequencing approach was first used to identify 2,681
      polymorphic SNP markers which gave dense coverage of the genome with a good
      distribution across all 12 chromosomes. The coefficient of parentage was also
      low, at 0.13, confirming that the parents are genetically distant from each
      other. The progeny, together with both parents, were grown under irrigated and
      water restricted conditions in a randomised block design. All grain was harvested
      to determine variation in yield across the population. The grains were then
      polished following standard procedures prior to performing the phenotyping
      analyses. A Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry approach was used to determine
      the volatile biochemical profiles of each line and after data curation and
      processing, discriminatory metabolites were putatively identified based on in
      house and commercial spectral libraries. These data were used to predict the
      potential role of these metabolites in determining differences in aroma between
      genotypes. A number of QTLs for yield and for individual metabolites have been
      identified. Following these combined multi-disciplinary analyses, it proved
      possible to identify a number of lines which appeared to combine the favourable
      aroma attributes of IR64 with the favourable (higher) yield potential of Apo. As
      such, these lines are excellent candidates to assess further as potential
      genotypes to work up into a new variety of rice which has both good yield and
      good quality, thus meeting the needs of both farmer and consumer alike.

PMID- 28589122
TI  - The Future of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Emerging Pathophysiological Concepts
      and Potential New Avenues of Treatment.
AB  - Yearly more than 15 million babies are born premature (<37 weeks gestational
      age), accounting for more than 1 in 10 births worldwide. Lung injury caused by
      maternal chorioamnionitis or preeclampsia, postnatal ventilation, hyperoxia, or
      inflammation can lead to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), one
      of the most common adverse outcomes in these preterm neonates. BPD patients have
      an arrest in alveolar and microvascular development and more frequently develop
      asthma and early-onset emphysema as they age. Understanding how the alveoli
      develop, and repair, and regenerate after injury is critical for the development
      of therapies, as unfortunately there is still no cure for BPD. In this review, we
      aim to provide an overview of emerging new concepts in the understanding of
      perinatal lung development and injury from a molecular and cellular point of view
      and how this is paving the way for new therapeutic options to prevent or treat
      BPD, as well as a reflection on current treatment procedures.

PMID- 28589125
TI  - Multifunctional Mitochondrial AAA Proteases.
AB  - Mitochondria perform numerous functions necessary for the survival of eukaryotic
      cells. These activities are coordinated by a diverse complement of proteins
      encoded in both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes that must be properly
      organized and maintained. Misregulation of mitochondrial proteostasis impairs
      organellar function and can result in the development of severe human diseases.
      ATP-driven AAA+ proteins play crucial roles in preserving mitochondrial activity
      by removing and remodeling protein molecules in accordance with the needs of the
      cell. Two mitochondrial AAA proteases, i-AAA and m-AAA, are anchored to either
      face of the mitochondrial inner membrane, where they engage and process an array
      of substrates to impact protein biogenesis, quality control, and the regulation
      of key metabolic pathways. The functionality of these proteases is extended
      through multiple substrate-dependent modes of action, including complete
      degradation, partial processing, or dislocation from the membrane without
      proteolysis. This review discusses recent advances made toward elucidating the
      mechanisms of substrate recognition, handling, and degradation that allow these
      versatile proteases to control diverse activities in this multifunctional
      organelle.

PMID- 28589126
TI  - Myocardial Architecture, Mechanics, and Fibrosis in Congenital Heart Disease.
AB  - Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common category of birth defect,
      affecting 1% of the population and requiring cardiovascular surgery in the first
      months of life in many patients. Due to advances in congenital cardiovascular
      surgery and patient management, most children with CHD now survive into
      adulthood. However, residual and postoperative defects are common resulting in
      abnormal hemodynamics, which may interact further with scar formation related to
      surgical procedures. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has become an
      important diagnostic imaging modality in the long-term management of CHD
      patients. It is the gold standard technique to assess ventricular volumes and
      systolic function. Besides this, advanced CMR techniques allow the acquisition of
      more detailed information about myocardial architecture, ventricular mechanics,
      and fibrosis. The left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle have unique myocardial
      architecture that underpins their mechanics; however, this becomes disorganized
      under conditions of volume and pressure overload. CMR diffusion tensor imaging is
      able to interrogate non-invasively the principal alignments of microstructures in
      the left ventricular wall. Myocardial tissue tagging (displacement encoding using
      stimulated echoes) and feature tracking are CMR techniques that can be used to
      examine the deformation and strain of the myocardium in CHD, whereas 3D feature
      tracking can assess the twisting motion of the LV chamber. Late gadolinium
      enhancement imaging and more recently T1 mapping can help in detecting fibrotic
      myocardial changes and evolve our understanding of the pathophysiology of CHD
      patients. This review not only gives an overview about available or emerging CMR
      techniques for assessing myocardial mechanics and fibrosis but it also describes
      their clinical value and how they can be used to detect abnormalities in
      myocardial architecture and mechanics in CHD patients.

PMID- 28589127
TI  - Function and Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a complicated disorder and largely attributable to
      dyslipidaemia and chronic inflammation. Despite therapeutic advances over past
      decades, atherosclerosis remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Due to
      their capability of immunomodulation and tissue regeneration, mesenchymal stem
      cells (MSCs) have evolved as an attractive therapeutic agent in various diseases
      including atherosclerosis. Accumulating evidences support the protective role of
      MSCs in all stages of atherosclerosis. In this review, we highlight the current
      understanding of MSCs including their characteristics such as molecular markers,
      tissue distribution, migratory property, immune-modulatory competence, etc. We
      also summarize MSC functions in animal models of atherosclerosis. MSC
      transplantation is able to modulate cytokine and chemokine secretion, reduce
      endothelial dysfunction, promote regulatory T cell function, decrease
      dyslipidemia, and stabilize vulnerable plaques during atherosclerosis
      development. In addition, MSCs may migrate to lesions where they develop into
      functional cells during atherosclerosis formation. Finally, the perspectives of
      MSCs in clinical atherosclerosis therapy are discussed.

PMID- 28589128
TI  - Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1 Signaling in Angiogenesis.
AB  - Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1 (LRP1) plays multifunctional
      roles in lipid homeostasis, signaling transduction, and endocytosis. It has been
      recognized as an endocytic receptor for many ligands and is involved in the
      signaling pathways of many growth factors or cytokines. Dysregulation of LRP1
      dependent signaling events contributes to the development of pathophysiologic
      processes such as Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, inflammation, and
      coagulation. Interestingly, recent studies have linked LRP1 with endothelial
      function and angiogenesis, which has been underappreciated for a long time.
      During zebrafish embryonic development, LRP1 is required for the formation of
      vascular network, especially for the venous development. LRP1 depletion in the
      mouse embryo proper leads to angiogenic defects and disruption of endothelial
      integrity. Moreover, in a mouse oxygen-induced retinopathy model, specific
      depletion of LRP1 in endothelial cells results in abnormal development of
      neovessels. These loss-of-function studies suggest that LRP1 plays a pivotal role
      in angiogenesis. The review addresses the recent advances in the roles of LRP1
      dependent signaling during angiogenesis.

PMID- 28589129
TI  - Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Streptococcus
      uberis and Streptococcus dysgalactiae Isolates from Canadian Dairy Herds.
AB  - The objectives of this study are to determine the occurrence of antimicrobial
      resistance (AMR) genes using whole-genome sequence (WGS) of Streptococcus uberis
      (S. uberis) and Streptococcus dysgalactiae (S. dysgalactiae) isolates, recovered
      from dairy cows in the Canadian Maritime Provinces. A secondary objective
      included the exploration of the association between phenotypic AMR and the
      genomic characteristics (genome size, guanine-cytosine content, and occurrence of
      unique gene sequences). Initially, 91 isolates were sequenced, and of these
      isolates, 89 were assembled. Furthermore, 16 isolates were excluded due to larger
      than expected genomic sizes (>2.3 bp * 1,000 bp). In the final analysis, 73 were
      used with complete WGS and minimum inhibitory concentration records, which were
      part of the previous phenotypic AMR study, representing 18 dairy herds from the
      Maritime region of Canada (1). A total of 23 unique AMR gene sequences were found
      in the bacterial genomes, with a mean number of 8.1 (minimum: 5; maximum: 13) per
      genome. Overall, there were 10 AMR genes [ANT(6), TEM-127, TEM-163, TEM-89, TEM
      95, Linb, Lnub, Ermb, Ermc, and TetS] present only in S. uberis genomes and 2
      genes unique (EF-TU and TEM-71) to the S. dysgalactiae genomes; 11 AMR genes
      [APH(3'), TEM-1, TEM-136, TEM-157, TEM-47, TetM, bl2b, gyrA, parE, phoP, and
      rpoB] were found in both bacterial species. Two-way tabulations showed
      association between the phenotypic susceptibility to lincosamides and the
      presence of linB (P = 0.002) and lnuB (P < 0.001) genes and the between the
      presence of tetM (P = 0.015) and tetS (P = 0.064) genes and phenotypic resistance
      to tetracyclines only for the S. uberis isolates. The logistic model showed that
      the odds of resistance (to any of the phenotypically tested antimicrobials) was
      4.35 times higher when there were >11 AMR genes present in the genome, compared
      with <7 AMR genes (P < 0.001). The odds of resistance was lower for S.
      dysgalactiae than S. uberis (P = 0.031). When the within-herd somatic cell count
      was >250,000 cells/mL, a trend toward higher odds of resistance compared with the
      baseline category of <150,000 cells/mL was observed. When the isolate
      corresponded to a post-mastitis sample, there were lower odds of resistance when
      compared with non-clinical isolates (P = 0.01). The results of this study showed
      the strength of associations between phenotypic AMR resistance of both mastitis
      pathogens and their genotypic resistome and other epidemiological
      characteristics.

PMID- 28589130
TI  - The Effect of Botulinum Toxin A on Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in a Rat Model.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: While studies using various materials to overcome ischemia
      reperfusion (IR) injury are becoming increasingly common, studies on the effects
      of botulinum toxin A (BoTA) on IR injury in musculocutaneous flaps are still
      limited. The purpose of this study was to examine our hypotheses that BoTA
      provide protection of musculocutaneous flap from ischemia-reperfusion injury.
      METHOD: Five days after pretreatment injection (BoTA versus normal saline), a
      right superior musculocutaneous flap (6 * 1.5 cm in size) was made. Ischemia was
      created by a tourniquet strictly wrapping the pedicle containing skin and muscle
      for 8 h. After ischemia, the tourniquet was cut, and the musculocutaneous flap
      was reperfused. RESULTS: The overall survival percentage of flap after 8 h of
      pedicle clamping followed by reperfusion was 87.32 +/- 3.67% in the control group
      versus 95.64 +/- 3.25% in the BoTA group (p < 0.001). The BoTA group had higher
      expression of CD34, HIF-1alpha, VEGF, and NF-kB comparing to control group in qRT
      PCR analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that local BoTA
      preconditioning yielded significant protection against IR injury in a rat
      musculocutaneous flap model.

PMID- 28589132
TI  - Corrigendum to "Instructors' Perceptions of Mostly Seated Exercise Classes:
      Exploring the Concept of Chair Based Exercise".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/3241873.].

PMID- 28589131
TI  - The Association of Chemokine Gene Polymorphisms with VKH and Behcet's Disease in
      a Chinese Han Population.
AB  - To investigate the association of chemokine gene polymorphisms and Behcet's
      disease (BD) and Vogt Koyanagi Harada (VKH) disease in a Chinese Han population.
      A case-control study was performed. Three hundred and seventy-one BD patients,
      371 VKH disease patients, and 605 healthy controls were recruited to determine
      genetic variants of 26 SNPs in 12 chemokine genes with iPLEX Gold genotyping
      assay and Sequenom MassARRAY or TaqMan SNP assays. In this study, Puncorr values
      showed a weak association of five SNPs of five genes in BD and three SNPs of
      three genes in VKH disease. However, after Bonferroni correction, the 26
      investigated SNPs showed no significant differences in genetic variants,
      including genotype and allele frequencies, between BD or VKH disease patients and
      healthy individuals. Haplotype analysis for the chemokine genes showed a
      significant association with the TC haplotype of CXCL12 in VKH. Stratified gender
      analysis and genotype-phenotype analysis were conducted to analyze the
      association of the 26 SNPs of 12 chemokine genes with BD and VKH disease.
      However, no significant association was observed after Bonferroni correction.
      This study showed no association of 26 SNPs in 12 chemokine genes with both BD
      and VKH disease in a Chinese Han population.

PMID- 28589133
TI  - Comparisons of Quality of Life and Functional and Oncological Outcomes after
      Orthotopic Neobladder Reconstruction: Prostate-Sparing Cystectomy versus
      Conventional Radical Cystoprostatectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare health-related quality of life and oncological and
      functional outcomes on erectile function, continence, and voiding function among
      bladder patients who underwent orthotopic neobladder reconstruction after
      prostate-sparing cystectomy (PSC) and conventional radical cystoprostatectomy
      (CRC). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study from a single surgeon.
      During 2007 to 2015, we identified 25 of 186 male patients receiving radical
      cystectomies due to bladder cancer who underwent orthotopic neobladder
      reconstruction, 14 patients with PSC and the other 11 patients with CRC.
      International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5), International Prostate
      Symptom Score (IPSS), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer
      Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30-item questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30), and
      self-catheterizations were used to evaluate functional outcomes in the baseline
      and 1 year after operation. RESULTS: There were better physical and social
      functioning scales, less fatigue symptoms, better IIEF (16 versus 3.7, p = 0.01),
      and less self-catheterization rate (33% versus 89%  p = 0.006) in the PSC group.
      The oncologic outcomes were the same between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: For
      selected patients with bladder cancer who underwent neobladder reconstruction,
      prostate-sparing cystectomy provided better sexuality preservation, less daily
      self-catheterization, and better physical function and social function scales
      without compromising overall survival.

PMID- 28589134
TI  - Effect of Hydraulic Retention Time on Anaerobic Digestion of Wheat Straw in the
      Semicontinuous Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactors.
AB  - Three semicontinuous continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTR) operating at
      mesophilic conditions (35 degrees C) were used to investigate the effect of
      hydraulic retention time (HRT) on anaerobic digestion of wheat straw. The results
      showed that the average biogas production with HRT of 20, 40, and 60 days was
      46.8, 79.9, and 89.1 mL/g total solid as well as 55.2, 94.3, and 105.2 mL/g
      volatile solids, respectively. The methane content with HRT of 20 days, from
      14.2% to 28.5%, was the lowest among the three reactors. The pH values with HRT
      of 40 and 60 days were in the acceptable range compared to that with HRT of 20
      days. The propionate was dominant in the reactor with HRT of 20 days, inhibiting
      the activities of methanogens and causing the lower methane content in biogas.
      The degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose, and crystalline cellulose based on
      XRD was also strongly influenced by HRTs.

PMID- 28589135
TI  - Effect of Lower and Upper Body High Intensity Training on Genes Associated with
      Cellular Stress Response.
AB  - This study aimed to compare the effect of upper and lower body high intensity
      exercise (HIE) on select gene expression in athletes. Fourteen elite male
      artistic gymnasts (age 20.9 +/- 2.6 years; weight 68.6 +/- 7.2 kg; fat free mass
      63.6 +/- 6.7 kg; height 1.70 +/- 0.04 m) performed lower and upper body 30 s
      Wingate Tests (WAnTs) before and after eight weeks of specific HIIT. Two
      milliliters of blood was collected before and after (5, 30 min, resp.) lower and
      upper body WAnTs, and select gene expression was determined by PCR. Eight weeks
      of HIIT caused a significant increase in maximal power (722 to 751 Wat), relative
      peak power in the lower body WAnTs (10.1 to 11 W/kg), mean power (444 to 464 W),
      and relative mean power (6.5 to 6.8 W/kg). No significant differences in lower
      versus upper body gene expression were detected after HIIT, and a significant
      decrease in the IL6/IL10 ratio was observed after lower (-2?0.57 p = 0.0019) and
      upper (-2?0.5 p = 0.03) WAnTs following eight weeks of HIIT. It is hypothesized
      that a similar adaptive response to exercise may be obtained by lower and upper
      body exercise.

PMID- 28589136
TI  - Low Molecular Weight Heparin Nebulization Attenuates Acute Lung Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As acute lung injury (ALI) caused high mortality rate, it is
      important to explore the protection and treatment of ALI. The aim of the current
      study is to evaluate the effect of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH)
      nebulization on attenuating acute lung injury and the associated mechanism.
      METHODS: The arterial blood gas, total protein content in bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluid, lung wet/dry weight ratio, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, and Akt
      phosphorylation were evaluated after the ALI rabbits were treated with or without
      LMWH nebulization. RESULTS: PaO2 was increased and lung wet/dry weight ratio as
      well as total protein content in BALF was decreased after LMWH nebulization.
      After the application of LMWH nebulization therapy, the SOD and GSH-Px activity
      was rebounded and the increase of MDA content was significantly inhibited. The
      Akt protein phosphorylation level was decreased after LMWH nebulization therapy.
      CONCLUSIONS: LMWH nebulization treatment can relieve the traumatic ALI in rabbits
      and inhibit oxidative stress possibly by suppressing the Akt phosphorylation.

PMID- 28589137
TI  - MicroRNA-16-5p Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis in Giant Cell Tumor of Bone.
AB  - Giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone is an aggressive skeletal tumor characterized by
      localized bone resorption. MicroRNA-16-5p (miR-16-5p) has been reported to be
      downregulated in lesions of patients with GCT, but little is known about its role
      in GCT. To explore the underlying function of miR-16-5p in GCT, we first detected
      its expression in patients with GCT. The results showed that osteoclast formation
      increased, whereas miR-16-5p expression considerably decreased with the severity
      of bone destruction. Furthermore, we found that miR-16-5p expression considerably
      decreased with the progression of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB
      ligand- (RANKL-) induced osteoclastogenesis. Functionally, miR-16-5p mimics
      significantly reduced RANKL-induced osteoclast formation. However, treatment with
      an inhibitor of miR-16-5p significantly promoted osteoclastogenesis. These
      findings reveal that miR-16-5p inhibits osteoclastogenesis and that it may
      represent a therapeutic target for giant cell tumor of bone.

PMID- 28589138
TI  - Appendectomy as a Risk Factor for Bacteremic Biliary Tract Infection Caused by
      Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent evidence has suggested that appendix plays a pivotal role
      in the development and preservation of intestinal immune system. The aim of this
      study is to examine whether prior appendectomy is associated with an increased
      risk for the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in bacteremia from
      biliary tract infection (BTI). METHODS: Charts from 174 consecutive cases of
      bacteremia derived from BTI were retrospectively reviewed. Using multivariate
      analysis, independent risk factors for development of antibiotic-resistant
      bacteria were identified among the clinical parameters, including a history of
      appendectomy. RESULTS: In total, 221 bacteria strains were identified from 174
      BTI events. Of those, 42 antibiotic-resistant bacteria were identified in 34
      patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that prior appendectomy (Odds ratio
      (OR), 3.02; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15-7.87; p = 0.026), antibiotic use
      within the preceding three months (OR, 3.06; 95% CI, 1.26-7.64; p = 0.013), and
      bilioenteric anastomosis or sphincterotomy (OR, 3.77; 95% CI, 1.51-9.66; p =
      0.0046) were independent risk factors for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
      CONCLUSIONS: Prior appendectomy was an independent risk factor for the
      development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in bacteremia from BTI.

PMID- 28589139
TI  - Red Cell Storage Duration Does Not Affect Outcome after Massive Blood Transfusion
      in Trauma and Nontrauma Patients: A Retrospective Analysis of 305 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prolonged storage of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) may increase
      morbidity and mortality, and patients having massive transfusion might be
      especially susceptible. We therefore tested the hypothesis that prolonged storage
      increases mortality in patients receiving massive transfusion after trauma or
      nontrauma surgery. Secondarily, we considered the extent to which storage effects
      differ for trauma and nontrauma surgery. METHODS: We considered surgical patients
      given more than 10 units of PRBC within 24 hours and evaluated the relationship
      between mean PRBC storage duration and in-hospital mortality using multivariable
      logistic regression. Potential nonlinearities in the relationship were assessed
      via restricted cubic splines. The secondary hypothesis was evaluated by
      considering whether there was an interaction between the type of surgery (trauma
      versus nontrauma) and the effect of storage duration on outcomes. RESULTS: 305
      patients were given a total of 8,046 units of PRBCs, with duration ranging from 8
      to 36 days (mean +/- SD: 22 +/- 6 days). The odds ratio [95% confidence interval
      (CI)] for in-hospital mortality corresponding to a one-day in mean PRBC storage
      duration was 0.99 (0.95, 1.03, P = 0.77). The relationship did not differ for
      trauma and nontrauma patients (P = 0.75). Results were similar after adjusting
      for multiple potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality after massive blood
      transfusion was no worse in patients transfused with PRBC stored for long
      periods. Trauma and nontrauma patients did not differ in their susceptibility to
      prolonged PRBC storage.

PMID- 28589140
TI  - Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor Val66Met Polymorphism and Posttraumatic Stress
      Disorder among Survivors of the 1998 Dongting Lake Flood in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study mainly aimed to explore the association between brain
      derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism and posttraumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) among flood survivors in China. METHODS: Individuals who
      experienced the 1998 Dongting Lake flood in Southeast Huarong, China, were
      enrolled in this study. Qualified health personnel carried out face-to-face
      interviews with participants. PTSD was identified using PTSD Checklist-Civilian
      version (PCL-C). Blood samples were collected from the participants to extract
      DNA for genotyping. RESULTS: A total of 175 participants were enrolled in this
      study. The prevalence of PTSD among flood survivors at 17-year follow-up was
      16.0% (28/175). Individuals with PTSD were more likely to be female, experience
      at least three flood-related stressors, experience at least three postflood
      stressors, and carry the Met than those without PTSD. Compared with Val/Val
      homozygotes, Met carriers had higher scores of PCL-C (mean +/- standard error:
      23.60 +/- 7.23 versus 27.19 +/- 9.48, P < 0.05). Multivariable logistic
      regression analysis indicated that Met carriers (aOR = 4.76, 95% CI = 1.02-22.15,
      P < 0.05) were more likely to develop PTSD than Val/Val homozygotes. CONCLUSIONS:
      Met carriers for BDNF rs6265 are at higher risk of developing PTSD and also
      exhibit more severe PTSD symptoms than Val/Val homozygotes among flood survivors
      in China.

PMID- 28589141
TI  - Postoperative Echocardiographic Reduction of Right Ventricular Function: Is
      Pericardial Opening Modality the Main Culprit?
AB  - Echocardiographic reduction of RV function, measured using TAPSE, is a well
      described phenomenon after cardiac surgery. The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the relation between the modality of pericardial opening (lateral
      versus anterior) and the postoperative right ventricular systolic function by
      comparing echocardiographic parameters in patients undergoing minimally invasive
      or traditional mitral valve repair. 34 patients with severe mitral regurgitation
      due to mitral valve prolapse underwent traditional (sternotomy) operation (Group
      A) or minimally invasive surgery with right anterolateral thoracotomy (Group B).
      A postoperative TAPSE fall was found in both groups. Group A experienced a
      significant postoperative TAPSE fall versus Group B with p < 0.0001.

PMID- 28589142
TI  - Specific-Locus Amplified Fragment Sequencing Reveals Spontaneous Single
      Nucleotide Mutations in Rice OsMsh6 Mutants.
AB  - Genomic stability depends in part on an efficient DNA lesion recognition and
      correction by the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system. We investigated mutations
      arising spontaneously in rice OsMsh6 mutants by specific-locus amplified fragment
      sequencing. Totally 994 single-nucleotide mutations were identified in three
      mutants and on average the mutation density is about 1/136.72 Kb per mutant line.
      These mutations were relatively randomly distributed in genome and might be
      accumulated in generation-dependent manner. All possible base transitions and
      base transversions could be seen and the ratio of transitions to transversions
      was about 3.12. We also observed the nearest-neighbor bias around the mutated
      base. Our data suggests that OsMsh6 (LOC_Os09g24220) is important in ensuring
      genome stability by recognizing mismatches that arise spontaneously and provides
      useful information for investigating the function of the OsMsh6 gene in DNA
      repair and exploiting MMR mutants in rice induced mutation breeding.

PMID- 28589144
TI  - Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Induced Apoptosis and Dysfunction of Endothelial
      Progenitor Cells: Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway.
AB  - Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, is a
      novel risk factor of cardiovascular disease. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs)
      bear typical endothelial characteristics and are thought to contribute to
      neovascularization by providing new endothelial cells (ECs) after arterial
      injury. Many studies have shown that ADMA can induce EPC apoptosis and
      dysfunction, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. EPCs from
      umbilical cord blood were cultured in EGM-2 medium with particular growth factors
      and supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were treated with
      different concentrations of ADMA (5, 10, and 50 MUmol/L). Endoplasmic reticulum
      (ER) stress marker levels were examined by western blot analysis. After 24-hour
      incubation, ADMA induced apoptosis of EPCs and significantly decreased the
      proliferation, migration, and vasculogenesis capacity of EPCs. We also found that
      ADMA treatment activated phosphorylated protein kinase RNA-activated-like ER
      kinase (PERK), a stress sensor protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The
      activated PERK induced 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP-78) and C/EBP
      homologous protein (CHOP) expression. Additionally, the inhibition of the ER
      stress pathway by Salubrinal (a specific ER stress inhibitor) can attenuate ADMA
      induced apoptosis of EPCs. Overall, these observations indicate that ADMA may
      induce the apoptosis and dysfunction of EPCs through the ER stress pathway.

PMID- 28589143
TI  - Exosomes Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Relieve
      Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Mice.
AB  - Exosomes secreted by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown repairing effects
      on several tissue injury diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the
      effects of exosomes released from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells
      (hucMSCs) on the treatment of dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS-) induced inflammatory
      bowel disease (IBD) and to explore the underlying mechanism. We found that
      indocyanine green (ICG) labeled exosomes homed to colon tissues of IBD mice at 12
      hours after injection. Exosomes significantly relieved the severity of IBD in
      mice as hucMSCs. The expression of IL-10 gene was increased while that of TNF
      alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, iNOS, and IL-7 genes was decreased in the colon tissues
      and spleens of exosomes-treated mice. Furthermore, the infiltration of
      macrophages into the colon tissues was decreased by exosome treatment in IBD
      mice. In addition, we provided evidence that in vitro coculture with exosomes
      inhibited the expression of iNOS and IL-7 in mouse enterocoelia macrophages.
      Moreover, we found that the expression of IL-7 was higher in the colon tissues of
      colitis patients than that of healthy controls. Our findings suggest that
      exosomes from hucMSCs have profound effects on alleviating DSS-induced IBD and
      may exert their impact through the modulation of IL-7 expression in macrophages.

PMID- 28589145
TI  - Metastasis-Associated Protein 1 Is Involved in Angiogenesis after Transarterial
      Chemoembolization Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), a well-established treatment
      for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), blocks the arterial blood supply
      to the tumor, which can be short-lived as development of collateral neovessels,
      leading to the failure of treatment. Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) is
      involved in development of tumors and metastases. However, the role of MTA1 in
      angiogenesis is still obscure. METHODS: We detected the expression of MTA1 and
      hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and microvessel density (MVD) value
      in liver tumor tissues and tumor periphery before and after TACE treatment.
      Hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2, tube formation assay, and
      chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay were applied to explore the mechanism of
      MTA1 in angiogenesis. RESULTS: We found that expression of MTA1 increased after
      TACE treatment, especially in tumor periphery, which was accompanied by markedly
      elevated MVD value, indicating a significant correlation between MTA1 and MVD
      value. Moreover, MTA1 contributed to neovascularization of residual tumors.
      Cellular experiments further revealed that MTA1 increased the stability and the
      expression of HIF-1alpha, and overexpression of MTA1 enhanced tube formation and
      neovessels of chick embryos. CONCLUSIONS: MTA1 is an active angiogenic regulator;
      our results shed light on better understanding in neovascularization, which are
      helpful to predict prognosis of TACE, and provide evidences for intervention to
      improve therapeutic effects on HCC.

PMID- 28589146
TI  - Gastrointestinal Bleeding Is an Independent Risk Factor for Poor Prognosis in
      GIST Patients.
AB  - A retrospective analysis of prognosis of GIST was used to assess the prognostic
      effects of hemorrhage of digestive tract induced by mucosal invasion of primary
      gastrointestinal stromal tumors and related mechanisms. The conclusion is that
      GISTs with gastrointestinal hemorrhage are more likely to recur, which indicates
      poor prognosis. Therefore, gastrointestinal hemorrhage may be used as a
      significant indicator to assess the prognosis of patients.

PMID- 28589147
TI  - Ultrasonography Is Not Inferior to Fluoroscopy to Guide Extracorporeal Shock
      Waves during Treatment of Renal and Upper Ureteric Calculi: A Randomized
      Prospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the visualization modality (ultrasound or
      fluoroscopy) used during shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) affects the clinical outcome
      in those instances where both imaging modalities are optional. METHODS: Between
      November 2014 and July 2016, 114 patients with radiopaque upper urinary tract
      calculi were randomly assigned to an ultrasound- or fluoroscopy-guided SWL group
      in a prospective, open-label, single-center study. A standardized SWL protocol
      was used. The stone-free rate and the positive outcome rate (stone-free or
      asymptomatic residual fragments <= 4 mm) were compared. RESULTS: The stone-free
      rate was 52% in the ultrasound-guided group compared to 42% in the fluoroscopy
      guided group (p = 0.06) and the positive outcome rate was 79% in the ultrasound
      guided group compared to 70% in the fluoroscopy-guided group (p = 0.28). These
      results were not significantly different but proved to be noninferior based on a
      Wilson confidence interval of independent proportions (noninferiority limit 10%).
      The mean number of SWL sessions was not significantly different (p = 0.4).
      CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that the clinical results of ultrasound-guided
      SWL were not inferior to the results of fluoroscopy-guided SWL, while no ionizing
      radiation is needed.

PMID- 28589149
TI  - Dexamethasone Modulates Nonvisual Opsins, Glucocorticoid Receptor, and Clock
      Genes in Danio rerio ZEM-2S Cells.
AB  - Here we report, for the first time, the differential cellular distribution of two
      melanopsins (Opn4m1 and Opn4m2) and the effects of GR agonist, dexamethasone, on
      the expression of these opsins and clock genes, in the photosensitive D. rerio
      ZEM-2S embryonic cells. Immunopositive labeling for Opn4m1 was detected in the
      cell membrane whereas Opn4m2 labeling shows nuclear localization, which did not
      change in response to light. opn4m1, opn4m2, gr, per1b, and cry1b presented an
      oscillatory profile of expression in LD condition. In both DD and LD condition,
      dexamethasone (DEX) treatment shifted the peak expression of per1b and cry1b
      transcripts to ZT16, which corresponds to the highest opn4m1 expression.
      Interestingly, DEX promoted an increase of per1b expression when applied in LD
      condition but a decrease when the cells were kept under DD condition. Although
      DEX effects are divergent with different light conditions, the response resulted
      in clock synchronization in all cases. Taken together, these data demonstrate
      that D. rerio ZEM-2S cells possess a photosensitive system due to melanopsin
      expression which results in an oscillatory profile of clock genes in response to
      LD cycle. Moreover, we provide evidence that glucocorticoid acts as a circadian
      regulator of D. rerio peripheral clocks.

PMID- 28589148
TI  - Skeletal Muscle and Lymphocyte Mitochondrial Dysfunctions in Septic Shock Trigger
      ICU-Acquired Weakness and Sepsis-Induced Immunoparalysis.
AB  - Fundamental events driving the pathological processes of septic shock-induced
      multiorgan failure (MOF) at the cellular and subcellular levels remain debated.
      Emerging data implicate mitochondrial dysfunction as a critical factor in the
      pathogenesis of sepsis-associated MOF. If macrocirculatory and microcirculatory
      dysfunctions undoubtedly participate in organ dysfunction at the early stage of
      septic shock, an intrinsic bioenergetic failure, sometimes called "cytopathic
      hypoxia," perpetuates cellular dysfunction. Short-term failure of vital organs
      immediately threatens patient survival but long-term recovery is also severely
      hindered by persistent dysfunction of organs traditionally described as nonvital,
      such as skeletal muscle and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In this
      review, we will stress how and why a persistent mitochondrial dysfunction in
      skeletal muscles and PBMC could impair survival in patients who overcome the
      first acute phase of their septic episode. First, muscle wasting protracts
      weaning from mechanical ventilation, increases the risk of mechanical ventilator
      associated pneumonia, and creates a state of ICU-acquired muscle weakness,
      compelling the patient to bed. Second, failure of the immune system
      ("immunoparalysis") translates into its inability to clear infectious foci and
      predisposes the patient to recurrent nosocomial infections. We will finally
      emphasize how mitochondrial-targeted therapies could represent a realistic
      strategy to promote long-term recovery after sepsis.

PMID- 28589153
TI  - Calciphylaxis in the Setting of Alcoholic Cirrhosis: Case Report and Literature
      Review.
AB  - Calciphylaxis can be a severe life-threatening dermatologic disease that is a
      known complication associated with end-stage renal disease. However, multiple non
      uremic etiologies that are not yet well studied can cause calciphylaxis. We
      report a rare care of a 40-year-old female with history of alcoholic cirrhosis
      without any evidence of renal dysfunction who presents with calciphylaxis.

PMID- 28589152
TI  - Increased mortality in women: sex differences in burn outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that sex differences may influence
      responses after thermal injury and affect clinical outcomes. The objective of
      this study was to evaluate the relationships between sex, thermal injury, body
      size, and inpatient mortality in burn patients. METHODS: Medical records of
      adults with >20% total body surface area (TBSA) burn injury admitted to two
      American Burn Association (ABA)-verified burn centers between 2008 and 2014 were
      retrospectively reviewed. Injury details and baseline characteristics, including
      body size as estimated by body surface area (BSA) and body mass index (BMI) were
      recorded, along with details of the hospital course. The primary outcome of
      inpatient mortality was compared between sexes. RESULTS: Out of 334 subjects, 60
      were women (18%). Median TBSA was 33% (IQR 25-49) in this cohort, with 19% full
      thickness burns and 30% inhalation injury. Despite no significant difference in
      age, presence of inhalation injury, TBSA, or depth of burn, women had
      significantly higher rates of inpatient mortality (45 vs. 29%, P = 0.01). BSA was
      significantly lower in women vs. men (P < 0.001), but this difference was not
      more pronounced among non-survivors. There was no difference in BMI between men
      and women non-survivors. Although not significant (P = 0.28), women succumbed to
      their injuries sooner than men (day 4 vs. 10 post-injury). CONCLUSIONS: Women are
      less likely to survive burn injuries and die sooner than men with similar
      injuries. Body size does not appear to modulate this effect. Burn centers should
      be aware of the higher mortality risk in women with large burns.

PMID- 28589150
TI  - Tempol, a Superoxide Dismutase Mimetic Agent, Inhibits Superoxide Anion-Induced
      Inflammatory Pain in Mice.
AB  - The present study evaluated the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of the
      superoxide dismutase mimetic agent tempol in superoxide anion-induced pain and
      inflammation. Mice were treated intraperitoneally with tempol (10-100 mg/kg) 40
      min before the intraplantar injection of a superoxide anion donor, potassium
      superoxide (KO2, 30 MUg). Mechanical hyperalgesia and thermal hyperalgesia, paw
      edema, and mRNA expression of peripheral and spinal cord mediators involved in
      inflammatory pain, TNFalpha, IL-1beta, IL-10, COX-2, preproET-1, gp91phox, Nrf2,
      GFAP, and Iba-1, were evaluated. Peripheral and spinal cord reductions of
      antioxidant defenses and superoxide anion were also assessed. Tempol reduced KO2
      induced mechanical hyperalgesia and thermal hyperalgesia and paw edema. The
      increased mRNA expression of the evaluated mediators and oxidative stress in the
      paw skin and spinal cord and increased mRNA expression of glial markers in the
      spinal cord induced by KO2 were successfully inhibited by tempol. KO2-induced
      reduction in Nrf2 mRNA expression in paw skin and spinal cord was also reverted
      by tempol. Corroborating the effect of tempol in the KO2 model, tempol also
      inhibited carrageenan and CFA inflammatory hyperalgesia. The present study
      demonstrates that tempol inhibits superoxide anion-induced molecular and
      behavioral alterations, indicating that tempol deserves further preclinical
      studies as a promising analgesic and anti-inflammatory molecule for the treatment
      of inflammatory pain.

PMID- 28589154
TI  - Prolonged Ketosis in a Patient With Euglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis Secondary to
      Dapagliflozin.
AB  - Since the approval of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors by the US
      Food and Drug Administration for type 2 diabetes, there have been several reports
      of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis in patients using this class of medication.
      We present a case of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis where ketonemia and
      glucosuria persisted well beyond the expected effect of dapagliflozin. Our
      patient is a 50-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes since age 35 who was taking
      metformin and dapagliflozin. She presented with fatigue, constipation, and 3 days
      of reduced oral intake. Laboratory data indicated anion gap acidosis, ketonemia,
      severe hypokalemia, and minimally elevated blood glucose. She was treated with
      sliding scale short-acting insulin and electrolyte replacement until hospital day
      6, when endocrinology was consulted. An insulin drip was initiated due to
      persistent ketonemia and reopening of the anion gap, despite improved oral intake
      and normoglycemia. On stopping the insulin drip on day 9, the beta
      hydroxybutyrate increased again. It finally stabilized within normal range with
      the initiation of basal subcutaneous insulin. This case indicates that clinical
      effects of dapagliflozin persist much longer than the reported half-life of 12.9
      hours would predict. To prevent this potentially dangerous complication, patients
      taking SGLT2 inhibitors who become ill should discontinue the medication, undergo
      ketone evaluation, and start basal insulin, if ketones are positive. In addition,
      patients should be educated to stop their SGLT2 inhibitor at least 1 week prior
      to elective procedures.

PMID- 28589155
TI  - A Severe Case of Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reaction Secondary to a Novice Drug:
      Idelalisib.
AB  - Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta (PIK3delta) is a tyrosine kinase essential
      for B cell survival, making it an important target in the treatment of chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia. Idelalisib is an inhibitor of PIK3delta demonstrating
      initial success in disease response, but is now shown to have a decreased overall
      survival and life-threatening serious adverse events. The following is an
      unfortunate case of a grade III adverse skin reaction secondary to idelalisib
      with the likely complication of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      bacteremia.

PMID- 28589156
TI  - Outcome of Expedited Rotator Cuff Surgery in Injured Workers: Determinants of
      Successful Recovery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Work-related rotator cuff injuries are a common cause of disability
      and employee time loss. PURPOSE: To examine the effectiveness of expedited
      rotator cuff surgery in injured workers who underwent rotator cuff decompression
      or repair and to explore the impact of demographic, clinical, and psychosocial
      factors in predicting the outcome of surgery. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of
      evidence, 4. METHODS: Injured workers who were seen at a shoulder specialty
      program and who underwent expedited arthroscopic rotator cuff decompression or
      repair were observed for a period of 6 to 12 months based on their type of
      surgery and recovery trajectory. The primary outcome measure was the American
      Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form. The
      impact of surgery was assessed by whether the change in the ASES score exceeded
      the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of 17 points. Secondary
      outcomes were range of motion (ROM), medication consumption, and work status.
      RESULTS: One hundred forty-six patients (43 women [29%], 103 men [71%]; mean age,
      52 years; SD, 8 years) completed the study. Sixty-seven (46%) patients underwent
      rotator cuff repair. The mean time between the date the patient consented to have
      surgery and the date of surgery was 82 (SD, 44) days. There was a statistically
      significant improvement in ASES score and ROM and work status (52 returned to
      regular duties and 59 to modified duties) (P < .0001). Eighty-four percent (n =
      122) of patients exceeded the MCID of 17 points. Individual factors that affected
      patient overall disability were preoperative ASES, work status prior to surgery,
      access to care, and autonomy at work. Achieving a minimal clinically meaningful
      change was influenced by perceived access to care, autonomy and stress at work,
      and overall satisfaction with the job. CONCLUSION: Expedited rotator cuff surgery
      improved disability, ROM, and work status in injured workers. Successful recovery
      after work-related shoulder injuries may further be facilitated by improving the
      psychosocial work environment and increasing access to care.

PMID- 28589157
TI  - Return to Preoperative Function After Autologous Cartilage Implantation of the
      Knee in Active Military Servicemembers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) has been shown to provide
      adequate durability, pain relief, and improved long-term functional outcomes in
      the average patient, but proof of its efficacy in individuals with greater than
      average physical demands is scarce. Further knowledge is required to understand
      which patients may benefit from ACI and to identify which risk factors are
      associated with failure to return to the preinjury activity level. PURPOSE: To
      determine the occupational outcomes, rates of reoperation, and variables
      predictive of suboptimal outcomes after ACI. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of
      evidence, 4. METHODS: All active-duty military servicemembers in the United
      States who underwent ACI of the knee between 2004 and 2014 were identified.
      Demographic information, injury characteristics, surgical variables, and clinical
      and surgical outcomes were extracted from the medical record. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were used to determine significant independent predictors
      of clinical and surgical failures. RESULTS: A total of 90 patients (91 knees) met
      the inclusion criteria. The cohort was predominantly male (86%), with a mean age
      of 34.5 +/- 6.3 years (range, 20-50 years). The most common location of the
      articular cartilage lesion was the patellofemoral compartment (54 lesions, 59%),
      and the mean Outerbridge grade and size were 3.8 +/- 0.4 and 4.00 +/- 2.77 cm2
      (range, 1.2-15.0 cm2), respectively. A total of 72 patients (79%) had at least 1
      previous knee procedure. Nearly three-quarters of patients (71%) underwent
      concomitant procedures. At a mean follow-up of 59.9 +/- 27.1 months (range, 24.0
      140.1 months), 60% of our patients reported significant improvement in knee pain
      and did not require further surgical intervention. Multivariate analysis
      identified age <30 years as the only significant independent predictor of both
      clinical (P = .011) and overall failure (P = .014). Moderate-demand military
      occupational specialties (P = .036), exclusive involvement of the patellofemoral
      compartment (P = .045), and use of a periosteal patch (P = .0173) were
      additionally found to be independent predictors of surgical failure. CONCLUSION:
      Treatment of articular cartilage defects of the knee with ACI in physically
      active young individuals can return nearly two-thirds of individuals to daily
      activity with decreased pain and improved function. Risk factors for failure
      after ACI surgery were age younger than 30 years, lower demand occupation,
      exclusive involvement of the patellofemoral compartment, prior microfracture, and
      use of a periosteal patch.

PMID- 28589151
TI  - Advanced Role of Neutrophils in Common Respiratory Diseases.
AB  - Respiratory diseases, always being a threat towards the health of people all over
      the world, are most tightly associated with immune system. Neutrophils serve as
      an important component of immune defense barrier linking innate and adaptive
      immunity. They participate in the clearance of exogenous pathogens and endogenous
      cell debris and play an essential role in the pathogenesis of many respiratory
      diseases. However, the pathological mechanism of neutrophils remains complex and
      obscure. The traditional roles of neutrophils in severe asthma, chronic
      obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), pneumonia, lung cancer, pulmonary
      fibrosis, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis had already been reviewed. With the
      development of scientific research, the involvement of neutrophils in respiratory
      diseases is being brought to light with emerging data on neutrophil subsets,
      trafficking, and cell death mechanism (e.g., NETosis, apoptosis) in diseases. We
      reviewed all these recent studies here to provide you with the latest advances
      about the role of neutrophils in respiratory diseases.

PMID- 28589158
TI  - Three-Dimensional CT Evaluation of Tunnel Positioning in ACL Reconstruction Using
      the Single Anteromedial Bundle Biological Augmentation (SAMBBA) Technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Remnant preservation may confer important advantages in the anterior
      cruciate ligament (ACL)-reconstructed knee. However, the presence of a large
      remnant may obscure visualization and impair the ability to correctly place
      tunnels during surgery. PURPOSE: To determine whether tunnel placement during
      anatomic ACL reconstruction using the single anteromedial bundle biological
      augmentation (SAMBBA) technique is consistent and precise when a large native
      remnant is preserved. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS:
      Included in this study were 99 patients undergoing an ACL reconstruction during
      which at least 50% of the native ACL was preserved. The femoral tunnel was
      created using an outside-in specific guide. The tibial tunnel was positioned in
      the anteromedial region of the ACL footprint, and the remnant was carefully
      preserved while drilling and passing the semitendinosus graft through it.
      Postoperatively, 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) was used to evaluate
      tunnel placement. The mean tunnel locations were calculated and the standard
      deviation was used to evaluate precision of positioning. Inter- and intrareader
      agreement were determined to assess reliability of evaluation of tunnel position.
      RESULTS: The center of the femoral tunnel was positioned at a mean 19.4% (SD, 2%)
      of the depth of the notch and a mean 23.1% (SD, 3.5%) of the lateral wall height.
      The center of the tibial tunnel was positioned at a mean 36.3% (SD, 3.8%) of the
      anteroposterior length of the tibial plateau and at a mean 47.0% (SD, 2.7%) of
      the mediolateral width. The small standard deviations demonstrate that this
      technique allows precise tunnel placement. The tunnel positions achieved were
      consistent with previous anatomic studies of femoral and tibial anteromedial
      bundle insertion. Intra- and interobserver reliability were high. CONCLUSION:
      Three-dimensional CT evaluation demonstrated that despite the presence of a large
      remnant, placement of femoral and tibial tunnels for anatomic ACL reconstruction
      using the SAMBBA technique is consistent and precise.

PMID- 28589159
TI  - Demographics and Injuries Associated With Knee Dislocation: A Prospective Review
      of 303 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information on the incidence, injury mechanisms, ligament injury
      patterns, and associated injuries of knee dislocations is lacking in the
      literature. There is a need to characterize ligament injury patterns and
      associated injuries in knee dislocations to avoid missing common associated
      diagnoses and to plan surgical treatment. PURPOSE: To evaluate patient
      demographics, ligament injury patterns and associated injury patterns, and
      associated injuries in patients with knee dislocation. STUDY DESIGN: Cross
      sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: A total of 303 patients with knee
      dislocations treated at a single level 1 trauma center were followed
      prospectively. Injury mechanism; ligament injury patterns; associated
      neurovascular, meniscal, and cartilage injuries; and surgical complications were
      recorded. The Schenck knee dislocation classification was used to classify the
      ligament injury patterns. RESULTS: The mean age at injury was 37.8 +/- 15.3
      years. Of the 303 patients included, 65% were male and 35% were female. There was
      an equal distribution of high-energy and low-energy injuries. Injury to 3 major
      ligaments was the most common, with Schenck classification type KD III-M
      constituting 52.4% of the injuries and KD III-L comprising 28.1%. Meniscal
      injuries and cartilage injuries occurred in 37.3% and 28.3% of patients,
      respectively. Patients with acute injuries had significantly lower odds of a
      cartilage injury than those with chronic injuries (odds ratio [OR], 0.28; 95% CI,
      0.15-0.50; P < .001). Peroneal nerve injuries were recorded in 19.2% of patients
      (10.9% partial and 8.3% complete deficit), while vascular injuries were recorded
      in 5%. The odds of having a common peroneal nerve injury were 42 times greater (P
      < .001) among those with posterolateral corner injury (KD III-L) than those
      without. The odds for popliteal artery injury were 9 times greater (P = .001)
      among those with KD III-L injuries than other ligament injury types. CONCLUSION:
      Medial-sided bicruciate injuries were the most common injury pattern in knee
      dislocations. Cartilage injuries were common in chronically treated patients.
      There was a significant risk of peroneal nerve injury with lateral-sided
      injuries.

PMID- 28589161
TI  - Arthroscopic Mechanical Chondroplasty of the Knee Is Beneficial for Treatment of
      Focal Cartilage Lesions in the Absence of Concurrent Pathology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Articular cartilage lacks the ability for intrinsic repair after
      acute injury, and focal articular cartilage lesions cause significant morbidity
      worldwide. Arthroscopic debridement (chondroplasty) represents the majority of
      cartilage procedures of the knee; however, limited data exist regarding outcomes
      after chondroplasty performed in isolation of concurrent procedures or not as a
      primary treatment for osteoarthritis (OA). HYPOTHESIS: Arthroscopic mechanical
      chondroplasty is beneficial for patients with a focal cartilage lesion of the
      knee in the absence of meniscal pathology or OA. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level
      of evidence, 4. METHODS: Potential participants were identified by querying
      billing data from a 3-year period in a single-surgeon practice, and eligible
      patients were verified to meet inclusion criteria through electronic medical
      record review. OA was quantified through Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) scoring.
      Subjective patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores, including International Knee
      Documentation Committee (IKDC), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score
      (KOOS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC),
      Tegner, Lysholm, and Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12), were collected
      preoperatively and at follow-up intervals. International Cartilage Repair Society
      (ICRS) grade and lesion size were determined at arthroscopy. Linear regression
      was used to determine the effect of baseline score on final follow-up score.
      Correlated regression equations were used to assess the relationship of
      covariates and change in PRO scores. RESULTS: Fifty-three of 86 (62%) eligible
      participants completed postoperative questionnaires at an average of 31.5 months
      (range, 11.5-57 months). The mean patient age was 37.3 +/- 9.7 years and mean
      body mass index (BMI) was 27.7 +/- 5.6 kg/m2; 33 (62%) participants were women.
      The mean treated lesion size was 3.3 +/- 1.9 cm2, of these, 36 (68%) were ICRS
      grade 2 or 3, and 42 (79%) patients had a KL score of 0 to -2. On average, the
      cohort demonstrated significant improvement from baseline for almost all PRO
      scores. Regression analysis of change in score versus baseline indicated
      participants with lower preoperative scores gained more benefit from
      chondroplasty. Correlated regression equations showed KL score >0 and male sex
      had a consistent positive effect on change in PRO scores, high ICRS grade had a
      consistent negative effect, and lesion size, age, and obesity had no effect.
      Eight patients (15%) required further surgical intervention within the follow-up
      period. CONCLUSION: The clinical efficacy of chondroplasty for repair of focal
      cartilage defects of the knee has not been studied in isolation from concurrent
      orthopaedic procedures. Our data show that arthroscopic mechanical chondroplasty
      is beneficial to patients, and response to surgical intervention is correlated
      with baseline PRO scores, sex, ICRS grade, and KL score.

PMID- 28589160
TI  - Flexion Posteroanterior Radiographs Affect Both Enrollment for and Outcomes After
      Injection Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee injection therapy is less effective for severe osteoarthritis
      (OA), specifically Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade 4. Patient selection for knee
      injection trials has historically been based on extension anteroposterior (AP)
      radiographic evaluation; however, emerging evidence suggests that KL grading
      using a flexion posteroanterior (PA) radiograph more accurately and reproducibly
      predicts disease severity. The impact of radiographic view on patient selection
      and outcome after knee injection therapy remains unknown. HYPOTHESIS: A 45
      degrees  flexion PA radiograph will reveal more advanced knee OA in certain
      patients. These patients will report worse pre- and postinjection outcomes. STUDY
      DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Four raters independently
      graded extension AP and flexion PA radiographs from 91 patients previously
      enrolled in a knee injection trial. Patients determined to have KL grade 4 OA by
      any rater on extension AP radiographs were excluded. Among included patients,
      those upgraded to KL grade 4 on flexion PA radiographs by at least 2 raters
      constituted group 2, while all remaining patients constituted group 1.
      Demographic data and patient-reported outcome scores before injection and at 6
      weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months postinjection were compared between
      groups. RESULTS: Overall, 64 patients met the inclusion criteria, of which 19
      patients (30%) constituted group 2. Compared with group 1, patients in group 2
      were older (58.7 vs 52.3 years, P = .02), had worse visual analog scale pain
      scores before (6.6 vs 5.3, P = .03) and 6 months after injection (5.3 vs 3.5, P =
      .01), had less improvement in both Lysholm (8.5 vs 20.5, P = .02) and Short Form
      12 physical component (-2.2 vs 1.7, P = .03) scores from preinjection to 6 months
      postinjection, and had less improvement in both Lysholm (1.6 vs 13.1, P = .03)
      and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score sport subscale (-2.1 vs 16, P =
      .01) scores from preinjection to 12 months postinjection. CONCLUSION: One in 3
      patients considered to have mild to moderate knee OA on extension AP radiography
      is upgraded to severe knee OA (KL grade 4) on flexion PA radiography. These
      patients report worse preinjection outcomes, worse pain scores at short-term
      follow-up, and decreased improvement in knee function scores between 6 months and
      1 year postinjection.

PMID- 28589162
TI  - Age-Specific Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Humeral Medial Epicondyle
      Apophysitis and Osteochondritis Dissecans: Ultrasonographic Assessment of 4249
      Players.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traction apophysitis of medial epicondyle (MEC) lesions and
      osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the capitellum are common elbow injuries in
      adolescent baseball players. However, the age-specific prevalence of these
      pathologies and their influence on elbow pain remain unknown. PURPOSE: To
      investigate the age-specific prevalence of each MEC lesion and capitellar OCD and
      to identify the incidence of elbow pain in each condition. STUDY DESIGN:
      Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: Study participants consisted of 4249
      baseball players aged 6 to 17 years. A questionnaire was used to assess history
      of elbow pain, and morphological changes of the elbow joint were assessed using
      ultrasonography. RESULTS: Regarding MEC lesions, fragmented (FG) and irregular
      (IR) lesions both reached their greatest respective prevalence at 11 to 12 years
      of age. After 14 years of age, IR decreased sharply, whereas FG was maintained at
      approximately 10%. Hypertrophic (HT) lesions increased sharply, reaching over 50%
      at 16 years of age, while there was a decrease in IR and FG lesions in the same
      age group. The prevalence of capitellar OCD remained the same (approximately 2%)
      throughout all ages except for in players aged 7 to 8 years (>7%). Players with
      MEC lesions had significantly greater prevalence of a history of elbow pain
      compared with those without (68.0% vs 39.1%) and were at a significantly greater
      risk for FG lesions (odds ratio [OR], 4.04; 95% CI, 3.16-5.22) compared with IR
      (OR, 3.22; 95% CI, 2.44-4.27) and HT lesions (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.75-2.36).
      Players with capitellar OCD also had a significantly greater risk of a history of
      elbow pain (OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.40-4.11). CONCLUSION: Controlling the amount of
      practice and its intensity according to the condition of each player in the
      preadolescent and adolescent periods may be important in accelerating bony
      healing and decreasing preventable elbow pain in adulthood.

PMID- 28589163
TI  - A novel design of a Phase III trial of isradipine in early Parkinson disease
      (STEADY-PD III).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the rationale for a novel study design and baseline
      characteristics of a disease-modifying trial of isradipine 10 mg daily in early
      Parkinson disease (PD). METHODS: STEADY-PDIII is a 36-month, Phase 3, parallel
      group, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of isradipine 10 mg daily in 336
      participants with early PD as measured by the change in the Unified Parkinson
      Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part I-III score in the practically defined ON
      state. Secondary outcome measures include clinically meaningful measures of
      disability progression in early PD: (1) Time to initiation and utilization of
      dopaminergic therapy; (2) Time to onset of motor complications; (3) Change in
      nonmotor disability. Exploratory measures include global measures of functional
      disability, quality of life, change in the ambulatory capacity, cognitive
      function, and pharmacokinetic analysis. Rationale for the current design and
      alternative design approaches are discussed. RESULTS: The entire cohort of 336
      participants was enrolled at 55 Parkinson Study Group sites in North America. The
      percentage of male participants were 68.5% with a mean age of 61.9 years (sd
      9.0), mean Hoehn and Yahr stage of 1.7 (sd 0.5), mean UPDRS total of 23.1 (sd
      8.6), and MoCA of 28.1 (sd 1.4). INTERPRETATION: STEADY-PD III has a novel and
      innovative design allowing for the determination of longer duration benefits on
      clinically relevant outcomes in a relatively small cohort on top of the benefit
      derived from symptomatic therapy. Baseline characteristics are similar to those
      in previously enrolled de novo PD trials. This study represents a unique
      opportunity to evaluate the potential impact of a novel therapy to slow
      progression of PD disability and provide clinically meaningful benefits.

PMID- 28589164
TI  - CNS Aquaporin-4-specific B cells connect with multiple B-cell compartments in
      neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a severe
      inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) targeted against
      aquaporin-4 (AQP4). The origin and trafficking of AQP4-specific B cells in NMOSD
      remains unknown. METHODS: Peripheral (n = 7) and splenic B cells (n = 1)
      recovered from seven NMOSD patients were sorted into plasmablasts, naive, memory,
      and CD27-IgD- double negative (DN) B cells, and variable heavy chain (VH)
      transcriptome sequences were generated by deep sequencing. Peripheral blood (PB)
      VH repertoires were compared to the same patient's single-cell cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) plasmablast (PB) VH transcriptome, CSF immunoglobulin (Ig) proteome,
      and serum Ig proteome. Recombinant antibodies were generated from paired CSF
      heavy- and light chains and tested for AQP4 reactivity. RESULTS: Approximately 9%
      of the CSF VH sequences aligned with PB memory B cells, DN B cells, and
      plasmablast VH sequences. AQP4-specific VH sequences were observed in each
      peripheral B-cell compartment. Lineage analysis of clonally related VH sequences
      indicates that CSF AQP4-specific B cells are closely related to an expanded
      population of DN B cells that may undergo antigen-specific B-cell maturation
      within the CNS. CSF and serum Ig proteomes overlapped with the VH sequences from
      each B-cell compartment; the majority of matches occurring between the PB VH
      sequences and serum Ig proteome. INTERPRETATION: During an acute NMOSD relapse, a
      dynamic exchange of B cells occurs between the periphery and CNS with AQP4
      specific CSF B cells emerging from postgerminal center memory B cells and
      plasmablasts. Expansion of the PB DN B-cell compartment may be a potential
      biomarker of NMOSD activity.

PMID- 28589165
TI  - Effects of fumarates on inflammatory human astrocyte responses and
      oligodendrocyte differentiation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is a fumaric acid ester approved for the
      treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In both the brain and
      periphery, DMF and its metabolite monomethyl fumarate (MMF) exert anti
      inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Our aim was to compare the effects of DMF
      and MMF on inflammatory and antioxidant pathways within astrocytes, a critical
      supporting glial cell in the central nervous system (CNS). Direct effects of
      fumarates on neural progenitor cell (NPC) differentiation toward the
      oligodendrocyte lineage were also assessed. METHODS: Primary astrocyte cultures
      were derived from both murine and human brains. Following pretreatment with MMF,
      DMF, or vehicle, astrocytes were stimulated with IL-1beta for 24 h; gene and
      microRNA expression were measured by qPCR. Cytokine production and reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) generation were also measured. NPCs were differentiated into
      the oligodendrocyte lineage in the presence of fumarates and immunostained using
      early oligodendrocyte markers. RESULTS: In both murine and human astrocytes, DMF,
      but not MMF, significantly reduced secretion of IL-6, CXCL10, and CCL2; neither
      fumarate promoted a robust increase in antioxidant gene expression, although both
      MMF and DMF prevented intracellular ROS production. Pretreatment with fumarates
      reduced microRNAs -146a and -155 upon stimulation. In NPC cultures, DMF increased
      the number of O4+ and NG2+ cells. INTERPRETATION: These results suggest that DMF,
      and to a lesser extent MMF, mediates the anti-inflammatory effects within
      astrocytes. This is supported by recent observations that in the inflamed CNS,
      DMF may be the active compound mediating the anti-inflammatory effects
      independent from altered antioxidant gene expression.

PMID- 28589166
TI  - Elevated glutamate and lactate predict brain death after severe head trauma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Clinical neurological assessment is challenging for severe traumatic
      brain injury (TBI) patients in the acute setting. Waves of neurochemical
      abnormalities that follow TBI may serve as fluid biomarkers of neurological
      status. We assessed the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of glutamate, lactate,
      BDNF, and GDNF, to identify potential prognostic biomarkers of neurological
      outcome. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in a total of 20
      consecutive patients (mean [SD] age, 29 [13] years; M/F, 9:1) with severe TBI
      Glasgow Coma Scale <= 8 and abnormal computed tomography scan on admission.
      Patients were submitted to ventricular drainage and had CSF collected between 2
      and 4 h after hospital admission. Patients were then stratified according to two
      clinical outcomes: deterioration to brain death (nonsurvival, n = 6) or survival
      (survival, n = 14), within 3 days after hospital admission. CSF levels of brain
      derived substances were compared between nonsurvival and survival groups.
      Clinical and neurological parameters were also assessed. RESULTS: Glutamate and
      lactate are significantly increased in nonsurvival relative to survival patients.
      We tested the accuracy of both biomarkers to discriminate patient outcome.
      Setting a cutoff of >57.75, glutamate provides 80.0% of sensitivity and 84.62% of
      specificity (AUC: 0.8214, 95% CL: 54.55-98.08%; and a cutoff of >4.65, lactate
      has 100% of sensitivity and 85.71% of specificity (AUC: 0.8810, 95% CL: 54.55
      98.08%). BDNF and GDNF did not discriminate poor outcome. INTERPRETATION: This
      early study suggests that glutamate and lactate concentrations at hospital
      admission accurately predict death within 3 days after severe TBI.

PMID- 28589167
TI  - Demyelination load as predictor for disease progression in juvenile metachromatic
      leukodystrophy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the extent and
      topography of cerebral demyelination correlates with and predicts disease
      progression in patients with juvenile metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD).
      METHODS: A total of 137 MRIs of 46 patients with juvenile MLD were analyzed.
      Demyelination load and brain volume were quantified using the previously
      developed Software "clusterize." Clinical data were collected within the German
      Leukodystrophy Network and included full scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and
      gross motor function data. Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) across the
      whole brain was performed to investigate the spatial relationship of cerebral
      demyelination with motor or cognitive function. The prognostic value of the
      demyelination load at disease onset was assessed to determine the severity of
      disease progression. RESULTS: The demyelination load (corrected by the individual
      brain volume) correlated significantly with gross motor function (r = +0.55) and
      FSIQ (r = -0.55). Demyelination load at disease onset was associated with the
      severity of disease progression later on (P < 0.01). VLSM results associated
      frontal lobe demyelination with loss in FSIQ and more central region
      demyelination with decline of motor function. Especially progression of
      demyelination within the motor area was associated with severe disease
      progression. INTERPRETATION: We were able to show for the first time in a large
      cohort of patients with juvenile MLD that the demyelination load correlates with
      motor and cognitive symptoms. Moreover, demyelination load at disease onset,
      especially the involvement of the central region, predicts severity of disease
      progression. Thus, demyelination load seems a functionally relevant MRI
      parameter.

PMID- 28589168
TI  - First-in-man allopregnanolone use in super-refractory status epilepticus.
AB  - Super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) is associated with high morbidity and
      mortality. Treatment of SRSE is complicated by progressive cortical
      hyperexcitability believed to result in part from synaptic GABA receptor
      internalization and desensitization. Allopregnanolone, a neurosteroid that
      positively modulates synaptic and extrasynaptic GABAA receptors, has been
      proposed as a novel treatment. We describe the first two patients with SRSE who
      were each successfully treated with a 120-h continuous infusion of
      allopregnanolone. Both patients recovered from prolonged SRSE with good cognitive
      outcomes.

PMID- 28589169
TI  - Partial duplication of DHH causes minifascicular neuropathy: A novel mutation
      detection of DHH.
AB  - Minifascicular neuropathy (MN) is an extremely rare developmental malformation in
      which peripheral nerves are composed of many small fascicles. Only one patient
      with MN with 46XY gonadal dysgenesis (GD) was found to carry a mutation affecting
      the start codon in desert hedgehog (DHH). We identified an identical novel
      rearrangement mutation of DHH in two consanguineous families with MN, confirming
      mutations in DHH cause MN with 46XY GD. The patients with the 46XY karyotype
      developed GD, whereas a patient with the 46XX karyotype did not. These findings
      further support that DHH has important roles in perineural formation and male
      gonadal differentiation.

PMID- 28589171
TI  - Microarray dataset of transient and permanent DNA methylation changes in HeLa
      cells undergoing inorganic arsenic-mediated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - The novel dataset presented here represents the results of the changing pattern
      of DNA methylation profiles in HeLa cells exposed to chronic low dose (0.5 uM)
      sodium arsenite, resulting in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, as well as
      DNA methylation patterns in cells where inorganic arsenic has been removed.
      Inorganic arsenic is a known carcinogen, though not mutagenic. Several mechanisms
      have been proposed as to how inorganic arsenic drives carcinogenesis such as
      regulation of the cell's redox potential and/or epigenetics. In fact, there are
      gene specific studies and limited genome-wide studies that have implicated
      epigenetic factors such as DNA methylation in inorganic arsenic-mediated
      epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, genome-wide studies about
      the impact of 1) chronic, low-dose inorganic arsenic exposure on DNA methylation
      patterns during inorganic arsenic-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition,
      and 2) the removal inorganic arsenic (reversal) on DNA methylation patterns, is
      lacking. For this dataset, two replicates were performed with each of the samples
      - non-treated, inorganic arsenic-treated, and reverse-treated cells. We provide
      normalized and processed data, and log2 fold change in DNA methylation. The raw
      microarray data are available through NCBI GEO, accession number GSE95232 and a
      related research paper has been accepted for published in Toxicology and Applied
      Pharmacology (Eckstein et al., 2017) [1].

PMID- 28589172
TI  - Genome-wide gene expression dataset used to identify potential therapeutic
      targets in androgenetic alopecia.
AB  - The microarray dataset attached to this report is related to the research article
      with the title: "A genomic approach to susceptibility and pathogenesis leads to
      identifying potential novel therapeutic targets in androgenetic alopecia" (Dey
      Rao and Sinha, 2017) [1]. Male-pattern hair loss that is induced by androgens
      (testosterone) in genetically predisposed individuals is known as androgenetic
      alopecia (AGA). The raw dataset is being made publicly available to enable
      critical and/or extended analyses. Our related research paper utilizes the
      attached raw dataset, for genome-wide gene-expression associated investigations.
      Combined with several in silico bioinformatics-based analyses we were able to
      delineate five strategic molecular elements as potential novel targets towards
      future AGA-therapy.

PMID- 28589173
TI  - Prevalence, Impact, and Management Practice of Dysmenorrhea among University of
      Gondar Students, Northwestern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea is an important health problem of adolescents in school,
      as well as health practitioners, that badly affects the daily activities and
      quality of life. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of
      dysmenorrhea and assess its management practice among University of Gondar
      students. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done from April 06 to May 08,
      2016, on female students of University of Gondar. Descriptive and binary logistic
      regression analyses were used to describe and assess the association between
      different variables. RESULTS: More than two-thirds (75.3%) of the respondents
      were nonmedical students and the prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 77.6%. About half
      (50.6%) of the participants reported that they have a family history of
      dysmenorrhea and experienced continuous type of pain (53%) which lasts 1-2 days
      (47.8%). Abdominal spasm (70.4%), back pain (69.7%) fatigue, and weakness (63.5%)
      were the most commonly experienced dysmenorrhea symptoms. More than half (63%) of
      the respondents had encountered social withdrawal and decrease in academic
      performance (51.4%). More than two-thirds (63.8%) of the respondents use home
      remedies as a primary management option. Ibuprofen and diclofenac were the most
      commonly used medications to manage dysmenorrhea. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      revealed that high proportion of University of Gondar female students had
      dysmenorrhea. Findings suggest the need for educating adolescent girls on
      appropriate and effective management of dysmenorrhea.

PMID- 28589174
TI  - Effectiveness of Positive Thinking Training Program on Nurses' Quality of Work
      Life through Smartphone Applications.
AB  - AIM: Job stress is a part of nurses' professional life that causes the decrease
      of the nurses' job satisfaction and quality of work life. This study aimed to
      determine the effect of positive thinking via social media applications on the
      nurses' quality of work life. METHODS: This was a pretest-posttest quasi
      experimental study design with a control group. The samples were selected among
      the nurses in two hospitals in Fasa University of Medical Sciences and divided
      randomly into two interventional (n = 50) and control (n = 50) groups. Positive
      thinking training through telegrams was sent to the intervention group during a
      period of 3 months. Data were collected by using Brooks and Anderson's
      questionnaire of work life quality and analyzed by SPSS 18. RESULTS: The mean
      total scores of pretest and posttest in the intervention group improved
      noticeably and there were significant differences between mean scores of quality
      of work life in pretest and posttest scores in interventional groups (p < 0.001)
      and in dimensions of work life quality, home life (p < 0.001), work design (p <
      0.001), work context (p < 0.001), and work world (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: This
      study concluded that positive thinking training via social media application
      enhanced nurses' quality of work life. This study is necessary to carry out on a
      larger sample size for generalizing findings better.

PMID- 28589177
TI  - ARHGEF9 mutations cause a specific recognizable X-linked intellectual disability
      syndrome.

PMID- 28589175
TI  - Secondary Ammonium Agonists Make Dual Cation-pi Interactions in alpha4beta2
      Nicotinic Receptors.
AB  - A cation-pi interaction between the ammonium group of an agonist and a conserved
      tryptophan termed TrpB is a near universal feature of agonist binding to
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). TrpB is one of five residues that
      form the aromatic box of the agonist binding site, and for the prototype agonists
      ACh and nicotine, only TrpB makes a functional cation-pi interaction. We report
      that, in addition to TrpB, a significant cation-pi interaction is made to a
      second aromatic, TyrC2, by the agonists metanicotine, TC299423, varenicline, and
      nornicotine. A common structural feature of these agonists, and a distinction
      from ACh and nicotine, is a protonated secondary amine that provides the cation
      for the cation-pi interaction. These results indicate a distinction in binding
      modes between agonists with subtly different structures that may provide guidance
      for the development of subtype-selective agonists of nAChRs.

PMID- 28589178
TI  - Intramyocellular lipid excess in the mitochondrial disorder MELAS: MRS
      determination at 7T.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is a paucity of objective, quantifiable indicators of
      mitochondrial disease available for clinical and scientific investigation.
      METHODS: To this end, we explore intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) accumulation
      noninvasively by 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) as a reporter of
      metabolic dysfunction in MELAS (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis,
      and stroke-like episodes). We reasoned that mitochondrial dysfunction may impair
      muscle fat metabolism, resulting in lipid deposition (as is sometimes observed in
      biopsies), and that MRS is well suited to quantify these lipids. RESULTS: In 10
      MELAS participants and relatives, IMCL abundance correlates with percent
      mitochondrial DNA mutation abundance and with disease severity. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results indicate that IMCL accumulation is a novel potential disease
      hallmark in MELAS.

PMID- 28589176
TI  - ARHGEF9 disease: Phenotype clarification and genotype-phenotype correlation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to generate a review and description of the phenotypic and
      genotypic spectra of ARHGEF9 mutations. METHODS: Patients with mutations or
      chromosomal disruptions affecting ARHGEF9 were identified through our clinics and
      review of the literature. Detailed medical history and examination findings were
      obtained via a standardized questionnaire, or if this was not possible by
      reviewing the published phenotypic features. RESULTS: A total of 18 patients
      (including 5 females) were identified. Six had de novo, 5 had maternally
      inherited mutations, and 7 had chromosomal disruptions. All females had strongly
      skewed X-inactivation in favor of the abnormal X-chromosome. Symptoms presented
      in early childhood with delayed motor development alone or in combination with
      seizures. Intellectual disability was severe in most and moderate in patients
      with milder mutations. Males with severe intellectual disability had severe,
      often intractable, epilepsy and exhibited a particular facial dysmorphism.
      Patients with mutations in exon 9 affecting the protein's PH domain did not
      develop epilepsy. CONCLUSIONS: ARHGEF9 encodes a crucial neuronal synaptic
      protein; loss of function of which results in severe intellectual disability,
      epilepsy, and a particular facial dysmorphism. Loss of only the protein's PH
      domain function is associated with the absence of epilepsy.

PMID- 28589179
TI  - The role of surgeons on the development and performance of endoscopy.
AB  - Endoscopy is being frequently performed for both diagnostic and therapeutic
      applications in surgical practice. Surgery, as a scientific area, has an
      important role in the propagation of therapeutic endoscopic procedures. The
      contribution of surgeons to the evolution of endoscopic applications and its
      practice is a triggering factor for the improvement of endoscopic instruments and
      their widespread use. Training and education on basic diagnostic and therapeutic
      surgical endoscopy should be implemented as part of general surgery residency
      core program, according to accepted standardized criteria, in order for general
      surgeons to perform endoscopic applications in the future. In light of this
      information, it can be concluded that endoscopy training and skills should be
      standardized within accepted general principles. Standards to be used during post
      graduate endoscopic practice should be precisely stated. In addition to
      accreditation of both surgeons and endoscopic centers, theoretical and practical
      education programs should be composed and organized.

PMID- 28589170
TI  - Immune and myodegenerative pathomechanisms in inclusion body myositis.
AB  - Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) is a relatively common acquired inflammatory
      myopathy in patients above 50 years of age. Pathological hallmarks of IBM are
      intramyofiber protein inclusions and endomysial inflammation, indicating that
      both myodegenerative and inflammatory mechanisms contribute to its pathogenesis.
      Impaired protein degradation by the autophagic machinery, which regulates innate
      and adaptive immune responses, in skeletal muscle fibers has recently been
      identified as a potential key pathomechanism in IBM. Immunotherapies, which are
      successfully used for treating other inflammatory myopathies lack efficacy in IBM
      and so far no effective treatment is available. Thus, a better understanding of
      the mechanistic pathways underlying progressive muscle weakness and atrophy in
      IBM is crucial in identifying novel promising targets for therapeutic
      intervention. Here, we discuss recent insights into the pathomechanistic network
      of mutually dependent inflammatory and degenerative events during IBM.

PMID- 28589180
TI  - Treatment of pilonidal disease by phenol application.
AB  - The literature indicates various approaches regarding the properties of phenol,
      the target patient group, and the complication and recurrence rates. Although
      phenol is most frequently used to treat the fistulated form of the disease, it
      can also be applied for other types. The overall success and complication rates
      of the application is reported as 62-95% and 0%-2%, respectively. Phenol
      treatment in pilonidal disease can be used more frequently as an alternative
      method with acceptable success, complication, and recurrence rates.

PMID- 28589181
TI  - Reliability of fine needle aspiration biopsy in large thyroid nodules.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Fine needle aspiration biopsy provides one of the most important data
      that determines the treatment algorithm of thyroid nodules. Nevertheless, the
      reliability of fine needle aspiration biopsy is controversial in large nodules.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of fine needle aspiration
      biopsy in thyroid nodules that are four cm or greater. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively examined 219 patients files who underwent thyroidectomy for
      thyroid nodules that were greater than four centimeter between May 2007 and
      December 2012. Seventy-four patients with hyperthyroidism, and 18 patients
      without preoperative fine needle aspiration cytology were excluded from the
      study. Histopathologic results after thyroidectomy were compared with
      preoperative cytology results, and sensitivity and specificity rates were
      calculated. RESULTS: False-negativity, sensitivity and specificity rates of fine
      needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodules were found to be 9.7%, 55.5%, and
      85%, respectively. Within any nodule of the 127 patients, 28 (22.0%) had thyroid
      cancer. However, when only nodules of at least 4 cm were evaluated, thyroid
      cancer was detected in 22 (17.3%) patients. CONCLUSION: In this study, fine
      needle aspiration biopsy of large thyroid nodules was found to have a high false
      negativity rate. The limitations of fine-needle aspiration biopsy should be taken
      into consideration in treatment planning of thyroid nodules larger than four
      centimeters.

PMID- 28589182
TI  - Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and hypoparathyroidism rates in reoperative
      thyroid surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Reoperative thyroid surgery is rare and has a high complication rate.
      This retrospective cohort study was performed to determine the recurrent
      laryngeal nerve injury and hypoparathyroidism rates after reoperative thyroid
      surgery in two university hospitals in Benghazi, Libya. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All
      consecutive patients who underwent reoperative thyroid surgery between January
      2002 and July 2014 were included retrospectively. The cohort was divided
      according to whether the reoperation was in the previously operated lobe or both
      lobes (ipsilateral group), or only in the previously non-operated lobe
      (contralateral group). RESULTS: Of the 73 patients, 66 were female and seven were
      male. The median age was 37 (19-80) years. Nine (12.3%), five (6.8%), and one
      (1.4%) patient developed postoperative transient hypocalcemia, transient
      recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury,
      respectively. None of the patients developed permanent hypocalcemia. The
      ipsilateral group had a higher rate of permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury
      after reoperation than the contralateral group (3.1% vs. 0%). It also had higher
      rates of transient recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (12.5% vs. 2.4%) and
      transient hypocalcemia (28.1% vs. 0%), but the two groups did not differ in terms
      of permanent hypocalcemia rates (both 0%). CONCLUSION: Reoperative thyroid
      surgery is technically challenging with a high incidence of complications. The
      ipsilateral group had more complications after reoperative thyroid surgery than
      the contralateral group. Hemi- or total thyroidectomy at the primary surgery is
      recommended to reduce the frequency of reoperative thyroid surgery.

PMID- 28589183
TI  - The clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic factors of gastroesophageal
      junction tumors according to Siewert classification.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The treatment of gastroesophageal junction tumors remains
      controversial due to confusion on whether they should be considered as primary
      esophageal or as gastric tumors. The incidence of these tumors with poor
      prognosis has increased, thus creating scientific interest on gastroesophageal
      cancers. Esophagogastric cancers are classified according to their location by
      Siewert, and the treatment of each type varies. We evaluated the prognostic
      factors and differences in clinicopathologic factors of patients with
      gastroesophageal junction tumor, who have been treated and followed-up in our
      clinics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 187 patients with
      gastroesophageal junction tumors who have been operated and treated in the
      Oncology Department between 2005 and 2014. The chi-square test was used to
      evaluate differences in clinicopathologic factors among Siewert groups I, II and
      III. Prognostic factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis.
      RESULTS: The median age of our patients was 62 years, and approximately 70% was
      male. Nineteen patients (10.2%) had Siewert I tumors, 40 (21.4%) II, and the
      remaining 128 (64.4%) had Siewert III tumors. Siewert III tumors were at more
      advanced pathologic and T stages. Preoperative chemoradiotherapy was mostly
      applied to Siewert group I patients. There was no difference between the 3 groups
      in terms of recurrence. While the median overall survival and 2-year overall
      survival rate were 26.6 months and 39.6%, the median disease free survival and
      disease free survival rates were 16.5 months and 30.1%, respectively. The N
      stage, pathologic stage, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion, perineural
      invasion, surgical margin, and grade were associated with both overall survival
      and disease free survival, while pathologic stage and presence of recurrence were
      significant factors for overall survival. The median disease free survival for
      Siewert III tumors was 20 months, 11.3 month for Siewert I tumors, and 14 months
      for Siewert II tumors, but the finding was not statistically significant
      (p=0.08). CONCLUSION: Although gastroesophageal junction tumors were grouped
      according to their location and they exerted different clinicopathologic
      properties, their prognosis was similar.

PMID- 28589184
TI  - A new approach in bowel preparation before colonoscopy in patients with
      constipation: A prospective, randomized, investigator-blinded trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Enema administration in the morning of routine colonoscopy is known to
      be useless. However, the potential bowel cleansing effects of distal colon
      emptying with enema prior to purgatives are not known. The aim of this study is
      to investigate the effects of enema use before purgatives in preparation for
      colonoscopy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two hundred twenty-seven patients were
      randomly assigned into three groups; enema before purgative use, enema after
      purgative use, and no enema. Patients were compared in terms of age, sex, BMI,
      Rome III constipation criteria, history of abdominal surgery, tolerance to the
      preparation procedure, complications during preparation such as nausea, vomiting,
      headache and dizziness, cecal insertion time, total duration of colonoscopy,
      polyp determination rate and colonic cleansing based on the Boston Bowel
      Preparation Scale. RESULTS: One hundred two (44.9%) patients were male and 125
      (55.1%) female. The mean age and BMI was 55.4+/-11.8 years and 28.8+/-4.7,
      respectively. No difference was observed between the groups in terms of sex, age,
      or BMI. The number of fulfilled Rome criteria and of previous abdominal surgeries
      were significantly higher in females than in men. Right colon Boston Bowel
      Preparation Scale score was higher in the group using enemas before purgatives
      than the scores of other groups. This improvement was statistically significant
      in the female patient group with higher constipation rate. CONCLUSIONS: Use of
      enemas before purgatives in patients with constipation significantly improves
      adequacy of right colon cleansing.

PMID- 28589186
TI  - Extremely rare presentation of an omphalomesenteric cyst in a 61-year-old
      patient.
AB  - The umbilicus is remaining scar tissue from the umbilical cord in the fetus. If
      the omphalomesenteric duct in the umbilicus is not properly closed, an ileal
      umbilical fistula, sinus formation, cysts, or, most commonly, Meckel's
      diverticulum can develop. The others are very rare and mostly occur in the
      pediatric population. We describe herein a 61-year-old female with a giant
      omphalomesenteric cyst presented as an asymptomatic infraumbilical mass. To our
      knowledge, this is the oldest patient reported and the largest cyst described in
      the literature. The diagnosis of a painless abdominal mass frequently suggests
      malignancy in older patients. But, extremely rare conditions can be detected,
      such as an omphalomesenteric cyst.

PMID- 28589185
TI  - Damage-control laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy with an endoscopic linear
      stapler.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Several damage-control procedures have been described in the
      literature in case of severe Calot's triangle inflammation and fibrosis. In this
      report, we describe patients who underwent laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy
      using an endoscopic linear stapler. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five patients with
      acute cholecystitis underwent laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy in our clinic
      between January - December 2011. All patients had severe fibrosis and
      inflammation of Calot's triangle. The anterior and posterior walls of the
      gallbladder were totally resected if possible. The gallbladder was transected at
      its neck or Hartmann's pouch, leaving a remnant gallbladder pouch behind.
      RESULTS: Five patients had laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy with an
      endoscopic linear stapler. The main symptom of all patients on admission to the
      emergency room was abdominal pain. The mean time for the surgical procedure was
      140 minutes (range, 120-180 minutes). Inflammation and fibrosis of Calot's
      triangle was detected in all patients during surgery and a phlegmonous
      gallbladder was detected in one patient. Surgical drains were used in all
      patients and no biliary leakage was detected. Remnant common bile duct calculi
      were detected in one patient and this patient underwent endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography one month after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: When a reliable
      view of Calot's triangle cannot be obtained due to severe inflammation and
      fibrosis during laparoscopy, laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy seems to be a
      safe and feasible alternative to open surgery with an acceptable morbidity rate.

PMID- 28589187
TI  - Editorial comment on: Laparoscopic resection for colorectal diseases: short-term
      outcomes of a single center.

PMID- 28589188
TI  - Editorial comment on: Analysis of the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute expert
      decisions on recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries due to thyroidectomy between 2008
      2012.

PMID- 28589189
TI  - A facile approach toward 1,2-diazabenzo[ghi]perylene derivatives: structures and
      electronic properties.
AB  - A new class of pyridazine fused aromatics, 1,2-diazabenzo[ghi]perylenes, is
      conveniently synthesized from 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene via intermolecular
      oxidative coupling followed by a condensation reaction. These new compounds are
      fully characterized via X-ray crystallographic analysis, optical spectroscopy and
      electrochemistry, in addition to DFT calculations. They show a twisted structure
      and unique P-/P- and M-/M-enantiomer pairs are observed in their single crystals.
      They exhibit intramolecular charge transfer character and emit at a longer
      wavelength with a larger Stokes shift compared with their all-carbon analog.

PMID- 28589190
TI  - Cholesteric liquid crystals in living matter.
AB  - Liquid crystals play an important role in biology because the combination of
      order and mobility is a basic requirement for self-organisation and structure
      formation in living systems. Cholesteric liquid crystals are omnipresent in
      living matter under both in vivo and in vitro conditions and address the major
      types of molecules essential to life. In the animal and plant kingdoms, the
      cholesteric structure is a recurring design, suggesting a convergent evolution to
      an optimised left-handed helix. Herein, we review the recent advances in the
      cholesteric organisation of DNA, chromatin, chitin, cellulose, collagen, viruses,
      silk and cholesterol ester deposition in atherosclerosis. Cholesteric structures
      can be found in bacteriophages, archaea, eukaryotes, bacterial nucleoids,
      chromosomes of unicellular algae, sperm nuclei of many vertebrates, cuticles of
      crustaceans and insects, bone, tendon, cornea, fish scales and scutes, cuttlebone
      and squid pens, plant cell walls, virus suspensions, silk produced by spiders and
      silkworms, and arterial wall lesions. This article specifically aims at
      describing the consequences of the cholesteric geometry in living matter, which
      are far from being fully defined and understood, and discusses various
      perspectives. The roles and functions of biological cholesteric liquid crystals
      include maximisation of packing efficiency, morphogenesis, mechanical stability,
      optical information, radiation protection and evolution pressure.

PMID- 28589191
TI  - Is there any fundamental difference between ionic, covalent, and others types of
      bond? A canonical perspective on the question.
AB  - The concept of chemical bonding is normally presented and simplified through two
      models: the covalent bond and the ionic bond. Expansion of the ideal covalent and
      ionic models leads chemists to the concepts of electronegativity and
      polarizability, and thus to the classification of polar and non-polar bonds. In
      addition, the intermolecular interactions are normally viewed as physical
      phenomena without direct correlation to the chemical bond in any simplistic
      model. Contrary to these traditional concepts of chemical bonding, recently
      developed canonical approaches demonstrate a unified perspective on the nature of
      binding in pairwise interatomic interactions. This new canonical model, which is
      a force-based approach with a basis in fundamental molecular quantum mechanics,
      confirms much earlier assertions that in fact there are no fundamental
      distinctions among covalent bonds, ionic bonds, and intermolecular interactions
      including the hydrogen bond, the halogen bond, and van der Waals interactions.

PMID- 28589192
TI  - Modeling the absorption spectrum of the permanganate ion in vacuum and in aqueous
      solution.
AB  - The absorption spectrum of the MnO4- ion has been a test-bed for quantum-chemical
      methods over the last decades. Its correct description requires highly-correlated
      multiconfigurational methods, which are incompatible with the inclusion of finite
      temperature and solvent effects due to their high computational demands.
      Therefore, implicit solvent models are usually employed. Here we show that
      implicit solvent models are not sufficiently accurate to model the solvent shift
      of MnO4-, and we analyze the origins of their failure. We obtain the correct
      solvent shift for MnO4- in aqueous solution by employing the polarizable
      embedding (PE) model combined with a range-separated complete active space short
      range density functional theory method (CAS-srDFT). Finite-temperature effects
      are taken into account by averaging over structures obtained from ab initio
      molecular dynamics simulations. The explicit treatment of finite-temperature and
      solvent effects facilitates the interpretation of the bands in the low-energy
      region of the MnO4- absorption spectrum, whose assignment has been elusive.

PMID- 28589193
TI  - Free-standing monolayer films of ordered colloidal particles.
AB  - We report a novel method for the fabrication of large area, free standing
      monolayer films of close-packed colloidal particles. The method involves creating
      a free-standing, wet film of colloidal dispersion containing mono-dispersed hard
      particles (such as polystyrene or silica) mixed with smaller and softer polymer
      particles. During drying, hard particles present in the free standing film
      arrange in a hexagonal close-packed structure in a monolayer while the softer
      particles fill the interstices, and deform and coalesce to produce a continuous
      matrix around the hard particles. The deformation of the soft particles
      dissipates the stress generated during drying thereby preventing rupture of the
      monolayer film. The method is facile and very general, applicable to a large
      variety of colloidal particles. The monolayer films exhibit strong iridescence
      indicating potential application in photonic devices.

PMID- 28589194
TI  - Surface science under reaction conditions: CO oxidation on Pt and Pd model
      catalysts.
AB  - Platinum and palladium are frequently used as catalytic materials, for example
      for the oxidation of CO. This is one of the most widely studied reactions in the
      field of surface science. Although seemingly uncomplicated, it remains an active
      and interesting topic, which is partially explained by the push to conduct
      experiments on model systems under relevant reaction conditions. Recent
      developments in the surface-science methodology have allowed obtaining chemical
      and structural information on the active phase of model catalysts. Tools of the
      trade include near-ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high
      pressure scanning tunneling microscopy, high-pressure surface X-ray diffraction,
      and high-pressure vibrational spectroscopy. Interpretation is often aided by
      density functional theory in combination with thermodynamic and kinetic modeling.
      In this review, results for the catalytic oxidation of CO obtained by these
      techniques are compared. On several of the Pt and Pd surfaces, new structures
      develop in excess O2. For Pt, this requires a much larger excess of O2 than for
      Pd. Most of these structures also develop in pure O2 and are identified as
      (surface) oxides. A large body of evidence supports the conjecture that these
      oxides are more reactive than the corresponding O-covered metallic surfaces under
      similar conditions, although still debated in the literature. An outlook on this
      developing field, including directions that move away from CO oxidation towards
      more complex chemistry, concludes this review.

PMID- 28589195
TI  - Patterned oscillating topographical changes in photoresponsive polymer coatings.
AB  - The light-induced surface topography of a liquid crystal polymer coating is
      brought into a patterned oscillatory deformation. A dichroic photo-responsive
      azobenzene is co-aligned with the planar oriented nematic liquid crystal network
      molecules which makes the surface deformation sensitive to polarized UV light.
      Locally selective actuation is achieved in coatings with a complex alignment
      pattern. Dynamic oscillation, as controlled by the actuation and relaxation
      kinetics of the polymer, is obtained by a continuous change in the polarization
      of the UV source. The atypical deformation at the defect lines between the
      domains is of special interest. The amplitude and presence of the oscillation can
      be manipulated by changing the ratio between blue and UV light and by varying the
      ambient temperature of the coating.

PMID- 28589196
TI  - Cancer cell targeting driven by selective polyamine reactivity with glycine
      propargyl esters.
AB  - Rapidly growing cancer cells have increased levels of intracellular polyamines
      compared to normal, healthy tissues. Based on the selective reactivity of glycine
      propargyl esters, probes were synthesized that show evidence for selective
      polyamine reactivity, which was then applied for selective cancer cell imaging
      studies.

PMID- 28589197
TI  - Coordination strategy-induced selective C-H amination of 8-aminoquinolines.
AB  - In this study, we broke through the directing function of the amide group. The
      coordination interaction between metal and directing-group enhanced the
      reactivity of the substrate. Using this strategy, we realized the selective
      amination of 8-aminoquinolines at the C5 position via employing azoles as the
      source of amine. Various kinds of 8-aminoquinolines and different substituted
      azoles were compatible to afford the corresponding C-N coupling products.

PMID- 28589198
TI  - Excellent peroxidase mimicking property of CuO/Pt nanocomposites and their
      application as an ascorbic acid sensor.
AB  - Due to low cost and high stability, the applications of inorganic nanomaterials
      as efficient alternatives to natural enzymes are drawing much attention. In this
      work, novel CuO/Pt nanocomposites with high peroxidase-like activity were
      designed and applied for the colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid (AA). The
      nanocomposites were prepared by decorating Pt NPs on the surface of CuO
      nanosheets, which displayed good uniformity and showed improved distribution and
      stability. The catalytic activity of the prepared CuO/Pt nanocomposites was
      tested against various chromogenic substrates in the presence of H2O2, which
      displayed efficient peroxidase-like activity and high catalytic stability against
      temperature. The catalytic mechanism of the CuO/Pt nanocomposites was
      investigated by hydroxyl radical detection. The peroxidase-like activity
      decreased significantly in the presence of AA. On the basis of the inhibition
      property, a colorimetric biosensor was constructed by using the CuO/Pt
      nanocomposites for the detection of AA. It showed a high selectivity against
      amino acids, carbohydrates and normal ions. Thus, this work provides new insights
      into the application of inorganic nanocomposite-based nanozymes in the biosensing
      field.

PMID- 28589199
TI  - The strategies for identification and quantification of SUMOylation.
AB  - SUMOylation is a post-translational modification that plays critical roles in a
      multitude of cellular processes including transcription, cellular localization,
      DNA repair and cell cycle progression. Similar to ubiquitin, the small ubiquitin
      like modifiers (SUMOs) are covalently attached to the epsilon amino group of
      lysine residues in the substrates. To understand the regulation and the dynamics
      of post-translational modifications (PTMs), the identification and quantification
      of SUMOylation is strictly needed. Although numerous proteomic approaches have
      been developed to identify hundreds of SUMO target proteins, the number of
      SUMOylation signatures identified from endogenous modified proteins is limited,
      and the identification of precise acceptor sites remains a challenge due to the
      low abundance of in vivo SUMO-modified proteins and the high activity of SUMO
      specific proteases in cell lysates. In particular, very few sensitive strategies
      are available for accurate quantification of SUMO target proteins. Within the
      past decade, mass spectrometry-based strategies have been the most popular
      technologies for proteome-wide studies of SUMOylation. Recently, some new
      approaches such as single-molecule detection have been introduced. In this
      review, we summarize the strategies that have been exploited for enrichment,
      purification and identification of SUMOylation substrates and acceptor sites as
      well as ultrasensitive quantification of SUMOylation. We highlight the emerging
      trends in this field as well.

PMID- 28589200
TI  - Protein hydration in living cells probed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)
      spectroscopic imaging.
AB  - An application of disrelation mapping to Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)
      spectroscopic imaging datasets is provided to reveal different H-bonded water
      species within a mammalian cell. 2D correlation analysis revealed a disrelation
      peak at (3420 cm-1, 3220 cm-1), showing the existence of a specific water band at
      around 3220 cm-1 whose variation of absorbance did not follow the trend of water
      molecules with a well-coordinated H-bonding network. Disrelation maps constructed
      with disrelation intensities between (3420 cm-1, 3220 cm-1) and (3420 cm-1, 1540
      cm-1) reveal that the disruption of the water network occurs around the
      interfacial regions between the cell and media, indicating the disintegration of
      the H-bonding network of bulk water due to the entrapment of water by the protein
      inside the cell. This hydration effect also becomes apparent around the area
      adjacent to the cellular nucleus, reflecting the fact that protein synthesis
      mainly occurs in this region. These results clearly show the presence of
      different molecular states of water inside living cells, which are not readily
      identified by conventional analysis methods.

PMID- 28589201
TI  - Magnesia-stabilised zirconia solid electrolyte assisted electrochemical
      investigation of iron ions in a SiO2-CaO-MgO-Al2O3 molten slag at 1723 K.
AB  - Production of metallic iron through molten oxide electrolysis using inert
      electrodes is an alternative route for fast ironmaking without CO2 emissions. The
      fact that many inorganic oxides melt at ultrahigh temperatures (>1500 K)
      challenges conventional electro-analytical techniques used in aqueous, organic
      and molten salt electrolytes. However, in order to design a feasible and
      effective electrolytic process, it is necessary to best understand the
      electrochemical properties of iron ions in molten oxide electrolytes. In this
      work, a magnesia-stabilised zirconia (MSZ) tube with a closed end was used to
      construct an integrated three-electrode cell with a "MSZ|Pt|O2 (air)" assembly
      functioning as the solid electrolyte, the reference electrode and also the
      counter electrode. Electrochemical reduction of iron ions was systematically
      investigated on an iridium (Ir) wire working electrode in a SiO2-CaO-MgO-Al2O3
      molten slag at 1723 K by cyclic voltammetry (CV), square wave voltammetry (SWV),
      chronopotentiometry (CP) and potentiostatic electrolysis (PE). The results show
      that the electroreduction of the Fe2+ ion to Fe on the Ir electrode in the molten
      slag follows a single two-electron transfer step, and the rate of the process is
      diffusion controlled. The peak current on the obtained CVs is proportional to the
      concentration of the Fe2+ ion in the molten slag and the square root of scan
      rate. The diffusion coefficient of Fe2+ ions in the molten slag containing 5 wt%
      FeO at 1723 K was derived to be (3.43 +/- 0.06) * 10-6 cm2 s-1 from CP analysis.
      However, a couple of subsequent processes, i.e. alloy formation on the Ir
      electrode surface and interdiffusion, were found to affect the kinetics of iron
      deposition. An ECC mechanism is proposed to account for the CV observations. The
      findings from this work confirm that zirconia-based solid electrolytes can play
      an important role in electrochemical fundamental research in high temperature
      molten slag electrolytes.

PMID- 28589202
TI  - Electrochemiluminescence behavior of AgNCs and its application in immunosensors
      based on PANI/PPy-Ag dendrite-modified electrode.
AB  - In this study, hyperbranched polyethyleneimine-protected silver nanoclusters
      (hPEI-AgNCs) with excellent electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emission in the
      presence of coreactant K2S2O8 were prepared by chemical reduction of silver ions
      (silver nitrate) coordinated with dendrigraft polymer, and successfully used for
      the construction of an ECL immunosensor. Polyaniline (PANI)/polypyrrole (PPy)
      silver (Ag) dendrites with good electrical conductivity and biocompatibility were
      electropolymerized on the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode as
      carriers. Porous ZnO sphere-loaded hPEI-AgNCs-induced signal amplification
      strategies were integrated exquisitely and applied sufficiently. Taking
      carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) as an example, under optimal conditions, the CEA
      concentration was determined to be in the range of 10-3 ng mL-1-100 ng mL-1 and
      with a detection limit of 0.4 pg mL-1 using this method; it exhibited excellent
      selectivity, high stability, and acceptable fabrication reproducibility. It was
      anticipated that hPEI-AgNCs would have promising applications in green,
      selective, and sensitive detection of target analytes in the future.

PMID- 28589203
TI  - Tuning the sound speed in macroporous polymers with a hard or soft matrix.
AB  - In this paper, we investigate the factors affecting the sound speed in air-filled
      macroporous polymer materials at ultrasound frequencies. Due to the presence of
      large proportion of gas, these porous materials present high compressibility and,
      as a consequence, low sound speed which may fall down to values as low as 40 m s
      1. Using an emulsion-templating method, we synthesize macroporous samples with
      similar porous structures but with three different matrices, i.e. a hard
      poly(styrene-divinylbenzene (DVB)) matrix, a soft epoxy-modified
      polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix and a very soft polyaddition PDMS matrix. We
      characterize the matrix mechanical properties by measuring both the bulk modulus
      K0 and the shear modulus G0. Next, we compare the sound speed measured in porous
      samples with porosity varying from 0 to 50%. We show that, in agreement with
      theoretical predictions, the sound speed is mainly controlled by two parameters,
      the porosity value and the K0/G0 ratio of the polymer matrix. These parameters
      may be used to control the sound propagation in porous polymers, which opens the
      way to the realization of gradient-index materials.

PMID- 28589204
TI  - Stepwise self-assembly of a discrete molecular honeycomb using a multitopic
      metallo-organic ligand.
AB  - Self-assembly of a metallo-organic ligand, composed of an inner uncomplexed 120
      degrees -bis(terpyridine) and an outer extended free 120 degrees 
      bis(terpyridine) linked by a triple <-tpy-Ru2+-tpy-> connector, and complexed
      with Zn2+, gave rise to a discrete planar supramolecular honeycomb patterned
      fractal. The central metallo-hexagon was surrounded by six identical metallo
      hexagons which perfectly mimicked the natural simple honeycomb structure.

PMID- 28589205
TI  - Effects of Teriparatide and Sequential Minodronate on Lumbar Spine Bone Mineral
      Density and Microarchitecture in Osteoporosis.
AB  - The trabecular bone score (TBS) is a new surrogate for trabecular bone
      microarchitecture assessment, independent of bone mineral density (BMD),
      calculated from pixel gray-level variations in the lumbar spine (LS) dual-energy
      X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) image. Although Teriparatide (TPTD) increased LS-BMD
      as well as TBS in 2 years, the precise time-course of these parameters was not
      well known. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in LS-BMD and the
      TBS in osteoporotic patients treated with TPTD, followed by minodronate (MINO).
      Primary osteoporotic patients with a low LS-BMD (T-score < -2.5) and/or at least
      one vertebral fracture were treated with TPTD subcutaneously at 20 ug/day for 12
      24 months, followed by MINO (orally at 50 mg/once monthly) for 12 months. LS-BMD
      and the TBS were measured at 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after the initiation of
      TPTD treatment, and 12 months after the initiation of MINO. The increments of LS
      BMD, significant at 6 months, increased until 12 months, whereas the increments
      of TBS, significant at 3 months (0.035 +/- 0.011; p = 0.045 vs. the baseline),
      stabilized until 12 months. TPTD treatment, followed by 12 months of MINO,
      maintained both BMD and the TBS. Comparing the increments of the TBS to those of
      LS-BMD, our results indicate that TPTD treatment improved trabecular
      microarchitecture faster than mineralization. TPTD treatment, followed by MINO,
      can maintain both BMD and the TBS.

PMID- 28589206
TI  - MicroRNAs and Fracture Healing.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small molecules found to have major regulatory roles in
      many biological processes. This review aims to provide an overview of the recent
      advances in knowledge of the role of miRNAs in fracture healing and bone repair.
      A search of the published literature was performed (using the PubMed database) to
      include all relevant studies published in English. These studies were then
      reviewed and the results condensed into this review paper. MiRNAs have now been
      shown to have significant alterations in expression levels in bone tissue in the
      presence of fractures. This is thought to be related to the process of fracture
      healing through effects on osteoblasts and bone growth factors. These small
      molecules are also detectable in the circulation where their expression appears
      to be altered by the presence of fractures. Although further research is required
      in this area, miRNAs may present an opportunity for future clinical applications
      in fracture management.

PMID- 28589208
TI  - Cues of control modulate the ascription of object ownership.
AB  - Knowing whether an object is owned and by whom is essential to avoid costly
      conflicts. We hypothesize that everyday interactions around objects are
      influenced by a minimal sense of object ownership grounded on respect of
      possession. In particular, we hypothesize that tracking object ownership can be
      influenced by any cue that predicts the establishment of individual physical
      control over objects. To test this hypothesis we used an indirect method to
      determine whether visual cues of physical control like spatial proximity to an
      object, temporal priority in seeing it, and touching it influence this minimal
      sense of object ownership. In Experiment 1 participants were shown a neutral
      object located on a table, in the reaching space of one of two characters. In
      Experiment 2 one character was the first to find the object then another
      character appeared and saw the object. In Experiments 3 and 4, spatial proximity,
      temporal priority, and touch are pitted against each other to assess their
      relative weight. After having seen the scenes, participants were required to
      judge the sensibility of sentences in which ownership of the object was ascribed
      to one of the two characters. Responses were faster when the objects were located
      in the reaching space of the character to whom ownership was ascribed in the
      sentence and when ownership was ascribed to the character who was the first to
      find the object. When contrasting the relevant cues, results indicate that touch
      is stronger than temporal priority in modulating the ascription of object
      ownership. However, all these effects were also influenced by contextual social
      cues like the gender of both characters and participants, the presence of a third
      party observer, and the co-presence of characters. Consistently with our
      hypothesis, results indicate that many different cues of physical control
      influence the ascription of ownership in daily social contexts.

PMID- 28589207
TI  - Prediction and in vitro verification of potential CTL epitopes conserved among
      PRRSV-2 strains.
AB  - Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) is the causative
      agent of one of the most important porcine diseases with a high impact on animal
      health, welfare, and production economy. PRRSV exhibits a multitude of
      immunoevasive strategies that, in combination with a very high mutation rate, has
      hampered the development of safe and broadly protective vaccines. Aiming at a
      vaccine inducing an effective cytotoxic T cell response, a bioinformatics
      approach was taken to identify conserved PRRSV-derived peptides predicted to
      react broadly with common swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I alleles. Briefly,
      all possible 9- and 10-mer peptides were generated from 104 complete PRRSV type 2
      genomes of confirmed high quality, and peptides with high binding affinity to
      five common SLAs were identified combining the NetMHCpan and positional scanning
      combinatorial peptide libraries binding predictions. Predicted binders were
      prioritized according to genomic conservation and SLA coverage using the PopCover
      algorithm. From this, 53 peptides were acquired for further analysis. Binding
      affinity and stability of a subset of 101 peptide-SLA combinations were validated
      in vitro for 4 of the 5 SLAs. Eventually, 23% of the predicted peptide-SLA
      combinations showed to form complexes with a dissociation half-life >=30 min.
      Additionally, combining the two prediction methods proved to be more robust
      across alleles than either method used alone in terms of predicted-to-observed
      correlations. In summary, our approach represents a finely tuned epitope
      prediction pipeline providing a rationally selected ensemble of peptides for
      future in vivo experiments with pigs expressing the included SLAs.

PMID- 28589210
TI  - Abdominal distention and continuous feeding intolerance after intraperitoneal
      kidney transplant: Questions.

PMID- 28589209
TI  - Bioengineering in renal transplantation: technological advances and novel
      options.
AB  - End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is one of the most prevalent diseases in the
      world with significant morbidity and mortality. Current modes of renal
      replacement therapy include dialysis and renal transplantation. Although dialysis
      is an acceptable mode of renal replacement therapy, it does have its
      shortcomings, which include poorer life expectancy compared with renal
      transplantation, risk of infections and vascular thrombosis, lack of vascular
      access and absence of biosynthetic functions of the kidney. Renal
      transplantation, in contrast, is the preferred option of renal replacement
      therapy, with improved morbidity and mortality rates and quality of life,
      compared with dialysis. Renal transplantation, however, may not be available to
      all patients with ESKD. Some of the key factors limiting the availability and
      efficiency of renal transplantation include shortage of donor organs and the
      constant risk of rejection with complications associated with over
      immunosuppression respectively. This review focuses chiefly on the potential
      roles of bioengineering in overcoming limitations in renal transplantation via
      the development of cell-based bioartificial dialysis devices as bridging options
      before renal transplantation, and the development of new sources of organs
      utilizing cell and organ engineering.

PMID- 28589212
TI  - Erratum to: A New Deep-Sea Suctorian-Nematode Epibiosis (Loricophrya-Tricoma)
      from the Blanes Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean).

PMID- 28589211
TI  - Abdominal distention and continuous feeding intolerance after intraperitoneal
      kidney transplant: Answers.

PMID- 28589213
TI  - [Individualized infection medicine : Challenges and opportunities].

PMID- 28589214
TI  - [Individualized treatment strategies for Clostridium difficile infections].
AB  - Upon hospitalization, up to 15.5% of patients are already colonized with a
      toxigenic Clostridium difficile strain (TCD). The rate of asymptomatic
      colonization is 0-3% in healthy adults and up to 20-40% in hospitalized patients.
      The incidence and mortality of C. difficile infection (CDI) has significantly
      increased during recent years. Mortality lies between 3 and 14%. CDI is generally
      caused by intestinal dysbiosis, which can be triggered by various factors,
      including antibiotics or immune suppressants. If CDI occurs, ongoing antibiotic
      therapy should be discontinued. The choice of treatment is guided by the clinical
      situation: Mild courses of CDI should be treated with metronidazole. Oral
      vancomycin is suitable as a first-line therapy of mild CDI occurring during
      pregnancy and lactation, as well as in cases of intolerance or allergy to
      metronidazole. Severe courses should be treated with vancomycin. Recurrence
      should be treated with vancomycin or fidaxomicin. Multiple recurrences should be
      treated with vancomycin or fidaxomicin; if necessary, a vancomycin taper regimen
      may also be used. An alternative is fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), with
      healing rates of more than 80%. Bezlotoxumab is the first available monoclonal
      antibody which neutralizes the C. difficile toxin B, and in combination with an
      antibiotic significantly reduces the rate of a new C. difficile infection
      compared to placebo. A better definition of clinical and microbiota-associated
      risk factors and the ongoing implementation of molecular diagnostics are likely
      to lead to optimized identification of patients at risk, and an increasing
      individualization of prophylactic and therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 28589215
TI  - Utilities of scrotal flap for reconstruction of penile skin defects after severe
      burn injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we aimed to present our experience of an
      effective two-stage surgical approach using scrotal skin flap for patients with
      penile skin defects following severe burn injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total
      of 17 patients with penile skin defects underwent scheduled two-stage
      reconstruction using scrotal skin flap from January 2004 to October 2016.
      Patients, who were selected as eligible candidates for scrotal flap, exhibited a
      wide range of indications, including iatrogenic injuries (e.g., diathermy
      treatment after circumcision), scalding, flame injuries and electrical burns.
      During the first stage, the denuded penis secondary to debridement was temporally
      embedded in scrotal skin flap through an intrascrotal tunnel created between the
      skin and darto's fascia. During the second stage, the skin around the penis was
      separated and divided from the scrotum after incising the scrotal skin at the
      ventral penile base. After a mean follow-up of 30 months, the reconstructed
      penises yielded satisfactory aesthetic outcomes and maintained erectile function.
      RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 35 years (19-55 years), and the median
      follow-up was 30 months (12-60 months). No major perioperative complication
      occurred except for dehiscence of scrotal skin after 2nd stage in three patients,
      and split-thickness skin grafts were applied for recovery of scrotum. Of 17
      cases, 15 patients (88.2%) were in satisfactory cosmetic appearance. All patients
      regained penile sensation and normal voiding function in standing position. The
      International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) was used to assess sexual
      function, with 13 patients (76.5%) reported normal erectile function, while the
      rest 4 reported mild erectile dysfunction. With regards to intercourse
      satisfaction domain, encouraging results indicated a total of 17 patients resumed
      sexual intercourse after surgery. In overall satisfaction domain, 11/17 (64.7%)
      reported a satisfaction from "very" to "moderately" with their overall sex life
      and sexual relationship with their partners, while only one patient reported
      "moderately dissatisfied" with his overall sex life. CONCLUSIONS: We report a
      series of particular cases, including rare iatrogenic injury (diathermy treatment
      after circumcision) and severe compound electrical injury. Meanwhile, we show our
      successful experience that scrotal skin flap could be used as an effective
      surgical alternative to cover severe burn injury wound in male genitalia. The
      scrotal flap, with higher anti-infection ability and flexible contexture, is
      available for recovering penile skin defects following severe burn injury
      resulting in good aesthetic and sexual outcomes.

PMID- 28589216
TI  - Mathematical modeling of the ethanol fermentation of cashew apple juice by a
      flocculent yeast: the effect of initial substrate concentration and temperature.
AB  - In this work, the effect of initial sugar concentration and temperature on the
      production of ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCA008, a flocculent yeast,
      using cashew apple juice in a 1L-bioreactor was studied. The experimental results
      were used to develop a kinetic model relating biomass, ethanol production and
      total reducing sugar consumption. Monod, Andrews, Levenspiel and Ghose and Tyagi
      models were investigated to represent the specific growth rate without
      inhibition, with inhibition by substrate and with inhibition by product,
      respectively. Model validation was performed using a new set of experimental data
      obtained at 34  degrees C and using 100 g L-1 of initial substrate concentration.
      The model proposed by Ghose and Tyagi was able to accurately describe the
      dynamics of ethanol production by S. cerevisiae CCA008 growing on cashew apple
      juice, containing an initial reducing sugar concentration ranging from 70 to 170
      g L-1 and temperature, from 26 to 42  degrees C. The model optimization was also
      accomplished based on the following parameters: percentage volume of ethanol per
      volume of solution (%V ethanol/V solution), efficiency and reaction productivity.
      The optimal operational conditions were determined using response surface graphs
      constructed with simulated data, reaching an efficiency and a productivity of
      93.5% and 5.45 g L-1 h-1, respectively.

PMID- 28589217
TI  - A prospective randomized comparison of micropercutaneous nephrolithotomy
      (Microperc) and retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for the management of lower
      pole kidney stones.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To make a comparison between the safety and efficacy of
      micropercutaneous nephrolithotomy (microperc) and retrograde intrarenal surgery
      (RIRS) for the management of lower pole kidney stones up to 15 mm. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: 60 patients presenting with solitary lower pole kidney stones up to 15
      mm were included in the study between March 2013 and December 2015. Patients were
      randomized into Microperc or RIRS groups with computer-generated numbers.
      RESULTS: The mean stone size was 10.6 (5-15) and 11.5 (7-15) mm for Microperc and
      RIRS groups, respectively (P = 0.213). In the Microperc group, the scopy time was
      158.5 s, while in the RIRS group, the scopy time was 26.6 s (P = 0.001). The
      hospitalization period in the Microperc group was 542 h, while it was 19 h in the
      RIRS group (P = 0.001). No statistical differences were observed during the
      operating time, pre-operative-post-operative hemoglobin (Hb), serum creatinine,
      and estimated glomerular filtration speed (e-GFR) values and stone-free rates. No
      intraoperative complications were observed in either of the groups, while post
      operative complications were observed in six patients in Microperc Group and five
      patients belonging to the RIRS Group (P = 0.922). CONCLUSIONS: Both Microperc and
      RIRS are safe and effective alternatives, and have similar stone clearance and
      complication rates for the management of lower pole kidney stones up to 15 mm in
      diameter. However, prolonged hospital stay and scopy times are the main
      disadvantages of Microperc and further research is needed to evaluate the renal
      tubular damages caused by both of these methods.

PMID- 28589218
TI  - HN, N, Calpha and Cbeta assignments of the two periplasmic domains of Neisseria
      meningitidis DsbD.
AB  - DsbD is a disulfide bond reductase present in the inner membrane of many Gamma
      Proteobacteria. In the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, DsbD is required
      for viability and represents a potential target for the development of
      antibiotics. Here we report the chemical shift assignments (HN, N, Calpha and
      Cbeta) for the reduced and oxidized forms of the two periplasmic domains of N.
      meningitidis DsbD, n-NmDsbD and c-NmDsbD. The backbone amide resonances in all
      four forms were completely assigned, and the secondary structures for the core
      regions of the proteins were calculated using 13Calphabeta shifts. The reduced
      and oxidized forms of each domain have similar secondary shifts suggesting they
      retain the same fold. We anticipate that these data will provide an important
      basis for studying the interaction between n-NmDsbD and c-NmDsbD, which is
      required for electron transfer across the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane.

PMID- 28589219
TI  - 1H, 13C, and 15N backbone chemical shift assignments of 4E-BP144-87 and 4E-BP144
      87 bound to eIF4E.
AB  - The eukaryotic translational initiation factor 4G (eIF4G) interacts with the cap
      binding protein eIF4E through a consensus binding motif, Y(X)4LPhi (where X is
      any amino acid and Phi is a hydrophobic residue). 4E binding proteins (4E-BPs),
      which also contain a Y(X)4LPhi motif, regulate the eIF4E/eIF4G interaction. The
      non- or minimally-phosphorylated form of 4E-BP1 binds eIF4E, preventing eIF4E
      from interacting with eIF4G, thus inhibiting translation initiation. 4EGI-1, a
      small molecule inhibitor of the eIF4E/eIF4G interaction that is under
      investigation as a novel anti-cancer drug, has a dual activity; it disrupts the
      eIF4E/eIF4G interaction and stabilizes the binding of 4E-BP1 to eIF4E. Here, we
      report the complete backbone NMR resonance assignment of an unliganded 4E-BP1
      fragment (4E-BP144-87). We also report the near complete backbone assignment of
      the same fragment in complex to eIF4E/m7GTP (excluding the assignment of the last
      C-terminus residue, D87). The chemical shift data constitute a prerequisite to
      understanding the mechanism of action of translation initiation inhibitors,
      including 4EGI-1, that modulate the eIF4E/4E-BP1 interaction.

PMID- 28589221
TI  - An efficient method to generate conditional knockout cell lines for essential
      genes by combination of auxin-inducible degron tag and CRISPR/Cas9.
AB  - Generation of cells with a loss-of-function mutation in a gene (knockout cells)
      is a valuable technique for studying the function of a given gene product.
      However, if the product of the target gene is essential for cell viability,
      conditional knockout cell lines must be generated. Recently, as gene editing
      technology using CRISPR/Cas9 has developed, it has become possible to produce
      conditional knockout cell lines using this technique. However, to obtain final
      conditional knockout cell lines, it is necessary to perform several experiments
      with multiple complicated steps. In this paper, we introduce an easy and
      efficient method to generate conditional knockout cell lines based on combining
      auxin-inducible degron (AID) technology with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Our method
      only requires performing a single transfection and is therefore an easy and rapid
      method to obtain a conditional knockout cell line.

PMID- 28589220
TI  - Binding Properties of Split tRNA to the C-terminal Domain of Methionyl-tRNA
      Synthetase of Nanoarchaeum equitans.
AB  - The C-terminal domain of methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS-C) from Nanoarchaeum
      equitans is homologous to a tRNA-binding protein consisting of 111 amino acids
      (Trbp111) from Aquifex aeolicus. The crystal structure of MetRS-C showed that it
      existed as a homodimer, and that each monomer possessed an
      oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding fold (OB-fold). Analysis using a quartz
      crystal microbalance indicated that MetRS-C freshly isolated from N. equitans was
      bound to tRNA. However, binding of the split 3'-half tRNA species was stronger
      than that of the 5'-half species. The T-loop and the 3'-end regions of the split
      3'-half tRNA were found to be responsible for the binding. The minimum structure
      for binding to MetRS-C might be a minihelix-like stem-loop with single-stranded
      3'-terminus. After successive duplications of such a small hairpin structure with
      the assistance of a Trbp-like structure, the interaction of the T-loop region of
      the 3'-half with a Trbp-like structure could have been evolutionarily replaced by
      RNA-RNA interactions, along with many combinational tertiary interactions, to
      form the modern tRNA structure.

PMID- 28589223
TI  - Erratum to: Risk of over-diagnosis of hypotension in children: a comparative
      analysis of over 50,000 blood pressure measurements.

PMID- 28589222
TI  - Prescribing of medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among
      young people in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink 2005-2013: analysis of
      time to cessation.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine the time to cessation of ADHD medication
      amongst young people with ADHD aged 16 in the period 2005-2013. Previous studies
      of prescribing in primary care reported high rates of medication cessation
      amongst 16 and 17 year olds with ADHD. The examination of trends since the
      introduction of new NICE guidance in 2008 will support service planning and
      improvement of outcomes over the vulnerable transition period from child to adult
      services. We used primary care records from the Clinical Practice Research
      Datalink and identified cases prescribed ADHD medication at the time of their
      16th birthday during the study period. The outcome was time to medication
      cessation from the age of 16. Cessation of medication was defined as occurring at
      the beginning of a gap of over 6 months in prescriptions. 1620 cases were
      included. The median time to cessation was 1.51 years (95% CI 1.42-1.67).The
      estimated probability of remaining on medication was 0.63 (95% CI 0.61-0.65) at
      age 17 (i.e., at 1 year) and 0.41 (95% CI 0.39-0.43) at age 18. Young people with
      ADHD remain at high risk of cessation of medication during the transition from
      child to adult services. Despite the restriction that only primary care
      prescribing data were available, the results suggest continuing disparity between
      expected levels of symptom persistence and continuation of medication.

PMID- 28589224
TI  - Molecular engineering of L-aspartate-alpha-decarboxylase for improved activity
      and catalytic stability.
AB  - beta-Alanine is an important precursor for the production of food additives,
      pharmaceuticals, and nitrogen-containing chemicals. Compared with the
      conventional chemical routes for beta-alanine production, the biocatalytic routes
      using L-aspartate-alpha-decarboxylase (ADC) are more attractive when energy and
      environment are concerned. However, ADC's poorly understood properties and its
      inherent mechanism-based inactivation significantly limited the application of
      this enzyme. In this study, three genes encoding the ADC enzymes from Escherichia
      coli, Corynebacterium glutamicum, and Bacillus subtilis were overexpressed in E.
      coli. Their properties including specific activity, thermostability, and
      mechanism-based inactivation were characterized. The ADC enzyme from B. subtilis,
      which had higher specific activity and thermostability than the others, was
      selected for further study. In order to improve its activity and relieve its
      mechanism-based inactivation by molecular engineering so as to improve its
      catalytic stability, a high-throughput fluorometric assay of beta-alanine was
      developed. From a library of 4000 mutated enzymes, two variants with 18-22%
      higher specific activity and 29-64% higher catalytic stability were obtained. The
      best variant showed 50% higher beta-alanine production than the wild type after 8
      h of conversion of L-aspartate, showing great potential for industrial
      biocatalytic production of beta-alanine.

PMID- 28589225
TI  - Characterization of the newly isolated omega-oxidizing yeast Candida sorbophila
      DS02 and its potential applications in long-chain dicarboxylic acid production.
AB  - alpha, omega-Dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) are multipurpose chemicals widely used in
      polymers, perfumes, plasticizers, lubricants, and adhesives. The
      biotransformation of DCAs from alkanes and fatty acids by microorganisms has
      attracted recent interest, since synthesis via chemical oxidation causes problems
      in terms of the environment and safety. We isolated an omega-oxidizing yeast from
      a wastewater disposal facility of a petrochemical factory by chemostat enrichment
      culture. The haploid strain identified as Candida sorbophila DS02 grew on glucose
      and dodecane, exhibiting greater cell shrinkage on the latter. In flask cultures
      with mixed alkanes (C10-16) and fatty acid methyl esters (C10-16), DS02 used
      mixed alkanes simultaneously unlike Candida tropicalis and Yarrowia lipolytica
      and showed high substrate resistance. In flask cultures with acrylic acid-a known
      inhibitor of beta-oxidation-DS02 produced 0.28 g/l dodecanedioic acid (DDDA) from
      dodecane, similar to wild-type C. tropicalis ATCC 20336. In fed-batch
      fermentation, DS02 produced 9.87 g/l DDDA, which was 5.7-fold higher than wild
      type C. tropicalis. These results suggest that C. sorbophila strain DS02 has
      potential applications for the large-scale production of DCA.

PMID- 28589226
TI  - The first acidobacterial laccase-like multicopper oxidase revealed by
      metagenomics shows high salt and thermo-tolerance.
AB  - Metagenomics is a powerful tool that allows identifying enzymes with novel
      properties from the unculturable component of microbiomes. However, thus far only
      a limited number of laccase or laccase -like enzymes identified through
      metagenomics has been subsequently biochemically characterized. This work
      describes the successful bio-mining of bacterial laccase-like enzymes in an
      acidic bog soil metagenome and the characterization of the first acidobacterial
      laccase-like multicopper oxidase (LMCO). LMCOs have hitherto been mostly studied
      in fungi and some have already found applications in diverse industries. However,
      improved LMCOs are in high demand. Using molecular screening of a small
      metagenomic library (13,500 clones), a gene encoding a three-domain LMCO (LacM)
      was detected, showing the highest similarity to putative copper oxidases of
      Candidatus Solibacter (Acidobacteria). The encoded protein was expressed in
      Escherichia coli, purified by affinity chromatography and biochemically
      characterized. LacM oxidized a variety of phenolic substrates, including two
      standard laccase substrates (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic
      acid) (ABTS), k cat/k M  = 8.45 s-1 mM-1; 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (2,6-DMP), k cat/k
      M  = 6.42 s-1 mM-1), next to L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), vanillic
      acid, syringaldazine, pyrogallol, and pyrocatechol. With respect to the latter
      two lignin building blocks, LacM showed the highest catalytic activity (k cat/k M
      = 173.6 s-1 mM-1) for pyrogallol, with ca. 20% activity preserved even at pH
      8.0. The enzyme was thermostable and heat-activated in the interval 40-60 
      degrees C, with an optimal activity on ABTS at 50  degrees C. It was rather
      stable at high salt concentration (e.g., 34% activity preserved at 500 mM NaCl)
      and in the presence of organic solvents. Remarkably, LacM decolored azo and
      triphenylmethane dyes, also in the absence of redox mediators.

PMID- 28589227
TI  - Laccase-mediated synthesis of lignin-core hyperbranched copolymers.
AB  - Lignin, one of the major chemical constituents of woody biomass, is the second
      most abundant biopolymer found in nature. The pulp and paper industry has long
      produced lignin on the scale of millions of tons annually as a by-product of the
      pulping process, and the dawn of cellulosic ethanol production has further
      contributed to this amount. Historically, lignin has been perceived as a waste
      material and burned as a fuel for the pulping process. However, recent research
      has been geared toward developing cost-effective technologies to convert lignin
      into valuable commodities. Attributing to the polyphenolic structure of lignin,
      enzymatic modification of its surface using laccases (benzenediol:oxygen
      oxidoreductases, EC 1.10.3.2) has demonstrated to be highly successful. The
      current study aims at developing lignin-core hyperbranched copolymers via the
      laccase-assisted copolymerization of kraft lignin with methylhydroquinone and a
      trithiol. Based on the physical properties of the resulting material, it is
      likely that crosslinking reactions have taken place during the drying process to
      produce a copolymeric network rather than discrete hyperbranched copolymers, with
      NMR data providing evidence of covalent bonding between monomers. Preliminary
      thermal analysis data reveals that the copolymeric material possesses a moderate
      glass transition temperature and exhibits good thermostability, thus may have
      potential application as a lignin-based thermoplastic. Scanning electron
      microscopy images confirm the smooth, glossy surface of the material and that it
      is densely packed. The presented results are a sustainable, ecofriendly, economic
      method to create an exciting novel biomaterial from a renewable feedstock while
      further enhancing lignin valorization.

PMID- 28589228
TI  - Case-crossover analysis of heat-coded deaths and vulnerable subpopulations:
      Oklahoma, 1990-2011.
AB  - The extent of the association between temperature and heat-coded deaths, for
      which heat is the primary cause of death, remains largely unknown. We explored
      the association between temperature and heat-coded deaths and potential
      interactions with various demographic and environmental factors. A total of 335
      heat-coded deaths that occurred in Oklahoma from 1990 through 2011 were
      identified using heat-related International Classification of Diseases codes,
      cause-of-death nomenclature, and narrative descriptions. Conditional logistic
      regression models examined the association between temperature and heat index on
      heat-coded deaths. Interaction by demographic factors (age, sex, marital status,
      living alone, outdoor/heavy labor occupations) and environmental factors (ozone,
      PM10, PM2.5) was also explored. Temperatures >=99  degrees F (the median value)
      were associated with approximately five times higher odds of a heat-coded death
      as compared to temperatures <99  degrees F (adjusted OR = 4.9, 95% CI 3.3, 7.2).
      The effect estimates were attenuated when exposure to heat was characterized by
      heat index. The interaction results suggest that effect of temperature on heat
      coded deaths may depend on sex and occupation. For example, the odds of a heat
      coded death among outdoor/heavy labor workers exposed to temperatures >=99 
      degrees F was greater than expected based on the sum of the individual effects
      (observed OR = 14.0, 95% CI 2.7, 72.0; expected OR = 4.1 [2.8 + 2.3-1.0]). Our
      results highlight the extent of the association between temperature and heat
      coded deaths and emphasize the need for a comprehensive, multisource definition
      of heat-coded deaths. Furthermore, based on the interaction results, we recommend
      that states implement or expand heat safety programs to protect vulnerable
      subpopulations, such as outdoor workers.

PMID- 28589229
TI  - [Stroke in children and adolescents].
AB  - The occurrence of a stroke in children and adolescents constitutes a rare,
      critical event that is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. In
      addition to the individual suffering for the young patient and the medical burden
      for the affected family, a stroke is also associated with high follow-up costs
      for the health system because of the necessary long-term rehabilitative
      treatment. Establishing an early and prompt diagnosis is of great therapeutic
      importance. Because of the rarity of the illness and the plethora of clinical
      manifestations, diagnosis is often delayed. The most frequent clinical
      presentation is an acute focal-neurological deficit, usually in the form of
      hemiparesis, but headache, seizures or alteration of consciousness may also be
      seen. Nowadays, the prompt performance of diffusion-weighted, blood-sensitive
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) constitutes the gold standard. The most relevant
      risk factors for the occurrence of a stroke in this age cohort are
      vasculopathies, infections, pathological cardiac conditions or coagulopathies.
      Recurrence of stroke is dependent on the underlying risk factors. In a
      substantial percentage of patients, residual neurological deficits are seen.Owing
      to a lack of randomized controlled trials in children and adolescents with
      stroke, the optimal treatment approach is still under debate. In addition to anti
      platelet medication and heparinization, systematic intravenous thrombolysis and
      endovascular thrombectomy are other potentially effective treatment options. The
      long-term prognosis in children is dependent on establishing a correct, early
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28589230
TI  - The Immune Response in Periodontal Tissues.
AB  - The uniqueness of periodontal diseases is caused by several factors. This group
      of diseases is caused by numerous bacterial species formed in the dental biofilm,
      and one cannot distinguish the specific pathogen that is responsible for the
      disease initiation or progress (though Gram-negative anaerobic rods are
      associated with the advanced form of the disease). The disease is both infectious
      and inflammatory in its nature, and in the state of health there is always a
      subclinical level of inflammatory response, caused by the so-called harmless
      bacteria. Negligence in oral hygiene may result in maturation of the biofilm and
      trigger host response, manifesting clinically as gingivitis or-later and in
      susceptible subjects-as periodontitis. The article presents the contemporary
      knowledge of the inflammatory reaction occurring in tissues surrounding the tooth
      during periodontal inflammation. The most important mechanisms are described,
      together with implications for clinicists.

PMID- 28589231
TI  - A multicenter randomized comparison of paclitaxel-coated balloon with plain
      balloon angioplasty in patients with small vessel disease.
AB  - AIM: We investigated the efficacy and safety of using paclitaxel-coated balloon
      (PCB) to treat small vessel disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this multicenter,
      prospective, randomized controlled trial, one-hundred and thirty-five patients
      with native coronary lesions in small vessels were randomized into a PCB group
      and plain balloon angioplasty (POBA) group at a ratio of 2:1. There were no
      differences in target vessel failure (TVF) that was defined as cardiac death or
      target vessel-related myocardial infarction or target lesion revascularization
      (TLR), between the two groups (3.4 vs. 10.3%; P = 0.20), and TLR was slightly
      lower in the PCB group (2.3%) than that in the POBA group (10.3%) during 24 weeks
      follow-up. The late lumen loss (LLL) was significantly lower in the PCB group
      (0.01 +/- 0.31 vs. 0.32 +/- 0.34 mm; P < 0.01) and late lumen enlargement (LLE)
      was more frequently observed in the PCB group (48 vs. 15%; P < 0.01) by
      angiographic follow-up after 24 weeks. There were no cases of death, myocardial
      infarction, thrombosis and reocclusion in either group. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      was not able to demonstrate superiority of PCB compared with POBA.

PMID- 28589232
TI  - Lingual tactile sensitivity: effect of age group, sex, and fungiform papillae
      density.
AB  - Despite its contribution to food perception, lingual tactile sensitivity has been
      understudied. We hypothesized that sensitivity to threshold and suprathreshold
      tactile stimuli varies in the population and sought to determine proximate
      sources of variability. Forty-eight adults were tested for lingual threshold
      sensitivity via a modified letter identification task and suprathreshold
      sensitivity via estimation of stimulus size using magnitude estimation. In
      addition, taste bud density on the anterior tip of each panelist's tongue was
      estimated by counting the number of fungiform papillae in a 0.317 cm2
      circumscribed area. Lingual tactile thresholds were significantly impacted by age
      group as subjects 40 years or older had higher thresholds than those in their
      20s. Moreover, threshold sensitivity increased with increasing fungiform papillae
      count. Suprathreshold estimates of size were not affected by age group, sex, or
      fungiform papillae count.

PMID- 28589233
TI  - Altered tuning in primary motor cortex does not account for behavioral adaptation
      during force field learning.
AB  - Although primary motor cortex (M1) is intimately involved in the dynamics of limb
      movement, its inputs may be more closely related to higher-order aspects of
      movement and multi-modal sensory feedback. Motor learning is thought to result
      from the adaption of internal models that compute transformations between these
      representations. While the psychophysics of motor learning has been studied in
      many experiments, the particular role of M1 in the process remains the subject of
      debate. Studies of learning-related changes in the spatial tuning of M1 neurons
      have yielded conflicting results. To resolve the discrepancies, we recorded from
      M1 during curl field adaptation in a reaching task. Our results suggest that
      aside from the addition of the load itself, the relation of M1 to movement
      dynamics remains unchanged as monkeys adapt behaviorally. Accordingly, we
      implemented a musculoskeletal model to generate synthetic neural activity having
      a fixed dynamical relation to movement and showed that these simulated neurons
      reproduced the observed behavior of the recorded M1 neurons. The stable
      representation of movement dynamics in M1 suggests that behavioral changes are
      mediated through progressively altered recruitment of M1 neurons, while the
      output effect of those neurons remained largely unchanged.

PMID- 28589235
TI  - Metazoan parasite communities in Alosa alosa (Linnaeus, 1758) and Alosa fallax
      (Lacepede, 1803) (Clupeidae) from North-East Atlantic coastal waters and
      connected rivers.
AB  - Metazoan parasites were studied in 96 Alosa alosa and 78 Alosa fallax from North
      East Atlantic coastal waters and connected rivers (among them three sympatric
      sites) in order to increase knowledge on these anadromous endangered fish and
      measure the parasitic impact on host condition. All shads were infected by one to
      six metazoan parasite taxa among the 12 identified in the whole sampling, with a
      mean abundance of parasites higher for A. alosa (167 +/- 10) than for A. fallax
      (112 +/- 11). Helminths, mostly trophically transmitted, were the best
      represented (eight taxa, prevalence up to 99%) in contrast with crustaceans and
      Petromyzontidae that rarely occurred (four taxa, prevalence <6%). Despite some
      quantitative differences, metazoan parasite communities of A. alosa and A. fallax
      remained stable in composition whatever the host developmental stage, sex, sample
      site, and salinity. Among the nine parasite taxa harbored by each Alosa species,
      six were shared with some differences in distribution patterns including in
      sympatric conditions, suggesting increasing dissimilarities between A. alosa and
      A. fallax with the age. Information on feeding ecology provided by trophically
      transmitted helminths confirmed euryphagous opportunistic diet of immatures and
      adults of both shad species, and assessed feeding of adults during spawning
      migrations. Our study also revealed the significant negative impact of Hemiurus
      appendiculatus on A. alosa and Pronoprymna ventricosa on A. fallax. Because
      helminth parasites are omnipresent in the shads and decrease their fitness,
      parasitological data must be included in further investigations and management
      programs on A. alosa and A. fallax.

PMID- 28589234
TI  - Action of nitromezuril against Eimeria tenella with clinically anticoccidial
      indices and histopathology.
AB  - Nitromezuril is a novel triazine compound for preventing coccidiosis in broiler
      chickens. A single treatment of chickens inoculated with Eimeria tenella during
      the endogenous phase were used to evaluate the developmental stages of action of
      nitromezuril by clinically anticoccidial indices and histopathology. Results
      showed that a single dose of nitromezuril at 5 mg/kg b.w. during 56 to 80 h post
      inoculation can most effectively prevent weight loss and reduce both oocyst
      shedding and caecal lesions. The anticoccidial index reached the level of middle
      efficacy. Histological examinations indicated that administration of nitromezuril
      during 44 to 104 h after infection significantly reduced the merozoite population
      and the pathological damage to the caecum. Nitromezuril treatment could disturb
      the process of schizonts division into schizoites and produce abnormal schizonts.
      Overall, nitromezuril may exert its effects during the entire endogenous stage of
      the parasites but the schizogony stages were intrinsically more vulnerable.
      Nitromezuril is a potential novel anticoccidial agent suitable for further
      development.

PMID- 28589236
TI  - Geographic variation in mental health care disparities among racially/ethnically
      diverse adults with psychiatric disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE: The main purpose of this paper is to examine geographic variation in
      unmet need for mental health care among racially/ethnically diverse adults with
      psychiatric disorders in the US. METHODS: Drawn from the Collaborative
      Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES; 2001-2003), adults with any past year
      psychiatric disorder diagnosis (n = 3211) from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds
      were selected for analyses. Using weighted data, descriptive analyses and
      logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Two-thirds of the total
      sample had unmet mental health care need, which differed significantly by
      race/ethnicity (p < .001). Logistic regression analyses show regional variation
      of the effect of race/ethnicity in unmet need: after adjusting for covariates,
      Latinos in the South, Blacks and Latinos in the Midwest, and Latinos and Asians
      in the West had higher unmet need than non-Hispanic Whites, whereas no
      significant racial/ethnic effects were found in the Northeast. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings suggest that geographic region plays an important role in the sufficient
      use of mental health services among racial/ethnic minorities. Further research
      should elucidate reasons for geographic disparities in mental health care among
      racial/ethnic minority adults to reduce disparities.

PMID- 28589239
TI  - Population health intervention research: three important advancements.

PMID- 28589237
TI  - Choledochal Malformation in Children: Lessons Learned from a Dutch National
      Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A choledochal malformation (CM) is a rare entity, especially in the
      Western world. We aimed to determine the incidence of CM in the Netherlands and
      the outcome of surgery for CM in childhood. METHODS: All pediatric patients who
      underwent a surgical procedure for type I-IV CM between 1989 and 2014 were
      entered into the Netherlands Study group on choledochal cyst/malformation.
      Patients with type V CM were excluded from the present analysis. Symptoms,
      surgical details, short-term (<30 days) and long-term (>30 days) complications
      were studied retrospectively. RESULTS: Between January 1989 and December 2014, 91
      pediatric patients underwent surgery for CM at a median age of 2.1 years (0.0
      17.7 years). All patients underwent resection of the extrahepatic biliary tree
      with restoration of the continuity via Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Twelve
      patients (12%) were operated laparoscopically. Short-term complications, mainly
      biliary leakage and cholangitis, occurred in 20 patients (22%), without
      significant correlations with weight or age at surgery or surgical approach. Long
      term postoperative complications were mainly cholangitis (13%) and anastomotic
      stricture (4%). Eight patients (9%) required radiological intervention or
      additional surgery. Surgery before 1 year of age (OR 9.3) and laparoscopic
      surgery (OR 4.4) were associated with more postoperative long-term complications.
      We did not observe biliary malignancies during treatment or follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: Surgery for CM carries a significant short- and long-term morbidity.
      Given the low incidence, we would suggest that (laparoscopic) hepatobiliary
      surgery for CM should be performed in specialized pediatric surgical centers with
      a wide experience in laparoscopy and hepatobiliary surgery.

PMID- 28589238
TI  - Repeat Rifaximin for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: No Clinically Significant Changes
      in Stool Microbial Antibiotic Sensitivity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rifaximin has demonstrated efficacy and safety for diarrhea
      predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). AIM: To determine the rifaximin
      repeat treatment effect on fecal bacterial antibiotic susceptibility. METHODS:
      Patients with IBS in Trial 3 (TARGET 3) study who responded to open-label
      rifaximin 550 mg three times daily for 2 weeks, with symptom recurrence within 18
      weeks, were randomized to double-blind treatment: two 2-week repeat courses of
      rifaximin or placebo, separated by 10 weeks. Prospective stool sample collection
      occurred before and after open-label rifaximin, before and after the first repeat
      course, and at the end of the study. Susceptibility testing was performed with 11
      antibiotics, including rifaximin and rifampin, using broth microdilution or agar
      dilution methods. RESULTS: Of 103 patients receiving open-label rifaximin, 73
      received double-blind rifaximin (n = 37) or placebo (n = 36). A total of 1429
      bacterial and yeast isolates were identified, of which Bacteroidaceae (36.7%) and
      Enterobacteriaceae (33.9%) were the most common. In the double-blind phase,
      Clostridium difficile was highly susceptible to rifaximin [minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) range 0.008-1 ug/mL] and rifampin (MIC range 0.004-0.25
      ug/mL). Following double-blind rifaximin treatment, Staphylococcus isolates
      remained susceptible to rifaximin at all visits (MIC50 range <=0.06-32 ug/mL).
      Rifaximin exposure was not associated with long-term cross-resistance of
      Bacteroidaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Enterococcaceae to rifampin or
      nonrifamycin antibiotics tested. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, short-term repeat
      treatment with rifaximin has no apparent long-term effect on stool microbial
      susceptibility to rifaximin, rifampin, and nonrifamycin antibiotics.
      CLINICALTRIALS. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01543178.

PMID- 28589241
TI  - Laparoscopic ventral rectopexy with percutaneous surgical system.

PMID- 28589240
TI  - Dynamic cystocolpoproctography to confirm the efficacy of laparoscopic rectopexy
      in the treatment of hedrocele associated with full-thickness rectal prolapse.

PMID- 28589243
TI  - RNAi targeting STMN alleviates the resistance to taxol and collectively
      contributes to down regulate the malignancy of NSCLC cells in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Stathmin (STMN) plays a vital role in maintaining the malignant behavior of
      cancer through directly regulating microtubule dynamics equilibrium. Taxol, an
      effective chemotherapeutics mainly acting to promote microtubule polymerization,
      has been commercially applied in treating solid tumors, which results in serious
      drug resistance. Our study demonstrated that STMN RNA interference (RNAi)
      enlarged taxol-induced inhibitions in cellular proliferation, colony formation,
      and multidimensional spaces of cell immigration and decreased half maximal
      inhibitory concentration (IC50) of taxol in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) NCI
      H1299 cells; STMN RNAi and taxol jointly attenuated the expressions of
      extracellular regulated kinase (ERK), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and B
      cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), but up regulated Bax expression and initiated intrinsic
      cell death pathway by activating caspase-3 and caspase-9, while inhibited
      interleukin 10 (IL-10) autocrine from cell culture supernatant and xenografted
      mouse serum, as well as intracellular expressions of IL-10 protein and mRNA in
      vitro; additionally, neutralizing IL-10 alone would incur cell apoptosis to some
      degree; the further study confirmed that RNAi targeting STMN promoted the
      sensitivity of taxol in different NSCLC cells. In vivo animal experiments proved
      that STMN RNAi and taxol cooperatively inhibited the tumorigenicity of NCI-H1299
      cells and histological atypia and Ki-67 proliferative index of xenografted tumors
      and promoted cell differentiation to a higher grade with well-differentiated
      indicators of glandular lumen-like structure and proliferative fibroblasts. These
      findings suggest that silencing STMN alleviates the resistance to taxol and
      collectively contributes to induce the dysfunction of multiple signals and down
      regulate the malignancy of tumors; thus, STMN is a promising target in treating
      refractory tumors.

PMID- 28589242
TI  - Surgery beyond the visible light spectrum: theoretical and applied methods for
      localization of the male urethra during transanal total mesorectal excision.
AB  - The risk of urethral injury during transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) is
      delineated, and potential risk factors for iatrogenic transection are reviewed. A
      variety of applied and theoretical techniques can be used by surgeons to diminish
      the risk of injury in males undergoing this operation. Many of the approaches
      utilize non-optic media and wavelengths beyond the visible light spectrum which
      can enhance the surgeon's frame of reference. The aim of the present study was to
      assess the techniques and theoretical approaches to urethral localization during
      taTME. Future directions in surgical imaging are also discussed, including the
      use of organic dyes, quantum dots, and carbon nanotubes; collectively, technology
      that could someday provide surgeons with an ability to identify anatomic
      structures prone to injury.

PMID- 28589244
TI  - Does spinal excitability scale to the difficulty of the dual-task?
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined whether spinal excitability, as measured by the
      soleus Hoffmann reflex (H-reflex), is scaled to the difficulty level of the dual
      task being performed. METHODS: Twenty-two participants completed a combination of
      three balance task and three secondary cognitive (visuo-motor) task difficulty
      levels for a total of nine dual-task conditions. An additional eight participants
      were tested while performing the same three balance task difficulty levels on its
      own (i.e., single-tasking). The balance task required participants to maintain
      their balance on a fixed or rotating stabilometer while the visuo-motor task
      required participants to respond to moving targets presented on a monitor.
      Throughout each single- and dual-task trial, H-reflexes were elicited from the
      soleus. RESULTS: Although dual-task performance, as quantified by visuo-motor
      task accuracy as well as the root mean square of the stabilometer position and
      velocity, decreased by 10-34% with increasing dual-task difficulty (p < 0.05), no
      changes in the soleus H-reflex amplitude were observed between dual-task
      conditions (p = 0.483-0.758). This contrasts to when participants performed the
      balance task as a single-task, where the H-reflex amplitude decreased by ~25%
      from the easy to the hard balance task difficulty level (p = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS:
      In contrast to the commonly reported finding of a reduced soleus H-reflex
      amplitude when individuals perform a less posturally stable task by itself, the
      results indicate that spinal excitability is not modulated as a function of dual
      task difficulty. It is possible that when an individual's attentional resource
      capacity is exceeded during dual-tasking, they become ineffective in regulating
      spinal excitability for balance control.

PMID- 28589245
TI  - Quitting Mental Health Services among Racial and Ethnic Groups of Americans with
      Depression.
AB  - Research on racial/ethnic differences in quitting mental health services has yet
      to examine the multiple forms of services offered and reasons why racial/ethnic
      groups quit. Data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES)
      examined whether race/ethnicity was related to quitting nine types of mental
      health services within a multivariate framework, and whether any racial/ethnic
      differences emerged among 16 assessed reasons for quitting mental health services
      (N = 437). Odds of quitting mental health services provided by social workers,
      non-medical health professionals, counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists
      varied significantly by race/ethnicity. The most common reasons for quitting
      services included individuals wanting to handle the problem on their own, getting
      better, or not needing help anymore. The increased likelihood of quitting
      services represents an underexplored area for mental health service disparities
      and calls for improved efforts to retain racial and ethnic minorities in the
      mental health system.

PMID- 28589246
TI  - Insights into the genetic relationships among plants of Beta section Beta using
      SNP markers.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Using a much higher number of SNP markers and larger sample sizes
      than all the previous studies, we characterized the genetic relationships among
      wild and cultivated plants of section Beta. We analyzed the genetic variation of
      Beta section Beta, which includes wild taxa (Beta macrocarpa, B. patula, B.
      vulgaris subsp. adanensis and B. vulgaris subsp. maritima) and cultivars (fodder
      beet, sugar beet, garden beet, leaf beet, and swiss chards), using 9724 single
      nucleotide polymorphism markers. The analyses conducted at the individual level
      without a priori groups confirmed the strong differentiation of B. macrocarpa and
      B. vulgaris subsp. adanensis from the other taxa. B. vulgaris subsp. maritima
      showed a complex genetic structure partly following a geographical pattern, which
      confounded the differences between this taxon and the cultivated varieties.
      Cultivated varieties were structured into three main groups: garden beets, fodder
      and sugar beets, and leaf beets and swiss chards. The genetic structure described
      here will be helpful to correctly estimate linkage disequilibrium and to test for
      statistical associations between genetic markers and environmental variables.

PMID- 28589247
TI  - Challenges in Laboratory Detection of Fungal Pathogens in the Airways of Cystic
      Fibrosis Patients.
AB  - Study of the clinical significance of fungal colonization/infection in the
      airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, especially by filamentous fungi, is
      challenged by the absence of standardized methodology for the detection and
      identification of an ever-broadening range of fungal pathogens. Culture-based
      methods remain the cornerstone diagnostic approaches, but current methods used in
      many clinical laboratories are insensitive and unstandardized, rendering
      comparative studies unfeasible. Guidelines for standardized processing of
      respiratory specimens and for their culture are urgently needed and should
      include recommendations for specific processing procedures, inoculum density,
      culture media, incubation temperature and duration of culture. Molecular
      techniques to detect fungi directly from clinical specimens include panfungal PCR
      assays, multiplex or pathogen-directed assays, real-time PCR, isothermal methods
      and probe-based assays. In general, these are used to complement culture. Fungal
      identification by DNA sequencing methods is often required to identify cultured
      isolates, but matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry is increasingly used as an alternative to DNA sequencing. Genotyping
      of isolates is undertaken to investigate relatedness between isolates, to
      pinpoint the infection source and to study the population structure. Methods
      range from PCR fingerprinting and amplified fragment length polymorphism
      analysis, to short tandem repeat typing, multilocus sequencing typing (MLST) and
      whole genome sequencing (WGS). MLST is the current preferred method, whilst WGS
      offers best case resolution but currently is understudied.

PMID- 28589249
TI  - Phenylpropanoid composition in fig (Ficus carica L.) leaves.
AB  - The leaves of fig (Ficus carica L.) have been used for traditional and Chinese
      medicine. We determined the composition of phenylpropanoids (polyphenols and
      furanocoumarins) as a functional agent in the leaves of 37 cultivars of fig. The
      most abundant polyphenol was caffeoylmalic acid (12.0-26.6 mg/g dry weight),
      followed by rutin (4.7-14.6 mg/g dry weight) and isoschaftoside (2.5-6.4 mg/g dry
      weight). Psoralen (3.8-23.0 mg/g dry weight) was dominant in the furanocoumarins.
      In molar amounts, psoralic acid glucoside (PAG), a precursor of psoralen, was
      equivalent to psoralen. Furanocoumarins and PAG were not detected in the leaves
      of only one cultivar, Grise de Tarascon. Fig leaves are potentially an excellent
      source of polyphenols such as caffeoylmalic acid and rutin. From the result of
      cluster analysis, some cultivars that contained large amount of polyphenols, and
      a small amount (e.g., Grise de Saint Jean) or no (Grise de Tarascon)
      furanocoumarins, were found. These cultivars are considered suitable for
      functional foods or medicinal products.

PMID- 28589250
TI  - Histopathological and Bacteriological Analysis of Thrombus Material Extracted
      During Mechanical Thrombectomy in Acute Stroke Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Management of stroke secondary to septic emboli (SE) remains
      challenging, due to both the lack of specific recommendations and the gravity of
      the underlying pathology.The aim of this study is to describe the presence of SE
      in a series of mechanical thrombectomies (MT), analyzing technical complexity and
      outcomes with respect to the patients by means of histological analysis and
      microbiological study of the clot. METHODS: All the retrieved clots were studied
      under an established protocol, including histopathological and bacteriological
      study with hematoxylin-eosin, Gram and Gomori trichrome staining.Technical
      complexity in SE with respect to the series was evaluated by analyzing time of
      the procedures, number of passes and use of intracranial definitive stents.
      RESULTS: Over a 24-month period, bacteria were detected in the retrieved clot of
      four out of 65 patients (incidence 6.2%). Two cases were eventually diagnosed
      with infective endocarditis, while the remaining two were diagnosed with urinary
      tract infection and respiratory septicemia, respectively. Three of the four
      patients (75%) required an intracranial definitive stent in order to achieve
      successful recanalization.These procedures were significantly longer (137.7 vs.
      59.8 min, p < 0.001), needed a higher number of passes (5.8 vs. 2.2, p < 0.001),
      and delivery of an intracranial stent more frequently (75% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.008),
      with respect to the rest of the series. CONCLUSIONS: In our series, systematic
      histopathological and bacteriological study of the MT samples allowed a higher
      proportion of SE diagnosis in comparison with previous reports.

PMID- 28589248
TI  - Quercetin and tin protoporphyrin attenuate hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury:
      role of HO-1.
AB  - Ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury occurs in many clinical situations such as organ
      transplantation and hepatectomies resulting in oxidative stress and immune
      activation. Heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) is the rate-limiting step in the heme
      degradation pathway and has a critical cytoprotective role. Induction of HO-1
      improves liver I/R injury. Quercetin, a plant pigment (flavonoid), is an
      antioxidant and HO-1 inducer. Tin protoporphyrin (SnPP) is a HO-1 inhibitor. This
      study was designed to investigate the protective effect of quercetin in hepatic
      I/R injury and the role of HO-1. Wister rats were randomly divided into four
      groups (sham, I/R, quercetin, and SnPP). Liver ischemia was induced for 45 min
      then reperfusion was allowed for 1 h. Quercetin and surprisingly SnPP ameliorate
      the deleterious effect of I/R by reducing the oxidative stress and hepatocyte
      degeneration. Both agents decreased the elevated inflammatory cytokines and
      improved the inhibition of the antiapoptotic marker, Bcl2. They induced HO-1
      content and expression. Quercetin has better cytoprotective effect than SnPP.
      These findings suggest that quercetin has a hepatoprotective effect against I/R
      injury via HO-1 induction and unexpectedly, SnPP showed the similar effect.
      Quercetin has more prominent protective effect than SnPP because of its superior
      ability to induce HO-1.

PMID- 28589251
TI  - A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of sleep duration and the
      occurrence of cognitive disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous researches have shown inconsistent findings on the relationship
      between sleep duration and cognitive disorders (including cognitive decline,
      dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and cognitive impairment). Furthermore, the
      possible dose-response association of sleep duration and cognitive disorders is
      still not clear. METHODS: Two databases (PubMed and Embase) were searched for
      relevant studies from inception to May 4, 2016. We used the generic inverse
      variance method to combine the outcomes with a random-effects model for the
      association between sleep duration (the shortest or longest vs. middle category)
      and cognitive disorders. Additionally, we used the generalized least-squares
      trend estimation model to estimate the potential dose-response association.
      RESULTS: Finally, nine eligible cohort studies involving 22,187 participants were
      included in the present systematic review and meta-analysis. Compared with the
      middle category, both short and long sleep duration were accompanied by a
      significantly higher incident risk of cognitive disorders, and the relative risks
      (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.34 (1.15, 1.56) and 1.21 (1.06,
      1.39), respectively. Moreover, an approximately "U-shaped" dose-response
      relationship was observed. Stratified analyses showed that the association
      between short sleep duration and cognitive disorders was more robust in the
      subgroup of the measurement of sleep duration based on self-report. CONCLUSIONS:
      The lowest incident risk of cognitive disorders was found at the sleep duration
      of 7-8 h per day. The present study includes a small number of studies, and the
      study participants mostly consist of Caucasian population. In the future,
      researches are also warranted to confirm the association in different groups of
      people.

PMID- 28589252
TI  - Manifestations of HIV stigma and their impact on retention in care for people
      transitioning from prisons to communities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While most people living with HIV who are incarcerated in United
      States receive appropriate HIV care while they are in prison, interruptions in
      antiretroviral therapy and virologic failure are extremely common after they are
      released. The purpose of this study was to describe whether and how HIV stigma
      influences continuity of care for people living with HIV while they transition
      from prison to community settings. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured,
      telephone-based interviews with 32 adults who received HIV care while residing in
      a Wisconsin state prison, followed by a second interview 6 months after they
      returned to their home community. Interview transcripts were analyzed by an
      interdisciplinary research team using conventional content analysis. We
      identified themes based on commonly-reported experiences that were characterized
      as internalized stigma, perceived stigma, vicarious stigma, or enacted stigma.
      RESULTS: All four forms of HIV stigma appeared to negatively influence
      participants' engagement in community-based HIV care. Mechanisms described by
      participants included care avoidance due to concerns about HIV status disclosure
      and symptoms of depression and anxiety caused by internalized stigma. Supportive
      social relationships with clinic staff, professional case managers and supportive
      peers appeared to mitigate the impact of HIV stigma by increasing motivation for
      treatment adherence. CONCLUSIONS: HIV stigma is manifest in several different
      forms by people living with HIV who were recently incarcerated, and are perceived
      by patients to negatively influence their desire and ability to engage in HIV
      care. By being cognizant of the pervasive influence of HIV stigma on the lives of
      criminal justice involved adults, HIV care providers and clinical support staff
      can ameliorate important barriers to optimal HIV care for a vulnerable group of
      patients.

PMID- 28589253
TI  - Early PET imaging with [68]Ga-PSMA-11 increases the detection rate of local
      recurrence in prostate cancer patients with biochemical recurrence.
AB  - PURPOSE: PET/CT using 68Ga-labelled prostate-specific membrane antigen PSMA-11
      (HBEDD-CC) has emerged as a promising imaging method in the diagnostic evaluation
      of prostate cancer (PC) patients with biochemical recurrence. However, assessment
      of local recurrence (LR) may be limited by intense physiologic tracer
      accumulation in the urinary bladder on whole-body scans, normally conducted 60
      min post-tracer injection (p.i.). It could be shown on early dynamic imaging
      studies that 68Ga-PSMA-11 uptake in PC lesions occurs earlier than tracer
      accumulation in the urinary bladder. This study aims to investigate whether early
      static PET acquisition increases detection rate of local recurrence on 68Ga-PSMA
      11 PET/CT in comparison to PET imaging 60 min p.i.. METHODS: 203 consecutive PC
      patients with biochemical failure referred to 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT were analysed
      retrospectively (median prostate specific antigen (PSA) value: 1.44 ng/ml). In
      addition to whole-body PET/CT scans 60 min p.i., early static imaging of the
      pelvis was performed, starting at a median time of 283 s p.i. (range: 243-491 s).
      Assessment was based on visual analysis and calculation of maximum standardized
      uptake value (SUVmax) of pathologic lesions present in the pelvic area found on
      early PET imaging and on 60 min-PET scans. RESULTS: 26 patients (12.8%) were
      judged positive for LR on PET scans 60 min p.i. (median SUVmax: 10.8; range: 4.7
      40.9), whereas 50 patients (24.6%) revealed a lesion suggestive of LR on early
      PET imaging (median SUVmax: 5.9; range: 2.9-17.6), resulting in a significant
      rise in detection rate (p < 0.001). Equivocal findings on PET scans 60 min p.i.
      decreased significantly with the help of early imaging (15.8% vs. 4.5% of
      patients; p < 0.001). Tracer activity in the urinary bladder with a median SUVmax
      of 8.2 was present in 63 patients on early PET scans (31.0%). However,
      acquisition starting time of early PET scans differed significantly in the
      patient groups with and without urinary bladder activity (median starting time of
      321 vs. 275 s p.i.; range: 281-491 vs. 243-311 s p.i.; p < 0.001). Median SUVmax
      value of lesions suggestive of LR on early images was significantly higher in
      comparison to gluteal muscle, inguinal vessels and seminal vesicle/anastomosis
      (median SUVmax: 5.9 vs. 1.9, 4.0 and 2.4, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Performance
      of early imaging in 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in addition to whole-body scans 60 min
      p.i. increases the detection rate of local recurrence in PC patients with
      biochemical recurrence. Acquisition of early PET images should be started as
      early as 5 min p.i. in order to avoid disturbing tracer activity in the urinary
      bladder occuring at a later time point.

PMID- 28589254
TI  - Characterisation of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours in
      neurofibromatosis-1 using heterogeneity analysis of 18F-FDG PET.
AB  - PURPOSE: Measurement of heterogeneity in 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG)
      positron emission tomography (PET) images is reported to improve tumour
      phenotyping and response assessment in a number of cancers. We aimed to determine
      whether measurements of 18F-FDG heterogeneity could improve differentiation of
      benign symptomatic neurofibromas from malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours
      (MPNSTs). METHODS: 18F-FDG PET data from a cohort of 54 patients (24 female, 30
      male, mean age 35.1 years) with neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1), and clinically
      suspected malignant transformation of neurofibromas into MPNSTs, were included.
      Scans were performed to a standard clinical protocol at 1.5 and 4 h post
      injection. Six first-order [including three standardised uptake value (SUV)
      parameters], four second-order (derived from grey-level co-occurrence matrices)
      and four high-order (derived from neighbourhood grey-tone difference matrices)
      statistical features were calculated from tumour volumes of interest. Each
      patient had histological verification or at least 5 years clinical follow-up as
      the reference standard with regards to the characterisation of tumours as benign
      (n = 30) or malignant (n = 24). RESULTS: There was a significant difference
      between benign and malignant tumours for all six first-order parameters (at 1.5
      and 4 h; p < 0.0001), for second-order entropy (only at 4 h) and for all high
      order features (at 1.5 h and 4 h, except contrast at 4 h; p < 0.0001-0.047).
      Similarly, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves was high
      (0.669-0.997, p < 0.05) for the same features as well as 1.5-h second-order
      entropy. No first-, second- or high-order feature performed better than maximum
      SUV (SUVmax) at differentiating benign from malignant tumours. CONCLUSIONS: 18F
      FDG uptake in MPNSTs is higher than benign symptomatic neurofibromas, as defined
      by SUV parameters, and more heterogeneous, as defined by first- and high-order
      heterogeneity parameters. However, heterogeneity analysis does not improve on
      SUVmax discriminative performance.

PMID- 28589255
TI  - Potential anti-cholinesterase and beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving
      enzyme 1 inhibitory activities of cornuside and gallotannins from Cornus
      officinalis fruits.
AB  - Cholinesterase (ChE) and beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1
      (BACE1) inhibitors are promising agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease
      (AD). In the present study, we examined the inhibitory activity of seven
      compounds isolated from the fruits of Cornus officinalis, cornuside, polymeric
      proanthocyanidins, 1,2,3-tri-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose, 1,2,3,6-tetra-O-galloyl
      beta-D-glucose, tellimagrandin I, tellimagrandin II, and isoterchebin, against
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and BACE1. All of the
      compounds displayed concentration-dependent in vitro inhibitory activity toward
      the ChEs and BACE1. Among them, tellimagrandin II exhibited the best inhibitory
      activity toward ChEs, whereas the best BACE1 inhibitor was 1,2,3,6-tetra-O
      galloyl-beta-D-glucose. Isoterchebin and polymeric proanthocyanidins were also
      significant ChE inhibitors. The kinetic and docking studies demonstrated that all
      compounds interacted with both the catalytic active sites and the peripheral
      anionic sites of the ChEs and BACE1. Tellimagrandin II, isoterchebin, and the
      polymeric proanthocyanidins exhibited concentration-dependent inhibition of
      peroxynitrite-mediated protein tyrosine nitration. In conclusion, we identified
      significant ChE and BACE1 inhibitors from Corni Fructus that could have value as
      new multi-targeted compounds for anti-AD agents.

PMID- 28589256
TI  - Treatment of congenital pulmonary airway malformations: a systematic review from
      the APSA outcomes and evidence based practice committee.
AB  - PURPOSE: Variation in management characterizes treatment of infants with a
      congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM). This review addresses six
      clinically applicable questions using available evidence to provide
      recommendations for the treatment of these patients. METHODS: Questions regarding
      the management of a pediatric patient with a CPAM were generated. English
      language articles published between 1960 and 2014 were compiled after searching
      Medline and OvidSP. The articles were divided by subject area and by the question
      asked, then reviewed and included if they specifically addressed the proposed
      question. RESULTS: 1040 articles were identified on initial search. After
      screening abstracts per eligibility criteria, 130 articles were used to answer
      the proposed questions. Based on the available literature, resection of an
      asymptomatic CPAM is controversial, and when performed is usually completed
      within the first six months of life. Lobectomy remains the standard resection
      method for CPAM, and can be performed thoracoscopically or via thoracotomy. There
      is no consensus regarding a monitoring protocol for observing asymptomatic
      lesions, although at least one chest computerized tomogram (CT) should be
      performed postnatally for lesion characterization. An antenatally identified CPAM
      can be evaluated with MRI if fetal intervention is being considered, but is not
      required for the fetus with a lesion not at risk for hydrops. Prenatal
      consultation should be offered for infants with CPAM and encouraged for those
      infants in whom characteristics indicate risk of hydrops. CONCLUSIONS: Very few
      articles provided definitive recommendations for care of the patient with a CPAM
      and none reported Level I or II evidence. Based on available information, CPAMs
      are usually resected early in life if at all. A prenatally diagnosed congenital
      lung lesion should be evaluated postnatally with CT, and prenatal counseling
      should be undertaken in patients at risk for hydrops.

PMID- 28589257
TI  - Traumatic brain injury causes long-term behavioral changes related to region
      specific increases of cerebral blood flow.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability and death and
      survivors often suffer from long-lasting motor impairment, cognitive deficits,
      anxiety disorders and epilepsy. Few experimental studies have investigated long
      term sequelae after TBI and relations between behavioral changes and neural
      activity patterns remain elusive. We examined these issues in a murine model of
      TBI combining histology, behavioral analyses and single-photon emission computed
      tomography (SPECT) imaging of regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) as a proxy for
      neural activity. Adult C57Bl/6N mice were subjected to unilateral cortical impact
      injury and investigated at early (15-57 days after lesion, dal) and late (184-225
      dal) post-traumatic time points. TBI caused pronounced tissue loss of the
      parietal cortex and subcortical structures and enduring neurological deficits.
      Marked perilesional astro- and microgliosis was found at 57 dal and declined at
      225 dal. Motor and gait pattern deficits occurred at early time points after TBI
      and improved over the time. In contrast, impaired performance in the Morris water
      maze test and decreased anxiety-like behavior persisted together with an
      increased susceptibility to pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures suggesting
      alterations in neural activity patterns. Accordingly, SPECT imaging of CBF
      indicated asymmetric hemispheric baseline neural activity patterns. In the
      ipsilateral hemisphere, increased baseline neural activity was found in the
      amygdala. In the contralateral hemisphere, homotopic to the structural brain
      damage, the hippocampus and distinct cortex regions displayed increased baseline
      neural activity. Thus, regionally elevated CBF along with behavioral alterations
      indicate that increased neural activity is critically involved in the long
      lasting consequences of TBI.

PMID- 28589259
TI  - Molecular identification of victim species and its sex from the ash: a case of
      burning alive leopard (Panthera pardus).
AB  - In a case of negative human-leopard (Panthera pardus) interaction, an animal was
      burnt alive in South Rajasthan, India. We identified the species and sex of the
      victim animal from the ash using forensic DNA analysis. We recovered three
      objects (half burnt clot, stone, and shrub twig) from the ash having suspected
      blood stains. We extracted DNA from these items and amplified a partial fragment
      of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b and 12S RNA genes. The sequence generated from
      these amplicons suggested that the victim animal was a leopard. Furthermore,
      amplification of a fragment of SRY (224 bp) and ZFX/Y (442 bp) genes indicated
      that the blood clot was of a male leopard. Although attempts have been made to
      remove every possible evidence from the crime scene, the species and sex of the
      victim animal were determined from the challenging and invisible blood stains
      wrapped in the ash.

PMID- 28589258
TI  - A latent measure explains substantial variance in white matter microstructure
      across the newborn human brain.
AB  - A latent measure of white matter microstructure (g WM) provides a neural basis
      for information processing speed and intelligence in adults, but the temporal
      emergence of g WM during human development is unknown. We provide evidence that
      substantial variance in white matter microstructure is shared across a range of
      major tracts in the newborn brain. Based on diffusion MRI scans from 145 neonates
      [gestational age (GA) at birth range 23+2-41+5 weeks], the microstructural
      properties of eight major white matter tracts were calculated using probabilistic
      neighborhood tractography. Principal component analyses (PCAs) were carried out
      on the correlations between the eight tracts, separately for four tract-averaged
      water diffusion parameters: fractional anisotropy, and mean, radial and axial
      diffusivities. For all four parameters, PCAs revealed a single latent variable
      that explained around half of the variance across all eight tracts, and all
      tracts showed positive loadings. We considered the impact of early environment on
      general microstructural properties, by comparing term-born infants with preterm
      infants at term equivalent age. We found significant associations between GA at
      birth and the latent measure for each water diffusion measure; this effect was
      most apparent in projection and commissural fibers. These data show that a latent
      measure of white matter microstructure is present in very early life, well before
      myelination is widespread. Early exposure to extra-uterine life is associated
      with altered general properties of white matter microstructure, which could
      explain the high prevalence of cognitive impairment experienced by children born
      preterm.

PMID- 28589260
TI  - Allele frequencies of 17 autosomal STR loci in the Va ethnic minority from Yunnan
      Province, Southwest China.
AB  - Allele frequencies and forensic parameters for 17 autosomal short tandem repeat
      (STR) loci were investigated from 1542 individuals of Va ethnic minority in
      Yunnan Province in the southwest of China. Also, genetic distances between Va and
      13 published populations were compared, and a neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic
      tree was developed and visualized using averaged F ST matrix. Results demonstrate
      that these loci are highly polymorphic in the Va population and can be applied in
      forensic, population genetic, and linguistic fields.

PMID- 28589261
TI  - Nonmotor Symptoms in Patients with Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 10.
AB  - Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) have been described in several neurodegenerative diseases
      but have not been systematically evaluated in spinocerebellar ataxia type 10
      (SCA10). The objective of the study is to compare the frequency of NMS in
      patients with SCA10, Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), and healthy controls. Twenty
      eight SCA10, 28 MJD, and 28 healthy subjects were prospectively assessed using
      validated screening tools for chronic pain, autonomic symptoms, fatigue, sleep
      disturbances, psychiatric disorders, and cognitive function. Chronic pain was
      present with similar prevalence among SCA10 patients and healthy controls but was
      more frequent in MJD. Similarly, autonomic symptoms were found in SCA10 in the
      same proportion of healthy individuals, while the MJD group had higher
      frequencies. Restless legs syndrome and REM sleep behavior disorder were uncommon
      in SCA10. The mean scores of excessive daytime sleepiness were worse in the SCA10
      group. Scores of fatigue were higher in the SCA10 sample compared to healthy
      individuals, but better than in the MJD. Psychiatric disorders were generally
      more prevalent in both spinocerebellar ataxias than among healthy controls. The
      cognitive performance of healthy controls was better compared with SCA10 patients
      and MJD, which showed the worst scores. Although NMS were present among SCA10
      patients in a higher proportion compared to healthy controls, they were more
      frequent and severe in MJD. In spite of these comparisons, we were able to
      identify NMS with significant functional impact in patients with SCA10,
      indicating the need for their systematic screening aiming at optimal treatment
      and improvement in quality of life.

PMID- 28589262
TI  - The surgical outcomes of lung cancer combined with interstitial pneumonia: a
      single-institution report.
AB  - PURPOSE: Several studies have reported that an acute exacerbation (AE) of
      idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) can occur after lung resection in
      patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, the perioperative
      management strategy is controversial. METHODS: The data of lung cancer patients
      at Nagasaki University Hospital from June 1994 to October 2013 were
      retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Among all 1701 NSCLC patients who underwent
      lung resection, 59 (3.5%) had IIP. Five patients (8.5%) had an AE of IIP
      following lung resection, three (60%) of whom died in hospital. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were performed to identify possible risk factors for AE.
      The univariate analyses identified LDH and the volume of blood loss as risk
      factors. The multivariate analysis identified no factors. The treatment for an AE
      included steroid pulse therapy and neutrophil elastase inhibitor therapy. Direct
      hemoperfusion with polymyxin B immobilized the fiber column and immunosuppressant
      therapy was attempted in some of the patients who did not respond to these
      treatments. CONCLUSION: Patients with lung cancer and IIP have a higher risk of
      chest surgery and a poor prognosis. Very careful surgery and perioperative
      management are needed, because AEs are often difficult to AE predict.

PMID- 28589264
TI  - Habitual nicotine-seeking in rats following limited training.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: A potential reason that cigarette smoking can persist
      despite multiple quit attempts is that repeated voluntary nicotine intake may
      facilitate a transition from goal-directed to habitual behavioral control.
      Although accelerated habit formation for self-administered ethanol or cocaine has
      been previously demonstrated, this phenomenon has not been extensively studied
      with nicotine. We therefore examined the liability of nicotine self
      administration to become habitual, while also examining that of orally consumed
      saccharin as an experimental control. METHODS: Under fixed ratio 1 (FR-1)
      schedules, male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 8-11/group) lever-pressed for
      intravenous (IV) nicotine (30 MUg/kg/infusion) for 10 consecutive days, while
      also lever-pressing for saccharin solution (0.1% w/v, 0.19 mL/delivery) in
      separate operant sessions. In experiment 1, either nicotine or saccharin was
      devalued by pairing with the aversive agent lithium chloride (LiCl; 0.15 M, 14.1
      mL/kg) prior to extinction and reacquisition testing. In experiment 2, the
      contingency between lever pressing and delivery of either nicotine or saccharin
      was degraded in six sessions, followed by extinction testing. RESULTS: LiCl
      pairings selectively reduced responding for nicotine (-35% from control) and
      saccharin (-48%) in reacquisition testing, indicating that both rewards were
      effectively devalued. During extinction testing, saccharin-seeking responses were
      reduced by both manipulations (devaluation -30%, degradation -79%), suggesting
      that responding for saccharin was goal-directed. In contrast, nicotine-seeking
      responses were not significantly affected by either manipulation (devaluation 
      4%, degradation -21%), suggesting that responding for nicotine was habitually
      driven. CONCLUSIONS: Operant responding for IV nicotine may rapidly come under
      habitual control, potentially contributing to the tenacity of tobacco use.

PMID- 28589263
TI  - Assessment of tolerance to the effects of methamphetamine on daytime and
      nighttime activity evaluated with actigraphy in rhesus monkeys.
AB  - RATIONALE: Methamphetamine is one of the most largely consumed illicit drugs, and
      its use is associated with abuse liability and several adverse health effects,
      such as sleep impairment. Importantly, sleep quality can influence addiction
      treatment outcomes. Evidence suggests that tolerance can develop to the sleep
      disrupting effects of stimulant drugs. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study
      was to investigate the development of tolerance to the actigraphy-based sleep
      disrupting and stimulant effects of methamphetamine self-administration in rhesus
      monkeys. METHODS: Methamphetamine (0.03 mg/kg/inf, i.v.) self-administration was
      carried out following three different protocols: 14 consecutive days of self
      administration, 5 days/week for 3 weeks, with a 2-day interval between 5-day
      blocks of self-administration, and 3 days/week for 3 weeks, with a 4-day interval
      between 3-day blocks of self-administration. Daytime activity and activity-based
      sleep measures were evaluated with Actiwatch monitors a week before (baseline
      parameters) and throughout each protocol. RESULTS: Methamphetamine self
      administration markedly disrupted sleep-like measures and increased daytime
      activity. Tolerance developed to those effects with repeated methamphetamine
      intake exceeding five consecutive days. Inclusion of washout periods (2 or 4
      days) between blocks of methamphetamine self-administration attenuated the
      development of tolerance, with longer breaks from methamphetamine intake being
      more effective in maintaining the sleep-disrupting and stimulant effects of
      methamphetamine. CONCLUSIONS: Tolerance can develop to the stimulant and sleep
      disrupting effects of methamphetamine self-administration. Interruption of drug
      intake extends the effects of methamphetamine on sleep-like measures and daytime
      activity.

PMID- 28589266
TI  - Metal Nanoparticles in Ionic Liquids.
AB  - During the last years ionic liquids (ILs) were increasingly used and investigated
      as reaction media, hydrogen sources, catalysts, templating agents and stabilizers
      for the synthesis of (monometallic and bimetallic) metal nanoparticles (M-NPs).
      Especially ILs with 1,3-dialkyl-imidazolium cations featured prominently in the
      formation and stabilization of M-NPs. This chapter summarizes studies which
      focused on the interdependencies of the IL with the metal nanoparticle and tried
      to elucidate, for example, influences of the IL-cation, -anion and alkyl chain
      length. Qualitatively, the size of M-NPs was found to increase with the size of
      the IL-anion. The influence of the size of imidazolium-cation is less clear. The
      M-NP size was both found to increase and to decrease with increasing chain
      lengths of the 1,3-dialkyl-imidazolium cation. It is evident from such reports on
      cation and anion effects of ILs that the interaction between an IL and a
      (growing) metal nanoparticle is far from understood. Factors like IL-viscosity,
      hydrogen-bonding capability and the relative ratio of polar and non-polar domains
      of ILs may also influence the stability of nanoparticles in ionic liquids and an
      improved understanding of the IL-nanoparticle interaction would be needed for a
      more rational design of nanomaterials in ILs. Furthermore, thiol-, ether-,
      carboxylic acid-, amino- and hydroxyl-functionalized ILs add to the complexity by
      acting also as coordinating capping ligands. In addition imidazolium cations are
      precursors to N-heterocyclic carbenes, NHCs which form from imidazolium-based
      ionic liquids by in situ deprotonation at the acidic C2-H ring position as
      intermediate species during the nanoparticle seeding and growth process or as
      surface coordinating ligand for the stabilization of the metal nanoparticle.

PMID- 28589265
TI  - Effects of ketamine on the unconditioned and conditioned locomotor activity of
      preadolescent and adolescent rats: impact of age, sex, and drug dose.
AB  - RATIONALE: Ketamine is used by preadolescent and adolescent humans for licit and
      illicit purposes. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to determine the
      effects of acute and repeated ketamine treatment on the unconditioned behaviors
      and conditioned locomotor activity of preadolescent and adolescent rats. METHODS:
      To assess unconditioned behaviors, female and male rats were injected with
      ketamine (5-40 mg/kg), and distance traveled was measured on postnatal day (PD)
      21-25 or PD 41-45. To assess conditioned activity, male and female rats were
      injected with saline or ketamine in either a novel test chamber or the home cage
      on PD 21-24 or PD 41-44. One day later, rats were injected with saline and
      conditioned activity was assessed. RESULTS: Ketamine produced a dose-dependent
      increase in the locomotor activity of preadolescent and adolescent rats.
      Preadolescent rats did not exhibit sex differences, but ketamine-induced
      locomotor activity was substantially stronger in adolescent females than males.
      Repeated ketamine treatment neither caused a day-dependent increase in locomotor
      activity nor produced conditioned activity in preadolescent or adolescent rats.
      CONCLUSIONS: The activity-enhancing effects of ketamine are consistent with the
      actions of an indirect dopamine agonist, while the inability of ketamine to
      induce conditioned activity is unlike what is observed after repeated cocaine or
      amphetamine treatment. This dichotomy could be due to ketamine's ability to both
      enhance DA neurotransmission and antagonize N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)
      receptors. Additional research will be necessary to parse out the relative
      contributions of DA and NMDA system functioning when assessing the behavioral
      effects of ketamine during early ontogeny.

PMID- 28589267
TI  - Associations Between Parental BMI and the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity
      Environment in a Community Sample.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parental BMI
      and the family environment and determine if differences exist in child diet and
      physical activity related parenting behaviors by parental BMI in a community
      sample of families recruited through elementary schools in a local school
      district. We found an association between parental BMI category and family
      nutrition and physical activity (FNPA) score. Families with an underweight or
      normal weight parent had a larger proportion (64.3%) of high (indicating a
      healthier family environment) FNPA scores and families with an overweight or
      obese parent had a smaller proportion (45.2%) of high FNPA scores (chi 2 = 5.247,
      P = 0.022). Families with a parent who was overweight or obese had 2.18 times the
      odds (95% CI 1.11-4.27) of being in the low FNPA ("less healthy" environment)
      group. Further, underweight/normal weight parents reported higher levels of
      monitoring of child diet (Z = -3.652, P < 0.0001), higher levels of parental
      monitoring of child physical activity (Z = -3.471, p < 0.001), and higher levels
      of parental limit setting related to child sedentary activities compared to
      overweight/obese parents (Z = -2.443, P = 0.01). Parent BMI and parenting
      behaviors are known to have a major impact on childhood obesity. In this study,
      lower parent BMI and authoritative parenting behaviors were associated with a
      less obesogenic home environment and a positive parenting style related to child
      eating and physical activity behaviors.

PMID- 28589268
TI  - E-Cigarette Users' Attitudes on the Banning of Sales of Nicotine E-Liquid, Its
      Implication on E-Cigarette Use Behaviours and Alternative Sources of Nicotine E
      Liquid.
AB  - The banning of sales of nicotine e-liquid in e-cigarette shops has been
      implemented in several states in Malaysia. The distribution of nicotine e-liquid
      can only be allowed by licensed pharmacies or registered medical practitioners.
      This study aimed to evaluate e-cigarette users' responses to the control policy
      in a cross-sectional survey of 851 e-cigarette users by utilizing a self-report
      questionnaire that assessed (1) attitudes on regulation policy of e-cigarette
      banning; (2) e-cigarette use behaviors; and (3) sources of e-liquid after the
      regulation policy has been implemented. Participants from the state of Selangor
      where the banning policy was implemented were surveyed. The majority (95.8%)
      opposed the banning and believed e-cigarettes should be sold to anyone aged 18
      years or above as with tobacco cigarettes, only a minority believed that nicotine
      e-liquid should only be available for sale over the counter in pharmacy stores
      (14.6%) and in clinics with a doctor's prescription (11.8%). The majority (44.2%)
      reported that they would continue their e-cigarette use as before the banning
      policy, while 20% plan to completely stop e-cigarette usage without replacing it
      with any alternatives. The vast majority (87.9%) was still able to obtained
      nicotine e-liquid from e-cigarette shops in spite of the ban and the second most
      common source was from online purchase (63.1%). The sales of nicotine e-liquid
      from black-market were evidenced as many reported obtaining zero nicotine e
      liquid from the black market (54.4%). Self- or home-made (30.8%) nicotine e
      liquid was also reported. Majority of respondents that self-made e-liquid were
      from the average monthly income group (below MYR3000). Obtaining nicotine from
      the pharmacy was least preferred (21.4%). Provision of professional advice to
      nicotine e-liquid users along with the ban may lessen the likelihood of users
      switching to tobacco cigarettes or other nicotine alternatives. Banning of sales
      of nicotine e-liquid in e-cigarette shops resulted in a boom in the black market
      supplying nicotine e-liquid and, self- or home-made nicotine e-liquid. Enforcing
      regulations and monitoring black market sales is warranted. Efforts to educate e
      cigarette users of the danger of sourcing nicotine e-liquid from the black market
      and self- or home-made nicotine e-liquid are essential.

PMID- 28589269
TI  - Improving STD Screening Rates on a University Campus.
AB  - Gonorrhea and chlamydia infections have a high incidence among young adults. To
      increase screening rates among individuals aged 25 years of age and younger on a
      university campus, this quality improvement project was implemented to improve
      providers' knowledge of CDC guidelines through education. Education was provided
      to providers and staff members at a health clinic on a private residential
      university campus through informational sessions to increase knowledge of
      guideline-directed screening for gonorrhea and chlamydia. This education was
      coupled with a multifaceted approach for provider-reminder interventions:
      flagging patients in the EHR system that fall within the age group (25 years of
      age and younger) to generate an alert, patients completing a questionnaire while
      in the exam room, and identification of a project champion. Screening rates were
      evaluated during pre- and post-implementation phases to determine if a change in
      practice occurred among providers. Post-intervention revealed the average number
      of patients screened for gonorrhea and chlamydia was 65.85% (349/530). This
      change represented a marked increase from pre-intervention screening of 2%
      (11/405). The testing rate increased during the post-intervention phase to 17.86%
      (65/364), up from 7.90% (32/405) pre-implementation. Provider education on
      guideline-directed screening for gonorrhea and chlamydia increased screening
      among providers at a university health clinic. This intervention, combined with
      provider-reminder interventions, increased screening of patients, leading to an
      increased testing rate for gonorrhea and chlamydia.

PMID- 28589270
TI  - Community Health Workers Promote Civic Engagement and Organizational Capacity to
      Impact Policy.
AB  - Community health workers (CHW) have historically served to link structurally
      vulnerable populations to broad support systems. Emerging evidence suggests that
      CHWs engage in various forms of advocacy to promote policy and systems change. We
      assessed the impact of CHW community advocacy on community change, defined as
      civic engagement, organizational capacity and policy and systems change. Data are
      drawn from the 2014 National Community Health Worker Advocacy Survey (N = 1776)
      aimed to identify the state of the CHW profession, and their impact on health
      disparities through community advocacy and policy engagement. Our primary
      analysis used multiple linear regression to assess the association between CHW
      advocacy and community change. As predicted, there was a significant, positive
      association between CHW advocacy and change in community conditions.
      Additionally, both adjusted and sensitivity models had similar standardized beta
      estimates for advocacy, and adjusted R 2 statistics. CHW advocacy predicts
      positive change in community conditions and further advances the CHW Community
      Advocacy Framework designed to support and monitor CHW community advocacy to
      reduce health disparities through advocacy and policy change.

PMID- 28589271
TI  - Surveillance of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables from Accra Metropolis
      markets, Ghana, 2010-2012: a case study in Sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - Monitoring of pesticide residues in food commodities of plant origin is part of
      the regular controls on food to safeguard consumer's health. This study reports
      for the first time in Ghana a 3-year (2010-2012) monitoring of pesticide
      contamination of fruits and vegetables and their health implications. A total of
      3483 samples were purchased in notable markets within Accra Metropolis and
      analysed for pesticide residues, employing the modified quick, easy, cheap,
      effective, rugged and safe analytical procedure. The results indicated that
      almost all the fruits and vegetables studied had residues above maximum residue
      limits (MRLs). The commodities with the greatest concentrations exceeding the
      European Union (EU) MRLs were long green beans (60.6%) and lettuce (57.1%) with
      watermelon (10%) and green pepper (8.6%) having the least. The relative
      occurrence of the pesticides was fenvalerate 11.3%, fenitrothion 5.6%, lambda
      cyhalothrin 3.6%, dimethoate 3.2%, permethrin 2.7% and deltamethrin 2.2%. These
      results will serve as a baseline on which annual or other long-term studies could
      be compared with, thus emphasizing the need for continuous monitoring programmes
      to regulate trends of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables to safeguard
      the consumers' health.

PMID- 28589273
TI  - Synoptic sampling and principal components analysis to identify sources of water
      and metals to an acid mine drainage stream.
AB  - Combining the synoptic mass balance approach with principal components analysis
      (PCA) can be an effective method for discretising the chemistry of inflows and
      source areas in watersheds where contamination is diffuse in nature and/or
      complicated by groundwater interactions. This paper presents a field-scale study
      in which synoptic sampling and PCA are employed in a mineralized watershed (Lion
      Creek, Colorado, USA) under low flow conditions to (i) quantify the impacts of
      mining activity on stream water quality; (ii) quantify the spatial pattern of
      constituent loading; and (iii) identify inflow sources most responsible for
      observed changes in stream chemistry and constituent loading. Several of the
      constituents investigated (Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) fail to meet chronic aquatic
      life standards along most of the study reach. The spatial pattern of constituent
      loading suggests four primary sources of contamination under low flow conditions.
      Three of these sources are associated with acidic (pH <3.1) seeps that enter
      along the left bank of Lion Creek. Investigation of inflow water (trace metal and
      major ion) chemistry using PCA suggests a hydraulic connection between many of
      the left bank inflows and mine water in the Minnesota Mine shaft located to the
      north-east of the river channel. In addition, water chemistry data during a
      rainfall-runoff event suggests the spatial pattern of constituent loading may be
      modified during rainfall due to dissolution of efflorescent salts or erosion of
      streamside tailings. These data point to the complexity of contaminant
      mobilisation processes and constituent loading in mining-affected watersheds but
      the combined synoptic sampling and PCA approach enables a conceptual model of
      contaminant dynamics to be developed to inform remediation.

PMID- 28589272
TI  - Heavy metals distribution and risk assessment in soil from an informal E-waste
      recycling site in Lagos State, Nigeria.
AB  - Informal E-waste recycling can pose a risk to human health and the environment
      which this study endeavours to evaluate. The distribution of a number of heavy
      metals in soil from an informal recycling site in the largest market for used and
      new electronics and electrical equipment in West Africa was investigated. The
      potential bioavailability of heavy metals, extent of contamination, potential
      risk due to the recycling activities and impact of external factors such as
      rainfall were also assessed. The concentrations of all the heavy metals tested
      were higher in the area where burning of the waste occurred than at the control
      site, suggesting an impact of the recycling activities on the soil. The order of
      total metal concentrations was Cu > Pb > Zn > Mn > Ni > Sb > Cr > Cd for both the
      dry and wet seasons. The total concentrations of Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn were all
      significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the dry season than in the wet season. The
      concentrations of Cu (329-7106 mg kg-1), Pb (115-9623 mg kg-1) and Zn (508-8178
      mg kg-1) were consistently higher than international soil guideline values. Using
      a sequential extraction method, the potential bioavailability of the heavy metals
      was indicated as Cd > Sb > Zn > Cu > Ni > Pb > Cr. When the risk was assessed
      using the Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI), Cu was found to contribute the
      most to the potential ecological risk and Cd gave rise to the greatest concern
      due to its high toxic-response factor within the study site. Similarly, utilising
      the Risk Assessment Code (RAC) suggested that Cd posed the most risk in this
      site. This research establishes a high level of contamination in the study site
      and underscores the importance of applying the appropriate chemical speciation in
      risk assessment.

PMID- 28589274
TI  - Green synthesis and characterization of gold and silver nanoparticles using
      Mussaenda glabrata leaf extract and their environmental applications to dye
      degradation.
AB  - Plant-derived nanomaterials opened a green approach in solving the current
      environment issues. Present study focused on rapid microwave-assisted synthesis
      and applications of gold and silver nanoparticles mediated by aqueous leaf
      extract of Mussaenda glabrata. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized
      by UV-vis, FT-IR, powder XRD, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX),
      transmission electron (TEM), and atomic force microscopic techniques (AFM). FCC
      crystal structure of both nanoparticles was confirmed by peaks corresponding to
      (111), (200), (220), and (311) planes in XRD spectra and bright circular spots in
      SAED pattern. IC50 values shown by gold and silver nanoparticles (44.1 +/- 0.82
      and 57.92 +/- 1.33 MUg/mL) reflected their high free radical scavenging
      potential. The synthesized gold and silver nanoparticles revealed their potency
      to inhibit pathogenic microorganisms Bacillus pumilus, Staphylococcus aureus,
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger, and Penicillium
      chrysogenum. Anthropogenic pollutants rhodamine B and methyl orange were
      effectively degraded from aquatic environment and waste water sewages of dye
      industries using the prepared nanocatalysts. The catalytic capacities of the
      synthesized nanoparticles were also exploited in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.
      Graphical abstract.

PMID- 28589276
TI  - Nitrate in drinking water and vegetables: intake and risk assessment in rural and
      urban areas of Nagpur and Bhandara districts of India.
AB  - The study focuses on the estimation of health risk from nitrate present in the
      drinking water and vegetables in Nagpur and Bhandara districts in the state of
      Maharashtra, India. Drinking water samples from 77 locations from the rural as
      well as urban areas and 22 varieties of vegetable were collected and analyzed for
      the presence of nitrate for a period of 1 year (two seasons). The daily intake of
      nitrate from these water and vegetable samples was then computed and compared
      with standard acceptable intake levels to assess the associated health risk. The
      mean nitrate concentration of 59 drinking water samples exceeded the Bureau of
      Indian Standards limit of 45 mg/L in drinking water. The rural and urban areas
      were found to have mean nitrate concentration in drinking water as 45.69 +/- 2.08
      and 22.53 +/- 1.97 mg/L, respectively. The estimated daily intake of drinking
      water samples from 55 study sites had nitrate concentration far below the safety
      margin indicating serious health risk. The sanitation survey conducted in 12
      households reported contaminated source with positive E. coli count in 20 samples
      as the major factor of health risk. The average nitrate concentration was maximum
      in beetroot (1349.38 mg/kg) followed by spinach (1288.75 mg/kg) and amaranthus
      (1007.64 mg/kg). Among the samples, four varieties of the vegetables exceeded the
      acceptable daily intake (ADI) with an assumption of 0.5 kg consumption of
      vegetables for an average of a 60-kg individual. Therefore, irrigation of these
      locally grown vegetables should be monitored periodically for nitrogen
      accumulation by the crop above the ADI limit. The application of nitrogenous
      fertilizers should also be minimized in the rural areas to help protect the
      nitrate contamination in groundwater sources.

PMID- 28589275
TI  - Visualization and quantification of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) in
      freshwater using an auto-imaging approach.
AB  - Most water sources are full of microscopic transparent exopolymer particles
      (TEP), which are currently regarded as a major initiator of biofilm formation.
      This study developed and applied an auto-imaging FlowCAM-based method for online
      observation and quantification of TEP in freshwater. Samples from reservoirs in
      Taiwan with a wide range of water quality were directly used to develop this
      methodology. Factors that potentially affect the measurement were tested. The
      results showed that characteristics of the particles measured instantaneously
      after staining samples with Alcian blue differed significantly from those
      measured at steady states, as a result of particle aggregation. Compared to
      traditional microscopic methods, this proposed method provides a simple, rapid,
      and less labor-intensive analysis with particle morphological conservation and a
      large number of particle attributes. By overcoming the limitations from the
      former, this technique would offer routine monitoring of these transparent
      particles from various freshwater sources and feed water in membrane filtration,
      hence facilitating the use of TEP as a critical parameter for biofouling
      investigation in water treatment. Application of the method for Taiwan reservoirs
      showed a wide variety of morphological forms of TEP and its abundance, up to
      25,000 ppm.

PMID- 28589277
TI  - An insight into salt stress tolerance mechanisms of Chenopodium album.
AB  - Salt stress is one of the most dramatic abiotic stresses that induce oxidative
      and osmotic stress simultaneously. Salt stress is known to be more effective in
      reducing growth and yield of glycophytes; however, halophytes are able to
      withstand salt stress. Nonetheless, variability exists among different halophytic
      plants species from different plant families. Chenopodium album belongs to
      Chenopodiacea family and is known as weed in many regions of world; however, it
      is a very interesting halophytic plant. Little research has conducted so far by
      considering C. album as model plant to study salt stress tolerance mechanisms.
      This article attempts to compile current literature in order to explain C. album
      salt stress tolerance mechanism and to highlight the knowledge gap relating to
      salt stress tolerance mechanism in C. album. Briefly, C. album has remarkable
      ability of seed dimorphism, sodium exclusion, and potassium retention. C. album
      further tolerates salt stress by increasing redox potential associated with high
      production of osmolytes and antioxidants.

PMID- 28589278
TI  - Hydrologic monitoring tools for freshwater municipal planning in the Arctic: the
      case of Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
AB  - Freshwater and the services it provides are vital to both natural ecosystems and
      human needs; however, extreme climates and their influence on freshwater
      availability can be challenging for municipal planners and engineers to manage
      these resources effectively. In Arctic Canada, financial and human capital
      limitations have left a legacy of freshwater systems that underserve current
      communities and may be inadequate in the near future under a warming climate,
      growing population, and increasing demand. We address this challenge to community
      water resource planning by applying several novel water supply forecasting
      methods to evaluate the Apex River as an alternative freshwater source for
      Iqaluit, Nunavut (Canada). Surveys of water isotope composition of the Apex River
      and tributaries indicated that rainfall is the main source of water
      replenishment. This information was utilized to calibrate a water resource
      assessment that considered climate forecasting scenarios and their influence on
      supply, and alternative scenarios for freshwater management to better adapt to a
      changing climate. We found that under current climate and demand conditions, the
      freshwater supply of Iqaluit would be in a perpetual state of drawdown by 2024.
      Analysis of current infrastructure proposals revealed significant deficiencies in
      the supply extensions proposed whereby the Apex replenishment pipeline would only
      provide a 2-year extension to current municipal supply. Our heuristic supply
      forecast methods allowed for several alternative supply strategies to be rapidly
      evaluated, which will aid the community planning process by specifically
      quantifying the service life of the city's current and future primary water
      supply.

PMID- 28589279
TI  - Development of a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of
      the invasive Mediterranean fanworm, Sabella spallanzanii, in environmental
      samples.
AB  - The Mediterranean fanworm, Sabella spallanzanii Gmelin 1791, was first detected
      in the Southern Hemisphere in the 1990s and is now abundant in many parts of
      southern Australia and in several locations around northern New Zealand. Once
      established, it can proliferate rapidly, reaching high densities with potential
      ecological and economic impacts. Early detection of new S. spallanzanii
      incursions is important to prevent its spread, guide eradication or control
      efforts and to increase knowledge on the species' dispersal pathways. In this
      study, we developed a TaqMan probe real-time polymerase chain reaction assay
      targeting a region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. The assay was
      validated in silico and in vitro using DNA from New Zealand and Australian
      Sabellidae with no cross-reactivity detected. The assay has a linear range of
      detection over seven orders of magnitude with a limit of detection reached at
      12.4 * 10-4 ng/MUL of DNA. We analysed 145 environmental (water, sediment and
      biofouling) samples and obtained positive detections only from spiked samples and
      those collected at a port where S. spallanzanii is known to be established. This
      assay has the potential to enhance current morphological and molecular-based
      methods, through its ability to rapidly and accurately identify S. spallanzanii
      in environmental samples.

PMID- 28589281
TI  - Preparation and characterization of glass hollow fiber membrane for water
      purification applications.
AB  - This work discusses the preparation and characterizations of glass hollow fiber
      membranes prepared using zeolite-5A as a starting material. Zeolite was formed
      into a hollow fiber configuration using the phase inversion technique. It was
      later sintered at high temperatures to burn off organic materials and change the
      zeolite into glass membrane. A preliminary study, that used thermogravimetric
      analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR),
      confirmed that zeolite used in this study changed to glass at temperatures above
      1000  degrees C. The glass hollow fiber membranes prepared using the phase
      inversion technique has three different microstructures, namely (i) sandwich-like
      structure that originates from inner layer, (ii) sandwich-like that originates
      from outer layer, and (iii) symmetric sponge like. These variations were
      influenced by zeolite weight loading and the flow rate of water used to form the
      lumen. The separation performances of the glass hollow fiber membrane were
      studied using the pure water permeability and the rejection test of bovine serum
      albumin (BSA). The glass hollow fiber membrane prepared from using 48 wt% zeolite
      loading and bore fluid with 9 mL min-1 flow rate has the highest BSA rejection of
      85% with the water permeability of 0.7 L m-2 h-1 bar-1. The results showed that
      the separation performance of glass hollow fiber membranes was in the
      ultrafiltration range, enabled the retention of solutes with molecular sizes
      larger than 67 kDa such as milk proteins, endotoxin pyrogen, virus, and colloidal
      silica.

PMID- 28589280
TI  - Remediation and cytotoxicity study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
      contaminated marine sediments using synthesized iron oxide-carbon composite.
AB  - The study developed a new and cost-effective method for the remediation of marine
      sediments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Iron oxide
      (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized as the active component, supported on
      carbon black (CB), to form a composite catalyst (Fe3O4-CB) by using a wet
      chemical method. The oxidation of 16 PAH contaminants present in marine sediments
      significantly activated sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8) to form sulfate free radicals
      (SO4-.); this was investigated in a slurry system. In addition, in vitro
      cytotoxic activity and oxidative stress studies were performed. The synthesized
      composite catalysts (Fe3O4-CB) were characterized using X-ray diffraction,
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a superconducting quantum interference
      device magnetometry, and environmental scanning electron microscopy. The
      efficiency of PAH removal was 39-63% for unactivated persulfate (PS) from an
      initial dose of 1.7 * 10-7-1.7 * 10-2 M. The removal of PAHs was evaluated using
      Fe3O4/PS, CB/PS, and Fe3O4/PS and found to be 75, 64, and 86%, respectively, at a
      temperature of 303 K, PS concentration of 1.7 * 10-5 M, and pH of 6.0. An MTT
      assay was used to assess the cytotoxicity of the composite catalyst at five
      concentrations (25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 MUg/mL) on human hepatoma carcinoma
      (HepG2) cells for 24 h. This revealed a dose-dependent decrease in cell
      viability. A dichlorofluorescein diacetate assay was performed to evaluate the
      generation of reactive oxygen species, which principally originated from the
      ferrous ions of the composite catalyst.

PMID- 28589282
TI  - A comparison between two full-scale MBR and CAS municipal wastewater treatment
      plants: techno-economic-environmental assessment.
AB  - A holistic assessment procedure has been used in this study for comparing
      conventional activated sludge (CAS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes for
      the treatment of municipal wastewater. Technical, social, administrative,
      economic and environmental impacts have been evaluated based on 1 year of
      operational data from three full-scale lines (one MBR and two CAS) working in
      parallel in a large municipal treatment plant. The comparative assessment
      evidences a slight advantage of the conventional process in the studied case,
      essentially due to lower costs, complexity and energy consumption. On the other
      hand, the MBR technology has a better social acceptance and similar overall
      environmental footprint. Although these results are influenced by site-specific
      parameters and cannot be generalized, the assessment procedure allowed
      identifying the most important factors affecting the final scores for each
      technology and the main differences between the compared technologies. Local
      conditions can affect the relative importance of the assessed impacts, and the
      use of weighting factors is proposed for better tailoring the comparative
      assessment to the local needs and circumstances. A sensitivity analysis on the
      weighted final scores demonstrated how local factors are very important and must
      be carefully evaluated in the decision making process.

PMID- 28589283
TI  - Evaluation of FOCUS surface water pesticide concentration predictions and risk
      assessment of field-measured pesticide mixtures-a crop-based approach under
      Mediterranean conditions.
AB  - FOCUS models are used in the European regulatory risk assessment (RA) to predict
      individual pesticide concentrations in edge-of-field surface waters. The
      scenarios used in higher tier FOCUS simulations were mainly based on
      Central/North European, and work is needed to underpin the validity of simulated
      exposure profiles for Mediterranean agroecosystems. In addition, the RA of
      chemicals are traditionally evaluated on the basis of single substances although
      freshwater life is generally exposed to a multitude of pesticides. In the present
      study, we monitored 19 pesticides in surface waters of five locations in the
      Portuguese 'Leziria do Tejo' agricultural area. FOCUS step 3 simulations were
      performed for the South European scenarios to estimate predicted environmental
      concentrations (PECs). We verified that 44% of the PECs underestimated the
      measured environmental concentrations (MEC) of the pesticides, showing a non
      compliance with the field data. Risk was assessed by comparing the environmental
      quality standards (EQS) and regulatory acceptable concentrations with their
      respective MECs. Risk of mixtures was demonstrated in 100% of the samples with
      insecticides accounting for 60% of the total risk identified. The overall link
      between the RA and the actual situation in the field must be considerably
      strengthened, and field studies on pesticide exposure and effects should be
      carried out to assist the improvement of predictive approaches used for
      regulatory purposes.

PMID- 28589285
TI  - Characterization of plastic beach debris finalized to its removal: a proposal for
      a recycling scheme.
AB  - Characterization of beach debris is crucial to assess the strategy to answer
      questions such as recycling. With the aim to assess its use in a recycling
      scheme, in this note, we carried out a physical and chemical characterization of
      plastic litter from a pilot beach in Central Italy, using the FT-IR spectroscopy
      and thermoanalysis. Fourteen polymers, having mainly thermoplastic origin, were
      identified; among them, the most represented are polyethylene (41.7%) and
      polypropylene (36.9%). Chemical and mechanical degradation were clearly observed
      by an IR spectrum. The thermogravimetric analysis curve of the plastic blend
      shows the melting point at 120-140  degrees C, and degradation occurs almost
      totally in a one-step process within 300-500  degrees C. The high heating value
      of the plastic debris is 43.9 MJ kg-1. Polymer blends obtained by beach debris
      show mechanical properties similar to the virgin high-density polyethylene
      polymer. Following the beach plastic debris characterization, a recycling scheme
      was suggested.

PMID- 28589284
TI  - Evaluation on subcellular partitioning and biodynamics of pulse copper toxicity
      in tilapia reveals impacts of a major environmental disturbance.
AB  - Fluctuation exposure of trace metal copper (Cu) is ubiquitous in aquatic
      environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of
      chronically pulsed exposure on biodynamics and subcellular partitioning of Cu in
      freshwater tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). Long-term 28-day pulsed Cu exposure
      experiments were performed to explore subcellular partitioning and
      toxicokinetics/toxicodynamics of Cu in tilapia. Subcellular partitioning linking
      with a metal influx scheme was used to estimate detoxification and elimination
      rates. A biotic ligand model-based damage assessment model was used to take into
      account environmental effects and biological mechanisms of Cu toxicity. We
      demonstrated that the probability causing 50% of susceptibility risk in response
      to pulse Cu exposure in generic Taiwan aquaculture ponds was ~33% of Cu in
      adverse physiologically associated, metabolically active pool, implicating no
      significant susceptibility risk for tilapia. We suggest that our integrated
      ecotoxicological models linking chronic exposure measurements with subcellular
      partitioning can facilitate a risk assessment framework that provides a
      predictive tool for preventive susceptibility reduction strategies for freshwater
      fish exposed to pulse metal stressors.

PMID- 28589287
TI  - Transitive Versus Intransitive Complex Gesture Representation: A Comparison
      Between Execution, Observation and Imagination by fNIRS.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to examine cortical correlates of motor
      execution, motor observation and motor imagery of hand complex gestures, in
      particular by comparing meaningful gestures implying the use of an object
      (transitive action) or not (intransitive action). Functional near-infrared
      spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to verify the presence of partial overlapping
      between some cortical areas involved in those different tasks. Participants were
      instructed to observe videos of transitive vs. intransitive gestures and then to
      execute or imagine them. Gesture execution was associated to greater brain
      activity (increased oxygenated hemoglobin levels) with respect to observation and
      imagination in motor areas (premotor cortex, PMC; primary sensorimotor cortex,
      SM1). In contrast, the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) was more relevantly
      involved in both execution and observation tasks compared to gesture imagination.
      Moreover, execution and observation of transitive gestures seemed primarily
      supported by similar parietal posterior areas when compared with intransitive
      gestures, which do not imply the presence on a object.

PMID- 28589286
TI  - Extracorporeal cytokine elimination as rescue therapy in refractory septic shock:
      a prospective single-center study.
AB  - Sepsis is the most common cause of death in medical intensive care units (ICU).
      If sepsis progresses to refractory septic shock, mortality may reach 90-100%
      despite optimum current therapy. Extracorporeal cytokine adsorption in addition
      to regular therapy was studied prospectively in refractory septic shock patients
      on a medical ICU. Refractory shock was defined as increasing vasopressor dose
      required to maintain mean arterial blood pressure above 65 mmHg or increasing
      lactate levels despite protocol-guided shock therapy for 6 h. We analysed
      noradrenaline requirements after 6 and 12 h (primary endpoint), lactate clearance
      after 6 and 12 h, SOFA-scores in the first days and achievement of shock reversal
      (i.e., normalization of lactate concentrations and sustained discontinuation of
      vasopressors; secondary endpoints). Twenty consecutive patients with refractory
      septic shock were included; CytoSorb(r) treatment was started after 7.8 +/- 3.7 h
      of shock therapy. Following the initiation of adsorption therapy, noradrenaline
      dose could be significantly reduced after 6 (-0.4 ug/kg/min; p = 0.03) and 12 h (
      0.6 ug/kg/min; p = 0.001). Lactate clearance improved significantly. SOFA-scores
      on day 0, 1 and 2 remained unchanged. Shock reversal was achieved in 13 (65%)
      patients; 28-day survival was 45%. In severe septic shock unresponsive to
      standard treatment, haemodynamic stabilization was achieved using cytokine
      adsorption therapy, resulting in shock reversal in two-thirds of these patients.
      The study was registered in the German Register for Clinical Trials (DRKS) No.
      00005149.

PMID- 28589289
TI  - Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated trilateral squamous neoplasia in
      immunocompetent individual.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a case of bilateral conjunctival and cervical human
      papillomavirus (HPV)-related squamous neoplasia. CASE DESCRIPTION: A healthy
      immunocompetent 55-year-old lady came to our attention for prosecution of care of
      a right recurrent conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma. Upon examination, she was
      found disease-free in the right eye but displayed a left conjunctival
      intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN grade I) and low-grade cervical squamous
      dysplasia. HPV infection with genotypes 16 (right eye), 11 and 39 (left eye) and
      39 (uterine cervix) was also detected. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous uterine and
      conjunctival HPV-related squamous neoplasia can occur in immunocompetent
      individuals. Auto-inoculation and repeated exposure to HPV could explain
      coexistence of different genotypes.

PMID- 28589288
TI  - In focus in HCB.

PMID- 28589290
TI  - Validation of a single summary score for the Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual
      Questionnaire-IUGA revised (PISQ-IR).
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire
      International Urogynecology Association (IUGA) Revised (PISQ-IR) measures sexual
      function in women with pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) yet is unwieldy, with six
      individual subscale scores for sexually active women and four for women who are
      not. We hypothesized that a valid and responsive summary score could be created
      for the PISQ-IR. METHODS: Item response data from participating women who
      completed a revised version of the PISQ-IR at three clinical sites were used to
      generate item weights using a magnitude estimation (ME) and Q-sort (Q)
      approaches. Item weights were applied to data from the original PISQ-IR
      validation to generate summary scores. Correlation and factor analysis methods
      were used to evaluate validity and responsiveness of summary scores. RESULTS:
      Weighted and nonweighted summary scores for the sexually active PISQ-IR
      demonstrated good criterion validity with condition-specific measures:
      Incontinence Severity Index = 0.12, 0.11, 0.11; Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory
      20 = 0.39, 0.39, 0.12; Epidemiology of Prolapse and Incontinence Questionnaire
      Q35 = 0.26 0,.25, 0.40); Female Sexual Functioning Index subscale total score =
      0.72, 0.75, 0.72 for nonweighted, ME, and Q summary scores, respectively.
      Responsiveness evaluation showed weighted and nonweighted summary scores detected
      moderate effect sizes (Cohen's d > 0.5). Weighted items for those NSA
      demonstrated significant floor effects and did not meet criterion validity.
      CONCLUSIONS: A PISQ-IR summary score for use with sexually active women,
      nonweighted or calculated with ME or Q item weights, is a valid and reliable
      measure for clinical use. The summary scores provide value for assesing clinical
      treatment of pelvic floor disorders.

PMID- 28589291
TI  - Hydroxylation of Human Type III Collagen Alpha Chain by Recombinant Coexpression
      with a Viral Prolyl 4-Hydroxylase in Escherichia coli.
AB  - High-level expression of recombinant collagen by genetic engineering is urgently
      required. Recombinant collagen is different from natural collagen in its
      hydroxyproline (Hyp) content and thermal stability. To obtain hydroxylated
      collagen for applications in biomedicine and biomaterials, the human collagen
      alpha1(III) chain was co-expressed with the viral prolyl 4-hydroxylase A085R in
      Escherichia coli. Unlike previous reports using human prolyl 4-hydroxylase, this
      study examined the hydroxylation of full-length human collagen alpha1(III) chain
      (COL3A1) by viral prolyl 4-hydroxylase. The genes encoding these two proteins
      were controlled by different promoters, Ptac and PRPL, on a recombinant pKK223-3
      plasmid. The sequencing results verified that the target genes were successfully
      inserted into the recombinant vector. Based on quantitative PCR, SDS-PAGE, and
      western blotting, successful expression by E. coli BL21(DE3) was detected at the
      mRNA and protein levels for both loci. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
      (LC-MS/MS) results suggested that the highest Hyp yield was obtained when the two
      proteins were induced with 0.5 mM IPTG and heat-shock treatment at 50  degrees C,
      corresponding to high enzyme expression and low human collagen alpha1(III) chain
      expression levels. A biological activity analysis indicated that the recombinant
      collagen with the highest hydroxylation level supported the growth of baby
      hamster kidney cells, similar to observations for native collagen. The production
      of hydroxylated collagen in this study establishes a new method for collagen
      hydroxylation and provides a basis for the application of recombinant collagen
      expressed in E. coli.

PMID- 28589292
TI  - Detection of diverse viruses in alimentary specimens of bats in Macau.
AB  - Bats carry a variety of viruses, and some of them cause public health problems.
      Macau, which is famous for its gambling industry, has a complex population
      structure. The globalization in such an international metropolis has enhanced the
      chance of disease transmission. Therefore, surveillance of zoonotic viruses is
      necessary for the early warning of potential emerging infectious diseases. Here,
      we report the first surveillance of bat viruses in Macau. In this study, we
      collected 1004 samples involving 10 bat species from 7 sites from April 2015 to
      May 2016, and examined the presence of viruses using nucleic acid-based methods.
      Coronaviruses, adenoviruses and paramyxoviruses were detected in these samples,
      with a high prevalence of coronaviruses. While, none was positive for hepatitis A
      virus, hepatitis E virus or hantavirus. Co-infections are not common in those bat
      species, but coronavirus HKU6 and adenovirus can be found commonly occurred in
      Myotis ricketti.

PMID- 28589293
TI  - Impairment of osmotic challenge-induced neurohypophyseal hormones secretion in
      sepsis survivor rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Recent studies have reported that sepsis survivors show
      impaired central nervous system functions. The osmoregulation in this post-sepsis
      condition has not been well investigated. In the present study, we evaluated the
      secretion of neurohypophyseal hormones, arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin
      (OT), and water intake induced by osmotic challenge in survivor rats. METHODS:
      Wistar rats were submitted to sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Five
      days after CLP surgery, the survivor and naive animals were stimulated with an
      osmotic challenge consisting of hypertonic saline administration. Thirty minutes
      later, blood and brain were collected for determination of osmolality, nitrite,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, AVP and OT levels and c-fos expression analysis of
      hypothalamic supraoptic nuclei (SON), respectively. In another set of sepsis
      survivor animals, water intake was measured for 240 min after the osmotic
      stimulus. RESULTS: High levels of nitrite and IL-1beta, but not IL-6, were found
      in the plasma of sepsis survivors and this long-term systemic inflammation was
      not altered by the osmotic challenge. Moreover, the AVP and OT secretion (but not
      the osmolality) and c-fos expression in SON were significantly attenuated in CLP
      survivor animals. Additionally, there was no alteration in the water intake
      response induced by osmotic challenge in the sepsis survivor group. CONCLUSION:
      The results suggest that the inflammatory components mediated a persistent
      impairment in the component of the osmoregulatory reflex affecting the secretion
      of neurohypophyseal hormones in sepsis survivor animals.

PMID- 28589294
TI  - Acromegaly: surgical results in 548 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to quantified the results of microsurgery, in
      all the patients with acromegaly treated by the same endocrinologist and the same
      surgeon between 1975 and 2015. METHODS: A series of 548 patients with acromegaly
      were operated and followed-up from 6 months to 40 years. Patients were selected
      according to five criteria: (1) Operated by the same surgeon. (2) No previous
      treatment. (3) Complete endocrinological preoperative studies including GH, OGTT,
      IGF-I, PRL test and TC/MRI. (4) Complete postoperative endocrinological
      evaluation for at least one determination of GH, OGTT, PRL test and IGF-I six
      months after surgery. (5) All the patients were supervised by the same
      endocrinologist. RESULTS: Microadenomas were present in 119 patients and 109
      (91,5%) achieved remission. Non invasive macroadenomas were present in 200
      patients and 164 achieved remission (82%). Results were worse for invasive
      macroadenomas but even with great invasions some patients achieved clinical
      remission. Follow-up range from 6 months to 40 years (mean 3.3 +/- 2.3) A long
      term follow-up of 15 years was achieved in 61 patients. Four of them had a
      recurrence 4, 7, 8, 12 years after surgery (6.5%). There was not mortality and
      the rate of complications was low. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery remains the first line of
      therapy for a majority of acromegalic patients. This series proves to be very
      valuable in circumscribed adenomas but also in invasive tumours. Levels of GH and
      IGF-I were decreased in almost all the patients without remission.

PMID- 28589295
TI  - [The qSOFA in the emergency department for early diagnosis of sepsis].

PMID- 28589296
TI  - [Neglected, lonely and sick - the social breakdown : A special patient group in
      the emergency department].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The emergency department (ED) is increasingly becoming the primary
      care unit of patients who are no longer able to meet the necessary minimum
      requirements for a healthy life. In the emergency medical care of these patients,
      fixation errors and stereotyped thinking can distract from serious illnesses,
      which can be tended by emergency medicine. This group of patients, with their
      multifactorial problems, represents a special challenge for the staff of the ED.
      The aim of this study is to improve the quality of the care for a special patient
      group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A monocentric retrospective observation study was
      conducted at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB). On the basis of case studies,
      the emergency medical care of this special patient group was examined in the ED.
      RESULTS: Over the period of 7 years (2009 to 2016), 17 patients in a state of
      total neglect could be examined. The endpoints identified, during the emergency
      care, are the therapy of life-threatening diseases, laboratory pathologies,
      introduction of infectious protective measures, initiation of diagnostic
      measures, measures to be initiated within different departments (operating room,
      intensive care unit) and outcome. CONCLUSION: Patients in a state of total
      neglect require interdisciplinary primary care at a hospital with extended care
      structures. The apparent primary impression of these patients must not lead to a
      fixation error. Due to the often not obtainable history of the patient's and the
      complex appearance of these patients, the evaluation should be carried out
      according to a defined algorithm in the emergency room.

PMID- 28589297
TI  - Sulfate turpentine: a resource of tick repellent compounds.
AB  - Compounds with tick (Ixodes ricinus) repellent properties were isolated from
      sulfate turpentine consisting of Norway spruce (80%) and Scots pine (20%) from
      southern Sweden. The turpentine was divided into two fractions by distillation
      under reduced pressure resulting in one monoterpene hydrocarbon fraction and a
      residual containing higher boiling terpenoids. The monoterpene fraction was
      further oxidized with SeO2 to obtain oxygenated monoterpenes with potential tick
      repellent properties. The oxidized fraction and the high boiling distillation
      residual were each separated by medium pressure liquid chromatography. The
      fractions were tested for tick repellency and the compounds in those with highest
      tick repellency were identified by GC-MS. The fractions with highest repellency
      contained, mainly (-)-borneol, and mixtures of (+)- and (-)-1-terpineol and
      terpinen-4-ol. The enantiomers of borneol showed similar tick repellent
      properties.

PMID- 28589298
TI  - Changes in Esophageal Motility after Acupuncture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chinese medicine is widely used in the East with good results for the
      treatment of many diseases. Acupuncture has been increasingly used and recognized
      as a complementary medical treatment. Some studies on gastrointestinal motility
      are available; however, acupuncture effect on esophageal motility is still
      elusive due to the lack of studies with adequate methodology. This study aims to
      evaluate acupuncture effect on esophageal motility. METHODS: We studied 16 (50%
      females, mean age 26 years) volunteers. No individual underwent acupuncture
      sessions previously. All individuals underwent high-resolution manometry. The
      test was performed in three phases: basal measurements, 20 min after acupuncture
      stimulation of the gastrointestinal point (ST36), or 20 min after acupuncture
      stimulation of a sham point (5 cm medial to ST36) (crossover). ST36 or sham
      points were alternated in order based on randomization. Lower esophageal
      sphincter (LES) resting and residual pressure, distal latency (DL) ,and distal
      contractility integral (DCI) were recorded. All tests were reviewed by two
      experienced investigators blinded to the acupuncture point. RESULTS: LES resting
      pressure was significantly reduced after acupuncture (p = 0.015, Wilcoxon signed
      rank test). DL was significantly increased after acupuncture (either Sham or
      ST36) as compared to basal measurement. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that
      acupuncture on the digestive point decreases LES basal pressure. Acupuncture may
      be an alternative treatment to spastic disorders of the LES.

PMID- 28589299
TI  - Implementation and Evaluation of a Clinical Pathway for Pancreaticoduodenectomy
      Procedures: a Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Medical and nursing protocols in perioperative care for
      pancreaticoduodenectomy are mainly mono-disciplinary, limiting their integration
      and transparency in a continuous health care system. The aims of this study were
      to evaluate adherence to a multidisciplinary clinical pathway for all
      pancreaticoduodenectomy patients during their entire hospital stay and to
      determine if the use of this clinical pathway is associated with beneficial
      effects on clinical end points. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study
      was conducted in 95 pancreaticoduodenectomy patients treated according to a
      clinical pathway, including a variance report, compared to a historical control
      group (n = 52) with a traditional treatment regime. RESULTS: Process evaluation
      of the clinical pathway group revealed that protocol adherence throughout all
      units was above 80%. Major complications according to Clavien-Dindo
      classification grade >=3 decreased from 27 to 13%; p = 0.02. Hospital length of
      stay was significantly shorter in the clinical pathway group, median 10 days [IQR
      8-15], compared with the control group, median 13 days [IQR 10-18]; p = 0.02.
      CONCLUSION: The use of a clinical pathway in pancreaticoduodenectomy patients was
      associated with high protocol adherence, improved outcome and shorter hospital
      length of stay. Variance report analysis and protocol adherence with a Prepare
      Act-Reflect Cycle are essential in surveillance of outcome.

PMID- 28589300
TI  - Extracorporeal devices for treatment of refractory pruritus in cholestatic liver
      disease.

PMID- 28589302
TI  - Implementation of an institutional protocol to improve inferior vena cava
      utilization and outcomes.
AB  - To evaluate the impact of an institutional protocol on patterns of use and
      outcomes of inferior vena cava filters (IVCF). Following a multidisciplinary
      effort, an institutional protocol involving dedicated follow-up of patients
      receiving IVCF and a physician education program regarding IVCF utilization, was
      established. We prospectively collected data of patients who received IVCF during
      2015-2016, following protocol implementation (POST group). For comparison, we
      reviewed records of patients who received IVCF during 2009-2014, before
      implementation of the institutional protocol (PRE group). In the PRE and POST
      groups, 76 and 38 IVCF per year were inserted respectively, with an overall
      decrease of 50%. IVCF were more likely to be placed for therapeutic rather than
      prophylactic indications in the POST compared to the PRE group (P = 0.003).
      Follow-up rates at our coagulation clinic were significantly higher in the POST
      than the PRE group (100 vs. 22.9%, P < 0.0001), as were rates of attempted
      retrieval: 60.5% (23/38) vs. 16.7% (76/455), P < 0.0001. Failed retrieval
      occurred at similar rates: 15.8% (12/76) vs. 18.2% (4/22), P = 0.75. There was a
      trend towards a lower thrombotic complication rate in the POST than the PRE
      group: 2.6 vs. 11.2%, P = 0.16. Implementation of an institutional protocol
      significantly decreased the use of IVCF and increased the retrieval rate. Such
      intervention could potentially lead to lower rates of IVCF-related complications
      in the future.

PMID- 28589301
TI  - Investigating the role(s) of SufT and the domain of unknown function 59 (DUF59)
      in the maturation of iron-sulfur proteins.
AB  - Comprehending biology at the molecular and systems levels is predicated upon
      understanding the functions of proteins. Proteins are typically composed of one
      or more functional moieties termed domains. Members of Bacteria, Eukarya, and
      Archaea utilize proteins containing a domain of unknown function (DUF) 59.
      Proteins requiring iron-sulfur (FeS) clusters containing cofactors are necessary
      for nearly all organisms making the assembly of functional FeS proteins
      essential. Recently, studies in eukaryotic and bacterial organisms have shown
      that proteins containing a DUF59, or those composed solely of DUF59, function in
      FeS protein maturation and/or intracellular Fe homeostasis. Herein, we review the
      current literature, discuss potential roles for DUF59, and address future studies
      that will help advance the field.

PMID- 28589303
TI  - Three types of sagittal alignment regarding compensation in asymptomatic adults:
      the contribution of the spine and lower limbs.
AB  - PURPOSE: A comprehensive understanding of normative sagittal profile is necessary
      for adult spinal deformity. Roussouly described four sagittal alignment types
      based on sacral slope, lumbar lordosis, and location of lumbar apex. However, the
      lower limb, a newly described component of spinal malalignment compensation, is
      missing from this classification. This study aims to propose a full-body sagittal
      profile classification in an asymptomatic population based on full-body imaging.
      METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of a prospective single-center study of
      116 asymptomatic volunteers. Cluster analysis including all sagittal parameters
      was first performed, and then ANOVA was performed between sub-clusters to
      eliminate the non-significantly different parameters. This loop was repeated
      until all parameters were significantly different between each sub-cluster.
      RESULTS: Three types of full-body sagittal profiles were finalized according to
      cluster analysis with ten radiographic parameters: hyperlordosis type (77
      subjects), neutral type (28 subjects), and compensated type (11 subjects).
      Radiographic parameters included knee angle, pelvic shift, pelvic angle, PT, PI
      LL, C7-S1 SVA, TPA, T1 slope, C2-C7 angle, and C2-C7 SVA. Age was significantly
      different across compensation types, while BMI and gender were comparable. Age
      matched subjects were randomly selected with 11 subjects in each type. ANOVA
      analysis revealed that all parameters but PT and C2-C7 angle remained
      significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: The current three compensation types of
      full-body sagittal profiles in asymptomatic adults included significant changes
      from cervical region to knee, indicating that subjects should be evaluated with
      full-length imaging. All three types exist regardless of age, but the
      distribution may vary.

PMID- 28589305
TI  - Discriminating Ability of Abbreviated Impactor Measurement Approach (AIM) to
      Detect Changes in Mass Median Aerodynamic Diameter (MMAD) of an
      Albuterol/Salbutamol pMDI Aerosol.
AB  - This article reports on results from a two-lab, multiple impactor experiment
      evaluating the abbreviated impactor measurement (AIM) concept, conducted by the
      Cascade Impaction Working Group of the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol
      Consortium on Regulation and Science (IPAC-RS). The goal of this experiment was
      to expand understanding of the performance of an AIM-type apparatus based on the
      Andersen eight-stage non-viable cascade impactor (ACI) for the assessment of
      inhalation aerosols and sprays, compared with the full-resolution version of that
      impactor described in the pharmacopeial compendia. The experiment was conducted
      at two centers with a representative commercially available pressurized metered
      dose inhaler (pMDI) containing albuterol (salbutamol) as active pharmaceutical
      ingredient (API). Metrics of interest were total mass (TM) emitted from the
      inhaler, impactor-sized mass (ISM), as well as the ratio of large particle mass
      (LPM) to small particle mass (SPM). ISM and the LPM/SPM ratio together comprise
      the efficient data analysis (EDA) metrics. The results of the comparison
      demonstrated that in this study, the AIM approach had adequate discrimination to
      detect changes in the mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of the ACI-sampled
      aerodynamic particle size distribution (APSD), and therefore could be employed
      for routine product quality control (QC). As with any test method considered for
      inclusion in a regulatory filing, the transition from an ACI (used in
      development) to an appropriate AIM/EDA methodology (used in QC) should be
      evaluated and supported by data on a product-by-product basis.

PMID- 28589304
TI  - Prevalence of abnormal lactose breath hydrogen tests in children with functional
      abdominal pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of abnormal
      lactose breath hydrogen test in children with non-organic chronic abdominal pain.
      METHODS: Children with chronic abdominal pain were examined and investigated for
      organic causes. All children without a known organic cause underwent lactose and
      glucose breath hydrogen test. After a standard dose of 2 g/kg of lactose to a
      maximum of 50 g, hydrogen in breath was measured at 15 min intervals for 3 h. A
      rise of 20 ppm above baseline was considered suggestive of lactose malabsorption.
      RESULTS: Of 108 children screened, organic causes were found in 46 children.
      Sixty-two patients without any organic cause underwent hydrogen breath test.
      Lactose hydrogen breath test (HBT) was positive in 36 of 62 (58%), while 11 (17%)
      had positive HBT with glucose suggestive of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
      (SIBO). Twenty out of 34 (59%) improved on lactose free diet while 8 out of 11
      (72%) children of SIBO improved on antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: Lactose
      malabsorption was seen in 58% of children with non-organic chronic abdominal
      pain.

PMID- 28589307
TI  - Cultivating Community-Responsive Future Healthcare Professionals: Using Service
      Learning in Pre-Health Humanities Education.
AB  - This essay argues that service-learning pedagogy is an important tool in pre
      health humanities education that provides benefits to the community and produces
      more compassionate, culturally competent, and community-responsive future
      healthcare professionals. Further, beginning this approach at the baccalaureate
      level instills democratic and collaborative values at an earlier, crucial time in
      the career socialization process. The discussion focuses on learning outcomes and
      reciprocity between the university and community in a Medical Humanities course
      for junior and senior premedical students, an elective in the premedical
      curriculum. The course includes an experiential learning element in which
      students shadow physicians and a service-learning component in which students
      complete medically-relevant service work, working with partners such as the
      veteran's hospital, a hospice home, and organizations that serve individuals with
      disabilities. We cover topics such as narrative medicine, ethics, cross-cultural
      medicine, patient/practitioner relationships, the human life cycle, and the
      illness experience, and the writing, discussion, and reflection we engage in is
      enriched by the real-world experiences from which the students are able to draw.
      The shadowing and service experiences and the classroom texts and topics combine
      to form a symbiosis that leads to especially meaningful teaching and learning
      outcomes.

PMID- 28589306
TI  - Application of a Biodegradable Polyesteramide Derived from L-Alanine as Novel
      Excipient for Controlled Release Matrix Tablets.
AB  - This pre-formulation study assays the capacity of the polyesteramide PADAS, poly
      (L-alanine-dodecanediol-L-alanine-sebacic), as an insoluble tablet excipient
      matrix for prolonged drug release. The flow properties of PADAS were suitable for
      tableting, and the compressibility of tablets containing exclusively PADAS was
      evaluated by ESEM observation of the microstructure. The tablets were resistant
      to crushing and non-friable and they did not undergo disintegration (typical
      features of an inert matrix). Tablets containing 33.33% sodium diclofenac (DF),
      ketoprofen (K) or dexketoprofen trometamol (DK-T) as a model drug, in addition
      with 66.67% of polymer, were formulated, and the absence of interactions between
      the components was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry. Dissolution
      tests showed that PADAS retained DF and K and prolonged drug release, following a
      Higuchi kinetic. The tablets containing DK-T did not retain the drug sufficiently
      for prolonged release to be established. Tablets containing DK-T and 66.67, 83.33
      or 91.67% PADAS, compressed at 44.48 or 88.96 kN, were elaborated to determine
      the influence of the polymer amount and of the compression force on DK-T release.
      Both parameters significantly delayed drug release, except when the proportion of
      polymer was 91.67%.

PMID- 28589308
TI  - The Medical Humanities Effect: a Pilot Study of Pre-Health Professions Students
      at the University of Rochester.
AB  - Qualitative and quantitative research on the impact of medical and health
      humanities teaching in baccalaureate education is sparse. This paper reviews
      recent studies of the impact of medical and health humanities coursework in pre
      health professions education and describes a pilot study of baccalaureate
      students who completed semester-long medical humanities courses in the Division
      of Medical Humanities & Bioethics at the University of Rochester. The study
      format was an email survey. All participants were current or former baccalaureate
      students who had taken one or more courses in literature and narrative in
      medicine, bioethics, history of medicine, and/or visual arts and healthcare
      during the past four years. The survey gathered numerical data in several areas:
      demographic information, career plans, self-reported influence of coursework on
      educational and career plans, and self-reported influence of coursework on
      intellectual skills and abilities. It also gathered narrative commentary that
      elaborated on students' responses to the numerically-based questions. Notable
      findings from preliminary analysis of the data include higher scores of self
      reported impact of the coursework on specific habits of mind and on preparedness
      for intended career rather than on gaining admission to future educational
      programs. Discussion of the results focuses on several potential future
      directions this type of study might take, including multi-center, longitudinal,
      and sequential approaches.

PMID- 28589309
TI  - Influential factors on treatment decision making among patients with colorectal
      cancer: A scoping review.
AB  - PURPOSE: In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on shared decision
      making (SDM) techniques between providers and patients with the goal of helping
      patients make informed decisions about their care and subsequently to improve
      patient health outcomes. Previous research has shown variability in treatment
      decision-making among patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), and there is little
      comprehensive information available to help explain this variability. Thus, the
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the current state of the literature on
      factors that are influential in treatment decision-making among patients with
      CRC. METHOD: A priori search terms using Boolean connectors were used to examine
      PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, and MEDLINE for relevant studies.
      Eligibility criteria for inclusion in the study included patients with CRC and
      examination of influences on CRC treatment decision-making. All relevant data
      were extracted including, author, title and year, study methodology, and study
      results. RESULTS: Findings (n = 13) yielded influences in four areas:
      informational, patient treatment goals, patient role preferences, and
      relationship with provider. Quality of life and trust in physician were rated a
      high priority among patients when making decisions between different therapeutic
      options. Several studies found that patients wanted to be informed and involved
      but did not necessarily want to make autonomous treatment choices, with many
      preferring a more passive role. CONCLUSIONS: Providers who initiate a dialog to
      better understand their patients' treatment goals can establish rapport, increase
      patient understanding of treatment options, and help patients assume their
      desired role in their decision-making. Overall, there were a small number of
      studies that met all inclusion criteria with most used a cross-sectional design.

PMID- 28589311
TI  - Needs assessment of primary care physicians in the management of chronic pain in
      cancer survivors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cancer patients live longer with effective anti-cancer therapy and
      supportive care. About 30% of cancer survivors (non-palliative cancer patients
      who completed treatment) suffer from chronic pain, which will be managed by their
      primary care physician (PCP). The aim of this study was to assess practice
      patterns and treatment barriers in the management of chronic pain in cancer
      survivors among PCPs. METHODS: A survey using a 16-item questionnaire was sent to
      PCPs across Canada. RESULTS: A total of 162 responses were collected. The
      majority of participants were in group (59%) or solo (33%) practice, with an
      average of 25 years of clinical experience. Seventy-one percent of PCPs were
      practicing in communities of 10,000 to 100,000 people. Respondents were treating
      approximately 10 cancer survivors with chronic pain per month. The majority of
      PCPs (59%) reported having "little knowledge" or "some understanding" of chronic
      pain management in cancer survivors. They did not usually refer these patients to
      other specialists. Patient comorbidities (79%), pain medication side effects
      (78%), previous pain treatment (76%), effect of pain on daily functioning (75%),
      and drug interactions (71%) were identified as factors that guided PCP treatment
      choices. Major barriers included medication cost (54%), concerns about opioid
      abuse (51%), and patient non-compliance (46%). PCPs indicated that treatment
      guidelines (74%) and knowledge of pharmacological (64%) and non-pharmacological
      (62%) treatment options would help their chronic pain management. CONCLUSION:
      Most PCPs report a lack of knowledge in the management of chronic pain in cancer
      survivors but are keen to receive medical education on treatment options and
      clinical practice guidelines.

PMID- 28589310
TI  - Optimal clinical assessment strategies for chemotherapy-induced peripheral
      neuropathy (CIPN): a systematic review and Delphi survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a
      prominent side effect of the treatment of cancer. Despite this frequent
      complication, there has been no comprehensive review and quality appraisal of
      CIPN assessments. The purpose of this study is to provide a definitive quality
      appraisal of CIPN assessment strategies for clinical use. METHODS: Relevant
      studies were identified through database searches of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and
      Cochrane. CIPN assessment strategies from included articles were extracted and
      initially rated by an oncologist and neurophysiologist according to criteria
      related to assessment depth, comprehensiveness, appropriateness, and reliability.
      The six highest scoring assessment strategies were the focus of a two-round
      Delphi survey of a working party of 32 physicians, nurses, and consumers to
      achieve consensus on the highest rated assessments for each criterion. RESULTS:
      The database search yielded 117 distinct CIPN assessments that were extracted
      from 2373 articles. Three patient-reported outcome surveys and three clinician
      based assessments were included in the Delphi survey. No consensus was generated
      regarding the best overall CIPN assessment, although good (>=70%) consensus was
      achieved regarding the best assessment within each criterion. The Participant
      Neurotoxicity Questionnaire (PNQ) was rated the highest overall and patient
      reported outcome (PRO) assessment, while the Total Neuropathy Score clinical
      version (TNSc) was the highest rated clinician-based assessment. CONCLUSIONS: A
      diverse range of CIPN assessments currently exists. While several assessments
      assess CIPN symptoms with adequate comprehensiveness, depth, language, and
      feasibility, the consensus 'gold standard' clinical assessment remains to be
      established.

PMID- 28589312
TI  - Assessing the diversity of preferences of suburban smallholder sheep keepers for
      breeding rams in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
AB  - Urbanisation in developing countries entails deep changes in the livestock sector
      and the management of animal genetic resources (AnGR). Sheep breeding around
      Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) illustrates these changes and the need to coordinate
      genetic improvement in general and the use of crossbreeding in particular. For
      this, it is important to understand breeders' choices and improvement strategy,
      to accompany them within a national plan for AnGR management. In a context of
      missing market for breeding rams, a stated choice experiment was conducted with
      137 farmers, together with a characterisation of herd management practices. This
      survey analyses farmers' preferences for breeding rams, estimating their
      willingness to pay (WTP) for different traits (attributes). Their practices were
      characterised by a high reliance on natural pastures (82% of farmers) and a
      minority of crossbreeding (23%). The highest WTP was observed for disease
      resistance. However, the subgroup of farmers practicing crossbreeding showed a
      tolerance to high susceptibility. A strong preference for the white colour was
      revealed. Although significant, the influence of sheep body size on decision
      making showed a lesser importance, again with a distinct behaviour in the
      subgroup practicing crossbreeding. These results illustrate the need to take
      account of the diversity of goals and preferences among smallholder sheep keepers
      to gain their adhesion to a coordinated genetic improvement framework.

PMID- 28589313
TI  - Effect of a collar on subsidence and local micromotion of cementless femoral
      stems: in vitro comparative study based on micro-computerised tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to quantitatively compare the difference in
      primary stability between collarless and collared versions of the same femoral
      stem. Specifically, we tested differences in subsidence and micromotion. METHODS:
      Collarless and collared versions of the same cementless femoral stem were
      implanted in two groups of six fresh-frozen cadaveric femurs. Each implanted
      femur was then subsequently tested for axial compressive and torsional loadings.
      A micro-CT based technique was applied to quantify implant subsidence and compute
      the map of local micromotion around the femoral stems. Micromotion of collarless
      and collared stems was compared in each Gruen zone. RESULTS: Subsidence was
      higher but not significantly (p = 0.352) with collarless (41.0 +/- 29.9 MUm) than
      with collared stems (37.0 +/- 44.6 MUm). In compression, micromotion was lower (p
      = 0.257) with collarless (19.5 +/- 5 MUm) than with collared stems (43.3 +/- 33.1
      MUm). In torsion, micromotion was also lower (p = 0.476) with collarless (96.9 +/
      59.8 MUm) than collared stems (118.7 +/- 45.0 MUm). Micromotion was only
      significantly lower (p = 0.001) in Gruen zone 1 and for compression with
      collarless (7.0 +/- 0.6 MUm) than with collared stems (22.6 +/- 25.5 MUm).
      CONCLUSIONS: Primary stability was achieved for both stem designs, with a mean
      micromotion below the osseointegration threshold. Under loading conditions
      similar to those observed in normal daily activity and with good press-fit, the
      collar had no influence on subsidence or micromotion. Further studies are
      required to test the potential advantage of collar with higher loads, undersized
      stems, or osteoporotic femurs.

PMID- 28589314
TI  - The Health-Related Quality of Life of Chinese Patients on Hemodialysis and
      Peritoneal Dialysis.
AB  - AIMS: Our aim was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between end
      stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and the Hong Kong general population to
      identify how the mode of dialysis and other factors were associated with HRQOL.
      METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 253 hemodialysis (HD)
      patients and 103 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients recruited in 2014-2015. Their
      HRQOL was evaluated using Kidney Disease and Quality of Life-36 (KDQOL-36) sub
      scale scores and the Short Form-6 Dimensions (SF-6D) health preference score. One
      way analysis of variance was used to analyze the difference in mean KDQOL-36 and
      SF-6D scores among PD patients, HD patients, and an exact age- and sex-matched
      general population. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to evaluate
      factors associated with the KDQOL-36 and SF-6D scores. RESULTS: The physical
      HRQOL of ESRD patients on dialysis was worse than that of the age- and sex
      matched general population (38.4 vs. 49.6), but mental HRQOL was similar (50.7
      vs. 52.0). After adjusting for all baseline characteristics, male subjects was
      associated with higher physical component summary (PCS), SF-6D, and symptom
      scores. A higher level of education (secondary or tertiary) was associated with
      higher mental component summary (MCS), SF-6D, symptom, and effects scores.
      Patients who were female, younger, married, and less educated and had a history
      of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and did not achieve target hemoglobin and albumin
      levels were associated with poorer HRQOL outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: HD was associated
      with a greater negative impact of ESRD on daily lives than was PD, which may be a
      consideration when deciding on the dialysis modality for first-line renal
      replacement therapy. To improve HRQOL among patients on maintenance dialysis,
      more attention should be paid to those with demographic risk factors, preventing
      CVD, and meeting clinical dialysis outcome targets such as hemoglobin and albumin
      levels.

PMID- 28589315
TI  - Effect of blood glucose level on acute stress response of grass carp
      Ctenopharyngodon idella.
AB  - Stress has a considerable impact on welfare and productivity of fish, and blood
      glucose level of fish may be a factor modulating stress response. This study
      evaluated the effect of blood glucose level and handling on acute stress response
      of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella. Fish were intraperitoneally injected with
      glucose at 0, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 mg g-1 body mass (BM) and then were exposed to
      handling for 5 min. Glucose injection resulted in increase of plasma glucose
      level and liver glycogen content and decrease of plasma lactate level. Handling
      resulted in increase of plasma levels of cortisol, glucose, and lactate and
      plasma lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and decrease of liver glycogen
      content. At 1 h post-stress, the plasma cortisol level was lower in the stressed
      fish injected with glucose at 0.5 mg g-1 BM than the stressed fish injected with
      glucose at 0, 0.2, and 1.0 mg g-1 BM. No significant differences were found in
      the activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and pyruvate kinase
      (PK) in the liver between the stressed and unstressed fish, regardless of the
      dose of glucose injection. At 1 h post-stress, the liver glucose-6-phosphatase
      (G6Pase) activity was higher in the fish without glucose injection than in the
      fish injected with glucose. This study reveals that blood glucose level can
      affect stress response of grass carp by modulating cortisol release and glucose
      homeostasis through glycogen metabolism and gluconeogenesis in the liver.

PMID- 28589316
TI  - Androgen-induced pseudo-hermaphroditic phenotypes in female Brevimyrus niger
      Gunther 1866 (Teleostei, Mormyridae).
AB  - This paper explores the plasticity of sexually dimorphic characters in subadult
      female Brevimyrus niger, an African weakly electric mormyrid species. Thirty-five
      fish were exposed in a staggered fashion (five fish a week) to aromatizable
      17alpha-methyltestosterone over a period of 7 weeks; 18 fish served as untreated
      controls. 17alpha-MT induced precocious vitellogenesis that mirrored the natural
      maturational process during seasonal ovarian recrudescence. At the same time,
      17alpha-MT exposure resulted in complete masculinization of the females' anal fin
      support structure normally observed during rainy season in adult males. We
      discuss possible hormonal mechanisms acting along the brain-pituitary-gonad axis
      that would explain the occurrence of precocious vitellogenesis and the male
      typical transformation of the female's anal fin ray bases. Our findings are
      relevant to commercial aquaculture as the use of 17alpha-MT in fish hatcheries
      can pose serious environmental issues.

PMID- 28589317
TI  - Bcl6 gene-silencing facilitates PMA-induced megakaryocyte differentiation in K562
      cells.
AB  - Targeted therapy via imatinib appears to be a promising approach for chronic
      myeloid leukemia (CML) therapy. However, refractory and resistance to imatinib
      therapy has encouraged many investigators to get involved in development of new
      therapeutic agents such as Phorbol 12-myrestrat 13-acetate (PMA) for patients
      with CML. In that line, we attempted to investigate the chemosensitizing effect
      of PMA on the imatinib-resistant cells. Based on our western blot analyses,
      resistant K562 cells (K562R) showed high levels of FoxO3a and Bcl6 expressions
      which were not modulated by imatinib treatment. However, upon PMA treatment, the
      levels of both FoxO3a and Bcl6 were up-regulated among both the sensitive and the
      resistant cells and this treatment was associated with initiation of
      megakaryocytic differentiation of the cells. SiRNA-silencing of FoxO3a led to
      augmentation of megakaryocytic differentiation of the cells. Similarly, siRNA
      gene silencing of Bcl6 enhanced the differentiation and induced cell apoptosis
      among both types of cells. Regarding these results, it might be concluded that
      Bcl6 knockdown combined with PMA therapy could present a new therapeutical
      strategy for refractory CML patients to imatinib.

PMID- 28589319
TI  - The transotic approach for vestibular schwannoma: indications and results.
AB  - To analyze retrospectively the indications and the results obtained with the
      transotic approach in a series of patients with vestibular schwannoma. The study
      included 36 patients from 2007 to 2013 with a vestibular schwannoma that was
      removed with a transotic approach. All patients underwent preoperative pure tone
      audiometry, evaluation of facial function and CT and MR imaging. All patients
      having (1) a hearing loss of more than 50 dB, (2) an average tumor size of 2.7 cm
      (range 0.5-5.0 cm) and (3) signs of a contracted mastoid (high jugular bulb,
      anteriorly located sigmoid sinus, low middle cranial fossa, or reduced
      pneumatization) were selected. The tumor was totally removed in 34 and near
      totally removed in 2 patients. The facial nerve was preserved in all patients.
      The postoperative facial function after 6 weeks was House-Brackmann grade I in 7,
      grade II in 27, and grade III in 2 patients. All patients presented
      postoperatively with unilateral total deafness. Seven patients experienced
      transitory postoperative imbalance. There were two patients who required revision
      surgery, one with intracranial hemorrhage and another with a CSF leak. There were
      no deaths and no severe complications such as hemiplegia or intracranial
      infections. The transotic approach has proven to be of value for the removal of
      vestibular schwannomas up to 5.0 cm in the presence of temporal bone contraction.
      Hearing was not preserved; however, other clinical outcomes were very favorable,
      including high rates of total tumor removal and facial nerve preservation, and
      low rates of complications.

PMID- 28589318
TI  - Matricellular proteins in cancer: a focus on secreted Frizzled-related proteins.
AB  - Tumours are complex entities, wherein cancer cells interact with myriad soluble,
      insoluble and cell associated factors. These microenvironmental mediators
      regulate tumour growth, progression and metastasis, and are produced by cancer
      cells and by stromal components such as fibroblast, adipocytes and immune cells.
      Through their ability to bind to extracellular matrix proteins, cell surface
      receptors and growth factors, matricellular proteins enable a dynamic reciprocity
      between cancer cells and their microenvironment. Hence, matricellular proteins
      play a critical role in tumour progression by regulating where and when cancer
      cells are exposed to key growth factors and regulatory proteins. Recent studies
      suggest that, in addition to altering Wingless (Wnt) signalling, certain members
      of the Secreted Frizzled Related Protein (sFRP) family are matricellular in
      nature. In this review, we outline the importance of matricellular proteins in
      cancer, and discuss how sFRPs may function to both inhibit and promote cancer
      progression in a context-dependent manner. By considering the matricellular
      functionality of sFRPs, we may better understand their apparently paradoxical
      roles in cancers.

PMID- 28589320
TI  - Impact of the round window membrane accessibility on hearing preservation in
      adult cochlear implantation.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the round window membrane
      accessibility on the residual hearing after cochlear implantation surgery in
      adults. Moreover, the effects of the other demographics and intra-operative
      factors on the residual hearing loss have been evaluated. The hearing
      preservation cochlear implantation surgery was performed on 64 adults with
      residual hearing thresholds <=80 dB at 250 and 500 Hz, who had referred to our
      tertiary academic center. All the patients underwent a standardized surgical
      approach with the same straight electrode inserted through the round window
      membrane. The hearing thresholds at 250, 500, and 1000 Hz were compared in pre
      operative and 1 month postoperative pure-tone audiograms. The average hearing
      threshold shifts at these frequencies was used to evaluate the hearing
      preservation. The effects of the round window accessibility and other factors
      (including gender, age, side of the surgery, necessity of anterior-inferior
      drilling of the round window margin and average insertion speed) on hearing
      threshold shifts were analyzed. The mean low-frequency hearing threshold shift
      was found to be 17.5 dB for all the patients. The hearing preservation goal
      (threshold shifts <=30 dB) was achieved in 58 patients. Among the evaluated
      parameters, only accessibility of the round window membrane could change the
      hearing threshold shifts significantly (p = 0.026), and was a predictor for the
      hearing loss (B coefficient = 7.5, p = 0.006). Incomplete accessibility of the
      round window membrane may be a predictor for increased hearing threshold shifts
      in short-term evaluations after cochlear implantation.

PMID- 28589321
TI  - Latent tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis in patients with rheumatic
      diseases treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor agents.
AB  - The introduction of biological agents, especially the tumor necrosis factor
      inhibitors (anti-TNF), for the treatment of rheumatic diseases increased the risk
      of developing tuberculosis (TB). Screening for latent TB infection (LTBI) is
      strongly recommended before starting therapy with anti-TNF agents. The objective
      of this study was to identify the prevalence of LTBI and TB among patients with
      rheumatic diseases on anti-TNF agents. This is a cross-sectional study. The
      electronic medical records of all adult patients (>=18 years old) undergoing anti
      TNF treatment were reviewed. Every patient underwent tuberculin skin test (TST)
      before starting anti-TNF treatment. In total, 176 patients were included; the
      mean age was 51.9 +/- 12.4 years, 34.7% were males, and 90.9% were white. The
      underlying diseases were rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 50.6% (N = 89), ankylosing
      spondylitis (AS) in 27.8% (N = 49), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in 17.6% (N =
      31). The prevalence of positive TST was 29.5%. Household contact with TB was
      significantly associated with a positive TST (p = 0.020). RA patients had lower
      TST reactions than AS patients (p = 0.022). There were six cases of TB (3.4%)
      diagnosed during anti-TNF therapy. We demonstrated a high prevalence of positive
      TST (29.5%) among patients with rheumatic diseases in a region with high TB
      prevalence. Our data corroborates the ACR's recommendation that patients who live
      in high TB incidence settings should be tested annually for LTBI.

PMID- 28589322
TI  - Comparison of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients managed early after
      diagnosis in specialty versus community care clinics.
AB  - To compare management and outcomes of SLE patients treated in community clinics
      (Cc) with those treated in specialty clinic (Sc) within 10 years after SLE
      diagnosis. A single-center, matched cohort study design was used. We identified
      54 SLE patients who were referred to a Sc from Cc within 5 years of SLE
      diagnosis, and 101 inception SLE patients who followed in a Sc. Patients in Cc
      were matched 1:2 based on gender, decade of SLE diagnosis, and age at diagnosis
      within 3 years with Sc patients. Disease characteristics, damage accumulation,
      death, cardiovascular (CVS) risk factors, and events were compared at 5 and 10
      years of disease. Regression analyses taking into account the paired data were
      conducted. At 5 years of disease, patients referred from Cc had less cumulative
      ACR criteria, but more active disease. They were on higher doses of
      glucocorticoids (GCS) but less antimalarial treatment. At 10 years of disease and
      follow-up entirely in Sc, Sc patients had less disease activity. They had lower
      cumulative GCS doses. They had less hypertension and osteoporosis but more
      hypercholesterolemia than Cc patients. No statistically significant difference in
      damage accrual, CVS events, and death were detected. Regression analysis
      confirmed an association between being inception Sc patients and less active
      disease at 10 years. Lupus patients should be under the care of a lupus
      specialist early in their disease course for better control of their disease
      activity and to minimize use of GCS.

PMID- 28589324
TI  - Psychotherapy for the Medical Student.

PMID- 28589325
TI  - The "Virtual Preceptor": A Teaching Tool Developed to Increase Resident Access to
      Supervision.

PMID- 28589323
TI  - Elderly psoriatic arthritis patients on TNF-alpha blockers: results of an Italian
      multicenter study on minimal disease activity and drug discontinuation rate.
AB  - Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthropathy, associated with skin
      and/or nail psoriasis. Real world data on efficacy and safety of TNF-alpha
      blockers in the elderly with PsA are lacking. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the effectiveness, through the achievement of minimal disease activity
      (MDA), drug discontinuation rate, and safety in elderly patients with PsA on TNF
      alpha blockers. A multicenter, observational study was carried out in four
      Italian centers. The assessment of disease activity and safety were performed at
      the start of anti-TNF-alpha (T0), at 6 months (T6) and at 12 months (T12). A
      total of 145 PsA patients were included in the study. At baseline 68 (46.9%)
      patients were on etanercept, 60 (41.3%) on adalimumab, 11 (7.6%) on golimumab,
      and 6 (4.1%) on infliximab. All the variables concerning PsA activity showed a
      statistically significant improvement when comparing T6 and T12 with T0. After 6
      and 12 months of therapy, respectively, 31 (22.6%) and 71 (51.8%) patients
      achieved MDA (p < 0.001). The drug discontinuation rate was 5.5% with a mean of
      6.8 months (range 2-10 months), and it was due to lack of efficacy, adverse
      events, and lost to follow-up. Nine patients (6.2%) reported the onset of mild
      infections resolved with antimicrobial specific oral regimen without therapy
      interruption. TNF-alpha blockers are effective in the achievement of a low
      disease status and safe in elderly patients with PsA. Therefore, age should not
      be considered a limitation to their use.

PMID- 28589326
TI  - Therapeutic Assignments: Piloting a Way for Medical Students on the Psychiatry
      Clerkship to Interact with Patients Beyond the Initial Interview.

PMID- 28589327
TI  - Collaborative Integration of Ethics Education.

PMID- 28589328
TI  - Results from the Field: Development and Evaluation of a Psychiatry Residency
      Training Rotation in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this project was to develop and evaluate a new residency
      training rotation focused on cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) and to assess
      outcomes across multiple domains. METHODS: Data are presented from 30 psychiatry
      residents. Primary learning-related outcomes included content knowledge, self
      efficacy, and attitudes and behavioral intentions towards evidence-based
      psychotherapies (e.g., CBT). RESULTS: Residents reported significant increases in
      CBT knowledge, CBT-specific self-efficacy, overall psychotherapy self-efficacy,
      belief in patient benefit from CBT, and behavioral intention to use CBT. However,
      there were almost no changes in attitudes towards evidence-based practice more
      broadly, with one significant finding showing an increase in skepticism towards
      such practices. CONCLUSIONS: This empirically based example of training program
      development, implementation, and evaluation appears largely successful and
      represents one approach for addressing the CBT competency goals outlined by the
      Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and Milestone
      Project Guidelines. Despite these initial, positive findings, conclusions should
      be tempered by limitations of the project design (e.g., the lack of comparison
      group, absence of objective measures of resident behavioral change, or assessment
      of the effect of such changes on patient outcomes). Findings highlight the need
      for continued development and evaluation of training methods in CBT for residency
      programs.

PMID- 28589329
TI  - Time for a Change? How Rethinking Delivery of Undergraduate Medical Education in
      Psychiatry May Add Value to Healthcare Systems.

PMID- 28589330
TI  - Triple Combination Therapy and Drug Cycling-Tangential Strategies for Countering
      Artemisinin Resistance.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review attempts to understand the reasons for the
      successes and failures of the two novel strategies that have slowly begun to
      emerge as potential counters for anti-malarial drug resistance-"Triple
      Combination Therapy" and "Drug Cycling." RECENT FINDINGS: Recent reports have
      suggested that increasing the heterogeneity within the parasite's environment,
      both at an individual and the population level, may help raise the probabilistic
      barrier of development of resistance in the parasite. The encouraging results
      following the implementation of a few experimental triple combination therapies
      like atovaquone-proguanil-artesunate along with the re-emergence of chloroquine
      sensitive Plasmodium falciparum parasites in the sub-Saharan African nations have
      re-kindled mankind's hope of curbing anti-malarial drug resistance. The addition
      of a third drug with traits like a medium half-life and benign safety profile is
      crucial to achieving SERCAP (single encounter radical cure and preventive
      therapy), the principle of a triple combination therapy. Simultaneously, the
      plausible reasons behind the re-emergence of chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium
      falciparum malaria in the high transmission regions could be the re-expansion of
      an existing chloroquine susceptible parasite reservoir and a greater
      predisposition towards the development of polyclonal infections. Another
      potential reason for this observation could be an impaired deoxyribonucleic acid
      (DNA) repair mechanisms in the south-east Asian Plasmodium falciparum parasites.
      These strategies may potentially emerge as the key players in warding off anti
      malarial drug resistance in the near future. However, their implementation would
      be dictated by a host of factors like the epidemiological knowledge, population
      pharmacokinetics, drug-resistance patterns, cost, availability, and ease of
      adherence.

PMID- 28589331
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Variations in Knee Kinematics After ACL Injury and After
      Reconstruction Are Correlated With Bone Shape Differences.

PMID- 28589332
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Reliability and Validity of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society
      Scoring System for the Upper Extremity in Japanese Patients.

PMID- 28589333
TI  - CORR (r) Tumor Board: Do Orthopaedic Oncologists Agree on the Diagnosis and
      Treatment of Cartilage Tumors of the Appendicular Skeleton?

PMID- 28589334
TI  - Are There Differences in Gait Mechanics in Patients With A Fixed Versus Mobile
      Bearing Total Ankle Arthroplasty? A Randomized Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is an alternative to arthrodesis, but
      no randomized trial has examined whether a fixed bearing or mobile bearing
      implant provides improved gait mechanics. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We wished to
      determine if fixed- or mobile-bearing TAA results in a larger improvement in pain
      scores and gait mechanics from before surgery to 1 year after surgery, and to
      quantify differences in outcomes using statistical analysis and report the
      standardized effect sizes for such comparisons. METHODS: Patients with end-stage
      ankle arthritis who were scheduled for TAA between November 2011 and June 2013 (n
      = 40; 16 men, 24 women; average age, 63 years; age range, 35-81 years) were
      prospectively recruited for this study from a single foot and ankle orthopaedic
      clinic. During this period, 185 patients underwent TAA, with 144 being eligible
      to participate in this study. Patients were eligible to participate if they were
      able to meet all study inclusion criteria, which were: no previous diagnosis of
      rheumatoid arthritis, a contralateral TAA, bilateral ankle arthritis, previous
      revision TAA, an ankle fusion revision, or able to walk without the use of an
      assistive device, weight less than 250 pounds (114 kg), a sagittal or coronal
      plane deformity less than 15 degrees , no presence of avascular necrosis of the
      distal tibia, no current neuropathy, age older than 35 years, no history of a
      talar neck fracture, or an avascular talus. Of the 144 eligible patients, 40
      consented to participate in our randomized trial. These 40 patients were randomly
      assigned to either the fixed (n = 20) or mobile bearing implant group (n = 20).
      Walking speed, bilateral peak dorsiflexion angle, peak plantar flexion angle,
      sagittal plane ankle ROM, peak ankle inversion angle, peak plantar flexion
      moment, peak plantar flexion power during stance, peak weight acceptance, and
      propulsive vertical ground reaction force were analyzed during seven self
      selected speed level walking trials for 33 participants using an eight-camera
      motion analysis system and four force plates. Seven patients were not included in
      the analysis owing to cancelled surgery (one from each group) and five were lost
      to followup (four with fixed bearing and one with mobile bearing implants). A
      series of effect-size calculations and two-sample t-tests comparing postoperative
      and preoperative increases in outcome variables between implant types were used
      to determine the differences in the magnitude of improvement between the two
      patient cohorts from before surgery to 1 year after surgery. The sample size in
      this study enabled us to detect a standardized shift of 1.01 SDs between group
      means with 80% power and a type I error rate of 5% for all outcome variables in
      the study. RESULTS: This randomized trial did not reveal any differences in
      outcomes between the two implant types under study at the sample size collected.
      In addition to these results, effect size analysis suggests that changes in
      outcome differ between implant types by less than 1 SD. Detection of the largest
      change score or observed effect (propulsive vertical ground reaction force
      [Fixed: 0.1 +/- 0.1; 0.0-1.0; Mobile: 0.0 +/- 0.1; 0.0-0.0; p = 0.0.051]) in this
      study would require a future trial to enroll 66 patients. However, the smallest
      change score or observed effect (walking speed [Fixed: 0.2 +/- 0.3; 0.1-0.4;
      Mobile: 0.2 +/- 0.3; 0.0-0.3; p = 0.742]) requires a sample size of 2336 to
      detect a significant difference with 80% power at the observed effect sizes.
      CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first randomized study to report the
      observed effect size comparing improvements in outcome measures between fixed and
      mobile bearing implant types. This study was statistically powered to detect
      large effects and descriptively analyze observed effect sizes. Based on our
      results there were no statistically or clinically meaningful differences between
      the fixed and mobile bearing implants when examining gait mechanics and pain 1
      year after TAA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, therapeutic study.

PMID- 28589337
TI  - ?

PMID- 28589336
TI  - [Organ support in intensive care medicine].

PMID- 28589335
TI  - A non-destructive BFCOD assay for in vivo measurement of cytochrome P450 3A
      (CYP3A) enzyme activity in fish embryos and larvae.
AB  - There is increasing interest in quantifying the exposure and effects of
      anthropogenic contaminants in fish. Determination of exposures in wild fish is
      routinely performed, but methods to investigate potential effects are less
      established. One of the most relevant approaches would be the use of in vivo
      assays, but existing assays are often limited to in vitro determination of enzyme
      activity. Many pharmaceuticals and some persistent pollutants activate, and are
      metabolized by cytochrome P4503A (CYP3A), which make it a relevant and desirable
      target for biomarker research. We altered the established 7-benzyloxy-4
      trifluoromethylcoumarin-O-debenzylation (BFCOD) in vitro protocol for CYP3A
      activity determination, developing a rapid and inexpensive method to measure in
      vivo (and in ovo) CYP3A activity in two fish systems: Gulf killifish (Fundulus
      grandis) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) early life stages. Even with very low
      concentrations of 7-benzyloxy-4-trifluoromethyl coumarin (BFC, 0.06 uM or 20
      ug/L), we were able to detect significant induction in CYP3A activity in embryos
      of F. grandis, as well as in larvae of D. rerio in response to benzo[a]pyrene
      (BaP) and fluoranthene (FL) exposures. Because of concerns regarding the possible
      contribution of CYP1A to BFCOD activity from previous research, we have used a
      CYP1A post-translational inhibitor (FL) in order to calculate the contribution of
      CYP1A to the BFCOD assay. We also dosed with benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF) and
      showed significant induction of CYP1A activity, with no concurrent increase in
      CYP3A activity. In this paper, we have taken an established in vitro CYP3A
      activity assay, and utilized the reaction in a novel way to allow for the non
      destructive determination of CYP3A. In summary, we describe a sensitive, cheap,
      fast and easy modified BFCOD assay for in ovo and in vivo determination of CYP3A
      activity for use in moderate throughput early-life-stage fish experiments.

PMID- 28589338
TI  - The identification of celiac disease in asymptomatic children: the Generation R
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of our study was to assess whether TG2A levels in the
      healthy childhood population can be predictive of subclinical CD. METHODS: A
      total of 4442 children (median age, 6.0 years) participating in a population
      based prospective cohort study were screened on serum TG2A. Those with positive
      TG2A (>=7 U/ml; n = 60, 1.4%) were invited for clinical evaluation (median age,
      9.0 years). Medical history, physical examination, serum TG2A, and IgA-endomysium
      (EMA) were assessed, as well as HLA DQ 2.2/2.5/8 typing. Patients with positive
      serologies and genetic risk types underwent duodenal biopsies. TG2A levels at the
      time of biopsy were compared with the degree of enteropathy. RESULTS: Fifty-one
      TG2A-positive children were included in the follow-up: 31 (60.8%) children had
      CD, ten (19.6%) did not have CD, and ten (19.6%) were considered potential CD
      cases because of inconclusive serologies. Duodenal biopsies were performed in
      26/31 children. CD with Marsh 3a/b enteropathy was observed in 75% (15/20) of
      children having TG2A levels >=10ULN at 6 years of age, as well as in 75% (6/8) of
      children having a positive TG2A <10 ULN (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.15-6.64). CD cases had
      a lower BMI SDS (mean -0.49, SD 0.92) than children without CD (mean 0.47, SD
      1.37; p = 0.02). No differences were observed in gastrointestinal symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum TG2A screening at 6 years of age in the healthy childhood
      population has a positive predictive value of 61% to detect subclinical CD. We
      did not find a positive correlation between serum TG2A levels and the degree of
      enteropathy.

PMID- 28589339
TI  - A simple scoring system using type IV collagen 7S and aspartate aminotransferase
      for diagnosing nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and related fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently we reported novel noninvasive scoring systems for diagnosing
      nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and related fibrosis, namely FM-NASH index
      and FM-fibro index. They are highly accurate, however, they contain some items
      not widely used in clinical practice and require six or more items to diagnose
      both NASH and related fibrosis. By focusing on widely used items, we tried to
      identify convenient markers in common with the both diagnoses. METHODS: To
      explore the markers for NASH and related fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD) patients, we used data of 24 clinical items in our previous
      report. By logistic regression analysis, we identified items suitable for the
      both diagnoses. We then evaluated their accuracies by area under the receiver
      operator characteristic curves (AUROCs) on independent validation data. RESULTS:
      We identified the combination of type IV collagen 7S and aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST) as the predictor both for NASH and related fibrosis. We
      developed a scoring system based on the combination and evaluated the prediction
      accuracy: the AUROCs for training/validation data sets are 0.857/0.769 for NASH
      and 0.918/0.842 for NASH-related fibrosis. The former was higher than that of
      NAFIC score, and the latter was higher than those of existing fibrosis markers:
      BARD score, FIB-4 index and NAFLD fibrosis score but lower than FM-fibro index.
      CONCLUSIONS: The scoring system using type IV collagen 7S and AST named CA index
      can predict both NASH and related fibrosis in NAFLD patients with sufficient
      accuracy and could be a convenient diagnostic and screening tool for NASH and
      related fibrosis. The scoring system needs to be validated in independent larger
      populations from multiple clinical centers.

PMID- 28589340
TI  - Cigarette Smoking among Women Who Are Homeless or Unstably Housed: Examining the
      Role of Food Insecurity.
AB  - Smoking prevalence remains high among individuals who are homeless, partly due to
      stressors related to homelessness. Beyond housing insecurity, homelessness
      involves financial stresses and unmet subsistence needs. In particular, food
      insecurity contributes to negative health outcomes and other health risks. This
      study examined associations between food insecurity severity and smoking among
      homeless and marginally housed women in San Francisco, California. We used data
      from 247 women from a longitudinal cohort study. Generalized estimating equations
      were used to estimate longitudinal associations between study factors and smoking
      based on data from five biannual assessment points between 2009 and 2012. The
      longitudinal adjusted odds of smoking were higher among severely food insecure
      individuals compared to those who were not food insecure (AOR = 1.68, 95% CI
      [1.02, 2.78]), while associations with other study factors, including
      demographics, time, HIV status, mental health, and substance use (except
      marijuana use), did not reach levels of significance. Similar adjusted
      longitudinal results were observed when food insecurity was the dependent
      variable and smoking an independent variable, suggesting the possibility of a
      bidirectional association. Considering unmet needs, such as food and hunger, may
      improve comprehensive smoking cessation strategies targeting individuals for whom
      mainstream tobacco control efforts have not been effective. Similarly, offering
      improved access to smoking cessation resources should be considered in efforts to
      address food insecurity among individuals experiencing homelessness.

PMID- 28589341
TI  - Highly Sensitive and Reliable Detection of EGFR Exon 19 Deletions by Droplet
      Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Analysis of EGFR mutations is becoming a routine clinical practice
      but the optimal EGFR mutation testing method is still to be determined. METHODS:
      We determined the nucleotide sequence of deletions located in exon 19 of the EGFR
      gene in lung tumor samples of patients residing in different regions of Russia
      (153 tumor DNA specimens), using Sanger sequencing. We developed a droplet
      digital polymerase chain reaction assay capable of detecting all common EGFR
      deletions in exon 19. We also compared the therascreen amplification refractory
      mutation system assay with a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction assay for
      the detection of all the deletions in our study. RESULTS: The droplet digital
      polymerase chain reaction assay demonstrated 100% sensitivity against polymerase
      chain reaction fragment length analysis and detected all possible types of
      deletions revealed in our study (22 types). At the same time, the therascreen
      EGFR RGQ PCR Kit was not able to detect deletions c.2252-2276>A and c.2253-2276
      and showed low performance for another long deletion. CONCLUSION: Thus, we can
      conclude that the extraordinary length of deletions and their atypical locations
      (shift at the 3'-region compared to known deletions) could be problematic for the
      therascreen EGFR RGQ PCR Kit and should be taken into account during targeted
      mutation test development. However, droplet digital polymerase chain reaction is
      a promising and reliable assay that can be used as a diagnostic tool to genotype
      formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded cancer samples for EGFR or another clinically
      relevant somatic mutation.

PMID- 28589343
TI  - Analysis of the Germinal Center Reaction in Tissue Sections.
AB  - Germinal centers are short-lived microanatomical compartments with essential
      roles in adaptive immunity. These lymphoid structures can be identified in
      secondary lymphoid organs using both flow cytometry and immunohistological
      analyses, but only the latter provides useful architectural and spatial
      information. Here we describe how to use immunofluorescence and
      immunohistochemistry with specific antibodies to precisely highlight the cellular
      and architectural features of germinal centers, both in human and mouse secondary
      lymphoid organs, and to study their normal development and disturbance in
      disease.

PMID- 28589342
TI  - Streptomyces asenjonii sp. nov., isolated from hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils
      and emended description of Streptomyces viridosporus Pridham et al. 1958.
AB  - A polyphasic study was undertaken to establish the taxonomic status of
      Streptomyces strains isolated from hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils. Analysis of
      the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the isolates showed that they formed a well
      defined lineage that was loosely associated with the type strains of several
      Streptomyces species. Multi-locus sequence analysis based on five housekeeping
      gene alleles showed that the strains form a homogeneous taxon that is closely
      related to the type strains of Streptomyces ghanaensis and Streptomyces
      viridosporus. Representative isolates were shown to have chemotaxonomic and
      morphological properties consistent with their classification in the genus
      Streptomyces. The isolates have many phenotypic features in common, some of which
      distinguish them from S. ghanaensis NRRL B-12104T, their near phylogenetic
      neighbour. On the basis of these genotypic and phenotypic data it is proposed
      that the isolates be recognised as a new species within the genus Streptomyces,
      named Streptomyces asenjonii sp. nov. The type strain of the species is KNN35.1bT
      (NCIMB 15082T = NRRL B-65050T). Some of the isolates, including the type strain,
      showed antibacterial activity in standard plug assays. In addition, MLSA, average
      nucleotide identity and phenotypic data show that the type strains of S.
      ghanaensis and S. viridosporus belong to the same species. Consequently, it is
      proposed that the former be recognised as a heterotypic synonym of the latter and
      an emended description is given for S. viridosporus.

PMID- 28589345
TI  - Tracking Plasma Cell Differentiation in Living Mice with Two-Photon Microscopy.
AB  - Due to the multitude of cell types involved in the differentiation of plasma
      cells during the germinal center reaction, and due to a lack of in vitro systems,
      which recapitulate germinal centers, the most suitable way to study plasma cell
      generation in germinal centers is in vivo. In this chapter we describe how to
      induce humoral immune responses to defined model antigens and how to visualize
      and track plasma cells and their interactions with other cells in the lymph nodes
      of living mice.

PMID- 28589344
TI  - Detecting Gene Expression in Lymphoid Microenvironments by Laser Microdissection
      and Quantitative RT-PCR.
AB  - Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a
      valuable tool for measuring gene expression in cells and tissues. Unique
      challenges are encountered when studies are performed on cells microdissected
      from small specific areas of frozen animal or human tissue. This chapter
      describes the analysis of gene expression of chemokines and cytokines that are
      important for the differentiation and migration of germinal center (GC) derived
      plasmablasts/plasma cells and memory B cells by using laser capture
      microdissection (LCM) and qRT-PCR to examine tissue sections.

PMID- 28589346
TI  - Microanatomical Labeling of Germinal Center Structures for Flow Cytometry Using
      Photoactivation.
AB  - Germinal centers (GCs) are inducible microanatomical structures required for the
      generation of high-affinity antibodies. Migration of B and T cells within and
      into/out of GCs plays a key role in the evolutionary process that underlies
      affinity maturation, and thus microanatomical location of cells is an important
      variable when studying GC processes. We describe a protocol in which in situ
      photoactivation by multiphoton microscopy can be used to add microanatomical
      information to flow cytometry, allowing for identification and isolation of GC
      cells based on their location. Cells in different microanatomical compartments
      can then be sorted and analyzed for surface marker and mRNA expression.

PMID- 28589347
TI  - Fate Mapping and Transcript Profiling of Germinal Center Cells by Two-Photon
      Photoconversion.
AB  - The germinal center (GC) reaction is the key process for the generation of high
      affinity antibodies to foreign antigen. Standard experimental techniques such as
      fluorescence-activated cell sorting and histology have provided numerous insights
      into the composition and function of the GC. However, these approaches are
      limited to a "snapshot" in time and are unable to fully capture the dynamic
      nature of the GC. Intravital two-photon microscopy overcomes these disadvantages
      and has led to several major advances in the field but is restricted by practical
      and technical limits that prevent long-range mapping and molecular studies. Here
      we describe procedures for optical marking or "tagging" of cells in precise
      microanatomical compartments by two-photon photoconversion that can be used for
      long-term fate mapping and transcript profiling of GC T and B cells.

PMID- 28589348
TI  - Intravital Microscopy of T-B Cell Interactions in Germinal Centers.
AB  - Dynamic imaging analyses of antigen-specific T-B interactions in germinal centers
      have advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying affinity
      maturation and provided a wealth of information about how follicular helper T
      cells function in vivo. Here we describe a routine method to visualize
      fluorescence protein-expressing, antigen-specific T and B cells in germinal
      centers. The protocol for incorporating functional reporters or genetic
      perturbation of the T cells by retroviral transduction is also briefly described,
      using the FRET-based calcium reporter as an example.

PMID- 28589349
TI  - Identifying Follicular Regulatory T Cells by Confocal Microscopy.
AB  - Follicular regulatory T cells are a subset of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells that
      migrate into the B cell follicle after infection or immunization and modulate the
      germinal center response. The anatomical positioning of follicular regulatory T
      cells within the germinal center is a defining characteristic of this subset of
      regulatory T cells; because of this, it is critical that studies of follicular
      regulatory T cells are able to identify them in situ. In this chapter we describe
      an immunofluorescence staining method to visualize follicular regulatory T cells
      in frozen secondary lymphoid tissue sections by confocal imaging.

PMID- 28589350
TI  - Cytokine Expression by T Follicular Helper Cells.
AB  - T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are a specialized subset of CD4+ T cells located
      within temporary structures known as germinal centers (GC) formed within B cell
      follicles of secondary lymphoid organs. In the GC, Tfh cells facilitate the
      production of high-affinity antibodies through secretion of effector cytokines,
      such as IL-21 and IL-4, and through cell-to-cell interactions. The flow
      cytometric-based method described here allows the detection of intracellular
      cytokines within the Tfh population of secondary lymphoid organs (e.g., spleen,
      lymph nodes, and lymphoid nodules such as Peyer's patches), enabling the study of
      Tfh responses to different stimuli in the context of immunity and autoimmunity.

PMID- 28589351
TI  - Follicular Dendritic Cell Isolation and Loading of Immune Complexes.
AB  - Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) are stromal cells that are centrally located
      within B cell follicles of lymph nodes and other lymphoid organs such as the
      spleen. Due to their relative low abundance and difficulty to isolate, FDCs are
      still largely an enigma. Here we describe how to isolate FDCs for ex vivo cell
      culture, sorting by flow cytometry and how to load them in vivo or in vitro with
      immune complexes.

PMID- 28589352
TI  - Isolation and Characterization of Mouse and Human Follicular Dendritic Cells.
AB  - Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) reside in the B cell follicles of secondary and
      tertiary lymphoid tissues where they play key roles in the development and
      maintenance of lymphoid tissue architecture and function. FDCs trap native
      antigens for extended periods of time in the form of immune complexes which
      critcally regulate germinal center reactions in health and disease. Here, we
      describe how to isolate and characterize FDCs from murine and human lymphoid
      tissues.

PMID- 28589353
TI  - In Vitro-Induced Germinal Center B Cell Culture System.
AB  - In germinal centers (GCs), B cells undergo repeated cycles of proliferation and
      affinity-based selection, and differentiate into memory B cells or long-lived
      plasma cells. It has been difficult to elucidate regulatory mechanisms for the
      dynamic GC B cell maturation and differentiation, partly because experimental
      manipulation of GC B cells has been limited. Here we describe a culture system in
      which we can induce massive expansion of naive B cells that exhibit GC B cell
      like phenotype and acquire abilities to differentiate into memory B cells or bone
      marrow plasma cells depending on cytokine conditions. This system will allow us
      to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of GC B cell differentiation.

PMID- 28589355
TI  - Germinal Center Formation with Retrovirally Transduced B Cells for Determining
      the Role of Specific Molecules In Vivo.
AB  - Retrovirus-mediated gene transfer has become a powerful tool to investigate roles
      of specific molecules in B cells, due to its efficiency and expeditiousness. This
      technology is applicable to activated B cells in order to determine effects of a
      gene of interest during germinal center (GC) reactions in combination with
      adoptive transfer. To achieve this, B cells derived from SWHEL mice expressing
      hen egg lysozyme (HEL)-specific B cell receptors (BCR) are stimulated with HEL
      antigen in vivo and then with anti-CD40 antibody ex vivo. These cells are then
      transduced with a retrovirus allowing bicistronic co-expression of a gene of
      interest and GFP, enabling differentiation of transgene positive cells. The
      retrovirally transduced cells are then adoptively transferred into immunized
      CD45.1+ congenic recipient mice, to enable differentiation between donor and host
      cells. This chapter describes methods for (1) activation of HEL-specific mature B
      cells, (2) retroviral transduction of the activated B cells, (3) adoptive
      transfer of the cells into recipients, and (4) analysis of the resultant mice by
      flow cytometry.

PMID- 28589354
TI  - CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated In Vitro Mutagenesis in GC-Like B Cells.
AB  - The CRISPR/Cas9 technology has developed into a powerful tool for genome editing,
      both in terms of gene silencing and the insertion of precise mutations. However,
      the application of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis in primary immune cells, in
      particular in B cells, is still in its infancy because of the difficulty to
      deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 system into these cells. Here, we describe a new method
      to use CRISPR/Cas9 for manipulating genes in germinal center (GC)-like B cells in
      vitro. We isolated Cas9-expressing B cells from R26-Cas9iGFP/+ mice (expressing
      Cas9 constitutively from the Rosa26 locus) and mixed them with control B cells.
      Primary B cells were cultured on CD40L- and BAFF-expressing feeder cells and
      transduced with retroviral particles expressing the sgRNAs of interest. Using
      this system, we have achieved complete gene knockouts in up to 92% of activated B
      cells.

PMID- 28589356
TI  - Characterization of the B Cell Transcriptome Bound by RNA-Binding Proteins with
      iCLIP.
AB  - Posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression shapes the B cell transcriptome
      and controls messenger RNA (mRNA) translation into protein. Recent reports have
      highlighted the importance of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) for mRNA splicing,
      subcellular location, stability, and translation during B lymphocyte development,
      activation, and differentiation. Here we describe individual-nucleotide
      resolution UV cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (iCLIP) in primary
      lymphocytes, a method that maps RNA-protein interactions in a genome-wide scale
      allowing mechanistic analysis of RBP function. We discuss the latest improvements
      in iCLIP technology and provide some examples of how integration of the RNA
      protein interactome with other high-throughput mRNA sequencing methodologies
      uncovers the important role of RBP-mediated RNA regulation in key biological cell
      processes.

PMID- 28589357
TI  - Flow-Cytometric Method Measuring B Cell Surface Immunoglobulin Avidity.
AB  - The affinity of antibodies for their cognate antigens is a critical aspect of
      humoral immunity. The immune system has gone to great lengths to evolve a
      mechanism that enables real time increases in antibody affinity during the course
      of an immune response. This occurs in germinal centers (GC), which form in spleen
      and lymph nodes following immunization. GC B cell competition for limiting amount
      of antigen drives the selection of B cells expressing higher affinity Abs.
      Remarkably little is known about affinity maturation of B cells in immune
      responses to all but a handful of small model antigens. It has proven challenging
      to measure the avidity of specific Abs in polyclonal sera to more complex
      antigens, including viruses. In this chapter we present a simple, flow cytometry
      based, method that determines the average avidity of GC B cells for the influenza
      A virus hemagglutinin glycoprotein, the target antigen of traditional influenza
      vaccines. Flow cytometry using fluorescent hemagglutinin and B cell marker
      specific Abs enables high throughput qualitative and quantitative detection of
      individual B cells. By using a graded amount of antigen and gating on GC B cells
      we define the AC50 the amount of antigen required to stain 50% of hemagglutinin
      specific B cells. This number is in remarkable agreement with the avidity of the
      B cell population. This method can be generally employed to include antibody
      avidity measurements basic and clinical studies of immunity to viruses and other
      medically relevant immunogens.

PMID- 28589358
TI  - Somatic Hypermutation and Affinity Maturation Analysis Using the 4-Hydroxy-3
      Nitrophenyl-Acetyl (NP) System.
AB  - Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin variable region (IgV) genes and affinity
      maturation of the antibody response are the hallmarks of the germinal center (GC)
      reaction in T cell-dependent immune responses. Determining the consequences of
      the experimental manipulation of the GC response on somatic hypermutation and
      affinity maturation requires the availability of a system that allows measuring
      these parameters. Immunization of mice of the C57/Bl6 genetic background with the
      hapten 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl-acetyl (NP) coupled to a carrier protein leads to
      the predominant usage of one particular IgV heavy chain gene segment, V186.2,
      among the responding B cells. Moreover, a specific somatic mutation in codon 33
      of V186.2 that leads to a tryptophan to leucine amino acid exchange increases the
      affinity of the corresponding antibody by ~10-fold, thus representing a molecular
      marker for affinity maturation. In addition, due to the simplicity of the antigen
      and the virtual absence of NP-specific plasma cells prior to immunization, NP
      based immunizations represent ideal tools to quantify the plasma cell response by
      measuring NP-specific antisera by ELISA and the generation of NP-specific plasma
      cells by ELISPOT analysis. We here describe approaches to (1) measure the anti-NP
      plasma cell response by ELISA and ELISPOT analysis, and to (2) amplify and
      sequence V186.2 rearrangements from GC B cells and plasma cells to determine the
      level of somatic hypermutation and the extent of affinity maturation in the anti
      NP response.

PMID- 28589359
TI  - Targeting Gene Function in Germinal Center B Cells: A Practical Approach.
AB  - The germinal center (GC) reaction represents an essential phase of an adaptive
      immune response. Dysfunction of GC B cells can lead to life-threatening diseases
      including autoimmune disorders, lymphomas, and opportunistic infections. Defining
      the molecular circuitries controlling GC B cell physiology is crucial to
      understand the pathogenesis of GC B cell disorders, as well as to develop
      improved vaccines against foreign pathogens. Conditional gene targeting based on
      the Cre/loxP recombination system has substantially accelerated our comprehension
      of the genetic networks controlling GC B cell function. Several independent
      studies in the past 10 years have highlighted the many advantages and the few
      limitations and pitfalls associated to conditional gene manipulation in GC B
      cells using the Cre/loxP recombination system. Here, we describe the basic
      features of GC B cell-specific gene targeting experiments. We provide indications
      on the type of Cre transgene and controls to be chosen, way-out strategies to
      overcome leakiness of the Cre/loxP system, and approaches to minimize the number
      of experimental animals and to speed up analyses on conditional mutant GC B
      cells.

PMID- 28589360
TI  - Development of Mouse Model Systems of Germinal Center Lymphomas.
AB  - Germinal centers (GC) are the predominant origin of human B cell lymphomagenesis.
      Transgenic mice in which gene expression is altered specifically in GC B cells
      have broadened our knowledge about the mechanisms of malignant transformation.
      However, extensive resources are needed due to the genetic complexity of these
      mouse models. Thus, bone marrow (BM)-derived chimerism is an attractive approach
      to study GC B cell derived lymphomagenesis, as it allows for an efficient
      allocation of resources and reduces the number of animals used.

PMID- 28589362
TI  - Determining the Origin of Human Germinal Center B Cell-Derived Malignancies.
AB  - Most human B cell lymphomas originate from germinal center (GC) B cells. This is
      partly caused by the high proliferative activity of GC B cells and the remodeling
      processes acting at the immunoglobulin (Ig) loci of these cells, i.e., somatic
      hypermutation and class-switching. Mistargeting of these processes can cause
      chromosomal translocations, and the hypermutation machinery may also target non
      Ig genes. As somatic hypermutation is exclusively active in GC B cells, the
      presence of somatic mutations in rearranged IgV genes is a standard criterium for
      a GC or post-GC B cell origin of lymphomas. Beyond this, ongoing somatic
      hypermutation during lymphoma clone expansion indicates that the lymphoma has an
      active GC B cell differentiation program. The proto-oncogene BCL6 is specifically
      expressed in GC B cells and also acquires somatic mutations as a physiological by
      product of the somatic hypermutation process, albeit at a lower level than IgV
      genes. Thus, detection of BCL6 mutations is a further genetic trait of a GC
      experience of a B cell lymphoma. Typically, B cell lymphomas retain key features
      of their specific cells of origin, including a differentiation stage-specific
      gene expression pattern. This is at least partly due to genetic lesions, which
      "freeze" the lymphoma cells at the differentiation stage at which the
      transformation occurred. Therefore, identification of the normal B cell subset
      with the most similar gene expression pattern to a particular type of B cell
      lymphoma has been instrumental to deduce the precise cell of origin of
      lymphomas.We present here protocols to analyze human B cell lymphomas for a
      potential origin from GC B cells by determining the presence of mutations in
      rearranged IgV genes and the BCL6 gene, and by comparing the gene expression
      pattern of lymphoma cells with those of normal B cell subsets by genechip or RNA
      sequencing analysis.

PMID- 28589361
TI  - The AID-Cre-ERT2 Model: A Tool for Monitoring B Cell Immune Responses and
      Generating Selective Hybridomas.
AB  - Expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is the hallmark of B
      cells engaged in an immune response in germinal centers. We designed an inducible
      fate-mapping reporter mouse in which AID-expressing B cells could be timely and
      irreversibly marked, by knockin at the Aicda locus of a tamoxifen-inducible Cre
      recombinase. This mouse model allows notably for the long-term follow-up of
      memory B cells and plasma cells engaged in an immune response. We describe here a
      protocol to generate hybridomas from small memory subsets that can be easily
      traced and identified in this mouse line through Cre-activated fluorescent
      reporters.

PMID- 28589363
TI  - Tracking B-Cell Repertoires and Clonal Histories in Normal and Malignant
      Lymphocytes.
AB  - Methods for tracking B-cell repertoires and clonal history in normal and
      malignant B-cells based on immunoglobulin variable region (IGV) gene analysis
      have developed rapidly with the advent of massive parallel next-generation
      sequencing (mpNGS) protocols. mpNGS permits a depth of analysis of IGV genes not
      hitherto feasible, and presents challenges of bioinformatics analysis, which can
      be readily met by current pipelines. This strategy offers a potential resolution
      of B-cell usage at a depth that may capture fully the natural state, in a given
      biological setting. Conventional methods based on RT-PCR amplification and Sanger
      sequencing are also available where mpNGS is not accessible. Each method offers
      distinct advantages. Conventional methods for IGV gene sequencing are readily
      adaptable to most laboratories and provide an ease of analysis to capture salient
      features of B-cell use. This chapter describes two methods in detail for analysis
      of IGV genes, mpNGS and conventional RT-PCR with Sanger sequencing.

PMID- 28589364
TI  - How to Simulate a Germinal Center.
AB  - Germinal centers host a mini-evolutionary environment where B cells can mutate
      their receptor and be selected depending on its affinity to target antigens in a
      process called affinity maturation. Starting from founder cells with a weak B
      cell receptor affinity, germinal centers release output cells as antibody
      secreting cells or memory cells with a very high affinity, a property which is
      essential for pathogen clearance and immune memory. Therapeutic interventions on
      the germinal centers are tantalizing approaches to improve vaccines or to support
      rejection of chronic pathogens such as HIV. However, the complexity of the
      selection processes makes it very hard to make reliable predictions. Here, we
      present in detail how to build an agent-based model (hyphasma), accounting for
      the dynamics of the germinal center. It encompasses the core quantitative traits
      of affinity maturation, and allowed to make reliable predictions in previous
      studies.

PMID- 28589365
TI  - Variability of platelet response to clopidogrel is not related to adverse
      cardiovascular events in patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing
      percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiplatelet response to clopidogrel and its influence upon the risk
      of cardiovascular adverse events among patients with stable coronary artery
      disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been
      investigated fully. METHODS: Two hundred eleven patients treated with aspirin and
      clopidogrel were included in the study. Immediately before PCI, residual platelet
      reactivity testing with impedance aggregometry assay and a single-nucleotide
      polymorphism genotyping analysis targeting variants of CYP2C19, ABCB1, and PON1
      genes was performed. After the index PCI, the patients were screened for
      cardiovascular events 6 months following bare-metal stent implantation or 12
      months following drug-eluting stent implantation. RESULTS: High on-treatment
      platelet reactivity (HTPR) was observed in 19.43% individuals and low-TPR (LTPR)
      in 26.54%. In multivariate analysis, HTPR was significantly (p < 0.05) associated
      with a history of diabetes, higher systolic blood pressure, and platelet count
      comparing to that of other patients. LTPR was significantly associated with no
      history of hypertension, younger age, lower platelet count, absence of the
      CYP2C19*2 variant, and lower CRP plasma level. Overall, cardiac adverse events
      were noted in 14.23% patients. Survival analysis with the Cox proportional hazard
      model showed no influence of residual platelet reactivity during clopidogrel
      therapy upon both ischemic and hemorrhagic events. However, significant
      predictors for composite of major adverse cardiac events and hospitalization for
      cardiovascular causes were identified (the higher CCS class prior to coronary
      intervention and the higher creatinine serum concentration). CONCLUSIONS: The
      platelet response to clopidogrel has no impact upon post-procedural adverse
      events at mid-term follow-up in patients with stable CAD undergoing PCI. This
      finding suggests that routine platelet reactivity testing is not beneficial in
      this group of patients.

PMID- 28589366
TI  - Meta-analysis of pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and surgical
      treatment for breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there is no consensus on whether pre-operative MRI in women
      with breast cancer (BC) benefits surgical treatment, MRI continues to be used pre
      operatively in practice. This meta-analysis examines the association between pre
      operative MRI and surgical outcomes in BC. METHODS: A systematic review was
      performed to identify studies reporting quantitative data on pre-operative MRI
      and surgical outcomes (without restriction by type of surgery received or type of
      BC) and using a controlled design. Random-effects logistic regression calculated
      the pooled odds ratio (OR) for each surgical outcome (MRI vs. no-MRI groups), and
      estimated ORs stratified by study-level age. Subgroup analysis was performed for
      invasive lobular cancer (ILC). RESULTS: Nineteen studies met eligibility
      criteria: 3 RCTs and 16 comparative studies that included newly diagnosed BC of
      any type except for three studies restricted to ILC. Primary analysis (85,975
      subjects) showed that pre-operative MRI was associated with increased odds of
      receiving mastectomy [OR 1.39 (1.23, 1.57); p < 0.001]; similar findings were
      shown in analyses stratified by study-level median age. Secondary analyses did
      not find statistical evidence of an effect of MRI on the rates of re-excision, re
      operation, or positive margins; however, MRI was significantly associated with
      increased odds of receiving contralateral prophylactic mastectomy [OR 1.91 (1.25,
      2.91); p = 0.003]. Subgroup analysis for ILC did not find any association between
      MRI and the odds of receiving mastectomy [OR 1.00 (0.75, 1.33); p = 0.988] or the
      odds of re-excision [OR 0.65 (0.35, 1.24); p = 0.192]. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative
      MRI is associated with increased odds of receiving ipsilateral mastectomy and
      contralateral prophylactic mastectomy as surgical treatment in newly diagnosed BC
      patients.

PMID- 28589367
TI  - Lifetime moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and ER/PR/HER-defined post
      menopausal breast cancer risk.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the relationship of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
      (MVPA) in leisure-time, household, and occupational domains across the total
      lifetime and in four age periods with breast cancer risk, as defined by estrogen
      receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) status and ER/PR/human epidermal growth
      factor-2 (HER2) status, among post-menopausal women. METHODS: Data were from 692
      women with incident breast cancer and 644 controls in the Canadian Breast Cancer
      Study, a case-control study of women aged 40-80 years in British Columbia and
      Ontario. Mean metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours/week for questionnaire-assessed
      leisure-time, household, and occupational MVPA were calculated for the total
      lifetime and four age periods (12-17, 18-34, 45-49, and >=50 years). Odds ratios
      (ORs) for the relationships between domain-specific MVPA at each lifetime period
      and risks of ER/PR-defined and ER/PR/HER2-defined breast cancers were estimated
      using polytomous logistic regression. Trend tests for dose-response relationships
      were calculated for the ORs across increasing tertiles of mean MET-hours/week of
      MVPA. RESULTS: Total lifetime leisure-time MVPA was associated with reduced risk
      of ER-/PR- breast cancer in a dose-response fashion (p trend = 0.014). In
      contrast, total lifetime household MVPA was associated with reduced risk of ER+
      and/or PR+ breast cancer (p trend < 0.001). When further stratified by HER2
      status, the effect of leisure-time MVPA appeared confined to HER2- breast
      cancers, and the effect of household MVPA did not differ according to HER2
      status. Similar trends were observed when stratified by age period. CONCLUSIONS:
      Lifetime leisure-time MVPA appeared to be associated with reduced risk of ER-/PR
      /HER2- breast cancers and lifetime household MVPA was associated with reduced
      risk of ER+ and/or PR+ breast cancer, regardless of HER2 status.

PMID- 28589368
TI  - Reassessing risk models for atypical hyperplasia: age may not matter.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of age at
      diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia ("atypia", ductal [ADH], lobular [ALH], or
      severe ADH) on the risk of developing subsequent invasive breast cancer or ductal
      carcinoma in situ (DCIS). METHODS: Using standard survival analysis methods, we
      retrospectively analyzed 1353 women not treated with chemoprevention among a
      cohort of 2370 women diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia to determine the risk
      relationship between age at diagnosis and subsequent breast cancer. RESULTS: For
      all atypia diagnoses combined, our cohort showed a 5-, 10-, and 15-year risk of
      invasive breast cancer or DCIS of 0.56, 1.25, and 1.30, respectively, with no
      significant difference in the (65,75] year age group. For women aged (35,75]
      years, we observed no significant difference in the 15-year risk of invasive
      breast cancer or DCIS after atypical hyperplasia, although the baseline risk for
      a 40-year-old woman is approximately 1/8 the risk of a 70-year-old woman. The
      risks associated with invasive breast cancer or DCIS for women in our cohort
      diagnosed with ADH, severe ADH, or ALH, regardless of age, were 7.6% (95% CI 5.9
      9.3%) at 5 years, 25.1% (20.7-29.2%) at 10 years, and 40.1% (32.8-46.6%) at 15
      years. CONCLUSION: In contrast to current risk prediction models (e.g., Gail,
      Tyrer-Cuzick) which assume that the risk of developing breast cancer increases in
      relation to age at diagnosis of atypia, we found the 15-year cancer risk in our
      cohort was not significantly different for women between the ages of 35
      (excluded) and 75. This implies that the "hits" received by the breast tissue
      along the "high-risk pathway" to cancer might possibly supersede other factors
      such as age.

PMID- 28589369
TI  - Extensions of the Rosner-Colditz breast cancer prediction model to include older
      women and type-specific predicted risk.
AB  - PURPOSE: A breast cancer risk prediction rule previously developed by Rosner and
      Colditz has reasonable predictive ability. We developed a re-fitted version of
      this model, based on more than twice as many cases now including women up to age
      85, and further extended it to a model that distinguished risk factor prediction
      of tumors with different estrogen/progesterone receptor status. METHODS: We
      compared the calibration and discriminatory ability of the original, the re
      fitted, and the type-specific models. Evaluation used data from the Nurses'
      Health Study during the period 1980-2008, when 4384 incident invasive breast
      cancers occurred over 1.5 million person-years. Model development used two-thirds
      of study subjects and validation used one-third. RESULTS: Predicted risks in the
      validation sample from the original and re-fitted models were highly correlated
      (rho = 0.93), but several parameters, notably those related to use of menopausal
      hormone therapy and age, had different estimates. The re-fitted model was well
      calibrated and had an overall C-statistic of 0.65. The extended, type-specific
      model identified several risk factors with varying associations with occurrence
      of tumors of different receptor status. However, this extended model relative to
      the prediction of any breast cancer did not meaningfully reclassify women who
      developed breast cancer to higher risk categories, nor women remaining cancer
      free to lower risk categories. CONCLUSIONS: The re-fitted Rosner-Colditz model
      has applicability to risk prediction in women up to age 85, and its
      discrimination is not improved by consideration of varying associations across
      tumor subtypes.

PMID- 28589372
TI  - Erratum to: Surfactants in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Infants and
      Children: Past, Present and Future.

PMID- 28589370
TI  - Splicing factors differentially expressed in psoriasis alter mRNA maturation of
      disease-associated EDA+ fibronectin.
AB  - The EDA+ fibronectin splicing variant is overexpressed in psoriatic non-lesional
      epidermis and sensitizes keratinocytes to mitogenic signals. However, regulation
      of its abundance is only partially understood. In our recent cDNA microarray
      experiment, we identified three SR-rich splicing factors-splicing factor,
      arginine/serine-rich 18 (SFRS18), peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase G (PPIG),
      and luc-7 like protein 3 (LUC7L3)-which might be implicated in the preactivated
      states of keratinocytes in psoriatic non-involved skin and could also contribute
      to the regulation of fibronectin mRNA maturation. In this study, we investigated
      the role of LUC7L3, PPIG, and SFRS18 in psoriasis and in the mRNA maturation
      process of fibronectin. Regarding tissue staining experiments, we were able to
      demonstrate a characteristic distribution of the splicing factors in healthy,
      psoriatic non-involved and involved epidermis. Moreover, the expression profiles
      of these SR-rich proteins were found to be very similar in synchronized
      keratinocytes. Contribution of splicing facwwtors to the EDA+ fibronectin
      formation was also confirmed: their siRNA silencing leads to altered fibronectin
      mRNA and protein expression patterns, suggesting the participation in the EDA
      domain inclusion. Our results indicate that LUC7L3, PPIG, and SFRS18 are not only
      implicated in EDA+ fibronectin formation, but also that they could possess
      multiple roles in psoriasis-associated molecular abnormalities.

PMID- 28589371
TI  - Activator protein-1 (AP-1): a bridge between life and death in lung epithelial
      (A549) cells under hypoxia.
AB  - Activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factor plays a central role in hypoxia
      to modulate the expression of genes that decides the fate of the cell. The aim of
      the present study was to explore the role of AP-1 subunits in lung epithelial
      (A549) cells under hypoxia. Cell cycle studies by flow cytometry indicated that
      cell viability was unaffected by the initial hypoxia exposure (0.5% O2 at 37 
      degrees C) for 6 and 12 h. However, both transient cell cycle arrest and cell
      death was detected at 24 and 48 h. Flow cytometry and spectrofluorometry data
      confirmed the increase in ROS levels. Elevated ROS and calcium levels activated
      the stress-related MAPK signaling cascade. ERK and JNK were activated in early
      hypoxic exposure (within 6 h), whereas p38 were activated in 48 h of hypoxia.
      These subtypes further stimulated the subunits of AP-1 at different times of
      hypoxia exposure to orchestrate different genes responsible for cell
      proliferation (6 and 12 h) and apoptosis (24 and 48 h). Our results clearly
      depict the role of AP-1 heterodimer, i.e., p-c-jun/c-fos, p-c-jun/fosB, junD/c
      fos, and junD/fosB in cell proliferation/survival by regulating the expression of
      Bcl-2 and cyclins (D1 and B1) at 6 h and 12 h of hypoxia, whereas junB/Fra-1
      heterodimer have important role in apoptosis by regulating the expression of p53,
      Bax, and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (p16, p21, p27) at 24 h and 48 h of
      hypoxia. Also, the cell survival signaling pathway NO-AKT interrupted at 24 h and
      48 h of hypoxia indicating cell death. In conclusion, hypoxia for different time
      points activated different subunits of AP-1 that combined to form different
      heterodimers. These dimers regulated the expression of genes responsible for cell
      proliferation and apoptosis. Since, AP-1 plays a role in the decisive phenomenon
      of the cell to choose between proliferation and apoptosis; thus, its subunits or
      dimers could be a good therapeutic target for many diseases.

PMID- 28589374
TI  - [Integration of palliative care into intensive care : Systematic review].
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the prime aims of intensive care is to cure patients or at
      least to extend life duration, sometimes to the extent of losing quality of life.
      Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients with life
      limiting conditions; however, some patients need both intensive and palliative
      care. About 5-10% of all deaths in Germany and 20% of all deaths in the USA occur
      in an intensive care unit (ICU) and many of those as well as other patients may
      benefit from palliative care consultation. Palliative care consultations are
      increasingly available for intensive care patients but are still infrequently
      used. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the current situation of palliative
      patients in ICU settings: what is the impact of palliative care interventions on
      the quality of care of ICU patients? To what extent is palliative care support at
      ICUs available and to what extent is it used? Which factors trigger palliative
      care consultations? METHOD: We set out with a search of PubMed, Scopus and other
      databases in English and on a) the impact of palliative care interventions on the
      quality of care of ICU patients, b) the utilization of palliative care support in
      ICUs and c) the factors which trigger palliative care consultations. We included
      both quantitative and qualitative studies to reflect the views of all parties
      involved. To emphasize the situation in German-speaking countries we also
      searched Google Scholar with search terms in German and added those results to
      the review. Additionally, hand-searched studies in English and in German were
      included. RESULTS: We screened 695 abstracts and identified 18 relevant articles
      of which 15 were from the USA and Great Britain, 1 each was from Austria, Germany
      and Switzerland. Palliative care is a meaningful addition to ICU standard
      treatment: it can improve quality of care and helps reduce length of stay in an
      ICU. It is unclear if the reduced length of stay leads to economic benefits;
      however, the utilization of palliative care is inconsistent and infrequent as is
      its acceptance among ICU physicians. Trigger factors can be used to improve the
      integration of palliative care support in ICUs and point out patients' unmet
      palliative needs. DISCUSSION: Trigger factors can reduce barriers which hold back
      the integration of palliative care in ICUs. Early integration of palliative care
      can improve quality of care by offering psychological support to patients and
      their families and by providing collegial consultation. An ongoing prospective
      study is investigating the acceptance of trigger factors in the daily routine
      among ICU physicians in Germany.

PMID- 28589375
TI  - [Benchmarking in pathology].

PMID- 28589376
TI  - ?

PMID- 28589373
TI  - 3D structural complexity analysis of cerebellum in Chiari malformation type I.
AB  - Chiari malformation type I (CM-I), described by a descent of the cerebellar
      tonsils, is assumed to be a neurological developmental disorder. The aim of the
      present study was to investigate morphological variance in cerebellar sub
      structures, including gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF), using magnetic resonance (MR) images with three-dimensional (3D)
      fractal dimension (FD) analysis in patients with CM-I. MRI data of 16 patients
      and 15 control subjects were obtained, and structural complexity analyses were
      performed using a box-counting FD algorithm. Results showed that patients with CM
      I had significantly reduced FD values for WM and CSF in comparison with controls,
      and statistically significant differences in cerebellar GM and CSF volumes
      between patients and controls were found. Moreover, a significant difference was
      not found between the WM volumes. This may suggest that there are changes in
      structural complexity in WM even when its volume is unaffected. We conclude that
      the findings of this preliminary study indicate the possibility of using FD
      analysis to understand the pathophysiology of CM-I in patients.

PMID- 28589377
TI  - Erratum to: What is this image? 2016: Image 2 result.

PMID- 28589378
TI  - Erratum to: Automatic determination of cardiovascular risk by CT attenuation
      correction maps in Rb-82 PET/CT.
AB  - Regrettably an error was introduced in Table 3 during the article's production.
      The very first cell (row: Very low 0; column: Very low) should read '12' and not
      '21' as originally published.

PMID- 28589379
TI  - Mechanical dyssynchrony with phase analysis of gated SPECT: Nap time is over.

PMID- 28589380
TI  - Persistence with denosumab therapy in women affected by osteoporosis with
      fragility fractures: a multicenter observational real practice study in Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persistence is commonly considered a key factor for the successful
      management of osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Denosumab is the first
      biologic agent developed for the treatment of osteoporosis with satisfying data
      regarding the persistence with this therapy. AIM: The purpose of this multicenter
      observational real practice study was to evaluate the persistence with denosumab
      treatment in post-menopausal women affected by osteoporosis. MATERIAL/SUBJECTS
      AND METHODS: Women were recruited in four specialized centers for the management
      of osteoporosis in North, Center and South of Italy. We included women with a
      diagnosis of post-menopausal osteoporosis, aged >50 years, able to obtain a
      prescription according to the Italian reimbursement criteria in force during the
      study period for anti-osteoporotic pharmacological treatment. They initiated a
      treatment with subcutaneous denosumab (Prolia(r)) 60 mg/every 6 months between
      November 2011 and May 2016. Women who had received aromatase inhibitors were
      excluded. Patients were assessed at baseline and every 6 months for all treatment
      length. Persistence data were evaluated for a total of 36 months. RESULTS: Eight
      hundred seventy women were enrolled; mean aged 70 years, with a mean body mass
      index of 24.8 +/- 4.1 kg/m2. At the Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry assessment,
      the mean lumbar spine T-score was -2.76 +/- 1.14 standard deviations (SD) and the
      mean femoral neck T-score was -2.49 +/- 0.80 SD. During the study, the total
      persistence was 91.4%. Total dropouts were 75 (8.6%), higher within the initial 6
      month period of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Persistence to denosumab treatment in our
      observational real practice study was very high. These results suggest that
      factors such as frequency of visits, pharmacological schedule, and opportunity to
      call the doctor might play an important role in the persistence and adherence to
      treatment to obtain maximum therapeutic effect and avoid further fragility
      fractures.

PMID- 28589381
TI  - The diagnostic value of glycated albumin in gestational diabetes mellitus.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our objective was to compare the diagnostic performance of glycated
      hemoglobin (HbA1c), GA, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) for the diagnosis of
      GDM. METHODS: Women at their late second or early third trimesters seen from
      October 2011 to April 2012 were studied. GDM was diagnosed based on oral glucose
      tolerance test results, and GA and HbA1c were measured at the same time. Patients
      were divided into two groups (with and without GDM), and areas under the receiver
      operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated to determine the
      diagnostic value of FPG, GA, and HbA1c. RESULTS: A total of 698 women were
      included, of which 232 (33.2%) had GDM. Overall, FPG had the highest AUC for the
      detection of GDM, and was significantly higher than that of GA (0.692 vs. 0.568,
      p < 0.001) and HbA1c (0.692 vs. 0.619, p = 0.014). The AUC of FPG was
      significantly greater than that of GA and HbA1c. At 24-28 weeks' gestation, the
      AUCs of FPG were significantly greater than those of GA and HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results do not support the use of GA as a screening tool for GDM.

PMID- 28589382
TI  - Vitamin D receptor and progesterone receptor protein and gene expression in
      papillary thyroid carcinomas: associations with histological features.
AB  - PURPOSE: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression has
      been described in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) but data regarding
      association with tumor histological characteristics and localization of the
      protein expression are scarce. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin
      embedded specimens from 45 patients with PTC (cases) were retrieved and tumor
      histological data were recorded. We analyzed gene and protein expression of VDR
      and PR and gene expression of vitamin D-inactivating 24-hyroxylase (CYP24A1) and
      the activating 1-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) enzymes in follicular cancer cells
      and the adjacent non-neoplastic thyroid tissue (NNTT). RESULTS: VDR mRNA and
      protein expression was higher in PTC compared with NNTT (p < 0.05). The protein
      was globally localized in the cytoplasm and cell membranes of the neoplastic
      cells in all cases, with differences in intensity. Cytoplasmic positivity was
      stronger in the majority of cases. Membranous positivity was also evident in
      cases, whereas in NNTT was generally weak and in a low percentage of the cells.
      Expression of CYP 24A1, but not CYP27B1, was increased in approximately all PTC
      specimens and was associated with lymph node metastasis and extrathyroidal
      extension. PR mRNA was increased in 34% and protein expression was present in 57%
      of cases, and none of NNTT. PR, but not VDR, mRNA expression was significantly
      associated with the tumor size (r = 0.645, p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: We provide
      evidence for the expression pattern of VDR, PR and CYP24A1 in the progression of
      PTC. Rapid anti-tumor responses of vitamin D in PTC may be blocked due to
      inactivation of local vitamin D metabolism.

PMID- 28589383
TI  - Von Hippel-Lindau disease: a single gene, several hereditary tumors.
AB  - The Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is an autosomal dominant disorder
      characterized by the predisposition for multiple tumors caused by germline
      mutations in the tumor suppressor gene VHL. This disease is associated with a
      high morbidity and mortality and presents a variable expression, with different
      phenotypes from family to family, affecting different organs during the lifetime.
      The main manifestations of VHL are hemangioblastomas of the central nervous
      system and retina, renal carcinomas and cysts, bilateral pheochromocytomas,
      cystic and solid tumors of the pancreas, cystadenomas of the epididymis, and
      endolymphatic sac tumors. The discovery of any of the syndrome components should
      raise suspicion of this disease and other stigmas must then be investigated. Due
      to the complexities associated with management of the various VHL manifestation,
      the diagnosis and the follow-up of this syndrome is a challenge in the clinical
      practice and a multidisciplinary approach is needed. The particular relevance to
      endocrinologists is the detection of pheochromocytomas in 35% and islet cell
      tumors in 17% of VHL patients, which can be associated with hypertension,
      hypoglycemia, cardiac arrhythmias, and carcinoid syndrome. The purpose of this
      review is to define the Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome addressing its clinical
      aspects and classification, the importance of genetic counseling and to propose a
      protocol for clinical follow-up.

PMID- 28589385
TI  - Quantitative analysis of Rice stripe virus in a transovarial transmission cycle
      during the development and reproduction of its vector, Laodelphax striatellus.
AB  - The amount of Rice stripe virus (RSV) maintained through transovarial
      transmission was analyzed during the development and reproduction of its vector,
      Laodelphax striatellus. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR analysis was used
      to quantify RNA expressed from the RSV coat protein (CP) gene as an estimate of
      RSV content in nymphs and adults of L. striatellus at various developmental
      stages. The 18S ribosome RNA gene of L. striatellus was chosen as the reference
      for calculating RSV CP expression using the comparative Ct method. Based on the
      CP transcript levels, the amount of RSV did not differ significantly throughout
      the nymphal stage or between adult females of different ages; however, RSV
      content tended to increase slightly as males became older. The average RSV
      content in males was 1.30-2.49 times that in females. The amount of RSV in L.
      striatellus adults was compared between generations. The RSV content of female
      adults did not differ significantly between the parent and progeny populations
      three of three different females. L. striatellus grown to adults on a susceptible
      cultivar and five RSV-resistant cultivars were compared to analyze whether the
      amount of RSV varied among cultivars. Although the amount of RSV in L.
      striatellus adults differed significantly among the six rice cultivars evaluated,
      the difference seemed independent of whether resistance genes were present. In
      addition, the percentage of viruliferous insects was similar among cultivars.

PMID- 28589384
TI  - The use of nutraceuticals in male sexual and reproductive disturbances: position
      statement from the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS).

PMID- 28589386
TI  - Navigating the jungles of tropical infectious gastrointestinal pathology: a
      pattern-based approach to the endoscopic biopsy.
AB  - International travels and global human migration have had the unforeseen
      consequence of increasing the exposure of histopathologists in developed
      countries to the pathology of tropical infectious disease. The gastrointestinal
      tract (GIT) is often the primary site of infection due to the faecal-oral route
      of transmission and the high risk of exposure to contaminated water, food or soil
      when travelling to these regions. Whilst current microbiologic techniques are far
      more sensitive than histology in detecting infectious pathogens, the
      histopathologist nonetheless retains a pivotal role in diagnosing tropical GIT
      disease. This role entails evaluating endoscopic biopsies for any characteristic
      inflammatory pattern, identifying pathogens which may be present and excluding
      other look-alike pathologies. Recent advances in commercially available
      diagnostic modalities, including molecular techniques, have further broadened the
      scope of the histopathologist's armamentarium. This review outlines a practical
      pattern-based approach to diagnosing tropical GIT infections in endoscopic
      material, so as to assist pathologists less familiar with this spectrum of
      pathology.

PMID- 28589387
TI  - Non-invasive papillary urothelial carcinoma of the vagina: molecular analysis of
      a rare case identifies clonal relationship to non-invasive urothelial carcinoma
      of the bladder.
AB  - We present a rare case of non-invasive papillary urothelial carcinoma of the
      vagina as the initial presentation of a multicentric urothelial carcinoma also
      involving bladder and renal pelvis and report for the first time in the
      literature the molecular alterations observed in the vaginal urothelial lesion
      and the synchronous lesions of the urinary tract. In this case, the non-invasive
      papillary urothelial carcinoma in the vagina displayed the same genetic
      alterations in the FGFR3 and PIK3CA genes as those seen in the non-invasive
      papillary urothelial carcinoma of the bladder contrasting with the wild phenotype
      observed in the invasive urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis. This
      observation could reinforce the theory of "seeding" of carcinoma cells as a valid
      and most likely explanation of this multifocality. In addition, we emphasize in
      this report the importance of recognizing this rare lesion in the female genital
      tract and its differential diagnosis.

PMID- 28589388
TI  - [Efficacy and safety analysis of off-label treatment with biologics in
      autoinflammatory diseases : Experiences from a German registry (GRAID2)].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of therapy with biologics in
      patients with autoinflammatory diseases (AIF) or macrophage activating syndrome
      (MAS) in a real-life setting in Germany. METHODS: The German Register of
      Autoimmune Diseases 2 (GRAID2) is a retrospective, non-interventional,
      multicenter registry collecting data from all patients with inflammatory
      rheumatic diseases refractory to conventional therapy and treated with initial
      off-label biologics between August 2006 and December 2013. Patients with MAS
      could be included without prior treatment with a biologic agent. RESULTS: Data
      from 26 patients with AIF and 5 with MAS were collected. Of the AIF patients 13
      (50%) were diagnosed with adult onset Still's disease (AOSD), 6 (23%) with
      familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), 4 (15.4%) with tumor necrosis factor
      associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), 1 (3.8%) patient with cryopyrin-associated
      periodic syndrome (CAPS) and 2 (8%) with undifferentiated fever syndromes. The 5
      MAS patients suffered from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with chronic myeloid
      leukemia, systemic lupus erythematosus and in 2 cases AOSD. In 1 patient a
      chronic neurological disease was documented without further differentiaton. All
      patients with TRAPS were primarily treated with etanercept and all CAPS patients
      with canakinumab. The AOSD and FMF patients were treated with anakinra as the
      first line off-label biologic in 6 out of 13 and 5 out of 6 cases, respectively.
      The MAS patients responded very well or well to therapy in 40% and 60% had a
      moderate response. There were no non-responders. Within the group of AIF patients
      the physicians documented a very effective or effective treatment in 38.5%, a
      moderate response in 30.8% and no response in 30.7%. The tolerance was very good
      in 5 out of 5 of the MAS and in 92% of the AIF patients. CONCLUSION: The data of
      this retrospective register provide indications for an effective and safe
      treatment with off-label biologic medication in patients with AIF and MAS in
      daily practice.

PMID- 28589389
TI  - [Safety and efficacy of off-label use of biologic therapies in patients with
      inflammatory rheumatic diseases refractory to standard of care therapy : Data
      from a nationwide German registry (GRAID2)].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The German Registry of Autoimmune Diseases 2 (GRAID2) is a
      retrospective, non-interventional, multicenter registry study collecting data
      from patients with inflammatory, mainly rheumatic diseases refractory to standard
      of care therapy and treated with an off-label biologic therapy. The retrospective
      documentation comprised case history, diagnosis, course of disease (including
      safety and global efficacy). The objective was to evaluate the global clinical
      outcome and safety of off-label biologic therapy in clinical practice. RESULTS:
      Data from 311 patients with an overall observation period of 338.5 patient-years
      were collected. The mean patients age was 47.8 years with 56.9% females. The most
      frequently documented diagnoses comprised rejection prophylaxis/therapy after
      renal transplantation (NTX, 18.3%), ANCA-vasculitides (17.4%), systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE, 10.3%), autoinflammatory fever syndromes (8.4%), autoimmune
      myositis (7.4%) and pemphigus (5.8%). Documented biologic therapies included
      rituximab (RTX, 70.1%), tocilizumab (TCZ, 9.3%), infliximab (IFX, 7.1%), anakinra
      (ANK, 5.5%), adalimumab (ADA, 3.5%), etanercept (ETA, 2.3%) and certolizumab
      (CTZ, 0.6%). After initiation of off-label biologic treatment, tolerability was
      assessed by the physicians as "very good"/"good" in 95.5%. Altogether, 275
      adverse events were documented and of these, 104 were classified as serious
      adverse events and occurred in 62 patients. In 19 of these patients severe
      infections (30.6%) were documented, resulting in a rate of 5.6 severe infections
      per 100 patient years. A total of six deaths were documented, while five of these
      cases were rated as not related to the biologics treatment. Notably, the use of
      RTX in patients with small vessel vasculitides and of TCZ in patients with large
      vessel vasculitides prior to their approval support their relevance in clinical
      management of patients with severe diseases. CONCLUSION: The results of this
      registry together with data of GRAID1 provide evidence that use of off-label
      biologic therapies in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases refractory to
      conventional treatment did not result in any new safety signal already known for
      these compounds or subsequently shown by clinical trials in certain entities.

PMID- 28589390
TI  - [Unloading with insoles, orthotics and braces : Pre-operative leg axis correction
      or independent treatment?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading joint disease. In most of the
      early stages it does not involve the whole knee joint. Often, symptoms only or
      mainly concern the medial compartment combined with a slight varus malalignment.
      OBJECTIVES: Do valgus braces or laterally wedged insoles influence biomechanics
      and thus improve pain and function in patients with medial OA? Does the OA grade,
      severity of malalignment or patient's body weight predict the efficacy of the
      above-mentioned conservative treatment options? MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      current literature was reviewed in regard to biomechanical changes to joint
      loading and their correlation to clinical results. RESULTS: Valgus braces and
      laterally wedged insoles reduce knee adduction moment, varus malalignment and
      analgesic consumption. Some authors suggest that mainly an alteration in muscle
      activity (diminished muscle co-contractions) is responsible for pain relief. Body
      weight and severity of varus malalignment did not influence treatment results; a
      significant correlation with OA severity was shown only for laterally wedged
      insoles. For both devices, compliance problems - especially long-term - should be
      considered, and conclusive evidence of positive clinical effects cannot be
      stated. CONCLUSIONS: Despite positive evidence in the current literature, a
      recommendation for or against valgus (unloader) braces in medial OA is not
      possible due to inconclusive results. Laterally wedged insoles are not
      recommended. Especially the long-term results are doubtful, and are possibly
      related to lacking compliance.

PMID- 28589391
TI  - [Spondylodiscitis : Current strategies for diagnosis and treatment].
AB  - Spondylodiscitis is a severe infectious disease of the intervertebral discs and
      of the adjacent parts of the vertebral bodies, culminating in destruction of the
      mobile segment. It is accompanied by a mortality rate of approximately 15%.
      Severe courses of the disease can also lead to abscess formation and dispersal of
      sepsis. Malpositioning of the axis organ and deficits in neurological function up
      to paraplegia are also possible complications. Timely diagnostics and targeted
      therapy contribute to minimizing the risk of significant health disorders. This
      review article gives a summary of important algorithms in the diagnostics and
      treatment and discusses them against the background of currently available
      literature. According to the current state of knowledge the surgical treatment of
      spondylodiscitis provides many advantages and is therefore the method choice,
      even if a conservative approach can be successful in selected cases. The
      endpoints of treatment are cleansing of the infection with normalization of
      laboratory parameters of inflammation and the osseous fusion of the mobile
      segment.

PMID- 28589392
TI  - Naming CRISPR alleles: endonuclease-mediated mutation nomenclature across
      species.
AB  - The widespread use of CRISPR/Cas and other targeted endonuclease technologies in
      many species has led to an explosion in the generation of new mutations and
      alleles. The ability to generate many different mutations from the same target
      sequence either by homology-directed repair with a donor sequence or non
      homologous end joining-induced insertions and deletions necessitates a means for
      representing these mutations in literature and databases. Standardized
      nomenclature can be used to generate unambiguous, concise, and specific symbols
      to represent mutations and alleles. The research communities of a variety of
      species using CRISPR/Cas and other endonuclease-mediated mutation technologies
      have developed different approaches to naming and identifying such alleles and
      mutations. While some organism-specific research communities have developed
      allele nomenclature that incorporates the method of generation within the
      official allele or mutant symbol, others use metadata tags that include method of
      generation or mutagen. Organism-specific research community databases together
      with organism-specific nomenclature committees are leading the way in providing
      standardized nomenclature and metadata to facilitate the integration of data from
      alleles and mutations generated using CRISPR/Cas and other targeted
      endonucleases.

PMID- 28589394
TI  - Single and chronic L-serine treatments exert antidepressant-like effects in rats
      possibly by different means.
AB  - In the present study, the effects of both single (6 mmol L-serine/10 ml/kg orally
      administrated) and chronic (2% L-serine solution freely given for 28 days)
      treatments on depression-like behavior were evaluated in Wistar rats,
      representing the control, and Wistar Kyoto rats, representing an animal model of
      depression. Both single and chronic L-serine treatments decreased the duration of
      immobility, which is an index of a depressive-like state, in the forced swimming
      test in both strains. However, the decreases in the duration of immobility appear
      to be regulated differently by the different mechanisms involved in single and
      chronic L-serine treatments. In the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, single L
      serine treatment increased the concentrations of L-serine, but not D-serine,
      while chronic L-serine treatment increased those of D-serine, but not L-serine.
      These data suggest that the antidepressant-like effects of single and chronic L
      serine treatments may have been induced by the increased L-serine and D-serine
      concentrations, respectively, in the brain. In addition, chronic L-serine
      treatment increased cystathionine concentrations in the hippocampus and
      prefrontal cortex in Wistar rats, but not in Wistar Kyoto rats, suggesting that
      Wistar Kyoto rats have an abnormality in the serine-cystathionine metabolic
      pathway. In conclusion, single and chronic L-serine treatments may induce
      antidepressant-like effects via the different mechanisms related to serine
      metabolism in the brain.

PMID- 28589395
TI  - Testosterone Therapy on Active Surveillance and Following Definitive Treatment
      for Prostate Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Previously considered an absolute contraindication, the use of
      testosterone therapy in men with prostate cancer has undergone an important
      paradigm shift. Recent data has changed the way we approach the treatment of
      testosterone deficiency in men with prostate cancer. In the current review, we
      summarize and analyze the literature surrounding effects of testosterone therapy
      on patients being treated in an active surveillance protocol as well as following
      definitive treatment for prostate cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: The conventional
      notion that defined the relationship between increasing testosterone and prostate
      cancer growth was based on limited studies and anecdotal case reports.
      Contemporary evidence suggests testosterone therapy in men with testosterone
      deficiency does not increase prostate cancer risk or the chances of more
      aggressive disease at prostate cancer diagnosis. Although the studies are
      limited, men who received testosterone therapy for localized disease did not have
      higher rates of recurrences or worse clinical outcomes. Current review of the
      literature has not identified adverse progression events for patients receiving
      testosterone therapy while on active surveillance/watchful waiting or definitive
      therapies. The importance of negative effects of testosterone deficiency on
      health and health-related quality of life measures has pushed urologists to re
      evaluate the role testosterone plays in prostate cancer. This led to a paradigm
      shift that testosterone therapy might in fact be a viable option for a select
      group of men with testosterone deficiency and a concurrent diagnosis of prostate
      cancer.

PMID- 28589393
TI  - A history of genome editing in mammals.
AB  - Genome editing is now a routine procedure in many mammalian genetics
      laboratories. The ostensibly short but intense history of genome-editing
      approaches illustrates how a disruptive technology can universally colonize a
      field when this new methodology, conceived to alter mammalian genomes at specific
      locations, is found to efficiently and robustly deliver results. This review
      summarizes the early development of genome editing using nucleases, from the
      pioneering experiments using yeast meganucleases, to the latest prokaryotic
      nucleases used for precise genome manipulation. Gene-editing nucleases belong to
      one of three known categories: zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN), transcription
      activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN), and clustered regularly interspaced
      short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and their associated proteins (Cas) tools. All
      operate on the same principle; they are all capable of inducing a double-strand
      break (DSB) at a defined genomic sequence that is subsequently corrected by
      endogenous DNA repair mechanisms. DSBs can be repaired through non-homologous end
      joining (NHEJ), resulting in small insertions and/or deletions (INDELs) and,
      hence, often leading to gene disruption. Alternatively, DSBs can be repaired
      through homology-driven repair (HDR), in the presence of donor homologous DNA
      sequences, resulting in gene-editing events.

PMID- 28589396
TI  - The use of Hormonal Therapy to Augment Radiation Therapy in Prostate Cancer: An
      Update.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is an important adjunctive
      therapy to external beam radiation therapy (RT) for the definitive management of
      prostate cancer. The role of ADT is well-established for locally advanced or high
      risk disease in conjunction with standard doses of RT, but less defined for
      intermediate-risk disease or with dose-escalated RT. The goal of this review is
      to summarize evidence evaluating the combination of ADT/RT, focusing on recent
      trials and current controversies as they pertain to the practicing clinician.
      RECENT FINDINGS: The benefit of ADT on biochemical control is maintained with
      dose-escalated RT according to recently reported phase III studies. Furthermore,
      there is now prospective, randomized evidence to support the addition of ADT to
      RT in the post-prostatectomy setting. ADT continues to play an important role for
      prostate cancer patients receiving dose-escalated RT. Future research is needed
      to identify subgroups most likely to benefit from this combination.

PMID- 28589397
TI  - Therapeutic Value of Standard Versus Extended Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection During
      Radical Prostatectomy for High-Risk Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Extent of pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) during radical prostatectomy (RP)
      remains a subject of debate. Here, we review the literature covering the value of
      extended PLND (ePLND) during RP for high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) over a
      standard PLND, with a focus on potential therapeutic advantage. PLND may provide
      valuable prognostic information to high-risk PCa patients, and incorporating the
      common iliac and presacral nodes to ePLND templates further improves pathologic
      nodal staging accuracy. Although increased PLND extent is associated with
      increased lymphocele/lymphedema rates, it is not associated with increased venous
      thromboembolism rates. The therapeutic role of ePLND remains uncertain. While
      recent retrospective studies suggest an increased number of nodes removed within
      the ePLND template are associated with improved survival outcomes, such
      retrospective studies cannot completely adjust for the Will Rodgers phenomenon or
      surgeon-specific factors. Thus, the results of randomized trials are eagerly
      awaited in this arena.

PMID- 28589398
TI  - The Contemporary Role of Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Active
      Surveillance for Prostate Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Growing research supports the use of multiparametric magnetic
      resonance imaging (mpMRI) for the evaluation of localized prostate cancer (PCa).
      We highlight contemporary evidence supporting its use in active surveillance
      (AS). RECENT FINDINGS: The emerging approach to localized PCa favors risk-adapted
      screening, image-guided biopsies, and selective therapeutic interventions. mpMRI
      is increasingly critical to achieve each of these aims. Early evidence suggests a
      value of mpMRI before initial biopsy to guide fusion targeting and to rule out
      non-organ confined disease as well as in the initiation and serial monitoring of
      men on AS. There remain concerns regarding understaging cancer with mpMRI and the
      standardization of expertise beyond the most experienced centers. mpMRI is
      emerging as a critical decision point for staging localized PCa and guiding AS
      strategies. While there is increasing enthusiasm, the optimal clinical scenario
      and sequencing remains to be defined.

PMID- 28589399
TI  - Prostate Biopsy in Active Surveillance Protocols: Immediate Re-biopsy and Timing
      of Subsequent Biopsies.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This manuscript reviews contemporary literature regarding
      prostate cancer active surveillance (AS) protocols as well as other tools that
      may guide the management of biopsy frequency and assess the possibility of
      progression in low-risk prostate cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: There is no consensus
      regarding the timing of surveillance biopsies; however, an immediate repeat
      biopsy within 12 months of diagnosis for patients considering AS confirms
      patients who have favorable risk disease yet also identifies patients who were
      undersampled initially. Studies regarding multiparametric MRI, nomograms, and
      biomarkers show promise in risk stratifying and counseling patients during AS.
      Further studies are needed to determine if these supplemental tests can decrease
      the frequency of surveillance biopsies. An immediate re-biopsy can help to reduce
      the risk of missing clinically significant disease. Other clinical tools,
      including mpMRI, exist that can be used as an adjunct to counsel patients and
      guide a personalized discussion regarding the frequency of surveillance biopsies.

PMID- 28589401
TI  - Tissue Preservation Techniques at the Time of Urethroplasty for Urethral
      Stricture Disease.
AB  - Reconstructive surgery for urethral stricture disease seeks to re-establish long
      lasting urethral patency while minimizing associated adverse effects. In recent
      years, genitourinary reconstructive surgeons have developed and refined a number
      of techniques that seek to decrease the impact of urethroplasty on local tissues
      including blood supply and innervation. This review presents an outline of recent
      advances in urethral reconstructive techniques that seek to minimize surgical
      impact, including tissue preservation, tissue engineering, and minimally invasive
      approaches and reviews the current state of the literature related to these
      techniques.

PMID- 28589400
TI  - Radical Prostatectomy for High-risk Localized or Node-Positive Prostate Cancer:
      Removing the Primary.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We reviewed the literature to determine what role, if any,
      radical prostatectomy should play in the treatment of high-risk and/or node
      positive prostate cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: The AUA, NCCN, and EAU all include
      radical prostatectomy as a treatment option for high-risk prostate cancer based
      on evidence that has shown improvements in biochemical-free and disease-specific
      survival. Lymph node-positive patients may also derive benefit from radical
      prostatectomy with lymph node dissection, however, only retrospective studies
      with high risk of selection bias have been published to date. High-risk prostate
      cancer is a heterogeneous disease representing a wide range of disease
      characteristics. Radical surgery, historically avoided in such patients, may now
      be considered a valid treatment option for select cases. The adverse effects of
      surgery using modern techniques lead to similar quality of life outcomes as
      radiation therapy, and treatment of the primary tumor is likely beneficial when
      compared to ADT alone.

PMID- 28589404
TI  - Erratum to: Secukinumab is Efficacious and Safe in Hispanic Patients with
      Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis: Pooled Analysis of Four Phase 3 Trials.

PMID- 28589402
TI  - The Preoperative Assessment and Optimization of Patients Undergoing Major
      Urological Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Improving patient outcomes from major urological surgery
      requires not only advancement in surgical technique and technology, but also the
      practice of patient-centered, multidisciplinary, and integrated medical care of
      these patients from the moment of contemplation of surgery until full recovery.
      This review examines the evidence for recent developments in preoperative
      assessment and optimization that is of relevance to major urological surgery.
      RECENT FINDINGS: Current perioperative medicine recommendations aim to improve
      the short-term safety and long-term effectiveness of surgical treatments by the
      delivery of multidisciplinary integrated medical care. New strategies to deliver
      this aim include preoperative risk stratification using a frailty index and
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing for patients undergoing intra-abdominal surgery
      (including radical cystectomy), preoperative management of iron deficiency and
      anemia, and preoperative exercise intervention. Proof of the utility and validity
      for improving surgical outcomes through advances in preoperative care is still
      evolving. Evidence-based developments in this field are likely to benefit
      patients undergoing major urological surgery, but further research targeted at
      high-risk patients undergoing specific urological operations is required.

PMID- 28589403
TI  - Adjuvant Versus Early Salvage Radiation Therapy Following Radical Prostatectomy
      for Men with Localized Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Radical prostatectomy (RP) is now the most common definitive treatment for high
      risk prostate cancer. Unfortunately, many men will have residual microscopic
      disease after surgery alone. Despite level 1 evidence supporting the use of
      adjuvant radiation therapy (ART), <10% of men with adverse pathology (positive
      margins or T3 disease) receive ART in the USA. Early salvage radiation therapy
      (eSRT) at the time of biochemical recurrence has been proposed as an alternative
      strategy despite the lack of published randomized trials to support this
      approach. Multiple randomized trials are ongoing or recently completed to compare
      ART to eSRT, but given the long natural history of prostate cancer, long-term
      oncologic outcomes from these trials will not be reported for several years. In
      this review, we discuss the shifting trends in the diagnosis of high-risk
      prostate cancer given a decline in PSA screening, use of RP for high-risk
      disease, and compare and contrast the retrospective and randomized evidence
      regarding ART and SRT.

PMID- 28589406
TI  - Erratum to: Preprocedural Risk Assessment Prior to PPVI with CMR and Cardiac CT.

PMID- 28589405
TI  - Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty: A Novel Treatment for Pulmonary Artery In-Stent
      Stenosis in a Patient with Williams Syndrome.
AB  - A 20-month-old boy with Williams syndrome had undergone multiple surgical and
      catheter-based interventions for resistant peripheral pulmonary arterial stenoses
      with eventual bilateral stent placement and conventional balloon angioplasty. He
      persistently developed suprasystemic right ventricular (RV) pressure. Angioplasty
      with a drug-coated balloon (DCB) was performed for in-stent restenosis and to
      remodel his distal pulmonary vessels bilaterally. This resulted in immediate
      improvement in the in-stent stenosis and resultant decrease in RV pressure.
      Follow-up catheterization two months later continued to show long-lasting
      improvement in the in-stent stenosis. We hypothesize that the anti-proliferative
      effects of DCBs may be of benefit in the arteriopathy associated with Williams
      syndrome. We report this as a novel use of a DCB in the pulmonary arterial
      circulation in a patient with Williams syndrome.

PMID- 28589407
TI  - Changes of Cerebral Oxygenation in Sequential Glenn and Fontan Procedures in the
      Same Children.
AB  - Recently, it is common to perform the Fontan procedure after the Glenn procedure
      as surgical repair for the univentricular heart. How the brain oxygen saturation
      (rSO2) values change with the cardiac restoration and the process of growth
      during these procedures in individual children remains unknown. In this study, we
      retrospectively studied rSO2 data as well as the perioperative clinical records
      of 30 children who underwent both Glenn and Fontan procedures by the same surgeon
      in the same institute. The rSO2 was measured at the beginning and end of each
      procedure with an INVOS 5100C. Cerebral perfusion pressure was calculated by
      subtracting central venous pressure from mean arterial pressure. Arterial oxygen
      saturation (SaO2) and the hemoglobin concentration were obtained as candidates
      affecting rSO2 changes at the start and the end of both procedures. The rSO2
      increased during the Glenn procedure, but this increase was slight and
      insignificant. On the other hand, the rSO2 significantly increased during the
      Fontan procedure. Significant increases in SaO2 were observed only between the
      beginning and end of the Fontan procedure. Correlation coefficients determined by
      linear regression analysis were more than 0.5 between rSO2 and SaO2 in both
      procedures. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that SaO2 was the key
      determinant of the rSO2. The rSO2 increases step by step from the Glenn to the
      Fontan procedure in the same patient. Within each procedure, SaO2 is the key
      determinant of the rSO2. The significance of rSO2 monitoring in these procedures
      should be further evaluated.

PMID- 28589408
TI  - Critically Underdeveloped Left Heart Morphology Associated with Prematurity and
      Low Birth Weight: Conditional Staged Rehabilitation Towards Biventricular Repair
      and Time-Related Growth of Left Heart Structures.
AB  - This is a case report of premature low birth weight infant with hypoplasia of
      left heart structures and a large malaligned VSD who underwent successful staged
      approach of biventricular repair. We obtained qualitative and quantitative
      echocardiographic, MRI, and conventional catheterization data to support stepwise
      strategy towards LV rehabilitation to sustain adequate cardiac output. A thorough
      and intense follow-up has shown significant growth of left heart structures and
      favorable clinical status following staged biventricular repair. Our data
      indicate usefulness of qualitative and quantitative advanced complimentary multi
      imaging modalities in predicting the postnatal growth potential of critically
      underdeveloped left heart structures.

PMID- 28589409
TI  - Application of biodegradable 3D-printed cage for cervical diseases via anterior
      cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF): an in vitro biomechanical study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To design and fabricate a 3D-printed cervical cage composite of
      polylactic acid (PLA)/nano-sized and beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP).
      RESULTS: CAD analysis provided a useful platform to design the preliminary cage.
      In vitro cell culture and in vivo animal results showed promising results in the
      biocompatibility of the constructs. Endplate matching evaluation showed better
      matching degree of 3D-printed cages than those of conventional cages.
      Biomechanical evaluation showed better mechanical properties of 3D-printed cages
      than those of conventional cages. CONCLUSION: The novel 3D printed PLA/pbeta-TCP
      cage showed good application potential, indicating a novel, feasible, and
      inexpensive method to manufacture cervical fusion cages.

PMID- 28589411
TI  - Accelerated osteogenic differentiation of human bone-derived cells in ankylosing
      spondylitis.
AB  - Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is characterized by excessive bone formation with
      syndesmophytes, leading to bony ankylosis. The contribution of osteoblasts to the
      pathogenesis of ankylosis is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to
      determine molecular differences between disease controls (Ct) and AS bone-derived
      cells (BdCs) during osteogenic differentiation with or without inflammation using
      AS patient serum. We confirmed osteoblastic differentiation of Ct and AS BdCs
      under osteogenic medium by observing morphological changes and measuring
      osteoblastic differentiation markers. Osteoblast differentiation was detected by
      alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and activity, and alizarin red and
      hydroxyapatite staining. Osteoblast-specific markers were analyzed by
      quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, immunoblotting, and
      immunostaining. To examine the effects of inflammation, we added AS and healthy
      control serum to Ct and AS BdCs, and then analyzed osteoblast-specific markers.
      AS BdCs showed elevated basal intercellular and extracellular ALP activity
      compared to Ct. When osteoblast differentiation was induced, AS BdCs exhibited
      higher expression of osteoblast-specific marker genes and faster mineralization
      than Ct, indicating that these cells differentiated more rapidly into
      osteoblasts. ALP activity and mineralization accelerated when serum from AS
      patients was added to Ct and AS BdCs. Our results revealed that AS BdCs showed
      significantly increased osteoblastic activity and differentiation capacity by
      regulating osteoblast-specific transcription factors and proteins compared to Ct
      BdCs. Active inflammation of AS serum accelerated osteoblastic activity. Our
      study could provide useful basic data for understanding the molecular mechanism
      of ankylosis in AS.

PMID- 28589410
TI  - Computational segmentation of collagen fibers in bone matrix indicates bone
      quality in ovariectomized rat spine.
AB  - Bone loss varies according to disease and age and these variations affect bone
      cells and extracellular matrix. Osteoporosis rat models are widely investigated
      to assess mechanical and structural properties of bone; however, bone matrix
      proteins and their discrepant regulation of diseased and aged bone are often
      overlooked. The current study considered the spine matrix properties of
      ovariectomized rats (OVX) against control rats (Sham) at 16 months of age.
      Diseased bone showed less compact structure with inhomogeneous distribution of
      type 1 collagen (Col1) and changes in osteocyte morphology. Intriguingly,
      demineralization patches were noticed in the vicinity of blood vessels in the OVX
      spine. The organic matrix structure was investigated using computational
      segmentation of collagen fibril properties. In contrast to the aged bone,
      diseased bone showed longer fibrils and smaller orientation angles. The study
      shows the potential of quantifying transmission electron microscopy images to
      predict the mechanical properties of bone tissue.

PMID- 28589413
TI  - Single particle Brownian motion with solid friction.
AB  - We study the Brownian dynamics of a solid particle on a vibrating solid surface.
      Phenomenologically, the interaction between the two solid surfaces is modeled by
      solid friction, and the Gaussian white noise models the vibration of the solid
      surface. The solid friction force is proportional to the sign of relative
      velocity. We derive the Fokker-Planck (FP) equation for the time-dependent
      probability distribution to find the particle at a given location. We calculate
      analytically the steady state velocity distribution function, mean-square
      velocity and diffusion coefficient in d-dimensions. We present a generic method
      of calculating the autocorrelations in d-dimensions. This results in one
      dimension in an exact evaluation of the steady state velocity autocorrelation. In
      higher dimensions our exact general expression enables the analytic evaluation of
      the autocorrelation to any required approximation. We present approximate
      analytic expressions in two and three dimensions. Next, we numerically calculate
      the mean-square velocity and steady state velocity autocorrelation function up to
      d = 3 . Our numerical results are in good agreement with the analytically
      obtained results.

PMID- 28589412
TI  - Serum CTX levels and histomorphometric analysis in Src versus RANKL knockout
      mice.
AB  - Src knockout (KO) and RANKL KO mice both exhibit near complete osteopetrosis in
      terms of 3D-bone volume (BV) fraction by micro-CT, whereas the serum CTX
      concentration of Src KO is apparently normal and that of RANKL KO is 30% of wild
      type (WT) despite the fact that they lack osteoclasts. By histomorphometry we
      found that, whereas eroded surface (ES) and osteoid surface (OS) are zero values
      in RANKL KO, they are indistinguishable from WT in Src KO; because of marked
      increase in bone surface (BS), ES/BS and OS/BS of Src KO are 30-40% of WT. While
      RANKL KO lack both osteoclasts and osteoblasts, Src KO reveal increased numbers
      of osteoclasts and indistinguishable numbers of osteoblasts compared with WT;
      again, on the basis of BS, N.Oc/BS is comparable to WT and N.Ob/BS is markedly
      decreased in Src KO. The apparently increased number of total osteoclasts may be
      due to increased expression of RANKL found in Src KO bone in vivo. Src has a gene
      dosage-dependent effect on osteoclast function in vitro, with Src-/- osteoclasts
      completely lacking bone-resorbing function as determined by CTX release on
      dentin. Thus, Src KO osteoclasts retain some bone-resorbing function in vivo. The
      number of osteocytes is proportionally increased in RANKL KO, while Src KO mice
      have relative osteocyte deficiency, raising the possibility that RANKL and Src
      has an unrecognized role in osteocyte survival.

PMID- 28589414
TI  - [What is the situation with human rights of the elderly? : UN Open-ended Working
      Group on Ageing - review and prospects].
AB  - In November 2010 the United Nations General Assembly set up a working group to
      strengthen the protection of human rights for older persons (UN Open-ended
      Working Group on Ageing) with the United Nations Resolution A/C.3/65/L.8/Rev.1.
      In December 2016 the members of the working group met for the seventh time and
      discussed how they can approach the fulfillment of the mandate. In addition to
      better implementation, the strengthening of rights can consist of closing
      existing gaps or further differentiation of the rights in order to give the
      member states better guidance on how to implement them. To improve the human
      rights of older persons a task of the members of the working group would be to
      examine the existing rights and, where possible, adjust them to the real needs of
      the group. One of the major challenges facing the working group is already
      apparent: who belongs to the group of older persons and how could the group be
      described? This article deals with the presentation of the international process,
      new developments at the regional level and the attitudes of the member states and
      the civil society. A further aim is to present the possibilities and effects of a
      comprehensive legally binding instrument.

PMID- 28589416
TI  - The Anticancer Activities Phenolic Amides from the Stem of Lycium barbarum.
AB  - Four new phenolic amides, 4-O-methylgrossamide (1), (E)-2-(4,5-dihydroxy-2-{3-[(4
      hydroxyphenethyl)amino]-3-oxopropyl}-phenyl)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-N-(4
      hydroxyphenethyl)acryl-amide (2), (Z)-lyciumamide C (3), (Z)-thoreliamide B (4),
      together with thirteen known phenolic amides were identified from the stem of
      Lycium barbarum. The structures of the new compounds were determined by
      spectroscopic methods. All compounds were evaluated for their anti-cancer
      activities against human glioma stem cell lines.

PMID- 28589415
TI  - Noma in an HIV infected patient in Guinea-Bissau: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Noma is a multifactorial and multibacterial opportunistic infection
      that initially causes necrotic gingivitis but rapidly spreads to the nearby
      orofacial tissue resulting in sloughing and severe deformation of the facial
      structures. The majority of cases are seen in young children under the age of 6
      years. Noma is strongly associated with poverty, malnutrition and
      immunosuppression, and is often preceded by severe systemic infections such as
      measles and malaria. Only few cases of noma infection in adults have been
      described. CASE REPORT: We present here a case report with a 32-year-old Guinean
      woman who was diagnosed with noma infection and on that occasion discovered that
      she was HIV-1 seropositive. After treatment with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and
      metronidazole for her noma infection the woman was transferred to the national
      hospital where antiretroviral treatment was initiated. CONCLUSION: Noma is an
      opportunistic infection and immunodeficiencies such as HIV should always be
      suspected when presenting in an adult patient.

PMID- 28589418
TI  - Possible protective effect of switching from denosumab to zoledronic acid on
      vertebral fractures.

PMID- 28589417
TI  - Bone loss with antiepileptic drug therapy: a twin and sibling study.
AB  - : Changes in areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and other predictors of bone loss
      were evaluated in 48 same-sex twin/age-matched sibling pairs discordant for
      antiepileptic drug (AED) use. AED users had reduced BMD at the hip regions.
      Prolonged AED users had greater aBMD loss, predicting a higher risk of bone
      fragility. INTRODUCTION: To investigate the longitudinal associations of bone
      mineral measures with antiepileptic drug (AED) use, including enzyme-inducing
      (EIAED) and non-enzyme-inducing (NEIAED) types, and other predictors of bone loss
      in a study of 48 same-sex twin/age-matched sibling pairs (40 female, 8 male)
      discordant for AED use. METHODS: Using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA),
      areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and content (BMC) at the hip regions, forearm,
      lumbar spine, and whole body were measured twice, at least 2 years apart. The
      mean within-pair difference (MWPD), MWPD%, and mean annual rate of aBMD change
      were adjusted for age, weight, and height. Predictors of bone loss were
      evaluated. RESULTS: AED users, compared to non-users, at baseline and follow-up,
      respectively, had reduced aBMD at the total hip (MWPD% 3.8, 4.4%), femoral neck
      (4.7, 4.5%), and trochanter regions (4.1, 4.6%) (p < 0.05). For the whole cohort,
      the annual rate of change in all aBMD/BMC (p > 0.05) regions did not differ
      within pairs. Nevertheless, EIAED users had greater aBMD loss than non-users (n =
      20 pairs) at the total hip (1.7 vs. 0.3%, p = 0.013) and whole body regions (0.7%
      loss vs. 0.1% BMD gain, p = 0.019), which was not found in NEIAED-discordant
      pairs (n = 16). AED use >20 years predicted higher aBMD loss at the forearm (p =
      0.028), whole body (p = 0.010), and whole body BMC (p = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: AED
      users had reduced aBMD at the hip regions. Prolonged users and EIAED users had
      greater aBMD loss, predicting a higher risk of bone fragility. Further
      prospective studies of AED effects on bone microarchitecture are needed.

PMID- 28589420
TI  - The Use of Salmonella Typhim Vaccine to Diagnose Antibody Deficiency.
AB  - PURPOSE: The specific antibody response to the unconjugated 23-valent
      pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is one of the most common tests used to
      assess for possible humoral immunodeficiency. The results can be difficult to
      interpret because most people have been immunized with one or more of the
      pneumococcal vaccines and there is controversy regarding what constitutes a
      normal response. To circumvent this problem, we developed an ELISA to measure IgG
      specific antibodies to the Salmonella Vi Typhim (S. Typhim) vaccine, a pure
      polysaccharide vaccine, which is a neoantigen for the vast majority of people in
      the USA. METHODS: We compared the pre- and post-vaccination serum titers to the
      Vi Typhim vaccine in healthy controls (n = 22), patients previously diagnosed
      with a primary immunodeficiency (n = 30), and patients referred for possible
      humoral immune deficiency (n = 29). We also determined if the S. Typhim vaccine
      could be used to assess specific antibody responses in people on antibody
      replacement therapy. RESULTS: Following immunization with the S. Typhim vaccine,
      we found that a 2-fold increase in titers is 100% sensitive and specific in
      detecting known humoral immune deficiencies as determined by ROC curve analysis.
      This cut-off value was successfully applied to possible immune deficiency
      patients (n = 29), resulting in the diagnosis of seven subjects with humoral
      immunodeficiency. The use of immunoglobulin replacement therapy did not affect
      the median response ratios compared to subjects not receiving gammaglobulin.
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests that measurement of the specific antibody
      response to the S. Typhim vaccine may have advantages over pneumococcal
      vaccination in the evaluation of the humoral immune response.

PMID- 28589419
TI  - Breastfeeding as the sole source of milk for 6 months and adolescent bone mineral
      density.
AB  - : Little is known regarding the relationship between early life factors and bone
      mineral density (BMD). We found a positive association between breastfeeding for
      at least 6 months, without formula supplementation, and whole body adolescent BMD
      z-score. INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to assess the role of
      breastfeeding BF on adolescent bone mineral density (BMD) in a cohort
      prospectively followed since infancy. METHODS: We studied 679 participants from
      an infancy iron deficiency anemia preventive trial in Santiago, Chile, followed
      to adolescence. Breast and bottle feeding were ascertained weekly from 4 to 12
      months. At 16 years, whole body BMD was assessed by DEXA. Using linear
      regression, we evaluated associations between BF duration and BF as the sole
      source of milk and adolescent BMD z-score, adjusting for possible infancy,
      adolescent, and background confounders. RESULTS: Mean birth weight and length
      were 3.5 (0.3) kg and 50.7 (1.6) cm. For at least 6 months, BF was the sole
      source of milk for 26.3% and with supplementation for 36.7%. For 37%, BF was
      provided for less than 6 months. Mean 16-year BMD z-score was 0.25 (1.0).
      Covariates included male sex, birth length, and gestational age. BF as the sole
      source of milk >=6 months, compared to BF < 6 months, was associated with higher
      adolescent BMD z-score adjusting for covariates (beta = 0.29, p < 0.05). Mixed BF
      was not significantly related to adolescent BMD z-score (beta = 0.06, p = 0.47).
      For every 30 days of BF as the sole source of milk, adolescent BMD z-score
      increased by 0.03 (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: BF without formula supplementation for
      at least 6 months was associated with higher adolescent BMD z-score and a
      suggestive trend in the same direction for BMD suggests that exclusivity and
      duration of BF may play a role in adolescent bone health.

PMID- 28589421
TI  - Tat-MyoD fused proteins, together with C2c12 conditioned medium, are able to
      induce equine adult mesenchimal stem cells towards the myogenic fate.
AB  - The Tat protein is able to translocate through the plasma membrane and when it is
      fused with other peptides may acts as a protein transduction system. This ability
      appears particularly interesting to induce tissue-specific differentiation when
      the Tat protein is associated to transcription factors. In the present work, the
      potential of the complex Tat-MyoD in inducing equine peripheral blood mesenchymal
      stem cells (PB-MSCs) towards the myogenic fate, was evaluated. Results showed
      that the internalization process of Tat-MyoD happens only in serum free
      conditions and that the nuclear localization of the fused complex is observed
      after 15 hours of incubation. However, the supplement of Tat-MyoD only was not
      sufficient to induce myogenesis and, therefore, in order to achieve the myogenic
      differentiation of PB-MSCs, conditioned medium from C2C12 cells was added without
      direct contact. Real Time PCR and immunofluorescence methods evaluated the
      establishment of a myogenic program. Our results suggest that TAT- transduction
      of Tat-MyoD, when supported by conditioned medium, represents a useful
      methodology to induce myogenic differentiation.

PMID- 28589422
TI  - Modulatory function of NMDA glutamate receptor on MC3/MC4 receptors agonist
      induced hypophagia in neonatal meat-type chicken.
AB  - Melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors (MC3R and MC4R) are known as the main receptors
      for melanocortin-induced hypophagia in mammalian and poultry. Also, central
      glutamatergic system has mediatory role on function of the melanocortin system in
      some brain areas. So, the aim of the current study was to determine the role of
      MC3/MC4 receptors agonist on food intake and its interaction with glutamatergic
      in 3-h food-deprived (FD3) neonatal broilers. In experiment 1, chickens were
      intracerebroventricular (ICV) injected with control solution, MTII (MC3/MC4
      receptors agonist; 2.45, 4.8 and 9.8 pmol). In experiment 2, control solution,
      SHU9119 (MC3/MC4 receptors antagonist; 0.5, 1 and 2 nmol) were ICV injected. In
      experiment 3, birds ICV injected with control solution, SHU9119 (0.5 nmol), MTII
      (9.8 pmol) and co-injection of the SHU9119 + MTII. Experiments 4-8 were similar
      to experiment 3, except birds injected with MK-801 (NMDA glutamate receptors
      antagonist, 15 nmol), CNQX (AMPA glutamate receptors antagonist; 390 nmol), AIDA
      (mGLUR1 glutamate receptors antagonist; 2 nmol), LY341495 (mGLUR2 glutamate
      receptors antagonist; 150 nmol) and UBP1112 (mGLUR3 glutamate receptors
      antagonist; 2 nmol) instead of SHU9119. Then, cumulative food intake was recorded
      until 120 min after injection. According to the results, dose dependent
      hypophagia observed after ICV injection of the MTII (p < 0.05). ICV injection of
      SHU9119 significantly increased food intake in birds (p < 0.05). Co-injection of
      SHU9119 + MTII significantly inhibited MTII- induced hypophagia in neonatal
      chicks (p < 0.05). In addition, hypophagia- induced by MTII was significantly
      attenuated with co-injection of MTII + MK-801(p < 0.05). These results suggested
      MC3 and MC4 receptors have inhibitory role on food intake and this effect is
      probably mediated by NMDA glutamate receptors in neonatal chickens.

PMID- 28589424
TI  - Molecular landscape of pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas: about 22
      cases.

PMID- 28589423
TI  - The Perennial Penstemon: Variation in Defensive Chemistry Across Years,
      Populations, and Tissues.
AB  - Plants produce a variety of secondary metabolites that function as a defense
      against their natural enemies. Production of these secondary metabolites is
      genetically controlled, but is also phenotypically plastic and varies in response
      to both biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, plant species may vary widely in
      their chemical defenses and such variation can be evident at temporal, spatial
      and tissue levels. Focusing on the chemical defenses of a native Colorado
      wildflower, Penstemon virgatus, we assessed the variation in iridoid glycoside
      (IG) content across two non-consecutive growing seasons, six natural populations
      and three tissue types: leaves, stems and flowers. Our results indicate that P.
      virgatus plants contain high concentrations of IGs (mean = 23.36% dry weight of
      leaves) and that IGs were differentially allocated among tissue types. Leaves
      contained the highest concentration of IGs, which varied quantitatively between
      sampling years, among plant populations, and plant parts. We also quantified leaf
      herbivore damage at all six populations but we found very little herbivore
      damage. Our study indicates that the IG concentrations of P. virgatus plants are
      both spatially and temporally variable. Furthermore, the high concentrations of
      secondary metabolites combined with the low levels of damage suggest that these
      plants are well defended against generalist herbivores.

PMID- 28589425
TI  - Comparison of the ImmuView and the BinaxNOW antigen tests in detection of
      Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila in urine.
AB  - The use of urinary antigen tests (UATs) may provide early etiology in pneumonia,
      and facilitates rapid and directed antibiotic treatment. In this study, we
      evaluated the novel lateral flow ImmuView Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella
      pneumophila UAT, which detects pneumococcal and L. pneumophila serogroup 1
      antigens in a combined test. We compared the ImmuView UAT with the BinaxNOW S.
      pneumoniae UAT and the BinaxNOW L. pneumophila UAT in 147 patients with
      pneumococcal bacteremia (n = 48), non-pneumococcal non-Legionella bacteremia (n =
      93) and Legionella infections in the lower airways (L. pneumophila, n = 5; L.
      bozemanii, n = 1). In three cases, the ImmuView test was invalid before and after
      boiling while the BinaxNOW tests were valid in all cases. In 144 cases, the three
      UATs demonstrated a very good inter-assay agreement for detection of pneumococcal
      antigen (kappa = 0.86) and L. pneumophila antigen (kappa = 1.00). The ImmuView
      and BinaxNOW S. pneumoniae tests had similar sensitivities (62% vs 60%; p = ns)
      in 48 cases with pneumococcal bacteremia and both tests had specificities of 97%
      in 96 cases with non-pneumococcal infections. Furthermore, the ImmuView and
      BinaxNOW L. pneumophila tests were positive for Legionella antigen in five
      patients with confirmed L. pneumophila serogroup 1 infections, and negative in
      all non-L. pneumophila cases. The ImmuView and BinaxNOW tests performed similarly
      when evaluated on urine samples from bacteremic and non-bacteremic patients with
      identified etiology.

PMID- 28589427
TI  - Erratum to: Stimulated thyroglobulin values above 5.6 ng/ml before radioactive
      iodine ablation treatment following levothyroxine withdrawal is associated with a
      2.38-fold risk of relapse in Tg-ab negative subjects with differentiated thyroid
      cancer.

PMID- 28589426
TI  - Clinical condition and comorbidity as determinants for blood culture positivity
      in patients with skin and soft-tissue infections.
AB  - The utility of performing blood cultures in patients with a suspected skin
      infection is debated. We investigated the association between blood culture
      positivity rates and patients' clinical condition, including acute disease
      severity and comorbidity. We performed a retrospective study, including patients
      with cellulitis and wound infection who had been enrolled in three Dutch
      multicenter studies between 2011 and 2015. Patients' acute clinical condition was
      assessed using the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS; severe: MEWS >=2) and
      comorbidity with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI; severe: CCI >=2). A total
      of 334 patients with a suspected skin infection were included. Blood cultures
      were performed in 175 patients (52%), 28 of whom (16%) had a positive blood
      culture. Data on the clinical condition were collected in 275 patients. Blood
      cultures were performed in 76% of the patients with a severe acute condition,
      compared with 48% with a non-severe acute condition (OR 3.5; 95% confidence
      interval: 2.0-6.2; p < 0.001). Blood cultures were positive in 18% and 12%
      respectively (OR 1.7 (0.7-4.1); p = 0.3). Blood cultures were performed in 53% of
      patients with severe comorbidity, compared with 61% without severe comorbidity
      (OR 0.7; 0.4-1.2; p = 0.2). Blood cultures were positive in 25% and 10%
      respectively (OR = 3.1; 1.2-7.5; p = 0.02). The blood culture positivity rate
      among hospitalized patients diagnosed with skin infections was higher than the
      rates reported by the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines,
      particularly in patients with severe comorbidity. Therefore, the recommendations
      concerning blood culture performance in patients with a skin infection should be
      reconsidered.

PMID- 28589428
TI  - Annual hazard rate of relapse of stage II and III colorectal cancer after primary
      therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the annual hazard of relapse in stages II and III colorectal
      cancer (CRC) Tunisian patients treated with curative intent. We also aim to
      evaluate impact of oxaliplatine according to anatomo-clinical features. METHODS:
      We collected data about clinico-pathological parameters of 331 CRCs. We analyzed
      annual hazard of recurrence (locoregional and/or distant) of the overall
      population and several subgroups: colon cancer vs rectal cancer and stage II vs
      stage III. We also analyzed impact of adjuvant oxaliplatine on recurrence within
      these subgroups. RESULTS: Relapse rate was 38.1%, with a mean time to relapse of
      27.6 months. We noted 23.8% local recurrence, 69.8% distant recurrence, and 6.4%
      both. We observed higher local relapse rate in rectal cancer (26.8 vs 3.2%) vs
      colon cancer (p = 0.004). Stage III had a higher metastatic relapse rate vs stage
      II (31.6 vs 20.8%, p = 0.043). Annual hazard of recurrence for the overall
      population showed two peaks: [1-2] year-interval by 10.1% and [3-4] year-interval
      by 11.3%. Stage III showed significantly higher and earlier recurrence hazard
      peak compared to stage II (16.3 vs 8.1% in [1-2] year-interval). Oxaliplatine
      significantly improved annual hazard of recurrence in each year-interval from
      year 1-4, in colon cancer and in stage III but without impact in rectal cancer
      and stage II. CONCLUSION: Extended follow-up to 4 years should be considered in
      Tunisian population. Impact of oxaliplatine showed same features to reported
      occidental series.

PMID- 28589429
TI  - Influence of ovarian cancer type I and type II microenvironment on the phenotype
      and function of monocyte-derived dendritic cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of ovarian cancer
      cell lysates isolated from type I or type II ovarian cancer (OC) on the phenotype
      of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (Mo-DCs) and the cytokine profile. We also
      determined whether the Mo-DCs and tumor microenvironment, reflected by peritoneal
      fluid (PF) from type I or II ovarian cancer, could promote regulatory T cell
      (Tregs) differentiation from naive CD4+ lymphocytes in vitro. RESULTS: Our
      results show a significant role of the ovarian cancer microenvironment reflected
      by PF from type I or II OC in the inhibition of the DC differentiation process.
      Interestingly, the percentage of cells co-expressing CD45 and CD14 antigens in
      the cultures stimulated with PF from both type I and type II OC was higher than
      in the control. Furthermore, the percentage of cells expressing CD1a, i.e., a
      marker of immature DCs, was significantly reduced in the cultures stimulated with
      PF from type I and type II OC. The results obtained show that ovarian cancer type
      II lysates induce differentiation of monocytes into macrophage-like cells with a
      CD1a+/HLA-DR+/CD83- phenotype and significantly higher CD86/HLA-DR expression. We
      show that ovarian cancer type II Mo-DCs are able to prevent an immune response by
      release of IL-10, whereas OC type I Mo-DCs can promote the generation of Tregs.
      CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that each type of ovarian cancer can induce a unique
      phenotype of DCs and differentiation of Tregs, both associated with immune
      suppressive function, which may be an obstacle while developing effective
      anticancer dendritic cell vaccination.

PMID- 28589430
TI  - SLC14A1: a novel target for human urothelial cancer.
AB  - Urinary bladder cancer is the second commonly diagnosed genitourinary malignancy.
      Previously, bio-molecular alterations have been observed within certain locations
      such as chromosome 9, retinoblastoma gene and fibroblast growth factor receptor
      3. Solute carrier family 14 member 1 (SLC14A1) gene encodes the type-B urea
      transporter (UT-B) which facilitates the passive movement of urea across cell
      membrane, and has recently been related with human malignancies, especially for
      bladder cancer. Herein, we discussed the SLC14A1 gene and UT-B protein
      properties, aiming to elucidate the expression behavior of SLC14A1 in human
      bladder cancer. Furthermore, by reviewing some well-established theories
      regarding the carcinogenesis of bladder cancer, including several genome wide
      association researches, we have bridged the mechanisms of cancer development with
      the aberrant expression of SLC14A1. In conclusion, the altered expression of
      SLC14A1 gene in human urothelial cancer may implicate its significance as a novel
      target for research.

PMID- 28589431
TI  - Bone marrow fibrosis at diagnosis predicts survival for primary acute myeloid
      leukemia.
AB  - PURPOSE: As a desmoplastic reaction, tissue fibrosis played crucial roles in
      solid tumor progression, chemo-resistance, and consequently heralded poor
      clinical outcome. Previous studies implied the effects of marrow fibrosis on
      prognosis for acute lymphoblastic leukemia were disputable. In this study, we
      aimed to investigate the potential role of bone marrow fibrosis on clinical
      survival in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. METHODS: Bone marrow fibrosis
      (evaluated as reticulin fiber density, RFD) in bone marrow sections was evaluated
      at diagnosis via computer technology. Receiver operating characteristic curve
      (ROC) was used to analyze the predictive value of RFD for relapse and survival
      status. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival rates per subgroup
      between patients with different RFD. Cox proportional hazard regression was used
      to model the overall survival. RESULTS: High RFD at diagnosis in bone marrow
      sections from primary AML might predict early relapse and shorter survival (P =
      0.003 and 0.001, respectively). The optimal cutoff value of RFD at diagnosis was
      determined to be 7.2%. Furthermore, the Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that
      patients with high marrow RFD had shorter relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall
      survival (OS) than patients with low RFD (P = 0.007 and 0.000, respectively).
      Multivariate analysis suggested that similar with cytogenetics, marrow RFD at
      diagnosis was an independent prognostic factor for RFS [HR 0.564, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.338-0.940, P = 0.028] and OS (HR 0.457, 95% CI 0.225-0.929, P =
      0.031) in primary AML patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that marrow RFD
      before treatment should be seemed as prognostic factor in primary AML, it may
      provide valuable clues for developing new targeted therapy.

PMID- 28589432
TI  - Comparative efficacy and toxicity of induction chemotherapy with concurrent
      stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy with subsequent
      chemotherapy in patients with clinical stage T1-3N0M0 non-small cell lung
      carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: We compared the clinical efficacy and toxicity of stereotactic body
      radiotherapy with induction chemotherapy and concurrent radiochemotherapy vs
      stereotactic body radiotherapy with subsequent chemotherapy in patients with
      clinical stage T1-3N0M0 non-small cell lung carcinoma. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analyzed 38 patients with c-stage T1-3N0M0 non-small cell lung
      carcinoma who received stereotactic body radiotherapy. All patients received six
      cycles of chemotherapy. Fifteen of the patients were treated with three cycles of
      induction chemotherapy, one cycle of concurrent radiochemotherapy, and then two
      cycles of consolidation chemotherapy, while 23 patients received Sequential
      Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy. RESULTS: Patients in the induction chemotherapy group
      experienced a longer duration of esophagitis (median 2 vs 0, range 0-6 vs 0-3.6
      weeks, p = 0.04). We divided the patients into two groups based on their median
      pre-treatment tumor volume (cm3): >32.11 and <=32.11. The tumor response rate in
      patients with larger tumor volume was substantially higher in the induction
      chemotherapy group than in the Sequential Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy group (66.67
      vs 40%). Among patients with pre-treatment tumor volume (cm3) >32.11, the median
      local progression-free survival (LPFS) in the induction chemotherapy group and
      Sequential Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy group was 18 months (range 7-72 months) and
      11 months (range 6-53 months), respectively. There was a statistically
      significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS:
      Simultaneous SBRT and chemotherapy can result in a longer duration of
      esophagitis. However, for patients with large tumor volume, ICT combined with
      concurrent radiochemotherapy may result in better local tumor response as well as
      longer LPFS and progression-free survival. To better elucidate the best
      treatment, further clinical trials are needed.

PMID- 28589433
TI  - Overexpression of dishevelled 2 is involved in tumor metastasis and is associated
      with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common
      malignant tumors, its molecular mechanism is still unknown. Dishevelled 2 (Dvl2)
      is one of the downstream targets of non-canonical Wnt signaling, which has been
      demonstrated to be of great importance in the progression of cancers.
      Nevertheless, the expression mechanisms and physiological significance of Dvl2 in
      HCC remain unclear. METHODS: Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used
      to measure Dvl2 protein expression in HCC and adjacent normal tissues of 101
      patients. Wound healing and transwell assays were used to determine cell
      migration and invasion. RESULTS: Dvl2 expression was upregulated in HCC tissues
      compared to the adjacent normal tissues. Moreover, its expression level was
      significantly correlated with histological grade (P = 0.042), metastasis (P =
      0.005) and vein invasion (P = 0.009) in patients with HCC. Wound healing and
      transwell assays showed that knockdown of Dvl2 reduced cell migration and
      invasion in HepG2 cells. Finally, we confirmed that Dvl2 could regulate the
      migration and invasion of HCC cells by interacting with P62 in non-canonical Wnt
      signaling. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that Dvl2 was overexpressed in HCC
      tissues and was also correlated with poor prognosis, suggesting that Dvl2 is a
      novel therapeutic target for HCC.

PMID- 28589434
TI  - Outcome and toxicity of intensity modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous
      integrated boost in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and treatment
      outcome of intensity modulated radiation therapy with simultaneous integrated
      boost (SIB-IMRT) in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 64 NSCLC patients with stage IIB (3%), IIIA
      (36%), and IIIB (61%) were treated with concomitant (N = 47; 73%) or sequential
      (N = 9; 14%) chemotherapy between February 2009 and January 2014. Eight patients
      (13%) received RT alone. All patients received the same irradiation scheme using
      IMRT: prophylactic dose for mediastinum was 56 Gy at 1.65 Gy/fraction and SIB to
      macroscopic disease up to 68 Gy at 2 Gy/fraction. RESULTS: The median follow-up
      was 16 months (range, 1-70 months). The overall survival rate for all patients
      was 79% after 1 year and 46% after 2 years. Disease-free survival (DFS) was 81
      and 45% after 1 and 2 years, respectively, resulting in a median DFS of 16
      months. Multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant association
      between stage IIIB patients and a higher risk of mortality (HR 2.11; P = 0.019).
      In addition, T4 stage associated with higher risk of recurrence (HR 2.23; P =
      0.024) while concomitant chemoradiation was associated with lower risk of any
      recurrence (HR 0.34; P = 0.004) No patient experienced grade >=3 esophagitis and
      only 6 cases (9%) had grade 3 pneumonitis. Only having a higher lung volume was
      associated with higher risk of pneumonitis in the multivariate analysis (HR
      16.21; P = 0.022). CONCLUSION: This study in advanced NSCLC patients shows that
      SIB-IMRT is an effective technique with acceptable toxicity, also when combined
      with chemotherapy.

PMID- 28589436
TI  - Angioleiomyoma (Vascular Leiomyoma) of the Oral Cavity.
AB  - A 70-year-old male presented with a slow growing, dome shaped and painless mass
      of the hard palate. The mass was excised. Histopathological examination confirmed
      the diagnosis of a angioleiomyoma (vascular leiomyoma). A leiomyoma is an
      uncommon benign tumor of smooth muscle differentiation. True leiomyomas of the
      oral cavity are rare and most oral tumors are derived from the smooth muscle of
      walls of blood vessels. Therefore, they are called vascular leiomyomas or
      angioleiomyomas. Clinically, they may resemble a myriad other conditions both
      benign and malignant. A definitive diagnosis depends upon histopathological
      examination of the biopsied tissue in correlation with the tumor cell
      immunohistochemistry. Tumors are excised and recurrence is rare. The
      histopathological findings and differential diagnosis of a case of a palatal
      angioleiomyoma are discussed.

PMID- 28589435
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of RTK signaling.
AB  - Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling cascades coordinate intracellular
      signaling in response to growth factors, chemokines, and other extracellular
      stimuli to control fundamental biological processes such as cellular
      proliferation, metabolism, and survival. Hyperactivation of pathways associated
      with growth factor signaling (e.g., RTK and downstream effectors including Ras,
      PI3K/AKT, and Raf) is a frequent event in human cancers, which uncouples ligand
      mediated activation with signal transduction. While the contributions of direct
      genomic events are well understood as causative agents of hyperactive signal
      transduction, other non-heritable genomic modifications promote the activation of
      growth factor-associated signaling cascades. In this review, we highlight
      epigenomic mechanisms by which hyperactivation of RTK-associated signaling
      cascades occurs and may contribute to cancer.

PMID- 28589437
TI  - Low Grade Carcinoma Ex-Pleomorphic Adenoma: Diagnosis and Diagnostic Challenges
      Caused by Fine Needle Aspiration: Report of Three Cases and Review of Literature.
AB  - Low grade carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (LG CXPA) is a rare low grade
      malignant neoplasm arising from preexisting pleomorphic adenoma (PA). LG CXPA
      demonstrates no overt cytological atypia, and can be difficult to distinguish
      from cellular PA. Invasive growth is one of the hallmarks of LG CXPA, e.g., tumor
      extends beyond the capsule and into adjacent non-neoplastic tissue. However, it
      is known that capsular and vascular invasion, as well as the presence of stroma
      rich PA in soft tissue without a capsule (pseudopodia) can be seen in PA. These
      histological findings have no prognostic significance and are not diagnostic of
      malignancy. In addition, recurrent PA typically presents as numerous nodules
      extending into soft tissue and skeletal muscle, which again are not considered
      malignant features. Thus, "infiltrative growth" of LG CXPA is difficult to define
      and diagnosis is challenging to many practicing pathologists. In this study, we
      report three cases of LG CXPA. We review the diagnostic criteria for LG CXPA, and
      discuss the diagnostic challenges caused by fine needle aspiration (FNA) changes.
      FNA is widely used as a cost-effective, quick and accurate method for diagnosing
      salivary gland lesions. Histological changes post-FNA are usually focal and mild,
      and are not causes of diagnostic difficulties. According to our knowledge, this
      is the first report of LG CXPA complicated with FNA changes.

PMID- 28589438
TI  - Obstetrical history of women with cerebral vein thrombosis: outcome of the
      pregnancies before and after the thrombotic event.
AB  - Cerebral vein thrombosis (CVT) is a rare disease usually affecting young people,
      especially women, with a high prevalence of thrombophilic defects. It is known
      that thrombophilia is associated with pregnancy complications; therefore, a high
      rate of complications could be expected in women with the previous CVT who become
      pregnant. This study examined the whole obstetric history of women who suffered
      from CVT to evaluate the incidence of pregnancy complications during their entire
      lifespan. We prospectively followed consecutive patients with CVT, limiting the
      analysis to females and their obstetrical history. We studied 123 pregnancies in
      99 consecutive women who had a CVT; 71 women had 91 pregnancies before the CVT;
      19 women had 23 pregnancies after the CVT; and nine women had a CVT related to
      pregnancy. All women with CVT before pregnancy were treated with LMWH at
      prophylactic dosage during pregnancy. No recurrent CVT, venous thromboembolic
      events, or death was recorded during the observed pregnancies. Ten miscarriages
      were recorded (rate 8.1%), with a rate similar to that expected in the general
      population. We confirm the favorable outcome of pregnancies in women who suffered
      from CVT during their entire lifespan, whether they have occurred before and
      after or in relation to CVT.

PMID- 28589439
TI  - Serum endocan levels in patients with cardiac syndrome X.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endocan is a recently introduced marker of endothelial dysfunction
      and is also associated with inflammation and atherosclerosis. To date, the
      relationship between cardiac syndrome X (CSX) and endocan has not been studied.
      The objective of this study was to compare the serum endocan levels of patients
      with CSX with those of control subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, 50
      patients were included in the CSX group and 28 patients in the control group.
      Patients with pathological conditions that could potentially influence
      endothelial functions were excluded. Endocan serum concentrations were measured
      using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The mean endocan level of
      the CSX group was significantly higher than that of the control group (3051.3 +/-
      1900.5 ng/l vs. 2088.1 +/- 522.2 ng/l; p = 0.002). There was no difference
      between the two groups in terms of age, gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus,
      dyslipidemia, and smoking status. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      curve analysis, endocan levels greater than 2072 ng/l had a 72% sensitivity and
      54% specificity (p = 0.002) for accurately predicting a diagnosis of CSX.
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that patients with CSX have higher
      endocan levels. Therefore, endocan may be valuable in helping uncover the
      underlying pathogenesis of CSX.

PMID- 28589440
TI  - Intrinsic disorder here, there, and everywhere, and nowhere to escape from it.
AB  - The concept of protein intrinsic disorder persistently penetrates into all areas
      of modern protein science. It cannot be ignored anymore, and cannot be shrugged
      off, as it represents a vital feature (or, more correctly, a broad spectrum of
      important features), which, when added to and mixed with features arising from
      the well established protein structure-function paradigm, complete the picture of
      a functioning protein. The field of protein intrinsic disorder is very dynamic
      and fast developing. This Multi-Author Review represents a snapshot of this field
      by introducing some recent advances. Articles assembled in this Multi-Author
      Review introduce some of the new aspects of intrinsic disorder, outline some
      fascinating ideas related to the intrinsically disordered proteins, their
      structure, and functionality, and show challenges related to the analysis of
      proteins carrying intrinsic disorder.

PMID- 28589442
TI  - Comprehensive review of methods for prediction of intrinsic disorder and its
      molecular functions.
AB  - Computational prediction of intrinsic disorder in protein sequences dates back to
      late 1970 and has flourished in the last two decades. We provide a brief
      historical overview, and we review over 30 recent predictors of disorder. We are
      the first to also cover predictors of molecular functions of disorder, including
      13 methods that focus on disordered linkers and disordered protein-protein,
      protein-RNA, and protein-DNA binding regions. We overview their predictive
      models, usability, and predictive performance. We highlight newest methods and
      predictors that offer strong predictive performance measured based on recent
      comparative assessments. We conclude that the modern predictors are relatively
      accurate, enjoy widespread use, and many of them are fast. Their predictions are
      conveniently accessible to the end users, via web servers and databases that
      store pre-computed predictions for millions of proteins. However, research into
      methods that predict many not yet addressed functions of intrinsic disorder
      remains an outstanding challenge.

PMID- 28589444
TI  - Reflections on the Future of Pharmaceutical Public-Private Partnerships: From
      Input to Impact.
AB  - Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are multiple stakeholder partnerships designed
      to improve research efficacy. We focus on PPPs in the biomedical/pharmaceutical
      field, which emerged as a logical result of the open innovation model.
      Originally, a typical PPP was based on an academic and an industrial pillar, with
      governmental or other third party funding as an incentive. Over time, other
      players joined in, often health foundations, patient organizations, and
      regulatory scientists. This review discusses reasons for initiating a PPP,
      focusing on precompetitive research. It looks at typical expectations and
      challenges when starting such an endeavor, the characteristics of PPPs, and
      approaches to assessing the success of the concept. Finally, four case studies
      are presented, of PPPs differing in size, geographical spread, and research
      focus.

PMID- 28589441
TI  - Ephrin ligands and Eph receptors contribution to hematopoiesis.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells reside predominantly in the bone marrow.
      They supply billions of mature blood cells every day during life through
      maturation into multilineage progenitors and self-renewal. Newly produced mature
      cells serve to replenish the pool of circulating blood cells at the end of their
      life-span. These mature blood cells and a few hematopoietic progenitors normally
      exit the bone marrow through the sinusoidal vessels, a specialized venous
      vascular system that spreads throughout the bone marrow. Many signals regulate
      the coordinated mobilization of hematopoietic cells from the bone marrow to the
      circulation. In this review, we present recent advances on hematopoiesis and
      hematopoietic cell mobilization with a focus on the role of Ephrin ligands and
      their Eph receptors. These constitute a large family of transmembrane ligands and
      receptors that play critical roles in development and postnatally. New insights
      point to distinct roles of ephrin and Eph in different aspects of hematopoiesis.

PMID- 28589443
TI  - Metformin - a Future Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases : Theme: Drug
      Discovery, Development and Delivery in Alzheimer's Disease Guest Editor: Davide
      Brambilla.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex, chronic and progressive metabolic
      disease, which is characterized by relative insulin deficiency, insulin
      resistance, and high glucose levels in blood. Esteemed published articles and
      epidemiological data exhibit an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease
      (AD) in diabetic pateints. Metformin is the most frequently used oral anti
      diabetic drug, which apart from hypoglycaemic activity, improves serum lipid
      profiles, positively influences the process of haemostasis, and possesses anti
      inflammatory properties. Recently, scientists have put their efforts in
      establishing metformin's role in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,
      such as AD, amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Parkinson's disease. Results
      of several clinical studies confirm that long term use of metformin in diabetic
      patients contributes to better cognitive function, compared to participants using
      other anti-diabetic drugs. The exact mechanism of metformin's advantageous
      activity in AD is not fully understood, but scientists claim that activation of
      AMPK-dependent pathways in human neural stem cells might be responsible for the
      neuroprotective activity of metformin. Metformin was also found to markedly
      decease Beta-secretase 1 (BACE1) protein expression and activity in cell culture
      models and in vivo, thereby reducing BACE1 cleavage products and the production
      of Abeta (beta-amyloid). Furthermore, there is also some evidence that metformin
      decreases the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is responsible for
      the degradation of acetylcholine (Ach), a neurotransmitter involved in the
      process of learning and memory. In regard to the beneficial effects of metformin,
      its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties cannot be omitted. Numerous
      in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed that metformin ameliorates oxidative
      damage.

PMID- 28589445
TI  - Chemoprevention of Breast Cancer by Transdermal Delivery of alpha-Santalol
      through Breast Skin and Mammary Papilla (Nipple).
AB  - PURPOSE: Almost all breast cancers originate from epithelial cells lining the
      milk ducts in the breast. To this end, the study investigated the feasibility of
      localized transdermal delivery of alpha-santalol, a natural chemopreventive agent
      to the breast. METHODS: Different alpha-santalol formulations (cream, solution
      and microemulsion) were developed and the in vitro permeability was studied using
      excised animal (porcine and rat) and human breast skin/mammary papilla (nipple).
      The in vivo biodistribution and efficacy studies were conducted in female rats. A
      chemical carcinogenesis model of breast cancer was used for the efficacy studies.
      RESULTS: Phospholipid based alpha-santalol microemulsion showed the highest
      penetration through the nipple and breast skin. Delivery of alpha-santalol
      through the entire breast (breast skin and nipple) in vivo in rats resulted in
      significantly higher concentration in the mammary gland compared to transdermal
      delivery through the breast skin or nipple. There was no measurable alpha
      santalol concentration in the blood. Transdermal delivery of alpha-santalol
      reduced the tumor incidence and tumor multiplicity. Furthermore, the tumor size
      was significantly reduced with alpha-santalol treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings from this study demonstrate the feasibility of localized transdermal
      delivery of alpha-santalol for chemoprevention of breast cancer.

PMID- 28589448
TI  - [Laser in situ keratomileusis with microkeratome or femtosecond laser].
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND PRINCIPLES: In LASIK, after cutting a lamellating stromal corneal
      incision (flap) with a microkeratome or a femtosecond laser, the underlying
      tissue is treated with an excimer laser for refractive correction. The objective
      is to achieve independency from spectacles and contact lenses due to correction
      of ametropia. INDICATIONS: Surgery is indicated when the patient wishes to
      achieve independency from spectacles and contact lenses. For LASIK, the German
      Commission for Refractive Surgery defined a range of applicability for myopic
      correction up to -8 diopters (D), astigmatic correction up to 5 D and hyperopic
      correction up to +3 D. Borderline applicability is defined as myopic correction
      up to -10 D, astigmatic correction up to 6 D and hyperopic correction up to +4 D.
      OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE: The surgical technique is demonstrated in detail with the
      help of a video of the operation, which is available online. The flap incision is
      created with a microkeratome or a femtosecond laser. After lifting and folding
      the flap, excimer ablation is performed. An eye tracking system ensures correct
      location of ablation by compensating for intraoperative eye movements. After
      repositioning the flap, the interface is irrigated and the edge of the flap is
      adapted with a sponge. RESULTS: The LASIK procedure is safe, predictable and
      efficient with a high rate of patient satisfaction. The complication rate can be
      minimized by using a careful and standardized surgical approach.

PMID- 28589449
TI  - Surprising Twist in the Plot - Sister Mary Joseph's Nodule of Pancreatic Cancer
      Mimicking Wound Infection after Umbilical Hernia Repair.

PMID- 28589447
TI  - Cognitive, neurophysiologic and metabolic sequelae of previous hypoglycemic coma
      revealed by hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamp in type 1 diabetic patients.
AB  - To examine the relationship between electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and
      hypoglycemia unawareness, we investigated early parameters of vigilance and
      awareness of various symptom categories in response to hypoglycemia in
      intensively treated type 1 diabetic (T1DM) patients with different degrees of
      hypoglycemia unawareness. Hypoglycemia was induced with a hyperinsulinemic
      hypoglycemic clamp in six T1DM patients with a history of hypoglycemia
      unawareness previous severe hypoglycemic coma (SH) and in six T1DM patients
      without (C) history of hypoglycemia unawareness previous severe hypoglycemic
      coma. Cognitive function tests (four choice reaction time), counterregulatory
      responses (adrenaline), and symptomatic responses were evaluated at euglycemia
      (90 mg/dl) and during step-wise plasma glucose reduction (68, 58 and 49 mg/dl).
      EEG activity was recorded continuously throughout the study and analyzed by
      spectral analysis. Cognitive function deteriorated significantly at a glucose
      threshold of 55 +/- 1 mg/dl in both groups (p = ns) during hypoglycemia, while
      the glucose threshold for autonomic symptoms was significantly lower in SH
      patients than in C patients (49 +/- 1 vs. 54 +/- 1 mg/dl, p < 0.05,
      respectively). In SH patients, eye-closed resting EEG showed a correlation
      between the mean dominance frequency and plasma glucose (r = 0.62, p < 0.001).
      Theta relative power increased during controlled hypoglycemia compared to
      euglycemia (21.6 +/- 6 vs. 15.5 +/- 3% Hz p < 0.05) and was higher than in the C
      group (21.6 +/- 6 vs. 13.8 +/- 3%, p < 0.03). The cognitive task beta activity
      was lower in the SH group than in the C group (14.8 +/- 3 Hz, vs. 22.6 +/- 4 vs.
      p < 0.03). Controlled hypoglycemia elicits cognitive dysfunction in both C and SH
      patients; however, significant EEG alterations during hypoglycemia were detected
      mainly in patients with a history of hypoglycemia unawareness and previous severe
      hypoglycemic coma. These data suggest that prior episodes of hypoglycemic coma
      modulate brain electric activity.

PMID- 28589446
TI  - Bioprinting and Organ-on-Chip Applications Towards Personalized Medicine for Bone
      Diseases.
AB  - The skeleton supports and confers structure to the whole body but several
      pathological and traumatic conditions affect the bone tissue. Most of those
      pathological conditions are specific and different among different patients, such
      as bone defects due to traumatic injuries or bone remodeling alterations due to
      congenital diseases. In this context, the development of personalized therapies
      would be highly desirable. In recent years the advent of innovative techniques
      like bioprinting and microfluidic organ-on-chip raised hopes of achieving key
      tools helping the application of personalized therapies for bone diseases. In
      this review we will illustrate the latest progresses in the bioprinting of
      personalized bone grafts and generation of patient-specific bone-on-chip devices,
      describing current approaches and limitations and possible future improvements
      for more effective personalized bone grafts and disease models.

PMID- 28589450
TI  - Central nervous system involvement in adults with haemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis: a single-center study.
AB  - Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare multisystem disorder
      characterized by proliferation and diffuse infiltration multiple organs with
      histiocytes, including the central nervous system (CNS). Neurological
      manifestations of HLH have been recognized in different studies with children,
      but they remain relatively ill-defined in adults with HLH. From March 2008 to
      October 2014, 289 adult patients with HLH were admitted to our center. Clinical,
      radiological, and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) data of the patients with CNS
      involvement were reviewed, and a retrospective study in our single-center was
      carried out. CNS involvement was observed in 29 patients (10%) either in their
      diagnosis process or during disease course. CNS symptoms included disturbance of
      consciousness, cranial nerve palsies, seizures, headache, limb paralysis,
      irritability, meningism, and memory loss. CSF analysis was conducted in 17
      patients (59%). Among them, 11 patients (65%) were reported as having abnormal
      CSF. Neuroradiological studies were performed in 25 patients (86%). Among the 13
      cases that underwent CT scan, one patient hemorrhaged. Single or multiple
      hypodense foci were detected in the other 2 patients. Magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) abnormalities were found in 15 patients, including focal lesions in
      cortical and adjacent subcortical regions with or without variable nodular or
      ring contrast-enhancement, multiple lesions in white matter, diffuse white matter
      signal changes, and meningeal enhancement. Basal ganglia, cerebellum, and
      brainstem lesions were also observed. CNS involvement could also be found in
      adult patients with HLH, but not as frequent as it was in children. The clinical
      manifestations could be diversified. By carrying out rigorous CNS examinations,
      an early diagnosis could be made and it was of the utmost importance for the
      prevention of further lesions.

PMID- 28589451
TI  - Sweet syndrome secondary to myelodysplastic syndrome mimicking necrotizing
      fasciitis.

PMID- 28589454
TI  - Synthesis, physico-chemical characterization, and antioxidant effect of PEGylated
      cerium oxide nanoparticles.
AB  - Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNPs) represent a promising class of antioxidant
      nanoparticles with potential therapeutic value. Due to the easily reversible
      oxidation states of cerium (Ce3+ and Ce4+) at the nanoscale, CNPs scavenge
      excessive reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in a self-regenerative manner. In
      this study, we have demonstrated a simple method to functionalize shape-specific
      CNPs (i.e., rod- and cube-shaped) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and studied the
      effect of PEGylation on the physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity,
      and biocompatibility of rod- and cube-shaped CNPs. The chemical conjugation of
      PEG onto the CNP surface was confirmed by a series of physico-chemical
      characterizations (1H-NMR, FTIR, and surface zeta potential). Rod-shaped CNPs
      demonstrated greater reactive oxygen species scavenging ability compared to cube
      shaped CNPs. PEGylation of CNPs did not affect shape, cerium oxidation state, and
      cytocompatibility. Importantly, PEGylation significantly reduced the amount of
      proteins adsorbed onto the CNPs. The antioxidant effects of CNPs were maintained
      in PEGylated CNPs. We envision that PEGylated rod-shaped CNPs synthesized in this
      study have the potential to be biocompatible nanoparticles that can combat
      oxidative stress-related diseases.

PMID- 28589455
TI  - Terrestrially derived glomalin-related soil protein quality as a potential
      ecological indicator in a peri-urban watershed.
AB  - Glomalin, which sequesters substantial amounts of carbon, plays a critical role
      in sustaining terrestrial biome functions and contributes to the fate of many
      pollutants from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. Despite having focused on the
      amount of glomalin produced, very few attempts have been made to understand how
      landscapes and environmental conditions influence glomalin composition and
      characteristics. This study focused on glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP)
      exported as storm runoff including eroded sediment and water that was collected
      before flowing to surface waters in a peri-urban watershed. GRSP characteristics
      were assessed by Bradford protein analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy combined
      with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and the determination of aromaticity
      based on the specific ultraviolet absorption value (280 nm) and molecular weight.
      General linear models (GLMs) was established by integrating microbial activity,
      land cover, water temperature, precipitation, and other solution chemical
      properties to explain the variations in GRSP characteristics. Results showed that
      a higher GRSP concentration in agricultural reference sites was produced in the
      form of specific materials with low molecular weight and aromaticity, as well as
      high percentage of C1 and C5 components which indicate microbial-processed
      sources, relative to urbanized and forested sites. Compared with forested land,
      urbanized land clearly produced runoff GRSP with low molecular weight and
      aromaticity, as well as more degradation of humic-like materials (C3 component).
      The highest GLM explaining 89% of the variables, including significant variables
      (p < 0.05) such as microbial activity, water temperature, and water conductivity,
      was observed for GRSP characteristics. Therefore, changes in eroded soil GRSP
      quality can serve as an indicator for improving watershed management and thus
      protecting aquatic ecosystems.

PMID- 28589452
TI  - On-demand microbicide products: design matters.
AB  - Sexual intercourse (vaginal and anal) is the predominant mode of human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. Topical microbicides used in an on
      demand format (i.e., immediately before or after sex) can be part of an effective
      tool kit utilized to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. The effectiveness of
      prevention products is positively correlated with adherence, which is likely to
      depend on user acceptability of the product. The development of an efficacious
      and acceptable product is therefore paramount for the success of an on-demand
      product. Acceptability of on-demand products (e.g., gels, films, and tablets) and
      their attributes is influenced by a multitude of user-specific factors that span
      behavioral, lifestyle, socio-economic, and cultural aspects. In addition,
      physicochemical properties of the drug, anatomical and physiological aspects of
      anorectal and vaginal compartments, issues relating to large-scale production,
      and cost can impact product development. These factors together with user
      preferences determine the design space of an effective, acceptable, and feasible
      on-demand product. In this review, we summarize the interacting factors that
      together determine product choice and its target product profile.

PMID- 28589456
TI  - Zn2+ sequestration by Nostoc muscorum: study of thermodynamics, equilibrium
      isotherms, and biosorption parameters for the metal.
AB  - Microbial biosorption has evolved as an effective strategy for heavy metal
      removal from contaminated waters. The common cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum
      isolated from the banks of a polluted river in Meghalaya, India, was tested for
      its potential to remove Zn2+ from aqueous solutions. Energy-dispersive X-ray
      (EDX) study verified Zn binding on the cyanobacterial biomass, and FTIR analysis
      revealed many negatively charged functional groups (hydroxyl, carbonyl, alcohol,
      amine, phosphoryl, sulfhydryl, and carboxyl) on the cell surface that aided in
      metal binding. Thermodynamic studies established the biosorption process to be
      energetically favorable with negative free energy change (-10.404, -10.599, and 
      10.796 kJ/mol at 298, 303, and 308 K, respectively). Sorption isotherm data
      fitted best in the Langmuir isotherm indicating monolayer nature of Zn sorption.
      The organism showed hyper-accumulation tendency towards Zn with a maximum
      sorption capacity as high as 2500 mg of Zn taken up per gram of biomass. The
      separation factor R L calculated from Langmuir isotherm ranged between 0 and 1
      signifying favorable interaction between the cyanobacterial biomass and the Zn
      ions. Various experimental parameters, viz. pH, temperature, inoculum age and
      size, and shaking rate, influenced Zn biosorption. Optimized experimental
      conditions significantly enhanced the sorption percentage. Sorption was primarily
      a fast surface phenomenon in the beginning with internalization of zinc ions by
      the live cells on prolonged exposure.

PMID- 28589453
TI  - Bone-seeking agents for the treatment of bone disorders.
AB  - The targeting and delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to bone tissue
      presents both a challenge and opportunity. Osteoporosis, Paget's disease, cancer,
      and bone metastases are all skeletal diseases whose treatment would benefit from
      new targeted therapeutic strategies. Osteoporosis, in particular, is a very
      prevalent disease, affecting over one in three women and one in five men in
      Canada alone with the cost to the healthcare system estimated at over $2.3
      billion in 2010. Bone tissue is often considered a rigid structure when in
      reality there is a process of continuous remodeling that takes place via complex
      endocrine-regulated cell signaling pathways in addition to the signaling pathways
      unique to bone tissue. It is these specific boneremodeling processes that provide
      unique targeting opportunities but also present a number of challenges.

PMID- 28589457
TI  - Assessing the accuracy and stability of variable selection methods for random
      forest modeling in ecology.
AB  - Random forest (RF) modeling has emerged as an important statistical learning
      method in ecology due to its exceptional predictive performance. However, for
      large and complex ecological data sets, there is limited guidance on variable
      selection methods for RF modeling. Typically, either a preselected set of
      predictor variables are used or stepwise procedures are employed which
      iteratively remove variables according to their importance measures. This paper
      investigates the application of variable selection methods to RF models for
      predicting probable biological stream condition. Our motivating data set consists
      of the good/poor condition of n = 1365 stream survey sites from the 2008/2009
      National Rivers and Stream Assessment, and a large set (p = 212) of landscape
      features from the StreamCat data set as potential predictors. We compare two
      types of RF models: a full variable set model with all 212 predictors and a
      reduced variable set model selected using a backward elimination approach. We
      assess model accuracy using RF's internal out-of-bag estimate, and a cross
      validation procedure with validation folds external to the variable selection
      process. We also assess the stability of the spatial predictions generated by the
      RF models to changes in the number of predictors and argue that model selection
      needs to consider both accuracy and stability. The results suggest that RF
      modeling is robust to the inclusion of many variables of moderate to low
      importance. We found no substantial improvement in cross-validated accuracy as a
      result of variable reduction. Moreover, the backward elimination procedure tended
      to select too few variables and exhibited numerous issues such as upwardly biased
      out-of-bag accuracy estimates and instabilities in the spatial predictions. We
      use simulations to further support and generalize results from the analysis of
      real data. A main purpose of this work is to elucidate issues of model selection
      bias and instability to ecologists interested in using RF to develop predictive
      models with large environmental data sets.

PMID- 28589458
TI  - The applicability of a large-volume injection (LVI) system for quantitative
      analysis of permanent gases O2 and N2 using a gas chromatograph/barrier discharge
      ionization detector.
AB  - To develop accurate quantitation methods for two major permanent gases, N2 and
      O2, a series of calibration experiments were carried out using a gas
      chromatograph (GC)/barrier discharge ionization detector (BID) equipped with a
      large-volume injection (LVI) system. To this end, gaseous working standards (WSs)
      diluted with helium gas were prepared at ten different concentration levels
      representing three different concentration ranges (in ppm) in 1-L polyester
      aluminum (PEA) bags ((1) low, 209~2090 (O2) and 791~7910 (N2); (2) moderate, 2090
      ~ 20,900 (O2) and 7910~79,100 (N2); and (3) high, 20,900~209,000 (O2) and
      79,100~791,000 (N2)). Cross-calibration experiments for each individual WS were
      carried out using the loop injection system with four different capacities (0.01,
      0.5, 1, and 10 mL). The calibration results were then evaluated with respect to
      key variables including loop capacity, concentration, and mass quantity.
      Accordingly, we observed the optimal performance of the BID in terms of
      sensitivity and linearity (R 2 > 0.98) when the WS of the moderate concentration
      range was analyzed with the small loop (0.01 and 0.5 mL). The method detection
      limit (MDL) values of the four loop sizes (between 0.01 and 10 mL) were 7~500 ng
      for O2 (38.4~557 ppm) and 24~2230 ng for N2 (195~2105 ppm).

PMID- 28589459
TI  - Quality of groundwater resources in Afghanistan.
AB  - Water is the main source of energy production and economy in Afghanistan where
      agriculture accounts for more than 50% of the country's gross domestic product
      (GDP). Access to safe drinking water is still a problem in the country, which has
      caused different health issues and even child mortality especially in rural
      areas. Groundwater is the main source of drinking water in the country. However,
      little knowledge is available about the quality of groundwater throughout the
      entire country, and its quality has not been investigated extensively yet like in
      other countries in the world. While most people think that consuming groundwater
      is a reliable and safe source of drinking water for health, the United Nations
      (UN) agencies report various kinds of waterborne diseases and even child
      mortalities due to drinking water quality in the country. In this article,
      significant geogenic and anthropogenic factors that play a vital role in
      groundwater contamination of the country are identified and explained. Different
      geogenic contaminations such as arsenic, fluoride, sulfate, and boron occur in
      several areas of Afghanistan that have a direct effect on human health. The water
      quality mapping for Afghanistan is completed for half of the country, which shows
      that groundwater is plagued by high levels of fluoride and arsenic in some areas.
      The water quality mapping of the other half of the country cannot be completed
      due to security concerns currently. Also, there are different kinds of waterborne
      diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and dysentery that can be seen in different
      parts of the country because of anthropogenic activities which continuously
      deteriorate groundwater.

PMID- 28589460
TI  - Is soil microbial diversity affected by soil and groundwater salinity? Evidences
      from a coastal system in central Italy.
AB  - Little is known about composition, diversity, and abundance of microbial
      communities in environments affected by primary soil salinization, such as
      coastal lagoon systems. The main objective of this study was to investigate the
      impact of lagoon salinity, soil type, and land-use on inland soil and groundwater
      quality, and soil microbial community structure, diversity, and gene abundance,
      as evaluated by T-RFLP (terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism) and
      qPCR (quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction). For this purpose, four sites
      oriented along a groundwater salinity gradient (Fogliano lagoon, central Italy)
      were studied under different recreational, grazing, and land-use conditions.
      Spatial variability in groundwater attributes was observed depending on salinity
      and soil electrical conductivity, both influenced by salt intrusion. A comparison
      of community abundance and number of phylotypes of bacteria, archaea, and fungi
      across varying soil depths pointed out marked differences across soils
      characterized by different soil type, land-use, and salinity. The latter
      significantly affected the microbial population richness and diversity and showed
      a dominance in terms of bacteria species. Our study provides a comprehensive
      overview of the spatial relationship between soil microbial community and soil
      degradation processes along a relatively underexplored environmental gradient in
      a coastal system, coming to the conclusion that salinity acts differently as a
      driver of microbial community structure in comparison with other saline
      environments.

PMID- 28589461
TI  - Association study of multiple antibiotic resistance and virulence: a strategy to
      assess the extent of risk posed by bacterial population in aquatic environment.
AB  - The present study explored the association between multiple antibiotic resistance
      (MAR) index and virulence index to determine what percent of environmental
      antibiotic-resistant (eARB) bacteria could pose threat as potential pathogen.
      16srRNA-based sequencing of 113 non-duplicate isolates identified majority of
      them to be gram negative belonging to Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Aeromonas,
      Proteus, Acinetobacter, and Klebsiella. Statistical comparison of MAR indices of
      the abovementioned genera indicated differences in the median values among the
      groups (p < 0.001). Pair-wise multiple comparison by Dunn's method indicated
      significant difference in MAR indices (p < 0.05), based on which multiple
      antibiotic resistance phenotype could be ranked in the order Pseudomonas >
      Klebsiella = Acinetobacter > Proteus > Aeromonas > Enterobacter. Association
      between MAR index and virulence index revealed that 25% of isolates in the
      population under study posed high threat to human/animal or both; out of which
      75% isolates belonged to genus Pseudomonas. Based on observations of comparative
      analysis of the six gram-negative genera, it could be concluded that Pseudomonas
      isolates from environment pose significantly high threat as potential pathogens
      while Enterobacter isolates posed no threat.

PMID- 28589462
TI  - Discharge or admit? Emergency department management of incidental pulmonary
      embolism in patients with cancer: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospitalization and early anticoagulation therapy remain standard
      care for patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with pulmonary
      embolism (PE). For PEs discovered incidentally, however, optimal therapeutic
      strategies are less clear-and all the more so when the patient has cancer, which
      is associated with a hypercoagulable state that exacerbates the threat of PE.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of a historical cohort of patients
      with cancer and incidental PE who were referred for assessment to the ED in an
      institution whose standard of care is outpatient treatment of selected patients
      and use of low-molecular-weight heparin for anticoagulation. Eligible patients
      had received a diagnosis of incidental PE upon routine contrast enhanced chest CT
      for cancer staging. Survival data was collected at 30 days and 90 days from the
      date of ED presentation and at the end of the study. RESULTS: We identified 193
      patients, 135 (70%) of whom were discharged and 58 (30%) of whom were admitted to
      the hospital. The 30-day survival rate was 92% overall, 99% for the discharged
      patients and 76% for admitted patients. Almost all (189 patients, 98%) commenced
      anticoagulation therapy in the ED; 170 (90%) of these received low-molecular
      weight heparin. Patients with saddle pulmonary artery incidental PEs were more
      likely to die within 30 days (43%) than were those with main or lobar (11%),
      segmental (6%), or subsegmental (5%) incidental PEs. In multivariate analysis,
      Charlson comorbidity index (age unadjusted), hypoxemia, and incidental PE
      location (P = 0.004, relative risk 33.5 (95% CI 3.1-357.4, comparing saddle
      versus subsegmental PE) were significantly associated with 30-day survival. Age,
      comorbidity, race, cancer stage, tachycardia, hypoxemia, and incidental PE
      location were significantly associated with hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS:
      Selected cancer patients presenting to the ED with incidental PE can be treated
      with low-molecular-weight heparin anticoagulation and safely discharged.
      Avoidance of unnecessary hospitalization may decrease in-hospital infections and
      death, reduce healthcare costs, and improve patient quality of life. Because the
      natural history and optimal management of this condition is not well described,
      information supporting the creation of straightforward evidence-based practice
      guidelines for ED teams treating this specialized patient population is needed.

PMID- 28589463
TI  - Experimental and theoretical description of the optical properties of Myrcia
      sylvatica essential oil.
AB  - We present an extensive study of the optical properties of Myrcia sylvatica
      essential oil with the goal of investigating the suitability of its material
      system for uses in organic photovoltaics. The methods of extraction, experimental
      analysis, and theoretical modeling are described in detail. The precise
      composition of the oil in our samples is determined via gas chromatography, mass
      spectrometry, and X-ray scattering techniques. The measurements indicate that,
      indeed, the material system of Myrcia sylvatica essential oil may be successfully
      employed for the design of organic photovoltaic devices. The optical absorption
      of the molecules that compose the oil are calculated using time-dependent density
      functional theory and used to explain the measured UV-Vis spectra of the oil. We
      show that it is sufficient to consider the alpha-bisabolol/cadalene pair, two of
      the main constituents of the oil, to obtain the main features of the UV-Vis
      spectra. This finding is of importance for future works that aim to use Myrcia
      sylvatica essential oil as a photovoltaic material.

PMID- 28589464
TI  - EPSP synthase flexibility is determinant to its function: computational molecular
      dynamics and metadynamics studies.
AB  - Flexibility is involved in a wide range of biological processes, such as protein
      assembly and binding recognition. EPSP synthase is an enzyme that must undergo a
      large conformational change to accommodate its ligands into its binding cavity.
      However, although the structure of EPSP synthase has been determined, its
      plasticity has not been explored in depth. Therefore, in this work, we
      extensively examined the influence of the flexibility of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis EPSP (MtEPSP) synthase on the function of this protein using
      classical and replica-exchange metadynamics simulations. We were able to identify
      five well-populated conformational clusters for MtEPSP synthase: two
      corresponding to open, one to ajar, and two to closed conformations. We also
      pinpointed three hydrophobic regions that are responsible for guiding transitions
      among these states. Taken together, the new findings presented here indicate how
      the hydrophobic regions modulate the flexibility of MtEPSP synthase, and they
      highlight the importance of considering these dynamic features in drug design
      projects employing this enzyme as a target. Graphical abstract The flexibility of
      EPSP synthase as a function of the pincer angles.

PMID- 28589465
TI  - Timescales and Mechanisms of Sigh-Like Bursting and Spiking in Models of Rhythmic
      Respiratory Neurons.
AB  - Neural networks generate a variety of rhythmic activity patterns, often involving
      different timescales. One example arises in the respiratory network in the pre
      Botzinger complex of the mammalian brainstem, which can generate the eupneic
      rhythm associated with normal respiration as well as recurrent low-frequency,
      large-amplitude bursts associated with sighing. Two competing hypotheses have
      been proposed to explain sigh generation: the recruitment of a neuronal
      population distinct from the eupneic rhythm-generating subpopulation or the
      reconfiguration of activity within a single population. Here, we consider two
      recent computational models, one of which represents each of the hypotheses. We
      use methods of dynamical systems theory, such as fast-slow decomposition,
      averaging, and bifurcation analysis, to understand the multiple-timescale
      mechanisms underlying sigh generation in each model. In the course of our
      analysis, we discover that a third timescale is required to generate sighs in
      both models. Furthermore, we identify the similarities of the underlying
      mechanisms in the two models and the aspects in which they differ.

PMID- 28589467
TI  - Ossification foci act as stabilizers in continuous-type ossification of the
      posterior longitudinal ligament: a comparative study between laminectomy and
      laminoplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In multilevel ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament
      (OPLL), laminectomy is an effective surgical technique; however, there is a
      possibility of kyphotic alignment change after surgery. Nevertheless, in the
      continuous type of OPLL, the ossification foci are connected and may act as
      stabilizers preventing alignment change. We here compare the surgical outcome of
      laminectomy and laminoplasty in continuous-type OPLL of the cervical spine.
      METHODS: Seventy-three patients who underwent cervical laminectomy or
      laminoplasty for continuous-type OPLL from 2004 to 2014 were enrolled. The
      clinical outcomes were assessed by using the neck disability index, visual
      analogue scale, and Japanese Orthopedic Association scoring systems. Radiological
      evaluation with plain lateral radiographs was performed to observe alignment
      changes. RESULTS: The perioperative clinical outcome with laminectomy did not
      differ significantly from that of laminoplasty. Kyphotic change was observed in 3
      of 35 patients with laminectomy and 3 of 38 patients with laminoplasty. Although
      loss of lordosis was observed in both groups, the C2-7 Cobb angle, sagittal
      vertical axis (SVA), and T1 slope did not demonstrate significant statistical
      differences between laminectomy and laminoplasty. Moreover, the C2-7 SVA in the
      C7-included laminectomy group (33.9 +/- 13.4) became greater than that in the C7
      excluded laminectomy group (24.8 +/- 11.3) at the final follow-up (p = 0.049).
      CONCLUSIONS: In continuous-type OPLL, the surgical outcome did not show any
      significant difference between laminectomy and laminoplasty. Laminectomy alone is
      also a good choice in continuous-type OPLL, similar to laminoplasty.

PMID- 28589466
TI  - Antibacterial Prophylaxis for Surgical Site Infection in the Elderly: Practical
      Application.
AB  - Surgical site infections are among the most common healthcare-associated
      infections and are linked with increased length of hospitalization, re-admission,
      mortality and significant financial burden. Risk factors for the occurrence of
      surgical site infections include variables related to the surgical procedure as
      well as host factors. Increasing age is associated with the occurrence of
      surgical site infections. The aim of this review is to give an update on the
      antibiotic prophylaxis for surgical site infection in elderly people. We focused
      on specific issues and practical applications, such as the importance of
      targeting the antimicrobial agent to the susceptibility pattern of colonizing
      flora in selected cases and the need for dosage modifications.

PMID- 28589468
TI  - Optimal treatment of jugular foramen schwannomas: long-term outcome of a
      multidisciplinary approach for a series of 29 cases in a single institute.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of treatment for jugular foramen schwannomas (JFSs) is to
      achieve complete tumor removal with cranial nerve preservation. However,
      achieving this goal remains a challenge despite the advances in microsurgical
      techniques. The aim of this study was to determine optimal treatment strategies
      for JFSs based on a review of a series of 29 surgical cases in our institute.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1997 and 2013, 29 patients with JFSs underwent
      surgical treatment by multidisciplinary otoneurosurgical approaches. We
      retrospectively evaluated various clinical outcomes including the extent of tumor
      resection, postoperative cranial nerve deficits, and the recurrence rate. Tumor
      extension was classified using the Kaye and Pellet classification (KPC) system,
      and the extent of tumor resection was graded as gross total resection (GTR), near
      total resection (NTR), and subtotal resection (STR). We utilized the House
      Brackmann facial nerve grading system (HBFNGS), the average pure-tone audiometry
      and speech audiometry (PTA/SA) tests, and the American Speech-Language-Hearing
      Association National Outcome Measurement System (ASHA NOMS) swallowing scale
      (ASHA level) for assessment of functional outcomes. RESULTS: The extent of tumor
      resection was not related to the degree of immediate postoperative cranial nerve
      deficits. However, the surgical approach was significantly related to
      postoperative hearing status and immediate postoperative facial function. Also,
      among the ten patients who were below the level of acceptable facial function
      immediately postoperatively, nine patients (90%) recovered to acceptable facial
      function by the last follow-up. Concerning postoperative swallowing status, all
      21 patients recovered swallowing function by the last follow-up. Postoperative
      Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery (GKRS) was performed for three recurrent
      and seven residual tumors, and recurrence was not observed in the mean 36-month
      follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: A surgical strategy should be tailored to the
      individual case, and clinicians should consider the possibility of recurrence and
      further adjuvant treatment.

PMID- 28589469
TI  - Examining a momentary mediation model of appearance-related stress, anxiety, and
      eating disorder behaviors in adult anorexia nervosa.
AB  - PURPOSE: Appearance-related stress may result from appearance-focused events such
      as seeing one's reflection, seeing media images, and shopping for clothes. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the prospective association between
      momentary appearance-related stress and eating disorder (ED) behaviors (i.e.,
      binge eating and vomiting) among women with anorexia nervosa (AN) using
      ecological momentary assessment (EMA). We hypothesized that appearance-related
      stress at Time 1 would predict binge eating and vomiting at Time 2, and that this
      prospective association would be mediated by momentary anxiety at Time 2
      (controlling for anxiety at Time 1). METHODS: Women with AN completed a 2-week
      EMA protocol involving repeated daily assessments of experiences and behaviors.
      RESULTS: Momentary appearance-related stress preceded binge eating and vomiting,
      and momentary anxiety mediated the prospective association between appearance
      related stress and ED behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted momentary interventions
      delivered in the natural environment that address appearance-related stress may
      have utility in the treatment of ED behaviors.

PMID- 28589470
TI  - A narrative review of potential treatment strategies for food addiction.
AB  - The concept of food addiction (FA) remains controversial with research being in
      the nascent stages; FA like any addiction can have a devastating impact on the
      lives of those afflicted. There exists a clinical need for treatment strategies
      for those affected. This article reviews potential treatment strategies for FA.
      The treatment strategies target four core behaviours of the addiction phenotype
      specifically craving through the opioid system, impulsivity as a personality
      trait, compulsivity through the serotonergic system and lastly motivation through
      the dopaminergic system. A range of pharmacological and psychological
      interventions are reviewed. Future research should seek to test and validate the
      proposed clinical treatment strategies.

PMID- 28589471
TI  - Catching the moving target of adolescent personality and its disorders. A
      commentary on the article (doi:10.1007/s40519-017-0368-y) by Gaudio and
      Dakanalis: What about the assessment of personality disturbance in adolescents
      with eating disorders?

PMID- 28589473
TI  - The effect of triclosan on posttranslational modification of proteins through
      citrullination and carbamylation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was evaluate the effect of triclosan on
      citrullination and carbamylation, two important protein posttranslational
      modifications associated with inflammatory conditions such as periodontitis and
      rheumatoid arthritis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A range of triclosan concentrations
      were incubated in the presence of appropriate substrates used for the generation
      of either citrullinated or carbamylated proteins. The effect of triclosan on
      protein citrullination and carbamylation in macrophages was also assessed.
      RESULTS: Citrullination and carbamylation were both significantly decreased by
      triclosan at concentrations six times lower than the 0.3% triclosan approved by
      the FDA to use in mouthwash and toothpaste. When macrophages were exposed to
      triclosan, carbamylation was significantly deceased (p = 0.01), and while
      citrullination also decreased, this reduction was not statistically significant
      (p = 0.06). CONCLUSION: Triclosan reduced the generation of protein
      citrullination and carbamylation in vitro. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Triclosan may be
      useful as an adjunct therapy in the management of inflammatory periodontal
      diseases and help to reduce posttranslational protein modification citrullination
      and carbamylation) in these tissues.

PMID- 28589472
TI  - Clinical comparison of the effectiveness of 7- and 14-day intracanal medications
      in root canal disinfection and inflammatory cytokines.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This clinical study compared the effectiveness of 7- and 14-day
      intracanal medications in the reduction of bacteria/endotoxins from primarily
      infected root canals and determined their antigenicity against macrophages
      through the levels of cytokines. METHODS: Seventy-two primarily infected teeth
      were randomly divided into six groups according to medication and time of
      application: 7-day groups = G1, Ca(OH)2 + saline solution (SSL); G2, Ca(OH)2 + 2%
      chlorhexidine (CHX) gel; and G3, 2% CHX gel and 14-day groups = G4, Ca(OH)2 +
      SSL; G5, Ca(OH)2 + 2% CHX gel; and G6, 2% CHX gel (all groups, n = 12). Bacterial
      and endotoxin samples were collected from root canals and inflammatory cytokines
      of macrophages supernatants. Culture techniques were used to determine bacterial
      counts and limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay to quantify endotoxins. IL-1beta,
      TNF-alpha, and PGE2 were measured by ELISA-assay. RESULTS: With regard to the
      bacterial reduction, no differences were found between all protocols tested (p >
      0.05). The CHX protocols (G3 and G6) exhibited the lowest effectiveness against
      endotoxins (p < 0.05). All protocols were effective in lowering the levels of IL
      1beta, TNF-alpha, and PGE2 (p < 0.05), with no difference between the medications
      tested on days 7 or 14 (p > 0.05). Particularly, the 7-day CHX-protocol (G3)
      exhibited the lowest effectiveness in lowering the levels of most cytokines
      compared to the 14-day protocols (G6) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: All the 7- and 14
      day intracanal medications were effective in reducing bacteria and endotoxins as
      well as in lowering the levels of inflammatory cytokines, with CHX showing
      limited effectiveness against endotoxins. Moreover, 7-day CHX-protocol exhibited
      the lowest effectiveness in lowering the levels of most cytokines compared to the
      14-day protocols. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Seven-day CHX protocol is the less
      effective protocol and should be carefully applied by the clinician.

PMID- 28589474
TI  - Triglyceride to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and its association
      with periodontal disease in Korean adults: findings based on the 2012-2014 Korean
      national health and nutrition examination survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the triglyceride to high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio is associated with periodontal
      disease in Korean adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study
      included 12,249 individuals (4,941 men and 7,308 women) who took part in the 2012
      2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We categorized the
      TG/HDL-C ratio into three groups. Periodontal disease was defined as a community
      pocket index score >=3 with at least one affected site. Multiple logistic
      analyses were used to analyze the association between TG/HDL-C ratio and
      periodontal disease. RESULTS: In the study population, prevalence of periodontal
      disease was 31.6% in men and 21% in women. Compared to the lowest tertile group,
      OR (95% CI) of the highest tertile group for periodontal disease was 1.474 (1.220
      1.780) in men and 1.259 (1.041-1.522) in women after adjusting for age, waist
      circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, current smoking, alcohol
      drinking, physical activity, household income, oral health behavior, and use of
      anti-dyslipidemia medication. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the TG/HDL-C
      ratio is associated with periodontal disease in Korean adults. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: TG/HDL-C ratio is a simple and useful marker to reflect insulin
      resistance. And periodontal disease is also known to be related with insulin
      resistance. This study indicates that TG/HDL-C ratio was associated with
      periodontal disease in Korean adults.

PMID- 28589476
TI  - Endometrial thickness influences neonatal birth weight in pregnancies with
      obstetric complications achieved after fresh IVF-ICSI cycles.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pregnancy-associated complications, duration of gestation and parity are
      well-known predictors of neonatal birth weight. Assisted reproductive technology
      (ART) affects neonatal birth weight as well. Endometrial thickness as measured on
      the day of HCG triggering may therefore impact on the neonatal birth weight.
      METHODS: The data of 764 singleton deliveries achieved after fresh transfer
      between November 1997 and 2014 were collected retrospectively with the intention
      to analyze the relationship of maternal and neonatal characteristics with
      endometrial thickness and the possible predictive value of endometrial thickness
      on neonatal birth weight. RESULTS: Higher maternal age (p < 0.001), diminished
      ovarian reserve (p < 0.001), endometriosis (p = 0.008) and hypogonadotropic
      hypogonadism (p < 0.001) predicted thin endometrium. Neonatal birth weight (p =
      0.004), longer duration of pregnancy (p = 0.008), parity (p = 0.026) and higher
      maternal BMI (p = 0.003) were correlated significantly with the degree of
      endometrial proliferation. Endometrial thickness strongly predicted neonatal
      birth weight (p = 0.004). After adjusting regression analysis for maternal age
      and BMI, parity, neonatal gender and pregnancy duration, endometrial thickness
      remained predictive for neonatal birth weight in pregnancies with obstetric
      complications (p = 0.017). In uneventful pregnancies duration and parity are
      determinants of neonatal birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that
      endometrial thickness is an additional ART-related factor influencing neonatal
      birth weight. This finding should be confirmed in large cohort studies.

PMID- 28589477
TI  - The impact of postpartum cervical tear on the occurrence of preterm birth in
      subsequent pregnancy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the occurrence of subsequent preterm birth (PTB) among women
      who experienced a cervical tear during prior delivery. METHODS: A retrospective
      study conducted at a single teaching hospital on data from January 1994 to March
      2014. The study group included all women who had a cervical tear detected at
      uterine and cervical examination, performed due to early postpartum hemorrhage.
      The control group consisted of women who delivered vaginally, experienced an
      early postpartum hemorrhage, and had an intact cervix at uterine and cervical
      examination. The control group was matched for maternal age and ethnicity at a
      ratio of 1:2. Women who had a cervical tear but then did not have a subsequent
      delivery, or had multiple fetal gestations or cervical cerclage at subsequent
      pregnancies were excluded. Primary outcome was spontaneous PTB rate (<37 weeks)
      in the subsequent pregnancy. Secondary outcomes included any PTBs in other
      subsequent pregnancies. RESULTS: Overall, 389 women were included. Of all cases
      of cervical tear, 129 were identified eligible and included in the final
      analysis. The control group included 260 women with an intact cervix. No
      significant differences were found between the study and control groups in the
      incidence of spontaneous PTB in the immediate subsequent pregnancy [1.6% (2/129)
      vs. 3.8% (10/260), respectively, p = 0.35]. The incidence of any spontaneous PTBs
      in all subsequent pregnancies did not differ also [4.7% (6/129) vs. 7.3%
      (19/260), respectively, p = 0.31]. CONCLUSION: Cervical tear detected after
      delivery does not increase the risk of spontaneous PTB in subsequent pregnancies.

PMID- 28589475
TI  - Cleft palate with/without cleft lip in French children: radiographic evaluation
      of prevalence, location and coexistence of dental anomalies inside and outside
      cleft region.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prevalence of dental anomalies in cleft patients is higher than
      that in general population. The objectives of this study were to assess the
      prevalence of dental anomalies and their coexistence in French children with
      cleft and, then, to investigate the relation between the dental anomalies and the
      cleft type. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventy-four non-syndromic cleft patients (6-16
      years old) from Lille Regional University and Mondor-Chenevier Hospitals (France)
      were included. Clefts were classified as right/left unilateral cleft lip and
      palate (UCLP), bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) and cleft palate (CP).
      Dental anomalies were investigated on panoramic radiographs and categorized as
      agenesis, supernumerary teeth, incisor rotations, impacted canines and shape
      anomalies. Prevalence and gender distribution of dental anomalies, mean number of
      affected teeth per patient, agenesis occurrence and location, and coexistence of
      dental anomalies were analysed by cleft type. RESULTS: 96.0% of patients
      presented at least one dental anomaly (agenesis 83.8%, incisor rotations 25.7%,
      shape anomalies 21.6%, impacted canines 18.9%, supernumerary teeth 8.1%). BCLP
      patients had a higher number of affected teeth, and left UCLP patients had a
      higher one compared to right UCLP patients. Distribution of inside (45.3%) and
      outside (54.7%) cleft region agenesis was similar. Adjacent (31.8%) and not
      adjacent (33.3%) combined dental anomalies were often encountered. CONCLUSIONS:
      Dental anomalies were localized inside as well as outside cleft region and were
      often associated with each other. BCLP patients were more affected. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Early radiographic evaluation allows a comprehensive diagnosis of
      inside and outside cleft region anomalies, required for the multidisciplinary
      dental treatment.

PMID- 28589478
TI  - Placental and cord blood brain derived neurotrophic factor levels are decreased
      in nondiabetic macrosomia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To measure levels of placental brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
      gene expression and umbilical cord blood BDNF in neonates with nondiabetic
      macrosomia and determine associations between these levels and macrosomia.
      METHODS: This case-control study included 58 nondiabetic macrosomic and 59 normal
      birth weight mother-infant pairs. Data were collected from interviews and our
      hospital's database. BDNF gene expression was quantified in placental tissues
      using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (n = 117). Umbilical cord
      blood BDNF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (n = 90).
      Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations
      between BDNF levels and macrosomia. RESULTS: Placental BDNF gene expression (P =
      0.026) and cord blood BDNF (P = 0.008) were lower in neonates with nondiabetic
      macrosomia than in normal birth weight controls. Cord blood BDNF was
      significantly lower in vaginally delivered macrosomic neonates than vaginally
      delivered controls (P = 0.014), but cord BDNF did not differ between vaginal and
      cesarean section delivery modes in macrosomic neonates. Cord blood BDNF was
      positively associated with gestational age in control neonates (r = 0.496, P <
      0.001), but not in macrosomic neonates. Cord blood BDNF was positively associated
      with placental BDNF relative expression (r s = 0.245, P = 0.02) in the total
      group. Higher cord blood BDNF levels were independently associated with
      protection against nondiabetic macrosomia (adjusted odds ratio 0.992; 95%
      confidence interval 0.986-0.998). CONCLUSIONS: Both placental BDNF gene
      expression and cord blood BDNF were downregulated in neonates with nondiabetic
      macrosomia compared with normal birth weight neonates. Cord BDNF may partly
      derive from BDNF secreted by the placenta. Higher cord plasma BDNF levels
      protected against nondiabetic macrosomia.

PMID- 28589479
TI  - Risk factors for incomplete healing of the uterine incision after cesarean
      section.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze related risk factors of post-cesarean scar defects (PCSDs).
      METHODS: A retrospective study of full-term women delivered by cesarean with
      singleton infants at our hospital from April 2014 to December 2015 was performed.
      69 cases of diagnosed PCSDs and 107 cases with no PCSD who accepted cesarean were
      recruited for analysis. Individual medical case and operative report review were
      retrieved for maternal clinical characteristics analysis. RESULTS: There was no
      difference in age, gestational age, BMI and baby's weight between the two groups.
      PCSD group has more cases of anemia, higher neutrophil percentage and more cases
      of elected cesarean and emergency cesarean than controls (all p < 0.05). For
      woman who received emergency cesarean, there were more cases with cervix dilated
      larger than 3 cm in operation and more cases received cesarean at least one time
      before. In addition, women with cesarean interval of at least 5 years, women with
      ultrasonic measured echo longer than 3 cm, women with poor healing in uterine
      incision, women with retroposition of uterus and women who had intrauterine
      separation are more prone to develop PCSDs. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of a
      defective uterine scar after cesarean section is primarily a by-product of the
      combination of multiple factors: age >=30 years, BMI >=27.30, premature rupture
      of membranes, elective cesarean section, post-operative anemia, WBC count >=12.5
      * 109 g/L and retroposition of uterus. These are high risk factors of PCSDs.

PMID- 28589480
TI  - Dark Flow, Depression and Multiline Slot Machine Play.
AB  - Multiline slot machines allow for a unique outcome type referred to as a loss
      disguised as a win (LDW). An LDW occurs when a player gains credits on a spin,
      but fewer credits than their original wager (e.g. 15-cent gain on a 20-cent
      wager). These outcomes alter the gambler's play experience by providing frequent,
      albeit smaller, credit gains throughout a playing session that are in fact net
      losses. Despite this negative overall value, research has shown that players
      physiologically respond to LDWs as if they are wins, not losses. These outcomes
      also create a "smoother" experience for the player that seems to promote a highly
      absorbing, flow-like state that we have called "dark flow". Past research has
      indicated that there may be a relationship between problem gambling status and
      dark flow, as well as between dark flow, depression, and gambling expectancies.
      In this study, we sought to further understand these relationships, while
      examining the influence of LDWs on game preference in the context of single
      versus multiline slots play. We used a realistic slot machine simulator equipped
      with a force transducer to measure how hard players pressed the spin button
      following different outcomes. This measure of arousal showed that LDWs were
      treated similarly to small wins. Participants overwhelmingly preferred the
      multiline game and experienced more positive affect while playing it, compared to
      the single-line game. Problem gambling severity index scores were related to dark
      flow in both games, but this relationship was stronger for the multiline game.
      Additionally, depression symptomatology and dark flow were strongly correlated in
      the multiline game, with significant relationships between depression and
      gambling expectancy, and gambling expectancy and dark flow ratings also emerging.

PMID- 28589481
TI  - Surgical case of isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis in a patient without
      predisposing factors.
AB  - We report a case of isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis in a 47-year-old woman
      without predisposing factors. She had episodes of low-grade fever and non
      productive cough and was initially diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia. With
      antibiotic treatment, her condition improved transiently, but she had repeated
      respiratory events. Forty days after her first visit, she complained of severe
      dyspnea. Echocardiography revealed a large vegetation adhering to the pulmonary
      valve and she was diagnosed with isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis. Surgical
      treatment was selected because antibiotic treatment was not effective. The main
      pulmonary artery was transected above the annulus and the infected valve was
      excised. To avoid contact of the prosthetic valve with the infected pulmonary
      annulus, a stentless bioprosthesis was interposed between the transected parts of
      the pulmonary trunk. Two years after the surgery, the patient is stable with no
      sign of infection.

PMID- 28589482
TI  - SASHA versus ShMOLLI: a comparison of T1 mapping methods in health and dilated
      cardiomyopathy at 3 T.
AB  - Cardiac Magnetic Resonance derived T1 mapping parameters are a non-invasive
      method of estimating diffuse myocardial fibrosis. This study aims to to determine
      the native T1 time, post contrast T1 time and extracellular volume (ECV) derived
      from T1 mapping and to evaluate the ability of T1 mapping techniques to
      discriminate healthy myocardium from dilated cardiomyopathy. Seventy-nine
      participants underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at the Baker Heart and
      Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Fifty-seven healthy volunteers and
      twenty-two patients with Dilated cardiomyopathy were included in the study. Each
      participant had T1 mapping sequences performed at 3 T in the mid short axis slice
      both SASHA and ShMOLLI T1 mapping were performed. Native T1, post contrast T1 and
      ECV values were compared in health and dilated cardiomyopathy. Native T1, post
      contrast T1 and ECV differed significantly between SASHA and ShMOLLI techniques
      (P < 0.001). All T1 parameters had similar ability to discriminate normal from
      abnormal myocardium (ROC AUC 0.691 to 0.830). Converting T1 values to Z scores
      significantly improved the agreement between SASHA and ShMOLLI techniques,
      particularly for post contrast T1 (ICC 0.19 to 0.895) and ECV (ICC 0.461 to
      0.880). T1 mapping values from SASHA and ShMOLLI show strong correlation for post
      contrast measures, though with a consistent offset for all measures in health and
      dilated cardiomyopathy. All measures obtained using SASHA and ShMOLLI allow good
      discrimination between dilated cardiomyopathy and normal myocardium.

PMID- 28589483
TI  - High electrical activity at the connection site of previously undetected
      anomalous pulmonary venous drainage in a patient presenting with atrial
      fibrillation.

PMID- 28589485
TI  - Changing SNAP-Participation Trends Among Farmworker Households in the U.S., 2003
      2012.
AB  - We investigated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation
      among citizen, documented and undocumented immigrant hired crop farmworkers for
      ten recent years. We analyzed population representative data from the National
      Agricultural Workers Survey for 2003-2012 (N = 18,243 households). Time-chart,
      simple mean differences, and logistic regressions described farmworker household
      participation in SNAP. The 2008 financial crisis almost doubled SNAP
      participation by agriculture households (6.5% in 2003-2007 vs. 11.3% in 2008
      2012). The increasing SNAP-participation was found for citizen, documented and
      undocumented immigrant households. We found low participation among documented
      (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.56-0.8) and undocumented immigrants (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.54
      0.74) compared to citizens. Low odds ratios (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.55-0.89) were
      found for Hispanic-citizens as compared with non-Hispanic white-citizens. Our
      results may help inform the debate surrounding the effects of the financial
      crisis on SNAP-participation and on differences in participation among citizens,
      immigrants, Hispanics and non-Hispanics, the latter suggesting ethnic farmworker
      disparities in SNAP-participation.

PMID- 28589484
TI  - Longitudinal Volume Quantification of Deep Medullary Veins in Patients with
      Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis : Venous Volume Assessment in Cerebral Venous
      Sinus Thrombosis Using SWI.
AB  - PURPOSE: Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) visualizes small cerebral veins
      with high sensitivity and could, thus, enable quantification of hemodynamics of
      deep medullary veins. We aimed to evaluate volume changes of deep medullary veins
      in patients with acute cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) over time in
      comparison to healthy controls. METHODS: All magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      experiments were executed at 3 T using a 32-channel head coil. Based on SWI and
      semiautomatic postprocessing (statistical parametric mapping [SPM8] and ANTs),
      the volume of deep medullary veins was quantified in 14 patients with acute CVST
      at baseline and the 6-month follow-up, as well as in 13 healthy controls
      undergoing repeated MRI examination with an interscan interval of at least 1
      month. RESULTS: Deep medullary venous volume change over time was significantly
      different between healthy controls and patient groups (p < 0.001). Patients with
      superior sagittal sinus thrombosis (SSST) showed a significant decline from
      baseline to follow-up measurements (9.8 +/- 4.9 ml versus 7.5 +/- 4.2 ml; p =
      0.02), whereas in patients with transverse sinus thrombosis (TST) and healthy
      controls no significant volume changes were observable. CONCLUSIONS: Venous
      volume quantification was feasible and reproducible both in healthy volunteers
      and in patients. The decrease of venous volume in patients over time represents
      improvement of venous drainage, reduction of congestion, and normalization of
      microcirculation due to treatment. Thus, quantification of venous
      microcirculation could be valuable for estimation of prognosis and guidance of
      CVST therapy in the future.

PMID- 28589486
TI  - Tensions and Coping Strategies in Ethnically Mixed Teams: Findings from a Study
      in Two Emergency Departments.
AB  - Diversity of the workforce in healthcare facilities, representative of the
      general population's ethnic/racial composition, is an important health priority.
      Nevertheless, this diversity may generate tensions. The objective of the study
      was to assess tensions and coping strategies among ethnic minority and majority
      healthcare workers. A questionnaire was delivered to 60 healthcare workers
      employed in emergency departments in two hospitals, where Jewish majority and
      Arab minority workers care for a mixed Jewish and Arab population. Internal
      consistency reliability was assessed and the survey data were statistically
      analyzed. Several differences were found between Arab and Jewish healthcare
      workers. The questionnaire may be used to examine tensions in other healthcare
      systems, characterized by ethnic/racial diversity in the workforce. By exploring
      ethnic/racial tensions, health organizations should be able to manage them better
      and reduce their frequency.

PMID- 28589487
TI  - Factors Predicting Sodium Intake of Korean Americans with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its
      complications including cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease
      threaten Korean Americans (KAs). High dietary sodium intake contributes to both
      conditions. The purpose of the study was to assess dietary sodium consumption and
      to examine the predictors of sodium intake among KA with T2DM. A total 232 KA who
      had uncontrolled diabetes participated in this study. The majority of the sample
      (69%) consumed more sodium than current national guidelines. A high level of
      energy intake was the strongest predictor for sodium intake with gender and
      marital status also related. Our findings identified predictive factors to
      excessive sodium intake and these data support the need for culturally-tailored
      education about appropriate dietary sodium and energy intake are needed for
      patients about T2DM.

PMID- 28589488
TI  - Negative Electron Transfer Dissociation Sequencing of Increasingly Sulfated
      Glycosaminoglycan Oligosaccharides on an Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer.
AB  - The structural characterization of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) carbohydrates
      remains an important target for analytical chemists attributable to challenges
      introduced by the natural complexity of these mixtures and the defined need for
      molecular-level details to elucidate biological structure-function relationships.
      Tandem mass spectrometry has proven to be the most powerful technique for this
      purpose. Previously, electron detachment dissociation (EDD), in comparison to
      other methods of ion activation, has been shown to provide the largest number of
      useful cleavages for de novo sequencing of GAG oligosaccharides, but such
      experiments are restricted to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass
      spectrometers (FTICR-MS). Negative electron transfer dissociation (NETD) provides
      similar fragmentation results, and can be achieved on any mass spectrometry
      platform that is designed to accommodate ion-ion reactions. Here, we examine for
      the first time the effectiveness of NETD-Orbitrap mass spectrometry for the
      structural analysis of GAG oligosaccharides. Compounds ranging in size from
      tetrasaccharides to decasaccharides were dissociated by NETD, producing both
      glycosidic and cross-ring cleavages that enabled the location of sulfate
      modifications. The highly-sulfated, heparin-like synthetic GAG, ArixtraTM, was
      also successfully sequenced by NETD. In comparison to other efforts to sequence
      GAG chains without fully ionized sulfate constituents, the occurrence of sulfate
      loss peaks is minimized by judicious precursor ion selection. The results compare
      quite favorably to prior results with electron detachment dissociation (EDD).
      Significantly, the duty cycle of the NETD experiment is sufficiently short to
      make it an effective tool for on-line separations, presenting a straightforward
      path for selective, high-throughput analysis of GAG mixtures. Graphical Abstract
      ?.

PMID- 28589489
TI  - Sexual distress and quality of life among women with bipolar disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information on the association between bipolar disorder (BD), sexual
      satisfaction, sexual function, sexual distress and quality of life (QoL) is
      sparse. This study aims, in women with BD, to (i) investigate sexual dysfunction,
      sexual distress, general sexual satisfaction and QoL; (ii) explore whether sexual
      distress was related to affective symptoms and (iii) investigate whether QoL was
      associated with sexual distress. The study is a questionnaire survey in an
      outpatient cohort of women with BD using: Changes in Sexual Functioning
      Questionnaire, Female Sexual Distress Scale, Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale
      (ASRM), Major Depression Inventory (MDI) and The World Health Organisation
      Quality of Life-Brief. RESULTS: In total, 61 women (age range 19-63, mean 33.7
      years) were recruited. Overall, 54% reported sexual distress (n = 33) and 39%
      were not satisfied with their sexual life (n = 24). Women with BD were
      significantly more sexually distressed in comparison with Danish women from the
      background population but they did not have a higher prevalence of impaired
      sexual function. Better sexual function was positively associated with ASRM
      scores while MDI scores were associated with more distress. Finally, the group of
      non-sexually distressed women with BD reported higher QoL scores compared with
      the sexually distressed group. CONCLUSIONS: Women with BD exhibited a high
      prevalence of sexual distress and their sexual function seemed associated with
      their actual mood symptoms and perception of QoL.

PMID- 28589490
TI  - Bifurcation thresholds and optimal control in transmission dynamics of arboviral
      diseases.
AB  - In this paper, we derive and analyse a model for the control of arboviral
      diseases which takes into account an imperfect vaccine combined with some other
      control measures already studied in the literature. We begin by analysing the
      basic model without control. We prove the existence of two disease-free
      equilibrium points and the possible existence of up to two endemic equilibrium
      points (where the disease persists in the population). We show the existence of a
      transcritical bifurcation and a possible saddle-node bifurcation and explicitly
      derive threshold conditions for both, including defining the basic reproduction
      number, [Formula: see text], which provides whether the disease can persist in
      the population or not. The epidemiological consequence of saddle-node bifurcation
      is that the classical requirement of having the reproduction number less than
      unity, while necessary, is no longer sufficient for disease elimination from the
      population. It is further shown that in the absence of disease-induced death, the
      model does not exhibit this phenomenon. The model is extended by reformulating
      the model as an optimal control problem, with the use of five time dependent
      controls, to assess the impact of vaccination combined with treatment, individual
      protection and two vector control strategies (killing adult vectors and reduction
      of eggs and larvae). By using optimal control theory, we establish conditions
      under which the spread of disease can be stopped, and we examine the impact of
      combined control tools on the transmission dynamic of disease. The Pontryagin's
      maximum principle is used to characterize the optimal control. Numerical
      simulations and efficiency analysis show that, vaccination combined with other
      control mechanisms, would reduce the spread of the disease appreciably.

PMID- 28589491
TI  - Synthesis and Characterization of Novel BMI1 Inhibitors Targeting Cellular Self
      Renewal in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents one of the most lethal
      cancers worldwide due to therapy resistance and disease recurrence. Tumor relapse
      following treatment could be driven by the persistence of liver cancer stem-like
      cells (CSCs). The protein BMI1 is a member of the polycomb epigenetic factors
      governing cellular self-renewal, proliferation, and stemness maintenance. BMI1
      expression also correlates with poor patient survival in various cancer types.
      OBJECTIVE: We aimed to elucidate the extent to which BMI1 can be used as a
      potential therapeutic target for CSC eradication in HCC. METHODS: We have
      recently participated in characterizing the first known pharmacological small
      molecule inhibitor of BMI1. Here, we synthesized a panel of novel BMI1 inhibitors
      and examined their ability to alter cellular growth and eliminate cancer
      progenitor/stem-like cells in HCC with different p53 backgrounds. RESULTS: Among
      various molecules examined, RU-A1 particularly downregulated BMI1 expression,
      impaired cell viability, reduced cell migration, and sensitized HCC cells to 5
      fluorouracil (5-FU) in vitro. Notably, long-term analysis of HCC survival showed
      that, unlike chemotherapy, RU-A1 effectively reduced CSC content, even as
      monotherapy. BMI1 inhibition with RU-A1 diminished the number of stem-like cells
      in vitro more efficiently than the model compound C-209, as demonstrated by
      clonogenic assays and impairment of CSC marker expression. Furthermore, xenograft
      assays in zebrafish showed that RU-A1 abrogated tumor growth in vivo.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the ability to identify agents with the
      propensity for targeting CSCs in HCC that could be explored as novel treatments
      in the clinical setting.

PMID- 28589492
TI  - A Phase 1 Study of LY2874455, an Oral Selective pan-FGFR Inhibitor, in Patients
      with Advanced Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We report here a phase 1 study of LY2874455, a potent oral selective
      pan-fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor. OBJECTIVE: The primary
      objective was to determine the recommended phase 2 dosing (RP2D). Secondary
      objectives included determining toxicity, antitumor activity, pharmacokinetics
      (PK), and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of LY2874455. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      This study comprised two parts: (a) dose escalation with 3 + 3 cohorts in
      patients with solid tumors and (b) dose-expansion cohorts in patients with
      gastric cancer (GC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Part A: 36 patients
      in 11 dose cohorts ranging from 2 to 24 mg twice daily (BID). RP2D was 16 mg BID.
      Part B: GC cohort, 29 patients, NSCLC cohort, 27 patients, all treated at the
      RP2D. RESULTS: LY2874455 was slowly absorbed and generally showed linear PK. The
      effective half-life was ~12 h. PD properties of LY2874455 occurred at doses >=10
      mg by increases in serum phosphorus. Phosphate binders were administered to
      control serum phosphorus. LY2874455 was generally well tolerated; most toxicities
      were grade 1 or 2; most frequent were hyperphosphatemia, diarrhea, and
      stomatitis. EFFICACY: part A: 24 patients evaluable: 1 patient in the 14-mg BID
      cohort with GC had a partial response (PR); 14 patients had stable disease (SD);
      part B: NSCLC cohort: 11 of 12 evaluable patients had SD; GC cohort: 15 patients
      evaluable: 1 patient with PR; 12 patients with SD. CONCLUSIONS: LY2874455 has an
      RP2D of 16 mg BID and demonstrated good tolerability and activity in solid-organ
      cancer patients. The role of FGFR inhibition on tumor growth in patients requires
      further study. (NCT01212107).

PMID- 28589493
TI  - A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of
      Adding Omarigliptin to Antihyperglycemic Therapies in Japanese Patients with Type
      2 Diabetes and Inadequate Glycemic Control.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Daily dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are commonly used
      with other orally administered antihyperglycemic agents (AHA), as combination
      therapy, to treat Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. When combination
      therapy is indicated, use of a once-weekly (q.w.) orally administered DPP-4
      inhibitor might be an appropriate therapeutic option for some patients. METHODS:
      A 52-week trial was conducted to assess the safety and tolerability (primary
      objectives) and glycemic efficacy (secondary objectives) of the q.w. DPP-4
      inhibitor omarigliptin as add-on therapy to five different classes of orally
      administered AHA [sulfonylurea (SU), glinide (GL), biguanide (BG),
      thiazolidinedione (TZD), or alpha-glucosidase inhibitor (AGI)] commonly used in
      Japan and having different mechanisms of drug action from DPP-4 inhibitors. The
      trial consisted of an initial 24-week double-blind, placebo-controlled period
      during which patients (stratified by background AHA) were randomized to
      omarigliptin 25 mg q.w. or placebo, followed by a 28-week open-label period
      during which patients on placebo were switched to omarigliptin. RESULTS: After 24
      weeks, the percentages of patients with adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, drug
      related AEs, AEs of symptomatic hypoglycemia, or who discontinued from trial
      medication because of an AE were generally similar in the omarigliptin and
      placebo groups, in all background AHA strata and in the overall population. From
      a mean baseline HbA1c of approximately 8.0%, the placebo-adjusted least-squares
      mean changes from baseline ranged from -0.80% (AGI stratum) to -1.16% (TZD
      stratum); p < 0.001 for all background AHA strata. During the open-label period,
      no safety signals emerged with longer-term treatment. At week 52, the change from
      baseline in HbA1c in the omarigliptin/omarigliptin group was similar to that of
      the placebo/omarigliptin group. CONCLUSIONS: Addition of once-weekly omarigliptin
      to AHA therapy with an SU, GL, BG, TZD, or AGI for up to 52 weeks was generally
      safe and well tolerated, and provided persistent efficacy. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01697592. FUNDING: MSD K.K., a subsidiary of
      Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.

PMID- 28589494
TI  - The Accuracy of the ADOS-2 in Identifying Autism among Adults with Complex
      Psychiatric Conditions.
AB  - The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), Module 4 is
      considered a "gold-standard" instrument for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD) in adults. Although the ADOS-2 shows good sensitivity and specificity in
      lab-based settings, it is unknown whether these results hold in community clinics
      that serve a more psychiatrically impaired population. This study is the first to
      evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the ADOS-2 among adults in community mental
      health centers (n = 75). The ADOS-2 accurately identified all adults with ASD;
      however, it also had a high rate of false positives among adults with psychosis
      (30%). Findings serve as a reminder that social communication difficulties
      measured by the ADOS-2 are not specific to ASD, particularly in clinically
      complex settings.

PMID- 28589495
TI  - Diagnostic Substitution for Intellectual Disability: A Flawed Explanation for the
      Rise in Autism.
AB  - Time trends in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID)
      prevalence from the United States Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
      data were computed from 2000 to 2011 for each state and each age from 6 to 17.
      These trends did not support the hypothesis that diagnostic substitution for ID
      can explain the ASD rise over recent decades, although the hypothesis appeared
      more plausible when the data were aggregated across all states and ages.
      Nationwide ID prevalence declined steeply over the last two decades, but the
      decline was driven mainly by ~15 states accounting for only one-fourth of the
      U.S. school population. More commonly, including in the most populous states, ID
      prevalence stayed relatively constant while ASD prevalence rose sharply.

PMID- 28589496
TI  - Screening of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Geriatric Psychiatry.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are difficult to detect in old age. This study
      examined if ASD symptoms in older adults (age > 60) can be detected with the
      Dutch informant personality questionnaire, (Hetero-Anamnestische
      Persoonlijkheidsvragenlijst, HAP) in a mental health setting. Patients with ASD
      (N = 40) were compared to patients with a different psychiatric diagnosis (N =
      43; personality disorders excluded). The ASD group had significant higher scores
      on the scales 'Socially avoidant behavior', 'Rigid behavior' and 'Unpredictable
      and impulsive behavior'. These scales were able to discriminate between
      individuals with or without ASD. The HAP can thus be used as a screening
      instrument for ASD symptoms in elderly patients. Further research is needed to
      clarify what items have the best predictive validity for ASD symptoms.

PMID- 28589497
TI  - Frequency of Dendritic Cells and Their Expression of Costimulatory Molecules in
      Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
AB  - The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequencies of myeloid dendritic cells
      (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in children with ASD. Subjects
      were 32 children with ASD and 30 healthy children as controls. The numbers of
      mDCs and pDCs and the expression of CD86 and CD80 on the entire DCs were detected
      by flow cytometry. ASD children had significantly higher percentages of mDCs and
      pDCs when compared to controls. We found significant inverse relationships
      between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the frequencies of mDCs and pDCs in
      autistic children. Our data suggested that DCs could play a role in the clinical
      course of ASD. The relationship of DCs to immune disorders in ASD remains to be
      determined.

PMID- 28589498
TI  - Higher local recurrence rates after intralesional surgery for giant cell tumor of
      the proximal femur compared to other sites.
AB  - PURPOSE: The treatment of giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone remains controversial.
      Intralesional surgery (curettage) results in a higher rate of local recurrence,
      but better functional results compared to resection. The aim of this study was to
      assess whether the use of curettage was successful in the treatment of GCT of
      long bones. We evaluated the influence of adjuvant treatment, local tumor
      presentation, and demographic factors on the risk of recurrence. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed the records of patients treated for GCT of long bones
      between 1990 and 2013, using curettage. No patient had any treatment other than
      surgery. After detailed curettage, the bone cavity was filled with bone
      allografts and/or cement. Recurrence rates, risk factors for recurrence and the
      development of pulmonary metastases were determined. The minimum follow-up was 24
      months. RESULTS: We enrolled 210 patients with GCT of long bones treated by
      curettage. The rate of local recurrence was 16.2% (34/210 patients). The median
      follow-up was 89.2 months. In the multivariate analysis, no significant
      statistical effect on the local recurrence rate could be identified for gender,
      patient's age, Campanacci's grading, or cement versus bone allografts. The only
      independent risk factor related to the local recurrence was the site, with a
      statistically significant higher risk for patients with GCT of the proximal
      femur. CONCLUSIONS: Our observation on the correlation of tumor location and risk
      of local recurrence is new. We suggest that patients with GCT of bone in the
      proximal femur should be followed closely soon after surgery to identify any
      possible recurrence.

PMID- 28589500
TI  - [MR Spectroscopy for clinical diagnostics].

PMID- 28589501
TI  - ?

PMID- 28589499
TI  - Results from the surgical resection of severe heterotopic ossification of the
      hip: a case series of 26 patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Surgical resection of heterotopic ossification (HO) around the hip
      joint is often challenging. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical and
      radiological outcomes following surgical resection of Brooker's type III and IV
      HO of the hip. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed clinical and radiological
      data, between November 2006 and January 2013, of all patients who underwent
      surgical resection of severe HO of the hip. Brooker's grading, range of motion
      and the Harris Hip Score before and after surgery were recorded in all cases. The
      combined radiation (700 cGy preoperatively) and indomethacin regimen was used to
      prevent heterotopic ossification recurrence. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients (22
      males and 4 females) were included in our study. Mean patient age was 47.38 years
      (range 24-72). The HO was graded as Brooker grade III in 3 patients (11.5%) and
      Brooker grade IV in 23 patients (88.5%). Mean time interval between HO
      development and resection was 40.8 months (range 13-156 months). All patients had
      CT scans prior to surgery. Mean follow-up was 31.4 months (range 24-40 months).
      There was no severe HO recurrence. Complications included one intraoperative
      injury of a femoral artery branch, one intraoperative femoral neck fracture
      treated with intramedullary nailing, one sciatic nerve injury and one superficial
      infection treated conservatively. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical resection of severe HO of
      the hip along with preoperative radiation and indomethacin provides excellent
      results; however, the complication rate is relatively high. Careful evaluation of
      the preoperative CT scan and wide exposure are required in order to identify all
      the involved neurovascular structures.

PMID- 28589502
TI  - Endoscopic removal of an impacted barolith at the sigmoid colon: a rare case
      report.
AB  - A 45-year-old woman visited our hospital complaining of abdominal pain 1 week
      after undergoing an annual medical checkup. Her vital signs and blood test
      results were normal, but tenderness was found in the lower abdomen. A high
      density round structure found at the midline of the lower abdomen on an abdominal
      radiograph was thought to be an accumulation of barium (a barolith) from upper
      gastrointestinal barium radiography. Two liters of an oral gastrointestinal
      cleaning agent was administered, but defecation did not occur. Lower
      gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed that the barolith was impacted at the sigmoid
      colon. We unsuccessfully attempted to move it using a pressurized water jet and
      forceps, but it was too large to be captured by the net. Therefore, we broke it
      down using a snare. After a successful endoscopic procedure, 120 mL of a glycerin
      enema solution was injected through the forceps opening, causing the barolith to
      be excreted. There is only one similar case of successful endoscopic treatment of
      a barolith in the literature.

PMID- 28589504
TI  - Age-Related Differences in Socio-demographic and Behavioral Determinants of HIV
      Testing and Counseling in HPTN 043/NIMH Project Accept.
AB  - Youth represent a large proportion of new HIV infections worldwide, yet their
      utilization of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) remains low. Using the post
      intervention, cross-sectional, population-based household survey done in 2011 as
      part of HPTN 043/NIMH Project Accept, a cluster-randomized trial of community
      mobilization and mobile HTC in South Africa (Soweto and KwaZulu Natal), Zimbabwe,
      Tanzania and Thailand, we evaluated age-related differences among socio
      demographic and behavioral determinants of HTC in study participants by study
      arm, site, and gender. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed
      using complete individual data from 13,755 participants with recent HIV testing
      (prior 12 months) as the outcome. Youth (18-24 years) was not predictive of
      recent HTC, except for high-risk youth with multiple concurrent partners, who
      were less likely (aOR 0.75; 95% CI 0.61-0.92) to have recently been tested than
      youth reporting a single partner. Importantly, the intervention was successful in
      reaching men with site specific success ranging from aOR 1.27 (95% CI 1.05-1.53)
      in South Africa to aOR 2.30 in Thailand (95% CI 1.85-2.84). Finally, across a
      diverse range of settings, higher education (aOR 1.67; 95% CI 1.42, 1.96), higher
      socio-economic status (aOR 1.21; 95% CI 1.08-1.36), and marriage (aOR 1.55; 95%
      CI 1.37-1.75) were all predictive of recent HTC, which did not significantly vary
      across study arm, site, gender or age category (18-24 vs. 25-32 years).

PMID- 28589505
TI  - Association between suPAR and cardiac diastolic dysfunction among patients with
      preserved ejection fraction.
AB  - Serum levels of the soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR)
      reflect immune and inflammatory activation, and are shown to be associated with
      cardiovascular outcomes. We herein investigated the potential association between
      suPAR and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction among patients with preserved
      left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and sinus rhythm. Among 291 patients
      who had sinus rhythm and an LVEF of >=50% enrolled in the study, 26 (8.9%) were
      considered to have diastolic dysfunction. Patients with diastolic dysfunction had
      lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and higher systolic blood
      pressure (BPs), BNP, C-reactive protein, and suPAR than those without diastolic
      dysfunction. As compared with the first suPAR quartile, the fourth suPAR quartile
      was significantly associated with both diastolic dysfunction with an odds ratio
      of 8.95 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04-77.0, P < 0.05] after adjusting for
      sex, age, BPs log(eGFR), CRP, and diuretic use. On the other hand, receiver
      operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis showed that addition of log(suPAR)
      to the combination of age, sex, and log(eGFR), CRP, and diuretic use did not
      significantly improve the prediction of diastolic dysfunction. Among cardiac
      patients with preserved LVEF, serum suPAR was associated with diastolic
      dysfunction independent of confounding factors by logistic regression analysis.
      However, according to the ROC analysis, the utility of suPAR as a biomarker for
      diastolic dysfunction may be limited from a clinical point of view.

PMID- 28589506
TI  - Pre-existing medical comorbidity is not associated with neurological outcomes in
      patients undergoing targeted temperature management following cardiac arrest.
AB  - The prognostic significance of chronic medical illness in comatose survivors of
      cardiac arrest who undergo targeted temperature management (TTM) remains largely
      unknown. We sought to assess the association between overall burden of pre
      existing medical comorbidity and neurological outcomes in survivors of cardiac
      arrest undergoing TTM. We analyzed a prospectively collected cohort of 314
      patients treated with TTM following cardiac arrest at a tertiary care hospital
      between 2007 and 2014. Overall burden of medical comorbidity was approximated
      with the use of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Poor neurological outcome
      at hospital discharge, defined as a cerebral performance category (CPC) score >2,
      was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included death prior to hospital
      discharge and at 1 year following cardiac arrest. Multivariable logistic
      regression was used to assess the association between CCI scores and outcomes. A
      poor neurological outcome at hospital discharge was observed in 193 (61%)
      patients. One hundred and seventy-nine (57%) patients died prior to hospital
      discharge and a total of 195 (62%) patients had died at 1-year post-arrest. In
      multivariable logistic regression, elevated CCI scores were not associated with
      increased odds of poor neurological outcomes (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.90-1.19, p =
      0.608) or death (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.86-1.13, p = 0.816) at hospital discharge. No
      association was seen between CCI scores and death at 1-year post-arrest (OR 1.09,
      95% CI 0.95-1.26, p = 0.220). Increasing burden of medical comorbidity, as
      defined by CCI scores, is not associated with neurological outcomes or survival
      in patients treated with TTM.

PMID- 28589507
TI  - Biliary stone removal through the percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage
      route, focusing on the balloon sphincteroplasty flushing technique: a single
      center study with 916 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present our experience in biliary stone removal (BSR) through the
      percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) route in 916 patients, and
      discuss its clinical usefulness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2001 to 2015, 916
      patients (479 male patients and 437 female patients; age range, 22-92 years; mean
      age, 67 years) with 52 recurring cases, so a total of 968 cases, were enrolled in
      this study and retrospectively reviewed. PTBD was performed in all patients. BSR
      was performed using a combination of a balloon sphincteroplasty flushing
      technique, a pushing technique after sphincteroplasty, and classical extraction
      technique, decided case by case. RESULTS: A complete removal was achieved in 893
      cases (92.3%) and the overall clinical success rate was 99.3%. Failure occurred
      in 7 cases (0.7%), and the causes of failure were stone impaction (n = 5) and
      intrahepatic bile duct stricture (n = 2). Sphincteroplasty was performed in 902
      cases (93.2%). Balloon sphincteroplasty flushing technique was used in 829
      (85.6%) cases. There was no major complication. Transient minor complications
      were seen in 86 cases (8.9%). CONCLUSIONS: BSR through the PTBD route using a
      combination of techniques, including balloon sphincteroplasty flushing, is a safe
      and effective treatment modality to remove biliary stones.

PMID- 28589503
TI  - Promise of adeno-associated virus as a gene therapy vector for cardiovascular
      diseases.
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases pose a unique threat to global mortality because it
      presents as one of the most diverse conglomerations of pathophysiological
      conditions that can create significant casualty even without straying into its
      collateral damage. This puts them right beside obesity and cancer in terms of
      severity. Their pervasive nature and high prevalence prompted biologists to seek
      newer prophylactic avenues of addressing this global hazard, among which adeno
      associated virus (AAV) gene therapy rose to significant prominence. By virtue of
      its unrivaled clinical safety quotient, AAVs have been used to rectify various
      subtypes of cardiovascular ailments, beginning from commonly occurring heart
      failure to vascular diseases. The review focuses on the history of AAV-mediated
      gene therapy and contemporary breakthroughs in terms of novel innovations in
      vector engineering to reduce detargeting, immune response, untimely expression,
      and so on. We have also focused on the molecular world of cardiomyocytes and
      endothelial cells but interpreted the therapies in a broader context of
      cardiovascular pathology. The advances made in each mode of intervention as well
      as the ones that are beyond the scope of AAV gene therapy or has not been
      approached through AAV gene therapy as of now have been provided in detail to
      illustrate the bigger picture of where we stand to combat cardiovascular diseases
      most efficiently.

PMID- 28589508
TI  - Synergies in coupled hydrolysis and fermentation of cellulose using a Trichoderma
      reesei enzyme preparation and a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain.
AB  - We describe a procedure by which filter paper is digested with a cellulolytic
      enzyme preparation, obtained from Trichoderma reesei cultivated under solid state
      fermentation conditions and then fermented by a recombinant Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae strain. The yeast strain produces a beta-glucosidase encoded by the
      BGL1 gene from Saccharomycopsis fibuligera that quantitatively and qualitatively
      complements the limitations that the Trichoderma enzyme complex shows for this
      particular activity. The supplemental beta-glucosidase activity fuels the
      progression of cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation by decreasing the inhibitory
      effects caused by the accumulation of cellobiose and glucose. Fermentation of
      filter paper by this procedure yields ethanol concentrations above 70 g/L.

PMID- 28589510
TI  - Singlicate Ligand Binding Assay Using an Automated Microfluidic System: a
      Clinical Case Study.
AB  - The bioanalytical strategy for monoclonal antibody therapeutics, intended for
      multiple oncology indications, includes multiple integrated measurements of
      pharmacologically relevant therapeutics from discovery through development. Three
      ligand binding assays were cohesively developed and validated, as applicable,
      using the Gyrolab microfluidic system for the measurement of a free monoclonal
      antibody BMS-986207. Accuracy and precision demonstrate %bias from -6.3 to 4.4%,
      percent coefficient of variation (%CV) from 2.6 to 9.8%, and total error from 4.2
      to 13.4% in the nonclinical assay; %bias from -0.3 to 3.3%, %CV from 3.5 to
      18.2%, and total error from 6.1 to 19.7% in the clinical assay; and >97% of the
      sample meeting incurred sample reanalysis criteria. The clinical assay was
      validated using singlicate wells after gaining significant data in the early
      phase studies to support this cost-effective and efficient strategy. Each assay
      met fit-for-purpose and/or regulated bioanalytical method validation criteria
      including stability, selectivity, dilutional linearity, carryover, and
      specificity criteria with no interference from co-administered monoclonal
      antibody.

PMID- 28589511
TI  - Complete genome sequence of a novel S-insertion variant of porcine epidemic
      diarrhea virus from South Korea.
AB  - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an emerging and re-emerging viral
      pathogen of pigs that is causing significant economic concerns in the global pork
      industry. The virulent G2b PEDV subgroup, which was responsible for the 2013-2014
      pandemics on the American and Asian continents, hit Jeju Island in 2014, which
      had been PEDV-free since 2004. This study presents molecular characterization of
      a novel PEDV variant with a 5-amino acid (aa) insertion (DTHPE) in the spike (S)
      gene (an S-insertion) that was identified in diarrheic piglets from Jeju Island.
      The genome of the PEDV strain KOR/KNU-1601/2016 was sequenced and analyzed to
      characterize the S-insertion variant circulating on Jeju Island. The full-length
      genome sequence of KNU-1601 is 28,053 nucleotides (nt) in length, which is 24 nt
      and 15 nt longer than the genome sequences of G1 classical and G2 epidemic field
      strains, respectively. KNU-1601 shares 99.5-99.6% nucleotide sequence identity at
      the genome level and 98.0-98.6% amino acid sequence identity at the S gene level
      with other global G2b PEDV strains. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses indicated
      that the KNU-1601 variant is most closely related to the G2b field isolates but
      appears to undergo continuous evolution in the field. These data advance our
      understanding of the genetic diversity and evolutionary characteristics of the
      PEDV field strains circulating in South Korea.

PMID- 28589509
TI  - Strategies of Drug Transporter Quantitation by LC-MS: Importance of Peptide
      Selection and Digestion Efficiency.
AB  - Huge variation of drug transporter abundance was seen in the literature, making
      PBPK prediction difficult when transporters play a major role. Among multiple
      factors such as membrane fraction, digestion, and peptide selection that
      contributed to such variation, peptide selection is the least discussed. Herein,
      a strategy was established by using a small amount of purified protein standard
      to select a peptide with near 100% digestion efficiency for quantitation of a
      transporter protein MDR1. The impact of native membrane protein's tertiary
      structure on the digestion efficiency of surrogate peptides of MDR1 was
      investigated. Peptides in more solvent accessible regions are found to be
      digested much more efficiently than those in large stretches of helical
      structures. The concentration of peptide EALDESIPPVSFWR(EAL) in the most solvent
      accessible linker region of MDR1 was found closest to the true protein
      concentration. When using EAL for MDR1 quantitation, the abundance is over 10
      times higher than previously reported, indicating the importance of peptide
      selection for transporter quantitation. In addition, this study also proposes a
      screening strategy to select peptides appropriate for relative quantitation for
      in vitro-in vivo extrapolation in the absence of any protein standard.

PMID- 28589512
TI  - Molecular insights into RNA-binding properties of Escherichia coli-expressed RNA
      dependent RNA polymerase of Antheraea mylitta cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus.
AB  - Antheraea mylitta cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (AmCPV) is responsible for
      morbidity of the Indian non-mulberry silkworm, A. mylitta. AmCPV belongs to the
      family Reoviridae and has 11 double-stranded (ds) RNA genome segments (S1-S11).
      Segment 2 (S2) encodes a 123-kDa polypeptide with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
      (RdRp) activity. To examine the RNA-binding properties of the viral polymerase,
      the full-length RdRp and its three domains (N-terminal, polymerase and C-terminal
      domains) were expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells with hexahistidine
      and trigger factor tag fused consecutively at its amino terminus, and the soluble
      fusion proteins were purified. The purified full-length polymerase specifically
      bound to the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of a viral plus-sense (+) strand RNA
      with strong affinity regardless of the salt concentrations, but the isolated
      polymerase domain of the enzyme exhibited poor RNA-binding ability. Further, the
      RdRp recognition signals were found to be different from the cis-acting signals
      that promote minus-sense (-) strand RNA synthesis, because different internal
      regions of the 3'-UTR of the (+) strand RNA did not effectively compete out the
      binding of RdRp to the intact 3'-UTR of the (+) strand RNA, but all of these RNA
      molecules could serve as templates for (-) strand RNA synthesis by the
      polymerase.

PMID- 28589513
TI  - Prevalence of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance in recently infected, treatment
      naive persons in the Southwest of Iran, 2014-2015.
AB  - The emergence and transmission of drug resistant HIV mutants is a major concern,
      especially in resource-limited countries with expanding antiretroviral therapy.
      Studies have recently reported the prevalence of HIV-1 transmitted drug
      resistance (TDR) mutations in certain Iranian cities; however, no information is
      currently available about the level of TDR, as well as the nature of the
      circulating HIV-1 subtypes, in the Southwestern bordering province of Iran,
      Khuzestan. Herein, we used a WHO-recommended TDR survey method to classify the
      prevalence of TDR in indigenous people of Khuzestan province. For this purpose,
      between March 2014 and February 2015, blood samples were collected from 52 newly
      diagnosed, antiretroviral treatment-naive, HIV-1 infected persons aged from 18 to
      30 years. TDR mutations were determined by sequencing the protease (PR) and
      reverse transcriptase (RT) genes and interpreted using the WHO drug resistance
      mutations surveillance list. HIV-1 subtypes were characterized by sequencing the
      PR-RT, C2-V5, and p17 regions of the pol, env and gag genes, respectively. Two
      participants had non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)
      resistance mutations, specifically K103N in one individual and
      K101EK/K103KN/G190AG in the other. No nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
      (NRTI) or major protease inhibitor (PI) mutations were identified. HIV-1
      subtyping revealed that all participants were infected with HIV-1 CRF35_AD.
      According to the WHO sequential sampling method, the prevalence of HIV-1 TDR in
      the sampling area (Khuzestan province) was classified as moderate for NNRTIs and
      low for NRTIs and PIs. This is the first HIV-1 drug resistance threshold survey
      in the Khuzestan province of Iran and shows a predominance of NNRTI TDR mutations
      in this area.

PMID- 28589515
TI  - Erratum to: Ethical Issues Related to the Promotion of a "100 mSv Threshold
      Assumption" in Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident in 2011: Background and
      Consequences.

PMID- 28589514
TI  - The Effect of Breastfeeding on Childhood Otitis Media.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to summarize the literature
      regarding the association between breastfeeding and childhood otitis media (OM),
      with focus on the literature published within the past 5 years. The review
      comprises original articles and recent reviews. RECENT FINDINGS: The effect of a
      protective effect of breastfeeding on the risk of OM is still being discussed.
      Within the past 5 years, 6 reviews and 15 original articles have been published.
      No randomized controlled trials have been published, and the diversity of
      exposure and outcome measures in the studies was significant. Also, we provide a
      summary of the recent literature on cost-benefit of breastfeeding and believed
      mechanism of protection against OM. Breastfeeding for more than 6 months seems to
      protect against OM during the first 6 years of life. Exclusive breastfeeding may
      have a more protective effect than non-exclusive breastfeeding. Introduction of
      formula feeding before the age of 6 months increased the risk of OM.

PMID- 28589516
TI  - (Yet) Another chance for good reasoning? A commentary and reply on Pighin,
      Tentori, and Girotto (2017).

PMID- 28589517
TI  - Inhibition of Gap Junction Elevates Glutamate Uptake in Cultured Astrocytes.
AB  - Glutamate uptake is a main function of astrocytes to keep extracellular glutamate
      levels low and protect neurons against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. On the
      other hand, astrocyte networks formed by gap junctions, which are consisted with
      connexins and connecting neighboring cells, are reported to play a critical role
      in maintaining the homeostasis in the brain. In the present study, we examined
      the effects of gap junction inhibitors on the glutamate uptake activity in
      cultured rat cortical astrocytes. At first, we confirmed the effects of gap
      junction inhibitors, 1-octanol and carbenoxolone, on cell-cell communication by
      the scrape-loading assay using a fluorescent dye Lucifer yellow. Both of 1
      octanol and carbenoxolone treatments for 20 min in cultured astrocytes
      significantly suppressed the cell-cell communication assessed as the distance of
      dye-spreading. 1-octanol and carbenoxolone increased the glutamate uptake by
      astrocytes and glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) expression on the cell
      membrane. These results suggest that gap junction inhibitors increase the
      glutamate uptake activity through the increase of GLAST proteins located on the
      cell membrane. The regulation of gap junction in astrocytes might protect neurons
      against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity.

PMID- 28589518
TI  - Forty Years of Sodium Channels: Structure, Function, Pharmacology, and Epilepsy.
AB  - Voltage-gated sodium channels initiate action potentials in brain neurons. In the
      1970s, much was known about the function of sodium channels from measurements of
      ionic currents using the voltage clamp method, but there was no information about
      the sodium channel molecules themselves. As a postdoctoral fellow and staff
      scientist at the National Institutes of Health, I developed neurotoxins as
      molecular probes of sodium channels in cultured neuroblastoma cells. During those
      years, Bruce Ransom and I crossed paths as members of the laboratories of
      Marshall Nirenberg and Philip Nelson and shared insights about sodium channels in
      neuroblastoma cells from my work and electrical excitability and synaptic
      transmission in cultured spinal cord neurons from Bruce's pioneering
      electrophysiological studies. When I established my laboratory at the University
      of Washington in 1977, my colleagues and I used those neurotoxins to identify the
      protein subunits of sodium channels, purify them, and reconstitute their ion
      conductance activity in pure form. Subsequent studies identified the molecular
      basis for the main functions of sodium channels-voltage-dependent activation,
      rapid and selective ion conductance, and fast inactivation. Bruce Ransom and I re
      connected in the 1990s, as ski buddies at the Winter Conference on Brain Research
      and as faculty colleagues at the University of Washington when Bruce became our
      founding Chair of Neurology and provided visionary leadership of that department.
      In the past decade my work on sodium channels has evolved into structural
      biology. Molecular modeling and X-ray crystallographic studies have given new
      views of sodium channel function at atomic resolution. Sodium channels are also
      the molecular targets for genetic diseases, including Dravet Syndrome, an
      intractable pediatric epilepsy disorder with major co-morbidities of cognitive
      deficit, autistic-like behaviors, and premature death that is caused by loss-of
      function mutations in the brain sodium channel NaV1.1. Our work on a mouse
      genetic model of this disease has shown that its multi-faceted pathophysiology
      and co-morbidities derive from selective loss of electrical excitability and
      action potential firing in GABAergic inhibitory neurons, which disinhibits neural
      circuits throughout the brain and leads directly to the epilepsy, premature death
      and complex co-morbidities of this disease. It has been rewarding for me to use
      our developing knowledge of sodium channels to help understand the
      pathophysiology and to suggest potential therapeutic approaches for this
      devastating childhood disease.

PMID- 28589519
TI  - Hydrogel Environment Supports Cell Culture Expansion of a Grade IV Astrocytoma.
AB  - Malignant astrocytomas are aggressive cancers of glial origin that can develop
      into invasive brain tumors. The disease has poor prognosis and high recurrence
      rate. Astrocytoma cell lines of human origin are an important tool in the
      experimental pathway from bench to bedside because they afford a convenient
      intermediate system for in vitro analysis of brain cancer pathogenesis and
      treatment options. We undertook the current study to determine whether hydrogel
      culture methods could be adapted to support the growth of astrocytoma cell lines,
      thereby facilitating a system that may be biologically more similar to in vivo
      tumor tissue. Our experimental protocols enabled maintenance of Grade IV
      astrocytoma cell lines in conventional monolayer culture and in the extracellular
      matrix hydrogel, GeltrexTM. Light and fluorescence microscopy showed that
      hydrogel environments promoted cellular reorganization from dispersed cells into
      multilayered aggregates. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the prevalence
      of autophagy and nuclear membrane distortions in both culture systems. Analysis
      of microarray Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) DataSets highlighted expression of
      genes implicated in pathways for cancer progression and autophagy. A pilot
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis of the autophagic
      biomarkers, Beclin 1 (BECN1) and microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light
      chain 3B (MAP1LC3B), with two reference genes (beta actin, ACTB; glyceraldehyde 3
      phosphate dehydrogenase, GAPDH), uncovered a relative increase of BECN1 and LC3B
      in hydrogel cultures of astrocytoma as compared to the monolayer. Taken together,
      results establish that ultrastructural and molecular characteristics of autophagy
      are features of this astrocytoma cell line, and that hydrogel culture systems can
      afford novel opportunities for in vitro studies of glioma.

PMID- 28589521
TI  - Strengthening the Case for Epilepsy Drug Development: Bridging Experiences from
      the Alzheimer's Disease Field-An Opinion.
AB  - Given the sheer number of drugs (over 20!) available for treatment of seizures,
      epilepsy can be considered one of the most successful areas in pharmaceutical
      development and especially for neuroscience. However, despite the large number of
      drug treatment options available for managing patients with epilepsy, there
      remains considerable unmet need. For example, the overall impact on seizure
      control has not been substantial with approximately 30% of patients remaining
      refractory or their seizures not adequately controlled. Also there is need for
      epilepsy prevention and for certain sub-populations with severe intractable
      epilepsy. High unmet need often drives new industry investment into therapeutic
      market opportunities, however the profound success of antiepileptic drugs has
      contributed to the hurdles for industry investment in new therapies for epilepsy.
      Furthermore, the payor environment has also changed with new challenges for
      evidence generation and demonstration of additive value above existing standard
      of care treatments. Challenges in translational science, in the clinical trial
      environment including cost and operational technical difficulty, and in the
      commercial environment have resulted in the pharmaceutical industry directing
      investments away from epilepsy into other therapeutic areas such as oncology and
      immunology as opportunities for higher probabilities of success and returns of
      investment. The neuroscience area in general is perceived a high risk area and a
      notable exception has been the active industry involvement in Alzheimer's disease
      (AD), especially for therapeutics that could modify the course or prevent AD. AD
      is a very high risk area with no successful efficacious treatments found to date
      despite recent failures, there remains promise that therapies are forthcoming.
      The promise is fueled by a number of innovative factors that reduced R&D
      challenges in the AD field and contributed to a high level of drug development
      activity and investment. This paper addresses hurdles facing epilepsy drug
      discovery and development and focuses on some key solutions that could be eased
      to facilitate industry interest. Similarities in drug development challenges
      provide opportunities that bridge experiences and learnings from AD to epilepsy.
      Overall, the epilepsy field is probably in a good position for advancing into the
      next generation therapeutics of antiepileptic drugs targeted for increased
      efficacy in refractory epilepsy and for antiepileptogenesis.

PMID- 28589523
TI  - Unexpected brain finding in pre-autopsy postmortem CT.
AB  - A case is presented in which pre-autopsy postmortem computed tomography (PMCT)
      revealed an unexpected brain abscess with a related frontal sinusitis and an
      erosion of the posterior wall of the frontal sinus. PMCT findings enabled the
      forensic pathologists to adapt protective measures during autopsy and protect
      their health from infection. Pre-autopsy PMCT has been also useful in the early
      differential diagnosis procedure. The complementary use of postmortem imaging and
      autopsy can improve the quality of forensic death investigations.

PMID- 28589522
TI  - Virtopsy shows a high status funerary treatment in an early 18th Dynasty non
      royal individual.
AB  - This work presents the multidisciplinary investigation of the head of Nebiri
      (Museo Egizio, Turin S_5109), Chief of Stables, a high status elite person from
      the 18th Dynasty involving MDCT, 3D brain surface and facial reconstructions
      accompanied by a consideration of previously presented chemical analysis of the
      embalming materials found in fragments of bandages used on the head and viscera
      (lung) found in one of the four canopic jars. Comparison of the techniques used
      for the cosmetic treatment of Nebiri with those used in other elite and high
      status non-royal persons confirms the validity of the use of the term "high
      status elite" in the case of Nebiri. This case highlights the importance of using
      modern forensic techniques both to enhance new technologies of retrospective
      diagnosis on altered human remains and to increase knowledge of past populations.

PMID- 28589525
TI  - Cerliponase Alfa: First Global Approval.
AB  - Cerliponase alfa (BrineuraTM) is a recombinant human tripeptidyl peptidase-1
      (TPP1) being developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. for use in patients with
      neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2), a paediatric neurodegenerative
      disease caused by a deficiency in TPP1. CLN2 is characterised by progressive
      impairment of motor function, language deficiencies, seizures, ataxia, blindness
      and early death, and intracerebroventricular infusion of cerliponase alfa has
      been shown to reduce the progression of functional decline. This article
      summarizes the milestones in the development of cerliponase alfa leading to its
      first global approval in the USA for the treatment of motor function loss in
      paediatric patients >=3 years of age with CLN2, and subsequent approval in the EU
      for CLN2 in all ages.

PMID- 28589524
TI  - Common Psychosocial Factors Predicting Return to Work After Common Mental
      Disorders, Cardiovascular Diseases, and Cancers: A Review of Reviews Supporting a
      Cross-Disease Approach.
AB  - Purpose This systematic review aimed at identifying the common psychosocial
      factors that facilitate or hinder the return to work (RTW) after a sick leave due
      to common mental disorders (CMDs), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), or cancers
      (CAs). Methods We conducted a review of reviews searching 13 databases from 1994
      to 2016 for peer-reviewed, quantitative, cohort studies investigating factors
      influencing RTW after a CMD, CVD, or CA. Then, for each disease we identified
      additional cohort studies published after the date of the latest review included.
      Data were extracted following a three steps best-evidence synthesis method: the
      extraction of results about each predictor from studies within each single review
      and in the additional papers; the synthesis of results across the reviews and
      additional papers investigating the same disease; and the synthesis of results
      across the diseases. Results The search strategy identified 1029 unique records
      from which 27 reviews and 75 additional studies underwent comprehensive review.
      14 reviews and 32 additional cohort studies met eligibility criteria. Specific
      predictors of RTW with different levels of evidence are provided for each
      disease. We found four common facilitators of RTW (job control, work ability,
      perceived good health and high socioeconomic status), and six barriers of RTW
      (job strain, anxiety, depression, comorbidity, older age and low education).
      Conclusion This is the first review to systematically analyze commonalities in
      RTW after CMDs, CVDs, or CAs. The common factors identified indicate that the RTW
      process presents many similarities across various diseases, thus supporting the
      validity of a cross-disease approach.

PMID- 28589520
TI  - Role of Mitochondria in Methamphetamine-Induced Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity:
      Involvement in Oxidative Stress, Neuroinflammation, and Pro-apoptosis-A Review.
AB  - Methamphetamine (MA), an amphetamine-type psychostimulant, is associated with
      dopaminergic toxicity and has a high abuse potential. Numerous in vivo and in
      vitro studies have suggested that impaired mitochondria are critical in
      dopaminergic toxicity induced by MA. Mitochondria are important energy-producing
      organelles with dynamic nature. Evidence indicated that exposure to MA can
      disturb mitochondrial energetic metabolism by inhibiting the Krebs cycle and
      electron transport chain. Alterations in mitochondrial dynamic processes,
      including mitochondrial biogenesis, mitophagy, and fusion/fission, have recently
      been shown to contribute to dopaminergic toxicity induced by MA. Furthermore, it
      was demonstrated that MA-induced mitochondrial impairment enhances susceptibility
      to oxidative stress, pro-apoptosis, and neuroinflammation in a positive feedback
      loop. Protein kinase Cdelta has emerged as a potential mediator between
      mitochondrial impairment and oxidative stress, pro-apoptosis, or
      neuroinflammation in MA neurotoxicity. Understanding the role and underlying
      mechanism of mitochondrial impairment could provide a molecular target to prevent
      or alleviate dopaminergic toxicity induced by MA.

PMID- 28589526
TI  - A large-inner-diameter multi-walled carbon nanotube-based dual-drug delivery
      system with pH-sensitive release properties.
AB  - A novel dual-drug delivery system (DDDS) for cancer chemotherapy has been
      established by employing highly purified and mildly oxidized large-inner-diameter
      multi-walled carbon nanotubes (LID-MWCNTs) as the vector. The LID-MWCNTs were
      modified with the antitumor drugs, cisplatin (CDDP) and doxorubicin (DOX). CDDP
      was encapsulated inside the nanotube vectors by a wet-chemical approach while DOX
      was attached to the external surfaces through non-covalently interaction. The
      loading efficiencies of CDDP and DOX were as high as 84.56 and 192.67%,
      respectively. Notably, after CDDP was encapsulated inside the nanotubes, a three
      level blocking strategy, which included polyethylene glycol, folic acid and DOX,
      was employed to block the CDDP exits at different levels. The pH-sensitive
      release profile of CDDP was demonstrated using a modified characterization
      method, as well as that of DOX. Finally, the anticancer activity of the DDDS on
      MCF-7 cells was tested and a synergistic effect was recorded. This work is part
      of our LID-MWCNTs based drug delivery system studies, and provides a basis for
      developing a novel comprehensive antitumor treatment that combines chemotherapy
      and photothermal therapy.

PMID- 28589528
TI  - Functional Evaluation in Obese Patients Before and After Sleeve Gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has become an important treatment
      option in severe obesity, cardiorespiratory and muscle function after SG has not
      adequately been investigated. METHODS: This is an observational study in 26 obese
      patients (BMI 45.2 +/- 5.8 kg/m2), comparing physical function before and after 6
      months from SG. All available patients listed for SG were here included.
      Incremental cardiopulmonary exercise tests, standardized strength tests, and
      balance analysis were performed. RESULTS: The substantial weight loss (-33.4 +/-
      11.0 kg) after SG led to increased peak work capacity (metabolic equivalents,
      METs) and relative peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak/kg) (both p < 0.001). However, the
      absolute VO2peak, oxygen pulse (VO2/heart rate (HR)), and the oxygen uptake
      efficiency slope (OUES) significantly declined after SG (all p < 0.001).
      Furthermore, HR/VO2-slope significantly worsened after SG (p < 0.001), whereas
      the HR reserve and HR recovery improved (all p <= 0.01). Parameters of
      ventilatory efficiency were not affected by SG. The time-constant (Tau tau) of
      the fundamental component of VO2-kinetics, reflecting oxygen metabolism in
      skeletal muscles, was found to be significantly worsened after SG (p < 0.05).
      Finally, muscle strength and balance parameters were not much affected by SG.
      CONCLUSIONS: The ventilatory and cardiac function do not appear negatively
      affected by SG; thus, we hypothesize that the decrease in aerobic capacity could
      be due to alterations in peripheral muscles. This might in part be due to a loss
      of muscle mass, although our patients' muscle strength did not decrease. Pilot
      results from VO2-kinetics analysis seem to support the hypothesis of a
      deterioration of oxidative muscle metabolism after SG.

PMID- 28589527
TI  - Targeting the Tumor Stroma: the Biology and Clinical Development of Pegylated
      Recombinant Human Hyaluronidase (PEGPH20).
AB  - The tumor stroma is increasingly recognized as a key player in tumorigenesis
      through its effects on cell signaling, immune responses, and access of
      therapeutic agents. A major component of the extracellular matrix is hyaluronic
      acid (HA), which raises the interstitial gel fluid pressure within tumors and
      reduces drug delivery to malignant cells, and has been most extensively studied
      in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). Pegylated recombinant human
      hyaluronidase (PEGPH20) is a novel agent that degrades HA and normalizes IFP to
      enhance the delivery of cytotoxic agents. It has demonstrated promising
      preclinical results and early clinical evidence of efficacy in the first-line
      treatment of metastatic PDA with acceptable tolerability. Moreover, intratumoral
      HA content appears to be a predictive biomarker of response. Phase 2 and 3 trials
      of PEGPH20 plus chemotherapy are ongoing in metastatic PDA, and it is also being
      evaluated in other malignancies and in combination with radiation and
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 28589530
TI  - Erratum to: Poor Health Behaviors Prior to Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy
      Surgery.

PMID- 28589529
TI  - Dietary Intake and Weight Changes 5 Years After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is becoming a leading primary
      bariatric surgery but long-term outcome remains unclear. The amount of food eaten
      is drastically reduced after LSG and may lead to nutritional deficiencies
      potentially. The aim of this study is to investigate long-term dietary intake and
      weight status after LSG. METHODS: Forty patients underwent LSG had more than 5
      year follow-up with complete clinical data and food frequency questionnaires were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of subjects is 33.5 years old with mean body mass
      index (BMI) 37.9 kg/m2. Mean BMI loss at 5 years after LSG is 10.6 kg/m2. Weight
      regain appeared in 20% of patients. Dietary composition analysis at 5 years
      showed mean calorie intake of 1230 kcal/day, protein 70 g/day (22.5% of calorie),
      fat 50 g/day (36.1%), carbohydrate 126 g (41.4%), iron 7.5 mg/day, calcium 536.2
      mg/day, and fiber 11.7 g/day. Calorie intake at 5 years after LSG is correlated
      with weight loss but weight regain is not related to a higher calorie intake. All
      comorbidities were significantly improved after LSG but hemoglobin and
      parathyroid hormone significantly changed. Incidence of iron deficiency anemia
      increased from 7.5% at pre-operation to 41.2% after LSG. Incidence of secondary
      hyperparathyroidism increased from 17.5 to 60.7%. CONCLUSION: LSG is an effective
      and durable bariatric procedure but with significant changes in nutritional
      status. Dietary instruction for LSG should include foods rich in protein, iron,
      calcium, and fiber.

PMID- 28589531
TI  - How can clinical practices pragmatically increase physical activity for patients
      with type 2 diabetes? A systematic review.
AB  - Although regular physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone of treatment for type 2
      diabetes (T2D), most adults with T2D are sedentary. Randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) have proven the effectiveness of PA behavioral interventions for adults
      with T2D but have rarely been conducted in healthcare settings. We sought to
      identify PA interventions that are effective and practical to implement in
      clinical practice settings. Our first aim was to use the valid Pragmatic
      Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary 2 (PRECIS-2) tool to assess the potential
      for future implementation of PA interventions in clinical practice settings. Our
      second aim was to identify interventions that effectively increased PA and
      glycemic control among the interventions in the top tertile of PRECIS-2 scores.
      We searched PubMed MEDLINE from January 1980 through May 2015 for RCTs of
      behavioral PA interventions coordinated by clinical practices for patients with
      T2D. Dual investigators assessed pragmatism by PRECIS-2 scores, and study
      effectiveness was extracted from original RCT publications. The PRECIS-2 scores
      of the 46 behavioral interventions (n = 13,575 participants) ranged from 3.0 to
      4.8, where 5 is the most pragmatic score. In the most pragmatic tertile of
      interventions (n = 16) by PRECIS-2 scores, 30.8 and 31.3% of interventions
      improved PA outcomes and hemoglobin A1c, respectively. A minority of published
      evidence-based PA interventions for adults with T2D were both effective and
      pragmatic for clinical implementation. These should be tested for dissemination
      using implementation trial designs.

PMID- 28589532
TI  - Contextual factors related to implementation of classroom physical activity
      breaks.
AB  - Brief structured physical activity in the classroom is effective for increasing
      student physical activity. The present study investigated the association between
      implementation-related contextual factors and intervention implementation after
      adoption of a structured classroom physical activity intervention. Six elementary
      school districts adopted structured classroom physical activity programs in 2013
      2014. Implementation contextual factors and intervention implementation
      (structured physical activity provided in past week or month, yes/no) were
      assessed using surveys of 337 classroom teachers from 24 schools. Mixed-effects
      models accounted for the nested design. Availability of resources (yes/no, ORs =
      1.91-2.93) and implementation climate z-scores (ORs = 1.36-1.47) were
      consistently associated with implementation. Teacher-perceived classroom behavior
      benefits (OR = 1.29) but not student enjoyment or health benefits, and time (OR =
      2.32) and academic (OR = 1.63) barriers but not student cooperation barriers were
      associated with implementation (all z-scores). Four implementation contextual
      factor composites had an additive association with implementation (OR = 1.64 for
      each additional favorable composite). Training and technical assistance alone may
      not support a large proportion of teachers to implement structured classroom
      physical activity. In addition to lack of time and interference with academic
      lessons, school climate related to whether administrators and other teachers were
      supportive of the intervention were key factors explaining whether teachers
      implemented the intervention. Evidence-based implementation strategies are needed
      for effectively communicating the benefits of classroom physical activity on
      student behavior and improving teacher and administrator climate/attitudes around
      classroom physical activity.

PMID- 28589533
TI  - Effects of exendin-4 and selenium on the expression of GLP-1R, IRS-1, and
      preproinsulin in the pancreas of diabetic rats.
AB  - The mechanisms by which exendin-4 and selenium exert their antidiabetic actions
      are still unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of exendin-4 or selenium
      administration on the expression of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R),
      insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), and preproinsulin in the pancreas of
      diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin administration. Diabetic
      rats were injected intraperitoneally with 0.03 MUg exendin-4/kg body weight/daily
      or treated with 5 ppm selenium in drinking water for a period of 4 weeks. GLP-1R
      and IRS-1 levels were decreased while the level of preproinsulin messenger RNA
      (mRNA) was increased in the pancreas of diabetic untreated rats, as compared to
      that in control rats. Treatment of diabetic rats with exendin-4 increased protein
      and mRNA levels of GLP-1R, and IRS-1, and the mRNA level of preproinsulin in the
      pancreas, as compared to their levels in diabetic untreated rats. Selenium
      treatment of diabetic rats increased the pancreatic mRNA levels of GLP-1R, IRS-1,
      and preproinsulin. Exendin-4 or selenium treatment of diabetic rats also
      increased the numbers of pancreatic islets and GLP-1R molecules in the pancreas.
      Therefore, exendin-4 and selenium may exert their antidiabetic effects by
      increasing GLP-1R, IRS-1, and preproinsulin expression in the pancreas and by
      increasing the number of pancreatic islets.

PMID- 28589534
TI  - Noninvasive ventilation with helium-oxygen mixture in hypercapnic COPD
      exacerbation: aggregate meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - When used as a driving gas during NIV in hypercapnic COPD exacerbation, a helium
      oxygen (He/O2) mixture reduces the work of breathing and gas trapping. The
      potential for He/O2 to reduce the rate of NIV failure leading to intubation and
      invasive mechanical ventilation has been evaluated in several RCTs. The goal of
      this meta-analysis is to assess the effect of NIV driven by He/O2 compared to
      air/O2 on patient-centered outcomes in hypercapnic COPD exacerbation. Relevant
      RCTs were searched using standard procedures. The main endpoint was the rate of
      NIV failure. The effect size was computed by a fixed-effect model, and estimated
      as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Additional endpoints were
      ICU mortality, NIV-related side effects, and the length and costs of ICU stay.
      Three RCTs fulfilled the selection criteria and enrolled a total of 772 patients
      (386 patients received He/O2 and 386 received air/O2). Pooled analysis showed no
      difference in the rate of NIV failure when using He/O2 mixture compared to
      air/O2: 17 vs 19.7%, respectively; OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.58-1.22; p = 0.36; I 2 for
      heterogeneity = 0%, and no publication bias. ICU mortality was also not
      different: OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.45-1.4; p = 0.43; I 2 = 5%. However, He/O2 was
      associated with less NIV-related adverse events (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.4-0.8, p =
      0.001), and a shorter length of ICU stay (difference in means = -1.07 day, 95% CI
      -2.14 to -0.004, p = 0.049). Total hospital costs entailed by hospital stay and
      NIV gas were not different: difference in means = -279$, 95% CI -2052-1493, p =
      0.76. Compared to air/O2, He/O2 does not reduce the rate of NIV failure in
      hypercapnic COPD exacerbation. It is, however, associated with a lower incidence
      of NIV-related adverse events and a shortening of ICU length of stay with no
      increase in hospital costs.

PMID- 28589536
TI  - Distinguishing pathogenic mutations from background genetic noise in cardiology:
      The use of large genome databases for genetic interpretation.
AB  - Advances in clinical genetic testing have led to increased insight into the human
      genome, including how challenging it is to interpret rare genetic variation. In
      some cases, the ability to detect genetic mutations exceeds the ability to
      understand their clinical impact, limiting the advantage of these technologies.
      Obstacles in genomic medicine are many and include: understanding the level of
      certainty/uncertainty behind pathogenicity determination, the numerous different
      variant interpretation-guidelines used by clinical laboratories, delivering the
      certain or uncertain result to the patient, helping patients evaluate medical
      decisions in light of uncertainty regarding the consequence of the findings.
      Through publication of large publicly available exome/genome databases,
      researchers and physicians are now able to highlight dubious variants previously
      associated with different cardiac traits. Also, continuous efforts through data
      sharing, international collaborative efforts to develop disease-gene-specific
      guidelines, and computational analyses using large data, will indubitably assist
      in better variant interpretation and classification. This article discusses the
      current, and quickly changing, state of variant interpretation resources within
      cardiovascular genetic research, e.g., publicly available databases and ways of
      how cardiovascular genetic counselors and geneticists can aid in improving
      variant interpretation in cardiology.

PMID- 28589535
TI  - Low HDL levels in sepsis versus trauma patients in intensive care unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The protective cardiovascular effect of high-density lipoproteins
      (HDLs) is considered to chiefly rely on reverse cholesterol transport from
      peripheral tissues back to the liver. However, HDL particles display pleiotropic
      properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic or antioxidant functions.
      Some studies suggest that HDL concentration decreases during sepsis, and an
      association was reported between low HDL levels and a poor outcome. Like sepsis,
      trauma is also associated with a systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
      However, no study has yet explored changes in lipid profiles during trauma. We
      sought to compare lipid profiles between sepsis and trauma patients in intensive
      care unit (ICU). In septic patients, we analyzed the association between lipid
      profile, severity and prognosis. METHODS: A prospective, observational, single
      centered study was conducted in a surgical ICU. For each patient, total
      cholesterol, HDL, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels
      were assessed at admission. Short-term prognosis outcome was prospectively
      assessed. RESULTS: Seventy-five consecutive patients were admitted (50 sepsis and
      25 trauma). There was no difference in SOFA and SAPSII scores between the two
      groups. Patients with sepsis had lower total cholesterol levels than patients
      with trauma. Regarding the lipoprotein profile, only HDLs differed significantly
      between the two groups (median [IQR] = 0.33 mmol/l [0.17-0.78] in sepsis patients
      versus median [IQR] = 0.99 mmol/l [0.74-1.28] in trauma patients; P < 0.0001).
      Whereas ICU mortality was not associated with lipid levels in the sepsis group, a
      significant negative correlation was found between HDL concentration and the
      length of ICU stay (r = -0.35; P = 0.03) in the group of survivor septic patients
      at ICU discharge. In addition, poor outcome defined as death or a SOFA score >6
      at day 3 was associated with lower HDL levels (median [IQR] = 0.20 mmol/l [0.11
      0.41] vs. 0.35 mmol/l [0.19-0.86] in patients with poor outcome versus others; P
      = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Lipid profile was totally different between sepsis and
      trauma in ICU patients: HDL levels were low in septic patients, whereas their
      concentration was not altered in trauma patients. This major difference
      reinforces the necessity to explore the therapeutic potential of HDL in sepsis.

PMID- 28589537
TI  - "Political co-authorships" in medical science journals.
AB  - The issue of co-author relationships on medical sciences journal publications has
      become more pronounced as advances in technology have enabled collaboration
      across countries and institutions to occur much more efficiently. These
      relationships often have underlying political motivations and outcomes, including
      career advancement, attempting to increase prestige of a project, and maintaining
      research grants. Some authors may be listed as senior or honorary authors despite
      offering little or no contribution to the original research project. This may be
      done in an effort to enhance the gravitas of a research project, and attain
      publication in a highly regarded medical journal. The current review covers the
      topic of political co-authorship and germane literature and lists strategies to
      combat this phenomenon. Such co-authorship practices corrupt the integrity of the
      research process as they attempt to bypass the safeguard that medical journals
      and institutions have put in place to prevent fraud and falsification. A number
      of strategies have been proposed to combat the practice of co-authorship, but it
      may ultimately be an unavoidable feature of contemporary medical research
      publishing that is difficult to police. Clin. Anat. 30:831-834, 2017. (c)
      2017Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28589539
TI  - Extinction and time help drive the marine-terrestrial biodiversity gradient: is
      the ocean a deathtrap?
AB  - The marine-terrestrial richness gradient is among Earth's most dramatic
      biodiversity patterns, but its causes remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse
      detailed phylogenies of amniote clades, paleontological data and simulations to
      reveal the mechanisms underlying low marine richness, emphasising speciation,
      extinction and colonisation. We show that differences in diversification rates
      (speciation minus extinction) between habitats are often weak and inconsistent
      with observed richness patterns. Instead, the richness gradient is explained by
      limited time for speciation in marine habitats, since all extant marine clades
      are relatively young. Paleontological data show that older marine invasions have
      consistently ended in extinction. Simulations show that marine extinctions help
      drive the pattern of young, depauperate marine clades. This role for extinction
      is not discernible from molecular phylogenies alone, and not predicted by most
      previously hypothesised explanations for this gradient. Our results have
      important implications for the marine-terrestrial biodiversity gradient, and
      studies of biodiversity gradients in general.

PMID- 28589540
TI  - Depletion Mapping and Constrained Optimization to Support Managing Groundwater
      Extraction.
AB  - Groundwater models often serve as management tools to evaluate competing water
      uses including ecosystems, irrigated agriculture, industry, municipal supply, and
      others. Depletion potential mapping-showing the model-calculated potential
      impacts that wells have on stream baseflow-can form the basis for multiple
      potential management approaches in an oversubscribed basin. Specific management
      approaches can include scenarios proposed by stakeholders, systematic changes in
      well pumping based on depletion potential, and formal constrained optimization,
      which can be used to quantify the tradeoff between water use and stream baseflow.
      Variables such as the maximum amount of reduction allowed in each well and
      various groupings of wells using, for example, K-means clustering considering
      spatial proximity and depletion potential are considered. These approaches
      provide a potential starting point and guidance for resource managers and
      stakeholders to make decisions about groundwater management in a basin, spreading
      responsibility in different ways. We illustrate these approaches in the Little
      Plover River basin in central Wisconsin, United States-home to a rich
      agricultural tradition, with farmland and urban areas both in close proximity to
      a groundwater-dependent trout stream. Groundwater withdrawals have reduced
      baseflow supplying the Little Plover River below a legally established minimum.
      The techniques in this work were developed in response to engaged stakeholders
      with various interests and goals for the basin. They sought to develop a
      collaborative management plan at a watershed scale that restores the flow rate in
      the river in a manner that incorporates principles of shared governance and
      results in effective and minimally disruptive changes in groundwater extraction
      practices.

PMID- 28589538
TI  - Lentigo maligna of the face: A quantitative simple method to identify individual
      patient risk probability on dermoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The clinical and dermoscopic differential diagnosis of
      flat pigmented facial lesions represents a great challenge for the clinicians.
      Our aim was to report a quantitative method based on dermoscopic features to
      better classify pigmented facial lesions. METHODS: This is a retrospective case
      series study that analysed the dermoscopic features of 582 pigmented facial
      lesions. RESULTS: The individual patient probability of lentigo maligna (LM) was
      predicted by a multivariate model, with an accuracy of 0.72. According to the
      odds ratio at the multivariate analysis, an individual scoring index was assigned
      to each criterion, and a value of 4.56 was identified as optimal cut-off point.
      Up to a score of 2.5, the probability that a lesion is an LM is 0. The
      probability increases from 10 to 50% for a score ranging between 4.5 and 6. It is
      about 90% for a score of 7. CONCLUSION: The optimal cut-off point obtained and
      the curve that identifies the probability of a patient having a LM could improve
      the classification and the management strategies of equivocal pigmented facial
      lesions.

PMID- 28589542
TI  - Is insulin the preferred treatment for HbA1c >9%?
AB  - The algorithms and guidelines of the American Association of Clinical
      Endocrinologists and the American Diabetes Association recommend that insulin
      administration be strongly considered for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) with
      HbA1c levels exceeding 9.0% and 10%, respectively. Although the caveat is given
      in both sets of recommendations that this is particularly appropriate when
      patients are "symptomatic," referring to urinary frequency with increased thirst
      and appetite, weight loss, and ketosis, the clinical definition of such
      presentations may be ill-defined, and it is noteworthy that both documents
      consider insulin to offer particular benefit under such circumstances. However,
      with multiple options for glycemic treatment, it is of interest to reconsider
      this argument for insulin use. It should be recalled that in the UK Prospective
      Diabetes Study, diet alone was associated with a reduction in HbA1c from 9% to
      7%. Drug-naive people with T2D do often show surprisingly strong reductions in
      HbA1c with metformin-based dual-agent oral treatment approaches; a recent report
      showed that even with baseline HbA1c >11%, the combination of metformin with a
      sulfonylurea, pioglitazone, or sitagliptin was associated with reduction in HbA1c
      from 11.6% to 6.0%. A 32-week study of the combination of rosiglitazone with
      metformin in patients with mean baseline HbA1c 8.9% showed a mean HbA1c reduction
      of 2.3%, and an open-label cohort with baseline HbA1c 11.8% had a reduction in
      HbA1c to 7.8%. With metformin plus sitagliptin, a mean placebo-adjusted HbA1c
      reduction of 2.1% from a baseline of 8.8% was reported, with those patients with
      baseline HbA1c >9% having a 2.6% reduction in HbA1c, and an open-label cohort
      with baseline HbA1c 11.2% having a 2.9% reduction in HbA1c. Similar 2% HbA1c
      reductions from baseline levels of 9.1% were seen with metformin in initial
      combination with the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor
      dapagliflozin. Although such dual oral agent approaches are more effective than
      monotherapy, with a combination regimen the HbA1c reduction will not be directly
      additive, because the expected reduction decreases at lower baseline HbA1c
      levels. As an example of this, administration of canagliflozin 300 mg daily to
      patients with baseline HbA1c >9% reduced levels from 9.6% by 1.8%, whereas at a
      baseline HbA1c of 10% either canagliflozin 300 mg or metformin 2 g/day reduced
      HbA1c by 2%; the addition of both agents led to an HbA1c reduction by somewhat
      less than 3%, which appears concordant with a reduction by the second agent from
      approximately 8% (10% to 2%). Similar less-than-additive effects of the addition
      of exenatide QW to dapagliflozin have been reported, with HbA1c reduction from a
      baseline of 10.0%-10.1% of 1.9% and 1.6% with the individual agents,
      respectively, and a reduction of 2.2% with their combination. However, one may
      consider these approaches inferior to the expected HbA1c reduction with insulin,
      suggesting that insulin should, indeed, be the preferred treatment for people
      with T2D and HbA1c >9%. Rather, studies comparing basal insulin directly with
      glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (RA) suggest that the latter
      agents may offer superior benefit. The Diabetes Therapy Utilization: Researching
      Changes in HBA1C, Weight, and Other Factors Through Intervention with Exenatide
      Once Weekly (DURATION)-3 and Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes (LEAD)-5
      studies compared exenatide QW and liraglutide, respectively, with insulin
      glargine. Those study participants in the highest quartile of baseline HbA1c had
      levels >=9.0% and >=8.9%, with the GLP-1RA leading to 0.3% and 0.2% greater
      reductions in HbA1c, respectively, than insulin glargine. Another study comparing
      T2D patients receiving oral agents given liraglutide with those given insulin
      glargine showed that those in the highest baseline HbA1c quartile (mean 10.6%)
      had an HbA1c reduction of 3.1% with either agent. In the exenatide QW study, the
      reduction in HbA1c with this agent exceeded that with insulin glargine for those
      groups of study participants with HbA1c 9.0%-9.4%, 9.5%-9.9%, 10.0%-10.4%, 10.5%
      10.9%, and even >=11.0%. Similar superiority of the HbA1c-lowering effect of
      exenatide QW compared with that of insulin glargine was reported in a study with
      baseline HbA1c 8.5%. An individual-patient meta-analysis of six studies of
      another weekly GLP-1RA, namely dulaglutide, showed that at a baseline HbA1c of
      10% the expected HbA1c reduction would be nearly 2.5%, and a study directly
      comparing dulaglutide with insulin glargine also showed a superior HbA1c-lowering
      effect of the former. Another advantage of the GLP-1RAs is their association with
      weight loss, rather than the weight gain associated with insulin treatment. An
      interesting potential combination is that of a GLP-1RA with a thiazolidinedione.
      In a study comparing the addition of exenatide QW and pioglitazone with the
      addition of basal-bolus insulin in 101 people receiving sulfonylureas and
      metformin with baseline HbA1c >10%, HbA1c fell from >11% by >4% compared with
      <4%, respectively, and the GLP-1RA plus thiazolidinedione treatment was
      associated with less weight gain and hypoglycemia. What can we conclude? Should
      HbA1c 11% be the new "use insulin" point? Insulin is an important part of our
      armamentarium for T2D, and is certainly needed for many patients, but with
      current therapeutic approaches including metformin, incretin-based treatments,
      SGLT2 inhibitors, and, possibly, thiazolidinediones, we can reconsider its use in
      many instances. Although there is no doubt that insulin is necessary for truly
      uncontrolled diabetes, we may wish to better define its correct indications.

PMID- 28589541
TI  - Female-specific association of NOS1 genotype with white matter microstructure in
      ADHD patients and controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nitric oxide synthase gene (NOS1) exon 1f (ex1f) VNTR is a known
      genetic risk factor for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
      particularly in females. NOS1 plays an important role in neurite outgrowth and
      may thus influence brain development, specifically white matter (WM)
      microstructure, which is known to be altered in ADHD. The current study aimed to
      investigate whether NOS1 is associated with WM microstructure in (female)
      individuals with and without ADHD. METHODS: Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) scans
      were collected from 187 participants with ADHD (33% female) and 103 controls (50%
      female), aged 8-26 years, and NOS1-ex1f VNTR genotype was determined. Whole-brain
      analyses were conducted for fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)
      to examine associations between NOS1 and WM microstructure, including possible
      interactions with gender and diagnosis. RESULTS: Consistent with previous
      literature, NOS1-ex1f was associated with total ADHD and hyperactivity
      impulsivity symptoms, but not inattention; this effect was independent of gender.
      NOS1-ex1f was also associated with MD values in several major WM tracts in
      females, but not males. In females, homozygosity for the short allele was linked
      to higher MD values than carriership of the long allele. MD values in these
      regions did not correlate with ADHD symptoms. Results were similar for
      participants with and without ADHD. CONCLUSIONS: NOS1-ex1f VNTR is associated
      with WM microstructure in females in a large sample of participants with ADHD and
      healthy controls. Whether this association is part of a neurodevelopmental
      pathway from NOS1 to ADHD symptoms should be further investigated in future
      studies.

PMID- 28589545
TI  - Tonic immobility during sexual assault - a common reaction predicting post
      traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Active resistance is considered to be the 'normal' reaction during
      rape. However, studies have indicated that similar to animals, humans exposed to
      extreme threat may react with a state of involuntary, temporary motor inhibition
      known as tonic immobility. The aim of the present study was to assess the
      occurrence of tonic immobility during rape and subsequent post-traumatic stress
      disorder and severe depression. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tonic immobility at the
      time of the assault was assessed using the Tonic Immobility Scale in 298 women
      who had visited the Emergency clinic for raped women within 1 month of a sexual
      assault. Information about the assault and the victim characteristics were taken
      from the structured clinical data files. After 6 months, 189 women were assessed
      regarding the development of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
      RESULTS: Of the 298 women, 70% reported significant tonic immobility and 48%
      reported extreme tonic immobility during the assault. Tonic immobility was
      associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (OR 2.75; 95%
      CI 1.50-5.03, p = 0.001) and severe depression (OR 3.42; 95% CI 1.51-7.72, p =
      0.003) at 6 months. Further, previous trauma history (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.48-3.77,
      p < 0.001) and psychiatric treatment history (OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.26-3.19, p =
      0.003) were associated with the tonic immobility response. CONCLUSIONS: Tonic
      immobility during rape is a common reaction associated with subsequent post
      traumatic stress disorder and severe depression. Knowledge of this reaction in
      sexual assault victims is important in legal matters and for healthcare follow
      up.

PMID- 28589544
TI  - Accuracy of predictive ability measures for survival models.
AB  - One aspect of an analysis of survival data based on the proportional hazards
      model that has been receiving increasing attention is that of the predictive
      ability or explained variation of the model. A number of contending measures have
      been suggested, including one measure, R2 (beta), which has been proposed given
      its several desirable properties, including its capacity to accommodate time
      dependent covariates, a major feature of the model and one that gives rise to
      great generality. A thorough study of the properties of available measures,
      including the aforementioned measure, has been carried out recently. In that
      work, the authors used bootstrap techniques, particularly complex in the setting
      of censored data, in order to obtain estimates of precision. The motivation of
      this work is to provide analytical expressions of precision, in particular
      confidence interval estimates for R2 (beta). We use Taylor series approximations
      with and without local linearizing transforms. We also consider a very simple
      expression based on the Fisher's transformation. This latter approach has two
      great advantages. It is very easy and quick to calculate, and secondly, it can be
      obtained for any of the methods given in the recent review. A large simulation
      study is carried out to investigate the properties of the different methods.
      Finally, three well-known datasets in breast cancer, lymphoma and lung cancer
      research are given as illustrations. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28589546
TI  - Ulcerated nodules in the groin of an immunosuppressed patient.

PMID- 28589547
TI  - Preoperative exercise training for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
      offers the best chance of cure, but is associated with a risk of postoperative
      pulmonary complications (i.e. pneumonia (new infiltrate coupled with either fever
      (> 38o C) and purulent secretions, or fever and white cell count > 11,000),
      bronchopleural fistula, severe atelectasis that requires chest physiotherapy or
      bronchoscopy, and prolonged mechanical ventilation (> 48 hours)). It is currently
      unclear if preoperative exercise training, and the potential resultant
      improvement in exercise capacity, may also improve postoperative outcomes, such
      as the risk of developing postoperative pulmonary complications, the length of
      postoperative intercostal drainage, or the length of hospital stay. OBJECTIVES:
      The primary aims of this study were to determine the effect of preoperative
      exercise training on postoperative outcomes, such as risk of developing a
      postoperative pulmonary complication, and postoperative duration of intercostal
      catheter use in adults scheduled to undergo lung resection for NSCLC. The
      secondary aims of this study were to determine the effect of preoperative
      exercise training on length of hospital stay, fatigue, dyspnoea, exercise
      capacity, lung function, and postoperative mortality. SEARCH METHODS: We searched
      CENTRAL, MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase Ovid, PEDro, and SciELO on the 28th of November
      2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in
      which study participants who were scheduled to undergo lung resection for NSCLC
      were allocated to receive either preoperative exercise training or no exercise
      training. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened
      the studies and selected those for inclusion. We performed meta-analyses for the
      outcomes: risk of developing a postoperative pulmonary complication;
      postoperative duration of intercostal catheter; length of hospital stay; post
      intervention exercise capacity (6-minute walk distance), and post-intervention
      forced vital capacity (FVC). Although three studies reported post-intervention
      forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), we did not perform meta-analysis on
      this outcome due to significant statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 93%) across the
      studies. Data were not available for fatigue or dyspnoea. One study reported no
      in-hospital postoperative mortality in either the exercise or the non-exercise
      groups. MAIN RESULTS: We identified five RCTs involving 167 participants (mean
      age ranged from 54 to 72.5 years; sample size ranged from 19 to 60 participants).
      Overall, we found that the risk of bias in the included studies was high, and the
      quality of evidence for all outcomes was low. Pooled data from four studies
      demonstrated that preoperative exercise training reduced the risk of developing a
      postoperative pulmonary complication by 67% (risk ratio (RR) 0.33, 95% CI 0.17 to
      0.61). The number of days patients in the exercise group needed an intercostal
      catheter was lower than in the non-exercise group (mean difference (MD) -3.33
      days, 95% CI -5.35 to -1.30 days; two studies); postoperative length of hospital
      stay was also lower in the exercise group (MD -4.24 days, 95% CI -5.43 to -3.06
      days; four studies). Pooled data from two studies demonstrated that compared to
      the non-exercise group, post-intervention 6-minute walk distance (MD 18.23 m, 95%
      CI 8.50 to 27.96 m), and post-intervention FVC (MD 2.97% predicted, 95% CI 1.78
      to 4.16% predicted) were higher in the exercise group. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Preoperative exercise training may reduce the risk of developing a postoperative
      pulmonary complication, the duration of intercostal catheter use, postoperative
      length of hospital stay, and improve both exercise capacity and FVC in people
      undergoing lung resection for NSCLC. The findings of this review should be
      interpreted with caution due to disparities between the studies, risk of bias,
      and small sample sizes. This review emphasises the need for larger RCTs.

PMID- 28589543
TI  - Beta-blocker use and fall risk in older individuals: Original results from two
      studies with meta-analysis.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the association between use of beta-blockers and beta
      blocker characteristics - selectivity, lipid solubility, intrinsic sympathetic
      activity (ISA) and CYP2D6 enzyme metabolism - and fall risk. METHODS: Data from
      two prospective studies were used, including community-dwelling individuals, n =
      7662 (the Rotterdam Study) and 2407 (B-PROOF), all aged >=55 years. Fall
      incidents were recorded prospectively. Time-varying beta-blocker use was
      determined using pharmacy dispensing records. Cox proportional hazard models
      adjusted for age and sex were applied to determine the association between beta
      blocker use, their characteristics - selectivity, lipid solubility, ISA and
      CYP2D6 enzyme metabolism - and fall risk. The results of the studies were
      combined using meta-analyses. RESULTS: In total 2917 participants encountered a
      fall during a total follow-up time of 89 529 years. Meta-analysis indicated no
      association between use of any beta-blocker, compared to nonuse, and fall risk,
      hazard ratio (HR) = 0.97 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88-1.06]. Use of a
      selective beta-blocker was also not associated with fall risk, HR = 0.92 (95%CI
      0.83-1.01). Use of a nonselective beta-blocker was associated with an increased
      fall risk, HR = 1.22 (95%CI 1.01-1.48). Other beta-blocker characteristics
      including lipid solubility and CYP2D6 enzyme metabolism were not associated with
      fall risk. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that use of a nonselective beta
      blocker, contrary to selective beta-blockers, is associated with an increased
      fall risk in an older population. In clinical practice, beta-blockers have been
      shown effective for a variety of cardiovascular indications. However, fall risk
      should be considered when prescribing a beta-blocker in this age group, and the
      pros and cons for beta-blocker classes should be taken into consideration.

PMID- 28589548
TI  - A pilot study of community-based self-sampling for HPV testing among non
      attenders of cervical cancer screening programs in El Salvador.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish the feasibility and acceptability of home-based HPV self
      sampling among women who did not attend screening appointments in rural El
      Salvador. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, data were collected from May 2015
      to January 2016 among 60 women aged 30-59 years who were not pregnant, provided
      informed consent, had not been screened in 2 years, had no history of pre-cancer
      treatment, and did not attend a scheduled HPV screening. Participants completed
      questionnaires and received educational information before being given an
      opportunity to self-sample with the Hybrid Capture 2 High Risk HPV DNA Test.
      RESULTS: Self-sampling was accepted by 41 (68%) participants. Almost all women
      chose to self-sample because the process was easy (40/41, 98%), could be
      performed at home (40/41, 98%), and saved time (38/41, 93%), and because they
      felt less embarrassed (33/41, 80%). The most common reason for declining the test
      was not wanting to be screened (8/19, 42%). The prevalence of high-risk HPV types
      among women who accepted self-sampling was 17% (7/41). CONCLUSION: For most
      women, community-based self-sampling was an acceptable way to participate in a
      cervical cancer screening program. In low-resource countries, incorporating
      community-based self-sampling into screening programs might improve coverage of
      high-risk women.

PMID- 28589549
TI  - Quantitative analysis Of hepatocellular adenoma and focal nodular hyperplasia in
      the hepatobiliary phase: External validation of LLCER method using gadobenate
      dimeglumine as contrast agent.

PMID- 28589550
TI  - Characterization of a "low-risk" cohort of grade group 2 prostate cancer
      patients: Results from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital database.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine if there is a subset of men with grade group 2 prostate
      cancer who could be potential candidates for active surveillance. METHODS: We
      used the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital database to identify 776
      men undergoing radical prostatectomy from 2006 to 2015 with >8 biopsy cores
      obtained and complete information. We compared men who fulfilled low-risk disease
      criteria (clinical stage T1c/T2a; grade group 1; prostate-specific antigen <=10
      ng/mL) with the exception of grade group 2 versus men who met all three low-risk
      criteria. Logistic regression was used to test the association between grade
      group and radical prostatectomy pathological features. Biochemical recurrence was
      examined using Cox models. To examine whether there was a subset of men with low
      volume grade group 2 with comparable outcomes to low-risk men, we repeated all
      analyses limiting the percentage of positive cores in the grade group 2 group to
      <=33%, and positive cores to <=4, <=3 or <=2. RESULTS: Grade group 2 low-risk men
      had increased risk of pathological grade group 3 or higher (P < 0.001),
      extraprostatic extension (P < 0.001), seminal vesicle invasion (P < 0.001) and
      higher risk of biochemical recurrence (hazard ratio = 1.76, P = 0.006). Using
      increasingly strict definitions of low-volume disease, at <=2 positive cores
      there was no difference in adverse pathology between groups (all P > 0.2), except
      higher pathological grade group (P = 0.006). Biochemical recurrence was similar
      in men in grade group 1 and grade group 2 (hazard ratio = 1.24; P = 0.529).
      CONCLUSIONS: Among men with prostate-specific antigen <=10 ng/mL and clinical
      stage T1c/T2a, those in grade group 2 with <=2 total positive cores have similar
      rates of adverse pathology and biochemical recurrence as men with grade group 1.

PMID- 28589552
TI  - Urinary incontinence and quality of life of women living in nursing homes in the
      Mediterranean region of Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to determine the effect of urinary
      incontinence (UI) on the quality of life of women living in nursing homes in the
      Mediterranean region of Turkey. METHODS: The study was conducted on 95 women
      living in nursing homes in the Mediterranean region. Data were collected from a
      questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, the Urinary Incontinence
      Quality of Life Scale, the Index of Activities of Daily Living, and the
      International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form. RESULTS: The
      quality of life of women who did not consider UI a health problem was
      significantly higher than that of those who considered otherwise. Mixed UI was
      the most common UI type among the women living in nursing homes, with a rate of
      31.7%. According to the overall mean scores on the Urinary Incontinence Quality
      of Life Scale, quality of life was the most affected among women who had
      nocturnal incontinence. Quality of life was affected from most to least by the
      mixed type, stress type, and urge type of incontinence. CONCLUSION: Early
      diagnosis and treatment of UI could be improved if health professionals, who have
      a unique role in changing the perception of society, offered training to women
      experiencing incontinence. Identifying this problem and determining and
      preventing the risk factors are important for enhancing women's quality of life.

PMID- 28589553
TI  - Hypomegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia and increased number of PNH-phenotype cells -
      an emerging subgroup of myelodysplastic syndrome showing frequent response to
      immunosuppression - RESPONSE to Rafferty & Leach.

PMID- 28589554
TI  - Vesiculobullous melanoma: an unusual manifestation of in-transit metastasis.
AB  - Malignant melanoma (MM), a well-known skin cancer with a poor prognosis, has
      various clinical manifestations, but vesiculobullous lesions have seldom been
      reported. We report a case of MM forming amelanotic vesicles at the site of an in
      transit metastasis, and we also review the published reports on vesiculobullous
      MM. Our patient was an 87-year-old man with a history of a treated plantar MM 2
      years previously, who had recurrence of the MM and development of an in-transit
      metastasis in his lower leg. Histopathological findings revealed vesicles caused
      by infiltration of the tumour. A review of the English literature revealed nine
      cases with various clinical presentations of the vesicles or blisters. For
      patients with MM with vesiculobullous lesions, an accurate medical history and
      examination of biopsies are of primary importance for management.

PMID- 28589551
TI  - Centre characteristics and procedure-related factors have an impact on outcomes
      of allogeneic transplantation for patients with CLL: a retrospective analysis
      from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).
AB  - The best approach for allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantations
      (alloHCT) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is unknown. We
      therefore analysed the impact of procedure- and centre-related factors on 5-year
      event-free survival (EFS) in a large retrospective study. Data of 684 CLL
      patients who received a first alloHCT between 2000 and 2011 were analysed by
      multivariable Cox proportional hazards models with a frailty component to
      investigate unexplained centre heterogeneity. Five-year EFS of the whole cohort
      was 37% (95% confidence interval [CI], 34-42%). Larger numbers of CLL alloHCTs
      (hazard ratio [HR] 0.96, P = 0.002), certification of quality management (HR 0.7,
      P = 0.045) and a higher gross national income per capita (HR 0.4, P = 0.04)
      improved EFS. In vivo T-cell depletion (TCD) with alemtuzumab compared to no TCD
      (HR 1.5, P = 0.03), and a female donor compared to a male donor for a male
      patient (HR 1.4, P = 0.02) had a negative impact on EFS, but not non
      myeloablative versus more intensive conditioning. After correcting for patient-,
      procedure- and centre-characteristics, significant variation in centre outcomes
      persisted. In conclusion, further research on the impact of centre and procedural
      characteristics is warranted. Non-myeloablative conditioning appears to be the
      preferable approach for patients with CLL.

PMID- 28589555
TI  - Common and Distinctive Functions of the Hippo Effectors Taz and Yap in Skeletal
      Muscle Stem Cell Function.
AB  - Hippo pathway downstream effectors Yap and Taz play key roles in cell
      proliferation and regeneration, regulating gene expression especially via Tead
      transcription factors. To investigate their role in skeletal muscle stem cells,
      we analyzed Taz in vivo and ex vivo in comparison with Yap. Small interfering RNA
      knockdown or retroviral-mediated expression of wild-type human or constitutively
      active TAZ mutants in satellite cells showed that TAZ promoted proliferation, a
      function shared with YAP. However, at later stages of myogenesis, TAZ also
      enhanced myogenic differentiation of myoblasts, whereas YAP inhibits such
      differentiation. Functionally, while muscle growth was mildly affected in Taz
      (gene Wwtr1-/- ) knockout mice, there were no overt effects on regeneration.
      Conversely, conditional knockout of Yap in satellite cells of Pax7Cre-ERT2/+ :
      Yapfl  degrees x/fl  degrees x :Rosa26Lacz mice produced a regeneration deficit.
      To identify potential mechanisms, microarray analysis showed many common TAZ/YAP
      target genes, but TAZ also regulates some genes independently of YAP, including
      myogenic genes such as Pax7, Myf5, and Myod1 (ArrayExpress-E-MTAB-5395).
      Proteomic analysis revealed many novel binding partners of TAZ/YAP in myogenic
      cells, but TAZ also interacts with proteins distinct from YAP that are often
      involved in myogenesis and aspects of cytoskeleton organization (ProteomeXchange
      PXD005751). Neither TAZ nor YAP bind members of the Wnt destruction complex but
      both regulated expression of Wnt and Wnt-cross talking genes with known roles in
      myogenesis. Finally, TAZ operates through Tead4 to enhance myogenic
      differentiation. In summary, Taz and Yap have overlapping functions in promoting
      myoblast proliferation but Taz then switches to enhance myogenic differentiation.
      Stem Cells 2017;35:1958-1972.

PMID- 28589557
TI  - Does a blood pressure J curve exist for patients with chronic kidney disease?
AB  - Aggressive reduction of blood pressure may increase cardiovascular events (the J
      curve phenomenon) in certain populations. In this regard, most studies in
      patients with chronic kidney disease have shown a J curve for cardiovascular
      morbidity and mortality, and this phenomenon persists after adjusting for
      confounding factors. Since there is no evidence that a straighter blood pressure
      target (<130/70 mm Hg) could improve renal outcomes, the increased cardiovascular
      risk associated with extreme blood pressure reduction should be seen as
      undesirable. Moreover, the intensive control of blood pressure may induce an
      unintended reduction of renal function and this decrease, in turn, may increase
      cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 28589558
TI  - Potential applications and human biosafety of nanomaterials used in nanomedicine.
AB  - With the rapid development of nanotechnology, potential applications of
      nanomaterials in medicine have been widely researched in recent years.
      Nanomaterials themselves can be used as image agents or therapeutic drugs, and
      for drug and gene delivery, biological devices, nanoelectronic biosensors or
      molecular nanotechnology. As the composition, morphology, chemical properties,
      implant sites as well as potential applications become more and more complex,
      human biosafety of nanomaterials for clinical use has become a major concern. If
      nanoparticles accumulate in the human body or interact with the body molecules or
      chemical components, health risks may also occur. Accordingly, the unique
      chemical and physical properties, potential applications in medical fields, as
      well as human biosafety in clinical trials are reviewed in this study. Finally,
      this article tries to give some suggestions for future work in nanomedicine
      research. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28589556
TI  - Characterization of functional MU opioid receptor turnover in rat locus
      coeruleus: an electrophysiological and immunocytochemical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Regulation of MU receptor dynamics such as its
      trafficking is a possible mechanism underlying opioid tolerance that contributes
      to inefficient recycling of opioid responses. We aimed to characterize the
      functional turnover of MU receptors in the noradrenergic nucleus locus coeruleus
      (LC). EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We measured opioid effect by single-unit
      extracellular recordings of LC neurons from rat brain slices. Immunocytochemical
      techniques were used to evaluate MU receptor trafficking. KEY RESULTS: After near
      complete, irreversible MU receptor inactivation with beta-funaltrexamine (beta
      FNA), opioid effect spontaneously recovered in a rapid and efficacious manner. In
      contrast, alpha2 -adrenoceptor-mediated effect hardly recovered after receptor
      inactivation with the irreversible antagonist EEDQ. When the recovery of opioid
      effect was tested after various inactivating time schedules, we found that the
      longer the beta-FNA pre-exposure, the less efficient and slower the functional MU
      receptor turnover became. Interestingly, MU receptor turnover was slower when
      beta-FNA challenge was repeated in the same cell, indicating constitutive MU
      receptor recycling by trafficking from a depletable pool. Double
      immunocytochemistry confirmed the constitutive nature of MU receptor trafficking
      from a cytoplasmic compartment. The MU receptor turnover was slowed down when LC
      neuron calcium- or firing-dependent processes were prevented or vesicular protein
      trafficking was blocked by a low temperature or transport inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS
      AND IMPLICATIONS: Constitutive trafficking of MU receptors from a depletable
      intracellular pool (endosome) may account for its rapid and efficient functional
      turnover in the LC. A finely-tuned regulation of MU receptor trafficking and
      endosomes could explain neuroadaptive plasticity to opioids in the LC.

PMID- 28589559
TI  - Thyroid autoimmunity in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa: a case-control
      study.
AB  - The aetiopathogenesis of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is not fully understood;
      however, increasing evidence suggests that it may be an immune-mediated disorder.
      Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) has classically been considered as the
      'paradigm' of autoimmunity, and it has been linked to a variety of skin
      disorders. To our knowledge, the prevalence of AITD has not been investigated in
      patients with HS. The aim of the present study was to assess and compare, for the
      first time, the prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in 70 patients with HS and in
      70 age- and sex-matched controls. In all participants, thyroid autoantibodies and
      thyroid function tests were analysed. No statistically significant difference was
      detected between patients with HS and controls, either for the prevalence of
      thyroid antibodies or for thyroid function parameters. This lack of an
      association between HS and thyroid autoimmunity suggests that conventional
      autoimmune mechanisms may not be implicated in the pathogenesis of HS.

PMID- 28589560
TI  - Religious Coping and Glycemic Control in Couples with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - This study examines the role of religious coping in couples' diabetes management
      processes. Eighty-seven couples where one spouse had type 2 diabetes were
      surveyed. The relationships between religious coping (positive and negative),
      shared glycemic control activities (e.g., planning a healthy diet), and glycemic
      control were examined using repeated measures ANOVA and SEM. Findings show
      spousal engagement in shared activities is significantly associated with glycemic
      control. Furthermore, the use of negative religious coping by the diabetic
      spouse, and positive religious coping by the nondiabetic spouse, related to lower
      levels and higher levels of shared glycemic control activities, respectively.
      Religious coping and shared glycemic control activities appear integral to
      couples managing type 2 diabetes and, may serve as useful points of intervention.

PMID- 28589561
TI  - Computer-assisted Orthopaedic Surgery.
AB  - Nowadays, operating rooms can be inefficient and overcrowded. Patient data and
      images are at times not well integrated and displayed in a timely fashion. This
      lack of coordination may cause further reductions in efficiency, jeopardize
      patient safety, and increase costs. Fortunately, technology has much to offer the
      surgical disciplines and the ongoing and recent operating room innovations have
      advanced preoperative planning and surgical procedures by providing visual,
      navigational, and mechanical computerized assistance. The field of computer
      assisted surgery (CAS) broadly refers to surgical interface between surgeons and
      machines. It is also part of the ongoing initiatives to move away from invasive
      to less invasive or even noninvasive procedures. CAS can be applied
      preoperatively, intraoperatively, and/or postoperatively to improve the outcome
      of orthopaedic surgical procedures as it has the potential for greater precision,
      control, and flexibility in carrying out surgical tasks, and enables much better
      visualization of the operating field than conventional methods have afforded. CAS
      is an active research discipline, which brings together orthopaedic practitioners
      with traditional technical disciplines such as engineering, computer science, and
      robotics. However, to achieve the best outcomes, teamwork, open communication,
      and willingness to adapt and adopt new skills and processes are critical. Because
      of the relatively short time period over which CAS has developed, long-term
      follow-up studies have not yet been possible. Consequently, this review aims to
      outline current CAS applications, limitations, and promising future developments
      that will continue to impact the operating room (OR) environment and the OR in
      the future, particularly within orthopedic and spine surgery.

PMID- 28589562
TI  - The complete genome sequence of Exiguobacterium arabatum W-01 reveals potential
      probiotic functions.
AB  - Shrimp is extensively cultured worldwide. Shrimp farming is suffering from a
      variety of diseases. Probiotics are considered to be one of the effective methods
      to prevent and cure shrimp diseases. Exiguobacterium arabatum W-01, a gram
      positive and orange-pigmented bacterium, was isolated from the intestine of a
      healthy Penaeus vannamei specimen. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a genome of
      2,914,854 bp, with 48.02% GC content. In total, 3,083 open reading frames (ORFs)
      were identified, with an average length of 843.98 bp and a mean GC content of
      48.11%, accounting for 89.27% of the genome. Among these ORFs, 2,884 (93.5%)
      genes were classified into Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) families
      comprising 21 functional categories, and 1,650 ORFs were classified into 83
      functional Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. A total of 27
      rRNA operons and 68 tRNAs were identified, with all 20 amino acids represented.
      In addition, 91 genomic islands, 68 potential prophages, and 33 tandem repeats,
      but no clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs), were
      found. No resistance genes and only one virulence gene were identified. Among the
      150 secreted proteins of E. arabatum W-01, a variety of transport system
      substrate-binding proteins, enzymes, and biosynthetic proteins, which play
      important roles in the uptake and metabolism of nutrients, were found. Two
      adherence-related protein genes and 31 flagellum-related protein genes were also
      identified. Taken together, these results indicate potential probiotic functions
      for E. arabatum W-01.

PMID- 28589563
TI  - BOP2: Bayesian optimal design for phase II clinical trials with simple and
      complex endpoints.
AB  - We propose a flexible Bayesian optimal phase II (BOP2) design that is capable of
      handling simple (e.g., binary) and complicated (e.g., ordinal, nested, and co
      primary) endpoints under a unified framework. We use a Dirichlet-multinomial
      model to accommodate different types of endpoints. At each interim, the go/no-go
      decision is made by evaluating a set of posterior probabilities of the events of
      interest, which is optimized to maximize power or minimize the number of patients
      under the null hypothesis. Unlike other existing Bayesian designs, the BOP2
      design explicitly controls the type I error rate, thereby bridging the gap
      between Bayesian designs and frequentist designs. In addition, the stopping
      boundary of the BOP2 design can be enumerated prior to the onset of the trial.
      These features make the BOP2 design accessible to a wide range of users and
      regulatory agencies and particularly easy to implement in practice. Simulation
      studies show that the BOP2 design has favorable operating characteristics with
      higher power and lower risk of incorrectly terminating the trial than some
      existing Bayesian phase II designs. The software to implement the BOP2 design is
      freely available at www.trialdesign.org. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons,
      Ltd.

PMID- 28589564
TI  - Editorial Comment to Robot-assisted laparoscopic versus open partial nephrectomy
      in patients with chronic kidney disease: A propensity score-matched comparative
      analysis of surgical outcomes.

PMID- 28589565
TI  - Detailed analysis of the Japanese version of the Rapid Dementia Screening Test,
      revised version.
AB  - AIM: The number-transcoding task on the Japanese version of the Rapid Dementia
      Screening Test (RDST-J) requires mutual conversion between Arabic and Chinese
      numerals (209 to , 4054 to , to 681, to 2027). In this task, question and answer
      styles of Chinese numerals are written horizontally. We investigated the impact
      of changing the task so that Chinese numerals are written vertically. METHODS:
      Subjects were 211 patients with very mild to severe Alzheimer's disease and 42
      normal controls. Mini-Mental State Examination scores ranged from 26 to 12, and
      Clinical Dementia Rating scores ranged from 0.5 to 3. RESULTS: Scores of all four
      subtasks of the transcoding task significantly improved in the revised version
      compared with the original version. The sensitivity and specificity of total
      scores >=9 on the RDST-J original and revised versions for discriminating between
      controls and subjects with Clinical Dementia Rating scores of 0.5 were 63.8% and
      76.6% on the original and 60.1% and 85.8% on revised version. CONCLUSIONS: The
      revised RDST-J total score had low sensitivity and high specificity compared with
      the original RDST-J for discriminating subjects with Clinical Dementia Rating
      scores of 0.5 from controls.

PMID- 28589566
TI  - Prevalence of optimal valve morphology for MitraClip in patients with mitral
      regurgitation.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate how often patients with moderate-to-severe or severe mitral
      regurgitation (MR) meet the anatomical criteria for MitraClip implant and to
      examine the role of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for this task. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: From February to June 2015, all patients undergoing a TTE in nine
      Spanish hospitals were prospectively included. Patients with moderate-to-severe
      and severe mitral regurgitation were selected for analysis. Anatomical
      eligibility criteria for MitraClip were defined according to the EVEREST trial. A
      total of 39 855 consecutive TTE were reviewed, and 1403 patients with moderate-to
      severe and severe MR were finally included. Primary MR was found in 779 patients
      (56%). Only in 74 patients (16%), all anatomical criteria for MitraClip could be
      assessed by TTE. Of these, 56% of patients had optimal valve morphology.
      Secondary MR was described in 361 patients (26%), and at least 249 of these (69%)
      had a high surgical risk. All five criteria for MitraClip were adequately
      assessed by TTE in 299 patients (83%). Of them, 118 patients (39%) had optimal
      valve morphology. CONCLUSIONS: A considerable proportion of patients have optimal
      mitral valve morphology for MitraClip. Moreover, TTE was particularly useful in
      determining whether or not the anatomical criteria for MitraClip implant were met
      in the majority of patients with secondary MR but in only a minority of those
      with primary MR.

PMID- 28589567
TI  - Particulate matter air pollution and liver cancer survival.
AB  - Particulate matter (PM) air pollution exposure has been associated with cancer
      incidence and mortality especially with lung cancer. The liver is another organ
      possibly affected by PM due to its role in detoxifying xenobiotics absorbed from
      PM. Various studies have investigated the mechanistic pathways between inhaled
      pollutants and liver damage, cancer incidence, and tumor progression. However,
      little is known about the effects of PM on liver cancer survival. Twenty
      thousand, two hundred and twenty-one California Cancer Registry patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 were used to
      examine the effect of exposure to ambient PM with diameter <2.5 MUm (PM2.5 ) on
      HCC survival. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios
      (HRs) relating PM2.5 to all-cause and liver cancer-specific mortality linearly
      and nonlinearly-overall and stratified by stage at diagnosis (local, regional and
      distant)-adjusting for potential individual and geospatial confounders.PM2.5
      exposure after diagnosis was statistically significantly associated with HCC
      survival. After adjustment for potential confounders, the all-cause mortality HR
      associated with a 1 standard deviation (5.0 ug/m3 ) increase in PM2.5 was 1.18
      (95% CI: 1.16-1.20); 1.31 (95% CI:1.26-1.35) for local stage, 1.19 (95% CI:1.14
      1.23) for regional stage, and 1.05 (95% CI:1.01-1.10) for distant stage. These
      associations were nonlinear, with substantially larger HRs at higher exposures.
      The associations between liver cancer-specific mortality and PM2.5 were slightly
      attenuated compared to all-cause mortality, but with the same patterns.Exposure
      to elevated PM2.5 after the diagnosis of HCC may shorten survival, with larger
      effects at higher concentrations.

PMID- 28589570
TI  - Transapical transcatheter valve-in-ring implantation following mitral
      annuloplasty.
AB  - Despite advances in surgical techniques for mitral valve repair, more than 20% of
      patients require reoperation within 10 years due to recurrence of severe mitral
      regurgitation. However, reoperations on the mitral valve are often associated
      with increased morbidity and mortality. We report a transapical mitral valve-in
      ring implantation in a patient who had undergone mitral valve repair for ischemic
      mitral regurgitation using a complete semi-rigid Memo 3D mitral ring (LivaNova
      Group, Milan, Italy).

PMID- 28589569
TI  - Identification of novel BCL11A variants in patients with epileptic
      encephalopathy: Expanding the phenotypic spectrum.
AB  - BCL11A encodes a zinc finger protein that is highly expressed in hematopoietic
      tissues and the brain, and that is known to function as a transcriptional
      repressor of fetal hemoglobin (HbF). Recently, de novo variants in BCL11A have
      been reported in individuals with intellectual disability syndrome without
      epilepsy. In this study, we performed whole-exome sequencing of 302 patients with
      epileptic encephalopathies (EEs), and identified 2 novel BCL11A variants,
      c.577delC (p.His193Metfs*3) and c.2351A>C (p.Lys784Thr). Both the patients shared
      major physical features characteristic of BCL11A-related intellectual disability
      syndrome, suggesting that characteristic physical features and the persistence of
      HbF should lead clinicians to suspect EEs caused by BCL11A pathogenic variants.
      Patient 1, with a frameshift variant, presented with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome,
      which expands the phenotypic spectrum of BCL11A haploinsufficiency. Patient 2,
      with a p.Lys784Thr variant, presented with West syndrome followed by drug
      resistant focal seizures and more severe developmental disability. These 2 newly
      described patients contribute to delineating the associated, yet uncertain
      phenotypic characteristics of BCL11A disease-causing variants.

PMID- 28589568
TI  - Ionic-Liquid-Assisted Microwave Synthesis of Solid Solutions of Sr1-x Bax SnO3
      Perovskite for Photocatalytic Applications.
AB  - Nanocrystalline Sr1-x Bax SnO3 (x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1) perovskite photocatalysts
      were prepared by microwave synthesis in an ionic liquid (IL) and subsequent heat
      treatment. The influence of the Sr/Ba substitution on the structure,
      crystallization, morphology, and photocatalytic efficiency was investigated and
      the samples were fully characterized. On the basis of X-ray diffraction results,
      as the Ba content in the SrSnO3 lattice increases, a symmetry increase was
      observed from the orthorhombic perovskite structure for SrSnO3 to the cubic
      BaSnO3 structure. The analysis of the sample morphology by SEM reveals that the
      Sr1-x Bax SnO3 samples favor the formation of nanorods (500 nm-5 MUm in diameter
      and several micrometers long). The photophysical properties were examined by
      UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The band gap decreases from 3.85 to 3.19
      eV with increasing Ba2+ content. Furthermore, the photocatalytic properties were
      evaluated for the hydroxylation of terephthalic acid (TA). The order of the
      activities for TA hydroxylation was Sr0.8 Ba0.2 SnO3 >SrSnO3 >BaSnO3 >Sr0.6 Ba0.4
      SnO3 >Sr0.2 Ba0.8 SnO3 . The highest photocatalytic activity was observed for
      Sr0.8 Ba0.2 SnO3 , and this can be attributed to the synergistic impacts of the
      modification of the crystal structure and morphology, the relatively large
      surface area associated with the small crystallite size, and the suitable band
      gap and band-edge position.

PMID- 28589572
TI  - Harnessing White-Light Luminescence via Tunable Singlet-and Triplet-Derived
      Emissions Based on Gold(III) Complexes.
AB  - White light emitting gold(III) complexes were synthesized by tuning the
      percentage of metal dpi contribution in the charge transfer. This was achieved
      through specific tailoring of the ligand scaffold, which led to increase in the
      HOMO pi-energy properties, resulting in a decrease of efficiency on the
      intersystem crossing (ISC). As a consequence, monomolecular based singlet- and
      triplet-derived emission covering the entire visible spectrum with quantum yield
      up to 28 % and CIE-1931 chromaticity coordinates of (0.29, 0.33) to (0.32, 0.40)
      could be obtained. Furthermore, two complexes displayed excitation-dependent
      emission property due to hyper-ISC allowing the regulation of the ratio between
      fluorescence versus phosphorescence intensity and accomplish precise tuning of
      white light emission.

PMID- 28589571
TI  - Laparoscopic total pancreatectomy for multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
      syndrome-associated multifocal, non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor:
      A case report.
AB  - Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are rare, accounting for less than 3% of all
      pancreatic tumors. Although laparoscopic pancreas-preserving surgery for managing
      sporadic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors has been described in the literature,
      laparoscopic total pancreatectomy has rarely been reported. We present a 30-year
      old man who was incidentally diagnosed with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
      syndrome with parathyroid hyperplasia and a non-functioning pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumor. He underwent laparoscopic total pancreatectomy with
      splenectomy. This report highlights the technical details of laparoscopic total
      pancreatectomy, which appears to be a feasible and safe option in select cases.

PMID- 28589574
TI  - Editorial: the diminishing returns of normalisation of the oesophageal mucosa.

PMID- 28589575
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28589573
TI  - In vitro and in vivo effect of flutamide on steroid hormone secretion in canine
      and human inflammatory breast cancer cell lines.
AB  - The aim was to study the effects of flutamide on cell proliferation, in vivo
      tumour growth and steroid production in canine and human IBC cell lines. IPC-366
      and SUM149 cell cultures were exposed to flutamide concentrations for 72 hours.
      Additionally, IPC-366 and SUM149 xenotransplanted mice were treated
      subcutaneously with flutamide 3 times a week for 2 weeks. Steroid hormones
      determination in culture media, serum and tumour homogenates (pregnenolone,
      progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, 17beta
      oestradiol and oestrone sulphate) were assayed by EIA. in vitro cell
      proliferation percentages showed a decrease in all flutamide dosages in IPC-366
      and SUM149. in vivo flutamide reduced tumour size by 55% to 65%, and metastasis
      rates decreased. In treated groups, androgen levels in culture media, serum and
      tumour homogenates were increased as oestrogen levels decreased. These results
      suggest that flutamide treatment inhibits cell proliferation and promotes tumour
      reduction by increasing androgen levels and also support future therapy
      approaches.

PMID- 28589576
TI  - Editorial: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-a pandemic in need of novel
      treatments and endpoints.

PMID- 28589577
TI  - Letter: determining the dominant role of environmental factors in UC development.

PMID- 28589578
TI  - Editorial: functional dyspepsia-a disorder of duodenal permeability?

PMID- 28589579
TI  - Editorial: tacrolimus-how low can you go?

PMID- 28589580
TI  - Letter: sublingual dosing of tacrolimus in transplant patients-interesting
      concept to overcome first pass effects. Authors' reply.

PMID- 28589582
TI  - Letter: determining the dominant role of environmental factors in UC development
      Authors' reply.

PMID- 28589583
TI  - Editorial: the diminishing returns of normalisation of the oesophageal mucosa
      Authors' reply.

PMID- 28589584
TI  - Editorial: developing a stimulation test to identify FGF19 deficiency in bile
      acid diarrhoea.

PMID- 28589585
TI  - Editorial: the Millennium study cohort-evaluating environmental determinates of
      IBD in the 21st century.

PMID- 28589586
TI  - Editorial: the Millennium study cohort-evaluating environmental determinates of
      IBD in the 21st Century. Authors' reply.

PMID- 28589587
TI  - Letter: the efficacy of interferon-free regimens in HCV-related Child C cirrhosis
      needs careful interpretation-Authors' reply.

PMID- 28589588
TI  - Editorial: biologics in inflammatory bowel disease-time for direct comparisons.

PMID- 28589589
TI  - Letter: the efficacy of interferon-free regimens in HCV-related Child C cirrhosis
      needs careful interpretation.

PMID- 28589591
TI  - Editorial: should we recommend oesophageal biopsies for all patients with
      symptoms suggestive of GERD?

PMID- 28589590
TI  - Letter: should Barrett's oesophagus be considered a potential cardiovascular risk
      factor?

PMID- 28589592
TI  - Letter: sublingual dosing of tacrolimus in transplant patients-interesting
      concept to overcome first pass effects.

PMID- 28589593
TI  - Editorial: repeat duodenal biopsy for patients with coeliac disease-physician
      heal thyself and dietitian heal the patient!

PMID- 28589594
TI  - An unusual case of idiopathic localized giant cell lichenoid dermatitis.

PMID- 28589595
TI  - High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography with an Online Storage Technique for
      the Preparative Isolation and Purification of Dihydroflavonoids from Sophora
      alopecuroides L.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) is an efficient
      and non-absorption separation technique, but limitations still exist in
      simultaneous isolation of complex structures of natural products. Moreover,
      particular methods are various for different kinds of natural products.
      OBJECTIVE: A novel HSCCC strategy combined with an online storage recycling
      elution (OSR-CCC) technique was developed for the quick separation of naturally
      occurring dihydroflavonoids from the extract of the herb Sophora alopecuroides L.
      METHODOLOGY: In the separation procedure, a storage loop and two six-port valves
      were connected to a HSCCC system. Effluent A was subjected to an online storage
      loop and then to recycling separation three times after effluent B was collected
      in head-to-tail mode. After completion of the recycling separation of effluent A,
      the elution was switched to tail-to-head mode to collect effluent C. A biphasic
      solvent system of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (9:6:6:8, v/v/v/v) was
      used as the separation solvent during the whole elution. RESULTS: Six
      constituents were isolated simultaneously from the extract (200 mg) of S.
      alopecuroides by running HSCCC non-stop, and their purities were higher than
      95.0%. Their structures were determined as the pterocarpan glycoside
      sophoratonkin (1) (10.0 mg) and five dihydroflavonoids, alopecurone F (2) (5.4
      mg), lehmannin (3) (11.0 mg), alopecurone A (4) (35.0 mg), sophoraflavanone G (5)
      (21.0 mg), alopecurone B (6) (31.0 mg). CONCLUSION: This recycling HSCCC method
      combined with an online storage technique could be a rapid, effective and simple
      approach to isolate stilbene-dihydroflavonoids from herbs of the Sophora genus
      simultaneously. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28589596
TI  - Amorphous Nickel-Cobalt-Borate Nanosheet Arrays for Efficient and Durable Water
      Oxidation Electrocatalysis under Near-Neutral Conditions.
AB  - Electrolytic hydrogen generation needs earth-abundant oxygen evolution reaction
      electrocatalysts that perform efficiently at mild pH. Here, the development of
      amorphous nickel-cobalt-borate nanosheet arrays on macroporous nickel foam (NiCo
      Bi/NF) as a 3D catalyst electrode for high-performance water oxidation in near
      neutral media is reported. To drive a current density of 10 mA cm-2 , the
      resulting NiCo-Bi/NF demands an overpotential of only 430 mV in 0.1 m potassium
      borate (K-Bi, pH 9.2). Moreover, it also shows long-term electrochemical
      durability with maintenance of catalytic activity for 20 h, achieving a high
      turnover frequency of 0.21 s-1 at an overpotential of 550 mV.

PMID- 28589597
TI  - How the Trump Administration's Policies May Harm the Public's Health.

PMID- 28589599
TI  - A Blow for Sanity: Guns, Children, and the Courts.

PMID- 28589601
TI  - "America First": Prospects for Global Health.

PMID- 28589600
TI  - Timing and Characteristics of Cumulative Evidence Available on Novel Therapeutic
      Agents Receiving Food and Drug Administration Accelerated Approval.
AB  - : Policy Points: Randomized trials-the gold standard of evaluating effectiveness
      constitute a small minority of existing evidence on agents given accelerated
      approval. One-third of randomized trials are in therapeutic areas outside of FDA
      approval and less than half evaluate the therapeutic benefits of these agents but
      use them instead as common backbone treatments. Agents receiving accelerated
      approval are often tested concurrently in several therapeutic areas. For most
      agents, no substantial time lag is apparent between the average start dates of
      randomized trials evaluating their effectiveness and those using them as part of
      background therapies. There appears to be a tendency for therapeutic agents
      receiving accelerated approval to quickly become an integral component of
      standard treatment, despite potential shortcomings in their evidence base.
      CONTEXT: Therapeutic agents treating serious conditions are eligible for Food and
      Drug Administration (FDA) accelerated approval. The clinical evidence accrued on
      agents receiving accelerated approval has not been systematically evaluated. Our
      objective was to assess the timing and characteristics of available studies.
      METHODS: We first identified clinical studies of novel therapeutic agents
      receiving accelerated approval. We then (1) categorized those studies as
      randomized or nonrandomized, (2) explored whether they evaluated the FDA-approved
      indications, and (3) documented the available treatment comparisons. We also meta
      analyzed the difference in start times between randomized studies that (1) did or
      did not evaluate approved indications and (2) were or were not designed to
      evaluate the agent's effectiveness. FINDINGS: In total, 37 novel therapeutic
      agents received accelerated approval between 2000 and 2013. Our search of
      ClinicalTrials.gov identified 7,757 studies, which included 1,258,315
      participants. Only one-third of identified studies were randomized controlled
      trials. Of 1,631 randomized trials with advanced recruitment status, 906 were
      conducted in therapeutic areas for which agents received initial accelerated
      approval, 202 were in supplemental indications, and 523 were outside approved
      indications. Only 411 out of 906 (45.4%) trials were designed to test the
      effectiveness of agents that received accelerated approval ("evaluation" trials);
      others used these agents as common background treatment in both arms
      ("background" trials). There was no detectable lag between average start times of
      trials conducted within and outside initially approved indications. Evaluation
      trials started on average 1.52 years (95% CI: 0.87 to 2.17) earlier than
      background trials. CONCLUSIONS: Cumulative evidence on agents with accelerated
      approvals has major limitations. Most clinical studies including these agents are
      small and nonrandomized, and about a third are conducted in unapproved areas,
      typically concurrently with those conducted in approved areas. Most randomized
      trials including these therapeutic agents are not designed to directly evaluate
      their clinical benefits but to incorporate them as standard treatment.

PMID- 28589603
TI  - Let's Not Forget About Medicare.

PMID- 28589602
TI  - UNAIDS 90-90-90 Campaign to End the AIDS Epidemic in Historic Perspective.

PMID- 28589604
TI  - Deregulating Safety: The Case of the Effort to Ban Asbestos.

PMID- 28589605
TI  - Requiem David Willis, 1930-2017.

PMID- 28589607
TI  - The Democrats' Dilemma.

PMID- 28589606
TI  - Financing Long-Term Services and Supports: Ideas From Singapore.

PMID- 28589608
TI  - Risks for Mental Illness in Indigenous Australian Children: A Descriptive Study
      Demonstrating High Levels of Vulnerability.

PMID- 28589609
TI  - Coming Problems in Behavioral Health Care.

PMID- 28589611
TI  - A Molecular Boroauride: A Donor-Acceptor Complex of Anionic Gold.
AB  - Gold is unique among the transition metals in that it is stable as an isolated
      anion (auride). Despite this fact, the coordination chemistry of anionic gold is
      virtually nonexistent, and this unique oxidation state is not readily exploited
      in conventional solution chemistry owing to its high reactivity. Through the use
      of a new molecular scaffold based on diboraanthracene (B2 P2 , 1), we have
      overcome these issues by avoiding the intermediacy of zerovalent gold and
      stabilizing the highly reduced gold anion through acceptor interactions. We have
      thus synthesized a molecular boroauride [(B2 P2 )Au]- ([2]- ) and showed its
      reversible conversion between Au-I and AuI states. Through a combination of
      spectroscopic and computational studies, we show the neutral state to be a AuI
      complex with a ligand radical anion. Bonding analyses (NBO and QTAIM) and the
      isolobal relationship between gold and hydrogen provide support for the
      description of [2]- as a boroauride complex.

PMID- 28589610
TI  - Consumer Perspectives on Access to Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Role of
      Demographic Factors and the Testing Experience.

PMID- 28589612
TI  - Renal Targeted Therapies of Antihypertensive and Cardiovascular Drugs for
      Patients With Stages 3 Through 5d Kidney Disease.
AB  - The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has risen remarkably over the past
      decades, and the number of patients with CKD is expected to continue to grow
      significantly in the next 10 years. The mean global prevalence of CKD was
      estimated to be 14.8% in the latest United States Renal Data System (USRDS) 2016
      report, making CKD an important public health problem that has encompassed
      diabetes mellitus in prevalence. 45% of patients with CKD have Stage 3 disease,
      defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 30-59 mL/min.

PMID- 28589614
TI  - Optimization of Maternal Magnesium Sulfate Administration for Fetal
      Neuroprotection: Application of a Prospectively Constructed Pharmacokinetic Model
      to the BEAM Cohort.
AB  - The aim of the study was to identify the optimal therapeutic maternal magnesium
      drug exposure and maternal serum concentration to prevent cerebral palsy in the
      extremely preterm fetus. We applied a previously constructed pharmacokinetic
      model adjusted for indication to a large cohort of pregnant women receiving
      magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy in their preterm offspring at 20
      different US academic centers between December 1997 and May 2004. We simulated
      the population-based individual maternal serum magnesium concentration at the
      time of delivery and the total magnesium dose for each woman who received
      magnesium sulfate to determine the relationship between maternal serum magnesium
      level at the time of delivery and the development of cerebral palsy. Among 1905
      women who met inclusion criteria, the incidence of cerebral palsy in the cohort
      was 3.6% for women who had received magnesium sulfate and 6.4% for controls. The
      simulated maternal serum concentration at delivery associated with the lowest
      probability of delivering an infant with cerebral palsy was 4.1 mg/dL (95%CI 3.7
      to 4.4). Our population-based estimates of magnesium disposition suggest that to
      optimize fetal neuroprotection and prevent cerebral palsy, magnesium sulfate
      administration should target a maternal serum magnesium level between 3.7 and 4.4
      mg/dL at delivery.

PMID- 28589613
TI  - The role of the microbiome and the use of probiotics in gastrointestinal
      disorders in adults in the Asia-Pacific region - background and recommendations
      of a regional consensus meeting.
AB  - The Asia-Pacific region is diverse, with regard to ethnicity, culture, and
      economic development incorporating some of the world's least and most developed
      nations. Gastrointestinal diseases are common in the Asia-Pacific region, and
      their prevalence, presentation, and management vary considerably within the
      region. There is growing evidence for an important role for the human gut
      microbiota in gastrointestinal health. As a consequence, geographic variations in
      the composition of the gut microbiota may contribute to variations in both the
      prevalence and response to therapy of specific diseases. Probiotics have been
      proposed as a valuable option in the prevention and treatment of a number of
      gastrointestinal illnesses, but the quality of available evidence to support
      their efficacy is variable. A meeting of international experts in adult and
      pediatric gastroenterology was held at the Sorbonne University, Paris, France, on
      April 11 and 12, 2016, to discuss current evidence supporting the use of
      probiotics in gastrointestinal disorders in the Asia-Pacific region. This article
      provides an overview of the discussions held at this meeting and recommends the
      formation of an Asia-Pacific Consortium on Gut Microbiota similar to those
      established in Europe and North America.

PMID- 28589615
TI  - Safety and efficacy of recombinant activated coagulation factor VII in congenital
      hemophilia with inhibitors in the home treatment setting: A review of clinical
      studies and registries.
AB  - Self-administration of factor and bypassing agents by persons with hemophilia in
      the home setting is recommended to facilitate earlier intervention after bleeding
      episodes. The objective of this review was to summarize recombinant activated
      coagulation factor VII (rFVIIa) safety and efficacy data from clinical trials and
      patient registries documenting use in the home treatment setting in people with
      congenital hemophilia with inhibitors (CHwI). A total of 16 studies and
      registries were identified for inclusion; 14 evaluated on-demand treatment of
      acute bleeding episodes (865 patients, 9024 bleeding episodes) and 2 evaluated
      use for secondary prophylaxis (108 patients, 42,861 prophylaxis days). In the on
      demand studies, efficacy was consistently high (81%-96%), and thrombotic events
      were uncommon (n = 3). In the secondary prophylaxis studies, rFVIIa was
      associated with a 45% to 59% reduction in bleeding episodes and no thrombotic
      events. These data support the clinical practice of administering rFVIIa in
      patients in the home treatment setting after initiation under a physician's care.

PMID- 28589616
TI  - Cellular and molecular attributes of neural stem cell niches in adult zebrafish
      brain.
AB  - Adult neurogenesis is a complex, presumably conserved phenomenon in vertebrates
      with a broad range of variations regarding neural progenitor/stem cell niches,
      cellular composition of these niches, migratory patterns of progenitors and so
      forth among different species. Current understanding of the reasons underlying
      the inter-species differences in adult neurogenic potential, the identification
      and characterization of various neural progenitors, characterization of the
      permissive environment of neural stem cell niches and other important aspects of
      adult neurogenesis is insufficient. In the last decade, zebrafish has emerged as
      a very useful model for addressing these questions. In this review, we have
      discussed the present knowledge regarding the neural stem cell niches in adult
      zebrafish brain as well as their cellular and molecular attributes. We have also
      highlighted their similarities and differences with other vertebrate species. In
      the end, we shed light on some of the known intrinsic and extrinsic factors that
      are assumed to regulate the neurogenic process in adult zebrafish brain. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 1188-1205, 2017.

PMID- 28589617
TI  - Recording patient bodyweight in hospitals: are we doing well enough?
AB  - Recording patient weight is a standard practice for all hospital admissions, with
      this measurement influencing other daily practices that rely on the delivery of
      safe and effective patient care. Patient weight is important in the areas of
      medication prescribing, fluid balance and assessment of nutrition. In particular,
      prescribing narrow therapeutic index medications may result in significant harm
      as a potential consequence of inaccurate dosing. Despite its importance, it is
      evident that bodyweight measurements are recorded in only 13.5-55% of hospital
      patients, in a variety of settings including the emergency department, intensive
      care unit, medical and surgical wards. Barriers to compliance of healthcare staff
      include additional workload, patient handling and availability of appropriate
      weighing equipment. Hospitals and patients would benefit from enhancing
      compliance with the systematic weighing of patients, staff training and removing
      barriers to performing this task.

PMID- 28589618
TI  - Comparison of different regimens of pimecrolimus 1% cream in the treatment of
      facial seborrheic dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pimecrolimus 1% cream has already been proved to be an effective and
      safe alternative to treat seborrheic dermatitis. However, the treatment periods
      were inconstant in previous studies. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the comparative
      efficacy of pimecrolimus 1% cream with different regimens for the treatment of
      facial seborrheic dermatitis. METHOD: Thirty patients with facial seborrheic
      dermatitis were enrolled and randomly distributed to three groups. Patients of
      Group 1 were treated with topical pimecrolimus cream 1% twice daily for 2 weeks
      and then a moisturizer cream twice daily for 2 weeks. Patients of Group 2 were
      treated with pimecrolimus cream 1% twice daily for 2 weeks and then once daily
      for another 2 weeks. Patients of Group 3 had a consecutive course of pimecrolimus
      cream 1% twice daily for 4 weeks. Objective symptoms, subjective symptoms, and
      dermatology life quality index (DLQI) were measured at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6.
      RESULTS: At week 4, the clinical severity scores of all three regimens
      significantly decreased (P<.01). The improvement of total severity score in Group
      3 was more remarkable than groups 1 and 2 (both P<.05). This effect was
      maintained until the end of the study in Group 3. Life quality of all three
      groups was significantly improved at week 4 (P<.001), while there was no
      statistical difference on the improvement of life quality among three groups.
      CONCLUSION: We recommend pimecrolimus 1% cream could be applied twice a day for 4
      weeks to treat seborrheic dermatitis.

PMID- 28589619
TI  - Topological Transformation of pi-Conjugated Molecules Reduces Resistance to
      Crystallization.
AB  - Two electronically delocalized molecules were designed as models to understand
      how molecular shape impacts the tradeoff between solubility and crystallization
      tendencies in molecular semiconductors. The more soluble compound TT contains a
      non-planar bithiophene central fragment, whereas CT has a planar
      cyclopentadithiophene unit. Calorimetry studies show that CT can crystallize more
      easily than TT. However, absorption spectroscopy shows that the initially
      amorphous TT film can eventually form crystals in which the molecular shape is
      significantly more planar. Two thermally reversible polymorphs for TT were
      observed by XRD and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS)
      measurements. These findings are relevant within the context of designing soft
      semiconductors that exhibit high solubility and a tendency to provide stable
      organized structures with desirable electronic properties.

PMID- 28589620
TI  - The role of ultrasound in modern medical curricula: A medical student
      perspective.

PMID- 28589621
TI  - Concise Review: Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Neurodegenerative Diseases.
AB  - Stem cell-based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases aim at halting clinical
      deterioration by regeneration and by providing local support for damaged tissue.
      Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold great potential for cell therapy as they can
      be efficiently derived from adult tissue, ex vivo expanded in culture and safely
      transplanted autologously. MSCs were also shown to be able to differentiate
      toward neural fates and to secrete a broad range of factors able to promote
      nervous tissue maintenance and repair. Moreover, upon transplantation, MSCs were
      shown capable of homing toward lesioned areas, implying their potential use as
      vehicles for therapeutic agents administration. Indeed, various advantageous
      effects were reported following human MSCs transplantation into rodent models of
      neurodegenerative diseases, such as neurotrophic factor-mediated protection,
      enhanced neurogenesis, modulation of inflammation, and abnormal protein aggregate
      clearance. Per journal style, most nonstandard abbreviations must be used at
      least two times in the abstract to be retained; NTF was used once and thus has
      been deleted. Recent studies have also used ex vivo manipulation for enhanced
      expression of potentially favorable factors, by so exploiting the homing capacity
      of MSCs for effective expression at the lesion site. Here, we will summarize
      current advancements in MSCs-based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. We
      will examine the roles of central mechanisms suggested to mediate the beneficial
      effects of MSCs-based therapy and consider the augmentation of these mechanisms
      for superior clinical outcomes in rodent models of neurodegeneration as well as
      in clinical trials. Stem Cells 2017;35:1867-1880.

PMID- 28589622
TI  - Cutaneous malignancies simulating seborrheic keratoses: An underappreciated
      phenomenon?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seborrheic keratosis (SK), a common and benign entity, is generally
      diagnosed clinically without the need for a biopsy. Given their variable
      appearance, SK may mimic cancer clinically and require biopsy for clinically
      equivocal cases. A clinician may also choose to perform biopsies on SK based on
      other circumstances, such as cosmetic reasons or SK being in an inconvenient and
      irritative location. METHODS: Dermatopathology samples from 2015 obtained from
      private and university locations were retrospectively assessed. Cases included in
      the study were those with "SK" or "ISK" (irritated seborrheic keratosis) and no
      other diagnosis in the clinical data. Cases with modifiers suggestive of
      malignancy such as "SK rule out others," changing, growing and so on were
      excluded. A total of 4361 eligible cases were identified and used for analysis.
      RESULTS: Of the 4361 cases identified as only "SK" or "ISK" in the clinical data,
      3759 (86.2%) were, in fact, SK or ISK. A total of 466 (10.7%) were an assortment
      of non-malignancy diagnoses such as dermatofibroma. There were 136 (3.1%) cases
      histologically diagnosed as malignancies. The majority (9/136 cases; 67%) were in
      situ or invasive squamous cell carcinoma; 24.3% (33/136) were basal cell
      carcinoma and 8.8% (12/136) were melanoma. CONCLUSION: SK may mimic cancer even
      in clinically unsuspicious cases.

PMID- 28589623
TI  - Impact of red blood cell transfusion strategies in haemato-oncological patients:
      a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Haemato-oncological patients receive many red blood cell (RBC) transfusions,
      however evidence-based guidelines are lacking. Our aim is to quantify the effect
      of restrictive and liberal RBC transfusion strategies on clinical outcomes and
      blood use in haemato-oncological patients. A literature search, last updated on
      11 August 2016, was performed in PubMed, EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database), Web
      of Science, Cochrane, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
      Literature) and Academic Search Premier without restrictions on language and year
      of publication. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies that
      compared different RBC transfusion strategies in haemato-oncological patients
      were eligible for inclusion. Risk of bias assessment according to the Cochrane
      collaboration's tool and Newcastle-Ottawa scale was performed. After removing
      duplicates, 1142 publications were identified. Eventually, 15 studies were
      included, reporting on 2636 patients. The pooled relative risk for mortality was
      0.68 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46-1.01] in favour of the restrictive
      strategy. The mean RBC use was reduced with 1.40 units (95% CI 0.70-2.09) per
      transfused patient per therapy cycle in the restrictive strategy group. There
      were no differences in safety outcomes. All currently available evidence suggests
      that restrictive strategies do not have a negative impact regarding clinical
      outcomes in haemato-oncological patients, while it reduces RBC use and associated
      costs.

PMID- 28589624
TI  - A systematic review of feeding practices among postoperative patients: is
      practice in-line with evidenced-based guidelines?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early oral feeding after surgery is best practice among adult,
      noncritically ill patients. Evidenced-based guidelines (EBG) recommend commencing
      liquid and solid feeding within 24 h of surgery to improve patient (e.g. reduced
      morbidity) and hospital (e.g. reduced length of stay) outcomes. Whether these EBG
      are adhered to in usual clinical practice remains unknown. The present study
      aimed to identify the time to commencement of first oral feed (liquid or solid)
      and first solid feed among postoperative, noncritically ill, adult patients.
      METHODS: MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS and Web of Science databases were searched from
      inception to June 2016 for observational studies reporting liquid and/or solid
      feeding practices among postoperative patients. Studies reporting a mean/median
      time to first feed or first solid feed within 24 h of surgery or where >=75% of
      patients were feeding by postoperative day one were considered in-line with EBG.
      RESULTS: Of 5826 articles retrieved, 29 studies were included. Only 40% and 22%
      of studies reported time to first feed and time to first solid feed in-line with
      EBG, respectively. Clear and free liquids were the first diet types commenced in
      86% of studies. When solids were commenced, 44% of studies reported using various
      therapeutic diet types (e.g. light) prior to the commencement of a regular diet.
      Patients who underwent gastrointestinal procedures appeared more likely to
      experience delayed postoperative feeding. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate a
      gap between postoperative feeding evidence and its practical application. This
      information provides a strong rationale for interventions targeting improved
      nutritional care following surgery.

PMID- 28589626
TI  - Greening the Processes of Metal-Organic Framework Synthesis and their Use in
      Sustainable Catalysis.
AB  - Given the shortage of sustainable resources and the increasingly serious
      environmental issues in recent decades, the demand for clean technologies and
      sustainable feedstocks is of great interest to researchers worldwide. With regard
      to the fields of energy saving and environmental remediation, the key point is
      the development of efficient catalysts, not only in terms of facile synthesis
      methods, but also the benign utilization of such catalysts. This work reviews the
      use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and MOF-based materials in these fields.
      The definition of MOFs and MOF-based materials will be primarily introduced
      followed by a brief description of the characterization and stability of MOF
      related materials under the applied conditions. The greening of MOF synthesis
      processes will then be discussed and catalogued by benign solvents and conditions
      and green precursors of MOFs. Furthermore, their suitable application in
      sustainable catalysis will be summarized, focusing on several typical atom
      economic reactions, such as the direct introduction of H2 or O2 and C-C bond
      formation. Approaches towards reducing CO2 emission by MOF-based catalysts will
      be described with special emphasis on CO2 fixation and CO2 reduction. In
      addition, driven by the explosive growth of energy consumption in the last
      century, much research has gone into biomass, which represents a renewable
      alternative to fossil fuels and a sustainable carbon feedstock for chemical
      production. The advanced progress of biomass-related transformations is also
      illustrated herein. Fundamental insights into the nature of MOF-based materials
      as constitutionally easily recoverable heterogeneous catalysts and as supports
      for various active sites is thoroughly discussed. Finally, challenges facing the
      development of this field and the outlook for future research are presented.

PMID- 28589625
TI  - Index cholecystectomy in a rural hospital: it can be done.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Index cholecystectomy (IC) refers to an operation during a patient's
      first hospital admission with symptomatic gallstone (GS) disease. There are
      proven reductions in cost, hospital bed days and GS-related complications while
      awaiting elective surgery. IC has not been universally adopted, particularly in
      smaller centres where logistics can present a barrier. The aim of this paper is
      to describe the introduction of routine IC at Hastings Hospital and the effects
      in terms of waiting time until surgery; GS-related re-presentations and
      complications while awaiting surgery; operative complications and overall
      hospital stay. METHODS: Data were collected for all patients who underwent
      cholecystectomy in the year following the introduction of IC (2015/2016). The
      results were compared with data from the year 2009/2010. RESULTS: A total of 259
      cholecystectomies were performed over the 2015/2016 study period compared with
      186 in the 2009/2010 study period. The IC rate increased from 9.89% in 2009 to
      75.4% in 2015 (P < 0.001). The incidence of GS pancreatitis whilst waiting for
      surgery reduced from six in 2009 compared with one in 2015 (P = 0.046). The
      operative complications were similar in both groups. Total hospital stay was also
      similar. CONCLUSION: The study shows that it is possible to perform IC in a rural
      setting reducing complications of waiting and in particular, rates of GS-related
      pancreatitis were significantly reduced. It can be done safely with an
      accommodating acute on-call system.

PMID- 28589627
TI  - Benzothiazolium Single Crystals: A New Class of Nonlinear Optical Crystals with
      Efficient THz Wave Generation.
AB  - Highly efficient nonlinear optical organic crystals are very attractive for
      various photonic applications including terahertz (THz) wave generation. Up to
      now, only two classes of ionic crystals based on either pyridinium or quinolinium
      with extremely large macroscopic optical nonlinearity have been developed. This
      study reports on a new class of organic nonlinear optical crystals introducing
      electron-accepting benzothiazolium, which exhibit higher electron-withdrawing
      strength than pyridinium and quinolinium in benchmark crystals. The
      benzothiazolium crystals consisting of new acentric core HMB (2-(4-hydroxy-3
      methoxystyryl)-3-methylbenzo[d]thiazol-3-ium) exhibit extremely large macroscopic
      optical nonlinearity with optimal molecular ordering for maximizing the diagonal
      second-order nonlinearity. HMB-based single crystals prepared by simple cleaving
      method satisfy all required crystal characteristics for intense THz wave
      generation such as large crystal size with parallel surfaces, moderate thickness
      and high optical quality with large optical transparency range (580-1620 nm).
      Optical rectification of 35 fs pulses at the technologically very important
      wavelength of 800 nm in 0.26 mm thick HMB crystal leads to one order of magnitude
      higher THz wave generation efficiency with remarkably broader bandwidth compared
      to standard inorganic 0.5 mm thick ZnTe crystal. Therefore, newly developed HMB
      crystals introducing benzothiazolium with extremely large macroscopic optical
      nonlinearity are very promising materials for intense broadband THz wave
      generation and other nonlinear optical applications.

PMID- 28589628
TI  - Chemical tools to modulate 2-arachidonoylglycerol biosynthesis.
AB  - 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) is an important endogenous signaling lipid that
      activates the cannabinoid receptors (CB1 R and CB2 R), thereby regulating a
      diverse range of physiological processes including anxiety, appetite,
      inflammation, memory, pain sensation, and nociception. Diacylglycerol lipases
      (DAGLs) are the principle enzymes responsible for 2-AG biosynthesis. Recently,
      the (patho)physiological functions of DAGLs have been explored by both genetic
      methods and chemical tools. This review will focus on the recent efforts to
      develop highly selective and in vivo active DAGLs inhibitors using activity-based
      protein profiling.

PMID- 28589629
TI  - Observation of Various and Spontaneous Magnetic Skyrmionic Bubbles at Room
      Temperature in a Frustrated Kagome Magnet with Uniaxial Magnetic Anisotropy.
AB  - The quest for materials hosting topologically protected skyrmionic spin textures
      continues to be fueled by the promise of novel devices. Although many materials
      have demonstrated the existence of such spin textures, major challenges remain to
      be addressed before devices based on magnetic skyrmions can be realized. For
      example, being able to create and manipulate skyrmionic spin textures at room
      temperature is of great importance for further technological applications because
      they can adapt to various external stimuli acting as information carriers in
      spintronic devices. Here, the first observation of skyrmionic magnetic bubbles
      with variable topological spin textures formed at room temperature in a
      frustrated kagome Fe3 Sn2 magnet with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is reported.
      The magnetization dynamics are investigated using in situ Lorentz transmission
      electron microscopy, revealing that the transformation between different magnetic
      bubbles and domains is via the motion of Bloch lines driven by an applied
      external magnetic field. These results demonstrate that Fe3 Sn2 facilitates a
      unique magnetic control of topological spin textures at room temperature, making
      it a promising candidate for further skyrmion-based spintronic devices.

PMID- 28589630
TI  - Synthesis of a Bioreversibly Masked Lipophilic Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose
      Derivative.
AB  - The design of a bioreversibly protected lipophilic sugar nucleotide as a
      potential membrane-permeable precursor of adenosine diphosphate ribose (ADPR) is
      described. ADPR is the most potent activator of the transient receptor potential
      melastatin 2 (TRPM2) ion channel. Membrane-permeable, lipophilic derivatives of
      ADPR are of great interest as tools for study of the mechanism of TRPM2. The
      approach described here was based on our recently disclosed "DiPPro" and
      "TriPPPro" prodrug approaches developed for the intracellular delivery of
      nucleotides. A lipophilic, bioreversibly masked ADPR analogue containing an
      enzymatically cleavable 4-pentanoyloxybenzyl (PB) mask at the phosphate moiety
      next to the 5'-position of adenosine, together with O-acetyl groups, was prepared
      in high yields. Chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis studies in phosphate buffer (pH
      7.3) were performed to assess chemical stability and possible (selective)
      enzymatic demasking of the ADPR analogue. HPLC-MS revealed that the PB group was
      readily cleaved enzymatically. In addition, the formation of partially
      deacetylated ADPR compounds and also of fully unprotected ADPR was observed.

PMID- 28589631
TI  - Systematic review: exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome-implications for
      health and intestinal disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: "Exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome" refers to disturbances
      of gastrointestinal integrity and function that are common features of strenuous
      exercise. AIM: To systematically review the literature to establish the impact of
      acute exercise on markers of gastrointestinal integrity and function in healthy
      populations and those with chronic gastrointestinal conditions. METHODS: Search
      literature using five databases (PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, SPORTSdiscus, and
      Ovid Medline) to review publications that focused on the impact of acute exercise
      on markers of gastrointestinal injury, permeability, endotoxaemia, motility and
      malabsorption in healthy populations and populations with gastrointestinal
      diseases/disorders. RESULTS: As exercise intensity and duration increases, there
      is considerable evidence for increases in indices of intestinal injury,
      permeability and endotoxaemia, together with impairment of gastric emptying,
      slowing of small intestinal transit and malabsorption. The addition of heat
      stress and running mode appears to exacerbate these markers of gastrointestinal
      disturbance. Exercise stress of >=2 hours at 60% VO2max appears to be the
      threshold whereby significant gastrointestinal perturbations manifest,
      irrespective of fitness status. Gastrointestinal symptoms, referable to upper-
      and lower-gastrointestinal tract, are common and a limiting factor in prolonged
      strenuous exercise. While there is evidence for health benefits of moderate
      exercise in patients with inflammatory bowel disease or functional
      gastrointestinal disorders, the safety of more strenuous exercise has not been
      established. CONCLUSIONS: Strenuous exercise has a major reversible impact on
      gastrointestinal integrity and function of healthy populations. The safety and
      health implications of prolonged strenuous exercise in patients with chronic
      gastrointestinal diseases/disorders, while hypothetically worrying, has not been
      elucidated and requires further investigation.

PMID- 28589632
TI  - Effect of a brief cognitive behavioural intervention on criminal thinking and
      prison misconduct in male inmates: Variable-oriented and person-oriented
      analyses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is some consensus on the value of cognitive-behaviourally
      informed interventions in the criminal justice system, but uncertainty about
      which components are of critical value. AIMS: To test the hypothesis that change
      in prisoners - criminal thinking and institutional misconduct - will both follow
      completion of a brief cognitive behavioural intervention. METHODS: A one-group
      pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design was used to assess change on the
      General Criminal Thinking (GCT) scale of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal
      Thinking Styles among 219 male prisoners completing a 10-week cognitive
      behavioural intervention, referred to as 'Lifestyle Issues'. Institutional
      misconduct was measured for 1 year prior to completion of the course and 2 years
      subsequently. Using variable-oriented analysis, post-test GCT scores were
      compared with change in prison conduct, controlling for the pre-test thinking
      scores. Calculations were repeated by using person-oriented analysis. RESULTS:
      Prisoners who displayed a drop in GCT scores between pre-test and post-test
      levels were significantly more likely to show a reduction in prison misconduct,
      whereas prison misconduct was likely to escalate among those who displayed a rise
      in criminal thinking scores from pre-test to post-test. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings must still be regarded as preliminary, but taken together with other
      work and with cognitive behavioural theory, they suggest that development of more
      prosocial thinking and abilities may have an early beneficial effect on
      institutional behaviour. Their measurement may offer a practical way in which men
      could be assessed for readiness to return to the community. Copyright (c) 2017
      John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28589633
TI  - Does climate variability influence the demography of wild primates? Evidence from
      long-term life-history data in seven species.
AB  - Earth's rapidly changing climate creates a growing need to understand how
      demographic processes in natural populations are affected by climate variability,
      particularly among organisms threatened by extinction. Long-term, large-scale,
      and cross-taxon studies of vital rate variation in relation to climate
      variability can be particularly valuable because they can reveal environmental
      drivers that affect multiple species over extensive regions. Few such data exist
      for animals with slow life histories, particularly in the tropics, where climate
      variation over large-scale space is asynchronous. As our closest relatives,
      nonhuman primates are especially valuable as a resource to understand the roles
      of climate variability and climate change in human evolutionary history. Here, we
      provide the first comprehensive investigation of vital rate variation in relation
      to climate variability among wild primates. We ask whether primates are sensitive
      to global changes that are universal (e.g., higher temperature, large-scale
      climate oscillations) or whether they are more sensitive to global change effects
      that are local (e.g., more rain in some places), which would complicate
      predictions of how primates in general will respond to climate change. To address
      these questions, we use a database of long-term life-history data for natural
      populations of seven primate species that have been studied for 29-52 years to
      investigate associations between vital rate variation, local climate variability,
      and global climate oscillations. Associations between vital rates and climate
      variability varied among species and depended on the time windows considered,
      highlighting the importance of temporal scale in detection of such effects. We
      found strong climate signals in the fertility rates of three species. However,
      survival, which has a greater impact on population growth, was little affected by
      climate variability. Thus, we found evidence for demographic buffering of life
      histories, but also evidence of mechanisms by which climate change could affect
      the fates of wild primates.

PMID- 28589634
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis of the role of metronidazole in post
      haemorrhoidectomy pain relief.
AB  - AIM: Conventional haemorrhoidectomy is still considered the reference standard
      for the management of severe or recurrent haemorrhoids. Pain is reported by
      patients to be the most common postoperative complication. Although the
      literature lacks a consensus on its effectiveness, metronidazole is often used to
      reduce postoperative pain. We have performed a meta-analysis of all randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the use of metronidazole for pain
      relief after haemorrhoidectomy. METHOD: A systematic review was undertaken in
      accordance with the PRISMA protocol using the MESH headings 'haemorrhoidectomy',
      'hemorhoidectomy', 'hemorrhoidectomy', 'haemorrhoid', 'metronidazole', 'Flagyl(r)
      ' 'antibiotic' and 'pain'. The search returned 421 articles of which eight were
      RCTs suitable for inclusion in the review with a total population of 437
      patients. The outcomes of interest were postoperative pain intensity on days 1, 2
      and 7 and on first defaecation as measured using a visual analogue scale.
      RESULTS: The meta-analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in postoperative
      pain for patients treated with metronidazole with a reduced mean difference for
      the metronidazole group on day 1 of -1.42 (95% CI: -2.14 to -0.69, P = 0.0001),
      on day 2 of -1.43 (95% CI: -2.45 to -0.40, P = 0.006) and on day 7 of -2.40 (95%
      CI: -3.10 to -1.71, P < 0.00001). Pain on first defaecation was likewise reduced
      with a mean difference of -1.38 (95% CI: -2.15 to -0.60, P = 0.0005). Limitations
      of this study include variation in the grade of haemorrhoids treated and
      variability in the quality of included studies. CONCLUSION: Metronidazole is a
      cheap, safe and effective intervention for reducing postoperative pain following
      conventional haemorrhoidectomy.

PMID- 28589635
TI  - Comparison of Intramedullary Nail Versus Conventional Ilizarov Method for Lower
      Limb Lengthening: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare the
      lengthening and then nailing (LATN) technique to the conventional Ilizarov method
      for limb lengthening. A systemic search of potential relevant literature was
      performed in databases, including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
      Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, EMBASE, and the ISI Web of Knowledge, from their
      inception to 22 May 2015 using medical subject heading (MeSH) terms "Ilizarov,"
      "bone lengthening," or "intramedullary nail." A total of 89 titles and abstracts
      were preliminarily reviewed, of which 4 studies eventually satisfied the
      eligibility criteria, consisting of one randomized controlled trial (RCT), two
      clinical controlled trials and one retrospective cohort study. A total of 354
      limbs were included in the study, among which 183 were lengthened over an
      intramedullary nail, and 171 limbs were lengthened conventionally. The mean
      difference (MD) was -50.21 for the external fixation index between the two groups
      (95% CI, -51.83 to -48.59; P < 0.00001) with high heterogeneity (I2 = 99%); no
      significant difference in length was gained (MD = -0.30, 95% CI = -0.72 to 0.12;
      P = 0.16) with high heterogeneity (I2 = 80%); and there was high significant
      difference for the consolidation index (MD = -19.97; 95% CI, -21.59 to -18.35; P
      < 0.00001) with high heterogeneity (I2 = 100%). The overall rate of complications
      was relatively low, and differed significantly between the two groups. Through
      this meta-analysis, we find that LATN is superior to the conventional method in
      regards to the external fixation index and the consolidation index, which means
      that LATN is an effective technique that can decrease the time needed in external
      fixation.

PMID- 28589638
TI  - Inter-observer reliability in reading amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram
      in the newborn intensive care unit.
AB  - AIM: Amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram (aEEG) is widely used in neonates
      to detect electrical seizure and predict outcome following hypoxic ischaemic
      encephalopathy and other encephalopathy. Because accurate interpretation is
      important for clinical decision-making and family counselling, inter-observer
      reliability is a major concern. We aimed to evaluate inter-observer reliability
      in the interpretation of aEEG tracings in a neonatal intensive care unit.
      METHODS: Three neonatal intensive care unit clinicians with different levels of
      experience in reading aEEG independently reviewed and scored aEEG traces using
      standardised criteria, categories and interpretation rules. Inter-observer
      reliability was evaluated using weighted Cohen's kappa and intra-class
      correlation coefficients. RESULTS: All 131 tracings from 120 neonates were
      reviewed by the neontalogist, 128 (97.7%) by the clinical nurse specialist, 73
      (55.7%) by the nurse educator and 70 (53.4%) by all three clinicians. The
      majority (88 of 120, 73.3%) were term infants (mean gestational age 38 weeks,
      standard deviation 3.2). Average duration of recording was 27 h (standard
      deviation 19.1, range 1-105 h). Inter-observer reliability varied across
      categories and observers - from very good to excellent for the main background
      activity (intra-class correlation coefficients 0.93-0.98); good to very good for
      seizures; and moderate to very good for sleep-wake cycle and quality of recording
      (weighted kappas' 0.71-0.85, 0.50-0.75, 0.46-0.81, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      While certain aEEG features appear challenging to inter-observer reliability, our
      findings suggest that with training and consensus guidelines, levels of
      reliability needed to enhance clinical and prognostic usefulness of aEEG are
      achievable across clinicians with different levels of experience in reading aEEG.

PMID- 28589639
TI  - Significance of presence of microvascular invasion in specimens obtained after
      surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Partial hepatectomy and liver transplantation are potentially curative treatments
      in selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Unfortunately, a high
      postoperative tumor recurrence rate significantly decreases long-term survival
      outcomes. Among multiple prognostic factors, the presence of microvascular
      invasion (MVI) has increasingly been recognized to reflect enhanced abilities of
      local invasion and distant metastasis of HCC. Unfortunately, MVI can only
      currently be identified through histopathological studies on resected surgical
      specimens. Accurate preoperative tests to predict the presence of MVI are
      urgently needed. This paper reviews the current studies on incidence,
      pathological diagnosis, and classification of MVI; possible mechanisms of MVI
      formation; and preoperative prediction of the presence of MVI. Furthermore,
      focusing on how the postoperative management can be improved on
      histopathologically confirmed patients with HCC with MVI, and the potential roles
      of using predictive tests to estimate the risk of presence of MVI, helps in
      preoperative therapeutic decision-making in patients with HCC.

PMID- 28589636
TI  - 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and its C-3 epimer are elevated in the skin and serum of Skh
      1 mice supplemented with dietary vitamin D3.
AB  - SCOPE: UV exposure is a risk factor for keratinocyte carcinoma (KC) while
      critical for endogenous vitamin D production. We investigated dietary modulation
      of skin and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD3 ) and its C-3 epimer (C3epi) in a
      mouse model of KC. C3epi is an under-investigated metabolite of vitamin D with
      respect to its biological implications. METHODS AND RESULTS: Male and female Skh
      1 mice were supplemented with 25, 150 or 1000 IU/kg diet vitamin D3 for 25 weeks,
      with some exposed to UV light. Skin and serum vitamin D metabolites were
      quantitated using HPLC-MS/MS (n = 3 per dose/sex/UV treatment). Serum and skin
      25OHD3 and C3epi significantly increased with dose (P<0.0001), but with different
      response patterns. UV exposure significantly attenuated serum, but not skin,
      levels of both metabolites (P<0.001, P = 0.0287), while up-regulating expression
      of renal Cyp24a1 (P < 0.01). A dose by sex interaction trended toward
      significance with serum and skin levels of C3epi, wherein male mice attained
      higher levels of C3epi with higher dietary vitamin D3 . This reflected a similar,
      but non-significant pattern in average tumor size. CONCLUSION: The complex
      relationship between vitamin D and KC requires further investigation. This study
      provides insight into modulation of local and systemic vitamin D status with
      dietary supplementation.

PMID- 28589637
TI  - Performance of BRCA1/2 mutation prediction models in male breast cancer patients.
AB  - : To establish whether existing mutation prediction models can identify which
      male breast cancer (MBC) patients should be offered BRCA1 and BRCA2 diagnostic
      DNA screening, we compared the performance of BOADICEA (Breast and Ovarian
      Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm), BRCAPRO (BRCA
      probability) and the Myriad prevalence table ("Myriad"). These models were
      evaluated using the family data of 307 Dutch MBC probands tested for BRCA1/2, 58
      (19%) of whom were carriers. We compared the numbers of observed vs predicted
      carriers and assessed the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC)
      Curve (AUC) for each model. BOADICEA predicted the total number of BRCA1/2
      mutation carriers quite accurately (observed/predicted ratio: 0.94). When a cut
      off of 10% and 20% prior probability was used, BRCAPRO showed a non-significant
      better performance (observed/predicted ratio BOADICEA: 0.81, 95% confidence
      interval [CI]: [0.60-1.09] and 0.79, 95% CI: [0.57-1.09], vs. BRCAPRO: 1.02, 95%
      CI: [0.75-1.38] and 0.94, 95% CI: [0.68-1.31], respectively). Myriad
      underestimated the number of carriers in up to 69% of the cases. BRCAPRO showed a
      non-significant, higher AUC than BOADICEA (0.798 vs 0.776). Myriad showed a
      significantly lower AUC (0.671). BRCAPRO and BOADICEA can efficiently identify
      MBC patients as BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Besides their general applicability,
      these tools will be of particular value in countries with limited healthcare
      resources.

PMID- 28589640
TI  - Self-assembly of t-butyloxycarbonyl protected dipeptide methyl esters composed of
      leucine, isoleucine, and valine into highly organized structures from alcohol and
      aqueous alcohol mixtures.
AB  - Short peptides composed of phenylalanine and sequences derived from amyloidogenic
      peptides have the ability to self-assemble to form nanostructures including
      hydrogels. The self-assembly of peptides composed of only hydrophobic amino acids
      and aliphatic protecting groups have not been investigated in detail. We have
      examined various aspects of nanostructures formed by N-terminal t
      butyloxycarbonyl-protected aliphatic dipeptide methyl esters dissolved in various
      solvents. Scanning electron microscopic images indicate that depending on the
      sequence, position of the amino acid and solvent of dissolution, the peptides
      self-assemble into superstructures such as nanotubes and needles particularly
      from aqueous mixtures of organic solvents. Crystallization was not required for
      self-assembly into nanostructures. Circular dichroism and attenuated total
      internal reflection fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies indicate that
      the peptides adopt beta-conformation in the superstructures both in solution and
      solid state. The nanostructures composed of entirely aliphatic moieties have the
      ability to bind to aromatic dyes such as Rhodamine 6G, Nile red and Congo red.
      They also bind to Thioflavin T although the structures do not resemble amyloid
      fibrils. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns suggest distinctive packing of the
      monomers. These structures are stabilized by intermolecular hydrogen bonds and
      hydrophobic interactions resulting in superstructures containing long distance
      order and were devoid of hemolytic activity.

PMID- 28589641
TI  - Yield of head computed tomography in patients with new onset of transient
      headaches.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Headache is a common patient complaint. The threshold for brain
      imaging in headache is debated, especially when the headache is transient,
      although even if the headache has resolved at presentation, a sentinel bleed
      heralding a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) often remains a concern. AIM: To
      assess the yield of computed tomography (CT) head scan referrals for patients
      with transient headache symptoms. METHODS: This study looked at 6 months of CT
      results in order to assess for brain pathology, with a particular focus on
      subarachnoid haemorrhage. Where any pathology was identified, detailed chart
      review looked for potential high-risk indicators. RESULTS: Between January and
      July 2015, 531 undifferentiated headache patients were referred for head CT. Of
      these, 177 (33.3%) presented with a transient or episodic pattern. None of these
      cases had SAH on imaging nor re-presented with SAH within 3 months of initial CT.
      However, 7.3% (13/177) had other significant intracranial pathologies. The only
      significant risk factor for CT abnormality in this setting was focal neurology on
      presentation (odds ratio 3.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-11.0); P = 0.044).
      All identified cases of SAH over the 6-month study period occurred in patients
      with persistent headache, and their clinical presentations showed a similar
      cluster of symptoms to previous literature (including thunderclap headache,
      vomiting and loss of consciousness). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that
      patients with transient headache are at a low risk of SAH; however, further study
      is needed to quantify this, and other serious pathologies remains a concern,
      especially in the setting of focal neurology at presentation.

PMID- 28589642
TI  - A new VLAD-based control chart for detecting surgical outcomes.
AB  - The timely detection of surgical quality changes is becoming increasingly
      important. Variable life-adjusted display (VLAD) has a wide range of applications
      in the medical field. However, the control limits of VLAD are not defined; thus,
      the charts alone cannot reveal whether surgical quality underwent a significant
      change. This paper proposes a new risk-adjusted exponentially weighted moving
      average VLAD (RAEV) chart and provides a control limit that can be used with the
      VLAD. The RAEV chart is designed to detect shifts in the odds ratios of patients'
      surgical risk. Simulation is used to demonstrate that the proposed RAEV chart
      efficiently detects shifts of various magnitudes, and an example is provided to
      illustrate the implementation of the RAEV control limits in a VLAD chart.
      Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28589643
TI  - Residual risk of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C
      virus infections by blood transfusion in northern Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nucleic acid test (NAT) blood screening for human immunodeficiency
      virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) was introduced in northern Brazil in July
      2012. There are several Brazilian articles that have evaluated transfusion
      transmission risks for HIV and HCV. However, to our knowledge, this article is
      the first to evaluate the impact of HIV and HCV NAT implementation for blood
      screening in northern Brazil. The aim of this study was to determine the
      prevalence and incidence rates of HIV and HCV among blood donors and to compare
      the residual risk of transfusion transmission of these infections, before (2009
      2011) and after (2012-2014) NAT implementation. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: HIV and
      HCV prevalence and incidence were calculated based on rates of confirmed positive
      samples. Residual risk estimates were based on the incidence and window model
      described previously. Logistic and Poisson regressions were used in the
      statistical analysis. A p value of not more than 0.05 was considered significant.
      RESULTS: HIV and HCV prevalence were 209.9 and 66.3 per 100,000 donations,
      respectively. Residual risk for HIV and HCV decreased significantly throughout
      the two study periods, mainly for HCV in which the reduction was one in 169,492
      to one in 769,231 donations. For HIV, the decrease was one in 107,527 to one in
      769,231 donations. HIV and HCV incidence rates were 21.13 and 3.06 per 100,000
      persons/year before NAT and 14.03 and 2.65 per 100,000 persons/year after NAT.
      CONCLUSION: The HIV and HCV NAT implementation significantly increased the
      transfusion safety in northern Brazil, bringing benefits to recipients due to
      better quality of blood products produced.

PMID- 28589645
TI  - What the neighbors say.

PMID- 28589644
TI  - Endothelial to mesenchymal transformation is induced by altered extracellular
      matrix in aortic valve endothelial cells.
AB  - Alterations in shear stress, mechanical deformation, extracellular matrix (ECM)
      composition and exposure to inflammatory conditions are known to cause
      endothelial to mesenchymal transformation (EndMT). This change in endothelial
      phenotype has only recently been linked to adult pathologies such as cancer
      progression, organ fibrosis, and calcific aortic valve disease; and its function
      in adult physiology, especially in response to tissue mechanics, has not been
      rigorously investigated. EndMT is a response to mechanical and biochemical
      signals that results in the remodeling of underlying tissues. In diseased aortic
      valves, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are present in the collagen-rich valve fibrosa,
      and are deposited near calcified nodules. In this study, in vitro models of early
      and late-stage valve disease were developed by incorporating the GAGs chondroitin
      sulfate (CS), hyaluronic acid, and dermatan sulfate into 3D collagen hydrogels
      with or without exposure to TGF-beta1 to simulate EndMT in response to
      microenvironmental changes. High levels of CS induced the highest rate of EndMT
      and led to the most collagen I and GAG production by mesenchymally transformed
      cells, which indicates a cell phenotype most likely to promote fibrotic disease.
      Mesenchymal transformation due to altered ECM was found to depend on cell-ECM
      bond strength and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1/2 signaling.
      Determining the environmental conditions that induce and promote EndMT, and the
      subsequent behavior of mesenchymally transformed cells, will advance
      understanding on the role of endothelial cells in tissue regeneration or disease
      progression. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A:
      2729-2741, 2017.

PMID- 28589646
TI  - Focal laser treatment in addition to chemotherapy for retinoblastoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy of
      childhood. Systemic chemotherapy is a common treatment for intraocular
      retinoblastoma, and laser treatment is used as adjuvant therapy during or
      immediately after chemotherapy courses in selected cases. OBJECTIVES: To compare
      the effectiveness and safety of adding focal laser therapy to systemically
      delivered chemotherapy in treating intraocular retinoblastoma. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (which
      contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2016, Issue 9), MEDLINE
      Ovid (1946 to 20 October 2016), Embase Ovid (1980 to 20 October 2016), LILACS
      (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database) (1982 to 20
      October 2016), the ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/editAdvancedSearch); searched
      20 October 2016, ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov); searched 20 October
      2016, and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials
      Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en); searched 20 October
      2016. We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches
      for trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We searched for randomised controlled trials
      (RCTs) of systemic chemotherapy with versus without adjuvant laser therapy for
      postequatorial retinoblastoma. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We planned to use
      standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We planned to meta
      analyse the primary outcome, that is the proportion of eyes with recurrence of
      tumours within three years from treatment MAIN RESULTS: No studies met the
      inclusion criteria for this review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: No evidence from
      randomised controlled trials was found to support or refute laser therapy in
      addition to systemic chemotherapy for postequatorial retinoblastoma.

PMID- 28589648
TI  - Effects of exercise-based interventions on postpartum depression: A meta-analysis
      of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is inconsistent evidence about the effect of physical activity
      on the prevention and treatment of depression during the postnatal period. The
      aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the effect of physical activity
      interventions during pregnancy and the postpartum period for controlling
      postpartum depressive symptoms. METHODS: We systematically searched Cochrane
      Library Plus, Science Direct, EMBASE, CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus,
      from January 1990 to May 2016, for randomized or nonrandomized controlled trials
      addressing the effect of physical activity on postpartum depression. The inverse
      variance-weighted method was used to compute pooled estimates of effect size and
      respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for physical activity intervention
      on postpartum depression. Subgroup analyses were performed comparing women with
      and without postpartum depressive symptoms according to specific scales measuring
      this construct. Meta-regression and sensitivity analysis were computed to
      evaluate heterogeneity. RESULTS: Twelve studies were included in the meta
      analysis. Effect size for the relationship between physical activity
      interventions during pregnancy and the postpartum period on postpartum depressive
      symptoms was 0.41 (95% CI 0.28-0.54). Heterogeneity was I2  = 33.1% (P = .117).
      When subgroup analyses were done, pooled effect sizes were 0.67 (95% CI 0.44
      0.90) for mothers who met postpartum depressive symptoms criteria at baseline
      based on specific scales, and 0.29 (95% CI 0.14-0.45) for mothers who did not
      meet those depressive symptoms criteria at baseline. CONCLUSION: Physical
      exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period is a safe strategy to achieve
      better psychological well-being and to reduce postpartum depressive symptoms.

PMID- 28589647
TI  - Using primary tumor volumetry to predict treatment outcome for patients with
      oropharyngeal cancer who were treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to determine predictive values for volumetric measures in
      patients with oropharyngeal cancer who received definitive chemoradiotherapy
      (CCRT). METHODS: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans were obtained
      before radiotherapy (RT) (I), after delivering a median RT of 50.6 Gy (R) and
      three months after RT (F). Primary site gross tumor volumes (GTV) were assessed
      using these scans (GTVI , GTVR and GTVF ). The percentage volume change between
      GTVI and GTVR (GTV change) was calculated. Volumetric analyses of primary site
      local control (LC) and progression-free survival (PFS) were performed. RESULTS:
      In total, 35 patients were evaluated, with a median 31 months of follow-up. The 2
      year LC rates (LCRs) were 95.0% for patients with GTVI <23 cc, and 42.9% for
      those with GTVI >=23 cc (P = 0.001); the 2-year PFS rates were 85.9% and 21.9% (P
      = 0.002), respectively. Using GTVR classifications <11 cc or >=11 cc, log-rank
      tests demonstrated differences in 2-year LCR (95.2% vs 33.3%, P < 0.001) and 2
      year PFS (86.5% vs 0%, P < 0.001). There was no local progression in patients
      with GTV change >=75%, and GTV change predicted poor PFS (P = 0.026). On
      multivariate analysis, GTVR >=11 cc was a significant predictor of poor LCR
      (hazard ratio [HR] = 26, P = 0.009) and PFS (HR = 8.33, P = 0.046). CONCLUSION:
      For patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with definitive CCRT, GTVI , GTVR
      and GTV changes predicted LC and PFS; GTVR was the most significant predictor of
      LC and PFS. RT intensification should be considered for patients with larger
      remaining tumors after CCRT.

PMID- 28589649
TI  - Cervical cancer screening in the era of HPV vaccination: A review of shifting
      paradigms in cytopathology.
AB  - Significant changes in cervical cancer screening practice, guidelines, and
      prevention of cervical cancer have taken place in recent years including the
      raising of initial cervical cancer screening age, changes in frequency of
      cytology screening, and the adoption of high risk HPV and cytology co-testing for
      some patients; the introduction of the bivalent, quadrivalent, and 9-valent HPV
      vaccines; and the recent approval of high risk HPV testing as primary screening
      with the use of cytology as triage in positive cases. This review discusses the
      significance of primary HPV screening, the impact of HPV vaccination in the
      prevalence of cervical cancer and its precursors, the interplay between high risk
      HPV testing and vaccination, and the implications for clinical and cytological
      management. Future strategies for cervical screening in the post-vaccination era
      are also discussed.

PMID- 28589650
TI  - Validity and reliability of a structured-light 3D scanner and an ultrasound
      imaging system for measurements of facial skin thickness.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3 D)-scanning-based morphological studies of the face are
      commonly included in various clinical procedures. This study evaluated validity
      and reliability of a 3 D scanning system by comparing the ultrasound (US) imaging
      system versus the direct measurement of facial skin. The facial skin thickness at
      19 landmarks was measured using the three different methods in 10 embalmed adult
      Korean cadavers. Skin thickness was first measured using the ultrasound device,
      then 3 D scanning of the facial skin surface was performed. After the skin on the
      left half of face was gently dissected, deviating slightly right of the midline,
      to separate it from the subcutaneous layer, and the harvested facial skin's
      thickness was measured directly using neck calipers. The dissected specimen was
      then scanned again, then the scanned images of undissected and dissected faces
      were superimposed using Morpheus Plastic Solution (version 3.0) software.
      Finally, the facial skin thickness was calculated from the superimposed images.
      The ICC value for the correlations between the 3 D scanning system and direct
      measurement showed excellent reliability (0.849, 95% confidence interval = 0.799
      0.887). Bland-Altman analysis showed a good level of agreement between the 3 D
      scanning system and direct measurement (bias = 0.49 +/- 0.49 mm, mean+/-SD).
      These results demonstrate that the 3 D scanning system precisely reflects
      structural changes before and after skin dissection. Therefore, an in-depth
      morphological study using this 3 D scanning system could provide depth data about
      the main anatomical structures of face, thereby providing crucial anatomical
      knowledge for utilization in various clinical applications. Clin. Anat. 30:878
      886, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28589651
TI  - Measuring and Modeling Highly Accurate 15 N Chemical Shift Tensors in a Peptide.
AB  - NMR studies measuring chemical shift tensors are increasingly being employed to
      assign structure in difficult-to-crystallize solids. For small organic molecules,
      such studies usually focus on 13 C sites, but proteins and peptides are more
      commonly described using 15 N amide sites. An important and often neglected
      consideration when measuring shift tensors is the evaluation of their accuracy
      against benchmark standards, where available. Here we measure 15 N tensors in the
      dipeptide glycylglycine at natural abundance using the slow-spinning FIREMAT
      method with SPINAL-64 decoupling. The accuracy of these 15 N tensors is evaluated
      by comparing to benchmark single crystal NMR 15 N measurements and found to be
      statistically indistinguishable. These FIREMAT experimental results are further
      used to evaluate the accuracy of theoretical predictions of tensors from four
      different density functional theory (DFT) methods that include lattice effects.
      The best theoretical approach provides a root mean square (rms) difference of +/
      3.9 ppm and is obtained from a fragment-based method and the PBE0 density
      functional.

PMID- 28589653
TI  - Assessment of HNA alloimmunisation risk in Northeastern Thais, Burmese and Karen.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine human neutrophil antigen (HNA)
      frequency, estimate possible HNA incompatibilities and predict the risk of HNA
      alloimmunisation in the Northeastern Thai, Burmese and Karen populations.
      BACKGROUND: Alloantibodies against HNA are implicated in a number of clinical
      conditions, including immune-mediated neutropenia and transfusion reactions.
      METHODS: A total of 400 unrelated healthy Thais, 261 Burmese and 249 Karen was
      included in this study. DNA samples were typed for HNA-1, -3, -4 and -5 systems
      using polymerase chain reactions with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP).
      RESULTS: In this cohort, HNA-1a was more prevalent than HNA-1b. Accordingly, the
      possible risk of HNA-1a alloimmunisation against HNA-1a is lower than HNA-1b
      (0.0802-0.1351 vs 0.2293-0.2497). This is in contrast to the situation reported
      in Caucasian and African populations. The predicted risk of HNA-3 incompatibility
      in Thais, Burmese and Karen were 28.09%, 30.66% and 22.77%, respectively. The
      possible risks of HNA-3a alloimmunisation were 0.0493 in Thais, 0.0608 in Burmese
      and 0.0196 in Karen, respectively. No individuals were found to be homozygous for
      HNA-4bb. The probability of developing alloantibodies against HNA-4a was low in
      these populations and every population in Asia. In contrast, the overall
      frequency of HNA-5bb homozygous individuals was high in this study, peaking at
      0.192. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study that reported the allele frequencies
      of HNA-1, -3, -4, and -5 in a large sample of healthy unrelated individuals from
      ethnic Thais, Burmese and Karen. Our results indicated the high possible risk of
      HNA-1, -3 and -5 alloimmunisation in these populations.

PMID- 28589654
TI  - The importance of full skin examination in diagnosing cutaneous melanoma.

PMID- 28589652
TI  - Losartan for the nephropathy of sickle cell anemia: A phase-2, multicenter trial.
AB  - Nephropathy is a common and progressive complication of sickle cell anemia (SCA).
      In SCA mice, we found that hyperangiotensinemia in the absence of hypertension
      underlies nephropathy, and its downregulation by losartan, an angiotensin-II
      receptor-1 blocker, reduced albuminuria and progression of nephropathy.
      Therefore, we performed a phase-2 trial of oral losartan, given for 6 months, to
      explore whether it reduced albuminuria in children and adults with SCA.
      Participants were allocated to groups defined by class of baseline urinary
      albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR): no albuminuria (NoA), microalbuminuria
      (MicroA), and macroalbuminuria (MacroA). The primary endpoint was a >=25%
      reduction UACR from baseline. There were 32 evaluable participants (mean age 24
      years; NoA = 14, MicroA = 12, MacroA = 6). The primary endpoint was met in 83% of
      the MacroA group (P < 0.0001) and 58% of the MicroA group (P < 0.0001). Median
      fold-change in UACR was -0.74 for MacroA and -0.46 for MicroA. In MacroA and
      MicroA, UACR classification improved in 50% but worsened in 11%. Urine osmolality
      and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) did not change significantly.
      Losartan was discontinued in three participants [leg cramps, N = 1; decline in
      eGFR >25% (142?104 mL/minute/1.73 m2 ), N = 1; rise in serum creatinine >50%
      (0.2?0.3 mg/dL), N = 1]. Albuminuria was associated with diastolic dysfunction
      and impaired functional capacity, although cardiopulmonary status was unchanged
      after 6 months of losartan therapy. In summary, losartan decreased urinary
      albumin excretion in most participants with albuminuria. Those with
      macroalbuminuria had the greatest benefit. This study forms the basis for a phase
      3, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of losartan for the nephropathy of SCA.

PMID- 28589655
TI  - Cannulation-Related Complications on Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane
      Oxygenation: Prevalence and Effect on Mortality.
AB  - Cannulation-related complications are a known source of morbidity in patients
      supported on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Despite
      its prevalence, little is known regarding the outcomes of patients who suffer
      such complications. This is a single institution review of cannulation-related
      complications and its effect on mortality in patients supported on VA-ECMO from
      January 2010-2015 using three cannulation strategies: axillary, femoral, and
      central. Complications were defined as advanced if they required major
      interventions (fasciotomy, amputation, site conversion). Patients were divided
      into two groups (complication present vs. not present) and Kaplan-Meier analysis
      was performed to determine any differences in their survival distributions. There
      were 103 patients supported on VA-ECMO: 41 (40%), 36 (35%), and 26 (25%) were
      cannulated via axillary, femoral, and central access, respectively. Cannulation
      related complications occurred in 33 (32%) patients and this did not differ
      significantly between either axillary (34%), femoral (36%), or central (23%)
      strategies (P = 0.52). The most common complications encountered were hemorrhage
      and limb ischemia in 19 (18%) and 11 (11%) patients. Hemorrhagic complications
      did not differ between groups (P = 0.37), while limb ischemia and hyperperfusion
      were significantly associated with femoral and axillary cannulation, at a rate of
      25% (P < 0.01) and 15% (P = 0.01), respectively. There was no difference in the
      incidence of advanced complications between cannulation groups: axillary (12%)
      vs. femoral (14%) vs. central (8%; P = 0.75). In addition, no increase in
      mortality was noted in patients who developed a cannulation-related complication
      by Kaplan-Meier estimates (P = 0.37). Cannulation-related complications affect a
      significant proportion of patients supported on VA-ECMO but do not differ in
      incidence between different cannulation strategies and do not affect patient
      mortality. Improved efforts at preventing these complications need to be
      developed to avoid the additional morbidity in an already critical patient
      population.

PMID- 28589656
TI  - Small-Molecule Solar Cells with Simultaneously Enhanced Short-Circuit Current and
      Fill Factor to Achieve 11% Efficiency.
AB  - High-efficiency small-molecule-based organic photovoltaics (SM-OPVs) using two
      electron donors (p-DTS(FBTTh2 )2 and ZnP) with distinctively different absorption
      and structural features are reported. Such a combination works well and
      synergically improves device short-circuit current density (Jsc ) to 17.99 mA cm
      2 and fill factor (FF) to 77.19%, yielding a milestone efficiency of 11%. To the
      best of our knowledge, this is the highest power conversion efficiency reported
      for SM-OPVs to date and the first time to combine high Jsc over 17 mA cm-2 and
      high FF over 77% into one SM-OPV. The strategy of using multicomponent materials,
      with a selecting role of balancing varied electronic and structural necessities
      can be an important route to further developing higher performance devices. This
      development is important, which broadens the dimension and versatility of
      existing materials without much chemistry input.

PMID- 28589657
TI  - Water-Plasma-Enabled Exfoliation of Ultrathin Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets
      with Multivacancies for Water Oxidation.
AB  - An earth-abundant and highly efficient electrocatalyst is essential for oxygen
      evolution reaction (OER) due to its poor kinetics. Layered double hydroxide (LDH)
      based nanomaterials are considered as promising electrocatalysts for OER.
      However, the stacking structure of LDHs limits the exposure of the active sites.
      Therefore, the exfoliation is necessary to expose more active sites. In addition,
      the defect engineering is proved to be an efficient strategy to enhance the
      performance of OER electrocatalysts. For the first time, this study prepares
      ultrathin CoFe LDHs nanosheets with multivacancies as OER electrocatalysts by
      water-plasma-enabled exfoliation. The water plasma can destroy the electrostatic
      interactions between the host metal layers and the interlayer cations, resulting
      in the fast exfoliation. On the other hand, the etching effect of plasma can
      simultaneously and effectively produce multivacancies in the as-exfoliated
      ultrathin LDHs nanosheets. The increased active sites and the multivacancies
      significantly contribute to the enhanced electrocatalytic activity for OER.
      Compared to pristine CoFe LDHs, the as-exfoliated ultrathin CoFe LDHs nanosheets
      exhibit excellent catalytic activity for OER with a ultralow overpotential of
      only 232 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and possesses outstanding kinetics (the Tafel slope of
      36 mV dec-1 ). This work provides a novel strategy to exfoliate LDHs and to
      produce multivacancies simultaneously as highly efficient electrocatalysts for
      OER.

PMID- 28589658
TI  - Introduction of a drug-detection dog programme in mental health inpatient units:
      A mixed-methods study of consumer, staff, and carers' perceptions.
AB  - Many consumers admitted to mental health inpatient units also use illicit drugs,
      and some continue to do so while receiving treatment. In an attempt to curb the
      impact of illicit drug use, one of Australia's largest mental health services
      introduced a programme of drug-detection dog (DDD) searches. Our aim was to
      evaluate perceptions of the DDD programme among mental health consumers, staff,
      and carers. A mixed-methods research design using a concurrent triangulation
      approach was adopted, involving three focus group discussions with consumer,
      staff, and carer groups, and a structured survey among 94 consumers who were
      receiving treatment and 102 staff working in the units at the time of a DDD
      visit. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and descriptive and
      inferential statistics. Major themes were that: (i) drug use in these units is
      perceived as 'prevalent' and 'destructive'; (ii) the DDD programme is
      'beneficial' but 'incongruous' in a health-care setting; (iii) consumers are
      'uninformed'; and (iv) consequences should be 'customized' to circumstances.
      Survey results corroborated qualitative themes, with the exception that although
      concerns about incongruity do exist, they were not prevalent and were outweighed
      by positive perceptions of the programme. Most perceptions were consistent
      between consumers and staff. However, consumers tended to think that, if found,
      drugs should be confiscated, whereas staff were more strongly in favour of the
      consumer being discharged. In conclusion, the DDD programme was seen as a
      positive step towards addressing drug use in mental health units. However,
      improved dissemination of information to consumers through verbal and written
      communication is required.

PMID- 28589659
TI  - Validity and reliability of Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS) among older
      Iranian.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is common among older people and is associated
      with increased morbidity and mortality. The main aim of this study was to
      evaluate the validity of the Persian version of the Abbreviated Mental Test Score
      (AMTS) as a screening tool for dementia. METHODS: Data were obtained from a cross
      sectional study. One hundred and one older adults who were members of Iranian
      Alzheimer Association and 101 of their siblings were entered into this study by
      convenient sampling. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
      4th edition, criteria for diagnosing dementia and the Mini-Mental State
      Examination were used as the study tools. The gathered data were analyzed by the
      Mann-Whitney U-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman's rank correlation
      coefficient, and the receiver-operating characteristic. RESULTS: The AMTS could
      successfully differentiate the dementia group from the non-dementia group. Scores
      were significantly correlated with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders diagnosis for dementia and Mini-Mental State Examination scores (P <
      0.001). Educational level (P < 0.001) and male sex (P = 0.015) were positively
      associated with AMTS, whereas (P < 0.001) was negatively associated with AMTS.
      Total Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.90. The scores 6 and 7 showed the
      optimum balance between sensitivity (99% and 94%, respectively) and specificity
      (85% and 86%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The Persian version of the AMTS is a
      valid cognitive assessment tool for older Iranian adults and can be used for
      dementia screening in Iran.

PMID- 28589662
TI  - State of the Art 2017.

PMID- 28589661
TI  - Clinical assessment of gastric emptying and sensory function utilizing gamma
      scintigraphy: Establishment of reference intervals for the liquid and solid
      components of the Nottingham test meal in healthy subjects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current investigations of stomach function are based on small test
      meals that do not reliably induce symptoms and analysis techniques that rarely
      detect clinically relevant dysfunction. This study presents the reference
      intervals of the modular "Nottingham test meal" (NTM) for assessment of gastric
      function by gamma scintigraphy (GSc) in a representative population of healthy
      volunteers (HVs) stratified for age and sex. METHODS: The NTM comprises 400 mL
      liquid nutrient (0.75 kcal/mL) and an optional solid component (12 solid agar
      beads (0 kcal). Filling and dyspeptic sensations were documented by 100 mm visual
      analogue scale (VAS). Gamma scintigraphy parameters that describe early and late
      phase Gastric emptying (GE) were calculated from validated models. KEY RESULTS:
      Gastric emptying (GE) of the liquid component was measured in 73 HVs (male 34;
      aged 45+/-20). The NTM produced normal postprandial fullness (VAS >=30 in 41/74
      subjects). Dyspeptic symptoms were rare (VAS >=30 in 2/74 subjects). Gastric
      emptying half-time with the Liquid- and Solid-component -NTM was median 44 (95%
      reference interval 28-78) minutes and 162 (144-193) minutes, respectively.
      Gastric accommodation was assessed by the ratio of the liquid-NTM retained in the
      proximal:total stomach and by Early phase emptying assessed by gastric volume
      after completing the meal (GCV0). No consistent effect of anthropometric measures
      on GE parameters was present. CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: Reference intervals are
      presented for GSc measurements of gastric motor and sensory function assessed by
      the NTM. Studies involving patients are required to determine whether the
      reference interval range offers optimal diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.

PMID- 28589660
TI  - Simultaneous Quantification of Bone Edema/Adiposity and Structure in Inflamed
      Bone Using Chemical Shift-Encoded MRI in Spondyloarthritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and R2* as markers of
      bone marrow composition and structure in inflamed bone in patients with
      spondyloarthritis. METHODS: Phantoms containing fat, water, and trabecular bone
      were constructed with proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and bone mineral density
      (BMD) values matching those expected in healthy bone marrow and disease states,
      and scanned using chemical shift-encoded MRI (CSE-MRI) at 3T. Measured PDFF and
      R2* values in phantoms were compared with reference FF and BMD values. Eight
      spondyloarthritis patients and 10 controls underwent CSE-MRI of the sacroiliac
      joints. PDFF and R2* in areas of inflamed bone and fat metaplasia in patients
      were compared with normal bone marrow in controls. RESULTS: In phantoms, PDFF
      measurements were accurate over the full range of PDFF and BMD values. R2*
      measurements were positively associated with BMD but also were influenced by
      variations in PDFF. In patients, PDFF was reduced in areas of inflammation and
      increased in fat metaplasia compared to normal marrow. R2* measurements were
      significantly reduced in areas of fat metaplasia. CONCLUSION: PDFF measurements
      reflect changes in marrow composition in areas of active inflammation and
      structural damage and could be used for disease monitoring in spondyloarthritis.
      R2* measurements may provide additional information bone mineral density but also
      are influenced by fat content. Magn Reson Med 79:1031-1042, 2018. (c) 2017 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 License,
      which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the
      original work is properly cited.

PMID- 28589663
TI  - Co-morbid OSA and insomnia increases depression prevalence and severity in men.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and insomnia coexist in
      clinical populations but prevalence in the community and risk factors remain
      largely unknown. We examined the prevalence and profile of previously undiagnosed
      co-morbid OSA and insomnia symptoms (COMISA) in community-dwelling men. METHODS:
      Men (n = 700, aged 58.5 +/- 11.0 (mean +/- SD) years) without a prior diagnosis
      of OSA completed full at-home unattended polysomnography, the Pittsburgh Sleep
      Quality Index and 36-item short form (SF-36) survey (2007-2012). Insomnia
      symptoms included difficulty initiating/maintaining sleep in the presence of
      daytime fatigue (DIMS-F). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck
      Depression Inventory-1A, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and
      Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (2007-2010). Univariate (chi2 and analysis
      of variance (ANOVA)) and multiple linear regressions were used to compare data
      from four groups of individuals: neither disorder; previously undiagnosed OSA
      (apnoea-hypopnoea index >= 10) or DIMS-F alone; and COMISA. RESULTS: COMISA
      prevalence was 6.7%. Depression prevalence (COMISA, 42.6%; DIMS-F, 21.6%; OSA,
      8.4%, chi2  = 71.6, P < 0.00) and symptom scale scores (e.g. PHQ-9 mean +/- SD:
      16.1 +/- 5.5 c.f. DIMS-F: 14.0 +/- 4.9, P < 0.01 and OSA: 11.4 +/- 3.0, P = 0.01)
      were highest in men with COMISA. In COMISA, respiratory and arousal indices were
      similar to those observed in OSA whilst reductions in subjective sleep and day
      dysfunction scores were similar to DIMS-F. After adjustment, predicted mean
      depression scores were all higher in DIMS-F and COMISA using linear regression
      (e.g. PHQ-9 beta (95% CI): DIMS-F: 2.3 (1.2, 3.5); COMISA: 4.1 (3.0, 5.1)).
      CONCLUSION: Men with COMISA have a greater prevalence, and severity, of
      depression than men with only one disorder.

PMID- 28589665
TI  - Tony Woo (1970-2017).

PMID- 28589666
TI  - Continuing Professional Development.

PMID- 28589664
TI  - Fluidic Manufacture of Star-Shaped Gold Nanoparticles.
AB  - Star-shaped gold nanoparticles (StarAuNPs) are extremely attractive
      nanomaterials, characterized by localized surface plasmon resonance which could
      be potentially employed in a large number of applications. However, the lack of a
      reliable and reproducible synthetic protocols for the production of StarAuNPs is
      the major limitation to their spreading. For the first time, here we present a
      robust protocol to manufacture reproducible StarAuNPs by exploiting a fluidic
      approach. Star-shaped AuNPs have been synthesized by means of a seed-less
      protocol, employing ascorbic acid as reducing agent at room temperature.
      Moreover, the versatility of the bench-top microfluidic protocol has been
      exploited to afford hydrophilic, hydrophobic and solid-supported engineered
      StarAuNPs, by avoiding intermediate NP purifications.

PMID- 28589667
TI  - In vitro and in vivo assessment of lactic acid-modified chitosan scaffolds for
      potential treatment of full-thickness burns.
AB  - Autologous skin transplantation is today's "gold standard" treatment for full
      thickness burns. However, when > 30% of total body surface area is damaged, there
      is an important shortage of autologous donor sites for skin grafting; then,
      treatment alternatives become crucial. Such alternatives can be based on
      polymeric scaffolds capable of functioning as protective covers and cells/factors
      carriers. Chitosan (CTS) is a natural-derived polymer with relevant biological
      related properties but poor mechanical performance. Improved mechanical
      properties can be achieved through lactic acid grafting (LA-g); nevertheless, LA
      g affects the biological response towards the CTS-based materials. In this work,
      CTS-LA scaffolds with different LA-g percentages were synthesized and evaluated
      to determine appropriate LA-g degrees for full-thickness burns treatment. In
      vitro results indicated that the higher the LA-g percentage, the lower the
      capability of the scaffolds to sustain fibroblasts culture. Scaffolds with LA-g
      around 28% (CTS-LA28) sustained cell culture and allowed normal cell
      functionality. Further evaluation of CTS-LA28 as acellular and cellular grafts in
      a full-thickness burn mouse model showed that at 28 days post-burn, macroscopic
      characteristic of the reparation tissue were closer to healthy skin when cellular
      grafts were used for treatment; histological evaluation also showed that dermis
      cellularity and collagenous fibers structure were similar to those in healthy
      skin when cellular grafts were used for burns treatment. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2875-2891, 2017.

PMID- 28589668
TI  - Strongly positive anti-CCP antibodies in patients with sacroiliitis or reactive
      arthritis post-E. coli infection: A mini case-series based review.
AB  - We report here on four cases of patients with strongly positive anti
      citrullinated cyclic peptides (anti-CCP) antibodies and clinical features of
      seronegative spondyloarthritis (SpA) and reactive arthritis. The four patients
      had various clinical presentations: one had an initial diagnosis of seropositive
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with involvement of the sacroiliac joints (similar to
      previous reports of the association of two diseases); one had a clinical picture
      of reactive arthritis following an episode of an Escherichia coli positive
      urinary tract infection; and two had asymmetrical sacroiliitis (SII), but no
      evidence of peripheral joint involvement (never reported before). In all cases,
      high titers of anti-CCP antibodies were found. We present a comparison of the
      clinical manifestations, radiographic features and treatment regimens of these
      cases. Our report supports previous literature data of possible overlap existing
      between RA and SpA, but also presents for the first time the association of high
      titers of anti-CCP antibodies with SII and reactive arthritis in patients with no
      peripheral small joint involvement.

PMID- 28589669
TI  - An economic evaluation of a multicomponent self-management intervention for
      adults with epilepsy (ZMILE study).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this (trial-based) economic evaluation was, from a
      societal perspective, to compare the cost-effectiveness of a multicomponent self
      management intervention (MCI) with care as usual (CAU) in adult patients with
      epilepsy over a 12-month period. METHODS: In a randomized-controlled trial,
      participants were randomized into intervention or CAU group. Adherence, self
      efficacy (Epilepsy Self-Efficacy Scale [ESES]), quality-adjusted life years
      (QALYs), healthcare costs, production losses, and patient and family costs were
      assessed at baseline and during the 12-month study period. Incremental cost
      effectiveness ratios (ICERs) (i.e., cost per increased adherence, self-efficacy,
      or QALY), and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves were calculated. RESULTS:
      In total, 102 patients were included in the study, of whom 52 were in the
      intervention group. Adherence rates over 6 months were 63.7% for the CAU group
      and 75.9% for the intervention group. Adherence, ESES, and quality of life did
      not differ significantly between groups. An ICER of ?54 per point increase in
      ESES score at 6 months and ?1,105 per point increase at 12-month follow-up was
      found. The intervention resulted in an ICER of ?88 per percentage of adherence
      increase at 6 months. ICERs of ?8,272 and ?15,144 per QALY gained were found at 6
      and 12-month follow-up, respectively. SIGNIFICANCE: Although no statistically
      significant difference was found after baseline adjustments, cost-effectiveness
      estimates for MCI appear promising. As rules of inference are arbitrary, it has
      been argued that decisions should be based only on the net benefits, irrespective
      of whether differences are statistically significant. Hence, the MCI may be a
      cost-effective addition to the current standard care for adults with epilepsy.

PMID- 28589670
TI  - Texture analysis of ultrasound images is a sensitive method to follow-up muscle
      damage induced by eccentric exercise.
AB  - The grey level of co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is a texture analysis approach
      accounting for spatial distribution of the pixels from an image and can be a
      promising method for exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) studies. We followed
      up the time changes of two GLCM texture parameters and echo intensity (EI) on
      ultrasound images after eccentric contractions. Thirteen untrained women
      performed two sets of ten elbow flexions eccentric contractions. Ultrasound
      images were acquired at baseline and 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h after exercise.
      Two GLCM texture parameters were calculated for the brachialis muscle: contrast
      (CON) and correlation (COR). Peak torque, EI, muscle thickness (MT) and soreness
      were measured. The peak torque and soreness decreased immediately after the
      intervention in comparison with all the measures. MT increased immediately after
      the intervention remaining for 72 h (P<0.05). Significant increases (P<0.05) were
      observed for COR (48, 72 and 96 h) and EI only at 72 and 96 h. The increasing COR
      represents high similarity between grey levels, which could be observed on US
      images after few days on eccentric training for elbow flexors.

PMID- 28589671
TI  - Pain and Mortality in Older Adults: The Influence of Pain Phenotype.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Moderate to severe chronic pain affects 1 in 5 adults. Pain may
      increase the risk of mortality, but the relationship is unclear. This study
      investigated whether mortality risk was influenced by pain phenotype,
      characterized by pain extent or pain impact on daily life. METHODS: The study
      population was drawn from 2 large population cohorts of adults ages >=50 years,
      the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n = 6,324) and the North Staffordshire
      Osteoarthritis Project (n = 10,985). Survival analyses (Cox's proportional hazard
      models) estimated the risk of mortality in participants reporting any pain and
      then separately according to the extent of pain (total number of pain sites,
      widespread pain according to the American College of Rheumatology [ACR] criteria,
      and widespread pain according to Manchester criteria) and pain impact on daily
      life (pain interference and often troubled with pain). Models were cumulatively
      adjusted for age, sex, education, and wealth/adequacy of income. RESULTS: After
      adjustments, the report of any pain (mortality rate ratio [MRR] 1.06 [95%
      confidence interval (95% CI) 0.95-1.19]) or having widespread pain (ACR 1.07 [95%
      CI 0.92-1.23] or Manchester 1.16 [95% CI 0.99-1.36]) was not associated with an
      increased risk of mortality. Participants who were often troubled with pain (MRR
      1.29 [95% CI 1.12-1.49]) and those who reported quite a bit of pain interference
      (MRR 1.38 [95% CI 1.20-1.59]) and extreme pain interference (MRR 1.88 [1.54
      2.29]) had an increased risk of all-cause mortality. CONCLUSION: Pain that
      interferes with daily life, rather than pain per se, was associated with an
      increased risk of mortality. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms
      through which pain increases mortality risk.

PMID- 28589672
TI  - An international survey about nail histology processing techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are limited data on nail histopathology techniques. The
      objective of this study was to examine nail histopathology techniques currently
      in use internationally. METHODS: An online survey was sent to the European Nail
      Society and Council for Nail Disorders during 2015-2016. RESULTS: There were 57
      respondents, from twenty countries comprising dermatologists, podiatrists and
      pathologists. Specimens were unmarked or marked using ink or a suture and fixed
      in 10% formalin, from 6 to 48 hours before embedding in paraffin wax (90%
      [17/19]), liquid nitrogen (frozen section, 1/19) and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate
      (plastic, 1/19). Nail softening was undertaken by 71% (17/24) of respondents for
      6 to 48 hours using Mollifex Gurr (12.5%, 3/24), 10% potassium hydroxide solution
      (12.5%, 3/24) or 10% potassium thioglycolate cream (12.5%, 3/24). Section
      thickness was 4 to 9 um (62.5%), using a steel microtome (92%,12/13) on glass
      slides (91.6%, 11/12). Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) was routine for all biopsies
      and Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) for fungus. The favored stain for differentiating
      melanin and hemoglobin was Fontana-Masson (60%, 6/10). For pigmented lesions,
      Melan-A was always employed by all respondents (9/9). CONCLUSION: Nail
      histopathology processing has some small variations from normal skin processing.

PMID- 28589673
TI  - Lung cancer samples preserved in liquid medium: One step beyond cytology.
AB  - Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer types in men and women worldwide
      with a high mortality rate. World Health Organization (WHO) classification has
      accepted biopsy as the primary sample for lung cancer diagnosis, pathological
      classification and molecular testing for management of patients, yet, the use of
      alternative sampling procedures is highly encouraged. Bronchial cytological
      samples require a less invasive collection technique and may be suitable for
      pathological and molecular analysis and storage in liquid medium. Furthermore,
      the molecular analysis of bronchial cytological samples allows the detection of
      molecular biomarkers, which may be useful for the selection of molecular targeted
      therapies. Thus, the purpose of this review is to describe the usefulness of
      bronchial cytological samples preserved in liquid medium from lung cancer
      patients for pathological diagnosis and molecular investigation.

PMID- 28589674
TI  - Differences in the early stages of social information processing for adolescents
      involved in bullying.
AB  - Bullying victimization has commonly been associated with deficiencies in social
      information processing (SIP). In contrast, findings regarding bullying
      perpetration are mixed, with some researchers claiming that bullies may have
      superior SIP abilities than victimized or uninvolved youth. This study
      investigated the effects of bullying and victimization on early SIP; specifically
      the recognition and interpretation of social information. In stage 1, 2,782
      adolescents (11-16 years) were screened for bullying involvement, and in stage 2,
      723 of these participants (mean age = 13.95) were assessed on measures of emotion
      recognition, hostile attribution bias, and characterological self-blame (CSB). No
      associations between bullying and early SIP were found. In contrast,
      victimization was associated with more hostile attribution bias and CSB
      attributions. Girls performed better than boys on the emotion recognition task
      while boys showed greater hostile attribution biases. No interaction effects of
      bullying or victimization with gender were found. Follow-up categorical analyses
      that considered pure victims versus victims who also bullied (bully-victims) on
      SIP, found a similar pattern of findings. These findings suggest that those who
      purely bully others are neither superior nor deficient in the early stages of
      SIP. Victimized adolescents, however, show biases in their interpretations of
      social situations and the intentions of others. These biases may lead to
      maladaptive responses and may increase risk for further victimization by peers.

PMID- 28589675
TI  - Cdk5 activity is required for Purkinje cell dendritic growth in cell-autonomous
      and non-cell-autonomous manners.
AB  - Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is recognized as a unique member among other
      Cdks due to its versatile roles in many biochemical processes in the nervous
      system. The proper development of neuronal dendrites is required for the
      formation of complex neural networks providing the physiological basis of various
      neuronal functions. We previously reported that sparse dendrites were observed on
      cultured Cdk5-null Purkinje cells and Purkinje cells in Wnt1cre -mediated Cdk5
      conditional knockout (KO) mice. In the present study, we generated L7cre 
      mediated p35; p39 double KO (L7cre -p35f/f ; p39-/- ) mice whose Cdk5 activity
      was eliminated specifically in Purkinje cells of the developing cerebellum.
      Consequently, these mice exhibited defective Purkinje cell migration, motor
      coordination deficiency and a Purkinje dendritic abnormality similar to what we
      have observed before, suggesting that dendritic growth of Purkinje cells was cell
      autonomous in vivo. We found that mixed and overlay cultures of WT cerebellar
      cells rescued the dendritic deficits in Cdk5-null Purkinje cells, however,
      indicating that Purkinje cell dendritic development was also supported by non
      cell-autonomous factors. We then again rescued these abnormalities in vitro by
      applying exogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Based on the results
      from culture experiments, we attempted to rescue the developmental defects of
      Purkinje cells in L7cre -p35f/f ; p39-/- mice by using a TrkB agonist. We
      observed partial rescue of morphological defects of dendritic structures of
      Purkinje cells. These results suggest that Cdk5 activity is required for Purkinje
      cell dendritic growth in cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous manners. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 1175-1187, 2017.

PMID- 28589676
TI  - Effect of carrageenans alone and in combination with casein or lipopolysaccharide
      on human epithelial intestinal HT-29 cells.
AB  - The research described here was focused on the effect on human intestinal
      epithelial cell monolayers of sulfated red algal polysaccharides (kappa-, lambda
      , and kappa/beta-carrageenans) alone and in combination with casein or
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS). HT-29 cells were investigated under normal and stress
      conditions; stress was induced by exposure to ethanol. Cell viability was
      monitored with a real-time system. The change in binding properties of negatively
      sulfated red algal polysaccharides assessed by the measurement of free
      carrageenans in mixtures with casein or McCoy's 5 A culture medium by means of
      toluidine blue O. Low sulfate content and the presence of 3,6-anhydogalactose are
      prerequisites for the recovery of ethanol-exposed HT-29 cells by carrageenans.
      Analysis of carrageenan binding ability confirmed that casein and LPS should
      affect carrageenan activity. Whether the combined action of the mucin-containing
      layer and carrageenans or the action of carrageenans alone was responsible for
      enhanced cell viability under stress conditions induced by ethanol is a subject
      for further research. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:
      105A: 2843-2850, 2017.

PMID- 28589677
TI  - Telehealth in paediatric surgery: Accuracy of clinical decisions made by
      videoconference.
AB  - AIM: Telehealth is a useful method of providing specialist consultation to a
      geographically diverse population. Canadian studies of telehealth for paediatric
      surgery demonstrate good accuracy, but have low numbers of cryptorchid patients
      in their cohorts. Our aim was to confirm Canadian studies for our cohort and to
      assess accuracy regarding cryptorchidism. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of
      patients seen via paediatric surgical telehealth over a 12-month period, to
      determine accuracy of telediagnosis with respect to face-to-face diagnosis and
      plan. RESULTS: A total of 183 children had 224 videoconferences, resulting in 74
      surgical bookings. There was high diagnostic concordance, except for undescended
      testes. One discharged patient, and two patients booked for review, have
      subsequently required an orchidopexy (false negatives). Of 15 patients booked for
      surgery, three did not require an operation (false positives). Other patients had
      their procedures upgraded (from open to laparoscopic) or downgraded (from
      laparoscopic to open) due to inaccuracies in far-end assessment. CONCLUSION:
      Telehealth for paediatric surgery is accurate for most conditions seen, but for
      cryptorchidism there are significant concerns.

PMID- 28589679
TI  - Self-Regulating Iris Based on Light-Actuated Liquid Crystal Elastomer.
AB  - The iris, found in many animal species, is a biological tissue that can change
      the aperture (pupil) size to regulate light transmission into the eye in response
      to varying illumination conditions. The self-regulation of the eye lies behind
      its autofocusing ability and large dynamic range, rendering it the ultimate
      "imaging device" and a continuous source of inspiration in science. In optical
      imaging devices, adjustable apertures play a vital role as they control the light
      exposure, the depth of field, and optical aberrations of the systems. Tunable
      irises demonstrated to date require external control through mechanical
      actuation, and are not capable of autonomous action in response to changing light
      intensity without control circuitry. A self-regulating artificial iris would
      offer new opportunities for device automation and stabilization. Here, this paper
      reports the first iris-like, liquid crystal elastomer device that can perform
      automatic shape-adjustment by reacting to the incident light power density.
      Similar to natural iris, the device closes under increasing light intensity, and
      upon reaching the minimum pupil size, reduces the light transmission by a factor
      of seven. The light-responsive materials design, together with photoalignment
      based control over the molecular orientation, provides a new approach to
      automatic, self-regulating optical systems based on soft smart materials.

PMID- 28589681
TI  - Corrigendum: Strain uses gap junctions to reverse stimulation of osteoblast
      proliferation by osteocytes.

PMID- 28589678
TI  - Barriers and facilitators to young children's physical activity and sedentary
      behaviour: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative literature.
AB  - Positive activity behaviours (i.e. higher physical activity [PA]/lower sedentary
      behaviour [SB]) are beneficial from infancy, yet evidence suggests that young
      children (0- to 6-year-olds) are relatively inactive. To better understand the
      perceived influences on these behaviours and to aid intervention development,
      this paper systematically synthesizes the extensive qualitative literature
      regarding perceived barriers and facilitators to PA and SB in young children (0-6
      years old). A search of eight electronic databases (July 2016) identified 43
      papers for inclusion. Data extraction and evidence synthesis were conducted using
      thematic content analysis, underpinned by the socio-ecological model (i.e.
      individual, interpersonal, community, organizational and policy levels). Parents,
      childcare providers and children perceived seven broad themes to be important for
      PA and SB, including the child; the home; out-of-home childcare; parent-childcare
      provider interactions; environmental factors; safety; and weather. Each theme
      mapped onto between one and five levels of the socio-ecological model; barriers
      and facilitators at the interpersonal level (e.g. parents, care providers and
      family) were most frequently cited, reflecting the important (perceived) role
      adults/peers play in shaping young children's behaviours. We provide an
      overarching framework to explain PA and SB in early childhood. We also highlight
      where gaps in the current literature exist (e.g. from male carers; in developing
      countries; and barriers and facilitators in the environmental and policy domains)
      and where future quantitative work may focus to provide novel insights about
      children's activity behaviours (e.g. safety and weather).

PMID- 28589680
TI  - All-trans retinoic acid upregulates the expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor
      in retinal pigment epithelial cells.
AB  - Retinopathy of prematurity, a leading cause of visual impairment in low birth
      weight infants, remains a crucial therapeutic challenge. Ciliary neurotrophic
      factor (CNTF) is a promyelinating trophic factor that promotes rod and cone
      photoreceptor survival and cone outer segment regeneration in the degenerating
      retina. Ciliary neurotrophic factor expression is regulated by many factors such
      as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). In this study, we found that ATRA increased
      CNTF expression in mouse retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in a dose- and
      time-dependent manner, and PKA signaling pathway is necessary for ATRA-induced
      CNTF upregulation. Furthermore, we showed that ATRA promoted CNTF expression
      through CREB binding to its promoter region. In addition, CNTF levels were
      decreased in serum of retinopathy of prematurity children and in retinal tissue
      of oxygen-induced retinopathy mice. In mouse RPE cells cultured with high oxygen,
      CNTF expression and secretion were decreased, but could be recovered after
      treatment with ATRA. In conclusion, our data suggest that ATRA administration
      upregulates CNTF expression in RPE cells.

PMID- 28589682
TI  - Expansion of adipose tissue-derived stromal cells at "physiologic" hypoxia
      attenuates replicative senescence.
AB  - Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells are considered as a perspective tool in
      cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Unfortunately, autologous cell therapy
      does not always provide positive outcomes in elder donors, perhaps as a result of
      the alterations of stem cell compartments. The mechanisms of stem and progenitor
      cell senescence and the factors engaged are investigated intensively. In present
      paper, we elucidated the effects of tissue-related O2 on morphology, functions,
      and transcriptomic profile of adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ASCs) in
      replicative senescence in vitro model. Replicatively senescent ASCs at ambient
      (20%) O2 (12-21 passages) demonstrated an increased average cell size,
      granularity, reactive oxygen species level, including anion superoxide, lysosomal
      compartment activity, and IL-6 production. Decreased ASC viability and
      proliferation, as well as the change of more than 10 senescence-associated gene
      expression were detected (IGF1, CDKN1C, ID1, CCND1, etc). Long-term ASC expansion
      at low O2 (5%) revoked in part the replicative senescence-associated alterations.

PMID- 28589684
TI  - Chimeric RNAs in cancer and normal physiology.
AB  - Traditionally, chimeric RNAs were considered to be exclusive to cancer cells.
      When occasionally observed in normal samples, they were usually considered to be
      transcriptional 'noises,' or artifacts due to template switching during the
      reverse transcription and/or Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) steps of
      experimentation. However, with the advances being made in next generation
      sequencing technologies and software tools, as well as the accumulation of new
      experimental evidences, increasing numbers of chimeric transcripts are being
      identified in noncancerous tissues and cells. Recent studies have also
      demonstrated functional relevance, for at least a subset of chimeric RNAs in
      normal physiology. The advances have resulted in an influx of knowledge; this
      knowledge indicates that chimeric RNAs are a component of basic biology, and thus
      challenging traditional dogma. In addition to chromosomal rearrangement, chimeric
      RNAs can also be formed via different molecular mechanisms including cis-splicing
      of adjacent genes (cis-SAGe) and trans-splicing, as well as others. Little is
      known about the details of these noncanonical splicing processes. However,
      research in this new field promises to not only advance our basic understanding
      of the human genome and gene regulation, but also lead to improvements in
      clinical practice, especially in the areas of cancer diagnostics and treatment.
      WIREs RNA 2017, 8:e1427. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1427 For further resources related to
      this article, please visit the WIREs website.

PMID- 28589683
TI  - Early detection and integrated care for adolescents and young adults with
      psychotic disorders: the ACCESS III study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate whether a combined
      intervention composed of early detection plus integrated care (EDIC) enhances
      outcomes in patients with early psychosis compared to standard care (SC).
      METHODS: ACCESS III is a prospective non-randomized historical control design 1
      year study examining the efficacy of EDIC (n = 120) vs. SC (n = 105) in patients
      aged 12-29 years. Primary outcome was the rate of >=6 months combined symptomatic
      and functional remission. Additional outcomes comprised the reduction of DUP and
      course of psychopathology, functioning, quality of life, and satisfaction with
      care. RESULTS: In observed cases, 48.9% in the EDIC and 15.2% in the SC group
      reached the primary endpoint. Remission was predicted by EDIC (OR = 6.8, CI: 3.15
      14.53, P < 0.001); younger age predicted non-remission (OR = 1.1, CI: 1.01-1.19,
      P = 0.038). Linear regressions indicated a reduction of DUP in EDIC (P < 0.001),
      but not in SC (P = 0.41). MMRMs showed significantly larger improvements in PANSS
      positive (P < 0.001) and GAF (P < 0.01) scores in EDIC vs. SC, and in EDIC over
      time in CGI-Severity (P < 0.001) and numerically in Q-LES-Q-18 (P = 0.052).
      CONCLUSIONS: EDIC lead to significantly higher proportions of patients achieving
      combined remission. Moderating variables included a reduction of DUP and EDIC,
      offering psychotherapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28589685
TI  - Efficiency performance of China's health care delivery system.
AB  - Improving efficiency performance of the health care delivery system has been on
      the agenda for the health system reform that China initiated in 2009. This study
      examines the changes in efficiency performance and determinants of efficiency
      after the reform to provide evidence to assess the progress of the reform from
      the perspective of efficiency. Descriptive analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis,
      the Malmquist Index, and multilevel regressions are used with data from multiple
      sources, including the World Bank, the China Health Statistical Yearbook, and
      routine reports. The results indicate that over the last decade, health outcomes
      compared with health investment were relatively higher in China than in most
      other countries worldwide, and the trend was stable. The overall efficiency and
      total factor productivity increased after the reform, indicating that the reform
      was likely to have had a positive impact on the efficiency performance of the
      health care delivery system. However, the health care delivery structure showed
      low system efficiency, mainly attributed to the weakened primary health care
      system. Strengthening the primary health care system is central to enhancing the
      future performance of China's health care delivery system.

PMID- 28589686
TI  - G-CSF loaded nanofiber/nanoparticle composite coated with collagen promotes wound
      healing in vivo.
AB  - Sustained release of functional growth factors can be considered as a beneficial
      methodology for wound healing. In this study, recombinant human granulocyte
      colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were incorporated
      in Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers, followed by surface coating with
      collagen type I. Physical and mechanical properties of the PCL nanofibers
      containing G-CSF loaded chitosan nanoparticles PCL/NP(G-CSF) and in vivo
      performance for wound healing were investigated. G-CSF structural stability was
      evaluated through SDS_PAGE, reversed phase (RP) HPLC and size-exclusion
      chromatography, as well as circular dichroism. Nanofiber/nanoparticle composite
      scaffold was demonstrated to have appropriate mechanical properties as a wound
      dresser and a sustained release of functional G-CSF. The PCL/NP(G-CSF) scaffold
      showed a suitable proliferation and well-adherent morphology of stem cells. In
      vivo study and histopathological evaluation outcome revealed that skin
      regeneration was dramatically accelerated under PCL/NP(G-CSF) as compared with
      control groups. Superior fibroblast maturation, enhanced collagen deposition and
      minimum inflammatory cells were also the beneficial properties of PCL/NP(G-CSF)
      over the commercial dressing. The synergistic effect of extracellular matrix
      mimicking nanofibrous membrane and G-CSF could develop a suitable supportive
      substrate in order to extensive utilization for the healing of skin wounds. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2830-2842, 2017.

PMID- 28589687
TI  - Adaptive DBS in a Parkinson's patient with chronically implanted DBS: A proof of
      principle.

PMID- 28589688
TI  - Polymerization of 1-Phosphaisoprene: Synthesis and Characterization of a
      Chemically Functional Phosphorus Version of Natural Rubber.
AB  - Macromolecules derived from 1,3-dienes, such as polyisoprene (or natural rubber),
      are of considerable importance in polymer science. Given the parallels between
      P=C and C=C bonds, the prospect of polymerizing P-containing 1,3-dienes, such as
      1-phosphaisoprene, is intriguing due to the unique chemical functionality
      imparted by the heavier element combined with their structural relationship to
      natural rubber. Herein, we report the synthesis, characterization and
      coordination chemistry of the first polymers derived from Mes*P=CR-CH=CH2
      (Mes*=2,4,6-t-Bu3 C6 H2 ; R=H, Me). In the case of 1-phosphaisoprene (R=Me), the
      monomer is isolable and its anionic polymerization affords a polymer that retains
      P=C bonds in its microstructure. The chemical functionality of these novel
      materials is demonstrated by forming the macromolecular gold(I) complex where the
      P=C bond is retained for further chemical elaboration.

PMID- 28589689
TI  - Genetic variation in the developmental regulation of cortical avpr1a among
      prairie voles.
AB  - Early experiences can have enduring impacts on brain and behavior, but the
      strength of these effects can be influenced by genetic variation. In principle,
      polymorphic CpGs (polyCpGs) may contribute to gene-by-environment interactions (G
      * E) by altering DNA methylation. In this study, we investigate the influence of
      polyCpGs on the development of vasopressin receptor 1a abundance in the
      retrosplenial cortex (RSC-V1aR) of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Two
      alternative alleles ('HI'/'LO') predict RSC avpr1a expression, V1aR abundance and
      sexual fidelity in adulthood; these alleles differ in the frequency of CpG sites
      and in methylation at a putative intron enhancer. We hypothesized that the
      elevated CpG abundance in the LO allele would make homozygous LO/LO voles more
      sensitive to developmental perturbations. We found that genotype differences in
      RSC-V1aR abundance emerged early in ontogeny and were accompanied by differences
      in methylation of the putative enhancer. As predicted, postnatal treatment with
      an oxytocin receptor antagonist (OTA) reduced RSC-V1aR abundance in LO/LO adults
      but not their HI/HI siblings. Similarly, methylation inhibition by zebularine
      increased RSC-V1aR in LO/LO adults, but not in HI/HI siblings. These data show a
      gene-by-environment interaction in RSC-V1aR. Surprisingly, however, neither OTA
      nor zebularine altered adult methylation of the intronic enhancer, suggesting
      that differences in sensitivity could not be explained by CpG density at the
      enhancer alone. Methylated DNA immunoprecipiation-sequencing showed additional
      differentially methylated regions between HI/HI and LO/LO voles. Future research
      should examine the role of these regions and other regulatory elements in the
      ontogeny of RSC-V1aR and its developmentally induced changes.

PMID- 28589690
TI  - Perioperative management of new oral anticoagulants in patients undergoing
      elective surgery at a tertiary hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of patients receiving new oral anticoagulants
      (NOAC) are undergoing elective surgery. The extent to which perioperative
      interruption of NOAC therapy and use of bridging heparin are concordant with best
      evidence is uncertain. AIMS: To determine: (i) concordance of NOAC and bridging
      heparin use with guidelines; and (ii) associations between guideline concordance
      and patient characteristics, surgical factors and perioperative adverse events.
      METHODS: Retrospective study of consecutive adult patients undergoing elective
      surgery at a tertiary hospital between 1 January 2014 and 30 June 2015 and were
      receiving NOAC for at least 3 months prior to surgery. Concordance of
      perioperative anticoagulation management with hospital guidelines was rated by
      two independent researchers according to explicit thrombosis and bleeding risk
      tables. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty patients of mean (+/-SD) age 72.0 (+/
      11.6) years were studied; 75% had atrial fibrillation as NOAC indication.
      Decision to interrupt anticoagulation in 142 patients was rated guideline
      concordant in 59 (41.5%) based on low bleeding risk in all cases and high
      thrombotic risk in one-third. Concordant decisions were associated with past
      myocardial infarction (P = 0.009), chronic kidney disease (P = 0.05), use of
      dabigatran (P = 0.06) and major surgery (P < 0.001). Bridging heparin was
      prescribed in 51 (35.9%) patients and not prescribed in 91 (64.1%), with 64
      (45.1%) decisions rated guideline-discordant comprising 27 decisions to prescribe
      and 37 not to prescribe. Guideline concordant bridging was associated with
      chronic kidney disease (P = 0.02); discordant bridging with use of dabigatran (P
      = 0.04), high thrombotic risk (P = 0.004), past ischaemic stroke (P = 0.07). At
      30 days, only one adverse event (major bleed) was noted. CONCLUSION: Considerable
      discordance exists between guideline recommendations and perioperative NOAC
      management. Assistive tools are required that better align decision-making with
      current best practice.

PMID- 28589691
TI  - Medical scribes have no impact on the patient experience of an emergency
      department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate patient perceptions of medical scribes in the ED
      and to test for scribe impacts on ED Net Promoter Scores, Press Ganey Surveys and
      other patient-centred topics. METHODS: Exploratory semi-structured interviews
      were conducted in the ED during wait times after scribed consultations. Interview
      results were used to derive topics relating to scribes. Items addressing these
      topics from validated surveys were combined with items from widely used patient
      satisfaction questionnaires. Questionnaires were administered in the ED by face
      to-face approach while patients were waiting for admission/discharge or test
      results. Patients and doctors were blinded to the purpose of the questionnaire.
      The survey evaluated for non-inferiority of scribed consultations, using Net
      Promoter Scores, Press Ganey questions and questions specific to the presence of
      the scribe. RESULTS: Patient interviews did not identify any negative views
      regarding the presence of scribes during consultations. Thematic saturation was
      achieved after seven interviews. Two hundred and fifty-eight patients were
      approached to complete the questionnaire, and 215 participated (83%); 95 and 118
      participants in the scribed and non-scribed groups, respectively. There was no
      difference between scribed and non-scribed consultations on the following
      measures of satisfaction: the Net Promoter Score, Press Ganey questions, quality
      of information received from doctors, communication, privacy concerns or
      inhibition about revealing private information and room crowding. CONCLUSION: We
      found no evidence that scribes reduce patient satisfaction during emergency
      consultations, nor prompt discomfort that might cause a patient to withhold
      information.

PMID- 28589692
TI  - A gatekeeping procedure to test a primary and a secondary endpoint in a group
      sequential design with multiple interim looks.
AB  - Glimm et al. (2010) and Tamhane et al. (2010) studied the problem of testing a
      primary and a secondary endpoint, subject to a gatekeeping constraint, using a
      group sequential design (GSD) with K=2 looks. In this article, we greatly extend
      the previous results to multiple (K>2) looks. If the familywise error rate (FWER)
      is to be controlled at a preassigned alpha level then it is clear that the
      primary boundary must be of level alpha. We show under what conditions one alpha
      level primary boundary is uniformly more powerful than another. Based on this
      result, we recommend the choice of the O'Brien and Fleming (1979) boundary over
      the Pocock (1977) boundary for the primary endpoint. For the secondary endpoint
      the choice of the boundary is more complicated since under certain conditions the
      secondary boundary can be refined to have a nominal level alpha'>alpha, while
      still controlling the FWER at level alpha, thus boosting the secondary power. We
      carry out secondary power comparisons via simulation between different choices of
      primary-secondary boundary combinations. The methodology is applied to the data
      from the RALES study (Pitt et al., 1999; Wittes et al., 2001). An R library
      package gsrsb to implement the proposed methodology is made available on CRAN.

PMID- 28589693
TI  - Antipsychotic prescription and mortality in hospitalized older persons.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent scientific reports have shown that older persons treated with
      antipsychotics for dementia-related behavioural symptoms have increased
      mortality. However, the impact of these drugs prescribed during hospitalization
      has rarely been assessed. We aimed to investigate whether antipsychotics are
      associated with an increased risk of mortality during hospitalization and at 3
      month follow-up in elderly inpatients. METHODS: We analyzed data gathered during
      two waves (2010 and 2012) by the REPOSI (Registro Politerapie Societa Italiana
      Medicina Interna). All new prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs during
      hospitalization, whether maintained or discontinued at discharge, were collected,
      and logistic regression models were used to analyze their association with in
      hospital and 3-month mortality. Covariates were age, sex, the Short Blessed Test
      (SBT) score, and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. RESULTS: Among 2703
      patients included in the study, 135 (5%) received new prescriptions for
      antipsychotic drugs. The most frequently prescribed antipsychotic during
      hospitalization and eventually maintained at discharge was haloperidol (38% and
      36% of cases, respectively). Patients newly prescribed with antipsychotics were
      older and had a higher Cumulative Illness Rating Scale comorbidity index both at
      admission and at discharge compared to those who did not receive a prescription.
      Of those prescribed antipsychotics, 71% had an SBT score >=10 (indicative of
      dementia), 12% had an SBT score of 5-9 (indicative of questionable dementia); and
      17% had an SBT score <5 (indicative of normal cognition). In-hospital mortality
      was slightly higher in patients prescribed antipsychotic drugs (14.3% vs 9.4%; P
      = 0.109), but in multivariate analysis only male sex, older age, and higher SBT
      scores were significantly related to mortality during hospitalization. At 3-month
      follow-up, only male sex, older age, and higher SBT scores were associated with
      mortality. CONCLUSION: We found that the prescription of antipsychotic drugs
      during hospitalization was not associated with in-hospital or follow-up
      mortality. Short-term antipsychotic prescriptions (for acutely ill patients) may
      have a different effect than long-term, repeated prescriptions.

PMID- 28589694
TI  - Can members of the south-western Gila robusta species complex be distinguished by
      morphological features?
AB  - The goal for this project was to re-examine key morphological characters
      hypothesized to differentiate Gila intermedia, Gila robusta and Gila nigra and
      outline methods better suited for making species designations based on
      morphology. Using a combination of meristic counts, morphological measurements
      and geometric morphometrics, morphological dissimilarities were quantified among
      these three putative species. Traditional meristic counts and morphological
      measurements (i.e. distances between landmarks) were not useful for species
      identification. Geometric morphometrics, however, identified differences among
      species, while also suggesting an effect of geographic location on morphological
      variation. Using canonical variate analysis for the 441 fish sampled in this
      study, geometric morphometrics accurately predicted true group membership 100% of
      the time for G. nigra, 97% of the time for G. intermedia and 91% of the time for
      G. robusta. These results suggest that geometric morphometric analysis is
      necessary to identify morphological differences among the three species.
      Geometric morphometric analysis used in this study can be adopted by management
      officials as a tool to classify unidentified individuals.

PMID- 28589695
TI  - Effect of orally administered zinc oxide nanoparticles on albino rat thymus and
      spleen.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the toxicological effects of oral intake of Zinc
      oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the structure of thymus and spleen. Twenty-four
      young male Wistar albino rats were assigned into two groups: group I (control)
      and group II (ZnO NPs treated group).The thymus and spleen were analyzed
      biochemically, histopathologically and immunohistochemically. After ZnO NPs
      intake, hematologically, the total leucocytic count was significantly increased
      while the RBCs and platelets counts and Hb % were significantly decreased.
      Biochemically, a significant decrease in serum total antioxidant capacity and
      anti-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin 4 and 10 (IL-4 and IL-10)
      levels was noted. While a significant increase in splenic and thymic
      malondialdehyde (MDA) and DNA shearing, as well as the studied proinflammatory
      cytokines; IL-1beta, tumor necrotic factor (TNF-alpha) and interferon (INF-gamma)
      levels was detected. Notably, we noted upregulation of the immunomodulatory [CD3,
      CD11b, heme oxygenase (HO-1)] and the inflammatory [toll-like receptor 4 and 6
      (TLR4 and TLR6)] genes. Histopathologically, degenerative changes were detected
      in thymus and spleen of ZnO NPs treated group. While the immunohistochemical
      analysis of the ZnO NPs treated group revealed a decrease in the number of cells
      expressed positive reactions of anti-PCNA and an increase in the number of cells
      expressed positive reaction of anti-p53 in the thymus and spleen. In conclusion,
      ZnO NPs induced obvious immunotoxicity in the thymus and spleen, where
      oxidative/inflammatory pathway may be the potential mechanism underlying this
      immunotoxicity. (c) 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(7):528-539, 2017.

PMID- 28589697
TI  - Immediate hypersensitivity to chlorhexidine.
AB  - Chlorhexidine is a widely used and effective antiseptic agent. Although skin
      contact is usually well tolerated, it may cause both immediate and delayed
      hypersensitivity reactions. We report a case of immediate hypersensitivity to
      chlorhexidine causing both skin and respiratory symptoms following occupational
      exposure to chlorhexidine in a health-care worker.

PMID- 28589696
TI  - Cross-altitude analysis suggests a turning point at the elevation of 4,500 m for
      polycythemia prevalence in Tibetans.

PMID- 28589699
TI  - Genetic relationships of Plagioscion squamosissimus (Perciformes, Sciaenidae)
      from five Neotropical river basins evaluated using mitochondrial atpase6/8 gene
      sequences.
AB  - The genetic relationships of native or introduced Plagioscion squamosissimus in
      five Brazilian Neotropical basins were evaluated using the mitochondrial
      atpase6/8 genes. Results revealed that the population of the Tocantins River
      basin is more basal than the native populations of the Amazon and Parnaiba River
      basins. Moreover, the populations of P. squamosissimus that were introduced in
      the Sao Francisco and upper Parana River basins originated from the population of
      the Parnaiba River.

PMID- 28589698
TI  - Wnt and Shh signals regulate neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation
      in the optic tectum of adult zebrafish.
AB  - Adult neurogenesis occurs more commonly in teleosts, represented by zebrafish,
      than in mammals. Zebrafish is therefore considered a suitable model to study
      adult neurogenesis, for which the regulatory molecular mechanisms remain little
      known. Our previous study revealed that neuroepithelial-like neural stem cells
      (NSCs) are located at the edge of the dorsomedial region. We also showed that
      Notch signaling inhibits NSC proliferation in this region. In the present study,
      we reported the expression of Wnt and Shh signaling components in this region of
      the optic tectum. Moreover, inhibitors of Wnt and Shh signaling suppressed NSC
      proliferation, suggesting that these pathways promote NSC proliferation. Shh is
      particularly required for maintaining Sox2-positive NSCs. Our experimental data
      also indicate the involvement of these signaling pathways in neural
      differentiation from NSCs. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77:
      1206-1220, 2017.

PMID- 28589700
TI  - Highly Anisotropic Sb2 Se3 Nanosheets: Gentle Exfoliation from the Bulk
      Precursors Possessing 1D Crystal Structure.
AB  - 2D materials, particularly those bearing in-plane anisotropic optical and
      electrical properties such as black phosphorus and ReS2 , have spurred great
      research interest very recently as promising building blocks for future
      electronics. However, current progress is limited to layered compounds that
      feature atomic arrangement asymmetry within the covalently bonded planes. Herein,
      a series of highly anisotropic nanosheets (Sb2 Se3 , Sb2 S3 , Bi2 S3 , and Sb2
      (S, Se)3 ), which are composed of 1D covalently linked ribbons stacked together
      via van der Waals force, is introduced as a new member to the anisotropic 2D
      material family. These unique anisotropic nanosheets are successfully fabricated
      from their polymer-like bulk counterparts through a gentle water freezing-thawing
      approach. Angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy characterization confirms
      the strong in-plane asymmetry of Sb2 Se3 nanosheets, and photodetection study
      reveals their high responsivity and anisotropic in-plane transport. This work can
      enlighten the synthesis and application of new anisotropic 2D nanosheets that can
      be potentially applied for future electronic and optoelectronic devices.

PMID- 28589701
TI  - IGHV mutational status testing in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - As the therapeutic landscape for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) continues to
      expand, biological predictors of response to therapy are becoming increasingly
      important. One such predictive biomarker is the mutational status of the variable
      region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGHV) gene, which is a powerful
      predictor of duration of response and overall survival with chemoimmunotherapy
      (CIT). As this test may influence choice of therapy between CIT and novel agents,
      it is critical that providers understand how mutational status is determined and
      the limitations of testing. Here, we describe the details of IGHV mutational
      status testing, highlighting the appropriate way to interpret this information
      and best apply it to the care of patients with CLL.

PMID- 28589702
TI  - Choto-san versus placebo for patients with dementia: systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Choto-san is a traditional medicine used for hypertension and
      headaches in Japan and China. Some studies have shown its effectiveness in the
      treatment of dementia. The present review aimed to assess the effectiveness and
      acceptability of Choto-san in the treatment of adults with cognitive impairment.
      METHODS: We included randomized controlled trials comparing Choto-san with
      placebo for patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment. RESULTS: Three
      randomized controlled trials evaluating 219 participants were included. Two were
      studies on vascular dementia, and the other was on Alzheimer's dementia. There
      was no difference between Choto-san and placebo in terms of short-term
      dichotomous judgement of improvement, but Choto-san was more effective than
      placebo in terms of short-term improvement of cognitive function as measured by
      continuous outcomes. Also, dropouts judged it to be acceptable. However, the
      results were imprecise and/or heterogeneous. The number of participants included
      in the analysis was small (n = 199 in the primary analysis) and sometimes
      inconsistent, as indicated by the large I 2 (72% in the primary analysis).
      CONCLUSION: Low-quality evidence was suggestive of Choto-san's efficacy for
      vascular dementia, but the present results may be overestimated. Studies with a
      larger sample size and conducted over longer periods should be performed.
      Regardless, Choto-san can be one of the choices for the treatment of vascular
      dementia as it is well tolerated.

PMID- 28589703
TI  - Who is afraid of ISIS? ISIS anxiety and its correlates.
AB  - Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is a relatively small organization,
      yet it wields its terror and media campaigns efficiently. Its presence has
      altered security measures in many western counties. In the current study, I
      assess anxiety of the ISIS threat and its correlates in a convenience sample of
      1,007 adult Israelis (mean age = 29.61, SD = 7.16). Findings show that being
      female, a lower socioeconomic status, and having elevated post-traumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) symptom levels were all associated with ISIS anxiety. Likewise,
      exposure to ISIS media, as well as having low resilience, was also correlated
      with ISIS anxiety. The correlations between ISIS anxiety on the one hand and ISIS
      media exposure, PTSD symptoms, and resilience on the other hand remained
      significant even after controlling for general anxiety symptoms. Finally, the
      PTSD- ISIS anxiety relationship was especially pronounced when resources
      (resilience/optimism) were low. This critical interaction also remained
      significant after controlling for general anxiety. Theoretical and practical
      ramifications of ISIS anxiety are discussed. Both resources for addressing
      current tasks (resilience), as well as those aimed at future outcomes (optimism),
      may be required for addressing ISIS anxiety, especially when PTSD symptoms are
      high.

PMID- 28589705
TI  - Functional capacity and obesity reflect the cognitive performance of older adults
      living in long-term care facilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the increase in life expectancy, the elderly Brazilian
      population has grown considerably. However, longevity is usually accompanied by
      problems such as the loss of functional capacity, cognitive decline, and
      deterioration in anthropometric parameters, particularly among those living in
      long-term care facilities. We analyzed the relationship among cognitive
      performance, anthropometry, and functional capacity in institutionalized elderly
      individuals. METHODS: In a sample of 38 older adults (20 men, 18 women) aged 73.4
      +/- 8.1 years, data regarding anthropometric and functional measurements as well
      as the Mini-Mental State Examination were collected. Functional tests were based
      on a battery adapted from the Functional Fitness Test. The independent t-test and
      chi2 test were applied. P < 0.05 was set as the significance threshold. RESULTS:
      The rate of cognitive impairment among obese individuals (78.6%) differed from
      that among eutrophic subjects (45.8%), but there was no difference between sexes.
      There was a significant positive correlation between handgrip strength and Mini
      Mental State Examination score, and the scores of the timed up-and-go test and
      the sitting-rising test were negatively correlated with Mini-Mental State
      Examination score. CONCLUSION: Cognitive impairment in the elderly living in long
      term care facilities was more pronounced and frequent in obese individuals. This
      study also demonstrated that better functional capacity reflects better cognitive
      performance.

PMID- 28589704
TI  - Modification of initial therapy in early and advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, based on
      interim PET/CT is beneficial: a prospective multicentre trial of 355 patients.
AB  - This multicentre study evaluated 5-year progression-free (PFS) and overall
      survival (OS) in early and advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), where therapy was
      individualized based on initial prognostic factors and positron emission
      tomography-computed tomography performed after two cycles (PET-2). Between
      September 2006 and August 2013, 359 patients aged 18-60 years, were recruited in
      nine Israeli centres. Early-HL patients initially received ABVD (adriamycin,
      bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) *2. Depending on initial unfavourable
      prognostic features, PET-2-positive patients received additional ABVD followed by
      involved-site radiotherapy (ISRT). Patients with negative PET-2 and favourable
      disease received ISRT or ABVD *2; those with unfavourable disease received ABVD
      *2 with ISRT or, alternatively, ABVD *4. Advanced-HL patients initially received
      ABVD *2 or escalated BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide,
      vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone; EB) *2 based on their international
      prognostic score (<=2 or >=3). PET-2-negative patients further received ABVD *4;
      PET-2-positive patients received EB *4 and ISRT to residual masses. With a median
      follow-up of 55 (13-119) months, 5-year PFS was 91% and 69% for PET-2-negative
      and positive early-HL, respectively; 5-year OS was 100% and 95%, respectively.
      For advanced-HL, the PFS was 81% and 68%, respectively (P = 0.08); 5-year OS was
      98% and 91%, respectively. PET-2 positivity is associated with inferior prognosis
      in early-HL, even with additional ABVD and ISRT. Advanced-HL patients benefit
      from therapy escalation following positive PET-2. EB can be safely de-escalated
      to ABVD in PET-2-negative patients.

PMID- 28589706
TI  - Technical Performance and Clinical Effectiveness of Drop Type With Adjustable
      Concentrator-Cell Free and Concentrated Ascites Reinfusion Therapy.
AB  - Cell-free and concentrated ascites reinfusion therapy (CART) is a very useful
      treatment method for refractory ascites but is difficult for many hospitals to
      employ due to its need for specialized equipment. We have therefore developed
      drop-type with adjustable concentrator CART (DC-CART) that uses a drop-type
      filtration mechanism and requires only a simple pump and pressure monitor for its
      concentration process. Easy adjustment of ascites concentration is possible
      through a recirculation loop, and filter membrane washing is aided by DC-CART's
      external pressure-type filtration to enable the processing of any quality or
      quantity of ascites. Moreover, the absence of a roller pump before filtration
      avoids inflammatory substance release from compressed cells. A total of 268
      sessions of DC-CART using ascites from 98 patients were performed with good
      clinical results at our hospitals between January 2012 and June 2016. This report
      presents the detailed methods of DC-CART and summarizes its clinical
      effectiveness using patient ascites and blood data obtained from 59 sessions
      between March 2015 and February 2016. This novel technique successfully processed
      refractory ascites in numerous diseases with no serious adverse events. DC-CART
      could concentrate large amounts of ascites (from median weight: 4900 g [max: 20
      200 g] to median weight: 695 g; median concentration ratio: 7.4), and a high
      amount of protein (median weight: 73 g [max: 294 g]) could be reinfused. Serum
      albumin levels were significantly increased (P = 0.010) and kidney function and
      systemic hemodynamics were well maintained in treated subjects. Additional
      concentration of ascites and adjustment of ascites volume were easily performed
      by recirculation (from median weight: 615 g to median weight: 360 g; median
      concentration ratio: 1.5). Time was needed during DC-CART for filter membrane
      cleaning, especially for viscous ascites. Overall, DC-CART represents a safe and
      useful treatment method for various forms of refractory ascites that can be
      performed at a wide range of health care institutions.

PMID- 28589707
TI  - Sequence-based typing identification of a novel HLA-C allele, C*12:214, in a Han
      Chinese individual.
AB  - One nucleotide substitution at position 497 of HLA-C*12:02:01 results in a novel
      allele, HLA-C*12:214.

PMID- 28589708
TI  - Modified continuity equation using left ventricular outflow tract three
      dimensional imaging for aortic valve area estimation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Aortic valve area (AVA) is usually estimated by the continuity equation
      (CE) in which the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) area is calculated
      assuming a circular shape. This study aimed to compare measurements of LVOT area
      using standard 2D transthoracic echocardiography (2DTTE), 3D transesophageal
      echocardiography (3DTEE), and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and assess
      their relative impact on AVA estimated by the CE. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      prospectively enrolled 60 patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) referred for
      transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) who systematically underwent 2DTTE,
      3DTEE, and MDCT. Mean LVOT areas obtained by 2DTTE (3.28+/-0.66 cm2 ) and 3DTEE
      (3.95+/-0.90 cm2 ) were significantly underestimated when compared to the mean
      MDCT LVOT area (4.31+/-0.99 cm2 ). LVOT was rather elliptical than round, with a
      mean eccentricity index of 1.47 (ratio of maximum to minimum LVOT diameters)
      assessed by MDCT. Mean TTE AVA estimated by the CE was 0.62+/-0.20 cm2 .
      Substitution of 2DTTE LVOT area by 3DTEE LVOT area in the CE resulted in AVA of
      0.74+/-0.24 cm2 , while using MDCT LVOT area held an AVA of 0.80+/-0.24 cm2 .
      MDCT-derived AVA was similar to MDCT planimetric AVA and allowed 24% of patients
      to be reclassified from severe to moderate AS. CONCLUSIONS: 2DTTE and 3DTEE
      underestimate LVOT area when compared to MDCT with significant impact on AVA
      estimation. Assessment through MDCT fusion AVA may be of incremental value in
      patients with discrepant severity criteria for AS.

PMID- 28589710
TI  - HLA-DRB3*02:61Q , a novel HLA-DRB3 allele identified in a volunteer bone marrow
      donor.
AB  - HLA-DRB3*02:61Q , a novel HLA-DRB3 allele identified in a volunteer bone marrow
      donor.

PMID- 28589709
TI  - Generation of Nkx2-5/CreER transgenic mice for inducible Cre expression in
      developing hearts.
AB  - Nkx2-5 is a homeobox-containing transcriptional regulator that serves as one of
      the earliest markers of cardiac lineage commitment. To study the role of Nkx2-5
      expressing progenitors at specific time points in cardiac development, we have
      generated a novel and inducible NKX2-5 mouse line by knocking in a CreER cassette
      into the Nkx2-5 genomic locus, while preserving the endogenous Nkx2-5 gene to
      avoid haploinsufficiency. We evaluated the specificity and efficiency of CreER
      activity after 4-OHT injection by crossing Nkx2-5CreER/+ mice with a Rosa26tdT/+
      reporter strain. Our immunohistochemistry results confirmed Cre-induced tdTomato
      expression specifically in cells expressing Nkx2-5. These cells were mainly
      cardiomyocytes and were observed in the embryonic heart as early as day 9.5.
      Additionally, quantitative polymerase chain reaction on postnatal hearts showed
      enriched expression of Nkx2-5 in isolated tdTomato-expressing cells. No tdTomato
      expression was observed in Nkx2-5CreER/+ ;Rosa26tdT/+ mice in the absence of 4
      OHT, confirming the inducible nature of CreER activity. The Nkx2-5/CreER mouse
      model described in this article will serve as an invaluable tool to trace
      myocardial lineage and to temporally induce genetic manipulation in a selective
      population of cardiac progenitors during embryonic development and in the adult
      heart.

PMID- 28589711
TI  - Nonheme Iron-Oxo-Catalyzed Methane Formation from Methyl Thioethers: Scope,
      Mechanism, and Relevance for Natural Systems.
AB  - A range of nonheme oxo-iron(IV) model systems with tetra- or pentadentate ligands
      is shown to produce methane from methionine and other thioethers. This model
      reaction for the natural aerobic production of methane is shown to proceed via
      two sulfoxidation steps involving the oxo-iron(IV) complexes, with a bifurcation
      in the second step that either produces the sulfone or leads to demethylation
      with similar probabilities. In the presence of O2 , the resulting methyl radicals
      produce methanol and formate or, in an O2 -depleted environment, lead to
      formation of methane.

PMID- 28589713
TI  - Gas Suppression via Copper Interlayers in Magnetron Sputtered Al-Cu2O
      Multilayers.
AB  - The use of thin-foil, self-propagating thermite reactions to bond components
      successfully depends on the ability to suppress gas generation and avoid pore
      formation during the exothermic production of brazes. To study the mechanisms of
      vapor production in diluted thermites, thin film multilayer Al-Cu-Cu2O-Cu foils
      are produced via magnetron sputtering, where the Cu layer thickness is
      systematically increased from 0 to 100 nm in 25 nm increments. The excess Cu
      layers act as diffusion barriers, limiting the transport of oxygen from the oxide
      to the Al fuel, as determined by slow heating differential scanning calorimetry
      experiments. Furthermore, by adding excess Cu to the system, the temperature of
      the self-propagating thermite reactions drops below the boiling point of Cu,
      eliminating the metal vapor production. It is determined that Cu vapor production
      can be eliminated by increasing the Cu interlayer thickness above 50 nm. However,
      the porous nature of the final products suggests that only metal vapor production
      is suppressed via dilution. Gas generation via oxygen release is still capable of
      producing a porous reaction product.

PMID- 28589714
TI  - Magnetic Field-Assisted Perovskite Film Preparation for Enhanced Performance of
      Solar Cells.
AB  - Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are promising low-cost photovoltaic technologies
      with high power conversion efficiency (PCE). The crystalline quality of
      perovskite materials is crucial to the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs.
      Herein, a simple approach is introduced to prepare high-quality CH3NH3PbI3
      perovskite films with larger crystalline grains and longer carriers lifetime by
      using magnetic field to control the nucleation and crystal growth. The fabricated
      planar CH3NH3PbI3 solar cells have an average PCE of 17.84% and the highest PCE
      of 18.56% using an optimized magnetic field at 80 mT. In contrast, the PSCs
      fabricated without the magnetic field give an average PCE of 15.52% and the
      highest PCE of 16.72%. The magnetic field action produces an ordered arrangement
      of the perovskite ions, improving the crystallinity of the perovskite films and
      resulting in a higher PCE.

PMID- 28589712
TI  - Inhibition of angiogenesis impairs bone healing in an in vivo murine rapid
      resynostosis model.
AB  - Biologics can improve bone formation, but may diffuse away from sites of
      therapeutic need. We developed a click-chemistry hydrogel that rapidly
      polymerizes in situ to control delivery of biologics during post-suturectomy
      resynostosis in 21-day-old male mice. Here, we used this model to determine the
      role of angiogenesis in post-suturectomy resynostosis and examine whether
      controlled release of angiogenesis inhibitors could delay bone regeneration.
      Hydrogels [DB-co-PEG/poly (TEGDMA)-co-(N3-TEGDMA)] were produced containing anti
      angiogenic compounds [anti-VEGFA-antibody or hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha
      inhibitor topotecan]. Bioactivity in vitro was assessed by tube length and
      branching points of endothelial cells in hydrogel-conditioned media. In vivo
      effects were examined 14 day post-suturectomy, based on the temporal analysis of
      angiogenic mRNAs during resynostosis following posterior frontal suture removal.
      MicroCT was used to quantify angiogenesis in contrast-agent-perfused blood
      vessels and bone defect size in defects receiving hydrogel, anti-VEGFA/hydrogel,
      or topotecan/hydrogel. Shorter endothelial tube length and less branching were
      seen in inhibitor-conditioned media (topotecan > AbVEGFA). In vivo, both
      compounds inhibited angiogenesis compared with hydrogel-only. Anti-VEGFA/hydrogel
      reduced resynostosis compared with empty defects, but topotecan/hydrogel blocked
      bone regeneration. We demonstrate that anti-angiogenic compounds can be
      incorporated into a spontaneously polymerizing hydrogel and remain active over 14
      days in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, bone formation can be delayed by inhibiting
      neovascularization, suggesting possible use as a therapeutic to control
      resynostosis following suturectomies and potential applications in other
      conditions where rapid osteogenesis is not desired. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals
      Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2742-2749, 2017.

PMID- 28589715
TI  - Self-Propagated Flaming Synthesis of Highly Active Layered CuO-delta-MnO2 Hybrid
      Composites for Catalytic Total Oxidation of Toluene Pollutant.
AB  - A new self-propagated flaming (SPF) technique was applied to the synthesis of
      highly active layered CuO-delta-MnO2 hybrid composites, for the de-polluting
      catalytic total oxidation of gaseous toluene vapor. Other transition metal oxide
      doped MnO2 hybrid composites were also successfully prepared and investigated,
      ensuring a feasible strategy for the fabrication of various layered MOx-delta
      MnO2 (M?Co, Ni, or Zn) hybrids. By changing the molar ratio of the precursors
      (KMnO4 and acetate salt) and the type of transition metal oxide introduced, it is
      possible to control the crystal structure and reducibility of the sheetlike
      hybrid composites as well as the catalytic activity for the total oxidation of
      toluene. The catalyst sample (CuO-delta-MnO2) with a Mn/Cu molar ratio of 10:1
      exhibited the highest catalytic performance, with a lower reaction temperature of
      300  degrees C for complete toluene removal, which was comparable to the reaction
      temperature for total toluene conversion by the Pt-based catalyst. The SPF
      technique provides an approach for developing highly efficient catalysts for the
      complete removal of volatile organic compounds, by allowing the facile and energy
      saving fabrication of large quantities of layered CuO-delta-MnO2 hybrids.

PMID- 28589716
TI  - Microfluidic Generation of High-Viscosity Droplets by Surface-Controlled Breakup
      of Segment Flow.
AB  - Fluids containing high concentration polymers, sols, nanoparticles, etc., usually
      have high viscosities, and high-viscosity fluids are difficult to be encapsulated
      into uniform droplets. Here we report a surface-controlled breakup method to
      generate droplets directly from various aqueous and nonaqueous fluids with
      viscosities of 1.0 to 11.9 Pa s and a dispersed-to-continuous viscosity ratio up
      to 1000, whereas the volume fraction of droplets up to 50% can be achieved. It
      provides a straightforward method to encapsulate high viscosity fluids, in a well
      controlled manner in the rapid developing droplet-based applications, including
      materials synthesis, drug delivery, cell assay, bioengineering, etc.

PMID- 28589717
TI  - Total Synthesis of Biselyngbyaside.
AB  - The first total synthesis of biselyngbyaside, an 18-membered macrolide glycoside,
      was achieved. The glycoside bond was introduced using the Schmidt method before
      construction of the 18-membered ring due to the instability of the conjugated
      diene and the beta-hydroxy ester moiety. The macrolactone ring was constructed
      using the Mitsunobu reaction followed by intramolecular the Stille coupling
      reaction.

PMID- 28589718
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of Electrochemical and Electrode Stability with Low Self
      Discharge Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.
AB  - The viability of employing high-capacity sulfur cathodes in building high-energy
      density lithium-sulfur batteries is limited by rapid self-discharge, short shelf
      life, and severe structural degradation during cell resting (static instability).
      Unfortunately, the static instability has largely been ignored in the literature.
      We present in this letter a long-term self-discharge study by quantitatively
      analyzing the control lithium-sulfur batteries with a conventional cathode
      configuration, which provides meaningful insights into the cathode failure
      mechanisms during resting. Utilizing the understanding obtained with the control
      cells, we design and present low self-discharge (LSD) lithium-sulfur batteries
      for investigating the long-term self-discharge effect and electrode stability.

PMID- 28589719
TI  - How Important is the Host (Semiconductor Nanoparticles) Identity and Absolute
      Band Gap in Host-Sensitized Dopant Photoluminescence?
AB  - This work reports the host (semiconductor nanoparticles) sensitized dopant
      (lanthanides, Ln) photoluminescence in near band gap matched Sn(Ln)O2 and Zn(Ln)S
      [Ln = Sm, Tb] nanoparticles to address the importance of the nanoparticle
      identity and absolute band gap in the underlying process. While the sensitization
      was evident in the Sn(Sm)O2 and Zn(Tb)S nanoparticles, the same was not observed
      in the Sn(Tb)O2 and Zn(Sm)S nanoparticles. This observation stresses the
      importance of nanoparticle identity as the determining factor in realizing the
      host-sensitized dopant photoluminescence and provides important insight into
      developing novel doped inorganic nanoparticle-based optical materials.

PMID- 28589720
TI  - Development of a sp2-sp3 Stille Cross-Coupling for Rapid Synthesis of HIV NNRTI
      Doravirine Analogues.
AB  - The development of a C(sp2)-C(sp3) cross-coupling reaction for rapid, parallel
      synthesis of analogues of two HIV NNRTI clinical candidates is described. This
      method allowed easy access to the C-ring space using a practical alkylation with
      commercially available tributyl(iodomethyl)stannane followed by a palladium
      catalyzed coupling with a variety of aryl halides (I, Br) in the presence of
      copper chloride. Optimization and scope of this method are reported.

PMID- 28589721
TI  - Graphene Oxide/Chitosan Aerogel Microspheres with Honeycomb-Cobweb and Radially
      Oriented Microchannel Structures for Broad-Spectrum and Rapid Adsorption of Water
      Contaminants.
AB  - Multifunctional graphene oxide (GO)/chitosan (CS) aerogel microspheres (GCAMs)
      with honeycomb-cobweb and radially oriented microchannel structures are prepared
      by combining electrospraying with freeze-casting to optimize adsorption
      performances of heavy metal ions and soluble organic pollutants. The GCAMs
      exhibit superior adsorption capacities of heavy metal ions of Pb(II), Cu(II), and
      Cr(VI), cationic dyes of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B, anionic dyes of
      methyl orange and Eosin Y, and phenol. It takes only 5 min to reach 82 and 89% of
      equilibrium adsorption capacities for Cr(VI) (292.8 mg g-1) and MB (584.6 mg g
      1), respectively, much shorter than the adsorption equilibrium time (75 h) of a
      GO/CS monolith. More importantly, the GCAMs maintain excellent adsorption
      capacity for six cycles of adsorption-desorption. The broad-spectrum, rapid, and
      reusable adsorption performance makes the GCAMs promising for highly efficient
      water treatments.

PMID- 28589722
TI  - Metal- and O2-Free Oxidative C-C Bond Cleavage of Aromatic Aldehydes.
AB  - An oxidative C-C cleavage of aldehydes requiring neither metals nor O2 was
      discovered. Homobenzylic aldehydes and alpha-substituted homobenzylic aldehydes
      were cleaved to benzylic aldehydes and ketones, respectively, using
      nitrosobenzene as an oxidant. This reaction is chemoselective for aromatic
      aldehydes, as an aliphatic aldehyde was unreactive under these conditions, and
      other reactive functionality such as ketones and free alcohols are tolerated. A
      mechanism accounting for the fate of the lost carbon is proposed.

PMID- 28589723
TI  - Molecular Interaction Between Salivary Proteins and Food Tannins.
AB  - Polyphenols interaction with salivary proteins (SP) has been related with
      organoleptic features such as astringency. The aim of this work was to study the
      interaction between some human SP and tannins through two spectroscopic
      techniques, fluorescence quenching, and saturation transfer difference-nuclear
      magnetic resonance (STD-NMR). Generally, the results showed a significant
      interaction between SP and both condensed tannins and ellagitannins. Herein, STD
      NMR proved to be a useful tool to map tannins' epitopes of binding, while
      fluorescence quenching allowed one to discriminate binding affinities.
      Ellagitannins showed the greatest binding constants values (KSV from 20.1 to 94.1
      mM-1; KA from 0.7 to 8.3 mM-1) in comparison with procyanidins (KSV from 5.4 to
      40.0 mM-1; KA from 1.1 to 2.7 mM-1). In fact, punicalagin was the tannin that
      demonstrated the highest affinity for all three SP. Regarding SP, P-B peptide was
      the one with higher affinity for ellagitannins. On the other hand, cystatins
      showed in general the lower KSV and KA values. In the case of condensed tannins,
      statherin was the SP with the highest affinity, contrasting with the other two
      SP. Altogether, these results are evidence that the distinct SP present in the
      oral cavity have different abilities to interact with food tannins class.

PMID- 28589724
TI  - C-H Trifluoromethylation of 2-Substituted/Unsubstituted Aminonaphthoquinones at
      Room Temperature with Bench-Stable (CF3SO2)2Zn: Synthesis and Antiproliferative
      Evaluation.
AB  - A direct C-H trifluoromethylation of 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinone analogues is
      described. This reaction proceeds under mild conditions at open atmosphere,
      providing a range of CF3-containing naphthoquinones with good yield and
      functional group compatibility. All synthetic compounds were screened for
      antiproliferative activity against three human cancer cell lines. Notably, some
      of those trifluoromethyl analogs, such as 3a, 3g, 3j, and 3t, showed good
      antiproliferative profiles.

PMID- 28589725
TI  - Dual Targeting Nanoparticle Stimulates the Immune System To Inhibit Tumor Growth.
AB  - We describe the development of a nanoparticle platform that overcomes the
      immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. These nanoparticles are coated with two
      different antibodies that simultaneously block the inhibitory checkpoint PD-L1
      signal and stimulate T cells via the 4-1BB co-stimulatory pathway. These
      "immunoswitch" particles significantly delay tumor growth and extend survival in
      multiple in vivo models of murine melanoma and colon cancer in comparison to the
      use of soluble antibodies or nanoparticles separately conjugated with the
      inhibitory and stimulating antibodies. Immunoswitch particles enhance effector
      target cell conjugation and bypass the requirement for a priori knowledge of
      tumor antigens. The use of the immunoswitch nanoparticles resulted in an
      increased density, specificity, and in vivo functionality of tumor-infiltrating
      CD8+ T cells. Changes in the T cell receptor repertoire against a single tumor
      antigen indicate immunoswitch particles expand an effective set of T cell clones.
      Our data show the potential of a signal-switching approach to cancer
      immunotherapy that simultaneously targets two stages of the cancer immunity cycle
      resulting in robust antitumor activity.

PMID- 28589726
TI  - Tri-Needle Coaxial Electrospray Engineering of Magnetic Polymer Yolk-Shell
      Particles Possessing Dual-Imaging Modality, Multiagent Compartments, and Trigger
      Release Potential.
AB  - Particulate platforms capable of delivering multiple actives as well as providing
      diagnostic features have gained considerable interest over the last few years. In
      this study, magnetic polymer yolk-shell particles (YSPs) were engineered using a
      tri-needle coaxial electrospraying technique enabling dual-mode (ultrasonic and
      magnetic resonance) imaging capability with specific multidrug compartments via
      an advanced single-step encapsulation process. YSPs comprised magnetic Fe3O4
      nanoparticles (MNPs) embedded in the polymeric shell, an interfacing oil layer,
      and a polymeric core (i.e., composite shell-oil interface-polymeric core). The
      frequency of the ultrasound backscatter signal was modulated through YSP loading
      dosage, and both T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging signal
      intensities were shown to decrease with increasing MNP content (YSP outer shell).
      Three fluorescent dyes (selected as model probes with varying hydrophobicities)
      were coencapsulated separately to confirm the YSP structure. Probe release
      profiles were tuned by varying power or frequency of an external auxiliary
      magnetic field (AMF, 0.7 mT (LAMF) or 1.4 mT (HAMF)). In addition, an "inversion"
      phenomenon for the AMF-enhanced drug release process was studied and is reported.
      A low YSP cytotoxicity (5 mg/mL) and biocompatibility (murine, L929) was
      confirmed. In summary, magnetic YSPs demonstrate timely potential as
      multifunctional theranostic agents for dual-imaging modality and magnetically
      controlled coactive delivery.

PMID- 28589728
TI  - Spectroscopic Characterization, Computational Investigation, and Comparisons of
      ECX- (E = As, P, and N; X = S and O) Anions.
AB  - Three newly synthesized [Na+(221-Kryptofix)] salts containing AsCO-, PCO-, and
      PCS- anions were successfully electrosprayed into a vacuum, and these three ECX-
      anions were investigated by negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy (NIPES) along
      with high-resolution photoelectron imaging spectroscopy. For each ECX- anion, a
      well-resolved NIPE spectrum was obtained, in which every major peak is split into
      a doublet. The splittings are attributed to spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in the ECX*
      radicals. Vibrational progressions in the NIPE spectra of ECX- were assigned to
      the symmetric and the antisymmetric stretching modes in ECX* radicals. The
      electron affinities (EAs) and SO splittings of ECX* are determined from the NIPE
      spectra to be AsCO*: EA = 2.414 +/- 0.002 eV, SO splitting = 988 cm-1; PCO*: EA =
      2.670 +/- 0.005 eV, SO splitting = 175 cm-1; PCS*: EA = 2.850 +/- 0.005 eV, SO
      splitting = 300 cm-1. Calculations using the B3LYP, CASPT2, and CCSD(T) methods
      all predict linear geometries for both the anions and the neutral radicals. The
      calculated EAs and SO splittings for ECX* are in excellent agreement with the
      experimentally measured values. The simulated NIPE spectra, which are based on
      the calculated Franck-Condon factors, and the SO splittings nicely reproduce all
      of the observed spectral peaks, thus allowing unambiguous spectral assignments.
      The finding that PCS* has the greatest EA of the three triatomic molecules
      considered here is counterintuitive based upon simple electronegativity
      considerations, but this finding is understandable in terms of the movement of
      electron density from phosphorus in the HOMO of PCO- to sulfur in the HOMO of PCS
      . Comparisons of the EAs of PCO* and PCS* with the previously measured EA values
      for NCO* and NCS* are made and discussed.

PMID- 28589729
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed [2 + 2 + 3] Annulation of 1,6-Enynes with alpha-Bromo-1,3
      Dicarbonyl Compounds: Synthesis of Dihydrooxepines.
AB  - Copper-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 3] annulation of 1,6-enynes with alpha-bromo-1,3
      dicarbonyl compounds is described. This reaction provides facile access to seven
      membered dihydrooxepines for epidithiodiketopiperazines with two newly formed C-C
      bonds and one C-O bond.

PMID- 28589730
TI  - Variation in genital human papillomavirus infection prevalence and vaccination
      coverage among men and women in the USA.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection that
      causes majority of anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. Prophylactic HPV vaccine
      is available for the primary prevention of cancer and HPV transmission. Here, we
      are going to discuss the variation of HPV prevalence, HPV vaccination coverage
      and potential risk factors of men and women, retrieved from the cross-sectional
      study of the National Health Nutrition Examination Survey, a representative
      sample of noninstitutionalized, civilian residents in the USA. The overall penile
      HPV prevalence in men was 45.2% and the high risk oncogenic HPV prevalence
      defined by DNA testing was 25.1% that appeared to be widespread among all the age
      groups, which contrasts the vaginal HPV prevalence of 26.8% in women.

PMID- 28589727
TI  - Identification of Microprotein-Protein Interactions via APEX Tagging.
AB  - Microproteins are peptides and small proteins encoded by small open reading
      frames (smORFs). Newer technologies have led to the recent discovery of hundreds
      to thousands of new microproteins. The biological functions of a few
      microproteins have been elucidated, and these microproteins have fundamental
      roles in biology ranging from limb development to muscle function, highlighting
      the value of characterizing these molecules. The identification of microprotein
      protein interactions (MPIs) has proven to be a successful approach to the
      functional characterization of these genes; however, traditional
      immunoprecipitation methods result in the enrichment of nonspecific interactions
      for microproteins. Here, we test and apply an in situ proximity tagging method
      that relies on an engineered ascorbate peroxidase 2 (APEX) to elucidate MPIs. The
      results demonstrate that APEX tagging is superior to traditional
      immunoprecipitation methods for microproteins. Furthermore, the application of
      APEX tagging to an uncharacterized microprotein called C11orf98 revealed that
      this microprotein interacts with nucleolar proteins nucleophosmin and nucleolin,
      demonstrating the ability of this approach to identify novel hypothesis
      generating MPIs.

PMID- 28589731
TI  - Next steps in Ewing sarcoma (epi-)genomics.

PMID- 28589732
TI  - Functional factors that are important correlates to physical activity in people
      with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Identify functional factors that are important correlates to physical
      activity levels among people with multiple sclerosis. METHODS: A total of eight
      functional tests were conducted and physical activity was objectively measured
      (Actigraph GT3X accelerometer) for one week in 34 people with multiple sclerosis.
      A corrected Akaike Information Criterion analysis was performed to identify the
      strongest correlates with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, total activity
      and sedentary time. RESULTS: The multiple regression analysis converged on a
      model for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (R2 = 0.31, F = 6.97, p= 0.003)
      that included total strength of the less-affected leg (partial r = 0.46, p =
      0.007) and average peg test performance (partial r = -0.30, p = 0.087). The model
      for total activity (R2 = 0.40, F = 10.51, p < 0.001) included five times sit-to
      stand performance (partial r= -0.44, p = 0.010) and total strength of the less
      affected leg (partial r = 0.31, p = 0.077). The model for sedentary time
      (R2=0.22, F = 9.23, p = 0.005) only included total strength of the more affected
      leg (r= -0.47, p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that leg strength,
      manual dexterity and the ability to perform functional tasks may be important
      correlates with physical activity levels in people with multiple sclerosis. The
      findings of this pilot study can inform future investigations aiming to increase
      physical activity levels or develop improved rehabilitation protocols for people
      with multiple sclerosis. Implications for Rehabilitation Physical activity is an
      effective means of improving the symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis.
      Participation in physical activity by people with multiple sclerosis may be
      affected by functional factors such as leg strength, manual dexterity and the
      ability to rise from a seated position. Bilateral leg strength differences should
      be assessed and addressed in people with multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 28589733
TI  - Health and security: ethical principles for counter-terror policy and practice in
      protection crises and beyond.

PMID- 28589734
TI  - Cancer care in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer populations.
AB  - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations experience
      health and healthcare disparities that may place them at higher risk for
      developing cancer. In addition, LGBTQ communities have psychosocial factors, such
      as fear of discrimination, that have substantial impacts on their medical care.
      As a result, these populations have specific needs with regard to cancer
      screening, treatment and support that must be addressed by cancer care providers.
      Although much has been done to address cancer care in the general population,
      more improvement is needed in the care of LGBTQ patients. We aim to present an
      overview of the current state of LGBTQ cancer care, opportunities for improvement
      and how cancer centers and providers can create a better future for the care of
      LGBTQ cancer patients.

PMID- 28589735
TI  - Prospective memory rehabilitation using smartphones in patients with TBI.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a
      prospective memory aid that combines smartphones with Internet-based calendars
      among community-dwelling patients with traumatic brain injury. METHOD: An
      uncontrolled pre- and post-assessment design was employed to study the use of
      unmodified, low-cost, off-the-shelf smartphones combined with Internet-calendars
      as a compensatory memory strategy in community-dwelling patients with traumatic
      brain injury. Thirteen participants received a 6-week group-based intervention
      with pre-, post- and 2-month follow-up-assessments by questionnaires and by daily
      assessment of target behaviors for 2-week periods. RESULTS: Participants reported
      significantly fewer retro- and prospective memory problems on questionnaires
      after the intervention and at follow-up with large effect sizes. The performance
      of target behaviors, however, improved insignificantly with moderate effect
      sizes. There were no changes in quality of life or symptoms of emotional
      distress. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to a growing body of evidence that
      smartphones are a useful compensatory aid in rehabilitation of prospective memory
      that should routinely be considered in rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury
      patients. Implication for rehabilitation Smartphones are easy-to-use and
      accessible assistive technology for compensatory memory rehabilitation to most
      traumatic brain injury patients. By using low-cost, off-the-shelf devices, the
      technology becomes available to a broader range of patients. By combining
      smartphones with Internet-based and cross-platform services (e.g., calendars,
      contacts) the participants are less device-dependent and less vulnerable to data
      loss. Smartphones should routinely be considered as compensatory aid in
      rehabilitation of prospective memory of traumatic brain injured patients.

PMID- 28589737
TI  - Targeting ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer: an update.

PMID- 28589736
TI  - Development and in vitro characterization of self-emulsifying drug delivery
      system (SEDDS) for oral opioid peptide delivery.
AB  - AIM: In this study, self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS) for oral
      delivery of opioid peptide dalargin were developed and characterized in vitro.
      METHODS: Dalargin lipophilicity was increased by O-esterification of tyrosine OH
      group, hydrophobic ion pairing, or a combination thereof. Distribution
      coefficients (log D) of lipidized dalargin derivatives were determined. Then,
      dalargin was incorporated in chosen SEDDS, namely SEDDS-1, composed of 50% Capmul
      907, 40% Cremophor EL, and 10% propylene glycol and comparatively more lipophilic
      SEDDS-2 composed of 30% Captex 8000, 30% Capmul MCM, 30% Cremophor EL, and 10%
      propylene glycol. Additionally, SEDDS were characterized regarding droplet size,
      polydispersity index (PDI), cloudy point, physical stability and stability
      against pancreatic lipase. Furthermore, mucus permeating properties of SEDDS and
      their ability to protect the incorporated dalargin against proteolysis by
      trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin, elastase, simulated gastric fluid (SGF), and
      simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) were evaluated. RESULTS: The highest dalargin
      drug payload of 4.57% in SEDDS-2 was achieved when dalargin palmitate (pDAL) was
      ion paired with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in molar ratio 1:1. Moreover, SEDDS
      1 and SEDDS-2 had a narrow droplet size distribution with average droplet sizes
      of 42.1 and 33.1 nm with PDI of 0.042 and 0.034, respectively. Lipolysis study
      showed that within 30 min 78.5% of SEDDS-1 and 92.1% of SEDDS-2 were digested. In
      addition, both SEDDS exhibited mucus permeating properties as well as a
      protective effect against enzymatic degradation by trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin,
      elastase, SGF and SIF. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the
      developed SEDDS could be considered for oral opioid peptide delivery.

PMID- 28589738
TI  - Hemoglobin Variant Profiles among Brazilian Quilombola Communities.
AB  - Brazilian Quilombolas are communities composed of African-derived populations
      that have their territories guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution. The present
      study investigated the hemoglobin (Hb) variants among these population groups.
      This study was conducted in a total of 2843 individuals of Brazilian Quilombola
      communities of the Bahia, Para, and Piaui states. All the participants had their
      Hb profiles evaluated. The Hb S (HBB: c.20A>T) variant was described in all the
      studied localities. However, the individuals in Bahia State had the highest
      frequency of the Hb C (HBB: c.19G>A) variant; individuals from Piaui State had a
      higher frequency of the Hb D-Punjab (HBB: c.364G>C) variant compared to the other
      states, and individuals from Para State only carried the Hb S variant. The
      present study revealed a specific distribution of Hb variants that could
      represent different waves of African influence in these Brazilian populations.

PMID- 28589739
TI  - Characteristics and functional outcomes of chordoma patients admitted for
      inpatient rehabilitation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the population and functional changes observed after an
      inpatient rehabilitation facility stay in chordoma patients Materials and
      Methods: We conducted a consecutive series retrospective review of patients with
      chordoma, admitted to an academic inpatient rehabilitation facility after
      surgical resection from 2010 to 2015. Information regarding demographic, tumor-
      and surgery-specific data, lengths of stay, complications, admission and
      discharge functional independence measure scores was collected. RESULTS: A total
      of 40 patients with a diagnosis of chordoma were admitted to an inpatient
      rehabilitation facility postoperatively were included for analysis. Thirty-three
      patients had initial resection of chordoma, seven patients had resection of
      recurrent chordoma, and eight patients had metastatic disease on admission to an
      inpatient rehabilitation facility. The average change in total and motor
      functional independence measure scores after an inpatient rehabilitation facility
      stay was 33.7 and 26.1, respectively. The acute hospital transfer rate was 32.5%
      and the postoperative complication rate was 62.5%. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the
      first to describe the population and functional improvement in the chordoma
      population who are admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation facility
      postoperatively. While there is a high rate of acute hospital transfer and
      postoperative complications, these values are comparable to prior studies in this
      population. With the increasing prevalence of cancer survivors, improving
      function during and after cancer treatment is extremely important. Implications
      for Rehabilitation Chordoma patients who are admitted to inpatient rehabilitation
      facilities after surgical tumor resection experience improvement in multiple
      functional domains. Chordoma patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation
      facilities experience a high rate of acute hospital transfer, but it is
      comparable to other cancer rehabilitation populations. Understanding the
      characteristics of the postoperative chordoma population is essential to direct
      future studies regarding cancer rehabilitation.

PMID- 28589740
TI  - A survey of scientists' awareness of and attitudes to the use of human blood
      products and alternatives in human assisted reproductive technology.
AB  - Scientists working in assisted reproduction [members of Scientists in
      Reproductive Technology (SIRT) Australia, and subscribers of the online forums
      EmbryoMail and Quartec] were invited to complete an online questionnaire on the
      use of human blood products in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). A total
      of 260 started the questionnaire, with 208 (80%) completing it. A total of 62% of
      respondents had worked in human ART >=8 years and 68% had post-graduate
      qualifications. The majority (82%) reported using products of animal or human
      origin, with 75% knowing why protein was added to culture media and 41% not
      worried by this. Almost half (49%) of respondents were unaware of regulations
      surrounding the use of human blood products in health care and 70% were unaware
      of adverse events involving human blood products in human ART. Most respondents
      (70%) indicated that they were not concerned about infections such as hepatitis,
      but agents such as prions were a cause for concern (57%). A total of 57% of
      respondents were unaware of alternatives, but 77% would use a suitable
      alternative. Using blood products in human ART is surrounded by a lack of
      awareness, often independent of respondents' qualifications or experience. A
      better understanding of these products and possible alternatives is required if
      informed decisions about their suitability are to be made.

PMID- 28589741
TI  - A content analysis of the consumer-facing online information about My Health
      Record: Implications for increasing knowledge and awareness to facilitate uptake
      and use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low health literacy, low levels of positive belief and privacy and
      security concerns have been identified as a significant barrier to personal
      electronic health record uptake and use. An important tool for overcoming these
      barriers is the consumer-facing information which accompanies the system. My
      Health Record (MyHR) is the Australian national e-health record system, for which
      a large suite of online resources exists to facilitate consumer registration and
      use. This study uses a number of different measures of health resource quality to
      assess the MyHR online consumer-facing information and identify any gaps or areas
      for improvement. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the quality and content of the online
      consumer-facing resources which support the uptake and use of MyHR. METHOD:
      Australian information resources aimed at healthcare consumers about the MyHR
      were included in this study. A comprehensive search using Internet search engines
      was conducted to locate all online consumer-facing resources about MyHR from both
      government and non-government sources. Readability (measured by Flesch-Kincaid
      grade level), year of publication/review, publishing organisation type,
      presentation style, linked websites, target audience, and themes were identified
      as important measures of health information quality, and these were recorded and
      reported on for each resource. RESULTS: Eighty resources met the inclusion
      criteria. The mean Flesch-Kincaid grade level was 11.8. Most resources were
      created by Australian government sources ( n = 55), and the most common target
      audience was the general public ( n = 65). Registration ( n = 51),
      privacy/security ( n = 49), and benefits of use ( n = 46) were the most common
      resource themes. CONCLUSION: The authors identified a number of gaps and areas
      for improvement in the provision of consumer-facing information about MyHR.
      Readability is too high for the general Australian population, and there are few
      translated resources, which means that the information provided does not cater to
      people with low literacy levels, communication disability, and/or difficulties in
      understanding written English. The target audiences for resources do not reflect
      priority groups that were identified during the MyHR development processes. There
      are also gaps in information provision about how consumers can use MyHR as a tool
      to meaningfully engage with health professionals and services to support their
      own person-centred care.

PMID- 28589742
TI  - Potential prognostic value of clinical characteristics, hormone status and major
      depressive disorder in breast cancer.
AB  - AIM: To identify independent factors predicting overall survival (OS) of breast
      cancer (BC) patients. PATIENTS & METHODS: Two hundred and eighty one women with
      BC were recruited and clinical characteristics including lymphovascular invasion,
      clinical stage of Tumor Node Metastasis and positive axillary lymph nodes were
      documented; immunohistochemistry/fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to
      examine the expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2 and Ki
      67; major depressive disorder was assessed with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
      of Mental Disorders V. RESULTS: Multivariable analyses indicated that in BC
      patients, lymphovascular invasion, Tumor Node Metastasis, pN, Ki-67 and major
      depressive disorder were significantly negatively correlated with OS; estrogen
      receptor was significantly positively associated with OS. CONCLUSION: Early
      diagnostic approaches and effective psychologic intervention are indispensable
      for BC patients.

PMID- 28589743
TI  - Rapid and sensitive insulated isothermal PCR for point-of-need feline leukaemia
      virus detection.
AB  - Objectives Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV), a gamma retrovirus, causes diseases of
      the feline haematopoietic system that are invariably fatal. Rapid and accurate
      testing at the point-of-need (PON) supports prevention of virus spread and
      management of clinical disease. This study evaluated the performance of an
      insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR) that detects proviral DNA, and a reverse
      transcription (RT)-iiPCR that detects both viral RNA and proviral DNA, for FeLV
      detection at the PON. Methods Mycoplasma haemofelis, feline coronavirus, feline
      herpesvirus, feline calicivirus and feline immunodeficiency virus were used to
      test analytical specificity. In vitro transcribed RNA, artificial plasmid, FeLV
      strain American Type Culture Collection VR-719 and a clinical FeLV isolate were
      used in the analytical sensitivity assays. A retrospective study including 116
      clinical plasma and serum samples that had been tested with virus isolation, real
      time PCR and ELISA, and a prospective study including 150 clinical plasma and
      serum samples were implemented to evaluate the clinical performances of the iiPCR
      based methods for FeLV detection. Results Ninety-five percent assay limit of
      detection was calculated to be 16 RNA and five DNA copies for the RT-iiPCR, and
      six DNA copies for the iiPCR. Both reactions had analytical sensitivity
      comparable to a reference real-time PCR (qPCR) and did not detect five non-target
      feline pathogens. The clinical performance of the RT-iiPCR and iiPCR had 98.82%
      agreement (kappa[kappa] = 0.97) and 100% agreement (kappa = 1.0), respectively,
      with the qPCR (n = 85). The agreement between an automatic nucleic extraction/RT
      iiPCR system and virus isolation to detect FeLV in plasma or serum was 95.69%
      (kappa = 0.95) and 98.67% (kappa = 0.85) in a retrospective (n = 116) and a
      prospective (n = 150) study, respectively. Conclusions and relevance These
      results suggested that both RT-iiPCR and iiPCR assays can serve as reliable tools
      for PON FeLV detection.

PMID- 28589744
TI  - Circulating Vitamin D and Overall Survival in Breast Cancer Patients: A Dose
      Response Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.
AB  - Studies have shown that vitamin D could have a role in breast cancer survival;
      however, the evidence of the relationship between patients' vitamin D levels and
      their survival has been inconsistent. This meta-analysis explores possible dose
      response relationships between vitamin D levels and overall survival by allowing
      for differences in vitamin D levels among populations of the various studies.
      Studies relating vitamin D (25-OH-D [25-hydroxyvitamin D]) levels in breast
      cancer patients with their survival were identified by searching PubMed and
      Embase. A pooled HR (hazard ratio) comparing the highest with the lowest category
      of circulating 25-OH-D levels were synthesized using the Mantel-Haenszel method
      under a fixed-effects model. A two-stage fixed-effects dose-response model
      including both linear (a log-linear dose-response regression) and nonlinear (a
      restricted cubic spline regression) models were used to further explore possible
      dose-response relationships. Six studies with a total number of 5984 patients
      were identified. A pooled HR comparing the highest with the lowest category of
      circulating 25-OH-D levels under a fixed-effects model was 0.67 (95% confidence
      interval = 0.56-0.79, P < .001). Utilizing a dose-response meta-analysis, the
      pooled HR for overall survival in breast cancer patients was 0.994 (per 1
      nmol/L), Pfor linear trend < .001. At or above a 23.3 nmol/L threshold, for a 10
      nmol/L, 20 nmol/L, or 25 nmol/L increment in circulating 25-OH-D levels, the risk
      of breast cancer overall mortality decreased by 6%, 12%, and 14%, respectively.
      There was no significant nonlinearity in the relationship between overall
      survival and circulating 25-OH-D levels. Our findings suggest that there is a
      highly significant linear dose-response relationship between circulating 25-OH-D
      levels and overall survival in patients with breast cancer. However, better
      designed prospective cohort studies and clinical trials are needed to further
      confirm these findings.

PMID- 28589745
TI  - Green synthesis of tea Ag nanocomposite hydrogels via mint leaf extraction for
      effective antibacterial activity.
AB  - In this report, we investigated the swelling behavior and antibacterial property
      of nanosilver composite hydrogels made from tea with polyacrylamide via a free
      radical polymerization and green process technique. This is probably for the
      first time; tea-based nano silver composite hydrogels were developed. The
      composite hydrogels comprise embedded nano silver particles in the tea hydrogel
      matrix via a green process with mint leaf extract. The size of the nano silver
      particles in the hydrogel matrix was found to be < 10 nm. The nano silver
      composite hydrogels formed and their blank hydrogels from the mint leaf were
      characterized by using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron
      microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy,
      thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction studies. The nano silver
      composite hydrogels developed exhibit eminent antibacterial activity against
      Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. This clearly indicates that the nano
      silver composite hydrogels are potential candidates for antimicrobial
      applications.

PMID- 28589746
TI  - A review of the use of human papilloma virus (HPV) in cervical screening.
AB  - Using key words online databases were searched to identify relevant publications
      to review the use of Human papilloma virus (HPV) in cervical screening. The mode
      of cervical screening in the UK has been decided but implementation plans have
      yet to be announced. The protracted uncertainty surrounding the initial
      announcement to move to HPV primary screening together with the lack of a
      national steer has resulted in a flight of staff which threatens the provision of
      the current and future service. The transition will be a challenging time but
      analysis of data from more than 176,000 women has shown clear evidence of a
      reduction in the incidence of cancer where HPV testing is used. There will
      however, be a population of women who are cytologically negative but high-risk
      HPV positive and the management of these women will be key to maximising the
      benefits of HPV primary screening. As cervical cytology becomes increasingly rare
      its effectiveness and role in cervical screening will come under scrutiny and we
      must ensure the specificity of reporting is maintained in order for it to
      survive.

PMID- 28589747
TI  - A novel bio electro active alginate-aniline tetramer/ agarose scaffold for tissue
      engineering: synthesis, characterization, drug release and cell culture study.
AB  - In this study, synthesis of a novel biocompatible stimuli-responsive conducting
      hydrogel based on agarose/alginate-aniline tetramer with the capability of a
      tailored electrically controlled drug-release for neuroregeneration is
      investigated. First, aniline tetramer is synthesized and grafted onto sodium
      alginate. Then, this material is added to agarose as an electrical conductivity
      modifier to obtain Agarose/alginate-aniline tetramer hydrogel. The synthesized
      materials are characterized by H NMR and FTIR. The hydrogels are prepared with
      varying content of aniline tetramer and their swelling-deswelling and shape
      memory behavior is evaluated. The electroactivity and ionic conductivity of
      hydrogels against temperature is measured. The sample with 10% aniline tetramer
      (AT10) reveals the highest ionic conductivity. In MTT and SEM assays, AT10 shows
      the best cell viability and cell proliferation due to its highest ionic
      conductivity highlighting the fact that electrical stimuli cell signaling.
      Hydrogels also represent great potentials for passive and electro-stimulated
      dexamethasone release. These results demonstrate that the newly developed
      conducting hydrogels are promising materials for neuroregenerative medicine.

PMID- 28589748
TI  - Challenges in management of left ventricular thrombus.
AB  - Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) complicates both ischemic and non-ischemic
      cardiomyopathies and is a potential cause of thromboembolic complications such as
      stroke. Management of LVT in the 21st century is primarily based on studies
      before the widespread use of potent pharmacological and interventional therapies
      such as primary percutaneous coronary intervention, especially in the setting of
      acute myocardial infarction. Though advances in diagnostic technology have
      improved detection of LVT, clinicians face several uncertainties in the
      management of LVT in daily practice. The aim of this paper is to examine several
      controversies in the diagnosis and management of LVT. Prospective studies are
      needed to advance therapy of LVT.

PMID- 28589749
TI  - Safety of parecoxib when used for more than 3 days for the management of
      postoperative pain.
AB  - AIM: To assess parecoxib safety when used for >3 days for postoperative pain
      management. METHODS: Treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) occurrence after day
      3 was examined in a pooled analysis of three placebo-controlled trials of
      parecoxib following general or gynecologic surgery, or total hip arthroplasty. A
      total of 358 patients received parecoxib, and 318 placebo. RESULTS: Mean
      treatment duration was similar between treatment groups. The overall frequency of
      all TEAEs after day 3 was also similar between treatment groups. Most TEAEs
      occurred in <1% of patients after day 3; frequencies were similar between
      treatment groups. Most TEAEs were considered mild or moderate in severity.
      CONCLUSION: TEAE occurrence in patients receiving parecoxib for >3 days was low
      and similar to placebo after treatment day 3.

PMID- 28589750
TI  - A unified approach for assessing heterogeneity in age-period-cohort model
      parameters using random effects.
AB  - Age-period-cohort models are a popular tool for studying population-level rates;
      for example, trends in cancer incidence and mortality. Age-period-cohort models
      decompose observed trends into age effects that correlate with natural history,
      period effects that reveal factors impacting all ages simultaneously (e.g.
      innovations in screening), and birth cohort effects that reflect differential
      risk exposures that vary across birth years. Methodology for the analysis of
      multiple population strata (e.g. ethnicity, cancer registry) within the age
      period-cohort framework has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we outline a
      general model for characterizing differences in age-period-cohort model
      parameters for a potentially large number of strata. Our model incorporates
      stratum-specific random effects for the intercept, the longitudinal age trend,
      and the model-based estimate of annual percent change (net drift), thereby
      enabling a comprehensive analysis of heterogeneity. We also extend the standard
      model to include quadratic terms for age, period, and cohort, along with the
      corresponding random effects, which quantify possible stratum-specific departures
      from global curvature. We illustrate the utility of our model with an application
      to metastatic prostate cancer incidence (2004-2013) in non-Hispanic white and
      black men, using 17 population-based cancer registries in the Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results Program.

PMID- 28589751
TI  - Modelling disease activity in juvenile dermatomyositis: A Bayesian approach.
AB  - Juvenile dermatomyositis is the most common form of the juvenile idiopathic
      inflammatory myopathies characterised by muscle and skin inflammation, leading to
      symmetric proximal muscle weakness and cutaneous symptoms. It has a fluctuating
      course and varying prognosis. In a Bayesian framework, we develop a joint model
      for four longitudinal outcomes, which accounts for within individual variability
      as well as inter-individual variability. Correlations among the outcome variables
      are introduced through a subject-specific random effect. Moreover, we exploit an
      approach similar to a hurdle model to account for excess of a specific outcome in
      the response. Clinical markers and symptoms are used as covariates in a
      regression set-up. Data from an ongoing observational cohort study are available,
      providing information on 340 subjects, who contributed 2725 clinical visits. The
      model shows good performance and yields efficient estimations of model
      parameters, as well as accurate predictions of the disease activity parameters,
      corresponding well to observed clinical patterns over time. The posterior
      distribution of the by-subject random intercepts shows a substantial correlation
      between two of the outcome variables. A subset of clinical markers and symptoms
      are identified as associated with disease activity. These findings have the
      potential to influence clinical practice as they can be used to stratify patients
      according to their prognosis and guide treatment decisions, as well as contribute
      to on-going research about the most relevant outcome markers for patients
      affected by juvenile dermatomyositis.

PMID- 28589752
TI  - A framework for prospectively defining progression rules for internal pilot
      studies monitoring recruitment.
AB  - Just over half of publicly funded trials recruit their target sample size within
      the planned study duration. When recruitment targets are missed, the funder of a
      trial is faced with the decision of either committing further resources to the
      study or risk that a worthwhile treatment effect may be missed by an underpowered
      final analysis. To avoid this challenging situation, when there is insufficient
      prior evidence to support predicted recruitment rates, funders now require
      feasibility assessments to be performed in the early stages of trials.
      Progression criteria are usually specified and agreed with the funder ahead of
      time. To date, however, the progression rules used are typically ad hoc. In
      addition, rules routinely permit adaptations to recruitment strategies but do not
      stipulate criteria for evaluating their effectiveness. In this paper, we develop
      a framework for planning and designing internal pilot studies which permit a
      trial to be stopped early if recruitment is disappointing or to continue to full
      recruitment if enrolment during the feasibility phase is adequate. This framework
      enables a progression rule to be pre-specified and agreed upon prior to starting
      a trial. The novel two-stage designs stipulate that if neither of these
      situations arises, adaptations to recruitment should be made and subsequently
      evaluated to establish whether they have been successful. We derive optimal
      progression rules for internal pilot studies which minimise the expected trial
      overrun and maintain a high probability of completing the study when the
      recruitment rate is adequate. The advantages of this procedure are illustrated
      using a real trial example.

PMID- 28589755
TI  - Psychosocial and ergonomic survey of office and field jobs in a utility company.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The effect of different kinds of work on the psychosocial
      assessment of workers under the same management and organizational environment is
      investigated. METHODS: A voluntary assessment in a utility company was carried
      out using the short version of the Copenhagen psychosocial questionnaire (CoPsoQ)
      on two occasions, 1.5 years apart. Initially, 25 office workers (11 men and 14
      women) participated, while 14 of those workers (8 women and 6 men) participated
      in the second assessment together with 32 field workers. The sewage, water
      treatment and maintenance workers, totaling 32 men, also participated in a field
      ergonomics assessment using the Washington State Department of Labor and
      Industries field work ergonomic checklist. RESULTS: The longitudinal outlook was
      fairly stable, with sustained severe scores in many CoPsoQ subscales and
      intensification of severity of workers' control over work and esteem for men. A
      significantly higher esteem score resulted for field rather than office workers.
      Workers subjected to foul odors showed similar severity of psychosocial factors.
      DISCUSSION: For most psychosocial dimensions, the organizational design and
      management system in place, as well as the overall cultural environment in which
      it operates, create a much stronger and more decisive impact than job-specific
      factors.

PMID- 28589754
TI  - Participatory art-based research with children to gain their perspectives on
      designing healthcare environments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A study was designed to understand the experiences and needs of
      children within the public spaces of the Outpatients Department of New Zealand's
      national children's hospital, Starship Childrens' Directorate. AIM: To find out
      from children what they thought about the outpatient environment. DESIGN: A
      participatory art based methodology was used. METHODS: Based around the key areas
      of the physical environment, wayfinding, noise, and uniforms, art-based methods
      (draw and tell and letter writing) were used to collect data from 175 children
      ages 5-16 whilst they attended outpatient clinics. The drawings and letters were
      analysed using descriptive/thematic analysis. RESULTS: The findings show that
      children are very aware of their environment and are able to clearly voice what
      is important to them. Children appreciate environments that are child friendly,
      and inclusive of colour and artwork; however, wayfinding remains a challenge for
      many families. Although the environment was seen as important, children placed
      significant value on the people who demonstrated warmth and care within these
      environments. CONCLUSION: Participatory art based approaches offer a child
      centred approach to finding out what children perceive is important in the design
      of hospital environments.

PMID- 28589756
TI  - Evaluating the impact of method bias in health behaviour research: a meta
      analytic examination of studies utilising the theories of reasoned action and
      planned behaviour.
AB  - The methods employed to measure behaviour in research testing the theories of
      reasoned action/planned behaviour (TRA/TPB) within the context of health
      behaviours have the potential to significantly bias findings. One bias yet to be
      examined in that literature is that due to common method variance (CMV). CMV
      introduces a variance in scores attributable to the method used to measure a
      construct, rather than the construct it represents. The primary aim of this study
      was to evaluate the impact of method bias on the associations of health
      behaviours with TRA/TPB variables. Data were sourced from four meta-analyses (177
      studies). The method used to measure behaviour for each effect size was coded for
      susceptibility to bias. The moderating impact of method type was assessed using
      meta-regression. Method type significantly moderated the associations of
      intentions, attitudes and social norms with behaviour, but not that between
      perceived behavioural control and behaviour. The magnitude of the moderating
      effect of method type appeared consistent between cross-sectional and prospective
      studies, but varied across behaviours. The current findings strongly suggest that
      method bias significantly inflates associations in TRA/TPB research, and poses a
      potentially serious validity threat to the cumulative findings reported in that
      field.

PMID- 28589753
TI  - Evaluating the gray and white matter energy budgets of human brain function.
AB  - The insatiable appetite for energy to support human brain function is mainly
      supplied by glucose oxidation (CMRglc(ox)). But how much energy is consumed for
      signaling and nonsignaling processes in gray/white matter is highly debated. We
      examined this issue by combining metabolic measurements of gray/white matter and
      a theoretical calculation of bottom-up energy budget using biophysical properties
      of neuronal/glial cells in conjunction with species-exclusive
      electrophysiological and morphological data. We calculated a CMRglc(ox)-derived
      budget and confirmed it with experimental results measured by PET,
      autoradiography, 13C-MRS, and electrophysiology. Several conserved principles
      were observed regarding the energy costs for brain's signaling and nonsignaling
      components in both human and rat. The awake resting cortical signaling processes
      and mass-dependent nonsignaling processes, respectively, demand ~70% and ~30% of
      CMRglc(ox). Inhibitory neurons and glia need 15-20% of CMRglc(ox), with the rest
      demanded by excitatory neurons. Nonsignaling demands dominate in white matter, in
      near opposite contrast to gray matter demands. Comparison between 13C-MRS data
      and calculations suggests ~1.2 Hz glutamatergic signaling rate in the awake human
      cortex, which is ~4 times lower than signaling in the rat cortex. Top-down
      validated bottom-up budgets could allow computation of anatomy-based CMRglc(ox)
      maps and accurate cellular level interpretation of brain metabolic imaging.

PMID- 28589757
TI  - Quantitative Trait Loci for Slow-Rusting Resistance to Leaf Rust in Doubled
      Haploid Wheat Population CI13227 * Lakin.
AB  - CI13227 is a U.S. winter wheat line with adult-plant slow-rusting resistance that
      has been the subject of several studies on the characteristics and components of
      slow rusting. Previous genetic studies used different populations and approaches
      and came to different conclusions about the genetic basis of resistance in
      CI13227. To clarify the situation, a new doubled-haploid (DH) population of
      CI13227 * Lakin was produced and a linkage map was constructed using 5,570 single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers derived from wheat 90K SNP assays and 84
      simple sequence repeat markers. Three quantitative trait loci (QTL) were
      identified for three slow-rusting traits on chromosome arms 2DS, 7AL, and 7BL
      from CI13227. A fourth QTL mapped on chromosome 3BS was from Lakin. The QTL on
      2DS, designated QLr.hwwg-2DS, explained 11.2 to 25.6% of the phenotypic
      variation. It was found in the same position as a slow-rusting QTL in the CI13227
      * Suwon 92 population in a previous study and, thus, verified the 2DS QTL. The
      QTL on chromosome 7BL explained 8.1 and 19.3% of the phenotypic variation and is
      likely to be Lr68. The other two QTL showed a minor effect on some of the traits
      evaluated in a single experiment. Flanking SNP closely linked to all QTL were
      converted to Kompetitive allele-specific polymerase chain reaction markers that
      can be used in marker-assisted selection to transfer these QTL into adapted wheat
      cultivars.

PMID- 28589758
TI  - Identification of type I and type II inhibitors of c-Yes kinase using in silico
      and experimental techniques.
AB  - c-Yes kinase is considered as one of the attractive targets for anti-cancer drug
      design. The DFG (Asp-Phe-Gly) motif present in most of the kinases will adopt
      active and inactive conformations, known as DFG-in and DFG-out and their
      inhibitors are classified into type I and type II, respectively. In the present
      study, two screening protocols were followed for identification of c-Yes kinase
      inhibitors. (i) Structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) and (ii) Structure-based
      (SB) and Pharmacophore-based (PB) tandem screening. In SBVS, the c-Yes kinase
      structure was obtained from homology modeling and seven ensembles with different
      active site scaffolds through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. For SB-PB
      tandem screening, we modeled ligand bound active and inactive conformations.
      Physicochemical properties of inhibitors of Src kinase family and c-Yes kinase
      were used to prepare target focused libraries for screenings. Our screening
      procedure along with docking showed 520 probable hits in SBVS and tandem
      screening (120 and 400, respectively). Out of 5000 compounds identified from
      different computational methods, 2410 were examined using kinase inhibition
      assays. It includes 266 compounds (5.32%) identified from our method. We observed
      that 14 compounds (12%) are identified by the present method out of 168 that
      showed > 30% inhibition. Among them, three compounds are novel, unique, and
      showed good inhibition. Further, we have studied the binding of these compounds
      at the DFG-in and DFG-out conformations and reported the probable class (type I
      or type II). Hence, we suggest that these compounds could be novel drug leads for
      regulation of colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28589759
TI  - Leukemic transformation in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms: a
      population-based retrospective study.
AB  - AIM: This study determined the epidemiology of developing leukemic transformation
      in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). METHODS: We utilized the
      Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results 13 database to identify 83 cases of
      leukemic transformation in MPN (n = 9335). RESULTS: The 5-year cumulative
      incidence of leukemic transformation was higher in male versus female (2.17 vs
      1.09%; p < 0.001), and in myelofibrosis (2.19%; 95% CI: 1.36-3.34%), compared
      with essential thrombocythemia (0.37%; 95% CI: 0.19-0.65%) and polycythemia vera
      (0.72%; 95% CI: 0.46-1.07%; p < 0.001). Patients had a median survival of 2
      months after leukemic transformation, worse in older patients and without any
      impact of prior MPN subtypes. CONCLUSION: Myelofibrosis has a higher risk of
      leukemic transformation. Overall survival is dismal regardless of MPN subtypes.

PMID- 28589760
TI  - The legacy of nuclear power.

PMID- 28589761
TI  - Colic: An Evolutionary Selective Pressure for Good Parents?

PMID- 28589762
TI  - Radial Head Subluxation Among Young Children in the United States Associated With
      Consumer Products and Recreational Activities.
AB  - This study investigated the epidemiology of children treated in US emergency
      departments for radial head subluxation (RHS) associated with consumer products
      and recreational activities using data from the National Electronic Injury
      Surveillance System. An estimated 430 766 (95% confidence interval: 341 194-520
      339) children <=5 years of age were treated for RHS in US emergency departments
      from 1990 to 2011. The mean patient age was 2.1 years, and 56.5% of patients were
      girls. The most common mechanism of injury was a fall (43.2%), followed by arm
      pull (39.4%). The annual rate of RHS increased significantly by 190.1% during the
      22-year study period. This is the largest study of RHS to date and the first to
      use a nationally representative sample to investigate secular trends and
      mechanisms of injury for RHS associated with consumer products and recreational
      activities. Events associated with consumer products and recreational activities
      are an important increasing source of RHS.

PMID- 28589763
TI  - Measuring Vaccine Hesitancy in a Minority Community.

PMID- 28589764
TI  - Perception, Awareness, and Acceptance of Human Papillomavirus Disease and Vaccine
      Among Parents of Boys Aged 9 to 18 Years.
AB  - Male human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates remain very low. The study
      objective was to gain an understanding of the perceptions of HPV disease and
      acceptance/barriers to HPV vaccine by parents of boys aged 9 to 18 years. An
      anonymous, written survey was administered from January 1, 2011 to September 30,
      2013 in private pediatric offices (PPOs) and public health clinics (PHCs) in
      Chicago, Illinois. A total of 230 PPO parents (PPOPs) and 286 PHC parents (PHCPs)
      completed the survey. Despite significant differences ( P < .0001) in education
      level, socioeconomic status, and HPV disease and vaccine knowledge/awareness
      between the PPOP and PHCP, there was no difference between PPOP and PHCP who
      would vaccinate their sons with HPV vaccine. For both groups, health care
      provider recommendation was the primary influence for vaccination. The major
      barrier to vaccination was lack of information on HPV disease/vaccine. Health
      care providers need to proactively discuss and use HPV vaccine in male patients.

PMID- 28589765
TI  - Prognostic value of Ki-67 expression in patients with extensive-stage small cell
      lung cancer.
AB  - AIM: To determine whether Ki-67 has prognostic significance in patients with
      extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. PATIENTS & METHODS: A retrospective
      review identified 159 consecutive patients with extensive-stage small cell lung
      cancer. Ki-67 expression level at the time of diagnosis was retrieved. Survival
      was assessed by Kaplan-Meier method and long-rank test. RESULTS: None of the
      clinical characteristics, including age, gender and lactate dehydrogenase, were
      significantly associated with Ki-67 expression level (p > 0.05). Patients with
      high Ki-67 expression had longer survival than patients with low Ki-67 expression
      (p = 0.078). Age, gender and lactate dehydrogenase were not significantly
      associated with survival (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ki-67 expression level failed to
      have a markedly significant impact on survival in patients with extensive-stage
      small cell lung cancer.

PMID- 28589766
TI  - An update on genomic-guided therapies for pediatric solid tumors.
AB  - Currently, out of the 82 US FDA-approved targeted therapies for adult cancer
      treatments, only three are approved for use in children irrespective of their
      genomic status. Apart from leukemia, only a handful of genomic-based trials
      involving children with solid tumors are ongoing. Emerging genomic data for
      pediatric solid tumors may facilitate the development of precision medicine in
      pediatric patients. Here, we provide an up-to-date review of all reported genomic
      aberrations in the eight most common pediatric solid tumors with whole-exome
      sequencing or whole-genome sequencing data (from cBioPortal database, Pediatric
      Cancer Genome Project, Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective
      Treatments) and additional non-whole-exome sequencing studies. Potential
      druggable events are highlighted and discussed so as to facilitate preclinical
      and clinical research in this area.

PMID- 28589770
TI  - The emerging role of professional social media use in oncology.

PMID- 28589771
TI  - Imatinib mesylate in desmoplastic small round cell tumors.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the possible role of imatinib, an inhibitor of the tyrosine
      kinase activity of PDGF-R, in desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT).
      PATIENTS & METHODS: From August 2005 to June 2009, DSRCT patients refractory to
      conventional treatment were enrolled. Patients received imatinib 400 mg daily.
      Primary end point of this open label, prospective, Phase II trial was objective
      response rate. RESULTS: Of the 13 enrolled patients, eight were evaluable for
      response. Median age was 20 years (range: 9-32). Objective responses at 3 months
      were: stable disease in one patient and progressive disease in seven patients.
      CONCLUSION: Imatinib showed no efficacy in the treatment of DSRCT unresponsive to
      conventional therapy, despite molecular-based selection of patients.

PMID- 28589773
TI  - Estimating the spatial distribution of artificial groundwater recharge using
      multiple tracers.
AB  - Stable isotopes of water, organic micropollutants and hydrochemistry data are
      powerful tools for identifying different water types in areas where knowledge of
      the spatial distribution of different groundwater is critical for water resource
      management. An important question is how the assessments change if only one or a
      subset of these tracers is used. In this study, we estimate spatial artificial
      infiltration along an infiltration system with stage-discharge relationships and
      classify different water types based on the mentioned hydrochemistry data for a
      drinking water production area in Switzerland. Managed aquifer recharge via
      surface water that feeds into the aquifer creates a hydraulic barrier between
      contaminated groundwater and drinking water wells. We systematically compare the
      information from the aforementioned tracers and illustrate differences in
      distribution and mixing ratios. Despite uncertainties in the mixing ratios, we
      found that the overall spatial distribution of artificial infiltration is very
      similar for all the tracers. The highest infiltration occurred in the eastern
      part of the infiltration system, whereas infiltration in the western part was the
      lowest. More balanced infiltration within the infiltration system could cause the
      elevated groundwater mound to be distributed more evenly, preventing the natural
      inflow of contaminated groundwater. Dedicated to Professor Peter Fritz on the
      occasion of his 80th birthday.

PMID- 28589772
TI  - Report from European Association for the Study of the Liver: HCC Summit, Geneva,
      Switzerland, 2-5 February 2017.
AB  - The European Association for the Study of the Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma
      (HCC) international meeting held in Geneva in February 2017 focused on the state
      of the art of HCC management, from diagnosis to treatment and the potential
      development of clinical research in this field. This report reviews some of the
      most interesting topics discussed at the meeting such as the role of hepatitis C
      viral infection treatment with direct-acting antivirals in enhancing HCC risk,
      current prognostic systems, early diagnosis techniques, curative therapies for
      early HCC and the systemic treatments for advanced disease with a look into
      future perspectives.

PMID- 28589774
TI  - Development of a multiplex qPCR in real time for quantification and differential
      diagnosis of Salmonella Gallinarum and Salmonella Pullorum.
AB  - Currently there are 2659 Salmonella serovars. The host-specific biovars
      Salmonella Pullorum and Salmonella Gallinarum cause systemic infections in food
      producing and wild birds. Fast diagnosis is crucial to control the dissemination
      in avian environments. The present work describes the development of a multiplex
      qPCR in real time using a low-cost DNA dye (SYBr Green) to identify and quantify
      these biovars. Primers were chosen based on genomic regions of difference (RoD)
      and optimized to control dimers. Primers pSGP detect both host-specific biovars
      but not other serovars and pSG and pSP differentiate biovars. Three amplicons
      showed different melting temperatures (Tm), allowing differentiation. The pSGP
      amplicon (97 bp) showed Tm of 78 degrees C for both biovars. The pSG amplicon
      (273 bp) showed a Tm of 86.2 degrees C for S. Gallinarum and pSP amplicon (260
      bp) dissociated at 84.8 degrees C for S. Pullorum identification. The multiplex
      qPCR in real time showed high sensitivity and was capable of quantifying 108-101
      CFU of these biovars.

PMID- 28589775
TI  - Opportunities to significantly reduce expenditure associated with cancer drugs.
AB  - AIM: To identify cancer drugs amenable to strategies for reducing expenditure and
      avoiding drug wastage. METHODS: Information was sourced from product information
      in 20 countries on parenteral cytotoxic agents, and cancer and noncancer
      monoclonal antibodies. Data were collected on vial sizes, overage, stability and
      presentation forms. RESULTS: Vial size availability varied significantly between
      countries, with often only single vial sizes for numerous medications. Overage
      was poorly reported. Stability data were inconsistent and variable between
      countries, with most drugs only having a 24 h expiry. Three cancer-indicated
      monoclonal antibodies, thought suitable for prefilled syringe administration,
      were only available as vials. CONCLUSION: Many expensive cancer drugs are
      suitable for global cost-reduction strategies. Collaboration is vital to
      affecting change and reducing expenditure.

PMID- 28589776
TI  - Early active motion after rigid internal fixation of unstable extra-articular
      fractures of the proximal phalanx.
AB  - : The purpose of this study is to describe active early rehabilitation in
      proximal phalanx fractures treated with rigid internal fixation. A total of 22
      consecutive patients presenting with spiral, oblique or comminuted extra
      articular fractures of the proximal phalanx were included in the study. All
      fractures were rigidly stabilized with plate and screws or screws alone and
      subsequently entered an active early rehabilitation programme. The mean follow-up
      period was 15.4 months (SD 10.1). Mean visual analogue scale pain score was 0.3
      (SD 0.5) and Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score was 9.2 (SD 4.1).
      Mean total active motion was 241.9 degrees  (SD 18.3). According to the digital
      functional assessment, 86.3% of the patients had excellent results. Extension
      lags of the proximal interphalangeal joint were observed in seven fingers (mean
      lag, 3.4 degrees  (SD 5.5)). The results of this study demonstrated high patient
      satisfaction and good outcomes after the surgical technique and postoperative
      rehabilitation protocol described in open reduction and rigid internal fixation
      of proximal phalangeal fractures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28589777
TI  - Social network, recovery attitudes and internal stigma among those with serious
      mental illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social network size and strength is an important determinant of
      overall health. AIMS: This study describes the extent and strength of the social
      network among a sample of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and
      explores the relationship between an individual's social network and their
      experience of internal stigma and recovery attitudes. METHODS: Over a 2-year
      period, consecutive new patients with SMI attending two community mental health
      clinics were recruited and interviewed using a comprehensive battery of
      assessments including assessment of internalized stigma, recovery attitudes and
      symptom severity. RESULTS: Among the 271 patients interviewed, social network
      size was small across all diagnostic categories. In adjusted results, the number
      of friends and support from relatives and friends was significantly related to
      the personal confidence and hope recovery attitude ( p < .05). The number of
      relatives and friends and support from relatives was significantly related to
      internalized stigma ( p < .05). Frequency of contact with relatives or friends
      was not related to either recovery factors or internalized stigma. CONCLUSION:
      There is a significant positive relationship between the size and perceived
      strength of an individual's social network and internalized stigma and some
      recovery attitudes. Clinical programs that address any of these factors could
      potentially improve outcomes for this population.

PMID- 28589778
TI  - Relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and anthropometric indices among
      bus drivers in Zahedan city.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Most work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are associated
      with improper postures and poorly designed workstations. This study is an attempt
      to examine the prevalence and severity of MSDs as well as anthropometric
      dimensions among city bus drivers. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was
      carried out on 60 male bus drivers. A body discomfort chart was used to evaluate
      MSDs. Spearman correlation was employed to examine the relationship between body
      size and the severity of discomfort. RESULTS: Data analysis showed that
      discomfort reported in the lower back (33.3%), upper back (18.3%) and knee (15%)
      was severe and there was a direct and significant correlation between the body
      mass index and the severity of discomfort in the shoulder, arm and hip (p <
      0.05). However, the results showed that eye sitting height and sitting height had
      significant inverse relationships with discomfort in the ankle and elbow (p <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of the study can be used to address ergonomic risk
      factors and reduce their associated disorders. The findings of the study can be
      used in training programs to educate drivers how to decrease the risk associated
      with work-related MSDs by adopting appropriate behavior strategies.

PMID- 28589780
TI  - Pelvic organ prolapse: the impact on quality of life and psychological well
      being.
AB  - The aim of this work is to propose a brief comment about the impact of pelvic
      organ prolapse on the quality of life and the psychological well-being of the
      affected women.

PMID- 28589779
TI  - Faking handedness: Individual differences in ability to fake handedness, social
      cognitions of the handedness of others, and a forensic application using Bayes'
      theorem.
AB  - People usually describe their handedness honestly, but that need not necessarily
      be the case. A legal case is described of a murder said by the pathologist to be
      committed by a left-hander but the defendant claimed to be right-handed, and the
      first author assessed the defendant's handedness as an expert witness. We know of
      no previous work on faking handedness, and so we tested 30 right-handers and 25
      left-handers on various handedness tasks, and then asked the participants to
      repeat the tasks while faking being of opposite handedness. Social cognitions of
      handedness were assessed from participants' knowledge of how other right- and
      left-handers would answer handedness questionnaires. Fake handedness was best
      differentiated using cursive lower-case sentence writing, upper-case written
      letters being less good at distinguishing, as also were simple motor tasks.
      Participants differed in social cognitions of handedness, and those with more
      accurate social cognitions were better able to fake. Personality measures did not
      predict faking ability. For forensic purposes a Bayesian analysis was carried out
      to evaluate the likelihood of right and left hand performance being true rather
      than faked, and the cursive lower-case writing provided strong posterior odds
      that, as claimed, the particular defendant was a true right-hander.

PMID- 28589781
TI  - The effect of critical thinking education on nursing students' problem-solving
      skills.
AB  - THE AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of critical
      thinking education on nursing students' problem-solving skills. MATERIALS AND
      METHOD: This study was conducted with 93 nursing students, 49 in the control
      group and 44 in the education group. The California Critical Thinking Disposition
      Inventory and the Problem-solving Inventory were administered to them before and
      after 12 weeks of critical thinking education. RESULTS: The education group's
      mean critical thinking score was 253.61 on the pretest and 268.72 on the
      posttest. This increase was statistically significant (p < .001). The posttest
      mean score of the control group fell to 258.18 on the posttest after a pretest
      mean score of 260.79, and this difference was statistically significant (p <
      .001). According to the posttest results, the problem-solving skills of education
      group increased significantly (p < .001), while the control group's score fell
      significantly (p < .001). CONCLUSION: This study determined that critical
      thinking education improves problem-solving skills.

PMID- 28589782
TI  - The Effect of Music on the Spirituality of Patients: A Systematic Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although some studies have suggested that music can positively affect
      physical and psychological variables, few have evaluated its effects on
      spirituality. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of musical interventions
      on the spirituality of patients, regardless of diagnoses. METHOD: This was a
      systematic literature review that followed the Preferred Reporting Items for
      Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations conducted through a
      relevant search of terms in six databases (PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL,
      PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, and LILACS) without temporal delimitation. Experimental
      or quasi-experimental studies were included, involving participants regardless of
      diagnoses, to assess the effect of music on spirituality, either through musical
      intervention as music medicine or through music therapy. The methodological
      quality of included studies was evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence
      Database scale. RESULTS: A total of 147 studies were identified; 7 met the
      inclusion criteria. Five studies were randomized controlled trials involving six
      music therapists leading the musical intervention with the active participation
      of patients. The interventions used were heterogeneous. Three studies were
      associated with improved spirituality after the intervention. Four studies used
      measurements to evaluate spiritual well-being. CONCLUSION: This review did not
      allow ascertaining the positive impact of music intervention on spirituality in
      patients, which motivates further research.

PMID- 28589783
TI  - The pan occupational paradigm: development and key concepts.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Wilcock's Occupational Perspective of Health (OPH) aligns with
      the profession's re-discovery of its holistic, occupationally focused roots. Its
      dimensions of occupation-doing, being, becoming and belonging - resonate strongly
      with therapists on an intuitive, implicit level. However, its documented use in
      practice to date has been sparse, and several barriers to its implementation have
      been identified. The aim of this article is to present a renewal of the OPH - the
      Pan Occupational Paradigm (POP). Method of development: POP was developed using
      critical analysis, reflection and a comprehensive literature review. Each stage
      of development is described in detail, including the POP's inherent assumptions.
      Key concepts: POP retains the four dimensions of occupation, and shows their
      interdependent role within occupational entities (e.g. individuals, groups or
      communities). An entity can be approached by occupational therapy at any point
      and all the dimensions (either directly or indirectly) can be engaged.
      Occupational entities move along a continuum of wellbeing, and this movement can
      be in both positive and negative directions over a lifespan. CONCLUSION AND
      SIGNIFICANCE: POP is a distillation of occupational therapy's unique way of
      knowing about occupation and the promotion of wellbeing. It is put forward as an
      updated paradigm for occupational therapy in the 21st century.

PMID- 28589784
TI  - Resurrection of Mycteronastes (Monogenoidea: Monocotylidae), with Description of
      Mycteronastes caalusi n. sp. from Olfactory Sacs of the Smalltooth Sawfish,
      Pristis pectinata (Pristiformes: Pristidae), in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida.
AB  - Mycteronastes Kearn and Beverley-Burton, 1990 (Monogenoidea: Monocotylidae:
      Merizocotylinae) was resurrected from subjective synonymy with Merizocotyle
      Cerfontaine, 1894 , and its diagnosis was emended to include monocotylids with a
      haptor lacking a central loculus and having 5 peripheral (2 bilateral pairs and
      an unpaired anteromedial loculus), 1 interhamular, and 17 marginal loculi. The 3
      species of Mycteronastes accepted herein are parasitic within the olfactory sacs
      of rays and sawfishes: Mycteronastes icopae ( Beverley-Burton and Williams, 1989
      ) Kearn and Beverley-Burton, 1990 (type species) from the giant shovelnose ray,
      Glaucostegus typus (Anonymous (Bennett)) (Glaucostegidae), in the southwestern
      Pacific Ocean; Mycteronastes undulatae Kearn and Beverley-Burton, 1990 from the
      undulate ray, Raja undulata Lacepede (Rajidae), in the northeastern Atlantic
      Ocean; and Mycteronastes caalusi n. sp. from the smalltooth sawfish, Pristis
      pectinata Latham (Pristidae), in the Gulf of Mexico. Mycteronastes caalusi is
      most easily differentiated from its congeners by the combination of having 2
      median cephalic papillae, an oval haptor that is wider than the body proper and
      lacks a deeply scalloped margin, a comparatively large anteromedial peripheral
      loculus, an unsclerotized male copulatory organ that is wholly anterior to the
      vaginal pores, a relatively small distal portion of the uterus (ootype chamber)
      that is mostly anterior to the vaginae, and a delicate uterus. The present study
      is the first report of a monocotylid from the olfactory sacs of P. pectinata and
      the first record of a species of Mycteronastes from the Gulf of Mexico. Notes on
      the taxonomy and systematics of some species assigned to Calicotyle Diesing, 1850
      (Monocotylidae: Calicotylinae) are included.

PMID- 28589785
TI  - Revisiting beta thalassemia intermedia: past, present, and future prospects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The spectrum of thalassemias is wide ranging from thalassemia minor,
      which consists of mild hypochromic microcytic anemia without obvious clinical
      manifestations, to thalassemia major (TM), which is characterized by severe
      anemia since the first years of life and is transfusion dependent. Thalassemia
      intermedia (TI) describes those patients with mild or moderate anemia. OBJECTIVE:
      To describe the genetic features and major clinical complications of TI, and the
      therapeutic approaches available in the management of this disease. METHODS:
      Publications from potentially relevant journals were searched on Medline. RESULTS
      AND DISCUSSION: Over the past decade, the understanding of TI has increased with
      regard to pathophysiology and molecular studies. It is now clear that clinical
      presentation and specific complications make TI different from TM. It is
      associated with greater morbidity, a wider spectrum of organ dysfunction and more
      complications than previously thought. CONCLUSION: TI is not a mild disease. The
      interplay of three hallmark pathophysiologic factors (ineffective erythropoiesis,
      chronic anemia, and iron overload) leads to the clinical presentations seen in
      TI. New treatment modalities are currently being investigated to broaden the
      options available for TI management.

PMID- 28589786
TI  - Mine rescuers' heat load during the expenditure of physical effort in a hot
      environment, using ventilated underwear and selected breathing apparatus.
AB  - Mine rescuers' heat load under the same physical effort load (25% of the maximal
      oxygen uptake), using three types of breathing apparatus, in newly developed heat
      removing underwear and outerwear was assessed for typical work conditions of mine
      rescuers, under milder and harsher ambient conditions of 32 and 38  degrees C,
      respectively, both at relative humidity of 85% and air velocity of 1.0 m/s.
      Expending physical effort at the same load while using different kinds of
      breathing apparatus resulted in a similar heat load. Under both milder and
      harsher ambient conditions, heat storage and sweating intensity were greater than
      the average limit value recommended by hygienic standards, which indicates that
      the use of breathing apparatus significantly hinders heat exchange with the
      environment. The developed clothing for mine rescuers was highly rated, and was
      considered by most people to be better than that used currently.

PMID- 28589788
TI  - Nurse's dedication helped us deal with our son's diabetes diagnosis.
AB  - When my son Luca was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes it was a massive shock. Our
      world was turned upside down.

PMID- 28589790
TI  - Staff fitness plan on track for raising team spirit.
AB  - Senior public heath nurse Jan Sinclair and her fitness team at Stepping Hill
      Hospital in Stockport walked, jogged and ran more than 1,000 miles at Easter. It
      took them nine days to cover a distance equivalent to a return trip from Glasgow
      to Plymouth, but no one had a day off work.

PMID- 28589787
TI  - Conditioned medium from the three-dimensional culture of human umbilical cord
      perivascular cells accelerate the migration and proliferation of human
      keratinocyte and fibroblast.
AB  - Previous studies have reported that the conditioned medium (CM) of bone marrow
      mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) stimulate the migration and proliferation of
      cell types involved in the wound healing process. However, these studies only
      show MSC-CM effects that were obtained using a two-dimensional (2D) culture.
      Recently, a three-dimensional (3D) culture has been considered to be a more
      physiologically appropriate system than the 2D culture. In addition, it has been
      shown that the procurement of BM-MSC is invasive, and other sources of MSC are
      thus being explored. Recently, perivascular cells (PVCs) have been considered as
      an alternative source of cells for dermal wound healing. Therefore, in this
      study, a PVC-conditioned medium (CM) was collected from a 3D culture (PVC-CM-3D)
      using highly porous polystyrene-based membranes and compared with PVC-CM from a
      2D culture (PVC-CM-2D) to investigate the effects on the migration and
      proliferation of human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Moreover, the PVC-CM
      components from the 2D and 3D cultures were identified using 2D gel
      electrophoresis. The migrations of the keratinocytes cells and fibroblasts were
      significantly higher with PVC-CM-3D than with the 2D culture; similarly, the
      proliferation of keratinocytes was also highly stimulated by PVC-CM-3D. Proteomic
      analyses of the PVC-CM revealed that type I collagen was highly expressed in the
      3D-culture system. Microtubule-actin cross-linked factor 1 (KIAA0465), nebulin
      related anchoring protein, and thioredoxin were specifically expressed only in
      PVC-CM-3D. In addition, more EVs could be isolated from the PVC-CM-3D, and EVs
      were found to stimulate keratinocyte migration. Taken together, 3D-culture using
      a polystyrene scaffold is demonstrated to be a better system for providing better
      physiological conditions; therefore, PVC-CM-3D could be a promising option for
      skin-wound healing.

PMID- 28589789
TI  - Doctors' age linked to mortality risk for over-65s in hospital.
AB  - Patients aged 65 or over treated by older doctors in US hospitals were slightly
      more likely to die than those treated by younger doctors, except when high
      volumes of patients were being treated, a study has found.

PMID- 28589791
TI  - Number of older people with care needs 'to rise 25% by 2025'.
AB  - The number of older people with care needs is expected to grow by a quarter by
      2025, research suggests.

PMID- 28589792
TI  - From treating need to creating wellness.
AB  - Six years ago I lost my job as a deputy director of commissioning due to
      compulsory redundancy. In the run-up to leaving the NHS I had been introduced to
      one of the most inspirational nurses I've ever met, Hazel Stuteley.

PMID- 28589793
TI  - Margaret Green - education pioneer.
AB  - Serving at the RCN for 24 years from 1966 to 1990, Margaret Green helped to set
      up the UKCC, the forerunner of the NMC, and introduce major changes to nurse
      education such as Project 2000 and PREP.

PMID- 28589794
TI  - Cognitive risk for overweight people with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Obese and overweight people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of
      abnormal brain structure and cognitive problems, a study has found.

PMID- 28589796
TI  - Infants' cognition develops faster if dads play with them, study shows.
AB  - If fathers actively engage with their children and play with them in the first
      few months of life, it has a positive impact on cognitive development, research
      shows.

PMID- 28589795
TI  - Fertility preservation.
AB  - Essential facts [Figure: see text] Fertility preservation involves freezing and
      storing eggs, sperm, embryos and ovarian or testicular tissue for use in a
      person's future fertility treatment. Men and women may wish to preserve their
      fertility for a variety of reasons, including delaying parenthood and allowing
      treatment of a medical condition that may affect future fertility, including some
      cancer treatments.

PMID- 28589799
TI  - Campaign aims to boost profile of nurse leaders.
AB  - An ambitious global campaign to raise the profile of nursing across every
      continent has been announced at the International Council of Nurses (ICN)
      congress.

PMID- 28589797
TI  - Use of the wellness thermometer to improve consultations for patients with human
      immunodeficiency virus.
AB  - The care paradigm for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has
      changed from managing an infectious condition with a suboptimal prognosis, to
      managing a long-term chronic disease. The wellness thermometer is a tool that was
      developed to assist with monitoring the biological, psychological, social and
      spiritual well-being of patients with HIV. Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of
      using the wellness thermometer in healthcare consultations with patients with
      HIV. Method This was a service evaluation that was undertaken in three UK HIV
      clinics in 2014. After using the wellness thermometer, patients and healthcare
      professionals completed a survey to indicate whether they felt the tool improved
      their consultations. Results A total of 231 patients completed the survey. It was
      found that 80% (n=185) of patients felt the wellness thermometer helped to
      identify their concerns, while 79% (n=182) of patients felt the wellness
      thermometer improved their conversation with the healthcare professional. Of the
      12 healthcare professionals who completed the survey, most felt that the tool
      helped patients to identify their concerns (n=10) and that it was easy to use
      (n=11). Conclusion There are several benefits associated with using the wellness
      thermometer in healthcare consultations, and it may support patients with HIV to
      report any concerns they have in relation to their treatment and quality of life.
      The authors envisage that the tool will become a routine part of the care of
      these patients.

PMID- 28589800
TI  - Care of patients undergoing stoma formation: what the nurse needs to know.
AB  - Rationale and key points This article provides an overview of the various types
      of abdominal stoma and surgical procedures that result in stoma formation. It
      outlines the enhanced recovery pathway that is used to guide postoperative care,
      and some of the areas that should be incorporated in postoperative stoma care.
      These areas include training in the practical care of the stoma and its
      appliance, dietary advice and reintegrating lifestyle activities. In addition,
      the article briefly examines stoma reversal, and explores the role of the stoma
      specialist nurse. " Nurses require an understanding of the various surgical
      procedures that might result in the formation of a stoma. " An understanding of
      the stoma appliances that are available is essential to enable nurses to provide
      effective care for patients with a newly formed stoma. " Effective postoperative
      care that incorporates support and education enables patients to adapt quickly to
      having a stoma. " Enabling patients to understand changes that occur as a result
      of stoma formation will increase their confidence in managing their stoma
      alongside the effect on their quality of life.

PMID- 28589801
TI  - Call to champion health of refugees.
AB  - The highest-ranking nurse from the Obama administration has urged nurses around
      the world to help tackle migrant and refugee health challenges.

PMID- 28589805
TI  - Life expectancy rises for people with HIV, study finds.
AB  - Life expectancy for 20 year olds starting treatment for HIV has increased by ten
      years in Europe and the US since antiretroviral therapy began in the mid-1990s,
      an analysis shows.

PMID- 28589804
TI  - A royal turning point.
AB  - In disclosing the mental distress he experienced after the death of his mother
      Princess Diana, Prince Harry has joined a growing number of famous people who
      have felt enabled to make such issues public.

PMID- 28589806
TI  - Mobility care.
AB  - What was the nature of the CPD activity, practice-related feedback and/or event
      and/or experience in your practice? I read the article because it was relevant to
      my practice as a nurse on a surgical unit, where many of the patients are older
      people. I wanted to improve my understanding of what an integrated approach to
      mobility care for older people might entail. The article stated that although
      this approach is aimed at older people living in nursing homes or residential
      care who require assistance with mobilising, it could also be applied to other
      care settings.

PMID- 28589808
TI  - Don't believe the bad press.
AB  - Never has media coverage put me off becoming a nurse (readers' panel, 31 May).
      I'm nearly qualified and couldn't be more proud to work for the NHS.

PMID- 28589809
TI  - 'I aim to inspire our new nurses'.
AB  - Isobel Mason is a nurse consultant in gastroenterology at the Royal Free London
      NHS Foundation Trust and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) nurse development
      manager at the charity Crohn's & Colitis UK. Having qualified at the Royal Free
      in 1990 and worked in acute medicine before specialising in gastroenterology, she
      is now chair of the RCN Gastrointestinal Nursing Forum.

PMID- 28589810
TI  - When all is calm, please don't utter the 'q' word.
AB  - 'Labour will put a stop to bad language,' I heard in the run-up to the election.
      Quite right, I thought. All that effing and blinding; totally unnecessary. Then I
      realised they had said 'bad landlords'. Must make that audiology appointment....

PMID- 28589811
TI  - Readers' panel - Should nurse handovers take place at the patient's bedside?
AB  - Our experts consider a hot topic of the day.

PMID- 28589812
TI  - I'm not married - will my partner get my pension?
AB  - Most occupational pension schemes, such as that for NHS employees, ask members to
      declare who they wish the benefits to be paid to if they die. These are known as
      'expressions of interest' forms or something similar, and in them you state who
      you wish to receive your benefits.

PMID- 28589813
TI  - We are proud to be a four-country regulator.
AB  - The Nursing and Midwifery Council held its last next meeting in Cardiff. We are
      proud to be a four-country regulator, and once a year we hold the meeting outside
      London, giving us a chance to meet with our stakeholders in Wales, Northern
      Ireland and Scotland.

PMID- 28589815
TI  - Head of World Health Organization says nurses are key to universal healthcare.
AB  - The new director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has affirmed his
      support for nursing, promising to have a regular dialogue with nurse leaders.

PMID- 28589814
TI  - Nursing in the RAF: 'it's no ordinary job'.
AB  - Working in the military may not be an obvious choice for a nurse. but for
      Squadron Leader Ian Swain, a nursing officer at Royal Air Force College Cranwell,
      his job in the RAF has turned out to be 'varied, challenging, and exciting'.

PMID- 28589816
TI  - Two-way learning.
AB  - I have been a mentor for many years and believe it is a role all nurses should
      take on, as mentoring is a two-way process - we also learn from students.

PMID- 28589818
TI  - Language barriers.
AB  - I have worked with some overseas nurses who struggled to communicate at a basic
      level and it made for a stressful environment for staff and patients (NMC chief
      responds to concerns over language test review, news online, 26 May).

PMID- 28589819
TI  - Inpatients note nurse shortages, but say they have confidence in the profession.
AB  - Almost four in ten hospital inpatients believe there are not always enough nurses
      on duty to care for them, a survey reveals.

PMID- 28589817
TI  - Unfair expectations.
AB  - The International English Language Test System (IELTS) exam can be challenging
      even for native speakers.

PMID- 28589820
TI  - Missing out on good mentors.
AB  - My concern with the proposal to swap mentors for two new roles (news, 31 May) is
      that nurses who are good with students won't be able to help them if they are not
      on the approved list.

PMID- 28589823
TI  - Facing the challenges of providing leadership.
AB  - In the middle of a busy shift when patients or colleagues are looking to you for
      direction, you may find the demands of leadership overwhelming.

PMID- 28589822
TI  - Attacks on hospital employees' cars highlight workplace parking pressures.
AB  - Hospital staff members' cars were vandalised and angry notes left on their
      windscreens.

PMID- 28589824
TI  - Taking care to the patient: a rural outreach plan for men.
AB  - A staff nurse has turned her outpatients department into a health promotion hub,
      reaching across her community hospital and beyond to provide proactive,
      preventive and integrated services in rural communities. Anne Thomas, who works
      at Dolgellau Hospital in Gwynedd, north west Wales, won the Community Nursing
      category of the RCNi Nurse Awards 2017 for her work addressing health
      inequalities in men.

PMID- 28589826
TI  - Guidance row-back over PAYE for temporary staff.
AB  - Bank, agency and locum staff working in the NHS will not now automatically have
      their tax deducted at source.

PMID- 28589825
TI  - Effective communication with older adults.
AB  - Communication is an essential aspect of life, yet it can be taken for granted.
      Its centrality to being in the world and in professional practice often becomes
      evident when nurses and older adults encounter communication difficulties. The
      factors that can affect nurses' communication with older adults relate to the
      older adult, the nurse, sociocultural considerations and the environment, and the
      interactions between these factors. In adopting a person-centred approach to
      communicating with older adults, it is necessary to get to know the person as an
      individual and ensure communication meets their needs and abilities. Effective
      communication is essential in nursing practice and requires professional
      competence and engagement. This article can be used by nurses to support
      effective communication with older adults across the continuum of care.

PMID- 28589828
TI  - 'Tell your politicians to look at the safe staffing evidence'.
AB  - A nurse researcher who has led global studies on safe staffing said it is time
      for nurses and governments to act on the body of evidence.

PMID- 28589829
TI  - Royal Trinity Hospice.
AB  - Royal Trinity Hospice in south London has developed an app to help patients and
      carers navigate palliative care and access the support available to them.

PMID- 28589830
TI  - Swift response.
AB  - Healthcare leaders have praised the 'swift and heroic' actions of NHS staff in
      response to the terror attack in London last week.

PMID- 28589831
TI  - From downtrodden to influential: the global campaign to empower nurses.
AB  - Nurses have spent decades trying to shake off the image of being doctors'
      handmaidens, yet still the stereotype exists. In recent weeks their
      professionalism, skills and expertise have been highlighted by responses to
      terror attacks in Manchester and London, but dented by constant references in the
      general election campaign to nurses using food banks.

PMID- 28589832
TI  - Improving medicines management.
AB  - While on placement on a forensic learning disability ward in my third year as a
      mental health nursing student, I noticed that patients sometimes needed 'as
      required' (PRN) medication for distress associated with their mental health.

PMID- 28589833
TI  - The Skies I'm Under: The Rain and Shine of Parenting a Child with Complex
      Disabilities Wright Rachel The Skies I'm Under: The Rain and Shine of Parenting a
      Child with Complex Disabilities 204pp L6.99 Self-published (
      www.theskiesimunder.co.uk ) 9780993491504 0993491502 [Formula: see text].
AB  - This extraordinary book is one mother's heartfelt, inspiring story following the
      birth of her son.

PMID- 28589834
TI  - Doing & Writing Qualitative Research Holliday Adrian Doing & Writing Qualitative
      Research 216pp L28.99 Sage 9781473953277 1473953278 [Formula: see text].
AB  - With a breadth of detail that will engage a variety of readers working in
      different research disciplines, this clear and concise introductory text handles
      difficult concepts with diverse and in-depth examples.

PMID- 28589835
TI  - Fears 'double dose of debt' is deterring mature students.
AB  - With the end of bursaries for nursing students in England a matter of weeks away,
      academics have told Nursing Standard of the need to ensure mature students are
      not put off by funding changes. About 6,000 fewer mature students have applied to
      start nursing courses this coming autumn compared with last year. Figures from
      the university admissions service UCAS show a 28% drop in the number of over-25s
      applying in England.

PMID- 28589836
TI  - Student life - No need to rush into a role.
AB  - Many students are in a rush to land a job as soon as they qualify. Having spent
      at least three years with little income, this is understandable.

PMID- 28589837
TI  - Description of a New Quadrigyrid Acanthocephalan from Kashmir, with Notes on
      Metal Analysis and Histopathology, and a Key to Species of the Subgenus
      Acanthosentis from the Indian Subcontinent.
AB  - Acanthogyrus (Acanthosentis) kashmirensis n. sp. is described from recently
      collected acanthocephalan specimens in the Jhelum River in northern Kashmir that
      are conspecific with Neoechinorhynchus kashmirensis Fotedar and Dhar, 1977
      originally described in a Ph.D. thesis in 1972 from 4 species of cyprinid fishes:
      Tor tor Hamilton, Bangana diplostoma (Heckel) (syn. Labeo diplostoma Heckel),
      Labeo rohita Hamilton, and Ptychobarbus sp. Steindachner. The poor unpublished
      diagnosis was followed by 1 uninformative abstract in a scientific meeting in
      1977. The acanthocephalan was later designated as invalid because of the lack of
      a formal published description and absence of information on deposited type or
      voucher specimens. Recent collections of specimens of the same species were made
      from 2 other cyprinid species of cyprinid fishes, Schizothorax plagiostomus
      Heckel and Schizothorax labiatus (McClelland) from the Sandran River, a tributary
      of the Jhelum River, in southern Kashmir. It is now possible to provide a full
      description of these specimens and reassign them in the subgenus Acanthosentis
      Verma and Datta, 1929 based on the finding of circles of vestigial spines at the
      anterior end of the trunk of male and female specimens. These vestigial spines
      are barely visible and easy to miss with optical microscopy. The new species is
      also characterized by having (1) a para-receptacle structure in males and
      females, (2) unique double Saefftigen's pouches, (3) large round single-nucleated
      cells in the proboscis, and (4) the lemnisci being either equal or distinctly
      unequal with no intermediate states. A key to the species of Acanthosentis of the
      Indian subcontinent is provided. Histopathological sections show extensive damage
      to the host intestine with subsequent blood loss, cell necrosis, and attempted
      encapsulation. Results of the energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) study show
      hollow hooks high in sulfur but with limited calcium ions. Hooks of most
      acanthocephalans studied with X-ray scans are solid with high calcium and low
      sulfur ions.

PMID- 28589838
TI  - A Novel Symbiotic Ciliate (Ciliophora: Peritrichia) in the Hindgut of a Stag
      Beetle (Coleoptera: Lucanidae).
AB  - Bell-shaped ciliates of the subclass Peritrichia, such as Vorticella, Carchesium
      and Epistylis, are commonly found in freshwater and other aquatic environments,
      either solitary or colonial. Peritrichs attach to a substratum via a contractile
      or non-motile stalk, and collect food particles by water current using ciliary
      rows around the edge of the bell, called the peristome. Some peritrichs are
      epibiotic and ectocommensalistic associates of aquatic insects and other animals,
      settling on the surface of their specific hosts. Only a few peritrichs are known
      to establish a more internal association with their hosts, locating within the
      preoral cavity or esophagus of water beetles and presumably subsisting on food
      materials chewed and ingested by the insects. To date, no endoparasitic or
      endocommensalistic peritrichs have been reported from insects. Host insects
      reported to date have all been aquatic, and given the aquatic lifestyle of
      peritrichs, terrestrial hosts have been considered unlikely. In the present
      study, we report a dense population of bizarre microbes within the gut of a
      terrestrial insect, and histological, ultrastructural and molecular phylogenetic
      analyses identified it as a peritrich ciliate. The highly-developed hindgut of
      the stag beetle Aegus currani contained oval colonial peritrichs connected by
      branched stalks resembling grape clusters. Each zooid exhibited a reduced
      peristome without disc, a vestibulum with active ciliary movement inside, and an
      elongated macronucleus. These features are morphologically reminiscent of but
      distinct in some respects from those in Operculariella parasitica, known from the
      esophagus of dysticid diving beetles. Taxonomic, ecological and functional
      aspects of this gut-dwelling peritrich warrant future study.

PMID- 28589840
TI  - Characterization of a Sea Urchin IQ Motif Containing Protein D as a Coactivator
      of Nuclear Receptors.
AB  - Nuclear receptor (NR) interacting proteins, such as coactivators and
      corepressors, play a crucial role in specifying the transcriptional activity of
      the receptor. However, little is known about the functional features of the NR
      coregulators in marine invertebrates. Using the yeast two-hybrid screening
      method, a sea urchin oocyte cDNA library was screened for proteins that interact
      with the ligand-binding domain of human RXRalpha (hRXRalpha) as the bait protein
      in the presence of 9-cis retinoic acid. Here, we describe IQ motif containing
      protein D (IQCD) as an RXR-interacting coactivator. The open reading frame of
      Strongylocentrotus nudus IQCD (SnIQCD) cDNA contains 1464 bp encoding a protein
      of 487 amino acids. SnIQCD and the vertebrate IQCDs contain well-conserved C
      terminal IQ motifs and coiled-coil domains. The interactions between RXRalpha and
      IQCD were confirmed by an immunoprecipitation assay and a mammal two-hybrid
      assay. RXRalpha preferentially interacted with the C-terminal half including IQ
      motif than the N-terminal half of SnIQCD. The coactivator interacting LXXLL motif
      in SnIQCD is not directly involved in the interaction with RXRalpha. SnIQCD
      overexpression increased the basal RXR transactivation of a RXR-responsive
      reporter gene. Furthermore, SnIQCD enhanced the transcriptional activity of RXR
      heterodimeric partners such as RAR, PPAR, and the steroid hormone receptor family
      members from mammals, teleost fish, and sea urchin. Taken together, we suggest
      that IQCD orthologs are able to function as transcriptional coactivators
      cooperating with NRs.

PMID- 28589839
TI  - Estimation of Evolutionary Rates of Mitochondrial DNA in Two Japanese Wood Mouse
      Species Based on Calibrations with Quaternary Environmental Changes.
AB  - Reliable estimates of evolutionary rates of mitochondrial DNA might allow us to
      build realistic evolutionary scenarios covering broad time scales based on
      phylogenetic inferences. In the present study, we sought to obtain estimates of
      evolutionary rates in murine rodents using calibrations against historical
      biogeographic events. We first assumed that land-bridge-like structures that
      appeared intermittently at glacial maxima with 100,000-year intervals shaped the
      divergence patterns of cytochrome b (Cytb) sequences (1140 bp) of the larger
      Japanese wood mouse Apodemus speciosus. The comparison of sequences from
      peripheral remote islands that are separated from one another by deep straits
      allowed us to estimate mitochondrial DNA evolutionary rates
      (substitutions/site/million years) to be 0.027 to 0.036, with presumed
      calibrations from 140,000, 250,000, 350,000, and 440,000 years ago. Second, we
      addressed rapid expansion events inferred from analyses of the Cytb sequences of
      the lesser Japanese wood mouse A. argenteus. We detected five expansion signals
      in the dataset and established three categories based on the expansion parameter
      tau values: 3.9, 5.6-5.7, and 7.8-8.1. Considering that the climate became warmer
      15,000, 53,000, and 115,000 years ago after preceding periods of rapid cooling,
      we calculated evolutionary rates to be 0.114, 0.047, and 0.031, respectively.
      This preliminary concept of the evolutionary rates on a time scale from 15,000 to
      440,000 years ago for the wood mouse should be refined and tested in other
      species of murine rodents, including mice and rats.

PMID- 28589841
TI  - Targeted Ablation of Pancreatic beta Cells in Medaka.
AB  - The pancreas plays important roles in the regulation of blood glucose, and is a
      well-studied organ in mammals because its dysfunction causes serious disorders,
      such as diabetes mellitus. However, mammals have the limited capacity for tissue
      regeneration in their organs, including pancreas. Fish may be an attractive model
      for regeneration studies, as fish exhibit a greater capacity for regeneration
      than do mammals. To elucidate the regenerative capacity of pancreatic beta cells
      in medaka, we generated transgenic lines, in which beta cells can be specifically
      ablated using the nitroreductase (NTR)/metronidazole (Mtz) system. We examined
      beta-cell regeneration at embryonic-larval stages after specific ablation of beta
      cells, and found that medaka rapidly regenerate beta cells. Furthermore, we found
      that teleost-specific secondary islet have a unique feature in that their size
      increases in response to beta-cell ablation in principal islets.

PMID- 28589842
TI  - Description of a New Species for Asian Populations of the "Cosmopolitan"
      Perinereis cultrifera (Annelida: Nereididae).
AB  - An Asian species of Perinereis, which has been regarded as a local population of
      a cosmopolitan species P. cultrifera ( Grube, 1840 ) (type locality: Italy), is
      described as a new species, P. euiini., based on Korean specimens. This new
      species is distinguishable from P. cultrifera and other similar species such as
      P. floridana ( Ehlers, 1868 ) (type locality: USA), P. anderssoni Kinberg, 1866
      (type locality: Brazil), and P. helleri ( Grube, 1878 ) (type locality:
      Philippines) by the character combination of the absence of lateral group of
      paragnaths in area III on the proboscis, the presence of small notopodial
      prechaetal lobe in anterior parapodia, and the greatly expanded dorsal ligule in
      posterior parapodia. All previous records of "P. cultrifera" from eastern Asia
      (Taiwan, China, Japan, and Korea) are judged to belong to P. euiini sp. nov.,
      leading to the conclusion that P. cultrifera is not a cosmopolitan species.
      Specimens previously identified as P. cultrifera var. floridana (or P. cultrifera
      floridana) in eastern Asia are also judged to belong to P. euiini sp. nov.,
      although they have different paragnath number in area V (one instead of three).
      Their aberrant paragnath number was regarded as an intraspecific variation of P.
      euiini sp. nov. The comparison of DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c
      oxidase subunit I (COI) between P. euiini sp. nov. and "P. cultrifera" from China
      and Portugal also supports the erection of the new species.

PMID- 28589843
TI  - Comparing the Survival Rate of Mangrove Clam, Polymesoda (Geloina) spp. (Solander
      1876) Through Field Experiments in Mangrove Forests of Iriomote Island.
AB  - Polymesoda spp., which represent bivalves in the mangrove ecosystem, inhabit the
      mangrove forests of the Indo-Pacific region. They tend not to be broadly
      distributed across zones within the mangrove forest, but are instead typically
      encountered in the mesozone. We conducted field rearing experiments on four plots
      which were set across a mangrove forest along the Urauchi River of Iriomote
      Island, from the seaward to landward sides, over a period of 10 months. We
      compared the survival rates of clams at these plots with different environment
      for four months. Salinity was also measured during the study period, and we
      established a correlation between survival rate and change in salinity of each
      plot. The survival rate of the plot in the mesozone was 90%, that of two plots
      which were positioned in the seaward zone of the mesozone was 40%, and that of
      the plot on the landward side was 0%. In plot 4, the ambient water of the
      bivalves was fresh water. The salinity of the seaward zone changed rapidly in one
      day, or the salinity of the ambient water surrounding the bivalves was high for a
      long period of time. In Plot 3, salinity change was gradual, and the average
      salinity was lower than in Plots 1 and 2. This study indicates that salinity
      level affects bivalve survival rate and that area similar the mesozone, where
      gradual salinity change and average salinity were neither too high nor too low,
      are suitable for these species.

PMID- 28589844
TI  - Morpho-Molecular Evidence for Polymorphism in the Mushroom Coral Cycloseris
      hexagonalis (Scleractinia: Fungiidae), with a New Phylogenetic Position and the
      Establishment of a New Genus for the Species.
AB  - Mushroom corals are reef corals of the family Fungiidae, which live in the
      tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region. Recently, most species of this
      family have been revised taxonomically based on morphological and molecular
      analyses. However, the phylogenetic position of Cycloseris hexagonalis ( Milne
      Edwards and Haime, 1848 ) has not been analyzed and remains unclear. This species
      is believed to show allometric growth by changing its corallum shape from
      hexagonal in juveniles to irregularly circular with an undulated corallum margin
      in mature individuals. However, these morphological changes have not been
      monitored and their genetic basis has not been confirmed. In the present study
      morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed to evaluate the
      identity of the morpho-types in C. hexagonalis and to clarify the phylogenetic
      and taxonomic position of the species. In the morphological analysis, we used 20
      specimens of C. hexagonalis collected from around Iriomote Island, Okinawa,
      Japan, and identified four morphotypes. Moreover, the molecular phylogenetic
      analyses using mitochondrial COI and nuclear ITS markers showed that all morpho
      types of C. hexagonalis together form an independent clade, indicating that they
      are all conspecific. Molecular phylogenetic comparison between this species and
      other fungiids revealed that the clade of C. hexagonalis is clearly distant from
      the Cycloseris clade as well as from clades representing other genera in the
      Fungiidae. Considering these data, we establish a monotypic new genus, Sinuorota,
      to accommodate C. hexagonalis.

PMID- 28589845
TI  - Deep Phylogeographic Breaks in Magpie Pica pica Across the Holarctic: Concordance
      with Bioacoustics and Phenotypes.
AB  - We examined sequences of the mitochondrial control region in magpies (Pica pica)
      from the entire distribution range and found deep genetic splits into four major
      lineages: (1) group West (Europe-Siberia), (2) group East (southern Far East),
      (3) P. p. mauritanica (North Africa), and (4) P. p. hudsonia (North America).
      These lineages show a geographic pattern corresponding to known subspecies or
      subspecies groups. Genetic variation within the widely-distributed group West is
      low and neutrality tests supported a recent expansion scenario. The haplotypes
      from Kamchatka, representing a separated sublineage with clear affinity to the
      European-Siberian group, are almost identical, implying a recent bottleneck.
      Group East contained two subclades without clear geographic pattern, presumably
      due to admixing of populations that had diverged in Pleistocene refuges. The
      homogeneity of the Kyushu population supports historical reports of introduction
      of the species from Korea. In contrast, the high variation in the recently
      established Hokkaido population may reflect an ongoing invasion from several
      populations of the Far Eastern mainland. Bioacoustic data based on chatter call
      differentiate groups of subspecies and reflect phylogeographic patterns, i.e.,
      mitochondrial lineages. Furthermore, we report the fast spreading of P. p.
      jankowskii towards the west along the upper Amur River, and a slower shifting of
      P. p. leucoptera in the opposite direction thus yielding a new contact zone.
      Overall, our data support a scenario of divergence in geographic isolation, but
      the ongoing expansion of distribution ranges may lead to major changes in
      phylogeographic patterns.

PMID- 28589846
TI  - Low Genetic Variation of Red-Crowned Cranes on Hokkaido Island, Japan, Over the
      Hundred Years.
AB  - The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is recognized internationally as an
      endangered species. Migratory populations breed in eastern Russia and
      northeastern China, whereas the resident population inhabits the island of
      Hokkaido, Japan. Although the population inhabiting Hokkaido had experienced a
      severe bottleneck by the end of the 19th century, the population size has
      recovered to about 1500 and continues to increase now thanks to conservation
      efforts. A previous study reported that no marked genetic differences were seen
      in the island population, and that the genetic variation of the whole population
      on Hokkaido was lower than that of the continental population. However, the
      precise genetic structure of the island population in the past or near present
      remains unclear. To better understand the spatiotemporal changes in the genetic
      structure of the island population, we performed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
      analyses using stuffed specimens (years 1878-2001) and tissue or blood samples
      (years 1970-2014). We found three haplotypes in the island population, one of
      which was a novel mtDNA haplotype in 1997 and 2007 samples. In addition, there
      was no clear difference in the haplotype frequency through the time span. These
      results suggest that the low genetic variation of the island population persisted
      for the last hundred years. It is thus nearly impossible for the island
      population to recover its genetic variation in isolation. Conservation plans for
      this species should therefore include the promotion of genetic exchanges between
      the continental and island populations, such as through artificial introduction
      to Hokkaido.

PMID- 28589847
TI  - Comparison of the Inducing Effect of Indole Compounds on Medusa Formation in
      Different Classes of Medusozoa.
AB  - Scyphozoa, Cubozoa and Hydrozoa are classes in the phylum Cnidaria that undergo
      metagenesis involving a dramatic morphological transition. In Scyphozoa and
      Cubozoa, when exposed to species- or strain-specific transition-inducing stimuli,
      asexually reproducing benthic polyps transform into sexually reproducing
      planktonic medusae. In Hydrozoa, exposure to species- or strainspecific
      transition-inducing stimuli causes formation of medusa buds in the polyp's body.
      In Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758) (Scyphozoa, Semaeostomeae), polyp-to-jellyfish
      transition is induced by some simple indole compounds. However, whether indole
      compounds can induce polyp-to-jellyfish transition in Cubozoa and Hydrozoa
      remains unknown. In the present study, we show that an indole compound, 5-methoxy
      2-methylindole, induces polyp-to-jellyfish transition in Scyphozoa and Cubozoa.
      This inducing action suggests that the downstream steps of polyp-to-jellyfish
      transition are regulated by the same biochemical reactions in Scyphozoa and
      Cubozoa, irrespective of the type of transition-inducing environmental stimuli.

PMID- 28589848
TI  - Factors Related to Altitudinal Body Size Variation in the Earthworm-Eating Ground
      Beetle Carabus japonicus.
AB  - To understand geographic body size variation in an insect species, various
      factors including habitat temperature, correlation between life history traits,
      and food availability must be examined. Carabus (Ohomopterus) japonicus is
      univoltine, feeds exclusively on earthworms during its larval stage, and shows a
      clinal body size variation along the habitat temperature gradient in northern
      Kyushu, Japan. Carabus japonicus occurs at both high and low altitudes; at high
      altitudes it coexists with a larger species, C. (O.) dehaanii. At low altitudes,
      C. japonicus shows larger body sizes. We sought to determine whether this
      increase in body size is only an adaptation to high habitat temperatures in the
      absence of C. dehaanii, and examined the life history of C. japonicus and
      seasonal trends in prey earthworms at six sites between altitudes of 30 and 980
      m. While high-altitude populations used the entire warm season for reproduction
      and larval development, low-altitude populations showed shorter periods of
      reproductive activity and larval incidence coincided with seasonal trends in
      earthworm abundance. Thus, C. japonicus attained larger body sizes at lower
      altitudes without a notable extension of their juvenile period. At lower
      altitudes, earthworms grew faster and reached sizes, which may be too large for
      predation by small carabid larvae. Large females had higher fecundity, and laid
      larger eggs, from which larger first instar larvae hatch. The large body size of
      C. japonicus in warm habitats may thus be an adaptation not only for high
      fecundity, but also for producing large first instar larvae to more efficiently
      prey on large earthworms.

PMID- 28589849
TI  - Portal Vein Thrombosis and Nephrotic Syndrome After Liver Transplant.
AB  - Despite systemic thromboembolic complications being frequent, portal vein
      thrombosis is a rare complication of nephrotic syndrome. We report here a liver
      transplant recipient who presented a late extensive portal vein thrombosis
      related to nephrotic syndrome. During regular follow-up after liver transplant,
      the patient presented with diabetes, arterial hypertension, hypercholesterolemia,
      and progressive renal dysfunction. In addition, urine analysis showed isolated
      proteinuria, and the diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome was made 36 months after
      liver transplant. Sixty months after liver transplant, the patient presented with
      mild acute abdominal pain, and the diagnosis of portal vein thrombosis was made
      from a computed tomography scan. Other causes for portal vein thrombosis were
      excluded. Histologic examination of a liver biopsy disclosed only mild steatosis.
      Histologic examination of a kidney biopsy disclosed severe lesions, suggesting a
      multifactorial, advanced chronic nephropathy probably caused by
      nephroangiosclerosis, diabetes, and toxicity of calcineurin inhibitors.
      Anticoagulation therapy led to complete recanalization of the portal and splenic
      veins, which was maintained thereafter. In conclusion, the case we report here
      illustrates that portal vein thrombosis can occur after liver transplant in the
      context of nephrotic syndrome, complicating chronic kidney disease, which is a
      very frequent and multifactorial complication after liver transplant.

PMID- 28589850
TI  - EDITORIAL: Medicinal Chemistry of Molecular and Epigenetic Targets and Dug
      Development.

PMID- 28589851
TI  - Advances and New Perspectives in Medicinal Chemistry Engineering and
      Bioinformatics (from IWBBIO 2015).

PMID- 28589852
TI  - EDITORIAL: Medicinal Chemistry of Nanomaterials for Cancer Theranostics.

PMID- 28589854
TI  - A disease similarity matrix based on the uniqueness of shared genes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complex diseases involve many genes, and these genes are often
      associated with several different illnesses. Disease similarity measurement can
      be based on shared genotype or phenotype. Quantifying relationships between genes
      can reveal previously unknown connections and form a reference base for therapy
      development and drug repurposing. METHODS: Here we introduce a method to measure
      disease similarity that incorporates the uniqueness of shared genes. For each
      disease pair, we calculated the uniqueness score and constructed disease
      similarity matrices using OMIM and Disease Ontology annotation. RESULTS: Using
      the Disease Ontology-based matrix, we identified several interesting connections
      between cancer and other disease and conditions such as malaria, along with
      studies to support our findings. We also found several high scoring pairwise
      relationships for which there was little or no literature support, highlighting
      potentially interesting connections warranting additional study. CONCLUSIONS: We
      developed a co-occurrence matrix based on gene uniqueness to examine the
      relationships between diseases from OMIM and DORIF data. Our similarity matrix
      can be used to identify potential disease relationships and to motivate further
      studies investigating the causal mechanisms in diseases.

PMID- 28589853
TI  - N-of-1-pathways MixEnrich: advancing precision medicine via single-subject
      analysis in discovering dynamic changes of transcriptomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcriptome analytic tools are commonly used across patient cohorts
      to develop drugs and predict clinical outcomes. However, as precision medicine
      pursues more accurate and individualized treatment decisions, these methods are
      not designed to address single-patient transcriptome analyses. We previously
      developed and validated the N-of-1-pathways framework using two methods, Wilcoxon
      and Mahalanobis Distance (MD), for personal transcriptome analysis derived from a
      pair of samples of a single patient. Although, both methods uncover concordantly
      dysregulated pathways, they are not designed to detect dysregulated pathways with
      up- and down-regulated genes (bidirectional dysregulation) that are ubiquitous in
      biological systems. RESULTS: We developed N-of-1-pathways MixEnrich, a mixture
      model followed by a gene set enrichment test, to uncover bidirectional and
      concordantly dysregulated pathways one patient at a time. We assess its accuracy
      in a comprehensive simulation study and in a RNA-Seq data analysis of head and
      neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). In presence of bidirectionally
      dysregulated genes in the pathway or in presence of high background noise,
      MixEnrich substantially outperforms previous single-subject transcriptome
      analysis methods, both in the simulation study and the HNSCCs data analysis (ROC
      Curves; higher true positive rates; lower false positive rates). Bidirectional
      and concordant dysregulated pathways uncovered by MixEnrich in each patient
      largely overlapped with the quasi-gold standard compared to other single-subject
      and cohort-based transcriptome analyses. CONCLUSION: The greater performance of
      MixEnrich presents an advantage over previous methods to meet the promise of
      providing accurate personal transcriptome analysis to support precision medicine
      at point of care.

PMID- 28589855
TI  - Identifying subtype-specific associations between gene expression and DNA
      methylation profiles in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a complex disease in which different genomic
      patterns exists depending on different subtypes. Recent researches present that
      multiple subtypes of breast cancer occur at different rates, and play a crucial
      role in planning treatment. To better understand underlying biological mechanisms
      on breast cancer subtypes, investigating the specific gene regulatory system via
      different subtypes is desirable. METHODS: Gene expression, as an intermediate
      phenotype, is estimated based on methylation profiles to identify the impact of
      epigenomic features on transcriptomic changes in breast cancer. We propose a
      kernel weighted l1-regularized regression model to incorporate tumor subtype
      information and further reveal gene regulations affected by different breast
      cancer subtypes. For the proper control of subtype-specific estimation, samples
      from different breast cancer subtype are learned at different rate based on
      target estimates. Kolmogorov Smirnov test is conducted to determine learning rate
      of each sample from different subtype. RESULTS: It is observed that genes that
      might be sensitive to breast cancer subtype show prediction improvement when
      estimated using our proposed method. Comparing to a standard method, overall
      performance is also enhanced by incorporating tumor subtypes. In addition, we
      identified subtype-specific network structures based on the associations between
      gene expression and DNA methylation. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, kernel weighted
      lasso model is proposed for identifying subtype-specific associations between
      gene expressions and DNA methylation profiles. Identification of subtype-specific
      gene expression associated with epigenomic changes might be helpful for better
      planning treatment and developing new therapies.

PMID- 28589856
TI  - Association analysis of rare variants near the APOE region with CSF and
      neuroimaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The APOE epsilon4 allele is the most significant common genetic risk
      factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). The region surrounding APOE on
      chromosome 19 has also shown consistent association with LOAD. However, no common
      variants in the region remain significant after adjusting for APOE genotype. We
      report a rare variant association analysis of genes in the vicinity of APOE with
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging biomarkers of LOAD. METHODS: Whole
      genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on 817 blood DNA samples from the
      Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Sequence data from 757 non
      Hispanic Caucasian participants was used in the present analysis. We extracted
      all rare variants (MAF (minor allele frequency) < 0.05) within a 312 kb window in
      APOE's vicinity encompassing 12 genes. We assessed CSF and neuroimaging (MRI and
      PET) biomarkers as LOAD-related quantitative endophenotypes. Gene-based analyses
      of rare variants were performed using the optimal Sequence Kernel Association
      Test (SKAT-O). RESULTS: A total of 3,334 rare variants (MAF < 0.05) were found
      within the APOE region. Among them, 72 rare non-synonymous variants were
      observed. Eight genes spanning the APOE region were significantly associated with
      CSF Abeta1-42 (p < 1.0 * 10-3). After controlling for APOE genotype and adjusting
      for multiple comparisons, 4 genes (CBLC, BCAM, APOE, and RELB) remained
      significant. Whole-brain surface-based analysis identified highly significant
      clusters associated with rare variants of CBLC in the temporal lobe region
      including the entorhinal cortex, as well as frontal lobe regions. Whole-brain
      voxel-wise analysis of amyloid PET identified significant clusters in the
      bilateral frontal and parietal lobes showing associations of rare variants of
      RELB with cortical amyloid burden. CONCLUSIONS: Rare variants within genes
      spanning the APOE region are significantly associated with LOAD-related CSF
      Abeta1-42 and neuroimaging biomarkers after adjusting for APOE genotype. These
      findings warrant further investigation and illustrate the role of next generation
      sequencing and quantitative endophenotypes in assessing rare variants which may
      help explain missing heritability in AD and other complex diseases.

PMID- 28589858
TI  - Statistical analysis of fractionation resistance by functional category and
      expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current literature establishes the importance of gene functional
      category and expression in promoting or suppressing duplicate gene loss after
      whole genome doubling in plants, a process known as fractionation. Inspired by
      studies that have reported gene expression to be the dominating factor in
      preventing duplicate gene loss, we analyzed the relative effect of functional
      category and expression. METHODS: We use multivariate methods to study data sets
      on gene retention, function and expression in rosids and asterids to estimate
      effects and assess their interaction. RESULTS: Our results suggest that the
      effect on duplicate gene retention fractionation by functional category and
      expression are independent and have no statistical interaction. CONCLUSION: In
      plants, functional category is the more dominant factor in explaining duplicate
      gene loss.

PMID- 28589859
TI  - Integrative information theoretic network analysis for genome-wide association
      study of aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease in Korean population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aspirin Exacerbated Respiratory Disease (AERD) is a chronic medical
      condition that encompasses asthma, nasal polyposis, and hypersensitivity to
      aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Several previous studies
      have shown that part of the genetic effects of the disease may be induced by the
      interaction of multiple genetic variants. However, heavy computational cost as
      well as the complexity of the underlying biological mechanism has prevented a
      thorough investigation of epistatic interactions and thus most previous studies
      have typically considered only a small number of genetic variants at a time.
      METHODS: In this study, we propose a gene network based analysis framework to
      identify genetic risk factors from a genome-wide association study dataset. We
      first derive multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)-based epistasis
      networks that consider marginal and epistatic effects by using different
      information theoretic measures. Each SNP epistasis network is converted into a
      gene-gene interaction network, and the resulting gene networks are combined as
      one for downstream analysis. The integrated network is validated on existing
      knowledgebase of DisGeNET for known gene-disease associations and GeneMANIA for
      biological function prediction. RESULTS: We demonstrated our proposed method on a
      Korean GWAS dataset, which has genotype information of 440,094 SNPs for 188 cases
      and 247 controls. The topological properties of the generated networks are
      examined for scale-freeness, and we further performed various statistical
      analyses in the Allergy and Asthma Portal (AAP) using the selected genes from our
      integrated network. CONCLUSIONS: Our result reveals that there are several gene
      modules in the network that are of biological significance and have evidence for
      controlling susceptibility and being related to the treatment of AERD.

PMID- 28589860
TI  - GaussianCpG: a Gaussian model for detection of CpG island in human genome
      sequences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As crucial markers in identifying biological elements and processes
      in mammalian genomes, CpG islands (CGI) play important roles in DNA methylation,
      gene regulation, epigenetic inheritance, gene mutation, chromosome inactivation
      and nuclesome retention. The generally accepted criteria of CGI rely on: (a) %G+C
      content is >= 50%, (b) the ratio of the observed CpG content and the expected CpG
      content is >= 0.6, and (c) the general length of CGI is greater than 200
      nucleotides. Most existing computational methods for the prediction of CpG island
      are programmed on these rules. However, many experimentally verified CpG islands
      deviate from these artificial criteria. Experiments indicate that in many cases
      %G+C is < 50%, CpG obs /CpG exp varies, and the length of CGI ranges from eight
      nucleotides to a few thousand of nucleotides. It implies that CGI detection is
      not just a straightly statistical task and some unrevealed rules probably are
      hidden. RESULTS: A novel Gaussian model, GaussianCpG, is developed for detection
      of CpG islands on human genome. We analyze the energy distribution over genomic
      primary structure for each CpG site and adopt the parameters from statistics of
      Human genome. The evaluation results show that the new model can predict CpG
      islands efficiently by balancing both sensitivity and specificity over known
      human CGI data sets. Compared with other models, GaussianCpG can achieve better
      performance in CGI detection. CONCLUSIONS: Our Gaussian model aims to simplify
      the complex interaction between nucleotides. The model is computed not by the
      linear statistical method but by the Gaussian energy distribution and
      accumulation. The parameters of Gaussian function are not arbitrarily designated
      but deliberately chosen by optimizing the biological statistics. By using the
      pseudopotential analysis on CpG islands, the novel model is validated on both the
      real and artificial data sets.

PMID- 28589857
TI  - Identification of epigenetic interactions between miRNA and DNA methylation
      associated with gene expression as potential prognostic markers in bladder
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the fundamental challenges in cancer is to detect the
      regulators of gene expression changes during cancer progression. Through
      transcriptional silencing of critical cancer-related genes, epigenetic change
      such as DNA methylation plays a crucial role in cancer. In addition, miRNA,
      another major component of epigenome, is also a regulator at the post
      transcriptional levels that modulate transcriptome changes. However, a
      mechanistic role of synergistic interactions between DNA methylation and miRNA as
      epigenetic regulators on transcriptomic changes and its association with clinical
      outcomes such as survival have remained largely unexplored in cancer. METHODS: In
      this study, we propose an integrative framework to identify epigenetic
      interactions between methylation and miRNA associated with transcriptomic
      changes. To test the utility of the proposed framework, the bladder cancer data
      set, including DNA methylation, miRNA expression, and gene expression data, from
      The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was analyzed for this study. RESULTS: First, we
      found 120 genes associated with interactions between the two epigenomic
      components. Then, 11 significant epigenetic interactions between miRNA and
      methylation, which target E2F3, CCND1, UTP6, CDADC1, SLC35E3, METRNL, TPCN2,
      NACC2, VGLL4, and PTEN, were found to be associated with survival. To this end,
      exploration of TCGA bladder cancer data identified epigenetic interactions that
      are associated with survival as potential prognostic markers in bladder cancer.
      CONCLUSIONS: Given the importance and prevalence of these interactions of
      epigenetic events in bladder cancer it is timely to understand further how
      different epigenetic components interact and influence each other.

PMID- 28589861
TI  - Evolution of Translational Bioinformatics: lessons learned from TBC 2016.

PMID- 28589862
TI  - Taking promoters out of enhancers in sequence based predictions of tissue
      specific mammalian enhancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many genetic diseases are caused by mutations in non-coding regions
      of the genome. These mutations are frequently found in enhancer sequences,
      causing disruption to the regulatory program of the cell. Enhancers are short
      regulatory sequences in the non-coding part of the genome that are essential for
      the proper regulation of transcription. While the experimental methods for
      identification of such sequences are improving every year, our understanding of
      the rules behind the enhancer activity has not progressed much in the last
      decade. This is especially true in case of tissue-specific enhancers, where there
      are clear problems in predicting specificity of enhancer activity. RESULTS: We
      show a random-forest based machine learning approach capable of matching the
      performance of the current state-of-the-art methods for enhancer prediction. Then
      we show that it is, similarly to other published methods, frequently cross
      predicting enhancers as active in different tissues, making it less useful for
      predicting tissue specific activity. Then we proceed to show that the problem is
      related to the fact that the enhancer predicting models exhibit a bias towards
      predicting gene promoters as active enhancers. Then we show that using a two-step
      classifier can lead to lower cross-prediction between tissues. CONCLUSIONS: We
      provide whole-genome predictions of human heart and brain enhancers obtained with
      two-step classifier.

PMID- 28589863
TI  - A simple and economical method for improving whole genome alignment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent advancement of whole genome alignment software has made it
      possible to align two genomes very efficiently and with only a small sacrifice in
      sensitivity. Yet it becomes very slow if the extra sensitivity is needed. This
      paper proposes a simple but effective method to improve the sensitivity of
      existing whole-genome alignment software without paying much extra running time.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We have applied our method to a popular whole genome
      alignment tool LAST, and we called the resulting tool LASTM. Experimental results
      showed that LASTM could find more high quality alignments with a little extra
      running time. For example, when comparing human and mouse genomes, to produce the
      similar number of alignments with similar average length and similarity, LASTM
      was about three times faster than LAST. We conclude that our method can be used
      to improve the sensitivity, and the extra time it takes is small, and thus it is
      worthwhile to be implemented in existing tools.

PMID- 28589864
TI  - Efficient detection of viral transmissions with Next-Generation Sequencing data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C is a major public health problem in the United States and
      worldwide. Outbreaks of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections associated with unsafe
      injection practices, drug diversion, and other exposures to blood are difficult
      to detect and investigate. Molecular analysis has been frequently used in the
      study of HCV outbreaks and transmission chains; helping identify a cluster of
      sequences as linked by transmission if their genetic distances are below a
      previously defined threshold. However, HCV exists as a population of numerous
      variants in each infected individual and it has been observed that minority
      variants in the source are often the ones responsible for transmission, a
      situation that precludes the use of a single sequence per individual because many
      such transmissions would be missed. The use of Next-Generation Sequencing
      immensely increases the sensitivity of transmission detection but brings a
      considerable computational challenge because all sequences need to be compared
      among all pairs of samples. METHODS: We developed a three-step strategy that
      filters pairs of samples according to different criteria: (i) a k-mer bloom
      filter, (ii) a Levenhstein filter and (iii) a filter of identical sequences. We
      applied these three filters on a set of samples that cover the spectrum of
      genetic relationships among HCV cases, from being part of the same transmission
      cluster, to belonging to different subtypes. RESULTS: Our three-step filtering
      strategy rapidly removes 85.1% of all the pairwise sample comparisons and 91.0%
      of all pairwise sequence comparisons, accurately establishing which pairs of HCV
      samples are below the relatedness threshold. CONCLUSIONS: We present a fast and
      efficient three-step filtering strategy that removes most sequence comparisons
      and accurately establishes transmission links of any threshold-based method. This
      highly efficient workflow will allow a faster response and molecular detection
      capacity, improving the rate of detection of viral transmissions with molecular
      data.

PMID- 28589865
TI  - Estimation of the true evolutionary distance under the fragile breakage model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ability to estimate the evolutionary distance between extant
      genomes plays a crucial role in many phylogenomic studies. Often such estimation
      is based on the parsimony assumption, implying that the distance between two
      genomes can be estimated as the rearrangement distance equal the minimal number
      of genome rearrangements required to transform one genome into the other.
      However, in reality the parsimony assumption may not always hold, emphasizing the
      need for estimation that does not rely on the rearrangement distance. The
      distance that accounts for the actual (rather than minimal) number of
      rearrangements between two genomes is often referred to as the true evolutionary
      distance. While there exists a method for the true evolutionary distance
      estimation, it however assumes that genomes can be broken by rearrangements
      equally likely at any position in the course of evolution. This assumption, known
      as the random breakage model, has recently been refuted in favor of the more
      rigorous fragile breakage model postulating that only certain "fragile" genomic
      regions are prone to rearrangements. RESULTS: We propose a new method for
      estimating the true evolutionary distance between two genomes under the fragile
      breakage model. We evaluate the proposed method on simulated genomes, which show
      its high accuracy. We further apply the proposed method for estimation of
      evolutionary distances within a set of five yeast genomes and a set of two fish
      genomes. CONCLUSIONS: The true evolutionary distances between the five yeast
      genomes estimated with the proposed method reveals that some pairs of yeast
      genomes violate the parsimony assumption. The proposed method further
      demonstrates that the rearrangement distance between the two fish genomes
      underestimates their evolutionary distance by about 20%. These results
      demonstrate how drastically the two distances can differ and justify the use of
      true evolutionary distance in phylogenomic studies.

PMID- 28589867
TI  - [A motorcyclist with hematomas and tingling in his leg].
AB  - A 30-year-old man presented with recurrent hematomas and tingling in his left
      leg, caused by a large femoral neck osteochondroma that induced multiple muscle
      ruptures and compressed the ischiadic nerve. There were no radiological signs of
      malignant transformation and symptoms disappeared without intervention. Hence, we
      chose a 'wait and see' approach instead of surgical removal of the
      osteochondroma.

PMID- 28589866
TI  - A scalable and memory-efficient algorithm for de novo transcriptome assembly of
      non-model organisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With increased availability of de novo assembly algorithms, it is
      feasible to study entire transcriptomes of non-model organisms. While algorithms
      are available that are specifically designed for performing transcriptome
      assembly from high-throughput sequencing data, they are very memory-intensive,
      limiting their applications to small data sets with few libraries. RESULTS: We
      develop a transcriptome assembly algorithm that recovers alternatively spliced
      isoforms and expression levels while utilizing as many RNA-Seq libraries as
      possible that contain hundreds of gigabases of data. New techniques are developed
      so that computations can be performed on a computing cluster with moderate amount
      of physical memory. CONCLUSIONS: Our strategy minimizes memory consumption while
      simultaneously obtaining comparable or improved accuracy over existing
      algorithms. It provides support for incremental updates of assemblies when new
      libraries become available.

PMID- 28589868
TI  - [Two-year follow-up of infants born at 24 weeks gestation; first outcomes
      following implementation of the new 'Guideline for perinatal policy in cases of
      extreme prematurity'].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Since 2010 the guideline 'Guideline for perinatal policy in cases of
      extreme prematurity' has advised an active policy in infants born at 24 weeks
      gestation. We investigated how infants born at 24 and 25 weeks gestation in the
      first year following the implementation of the guideline had developed by the age
      of 2 years. DESIGN: Retrospective national cohort study. METHOD: The study
      population consisted of all surviving infants born in the Netherlands at 24 or 25
      weeks gestation in the period from 1 October 2010 to 1 October 2011. At a
      corrected age of 2 years the children underwent a general physical and
      neurological examination, and their cognitive scores were determined on the
      'Bayley scales of infant and toddler development' (Bayley III). Examinations took
      place in the 10 neonatal intensive care units (NICU's) in the Netherlands.
      RESULTS: Of 185 extremely premature infants, 166 were admitted to a NICU. A total
      of 95 survived to a corrected age of 2 years; 78 (82%) children were examined.
      Their average cognitive score on the Bayley III scale was 88 (SD: 16). Among the
      children born at 24 weeks gestation, 20% had mild disabilities and 20% had
      moderate to severe disabilities. Among the children born at 25 weeks gestation,
      17% had mild disabilities and 12% had moderate to severe disabilities.
      CONCLUSION: Of the children born at 24 weeks gestation in the first year after
      the introduction of active policy in the Netherlands and surviving to 2 years of
      age (46%), more than half had developed without disabilities. This was comparable
      to children born at 25 weeks gestation. Of all children born at 24 weeks
      gestation, 25% survived to 2 years of age without disabilities.

PMID- 28589869
TI  - [Hepatopulmonary syndrome. A consideration in patients with liver disease
      accompanied by dyspnoea and hypoxaemia].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatopulmonary syndrome is a severe complication of liver disease,
      with greatly increased mortality. The syndrome is characterized by increased
      blood-flow, intrapulmonary vasodilatation and angiogenesis, leading to effects
      including the formation of shunts. This leads to a decrease in arterial oxygen
      pressure. Liver transplantation is the only effective treatment. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 74-year-old woman with cirrhosis of the liver attended the
      pulmonary outpatients' clinic with progressive dyspnoea, which worsened if she
      sat upright from a lying position (platypnoea). Contrast echocardiography
      confirmed the diagnosis 'hepatopulmonary syndrome'. The patient was not eligible
      for liver transplantation. She was given oxygen therapy and died from
      decompensated cirrhosis of the liver eighteen months later. CONCLUSION: Early
      recognition of hepatopulmonary syndrome is important, because patients may be
      given priority for liver transplantation. Contrast echocardiography is indicated
      in patients with liver disease and suffering from hypoxaemia for which there is
      no other explanation, to reveal the presence of intrapulmonary shunt.

PMID- 28589870
TI  - [Making better use of the clinical geneticist's expertise; treating physician
      could request a DNA test for most cancer patients].
AB  - Eight university medical centres in the Netherlands have established clinical
      genetic services. Patients receive intensive, and therefore costly, genetic
      counselling before genetic testing takes place. In recent years the number of
      patients referred to clinical genetic services has risen dramatically, creating
      waiting-list backlogs. Knowing your carrier status in hereditary cancers, for
      instance for a BRCA1/2 mutation, can have consequences for surveillance,
      treatment, and prevention; however, 90% of patients with breast cancer do not
      have a mutation. We, therefore, argue that the pathway to genetic testing should
      be reconstructed in order to safeguard timely and adequate genetic testing for an
      increasing number of patients. The treating physician should be able to request a
      DNA test in carefully-selected patient-populations, and only refer patients for
      genetic counselling after a positive finding. Prerequisites for this 'mainstream
      pathway' are adequate training for medical specialists, good communication with
      genetics' departments, and guaranteed referral in uncertain or complex cases.

PMID- 28589871
TI  - Prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in Iran: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - As a significant zoonosis, cystic echinococcosis (CE) is endemic in some parts of
      the world, such as the Middle East. There are studies on the prevalence of this
      infection in animal and human reservoirs in Iran; hence, we conducted this meta
      analysis to elucidate the prevalence of CE in Iran. English (PubMed, Scopus, Web
      of Science, Science Direct and Google Scholar) and Persian (Magiran, Iran Medex,
      Iran Doc and SID) databases were explored. In the case of definitive, animal and
      human intermediate hosts, 37, 90 and 33 studies, respectively, have been included
      in the current review from January 1990 to December 2015. According to outcomes
      of the heterogeneity test, either Der Simonian and Laird's random-effects method
      or Mantel-Haenszel's fixed-effects method were employed to pool the estimations.
      The pooled prevalence of Echinococcus granulosus infection in definitive hosts
      was calculated as 23.6% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 17.6-30.1%). The weighted
      prevalence of animal and human hydatidosis was calculated as 15.6% (95% CI = 14.2
      17.1%) and 4.2% (95% CI = 3.0-5.5%), respectively. Meanwhile, most cases of human
      hydatidosis were in southern Iran, with a prevalence of 5.8% (3.2-9.2%). In terms
      of human hydatidosis, more infections were found in rural regions, and mostly in
      female individuals. Egger's regression test revealed publication bias, with a
      remarkable impact on total prevalence of the infection in animal intermediate
      hosts (P < 0.001), while it was not significant in human hosts (P = 0.4) and
      definitive hosts (P = 0.3). According to the weighted estimated prevalence of
      cystic echinococcosis and its financial burden, implementing appropriate control
      programmes should be compulsory to decrease the burden of the disease in Iran.

PMID- 28589872
TI  - Did the 'croaky voice' public health campaign have any impact on the stage of
      laryngeal cancer at presentation in 84 cases from the Humber and Yorkshire Coast
      Cancer Network?
AB  - BACKGROUND: A public health campaign on laryngeal cancer was conducted in 2011 in
      the Humber and Yorkshire Coast Cancer Network. This study evaluated its
      subsequent impact (if any) upon the stage of laryngeal cancer at presentation.
      METHODS: Cases of laryngeal cancer diagnosed in the Humber and Yorkshire Coast
      Cancer Network from January 2009 to July 2014 were identified from cancer
      registries and were dichotomised into early (tumour stage T1-2) and late (T3-4)
      disease. Statistical analysis using segmented regression analysis of interrupted
      time series data was performed. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant
      changes in laryngeal cancer cases immediately after the intervention for both
      early (p = 0.191) and late (p = 0.680) stage disease. There were also no
      significant changes to monthly detection rates in both groups on follow up.
      CONCLUSION: Findings of the first public health campaign on laryngeal cancer in
      the UK are described. Such processes are complex; the implications for future
      study are discussed.

PMID- 28589875
TI  - Secondary peritonitis associated with infective endocarditis and vertebral
      osteomyelitis in a peritoneal dialysis patient.

PMID- 28589876
TI  - Short-term results after arthroscopic resection of synovial plicae in the
      radiohumeral joint: a case series of 64 procedures.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Painful Synovial Plicae (SP) in the posterolateral corner of the
      radiohumeral joint may be confused with lateral epicondylitis. The SP may impinge
      between the radial head and the humeral capitellum causing pain and snapping. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term results after arthroscopic plica
      resection of the elbow. METHODS: In this case series, we included a consecutive
      series of 64 arthroscopies (60 patients) with arthroscopic plica resection of the
      elbow. Inclusion criteria were six months of lateral elbow pain and unsuccessful
      conservative treatment. Patients had either ultrasonography verified plicae or
      pain on palpation of the plica. Patients were evaluated with an Oxford Elbow
      Score (OES) preoperatively, after three months and after mean 22 months (range:
      12-31) of follow-up. Furthermore, baseline characteristics were recorded
      including, gender, age, body mass index (BMI), occupation, smoking and cartilage
      damage. RESULTS: The mean age was 44 years (range: 18-66). In 13 elbows,
      International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade 1 lesions were present in
      association with the plica. Preoperatively the mean OES was 19 (95% CI: 17-20).
      At three and 22 month follow-up the OES increased to 33 (95% CI: 30-36) and 35
      (95% CI: 32-38), respectively (p < 0.001). Cartilage injury and gender did not
      affect the outcome. We reported no complications. DISCUSSION: Arthroscopic plica
      resection of the elbow indicates an improved OES after three and 22 months. A
      randomized prospective trial is needed to validate the effect of arthroscopic
      treatment of synovial elbow plicae.

PMID- 28589873
TI  - Human cytomegalovirus microRNAs are carried by virions and dense bodies and are
      delivered to target cells.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection results in the production of virions,
      dense bodies (DBs) and non-infectious enveloped particles, all of which
      incorporate proteins and RNAs that can be transferred to host cells. Here, we
      investigated whether virions and DBs also carry microRNAs (miRNAs) and assessed
      their delivery and functionality in cells. Human lung fibroblasts (MRC-5) were
      infected with the HCMV strain AD169, and conditioned cell culture medium was
      collected and centrifuged. The pellets were treated with RNase-ONE, and the
      virions and DBs were purified with a potassium tartrate-glycerol gradient and
      dialysed. The virions and DBs were incubated with micrococcal nuclease, DNA and
      RNA were extracted and then analysed with TaqMan PCR assays, while the proteins
      were examined with Western blots. To assess the delivery of miRNAs to cells and
      their functionality, virions and DBs were irradiated with UV light. The purity of
      the virions and DBs was confirmed by typical morphology, the presence of the
      structural protein pp65 and the HCMV genome, the ability to infect MRC-5 cells
      and the absence of the host genome. RNA analysis revealed the presence of 14 HCMV
      encoded miRNAs (UL22A-5p, US25-1-5p, UL22A-3p, US5-2-3p, UL112-3p, US25-2-3p,
      US25-2-5p, US33-3p, US5-1, UL36-5p, US4-5p, UL36-3p, UL70-5p and US25-1-3p), HCMV
      immediate-early mRNA and long non-coding RNA2.7, moreover, two host-encoded
      miRNAs (hsa-miR-218-5p and hsa-miR-21-5p) and beta-2-microglobulin RNA. UV
      irradiated virions and DBs delivered viral miRNAs (US25-1-5p and UL112-3p) to the
      host cells, and miR-US25-1-5p was functional in a luciferase reporter assay. We
      conclude that virions and DBs carry miRNAs that are biologically functional and
      can be delivered to cells, which may affect cellular processes.

PMID- 28589877
TI  - Arthroscopic treatment of chondral defects in the hip: AMIC, MACI,
      microfragmented adipose tissue transplantation (MATT) and other options.
AB  - Chondral lesions are currently considered in the hip as a consequence of trauma,
      osteonecrosis, dysplasia, labral tears, loose bodies, dislocation, previous
      slipped capital femoral epiphysis and Femoro-Acetabular-Impingement (FAI). The
      management of chondral lesions is debated and several techniques are described.
      The physical examination must be carefully performed, followed by radiographs and
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Differential diagnosis with other pathologies
      must be considered. Debridement is indicated in patients younger than 50 years
      with a chondropathy of 1st or 2nd degree. Microfractures are indicated in
      patients younger than 50 years with a chondropathy of 3rd or 4th degree less than
      2 cm2. Matrix-Induced Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (MACI) and Autologous
      Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis (AMIC) procedures are indicated in patients with
      full-thickness symptomatic 3rd-4th degree chondral defects, extended 2 cm2 or
      more. The AMIC procedure has the advantage of a one-step procedure and much less
      expense. Microfragmented adipose tissue transplantation (MATT) is indicated for
      the treatment of delamination and 1st and 2nd degree chondral lesions, regardless
      of the age of the patient. Chondral defects are effective when the joint space is
      not compromised. When the Tonnis classification is two or greater, treatment of
      chondral lesions should be considered ineffective.

PMID- 28589879
TI  - Diabetes: a dynamic disease.

PMID- 28589880
TI  - Advancing LGBTIQ rights.

PMID- 28589881
TI  - Progress in environmental litigation.

PMID- 28589882
TI  - Antenatal milk expression for women with diabetes in pregnancy.

PMID- 28589878
TI  - Distinct Akt phosphorylation states are required for insulin regulated Glut4 and
      Glut1-mediated glucose uptake.
AB  - Insulin, downstream of Akt activation, promotes glucose uptake into fat and
      muscle cells to lower postprandial blood glucose, an enforced change in cellular
      metabolism to maintain glucose homeostasis. This effect is mediated by the Glut4
      glucose transporter. Growth factors also enhance glucose uptake to fuel an
      anabolic metabolism required for tissue growth and repair. This activity is
      predominantly mediated by the Glut1. Akt is activated by phosphorylation of its
      kinase and hydrophobic motif (HM) domains. We show that insulin-stimulated Glut4
      mediated glucose uptake requires PDPK1 phosphorylation of the kinase domain but
      not mTORC2 phosphorylation of the HM domain. Nonetheless, an intact HM domain is
      required for Glut4-mediated glucose uptake. Whereas, Glut1-mediated glucose
      uptake also requires mTORC2 phosphorylation of the HM domain, demonstrating both
      phosphorylation-dependent and independent roles of the HM domain in regulating
      glucose uptake. Thus, mTORC2 links Akt to the distinct physiologic programs
      related to Glut4 and Glut1-mediated glucose uptake.

PMID- 28589883
TI  - Novel influenza A viruses and pandemic threats.

PMID- 28589884
TI  - Warnings, uncertainty, and clinical practice.

PMID- 28589885
TI  - Cholera outbreak in the horn of Africa.

PMID- 28589886
TI  - Medical research in the UK party manifestos.

PMID- 28589887
TI  - Trump administration and the opioid epidemic in the USA.

PMID- 28589888
TI  - Elizabeth Mayer-Davis: leader in adolescent diabetes.

PMID- 28589889
TI  - Adequate clinical practice limited by the ethnic French taboo.

PMID- 28589891
TI  - Medical narratives: the patient is a 22-year-old black man....

PMID- 28589890
TI  - The expansion of soil-transmitted helminth control strategies.

PMID- 28589893
TI  - Department of Error.

PMID- 28589892
TI  - The expansion of soil-transmitted helminth control strategies - Authors' reply.

PMID- 28589894
TI  - Advising women with diabetes in pregnancy to express breastmilk in late pregnancy
      (Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing [DAME]): a multicentre, unblinded,
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infants of women with diabetes in pregnancy are at increased risk of
      hypoglycaemia, admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and not being
      exclusively breastfed. Many clinicians encourage women with diabetes in pregnancy
      to express and store breastmilk in late pregnancy, yet no evidence exists for
      this practice. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of antenatal
      expressing in women with diabetes in pregnancy. METHODS: We did a multicentre,
      two-group, unblinded, randomised controlled trial in six hospitals in Victoria,
      Australia. We recruited women with pre-existing or gestational diabetes in a
      singleton pregnancy from 34 to 37 weeks' gestation and randomly assigned them
      (1:1) to either expressing breastmilk twice per day from 36 weeks' gestation
      (antenatal expressing) or standard care (usual midwifery and obstetric care,
      supplemented by support from a diabetes educator). Randomisation was done with a
      computerised random number generator in blocks of size two and four, and was
      stratified by site, parity, and diabetes type. Investigators were masked to block
      size but masking of caregivers was not possible. The primary outcome was the
      proportion of infants admitted to the NICU. We did the analyses by intention to
      treat; the data were obtained and analysed masked to group allocation. This trial
      is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, number
      ACTRN12611000217909. FINDINGS: Between June 6, 2011, and Oct 29, 2015, we
      recruited and randomly assigned 635 women: 319 to antenatal expressing and 316 to
      standard care. Three were not included in the primary analysis (one withdrawal
      from the standard care group, and one post-randomisation exclusion and one
      withdrawal from the antenatal expressing group). The proportion of infants
      admitted to the NICU did not differ between groups (46 [15%] of 317 assigned to
      antenatal expressing vs 44 [14%] of 315 assigned to standard care; adjusted
      relative risk 1.06, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.46). In the antenatal expressing group, the
      most common serious adverse event for infants was admission to the NICU for
      respiratory support (for three [<1%] of 317. In the standard care group, the most
      common serious adverse event for infants was moderate to severe encephalopathy
      with or without seizures (for three [<1%] of 315). INTERPRETATION: There is no
      harm in advising women with diabetes in pregnancy at low risk of complications to
      express breastmilk from 36 weeks' gestation. FUNDING: Australian National Health
      and Medical Research Council.

PMID- 28589896
TI  - As white as ivory: sclerotic vertebra in POEMS syndrome.

PMID- 28589895
TI  - Type 2 diabetes in adolescents: a severe phenotype posing major clinical
      challenges and public health burden.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes in adolescence manifests as a severe progressive form of diabetes
      that frequently presents with complications, responds poorly to treatment, and
      results in rapid progression of microvascular and macrovascular complications.
      Although overall still a rare disease, adolescent type 2 diabetes now poses major
      challenges to paediatric and adult diabetes services in many countries.
      Therapeutic options are heavily curtailed by a dearth of knowledge about the
      condition, with low numbers of participants and poor trial recruitment impeding
      research. Together with lifestyle modification, metformin remains the first-line
      therapy for adolescents with type 2 diabetes, although the majority rapidly
      progress to treatment failure and insulin therapy. Early bariatric surgery is
      controversial but has great potential to transform outcomes. Health systems must
      respond by both concentrating patients in specialist clinical services integrated
      with translational research programmes, but also by joining up with local health
      and social care services to improve engagement and uptake of services.

PMID- 28589912
TI  - Epigenetic control of epileptogenesis by miR-146a.

PMID- 28589911
TI  - Comparative analyses of long non-coding RNA in lean and obese pig.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Current studies have revealed that long non-coding RNA plays a
      crucial role in fat metabolism. However, the difference of lncRNA between lean
      (Duroc) and obese (Luchuan) pig remain undefined. Here, we investigated the
      expressional profile of lncRNA in these two pigs and discussed the relationship
      between lncRNA and fat deposition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Chinese Luchuan pig
      has a dramatic differences in backfat thickness as compared with Duroc pig. In
      this study, 4868 lncRNA transcripts (including 3235 novel transcripts) were
      identified. We determined that patterns of differently expressed lncRNAs and
      mRNAs are strongly tissue-specific. The differentially expressed lncRNAs in
      adipose tissue have 794 potential target genes, which are involved in
      adipocytokine signaling pathways, the PI3k-Akt signaling pathway, and calcium
      signaling pathways. In addition, differentially expressed lncRNAs were located to
      13 adipose-related quantitative trait loci which include 65 QTL_ID. Subsequently,
      lncRNA and mRNA in the same QTL_ID were analyzed and their co-expression in two
      QTL_ID were confirmed by qPCR. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides an insight into
      mechanism behind the fat metabolic differences between the two breeds and lays an
      important groundwork for further research regarding the regulatory role of lncRNA
      in obesity development.

PMID- 28589914
TI  - Comment on 'A geographical study of thyroid cancer incidence in north-west
      England following the Windscale nuclear reactor fire of 1957'.

PMID- 28589915
TI  - Doubling of the magnetic energy product in ferromagnetic nanowires at ambient
      temperature by capping their tips with an antiferromagnet.
AB  - We present an approach to prepare free-standing tips of micrometer-long nanowires
      electrodeposited in anodic aluminum oxide nanopores. Such open tips can be
      further processed, e.g. for vertical interconnects of functional layers or for
      tailoring the magnetization reversal of ferromagnetic nanowires. The magnetic
      switching of nanowires is usually initiated by vortex or domain formation at the
      nanowire tips. We show that coating the tips of Fe30Co70 nanowires (diameter 40
      nm, length 16 MUm) with thin antiferromagnetic Fe50Mn50 capping layers (thickness
      ~10 nm) leads to magnetic hardening with a more than doubled energy product at
      ambient temperature.

PMID- 28589916
TI  - Design and fabrication of novel polymeric biodegradable stents for small caliber
      blood vessels by computer-aided wet-spinning.
AB  - Biodegradable stents have emerged as one of the most promising approaches in
      obstructive cardiovascular disease treatment due to their potential in providing
      mechanical support while it is needed and then leaving behind only the healed
      natural vessel. The aim of this study was to develop polymeric biodegradable
      stents for application in small caliber blood vessels. Poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate
      co-(R)-3-hydroxyhexanoate] (PHBHHx), a renewable microbial aliphatic polyester,
      and poly(epsilon-caprolactone), a synthetic polyester approved by the US Food and
      Drug Administration for different biomedical applications, were investigated as
      suitable polymers for stent development. A novel manufacturing approach based on
      computer-aided wet-spinning of a polymeric solution was developed to fabricate
      polymeric stents. By tuning the fabrication parameters, it was possible to
      develop stents with different morphological characteristics (e.g. pore size and
      wall thickness). Thermal analysis results suggested that material processing did
      not cause changes in the molecular structure of the polymers. PHBHHx stents
      demonstrated great radial elasticity while PCL stents showed higher axial and
      radial mechanical strength. The developed stents resulted able to sustain
      proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells within two weeks of in
      vitro culture and they showed excellent results in terms of thromboresistivity
      when in contact with human blood.

PMID- 28589917
TI  - Reply to Comment on 'A geographical study of thyroid cancer incidence in north
      west England following the Windscale nuclear reactor fire of 1957'.

PMID- 28589918
TI  - Cryogenic 3D printing for producing hierarchical porous and rhBMP-2-loaded Ca
      P/PLLA nanocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.
AB  - The performance of bone tissue engineering scaffolds can be assessed through cell
      responses to scaffolds, including cell attachment, infiltration, morphogenesis,
      proliferation, differentiation, etc, which are determined or heavily influenced
      by the composition, structure, mechanical properties, and biological properties
      (e.g. osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity) of scaffolds. Although some
      promising 3D printing techniques such as fused deposition modeling and selective
      laser sintering could be employed to produce biodegradable bone tissue
      engineering scaffolds with customized shapes and tailored interconnected pores,
      effective methods for fabricating scaffolds with well-designed hierarchical
      porous structure (both interconnected macropores and surface micropores) and
      tunable osteoconductivity/osteoinductivity still need to be developed. In this
      investigation, a novel cryogenic 3D printing technique was investigated and
      developed for producing hierarchical porous and recombinant human bone
      morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2)-loaded calcium phosphate (Ca-P)
      nanoparticle/poly(L-lactic acid) nanocomposite scaffolds, in which the Ca-P
      nanoparticle-incorporated scaffold layer and rhBMP-2-encapsulated scaffold layer
      were deposited alternatingly using different types of emulsions as printing inks.
      The mechanical properties of the as-printed scaffolds were comparable to those of
      human cancellous bone. Sustained releases of Ca2+ ions and rhBMP-2 were achieved
      and the biological activity of rhBMP-2 was well-preserved. Scaffolds with a
      desirable hierarchical porous structure and dual delivery of Ca2+ ions and rhBMP
      2 exhibited superior performance in directing the behaviors of human bone marrow
      derived mesenchymal stem cells and caused improved cell viability, attachment,
      proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation, which has suggested their great
      potential for bone tissue engineering.

PMID- 28589919
TI  - Alternately plasma-roughened nanosurface of a hybrid scaffold for aligning
      myoblasts.
AB  - For successful skeletal muscle tissue regeneration, inducing alignment and fusion
      of myoblasts into multinucleated myotubes is critical. Many studies are ongoing
      to induce myoblast alignment using various micro/nanopatternings on scaffold
      surfaces, mechanically stretching scaffolds, or aligned micro/nanofibers. In this
      study, we have developed a simple method to induce myoblast alignment using a
      modified plasma treatment on a hybrid PCL scaffold consisting of melt-printed
      perpendicular PCL struts and an electrospun PCL fibrous mat. For the hybrid
      scaffold, the surface of the electrospun mat was selectively roughened with a
      plasma process supplemented with a template. The cell alignment of myoblasts
      using this system was enhanced significantly when compared to results from the
      use of a hybrid scaffold with a non-roughened electrospun fiber surface or a
      hybrid scaffold where the whole surface of the electrospun fibers was roughened.
      This new type of plasma-treated hybrid scaffold has strong potential as a
      biomaterial for use in muscle tissue regeneration.

PMID- 28589920
TI  - Systematic evaluation of the osteogenic capacity of low-melting bioactive glass
      reinforced 45S5 Bioglass porous scaffolds in rabbit femoral defects.
AB  - Due to the low strength and high brittleness of 45S5 Bioglass(r), it is still a
      great challenge for the three-dimensional porous 45S5 Bioglass(r) to treat
      mechanically required loaded bone defects. Therefore, 45S5 Bioglass(r)-derived
      bioactive glass-ceramic (BGC) porous scaffolds were fabricated at a low
      temperature sintering condition with and without the addition of 4% low-melting
      ZnO/B2O3 (ZB) bioactive glass as a reinforcing agent and using 350- or 500 MUm
      paraffin microspheres as a porogen. The pore structure characterization for the
      scaffolds indicated that the scaffolds containing 4% ZB had very good macroporous
      structures of ~313 and ~448 MUm in pore size and over 70% porosity with
      appreciable strength (>15 MPa), which was about four times higher than that those
      manufactured without ZB and with 350 MUm porogen scaffolds. The open porosity was
      decreased with the addition of 4% ZB but the interconnected pore percentage (>50
      MUm) was increased with increasing the porogen size from 350 to 500 MUm. In vivo
      investigations revealed that the stronger scaffolds containing 4% ZB and 500 MUm
      porogen were particularly beneficial for osteogenic capacity in critical size
      femoral bone defects, accompanied with an accelerated bone ingrowth (6-18 weeks)
      and the material itself experiencing mild resorption. In contrast, both the
      scaffolds with smaller pore sizes exhibited a low level of new bone ingrowth
      (<32%) after 6-12 weeks implantation. These results suggest a promising
      application of such 45S5 Bioglass(r)-derived BGC scaffolds in a clinical setting,
      especially for mechanically loaded bone defects.

PMID- 28589921
TI  - Current and emerging applications of 3D printing in medicine.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) printing enables the production of anatomically matched
      and patient-specific devices and constructs with high tunability and complexity.
      It also allows on-demand fabrication with high productivity in a cost-effective
      manner. As a result, 3D printing has become a leading manufacturing technique in
      healthcare and medicine for a wide range of applications including dentistry,
      tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, engineered tissue models, medical
      devices, anatomical models and drug formulation. Today, 3D printing is widely
      adopted by the healthcare industry and academia. It provides commercially
      available medical products and a platform for emerging research areas including
      tissue and organ printing. In this review, our goal is to discuss the current and
      emerging applications of 3D printing in medicine. A brief summary on additive
      manufacturing technologies and available printable materials is also given. The
      technological and regulatory barriers that are slowing down the full
      implementation of 3D printing in the medical field are also discussed.

PMID- 28589922
TI  - Graphene oxide hydrogel as a restricted-area nanoreactor for synthesis of 3D
      graphene-supported ultrafine TiO2 nanorod nanocomposites for high-rate lithium
      ion battery anodes.
AB  - Three-dimensional graphene-supported TiO2 nanorod nanocomposites (3D GS-TNR) are
      prepared using graphene oxide hydrogel as a restricted-area nanoreactor in the
      hydrothermal process, in which well-distributed TiO2 nanorods with a width of
      approximately 5 nm and length of 30 nm are conformally embedded in the 3D
      interconnected graphene network. The 3D graphene oxide not only works as a
      restricted-area nanoreactor to constrain the size, distribution and morphology of
      the TiO2; it also work as a highly interconnected conducting network to
      facilitate electrochemical reactions and maintain good structural integration
      when the nanocomposites are used as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries.
      Benefiting from the nanostructure, the 3D GS-TNR nanocomposites show high
      capacity and excellent long-term cycling capability at high current rates. The 3D
      GS-TNR composites deliver a high initial charge capacity of 280 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C
      and maintain a reversible capacity of 115 mAh g-1, with a capacity retention of
      83% at 20 C after 1000 cycles. Meanwhile, compared with that of previously
      reported TiO2-based materials, the 3D GS-TNR nanocomposites show much better
      performance, including higher capacity, better rate capability and long-term
      cycling stability.

PMID- 28589923
TI  - Electronic properties and morphology of copper oxide/n-type silicon
      heterostructures.
AB  - Silicon-based tandem heterojunction solar cells utilizing cuprous oxide (Cu2O) as
      the top absorber layer show promise for high-efficiency conversion and low
      production cost. In the present study, single phase Cu2O films have been realized
      on n-type Si substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering at 400  degrees C. The
      obtained Cu2O/Si heterostructures have subsequently been heat treated at
      temperatures in the 400-700  degrees C range in Ar flow and extensively
      characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) imaging and electrical techniques. The Cu2O/Si heterojunction
      exhibits a current rectification of ~5 orders of magnitude between forward and
      reverse bias voltages. High resolution cross-sectional TEM-images show the
      presence of a ~2 nm thick interfacial SiO2 layer between Cu2O and the Si
      substrate. Heat treatments below 550  degrees C result in gradual improvement of
      crystallinity, indicated by XRD. At and above 550  degrees C, partial phase
      transition to cupric oxide (CuO) occurs followed by a complete transition at 700 
      degrees C. No increase or decrease of the SiO2 layer is observed after the heat
      treatment at 550  degrees C. Finally, a thin Cu-silicide layer (Cu3Si) emerges
      below the SiO2 layer upon annealing at 550  degrees C. This silicide layer
      influences the lateral current and voltage distributions, as evidenced by an
      increasing effective area of the heterojunction diodes.

PMID- 28589924
TI  - Bo Lindell (1922-2016).

PMID- 28589925
TI  - Mesenchymal stem cells support growth and organization of host-liver colorectal
      tumor organoids and possibly resistance to chemotherapy.
AB  - Despite having yielded extensive breakthroughs in cancer research, traditional 2D
      cell cultures have limitations in studying cancer progression and metastasis and
      screening therapeutic candidates. 3D systems can allow cells to grow, migrate,
      and interact with each other and the surrounding matrix, resulting in more
      realistic constructs. Furthermore, interactions between host tissue and
      developing tumors influence the susceptibility of tumors to drug treatments. Host
      liver colorectal-tumor spheroids composed of primary human hepatocytes,
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and colon carcinoma HCT116 cells were created in
      simulated microgravity rotating wall vessel (RWV) bioreactors. The cells were
      seeded on hyaluronic acid-based microcarriers, loaded with liver-specific growth
      factors and ECM components. Only in the presence of MSC, large tumor foci rapidly
      formed inside the spheroids and increased in size steadily over time, while not
      greatly impacting albumin secretion from hepatocytes. The presence of MSC
      appeared to drive self-organization and formation of a stroma-like tissue
      surrounding the tumor foci and hepatocytes. Exposure to a commonly used
      chemotherapeutic 5-FU showed a dose-dependent cytotoxicity. However, if tumor
      organoids were allowed to mature in the RWV, they were less sensitive to the drug
      treatment. These data demonstrate the potential utility of liver tumor organoids
      for cancer progression and drug response modeling.

PMID- 28589926
TI  - Exploiting macrophage autophagy-lysosomal biogenesis as a therapy for
      atherosclerosis.
AB  - Macrophages specialize in removing lipids and debris present in the
      atherosclerotic plaque. However, plaque progression renders macrophages unable to
      degrade exogenous atherogenic material and endogenous cargo including
      dysfunctional proteins and organelles. Here we show that a decline in the
      autophagy-lysosome system contributes to this as evidenced by a derangement in
      key autophagy markers in both mouse and human atherosclerotic plaques. By
      augmenting macrophage TFEB, the master transcriptional regulator of autophagy
      lysosomal biogenesis, we can reverse the autophagy dysfunction of plaques,
      enhance aggrephagy of p62-enriched protein aggregates and blunt macrophage
      apoptosis and pro-inflammatory IL-1beta levels, leading to reduced
      atherosclerosis. In order to harness this degradative response therapeutically,
      we also describe a natural sugar called trehalose as an inducer of macrophage
      autophagy-lysosomal biogenesis and show trehalose's ability to recapitulate the
      atheroprotective properties of macrophage TFEB overexpression. Our data support
      this practical method of enhancing the degradative capacity of macrophages as a
      therapy for atherosclerotic vascular disease.

PMID- 28589927
TI  - The CaMKII holoenzyme structure in activation-competent conformations.
AB  - The Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) assembles into large 12
      meric holoenzymes, which is thought to enable regulatory processes required for
      synaptic plasticity underlying learning, memory and cognition. Here we used
      single particle electron microscopy (EM) to determine a pseudoatomic model of the
      CaMKIIalpha holoenzyme in an extended and activation-competent conformation. The
      holoenzyme is organized by a rigid central hub complex, while positioning of the
      kinase domains is highly flexible, revealing dynamic holoenzymes ranging from 15
      35 nm in diameter. While most kinase domains are ordered independently, ~20%
      appear to form dimers and <3% are consistent with a compact conformation. An
      additional level of plasticity is revealed by a small fraction of bona-fide 14
      mers (<4%) that may enable subunit exchange. Biochemical and cellular FRET
      studies confirm that the extended state of CaMKIIalpha resolved by EM is the
      predominant form of the holoenzyme, even under molecular crowding conditions.

PMID- 28589928
TI  - Dendro-dendritic cholinergic excitation controls dendritic spike initiation in
      retinal ganglion cells.
AB  - The retina processes visual images to compute features such as the direction of
      image motion. Starburst amacrine cells (SACs), axonless feed-forward
      interneurons, are essential components of the retinal direction-selective
      circuitry. Recent work has highlighted that SAC-mediated dendro-dendritic
      inhibition controls the action potential output of direction-selective ganglion
      cells (DSGCs) by vetoing dendritic spike initiation. However, SACs co-release
      GABA and the excitatory neurotransmitter acetylcholine at dendritic sites. Here
      we use direct dendritic recordings to show that preferred direction light stimuli
      evoke SAC-mediated acetylcholine release, which powerfully controls the stimulus
      sensitivity, receptive field size and action potential output of ON-DSGCs by
      acting as an excitatory drive for the initiation of dendritic spikes. Consistent
      with this, paired recordings reveal that the activation of single ON-SACs drove
      dendritic spike generation, because of predominate cholinergic excitation
      received on the preferred side of ON-DSGCs. Thus, dendro-dendritic release of
      neurotransmitters from SACs bi-directionally gate dendritic spike initiation to
      control the directionally selective action potential output of retinal ganglion
      cells.

PMID- 28589929
TI  - Type-2 innate lymphoid cells control the development of atherosclerosis in mice.
AB  - Type-2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) are a prominent source of type II cytokines
      and are found constitutively at mucosal surfaces and in visceral adipose tissue.
      Despite their role in limiting obesity, how ILC2s respond to high fat feeding is
      poorly understood, and their direct influence on the development of
      atherosclerosis has not been explored. Here, we show that ILC2 are present in
      para-aortic adipose tissue and lymph nodes and display an inflammatory-like
      phenotype atypical of adipose resident ILC2. High fat feeding alters both the
      number of ILC2 and their type II cytokine production. Selective genetic ablation
      of ILC2 in Ldlr-/- mice accelerates the development of atherosclerosis, which is
      prevented by reconstitution with wild type but not Il5-/- or Il13-/- ILC2. We
      conclude that ILC2 represent a major innate cell source of IL-5 and IL-13
      required for mounting atheroprotective immunity, which can be altered by high fat
      diet.

PMID- 28589931
TI  - Inhomogeneous spatial distribution of the magnetic transition in an iron-rhodium
      thin film.
AB  - Monitoring a magnetic state using thermal or electrical activation is mandatory
      for the development of new magnetic devices, for instance in heat or electrically
      assisted magnetic recording or room-temperature memory resistor. Compounds such
      as FeRh, which undergoes a magnetic transition from an antiferromagnetic state to
      a ferromagnetic state around 100  degrees C, are thus highly desirable. However,
      the mechanisms involved in the transition are still under debate. Here we use in
      situ heating and cooling electron holography to quantitatively map at the
      nanometre scale the magnetization of a cross-sectional FeRh thin film through the
      antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic transition. Our results provide a direct
      observation of an inhomogeneous spatial distribution of the transition
      temperature along the growth direction. Most interestingly, a regular spacing of
      the ferromagnetic domains nucleated upon monitoring of the transition is also
      observed. Beyond these findings on the fundamental transition mechanisms, our
      work also brings insights for in operando analysis of magnetic devices.

PMID- 28589932
TI  - Universal emulsion stabilization from the arrested adsorption of rough particles
      at liquid-liquid interfaces.
AB  - Surface heterogeneities, including roughness, significantly affect the
      adsorption, motion and interactions of particles at fluid interfaces. However, a
      systematic experimental study, linking surface roughness to particle wettability
      at a microscopic level, is currently missing. Here we synthesize a library of all
      silica microparticles with uniform surface chemistry, but tuneable surface
      roughness and study their spontaneous adsorption at oil-water interfaces. We
      demonstrate that surface roughness strongly pins the particles' contact lines and
      arrests their adsorption in long-lived metastable positions, and we directly
      measure the roughness-induced interface deformations around isolated particles.
      Pinning imparts tremendous contact angle hysteresis, which can practically invert
      the particle wettability for sufficient roughness, irrespective of their chemical
      nature. As a unique consequence, the same rough particles stabilize both water-in
      oil and oil-in-water emulsions depending on the phase they are initially
      dispersed in. These results both shed light on fundamental phenomena concerning
      particle adsorption at fluid interfaces and indicate future design rules for
      particle-based emulsifiers.

PMID- 28589933
TI  - Towards colloidal spintronics through Rashba spin-orbit interaction in lead
      sulphide nanosheets.
AB  - Employing the spin degree of freedom of charge carriers offers the possibility to
      extend the functionality of conventional electronic devices, while colloidal
      chemistry can be used to synthesize inexpensive and tunable nanomaterials. Here,
      in order to benefit from both concepts, we investigate Rashba spin-orbit
      interaction in colloidal lead sulphide nanosheets by electrical measurements on
      the circular photo-galvanic effect. Lead sulphide nanosheets possess rock salt
      crystal structure, which is centrosymmetric. The symmetry can be broken by
      quantum confinement, asymmetric vertical interfaces and a gate electric field
      leading to Rashba-type band splitting in momentum space at the M points, which
      results in an unconventional selection mechanism for the excitation of the
      carriers. The effect, which is supported by simulations of the band structure
      using density functional theory, can be tuned by the gate electric field and by
      the thickness of the sheets. Spin-related electrical transport phenomena in
      colloidal materials open a promising pathway towards future inexpensive
      spintronic devices.

PMID- 28589930
TI  - Dynamic alterations in decoy VEGF receptor-1 stability regulate angiogenesis.
AB  - Blood vessel expansion is driven by sprouting angiogenesis of endothelial cells,
      and is essential for development, wound healing and disease. Membrane-localized
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (mVEGFR1) is an endothelial cell
      intrinsic decoy receptor that negatively modulates blood vessel morphogenesis.
      Here we show that dynamic regulation of mVEGFR1 stability and turnover in blood
      vessels impacts angiogenesis. mVEGFR1 is highly stable and constitutively
      internalizes from the plasma membrane. Post-translational palmitoylation of
      mVEGFR1 is a binary stabilization switch, and ligand engagement leads to
      depalmitoylation and lysosomal degradation. Trafficking of palmitoylation enzymes
      via Rab27a regulates mVEGFR1 stability, as reduced levels of Rab27a impaired
      palmitoylation of mVEGFR1, decreased its stability, and elevated blood vessel
      sprouting and in vivo angiogenesis. These findings identify a regulatory axis
      affecting blood vessel morphogenesis that highlights exquisite post-translational
      regulation of mVEGFR1 in its role as a molecular rheostat.

PMID- 28589935
TI  - Compressional pathways of alpha-cristobalite, structure of cristobalite X-I, and
      towards the understanding of seifertite formation.
AB  - In various shocked meteorites, low-pressure silica polymorph alpha-cristobalite
      is commonly found in close spatial relation with the densest known SiO2 polymorph
      seifertite, which is stable above ~80 GPa. We demonstrate that under hydrostatic
      pressure alpha-cristobalite remains untransformed up to at least 15 GPa. In quasi
      hydrostatic experiments, above 11 GPa cristobalite X-I forms-a monoclinic
      polymorph built out of silicon octahedra; the phase is not quenchable and back
      transforms to alpha-cristobalite on decompression. There are no other known
      silica polymorphs, which transform to an octahedra-based structure at such low
      pressures upon compression at room temperature. Further compression in non
      hydrostatic conditions of cristobalite X-I eventually leads to the formation of
      quenchable seifertite-like phase. Our results demonstrate that the presence of
      alpha-cristobalite in shocked meteorites or rocks does not exclude that materials
      experienced high pressure, nor is the presence of seifertite necessarily
      indicative of extremely high peak shock pressures.

PMID- 28589934
TI  - DNA vaccination protects mice against Zika virus-induced damage to the testes.
AB  - Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging pathogen causally associated with serious
      sequelae in fetuses, inducing fetal microcephaly and other neurodevelopment
      defects. ZIKV is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, but can persist in human
      semen and sperm, and sexual transmission has been documented. Moreover, exposure
      of type-I interferon knockout mice to ZIKV results in severe damage to the
      testes, epididymis and sperm. Candidate ZIKV vaccines have shown protective
      efficacy in preclinical studies carried out in animal models, and several
      vaccines have entered clinical trials. Here, we report that administration of a
      synthetic DNA vaccine encoding ZIKV pre-membrane and envelope (prME) completely
      protects mice against ZIKV-associated damage to the testes and sperm and prevents
      viral persistence in the testes following challenge with a contemporary strain of
      ZIKV. These data suggest that DNA vaccination merits further investigation as a
      potential means to reduce ZIKV persistence in the male reproductive tract.

PMID- 28589938
TI  - Antisense oligonucleotide-mediated Dnm2 knockdown prevents and reverts myotubular
      myopathy in mice.
AB  - Centronuclear myopathies (CNM) are non-dystrophic muscle diseases for which no
      effective therapy is currently available. The most severe form, X-linked CNM, is
      caused by myotubularin 1 (MTM1) loss-of-function mutations, while the main
      autosomal dominant form is due to dynamin2 (DNM2) mutations. We previously showed
      that genetic reduction of DNM2 expression in Mtm1 knockout (Mtm1KO) mice prevents
      development of muscle pathology. Here we show that systemic delivery of Dnm2
      antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) into Mtm1KO mice efficiently reduces DNM2
      protein level in muscle and prevents the myopathy from developing. Moreover,
      systemic ASO injection into severely affected mice leads to reversal of muscle
      pathology within 2 weeks. Thus, ASO-mediated DNM2 knockdown can efficiently
      correct muscle defects due to loss of MTM1, providing an attractive therapeutic
      strategy for this disease.

PMID- 28589937
TI  - Loss of Parkinson's disease-associated protein CHCHD2 affects mitochondrial
      crista structure and destabilizes cytochrome c.
AB  - Mutations in CHCHD2 have been identified in some Parkinson's disease (PD) cases.
      To understand the physiological and pathological roles of CHCHD2, we manipulated
      the expression of CHCHD2 in Drosophila and mammalian cells. The loss of CHCHD2 in
      Drosophila causes abnormal matrix structures and impaired oxygen respiration in
      mitochondria, leading to oxidative stress, dopaminergic neuron loss and motor
      dysfunction with age. These PD-associated phenotypes are rescued by the
      overexpression of the translation inhibitor 4E-BP and by the introduction of
      human CHCHD2 but not its PD-associated mutants. CHCHD2 is upregulated by various
      mitochondrial stresses, including the destabilization of mitochondrial genomes
      and unfolded protein stress, in Drosophila. CHCHD2 binds to cytochrome c along
      with a member of the Bax inhibitor-1 superfamily, MICS1, and modulated cell death
      signalling, suggesting that CHCHD2 dynamically regulates the functions of
      cytochrome c in both oxidative phosphorylation and cell death in response to
      mitochondrial stress.

PMID- 28589936
TI  - Variation in auxin sensing guides AUX/IAA transcriptional repressor
      ubiquitylation and destruction.
AB  - Auxin is a small molecule morphogen that bridges SCFTIR1/AFB-AUX/IAA co-receptor
      interactions leading to ubiquitylation and proteasome-dependent degradation of
      AUX/IAA transcriptional repressors. Here, we systematically dissect auxin sensing
      by SCFTIR1-IAA6 and SCFTIR1-IAA19 co-receptor complexes, and assess IAA6/IAA19
      ubiquitylation in vitro and IAA6/IAA19 degradation in vivo. We show that TIR1
      IAA19 and TIR1-IAA6 have distinct auxin affinities that correlate with
      ubiquitylation and turnover dynamics of the AUX/IAA. We establish a system to
      track AUX/IAA ubiquitylation in IAA6 and IAA19 in vitro and show that it occurs
      in flexible hotspots in degron-flanking regions adorned with specific Lys
      residues. We propose that this signature is exploited during auxin-mediated
      SCFTIR1-AUX/IAA interactions. We present evidence for an evolving AUX/IAA
      repertoire, typified by the IAA6/IAA19 ohnologues, that discriminates the range
      of auxin concentrations found in plants. We postulate that the intrinsic
      flexibility of AUX/IAAs might bias their ubiquitylation and destruction kinetics
      enabling specific auxin responses.

PMID- 28589940
TI  - Tightening of tropical ascent and high clouds key to precipitation change in a
      warmer climate.
AB  - The change of global-mean precipitation under global warming and interannual
      variability is predominantly controlled by the change of atmospheric longwave
      radiative cooling. Here we show that tightening of the ascending branch of the
      Hadley Circulation coupled with a decrease in tropical high cloud fraction is key
      in modulating precipitation response to surface warming. The magnitude of high
      cloud shrinkage is a primary contributor to the intermodel spread in the changes
      of tropical-mean outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and global-mean precipitation
      per unit surface warming (dP/dTs) for both interannual variability and global
      warming. Compared to observations, most Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project
      Phase 5 models underestimate the rates of interannual tropical-mean dOLR/dTs and
      global-mean dP/dTs, consistent with the muted tropical high cloud shrinkage. We
      find that the five models that agree with the observation-based interannual
      dP/dTs all predict dP/dTs under global warming higher than the ensemble mean
      dP/dTs from the ~20 models analysed in this study.

PMID- 28589939
TI  - WASH maintains NKp46+ ILC3 cells by promoting AHR expression.
AB  - Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) communicate with other haematopoietic and non
      haematopoietic cells to regulate immunity, inflammation and tissue homeostasis.
      How these ILC lineages develop and are maintained is not clear. Here we show that
      WASH is highly expressed in the nucleus of group 3 ILCs (ILC3s). WASH deletion
      impairs the cell pool of NKp46+ ILC3s. In NKp46+ ILC3s, WASH recruits Arid1a to
      the Ahr promoter thus activating AHR expression. WASH deletion in ILC3s decreases
      the number of NKp46+ ILC3s. Moreover, Arid1a deletion impedes AHR expression and
      impairs the maintenance of NKp46+ ILC3s. Therefore, WASH-mediated AHR expression
      has a critical function in the maintenance of NKp46+ ILC3s.

PMID- 28589941
TI  - Nanoimaging of resonating hyperbolic polaritons in linear boron nitride antennas.
AB  - Polaritons in layered materials-including van der Waals materials-exhibit
      hyperbolic dispersion and strong field confinement, which makes them highly
      attractive for applications including optical nanofocusing, sensing and control
      of spontaneous emission. Here we report a near-field study of polaritonic Fabry
      Perot resonances in linear antennas made of a hyperbolic material. Specifically,
      we study hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in rectangular waveguide antennas made of
      hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN, a prototypical van der Waals crystal). Infrared
      nanospectroscopy and nanoimaging experiments reveal sharp resonances with large
      quality factors around 100, exhibiting atypical modal near-field patterns that
      have no analogue in conventional linear antennas. By performing a detailed mode
      analysis, we can assign the antenna resonances to a single waveguide mode
      originating from the hybridization of hyperbolic surface phonon-polaritons
      (Dyakonov polaritons) that propagate along the edges of the h-BN waveguide. Our
      work establishes the basis for the understanding and design of linear waveguides,
      resonators, sensors and metasurface elements based on hyperbolic materials and
      metamaterials.

PMID- 28589944
TI  - Cerebellar hypoplasia with endosteal sclerosis is a POLR3-related disorder.
AB  - CHES (cerebellar hypoplasia with endosteal sclerosis) syndrome (OMIM#213002)
      associates hypomyelination, cerebellar atrophy, hypogonadism and hypodontia. So
      far, only five patients have been described. The condition is of neonatal onset.
      Patients have severe psychomotor delay and moderate to severe intellectual
      disability. Inheritance is assumed to be autosomal recessive due to recurrence in
      sibs, consanguinity of parents and absence of vertical transmission. CHES
      syndrome is reminiscent of 4H-leukodystrophy, a recessive-inherited affection due
      to variations in genes encoding subunits of the RNA polymerase III (POLR3A-POLR3B
      POLR1C). POLR3B variants have been identified in one CHES patient. Here we report
      on a novel CHES patient, carrying compound heterozygous variations in POLR3B.
      This report confirms affiliation of CHES to POLR3-related disorders and suggests
      that CHES syndrome represents a severe form of 4H-leukodystrophy.

PMID- 28589942
TI  - Misfolded polypeptides are selectively recognized and transported toward
      aggresomes by a CED complex.
AB  - Misfolded polypeptides are rapidly cleared from cells via the ubiquitin
      proteasome system (UPS). However, when the UPS is impaired, misfolded
      polypeptides form small cytoplasmic aggregates, which are sequestered into an
      aggresome and ultimately degraded by aggrephagy. Despite the relevance of the
      aggresome to neurodegenerative proteinopathies, the molecular mechanisms
      underlying aggresome formation remain unclear. Here we show that the CTIF-eEF1A1
      DCTN1 (CED) complex functions in the surveillance of either pre-existing or newly
      synthesized polypeptides by linking two molecular events: selective recognition
      and aggresomal targeting of misfolded polypeptides. These events are accompanied
      by CTIF sequestration into the aggresome, preventing the additional synthesis of
      misfolded polypeptides from mRNAs bound by nuclear cap-binding complex. These
      events render cells more resistant to apoptosis induced by proteotoxic stresses.
      Collectively, our data provide compelling evidence for a previously unappreciated
      protein surveillance pathway and a regulatory gene expression network for coping
      with misfolded polypeptides.

PMID- 28589943
TI  - The signalling receptor MCAM coordinates apical-basal polarity and planar cell
      polarity during morphogenesis.
AB  - The apical-basal (AB) polarity and planar cell polarity (PCP) provide an animal
      cell population with different phenotypes during morphogenesis. However, how
      cells couple these two patterning systems remains unclear. Here we provide in
      vivo evidence that melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) coordinates AB polarity
      driven lumenogenesis and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/PCP-dependent
      ciliogenesis. We identify that MCAM is an independent receptor of fibroblast
      growth factor 4 (FGF4), a membrane anchor of phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma),
      an immediate upstream receptor of nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) and
      a constitutive activator of JNK. We find that MCAM-mediated vesicular trafficking
      towards FGF4, while generating a priority-grade transcriptional response of NFAT
      determines lumenogenesis. We demonstrate that MCAM plays indispensable roles in
      ciliogenesis through activating JNK independently of FGF signals. Furthermore,
      mcam-deficient zebrafish and Xenopus exhibit a global defect in left-right (LR)
      asymmetric establishment as a result of morphogenetic failure of their LR
      organizers. Therefore, MCAM coordination of AB polarity and PCP provides insight
      into the general mechanisms of morphogenesis.

PMID- 28589945
TI  - Dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes from antibiotic producers to
      pathogens.
AB  - It has been hypothesized that some antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) found in
      pathogenic bacteria derive from antibiotic-producing actinobacteria. Here we
      provide bioinformatic and experimental evidence supporting this hypothesis. We
      identify genes in proteobacteria, including some pathogens, that appear to be
      closely related to actinobacterial ARGs known to confer resistance against
      clinically important antibiotics. Furthermore, we identify two potential examples
      of recent horizontal transfer of actinobacterial ARGs to proteobacterial
      pathogens. Based on this bioinformatic evidence, we propose and experimentally
      test a 'carry-back' mechanism for the transfer, involving conjugative transfer of
      a carrier sequence from proteobacteria to actinobacteria, recombination of the
      carrier sequence with the actinobacterial ARG, followed by natural transformation
      of proteobacteria with the carrier-sandwiched ARG. Our results support the
      existence of ancient and, possibly, recent transfers of ARGs from antibiotic
      producing actinobacteria to proteobacteria, and provide evidence for a defined
      mechanism.

PMID- 28589946
TI  - Elevated prostaglandin E2 post-bone marrow transplant mediates interleukin-1beta
      related lung injury.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) treats or cures a variety of
      hematological and inherited disorders. Unfortunately, patients who undergo HSCT
      are susceptible to infections by a wide array of opportunistic pathogens.
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria can have life-threatening effects in HSCT
      patients by causing lung pathology that has been linked to high levels of the
      potent pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). Using a murine
      bone marrow transplant (BMT) model, we show that overexpression of prostaglandin
      E2 (PGE2) post-BMT signals via EP2 or EP4 to induce cyclic adenosine
      monophosphate (cAMP), which activates protein kinase A or the exchange protein
      activated by cAMP (Epac) to induce cAMP response element binding-dependent
      transcription of IL-1beta leading to exacerbated lung injury in BMT mice.
      Induction of IL-1beta by PGE2 is time and dose dependent. Interestingly, IL-1beta
      processing post-P. aeruginosa infection occurs via the enzymatic activity of
      either caspase-1 or caspase-8. Furthermore, PGE2 can limit autophagy-mediated
      killing of P. aeruginosa in alveolar macrophages, yet autophagy does not have a
      role in PGE2-mediated upregulation of IL-1beta. Reducing PGE2 levels with
      indomethacin improved bacterial clearance and reduced IL-1beta-mediated acute
      lung injury in P. aeruginosa-infected BMT mice.

PMID- 28589949
TI  - They say coconut oil can aid weight loss, but can it really?
AB  - There has in recent years, been much media speculation and consumer interest in
      the beneficial satiating properties of consuming coconut oil and its potential to
      aid weight loss. However, the media has primarily cited studies using medium
      chain triglycerides (MCT) oil. The current perspective looks at the research that
      is available on coconut oil. It examines if and how MCT-related research can be
      applied to coconut oil and if there is potential for coconut oil to aid weight
      loss. The current report indicates a lack of consistent evidence on the topic of
      coconut oil, satiety and weight loss. Given both the publicity and the increased
      consumption of coconut oil further research, particularly long-term clinical
      trials, in this area are warranted.

PMID- 28589948
TI  - Associations between fatty acids and low-grade inflammation in children from the
      LISAplus birth cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Assessing fatty acid (FA) composition in relation to
      inflammatory markers can shed light on the role of different FA and their
      metabolism in low-grade inflammation. Existing exploratory studies in children
      are scarce, and findings inconsistent. We hence aim to analyse associations of FA
      with common inflammatory markers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)
      and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in 10-year-old children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Complete
      data were available for 958 participants from the 10-year follow-up of the
      LISAplus (Influence of Lifestyle-Related Factors on the Immune System and the
      Development of Allergies in Childhood plus the Influence of Traffic Emissions and
      Genetics) birth cohort study. FA composition was assessed in serum
      glycerophospholipids. Hs-CRP and IL-6 were categorised into three levels.
      Associations of FA with inflammatory markers were assessed using multinomial
      logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders. Additionally, sex
      stratified analyses were carried out. RESULTS: FA exposures associated with
      significantly higher low-grade inflammation, as indicated by higher hs-CRP or IL
      6 levels, included: palmitic acid (PA) (IL-6: P<0.001, 95% confidence interval:
      1.30; 2.43), arachidonic acid (AA) (hs-CRP: P=0.002, 1.07; 1.31), n-6 highly
      unsaturated FA (HUFA) (hs-CRP: P=0.002, 1.06; 1.27), ratio of AA to linoleic acid
      (AA/LA) (hs-CRP: P<0.001, 1.16; 1.62) and total saturated FA (SFA) (IL-6:
      P<0.001, 1.77; 3.15). FA exposures associated with reduced levels of inflammatory
      markers included LA (hs-CRP: P=0.001, 0.84; 0.96; IL-6: P<0.001, 0.69; 0.90) and
      total polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) (IL-6: P<0.001, 0.57; 0.78). CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest that higher SFA and minor n-6 HUFA, namely PA and AA, are
      associated with increased low-grade inflammation in children, whereas the major
      dietary n-6 PUFA and total PUFA are associated with reduced inflammation.
      Elevated desaturase activity, estimated by the ratio AA/LA, may be associated
      with higher inflammation, particularly in boys.

PMID- 28589947
TI  - Gut microbiota composition in relation to the metabolic response to 12-week
      combined polyphenol supplementation in overweight men and women.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The intestinal microbiota may have a profound impact on
      host metabolism. As evidence suggests that polyphenols affect substrate
      utilization, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of polyphenol
      supplementation on intestinal microbiota composition in humans. Furthermore, we
      examined whether (changes in) gut microbiota composition may determine the
      metabolic response to polyphenol supplementation. SUBJECTS/METHODS: In this
      randomized, double-blind, placebo (PLA)-controlled trial, 37 overweight and obese
      men and women (18 males/19 females, 37.8+/-1.6 years, body mass index: 29.6+/-0.5
      kg/m2) received either epigallocatechin-3-gallate and resveratrol (EGCG+RES, 282
      and 80 mg/day, respectively) or PLA for 12 weeks. Before and after intervention,
      feces samples were collected to determine microbiota composition. Fat oxidation
      was assessed by indirect calorimetry during a high-fat mixed meal test (2.6 MJ,
      61 energy% fat) and skeletal muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity by means of
      ex vivo respirometry on isolated skeletal muscle fibers. Body composition was
      measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Fecal abundance of
      Bacteroidetes was higher in men as compared with women, whereas other assessed
      bacterial taxa were comparable. EGCG+RES supplementation significantly decreased
      Bacteroidetes and tended to reduce Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in men (P=0.05
      and P=0.10, respectively) but not in women (P=0.15 and P=0.77, respectively).
      Strikingly, baseline Bacteroidetes abundance was predictive for the EGCG+RES
      induced increase in fat oxidation in men but not in women. Other bacterial genera
      and species were not affected by EGCG+RES supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: We
      demonstrated that 12-week EGCG+RES supplementation affected the gut microbiota
      composition in men but not in women. Baseline microbiota composition determined
      the increase in fat oxidation after EGCG+RES supplementation in men.

PMID- 28589951
TI  - Adiposity and blood pressure among 55 000 relatively lean rural adults in
      southwest of China.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/jhh.2014.129.

PMID- 28589950
TI  - Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity
      in dry and oligotrophic environments.
AB  - Fungal-bacterial interactions are highly diverse and contribute to many ecosystem
      processes. Their emergence under common environmental stress scenarios however,
      remains elusive. Here we use a synthetic microbial ecosystem based on the
      germination of Bacillus subtilis spores to examine whether fungal and fungal-like
      (oomycete) mycelia reduce bacterial water and nutrient stress in an otherwise dry
      and nutrient-poor microhabitat. We find that the presence of mycelia enables the
      germination and subsequent growth of bacterial spores near the hyphae. Using a
      combination of time of flight- and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF
      and nanoSIMS) coupled with stable isotope labelling, we link spore germination
      to hyphal transfer of water, carbon and nitrogen. Our study provides direct
      experimental evidence for the stimulation of bacterial activity by mycelial
      supply of scarce resources in dry and nutrient-free environments. We propose that
      mycelia may stimulate bacterial activity and thus contribute to sustaining
      ecosystem functioning in stressed habitats.

PMID- 28589953
TI  - Corrigendum: Fractional Solitons in Excitonic Josephson Junctions.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep15796.

PMID- 28589952
TI  - Contrasting mechanisms of growth in two model rod-shaped bacteria.
AB  - How cells control their shape and size is a long-standing question in cell
      biology. Many rod-shaped bacteria elongate their sidewalls by the action of cell
      wall synthesizing machineries that are associated to actin-like MreB cortical
      patches. However, little is known about how elongation is regulated to enable
      varied growth rates and sizes. Here we use total internal reflection fluorescence
      microscopy and single-particle tracking to visualize MreB isoforms, as a proxy
      for cell wall synthesis, in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli cells growing
      in different media and during nutrient upshift. We find that these two model
      organisms appear to use orthogonal strategies to adapt to growth regime
      variations: B. subtilis regulates MreB patch speed, while E. coli may mainly
      regulate the production capacity of MreB-associated cell wall machineries. We
      present numerical models that link MreB-mediated sidewall synthesis and cell
      elongation, and argue that the distinct regulatory mechanism employed might
      reflect the different cell wall integrity constraints in Gram-positive and Gram
      negative bacteria.

PMID- 28589956
TI  - Corrigendum: A reduced lymphocyte ratio as an early marker for predicting acute
      pancreatitis.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep44087.

PMID- 28589955
TI  - Crystal structures of U6 snRNA-specific terminal uridylyltransferase.
AB  - The terminal uridylyltransferase, TUT1, builds or repairs the 3'-oligo
      uridylylated tail of U6 snRNA. The 3'-oligo-uridylylated tail is the Lsm-binding
      site for U4/U6 di-snRNP formation and U6 snRNA recycling for pre-mRNA splicing.
      Here, we report crystallographic and biochemical analyses of human TUT1, which
      revealed the mechanisms for the specific uridylylation of the 3'-end of U6 snRNA
      by TUT1. The O2 and O4 atoms of the UTP base form hydrogen bonds with the
      conserved His and Asn in the catalytic pocket, respectively, and TUT1
      preferentially incorporates UMP onto the 3'-end of RNAs. TUT1 recognizes the
      entire U6 snRNA molecule by its catalytic domains, N-terminal RNA-recognition
      motifs and a previously unidentified C-terminal RNA-binding domain. Each domain
      recognizes specific regions within U6 snRNA, and the recognition is coupled with
      the domain movements and U6 snRNA structural changes. Hence, TUT1 functions as
      the U6 snRNA-specific terminal uridylyltransferase required for pre-mRNA
      splicing.

PMID- 28589957
TI  - Corrigendum: Kilohertz frequency nerve block enhances anti-inflammatory effects
      of vagus nerve stimulation.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep39810.

PMID- 28589954
TI  - WNT10A mutation causes ectodermal dysplasia by impairing progenitor cell
      proliferation and KLF4-mediated differentiation.
AB  - Human WNT10A mutations are associated with developmental tooth abnormalities and
      adolescent onset of a broad range of ectodermal defects. Here we show that beta
      catenin pathway activity and adult epithelial progenitor proliferation are
      reduced in the absence of WNT10A, and identify Wnt-active self-renewing stem
      cells in affected tissues including hair follicles, sebaceous glands, taste buds,
      nails and sweat ducts. Human and mouse WNT10A mutant palmoplantar and tongue
      epithelia also display specific differentiation defects that are mimicked by loss
      of the transcription factor KLF4. We find that beta-catenin interacts directly
      with region-specific LEF/TCF factors, and with KLF4 in differentiating, but not
      proliferating, cells to promote expression of specialized keratins required for
      normal tissue structure and integrity. Our data identify WNT10A as a critical
      ligand controlling adult epithelial proliferation and region-specific
      differentiation, and suggest downstream beta-catenin pathway activation as a
      potential approach to ameliorate regenerative defects in WNT10A patients.

PMID- 28589958
TI  - Astronomical pacing of the global silica cycle recorded in Mesozoic bedded
      cherts.
AB  - The global silica cycle is an important component of the long-term climate
      system, yet its controlling factors are largely uncertain due to poorly
      constrained proxy records. Here we present a ~70 Myr-long record of early
      Mesozoic biogenic silica (BSi) flux from radiolarian chert in Japan. Average low
      mid-latitude BSi burial flux in the superocean Panthalassa is ~90% of that of the
      modern global ocean and relative amplitude varied by ~20-50% over the 100 kyr to
      30 Myr orbital cycles during the early Mesozoic. We hypothesize that BSi in chert
      was a major sink for oceanic dissolved silica (DSi), with fluctuations
      proportional to DSi input from chemical weathering on timescales longer than the
      residence time of DSi (<~100 Kyr). Chemical weathering rates estimated by the
      GEOCARBSULFvolc model support these hypotheses, excluding the volcanism-driven
      oceanic anoxic events of the Early-Middle Triassic and Toarcian that exceed model
      limits. We propose that the Mega monsoon of the supercontinent Pangea nonlinearly
      amplified the orbitally paced chemical weathering that drove BSi burial during
      the early Mesozoic greenhouse world.

PMID- 28589959
TI  - Corrigendum: A dark green fluorescent protein as an acceptor for measurement of
      Forster resonance energy transfer.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep15334.

PMID- 28589960
TI  - Ultra-bright and highly efficient inorganic based perovskite light-emitting
      diodes.
AB  - Inorganic perovskites such as CsPbX3 (X=Cl, Br, I) have attracted attention due
      to their excellent thermal stability and high photoluminescence quantum
      efficiency. However, the electroluminescence quantum efficiency of their light
      emitting diodes was <1%. We posited that this low efficiency was a result of high
      leakage current caused by poor perovskite morphology, high non-radiative
      recombination at interfaces and perovskite grain boundaries, and also charge
      injection imbalance. Here, we incorporated a small amount of methylammonium
      organic cation into the CsPbBr3 lattice and by depositing a hydrophilic and
      insulating polyvinyl pyrrolidine polymer atop the ZnO electron-injection layer to
      overcome these issues. As a result, we obtained light-emitting diodes exhibiting
      a high brightness of 91,000 cd m-2 and a high external quantum efficiency of
      10.4% using a mixed-cation perovskite Cs0.87MA0.13PbBr3 as the emitting layer. To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the brightest and most-efficient green
      perovskite light-emitting diodes reported to date.

PMID- 28589961
TI  - River plastic emissions to the world's oceans.
AB  - Plastics in the marine environment have become a major concern because of their
      persistence at sea, and adverse consequences to marine life and potentially human
      health. Implementing mitigation strategies requires an understanding and
      quantification of marine plastic sources, taking spatial and temporal variability
      into account. Here we present a global model of plastic inputs from rivers into
      oceans based on waste management, population density and hydrological
      information. Our model is calibrated against measurements available in the
      literature. We estimate that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic
      waste currently enters the ocean every year from rivers, with over 74% of
      emissions occurring between May and October. The top 20 polluting rivers, mostly
      located in Asia, account for 67% of the global total. The findings of this study
      provide baseline data for ocean plastic mass balance exercises, and assist in
      prioritizing future plastic debris monitoring and mitigation strategies.

PMID- 28589962
TI  - Seepage from an arctic shallow marine gas hydrate reservoir is insensitive to
      momentary ocean warming.
AB  - Arctic gas hydrate reservoirs located in shallow water and proximal to the
      sediment-water interface are thought to be sensitive to bottom water warming that
      may trigger gas hydrate dissociation and the release of methane. Here, we
      evaluate bottom water temperature as a potential driver for hydrate dissociation
      and methane release from a recently discovered, gas-hydrate-bearing system south
      of Spitsbergen (Storfjordrenna, ~380 m water depth). Modelling of the non-steady
      state porewater profiles and observations of distinct layers of methane-derived
      authigenic carbonate nodules in the sediments indicate centurial to millennial
      methane emissions in the region. Results of temperature modelling suggest limited
      impact of short-term warming on gas hydrates deeper than a few metres in the
      sediments. We conclude that the ongoing and past methane emission episodes at the
      investigated sites are likely due to the episodic ventilation of deep reservoirs
      rather than warming-induced gas hydrate dissociation in this shallow water seep
      site.

PMID- 28589963
TI  - Exposure to the Abused Inhalant Toluene Alters Medial Prefrontal Cortex
      Physiology.
AB  - Inhalants, including toluene, target the addiction neurocircuitry and are often
      one of the first drugs of abuse tried by adolescents. The medial prefrontal
      cortex (mPFC) is involved in regulating goal-directed/reward-motivated behaviors
      and different mPFC sub-regions have been proposed to promote (prelimbic, PRL) or
      inhibit (infralimbic, IL) these behaviors. While this dichotomy has been studied
      in the context of other drugs of abuse, it is not known whether toluene exposure
      differentially affects neurons within PRL and IL regions. To address this
      question, we used whole-cell electrophysiology and determined the intrinsic
      excitability of PRL and IL pyramidal neurons in adolescent rats 24 h following a
      brief exposure to air or toluene vapor (10 500 p.p.m.). Prior to exposure,
      fluorescent retrobeads were injected into the NAc core (NAcc) or shell (NAcs) sub
      regions to identify projection-specific mPFC neurons. In toluene treated
      adolescent rats, layer 5/6 NAcc projecting PRL (PRL5/6) neurons fired fewer
      action potentials and this was associated with increased rheobase, increased
      spike duration, and reductions in membrane resistance and amplitude of the Ih
      current. No changes in excitability were observed in layer 2/3 NAcc projecting
      PRL (PRL2/3) neurons. In contrast to PRL neurons, layer 5 IL (IL5) and layer 2/3
      (IL2/3) NAcc projecting neurons showed enhanced firing in toluene-exposed animals
      and in IL5 neurons, this was associated with a reduction in rheobase and AHP. For
      NAcs projecting neurons, toluene exposure significantly decreased firing of IL5
      neurons and this was accompanied by an increased rheobase, increased spike
      duration, and reduced Ih amplitude. The intrinsic excitability of PRL5, PRL2/3,
      and IL2/3 neurons projecting to the NAcs was not affected by exposure to toluene.
      The changes in excitability observed 24 h after toluene exposure were not
      observed when recordings were performed 7 days after the exposure. Finally, there
      were no changes in intrinsic excitability of any region in rats exposed to
      toluene as adults. These findings demonstrate that specific projections of the
      reward circuitry are uniquely susceptible to the effects of toluene during
      adolescence supporting the idea that adolescence is a critical period of the
      development that is vulnerable to drugs of abuse.

PMID- 28589964
TI  - HPA Axis Genes, and Their Interaction with Childhood Maltreatment, are Related to
      Cortisol Levels and Stress-Related Phenotypes.
AB  - Stress responses are controlled by the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA)-axis
      and maladaptive stress responses are associated with the onset and maintenance of
      stress-related disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD). Genes that play
      a role in the HPA-axis regulation may likely contribute to the relation between
      relevant neurobiological substrates and stress-related disorders. Therefore, we
      performed gene-wide analyses for 30 a priori literature-based genes involved in
      HPA-axis regulation in 2014 subjects (34% male; mean age: 42.5) to study the
      relations with lifetime MDD diagnosis, cortisol awakening response, and
      dexamethasone suppression test (DST) levels (subsample N=1472) and hippocampal
      and amygdala volume (3T MR images; subsample N=225). Additionally, gene by
      childhood maltreatment (CM) interactions were investigated. Gene-wide significant
      results were found for dexamethasone suppression (CYP11A1, CYP17A1, POU1F1,
      AKR1D1), hippocampal volume (CYP17A1, CYP11A1, HSD3B2, PROP1, AVPRA1, SRD5A1),
      amygdala volume (POMC, CRH, HSD3B2), and lifetime MDD diagnosis (FKBP5 and CRH),
      all permutation p-values<0.05. Interactions with CM were found for several genes;
      the strongest interactions were found for NR3C2, where the minor allele of SNP
      rs17581262 was related to smaller hippocampal volume, smaller amygdala volume,
      higher DST levels, and higher odds of MDD diagnosis only in participants with CM.
      As hypothesized, several HPA-axis genes are associated with stress-related
      endophenotypes including cortisol response and reduced brain volumes.
      Furthermore, we found a pleiotropic interaction between CM and the
      mineralocorticoid receptor gene, suggesting that this gene plays an important
      moderating role in stress and stress-related disorders.

PMID- 28589965
TI  - Generalization of Extinguished Fear to Untreated Fear Stimuli after Exposure.
AB  - Exposure therapy is highly effective in treating excessive fear related to
      specific objects and/or situations. However, patients with anxiety disorders
      often display a generalization of fear responses toward conceptually and
      perceptually related stimuli and situations. It is unclear whether the beneficial
      effects of exposure on fear reduction toward treated fear stimuli can extend to
      untreated fear stimuli. Here, we investigated whether basic principles of
      extinction generalization apply to exposure. Spider-phobic participants were
      randomly assigned to either two sessions of exposure treatment (n=23) with
      spiders or no-treatment (n=24). Prior to and after treatment, behavioral approach
      tests (BATs) were conducted to examine avoidance, fear and disgust responses
      toward the treated phobic stimulus (spider as the extinction stimulus). Likewise,
      BATs with the untreated fear stimulus (cockroach) were conducted to dissect the
      generalization of treatment effects. Treatment was highly effective in increasing
      approach behavior toward both treated and untreated fear stimuli. Generalization
      of treatment effects were evident on the behavioral (approach distance during the
      BAT), subjective (fear levels during the BAT) and psychophysiological level
      (heart rate during the BAT). However, a stronger decline in disgust was only
      evident for the treated fear stimulus. Notably, the herein attained
      generalization effects were not context-dependent. Hence, exposure therapy for
      spider phobia was effective in reducing fear of untreated stimuli which share
      common fear-evoking characteristics with spiders but were never presented during
      the respective exposure treatment. These findings provide clinical evidence for
      extinction generalization across different fear-evoking stimuli mediated via
      exposure.

PMID- 28589966
TI  - Role of kappa-Opioid Receptors in the Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminalis in
      Reinstatement of Alcohol Seeking.
AB  - kappa-Opioid receptors (KORs) and their endogenous ligand dynorphin are involved
      in stress-induced alcohol seeking but the mechanisms involved are largely
      unknown. We previously showed that systemic injections of the KOR agonist
      U50,488, which induce stress-like aversive states, reinstate alcohol seeking
      after extinction of the alcohol-reinforced responding. Here, we used the neuronal
      activity marker Fos and site-specific injections of the KOR antagonist nor-BNI
      and U50,488 to study brain mechanisms of U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol
      seeking. We trained male Long-Evans rats to self-administer alcohol (12% w/v) for
      23-30 days. After extinction of the alcohol-reinforced responding, we tested the
      effect of U50,488 (0, 1.25, 2.5, and 5 mg/kg) on reinstatement of alcohol
      seeking. Next, we correlated regional Fos expression with reinstatement induced
      by the most effective U50,488 dose (5 mg/kg). Based on the correlational Fos
      results, we determined the effect of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST)
      injections of nor-BNI (4 MUg/side) on U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol
      seeking, and reinstatement induced by injections of U50,488 (0, 0.3, 1, and 3
      MUg/side) into the BNST. U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking was
      associated with increased Fos expression in multiple brain areas, including the
      BNST, where it was significantly correlated with lever pressing. U50,488-induced
      reinstatement was blocked by BNST nor-BNI injections, and BNST U50,488 injections
      partially mimicked the drug's systemic effect on reinstatement. Our data indicate
      that the BNST is a critical site for U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol
      seeking and suggest that KOR/dynorphin mechanisms in this brain area play a key
      role in stress-induced alcohol seeking.

PMID- 28589969
TI  - Combined effects of NQO1 Pro187Ser or SULT1A1 Arg213His polymorphism and smoking
      on bladder cancer risk: Two meta-analyses.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Objectives: Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor of bladder
      cancer via exposure to chemical carcinogens. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
      phosphate (NADP+): quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and sulfotransferase 1A1
      (SULT1A1) have been reported to involve in the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aromatic amines. Therefore, the risk of bladder cancer
      (BC) may be influenced by polymorphisms in the genes that modulate metabolic
      detoxification in particular by interacting with cigarette smoking. Considering
      the limited power by the individual studies with a relatively small sample size,
      especially when analyzing the combined effect of polymorphisms in NQO1 and
      SULT1A1 genes and smoking, these 2 meta-analyses have aimed to clarify the
      combined effects of them on BC risk by integrating related studies. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Two meta-analyses included 1341 cases and 1346 controls concerning NQO1
      Pro187Ser and smoking, and 1921 cases and 1882 controls on SULT1A1 Arg213His and
      smoking were performed. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were
      used for assessing the strength of the association. RESULTS: The result has
      demonstrated that smokers with NQO1 Pro/Ser or Ser/Ser genotypes have a prominent
      association with the risk of BC as compared with non-smokers with NQO1 Pro/Pro
      genotype, with OR equal to 3.71 (95% CI: 2.87-4.78, p<sub>heterogeneity</sub> =
      0.376). Besides, smokers carrying SULT1A1 Arg/Arg genotypes were observed to
      confer 2.38 fold increased risk of BC (95% CI: 1.44-3.93,
      p<sub>heterogeneity</sub> = 0.001) when compared with non-smokers with SULT1A1
      Arg/Arg or His/His genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have suggested that the
      NQO1 Pro187Ser or SULT1A1 Arg213His polymorphism combination with smoking
      significantly confer susceptibility to BC. Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(5):791-802.

PMID- 28589967
TI  - In Vivo Fiber Photometry Reveals Signature of Future Stress Susceptibility in
      Nucleus Accumbens.
AB  - Recognizing why chronic stress causes only a subset of individuals to become
      depressed is critical to understanding depression on a basic level and, also, to
      developing treatments that increase resilience. Stress-induced alterations in the
      activity of reward-related brain regions, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc),
      are linked to the pathophysiology of depression. However, it has been difficult
      to determine if differences in stress susceptibility are pre-existing or merely
      an effect of chronic stress. The NAc consists largely of medium spiny neurons
      (MSNs), distinguished by their predominant expression of either D1 or D2 dopamine
      receptors. Mice that develop depressive-like symptoms after chronic social defeat
      stress show distinct changes in the activity of these two cell subtypes. Until
      now it has not been possible to determine whether such effects are merely a
      consequence of stress or in fact precede stress and, thus, have utility in pre
      identifying stress-susceptible individuals. The goal of this study was to define
      a cell-type specific signature of stress susceptibility and resilience. Using
      fiber photometry calcium imaging, we recorded calcium transients in NAc D1- and
      D2-MSNs in awake behaving mice and found that D1-MSN activity is a predictive
      marker of depression susceptibility: prior to stress, mice that will later become
      resilient had increased baseline D1- MSN activity, and increased calcium
      transients specific to social interaction. Differences in D2- MSN activity were
      not specific to social interaction. Our findings identify a pre-existing
      mechanism of stress-induced susceptibility, creating the potential to target
      preventative interventions to the most relevant populations.

PMID- 28589970
TI  - Electronic and optical properties of nanostructured MoS2 materials: influence of
      reduced spatial dimensions and edge effects.
AB  - We theoretically study the electronic and optical properties of nanostructured
      MoS2 systems focusing on the influence of reduced spatial dimensions and edge
      effects, which lead to the change in character from semiconducting to metallic.
      For nanowires, we identify edge types which lead to the creation of a bandgap,
      reflecting the effect of confinement: with increasing the size of the wire in
      lateral direction and/or number of MoS2 layers, the gap reduces. For nanodisks,
      we identify features in electronic properties that are universal; specifically,
      our calculations reveal presence of a local maximum in electronic density of
      states, insensitive on nanodisk's geometrical properties. By manipulating with
      sulfur and molybdenum atoms at the edges we tune position of Fermi energy with
      respect to the local maximum. We discuss total electronic density and partial
      electronic density for energy levels below Fermi energy, that could be used for
      mapping to STM images under negative bias. Our findings are extracted from a
      tight-binding (TB) model that includes non-orthogonal sp3d5 orbitals and spin
      orbit coupling. We benchmark our TB model by comparing our results to those
      extracted from density functional theory and quasiparticle self-consistent GW,
      test different TB parameter sets, establishing the range of their validity, and
      discuss limitations of our model.

PMID- 28589971
TI  - On the structures, spin states, and optical properties of titanium, platinum, and
      iron azacalixphyrins: a DFT study.
AB  - Azacalixphyrins (ACP) constitute a new class of macrocycles isoelectronic and
      isostructural to porphyrins. Herein, we report the first theoretical
      investigation of the properties of the ACP macrocycles metallated at their centre
      by titanium, platinum, and iron ions. We considered both the original phenyl-type
      ACP and new pyridyl-type forms. Our results indicate that the metallation greatly
      impacts the global structure of the macrocycle through pseudo Jahn-Teller
      effects, giving rise to a possible conformational transition between D2d and S4
      structures. Such an effect could not be found in the metal-free ACPs. In
      addition, we find that, in contrast to the purely singlet platinum ACPs, and the
      purely triplet iron ACPs, several spin states are energetically close in the
      titanium ACPs, especially when weak field ligands are bound in axial positions to
      the metallic centre. According to TD-DFT calculations, metallation also tunes the
      optical properties. In particular, the absorption band in the near infrared
      region undergoes a hypsochromic shift of ca. 100-200 nm when going from the D2d
      to the S4 structures. We quantify how the addition of electroactive ligands in
      the axial position can increase or tune down these spectral changes. This
      contribution therefore supports the development of ACP coordination complexes.

PMID- 28589968
TI  - The 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism Affects Network-Based Functional Connectivity in the
      Visual-Limbic System in Healthy Adults.
AB  - The serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region 5-HTTLPR is a key genetic
      regulator of 5-HTT expression in the human brain where the short allele S has
      been implicated in emotion dysregulation. However, the neural mechanism
      underlying the association between this variant and emotion processing is still
      unclear. Earlier studies suggested an effect of 5-HTTLPR on amygdala activation
      during emotional face processing. However, this association has been questioned
      in recent studies employing larger sample sizes and meta-analyses. Here, we
      examined a sample of 223 healthy subjects with a well-established fMRI emotional
      face processing task to (1) re-evaluate the association between 5-HTTLPR and
      amygdala activation, (2) explore potential network-based functional connectivity
      phenotypes for associations with 5-HTTLPR, and (3) probe the reliability,
      behavioral significance and potential structural confounds of the identified
      network phenotype. Our results revealed no significant effect of 5-HTTLPR on
      amygdala activation (P>0.79). However, the number of S alleles was significantly
      correlated with functional connectivity of a visual-limbic subnetwork
      (PFWE=0.03). The subnetwork cluster included brain regions that are pivotal to
      emotion regulation such as the hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior
      cingulate gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and subcortex. Notably, individuals with lower
      subnetwork connectivity had significantly higher emotion suppression scores
      (P=0.01). Further, the connectivity metrics were test-retest reliable and
      independent from subnetwork gray matter volume and white matter anisotropy. Our
      data provide evidence for a functional network-based phenotype linking genetic
      variation in 5-HTTLPR to emotion regulation, and suggest that further critical
      evaluations of the association between 5-HTTLPR and amygdala activation are
      warranted.

PMID- 28589974
TI  - Multifunctional catalysis: stereoselective construction of alpha-methylidene
      gamma-lactams via an amidation/Rauhut-Currier sequence.
AB  - Mixing of acryloylchloride, dienone 2, N,N-diisopropylethylamine with chiral
      organocatalyst 5a, which could simultaneously act as Bronsted and Lewis base
      catalysts, led to a one-pot amidation/Rauhut-Currier sequence, affording alpha
      methylidene-gamma-lactams 4. Catalyst 5a could be recovered and reused by
      acid/base extraction without any loss of catalytic activity in the stepwise
      protocol.

PMID- 28589972
TI  - The influence of tumor-induced immune dysfunction on the immune cell distribution
      of gold nanoparticles in vivo.
AB  - Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been extensively explored as a drug carrier and
      have been widely used to provide advanced biomedical research tools in diagnostic
      imaging and therapy for cancer. Although the mononuclear phagocyte system and
      immune system are known to play the main roles in the clearance of AuNPs during
      the circulation, the particle distribution within the immune cells under the
      condition of immune dysfunction caused by tumor growth has not been thoroughly
      studied. Here, the cellular distribution of Cy5 labeled AuNPs with diameters of
      5, 30 and 50 nm is characterized within the immune populations of the blood,
      spleen and bone marrow from tumor free and tumor bearing mice using flow
      cytometry. Tumor-associated immune dysfunction was observed in all immune organs
      and cell lineages, and it changed with tumor growth. Furthermore, the particle
      cellular distribution significantly changed in the tumor bearing mice compared
      with the tumor free mice. Finally, the particle distribution in the immune cells
      was also different at different stages of the tumor. Overall, these results can
      help inform and influence future AuNP design criteria including the future
      applications for nanoparticle-mediated cancer therapy.

PMID- 28589973
TI  - The effect of a membrane-mimicking environment on the interactions of Cu2+ with
      an amyloidogenic fragment of chicken prion protein.
AB  - Prion proteins (PrP) from different species have the ability to tightly bind Cu2+
      ions. Copper coordination sites are located in the disordered and flexible N
      terminal region which contains several His anchoring sites. Among them, two His
      residues are found in the so called amyloidogenic PrP region which is believed to
      play a key role in the process leading to oligomer and fibril formation. Both
      chicken and human amyloidogenic regions have a hydrophobic C-terminal region rich
      in Ala and Val amino acids. Recent findings revealed that this domain undergoes
      random coil to alpha-helix structuring upon interaction with membrane models.
      This interaction might strongly impact metal binding abilities either in terms of
      donor sets or affinity. In this study we investigated Cu2+ interaction with an
      amyloidogenic fragment, chPrP105-140, derived from chicken prion protein (chPrP),
      in different solution environments. The behavior of the peptide and its metal
      complexes was analyzed in water and in the presence of negative and positive
      charged membrane mimicking environments formed by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)
      and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DTAC) micelles. The metal coordination
      sphere, the metal binding affinity and stoichiometry were evaluated by combining
      spectroscopic and potentiometric methods. Finally we compare copper(ii)
      interactions with human and chicken amyloidogenic fragments. Our results indicate
      that the chicken amyloidogenic fragment is a stronger copper ligand than the
      human amyloidogenic fragment.

PMID- 28589976
TI  - Pd-Catalyzed regioselective sequential meta-, ortho-C-H functionalization of
      arenes: a predictable approach to the synthesis of polysubstituted beta
      arylethylamines.
AB  - With the assistance of the same bidentate directing group, the first example of
      sequential, controllable C-H functionalization of beta-arylethylamines at
      different positions for the construction of polysubstituted arenes is reported.
      Pd-Catalyzed highly regioselective ortho-C-H functionalization reactions of meta
      aryl substituted arylethylamines are performed, including alkynylation,
      iodination, acetoxylation and amination, which led to a concise approach to the
      synthesis of polysubstituted beta-arylethylamine derivatives.

PMID- 28589975
TI  - Non-stoichiometric MoO3-x quantum dots as a light-harvesting material for
      interfacial water evaporation.
AB  - We herein present oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide quantum dots (MoO3-x QDs),
      which possess matching-absorption-spectrum to solar light in both visible and
      near infrared regions, for proof-of-concept of interfacial water evaporation.
      Theoretical modeling suggests that the unique optical property of MoO3-x QDs
      results from oxygen defect level, instead of localized surface plasmon resonance.

PMID- 28589977
TI  - Fingerprints of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding in saligenin-water
      clusters revealed by mid- and far-infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - Saligenin (2-(hydroxymethyl)phenol) exhibits both strong and weak intramolecular
      electrostatic interactions. The bonds that result from these interactions compete
      with intermolecular hydrogen bonds once saligenin binds to one or more water
      molecules. Infrared (IR) ultraviolet (UV) ion-dip spectroscopy was used to study
      isolated saligenin-(H2O)n clusters (n = 1-3) in the far- and mid-IR regions of
      the spectrum. Both harmonic and anharmonic (coupled local modes and Born
      Oppenheimer molecular dynamics) quantum chemical calculations were applied to
      assign cluster geometries to the measured spectra, and to assign vibrational
      modes to all spectral features measured for each cluster. The hydrated clusters
      with n = 1 and 2 have geometries that are quite similar to benzyl alcohol-water
      clusters, whereas the larger clusters with n = 3 show structures equivalent to
      the isolated water pentamer. Systematic shifts in the frequencies of three
      hydrogen bond (H-bond) deforming modes, namely OH stretching, OH torsion and H
      bond stretching, were studied as a function of the hydrogen bond strength
      represented by either the OH bond length or the H-bond length. The shifts of the
      frequencies of these three modes correlate linearly to the OH length, despite
      both intra- and intermolecular H-bonds being included in this analysis. The OH
      torsion vibration displays the largest frequency shift when H-bonded, followed by
      the OH stretching vibrations and finally the H-bond stretching frequency. The
      frequency shifts of these H-bond deforming modes behave non-linearly as a
      function of the H-bond length, asymptotically approaching the frequency expected
      for the non H-bonded modes. The nonlinear behavior was quantified using
      exponential functions.

PMID- 28589978
TI  - Controlled ROS production by corannulene: the vehicle makes a difference.
AB  - Curved corannulene (Cor) can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a
      controlled manner due to the large dipole moment. However, the poor aqueous
      solubility of Cor necessitates the employment of solubilization vehicles. This
      work revealed that PEGylation was less efficient than the cyclodextrin
      complexation regarding ROS production.

PMID- 28589979
TI  - From force curves to surface nanomechanical properties.
AB  - Surface science, which spans the fields of chemistry, physics, biology and
      materials science, requires information to be obtained on the local properties
      and property variations across a surface. This has resulted in the development of
      different scanning probe methods that allow the measurement of local chemical
      composition and local electrical and mechanical properties. These techniques have
      led to rapid advancement in fundamental science with applications in areas such
      as composite materials, corrosion protection and wear resistance. In this
      perspective article, we focussed on the branch of scanning probe methods that
      allows the determination of surface nanomechanical properties. We discussed some
      different AFM-based modes that were used for these measurements and provided
      illustrative examples of the type of information that could be obtained. We also
      discussed some of the difficulties encountered during such studies.

PMID- 28589980
TI  - Nitrogen-doped graphene: effect of graphite oxide precursors and nitrogen content
      on the electrochemical sensing properties.
AB  - Graphene, produced via chemical methods, has been widely applied for
      electrochemical sensing due to its structural and electrochemical properties as
      well as its ease of production in large quantity. While nitrogen-doped graphenes
      are widely studied materials, the literature showing an effect of graphene oxide
      preparation methods on nitrogen quantity and chemical states as well as on
      defects and, in turn, on electrochemical sensing is non-existent. In this study,
      the properties of nitrogen-doped graphene materials, prepared via hydrothermal
      synthesis using graphite oxide produced by various classical methods using
      permanganate or chlorate oxidants Staudenmaier, Hummers, Hofmann and Brodie
      oxidation methods, were studied; the resulting nitrogen-doped graphene oxides
      were labeled as ST-GO, HU-GO, HO-GO and BR-GO, respectively. The electrochemical
      oxidation of biomolecules, such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, dopamine,
      nicotinamide adenine nucleotide and DNA free bases, was carried out using cyclic
      voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry techniques. The nitrogen content
      in doped graphene oxides increased in the order ST-GO < BR-GO < HO-GO < HU-GO. In
      the same way, the pyridinic form of nitrogen increased and the electrocatalytic
      effect of N-doped graphene followed this trend, as shown in the cyclic
      voltammograms. This is a very important finding that provides insight into the
      electrocatalytic effect of N-doped graphene. The nitrogen-doped graphene
      materials exhibited improved sensitivity over bare glassy carbon for ascorbic
      acid, uric acid and dopamine detection. These studies will enhance our
      understanding of the effects of graphite oxide precursors on the electrochemical
      sensing properties of nitrogen-doped graphene materials.

PMID- 28589982
TI  - Construction of thiazines and oxathianes via [3 + 3] annulation of N
      tosylaziridinedicarboxylates and oxiranes with 1,4-dithiane-2,5-diol: application
      towards the synthesis of bioactive molecules.
AB  - Lewis acid catalyzed [3 + 3] annulation of N-tosylaziridinedicarboxylates and
      oxiranes with in situ generated mercaptoaldehyde for the synthesis of
      functionalized thiazine and oxathiane derivatives has been developed.
      Additionally, this method facilitates the derivatization of thiazines by
      detosylation and Krapcho monodecarboxylation.

PMID- 28589986
TI  - Formation and dynamics of endoplasmic reticulum-like lipid nanotube networks.
AB  - We report on the self-organized formation and dynamics of artificial lipid
      nanotube networks, which, in terms of morphology and behavior, resemble the
      endoplasmic reticulum(ER) of biological cells. The networks, initially generated
      from a solid-supported planar phospholipid membrane, undergo a morphological
      transformation, triggered by the chelation and removal of Ca2+ from the
      environment surrounding the membrane. Calcium depletion gradually causes de
      pinning, thus de-wetting, at the membrane-substrate interface. We observe dynamic
      re-arrangements very similar to the ones reported for the cellular ER, such as
      sliding of tubes and formation of new junctions, and quantify these
      transformations. We also show occurrences of the dynamic replacement of lipidic
      particles on nanotubes as indicators for the existence of a tension gradient
      throughout the network, as well as the spontaneous formation of small vesicles
      from semi-free floating tubes. We propose that these artificial networks are
      suitable to serve as a bottom-up-generated structural model for the cellular ER,
      whose fascinating characteristic morphology is suggested to be tied to its
      biological function, but with respect to formation, dynamics, and functional
      details still incompletely understood.

PMID- 28589987
TI  - Emerging strategies in near-infrared light triggered drug delivery using organic
      nanomaterials.
AB  - Near-infrared light has significant advantages for light-triggered drug delivery
      systems within deep tissues. The use of inorganic nanomaterials raises concern
      over their long-term in vivo toxicities. Here we will highlight emerging near
      infrared light-triggered drug delivery using organic nanomaterials, as well as
      new photocleavage reactions mediated by near-infrared light.

PMID- 28589988
TI  - Development of non-oxide semiconductors as light harvesting materials in
      photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting.
AB  - Water splitting via photocatalysis and photoelectrolysis is a potential means to
      produce clean and renewable hydrogen as a storable high-density energy carrier.
      At present, the main concern is how to develop semiconductor materials for
      efficiently converting sunlight energy. The present perspective summarises recent
      developments in the use of new semiconductors as light-harvesting materials.
      Specifically, non-oxides, oxynitrides and oxysulfides have been demonstrated to
      be promising materials for water splitting under visible light. The design of
      such materials and their application to photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical
      water splitting are discussed.

PMID- 28589989
TI  - Monitoring focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation dynamics in live cells.
AB  - Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a cytoplasmic non-receptor tyrosine kinase
      essential for a diverse set of cellular functions. Current methods for monitoring
      FAK activity in response to an extracellular stimulus lack spatiotemporal
      resolution and/or the ability to perform multiplex detection. Here we report on a
      novel approach to monitor the real-time kinase phosphorylation activity of FAK in
      live single cells by fluorescence lifetime imaging.

PMID- 28589990
TI  - A novel self-activation mechanism of Candida antarctica lipase B.
AB  - Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB), resembling many other lipases structure-wise,
      contains a flexible lid that undergoes a surprisingly large conformational change
      when catalyzing hydrophobic substrates (e.g. triglycerides). Despite extensive
      and important applications in industry, it is so far still elusive whether CalB
      can be activated on a hydrophobic surface, like other lipases. From large-scale
      all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we discovered an open state that
      strikingly shows a much wider and more stable entrance to the catalytic site than
      the one suggested by previous crystal structures. Simulations demonstrate that in
      the newly found open state CalB possesses a "lid-holder" structure that
      intimately harbors the lid of CalB, i.e. a remarkable self-activation mechanism.
      To account for the unusual interfacial activation of CALB revealed in a recent
      experiment, we further introduce a simple model: the activation occurs only when
      the binding free energy between the lid and a hydrophobic surface is larger than
      a critical value, 4.0 kcal mol-1 that is the one between the lid and the "lid
      holder". Our findings shed light on possible protein engineering of lipases to
      permit either self-activation with broadened catalytic targets (including water
      soluble ones) or surface activation with elevated activities.

PMID- 28589993
TI  - Photoperiodic time measurement and photoentrainment of a circadian locomotor
      activity rhythm in subtropical tree sparrows.
AB  - Experiments were performed on the subtropical tree sparrow (Passer montanus) to
      investigate the involvement of an endogenous circadian rhythm in photoperiodic
      time measurement during the initiation of gonadal growth and functions and also
      to study the photic entrainment of the circadian activity rhythm. Groups of
      photosensitive birds of both sexes were exposed to different "night-interruption"
      light-dark regimes of 24 h duration viz., G1 - 6L/5D/1L/12D, G2 - 6L/6D/1L/11D,
      G3 - 6L/7D/1L/10D, G4 - 6L/8D/1L/9D, G5 - 6L/10D/1L/7D, G6 - 6L/12D/1L/5D, G7 -
      6L/14D/1L/3D and G8 - 6L/16D/1L/1D for 30 days in which 17 h long nights were
      interrupted by 1 h light pulse falling at different ZTs (i.e., 11, 12, 13, 14,
      16, 18, 20 and 22). A control group, for each sex, was maintained under 7L/17D.
      The birds of all groups behaved as though they had been exposed to a stimulatory
      photoperiod except those of G1, G8 and the control. Furthermore, the serum levels
      of testosterone in males and estradiol-17beta in females ran almost parallel to
      changes in the gonadal size. Birds, when exposed to 12L/12D, showed entrainment
      of their locomotor activity rhythm with the activity confined mainly during the
      light phase. However, various characteristics of the activity rhythm differed
      significantly upon transfer of birds to various night interruption regimes. These
      results suggest the involvement of the endogenous circadian rhythm in
      photoperiodic time measurement during the induction of gonadal growth and
      functions in the tree sparrow. Also, there is photic entrainment of the locomotor
      activity rhythm that shows variations in various circadian characteristics under
      different night interruption cycles suggesting that the photoinducible phase is
      differentially sensitive to light.

PMID- 28589994
TI  - Rhenium-catalysed hydroboration of aldehydes and aldimines.
AB  - The first examples for the rhenium-catalysed hydroboration of aldehydes, ketones
      and aldimines, including heteroaromatic quinoline, are reported herein. Reactions
      are remarkably chemoselective and tolerant of several functional groups. A wide
      array of rhenium complexes were efficient pre-catalysts for these hydroborations,
      including new low-valent complexes of the formula [Re(N-N)(CO)3(L)]X (N-N = bipy
      derivative, L = labile ligand/solvent, and X = [BArF4]- and [B(3,5-di-tBu-cat)2]
      ), which have been characterized fully including an X-ray diffraction study for
      [Re(bipy)(CO)3(quin)][BArF4] (2). A new silver spiroboronate ester Ag[B(3,5-di
      tBu-cat)2](NCCH3)3 (3) was prepared and characterized fully, including an X-ray
      diffraction study, and used to make one of the new rhenium complexes.

PMID- 28589995
TI  - trans-Polydatin protects the mouse heart against ischemia/reperfusion injury via
      inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and Rho kinase (ROCK) activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies highlighted the protective benefits of a Chinese herb
      extract from polygonum cuspidatum, trans-polydatin, on cardiac disease. We
      investigated the therapeutic effect of trans-polydatin on myocardial
      ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury and the underlying mechanisms related to the
      renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and RhoA kinase (ROCK) pathway. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Experiments were performed on neonatal rats' ventricular myocytes that
      were subjected to hypoxia-reoxygenation (simulated IR, SIR) and on adult mice
      which were subjected to left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion for 45
      min followed by a one-week reperfusion. trans-Polydatin significantly increased
      cell viability and reduced apoptosis in SIR cardiomyocytes. It was also observed
      to reduce the infarct size and increase the cardiac function in IR mice. trans
      Polydatin decreased the expression of angiotensin and inhibited the activities of
      renin and angiotensin-converting enzyme. Furthermore, trans-polydatin inhibited
      ROCK activity, especially the angiotensin I receptor-activated ROCK pathway.
      CONCLUSIONS: trans-Polydatin exerts a cardio-protection against myocardial IR
      injury likely through inhibiting both RAS and the downstream ROCK pathway.

PMID- 28589996
TI  - Implications of the Maillard reaction on bovine alpha-lactalbumin and its
      proteolysis during in vitro infant digestion.
AB  - This study investigated the functionality and digestibility of Maillard reaction
      products (MRPs) of alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-la), a major whey protein and
      component of infant formulas. The impact of different carbohydrates (glucose,
      galactose or galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)) and heating duration was studied.
      SDS-PAGE, UV and color measurements monitored reaction extent, which varied
      between carbohydrates whereby galactose reacted more readily than glucose.
      Surface hydrophobicity and antioxidant capacity were found to be significantly (p
      < 0.05) higher following Maillard conjugation, with GOS-based MRPs elevating
      antioxidant capacity ~50-fold compared to alpha-la. In addition, the digestive
      proteolysis of MRPs was evaluated using an infant in vitro gastro-duodenal model.
      SDS-PAGE analyses of digesta revealed Maillard conjugation generally increased
      alpha-la's susceptibility to proteolysis. Interestingly, GOS-based MRPs presented
      an optimization challenge, since heating for 12 h delayed proteolysis, while
      extended heating resulted in the highest susceptibility to proteolysis. Proteomic
      analyses further demonstrated the differences in enzymatic cleavage patterns and
      helped identify bioactive peptides rendered bioaccessible during the digestion of
      alpha-la or its MRPs. Bioinformatic mining of the proteomic data using
      PeptideRanker also gave rise to two potentially novel bioactive peptides,
      FQINNKIW and GINYWLAHKALCS. Finally, antioxidant capacity of luminal contents,
      measured by DPPH, revealed Maillard conjugation increased the antioxidant
      capacity of both gastric and duodenal digesta. Overall, this work draws a link
      between the Maillard reaction, digestive proteolysis and the bioaccessibility of
      bioactive peptides and antioxidant species in the infant alimentary canal. This
      could help rationally process infant formulas towards improved nutritional and
      extra-nutritional benefits.

PMID- 28589997
TI  - How coffee affects metabolic syndrome and its components.
AB  - Metabolic syndrome, with its increasing prevalence, is becoming a major public
      health problem throughout the world. Many risk factors including nutrition play a
      role in the emergence of metabolic syndrome. Of the most-consumed beverages in
      the world, coffee contains more than 1000 components such as caffeine,
      chlorogenic acid, diterpenes and trigonelline. It has been proven in many studies
      that coffee consumption has a positive effect on chronic diseases. In this
      review, starting from the beneficial effects of coffee on health, the
      relationship between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome and its components
      has been investigated. There are few studies investigating the relationship
      between coffee and metabolic syndrome, and the existing ones put forward
      different findings. The factors leading to the differences are thought to stem
      from coffee variety, the physiological effects of coffee elements, and the
      nutritional ingredients (such as milk and sugar) added to coffee. It is reported
      that consumption of coffee in adults up to three cups a day reduces the risk of
      Type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 28589998
TI  - Magnetic field application or mechanical stimulation via magnetic microparticles
      does not enhance chondrogenesis in mesenchymal stem cell sheets.
AB  - Using a novel magnetic field bioreactor, this work evaluated the chondrogenesis
      of scaffold-free human mesenchymal stem cell sheets in response to static and
      variable magnetic fields, as well as mechanical stimulation via 4.4 MUm magnetic
      particles. Neither static nor variable magnetic fields generated by 1.44-1.45 T
      permanent magnets affected cartilage formation. Notably, magnetic field-induced
      mechanical stimulation by magnetic particles, which applied forces to the cells
      and ECM statically (4.39 pN) or cyclically (1.06-63.6 pN; 16.7 mHz), also did not
      affect cartilage formation.

PMID- 28589999
TI  - Thermodynamic analysis of alkali metal complex formation of polymer-bonded crown
      ether.
AB  - The complex formation of two crown ethers with colored alkali metal salts was
      investigated by UV/Vis spectroscopy. Complexation was accomplished with free
      benzo-15-crown-5 (B15C5) and 15-crown-5 bonded to a diblock copolymer (Poly15C5).
      The diblock copolymer was synthesized by two controlled polymerization techniques
      and copper(i)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Depending on the inserted
      cation, 1 : 1- or 1 : 2-complexes are formed. A significant difference of the
      stability constants was determined by concentration dependence solvent extraction
      with sodium or potassium salt. For Poly15C5 the stability constants increase for
      both salts compared to the stability constants of B15C5, which suggests a more
      effective complexation. Evaluation of the thermodynamics (DeltaH, DeltaS, DeltaG)
      of cation complexation was achieved by temperature dependence phase extraction on
      the basis of established thermodynamic equations. Remarkably, in all cases the
      entropic gain seems to be the major propulsion facilitating the complexation
      between alkali metal salts and crown ethers. Indeed, by using Poly15C5 a more
      pronounced dependency of enthalpy and entropy on the complex formation is
      calculated.

PMID- 28590000
TI  - Incorporating spectroscopic on-line monitoring as a method of detection for a
      Lewis cell setup.
AB  - A Lewis cell was designed and constructed for investigating solvent extraction
      systems by spectrophotometrically monitoring both the organic and aqueous phases
      in real time. This new Lewis cell was tested and shown to perform well compared
      to other previously reported Lewis cell designs. The advantage of the new design
      is that the spectroscopic measurement allows determination of not only metal ion
      concentrations, but also information regarding chemical speciation - information
      not available with previous Lewis cell designs. For convenience, the new Lewis
      cell design was dubbed COSMOFLEX (COntinuous Spectroscopic MOnitoring of
      Forrest's Liquid-liquid EXtraction cell). After construction performance testing
      was done for establishing the ideal stir speed range, UV-Vis measured
      concentration and D value determination. Each one of these tests was
      satisfactorily passed.

PMID- 28590001
TI  - Signal enhancement and low oxidation potentials for miniaturized ECL biosensors
      via N-butyldiethanolamine.
AB  - We present studies on ruthenium-based electrochemiluminescence (ECL) focusing on
      conditions supporting signal enhancement and low oxidation potentials. Low
      oxidation potentials (LOPs) are especially attractive for miniaturized ECL
      biosensors, as microfabricated electrodes tend to detach from their support when
      used with high currents and operated at high potentials. Furthermore, high
      potentials or current densities can lead to damage of typical biosensor surface
      coatings and biological probes. The possibility of generating LOP ECL signals at
      a potential below 900 mV was therefore studied for Ru(bpy)32+ with two typical
      coreactants, i.e. 2-(dibutylamino)ethanol (DBAE) and tripropylamine (TPA), as
      well as with the tertiary amine N-butyldiethanolamine (NBEA). Furthermore, the
      effect of buffer components and pH values on ECL signal generation was
      investigated. We could show a significant LOP ECL signal for NBEA. We found that
      Tris buffer, with its ability to form complexes with transition metal ions, has a
      positive influence on this ECL signal in terms of signal strength and LOP
      capabilities. Specifically, at basic pH values significant increases in ECL
      signals were observed at 900 mV and at 1.2 V. In fact, the ECL signal at 1.2 V
      was three times higher than the signal observed in phosphate buffer at a pH of 7,
      and it was thirty times higher than the ECL signal for TPA under these
      conditions. The LOP signal for NBEA in Tris buffer at pH 8.5 was similar to the
      signal obtained for TPA in phosphate buffer at pH 8.5 but three times higher than
      for TPA at pH 7.0. Interestingly, the coreactant DBAE was neither significantly
      influenced by the buffer system or pH nor did it present a valuable LOP ECL
      signal. Finally, it was found that high peak currents in cyclic voltammograms are
      not the indicators for high ECL signals, which should be obvious because the ECL
      mechanism requires more complex electron transfers. Overall, the standard TPA ECL
      at 1.2 V in phosphate buffer at pH 7.0 can successfully be replaced by NBEA ECL
      at 900 mV in Tris at pH 8.5 providing significantly higher signals accompanied by
      more gentle electrochemical conditions.

PMID- 28590003
TI  - A [Ce21] keplerate.
AB  - The solvothermal reaction between Ce(NO3)3.6H2O, 2-amino-isobutyric acid, 2
      hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol in MeOH, in the
      presence of base, leads to the formation of a unique [CeCe ] keplerate cage.

PMID- 28590004
TI  - Chemoenzymatic synthesis of optically active phenolic 3,4-dihydropyridin-2-ones:
      a way to access enantioenriched 1,4-dihydropyridine and benzodiazepine
      derivatives.
AB  - A chemoenzymatic approach for the synthesis of optically active 4-(3
      acetoxyphenyl)-5-(alkoxycarbonyl)-6-methyl-3,4-dihydropyridin-2-ones (3,4-DHP-2
      ones) and their hydroxyphenyl derivatives has been developed, the key step being
      a Candida rugosa lipase (CRL)-catalyzed hydrolysis reaction. As a result,
      different optically active 3,4-DHP-2-ones have been prepared with very high
      enantiomeric excesses (ee = 94-99%) and good yields. The enantioenriched 3,4-DHP
      2-ones have easily been converted into highly functionalized (R)- and (S)-1,4
      dihydropyridines (1,4-DHPs) by means of a Vilsmeier-Haack reaction. Finally, the
      coupling of the 1,4-DHPs with benzene-1,2-diamine using TFA as an acid promoter
      provided us the corresponding optically active hybrid 1,5-benzodiazepine-1,4
      dihydropyridine (BZD-DHP) derivatives. No racemization took place in these
      processes and all optically active compounds were obtained in excellent yields.

PMID- 28590005
TI  - Synthesis, structures and thermal decomposition of ammine MxB12H12 complexes (M =
      Li, Na, Ca).
AB  - A series of ammine metal-dodecahydro-closo-dodecaboranes, MxB12H12.nNH3 (M = Li,
      Na, Ca) were synthesized and their structural and thermal properties studied with
      in situ time-resolved synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction, thermal
      analysis, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed
      photographic analysis. The synthesized compounds, Li2B12H12.7NH3, Na2B12H12.4NH3
      and CaB12H12.6NH3, contain high amounts of NH3, 43.3, 26.6 and 35.9 wt% NH3,
      respectively, which can be released and absorbed reversibly at moderate
      conditions without decomposition, thereby making the closo-boranes favorable
      'host' materials for ammonia or indirect hydrogen storage in the solid state. In
      this work, fifteen new ammine metal dodecahydro-closo-dodecaborane compounds are
      observed by powder X-ray diffraction, of which six are structurally
      characterized, Li2B12H12.4NH3, Li2B12H12.2NH3, Na2B12H12.4NH3, Na2B12H12.2NH3,
      CaB12H12.4NH3 and CaB12H12.3NH3. Li2B12H12.4NH3 and Na2B12H12.4NH3 are
      isostructural and monoclinic (P21/n) whereas Na2B12H12.2NH3 and CaB12H12.3NH3 are
      both trigonal with space groups P3[combining macron]m1 and R3[combining macron]c,
      respectively. Generally, coordination between the metal and the icosahedral closo
      borane anion is diverse and includes point sharing, edge sharing, or face
      sharing, while coordination of ammonia always occurs via the lone pair on
      nitrogen to the metal. Furthermore, a liquid intermediate is observed during
      heating of Li2B12H12.7NH3. This work provides deeper insight into the structural,
      physical, and chemical properties related to thermal decomposition and possible
      ammonia and hydrogen storage.

PMID- 28590007
TI  - Evidence for Auditory-Motor Impairment in Individuals With Hyperfunctional Voice
      Disorders.
AB  - Purpose: The vocal auditory-motor control of individuals with hyperfunctional
      voice disorders was examined using a sensorimotor adaptation paradigm. Method:
      Nine individuals with hyperfunctional voice disorders and 9 individuals with
      typical voices produced sustained vowels over 160 trials in 2 separate
      conditions: (a) while experiencing gradual upward perturbations in the
      fundamental frequency (fo) of their auditory feedback (shift-up) and (b) under no
      auditory perturbation (control). The shift-up condition consisted of 4 ordered
      (fixed) phases: baseline (no perturbation), ramp (gradual increases in heard fo),
      hold (a consistently higher heard fo), and after-effect (no perturbation).
      Adaptive responses were defined as the difference in produced fo during control
      and shift-up conditions. Results: Adaptive responses were significantly different
      between groups. Individuals with typical voices generally showed compensatory
      adaptive responses, with decreased fo during the ramp and hold phases.
      Conversely, many individuals with hyperfunctional voice disorders instead
      displayed the opposite effect by following the direction of the perturbation.
      When fo was experimentally increased, speakers further increased their fo.
      Conclusion: Results indicate that some individuals diagnosed with hyperfunctional
      voice disorders have disrupted auditory-motor control, suggesting atypical
      neurological function. These findings may eventually allow for the development of
      new interventions for hyperfunctional voice disorders.

PMID- 28590008
TI  - Time-limited environments affect the evolution of egg-body size allometry.
AB  - Initial offspring size is a fundamental component of absolute growth rate, where
      large offspring will reach a given adult body size faster than smaller offspring.
      Yet, our knowledge regarding the coevolution between offspring and adult size is
      limited. In time-constrained environments, organisms need to reproduce at a high
      rate and reach a reproductive size quickly. To rapidly attain a large adult body
      size, we hypothesize that, in seasonal habitats, large species are bound to
      having a large initial size, and consequently, the evolution of egg size will be
      tightly matched to that of body size, compared to less time-limited systems. We
      tested this hypothesis in killifishes, and found a significantly steeper
      allometric relationship between egg and body sizes in annual, compared to
      nonannual species. We also found higher rates of evolution of egg and body size
      in annual compared to nonannual species. Our results suggest that time
      constrained environments impose strong selection on rapidly reaching a species
      specific body size, and reproduce at a high rate, which in turn imposes
      constraints on the evolution of egg sizes. In combination, these distinct
      selection pressures result in different relationships between egg and body size
      among species in time-constrained versus permanent habitats.

PMID- 28590009
TI  - Effect of rMnSOD on Sodium Reabsorption in Renal Proximal Tubule in Ochratoxin A
      Treated Rats.
AB  - Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium that
      represent toxic real threat for human beings and animal health. In this study we
      evaluated the effect of a new recombinant mitochondrial manganese containing
      superoxide dismutase (rMnSOD) on oxidative stress and on the alterations of fluid
      reabsorption in renal proximal tubule (PT) as possible causes of OTA
      nephrotoxicity. Finally, we have measured the concentration of O2- in the kidney
      through dihydroethidium assay (DHE) and nitric oxide (NO) concentration through
      nitrites and nitrates assay. Male Sprague Dawley rats weighing 120-150 g were
      treated for 14 days by gavage, as follows: Control group, 12 rats received a
      corresponding amount of saline solution (including 10% DMSO); rMnSOD group, 12
      rats treated with rMnSOD (10 ug/kg bw); OTA group, 12 rats treated with OTA (0.5
      mg/kg bw) dissolved in 10% DMSO and then scaled to required volume with corn oil;
      rMnSOD + OTA, 12 rats treated with rMnSOD (10 ug/kg bw) plus OTA (0.5 mg/kg bw).
      Our results have shown that rMnSOD restores the alteration of reabsorption in PT
      in rats treated with OTA plus rMnSOD, probably through the response to pressure
      natriuresis, where nitric oxide plays a key role. Moreover, rMnSOD prevents the
      nephrotoxicity induced by OTA probably restoring the balance between superoxide
      and NO that is most probably the cause of hypertension and renal functional
      alterations through the inhibition of NO synthase. In conclusion these data
      provide important information for understanding of mechanism of toxic action of
      OTA. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 424-430, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590010
TI  - Proton Pump Inhibitors and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the risk associated with the use of proton pump inhibitors
      (PPIs) of conversion to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, and
      specifically Alzheimer's disease (AD). DESIGN: Observational, longitudinal study.
      SETTING: Tertiary academic Alzheimer's Disease Centers funded by the National
      Institute on Aging. PARTICIPANTS: Research volunteers aged 50 and older with two
      to six annual visits; 884 were taking PPIs at every visit, 1,925 took PPIs
      intermittently, and 7,677 never reported taking PPIs. All had baseline normal
      cognition or MCI. MEASUREMENTS: Multivariable Cox regression analyses evaluated
      the association between PPI use and annual conversion of baseline normal
      cognition to MCI or dementia or annual conversion of baseline MCI to dementia,
      controlling for demographic characteristics, vascular comorbidities, mood, and
      use of anticholinergics and histamine-2 receptor antagonists. RESULTS: Continuous
      (always vs never) PPI use was associated with lower risk of decline in cognitive
      function (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) =0.66-0.93, P =
      .005) and lower risk of conversion to MCI or AD (HR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.69-0.98, P
      = .03). Intermittent use was also associated with lower risk of decline in
      cognitive function (HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.76-0.93, P = .001) and risk of
      conversion to MCI or AD (HR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.74-0.91, P = .001). This lower
      risk was found for persons with normal cognition or MCI. CONCLUSION: Proton pump
      inhibitors were not associated with greater risk of dementia or of AD, in
      contrast to recent reports. Study limitations include reliance on self-reported
      PPI use and lack of dispensing data. Prospective studies are needed to confirm
      these results to guide empirically based clinical treatment recommendations.

PMID- 28590012
TI  - Swiprosin-1: Its Expression and Diverse Biological Functions.
AB  - Swiprosin-1/EFhd2 is a Ca2+ binding adapter protein involved in the various
      cellular functions. Swiprosin-1 is significantly upregulated in a number of
      pathological conditions of inflammation, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Swiprosin
      1 associated with actin and its expression level amplifies the production of
      proinflammatory mediators and modulates the activation of transcription factor
      during immune cells activation. This review aims at providing an overview of the
      expression and function of swiprosin-1/EFhd2 in various pathophysiological
      conditions. We also discussed the key role of swiprosin-1 in immune cell
      activation, cell migration, apoptosis, humoral immunity, cancer invasion and
      metastasis, neuronal transport, and major signaling cascades. J. Cell. Biochem.
      119: 150-156, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590011
TI  - AKT as Locus of Hydrogen Bond Network in Cancer.
AB  - Generation and maintenance of a cancer complexity and robustness are impossible
      without hydrogen element. It is essential element for the cancer signaling
      through the AKT locus. Hyperactivated AKT locus by a positive feedback loops from
      the cancer hypoxic microenvironment generates a hydrogen bond network. Such
      network initiates protein-protein interaction at the AKT active site and at the
      same time stabilizes signal propagation. A hydrogen bond network conforms an
      entropy/enthalpy energetic process used for the interconversion of the AKT
      protein in metastasis formation and maintenance. Targeting the AKT locus by the
      redox balance change or hydrogen balance change or proton beam radiation disrupts
      a hydrogen bond network leading to the disappearance of a cancer complexity and
      robustness causing failure of the complex energy system in solid cancers and
      hematological malignancy. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 130-133, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590013
TI  - Prophage as a genetic reservoir: Promoting diversity and driving innovation in
      the host community.
AB  - Sequencing of bacterial genomes has revealed an abundance of prophage sequences
      in many bacterial species. Since these sequences are accessible, through
      recombination, to infecting phages, bacteria carry an arsenal of genetic material
      that can be used by these viruses. We develop a mathematical model to isolate the
      effects of this phenomenon on the coevolution of temperate phage and bacteria.
      The model predicts that prophage sequences may play a key role in maintaining the
      phage population in situations that would otherwise favor host cell resistance.
      In addition, prophage recombination facilitates the existence of multiple phage
      types, thus promoting diverse co-existence in the phage-host ecosystem. Finally,
      because the host carries an archive of previous phage strategies, prophage
      recombination can drive waves of innovation in the host cell population.

PMID- 28590014
TI  - Annular itchy rash in a woman with chronic pancreatitis.

PMID- 28590016
TI  - NHF and hypercapnia: How brief can you look?

PMID- 28590015
TI  - Mucinous adenocarcinoma of prostate and prostatic adenocarcinoma with mucinous
      components: a clinicopathological analysis of 143 cases.
AB  - AIM: The clinical significance of mucinous prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa) remains
      uncertain. METHODS: From 6440 cases of PCa treated by radical prostatectomy from
      2009 to 2014, mucinous components of 5-100% were found in 143 (2.2%) cases.
      RESULTS: The mean age was 61.4 years, mean pre-operative serum prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA) was 7.8 ng/ml and clinical stage category was cT1 in 81% and cT2 in
      19% of cases. Cases were graded using the 2014 International Society of
      Urological Pathology recommendation of grading underlying architecture, and
      Gleason scores (GS) were 3 + 4 in 13.3%, 4 + 3 in 54.5%, 4 + 4 in 2.1%, 3 + 4 or
      4 + 3 with tertiary 5 in 11.9% and 9-10 in 18.2%. The mucinous component
      invariably had a high-grade component. Extraprostatic extension was found in
      46.8% of cases. In 21.6%, tumour volume was >=3 cm3 and 9.7% had surgical margin
      positivity. Seminal vesicle involvement was found in 6.9%. In 73 cases the
      mucinous component was >25%, and when cases were divided on the basis of the area
      of mucin present (<=25 versus >25%) there was no significant difference between
      clinical or pathological features. Similar findings were achieved when cases were
      compared with grade-matched non-mucinous carcinoma controls. The 5-year
      biochemical recurrence rates for mucinous versus non-mucinous cancer were 12.5
      versus 17% (P = 0.15). CONCLUSION: PCa with mucinous components is often high
      grade; however, the prognosis appears to be similar to non-mucinous cancers of
      similar GS.

PMID- 28590017
TI  - Fibrotic focus: An important parameter for accurate prediction of a high level of
      tumor-associated macrophage infiltration in invasive ductal carcinoma of the
      breast.
AB  - Our group and others have previously reported that a fibrotic focus is a very
      useful histological factor for the accurate prediction of the outcome of patients
      with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. We classified 258 cases of invasive
      ductal carcinoma into those with and those without a fibrotic focus to
      investigate whether the presence of a fibrotic focus was significantly associated
      with the degree of tumor-associated macrophage (CD68, CD163 or CD204-positive)
      infiltration or whether the presence of tumor-associated macrophage infiltration
      heightened the malignant potential of invasive ductal carcinoma with a fibrotic
      focus. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that a fibrotic focus was the
      only factor that was significantly associated with a high level of CD68-, CD163-
      or CD204-positive tumor-associated macrophage infiltration. The combined
      assessment of the presence or absence of a fibrotic focus and a high or a low
      level of CD204-positive tumor-associated macrophage infiltration clearly
      demonstrated that CD204-positive tumor-associated macrophage infiltration had a
      significant prognostic power only for patients with invasive ductal carcinoma
      with a fibrotic focus in multivariate analyses; CD204-positive tumor-associated
      macrophages might only exert a significant effect on tumor progression when a
      fibrotic focus is present within the invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

PMID- 28590018
TI  - Reply to "letter to the editor: Is obesity related to postexercise cardiac
      autonomic recovery?"

PMID- 28590019
TI  - Afatinib Decreases P-Glycoprotein Expression to Promote Adriamycin Toxicity of
      A549T Cells.
AB  - We investigated the reversal effect of afatinib (AFT) on activity of adriamycin
      (ADR) in A549T cells and clarified the related molecular mechanisms. A549T cells
      overexpressing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) were resistant to anticancer drug ADR. AFT
      significantly increased the antitumor activity of ADR in A549T cells. AFT
      increased the intracellular concentration of ADR by inhibiting the function and
      expression of P-gp at mRNA and protein levels in A549T cells. Additionally, the
      reversal effect of AFT on P-gp mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) might be
      related to the inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway. Cotreatment with AFT and ADR could
      enhance ADR-induced apoptosis and autophagy in A549T cells. Meanwhile, the co
      treatment significantly induced cell apoptosis and autophagy accompanied by
      increased expression of cleaved caspase-3, PARP, LC3B-II, and beclin 1. Apoptosis
      inhibitors had no significant effect on cell activity, while autophagy inhibitors
      decreased cell viability, suggesting that autophagy may be a self protective
      mechanism of cell survival in the absence of chemotherapy drugs. Interestingly,
      when combined with AFT and ADR, inhibition of apoptosis and/or autophagy could
      enhance cell viability. These results indicated that in addition to inhibit P-gp,
      ADR-induced apoptosis, and autophagy promoted by AFT contributed to the
      antiproliferation effect of combined AFT and ADR on A549T cells. These findings
      provide evidence that AFT combined ADR may achieve a better therapeutic effect to
      lung cancer in clinic. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 414-423, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590020
TI  - Reply: QT interval measurements in patients with left bundle branch block. There
      is yet more to learn about repolarization.

PMID- 28590021
TI  - GLUT-1 expression of pulmonary mixed squamous cell and glandular papilloma may be
      associated with high SUVmax on fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography.

PMID- 28590023
TI  - Unravelling the impact of early life exposures on lung structure and function in
      the developmental origins of asthma.

PMID- 28590022
TI  - On the significance of craniosynostosis in a case of Kabuki syndrome with a
      concomitant KMT2D mutation and 3.2 Mbp de novo 10q22.3q23.1 deletion.
AB  - Craniosynostosis has rarely been described in patients with Kabuki syndrome. We
      report here a boy with facial asymmetry due to combined premature synostosis of
      the right coronal and sagittal sutures as well as several symptoms reminiscent of
      Kabuki syndrome (KS). Our case supports previous observations and suggests that
      craniosynostosis is a part of the KS phenotype. The uniqueness of our case is the
      sporadic co-occurrence of two genetic disorders, that is, a de novo frameshift
      variant in the KMT2D gene and a de novo 3.2 Mbp 10q22.3q23.1 deletion. Our
      findings emphasize the importance of the initial clinical assessment of children
      with craniosynostosis and that genomic and monogenic disorders, such as Kabuki
      syndrome, should be considered among the differential diagnoses of syndromic
      forms of craniosynostosis.

PMID- 28590024
TI  - One-pot synthesis of fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots with good
      biocompatibility for cell labeling.
AB  - Here we report an easy and economical hydrothermal carbonization approach to
      synthesize the fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) that was developed
      using citric acid and triethanolamine as the precursors. The synthesis conditions
      were optimized to obtain the N-CDs with superior fluorescence performances. The
      as-prepared N-CDs are monodispersed sphere nanoparticles with good water
      solubility, and exhibited strong fluorescence, favourable photostability and
      excitation wavelength-dependent behavior. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity
      and cellular labeling of N-CDs were investigated using the rat glomerular
      mesangial cells. The results showed the N-CDs have more inconspicuous
      cytotoxicity and better biosafety in comparison with ZnSe quantum dots, although
      both targeted the cells successfully. Considering their admirable photostability,
      low toxicity and good compatibility, the as-obtained N-CDs could have potential
      applications in biosensors, cellular imaging, and other fields.

PMID- 28590026
TI  - Efficient approach for the extraction of proanthocyanidins from Cinnamomum
      longepaniculatum leaves using ultrasonic irradiation and an evaluation of their
      inhibition activity on digestive enzymes and antioxidant activity in vitro.
AB  - Proanthocyanidins were separated for the first time from Cinnamomum
      longepaniculatum leaves. An experiment-based extraction strategy was used to
      research the efficiency of an ultrasound-assisted method for proanthocyanidins
      extraction. The Plackett-Burman design results revealed that the ultrasonication
      time, ultrasonic power and liquid/solid ratio were the most significant
      parameters among the six variables in the extraction process. Upon further
      optimization of the Box-Behnken design, the optimal conditions were obtained as
      follows: extraction temperature, 100 degrees C; ethanol concentration, 70%; pH 5;
      ultrasonication power, 660 W; ultrasonication time, 44 min; liquid/solid ratio,
      20 mL/g. Under the obtained conditions, the extraction yield of the
      proanthocyanidins using the ultrasonic-assisted method was 7.88 +/- 0.21 mg/g,
      which is higher than that obtained using traditional methods. The
      phloroglucinolysis products of the proanthocyanidins, including the terminal
      units and derivatives from the extension units, were tentatively identified using
      a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Cinnamomum
      longepaniculatum proanthocyanidins have promising antioxidant and anti
      nutritional properties. In summary, an ultrasound-assisted method in combination
      with a response surface experimental design is an efficient methodology for the
      sufficient isolation of proanthocyanidins from Cinnamomum longepaniculatum
      leaves, and this method could be used for the separation of other bioactive
      compounds.

PMID- 28590025
TI  - APOBEC3G is increasingly expressed on the human uterine cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia along with disease progression.
AB  - PROBLEM: APOBEC3G (A3G) is a cytidine deaminase that exhibits antiviral activity
      by introducing C-to-T hypermutation in viral DNA. We recently observed the
      distinct presence of C-to-T hypermutation of human papillomavirus DNA in uterine
      cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), suggesting the possible involvement of
      A3G in the mutation-inducing process. Consequently, we investigated the
      association of A3G expression with CIN progression in this study. METHOD OF
      STUDY: Patients who had undergone cervical conization due to CIN1 (n=11), CIN2
      (n=9), CIN3 (n=12), and micro-invasive squamous cell carcinoma (n=2) were
      included. The expression profiles of A3G and p16 proteins in cervical lesions and
      A3G-positive immune cells around the lesions were examined by
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Immunoreactive A3G protein was detected in the CIN
      and squamous cell carcinoma lesions. Its expression intensity and positive areas
      were increased and spread in accordance with the progression of CIN,
      respectively. The co-expression of p16 was observed on the A3G-positive atypical
      cells. The numbers of A3G-positive immune cells in CIN3 lesions were
      significantly higher than those of CIN1-2 lesions. CONCLUSION: These findings
      indicate that A3G is associated with CIN, suggesting its important roles in human
      papillomavirus-induced pathophysiological processes such as CIN progression and
      viral elimination.

PMID- 28590027
TI  - A colorimetric and fluorescent chemosensor for selective detection of Cu2+ based
      on a new diarylethene with a benzophenone hydrazone unit.
AB  - A new photochromic diarylethene based on benzophenone hydrazone has been
      synthesized. Its photochromic and fluorescent properties changed upon alternating
      irradiation with UV/Vis light and adding Cu2+ /EDTA in methanol, which showed
      that the diarylethene could be served as a colorimetric and fluorescent
      chemosensor for selective detection of Cu2+ based on internal charge transfer
      processes. The colorimetric and turn-off fluorescent selective detection of Cu2+
      was attributed to the 2:1 complex of the diarylethene and Cu2+ . The binding
      constant (Ka) was 1.53 * 104  L mol-1 and the limit of detection of the
      diarylethene for Cu2+ was calculated to be 1.45 * 10-6  mol L-1 . In addition,
      the metal-responsive photochromic behavior of diarylethene was applied
      successfully to the construction of a molecular logic circuit.

PMID- 28590028
TI  - Phenotypic plasticity drives a depth gradient in male conspicuousness in
      threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus.
AB  - Signal evolution is thought to depend on both a signal's detectability or
      conspicuousness (signal design) as well as any extractable information it may
      convey to a potential receiver (signal content). While theoretical and empirical
      work in sexual selection has largely focused on signal content, there has been a
      steady accrual of evidence that signal design is also important for trait
      evolution. Despite this, relatively little attention has been paid to spatial
      variation in the conspicuousness of a given signal, especially over small spatial
      scales (relative to an organism's dispersal distance). Here, we show that visual
      signals of male threespine stickleback vary in conspicuousness, depending on a
      male's nest depth within a given lake. Deeper nesting males were typically more
      chromatically conspicuous than shallow nesting males. This trend is partly
      because all male stickleback are more conspicuous in deep optical environments.
      However, deep males are even more conspicuous than environmentally driven null
      expectations, while shallow males tend to be disproportionally cryptic.
      Experimental manipulation of male nesting depth induced plastic changes in
      nuptial color that replicated the natural gradients in conspicuousness. We
      discuss a number of potential mechanisms that could produce depth gradients in
      conspicuousness in male stickleback, including concomitant depth gradients in
      diet, predation pressure, male/female density, female preference, and opportunity
      for sexual selection.

PMID- 28590030
TI  - Resonance Rayleigh scattering methods for the determination of chitosan with
      Congo red as probe.
AB  - Two methods were presented for the sensitive and selective determination of
      chitosan (CTS) with Congo red (CR) as probe based on resonance Rayleigh
      scattering (RRS) intensities in health products. In weakly acidic buffer
      solution, the binding of CTS to CR, could result in the enhancement of the RRS
      intensities. Moreover, after adding OP emulsifier (octyl-phenyl polyoxyethylene
      ether) to the system, the RRS intensities showed more significantly enhancement.
      The maximum RRS signals for the CTS-CR system and the CTS-CR-OP system were
      located at 380 nm and 376 nm, respectively. Under optimum experimental
      conditions, the increased RRS intensities (DeltaI) of these two systems were
      linear to CTS concentration in the range of 0.40-8.00 MUg/ml and 0.05-1.00
      MUg/ml. Their limits of detection (LOD) were 44.81 ng/ml and 6.99 ng/ml, which
      indicated that the latter system was more sensitive than the former. In this
      work, the optimum conditions and the effects of some foreign substances on the
      determination were studied. In addition, the effect of the molecular weight of
      CTS and the reasons for the enhancement of resonance light scattering were
      discussed. Finally, these two methods were applied to the determination of
      chitosan in health products with satisfactory results.

PMID- 28590029
TI  - Treatment of heterotopic caesarean scar pregnancy complicated with post
      termination increase in size of residual mass and morbidly adherent placenta.
AB  - We report a case of a secundipara with heterotopic cesarean scar pregnancy (HCSP)
      treated with potassium chloride injection into the ectopic embryo followed by sac
      aspiration. The remaining "mass" increased in size threefold and was surrounded
      by a rich vascular network. An arteriovenous malformation was suspected; however,
      appropriate treatment was precluded because of the viability of the ectopic
      gestation. Sonographic examination revealed a morbidly adherent placenta, and
      attempt to resect the mass laparoscopically was complicated by bleeding that
      required hysterectomy. This case illustrates a complication of the intervention
      performed to preserve the intrauterine gestation in case of HCSP. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 46:227-230, 2018.

PMID- 28590031
TI  - Progress and Application of CRISPR/Cas Technology in Biological and Biomedical
      Investigation.
AB  - Based on the tremendous progress of the understanding on the CRISPR-Cas systems,
      the application CRISPR/Cas technology has been extended into increasing scenarios
      in biological and biomedical investigation. The potency of gene editing has been
      greatly improved by the rapid development of engineered Cas9 variants and
      modified CRISPR platforms. As advanced sequencing technology identified vast
      causative genetic basis for human diseases, CRISPR toolkits are now able to
      mediate precise genetic disruption or correction in vitro and in vivo. In this
      review, we have discussed the recent development of the CRISPR/Cas gene-editing
      technology and the extensive applications of the CRISPR platforms in biological
      and biomedical investigation, including disease modeling in animal and human cell
      line, development of gene therapy, as well as high-throughput genetic screening.
      J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3061-3071, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590033
TI  - Radiological and pathological evaluation of the level of arterial division after
      colon cancer surgery.
AB  - AIM: In aiming to cure patients with colorectal cancer surgery, the surgeon must
      carefully dissect the mesocolon and mesorectum and divide the vascular pedicle
      near to its origin so as to include all local lymph nodes. This has been termed
      complete mesocolic excision. The distance from the distal vascular tie to the
      bowel wall in the fixed specimen is an indication as to the quality of surgery
      but this does not assess the length of the residual vascular pedicle and, by
      implication, residual lymph nodes. The aim of this study was to establish if our
      surgeons were carrying out complete mesocolic excision by assessing the length of
      the proximal arterial pedicle and relating this to arterial length in the fixed
      specimen. METHOD: This was a single centre prospective study of patients
      undergoing elective surgery for locally advanced colorectal cancer. An abdominal
      and pelvic CT scan was performed 2 days postoperatively and a radiologist blinded
      to the operative procedure measured the length of the residual arterial stump.
      Similarly, the length of the vessel in the fixed resected specimen and lymph node
      yield were also recorded. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients were recruited. The mean
      length of the residual arterial stump was 38 mm (95% CI: 33-43), which was
      significantly longer than the < 10 mm recommended in guidelines (P < 0.0001). The
      mean length was 31 mm (95% CI: 25-37) and 49 mm (95% CI: 40-57) for left and
      right sided resections respectively. There was no correlation between the
      residual arterial stump and the pathology. CONCLUSIONS: The residual arterial
      length was greater than suggested by guidelines and may indicate that our surgery
      is less radical than we planned. Caution should be taken when using pathological
      measurements of vascular ligation as it may not reflect the height of the pedicle
      division.

PMID- 28590034
TI  - Pigmented macular variant of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus: an under
      recognized subset in dark skin.

PMID- 28590032
TI  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cancer metastasis through the lymphatic
      system.
AB  - It was already in the 18th century when the French surgeon LeDran first noted
      that breast cancer patients with spread of tumor cells to their axillary lymph
      nodes had a drastically worse prognosis than patients without spread (LeDran et
      al., ). Since then, metastatic spread of cancer cells to regional lymph nodes has
      been established as the most important prognostic factor in many types of cancer
      (Carter et al., ; Elston and Ellis, ). However, despite its clinical importance,
      lymph metastasis remains an underexplored area of tumor biology. Fundamental
      questions, such as when, how, and perhaps most importantly, why tumor cells
      disseminate through the lymphatic system, remain largely unanswered. Accordingly,
      no treatment strategies exist that specifically target lymph metastasis. The
      identification of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a mechanism, which
      allows cancer cells to dedifferentiate and acquire enhanced migratory and
      invasive properties, has been a game changer in cancer research. Conceptually,
      EMT provides an explanation for why epithelial cancers with poor differentiation
      status are generally more aggressive and prone to metastasize than more
      differentiated cancers. Inflammatory cytokines, such as TGF-beta, which are
      produced and secreted by tumor-infiltrating immune cells, are potent inducers of
      EMT. Thus, reactivation of EMT also links cancer-related inflammation to invasive
      and metastatic disease. Recently, we found that breast cancer cells undergoing
      TGF-beta-induced EMT acquire properties of immune cells allowing them to
      disseminate in a targeted fashion through the lymphatic system similar to
      activated dendritic cells during inflammation. Here, we review our current
      understanding of the mechanisms by which cancer cells spread through the
      lymphatic system and the links to inflammation and the immune system. We also
      emphasize how imaging techniques have the potential to further expand our
      knowledge of the mechanisms of lymph metastasis, and how lymph nodes serve as an
      interface between cancer and the immune system.

PMID- 28590035
TI  - Interindividual epigenetic variability: Sound or noise?
AB  - Interindividual variability is an inherent characteristic of biological systems.
      Whereas the underlying molecular sources of interindividual variability remain
      poorly understood, recent work by Ecker et al. (Ecker S, Chen L, Pancaldi V,
      Bagger FO, et al. 2017. Genome Biol 18: 18.) sheds light on the characterization
      of this phenomenon in a complex biological scenario. By combining data from the
      BLUEPRINT Epigenome Project with a novel analytical approach, these authors were
      able to measure the degree of transcriptional and epigenetic variability across a
      wide panel of samples and types of immune cell. Interestingly, neutrophils
      displayed increased variability compared to monocytes and T cells, which may be
      related to the crucial role of the former as an initial mediator of immune
      responses. Here we review recent literature in this area, and discuss some
      important issues raised by these innovative analyses. Furthermore, we summarize
      other potential sources of epigenetic variability, such as epigenetic drift and
      the epigenetic clock, as well as the current ongoing direction of the field.

PMID- 28590036
TI  - T regulatory cells and other lymphocyte subsets in patients with bullous
      pemphigoid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune blistering
      disease, and is associated with autoantibodies to the hemidesmosomal BP
      autoantigens BPAG1 and BPAG2. AIM: We aimed to investigate the significance of T
      regulatory cells and other lymphocyte subsets in patients with BP. METHODS: In
      total, 31 inpatients with BP were treated with systemic prednisolone in a tapered
      dose regimen, while 28 healthy individuals matched for age and sex served as the
      healthy control (HC) group., Blood samples were taken at baseline and after
      treatment, and levels of inducer/helper and suppressor/cytotoxic T lymphocytes, B
      lymphocytes, natural killer cells, CD4+CD25++CD127- cells were assessed by flow
      cytometry, while CD4, CD8, and FOXP3 positivity were assessed by
      immunohistochemistry, and FOXP3 mRNA was assessed by reverse transcription (RT)
      PCR. RESULTS: Flow cytometry showed that numbers of CD8+ and CD4+CD25++CD127-
      cells were significantly increased, while the number of CD4+ cells and the
      CD4/CD8 ratio were significantly decreased at baseline and after therapy in
      patients with BP compared with HCs. Immunohistology revealed that CD4+, CD8+ and
      FOXP3+ cells were significantly increased at baseline and post-treatment in
      patients with BP compared with HCs. FOXP3 mRNA levels were significantly
      increased in the blood of patients with BP compared with HCs. CONCLUSION: These
      results indicate that increased numbers of CD8+, CD4+CD25++CD127- cells and
      FOXP3+ cells may play a pathogenetic role during the course of BP.

PMID- 28590037
TI  - Epigenetic Effects of an Adenosine Derivative in a Wistar Rat Model of Liver
      Cirrhosis.
AB  - The pathological characteristic of cirrhosis is scarring which results in a
      structurally distorted and dysfunctional liver. Previously, we demonstrated that
      Col1a1 and Pparg genes are deregulated in CCl4 -induced cirrhosis but their
      normal expression levels are recovered upon treatment with IFC-305, an adenosine
      derivative. We observed that adenosine was able to modulate S-adenosylmethionine
      dependent trans-methylation reactions, and recently, we found that IFC-305
      modulates HDAC3 expression. Here, we investigated whether epigenetic mechanisms,
      involving DNA methylation processes and histone acetylation, could explain the re
      establishment of gene expression mediated by IFC-305 in cirrhosis. Therefore,
      Wistar rats were CCl4 treated and a sub-group received IFC-305 to reverse
      fibrosis. Global changes in DNA methylation, 5-hydroxymethylation, and histone H4
      acetylation were observed after treatment with IFC-305. In particular, during
      cirrhosis, the Pparg gene promoter is depleted of histone H4 acetylation, whereas
      IFC-305 administration restores normal histone acetylation levels which
      correlates with an increase of Pparg transcript and protein levels. In contrast,
      the promoter of Col1a1 gene is hypomethylated during cirrhosis but gains DNA
      methylation upon treatment with IFC-305 which correlates with a reduction of
      Col1a1 transcript and protein levels. Our results suggest a model in which
      cirrhosis results in a general loss of permissive chromatin histone marks which
      triggers the repression of the Pparg gene and the upregulation of the Col1a1
      gene. Treatment with IFC-305 restores epigenetic modifications globally and
      specifically at the promoters of Pparg and Col1a1 genes. These results reveal one
      of the mechanisms of action of IFC-305 and suggest a possible therapeutic
      function in cirrhosis. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 401-413, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590038
TI  - Effects of oestrogen and Cimicifuga racemosa on the cardiac noradrenaline pathway
      of ovariectomized rats.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? We investigated the
      effects of oestrogen and Cimicifuga racemosa on the stellate ganglion, cardiac
      noradrenaline pathway and Ca2+ -calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in
      ovariectomized rats. What is the main finding and its importance? The right
      stellate ganglion, but not the left, may be associated with decreased left
      ventricular noradrenaline content in ovariectomized rats. Oestrogen can reverse
      all changes caused by ovariectomy. Cimicifuga racemosa did not affect left
      ventricular noradrenaline, but decreased protein expression of beta1 -adrenergic
      receptor and Ca2+ -calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. The results might
      explain potential effects of C. racemosa on the cardiovascular system and provide
      new insights into cardiovascular protection. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the effects of oestrogen and Cimicifuga racemosa on the stellate
      ganglion, cardiac noradrenaline (NA) pathway and Ca2+ -calmodulin-dependent
      protein kinase II (CaMK II). Forty adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly
      divided into the following four groups: sham operated (SHAM); ovariectomized
      (OVX); ovariectomized with oestrogen treatment (E2); and ovariectomized with C.
      racemosa treatment (iCR). After 4 weeks of treatment, the NA content was
      determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and dopamine beta
      hydroxylase (DBH) and noradrenaline transporter (NET) expression were detected by
      immunohistochemistry. Western blotting was used to determine NET, beta1 
      adrenergic receptor (beta1 -AR) and CaMK II expression. Compared with the SHAM
      group, body weights, DBH and NET expression in the right stellate ganglia, and
      NET, beta1 -AR and CaMK II expression in the left ventricles of the OVX group
      were increased, whereas left ventricular NA content was decreased; DBH and NET
      expression in the left stellate ganglion was not significantly different. The
      indexes of the E2 group were similar to those of the SHAM group. Moreover, in the
      iCR group, DBH, NET, beta1 -AR and CaMK II expression was decreased; NET
      expression and NA content of the left ventricle remained unchanged. Our
      conclusions are as follows. First, the right stellate ganglion, but not the left,
      may be associated with decreased left ventricular NA content in OVX rats. Second,
      oestrogen increases the left ventricular NA content and adjusts the expression of
      DBH and NET in the right stellate ganglion and restores beta1 -AR and CaMK II
      protein expression to normal levels. Third, C. racemosa does not affect left
      ventricular NA, but decreases the protein expression of beta1 -AR and CaMK II.

PMID- 28590040
TI  - Orbital Analysis of Carbon-13 Chemical Shift Tensors Reveals Patterns to
      Distinguish Fischer and Schrock Carbenes.
AB  - Fischer and Schrock carbenes display highly deshielded carbon chemical shifts
      (>250 ppm), in particular Fischer carbenes (>300 ppm). Orbital analysis of the
      principal components of the chemical shift tensors determined by solid-state NMR
      spectroscopy and calculated by a 2-component DFT method shows specific patterns
      that act as fingerprints for each type of complex. The calculations highlight the
      role of the paramagnetic term in the shielding tensor especially in the two most
      deshielded components (sigma11 and sigma22 ). The paramagnetic term of sigma11 is
      dominated by coupling sigma(M=C) with pi*(M=C) through the angular momentum
      operator perpendicular to the sigma and pi M=C bonds. The highly deshielded
      carbon of Fischer carbenes results from the particularly low-lying pi*(M=C)
      associated with the CO ligand. A contribution of the coupling of pi(M=C) with
      sigma*(M=C) is found for Schrock and Ru-based carbenes, indicating similarities
      between them, despite their different electronic configurations (d0 vs. d6 ).

PMID- 28590042
TI  - Changes in arrhythmogenic properties and five-year prognosis after carbon-ion
      radiotherapy in patients with mediastinum cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Carbon-ion irradiation of rabbit hearts has improved left
      ventricular conduction abnormalities through upregulation of gap junctions.
      However, to date, there has been no investigation on the effect of carbon-ion
      irradiation on electrophysiological properties in human. We investigated this
      effect in patients with mediastinum extra-cardiac cancer treated with carbon-ion
      radiotherapy that included irradiating the heart. METHODS AND RESULTS: In April
      December 2009, eight patients were prospectively enrolled (including two male,
      aged 72.5 +/- 13.0 years). They were treated with 44-72 Gray equivalent (GyE),
      with their hearts exposed to 1.3-19.1 GyE. High-resolution ambulatory
      electrocardiography was performed before and after radiotherapy to investigate
      arrhythmic events, late potentials (LPs), and heart rate variability. Five
      patients had pre-existing premature ventricular contraction (PVC)/atrial
      contraction (PAC) or paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF)/AF; after irradiation,
      this improved in four patients with PVC/PAF/AF and did not deteriorate in one
      patient with PAC. Ventricular LP findings did not deteriorate and improved in one
      patient. In eight cases with available atrial LP findings, there was no
      deterioration, and two patients showed improvements. The low frequency/high
      frequency ratio of heart rate variability improved or did not deteriorate in the
      six patients who received radiation exposure to the bilateral stellate ganglions.
      During the five-year follow-up for the prognosis, six of the eight patients died
      because of cancer; there was no history of hospitalization for cardiac events.
      CONCLUSION: Although this preliminary study has several limitations, carbon-ion
      beam irradiation to the heart is not immediately cardiotoxic and demonstrates
      consistent signals of arrhythmia reduction.

PMID- 28590043
TI  - Effects of intranasal kinetic oscillation stimulation on heart rate variability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kinetic oscillation stimulation in the nasal cavity (KOS) has been
      shown to have positive symptomatic effects in subjects with non-allergic rhinitis
      and in patients with migraine. METHODS: To evaluate the effect of KOS on
      autonomic function, we assessed heart rate variability (HRV) in this small
      exploratory study in 12 healthy subjects. KOS treatment was performed using a
      minimally invasive system with a single-use catheter inserted into the nasal
      cavity. During treatment, the tip was inflated and oscillated with a mean
      pressure of 95 millibar and amplitude of the oscillations of 100 millibar at a
      frequency of 68 Hz. Treatment was given for 15 minutes sequentially on each side.
      Heart rate variability was assessed during five 30-minutes periods before, during
      and immediately after KOS treatment and 3.5 hours thereafter. KOS resulted in a
      substantial reduction of HRV. RESULTS: As compared to baseline recorded during 30
      minutes preceding treatment, VLF was reduced by 65%, LF by 55%, the ratio LF/HF
      by 44%, with somewhat smaller observed effects in the time domain; SDNN and RMSDD
      were reduced by of 36% and 18%, respectively. Heart rate remained stable during
      treatment with minimal mean changes from 68 +/- 7 bpm before to 68 +/- 9 and 69
      +/- 9 bpm during and after treatment. Reduction of HRV parameters was
      consistently seen in all subjects, with rapid onset and return towards baseline
      values during post-treatment observation periods. CONCLUSIONS: KOS has an effect
      on the autonomic balance with pronounced heart-rate independent reduction on HRV.

PMID- 28590041
TI  - Evaluating the importance of social motor synchronization and motor skill for
      understanding autism.
AB  - Impairments in social interaction and communicating with others are core features
      of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the specific processes underlying such
      social competence impairments are not well understood. An important key for
      increasing our understanding of ASD-specific social deficits may lie with the
      social motor synchronization that takes place when we implicitly coordinate our
      bodies with others. Here, we tested whether dynamical measures of synchronization
      differentiate children with ASD from controls and further explored the
      relationships between synchronization ability and motor control problems. We
      found (a) that children with ASD exhibited different and less stable patterns of
      social synchronization ability than controls; (b) children with ASD performed
      motor movements that were slower and more variable in both spacing and timing;
      and (c) some social synchronization that involved motor timing was related to
      motor ability but less rhythmic synchronization was not. These findings raise the
      possibility that objective dynamical measures of synchronization ability and
      motor skill could provide new insights into understanding the social deficits in
      ASD that could ultimately aid clinical diagnosis and prognosis. Autism Res 2017,
      10: 1687-1699. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590044
TI  - Is radiation indicated for young women with early stage, node-negative breast
      cancer after mastectomy? A multi-institution, retrospective review.
AB  - The role of post-mastectomy radiation for women with node negative, early stage
      disease is not well-defined. The purpose of this study is to more clearly define
      a subset of women who are <=40 years of age with T1-T2, node negative breast
      cancer who may benefit from post-mastectomy radiation. Using tumor registries at
      two institutions, we identified 219 women <=40 years of age with T1-T2, node
      negative breast cancer treated with mastectomy. Of these 219 patients, 38
      received post-mastectomy radiation and 181 did not. Kaplan-Meier methods and cox
      proportional-hazards regression models were employed for statistical analysis.
      There were no locoregional failures in the women receiving post mastectomy
      radiation, which lead to a nonsignificant increase in freedom from locoregional
      recurrence (P=.08). For women not receiving post-mastectomy radiation, freedom
      from locoregional recurrence was 94.7% and 89.7% at 5- and 10-years.
      Lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) was the only factor predictive of
      locoregional recurrence. For women without LVSI, freedom from locoregional
      recurrence was 96.0% and 93.3% at 5- and 10-years respectively. For women with
      LVSI who did not receive post mastectomy radiation, freedom from locoregional
      recurrence was 89.1% at 5-years. There were no failures in the women with LVSI
      who received post mastectomy radiation. For women <=40 years of age with T1-2,
      node negative breast cancer treated with mastectomy and no post-mastectomy
      radiation, locoregional control is excellent in the absence of LVSI, regardless
      of other risk factors. In the presence of LVSI (regardless of other risk
      factors), the risk of locoregional recurrence is high and appears to be decreased
      with post-mastectomy radiation.

PMID- 28590039
TI  - EMT: Present and future in clinical oncology.
AB  - Epithelial/mesenchymal transition (EMT) has emerged as a key regulator of
      metastasis by facilitating tumor cell invasion and dissemination to distant
      organs. Recent evidences support that the reverse mesenchymal/epithelial
      transition (MET) is required for metastatic outgrowth; moreover, the existence of
      hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal (E/M) phenotypes is increasingly being reported in
      different tumor contexts. The accumulated data strongly support that plasticity
      between epithelial and mesenchymal states underlies the dissemination and
      metastatic potential of carcinoma cells. However, the translation into the
      clinics of EMT and epithelial plasticity processes presents enormous challenges
      and still remains a controversial issue. In this review, we will evaluate current
      evidences for translational applicability of EMT and depict an overview of the
      most recent EMT in vivo models, EMT marker analyses in human samples as well as
      potential EMT therapeutic approaches and ongoing clinical trials. We foresee that
      standardized analyses of EMT markers in solid and liquid tumor biopsies in
      addition to innovative tools targeting the E/M states will become promising
      strategies for future translation to the clinical setting.

PMID- 28590045
TI  - Computer-aided design and synthesis of a highly selective molecularly imprinted
      polymer for the extraction and determination of buprenorphine in biological
      fluids.
AB  - Buprenorphine is widely used to aid the cessation of opioids in addicted
      patients. To the best of our knowledge, there is no selective extraction method
      for buprenorphine from biological fluids. Here, we describe the synthesis of a
      molecularly imprinted polymer with the aid of computational design and its
      application for selective extraction of buprenorphine from plasma and urine.
      Computational design was used to study intermolecular interactions in the pre
      polymerization mixture by the comparison of the binding energy between
      buprenorphine (template) and functional monomers. The largest interaction energy
      of template-monomers was obtained at ratio of 1:5 buprenorphine/acrylic acid
      monomers. Afterwards, the molecularly imprinted polymer was synthesized through
      precipitation polymerization technique and was employed for selective extraction
      of buprenorphine. Optimization of various parameters of the molecularly imprinted
      polymer solid-phase extraction of buprenorphine was carried out by a design of
      experiment approach using a central composite design and the analyte was
      determined by employing high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection.
      Equilibrium isotherms were studied, and results revealed that the sorption
      process was in adoption with Langmuir model. Maximum enrichment capacity and
      Langmuir constant were calculated as 18.2 mg/g and 0.797 L/mg, respectively.
      Kinetic studies indicated the sorption process followed a pseudo-second-order
      model.

PMID- 28590046
TI  - Applying community ecological theory to maximize productivity of cultivated
      biocrusts.
AB  - Degraded rangelands around the world may benefit from the reestablishment of lost
      biological soil crusts (biocrusts, soil surface cryptogamic-microbial
      communities). Cultivation of biocrust organisms is the first step in this
      process, and may benefit from harnessing species interactions. Species
      interactions are a dominant force structuring ecological communities. One key
      element of community structure, species richness, is itself important because it
      can promote the productivity of the entire community. Here, we use biological
      soil crusts as a model to test the effects of species interactions on production
      of biocrust materials for use in ecosystem rehabilitation. We screened eight
      different moss and lichen species from semiarid rangelands of Montana, USA, for
      growth potential under two watering regimes. Mosses generally grew well, but we
      were unable to cultivate the selected lichen species. We produced a >400%
      increase in the biomass of one species (Ceratodon purpureus). We tested whether a
      parasite-host relationship between two lichens could be used to enhance
      productivity of the parasite species, but this also resulted in no net gain of
      lichen productivity. Finally, we constructed all possible community combinations
      from a pool of five moss species to test for overyielding (community productivity
      exceeding that expected from the growth of community members in monoculture), and
      to determine both if, and the mode in which, species richness increases
      productivity. Polycultures yielded more than would be expected based upon the
      production of community constituents in monoculture. Using structural equation
      models, we determined that there was a modest effect of species richness on
      community productivity (r = 0.24-0.25), which was independent of a stronger
      effect of the identity of species in the community (r = 0.41-0.50). These results
      will contribute to the optimization of biocrust cultivation, promoting the
      development of this emerging ecological rehabilitation technology.

PMID- 28590047
TI  - Cytopathologic findings of cell block materials from the vitreous: Diagnostic
      distinction between intraocular lymphoma and non-lymphomatous diseases.
AB  - Intraocular lymphoma is a rare neoplasm that occurs only in the eyes and/or
      central nervous system. Diagnosis of intraocular lymphoma is difficult because
      its clinical manifestations mimic chronic uveitis. Pathological examination of
      the vitreous is one of the main diagnostic tools for intraocular lymphoma, but
      this is challenging due to the sparse cellularity and specimen degeneration.
      Here, we reviewed 33 cell block preparations from vitreous perfusion fluid in
      order to examine the significance of cytopathological findings for differential
      diagnosis using vitreous samples. The cases comprised 12 intraocular lymphomas
      and 21 non-lymphomatous diseases. Cytologically, vitreous samples from non
      lymphoma cases showed lower cellularity than the lymphoma cases. Whereas vitreous
      material from cases with infectious endophthalmitis showed prominent neutrophilic
      infiltration, material from sarcoidosis cases showed infiltration of small
      lymphoid cells, especially CD4-positive T cells. On the other hand, lymphoma
      cases showed higher cellularity, with large, irregular and atypical lymphoid
      cells, frequent necrotic cells in the background, and less pronounced neutrophil
      infiltration. Immunocytochemically, 11 of the 12 lymphoma cases were of the B
      cell phenotype and the remaining case was of the T/NK-cell phenotype. In
      conclusion, careful cytopathological examination or immunocytochemistry of
      vitreous material facilitates appropriate diagnosis of intraocular lymphoma.

PMID- 28590048
TI  - Educational needs of nurses to provide genetic services in prenatal care: A cross
      sectional study from Turkey.
AB  - The latest advances in genetics/genomics have significantly impacted prenatal
      screening and diagnostic tests. This cross-sectional descriptive study was
      conducted in inpatient and outpatient obstetric clinics in 24 hospitals in Turkey
      to determine knowledge of genetics related to prenatal care and the educational
      needs of perinatal nurses. A total of 116 nurses working in these clinics agreed
      to participate. The results included the level of knowledge among nurses was not
      affected by sociodemographic factors. Also, there is a lack of knowledge and
      interest in genetics among prenatal nurses and in clinical practice to provide
      education and counseling related to genetics in prenatal settings as a part of
      prenatal care.

PMID- 28590050
TI  - A switch-off fluorescence probe towards Pb(II) and cu(II) ions based on a
      calix[4]pyrrole bearing amino-quinoline group.
AB  - A new fluorescence receptor calix[4]pyrrole-N-(quinoline-8-yl) acetamide (CAMQ)
      containing a pyrrolic ring connected via the meso-position was synthesized,
      purified and characterized by elemental analysis, NMR and mass spectroscopy. This
      compound was examined for its fluorescence properties towards different metal
      ions e.g. Ag(I), Hg(II), Co(II), Ca(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cr(II), Ba(II), Fe(II),
      Cu(II), Pb(II)and Mg(II) ions by spectrophotometry and spectrofluorometry. It was
      concluded that the compound (CAMQ) possessed significantly enhanced selectivity
      for Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) even at very low
      concentrations (1 MUM). It exhibit 'turn-on' fluorescence when exposed to Pb(II)
      and Cu(II) and did so in preference to other metal ions. The binding constants,
      stoichiometry and quantum yields have been determined. The quenching mechanism
      was assessed using the Stern-Volmer equation and was also discussed.

PMID- 28590051
TI  - A tricorn-rhodamine fluorescent chemosensor for detection of Co2+ ions.
AB  - A novel chemosensor TrisRh based on tris(2-aminoethyl)amine and rhodamine 6G is
      designed and synthesized as a fluorescence turn-on probe for Co2+ ions that is
      paramagnetic with a property of quenching fluorescence. Rhodamine spirolactam
      forms are nonfluorescent, whereas, ring-opening of corresponding spirocyclic
      induced by Co2+ results in strong fluorescence emission. Upon the addition of
      Co2+ ions, TrisRh can display significant enhancements in absorbance and
      fluorescence intensity as well as evident colorific transformation, which can be
      perceived by the naked eye. The association stoichiometry of TrisRh to Co2+ ions
      was inferred to be 1:1 through Job's plot and electrospray ionization mass
      spectrometry analysis. The binding model was speculated from Fourier transform
      infrared spectra and 1 H-nuclear magnetic resonance technologies. Significantly,
      the limit of detection was determined to be as low as 1.22 nmol. Furthermore,
      TrisRh can exhibit robust anti-jamming ability against other interference metal
      ions.

PMID- 28590049
TI  - Chromatographic analysis of tryptophan metabolites.
AB  - The kynurenine pathway generates multiple tryptophan metabolites called
      collectively kynurenines and leads to formation of the enzyme cofactor
      nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. The first step in this pathway is tryptophan
      degradation, initiated by the rate-limiting enzymes indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase,
      or tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase, depending on the tissue. The balanced kynurenine
      metabolism, which has been a subject of multiple studies in last decades, plays
      an important role in several physiological and pathological conditions such as
      infections, autoimmunity, neurological disorders, cancer, cataracts, as well as
      pregnancy. Understanding the regulation of tryptophan depletion provide novel
      diagnostic and treatment opportunities, however it requires reliable methods for
      quantification of kynurenines in biological samples with complex composition
      (body fluids, tissues, or cells). Trace concentrations, interference of sample
      components, and instability of some tryptophan metabolites need to be addressed
      using analytical methods. The novel separation approaches and optimized
      extraction protocols help to overcome difficulties in analyzing kynurenines
      within the complex tissue material. Recent developments in chromatography coupled
      with mass spectrometry provide new opportunity for quantification of tryptophan
      and its degradation products in various biological samples. In this review, we
      present current accomplishments in the chromatographic methodologies proposed for
      detection of tryptophan metabolites and provide a guide for choosing the optimal
      approach.

PMID- 28590052
TI  - Clinical report: A patient with a late diagnosis of cerebrotendinous
      xanthomatosis and a response to treatment.
AB  - Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare, autosomal recessive, inborn error
      of bile acid metabolism characterized by diarrhea in infancy, juvenile cataracts
      in childhood, tendon xanthomas developing in the second to third decades of life,
      and progressive neurologic dysfunction in adulthood. The condition is caused by
      mutations in the CYP27A1 gene that result in decreased production of
      chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and elevated levels of cholestanol and bile
      alcohols. We present a 36-year-old male of Han ethnicity who developed xanthomas
      of his Achilles tendons and suffered neurocognitive declines and gait
      deterioration in his second decade. The diagnosis of CTX was confirmed by marked
      elevation of the serum cholestanol level. Sequencing of CYP27A1 showed a
      paternally inherited splice mutation, c.446 + 1G>T, and a maternally inherited
      nonsense mutation, c.808C>T, predicting p.(Arg270*). Despite the advanced disease
      in this patient, treatment with CDCA reduced the xanthoma size and improved his
      cognition and strength, and the patient made significant gains in his ambulation
      and coordination. We report this case to illustrate the potential benefits of
      therapy in patients with CTX who have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis.

PMID- 28590054
TI  - pi-Extended Dihydrophenazines with Three-State NIR Electrochromism Involving
      Large Conformational Changes.
AB  - pi-Extended dihydrophenazines were successfully prepared by oxidation of 2-(N
      arylamino)anthracenes. Their roof-type conformations were revealed by X-ray
      diffraction analysis, and the analysis of the optical properties indicated the
      presence of intramolecular charge-transfer processes. Upon chemical oxidation,
      the electronic absorption dramatically changed in a two-step fashion. The
      electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis revealed that, depending on the amount of
      oxidant added, either a paramagnetic radical cation or a diamagnetic dication was
      generated. The NMR analysis revealed a conformational change upon oxidation,
      which was supported by theoretical calculations. A three-state electrochromic
      behavior was observed during the electrochemical oxidation and reduction cycles,
      showing sequential switching between visible and near-infrared (NIR) absorption
      properties upon application of electrochemical stimuli.

PMID- 28590053
TI  - Bryostatin and its synthetic analog, picolog rescue dermal fibroblasts from
      prolonged stress and contribute to survival and rejuvenation of human skin
      equivalents.
AB  - Skin health is associated with the day-to-day activity of fibroblasts. The
      primary function of fibroblasts is to synthesize structural proteins, such as
      collagen, extracellular matrix proteins, and other proteins that support the
      structural integrity of the skin and are associated with younger, firmer, and
      more elastic skin that is better able to resist and recover from injury. At sub
      nanomolar concentrations (0.03-0.3 nM), bryostatin-1 and its synthetic analog,
      picolog (0.1-10 nM) sustained the survival and activation of human dermal
      fibroblasts cultured under the stressful condition of prolonged serum
      deprivation. Bryostatin-1 treatment stabilized human skin equivalents (HSEs), a
      bioengineered combination of primary human skin cells (keratinocytes and dermal
      fibroblasts) on an extracellular matrix composed of mainly collagen. Fibroblasts
      activated by bryostatin-1 protected the structural integrity of HSEs. Bryostatin
      1 and picolog prolonged activation of Erk in fibroblasts to promote cell
      survival. Chronic stress promotes the progression of apoptosis. Dermal
      fibroblasts constitutively express all components of Fas associated apoptosis,
      including caspase-8, an initiator enzyme of apoptosis. Prolong bryostatin-1
      treatment reduced apoptosis by decreasing caspase-8 and protected dermal
      fibroblasts. Our data suggest that bryostatin-1 and picolog could be useful in
      anti-aging skincare, and could have applications in tissue engineering and
      regenerative medicine.

PMID- 28590055
TI  - Enhanced dissolution and bioavailability of Nateglinide by microenvironmental pH
      regulated ternary solid dispersion: in-vitro and in-vivo evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Nateglinide, an Antidiabetic drug (BCS II), shows pH-dependent
      solubility and variable bioavailability. The purpose of study was to increase
      dissolution and bioavailability of Nateglinide by development of its
      microenvironmental pH-regulated ternary solid dispersion (MeSD). METHODS: MeSD
      formulation of Nateglinide, poloxamer-188 and Na2 CO3 was prepared by melt
      dispersion in 1 : 2 : 0.2 w/w ratio and further characterised for solubility, In
      vitro dissolution, microenvironmental pH, crystallinity/amorphism,
      physicochemical interactions, bioavailability in Wistar rats. KEY FINDINGS:
      Solubility of Nateglinide was increased notably in MeSD, and its in-vitro
      dissolution study showed fourfold increase in the dissolution, particularly in
      1.2 pH buffer. Prominent reduction in the peak intensity of X-ray powder
      diffraction (XRPD) and absence of endotherm in DSC thermogram confirmed the
      amorphism of Nateglinide in MeSD. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform
      infrared spectra revealed the hydrogen bond interactions between Nateglinide and
      poloxamer-188. In-vivo study indicated that MeSD exhibited fourfold increase in
      area under curve over Nateglinide. Tmax of MeSD was observed at 0.25 h, which is
      beneficial for efficient management of postprandial sugar. Instead of mere
      transformation of the Nateglinide to its amorphous form as evidenced by DSC and
      XRPD, formation of a soluble carboxylate compound of Nateglinide in MeSD was
      predominantly responsible for dissolution and bioavailability enhancement.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates the utility of MeSD in achieving pH
      independent dissolution, reduced Tmax and enhanced bioavailability of
      Nateglinide.

PMID- 28590056
TI  - R202Q/M694V as novel MEFV gene mutations in chronic periodontitis and familial
      Mediterranean fever.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and chronic
      periodontitis are inflammatory diseases leading to an increase in the number of
      inflammasomes. To date, no published studies have reported on mutations in the
      Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene in patients with chronic periodontitis, although
      the roles of MEFV gene mutations in FMF and FMF-associated amyloidosis (FMF-A)
      are well known. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the frequencies
      of MEFV gene mutations and serum amyloid A (SAA) and high-sensitivity C-reactive
      protein (hs-CRP) levels in patients with chronic periodontitis, FMF and FMF-A.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study population included 122 patients with FMF and 128
      subjects who were systemically healthy. Clinical periodontal parameters,
      including the plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, clinical
      attachment level and percentage of bleeding on probing were recorded. Blood
      samples were obtained from patients with FMF and systemically healthy controls,
      and all mutations located on exons 2 and 10 of the MEFV gene were analyzed by DNA
      Sanger Sequencing, which is the gold standard. SAA and high-sensitive CRP levels
      were also assessed. RESULTS: Mean gingival index, percentage of bleeding on
      probing, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level, and the levels of
      SAA and hs-CRP were higher in the FMF-A group than those in the FMF and control
      groups. The two most relevant mutations in patients with FMF were heterozygous
      M694V (46.2%), and heterozygous R202Q (32.7%). The frequencies of the homozygous
      M694V and R202Q mutations in the FMF-A group were 53.8% and 46.1%, respectively.
      The complex R202Q/M694V homozygous state led to an increased risk of chronic
      periodontitis (odds ratio: 3.6), and FMF-A (odds ratio: 7.6). CONCLUSION: This is
      the first study to report the R202Q mutation in patients with periodontitis.
      Furthermore, the MEFV gene-mediated inflammatory pathway increased serum acute
      phase reactants, and the changes in the R202Q and M694V could play a role in
      inflammatory-genetic diseases, such as FMF, FMF-associated amyloidosis and
      chronic periodontitis.

PMID- 28590057
TI  - Behavioral abnormalities in the Fmr1-KO2 mouse model of fragile X syndrome: The
      relevance of early life phases.
AB  - Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a developmental disorder caused by a mutation in the
      X-linked FMR1 gene, coding for the FMRP protein which is largely involved in
      synaptic function. FXS patients present several behavioral abnormalities,
      including hyperactivity, anxiety, sensory hyper-responsiveness, and cognitive
      deficits. Autistic symptoms, e.g., altered social interaction and communication,
      are also often observed: FXS is indeed the most common monogenic cause of autism.
      Mouse models of FXS are therefore of great interest for research on both FXS and
      autistic pathologies. The Fmr1-KO2 mouse line is the most recent FXS model,
      widely used for brain studies; surprisingly, little is known about the face
      validity of this model, i.e., its FXS-like behavioral phenotype. Furthermore, no
      data are available for the age-related expression of the pathological phenotypes
      in this mouse line, a critical issue for modelling neurodevelopmental disorders.
      Here we performed an extensive behavioral characterization of the KO2 model at
      infancy, adolescent and adult ages. Hyperactivity, altered emotionality, sensory
      hyper-responsiveness and memory deficits were already present in KO mice at
      adolescence and remained evident at adulthood. Alterations in social behaviors
      were instead observed only in young KO animals: during the first 2 weeks of life,
      KOs emitted longer ultrasonic vocalizations compared to their WT littermates and
      as adolescents they displayed more aggressive behaviors towards a conspecific.
      These results strongly support the face validity of the KO2 mouse as a model for
      FXS, at the same time demonstrating that its ability to recapitulate social
      autistic-relevant phenotypes depends on early testing ages. Autism Res 2017, 10:
      1584-1596. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 28590058
TI  - Transgelin mediates transforming growth factor-beta1-induced proliferation of
      human periodontal ligament cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Human periodontal ligament cells (HPDLCs) express
      transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) that regulates differentiation and
      proliferation, and plays key roles in homeostasis of PDL tissue. Transgelin is a
      cytoskeleton-associated protein with an Smad-binding element in its gene promoter
      region. In this study, we examined the localization and potential function of
      transgelin in PDL tissue and cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Microarray analysis of
      HPDLC lines (2-14, 2-23 and 2-52) was performed. Expression of transgelin in
      HPDLCs was examined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction, immunofluorescence staining and western blot analysis. Effects of TGF
      beta1 and its signaling inhibitor, SB431542, on transgelin expression in HPDLCs
      were examined by western blot analysis. The effects of transgelin knockdown by
      small interfering RNA (siRNA) on HPDLC proliferation stimulated by TGF-beta1 were
      assessed by WST-1 assay. RESULTS: In microarray and quantitative reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses, the expression levels of
      transgelin (TAGLN) in 2-14 and 2-23 cells, which highly expressed PDL markers
      such as periostin (POSTN), tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase (ALPL), alpha
      smooth muscle actin (ACTA2) and type I collagen A1 (COL1A1), was significantly
      higher than those in 2-52 cells that expressed PDL markers weakly.
      Immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining revealed expression of
      transgelin in rat PDL tissue and HPDLCs. In HPDLCs, TGF-beta1 treatment
      upregulated transgelin expression, whereas inhibition of the type 1 TGF-beta1
      receptor by SB431542 suppressed this upregulation. Furthermore, TAGLN siRNA
      transfection did not promote the proliferation of HPDLCs treated with TGF-beta1.
      The expression levels of CCNA2 and CCNE1, which regulate DNA synthesis and
      mitosis through the cell cycle, were also not upregulated in HPDLCs transfected
      with TAGLN siRNA. CONCLUSION: Transgelin is expressed in PDL tissue and might
      have a role in HPDLC proliferation induced by TGF-beta1 stimulation.

PMID- 28590060
TI  - Structure-function relationships at the human spinal disc-vertebra interface.
AB  - Damage at the intervertebral disc-vertebra interface associates with back pain
      and disc herniation. However, the structural and biomechanical properties of the
      disc-vertebra interface remain underexplored. We sought to measure mechanical
      properties and failure mechanisms, quantify architectural features, and assess
      structure-function relationships at this vulnerable location. Vertebra-disc
      vertebra specimens from human cadaver thoracic spines were scanned with micro
      computed tomography (MUCT), surface speckle-coated, and loaded to failure in
      uniaxial tension. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to calculate local
      surface strains. Failure surfaces were scanned using scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM), and adjacent sagittal slices were analyzed with histology and SEM. Seventy
      one percent of specimens failed initially at the cartilage endplate-bone
      interface of the inner annulus region. Histology and SEM both indicated a lack of
      structural integration between the cartilage endplate (CEP) and bone. The
      interface failure strength was increased in samples with higher trabecular bone
      volume fraction in the vertebral endplates. Furthermore, failure strength
      decreased with degeneration, and in discs with thicker CEPs. Our findings
      indicate that poor structural connectivity between the CEP and vertebra may
      explain the structural weakness at this region, and provide insight into
      structural features that may contribute to risk for disc-vertebra interface
      injury. The disc-vertebra interface is the site of failure in the majority of
      herniation injuries. Here we show new structure-function relationships at this
      interface that may motivate the development of diagnostics, prevention
      strategies, and treatments to improve the prognosis for many low back pain
      patients with disc-vertebra interface injuries. (c) 2017 The Authors. Journal of
      Orthopaedic Research(r) Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of
      Orthopaedic Research Society. J Orthop Res 36:192-201, 2018.

PMID- 28590059
TI  - Sympatholytic effect of intravascular ATP is independent of nitric oxide,
      prostaglandins, Na+ /K+ -ATPase and KIR channels in humans.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Intravascular ATP attenuates sympathetic vasoconstriction
      (sympatholysis) similar to what is observed in contracting skeletal muscle of
      humans, and may be an important contributor to exercise hyperaemia. Similar to
      exercise, ATP-mediated vasodilatation occurs via activation of inwardly
      rectifying potassium channels (KIR ), and synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) and
      prostaglandins (PG). However, recent evidence suggests that these dilatatory
      pathways are not obligatory for sympatholysis during exercise; therefore, we
      tested the hypothesis that the ability of ATP to blunt alpha1 -adrenergic
      vasoconstriction in resting skeletal muscle would be independent of KIR , NO, PGs
      and Na+ /K+ -ATPase activity. Blockade of KIR channels alone or in combination
      with NO, PGs and Na+ /K+ -ATPase significantly reduced the vasodilatatory
      response to ATP, although intravascular ATP maintained the ability to attenuate
      alpha1 -adrenergic vasoconstriction. This study highlights similarities in the
      vascular response to ATP and exercise, and further supports a potential role of
      intravascular ATP in blood flow regulation during exercise in humans. ABSTRACT:
      Exercise and intravascular ATP elicit vasodilatation that is dependent on
      activation of inwardly rectifying potassium (KIR ) channels, with a modest
      reliance on nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin (PG) synthesis. Both exercise and
      intravascular ATP attenuate sympathetic alpha-adrenergic vasoconstriction
      (sympatholysis). However, KIR channels, NO, PGs and Na+ /K+ -ATPase activity are
      not obligatory to observe sympatholysis during exercise. To further determine
      similarities between exercise and intravascular ATP, we tested the hypothesis
      that inhibition of KIR channels, NO and PG synthesis, and Na+ /K+ -ATPase would
      not alter the ability of ATP to blunt alpha1 -adrenergic vasoconstriction. In
      healthy subjects, we measured forearm blood flow (Doppler ultrasound) and
      calculated changes in vascular conductance (FVC) to intra-arterial infusion of
      phenylephrine (PE; alpha1 -agonist) during ATP or control vasodilatator infusion,
      before and after KIR channel inhibition alone (barium chloride; n = 7; Protocol
      1); NO (l-NMMA) and PG (ketorolac) inhibition alone, or combined NO, PGs, Na+ /K+
      -ATPase (ouabain) and KIR channel inhibition (n = 6; Protocol 2). ATP attenuated
      PE-mediated vasoconstriction relative to adenosine (ADO) and sodium nitroprusside
      (SNP) (PE-mediated DeltaFVC: ATP: -16 +/- 2; ADO: -38 +/- 6; SNP: -59 +/- 6%; P <
      0.05 vs. ADO and SNP). Blockade of KIR channels alone or combined with NO, PGs
      and Na+ /K+ -ATPase, attenuated ATP-mediated vasodilatation (~35 and ~60%
      respectively; P < 0.05 vs. control). However, ATP maintained the ability to blunt
      PE-mediated vasoconstriction (PE-mediated DeltaFVC: KIR blockade alone: -6 +/-
      5%; combined blockade:-4 +/- 14%; P > 0.05 vs. control). These findings
      demonstrate that intravascular ATP modulates alpha1 -adrenergic vasoconstriction
      via pathways independent of KIR channels, NO, PGs and Na+ /K+ -ATPase in humans,
      consistent with a role for endothelium-derived hyperpolarization in functional
      sympatholysis.

PMID- 28590062
TI  - Sensitivity improvement of rapid Vibrio harveyi detection with an enhanced
      chemiluminescent-based dot blot.
AB  - : Vibrio harveyi is an opportunistic pathogen in seawater and can cause severe
      vibriosis. It is prevalent in hatcheries worldwide and can lead to severe
      economic losses. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a rapid detection
      method for monitoring this pathogen. In this study, to increase the detection
      sensitivity of our assay with monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) against V. harveyi,
      the conditions of the dot blot assay were optimized, and enhanced
      chemiluminescent (ECL) substrate replaced the traditional tetramethylbenzidine
      (TMB) substrate. Based on the optimization results, an ECL-based novel dot blot
      assay was developed for the rapid and sensitive detection of V. harveyi. Compared
      with the traditional dot blot assay, the incubation time was shortened from 8 to
      2 h. The limit of detection (LOD) for V. harveyi was 2 * 105  CFU per ml (103 
      CFU per spot) in pure bacterial suspension, which was 50-fold more sensitive than
      the traditional dot blot assay (1 * 107  CFU per ml). Furthermore, when compared
      with indirect ELISA, the dot blot assay showed approximately 1000-fold higher
      sensitivity (CFU/CFU). After the test sample was pre-enriched in turbot
      homogenates for 6 h before the dot blot analysis, the LOD for V. harveyi was 10
      CFU per ml. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Vibrio harveyi is one of the
      most opportunistic pathogens that can cause high mortality in hatcheries
      worldwide. To detect this pathogen, a novel dot blot based on enhanced
      chemiluminescent (ECL) has been established. This ECL-based dot blot was found to
      be more sensitive and rapid for V. harveyi detection than traditional dot blot,
      and this technology is recommended as an applied protocol for monitoring V.
      harveyi in seawater to reduce economic losses.

PMID- 28590063
TI  - Highly Stable Three-Dimensional Porous Nickel-Iron Nitride Nanosheets for Full
      Water Splitting at High Current Densities.
AB  - A noble-metal-free and highly efficient bifunctional catalyst for overall water
      splitting is greatly desirable to generate clean and sustainable energy carriers
      such as hydrogen, but enormous challenges remain. Herein, porous interconnected
      iron-nickel nitride nanosheets are designed and grown on carbon fiber cloth (FeNi
      N/CFC); combining a facile electrodeposition method and in situ nitriding
      process. The as-synthesized FeNi-N/CFC, with a low mass loading of 0.25 mg cm-2 ,
      exhibits excellent catalytic activities for both the oxygen evolution reaction
      (OER) with 20 mA cm-2 at an overpotential (eta) of 232 mV and also the hydrogen
      evolution reaction (HER) with 10 mA cm-2 at eta=106 mV. As a bifunctional
      electrocatalyst for overall water splitting FeNi-N/CFC only requires a cell
      voltage of 1.55 V to drive a current density (j) of 10 mA cm-2 and shows robust
      long-term durability at j>360 mA cm-2 with a negligible change in current density
      over 60 h; revealing its promising application in commercial electrolyzers.

PMID- 28590061
TI  - Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide regulates ephrin/Eph signalling in
      human periodontal ligament fibroblasts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: EphrinA2-EphA2 and ephrinB2-EphB4 critically engage in bidirectional
      signalling to modulate alveolar bone remodelling. The present study aimed to
      investigate the effects of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) derived from Porphyromonas
      gingivalis on ephrin/Eph signalling in periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDLFs).
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The primary cultured PDLFs were incubated in the absence
      (as a control) or presence of P. gingivalisLPS at 0.001-10 MUg/mL for 24 hours.
      The PDLFs were then stimulated with P. gingivalisLPS at the optimal concentration
      (0.1 MUg/mL) for different periods (6-48 hours). The expression of ephrinA2,
      ephrinB2, EphA2 and EphB4 was assessed by quantitative reverse-transcription real
      time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The osteoblastic markers
      alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and Runt-related transcription factor 2
      (Runx2), and the osteoclastogenesis-related factors receptor activator of nuclear
      factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin were also evaluated. RESULTS:
      The ephrinA2 and EphA2 expression was upregulated and EphB4 expression was
      downregulated by stimulation of P. gingivalisLPS. EphrinA2 mRNA expression in the
      PDLFs was significantly upregulated from 12 to 48 hours (P<.05), whereas EphA2
      exhibited no change for the first 24 hours, after which there was a significant
      increase at 48 hours (P<.05). EphB4 exhibited lower mRNA expression at 12 and 24
      hours than did the control (P<.05), but the change was insignificant at 48 hours.
      In contrast, the expression of ephrinB2 remained unchanged. The expressions of
      ephrinA2, EphA2, ephrinB2 and EphB4 at the protein level showed a similar pattern
      to that at the mRNA level. The expression of Runx2 and osteocalcin significantly
      decreased, whereas that of RANKL/osteoprotegerin increased. CONCLUSION: The
      present study suggest that P. gingivalisLPS would contribute to a dysregulation
      of bone remodelling, whereby ephrinA2/EphA2 expression is stimulated and EphB4
      expression is inhibited.

PMID- 28590064
TI  - Breast Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics, Multiple Strategies Versus Using Engineered
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells With Notch Inhibitory Properties: Possibilities and
      Perspectives.
AB  - Relapse cases of cancers are more vigorous and difficult to control due to the
      preponderance of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Such CSCs that had been otherwise
      dormant during the first incidence of cancer gradually appear as
      radiochemoresistant cancer cells. Hence, cancer therapeutics aimed at CSCs would
      be an effective strategy for mitigating the cancers during relapse.
      Alternatively, CSC therapy can also be proposed as an adjuvant therapy, along
      with the conventional therapies. As regenerative stem cells (RSCs) are known for
      their trophic effects, anti-tumorogenicity, and better migration toward an injury
      site, this review aims to address the use of adult stem cells such as dental pulp
      derived; cord blood derived pure populations of regenerative stem cells for
      targeting CSCs. Indeed, pro-tumorogenicity of RSCs is of concern and hence has
      also been dealt with in relation to breast CSC therapeutics. Furthermore, as
      notch signaling pathways are upregulated in breast cancers, and anti-notch
      antibody based and sh-RNA based therapies are already in the market, this review
      focuses the possibilities of engineering RSCs to express notch inhibitory
      proteins for breast CSC therapeutics. Also, we have drawn a comparison among
      various possibilities of breast CSC therapeutics, about, notch1 inhibition. J.
      Cell. Biochem. 119: 141-149, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590065
TI  - Safety and efficacy of laryngeal mask airway ventilation in obese patients with
      airway stenosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) ventilation in
      obese patients with airway stenosis. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective chart review
      was conducted in an academic practice in a tertiary care center. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed our experience using LMA ventilation in obese patients
      with airway stenosis. Lowest intraoperative O2 saturation and maximum-end tidal
      carbon dioxide (CO2 ) levels were recorded. Complications including intubation,
      unplanned admission, re-admission, postoperative pain, dysphonia, oral trauma,
      pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and tracheostomy were recorded. RESULTS:
      Fourteen bronchoscopies with laser incisions and dilation were performed in
      patients with airway stenosis exclusively using LMA ventilation. Thirteen of 14
      procedures were performed on patients who had body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/m2 .
      Mean BMI was noted to be 38 kg/m2 (range 25-54). All patients underwent
      successful laser incisions and dilation via LMA anesthesia without major or minor
      adverse events. The mean lowest O2 saturation level was noted to be 92%; the mean
      highest CO2 level was noted to be 56 mm Hg; and no patients required endotracheal
      intubation. CONCLUSION: In this small series of obese patients with airway
      stenosis, LMA anesthesia was effectively used without major or minor
      complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 127:2582-2584, 2017.

PMID- 28590066
TI  - The roles of signaling pathways in bone repair and regeneration.
AB  - Regenerative medicine has sparked interest in potential strategies for bone
      repair. Bone defects are widespread and could be caused by trauma, congenital
      malformations, infections, and surgery. Although bone has a large self-healing
      capacity, some defects or fractures are too big to regenerate. To regenerate bone
      structures which can be used for treatment of patients, bone growth must be
      induced by a number of bioactive implantable materials, cell types and
      intracellular, and extracellular molecular signaling pathways. Since mesenchymal
      stem cells (MSCs) and their differentiation during remodeling processes have
      important roles in bone regeneration, it is believed that understanding molecular
      signaling pathways involved is crucial to the development of bone implants, bone
      substitute materials, and cell-based scaffolds for bone regeneration. In this
      review, we briefly introduce concepts in fracture repair and regeneration
      following bone injuries, and then discuss the current clinical methods in bone
      regeneration. In the next section, we review the involvement of the various key
      signaling pathways in bone regeneration.

PMID- 28590067
TI  - Detection of Tilapia Lake Virus in Egyptian fish farms experiencing high
      mortalities in 2015.

PMID- 28590068
TI  - Comparison of HIV-1 drug-resistance genotyping by ultra-deep sequencing and
      sanger sequencing using clinical samples.
AB  - Sanger population sequencing (SPS) is the reference technique to monitor HIV-1
      infected patients' therapy. Ultra-deep sequencing (UDS), which allows
      quantitative detection of drug resistance mutations, may be an alternative
      method. The study aimed to compare reproducibility and predictions of UDS versus
      SPS in a routine setting. A control containing low-abundance variants was
      repeatedly tested and clinical plasma samples from 100 patients were
      prospectively assayed by SPS and UDS using the Roche 454 system. Complete
      analysis by UDS was available for 88% of samples with various viral loads and
      subtypes. Comparison of detection thresholds found that SPS sensitivity was
      variable. Variations found by UDS between 5% to >20% were detected by SPS in 25%
      to more than 80% of samples. At the 5% cut-off, disagreements were rare and in
      most cases UDS detected an additional protease secondary mutation, suggesting a
      possible resistance to a protease inhibitor according to the 2015 ANRS algorithm.
      Mutations found on reverse transcriptase by only UDS were often explained by
      previous therapy. UDS with a variant detection threshold at 5% might allow
      therapy management with minimal differences compared to population sequencing
      while providing additional information for further determination of pertinent
      cutoff values for specific resistance mutations.

PMID- 28590069
TI  - Controllable Dynamic Zigzag Pattern Formation in a Soft Helical Superstructure.
AB  - Zigzag pattern formation is a common and important phenomenon in nature serving a
      multitude of purposes. For example, the zigzag-shaped edge of green leaves boosts
      the transportation and absorption of nutrients. However, the elucidation of this
      complicated shape formation is challenging in fluid mechanics and soft condensed
      matter systems. Herein, a dynamically reconfigurable zigzag pattern deformation
      of a soft helical superstructure is demonstrated in a photoresponsive self
      organized cholesteric liquid crystal superstructure under the simultaneous
      influence of an applied electric field and light irradiation. The zigzag-shaped
      pattern can not only be generated and terminated repeatedly on demand, but can
      also be easily manipulated by alternating irradiation of ultraviolet and visible
      light while under the influence of a sustained electric field. This unique
      behavior results from a delicate balance among the variable experimental
      parameters. The evolution of the zigzag-shaped pattern is successfully modeled by
      numerical simulations and has been monitored through diffraction of a probe
      laser. Interestingly, this fascinating zigzag-shaped pattern yields crescent
      shaped diffraction pattern. The reversibly controllable dynamic zigzag pattern
      could enable the fabrication of novel photonic devices and architectures, besides
      greatly advancing the fundamental understanding of temporal behavior of ordered
      soft materials under combined stimuli.

PMID- 28590071
TI  - Synthesis and Characterization of Nitro-, Trinitromethyl-, and
      Fluorodinitromethyl-Substituted Triazolyl- and Tetrazolyl-trihydridoborate
      Anions.
AB  - The problem of preparing energetic, exclusively mono-azolyl substituted
      hydridoborate anions in high yield and purity from [BH4 ]- and nitroazoles by
      hydrogen elimination was overcome by reacting the corresponding nitroazolate
      anions with the BH3 adducts BH3 ?S(CH3 )2 or BH3 ?THF. The highly-energetic,
      nitro-, trinitromethyl-, and fluorodinitromethyl- substituted triazolyl- and
      tetrazolyl-trihydridoborate anions were synthesized in this manner and
      characterized by vibrational and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and their crystal
      structures. The use of excess BH3 resulted in some cases in the addition of a
      second BH3 molecule bound more-weakly to one of the nitrogen atoms of the azole
      ring. All monoazolyl-trihydridoborates were thermally less stable than the parent
      azolate anions. A decomposition product of tetraphenylphosphonium (5
      (trinitromethyl)-5H-2lambda4 -tetrazol-2-yl)trihydridoborate, the tetraphenyl
      phosphonium (dinitro-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)methanide monohydrate, was also
      structurally characterized, providing some insight into the decomposition
      pathways of the nitromethyl-substituted azolyltrihydridoborate anions.

PMID- 28590070
TI  - Chemical exchange rotation transfer imaging of intermediate-exchanging amines at
      2 ppm.
AB  - Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging of amine protons exchanging
      at intermediate rates and whose chemical shift is around 2 ppm may provide a
      means of mapping creatine. However, the quantification of this effect may be
      compromised by the influence of overlapping CEST signals from fast-exchanging
      amines and hydroxyls. We aimed to investigate the exchange rate filtering effect
      of a variation of CEST, named chemical exchange rotation transfer (CERT), as a
      means of isolating creatine contributions at around 2 ppm from other overlapping
      signals. Simulations were performed to study the filtering effects of CERT for
      the selection of transfer effects from protons of specific exchange rates.
      Control samples containing the main metabolites in brain, bovine serum albumin
      (BSA) and egg white albumen (EWA) at their physiological concentrations and pH
      were used to study the ability of CERT to isolate molecules with amines at 2 ppm
      that exchange at intermediate rates, and corresponding methods were used for in
      vivo rat brain imaging. Simulations showed that exchange rate filtering can be
      combined with conventional filtering based on chemical shift. Studies on samples
      showed that signal contributions from creatine can be separated from those of
      other metabolites using this combined filter, but contributions from protein
      amines may still be significant. This exchange filtering can also be used for in
      vivo imaging. CERT provides more specific quantification of amines at 2 ppm that
      exchange at intermediate rates compared with conventional CEST imaging.

PMID- 28590072
TI  - Pyxipyrrolones: Structure Elucidation and Biosynthesis of Cytotoxic Myxobacterial
      Metabolites.
AB  - In the search for new secondary metabolites from myxobacteria, a strain from the
      genus Pyxidicoccus was investigated. This led to the identification of a new
      class of natural products showing structural novelty and interesting biological
      activity. Isolation and structure elucidation of two analogues led to the
      identification of pyxipyrrolone A and B, harboring the novel 3-methylene
      2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9-octahydro-1H-benzo[e]isoindol-1-one scaffold. Mosher's ester
      analysis combined with NMR studies allowed the determination of all stereocenters
      but one. Genome sequencing of the producer strain led to the identification of a
      putative biosynthetic gene cluster for the pyxipyrrolones. The compounds showed
      activity against several cancer cell lines (MUm range) with pyxipyrrolone B
      having 2- to 11-fold higher activity than A, although they differ only by one
      methylene group.

PMID- 28590073
TI  - Water Transport with Ultralow Friction through Partially Exfoliated g-C3 N4
      Nanosheet Membranes with Self-Supporting Spacers.
AB  - Two-dimensional (2D) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 ) nanosheets show
      brilliant application potential in numerous fields. Herein, a membrane with
      artificial nanopores and self-supporting spacers was fabricated by assembly of 2D
      g-C3 N4 nanosheets in a stack with elaborate structures. In water purification
      the g-C3 N4 membrane shows a better separation performance than commercial
      membranes. The g-C3 N4 membrane has a water permeance of 29 L m-2  h-1  bar-1 and
      a rejection rate of 87 % for 3 nm molecules with a membrane thickness of 160 nm.
      The artificial nanopores in the g-C3 N4 nanosheets and the spacers between the
      partially exfoliated g-C3 N4 nanosheets provide nanochannels for water transport
      while bigger molecules are retained. The self-supported nanochannels in the g-C3
      N4 membrane are very stable and rigid enough to resist environmental challenges,
      such as changes to pH and pressure conditions. Permeation experiments and
      molecular dynamics simulations indicate that a novel nanofluidics phenomenon
      takes place, whereby water transport through the g-C3 N4 nanosheet membrane
      occurs with ultralow friction. The findings provide new understanding of fluidics
      in nanochannels and illuminate a fabrication method by which rigid nanochannels
      may be obtained for applications in complex or harsh environments.

PMID- 28590074
TI  - Evolutionary bottlenecks in brackish water habitats drive the colonization of
      fresh water by stingrays.
AB  - Species richness in freshwater bony fishes depends on two main processes: the
      transition into and the diversification within freshwater habitats. In contrast
      to bony fishes, only few cartilaginous fishes, mostly stingrays (Myliobatoidei),
      were able to colonize fresh water. Respective transition processes have been
      mainly assessed from a physiological and morphological perspective, indicating
      that the freshwater lifestyle is strongly limited by the ability to perform
      osmoregulatory adaptations. However, the transition history and the effect of
      physiological constraints on the diversification in stingrays remain poorly
      understood. Herein, we estimated the geographic pathways of freshwater
      colonization and inferred the mode of habitat transitions. Further, we assessed
      habitat-related speciation rates in a time-calibrated phylogenetic framework to
      understand factors driving the transition of stingrays into and the
      diversification within fresh water. Using South American and Southeast Asian
      freshwater taxa as model organisms, we found one independent freshwater
      colonization event by stingrays in South America and at least three in Southeast
      Asia. We revealed that vicariant processes most likely caused freshwater
      transition during the time of major marine incursions. The habitat transition
      rates indicate that brackish water species switch preferably back into marine
      than forth into freshwater habitats. Moreover, our results showed significantly
      lower diversification rates in brackish water lineages, whereas freshwater and
      marine lineages exhibit similar rates. Thus, brackish water habitats may have
      functioned as evolutionary bottlenecks for the colonization of fresh water by
      stingrays, probably because of the higher variability of environmental conditions
      in brackish water.

PMID- 28590076
TI  - Solvent-Directed Helical Stereomutation Discloses Pathway Complexity on N
      Heterotriangulene-Based Organogelators.
AB  - The chiroptical features of supramolecular polymers formed from N
      heterotriangulenes 1-3 have been investigated by circular dichroism (ECD) and
      vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) techniques. In solution, the CD spectra
      demonstrate that the helicity of the aggregates depends on only the stereogenic
      centres located at the peripheral chains. In the gel state, the chiroptical
      features are conditioned by the point chirality of the stereogenic centres and by
      the achiral solvent utilised. Sonication of the gels formed in CCl4 reveals both
      kinetic and thermodynamic phases. These findings reveal the presence of pathway
      complexity in the gel state triggered by sonication. The described solvent
      induced helical stereomutation demonstrates that the gel state can be utilised as
      an outstanding benchmark for investigating uncommon chiroptical effects and to
      explore the rules of chirality transmission.

PMID- 28590075
TI  - MALAT1/miR-127-5p Regulates Osteopontin (OPN)-Mediated Proliferation of Human
      Chondrocytes Through PI3K/Akt Pathway.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by progressive destruction of articular
      cartilage, resulting in significant disability. Chondrocytes present in various
      types of cartilage and are responsible for the growth and maintenance of the
      tissue. Over-proliferation of human chondrocytes may contributes to OA
      pathological process. Previously, we revealed that miR-127-5p could inhibit the
      proliferation of human chondrocytes through osteopontin (OPN). In the present
      study, we used online tools to figure out several candidates lncRNAs which were
      potentially correlated with miR-127-5p. Through assessing the expression levels
      of the candidates lncRNAs, metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1
      (MALAT1) was chosen as a further research subject. MALAT1 knockdown significantly
      repressed human OA chondrocyte proliferation, as well as the protein levels of
      OPN, p-PI3K, and p-Akt in OA chondrocytes. As verified by luciferase assays,
      MALAT1 directly bound to miR-127-5p to inhibit miR-127-5p expression. Then we
      achieved miR-127-5p inhibition through miR-127-5p inhibitor transfection; the miR
      127-5p inhibition could promote chondrocyte proliferation, as well as the protein
      levels of OPN, p-PI3K, and p-Akt; in addition, the MALAT1 knockdown partially
      reversed the promotive effect of miR-127-5p inhibition on chondrocyte
      proliferation, OPN and PI3K/Akt signaling-related protein levels. Taken together,
      MALAT1 could directly bind to miR-127-5p to inhibit its expression, so as to
      rescue OPN expression and promote chondrocyte proliferation through PI3K/Akt
      pathway. Targeting MALAT1 so as to rescue miR-127-5p expression in OA might help
      to inhibit chondrocyte proliferation through miR-127-5p-mediated OPN regulation
      and downstream PI3K/Akt pathway. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 431-439, 2018. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590077
TI  - (Electro)chemical Oxidation of 6,13-Bis[tri(isopropyl)silylethynyl]pentacene to
      its Radical Cation and Dication.
AB  - 6,13-Bis[tri(isopropyl)silylethynyl]pentacene is a prototypical molecule for
      organic semiconductor and photovoltaic materials, which makes its electrochemical
      (redox) properties highly interesting. However, previous cyclic voltammetric
      studies have provided only limited information. Kinetic and persistence
      information and identification of the oxidation product(s) and their further
      reaction or oxidation have not been reported. Thus, an extended electrochemical
      and spectroscopic investigation of this compound was conducted in CH2 Cl2 and THF
      electrolytes at Pt electrodes. The electrochemically and chemically generated
      radical cation of the title compound was characterized by using ESR and
      UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy and quantum-chemical modeling. In CH2 Cl2 , further
      oxidation to a dication with chemical reversibility at fast timescales but follow
      up reactivity at slow timescales was observed. Pertinent parameters of the
      electron transfers (formal potentials E0 , electron transfer rate constants ks ,
      electron stoichiometry n) were determined. The diffusion coefficients, D, in the
      two electrolytes were estimated from electrochemical and pulse gradient spin echo
      (PGSE) NMR spectroscopy data. Simulations of cyclic voltammograms supported the
      proposed oxidation mechanism and allowed the estimation of further reaction
      parameters.

PMID- 28590078
TI  - Separation of single-base sequential isomers of single-stranded DNA by capillary
      electrophoresis and its application in the discrimination of single-base DNA
      mutations.
AB  - Separation of single-base substitution sequential DNA isomers remains one of the
      most challenging tasks in DNA separation by capillary electrophoresis. We
      developed a simple, versatile capillary electrophoresis technique for the
      separation of single-base sequential isomers of DNA having the same chain length.
      This technique is based on charge differences resulting from the different
      protonation (acid dissociation) properties of the four DNA bases. A mixture of 13
      single-base sequential isomers of 12-mer single-stranded DNA was separated by
      using an electrophoretic buffer solution containing 20 mM phosphoric acid (pH
      2.0) and 8 M urea. We demonstrated that our method could separate all possible
      mutation patterns under identical experimental conditions. In addition,
      application of our method to the separation of the polymerase chain reaction
      product of a 68-mer gene fragment and its single-base isomers indicates that in
      combination with the appropriate genomic DNA extraction techniques, the method
      can detect single-base gene mutations.

PMID- 28590080
TI  - An assessment of interspecific competition between two introduced parasitoids of
      Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae) on caged citrus plants.
AB  - Two parasitoids attacking nymphs of Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri
      Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera:
      Eulophidae) and Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis (Shafee, Alam & Agarwal)
      (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) are being released in California, USA in a classical
      biological control program. To evaluate the effect of multiple parasitoid species
      on D. citri mortality, we conducted mesocosm experiments under controlled
      conditions using a complete block design with 6 treatments (D. citri nymphs
      exposed to: no parasitoids; D. aligarhensis or T. radiata alone; D. aligarhensis
      or T. radiata released first (by 48 h); and both species released
      simultaneously). Parasitism of D. citri nymphs by T. radiata exceeded 60% and was
      unchanged when D. aligarhensis were present. Parasitism by D. aligarhensis was
      greatest when T. radiata was absent (~28%) and was reduced in all treatments with
      T. radiata present (<3%). D. citri mortality and parasitoid-related mortality of
      D. citri was consistent across parasitoid treatments. Laboratory results suggest
      that competition between D. aligarhensis and T. radiata is asymmetric and favors
      T. radiata. It may be difficult for D. aligarhensis to contribute significantly
      to D. citri biological control where T. radiata is present. However, results
      reported here suggest that competition between T. radiata and D. aligarhensis is
      not likely to reduce parasitism by T. radiata or reduce parasitoid-induced
      mortality of D. citri.

PMID- 28590079
TI  - Isohexide Dinitriles: A Versatile Family of Renewable Platform Chemicals.
AB  - Building blocks of isohexides extended by one carbon atom at the 2- or 5
      positions are now synthetically accessible by a convenient, selective, base
      catalyzed epimerization of the corresponding dinitriles. Kinetic experiments
      using the strong organic base 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) show that
      all three possible isohexide dinitrile isomers exist within a dynamic
      equilibrium. An epimerization mechanism based on density functional theory (DFT)
      calculations is proposed. Structural identification of all three possible isomers
      is based on NMR analysis and single crystal x-ray crystallography. DFT
      calculations confirm that the observed crystal structures are indeed the lowest
      energy conformers of these isohexide derivatives.

PMID- 28590081
TI  - Resilience as a mediator between cardiorespiratory fitness and mental health
      related quality of life: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed the relationship between resilience,
      cardiorespiratory fitness, and mental health-related quality of life, and
      examined whether resilience acts as a mediator between the latter two. The study
      included 770 university students, aged 18-30 years, from Cuenca, Spain.
      Anthropometric, sociodemographic, cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m shuttle run
      test), biochemical parameters, resilience, and mental health-related quality of
      life measurements were analyzed. The results showed that mental health-related
      quality-of-life values were significantly higher in students who had good
      cardiorespiratory fitness and a high level of resilience. Moreover, resilience
      acted as a partial mediator between cardiorespiratory fitness and mental health
      related quality of life at 33.79%. Therefore, in young adults, resilience
      mediates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and mental health
      related quality of life. These findings should be taken into account by nurses
      and other public health professionals, because in addition to the development of
      physical activity interventions to improve mental health-related quality of life,
      it is necessary to implement measures that increase resilience to achieve mental
      wellness.

PMID- 28590082
TI  - Mechanism of ion stacking in aqueous partition chromatographic processes.
AB  - It has been reported that ion enrichment phenomena are observed in liquid
      chromatographic processes with an aqueous mobile phase on the columns packed with
      nonionic materials. However, the mechanism of the ion enrichment is not at all
      well understood. In this study, we investigated the retention and enrichment
      behaviors of simple inorganic anions on a C18-bonded silica column and a cross
      linked hydroxylated methacrylic polymer gel column with pure aqueous mobile
      phases containing various electrolytes. We show that the stacking of ionic
      solutes can successfully be accounted for by the ion partition model, and it
      takes place due to the effect of the background coion in the eluent and/or sample
      solution on the distribution of the ions between the bulk water and the water
      incorporated in the packing material, which acts as the stationary phase. Using
      the ion exclusion effect of fixed anionic charges on a packing material as well
      as the ion stacking by partition, we developed a simple and versatile method for
      effective enrichment of anionic solutes in aqueous solutions. The enrichment
      factor and the elution time of the stacked ion zone can be predicted by the ion
      partition model.

PMID- 28590083
TI  - Novel strategy for quality consistency evaluation of Chinese medicine "YIQING"
      tablet that combines the simultaneous quantification and screening of ten
      bioactive constituents.
AB  - The UV characteristics for different categories compounds in complex traditional
      Chinese medicines and herbal preparations usually vary. Thus, to achieve the
      integral analysis of multiwavelength fingerprint characteristics, we introduced a
      novel strategy of multiwavelength total fusion profiling. The simultaneous
      separation and quantification of multiple components by reversed-phase high
      performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection was
      developed in an effective, accurate, and reliable way. Furthermore, a 2,2
      diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging assay was set up to detect
      and screen the bioactivity of similar-structure constituents (aloe-emodin, rhein,
      emodin, chrysophanol, baicalein, wogonin, baicalin, wogonoside, berberine
      hydrochloride, and jatrorrhizine hydrochloride). Moreover, the high-performance
      liquid chromatography DPPH assay was developed to monitor the relationship
      between the biological activity and the spatial structure, the number of hydroxyl
      groups, the concentration of the analytes in samples. The result of qualitative
      classification for 15 batches of "YIQING" tablets using principle component
      analysis was consistent with the quantitative fingerprint assessment using the
      average linear quantitative fingerprint method. Therefore, chemometrics,
      multiwavelength total fusion profiling in conjunction with average linear
      quantitative fingerprint method and antioxidant activity can control the quality
      of traditional Chinese medicines/herbal preparations comprehensively and
      practically.

PMID- 28590085
TI  - Diastolic dysfunction and older adults: heating up the conversation.

PMID- 28590084
TI  - Psychosocial Influences on Fruit and Vegetable Intake Following a NYC Supermarket
      Discount.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of a 50% discount on fruits and vegetables (F&V)
      on the purchase and intake of F&V and on psychosocial determinants of F&V intake:
      self-efficacy (SE), stages of change (SOC), and perceived barriers (PB). METHODS:
      This randomized controlled trial was conducted in local supermarkets over 16
      weeks, including a 4-week baseline, 8-week discount intervention, and 4-week
      follow-up. Shoppers with overweight or obesity (BMI > 25) were randomized to
      receive a discount or no discount via their reward scan card after the baseline.
      Twenty-four-hour recalls and psychosocial measures were obtained for each study
      period. RESULTS: Purchases (P < 0.0005) and intakes (P = 0.019) of F&V increased
      significantly during the intervention, while only F&V intake was sustained at
      follow-up. The discount intervention increased SE (P < 0.01) and SOC (P < 0.05)
      and did not decrease PB (P = 0.057) during the intervention. SOC mediated the
      discount intervention effect on F&V intake (P < 0.05) during the intervention,
      explaining 43% of variance. CONCLUSIONS: A supermarket discount intervention led
      to increases in purchases and intakes of F&V and increases in the psychosocial
      factors SE and SOC and did not decrease PB. The discount intervention prompted
      participants to move from the preparation to action stage of SOC, which acted as
      a mediator for increased F&V intake.

PMID- 28590086
TI  - Prevention of intestinal parasites in a tri-border area of Latin America:
      Children perceptions and an integral health education strategy.
AB  - To investigate knowledge of school-aged children and their perception on
      intestinal parasites, and to assess knowledge reconstruction on prevention
      practices after specific training in the subject. We performed an activity
      package that included the analysis of children's drawings of intestinal
      parasites, and information and communication technologies (ITCs) to transfer
      knowledge about these pathogens and prevention measures. Retrieval learning
      activities were performed to fixation of general and specific prevention and
      control measures.Overall, we found that there is a knowledge gap in many aspects
      of parasite biology and ecology, and therefore on the risk of infection and
      acquisition mechanisms. After ITCs, the children improved their knowledge over
      non-trained children.The approaches used to transfer knowledge and for learning,
      fixation were valuable tools for incorporating changes in misconceptions and in
      the deep-rooted habits that favour entero-parasitic diseases. This has important
      implications for the specific design of future education materials and campaigns.
      Understanding of perceptions helps to provide justifications and knowledge to
      achieve changes in unhealthy habits, and it constitutes the basis for the
      transformation of many risky practices.

PMID- 28590088
TI  - Trypsin inhibitor screening in traditional Chinese medicine by using an
      immobilized enzyme microreactor in capillary and molecular docking study.
AB  - A trypsin immobilized enzyme microreactor was successfully prepared in capillary
      for studying enzyme kinetics of trypsin and online screening of trypsin
      inhibitors from traditional Chinese medicine through capillary electrophoresis.
      Trypsin was immobilized on the inner wall at the inlet of the capillary treated
      with polydopamine. The rest of the capillary was used as a separation channel.
      The parameters including the separation efficiency and the activity of
      immobilized trypsin were comprehensively evaluated. Under the optimal conditions,
      online screening of trypsin inhibitors each time can be carried out within 6 min.
      The Michaelis-Menten constant of immobilized trypsin was calculated to be 0.50
      mM, which indicated high affinity of the immobilized trypsin for the substrate.
      The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of known inhibitor of benzamidine
      hydrochloride hydrate as a model inhibitor was 13.32 mM. The proposed method was
      successfully applied to screen trypsin inhibitors from 15 compounds of
      traditional Chinese medicine. It has been found that baicalin showed inhibitory
      potency. Molecular docking study well supported the experimental result by
      exhibiting molecular interaction between enzyme and inhibitors.

PMID- 28590087
TI  - Structural States of RORgammat: X-ray Elucidation of Molecular Mechanisms and
      Binding Interactions for Natural and Synthetic Compounds.
AB  - The T-cell-specific retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-related orphan receptor-gamma
      (RORgammat) is a key transcription factor for the production of pro-inflammatory
      Th17 cytokines, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.
      Over the years, several structurally diverse RORgammat inverse agonists have been
      reported, but combining high potency and good physicochemical properties has
      remained a challenging task. We recently reported a new series of inverse
      agonists based on an imidazopyridine core with good physicochemical properties
      and excellent selectivity. Herein we report eight new X-ray crystal structures
      for different classes of natural and synthetic compounds, including examples
      selected from the patent literature. Analysis of their respective binding modes
      revealed insight into the molecular mechanisms that lead to agonism, antagonism,
      or inverse agonism. We report new molecular mechanisms for RORgammat agonism and
      propose a separation of the inverse agonists into two classes: those that act via
      steric clash and those that act via other mechanisms (for the latter, co
      crystallization with a co-activator peptide and helix 12 in the agonist position
      is still possible). For the non-steric clash inverse agonists, we propose a new
      mechanism ("water trapping") which can be combined with other mechanisms (e.g.,
      close contacts with H479). In addition, we compare the interactions made for
      selected compounds in the "back pocket" near S404 and in the "sulfate pocket"
      near R364 and R367. Taken together, these new mechanistic insights should prove
      useful for the design and optimization of further RORgammat modulators.

PMID- 28590089
TI  - An Exceptionally Water Stable Metal-Organic Framework with Amide-Functionalized
      Cages: Selective CO2 /CH4 Uptake and Removal of Antibiotics and Dyes from Water.
AB  - As the main organic pollutants in wastewater, antibiotics and organic dyes are
      harmful to the environment and public health, and their removal is important but
      challenging. In this work, highly porous 3D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) [M2
      (PDAD)(H2 O)]n (PCN-124-stu; M=Cu, Zn; H4 PDAD = 5,5'-(pyridine-3,5
      dicarbonyl)bis(azanediyl)diisophthalic acid) were synthesized, and PCN-124
      stu(Cu) shows excellent chemical and thermal stability. PCN-124-stu(Cu) was used
      as a host for efficient extraction of various organic dyes, especially the large
      molecule dye Coomassie brilliant blue, and fluoroquinolones from water, in
      comparison with five common MOFs, zeolite 13X, and activated carbon. PCN-124
      stu(Cu) exhibits absolute predominance for fluoroquinolone adsorption among these
      microporous materials because of the H-bonds between fluoroquinolone molecules
      and the amide groups in the frameworks, except for MIL-100(Cr), which is a
      mesoporous MOF. Moreover, PCN-124-stu(Cu) could release fluoroquinolones slowly
      in physiological saline and retained its framework structure after four
      adsorption/desorption cycles. In addition, PCN-124-stu(Cu) can be used as a
      platform for selective adsorption of CO2 /CH4.

PMID- 28590090
TI  - Motile hepatocellular carcinoma cells preferentially secret sugar metabolism
      regulatory proteins via exosomes.
AB  - Exosomes are deliverers of critically functional proteins, capable of
      transforming target cells in numerous cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). We hypothesize that the motility of HCC cells can be featured by
      comparative proteome of exosomes. Hence, we performed the super-SILAC-based MS
      analysis on the exosomes secreted by three human HCC cell lines, including the
      non-motile Hep3B cell, and the motile 97H and LM3 cells. More than 1400 exosomal
      proteins were confidently quantified in each MS analysis with highly biological
      reproducibility. We justified that 469 and 443 exosomal proteins represented
      differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the 97H/Hep3B and LM3/Hep3B
      comparisons, respectively. These DEPs focused on sugar metabolism-centric
      canonical pathways per ingenuity pathway analysis, which was consistent with the
      gene ontology analysis on biological process enrichment. These pathways included
      glycolysis I, gluconeogenesis I and pentose phosphate pathways; and the DEPs
      enriched in these pathways could form a tightly connected network. By analyzing
      the relative abundance of proteins and translating mRNAs, we found significantly
      positive correlation between exosomes and cells. The involved exosomal proteins
      were again focusing on sugar metabolism. In conclusion, motile HCC cells tend to
      preferentially export more sugar metabolism-associated proteins via exosomes that
      differentiate them from non-motile HCC cells.

PMID- 28590091
TI  - An Update on the Protocols and Biologic Actions of Platelet Rich Fibrin in
      Dentistry.
AB  - Platelet rich fibrin (PRF) is a surgical biologic additive that is prepared by
      manipulation of autologous blood. It has now evolved to become one of the most
      widely used platelet concentrate in dentistry. It has almost replaced Platelet
      rich plasma (PRP) for usage owing to its advantages such as being 100%
      autogenous, easy technique, time and cost effectiveness, superior & prolonged
      growth factor release. It finds varied applications in dentistry including
      management of gingival recession, for guided bone regeneration in periodontal,
      peri-implant and endodontic bone defects. Since its inception in 2001 by
      Choukroun & co-workers, there has been in-depth research regarding its clinical
      applications, biologic actions, various technique modifications and
      optimizations. Several modifications of the conventional protocol like the
      advanced PRF, injectable PRF, PRF lysate and Titanium-prepared PRF. Hence, the
      aim of this article to review the biological properties of platelet rich fibrin
      and the advancement in the PRF technology since its inception.

PMID- 28590092
TI  - Additive Manufacturing: A Novel Method for Fabricating Cobalt-Chromium Removable
      Partial Denture Frameworks.
AB  - Additive manufacturing (AM) often referred to as 3D printing (3DP) has shown
      promise of being significantly viable in the construction of cobalt-chromium
      removable partial denture (RPD) frameworks. The current paper seeks to discuss AM
      technologies (photopolymerization processes and selective laser melting) and
      review their scope. The review also discusses the clinical relevance of cobalt
      chromium RPD frameworks. All relevant publications in English over the last 10
      years, when the first 3D-printed RPD framework was reported, are examined. The
      review notes that AM offers significant benefits in terms of speed of the
      manufacturing processes however cost and other aspects of current technologies
      remain a hindrance.

PMID- 28590094
TI  - Optical Properties and Failure Load of Thin CAD/CAM Ceramic Veneers.
AB  - This study aimed to compare optical properties and failure load of leucite (IPS
      Empress CAD LT) and lithium disilicate glass ceramic (IPS e.max CAD LT) materials
      in incisor veneers. Four groups of veneers were made on 36 bovine incisors with
      Cerec 3D milling unit (n=9/group): 0.5 and 0.3 mm thick leucite glass and 0.5 and
      0.3 mm lithium disilicate glass veneers. The optical features were measured with
      CM-700d spectrophotometer using white and yellow try-in pastes. Differences were
      determined by means of DeltaE value and luminance. The bovine teeth with veneers
      were mounted on acrylic resin blocks (Palapress, Heraeus Kulzer) and static
      loading test was conducted (LR30K plus, Lloyd Instruments). The color difference
      of veneers could be noticed with yellow and white cements when the material
      thickness increased from 0.3 to 0.5 mm (leucite DeltaE yellow 4.4, white 6.0;
      lithiumdisilicate DeltaE yellow 2.1, white 4.1). Both materials showed similar
      failure load with 0.5 mm veneers (leucite 1906 +/-319 N; lithiumdisilicate 2098
      +/- 309 N). The failure load of 0.3 mm thick lithium dilisilicate veneers (2002
      +/- 427 N) was comparable with the 0.5mm veneers. Ultrathin lithium disilicate
      glass ceramic veneers (0.3 mm) could be a potential option for clinical use.

PMID- 28590093
TI  - Marginal Adaptation and Internal Fit of Posterior 3-Unit Zirconia FPDs Fabricated
      with Different CAD/CAM Systems.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of zirconia FPDs fabricated
      by different laboratory CAD/CAM system. Thirty-six FPD zirconia frameworks were
      fabricated on corresponding epoxy resin models that were duplicated from a master
      model of mandibular second premolar and second molar mounted in an acrylic block
      to simulate missing first mandibular tooth. Frameworks were divided into groups
      (n = 12) of three laboratory CAD/CAM systems: Cercon, Amann Girrbach, and
      Zirkonzahn. For the two factors, system and abutment type, the absolute marginal
      discrepancy (AMD) was measured before cementation. Internal fit was also
      determined at three sites after cementation. The data were analyzed statistically
      (alpha = 0.05). The effects of system and tooth type were not significant for AMD
      (p ? 0.05). Both factors showed influence on the internal fit of FPDs (p ? 0.05).
      Molars showed larger gaps in axial and occlusal sites (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003),
      and Cercon led in better occlusal adaptation compared with Amann Girrbach (p =
      0.013). The systems tested did not show differences in AMD, despite different
      incorporated components. However, internal fit was significantly different
      between tooth type and system.

PMID- 28590095
TI  - The Early Erosive and Abrasive Challenge: A Profilometric, Electron Microscopic
      and Microhardness Study Using Human, Bovine and Ovine Enamel.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to test the null hypothesis that there are no significant
      differences in surface characteristics of eroded and abraded human, ovine and
      bovine enamel. DESIGN: Twenty enamel slabs were prepared from bovine, human and
      ovine incisor crowns, and randomly assigned to one of 4 treatments: 30 second/4
      minute immersion at 1%/6% w/v citric acid. Post-erosion, an oscillatory brush was
      used for 20 seconds. Roughness parameters, height change and scanning electron
      microscopy were measured at each stage. RESULTS: Whilst the eroded surface became
      generally less rough after the abrasive challenge, there were significant tissue
      differences. Abraded microhardness was significantly increased compared to eroded
      values (P?0.001), Surface loss was also significantly different between tissue
      types (P?0.001). Bovine enamel showed similar trends to human enamel but was
      consistently harder and more resistant to surface change. Ovine enamel displayed
      little correlation with human enamel.Scanning electron microscopy images showed
      differences for each tissue that were consistent with the quantitative data.
      CONCLUSIONS: The null hypothesis was rejected; neither bovine nor ovine enamel
      can be reliably used interchangeably with human enamel for erosion/abrasion
      studies.

PMID- 28590096
TI  - Efficacy of Removable Partial Denture Treatment: A Retrospective Oral Health
      Related Quality of Life Evaluation.
AB  - : Successful removable partial dentures (RPDs) use may be influenced by patient
      and denture variables including age, denture experience and number or position of
      teeth being replaced. Influence of patient and denture variables on OHRQoL with
      RPDs was investigated using ordinal logistic regression analysis. METHODS:
      Participants provided with RPDs were invited to complete OHIP-20 at least 4 weeks
      after dentures were fitted. Clinical records were retrieved to identify a number
      of independent variables. Variables meeting a standard of statistical
      significance were included into regression analysis to quantify influence on OHIP
      20 scores. RESULTS: 84 patients agreed to participate. No. of missing teeth, age,
      gender, replacement of anterior teeth and framework material were entered into
      the model, which was statistically significant, p?0.001, with pseudo R2 of 0.39.
      Significant variables were age (p?0.05), no. of missing teeth (p?0.01), gender
      (p?0.05) and replacement of anterior teeth (p?0.001). Replacing anterior teeth
      showed 9.68 point reduction in OHIP-20 score in patients with replaced anterior
      teeth. DISCUSSION: Replacing anterior teeth was associated better post-operative
      OHRQoL outcomes, suggesting RPDs address impacts on OHRQoL of missing anterior
      teeth. Success of RPDs in overcoming impacts of tooth loss on OHRQoL was worse as
      more teeth were lost.

PMID- 28590097
TI  - Five Year Clinical Evaluation of Restorations Placed in a Low Shrinkage Stress
      Composite in UK General Dental Practices.
AB  - : This paper evaluates the five year clinical evaluation of restorations formed
      in a low shrinkage stress resin composite material (3M ESPE Filtek Silorane,
      Seefeld, Germany) and placed in the general dental practices of five members of
      the PREP Panel, a group of UK practice-based researchers. Results indicated
      satisfactory performance of the material under evaluation, other than for
      marginal staining, which affected 60% of the restorations evaluated after five
      years, albeit with less than 10% of the circumference of the restorations being
      affected. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The low shrinkage stress material, Filtek
      SiloraneTM, demonstrated good clinical performance in the majority of parameters
      which were assessed at five years.

PMID- 28590099
TI  - ?
AB  - Surgical injury of the biliary tract have increased in thelaparoscopic
      cholecystectomy era, anatomic variants of thebiliary ducts, mainly the type F, is
      likely to receive this kindof injury. Cholangiography helps to prevent such
      complications,so, we recommended the execution of this procedure ina routine way.
      Treatment usually is complex and requirestrained surgeons.

PMID- 28590098
TI  - ?
AB  - : In Argentina there are no multicenter studies evaluating themanagement of
      patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) nationwide. OBJECTIVES: The main objective
      of this study is toknow how the patients with AP are treated in Argentina.The
      secondary objective is to assess whether the results complywith the
      recommendation of the American College of GastroenterologyGuide. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Twenty threecenter participated in the study. They include in a
      databasehosted online consecutive patients with acute pancreatitisfrom june 2010
      to june 2013. RESULTS: 854 patients enteredthe study. The average age was 46.6
      years and 495(58%) belonged to the female sex. The most common cause(88.2%) of AP
      was biliary. Some prognostic system wasused in 99 % of patients and the most used
      was Ranson(74.5%). Were classified as mild 714 (83.6%) patientsand severe 140
      (16.4%). Systemic complications occurredin 43 patients and local complications in
      21. 86 patientsunderwent dynamic CT scans and 73 patients had pancreaticand / or
      peripancreatic necrosis. Mortality was1.5%. There was no difference in mortality
      in relation tothe size, complexity or affiliation of the center. The complyof key
      recommendations of the American College of Gastroenterology Guide was over 80%.
      CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis and treatment of patients with AP in 23 healthcenters
      located throughout the country was optimal. Themanagement complied with most of
      the recommendationsof the American College of Gastroenterology Guide.

PMID- 28590100
TI  - ?
AB  - Colonic metastasis of breast cancer are extremely infrequent,being ductal subtype
      the most rarely affects the digestivetract, compared to lobular subtype. We
      present a case reportof a colonic metastasis of ductal breast cancer; found in
      thecontext of a screening colonoscopy. Besides we perform anarticle research
      about digestive tract metastasis of primarybreast cancer, finding very few
      published cases among theliterature about this ductal subtype behavior.

PMID- 28590101
TI  - ?
AB  - : The gastrointestinal commitment is the six most frequentlocation of
      extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Often its acutecomplications constitute the main
      presentation form due toa late diagnosis. OBJECTIVES: To review the presentation
      ofgastrointestinal tuberculosis as perforative acute abdomenand surgical
      resolution. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Case 1. A31 year old female, with newly
      diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis,discontinuous treatment. Two month later
      presentswith peritonitis acute abdomen. Laparotomy is done beingstated intestinal
      perforations. They performed resection andanastomosis terminal. The treatment
      with ant tuberculosisstarts. Good evolution. Case 2. A 30 years male patient,
      HIVand pulmonary tuberculosis with discontinuous treatment.He was admitted with
      abdominal pain and generalizedperitoneal reaction. Intestinal perforations is
      found at laparotomy.Biopsy and raffia intestinal is performed. Fourdays later
      suture dehiscence and new intestinal perforationsare found. Resection and
      ileostomy is performed. It evolutionwith distress and death. In both cases
      histopathology confirmedintestinal tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: Because of
      thenonspecific symptoms of intestinal tuberculosis, is commonthe diagnosis
      through their acute complications and these are potentially lethalespecially in
      immunocompromised patients.The prompt treatment with anti tuberculosis drugs
      isthe limiting in elective surgery in selected cases.

PMID- 28590102
TI  - ?
AB  - Tuberculosis is the commonest cause of spinal infectionworldwide (9-46%).
      Tuberculosis spondylodiscitis causesmultifocal thoracic and lumbar spinal
      disease, and big paraspinaland psoas abscesses. It is more frequent in
      peopleunder 40 who had previous tuberculosis infection and fromcountries where
      the illness is endemic. Clinic is non-specificand sub-acute. We report the
      clinical case of a 29-year-oldpatient who suffered from pericardic tuberculosis
      in her childhoodand who presents a bilateral retroperitoneal abscessdue to
      tuberculosis spondylodiscitis. Her clinical debut beganwith left inguinal pain
      and an irreducible mass at this levelthat simulated an incarcerated inguinal
      hernia, whichis why surgery was indicated. Due to discrepancies
      betweenintraoperative findings and the initial diagnosis, the diagnosisand
      treatment strategy were changed. The purpose of thiscase report is to emphasize
      the challenge that the diagnosisof this pathology represents, due to low
      incidence in our environmentand poor clinical features, which results in
      latediagnosis and late management.

PMID- 28590103
TI  - Esophageal metalic stent migration. Case report of adislodged stent retrieval.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metallic stent placing is the first choice in thetreatment of malign
      or benign strictures of the esophagus. Stentmigration is a well-known
      complication of this procedure. Wereport a case of stent migration in which
      surgical laparoscopicintervention was used to retrieve it. METHODS: An 85
      yearsold man with unsuccessfully endoscopic retrieval of a migratedstent
      underwent laparoscopic gastrotomy for solution. The patientrecovered without
      incident. CONCLUSION: This case illustratesthat laparoscopic technique can be an
      optional way toretrieve migrated stents in selected patients.

PMID- 28590104
TI  - Time remaining in labor and probability of vaginal delivery as a function of the
      angle of progression in a low risk population with a normal first stage of labor.
      In-house observational study and comparison with the data in the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate whether the angle of
      progression (AoP), as measured by transperineal ultrasound, was predictive of
      both the time remaining in labor and vaginal delivery. METHODS: This was a
      prospective observational cohort study involving 270 low-risk women with
      singleton pregnancies at term. The AoP, measured at the end of the first stage of
      labor, was used as a predictive variable of time remaining in labor and mode of
      delivery. The Kaplan Meier and Cox algorithms were used to evaluate the time
      elapsed between AoP measurement and delivery as a function of AoP. Instead,
      logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted probability of vaginal
      delivery as a function of AoP. RESULTS: Of the 270 women enrolled, 15 (5.6%)
      delivered by cesarean section and 33 (12.1%) by vacuum or forceps. The AoP,
      stratified by quartiles, was a significant predictor of the time remaining in
      labor, even after adjustment for possible confounders (Body Mass Index [BMI],
      oxytocin administration and parity). The mean+/-SD second stage of labor length
      for each AoP quartile was 134+/-25, 126+/-18, 96+/-33 and 58+/-23 minutes (P
      value<0.001, ANOVA). The mean+/-SD probability of a vaginal delivery expressed as
      a function of the AoP quartile (adjusted for BMI) was 51.5+/-0.16%, 81.5+/-0.10%,
      97.0+/-0.16% and 99.3+/-0.004% at the AoP of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quartiles,
      respectively, (P value<0.001 ANOVA). CONCLUSIONS: The AoP was directly associated
      with the time remaining in labor and was predictive of a successful vaginal
      delivery; however, the impact on clinical practice seems low.

PMID- 28590105
TI  - ?
AB  - Intussusception is rare in adults and has different characteristicsfrom
      intussusceptions of children. Its clinical manifestationsare varied and often
      nonspecific, requiring a highindex of suspicion for diagnosis. Within the study
      methods,computed tomography has become fundamental in the studyof abdominal pain.
      This has a high sensitivity and specificityfor the diagnosis of intussusception.
      Most of the time thetreatment is surgical, and succeeded in identifying the
      underlyinglesions. We review the basics concepts, pathophysiology,imaging
      findings and frequent etiologies that can causeintussusception in adults.

PMID- 28590106
TI  - ?

PMID- 28590107
TI  - ?

PMID- 28590108
TI  - ?

PMID- 28590109
TI  - ?
AB  - : Celiac disease is an autoimmune enteropathy. The onlyknown treatment consists
      of a permanent adherence to a strictgluten-free diet, which represents an
      important challenge forpatients. Objective. To describe the gluten-free
      processedfood offer in food locals from 3 neighborhoods representativeof high,
      middle and low economic status in Buenos Aires,Argentina. METHODS: Cross
      sectional study. Specially trainedmonitors performed a standardized direct
      assessment offood locals. Whenever direct observation was not possible,we
      interviewed the personnel as an indirect assessment. Weclassified dish offer in
      different categories, and evaluated theprocesses of food elaboration, storage and
      distribution. RESULTS: We included 112 food locals. Results for
      neighborhoodsrepresentative of high, middle and low economic status
      were,respectively: no gluten free dish available in 27.5% (45/62),27.0% (27/37)
      and 30.8% (9/13), (p = 0.96); adequateelaboration in 17.7%, 13.5% and 7.7%, (p =
      0.61); appropriate food storage in 12.9% (8), 13.5% (5) and 7.7%(1); (p = 0.85);
      adequate distribution in 8.1%, 8.1% and0% (0), (p = 0.56). Conclusion. In 1 out
      of 4 food localsthere was not even one gluten free dish. In addition, therewas a
      lack of compliance with safety measures to avoid glutencross-contamination.

PMID- 28590111
TI  - Synthesis of Water-Dispersible Single-Layer CoAl-Carbonate Layered Double
      Hydroxide.
AB  - Despite extensive study on single-layer layered double hydroxides (SL-LDHs) with
      NO3- counterions, SL-LDHs with CO32- counterions (CO32- SL-LDHs) have never been
      prepared before. Herein, a CoAl-CO32- SL-LDH which stays stable in water and
      powdery state is first synthesized using ethylene glycol as a reaction medium.
      The SL-LDH, with thickness of ~0.85 nm, is composed of one Co(Al)O6 layer
      sandwiched between two CO32- layers. The SL-LDH powder shows high specific
      surface area (~289 m2/g) and excellent electrocatalytic oxygen evolution
      efficiency. This work provides the first simple way to prepare CO32- SL-LDHs and
      will open an avenue for synthesizing other SL-LDHs.

PMID- 28590110
TI  - Modeling and Optimization of NLDH/PVDF Ultrafiltration Nanocomposite Membrane
      Using Artificial Neural Network-Genetic Algorithm Hybrid.
AB  - In this research, MgAl-CO32- nanolayered double hydroxide (NLDH) was synthesized
      through a facile coprecipitation method, followed by a hydrothermal treatment.
      The prepared NLDHs were used as a hydrophilic nanofiller for improving the
      performance of the PVDF-based ultrafiltration membranes. The main objective of
      this research was to obtain the optimized formula of NLDH/PVDF nanocomposite
      membrane presenting the best performance using computational techniques as a cost
      effective method. For this aim, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was
      developed for modeling and expressing the relationship between the performance of
      the nanocomposite membrane (pure water flux, protein flux and flux recovery
      ratio) and the affecting parameters including the NLDH, PVP 29000 and polymer
      concentrations. The effects of the mentioned parameters and the interaction
      between the parameters were investigated using the contour plot predicted with
      the developed model. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy
      (AFM), and water contact angle techniques were applied to characterize the
      nanocomposite membranes and to interpret the predictions of the ANN model. The
      developed ANN model was introduced to genetic algorithm (GA) as a bioinspired
      optimizer to determine the optimum values of input parameters leading to high
      pure water flux, protein flux, and flux recovery ratio. The optimum values for
      NLDH, PVP 29000 and the PVDF concentration were determined to be 0.54, 1, and 18
      wt %, respectively. The performance of the nanocomposite membrane prepared using
      the optimum values proposed by GA was investigated experimentally, in which the
      results were in good agreement with the values predicted by ANN model with error
      lower than 6%. This good agreement confirmed that the nanocomposite membranes
      prformance could be successfully modeled and optimized by ANN-GA system.

PMID- 28590112
TI  - Impurities in a 28Si-Enriched Single Crystal Produced for the Realization of the
      Redefined Kilogram.
AB  - The practical realization of the unit of mass is possible by manufacturing a
      perfect one-kilogram sphere from a 28Si-enriched single crystal. The mass of the
      sphere can be determined in terms of a fixed value of the Planck constant by
      counting the number of silicon atoms in the core of the single crystal. To reach
      the target 2.0 * 10-8 relative standard uncertainty, the mass of the surface
      layer and the mass deficit due to point defects such as impurities and vacancies
      must be investigated and corrected for. A sample of a 28Si-enriched single
      crystal produced to test the possibility of obtaining material at a scale useful
      to the dissemination of mass standards was measured by instrumental neutron
      activation analysis to check the purity with respect to a large number of
      possible contaminant elements. The results collected in a neutron activation
      experiment performed with the high thermal neutron flux available at the 20 MW
      OPAL research reactor are described. The data collected in this study showed that
      the produced material has a purity level never achieved with silicon used to
      manufacture previous one-kilogram spheres.

PMID- 28590113
TI  - Dacarbazine-Loaded Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Grafted with Folic Acid
      for Enhancing Antimetastatic Melanoma Response.
AB  - Dacarbazine (DTIC) is one of the most important chemotherapeutic agents for the
      treatment of melanoma; however, its poor solubility, photosensitivity,
      instability, and serious toxicity to normal cells limit its clinical
      applications. In this article, we present a rationally designed nanocarrier based
      on hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) for the encapsulation and
      targeted release of DTIC for eradicating melanoma. The nanocarrier (DTIC@HMLBFs)
      is prepared by modifying HMSNs with carboxyl groups to enhance the loading of
      DTIC, followed by further enveloping of folic acid-grafted liposomes, which act
      as a melanoma active target for controlled and targeted drug release. In vitro,
      DTIC@HMLBFs exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity to melanoma cells compared with
      DTIC@HMSNs and free DTIC. The in vivo investigations demonstrate that the
      rationally designed nanocarrier loaded with DTIC achieves significant improvement
      against lung metastasis of melanoma via targeting melanoma cells and tumor
      associated macrophages. This study provides a promising platform for the design
      and fabrication of multifunctional nanomedicines, which are potentially useful
      for the treatment of melanoma.

PMID- 28590114
TI  - Analysis of Nanoprecipitates in a Na-Doped PbTe-SrTe Thermoelectric Material with
      a High Figure of Merit.
AB  - The dimensionless figure of merit, ZT, of bulk thermoelectric materials depends
      mainly on the transport properties of charge carriers and heat-carrying phonons.
      PbTe-4 mol % SrTe doped with 2 mol % Na (Pb0.94Na0.02Sr0.04Te) is a
      nanostructured material system that exhibits a ZT higher than 2. The precipitate
      size distribution of SrTe precipitates is believed to play a key role. This
      raises the question of whether its performance is limited by precipitate
      coarsening (Ostwald ripening) at elevated temperatures. Herein, we utilize an
      atom-probe tomography (APT) to study the number density and mean radii of
      precipitates in concert with partial radial distribution functions (RDFs) of
      individual atoms. We find that the SrTe precipitates actually contain oxygen:
      SrTe1-xOx. We correlate this information with the overall ZT performance,
      specifically focusing on the electrical and lattice thermal conductivities after
      isothermal heat treatments at 300 and 400  degrees C for 7 days, followed by
      furnace cooling. Comparison of the samples annealed at 400 and 300  degrees C
      demonstrates significant coarsening of SrTe1-xOx precipitates as well as strong
      segregation of oxygen impurities in the SrTe1-xOx precipitates. Additionally, on
      the basis of the partial RDFs, the Na dopant atoms cluster with other Na atoms as
      well as with Pb, Te, and Sr atoms; clustering depends strongly on the annealing
      temperature and concomitantly affects the overall ZT values. We found that the
      coarsening slightly increases the lattice thermal conductivity and also increases
      the electrical conductivity, thereby having little or even a beneficial effect on
      the ZT values. Importantly, these findings demonstrate that APT enables
      quantitative analyses in three dimensions of the PbTe-4 mol % SrTe samples in
      addition to correlation of their properties with the thermoelectric performance.

PMID- 28590116
TI  - Facile and Selective Enrichment of Intact Sialoglycopeptides Using Graphitic
      Carbon Nitride.
AB  - Combining powerful selectivity, high stability, convenient operation, mild
      condition, and eco-friendliness, a novel graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-based
      enrichment method of intact sialoglycopeptides (SGs) was developed. The intact
      SGs could be simply enriched and separated from protein tryptic digests by
      hydrogen bonding without damage of glycan structures due to the specific
      structure of g-C3N4. By optimizing the enrichment and elution conditions, 45 and
      38 SGs were detected from the tryptic digests of bovine fetuin and transferrin,
      respectively. Under the synergistic effect of hydrogen bonding and electrostatic
      adsorption, the SGs could be enriched simply in less than 2 h with a detection
      limit of 50 fmol. The method is repeatable due to the high stability of g-C3N4
      and the simple protocol of the method, indicating the potential application of g
      C3N4 in efficient and selective enrichment of intact SGs.

PMID- 28590115
TI  - Aqueous Ligand-Stabilized Palladium Nanoparticle Catalysts for Parahydrogen
      Induced 13C Hyperpolarization.
AB  - Parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) is a method for enhancing NMR
      sensitivity. The pairwise addition of parahydrogen in aqueous media by
      heterogeneous catalysts can lead to applications in chemical and biological
      systems. Polarization enhancement can be transferred from 1H to 13C for longer
      lifetimes by using zero field cycling. In this work, water-dispersible N
      acetylcysteine- and l-cysteine-stabilized palladium nanoparticles are introduced,
      and carbon polarizations up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than in previous
      aqueous heterogeneous PHIP systems are presented. P13C values of 1.2 and 0.2% are
      achieved for the formation of hydroxyethyl propionate from hydroxyethyl acrylate
      and ethyl acetate from vinyl acetate, respectively. Both nanoparticle systems are
      easily synthesized in open air, and TEM indicates an average size of 2.4 +/- 0.6
      nm for NAC@Pd and 2.5 +/- 0.8 nm for LCys@Pd nanoparticles with 40 and 25% ligand
      coverage determined by thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. As a step toward
      biological relevance, results are presented for the unprotected amino acid
      allylglycine upon aqueous hydrogenation of propargylglycine.

PMID- 28590117
TI  - Nanotechnology-Enhanced No-Wash Biosensors for in Vitro Diagnostics of Cancer.
AB  - In vitro biosensors have been an integral component for early diagnosis of cancer
      in the clinic. Among them, no-wash biosensors, which only depend on the simple
      mixing of the signal generating probes and the sample solution without additional
      washing and separation steps, have been found to be particularly attractive. The
      outstanding advantages of facile, convenient, and rapid response of no-wash
      biosensors are especially suitable for point-of-care testing (POCT). One fast
      growing field of no-wash biosensor design involves the usage of nanomaterials as
      signal amplification carriers or direct signal generating elements. The
      analytical capacity of no-wash biosensors with respect to sensitivity or limit of
      detection, specificity, stability, and multiplexing detection capacity is largely
      improved because of their large surface area, excellent optical, electrical,
      catalytic, and magnetic properties. This review provides a comprehensive overview
      of various nanomaterial-enhanced no-wash biosensing technologies and focuses on
      the analysis of the underlying mechanism of these technologies applied for the
      early detection of cancer biomarkers ranging from small molecules to proteins,
      and even whole cancerous cells. Representative examples are selected to
      demonstrate the proof-of-concept with promising applications for in vitro
      diagnostics of cancer. Finally, a brief discussion of common unresolved issues
      and a perspective outlook on the field are provided.

PMID- 28590118
TI  - Measuring Rapid Time-Scale Reaction Kinetics Using Isothermal Titration
      Calorimetry.
AB  - Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a powerful tool for acquiring both
      thermodynamic and kinetic data for biological interactions including molecular
      recognition and enzymatic catalysis. ITC-based kinetics measurements typically
      focus on reactions taking place over long time scales (tens of minutes or hours)
      in order to avoid complications due to the finite length of time needed detect
      heat flow in the calorimeter cell. While progress has been made toward analyzing
      more rapid reaction kinetics by ITC, the capabilities and limitations of this
      approach have not been thoroughly tested to date. Here, we report that the time
      resolution of commercial instruments is on the order of 0.2 s or less. We
      successfully performed rapid ITC kinetics assays with durations of just tens of
      seconds using the enzyme trypsin. This is substantially shorter than previous ITC
      enzyme measurements. However, we noticed that for short reaction durations,
      standard assumptions regarding the ITC instrument response led to significant
      deviations between calculated and measured ITC peak shapes. To address this
      issue, we developed an ITC empirical response model (ITC-ERM) that quantitatively
      reproduces ITC peak shapes for all reaction durations. Applying the ITC-ERM
      approach to another enzyme (prolyl oligopeptidase), we unexpectedly discovered
      non-Michaelis-Menten kinetics in short time-scale measurements that are absent in
      more typical long time-scale experiments and are obscured in short time-scale
      experiments when standard assumptions regarding the instrument response are made.
      This highlights the potential of ITC measurements of rapid time scale kinetics in
      conjunction with the ITC-ERM approach to shed new light on biological dynamics.

PMID- 28590119
TI  - Parallel Evaluation of Melting Temperatures of DNAs in the Arrayed Droplets
      through the Fluorescence from DNA Intercalators.
AB  - Parallel evaluation of melting temperatures (Tm's) of DNA molecules in multiple
      floating droplets (20 MUm in diameter) was demonstrated. The Tm values were
      evaluated from the melting curves which were observed through the fluorescence
      from the DNA intercalators. The Tm values measured in the droplets corresponded
      well to those measured in the bulk, indicating the validity of the measurement.
      The parallel evaluation of Tm's was realized by observing melting curves of DNAs
      in the different droplets at the same time using the "droplet guide", which
      guided and fixed the floating droplets to the designated points in the observing
      plane. This demonstration would pave the way for the improvement of the precision
      of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), whose state-of-the-art ascribes color and
      intensity of fluorescence to the base sequence of DNA in the droplet.

PMID- 28590120
TI  - Detection of Biosynthetic Precursors, Discovery of Glycosylated Forms, and
      Homeostasis of Calcitonin in Human Cancer Cells.
AB  - The peptide hormone calcitonin is intimately connected with human cancer
      development and proliferation. Its biosynthesis is reasoned to proceed via
      glycine-, alpha-hydroxyglycine-, glycyllysine-, and glycyllysyllysine-extended
      precursors; however, as a result of the limitations of current analytical
      methods, until now, there has been no procedure capable of detecting these
      individual species in cell or tissue samples. Therefore, their presence and
      dynamics in cancer had not been established. Here, we report the first
      methodology for the separation, detection, and quantification of calcitonin and
      each of its precursors in human cancer cells. We also report the discovery and
      characterization of O-glycosylated calcitonin and its analogous biosynthetic
      precursors. Through direct and simultaneous analysis of the glycosylated and
      nonglycosylated species, we interrogate the hormone biosynthesis. This shows that
      the cellular calcitonin level is maintained to mitigate effects of biosynthetic
      enzyme inhibitors that substantially change the proportions of calcitonin-related
      species released into the culture medium.

PMID- 28590121
TI  - Toward Multifunctional Materials Incorporating Stepladder Manganese(III) Inverse
      [9-MC-3]-Metallacrowns and Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.
AB  - The interaction of Mn(ClO4)2.6H2O with salicylaldoxime (H2sao) in the presence of
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) sodium diclofenac (Nadicl) or
      indomethacin (Hindo) leads to the formation of the hexanuclear Mn(III) clusters
      [Mn6(O)2(dicl)2(sao)6(CH3OH)6] (1) and [Mn6(O)2(indo)2(sao)6(H2O)4] (2) both
      characterized as stepladder inverse-9-metallacrown-3 accommodating dicl- or indo-
      ligands, respectively. When the interaction of MnCl2.4H2O with Nadicl or Hindo is
      in the absence of H2sao, the mononuclear Mn(II) complexes [Mn(dicl)2(CH3OH)4] (3)
      and [Mn(indo)2(CH3OH)4] (4) were isolated. The complexes were characterized by
      physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques, and the structure of complexes 1
      and 2 was characterized by X-ray crystallography. Magnetic measurements (dc and
      ac) were carried out in order to investigate the nature of magnetic interactions
      between the magnetic ions and the overall magnetic behavior of the complexes.

PMID- 28590122
TI  - Total Synthesis and Stereochemical Revision of the 2-Formylpyrrole Alkaloid
      Hemerocallisamine I.
AB  - The first total synthesis of the 2-formylpyrrole alkaloid hemerocallisamine I is
      reported. The convergent synthesis features a key Maillard-type condensation of a
      complex amine derived from cis-4-hydroxy-l-proline with a dihydropyranone, to
      directly furnish the 2-formylpyrrole ring system. The absolute configuration of
      hemerocallisamine I has been revised on the basis of optical rotation data
      obtained for the synthesized compound.

PMID- 28590123
TI  - Slow Magnetic Relaxation in a Lanthanide-[1]Metallocenophane Complex.
AB  - The first example of a lanthanide metallocenophane complex has been isolated as
      [Li(THF)4][DyFc3Li2(THF)2] (1). The molecular structure of complex 1 differs
      dramatically from those of main group and transition metal ferrocenophane
      complexes and features a distorted trigonal prismatic geometry around the Dy(III)
      ion and close intramolecular Dy...Fe distances. Furthermore, complex 1 exhibits
      all characteristics of a soft single-molecule magnet.

PMID- 28590124
TI  - Terpenoids from Euphorbia soongarica and Their Multidrug Resistance Reversal
      Activity.
AB  - Ten new terpenoids, including five diterpenoids (1-5), three nortriterpenoids (6
      8), and two triterpenoids (9, 10), and 15 known terpenoids (11-25) were isolated
      from an acetone extract of Euphorbia soongarica. Sooneuphoramine (1) is the first
      example of a euphoractine B-type diterpenoid alkaloid, while sooneuphanones A-C
      (6-8) are rare nortriterpenoids from the Euphorbia genus. The isolated terpenoids
      were tested for their cytotoxicity and multidrug resistance (MDR) reversal
      activity, 10 of which showed moderate cytotoxicity against the KB and KBv200 cell
      lines, while 11 compounds exhibited P-gp modulating potential. The triterpenoid
      sooneuphanone D (9) possessed a remarkable MDR reversal activity much higher than
      the positive control, verapamil.

PMID- 28590125
TI  - Significant Increase of Aromatics-Derived Secondary Organic Aerosol during Fall
      to Winter in China.
AB  - Human activities release large amounts of anthropogenic pollutants into the air,
      and thereby produce substantial secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Aromatic
      hydrocarbons (AHs) that mainly emitted from coal combustion, transportation,
      solvent use and biofuel/biomass burning, are a major class of anthropogenic SOA
      precursors. At present, there are few field studies focusing on AH-derived SOA
      (SOAA) on a continental scale, especially in polluted regions of the world. In
      this study, a one-year concurrent observation of the SOAA tracer, 2,3-dihydroxy-4
      oxopentanoic acid (C5H8O5, DHOPA) was carried out at 12 sites across six regions
      of China for the first time. The annual averages of DHOPA among the 12 sites
      ranged from 1.23 to 8.83 ng m-3 with a mean of 3.48 +/- 1.96 ng m-3. At all
      observation sites, the concentrations of DHOPA from fall to spring were
      significantly higher than those in summertime, and positive correlations were
      observed between DHOPA and the biomass burning tracer (levoglucosan). This
      indicated that such a nationwide increase of SOAA during the cold period was
      highly associated with the enhancement of biomass burning emission. In the
      northern China, the highest levels of DHOPA were observed in the coldest months
      during winter, probably due to the enhancement of biofuel and coal consumption
      for household heating. In the southern China, the highest levels of DHOPA were
      mostly observed in fall and spring, which were associated with the enhancement of
      open biomass burning. The apparent increases of DHOPA and levoglucosan levels
      during the cold period and the negative correlations of visibility with DHOPA and
      levoglucosan imply that the reduction of SOAA amount and biomass burning emission
      is an efficient way to reduce haze pollution during fall to winter in China.

PMID- 28590126
TI  - Epoxy and Oxidoannulene Oxidation Mechanisms of Fused-Pentagon Chlorofullerenes:
      Oxides Linked by a Pirouette-Type Transition State.
AB  - Recently, the oxidative functionalization of double-fused-pentagon (DFP)
      containing chlorofullerenes #271C50Cl10 and #913C56Cl10 was carried out,
      resulting in two monoepoxides with the oxygen atom added at the ortho site of
      pentalene on the DFP moiety. To uncover the reactivity of isolated-pentagon-rule
      violating fullerenes upon oxidation, two possible formation processes (ozone
      molecule and oxygen radical served as oxidation reagents) of these two oxides
      were systematically investigated through density functional theory calculations.
      For the ozone oxidation, two possible pathways were explored, and the results
      indicate that the biradical mechanism Pathos-RACDP is kinetically more favorable
      than Pathos-RABP, where R, A, and P represent reactants, ozonide intermediates,
      and oxidation products and B, C, and D represent another three oxygen-containing
      intermediates. The products obtained by ozone oxidation ([6,6]-55-closed epoxides
      P-C3-C29 for #271C50Cl10 and P-C42-C43 for #913C56Cl10 with oxygen atom added at
      the shortest and highest HOMO-contribution bonds) are consistent with
      experimental observations. However, the oxygen radical additions on these two
      chlorofullerenes favor generation of the [5,6]-66-open oxidoannulene adducts P-C3
      C2 and P-C42-C54, respectively. Subsequent analyses of their geometrical features
      and structural stabilities suggest that these two oxidoannulene adducts are
      energetically unfavorable and could be converted to more stable epoxides
      mentioned above by undergoing a pirouette-type transition state. In these two
      diverse oxidation procedures, the favorable C-C bonds for ozone attacking and C
      atoms for oxygen-adsorption are rationalized in terms of their bond lengths and
      HOMO contributions as well as pyramidalization angles.

PMID- 28590127
TI  - Interwoven Aligned Conductive Nanofiber Yarn/Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds for
      Engineered 3D Cardiac Anisotropy.
AB  - Mimicking the anisotropic cardiac structure and guiding 3D cellular orientation
      play a critical role in designing scaffolds for cardiac tissue regeneration.
      Significant advances have been achieved to control cellular alignment and
      elongation, but it remains an ongoing challenge for engineering 3D cardiac
      anisotropy using these approaches. Here, we present a 3D hybrid scaffold based on
      aligned conductive nanofiber yarns network (NFYs-NET, composition:
      polycaprolactone, silk fibroin, and carbon nanotubes) within a hydrogel shell for
      mimicking the native cardiac tissue structure, and further demonstrate their
      great potential for engineering 3D cardiac anisotropy for cardiac tissue
      engineering. The NFYs-NET structures are shown to control cellular orientation
      and enhance cardiomyocytes (CMs) maturation. 3D hybrid scaffolds were then
      fabricated by encapsulating NFYs-NET layers within hydrogel shell, and these 3D
      scaffolds performed the ability to promote aligned and elongated CMs maturation
      on each layer and individually control cellular orientation on different layers
      in a 3D environment. Furthermore, endothelialized myocardium was constructed by
      using this hybrid strategy via the coculture of CMs on NFYs-NET layer and
      endothelial cells within hydrogel shell. Therefore, these 3D hybrid scaffolds,
      containing NFYs-NET layer inducing cellular orientation, maturation, and
      anisotropy and hydrogel shell providing a suitable 3D environment for
      endothelialization, has great potential in engineering 3D cardiac anisotropy.

PMID- 28590128
TI  - Antibacterial Actions of Glycinin Basic Peptide against Escherichia coli.
AB  - Glycinin basic peptide (GBP) is an antibacterial ingredient that occurs naturally
      in the basic parts of soybean glycinin. The antibacterial actions of GBP against
      Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 were investigated in this study. The minimum
      inhibitory concentration of GBP against E. coli was 200 MUg/mL. The exposure of
      E. coli cells to GBP induced significant cell damage and inactivated
      intracellular esterases (stressed and dead cells, 70.9% +/- 0.04 for 200 MUg/mL
      of GBP and 91.9% +/- 0.06 for 400 MUg/mL of GBP), as determined through dual
      staining in flow cytometry. GBP resulted in the exposure of phosphatidylserine in
      E. coli cells. The analyses of flow cytometry-manifested GBP treatment led to the
      shrinkage of the cell surface and the complication of cell granularity. The
      observations in transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that 400 MUg/mL of
      GBP severely disrupted the membrane integrity, resulting in ruptures or pores in
      the membrane, outflows of intracellular contents, or aggregation of the
      cytoplasm. Release of alkaline phosphatase, lipopolysaccharide, and reducing
      sugar further verified that the membrane damage was due to GBP. In addition, GBP
      treatment changed the helicity and base staking of DNA, as determined by circular
      dichroism spectroscopy. These results showed that GBP had strong antibacterial
      activity against E. coli via membrane damage and DNA perturbation. Additionally,
      GBP exhibited no cytotoxicity on the viability of human embryonic kidney cells.
      Thus, GBP may be a promising candidate as a natural antibacterial agent.

PMID- 28590130
TI  - Paying the Price of Desolvation in Solvent-Exposed Protein Pockets: Impact of
      Distal Solubilizing Groups on Affinity and Binding Thermodynamics in a Series of
      Thermolysin Inhibitors.
AB  - In lead optimization, open, solvent-exposed protein pockets are often disregarded
      as prospective binding sites. Because of bulk-solvent proximity, researchers are
      instead enticed to attach charged polar groups at inhibitor scaffolds to improve
      solubility and pharmacokinetic properties. It is rarely considered that solvent
      effects from water reorganization in the first hydration shell of protein-ligand
      complexes can have a significant impact on binding. We investigate the
      thermodynamic fingerprint of thermolysin inhibitors featuring terminal charged
      ammonium groups that are gradually pulled from a distal, solvent-exposed position
      into the flat, bowl-shaped S2' pocket. Even for the most remote attachment, costs
      for partial desolvation of the polar group next to the protein-solvent interface
      are difficult to compensate by interactions with the protein or surrounding water
      molecules. Through direct comparison with hydrophobic analogues, a significant
      180-fold affinity loss was recorded, which questions popular strategies to attach
      polar ligand-solubilizing groups at the exposed terminus of substituents
      accommodated in flat open pockets.

PMID- 28590129
TI  - High-Level Production and Properties of the Cysteine-Depleted Cytochrome P450
      3A4.
AB  - Human drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is a dynamic enzyme with a
      large and highly malleable active site that can fit structurally diverse
      compounds. Despite extensive investigations, structure-function relationships and
      conformational dynamics in CYP3A4 are not fully understood. This study was
      undertaken to engineer a well-expressed and functionally active cysteine-depleted
      CYP3A4 that can be used in biochemical and biophysical studies. cDNA codon
      optimization and screening mutagenesis were utilized to boost the level of
      bacterial expression of CYP3A4 and identify the least harmful substitutions for
      all six non-heme-ligating cysteines. The C58A/C64M/C98A/C239T/C377A/C468S (Cys
      less) mutant was found to be expressed as highly as the optimized wild-type (opt
      WT) CYP3A4. The high-resolution X-ray structures of opt-WT and Cys-less CYP3A4
      revealed that gene optimization leads to a different folding in the Phe108 and
      Phe189 regions and promotes binding of the active site glycerol that interlocks
      Ser119 and Arg212, critical for ligand association, and the hydrophobic cluster
      adjacent to Phe108. Crowding and decreased flexibility of the active site, as
      well as structural alterations observed at the C64M, C239T, and C468S mutational
      sites, might be responsible for the distinct ligand binding behavior of opt-WT
      and Cys-less CYP3A4. Nonetheless, the Cys-less mutant could be used for structure
      function investigations because it orients bromoergocryptine and ritonavir (a
      high-affinity substrate and a high-potency inhibitor, respectively) like the WT
      and has a higher activity toward 7-benzyloxy(4-trifluoromethyl)coumarin.

PMID- 28590131
TI  - Iron(II)-Catalyzed Iron Atom Exchange and Mineralogical Changes in Iron-rich
      Organic Freshwater Flocs: An Iron Isotope Tracer Study.
AB  - In freshwater wetlands, organic flocs are often found enriched in trace
      metal(loid)s associated with poorly crystalline Fe(III)-(oxyhydr)oxides. Under
      reducing conditions, flocs may become exposed to aqueous Fe(II), triggering
      Fe(II)-catalyzed mineral transformations and trace metal(loid) release. In this
      study, pure ferrihydrite, a synthetic ferrihydrite-polygalacturonic acid
      coprecipitate (16.7 wt % C), and As- (1280 and 1230 mg/kg) and organic matter
      (OM)-rich (18.1 and 21.8 wt % C) freshwater flocs dominated by ferrihydrite and
      nanocrystalline lepidocrocite were reacted with an isotopically enriched 57Fe(II)
      solution (0.1 or 1.0 mM Fe(II)) at pH 5.5 and 7. Using a combination of wet
      chemistry, Fe isotope analysis, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), 57Fe
      Mossbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, we followed the Fe atom exchange
      kinetics and secondary mineral formation over 1 week. When reacted with Fe(II) at
      pH 7, pure ferrihydrite exhibited rapid Fe atom exchange at both Fe(II)
      concentrations, reaching 76 and 89% atom exchange in experiments with 0.1 and 1
      mM Fe(II), respectively. XAS data revealed that it transformed into goethite
      (21%) at the lower Fe(II) concentration and into lepidocrocite (73%) and goethite
      (27%) at the higher Fe(II) concentration. Despite smaller Fe mineral particles in
      the coprecipitate and flocs as compared to pure ferrihydrite (inferred from
      Mossbauer-derived blocking temperatures), these samples showed reduced Fe atom
      exchange (9-30% at pH 7) and inhibited secondary mineral formation. No release of
      As was recorded for Fe(II)-reacted flocs. Our findings indicate that carbohydrate
      rich OM in flocs stabilizes poorly crystalline Fe minerals against Fe(II)
      catalyzed transformation by surface-site blockage and/or organic Fe(II)
      complexation. This hinders the extent of Fe atom exchange at mineral surfaces and
      secondary mineral formation, which may consequently impair Fe(II)-activated trace
      metal(loid) release. Thus, under short-term Fe(III)-reducing conditions
      facilitating the fast attainment of solid-solution equilibria (e.g., in stagnant
      waters), Fe-rich freshwater flocs are expected to remain an effective sink for
      trace elements.

PMID- 28590132
TI  - Origin of the Excited-State Absorption Spectrum of Polythiophene.
AB  - The excited states of conjugated polymers play a central role in their
      applications in organic solar photovoltaics. The delocalized excited states of
      conjugated polymers are short-lived (tau < 40 fs) but are imperative in the
      photovoltaic properties of these materials. Photoexcitation of poly(3
      hexylthiophene) (P3HT) induces an excited-state absorption band, but the
      transitions that are involved are not well understood. In this work, calculations
      have been performed on P3HT analogues using nonlinear response time-dependent
      density functional theory to show that an increase in the oligomer length
      correlates with the dominance of the S1 -> S3 transition. Furthermore, the
      predicted transition energy shows an excellent agreement with experiment. The
      calculations also yielded results on intramolecular charge transfer in P3HT due
      to the S1 -> S3 transition, providing insight into the mechanism of exciton
      dissociation to form charge carriers.

PMID- 28590133
TI  - Hydration Repulsion Difference between Ordered and Disordered Membranes Due to
      Cancellation of Membrane-Membrane and Water-Mediated Interactions.
AB  - Hydration repulsion acts between all sufficiently polar surfaces in water at
      small separations and prevents dry adhesion up to kilobar pressures. Yet it
      remained unclear whether this ubiquitous force depends on surface structure or is
      a sole water property. We demonstrate that previous deviations among different
      experimental measurements of hydration pressures in phospholipid bilayer stacks
      disappear when plotting data consistently as a function of repeat distance or
      membrane surface distance. The resulting pressure versus distance curves agree
      quantitatively with our atomistic simulation results and exhibit different decay
      lengths in the ordered gel and the disordered fluid states. This suggests that
      hydration forces are not caused by water ordering effects alone. Splitting the
      simulated total pressure into membrane-membrane and water-mediated parts shows
      that these contributions are opposite in sign and of similar magnitude, thus they
      are equally important. The resulting net hydration pressure between membranes is
      what remains from the near-cancellation of these ambivalent contributions.

PMID- 28590134
TI  - Conical Nanopores for Efficient Ion Pumping and Desalination.
AB  - Previous experimental and theoretical studies have demonstrated that
      nanofabricated synthetic channels are able to pump ions using oscillating
      electric fields. We have recently proposed that conical pores with oscillating
      surface charges are particularly effective for pumping ions due to rectification
      that arises from their asymmetric structure. In this work, the energy and
      thermodynamic efficiency associated with salt pumping using the conical pore pump
      is studied, with emphasis on pumps needed to desalinate seawater. The energy
      efficiency is found to be as high as 0.60 to 0.83 mol/kJ when the radius of the
      tip side of the conical pore is two Debye lengths and the pump works with a
      concentration gradient smaller than 1.5. As a result, the energy consumption
      needed for seawater desalination with 20% salt rejection is 0.32 kJ/L. In
      addition, the energy consumption can be further reduced to 0.21 kJ/L (20% salt
      rejection) if the bias voltage is adaptively altered four times during the pump
      cycle while salt concentration is reduced. If the bias voltage is adaptively
      increased to higher values, then salt rejection can be improved to values that
      are needed to produce fresh water that satisfies standard requirements. Numerical
      analysis indicates that the energy consumption is 4.9 kJ/L for 98.6% salt
      rejection, which is smaller than the practical minimum energy requirement for RO
      based methods. In addition, the pumping efficiency can be further improved by
      tuning the pump structure, increasing the surface charge, and employing more
      adaptive bias voltages. The conical pores are also found to more efficiently
      counteract the concentration gradient compared to cylindrical counterparts.

PMID- 28590135
TI  - Evolution of the Uranium Chemical State in Mixed-Valence Oxides.
AB  - A fundamental question concerning the chemical state of uranium in the binary
      oxides UO2, U4O9, U3O7, U3O8, and UO3 is addressed. By utilizing high energy
      resolution fluorescence detection X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (HERFD
      XANES) at the uranium M4 edge, a novel technique in the tender X-ray region, we
      obtain the distribution of formal oxidation states in the mixed-valence oxides
      U4O9, U3O7, and U3O8. Moreover, we clearly identify a pivot from U(IV)-U(V) to
      U(V)-U(VI) charge compensation, corresponding with transition from a fluorite
      type structure (U3O7) to a layered structure (U3O8). Such physicochemical
      properties are of interest to a broad audience of researchers and engineers
      active in domains ranging from fundamental physics to nuclear industry and
      environmental science.

PMID- 28590136
TI  - Controlling Photocatalytic Activity and Size Selectivity of TiO2 Encapsulated in
      Hollow Silica Spheres by Tuning Silica Shell Structures Using Sacrificial
      Biomolecules.
AB  - Yolk-shell nanostructured photocatalyst which consists of inner core
      photocatalytic particles and outer silica shell exhibits high photocatalytic
      efficiency and molecular size selectivity due to the molecular sieving property
      of the outer shell. Creation of extended porosity in the shell endows it with
      improved adsorption properties and size selectivity toward targeted reactants. In
      this study, yolk-shell nanostructured photocatalyst consisting of TiO2 NPs core
      and porous silica shell with controllable pore size was fabricated through a
      facile single-step dual-templating approach utilizing oil-in-water (O/W)
      microemulsions and amphiphilic protein molecules. Addition of optimum amount of
      protein (ovalbumin) as a sacrificial template together with O/W microemulsion
      during the synthesis led to the expansion of average pore size from 2.0 to 3.6
      nm, while retaining TiO2-encapsulated yolk-shell nanostructures. Photocatalytic
      degradation tests using gaseous 2-propanol and huge proteins as model substrates
      clearly revealed that the obtained material (TiO2@HSS_pro) showed superior
      photocatalytic performances with both improved photocatalytic efficiency and
      molecular size selectivity due to the increased surface area and expanded pore
      diameter.

PMID- 28590138
TI  - Vibrational Probes of Molybdenum Cofactor-Protein Interactions in Xanthine
      Dehydrogenase.
AB  - The pyranopterin dithiolene (PDT) ligand is an integral component of the
      molybdenum cofactor (Moco) found in all molybdoenzymes with the sole exception of
      nitrogenase. However, the roles of the PDT in catalysis are still unknown. The
      PDT is believed to be bound to the proteins by an extensive hydrogen-bonding
      network, and it has been suggested that these interactions may function to fine
      tune Moco for electron- and atom-transfer reactivity in catalysis. Here, we use
      resonance Raman (rR) spectroscopy to probe Moco-protein interactions using heavy
      atom congeners of lumazine, molecules that bind tightly to both wild-type
      xanthine dehydrogenase (wt-XDH) and its Q102G and Q197A variants following
      enzymatic hydroxylation to the corresponding violapterin product molecules. The
      resulting enzyme-product complexes possess intense near-IR absorption, allowing
      high-quality rR spectra to be collected on wt-XDH and the Q102G and Q197A
      variants. Small negative frequency shifts relative to wt-XDH are observed for the
      low-frequency Moco vibrations. These results are interpreted in the context of
      weak hydrogen-bonding and/or electrostatic interactions between Q102 and the -NH2
      terminus of the PDT, and between Q197 and the terminal oxo of the Mo=O group. The
      Q102A, Q102G, Q197A, and Q197E variants do not appreciably affect the kinetic
      parameters kred and kred/KD, indicating that a primary role for these glutamine
      residues is to stabilize and coordinate Moco in the active site of XO family
      enzymes but to not directly affect the catalytic throughput. Raman frequency
      shifts between wt-XDH and its Q102G variant suggest that the changes in the
      electron density at the Mo ion that accompany Mo oxidation during electron
      transfer regeneration of the catalytically competent active site are manifest in
      distortions at the distant PDT amino terminus. This implies a primary role for
      the PDT as a conduit for facilitating enzymatic electron-transfer reactivity in
      xanthine oxidase family enzymes.

PMID- 28590137
TI  - Monitoring the Retention of Human Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen at
      Primer/Template Junctions by Proteins That Bind Single-Stranded DNA.
AB  - In humans, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) sliding clamps encircling
      DNA coordinate various aspects of DNA metabolism throughout the cell cycle. A
      critical aspect of this is restricting PCNA to the vicinity of its DNA target
      site. For example, PCNA must be maintained at or near primer/template (P/T)
      junctions during DNA synthesis. With a diverse array of cellular factors
      implicated, many of which interact with PCNA, DNA, or both, it is unknown how
      this critical feat is achieved. Furthermore, current biochemical assays that
      examine the retention of PCNA near P/T junctions are inefficient, discontinuous,
      and qualitative and significantly deviate from physiologically relevant
      conditions. To overcome these challenges and limitations, we recently developed a
      novel and convenient Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay that directly
      and continuously monitors the retention of human PCNA at a P/T junction. Here we
      describe in detail the design, methodology, interpretation, and limitations of
      this quantitative FRET assay using the single-stranded DNA-binding protein, SSB,
      from Escherichia coli as an example. This powerful tool is broadly applicable to
      any single-stranded DNA-binding protein and may be utilized and/or expanded upon
      to dissect DNA metabolic pathways that are dependent upon PCNA.

PMID- 28590139
TI  - Prehypertension and its optimal indicator among adults in Hubei Province, Central
      China, 2013-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension accounts for 7% of the annual global disease burden,
      despite great efforts to counter this trend. Thus, interventions targeted at
      prehypertension might lead to a breakthrough for hypertension prevention. This
      study focused on the prevalence of prehypertension among adults in Central China
      and the best indicator of prehypertension, which would provide the basis for
      future interventions. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using
      multistage stratified random sampling in seven counties in Hubei Province. Data
      from 30,634 survey respondents were analyzed using logistic regression and
      receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve statistical tests, for the
      prevalence of prehypertension and the predictive ability of body mass index
      (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and waist circumference (WC) for
      prehypertension. RESULTS: The prevalence of prehypertension in adults was 42.2%.
      The following factors contributed to the risk of prehypertension: male sex, elder
      age, divorce/separation, drinking, heavy labor intensity, and high BMI (p <
      0.05). Being a farmer and exercise exhibited positive associations with
      prehypertension (p < 0.05). Compared with BMI and WHtR, WC had a higher
      predictive value for prehypertension (area under ROC curve, AUC = 0.630, 95%
      confidence interval: 0.623-0.637, p < 0.0001), especially for men. The optimal
      cutoffs of WC for prehypertension were 79.95 cm in men and 76.85 cm in women.
      CONCLUSIONS: The prehypertension rate in adults was high in Central China.
      Significant factors related to hypertension were identified. More interventions
      targeting individuals with WC above the cutoff level are needed for timely
      awareness of prehypertension and early prevention of hypertension.

PMID- 28590140
TI  - A case series comparison of semantically focused vs. phonologically focused cued
      naming treatment in aphasia.
AB  - There is a lack of clarity in the field regarding how to best predict which
      naming treatment will be most beneficial for a particular individual with
      aphasia. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether or not semantic or
      phonological therapy differentially impacts on outcomes for people with a range
      of different aphasic profiles when given both therapies. A single-participant
      design, with multiple repeated baselines for naming, replicated across four
      participants, was used. Participants were provided with a counterbalanced order
      of Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) and Phonological Components Analysis (PCA)
      treatment. Findings demonstrated differential effects across participants. This
      seemed to be influenced by factors such as severity of anomia, order of treatment
      presentation, and capacity limits. Clinical implications of these findings
      highlight the importance of expanding our picture of a participant's behaviours
      to consider what other important factors can inform intervention decisions.

PMID- 28590141
TI  - Amelioration of thioacetamide-induced liver toxicity in Wistar rats by rutin.
AB  - This study was designed to evaluate the effect of rutin on hepatotoxicity induced
      by thioacetamide (TAA) in rats. Four groups of male Wistar rats consisting of six
      rats each were used: Group I: control group; Group II: rats receiving single
      injection of 300 mg kg-1 body weight of TAA intraperitoneally; Group III: rats
      administered rutin (10 mg kg-1 body weight) dissolved in saline orally for 2
      weeks; and Group IV: rats administered rutin (10 mg kg-1 body weight) dissolved
      in saline orally for 2 weeks followed by TAA injection last day of second week.
      All groups were sacrificed after 24 h of treatment and hepatic toxicity was
      analyzed with respect to liver toxicity markers, liver DNA fragmentation, and
      histology of liver tissue. Administration of TAA in Wistar rats resulted in
      significant increase of hepatic markers, DNA fragmentation in the hepatocytes,
      and changes in histology. Pretreatment of rats with rutin before 2 weeks of TAA
      assault resulted in the complete reversal of TAA-mediated hepatic toxicity ( P <
      0.0001 to P < 0.01) with concomitant restoration of DNA fragmentation. This study
      suggests rutin as a protective agent for restoration of toxicity caused by TAA.

PMID- 28590142
TI  - Intra-Amniotic Soluble Endoglin Impairs Lung Development in Neonatal Rats.
AB  - Soluble endoglin (sENG) is increased in the amniotic fluid of women with
      preeclampsia and chorioamnionitis. Preterm infants born to women with these
      disorders have an increased risk of aberrant lung development. Whether this
      increased risk is secondary to elevated sENG levels is unclear. The objective of
      this study was to determine whether intrauterine exposure to an adenovirus
      overexpressing sENG impairs neonatal lung angiogenesis by modulating lung
      endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) signaling. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats
      were randomly assigned to receive ultrasound-guided intra-amniotic injections of
      adenovirus overexpressing sENG (Ad-sENG) or control adenovirus (Ad-control) on
      embryonic day 17. After this exposure, rat pups were maintained in normoxia and
      evaluated on postnatal day 14. Intra-amniotic Ad-sENG decreased lung vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and eNOS expression in rat pups. This was
      accompanied by a marked decrease in lung angiogenesis and alveolarization. Ad
      sENG-exposed pups also had an increase in right ventricular systolic pressure,
      weight ratio of right ventricle to left ventricle plus septum, and pulmonary
      vascular remodeling. In addition, exposure of human pulmonary artery endothelial
      cells to recombinant sENG reduced endothelial tube formation and protein levels
      of eNOS, phosphorylated eNOS, and phosphorylated Smad1/5. Together, our findings
      demonstrate that intrauterine exposure to an adenovirus overexpressing sENG
      disrupts lung development by impairing Smad1/5-eNOS signaling. We speculate that
      sENG-mediated dysregulation of Smad1/5-eNOS signaling contributes to impaired
      lung development and potentially primes the developing lung for further postnatal
      insults. Further studies exploring the relationship between amniotic fluid sENG
      levels and preterm respiratory outcomes will be necessary.

PMID- 28590144
TI  - Pharmacological treatment of depression in geriatric chronic pain patients: a
      biopsychosocial approach integrating functional restoration.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A recent literature review concluded that the comorbidity of
      chronic pain and depression in adults is approximately 50%-65%. Physical and
      cognitive declines, concurrent multiple health conditions, and complex medication
      regimens add to the unique and complex challenges of effectively treating pain in
      particularly geriatric populations. Interdisciplinary medical intervention and
      monitoring for psychiatric sequelae, such as depression, cognitive change, and
      synergistic physical side effects are necessary. Areas covered: This review
      covers an extensive multi-database wide search of the pharmacotherapy of pain and
      depression in older adults, including biopsychosocial approaches. One of these,
      on which this review focuses, is Functional Restoration, an interdisciplinary
      application of quantified physical rehabilitation, case management, and cognitive
      behavioral and educational therapies to achieve improved well- being and better
      physical functioning. The biopsychosocial model incorporates an overview of the
      overlapping and interactive dimensions of a patient's life and addresses them
      within a comprehensive plan of treatment. Expert commentary: A multifactorial,
      rather than a single factor approach to the treatment of complicated health care
      problems such as chronic pain in an elderly patient is emphasized as an important
      change in perspective for the health care provider.

PMID- 28590143
TI  - Combined exercise training reduces blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and
      insulin resistance in obese prehypertensive adolescent girls.
AB  - Childhood obesity is strongly linked to pathological processes for cardiovascular
      diseases in later adulthood. Obese adolescent girls with high blood pressure (BP)
      are reported to have increased arterial stiffness, which is associated with the
      development of hypertension and atherosclerosis. The present study sought to
      examine the impact of combined resistance and aerobic exercise (CRAE) training on
      BP, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), insulin resistance (IR), and body
      composition in obese prehypertensive girls. Forty girls (age, 15 +/- 1 years;
      systolic BP, 132 +/- 2 mmHg, diastolic BP, 80 +/- 5 mmHg) were randomly assigned
      to either a combined exercise (EX, n = 20) or no exercise group (CON, n = 20).
      The EX group performed CRAE for 12 weeks, 3 times per week. BP, baPWV, blood
      nitrite/nitrate, endothelin-1 (ET-1), homeostasis model assessment for insulin
      resistance (HOMA-IR), and body composition were measured before and after the
      exercise intervention. BP (?-7.3 +/- 2.67 mmHg), baPWV (?-1.23 +/- 0.49 m/s), ET
      1 (?-14.35 +/- 1.76 MUmol/mL), nitrite/nitrate (?0.5 +/- 0.09 MUM), HOMA-IR (?
      1.4 +/- 0.07), percent body fat (?-1.35 +/- 0.9%), and waist circumference were
      significantly improved (P < 0.05) in the EX group after 12 weeks of training
      versus the CON group. These findings indicate that 12 weeks of CRAE improves BP,
      HOMA-IR, and arterial stiffness and reduces central adiposity in obese adolescent
      girls with prehypertension. Thus, this study provides evidence that CRAE can be a
      useful therapeutic treatment for high BP, IR, and central adiposity, thereby
      reducing the likelihood of pathological development for cardiovascular diseases
      in later adulthood.

PMID- 28590146
TI  - Insensitivity to verb conjugation patterns in French children with SLI.
AB  - Specific language impairment (SLI) is characterised by persistent difficulties
      that affect language abilities in otherwise normally developing children
      (Leonard, 2014). It remains challenging to identify young children affected by
      SLI in French. We tested oral production of the passe compose tense in 19
      children in kindergarten and first grade with SLI aged from 5;6 to 7;4 years. All
      children were schooled in a French environment, but with different linguistic
      backgrounds. We used an Android application, Jeu de verbes (Marquis et al.,
      2012), with six verbs in each of four past participle categories (ending in -e, 
      i, -u, and other irregulars). We compared their results and error types to those
      of control children (from Marquis, 2012-2014) matched for gender, age, languages
      spoken at home, and parental education. Results show that children with SLI do
      not master the passe compose in the same way as typical French children do, at
      later ages than previously shown in the literature. This task shows potential for
      oral language screening in French-speaking children in kindergarten and first
      grade, independently of language background.

PMID- 28590145
TI  - Hypertension and hyperglycemia and the combination thereof enhances the incidence
      of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in middle-aged and older males.
AB  - AIM: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) may be an etiologic cause of aging,
      hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), and metabolic syndrome. However, the
      influence of these cardiovascular risk factors and their combination on the
      development of CKD remains controversial. This retrospective study evaluated the
      influence of cardiovascular risk factors and their combination on the incidence
      of CKD during a 6-year follow-up period in middle-aged and older males. METHODS:
      The subjects were 303 males without a history of cardiovascular disease, stroke,
      renal dysfunction, or dialysis treatment. A biochemical analysis, blood pressure
      (BP) analysis, and anthropometry measurements were performed every year, and the
      classification of CKD was also assessed based on the estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (<60 ml/min/1.73 m2) and/or presence of proteinuria. RESULTS:
      After 6 years, the incidence of CKD was noted in 32 subjects. According to a
      multivariable analysis, hypertension (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.95, 95% confidence of
      interval [CI]: 1.64-9.49, p = 0.002) and hyperglycemia (HR: 3.27, 95% CI: 1.42
      7.56, p = 0.006) were significantly associated with the incidence of CKD.
      According to a Cox proportional hazards model, the HR for the incidence of CKD
      was significantly higher in the combination of high-normal BP/hypertension and
      impaired fasting glucose/DM group than in the combination of normotensive and
      normal glucose tolerance group (HR: 7.16, 95% CI: 2.43-17.25, p = 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the hypertension and hyperglycemia and
      their combination may be associated with the incidence of CKD.

PMID- 28590147
TI  - Screening of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with schizophrenia and
      patients treated with antipsychotic drugs: are we equally exhaustive as with the
      general population?
AB  - : Many studies have previously shown increased cardiovascular risk factors
      related to schizophrenia independently from the use of antipsychotic drugs.
      However, a poorer effort in clinical detection and management of cardiovascular
      risk in patients with severe mental illness could also explain these results. To
      test this hypothesis, we analyzed the differences in screening and incidence of
      cardiovascular risk factors between schizophrenia, non-schizophrenic patients on
      treatment with antipsychotic drugs (NS-TAD) and the general population. Data from
      adult subjects assessed by high-quality register general practitioners from 2006
      to 2011 were extracted from the Catalonian SIDIAP database. The schizophrenia, NS
      TAD, and control groups were compared in terms of measurements and incidence of
      diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, hypertension, and smoking. A total of 4911
      patients in the schizophrenia group, 4157 in NS-TAD group, and 98644 in the
      control group were included. Schizophrenia patients were screened for
      dyslipidemia and diabetes more frequently than the control group, while for
      obesity or hypertension, they were screened equal to controls. Also, as compared
      to the control group, the NS-TAD group was more frequently screened for obesity
      with no differences in dyslipidemia and diabetes and less frequently for
      hypertension. Smoking was less frequently screened in both study groups. The
      incidence of all risk factors studied in both study groups was higher than or
      equal to the control group, except for hypertension, which had lower incidence.
      The lack of screening of risk factors does not appear decisive in the increased
      cardiovascular risk of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia seen in primary
      care. Studies evaluating the possible under diagnosis of the risk factors are
      required. ABBREVIATIONS: Schizophrenia (SZ); Treatment with antipsychotic drugs
      (TAD); Cardiovascular risk factor/s (CVRF); Without schizophrenia but on therapy
      with antipsychotic drugs (NS-TAD); Defined Daily Dose (DDD).

PMID- 28590148
TI  - The phonological memory profile of preschool children who make atypical speech
      sound errors.
AB  - Previous research indicates that children with speech sound disorders (SSD) have
      underlying phonological memory deficits. The SSD population, however, is diverse.
      While children who make consistent atypical speech errors (phonological
      disorder/PhDis) are known to have executive function deficits in rule abstraction
      and cognitive flexibility, little is known about their memory profile. Sixteen
      monolingual preschool children with atypical speech errors (PhDis) were matched
      individually to age-and-gender peers with typically developing speech (TDS). The
      two groups were compared on forward recall of familiar words (pointing response),
      reverse recall of familiar words (pointing response), and reverse recall of
      digits (spoken response) and a receptive vocabulary task. There were no
      differences between children with TDS and children with PhDis on forward recall
      or vocabulary tasks. However, children with TDS significantly outperformed
      children with PhDis on the two reverse recall tasks. Findings suggest that
      atypical speech errors are associated with impaired phonological working memory,
      implicating executive function impairment in specific subtypes of SSD.

PMID- 28590149
TI  - Objective working hour characteristics and work-life conflict among hospital
      employees in the Finnish public sector study.
AB  - This epidemiological cohort study, based on Finnish public sector data,
      investigated the associations between objective working hour characteristics and
      work-life conflict in day and shift work. The comprehensive data of hospital
      workers (n = 8 931, 92% women, average age 45 years), consisted of survey
      responses from 2012, linked with the payroll data of working hour characteristics
      from 91 days preceding the survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to
      investigate the associations between working hour characteristics and
      experiencing work-life conflict often/very often. The analyses were adjusted for
      age (< 39, 40-49 and >50 years), sex, level of education, marital status, number
      of small (0-6 years) and school-aged (7-18 years) children, and the overall
      stressfulness of the life situation. We also conducted stratified analyses of age
      and sex on the basis of significant interactions. Difficulties in combining work
      and life were more often associated with shift work without night shifts and
      shift work with night shifts than with day work (41% and 34 versus 27%; OR for
      shift work with night shifts 1.78, 95% CI 1.59-2.00, OR for shift work without
      night shifts 1.42, 95% CI 1.26-1.60). A high proportion (> 25%) of long (> 40h,
      (OR 1.26, 95% 1.14-1.39) and very long (> 48h, OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15-1.49) weekly
      working hours were associated with work-life conflict, and in the stratified
      analysis, the latter was also true among women (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.25-1.89). Of
      the unsocial working hour characteristics, a relatively large amount (> 10% of
      all shifts) of evening (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.41-1.72) and night shifts (OR 1.46,
      95%CI 1.32-1.61), a high proportion (> 25% of all shifts) of quick returns (<
      11h) (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.31-1.63), and weekend work (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.31-1.58)
      were associated with work-life conflict. A large amount of single days off (> 25%
      of all days off) was associated with work-life conflict among men (OR 1.90, 95%
      CI 1.11-3.25), but not in the whole sample. When the two types of shift work were
      analyzed separately, shift work without night shifts and very long work weeks had
      higher odds (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.20-1.80) of work-life conflict than shift work
      with night shifts. Conversely, weekend work and evening shifts had higher odds of
      work-life conflict among shift workers with night shifts (OR 1.74, 95% 1.55-1.96;
      (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.40-1.77) than among those without night shifts. To conclude,
      this study shows that shift workers with and without night shifts more often have
      difficulties combining work and life than day workers. Several unsocial working
      hour characteristics, including long work weeks, evening and night shifts,
      weekend work, and quick returns, are associated with work-life conflict.

PMID- 28590150
TI  - Impact of home-based, patient-centered support for people with advanced illness
      in an open health system: A retrospective claims analysis of health expenditures,
      utilization, and quality of care at end of life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Home-based care coordination and support programs for people with
      advanced illness work alongside usual care to promote personal care goals, which
      usually include a preference for home-based end-of-life care. More research is
      needed to confirm the efficacy of these programs, especially when disseminated on
      a large scale. Advanced Illness Management is one such program, implemented
      within a large open health system in northern California, USA. AIM: To evaluate
      the impact of Advanced Illness Management on end-of-life resource utilization,
      cost of care, and care quality, as indicators of program success in supporting
      patient care goals. DESIGN: A retrospective-matched observational study analyzing
      medical claims in the final 3 months of life. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Medicare fee
      for-service 2010-2014 decedents in northern California, USA. RESULTS: Final month
      total expenditures for Advanced Illness Management enrollees ( N = 1352) were
      reduced by US$4824 (US$3379, US$6268) and inpatient payments by US$6127 (US$4874,
      US$7682). Enrollees also experienced 150 fewer hospitalizations/1000 (101, 198)
      and 1361 fewer hospital days/1000 (998, 1725). The percentage of hospice
      enrollees increased by 17.9 percentage points (14.7, 21.0), hospital deaths
      decreased by 8.2 percentage points (5.5, 10.8), and intensive care unit deaths
      decreased by 7.1 percentage points (5.2, 8.9). End-of-life chemotherapy use and
      non-inpatient expenditures in months 2 and 3 prior to death did not differ
      significantly from the control group. CONCLUSION: Advanced Illness Management has
      a positive impact on inpatient utilization, cost of care, hospice enrollment, and
      site of death. This suggests that home-based support programs for people with
      advanced illness can be successful on a large scale in supporting personal end-of
      life care choices.

PMID- 28590151
TI  - Characterization of a novel modification of a CHO-produced mAb: Evidence for the
      presence of tyrosine sulfation.
AB  - Herein we describe the investigation of a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-expressed
      human mAb molecule found partially modified by a +80 Da adduct. This mass
      difference, suggestive of a single sulfation or phosphorylation addition, was
      observed by mass analysis of the intact and reduced molecule by mass spectrometry
      (MS). The modification was located on tyrosine 31 (Y31) of the light chain in the
      complementarity-determining region 1 by liquid chromatography (LC)-MS peptide
      mapping and electron transfer dissociation fragmentation. The complete loss of
      the 80 Da modification moiety during collision induced dissociation fragmentation
      suggested this modification could not be a tyrosine phosphorylation. Treatment of
      the mAb with alkaline phosphatase confirmed our hypothesis. Western blot
      experiment using anti-tyrosine sulfation antibody and LC retention time
      correlation with corresponding synthetic sulfated peptides further confirmed the
      identification of tyrosine sulfation on the light chain. The unique sequence
      motif with neighboring acidic amino acids and local secondary structure might
      play a role to make Y31 a substrate residue for sulfation. This type of
      modification, to our knowledge, has not been previously reported for CHO-produced
      human IgG antibodies.

PMID- 28590152
TI  - Workers' sleep condition and related disorders in Japan: an analysis based on
      health insurance claim data and questionnaire.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to clarify the sleep disorders and sleep conditions
      among workers in a company through descriptive statistics. We analyzed the data
      of individuals with suspected sleep disorders based on the 1-year outpatient
      health insurance claim data of 2803 employees in a company in Japan. We conducted
      a questionnaire survey to determine the sleep condition and drug usage of the
      same participants. Claim data of 339 employees (12.1%) were selected for
      analysis, and the breakdown of diseases comprised 153 (5.5%) with sleep
      disorders, 149 (5.3%) with headache, 119 (4.2%) with depression and 17 (0.6%)
      with autonomic imbalance. We recovered 2608 questionnaire responses (93.0%) and
      found that 1852 subjects (71.0%) were aware of insomnia symptoms within 1 year.
      Our findings highlight the prevalence of sleep disorders and drug usage among
      workers in a company, and the conditions of these disorders, including awareness
      of insomnia.

PMID- 28590154
TI  - Practice parameters facilitating adoption of advanced technologies for enhancing
      neuropsychological assessment paradigms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Clinical neuropsychologists have long underutilized computer
      technologies for neuropsychological assessment. Given the rapid advances in
      technology (e.g. virtual reality; tablets; iPhones) and the increased
      accessibility in the past decade, there is an on-going need to identify optimal
      specifications for advanced technologies while minimizing potential sources of
      error. Herein, we discuss concerns raised by a joint American Academy of Clinical
      Neuropsychology/National Academy of Neuropsychology position paper. Moreover, we
      proffer parameters for the development and use of advanced technologies in
      neuropsychological assessments. METHOD: We aim to first describe software and
      hardware configurations that can impact a computerized neuropsychological
      assessment. This is followed by a description of best practices for developers
      and practicing neuropsychologists to minimize error in neuropsychological
      assessments using advanced technologies. We also discuss the relevance of
      weighing potential computer error in light of possible errors associated with
      traditional testing. Throughout there is an emphasis on the need for developers
      to provide bench test results for their software's performance on various devices
      and minimum specifications (documented in manuals) for the hardware (e.g.
      computer, monitor, input devices) in the neuropsychologist's practice.
      CONCLUSION: Advances in computerized assessment platforms offer both
      opportunities and challenges. The challenges can appear daunting but are a
      manageable and require informed consumers who can appreciate the issues and ask
      pertinent questions in evaluating their options.

PMID- 28590153
TI  - Is it acceptable to video-record palliative care consultations for research and
      training purposes? A qualitative interview study exploring the views of hospice
      patients, carers and clinical staff.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research using video recordings can advance understanding of
      healthcare communication and improve care, but making and using video recordings
      carries risks. AIM: To explore views of hospice patients, carers and clinical
      staff about whether videoing patient-doctor consultations is acceptable for
      research and training purposes. DESIGN: We used semi-structured group and
      individual interviews to gather hospice patients, carers and clinical staff
      views. We used Braun and Clark's thematic analysis. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:
      Interviews were conducted at one English hospice to inform the development of a
      larger video-based study. We invited patients with capacity to consent and whom
      the care team judged were neither acutely unwell nor severely distressed (11),
      carers of current or past patients (5), palliative medicine doctors (7), senior
      nurses (4) and communication skills educators (5). RESULTS: Participants viewed
      video-based research on communication as valuable because of its potential to
      improve communication, care and staff training. Video-based research raised
      concerns including its potential to affect the nature and content of the
      consultation and threats to confidentiality; however, these were not seen as
      sufficient grounds for rejecting video-based research. Video-based research was
      seen as acceptable and useful providing that measures are taken to reduce
      possible risks across the recruitment, recording and dissemination phases of the
      research process. CONCLUSION: Video-based research is an acceptable and
      worthwhile way of investigating communication in palliative medicine. Situated
      judgements should be made about when it is appropriate to involve individual
      patients and carers in video-based research on the basis of their level of
      vulnerability and ability to freely consent.

PMID- 28590155
TI  - Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing and Metabolic Myopathies.
AB  - Skeletal muscle requires a large increase in its ATP production to meet the
      energy needs of exercise. Normally, most of this increase in ATP is supplied by
      the aerobic process of oxidative phosphorylation. The main defects in muscle
      metabolism that interfere with production of ATP are (1) disorders of
      glycogenolysis and glycolysis, which prevent both carbohydrate entering the
      tricarboxylic acid cycle and the production of lactic acid; (2) mitochondrial
      myopathies where the defect is usually within the electron transport chain,
      reducing the rate of oxidative phosphorylation; and (3) disorders of lipid
      metabolism. Gas exchange measurements derived from exhaled gas analysis during
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing can identify defects in muscle metabolism
      because [Formula: see text]o2 and [Formula: see text]co2 are abnormal at the
      level of the muscle. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing may thus suggest a likely
      diagnosis and guide additional investigation. Defects in glycogenolysis and
      glycolysis are identified by a low peak [Formula: see text]o2 and absence of
      excess [Formula: see text]co2 from buffering of lactic acid by bicarbonate.
      Defects in the electron transport chain also result in low peak [Formula: see
      text]o2, but because there is an overreliance on anaerobic processes, lactic acid
      accumulation and excess carbon dioxide from buffering occur early during
      exercise. Defects in lipid metabolism result in only minor abnormalities during
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing. In defects of glycogenolysis and glycolysis and
      in mitochondrial myopathies, other features may include an exaggerated
      cardiovascular response to exercise, a low oxygen-pulse, and excessive ammonia
      release.

PMID- 28590156
TI  - Hearing loss after platinum treatment is irreversible in noncranial irradiated
      childhood cancer survivors.
AB  - Cisplatin and carboplatin are effective antineoplastic agents. They are also
      considered to be potentially highly ototoxic. To date, no long-term follow-up
      data from well-documented cohorts with substantial numbers of childhood cancer
      survivors (CCS) with platinum-related hearing loss are available. Therefore, in
      this study, we studied the reversibility of ototoxicity from discontinuation of
      treatment onwards in a national cohort of platinum-treated survivors with hearing
      loss at the end of cancer treatment. Of the 168 CCS with follow-up audiograms, we
      longitudinally evaluated the course of hearing function in 61 CCS who showed
      hearing impairment at discontinuation of treatment according to the Munster
      criteria (>20 dB at >=4-8 kHz). Survivors were treated with platinum (median
      total cumulative dose cisplatin: 480 mg/m2 and median total cumulative dose
      carboplatin: 2520 mg/m2). Median follow-up time was 5.5 years (range: 1.0-28.8
      years). The results showed that none of these survivors revealed improvement of
      hearing function even till 28.8 years after discontinuation of treatment (grade
      <2b during long-term follow-up). An increase in hearing loss with two or three
      Munster degrees was observed in five of 61 survivors after 1.6-19.6 years.
      Overall, this indicates that ototoxicity after platinum treatment may be
      irreversible and that longitudinal clinical audiological monitoring and care is
      required in long-term survivors of childhood cancer on a large scale.

PMID- 28590157
TI  - Pilot randomised controlled trial of focused narrative intervention for moderate
      to severe depression in palliative care patients: DISCERN trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression is poorly detected and sub-optimally managed in palliative
      care patients, and few trials of psychosocial interventions have been carried out
      in this group of patients. AIMS: A pilot trial to determine the effect of a
      focused narrative intervention on depression in palliative care patients when
      used in addition to usual care. DESIGN: Patients scoring 10 or higher on Patient
      Health Questionnaire-9 randomised to focused narrative intervention in addition
      to usual care or usual care only and followed up at 2, 4 and 6 weeks. A reduction
      of five points on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was regarded as clinically
      significant response to treatment. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Palliative care patients
      aged over 18 recruited from hospice day care services - exclusion criteria
      included an estimated prognosis of 6 weeks or less, cognitive impairment and
      unable to understand written or spoken English. RESULTS: Out of 57 participating
      patients (71% female), with mean age 65.1 years (range 36-88 years), 33 patients
      were randomised to the intervention and 24 to usual care only. Mean Patient
      Health Questionnaire-9 score at baseline was 16.4. Patients receiving
      intervention had greater reduction in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score at 6
      week follow-up ( p = 0.04). Median survival was 157 days for intervention and 102
      days for control group patients ( p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: This pilot trial
      suggests a focused narrative intervention in palliative care patients with
      moderate to severe depression can reduce depression scores more than usual care
      alone. Patients receiving intervention appeared to have longer survival. These
      results support the need for a fully powered trial.

PMID- 28590158
TI  - Relationship between total polar components and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
      in fried edible oil.
AB  - Deep-fried dough sticks (a Chinese traditional breakfast) were fried individually
      in peanut, sunflower, rapeseed, rice bran, soybean and palm oil without any time
      lag for 32 h (64 batches fried, each for 30 min) and fried oil samples were
      obtained every 2 h. The frying-induced changes in the levels of total polar
      compounds (TPC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated by
      edible oil polar compounds (EOPC) fast separation chromatographic system and gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), respectively. The correlations were
      analysed of TPC with benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), TPC and PAH4 (benzo[a]anthracene,
      chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene) as well as TPC with PAH16
      (USEPA 16 PAHs). The results revealed that the levels of TPC and PAHs in fried
      oil considerably increased with frying time, and the type of oil affected their
      formation, which could inform the choice of oil for frying. The total BaP
      equivalents (?BaPeq) concentrations in fresh oil and in oil whose TPC exceeded
      27% were 2.14-13.48 and 5.78-10.80 MUg kg-1, respectively, which means that the
      carcinogenic potency of frying oil was more pronounced than that of fresh oil. In
      addition, the TPC concentration was significantly correlated with the
      concentrations of the sum of the 16 PAHs, PAH4 and BaP, so that the levels of
      PAHs could be predicted according to the levels of TPC in fried oil. In European
      standards, the rejection point for TPC in frying oil should be recalculated when
      considered PAHs. In all, the concentration of PAHs is a vital factor for ensuring
      the safety of frying oil.

PMID- 28590159
TI  - Which patients die in their preferred place? A secondary analysis of
      questionnaire data from bereaved relatives.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies on factors influencing the place of death have
      focused on cancer patients dying at home. However, home is not always the
      preferred place. AIM: To provide insight into the extent to which patients with
      various diseases die in their preferred place and into factors associated with
      dying in the preferred place. DESIGN: A secondary analysis of the data set of the
      evaluation study of the National Quality Improvement Programme for Palliative
      Care was undertaken to explore factors related to 'dying in the preferred place'.
      SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A total of 797 bereaved relatives filled in the Consumer
      Quality Index Palliative Care, a validated and reliable questionnaire. RESULTS:
      Two-thirds of the patients died in the preferred place. A preference for dying at
      home and having had a stroke decreased the likelihood of dying in the preferred
      place, while having a partner, dementia, contact with the general practitioner in
      the last week before death, and continuity of care between professionals
      increased the likelihood of dying in the preferred place. Furthermore, people who
      wanted to die at home and also had dementia were more likely to die elsewhere
      than people without dementia who wanted to die at home. CONCLUSION: Positive
      associations were found between continuity of care between healthcare
      professionals and contact with the general practitioner and the chance of people
      dying in their preferred place. Moreover, special attention for people who have
      had a stroke and for people with dementia who want to die at home seems indicated
      as their diagnosis is negatively associated with dying in their preferred place.

PMID- 28590160
TI  - The effect of caster types on global rolling resistance in manual wheelchairs on
      indoor and outdoor surfaces.
AB  - An important aspect of reducing the strain of wheeling is to decrease rolling
      resistance. Previous laboratory research, using a treadmill, determined that
      smaller casters significantly increased rolling resistance. The purpose of this
      study was to determine the effect of caster size on various indoor and outdoor
      surfaces on global wheelchair rolling resistance. Three caster types with sizes 4
      in, 5 in, and 6 in, three indoor surfaces, and three outdoor surfaces were
      studied. A manual wheelchair was passively pulled along each surface at 1.11 m/s
      (3.64 ft/s) by a power wheelchair, and the global rolling resistance of the
      manual wheelchair was measured using a calibrated force transducer. A 3*3
      repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for both indoor and
      outdoor environments. The 4-in casters resulted in the highest global rolling
      resistance on most surfaces. The 5-in casters had the least rolling resistance on
      most indoor surfaces, and the 6-in casters had the least rolling resistance on
      most outdoor surfaces. Although 4-in casters are more popular among active
      wheelchair users, larger casters were shown to have lower rolling resistance on
      most surfaces. This study may help users select the best caster size depending
      upon their daily activities and lifestyle.

PMID- 28590161
TI  - Nitrogen and phosphorus treatment of marine wastewater by a laboratory-scale
      sequencing batch reactor with eco-friendly marine high-efficiency sediment.
AB  - : We screened and identified a NH3-N-removing bacterial strain, Bacillus sp.
      KGN1, and a [Formula: see text] removing strain, Vibrio sp. KGP1, from 960
      indigenous marine isolates from seawater and marine sediment from Tongyeong,
      South Korea. We developed eco-friendly high-efficiency marine sludge (eco-HEMS),
      and inoculated these marine bacterial strains into the marine sediment. A
      laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system using the eco-HEMS for
      marine wastewater from land-based fish farms improved the treatment performance
      as indicated by 88.2% removal efficiency (RE) of total nitrogen (initial: 5.6
      mg/L) and 90.6% RE of total phosphorus (initial: 1.2 mg/L) under the optimal
      operation conditions (food and microorganism (F/M) ratio, 0.35 g SCODCr/g mixed
      liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS).d; dissolved oxygen (DO) 1.0 +/- 0.2
      mg/L; hydraulic retention time (HRT), 6.6 h; solids retention time (SRT), 12 d).
      The following kinetic parameters were obtained: cell yield (Y), 0.29 g MLVSS/g
      SCODCr; specific growth rate (u), 0.06 d-1; specific nitrification rate (SNR),
      0.49 mg NH3-N/g MLVSS.h; specific denitrification rate (SDNR), 0.005 mg [Formula:
      see text]/g MLVSS.h; specific phosphorus uptake rate (SPUR), 0.12 mg [Formula:
      see text]/g MLVSS.h. The nitrogen- and phosphorus-removing bacterial strains
      comprised 18.4% of distribution rate in the microbial community of eco-HEMS under
      the optimal operation conditions. Therefore, eco-HEMS effectively removed
      nitrogen and phosphorus from highly saline marine wastewater from land-based fish
      farms with improving SNR, SDNR, and SPUR values in more diverse microbial
      communities. ABBREVIATIONS: DO: dissolved oxygen; Eco-HEMS: eco-friendly high
      efficiency marine sludge; F/M: food and microorganism ratio; HRT: hydraulic
      retention time; ML(V)SS: mixed liquor (volatile) suspended solids; NCBI: National
      Center for Biotechnology Information; ND: not determined; qPCR: quantitative real
      time polymerase chain reaction; RE: removal efficiency; SBR: sequencing batch
      reactor; SD: standard deviation; SDNR: specific denitrification rate; SNR:
      specific nitrification rate; SPUR: specific phosphate uptake rate; SRT: solids
      retention time; T-N: total nitrogen; T-P: total phosphorus; (V)SS: (volatile)
      suspended solids; w.w.: wet weight.

PMID- 28590162
TI  - Exercise Testing, Supplemental Oxygen, and Hypoxia.
AB  - Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in hyperoxia and hypoxia has several
      applications, stemming from characterization of abnormal physiological response
      profiles associated with exercise intolerance. As altered oxygenation can impact
      the performance of gas-concentration and flow sensors and pulmonary gas exchange
      algorithms, integrated CPET system function requires validation under these
      conditions. Also, as oxygenation status can influence peak [Formula: see text]o2,
      care should be taken in the selection of work-rate incrementation rates when CPET
      performance is to be compared with normobaria at sea level. CPET has been used to
      evaluate the effects of supplemental O2 on exercise intolerance in chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, and cystic
      fibrosis at sea level. However, identification of those CPET indices likely to be
      predictive of supplemental O2 outcomes for exercise tolerance at altitude in such
      patients is lacking. CPET performance with supplemental O2 in respiratory
      patients residing at high altitudes is also poorly studied. Finally, CPET has the
      potential to give physiological and clinical information about acute and chronic
      mountain sickness, high-altitude pulmonary edema, and high-altitude cerebral
      edema. It may also translate high-altitude acclimatization and adaptive processes
      in healthy individuals into intensive care medical practice.

PMID- 28590163
TI  - Merotelic kinetochore attachment in oocyte meiosis II causes sister chromatids
      segregation errors in aged mice.
AB  - Mammalian oocyte chromosomes undergo 2 meiotic divisions to generate haploid
      gametes. The frequency of chromosome segregation errors during meiosis I increase
      with age. However, little attention has been paid to the question of how aging
      affects sister chromatid segregation during oocyte meiosis II. More importantly,
      how aneuploid metaphase II (MII) oocytes from aged mice evade the spindle
      assembly checkpoint (SAC) mechanism to complete later meiosis II to form
      aneuploid embryos remains unknown. Here, we report that MII oocytes from
      naturally aged mice exhibited substantial errors in chromosome arrangement and
      configuration compared with young MII oocytes. Interestingly, these errors in
      aged oocytes had no impact on anaphase II onset and completion as well as 2-cell
      formation after parthenogenetic activation. Further study found that merotelic
      kinetochore attachment occurred more frequently and could stabilize the
      kinetochore-microtubule interaction to ensure SAC inactivation and anaphase II
      onset in aged MII oocytes. This orientation could persist largely during anaphase
      II in aged oocytes, leading to severe chromosome lagging and trailing as well as
      delay of anaphase II completion. Therefore, merotelic kinetochore attachment in
      oocyte meiosis II exacerbates age-related genetic instability and is a key source
      of age-dependent embryo aneuploidy and dysplasia.

PMID- 28590164
TI  - Care of the Critically Ill Burn Patient. An Overview from the Perspective of
      Optimizing Palliative Care.
AB  - Burn specialists have long recognized the need for and have role modeled a
      comprehensive approach incorporating relief of distress as part of care during
      critical illness. More recently, palliative care specialists have become part of
      the healthcare team in many U.S. hospitals, especially larger academic
      institutions that are more likely to have designated burn centers. No current
      literature describes the intersection of palliative care and burn care or
      integration of primary and specialist palliative care in this unique context.
      This Perspective gives an overview of burn care; focuses on pain and other
      symptoms in burn intensive care unit settings; addresses special needs of
      critically ill burned patients, their families, and clinicians for high-quality
      palliative care; and highlights potential benefits of integrating primary and
      specialist palliative care in burn critical care. MEDLINE and the Cumulative
      Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were searched, and an e-mail survey
      was used to obtain information from U.S. Burn Fellowship Program directors about
      palliative medicine training. The Improving Palliative Care in the Intensive Care
      Unit Project Advisory Board synthesized published evidence with their own
      research and clinical experience in preparing this article. Mortality and severe
      morbidity for critically ill burned patients remains high. American Burn
      Association guidelines lay the foundation for a robust system of palliative care
      delivery, embedding palliative care principles and processes in intensive care by
      burn providers. Understanding basic burn care, challenges for symptom management
      and communication, and the culture of the particular burn unit, can optimize
      quality and integration of primary and specialist palliative care in this
      distinctive setting.

PMID- 28590165
TI  - The complex relationship between household income of family caregivers, access to
      palliative care services and place of death: A national household population
      survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous work shows that more affluent patients with cancer are more
      likely to die at home, whereas those dying from non-cancer conditions are more
      likely to die in hospital. Family caregivers are an important factor in
      determining place of death. AIM: To investigate associations between family
      caregivers' household income, patients' access to specialist palliative care and
      place of patients' death, by level of personal end-of-life care. DESIGN: A cross
      sectional community household population survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:
      Respondents to the Household Survey for England. RESULTS: One-third of 1265
      bereaved respondents had provided personal end-of-life care (caregivers) (30%).
      Just over half (55%) of decedents accessed palliative care services and 15% died
      in a hospice. Place of death and access to palliative care were strongly related
      ( p < 0.001). Palliative care services reduced the proportion of deaths in
      hospital ( p < 0.001), and decedents accessing palliative care were more likely
      to die at home than those who did not ( p < 0.001). Respondents' income was not
      associated with palliative care access ( p = 0.233). Overall, respondents' income
      and home death were not related ( p = 0.106), but decedents with caregivers in
      the highest income group were least likely to die at home ( p = 0.069).
      CONCLUSION: For people who had someone close to them die, decedents' access to
      palliative care services was associated with fewer deaths in hospital and more
      home deaths. Respondents' income was unrelated to care recipients' place of death
      when adjusted for palliative care access. When only caregivers were considered,
      decedents with caregivers from higher income quartiles were the least likely to
      die at home. Family caregivers from higher income brackets are likely to be
      powerful patient advocates. Caregiver information needs must be addressed
      especially with regard to stage of disease, aim of care and appropriate
      interventions at the end of life.

PMID- 28590166
TI  - Teduglutide-induced stem cell function in intestinal repair.
AB  - Malabsorption is a major and common clinical characteristics of short bowel
      syndrome (SBS) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Traditional treatment
      opportunities have focused on decreasing malabsorptive losses via dietary
      modifications and antisecretory/antidiarrheal agents. However, novel therapeutic
      modalities aim to enhance the absorptive capacity of the residual bowel by the
      administration of different intestinal growth factors including teduglutide. In a
      current study the existence of two distinct functional putative epithelial stem
      cell subpopulations (i.e. Lgr5+/Bmi1- and Lgr5-/Bmi1+) have been described in a
      rat model of ileal resection and anastomosis. The described epithelial stem cell
      subpopulations displayed distinct behaviour after surgical injury and teduglutide
      administration. Though teduglutide was found to be clinically effective, we must
      keep in mind that growth factors theoretically may provoke adenoma development
      and subsequent malignant transformation. The present results give us a better
      insight into the role of stem cell modulation in intestinal repair. Based on
      these results new perioperative adjuvant pharmacological approaches may be
      developed for SBS and IBD patients to reduce the clinical symptoms and
      complications of associated malabsorption.

PMID- 28590167
TI  - Effects of In Vivo and In Vitro Treatment of Ascaris suum Eggs with Anthelmintic
      Agents on Embryonation and Infectivity for Mice.
AB  - Ascaris suum is an important intestinal nematode causing economic losses in
      swine. Anthelminthic treatment is used to control A. suum infections and is part
      of normal production practices. Treatment with anthelminthic agents results in
      expulsion of adult worms from the intestinal tract and ends further contamination
      of the environment with eggs. The present study was conducted to determine the
      effects of drug treatment on the embryonation of A. suum eggs collected from
      worms obtained from pigs treated with 4 different commercially available
      anthelmintics. The effects of treatment with abamectin, doramectin, ivermectin,
      flubendazole, or no treatment on embryonation of A. suum eggs collected from
      female A. suum expelled in the feces was determined. The embryonation of eggs
      obtained from pigs treated with abamectin, doramectin, and ivermectin was not
      significantly (P > 0.05) different from eggs from non-treated control pigs. In
      contrast, the embryonation of A. suum eggs collected from worms from pigs treated
      with flubendazole demonstrated inhibited development, and most eggs remained in
      the 1-cell stage (85.5%) and only 6.3% of eggs developed larvae. In another
      experiment, we examined the direct effects of doramectin and flubendazole added
      to solutions of A. suum eggs collected from non-treated control pigs. Egg
      cultures were exposed to direct in vitro treatment with 0.04-parts per million
      (ppm) doramectin or 1.0-ppm flubendazole for 24 hr (highest concentrations [Cmax]
      of drugs in serum) and then embryonation and infectivity for mice was determined.
      Treatment of eggs in vitro did not significantly effect (P > 0.05) larval
      development or oral infectivity for mice. Our study demonstrates that
      flubendazole fed to pigs results in inhibited embryonation of A. suum eggs.
      However, direct treatment of A. suum eggs in culture for 24 hr with flubendazole
      did not inhibit embryonation or oral infectivity of in vitro treated eggs.
      Anthelmintic treatment of pigs in vivo with abamectin, doramectin, and ivermectin
      had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on embryonation of A. suum eggs, and 24 hr
      treatment with doramectin in vitro had no direct effects (P > 0.05) on
      embryonation or oral infectivity of A. suum eggs.

PMID- 28590168
TI  - Experimental Life-Cycle of Varestrongylus eleguneniensis (Nematoda:
      Protostrongylidae) in a Captive Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and a
      Muskox (Ovibos moschatus moschatus).
AB  - The life-cycle of a recently described protostrongylid lungworm, Varestrongylus
      eleguneniensis, which infects caribou, muskoxen, and moose from Arctic and boreal
      regions of North America, was completed experimentally for the first time. A
      native North American slug species, Deroceras laeve, was infected with the first
      stage larvae (L1) isolated from the feces of wild muskoxen to generate third
      stage larvae (L3). These were administered to a captive reindeer calf (250 L3)
      and an adult captive muskox (380 L3). The prepatent periods for the reindeer and
      muskox were 56 and 72 days, respectively. Patency lasted for only 19 days in the
      reindeer, and fecal larval counts were very low (0.09-1.53 larvae per gram of
      feces). Patency in the muskox was at least 210 days, and likely over 653 days,
      and the fecal larval counts were higher (0.06-17.8 larvae per gram of feces).
      This work provides the first experimental completion of the life-cycle of V.
      eleguneniensis.

PMID- 28590202
TI  - Editorial: Mental Health in Prisons.

PMID- 28590201
TI  - Improved sequence variant analysis strategy by automated false positive removal.
AB  - Sequence variant analysis (SVA) is critical in therapeutic protein development
      because it ensures the absence of genetic mutations of a production clone or high
      level misincorporations during cell culture. While software for searching
      sequence variants from mass spectrometry data are available, effectively
      distinguishing true positives from a large number of false positives in the
      reported hits or identifications found in the error tolerant search mode is a
      challenge. This verification process must be done manually and can take several
      days or even weeks to accomplish. We report here the use of a Perl-based script
      to evaluate every identified hit to remove the false positives from the search
      results of PepFinderTM (also known as MassAnalyzer) based on orthogonal criteria.
      Our data show that the false positives from PepFinderTM output were reduced ~4
      fold without loss of accuracy in the detection of true identifications,
      representing a more than 70% reduction in time compared with the manual data
      verification process.

PMID- 28590203
TI  - Manifest Dream Content as a Predictor of Suicidality.
AB  - A number of behavioral, social, biological, and cultural factors are associated
      with suicide. However, the ability to predict an imminent suicide attempt remains
      problematic. Prior studies indicate that the manifest dream content of depressed,
      non-suicidal patients differs from that of depressed, suicidal patients. The
      dream imagery of depressed, suicidal patients contains themes of death, dying,
      violence, and departure. The dream imagery of depressed, non-suicidal patients
      contains themes of rejection, helplessness, hopelessness, humiliation, failure,
      and loss. In the present study, the dream reports of 52 depressed patients were
      collected and rated for various themes. Patients were divided into three groups:
      Depressed and non-suicidal; Depressed, with suicidal ideation; Depressed, with
      suicidal ideation and/or attempt(s). Themes of death and/or dying, and to a
      lesser extent, themes of violence, injury, and/or murder occurred with greater
      frequency in the dream reports of depressed patients with suicidal ideation
      and/or attempts, than in the dream reports of depressed patients without suicidal
      ideation or behavior. These observations correspond with the prevailing
      psychodynamic explanation of suicide; namely, that it is a murderous attack on
      the self that is identified with hated internalized objects.

PMID- 28590204
TI  - Differentiation Between Schizophreniform Configurations and Psychotic Personality
      Structures.
AB  - The symptom overlap between primary psychotic and severe personality disorders
      renders timely diagnosis challenging, which often results in ambiguous treatment
      and poorly defined outcomes. Kernberg's (1984) structural model of personality,
      treating symptoms as a non-pathognomonic higher order construct, has much
      contributed to our understanding of the nature of some severe disorders,
      highlighting fundamental facets of personality function. However, the model's
      main focus is on borderline personality organization and thus offers an
      incomplete formulation of psychotic structure. With regard to the psychotic
      structure, two distinct pathological disorders are currently confounded and need
      to be distinguished: (1) the authentic psychotic structures, mainly resulting
      from failures in early relational and affective development, and (2)
      schizophreniform configurations, mostly derived from a neurodevelopmental
      etiology. This differentiation, while specifying the notion of psychotic
      personality structure, takes into consideration: (a) the role of temperament
      bias, hypersensitity in particular; (b) dissimilar productions in response to
      projective testing, such as the Rorschach inkblot test; (c) differential
      processes in response to psychotherapy, including typical transferential
      manifestations; (d) differential symptom presentation. Key criteria to facilitate
      the differential diagnosis with severely regressed borderline structures are
      suggested. Clinical material illustrates the application of the proposed revised
      model. Therapeutic implications are discussed.

PMID- 28590205
TI  - Psychodynamic Treatment of the Criminal Offender: Making the Case for Longer-Term
      Treatment in a Longer-Term Setting.
AB  - In recent years, prisons and jails have become de facto psychiatric hospitals,
      responsible for the care and treatment of individuals with serious mental
      illness. Historically, cognitive-behaviorally informed therapeutic approaches
      have been the treatment of choice among mental health practitioners in
      correctional settings. However, inmate-clients often present with complex
      diagnostic issues that are arguably better served by long-term treatment options,
      such as psychodynamic psychotherapy. We first review the nature of psychotherapy
      in the correctional setting, as well as treatment barriers and challenges faced
      by both mental health providers and inmate-clients. We then review treatment
      studies that examine the efficacy of various therapeutic techniques in
      correctional/forensic contexts. Finally, we argue that, due to the complex nature
      of psychopathology, average length of time incarcerated, and treatment issues
      that arise in this multifaceted and challenging setting, mental health treatment
      providers should consider providing psychodynamic treatment modalities when
      working with incarcerated individuals. We also argue that more research is needed
      to examine the efficacy of these treatment approaches with inmate-clients.

PMID- 28590206
TI  - Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 28590207
TI  - An Integrative Approach to Treatment-Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
AB  - Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric disorder that
      often runs a chronic unremitting course. Treatment outcomes can be unsatisfactory
      despite the availability of various somatic and psychological therapies.
      Psychodynamic psychotherapy in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy
      (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP) could help patients with
      treatment-resistant OCD achieve better outcomes. An integrative approach can help
      patients gain insight, strengthen the therapeutic alliance, improve treatment
      adherence, and provide symptomatic relief when other treatments seem insufficient
      or have failed. We describe the treatment process of a person with treatment
      resistant OCD who received pharmacotherapy, concurrent CBT/ERP, and a brief
      course of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Case formulations from cognitive
      behavioral and psychodynamic perspectives are presented. The authors discuss the
      advantages of doing a psychodynamic assessment and formulation in treatment
      refractory cases and the wisdom of integrating psychotherapy interventions for
      OCD, as well as the unique clinical features of cases that warrant a multimodal
      treatment approach.

PMID- 28590208
TI  - Borderline Patients: 25 to 50 Years Later: With Commentary on Outcome Factors.
AB  - The current study concerns the long-term follow-up of 40 patients with borderline
      personality disorder. Sixteen were patients from the PI-500 study, formerly
      hospitalized at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Twenty-four had been
      from the author's private practice 25 to 50 years ago. Twenty-one of the combined
      group had first been in treatment 50 years ago. This is believed to be the
      longest follow-up period recorded for borderline patients. The main results are
      that two-thirds of the patients eventually reached the level of either clinical
      remission or clinical recovery. Reaching recovery, in the patients now in their
      60s and 70s, was associated with having life-long personality traits, as
      described in the Five-Factor Model, of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. These
      traits conduced to better outcome in forming lasting relationships and in
      workplace success. In some of the patients, genetic vulnerability to mood
      disorder (recurrent unipolar depression; bipolar disorder) was associated with
      slower improvement or to poorer outcome. Incest by an older-generation relative
      appears as another negative prognostic factor. Psychotherapy for most of the
      patients had originally been psychoanalytically oriented ("expressive"), though
      circumstances and life crises often led to the use of supportive,
      psychopharmacological, and behavioral interventions as well.

PMID- 28590209
TI  - Psychodynamic Treatment of Combat Veterans with PTSD at Risk for Suicide.
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder is a condition associated with suicide in both
      military personnel and combat veterans. Most veterans with PTSD, however, are not
      at risk of suicide. The major factor distinguishing those who attempted or were
      preoccupied with suicide is persistent severe guilt over behavior in combat while
      emotionally out of control. A 12-session short-term, psychodynamic psychotherapy,
      presented here, showed promise of success in dissipating the guilt from combat
      related actions in veterans of the war in Vietnam. Preliminary work with combat
      veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan indicates it may be equally
      successful in treating them. Basic aspects of the psychodynamic approach could
      also be incorporated into current therapies and should improve their ability to
      treat veterans with PTSD at risk for suicide. Case examples are provided.

PMID- 28590211
TI  - A systematic review of the effectiveness of palliative interventions to treat
      rectal tenesmus in cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rectal tenesmus is a distressing symptom in patients with advanced
      cancer and challenging to treat. There is lack of consensus on the appropriate
      management of tenesmus in this patient population. AIM: To identify and examine
      the effectiveness of interventions to palliate rectal tenesmus caused by advanced
      cancer when surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy are no longer treatment
      options. DESIGN: A systematic review of the literature following standard
      systematic review methodology and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic
      Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidance. DATA SOURCES: A comprehensive search of the
      electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library was conducted from
      date of inception to April 2016. PubMed 'related articles' search, grey
      literature search and hand-searches of the bibliographies of relevant papers and
      textbooks were also performed. Non-cancer patients were excluded. Any studies
      involving surgery or radiotherapy to treat tenesmus were excluded. Studies
      involving interventions to treat pelvic pain syndromes without specific outcome
      measures on severity of tenesmus were excluded. The quality of the studies was
      assessed using a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
      recommended quality assessment tool. RESULTS: From 861 studies, 9 met full
      criteria and were selected. All were case series investigating the use of
      pharmacological interventions (diltiazem, nifedipine, methadone, mexiletine
      hydrochloride, lidocaine and bupivacaine), anaesthetic interventions (lumbar
      sympathectomy, neurolytic superior hypogastric plexus block), and endoscopic
      laser interventions. The included studies showed substantial heterogeneity, and
      therefore, a meta-analysis was not feasible. CONCLUSION: From this review, we
      identified a significant gap in research into the palliation of rectal tenesmus.
      A multimodal approach may be necessary due to the complexity of the
      pathophysiology of tenesmus. Future research should focus on randomised
      controlled trials of drug therapies whose potential effectiveness is suggested by
      case series.

PMID- 28590214
TI  - First Record of Aedes albopictus in Jordan.
AB  - The presence of Aedes albopictus in Jordan is reported for the 1st time based on
      collections of larvae and adults from 7 sites representing 3 governorates (Irbid,
      Ajloun, and Balqa). Adults were recovered from around houses, while larvae were
      collected from concrete reservoirs, water tanks for irrigation, small containers,
      and water barrels. Larvae of Ae. albopictus were found along with larvae of
      Culiseta longiareolata and Culex laticinctus.

PMID- 28590212
TI  - Evidence for intermolecular domain exchange in the Fab domains of dimer and
      oligomers of an IgG1 monoclonal antibody.
AB  - Recombinant protein therapeutics have become increasingly useful in combating
      human diseases, such as cancer and those of genetic origin. One quality concern
      for protein therapeutics is the content and the structure of the aggregated
      proteins in the product, due to the potential immunogenicity of these aggregates.
      Collective efforts have led to a better understanding of some types of protein
      aggregates, and have revealed the diversity in the structure and cause of protein
      aggregation. In this work we used a broad range of analytical techniques to
      characterize the quinary structure (complexes in which each composing unit
      maintains native quaternary structure) of the stable non-covalent dimer and
      oligomers of a monoclonal IgG1lambda antibody. The results supported a mechanism
      of intermolecular domain exchange involving the Fab domains of 2 or more IgG
      molecules. This mechanism can account for the native-like higher order
      (secondary, tertiary and disulfide bonding) structure, the stability of the non
      covalent multimers, and the previously observed partial loss of the antigen
      binding sites without changing the antigen-binding affinity and kinetics of the
      remaining sites (Luo et al., 2009, mAbs 1:491). Furthermore, the previously
      observed increase in the apparent affinity to various Fcgamma receptors (ibid),
      which may potentially promote immunogenicity, was also explained by the quinary
      structure proposed here. Several lines of evidence indicated that the formation
      of multimers by the mechanism of intermolecular domain exchange took place mostly
      during expression, not in the purified materials. The findings in this work will
      advance our knowledge of the mechanisms for aggregation in therapeutic monoclonal
      antibodies.

PMID- 28590215
TI  - Evaluation of the Trapping Performance of Four Biogents AG Traps and Two Lures
      for the Surveillance of Aedes albopictus and Other Host-Seeking Mosquitoes.
AB  - The BG-Sentinel(r) (BGS) trap has recently been redesigned for increased
      durability and ergonomic functionality, marketed as the BG-Sentinel 2(r) (BGS2).
      We evaluated the trapping performance of these 2 traps in addition to the BG
      Sentinel prototype (BGSP), a model similar to the BGS2 that was beta tested in
      several US states in 2014, and the BG-SNAP (SNAP), which is a prototype revision
      of the BG-MosquititoTM. We also evaluated 2 new Biogents AG lures: the BG-Lure
      cartridge and BG-SweetscentTM, as they are granular formulations replacing the
      original mesh BG-Lure(r). Evaluations were conducted between July and September
      2015 under field conditions within a suburban area in southeastern Virginia. The
      4 traps were compared with their respective lure systems (BGS, BGSP, and BGS2
      with BG-Lure cartridge; SNAP with BG-Sweetscent). No significant differences were
      seen in total female mosquito collections among the 3 BG-Sentinel models. All 3
      Sentinels collected significantly more female mosquitoes than the SNAP (P <=
      0.009); BGS and BGS2 both collected significantly more Aedes albopictus females
      than the SNAP (P <= 0.02). The 2 lures were compared in both BGS2 and SNAP traps.
      Although both lures performed significantly better in the BGS2 trap (P <=
      0.0003), there were no significant differences in number of mosquitoes or species
      composition collected with BG-Sweetscent and BG-Lure cartridge within the same
      trap type.

PMID- 28590216
TI  - Diagnostic Doses of Insecticides for Adult Aedes aegypti to Assess Insecticide
      Resistance in Cuba.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine diagnostic doses (DDs) of 5
      insecticides for the Rockefeller susceptible strain of Aedes aegypti , using the
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bottle bioassay as a tool for
      monitoring insecticide resistance in the Cuban vector control program. The 30-min
      DD values determined in this study were 13.5 MUg/ml, 6.5 MUg/ml, 6 MUg/ml, 90.0
      MUg/ml, and 15.0 MUg/ml for cypermethrin, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin,
      chlorpyrifos, and propoxur, respectively. To compare the reliability of CDC
      bottle bioassay with the World Health Organization susceptible test, 3
      insecticide-resistant strains were evaluated for deltamethrin and lambda
      cyhalothrin. Results showed that the bottles can be used effectively from 21 to
      25 days after treatment and reused up to 4 times, depending on the storage time.
      The CDC bottle bioassay is an effective tool to assess insecticide resistance in
      field populations of Ae. aegypti in Cuba and can be incorporated into vector
      management programs using the diagnostic doses determined in this study.

PMID- 28590217
TI  - Field Evaluation of Indoor Thermal Fog and Ultra-Low Volume Applications For
      Control of Aedes aegypti in Thailand.
AB  - Efficacies of a handheld thermal fogger (PatriotTM) and a backpack ultra-low
      volume (ULV) sprayer (TwisterTM) with combinations of 2 different adulticides
      (pyrethrin, deltamethrin) and an insect growth regulator (pyriproxyfen) were
      field-tested and compared for their impact on reducing indoor Aedes aegypti
      populations in Thailand. The effectiveness of the indoor space sprays was
      evaluated by sampling the natural Ae. aegypti population in houses and
      determining their physiological status, by monitoring mortality of sentinel caged
      mosquitoes (AFRIMS strain) and by assessing larval mortality in laboratory
      bioassays using water exposed to the spray. A total of 14,742 Ae. aegypti were
      collected from Biogents Sentinel traps in this study. The combination of ULD(r)
      BP-300 (3% pyrethrin) and NyGuard(r) (10% pyriproxyfen) sprayed either by the
      Patriot or Twister significantly reduced some Ae. aegypti populations up to 20
      days postspray relative to the control clusters. The addition of pyriproxyfen to
      the adulticide extended how long household mosquito populations were suppressed.
      In 2 of the 4 products being compared, the Twister resulted in higher mortality
      of caged mosquitoes compared with the Patriot. However, neither machine was able
      to achieve high mortality among Ae. aegypti placed in hidden (protected) cages.
      The larval bioassay results demonstrated that the Twister ULV provided better
      adult emergence inhibition than the Patriot (thermal fogger), likely due to
      larger droplet size.

PMID- 28590218
TI  - Comparison of Mosquito Abundance From Biogents Sentinel 2.0 Traps With and
      Without Rain Covers.
AB  - Biogents Sentinel (BGS) traps have rapidly become a standard for adult Aedes
      aegypti surveillance. Several investigators have found that trap collections can
      be damaged easily by heavy dew or rain entering the trap intake port. In
      addition, water entering the trap may temporarily stop the fan, thus reducing the
      collection potential of the trap. We evaluated the effectiveness of a rain cover
      designed to minimize damage to mosquito trap collections from BGS 2.0 traps in a
      residential backyard in Jacksonville, FL. Rain covers consisted of white
      fiberglass 51-cm2 sheets positioned 19, 29, and 39 cm above the air intake of the
      traps. One BGS trap did not have a rain cover and was used as a control standard
      for comparison. All traps were baited with the BG-Lure. Generally, traps with
      rain covers resulted in higher mosquito counts when compared with collections
      from uncovered traps. Overall mosquito abundance was greater from traps with the
      rain cover positioned at 29 cm, but this difference was not significantly
      different when compared with the other cover heights. Covers spaced 29 or 39 cm
      collected significantly more Culex quinquefasciatus compared with traps at 19 cm
      and no cover. Species diversity was greatest for BGS traps with the rain cover
      positioned at 29 cm followed by 39 cm, 19 cm, and no cover; however, differences
      in diversity among the traps, with or without covers, were not significant.

PMID- 28590220
TI  - Effect of Common Species of Florida Landscaping Plants on the Efficacy of
      Attractive Toxic Sugar Baits Against Aedes albopictus.
AB  - Attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) was applied to 5 different types of commonly
      found plants in landscaping of northeastern Florida. The ATSB applications were
      assessed for possible plant effects and preference against Aedes albopictus in
      semifield evaluations. Positive and negative controls consisted of plants sprayed
      with attractive sugar bait (no toxicant) and plants with nothing applied.
      Bioassays were conducted on stems with leaf clippings and on full plants to
      assess any difference in mosquito mortality on the different plants. Plants
      utilized in these evaluations were Indian hawthorne, Yaupon holly, Japanese
      privet, Loropetalum ruby, and podocarpus. In both assays, no significant
      difference was observed in the effect of ATSBs on adult female mosquitoes based
      on the type of plant. ATSB could be applied to common landscape plants for adult
      Ae. albopictus control.

PMID- 28590221
TI  - Evaluation of Pyriproxyfen Dissemination via Aedes albopictus From a Point-Source
      Larvicide Application in Northeast Florida.
AB  - The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus , ranks among the most important
      vectors of dengue fever, Zika virus, and chikungunya virus. With no specific
      medications or vaccines available, vector control is the only way to combat these
      diseases. Autodissemination of the insect growth regulator pyriproxyfen
      (NyGuard(r)) from a point-source treatment was evaluated in field settings in
      northeast Florida. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility
      of pyriproxyfen dissemination from a treatment site to nontreated oviposition
      sites via the skip oviposition behavior of Ae. albopictus. A spray application
      was made to a tire pile using a Stihl(r) SR 420 backpack sprayer.
      Autodissemination oviposition vases containing oak infusion water were positioned
      in groups of five at 25 to 400 m in 4 transects surrounding the tire pile. Two
      sets of 5 control vases containing oak infusion water were placed 1,500 m from
      the tire pile and oak infusion water samples were collected directly from the
      tire pile. Fifty milliliter samples were extracted from each vase weekly and
      preserved for pyriproxyfen residue analysis. All vases were analyzed at week 0 (4
      h post-treatment), 1, 2, 4, and 6. Overall, there were no differences in pupal
      mortality between the control and autodissemination vases. The tire pile samples
      had significantly more mortality (P < 0.0001) out to 4 wk when compared to
      autodissemination and control vases.

PMID- 28590223
TI  - 2017 AMCA Memorial Lecture Honoree: Dr. Jimmy Karl Olson 1942-2015.

PMID- 28590222
TI  - Phototaxis of Propsilocerus akamusi (Diptera: Chironomidae) From a Shallow
      Eutrophic Lake in Response to Led Lamps.
AB  - A study on the attraction of adult Propsilocerus akamusi midges to different
      colored light traps was carried out from October 21 to November 15, 2013. The 6
      colored lights used in light-emitting diode (LED) lamps were white, green, red,
      blue, amber, and ultraviolet (UV). The UV lamp attracted the most P. akamusi,
      followed by green, white, blue, amber, and red. A white pulsed LED light
      attracted only half the number of midges as did a continuous-emission white LED
      light. The result indicated that manipulation of light color, considering that
      the red LED light and/or pulsed LED light are not as attractive as the other
      colors, may be appropriate for the development of an overall integrated strategy
      to control nuisance P. akamusi in the Lake Suwa area.

PMID- 28590224
TI  - Update on the Distribution of Aedes japonicus in Maine, 2001-15.
AB  - The first confirmed collection of Aedes japonicus in Maine was in Cumberland
      County in 2001. Since that initial collection, it has been found in 7 of Maine's
      16 counties between 2001 and 2015. These collections include the northernmost
      collection of Ae. japonicus in the eastern USA, from Madawaska in Aroostook
      County. Though mosquito surveillance is limited in the state, it is evident that
      Ae. japonicus is more widely distributed in Maine than previously believed
      although its role in arboviral transmission in the region is unknown.

PMID- 28590225
TI  - Field Evaluation of Pyriproxyfen Against Mosquitoes in Catch Basins in Southern
      California.
AB  - In a field trial, pyriproxyfen (Sumilarv 0.5% G) applied at 10 g and 50 g per
      catch basin and S-methoprene (Altosid XR briquet 2.1%) at 1 briquet per catch
      basin at a local park provided 100% inhibition of adult emergence (IAE) of the
      test species, Culex quinquefasciatus , for the first 3 wk. The IAE dropped to 69%
      to 85% for pyriproxyfen and 68% for methoprene at 4 wk posttreatment. The IAE at
      5 to 8 wk posttreatment, although remaining high, was overshadowed by high
      mortality in control catch basins. The high mortality in control could be
      attributed to autodissemination of pyriproxyfen by mosquitoes from treated to
      untreated catch basins.

PMID- 28590227
TI  - 2017 AMCA Presidential Address: Remarks On Leadership and the AMCA.

PMID- 28590226
TI  - Comparative Efficiency of Biogents Gravid Aedes Trap, Cdc Autocidal Gravid
      Ovitrap, and CDC Gravid Trap in Northeastern Florida.
AB  - We conducted a study to compare the effectiveness of the Biogents Gravid Aedes
      Trap (BG-GAT) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Autocidal
      Gravid Ovitrap (AGO) with that of the CDC Gravid Trap (CDC-GT) (as a standard)
      for their proficiency to collect mosquitoes in an urban residential neighborhood
      in northeastern Florida. Aedes aegypti , Ae. albopictus, and Culex
      quinquefasciatus were collected from each trap, with the latter species being
      predominant. Significantly more Cx. quinquefasciatus were collected from CDC-GT
      traps compared with the other 2 traps. Pairwise comparison of the efficiency of
      the CDC-GT revealed that this trap collected 6.7- to 21.5-fold more mosquitoes
      than the BG-GAT, depending on species. The BG-GAT collected overall more
      mosquitoes (3- to 6-fold) than the AGO, with the exception of Ae. aegypti, where
      both traps were nearly equal in effectiveness.

PMID- 28590228
TI  - Phylogenetic Relationships Among Malaria Vectors and Closely Related Species in
      Thailand Using Multilocus DNA Sequences.
AB  - The evolutionary and taxonomic status is important for understanding speciation
      events and phylogenetic relationships between closely related vector and
      nonvector species. This information is useful for targeting important disease
      vector species groups for the development of novel genetic-based vector and
      pathogen control methods. In this study, different phylogenetic analyses were
      performed to reconstruct phylogenetic trees for the primary malaria vectors in
      Thailand based on sequence information of 4 DNA fragments from the nuclear and
      mitochondrial regions. The primary Anopheles species in the subgenus Cellia
      involved in malaria transmission in Thailand separate clearly into 3 distinct
      clades: the Leucosphyrus group, Minimus subgroup, and Maculatus group. The
      phylogenetic trees based on different reconstructed algorithms and different gene
      regions provided congruent phylogenetic status of the mosquito species studied.
      The phylogenetic relationships of malaria vector species examined followed
      similar patterns based on morphological characters. An estimate of the divergence
      time among the Anopheles species infers that they were present during the Eocene
      and Miocene periods (>41 million years ago). Congruent phylogenetic analysis of
      malaria vectors is presented with different algorithms and gene regions. The
      nuclear TOLL6 fragment appears useful for molecular phylogenetic, species DNA
      barcode, and Anopheles population genetic analyses.

PMID- 28590229
TI  - Editorial: New Avenues and Therapeutic Strategies for the Treatment of
      Neurodegenerative Diseases.

PMID- 28590230
TI  - Editorial: Conventional, Traditional and Alternative Therapies for Cardiovascular
      Disorders. Part 1: Conventional Therapy.

PMID- 28590231
TI  - Evaluation of phenolic profile, enzyme inhibitory and antimicrobial activities of
      Nigella sativa L. seed extracts.
AB  - Black cumin (Nigella sativa L. [N.sativa]) seed extracts demonstrated numerous
      beneficial biological effects including, among others, antidiabetic, anticancer,
      immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, and
      antioxidant activity. To better understand the phytochemical composition of N.
      sativa seeds, methanol seed extracts were analyzed for phenolic acid and
      flavonoid content. Furthermore, we tested N. sativa methanol, n-hexane, and
      aqueous seed extracts for their inhibitory activity against butyrylcholinesterase
      (BChE) and catalase (CAT) as well as for antimicrobial activity against several
      bacterial and a yeast strains. The phenolic content of N. sativa was analyzed
      using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
      (UHPLC-MS/MS). The inhibition of BChE was assessed by modified Ellman's method,
      and the inhibition of CAT was determined by monitoring hydrogen peroxide
      consumption. The extracts were tested against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus
      aureus, Salmonella enterica, and Escherichia coli using the agar diffusion
      method. The UHPLC-MS/MS method allowed the identification and quantification of
      23 phenolic compounds within 15 minutes. The major components found in N. sativa
      seed extract were sinapinic acid (7.22 +/- 0.73 ug/mg) as a phenolic acid and
      kaempferol (11.74 +/- 0.92 ug/mg) as a flavonoid. All extracts showed inhibitory
      activity against BChE, with methanol seed extract demonstrating the highest
      inhibitory activity (inhibitory concentration 50% [IC50] 79.11 +/- 6.06 ug/ml).
      The methanol seed extract also showed strong inhibitory activity against CAT with
      an IC50 value of 6.61 +/- 0.27 ug/ml. Finally, the methanol extract exhibited
      considerable inhibitory activity against the tested microbial strains. Overall,
      this is the first study to investigate the ability of black cumin seed extracts
      to inhibit CAT. Our results indicate that N. sativa seed can be considered as an
      effective inhibitor of CAT activity.

PMID- 28590232
TI  - Anesthesia for patients with mucopolysaccharidoses: Comprehensive review of the
      literature with emphasis on airway management.
AB  - Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are rare, inherited, lysosomal storage diseases that
      cause accumulation of glycosaminoglycans, resulting in anatomic abnormalities and
      organ dysfunction that can increase the risk of anesthesia complications. We
      conducted a systematic review of the literature in order to describe the
      anesthetic management and perioperative outcomes in patients with MPS. We
      reviewed English-language literature search using an OVID-based search strategy
      of the following databases: 1) PubMed (1946-present), 2) Medline (1946-present),
      3) EMBASE (1946-present), and 4) Web of Science (1946-present), using the
      following search terms: mucopolysaccharidosis, Hurler, Scheie, Sanfilippo,
      Morquio, Maroteaux, anesthesia, perioperative, intubation, respiratory
      insufficiency, and airway. The review of the literature revealed nine case series
      and 27 case reports. A substantial number of patients have facial and oral
      abnormalities posing various challenges for airway management, however, evolving
      new technologies that include videolaryngoscopy appears to substantially
      facilitate airway management in these patients. The only type of MPS that appears
      to have less difficulty with airway management are MPS III patients, as the
      primary site of glycosaminoglycan deposition is in the central nervous system.
      All other MPS types have facial and oral characteristics that increase the risk
      of airway management. To mitigate these risks, anesthesia should be conducted by
      experienced anesthesiologists with expertise in using of advanced airway
      intubating devices.

PMID- 28590233
TI  - Mitoxantrone suppresses vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and
      balloon injury-induced neointima formation: An in vitro and in vivo study.
AB  - Neointima formation, which occurs after vascular injury due to vascular disease
      or interventions such as angioplasty and stent placement, is a complex process
      that involves multiple molecular and cellular mechanisms. The inhibition of
      neointima formation is vital to prevent restenosis of blood vessels. In the
      present study, we investigated whether the systemic administration of
      mitoxantrone can inhibit neointima formation, and evaluated the underlying
      mechanisms under in vitro and in vivo experimental conditions. In vitro, rat and
      human vascular smooth muscle cells (RVSMCs and HVSMCs) were stimulated with
      platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and treated with mitoxantrone or DMSO
      as a control. In vivo, 54 male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to carotid
      artery balloon injury and then intravenously administered with mitoxantrone. Cell
      proliferation was determined using the CCK-8 assay. Cell cycle analysis was
      performed using flow cytometry, and protein expression was analyzed by sodium
      dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We used monoclonal mouse anti
      bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) antibody for the detection of BrdU and anti
      Topoisomerase II antibody for staining Type II topoisomerase (Topo II), one week
      after the ballon injury. In both RVSMCs and HVSMCs, mitoxantrone treatment
      induced Topo II degradation, as well as suppressed DNA replication, cell cycle
      progression, and VSMC proliferation. A reduction in intimal hyperplasia, intimal
      to-medial area ratio, and Topo II level was observed in mitoxantrone-treated
      rats, as compared to the control (saline) group. Overall, our results indicate
      that systemic administration of mitoxantrone can reduce neointimal hyperplasia
      and, thus, represents a suitable option for restenosis treatment.

PMID- 28590234
TI  - A porcine enterovirus G associated with enteric disease contains a novel papain
      like cysteine protease.
AB  - Identification of unknown pathogens in pigs displaying enteric illness is
      difficult due to the large diversity of bacterial and viral species found within
      faecal samples. Current methods often require bacterial or viral isolation, or
      testing only a limited number of known species using quantitative PCR analysis.
      Herein, faeces from two 25-day-old piglets with diarrhoea from Texas, USA, were
      analysed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing to rapidly identify possible
      pathogens. Our analysis included a bioinformatics pipeline of rapid short-read
      classification and de novo genome assembly which resulted in the identification
      of a porcine enterovirus G (EV-G), a complete genome with substantial nucleotide
      differences (>30 %) among current sequences, and a novel non-structural protein
      similar in sequence to the Torovirus papain-like cysteine protease (PLpro). This
      discovery led to the identification and circulation of an EV-G with a novel PLpro
      in the USA that has not been previously reported.

PMID- 28590235
TI  - Chlorhexidine whole-body washing of patients reduces methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus and has a direct effect on the distribution of the ST5-MRSA
      II (New York/Japan) clone.
AB  - PURPOSE: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonizes the skin of
      hospitalized patients and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. To
      prevent colonization and infection by S. aureus, better disinfection practices
      are required. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of chlorhexidine whole-body
      washing on hospital-acquired S. aureus infections among intensive care unit (ICU)
      patients in a tertiary hospital in Mexico. METHODOLOGY: The study was conducted
      over 18 months to evaluate the effect of 2 % chlorhexidine gluconate (CXG) whole
      body washing of ICU adult patients on chlorhexidine and antibiotic resistance,
      biofilm production and clonal distribution of S. aureus in a tertiary care
      hospital. Minimum inhibitory concentrations for CXG, antibiotic susceptibility
      and biofilm production by S. aureus isolates were determined. Pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and PCR for Panton-Valentine
      leucocidin (PVL) were used for molecular typing of MRSA isolates.Results/Key
      findings. We included 158 isolates. A reduction in antibiotic resistance in the
      study period was observed for clindamycin, levofloxacin, norfloxacin, oxacillin
      and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. None of the isolates showed reduced
      susceptibility to CXG. Most of the isolates were non-biofilm producers (147/158).
      The most commonly identified clone was a descendant of the ST5-MRSA-II (New
      York/Japan) clone. This clone decreased during the intervention period and
      reappeared markedly in the post-intervention period. During the post-intervention
      period, two isolates were related with the clone ST8-MRSA-IV (also known as
      USA300). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the CXG bathing favored the
      reduction of healthcare-associated MRSA isolates and a temporary reduction of the
      predominant ST5-MRSA-II (New York/Japan) clone.

PMID- 28590236
TI  - Interaction between the New World begomovirus Euphorbia yellow mosaic virus and
      its associated alphasatellite: effects on infection and transmission by the
      whitefly Bemisia tabaci.
AB  - The majority of Old World monopartite begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae) are
      associated with satellite DNAs. Alphasatellites are capable of autonomous
      replication, but depend on the helper virus for movement, encapsidation and
      transmission by the insect vector. Recently, Euphorbia yellow mosaic
      alphasatellite (EuYMA) was found in association with Euphorbia yellow mosaic
      virus (EuYMV) infecting Euphorbia heterophylla plants in Brazil. The geographical
      range of EuYMA was assessed in a representative sampling of E. heterophylla
      plants collected in several states of Brazil from 2009 to 2014. Infectious clones
      were generated and used to assess the phenotype of viral infection in the
      presence or absence of the alphasatellite in tomato, E. heterophylla, Nicotiana
      benthamiana, Arabidopsis thaliana and Crotalaria juncea. Phenotypic differences
      of EuYMV infection in the presence or absence of EuYMA were observed in A.
      thaliana, N. benthamiana and E. heterophylla. Symptoms were more severe when
      EuYMV was inoculated in combination with EuYMA in N. benthamiana and E.
      heterophylla, and the presence of the alphasatellite was determinant for symptom
      development in A. thaliana. Quantification of EuYMV and EuYMA indicated that
      EuYMA affects the accumulation of EuYMV during infection on a host-dependent
      basis. Transmission assays indicated that EuYMA negatively affects the
      transmission of EuYMV by Bemisia tabaci MEAM1. Together, these results indicate
      that EuYMA is capable of modulating symptoms, viral accumulation and whitefly
      transmission of EuYMV, potentially interfering with virus dissemination in the
      field.

PMID- 28590237
TI  - Evaluation of self-collected rectal swabs for the detection of bacteria
      responsible for sexually transmitted infections in a cohort of HIV-1-infected
      patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The standard approach to screening sexually transmitted infections
      (STIs) has often been restricted to urogenital specimens. Most current
      guidelines, however, also recommend testing extra-genital sites, including rectal
      locations, because asymptomatic rectal carriage of pathogens has often been
      reported. The aim of our study was to evaluate self-collected rectal swabs to
      screen bacterial STIs in HIV-infected patients in Marseille, France. METHODOLOGY:
      Between January 2014 and December 2015, 118 HIV-infected patients (93 males and
      25 females) agreed to self-sample anal swabs for detection of bacterial STI.
      Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Treponema pallidum,
      Mycoplasma genitalium and Haemophilus ducreyi was performed using in-house qPCR
      assay.Results/Key findings. Bacterial STIs were found in 8 % (9/118) of the
      patients. C. trachomatis was the most commonly detected bacterium (4.2 %)
      followed by N. gonorrhoeae (2.5 %), M. genitalium (1.7 %) and T. pallidum (0.8
      %). All the positive patients were males. The rectal carriage of pathogenic
      bacteria was fortuitously discovered for seven men (78 %) who did not present
      rectal signs of STIs and was suspected for two men who presented proctitis (22
      %). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, testing extra-genital sites is crucial for the
      diagnosis of STIs in men and women presenting or not concomitant urogenital
      infections in order to detect asymptomatic carriage with the aim of controlling
      and preventing transmission to their sexual partners.

PMID- 28590238
TI  - What were the risk factors and trends in antimicrobial resistance for enteric
      fever in London 2005-2012?
AB  - PURPOSE: A study was undertaken to determine the risk factors and trends in
      antimicrobial resistance for enteric fever. METHODOLOGY: Demographic,
      antimicrobial susceptibility, typing and epidemiological data were examined for
      2005-2012 in patients with enteric fever in London. Single and multivariable
      logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors associated with
      antibiotic resistance. RESULTS: 453 cases with Salmonella enterica subsp.
      enterica serovar Paratyphi A, 17 with S. Paratyphi B and 611 with S. enterica
      subsp. enterica serovar Typhi were examined. For travellers, 335 (88 %) of S.
      Paratyphi A isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, but resistance to other
      antimicrobials was low. Almost 80 % (395) of the S. Typhi isolates were resistant
      to ciprofloxacin, 131 (26 %) to ampicillin, 131 (27 %) to chloramphenicol, 137
      (28 %) to trimethoprim and 171 (28 %) to sulphonamide. None of the isolates were
      resistant to cephalosporins.A trend analysis for S. Typhi isolates showed no
      significant change in resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, sulphonamide and
      trimethoprim or for multidrug resistance (P=0.38). Overall resistance to
      ciprofloxacin increased for S. Paratyphi A (P=0.018) and for S. Typhi (P<0.001)
      but fell for S. Typhi in 2011-2012. Resistance profiles were reflected by
      specific phage types and countries visited by the travellers. CONCLUSIONS: The
      proportion of S. Typhi strains resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and
      cotrimoxazole remained steady for the period 2005-2012. There was a significant
      increase in a trend for resistance to ciprofloxacin which increased until 2010,
      followed by a fall in 2011-2012. S. Paratyphi resistance to ciprofloxacin
      increased until 2012. Specific phage types were associated with resistance to
      specific antimicrobials and travel abroad.

PMID- 28590239
TI  - Fish miR-146a promotes Singapore grouper iridovirus infection by regulating cell
      apoptosis and NF-kappaB activation.
AB  - miR-146a was reported to participate in various pathophysiological conditions in
      mammals, such as inflammation and immune responses, oncogenesis and cell damage.
      However, its function in low vertebrates has not been well elucidated. In this
      study, we characterized the expression profiles and functions of miR-146a in fish
      cells during iridovirus infection. We found that the reported fish miR-146a genes
      encoded an identical mature sequence, which shared high similarity with its
      mammalian orthologues, suggesting a putative functional conservation of miR-146a
      between fish and other vertebrates. Using a well-established infection model of
      Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) in fathead minnow cells, we found that SGIV
      infection induced the expression of miR-146a to a dramatic extent. More
      importantly, we found that miR-146a promoted SGIV propagation, as demonstrated by
      higher expression of viral genes and increased virus titres in miR-146a
      overexpressing cells. Mechanistically, we found that miR-146a overexpression
      suppressed, while miR-146a knockdown promoted, NF-kappaB activation and SGIV
      induced cell apoptosis, two major cellular events involved in SGIV infection. Our
      study suggested that the induction of miR-146a by SGIV infection may function
      through a feed-forward mechanism to promote viral infection by restraining anti
      viral cellular responses.

PMID- 28590240
TI  - Epidemiology of culture-confirmed infections of Streptococcus pneumoniae (2012
      2015) and nasopharyngeal carriage in children and households in Taiwan (2014
      2015).
AB  - PURPOSE: An observational study was performed to investigate the carriage rate
      and serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate
      vaccine (PCV13) era in Taiwan. METHODOLOGY: From March 2014 to March 2015 a total
      of 500 healthy children and their households (631 adults) were enrolled from two
      large medical centres for nasopharyngeal carriage survey. Clinical isolates were
      prospectively collected from June 2012 to May 2015 at Chang Gung Memorial
      Hospital. We applied a multiplex polymerase chain reaction in addition to culture
      to detect S. pneumoniae. RESULTS: S. pneumoniae was isolated from 12.0 % of the
      children and 3.6 % of the households. In the children's cohort only 23.3 % of the
      isolates could be assigned to PCV13 serotypes; non-vaccine serotypes were
      predominant (76.6 %) and the most frequently detected non-vaccine serotypes were
      15A/F and 15B/C (both 13.3 %), followed by 23A (6.7 %). In the household cohort,
      21.7 % belonged to PCV13 serotypes, and 78.3 % to non-vaccine serotypes. Clinical
      analysis of culture-confirmed pneumococcal infection showed that infection caused
      by PCV13 serotypes decreased by 47 % from 83 % in 2012-2013 to 44 % in 2014-2015,
      while infection caused by non-PCV13 serotypes increased from 17 to 56 %. Among
      the carriage isolates a significantly higher percentage belonged to serogroup 15
      compared to serogroup 19 (26.6 vs 6.66 %, 2014-2015; P=0.003). Therefore,
      clinical isolates belonging to serogroup 15 were more prevalent than those
      belonging to serogroup 19 (44.1 vs 32.3 %, 2014-2015; P=0.318). CONCLUSION: The
      isolation of non-vaccine serotypes and unknown serotypes after the introduction
      of PCV13 in children highlights the importance of continued surveillance for
      emerging serotypes.

PMID- 28590242
TI  - Heterologous post-infection immunity against Egyptian avian influenza virus (AIV)
      H9N2 modulates the course of subsequent infection by highly pathogenic AIV H5N1,
      but vaccination immunity does not.
AB  - In Egypt, zoonotic A/goose/Guangdong/1/96 (gs/GD-like) highly pathogenic avian
      influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 of clade 2.2.1.2 is entrenched in poultry
      populations and has co-circulated with low-pathogenic avian influenza virus H9N2
      of the G1 lineage since 2010. Here, the impact of H9N2 infection or vaccination
      on the course of consecutive infection with a lethal Egyptian HPAIV H5N1 is
      studied. Three-week-old chickens were infected with H9N2 or vaccinated with
      inactivated H9N2 or H5N1 antigens and challenged three weeks later by an HPAIV
      H5N1. Interestingly, pre-infection of chickens with H9N2 decreased the oral
      excretion of H5N1 to levels that were comparable to those of H5N1-immunized
      chickens, but vaccination with inactivated H9N2 did not. H9N2 pre-infection
      modulated but did not conceal clinical disease by HPAIV H5N1. By contrast,
      homologous H5 vaccination abolished clinical syndromic surveillance, although
      vaccinated clinical healthy birds were capable of spreading the virus.

PMID- 28590241
TI  - Natural history of human papillomavirus infection of sun-exposed healthy skin of
      immunocompetent individuals over three climatic seasons and identification of
      HPV209, a novel betapapillomavirus.
AB  - We present the first longitudinal study reporting the natural history of human
      papillomavirus (HPV) infection in sun-exposed skin of healthy individuals living
      in a geographical area in which solar UV radiation is influenced by the ozone
      content of the atmosphere. During three climatic seasons, skin swab samples were
      obtained from 78 healthy individuals and the prevalence of cutaneous HPVs was
      assessed with broad-spectrum FAP and CUT primers and determined at 54, 45 and 47
      % in spring, summer and winter, respectively. Frequencies of mixed HPV infections
      were significantly higher in spring with respect to summer and winter (P=0.02).
      Seventy-one different HPV types/putative types were identified. While 62
      volunteers were HPV-infected in at least one season, 23 had persistent
      infections. beta-PVs (beta-1) were the most prevalent and persistent. Age was
      associated with both the infection status (P=0.01) and the type of HPV infection
      (no infection, indeterminate/transient, persistent P=0.02). The
      molecular/phylogenetic analysis of the newly identified beta-PV, officially
      designated as HPV209, showed that the virus has a typical genomic organization of
      cutaneous HPVs with five early (E6, E7, E1, E2 and E4) and two late genes (L2 and
      L1), which clusters to the species beta-2. This provides useful data on cutaneous
      HPV infections in high UV-exposed regions.

PMID- 28590243
TI  - Detection of Actinomyces spp. in cervical exudates from women with cervical
      intraepithelial neoplasia or cervical cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Under certain circumstances, Actinomyces behaves as an opportunistic
      microorganism and can cause actinomycosis, a chronic and inflammatory
      granulomatous infection. The purpose of this project was to detect the presence
      of Actinomyces in cervical exudates from women with cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia (CIN) and women with cervical cancer. METHODOLOGY: Cervical samples
      from 92 women were divided into three groups: CIN, cervical cancer and healthy
      women. Metagenomic DNA extraction was performed following the Qiagen QIAamp Mini
      Kit protocol. A specific fragment (675 bp) was amplified by PCR in order to
      detect the presence of Actinomycetales. Samples in which Actinomycetales was
      detected were subjected to separate amplification reactions with primer pairs for
      A. israelii, A. viscosus, A. meyeri and A. odontolyticus. Amplified products were
      observed by 2 % agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: Actinomyces were found in
      10 % of women with CIN, 36.6 % of women with cervical cancer and 9 % of healthy
      women. The species identified in this study were A. meyeri in 14/92 samples (15.2
      %), A. viscosus in 10/92 samples (10.8 %), A. odontolyticus in 4/92 samples (4.3
      %) and A. israelii in 6/92 samples (6.5 %). CONCLUSION: Patients with cervical
      cancer had a higher prevalence of the presence of Actinomyces compared to the CIN
      and control groups. This is the first study in which a deliberate search of this
      genus has been performed in women with cervical pathologies. The use of specific
      primers for each species facilitated their detection in comparison with
      traditional isolation methods. More information is necessary to understand the
      molecular mechanisms involved in the complex role that bacterial communities may
      play in the development of cancer (and vice versa).

PMID- 28590244
TI  - Tralokinumab pharmacokinetics and tolerability when administered by different
      subcutaneous injection methods and rates?.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tralokinumab, administered as two 1-mL subcutaneous injections every 2
      weeks, at the target dose 300 mg, has been shown to improve lung function in
      patients with asthma. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetic (PK) and
      tolerability profile of tralokinumab 300 mg when administered by different rates
      of subcutaneous injection, as part of a pilot investigation of new injection
      regimens. METHODS: This phase I study randomized 60 healthy adults to receive 300
      mg tralokinumab, as two 1-mL subcutaneous injections, each delivered over 10
      seconds, or one 2-mL injection delivered over 10 seconds (12 mL/min), 1 minute (2
      mL/min), or 12 minutes (0.167 mL/min). RESULTS: No differences in the PK profile
      of tralokinumab were observed between cohorts. Immediately following injection,
      injection-site pain intensity (mean (SD)) was lowest following 0.167 mL/min
      injection (5.1 mm (8.0) via visual analog scale (VAS)) and greatest following 12
      mL/min injection (41 mm (27.7) via VAS); with mean injection-site pruritus
      intensity low for all participants. Two types of local injection-site reactions
      were observed: erythema (58.3%) and hematoma/bleeding (18.3%). All treatment
      emergent adverse events were mild. CONCLUSIONS: Tralokinumab 300 mg is well
      tolerated, with comparable PK, when administered by a single 2-mL injection at
      different rates of subcutaneous injection vs. two 1-mL injections.?.

PMID- 28590245
TI  - Collagen induces activation of DDR1 through lateral dimer association and
      phosphorylation between dimers.
AB  - The collagen-binding receptor tyrosine kinase DDR1 (discoidin domain receptor 1)
      is a drug target for a wide range of human diseases, but the molecular mechanism
      of DDR1 activation is poorly defined. Here we co-expressed different types of
      signalling-incompetent DDR1 mutants ('receiver') with functional DDR1 ('donor')
      and demonstrate phosphorylation of receiver DDR1 by donor DDR1 in response to
      collagen. Making use of enforced covalent DDR1 dimerisation, which does not
      affect receptor function, we show that receiver dimers are phosphorylated in
      trans by the donor; this process requires the kinase activity of the donor but
      not that of the receiver. The receiver ectodomain is not required, but
      phosphorylation in trans is abolished by mutation of the transmembrane domain.
      Finally, we show that mutant DDR1 that cannot bind collagen is recruited into
      DDR1 signalling clusters. Our results support an activation mechanism whereby
      collagen induces lateral association of DDR1 dimers and phosphorylation between
      dimers.

PMID- 28590246
TI  - Evidence from a natural experiment that malaria parasitemia is pathogenic in
      retinopathy-negative cerebral malaria.
AB  - Cerebral malaria (CM) can be classified as retinopathy-positive or retinopathy
      negative, based on the presence or absence of characteristic retinal features.
      While malaria parasites are considered central to the pathogenesis of retinopathy
      positive CM, their contribution to retinopathy-negative CM is largely unknown.
      One theory is that malaria parasites are innocent bystanders in retinopathy
      negative CM and the etiology of the coma is entirely non-malarial. Because
      hospitals in malaria-endemic areas often lack diagnostic facilities to identify
      non-malarial causes of coma, it has not been possible to evaluate the
      contribution of malaria infection to retinopathy-negative CM. To overcome this
      barrier, we studied a natural experiment involving genetically inherited traits,
      and find evidence that malaria parasitemia does contribute to the pathogenesis of
      retinopathy-negative CM. A lower bound for the fraction of retinopathy-negative
      CM that would be prevented if malaria parasitemia were to be eliminated is
      estimated to be 0.93 (95% confidence interval: 0.68, 1).

PMID- 28590248
TI  - Volume-outcome relationship with transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation (TAVI): insights from the compulsory German Quality Assurance
      Registry on Aortic Valve Replacement (AQUA).
AB  - AIMS: Previous studies have shown lower rates of in-hospital complications and
      mortality for patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (sAVR) in
      high-volume compared with lower-volume hospitals. It was the aim of our study to
      analyse whether there is a similar volume-outcome relationship for transcatheter
      aortic valve implantation (TAVI), which is increasingly used in clinical
      practice. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed all patients with non-emergent
      transfemoral (TF) TAVI procedures performed in 2014 in 87 German hospitals. We
      used the German Aortic Valve score 2.0 to calculate the ratio of observed versus
      expected (O/E) in-hospital mortality. A total of 9,924 patients (age 81.4+/-1.1
      years, 45.3% male, median log EuroSCORE 18.81%, IQR 4.55) were included. Average
      observed mortality was 4.3+/-3.3%, while the expected average mortality was 5.4+/
      1.4% (mean O/E ratio: 0.8). Average in-hospital mortality was 5.6+/-5.0% (range,
      0 to 16.7%) in the lowest volume group of hospitals performing <50 TF-TAVI
      annually compared to 2.4+/-1.0% (range, 0.5 to 3.7%) in the highest volume
      hospitals with >=200 TF-TAVI procedures per year. There was a continuous,
      statistically significant association of lower O/E ratios with increasing TF-TAVI
      volumes (p<0.001), but without a clear-cut threshold. Major complications,
      neurologic events, and rates of new pacemaker implantation were not different
      between low- and high-volume hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Across the spectrum of
      hospital volumes from 11 to 415 patients undergoing TF-TAVI per year in Germany,
      there was a continuous, statistically significant association of lower average
      observed as well as risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality with increasing TF-TAVI
      volumes.

PMID- 28590247
TI  - Repeated losses of PRDM9-directed recombination despite the conservation of PRDM9
      across vertebrates.
AB  - Studies of highly diverged species have revealed two mechanisms by which meiotic
      recombination is directed to the genome-through PRDM9 binding or by targeting
      promoter-like features-that lead to dramatically different evolutionary dynamics
      of hotspots. Here, we identify PRDM9 orthologs from genome and transcriptome data
      in 225 species. We find the complete PRDM9 ortholog across distantly related
      vertebrates but, despite this broad conservation, infer a minimum of six partial
      and three complete losses. Strikingly, taxa carrying the complete ortholog of
      PRDM9 are precisely those with rapid evolution of its predicted binding affinity,
      suggesting that all domains are necessary for directing recombination. Indeed, as
      we show, swordtail fish carrying only a partial but conserved ortholog share
      recombination properties with PRDM9 knock-outs.

PMID- 28590249
TI  - Difference in haemodynamic microenvironment in vessels scaffolded with Absorb BVS
      and Mirage BRMS: insights from a preclinical endothelial shear stress study.
AB  - AIMS: In silico studies have provided robust evidence that stent design affects
      local haemodynamic forces, which appear as a major determinant of clinical
      outcomes following stent implantation. However, the implications of different
      stent/scaffold configurations on local haemodynamic forces have not yet been
      investigated in vivo in a comparative fashion. The aim of this study was to
      compare the ESS distribution in two differently shaped scaffolds using OCT-based
      modelling. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eight healthy mini pigs were implanted with six
      Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (Absorb BVS) and five
      Mirage sirolimus-eluting bioresorbable microfibre scaffolds (Mirage BRMS).
      Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed and strut protrusion was
      assessed post scaffold implantation. Following the reconstruction of coronary
      anatomy, blood flow simulation was performed and endothelial shear stress (ESS)
      was estimated on top of the struts and at luminal surface between the struts in
      each scaffold. The thicker struts in Absorb (152+/-140 MUm) resulted in an
      increased protruded distance compared to Mirage (117+/-123 MUm) (p=0.003). This
      had an effect on the local haemodynamic microenvironment. ESS at the top of the
      struts was higher in Absorb (1.69+/-1.20 Pa) than in Mirage (1.53+/-0.91 Pa)
      (p<0.001), but lower at inter-strut zones (0.60+/-0.51 Pa vs. 0.63+/-0.50 Pa;
      p<0.01) compared to Mirage. Both scaffold types revealed comparable percentages
      of vessel luminal surface exposed to recirculation. CONCLUSIONS: Absorb
      demonstrated higher shear stress on top of the struts compared to Mirage.
      However, in the inter-strut zones shear stress was higher in Mirage than in
      Absorb. Further research is required to examine the potential value of in vivo
      computational modelling in optimising scaffold configuration and clinical
      outcomes.

PMID- 28590252
TI  - The black hole information problem: past, present, and future.
AB  - We give a brief overview of the black hole information problem emphasizing
      fundamental issues and recent proposals for its resolution. The focus is on broad
      perspective and providing a guide to current literature rather than presenting
      full details. We concentrate on resolutions restoring naive unitarity.

PMID- 28590253
TI  - When lithography meets self-assembly: a review of recent advances in the directed
      assembly of complex metal nanostructures on planar and textured surfaces.
AB  - One of the foremost challenges in nanofabrication is the establishment of a
      processing science that integrates wafer-based materials, techniques, and devices
      with the extraordinary physicochemical properties accessible when materials are
      reduced to nanoscale dimensions. Such a merger would allow for exacting controls
      on nanostructure positioning, promote cooperative phenomenon between adjacent
      nanostructures and/or substrate materials, and allow for electrical contact to
      individual or groups of nanostructures. With neither self-assembly nor top-down
      lithographic processes being able to adequately meet this challenge, advancements
      have often relied on a hybrid strategy that utilizes lithographically-defined
      features to direct the assembly of nanostructures into organized patterns. While
      these so-called directed assembly techniques have proven viable, much of this
      effort has focused on the assembly of periodic arrays of spherical or near
      spherical nanostructures comprised of a single element. Work directed toward the
      fabrication of more complex nanostructures, while still at a nascent stage, has
      nevertheless demonstrated the possibility of forming arrays of nanocubes,
      nanorods, nanoprisms, nanoshells, nanocages, nanoframes, core-shell structures,
      Janus structures, and various alloys on the substrate surface. In this topical
      review, we describe the progress made in the directed assembly of periodic arrays
      of these complex metal nanostructures on planar and textured substrates. The
      review is divided into three broad strategies reliant on: (i) the deterministic
      positioning of colloidal structures, (ii) the reorganization of deposited metal
      films at elevated temperatures, and (iii) liquid-phase chemistry practiced
      directly on the substrate surface. These strategies collectively utilize a broad
      range of techniques including capillary assembly, microcontact printing, chemical
      surface modulation, templated dewetting, nanoimprint lithography, and dip-pen
      nanolithography and employ a wide scope of chemical processes including redox
      reactions, alloying, dealloying, phase separation, galvanic replacement,
      preferential etching, template-mediated reactions, and facet-selective capping
      agents. Taken together, they highlight the diverse toolset available when
      fabricating organized surfaces of substrate-supported nanostructures.

PMID- 28590254
TI  - Reconfigurable metamaterials for terahertz wave manipulation.
AB  - Reconfigurable metamaterials have emerged as promising platforms for manipulating
      the spectral and spatial properties of terahertz waves without being limited by
      the characteristics of naturally existing materials. Here, we present a
      comprehensive overview of various types of reconfigurable metamaterials that are
      utilized to manipulate the intensity, phase, polarization, and propagation
      direction of terahertz waves. We discuss various reconfiguration mechanisms based
      on optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical stimuli while using
      semiconductors, superconductors, phase-change materials, graphene, and
      electromechanical structures. The advantages and disadvantages of different
      reconfigurable metamaterial designs in terms of modulation efficiency, modulation
      bandwidth, modulation speed, and system complexity are discussed in detail.

PMID- 28590255
TI  - Porous yolk-shell microspheres as N-doped carbon matrix for motivating the oxygen
      reduction activity of oxygen evolution oriented materials.
AB  - It is highly challenging to explore high-performance bi-functional oxygen
      electrode catalysts for their practical application in next-generation energy
      storage and conversion devices. In this work, we synthesize hierarchical N-doped
      carbon microspheres with porous yolk-shell structure (NCYS) as a metal-free
      electrocatalyst toward efficient oxygen reduction through a template-free route.
      The enhanced oxygen reduction performances in both alkaline and acid media profit
      well from the porous yolk-shell structure as well as abundant nitrogen functional
      groups. Furthermore, such yolk-shell microspheres can be used as precursor
      materials to motivate the oxygen reduction activity of oxygen evolution oriented
      materials to obtain a desirable bi-functional electrocatalyst. To verify its
      practical utility, Zn-air battery tests are conducted and exhibit satisfactory
      performance, indicating that this constructed concept for preparation of bi
      functional catalyst will afford a promising strategy for exploring novel metal
      air battery electrocatalysts.

PMID- 28590257
TI  - Critical care ultrasonography in circulatory shock.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The objective was to define the role of ultrasound in the
      diagnosis and the management of circulatory shock by critical appraisal of the
      literature. RECENT FINDINGS: Assessment of any patient's hemodynamic profile
      based on clinical examination can be sufficient in several cases, but many times
      unclarities remain. Arterial catheters and central venous lines are commonly used
      in critically ill patients for practical reasons, and offer an opportunity for
      advanced hemodynamic monitoring. Critical care ultrasonography may add to the
      understanding of the hemodynamic profile at hand. Improvements in ultrasound
      techniques, for example, smaller devices and improved image quality, may reduce
      limitations and increase its value as a complementary tool. Critical care
      ultrasonography has great potential to guide decisions in the management of
      shock, but operators should be aware of limitations and pitfalls as well. Current
      evidence comes from cohort studies with heterogeneous design and outcomes.
      SUMMARY: Use of ultrasonography for hemodynamic monitoring in critical care
      expands, probably because of absence of procedure-related adverse events. Easy
      applicability and the capacity of distinguishing different types of shock add to
      its increasing role, further supported by consensus statements promoting
      ultrasound as the preferred tool for diagnostics in circulatory shock.

PMID- 28590256
TI  - Thromboembolism prophylaxis in laparoscopic surgery for gynecologic benign
      diseases. Results of a single center experience in 922 procedures.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the role of preoperative evaluation risk
      for venous tromboembolism (VTE) in patients submitted to laparoscopic surgery for
      gynecologic benign diseases. METHODS: Date from nine hundred twenty-two women
      affected by adnexal benign diseases treated with laparoscopic procedures were
      collected and included in this study. VTE risk was assessed by "on line Caprini
      score calculator". Patients with one or more negative risk factors for Caprini's
      score underwent to venous thromboembolism prophylaxis (VTP). The remainign of the
      patients did not recived any VTP. A survey was conducted after three months from
      the discharge in order to collect the follow up date. RESULTS: In our study 160
      patients had a Caprini's score major than 2 and they have been subjected to VTP.
      A total of 762 patients were considered at low risk for VTE and they did not
      receive any VTP. In these patients was not registered any event of VTE.
      DISCUSSION: The results of this study suggest that laparoscopic approach, when
      carried out in non-oncological patients and without any previous thromboembolic
      risk factor, is associated with a very low risk of VTE. This study also confirm
      what was reported by Ageno et al. 6, Nick et al. 7 and ACCP guidelines in 2012 8
      in which routine thromboprophylaxis is recommended for patients with additional
      risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery in women for gynecologic benign
      diseases is associated with a very low risk of thromboembolism and therefore it
      does not require any mechanical or pharmacological thromboprophylaxis in the
      absence of risk factors. The systematic evaluation of VTE risk with the help of a
      standard calculator is highly recommended. KEY WORDS: Gynaecology, Laparoscopic
      surgery, Thromboprophylaxis.

PMID- 28590251
TI  - A Primer on Infectious Disease Bacterial Genomics.
AB  - The number of large-scale genomics projects is increasing due to the availability
      of affordable high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies. The use of HTS for
      bacterial infectious disease research is attractive because one whole-genome
      sequencing (WGS) run can replace multiple assays for bacterial typing, molecular
      epidemiology investigations, and more in-depth pathogenomic studies. The
      computational resources and bioinformatics expertise required to accommodate and
      analyze the large amounts of data pose new challenges for researchers embarking
      on genomics projects for the first time. Here, we present a comprehensive
      overview of a bacterial genomics projects from beginning to end, with a
      particular focus on the planning and computational requirements for HTS data, and
      provide a general understanding of the analytical concepts to develop a workflow
      that will meet the objectives and goals of HTS projects.

PMID- 28590259
TI  - Imaging of left-to-right shunt in adults.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Left-to-right shunts are commonly seen in congenital heart
      diseases. This review aims to review the anatomy, physiology, and imaging of the
      four most common left-to-right lesions in adults. RECENT FINDINGS: Reported late
      complications of left-to-right lesions provide guidance in follow-up imaging. Use
      of three-dimensional echocardiography helps not only in the diagnosis of these
      defects but also in assistance during device closure. SUMMARY: Noninvasive
      imaging plays a significant role in the diagnosis and management of left-to-right
      lesions.

PMID- 28590258
TI  - Opioid-induced hyperalgesia in clinical anesthesia practice: what has remained
      from theoretical concepts and experimental studies?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews the phenomenon of opioid-induced
      hyperalgesia (OIH) and its implications for clinical anesthesia. The goal of this
      review is to give an update on perioperative prevention and treatment strategies,
      based on findings in preclinical and clinical research. RECENT FINDINGS: Several
      systems have been suggested to be involved in the pathophysiology of OIH with a
      focus on the glutaminergic system. Very recently preclinical data revealed that
      peripheral MU-opioid receptors (MORs) are key players in the development of OIH
      and acute opioid tolerance (AOT). Peripheral MOR antagonists could, thus, become
      a new prevention/treatment option of OIH in the perioperative setting. Although
      the impact of OIH on postoperative pain seems to be moderate, recent evidence
      suggests that increased hyperalgesia following opioid treatment correlates with
      the risk of developing persistent pain after surgery. In clinical practice,
      distinction among OIH, AOT and acute opioid withdrawal remains difficult,
      especially because a specific quantitative sensory test to diagnose OIH has not
      been validated yet. SUMMARY: Since the immediate postoperative period is not
      ideal to initiate long-term treatment for OIH, the best strategy is to prevent
      its occurrence. A multimodal approach, including choice of opioid, dose
      limitations and addition of nonopioid analgesics, is recommended.

PMID- 28590261
TI  - Orthostatic hypotension and association of arterial compliance in elderly
      patients with hypertension: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with cardiovascular
      diseases, heart failure, and increased mortality. We evaluated whether OH was
      affected by cardiac structure and function or autonomic function in elderly
      hypertensive outpatients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 64 hypertension patients (mean
      age 74.2+/-1.7 years old), we evaluated changes in blood pressure (BP) and heart
      rate variability before and after standing up using the MemCalc system. In
      addition, we retrospectively reviewed their medical records and echocardiographic
      data. RESULTS: Of the total patients, 28% had OH [decrease of systolic blood
      pressure (SBP) >=20 mmHg and/or diastolic BP >=10 mmHg]. Multivariate linear
      regression analysis showed that stroke volume (SV)/pulse pressure (PP) was
      associated independently with orthostatic change in SBP (P=0.007). The patients
      with OH tended to have a lower SV (57.3+/-13.1 vs. 68.1+/-16.3 ml, P=0.009) and
      lower SV/PP (1.02+/-0.26 vs. 1.33+/-0.45, P=0.001) than those without OH. The
      significance in difference in SV/PP remained even after adjustment for age, sex,
      BMI, estimated glomerular filtration rate, number of antihypertesive drugs,
      history of diabetes, and SBP at rest (P=0.036). However, there were no
      significant differences in change in the low frequency/high frequency ratio after
      standing up (P=0.899) between patients with and without OH. CONCLUSION: Elderly
      hypertensive patients with OH may have a reduced arterial compliance, measured as
      SV/PP, and may not have differences in sympathetic nerve activities, measured as
      the low frequency/high frequency ratio.

PMID- 28590260
TI  - Ghrelin and autophagy.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A compromised autophagy is associated with the onset of
      obesity, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular and
      neurodegenerative diseases. Our aim is to review the potential role of ghrelin, a
      gut hormone involved in energy homeostasis, in the regulation of autophagy.
      RECENT FINDINGS: In the recent years, it has been demonstrated that autophagy
      constitutes an important mechanism by which ghrelin exerts a plethora of central
      and peripheral actions. Ghrelin enhances autophagy through the activation of AMP
      activated protein kinase in different target organs to regulate lipid and glucose
      metabolism, the remodeling and protection of small intestine mucosa, protection
      against cardiac ischemia as well as higher brain functions such as learning and
      memory consolidation. Nonetheless, in inflammatory states, such as acute
      hepatitis, liver fibrosis or adipose tissue inflammation, ghrelin acts as an anti
      inflammatory factor reducing the autophagic flux to prevent further cell injury.
      Interestingly, several cardiometabolic disorders, including obesity, type 2
      diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or chronic heart failure are
      accompanied by low ghrelin levels in addition to altered autophagy. SUMMARY:
      Ghrelin represents an attractive target for development of therapeutics for
      prevention or treatment of metabolic, cardiac or neuronal disorders, in which
      autophagy is impaired.

PMID- 28590262
TI  - Prevention of betaeta-adrenergic-induced Adverse Cardiac Remodeling by
      Gonadectomy in Male but Not Female Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.
AB  - Chronic beta-adrenergic stimulation induces left ventricular (LV) remodeling in
      male but not in female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). However, the role
      of sex steroids in mediating these effects has not been determined. The aim of
      the present study was to assess the impact of gonadectomy on isoproterenol (ISO)
      induced LV remodeling in SHR. Gonadectomy was performed on 9-month-old male and
      female SHR. LV remodeling was induced by daily ISO injection (0.04 mg/kg) for 6
      months. LV dimensions and functions were determined in vivo by echocardiography
      and ex vivo using isolated perfused heart preparations. In males, ISO increased
      LV end diastolic (LVED) diameter in sham-operated (in millimeter, ISO: 8.12 +/-
      0.26 vs. Con: 6.67 +/- 0.20, P = 0.0002) but not in castrated SHR (ISO: 6.97 +/-
      0.31 vs. Con: 6.53 +/- 0.15, P = 0.66). Similarly, ISO increased the volume
      intercept of the LVED pressure-volume relationship in sham-operated (in
      milliliters, ISO: 0.26 +/- 0.02 vs. Con: 0.19 +/- 0.01, P = 0.01) but not in
      castrated SHR (ISO: 0.17 +/- 0.02 vs. Con: 0.17 +/- 0.01, P = 0.99). In females,
      ISO only increased LVED diameter (ISO: 6.43 +/- 0.13 vs. Con: 6.07 +/- 0.09, P =
      0.027). However, ovariectomy did not modify any LV dimensions measured in vivo
      and ex vivo. In conclusion, testosterone may be responsible for the chronic beta
      adrenergic-induced LV dilation and eccentric remodeling observed in male but not
      female SHR.

PMID- 28590263
TI  - Why We Need to Enhance Suicide Postvention: Evaluating a Survey of Psychiatrists'
      Behaviors after the Suicide of a Patient.
AB  - Suicide prevention efforts are increasing to enhance capabilities and better
      understand risk factors and etiologies. Postvention, or how clinicians manage the
      postsuicide aftermath, strengthens suicide prevention, destigmatizes the tragedy,
      operationalizes the confusing aftermath, and promotes caregiver recovery.
      However, studies regarding its efficacy are minimal. The Psychopathology
      Committee of the Group for the Advancement for Psychiatry surveyed a convenience
      sample of psychiatrists to better understand postvention activities. Ninety
      psychiatrists completed the survey; they were predominantly men (72%) with an
      average of 24.6 years of experience (SD, 16.7 years). Most had contact with the
      patient's family within 6 months of the suicide, and most psychiatrists sought
      some form of support. Few psychiatrists used a suicide postvention procedure or
      toolkit (9%). No psychiatrists stopped clinical practice after a patient suicide,
      although 10% stopped accepting patients they deemed at risk of suicide.
      Postvention efforts, therefore, should be improved to better address survivor
      care.

PMID- 28590264
TI  - Traumatic Brain Injury, Sleep Quality, and Suicidal Ideation in Iraq/Afghanistan
      Era Veterans.
AB  - The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that sleep quality
      mediates the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) history and current
      suicidal ideation. Measures of TBI history, sleep quality, and suicidal ideation
      were administered to 130 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. As expected, sleep quality
      mediated the effect of TBI history on current suicidal ideation (indirect effect,
      0.0082; 95% confidence interval, 0.0019-0.0196), such that history of TBI was
      associated with worse sleep quality, which was, in turn, associated with
      increased suicidal ideation. These findings highlight the importance of assessing
      TBI history and sleep quality during suicide risk assessments for veterans.

PMID- 28590265
TI  - Expression of KGF-1 and KGF-2 in Skin Wounds and Its Application in Forensic
      Pathology.
AB  - The expression of keratinocyte growth factor-1 (KGF-1) and keratinocyte growth
      factor-2 (KGF-2) in skin wounds in mice was studied using multiple methods. The
      dynamic expression of KGF-1 and KGF-2 for antemortem and postmortem injuries as
      well as the examination of antemortem injuries after death under different
      temperature and over varying time periods was studied. It demonstrates that skin
      KGF-1 resulting from an antemortem injury starts to rise at 6 hours, reaches its
      peak at 1 day, and starts to drop at 5 days. The expression of skin KGF-2
      resulting from an antemortem injury starts to rise at 12 hours, reaches its peak
      at 7 days, and begins to drop at 10 days. Skin KGF-1 and skin KGF-2 after death
      stabilize within 7 days at 4 degrees C and -20 degrees C, within 5 days at 20
      degrees C, and within 1 day at 30 degrees C. The application of KGF-1 and KGF-2
      indicators in skin wound age determination is both feasible and reliable.

PMID- 28590266
TI  - Sex differences in aortic augmentation index in adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Augmentation index (AIx) is a noninvasive measure of pulse wave
      reflection. AIx is associated with cardiovascular disease. Adult women have a
      higher AIx than men, but the factors determining this sex-related difference
      remain to be determined. METHODS: To examine factors associated with AIx in
      adolescents, participants in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study, followed from
      birth, were assessed at age 14 years, with AIx standardized to a heart rate of
      75/min (AIx_75) and pulse wave velocity. Associations of AIx_75 and pulse wave
      velocity with height, change in height, and measures of puberty were assessed.
      RESULTS: AIx_75 was higher in women compared to men [-24.5 (12.1) versus -32.3
      (12.4)%; P < 0.001]. Lower AIx_75 was significantly related to greater change in
      height between 8 and 14 years, but not to achieved height. The sex difference in
      AIx was not independently related to puberty variables. Differences between sexes
      included early life weight gain, lipids, height, BMI-Z-score, change in height
      from 8 to 14 years, and age at peak height velocity. Change in AIx_75 from 8 to
      14 years was highly associated with change in height (m) from 8 to 14 years (B = 
      88.8, 95% confidence interval -137.3 to -40.3, P =  < 0.001). The difference
      between sexes established at 8 years was not amplified from 8 to 14 years.
      CONCLUSION: AIx is higher in girls than boys at 14 years and is closely
      associated with change in height between 8 and 14 years. Measures of puberty do
      not appear to independently influence the sex difference in AIx in adolescents.

PMID- 28590267
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28590268
TI  - AR-v7 liquid biopsy for treatment stratification in prostate cancer: how close
      are we?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Recent clinical introduction of the novel antiandrogen,
      Enzalutamide (Enza), CYP17 inhibitor, Abiraterone (Abi), and the second
      generation chemotherapeutic, Cabazitaxel, has increased survival of patients with
      advanced, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, de
      novo and acquired resistance rates are high. A liquid biopsy that can rapidly,
      sensitively and robustly identify which patients will respond to treatment in a
      minimally invasive manner is urgently required to permit switch to a potentially
      more efficacious drug regimen, thus increasing survival whilst avoiding
      debilitating side effects associated with unnecessary treatment. This review will
      highlight recent developments in detection of AR-v7 in circulating mRNA/whole
      blood and circulating tumour cells (CTCs) as a liquid biopsy for patient
      stratification in mCRPC. RECENT FINDINGS: Continued androgen receptor (AR)
      activity in mCRPC has been linked to the expression of a number of truncated but
      constitutively active AR isoforms. One such variant, AR-v7, can drive drug
      resistance in preclinical models and is correlated with disease progression
      whilst showing dynamic response to AR-targeting treatments when assessed in
      blood. It has thus been proposed as an Abi/Enza treatment-response biomarker.
      SUMMARY: AR-v7 liquid biopsy has the potential to transform clinical management
      of mCRPC and increase patient survival. This review will explore recent efforts
      to validate AR-v7 as a robust, clinically informative biomarker. I will also
      address potential limitations of detection and quantification that could
      frustrate its adoption into routine clinical practise.

PMID- 28590269
TI  - Avoiding the Hughes flap in lower eyelid reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review current surgical practices of lower eyelid
      reconstruction with a focus on recent studies. RECENT FINDINGS: Combination
      techniques and new flap techniques offer efficacy comparable with existing
      reconstructive approaches, with the advantage of less local trauma. Inappropriate
      handling of posterior lamellar grafts, such as kerfing, may predispose to graft
      failures. Modified Hughes procedure is a favorable choice for large lower eyelid
      reconstruction; however, it requires temporary eye closure. Other surgical
      options have been developed to achieve a 1-stage procedure without the need of
      eye closure. These include the Smith-modified Kuhnt-Szymanowski procedure and the
      use of flaps. For posterior lamellar grafts, both nasal septal and ear cartilage
      donor tissue produce esthetically and functionally satisfactory outcomes and
      comparable efficacy. However, the ear cartilage carries a lower risk of donor
      site complications. SUMMARY: Lower eyelid reconstruction remains a challenge,
      especially for large or near total defects. Recent studies have explored
      modifications and alternatives to the conventional Hughes flap. New surgical
      procedures give surgeons more options. Taking into account the growing spectrum
      of reconstructive techniques, an individualized approach may facilitate better
      functional and esthetic outcomes.

PMID- 28590270
TI  - Employment Status of Depressed Individuals in an 11-Year Follow-up: Results From
      the Finnish Health 2011 Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the employment and mental
      health status of persons with depressive disorders after an 11-year follow-up,
      and identify individual and work-related factors that predict adverse outcomes.
      METHODS: Two nationally representative health surveys, Health 2000 and its follow
      up, Health 2011 were used, and persons with depressive disorders at baseline (n =
      275) were re-interviewed after 11 years. RESULTS: Information on employment
      status was available for all 263 participants in 2011. About 15.7% had been
      granted disability pension by 2011, while 55.5% were employed and 18.2% on old
      age pension. High job control was the only statistically significant predictor of
      lower probability of disability pension (adjusted odds ratio 0.42, 95% confidence
      interval [95% CI] 0.23 to 0.77). Being unmarried (adjusted odds ratio 2.99, 95%
      CI 1.19 to 7.52) was associated with persistent depressive disorder. CONCLUSIONS:
      Job control emerged as an important predictor of long-term employment outcomes
      among depressed individuals.

PMID- 28590271
TI  - Impact of an Onsite Clinic on Utilization of Preventive Services.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess impact of an onsite clinic on healthcare utilization of
      preventive services for employees of a public university and their dependents.
      METHOD: Descriptive statistics, logistic regression and classification tree
      techniques were used to assess health claim data to identify changes in patterns
      of healthcare utilization and factors impacting usage of onsite clinic. RESULT:
      Utilization of preventive services significantly increased for women and men
      employees by 9% and 14% one year after implementation of the onsite clinic.
      Hourly-paid employees, employees without diabetes, employees with spouse opt out
      or no coverage were more likely to go to the onsite clinic. CONCLUSION: Adapted
      framework for assessing performance of onsite clinics based on usage of health
      informatics would help to identify health utilization patterns and interaction
      between onsite clinic and offsite health providers.

PMID- 28590272
TI  - An Investigation of Self-reported Health-related Productivity Loss in Office
      Workers and Associations With Individual and Work-related Factors Using an
      Employer's Perspective.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Office workers have a high prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions.
      This can be a significant economic burden due to health-related productivity
      loss. Individual and work-related factors related to office worker health-related
      productivity were investigated. METHODS: A survey including the Health and Work
      Performance Questionnaire, which estimated productivity loss, also recorded
      individual and work-related factors with potential associations with health
      related productivity. Muscle function and workstation ergonomics were examined
      through physical assessments. Linear models investigated the relationships
      between these factors and health-related productivity. RESULTS: Significant
      factors identified were occupational category (0.001 < P < 0.050), job
      satisfaction (P < 0.001), psychological wellbeing (P = 0.031), and
      musculoskeletal pain (P = 0.023). Health-related productivity loss was greater in
      office workers working as managers, with lower job satisfaction and psychological
      wellbeing, and those with musculoskeletal pain. CONCLUSION: Office worker health
      related productivity loss is represented by a combination of both individual and
      work-related factors.

PMID- 28590273
TI  - Incidence and survival of Hodgkin lymphoma patients in Girona (Spain) over three
      decades: a population-based study.
AB  - Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is characterized by heterogeneous histologic findings,
      clinical presentation and outcomes. Using the Girona population-based cancer
      registry data we sought to explore the incidence of HL over three decades in
      Girona Province (Spain) and examine the relationship between clinical features at
      diagnosis and survival. From 1985 to 2013, 459 cases were recorded. Patients were
      stratified by sex, age group, stage at diagnosis, histological subtypes and the
      presence of B-symptoms. The crude incidence rate (CR) was 2.7 and the
      corresponding European age-adjusted rate was 2.6, being higher in men than in
      women (sex ratio=1.6). Incidence remained constant throughout the period of
      study. Nodular sclerosis was the most frequent histology and showed an increasing
      incidence over time [estimated annual percentage change=+2.4, 95% confidence
      interval (CI): 0.8-4.0]. The 5-year observed survival and relative survival of
      patients diagnosed with HL were 73.1% (95% CI: 69.0-77.5) and 74.6% (95% CI: 70.0
      79.4), respectively. No statistical differences in observed survival were
      observed across the three decades of study (P=0.455). Clinical parameters
      negatively influencing 5-year relative survival in the multivariate analysis were
      as follows: age at diagnosis at least 65 years; clinical stage IV; and presence
      of B-symptoms. These current patterns of presentation and outcomes of HL help
      delineate key populations in order to explore risk factors for HL and strategies
      to improve treatment outcomes.

PMID- 28590274
TI  - Survival from cancer in the north region of Portugal: results from the first
      decade of the millennium.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate net survival from cancer diagnosed during
      the period 2001-2010 in the north region of Portugal to identify the tumours that
      need actions to improve the outcomes. Data were retrieved from the North Region
      Cancer Registry of Portugal database. The top 20 cancer sites in adults were
      considered: oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, pancreas, liver, larynx, lung,
      skin melanoma, breast, cervix, corpus uteri, ovary, prostate, kidney, bladder,
      brain and central nervous system, thyroid, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple
      myeloma. Net survival was estimated using the Pohar-Perme estimator. The effect
      of diagnosis period was evaluated using flexible parametric models adjusted for
      age and sex where appropriate. Thyroid and prostate cancers presented the best 5
      year survival (>90%), whereas oesophagus, pancreas, liver and lung cancers the
      worst 5-year survival (<20%). The largest increase in survival was observed for
      the larynx. A significant decrease in age-adjusted and sex-adjusted excess
      mortality was observed for stomach, colon, pancreas, larynx, melanoma, breast,
      brain and central nervous system, thyroid, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple
      myeloma. For the other cancer sites, no significant trends were observed. For
      some of these sites, the downward trend in excess mortality was only observed in
      the short term. An important picture of population-based cancer survival outcomes
      for the first decade of the millennium in the north region of Portugal was
      presented in this study. It has been shown that improvements in survival were not
      universal for all cancer sites. These results should be used to highlight tumours
      where intervention is needed the most.

PMID- 28590275
TI  - Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Injection of Liposomal
      Amphotericin B for the Treatment of Symptomatic Aspergilloma.
AB  - Surgical treatment with lung resection has traditionally been the treatment of
      choice for pulmonary cavities containing aspergillomas that cause hemoptysis.
      Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a minimally invasive bronchoscopic technique
      that is commonly used for transbronchial needle aspiration of hilar and
      mediastinal lymph nodes as well as centrally located parenchymal lesions. Here,
      we describe a case of a 71-year-old woman who was found to have a cavitary lesion
      in the lung containing aspergillomas. Under direct ultrasound visualization with
      EBUS, liposomal amphotericin B was injected into the aspergillomas. These
      aspergillomas regressed after treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first
      reported treatment of aspergilloma with EBUS-guided transbronchial needle
      injection of liposomal amphotericin B.

PMID- 28590276
TI  - Preface: State of the Art and Beyond: Anterior Segment Diagnostics.

PMID- 28590277
TI  - Corneal and Conjunctival Infectious Disease Diagnostics.

PMID- 28590278
TI  - State of the Art and Beyond: Anterior Segment Diagnostics Genetic Diagnostics in
      Corneal Disease.

PMID- 28590279
TI  - New Diagnostics in Ocular Surface Disease.

PMID- 28590281
TI  - New Diagnostics in Corneal Ectatic Disease.

PMID- 28590280
TI  - Updates in Ocular Surface Tumor Diagnostics.

PMID- 28590283
TI  - Perioperative Imaging in Corneal Surgery (Intraoperative and Postoperative).

PMID- 28590284
TI  - Advances in Preoperative Testing for Cataract Surgery.

PMID- 28590285
TI  - Updates in Biometry.

PMID- 28590282
TI  - Biomechanical Diagnostics of the Cornea.

PMID- 28590286
TI  - Diagnostic Imaging of the Anterior Segment in Glaucoma: An Update.

PMID- 28590287
TI  - Effect of Gender and Race on Ocular Biometry.

PMID- 28590289
TI  - Comparison of Inching Electrodiagnosis Method and Ultrasonographic Findings in
      the Determination of Median Nerve Entrapment Site in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of both
      inching method through the electrodiagnostic test and ultrasonographic assay in
      localizing the site of entrapment in patients with symptoms and signs of carpal
      tunnel syndrome. DESIGN: Thirty-two hands with confirmed carpal tunnel syndrome
      through electrodiagnostic test and 30 hands as control group were enrolled. For
      both groups, sensory and motor latencies by inching technique and cross-sectional
      area by ultrasonography were measured at the inching points. The statistical
      analysis was performed by SPSS software, and mean difference with 95% confidence
      interval was calculated. RESULTS: Mean of sensory peak latency with inching
      method and cross-sectional area by the ultrasonography was greater in case group
      compared with the control group (P < 0.05). We revealed a significant difference
      of antidromic sensory latency between two adjacent points belonging to the fifth
      and sixth segments. In orthodromic sensory and distal motor latency the sixth
      segment had statistically significant latency difference. Sixth and seventh
      points had the greatest cross-sectional area. Distal motor latency difference and
      cross-sectional area had the greatest sensitivity at the seventh point.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we revealed the most sites of entrapment of the
      median nerve through carpal tunnel are 2- and 3-cm distal to the distal wrist
      crease.

PMID- 28590291
TI  - Bronchoscopic modalities to diagnose sarcoidosis.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Several studies have investigated different bronchoscopic
      techniques to obtain tissue diagnosis in patients with suspected sarcoidosis when
      the diagnosis cannot be based on clinicoradiographic findings alone. In this
      review, we will describe the most recent and relevant evidence from different
      bronchoscopic modalities to diagnose sarcoidosis. RECENT FINDINGS: Despite
      multiple available bronchoscopic modalities to procure tissue samples to diagnose
      sarcoidosis, the vast majority of evidence favors endobronchial ultrasound
      transbronchial needle aspiration to diagnose Scadding stages 1 and 2 sarcoidosis.
      Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy is a new technique that is mainly used to aid in
      the diagnosis of undifferentiated interstitial lung disease; however, we will
      discuss its potential use in sarcoidosis. SUMMARY: This review illustrates the
      limited information about the different bronchoscopic techniques to aid in the
      diagnosis of pulmonary sarcoidosis. However, it demonstrates that the combination
      of available bronchoscopic techniques increases the diagnostic yield for
      suspected sarcoidosis.

PMID- 28590290
TI  - Huge Hepatic Fungal Inflammatory Pseudotumor Misdiagnosed as Primary
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Fungal inflammatory pseudotumor (FIPT) of the liver is a rare disease that may be
      mistaken for a malignant tumor. It is difficult to diagnose because of its
      nonspecific clinical and imaging features. We report the case of a 46-year-old
      Asian man who presented with a mass in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen.
      The patient had undergone transcatheter arterial chemoembolization therapy at
      another institution 6 months earlier, but the mass had continued to enlarge. He
      had no history of chronic hepatitis B, and the serum alpha-fetoprotein was
      negative. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and computed tomography images were
      suggestive of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, ultrasound-guided biopsy
      revealed features of chronic inflammation. The mass was resected and found to be
      an FIPT. We discuss the details of the case and review related articles.

PMID- 28590293
TI  - Pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension: on the eve of growing up.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Current recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of
      pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) during childhood are expert opinion based,
      because of lacking pediatric data. In recent years, however, important pediatric
      data have emerged on PAH. RECENT FINDINGS: PAH in children shows similarities as
      well as differences compared to adults. Neonates and children know specific
      clinical presentations and a hemodynamic profile that differs from adults with
      PAH. Children identified as acute vasodilator responders according to the
      criteria proposed for adults rather than the pediatric criteria have better
      outcome when treated with calcium channel blockers. For nonresponders,
      combination PAH-targeted therapy leads to improved outcome compared to
      monotherapy. In pediatric PAH, WHO functional class, N-terminal pro-brain
      natriuretic peptide and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion were
      identified as surrogates for survival and therefore qualify to be treatment goals
      in a goal-oriented treatment strategy. SUMMARY: In order to refine current
      pediatric treatment guidelines, data on efficacy of specific treatment regiments
      and strategies are needed. The recently validated composite endpoint of clinical
      worsening allows for trials that will provide these data. For the first time,
      evidence-based treatment goals have been identified that will allow for a goal
      oriented treatment strategy. Furthermore, various prognostic predictors have been
      identified that may prove treatment goals in future.

PMID- 28590292
TI  - Transcriptome profiles in sarcoidosis and their potential role in disease
      prediction.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease defined by the presence of
      nonnecrotizing granuloma in the absence of any known cause. Although the
      heterogeneity of sarcoidosis is well characterized clinically, the transcriptome
      of sarcoidosis and underlying molecular mechanisms are not. The signal of all
      transcripts, small and long noncoding RNAs, can be detected using microarrays or
      RNA-Sequencing. Analyzing the transcriptome of tissues that are directly affected
      by granulomas is of great importance to understand biology of the disease and may
      be predictive of disease and treatment outcome. RECENT FINDINGS: Multiple genome
      wide expression studies performed on sarcoidosis affected tissues were published
      in the last 11 years. Published studies focused on differences in gene expression
      between sarcoidosis vs. control tissues, stable vs. progressive sarcoidosis, as
      well as sarcoidosis vs. other diseases. Strikingly, all these transcriptomics
      data confirm the key role of TH1 immune response in sarcoidosis and particularly
      of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and type I IFN-driven signaling pathways.
      SUMMARY: The steps toward transcriptomics of sarcoidosis in precision medicine
      highlight the potentials of this approach. Large prospective follow-up studies
      are required to identify signatures predictive of disease progression and
      outcome.

PMID- 28590294
TI  - Colonic Parasitic Infection Mimicking Peritoneal Seeding on 18F-FDG PET/CT.
AB  - A 77-year-old man with anorexia and weight loss for 6 months received a diagnosis
      of gastric cancer by endoscopy and referred for F-FDG PET/CT for initial staging.
      F-FDG PET/CT showed multiple foci of increased FDG uptake with diffuse wall
      thickening and multiple diverticula. The differential diagnoses were peritoneal
      seeding and multiple diverticulitis. The patient underwent curative total
      gastrectomy, and the lesion was diagnosed as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma
      by histological examination. He underwent anterior resection of the sigmoid colon
      for exploration. The nodular lesions of the sigmoid colon were diagnosed by
      histopathologic examination as chronic diverticulitis caused by a parasitic
      infection.

PMID- 28590295
TI  - 68Ga-PSMA PET/MR-Positive Peritoneal Metastasis in the Falciform Ligament in
      Recurrent Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Synchronous or metachronous metastases develop in approximately one third of all
      prostate cancer (PCa) patients. Main sites of metastasis include lymph nodes,
      bone, lung and liver. Secondary peritoneal carcinomatosis is very rare in PCa,
      with only a few published cases. Ga-PSMA PET-based imaging is a promising tool
      for staging and restaging PCa. We report a case of Ga-PSMA PET/MR-positive
      peritoneal metastasis as site of primary relapse after definitive PCa treatment
      in a 58-year-old man with a prostate-specific antigen of 30 ng/mL at time of the
      study. Exploratory laparoscopy and subsequent histopathologic examination
      confirmed nonascitic peritoneal PCa carcinomatosis.

PMID- 28590296
TI  - 18F-FDG Superscan Caused by Extensive Bone Marrow Involvement in Hemophagocytic
      Lymphohistiocytosis.
AB  - An 82-year-old woman who initially presented with pulmonary infection had
      persistent pancytopenia, which presented a diagnostic dilemma requiring multiple
      bone marrow biopsies for eventual diagnosis of hemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis. This case highlights the utility of FDG PET in (a) focusing
      attention on the bone marrow and reticuloendothelial system as the primary site
      of pathology and (b) excluding underlying malignancy and infection in this rare
      but potentially fatal hyperinflammatory condition caused by a highly stimulated
      but ineffective immune response.

PMID- 28590297
TI  - High Prevalence of Pneumothorax on PET-CT Studies Performed in Lung Cancer
      Patients Following Post-Transthoracic Needle Biopsy Mandates Careful Scrutiny.
AB  - In our practice, FDG PET-CT studies are frequently performed within days of
      transthoracic needle biopsy, often revealing presence of pneumothorax (PTX), a
      "critical finding" that should be reported expeditiously. In our experience,
      prevalence of PTX at PET-CT performed 1 day following biopsy is greater than 40%.
      Of these, approximately a third are not visible on the postprocedure chest
      radiography, as in a case we describe. A high level of vigilance is therefore
      recommended to identify PTX in patients who have undergone recent transthoracic
      needle biopsy, even when no PTX is present immediately following the biopsy
      procedure.

PMID- 28590298
TI  - Diagnostic and Prognostic Implications of Exercise Treadmill and Rest First-Pass
      Radionuclide Angiography in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by abnormally increased
      pulmonary vascular pressure, leading to deteriorated right ventricular function
      and premature death. Pulmonary mean transit time (PMTT) and biventricular
      function response to exercise in first-pass radionuclide angiography (FP-RNA) may
      provide early detection and timely disease monitoring of PH. This study aimed to
      investigate the diagnostic and prognostic values of this imaging modality in PH
      patients. METHODS: Left and right ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF/RVEF) and
      PMTT at rest and immediately after exercise treadmill test were measured by FP
      RNA in 77 consecutive patients with clinical presentations suggestive of PH (aged
      46 +/- 15 years, 33 men), mostly with symptoms of unexplained progressive
      dyspnea. These parameters, along with other clinical variables, were correlated
      with right-sided heart catheterization data and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Fifty
      patients (64.9%) were diagnosed as having definite PH. Besides higher N-terminal
      pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels, right atrial pressure, and pulmonary
      vascular resistance, PH patients had significantly longer PMTT, lower LVEF after
      exercise and rest, and lower poststress RVEF (all P < 0.05), compared with non-PH
      subjects. Moreover, PH patients exhibited stress-induced right ventricular
      dysfunction and stationary poststress PMTT. Poststress PMTT and echocardiography
      had comparable diagnostic utility (area under the curve, 0.80 vs 0.84,
      respectively). Eighteen patients died during a median follow-up period of 380
      days. Failure of exercise treadmill test, lower peak heart rate response, and
      stress/rest LVEF ratio of less than 90% using exercise treadmill FP-RNA were
      independent predictors of mortality in PH patients. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise
      treadmill and rest FP-RNA provided diagnostic value and had prognostic
      implications in patients with PH.

PMID- 28590299
TI  - 18F-FDG PET/CT in the Detection of Undifferentiated Carcinoma With Osteoclast
      like Giant Cells of the Pancreas.
AB  - Undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells of the pancreas
      (UCOGCP) is a rare nonendocrine pancreatic tumor. We present a case of a very
      small UCOGCP. F-FDG PET/CT revealed a solid mass measuring 1.0 * 0.8 cm on CT
      images with an SUVmax of 5.0 in the body of the pancreas. CT revealed a solid
      mass with significant enhancement. The histopathologic and immunohistochemical
      studies confirmed the diagnosis. Our findings indicate F-FDG PET/CT is a useful
      imaging modality for UCOGCP diagnosis.

PMID- 28590300
TI  - 18F-FDOPA PET Imaging in Prolactinoma.
AB  - Pituitary macroadenoma constitutes a frequently misdiagnosed benign tumor. We
      report herein a case where such macroadenoma, a prolactinoma, was incidentally
      discovered in a 63-year-old man who had been referred to F-FDG PET and F-FDOPA
      PET imaging for a pharmacoresistant epilepsy. An increased uptake was documented
      for both radiotracers within the sellar region, although with a much higher
      contrast for F-FDOPA than for F-FDG. This case presents an increased uptake
      documented within a prolactinoma owing to the high contrast and image quality
      provided by F-FDOPA PET.

PMID- 28590301
TI  - Epstein-Barr Virus-Positive Mucocutaneous Ulcer Mimicking Rectal Carcinoma at 18F
      FDG PET/CT.
AB  - We report focally intense F-FDG PET/CT rectal activity (SUVmax = 25) with a
      horseshoe distribution in an 81-year-old man with B-cell chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia and suspected Richter transformation. While imaging findings were
      typical for rectal adenocarcinoma, histology revealed Epstein-Barr virus-positive
      mucocutaneous ulcer.

PMID- 28590303
TI  - The immunomodulatory tellurium compound ammonium trichloro (dioxoethylene-O,O')
      tellurate reduces anxiety-like behavior and corticosterone levels of submissive
      mice.
AB  - Ammonium trichloro (dioxoethylene-O,O') tellurate (AS101) is a synthetic
      organotellurium compound with potent immunomodulatory and neuroprotective
      properties shown to inhibit the function of integrin alphavbeta3, a presynaptic
      cell-surface-adhesion receptor. As partial deletion of alphavbeta3 downregulated
      reuptake of serotonin by the serotonin transporter, we hypothesized that AS101
      may influence pathways regulating anxiety. AS101 was tested in the modulation of
      anxiety-like behavior using the selectively bred Submissive (Sub) mouse strain
      that develop anxiety-like behavior in response to an i.p. injection. Mice were
      treated daily with AS101 (i.p., 125 or 200 MUg/kg) or vehicle for 3 weeks, after
      which their anxiety-like behavior was measured in the elevated plus maze. Animals
      were then culled for the measurement of serum corticosterone levels by ELISA and
      hippocampal expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) by RT-PCR.
      Chronic administration of AS101 significantly reduced anxiety-like behavior of
      Sub mice in the elevated plus maze, according to both time spent and entries to
      open arms, relative to vehicle-treated controls. AS101 also markedly reduced
      serum corticosterone levels of the treated mice and increased their hippocampal
      BDNF expression. Anxiolytic-like effects of AS101 may be attributed to the
      modulation of the regulatory influence integrin of alphavbeta3 upon the serotonin
      transporter, suggesting a multifaceted mechanism by which AS101 buffers the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to injection stress, enabling
      recovery of hippocampal BDNF expression and anxiety-like behavior in Sub mice.
      Further studies should advance the potential of AS101 in the context of anxiety
      related disorders.

PMID- 28590304
TI  - Antinociceptive effect of (-)-epicatechin in inflammatory and neuropathic pain in
      rats.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the antinociceptive potential of (-)
      epicatechin and the possible mechanisms of action involved in its antinociceptive
      effect. The carrageenan and formalin tests were used as inflammatory pain models.
      A plethysmometer was used to measure inflammation and L5/L6 spinal nerve ligation
      as a neuropathic pain model. Oral (-)-epicatechin reduced carrageenan-induced
      inflammation and nociception by about 59 and 73%, respectively, and reduced
      formalin- induced and nerve injury-induced nociception by about 86 and 43%,
      respectively. (-)-Epicatechin-induced antinociception in the formalin test was
      prevented by the intraperitoneal administration of antagonists: methiothepin (5
      HT1/5 receptor), WAY-100635 (5-HT1A receptor), SB-224289 (5-HT1B receptor), BRL
      15572 (5-HT1D receptor), SB-699551 (5-HT5A receptor), naloxone (opioid receptor),
      CTAP (MU opioid receptor), nor-binaltorphimine (kappa opioid receptor), and 7
      benzylidenenaltrexone (delta1 opioid receptor). The effect of (-)-epicatechin was
      also prevented by the intraperitoneal administration of L-NAME [nitric oxide (NO)
      synthase inhibitor], 7-nitroindazole (neuronal NO synthase inhibitor), ODQ
      (guanylyl cyclase inhibitor), glibenclamide (ATP-sensitive K channel blocker), 4
      aminopyridine (voltage-dependent K channel blocker), and iberiotoxin (large
      conductance Ca-activated K channel blocker), but not by amiloride (acid sensing
      ion channel blocker). The data suggest that (-)-epicatechin exerts its
      antinociceptive effects by activation of the NO-cyclic GMP-K channels pathway, 5
      HT1A/1B/1D/5A serotonergic receptors, and MU/kappa/delta opioid receptors.

PMID- 28590302
TI  - A Subregion of the Parabrachial Nucleus Partially Mediates Respiratory Rate
      Depression from Intravenous Remifentanil in Young and Adult Rabbits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of opioid administration to reduce postoperative pain is
      limited by respiratory depression. We investigated whether clinically relevant
      opioid concentrations altered the respiratory pattern in the parabrachial
      nucleus, a pontine region contributing to respiratory pattern generation, and
      compared these effects with a medullary respiratory site, the pre-Botzinger
      complex. METHODS: Studies were performed in 40 young and 55 adult artificially
      ventilated, decerebrate rabbits. We identified an area in the parabrachial
      nucleus where alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid
      microinjections elicited tachypnea. Two protocols were performed in separate sets
      of animals. First, bilateral microinjections of the MU-opioid receptor agonist [D
      Ala, N-MePhe, Gly-ol]-enkephalin (100 MUM) into the "tachypneic area" determined
      the effect of maximal MU-opioid receptor activation. Second, respiratory rate was
      decreased with continuous IV infusions of remifentanil. The opioid antagonist
      naloxone (1 mM) was then microinjected bilaterally into the "tachypneic area" of
      the parabrachial nucleus to determine whether the respiratory rate depression
      could be locally reversed. RESULTS: Average respiratory rate was 27 +/- 10
      breaths/min. First, [D-Ala, N-MePhe, Gly-ol]-enkephalin injections decreased
      respiratory rate by 62 +/- 20% in young and 45 +/- 26% in adult rabbits (both P <
      0.001). Second, during IV remifentanil infusion, bilateral naloxone injections
      into the "tachypneic area" of the parabrachial nucleus reversed respiratory rate
      depression from 55 +/- 9% to 20 +/- 14% in young and from 46 +/- 20% to 18 +/-
      27% in adult rabbits (both P < 0.001). The effects of bilateral [D-Ala, N-MePhe,
      Gly-ol]-enkephalin injection and IV remifentanil on respiratory phase duration in
      the "tachypneic area" of the parabrachial nucleus was significantly different
      from the pre-Botzinger complex. CONCLUSIONS: The "tachypneic area" of the
      parabrachial nucleus is highly sensitive to MU-opioid receptor activation and
      mediates part of the respiratory rate depression by clinically relevant
      administration of opioids.

PMID- 28590305
TI  - Management of diabetic patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes: a
      prospective multicenter registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with diabetes mellitus and acute coronary syndrome (ACS)
      present an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events. An Italian Consensus
      Document indicated 'three specific must' to obtain in this subgroup of patients:
      optimal oral antiplatelet therapy, early invasive approach and a tailored
      strategy of revascularization for unstable angina/non-ST-elevation-myocardial
      infarction (UA/NSTEMI); furthermore, glycemia at admission should be managed with
      dedicated protocols. AIM: To investigate if previous recommendations are
      followed, the present multicenter prospective observational registry was carried
      out in Lombardia during a 9-week period between March and May 2015. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: A total of 559 consecutive ACS patients (mean age 68.7 +/- 11.3 years,
      35% >=75 years, 50% STEMI), with 'known DM' (56%) or 'hyperglycemia', this last
      defined as blood glucose value >= 126 mg/dl at admission, were included in the
      registry at 29 hospitals with an on-site 24/7 catheterization laboratory.
      Patients with known diabetes mellitus received clopidogrel in 51% of the cases,
      whereas most patients with hyperglycemia (72%) received a new P2Y12 inhibitor:
      according to clinical presentation in case STEMI prasugrel/ticagrelor were more
      prescribed than clopidogrel (70 vs. 30%, P < 0.001); on the contrary, no
      significant difference was found in case of UA/NSTEMI (48 vs. 52%, P =
      0.57).Overall, 96% of the patients underwent coronary angiography and 85%
      received a myocardial revascularization (with percutaneous coronary intervention
      in 92% of cases) that was however performed in fewer patients with known diabetes
      mellitus compared with hyperglycemia (79 vs. 90%, P = 0.001).Among UA/NSTEMI, 85%
      of patients received an initial invasive approach, less than 72 h in 80% of the
      cases (51% <24 h); no difference was reported comparing known diabetes mellitus
      to hyperglycemia. Despite similar SYNTAX score, patients with known diabetes
      mellitus had a higher rate of Heart Team discussion (29 vs. 12%, P = 0.03) and
      received a surgical revascularization in numerically more cases.Most
      investigators (85%) followed a local protocol for glycemia management at
      admission, but insulin was used in fewer than half of the cases; diabetes
      consulting was performed in 25% of the patients and mainly in case of known
      diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION: Based on data of the present real world
      prospective registry, patients with ACS and known diabetes mellitus are treated
      with an early invasive approach in case of UA/NSTEMI and with a tailored
      revascularization strategy, but with clopidogrel in more cases; glycemia
      management is taken into account at admission.

PMID- 28590306
TI  - Pancreatic stellate cells: what's new?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) play an integral role in the
      pathogenesis of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. With the developing knowledge
      of this important cell type, we are at the cusp of developing effective therapies
      for the above diseases based upon targeting the PSC and modulating its function.
      RECENT FINDINGS: The major themes of the recent PSC literature include: PSC
      interactions with the extracellular matrix and other stromal components;
      intracellular calcium physiology as drivers of mechanical interactions and
      necrosis; the relationship between proinflammatory, protumoural, angiogenic, and
      metabolic pathways in pancreatic necrosis, fibrosis, and carcinogenesis; and
      targeting of the stroma for antitumoural and antifibrotic effects. SUMMARY:
      Traditionally, there have been few treatment options for pancreatitis and
      pancreatic cancer. The elucidation of the wide-ranging functions of PSCs provide
      an opportunity for treatments based on stromal reprogramming.

PMID- 28590307
TI  - Enterococcus durans Endocarditis.

PMID- 28590308
TI  - Perioperative factors related to the severity of vocal cord paralysis after
      thoracic cardiovascular surgery: A retrospective review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vocal cord paralysis (VCP) is a rare complication of thoracic
      cardiovascular surgery. In severe cases, life-threatening airway obstruction may
      occur. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence and severity of VCP among patients
      who underwent thoracic cardiovascular surgery and to identify possible risk
      factors. DESIGN: Single-centre retrospective review of adult patients. SETTING:
      Osaka University Hospital, Suita, Japan, from January 2013 to August 2015.
      PATIENTS: We included 688 patients in the final analysis. Preoperative,
      intraoperative and postoperative data were collected from medical records.
      Patients with preoperative VCP or tracheostomy prior to extubation were excluded.
      The VCP severity in relation to functional recovery was graded using the
      following categories: absent; mild, remission at 6 months; moderate, partial or
      persistent VCP at 6 months; or severe, airway obstruction after extubation
      requiring reintubation. An otolaryngologist diagnosed all VCP cases. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The incidence and severity of VCP after extubation. RESULTS: The
      incidence (number) of VCP was 4.7% (32), with those of mild, moderate and severe
      VCP being 1.7% (12), 1.5% (10) and 1.5% (10), respectively. The ICU stay was
      significantly longer in patients with severe VCP than in patients without VCP
      [12.5 days (interquartile range 5.5 to 25.5) vs. 3 days (interquartile range 2 to
      5), P = 0.0002]. In our multivariable analysis, type 2 diabetes mellitus [odds
      ratio (OR) 1.853, P = 0.009], intubation period (OR per 24 h 1.136, P = 0.014),
      ascending aortic arch surgery with brachiocephalic artery reconstruction (OR
      8.708, P < 0.001) and ventricular assist device implantation (OR 3.460, P =
      0.005) were independent predictors for VCP. CONCLUSION: The identification of
      these risk factors may facilitate screening for VCP before extubation and
      possibly help anaesthesia personnel to be prepared to treat VCP-related airway
      obstruction should it occur.

PMID- 28590309
TI  - Comparison of laryngeal mask airway insertion methods, including the external
      larynx lift with pre-inflated cuff, on postoperative pharyngolaryngeal
      complications: A randomised clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative pharyngolaryngeal complications are commonly reported
      following laryngeal mask airway (LMA) insertion. After induction of anaesthesia,
      the airway structures fall backwards under the influence of gravity, and this may
      contribute to difficulty in placement of a LMA. External airway alignment by
      lifting the larynx during insertion of an airway may avoid collision of the
      airway with laryngeal structures. OBJECTIVE(S): To compare pharyngolaryngeal
      complications after either conventional airway insertion with or without cuff
      semi-inflation and a method, including an external larynx lift. DESIGN:
      Randomised controlled, double-blind, clinical trial. SETTING: Ambulatory surgical
      operating rooms of a university hospital. PATIENTS: American Society of
      Anaesthesiologists class 1 to 3 patients undergoing ambulatory surgery scheduled
      to receive general anaesthesia for which a LMA was not contraindicated.
      INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomised into three groups for LMA placement: G1,
      deflated airway; G2, pre-inflated cuff; G3, pre-inflated cuff with external
      lifting of the larynx. Assessment of pharyngolaryngeal complications (blinded
      assessor) was made at the time of LMA removal and again at 1, 2 and 24 h. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: A pharyngolaryngeal complication, defined as a composite of one
      or more of sore throat, dysphonia or dysphagia at any time point, or blood on the
      airway at removal. RESULTS: Of the 450 consecutive patients, 441 were studied.
      There were no differences in insertion times or number of insertion attempts
      among the groups. There was no difference in pharyngolaryngeal complications
      among the groups: G1, 57%; G2, 55%; G3, 52%, (P = 0.77). Blood on the airway was
      observed less frequently in G3 (9%) compared with G1 and G2 combined (17%):
      difference -8% (95% confidence interval of the difference -0.8 to -16%, P =
      0.01). CONCLUSION: The external larynx lift technique was associated with a lower
      incidence of blood on the airway at removal, suggesting that the method may
      decrease trauma to the tissues of the upper airway during insertion. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01749033.

PMID- 28590311
TI  - Aspirin challenge and desensitization: how, when and why.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To investigate the current approach to aspirin challenge (drug
      provocation) and/or desensitization in patients with histories of
      hypersensitivity reactions to it, particularly in those with cardiovascular
      diseases. RECENT FINDINGS: The literature indicates that patients with coronary
      artery disease (CAD), including those with an acute coronary syndrome, may safely
      undergo low-dose aspirin challenge and/or desensitization. Recently, flowcharts
      regarding challenge/desensitization procedures with aspirin in patients with CAD
      and histories of aspirin hypersensitivity reactions have become available.
      Aspirin desensitization and continuous aspirin therapy constitute an effective
      option in patients with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-exacerbated
      respiratory diseases (NERD) who have suboptimally controlled asthma or
      rhinosinusitis, or require multiple revision polypectomies. SUMMARY: The use of
      aspirin has proven to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with CAD. There
      is a general consensus on aspirin's effectiveness in secondary prevention of CAD.
      Therefore, aspirin desensitization is necessary in patients with CAD and
      histories of hypersensitivity reactions to it. The effectiveness of aspirin
      desensitization and continuous therapy in patients with NERD has been shown in
      numerous studies. However, shared selection criteria of candidates for aspirin
      challenge/desensitization procedures, and simple and homogeneous protocols are
      necessary. Moreover, preventive safety measures are still needed in order to
      reduce the potential risks of these procedures.

PMID- 28590310
TI  - Medical Management of Endometriosis.
AB  - Endometriosis is a chronic medical condition that affects around 6% to 10% of
      reproductive age women. Pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and infertility are the most
      common presenting symptoms. The disease is characterized by estrogen-dependent
      growth of the endometrial glands and stroma outside the endometrial cavity. The
      diagnosis requires a high degree of suspicion and can be only confirmed on
      histopathology. Treatment includes medical and surgical options. Both hormonal
      and nonhormonal medical options are available and are tried at first with a goal
      to control pain and stop the growth of the endometriotic lesions. Nonsteroidal
      anti-inflammatory drugs, oral contraceptive pills, gonadotropin-releasing hormone
      (GnRH) agonists, aromatase inhibitors are some of the commonly used medications.
      With more research on the molecular and biochemical aspects of endometriosis,
      newer targets of therapy are being developed like selective progesterone receptor
      modulators, antiangiogenic factors and immunomodulators. In women who do not
      respond to medical therapy or have severe symptoms, surgical excision of the
      endometrial lesions and adhesions is often helpful and offers confirmatory
      diagnosis by histopathology.

PMID- 28590313
TI  - Current management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma: evolving new therapies.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Targeted therapies have recently replaced cytokine treatments
      as the gold standard for management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).
      Currently approved treatments include the tyrosine kinase inhibitors sunitinib,
      pazopanib, axitinib, sorafenib, cabozantinib and lenvatinib; the vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor bevacizumab; the mammalian target of
      rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors everolimus and temsirolimus; and the immunologic
      nivolumab. The purpose of this review is to provide an updated analysis of the
      clinical data supporting the use of these agents in the first-line and second
      line setting. RECENT FINDINGS: In the first-line setting, pazopanib may be better
      tolerated than sunitinib, an individualized dosing sunitinib regimen based on
      toxicity might improve survival and cabozantinib appears to be an emerging
      option. In the second-line setting, three new therapies (cabozantinib,
      lenvatinib/everolimus and nivolumab) have shown superiority against everolimus,
      the previous standard therapy. The International Metastatic RCC Database
      Consortium prognostic model may be useful in guiding the selection of subsequent
      therapy and patients eligible for metastasectomy. SUMMARY: Targeted therapies are
      the standard treatment for mRCC. Despite advancements in survival, progression
      free survival and tolerability, these targeted therapies remain largely
      noncurative. Further characterization of the RCC oncogenic pathway, and the
      ongoing clinical trials should help optimize the management of mRCC.

PMID- 28590314
TI  - Novel imaging in advanced prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed
      noncutaneous cancer and second leading cause of death in men. Imaging evaluation
      of PCa is challenging because of the prostate's deep pelvic location, its complex
      zonal anatomy and its multifocal nature. Novel imaging modalities are needed to
      improve detection, reassessment in biochemical relapse, and disease progression
      in advanced metastatic stages. RECENT FINDINGS: Current imaging modalities have
      distinct strengths. However, all lack the ability to diagnose micrometastases,
      differentiate high from low-grade disease and diagnose advanced disease,
      especially at low prostate specific antigen values. There is a need to combine
      the existing imaging methods with concepts utilizing tumor biology to
      differentiate biologically aggressive from indolent tumors. PET imaging with
      novel tracers facilitate improved imaging of PCa, but also usher in new compounds
      that could be useful for directing treatment as well. Most tracers have limited
      sensitivity, with the exception of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)
      targeting tracers, that offer relatively higher sensitivity and specificity.
      SUMMARY: PSMA-PET appears promising in improving the imaging yield particularly
      in recurrent and advanced disease states. Incorporating PSMA-PET in these
      settings could open or prolong windows along the trajectory of the disease that
      could allow new treatments or more effective use of currently existing
      treatments. Prospective studies focusing on novel imaging enhancement and
      integration with therapeutic applications are needed.

PMID- 28590315
TI  - Revision ACL Reconstruction: A Critical Analysis Review.

PMID- 28590316
TI  - RECURRENCE OF CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION LESION ACTIVITY AFTER AFLIBERCEPT
      TREATMENT FOR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the recurrence rate of choroidal neovascularization (CNV)
      lesion activity in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and associated factors
      after 1-year aflibercept treatment. METHODS: Age-related macular degeneration
      eyes with 1-year aflibercept fixed-regimen treatment and a follow-up period of at
      least 18 months from the initial aflibercept injection for treatment-naive
      exudative AMD were retrospectively evaluated. The recurrence rate was examined.
      Age, gender, visual acuity, AMD subtype, greatest linear dimension, and retinal
      and choroidal thicknesses at the 12th month examination were compared between
      eyes with and without recurrence. Presence of remnant polyps and pigment
      epithelial detachment (PED) morphology were also compared in polypoidal choroidal
      vasculopathy (PCV) eyes. RESULTS: Of the 98 eyes studied, 69 displayed a dry
      macula at the 12th month examination; 43.7% exhibited recurrence during the
      subsequent 12-month period in Kaplan-Meier analysis. Although no factors
      associated with recurrence were detected in AMD, remnant polyps and pigment
      epithelial detachment morphology at the 12th month examination were significantly
      associated with recurrence in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (P = 0.018 and
      0.048, respectively). CONCLUSION: Continuous, proactive treatment would be
      considered overtreatment for more than half of the AMD eyes that achieved a dry
      macula. Angiography and optical coherence tomography analyses may be useful for
      predicting recurrence in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy eyes.

PMID- 28590317
TI  - NEOVASCULARIZATION SECONDARY TO HIGH MYOPIA IMAGED BY OPTICAL COHERENCE
      TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)
      characteristics of active myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and to
      compare its sensitivity versus fluorescein angiography and spectral-domain
      optical coherence tomography. METHODS: Consecutive highly myopic patients
      complicated with active myopic CNV were prospectively included. The OCTA features
      were analyzed and correlated with the findings of conventional imaging (spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography). RESULTS: Twenty
      eyes of 19 patients (mean age: 59.6 +/- 12.1 years, mean spherical equivalent: 
      13.5 +/- 3.6 diopters) presenting with both treatment-naive CNV and recurrent CNV
      were included in the analysis. The OCTA showed a 90% sensitivity for myopic CNV
      detection in 18 of 20 eyes, revealing a high-flow neovascular network accurately
      visible using a 30-MUm manual segmentation underneath Bruch membrane. Mean
      selected area of myopic CNV on OCTA images was 0.34 +/- 0.45 mm, whereas the mean
      vessel area was 0.22 +/- 0.27 mm. Two neovascular phenotypes prevailed in our
      series: disorganized vascular loops and organized interlacing patterns.
      CONCLUSION: The OCTA seems to be a valuable tool in detecting myopic CNV with a
      high sensitivity. However, its specificity needs to be investigated in further
      studies.

PMID- 28590318
TI  - FIVE-YEAR OUTCOMES OF INTRAVITREAL INJECTION OF RANIBIZUMAB FOR THE TREATMENT OF
      MYOPIC CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the 5-year outcomes, efficacy, and safety of intravitreal
      ranibizumab injections for the treatment of myopic choroidal neovascularization.
      METHODS: The medical records of 18 consecutive eyes of 14 patients who received
      intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for myopic choroidal neovascularization
      with a follow-up of 5 years were retrospectively reviewed. Outcomes included best
      corrected visual acuity, total number of treatments, and complications. RESULTS:
      The average number of injections over 5 years was 4.56 +/- 3.52. Ten eyes
      (55.56%) had no need for treatment after the first year. Mean best-corrected
      visual acuity improved from 0.59 +/- 0.47 logarithm of the minimum angle of
      resolution (Snellen equivalent, 6/24) at baseline to 0.32 +/- 0.35 logarithm of
      the minimum angle of resolution (Snellen equivalent, 6/13) at 1 year, and to 0.38
      +/- 0.42 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (Snellen equivalent, 6/15)
      at 2 years (P = 0.001 and 0.020, respectively; paired t-test). After 2 years,
      although mean best-corrected visual acuity remained better than baseline, the
      difference was not statistically significant. At 5 years, vision improved by at
      least 1 line for 61.11% of eyes and by more than 3 lines for 33.33%. The final
      visual acuity of 2 eyes was worse than baseline because of disease activity and
      profound chorioretinal atrophy, which increased in six eyes. No complications
      were noted. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal ranibizumab was safe and effective for
      treating myopic choroidal neovascularization. Only 44% of eyes required
      retreatment after the first year, and vision improved in more than 60% of eyes
      over 5 years.

PMID- 28590319
TI  - SURGICAL OUTCOMES OF 27-GAUGE VITRECTOMY FOR A CONSECUTIVE SERIES OF 163 EYES
      WITH VARIOUS VITREOUS DISEASES.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of 27-gauge vitrectomy for various
      vitreoretinal disorders. METHODS: In this retrospective comparative study, 163
      consecutive eyes with various diseases that underwent 27-gauge pars plana
      vitrectomy with or without ultraspeed transformer by a single surgeon from June
      2012 through December 2014 were analyzed in regard to best-corrected visual
      acuity, intraocular pressure, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and
      surgery time. RESULTS: In 2 eyes (1.2%), peripheral retina breaks were
      encountered intraoperatively, yet no other complications were found in those
      eyes. No cases required larger-gauge vitrectomy. Mean best-corrected visual
      acuity improved from 20/58 (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution, 0.46 +/
      0.64) preoperatively to 20/32 (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution,
      0.20 +/- 0.40) postoperatively (P < 0.001). Mean follow-up was 16.7 months
      (range, 6-33 months). Intraocular pressure remained stable throughout the
      postoperative course. Hypotony was seen in 15 eyes (9.2%) at 1-day postoperative,
      yet that spontaneously improved within 1 week. No case of retinal detachment or
      endophthalmitis was recorded. In macular surgeries, such as idiopathic epiretinal
      membrane and macular hole combined with cataract surgery, the mean surgery time
      was 32.1 +/- 6.9 minutes with ultraspeed transformer (n = 38) and 37.1 +/- 7.7
      minutes without ultraspeed transformer (n = 40) (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The 27
      gauge pars plana vitrectomy was found to be safe and effective for treating
      various vitreoretinal disorders.

PMID- 28590320
TI  - STICKY SILICONE OIL.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report and analyze the phenomenon of sticky silicone oil on the
      retina at the time of its removal. BACKGROUND: Silicone oil has been used for
      more than 25 years as a long-term retinal tamponade in the surgical management of
      patients with complex retinal detachments. When a decision to remove silicone oil
      was made at the end of the tamponade period, the system involved a number of
      different materials: silicone oil, aqueous solution with or without remnants of
      perfluorocarbon liquid plus the material of the cannula used to aspirate Silicone
      oil. This, in effect, may lead to an abnormal adherence of large bubbles of
      residual silicone oil to the posterior pole of the retina. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      A retrospective, interventional case study was performed. We consecutively
      reviewed 796 patients of silicone oil removal (5,000 or 5,500 centistokes) after
      primary pars plana vitrectomy at one vitreoretinal center operated by a single
      surgeon (HG). Chart review was performed to identify potential patients or
      procedural factors that could predispose to sticky silicone oil formation at the
      macular area. RESULTS: Large silicone oil bubbles were sticky to the macula in
      eight out of 796 silicone oil removal procedures between January 2014 and August
      2015. The use of perfluorooctane was related to the occurrence of the phenomenon
      (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The sticky silicone oil bubble at the macular region was
      not related to internal limiting membrane peeling, epiretinal membrane,
      viscosity, duration, or brand of silicone oil used, but to the use of
      perfluorooctane.

PMID- 28590322
TI  - Off-pump Versus On-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: Graft Patency Assessment
      With Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography: A Prospective Multicenter
      Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: A large multicenter randomized trial (RCT) is needed to assess off-pump
      coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patency when performed by skilled surgeons.
      This prospective multicenter randomized pilot study compares graft patency after
      on-pump and off-pump techniques and addresses the feasibility of such an RCT.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients were prospectively recruited for >=64
      slice computed tomography angiography graft patency assessment 1 year after
      randomization to off-pump or on-pump CABG. Blinded assessment of graft patency
      was performed, and the results were categorized as normal, >=50% stenosis, or
      occlusion. A multilevel model with random effects on the patient was used to
      account for correlation of results in patients with multiple grafts. RESULTS: A
      total of 157 patients (3 centers, 84 off-pump and 73 on-pump patients, 512
      grafts, assessability rate 98.4%) were included. Patency index (% nonoccluded
      grafts) was 89% for the off-pump technique and 95% for the on-pump technique
      (P=0.09). Patency was similar for arterial and vein grafts (both 92%; P=0.88), as
      well as between target territories (89% to 94%; P=0.53). CONCLUSIONS: In this
      pilot study, 1-year graft patency results after off-pump and on-pump surgery were
      similar. This feasibility trial demonstrates that a large multicenter RCT to
      compare CABG patency after on-pump with that after off-pump techniques is
      feasible and can be reliably undertaken using computed tomography angiography.

PMID- 28590323
TI  - Oxytocin and potential benefits for obesity treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Laboratory animal experiments have consistently shown that
      oxytocin causes early termination of food intake, thereby promoting a decrease in
      body weight in a long term. Recent studies have also assessed some of oxytocin's
      effects on appetite and energy balance in humans. The present study examines the
      findings of the key basic research and of the few clinical studies published thus
      far in the context of potential benefits and challenges stemming from the use of
      oxytocin in obese patients. RECENT FINDINGS: Basic research indicates the
      involvement of oxytocin in satiety, processing, in reducing a drive to eat for
      pleasure and because of psychosocial factors. Although the results of clinical
      studies are very scarce, they suggest that oxytocin administered intranasally in
      humans decreases energy-induced and reward-induced eating, supports cognitive
      control of food choices, and improves glucose homeostasis, and its effectiveness
      may be BMI dependent. SUMMARY: Despite the wealth of basic research showing broad
      anorexigenic effects of oxytocin, clinical studies on oxytocin's therapeutic
      potential in obesity, are still in their infancy. Future implementation of
      oxytocin-based pharmacological strategies in controlling energy balance will
      likely depend on our ability to integrate diverse behavioral and metabolic
      effects of oxytocin in obesity treatment regimens.

PMID- 28590324
TI  - Is There a Relationship Between Treatment With Direct Antiviral Agents for HCV
      Infection and the Development of Malignancies?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Direct antiviral agents (DAAs) have become the treatment of
      choice for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. As these
      drugs are new, it is important to learn the adverse events of these drugs in the
      short and long terms. We report on 7 patients who developed malignancies during
      treatment with DAAs or a short time after finishing treatment. METHODS: We
      treated 133 patients with DAAs in our unit between January 2015 and June 2016,
      100 (75%) of whom were treated with the combination of
      paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir with/without dasabuvir (PrOD). The distribution
      of HCV genotypes was as follow: G1b 114 (85.7%), G1a 3 (2.2%), G2 3 (2.2%), G3 10
      (7.5%), G4 2 (1.5%). One hundred ten (82.7%) patients finished treatment. Adverse
      events were recorded during treatment and after finishing treatment. Efficacy was
      determined by assessment of serum HCV RNA. RESULTS: We observed malignancies in 7
      patients: 1 developed laryngeal carcinoma, 1 developed pancreatic adenocarcinoma,
      1 developed oropharyngeal lymphoma, 1 developed recurrent aggressive transitional
      cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder, 1 developed recurrent aggressive
      hepatocellular carcinoma, and 2 patients developed de novo hepatocellular
      carcinoma. All of these patients had advanced liver disease. CONCLUSIONS: This
      report raises questions about DAAs and the possible development of malignancies.
      It will be important to look at large clinical trial data and real-world
      experience to determine if this relationship is real.

PMID- 28590325
TI  - Uptake of and Factors Associated With Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy Among
      Patients in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, 2014 to 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited information is available describing the uptake of direct
      acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among
      patients in general US health care settings. We determined the proportion of HCV
      infected patients in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study prescribed DAAs in 2014,
      who initiated treatment and identified characteristics associated with treatment
      initiation. METHODS: Uptake was defined as the proportion of HCV-infected
      patients with at least 1 clinical encounter in 2013 who were prescribed a DAA
      regimen during 2014 and initiated the regimen by August 2015. Using multivariable
      analysis, we examined demographic and clinical characteristics associated with
      receipt of DAAs. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 9508 patients; 544 (5.7%) started
      a DAA regimen. Higher annual income [adjusted odds ratios (aOR) 2.3 for
      income>$50K vs. <$30K], higher Fibrosis-4 score (aORs, 2.1, 2.0, and 1.4 for
      Fibrosis-4, >5.88, 3.25 to 5.88, 2.0 to 3.25, respectively, vs. <2.0), genotype 2
      infection (aOR 2.2 vs. genotype 1), pre-2014 treatment failure (aOR 2.0 vs.
      treatment-naive), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection (aOR 1.8 vs.
      HCV monoinfection) were associated with DAA initiation. Black race/ethnicity (aOR
      0.7 vs. whites) and Medicaid coverage (aOR 0.5 vs. private insurance) were
      associated with noninitiation. Sex, age, comorbidity, previous liver transplant,
      and duration of follow-up were not associated with receipt of DAAs. CONCLUSIONS:
      Among patients in these general US health care settings, uptake of DAA therapy
      was low in 2014, and especially so among minority and Medicaid patients. Systemic
      efforts to improve access to DAAs for all patients are essential to reduce
      morbidity and mortality from HCV infection.

PMID- 28590326
TI  - Improving HIV test uptake and case finding with assisted partner notification
      services.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Despite the enormous expansion of HIV testing services (HTS), an
      estimated 40% of people with HIV infection remain undiagnosed. To enhance the
      efficiency of HTS, new approaches are needed. The WHO conducted a systematic
      review on the effectiveness of assisted partner notification in improving HIV
      test uptake and diagnosis, and the occurrence of adverse events, to inform the
      development of normative guidelines. METHODS: We systematically searched five
      electronic databases through June 2016. We also contacted experts in the field
      and study authors for additional information where needed. Eligible studies
      compared assisted HIV partner notification services to passive or no
      notification. Where multiple studies reported comparable outcomes, meta-analysis
      was conducted using a random-effects model to produce relative risks (RRs) or
      risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Of 1742 citations
      identified, four randomized controlled trials and six observational studies
      totalling 5150 index patients from eight countries were included. Meta-analysis
      of three individually randomized trials showed that assisted partner notification
      services resulted in a 1.5-fold increase in HTS uptake among partners compared
      with passive referral (RR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.22-1.75; I = 0%). The proportion of
      HIV-positive partners was 1.5 times higher with assisted partner notification
      than with passive referral (RR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.12-1.92; I = 0%). Few instances
      of violence or harm occurred. CONCLUSION: Assisted partner notification improved
      partner testing and diagnosis of HIV-positive partners, with few reports of harm.
      WHO strongly recommends voluntary assisted HIV partner notification services to
      be offered as part of a comprehensive package of testing and care.

PMID- 28590327
TI  - Pregnancy incidence and outcomes in women with perinatal HIV infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the incidence of first pregnancy in women living with
      perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV) in the United Kingdom and to compare pregnancy
      management and outcomes with age-matched women with behaviourally acquired HIV
      (BHIV). DESIGN: The National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood is a
      comprehensive, population-based surveillance study that collects demographic and
      clinical data on all pregnant women living with HIV, their children, and all HIV
      infected children in the United Kingdom and Ireland. METHODS: The incident rate
      ratio of first pregnancy was calculated for all women of reproductive age who had
      been reported to the National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood as
      vertically infected children. These women and their pregnancies were compared to
      age-matched pregnant women with BHIV. RESULTS: Of the 630 women with PHIV
      reported in the United Kingdom as children, 7% (45) went on to have at least one
      pregnancy, with 70 pregnancies reported. The incident rate ratio of first
      pregnancy was 13/1000 woman-years. The BHIV comparison group comprised 118 women
      (184 pregnancies). Women with PHIV were more likely to be on combined
      antiretroviral therapy at conception and have a lower baseline CD4 cell count (P
      < 0.01 for both). In adjusted analysis, PHIV and a low baseline CD4 cell count
      were risk factors for detectable viral load near delivery; older age at
      conception and being on combined antiretroviral therapy at conception reduced
      this risk. CONCLUSION: Women with PHIV in the United Kingdom have a low pregnancy
      incidence, but those who become pregnant are at risk of detectable viral load
      near delivery, reflecting their often complex clinical history, adherence, and
      drug resistance issues.

PMID- 28590328
TI  - Sexual partnership age pairings and risk of HIV acquisition in rural South
      Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the contribution of specific sexual partner age groups to
      the risk of HIV acquisition in men and women in a hyperendemic region of South
      Africa. DESIGN: We conducted a population-based cohort study among women (15-49
      years of age) and men (15-55 years of age) between 2004 and 2015 in KwaZulu
      Natal, South Africa. METHODS: Generalized additive models were used to estimate
      smoothed HIV incidence rates across partnership age pairings in men and women.
      Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the relative risk of HIV
      acquisition by partner age group. RESULTS: A total of 882 HIV seroconversions
      were observed in 15 935 person-years for women, incidence rate = 5.5 per 100
      person-years [95% confidence interval (CI), 5.2-5.9] and 270 HIV seroconversions
      were observed in 9372 person-years for men, incidence rate = 2.9 per 100 person
      years (95% CI, 2.6-3.2). HIV incidence was highest among 15-24-year-old women
      reporting partnerships with 30-34-year-old men, incidence rate = 9.7 per 100
      person-years (95% CI, 7.2-13.1). Risk of HIV acquisition in women was associated
      with male partners aged 25-29 years (adjusted hazard ratio; aHR = 1.44, 95% CI,
      1.02-2.04) and 30-34 years (aHR = 1.50, 95% CI, 1.08-2.09) relative to male
      partners aged 35 and above. Risk of HIV acquisition in men was associated with 25
      29-year-old (aHR = 1.72, 95% CI, 1.02-2.90) and 30-34-year-old women (aHR = 2.12,
      95% CI, 1.03-4.39) compared to partnerships with women aged 15-19 years.
      CONCLUSION: Age of sexual partner is a major risk factor for HIV acquisition in
      both men and women, independent of one's own age. Partner age pairings play a
      critical role in driving the cycle of HIV transmission.

PMID- 28590330
TI  - HIV birth testing and linkage to care for HIV-infected infants.
AB  - : On 5-6 May 2016, the division of AIDS of the National Institute of Allergy and
      Infectious Diseases convened a workshop on 'HIV Birth Testing and Linkage to Care
      for HIV Infected Infants.' The goal of the workshop was to evaluate birth testing
      for early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV, delineate technological resources for
      advancing a point-of-care (POC) HIV test implementable at birth and chart out the
      implementation hurdles for initiating early antiretroviral therapy to HIV
      infected infants diagnosed at birth. The workshop addressed research and
      regulatory needs involved in the optimization of POC EID testing and challenges
      associated with implementation of EID, focusing on testing at birth. Scientific
      gaps and areas of intervention to accelerate and scale-up EID initiatives and
      birth testing were identified. These include discussion of the evidence
      supporting an early mortality peak among HIV-infected infant and justifying a
      role for birth HIV testing, including POC testing; evaluation of the current POC
      EID technology pipeline and test performance characteristics required for
      effective programmatic uptake; mathematical modeling of different testing
      scenarios and solutions with inclusion of birth testing; the adoption of setting
      specific EID testing algorithms to achieve efficient linkage to care including
      early antiretroviral therapy initiation; the development of appropriate quality
      assurance programs to ensure accuracy of test results and enable sustainability
      of the testing program. Addressing these gaps and answering these challenges will
      be important in helping improve outcomes for HIV-infected infants and accelerate
      achieving the Joint United Nations Program for HIV and AIDS 90-90-90 targets in
      children.

PMID- 28590329
TI  - Antiretroviral initiation is associated with increased skeletal muscle area and
      fat content.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A greater burden of physical function impairment occurs in HIV
      infected adults; the impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation on muscle
      density (less dense = more fat), a measure of muscle quality, is unknown. DESIGN:
      AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study A5260s, a cardiometabolic substudy of A5257,
      randomized HIV-infected, ART-naive adults to ritonavir-boosted atazanavir,
      darunavir, or raltegravir with tenofovir/emtricitabine backbone. Single-slice
      abdominal computed tomography scans from baseline and week 96 were reanalyzed for
      total and lean muscle area and density. METHODS: Two-sample t-tests described the
      differences between baseline and week 96 variables. Linear regression analysis
      was used to explore the role of a priori identified variables and potential
      confounders. RESULTS: Participants (n = 235) were mostly men (90%); 31% were
      Black non-Hispanic; 21% were Hispanic. Over 96 weeks, small but significant
      increases were seen in oblique/transverse abdominal, rectus, and psoas muscle
      total area (range 0.21-0.83 cm; P < 0.05) but not the lean muscle component (all
      P >= 0.33). Significant decreases in overall density, consistent with increases
      in fat, were seen in all muscle groups (range -0.87 to -2.4 HU; P < 0.01); for
      the lean muscle component, only decreases in oblique/transverse abdominal and
      rectus reached statistical significance (P < 0.05). In multivariable analyses,
      Black race was associated with increased muscle density and female sex with
      decreased density; treatment arm was not associated with changes in mass or
      density. CONCLUSION: The ART-associated increase in muscle area, regardless of
      regimen, is likely a reflection of increased fat within the muscle. The
      consequences of fatty infiltration of muscle on subsequent muscle function
      require further investigation.

PMID- 28590331
TI  - Multimodal analysis of drug transporter expression in gastrointestinal tissue.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Drug transporters affect antiretroviral therapy (ART) tissue
      disposition, but quantitative measures of drug transporter protein expression
      across preclinical species are not available. Our objective was to use proteomics
      to obtain absolute transporter concentrations and assess agreement with
      corresponding gene and immunometric protein data. DESIGN: In order to make
      interspecies comparisons, two humanized mouse [hu-HSC-Rag (n = 41); bone marrow
      liver-thymus (n = 13)] and one primate [rhesus macaque (nonhuman primate, n =
      12)] models were dosed to steady state with combination ART. Ileum and rectum
      were collected at necropsy and snap frozen for analysis. METHODS: Tissues were
      analyzed for gene (quantitative PCR) and protein [liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS) proteomics and western blot] expression and localization
      (immunohistochemistry) of ART efflux and uptake transporters. Drug concentrations
      were measured by LC-MS/MS. Multivariable regression was used to determine the
      ability of transporter data to predict tissue ART penetration. RESULTS:
      Analytical methods did not agree, with different trends observed for gene and
      protein expression. For example, quantitative PCR analysis showed a two-fold
      increase in permeability glycoprotein expression in nonhuman primates versus
      mice; however, proteomics showed a 200-fold difference in the opposite direction.
      Proteomics results were supported by immunohistochemistry staining showing
      extensive efflux transporter localization on the luminal surface of these
      tissues. ART tissue concentration was variable between species, and multivariable
      regression showed poor predictive power of transporter data. CONCLUSION: Lack of
      agreement between analytical techniques suggests that resources should be focused
      on generating downstream measures of protein expression to predict drug exposure.
      Taken together, these data inform the use of preclinical models for studying ART
      distribution and the design of targeted therapies for HIV eradication.

PMID- 28590334
TI  - A decade of learning about the HIV reservoir: new insights into latent infection.

PMID- 28590333
TI  - Impact of long-term antiretroviral therapy interruption and resumption on viral
      reservoir in HIV-1 infected patients.
AB  - : We assessed if the increase on viral reservoir after long-term antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) interruption (ATI) is reversible upon ART resumption in chronic HIV
      1 infected patients. Total HIV-1 DNA increased to pre-ART levels after 48 weeks
      of ATI to return to pre-ATI levels after 104 weeks of ART resumption. Conversely,
      integrated HIV-1 DNA remained elevated after ART reinitiation. These data suggest
      that the increase in reservoir after long-term ART discontinuation might not be
      reversible at midterm.

PMID- 28590332
TI  - HIV-positive youth who are perinatally infected have impaired endothelial
      function.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evaluating cardiovascular disease risk in children and youth 13 to 24
      years old who are facing a life time exposure to both HIV and antiretroviral
      therapy is a research priority. This study compares endothelial function measured
      by peripheral arterial tonometry in HIV-positive youth infected perinatally and
      behaviorally as well as HIV-negative controls. METHODS: Three groups of
      participants aged 8-30 year were enrolled; HIV-positive perinatally infected, HIV
      positive behaviorally infected on antiretroviral therapy with HIV-1 RNA less than
      1000 copies/ml, and HIV-negative controls. We measured the reactive hyperemic
      index, a measure of endothelial function, using endoPAT (Caesarea, Israel).
      Markers of systemic inflammation, monocyte activation, and gut integrity were
      also assessed. Spearman correlations and regression analyses were used to explore
      relationships between endothelial function measures and other measured variables.
      RESULTS: Overall, 119 participants were enrolled: 53 HIV-positive behaviorally
      infected, 18 HIV-positive perinatally infected, and 48 controls. Overall, 71%
      were men; 77% African Americans and median age was 22 years old. Median
      (interquartile range) reactive hyperemic index was lower in the HIV-positive
      perinatally infected group [1.34 (1.20, 1.42)], compared with the behaviorally
      infected group [1.52 (1.34, 1.75)] and the control group [1.52 (1.27, 1.80; P <
      0.01)]. Soluble CD14, a marker of monocyte activation, intestinal fatty acid
      binding protein, a marker of gut integrity and soluble vascular cell adhesion
      molecule, a marker of vascular dysfunction, were different among the three groups
      (P <= 0.01). CONCLUSION: HIV-positive youth infected perinatally appear to have
      higher levels of endothelial dysfunction and immune activation when compared with
      behaviorally infected youth. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine
      whether perinatally infected youth have higher risks of cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28590335
TI  - Technological methods to measure adherence to antiretroviral therapy and
      preexposure prophylaxis.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The WHO's Consolidated Guidelines (2016) call for research on
      improved methods to proactively monitor adherence and identify those individuals
      who have the greatest needs for adherence support. This review aims to elucidate
      the latest technologies available to measure adherence to HIV antiretroviral
      therapy and preexposure prophylaxis against HIV infection and present their
      utility in various settings and populations. RECENT FINDINGS: Within the last few
      years, advances have been made in the features of existing technology to measure
      adherence (real-time electronic adherence measurements), additional approaches
      have been developed (digital medicine systems) and improved (short message
      service surveys), and point of care testing for pharmacokinetic measures are
      under development. SUMMARY: Technology advances in adherence measurement are
      promising for improved accuracy and, in some cases, the ability to intervene with
      adherence challenges in real time. This progress will greatly further our
      understanding of adherence behavior, as well as the ability to effectively link
      interventions with individuals who need them, thus maximizing the clinical and
      public health benefits of both antiretroviral therapy and preexposure
      prophylaxis.

PMID- 28590338
TI  - Surgery as part of radical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the latest developments in surgery for malignant
      pleural mesothelioma both in patient selection, surgical technique, and strategy.
      RECENT FINDINGS: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
      mesothelioma staging project has produced data to inform the 8th tumour node
      metastasis revision. The difficulty in clinical N staging and clinical T staging
      are highlighted and the importance of tumour volume is recognized. New imaging
      techniques can be utilized to assess tumour volume. The transition from
      extrapleural pneumonectomy to lung-sparing pleurectomy/decortication has extended
      the role of cancer-directed surgery into a more elderly population. More
      aggressive multimodality regimes, including induction radiotherapy are available
      to a selected population and adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy are feasible
      in the elderly majority. Additional chemotherapy should not be delayed in those
      with poorer prognosis node positive, nonepithelioid disease. SUMMARY: Radical
      surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma can achieve significant survival when
      targeted in those with the best prognosis by careful staging. It can be made more
      accessible by lung preservation without compromising outcome. It should be part
      of multimodality therapy.

PMID- 28590339
TI  - Improving adherence to asthma medications: current knowledge and future
      perspectives: Erratum.

PMID- 28590337
TI  - Spontaneous pneumothorax in diffuse cystic lung diseases.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Diffuse cystic lung diseases (DCLDs) are a heterogeneous group
      of disorders with varying pathophysiologic mechanisms that are characterized by
      the presence of air-filled lung cysts. These cysts are prone to rupture, leading
      to the development of recurrent spontaneous pneumothoraces. In this article, we
      review the epidemiology, clinical features, and management DCLD-associated
      spontaneous pneumothorax, with a focus on lymphangioleiomyomatosis, Birt-Hogg
      Dube syndrome, and pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis. RECENT FINDINGS:
      DCLDs are responsible for approximately 10% of apparent primary spontaneous
      pneumothoraces. Computed tomography screening for DCLDs (Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome,
      lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis) following
      the first spontaneous pneumothorax has recently been shown to be cost-effective
      and can help facilitate early diagnosis of the underlying disorders. Patients
      with DCLD-associated spontaneous pneumothorax have a very high rate of
      recurrence, and thus pleurodesis should be considered following the first episode
      of spontaneous pneumothorax in these patients, rather than waiting for a
      recurrent episode. Prior pleurodesis is not a contraindication to future lung
      transplant. SUMMARY: Although DCLDs are uncommon, spontaneous pneumothorax is
      often the sentinel event that provides an opportunity for diagnosis. By
      understanding the burden and implications of pneumothoraces in DCLDs, clinicians
      can facilitate early diagnosis and appropriate management of the underlying
      disorders.

PMID- 28590340
TI  - Colonic Phenotypes Are Associated with Poorer Response to Anti-TNF Therapies in
      Patients with IBD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents are effective in
      patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), many patients either do not
      respond to anti-TNF treatment or lose response over time. The aim of this study
      was to determine factors associated with response to anti-TNF therapy in IBD.
      METHODS: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis who had
      consented to participate in a genetics registry and been treated with anti-TNF
      agents were evaluated retrospectively and categorized as primary nonresponders or
      secondary nonresponders. We evaluated clinical, serological, and genetic
      characteristics associated with primary nonresponse or time to loss of response
      to anti-TNF agents. RESULTS: We included 314 CD (51 [16.2%] primary nonresponders
      and 179 [57.0%] secondary nonresponders) and 145 subjects with ulcerative colitis
      (43 [29.7%] primary nonresponders and 74 [51.0%] secondary nonresponders).
      Colonic involvement (P = 0.017; odds ratio = 8.0) and anti-TNF monotherapy (P =
      0.017; odds ratio = 4.9) were associated in a multivariate analysis with primary
      nonresponse to anti-TNF agents in CD. In addition, higher anti-nuclear
      cytoplasmic antibody levels (P = 0.019; hazard ratio = 1.01) in CD, anti-nuclear
      cytoplasmic antibody positivity (P = 0.038; hazard ratio = 1.6) in ulcerative
      colitis, and a positive family history of IBD (P = 0.044; hazard ratio = 1.3) in
      all patients with IBD were associated with time to loss of response to anti-TNF
      agents. Furthermore, various known IBD susceptibility single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms and additional variants in immune-mediated genes were shown to be
      associated with primary nonresponse or time to loss of response. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results may help to optimize the use of anti-TNF agents in clinical practice and
      position these therapies appropriately as clinicians strive for a more
      personalized approach to managing IBD.

PMID- 28590341
TI  - Fecal Calprotectin Levels Predict Histological Healing in Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucosal healing as measured by endoscopic activity is the therapeutic
      target for ulcerative colitis (UC) and associated with improved outcomes. We
      investigated the clinical utility of fecal calprotectin (FC) levels to predict
      depth of remission, including histological remission in patients with UC.
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with UC who
      underwent a full colonoscopy and FC measured within 6 weeks before colonoscopy at
      a tertiary inflammatory bowel disease center. Clinical, endoscopic, and
      histological disease activity was assessed by Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO2),
      Mayo endoscopic score (0-3), and Nancy score (0-4), respectively. Outcomes of
      interest included (1) deep remission (PRO2 remission and Mayo score 0) and (2)
      deeper remission (deep remission plus Nancy score 0/1). Mann-Whitney U and
      Kruskal-Wallis tests and area under the curve-receiver operating characteristic
      curve analysis were used to evaluate accuracy of the predictive values. RESULTS:
      In 68 patients, increasing FC levels were significantly associated with disease
      extent (P = 0.006), Mayo score (P = 0.001), and Nancy scores (P < 0.001).
      Patients with Mayo score 0/1 and Nancy score <=1 (n = 20) had significantly lower
      FC levels compared with Mayo 0/1 and Nancy >= 2 (31 versus 231; P < 0.001). FC
      level of <=60 MUg/g predicted deep remission (area under the curve = 0.92,
      sensitivity 86%, and specificity 87%) and deeper remission (area under the curve
      = 0.91, sensitivity 83%, and specificity 90%). CONCLUSIONS: FC levels
      significantly correlated with endoscopic extent, mucosal healing, and
      histological activity, and reflect microscopic disease activity even in the face
      of macroscopic healing. An FC level of <=60 MUg/g robustly predicted depth of
      remission, suggesting that FC can be used instead of colonoscopy in a treat-to
      target paradigm in patients with UC.

PMID- 28590342
TI  - Supplementation of Low- and High-fat Diets with Fermentable Fiber Exacerbates
      Severity of DSS-induced Acute Colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lack of dietary fiber has been suggested to increase the risk of
      developing various chronic inflammatory diseases, whereas supplementation of
      diets with fiber might offer an array of health-promoting benefits. Consistent
      with this theme, we recently reported that in mice, compositionally defined diets
      that are made with purified ingredients and lack fermentable fiber promote low
      grade inflammation and metabolic syndrome, both of which could be ameliorated by
      supplementation of such diets with the fermentable fiber inulin. METHODS: Herein,
      we examined if, relative to a grain-based mouse diet (chow), compositionally
      defined diet consumption would impact development of intestinal inflammation
      induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and moreover, whether DSS-induced colitis
      might also be attenuated by diets supplemented with inulin. RESULTS: Analogous to
      their promotion of low-grade inflammation, compositionally defined diet of high-
      and low-fat content with cellulose increased the severity of DSS-induced colitis
      relative to chow. However, in contrast to the case of low-grade inflammation,
      addition of inulin, but not the insoluble fiber cellulose, further exacerbated
      the severity of colitis and its associated clinical manifestations (weight loss
      and bleeding) in both low- and high-fat diets. CONCLUSIONS: While inulin, and
      perhaps other fermentable fibers, can ameliorate low-grade inflammation and
      associated metabolic disease, it also has the potential to exacerbate disease
      severity in response to inducers of acute colitis.

PMID- 28590345
TI  - Two cases of epithelioid trophoblastic tumors in postmenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor is a rare gestational trophoblastic
      neoplasm usually presenting in women of reproductive age, with a history of a
      prior gestational event. Its presentation in postmenopausal women is extremely
      rare. Immunohistochemical staining is a helpful aid to distinguish epithelioid
      trophoblastic tumor from other gestational trophoblastic neoplasms. Correct
      diagnosis is crucial for clinical management that can vary according to the type
      of gestational trophoblastic neoplasm. METHODS: We report the case of a 63-year
      old postmenopausal woman 33 years after her last full-term pregnancy and another
      case of a 57-year-old postmenopausal woman who had had a first-trimester abortion
      30 years previously as her last gestational event, both presenting cervical
      epithelioid trophoblastic tumors. In both cases, immunohistochemistry played an
      important role in differentiating this entity from other gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasms. Surgery was the primary treatment in both cases. The
      first patient remained disease-free and died 5 years later due to a rectal
      adenocarcinoma, and the second patient remains disease-free at publication.
      RESULTS: In both cases, the hysterectomy specimen confirmed the presence of two
      large epithelioid trophoblastic tumors arising in the endocervix and lower
      uterine segment with no extrauterine disease. Nuclear positivity for p63 allowed
      differentiation from a placental site trophoblastic tumor. The Ki67 proliferative
      index was 20% and 35%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Epithelioid trophoblastic
      tumors may occur a long time after a prior gestational event and should even be
      excluded in postmenopausal women with uterine masses. Immunohistochemical
      staining is helpful to make the differential diagnosis with other gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasms.

PMID- 28590343
TI  - Impact of Infliximab and Cyclosporine on the Risk of Colectomy in Hospitalized
      Patients with Ulcerative Colitis Complicated by Cytomegalovirus-A Multicenter
      Retrospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is frequently detected in patients with
      ulcerative colitis (UC). The impact of CMV infection on the outcome of UC
      exacerbation remains unclear. The benefit of combining antiviral with anti
      inflammatory treatment has not been evaluated yet. The aim of this study was to
      compare the outcome of CMV-positive hospitalized patients with UC treated with
      antiviral therapy either alone or combined with salvage anti-inflammatory therapy
      (infliximab [IFX] or cyclosporine A [CsA]). METHODS: This was a multicenter
      retrospective study of hospitalized CMV-positive patients with UC. The patients
      were classified into 2 groups: antiviral-if treated with antivirals alone;
      combined-if treated with both antiviral and anti-inflammatory therapy. The
      outcomes included the rate of colectomy in both arms during the course of
      hospitalization and after 3/12 months. RESULTS: A total of 110 patients were
      included; 47 (42.7%) patients did not receive IFX nor CsA; 36 (32.7%) received
      IFX during hospitalization or within 1 month before hospitalization; 20 (18.1%)
      patients received CsA during hospitalization; 7 (6.4%) were exposed to both IFX
      and CsA. The rate of colectomy was 14.5% at 30 days, 20.0% at 3 months, and 34.8%
      at 12 months. Colectomy rates were similar across treatment groups. No clinical
      and demographic variables were independently associated with the risk of
      colectomy. CONCLUSIONS: IFX or cyclosporine therapy is not associated with
      additional risk for colectomy over antiviral therapy alone in hospitalized CMV
      positive patients with UC.

PMID- 28590344
TI  - The Characteristics and Long-term Outcomes of Pediatric Crohn's Disease Patients
      with Perianal Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on the outcomes of children with perianal Crohn's disease are
      limited. We aimed to assess phenotypic features at diagnosis and long-term
      disease-specific outcomes of this phenotype. METHODS: The medical records of 296
      pediatric onset patients with Crohn's disease, diagnosed from 2001 to 2015, were
      reviewed retrospectively. Baseline characteristics included age, sex, severity
      indices, laboratory data, endoscopic findings, and anthropometric measurements.
      Main outcome measures included time to first flare, hospitalization, surgery, and
      biological therapy. RESULTS: Of the 296 included patients (median age 14.2
      years), 70 (24%) had nonfistulizing perianal findings, whereas only 40 (13%) had
      fistulizing perianal disease at diagnosis. Perianal involvement was associated
      with female sex (P = 0.01), whereas fistulizing perianal disease resulted in a
      greater use of immunomodulators (P = 0.01). Time to hospitalization was shorter
      for both nonfistulizing and fistulizing perianal disease (hazard ratio [HR] 1.66
      and 1.34, respectively, P = 0.027) and time to biological therapy (HR 2.1 and
      1.7, respectively, P = 0.002). There were no differences in time to first flare
      or surgery. During a median follow-up of 8.5 years, additional 26 patients (10%)
      developed fistulizing perianal disease after a median time of 3.5 years. The
      presence of nonfistulizing disease at diagnosis was a significant risk factor for
      the development of fistulizing perianal disease (HR 3.4, P = 0.002). At the end
      of follow-up, complicated disease was more common in patients with any perianal
      involvement (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with Crohn's disease with
      both nonfistulizing and fistulizing disease have worse clinical outcomes.
      Nonfistulizing disease is a risk factor for the development of fistulizing
      disease over time.

PMID- 28590346
TI  - Associations between high-risk alcohol consumption and sarcopenia among
      postmenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Sarcopenia is an age-related process, leading to cardio-metabolic
      diseases and disabilities. High-risk drinking is also closely related to
      diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, which are modifiable risk factors for
      sarcopenia. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the association between
      alcohol-drinking patterns and sarcopenia in Korean postmenopausal women. METHODS:
      Data from 2,373 postmenopausal women were analyzed from the 2008 to 2011 Korean
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We defined sarcopenia as two
      standard deviations below the sex-specific means of the appendicular skeletal
      muscle/weight (percentage) values of a young reference group. Participants were
      categorized into three groups according to alcohol-drinking patterns, as assessed
      by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test questionnaire. The odds ratios
      and 95% confidence intervals for sarcopenia were calculated using multiple
      logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: In total, 8.2% of Korean postmenopausal
      women met criteria for sarcopenia. The prevalence of sarcopenia increased from
      low-risk to high-risk alcohol-drinking groups as follows: 7.6, 11.0, and 22.7%,
      respectively. Compared with the low-risk group, the odds ratio (95% confidence
      interval) for the high-risk group was 4.29 (1.87-9.82) after adjusting for age,
      body mass index, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, fasting blood
      glucose, household income, education level, daily calorie intake, current smoking
      and regular exercise, and household food security status CONCLUSIONS:: High-risk
      alcohol drinking was associated with a higher risk of sarcopenia in
      postmenopausal Korean women.

PMID- 28590347
TI  - Focused assessment with sonography for trauma in children after blunt abdominal
      trauma: A multi-institutional analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The utility of focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST)
      in children is poorly defined with considerable practice variation. Our purpose
      was to investigate the role of FAST for intra-abdominal injury (IAI) and IAI
      requiring acute intervention (IAI-I) in children after blunt abdominal trauma
      (BAT). METHODS: We prospectively enrolled children younger than 16 years after
      BAT at 14 Level I pediatric trauma centers over a 1-year period. Patients who
      underwent FAST were compared with those that did not, using descriptive
      statistics and univariate analysis; p value less than 0.05 was considered
      significant. FAST test characteristics were performed using computed tomography
      (CT) and/or intraoperative findings as the gold standard. RESULTS: Two thousand
      one hundred eighty-eight children (age, 7.8 +/- 4.6 years) were included. Eight
      hundred twenty-nine (37.9%) received a FAST, 340 of whom underwent an abdominal
      CT. Ninety-seven (29%) of these 340 patients had an IAI and 27 (7.9%) received an
      acute intervention. CT scan utilization after FAST was 41% versus 46% among those
      who did not receive FAST. The frequency of FAST among centers ranged from 0.84%
      to 94.1%. There was low correlation between FAST and CT utilization (r = -0.050,
      p < 0.001). Centers that performed FAST at a higher frequency did not have
      improved accuracy. The test performance of FAST for IAI was sensitivity, 27.8%;
      specificity, 91.4%; positive predictive value, 56.2%; negative predictive value,
      76.0%; and accuracy, 73.2%. There were 81 injuries among the 70 false-negative
      FAST. The test performance of FAST for IAI-I was sensitivity, 44.4%; specificity,
      88.5%; positive predictive value, 25.0%; negative predictive value, 94.9%; and
      accuracy, 85.0%. Fifteen children with a negative FAST received acute
      interventions. Among the 27 patients with true positive FAST examinations, 12
      received intervention. All had an abnormal abdominal physical examination. No
      patient underwent intervention before CT scan. CONCLUSION: As currently used,
      FAST has a low sensitivity for IAI, misses IAI-I and rarely impacts management in
      pediatric BAT. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and epidemiologic study, level II;
      diagnostic tests or criteria study, level II; therapeutic/care management study,
      level III.

PMID- 28590348
TI  - Incidence of adult respiratory distress syndrome in trauma patients: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis over a period of three decades.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In trauma patients, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is
      associated with high morbidity and mortality. Changes in diagnostics, management,
      and treatment may have influenced the incidence of ARDS. Therefore, the purpose
      of this article is to evaluate whether there is a difference in the incidence of
      posttraumatic ARDS (1) over time, (2) attributable to geographic distribution,
      and 3) related to admitting surgical subspecialities. METHODS: A comprehensive
      search of articles published in English and German language was conducted using
      PubMed, MEDLINE, and the ISI Web of Science. Search terms included ARDS, acute
      respiratory distress syndrome, multiple trauma, polytrauma, and surgery. A meta
      regression was performed to analyze differences between several decades of
      patient recruitment (decade 1, 1981-1990; decade 2, 1991-2000; decade 3, 2001
      2010), geographic location (North America and Europe), and the type of admitting
      surgical service (general vs. orthopedic trauma), respectively. Statistical
      analyses were performed with R (version 3.1.2, metafor package). RESULTS: The
      search included studies between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 2015 and
      revealed 43 trials from 40 publications (117,951 patients, 7,816 with
      posttraumatic ARDS). The median incidences over the last three decades were
      similar between decade 1 (10.4%), decade 2 (7.7%), and decade 3 (8.0%) (p =
      0.8322). Geographical observations comparing central Europe and North America
      revealed no statistically significant difference (Europe 13.0%) and North America
      (6.9%), (p = 0.0696). The ARDS incidence in patients published based on a general
      surgery service (9.8%) was comparable to those published by orthopedic trauma
      surgeons (7.0%) (p = 0.3436). CONCLUSION: The results of this meta-analysis
      discard the assumption that the following factors have influenced the incidence
      of posttraumatic ARDS: There was neither a change in the incidence over the last
      decades, nor a geographical difference within western societies, nor associated
      with the admitting surgical subspeciality. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic review,
      level III.

PMID- 28590350
TI  - Does prehospital management by doctors affect outcome in major trauma? A
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is substantial variation worldwide in prehospital management of
      trauma and the role of doctors is controversial. The objective of this review was
      to determine whether prehospital management by doctors affects outcomes in major
      trauma, including the prespecified subgroup of severe traumatic brain injuries
      when compared with management by other advanced life support providers. METHODS:
      EMBASE, MEDLINE(R), PubMed, SciELO, Trip, Web of Science, and Zetoc were searched
      for published articles. HSRProj, OpenGrey, and the World Health Organization
      International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched for unpublished
      data. Relevant reference lists were hand-searched. There were no limits on
      publication year, but articles were limited to the English language. Authors were
      contacted for further information as required. Quality was assessed using the
      Downs and Black criteria. Mortality was the primary outcome, and disability was
      the secondary outcome of interest. Studies were subjected to a descriptive
      analysis alone without a meta-analysis due to significant study heterogeneity.
      All searches, quality assessment, data abstraction, and data analysis was
      performed by two reviewers independently. RESULTS: Two thousand thirty-seven
      articles were identified, 49 full-text articles assessed and eight studies
      included. The included studies consisted of one randomized controlled trial with
      375 participants and seven observational studies with over 4,451 participants.
      All included studies were at a moderate to high risk of bias. Six of the eight
      included studies showed an improved outcome with prehospital management by
      doctors, five in terms of mortality and one in terms of disability. Two studies
      found no significant difference. CONCLUSION: There appears to be an association
      between prehospital management by doctors and improved survival in major trauma.
      There may also be an association with improved survival and better functional
      outcomes in severe traumatic brain injury. Further high-quality evidence is
      needed to confirm these findings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic review, level
      III.

PMID- 28590351
TI  - A novel approach to optimal placement of new trauma centers within an existing
      trauma system using geospatial mapping.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trauma system expansion is a complex process often governed by
      financial and health care system imperatives. We sought to propose a new,
      informed approach to trauma system expansion through the use of geospatial
      mapping. We hypothesized that geospatial mapping set to specific parameters could
      effectively identify optimal placement of new trauma centers (TC) within an
      existing trauma system. METHODS: We used Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation
      registry data of adult (age, >= 15 years) trauma for calendar years 2003 to 2015
      (n = 408,432), hospital demographics, road networks, and US Census data files. We
      included TCs and zip codes outside of Pennsylvania to account for edge effects
      with trauma cases aggregated to the zip code centroid of residence. Our model
      assumptions included existing Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation Level I and
      II TCs, a maximum travel time of 60 minutes to the TC, capacity based on mean
      statewide ratios of trauma cases per hospital bed size, Injury Severity Score,
      candidate hospitals with 200 or more licensed beds and 30 minutes or longer or 15
      minutes or longer from an existing TC in nonurban/urban areas, respectively. We
      used the Network Analyst Location-Allocation function in ArcGIS Desktop to
      generate spatial models. RESULTS: Of the 130 candidate sites, only 14 met the bed
      size and travel time criteria from an existing TC. Approximately 70% of zip codes
      and 91% of cases were within 60 minutes of an existing TC. Adding one to six new
      optimally paced TCs increased to a maximum of 82% of zip codes and 96% of cases
      within 60 minutes of an existing TC. Changes to model assumptions had an impact
      on which candidate sites were selected. CONCLUSION: Intelligent trauma system
      design should include an objective process like geospatial to determine the
      optimum locations for new TCs within existing trauma networks. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Epidemiological study, level III.

PMID- 28590352
TI  - Big for small: Validating brain injury guidelines in pediatric traumatic brain
      injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brain injury guidelines (BIG) were developed to reduce
      overutilization of neurosurgical consultation (NC) as well as computed tomography
      (CT) imaging. Currently, BIG have been successfully applied to adult populations,
      but the value of implementing these guidelines among pediatric patients remains
      unassessed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the established BIG
      (BIG-1 category) for managing pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients
      with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) without NC (no-NC). METHODS: We prospectively
      implemented the BIG-1 category (normal neurologic examination, ICH <= 4 mm
      limited to one location, no skull fracture) to identify pediatric TBI patients
      (age, <= 21 years) that were to be managed no-NC. Propensity score matching was
      performed to match these no-NC patients to a similar cohort of patients managed
      with NC before the implementation of BIG in a 1:1 ratio for demographics,
      severity of injury, and type as well as size of ICH. Our primary outcome measure
      was need for neurosurgical intervention. RESULTS: A total of 405 pediatric TBI
      patients were enrolled, of which 160 (NC, 80; no-NC, 80) were propensity score
      matched. The mean age was 9.03 +/- 7.47 years, 62.1% (n = 85) were male, the
      median Glasgow Coma Scale score was 15 (13-15), and the median head Abbreviated
      Injury Scale score was 2 (2-3). A subanalysis based on stratifying patients by
      age groups showed a decreased in the use of repeat head CT (p = 0.02) in the no
      NC group, with no difference in progression (p = 0.34) and the need for
      neurosurgical intervention (p = 0.9) compared with the NC group. CONCLUSION: The
      BIG can be safely and effectively implemented in pediatric TBI patients. Reducing
      repeat head CT in pediatric patients has long-term sequelae. Likewise, adhering
      to the guidelines helps in reducing radiation exposure across all age groups.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/care management, level III.

PMID- 28590354
TI  - Optimal timing for repair of peripheral nerve injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data regarding outcomes after peripheral nerve injuries is limited,
      and the optimal management strategy for an acute injury is unclear. The aim of
      this study was to examine timing of repair and specific factors that impact motor
      sensory outcomes after peripheral nerve injury. METHODS: This was a single
      center, retrospective study. Patients with traumatic peripheral nerve injury from
      January 2010 to June 2015 were included. Patients who died, required amputation,
      suffered brachial plexus injury, or had missing motor-sensory examinations were
      excluded. Motor-sensory examinations were graded 0 to 5 by the Modified British
      Medical Research Council system. Operative repair of peripheral nerves was
      analyzed for patient characteristics, anatomic nerve injured, level of injury,
      associated injuries, days until repair, and repair method. RESULTS: Three hundred
      eleven patients met inclusion criteria. Two hundred fifty-eight (83%) patients
      underwent operative management, and 53 (17%) underwent nonoperative management.
      Those who required operative intervention had significantly more penetrating
      injuries 85.7% versus 64.2% (p < 0.001), worse initial motor scores 1.19 versus
      2.23 (p = 0.004), and worse initial sensory examination scores 1.75 versus 2.28
      (p = 0.029). Predictors of improved operative motor outcomes on univariate
      analysis were Injury Severity Score less than 15 (p = 0.013) and male sex (p =
      0.006). Upper arm level of injury was a predictor of poor outcome (p = 0.041).
      Multivariate analysis confirmed male sex as a predictor of good motor outcome (p
      = 0.014; Adjusted Odds Ratio, 3.88 [1.28-11.80]). Univariate analysis identified
      distal forearm level of injury (p = 0.026) and autograft repair (p = 0.048) as
      predictors of poor sensory outcome. Damage control surgery for unstable patients
      undergoing laparotomy (p = 0.257) and days to nerve repair (p = 0.834) did not
      influence motor-sensory outcome. Outcomes did not differ significantly in
      patients who underwent repair 24 hours or longer versus those who were repaired
      later. CONCLUSION: Outcomes were primarily influenced by patient characteristics
      and injury level rather than operative characteristics. Peripheral nerve injuries
      can be repaired after damage control surgery without detriment to outcomes. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic study, level III.

PMID- 28590358
TI  - Erythropoietin in patients with traumatic brain injury and extracranial injury-A
      post hoc analysis of the erythropoietin traumatic brain injury trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erythropoietin (EPO) may reduce mortality after traumatic brain
      injury (TBI). Secondary brain injury is exacerbated by multiple trauma, and
      possibly modifiable by EPO. We hypothesized that EPO decreases mortality more in
      TBI patients with multiple trauma, than in patients with TBI alone. METHODS: A
      post hoc analysis of the EPO-TBI randomized controlled trial conducted in 2009 to
      2014. To evaluate the impact of injuries outside the brain, we calculated an
      extracranial Injury Severity Score (ISS) that included the same components of the
      ISS, excluding head and face components. We defined multiple trauma as two
      injured body regions with an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score of 3 or higher.
      Cox regression analyses, allowing for potential differential responses per the
      presence or absence of extracranial injury defined by these injury scores, were
      used to assess the effect of EPO on time to mortality. RESULTS: Of 603 included
      patients, the median extracranial ISS was 6 (interquartile range, 1-13) and 258
      (43%) had an AIS score of 3 or higher in at least two body regions. On Cox
      regression, EPO was associated with decreased mortality in patients with greater
      extracranial ISS (interaction p = 0.048) and weakly associated with differential
      mortality with multiple trauma (AIS score > 3 or in two regions, interaction p =
      0.17). At 6 months in patients with extracranial ISS higher than 6, 10 (6.8%) of
      147 EPO-treated patients compared with 26 (17%) of 154 placebo-treated patients
      died (risk reduction, 10%; 95% confidence interval, 2.9-17%; p = 0.007).
      CONCLUSION: In this post hoc analysis, EPO administration was associated with a
      potential differential improvement in 6-month mortality in TBI patients with more
      severe extracranial injury. These findings need confirmation in future clinical
      and experimental studies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, level III.

PMID- 28590356
TI  - Plasma succinate is a predictor of mortality in critically injured patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trauma is the leading cause of mortality under the age of 40 years.
      Recent observations on metabolic reprogramming during hypoxia and ischemia
      indicate that hypoxic mitochondrial uncoupling promotes the generation of
      succinate, which in turn mediates reperfusion injury and inflammatory sequelae
      upon reoxygenation. Plasma levels of succinate significantly increase in response
      to trauma and hemorrhage in experimental models and clinical samples, suggesting
      that succinate may represent a candidate marker of systemic perfusion in trauma.
      METHODS: Quantitative mass spectrometry-based metabolomics was used to quantify
      succinate and lactate in 595 plasma samples from severely injured patients
      enrolled at the Denver Health Medical Center, a Level I trauma center in Denver,
      Colorado. RESULTS: A total of 95 severely injured patients were sampled for up to
      10 time points (595 total samples), from field blood to 7 days postinjury.
      Results indicate that plasma levels of succinate increased up to 25.9-fold in
      deceased patients versus the median of the surviving patients (p = 2.75e-100;
      receiver operating characteristic area under the curve, 0.911). On the other
      hand, only 2.4-fold changes increases in lactate were observed (p = 5.8e-21; area
      under the curve, 0.874). CONCLUSION: Succinate represents a uniquely sensitive
      biomarker of postshock metabolic derangement and may be an important mediator of
      sequelae. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic study, level III.

PMID- 28590359
TI  - Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Then and Now: An Updated Systematic Review of the
      Progress and Short-term Outcomes Over the Last 5 Years.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is considered one of
      the most popular bariatric surgeries of the present time. This review aimed to
      evaluate the progress and short-term outcomes of LSG over the last 5 years.
      METHODS: The systematic review of electronic databases revealed 27 relevant
      articles, which were carefully assessed. The data extracted from the studies were
      analyzed and compared with data reported by a previous review published in 2010.
      RESULTS: A total of 5218 patients were included in this review with a mean age of
      41.1. The average preoperative body mass index (43.8+/-8) significantly dropped
      at 12 months to 30.7+/-3.9. The average percentage of excess weight loss at 1
      year was 67.3. The mean rates of remission of diabetes mellitus, hypertension,
      and dyslipidemia were 81.9%, 66.5%, and 64.1%, respectively. The mean
      complication rate across the studies was 8.7% and the average mortality rate was
      0.3%. A significant drop in postoperative body mass index, higher percentage of
      excess weight loss, and significantly lower overall complication rate were
      observed in comparison with the previous systematic review. CONCLUSIONS: LSG
      continues to achieve satisfactory weight loss and improvement of obesity-related
      comorbidities with acceptably low morbidity and mortality rates.

PMID- 28590360
TI  - Laparoscopic Total Extraperitoneal (TEP) Inguinal Hernia Repair Using 3
      dimensional Mesh Without Mesh Fixation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately one fifth of patients suffer from inguinal pain after
      laparoscopic total extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair. There is
      existing literature suggesting that the staples used to fix the mesh can cause
      postoperative inguinal pain. In this study, we describe our experience with
      laparoscopic TEP inguinal hernia surgery using 3-dimensional mesh without mesh
      fixation, in our institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 300 patients who
      had undergone laparoscopic TEP inguinal hernia repair with 3-dimensional mesh in
      VKV American Hospital, Istanbul from November 2006 to November 2015 were studied
      retrospectively. Using the hospital's electronic archive, we studied patients'
      selected parameters, which are demographic features (age, sex), body mass index,
      hernia locations and types, duration of operations, preoperative and
      postoperative complications, duration of hospital stays, cost of surgery, need
      for analgesics, time elapsed until returning to daily activities and work.
      RESULTS: A total of 300 patients underwent laparoscopic TEP hernia repair of 437
      inguinal hernias from November 2006 to November 2015. Of the 185 patients, 140
      were symptomatic. Mean duration of follow-up was 48 months (range, 6 to 104 mo).
      The mean duration of surgery was 55 minutes for bilateral hernia repair, and 38
      minutes for unilateral hernia repair. The mean duration of hospital stay was 0.9
      day. There was no conversion to open surgery. In none of the cases the mesh was
      fixated with either staples or fibrin glue. Six patients (2%) developed seroma
      that were treated conservatively. One patient had inguinal hernia recurrence. One
      patient had preperitoneal hematoma. One patient operated due to indirect right
      sided hernia developed right-sided hydrocele. One patient had wound dehiscence at
      the umbilical port entry site. Chronic pain developed postoperatively in 1
      patient. Ileus developed in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic TEP inguinal
      repair with 3-dimensional mesh without mesh fixation can be performed as safe as
      repair with tack fixation.

PMID- 28590362
TI  - A Randomized Clinical Trial of Oxytocin or Galantamine for the Treatment of
      Negative Symptoms and Cognitive Impairments in People With Schizophrenia.
AB  - PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: Negative symptoms and cognitive impairments tend to co-occur
      in people with schizophrenia. If their association with each other is due, in
      part, to shared pathophysiology, then this suggests that a single drug could
      potentially be effective for both domains. The current study was designed to
      examine this hypothesis. METHODS/PROCEDURES: Fifty-eight participants with either
      Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text
      Revision schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder entered into a 6-week double
      blind, placebo-controlled, double-dummy, randomized clinical trial of intranasal
      oxytocin and galantamine. Seventeen participants were randomized to intranasal
      oxytocin, 20 were randomized to galantamine, and 21 were randomized to placebo.
      The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms total score was used to assess
      change in negative symptoms (the primary outcome measure for oxytocin). The
      MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery composite score was used to assess cognition
      (the primary outcome measure for galantamine). FINDINGS/RESULTS: There were no
      significant group differences for negative symptoms (oxytocin vs placebo: F2,47.4
      = 0.19, P = 0.83; galantamine vs placebo: F2,52.5 = 0.41, P = 0.67). There were
      no significant group differences for cognitive impairments (galantamine vs
      placebo: t40 = 0.71, P = 0.48; oxytocin vs placebo: t40 = 0.50, P = 0.62). There
      were also no significant group differences for the functional capacity or
      ancillary symptom measures. IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: The lack of an efficacy
      signal for either compound precluded our ability to test whether pharmacological
      treatment pathways for negative symptoms and cognitive impairments overlap or are
      independent.

PMID- 28590364
TI  - Neurophysiological Effects of Bitopertin in Schizophrenia.
AB  - PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: Deficits in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) function
      contribute to symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia and are
      associated with impaired generation of event-related potential measures including
      auditory mismatch negativity. Parallel studies of the NMDAR agonist D-serine have
      suggested that sensitivity of these measures to glutamate-based interventions is
      related to symptomatic and cognitive response. Bitopertin is a selective
      inhibitor of glycine transport. This study investigates effects of bitopertin on
      NMDAR-related event-related potential deficits in schizophrenia.
      METHODS/PROCEDURES: Patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder were
      treated with bitopertin (10 mg, n = 29), in a double-blind, parallel group
      investigation. Auditory mismatch negativity served as primary outcome measures.
      Secondary measures included clinical symptoms and neurocognitive performance.
      FINDINGS/RESULTS: No significant changes were seen with bitopertin for
      neurophysiological, clinical, or neurocognitive assessments.
      IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: These findings represent the first assessment of the
      effect of bitopertin on neurophysiological biomarkers. Bitopertin did not
      significantly affect either symptoms or NMDAR-related biomarkers at the dose
      tested (10 mg). Mismatch negativity showed high test-retest reliability,
      supporting its use as a target engagement measure.

PMID- 28590363
TI  - Ethanol Interactions With Dexmethylphenidate and dl-Methylphenidate Spheroidal
      Oral Drug Absorption Systems in Healthy Volunteers.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Ethanol coadministered with immediate-release dl
      methylphenidate (dl-MPH) or dexmethylphenidate (d-MPH) significantly increases
      the geomean maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of d-MPH 22% and 15%,
      respectively, and elevates overall drug exposure and psychostimulant effects. We
      asked the question: Are these ethanol-MPH interactions based more fundamentally
      on (1) inhibition of postabsorption d-MPH metabolism or (2) acceleration of MPH
      formulation gastric dissolution by ethanol in the stomach? This was investigated
      using the pulsatile, distinctly biphasic, spheroidal oral drug absorption systems
      of dl-MPH and d-MPH. METHODS: In a randomized, 4-way crossover study, 14 healthy
      subjects received pulsatile dl-MPH (40 mg) or d-MPH (20 mg), with or without
      ethanol (0.6 g/kg), dosed 4 hours later. These 4 hours allowed the delayed
      release second MPH pulse to reach a more distal region of the gut to preclude
      gastric biopharmaceutical influences. Plasma was analyzed using a highly
      sensitive chiral method. Subjective/physiological effects were recorded.
      FINDINGS/RESULTS: Ethanol increased the second pulse of d-MPH Cmax for dl-MPH by
      35% (P < 0.01) and the partial area under the plasma concentration curve from 4
      to 8 hours by 25% (P < 0.05). The respective values for enantiopure d-MPH were
      27% (P = 0.001) and 20% (P < 0.01). The carboxylesterase 1-mediated
      transesterification metabolite ethylphenidate served as a biomarker for
      coexposure. Ethanol significantly potentiated stimulant responses to either
      formulation. IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: These findings support drug dispositional
      interactions between ethanol and MPH as dominant over potential biopharmaceutical
      considerations. Understanding the pharmacology underlying the frequent coabuse of
      MPH-ethanol provides rational guidance in the selection of first-line
      pharmacotherapy for comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-alcohol use
      disorder.

PMID- 28590366
TI  - Effect of GWAS-Identified Genetic Variants on Maximum QT Interval in Patients
      With Schizophrenia Receiving Antipsychotic Agents: A 24-Hour Holter ECG Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Users of antipsychotics (APs) have a risk of sudden cardiac death
      (SCD). Sudden cardiac death in such patients is thought to be largely due to drug
      induced QT prolongation. It has been reported that many subjects with drug
      induced torsades de pointes (TdP) have risk alleles associated with subclinical
      congenital long QT syndrome. METHODS: We investigated the effects of the risk
      alleles associated with long QT on the QT interval in patients receiving APs
      using 24-hour Holter electrocardiograms to take into account the circadian
      fluctuation of QT intervals. We investigated 8 single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      identified on a GWAS. RESULTS: We found that increased numbers of risk alleles at
      rs7188697 in NDRG4 and rs11970286 in PLN were the major predictors of an
      increased maximum QT interval over 24 hours in users of APs. CONCLUSIONS: It
      could be useful to perform a DNA-based analysis before the initiation of APs to
      reduce the risk of drug-induced torsades de pointes and SCD.

PMID- 28590365
TI  - The Efficacy of Psychostimulants in Major Depressive Episodes: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychostimulants are frequently prescribed off-label for adults with
      major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. The frequent and increasing usage
      of stimulants in mood disorders warrants a careful appraisal of the efficacy of
      this class of agents. Herein, we aim to estimate the efficacy of psychostimulants
      in adults with unipolar or bipolar depression. METHODS: The PubMed/Medline
      database was searched from inception to January 16, 2016 for randomized, placebo
      controlled clinical trials investigating the antidepressant efficacy of
      psychostimulants in the treatment of adults with unipolar or bipolar depression.
      RESULTS: Psychostimulants were associated with statistically significant
      improvement in depressive symptoms in major depressive disorder (odds ratio [OR],
      1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-1.78; P = 0.003) and bipolar disorder
      (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.13-1.78; P = 0.003). Efficacy outcomes differed across the
      psychostimulants evaluated as a function of response rates: ar/modafinil (OR,
      1.47; 95% CI, 1.20-1.81; P = 0.0002); dextroamphetamine (OR, 7.11; 95% CI, 1.09
      46.44; P = 0.04); lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.94-1.56; P =
      ns); methylphenidate (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.88-2.54; P = ns). Efficacy outcomes
      also differed between agents used as adjunctive therapy (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.19
      1.64) or monotherapy (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 0.67-7.52). CONCLUSIONS: Psychostimulants
      are insufficiently studied as adjunctive or monotherapy in adults with mood
      disorders. Most published studies have significant methodological limitations
      (eg, heterogeneous samples, dependent measures, type/dose of agent). In addition
      to improvements in methodological factors, a testable hypothesis is that
      psychostimulants may be more appropriately tested in select domains of
      psychopathology (eg, cognitive emotional processing), rather than as "broad
      spectrum" antidepressants.

PMID- 28590367
TI  - Statistics Commentary Series: Commentary No. 21: Using Diagnostic Tests; or the
      Search for Universal Truths.

PMID- 28590368
TI  - Priapism Associated With Antipsychotic Medication Use: Case Report.

PMID- 28590369
TI  - Adverse Events With Sustained-Release Donepezil in Alzheimer Disease: Relation to
      Body Mass Index.
AB  - PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: Sustained-release, high-dose (23 mg/d) donepezil has been
      approved for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer disease (AD). Based on a
      previous clinical trial, body weight of less than 55 kg is a risk factor for
      adverse events with donepezil 23 mg/d treatment in global population.
      METHODS/PROCEDURES: To clarify whether this finding is consistent across ethnic
      groups that vary in absolute body mass, we recruited Korean patients aged 45 to
      90 years with moderate to severe AD who had been receiving standard donepezil
      immediate release 10 mg/d for at least 3 months. After screening, we analyzed a
      final cohort of 166 patients who received donepezil 23 mg/d for 24 weeks to
      compare the occurrence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) between
      patients with high versus low body mass index (BMI) based on the World Health
      Organization overweight criteria for Asian populations (23 kg/m).
      FINDINGS/RESULTS: Treatment-emergent adverse events were reported by 79.45% of
      patients in the lower BMI group and 58.06% of patients in the higher BMI group
      (odds ratio, 2.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.39-5.63; chi = 7.58, P = 0.006). In
      a multivariable survival analysis, the group with lower BMI showed a higher
      occurrence of TEAEs (hazard ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-2.68; P =
      0.002). IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: In Korean patients with moderate to severe AD
      receiving high-dose donepezil over 24 weeks, TEAEs were significantly more common
      in those with lower BMI (not clinically overweight), especially nausea. This
      finding may inform clinical practice for Asian patients.

PMID- 28590370
TI  - Early Improvement Predicts Treatment Outcomes for Patients With Acute Mania: A
      Naturalistic Study in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder is a serious mental disorder. This study
      investigated whether early improvement at week 1 or 2 could predict treatment
      outcomes at week 4 in clinical populations with acute mania. METHODS: We
      conducted a naturalistic study, recruiting inpatients with bipolar mania for
      acute treatment. Symptom severity was assessed using the Young Mania Rating Scale
      (YMRS) at weeks 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Early improvement was defined as a reduction
      in the YMRS score of at least 20% or 25%, assessed at weeks 1 and 2. Response was
      defined as a reduction of 50% or more in the YMRS score, and remission was
      defined as an end-point YMRS score of 12 or less. Receiver operating
      characteristic curves were used to determine whether week 1 or week 2 had better
      discriminative capacity. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were
      calculated for the different definitions of early improvement. RESULTS: Of the
      350 patients, 32.9% (n = 115) and 16.6% (n = 58) of the subjects were classified
      as responders and remitters at week 4, respectively. Early improvement at week 2
      showed better discriminative capacity, with areas under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve greater than 0.8. It had high sensitivity and high negative
      predictive value for 2 cutoffs in predicting response and remission. CONCLUSIONS:
      Relatively lower response and remission rates were observed. Response and
      remission could be predicted by early improvement at week 2, whereas patients
      without early improvement were unlikely to reach response and remission at week
      4.

PMID- 28590371
TI  - Cocaine Abuse, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Preexisting Brain Lesions as Risk
      Factors for Bupropion-Associated Psychosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Bupropion is generally considered safe and is widely
      used both as a monotherapy and as an augmentation agent for the treatment of
      major depression. Concerns have been raised about bupropion's propensity to
      precipitate new psychosis and worsen existing psychotic symptoms, although the
      mechanism is poorly understood. Three cases are reported in which bupropion use
      was associated with psychosis. The aim of the study was to explore the risk
      factors and possible mechanisms of psychosis in each case. CASE REPORTS: Case 1
      describes the interaction of cocaine abuse sensitization in a patient who
      developed psychosis with a lower dosage of bupropion. Cases 2 and 3 discuss the
      role of traumatic brain injury and structural brain lesions in increasing the
      risk of psychosis when using bupropion. CONCLUSIONS: Cocaine abuse, traumatic
      brain injury, and preexisting brain lesions appear to be risk factors for
      developing psychosis in persons taking bupropion. In such cases, clinicians
      should carefully assess the risks and benefits and closely monitor patients for
      symptoms of psychosis.

PMID- 28590372
TI  - Changes in Neutrophil Count After Antipsychotic Prescription Among a
      Retrospective Cohort of Patients With Benign Neutropenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of literature regarding the effect of
      antipsychotics on absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of patients with benign
      neutropenia (BN). We evaluated the change in ANC after atypical antipsychotic
      prescription (excluding clozapine) in a retrospective cohort of 22 patients with
      BN. METHODS/PROCEDURES: Records of all patients with BN who were prescribed
      antipsychotics and who had ANC measured before and during antipsychotic treatment
      were obtained from Bronx VA Medical Center between 2005 and 2015 (inclusive).
      Twenty-two patients met criteria for inclusion. Individual and group mean ANC
      were calculated before treatment and during treatment. A paired, two-tailed t
      test was performed on the group ANC means. RESULTS: The group mean pretreatment
      ANC was 1.24 +/- 0.220 K/cmm, and the mean ANC during the time of antipsychotic
      prescription increased to 1.40 +/- 0.230 K/cmm, with a P value of 0.0045, t value
      of 3.18, degrees of freedom equal to 21, and 95% confidence interval of 1.30 to
      1.49 K/cmm. CONCLUSIONS: There was a statistically significant increase in ANC
      among our cohort during the time of antipsychotic prescription. All BN patients
      who were prescribed antipsychotics maintained a stable neutrophil count, with
      none of the 22 patients with BN in this study developing agranulocytosis during
      treatment. Although this study is limited by a low patient count as well as other
      demographic factors, these findings provide initial evidence regarding the safety
      of prescribing atypical antipsychotics to BN patients. Further studies are needed
      to replicate these findings and assess for effects of individual medications.

PMID- 28590373
TI  - Nature as a Trialist?: Deconstructing the Analogy Between Mendelian Randomization
      and Randomized Trials.
AB  - Mendelian randomization (MR) studies are often described as naturally occurring
      randomized trials in which genetic factors are randomly assigned by nature.
      Conceptualizing MR studies as randomized trials has profound implications for
      their design, conduct, reporting, and interpretation. For example, analytic
      practices that are discouraged in randomized trials should also be discouraged in
      MR studies. Here, we deconstruct the oft-made analogy between MR and randomized
      trials. We describe four key threats to the analogy between MR studies and
      randomized trials: (1) exchangeability is not guaranteed; (2) time zero (and
      therefore the time for setting eligibility criteria) is unclear; (3) the
      treatment assignment is often measured with error; and (4) adherence is poorly
      defined. By precisely defining the causal effects being estimated, we underscore
      that MR estimates are often vaguely analogous to per-protocol effects in
      randomized trials, and that current MR methods for estimating analogues of per
      protocol effects could be biased in practice. We conclude that the analogy
      between randomized trials and MR studies provides further perspective on both the
      strengths and the limitations of MR studies as currently implemented, as well as
      future directions for MR methodology development and application. In particular,
      the analogy highlights potential future directions for some MR studies to produce
      more interpretable and informative numerical estimates.

PMID- 28590374
TI  - Return to Sport After Pediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Its
      Effect on Subsequent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft failure and contralateral ACL
      tears are more frequent in children and adolescents than adults. The reasons for
      higher subsequent injury rates in this population are incompletely understood.
      METHODS: We analyzed a continuous cohort of patients who were <18 years of age.
      Subjects underwent isolated, primary ACL reconstruction with autograft between
      2006 and January 1, 2014, and had a minimum 2-year follow-up. Return-to-sport
      characteristics were described, and multivariable Cox regression modeling was
      used to identify predictors of a second ACL injury. Candidate variables included
      patient factors (age, sex, physeal status, tibial slope, notch width index),
      surgical characteristics (graft type, surgical technique), measures of recovery
      (time to return to sport, duration of physical therapy), and patients'
      preoperative and postoperative sports involvement (primary and secondary sports,
      number of sports). RESULTS: A total of 112 subjects met inclusion criteria; of
      these patients, 85 (76%) had complete follow-up data and were analyzed. The mean
      age (and standard deviation) was 13.9 +/- 2.1 years (range, 6 to 17 years); 77%
      had open physes. The mean follow-up was 48.3 +/- 15.3 months. Seventy-seven
      patients (91%) returned to sports, and 84% returned to the same sport. The mean
      Marx activity score at the time of the latest follow-up was 13.7 +/- 3.5 points.
      Patients were involved in fewer sports after ACL reconstruction, 1.48 +/- 0.92
      compared with 1.83 +/- 1.01 sports before reconstruction (p = 0.002). Sixteen
      patients (19%) sustained an ACL graft rupture, 11 patients (13%) sustained a
      contralateral ACL tear, and 1 of these patients (1%) sustained both. The overall
      prevalence of a second ACL injury was 32%. Time to return to sport was the only
      significant predictor of a second ACL injury, with a slower return being
      protective (hazard ratio per month, 0.87 [95% confidence interval, 0.73 to 0.99];
      p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric athletes return to sports at a high rate (91%)
      after ACL reconstruction. Unfortunately, the prevalence of a second ACL injury is
      high at 32%. Within this population, an earlier return to sport is predictive of
      a second ACL injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions
      for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28590376
TI  - Outcomes of After-Hours Hip Fracture Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given single-institution studies showing trends between after-hours
      hip fracture surgical procedures and adverse outcomes, as well as fixation time
      targets that may increasingly compel after-hours operations, we investigated the
      relationship between after-hours hip fracture surgical procedures and adverse
      outcomes in a large, population-based cohort. METHODS: All Ontarians who were
      >=60 years of age and underwent a hip fracture surgical procedure between April
      2002 and March 2014 were eligible for study inclusion. Data were obtained from
      linked health administrative databases. The primary exposure was after-hours
      provision of surgical procedures, occurring weekday evenings between the hours of
      5 P.M. and 12 A.M. or over the weekend, but not overnight (after 12 A.M. to 7
      A.M.). Surgical complications up to 6 months following a hip fracture surgical
      procedure comprised the primary outcome. Medical complications, including
      mortality, up to 90 days postoperatively were also assessed. Odds ratios (ORs)
      were calculated using a logistic regression model that accounted for clustering
      at the hospital level and adjusted for patient, provider, and fracture
      characteristics previously shown to explain the majority of variance in hip
      fracture outcomes. RESULTS: During the study period, 87,647 patients underwent an
      isolated hip fracture surgical procedure; 51.2% of these patients had femoral
      neck fractures, 44.1% had intertrochanteric fractures, and 4.7% had
      subtrochanteric fractures. The surgical procedure occurred after hours in 59,562
      patients (68.0%), and 27,240 patients (31.1%) underwent a surgical procedure
      during normal hours (7 A.M. to 5 P.M.). Only 845 patients (1%) underwent a
      surgical procedure overnight. We observed no significant relationships between
      timing of the surgical procedure and adverse outcomes, except for patients who
      had undergone an after-hours surgical procedure and had fewer inpatient surgical
      complications (OR, 0.90 [95% confidence interval, 0.83 to 0.99]; p = 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Adverse outcomes following a hip fracture surgical procedure were
      similar whether a surgical procedure occurred during normal hours or after hours.
      Concerns regarding the quality of after-hours surgical procedures should not
      influence hip fracture prioritization policy. However, given that the great
      majority of hip fracture surgical procedures occurred after hours, future
      research should examine other potential consequences of this practice, such as
      financial impact and surgeon burnout. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III.
      See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28590375
TI  - Familial Clustering Identified in Periprosthetic Joint Infection Following
      Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is estimated that the cost to treat periprosthetic joint infection
      in the United States will approach $1.62 billion by 2020. Thus, the need to
      better understand the pathogenesis of periprosthetic joint infection is evident.
      We performed a population-based, retrospective cohort study to determine if
      familial clustering of periprosthetic joint infection was observed. METHODS:
      Analyses were conducted using software developed at the Utah Population Database
      (UPDB) in conjunction with the software package R. The cohort was obtained by
      querying the UPDB for all patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty and for
      those patients who had subsequent periprosthetic joint infection. The magnitude
      of familial risk was estimated by hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox regression models
      to assess the relative risk of periprosthetic joint infection in relatives and
      spouses. Using percentiles for age strata, we adjusted for sex, body mass index
      (BMI) of >=30 kg/m, and a history of smoking, diabetes, and/or end-stage renal
      disease. Additionally, we identified families with excess clustering of
      periprosthetic joint infection above that expected in the population using the
      familial standardized incidence ratio. RESULTS: A total of 66,985 patients
      underwent total joint arthroplasty and 1,530 patients (2.3%) had a periprosthetic
      joint infection. The risk of periprosthetic joint infection following total joint
      arthroplasty was elevated in first-degree relatives (HR, 2.16 [95% confidence
      interval (CI), 1.29 to 3.59]) and combined first and second-degree relatives (HR,
      1.79 [95% CI, 1.22 to 2.62]). Further, 116 high-risk pedigrees with a familial
      standardized incidence ratio of >2 and a p value of <0.05 were identified and 9
      were selected for genotyping studies based on the observed periprosthetic joint
      infection/total joint arthroplasty ratio and visual inspection of the pedigrees
      for lack of excessive comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: Although preliminary, these
      data may help to guide further genetic research associated with periprosthetic
      joint infections. An understanding of familial risks could lead to new
      discoveries in creating patient-centered pathways for infection prevention in
      patients at risk. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for
      Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28590377
TI  - Brace Success Is Related to Curve Type in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic
      Scoliosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Curve magnitude and skeletal maturity are important factors in
      determining the efficacy of bracing for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis, but curve morphology may also affect brace success. The purpose of
      this study was to determine the influence of curve morphology on the response to
      bracing with a thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO). METHODS: A retrospective
      review of patients managed with an orthosis for the treatment of adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis who were prospectively enrolled at the initiation of brace
      wear and followed through completion of bracing or surgery was performed.
      Inclusion criteria were main curves of 25 degrees  to 45 degrees  and a Risser
      stage of 0, 1, or 2 at the time of brace prescription. Compliance with bracing
      was measured with Maxim Integrated Thermochrons. Radiographs made at brace
      initiation, brace cessation, and final follow-up were used to retrospectively
      categorize curves with use of the modified Lenke (mLenke) classification system
      and more broadly to categorize them as main thoracic or main lumbar. The effect
      of morphology on outcome was evaluated using chi-square and Fisher exact tests.
      RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-eight patients were included. There was no
      difference in curve magnitude at the time of brace initiation (p = 0.798) or in
      average hours of daily brace wear (p = 0.146) between groups. The rate of surgery
      or progression of the curve to >=50 degrees  was 34.5% (29 of 84) in mLenke-I
      curves, 54.5% (6 of 11) in mLenke-II curves, 29.4% (10 of 34) in mLenke-III
      curves, 17.6% (3 of 17) in mLenke-V curves, and 13.6% (3 of 22) in mLenke-VI
      curves. There were no mLenke-IV curves at the time of brace initiation. The rate
      of surgery or progression to >=50 degrees  was 34.1% (44 of 129) in the combined
      thoracic group and 15.4% (6 of 39) in the combined lumbar group (p = 0.0277). In
      brace-compliant patients (>12.9 hours/day), the rate of surgery or progression to
      >=50 degrees  was 30.3% (20 of 66) in main thoracic curves and 5.3% (1 of 19) in
      main lumbar curves (p = 0.0239). One-tenth of curves changed morphology during
      bracing. The rate of surgery or progression to >=50 degrees  was 35.8% (43 of
      120) in persistent main thoracic curves, 20.0% (6 of 30) in persistent main
      lumbar curves, 12.5% (1 of 8) in main thoracic curves that became main lumbar
      curves, and 0% (0 of 9) in main lumbar curves that became main thoracic curves (p
      = 0.0383). CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic curves are at greater risk for brace failure
      than lumbar curves are despite similar initial curve magnitudes and average
      amount of daily brace wear. A change in curve pattern may imply flexibility and
      is associated with brace success. Patients with thoracic curves should be
      counseled accordingly. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions
      for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28590379
TI  - Bisphosphonate Use and the Risk of Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty in
      Osteoporotic Patients with Osteoarthritis: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of bisphosphonates has been reported to have potential
      beneficial effects on knee osteoarthritis, but existing studies have limitations.
      The purpose of this study was to examine the association of bisphosphonate use
      with the risk of undergoing total knee arthroplasty and with the consumption of
      pain medication among osteoporotic patients with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: We
      identified patients who were newly diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis among a
      cohort of patients with osteoporosis from 2009 to 2012 in the National Health
      Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. We further categorized these patients into
      2 groups: those who were treated with bisphosphonates (bisphosphonate users) and
      those who were not treated with any anti-osteoporosis drug (nonusers).
      Bisphosphonate treatment adherence was calculated by the medication possession
      ratio (MPR) as the proportion of days of bisphosphonate treatment within a fixed
      duration; an MPR of >=80% was considered high adherence. The primary and
      secondary outcomes of interest were undergoing total knee arthroplasty and the
      use of pain medication, respectively. Analyses using Cox proportional hazard
      models with propensity-score adjustment were performed to estimate the
      association between bisphosphonate use and the risk of undergoing total knee
      arthroplasty. The incremental change in the mean accumulated defined daily doses
      of pain medications among both bisphosphonate users and nonusers was calculated.
      RESULTS: We identified 16,276 bisphosphonate users and 123,791 nonusers of any
      anti-osteoporosis drug among the patients with osteoporosis who were newly
      diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Bisphosphonate use was significantly associated
      with a decreased risk of total knee arthroplasty (adjusted hazard ratio [HR],
      0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69 to 0.83; p < 0.001). In patients with a
      follow-up period of >=24 months and an MPR of >=80%, the effect size was
      significantly greater (adjusted HR, 0.66; p = 0.048). Over the 5 years of follow
      up, we found a significantly greater decrease in the use of pain medication among
      bisphosphonate users than among nonusers (p < 0.001; Chow test). CONCLUSIONS:
      Among patients with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, bisphosphonate use was
      associated with a significantly lower risk of total knee arthroplasty, especially
      in patients with high adherence and longer treatment duration. A lower
      consumption of pain medication was also found for bisphosphonate users among the
      patients with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic
      Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of
      evidence.

PMID- 28590378
TI  - Increasing Body Mass Index Is Associated with Worse Outcomes After Shoulder
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although obesity is associated with increased complication rates
      after lower-extremity arthroplasty, there is a relative paucity of studies
      examining the effect of body mass index (BMI) on shoulder arthroplasty. The
      purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of BMI on implant
      survival and the rate of complications after shoulder arthroplasty. METHODS:
      Using an institutional total joint registry, 4,567 consecutive shoulder
      arthroplasty cases from 1970 to 2013 were studied. The mean BMI was 29.7 kg/m
      (range, 14 to 66 kg/m), with 1,622 patients (36%) with a BMI of 30 to 40 kg/m and
      297 patients (7%) with a BMI of >40 kg/m. There were 2,493 female patients (55%).
      BMI was dichotomized after examination of the smoothing spline curve. The
      associations of factors and complications were assessed using Cox proportional
      hazard regression analysis. RESULTS: Increasing BMI was associated with an
      increased risk of a revision surgical procedure, reoperation, revision for
      mechanical failure, and superficial infection, and it was negatively associated
      with risk of a periprosthetic fracture. The risk of a revision surgical procedure
      increased in a linear fashion with increasing BMI (hazard ratio [HR], 1.05, or a
      5% increased risk per 1 unit of BMI; p = 0.03). Increased BMI was also associated
      with an increased risk of revision for mechanical failure (HR, 1.05; p = 0.004).
      In a multivariate model, the association of BMI and risk of a revision for any
      reason, revision for mechanical failure, and reoperation maintained significance
      (p <= 0.02). The most marked association between increasing BMI and any
      complication in shoulder arthroplasty was its association with superficial wound
      infection (HR, 1.09; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing BMI is strongly
      associated with increased rates of revision surgical procedures and postoperative
      complications after shoulder arthroplasty. It is important to consider these
      findings when counseling patients, estimating risks, and estimating complication
      risks in policy decisions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level IV. See
      Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28590380
TI  - Surgical Treatment for Hemophilic Pseudotumor: Twenty-three Cases with an Average
      Follow-up of 5 Years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemophilic pseudotumor (HPT) is a rare disease with many challenges.
      Only a few reports on surgical treatment for HPT have been published. METHODS:
      The cases of 23 patients with HPT who had surgical treatment from July 1996 to
      December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, blood loss and
      transfusion during surgery, outcomes, and complications after surgery were
      analyzed. RESULTS: Eleven patients underwent HPT resection; 4 underwent HPT
      excision, allograft transplantation, and absorbable screw fixation; 3 had HPT
      resection and metallic internal fixation; 2 had HPT resection, autogenous fibular
      grafting, and absorbable screw fixation; 2 underwent curettage and bone-grafting;
      and 1 patient received above-the-knee amputation. The average age (and standard
      deviation) of the patients at the time of surgery was 31.9 +/- 12.8 years (range,
      6 to 54 years) with an average follow-up of 5.3 +/- 4.7 years (range, 1.1 to 19.6
      years). The median duration of the surgery was 157 minutes (range, 90 to 315
      minutes). The median amount of blood loss during surgery was 800 mL (range, 100
      to 4,000 mL). Three patients (13%) had a postoperative infection, 2 (8.7%) had
      recurrence of HPT, and another 2 patients had fracture nonunion. CONCLUSIONS:
      Surgical treatment of HPT with a modified protocol of coagulation factor
      replacement is safe and effective. It should be recommended for patients with HPT
      who have progressive enlargement of the mass, recurrent and massive bleeding,
      spontaneous perforation, bone erosion, or compression of surrounding tissues or
      who have had failure of conservative treatment. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic
      Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of
      evidence.

PMID- 28590381
TI  - Performance of PROMIS for Healthy Patients Undergoing Meniscal Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)
      was developed as an extensive question bank with multiple health domains that
      could be utilized for computerized adaptive testing (CAT). In the present study,
      we investigated the use of the PROMIS Physical Function CAT (PROMIS PF CAT) in an
      otherwise healthy population scheduled to undergo surgery for meniscal injury
      with the hypotheses that (1) the PROMIS PF CAT would correlate strongly with
      patient-reported outcome instruments that measure physical function and would not
      correlate strongly with those that measure other health domains, (2) there would
      be no ceiling effects, and (3) the test burden would be significantly less than
      that of the traditional measures. METHODS: Patients scheduled to undergo meniscal
      surgery completed the PROMIS PF CAT, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score
      (KOOS), Marx Knee Activity Rating Scale, Short Form-36 (SF-36), and EuroQol-5
      Dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaires. Correlations were defined as high (>=0.7), high
      moderate (0.61 to 0.69), moderate (0.4 to 0.6), moderate-weak (0.31 to 0.39), or
      weak (<=0.3). If >=15% respondents to a patient-reported outcome measure obtained
      the highest or lowest possible score, the instrument was determined to have a
      significant ceiling or floor effect. RESULTS: A total of 107 participants were
      analyzed. The PROMIS PF CAT had a high correlation with the SF-36 Physical
      Functioning (PF) (r = 0.82, p < 0.01) and KOOS Sport (r = 0.76, p < 0.01) scores;
      a high-moderate correlation with the KOOS Quality-of-Life (QOL) (r = 0.63, p <
      0.01) and EQ-5D (r = 0.62, p < 0.01) instruments; and a moderate correlation with
      the SF-36 Pain (r = 0.60, p < 0.01), KOOS Symptoms (r = 0.57, p < 0.01), KOOS
      Activities of Daily Living (ADL) (r = 0.60, p < 0.01), and KOOS Pain (r = 0.60, p
      < 0.01) scores. The majority (89%) of the patients completed the PROMIS PF CAT
      after answering only 4 items. The PROMIS PF CAT had no floor or ceiling effects,
      with 0% of the participants achieving the lowest and highest score, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The PROMIS PF CAT correlates strongly with currently used patient
      reported outcome measures of physical function and demonstrates no ceiling
      effects for patients with meniscal injury requiring surgery. It may be a
      reasonable alternative to more burdensome patient-reported outcome measures.

PMID- 28590382
TI  - Venous Thromboembolism Following Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: The Role of Aspirin.

PMID- 28590383
TI  - What's Important: Science, Faith, and Grace.

PMID- 28590384
TI  - Thoracic Idiopathic Scoliosis Severity Is Highly Correlated with 3D Measures of
      Thoracic Kyphosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Loss of thoracic kyphosis has been associated with thoracic
      idiopathic scoliosis. Modern 3-dimensional (3D) imaging systems allow more
      accurate characterization of the scoliotic deformity than traditional
      radiographs. In this study, we utilized 3D calculations to characterize the
      association between increasing scoliosis severity and changes in the sagittal and
      axial planes. METHODS: Patients evaluated in a scoliosis clinic and determined to
      have either a normal spine or idiopathic scoliosis were included in the analysis.
      All underwent upright, biplanar radiography with 3D reconstructions. Two
      dimensional (2D) measurements of the magnitude of the thoracic major curve and
      the thoracic kyphosis were recorded. Image processing and MATLAB analysis were
      utilized to produce a 3D calculation of thoracic kyphosis and apical vertebral
      axial rotation. Regression analysis was performed to determine the correlation of
      2D kyphosis, 3D kyphosis, and apical axial rotation with the magnitude of the
      thoracic major curve. RESULTS: The 442 patients for whom 2D and 3D data were
      collected had a main thoracic curve magnitude ranging from 1 degrees  to 118
      degrees . Linear regression analysis of the 2D and 3D T5-T12 kyphosis versus main
      thoracic curve magnitude yielded significant models (p < 0.05). The 2D model had
      a minimally negative slope (-0.07), a small R value (0.02), and a poor
      correlation coefficient (-0.14). In contrast, the 3D model had a strongly
      negative slope (-0.54), a high R value (0.56), and a strong correlation
      coefficient (-0.75). Curve magnitude also had a strong correlation with loss of
      3D T1-T12 kyphosis and increasing apical axial rotation. CONCLUSIONS: Segmentally
      calculated 3D thoracic kyphosis had a strongly negative correlation with the
      magnitude of the main thoracic curve. With near uniformity, 3D thoracic kyphosis
      progressively decreased as scoliosis magnitude increased, at a rate of more than
      half the increase in the main thoracic curve magnitude. Analysis confirmed a
      surprisingly strong correlation between scoliosis severity and loss of 3D
      kyphosis that was absent in the 2D analysis. A similarly strong correlation
      between curve magnitude and apical axial rotation was evident. These findings
      lend further credence to the concept that scoliosis progresses in the coronal,
      sagittal, and axial planes simultaneously. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The findings of
      this study suggest that 3D assessment is critical for adequate characterization
      of the multiplanar deformity of idiopathic scoliosis and deformity in the
      sagittal plane is linked to deformity in the coronal plane. Increasing severity
      of coronal plane curvature is associated with a progressive loss of thoracic
      kyphosis that should be anticipated so that the appropriate intraoperative
      techniques for correction of idiopathic scoliosis can be applied in all 3 planes.

PMID- 28590385
TI  - Post-Discharge Care Duration, Charges, and Outcomes Among Medicare Patients After
      Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In April 2016, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
      initiated mandatory 90-day bundled payments for total hip and knee arthroplasty
      for much of the country. Our goal was to determine duration of care, 90-day
      charges, and readmission rates by discharge disposition and U.S. region after hip
      or knee arthroplasty. METHODS: Using the 2008 Medicare Provider Analysis and
      Review database 100% sample, we identified patients who had undergone elective
      primary total hip or knee arthroplasty. We collected data on patient age, sex,
      comorbidities, U.S. Census region, discharge disposition, duration of care, 90
      day charges, and readmission. Multivariate regression was used to assess factors
      associated with readmission (logistic) and charges (linear). Significance was set
      at p < 0.01. RESULTS: Patients undergoing 138,842 total hip arthroplasties were
      discharged to home (18%), home health care (34%), extended-care facilities (35%),
      and inpatient rehabilitation (13%); patients undergoing 329,233 total knee
      arthroplasties were discharged to home (21%), home health care (38%), extended
      care facilities (31%), and inpatient rehabilitation (10%). Patients in the
      Northeast were more likely to be discharged to extended-care facilities or
      inpatient rehabilitation than patients in other regions. Patients in the West had
      the highest 90-day charges. Approximately 70% of patients were discharged home
      from extended-care facilities, whereas after inpatient rehabilitation, >50% of
      patients received home health care. Among those discharged to home, 90-day
      readmission rates were highest in the South (9.6%) for patients undergoing total
      hip arthroplasty and in the Midwest (8.7%) and the South (8.5%) for patients
      undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Having >=4 comorbidities, followed by
      discharge to inpatient rehabilitation or an extended-care facility, had the
      strongest associations with readmission, whereas the region of the West and the
      discharge disposition to inpatient rehabilitation had the strongest association
      with higher charges. CONCLUSIONS: Among Medicare patients, discharge disposition
      and number of comorbidities were most strongly associated with readmission.
      Inpatient rehabilitation and the West region had the strongest associations with
      higher charges. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level IV. See Instructions for
      Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28590386
TI  - Can We Agree on Expectations and Assessments of Graduating Residents?: 2016 AOA
      Critical Issues Symposium.
AB  - Orthopaedic educators are responsible for training a prepared and competent
      workforce that will provide effective care for a growing number of patients with
      musculoskeletal conditions. Currently, there are both internal and external
      forces that pose substantial challenges to medical students, residents, program
      directors, faculty members, and chairs in achieving this goal. One area of
      particular concern is the education of surgeons, whose knowledge and professional
      behavior must be matched by their ability to acquire procedural skills. In order
      to address this issue, many training systems have implemented a competency-based
      training approach into their curricula. This article discusses the efforts that
      orthopaedic training bodies in Canada and Australia have taken toward competency
      based education and what steps the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS),
      the Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors (CORD), the American Orthopaedic
      Association (AOA), the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), and the
      Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) are considering to
      improve residency education in the current and future environments.

PMID- 28590387
TI  - The 2016 American Orthopaedic Association-Japanese Orthopaedic Association
      Traveling Fellowship.
AB  - The American Orthopaedic Association-Japanese Orthopaedic Association (AOA-JOA)
      Traveling Fellowship, which began in 1992 as a collaborative effort between the 2
      orthopaedic communities, is aimed at fostering leadership among early-career
      surgeons through clinical, academic, and cultural exchange. Over 3 weeks, we
      experienced an extraordinary journey that led us across nearly 800 miles of the
      picturesque Japanese countryside, with stops at 6 distinguished academic centers.
      The opportunity to become personally acquainted with orthopaedic leaders in
      Japan, learn from their experiences, and immerse ourselves in the ancient and
      storied culture of a beautiful country was one that we will not soon forget.
      Along the way, we accumulated a wealth of information while enjoying the
      legendary hospitality of the Japanese people. There is a ubiquitous challenge in
      delivering cost-effective, accessible health care while maintaining a commitment
      to education and research. The U.S. orthopaedic community may take solace in the
      fact that our Japanese colleagues stand with us as partners in this pursuit, and
      our relationship with them continues to grow stronger through endeavors such as
      the AOA-JOA Traveling Fellowship. We look forward to honoring our Japanese
      colleagues in 2017 when we host them in the United States.

PMID- 28590388
TI  - The Quandary of Treating Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears in Children and
      Adolescents: Commentary on an article by Travis J. Dekker, MD, et al.: "Return to
      Sport After Pediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Its Effect on
      Subsequent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury".

PMID- 28590389
TI  - Brace Success as Related to Curve Type, Compliance, and Maturity in Adolescents
      with Idiopathic Scoliosis: Commentary on an article by Rachel M. Thompson, MD, et
      al.: "Brace Success Is Related to Curve Type in Patients with Adolescent
      Idiopathic Scoliosis".

PMID- 28590391
TI  - Misuse of Novel Synthetic Opioids: A Deadly New Trend.
AB  - : Novel synthetic opioids (NSOs) include various analogs of fentanyl and newly
      emerging non-fentanyl compounds. Together with illicitly manufactured fentanyl
      (IMF), these drugs have caused a recent spike in overdose deaths, whereas deaths
      from prescription opioids have stabilized. NSOs are used as stand-alone products,
      as adulterants in heroin, or as constituents of counterfeit prescription
      medications. During 2015 alone, there were 9580 deaths from synthetic opioids
      other than methadone. Most of these fatalities were associated with IMF rather
      than diverted pharmaceutical fentanyl. In opioid overdose cases, where the
      presence of fentanyl analogs was examined, analogs were implicated in 17% of
      fatalities. Recent data from law enforcement sources show increasing confiscation
      of acetylfentanyl, butyrylfentanyl, and furanylfentanyl, in addition to non
      fentanyl compounds such as U-47700. Since 2013, deaths from NSOs in the United
      States were 52 for acetylfentanyl, 40 for butyrylfentanyl, 128 for
      furanylfentanyl, and 46 for U-47700. All of these substances induce a classic
      opioid toxidrome, which can be reversed with the competitive antagonist naloxone.
      However, due to the putative high potency of NSOs and their growing prevalence,
      it is recommended to forgo the 0.4 mg initial dose of naloxone and start with 2
      mg. Because NSOs offer enormous profit potential, and there is strong demand for
      their use, these drugs are being trafficked by organized crime. NSOs present
      major challenges for medical professionals, law enforcement agencies, and
      policymakers. Resources must be distributed equitably to enhance harm reduction
      though public education, medication-assisted therapies, and improved access to
      naloxone.

PMID- 28590392
TI  - Pilot Studies Examining Feasibility of Substance Use Disorder Screening and
      Treatment Linkage at Urban Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics provide critical public
      health services for screening and treatment of sexually transmitted infections
      throughout the United States. These settings serve high-risk populations, often
      on a walk-in basis, and may be promising venues for integrating substance use
      disorder (SUD) services. METHODS: We report findings from 2 pilot studies
      conducted at Baltimore City Health Department's STD clinics. The screening study
      characterized rates of SUDs among STD clinic patients. Patients waiting for
      services completed a diagnostic interview mapping to Diagnostic and Statistical
      Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition SUD criteria (n = 100). The Treatment
      Linkage Feasibility study examined the feasibility of linking STD clinic patients
      with opioid and/or cocaine use disorders to SUD treatment in the community (n =
      21), using SUD-focused Patient Navigation services for 1 month after the STD
      clinic visit. Assessments were conducted at baseline and 1-month follow-up.
      RESULTS: In the screening study, the majority of STD clinic patients met
      diagnostic criteria for alcohol and/or drug SUD (57%). Substance-specific SUD
      rates among patients were 35% for alcohol, 31% for cannabis, 11% for opioids, and
      8% for stimulants (cocaine/amphetamines). In the Treatment Linkage Feasibility
      study, 57% (12/21) of participants attended at least 1 SUD service, and 38%
      (8/21) were actively enrolled in SUD treatment by 1-month follow-up. The sample
      reported significant reductions in past 30-day cocaine use from baseline to
      follow-up (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: SUD rates are high among STD clinic patients.
      STD clinics are viable settings for initiating SUD treatment linkage services.
      Larger-scale research on integrating SUD services in these settings is needed.

PMID- 28590393
TI  - Addiction Research Training Programs: Four Case Studies and Recommendations for
      Evaluation.
AB  - : The presence of structured addiction research training programs helps to ensure
      that the scientific workforce includes well-trained, diverse scientists necessary
      to reduce the negative impact of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use disorders.
      Although the field has made significant progress in the development of standards
      for clinical training in addiction medicine, there remains significant room for
      improvement in the training of addiction researchers, and also opportunities to
      synergize across addiction research training programs. The purpose of this
      commentary is to describe 4 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored
      addiction research training programs, highlight critical components, and provide
      recommendations for more comprehensive and effective program evaluation. Moving
      forward, evaluation of addiction research training programs would be enhanced by
      the use of conceptual models to inform process and outcome evaluations, the
      application of innovative methods to ensure long-term data collection, the
      improvement of mentorship evaluation measures, and the integration of training
      methods from other fields of study. We encourage NIH and others in the field to
      be proactive in establishing core metrics for evaluation across programs.
      Furthermore, centralized tracking of NIH-funded addiction research trainees,
      analysis of aggregate data across programs, and innovative methods to effectively
      disseminate program materials and processes are recommended.

PMID- 28590395
TI  - Relation Between the Type of Hospitals and the Decision of Adenotonsillectomy
      Indication.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to apply tonsillectomy criteria, symptoms and outcomes
      proposed in earlier studies to investigate patients who were given tonsillectomy
      indications at different clinical centers but were treated in our clinical
      center. METHODS: The prospective sample of patients at the ear, nose, and throat
      clinic within our hospital consisted of 855 male patients and 684 female patients
      (1539 in total) with ages between 3 and 16 years old who had been given a
      tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy indication. The patients were allocated to 1
      of 3 groups, depending on whether they had been treated in a public hospital, a
      private hospital, or a university/training research hospital. RESULTS: Of the
      total of 1539 patients, tonsillectomy indication criteria were exhibited by 966
      of them (62.8%) but were absent in the rest of 573 patients (37.2%). Most of the
      966 patients with tonsillectomy indication criteria had been treated in private
      hospitals (n = 546; 56.5%), while the others were treated in public hospitals (n
      = 309; 31.9%) or in university/training research hospitals (n = 111; 15.9%).
      Furthermore, the majority of the 966 patients (84.1%) received the tonsillectomy
      indication in just 1 examination, while some of them (n = 154; 15.9%) received it
      after follow-up appointments. CONCLUSION: Tonsillectomy decisions can pose
      difficulties for ear, nose, and throat specialists. Therefore, such decisions
      should be made based on assessment of clinical evaluation and follow-up,
      information from patients' parents, and the results of examination against the
      criteria outlined in the literature.

PMID- 28590394
TI  - The Outcome of Endoscopic Optic Nerve Decompression for Bilateral Traumatic Optic
      Neuropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the outcomes of endoscopic optic nerve decompression
      (EOND) for bilateral traumatic optic neuropathy (TON). METHODS: A retrospective
      analysis was conducted in 5 patients with bilateral TON, between January 2003 and
      December 2013. All the patients underwent preoperative ophthalmological
      evaluation, flash visual-evoked potentials, computed tomography scan, and
      systemic corticosteroid therapy. All the patients required an EOND surgery, due
      to poor response to medical therapy, and the remainder one was only treated with
      corticosteroid due to operative contraindication. RESULTS: Of the 5 patients (10
      eyes) undergoing EOND, visual acuity improved in 30% of eyes (n = 3) with a mean
      follow-up of 3 months. The remainder 7 eyes still had no light perception. All of
      the 5 patients undergoing EOND had no operative complications. CONCLUSION:
      Treatment for bilateral TON should not be limited on the length of time to injury
      and visual-evoked potentials results. If surgical conditions permit and with no
      contraindications, patients should receive active surgical treatment as soon as
      possible.

PMID- 28590396
TI  - Botulinum Toxin Conjugated With Silk Fibroin and 4-Hexylresorcinol.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether silk fibroin (SF)
      incorporated into 4-hexylresorcinol (4HR) could increase botulinum toxin-A (BTX
      A) activity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In total, 30 rats were used for this study.
      The animals were divided into 6 groups according to the injected materials (SA:
      saline only; SF; 4HR; B2: 2 units of BTX-A; B2 + SF + 4HR: combination of B2, SF,
      and 4HR; B5: 5 units of BTX-A). Serial sonography was used for the evaluation of
      muscle thickness after injection. Immunohistochemical staining was used for the
      evaluation of myosin type II (myo2) and Bcl-2 protein expression. RESULTS: The
      relative thickness of the masseter muscle in B2 group was 66.14% +/- 4.55% to the
      preinjection level; in B2 + SF + 4HR group was 54.59% +/- 4.83%, and in B5 group
      was 56.19% +/- 8.28%. Any BTX-injected group showed significantly lower value of
      the relative muscle thickness compared to SA, SF, or 4HR group (P < 0.001 for
      all). The difference of relative muscle thickness between B2 group and B2 + SF +
      4HR group was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The intensity of myo2
      immunostaining in B5, B2, and B2 + SF + 4HR group was significantly higher than
      those in the other groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: When 2 units of BTX was
      incorporated to SF and 4HR, combination formula showed similar activity to those
      of 5 units of BTX.

PMID- 28590397
TI  - Normal Nasopharyngeal Measurement by Computed Tomography in Adult.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the detailed computed tomography (CT)
      measurement of the nasopharynx (NP) in normal adult detecting mean of its
      dimension and relation of that measurement to that of the sphenoid sinus.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL: A normal paranasal CT scan and a straight nasal septum of
      128 individuals (256 sphenoid sinuses) were included in the study. Axial images
      were acquired with multiplanar reformates to obtain delicate details in coronal
      and sagittal planes for all subjects. Measurement of the width, length, and
      anteroposterior dimensions of the NP and sphenoid sinuses were taken separately.
      RESULTS: In 128 studied CT of adult subjects, the mean height of the NP was
      19.4619 +/- 4.52661 and mean depth was 21.80714 +/- 4.62324 while the mean width
      was 25.31951 +/- 3.80521. No significant relations between diameters of NP and
      sphenoid sinuses were found. CONCLUSION: The detailed CT measurement of the NP in
      normal adult is an easy and reliable measurement. This study put the base of CT
      measurement of NP for further work to describe changes in such measures in
      patients with nasal and paranasal sinus anomalies.

PMID- 28590398
TI  - Bilateral Coronoid Hyperplasia in a 43-Year-Old Patient Treated With Intraoral
      Coronoidectomy.
AB  - The mandibular coronoid hyperplasia can be classified as a congenital or
      development change of the temporomandibular joint. This condition occurs due to a
      no-neoplasic growth of the coronoid process to the infratemporal fossa. Thus,
      this part of the bone impacts in the posterior face of the zygomatic bone causing
      limitation of the mouth opening. The aim of this paper is to report a clinical
      case of a 43-year-old male with mouth-opening limitation 28 years ago. After
      clinical and computed tomographic examinations, he was diagnosed with bilateral
      mandibular coronoid hyperplasia. The treatment proposed was a bilateral
      coronoidectomy by intraoral approach. In a 1-month postoperative period, the
      patient reported improvement of the painful complaints and mouth opening. After 1
      year, the patient recovered the mouth opening improving his quality of life and
      there were no more complaints.

PMID- 28590399
TI  - Displacement of Dental Implant Into the Submental Space After Surgical
      Integration.
AB  - Osseointegrated dental implants are common and widely used to treat edentulism.
      Implant displacement into the maxillofacial spaces during surgery or after a
      period of use is a complication recognized in the literature. Foreign objects
      such as titanium dental implants in the maxillofacial region must be removed
      because they cause infection due to tissue reaction. In this report, the authors
      present the case of a patient whose dental implant slipped into the submental
      space after surgical integration and describe the surgical removal of the implant
      via an extraoral approach.

PMID- 28590400
TI  - Reply: Evidence-Based Medicine: A Graded Approach to Lower Lid Blepharoplasty.

PMID- 28590401
TI  - Psychological Outcomes of Labiaplasty: A Prospective Study.

PMID- 28590402
TI  - Evidence-Based Medicine: A Graded Approach to Lower Lid Blepharoplasty.

PMID- 28590403
TI  - Revision Buttock Implantation: Indications, Procedures, and Recommendations.

PMID- 28590404
TI  - Reply: Psychological Outcomes of Labiaplasty: A Prospective Study.

PMID- 28590405
TI  - Breast Tissue Metabolism by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.
AB  - Metabolic alterations are known to occur with oncogenesis and tumor progression.
      During malignant transformation, the metabolism of cells and tissues is altered.
      Cancer metabolism can be studied using advanced technologies that detect both
      metabolites and metabolic activities. Identification, characterization, and
      quantification of metabolites (metabolomics) are important for metabolic analysis
      and are usually done by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or by mass spectrometry.
      In contrast to the magnetic resonance imaging that is used to monitor the tumor
      morphology during progression of the disease and during therapy, in vivo NMR
      spectroscopy is used to study and monitor tumor metabolism of cells/tissues by
      detection of various biochemicals or metabolites involved in various metabolic
      pathways. Several in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo NMR studies using 1H and 31P
      magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) nuclei have documented increased levels of
      total choline containing compounds, phosphomonoesters and phosphodiesters in
      human breast cancer tissues, which is indicative of altered choline and
      phospholipid metabolism. These levels get reversed with successful treatment.
      Another method that increases the sensitivity of substrate detection by using
      nuclear spin hyperpolarization of 13C-lableled substrates by dynamic nuclear
      polarization has revived a great interest in the study of cancer metabolism. This
      review discusses breast tissue metabolism studied by various NMR/MRS methods.

PMID- 28590407
TI  - Family Communication about End-of-Life Decisions and the Enactment of the
      Decision-Maker Role.
AB  - End-of-life (EOL) decisions in families are complex and emotional sites of family
      interaction necessitating family members coordinate roles in the EOL decision
      making process. How family members in the United States enact the decision-maker
      role in EOL decision situations was examined through in-depth interviews with 22
      individuals who participated in EOL decision-making for a family member. A number
      of themes emerged from the data with regard to the enactment of the decision
      maker role. Families varied in how decision makers enacted the role in relation
      to collective family input, with consulting, informing and collaborating as
      different patterns of behavior. Formal family roles along with gender- and age
      based roles shaped who took on the decision-maker role. Additionally, both family
      members and medical professionals facilitated or undermined the decision-maker's
      role enactment. Understanding the structure and enactment of the decision-maker
      role in family interaction provides insight into how individuals and/or family
      members perform the decision-making role within a cultural context that values
      autonomy and self-determination in combination with collective family action in
      EOL decision-making.

PMID- 28590406
TI  - De Novo Transcriptome Sequencing and the Hypothetical Cold Response Mode of
      Saussurea involucrata in Extreme Cold Environments.
AB  - Saussurea involucrata grows in high mountain areas covered by snow throughout the
      year. The temperature of this habitat can change drastically in one day. To gain
      a better understanding of the cold response signaling pathways and molecular
      metabolic reactions involved in cold stress tolerance, genome-wide
      transcriptional analyses were performed using RNA-Seq technologies. A total of
      199,758 transcripts were assembled, producing 138,540 unigenes with 46.8 Gb clean
      data. Overall, 184,416 (92.32%) transcripts were successfully annotated. The 365
      transcription factors identified (292 unigenes) belonged to 49 transcription
      factor families associated with cold stress responses. A total of 343 transcripts
      on the signal transduction (132 upregulated and 212 downregulated in at least any
      one of the conditions) were strongly affected by cold temperature, such as the
      CBL-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase (CIPKs), receptor-like protein
      kinases, and protein kinases. The circadian rhythm pathway was activated by cold
      adaptation, which was necessary to endure the severe temperature changes within a
      day. There were 346 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to transport,
      of which 138 were upregulated and 22 were downregulated in at least any one of
      the conditions. Under cold stress conditions, transcriptional regulation,
      molecular transport, and signal transduction were involved in the adaptation to
      low temperature in S. involucrata. These findings contribute to our understanding
      of the adaptation of plants to harsh environments and the survival traits of S.
      involucrata. In addition, the present study provides insight into the molecular
      mechanisms of chilling and freezing tolerance.

PMID- 28590408
TI  - Tdrd12 Is Essential for Germ Cell Development and Maintenance in Zebrafish.
AB  - The regularity of Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) biogenesis is crucial to germline
      development. Functioning as Piwi-interacting proteins, Tudor domain-related
      proteins (Tdrds) have been demonstrated to be involved in spermatogenesis and the
      piRNA pathway. In this study, zebrafish tdrd12 was identified, and the maternal
      and germ cell-specific expression patterns of zebrafish tdrd12 were observed.
      Utilizing TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nuclease) techniques, two
      independent tdrd12 mutant zebrafish lines were generated. Although no defects
      were found during the generation of the primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the
      tdrd12-null fish progenies obtained from the heterozygous tdrd12 mutant parents,
      all Tdrd12-deficient fish developed into infertile males. The reduced numbers and
      eventually loss of the germ cells by 35 days post fertilization (dpf) led to
      masculinization and infertility of the Tdrd12-deficient fish. Meiosis defects of
      the germ cells in the tdrd12 mutants during the gonad-transitioning period were
      observed, revealing the indispensable functions of Tdrd12 in gametogenesis. Our
      studies demonstrated that zebrafish Tdrd12 is essential for germ cell development
      and maintenance.

PMID- 28590410
TI  - Depigmenting Effect of Resveratrol Is Dependent on FOXO3a Activation without
      SIRT1 Activation.
AB  - Resveratrol exhibits not only anti-melanogenic property by inhibiting
      microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), but also anti-aging
      property by activating sirtuin-1 (SIRT1). In this study, the relationship between
      depigmenting effect of resveratrol and SIRT1/forkhead box O (FOXO) 3a activation
      and was investigated. Resveratrol suppressed melanogenesis by the downregulation
      of MITF and tyrosinase via ERK pathway. Results showed that the expression of
      both SIRT1 and FOXO3a were increased. It is reported that SIRT1 is critical
      regulator of FOXO-mediated transcription in response to oxidative stress. However
      in our study, FOXO3a activation appeared earlier than that of SIRT1. Furthermore,
      the effect of resveratrol on the levels of MITF and tyrosinase was suppressed
      when melanocytes were pre-treated with SP600125 (JNK inhibitor). However, pre
      treatment with SIRT1 inhibitor (EX527, or sirtinol) did not affect the levels of
      MITF and tyrosinase. Therefore, resveratrol inhibits melanogenesis through the
      activation of FOXO3a but not by the activation of SIRT1. Although SIRT1
      activation by resveratrol is a well-known mechanism of resveratrol-induced
      antiaging effects, our study showed that not SIRT1 but FOXO3a activation is
      involved in depigmenting effects of resveratrol.

PMID- 28590411
TI  - A Conjugate of Pentamethine Cyanine and 18F as a Positron Emission
      Tomography/Near-Infrared Fluorescence Probe for Multimodality Tumor Imaging.
AB  - The novel synthesis of a dual-modality, pentamethine cyanine (Cy5) fluorescent,
      18F positron emission tomography (PET) imaging probe is reported. The probe shows
      a large extinction coefficient and large quantum yield in the biologically
      transparent, near-infrared window (650-900 nm) for in vivo fluorescent imaging.
      This fluorophore bears the isotope, 18F, giving a 18F-PET/near-infrared
      fluorescent (NIRF), bi-modal imaging probe, that combines the long-term stability
      of NIRF and the unlimited penetration depth of PET imaging. The bi-modal probe is
      labeled with 18F in a quick, one-step reaction, which is important in working
      with the rapid decay of 18F. The bi-modal probe bears a free carboxyl group,
      highlighting a PET/NIRF synthon that can be conjugated onto many advanced
      biomolecules for biomarker-specific in vivo dual-modal PET/NIR tumor imaging,
      confocal histology, and utility in multi-fluorophore, fluorescence-guided
      surgery. Its potential in vivo biocompatibility is explored in a quick proof-of
      principal in vivo study. The dye is delivered to A549 xenograft flank-tumors to
      generate PET and NIRF signals at the tumor site. The tumor distribution is
      confirmed in ex vivo gamma counting and imaging. Pentamethine cyanine (Cy5) has
      the ability to preferentially accumulate in tumor xenografts. We substitute the
      PET/NIRF probe for Cy5, and explore this phenomenon.

PMID- 28590409
TI  - The Spleen: A Hub Connecting Nervous and Immune Systems in Cardiovascular and
      Metabolic Diseases.
AB  - Metabolic disorders have been identified as major health problems affecting a
      large portion of the world population. In addition, obesity and insulin
      resistance are principal risk factors for the development of cardiovascular
      diseases. Altered immune responses are common features of both hypertension and
      obesity and, moreover, the involvement of the nervous system in the modulation of
      immune system is gaining even more attention in both pathophysiological contexts.
      For these reasons, during the last decades, researches focused their efforts on
      the comprehension of the molecular mechanisms connecting immune system to
      cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. On the other hand, it has been reported
      that in these pathological conditions, central neural pathways modulate the
      activity of the peripheral nervous system, which is strongly involved in onset
      and progression of the disease. It is interesting to notice that neural reflex
      can also participate in the modulation of immune functions. In this scenario, the
      spleen becomes the crucial hub allowing the interaction of different systems
      differently involved in metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Here, we summarize
      the major findings that dissect the role of the immune system in disorders
      related to metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunctions, and how this could also be
      influenced by neural reflexes.

PMID- 28590413
TI  - An Empirical Study of the Transmission Power Setting for Bluetooth-Based Indoor
      Localization Mechanisms.
AB  - Nowadays, there is a great interest in developing accurate wireless indoor
      localization mechanisms enabling the implementation of many consumer-oriented
      services. Among the many proposals, wireless indoor localization mechanisms based
      on the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) are being widely explored. Most
      studies have focused on the evaluation of the capabilities of different mobile
      device brands and wireless network technologies. Furthermore, different
      parameters and algorithms have been proposed as a means of improving the accuracy
      of wireless-based localization mechanisms. In this paper, we focus on the tuning
      of the RSSI fingerprint to be used in the implementation of a Bluetooth Low
      Energy 4.0 (BLE4.0) Bluetooth localization mechanism. Following a holistic
      approach, we start by assessing the capabilities of two Bluetooth sensor/receiver
      devices. We then evaluate the relevance of the RSSI fingerprint reported by each
      BLE4.0 beacon operating at various transmission power levels using feature
      selection techniques. Based on our findings, we use two classification algorithms
      in order to improve the setting of the transmission power levels of each of the
      BLE4.0 beacons. Our main findings show that our proposal can greatly improve the
      localization accuracy by setting a custom transmission power level for each
      BLE4.0 beacon.

PMID- 28590412
TI  - Changes in Smoking Behavior over Family Transitions: Evidence for Anticipation
      and Adaptation Effects.
AB  - The study of changes in smoking behaviors over the life course is a promising
      line of research. This paper aims to analyze the temporal relation between family
      transitions (partnership formation, first childbirth, separation) and changes in
      smoking initiation and cessation. We propose a discrete-time logistic model to
      explore the timing of changes in terms of leads and lags effects up to three
      years around the event in order to measure both anticipation and adaptation
      mechanisms. Retrospective biographical data from the Sante et Itineraires
      Professionnels (SIP) survey conducted in France in 2006 are used. Partnership
      formation was followed for both genders by a fall in smoking initiation and an
      immediate rise in smoking cessation. Childbirth was associated with increased
      smoking cessation immediately around childbirth, and additionally, females showed
      an anticipatory increase in smoking cessation up to two years before childbirth.
      Couple separation was accompanied by an anticipatory increase in smoking
      initiation for females up to two years prior to the separation, but this effect
      only occurred in males during separation. Our findings highlight opportunities
      for more targeted interventions over the life course to reduce smoking, and
      therefore have relevance for general practitioners and public policy elaboration.

PMID- 28590414
TI  - mtDNA as a Mediator for Expression of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1alpha and ROS in
      Hypoxic Neuroblastoma Cells.
AB  - Mitochondria consume O2 to produce ATP and are critical for adaption of hypoxia,
      but the role of mitochondria in HIF-1alpha pathway is as yet unclear. In this
      study, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) enriched (SK-N-AS) and depleted (rho0) cells of
      neuroblastoma were cultured in a hypoxic chamber to simulate a hypoxic condition
      and then the major components involved in mitochondrial related pathways, hypoxia
      inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were
      measured. The results showed that hypoxia-stimulated exposure elevated expression
      of HIF-1alpha, which was additionally influenced by level of generated ROS within
      the cytosol. Moreover, elevation of HIF-1alpha also resulted in increases of
      lactate dehydrogenase A (LDH-A) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) in
      both hypoxic cells. The expression of mitochondrial biogenesis related proteins
      and metabolic components were noted to increase significantly in hypoxic SK-N-AS
      cells, indicating that mtDNA was involved in mitochondrial retrograde signaling
      and metabolic pathways. An analysis of dynamic proteins found elevated levels of
      HIF-1alpha causing an increased expression of dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1)
      during hypoxia; further, the existence of mtDNA also resulted in higher
      expression of DRP1 during hypoxia. By using siRNA of HIF-1alpha or DRP1,
      expression of DRP1 decreased after suppression of HIF-1alpha; moreover, the
      expression of HIF-1alpha was also affected by the suppression of DRP1. In this
      study, we demonstrated that mtDNA is a mediator of HIF-1alpha in eliciting
      metabolic reprogramming, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Identification of a mutual
      relationship between HIF-1alpha and DRP1 may be a critical tool in the future
      development of clinical applications.

PMID- 28590416
TI  - Response to a Comment by Albert et al. (Nutrients 2017, 9, 137) Entitled
      "Concerns with the Study on Australian and New Zealand Fish Oil Products" by
      Nichols et al. (Nutrients 2016, 8, 703).
AB  - n/a.

PMID- 28590417
TI  - Facile Synthesis of Flower-Like Copper-Cobalt Sulfide as Binder-Free Faradaic
      Electrodes for Supercapacitors with Improved Electrochemical Properties.
AB  - Supercapacitors have been one of the highest potential candidates for energy
      storage because of their significant advantages beyond rechargeable batteries in
      terms of large power density, short recharging time, and long cycle lifespan. In
      this work, Cu-Co sulfides with uniform flower-like structure have been
      successfully obtained via a traditional two-step hydrothermal method. The as
      fabricated Cu-Co sulfide vulcanized from precursor (P-Cu-Co sulfide) is able to
      deliver superior specific capacitance of 592 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 and 518 F g-1 at 10
      A g-1 which are surprisingly about 1.44 times and 2.39 times higher than those of
      Cu-Co oxide electrode, respectively. At the same time, excellent cycling
      stability of P-Cu-Co sulfide is indicated by 90.4% capacitance retention at high
      current density of 10 A g-1 after 3000 cycles. Because of the introduction of
      sulfur during the vulcanization process, these new developed sulfides can get
      more flexible structure and larger reaction surface area, and will own richer
      redox reaction sites between the interfaces of active material/electrolyte. The
      uniform flower-like P-Cu-Co sulfide electrode materials will have more potential
      alternatives for oxides electrode materials in the future.

PMID- 28590418
TI  - Enhancement of X-ray Induced Apoptosis by Mobile Phone-Like Radio-Frequency
      Electromagnetic Fields in Mouse Spermatocyte-Derived Cells.
AB  - To explore the combined effects of environmental radio-frequency (RF) field and X
      ray, mouse spermatocyte-derived (GC-1) cells were exposed to 1950 MHz RF field at
      specific absorption rate (SAR) of 3 W/kg for 24 h combined with or without X-ray
      irradiation at 6 Gy. After treatment, the cell proliferation level was determined
      by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) Assay
      and 5-Bromo-2-deoxy Uridine (BrdU) enzyme linked immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay. The
      apoptosis level was detected by annexin V flow cytometry assay, transferase
      mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) Assay and
      Caspase-3 Activity Assay. It was found that the proliferation and apoptosis level
      did not change in GC-1 cells after RF exposure alone. However, compared with the
      X-ray group, the proliferation level significantly decreased and the apoptotic
      rate significantly increased in the RF+X-ray group. Moreover, a significant
      decrease in Bcl-2 protein expression and increase in Bax protein expression were
      observed. The findings suggested that RF exposure at SAR of 3 W/kg did not affect
      apoptosis and proliferation in GC-1 cells by itself, but that it did enhance the
      effects of X-ray induced proliferation inhibition and apoptosis, in which B-cell
      lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax) might be involved.

PMID- 28590415
TI  - The Dual Roles of MYC in Genomic Instability and Cancer Chemoresistance.
AB  - Cancer is associated with genomic instability and aging. Genomic instability
      stimulates tumorigenesis, whereas deregulation of oncogenes accelerates DNA
      replication and increases genomic instability. It is therefore reasonable to
      assume a positive feedback loop between genomic instability and oncogenic stress.
      Consistent with this premise, overexpression of the MYC transcription factor
      increases the phosphorylation of serine 139 in histone H2AX (member X of the core
      histone H2A family), which forms so-called gammaH2AX, the most widely recognized
      surrogate biomarker of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs). Paradoxically,
      oncogenic MYC can also promote the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic
      DNA-damaging agents such as cisplatin, clearly implying an antagonistic role of
      MYC in genomic instability. In this review, we summarize the underlying
      mechanisms of the conflicting functions of MYC in genomic instability and discuss
      when and how the oncoprotein exerts the contradictory roles in induction of DSBs
      and protection of cancer-cell genomes.

PMID- 28590420
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of Peptides Released from beta
      Lactoglobulin by High Hydrostatic Pressure-Assisted Enzymatic Hydrolysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: beta-lactoglobulin hydrolysates (BLGH) have shown antioxidant,
      antihypertensive, antimicrobial, and opioid activity. In the current study, an
      innovative combination of high hydrostatic pressure and enzymatic hydrolysis (HHP
      EH) was used to increase the yield of short bioactive peptides, and evaluate the
      anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of the BLGH produced by the HHP-EH
      process. METHOD: BLG was enzymatically hydrolyzed by different proteases at an
      enzyme-to-substrate ratio of 1:100 under HHP (100 MPa) and compared with
      hydrolysates obtained under atmospheric pressure (AP-EH at 0.1 MPa). The degree
      of hydrolysis (DH), molecular weight distribution, and the antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory properties of hydrolysates in chemical and cellular models were
      evaluated. RESULTS: BLGH obtained under HHP-EH showed higher DH than the
      hydrolysates obtained under AP-EH. Free radical scavenging and the reducing
      capacity were also significantly stronger in HHP-BLGH compared to AP-BLGH. The
      BLGH produced by alcalase (Alc) (BLG-Alc) showed significantly higher antioxidant
      properties among the six enzymes examined in this study. The anti-inflammatory
      properties of BLG-HHP-Alc were observed in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated
      macrophage cells by a lower level of nitric oxide production and the suppression
      of the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Peptide sequencing revealed that
      38% of the amino acids in BLG-HHP-Alc are hydrophobic and aromatic residues,
      which contribute to its anti-inflammatory properties. CONCLUSIONS: Enzymatic
      hydrolysis of BLG under HHP produces a higher yield of short bioactive peptides
      with potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

PMID- 28590421
TI  - Characterization of Asian Corn Borer Resistance to Bt Toxin Cry1Ie.
AB  - A strain of the Asian corn borer (ACB), Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenee), has evolved
      >800-fold resistance to Cry1Ie (ACB-IeR) after 49 generations of selection. The
      inheritance pattern of resistance to Cry1Ie in ACB-IeR strain and its cross
      resistance to other Bt toxins were determined through bioassay by exposing
      neonates from genetic-crosses to toxins incorporated into the diet. The response
      of progenies from reciprocal F1 crosses were similar (LC50s: 76.07 vs. 74.32
      MUg/g), which suggested the resistance was autosomal. The effective dominance (h)
      decreased as concentration of Cry1Ie increased. h was nearly recessive or
      incompletely recessive on Cry1Ie maize leaf tissue (h = 0.02), but nearly
      dominant or incompletely dominant (h = 0.98) on Cry1Ie maize silk. Bioassay of
      the backcross suggested that the resistance was controlled by more than one
      locus. In addition, the resistant strain did not perform cross-resistance to
      Cry1Ab (0.8-fold), Cry1Ac (0.8-fold), Cry1F (0.9-fold), and Cry1Ah (1.0-fold).
      The present study not only offers the manifestation for resistance management,
      but also recommends that Cry1Ie will be an appropriate candidate for expression
      with Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1F, or Cry1Ah for the development of Bt maize.

PMID- 28590422
TI  - Wearable Sensor Data Classification for Human Activity Recognition Based on an
      Iterative Learning Framework.
AB  - The design of multiple human activity recognition applications in areas such as
      healthcare, sports and safety relies on wearable sensor technologies. However,
      when making decisions based on the data acquired by such sensors in practical
      situations, several factors related to sensor data alignment, data losses, and
      noise, among other experimental constraints, deteriorate data quality and model
      accuracy. To tackle these issues, this paper presents a data-driven iterative
      learning framework to classify human locomotion activities such as walk, stand,
      lie, and sit, extracted from the Opportunity dataset. Data acquired by twelve 3
      axial acceleration sensors and seven inertial measurement units are initially de
      noised using a two-stage consecutive filtering approach combining a band-pass
      Finite Impulse Response (FIR) and a wavelet filter. A series of statistical
      parameters are extracted from the kinematical features, including the principal
      components and singular value decomposition of roll, pitch, yaw and the norm of
      the axial components. The novel interactive learning procedure is then applied in
      order to minimize the number of samples required to classify human locomotion
      activities. Only those samples that are most distant from the centroids of data
      clusters, according to a measure presented in the paper, are selected as
      candidates for the training dataset. The newly built dataset is then used to
      train an SVM multi-class classifier. The latter will produce the lowest
      prediction error. The proposed learning framework ensures a high level of
      robustness to variations in the quality of input data, while only using a much
      lower number of training samples and therefore a much shorter training time,
      which is an important consideration given the large size of the dataset.

PMID- 28590423
TI  - A Novel Technique for Sterilization Using a Power Self-Regulated Single-Mode
      Microwave Cavity.
AB  - In this paper, a novel technique to achieve precise temperatures in food
      sterilization has been proposed. An accurate temperature profile is needed in
      order to reach a commitment between the total removal of pathogens inside the
      product and the preservation of nutritional and organoleptic characteristics. The
      minimal variation of the target temperature in the sample by means of a
      monitoring and control software platform, allowing temperature stabilization over
      100  degrees C, is the main goal of this work. A cylindrical microwave oven,
      under pressure conditions and continuous control of the microwave supply power as
      function of the final temperature inside the sample, has been designed and
      developed with conditions of single-mode resonance. The uniform heating in the
      product is achieved by means of sample movement and the self-regulated power
      control using the measured temperature. Finally, for testing the sterilization of
      food with this technology, specific biological validation based on Bacillus
      cereus as a biosensor of heat inactivation has been incorporated as a
      distribution along the sample in the experimental process to measure the colony
      forming units (CFUs) for different food samples (laboratory medium, soup, or fish
      based animal by-products). The obtained results allow the validation of this new
      technology for food sterilization with precise control of the microwave system to
      ensure the uniform elimination of pathogens using high temperatures.

PMID- 28590424
TI  - Development of High Sensitivity Humidity Sensor Based on Gray TiO2/SrTiO3
      Composite.
AB  - A gray TiO2/SrTiO3 composite nanocrystalline sensor with narrow band-gap was
      successfully prepared through a facile wet chemical method. The precursor was
      calcined in N2 flow under atmospheric pressure and thereafter, a humidity sensor
      based on the composite was fabricated. The sensor showed high resistive
      sensitivity and varied by more than four orders of magnitude with an increase in
      relative humidity (RH) from 11% to 95%. The response and recovery time were about
      3.1 s and 76 s, respectively with maximum hysteresis at 1% RH. In comparison with
      pure SrTiO3 and black TiO2, the gray composite based device exhibits a higher
      sensitivity. These results demonstrate the potential of gray TiO2/SrTiO3 for
      humidity sensing applications.

PMID- 28590425
TI  - A Capacitance-To-Digital Converter for MEMS Sensors for Smart Applications.
AB  - The use of MEMS sensors has been increasing in recent years. To cover all the
      applications, many different readout circuits are needed. To reduce the cost and
      time to market, a generic capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) seems to be the
      logical next step. This work presents a configurable CDC designed for capacitive
      MEMS sensors. The sensor is built with a bridge of MEMS, where some of them
      function with pressure. Then, the capacitive to digital conversion is realized
      using two steps. First, a switched-capacitor (SC) preamplifier is used to make
      the capacitive to voltage (C-V) conversion. Second, a self-oscillated noise
      shaping integrating dual-slope (DS) converter is used to digitize this magnitude.
      The proposed converter uses time instead of amplitude resolution to generate a
      multibit digital output stream. In addition it performs noise shaping of the
      quantization error to reduce measurement time. This article shows the
      effectiveness of this method by measurements performed on a prototype, designed
      and fabricated using standard 0.13 um CMOS technology. Experimental measurements
      show that the CDC achieves a resolution of 17 bits, with an effective area of
      0.317 mm2, which means a pressure resolution of 1 Pa, while consuming 146 uA from
      a 1.5 V power supply.

PMID- 28590419
TI  - Melatonin and Fertoprotective Adjuvants: Prevention against Premature Ovarian
      Failure during Chemotherapy.
AB  - Premature ovarian failure is one of the side effects of chemotherapy in pre
      menopausal cancer patients. Preservation of fertility has become increasingly
      important in improving the quality of life of completely recovered cancer
      patients. Among the possible strategies for preserving fertility such as ovarian
      tissue cryopreservation, co-treatment with a pharmacological adjuvant is highly
      effective and poses less of a burden on the human body. Melatonin is generally
      produced in various tissues and acts as a universally acting antioxidant in
      cells. Melatonin is now more widely used in various biological processes
      including treating insomnia and an adjuvant during chemotherapy. In this review,
      we summarize the information indicating that melatonin may be useful for reducing
      and preventing premature ovarian failure in chemotherapy-treated female patients.
      We also mention that many adjuvants other than melatonin are developed and used
      to inhibit chemotherapy-induced infertility. This information will give us novel
      insights on the clinical use of melatonin and other agents as fertoprotective
      adjuvants for female cancer patients.

PMID- 28590428
TI  - Building Relations with Radiology Administrators.
AB  - In some radiology departments, the lack of alignment between administrators and
      radiologists can pose significant challenges. This article describes how
      differences in background and priorities between administrators and radiologists
      can contribute to conflict and presents strategies on how to manage the conflict
      in a way that can leverage positive change. Strategies to build relations between
      radiologists and radiology administrators are described.

PMID- 28590427
TI  - Integral Design Methodology of Photocatalytic Reactors for Air Pollution
      Remediation.
AB  - An integral reactor design methodology was developed to address the optimal
      design of photocatalytic wall reactors to be used in air pollution control. For a
      target pollutant to be eliminated from an air stream, the proposed methodology is
      initiated with a mechanistic derived reaction rate. The determination of
      intrinsic kinetic parameters is associated with the use of a simple geometry
      laboratory scale reactor, operation under kinetic control and a uniform incident
      radiation flux, which allows computing the local superficial rate of photon
      absorption. Thus, a simple model can describe the mass balance and a solution may
      be obtained. The kinetic parameters may be estimated by the combination of the
      mathematical model and the experimental results. The validated intrinsic kinetics
      obtained may be directly used in the scaling-up of any reactor configuration and
      size. The bench scale reactor may require the use of complex computational
      software to obtain the fields of velocity, radiation absorption and species
      concentration. The complete methodology was successfully applied to the
      elimination of airborne formaldehyde. The kinetic parameters were determined in a
      flat plate reactor, whilst a bench scale corrugated wall reactor was used to
      illustrate the scaling-up methodology. In addition, an optimal folding angle of
      the corrugated reactor was found using computational fluid dynamics tools.

PMID- 28590426
TI  - Down's Syndrome and Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Rare Occurrence of
      Distinctive Clinical Relationship.
AB  - Down's syndrome (DS), the most common genetic cause of significant intellectual
      disability in children and adults is caused by the trisomy of either all or a
      part of human chromosome 21 (HSA21). Patients with DS mostly suffer from
      characteristic tumor types. Although individual patients of DS are at a higher
      risk for acute leukemia and testicular cancers, other types of solid tumors
      including breast cancers are mostly uncommon and have significantly lower-than
      expected age-adjusted incidence rates. Except for an increased risk of
      retinoblastomas, and lymphomas, the risk of developing solid tumors has been
      found to be lower in both children and adults, and breast cancer was found to be
      almost absent (Hasle H., The Lancet Oncology, 2001). A study conducted in the
      United States found only one death when 11.65 were expected (Scholl T et al., Dev
      Med Child Neurol. 1982). A recent study examined mammogram reports of women with
      DS treated in the largest medical facility specifically serving adults with DS in
      the United States. It was found that only 0.7% women with DS had been diagnosed
      with breast cancers (Chicoine B et al., Intellect Dev Disabil. 2015). Here we
      describe a case of breast cancer in a 25-year-old patient with DS. The disease
      was presented as lymph node positive carcinoma with alterations of tumor
      suppressor genes characteristic to the triple negative breast cancer subtype.
      Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP) revealed a wild-type status for BRCA1. The
      CGP report showed a frameshift mutation, A359fs*10 of the tumor suppressor gene
      INPP4B and another frameshift mutation, R282fs*63 of tumor suppressor gene TP53
      in the tumor biopsy as characteristically found in triple-negative breast
      cancers. The VUS (Variance of Unknown Significance) alteration(s) were identified
      in ASXL1 (L1395V), NTRK1 (G18E), DDR2 (I159T), RUNX1 (amplification), ERG
      (amplification), SOX2 (T26A), FAM123B (G1031D), and HNF1A (A301T). Bonafide
      cancer-related genes of chromosome 21 amplified in the patient's tumor are RUNX1
      and ERG genes. After the completion of the radiation, the patient was placed on
      everolimus which was based on the result of her CGP report. Thus, post-mastectomy
      radiation therapy was completed with a recommendation for everolimus for one
      year. During the time of writing of this report, no metastatic lesions were
      identified. The patient currently has no evidence of disease.

PMID- 28590429
TI  - Spatial Characterization of Radio Propagation Channel in Urban Vehicle-to
      Infrastructure Environments to Support WSNs Deployment.
AB  - Vehicular ad hoc Networks (VANETs) enable vehicles to communicate with each other
      as well as with roadside units (RSUs). Although there is a significant research
      effort in radio channel modeling focused on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), not much
      work has been done for vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) using 3D ray-tracing
      tools. This work evaluates some important parameters of a V2I wireless channel
      link such as large-scale path loss and multipath metrics in a typical urban
      scenario using a deterministic simulation model based on an in-house 3D Ray
      Launching (3D-RL) algorithm at 5.9 GHz. Results show the high impact that the
      spatial distance; link frequency; placement of RSUs; and factors such as
      roundabout, geometry and relative position of the obstacles have in V2I
      propagation channel. A detailed spatial path loss characterization of the V2I
      channel along the streets and avenues is presented. The 3D-RL results show high
      accuracy when compared with measurements, and represent more reliably the
      propagation phenomena when compared with analytical path loss models. Performance
      metrics for a real test scenario implemented with a VANET wireless sensor network
      implemented ad-hoc are also described. These results constitute a starting point
      in the design phase of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) radio-planning in the
      urban V2I deployment in terms of coverage.

PMID- 28590430
TI  - Design and Fabrication of a Ratiometric Planar Optode for Simultaneous Imaging of
      pH and Oxygen.
AB  - This paper presents a simple, high resolution imaging approach utilizing
      ratiometric planar optode for simultaneous measurement of dissolved oxygen (DO)
      and pH. The planar optode comprises a plastic optical film coated with oxygen
      indicator Platinum(II) octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP) and reference quantum dots
      (QDs) embedded in polystyrene (PS), pH indicator 5-Hexadecanoylamino-fluorescein
      (5-Fluorescein) embedded in Hydromed D4 matrix. The indicator and reference dyes
      are excited by utilizing an LED (Light Emitting Diode) source with a central
      wavelength of 405 nm, the emission respectively matches the different channels
      (red, green, and blue) of a 3CCD camera after eliminating the excitation source
      by utilizing the color filter. The result shows that there is low cross
      sensitivity between the two analytes dissolved oxygen and pH, and it shows good
      performance in the dynamic response ranges of 0-12 mg/L and a dynamic range of pH
      6-8. The optode has been tested with regard to the response times, accuracy,
      photostability and stability. The applied experiment for detecting pH/Oxygen of
      sea-water under the influence of the rain drops is demonstrated. It is shown that
      the planar optode measuring system provides a simple method with low cross-talk
      for pH/Oxygen imaging in aqueous applications.

PMID- 28590431
TI  - Food and Nutrients Intake in the School Lunch Program among School Children in
      Shanghai, China.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the intake of food and nutrients among primary,
      middle, and high schools students in Shanghai, and provide recommendations for
      possible amendments in new school lunch standards of Shanghai. Twenty schools
      were included in the school lunch menu survey. Of those, seven schools enrolled
      5389 students and conducted physical measurement of plate waste and a
      questionnaire survey. The amount of food and nutrients was compared according to
      the new China National Dietary Guideline for School Children (2016) and Chinese
      Dietary Reference Intakes (2013). The provision of livestock and poultry meat in
      menus was almost 5-8 times the recommended amount. The amount of seafood was less
      than the recommended amount, and mostly came from half-processed food. The
      average percentage of energy from fat was more than 30% in students of all
      grades. The greatest amount of food wasted was vegetables with 53%, 42%, and 31%,
      respectively, among primary, middle and high school students. Intake of Vitamin
      A, Vitamin B2, calcium, and iron was about 50% of the recommended proportion.
      Only 24.0% students were satisfied with the taste of school lunches. Higher
      proportions of livestock and poultry meat and low intake of vegetables have
      become integral problems in school lunch programs. Additionally, more attention
      needs to be paid to the serving size in primary schools with five age groups.

PMID- 28590433
TI  - Adaptive Grouping Distributed Compressive Sensing Reconstruction of Plant
      Hyperspectral Data.
AB  - With the development of hyperspectral technology, to establish an effective
      spectral data compressive reconstruction method that can improve data storage,
      transmission, and maintaining spectral information is critical for quantitative
      remote sensing research and application in vegetation. The spectral adaptive
      grouping distributed compressive sensing (AGDCS) algorithm is proposed, which
      enables a distributed compressed sensing reconstruction of plant hyperspectral
      data. The spectral characteristics of hyperspectral data are analyzed and the
      joint sparse model is constructed. The spectral bands are adaptively grouped and
      the hyperspectral data are compressed and reconstructed on the basis of grouping.
      The experimental results showed that, compared with orthogonal matching pursuit
      (OMP) and gradient projection for sparse reconstruction (GPSR), AGDCS can
      significantly improve the visual effect of image reconstruction in the spatial
      domain. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) at a low sampling rate (the
      sampling rate is lower than 0.2) increases by 13.72 dB than OMP and 1.66 dB than
      GPSR. In the spectral domain, the average normalized root mean square error, the
      mean absolute percentage error, and the mean absolute error of AGDCS is 35.38%,
      31.83%, and 33.33% lower than GPSR, respectively. Additionally, AGDCS can achieve
      relatively high reconstructed efficiency.

PMID- 28590434
TI  - A Reliable Data Transmission Model for IEEE 802.15.4e Enabled Wireless Sensor
      Network under WiFi Interference.
AB  - The IEEE 802.15.4e standard proposes Medium Access Control (MAC) to support
      collision-free wireless channel access mechanisms for industrial, commercial and
      healthcare applications. However, unnecessary wastage of energy and bandwidth
      consumption occur due to inefficient backoff management and collisions. In this
      paper, a new channel access mechanism is designed for the buffer constraint
      sensor devices to reduce the packet drop rate, energy consumption and collisions.
      In order to avoid collision due to the hidden terminal problem, a new frame
      structure is designed for the data transmission. A new superframe structure is
      proposed to mitigate the problems due to WiFi and ZigBee interference. A modified
      superframe structure with a new retransmission opportunity for failure devices is
      proposed to reduce the collisions and retransmission delay with high reliability.
      Performance evaluation and validation of our scheme indicate that the packet drop
      rate, throughput, reliability, energy consumption and average delay of the nodes
      can be improved significantly.

PMID- 28590432
TI  - Faller Classification in Older Adults Using Wearable Sensors Based on Turn and
      Straight-Walking Accelerometer-Based Features.
AB  - Faller classification in elderly populations can facilitate preventative care
      before a fall occurs. A novel wearable-sensor based faller classification method
      for the elderly was developed using accelerometer-based features from straight
      walking and turns. Seventy-six older individuals (74.15 +/- 7.0 years),
      categorized as prospective fallers and non-fallers, completed a six-minute walk
      test with accelerometers attached to their lower legs and pelvis. After
      segmenting straight and turn sections, cross validation tests were conducted on
      straight and turn walking features to assess classification performance. The best
      "classifier model-feature selector" combination used turn data, random forest
      classifier, and select-5-best feature selector (73.4% accuracy, 60.5%
      sensitivity, 82.0% specificity, and 0.44 Matthew's Correlation Coefficient
      (MCC)). Using only the most frequently occurring features, a feature subset
      (minimum of anterior-posterior ratio of even/odd harmonics for right shank,
      standard deviation (SD) of anterior left shank acceleration SD, SD of mean
      anterior left shank acceleration, maximum of medial-lateral first quartile of
      Fourier transform (FQFFT) for lower back, maximum of anterior-posterior FQFFT for
      lower back) achieved better classification results, with 77.3% accuracy, 66.1%
      sensitivity, 84.7% specificity, and 0.52 MCC score. All classification
      performance metrics improved when turn data was used for faller classification,
      compared to straight walking data. Combining turn and straight walking features
      decreased performance metrics compared to turn features for similar classifier
      model-feature selector combinations.

PMID- 28590435
TI  - Effects of Perceived Neighbourhood Environments on Self-Rated Health among
      Community-Dwelling Older Chinese.
AB  - In response to the growing number of older people living in cities, the World
      Health Organization (WHO) introduced the concept of "Age-Friendly Cities" (AFC)
      to guide the way in designing physical and social environments to encourage
      active ageing. Limited research has studied the effects of neighbourhood age
      friendliness on elderly health outcomes. Using the example of a highly urbanized
      city in Asia, this study examined the effects of perceived age-friendliness of
      neighbourhood environments on self-rated health (SRH) among community-dwelling
      older Chinese. A multi-stage sampling method was used to collect views of
      community-dwelling older people from two local districts of Hong Kong. A
      structured questionnaire covering the WHO's eight AFC domains was developed to
      collect information on the perceived neighbourhood environments, SRH and
      individual characteristics. Age-friendliness of neighbourhood was assessed by
      mean scores of AFC domains, which was used to predict SRH with adjustment for
      individual and objective neighbourhood characteristics. Furthermore, 719
      respondents aged >=60 years completed the questionnaire, of which 44.5% reported
      good SRH. Independent of individual and objective neighbourhood characteristics,
      multiple logistics regressions showed that higher satisfaction on outdoor spaces
      and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, and respect and
      social inclusion was significantly associated with increased odds of reporting
      good SRH by more than 20% (p < 0.05). Individuals aged 70-79 years, being female,
      lower education and residents of public or subsidized housing were less likely to
      report good SRH, after controlling for individual and neighbourhood
      characteristics. In addition to age, gender, education and housing type, AFC
      environments have important contributive influence on SRH, after controlling for
      individual and objective neighbourhood characteristics.

PMID- 28590436
TI  - Volatile Organic Compounds in Anatomical Pathology Wards: Comparative and
      Qualitative Assessment of Indoor Airborne Pollution.
AB  - The impact of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on indoor air quality and on
      human health is widely recognized. However, VOC contamination in hospital indoor
      air is rarely studied and chemical compounds that singularly do not show high
      toxicity are not submitted to any regulation. This study aimed to compare VOC
      contamination in two different anatomical pathology wards in the same hospital.
      Hydrocarbons, alcohols, and terpenes were sampled by passive diffusive samplers.
      Analytical tests were performed by thermal desorption coupled with gas
      chromatography and mass spectrometry detector. Results highlighted a different
      VOC pollution in the two wards, due to the structural difference of the buildings
      and different organizational systems. The scarcity of similar data in the
      literature shows that the presence of VOCs in pathology wards is an
      underestimated problem. We believe that, because of the adverse effects that VOCs
      may have on the human health, this topic is worth exploring further.

PMID- 28590437
TI  - The Value of In Vitro Tests to DiminishDrug Challenges.
AB  - Drug hypersensitivity reactions have multiple implications for patient safety and
      health system costs, thus it is important to perform an accurate diagnosis. The
      diagnostic procedure includes a detailed clinical history, often unreliable;
      followed by skin tests, sometimes with low sensitivity or unavailable; and drug
      provocation testing, which is not risk-free for the patient, especially in severe
      reactions. In vitro tests could help to identify correctly the responsible agent,
      thus improving the diagnosis of these reactions, helping the physician to find
      safe alternatives, and reducing the need to perform drug provocation testing.
      However, it is necessary to confirm the sensitivity, specificity, negative and
      positive predictive values for these in vitro tests to enable their
      implementation in clinical practice. In this review, we have analyzed these
      parameters from different studies that have used in vitro test for evaluating
      drug hypersensitivity reactions and estimated the added value of these tests to
      the in vivo diagnosis.

PMID- 28590438
TI  - High Manifestations of Mental Distress in Arabic Asylum Seekers Accommodated in
      Collective Centers for Refugees in Germany.
AB  - The number of asylum seekers in Germany has significantly increased in the last
      two years. Coming from regions of political conflict and war, the refugees have
      often experienced traumatic events which designate them as a high risk group for
      mental disorders. In a sample of Arabic speaking asylum seekers in collective
      accommodation centers in Erlangen, Germany, we estimated the extent of
      posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. A further objective of the study
      was to test the comprehensibility and cultural appropriateness of the Arabic
      translations of the questionnaires in this sample. Between August and September
      2016, 56 Arabic speaking asylum seekers placed among three collective
      accommodation centers in Erlangen completed self-report questionnaires assessing
      posttraumatic stress disorder (Essen Trauma-Inventory, ETI), and symptoms of
      depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-depression module, PHQ-9) and anxiety
      (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD-7). The prevalence of participants with
      personally and/or witnessed traumatic events was 80.4% (n = 45). About one-third
      of the examinees (35.7%, n = 20) endorsed symptoms of PTSD (posttraumatic stress
      disorder). The total score for depression in this sample was M = 11.9 (SD = 7.9,
      range: 0-27). Moderate to severe depression (PHQ-9 score >= 15) was found in
      35.7% (n = 20) of our sample and severe depression (PHQ-9 score >= 20) was found
      in 23.2% (n = 13). The total score for anxiety was M = 8.8 (SD = 6.9, range: 0
      21), with 26.8% (n = 15) of the sample showing symptoms of severe anxiety (GAD-7
      score >= 15). No significant difference between women and men with respect to
      frequency and symptom scores of PTSD, depression, and anxiety was found. Amongst
      asylum seekers of the presented sample, the rates of traumatic events as well as
      the prevalence of possible PTSD, depression, and anxiety were significantly
      higher than in the German population. This indicates that the refugee population
      is in need of culturally sensitive psychological interventions. However, more
      studies are required to improve the understanding of mental health among this
      particularly vulnerable population.

PMID- 28590439
TI  - Reclassifying Anaphylaxis to Neuromuscular Blocking Agents Based on the Presumed
      Patho-Mechanism: IgE-Mediated, Pharmacological Adverse Reaction or "Innate
      Hypersensitivity"?
AB  - Approximately 60% of perioperative anaphylactic reactions are thought to be
      immunoglobulin IgE mediated, whereas 40% are thought to be non-IgE mediated
      hypersensitivity reactions (both considered non-dose-related type B adverse drug
      reactions). In both cases, symptoms are elicited by mast cell degranulation.
      Also, pharmacological reactions to drugs (type A, dose-related) may sometimes
      mimic symptoms triggered by mast cell degranulation. In case of hypotension,
      bronchospasm, or urticarial rash due to mast cell degranulation, identification
      of the responsible mechanism is complicated. However, determination of the type
      of the underlying adverse drug reaction is of paramount interest for the decision
      of whether the culprit drug may be re-administered. Neuromuscular blocking agents
      (NMBA) are among the most frequent cause of perioperative anaphylaxis. Recently,
      it has been shown that NMBA may activate mast cells independently from IgE
      antibodies via the human Mas-related G-protein-coupled receptor member X2
      (MRGPRX2). In light of this new insight into the patho-mechanism of pseudo
      allergic adverse drug reactions, in which as drug-receptor interaction results in
      anaphylaxis like symptoms, we critically reviewed the literature on NMBA-induced
      perioperative anaphylaxis. We challenge the dogma that NMBA mainly cause IgE
      mediated anaphylaxis via an IgE-mediated mechanism, which is based on studies
      that consider positive skin test to be specific for IgE-mediated
      hypersensitivity. Finally, we discuss the question whether MRGPRX2 mediated
      pseudo-allergic reactions should be re-classified as type A adverse reactions.

PMID- 28590442
TI  - Joint Estimation of Source Range and Depth Using a Bottom-Deployed Vertical Line
      Array in Deep Water.
AB  - This paper presents a joint estimation method of source range and depth using a
      bottom-deployed vertical line array (VLA). The method utilizes the information on
      the arrival angle of direct (D) path in space domain and the interference
      characteristic of D and surface-reflected (SR) paths in frequency domain. The
      former is related to a ray tracing technique to backpropagate the rays and
      produces an ambiguity surface of source range. The latter utilizes Lloyd's mirror
      principle to obtain an ambiguity surface of source depth. The acoustic
      transmission duct is the well-known reliable acoustic path (RAP). The ambiguity
      surface of the combined estimation is a dimensionless ad hoc function. Numerical
      efficiency and experimental verification show that the proposed method is a good
      candidate for initial coarse estimation of source position.

PMID- 28590440
TI  - The Impact of Integrated Infant and Young Child Feeding and Micronutrient Powder
      Intervention on Feeding Practices and Anemia in Children Aged 6-23 Months in
      Madagascar.
AB  - This study assesses the impact of an integrated infant and young child feeding
      (IYCF) and micronutrient powder (MNP) intervention on children's risk of anemia
      and IYCF practices in Madagascar. Quantitative baseline and endline surveys were
      conducted in representative households with children 6-23 months from two
      districts, where an 18-month IYCF-MNP intervention was implemented. Relative
      risks comparing children's risk of anemia and maternal IYCF knowledge and
      practices at baseline versus endline, and also at endline among MNP-users versus
      non-users were estimated using log-binomial regression models. 372 and 475
      children aged 6-23 months were assessed at baseline and endline respectively.
      Prevalence of anemia fell from 75.3% to 64.9% from baseline to endline (p =
      0.002); the reduction in the risk of anemia remained significant in models
      adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (ARR (95% CI): 0.86 (0.78, 0.95),
      p = 0.003). In endline assessments, 229 out of 474 (48.3%) of children had
      consumed MNPs. MNP-users had a lower risk of anemia (ARR (95% CI): 0.86 (0.74,
      0.99), p = 0.04) than non-users, after controlling for child's dietary diversity
      and morbidity, maternal counseling by community-health-workers, and
      sociodemographic characteristics. Mothers interviewed at endline also had greater
      nutrition knowledge and were more likely to feed their children >=4 food groups
      (ARR (95% CI): 2.92 (2.24, 3.80), p < 0.001), and the minimum acceptable diet
      (ARR (95% CI): 2.88 (2.17, 3.82), p < 0.001) than mothers interviewed at
      baseline. Integration of MNP into IYCF interventions is a viable strategy for
      improving children's consumption of micronutrients and reducing risk of anemia.
      The addition of MNP does not negatively impact, and may improve, IYCF practices.

PMID- 28590441
TI  - Origins, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Analytical Methods and Safety of Cortex
      Moutan (Paeonia suffruticosa Andrew): A Systematic Review.
AB  - Cortex Moutan (CM), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, is commonly used
      for treating various diseases in China and other eastern Asian countries.
      Recorded in Pharmacopeias of several countries, CM is now drawing increasing
      attention and under extensive studies in various fields. Phytochemical studies
      indicate that CM contains many valuable secondary metabolites, such as
      monoterpene glycosides and phenols. Ample evidence from pharmacological
      researches suggest that CM has a wide spectrum of activities, such as anti
      inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, cardiovascular protective,
      neuroprotective, hepatoprotective effects. Moreover, various analytical methods
      were established for the quality evaluation and safety control of CM. This review
      synopsizes updated information concerning the origins, phytochemistry,
      pharmacology, analytical method and safety of CM, aiming to provide favorable
      references for modern CM research and application. In conclusion, continuing
      pharmacological investigations concerning CM should be conducted to unravel its
      pharmacological mechanisms. Further researches are necessary to obtain
      comprehensive and applicable analytical approach for quality evaluation and
      establish harmonized criteria of CM.

PMID- 28590443
TI  - Interaction of Candida Species with the Skin.
AB  - The human skin is commonly colonized by diverse fungal species. Some Candida
      species, especially C. albicans, do not only reside on the skin surface as
      commensals, but also cause infections by growing into the colonized tissue.
      However, defense mechanisms at the skin barrier level are very efficient,
      involving residential non-immune and immune cells as well as immune cells
      specifically recruited to the site of infection. Therefore, the skin is an
      effective barrier against fungal infection. While most studies about commensal
      and pathogenic interaction of Candida species with host epithelia focus on the
      interaction with mucosal surfaces such as the vaginal and gastrointestinal
      epithelia, less is known about the mechanisms underlying Candida interaction with
      the skin. In this review, we focus on the ecology and molecular pathogenesis of
      Candida species on the skin and give an overview of defense mechanisms against C.
      albicans in this context. We also discuss new research avenues in dermal
      infection, including the involvement of neurons, fibroblasts, and commensal
      bacteria in both mouse and human model systems.

PMID- 28590445
TI  - Surface-Modification of Carbonate Apatite Nanoparticles Enhances Delivery and
      Cytotoxicity of Gemcitabine and Anastrozole in Breast Cancer Cells.
AB  - pH sensitive nanoparticles of carbonate apatite (CA) have been proven to be
      effective delivery vehicles for DNA, siRNAs and proteins. More recently,
      conventional anti-cancer drugs, such as doxorubicin, methotrexate and
      cyclophosphamide have been successfully incorporated into CA for intracellular
      delivery to breast cancer cells. However, physical and chemical properties of
      drug molecules appeared to affect their interactions with CA, with hydrophillic
      drug so far exhibiting better binding affinity and cellular uptakes compared to
      hydrophobic drugs. In this study, anastrozole, a non-steroidal aromatase
      inhibitor which is largely hydrophobic, and gemcitabine, a hydrophilic nucleoside
      inhibitor were used as solubility models of chemotherapy drug. Aggregation
      tendency of poorly soluble drugs resulting in larger particle-drug complex size
      might be the main factor hindering their delivery effectiveness. For the first
      time, surface modification of CA with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) has shown
      promising result to drastically reduce anastrozole- loaded CA particle size, from
      approximately 1000 to 500 nm based on zeta sizer analysis. Besides PEG, a cell
      specific ligand, in this case fibronectin, was attached to the particles in order
      to facilitate receptor mediated endocytosis based on fibronectin-integrin
      interaction. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed to
      measure uptake of the drugs by breast cancer cells, revealing that surface
      modification increased the drug uptake, especially for the hydrophobic drug,
      compared to the uncoated particles and the free drug. In vitro chemosensitivity
      assay and in vivo tumor regression study also showed that coated apatite/drug
      nanoparticle complexes presented higher cytotoxicity and tumor regression effects
      than uncoated apatite/drug nanoparticles and free drugs, indicating that surface
      modification successfully created optimum particles size with the consequence of
      more effective uptake along with favorable pharmacokinetics of the particles.

PMID- 28590444
TI  - Consumers' Preferences for Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Product Features:
      A Structured Content Analysis.
AB  - To inform potential governmental regulations, we aimed to develop a list of
      electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) product features important to U.S.
      consumers by age and gender. We employed qualitative data methods. Participants
      were eligible if they had used an ENDS at least once. Groups were selected by age
      and gender (young adult group aged 18-25, n = 11; middle-age group aged 26-64, n
      = 9; and women's group aged 26-64, n = 9). We conducted five individual older
      adult interviews (aged 68-80). Participants discussed important ENDS features. We
      conducted a structured content analysis of the group and interview responses. Of
      34 participants, 68% were white and 56% were female. Participants mentioned 12
      important ENDS features, including: (1) user experience; (2) social
      acceptability; (3) cost; (4) health risks/benefits; (5) ease of use; (6) flavors;
      (7) smoking cessation aid; (8) nicotine content; (9) modifiability; (10) ENDS
      regulation; (11) bridge between tobacco cigarettes; (12) collectability. The most
      frequently mentioned ENDS feature was modifiability for young adults, user
      experience for middle-age and older adults, and flavor for the women's group.
      This study identified multiple features important to ENDS consumers. Groups
      differed in how they viewed various features by age and gender. These results can
      inform ongoing regulatory efforts.

PMID- 28590447
TI  - Left-Right Asymmetry in Spectral Characteristics of Lung Sounds Detected Using a
      Dual-Channel Auscultation System in Healthy Young Adults.
AB  - Though lung sounds auscultation is important for the diagnosis and monitoring of
      lung diseases, the spectral characteristics of lung sounds have not been fully
      understood. This study compared the spectral characteristics of lung sounds
      between the right and left lungs and between healthy male and female subjects
      using a dual-channel auscultation system. Forty-two subjects aged 18-22 years
      without smoking habits and any known pulmonary diseases participated in this
      study. The lung sounds were recorded from seven pairs of auscultation sites on
      the chest wall simultaneously. We found that in four out of seven auscultation
      pairs, the lung sounds from the left lung had a higher total power (PT) than
      those from the right lung. The PT of male subjects was higher than that of female
      ones in most auscultation pairs. The ratio of inspiration power to expiration
      power (RI/E) of lung sounds from the right lung was greater than that from the
      left lung at auscultation pairs on the anterior chest wall, while this phenomenon
      was reversed at auscultation pairs on the posterior chest wall in combined
      subjects, and similarly in both male and female subjects. Though the frequency
      corresponding to maximum power density of lung sounds (FMPD) from the left and
      right lungs was not significantly different, the frequency that equally divided
      the power spectrum of lung sounds (F50) from the left lung was significantly
      smaller than that from the right lung at auscultation site on the anterior and
      lateral chest walls, while it was significantly larger than that of from the
      right lung at auscultation site on the posterior chest walls. In conclusion,
      significant differences in the PT, FMPD, F50, and RI/E between the left and right
      lungs at some auscultation pairs were observed by using a dual-channel
      auscultation system in this study. Structural differences between the left and
      the right lungs, between the female and male subjects, and between anterior and
      posterior lungs might account for the observed differences in the spectral
      characteristics of lung sounds. The dual-channel auscultation system might be
      useful for future development of digital stethoscopes and power spectral analysis
      of lung sounds in patients with various kinds of cardiopulmonary diseases.

PMID- 28590446
TI  - Fruits of Black Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa in the Prevention of Chronic
      Diseases.
AB  - In recent years, growing attention has been focused on the utilization of natural
      sources of antioxidants in the prevention of chronic diseases. Black chokeberry
      (Aronia melanocarpa) represents a lesser known fruit species utilized mainly as
      juices, purees, jams, jellies and wine, as important food colorants or
      nutritional supplements. The fruit is valued as a great source of antioxidants,
      especially polyphenols, such as phenolic acids (neochlorogenic and chlorogenic
      acids) and flavonoids (anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavanols and flavonols),
      particularly cyanidin-3-galactoside and cyanidin-3-arabinoside, as well as (-)
      epicatechin units. The berries of A. melanocarpa, due to the presence and the
      high content of these bioactive components, exhibit a wide range of positive
      effects, such as strong antioxidant activity and potential medicinal and
      therapeutic benefits (gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, antiproliferative or
      anti-inflammatory activities). They could be also contributory toward the
      prevention of chronic diseases including metabolic disorders, diabetes and
      cardiovascular diseases, because of supportive impacts on lipid profiles, fasting
      plasma glucose and blood pressure levels.

PMID- 28590449
TI  - Development of Laser Scanner for Full Cross-Sectional Deformation Monitoring of
      Underground Gateroads.
AB  - The deformation of underground gateroads tends to be asymmetric and complex.
      Traditional instrumentation fails to accurately and conveniently monitor the full
      cross-sectional deformation of underground gateroads. Here, a full cross
      sectional laser scanner was developed, together with a visualization software
      package. The developed system used a polar coordinate measuring method and the
      full cross-sectional measurement was shown by 360 degrees  rotation of a laser
      sensor driven by an electrical motor. Later on, the potential impact of gateroad
      wall flatness, roughness, and geometrical profile, as well as coal dust
      environment on the performance of the developed laser scanner will be evaluated.
      The study shows that high-level flatness is favorable in the application of the
      developed full cross-sectional deformation monitoring system. For a smooth
      surface of gateroad, the sensor cannot receive reflected light when the incidence
      angle of laser beam is large, causing data loss. Conversely, the roughness
      surface shows its nature as the diffuse reflection light can be received by the
      sensor. With regards to coal dust in the measurement environment, fine particles
      of floating coal dust in the air can lead to the loss of measurement data to some
      extent, due to scattering of the laser beam.

PMID- 28590450
TI  - Improving Multidimensional Wireless Sensor Network Lifetime Using Pearson
      Correlation and Fractal Clustering.
AB  - An efficient strategy for reducing message transmission in a wireless sensor
      network (WSN) is to group sensors by means of an abstraction denoted cluster. The
      key idea behind the cluster formation process is to identify a set of sensors
      whose sensed values present some data correlation. Nowadays, sensors are able to
      simultaneously sense multiple different physical phenomena, yielding in this way
      multidimensional data. This paper presents three methods for clustering sensors
      in WSNs whose sensors collect multidimensional data. The proposed approaches
      implement the concept of multidimensional behavioral clustering. To show the
      benefits introduced by the proposed methods, a prototype has been implemented and
      experiments have been carried out on real data. The results prove that the
      proposed methods decrease the amount of data flowing in the network and present
      low root-mean-square error (RMSE).

PMID- 28590451
TI  - Environmental Factors Associated with Type 1 Diabetes Development: A Case Control
      Study in Egypt.
AB  - Uncertainty still exists regarding the role of some environmental risk in the
      development of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) both globally and in Egypt. The
      objective here was to explore the potential environmental risk factors associated
      with the development of T1DM among children in Egypt. A case-controlled study of
      204 T1DM children and an equal number of age and sex-matched controls was
      conducted in Assiut, Egypt. Data regarding the parental, gestational, neonatal,
      and childhood possible risk factors for T1DM were evaluated. The final sex
      adjusted multivariable logistic regression model revealed that the risk for T1DM
      was significantly higher among rural residents (aOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.30-4.25),
      those with parental history of T1DM (aOR = 9.03, 95% CI: 1.02-83.32), birth
      through cesarean section (aOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.09-5.03), and having history of
      early introduction of cow milk in the first year of life (aOR = 19.49, 95% CI:
      8.73-45.53). On the other hand, a protective effect was observed between at least
      six months' breastfeeding, vitamin D supplementation in the first year of life,
      high physical activity, and the development of T1DM. Educational programs should
      be adopted to improve awareness and knowledge of the parents to avoid the
      increased risk factors and encourage protective practices.

PMID- 28590448
TI  - Striatal Vulnerability in Huntington's Disease: Neuroprotection Versus
      Neurotoxicity.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease
      caused by the expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat encoding an abnormally long
      polyglutamine tract (PolyQ) in the huntingtin (Htt) protein. In HD, striking
      neuropathological changes occur in the striatum, including loss of medium spiny
      neurons and parvalbumin-expressing interneurons accompanied by neurodegeneration
      of the striosome and matrix compartments, leading to progressive impairment of
      reasoning, walking and speaking abilities. The precise cause of striatal
      pathology in HD is still unknown; however, accumulating clinical and experimental
      evidence suggests multiple plausible pathophysiological mechanisms underlying
      striatal neurodegeneration in HD. Here, we review and discuss the characteristic
      neurodegenerative patterns observed in the striatum of HD patients and consider
      the role of various huntingtin-related and striatum-enriched proteins in
      neurotoxicity and neuroprotection.

PMID- 28590453
TI  - Tyrosinase-Based Biosensors for Selective Dopamine Detection.
AB  - A novel tyrosinase-based biosensor was developed for the detection of dopamine
      (DA). For increased selectivity, gold electrodes were previously modified with
      cobalt (II)-porphyrin (CoP) film with electrocatalytic activity, to act both as
      an electrochemical mediator and an enzyme support, upon which the enzyme
      tyrosinase (Tyr) was cross-linked. Differential pulse voltammetry was used for
      electrochemical detection and the reduction current of dopamine-quinone was
      measured as a function of dopamine concentration. Our experiments demonstrated
      that the presence of CoP improves the selectivity of the electrode towards
      dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA), with a linear trend of
      concentration dependence in the range of 2-30 uM. By optimizing the conditioning
      parameters, a separation of 130 mV between the peak potentials for ascorbic acid
      AA and DA was obtained, allowing the selective detection of DA. The biosensor had
      a sensitivity of 1.22 +/- 0.02 uA.cm-2.uM-1 and a detection limit of 0.43 uM.
      Biosensor performances were tested in the presence of dopamine medication, with
      satisfactory results in terms of recovery (96%), and relative standard deviation
      values below 5%. These results confirmed the applicability of the biosensors in
      real samples such as human urine and blood serum.

PMID- 28590452
TI  - Genistein Supplementation and Cardiac Function in Postmenopausal Women with
      Metabolic Syndrome: Results from a Pilot Strain-Echo Study.
AB  - Genistein, a soy-derived isoflavone, may improve cardiovascular risk profile in
      postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome (MetS), but few literature data on
      its cardiac effects in humans are available. The aim of this sub-study of a
      randomized double-blind case-control study was to analyze the effect on cardiac
      function of one-year genistein dietary supplementation in 22 post-menopausal
      patients with MetS. Participants received 54 mg/day of genistein (n = 11) or
      placebo (n = 11) in combination with a Mediterranean-style diet and regular
      exercise. Left ventricular (LV) systolic function was assessed as the primary
      endpoint, according to conventional and strain-echocardiography measurements.
      Also, left atrial (LA) morphofunctional indices were investigated at baseline and
      at the final visit. Results were expressed as median with interquartile range
      (IQ). A significant improvement of LV ejection fraction (20.3 (IQ 12.5) vs. -1.67
      (IQ 24.8); p = 0.040)), and LA area fractional change (11.1 (IQ 22.6) vs. 2.8
      (9.5); p = 0.034)) were observed in genistein patients compared to the controls,
      following 12 months of treatment. In addition, body surface area indexed LA
      systolic volume and peak LA longitudinal strain significantly changed from basal
      to the end of the study in genistein-treated patients. One-year supplementation
      with 54 mg/day of pure genistein improved both LV ejection fraction and LA
      remodeling and function in postmenopausal women with MetS.

PMID- 28590456
TI  - Artificial Neural Network-Based Early-Age Concrete Strength Monitoring Using
      Dynamic Response Signals.
AB  - Concrete is one of the most common materials used to construct a variety of civil
      infrastructures. However, since concrete might be susceptible to brittle
      fracture, it is essential to confirm the strength of concrete at the early-age
      stage of the curing process to prevent unexpected collapse. To address this
      issue, this study proposes a novel method to estimate the early-age strength of
      concrete, by integrating an artificial neural network algorithm with a dynamic
      response measurement of the concrete material. The dynamic response signals of
      the concrete, including both electromechanical impedances and guided ultrasonic
      waves, are obtained from an embedded piezoelectric sensor module. The cross
      correlation coefficient of the electromechanical impedance signals and the
      amplitude of the guided ultrasonic wave signals are selected to quantify the
      variation in dynamic responses according to the strength of the concrete.
      Furthermore, an artificial neural network algorithm is used to verify a
      relationship between the variation in dynamic response signals and concrete
      strength. The results of an experimental study confirm that the proposed approach
      can be effectively applied to estimate the strength of concrete material from the
      early-age stage of the curing process.

PMID- 28590454
TI  - Lignins and Their Derivatives with Beneficial Effects on Human Health.
AB  - A review of the pharmacological applications of lignins provides evidence of
      their protective role against the development of different diseases. In many
      cases, the effects of lignins could be explained by their antioxidant capacity.
      Here, we present a systematic review of the literature from the period 2010-2016
      which provides information concerning new applications of lignins derived from
      recent research. The most promising findings are reported, including the
      methodologies employed and results obtained with lignins or their derivatives
      which may improve human health. We highlight potential applications in the
      treatment of obesity, diabetes, thrombosis, viral infections and cancer.
      Moreover, we report both that lignins can be used in the preparation of
      nanoparticles to deliver different drugs and also their use in photoprotection.

PMID- 28590457
TI  - Highlights in myeloproliferative neoplasms from the 2016 American Society of
      Hematology annual meeting and exposition.

PMID- 28590455
TI  - Machine-Learned Data Structures of Lipid Marker Serum Concentrations in Multiple
      Sclerosis Patients Differ from Those in Healthy Subjects.
AB  - Lipid metabolism has been suggested to be a major pathophysiological mechanism of
      multiple sclerosis (MS). With the increasing knowledge about lipid signaling,
      acquired data become increasingly complex making bioinformatics necessary in
      lipid research. We used unsupervised machine-learning to analyze lipid marker
      serum concentrations, pursuing the hypothesis that for the most relevant markers
      the emerging data structures will coincide with the diagnosis of MS. Machine
      learning was implemented as emergent self-organizing feature maps (ESOM) combined
      with the U*-matrix visualization technique. The data space consisted of serum
      concentrations of three main classes of lipid markers comprising eicosanoids (d =
      11 markers), ceramides (d = 10), and lyosophosphatidic acids (d = 6). They were
      analyzed in cohorts of MS patients (n = 102) and healthy subjects (n = 301).
      Clear data structures in the high-dimensional data space were observed in
      eicosanoid and ceramides serum concentrations whereas no clear structure could be
      found in lysophosphatidic acid concentrations. With ceramide concentrations, the
      structures that had emerged from unsupervised machine-learning almost completely
      overlapped with the known grouping of MS patients versus healthy subjects. This
      was only partly provided by eicosanoid serum concentrations. Thus, unsupervised
      machine-learning identified distinct data structures of bioactive lipid serum
      concentrations. These structures could be superimposed with the known grouping of
      MS patients versus healthy subjects, which was almost completely possible with
      ceramides. Therefore, based on the present analysis, ceramides are first-line
      candidates for further exploration as drug-gable targets or biomarkers in MS.

PMID- 28590458
TI  - Highlights in myeloproliferative neoplasms from the 2016 American Society of
      Hematology meeting: Commentary.

PMID- 28590461
TI  - Advances in lymphoma and leukemia from the 2016 American Society of Hematology
      annual meeting and exposition.

PMID- 28590460
TI  - Highlights in lymphoma from the 2016 American Society of Hematology annual
      meeting and exposition: Commentary.

PMID- 28590462
TI  - Advances in lymphoma and leukemia from the 2016 American Society of Hematology
      annual meeting and exposition: Commentary.

PMID- 28590464
TI  - Policy solutions to recruiting and retaining minority children in research.

PMID- 28590463
TI  - Prediction and association mapping of agronomic traits in maize using multiple
      omic data.
AB  - Genomic selection holds a great promise to accelerate plant breeding via early
      selection before phenotypes are measured, and it offers major advantages over
      marker-assisted selection for highly polygenic traits. In addition to genomic
      data, metabolome and transcriptome are increasingly receiving attention as new
      data sources for phenotype prediction. We used data available from maize as a
      model to compare the predictive abilities of three different omic data sources
      using eight representative methods for six traits. We found that the best linear
      unbiased prediction overall performs better than other methods across different
      traits and different omic data, and genomic prediction performs better than
      transcriptomic and metabolomic predictions. For the same maize data, we also
      conducted genome-wide association study, transcriptome-wide association studies
      and metabolome-wide association studies for the six agronomic traits using both
      the genome-wide efficient mixed model association (GEMMA) method and a modified
      least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method. The new LASSO
      method has the ability to perform statistical tests. Simulation studies show that
      the modified LASSO performs better than GEMMA in terms of high power and low Type
      1 error.

PMID- 28590466
TI  - Ethylperoxy radical: approaching spectroscopic accuracy via coupled-cluster
      theory.
AB  - Interest in peroxy radicals derives from their central role in tropospheric and
      low-temperature combustion processes; however, their transient nature limits the
      scope of possible experimental characterization. As a result, theoretical methods
      (notably, coupled-cluster theory) have become indispensable in the reliable
      prediction of properties of such ephemeral open-shell systems. Herein, the
      X[combining tilde] and A state conformers of ethylperoxy radical (C2H5O2) have
      been structurally optimized at the CCSD(T)/ANO2 level of theory. Relative
      enthalpies at 0 K [including A <- X[combining tilde] transition origins (T0)] are
      reported, incorporating CCSD(T) electronic energies extrapolated to the complete
      basis set limit via the focal point approach. Higher-level computations,
      employing basis sets as large as cc-pV5Z and post-HF methods up to CCSDT(Q),
      prove essential in achieving predictions to within 10 cm-1 for experimental T0;
      we predict 7363 and 7583 cm-1 for the trans and gauche conformers, respectively.
      Furthermore, predictions of X[combining tilde] state fundamental transitions
      incorporating CCSD(T)/ANO0 anharmonic contributions are given. For each
      conformer, all 21 modes were characterized, improving upon the 16 modes reported
      in the experimental literature, and providing predictions for the 5 remaining
      modes.

PMID- 28590468
TI  - The influence of cation ordering, oxygen vacancy distribution and proton siting
      on observed properties in ceramic electrolytes: the case of scandium substituted
      barium titanate.
AB  - The origin of the 2-order of magnitude difference in the proton conductivity of
      the hydrated forms of hexagonal and cubic oxygen deficient BaScxTi1-xO3-delta (x
      = 0.2 and x = 0.7) was probed using a combination of neutron diffraction and
      density functional theory techniques to support published X-ray diffraction,
      conductivity, thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry studies.
      Cation ordering is found in the 6H structure type (space group P63/mmc) adopted
      by BaSc0.2Ti0.8O3-delta with scandium preferentially substituting in the vertex
      sharing octahedra (2a crystallographic site) and avoiding the face-sharing
      octahedra (4f site). This is coupled with oxygen vacancy ordering in the central
      plane of the face-sharing octahedra (O1 site). In BaSc0.7Ti0.3O3-delta a simple
      cubic perovskite (space group Pm3[combining macron]m) best represents the average
      structure from Rietveld analysis with no evidence of either cation ordering or
      oxygen vacancy ordering. Significant diffuse scattering is observed, indicative
      of local order. Hydration in both cases leads to complete filling of the
      available oxygen vacancies and permits definition of the proton sites. We suggest
      that the more localised nature of the proton sites in the 6H structure is
      responsible for the significantly lower proton conduction observed in the
      literature. Within the 6H structure type final model, proton diffusion requires a
      3-step process via higher energy proton sites that are unoccupied at room
      temperature and is also likely to be anisotropic whereas the highly disordered
      cubic perovskite proton position allows 3-dimensional diffusion by well-described
      modes. Finally, we propose how this knowledge can be used to further materials
      design for ceramic electrolytes for proton conducting fuel cells.

PMID- 28590469
TI  - Elasticity of particle-loaded liquid foams.
AB  - Mixing solid particles with liquid foam is a common process used in industry for
      manufacturing aerated materials. Desire for improvement of involved industrial
      processes and optimization of resulting foamed materials stimulates fundamental
      research on those complex mixtures of grains, bubbles and liquid. In this paper,
      we generate well-controlled particle-loaded liquid foams and we determine their
      elastic behavior as a function of particle size (6-3000 MUm) and particle volume
      fraction (0-6%). We focus on both the elastic modulus exhibited by the material
      at small strain and the strain marking the end of the linear elastic regime.
      Results reveal the existence of a critical particle-to-bubble size ratio
      triggering a sharp transition between two well-defined regimes. For small size
      ratios, the behavior is governed by the mechanical properties of the solid
      grains, which have been proved to pack in the shape of a foam-embedded granular
      skeleton. In contrast, bubbles elasticity prevails in the second regime, where
      isolated large particles contribute only weakly to the rheological behavior of
      the foamed material. The modeling of elasticity for each regime allows for this
      transition to be normalized and compared with previously reported particle size
      induced effects for foam drainage (Haffner et al. J. Colloid Interface Sci.,
      2015, 458, 200-208) and solid foam mechanics (Khidas et al., Compos. Sci.
      Technol., 2015, 119, 62-67). This highlights that rheology and the other
      properties of particle-loaded foams are subjected to the same size-induced
      morphological transition.

PMID- 28590470
TI  - An engineering design approach to systems biology.
AB  - Measuring and modeling the integrated behavior of biomolecular-cellular networks
      is central to systems biology. Over several decades, systems biology has been
      shaped by quantitative biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and engineers in
      different ways. However, the basic and applied versions of systems biology are
      not typically distinguished, which blurs the separate aspirations of the field
      and its potential for real-world impact. Here, we articulate an engineering
      approach to systems biology, which applies educational philosophy, engineering
      design, and predictive models to solve contemporary problems in an age of
      biomedical Big Data. A concerted effort to train systems bioengineers will
      provide a versatile workforce capable of tackling the diverse challenges faced by
      the biotechnological and pharmaceutical sectors in a modern, information-dense
      economy.

PMID- 28590471
TI  - Seedless synthesis and SERS characterization of multi-branched gold nanoflowers
      using water soluble polymers.
AB  - We report for the first time, the aqueous-based synthesis of multibranched,
      monodispersed gold nanoflowers (AuNFs) using pyromellitic dianhydride-p-phenylene
      diamine - PPDDs at room temperature. AuNF synthesis was achieved using PPDDs that
      converts Au precursor (Au3+) into AuNFs while serving as both the reducing and
      directional agent. The resulting branched AuNFs exhibited different degrees of
      anisotropy and protuberance lengths obtained by modulating the ratio of PPDDs and
      HAuCl4.3H2O. The surface roughness obtained ranged from small bud-like
      protuberances to elongated spikes, which enabled the tuning of the optical
      properties of the nanoparticles from ~450 to 1100 nm. Systematic analysis
      revealed that the generation of urchin-like particles as well as their size
      depended on the PPDDs/HAuCl4.3H2O ratio. At a medium concentration of the
      precursor, spherical nanoparticles were formed. Whereas at lower precursor
      concentrations, urchin-like nanoparticles were obtained with their size and
      protuberances length increasing at even lower HAuCl4.3H2O concentration.
      Increasing the temperature to 100  degrees C resulted in the enhancement of the
      anisotropy of the AuNFs. The resulting gold nanoflowers exhibited an enhanced
      performance in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). This work provides a
      unique approach for anisotropic particle synthesis using water soluble polymer
      and greener approaches. The fabricated AuNFs exhibited variable UV-vis absorption
      and SERS enhancement as a function of branch morphology, indicating their
      potential application in biolabeling, biosensing, imaging, and therapeutic
      applications.

PMID- 28590472
TI  - Gram-scale free radical polymerization of an azaborine vinyl monomer.
AB  - The gram-scale polymerization of a novel azaborine vinyl monomer is reported. We
      describe an efficient and high-yielding synthesis of B-vinyl-2,1
      borazanaphthalene. Homopolymers and co-polymers with 2-vinylnaphthalene are
      characterized by heteronuclear NMR and absorbance spectroscopy.

PMID- 28590473
TI  - Is more better? A comparison of tri- and tetrapeptidic catalysts.
AB  - From an enzymatic perspective, there is a general notion that the bigger and more
      complex a catalytically active peptide is the more enzyme-like and the better it
      should become. But is this really true? We have tackled this question firstly by
      screening split-and-mix-libraries of tri- and tetrapeptides for members that
      catalyze aldol reactions. Then, the catalytic performance of all possible
      diastereoisomers of related tri- and tetrapeptidic catalysts of the type H-Pro
      Pro-Glu/Asp-NH2 and H-Pro-Pro-Glu/Asp-Pro-NH2 in aldol and conjugate addition
      reactions was compared.

PMID- 28590474
TI  - Conducting microhelices from self-assembly of protein fibrils.
AB  - Herein we utilize insulin to prepare amyloid based chiral helices with either
      right or left handed helicity. We demonstrate that the helices can be utilized as
      structural templates for the conducting polymer alkoxysulfonate
      poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT-S). The chirality of the helical assembly is
      transferred to PEDOT-S as demonstrated by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and
      Circular Dichroism (CD). Analysis of the helices by conductive atomic force
      microscopy (c-AFM) shows significant conductivity. In addition, the morphology of
      the template structure is stabilized by PEDOT-S. These conductive helical
      structures represent promising candidates in our quest for THz resonators.

PMID- 28590475
TI  - A NbO type Cu(ii) metal-organic framework showing efficient catalytic activity in
      the Friedlander and Henry reactions.
AB  - A three-dimensional NbO type porous metal-organic framework 1 containing both
      tertiary amine groups and paddle wheel dinuclear Cu2(COO)4 secondary building
      units as the active centre was synthesized at room temperature. The activated
      framework 1' can be used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis
      of quinoline derivatives by the Friedlander reaction and for the synthesis of
      beta-nitroalcohols by the Henry (nitroaldol) reaction. This MOF-based
      heterogeneous catalyst is easily recycled and reused further without losing its
      structural integrity and catalytic activity.

PMID- 28590476
TI  - Boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for enhanced visible light
      photocatalytic water splitting.
AB  - A new type of boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride (B-g-C3N4) nanosheets was
      prepared by a benign one-pot thermal polycondensation process. Systematic studies
      revealed that a B-doping amount of 1 at% into g-C3N4 (1at%B-g-C3N4) showed the
      best photocatalytic H2 evolution activity of 1880 MUmol h-1 g-1 under visible
      light irradiation (>400 nm), which is more than 12 times that of the pristine g
      C3N4 bulk. Detailed characterizations revealed that the high photocatalytic
      performance could be attributed to the combination of band structure engineering
      and morphological control. B-doping not only reduces the band gap to absorb more
      visible light but also exhibits a higher surface area of B-g-C3N4 (49.47 m2 g-1)
      as compared to that of g-C3N4 bulk (8.24 m2 g-1), which subsequently improve the
      photocatalytic performance drastically. This work demonstrates a synergistic
      strategy to prepare efficient metal-free B-g-C3N4 nanosheets as a promising
      photocatalyst for H2 evolution under visible light with good stability.

PMID- 28590477
TI  - Evaluation of ligand-based NMR screening methods to characterize small molecule
      binding to HIV-1 glycoprotein-41.
AB  - Small molecule inhibitors of glycoprotein-41 (gp41) are able to prevent HIV
      infection by binding to a hydrophobic pocket (HP) contained within the gp41
      ectodomain, and preventing progression of fusion. There is little structural
      information on gp41-ligand complexes, owing to hydrophobicity of the ligands,
      occlusion of the HP in folded gp41 ectodomain, and failure to form crystals of
      complexes. Here we used an engineered gp41 ectodomain protein containing an
      exposed HP and a small molecule designed to bind with weak affinity to the HP. We
      evaluated NMR methods, including WaterLOGSY, Saturation Transfer Difference
      spectroscopy (STD-NMR) and 1H relaxation rate difference spectroscopy with and
      without target irradiation (DIRECTION) for their ability to probe complex
      formation and structure. WaterLOGSY was the most sensitive technique for
      monitoring formation of the complex. STD-NMR and DIRECTION experiments gave
      similar pharmacophore mapping profiles, although the low dynamic range of the
      DIRECTION experiment limited its discrimination and sensitivity. A unique binding
      pose was identified from the STD data and provided clues for future optimization.
      Advantages and disadvantages of the techniques are discussed. This is the first
      example of the use of STD for structural analysis of a gp41-small molecule
      complex.

PMID- 28590478
TI  - Investigation of interfacial thermal transport across graphene and an organic
      semiconductor using molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - The interfacial thermal transport across graphene and an organic semiconductor,
      dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT), is investigated using
      molecular dynamics simulations. The average thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of
      graphene and DNTT is 4.88 +/- 0.12 * 10-8 m2 K W-1 at 300 K. We find that TBR of
      a graphene-DNTT heterostructure possesses as high as 83.4% reduction after the
      hydrogenation of graphene. Moreover, as the graphene vacancy increases from 0% to
      6%, the TBR drops up to 39.6%. The reduction of TBR is mainly attributed to the
      coupling enhancement of graphene and DNTT phonons as evaluated from the phonon
      density of states. On the other hand, TBR keeps a constant value while the
      vacancy in the DNTT layer increases. The TBR would decrease when the temperature
      and coupling strength increase. These findings provide a useful guideline for the
      thermal management of the graphene-based organic electronic devices, especially
      the large area transistor arrays or sensors.

PMID- 28590479
TI  - Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for surfaces and interfaces.
AB  - Surface and interfaces play key roles in heterogeneous catalysis,
      electrochemistry and photo(electro)chemistry. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
      (TERS) combines plasmon-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with scanning probe
      microscopy to simultaneously provide a chemical fingerprint and morphological
      information for the sample at the nanometer spatial resolution. It is an ideal
      tool for achieving an in-depth understanding of the surface and interfacial
      processes, so that the relationship between structure and chemical performance
      can be established. We begin with the background of surfaces and interfaces and
      TERS, followed by a detailed discussion on some issues in experimental TERS,
      including tip preparation and TERS instrument configuration. We then focus on the
      progress of TERS for studying the surfaces and interfaces under different
      conditions, from ambient, to UHV, solid-liquid and electrochemical environments,
      followed by a brief introduction to the current understanding of the
      unprecedented high spatial resolution and surface selection rules. We conclude by
      discussing the future challenges for TERS practical applications in surfaces and
      interfaces.

PMID- 28590480
TI  - Dynamic glass transition of the rigid amorphous fraction in polyurethane
      urea/SiO2 nanocomposites.
AB  - We report molecular dynamics in the rigid amorphous fraction (RAF) of the polymer
      bound at the interfaces with nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposites and
      calculate the glass transition temperature, Tg, for this bound layer of polymer.
      We follow the '3-phase-model' for semicrystalline polymers where the polymer
      matrix consists of the crystalline fraction (CF), the mobile amorphous fraction
      (MAF) and the RAF. While the amorphous polymer bound by crystallites is
      completely rigid, neither contributing to the glass transition, nor displaying
      molecular dynamics, the amorphous polymer bound at the interfaces with filler
      displays decelerated dynamics, as compared to the bulk polymer. Reports in the
      literature suggest a discrepancy between Tg values obtained by Differential
      Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and by Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy (DRS). As a
      plausible explanation we suggest that DRS results in Tg values taking into
      account the bound polymer, whereas DSC does not. For this investigation we use
      semicrystalline polyurethane-urea/SiO2 nanocomposites and employ, next to DSC and
      DRS, SEM, SAXS and WAXS for morphological characterization. It is our intention
      to use DRS as a tool for investigating the RAF.

PMID- 28590481
TI  - Polymorphism of a chiral iron(ii) complex: spin-crossover and ferroelectric
      properties.
AB  - Two solvent-free polymorphs of a chiral iron(ii) complex have been obtained, and
      their polymorphism dependent spin-crossover and ferroelectric properties have
      been demonstrated. Polymorph I shows a gradual spin-crossover behavior, whereas
      polymorph II remains in a high-spin state but shows a typical ferroelectric
      feature.

PMID- 28590482
TI  - Thickness control of 3-dimensional mesoporous silica ultrathin films by wet
      etching.
AB  - The thickness of 3-dimensional (3D) mesoporous silica ultrathin films was
      controlled at a single-nanometer scale by wet-etching. A drop casting method with
      an aqueous etchant of ammonium fluoride was effective in etching the surfaces of
      films in the direction perpendicular to their substrates. The decrease in the
      film thickness depends on the interface tension of etching solutions. The
      wettability of thin films also influences the etching. CoPt nanodots were
      electrodeposited within ultrathin silica films on Ru substrates to form CoPt
      nanodot patterns.

PMID- 28590484
TI  - Normal-to-abnormal rearrangement of an N-heterocyclic carbene with a silylene
      transition metal complex.
AB  - The synthesis and characterization of the N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) stabilized
      dichlorosilylene Group 6 metal complexes {(IPr)SiCl2}W(CO)5 (3-W),
      {(IPr)SiCl2}2Cr(CO)4 (4-Cr), and {(IPr)SiCl2}2W(CO)4 (4-W) (IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6
      diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene) are reported. Treatment of 3-W with CsOH in
      the presence of IPr leads to the formation of an abnormal-NHC (aNHC) metal
      complex (aIPrH)W(CO)5 (6-W) (aIPrH = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-4
      ylidene), unveiling an unprecedented normal-to-abnormal transformation route of
      an NHC. DFT calculations support the proposed mechanism that involves CsOH
      mediated deprotonation of the IPr-backbone of 3-W to yield a ditopic carbanionic
      NHC (dcNHC) complex 5a-W. Subsequent 1,4-migration of the W(CO)5 moiety and
      hydrolysis of the unmasked SiCl2 rationalize the formation of 6-W. The desired
      H2O molecule is generated in the initial step on deprotonation of IPr with CsOH.
      In contrast to the literature precedents, the calculations indicate that the
      abnormal complex 6-W is 13.5 kcal mol-1 thermodynamically higher in energy than
      the normal counterpart (IPr)W(CO)5 (8-W). Interestingly, as the aNHC-compounds
      reported so far are more stable than their normal counterparts, this finding
      showcases an opposite trend. Moreover, reaction pathways to the synthesized and
      related complexes have been investigated by DFT calculations.

PMID- 28590485
TI  - Intermolecular charge fluxes and far-infrared spectral intensities of liquid
      formamide.
AB  - The intensity generation mechanisms of the far-infrared (far-IR) [or terahertz
      (THz)] spectrum of liquid formamide, particularly with regard to the behavior of
      electrons induced by modulations of the hydrogen-bonding conditions of the
      molecules, are examined theoretically. The theoretical analysis is done in the
      following two steps. First, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are
      carried out for the dimers and larger clusters of formamide to analyze the change
      in the dipole derivative (the square of which is proportional to the IR
      intensity) induced by hydrogen-bond formation. Then, by using the information
      derived in the first step, molecular dynamics-based spectral simulations are
      carried out. It is shown that, upon formation of a hydrogen bond, a change in the
      dipole derivative is induced along the direction of the hydrogen bond, and is
      reasonably modeled by the intermolecular charge flux mechanism, where a certain
      amount of electron density is transferred between molecules according to the
      modulation of the hydrogen-bond length, similarly to the case of liquid water.
      This model is in a form that is suitable for use in molecular dynamics-based
      spectral simulations. From these spectral simulations, it is found that the
      observed spectral features of the far-IR spectrum of liquid formamide are
      reasonably reproduced, and that the inclusion of the effect of intermolecular
      charge flux is essential for it. Contrary to the case of liquid water, the
      molecular libration band (rather than the molecular translation band) is
      significantly enhanced by the intermolecular charge flux. It is discussed that
      this difference is related to the geometrical relation between the hydrogen bonds
      and the atomic displacements in the molecular translations and librations
      (rotations). It is considered that, in general, in hydrogen-bonding liquids,
      modulations of hydrogen-bond lengths occurring upon dynamics of molecules give
      rise to intermolecular charge fluxes, significantly affecting the dipole
      derivatives, and hence, the IR intensity distributions in the spectra.

PMID- 28590486
TI  - Correction: A review of carrier thermoelectric-transport theory in organic
      semiconductors.
AB  - Correction for 'A review of carrier thermoelectric-transport theory in organic
      semiconductors' by Nianduan Lu et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 19503
      19525.

PMID- 28590488
TI  - Correction: Statistical theory of polarizable target compound impregnation into a
      polymer coil under the influence of an electric field.
AB  - Correction for 'Statistical theory of polarizable target compound impregnation
      into a polymer coil under the influence of an electric field' by A. L. Kolesnikov
      et al., Soft Matter, 2017, DOI: 10.1039/c7sm00417f.

PMID- 28590491
TI  - 4,5-Substituted C^C* cyclometalated thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(ii) complexes -
      synthesis and photophysical properties.
AB  - We report the synthesis of seven novel backbone functionalized N-phenyl-1,3
      thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(ii) complexes and their photophysical properties.
      Electronically diverse N-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-thiones were prepared by a reaction
      of aniline with carbon disulfide and different alpha-haloketone compounds.
      Oxidative desulfuration and salt metathesis yielded the desired NHC-precursors
      with hexafluorophosphate counterions. In addition, a new route for the synthesis
      of N-phenyl-1,3-benzo[d]thiazole tetrafluoroborate via N-arylation using
      hypervalent iodine species is presented. All complexes were prepared from the
      corresponding NHC precursor in a one-pot process using silver(i)oxide,
      transmetalation to platinum and reaction with the beta-diketone acetylacetone
      under basic conditions. These complexes exhibit strong phosphorescence with
      quantum yields up to 72% in 2 wt% PMMA films with decay lifetimes of 8.8-12.3
      MUs. The influence of methyl- and phenyl-groups, and an ester-substituent at the
      4- and/or 5-position of the 1,3-thiazole moiety, as well as the N-phenyl-1,3
      benzo[d]thiazole-derived motif is discussed. The 4,5-unsubstituted-N-phenyl-1,3
      thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(ii) acetylacetonato complex served as a reference in
      this study to evaluate the electronic effects originating from the backbone
      substitution. All complexes emit in a narrow range of the bluish-green spectrum
      of the visible light (510 +/- 10 nm).

PMID- 28590489
TI  - Biocompatible and label-free separation of cancer cells from cell culture lines
      from white blood cells in ferrofluids.
AB  - This paper reports a biocompatible and label-free cell separation method using
      ferrofluids that can separate a variety of low-concentration cancer cells from
      cell culture lines (~100 cancer cells per mL) from undiluted white blood cells,
      with a throughput of 1.2 mL h-1 and an average separation efficiency of 82.2%.
      The separation is based on the size difference of the cancer cells and white
      blood cells, and is conducted in a custom-made biocompatible ferrofluid that
      retains not only excellent short-term viabilities but also normal proliferations
      of 7 commonly used cancer cell lines. A microfluidic device is designed and
      optimized specifically to shorten the time of live cells' exposure to ferrofluids
      from hours to seconds, by eliminating time-consuming off-chip sample preparation
      and extraction steps and integrating them on-chip to achieve a one-step process.
      As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a ferrofluid with 0.26% volume fraction was
      used in this microfluidic device to separate spiked cancer cells from cell lines
      at a concentration of ~100 cells per mL from white blood cells with a throughput
      of 1.2 mL h-1. The separation efficiencies were 80 +/- 3%, 81 +/- 5%, 82 +/- 5%,
      82 +/- 4%, and 86 +/- 6% for A549 lung cancer, H1299 lung cancer, MCF-7 breast
      cancer, MDA-MB-231 breast cancer, and PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines,
      respectively. The separated cancer cells' purity was between 25.3% and 28.8%. In
      addition, the separated cancer cells from this strategy showed an average short
      term viability of 94.4 +/- 1.3%, and these separated cells were cultured and
      demonstrated normal proliferation to confluence even after the separation
      process. Owing to its excellent biocompatibility and label-free operation and its
      ability to recover low concentrations of cancer cells from white blood cells,
      this method could lead to a promising tool for rare cell separation.

PMID- 28590490
TI  - Synthesis, resolution, and in vitro evaluation of three vesicular acetylcholine
      transporter ligands and evaluation of the lead fluorine-18 radioligand in a
      nonhuman primate.
AB  - The vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) is a reliable biomarker for
      assessing cholinergic dysfunction associated with dementia. We recently reported
      three new potent and selective carbon-11 labeled VAChT radiotracers. Herein, we
      report the resolution with a Chiralcel OD column of three additional fluorine
      containing VAChT ligands in which a fluoroethoxy or fluoroethylamino moiety was
      substituted for the methoxy group. An in vitro competitive binding assay showed
      that (-)-7 had high potency for VAChT (Ki-VAChT = 0.31 +/- 0.03 nM) and excellent
      selectivity for VAChT versus sigma receptors (Ki-sigma1 = 1870 +/- 250 nM, Ki
      sigma2 = 5480 +/- 140 nM). Three different radiolabeling approaches were
      explored; the radiosynthesis of (-)-[18F]7 was successfully accomplished via a
      stepwise two-pot, three-step method with moderate yield (11 +/- 2%) and high
      radiochemical purity (>98%). PET imaging studies in a nonhuman primate indicated
      that (-)-[18F]7 rapidly entered the brain and accumulated in the VAChT-enriched
      striatum. The uptake of (-)-[18F]7 in the target striatal area peaked at 10 min
      and displayed improved clearance kinetics compared to the VAChT tracer [18F]VAT,
      which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for first-in
      man studies. These studies justify further investigation of (-)-[18F]7 and
      exploration of the structure-activity relationships of these fluoroethoxy and
      fluoroethylamino analogs.

PMID- 28590493
TI  - Novel properties of 0D metal-organic polyhedra bonded to the surfaces of 2D
      graphene and 1D single-walled carbon nanotubes.
AB  - A strategy for the stabilization of metal-organic polyhedra (MOP) cages on
      graphene (Gr) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (NT) is reported. The surface
      area of the composites, MOPGr and MOPNT increases by an order of magnitude with a
      significant increase in pore volume in comparison to bulk MOP. The composites
      show an enhancement in the catalytic activity of up to ~80% relative to bulk MOP
      in the conversion of propylene oxide into propylene carbonate. Depositing
      individual MOP cages on graphene or SWNT surfaces is beneficial in terms of gas
      adsorption and catalytic properties and provides a good example for useful
      effects of bonding materials of different dimensionalities.

PMID- 28590494
TI  - Tris(2-pyridyl)phosphine as a versatile ligand for pnictogen acceptors.
AB  - We report cationic complexes of arsenic and antimony with the tris(2
      pyridyl)phosphine ligand. Chloride ion abstraction from AsCl3 using TMSOTf in the
      presence of the ligand gives [P(Pyr)3As][OTf]3, in which the trication adopts a
      C3v symmetric cage structure. The reaction proceeds via the intermediate
      [P(Pyr)3AsCl][OTf]2, which undergoes chloride exchange to give [P(Pyr)3As][OTf]3
      and [P(Pyr)3AsCl2][OTf]. The rearrangement reaction has been supported by the
      isolation of the antimony mono fluoride derivative [P(Pyr)3SbF][OTf]2. The
      asymmetric axial lone pairs in derivatives of [P(Pyr)3Pn]3+ are electronically
      separated. The HOMO-1 (for arsenic) and HOMO (for antimony) represent the major
      contribution to the phosphine lone pair indicating the possibility for
      nucleophilic behaviour despite the +3 charge. Less accessible is the HOMO-7,
      which represents the lone pair at arsenic or antimony, respectively.

PMID- 28590496
TI  - Artefact suppression in 5-pulse double electron electron resonance for distance
      distribution measurements.
AB  - A 5-pulse version of the Double Electron Electron Resonance (DEER) experiment
      with Carr-Purcell delays and an additional pump pulse has been shown to
      significantly extend the experimentally accessible distance range in cases where
      nuclear spin diffusion dominates electron spin phase memory loss [Borbat et al.,
      J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2013, 4, 170]. We show that the sequence also prolongs
      coherence decay for spin labels in or near lipid bilayers, where this decay is
      mono-exponential. Compared to 4-pulse DEER, 5-pulse DEER suffers from additional
      artefacts that stem from pulse imperfection and excitation band overlap. Only
      some of these artefacts can be suppressed by phase cycling and the remaining ones
      have hindered widespread utilization of the method. Here, we report previously
      unknown additional artefact contributions stemming from overlap between the
      excitation bands of the microwave pulses that introduce additional dipolar
      evolution pathways. Experimental conditions are analyzed in detail that suppress
      these as well as the already known artefacts. Such suppression results in data
      that contain at most the partial excitation artefact, which can be deliberately
      shifted in time by a change in pulse timing without affecting the wanted
      contribution.

PMID- 28590495
TI  - Structure-based design of novel combinatorially generated NBTIs as potential DNA
      gyrase inhibitors against various Staphylococcus aureus mutant strains.
AB  - Although intercalating agents such as quinolones have had proven therapeutic
      success as antibacterial agents for more than 40 years, new forms of quinolone
      based resistance in bacteria are continually emerging. To alleviate this problem,
      a new class of antibacterials is urgently needed; recently, novel bacterial
      topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIs) have been found to be particularly important.
      Based on 67 experimentally evaluated NBTIs against wild-type (WT) DNA gyrase
      originating from Staphylococcus aureus, a predictive QSAR model was initially
      constructed and validated and was later used for in silico prediction of
      biological activities for an in house designed compound library of 548 novel drug
      like NBTI combinatorial analogs. To evaluate the influence of gyrA alterations on
      NBTI resistance, various mutant homology models were constructed; meanwhile,
      their resistance profiles were assessed and validated relative to that of WT
      enzyme by structure-based virtual screening (VS) of known NBTIs. Surprisingly,
      the M121K mutant model was recognized as the most selective due to an additional
      established cation-pi interaction between K121-NH3+ (not found in the WT) and the
      aromatic moiety of the NBTI right-hand site (RHS) fragment; this finding was
      additionally supported by VS of our combinatorially generated NBTIs. Moreover, we
      identified several attractive, synthetically feasible RHS building blocks that
      may enable the development of new NBTIs.

PMID- 28590497
TI  - Iodine-catalyzed sulfenylation of pyrazolones using dimethyl sulfoxide as an
      oxidant.
AB  - An iodine catalyzed sulfenylation of pyrazolones with a diverse range of
      heterocyclic thiols, heterocyclic thiones and disulfides has been described using
      dimethyl sulfoxide as an oxidant, which is an inexpensive, readily available and
      green oxidant. The present methodology exhibits a wide range of substrate scope
      and targeted products were obtained in good to excellent yields under metal-free
      conditions in a short duration. This methodology provides a simple process for
      the formation of C-S bonds through the thioetherification of pyrazolones.

PMID- 28590498
TI  - A Multi-way Multi-task Learning Approach for Multinomial Logistic Regression*. An
      Application in Joint Prediction of Appointment Miss-opportunities across Multiple
      Clinics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Whether they have been engineered for it or not, most healthcare
      systems experience a variety of unexpected events such as appointment miss
      opportunities that can have significant impact on their revenue, cost and
      resource utilization. In this paper, a multi-way multi-task learning model based
      on multinomial logistic regression is proposed to jointly predict the occurrence
      of different types of miss-opportunities at multiple clinics. METHODS: An
      extension of L1 / L2 regularization is proposed to enable transfer of information
      among various types of miss-opportunities as well as different clinics. A
      proximal algorithm is developed to transform the convex but non-smooth likelihood
      function of the multi-way multi-task learning model into a convex and smooth
      optimization problem solvable using gradient descent algorithm. RESULTS: A
      dataset of real attendance records of patients at four different clinics of a VA
      medical center is used to verify the performance of the proposed multi-task
      learning approach. Additionally, a simulation study, investigating more general
      data situations is provided to highlight the specific aspects of the proposed
      approach. Various individual and integrated multinomial logistic regression
      models with/without LASSO penalty along with a number of other common
      classification algorithms are fitted and compared against the proposed multi-way
      multi-task learning approach. Fivefold cross validation is used to estimate
      comparing models parameters and their predictive accuracy. The multi-way multi
      task learning framework enables the proposed approach to achieve a considerable
      rate of parameter shrinkage and superior prediction accuracy across various types
      of miss-opportunities and clinics. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed approach provides an
      integrated structure to effectively transfer knowledge among different miss
      opportunities and clinics to reduce model size, increase estimation efficacy, and
      more importantly improve predictions results. The proposed framework can be
      effectively applied to medical centers with multiple clinics, especially those
      suffering from information scarcity on some type of disruptions and/or clinics.

PMID- 28590499
TI  - Can Statistical Machine Learning Algorithms Help for Classification of
      Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity to Optimal Utilization of Polysomnography
      Resources?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study is to evaluate the results of machine learning
      methods for the classification of OSA severity of patients with suspected sleep
      disorder breathing as normal, mild, moderate and severe based on non
      polysomnographic variables: 1) clinical data, 2) symptoms and 3) physical
      examination. METHODS: In order to produce classification models for OSA severity,
      five different machine learning methods (Bayesian network, Decision Tree, Random
      Forest, Neural Networks and Logistic Regression) were trained while relevant
      variables and their relationships were derived empirically from observed data.
      Each model was trained and evaluated using 10-fold cross-validation and to
      evaluate classification performances of all methods, true positive rate (TPR),
      false positive rate (FPR), Positive Predictive Value (PPV), F measure and Area
      Under Receiver Operating Characteristics curve (ROC-AUC) were used. RESULTS:
      Results of 10-fold cross validated tests with different variable settings
      promisingly indicated that the OSA severity of suspected OSA patients can be
      classified, using non-polysomnographic features, with 0.71 true positive rate as
      the highest and, 0.15 false positive rate as the lowest, respectively. Moreover,
      the test results of different variables settings revealed that the accuracy of
      the classification models was significantly improved when physical examination
      variables were added to the model. CONCLUSIONS: Study results showed that machine
      learning methods can be used to estimate the probabilities of no, mild, moderate,
      and severe obstructive sleep apnea and such approaches may improve accurate
      initial OSA screening and help referring only the suspected moderate or severe
      OSA patients to sleep laboratories for the expensive tests.

PMID- 28590500
TI  - Genetic diversity of Morato's Digger Toad, Proceratophrys moratoi: spatial
      structure, gene flow, effective size and the need for differential management
      strategies of populations.
AB  - The Morato's Digger Toad, Proceratophrys moratoi, is a critically endangered toad
      species with a marked population decline in southern Brazilian Cerrado. Despite
      this, new populations are being discovered, primarily in the northern part of the
      distribution range, which raises a number of questions with regard to the
      conservation status of the species. The present study analyzed the genetic
      diversity of the species based on microsatellite markers. Our findings permitted
      the identification of two distinct management units. We found profound genetic
      structuring between the southern populations, on the left margin of the Tiete
      River, and all other populations. A marked reduction was observed in the
      contemporary gene flow among the central populations that are most affected by
      anthropogenic impacts, such as extensive sugar cane plantations, which presumably
      decreases habitat connectivity. The results indicated reduced diversity in the
      southern populations which, combined with a smaller effective population size,
      may make these populations more susceptible to extinction. We recommend the
      reclassification of P. moratoi as vulnerable and the establishment of a special
      protection program for the southern populations. Our results provide important
      insights about the local extinction of southern populations of this toad.

PMID- 28590501
TI  - Novel compound heterozygous mutations of ALDH1A3 contribute to anophthalmia in a
      non-consanguineous Chinese family.
AB  - Anophthalmia is a rare eye development anomaly resulting in absent ocular globes
      or tissue in the orbit since birth. Here, we investigated a newborn with
      bilateral anophthalmia in a Chinese family. Exome sequencing revealed that
      compound heterozygous mutations c.287G > A (p.(Arg96His)) and c.709G > A
      (p.(Gly237Arg)) of the ALDH1A3 gene were present in the affected newborn. Both
      mutations were absent in all of the searched databases, including 10,000 in-house
      Chinese exome sequences, and these mutations were confirmed as having been
      transmitted from the parents. Comparative amino acid sequence analysis across
      distantly related species revealed that the residues at positions 96 and 234 were
      evolutionarily highly conserved. In silico analysis predicted these changes to be
      damaging, and in vitro expression analysis revealed that the mutated alleles were
      associated with decreased protein production and impaired tetrameric protein
      formation. This study firstly reported that compound heterozygous mutations of
      the ALDH1A3 gene can result in anophthalmia in humans, thus highlighting those
      heterozygous mutations in ALDH1A3 should be considered for molecular screening in
      anophthalmia, particularly in cases from families without consanguineous
      relationships.

PMID- 28590502
TI  - A SNP in 5' untranslated region of CD40 gene is associated with an increased risk
      of ischemic stroke in a Chinese population: a case-control study.
AB  - Cluster of differentiation 40 (CD40), the receptor for CD154, is a member of the
      tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily. Several studies have been
      conducted to investigate the effect of the CD40 rs1883832 polymorphism on
      atherosclerotic disease in different population; however, inconsistent results
      were obtained. In this study, we investigated the association of four
      polymorphisms (rs1883832, rs13040307, rs752118 and rs3765459) of CD40 gene and
      their effect on CD40 expression with the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) in a
      Chinese population. Three hundred and eighty patients with IS and 450 control
      subjects were included in the study. The CD40 polymorphisms were discriminated by
      Snapshot SNP genotyping assay. Serum soluble CD40 (sCD40) levels were detected by
      ELISA. We found that the rs1883832CT and rs1883832TT genotypes were associated
      with an increased risk of IS compared with the rs1883832CC genotype (OR = 1.42,
      95% CI: 1.03-1.95, p = 0.030 and OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.29-2.82, P = 0.001,
      respectively), and the rs1883832T allele was associated with a significantly
      increased risk of IS compared with rs1883832C allele (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.15
      1.70, P = 0.001). Elevated serum sCD40 levels were observed in patients with IS
      compared with the control gropu (P < 0.01). Individuals carrying the rs1883832TT
      or rs1883832CT genotypes showed significantly higher sCD40 levels compared with
      the rs1883832CC genotype in the IS group [(64.8 +/- 25.4 pg/mL, TT = 94); (63.9
      +/- 24.3 pg/mL, CT = 185) vs (53.3 +/- 22.5 pg/mL, CC = 101), P < 0.01]. The TCCA
      haplotype was associated with an increased risk of IS compared with the control
      group (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.23-3.58, p = 0.005). However, we did not find a
      significant association between the other three polymorphisms and IS risk. In
      conclusion, after a comprehensive comparison with other studies, we confirmed
      that the rs1883832T allele but not the rs1883832C allele is associated with an
      increased risk of IS. The rs1883832 polymorphism may exert influences on abnormal
      CD40 expression in IS patients among the Chinese population.

PMID- 28590503
TI  - Growth hormone insensitivity with immune dysfunction caused by a STAT5B mutation
      in the south of Brazil: evidence for a founder effect.
AB  - Homozygous STAT5B mutations causing growth hormone insensitivity with immune
      dysfunction were described in 10 patients since 2003, including two Brazilian
      brothers from the south of Brazil. Our objectives were to evaluate the prevalence
      of their STAT5B mutation in this region and to analyze the presence of a founder
      effect. We obtained DNA samples from 1,205 local inhabitants, 48 relatives of the
      homozygous patients and four individuals of another affected family. Genotyping
      for STAT5B c.424_427del mutation and for two polymorphic markers around it was
      done through fragment analysis technique. We also determined Y-chromosome and
      mtDNA haplotypes and genomic ancestry in heterozygous carriers. We identified
      seven families with STAT5B c.424_427del mutation, with 33 heterozygous
      individuals. The minor allelic frequency of this mutation was 0.29% in this
      population (confidence interval 95% 0.08-0.5%), which is significantly higher
      than the frequency of other pathogenic STAT5B allele variants observed in public
      databases (p < 0.001). All heterozygous carriers had the same haplotype present
      in the homozygous patients, found in only 9.4% of non-carriers (p < 0.001),
      supporting the existence of a founder effect. The Y-chromosome haplotype, mtDNA
      and genomic ancestry analysis indicated a European origin of this mutation. Our
      results provide compelling evidence for a founder effect of STAT5B c.424_427del
      mutation.

PMID- 28590504
TI  - Identifying Mazama gouazoubira (Artiodactyla; Cervidae) chromosomes involved in
      rearrangements induced by doxorubicin.
AB  - The process of karyotype evolution in Cervidae from a common ancestor (2n = 70,
      FN = 70) has been marked by complex chromosomal rearrangements. This ancestral
      karyotype has been retained by the current species Mazama gouazoubira (Fischer
      1814), for which a chromosomal polymorphism (Robertsonian translocations and the
      presence of B chromosomes) has been described, presumably caused by a chromosome
      fragility. Thus, this study has identified doxorubicin-induced chromosome
      aberrations and mapped the regions involved in breaks, which may be related to
      the chromosome evolution process. G-banding pattern showed that 21 pairs of
      chromosomes presented chromosomal aberrations, 60% of the total chromosome number
      of the species M. gouazoubira. Among chromosomes that carry aberrations, the
      region where they were most frequently concentrated was distal relative to the
      centromere. These data suggest that certain chromosomal regions may be more
      susceptible to chromosome fragility and consequently could be involved in
      karyotype differentiation in species of the family Cervidae.

PMID- 28590505
TI  - Carotid endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the most common cause
      of long-term disability. Severe narrowing (stenosis) of the carotid artery is an
      important cause of stroke. Surgical treatment (carotid endarterectomy) may reduce
      the risk of stroke, but carries a risk of operative complications. This is an
      update of the Cochrane Review, originally published in 1999, and most recently
      updated in 2011. OBJECTIVES: To determine the balance of benefit versus risk of
      endarterectomy plus best medical management compared with best medical management
      alone, in people with a recent symptomatic carotid stenosis (i.e. transient
      ischaemic attack (TIA) or non-disabling stroke). SEARCH METHODS: We searched the
      Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (last searched in July 2016), CENTRAL
      (2016, Issue 7), MEDLINE (1966 to July 2016), Embase (1990 to July 2016), Web of
      Science Core Collection, ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO International Clinical Trials
      Registry Platform (ICTRP) portal, and handsearched relevant journals and
      reference lists. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials.  
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected studies,
      assessed risk of bias, and extracted the data. MAIN RESULTS: We included three
      trials involving 6343 participants. As the trials differed in the methods of
      measurement of carotid stenosis and in the definition of stroke, we did a pooled
      analysis of individual patient data on 6092 participants (35,000 patient years of
      follow-up), after reassessing the carotid angiograms and outcomes from all three
      trials using the primary electronic data files, and redefined outcome events
      where necessary, to achieve comparability.On re-analysis, there were no
      significant differences between the trials in the risks of any of the main
      outcomes in either of the treatment groups, or in the effects of surgery. Surgery
      increased the five-year risk of ipsilateral ischaemic stroke in participants with
      less than 30% stenosis (N = 1746, risk ratio (RR) 1.27, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 0.80 to 2.01), had no significant effect in participants with 30% to 49%
      stenosis (N = 1429, RR 0.93, 95%CI 0.62 to 1.38), was of benefit in participants
      with 50% to 69% stenosis (N = 1549, RR 0.84, 95%CI 0.60 to 1.18), and was highly
      beneficial in participants with 70% to 99% stenosis without near-occlusion (N =
      1095, RR 0.47, 95%CI 0.25 to 0.88). However, there was no evidence of benefit (N
      = 271, RR 1.03, 95%CI 0.57 to 1.84) in participants with near-occlusions.
      Ipsilateral ischaemic stroke describes insufficient blood flow to the cerebral
      hemisphere, secondary to same side severe stenosis of the internal carotid
      artery. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Endarterectomy was of some benefit for participants
      with 50% to 69% symptomatic stenosis (moderate-quality evidence), and highly
      beneficial for those with 70% to 99% stenosis without near-occlusion (moderate
      quality evidence). We found no benefit in people with carotid near-occlusion
      (high-quality evidence).

PMID- 28590506
TI  - Subcutaneous emphysema related to air-powder tooth polishing: a report of three
      cases.
AB  - Subcutaneous emphysema is a rare complication of dental procedures and can
      occasionally give rise to potentially life-threatening complications. We describe
      three cases of subcutaneous emphysema diagnosed in the same dental clinic. All
      cases occurred during tooth or implant cleaning using air polishing
      (KavoProphyflex(r) ) with a sodium bicarbonate powder (Air-N-Go Classic(r) ). The
      diagnosis was based on clinical findings and was confirmed radiologically. The
      cervical and facial regions were affected in all three cases, and spread to the
      mediastinum occurred in one case. All the episodes resolved within 3-5 days.
      Tooth cleaning using air polishing combined with an abrasive powder is a risk
      factor for subcutaneous emphysema, especially when the powder and device are from
      different manufacturers. Radiological assessment must be performed to rule out
      involvement of deep tissue planes.

PMID- 28590507
TI  - Roles of partitioning-defective protein 6 (Par6) and its complexes in the
      proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells.
AB  - A pivotal regulator of cell polarity and homeostasis, partitioning-defective
      protein 6 (Par6) forms multicomponent complexes that not only regulate cell
      polarity and stabilize cell morphology, but have also been demonstrated to
      participate in the proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells. The
      transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta and extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      (Erk) 1/2 pathways are the most thoroughly studied pathways involving Par6 in
      many cancers. Aurothiomalate has been used to disrupt the interaction between
      Par6 and atypical protein kinase C within the multicomponent complexes, and has
      been shown to effectively block transformed growth and metastasis in vitro and/or
      in vivo in a variety of cancers, including pancreatic, prostate and lung cancers,
      as well as alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. It is likely that with further revelations
      regarding the critical roles of Par6 in cancer initiation, progression and
      metastasis, targeted therapies against Par6 will be discovered and prove
      effective preclinically, and hopefully clinically, in cancer treatment.

PMID- 28590509
TI  - MRI measures of brainstem in Parkinsonian syndromes: Where we stand and where we
      need to go.

PMID- 28590508
TI  - Pyramidal tract activation due to subthalamic deep brain stimulation in
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an effective
      treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD), but can have side effects caused by
      stimulus spread to structures outside the target volume such as the pyramidal
      tract. OBJECTIVES: To assess the relevance of pyramidal tract activation with STN
      DBS in PD. METHODS: In a multimodal, blinded study in 20 STN-DBS patients, we
      measured stimulation thresholds for evoking electromyographic activity in
      orbicularis oris and first dorsal interosseous muscles at each of 150 electrode
      sites. We also modeled the electric field spread and calculated its overlap with
      the estimated anatomical location of corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts from
      primary motor cortex using 3 Tesla MRI probabilistic tractography. RESULTS: Mean
      resting motor thresholds were significantly lower for the contralateral
      orbicularis oris (3.5 +/- 1.0 mA) compared with ipsilaterally (4.1 +/- 1.1 mA)
      and with the contralateral first dorsal interosseous (4.0 +/- 1.2 mA). The
      modeled volumes of corticobulbar and corticospinal tract activated correlated
      inversely with the resting motor threshold of the contralateral orbicularis oris
      and first dorsal interosseous, respectively. Active motor thresholds were
      significantly lower compared with resting motor thresholds by around 30% to 35%
      and correlated with the clinically used stimulation amplitude. Backward multiple
      regression in 12 individuals with a "lateral-type" speech showed that stimulation
      amplitude, levodopa equivalent dose reduction postsurgery, preoperative speech
      intelligibility, and first dorsal interosseous resting motor thresholds explained
      79.9% of the variance in postoperative speech intelligibility. CONCLUSIONS:
      Direct pyramidal tract activation can occur at stimulation thresholds that are
      within the range used in clinical routine. This spread of current compromises
      increase in stimulation strengths and is related to the development of side
      effects such as speech disturbances with chronic stimulation. (c) 2017
      International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 28590510
TI  - 3D Printing by Multiphase Silicone/Water Capillary Inks.
AB  - 3D printing of polymers is accomplished easily with thermoplastics as the
      extruded hot melt solidifies rapidly during the printing process. Printing with
      liquid polymer precursors is more challenging due to their longer curing times.
      One curable liquid polymer of specific interest is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
      This study demonstrates a new efficient technique for 3D printing with PDMS by
      using a capillary suspension ink containing PDMS in the form of both precured
      microbeads and uncured liquid precursor, dispersed in water as continuous medium.
      The PDMS microbeads are held together in thixotropic granular paste by capillary
      attraction induced by the liquid precursor. These capillary suspensions possess
      high storage moduli and yield stresses that are needed for direct ink writing.
      They could be 3D printed and cured both in air and under water. The resulting
      PDMS structures are remarkably elastic, flexible, and extensible. As the ink is
      made of porous, biocompatible silicone that can be printed directly inside
      aqueous medium, it can be used in 3D printed biomedical products, or in
      applications such as direct printing of bioscaffolds on live tissue. This study
      demonstrates a number of examples using the high softness, elasticity, and
      resilience of these 3D printed structures.

PMID- 28590511
TI  - Variation in Maternal Co-morbidities and Obstetric Interventions across Area
      Level Socio-economic Status: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple studies indicate a significant association between area
      level socio-economic status (SES) and adverse maternal health outcomes; however,
      the impact of area-level SES on maternal co-morbidities and obstetric
      interventions has not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To examine the variation in
      maternal co-morbidities and obstetric interventions across area-level SES.
      METHODS: This study used data from the Discharge Abstract Database that comprised
      birth data in Alberta between 2005-2007 (n = 120 285). Co-morbidities and
      obstetric interventions were identified using validated case-definitions.
      Material deprivation index was obtained for each dissemination area through
      linkage of hospitalisation and census data. Multilevel logistic regression was
      used to analyse the data adjusting for potential confounding variables. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of any co-morbidity varied across area-level SES. Drug abuse odds
      ratio (OR) 2.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8, 3.5), pre-existing diabetes OR
      1.7 (95% CI 1.1, 2.6), and prolonged hospital stay OR 1.5 (95% CI 1.4, 1.6) were
      significantly more likely to occur in the most deprived areas compared to the
      least deprived areas. In contrast, caesarean delivery OR 0.9 (95% CI 0.8, 0.9)
      was less likely to occur in the most deprived areas compared to the least
      deprived areas. Area-level deprivation explained area-level variance of drug
      abuse, HIV, and other mental diseases only. CONCLUSION: Many co-morbidities and
      obstetric interventions vary at the area-level, but only some are associated with
      area-level SES, and few of them vary due to the area-level SES. This indicates
      that other area-level factors, in addition to area-level SES, need to be
      considered when investigating maternal health and use of health interventions.

PMID- 28590512
TI  - Tissue-specific turnover and diet-tissue discrimination factors of carbon and
      nitrogen isotopes of a common forage fish held at two temperatures.
AB  - RATIONALE: The application of stable isotopes to foraging ecology is dependent on
      understanding life-history and environmental factors unrelated to diet that may
      influence isotopic composition. Diet-tissue discrimination factors (DTDFs) and
      turnover rates will increase the accuracy of isotope-based studies. Furthermore,
      little consideration has been given to the effects of temperature or life-history
      stage on isotopic ratios despite the prevalence of variation in temperature and
      growth rates throughout life. METHODS: We measured delta13 C and delta15 N values
      with an elemental analyzer coupled to a continuous flow isotope ratio mass
      spectrometer. These values were used to estimate turnover and DTDFs for Emerald
      Shiners (Notropis atherinoides), a common North American freshwater forage fish.
      Fish were assigned to a temperature treatment, either 10 degrees C (Low) or 20
      degrees C (High), and provided one of three diets (commercial pellet, Artemia
      salina, or Hemimysis anomala). At regular intervals fish were sampled and the
      isotopic compositions of whole body and liver tissues were determined. RESULTS:
      Tissue turnover rates for fish fed Artemia were faster for liver than for whole
      body, but were also influenced by temperature. Turnover occurred faster at higher
      temperatures for body and liver delta15 N values, but not for delta13 C values.
      The pellet and Hemimysis treatments were in isotopic equilibrium from the start
      of the experiment and estimated DTDFs based on these treatments were lower than
      assumed for Delta15 N (+0.6 to 2.70/00) and variable, but within expected ranges
      for Delta13 C (-1.9 to +1.50/00). CONCLUSIONS: The results for Emerald Shiners
      differed from commonly made assumptions for applying stable isotopes to
      ecological questions, possibly related to a bias in the use of juveniles in
      studies of turnover and DTDFs and assumptions regarding thermal-independence of
      isotopic relationships. The species-specific DTDF and tissue turnover estimates
      provided here will inform interpretations of stable isotope data for smaller fish
      species and improve food-web studies.

PMID- 28590513
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of increased urinary cortisol/cortisone ratio to
      differentiate ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Differential diagnosis between Cushing's Disease (CD) and
      Ectopic ACTH Syndrome (EAS) may be a pitfall for endocrinologists. The increasing
      use in clinical practice of chromatography and mass spectrometry improves the
      measurement of urinary free cortisol (UFF) and cortisone (UFE). We have recently
      observed that cortisol to cortisone ratio (FEr) was higher in a small series of
      EAS; in this study we collected a larger number of ACTH-dependent Cushing's
      Syndrome (CS) to study the role of FEr to characterize the source of
      corticotropin secretion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: High-pressure liquid
      chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV, n=35) or liquid chromatography-tandem
      mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS, n=72) were used to measure UFF, UFE and FEr in 83
      patients with CD and 24 with EAS. RESULTS: UFF, UFE and FEr levels were higher in
      EAS than in CD (UFF: 6671 vs 549 nmol/24 hours; UFE: 2069 vs 464 nmol/24 hours;
      FEr: 4.13 vs 0.97; all P<.001). FEr >1.15 (the best ROC-based threshold) was able
      to distinguish CD from EAS with 75% sensitivity (SE) and 75% specificity (SP),
      AUC 0.811; results were similar between HPLC-UV (SE 73%, SP 79%, AUC 0.708) and
      LC-MS/MS (SE 77%, SP 73%, AUC 0.834; P=.727). The diagnostic accuracy of FEr was
      similar to that of CRH test or high-dose dexamethasone suppression test
      (respectively P=.171 and P=.683), also combined. Finally, FEr was able to
      increase the number of correct diagnosis in patients with discordant dynamic
      tests. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary FEr >1.15 was able to suggest EAS, with a diagnostic
      accuracy similar to that of other dynamic tests proposed to study ACTH-dependent
      CS.

PMID- 28590515
TI  - Tailor-made Molecular Cobalt Catalyst System for the Selective Transformation of
      Carbon Dioxide to Dialkoxymethane Ethers.
AB  - Herein a non-precious transition-metal catalyst system for the selective
      synthesis of dialkoxymethane ethers from carbon dioxide and molecular hydrogen is
      presented. The development of a tailored catalyst system based on cobalt salts in
      combination with selected Triphos ligands and acidic co-catalysts enabled a
      synthetic pathway, avoiding the oxidation of methanol to attain the formaldehyde
      level of the central CH2 unit. This unprecedented productivity based on the
      molecular cobalt catalyst is the first example of a non-precious transition-metal
      system for this transformation utilizing renewable carbon dioxide sources.

PMID- 28590514
TI  - Altered white matter microarchitecture in the cingulum bundle in women with
      primary dysmenorrhea: A tract-based analysis study.
AB  - Primary dysmenorrhea (PD), as characterized by painful menstrual cramps without
      organic causes, is associated with central sensitization and brain function
      changes. Previous studies showed the integrated role of the default mode network
      (DMN) in the pain connectome and its key contribution on how an individual
      perceives and copes with pain disorders. Here, we aimed to investigate whether
      the cingulum bundle connecting hub regions of the DMN was disrupted in young
      women with PD. Diffusion tensor imaging was obtained in 41 PD patients and 41
      matched healthy controls (HC) during their periovulatory phase. The production of
      prostaglandins (PGs) was obtained in PD patients during their pain-free and pain
      phases. As compared with HC, PD patients had similar scores of pain intensity,
      anxiety, and depression in their pain-free phase. However, altered white matter
      properties mainly located in the posterior section of the cingulum bundle were
      observed in PD. Besides PGs being related to menstrual pain, a close relationship
      was found between the white matter properties of the cingulum bundle during the
      pain-free phase and the severity of the menstrual pain in PD patients. Our study
      suggested that PD had trait changes of white matter integrities in the cingulum
      bundle that persisted beyond the time of menstruation. We inferred that altered
      anatomical connections may lead to less-flexible communication within the DMN,
      and/or between the DMN and other pain-related brain networks, which may result in
      the central susceptibility to develop chronic pain conditions in PD's later life.
      Hum Brain Mapp 38:4430-4443, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590516
TI  - 1,3-Bis(aryloxy)propan-2-ols as potential antileishmanial agents.
AB  - We describe herein the synthesis and antileishmanial activity of 1,3
      bis(aryloxy)propan-2-ols. Five compounds (2, 3, 13, 17, and 18) exhibited an
      effective antileishmanial activity against stationary promastigote forms of
      Leishmania amazonensis (IC50  < 15.0 MUm), and an influence of compound
      lipophilicity on activity was suggested. Most of the compounds were poorly
      selective, as they showed toxicity toward murine macrophages, except 17 and 18,
      which presented good selective indexes (SI >= 10.0). The five more active
      compounds (2, 3, 13, 17, and 18) were selected for the treatment of infected
      macrophages, and all of them were able to reduce the number of internalized
      parasites by more than 80%, as well as the number of infected macrophages by more
      than 70% in at least one of the tested concentrations. Altogether, these results
      demonstrate the potential of these compounds as new hits of antileishmanial
      agents and open future possibilities for them to be tested in in vivo studies.

PMID- 28590517
TI  - Flower specialisation: the occluded corolla of snapdragons (Antirrhinum) exhibits
      two pollinator niches of large long-tongued bees.
AB  - Flower specialisation of angiosperms includes the occluded corollas of
      snapdragons (Antirrhinum and some relatives), which have been postulated to be
      one of the most efficient structures to physical limit access to pollinators. The
      Iberian Peninsula harbours the highest number of species (18 Iberian of the 20
      species of Antirrhinum) that potentially share similar pollinator fauna. Crossing
      experiments with 18 Iberian species from this study and literature revealed a
      general pattern of self-incompatibility (SI) - failure in this SI system has been
      also observed in a few plants - which indicates the need for pollinator agents in
      Antirrhinum pollination. Field surveys in natural conditions (304 h) found flower
      visitation (>85%) almost exclusively by 11 species of bee (Anthophora
      fulvitarsis, Anthophora plumipes, Anthidium sticticum, Apis mellifera, Bombus
      hortorum, Bombus pascuorum, Bombus ruderatus, Bombus terrestris, Chalicodoma
      lefebvrei, Chalicodoma pyrenaica and Xylocopa violacea). This result covering the
      majority of Antirrhinum species suggests that large bees of the two long-tongued
      bee families (Megachilidae, Apidae) are the major pollinators of Antirrhinum. A
      bipartite modularity analysis revealed two pollinator systems of long-tongued
      bees: (i) the long-studied system of bumblebees (Bombus spp.) associated with
      nine primarily northern species of Antirrhinum; and (ii) a newly proposed
      pollinator system involving other large bees associated with seven species
      primarily distributed in southern Mediterranean areas.

PMID- 28590518
TI  - Barbier Continuous Flow Preparation and Reactions of Carbamoyllithiums for
      Nucleophilic Amidation.
AB  - An ambient temperature continuous flow method for nucleophilic amidation and
      thioamidation is described. Deprotonation of formamides by lithium
      diisopropylamine (LDA) affords carbamoyllithium intermediates that are quenched
      in situ with various electrophiles such as ketones, allyl bromides, Weinreb and
      morpholino amides. The nature of the reactive lithium intermediates and the
      thermodynamics of the metalation were further investigated by ab initio
      calculations and kinetic experiments.

PMID- 28590520
TI  - Developing multicenter consortia in liver disease in Latin America: Challenges
      and opportunities.
AB  - The development of consortia has been useful for exploring challenging scenarios
      and uncharted territories in liver disease treatments. Several consortia already
      developed in the United States and Europe have become key factors in patient care
      decision-making processes and medical education, and they have also impacted
      policy makers' decisions. In Latin America, the situation is different. As a
      result of a combination of different factors, our region has not been able to
      develop networking advantages in research and education in liver diseases. Thus
      far, most of the initial experiences focused on the development of collaborative
      groups established to investigate a particular topic, which were dissolved once
      the questions were answered. It is the aim of this review to describe those
      difficulties we confront in developing multicenter liver consortia in Latin
      America, to identify those challenges we face, and also to describe the
      opportunities we have for improvement. Liver Transplantation 23 1210-1215 2017
      AASLD.

PMID- 28590519
TI  - Probiotic Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 attenuates 5-fluorouracil-induced
      intestinal mucositis in mice via suppression of dysbiosis-related secondary
      inflammatory responses.
AB  - Bifidobacterium, a major component of the intestinal microbiota, has been
      clinically used for the treatment of diarrhoea and constipation. 5-Fluorouracil
      (5-FU), widely used for cancer chemotherapy, is known to frequently induce
      intestinal mucositis accompanied by severe diarrhoea. The present study examined
      the effect of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 (BBG9-1) on 5-FU-induced intestinal
      mucositis in mice. Intestinal mucositis was induced by repeated administration of
      5-FU for 6 days. BBG9-1 was administered orally once daily for 9 days, beginning
      3 days before the onset of 5-FU treatment. Repeated administration of 5-FU caused
      severe intestinal mucositis, characterised by shortening of villi and destruction
      of crypts, accompanied by increases in intestinal myeloperoxidase activity and
      inflammatory cytokine expression, body weight loss, and diarrhoea on day 6. Daily
      administration of BBG9-1 significantly reduced the severity of intestinal
      mucositis and inflammatory responses and tended to attenuate clinical symptoms.
      In contrast, BBG9-1 failed to prevent apoptosis induction on day 1 after the
      first 5-FU administration. The structure of the intestinal microbiota, as
      analysed by weighted UniFrac distance, was largely altered by 5-FU treatment, but
      this change was mitigated by daily administration of BBG9-1. Moreover, 5-FU
      treatment decreased the abundance of Firmicutes and increased the abundance of
      Bacteroidetes, but these responses were also significantly inhibited by daily
      administration of BBG9-1. These results suggest that BBG9-1 has an ameliorative
      effect against 5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis through the attenuation of
      inflammatory responses via improve dysbiosis. BBG9-1 could be useful for the
      prevention of intestinal mucositis during cancer chemotherapy.

PMID- 28590521
TI  - Seventy years of pallidotomy for movement disorders.
AB  - The year 2017 marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of human stereotactic
      neurosurgery. The first procedure was a pallidotomy for Huntington's disease.
      However, it was for Parkinson's disease that pallidotomy was soon adopted
      worldwide. Pallidotomy was abandoned in the late 1950s in favor of thalamotomy
      because of the latter's more striking effect on tremor. The advent of levodopa
      put a halt to all surgery for PD. In the mid-1980s, Laitinen reintroduced the
      posteroventral pallidotomy of Leksell, and this procedure spread worldwide thanks
      to its efficacy on most parkinsonian symptoms including levodopa-induced
      dyskinesias and thanks to basic scientific work confirming the role of the globus
      pallidus internus in the pathophysiology of PD. With the advent of deep brain
      stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, pallidotomy was again abandoned, and even
      DBS of the GPi has been overshadowed by STN DBS. The GPi reemerged in the late
      1990s as a major stereotactic target for DBS in dystonia and, recently, in
      Tourette syndrome. Lately, lesioning of the GPI is being proposed to treat
      refractory status dystonicus or to treat DBS withdrawal syndrome in PD patients.
      Hence, the pallidum as a stereotactic target for either lesioning or DBS has been
      the phoenix of functional stereotactic neurosurgery, constantly abandoned and
      then rising again from its ashes. This review is a tribute to the pallidum on its
      70th anniversary as a surgical target for movement disorders, analyzing its ebbs
      and flows and highlighting its merits, its versatility, and its resilience. (c)
      2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 28590522
TI  - Adolescents' smokeless tobacco susceptibility by perceived professional baseball
      players' use.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Measure associations between adolescent baseball players' perceptions
      of smokeless tobacco (ST) use by professional baseball players and those
      adolescents' actual ST use and susceptibility. METHODS: Male baseball players (N
      = 360) at 25 rural California high schools completed tobacco behavior surveys and
      reported how likely they believed it was their favorite major league baseball
      player used ST. We compared ST use and, among ST never-users, willingness and
      expectations to use ST, according to perceived favorite player's use. RESULTS:
      Adolescents responding that their favorite player definitely or probably used ST
      were significantly more likely to use ST themselves. High school ST never-users
      who perceived that their favorite player definitely used ST were 2.5 to 3-times
      more likely to be susceptible to ST initiation than participants responding that
      their favorite player definitely did not use ST. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' ST
      behaviors and intentions were correlated with their perceptions of professional
      baseball players' ST use.

PMID- 28590524
TI  - Work-related carpal tunnel syndrome: What's important?

PMID- 28590523
TI  - Hepatic artery reconstruction in living donor liver transplantation using
      surgical loupes: Achieving low rate of hepatic arterial thrombosis in 741
      consecutive recipients-tips and tricks to overcome the poor hepatic arterial
      flow.

PMID- 28590526
TI  - Gas-phase fragmentation of 1-adamantylbisimidazolium salts and their complexes
      with cucurbit[7]uril studied using selectively 2 H-labeled guest molecules.
AB  - RATIONALE: Bisimidazolium salts (BIMs) represent an interesting family of ditopic
      ligands that are used in the construction of supramolecular systems with hosts
      based on cyclodextrins or cucurbit[n]urils. Understanding the fragmentation
      mechanism of individual BIMs and how this mechanism changes after complexation
      with cucurbit[n]urils can bring new insight into the intrinsic host-guest
      relationship, thereby allowing utilization of mass spectrometry to describe
      binding behavior. METHODS: Selectively 2 H-labeled bisimidazolium salts were
      prepared and fully characterized by spectroscopic methods. All MSn experiments
      were conducted in the positive-ion mode using an electrospray ionization (ESI)
      ion-trap mass spectrometer. The structures of the proposed fragments were
      supported by theoretical optimizations performed at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of
      density functional theory (DFT) using the Spartan'14 program. RESULTS: Using
      selectively deuterium-labeled isotopologues of two adamantylated bisimidazolium
      salts and DFT calculations, we describe the fragmentation pathways of
      bisimidazolium salts. The release of two important adamantane moieties, [C11 H17
      ]+ and C11 H16 , from M2+ was determined, although the former was strongly
      preferred. In contrast, when M2+ was complexed with CB7, the neutral loss of the
      C11 H16 fragment was favored. The fragmentation pattern strongly depended on the
      steric hindrance of the M2+ guest against slippage of the CB7 unit over the guest
      molecular axle. CONCLUSIONS: The structures of two adamantane-based fragments and
      the mechanisms of their formation were rationalized. Two distinct geometric
      arrangements for the adamantane cage inside the CB7 cavity were hypothesized to
      explain the differences in the fragmentation patterns for guests with minimal,
      moderate, and high steric hindrance. This finding brings new insight into the
      understanding of intrinsic behavior of the adamantane-based guests inside the CB7
      cavity.

PMID- 28590525
TI  - Effects of repeated abobotulinumtoxinA injections in upper limb spasticity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The efficacy of single injections of abobotulinumtoxinA (Dysport)
      is established in adults with upper limb spasticity. In this study we assessed
      the effects of repeated injections of abobotulinumtoxinA over 1 year. METHODS:
      Patients (n = 258, safety population) received 500 U, 1,000 U, or 1,500 U (1,500
      U dose included 500-U shoulder injections) for up to 4 or 5 treatment cycles.
      Assessments included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), muscle tone,
      passive and active range of motion (XV1, XA ), angle of catch (XV3 ), Disability
      Assessment Scale (DAS) score, Modified Frenchay Scale (MFS) score, and Physician
      Global Assessment (PGA) score. RESULTS: The incidence of TEAEs decreased across
      cycles. Muscle tone reduction and XV1 remained stable across cycles, whereas XV3
      and XA continued to improve at the finger, wrist, and elbow flexors. DAS and PGA
      improved across cycles. MFS improved best with 1,500 U. DISCUSSION: A favorable
      safety profile and continuous improvements in active movements and perceived and
      active function were associated with repeated abobotulinumtoxinA injections in
      upper limb muscles. Muscle Nerve 57: 245-254, 2018.

PMID- 28590527
TI  - Phase-Transformation Ductilization of Brittle High-Entropy Alloys via
      Metastability Engineering.
AB  - High-entropy alloys (HEAs) in which interesting physical, chemical, and
      structural properties are being continuously revealed have recently attracted
      extensive attention. Body-centered cubic (bcc) HEAs, particularly those based on
      refractory elements are promising for high-temperature application but generally
      fail by early cracking with limited plasticity at room temperature, which limits
      their malleability and widespread uses. Here, the "metastability-engineering"
      strategy is exploited in brittle bcc HEAs via tailoring the stability of the
      constituent phases, and transformation-induced ductility and work-hardening
      capability are successfully achieved. This not only sheds new insights on the
      development of HEAs with excellent combination of strength and ductility, but
      also has great implications on overcoming the long-standing strength-ductility
      tradeoff of metallic materials in general.

PMID- 28590529
TI  - Twinning causative origin investigated by Sartwell's biometrical method.
AB  - Sartwell's biometrical model is useful to test potential causal factors at the
      origin of biological phenomena of unknown etiology. It postulates a lognormal
      distribution of the incubation time. The method has been applied in the past to
      infectious and neoplastic diseases and, only lately, to genetic diseases. We
      report here an application to unlike-sex and like-sex twins in an attempt to
      infer causal origin from a family of potentially related factors. Two hypotheses
      are tested: the maternal prenatal origin of unlike-sex twins, and the menopausal
      basis of like-sex twins. The hypotheses are respectively grounded in the presumed
      genetic origin of DZ twinning, and in the ovarian-dysfunction origin of MZ
      twinning. The study is population-based; it proceeds from a matched control group
      and considers various time windows (induction periods) of possible etiologic
      significance-namely, age at onset of twins, the time window from the first birth
      to the twin birth, and the time window from the twin birth to the last birth. The
      study of lognormality has been carried out with the Box-Cox transformations,
      Fisher's cumulants method, and the normal probability plots. Results show clearly
      that unlike-sex (presumably DZ) twins have their causal origin in the maternal
      prenatal period as age of onset is definitely lognormal. Median induction time is
      31 +/- 6 years. This is interpreted as a multiplicative age-related causal
      process involving hypophyseal hormones. The menopausal origin of like-sex twins,
      a mixture of MZ and DZ, is less clear-cut, as the fit of the distribution of the
      time window until last birth to a lognormal model is less than perfect. In spite
      of the heterogeneity of the like-sex twin group, there is evidence that some
      cases of MZ twins may be menopause-related. But this complex question needs more
      study.

PMID- 28590530
TI  - Stress, migration, and blood pressure in Kiribati.
AB  - Investigation into the relationship between essential hypertension and migration
      and modernization typically conclude that modernized, urban migrants have more
      elevated blood pressures with age and are more at risk from hypertension than are
      their traditional rural sedentary compatriots. These differences are often
      attributed to greater stresses on the migrating or modernizing segment of the
      population. In contrast, this study of rural sedentes and urban migrants in
      Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) indicates that hypertension and elevation of pressure
      with age have appeared in this modernizing population which was free of essential
      hypertension less than twenty years previously. Yet there are no significant
      differences in blood pressure or the incidence of hypertension of migrants and
      sedentes. This similarity of rural and urban islanders' health status is traced
      to the stress-relieving nature of migration and the urban experience in Kiribati.

PMID- 28590531
TI  - Human biology council: Poster abstracts.

PMID- 28590532
TI  - Pubertal growth spurt in the female rhesus monkey: Relation to menarche and
      skeletal maturation.
AB  - Three-monthly measurements of tibia length, crown-rump length (CRL), and body
      wieght have been made on nine indoor-housed and six outdoor-housed female rhesus
      monkeys (Macaca mulatta) from ages 17 to 41 months. In the indoor-housed there
      were clear pubertal growth spurts, identifiable in individual curves, with
      average peaks at 22.5 months for tibia length, 23.5 months for CRL, and 24.5 for
      weight. Menarche occurred on average at 26.0 months. In both skeletal dimensions
      the amount of acceleration exceeded that which occurs in man. The relative timing
      of the spurts and of menarche was similar to that in man. The outdoor-housed
      monkeys showed a similar spurt in tibia length, although a less easily
      identifiable one in crown-rump length. The peak velocity of tibia length in these
      monkeys occurred on average at 30.5 months, with menarche at 32.5 months. We
      conclude that the pubertal growth spurt in female rhesus is very little different
      from that in man.

PMID- 28590533
TI  - Effects of maternal drinking, smoking, size, and parity on parent-offspring birth
      weight correlations.
AB  - Parent-offspring birth weight correlations are presented by sex of parent and
      infant. They range from .14 to .16, except for the mother-daughter correlation,
      which is .32. This pattern of parent-offspring correlations varies when the
      parity of the infant, the size of the mother, and the mother's drinking and
      smoking status are considered. All parent-offspring correlations are higher when
      the infant is parity 2 or more. The mother-daughter correlations are
      significantly higher than mother-son correlations when the mother is above
      average in usual weight, height, or pregnancy weight gain. When the mother smoked
      before conception, all birth weight correlations except mother-daughter are
      essentially zero. The mother-son correlation is also very small if the mother was
      a regular drinker, independent of her smoking status. The complex relationships
      in this sample demonstrate that interactions with environmental variables must be
      taken into account in studies of familial aggregation of human birth weight.

PMID- 28590535
TI  - Program.

PMID- 28590534
TI  - New approach for estimating excess body fat from changes in abdominal girth.
AB  - A new method is proposed for determining changes in percent body fat (%BF) based
      on the difference between an initial value for abdominal girth (AG) and a
      calculated "target" AG based on a desired %BF. Group data from large-scale
      anthropometric surveys in the military were used to derive specific reference
      values for Q, defined as the ratio of AG at a desired %BF to F(?BMkg /Htm ). For
      an individual, Q*F resulted in an AG that corresponded to a desired %BF (set at
      approximately 20% for males and 30% for females). The method was applied to
      professional football players, longshoremen, shot-put and weight-lifting
      athletes, and obese males and females who reduced body mass and altered their
      body composition. The results showed that changes in AG with body mass loss were
      proportional to percentage changes in total body fat loss. These relationships
      permitted extrapolation to a projected target AG that corresponded to a desired
      %BF. The proposed method differs from the traditional approach that first
      determines %BF, and then the individual attempts to achieve a desired change in
      body mass or body composition. The objective of the new method is
      straightforward; the individual endeavors to attain a target AG that corresponds
      to a desired %BF.

PMID- 28590536
TI  - Dispersal, effective population size, and the genetic structure of the
      contemporary United States.
AB  - I estimate effective population size (Ne ) and the inbreeding coefficient (FST )
      for contemporary United States using Wright's isolation by distance model
      (Wright: Genetics 28:114-138, 1943) and parent-offspring dispersal distances
      obtained from individuals surveyed as part of a study of modern dispersal
      patterns. Ne is estimated to be minimally 3.61 * 107 and more likely closer to
      8.05 * 107 ; based on these values, FST is between 1.59 * 10-7 and 9.28 * 10-9 ,
      depending on whether it is measured relative to the United States population or
      the world at large. Not all the assumptions of the isolation by distance model
      are met by modern populations, and thus the results must be interpreted with
      caution. They suggest, however, that both mobility within and immigration into
      contemporary United States are great enough to make the probability of inbreeding
      and random genetic drift negligible factors in producing future evolutionary
      change. In contrast, gene flow, acting as both a constraint against geographic
      differentiation within the United States and by introducing new genes via
      international immigration, is likely to be a dominant evolutionary force in this
      population.

PMID- 28590537
TI  - Body circumferences as measures of body fat distribution in 10-14-year-old
      schoolchildren.
AB  - In this paper the hypothesis is tested that circumferences are as useful as
      skinfolds in children aged 10-14 years to detect variation in regional fat
      distribution. This would be confirmed by the appearance of a significant
      canonical correlation between a vector of appropriately selected circumferences
      and an analogous vector of skinfolds, producing a weighted pattern suggestive of
      centralized obesity (that is a series of mathematical weights of different signs
      for central versus peripheral regions of the body). The hypothesis is confirmed
      (P < 0.01) in this sample of 378 children of both sexes. The association occurs
      in the second canonical correlation after a strong first canonical correlation
      providing information about fatness level (0.83-0.87). The canonical correlations
      are low (0.29 in boys, 0.36 in girls), lower than has previously been reported in
      a similar study of adults. The circumferences most heavily weighted in opposite
      directions are the waist and thigh. These results are in accord with adult
      studies. This study did not support the use of the waist-hip circumference
      combination, the measures currently used in most epidemiologic studies of body
      fat distribution.

PMID- 28590538
TI  - Council officers and committees.

PMID- 28590539
TI  - Nutritional status and morbidity on an irrigation project in Turkana District,
      Kenya.
AB  - The research reported on here was undertaken to identify the most important
      contributors to continuing high mortality on a small-scale irrigation project at
      Nakwamoru in Turkana District, Kenya. The health status of project settlers had
      not been assessed prior to the present study, which was undertaken in 1978-79, a
      decade after the project was started. The purpose of the study was to estimate
      the nutritional status of project children and the major causes of morbidity in
      the Nakwamoru area. Nutritional status was derived from cross-sectional
      anthropometric measurements, including weights, heights, triceps skinfolds, and
      upper arm circumferences, taken on approximately 60% of project children (n =
      236) aged 1-10 years. The major causes of morbidity in project settlers of all
      ages for the period 1973-78 were estimated from outpatient records from the local
      primary care facility. Age/sex patterns of clinic use were obtained through
      interviews. Stunting was found to be prevalent, especially in children aged 1-4,
      while wasting was only observed in a small proportion of the sample, indicating a
      seasonal pattern of malnutrition. Derived cross-sectional areas of upper arm
      muscle and fat were found to be low by comparison with U.S. standards, suggesting
      both energy and protein deficits in project children. Malaria and acute
      respiratory infections were found to be the major causes of illness in the local
      population, and both are likely to have contributed to the generally poor
      nutritional status of project children. Despite free biomedical care, 15% of the
      local population in general and 23% of adult females had never used clinic
      services.

PMID- 28590541
TI  - A Conceptual Model and Clinical Framework for Integrating Mindfulness into Family
      Therapy with Adolescents.
AB  - Individual and group-based psychotherapeutic interventions increasingly
      incorporate mindfulness-based principles and practices. These practices include a
      versatile set of skills such as labeling and attending to present-moment
      experiences, acting with awareness, and avoiding automatic reactivity. A primary
      motivation for integrating mindfulness into these therapies is compelling
      evidence that it enhances emotion regulation. Research also demonstrates that
      family relationships have a profound influence on emotion regulation capacities,
      which are central to family functioning and prosocial behavior more broadly.
      Despite this evidence, no framework exists to describe how mindfulness might
      integrate into family therapy. This paper describes the benefits of mindfulness
      based interventions, highlighting how and why informal mindfulness practices
      might enhance emotion regulation when integrated with family therapy. We provide
      a clinical framework for integrating mindfulness into family therapy,
      particularly as it applies to families with adolescents. A brief case example
      details sample methods showing how incorporating mindfulness practices into
      family therapy may enhance treatment outcomes. A range of assessment modalities
      from biological to behavioral demonstrates the breadth with which the benefits of
      a family-based mindfulness intervention might be evaluated.

PMID- 28590542
TI  - The donor risk index: A decade of experience.
AB  - In 2006, derivation of the donor risk index (DRI) highlighted the importance of
      donor factors for successful liver transplantation. Over the last decade, the DRI
      has served as a useful metric of donor quality and has enhanced our understanding
      of donor factors and their impact upon recipients with hepatitis C virus, those
      with low Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and individuals
      undergoing retransplantation. DRI has provided the transplant community with a
      common language for describing donor organ characteristics and has served as the
      foundation for several tools for organ risk assessment. It is a useful tool in
      assessing the interactions of donor factors with recipient factors and their
      impact on posttransplant outcomes. However, limitations of statistical modeling,
      choice of donor factors, exclusion of unaccounted donor and geographic factors,
      and the changing face of the liver transplant recipient have tempered its
      widespread use. In addition, the DRI was derived from data before the MELD era
      but is currently being applied to expand the donor pool while concurrently
      meeting the demands of a dynamic allocation system. A decade after its
      introduction, DRI remains relevant but may benefit from being updated to provide
      guidance in the use of extended criteria donors by accounting for the impact of
      geography and unmeasured donor characteristics. DRI could be better adapted for
      recipients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by examining and including
      recipient factors unique to this population. Liver Transplantation 23 1216-1225
      2017 AASLD.

PMID- 28590543
TI  - Association of the -449GC and -1151AC polymorphisms in the DDAH2 gene with
      asymmetric dimethylarginine and erythropoietin resistance in Chinese patients on
      maintenance hemodialysis.
AB  - We investigated the association of the -449G/C and -1151A/C polymorphisms in the
      DDAH2 gene with plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) concentration and
      erythropoietin resistance in 131 Chinese patients on maintenance hemodialysis
      (MHD). The -449G allele was in complete linkage disequilibrium with the -1151A
      allele and so were their corresponding C alleles. The -449GG/-1151AA genotype had
      the highest plasma ADMA concentration, erythropoietin resistance index (EPI) and
      serum malondialdehyde level, compared to either the -449GC/-1151AC or -449CC/
      1151CC variation. The genetic effect on the ADMA and EPI was separately confirmed
      by multivariate regression analysis. Our findings suggested that complex genetic
      variations in the DDAH2 gene may influence the ADMA concentration and
      erythropoietin resistance in MHD patients, in which altered oxidative stress was
      likely involved.

PMID- 28590540
TI  - Bicyclic Peptides as Next-Generation Therapeutics.
AB  - Bicyclic peptides have greater conformational rigidity and metabolic stability
      than linear and monocyclic peptides and are capable of binding to challenging
      drug targets with antibody-like affinity and specificity. Powerful combinatorial
      library technologies have recently been developed to rapidly synthesize and
      screen large bicyclic peptide libraries for ligands against enzymes, receptors,
      and protein-protein interaction targets. Bicyclic peptides have been developed as
      potential therapeutics against a wide range of diseases, drug targeting agents,
      imaging/diagnostic probes, and research tools. In this Minireview, we provide a
      summary of the recent progresses on the synthesis and applications of bicyclic
      peptides.

PMID- 28590544
TI  - Optically Triggered Melting of DNA on Individual Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes.
AB  - Optical excitation of nanostructures is known to induce local heating, a
      phenomenon that has been intensely exploited for drug release, gene delivery,
      cancer thermotherapy, and energy harvesting. However, the effect is typically
      small requiring collective heating of a large concentration or aggregates of
      particles. Herein, we show that optical excitation of individual semiconducting
      single-walled carbon nanotubes triggers strongly localized heating adequate to
      melt non-covalently attached double-stranded oligonucleotides in solution. In
      contrast to conventional thermal dehybridization, this optically triggered DNA
      melting occurs at a solution temperature that is 22  degrees C lower than the DNA
      melting temperature. This unexpectedly large localized optical heating effect
      provides important new insights to design selective optical nanoheaters at the
      single particle level.

PMID- 28590545
TI  - The utility of a single simple question in the evaluation of patients with
      myasthenia gravis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Assessing myasthenia gravis (MG) can be challenging, and multiple
      scales are available to evaluate disease severity. We evaluated the utility of a
      single, simple question, as part of the MG evaluation: "What percentage of normal
      do you feel regarding your MG, 0%-100% normal?" METHODS: A retrospective chart
      review of patients attending the neuromuscular clinic from January 2014 to
      December 2015 was performed. Responses were correlated with symptoms and signs,
      the Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score (QMGS), the Myasthenia Gravis Impairment
      Index (MGII), and the 15-item Myasthenia Gravis Quality of Life scale (MG-QOL15).
      RESULTS: The total cohort included 169 patients. The percentage of normal
      correlated strongly with limb muscle weakness and MG scales, moderately with
      bulbar and respiratory symptoms, and weakly with ocular manifestations.
      DISCUSSION: The question, "What percentage of normal do you feel regarding your
      MG?" is feasible and valid, and can be incorporated easily into routine clinical
      evaluation. Muscle Nerve 57: 240-244, 2018.

PMID- 28590546
TI  - Non a Priori Automatic Discovery of 3D Chemical Patterns: Application to
      Mutagenicity.
AB  - This article introduces a new type of structural fragment called a geometrical
      pattern. Such geometrical patterns are defined as molecular graphs that include a
      labelling of atoms together with constraints on interatomic distances. The
      discovery of geometrical patterns in a chemical dataset relies on the induction
      of multiple decision trees combined in random forests. Each computational step
      corresponds to a refinement of a preceding set of constraints, extending a
      previous geometrical pattern. This paper focuses on the mutagenicity of chemicals
      via the definition of structural alerts in relation with these geometrical
      patterns. It follows an experimental assessment of the main geometrical patterns
      to show how they can efficiently originate the definition of a chemical feature
      related to a chemical function or a chemical property. Geometrical patterns have
      provided a valuable and innovative approach to bring new pieces of information
      for discovering and assessing structural characteristics in relation to a
      particular biological phenotype.

PMID- 28590547
TI  - Geraniin suppresses ovarian cancer growth through inhibition of NF-kappaB
      activation and downregulation of Mcl-1 expression.
AB  - This study investigated the anticancer effects of geraniin on ovarian cancer
      cells and the signaling pathways involved. Ovarian cancer cells were treated with
      different concentrations of geraniin for 48 h and examined for viability,
      apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, and gene expression. Xenograft
      tumor studies were performed to determine the anticancer activity of geraniin in
      vivo. Geraniin significantly decreased cancer cell viability in a concentration
      dependent fashion. Geraniin significantly triggered apoptosis, which was
      accompanied by loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and increased cytochrome
      c release and caspsase-3 activity. Mechanistically, geraniin significantly
      downregulated Mcl-1 and impaired NF-kappaB p65 binding to the mcl-1 promoter.
      Overexpression of Mcl-1 significantly reversed geraniin-induced apoptosis in
      OVCAR3 cells. In addition, geraniin retarded ovarian cancer growth and reduced
      expression of phospho-p65 and Mcl-1. Collectively, geraniin elicits growth
      suppression in ovarian cancer through inhibition of NF-kappaB and Mcl-1 and may
      provide therapeutic benefits for this malignancy.

PMID- 28590548
TI  - Living and Conducting: Coating Individual Bacterial Cells with In Situ Formed
      Polypyrrole.
AB  - Coating individual bacterial cells with conjugated polymers to endow them with
      more functionalities is highly desirable. Here, we developed an in situ
      polymerization method to coat polypyrrole on the surface of individual Shewanella
      oneidensis MR-1, Escherichia coli, Ochrobacterium anthropic or Streptococcus
      thermophilus. All of these as-coated cells from different bacterial species
      displayed enhanced conductivities without affecting viability, suggesting the
      generality of our coating method. Because of their excellent conductivity, we
      employed polypyrrole-coated Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 as an anode in microbial
      fuel cells (MFCs) and found that not only direct contact-based extracellular
      electron transfer is dramatically enhanced, but also the viability of bacterial
      cells in MFCs is improved. Our results indicate that coating individual bacteria
      with conjugated polymers could be a promising strategy to enhance their
      performance or enrich them with more functionalities.

PMID- 28590549
TI  - Association between Breast Feeding and Paediatric Sleep Disordered Breathing: a
      Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast feeding has been suggested as a potential protective factor
      against childhood snoring and sleep disordered breathing (SDB). SDB can have
      major health consequences. The objective of this systematic review is to
      synthesise the available literature concerning any potential association between
      infant feeding methods and SDB in young children. METHODS: Five electronic
      databases were searched. All searches were inclusive until August 5, 2016. Two
      authors independently reviewed potentially relevant articles for eligibility. Any
      prospective or retrospective study, case-control study, cohort study, clinical
      trial, and cross-sectional study that evaluated the association between infant
      feeding methods and SDB were included. Data on study design, aim of study, sample
      size, study population, assessment tool, infant feeding methods, and outcome
      measures were extracted. RESULTS: Nine studies fulfilled the criteria to be
      finally included in this review, only cohorts and cross-sectional studies were
      identified. While seven of the selected studies reported a statistically
      significant association between breast feeding and reduced risk of SDB, the
      remaining two studies did not report any association. The main methodological
      limitation was high heterogeneity in the diagnostic criteria and assessment tools
      to identify SDB and limited data collection on infant feeding methods.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current evidence may point to a protective association, however,
      as uncertainty is moderate, any suggestion that breast feeding may or may not
      decrease the risk of SDB is currently unwarranted. More research on the topic is
      required to resolve some of the contradictions between included studies.

PMID- 28590550
TI  - OSI-027 modulates acute graft-versus-host disease after liver transplantation in
      a rat model.
AB  - Despite its rarity (1%-2%), acute graft-versus-host disease after liver
      transplantation (LT-aGVHD) has a high mortality rate (85%). A gradual decrease in
      regulatory T cells (Tregs) correlates with disease progression in a rat LT-GVHD
      model, and treatments which increase Tregs exert therapeutic effects on LT-aGVHD.
      In this study, LT-aGVHD model rats were treated with rapamycin (RAPA), OSI-027,
      or an equal quantity of vehicle. Rats treated with OSI-027 survived longer (>100
      days) than those in the RAPA (70 +/- 8 days) or control (24 +/- 3 days) groups.
      Flow cytometric analysis showed that the Treg ratios in peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells in the OSI-027 group were higher than those in the RAPA or
      control groups. The proportions of donor-derived lymphocytes in the OSI-027 group
      were lower than those in the RAPA or control groups. Hematoxylin-eosin staining
      of skin tissue demonstrated less severe lymphocyte infiltration in the OSI-027
      group than that in the RAPA or control groups. In vitro, OSI-027 induced
      differentiation of CD4+ CD25- T cells into CD4+ CD25+ forkhead box P3+ Tregs.
      Furthermore, injection of OSI-027-induced donor-derived CD4+ CD25+ T cells into
      the peripheral blood of LT-aGVHD model rats prevented LT-aGVHD. Thus, OSI-027 is
      implicated as a novel method for the treatment of LT-aGVHD. Liver Transplantation
      23 1186-1198 2017 AASLD.

PMID- 28590552
TI  - Direct Functionalization of C-H Bonds by Iron, Nickel, and Cobalt Catalysis.
AB  - Non-precious-metal-catalyzed reactions are of increasing importance in chemistry
      due to the outstanding ecological and economic properties of these metals. In the
      subfield of metal-catalyzed direct C-H functionalization reactions, recent years
      have shown an increasing number of publications dedicated to this topic. Nickel,
      cobalt, and last but not least iron, have started to enter a field which was long
      dominated by precious metals such as palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, and iridium.
      The present review article summarizes the development of iron-, nickel-, and
      cobalt-catalyzed C-H functionalization reactions until the end of 2016, and
      discusses the scope and limitations of these transformations.

PMID- 28590551
TI  - Ozone-induced dissociation on a traveling wave high-resolution mass spectrometer
      for determination of double-bond position in lipids.
AB  - RATIONALE: The position of C=C within fatty acyl chains affects the biological
      function of lipids. Ozone-induced dissociation mass spectrometry (OzID-MS) has
      great potential in determination of lipid double-bond position, but has generally
      been implemented on low-resolution ion trap mass spectrometers. In addition, most
      of the OzID-MS experiments carried out so far were focused on the sodiated
      adducts of lipids; fragmentation of the most commonly observed protonated ions
      generated in LC/MS-based lipidomics workflow has been less explored. METHODS:
      Ozone generated in line from an ozone generator was connected to the trap and
      transfer gas supply line of a Synapt G2 high-resolution mass spectrometer.
      Protonated ions of different phosphatidylcholines (PC) were generated by
      electrospray ionization through direct infusion. Different parameters, including
      traveling wave height and velocity, trap entrance and DC potential, were adjusted
      to maximize the OzID efficiency. sn-positional isomers and cis/trans isomers of
      lipids were compared for their reactivity with ozone. RESULTS: Traveling wave
      height and velocity were tuned to prolong the encounter time between lipid ions
      and ozone, and resulted in improved OzID efficiency, as did increasing trapping
      region DC and entrance potential. Under optimized settings, at least 1000 times
      enhancement in OzID efficiency was achieved compared to that under default
      settings for monounsaturated PC standards. Monounsaturated C=C in the sn-2 PC
      isomer reacted faster with ozone than the sn-1 isomer. Similarly, the C=C in
      trans PC reacted faster than in cis PC. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first
      implementation of OzID in the trap and transfer region of a traveling wave
      enabled high-resolution mass spectrometer. The OzID reaction efficiency is
      significantly improved by slowing down ions in the trap region for their
      prolonged interaction with ozone. This will facilitate application of high
      resolution OzID-MS in lipidomics.

PMID- 28590554
TI  - Wet years have more caterpillars: interacting roles of plant litter and predation
      by ants.
AB  - Climate is widely recognized as an important factor that affects temporal and
      spatial patterns of occurrence and abundance of herbivorous insects, although the
      ecological mechanisms responsible are poorly understood. We found that
      precipitation and standing water were positively correlated with locations and
      years of high abundance of caterpillars of the ranchman's tiger moth, Platyprepia
      virginalis. We analyzed 30 years of survey data and found that the number of
      large rainfall events was a better predictor of caterpillar abundance than total
      annual accumulation. We considered three ecological mechanisms that could drive
      this relationship and conducted observations and manipulative experiments to
      evaluate these mechanisms. (1) Rainfall facilitates more plant growth, although
      we found no evidence that increased food quality or quantity was causing the
      positive association between precipitation and caterpillar abundance. (2) Large
      rainfall events cause predatory ground-nesting ants to be less abundant and we
      found that the number of ants that recruited to local sites was negatively
      associated with survival and abundance of caterpillars. (3) We found that litter
      from wet sites provided a refuge from ant predation; litter from wet sites was
      not beneficial to caterpillars in the absence of ants. Both abiotic factors
      (precipitation) and biotic factors (predatory ants) affected the temporal and
      spatial abundance of caterpillars directly and interactively. Climate models
      predict that rainfall will become more variable, suggesting that populations of
      this caterpillar may also become more variable in the future.

PMID- 28590555
TI  - 750 Reasons To Celebrate Chemistry!
AB  - Time to reflect: This issue marks the 750th issue of Chemistry-A European
      Journal. The journal has played a significant role in changing chemistry. Its
      history has featured top papers from top authors for more than 20 years.

PMID- 28590553
TI  - Transgenerational effects of mild heat in Arabidopsis thaliana show strong
      genotype specificity that is explained by climate at origin.
AB  - Transgenerational environmental effects can trigger strong phenotypic variation.
      However, it is unclear how cues from different preceding generations interact.
      Also, little is known about the genetic variation for these life history traits.
      Here, we present the effects of grandparental and parental mild heat, and their
      combination, on four traits of the third-generation phenotype of 14 Arabidopsis
      thaliana genotypes. We tested for correlations of these effects with climate and
      constructed a conceptual model to identify the environmental conditions that
      favour the parental effect on flowering time. We observed strong evidence for
      genotype-specific transgenerational effects. On average, A. thaliana accustomed
      to mild heat produced more seeds after two generations. Parental effects
      overruled grandparental effects in all traits except reproductive biomass.
      Flowering was generally accelerated by all transgenerational effects. Notably,
      the parental effect triggered earliest flowering in genotypes adapted to dry
      summers. Accordingly, this parental effect was favoured in the model when early
      summer heat terminated the growing season and environments were correlated across
      generations. Our results suggest that A. thaliana can partly accustom to mild
      heat over two generations and genotype-specific parental effects show non-random
      evolutionary divergence across populations that may support climate change
      adaptation in the Mediterranean.

PMID- 28590556
TI  - Breast cysts rapidly enlarging with replacement of breast parenchyma and
      asymmetry.

PMID- 28590558
TI  - Tangential Extraperitoneal Retrorenal approach: a specified uniform technique for
      renal transplant biopsy.

PMID- 28590559
TI  - DOSY Analysis of Micromolar Analytes: Resolving Dilute Mixtures by SABRE
      Hyperpolarization.
AB  - DOSY is an NMR spectroscopy technique that resolves resonances according to the
      analytes' diffusion coefficients. It has found use in correlating NMR signals and
      estimating the number of components in mixtures. Applications of DOSY in dilute
      mixtures are, however, held back by excessively long measurement times. We
      demonstrate herein, how the enhanced NMR sensitivity provided by SABRE
      hyperpolarization allows DOSY analysis of low-micromolar mixtures, thus reducing
      the concentration requirements by at least 100-fold.

PMID- 28590557
TI  - Declines in plant palatability from polar to tropical latitudes depend on
      herbivore and plant identity.
AB  - Long-standing theory predicts that the intensity of consumer-prey interactions
      declines with increasing latitude, yet for plant-herbivore interactions,
      latitudinal changes in herbivory rates and plant palatability have received
      variable support. The topic is of growing interest given that lower-latitude
      species are moving poleward at an accelerating rate due to climate change, and
      predicting local interactions will depend partly on whether latitudinal gradients
      occur in these critical biotic interactions. Here, we assayed the palatability of
      50 seaweeds collected from polar (Antarctica), temperate (northeastern Pacific;
      California), and tropical (central Pacific; Fiji) locations to two herbivores
      native to the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, the generalist crab Mithraculus
      sculptus and sea urchin Echinometra lucunter. Red seaweeds (Rhodophyta) of polar
      and temperate origin were more readily consumed by urchins than were tropical
      reds. The decline in palatability with decreasing latitude is explained by shifts
      in tissue organic content along with the quantity and quality of secondary
      metabolites, degree of calcification or both. We detected no latitudinal shift in
      palatability of red seaweeds to crabs, nor any latitudinal shifts in palatability
      of brown seaweeds (Phaeophyta) to either crabs or urchins. Our results suggest
      that evolutionary pressure from tropical herbivores favored red seaweeds with
      lower palatability, either through the production of greater levels of chemical
      defenses, calcification, or both. Moreover, our results tentatively suggest that
      the "tropicalization" of temperate habitats is facilitated by the migration of
      tropical herbivores into temperate areas dominated by weakly defended and more
      nutritious foods, and that the removal of these competing seaweeds may facilitate
      the invasion of better-defended tropical seaweeds.

PMID- 28590560
TI  - Routine provision of intrauterine contraception at elective cesarean section in a
      national public health service: a service evaluation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We conducted a prospective health service evaluation to assess the
      feasibility and acceptability of routinely offering insertion of intrauterine
      contraception at cesarean section in a maternity setting in the UK. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: One month before scheduled cesarean section, women were sent information
      about postpartum contraception including the option of insertion of an
      intrauterine contraception at cesarean. Women choosing intrauterine contraception
      (copper intrauterine device or levonorgestrel intrauterine system) were followed
      up in person at six weeks, and telephone contact was made at three, six and 12
      months postpartum. Our main outcome measures were uptake of intrauterine
      contraception and complications by six weeks. Secondary outcomes were
      continuation and satisfaction with intrauterine contraception at 12 months.
      RESULTS: 120/877 women opted to have intrauterine contraception (13.7%), of which
      114 were fitted. By six weeks, there were seven expulsions (6.1%). The expulsion
      rate by one year was 8.8%. There were no cases of uterine perforations and one
      case of infection (0.8%). Follow-up rates were 82.5% at 12 months, and
      continuation rates with intrauterine contraception at 12 months were 84.8% of
      those contacted. At 12 months, 92.7% of respondents asked were either 'very' or
      'fairly' happy with their intrauterine contraception. CONCLUSIONS: Routine
      provision of intrauterine contraception at elective cesarean for women in a
      public maternity service is feasible and acceptable to women. It is associated
      with good uptake and good continuation rates for the first year. This could be an
      important strategy to increase use of intrauterine contraception and prevent
      short inter-pregnancy intervals and unintended pregnancies.

PMID- 28590561
TI  - Reprogramming the striatal stars: A new treatment option for Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28590562
TI  - Robust EPI Nyquist ghost removal by incorporating phase error correction with
      sensitivity encoding (PEC-SENSE).
AB  - PURPOSE: The existing approach of Nyquist ghost correction by parallel imaging in
      echo planar imaging (EPI) can suffer from image noise amplification. We propose a
      method that estimates a phase error map from multi-channel data itself and
      incorporates it into the sensitivity encoding (SENSE) reconstruction for Nyquist
      ghost correction without compromising the image SNR. METHODS: This method first
      reconstructs two ghost-free images from positive and negative echoes using SENSE,
      respectively, from which the phase error map is computed. This map is then
      incorporated into the coil sensitivity maps for the negative echo image during
      the joint SENSE reconstruction of all k-space data to obtain the final ghost-free
      image. Phantom and in vivo EPI experiments at 7 T and 3 T were performed to
      evaluate the proposed method. RESULTS: Nyquist ghost was effectively removed in
      all images even under oblique imaging and poor eddy current conditions. Resulting
      image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was comparable to that by the traditional
      linear phase error correction method and higher than that by a previous SENSE
      based parallel imaging correction approach. CONCLUSION: The proposed correction
      method can robustly eliminate Nyquist ghost while preserving the image SNR. This
      approach requires no additional calibration data beyond standard coil sensitivity
      maps and can be readily applied to all EPI applications. Magn Reson Med 79:943
      951, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28590563
TI  - A multi-state initiative to implement pediatric oral health in primary care
      practice and clinical education.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To implement and study the effect of improving pediatric oral health
      by training primary care practices and training programs. METHOD: In six New
      England States, primary care practices and clinical training programs (medical
      schools, residencies, physician assistant programs) were recruited and trained to
      incorporate pediatric oral health into medical practice. We measured the results
      of varying practice recruitment approaches and measured training outcomes based
      on self-reported implementation and state reported EPSDT CMS oral health claims.
      RESULTS: We trained 415 practices across six states with a 74 percent average
      retention rate of providing services at 6 months. This resulted in 136,963
      preventive oral health services (fluoride varnish, oral health assessment, or
      screening). Thirty-five of 52 health education programs established pediatric
      oral health curricula. The average cost of recruitment, training, and follow-up
      for an office or an educational program is approximately $1,000/site. CONCLUSION:
      We have created an enduring infrastructure and model for primary care practices
      and education programs for training in pediatric oral health.

PMID- 28590564
TI  - Beta-blockers in patients with advanced liver disease: Has the dust settled?
AB  - Nonselective beta-blockers (NSBBs) have been the backbone for the treatment of
      portal hypertension in cirrhosis for the last 3 decades. A publication in 2010 of
      a prospective observational study suggested that NSBBs could increase mortality
      in patients with refractory ascites. This opened a controversy about the safety
      and efficacy of NSBBs in patients with advanced liver disease and led to the
      publication of a large corpus of observational data assessing the safety of NSBBs
      in patients with advanced cirrhosis. In this article, we briefly review the
      clinical pharmacology of NSBBs, the pathophysiological basis for the underlying
      benefits and harms of NSBBs in advanced cirrhosis, and the evidence in favor and
      against the use of NSBBs in specific scenarios. Finally, we summarize the current
      recommendations and propose areas of opportunity for future research. Liver
      Transplantation 23 1058-1069 2017 AASLD.

PMID- 28590565
TI  - Three-dimensional MR reconstruction of high-contrast magnetic susceptibility by
      the variational born iterative method based on the magnetic field volume integral
      equation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To provide high-quality and high-contrast magnetic susceptibility
      mapping, a 3D MR reconstruction method for magnetic susceptibility based on the
      magnetic field volume integral equation with the variational Born iterative
      method (VBIM) is developed. METHODS: Three-dimensional magnetic susceptibility is
      reconstructed from the positive rotating magnetic field component H1+ of the
      radiofrequency field acquired by B1 mapping. The stabilized biconjugate gradient
      fast Fourier transform (BCGS-FFT) method is implemented in the forward problem to
      solve for the magnetic field, and the conjugate gradient fast Fourier transform
      method is implemented in the inverse problem to reconstruct the magnetic
      susceptibility distribution. RESULTS: Numerical results demonstrated that good
      effectiveness and high accuracy can be achieved for both the forward solver of
      the stabilized biconjugate gradient fast Fourier transform method and the inverse
      solver of the VBIM method. The method proved to be robust under noise
      contamination. Moreover, the magnetic susceptibilities with much higher contrasts
      than that of the non-full wave methods can also be efficiently reconstructed.
      CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method can reconstruct the magnetic susceptibility of
      not only human head, but also other human tissues or materials such as magnetic
      contrast agents with high magnetic susceptibilities. It has promising
      applications in high-contrast magnetic susceptibility mapping. Magn Reson Med
      79:923-932, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in
      Medicine.

PMID- 28590566
TI  - Phenotypic switching prevention and proliferation/migration inhibition of
      vascular smooth muscle cells by the ruthenium nitrosyl complex trans
      [Ru(NO)Cl(cyclam](PF6 )2.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration and proliferation at
      sites of vascular injury are both critical steps in the development of intimal
      hyperplasia (IH). Local delivery of nitric oxide (NO) largely prevents these
      events. Among the NO donors, tetraazamacrocyclic nitrosyl complexes, such as
      trans-[Ru(NO)Cl(cyclam)](PF6 )2 (cyclamNO), gained attention for their features,
      which include the possibility of being embedded in solid matrices, and ability to
      participate in a nitrite/NO catalytic conversion cycle. METHODS: Methods used to
      evaluate cyclamNO activity: safety margin by NR and MTT; cell proliferation by 3H
      thymidine incorporation and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression;
      antimigratory properties by transwell and wound healing; prevention of cell
      phenotypic switching under platelet-derived growth factor type BB (PDGF-BB)
      stimuli by analysis of alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) expression. KEY
      FINDINGS: Cell proliferation and migration induced by PDGF-BB were significantly
      inhibited by cyclamNO. The ~60% reduction on expression of contractile protein
      alpha-SMA induced by PDGF-BB revealed VSMC phenotypic switching which is
      significantly prevented by cyclamNO. Compared to the NO donor sodium
      nitroprusside, cyclamNO showed to be significantly less cytotoxic. CONCLUSIONS:
      With great potential to maintain VSMC functionality and prevent IH-associated
      events, cyclamNO might be a promissory drug for several applications in
      cardiovascular medicine, as in stents.

PMID- 28590568
TI  - Age at menarche and an analysis of secular trends in menarcheal age of South
      African urban and rural black females.
AB  - Age at menarche was estimated using status quo techniques on a sample of 230
      rural South African females aged 11 to 17 years. Mean age of menarche was 14.03
      years (SD = 1.25 years). Compared with contemporary rural and well-off urban
      samples, these females experienced menarche 0.6 years earlier than did the rural
      sample and 0.8 years later than the well-off urban group. Data from 11 previously
      reported studies of menarcheal age in urban and rural girls were analyzed with
      these data to determine the existence and magnitude of secular trends and whether
      rates differed between urban and rural environments. Regression analysis
      demonstrated a clear secular trend in both urban and rural females since 1943.
      Menarcheal age decreased at a rate of 0.34, 0.73, and 0.46 years per decade for
      rural, urban, and combined groups, respectively. The decline in menarcheal age
      over the last 40 years is thought to be due to improving socioeconomic
      conditions, but differences between urban and rural groups remain. Within rural
      groups there appears to be considerable variation in menarcheal age.

PMID- 28590567
TI  - Vitamin D insufficiency, preterm delivery and preeclampsia in women with type 1
      diabetes - an observational study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether vitamin D
      insufficiency is associated with preterm delivery and preeclampsia in women with
      type 1 diabetes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational study of 198 pregnant
      women with type 1 diabetes. 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D and HbA1c were measured in blood
      samples in early (median 8 weeks, range 5-14) and late (34 weeks, range 32-36)
      pregnancy. Kidney involvement (microalbuminuria or nephropathy) at inclusion,
      smoking status at inclusion, preterm delivery (<37 weeks) and preeclampsia (blood
      pressure >=140/90 mmHg and proteinuria) were registered. Vitamin D
      supplementation of 10 MUg daily was routinely recommended. RESULTS: Thirty-nine
      (20%) of the 198 women delivered preterm and 16 (8%) developed preeclampsia.
      Vitamin D insufficiency (<50 nmol/L) was present in 68 women (34%) in early
      pregnancy and in 73 women (37%) in late pregnancy. Preterm delivery occurred more
      frequently in women with vitamin D insufficiency in late pregnancy (27% vs. 15%,
      crude odds ratio 2.1; 95% confidence interval 1.0-4.3, p = 0.04). After
      adjustment for preexisting kidney involvement, HbA1c in late pregnancy and
      smoking the association became nonsignificant (adjusted odds ratio 1.8; 95%
      confidence interval 0.8-3.7). Preeclampsia developed in 11% of women with vitamin
      D insufficiency vs. 6% of the remaining women (crude odds ratio 1.8; 95%
      confidence interval 0.9-4.1, p = 0.25). CONCLUSION: In women with type 1
      diabetes, preterm delivery was twice as frequent in women with vitamin D
      insufficiency in late pregnancy in crude analysis, but in this small study, low
      vitamin D was not independently associated with preterm birth or preeclampsia.

PMID- 28590569
TI  - Causes of death and the components of mortality: Testing the biological
      interpretations of a competing hazards model.

PMID- 28590570
TI  - Anthropometric assessment of nutritional status among highland Kashmiri children:
      Reevaluating the assumption of female nutritional disadvantage.
AB  - As part of a larger project investigating the health of rural villagers in
      Kashmir, India anthropometric data were collected from 132 residents of the
      highland village of Basmina. Here data for 70 children (53% of the total sample)
      less than 10 years old are examined and compared to United States reference data
      and presented as a percentage of the median and Z-scores to describe nutritional
      status differences by age and sex. Overall, these children maintain indices of
      weight/age, stature/age, and arm circumference (AC)/age at almost -2.0 Z-scores
      or more below reference medians. Weight/height and triceps skinfold/age
      approximate -1.4 and -1.3 Z-scores below the median, respectively. These data
      along with clinical observations suggest that the Basmina sample is low normal to
      mildly malnourished. However, preschool children show evidence of moderate and
      severe malnutrition. The entire child sample shows a higher prevalence of
      malnutrition when compared to other populations living under similar conditions.
      The results are contrary to the belief that Indian girls are at a nutritional
      disadvantage when compared to boys. In fact, preschool girls maintain higher,
      though not significant, percentages of weight/age, weight/height, and AC/age.
      Girls between 5 and 10 years old also maintain a higher triceps/age index. On the
      other hand, boys between 5 and 10 years old maintain a higher stature/age index,
      but the difference is not statistically significant.

PMID- 28590571
TI  - Somatic comparisons: Baiga and Gond males of Madhya Pradesh, India.
AB  - Data were collected during 1987 on 84 Baiga and 146 Gond males, ages 7 years to
      18 years, living in rural regions of Madhya Pradesh State (India). Comparisons
      are made between Baiga and Gond males for 11 measures of body size, one measure
      of body form, and the body mass index (BMI). Somatic comparisons (standing
      height, body weight, and skelic index) were made at 5 ages with earlier samples
      of rural Indian males. Across all ages Gond males exceed their Baiga peers in
      standing height, sitting height, shoulder width, and body weight. Skelic index
      values (lower limb height expressed relative to sitting height) are similar for
      both ethnic groups through late childhood, but thereafter values are higher for
      Baiga males. Through age 15 years, Gond males exceed other rural Indian males
      from various tribes in standing height and body weight; lower limb height
      expressed relative to sitting height is highest for Baiga males.

PMID- 28590572
TI  - Sources of measurement variation in child anthropometry in the Malawi maternal
      and child nutrition study.
AB  - An examination of intra- and inter-observer error in child anthropometry and
      variation between two skinfold calipers was conducted as part of a large
      prospective study of maternal and child nutrition in Malawi, Central Africa.
      Measurements include length, weight, head and arm circumferences, triceps and
      subscapular skinfolds, and estimated cross-sectional arm fat and arm muscle
      areas. Total observer error, expressed as a percentage of total variance in each
      trait, is ?3.2% for length, weight, and head circumference; 7% for arm
      circumference; 10% for arm fat area; and 16-20% for skinfolds and arm muscle
      area. When total observer error is divided into the two additive components
      studied, intraobserver error represents approximately 50% or more of total
      observer error for most traits. An exception is the subscapular skinfold for
      which intra-observer represents 38% of total observer error. Errors of this
      magnitude will cause an attenuation of approximately 10% in the correlation
      coefficients between anthropometric and other variables, and a loss of power in
      attempting to detect associations between anthropometric variables and either
      their determinants or outcomes. However, the effects of errors of this magnitude
      are minor compared to those encountered in studies correlating nutrient intake
      with other variables. This study also finds that the SlimGuide caliper
      systematically overestimates skinfolds at low readings and underestimates
      skinfolds at high readingss relative to the Lange caliper.

PMID- 28590573
TI  - PC program for analyzing one-sample longitudinal data sets which satisfy the two
      stage polynomial growth curve model.
AB  - The two-stage polynomial growth curve model is described and a GAUSS program to
      perform the associated computations is documented and made available to
      interested readers. The two-stage model is similar to that considered by us
      earlier (Schneiderman and Kowalski: American Journal of Physical Anthropology
      67:323-333, 1985; American Journal of Human Biology 1:31-42, 1989), i.e., it is
      appropriate for the analysis of one-sample longitudinal data collected at either
      equal or unequal time intervals. Here, however, the covariance matrix, Sigma,
      instead of being considered arbitrary, is now assumed to have the special
      structure Sigma = W A W' + sigma2 I. We show the conditions under which this
      special structure may be expected to arise and how it may be exploited to produce
      sharper results in certain situations. The method and the program are illustrated
      and the results are contrasted to those obtained when Sigma is arbitrary. It is
      suggested that the two-stage model is more efficient when the same degree
      polynomial is adequate to model the data in the two situations, but that, should
      a higher degree be necessary for the two-stage model, confidence intervals and/or
      bands may be wider than those corresponding to Sigma arbitrary.

PMID- 28590574
TI  - Genetic and environmental contributions to the variance of the body mass index in
      a Norwegian sample of first- and second-degree relatives.
AB  - Height and weight were measured in a health screening of the population in Nord
      Trondelag, Norway. Correlations for the body mass index were computed for 23,936
      pairs of spouses, 43,586 pairs of parents and offspring, 19,151 pairs of
      siblings, 1,251 pairs of grandparents and grandchildren, 1,146 cognate avuncular
      pairs, 801 noncognate avuncular pairs, 168 pairs of same-sexed twins, and smaller
      groups of other types of relatives. Correlations were largely independent of age
      and age difference within pairs of relatives, suggesting a stable effect of the
      same set of genes and familial environment throughout adulthood. No effect of
      convergence during marriage could be detected. Correlations were approximately
      .20 for parents and offspring, .26 for same-sexed siblings, .20 for opposite
      sexed siblings, .58 for monozygotic twins, and close to zero for most second
      order relatives. Results from structural equation model-fitting indicate a broad
      heritability of .4, much of which is due to genetic dominance or other genetic
      nonadditivity.

PMID- 28590576
TI  - Do women with dense breasts have higher radiation dose during screening
      mammography?
AB  - Radiation dose during screening mammography is a concern among women. The purpose
      of this study was to evaluate the relative contribution of breast density to the
      radiation dose from screening mammography. This IRB approved retrospective study
      involved collecting patient age, weight, height, compressed breast thickness, and
      average glandular dose for each exposure for 434 sequential patients undergoing
      screening mammography at our institution. Automated volumetric density software
      was used to quantify breast density. The relationship of predictors was evaluated
      by univariate and multivariate analysis. Median patient age was 58 years and
      median body mass index (BMI) was 26.8. Median volumetric breast density was 5.8%
      (range 1.7-30.5%). Median compressed breast thickness was 63.4 mm (range 24.5
      111.5 mm). Univariate analysis showed positive associations between radiation
      dose and both breast thickness and BMI, an inverse association with age, and no
      association with density. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated a
      significant association between dose and age (P=.021), laterality (P<.001), BMI
      (P=.038), density (P<.001), and breast thickness (P<.001). Decomposition of the
      multivariate regression model coefficient of determination showed that breast
      thickness was the primary determinant of dose, accounting for 76% of the 58% of
      the dose variability, followed by density (8%), laterality (4%), age (<1%), and
      BMI (<1%). Compressed breast thickness had the greatest effect on average
      glandular dose. Breast density has a minor impact, while BMI and age have minimal
      impact on dose.

PMID- 28590575
TI  - Reply to: MRI measures of brainstem in parkinsonian syndromes: Where we stand and
      where we need to go.

PMID- 28590577
TI  - Non-neural androgen receptors affect sexual differentiation of brain and
      behaviour.
AB  - Although gonadal testosterone is the principal endocrine factor that promotes
      masculine traits in mammals, the development of a male phenotype requires local
      production of both androgenic and oestrogenic signals within target tissues. Much
      of our knowledge concerning androgenic components of testosterone signalling in
      sexual differentiation comes from studies of androgen receptor (Ar) loss of
      function mutants. Here, we review these studies of loss of Ar function and of AR
      overexpression either globally or selectively in the nervous system of mice.
      Global and neural mutations affect socio-sexual behaviour and the neuroanatomy of
      these mice in a sexually differentiated manner. Some masculine traits are
      affected by both global and neural mutation, indicative of neural mediation,
      whereas other masculine traits are affected only by global mutation, indicative
      of an obligatory non-neural androgen target. These results support a model in
      which multiple sites of androgen action coordinate to produce masculine
      phenotypes. Furthermore, AR overexpression does not always have a phenotype
      opposite to that of loss of Ar function mutants, indicative of a nonlinear
      relationship between androgen dose and masculine phenotype in some cases.
      Potential mechanisms of Ar gene function in non-neural targets in producing
      masculine phenotypes are discussed.

PMID- 28590578
TI  - Acute inhibitory effect of alpha-mangostin on sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium
      ATPase and myocardial relaxation.
AB  - The benefits of alpha-mangostin for various tissues have been reported, but its
      effect on the heart has not been clarified. This study aimed to evaluate the
      effects of alpha-mangostin on cardiac function. Using a cardiac sarcoplasmic
      reticulum (SR) membrane preparation, alpha-mangostin inhibited SR Ca2+ -ATPase
      activity in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 of 6.47 +/- 0.7 MUM). Its suppressive
      effect was specific to SR Ca2+ -ATPase but not to myofibrillar Ca2+ -ATPase.
      Using isolated cardiomyocytes, 50 MUM of alpha-mangostin significantly increased
      the duration of cell relengthening and increased the duration of Ca2+ transient
      decay, suggesting altered myocyte relaxation. The relaxation effect of alpha
      mangostin was also supported in vivo after intravenous infusion. A significant
      suppression of both peak pressure and rate of ventricular relaxation (-dP/dt)
      relative to DMSO infusion was observed. The results from the present study
      demonstrated that alpha-mangostin exerts specific inhibitory action on SR Ca2+ 
      ATPase activity, leading to myocardial relaxation dysfunction.

PMID- 28590579
TI  - Flexible mate choice may contribute to ecotype assortative mating in pumpkinseed
      sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus).
AB  - Gene flow is expected to limit adaptive divergence, but the ecological and
      behavioural factors that govern gene flow are still poorly understood,
      particularly at the earliest stages of population divergence. Reduced gene flow
      through mate choice (sexual isolation) can evolve even under conditions of subtle
      population divergence if intermediate phenotypes have reduced fitness. We
      indirectly tested the hypothesis that mate choice has evolved between coexisting
      littoral and pelagic ecotypes of polyphenic pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis
      gibbosus) that have diverged in morphology and resource use and where
      intermediate phenotypes have reduced performance. We assessed the ecotype of
      nesting males and females using stable isotope estimates of diet and a divergent
      male morphological trait, oral jaw width. We found positive assortative mating
      between ecotypes in a common spawning habitat along exposed lake shorelines, but
      contrary to expectations, assortative mating was variably expressed between two
      sampling years. Although the factors that influence variable assortative mating
      remain unclear, our results are consistent with mate choice being expressed by
      ecotypes. Despite being variably expressed, mate choice will reduce gene flow
      between ecotypes and could contribute to further adaptive divergence depending on
      its frequency and strength in the population. Our findings add to a growing body
      of evidence indicating mate choice behaviour can be a plastic trait, an idea that
      should be more explicitly considered in empirical studies of mate choice as well
      as conceptual frameworks of mate choice evolution and adaptive divergence.

PMID- 28590581
TI  - Bilateral intra-areolar polythelia.

PMID- 28590580
TI  - Projection of the prevalence of Parkinson's disease in the coming decades:
      Revisited.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have estimated future PD prevalence based on
      population aging. This study revisits that projection by accounting for the
      potential impact of declining rates of smoking. METHODS: The age- and gender
      stratified smoking prevalence in the United States from 2000 to 2040 were
      obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Surgeon General's Smoking
      Report. PD prevalence was estimated based on population aging with and without an
      account of the impact of declining smoking rates. Relative risks of 0.56 and 0.78
      were applied for current and former smokers, respectively. RESULTS: Accounting
      for aging alone, ~700,000 PD cases are predicted by 2040. After accounting for
      the declining smoking prevalence, ~770,000 cases, an increase of ~10% over the
      estimate without smoking, is predicted. CONCLUSIONS: If the epidemiological
      association of smoking and PD is causal, projecting future cases without
      considering smoking may underestimate disease burden, underscoring the urgency of
      adequate resource allocation. (c) 2017 International Parkinson and Movement
      Disorder Society.

PMID- 28590582
TI  - Remarkable Modulation of Self-Assembly in Short gamma-Peptides by Neighboring
      Ions and Orthogonal H-Bonding.
AB  - Gabapentin, an antiepileptic drug, is known to form stable helical structures in
      short peptides. Distinctly, we report on the newly synthesized gamma-analogue of
      gabapentin, that is, gamma-gabapentin (gamma-Gpn), which manifests beta-sheet
      character at molecular and nanofibrous hydrogels at the supramolecular level. We
      investigated the influence of proximally immobilized cationic amino acids (lysine
      and arginine) on the self-assembly of backbone-expanded tripeptide motif.
      Interestingly, arginine was found to be superior, both physically and
      mechanically, over lysine in driving hydrogelation. We have concluded that
      intrinsic and biochemically distinct properties of the guanidinium ion of
      arginine (compared to ammonium ion of lysine) have contributed towards this
      effect. Furthermore, similar to pyroglutamyl (pGlu) modified amyloid beta
      peptides, N-pGlu modification of our self-assembling tripeptide motif exerts a
      dramatic influence on aggregation and exhibits enhanced beta-sheet character,
      accelerated self-assembly kinetics, improved optical transparency and provides
      higher mechanical stiffness to the peptide hydrogel.

PMID- 28590584
TI  - Free-water and free-water corrected fractional anisotropy in primary and premotor
      corticospinal tracts in chronic stroke.
AB  - Measures from diffusion MRI have been used to characterize the corticospinal
      tract in chronic stroke. However, diffusivity can be influenced by partial volume
      effects from free-water, region of interest placement, and lesion masking. We
      collected diffusion MRI from a cohort of chronic stroke patients and controls and
      used a bitensor model to calculate free-water corrected fractional anisotropy
      (FAT ) and free water (FW) in the primary motor corticospinal tract (M1-CST) and
      the dorsal premotor corticospinal tract (PMd-CST). Region of interest analyses
      and whole-tract slice-by-slice analyses were used to assess between-group
      differences in FAT and FW in each tract. Correlations between FAT and FW and grip
      strength were also examined. Following lesion masking and correction for multiple
      comparisons, relative increases in FW were found for the stroke group in large
      portions of the M1-CST and PMd-CST in the lesioned hemisphere. FW in cortical
      regions was the strongest predictor of grip strength in the stroke group. Our
      findings also demonstrated that FAT is sensitive to the direct effects of the
      lesion itself, thus after controlling for the lesion, differences in FAT in
      nonlesioned tissue were small and generally similar between hemispheres and
      groups. Our observations suggest that FW may be a robust biological measurement
      that can be used to assess microstructure in residual white matter after stroke.
      Hum Brain Mapp 38:4546-4562, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28590583
TI  - 3R MoS2 with Broken Inversion Symmetry: A Promising Ultrathin Nonlinear Optical
      Device.
AB  - Nonlinear 2D layered crystals provide ideal platforms for applications and
      fundamental studies in ultrathin nonlinear optical (NLO) devices. However, the
      NLO frequency conversion efficiency constrained by lattice symmetry is still
      limited by layer numbers of 2D crystals. In this work, 3R MoS2 with broken
      inversion symmetry structure are grown and proved to be excellent NLO 2D crystals
      from monolayer (0.65 nm) toward bulk-like (300 nm) dimension. Thickness and
      wavelength-dependent second harmonic generation spectra offer the selection rules
      of appropriate working conditions. A model comprising of bulk nonlinear
      contribution and interface interaction is proposed to interpret the observed
      nonlinear behavior. Polarization enhancement with two petals along staggered
      stacking direction appears in 3R MoS2 is first observed and the robust
      polarization of 3R MoS2 crystal is caused by the retained broken inversion
      symmetry. The results provide a new arena for realizing ultrathin NLO devices for
      2D layered materials.

PMID- 28590586
TI  - Beyond the Hammett Effect: Using Strain to Alter the Landscape of Electrochemical
      Potentials.
AB  - The substitution of sterically bulky groups at precise locations along the
      periphery of fused-ring aromatic systems is demonstrated to increase
      electrochemical oxidation potentials by preventing relaxation events in the
      oxidized state. Phenothiazines, which undergo significant geometric relaxation
      upon oxidation, are used as fused-ring models to showcase that electron-donating
      methyl groups, which would generally be expected to lower oxidation potential,
      can lead to increased oxidation potentials when used as the steric drivers.
      Reduction events remain inaccessible through this molecular design route, a
      critical characteristic for electrochemical systems where high oxidation
      potentials are required and in which reductive decomposition must be prevented,
      as in high-voltage lithium-ion batteries. This study reveals a new avenue to
      alter the redox characteristics of fused-ring systems that find wide use as
      electroactive elements across a number of developing technologies.

PMID- 28590585
TI  - Comparison of the c-MET gene amplification between primary tumor and metastatic
      lymph nodes in non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: c-MET has recently been identified as a promising novel target in non
      small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We detected the consistency of c-MET gene
      amplification in metastatic lymph nodes and tumor tissues of NSCLC patients and
      discuss the clinical application value of c-MET gene amplification in metastatic
      lymph nodes. METHODS: Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to test
      tumor tissues in 368 NSCLC patients and 178 paired metastatic lymph node samples.
      The amplification consistency in metastatic lymph nodes and tissue samples were
      compared and the correlation between c-MET gene amplification and the clinical
      characteristics of patients was analyzed. RESULTS: The c-MET gene amplification
      rate was 8.97% (33/368) in tumor tissues. Of the 178 paired cases, c-MET gene
      amplification was positive in 7.95% (15/178) of cancerous tissues and 18.54%
      (33/178) of metastatic lymph nodes. c-MET gene amplification was detected more
      frequently in metastatic lymph nodes than in primary cancerous tissue. When
      metastatic lymph nodes were used as surrogate samples of primary cancerous
      tissues, the sensitivity was 86.67% (13/15) and the specificity was 87.69%
      (143/163). CONCLUSIONS: Screening for c-MET gene amplification in lymph node
      metastases could determine which patients are eligible for tyrosine kinase
      inhibitor therapy. Lymph node metastasis can predict c-MET gene amplification in
      a primary tumor and guide the clinical use of c-MET gene targeted drugs.

PMID- 28590589
TI  - Living donor liver transplantation for post-Kasai biliary atresia: Analysis of
      pretransplant predictors of outcomes in infants.
AB  - After decades of dramatic surgical innovations in pediatric living donor liver
      transplantation (LDLT), LDLT for biliary atresia (BA) still poses various
      challenges. This study reviewed our experience with LDLT for children with post
      Kasai BA and evaluated outcomes and prognostic factors. From 2005 to 2016, 168
      post-Kasai BA LDLT patients were enrolled and divided into 3 groups by age.
      Patient characteristics and perioperative data were compared. Predictors of
      morbidity and mortality following LDLT were analyzed in 93 infants. Outcome was
      relatively worse in infants than older children, with overall survival at 1 and 5
      years of 94.5% and 93.2%, respectively, and graft survival at 1 and 5 years of
      91.1% each. Incidence of vascular complications was not significantly higher in
      infants. High Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) score (odds ratio [OR],
      3.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-10.67; P = 0.02) and portal vein (PV)
      hypoplasia (OR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.10-9.52; P = 0.03) were independent risk factors
      for morbidity. Low weight-for-age z score (hazard ratio, 5.76; 95% CI, 1.05
      31.47; P = 0.03) was identified as a significant risk factor for mortality after
      LDLT, but not age or absolute body weight (BW). Infants with BW deficit had a
      significantly smaller PV diameter (P = 0.005), greater blood loss (P = 0.001),
      and higher incidence of postoperative bacteremia (P = 0.01). In conclusion, high
      PELD score and PV hypoplasia were independent risk factors for morbidity, and BW
      deficit was associated with poor survival in infants with post-Kasai BA after
      LDLT. However, LDLT in these infants at the earliest possible time after referral
      is a feasible option with excellent patient survival in an experienced center.
      Liver Transplantation 23 1199-1209 2017 AASLD.

PMID- 28590590
TI  - Repurposing of Human Kinase Inhibitors in Neglected Protozoan Diseases.
AB  - Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis belong to
      a group of infectious diseases known as neglected tropical diseases and are
      induced by infection with protozoan parasites named trypanosomatids. Drugs in
      current use have several limitations, and therefore new candidate drugs are
      required. The majority of current therapeutic trypanosomatid targets are enzymes
      or cell-surface receptors. Among these, eukaryotic protein kinases are a major
      group of protein targets whose modulation may be beneficial for the treatment of
      neglected tropical protozoan diseases. This review summarizes the finding of new
      hit compounds for neglected tropical protozoan diseases, by repurposing known
      human kinase inhibitors on trypanosomatids. Kinase inhibitors are grouped by
      human kinase family and discussed according to the screening (target-based or
      phenotypic) reported for these compounds on trypanosomatids. This collection aims
      to provide insight into repurposed human kinase inhibitors and their importance
      in the development of new chemical entities with potential beneficial effects on
      the diseases caused by trypanosomatids.

PMID- 28590587
TI  - Genetic variants in 5-HTTLPR, BDNF, HTR1A, COMT, and FKBP5 and risk for treated
      depression after cancer diagnosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of
      depression is unclear. Previous studies addressed vulnerability for depression
      after childhood adversity and stressful life events among carriers of numerous
      specific genetic variants; however, the importance of individual genetic
      variants, the environmental exposures with which they interact, and the magnitude
      of the risk conveyed by these interactions remain elusive. METHODS: We included
      7,320 people with a first primary cancer identified in the prospective Diet,
      Cancer and Health study in an exposed-only cohort study. The mean age of the
      individuals was 68 years (5th, 95th percentiles: 58, 78) at cancer diagnosis.
      Using Cox regression models and cumulative incidence plots, we analyzed the
      associations between genetic variants in 5-HTTLPR, BDNF, HTR1A, COMT, and FKBP5
      and use of antidepressants as well as hospital contact for depression after
      diagnosis of cancer. RESULTS: Overall, we observed no statistically significant
      associations, with nonsignificant hazard ratio estimates for use of
      antidepressants of 0.95-1.07. CONCLUSIONS: This study of elderly people indicates
      that it is unlikely that the investigated genetic variants are clinically
      relevantly associated with depression after diagnosis of cancer. The mechanisms
      for gene-environment interactions in younger individuals are probably different,
      and we advise caution in extrapolating our results to early life stress. However,
      conclusion from the present study might be generalizable to elderly persons
      exposed to other stressful life events.

PMID- 28590591
TI  - Hot Off the Press: Which Febrile Children With Sickle Cell Disease Need a Chest X
      ray?

PMID- 28590592
TI  - Decadal changes in habitat characteristics influence population trajectories of
      southern elephant seals.
AB  - Understanding divergent biological responses to climate change is important for
      predicting ecosystem level consequences. We use species habitat models to predict
      the winter foraging habitats of female southern elephant seals and investigate
      how changes in environmental variables within these habitats may be related to
      observed decreases in the Macquarie Island population. There were three main
      groups of seals that specialized in different ocean realms (the sub-Antarctic,
      the Ross Sea and the Victoria Land Coast). The physical and climate attributes
      (e.g. wind strength, sea surface height, ocean current strength) varied amongst
      the realms and also displayed different temporal trends over the last two to four
      decades. Most notably, sea ice extent increased on average in the Victoria Land
      realm while it decreased overall in the Ross Sea realm. Using a species
      distribution model relating mean residence times (time spent in each 50 * 50 km
      grid cell) to 9 climate and physical co-variates, we developed spatial
      predictions of residence time to identify the core regions used by the seals
      across the Southern Ocean from 120 degrees E to 120 degrees W. Population size at
      Macquarie Island was negatively correlated with ice concentration within the core
      habitat of seals using the Victoria Land Coast and the Ross Sea. Sea ice extent
      and concentration is predicted to continue to change in the Southern Ocean,
      having unknown consequences for the biota of the region. The proportion of
      Macquarie Island females (40%) utilizing the relatively stable sub-Antarctic
      region, may buffer this population against longer-term regional changes in
      habitat quality, but the Macquarie Island population has persistently decreased (
      1.45% per annum) over seven decades indicating that environmental changes in the
      Antarctic are acting on the remaining 60% of the population to impose a long-term
      population decline in a top Southern Ocean predator.

PMID- 28590594
TI  - Optimization of anti-pseudomonal antibiotics for cystic fibrosis pulmonary
      exacerbations: II. Cephalosporins and penicillins update.

PMID- 28590593
TI  - The proteasome enters the meiotic prophase fray.
AB  - The segregation of homologous chromosomes in meiosis depends on their ability to
      locate one another in the nucleus and establish a physical association through
      crossing over. A tightly regulated number of crossovers (COs) emerges following
      repair of induced DNA double-strand breaks by homologous recombination (HR), but
      the process of how HR intermediates transition into COs is still poorly
      understood. Two recent studies by Ahuja et al. and Rao et al. have revealed a
      role for chromosomally localized proteasomes in choreographing both homologous
      chromosome pairing and the evolution of HR intermediates into segregation
      competent COs. Using chemical inhibition of the proteasome and mutant analysis,
      the collective data reveal conserved functions for both the proteasome and a
      family of E3 ligases that can direct or compete with its activity in ensuring CO
      formation. Here, we review these findings and the impact of the discovery that
      protein modification dynamics and proteasomal activity cooperate to regulate key
      meiotic processes.

PMID- 28590595
TI  - Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children: Risk assessment.

PMID- 28590596
TI  - Alternating Copolymer of Double Four Ring Silicate and Dimethyl Silicone Monomer
      PSS-1.
AB  - A new copolymer consisting of double four ring (D4R) silicate units linked by
      dimethylsilicone monomer referred to as polyoligosiloxysilicone number one (PSS
      1) was synthesized. The D4R building unit is provided by hexamethyleneimine
      cyclosilicate hydrate crystals, which were dehydrated and reacted with
      dichlorodimethylsilane. The local structure of D4R silicate units and dimethyl
      silicone monomers was revealed by multidimensional solid-state NMR, FTIR and
      modeling. On average, D4R silicate units have 6.8 silicone linkages. Evidence for
      preferential unidirectional growth and chain ordering within the PSS-1 copolymer
      was provided by STEM and TEM. The structure of PSS-1 copolymer consists of
      twisted columns of D4R silicate units with or without cross-linking. Both models
      are consistent with the spectroscopic, microscopic and physical properties. PSS-1
      chains are predicted to be mechanically strong compared to silicones such as
      PDMS, yet more flexible than rigid silica materials such as zeolites.

PMID- 28590597
TI  - Height at Ages 7-13 Years in Relation to Developing Type 2 Diabetes Throughout
      Adult Life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Short adults have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Although
      adult height results from childhood growth, the effects of height and growth
      trajectories during childhood are sparsely investigated. We investigated sex
      specific associations between childhood height, growth and adult type 2 diabetes,
      including potential influences of birthweight and childhood body mass index
      (BMI). METHODS: We followed 292 827 individuals, born 1930-83, from the
      Copenhagen School Health Records Register in national registers for type 2
      diabetes (11 548 men; 7472 women). Weights and heights were measured at ages 7-13
      years. Hazard ratios (HR) of type 2 diabetes (age >=30 years) were estimated
      without and with adjustment for birthweight and BMI. RESULTS: In men,
      associations between height and type 2 diabetes changed from inverse for below
      average heights at age 7 years to positive for above-average heights at 13 years.
      No consistent associations were observed among women. These associations were not
      affected by birthweight. After adjustment for BMI, below-average childhood
      heights were inversely associated with type 2 diabetes among men (HR range: 0.91
      0.93 per z-score) but above-average heights were not. Among women, after
      adjustment for BMI, below- and above-average heights in childhood were inversely
      associated with type 2 diabetes (HR range: 0.91-0.95). Greater height growth from
      7 to 13 years was positively associated with type 2 diabetes in men and women.
      CONCLUSIONS: After adjustment for BMI, short childhood height at all ages and
      greater growth during childhood are associated with an increased risk of type 2
      diabetes, suggesting that this period of life warrants mechanistic
      investigations.

PMID- 28590599
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28590598
TI  - The 28-year incidence of de novo malignancies after liver transplantation: A
      single-center analysis of risk factors and mortality in 1616 patients.
AB  - De novo malignancies (DNMs) are one of the leading causes of late mortality after
      liver transplantation (LT). We analyzed 1616 consecutive patients who underwent
      LT between 1988 and 2006 at our institution. All patients were prospectively
      observed over a study period of 28 years by our own outpatient clinic. Complete
      follow-up data were available for 96% of patients, 3% were incomplete, and only
      1% were lost to follow-up. The median follow-up of the patients was 14.1 years.
      Variables with possible prognostic impact on the development of DNMs were
      analyzed, as was the incidence of malignancies compared with the nontransplant
      population by using standardized incidence ratios. In total, 266 (16.5%) patients
      developed 322 DNMs of the following subgroups: hematological malignancies (n =
      49), skin cancer (n = 83), and nonskin solid organ tumors (SOT; n = 190). The
      probability of developing any DNM within 10 and 25 years was 12.9% and 23.0%,
      respectively. The respective probability of developing SOT was 7.8% and 16.2%.
      Mean age at time of diagnosis of SOT was 57.4 years (range, 18.3-81.1 years). In
      the multivariate analysis, an increased recipient age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.03; P
      < 0.001) and a history of smoking (HR, 1.92; P < 0.001) were significantly
      associated with development of SOT. Moreover, the development of SOT was
      significantly increased in cyclosporine A-treated compared with tacrolimus
      treated patients (HR, 1.53; P = 0.03). The present analysis shows a
      disproportionate increase of de novo SOT with an increasing follow-up period.
      Increased age and a history of smoking are confirmed as major risk factors.
      Moreover, the importance of immunosuppression is highlighted. Liver
      Transplantation 23 1404-1414 2017 AASLD.

PMID- 28590600
TI  - A Case of Caffeine Intolerance With Long-Term Use of Fluoxetine.

PMID- 28590601
TI  - Patient Characteristics Associated With Use of Lurasidone Versus Other Atypical
      Antipsychotics in Patients With Bipolar Disorder: Analysis From a Claims Database
      in the United States.
AB  - Objective: To compare patient characteristics, medical comorbidities, health care
      utilization, and health care costs among patients with bipolar disorder who
      initiated lurasidone versus other atypical antipsychotics in usual clinical
      practice. Methods: A retrospective analysis of administrative claims data was
      conducted using the US Optum Research Database (December 30, 2012, through
      February 27, 2014). Adult, commercially insured patients with bipolar disorder
      with an atypical antipsychotic prescription between June 28, 2013, and November
      30, 2013, were included. The lurasidone cohort first included any patients with a
      lurasidone prescription; remaining patients were assigned to their first atypical
      antipsychotic (aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone).
      Preindex patient characteristics comparisons to lurasidone were conducted with t
      tests (continuous variables) and chi2 or Fisher exact tests (categorical
      variables). Results: A total of 3,329 patients were included in this database
      analysis. A higher percentage of the lurasidone cohort (31.1%) had bipolar
      depression compared with the other cohorts (23.5%-28.0%). The lurasidone cohort
      had a statistically significantly higher percentage of patients with prior
      diabetes mellitus (13.3%) and lipid metabolism disorders (23.2%) than did the
      quetiapine cohort (8.4% and 16.3%, P < .01). In addition, the lurasidone cohort
      had significantly more prior antipsychotic polypharmacy (23.0% vs 6.7%-12.9%, P <
      .01) and atypical antipsychotic use (55.6% vs 11.8%-26.3%, P < .01) than other
      cohorts. The lurasidone cohort had a statistically significantly higher mean
      number of prior all-cause and mental health office visits (P < .001) and higher
      mean prior pharmacy costs than most cohorts (P < .01). Conclusions: Lurasidone
      treated patients with bipolar disorder tended to have a more complex clinical
      profile, comorbidities, and prior treatment history compared to patients
      initiated with other atypical antipsychotics in this claims database study. This
      pattern of treatment may have reflected the overall clinical profile of
      lurasidone, the role perceived for lurasidone in the therapeutic armamentarium by
      practitioners, and the recent introduction of lurasidone into clinical practice
      during the study period.

PMID- 28590602
TI  - ?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: XSome authors have assessed the link betweenobesity and colon
      adenoma risk. Moreover, it has been reportedthat obesity could increase the risk
      of proximal adenomadevelopment. Accordingly, obese patients may have a
      distinctivepattern of adenoma recurrence. AIM: To determinewhether metachronous
      adenoma features differ between obeseand non-obese subjects submitted to
      colonoscopy surveillance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated all
      patientsover 18 years old that underwent surveillance colonoscopyat our
      institution between June 2013 and June 2014.Date of prior colonoscopy was
      registered. A body mass index>= 30 was used to define obesity. Analysis looking
      for variablessignificantly associated with metachronous adenoma was
      performed.Metachronous adenoma rate was compared betweenobese and non-obese
      subjects, as well as size, location, morphologicaland histopathological
      characteristics. RESULTS: Overall,825 subjects were enrolled. Median time of
      surveillance colonoscopywas 38.9 months. Obesity was statistically more
      frequentin those subjects with metachronous adenomas (40% vs25.71%, p < 0.001).
      On multivariate analysis, obesity [OR1.7 (1.01-2.9)] and age [OR 1.02 (1-1.05)]
      were independentlyassociated with metachronous adenoma presence. Obesitywas also
      significantly associated with a higher risk of rightcolon adenomas [OR 2.4 (1.76
      3.26)] and advanced adenoma[OR 1.99 (1.29-3.06)]. The risk is significantly
      higherin men and in those with a family history of colorectal cancer/adenoma.
      CONCLUSION: Obesity was associated with a higherrisk of metachronous adenomas on
      surveillance colonoscopy. Ahigher risk of right-sided lesions and advanced
      adenomas wasalso found in this population.

PMID- 28590603
TI  - Aldosterone increases oxygen consumption of rectalepithelia of normal, sodium
      deprived and sodiumloadedrats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The colonic epithelium is a classical aldosteronetarget, but the
      effect of the hormone on the oxygenconsumption rate (QO2 ) of this tissue is
      unknown. Objectives.We aimed at assessing, in the rectal epithelium ofrats fed
      with diets of different sodium content, the effect ofepithelial sodium channel
      (ENaC) blockade on short-circuitcurrent (ISC ) and QO2 , and the acute effect of
      aldosteroneincubation on ISC and QO2 . METHODS: Adult male ratswere fed with
      normal, low or high-sodium diets for 8 days.Plasma sodium and serum aldosterone
      were measured. Isolatedmucosa preparations from the rectal portion of the
      colonwere mounted in Ussing chambers modified to measureISC and QO2. RESULTS:
      Baseline ISC and QO2 were highestin sodium-deprived rats. Both were
      proportionally reducedby amiloride (0.1 mM) in this group and in the normalsodium
      group, but not in sodium-loaded rats. In separateexperiments, incubation with
      aldosterone (10 nM) for 7 hincreased ISC and QO2 in all groups; increases were
      larger inthe normal and sodium-loaded groups. Amiloride decreasedboth ISC and QO2
      , abolishing the differences between groups.Linear regression of the decrease in
      QO2 and ISC after amilorideshowed the steepest slope for the sodium-deprived
      groupand the flattest one for the sodium-loaded group. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline
      epithelial QO2 of sodium-deprived and controlrats is reduced by ENaC blockade.
      Aldosterone increasedQO2 proportionally to ISC augmentation in all groups, butthe
      coupling between aerobic metabolism and electrogenictransport seems more
      efficient in sodium-deprived animals.

PMID- 28590604
TI  - Total gastrectomy due to ferric chloride intoxication.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The ferric chloride intoxication is frequentlycaused by accident.
      Its toxicity is generally underrated,which can lead to fatal evolution or
      irreversible consequences.In this case, the caustic condition of the substance
      isrelated to the toxic properties of iron. CASE PRESENTATION: A 36-year-old male
      patient arrives by ambulance indicatingsensory deterioration. He presents erosive
      injuries in thebuccal cavity and in the oropharynx, brownish teeth andmetabolic
      acidosis. Toxicology tests and ferritin blood dosageare requested, which show a
      result from 1400 mg/dl. Thesymptoms are interpreted as acute iron intoxication.
      Due tothe unfavorable evolution of his condition, an abdominaland pelvic CT scan
      are performed, which show extensivepneumoperitoneum and free fluid in the
      abdominal cavity.An exploratory laparotomy, a total gastrectomy with
      esophagostomyand feeding jejunostomy, washing and drainagedue to perforated
      gastric necrosis caused by caustic ingestionare performed. DISCUSSION: In our
      country, there is a highrate of intoxication caused by iron compounds, although
      itis not statistically measured. Nevertheless, the ferric chlorideintoxication is
      extremely infrequent. The ingestion of thisproduct leads to complications, which
      are associated with theiron concentration and its condition as a caustic agent.
      CONCLUSIONS: The surgical indications in the presence of intoxicationcaused by
      iron compounds are: stomach evacuationof iron, gastric necrosis, perforation or
      peritonitis and stenosis.Early or prophylactic gastrectomy is
      contraindicated.However, if complications that require immediate
      surgicalintervention arise, there should be no hesitation and the
      correspondingprocedure should be performed.

PMID- 28590605
TI  - ?
AB  - In this case we present a patient with chronic abdominalpain of a year of
      evolution, three months before being admittedto hospital the patient presented
      melaena and anaemia.Within the surgery antecedents it appears a caesarean 2
      yearsbefore and a cholecystectomy a year before. In the endoscopystudy a
      textiloma was observed coming up from the posterosiorside of the antrum which,
      after its endoscopic removal,showed a gastro-duodenal fistula with a non-patent
      pylorus.

PMID- 28590606
TI  - ?
AB  - It is presented a 48 year-old male patient with antecedent ofa foreign body
      intake (a beer metallic top) 4 years ago, whorejected surgery at first previous a
      failed attempt of endoscopicextraction. Four years later he was admitted in the
      ThoraxNational Institute in an emergency, with acute respiratoryfailure and
      sepsis signs that were corrected quickly; lateron after failed surgical attempts
      of trachea-esophageal fistulacorrection and extraction of the foreign body, the
      patient wassent to BJIG where the endoscopic extraction of the foreignbody
      located in the trachea was carried out together with thecorrection of the trachea
      esophageal fistula by means of implantation,in esophagus, of covered self
      expanding prosthesis.

PMID- 28590607
TI  - ?
AB  - The intestinal pneumatosis is a clinical entity that is describedas the presence
      of gas within the intestinal wall andportomesenteric venous complex as an air
      cysts without surroundedor no epithelial lining by a granulomatous infiltratewith
      giant cells multinucleic.1 It is a extremely rareclinical entity that has been
      characteristically associated withintestinal ischemia and high mortality. We
      present two casesof intestinal pneumatosis tomographic reports, admittedwith
      clinical symptoms of intestinal obstruction. Recent advancesin imaging
      techniques, mainly in multislice computedtomography (MSCT), allow a reliable and
      accurate earlydiagnosis of these findings.

PMID- 28590608
TI  - ?
AB  - Syphilis is a chronic systemic infection mainly transmittedthrough sexual contact
      that shows a great variety of clinicalmanifestations. Liver involvement is an
      unusual complicationmainly reported in HIV patients. In this case reportwe
      present a case of a 42-year-old immunocompent manwith acute cholestatic hepatitis
      who was finally diagnosed ofluetic hepatitis. Liver disease was the only
      manifestation ofsyphilis infection difficulty it's diagnostic. We emphasize
      theimportance of including syphilis in the differential diagnosisof abnormal
      liver function tests in patients at risk of sexuallytransmitted diseases due to
      its resolution with appropriateantibiotic treatment.

PMID- 28590710
TI  - ?
AB  - Neurophysiological studies of anorectal function provide usefulinformation about
      the integrity of innervation and neuromuscularfunction. This information helps to
      understand the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to severe anorectaldisorders
      function, such as fecal incontinence, pelvic floordisorders and dyssynergic
      defecation. These tests are commonlyperformed in patients referred to third level
      medicalcenters having negative evaluations or no response to conventionaltherapy.
      Proper use of these tests may reveal significantnew knowledge of the underlying
      mechanisms that can leadto better management of these disorders. These techniques
      arecomplementary to other types of research such as imaging ofthe pelvic floor.
      In this review, the most accomplished neurophysiologicalstudies, indications and
      clinical utility areanalyzed. Several techniques are emerging and provide uswith
      a better understanding of the brain-gut interactions.

PMID- 28590709
TI  - ?
AB  - One of the greatest achievements in gastroenterology and surgeryof the last 50
      years has been the capability to transplantdifferent abdominal organs of the
      digestive system separatelyor as a whole. The complexity of the intestinal
      transplantationdemands a multidisciplinary team engaged in the managementof
      patients with intestinal failure responsible fordefining the need for nutritional
      support, rehabilitation, orintestinal transplantation. This team should include a
      basicresearch area to provide answers to unresolved clinical problems.The aim of
      this work is to update the current status ofintestinal transplantation, and to
      show the progress and resultsof our center; emphasizing our achievements in the
      clinicalarea, and the contributions of the translational researchand mucosal
      immunology studies as part of the integral unitof intestinal failure,
      rehabilitation and transplantation. Thedata reported here demonstrate that the
      intestinal transplantationhas been established as a therapeutic option in
      ourcountry and Latin America, with long term results that haveranked our service
      at the level of the best centers in the worldpositioning us as referent in the
      specialty.

PMID- 28590711
TI  - ?
AB  - During the last twenty years Eosinophilic Esophagitis has becomeone the most
      important causes of esophageal disfunctionin children, food impactation in
      adolescents and youngadults, therapeutic failure in patients with
      gastroesophagealreflux disease (GERD) and the most frecuent eosinophilicdisease
      of the gastrointestinal tract. We present recommendationsfor the diagnosis and
      treatment of the disease based ina systematic review of the literature.

PMID- 28590712
TI  - Structural Characterization of Intermetallic Compounds by 27Al Solid State NMR
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - Intermetallic compounds are of broad interest for solid state chemists, condensed
      matter physicists, and material scientists due to their intriguing crystal
      chemistry, their physical properties, and their potential applications, ranging
      from lab curiosities to everyday objects. To characterize and understand the
      properties of new compounds and novel materials, the availability of structural
      information, particularly single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, is a mandatory
      prerequisite. Especially when it comes to the formation of compounds with
      deficient or mixed site occupancies, superstructures, or representatives
      crystallizing in other, thus far unknown structure types, a complementary method
      for structural analysis is of great value. Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy has been a valuable tool in many areas of chemistry, being an
      element-selective, site-specific, and inherently quantitative tool for detailed
      structural characterization. Magic-angle spinning conditions eliminate or reduce
      the effect of anisotropic interactions in the solid state, producing high
      resolution spectra. Until recently, 27Al NMR studies of intermetallic aluminum
      compounds have been relatively sparse and mostly limited to binary systems. In
      this Account, we will summarize the current state of the art of high-resolution
      27Al NMR in intermetallic compounds focusing on recent research efforts in our
      laboratories and the interpretation of NMR parameters in terms of the structural
      details of the compounds investigated. Besides theoretical aspects of 27Al NMR
      spectroscopy, short paragraphs on experimental details and the crystal chemistry
      of the discussed compounds are given. In the main part of this Account, we focus
      on three key aspects: (i) crystal structure validation, (ii) structural disorder
      and mixed site occupancies, and (iii) the electronic structure, all of which can
      be investigated by spectroscopic means. For the first part, we have chosen the
      ternary equiatomic compounds CaAuAl (TiNiSi type), BaAuAl (LaIrSi type), and
      Ba3Pt4Al4 (own type). Structural disorder and mixed site occupancies have been
      probed in the ScTAl series (T = Cr, Ru, Ag, Re) crystallizing in the TiNiSi,
      HfRhSn, and MgZn2-type structures. Also Na2Au3Al and the Heusler compounds,
      Sc(T0.5T'0.5)2Al (T = T' = Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au), have been used for structure
      validation purposes, based on the number and signal area ratios of the resonances
      observed and on the comparison between experimental and theoretically calculated
      nuclear electric quadrupolar interaction parameters. Electronic structure
      information available from 27Al magnetic shielding will be discussed based on
      experimental data obtained for the RET5Al2 series (RE = Y, Lu; T = Pd, Pt), the
      extended RE10TAl3 series (RE = Y, Lu; T = Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt),
      and the ordered Heusler compounds ScT2Al (T = Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au).

PMID- 28590713
TI  - High Photovoltaic Quantum Efficiency in Ultrathin van der Waals Heterostructures.
AB  - We report experimental measurements for ultrathin (<15 nm) van der Waals
      heterostructures exhibiting external quantum efficiencies exceeding 50% and show
      that these structures can achieve experimental absorbance >90%. By coupling
      electromagnetic simulations and experimental measurements, we show that pn
      WSe2/MoS2 heterojunctions with vertical carrier collection can have internal
      photocarrier collection efficiencies exceeding 70%.

PMID- 28590714
TI  - Reaching out for Sensitive Evaluation of the Mu Opioid Receptor in Vivo: Positron
      Emission Tomography Imaging of the Agonist [11C]AH7921.
AB  - Imaging of the mu opioid receptor (MOR) availability with positron emission
      tomography (PET) is a pertinent challenge in Neuroscience. Both, regulation of
      receptor expression and occupancy by endogeneous opioids play into cognitive and
      behavioral phenotypes of healthy function and disease. Receptor expression in the
      active and inactive states can be measured using high affinity radioagonist and
      radioantagonist PET tracers, respectively. Occupancy assessment requires
      radioligands showing competitive and reversible binding with moderate affinity to
      the MOR, which may lead to physical extinction of the receptor specific signal in
      vivo. We investigated a moderately potent, selective MOR agonist in rat to test
      if a radiotracer design paradigm tailored to competition with endogeneous opioids
      leads to viable imaging results. The benzamide 3,4-dichlorobenzenecarboxylic acid
      (dimethylamino)cyclohexyl)methyl amide (AH-7921, 1) was synthesized and
      characterized in rat brain using autoradiography and positron emission
      tomography. Compound 1 was found to activate with low nanomolar potency the MOR
      and to a lesser extent KOR as a full agonist. Concentration dependent binding
      studies with agonist and antagonist radioligands were conducted to assess
      competition behavior and obtain inhibition constants. Kinetic analysis of 3,4
      dichlorobenzene[11C]carboxylic acid (dimethylamino)cyclohexyl)methyl amide
      binding in rat brain resulted in low but reproducible binding potential in the
      thalamus (0.8 +/- 0.1). A radioactive metabolite was detected in brain (17%,
      after 15 min). Nonetheless, we conclude that quantitative imaging of MOR
      availability is possible when using a moderate affinity radiotracer.

PMID- 28590715
TI  - Enhanced Immune Adjuvant Activity of Aluminum Oxyhydroxide Nanorods through
      Cationic Surface Functionalization.
AB  - Aluminum-salt-based vaccine adjuvants are prevailingly used in FDA-approved
      vaccines for the prevention of infectious diseases for over eighty years. Despite
      their safe applications, the mechanisms regarding how the material
      characteristics affect the interactions at nano-bio interface and immunogenicity
      remain unclear. Recently, studies have indicated that the activation of NLRP3
      inflammasome plays a critical role in inducing adjuvant effects that are
      controlled by the inherent shape and hydroxyl contents of aluminum oxyhydroxide
      (AlOOH) nanoparticles; however, the detailed relationship between surface
      properties and adjuvant effects for these materials remains unknown. Thus, we
      engineered AlOOH nanorods (ALNRs) with controlled surface functionalization and
      charge to assess their effects on the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in vitro
      and the potentiation of immunogenicity in vivo. It is demonstrated that NH2
      functionalized ALNRs exhibited higher levels of cellular uptake, lysosomal
      damage, oxidative stress, and NLRP3 inflammasome activation than pristine and
      SO3H-functionalized ALNRs in cells. This structure-activity relationship also
      correlates with the adjuvant activity of the material using ovalbumin (OVA) in a
      mouse vaccination model. This study demonstrates that surface functionalization
      of ALNRs is critical for rational design of aluminum-based adjuvants to boost
      antigen-specific immune responses for more effective and long-lasting
      vaccination.

PMID- 28590716
TI  - Multiwavelength Light-Responsive Au/B-TiO2 Janus Micromotors.
AB  - Conventional photocatalytic micromotors are limited to the use of specific
      wavelengths of light due to their narrow light absorption spectrum, which limits
      their effectiveness for applications in biomedicine and environmental
      remediation. We present a multiwavelength light-responsive Janus micromotor
      consisting of a black TiO2 microsphere asymmetrically coated with a thin Au
      layer. The black TiO2 microspheres exhibit absorption ranges between 300 and 800
      nm. The Janus micromotors are propelled by light, both in H2O2 solutions and in
      pure H2O over a broad range of wavelengths including UV, blue, cyan, green, and
      red light. An analysis of the particles' motion shows that the motor speed
      decreases with increasing wavelength, which has not been previously realized. A
      significant increase in motor speed is observed when exploiting the entire
      visible light spectrum (>400 nm), suggesting a potential use of solar energy,
      which contains a great portion of visible light. Finally, stop-go motion is also
      demonstrated by controlling the visible light illumination, a necessary feature
      for the steerability of micro- and nanomachines.

PMID- 28590717
TI  - Sensitive and Selective NO2 Sensing Based on Alkyl- and Alkylthio-Thiophene
      Polymer Conductance and Conductance Ratio Changes from Differential Chemical
      Doping.
AB  - NO2-responsive polymer-based organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are
      described, and room-temperature detection with high sensitivity entirely from the
      semiconductor was achieved. Two thiophene polymers,
      poly(bisdodecylquaterthiophene) and poly(bisdodecylthioquaterthiophene) (PQT12
      and PQTS12, respectively), were used as active layers to detect a concentration
      at least as low as 1 ppm of NO2. The proportional on-current change of OFETs
      using these polymers reached over 400% for PQTS12, which is among the highest
      sensitivities reported for a NO2-responsive device based on an organic
      semiconducting film. From measurements of cyclic voltammetry and the electronic
      characteristics, we found that the introduction of sulfurs into the side chains
      induces traps in films of the PQTS12 and also decreases domain sizes, both of
      which could contribute to the higher sensitivity of PQTS12 to NO2 gas compared
      with PQT12. The ratio of responses of PQTS12 and PQT12 is higher for exposures to
      lower concentrations, making this parameter a means of distinguishing responses
      to low concentrations for extended times from exposures to high concentrations
      from shorter times. The responses to nonoxidizing vapors were much lower,
      indicating good selectivity to NO2 of two polymers. This work demonstrates the
      capability of increasing selectivity and calibration of OFET sensors by
      modulating redox and aggregation properties of polymer semiconductors.

PMID- 28590718
TI  - Tuning Supramolecular Structure and Functions of Peptide bola-Amphiphile by
      Solvent Evaporation-Dissolution.
AB  - Solvent molecules significantly affect the supramolecular self-assembly, for
      example, in forming solvent-bridged hydrogen bonding networks. Even small changes
      in solvent composition can have dramatic impact on supramolecular assembly.
      Herein, we demonstrate the use of trace solvents (as low as 0.04%) to tune the
      morphology and consequent functions of supramolecular nanostructures based on an
      aromatic peptide bola-amphiphile. Specifically, perylene bisimide-(di)glycine
      tyrosine (PBI-[GY]2) bola-amphiphile was shown to give rise to red-emitting
      nanofibers when assembled in water, while exposure to trace organic solvents such
      as tetrahydrofuran (THF) and others via solvent-evaporation followed by aqueous
      assembly gave rise to white-light-emitting nanospheres. Differential hydrogen
      bonding between water (donor and acceptor) and THF (acceptor only) impacts
      supramolecular organization, which was verified using a density functional theory
      (DFT) simulation. The tunable consequent surface hydrophobicity was utilized in
      staining the cytoplasm and membrane of cells, respectively. The trace-solvent
      effect achieved through evaporation-dissolution provides a methodology to mediate
      the morphologies and consequent functions for supramolecular biomaterials
      controlled by the self-assembly pathway.

PMID- 28590719
TI  - Strongly Coupled High-Quality Graphene/2D Superconducting Mo2C Vertical
      Heterostructures with Aligned Orientation.
AB  - Vertical heterostructures of two-dimensional (2D) crystals have led to the
      observations of numerous exciting physical phenomena and presented the
      possibilities for technological applications, which strongly depend on the
      quality, interface, relative alignment, and interaction of the neighboring 2D
      crystals. The heterostructures or hybrids of graphene and superconductors offer a
      very interesting platform to study mesoscopic superconductivity and the interplay
      of the quantum Hall effect with superconductivity. However, so far the
      heterostructures of graphene and 2D superconductors are fabricated by stacking,
      and consequently suffer from random relative alignment, weak interfacial
      interaction, and unavoidable interface contaminants. Here we report the direct
      growth of high-quality graphene/2D superconductor (nonlayered ultrathin alpha
      Mo2C crystal) vertical heterostructures with uniformly well-aligned lattice
      orientation and strong interface coupling by chemical vapor deposition. In the
      heterostructure, both graphene and 2D alpha-Mo2C crystal show no defect, and the
      graphene is strongly compressed. Different from the previously reported
      graphene/superconductor heterostructures or hybrids, the strong interface
      coupling leads to a phase diagram of superconducting transition with multiple
      voltage steps being observed in the transition regime. Furthermore, we
      demonstrate the realization of highly transparent Josephson junction devices
      based on these strongly coupled high-quality heterostructures, in which a clear
      magnetic-field-induced Fraunhofer pattern of the critical supercurrent is
      observed.

PMID- 28590720
TI  - ZnS-Sb2S3@C Core-Double Shell Polyhedron Structure Derived from Metal-Organic
      Framework as Anodes for High Performance Sodium Ion Batteries.
AB  - Taking advantage of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8), ZnS-Sb2S3@C core
      double shell polyhedron structure is synthesized through a sulfurization reaction
      between Zn2+ dissociated from ZIF-8 and S2- from thioacetamide (TAA), and
      subsequently a metal cation exchange process between Zn2+ and Sb3+, in which
      carbon layer is introduced from polymeric resorcinol-formaldehyde to prevent the
      collapse of the polyhedron. The polyhedron composite with a ZnS inner-core and
      Sb2S3/C double-shell as anode for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) shows us a
      significantly improved electrochemical performance with stable cycle stability,
      high Coulombic efficiency and specific capacity. Peculiarly, introducing a carbon
      shell not only acts as an important protective layer to form a rigid construction
      and accommodate the volume changes, but also improves the electronic conductivity
      to optimize the stable cycle performance and the excellent rate property. The
      architecture composed of ZnS inner core and a complex Sb2S3/C shell not only
      facilitates the facile electrolyte infiltration to reduce the Na-ion diffusion
      length to improve the electrochemical reaction kinetics, but also prevents the
      structure pulverization caused by Na-ion insertion/extraction. This approach to
      prepare metal sulfides based on MOFs can be further extended to design other
      nanostructured systems for high performance energy storage devices.

PMID- 28590721
TI  - Biocompatible Iron Phthalocyanine-Albumin Assemblies as Photoacoustic and Thermal
      Theranostics in Living Mice.
AB  - Exploring novel and versatile nanomaterials for the construction of personalized
      multifunctional phototheranostics with significant potentials in bioimaging
      guided tumor phototherapies has attracted considerable attention. Herein, the
      phototheranostic agent human serum albumin-iron (II) phthalocyanine FePc
      nanoparticles (HSA-FePc NPs) were fabricated for photoacoustic (PA) imaging
      guided photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer in vivo. The prepared HSA-FePc NPs
      exhibited high stability, efficient NIR absorption, good capability and stability
      of photothermal behavior with a high photothermal conversion efficiency of
      ~44.4%, high contrast and spatial resolution of PA imaging, efficient cancer
      therapy, and low long-term toxicity. This potent multifunctional phototheranostic
      is, therefore, very promising and favorable for effective, precise, and safe
      antitumor treatment in clinical application.

PMID- 28590722
TI  - Injectable Fullerenol/Alginate Hydrogel for Suppression of Oxidative Stress
      Damage in Brown Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Cardiac Repair.
AB  - Stem cell implantation strategy has exhibited potential to treat the myocardial
      infarction (MI), however, the low retention and survival limit their applications
      due to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) microenvironment after MI. In this
      study, the fullerenol nanoparticles are introduced into alginate hydrogel to
      create an injectable cell delivery vehicle with antioxidant activity. Results
      suggest that the prepared hydrogels exhibit excellent injectable and mechanical
      strength. In addition, the fullerenol/alginate hydrogel can effectively scavenge
      the superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals. Based on these results, the
      biological behaviors of brown adipose-derived stem cells (BADSCs) seeded in
      fullerenol/alginate hydrogel were investigated in the presence of H2O2. Results
      suggest that the fullerenol/alginate hydrogels have no cytotoxicity effects on
      BADSCs. Moreover, they can suppress the oxidative stress damage of BADSCs and
      improve their survival capacity under ROS microenvironment via activating the ERK
      and p38 pathways while inhibiting JNK pathway. Further, the addition of
      fullerenol can improve the cardiomyogenic differentiation of BADSCs even under
      ROS microenvironment. To assess its therapeutic effects in vivo, the
      fullerenol/alginate hydrogel loaded with BADSCs were implanted in the MI area in
      rats. Results suggest that the fullerenol/alginate hydrogel can effectively
      decrease ROS level in MI zone, improve the retention and survival of implanted
      BADSCs, and induce angiogenesis, which in turn promote cardiac functional
      recovery. Therefore, the fullerenol/alginate hydrogel can act as injectable cell
      delivery vehicles for cardiac repair.

PMID- 28590723
TI  - Terpene Cyclizations inside a Supramolecular Catalyst: Leaving-Group-Controlled
      Product Selectivity and Mechanistic Studies.
AB  - The tail-to-head terpene cyclization is arguably one of the most complex
      reactions found in nature. The hydrogen-bond-based resorcinarene capsule
      represents the first man-made enzyme-like catalyst that is capable of catalyzing
      this reaction. Based on noncovalent interactions between the capsule and the
      substrate, the product selectivity can be tuned by using different leaving
      groups. A detailed mechanistic investigation was performed to elucidate the
      reaction mechanism. For the cyclization of geranyl acetate, it was found that the
      cleavage of the leaving group is the rate-determining step. Furthermore, the
      studies revealed that trace amounts of acid are required as cocatalyst. A series
      of control experiments demonstrate that a synergistic interplay between the
      supramolecular capsule and the acid traces is required for catalytic activity.

PMID- 28590724
TI  - An Ultraviolet Nonlinear Optic Borate with 13-Ring Channels Constructed from
      Different Building Units.
AB  - Under solvothermal conditions, a chair open-framework borate, Na2B9O15(H2O)(H3O)
      (1), has been synthesized. Compound 1 shows regular pores of zeolites as well as
      nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of borates. The large 13-ring channels of the
      boron oxide framework are constructed from different cluster units of B3O7 and
      B6O13 with three-ring units. The second harmonic generation (SHG) signal
      intensity of 1 is similar to that of KH2PO4 (KDP) and gradually increased with
      larger particle size. Compound 1 is a potential UV NLO material for its short
      wavelength absorption edge.

PMID- 28590726
TI  - Anion- and Solvent-Induced Rotary Dynamics and Sensing in a Perylene Diimide
      [3]Catenane.
AB  - A novel dynamic [3]catenane consisting of a large four-station central macrocycle
      which incorporates a bay tetrachloro-functionalized perylene diimide (PDI) unit
      and two triazolium anion-binding motifs, mechanically bonded with two smaller
      isophthalamide-containing macrocycles, is constructed using an anion template
      synthetic methodology. Proton NMR, electronic absorption, and fluorescence
      emission spectroscopies together with molecular dynamics simulations are used to
      investigate the anion recognition- and solvent-dependent dynamic properties of
      the higher-order mechanically interlocked molecule. Importantly, unprecedented
      solvent-dependent and anion-binding-induced circumrotatory motion in a
      hetero[3]catenane system is demonstrated where the exotic dual rotary switching
      behavior provides a unique and sophisticated mechanism for optical anion sensing
      in competitive protic organic and aqueous-organic media.

PMID- 28590725
TI  - Discovery of a Cryptic Antifungal Compound from Streptomyces albus J1074 Using
      High-Throughput Elicitor Screens.
AB  - An important unresolved issue in microbial secondary metabolite production is the
      abundance of biosynthetic gene clusters that are not expressed under typical
      laboratory growth conditions. These so-called silent or cryptic gene clusters are
      sources of new natural products, but how they are silenced, and how they may be
      rationally activated are areas of ongoing investigation. We recently devised a
      chemogenetic high-throughput screening approach ("HiTES") to discover small
      molecule elicitors of silent biosynthetic gene clusters. This method was
      successfully applied to a Gram-negative bacterium; it has yet to be implemented
      in the prolific antibiotic-producing streptomycetes. Herein we have developed a
      high-throughput transcriptional assay format in Streptomyces spp. by leveraging
      eGFP, inserted both at a neutral site and inside the biosynthetic cluster of
      interest, as a read-out for secondary metabolite synthesis. Using this approach,
      we successfully used HiTES to activate a silent gene cluster in Streptomyces
      albus J1074. Our results revealed the cytotoxins etoposide and ivermectin as
      potent inducers, allowing us to isolate and structurally characterize 14 novel
      small molecule products of the chosen cluster. One of these molecules is a novel
      antifungal, while several others inhibit a cysteine protease implicated in
      cancer. Studies addressing the mechanism of induction by the two elicitors led to
      the identification of a pathway-specific transcriptional repressor that silences
      the gene cluster under standard growth conditions. The successful application of
      HiTES will allow future interrogations of the biological regulation and chemical
      output of the countless silent gene clusters in Streptomyces spp.

PMID- 28590727
TI  - Capturing Chemistry in Action with Electrons: Realization of Atomically Resolved
      Reaction Dynamics.
AB  - One of the grand challenges in chemistry has been to directly observe atomic
      motions during chemical processes. The depiction of the nuclear configurations in
      space-time to understand barrier crossing events has served as a unifying
      intellectual theme connecting the different disciplines of chemistry. This
      challenge has been cast as an imaging problem in which the technical issues
      reduce to achieving not only sufficient simultaneous space-time resolution but
      also brightness for sufficient image contrast to capture the atomic motions. This
      objective has been met with electrons as the imaging source. The review
      chronicles the first use of electron structural probes to study reactive
      intermediates, to the development of high bunch charge electron pulses with
      sufficient combined spatial-temporal resolution and intensity to literally light
      up atomic motions, as well as the means to characterize the electron pulses in
      terms of temporal brightness and image reconstruction. The use of femtosecond
      Rydberg spectroscopy as a novel means to use internal electron scattering within
      the molecular reference frame to obtain similar information on reaction dynamics
      is also discussed. The focus is on atomically resolved chemical reaction dynamics
      with pertinent references to work in other areas and forms of spectroscopy that
      provide additional information. Effectively, we can now directly observe the far
      from-equilibrium atomic motions involved in barrier crossing and categorize
      chemistry in terms of a power spectrum of a few dominant reaction modes. It is
      this reduction in dimensionality that makes chemical reaction mechanisms
      transferrable to seemingly arbitrarily complex (large N) systems, up to molecules
      as large as biological macromolecules (N > 1000 atoms). We now have a new way to
      reformulate reaction mechanisms using an experimentally determined dynamic mode
      basis that in combination with recent theoretical advances has the potential to
      lead to a new conceptual basis for chemistry that forms a natural link between
      structure and dynamics.

PMID- 28590728
TI  - Switchable Chiral Selection of Aspartic Acids by Dynamic States of Brushite.
AB  - We herein show the chiral recognition and separation of aspartic acid (Asp)
      enantiomers by achiral brushite due to the asymmetries of their dynamical steps
      in its nonequilibrium states. Growing brushite has a higher adsorption affinity
      to d-Asp, while l-Asp is predominant on the dissolving brushite surface.
      Microstructural characterization reveals that chiral selection is mainly
      attributed to brushite [101] steps, which exhibit two different configurations
      during crystal growth and dissolution, respectively, with each preferring a
      distinct enantiomer due to this asymmetry. Because these transition step
      configurations have different stabilities, they subsequently result in asymmetric
      adsorption. By varying free energy barriers through solution thermodynamic
      driving force (i.e., supersaturation), the dominant nonequilibrium intermediate
      states can be switched and chiral selection regulated. This finding highlights
      that the dynamic steps can be vital for chiral selection, which may provide a
      potential pathway for chirality generation through the dynamic nature.

PMID- 28590729
TI  - Synthetic Modularity of Protein-Metal-Organic Frameworks.
AB  - Previously, we adopted the construction principles of metal-organic frameworks
      (MOFs) to design a 3D crystalline protein lattice in which pseudospherical
      ferritin nodes decorated on their C3 symmetric vertices with Zn coordination
      sites were connected via a ditopic benzene-dihydroxamate linker. In this work, we
      have systematically varied both the metal ions presented at the vertices of the
      ferritin nodes (Zn(II), Ni(II), and Co(II)) and the synthetic dihydroxamate
      linkers, which yielded an expanded library of 15 ferritin-MOFs with the expected
      body-centered (cubic or tetragonal) lattice arrangements. Crystallographic and
      small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses indicate that lattice symmetries and
      dimensions of ferritin-MOFs can be dictated by both the metal and linker
      components. SAXS measurements on bulk crystalline samples reveal that some
      ferritin-MOFs can adopt multiple lattice conformations, suggesting dynamic
      behavior. This work establishes that the self-assembly of ferritin-MOFs is highly
      robust and that the synthetic modularity that underlies the structural diversity
      of conventional MOFs can also be applied to the self-assembly of protein-based
      crystalline materials.

PMID- 28590730
TI  - Three-Coordinate Copper(II) Aryls: Key Intermediates in C-O Bond Formation.
AB  - Copper(II) aryl species are proposed key intermediates in Cu-catalyzed cross
      coupling reactions. Novel three-coordinate copper(II) aryls [CuII]-C6F5 supported
      by ancillary beta-diketiminate ligands form in reactions between copper(II)
      alkoxides [CuII]-OtBu and B(C6F5)3. Crystallographic, spectroscopic, and DFT
      studies reveal geometric and electronic structures of these Cu(II) organometallic
      complexes. Reaction of [CuII]-C6F5 with the free radical NO(g) results in C-N
      bond formation to give [Cu](eta2-ONC6F5). Remarkably, addition of the phenolate
      anion PhO- to [CuII]-C6F5 directly affords diaryl ether PhO-C6F5 with concomitant
      generation of the copper(I) species [CuI](solvent) and {[CuI]-C6F5}-.
      Experimental and computational analysis supports redox disproportionation between
      [CuII]-C6F5 and {[CuII](C6F5)(OPh)}- to give {[CuI]-C6F5}- and [CuIII](C6F5)(OPh)
      unstable toward reductive elimination to [CuI](solvent) and PhO-C6F5.

PMID- 28590731
TI  - Synthesis, Transient Absorption, and Transient Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of
      Novel Electron Donor-Acceptor Complexes:  [5,15-Bis[(4'-nitrophenyl)ethynyl]
      10,20- diphenylporphinato]copper(II) and [5-[[4'-(Dimethylamino)phenyl]ethynyl]
      15-[(4''-nitrophenyl)ethynyl]-10,20-diphenylporphinato]copper(II).
AB  - We report the synthesis, transient absorption, FT Raman, resonance Raman, time
      resolved resonance Raman, and transient resonance Raman spectra of pseudo-D 2h
      symmetric [5,15-bis[(4'-nitrophenyl)ethynyl]-10,20-diphenylporphinato]copper(II)
      (I) and electronically asymmetric [5-[4'-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethynyl]-15-[(4''
      nitrophenyl)ethynyl]-10,20-diphenylporphinato]copper(II) (II), which bears both
      electron-releasing and electron-withdrawing groups conjugated directly to the
      porphyrin periphery. The spectroscopic results suggest extensive electronic
      communication between the 5- and 15-arylethynyl groups and the porphyrin core.
      Relative to the parent compound, (tetraphenylporphinato)copper(II) (CuTPP), the
      arylethynyl substituents increase the lifetime of the excited trip-multiplet
      states. CuTPP, as well as compounds I and II, however, shows similar solvent
      dependent dynamics:  the trip-multiplet lifetimes are longer in a noncoordinating
      solvent such as benzene than in a coordinating solvent such as THF. This behavior
      is consistent with the existence of a quenching state whose effect is more
      pronounced upon coordination of solvent. The time-resolved resonance Raman
      spectrum of compound II shows features commonly associated with the relatively
      long-lived triplet excited states of copper(II) porphyrins. The transient
      resonance Raman spectrum of a short-lived excited state present in both compounds
      I and II is characterized by marked shifts in the nitro and porphyrin stretching
      frequencies relative to that observed for the ground states of both (4
      nitrophenyl)ethyne and (tetraphenylporphinato)copper(II). We interpret these
      results for the compounds I and II as arising from (i) a short-lived excited
      state present at early time that possesses enhanced porphyrin-to-nitro charge
      transfer character with respect to the ground state and (ii) a longer-lived
      excited state deriving from this initially probed charge-transfer state that is
      largely porphyrin localized.

PMID- 28590732
TI  - Study of Substituted Ester Formation in Red Wine by the Development of a New
      Method for Quantitative Determination and Enantiomeric Separation of Their
      Corresponding Acids.
AB  - A new method was developed for quantifying substituted acids including, where
      applicable, their various unexplored enantiomeric forms. A new step was added to
      acids' usual quantification methods, consisting of extraction, derivatization to
      methyl esters, and gas chromatography analysis: preliminary extraction was
      performed at basic pH to eliminate ethyl esters, thus avoiding their
      transesterification during derivatization. Quantitation and enantiomeric
      distribution of some substituted esters and their corresponding acids were
      established in 31 commercial Bordeaux red wines from 0 to 20 years old. A strong
      positive correlation was observed between the age of wine and levels of ethyl 2
      methylpropanoate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl (3R)-3
      hydroxybutanoate, both enantiomeric forms of ethyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate,
      and ethyl (2S)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoate, but not ethyl (3S)-3
      hydroxybutanoate. However, the standard deviations of average concentrations for
      the corresponding substituted acids were so large that only few correlations
      between concentrations and age were observed. Concentrations of (2S)-2-hydroxy-3
      methylbutanoic acid and (2S)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid increased slightly
      over time, while (2R)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid levels decreased slightly
      with the age. Variations in the ratio of substituted ethyl esters to their
      corresponding acids over time detected thanks to these analytical advances
      suggested that, in general, acids were continuously esterified during aging.

PMID- 28590733
TI  - Resonance Destabilization in N-Acylanilines (Anilides): Electronically-Activated
      Planar Amides of Relevance in N-C(O) Cross-Coupling.
AB  - Transition-metal-catalyzed activation of amide N-C(O) bonds proceeds via
      selective metal insertion into the carbon-nitrogen amide bond. Herein, we
      demonstrate that N-acylanilines (anilides), the first class of planar amides that
      have been shown to undergo selective amide N-C cross-coupling reactions, feature
      a significantly decreased barrier to rotation around the amide N-C(O) bond. Most
      significantly, we demonstrate that amide nN -> pi*C?O resonance in simple
      anilides can be varied by as much as 10 kcal/mol. The data have important
      implications for the design of N-C(O) amide cross-coupling reactions and control
      of the molecular conformation of anilides by resonance effects.

PMID- 28590734
TI  - Derivatives of the Lignan 7'-Hydroxymatairesinol with Antioxidant Properties and
      Enhanced Lipophilicity.
AB  - The lignan 7'-hydroxymatairesinol (1), extracted from the knotwoods of fir (Abies
      alba), spruce (Picea abies), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), exhibited
      unexpected reactivity when esterification reactions were attempted on the hydroxy
      group at position C-7'. To circumvent the rapid intramolecular cyclization
      procedure, leading quantitatively to the lignan conidendrin (7), a simple
      strategy for 7'-esterification of 1 under mild conditions (three steps, up to 80%
      overall yield) was developed. Compared to hydroxymatairesinol (1) (log K'w =
      1.49), the derivatives (2-5) had increased lipophilicity with log K'w > 3.1, as
      determined by a UHPLC method. Compounds 1-5 exhibited potent antioxidant
      properties in the same range as the standards ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol
      (IC50 = 20-25 MUM) and higher than that of BHT using a DPPH radical-scavenging
      assay.

PMID- 28590735
TI  - Peptidyl-Prolyl Model Study: How Does the Electronic Effect Influence the Amide
      Bond Conformation?
AB  - The triple-helical structure of collagen, the most abundant protein in animal
      bodies, owes its stability to post-translationally installed hydroxyl groups at
      position 4 of prolyl residues. To shed light on the nature of this phenomenon, we
      have examined the influence of the 4-substituent on the amide isomerism in
      peptidyl-prolyl analogues. The rigid bicyclic skeleton of 2,4-methanoprolines
      allowed us to follow the through-bond impact of the substituent group (electronic
      effect) without the side-chain conformation being affected by a stereoelectronic
      effect. These proline analogues were prepared by [2 + 2] photocycloaddition of (2
      allylamino)acrylic acid derivatives. Subsequent pKa studies demonstrated a
      remarkable electronic effect of the 4-fluorine substitution, while the effect of
      the 4-methyl group was negligible. The trans/cis amide ratio was measured in
      model compounds under low temperature conditions. The observed prevalence for a
      trans-amide is extraordinary, and in this regard, 2,4-methanoproline is closer to
      primary alpha-amino acids than to proline. At the same time the amide rotation
      velocities were 3-4 orders of magnitude higher when compared to N-acetylprolyl.
      Finally, our results indicate that the electronic effect of the 4-substituent
      only affects the kinetics of the amide isomerization but not the thermodynamic
      prevalence for the trans-rotamer.

PMID- 28590736
TI  - Ozone and Other 1,3-Dipoles: Toward a Quantitative Measure of Diradical
      Character.
AB  - Ozone and its sulfur-substituted isomers are studied by means of the Breathing
      Orbital Valence Bond ab initio method, with the objective of estimating their
      controversial diradical characters. The calculated weights of the various VB
      structures and their individual diabatic energies are found to be consistent with
      each other. All 1,3-dipoles can be described in terms of three major VB
      structures, one diradical and two zwitterionic ones, out of the six structures,
      forming a complete basis. Ozone has a rather large diradical character, estimated
      to 44%-49%. SOO and SOS are even more diradicalar, whereas SSO and especially OSO
      are better described as closed-shell zwitterions. Moreover, the description of
      1,3-dipoles, in terms of the three major structures, yields VB weights in full
      agreement with simple chemical wisdom, i.e., a diradical weight of 33% when the
      three structures are quasi-degenerate, and a smaller (larger) value when the
      diradical structure is higher (lower) in energy than the zwitterionic ones.
      Therefore, the VB-calculated weight of the diradical structure of a molecule
      qualifies itself as a quantitative measure of diradical character, and not only
      as an indicator of tendencies. Other definitions of the diradical character,
      based on molecular orbital/configuration interaction methods, are discussed.

PMID- 28590737
TI  - Reagent-Free Quantification of Aqueous Free Chlorine via Electrical Readout of
      Colorimetrically Functionalized Pencil Lines.
AB  - Colorimetric methods are commonly used to quantify free chlorine in drinking
      water. However, these methods are not suitable for reagent-free, continuous, and
      autonomous applications. Here, we demonstrate how functionalization of a pencil
      drawn film with phenyl-capped aniline tetramer (PCAT) can be used for
      quantitative electric readout of free chlorine concentrations. The functionalized
      film can be implemented in a simple fluidic device for continuous sensing of
      aqueous free chlorine concentrations. The sensor is selective to free chlorine
      and can undergo a reagent-free reset for further measurements. Our sensor is
      superior to electrochemical methods in that it does not require a reference
      electrode. It is capable of quantification of free chlorine in the range of 0.1
      12 ppm with higher precision than colorimetric (absorptivity) methods. The
      interactions of PCAT with the pencil-drawn film upon exposure to hypochlorite
      were characterized spectroscopically. A previously reported detection mechanism
      relied on the measurement of a baseline shift to quantify free chlorine
      concentrations. The new method demonstrated here measures initial spike size upon
      exposure to free chlorine. It relies on a fast charge built up on the sensor film
      due to intermittent PCAT salt formation. It has the advantage of being
      significantly faster than the measurement of baseline shift, but it cannot be
      used to detect gradual changes in free chlorine concentration without the use of
      frequent reset pulses. The stability of PCAT was examined in the presence of free
      chlorine as a function of pH. While most ions commonly present in drinking water
      do not interfere with the free chlorine detection, other oxidants may contribute
      to the signal. Our sensor is easy to fabricate and robust, operates reagent-free,
      and has very low power requirements and is thus suitable for remote deployment.

PMID- 28590738
TI  - Tyrosine as a Non-perturbing Site-Specific Vibrational Reporter for Protein
      Dynamics.
AB  - The ability to detect changes in the local environment of proteins is pivotal to
      determining their dynamic nature during many biological processes. For this
      purpose, the utility of the tyrosine ring breathing vibration as a sensitive
      infrared reporter for measuring the local electric field in protein is
      investigated. Variations in the bandwidth of this vibrational transition in a
      variety of solvents indicate differences in microenvironment affect the
      inhomogeneous broadening and thus the frequency distribution. The ring mode is
      influenced by direct and indirect interactions associated with the charge
      distribution of the surrounding solvent molecules. Molecular dynamics simulations
      were implemented to obtain a correlation between the electric field induced by
      the solvent on the mode and the observed vibrational bandwidth. Moreover, the Trp
      cage was synthesized as a model peptide system to access the efficacy of the
      correlation to predict the electric field strength within the hydrophobic core of
      the native and denatured states of the protein. The 2D IR spectra of tyrosine in
      dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and water (D2O) show a two-fold difference in the time
      constant of the vibrational dynamics alluding to the dephasing mechanisms of the
      vibration and supporting the model put forth about the solvachromatic nature of
      the transition.

PMID- 28590740
TI  - C-H Alkylations of (Hetero)Arenes by Maleimides and Maleate Esters through
      Cobalt(III) Catalysis.
AB  - Efficient cobalt(III)-catalyzed (hetero)aryl and alkenyl C-H hydroarylations of
      maleimides and maleate esters have been achieved under remarkably mild reaction
      conditions. Thus, the versatile cobalt(III) catalyst [Cp*CoI2(CO)] showed
      excellent atom-and step-economy as well as high chemo- and site-selectivity
      providing expedient access to pharmacologically useful succinimides with wide
      functional group tolerance.

PMID- 28590741
TI  - Bu4NI-Catalyzed Oxygen-Centered Radical Addition between Acyl Peroxides and
      Isocyanides.
AB  - A novel oxygen-centered radical addition between acyl peroxides and isocyanides
      has been developed. A diverse collection of valuable arylcarboxyamides were
      easily synthesized by this protocol. From the preliminary mechanistic study, the
      elimination of carbon dioxide affords the product via an intramolecular
      rearrangement.

PMID- 28590739
TI  - Development of 1-((1,4-trans)-4-Aryloxycyclohexyl)-3-arylurea Activators of Heme
      Regulated Inhibitor as Selective Activators of the Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2
      Alpha (eIF2alpha) Phosphorylation Arm of the Integrated Endoplasmic Reticulum
      Stress Response.
AB  - Heme-regulated inhibitor (HRI), an eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2
      alpha (eIF2alpha) kinase, plays critical roles in cell proliferation,
      differentiation, adaptation to stress, and hemoglobin disorders. HRI
      phosphorylates eIF2alpha, which couples cellular signals, including endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER) stress, to translation. We previously identified 1,3-diarylureas
      and 1-((1,4-trans)-4-aryloxycyclohexyl)-3-arylureas (cHAUs) as specific
      activators of HRI that trigger the eIF2alpha phosphorylation arm of ER stress
      response as molecular probes for studying HRI biology and its potential as a
      druggable target. To develop drug-like cHAUs needed for in vivo studies, we
      undertook bioassay-guided structure-activity relationship studies and tested them
      in the surrogate eIF2alpha phosphorylation and cell proliferation assays. We
      further evaluated some of these cHAUs in endogenous eIF2alpha phosphorylation and
      in the expression of the transcription factor C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and
      its mRNA, demonstrating significantly improved solubility and/or potencies. These
      cHAUs are excellent candidates for lead optimization for development of
      investigational new drugs that potently and specifically activate HRI.

PMID- 28590742
TI  - Enantio- and Diastereoselective Cyclopropanation of beta,gamma-Unsaturated alpha
      Ketoester by a Chiral Phosphate/Indium(III) Complex.
AB  - We report herein an enantioselective cyclopropanation of beta,gamma-unsaturated
      alpha-ketoesters with diazoesters by the complexes of InBr3 and chiral calcium
      phosphate. The reaction proceeds via a Michael addition-cyclization pathway to
      afford highly functionalized chiral cyclopropanes with excellent
      enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee) as a single diastereoisomer.

PMID- 28590743
TI  - Nanoscale Surface Curvature Effects on Ligand-Nanoparticle Interactions: A
      Plasmon-Enhanced Spectroscopic Study of Thiolated Ligand Adsorption, Desorption,
      and Exchange on Gold Nanoparticles.
AB  - The interfacial adsorption, desorption, and exchange behaviors of thiolated
      ligands on nanotextured Au nanoparticle surfaces exhibit phenomenal site-to-site
      variations essentially dictated by the local surface curvatures, resulting in
      heterogeneous thermodynamic and kinetic profiles remarkably more sophisticated
      than those associated with the self-assembly of organothiol ligand monolayers on
      atomically flat Au surfaces. Here we use plasmon-enhanced Raman scattering as a
      spectroscopic tool combining time-resolving and molecular fingerprinting
      capabilities to quantitatively correlate the ligand dynamics with detailed
      molecular structures in real time under a diverse set of ligand adsorption,
      desorption, and exchange conditions at both equilibrium and nonequilibrium
      states, which enables us to delineate the effects of nanoscale surface curvature
      on the binding affinity, cooperativity, structural ordering, and the
      adsorption/desorption/exchange kinetics of organothiol ligands on colloidal Au
      nanoparticles. This work provides mechanistic insights on the key thermodynamic,
      kinetic, and geometric factors underpinning the surface curvature-dependent
      interfacial ligand behaviors, which serve as a central knowledge framework
      guiding the site-selective incorporation of desired surface functionalities into
      individual metallic nanoparticles for specific applications.

PMID- 28590744
TI  - Inhibiting Low-Frequency Vibrations Explains Exceptionally High Electron Mobility
      in 2,5-Difluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F2-TCNQ) Single Crystals.
AB  - Organic electronics requires materials with high charge mobility. Despite decades
      of intensive research, charge transport in high-mobility organic semiconductors
      has not been well understood. In this Letter, we address the physical mechanism
      underlying the exceptionally high band-like electron mobility in F2-TCNQ (2,5
      difluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) single crystals among a crystal family
      of similar compounds Fn-TCNQ (n = 0, 2, 4) using a combined experimental and
      theoretical approach. While electron transfer integrals and reorganization
      energies did not show outstanding features for F2-TCNQ, Raman spectroscopy and
      solid-state DFT indicated that the frequency of the lowest vibrational mode is
      nearly twice higher in the F2-TCNQ crystal than in TCNQ and F4-TCNQ. This
      phenomenon is explained by the specific packing motif of F2-TCNQ with only one
      molecule per primitive cell so that electron-phonon interaction decreases and the
      electron mobility increases. We anticipate that our findings will encourage
      investigators for the search and design of organic semiconductors with one
      molecule per primitive cell and/or the poor low-frequency vibrational spectrum.

PMID- 28590745
TI  - Sensitive Detection of Staphylococcus aureus with Vancomycin-Conjugated Magnetic
      Beads as Enrichment Carriers Combined with Flow Cytometry.
AB  - A novel sandwich strategy was designed to detect Staphylococcus aureus. The
      strategy is based on an antibacterial agent that captures bacterial cells and a
      fluorescein-labeled antibody that acts as the signal-output probe. Vancomycin
      (Van), which exerts a strong antibacterial effect on Gram-positive bacteria, was
      utilized as a molecular recognition agent to detect pathogenic bacteria. To
      effectively concentrate S. aureus, we used bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the
      amplification carrier to modify magnetic beads (MBs), which were then
      functionalized with Van. To improve the specificity of the method for S. aureus
      detection, we adopted fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-tagged pig immunoglobulin
      G (FITC-pig IgG) as the signal probe and the second recognition agent that bound
      between the Fc fragment of pig IgG and protein A in the surface of S. aureus. To
      quantify S. aureus, we measured the fluorescence signal by flow cytometry (FCM).
      The use of multivalent magnetic nanoprobes (Van-BSA-MBs) showed a high
      concentration efficiency (>98%) at bacterial concentrations of only 33 colony
      forming units (CFU)/mL. Furthermore, the sandwich mode (FITC-pig IgG/SA/Van-BSA
      MBs) also showed ideal specificity because Van and IgG bound with S. aureus at
      two distinct sites. The detection limit for S. aureus was 3.3 * 101 CFU/mL and
      the total detection process could be completed within 120 min. Other Gram
      positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes,
      Bacillus cereus, Cronobacter sakazakii, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Salmonella
      Enteritidis, negligibly interfered with S. aureus detection. The proposed
      detection strategy for S. aureus possesses attractive characteristics, such as
      high sensitivity, simple operation, short testing time, and low cost.

PMID- 28590746
TI  - Iminoxyl Radical-Promoted Oxycyanation and Aminocyanation of Unactivated Alkenes:
      Synthesis of Cyano-Featured Isoxazolines and Cyclic Nitrones.
AB  - A novel and facile approach to vicinal oxycyanation and aminocyanation of
      internal unactivated alkenes is developed. This method utilizes the dichotomous
      reactivity of iminoxyl radical derived from the initiation of beta,gamma- and
      gamma,delta-unsaturated ketoximes to provide the general difunctionalization of
      internal alkenes using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the environmentally
      friendly oxidant, CuCN as the commercially available cyanating reagent, and
      pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the ligand. By using this protocol, a
      series of useful cyano-featured isoxazolines and cyclic nitrones were efficiently
      prepared.

PMID- 28590747
TI  - Synthesis of pi-Extended Fluoranthenes via a KHMDS-Promoted Anionic-Radical
      Reaction Cascade.
AB  - An unprecedented KHMDS-promoted domino reaction to furnish hydroxyfluoranthenes
      is described. Biaryl compounds bearing acyl and naphthylalkenyl moieties are
      transformed into 9-hydroxydibenzo[j,l]fluoranthenes in a single step through the
      formation of an aromatic and a pentagonal ring system. A variety of fluoranthenes
      including those with extended pi-conjugation, a heteroaromatic ring, and
      unsymmetrical substituents could be synthesized. Mechanistic studies reveal a
      unique reaction cascade where KHMDS acts as both a base and a single-electron
      donor.

PMID- 28590748
TI  - Huygens' Metasurfaces Enabled by Magnetic Dipole Resonance Tuning in Split
      Dielectric Nanoresonators.
AB  - Dielectric metasurfaces that exploit the different Mie resonances of nanoscale
      dielectric resonators are a powerful platform for manipulating electromagnetic
      fields and can provide novel optical behavior. In this work, we experimentally
      demonstrate independent tuning of the magnetic dipole resonances relative to the
      electric dipole resonances of split dielectric resonators (SDRs). By increasing
      the split dimension, we observe a blue shift of the magnetic dipole resonance
      toward the electric dipole resonance. Therefore, SDRs provide the ability to
      directly control the interaction between the two dipole resonances within the
      same resonator. For example, we achieve the first Kerker condition by spectrally
      overlapping the electric and magnetic dipole resonances and observe significantly
      suppressed backward scattering. Moreover, we show that a single SDR can be used
      as an optical nanoantenna that provides strong unidirectional emission from an
      electric dipole source.

PMID- 28590749
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydroboration of 1,1-Disubstituted Alkenes.
AB  - A mild and efficient approach for highly regio- and enantioselective copper
      catalyzed hydroboration of 1,1-diaryl substituted alkenes with
      bis(pinacolato)diboron (B2Pin2) was developed for the first time, providing
      facile access to a series of valuable beta,beta-diaryl substituted boronic esters
      with high enantiomeric purity. Moreover, this approach could also be suitable for
      hydroboration of alpha-alkyl styrenes for the synthesis of enantioenriched
      beta,beta-arylalkyl substituted boronic esters. Gram-scale reaction,
      stereospecific derivatizations, and the application of important antimuscarinic
      drug (R)-tolterodine for concise enantioselective synthesis further highlighted
      the attractiveness of this new approach.

PMID- 28590751
TI  - Correction to Biochemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of the Non-Heme
      Fe(II)- and 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Ethylene-Forming Enzyme from Pseudomonas
      syringae pv. phaseolicola PK2.

PMID- 28590750
TI  - On-Chip Single-Plasmon Nanocircuit Driven by a Self-Assembled Quantum Dot.
AB  - Quantum photonics holds great promise for future technologies such as secure
      communication, quantum computation, quantum simulation, and quantum metrology. An
      outstanding challenge for quantum photonics is to develop scalable miniature
      circuits that integrate single-photon sources, linear optical components, and
      detectors on a chip. Plasmonic nanocircuits will play essential roles in such
      developments. However, for quantum plasmonic circuits, integration of stable,
      bright, and narrow-band single photon sources in the structure has so far not
      been reported. Here we present a plasmonic nanocircuit driven by a self-assembled
      GaAs quantum dot. Through a planar dielectric-plasmonic hybrid waveguide, the
      quantum dot efficiently excites narrow-band single plasmons that are guided in a
      two-wire transmission line until they are converted into single photons by an
      optical antenna. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of fully on-chip plasmonic
      nanocircuits for quantum optical applications.

PMID- 28590752
TI  - Optimization of an Enzymatic Antibody-Drug Conjugation Approach Based on Coenzyme
      A Analogs.
AB  - Phosphopantetheine transferases (PPTases) can be used to efficiently prepare site
      specific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) by enzymatically coupling coenzyme A
      (CoA)-linker payloads to 11-12 amino acid peptide substrates inserted into
      antibodies. Here, a two-step strategy is established wherein in a first step, CoA
      analogs with various bioorthogonal reactivities are enzymatically installed on
      the antibody for chemical conjugation with a cytotoxic payload in a second step.
      Because of the high structural similarity of these CoA analogs to the natural
      PPTase substrate CoA-SH, the first step proceeds very efficiently and enables the
      use of peptide tags as short as 6 amino acids compared to the 11-12 amino acids
      required for efficient one-step coupling of the payload molecule. Furthermore,
      two-step conjugation provides access to diverse linker chemistries and spacers of
      varying lengths. The potency of the ADCs was largely independent of linker
      architecture. In mice, proteolytic cleavage was observed for some C-terminally
      linked auristatin payloads. The in vivo stability of these ADCs was significantly
      improved by reduction of the linker length. In addition, linker stability was
      found to be modulated by attachment site, and this, together with linker length,
      provides an opportunity for maximizing ADC stability without sacrificing potency.

PMID- 28590753
TI  - The 1,2,4-Triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazin-3-one as a Versatile Scaffold for the Design of
      Potent Adenosine Human Receptor Antagonists. Structural Investigations to Target
      the A2A Receptor Subtype.
AB  - In this work, we describe the identification of the 1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazin
      3-one as a new versatile scaffold for the development of adenosine human (h)
      receptor antagonists. The new chemotype ensued from a molecular simplification
      approach applied to our previously reported 1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one
      series. Hence, a set of novel 8-amino-2-aryl-1,2,4-triazolopyrazin-3-one
      derivatives, featured by different substituents on the 2-phenyl ring (R) and at
      position 6 (R6), was synthesized with the main purpose of targeting the hA2A
      adenosine receptor (AR). Several compounds possessed nanomolar affinity for the
      hA2A AR (Ki = 2.9-10 nM) and some, very interestingly, also showed high
      selectivity for the target. One selected potent hA2A AR antagonist (12, R = H, R6
      = 4-methoxyphenyl) demonstrated some ability to counteract MPP+-induced
      neurotoxicity in cultured human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, a widely used in
      vitro Parkinson's disease model. Docking studies at hAR structures were performed
      to rationalize the observed affinity data.

PMID- 28590754
TI  - Multilevel Approaches within the Local Pair Natural Orbital Framework.
AB  - The linear-scaling local coupled cluster method DLPNO-CCSD(T) allows calculations
      on systems containing hundreds of atoms to be performed while reproducing
      canonical CCSD(T) energies typically with chemical accuracy (<1 kcal/mol). The
      accuracy of the method is determined by two main truncation thresholds that
      control the number of electron pairs included in the CCSD iterations and the size
      of the pair natural orbital virtual space for each electron pair, respectively.
      While the results of DLPNO-CCSD(T) calculations converge smoothly toward their
      canonical counterparts as the thresholds are tightened, the improved accuracy is
      accompanied by a fairly steep increase of the computational cost. Many
      applications study events that are confined to a relatively small region of the
      system of interest. Hence, it is viable to develop methods that allow the user to
      treat different parts of a large system at various levels of accuracy. In this
      work we present an extension to the native DLPNO method that fragments the system
      into preselected molecular parts and uses different thresholds or even different
      levels of theory for the interaction between individual fragments. Thereby
      chemical intuition can be used to focus computational resources on a more
      accurate evaluation of the properties at the center of interest, while permitting
      a less demanding description of the surrounding moieties. The strategy was
      implemented within the DLPNO-CCSD(T) framework. We tested the scheme for a series
      of realistic quantum chemical applications such as the calculation of the
      dimerization energies, potential energy surfaces, enantiomeric excess in
      organometallic catalysis, and the binding energy of the anticancer drug
      ellipticine to DNA. This work demonstrates the power of the approach and offers
      guidance to its setup.

PMID- 28590755
TI  - Morphology Evolution of Polymer Blends under Intense Shear During High Speed Thin
      Wall Injection Molding.
AB  - The morphology evolution under shear during different processing is indeed an
      important issue regarding the phase morphology control as well as final physical
      properties of immiscible polymer blends. High-speed thin wall injection molding
      (HSTWIM) has recently been demonstrated as an effective method to prepare
      alternating multilayered structure. To understand the formation mechanism better
      and explore possible phase morphology for different blends under HSTWIM, the
      relationship between the morphology evolution of polymer blends based on
      polypropylene (PP) under HSTWIM and some intrinsic properties of polymer blends,
      including viscosity ratio, interfacial tension, and melt elasticity, is
      systematically investigated in this study. Blends based on PP containing
      polyethylene (PE), ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), and polylactic acid
      (PLA) are used as examples. Compatibilizer has also been added into respective
      blends to alter their interfacial interaction. It is demonstrated that dispersed
      phase can be deformed into a layered-like structure if interfacial tension,
      viscosity ratio, and melt elasticity are relatively small. While some of these
      values are relatively large, these dispersed droplets are not easily deformed
      under HSTWIM, forming ellipsoidal or fiber-like structure. The addition of a
      moderate amount of compatibilizer into these blends is shown to be able to reduce
      interfacial tension and the size of dispersed phase, thus, allowing more
      deformation on the dispersed phase. Such a study could provide some guidelines on
      phase morphology control of immiscible polymer blends under shear during various
      processing methods.

PMID- 28590756
TI  - Lattice Model of an Ionic Liquid at an Electrified Interface.
AB  - We study ionic liquids interacting with electrified interfaces. The ionic fluid
      is modeled as a Coulomb lattice gas. We compare the ionic density profiles
      calculated using a popular modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation with the explicit
      Monte Carlo simulations. The modified Poisson-Boltzmann theory fails to capture
      the structural features of the double layer and is also unable to correctly
      predict the ionic density at the electrified interface. The lattice Monte Carlo
      simulations qualitatively capture the coarse-grained structure of the double
      layer in the continuum. We propose a convolution relation that semiquantitatively
      relates the ionic density profiles of a continuum ionic liquid and its lattice
      counterpart near an electrified interface.

PMID- 28590758
TI  - Cross-Coupling Reactions of Aryldiazonium Salts with Allylsilanes under Merged
      Gold/Visible-Light Photoredox Catalysis.
AB  - A method for the cross-coupling reactions of aryldiazonium salts with
      trialkylallylsilanes via merged gold/photoredox catalysis is described. The
      reaction is proposed to proceed through a photoredox-promoted generation of an
      electrophilic arylgold(III) intermediate that undergoes transmetalation with
      allyltrimethylsilane to form allylarenes.

PMID- 28590757
TI  - Donor-sigma-Acceptor Molecules for Green Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence
      by Spatially Approaching Spiro Conformation.
AB  - By separating donor/acceptor with a sigma linker while keeping them in contact
      through space interactions, new oxygen-bridged triphenylamine/fluorene-based
      donor-sigma-acceptor (D-sigma-A) type thermally activated delayed fluorescence
      (TADF) emitters are developed. X-ray structural analyses and time-dependent
      density functional theory reveal that tilted configuration of spiro skeleton,
      extended delocalization of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), and
      lowest triplet state of charge transfer property (3CT) play key roles in the TADF
      mechanism. OLEDs fabricated with these D-sigma-A emitters achieved good external
      quantum efficiency of 20.4% and long operating durability of 18000 h at 100 cd m
      2.

PMID- 28590759
TI  - Effects of Nozzle Geometry on the Fluid Dynamics of Thin Liquid Films Flowing
      down Vertical Strings in the Rayleigh-Plateau Regime.
AB  - Thin-liquid films flowing down vertical strings undergo instability, creating
      wavy film profiles and traveling beads. Previous studies assumed that the liquid
      film thickness and velocity profiles within the healing length from a nozzle were
      specified by the Nusselt solution, independent of the nozzle geometry. As a
      result, the influence of the nozzle diameter on the flow characteristics, such as
      the liquid bead size, spacing, and traveling speed, was largely overlooked. We
      report an experimental and numerical simulation study on liquid-film flows in the
      Rayleigh-Plateau regime while systematically varying the nozzle diameter from 0.5
      to 3.2 mm at different mass flow rates (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08 g/s). We find
      that the nozzle diameter does have a strong influence on the flow regime and the
      flow characteristics. We identify the thickness of a nearly flat portion of a
      liquid film that precedes the onset of instability, which we term the
      preinstability thickness, as a critical flow parameter that governs the size,
      spacing, and frequency of liquid beads that develop downstream. By defining the
      liquid film aspect ratio alpha in terms of the preinstability thickness, we
      capture a flow transition from the Rayleigh-Plateau (RP) instability regime to
      the isolated droplet regime. Improved understanding of the flow regimes and
      characteristics assists in the systematic design and optimization of a wide
      variety of processes and devices, including fiber coating and direct contact heat
      and mass exchangers.

PMID- 28590760
TI  - Oscillating Ferrofluid Droplet Microrheology of Liquid-Immersed Sessile Droplets.
AB  - The damped oscillations of liquid-immersed ferrofluid sessile droplets were
      studied with high-speed imaging experiments and analytical modeling to develop a
      novel microrheology technique. Droplet oscillations were induced with an external
      magnetic field, thereby avoiding transients in the resulting vibrational response
      of the droplet. By following the droplet relaxation with a high-speed camera, the
      frequency and relaxation time of the damped harmonic oscillations were measured.
      We extend upon existing analytical theories to describe our liquid-immersed
      sessile droplet system, and directly quantify the droplet relaxation with the
      viscosity of the internal and external fluid as well as the interfacial tension
      between these. The easily controllable magnetic droplets make our oscillating
      ferrofluid droplet technique a potential candidate for high-throughput
      microrheology and tensiometry in the future.

PMID- 28590763
TI  - Helically Chiral 1-Sulfur-Functionalized [6]Helicene: Synthesis, Optical
      Resolution, and Functionalization.
AB  - The synthesis and optical resolution of helically chiral 5,6,9,10-tetrahydro-1
      [6]helicenethiol and its subsequent transformations to enantiopure 1-sulfur
      functionalized [6]helicenes are reported. A novel enantiopure [7]thiahelicene
      having a thiophene ring at the terminal position of the [6]helicene skeleton was
      synthesized.

PMID- 28590762
TI  - Direct Oxidative Cleavage of Multiple Csp3-H Bonds and a C-C Bond in 2-(Pyridin-2
      yl)acetate Derivatives: Formal [3 + 1 + 1] Synthesis of 3-(Pyridin-2
      yl)indolizine Skeletons.
AB  - A novel iodine-promoted oxidative cross-coupling/cyclization of 2-(pyridin-2
      yl)acetate derivatives and methyl ketones via the cleavage of multiple Csp3-H
      bonds has been developed, which also achieved efficient cleavage of a C-C bond in
      the 2-(pyridin-2-yl)acetate derivatives. This protocol represents an elegant
      molecular fragment assembly of diverse 3-(pyridin-2-yl)indolizines via a formal
      [3 + 1 + 1] annulation. Notably, the pyridine derivatives serve two pivotal roles
      to provide two fragments to construct 3-(pyridin-2-yl)indolizine skeletons,
      rather than the single role in building common indolizines.

PMID- 28590761
TI  - Proteome-wide Adaptations of Mouse Skeletal Muscles during a Full Month in Space.
AB  - The safety of space flight is challenged by a severe loss of skeletal muscle
      mass, strength, and endurance that may compromise the health and performance of
      astronauts. The molecular mechanisms underpinning muscle atrophy and decreased
      performance have been studied mostly after short duration flights and are still
      not fully elucidated. By deciphering the muscle proteome changes elicited in mice
      after a full month aboard the BION-M1 biosatellite, we observed that the
      antigravity soleus incurred the greatest changes compared with locomotor muscles.
      Proteomics data notably suggested mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic and fiber
      type switching toward glycolytic type II fibers, structural alterations, and
      calcium signaling-related defects to be the main causes for decreased muscle
      performance in flown mice. Alterations of the protein balance, mTOR pathway,
      myogenesis, and apoptosis were expected to contribute to muscle atrophy.
      Moreover, several signs reflecting alteration of telomere maintenance, oxidative
      stress, and insulin resistance were found as possible additional deleterious
      effects. Finally, 8 days of recovery post flight were not sufficient to restore
      completely flight-induced changes. Thus in-depth proteomics analysis unraveled
      the complex and multifactorial remodeling of skeletal muscle structure and
      function during long-term space flight, which should help define combined sets of
      countermeasures before, during, and after the flight.

PMID- 28590764
TI  - An Entirely Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis-Based Strategy for Synthesis of
      Gelatinase Biosynthesis-Activating Pheromone (GBAP) Analogue Libraries:
      Investigating the Structure-Activity Relationships of the Enterococcus faecalis
      Quorum Sensing Signal.
AB  - The development of an entirely solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS)-based
      synthesis of the quorum sensing signal gelatinase biosynthesis-activating
      pheromone (GBAP) from Enterococcus faecalis is reported. The method was used to
      prepare three libraries of analogues to investigate the structure-activity
      relationships (SARs) of the GBAP signal. The SAR studies revealed new
      characteristics of the GBAP signal and uncovered the most potent quorum sensing
      activator in E. faecalis known to date.

PMID- 28590765
TI  - Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Acupuncture Effect on Common Extensor Tendon
      Thickness in Patients with Lateral Epicondylitis: A Randomized Controlled Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of acupuncture on common extensor tendon (CET)
      thickness in patients with lateral epicondylitis (LE). Additionally, to identify
      whether clinical and ultrasonographic changes showed any correlation. METHODS:
      Forty-one patients were randomly assigned to acupuncture and control groups.
      Conventional treatment (rest, NSAII, bracing, exercise) methods for LE were
      applied to all patients. In addition to this, the acupuncture treatment was
      applied to the acupuncture group. The visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, the
      Duruoz Hand Index (DHI) for functioning of the affected limb, the pressure pain
      threshold, and CET thickness (via ultrasound imaging) were assessed before and
      end of the treatment in both groups. RESULTS: The VAS and DHI scores in both
      groups decreased. The pressure pain threshold and CET thickness only demonstrated
      improvement in the acupuncture group. CONCLUSION: These findings show that the
      CET thickness was reduced after 10 sessions of acupuncture treatment in LE
      patients.

PMID- 28590766
TI  - Examining Burnout, Depression, and Self-Compassion in Veterans Affairs Mental
      Health Staff.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Burnout, a state of emotional exhaustion associated with negative
      personal and occupational outcomes, is prevalent among healthcare providers. A
      better understanding of the psychological factors that may be associated with
      resilience to burnout is essential to develop effective interventions. Self
      compassion, which includes kindness toward oneself, recognition of suffering as
      part of shared human experience, mindfulness, and nonjudgment toward inadequacies
      and failures, may be one such factor. The purpose of this study was to examine
      the relationships between burnout, depression, and self-compassion in Veterans
      Affairs (VA) mental health staff. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: VA
      medical center and affiliated community-based clinics. PARTICIPANTS: VA mental
      health staff. OUTCOME MEASURES: The 19-item Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, the 26
      item Self-Compassion Scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire 2-item
      depression screen. Demographic information included age, sex, years worked in
      current position, and number of staff supervised. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty
      eight of a potential 379 individuals (33.8%) responded. Clerical support,
      nursing, social work, psychology, and psychiatry were the major professions
      represented. Self-compassion was inversely correlated with burnout (r = -0.41, p
      < 0.001), and inversely correlated with depression (rpb = -0.39, p < 0.001). The
      inverse relationship between self-compassion and burnout remained significant
      even after accounting for depressive symptoms and demographic variables in a
      multiple linear regression model. Of all the variables examined, self-compassion
      was the strongest predictor of burnout. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study
      support the hypothesis that self-compassion may be associated with resilience to
      burnout. Alternatively, decreased self-compassion may be a downstream effect of
      increased burnout. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to determine the
      directional relationship between these factors, and whether interventions that
      cultivate self-compassion may decrease burnout and/or protect against its
      negative personal and professional outcomes.

PMID- 28590767
TI  - Effects of Biodanza on Stress, Depression, and Sleep Quality in University
      Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The existing literature shows dance to be an innovative and
      successful form of stress management. Previous research indicates that Biodanza
      is able to increase well-being and personal resources and prevent stress.
      However, Biodanza has not yet been empirically tested as a possible therapy for
      application outside the clinical context in young adults with perceived stress.
      OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Biodanza in
      reducing symptoms of perceived stress and depression and in promoting sleep
      quality in young adults, comparing the changes with those observed in a control
      group. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTINGS/LOCATION: This study was
      carried out at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Almeria.
      SUBJECTS: One hundred and twenty-one university students with perceived stress
      were randomly placed into either a Biodanza group or a wait-list control group.
      INTERVENTION: Study participants attended Biodanza sessions for 90 min a week,
      over a period of 4 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURES: Depression, perceived stress, and
      sleep quality were assessed both before and after intervention. RESULTS: Ninety
      five participants completed the program and were included in the statistical
      analysis. Significant differences in perceived stress [t (93) = 2.136; p = 0.015]
      and depression [t (93) = 2.738; p = 0.000] were observed after the Biodanza
      period. Pre/post analysis found that Biodanza also had a significant effect on
      depression (Cohen d = 1.88; p < 0.05) and perceived stress (Cohen d = 0.79; p <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The Biodanza program is an effective stress management
      strategy for students. The results of this study showed Biodanza to have a
      positive effect on perceived stress and depression in young adults. This
      demonstrates how artistic, collaborative, and psychophysical interventions are an
      effective means of preventing and managing these problems in university students.

PMID- 28590768
TI  - Effect of Hydroalcoholic Extract of Capsella bursa pastoris on Early Postpartum
      Hemorrhage: A Clinical Trial Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is one of three main causes of maternal
      mortality and a life-threatening condition throughout the world. PPH can have
      irreversible complications for the mother even if it does not lead to death. This
      study was conducted to determine the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Capsella
      bursa pastoris on early PPH. DESIGN: The present study was a single-blinded,
      randomized, clinical trial. SETTING: The study was conducted in Afzalipour
      Hospital of Kerman in 2015. SUBJECTS: The subjects included 100 women who had
      given vaginal birth and met the study inclusion criteria. INTERVENTION: The
      participants were selected and randomly assigned into an intervention group (n =
      50) and a placebo group (n = 50). Immediately after placental expulsion, the
      intervention group was given 10 sublingual drops of the hydroalcoholic extract of
      Capsella bursa pastoris plus an infusion of 20 U of oxytocin in 1 L of Ringer's
      solution, and the control group was given 10 sublingual drops of the placebo plus
      an infusion of 20 U of oxytocin in 1 L of Ringer's solution. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      The amount of bleeding was assessed in both groups. Hemoglobin and hematocrit
      levels were measured in all the participants 6 h after childbirth. The
      statistical analysis of the data was performed in SPSS-17 using the following
      tests: independent t, paired t, repeated measures ANOVA, Friedman's, Wilcoxon,
      Mann-Whitney, Fisher's exact, and chi square. P-value <0.05 was considered
      statistically significant. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between
      groups in baseline characteristics (p > 0.05). After the intervention, there was
      significant decrease in the amount of postpartum bleeding in both groups.
      However, the mean decrease in the amount of bleeding was significantly more in
      the Capsella bursa pastoris group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Compared with the mere
      administration of oxytocin, sublingual Capsella bursa drops appear to be
      effective in reducing PPH in this study. Further research regarding the efficacy
      and safety of various doses of Capsella bursa pastoris is required.

PMID- 28590769
TI  - Associations of Genetic Polymorphisms Relevant to Metabolic Pathway of Vitamin D3
      with Development and Prognosis of Childhood Bronchial Asthma.
AB  - This study was aimed at investigating the correlation between genetic
      polymorphisms relevant to metabolic pathway of vitamin D3 (VD3) and
      susceptibility to childhood bronchial asthma. Altogether 143 childhood patients
      with bronchial asthma and 143 healthy children of Chinese Han ethnicity were
      enrolled in this study. The key single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were
      identified by HaploView 4.2 software and selected from previous investigations.
      Genomic DNAs were isolated from peripheral blood samples by using TaqMan Blood
      DNA kits. The genotyping of SNPs was performed by TaqMan SNPs genotyping assay.
      Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated to
      evaluate the association between SNPs and susceptibility to bronchial asthma.
      Statistical analyses were conducted by using SPSS 13.0 software. Rs10766197 of
      CYP2R1, rs7041 and rs4588 of CG, rs4646536 of CYP27B1, rs2228570, rs7975232, and
      rs1544410 of VDR, as well as rs1805192 and rs10865710 of PPAR were shown to be
      significantly associated with increased risk of bronchial asthma. Besides,
      prognosis of childhood bronchial asthma, which was represented as Saint George
      Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) scoring, was closely linked with CYP2R1
      rs10766197, CYP27B1 rs4646536, VDR rs7975232, VDR rs1544410, PPAR rs1805192, and
      PPAR rs10865710. The haplotype analysis suggested that TA and CG of CG
      rs7041/rs4588, CA and AG of VDR rs7975232/rs1544410, and CC of PPAR
      rs1805192/rs10865710 were, respectively, correlated with levels of VD, IL-4, and
      IL-5. And only haplotypes of VDR showed associations with risk of bronchial
      asthma during childhood, whereas hardly any significance could be observed
      between the haplotypes and behavior of quality-of-life (SGRQ) scoring.
      Significant associations were found between rs10766197 of CYP2R1, rs7041 and
      rs4588 of CG, rs4646536 of CYP27B1, rs2228570, rs7975232, and rs1544410 of VDR,
      as well as rs1805192 and rs10865710 of PPAR and susceptibility to and prognosis
      of childhood bronchial asthma, providing novel targets for treating the disorder.

PMID- 28590770
TI  - Pediatric Abdominal Radiographs: Common and Less Common Errors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Interpretation of abdominal radiographs of children benefits from a
      firm knowledge of the congenital anomalies and pathologies unique to this patient
      population, leveraged by a systematic approach. Interpretive errors place the
      patients and their families at risk for a delay in diagnosis, unnecessary
      additional imaging, a potential increase in the radiation burden, and possible
      psychologic trauma. CONCLUSION: In this article, we describe the common and
      uncommon potential pitfalls in pediatric abdominal radiography, using several of
      our own interpretive errors as a framework while providing teaching points to
      help avoid these mistakes.

PMID- 28590771
TI  - Non-contrast MR angiography using three-dimensional balanced steady-state free
      precession imaging for evaluation of stenosis in the celiac trunk and superior
      mesenteric artery: a preliminary comparative study with computed tomography
      angiography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although non-contrast MR angiography (NC-MRA) is well established for
      the evaluation of renal artery stenosis, its usefulness in the evaluation of
      other abdominal aortic branches remains to be studied. This study aimed at
      evaluating the image quality and diagnostic accuracy of NC-MRA using a three
      dimensional balanced steady-state free-precession sequence in identifying
      stenosis in the celiac trunk (CTR) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) as
      compared with CT angiography (CTA) as the reference standard. METHODS: 41
      patients underwent both NC-MRA and CTA of the abdominal aorta. Two radiologists
      analyzed the quality of the images (diagnostic vs non-diagnostic) and the
      performance (accuracy, sensitivity and specificity) of NC-MRA for the
      identification of arterial stenosis. Kappa tests were used to determine the
      interobserver agreement and the intermethod agreement between NC-MRA and CTA.
      RESULTS: NC-MRA provided diagnostic quality images of the CTR and SMA in 87.8%
      and 90.2% of cases, respectively, with high interobserver agreement (kappa 0.95
      and 0.80, respectively). For stenosis assessment, NC-MRA had a sensitivity of
      100%, a positive-predictive value of 50% and a negative-predictive value of 100%
      for both segments, with accuracies of 88.8% for the CTR and 94.5% for the SMA.
      CONCLUSION: NC-MRA is an accurate method for detecting stenosis in the CTR and
      SMA. Advances in knowledge: Data from this study suggest that MR angiography with
      balanced steady-state free-precession sequence is a viable non-contrast
      alternative for stenosis evaluation of these branches in patients for whom a
      contrast-enhanced examination is contraindicated.

PMID- 28590772
TI  - Arterial stiffness in fertile women with metabolic syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although metabolic syndrome (MetS) is evidently associated with the
      risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), recently its use has been questioned. We
      studied the utility of MetS diagnosis when estimating individual CVD risk.
      METHODS: We compared 27 fertile women with MetS and 27 counterparts without the
      syndrome, matched pairwise according to well-known risk factors of CVD. Pulse
      wave velocity (PWV) and central blood pressure (cBP) were determined
      noninvasively via a SphygmoCor device. Arterial compliance was measured
      noninvasively with an HDI/PulseWaveTMCR-2000 arterial tonometer. RESULTS: PWV
      (7.1 +/- 2.5 versus 6.5 +/- 1.1 m/s, p = .037), and both systolic (120.9 +/- 12.2
      versus 111.5 +/- 16.0 mmHg, p = .031) and diastolic cBP (81.3 +/- 8.5 versus 74.1
      +/- 11.2 mmHg, p = .035) were higher in the MetS group. Systemic arterial
      compliance values were lower in both large (15.1 +/- 8.0 versus 16.1 +/- 4.4
      mL/mmHg * 10, p = .034) and small arteries (7.1 +/- 2.5 versus 9.3 +/- 3.2
      mL/mmHg *100, p = .010) in women with MetS. CONCLUSIONS: Fertile women with MetS
      had increased arterial stiffness, as measured by three different methods. Our
      results highlight the utility of MetS when revealing increased individual CVD
      risks in fertile-aged women. Key messages Women with MetS have increased arterial
      stiffness when measured by different methods. MetS is a useful clinical tool to
      assess increased cardiovascular risk, particularly among fertile-aged women.

PMID- 28590773
TI  - Factors influencing brown fat activation in FDG PET/CT: a retrospective analysis
      of 15,000+ cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Brown fat can exhibit high uptake of fluorine-18 fludeoxyglucose (18F
      FDG) on positron emission tomography (PET) and interferes with interpretation of
      the scan. The goal of this study was to identify factors that may influence brown
      adipose tissue (BAT) activation. METHODS: A retrospective study of 18F-FDG PET
      scans was performed using a database of 15,109 PET/CT reports. BAT activation
      reported by nuclear medicine physicians and factors influencing BAT activation
      were gathered. The data were analyzed using in-house software. RESULTS: The total
      reported BAT activation was 3.6%. BAT activation was reported significantly more
      often in patients who were female (p < 0.0001), younger (p < 0.0001), with lower
      body mass index (p < 0.0001), with lower blood glucose levels (p = 0.01),
      indicated for breast cancer (p = 0.004), not administered chemotherapy recently
      before the scan (p < 0.0001) and shown to have BAT activation in a previous scan
      (p < 0.0001). BAT activation was also reported significantly more for lower
      outdoor temperatures (p < 0.0001) and for late morning scans than for afternoon
      (p = 0.005) and early morning (p = 0.001) scans. CONCLUSION: This retrospective
      study of 15,109 scans highlights multiple factors contributing to BAT activation
      on 18F-FDG PET. The identification of new factors influencing BAT and
      confirmation of previously identified factors with a larger data set can be used
      to more accurately identify patients at risk for BAT activation so that
      prevention strategies can be implemented. Advances in knowledge: This study
      presents new factors associated with higher incidence of BAT activation, such as
      time of day, previous BAT activation and breast cancer. Conversely, recent
      chemotherapy was associated with reduced incidence of BAT activation.

PMID- 28590774
TI  - Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the management of
      solitary pulmonary nodule: a review.
AB  - Solitary pulmonary nodules are common radiologic findings and their detection has
      increased due to the introduction and improvement of diagnostics. Since a nodule
      can be an expression of early lung cancers, a proper classification and
      management are required because its treatment might lead to decreased morbidity
      and mortality. In this regard, prominent guidelines are available although they
      are characterized sometimes by discordant and misleading evidences. Furthermore,
      the same results of studies in the literature appear conflicting. Aim of this
      work is to evaluate the role of imaging through an extensive literature review
      but focusing on 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography
      combined with computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) in order to assess the limits
      and future perspectives of solitary pulmonary nodule characterization in early
      detection of lung cancer. Key messages Detection of solitary pulmonary nodules
      has increased. Management of solitary pulmonary nodules is still debated. Future
      perspectives of early solitary pulmonary nodule characterization.

PMID- 28590775
TI  - MDCT Angiography With 3D Rendering: A Novel Cinematic Rendering Algorithm for
      Enhanced Anatomic Detail.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The two most widely used postprocessing 3D tools in clinical practice
      are volume rendering (VR) and maximum intensity projection (MIP). With the use of
      current-generation MDCT, these techniques enable accurate characterization of
      arterial anatomy and pathology in all anatomic regions. Recently, the VR
      algorithm has been enhanced by the incorporation of a new lighting model. This
      new technique-called cinematic rendering-generates photorealistic images with the
      potential to more accurately depict anatomic detail. CONCLUSION: As an
      enhancement of the technology championed in VR, cinematic rendering promises to
      provide additional anatomic detail for MDCT interpretation and display. Future
      investigations must be conducted to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of cinematic
      rendering and determine whether interpretative pitfalls result from its unique
      lighting model in practice.

PMID- 28590777
TI  - Reply: Response to Risks and Cough-Aggravating Factors in Prolonged Cough.

PMID- 28590776
TI  - Clinical effects of chemoradiotherapy in pursuit of optimal treatment of locally
      advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The treatment of locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer
      remains extremely challenging, particularly as the efficacy of concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy (CRT) remains unclear. METHODS: We studied 93 patients (8.0%)
      with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer without distant metastases
      from among a total group of 1168 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic
      cancer from March 2005 to November 2015 at the Kochi Health Sciences Center,
      Kochi, Japan. We therefore evaluated the clinical efficacy of CRT in patients
      with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. RESULTS: Of the 93 patients
      with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer, 35 patients (37.6%) were
      subsequently classified as having resectable disease following CRT. The median
      overall survival of patients who received CRT alone for locally advanced
      unresectable pancreatic cancer was 8.0 months, and all died within 3 years. On
      the other hand, the overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates in patients who were
      reclassified as having resectable tumour after CRT were 71.3%, 39.2% and 23.5%,
      respectively. Our pathological assessments after surgical resection suggested
      that CRT might be associated with a significant reduction in the risk of lymph
      node metastases in patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer.
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggested that CRT is clinically effective
      in improving survival, particularly in association with the resultant possibility
      of curative resection. Advances in knowledge: The best treatment strategy for
      patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer is the subject of
      considerable debate, and CRT is only recommended if cancer has only grown around
      the pancreas without any distant metastases.

PMID- 28590778
TI  - Accounts for Unprotected Sex with Partners Met Online from Heterosexual Men and
      Women from Large US Metropolitan Areas.
AB  - For about 30 years, soon after the onset of the AIDS epidemic, sexual-health
      messaging has emphasized personal responsibility for using condoms to protect
      from acquiring or transmitting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.
      Those who did not use condoms during casual sexual encounters may therefore feel
      compelled to offer to others aware of their behavior what sociologists have
      called "accounts," an impression-management strategy to avoid unfavorable
      judgment. We analyzed accounts-excuses and justifications-from qualitative
      interviews with 150 adults who had unprotected sex in the past 3 months with at
      least two different partners met online (ages 18-50, mean: 33.7, equally divided
      among black, Hispanic, and white men and women, over half were college educated
      and the median yearly household income range was $50-$75,000). Many participants
      made excuses that aimed to defer responsibility for unprotected sex: they claimed
      that consistently practicing safer sex was impossible, that they got carried away
      by sexual passion, that they were inebriated, that they were influenced by
      emotional or psychological problems, or they put fault on their partners.
      Participants also provided justifications, claiming that unsafe sex had been
      acceptable because the risks taken were likely minimal or negotiated with their
      partner. Understanding the accounts heterosexual adults offer to excuse and
      justify condomless sex with partners met online can be helpful in developing
      prevention messages that debunk these explanations for their behavior.

PMID- 28590779
TI  - Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy and Inherited Retinal Dystrophy in Bukhara
      Jews Due to Linked Mutations in the PABPN1 and NRL Genes.
AB  - AIM: We have previously described two unrelated Bukhara Jews (BJs) with a
      combination of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) and inherited retinal
      dystrophy (IRD), because of mutations in two linked genes: PABPN1 and NRL. Here
      we investigated the prevalence of the NRL mutation among BJs with OPMD. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: PABPN1 and NRL mutation testing were performed by polymerase chain
      reaction amplification and direct sequencing on two cohorts of Bukhara Jewish
      patients: OPMD patients (with or without IRD) and IRD patients (without OPMD).
      RESULTS: Of 24 unrelated chromosomes from Bukhara Jewish OPMD patients, 19 (79%)
      harbored the NRL mutation. In contrast, the NRL mutation was not detected in
      Bukhara Jewish patients diagnosed with IRD but without OPMD. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings provide an explanation for the reoccurrence of IRD in Bukhara Jewish
      OPMD homozygotes. Moreover, they indicate that Bukhara Jewish OPMD patients are
      at high risk for carrying the NRL mutation, and should be offered appropriate
      genetic counseling and testing.

PMID- 28590780
TI  - Intravoxel incoherent motion and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for
      differentiation between hepatocellular adenoma and focal nodular hyperplasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine if intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and dynamic contrast
      enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) can be used as new and supplemental MRI techniques to
      differentiate hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs) from focal nodular hyperplasias
      (FNHs) and analyse if diffusion parameter apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)
      and IVIM parameter true diffusion coefficient (D) differ in doing so. METHODS:
      This prospective study included 21 patients (8 HCAs and 13 FNHs) who underwent a
      specifically designed MRI scanning protocol, including series for analysis of
      IVIM (four b-values 0, 10, 150 and 800 s mm-2) and DCE-MRI. On a dedicated
      workstation, identical regions of interest were placed in parametric maps of
      Ktrans, Ve, D and ADC in each lesion for quantification. Diagnostic accuracy was
      assessed using receiver operating characteristics analysis. Time-intensity curves
      (TICs) were classified in different types. RESULTS: HCAs had significantly lower
      values for Ktrans (mean 1.45 vs 2.68 min-1; p = 0.029) and D (mean 1.02 * 10-3 vs
      1.22 * 10-3 mm2 s-1; p = 0.033). Both parameters showed good diagnostic accuracy
      of 76%. TIC analysis could not differentiate between HCAs and FNHs. CONCLUSION:
      In this exploratory study, Ktrans and D were able to differentiate HCAs from FNHs
      in most cases, whereas Ve, ADC and TIC analysis were not. Advances in knowledge:
      Histological differences between HCAs and FNHs can be quantified on MRI using
      Ktrans and D.

PMID- 28590782
TI  - Rhabdomyosarcoma in Children and Adolescents: Patterns and Risk Factors of
      Distant Metastasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate patterns of distant
      metastasis and identified factors that may increase the risk of distant
      metastasis in pediatric patients with rhabdomyosarcoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This retrospective study included 69 patients (age, <= 20 years) who had
      rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosed between January 2000 and February 2016. Various
      imaging features, including distant metastasis, were evaluated on initial and
      follow-up imaging studies. Differences in the distribution of distant metastasis
      on the basis of the primary location were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis
      was performed to identify factors associated with distant metastasis. RESULTS:
      Twenty-six of the 69 patients (37.7%) had distant metastasis. Nineteen of the 26
      patients had distant metastasis noted at initial presentation, and 15 of the 26
      patients had new metastasis noted during follow-up. The most common site of
      metastasis was bone (n = 14), followed by lung (n = 12) and distant lymph nodes
      (n = 9). Lymph node metastasis more frequently developed in patients with primary
      rhabdomyosarcoma in an extremity than in patients with primary rhabdomyosarcoma
      that developed at other sites (p = 0.003). Of 15 patients who had metastasis
      during follow-up, nine (60%) did not appear to have simultaneous locoregional
      recurrence at the time of the discovery of distant metastasis. Older age at
      presentation and unfavorable sites of the primary tumor were significantly
      associated with distant metastasis in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Distant
      metastasis of rhabdomyosarcomas in pediatric patients showed different patterns
      according to the location of the primary tumor and even occurred without local
      recurrence.

PMID- 28590781
TI  - Cognitive impairment in liver transplanted patients with transthyretin-related
      hereditary amyloid polyneuropathy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Hereditary transthyretin-related amyloidosis (ATTR-FAP) is
      characterized by a progressive neuropathy, cardiomyopathy, nephropathy and ocular
      disease. More than 90% of amyloidogenic transthyretin is produced by the liver;
      however, this protein is also synthesized in the choroid plexus. Although some
      patients have transitory neurologic events, the impact on cognition is still
      unknown. The aim was to study the cognitive performance of ATTR-FAP V30M patients
      with long disease course. METHODS: A prospective observational study of a
      consecutive sample of patients with 10 or more years of disease duration was
      conducted. All patients underwent an extensive neuropsychological evaluation.
      RESULTS: Sixteen patients were included, with a mean age of 53 years and mean
      duration of disease of 18 years. All had been submitted to liver transplantation.
      The functional status was not incapacitating in the majority, with 75% needing at
      most a stick to walk and 38% still actively working. The neuropsychological
      evaluation disclosed episodic memory impairments in 31% and executive dysfunction
      in 25% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings suggest that cognitive
      dysfunction can be a delayed manifestation of hereditary transthyretin-related
      amyloidosis. The putative relation of cognitive dysfunction with transthyretin
      amyloid deposition can provide another model to study the amyloid hypothesis of
      cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28590783
TI  - Efficacy of intradermal mesotherapy in cellulite reduction - Conventional and
      high-frequency ultrasound monitoring results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cellulite affects the majority of women and is an unacceptable
      cosmetic defect. Therefore, effective methods for cellulite reduction are being
      sought. Intradermal mesotherapy is one of such methods. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the
      study was to assess the efficacy of intradermal mesotherapy in cellulite
      reduction, using conventional and high-frequency ultrasound. METHODS: Twenty-one
      women with cellulite underwent a series of intradermal mesotherapy procedures.
      The following parameters were assessed: thickness of epidermis, dermis and
      hypodermis, echogenicity of dermis and the surface area of serrated hypodermis
      dermis junction. Furthermore, the thigh circumference was measured; body mass
      index and cellulite severity were assessed based on photographs using Nurnberger
      Muller's scale. RESULTS: Intradermal mesotherapy reduced severity of cellulite.
      The surface area of serrated hypodermis-dermis junction and hypodermis thickness
      decreased significantly as compared to baseline. Cellulite reduction was also
      confirmed by palpation, decreased thigh circumference and the Nurnberger-Muller's
      grade. There were no statistically significant changes in epidermis or dermis
      thickness, body weight and the BMI. CONCLUSION: Intradermal mesotherapy offers
      effective cellulite reduction. It is a simple and safe treatment, which makes it
      popular. Further research in mesotherapy is essential due to a limited number of
      published studies. Ultrasound is a useful method to monitor intradermal
      mesotherapy and assess its efficacy.

PMID- 28590784
TI  - Acetabular Chondral Lesions in Hip Arthroscopy: Relationships Between Grade,
      Topography, and Demographics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hip pain remains a challenge given the multiple factors that can
      cause damage to the articular cartilage, such as traumatic injury, metabolic
      damage, and morphologic variations such as femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and
      that can contribute to progression of osteoarthritis. However, a direct
      relationship between patient characteristics, the extent of acetabular chondral
      damage, and topologic characteristics of chondral lesions has not been
      established. PURPOSE: To compare the grade of acetabular chondral damage,
      measured in terms of acetabular labrum articular disruption (ALAD)
      classification, to the size and position of the chondral lesions, matching
      patients' demographic factors such as age and body mass index (BMI). STUDY
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: This study included
      all hip arthroscopies performed by the corresponding author from August 7, 2008,
      to November 19, 2014, in which acetabular chondral lesions were intraoperatively
      identified and measured in terms of ALAD grade, clockface location, and size.
      Bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression were used to identify the
      demographic factors, characteristics of the acetabular chondral lesion, and other
      anatomic characteristics that were related to the ALAD grade of the acetabular
      chondral lesion. RESULTS: Acetabular chondral lesions were measured in 1502
      patients during the study period. Multivariate analysis showed that higher ALAD
      grade of acetabular chondral damage was significantly related to male sex, more
      advanced age, the area of the acetabular chondral lesion, anterior extension of
      the acetabular chondral lesion within the anterosuperior quadrant, labral
      detachment from the acetabular cartilage, and posterior extension of the labral
      tear. CONCLUSION: Higher grades of acetabular chondral damage were related to
      male sex, increased age, height, weight, BMI, and the size of the lesion.
      Chondral lesions were generally found in the anterosuperior region of the
      acetabulum, consistent with labral lesions and the weightbearing area of the
      acetabulum.

PMID- 28590785
TI  - Impact of renal function on ischemic stroke and major bleeding rates in
      nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin or rivaroxaban: a
      retrospective cohort study using real-world evidence.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Renal dysfunction is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular
      disease and is an independent predictor of stroke and systemic embolism.
      Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients with renal dysfunction may face a
      particularly high risk of thromboembolism and bleeding. The current retrospective
      cohort study was designed to assess the impact of renal function on ischemic
      stroke and major bleeding rates in NVAF patients in the real-world setting
      (outside a clinical trial). METHODS: Medical claims and Electronic Health Records
      were retrieved retrospectively from Optum's Integrated Claims-Clinical de
      identified dataset from May 2011 to August 2014. Patients with NVAF treated with
      warfarin (2468) or rivaroxaban (1290) were selected. Each treatment cohort was
      stratified by baseline estimated creatinine clearance (eCrCl) levels. Confounding
      adjustments were made using inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs).
      Incidence rates and hazard ratios of ischemic stroke and major bleeding events
      were calculated for both cohorts. RESULTS: Overall, patients treated with
      rivaroxaban had an ischemic stroke incidence rate of 1.9 per 100 person-years
      (PY) while patients treated with warfarin had a rate of 4.2 per 100 PY (HR = 0.41
      [0.21-0.80], p = .009). Rivaroxaban patients with an eCrCl below 50 mL/min (N =
      229) had an ischemic stroke rate of 0.8 per 100 PY, while the rate for the
      warfarin cohort (N = 647) was 6.0 per 100 PY (HR = 0.09 [0.01-0.72], p = .02).
      For the other renal function levels (i.e. eCrCl 50-80 and >=80 mL/min) HRs
      indicated no statistically significant differences in ischemic stroke risks.
      Bleeding events did not differ significantly between cohorts stratified by renal
      function. CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic stroke rates were significantly lower in the
      overall NVAF population for rivaroxaban vs. warfarin users, including patients
      with eCrCl below 50 mL/min. For all renal function groups, major bleeding risks
      were not statistically different between treatment groups.

PMID- 28590786
TI  - Liver Fibrosis Associated With Crigler-Najjar Syndrome in a Compound
      Heterozygote: A Case Report.
AB  - Crigler-Najjar syndrome is a hereditary unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia. Two
      forms of the disease are recognized. Type I is more severe and results in
      kernicterus if left untreated, and Type II is less severe and responds to
      phenobarbital. While Crigler-Najjar syndrome is thought by many to have normal
      liver histology, few reports of the liver pathology exist. Herein, we present a
      19-year-old patient with Crigler-Najjar who underwent liver transplantation. The
      liver showed marked canalicular cholestasis with portal and variable, delicate,
      bridging fibrosis. Correlation of the patient's genetic test results and clinical
      phenotype is presented.

PMID- 28590787
TI  - "In the physio we trust": A qualitative study on patients' preferences for
      physiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients' preferences should be integrated in evidence-based
      practice. This study aimed to explore patients' preferences for physiotherapy
      treatment and participation in decision making. METHODS: A qualitative study set
      in an urban physiotherapy clinic in Gothenburg, Sweden. Individual, semi
      structured interviews were conducted with 20 individuals who sought physiotherapy
      for musculoskeletal disorders. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and
      analyzed with qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: An overarching theme,
      embracing six categories, was conceptualized: Trust in the physiotherapist
      fosters active engagement in therapy. The participants preferred active treatment
      strategies such as exercise and advice for self-management, allowing them to
      actively engage in their therapy. Some preferred passive treatments. Key
      influencers on treatment preferences were previous experiences and media. All
      participants wanted to be involved in the clinical decision making, but to
      varying extents. Some expressed a preference for an active role and wanting to
      share decisions while others were content with a passive role. Expectations for a
      professional management were reflected in trust and confidence in
      physiotherapists' skills and competence, expectations for good outcomes, and
      believing that treatment methods should be evidence-based. CONCLUSION: Trust in
      the physiotherapist's competence, as well as a desire to participate in clinical
      decision making, fosters active engagement in physiotherapy.

PMID- 28590789
TI  - Addressing weight stigma in physiotherapy: Development of a theory-driven
      approach to (re)thinking weight-related interactions.
AB  - In this article, we propose a theory-driven approach to developing interventions
      for reducing weight stigma in physiotherapy and discuss the design and
      exploratory trial of such an intervention. Weight stigma has been identified in
      physiotherapists in empirical investigations. However, there has been little
      consideration of how this stigma might be addressed. We highlight Goffman's work
      on stigma that provides social and embodied understandings of stigma. Goffman's
      approach, however, is notably apolitical, ahistorical and lacks mechanisms for
      understanding power. We suggest that post-structuralist perspectives can provide
      insight into these areas. Drawing on these theories, we critically examine the
      literature on weight stigma reduction, finding that trials have largely been
      unsuccessful. We argue that this may be due to overly passive and simplistic
      intervention designs. As context-specific understandings are desirable, we
      examine the nature of physiotherapy to determine what might be relevant to
      (re)thinking weight in this profession. We then discuss the development of a
      multifactorial, active weight stigma intervention we trialed with eight
      physiotherapists. Supported by theory, the outcomes of the exploratory study
      suggest that physiotherapy-specific factors such as fostering professional
      reflexivity and improving understandings of stigma need to be incorporated into
      an active intervention that considers the complex determinants of weight stigma.

PMID- 28590788
TI  - Thermo-responsive magnetic liposomes for hyperthermia-triggered local drug
      delivery.
AB  - We prepared and characterised thermo-responsive magnetic liposomes, which were
      designed to combine features of magnetic targeting and thermo-responsive control
      release for hyperthermia-triggered local drug delivery. The particle size and
      zeta-potential of the thermo-responsive magnetic ammonium bicarbonate (MagABC)
      liposomes were about 210 nm and -14 mV, respectively. The MagABC liposomes showed
      encapsulation efficiencies of about 15% and 82% for magnetic nanoparticles (mean
      crystallite size 12 nm) and doxorubicin (DOX), respectively. The morphology of
      the MagABC liposomes was visualised using transmission electron microscope (TEM).
      The MagABC liposomes showed desired thermo-responsive release. The MagABC
      liposomes, when physically targeted to tumour cells in culture by a permanent
      magnetic field yielded a substantial increase in intracellular accumulation of
      DOX as compared to non-magnetic ammonium bicarbonate (ABC) liposomes. This
      resulted in a parallel increase in cytotoxicity for DOX loaded MagABC liposomes
      over DOX loaded ABC liposomes in tumour cells.

PMID- 28590790
TI  - The Effect of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) on Transepithelial Corneal Cross-Linking
      in Rabbits.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), the main
      antioxidant agent in the cornea on transepithelial corneal cross-linking (CXL)
      where the main mechanism is oxidation. METHODS: Twenty eyes of 20 rabbits were
      divided into 3 groups: Group 1 (7 eyes) had transepithelial corneal CXL after
      being fed with normal diet; Group 2 (7 eyes) had corneal CXL after once-daily
      subcutaneous injections of 200 mg of ascorbic acid in addition to normal diet;
      and the control group (6 eyes) was fed with normal diet but did not have corneal
      CXL performed. Ascorbic acid levels were measured in aqueous humor and plasma,
      and biomechanical measurements were applied to the cornea. RESULTS: There was a
      significant difference in ascorbic acid levels of plasma (P = 0.008) and aqueous
      humor (P = 0.006) between group 1 and 2. The Young's modulus values of group 1
      and 2 were similar (P = 0.741) and were significantly higher than the control
      group (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01). The increase rate in Young's modulus values was
      37.3% in group 1 and 43.9% in group 2 compared to control group. The ultimate
      strain values in group 1 and 2 were similar (P = 0.632) and were significantly
      higher than control group (P = 0.04, P = 0.03). The ultimate stress values in
      group 1 and 2 were similar (P = 0.836) and were significantly lower than control
      group (P = 0.001, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Systemic vitamin C does not appear to
      decrease effectiveness of transepithelial corneal CXL. Therefore, there is no
      reason to stop or reduce vitamin C supplementation before corneal CXL therapy.

PMID- 28590791
TI  - Using an exercise program to improve activity tolerance in a female with postural
      orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: A case report.
AB  - The incidence of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is estimated to
      be at least 500,000 in the United States and is most commonly found in
      premenopausal females. This syndrome shares clinical features with orthostatic
      hypotension (OH); however, the inclusion criteria and clinical features for POTS
      are not well known. The purposes of this case report are to: 1) describe the
      common clinical features of POTS and highlight the differences to orthostatic
      hypotension and 2) discuss physical therapy management of patients with POTS
      using exercise. A 34-year-old female with a POTS exacerbation completed a 4-week
      physical therapy endurance and strengthening 'reconditioning' program. Initial
      symptoms included the following: dyspnea with mild exertion, light-headedness,
      fatigue, leg "heaviness," and the inability to perform normal work duties. One
      mile track walk test (1-MWT) estimated VO2max improved from the 45-50th
      percentile to the 65-70th percentile at 8 weeks post-discharge. She returned to
      work full-time and resumed all previous fitness activities. The patient
      demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements in estimated VO2max after the
      "reconditioning" training. Physical therapists should be able to recognize the
      clinical features and inclusion criteria for POTS as part of a differential
      diagnosing process for patients complaining of orthostatic symptoms.

PMID- 28590792
TI  - Antibiotic prescribing and dispensing for acute respiratory infections in
      children: effectiveness of a multi-faceted intervention for health-care providers
      in Vietnam.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Appropriate antibiotic use is vital to effectively contain antibiotic
      resistance and improve global health. Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) remain
      the leading cause of disease and death in children under five in low-income
      countries. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a multi-faceted intervention targeting health
      care-providers' (HCPs) knowledge, practical competences and practices regarding
      antibiotic use for ARIs. METHODS: A multi-faceted educational intervention with a
      two-armed randomised controlled design targeting HCPs treating ARIs in children
      was conducted in Bavi district, a rural district in Northern Vietnam in 2010
      2011. Thirty-two communes of the district were randomized into two arms, with 144
      HCPs in the intervention arm and 160 in the control arm. The intervention,
      conducted over seven months, comprised: (i) education regarding appropriate
      antibiotic use, (ii) case scenario discussion and (iii) poster distribution.
      Questionnaires to assess knowledge and dispensing/prescribing forms to assess
      practice were completed before-and after interventions. The main outcome measures
      were differences in improvement in knowledge and practice in the intervention and
      control group, respectively. RESULTS: Knowledge improved in the intervention
      group for ARI aetiology by 28% (DeltaDecrement control arm 10%), antibiotic use
      for mild ARIs by 15% (DeltaDecrement control arm 13%) and for severe ARIs by 14%
      (DeltaImprovement control arm 29%). Practical competence for a mild ARI case
      scenario improved in the intervention and control groups by 20% and 11%,
      respectively. Total knowledge score increased statistically in the intervention
      group (Deltamean improvement 1.17); less so in the control group (Deltamean
      improvement 0.48). Practice regarding antibiotics for mild ARIs improved by 28%
      in the intervention group (DeltaDecrement control arm 3%). CONCLUSIONS: The
      intervention significantly improved HCPs' knowledge of ARIs and practice of
      antibiotic use in treatment of ARIs. We suggest mixed method assessment and long
      term follow-up of these interventions to enable better appreciation of the
      effects and effect sizes of our interventions.

PMID- 28590793
TI  - Effective Legislative Advocacy - Lessons from Successful Medical Trainee
      Campaigns.

PMID- 28590794
TI  - Transforming Practices Through the Oncology Care Model: Financial Toxicity and
      Counseling.

PMID- 28590795
TI  - A recombinant live attenuated tetravalent vaccine for the prevention of dengue.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue is an important and still growing public health problem
      associated with substantial morbidity, as well as significant social and economic
      impact. The present review describes the main features and development of the
      first dengue vaccine (CYD-TDV, Dengvaxia(r)), which has been licensed by several
      dengue-endemic countries in Asia and Latin America for use in populations above 9
      years of age. Areas covered: The review focuses on the large clinical development
      of CYD-TDV, which includes in particular two pivotal phase III efficacy trials
      conducted in Asia and Latin America and supported vaccine licensure. Based on
      these clinical data, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on
      Immunization recommended considering introduction of the vaccine in geographic
      settings (national or subnational) with high burden of disease. Long-term safety
      follow-up studies of the efficacy trials are currently ongoing, and post
      licensure studies will evaluate the vaccine effectiveness and safety in 'real
      life' following vaccine introduction. Expert commentary: During vaccine
      development, a number of complexities were tackled, innovation pursued, and risk
      managed. These aspects, as well as the potential impact of CYD-TDV on public
      health are also discussed.

PMID- 28590797
TI  - Using the electronic medical record to study the association of child and
      environmental characteristics on the type of physical therapy services delivered
      to individuals with cerebral palsy.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to characterize the intervention type delivered to
      individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) in a pediatric outpatient medical setting
      and to identify factors associated with the total amount of service within each
      type. Four hundred and twenty-five individuals with CP (1-33 years) Gross Motor
      Function Classification System (GMFCS): Level I (n = 152); II (n = 63); III (n =
      55); IV (n = 80); and V (n = 75). Billing code data was extracted retrospectively
      from 2008 medical records and categorized to reflect four types: body structures
      and function (BSF), activity (ACT), environment (ENV), and examination (EXAM).
      Age at first visit, type of insurance at first visit and GMFCS level was also
      collected. The majority (47%) of the PT delivered was categorized as activity
      based units, 25% as body structure and function, 21% as environment, and 7% as
      examination. Significant differences were found in: total BSF therapy units among
      GMFCS (p = 0.008) and insurance type (p < 0.001), ACT units among GMFCS (p <
      0.001), age groups (p < 0.001), and insurance type (p = 0.008), and ENV units
      among GMFCS (p = 0.04). The amount of variability (R2) explained by the model for
      each category BSF, ACT, and ENV was 0.09 (p < 0.0001), 0.15 (p < 0.0001) and 0.02
      (p = 0.04), respectively. Variations in amount of services received among types
      of intervention are associated with child and environmental characteristics. Low
      R2 values indicate the need to collect information on other factors that
      influence service delivery. Data that are standardized and reliably collected
      should be validated and compared across institutions to support larger studies of
      service delivery patterns.

PMID- 28590796
TI  - Noninvasive Therapy for Osteoid Osteoma: A Prospective Developmental Study with
      MR Imaging-guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound.
AB  - Purpose To demonstrate that magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided high-intensity
      focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a safe, effective, and durable treatment option for
      the management of osteoid osteoma in children and young adults. Materials and
      Methods This prospective study was institutional review board approved and is
      registered with clinicaltrials.gov (identification number NCT02302651). Written
      informed consent was obtained from patients or their parents. Patients who had
      both clinical and radiologic findings that were diagnostic for nonvertebral
      osteoid osteoma and no contraindications to MR imaging-guided HIFU were enrolled
      between June 2010 and June 2013. The feasibility, safety, and clinical
      effectiveness of MR imaging-guided HIFU were considered primary outcomes; tumor
      control at imaging was considered a secondary outcome. Analyses were conducted on
      a per-protocol basis. Results Forty-five of the 50 recruited patients underwent
      MR imaging-guided HIFU. All patients were discharged without treatment-related
      complications. The median visual analog scale (VAS) pain score (scale, 0-10)
      decreased from 8 before treatment to 0 at 1-week and 1- , 6- , 12- , 24- , and 36
      month follow-up. Similarly, median VAS scores for the degree to which pain
      interfered with sleep and physical and daily activities decreased to 0 within the
      1st month after treatment and remained stable at subsequent follow-up. Overall,
      39 (87%) of the 45 patients achieved and maintained a VAS score of 0 during the 3
      year observation period. Quality of life, as assessed by using Functional
      Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Pain (FACT-BP) scores (scale, 0-60 points),
      improved, with the median FACT-BP score of 28 (points) before treatment
      increasing to a median score of 55 at 1-week follow-up and 60 at 6-month and
      subsequent follow-ups. At (final) 36-month follow-up, MR imaging depicted an
      absence of residual nidus vascularity in 32 (76%) of the 42 patients who were
      treated with MR imaging-guided HIFU only. Conclusion The durable clinical
      efficacy and safety of MR imaging-guided HIFU were demonstrated. These features
      are evidence of the potential of MR imaging-guided HIFU to be part of a routine
      strategy for the treatment of osteoid osteoma. (c) RSNA, 2017.

PMID- 28590798
TI  - Beyond Ketamine and Phencyclidine: Analytically Confirmed Use of Multiple Novel
      Arylcyclohexylamines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methoxetamine and 3-methoxy-phencyclidine are novel
      arylcyclohexylamines whose use and clinical toxicity are poorly reported in the
      medical literature. We report a case of analytically confirmed use of both
      methoxetamine and 3-methoxy-phencyclidine. CASE REPORT: A 27-year-old male
      presented 10 hours after insufflating an Internet-obtained powder. He was
      hypertensive, tachycardic, and demonstrated dissociated affect, a delayed verbal
      response to questions, ataxia, and vertical nystagmus. A urine drug screen was
      positive for phencyclidine and 11-nor-delta9-THC-9-carboxylic acid. He was
      admitted and his mental status and blood pressure normalized eight hours later.
      Blood samples (0, 2, and 3 hours from arrival) and the powders were analyzed by
      liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Methoxetamine
      and 3-methoxy-phencyclidine were detected in all samples (279 ng/ml, 205 ng/ml,
      and 180 ng/ml for methoxetamine; 167 ng/mL, 131 ng/mL, and 90 ng/ml for 3-methoxy
      phencyclidine at 0, 2, and 3 hours, respectively). No phencyclidine or
      tetrahydrocannabinol was detected. Two powders contained methoxetamine while one
      contained 3-methoxy-phencyclidine. CONCLUSION: The literature regarding
      methoxetamine and 3-methoxy-phencyclidine toxicity is limited. Methoxetamine use
      is associated with altered mental status, ataxia, and hypertension. Toxicity from
      3-methoxy-phencyclidine is poorly described. There is no prior case describing
      serial qualitative analysis. Health care providers should be aware of the novel
      arylcyclohexylamines and their toxicity.

PMID- 28590800
TI  - Response to Risks and Cough-Aggravating Factors in Prolonged Cough.

PMID- 28590801
TI  - Don't Let Funding Caps to NIH Researchers Harm Highly Collaborative HIV Cure
      Research.

PMID- 28590802
TI  - Upcoming Implementation of NIH Funding Caps Invites Researcher Feedback.

PMID- 28590799
TI  - Development of short-form measures to assess four types of elder mistreatment:
      Findings from an evidence-based study of APS elder abuse substantiation
      decisions.
AB  - Improving the standardization and efficiency of adult protective services (APS)
      investigations is a top priority in APS practice. Using data from the Elder Abuse
      Decision Support System (EADSS), we developed short-form measures of four types
      of elder abuse: financial, emotional/psychological, physical, and neglect. The
      EADSS data set contains 948 elder abuse cases (age 60+) with yes/no abuse
      substantiation decisions for each abuse type following a 30-day investigation.
      Item sensitivity/specificity analyses were conducted on long-form items with the
      substantiation decision for each abuse type as the criterion. Validity was
      further tested using receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis,
      correlation with long forms and internal consistency. The four resulting short
      form measures, containing 36 of the 82 original items, have validity similar to
      the original long forms. These short forms can be used to standardize and
      increase efficiency of APS investigations, and may also offer researchers new
      options for brief elder abuse assessments.

PMID- 28590804
TI  - Vaccine Uncertainty: Preventing Progress of Public Health.

PMID- 28590803
TI  - Up Front.

PMID- 28590806
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28590807
TI  - Prescriptions.

PMID- 28590809
TI  - Radiology and Ethics Education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to assess medical ethics knowledge among
      trainees and practicing radiologists through an online survey that included
      questions about the American College of Radiology Code of Ethics and the American
      Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics. CONCLUSION: Most survey respondents
      reported that they had never read the American Medical Association Code of
      Medical Ethics or the American College of Radiology Code of Ethics (77.2% and
      67.4% of respondents, respectively). With regard to ethics education during
      medical school and residency, 57.3% and 70.0% of respondents, respectively, found
      such education to be insufficient. Medical ethics training should be highlighted
      during residency, at specialty society meetings, and in journals and online
      resources for radiologists.

PMID- 28590810
TI  - Worth the Wait? Leisure Can Be Just as Enjoyable With Work Left Undone.
AB  - Four studies reveal that (a) people hold a robust intuition about the order of
      work and leisure and that (b) this intuition is sometimes mistaken. People prefer
      saving leisure for last, believing they would otherwise be distracted by looming
      work (Study 1). In controlled experiments, however, although subjects thought
      their enjoyment would be spoiled when they played a game before rather than after
      a laborious problem-solving task, got a massage before rather than after
      midterms, and consumed snacks and watched videos before rather than after a
      stressful performance, in reality these experiences were similarly enjoyable
      regardless of order (Studies 2 through 4). This misprediction was indeed mediated
      by anticipated distraction and was therefore attenuated after people were
      reminded of the absorbing nature of enjoyable activities (Studies 3 and 4). These
      studies highlight the power of hedonic experience within the moment of
      consumption, which has implications for managing (or mismanaging) everyday work
      and leisure. People might postpone leisure and overwork for future rewards that
      could be just as pleasurable in the present.

PMID- 28590812
TI  - Depression in the barrio: An analysis of the risk and protective nature of
      cultural values among Mexican American substance users.
AB  - Understanding the effect of cultural values on depression and how social networks
      influence these relationships may be important in the treatment of substance
      using, Mexican American populations. Latino cultural values, familismo,
      personalismo, fatalismo, and machismo, may be associated with depression among
      Latinos. The current study identified the association of traditional Latino
      values on depressive symptomatology among a sample of Mexican American heroin
      injectors. A cross-sectional research design and field-intensive outreach
      methodology were utilized to recruit 227 Mexican American men. Participants were
      categorized into depressed and nondepressed groups. Relations among cultural
      values and depression were examined using logistic regression. Findings indicate
      that drug-using men with higher familismo and fatalismo scores are protected
      against depressive symptomatology. Relations between familismo and depression
      seem to be moderated by having a drug use network. In addition, findings reveal
      that age is inversely related to depressive symptomatology. Young Mexican
      American heroin users who do not ascribe to traditional Latino values may be
      highly associated with depression and therefore more vulnerable to riskier drug
      use behaviors. Moreover, drug-using social networks may affect the protective
      nature of certain cultural values. Further research is needed to identify whether
      culturally tailored treatments can cultivate these values while simultaneously
      undermining the effect of substance-using social networks in order to reduce
      depression symptoms among this group of high-risk substance users.

PMID- 28590815
TI  - The evaluation of a strength and balance exercise program for falls prevention in
      community primary care.
AB  - We aimed to evaluate a strength and balance program delivered in the community.
      There is little evidence of implementation of evidence-based exercise in
      practice. The program was a step-down model, designed to encourage long-term
      exercise in community classes. The program consisted of a fully funded referral
      only evidence-based 12-week strength and balance (Community Otago) class,
      followed by an evidence-based continuous open-access community strength and
      balance class (Active Always). The program was offered to patients: 1) after
      formal falls rehabilitation (falls and fracture service); 2) after falls
      rehabilitation in intermediate care; and 3) referred by a GP who were not
      eligible for rehabilitation (preventative measure). Outcome evaluation used
      descriptive statistics to report changes in function, confidence in balance,
      hospital attendance/admission for falls/fractures and transition to community
      classes. Focus groups established participant experience/satisfaction. Seventy
      nine participants were included, aged 56-96, and 53 (67%) were women. About 63.3%
      of patients transitioned to Active Always classes, demonstrating improvement in
      maintenance. Follow-up scores from baseline attendance at falls and fracture
      service to 12-weeks follow-up (24 weeks) in Community Otago showed the majority
      of patients improved their function (Timed up and Go), confidence (ConfBal) and
      lowered their falls risk (Tinetti). Follow-up of participants from Community
      Otago baseline to the end of 12-weeks showed improvement in function and
      confidence, but only a third of participants lowered their falls risk. Focus
      groups data suggest that continuity of delivery, the role of the instructor,
      health professional, and social and physical outcomes were essential for
      maintenance. A supportive environment can be created which encourages older
      adults' continued participation in group-based strength and balance, helping the
      delivery of evidence-based practice.

PMID- 28590816
TI  - Found in Transition.
AB  - The journey to adulthood is complex and multi-dimensional. Young people may be
      independent in some spheres of their lives, but dependent in others. For young
      people with a disability, long-term condition, or mental health problem there are
      additional hurdles. As they move between health and social care services, they
      will find significant differences in expectations, delivery, and culture. At the
      same time, their own needs will be evolving. Despite a great deal of guidance on
      effective transition support, in 2014, England's Care Quality Commission
      highlighted a shortfall between policy and practice. The result is confusion and
      frustration for young people, their families, and the staff caring for them.
      Seamless transition to adult services is by no means a universal experience. Here
      the authors offer two case studies that triangulate inter-related perspectives:
      those of young people, parents and carers, and the professionals involved in
      successful models of transition support. The case studies illustrate how the
      challenge of transitioning to adult services is actually experienced and how,
      despite some concerns held by young people, parents, and carers, well-planned and
      coordinated transitions can have positive outcomes for the families involved.

PMID- 28590814
TI  - A dosimetric parameter to limit chest wall toxicity in SABR of NSCLC.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chest wall (CW) toxicity (rib fracture and/or pain) is a recognized
      complication of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for non-small-cell lung
      cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of CW toxicity
      following SABR and to propose a new dosimetric parameter. METHODS: We reviewed
      the charts and SABR plans from patients treated for T1-T2N0 peripheral non-small
      cell lung cancer between 2009 and 2015. The CW structure was created through a 3
      cm expansion of the lung. The median dose delivered to the planning target volume
      was 60 Gy. SABR was delivered in three fractions for patients with CW V30 < 30
      cm3. If the CW V30 exceeded 30 cm3, five fractions were used, and the plan was
      optimized based on CW V37 (biologically equivalent to the V30 of three-fraction
      plans). RESULTS: In 6 years, 361 lesions from 356 patients were treated (3
      fractions: 297; 5 fractions: 64). The median follow-up was 16 months. 23 patients
      (6.5%) developed CW toxicity after a median time of 10 months following
      treatment. The mean CW V30/V37 was 21 cm3 for patients with CW toxicity and 17
      cm3 for patients without toxicity (p < 0.05). The 2-year local control and the CW
      toxicity rates were similar, whether patients received three or five fractions
      (97% vs 96% and 7% vs 5%). CONCLUSION: When the CW V30 is >30 cm3, altered
      fractionation combined with V37 optimization can limit CW toxicity. Advances in
      knowledge: The CW V37 is a suggested dosimetric parameter adapted to
      fractionation that may potentially limit CW toxicity after lung SABR.

PMID- 28590813
TI  - Imaging features of solid renal masses.
AB  - The widespread use of abdominal imaging techniques has increased the detection of
      solid renal masses over the past years. Imaging plays a crucial role in the
      management and surveillance and in determining which lesions need treatment. The
      "classical angiomyolipoma" is the only benign solid renal mass that can be
      characterized with confidence by imaging through the detection of a fat
      containing lesion without calcifications. There is a large overlap of imaging
      features between benign and malignant renal masses that often makes difficult a
      correct characterization of these lesions. In this review, we discuss the imaging
      features of the main solid renal masses that may suggest a likely benign
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28590817
TI  - Long-Term Surveillance and Timeline of Progression of Presumed Low-Risk
      Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess risk of progression and rate
      of growth of presumed low-risk branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasms surveyed for more than 4 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A keyword search
      of electronic medical charts was performed for the years 2001-2013. Cystic
      lesions that met the criteria for clinical branch duct intraductal papillary
      mucinous neoplasm, lacked baseline high-risk or worrisome features, and had more
      than 4 years of surveillance were included in this study. Two radiologists
      performed cyst size measurements to assess interreader variability. Cyst
      progression was defined either as 2-mm or greater or 20% or greater increase in
      diameter or as development of worrisome features. Kaplan-Meier curves were
      generated to evaluate cyst progression time and linear mixed models to evaluate
      growth rates. RESULTS: The search revealed 2423 patients with cystic pancreatic
      lesions. Among these patients 228 had imaging follow-up for 4 or more years, and
      131 met the clinical criteria for branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasms. Among the 131 cysts, 73 (55.7%) progressed: 61 (46.6%) increased in
      size, 10 (7.6%) increased in size and developed worrisome features, and two
      (1.5%) developed worrisome features only. Of the 71 cysts that increased in size,
      50 (70.4%) did so within the first 5 years, and 21 (29.6%) grew after 5 years. No
      patient had adenocarcinoma. There was no significant difference in growth rate
      based on cyst size within the first 50 months. After 50 months, cysts larger than
      20 mm continued to increase in size (p < 0.05) and had faster growth rates.
      CONCLUSION: Among presumed low-risk branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasms, most increased in size, approximately 30% after 5 years. Cysts with
      baseline size larger than 20 mm continued to grow beyond 5 years at a faster
      rate.

PMID- 28590818
TI  - Work ability is influenced by kinesiophobia among patients with persistent pain.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate how kinesiophobia fluctuates in
      patients over a four weeks multimodal rehabilitation program and to study the
      relationship between work ability and kinesiophobia. The study included 112
      patients (94 women, 18 men). Measurements were made before, directly after, 2
      months after, and 12 months after the program. The level of work ability was
      rated by the patients on a scale from 0% to 100%, and kinesiophobia was measured
      by the Swedish version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-SV).
      Kinesiophobia decreased between the start of the multimodal rehabilitation
      program and the follow-up periods. Work ability increased over time, but not
      between baseline and the 2-month follow-up. Decreases in the TSK-SV score between
      baseline and the 2-month follow-up were related to the increased probability of
      improved work ability at the 12-month follow-up. In conclusion, a decrease in
      kinesiophobia seems to be related to increased work ability of patients
      participating in a 4-week multimodal rehabilitation program.

PMID- 28590819
TI  - Pattern and Distribution of Distant Metastases in Anaplastic Prostate Carcinoma:
      A Single-Institute Experience With 101 Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the sites and frequencies of
      distant metastases in patients with anaplastic prostate carcinoma and to
      correlate those findings with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Patients with anaplastic prostate carcinoma (n = 101) underwent CT
      and bone scans before platinum-based chemotherapy. CT findings were
      retrospectively reviewed to identify the sites of metastases. CT findings were
      correlated with baseline PSA levels. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to
      correlate PSA levels between patients with metastases at osseous and nonosseous
      sites. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was also used to correlate the type of bone
      metastases (blastic vs lytic) and the PSA levels. RESULTS: Eighty-three of 101
      patients (82%) had osseous metastases. PSA levels were significantly higher in
      patients with bone metastases than in patients without osseous metastases.
      However, 23 of the 83 patients (28%) with bone metastases had PSA levels in the
      normal range (i.e., < 4 ng/mL). The type of bone metastases (blastic vs lytic)
      did not show any statistically significant correlation to the PSA levels.
      Overall, 63 of 101 patients (62%) had nonosseous distant metastases at one or
      more sites, including the liver (n = 34), lung (n = 24), mediastinum (n = 31),
      pleura (n = 7), brain (n = 9), adrenal glands (n = 6), peritoneum (n = 4), and
      spleen (n = 1). PSA levels were not significantly elevated in patients with
      nonosseous distant metastases. Twenty-six of the 63 patients (41%) with
      nonosseous metastases had PSA levels in the normal range (< 4 ng/mL). CONCLUSION:
      Patients with the anaplastic clinical variant of prostate cancer have a high
      frequency of typical and atypical sites of metastases. Common sites of nonosseous
      distant metastases include the liver, lung, mediastinum, pleura, brain, and
      adrenal glands. PSA levels are unreliable and may be disproportionately low,
      despite the presence of multifocal large-volume metastases. CT of the chest,
      abdomen, and pelvis should be considered in routine staging and follow-up of
      patients with anaplastic prostate carcinoma regardless of their PSA levels.

PMID- 28590821
TI  - T2 Mapping of the Sacroiliac Joints With 3-T MRI: A Preliminary Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of T2
      relaxation time measurements of the sacroiliac joints. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The
      sacroiliac joints of 40 patients were imaged by 3-T MRI using an oblique axial
      multislice multiecho spin-echo T2-weighted sequence. Manual plotting and
      automatic subdivision of ROIs allowed us to obtain T2 values for up to 48
      different areas per patient (posterior and anterior parts, sacral, intermediate,
      and iliac parts). Intraand interobserver reproducibility of T2 values were
      calculated after independent assessment by two musculoskeletal radiologists.
      RESULTS: A total of 1656 measurement sites could be analyzed. Mean (+/- SD) T2
      values were 40.6 +/- 6.7 ms and 41.2 +/- 6.3 ms for observer 1 and 39.9 +/- 6.6
      ms for observer 2. The intraobserver intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.72
      (95% CI, 0.70-0.74), and the interobserver intraclass correlation coefficient was
      0.71 (95% CI, 0.68-0.72). CONCLUSION: Our study shows the feasibility of T2
      relaxation time measurements at the sacroiliac joints.

PMID- 28590822
TI  - Evaluation of an Improved U.S. Food and Drug Administration Method for the
      Detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in Produce Using Real-Time PCR.
AB  - Cyclospora cayetanensis is a protozoan parasite that causes human diarrheal
      disease associated with the consumption of fresh produce or water contaminated
      with C. cayetanensis oocysts. In the United States, foodborne outbreaks of
      cyclosporiasis have been linked to various types of imported fresh produce,
      including cilantro and raspberries. An improved method was developed for
      identification of C. cayetanensis in produce at the U.S. Food and Drug
      Administration. The method relies on a 0.1% Alconox produce wash solution for
      efficient recovery of oocysts, a commercial kit for DNA template preparation, and
      an optimized TaqMan real-time PCR assay with an internal amplification control
      for molecular detection of the parasite. A single laboratory validation study was
      performed to assess the method's performance and compare the optimized TaqMan
      real-time PCR assay and a reference nested PCR assay by examining 128 samples.
      The samples consisted of 25 g of cilantro or 50 g of raspberries seeded with 0,
      5, 10, or 200 C. cayetanensis oocysts. Detection rates for cilantro seeded with 5
      and 10 oocysts were 50.0 and 87.5%, respectively, with the real-time PCR assay
      and 43.7 and 94.8%, respectively, with the nested PCR assay. Detection rates for
      raspberries seeded with 5 and 10 oocysts were 25.0 and 75.0%, respectively, with
      the real-time PCR assay and 18.8 and 68.8%, respectively, with the nested PCR
      assay. All unseeded samples were negative, and all samples seeded with 200
      oocysts were positive. Detection rates using the two PCR methods were
      statistically similar, but the real-time PCR assay is less laborious and less
      prone to amplicon contamination and allows monitoring of amplification and
      analysis of results, making it more attractive to diagnostic testing
      laboratories. The improved sample preparation steps and the TaqMan real-time PCR
      assay provide a robust, streamlined, and rapid analytical procedure for
      surveillance, outbreak response, and regulatory testing of foods for detection of
      C. cayetanensis.

PMID- 28590820
TI  - Activity of Ceftazidime-Avibactam Against Clinical Isolates of Klebsiella
      pneumoniae, Including KPC-Carrying Isolates, Endemic to New York City.
AB  - In this report, we examined the (1) activity of ceftazidime-avibactam against
      clinical isolates Klebsiella pneumoniae, including those harboring blaKPC, (2)
      potential mechanisms leading to reduced susceptibility, and (3) activity of
      ceftazidime-avibactam when combined with other agents. Of 802 carbapenem
      resistant isolates of K. pneumoniae gathered from New York City from 1999 to
      2014, all were susceptible to ceftazidime-avibactam. Minimum inhibitory
      concentrations (MICs) were higher in isolates with K. pneumoniae, with the
      carbapenemase (KPC)-3 (compared to KPC-2), and those with a frameshift mutation
      in ompK35. MICs did not appear to be affected by changes in ompK36 or by
      expression of acrB. Time-kill experiments demonstrated synergy between either
      polymyxin B or amikacin and ceftazidime-avibactam in a minority of isolates. In
      conclusion, ceftazidime-avibactam is active against K. pneumoniae, including
      blaKPC isolates, in our region, but activity is affected by KPC subtype and by
      mutations in ompK35. Synergy can occur when combined with polymyxin B or
      amikacin, but is unpredictable.

PMID- 28590823
TI  - Understanding death, suicide and self-injury among adherents of the emo youth
      subculture: A qualitative study.
AB  - Emo youth subculture bases its subcultural identification mostly on symbols of
      death, dying, suicide, and other kinds of morbid content. The main goal of the
      present study was to explore attitudes toward suicidal behavior and self-injury
      in emo adolescents. Semistructured in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted
      with 14 emo adherents, accompanied by the analysis of emo Web discussion forums.
      Participants reported attitudes including high acceptance for suicidal behavior
      and self-injury. The identification with the emo youth subculture is considered
      to be a factor strengthening vulnerability towards risky behaviors.

PMID- 28590824
TI  - Continuous powder feeding for pharmaceutical solid dosage form manufacture: a
      short review.
AB  - There has been a noticeable shift from pharmaceutical batch processing towards a
      more continuous mode of manufacture for solid oral dosage forms. Continuous solid
      oral dose processes would not be possible in the absence of a highly accurate
      feeding system. The performance of feeders defines the content of formulations
      and is therefore a critical operation in continuous manufacturing of solid dosage
      forms. It was the purpose of this review to review the role of the initial powder
      feeding step in a continuous manufacturing process. Different feeding mechanisms
      are discussed with a particular emphasis on screw controlled loss in weight (LIW)
      feeding. The importance of understanding the physical properties of the raw
      materials and its impact on the feeding process is reviewed. Prior knowledge of
      materials provides an initial indication of how the powders will behave through
      processing and facilitates in the selection of the most suitable (i) feeder
      (capacity), (ii) feeding mechanism, and (iii) in the case of screw feeder - screw
      type. The studies identified in this review focus on the impact of material on
      powder feeding performance.

PMID- 28590825
TI  - The effects of smart phone gaming duration on muscle activation and spinal
      posture: Pilot study.
AB  - This study investigates changes in the posture angles of the neck and trunk,
      together with changes in the muscle activation of users, at the start of and at
      5, 10, and 15 minutes of smartphone use. Eighteen males participated in this
      study. Surface electromyography (EMG) and a digital camera were used to measure
      the muscle activation and angular changes of the neck and trunk of participants
      during smartphone use for a period of 16 minutes. Neck and trunk flexion
      significantly increased at 5, 10, and 15 minutes (p < 0.05) in comparison with
      the neck and trunk flexion of participants at the start of smartphone usage. The
      EMG activation and 10th%amplitude probability distribution function (APDF) values
      of the bilateral cervical erector spinae at 5-6, 10-11, and 15-16 minutes of
      usage (p < 0.05) were also significantly greater than at the start of usage. The
      EMG activation of the bilateral thoracic erector spinae and lower trapezius was
      significantly decreased at 5-6, 10-11, and 15-16 minutes of usage (p < 0.05).
      Smartphone use induced more flexed posture on the neck and trunk than other
      visual display terminal (VDT) work. Smartphone use also changed posture and
      muscle activation within a relatively short amount of time, just 5 minutes. Pain
      after 16 minutes of smartphone use was also observed. Thus, clinicians should
      consider the influences of smartphone use in posture and muscle activity in
      evaluation, intervention, and prevention of neck and trunk conditions.

PMID- 28590826
TI  - Minimally Invasive Treatment of Pediatric Extrinsic Ureteropelvic Junction
      Obstruction by Crossing Polar Vessels: Is Vascular Hitching a Definitive
      Solution? Report of a Multicenter Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This article aimed to evaluate the outcome of laparoscopic vascular
      hitch (VH) as an effective alternative to dismembered pyeloplasty in the
      treatment of children with extrinsic ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) by
      crossing vessels (CVs), by reporting the experience of three Italian centers of
      Pediatric Surgery. METHODS: From 2006 to 2014, 54 children (18 girls and 36 boys,
      average age 10.7 years) affected by suspected extrinsic UPJO by CV were treated
      in three different institutions: 51 patients underwent laparoscopic VH, while 3
      patients, in which a coexisting intrinsic etiology of UPJO was doubtful,
      underwent laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty. Preoperative diagnostic workup
      included: ultrasound (US)/Doppler scan, mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3)-renal
      scan, and functional-magnetic-resonance-urography (fMRU). Symptoms at
      presentation were recurrent abdominal/flank pain and hematuria. All patients
      presented intermittent hydronephrosis (range 18-100 mm) on US and an obstructive
      pattern on MAG3 renogram. RESULTS: Average operative time was 108 minutes, and
      average hospital stay was 1.8 days. As for complications, we reported a small
      abdominal wall hematoma and a high UPJ distortion without obstruction in 2
      patients, not requiring reintervention (grade I Clavien-Dindo). At follow-up
      (range 12-96 months), all patients reported resolution of symptoms, decrease in
      the hydronephrosis grade, and improved drainage on MAG3 renogram. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results demonstrated the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic VH for treatment
      of extrinsic UPJO by CV, registering excellent outcomes in a very selected
      patient population. The careful selection of patients through intraoperative
      assessment of anatomical and functional aspects is a crucial step to confirm
      indications for VH and maintain a high success rate with the procedure. We
      believe that any concerns regarding the coexistence of intrinsic stenosis should
      certainly lead to opening the collecting system and to performing a classic
      dismembered pyeloplasty.

PMID- 28590827
TI  - Extracorporeal shockwave: mechanisms of action and physiological aspects for
      cellulite, body shaping, and localized fat-Systematic review.
AB  - Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) has had a wide use in rehabilitation, and
      has presented positive effects in the treatment of unaesthetic affections. The
      objective of the present study was to search, in the literature, the mechanisms
      of action and the physiological aspects of shockwaves acting on the biological
      tissue to improve the condition of cellulite and localized fat. The systematic
      review of the literature was carried out in the period of September 2016 to
      February 2017 based on the bibliographic databases such as Lilacs, Medline,
      PubMed, and SciELO. Fifteen articles were identified in that systematic review,
      three of which were excluded as they did not make the complete access to the
      article available or the theme investigated did not encompass the objective of
      the study. The revision demonstrated that extracorporeal shockwaves present
      relevant effects on the biological tissue, which leads to the restructuring of
      skin properties and subcutaneous tissue, thus clinically improving the aspects of
      cellulite and localized fat.

PMID- 28590828
TI  - Daily use of sildenafil 50mg at night effectively ameliorates nocturia in
      patients with lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic
      hyperplasia: an exploratory multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo
      controlled study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy and safety of sildenafil 25 mg qd, 25 mg bid or
      50 mg qd - on treating lower urinary tract symptoms with benign prostatic
      hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Men aged > 45 years with LUTS/BPH
      were randomly assigned to receive sildenafil 25 mg qd (n = 42), bid (n = 41), 50
      mg qd (n = 38) or placebo (n = 41) for 8 weeks. Changes from baseline in
      International Prostate Symptom Score (I-PSS), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax)
      and postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) were assessed at week 4 and week 8.
      RESULTS: Sildenafil 25 mg qd (-7.3 +/- 5.8) and 25 mg bid (-7.0 +/- 5.7)
      exhibited significant improvements of I-PSS compared to placebo (-5.2 +/- 6.4) (p
      = 0.020, 0.025, respectively). In particular, voiding domain was more affected
      than storage domain. Only sildenafil 50 mg qd improved nocturia significantly
      (versus placebo, p = 0.027). Quality of life score was improved in all treatment
      groups. Qmax and PVR did not change significantly in all groups. All regimens
      were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Sildenafil 25 mg qd, 25 mg bid and 50 mg qd are
      safe and effective to improve LUTS/BPH in long term, along with coexisting ED. In
      particular, nocturia is most well-controlled by 50 mg qd.

PMID- 28590829
TI  - Aging and sexual health: getting to the problem.
AB  - Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the most common disorders in male and is
      often associated with other age-related comorbidities. The aging process affects
      the structural organization and function of penile erectile components such as
      smooth muscle cell and vascular architecture. These modifications affect penile
      hemodynamics by impairing cavernosal smooth muscle cell relaxation, reducing
      penile elasticity, compliance and promoting fibrosis. This review aims to
      identify the mechanisms of ED in the penile aging process in experimental and
      clinical data. It also highlights areas that are in need of more research. The
      search strategies yielded total records screened from PubMed. Clarification of
      the molecular mechanisms that accompanies corpus cavernosum aging and aging
      associated ED will aid new perspectives in the development of novel mechanism
      based therapeutic approaches. Age is not a limiting factor for ED medical
      management, and it is never too late to treat. Hypogonadism should be managed
      regardless of age, and synergistic effects have been found during testosterone
      (T) replacement therapy when used along with oral phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5)
      inhibitors. Therefore, the clinical management of ED related to aging can be done
      by therapeutic interventions that include PDE-5 inhibitors, and other
      pharmacological treatments.

PMID- 28590830
TI  - Association of elevated interleukin-17 and angiopoietin-2 with prostate size in
      benign prostatic hyperplasia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Inflammation and angiogenesis are known to play a role in the
      development prostate tumors. The present study was designed to assess the levels
      of markers of inflammation and angiogenesis like interleukin-17 (IL-17) and
      angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2) levels and their association with prostate size in
      patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 42 BPH
      cases and 42 controls were enrolled in the study. IL-17 and ANGPT2 were estimated
      in both the groups. RESULTS: IL-17 and ANGPT2 were significantly increased in BPH
      cases when compared with controls. Multivariate analysis showed that ANGPT2
      predicts the prostate size in patients with BPH (R2 = 0.203, beta = 0.355, p =
      0.028). Linear regression analysis showed that IL-17 was significantly associated
      with ANGPT2 in BPH cases (R2 = 0.129, beta - 0.359, p = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: We
      conclude that IL-17 and ANGPT2 are elevated in BPH cases and ANGPT2 was
      associated with IL-17 and prostate size.

PMID- 28590831
TI  - Effects of testosterone administration on liver structure and function in aging
      rats.
AB  - : Aging males have a decrease in testosterone levels, by which the testosterone
      treatment may influence in a negatively fashion the liver. AIM: This study aimed
      to analyze the effects of aging with or without testosterone administration on
      the liver components of animals. METHODS: Wistar rats were divided into three
      groups: 20 months' group (G20), 24 months' group (G24), group treated with
      testosterone for 16 weeks (GT). All groups were sacrificed at 24 months except
      for G20 that was sacrificed at 20 months. RESULTS: Aging and testosterone
      treatment alters the body weight (BW), liver weight (LW) and relative liver
      weight. Besides, testosterone increased the mitogen capacity of hepatocytes.
      Nonetheless, we reinforce the negative effects of testosterone on old animals'
      liver as chronic hepatic congestion and/or cholestasis. In addition, we observed
      that testosterone plays an important role on hepatic glycogen stores.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed many implications for the knowledge about the
      effects of aging with or without testosterone administration on old animals'
      liver.

PMID- 28590833
TI  - Evaluation of a Decision Aid for Women with Epilepsy Who Are Considering
      Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For many women with epilepsy (WWE), decision making about pregnancy
      is complicated by considerations such as the potential teratogenicity of
      antiepileptic drugs, offspring risk of epilepsy, seizure occurrence during
      pregnancy, and the challenges of parenting amidst poorly controlled seizures.
      OBJECTIVE: This proof-of-concept, randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate a
      decision aid (DA) developed to help WWE decide if they should start or enlarge
      their families. METHODS: Seventy-nine WWE of childbearing age were recruited from
      Epilepsy Action Australia between October and November 2013 and randomized to
      receive the intervention (the DA) or not, and to complete a set of questionnaires
      pre- and post- intervention. The DA, delivered as a PDF booklet, provided
      balanced evidence-based information about options, risks and benefits, including
      probabilities; as well as steps for clarifying values and considering options
      within one's personal situation. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the DA
      group had statistically significant improvements in knowledge about pregnancy and
      epilepsy (Cohen's d = 1.24; 95%CI = 0.77 to 1.83) and reduced decisional conflict
      (Cohen's d = 0.59; 95%CI = 0.21 to 0.99). Changes in decision self-efficacy,
      certainty of choice, patient-practitioner communication abilities and value
      congruence with choice were comparable between the DA and control group.
      Importantly, women's decisions about motherhood were not biased towards either
      direction, and there were no adverse effects on depression or anxiety. All women
      who received the DA indicated they would recommend it to other WWE. CONCLUSIONS:
      The DA has the potential to serve as a useful support tool for WWE who are
      considering motherhood. Future research is needed to test the DA in clinical
      settings with guidance from a health professional. The trial was registered with
      the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ID ACTRN12613001082796).

PMID- 28590832
TI  - Association of the modified frailty index with adverse outcomes after penile
      prosthesis implantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate frailty as a predictor of surgical outcome in elderly
      patients undergoing penile prosthesis implantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total
      of 54 elderly patients, above 60 years of age, underwent penile prosthesis
      implantation between 2012 and 2014. Their data were collected and retrospectively
      analyzed. A modified frailty index (mFI) was calculated for each patient based on
      11 risk factors from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Frailty Index. The 1
      year adverse outcomes were correlated with mFI, patients' and procedure's risk
      factors. RESULTS: Mean age was 64.9 +/- 5.2 years. No mortality was reported in
      our patients, however, one-year adverse outcomes were encountered in 43 (79.6%)
      patients. Among all studied variables, the 1-year adverse outcomes was not
      significantly association with mFI, but with preoperative glycosylated hemoglobin
      A1c (HbA1c) (p = 0.031) and associated Peyronie's disease (PD) (p = 0.000).
      HbA1c, dyslipidemia, hypertension, PD and duration of the procedure were
      predictive of infection complications (p < 0.05). Only PD and HbA1c sustained an
      independent significant impact. CONCLUSIONS: mFI is not a predictive of post
      penile prosthesis implantation adverse outcomes in elderly patients with
      impotence. Degree of diabetic control and association with PD was associated with
      the 1-year adverse outcomes and infection complications.

PMID- 28590834
TI  - Comparison of the Effects of a Pharmaceutical Industry Decision Guide and
      Decision Aids on Patient Choice to Intensify Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects a pharmaceutical industry decision guide and
      International Patient Decision Aids Standard (IPDAS) compliant patient decision
      aids (PtDA) on patient medication beliefs and choice to intensify therapy.
      METHODS: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, who had never taken etanercept
      (Enbrel), took part in a mail survey. They were presented with a hypothetical
      decision scenario where they were asked to consider adding etanercept to their
      current regimen. Each patient was randomized to review 1 of 3 forms of an
      etanercept-specific decision support: a long PtDA (LONG DA), a short PtDA (SHORT
      DA), or the manufacturer's Enbrel decision guide (Pharm Booklet). RESULTS: We had
      402 RA patients participate in the study (response rate, 52%). Of the patients
      randomized to the Pharm Booklet, 30.6% elected to initiate etanercept. Only 14.6%
      and 14.0% of patients who reviewed the LONG DA or SHORT DA choose to take
      etanercept (chi2 = 15.7; P < 0.001). Patients who reviewed the LONG DA or SHORT
      DA had a greater increase in knowledge about etanercept than those who reviewed
      the Pharm Booklet. There was no difference in decisional conflict among the
      groups. A logistic regression model explained 44.2% (R2 = 0.442) of patient
      choice to intensify therapy by initiating etanercept. The strongest predictor of
      choice to intensify therapy were beliefs about etanercept's ability to improve
      symptoms (OR = 2.56, 96%CI [1.71, 3.80]), and its use by others like the
      respondent (OR = 2.24, 95%CI [1.49, 3.35]). Mediation analysis confirmed the
      presence of a partial mediating effect of decision support on patients' intent to
      take etanercept (OR = 0.59, 95%CI [0.39, 0.89]). CONCLUSIONS: Patients supported
      by the Pharm Booklet were twice as likely to choose to intensify therapy. The
      Pharm Booklet's effects are partially mediated through persuasive communication
      techniques that influence patients' beliefs that symptoms will improve, and
      increase social normative beliefs, rather than by increasing the relevant
      knowledge, clarifying patient values about positive or negative treatment
      outcomes, or increasing their self-efficacy.

PMID- 28590835
TI  - A Pilot Study on the Evaluation of Physicians' Laser Delivery Performance Using a
      Laser Beam Detection Kit.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Many laser devices have been developed over the past
      decades for various skin conditions. However, variations in the technical skill
      of physicians for laser skin treatment delivery have not yet been evaluated. This
      study evaluates the differences in omission and overlap percentages during
      simulated laser hair removal treatments among physicians at two clinics.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A laser beam detection kit was developed to record and
      collect laser irradiation from a diode laser device. Eight physicians (primary
      private clinic 4, tertiary referral hospital 4) were recruited to perform 80
      trials of laser delivery simulation. The simulation process was captured in video
      frames by a camera built inside of the detection kit. The laser distribution map
      was reconstructed, and each physician's performance result was determined by a
      computer calculation. RESULTS: Various assumption tests showed that each
      physician had different laser delivery skills. Four physicians from clinic A had
      an average omission rate of 13.4%, and four physicians from clinic B had an
      average omission rate of 19.7%. Regarding the average overlap rate of the two
      clinics, clinic A had a higher rate than clinic B (26.1% vs. 14.6%). CONCLUSIONS:
      The study's findings confirmed the differences of the technical skills among the
      physicians and between the two clinics. The proposed computer-assisted evaluation
      of technical skill is useful for assessing physicians' performance during laser
      skin treatments.

PMID- 28590836
TI  - Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate Using 120 W High Performance System:
      A Prospective Evaluation of Results Over 2 Years.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of photoselective
      vaporization of prostate using the 120 W High Performance System for management
      of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: We prospectively
      obtained data from 229 patients between January 2009 and December 2012. We
      evaluated the serum prostate specific antigen level, International Prostate
      Symptom Score (IPSS), prostate volume; maximum urine flow rate (Qmax); and
      postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) in the patients at presentation and on
      follow-up at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months. The mean duration of the surgery, energy
      used, hospital stay, and intra- and postoperative complications were assessed.
      RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 71.2 +/- 9.6 years, and the mean
      preoperative size of the prostate was 59.41 +/- 28.1 mL. The mean duration of the
      surgery was 47.35 +/- 16.14 min, and the mean energy use was 184.39 +/- 101.3 kJ.
      The mean time to removal of the urinary catheter was 21.45 +/- 11.06 h, while the
      mean duration of hospital stay was 24.82 +/- 11.5 h. The IPSS declined and mean
      Qmax increased by over twofold within the first month. The PVR also declined
      significantly in all groups up to 6 months after the surgery and increased
      slightly thereafter. Urinary urgency and incontinence occurred in two patients,
      while four patients developed urinary strictures. Between 12 and 24 months after
      the surgery, four patients underwent repeat surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      show that photoselective vaporization is safe and effective for the management of
      BPH and resulted in few complications. It yielded improvements in all parameters
      that were sustained even up to 2 years after the surgery.

PMID- 28590837
TI  - Regulation and Measurement of the Heat Generated by Automatic Tooth Preparation
      in a Confined Space.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess and regulate heat generation in
      the dental pulp cavity and circumambient temperature around a tooth during laser
      ablation with a femtosecond laser in a confined space. BACKGROUND DATA: The
      automatic tooth preparing technique is one of the traditional oral clinical
      technology innovations. In this technique, a robot controlled an ultrashort pulse
      laser to automatically complete the three-dimensional teeth preparing in a
      confined space. The temperature control is the main measure for protecting the
      tooth nerve. METHODS: Ten tooth specimens were irradiated with a femtosecond
      laser controlled by a robot in a confined space to generate 10 teeth preparation.
      During the process, four thermocouple sensors were used to record the pulp cavity
      and circumambient environment temperatures with or without air cooling. A
      statistical analysis of the temperatures was performed between the conditions
      with and without air cooling (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The recordings showed that the
      temperature with air cooling was lower than that without air cooling and that the
      heat generated in the pulp cavity was lower than the threshold for dental pulp
      damage. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that femtosecond laser ablation with
      air cooling might be an appropriate method for automatic tooth preparing.

PMID- 28590838
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of Effects of Laser Modalities on Shear Bond Strengths of
      Veneering Porcelains to Laser Sintered Substructures: An In Vitro Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Laser modalities and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) have a
      potential to enhance micromechanical bonding between dental super- and
      infrastructures. However, the effect of different manufacturing methods on the
      metal-ceramic bond strength needs further evaluation. We investigated the effect
      of surface treatment with Er:YAG, Nd:YAG, and Ho:YAG lasers on the shear bond
      strength (SBS) of high-fusion dental porcelains (Vita and G-Ceram) to
      infrastructures prepared with DMLS in vitro settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Study specimens (n = 128) were randomly divided into study subsets (n = 8),
      considering treatment types applied on the surface of infrastructures, including
      sandblasting and selected laser modalities; infrastructure types as direct laser
      sintered (DLS) and Ni-Cr based; and superstructure porcelains as Vita and G
      Ceram. The SBS test was performed to assess the effectiveness of surface
      modifications that were also examined with a stereo microscope. RESULTS:
      Considering laser procedure types, the highest SBS values were obtained by Er:YAG
      laser, followed by, with a decreasing efficiency, Ho:YAG laser and sandblasting
      procedures, and Nd:YAG laser procedure (p < 0.05). Nd:YAG laser decreases the
      bonding of Vita and G-Ceram in all the infrastructures compared with
      sandblasting. Considering porcelains, the highest SBS values were obtained by
      Vita (p < 0.05). Considering infrastructures, the highest SBS values were
      obtained by DMLS procedure (p < 0.05). The laser procedures caused surface
      irregularities as revealed by the stereo microscopic examination. CONCLUSIONS: In
      current experimental settings, Er:YAG laser applied to DLS infrastructure
      veneered with Vita porcelain increases bonding strength more distinctly, and
      Nd:YAG laser applied to Ni-Cr-based infrastructure veneered with G-Ceram
      porcelain alters bonding strength unfavorably.

PMID- 28590839
TI  - Contractility, differential tension and membrane removal lead zebrafish epiboly
      biomechanics.
AB  - Precise tissue remodeling during development is essential for shaping embryos and
      optimal organ function. Epiboly is an early gastrulation event by which the
      blastoderm expands around the yolk to engulf it. Three different layers are
      involved in this process, an epithelial layer (the enveloping layer, EVL), the
      embryo proper, constituted by the deep cells (DCs), and the yolk cell. Although
      teleost epiboly has been studied for many years, a clear understanding of its
      mechanics was still missing. Here we present new information on the cellular,
      molecular and mechanical elements involved in epiboly that, together with some
      other recent data and upon comparison with previous biomechanical models, lets
      conclude that the expansion of the epithelia is passive and driven by active
      cortical contraction and membrane removal in the adjacent layer, the External
      Yolk Syncytial Layer (E-YSL). The isotropic actomyosin contraction of the E-YSL
      cortex generates an anisotropic stress pattern and a directional net movement
      consequence of the differences in the deformation response of the 2 opposites
      adjacent domains (EVL and the Yolk Cytoplasmic Layer - YCL). Contractility is
      accompanied by the local formation of membrane folds and its removal by Rab5ab
      dependent macropinocytosis. The increase in area of the epithelia during the
      expansion is achieved by cell-shape changes (flattening) responding to spherical
      geometrical cues. The counterbalance between the geometry of the embryo and
      forces dissipation among different elements is therefore essential for epiboly
      global coordination.

PMID- 28590840
TI  - Addressing child under nutrition: can traditional practices offer a solution?
AB  - Child under nutrition continues to be a challenge to global development,
      especially in resource-poor contexts. In the multifaceted attempts to address
      this challenge, popular traditional practices, although closely linked to infant
      health, remain neglected and less researched. The World Health Organization's
      recent strategy on traditional medicine systems provides overarching guidance in
      this regard. In this commentary, we attempt to exemplify this. We highlight the
      importance of traditional child care practices with regard to child nutrition and
      the need for trans-disciplinary research to explore the potential of these for
      public health. Infant oil massage appears to be a potentially beneficial practice
      for child nutrition. Rigorous trans-disciplinary research on traditional infant
      massage can provide simple solutions to address child under nutrition and nurture
      human capabilities globally.

PMID- 28590841
TI  - Rapid Prediction of Hematologic Acute Radiation Syndrome in Radiation Injury
      Patients Using Peripheral Blood Cell Counts.
AB  - Rapid clinical triage of radiation injury patients is essential for determining
      appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. We examined the utility of
      blood cell counts (BCCs) in the first three days postirradiation to predict
      clinical outcome, specifically for hematologic acute radiation syndrome (HARS).
      We analyzed BCC test samples from radiation accident victims (n = 135) along with
      their clinical outcome HARS severity scores (H1-4) using the System for
      Evaluation and Archiving of Radiation Accidents based on Case Histories (SEARCH)
      database. Data from nonirradiated individuals (H0, n = 132) were collected from
      an outpatient facility. We created binary categories for severity scores, i.e., 1
      (H0 vs. H1-4), 2 (H0-1 vs. H2-4) and 3 (H0-2 vs. H3-4), to assess the
      discrimination ability of BCCs using unconditional logistic regression analysis.
      The test sample contained 454 BCCs from 267 individuals. We validated the
      discrimination ability on a second independent group comprised of 275 BCCs from
      252 individuals originating from SEARCH (HARS 1-4), an outpatient facility (H0)
      and hospitals (e.g., leukemia patients, H4). Individuals with a score of H0 were
      easily separated from exposed individuals based on developing lymphopenia and
      granulocytosis. The separation of H0 and H1-4 became more prominent with
      increasing hematologic severity scores and time. On day 1, lymphocyte counts were
      most predictive for discriminating binary categories, followed by granulocytes
      and thrombocytes. For days 2 and 3, an almost complete separation was achieved
      when BCCs from different days were combined, supporting the measurement of
      sequential BCC. We found an almost complete discrimination of H0 vs. irradiated
      individuals during model validation (negative predictive value, NPV > 94%) for
      all three days, while the correct prediction of exposed individuals increased
      from day 1 (positive predictive value, PPV 78-89%) to day 3 (PPV > 90%). The
      models were unable to provide predictions for 10.9% of the test samples, because
      the PPVs or NPVs did not reach a 95% likelihood defined as the lower limit for a
      prediction. We developed a prediction model spreadsheet to provide early and
      prompt diagnostic predictions and therapeutic recommendations including
      identification of the worried well, requirement of hospitalization or development
      of severe hematopoietic syndrome. These results improve the provisional
      classification of HARS. For the final diagnosis, further procedures (sequential
      diagnosis, retrospective dosimetry, clinical follow-up, etc.) must be taken into
      account. Clinical outcome of radiation injury patients can be rapidly predicted
      within the first three days postirradiation using peripheral BCC.

PMID- 28590843
TI  - Introduction to Dual Diagnosis Special Issue.

PMID- 28590842
TI  - Suicide-Related Internet Use Among Suicidal Young People in the UK:
      Characteristics of Users, Effects of Use, and Barriers to Offline Help-Seeking.
AB  - The study replicates earlier research using a UK sample to examine differences
      between suicidal people who go online for suicide-related reasons and suicidal
      people who do not, perceived effects of suicide-related Internet use, and
      perceived barriers to offline help-seeking. A total of 72 UK citizens (18-24
      years old) who had contemplated killing themselves or deliberately harmed
      themselves with the intention of dying within the past 12 months participated in
      an anonymous online survey. Results indicate that suicidal young people who use
      the Internet for suicide-related purposes are a high-risk group characterized by
      higher levels of social anxiety. The main purposes of suicide-related Internet
      use were to connect with others and seek information. Both positive and negative
      effects were found.

PMID- 28590844
TI  - Impulsivity and cue reactivity in smokers with comorbid depression and anxiety:
      Possible implications for smoking cessation treatment strategies.
AB  - Smoking remains one of the most preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in
      the United States (1). A number of factors contribute to the initiation and
      maintenance of smoking behavior, including psychosocial influences (2,3),
      neurobehavioral traits (4), and genetic susceptibility (5-7). Prevalence rates of
      tobacco dependence among individuals with mental health issues are strikingly
      high when compared to the general population, particularly among individuals with
      depression and anxiety disorders (8). There are well-established relationships
      between impulsivity, cue reactivity, and tobacco use in the literature (9).
      However, the interaction between these relationships remains unclear. The primary
      goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the existing literature across
      these domains and explore their interrelationship and subsequent impact on
      smoking initiation and tobacco dependence. Further, the clinical implications
      regarding the development of potential targeted smoking cessation strategies for
      this population are presented.

PMID- 28590845
TI  - Epilogue to Dual Diagnosis Special Issue.

PMID- 28590846
TI  - Preface: Selected Papers from RECOMB 2016.

PMID- 28590847
TI  - New Genome Similarity Measures based on Conserved Gene Adjacencies.
AB  - Many important questions in molecular biology, evolution, and biomedicine can be
      addressed by comparative genomic approaches. One of the basic tasks when
      comparing genomes is the definition of measures of similarity (or dissimilarity)
      between two genomes, for example, to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships
      between species. The power of different genome comparison methods varies with the
      underlying formal model of a genome. The simplest models impose the strong
      restriction that each genome under study must contain the same genes, each in
      exactly one copy. More realistic models allow several copies of a gene in a
      genome. One speaks of gene families, and comparative genomic methods that allow
      this kind of input are called gene family-based. The most powerful-but also most
      complex-models avoid this preprocessing of the input data and instead integrate
      the family assignment within the comparative analysis. Such methods are called
      gene family-free. In this article, we study an intermediate approach between
      family-based and family-free genomic similarity measures. Introducing this
      simpler model, called gene connections, we focus on the combinatorial aspects of
      gene family-free genome comparison. While in most cases, the computational costs
      to the general family-free case are the same, we also find an instance where the
      gene connections model has lower complexity. Within the gene connections model,
      we define three variants of genomic similarity measures that have different
      expression powers. We give polynomial-time algorithms for two of them, while we
      show NP-hardness for the third, most powerful one. We also generalize the
      measures and algorithms to make them more robust against recent local disruptions
      in gene order. Our theoretical findings are supported by experimental results,
      proving the applicability and performance of our newly defined similarity
      measures.

PMID- 28590851
TI  - Injury Mortality in Autism.

PMID- 28590852
TI  - Fostering a Public Health of Consequence: Practical Skills and Lessons Learned.

PMID- 28590848
TI  - Exploring the QSAR's predictive truthfulness of the novel N-tuple discrete
      derivative indices on benchmark datasets.
AB  - Graph derivative indices (GDIs) have recently been defined over N-atoms (N = 2, 3
      and 4) simultaneously, which are based on the concept of derivatives in discrete
      mathematics (finite difference), metaphorical to the derivative concept in
      classical mathematical analysis. These molecular descriptors (MDs) codify topo
      chemical and topo-structural information based on the concept of the derivative
      of a molecular graph with respect to a given event (S) over duplex, triplex and
      quadruplex relations of atoms (vertices). These GDIs have been successfully
      applied in the description of physicochemical properties like reactivity,
      solubility and chemical shift, among others, and in several comparative
      quantitative structure activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) studies.
      Although satisfactory results have been obtained in previous modelling studies
      with the aforementioned indices, it is necessary to develop new, more rigorous
      analysis to assess the true predictive performance of the novel structure
      codification. So, in the present paper, an assessment and statistical validation
      of the performance of these novel approaches in QSAR studies are executed, as
      well as a comparison with those of other QSAR procedures reported in the
      literature. To achieve the main aim of this research, QSARs were developed on
      eight chemical datasets widely used as benchmarks in the evaluation/validation of
      several QSAR methods and/or many different MDs (fundamentally 3D MDs). Three to
      seven variable QSAR models were built for each chemical dataset, according to the
      original dissection into training/test sets. The models were developed by using
      multiple linear regression (MLR) coupled with a genetic algorithm as the feature
      wrapper selection technique in the MobyDigs software. Each family of GDIs (for
      duplex, triplex and quadruplex) behaves similarly in all modelling, although
      there were some exceptions. However, when all families were used in combination,
      the results achieved were quantitatively higher than those reported by other
      authors in similar experiments. Comparisons with respect to external correlation
      coefficients (q2ext) revealed that the models based on GDIs possess superior
      predictive ability in seven of the eight datasets analysed, outperforming
      methodologies based on similar or more complex techniques and confirming the good
      predictive power of the obtained models. For the q2ext values, the non-parametric
      comparison revealed significantly different results to those reported so far,
      which demonstrated that the models based on DIVATI's indices presented the best
      global performance and yielded significantly better predictions than the 12 0-3D
      QSAR procedures used in the comparison. Therefore, GDIs are suitable for
      structure codification of the molecules and constitute a good alternative to
      build QSARs for the prediction of physicochemical, biological and environmental
      endpoints.

PMID- 28590854
TI  - Donald Trump, the Police, and Mental Health in US Cities.

PMID- 28590855
TI  - "Alien" Health Care.

PMID- 28590856
TI  - Educational Disparities in Adult Disability: Person, Place, Policies, and Family.

PMID- 28590858
TI  - The Lead Battery: A Growing Global Public Health Challenge.

PMID- 28590857
TI  - Public Health Research Priorities to Address US Human Trafficking.

PMID- 28590859
TI  - Trauma, Psychopathology, and the Refugee Crisis: A Call to Action.

PMID- 28590861
TI  - Applewhite and Sherman Respond.

PMID- 28590860
TI  - Inclusion of Disability Status in Investigations of Child Maltreatment Lifetime
      Prevalence.

PMID- 28590862
TI  - Potential Issues With Naloxone Distribution in the Community.

PMID- 28590863
TI  - Soda Consumption Among Adolescents: Implications for Low- and Middle-Income
      Countries.

PMID- 28590864
TI  - Hosting Syrian Refugees: Resources Exist in Our Communities.

PMID- 28590867
TI  - AJPH Global News.

PMID- 28590866
TI  - Toward Creation of the Oral Physician.

PMID- 28590868
TI  - Guan and Li Respond.

PMID- 28590865
TI  - Evaluating Public Health Interventions: 6. Modeling Ratios or Differences? Let
      the Data Tell Us.
AB  - We provide an overview of the relative merits of ratio measures (relative risks,
      risk ratios, and rate ratios) compared with difference measures (risk and rate
      differences). We discuss evidence that the multiplicative model often fits the
      data well, so that rarely are interactions with other risk factors for the
      outcome observed when one uses a logistic, relative risk, or Cox regression model
      to estimate the intervention effect. As a consequence, additive models, which
      estimate the risk or rate difference, will often exhibit interactions. Under
      these circumstances, absolute measures of effect, such as years of life lost,
      disability- or quality-adjusted years of life lost, and number needed to treat,
      will not be externally generalizable to populations other than those with similar
      risk factor distributions as the population in which the intervention effect was
      estimated. Nevertheless, these absolute measures are often of the greatest
      importance in public health decision-making. When studies of high-risk study
      populations are used to more efficiently estimate effects, these populations will
      not be representative of the general population's risk factor distribution. The
      relative homogeneity of ratio versus absolute measures will thus have important
      implications for the generalizability of results across populations.

PMID- 28590869
TI  - What Public Health Practitioners Need to Know About Unhealthy Industry Tactics.

PMID- 28590870
TI  - The Relentless Enemies of Science.

PMID- 28590871
TI  - A Public Health of Consequence: Review of the July 2017 Issue of AJPH.

PMID- 28590872
TI  - Risk Analysis in the 21st Century: Adapting to New Challenges and Opportunities.

PMID- 28590873
TI  - Physical Activity and Physical and Mental Well-Being in Church Settings.

PMID- 28590874
TI  - US Hospital Awards and Community Health Improvement.

PMID- 28590875
TI  - Increasing Availability of Prevention to Communities Disproportionately Affected
      by HIV.

PMID- 28590876
TI  - Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus: Rapidly Increasing Global Distribution,
      Etiology, Epidemiology, and Management.
AB  - Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) was first described in 1935 infecting
      cucumber, making it one of the first plant viruses to be studied. Its initial
      distribution occurred out of England to other countries. This was followed by its
      distribution from England and these other countries to additional countries. This
      process increased slowly between 1935 and 1985, faster between 1986 and 2006, and
      rapidly between 2007 and 2016. The discovery that it diminished cucurbit fruit
      yields and quality, especially of watermelon, prompted a substantial research
      effort in worst-affected countries. These efforts included obtaining insight into
      its particle and genome characteristics, evolution, and epidemiology. CGMMV's
      particle stability, ease of contact transmission, and seed transmissibility,
      which are typical tobamovirus characteristics, explained its complex disease
      cycle and its ability to spread locally or over long distances without a vector.
      Knowledge of its disease etiology and epidemiology enabled development of
      integrated disease management approaches that rely heavily on diverse
      phytosanitary measures. Dispersal of seed-borne infection through the
      international seed trade following cucurbit seed crop production in tropical or
      subtropical countries explains its recent rapid dispersion worldwide.

PMID- 28590877
TI  - Genome Evolution of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes.
AB  - Plant parasitism has evolved independently on at least four separate occasions in
      the phylum Nematoda. The application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to plant
      parasitic nematodes has allowed a wide range of genome- or transcriptome-level
      comparisons, and these have identified genome adaptations that enable parasitism
      of plants. Current genome data suggest that horizontal gene transfer, gene family
      expansions, evolution of new genes that mediate interactions with the host, and
      parasitism-specific gene regulation are important adaptations that allow
      nematodes to parasitize plants. Sequencing of a larger number of nematode
      genomes, including plant parasites that show different modes of parasitism or
      that have evolved in currently unsampled clades, and using free-living taxa as
      comparators would allow more detailed analysis and a better understanding of the
      organization of key genes within the genomes. This would facilitate a more
      complete understanding of the way in which parasitism has shaped the genomes of
      plant-parasitic nematodes.

PMID- 28590878
TI  - Tick Tock: Circadian Regulation of Plant Innate Immunity.
AB  - Many living organisms on Earth have evolved the ability to integrate
      environmental and internal signals to determine time and thereafter adjust
      appropriately their metabolism, physiology, and behavior. The circadian clock is
      the endogenous timekeeper critical for multiple biological processes in many
      organisms. A growing body of evidence supports the importance of the circadian
      clock for plant health. Plants activate timed defense with various strategies to
      anticipate daily attacks of pathogens and pests and to modulate responses to
      specific invaders in a time-of-day-dependent manner (gating). Pathogen infection
      is also known to reciprocally modulate clock activity. Such a cross talk likely
      reflects the adaptive nature of plants to coordinate limited resources for
      growth, development, and defense. This review summarizes recent progress in
      circadian regulation of plant innate immunity with a focus on the molecular
      events linking the circadian clock and defense. More and better knowledge of
      clock-defense cross talk could help to improve disease resistance and
      productivity in economically important crops.

PMID- 28590879
TI  - Tritrophic Interactions: Microbe-Mediated Plant Effects on Insect Herbivores.
AB  - It is becoming abundantly clear that the microbes associated with plants and
      insects can profoundly influence plant-insect interactions. Here, we focus on
      recent findings and propose directions for future research that involve microbe
      induced changes to plant defenses and nutritive quality as well as the
      consequences of these changes for the behavior and fitness of insect herbivores.
      Insect (herbivore and parasitoid)-associated microbes can favor or improve insect
      fitness by suppressing plant defenses and detoxifying defensive phytochemicals.
      Phytopathogens can influence or manipulate insect behavior and fitness by
      altering plant quality and defense. Plant-beneficial microbes can promote plant
      growth and influence plant nutritional and phytochemical composition that can
      positively or negatively influence insect fitness. Lastly, we suggest that
      entomopathogens have the potential to influence plant defenses directly as
      endophytes or indirectly by altering insect physiology.

PMID- 28590880
TI  - Development and Validation of a Measure Assessing Child Diabetes Behavior: The
      Diabetes Behavior Checklist.
AB  - Previous research in pediatric diabetes management has focused on general child
      behavior, which is linked with treatment adherence and health outcomes in
      children with type 1 diabetes. Little is known about child diabetes behavior
      problems specifically. The current study aimed to develop and validate a measure
      of diabetes-specific child behavior problems, and parents' confidence in managing
      these behaviors. Participants were a community sample of 186 parents of children
      aged 2-10 years with type 1 diabetes, recruited via online parenting forums and
      advertisements placed in school and childcare newsletters throughout Australia.
      The measure demonstrated excellent internal consistency and evidence of construct
      validity, and factor analyses revealed a 3-factor and a 1-factor structure for
      the Extent and Confidence scales, respectively. This study provides preliminary
      evidence of validity of the Diabetes Behavior Checklist. The implications of
      these findings for intervention development are discussed.

PMID- 28590881
TI  - Effects of irrelevant background speech on eye movements during reading.
AB  - The irrelevant speech effect (ISE) refers to the impairment of visual information
      processing by background speech. Prior research on the ISE has focused on short
      term memory for visually presented word lists. The present research extends this
      work by using measurements of eye movements to examine effects of irrelevant
      background speech during Chinese reading. This enabled an examination of the ISE
      for a language in which access to semantic representations is not strongly
      mediated by phonology. Participants read sentences while exposed to meaningful
      irrelevant speech, meaningless speech (scrambled meaningful speech) or silence. A
      target word of high or low lexical frequency was embedded in each sentence. The
      results show that meaningful, but not meaningless, background speech produced
      increased re-reading. In addition, the appearance of a normal word frequency
      effect, characterised by longer fixation times on low- compared to high-frequency
      words, was delayed when meaningful or meaningless speech was present in the
      background. These findings show that irrelevant background speech can disrupt
      normal processes of reading comprehension and, in addition, that background noise
      can interfere with the early processing of words. The findings add to evidence
      showing that normal reading processes can be disrupted by environmental noise
      such as irrelevant background speech.

PMID- 28590882
TI  - Item response theory analysis of the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening
      Scale.
AB  - The focus of these analyses was to examine the psychometric properties of the
      Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening Scale (LFDSS). The purpose of the screen
      was to evaluate the decisional abilities and vulnerability to exploitation of
      older adults. Adults aged 60 and over were interviewed by social, legal,
      financial, or health services professionals who underwent in-person training on
      the administration and scoring of the scale. Professionals provided a rating of
      the decision-making abilities of the older adult. The analytic sample included
      213 individuals with an average age of 76.9 (SD = 10.1). The majority (57%) were
      female. Data were analyzed using item response theory (IRT) methodology. The
      results supported the unidimensionality of the item set. Several IRT models were
      tested. Ten ordinal and binary items evidenced a slightly higher reliability
      estimate (0.85) than other versions and better coverage in terms of the range of
      reliable measurement across the continuum of financial incapacity.

PMID- 28590883
TI  - What's in a name? Group fitness class names and women's reasons for exercising.
AB  - The benefits of intrinsic exercise motivation are well recognized, yet
      extrinsically focused group-fitness class names/descriptions dominate the fitness
      industry. To explore the impact of how fitness classes are marketed, women (N =
      389) were asked to indicate their preference for either intrinsically or
      extrinsically focused fitness classes based on title/description. Participants
      who favored intrinsic class names/descriptions were more likely to report greater
      interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, and greater effort and report
      exercising for health/fitness-related reasons. Those favoring extrinsic class
      names/descriptions were more likely to experience tension/pressure when
      exercising and report exercising for appearance/weight-related reasons. The
      results demonstrate the importance of wording when marketing fitness classes.

PMID- 28590884
TI  - Milk, juice, or cola? Exploring the effect of product placement on children's
      attitudes and behavior.
AB  - Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern, and scholars and
      academicians have proposed the use of successful marketing and advertising
      tactics as a means of influencing healthy behaviors. This research investigates
      product placement to assess its potential effects on attitudes and behavior when
      utilized in an animated children's television show. Results from an experiment
      suggest that multiple product placements may affect children's attitudes toward
      certain drinks, but also suggest that a child's existing favorite drink is a
      stronger predictor of actual beverage choice. Implications are provided.

PMID- 28590886
TI  - Bioconversion of Isoflavones into Bioactive Equol: State of the Art.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soy isoflavones, an important class of phytoestrogens, are suggested
      to be responsible for a number of biological activities associated with health
      benefits, including defense against various chronic diseases, including breast
      and prostate cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and osteoporosis, and they may
      alleviate the symptoms of menopause. METHODS: However, current researches
      (including patents) have shown that the clinical efficacy of these phenolic
      compounds is related to the ability of an individual to biotransform isoflavones
      into equol, which is a metabolite of daidzein formed exclusively by the
      intestinal microbiota. RESULTS: This biologically active metabolite presents
      greater effects than other isoflavones; however, only about 30-50 % of people
      have a microbiota that is able to produce equol from dietary daidzein. Concern
      has recently grown about applications to improve the production of this
      metabolite. CONCLUSION: This paper summarizes the metabolism of equol, its
      production, and clinical implications.

PMID- 28590885
TI  - Optimistic bias, advertising skepticism, and consumer intentions for seeking
      information about the health risks of prescription medicine.
AB  - Based on a survey of prescription drug users (N = 408), this study revealed that:
      (a) the frequency of consumers' personal experience of prescription medicine
      adverse reactions negatively related to the extent of their optimistic bias about
      the chances of such events, (b) consumers' perceived personal control over
      adverse reactions positively related to optimistic bias, and (c) optimistic bias
      related more negatively to intentions to seek risk information when consumer
      skepticism toward direct-to-consumer advertising was high. When skepticism was
      low to average, optimistic bias did not inhibit such intentions. Implications and
      recommendations for the practice of direct-to-consumer advertising are provided.

PMID- 28590887
TI  - Editorial (Thematic Issue: Thyroid Cancer in Children and Adolescents).

PMID- 28590888
TI  - Editorial: Chromatographic Enantioseparations in Pharmaceutical Analysis: From
      the Analytical to the Preparative-Scale.

PMID- 28590889
TI  - DOK3 Degradation is Required for the Development of LPS-induced ARDS in Mice.
AB  - It has been reported that DOK3 protein negatively regulates LPS responses and
      endotoxin tolerance in mice. However, the role of DOK3 in the development of
      acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains unknown. In this study, we
      showed that DOK3 is degraded in the lung tissues of LPS-induced ARDS. Through
      lentivirus transduction containing DOK3(K27R) via the intranasal route, we
      created a mice model, in which DOK3 maintains stable expression. We found that
      the forced DOK3 expression significantly attenuated LPS-induced pulmonary
      histological alterations, inflammatory cells infiltration, lung edema, as well as
      the generation of inflammatory cytokines TNFalpha, IL- 1beta and IL-6 in BALF of
      LPS-induced ARDS mice. In addition, DOK3 expression apparently suppressed LPS
      induced NF-kappaB and ERK activation. These data suggested that DOK3 expression
      negatively regulates the development of LPS-induced ARDS in mice.

PMID- 28590890
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28590892
TI  - Be a Teacher.

PMID- 28590891
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 28590893
TI  - Acoustic Reflexes in Normal-Hearing Adults, Typically Developing Children, and
      Children with Suspected Auditory Processing Disorder: Thresholds, Real-Ear
      Corrections, and the Role of Static Compliance on Estimates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested elevated reflex thresholds in
      children with auditory processing disorders (APDs). However, some aspects of the
      child's ear such as ear canal volume and static compliance of the middle ear
      could possibly affect the measurements of reflex thresholds and thus impact its
      interpretation. Sound levels used to elicit reflexes in a child's ear may be
      higher than predicted by calibration in a standard 2-cc coupler, and lower static
      compliance could make visualization of very small changes in impedance at
      threshold difficult. For this purpose, it is important to evaluate threshold data
      with consideration of differences between children and adults. PURPOSE: A set of
      studies were conducted. The first compared reflex thresholds obtained using
      standard clinical procedures in children with suspected APD to that of typically
      developing children and adults to test the replicability of previous studies. The
      second study examined the impact of ear canal volume on estimates of reflex
      thresholds by applying real-ear corrections. Lastly, the relationship between
      static compliance and reflex threshold estimates was explored. RESEARCH DESIGN:
      The research is a set of case-control studies with a repeated measures design.
      STUDY SAMPLE: The first study included data from 20 normal-hearing adults, 28
      typically developing children, and 66 children suspected of having an APD. The
      second study included 28 normal-hearing adults and 30 typically developing
      children. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: In the first study, crossed and uncrossed
      reflex thresholds were measured in 5-dB step size. Reflex thresholds were
      analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA). In the second
      study, uncrossed reflex thresholds, real-ear correction, ear canal volume, and
      static compliance were measured. Reflex thresholds were measured using a 1-dB
      step size. The effect of real-ear correction and static compliance on reflex
      threshold was examined using RM-ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient,
      respectively. RESULTS: Study 1 replicated previous studies showing elevated
      reflex thresholds in many children with suspected APD when compared to data from
      adults using standard clinical procedures, especially in the crossed condition.
      The thresholds measured in children with suspected APD tended to be higher than
      those measured in the typically developing children. There were no significant
      differences between the typically developing children and adults. However, when
      real-ear calibrated stimulus levels were used, it was found that children's
      thresholds were elicited at higher levels than in the adults. A significant
      relationship between reflex thresholds and static compliance was found in the
      adult data, showing a trend for higher thresholds in ears with lower static
      compliance, but no such relationship was found in the data from the children.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that reflex measures in children should be
      adjusted for real-ear-to-coupler differences before interpretation. The data in
      children with suspected APD support previous studies suggesting abnormalities in
      reflex thresholds. The lack of correlation between threshold and static
      compliance estimates in children as was observed in the adults may suggest a
      nonmechanical explanation for age and clinically related effects.

PMID- 28590894
TI  - Hearing Characteristics of Stroke Patients: Prevalence and Characteristics of
      Hearing Impairment and Auditory Processing Disorders in Stroke Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke survivors may suffer from a range of hearing impairments that
      may restrict their participation in postacute rehabilitation programs. Hearing
      impairment may have a significant impact on listening, linguistic skills, and
      overall communication of the affected stroke patient. However, no studies sought
      to systematically characterize auditory function of stroke patients in detail, to
      establish the different types of hearing impairments in this cohort of patients.
      Such information would be clinically useful in understanding and addressing the
      hearing needs of stroke survivors. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to
      characterize and classify the hearing impairments, using a detailed audiological
      assessment test battery, in order to determine the level of clinical need and
      inform appropriate rehabilitation for this patient population. RESEARCH DESIGN: A
      case-control study. STUDY SAMPLE: Forty-two recruited stroke patients who were
      discharged from a stroke unit and 40 control participants matched for age. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: All participants underwent pure-tone audiometry and
      immittance measurements including acoustic reflex threshold, transient-evoked
      otoacoustic emissions, auditory-evoked brainstem response, and a central auditory
      processing assessment battery, performed in a single session. Hearing impairments
      were classified as peripheral hearing loss (cochlear and neural type), central
      auditory processing disorder (CAPD), and as a combination of CAPD and peripheral
      hearing loss. RESULTS: Overall mean hearing thresholds were not significantly
      different between the control and stroke groups. The most common type of hearing
      impairment in stroke patients was the combination type, "peripheral and CAPD," in
      the 61- to 80-yr-old subgroup (in 55%), and auditory processing deficits in 18-
      to 60-yr-olds (in 40%), which were both significantly higher than in controls.
      CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to examine hearing function in detail in
      stroke patients. Given the importance of hearing for the efficiency of
      communication, it is essential to identify hearing impairments and differentiate
      peripheral and central deficits to define an appropriate intervention plan.

PMID- 28590895
TI  - A Qualitative Case Study of Smartphone-Connected Hearing Aids: Influences on
      Patients, Clinicians, and Patient-Clinician Interactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Innovations in hearing aid technology influence clinicians and
      individuals who use hearing aids. Little research, to date, explains the
      innovation adoption experiences and perspectives of clinicians and patients,
      which matter to a field like audiology, wherein technology innovation is
      constant. By understanding clinician and patient experiences with such
      innovations, the field of audiology may develop technologies and ways of
      practicing in a manner more responsive to patients' needs, and attentive to
      society's influence. PURPOSE: The authors aimed to understand how new innovations
      influence clinician and patient experiences, through a study focusing on
      connected hearing aids. "Connected" refers to the wireless functional connection
      of hearing aids with everyday technologies like mobile phones and tablets.
      RESEARCH DESIGN: The authors used a qualitative collective case study
      methodology, borrowing from constructivist grounded theory for data collection
      and analysis methods. Specifically, the authors designed a collective case study
      of a connected hearing aid and smartphone application, composed of two cases of
      experience with the innovation: the case of clinician experiences, and the case
      of patient experiences. STUDY SAMPLE: The qualitative sampling methods employed
      were case sampling, purposive within-case sampling, and theoretical sampling, and
      culminated in a total collective case n = 19 (clinician case n = 8; patient case
      n = 11). These data were triangulated with a supplementary sample of ten
      documents: relevant news and popular media collected during the study time frame.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The authors conducted interviews with the patients
      and clinicians, and analyzed the interview and document data using the constant
      comparative method. The authors compared their two cases by looking at trends
      within, between, and across cases. RESULTS: The clinician case highlighted
      clinicians' heuristic-based candidacy judgments in response to the adoption of
      the connected hearing aids into their practice. The patient case revealed
      patients' perceptions of themselves as technologically competent or incompetent,
      and descriptions of how they learned to use the new technology. Between cases,
      the study found a difference in the response to how the connected hearing aid
      changed the clinician-patient relationship. While clinicians valued the increased
      time they spent "getting to know" their patients, patients experienced some
      frustration specific to the additional troubleshooting related to Bluetooth
      connectivity. Across cases, there was a resounding theme of "normalization" of
      hearing aids via their integration with a "normal" technology (mobile phones) and
      general lack of concern about privacy in relation to the smartphone application
      and its tracking and geotagging features. Both audiologists and patients credited
      the connected hearing aids with increased opportunities to participate more fully
      in everyday life. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of smartphone-connected hearing
      aids influenced the identities and candidate profiles of hearing aid users, and
      the nature of time spent in clinical interactions, in important and interesting
      ways. The influence of connected hearing aids on patient experience and audiology
      practice calls for continued research and clinical consideration, with
      implications for clinical decision-making regarding hearing aid candidacy.
      Further study should look critically at normalization and possible unintended
      stigmatizing effects of making hearing aids increasingly discreet.

PMID- 28590896
TI  - Social Representation of "Loud Music" in Young Adults: A Cross-Cultural Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to recreational noise, particularly music exposure, is
      considered one of the biggest public health hazards of our time. Some important
      influencing factors such as socioeconomic status, educational background, and
      cross-cultural perspectives have previously been found to be associated with
      attitudes toward loud music and the use of hearing protection. Although culture
      seems to play an important role, there is relatively little known about how it
      influences perceptions regarding loud music exposure in young adults. PURPOSE:
      The present study was aimed to explore cross-cultural perceptions of and
      reactions to loud music in young adults (18-25 yr) using the theory of social
      representations. RESEARCH DESIGN: The study used a cross-sectional survey design.
      STUDY SAMPLE: The study sample included young adults (n = 534) from five
      different countries (India, Iran, Portugal, the United States, and the United
      Kingdom) who were recruited using convenience sampling. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Data were collected using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a
      content analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and also chi2 analysis. RESULTS: Fairly
      equal numbers of positive and negative connotations (~40%) were noted in all
      countries. However, the chi2 analysis showed significant differences between the
      countries (most positive connotations were found in India and Iran, whereas the
      most negative connotations were found in the United Kingdom and Portugal)
      regarding the informants' perception of loud music. The co-occurrence analysis
      results generally indicate that the category "negative emotions and actions"
      occurred most frequently, immediately followed by the category "positive emotions
      and actions." The other most frequently occurring categories included
      "acoustics," "physical aliment," "location," and "ear and hearing problems."
      These six categories formed the central nodes of the social representation of
      loud music exposure in the global index. Although some similarities and
      differences were noted among the social representations toward loud music among
      countries, it is noteworthy that more similarities than differences were noted
      among countries. CONCLUSIONS: The study results suggest that "loud music" is
      perceived to have both positive and negative aspects within society and culture.
      We suggest that the health promotion strategies should focus on changing societal
      norms and regulations to be more effective in decreasing the noise- and/or music
      induced auditory symptoms among young adults.

PMID- 28590897
TI  - Cortical Auditory-Evoked Potential and Behavioral Evidence for Differences in
      Auditory Processing between Good and Poor Readers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between auditory processing (AP) and reading is
      thought to be significant; however our understanding of this relationship is
      somewhat limited. Previous studies have investigated the relation between certain
      electrophysiological and behavioral measures of AP and reading abilities in
      children. This study attempts to further understand that relation. PURPOSE:
      Differences in AP between good and poor readers were investigated using
      electrophysiological and behavioral measures. STUDY SAMPLE: Thirty-two children
      (15 female) aged 9-11 yr were placed in either a good reader group or poor reader
      group, based on the scores of a nationally normed reading test in New Zealand.
      RESEARCH DESIGN: Children were initially tested using an automated behavioral
      measuring system that runs through a tablet computer known as "Feather Squadron."
      Following the administration of Feather Squadron, cortical auditory-evoked
      potentials (CAEPs) were recorded using a speech stimulus (/m/) with the
      HEARLab(r) Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential Analyzer. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: The children were evaluated on eight subsections of the Feather
      Squadron, and CAEP waveform peaks were visually identified and averaged. Separate
      Kruskal-Wallis analyses were performed for the behavioral and
      electrophysiological variables, with group (good versus poor readers) serving as
      the between-group independent variable and scores from the Feather Squadron AP
      tasks as well as CAEP latencies and amplitudes as dependent variables. After the
      children's AP status was determined, the entire group was further divided into
      three groups: typically developing, auditory processing disorder + reading
      difficulty (APD + RD), and RDs only. Statistical analyses were repeated for these
      subgroups. RESULTS: Poorer readers showed significantly worse scores than the
      good readers for the Tonal Pattern 1, Tonal Pattern 2, and Word Double Dichotic
      Right tasks. CAEP differences observed across groups indicated comorbid effects
      of RD and AP difficulties. N2 amplitude was significantly smaller for the poor
      readers. CONCLUSIONS: The current study found altered AP in poor readers using
      behavioral Feather Squadron measures and speech-evoked cortical potentials. These
      results provide further evidence that intact central auditory function is
      fundamental for reading development.

PMID- 28590898
TI  - Tinnitus Management: Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Extended-Wear Hearing
      Aids, Conventional Hearing Aids, and Combination Instruments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whereas hearing aids have long been considered effective for
      providing relief from tinnitus, controlled clinical studies evaluating this
      premise have been very limited. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to
      systematically determine the relative efficacy of conventional receiver-in-the
      canal hearing aids (HA), the same hearing aids with a sound generator (HA+SG),
      and extended-wear, deep fit hearing aids (EWHA), to provide relief from tinnitus
      through a randomized controlled trial. Each of these ear-level devices was a
      product of Phonak, LLC. RESEARCH DESIGN: Participants were randomized to HA,
      HA+SG, or EWHA and wore bilaterally fit devices for about 4 months. Fittings,
      adjustments, and follow-up appointments were conducted to comply with company
      guidelines and to ensure that all participants attended appointments on the same
      schedule. At 4-5 months, participants returned to complete final outcome
      measures, which concluded their study participation. STUDY SAMPLE: Participants
      were 55 individuals (mean age: 63.1 years) with mild to moderately-severe hearing
      loss who: (a) did not currently use hearing aids; (b) reported tinnitus that was
      sufficiently bothersome to warrant intervention; and (c) were suitable candidates
      for each of the study devices. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The primary outcome
      measure was the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI). Secondary outcome measures
      included hearing-specific questionnaires and the Quick Speech in Noise test
      (QuickSIN). The goal of the analysis was to evaluate efficacy of the EWHA and
      HA+SG devices versus the HA standard device. RESULTS: There were 18 participants
      in each of the HA and EWHA groups and 19 in the HA+SG group. Gender, age, and
      baseline TFI severity were balanced across treatment groups. Nearly all
      participants had a reduction in tinnitus symptoms during the study. The average
      TFI change (improvement) from baseline was 21 points in the HA group, 31 points
      in the EWHA group, and 33 points in the HA+SG group. A "clinically significant"
      improvement in reaction to tinnitus (at least 13-point reduction in TFI score)
      was seen by 67% of HA, 82% of EWHA, and 79% of HA+SG participants. There were no
      statistically significant differences in the extent to which the devices reduced
      TFI scores. Likewise, the hearing-specific questionnaires and QuickSIN showed
      improvements following use of the hearing aids but these improvements did not
      differ across device groups. CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to
      conclude that any of these devices offers greater relief from tinnitus than any
      other one tested. However, all devices appear to offer some improvement in the
      functional effects of tinnitus.

PMID- 28590899
TI  - The Potential in Preparing Community Health Workers to Address Hearing Loss.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In underserved areas, it is crucial to investigate ways of increasing
      access to hearing health care. The community health worker (CHW) is a model that
      has been applied to increase access in various health arenas. This article
      proposes further investigation into the application of this model to audiology.
      PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility of training CHWs about hearing loss as a
      possible approach to increase accessibility of hearing health support services in
      an underserved area. RESEARCH DESIGN: A specialized three-phase training process
      for CHWs was developed, implemented, and evaluated by audiologists and public
      health researchers. The training process included (1) focus groups with CHWs and
      residents from the community to raise awareness of hearing loss among CHWs and
      the community; (2) a 3-hr workshop training to introduce basic topics to prepare
      CHWs to identify signs of hearing loss among community members and use effective
      communication strategies; and (3) a 24-hr multisession, interactive training >6
      weeks for CHWs who would become facilitators of educational and peer-support
      groups for individuals with hearing loss and family members. STUDY SAMPLE: Twelve
      Spanish-speaking local CHWs employed by a federally qualified health center
      participated in a focus group, twelve received the general training, and four
      individuals with prior experience as health educators received further in-person
      training as facilitators of peer-education groups on hearing loss and
      communication. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data was collected from each step of
      the three-phase training process. Thematic analysis was completed for the focus
      group data. Pre- and posttraining assessments and case study discussions were
      used to analyze results for the general workshop and the in-depth training
      sessions. RESULTS: CHWs increased their knowledge base and confidence in
      effective communication strategies and developed skills in facilitating hearing
      education and peer-support groups. Through case study practice, CHWs demonstrated
      competencies and applied their learning to specific situations related to
      effective communication with hearing loss, family support, availability of
      assistive technology, use of hearing protection, and making referrals for hearing
      health care. Needs were identified for ongoing training in the area of use of
      assistive technology and addressing situations of more severe hearing loss and
      its effects. CONCLUSIONS: Initial results suggest it is feasible to train CHWs to
      engage community members regarding hearing loss and facilitate culturally
      relevant peer-health education and peer-support groups for individuals with
      hearing loss and their family members. In efforts to increase access to
      audiological services in rural or underserved communities, application of the CHW
      model with a partnership of audiologists deserves further consideration as a
      viable approach.

PMID- 28590900
TI  - The Association between Hearing Loss, Postural Control, and Mobility in Older
      Adults: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Degraded hearing in older adults has been associated with reduced
      postural control and higher risk of falls. Both hearing loss (HL) and falls have
      dramatic effects on older persons' quality of life (QoL). A large body of
      research explored the comorbidity between the two domains. PURPOSE: The aim of
      the current review is to describe the comorbidity between HL and objective
      measures of postural control, to offer potential mechanisms underlying this
      relationship, and to discuss the clinical implications of this comorbidity. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: PubMed and Google Scholar were systematically searched
      for articles published in English up until October 15, 2015, using combinations
      of the following strings and search words: for hearing: Hearing loss, "Hearing
      loss," hearing, presbycusis; for postural control: postural control, gait,
      postural balance, fall, walking; and for age: elderly, older adults. RESULTS: Of
      211 screened articles, 7 were included in the systematic review. A significant,
      positive association between HL and several objective measures of postural
      control was found in all seven studies, even after controlling for major
      covariates. Severity of hearing impairment was connected to higher prevalence of
      difficulties in walking and falls. Physiological, cognitive, and behavioral
      processes that may influence auditory system and postural control were suggested
      as potential explanations for the association between HL and postural control.
      CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence for the independent relationship between HL and
      objective measures of postural control in the elderly. However, a more
      comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship is yet
      to be elucidated. Concurrent diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of these
      two modalities may reduce falls and increase QoL in older adults.

PMID- 28590902
TI  - Attentional modulation of neuronal variability in circuit models of cortex.
AB  - The circuit mechanisms behind shared neural variability (noise correlation) and
      its dependence on neural state are poorly understood. Visual attention is well
      suited to constrain cortical models of response variability because attention
      both increases firing rates and their stimulus sensitivity, as well as decreases
      noise correlations. We provide a novel analysis of population recordings in
      rhesus primate visual area V4 showing that a single biophysical mechanism may
      underlie these diverse neural correlates of attention. We explore model cortical
      networks where top-down mediated increases in excitability, distributed across
      excitatory and inhibitory targets, capture the key neuronal correlates of
      attention. Our models predict that top-down signals primarily affect inhibitory
      neurons, whereas excitatory neurons are more sensitive to stimulus specific
      bottom-up inputs. Accounting for trial variability in models of state dependent
      modulation of neuronal activity is a critical step in building a mechanistic
      theory of neuronal cognition.

PMID- 28590905
TI  - The bioguided fractionation and pharmacological activity of an endemic Salix
      canariensis species.
AB  - The present study was designed to confirm the wide traditional use of treating
      pain with Salix canariensis, an endemic species of the Macaronesian region. The
      active compounds were identified. Pharmacological activities were explored in
      experimental animals by acetic acid-induced writhing, formalin and Levy's tests,
      and bioactive compounds were identified after a bio-guided fractionation of the
      most active organic extract. S. canariensis extract, orally administrated at
      different doses, led to a significant reduction in writhing, caused a moderate
      decrease of formalin-induced pain and revealed an excellent dose-dependent anti
      inflammatory effect. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract
      suggested the possible presence of pentacyclic triterpenes from oleanane and
      ursane series. These findings allow the conclusion that S. canariensis exerts
      analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities, documenting its traditional use in
      the treatment of pain and inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 28590906
TI  - Influence of concentration and type of microcrystalline cellulose on the physical
      properties of tablets containing Cornelian cherry fruits.
AB  - The aim of this study was to find the optimal tablet composition with maximum
      content of dried fruits (Cornus mas L.). The effect of three different
      concentrations (12.5, 25 and 50 %) of two types of microcrystalline cellulose
      (Avicel(r) PH 101 and Avicel(r) PH 200) and three different compression pressures
      (20, 60 and 100 MPa) on the physical properties of tablet blends and tablets was
      studied. Tablets containing 50 % Avicel(r) PH 101 compressed under 100 MPa were
      found to have the best physical properties. This combination of composition and
      compression pressure resulted in stable tablets even after storage under
      accelerated stability conditions (6 months, 40  degrees C and 75 % RH).

PMID- 28590904
TI  - Niemann-Pick type C proteins promote microautophagy by expanding raft-like
      membrane domains in the yeast vacuole.
AB  - Niemann-Pick type C is a storage disease caused by dysfunction of NPC proteins,
      which transport cholesterol from the lumen of lysosomes to the limiting membrane
      of that compartment. Using freeze fracture electron microscopy, we show here that
      the yeast NPC orthologs, Ncr1p and Npc2p, are essential for formation and
      expansion of raft-like domains in the vacuolar (lysosome) membrane, both in
      stationary phase and in acute nitrogen starvation. Moreover, the expanded raft
      like domains engulf lipid droplets by a microautophagic mechanism. We also found
      that the multivesicular body pathway plays a crucial role in microautophagy in
      acute nitrogen starvation by delivering sterol to the vacuole. These data show
      that NPC proteins promote microautophagy in stationary phase and under nitrogen
      starvation conditions, likely by increasing sterol in the limiting membrane of
      the vacuole.

PMID- 28590903
TI  - Contributions of local speech encoding and functional connectivity to audio
      visual speech perception.
AB  - Seeing a speaker's face enhances speech intelligibility in adverse environments.
      We investigated the underlying network mechanisms by quantifying local speech
      representations and directed connectivity in MEG data obtained while human
      participants listened to speech of varying acoustic SNR and visual context.
      During high acoustic SNR speech encoding by temporally entrained brain activity
      was strong in temporal and inferior frontal cortex, while during low SNR strong
      entrainment emerged in premotor and superior frontal cortex. These changes in
      local encoding were accompanied by changes in directed connectivity along the
      ventral stream and the auditory-premotor axis. Importantly, the behavioral
      benefit arising from seeing the speaker's face was not predicted by changes in
      local encoding but rather by enhanced functional connectivity between temporal
      and inferior frontal cortex. Our results demonstrate a role of auditory-frontal
      interactions in visual speech representations and suggest that functional
      connectivity along the ventral pathway facilitates speech comprehension in
      multisensory environments.

PMID- 28590907
TI  - Real-practice thromboprophylaxis in atrial fibrillation.
AB  - This retrospective observational study was based on databases of the Local Health
      Authority of Treviso, Italy. It evaluated the prevalence and the effectiveness of
      oral anticoagulation treatment (OAT) for the management of nonvalvular atrial
      fibrillation (NVAF) in everyday clinical practice. Out of 6,138 NVAF patients,
      only 3,024 received vitamin K antagonist (VKA). Potential barriers decreasing the
      probability of being treated with VKA were female sex, older age, antiplatelet
      treatment and history of bleeding. In addition, VKA-treatment was not in line
      with current ESC and AIAC guidelines, since the patients at high or low risk of
      stroke were under- or over-treated, resp. Among VKAtreated patients, 73 % of
      subjects were not at target with anticoagulation. OAT resulted to be effective in
      reducing stroke risk. However, stroke events were significantly influenced also
      by previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (hazard ratio, HR = 2.99, p <
      0.001) and by previous bleeding events (HR = 1.60, p < 0.001).

PMID- 28590908
TI  - Biomimetic insulin-imprinted polymer nanoparticles as a potential oral drug
      delivery system.
AB  - In this study, we investigate molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), which form a
      three-dimensional image of the region at and around the active binding sites of
      pharmaceutically active insulin or are analogous to b cells bound to insulin.
      This approach was employed to create a welldefined structure within the nanospace
      cavities that make up functional monomers by cross-linking. The obtained MIPs
      exhibited a high adsorption capacity for the target insulin, which showed a
      significantly higher release of insulin in solution at pH 7.4 than at pH 1.2. In
      vivo studies on diabetic Wistar rats showed that the fast onset within 2 h is
      similar to subcutaneous injection with a maximum at 4 h, giving an engaged
      function responsible for the duration of glucose reduction for up to 24 h. These
      MIPs, prepared as nanosized material, may open a new horizon for oral insulin
      delivery.

PMID- 28590909
TI  - Comparing monolithic and fused core HPLC columns for fast chromatographic
      analysis of fat-soluble vitamins.
AB  - HPLC stationary phases of monolithic and fused core type can be used to achieve
      fast chromatographic separation as an alternative to UPLC. In this study,
      monolithic and fused core stationary phases are compared for fast separation of
      four fat-soluble vitamins. Three new methods on the first and second generation
      monolithic silica RP-18e columns and a fused core pentafluoro-phenyl propyl
      column were developed. Application of three fused core columns offered comparable
      separations of retinyl palmitate, DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, cholecalciferol
      and menadione in terms of elution speed and separation efficiency. Separation was
      achieved in approx. 5 min with good resolution (Rs > 5) and precision (RSD <= 0.6
      %). Monolithic columns showed, however, a higher number of theoretical plates,
      better precision and lower column backpressure than the fused core column. The
      three developed methods were successfully applied to separate and quantitate fat
      soluble vitamins in commercial products.

PMID- 28590910
TI  - Application of SeDeM expert systems in preformulation studies of pediatric
      ibuprofen ODT tablets.
AB  - Pediatric, ibuprofen containing orodispersible tablets (ODTs) were prepared using
      the SeDeM expert system methodology. In order to facilitate formulation, directly
      compressible ibuprofen was employed (Ibuprofen DC 8TM) and characterized using
      its SeDeM profile. The mannitol based superdisintegrant Ludiflash(r) was
      characterized by the SeDeM-ODT expert system, which also allowed calculation of
      the optimal excipient concentration in order to obtain suitable tablet hardness
      and disintegration time. After adding a sweetener and a standard combination of
      lubricants, the optimized formulation was directly compressed into tablets and
      evaluated in terms of tablet hardness, friability, disintegration time and
      dissolution profile. The SeDeM method was applied to determine the amount of
      corrective excipient (Ludiflash(r)) required for the compression of Ibuprofen DC
      85TM in order to achieve suitable ODTs. Adequate tablet hardness, disintegration
      time, friability and dissolution profiles were found during tablet evaluation.

PMID- 28590911
TI  - Effect of gamma-ethyl-gamma-phenyl-butyrolactone (EFBL), anticonvulsant and
      hypnotic drug, on mouse brain catecholamine levels.
AB  - gamma-Ethyl-gamma-phenyl-butyrolactone (EFBL) is a structural combination of the
      anticonvulsant gamma-hydroxy-gamma-ethyl-gamma-phenylbutyramide (HEPB) and the
      hypnotic gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), which inherits both properties. To clarify
      its mechanism of action, the effects of EFBL, GBL and HEPB on dopamine (DA) and
      noradrenaline (NA) brain levels were investigated. Influences of chlorpromazine,
      phenelzine and aminooxyacetic acid were also studied. EFBL increased DA in a dose
      dependent manner, remaining enhanced by 80 % over a period of 24 h and augmented
      NA by 54 % one hour after treatment. HEPB increased DA and NA approximately 2
      fold after the first hour. GBL raised DA and NA after three and 24 h, resp. EFBL
      reversed chlorpromazine effects but potentiated those of phenelzine on DA. Amino
      oxyacetic modified neither DA nor NA brain levels, not even in the presence of
      EFBL. The anticonvulsant and hypnotic properties of EFBL are attributed to its
      effect on presynaptic dopaminergic receptors and its lasting effect on ethyl and
      phenyl radicals that hinder its degradation. The results support the role of DA
      and NA in regulating seizure activity in the brain and indicate that EFBL offers
      a potential treatment for refractory epilepsy without complementary drugs and
      Parkinson's disease, without the drawbacks of oral therapies.

PMID- 28590912
TI  - Quantitative analysis of povidone-iodine thin films by X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy and their physicochemical properties.
AB  - In this study, povidone-iodine (PVP-I) has been formulated as a topical spray to
      produce a thin film for the controlled release of I2. By means of experimental
      design, 27 formulations containing glycerol, ethanol, PEG 400, copovidone and HFA
      134a as a propellant were prepared. The pH values of all formulations were in the
      range of 6-7. The viscosity was within the range of 11.9-85.9 mPa s. The surface
      tensions were 20.3 to 24.6 mN m-1 and the contact angles were between 19.3 and
      38.7 degrees . The assays for the iodine contents were within acceptable range
      (80-120 %). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed the ionized form
      of iodine was much higher than the unionized form. The MIC and MBC values of the
      PVP-I sprays against Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa were higher than that of commercial PVP-I solution. The cytotoxicity
      study confirmed that the PVP-I spray had lower toxic effects on keratinocytes and
      fibroblasts compared to the commercial PVP-I solution. The formulation containing
      59 % ethanol, 18 % copovidone and 12 % PEG 400 showed good antibacterial
      activity.

PMID- 28590913
TI  - Testing of resveratrol microemulsion photostability and protective effect against
      UV induced oxidative stress.
AB  - Resveratrol is well known for its antioxidant activity and susceptibility to
      ultraviolet radiation. Development of formulations providing improved stability
      and relevant drug delivery of resveratrol is still a challenging task. The aim of
      this study was to determine protective characteristics of formulated
      microemulsions by evaluating photoisomerization of resveratrol and to investigate
      the effects of resveratrol on human keratinocyte cells under oxidative stress
      caused by ultraviolet radiation. Incorporation of resveratrol into microemulsions
      resulted in increased photostability of active compounds and the results
      demonstrated that photodegradation of resveratrol was significantly delayed.
      Results of biopharmaceutical evaluation in vitro demonstrated that up to 60 % of
      resveratrol was released from microemulsions within 6 hours under a constant
      release rate profile. In vivo biological testing confirmed the ability of
      resveratrol to protect cells from oxidative stress and to increase cell
      viability. It was concluded that microemulsions might be considered in the
      development of UV light sensitive compounds.

PMID- 28590914
TI  - Porphyra-334, a mycosporine-like amino acid, attenuates UV-induced apoptosis in
      HaCaT cells.
AB  - The main aim of the current research was to study the effect of porphyra-334, one
      of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), well known as UV-absorbing compounds, on
      UVinduced apoptosis in human immortalized keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells. Due to
      their UV-screening capacity and ability to prevent UV-induced DNA damage, MAAs
      have recently attracted considerable attention in both industry and research in
      pharmacology. Herein, human HaCaT cells were used to determine the biological
      activities of porphyra- 334 by various in vitro assays, including proliferation,
      apoptosis and Western blot assays. The proliferation rate of UV-irradiated HaCaT
      cells was significantly decreased compared to the control group. Pretreatment
      with porphyra- 334 markedly attenuated the inhibitory effect of UV and induced a
      dramatic decrease in the apoptotic rate. Expression of active caspase-3 protein
      was increased in response to UV irradiation, while caspase-3 levels were similar
      between cells treated with porphyra-334 and the non-irradiated control group.
      Taken together, our data suggest that porphyra-334 inhibits UV-induced apoptosis
      in HaCaT cells through attenuation of the caspase pathway.

PMID- 28590915
TI  - Cancer sniffer dogs: how can we translate this peculiarity in laboratory
      medicine? Results of a pilot study on gastrointestinal cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of cancer biomarkers to allow early diagnosis is an
      urgent need for many types of tumors, whose prognosis strongly depends on the
      stage of the disease. Canine olfactory testing for detecting cancer is an
      emerging field of investigation. As an alternative, here we propose to use GC
      Olfactometry (GC/O), which enables the speeding up of targeted biomarker
      identification and analysis. A pilot study was conducted in order to determine
      odor-active compounds in urine that discriminate patients with gastrointestinal
      cancers from control samples (healthy people). METHODS: Headspace solid phase
      microextraction (HS-SPME)-GC/MS and GC-olfactometry (GC/O) analysis were
      performed on urine samples obtained from gastrointestinal cancer patients and
      healthy controls. RESULTS: In total, 91 key odor-active compounds were found in
      the urine samples. Although no odor-active biomarkers present were found in
      cancer carrier's urine, significant differences were discovered in the odor
      activities of 11 compounds in the urine of healthy and diseased people. Seven of
      above mentioned compounds were identified: thiophene, 2-methoxythiophene,
      dimethyl disulphide, 3-methyl-2-pentanone, 4-(or 5-)methyl-3-hexanone, 4-ethyl
      guaiacol and phenylacetic acid. The other four compounds remained unknown.
      CONCLUSIONS: GC/O has a big potential to identify compounds not detectable using
      untargeted GC/MS approach. This paves the way for further research aimed at
      improving and validating the performance of this technique so that the identified
      cancer-associated compounds may be introduced as biomarkers in clinical practice
      to support early cancer diagnosis.

PMID- 28590917
TI  - Serum levels of nitrite/nitrate, lipid profile, and Fasting Plasma Glucose and
      their associations in subclinical hypothyroid women before and after a two month
      treatment by levothyroxine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subclinical hypothyroidism (sHT) is a condition defined by elevated
      TSH values with normal levels of free thyroid hormones. Altered metabolic status
      is one of the consequences of sHT which can affect serum levels of FPG, lipid
      profile, and nitric oxide which propounds cardiovascular consequences per se. The
      aim of this study was to determine the possible effects of sHT on nitrite/nitrate
      levels, as a marker of endothelial performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 50 females
      were enrolled in this study, 25 women as control group and 25 women as case group
      (evaluated two times: before and after levothyroxine therapy). Blood samples were
      collected and levels of FPG, lipid profile components, and nitric oxide were
      measured spectrophotometrically. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 18
      software. RESULTS: The levels of lipid profile (except for TG between before and
      after group, p < 0.05) and nitric oxide did not differ in groups while FPG was
      significantly higher in case groups in comparison to control group (p < 0.001).
      Nitric oxide had no correlations with any of variables except for LDL in after
      treatment group (p < 0.05 and r = 0.397). CONCLUSION: Nitric oxide does not have
      correlation with components of lipid profile (except for LDL) or FPG and has no
      differences in subclinical hypothyroid patients and control group. Levothyroxine
      therapy during 2 months cannot alter the levels of nitric oxide in subclinical
      hypothyroid patients.

PMID- 28590918
TI  - ERRATUM for the paper Erfani A. Liver Fibrosis: Causes and Methods of Assessment,
      A Review. Rom J Intern Med. 2015; 53(4):304-14.

PMID- 28590916
TI  - Anti-stress effects of a GSK-3beta inhibitor, AR-A014418, in immobilization
      stress of variable duration in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study was designed to explore the anti-stress role of AR
      A014418, a selective glycogen synthase kinase-3beta inhibitor (GSK-3beta), on
      changes provoked by immobilization stress of varying duration. METHODS: Acute
      stress of varying degree was induced by subjecting mice to immobilization stress
      of short duration (30 min) or long duration (120 min). Thereafter, these animals
      were exposed to the same stressor for 5 days to induce stress adaptation. The
      behavioral alterations were assessed using an actophotometer, a hole-board, and
      the open field and social interaction tests. The serum corticosterone levels were
      assessed as markers of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity.
      The levels of total GSK-3beta and p-GSK-3beta-S9 were determined in the
      prefrontal cortex. RESULTS: A single exposure to short or long immobilization
      stress produced behavioral and biochemical changes and the levels of p-GSK-3beta
      S9 decreased without affecting the total GSK-3beta levels in the brain. However,
      repeated exposure to both short and long stress reversed the behavioral and
      biochemical changes along with the normalization of p-GSK-3beta-S9 levels. The
      administration of AR-A014418, a selective GSK-3beta inhibitor, diminished acute
      stress-induced behavioral and biochemical changes. Furthermore, AR-A014418
      normalized acute stress-induced alterations in p-GSK-3beta-S9 levels without
      changing total GSK-3beta levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that acute
      stress-induced decrease in p-GSK-3beta-S9 levels in the brain contributes to the
      development of behavioral and biochemical alterations and the normalization of
      GSK-3beta signaling may contribute to stress adaptive behavior in mice which have
      been subjected to repeated immobilization stress.

PMID- 28590939
TI  - Monte Carlo study of the exchange bias effect in Co/CoO core-shell nanowires.
AB  - We study the magnetic properties of cylindrical ferromagnetic core
      antiferromagnetic shell nanowires using Monte Carlo simulations and a classical
      Heisenberg Hamiltonian in order to elucidate the impact of the oxidized shell on
      the magnetic properties and the magnetization reversal mechanism. We find that
      the coupling to the antiferromagnetic shell leads to suppression of the
      coercivity and emergence of a weak exchange bias effect. Comparison of the
      magnetization reversal mechanism in the bare and the surface-oxidized nanowire
      reveals that the domain wall propagation and annihilation remains the dominant
      reversal mechanism in surface oxidized nanowires as in their ferromagnetic
      counterparts. However, the interface exchange coupling introduces a secondary
      reversal mechanism activated in the central part of the wire with characteristics
      of coherent rotation, which acts in synergy to wall propagation leading to
      enhancement of the wall mobility. This effect is more pronounced in nanowires
      with large exchange bias values and is attributed to the uncompensated interface
      moments that act as nucleation centers for magnetization reversal. Our results
      are in good agreement with recent measurements in Co and Co/CoO nanowires.

PMID- 28590940
TI  - SimDoseCT: dose reporting software based on Monte Carlo simulation for a 320
      detector-row cone-beam CT scanner and ICRP computational adult phantoms.
AB  - This study aims to develop and test software for assessing and reporting doses
      for standard patients undergoing computed tomography (CT) examinations in a 320
      detector-row cone-beam scanner. The software, called SimDoseCT, is based on the
      Monte Carlo (MC) simulation code, which was developed to calculate organ doses
      and effective doses in ICRP anthropomorphic adult reference computational
      phantoms for acquisitions with the Aquilion ONE CT scanner (Toshiba). MC
      simulation was validated by comparing CTDI measurements within standard CT dose
      phantoms with results from simulation under the same conditions. SimDoseCT
      consists of a graphical user interface connected to a MySQL database, which
      contains the look-up-tables that were generated with MC simulations for
      volumetric acquisitions at different scan positions along the phantom using any
      tube voltage, bow tie filter, focal spot and nine different beam widths. Two
      different methods were developed to estimate organ doses and effective doses from
      acquisitions using other available beam widths in the scanner. A correction
      factor was used to estimate doses in helical acquisitions. Hence, the user can
      select any available protocol in the Aquilion ONE scanner for a standard adult
      male or female and obtain the dose results through the software interface.
      Agreement within 9% between CTDI measurements and simulations allowed the
      validation of the MC program. Additionally, the algorithm for dose reporting in
      SimDoseCT was validated by comparing dose results from this tool with those
      obtained from MC simulations for three volumetric acquisitions (head, thorax and
      abdomen). The comparison was repeated using eight different collimations and also
      for another collimation in a helical abdomen examination. The results showed
      differences of 0.1 mSv or less for absolute dose in most organs and also in the
      effective dose calculation. The software provides a suitable tool for dose
      assessment in standard adult patients undergoing CT examinations in a 320
      detector-row cone-beam scanner.

PMID- 28590938
TI  - Combined passive acoustic mapping and magnetic resonance thermometry for
      monitoring phase-shift nanoemulsion enhanced focused ultrasound therapy.
AB  - Focused ultrasound (FUS) has the potential to enable precise, image-guided
      noninvasive surgery for the treatment of cancer in which tumors are identified
      and destroyed in a single integrated procedure. However, success of the method in
      highly vascular organs has been limited due to heat losses to perfusion,
      requiring development of techniques to locally enhance energy absorption and
      heating. In addition, FUS procedures are conventionally monitored using MRI,
      which provides excellent anatomical images and can map temperature, but is not
      capable of capturing the full gamut of available data such as the acoustic
      emissions generated during this inherently acoustically-driven procedure. Here,
      we employed phase-shift nanoemulsions (PSNE) embedded in tissue phantoms to
      promote cavitation and hence temperature rise induced by FUS. In addition, we
      incorporated passive acoustic mapping (PAM) alongside simultaneous MR thermometry
      in order to visualize both acoustic emissions and temperature rise, within the
      bore of a full scale clinical MRI scanner. Focal cavitation of PSNE could be
      resolved using PAM and resulted in accelerated heating and increased the maximum
      elevated temperature measured via MR thermometry compared to experiments without
      nanoemulsions. Over time, the simultaneously acquired acoustic and temperature
      maps show translation of the focus of activity towards the FUS transducer, and
      the magnitude of the increase in cavitation and focal shift both increased with
      nanoemulsion concentration. PAM results were well correlated with MRI thermometry
      and demonstrated greater sensitivity, with the ability to detect cavitation
      before enhanced heating was observed. The results suggest that PSNE could be
      beneficial for enhancement of thermal focused ultrasound therapies and that PAM
      could be a critical tool for monitoring this process.

PMID- 28590941
TI  - TTC-Pluronic 3D radiochromic gel dosimetry of ionizing radiation.
AB  - This work reports the first results obtained using a new 3D radiochromic gel
      dosimeter. The dosimeter is an aqueous physical gel matrix made of poly(ethylene
      oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (Pluronic F-127,
      PEO-PPO-PEO) doped with a representative of tetrazolium salts, 2, 3, 5
      triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC). There were several reasons for the choice of
      Pluronic as a gel forming substrate: (i) the high degree of transparency and
      colourlessness; (ii) the possibility of gel dosimeter preparation at both high
      and low temperatures due to the phase behaviour of Pluronic; (iii) the broad
      temperature range over which the TTC-Pluronic dosimeter is stable; and (iv) the
      non-toxicity of Pluronic. A reason for the choice of TTC was its ionising
      radiation-induced transformation to water-insoluble formazan, which was assumed
      to impact beneficially on the spatial stability of the dose distribution. If
      irradiated, the TTC-Pluronic gels become red but transparent in the irradiated
      part, while the non-irradiated part remains crystal clear. The best obtained
      composition is characterised by  <4 Gy dose threshold, a dose sensitivity of
      0.002 31 (Gy  *  cm)-1, a large linear dose range of  >500 Gy and a dynamic dose
      response much greater than 500 Gy (7.5% TTC, 25% Pluronic F-127, 50 mmol dm-3
      tetrakis). Temporal and spatial stability studies revealed that the TTC-Pluronic
      gels (7.5% TTC, 25% Pluronic F-127) were stable for more than one week. The
      addition of compounds boosting the gels' dose performance caused deterioration of
      the gels' temporal stability but did not impact the stability of the 3D dose
      distribution. The proposed method of preparation allows for the repeatable
      manufacture of the gels. There were no differences observed between gels
      irradiated fractionally and non-fractionally. The TTC-Pluronic dose response
      might be affected by the radiation source dose rate-this, however, requires
      further examination.

PMID- 28590942
TI  - A visualization method for probing grain boundaries of single layer graphene via
      molecular beam epitaxy.
AB  - Graphene, a member of layered two-dimensional (2D) materials, possesses high
      carrier mobility, mechanical flexibility, and optical transparency, as well as
      enjoying a wide range of promising applications in electronics. Adopting the
      chemical vaporization deposition method, the majority of investigators have
      ubiquitously grown single layer graphene (SLG), which inevitably involves
      polycrystalline properties. Here we demonstrate a simple method for the direct
      visualization of arbitrarily large-size SLG domains by synthesizing one-hundred
      nm-scale MoS2 single crystals via a high-vacuum molecular beam epitaxy process.
      The present study based on epitaxial growth provides a guide for probing the
      grain boundaries of various 2D materials and implements higher potentials for the
      next-generation electronic devices.

PMID- 28590944
TI  - Simulation Fellowship Programs in Graduate Medical Education.

PMID- 28590943
TI  - Suppressed play behaviour and decreased oxytocin receptor binding in the amygdala
      after prenatal exposure to low-dose valproic acid.
AB  - To better understand the role of the neuropeptide oxytocin in autism spectrum
      disorder (ASD), we investigated potential deficits in social play behaviour and
      oxytocin receptor (OXTR) density alterations in the amygdala in a rodent model of
      ASD. Pregnant rats were injected daily with 20 or 100 mg/kg valproic acid (VPA)
      or saline from day 12 until the end of pregnancy. The number of pinning and
      pouncing events was assessed at postnatal days 29-34. Brains from male offspring
      (n=7/group) were removed at postnatal day 50. We performed quantitative
      autoradiography with an OXTR radioligand, the [I]-ornithine vasotocin analogue,
      in brain slices from the amygdala and other limbic brain regions involved in rat
      social behaviour. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in pinning
      behaviour and decreased OXTR density in the central nucleus of the amygdala in
      the 20 mg/kg VPA group. However, the 100 mg/kg VPA group had no significant
      changes in the number of play behaviour-related events or OXTR binding in the
      central nucleus of the amygdala. The reduction in OXTR density in the amygdala
      may be a critical disrupting mechanism affecting social behaviour in pervasive
      disorders such as ASD.

PMID- 28590945
TI  - Addressing the Global Zika Epidemic Locally: An Interprofessional Model of
      Universal Screening at One Center.
AB  - Escalating evidence for the fetal impact of Zika virus infection required a
      change in care by all prenatal providers. This article describes an effective
      model of rapid implementation of universal prenatal screening at one hospital and
      its network of community health centers for a large and diverse immigrant
      population exploring the challenges, experiences, and lessons learned.
      Implementation of national recommendations required a workflow change,
      challenging a system with a heterogeneity of settings and providers. Using a
      physician clinical champion and advanced practice nurses in the roles of
      logistical coordinator and liaison to the network, Zika screening was embedded
      into prenatal intake visits at both the hospital and community health centers.
      Challenges addressed include varied medical record systems, acceptance by
      patients, providers, and community health center leadership, as well as
      culturally appropriate outreach to diverse ethnic and linguistic communities. In
      6 months, the prenatal screening rates increased from 20% to 88%, which resulted
      in the identification of more than 300 pregnant patients at risk of exposure to
      Zika virus. This model offers key lessons for emergency preparedness in
      heterogeneous, safety net hospital settings.

PMID- 28590946
TI  - Hospitalization Among Individuals Waitlisted For Kidney Transplant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For patients waitlisted for a deceased-donor kidney, hospitalization
      is associated with a lower likelihood of transplantation and worse posttransplant
      outcomes. However, individual-, neighborhood-, and regional-level risk factors
      for hospitalization throughout the waitlist period and specific causes of
      hospitalization in this population are unknown. METHODS: We used United States
      Renal Data System Medicare-linked data on patients waitlisted between 2005 and
      2013 with continuous enrollment in Medicare parts A and B (n = 53 810) to examine
      the association between annual hospitalization rate and a variety of demographic,
      clinical, and social factors. We used multilevel multivariable ordinal logistic
      regression to estimate odds ratios. RESULTS: Factors associated with
      significantly increased hospitalization rates among waitlisted individuals
      included older age, female sex, more years on dialysis before waitlisting,
      tobacco use, panel-reactive antibody greater than 0, public insurance or no
      insurance at end-stage renal disease diagnosis, more regional acute care hospital
      beds, and urban residence (all P < 0.05). Among patients dialysis-dependent when
      waitlisted, individuals with arteriovenous fistulas were significantly less
      likely than individuals with indwelling catheters or grafts to be hospitalized
      (odds ratios, 0.79 and 0.82, respectively, both P < 0.001). The most common
      causes of hospitalization were complications related to devices, implants, and
      grafts; hypertension; and sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: Individual- and regional-level
      variables were significantly associated with hospitalization while waitlisted,
      suggesting that personal, health system, and geographic factors may impact
      patients' risk. Conditions related to dialysis access and comorbidities were
      common hospitalization causes, underscoring the importance proper access
      management and care for additional chronic health conditions.

PMID- 28590947
TI  - The Conundrum of Equitable Organ Allocation in Heart Transplantation: The Moving
      Target of Candidate Risk Score.

PMID- 28590948
TI  - Proximal Blockade of Complement: A "Neoclassical" Approach to Prevent Antibody
      Mediated Rejection.

PMID- 28590949
TI  - Quantitative Assessment of Statistical Reviews of Patient Safety Research
      Articles.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: For 8.5 consecutive years, all patient safety articles of a journal
      underwent statistical review before publication. We sought to establish the
      prevalence of statistical themes in the statistical reviews, consideration of
      contemporary statistical methods, and their associations with time to journal
      receipt of authors' revision. METHODS: An initial set of statistical themes was
      created using the statistical editor's notes. For example, for the statistical
      theme of "CONSORT checklist," the search term needed was "CONSORT." A complete
      (exhaustive) list of additional themes was obtained inductively. RESULTS: Among
      the 273 subsequent reviews for manuscripts that were ultimately accepted, the
      number of paragraphs that included a theme of a statistical method was only
      weakly associated with longer revision times (Kendall tau = 0.139 +/- 0.039, P =
      0.0004). Among the total 3274 paragraphs of statistical reviews, 72.2% did not
      include a theme of a statistical method (e.g., the editor instead asked the
      authors to clarify what statistical method had been used) (95% confidence
      interval [CI] = 70.6%-73.7%, P < 0.0001 versus 50%).Among the 207 manuscripts
      with a review that included a statistical method, 47.3% included a contemporary
      topic (e.g., generalized pivotal methods) (95% CI = 40.4%-54.4%). However, among
      the 911 corresponding paragraphs of statistical review comments, only 16.0%
      included a contemporary theme (95% CI = 13.7%-18.6%). CONCLUSIONS: The revised
      versions of patient safety articles, which are eventually to be accepted for
      publication, have many statistical limitations especially in the reporting
      (writing) of basic statistical methods and results. The results suggest a need
      for education of patient safety investigators to include statistical writing.

PMID- 28590951
TI  - Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Review of the Eighth Edition of the American
      Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Guidelines, Prognostic Factors, and
      Histopathologic Variants.
AB  - Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of nonmelanoma
      skin cancer after basal cell carcinoma and accounts for the majority of
      nonmelanoma skin cancer-related deaths. In 2017, the American Joint Committee on
      Cancer revised the staging guidelines of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma to
      reflect recent evidence concerning high-risk clinicopathologic features. This
      update reviews the literature on prognostic features and staging, including the
      eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual. A wide
      range of histopathologic variants of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma exists,
      several of which are associated with aggressive behavior. A review of cutaneous
      squamous cell carcinoma variants, emphasizing diagnostic pitfalls,
      immuhistochemical findings and prognostic significance, is included. Of note, the
      eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual refers to
      squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck only.

PMID- 28590952
TI  - Role of Human Papillomavirus in Vulvar Cancer.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) is involved in one of the at least 2 pathways leading
      to vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC). Inactivation of p53 and retinoblastoma
      by the viral products E6 and E7 is involved in malignant transformation. The
      percentage of HPV-positive VSCCs ranges from 18% to 75%, depending on the
      geographical area. HPV-associated tumors affect relatively young women and arise
      from high-grade intraepithelial lesions, identical to other HPV-associated
      premalignant lesions of the anogenital tract. HPV-independent tumors tend to
      affect older women and usually arise in a background of inflammatory skin
      disorders and a subtle variant of in situ lesion called differentiated vulvar
      intraepithelial neoplasia. HPV-positive tumors tend to be of basaloid or warty
      types, whereas HPV-independent tumors tend to be of keratinizing type, but there
      is frequent overlap between histologic types. There is no conclusive evidence yet
      on the best strategy in terms of determining HPV attribution. HPV DNA detection
      is generally considered the gold standard although there is some concern about
      misclassification when using this technique alone. p16 immunostaining has shown
      to be an excellent surrogate marker of HPV infection. Positive results for both
      techniques are considered the best evidence for HPV-association. The prognostic
      role of HPV in VSCC is still contradictory, but increasing evidence suggests that
      HPV-associated tumors are less aggressive. Currently, there are no differences in
      treatment between HPV-associated and HPV-independent VSCC, but novel
      immunological strategies based on anti-HPV antigens are being evaluated in
      clinical trials.

PMID- 28590950
TI  - Systematic Review: The Impact of Cancer Treatment on the Gut and Vaginal
      Microbiome in Women With a Gynecological Malignancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Worldwide, 1,470,900 women are diagnosed yearly with a
      gynecological malignancy (21,000 in the UK). Some patients treated with pelvic
      radiotherapy develop chronic changes in their bowel function. This systematic
      review summarizes current research on the impact of cancer treatment on the gut
      and vaginal microbiome in women with a gynecological malignancy. METHODS: The
      Preferred reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines for
      systematic reviews were used to ensure transparent and complete reporting.
      Quantitative studies exploring the gut or vaginal microbiome in this patient
      cohort were included. Animal studies were excluded. There were no language
      restrictions. RESULTS: No studies examined the possible effects of surgery or
      chemotherapy for gynecological cancers on the gut or vaginal microbiome.Three
      prospective cohort studies were identified using sequencing of changes in the gut
      microbiome reporting on a total of 23 women treated for gynecological cancer. All
      studies included patients treated with radiotherapy with a dosage ranging from
      43.0 to 54.0 Gy. Two studies assessed gastrointestinal toxicity formally; 8 women
      (57%) developed grade 2 or 3 diarrhea during radiotherapy. The outcomes suggest a
      correlation between changes in the intestinal microbiome and receiving
      radiotherapy and showed a decrease in abundance and diversity of the intestinal
      bacterial species. Before radiotherapy, those who developed diarrhea had an
      increased abundance of Bacteroides, Dialister, and Veillonella (P < 0.01), and a
      decreased abundance of Clostridium XI and XVIII, Faecalibacterium, Oscillibacter,
      Parabacteroides, Prevotella, and unclassified bacteria (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      The limited evidence to date implies that larger studies including both the
      vaginal and gut microbiome in women treated for a gynecological malignancy are
      warranted to explore the impact of cancer treatments on the microbiome and its
      relation to developing long-term gastrointestinal toxicity. This may lead to new
      avenues to stratify those at risk and explore personalized treatment options and
      prevention of gastrointestinal consequences of cancer treatments.

PMID- 28590953
TI  - Clinical Applications of Whole-slide Imaging in Anatomic Pathology.
AB  - The development of whole-slide imaging has paved the way for digitizing of glass
      slides that are the basis for surgical pathology. This transformative technology
      has changed the landscape in research applications and education but despite its
      tremendous potential, its adoption for clinical use has been slow. We review the
      various niche applications that initiated awareness of this technology, provide
      examples of clinical use cases, and discuss the requirements and challenges for
      full adoption in clinical diagnosis. The opportunities for applications of image
      analysis tools in a workflow will be changed by integration of whole-slide
      imaging into routine diagnosis.

PMID- 28590955
TI  - Determining the Effects of Simulation on Intercultural Competency in
      Undergraduate Nursing Students.

PMID- 28590954
TI  - Current Valuation of Pathology Service.
AB  - Health care reform has accelerated as the existing health care system undergoes
      continuing financial stress. Medicare's new value-based payment system, commonly
      referred to as MACRA, provides opportunities for physicians to participate in
      this new system in a variety of ways. However, many of the value-based
      adjustments are based on existing valuations of services through traditional
      mechanisms. To achieve appropriate valuation of pathologist's services in the new
      payment models, it is imperative that we continue to achieve proper valuation of
      services through the traditional mechanisms.

PMID- 28590956
TI  - Assessment of Nursing Student Confidence Using the Clinical Skills Self-Efficacy
      Scale.
AB  - Student self-efficacy related to clinical skills is important to successful
      performance in the clinical setting. This pilot study was designed to evaluate
      the confidence levels of junior and senior nursing students in performing
      selected nursing skills, using the Clinical Skills Self-Efficacy Scale. A
      descriptive cross-sectional design was used in which participants completed an
      online survey. Findings indicate that senior students demonstrated higher self
      efficacy than juniors; their experiences and confidence related to performing
      specific clinical skills varied across groups. Strategies to improve students'
      clinical skills learning specific to the laboratory and clinical settings are
      addressed.

PMID- 28590959
TI  - Go public with nursing expertise.

PMID- 28590958
TI  - Constructing a Measure of Private-pay Nursing Home Days.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nursing home (NH) care is financed through multiple sources. Although
      Medicaid is the predominant payer for NH care, over 20% of residents pay out-of
      pocket for their care. Despite this large percentage, an accepted measure of
      private-pay NH occupancy has not been established and little is known about the
      types of facilities and the long-term care markets that cater to this population.
      OBJECTIVES: To describe 2 novel measures of private-pay utilization in the NH
      setting, including the proportion of privately financed residents and resident
      days, and examine their construct validity. DESIGN: Retrospective descriptive
      analysis of US NHs in 2007-2009. MEASURES: We used Medicare claims, Medicare
      Enrollment records, and the Minimum Data Set to create measures of private-pay
      resident prevalence and proportion of privately financed NH days. We compared our
      estimates of private-pay utilization to payer data collected in the NH annual
      certification survey and evaluated the relationships of our measures with
      facility characteristics. RESULTS: Our measures of private-pay resident
      prevalence and private-pay days are highly correlated (r=0.83, P<0.001 and
      r=0.83, P<0.001, respectively) with the rate of "other payer" reported in the
      annual certification survey. We also observed a significantly higher proportion
      of private-pay residents and days in higher quality facilities. CONCLUSIONS: This
      new methodology provides estimates of private-pay resident prevalence and
      resident days. These measures were correlated with estimates using other data
      sources and validated against measures of facility quality. These data set the
      stage for additional work to examine questions related to NH payment, quality of
      care, and responses to changes in the long-term care market.

PMID- 28590957
TI  - Genetic moderation of cocaine subjective effects by variation in the TPH1, TPH2,
      and SLC6A4 serotonin genes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated variants of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH)1,
      TPH2, and SLC6A4 in the moderation of the subjective effects of cocaine. METHODS:
      Non-treatment-seeking cocaine-dependent individuals (N=66) were intravenously
      administered saline and cocaine (40 mg) in a randomized order. Participants self
      reported subjective effects of cocaine using a visual analog scale starting
      before administration of saline or cocaine (-15 min) to up to 20 min after
      infusion. Self-report ratings on the visual analog scale ranged from 0 (no
      effect) to 100 (greatest effect). Participants were genotyped for the TPH1
      rs1799913, TPH2 rs4290270, and SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR variants. Repeated-measures
      analysis of covariance was used to examine changes in subjective effect scores
      over time while controlling for population structure. RESULTS: Participants
      carrying the TPH1 rs1799913 A allele reported greater subjective response to
      cocaine for 'stimulated' and 'access' relative to the CC genotype group. Those
      carrying the TPH2 rs4290270 A allele reported higher 'good effect' and lower
      'depressed' effect relative to the TT genotype group. Those carrying the SLC6A4 5
      HTTLPR S' allele reported greater 'desire' and 'access' compared with the L'L'
      genotype group. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that TPH1, TPH2, and SLC6A4
      variants moderate the subjective effects of cocaine in non-treatment-seeking
      cocaine-dependent participants.

PMID- 28590960
TI  - NewDrugs 2017, part 2.

PMID- 28590961
TI  - NORMAL ELECTROOCULOGRAPHY IN BEST DISEASE AND AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE
      BESTROPHINOPATHY.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the electrooculogram (EOG) in a large series of patients
      with Best disease and autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy. METHODS: A
      retrospective review of consecutive cases at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London,
      United Kingdom. Patients with Best disease or autosomal recessive
      bestrophinopathy who, after electrophysiologic testing, had a normal or atypical
      EOG light rise were identified. Main outcome measure was EOG amplitude, clinical
      phenotype and genotype. RESULTS: One hundred thirteen patients were identified
      with likely disease-causing sequence variants in BEST1 (99 Best disease and 14
      autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy). Electrooculograms had been performed in 75
      patients. Twenty patients (27%) had no detectable light rise (Arden ratio of
      100%) and 49 (65%) had Arden ratios of between 100% to 165%. Six patients (8%)
      were found to have an EOG light rise of >165%. No cases demonstrated significant
      interocular asymmetry in EOG amplitude. CONCLUSION: The current work provides
      significant clinical evidence that the EOG phenotype in Best disease and
      autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy is more variable than currently appreciated.
      As a normal EOG may occur in the presence of a classical fundus appearance, the
      consequences of BEST1 mutation may be independently expressed, possibly mediated
      through differential effects on intracellular calcium homeostasis.

PMID- 28590962
TI  - LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN THICKNESSES OF THE MACULA, GANGLION CELL-INNER PLEXIFORM
      LAYER, AND RETINAL NERVE FIBER LAYER AFTER VITRECTOMY: A 12-Month Observational
      Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze longitudinal changes in the thicknesses of the macula,
      ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL), and peripapillary retinal nerve
      fiber layer (RNFL) after vitrectomy. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients diagnosed
      with intraocular lens (IOL) dislocation without evidence of other vitreoretinal
      diseases were included. They underwent conventional vitrectomy and IOL
      transscleral fixation, with a follow-up of 12 months. Using spectral domain
      optical coherence tomography, the thicknesses of the macula, GC-IPL, and
      peripapillary RNFL in the vitrectomized and fellow control eyes were measured.
      Various optic nerve head parameters were also determined. RESULTS: Optical
      coherence tomography showed that there were no significant differences in
      postoperative central macular thickness compared with baseline values. The
      average GC-IPL thickness increased 1 month after surgery from baseline (P =
      0.038). The average RNFL thickness increased from baseline at 1 month (P = 0.001)
      and 3 months (P = 0.011) after vitrectomy. The mean foveal, GC-IPL, and RNFL
      thicknesses of the study eyes compared with the fellow control eyes increased at
      1 month (P = 0.034), 1 month (P = 0.048), and 1 month (P = 0.013) to 3 months (P
      = 0.038), respectively, after surgery. However, no significant differences were
      found in intraocular pressure or optic nerve head parameters between the study
      and fellow control eyes at 12 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: Transient
      increases in the thickness of the macula and GC-IPL were observed at 1 month
      after vitrectomy, and the postoperative RNFL thickness increased until 3 months
      after surgery, after which it returned to preoperative levels. There was no
      significant change in intraocular pressure or optic nerve head parameters before
      and after surgery.

PMID- 28590964
TI  - OVERVIEW OF THE COMPLICATIONS OF HIGH MYOPIA.
AB  - : High myopia is very common and one of the major causes of social blindness,
      especially in East Asian countries. It is characterized by axial length
      elongation, and induces various specific complications, including cataract
      formation, retinal detachment from peripheral retinal tears, myopic foveoschisis,
      macular hole with or without retinal detachment, peripapillary deformation, dome
      shaped macula, choroidal/scleral thinning, myopic choroidal neovascularization,
      and glaucoma. This article will review these complications and discuss the
      current concepts relating to these complications and their treatments.
      CONCLUSION: This information will be helpful for the daily practice of treating
      myopic eyes.

PMID- 28590963
TI  - ACUTE ZONAL OCCULT OUTER RETINOPATHY: Structural and Functional Analysis Across
      the Transition Zone Between Healthy and Diseased Retina.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess structure and function across the transition zone (TZ) between
      relatively healthy and diseased retina in acute zonal occult outer retinopathy.
      METHODS: Six patients (6 eyes; age 22-71 years) with acute zonal occult outer
      retinopathy were studied. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, fundus
      autofluorescence, near-infrared reflectance, color fundus photography, and fundus
      perimetry were performed and images were registered to each other. The retinal
      layers of the spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans were segmented
      and the thicknesses of two outer retinal layers, that is, the total receptor and
      outer segment plus layers, and the retinal nerve fiber layer were measured.
      RESULTS: All eyes showed a TZ on multimodal imaging. On spectral-domain optical
      coherence tomography, the TZ was in the nasal retina at varying distances from
      the fovea. For all eyes, it was associated with loss of the ellipsoid zone band,
      significant thinning of the two outer retinal layers, and in three eyes with
      thickening of the retinal nerve fiber layer. On fundus autofluorescence, all eyes
      had a clearly demarcated peripapillary area of abnormal fundus autofluorescence
      delimited by a border of high autofluorescence; the latter was associated with
      loss of the ellipsoid zone band and with a change from relatively normal to
      markedly decreased or nonrecordable visual sensitivity on fundus perimetry.
      CONCLUSION: The results of multimodal imaging clarified the TZ in acute zonal
      occult outer retinopathy. The TZ was outlined by a distinct high autofluorescence
      border that correlated with loss of the ellipsoid zone band on spectral-domain
      optical coherence tomography. However, in fundus areas that seemed healthy on
      fundus autofluorescence, thinning of the outer retinal layers and thickening of
      the retinal nerve fiber layer were observed near the TZ. The TZ was also
      characterized by a decrease in visual sensitivity.

PMID- 28590965
TI  - POSTTRAUMATIC ENDOPHTHALMITIS: An 18-Year Case Series.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the demographics, characteristics, management, and visual
      outcomes of eyes diagnosed with endophthalmitis after open globe injury. METHODS:
      Retrospective cohort analysis of all patients diagnosed with endophthalmitis
      after open globe injury from 1997 to 2015 at University Hospital, Newark, NJ.
      RESULTS: Twenty-six eyes were identified (all male patients; mean age: 37 +/- 15
      years). Cultures were positive in 16 eyes (62%), with Staphylococcus species (7
      eyes, 44%) being the most common organism. Twelve eyes (46%) presented with open
      globe injury and concurrent endophthalmitis; 14 eyes (54%) developed
      endophthalmitis a mean of 14 days after open globe repair (OGR; 1 outlier of 98
      days excluded). All eyes were managed with systemic and intravitreal antibiotics.
      The presence of intraocular foreign body (P < 0.05) and delayed primary OGR (P <
      0.03) were significantly more common with concurrent versus post-OGR
      endophthalmitis. Four (29%) eyes in the post-OGR endophthalmitis group had
      corneal wound leak after OGR. Four (15%) eyes with no light perception vision
      were enucleated. Ten (40%) of 25 eyes with documented best-corrected visual
      acuity had final best-corrected visual acuity >=20/200; final best-corrected
      visual acuity ranged from no light perception to 20/20. CONCLUSION: The presence
      of intraocular foreign body and delayed presentation were significantly more
      common with concurrent endophthalmitis. Twenty-nine percent of eyes that
      presented with endophthalmitis after OGR had a wound leak. Final best-corrected
      visual acuity >=20/200 was achieved in 40% of cases.

PMID- 28590966
TI  - CHARACTERISTICS OF EPIRETINAL MEMBRANE REMNANT EDGE BY OPTICAL COHERENCE
      TOMOGRAPHY AFTER PARS PLANA VITRECTOMY.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence, characteristics, and the progression of
      epiretinal membrane (ERM) remnant edge seen by optical coherence tomography after
      ERM peeling. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted for 86 eyes of
      85 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with ERM and underwent pars plana
      vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane peeling between 2013 and 2014. Data collected
      and analyzed included age, gender, preoperative and postoperative visual acuity,
      use of indocyanine green dye to stain internal limiting membrane, tamponade used
      after vitrectomy, ERM edge boundaries, presence of cystoid macular edema, and
      central foveal thickness. RESULTS: An ERM remnant edge was detected in 33/86
      study eyes (38.4%) at the first postoperative optical coherence tomography scan.
      Compared with those without an ERM remnant, patients with an ERM remnant after
      surgery were significantly older at baseline and had a higher incidence of ERM
      recurrence at their last visit. They were not significantly different in terms of
      gender, preoperative and postoperative visual acuity, reduction of central foveal
      thickness from baseline, proportion of eyes with preoperative ERM elevation on
      optical coherence tomography, presence of macular edema before surgery,
      intraoperative use of indocyanine green staining for ILM peeling, or tamponade
      used. Based on the edge morphology, we classified the ERM remnant into three
      types: Type 1 was flat and blended with the retina (14/33 eyes, 42.4%), Type 2
      was flat but stepped (17/33 eyes, 51.5%), and Type 3 was elevated (2/33 eyes,
      6.0%). A significantly higher risk of ERM recurrence was seen in Type 2 and Type
      3 ERM remnants (75% and 100%, respectively) than Type 1 ERM remnants (10%).
      CONCLUSION: An ERM remnant edge was detected by optical coherence tomography
      after ERM peeling in 38.4% of eyes. The presence of a postoperative ERM edge was
      associated with a higher risk of ERM recurrence, particularly in Type 2 and Type
      3 ERM remnants.

PMID- 28590967
TI  - PERIPHERAL RETINOSCHISIS IN INTERMEDIATE UVEITIS.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine cases of intermediate uveitis complicated by retinoschisis
      and review the pathogenetic hypothesis. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of
      patients with intermediate uveitis. Data were collected at three uveitis referral
      centers on sex, age, best-corrected visual acuity, degree of vitritis, extent and
      location of snowbanking, presence of hard exudates, neovascularization, vitreous
      hemorrhage, and extent and nature of retinal elevations. RESULTS: A series of 23
      eyes of 20 patients were examined; patient's age ranged from 10 years to 70 years
      and follow-up period from 8 months to 6 years. Twenty-two eyes had retinoschisis
      (95.6%), and 1 had retinoschisis associated with serous retinal detachment
      (4.3%). Extensive inferior pars plana exudates with snowbanking were present in
      12 eyes (52.2%), whereas 3 eyes had inferior snowballs over the elevated retina.
      Neovascularization of the vitreous base accompanied by vitreous hemorrhage
      occurred in one eye. There was no coexisting macular pathology in 16 eyes,
      whereas 4 eyes had cystoid macular edema. CONCLUSION: The appearance of
      peripheral retinoschisis in this series of uncontrolled intermediate uveitis
      patients seems to be secondary to a complex balance between the persistent
      fluorescein leakage, a subclinical peripheral ischemia, and the constant low
      grade vitreous inflammation that causes vitreous shrinkage and traction. The
      results of this study suggest that the absence of macroscopic changes in the
      retina does not preclude ischemic peripheral abnormalities, and the detection of
      a peripheral retinoschisis in an intermediate uveitis patient with active
      fluorescein leakage must suggest the need for a more aggressive form of treatment
      despite the good visual acuity.

PMID- 28590968
TI  - Mechanically Isolated Stromal Vascular Fraction by Nanofat Emulsification
      Techniques.

PMID- 28590969
TI  - Comparison of Endothelial Differentiation Capacities of Human and Rat Adipose
      Derived Stem Cells.

PMID- 28590971
TI  - Reply: Mechanical Micronization of Lipoaspirates: Squeeze and Emulsification
      Techniques.

PMID- 28590970
TI  - Crowdsourcing as a Novel Method to Evaluate Aesthetic Outcomes of Treatment for
      Unilateral Cleft Lip.

PMID- 28590972
TI  - Reply: Crowdsourcing as a Novel Method to Evaluate Aesthetic Outcomes of
      Treatment for Unilateral Cleft Lip.

PMID- 28590973
TI  - Reply: Comparison of Endothelial Differentiation Capacities of Human and Rat
      Adipose-Derived Stem Cells.

PMID- 28590974
TI  - Successful Breast Reconstruction with a Free Muscle-Sparing TRAM Flap in a
      Patient with Prior Ligation of the Bilateral Deep Inferior Epigastric Vessels.

PMID- 28590975
TI  - A Safe and Inexpensive Technique for Turbinate Cauterization Surgery.

PMID- 28590976
TI  - The Graduated Coupler Sizer: An Innovative Design Associated with Improved
      Accuracy.

PMID- 28590977
TI  - Reply: Very Low Prevalence of Intracranial Hypertension in Trigonocephaly.

PMID- 28590978
TI  - The Cosmetic Ladder: Familiar Structure, New Commitment.

PMID- 28590980
TI  - Outcomes of Prosthetic Reconstruction of Irradiated and Nonirradiated Breasts
      with Fat Grafting.

PMID- 28590981
TI  - Reply: Late Seromas in Natrelle 410 Form-Stable Silicone Breast Implants.

PMID- 28590982
TI  - Reply: Risk Factor Analysis for Capsular Contracture, Malposition, and Late
      Seroma in Subjects Receiving Natrelle 410 Form-Stable Silicone Breast Implants.

PMID- 28590983
TI  - Late Seromas in Natrelle 410 Form-Stable Silicone Breast Implants.

PMID- 28590984
TI  - Risk Factor Analysis for Capsular Contracture, Malposition, and Late Seroma in
      Subjects Receiving Natrelle 410 Form-Stable Silicone Breast Implants.

PMID- 28590985
TI  - Reply: Outcomes of Prosthetic Reconstruction of Irradiated and Nonirradiated
      Breasts with Fat Grafting.

PMID- 28590986
TI  - Functional movement disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The review highlights the clinical presentation of functional
      movement disorders (FMDs) and presents current evidence on bedside signs and
      paraclinical tests to differentiate them from other neurological disorders.
      RECENT FINDINGS: FMDs are diagnosed by the presence of positive clinical signs as
      emphasized in the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5
      classification criteria. Bedside signs are numerous, and a subset of them has
      been validated in controlled studies. This review summarizes evidence from the
      literature on specificity and sensibility of positive clinical signs for FMDs.
      The value of rule-in paraclinical tests to confirm the diagnosis is also
      presented. Recent developments in neuroscience with pathophysiological mechanisms
      and current treatment strategies are also discussed. SUMMARY: FMDs represent a
      field of neurology that is currently rapidly growing in terms of research.
      Clinicians should be aware that highly reliable signs exist for the diagnosis and
      that early multidisciplinary treatment should be offered.

PMID- 28590987
TI  - "Chaotic Arrhythmia" During Successful Resuscitation After Ingestion of Yew
      (Taxus baccata) Needles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study aims to describe the management of a case of life
      threatening yew (Taxus baccata) intoxication. BACKGROUND: The needles of the yew
      tree contain highly cardiotoxic taxines. Intoxication with taxines, typically as
      part of suicide attempts, may lead to potentially lethal arrhythmias which often
      require prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other supportive measures. No
      specific therapy has been described. In some cases, extracorporeal life support
      has been used. CASE: After an attempted suicide with yew needles and out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest, a female adolescent was resuscitated for 6 hours
      according to Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support guidelines. Complex ventricular
      tachycardias were treated by repeated direct current shocks and broad complex
      bradycardia managed with transvenous cardiac pacing. Antiarrhythmic drugs
      (amiodarone, lidocaine), magnesium sulfate, and supportive measures (intravenous
      lipids, sodium bicarbonate) were provided. The arrhythmias finally resolved, and
      the patient did not show any significant neurological or cardiac short-term
      sequelae after 24 hours. RESULTS: The authors describe the successful management
      of a case of severe taxine intoxication by prolonged conventional advanced
      cardiac life support lasting for more than 6 hours. CONCLUSIONS: In life
      threatening yew intoxication, prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation is
      absolutely essential owing to the long duration of the cardiotoxic action of
      taxines and can lead to an outcome without cardiac or neurological sequelae.

PMID- 28590989
TI  - "It's Not a Tumor": A Rare Case of Symptomatic Cerebellar Developmental Venous
      Anomaly.
AB  - Cerebral developmental venous anomalies (DVAs) are benign anatomical variants of
      the venous system and are commonly described as an incidental finding without
      clinical significance. Neurologic symptoms or abnormal examination findings are
      rare and usually attributed to hemorrhagic complications related to coexisting
      cavernous malformations. There have been limited case reports of symptomatic,
      uncomplicated DVAs described in the literature. The following case describes a
      previously healthy child who presented to the emergency department with an acute
      onset of altered mental status, headache, and focal neurologic examination
      abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a prominent cerebellar DVA.
      There was no evidence of a cavernous angioma, hemorrhage, or acute parenchymal
      injury. This case report illustrates a clinically symptomatic, uncomplicated
      posterior fossa DVA. It provides additional evidence regarding the potential for
      a cerebral venous malformation in causing focal neurologic deficits.

PMID- 28590988
TI  - Seizures After Pediatric Vilazodone Ingestion: A Case Series.
AB  - Vilazodone hydrochloride is the first member in a new class of antidepressants
      called indolealkylamines and was approved for use in the United States in 2011
      for major depressive disorder. It has a combined mechanism of action of a
      selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and a partial agonist of serotonin 5-HT1A
      receptors. It has not been approved for use in the pediatric population, and
      toxicity from exploratory vilazodone ingestion has been rarely described to date.
      We describe 2 children with laboratory-confirmed vilazodone ingestions that led
      to significant toxicity including refractory status epilepticus in 1 patient and
      likely transient seizure activity in the other. Both patients required multiple
      doses of benzodiazepines; in the more severe case, barbiturates were added to
      control seizure activity. These children returned to baseline and had no
      prolonged neurologic complications. Pediatric experience with vilazodone is
      limited; however, the literature demonstrates 3 additional case reports of
      children experiencing seizure after vilazodone ingestion. With the 2 new cases
      presented here, it seems prudent to educate prescribers and families of the
      potential dangers of ingestion of vilazodone tablets by young children.

PMID- 28590990
TI  - Delirium Upon Presentation to the Pediatric Emergency Department: A Case Series.
AB  - The following cases describe children who presented to the emergency department
      (ED) with a constellation of symptoms consistent with delirium. In each case,
      there was no identified inciting cause (eg, fever, medications) other than the
      presence of influenza. All children had variable workups, with 2 children
      undergoing extensive neurologic evaluation and testing. Clinical recognition of
      delirium in the pediatric acute care setting can be challenging, but heightened
      awareness by ED and primary care physicians may lead to earlier diagnosis,
      prevent unwarranted investigations, and decrease hospitalization. Children with
      influenza may be at increased risk of developing delirium. A prospective study to
      assess the prevalence of delirium in pediatric patients presenting to the ED with
      influenza is warranted.

PMID- 28590991
TI  - Risk Factors Associated With Emergency Department Return Visits Following Trauma
      System Discharge.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Little evidence exists in the pediatric trauma literature regarding
      what factors are associated with re-presentation to the hospital for patients
      discharged from the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This was a retrospective
      cohort study of trauma system activations at a pediatric trauma center from June
      30, 2007, through June 30, 2013, who were subsequently discharged from the ED or
      after a brief inpatient stay. Returns within 30 days were reviewed. chi, Student
      t test, and univariate logistical regression were used to compare predictive
      factors for those returning and not. RESULTS: One thousand eight hundred sixty
      three patient encounters were included in the cohort. Seventy-two patients (3.9%)
      had at least 1 return visit that was related to the original trauma activation.
      Age, sex, language, race/ethnicity, ED length of stay, arrival mode, level of
      trauma activation, and transfer from an outside hospital did not vary
      significantly between the groups. Patients with public insurance were almost 2
      times more likely to return compared with those with private insurance (odds
      ratio, 1.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-3.35). Income by zip code was
      associated with the risk of a return visit, with patients in neighborhoods at
      less than the 50th percentile income twice as likely to return to the ED (odds
      ratio, 2.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-3.54). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      public insurance and those from low-income neighborhoods were significantly more
      likely to return to the ED after trauma system activation. These data can be used
      to target interventions to decrease returns in high-risk trauma patients.

PMID- 28590992
TI  - Montelukast Treatment of Acute Asthma Exacerbations in Children Aged 2 to 5
      Years: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although montelukast has an established role in the management of
      chronic asthma in children, its efficacy in acute asthma exacerbations (AAEs) in
      children aged 2 to 5 years is not fully known. This study aimed to evaluate the
      effectiveness and safety of montelukast for treating AAE in children aged 2 to 5
      years in China. METHODS: In total, 120 Chinese children with AAE, aged 2 to 5
      years, were randomly divided into 2 groups, each with 60 patients. All patients
      received either montelukast or placebo along with standard therapy for acute
      asthma between January 2011 and December 2015. The outcome measurements included
      the difference in peak expiratory flow and lung function improvements, as well as
      adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed the study. Montelukast
      showed no greater effectiveness than did placebo in increasing the peak
      expiratory flow during the period of hospital stay (P = 0.92 at day 2, P = 0.86
      at day 3, and P = 0.82 at day 4) and at discharge (P = 0.84). Similarly, the
      forced expiratory volume in 1 second at discharge also did not show significant
      difference between the 2 groups (P = 0.80). In addition, no serious adverse
      events were found during the intervention period of the study. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results of this study demonstrate no benefit of montelukast over placebo in the
      treatment of AAE in a cohort of 2- to 5-year-old children.

PMID- 28590993
TI  - Childhood Falls With Occipital Impacts.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Falls are commonly reported in children who present with both
      accidental and inflicted brain injuries. Short falls rarely result in serious or
      life-threatening injuries. Our purpose is to describe a series of cases of short
      falls with occipital impact leading to subdural hemorrhage (SDH). METHODS: We
      present a series of 8 witnessed accounts of young children diagnosed as having
      SDHs after striking the back of their heads during a short fall. Child-abuse
      physicians were surveyed to determine if they had evaluated a child younger than
      24 months diagnosed as having SDH, with or without retinal hemorrhages, following
      a witnessed fall with occipital impact. Submitted cases were analyzed. RESULTS:
      The median age of the children was 12.5 months. All fell backward from a standing
      or seated position onto a hard surface and immediately developed symptoms. There
      was an average of 4 witnesses per case. Physical examinations were normal;
      however, the majority of children had enlarged head circumferences. All were
      previously healthy. Six of 8 children had unilateral convexity SDH. All children
      had varying degrees of retinal hemorrhage but no retinoschisis. The majority of
      children had returned to their baseline within 24 hours of hospitalization.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although a larger study is needed to identify the full spectrum of
      injuries, we postulate that, if a history of a fall with an occipital impact is
      elicited during a trauma workup, accidental injury should be considered.

PMID- 28590994
TI  - A Collaborative Behavioral Model for Psychiatric Visits in a Pediatric Emergency
      Department.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Psychiatric pediatric emergency department (PED) visits are
      associated with extended length of stay (LOS) compared with nonpsychiatric
      visits. To address delays in definitive care, our PED incorporated a
      Collaborative Behavioral Model for patients with a psychiatric complaint. We
      evaluated LOS and 6-month readmission by comparing patients who received a
      psychiatric consultation through the model with a control group of nonpsychiatric
      patients. In addition, we assessed the utilization of laboratory tests and
      imaging and the impact of testing on final patient disposition. METHODS: A
      matched-pair retrospective chart review of psychiatric PED visits was conducted
      for visits from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2013. Patients who received a
      psychiatric diagnosis and consultation through the Collaborative Behavioral Model
      were included. Participants were matched with a control group of similar patients
      who did not receive a psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS: One hundred forty-seven
      patients met all the inclusion criteria. There was no statistical difference in
      median LOS for patients who received a psychiatric consultation versus
      nonpsychiatric visits (204 vs 200 minutes; P = 0.35). The 6-month PED readmission
      rate for psychiatric visits was significantly less than that in the control group
      (18% vs 32%; P = 0.003). Of the laboratory and imaging studies performed, 1
      abnormal laboratory test (1%) and no imaging studies resulted in a change in
      patient management. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative models, with specialized
      psychiatric components, can better coordinate the care of mental health visits by
      providing focused interventions that promote efficient disposition. In addition,
      laboratory and imaging studies resulted in few changes in management or final
      disposition.

PMID- 28590995
TI  - Mental Health Problems in Children and Adolescents in the Emergency Department:
      "The Times They Are A-Changin'".

PMID- 28590996
TI  - Helicopter Transport From the Scene of Injury: Are There Improved Outcomes for
      Pediatric Trauma Patients?
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is conflicting data to support the routine use of helicopter
      transport (HT) for the transfer of trauma patients. The purpose of this study was
      to evaluate outcomes for trauma patients transported via helicopter from the
      scene of injury to a regional pediatric trauma center. METHODS: The institutional
      trauma registry was queried for trauma patients presenting from January 2000
      through March 2012. Of 9119 patients, 1709 patients who presented from the scene
      were selected for further evaluation. This cohort was stratified into HT and
      ground transport (GT) for analysis. Associations between mode of transport and
      outcomes were estimated using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals from
      multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: Seven hundred twenty-five
      patients (42.4%) presented via HT, whereas 984 (57.6%) presented via GT. Patients
      arriving by HT had a higher Injury Severity Score, lower Glasgow Coma Scale, were
      less likely to undergo surgery within 3 hours, more likely to present after
      motorized trauma, and had longer intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of
      stay (LOS). Multivariate analysis controlling for Injury Severity Score, Glasgow
      Coma Scale, mechanism of injury, scene distance, and time to arrive to the
      hospital revealed that patients arriving by HT were more likely to have longer
      hospital LOS compared with those arriving by GT (odds ratios = 2.3, 95%
      confidence interval = 1.00-5.28, P = 0.049). However, no statistically
      significant association was observed for prehospital intubation, surgery within 3
      hours, ICU admissions, or ICU LOS. CONCLUSIONS: Although patients arriving by
      helicopter are more severely injured and arrive from greater distances, when
      controlling for injuries, scene distance, and time to hospital arrival, only
      hospital LOS was significantly affected by HT.

PMID- 28590997
TI  - Is Radiography Necessary for Pediatric Emergency Department Clinicians to Safely
      Manage Ankle Injuries?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ankle radiography in the pediatric emergency department exposes a
      radiosensitive population to harmful ionizing radiation and is costly to health
      care systems. This study aimed to determine if ankle injuries in children could
      be managed safely and effectively without radiography. METHODS: This prospective
      study enrolled 94 patients with ankle injuries between July 14, 2015, and
      December 16, 2015. Participating clinicians filled out a tick-box questionnaire
      describing their predicted diagnosis and management. In March 2016, we looked
      retrospectively at TRAK to determine how these patients were actually managed and
      compared this with the predictions. RESULTS: Agreement was calculated for the
      predicted and actual presence of a fracture, with a kappa value of 0.433. The
      intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated to determine interrater
      reliability between predicted management and actual management, showing an
      average score of 0.801. Of the 16 patients found to be Low Risk Ankle Rule
      positive, none were found to have high-risk fractures. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      found that radiographs are necessary for the management of pediatric ankle
      injuries. However, there is scope to reduce radiography by implementing the Low
      Risk Ankle Rule.

PMID- 28590998
TI  - A Comparison of Direct Laryngoscopy and Videolaryngoscopy for Endotracheal
      Intubation by Inexperienced Users: A Pediatric Manikin Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Direct laryngoscopy (DL) is the most common technique for endotracheal
      intubation, whereas videolaryngoscopy provides an indirect view of the glottis
      without the need to align the oral, pharyngeal, and tracheal axes. The current
      study compares videolaryngoscopy with DL among experienced and inexperienced
      users for endotracheal intubation using a pediatric manikin. METHODS:
      Participants performed DL using Miller and Macintosh laryngoscopes and
      videolaryngoscopy using CMAC and GlideScope devices on a manikin (SimBaby;
      Laerdel, Wappingers Falls, NY). Time to endotracheal intubation, number of
      attempts, and successful intubation within 120 seconds were recorded. RESULTS:
      Among 31 experienced users, time to endotracheal intubation with the CMAC (20 +/-
      13 seconds) did not differ from DL with either the Miller (30 +/- 28 seconds) or
      Macintosh (27 +/- 23 seconds) laryngoscopes. However, with the GlideScope, time
      to endotracheal intubation (85 +/- 38 seconds) was longer. The results were
      similar among 12 inexperienced users, as time to endotracheal intubation with the
      CMAC (61 +/- 34 seconds) was comparable with the Miller (72 +/- 45 seconds) or
      Macintosh (72 +/- 45 seconds) laryngoscopes but was longer with the GlideScope
      (118 +/- 6 seconds) for each comparison. CONCLUSIONS: The standard straight or
      curved laryngoscope blades including the CMAC were associated with shorter
      procedural time and higher success rate when compared with indirect
      videolaryngoscopy with an unconventional blade design such as the GlideScope in
      both experienced and inexperienced users. However, the current study demonstrates
      that results may be influenced by the anatomical design of the manikin.

PMID- 28591000
TI  - Middle Ear Aural Polyp Mimicking Glomus Tympanicum in a Male Adolescent.

PMID- 28590999
TI  - Surgical Management of a Persistent Stapedial Artery: A Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome and per- and postoperative complications of
      the surgical management of patients with a persistent stapedial artery (PSA).
      METHODS: A systemic literature search for reports on patients treated for
      pulsatile tinnitus and/or conductive hearing loss caused by a PSA was conducted
      of the PubMed and Embase databases using the terms "stapedial" and "artery."
      Inclusion criteria were adequate description of the intervention and pre- and
      postoperative signs and symptoms. In addition, one case of a PSA, treated at VU
      University Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands, was included in this
      series. INTERVENTION: Middle ear surgery consisting of stapedotomy or
      stapedectomy, and/or transection of the PSA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pre- and
      postoperative hearing levels, pre- and postoperative pulsatile tinnitus, and per-
      and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Seventeen patients and 18 operated ears
      were evaluated (16 patients described in 14 articles and our case). Twelve out of
      14 ears in which a stapedotomy or stapedectomy was initiated experienced
      improvement in hearing. In four cases pulsatile tinnitus was described pre- and
      postoperatively. In all four, pulsatile tinnitus subsided after transection of
      the PSA. Peroperative bleeding from the PSA was described in four patients, which
      could be controlled during the procedure. No significant postoperative sequelae
      were reported. CONCLUSIONS: In case of a PSA, improvement of conductive hearing
      loss is best achieved by stapes surgery, while pulsatile tinnitus is effectively
      treated with transection of the PSA. To date no long-term postoperative
      complications have been reported.

PMID- 28591001
TI  - Multiple Unilateral Skull Base Defects in a Child With Conductive Hearing Loss.

PMID- 28591002
TI  - The Role of Radiation in Tympanojugular Paragangliomas Needs to be Objectively Re
      evaluated.

PMID- 28591003
TI  - Gender Differences in Anxiety and Complications Early After Acute Myocardial
      Infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anxiety is the earliest psychological response to acute myocardial
      infarction. When anxiety persists or becomes severe, it has negative consequences
      including increased risk for in-hospital complications. Therefore, it is
      necessary to determine which groups of people are at risk for high anxiety after
      acute myocardial infarction. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine
      whether there is a difference in anxiety levels and rate of complications based
      on gender early after acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: A comparative design
      was used. Patients with acute myocardial infarction were interviewed within 72
      hours (mean [SD], 40 [18] hours) of admission to the hospital and completed a
      sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire and the Anxiety Subscale of Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale. In addition, clinical data were abstracted from the
      participants' medical record after discharge. RESULTS: A total of 250 patients,
      with a confirmed diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, participated in this
      study: 163 men and 87 women. Female patients were more anxious (15.5 [3.6] vs 8.1
      [2.9], P < .01) and had more complications (1.1 [1.9] vs 0.6 [0.08], P < .05)
      than male patients did. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety is a global problem after acute
      myocardial infarction. Exploration of reasons why women of different cultures are
      at a higher risk for anxiety after acute myocardial infarction is necessary. It
      is of high clinical importance to determine strategies for managing anxiety in
      patients with or suspected to have acute myocardial infarction, especially women.

PMID- 28591005
TI  - Implant Strategy-Specific Changes in Symptoms in Response to Left Ventricular
      Assist Devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although we know that the quality of life generally improves after
      left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation, we know little about how
      symptoms change in response to LVAD. METHODS: The purpose of this study was to
      compare the changes in symptoms between bridge and destination therapy patients
      as part of a prospective cohort study. Physical (dyspnea and wake disturbances)
      and affective symptoms (depression and anxiety) were measured before LVAD and at
      1, 3, and 6 months after LVAD. Multiphase growth modeling was used to capture the
      2 major phases of change: initial improvements between preimplant and 1 month
      after LVAD and subsequent improvements between 1 and 6 months after LVAD.
      RESULTS: The sample included 64 bridge and 22 destination therapy patients as the
      preimplant strategy. Destination patients had worse preimplant dyspnea and wake
      disturbances, and they experienced greater initial improvements in these symptoms
      compared with bridge patients (all P < .05); subsequent change in both symptoms
      were similar between groups (both P > .05). Destination patients had worse
      preimplant depression (P = .042) but experienced similar initial and subsequent
      improvements in depression in response to LVAD compared with bridge patients
      (both P > .05). Destination patients had similar preimplant anxiety (P = .279)
      but experienced less initial and greater subsequent improvements in anxiety after
      LVAD compared with bridge patients (both P < .05). CONCLUSION: There are many
      differences in the magnitude and timing of change in symptom responses to LVAD
      between bridge and destination therapy patients. Detailed information on changes
      in specific symptoms may better inform shared decision-making regarding LVAD.

PMID- 28591004
TI  - Medication Adherence Mediates the Relationship Between Heart Failure Symptoms and
      Cardiac Event-Free Survival in Patients With Heart Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) symptoms such as dyspnea are common and may
      precipitate hospitalization. Medication nonadherence is presumed to be associated
      with symptom exacerbations, yet how HF symptoms, medication adherence, and
      hospitalization/death are related remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this
      study was to explore the relationships among HF symptoms, medication adherence,
      and cardiac event-free survival in patients with HF. METHODS: At baseline,
      patient demographics, clinical data, and HF symptoms were collected in 219
      patients with HF. Medication adherence was monitored using the Medication Event
      Monitoring System. Patients were followed for up to 3.5 years to collect
      hospitalization and survival data. Logistic regression and survival analyses were
      used for the analyses. RESULTS: Patients reporting dyspnea or ankle swelling were
      more likely to have poor medication adherence (P = .05). Poor medication
      adherence was associated with worse cardiac event-free survival (P = .006). In
      Cox regression, patients with HF symptoms had 2 times greater risk for a cardiac
      event than patients without HF symptoms (P = .042). Heart failure symptoms were
      not a significant predictor of cardiac event-free survival after entering
      medication adherence in the model (P = .091), indicating mediation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Medication adherence was associated with fewer HF symptoms and lower rates of
      hospitalization and death. It is important to develop interventions to improve
      medication adherence that may reduce HF symptoms and high hospitalization and
      mortality in patients with HF.

PMID- 28591007
TI  - The relationship between body adiposity index and pregnancy-induced hypertension
      in third-trimester pregnant women.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body adiposity
      index (BAI) and pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) in third-trimester pregnant
      women. This study included 126 women in the third trimester of pregnancy. All
      participants completed anthropometric measurements and ultrasonic testing. The
      formula of BAI was hip circumference (cm)/height (m)-18. The frequency of PIH
      were significantly higher in the upper tertile group (31.0%) than in the low
      tertile group (7.1%) and the middle tertile group (4.8%) (P<0.01). The area under
      curve values for the accuracy of BAI in identifying PIH were 0.784. The optimal
      threshold of BAI for identifying PIH was 36.0. The sensitivity was 72.2% and the
      specificity was 85.1%. BAI was correlated with PIH. The performance of BAI for
      identifying third-trimester pregnant women with PIH was moderately accurate.

PMID- 28591006
TI  - Assessment of functional liver reserve: old and new in 99mTc-sulfur colloid
      scintigraphy.
AB  - PURPOSE: A semiquantitative assessment of hepatic reticuloendothelial system
      function using colloidal particles scintigraphy has been proposed previously as a
      surrogate for liver function evaluation. In this article, we present an updated
      method for the overall assessment of technetium-99m (Tc)-sulfur colloid (SC)
      biodistribution that combines information from planar and attenuation-corrected
      Tc-SC single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images. The imaging
      protocol described here was developed as an easy-to-implement method to assess
      overall and regional liver function changes associated with chronic liver
      disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with chronic liver disease and
      primary liver cancers underwent Tc-SC whole-body planar imaging and upper-abdomen
      SPECT/computed tomography (CT) imaging before external beam radiation therapy.
      Liver plus spleen and bone marrow counts as a fraction of whole-body total counts
      were calculated from SC planar imaging. Attenuation correction Tc-SC images were
      rigidly coregistered with treatment planning CT images that contained liver and
      spleen regions-of-interest. Ratios of total liver counts to total spleen counts
      were obtained from the aligned Tc-SC SPECT and CT images, and were subsequently
      used to separate liver plus spleen counts obtained on the planar images. This
      hybrid SPECT/CT and planar scintigraphy approach yielded an updated estimation of
      whole-body SC distribution. These biodistribution estimates were compared with
      historical data for reference. Statistical associations of Tc-SC biodistribution
      to liver function parameters and liver disease scoring systems (Child-Pugh) were
      evaluated by Spearman rank correlation. RESULTS: Percentages of Tc-SC uptake
      ranged from 19.3 to 77.3% for the liver; 3.4 to 40.7% for the spleen; and 19.0 to
      56.7% for the bone marrow. Spearman's correlation coefficient showed a
      significant statistical association between Child-Pugh score and bone marrow
      uptake at 0.55 (P<=0.05), liver uptake at 0.71 (P<=0.001), spleen uptake at 0.56
      (P<=0.05), and spleen plus bone marrow uptake at 0.71 (P<=0.001). There was also
      a good correlation of SC uptake percentages with individual quantitative liver
      function components such as albumin and total bilirubin, and qualitative liver
      function components (varices, portal hypertension, ascites). For albumin: r=0.64
      (P<0.001) compared with liver uptake percentage from the whole-body counts,
      r=0.49 (P<0.001) compared with splenic uptake percentage, and r=0.45 (P<=0.05)
      compared with bone marrow uptake percentage. CONCLUSION: We describe a novel
      liver function quantitative assessment method that combines whole-body planar
      images and SPECT/CT attenuation-corrected images of Tc-SC distribution.
      Attenuation-corrected SC images provide valuable regional liver function
      information, which is a unique feature compared with other imaging methods
      available. The results of our study indicate that the Tc-SC uptake by the liver,
      spleen, and bone marrow correlates with liver function parameters in patients
      with diffuse liver disease and the correlation with liver disease severity is
      slightly better for liver uptake percentages than for individual values of bone
      marrow and spleen uptake percentages.

PMID- 28591008
TI  - Plasma Resuscitation Improved Survival in a Cecal Ligation and Puncture Rat Model
      of Sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The paradigm shift from crystalloid to plasma resuscitation of
      traumatic hemorrhagic shock has improved patient outcomes due in part to plasma
      mediated reversal of catecholamine and inflammation-induced endothelial injury,
      decreasing vascular permeability and attenuating organ injury. Since sepsis
      induces a similar endothelial injury as seen in hemorrhage, we hypothesized that
      plasma resuscitation would increase 48-h survival in a rat sepsis model. METHODS:
      Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (375-425 g) were subjected to 35% cecal ligation
      and puncture (CLP) (t = 0 h). Twenty-two hours post-CLP and prior to
      resuscitation (t = 22 h), animals were randomized to resuscitation with normal
      saline (NS, 10 cc/kg/h) or pooled rat fresh frozen plasma (FFP, 3.33 cc/kg/h).
      Resuscitation under general anesthesia proceeded for the next 6 h (t = 22 h to t
      = 28 h); lactate was checked every 2 h, and fluid volumes were titrated based on
      lactate clearance. Blood samples were obtained before (t = 22 h) and after
      resuscitation (t = 28 h), and at death or study conclusion. Lung specimens were
      obtained for calculation of wet-to-dry weight ratio. Fisher exact test was used
      to analyze the primary outcome of 48-h survival. ANOVA with repeated measures was
      used to analyze the effect of FFP versus NS resuscitation on blood gas,
      electrolytes, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10,
      catecholamines, and syndecan-1 (marker for endothelial injury). A two-tailed
      alpha level of <0.05 was used for all statistical tests. RESULTS: Thirty-three
      animals were studied: 14 FFP, 14 NS, and 5 sham. Post-CLP but preresuscitation (t
      = 22 h) variables between FFP and NS animals were similar and significantly
      deranged compared with sham animals. FFP significantly increased 48-h survival
      compared to NS (n = 8 [57%] vs n = 2 [14%]), attenuated the post-resuscitation (t
      = 28 h) levels of epinephrine (mean 2.2 vs 7.0 ng/mL), norepinephrine, (3.8 vs
      8.9 ng/mL), IL-6 (3.8 vs 18.7 ng/mL), and syndecan-1 (21.8 vs 31.0 ng/mL) (all P
      < 0.05), improved the post-resuscitation PO2 to FiO2 ratio (353 vs 151), and
      reduced the pulmonary wet-to-dry weight ratio (5.28 vs 5.94) (all P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Compared to crystalloid, plasma resuscitation increased 48-h survival
      in a rat sepsis model, improved pulmonary function and decreased pulmonary edema,
      and attenuated markers for inflammation, endothelial injury, and catecholamines.

PMID- 28591009
TI  - Surfactant Proteins-A and -D Attenuate LPS-Induced Apoptosis in Primary
      Intestinal Epithelial Cells (IECs).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: SP-A/D KO mice with sepsis demonstrate more severe lung, kidney,
      and gut injury/apoptosis than WT controls. We hypothesize SP-A and SP-D directly
      regulate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
      (MAPK) activation and gut apoptosis during sepsis. METHODS: Primary IECs were
      established from SP-A/D KO or C57BL/6 WT mice, stimulated with LPS and harvested
      at 24 h. IECs from WT mice were treated with SP-A, SP-D, or vehicle for 20 h,
      then LPS for 24 h. Apoptosis, cleaved caspase-3 levels and the ratio of BAX/Bcl-2
      were assayed. The role of P38 MAPK was examined using the P38 MAPK-agonist U46619
      and inhibitor SB203580 in LPS-treated cells. p-P38 MAPK/t-P38 MAPK, TLR4, and
      CD14 were measured by Western Blot. RESULTS: LPS-induced apoptosis, caspase-3
      levels, BAX/Bcl-2, and p-P38/t-P38 MAPK were increased in SP-A/D KO IECs. SP-A
      and SP-D attenuate LPS-induced increase in apoptosis, cleaved caspase-3, BAX/Bcl
      2, and p-P38/t-P38 MAPK in WT IECs. U46619 increased apoptosis, caspase-3, and
      BAX/Bcl-2 in IECs which was attenuated by SP-A/D. SB203580 attenuates the LPS
      induced increase in apoptosis, caspase-3, and BAX/Bcl-2 in WT IECs. Addition of
      SP-A or SP-D to SB203580 completely ameliorates LPS-induced apoptosis. The LPS
      induced increase in TLR4 and CD14 expression is greater in IECs from SP-A/D KO
      mice and treatment of WT IECs with SP-A or SP-D prevents the LPS-induced increase
      in TLR4 and CD14. CONCLUSIONS: SP-A and SP-D attenuate LPS-induced increases in
      apoptosis, caspase-3, and BAX/Bcl-2 in IECs. Attenuation of LPS-induced
      activation of TLR4 and P38 MAPK signaling pathways represents potential
      mechanisms for the protective effects of SP-A/D on apoptosis.

PMID- 28591010
TI  - The Impact of a Mother's Emotional Strains and Disclosure of Cancer on Her
      Child's Defensiveness and Adjustment to Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Defensiveness is one of the strategies that children with cancer use
      against psychosocial difficulties, yet it remains unclear what factors may impact
      children's use of defensiveness. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore
      the psychological adjustment, including use of defensive behaviors, in children
      who may or may not be told about the diagnosis of cancer. METHODS: A total of 58
      children and 51 mothers participated in the study. Children answered
      questionnaires about defensiveness, anxiety, and depression, whereas mothers
      completed a questionnaire of anxiety, depression, and stress and a question about
      disclosure of cancer to child. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in the
      defensiveness and depression scores between children with full disclosure and
      those with no disclosure about their cancer. Although children's adjustment has
      been directly related to that of their mother's adjustment, we did not find this
      variable to be a predictor of child's adjustment. The child's defensiveness
      scores were a strong predictor of child's anxiety and eventually for a high risk
      for depression. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers' emotional strains and lack of open
      disclosure about cancer significantly affect the psychosocial well-being of
      children. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: It is essential for nurses to assess the
      emotional adjustment and defensiveness strategies that children with cancer use.
      We believe that nurses caring for children with cancer have a professional
      responsibility to identify and understand defensive behaviors and other
      characteristics of psychosocial distress and advocate for psychological
      interventions that will help mothers and their children cope with cancer.

PMID- 28591011
TI  - Being Fully Present: Gains Patients Attribute to a Telephone-Delivered Parenting
      Program for Child-Rearing Mothers With Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oncology nurses can assist patients in gaining skills and confidence
      in multiple areas of illness self-management, including parenting skills. Child
      rearing parents with cancer are a unique population because they must self-manage
      their illness and also help their child manage the intrusion of cancer on
      everyday life. The telephone offers an inexpensive channel for nurses to assist
      mothers in developing competencies to parent their child. The acceptability and
      attributed gains from such telephone services are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aims of
      this study were to (1) describe the gains child-rearing mothers attribute to
      participation in a nurse-delivered telephone cancer parenting program and (2)
      assess mothers' evaluation of the telephone as a channel for delivering the
      program. METHODS: Study participants were child-rearing mothers diagnosed with
      cancer (N = 31) who had completed a manualized telephone-delivered cancer
      parenting program by a nurse. Mothers were interviewed 1 month after exiting the
      program by a specially trained interviewer masked on the content of the program.
      RESULTS: Most mothers were white (74%), highly educated, and had breast cancer
      (93.5%). Mothers attributed gains from the program in 3 areas: (1) being fully
      present for my child, (2) communicating in new ways, and (3) putting away my
      assumptions. CONCLUSIONS: Communication skills learned from nurses can assist
      mothers to self-manage the impact of the cancer on their own well-being and add
      to their parenting skills and competencies to help their children. IMPLICATIONS
      FOR PRACTICE: The telephone is an effective and indeed preferred channel for
      delivering services to child-rearing parents impacted by cancer.

PMID- 28591012
TI  - Is Antibiotic Alternative to Appendectomy?

PMID- 28591013
TI  - Response to Letter: Is Antibiotic Alternative to Appendectomy?

PMID- 28591014
TI  - Is an RCT the Best Way to Investigate the Effectiveness of Nonoperative
      Management of Pediatric Appendicitis?

PMID- 28591015
TI  - Design of Studies for Antibiotic Treatment of Acute Appendicitis in Children: In
      Support of RCTs.

PMID- 28591016
TI  - Hey, I Just Did a Better Operation! Toward an IDEAL Innovation Model.

PMID- 28591017
TI  - Reply to Letter: "Hey, I Just Did a Better Operation! Toward an IDEAL Innovation
      Model".

PMID- 28591018
TI  - Factors Associated With Recurrence and Survival in N0 Gastric Cancer.

PMID- 28591019
TI  - The Comparison of Surgical Approaches in Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer:
      Significant Insights but Clinical Fidelity Still to Be Delivered.

PMID- 28591020
TI  - Emergency and Trauma Surgery: A Hard Jazz Solo.

PMID- 28591021
TI  - Error Management in Emergency Surgery and Music: Fight, Flight, or Freeze.

PMID- 28591022
TI  - Synbiotic Therapy With Surgery for Chronic Pancreatitis.

PMID- 28591023
TI  - Synbiotics in Surgery for Chronic Pancreatitis - A Hobson's Choice?

PMID- 28591026
TI  - Imaging diagnosis of orbital Wegener granulomatosis: A rare case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Wegener granulomatosis (WG) is a rare idiopathic autoimmune disease
      causing necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis. Whether as the first symptom or as
      part of systemic changes, ocular manifestations in WG patients are not specific.
      Any part of the eyes can be affected, with the anterior segment and orbit most
      commonly involved. So, early diagnosis and treatment are essential for
      controlling the progression of the disease and improving the quality of life for
      patients. CLINICAL FINDINGS/PATIENT CONCERNS: Here we present a rare case of
      orbital WG of a 22-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of intense
      pain associated with decreased visual acuity in her right eye since 1 day. She
      had been previously diagnosed with WG at our hospital. IMAGING DIAGNOSIS: Orbital
      computed tomography imaging showed diffuse swelling of intraorbital muscles, and
      space-occupying lesions were present in both eyes. Most postnasal anatomical
      structures were absent, appearing as a massive cavity shadow. Orbital magnetic
      resonance imaging showed a shadow of orbital soft tissues. CONCLUSION: WG is a
      serious, fatal disease. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential for
      controlling the progression of the disease and improving the quality of life for
      patients.

PMID- 28591025
TI  - Neurocognitive development in HIV-positive children is correlated with plasma
      viral loads in early childhood.
AB  - Because of neurocognitive impairments in perinatally human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV)-infected children and adolescents, this study aimed to demonstrate the
      effect of plasma viral loads and early initiation of sufficient combined
      antiretroviral therapy (cART) on neurocognitive development.In total, 14
      perinatally infected HIV-positive children (median age 8.24 years [range: 6.0
      16.74]) receiving lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based ART underwent neurocognitive
      testing using the Wechsler Intelligence Score for Children, 4th Edition (WISC
      IV). All 14 patients participated in a pharmacokinetic study in which they were
      hospitalized for an entire day. As a child's ability to concentrate varies over
      the course of the day, all tests were performed in the morning.The patients'
      neurocognitive development did not significantly differ from the normative
      collective pattern for any of the following composite scores that were examined:
      full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) (mean: 106.5, P = .1060), verbal
      comprehension index (mean: 106.0, P = .1356), perceptual reasoning index (mean:
      106.0, P = .1357), working memory index (mean: 106.3, P = .1171), and processing
      speed index (mean: 98.1, P = .6313). The overall full-scale IQ scores were
      significantly higher in children who began ART within the first year of life (P =
      .0379), whereas low lopinavir/r plasma levels (P = .0070) and high viral load
      area under the curves (AUCs) in the first 3 years of life, but not later,
      significantly correlated with reduced neurocognitive performance (Spearman r = 
      0.64, P = .0278).In this cohort of cART treated HIV-positive children and
      adolescents, neurocognitive performance correlated with early and sufficient
      viral load suppression within the first 3 years of life.

PMID- 28591027
TI  - Necrotizing fasciitis-A catastrophic complication following routine tibia
      fracture surgery: A case report and literature review.
AB  - RATIONALE: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is defined as a rare, life-threatening,
      rapidly spreading soft tissue infection resulting from a polymicrobial origin,
      with a predominance of anaerobic organisms that presents with necrosis of the
      muscle, fascia, and surrounding soft tissue. PATIENT CONCERNS AND DIAGNOSES: A 64
      year-old male who sustained tibia fracture caused by falling from a height
      underwent a tibia surgery with minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis technique
      in another institution. Postoperatively, the patient had development of a very
      uncommon NF at the site of the tibia procedure. When the patient was transferred
      to our unit, he rapidly processed to toxic shock and coagulopathy. INTERVENTIONS
      AND OUTCOMES: Although the patient underwent antibiotics treatment in the
      emergency room and was transferred to the operating room for surgery promptly,
      the patient's condition deteriorated rapidly and he died of septic shock and
      multiple organ failure unfortunately. LESSONS: Our study aims to highlight the
      risk of NF in the elderly with diabetes during the perioperative period even if
      the injury is a simple closed fracture. Physicians must be vigilant to early
      inflammatory signs and pain in immunosuppressed patients.

PMID- 28591029
TI  - Observational report: Improved outcomes of transscleral cyclophotocoagulation for
      glaucoma patients.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to evaluate the improved safety and efficacy of
      transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (TSCPC) by performing it in the operating
      room.This is a retrospective review of 17 eyes of 16 patients who received TSCPC
      for uncontrolled glaucoma on maximum tolerated medication.Mean intraocular
      pressure (IOP) prior to surgery was 30.85 +/- 6.24 mm Hg and was reduced to 14.48
      +/- 3.53 mm Hg after treatment for an average reduction in IOP of 48.56% at the
      final visit (P < .001). Visual acuity was measured at the final follow-up visit
      and was stable in 13 eyes (76.47%), improved in 2 eyes (11.75%), and decreased in
      2 eyes (11.75%). Nine of the eyes (52.94%) saw a reduction in the number of
      medications taken, whereas 8 had no change. Two eyes had resolved complications
      of cystoid macular edema (CME) and subconjunctival hemorrhages. The overall
      success rate is determined to be 88%.TSCPC performed in the operating room may
      have greater safety and efficacy for patients with uncontrolled glaucoma.

PMID- 28591030
TI  - Pancreatic carcinosarcoma mimics malignant intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasm: A rare case report and literature review.
AB  - RATIONALE: Carcinosarcoma, an extremely rare pancreatic primary tumor, is
      characterized by coexistence of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components.
      Due to its rarity, the clinical manifestation and imaging features have not been
      recognized. An accurate diagnostic method has not been available and a widely
      accepted guidelines instructing treatment has not been established. PATIENT
      CONCERNS: We present an uncommon case of pancreatic carcinosarcoma (PCS) which
      has been preoperatively diagnosed as pancreatic malignant intraductal papillary
      mucinous neoplasm. A radical resection, including total pancreatectomy (TP) and
      splenectomy, was performed. DIAGNOSIS: The diagnosis of PCS was confirmed by
      postoperative pathology. INTERVENTIONS: A radical resection, including TP and
      splenectomy, was performed. The patient was followed up by abdominal contrast
      enhanced computed tomography scan and blood tumor marker examination. OUTCOMES:
      The patient is still alive and self-sufficient 7 months after the surgery. No
      evidence of tumor recurrence is found during follow-up. LESSONS: Although, until
      recently, there are no widely accepted guidelines instructing treatment for PCS,
      a radical resection is still a possible way. All the pancreatic neoplastic
      patients with high surgical risk should be transferred to a specialized high
      volume pancreatic center to get precise preoperative evaluation, fine operation
      technique, and careful postoperative management.

PMID- 28591028
TI  - Haplotype-based interaction of the PPARGC1A and UCP1 genes is associated with
      impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) of the PPARGC1A and UCP1 genes on impaired fasting glucose
      (IFG) or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the haplotype-based interaction
      between these genes.A cross-sectional study was conducted by cluster sampling in
      Henan province, China. Based on the level of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and the
      history of T2DM, the participants were divided into 2 groups; 83 individuals were
      in the IFG+DM group (those with IFG or T2DM) and 445 individuals were in the NFPG
      group (those with normal FPG). Kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA), a
      haplotype-based gene-gene interaction method, which can increase the biological
      interpretability and extract nonlinear characteristics of SNPs, was used to
      analyze the correlation and interaction between PPARGC1A and UCP1 genes.The age,
      BMI, total cholesterol and triglycerides were statistically different between 2
      groups (P <= .001). Haplotype analysis showed no significant difference in
      frequency distribution between the 2 groups when the PPARGC1A or UCP1 gene was
      tested (P > .05). KCCA analysis showed that the maximum kernel canonical
      correlation coefficient of the PPARGC1A and UCP1 genes was 0.9977 and 0.9995 in
      the IFG+DM and NPFG groups, respectively. A haplotype-based gene-gene interaction
      was observed significantly (U = -6.28, P < .001), indicating the possibility of
      an interaction between haplotype AAG of the PPARGC1A gene and haplotypes CTCG
      (odds ratio [OR] = 1.745, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.069-2.847) and CTCA
      (OR = 0.239, 95% CI 0.060-0.958) of the UCP1 gene.Haplotype-based interaction
      between the PPARGC1A and UCP1 genes is associated with IFG or T2DM among
      residents in Henan, China.

PMID- 28591031
TI  - CT evaluation of living liver donor: Can 100-kVp plus iterative reconstruction
      protocol provide accurate liver volume and vascular anatomy for liver
      transplantation with reduced radiation and contrast dose?
AB  - We evaluated whether donor computed tomography (CT) with a combined technique of
      lower tube voltage and iterative reconstruction (IR) can provide sufficient
      preoperative information for liver transplantation.We retrospectively reviewed CT
      of 113 liver donor candidates. Dynamic contrast-enhanced CT of the liver was
      performed on the following protocol: protocol A (n = 70), 120-kVp with filtered
      back projection (FBP); protocol B (n = 43), 100-kVp with IR. To equalize the
      background covariates, one-to-one propensity-matched analysis was used. We
      visually compared the score of the hepatic artery (A-score), portal vein (P
      score), and hepatic vein (V-score) of the 2 protocols and quantitatively
      correlated the graft volume obtained by CT volumetry (graft-CTv) under the 2
      protocols with the actual graft weight.In total, 39 protocol-A and protocol-B
      candidates showed comparable preoperative clinical characteristics with
      propensity matching. For protocols A and B, the A-score was 3.87 +/- 0.73 and
      4.51 +/- 0.56 (P < .01), the P-score was 4.92 +/- 0.27 and 5.0 +/- 0.0 (P = .07),
      and the V-score was 4.23 +/- 0.78 and 4.82 +/- 0.39 (P < .01), respectively.
      Correlations between the actual graft weight and graft-CTv of protocols A and B
      were 0.97 and 0.96, respectively.Liver-donor CT imaging under 100-kVp plus IR
      protocol provides better visualization for vascular structures than that under
      120-kVp plus FBP protocol with comparable accuracy for graft-CTv, while lowering
      radiation exposure by more than 40% and reducing contrast-medium dose by 20%.

PMID- 28591032
TI  - Prognostic impact of hyponatremia occurring at various time points during
      hospitalization on mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - We investigated the incidence and prognostic impact of hyponatremia occurring at
      various time points during hospitalization on long-term mortality in acute
      myocardial infarction (AMI) survivors. We retrospectively studied 1863 patients
      diagnosed with AMI. Baseline, nadir, and discharge sodium levels during
      hospitalization were recorded and analyzed. Hyponatremia was defined as a serum
      sodium level <135 mEq/L. On the basis of baseline, nadir, and discharge sodium
      levels during hospitalization, hyponatremia was diagnosed in 309 (16.6%), 518
      (27.8%), and 147 (7.9%) patients, respectively. In a multivariate Cox
      proportional regression analysis, discharge sodium level had the strongest
      significant relationship with long-term mortality (hazard ratio [HR] as
      continuous variable = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.11, P = .026; HR
      as categorical variable = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.06-2.75; P = .028), but baseline and
      nadir sodium had no prognostic impact on long-term mortality after adjustment.
      The serum sodium level and incidence of hyponatremia varied at different time
      points during hospitalization. In addition, the association between sodium level
      and long-term mortality differed at these various time points. The discharge
      sodium level, among the various time points, seems the best predictor of long
      term mortality in AMI survivors.

PMID- 28591033
TI  - Vitamin D supplementation and disease activity in patients with immune-mediated
      rheumatic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D serum levels and the presence and activity of rheumatic
      conditions have been associated. However, many studies are merely observational,
      and the existent randomized clinical trials were never systematically analyzed.
      Therefore, this study aims to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of
      such a topic. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, COCHRANE, and CINAHL were
      explored to identify randomized trials that investigated clinical repercussions
      of vitamin D (or analogs) supplementation for at least 3 months in rheumatic
      diseases. Standardized clinical and/or laboratorial outcomes related to disease
      activity were analyzed according to each disease before and after
      supplementation. RESULTS: Database searches rendered 668 results; 9 were included
      5 on rheumatoid arthritis, 3 on systemic lupus erythematosus, and 1 on systemic
      sclerosis. Seven of the studies were meta-analyzed. After vitamin D
      supplementation, rheumatoid arthritis recurrence decreased; however, not
      significantly (risk difference = -0.10, 95% CI = -0.21, 0.00, P = .05). No
      statistical significance was observed regarding visual analog scale (mean
      difference = 2.79, 95% CI = -1.87, 7.44, P = .24) and disease activity score28
      (mean difference = -0.31, 95% CI = -0.86, 0.25, P = .28). Regarding systemic
      lupus erythematosus, anti-dsDNA positivity was significantly reduced (risk
      difference = -0.10, 95% CI = -0.18, -0.03; P = .005). CONCLUSION: Vitamin D
      supplementation reduced anti-dsDNA positivity on systemic lupus erythematosus and
      could possibly reduce rheumatoid arthritis recurrence, although novel randomized
      clinical trials are needed to confirm and extend the benefits of this hormone in
      immune-mediated rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 28591034
TI  - Surgical performance of large loop excision of the transformation zone in a
      training model: A prospective cohort study.
AB  - Large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) is one of the most common
      procedures in operative gynecology and it is a routine part of the surgical
      training program of residents. There is, however, no established and standardized
      method of teaching residents how to perform LLETZ. Here, we present a surgical
      training model and assessed the improvement of surgical skills during repeated
      hands-on trainings of LLETZ in this model.Surgical novices and experts were
      recruited and were shown a LLETZ training video and then performed 3 LLETZ
      training sessions on consecutive days. Surgical skills were assessed by Objective
      Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS). Global rating scale (GRS),
      confidence (CON), fragmentation rate (FR), performance time (PT), and OSATS
      scores were calculated. Intra- and interobserver variabilities were determined.
      The construct validity of OSATS was assessed comparing metric scores of novices
      with those of experts.Sixty-eight probands (58 novices, 10 experts) were
      recruited. GRS, 2.3 +/- 1.3 (median +/- SD) versus 1.4 +/- 0.6, P < .001; CON,
      2.7 +/- 0.9 versus 1.6 +/- 0.6, P < .001; FR, 81% versus 100%, P < .001; PT, 152
      +/- 33 versus 120 +/- 27 seconds, P = .006; and OSATS scores, 18.8 +/- 1.3 versus
      19.1 +/- 1.1, P = .16 of novices improved from session 1 to session 3. OSATS
      showed construct validity with metric scores (GRS, 1.1 +/- 0.3 vs 2.3 +/- 0.8, P
      < .001; CON, 1.0 +/- 0.0 vs 2.7 +/- 0.9, P < .001; PT 125 +/- 30 vs 152 +/- 33
      seconds, P = .02; OSATS scores, 19.6 +/- 0.7 vs. 18.8 +/- 1.3, P = .02) reliably
      discriminating between experts and novices. Intra- and interobserver
      variabilities across probands were 0.99 +/- 0.03 and 0.64 +/- 0.10, respectively.
      OSATS scores were independent of handedness, sex, and regular sports activity in
      univariate and multivariate analyses.Repeated hands-on trainings improve surgical
      performance of LLETZ in a surgical training model with construct validity.

PMID- 28591035
TI  - A case report of lymphoid intestitial pneumonia in common variable
      immunodeficiency: Oligoclonal expansion of effector lymphocytes with preferential
      cytomegalovirus-specific immune response and lymphoproliferative disease
      promotion.
AB  - RATIONALE: Lymphoid interstitial pneumonia (LIP) is a rare disease with
      lymphocytic infiltration of the alveolar interstitial and air spaces, sometimes
      classified as a clonal lymphoproliferative disease (LPD) with high prevalence in
      patients with immunodysregulation. Although association of mucosa-associated
      lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma development with infectious agents has been well
      described, it is not so in the case of LIP. Attempts to demonstrate an infective
      cause by direct microbe detection have failed, but association with atypical
      specific immune response to opportunistic infectious agent has not been studied.
      PATIENT CONCERNS AND DIAGNOSES: We performed clinical, biochemical, and
      immunologic analysis of patients LIP that arises primarily from the common
      variable immune deficiency (CVID) with normal immunoglobulin class M (IgM) level
      and mild infectious course as a result of immunodysregulation. At the age of 13
      multiple nodules, areas of consolidation were observed and LIP was confirmed by
      histological examination. The progression of the disease with massive
      splenomegaly (17->27 cm), lymphadenopathy soft tissue infiltration coincides with
      high standardized uptake value (SUV was 3.1-5.2), regulatory T cells decrease
      (CD4+25FoxP3+ level -0.02%, i.e., 8 cells per 100 MUL), oligoclonal gammapathy:
      very high IgM (3340 mg/dL) and beta2-microglobulin (18.8 mg/L) level observed 10
      years later.Immune response polarization was observed in humoral and cellular
      compartment -Th and Tc-dependent: 10.8% of lymphocytes are CD8high+CMV pp65
      pentamer positive cells (Epstein-Barr virus-specific not observed). Specific
      immune response polarization correlates with negative immunofixation, light
      chains kappa/lambda = 2.84 and narrow, but non-monoclonal T cell receptor (TCR)/
      B cell receptor (BCR) repertoire. LESSONS: Taking everything into account, this
      case report shows that LIP is a consequence of immune-dysregulation in CVID, that
      is, Treg deficiency, narrow lymphocyte repertoire, and abnormal ability to
      respond to cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens. It may be visualized by positron
      emission tomography (PET) and monitored by CMV-specific immune response, beta2
      microglobulin level, and IgM paraproteinaemia, but not by immunofixation and
      kappa/lambda ratio.

PMID- 28591036
TI  - The impact of dual-source parallel radiofrequency transmission with patient
      adaptive shimming on the cardiac magnetic resonance in children at 3.0 T.
AB  - The cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) of children at 3.0 T presents a unique set
      of technical challenges because of their small cardiac anatomical structures,
      fast heart rates, and the limited ability to keep motionless and hold breathe,
      which could cause problems associated with field inhomogeneity and degrade the
      image quality. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of dual-source
      parallel radiofrequency (RF) transmission on the B1 homogeneity and image quality
      in children with CMR at 3.0 T. The study was approved by the institutional ethics
      committee and written informed consent was obtained. A total of 30 free-breathing
      children and 30 breath-hold children performed CMR examinations with dual-source
      and single-source RF transmission. The B1 homogeneity, contrast ratio (CR) of
      cine images, and off-resonance artifacts in cine images between dual-source and
      single-source RF transmission were assessed in free-breathing and breath-hold
      groups, respectively. In both free-breathing and breath-hold groups, higher mean
      percentage of flip angle (free-breathing group: 104.2 +/- 4.6 vs 95.5 +/- 6.3, P
      < .001; breath-hold group: 101.5 +/- 5.1 vs 92.5 +/- 6.3, P < .001) and lower
      coefficient of variation (free-breathing group: 0.06 +/- 0.02 vs 0.09 +/- 0.03, P
      < .001; breath-hold group: 0.07 +/- 0.03 vs 0.10 +/- 0.04, P = .005) were found
      with dual-source than with single-source RF transmission. Both the CRs in the
      horizontal long axis (HLA) and short axis of cine images with dual-source RF
      transmission was improved (P < .05 for all). The scores of off-resonance
      artifacts in the HLA with dual-source RF transmission were higher in both free
      breathing and breath-hold groups (P < .05 for all), with substantial interreader
      agreement (kappa values from 0.68 to 0.74). Compared with conventional single
      source, dual-source parallel RF transmission could significantly improve the B1
      homogeneity and image quality for CMR in children at 3.0 T. This technology could
      be taken into account in CMR for children with cardiac diseases.

PMID- 28591037
TI  - Different surgical approaches for the treatment of adjacent segment diseases
      after anterior cervical fusion: A retrospective study of 49 patients.
AB  - Studies in the literature have not delineated the surgical approaches of
      symptomatic adjacent segment diseases (ASDs) in patients undergoing reoperation
      after an initial anterior cervical fusion (ACF). The purpose of this study was to
      determine the optimal surgical approaches of ASD and the incidence of the
      dysphagia after reoperation.This was a retrospective study of 49 patients with
      ASD after an initial ACF surgery, which had undergone a reoperation at our
      medical center between January 2010 and December 2014. The surgical approaches
      were used by anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), ACDF with the Zero
      profile device, laminoplasty, and laminectomy with internal fixation. Patients
      were classified according to the different surgical approaches of anterior (n =
      38) versus posterior (n = 11) groups and ACDF (n = 25) versus Zero-P (n = 13)
      groups. Clinical evaluations were performed preoperatively and repeated in 24
      months after operation.This retrospective study included 26 men and 23 women with
      a mean age at revision surgery of 54.3 years and ASD onset time of 7.3 years. The
      patients were followed up with an average of 4.1 years. The reoperation rate was
      5.4% in this study. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA), Neck Disability
      Index (NDI), and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores demonstrated significant
      improvements compared with preoperative in both anterior and posterior groups (P
      < .05). However, there were no differences between the 2 groups (P > .05). The
      operation time of ACDF group was more than Zero-P group, with significant
      differences (P < .05). However, there were no differences in JOA, NDI, and VAS
      scores between the ACDF and Zero-P groups pre- and postoperative (P > .05). A
      total of 12 (24.5%) patients had dysphagia after reoperation. The incidence of
      dysphagia in Zero-P group (1/13) was less than ACDF group (11/25), with
      significant differences (P < .05). There were no cases of major neurological or
      vascular complications, and wound complications.The clinical situation, initial
      operation, and secondary preoperative imaging findings were analyzed
      comprehensively, anterior or posterior approach were chosen, which can
      effectively relieve spinal cord compression and improve spinal cord function. In
      ACDF with the Zero-profile device surgery, there was no need to remove the
      previous internal fixation, shorten the operation time, and reduce the incidence
      of postoperative dysphagia.

PMID- 28591038
TI  - Indication for hypertrophy posterior longitudinal ligament removal in anterior
      decompression for cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
AB  - The retrospective study aimed to investigate the indication for hypertrophy
      posterior longitudinal ligament (HPLL) removal in anterior decompression for
      cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). A total of 138 consecutive patients with
      CSM were divided into 2 groups with developmental cervical stenosis (DCS) (group
      S) and non-DCS (group N), according to the Pavlov ratio. These 2 groups were
      subdivided into 2 further subgroups, according to whether HPLL was removed or
      preserved: group SR (49 patients) and group SP (32 patients) in group S, group NR
      (21 patients) and group NP (36 patients) in group N. The modified Japanese
      Orthopedic Association score (mJOA), the modified recovery rate (mRR), quality of
      life (QoL), and relevant clinical data were used for clinical and radiological
      evaluation. The mJOA scores improved from 7.3 +/- 2.2 to 15.0 +/- 1.8 in the SR
      group and from 7.9 +/- 2.3 to 14.2 +/- 1.5 in the SP group (P = .036), with
      postoperative QoL significantly higher in the SR group than the SP group. A
      reduction in the diameter of enlarged spinal canals occurred at a significantly
      faster rate in the SP group compared with the SR group (P = .002). Multivariate
      regression analyses showed removal of HPLL correlated with mJOA scores
      (coefficient = 7.337, P = .002), mRR (%) (coefficient = 9.117, P = .005), PCS
      (coefficient = 12.129, P < .001), and MCS (coefficient = 14.31, P < .001) in the
      S group at 24 months postoperatively, while removal of HPLL did not correlate
      with clinical outcomes in the N group. The HPLL should, therefore, be removed
      when mobility was reduced and the spinal cord remained compressed after anterior
      decompression procedures in the patients with DCS. However, in non-DCS patients,
      it remains unclear as to whether removal of HPLL provides any clinical benefit,
      thus, HPLL removal may not be necessary.

PMID- 28591039
TI  - Genetic polymorphism of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase as a potential risk
      factor for congenital heart disease: A meta-analysis in Chinese pediatric
      population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A meta-analysis of polymorphism C677T (rs1801133) of the methylene
      tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene as a potential risk factor for congenital
      heart disease (CHD) in Chinese paediatric population was studied in view of the
      previously reported controversial results. METHODS: We searched literature
      including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases that
      resulted in the identification of a total of 21 separate studies with 6414
      subjects that met the inclusion criteria in the Chinese population. The quality
      assessment of the included studies was preformed and relevant information was
      collected. We chose the fixed-effect model or random-effect model to calculate
      the pooled odds ratio (ORs) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (95%
      CI) where appropriate. Begg test was used to measure publication bias and
      sensitivity analyses were done to ensure authenticity of the outcome. RESULTS: We
      observed a significant association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and CHD
      development in all the genetic models evaluated. The pooled ORs and 95% CIs in
      all genetic models indicated that children's MTHFR C677T polymorphism was
      significantly associated with CHD. CONCLUSION: Our study results indicate that
      MTHFR gene 677T polymorphism is a genetic risk factor in the development of CHD
      in Chinese paediatric population.

PMID- 28591040
TI  - An uncommon cause of gastric outlet obstruction: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Metastatic involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is an uncommon
      scenario encountered in the clinical practice. Our case represents a gastric
      outlet obstruction (GOO) as a consequence of distant Transitional cell carcinoma
      (TCC) metastasis without any lymph node involvement in association with
      inflammatory stranding leading to extrinsic duodenal obstruction. PATIENT
      CONCERNS: We report an unusual case of a 73-year-old male presented with a five
      week history of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain due to the metastatic
      extension from TCC that had been considered in remission. DIAGNOSES: Computed
      tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis revealed new circumferential thickening
      and inflammatory stranding involving the ascending colon extending to the hepatic
      flexure. Based on the imaging findings, colonoscopy was pursued which
      demonstrated a mass at the hepatic flexure and biopsies obtained confirmed
      invasive transitional cell cancer. INTERVENTION: Patient underwent a Wall Flex
      (22 mm * 120 mm) metal stent to help alleviate the gastric outlet obstruction.
      Chemotherapy was planned by oncology. LESSONS: Our case highlights the importance
      of ruling out distant metastases in the evaluation of new gastrointestinal tract
      pathology, for instance, Gastric Outlet Obstruction in our patient; with a prior
      history of TCC without any lymph node involvement under remission.

PMID- 28591041
TI  - Relationship of Treg/Th17 balance with HBeAg change in HBeAg-positive chronic
      hepatitis B patients receiving telbivudine antiviral treatment: A longitudinal
      observational study.
AB  - Telbivudine (LdT) is an orally L-nucleoside with potent and specific
      antihepatitis B virus (HBV) activity. The higher rate of hepatitis B e antigen
      (HBeAg) seroconversion of LdT treatment than other anti-HBV agents suggests a
      potential immunomodulatory effect. The aim of the study was to investigate the
      changes of regulatory T cell (Treg)/interleukin (IL)-17-producing CD4+T helper
      (Th17) balance during LdT treatment and to discuss the relationship of Treg/Th17
      balance with HBeAg change in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients
      receiving LdT antiviral treatment. Twenty-seven HBeAg-positive CHB patients
      received LdT for 24 weeks and the percentages of Tregs and cells (Th17 cells) in
      peripheral blood as well as the serum TGF-beta1 and IL-17 levels in these
      patients were longitudinally analyzed. We found that the frequencies of Tregs and
      Th17 cells in peripheral blood as well as the serum TGF-beta1 and IL-17 levels
      increased significantly in CHB patients compared with healthy controls. During
      the LdT treatment, the Tregs frequency and TGF-beta1 level tended to decrease,
      and Th17 cells frequency and IL-17 level showed a reverse "V"-type change. The
      frequency of Tregs and the ratio of Treg/Th17 were significantly lower in the
      HBeAg loss group than those in the HBeAg no-loss group at the baseline. More
      important, the Tregs frequency and TGF-beta1 level were both positively
      correlated with HBeAg level during the LdT treatment for 24 weeks. Our data
      suggest that the lower Tregs frequency and Treg/Th17 ratio at the baseline of LdT
      treatment, the more likely to get the HBeAg loss. HBeAg negative can be predicted
      using changes in Tregs frequency and TGF-beta1 level during LdT treatment in CHB
      patients. Maybe we could provide the immunology marker for exploring the
      mechanism of the higher HBeAg seroconversion rate of LdT therapy.

PMID- 28591042
TI  - Acupuncture for polycystic ovarian syndrome: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This systematic review aimed at summarizing and evaluating the
      evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using acupuncture to treat
      polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), specifically focusing on ovulation rate,
      menstrual rate, and related hormones. METHODS: Fifteen databases were searched
      electronically through February 2016. Our review included RCTs of women with
      PCOS; these RCTs compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture, medication, or no
      treatment. Two reviewers independently extracted data. Data were pooled and
      expressed as mean differences (MDs) for continuous outcomes and risk ratios for
      dichotomous outcomes, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a random-effects
      model. RESULTS: We found a low level of evidence that acupuncture is more likely
      to improve ovulation rate (MD 0.35, 95% CI: 0.14-0.56) and menstruation rate (MD
      0.50, 95% CI: 0.32-0.68) compared with no acupuncture. We found statistically
      significant pooled benefits of acupuncture treatment as an adjunct to medication
      in luteinizing hormone (LH), LH/follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio,
      testosterone, fasting insulin, and pregnancy rates, but the level of evidence was
      low/very low. CONCLUSION: There is limited evidence to judge the efficacy and
      safety of acupuncture on key reproductive outcomes in women with PCOS. Large
      scale, long-term RCTs with rigorous methodological input are needed.

PMID- 28591043
TI  - Diabetes self-assessment score and the development of diabetes: A 10-year
      prospective study.
AB  - To verify that the Korean Diabetes Score (KDS), a self-assessment, predicts the
      risk of diabetes in various comprehensive risk models, and to investigate factors
      that enhance its predictive ability in a large cohort. We analyzed 8735 adults
      without diabetes in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study, an ongoing large
      community-based 10-year cohort study. Incident diabetes was defined as fasting
      blood glucose >=126 mg/dL or postload 2-hour glucose >=200 mg/dL by 75 g oral
      glucose tolerance test conducted biennually, or currently taking medication for
      diabetes. Hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox regression were calculated for relative
      risk of developing diabetes as associated with the KDS, and performance of risk
      models was assessed by area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve
      (AUC). Of 8735 participants, 1497 (17.1%) developed diabetes over 10 years. The
      prevalence of incident diabetes was 10.3% in people with a KDS <5 and was 21.8%
      in those with KDS >=5 (P < .001). Increasing KDS was significantly associated
      with developing diabetes (adjusted HR: 1.13; 95% confidence interval:1.09,1.18).
      The comprehensive prediction model with KDS added to fasting glucose, glycated
      hemoglobin, postload 2-hour glucose, and triglyceride showed a markedly higher
      AUC (0.782) compared to KDS alone (0.641). A low insulinogenic index (IGI) level,
      but not insulin resistance, was a significant determinant of developing diabetes
      in subjects who had baseline KDS < 5. We confirmed that KDS as a 10-year risk
      model to predict diabetes becomes more potent when added to relevant laboratory
      parameters. Beta-cell function as assessed by IGI should be taken into account
      when predicting diabetes using the KDS.

PMID- 28591044
TI  - Factors associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain in Japanese community
      dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - Identifying older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) earlier is
      urgent because CMP is reportedly associated with deterioration in physical
      function, poor psychological status, and low physical activity level. The
      objective of this study was to identify factors that were most strongly
      associated with CMP in Japanese community-dwelling older adults.Using a cross
      sectional design, we assessed 263 older adults (mean age = 79.1 +/- 5.9 years,
      85.9% women) who participated in community exercise classes. Participants'
      physical function, psychological status, and activity levels were evaluated as
      outcome measures using a variety of tests and instruments. These assessments were
      conducted prior to beginning the exercise intervention program and compared
      participants with and without CMP. Additionally, relevant participant
      characteristics were collected and analyzed. In this study, CMP was defined as
      the presence of related symptoms within the past month that continued for at
      least 6 months and corresponded to a numerical rating scale of at least 5 or more
      at the site of maximum pain.A total of 143 (54.4%) participants met the criteria
      for CMP, and a high number of them had chronic lower back pain (64.3%). Outcome
      measures for the CMP group were significantly worse than for the non-CMP group (P
      < .05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the Pain Catastrophizing Scale
      helplessness domain scores (odds ratio: 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 1.09-1.32)
      with an estimated value of 10 points was the factor most significantly associated
      with the presence of CMP.These findings suggest that assessment of the
      helplessness associated with pain-related catastrophizing is important for
      identification and the creation of interventions for older adults with CMP.

PMID- 28591045
TI  - The efficiency and safety of tranexamic acid for reducing blood loss in open
      myomectomy: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aimed to perform a meta-analysis including
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the efficiency and safety of
      tranexamic acid (TXA) for reducing blood loss and transfusion requirements in
      patients undergoing open myomectomy. METHODS: A systematic search was performed
      in Medline (1966-2017.03), PubMed (1966-2017.03), Embase (1980-2017.03),
      ScienceDirect (1985-2017.03,) and the Cochrane Library. Study evaluated the
      efficiency and safety of TXA in myomectomy was selected. Meta-analysis was
      performed using Stata 11.0 software. RESULTS: Four RCTs including 328 patients
      met the inclusion criteria. The present meta-analysis indicated that there were
      significant differences between groups in terms of total blood loss (standard
      mean difference [SMD] = -1.512, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.746 to -0.278, P
      = .016), postoperative hemoglobin level (SMD = 0.650, 95% CI: 0.045-1.255, P =
      .035), transfusion requirements (SMD = -0.102, 95% CI: -0.199 to -0.006, P =
      .038), and duration of surgery (SMD = -0.514, 95% CI: -0.749 to -0.280, P =
      .000). In addition, no adverse effect was identified in treatment groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous administration of TXA in open myomectomy was associated
      with significantly reduced total blood loss, postoperative hemoglobin decline,
      duration of surgery, and transfusion requirements. Based on the limitations of
      the current meta-analysis, high-quality RCTs with long-term follow-up are still
      required.

PMID- 28591047
TI  - Inverted gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland mucosa type colliding with well
      differentiated adenocarcinoma: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland mucosa type (GA-FGM) is a rare
      tumor composed of atypical cells with differentiation toward the fundic gland as
      well as the foveolar epithelium. Including our case, only 9 cases of GA-FGMs were
      reported from 2010 to 2016. CONCERNS OF THE PATIENT: An 87-year-old man was
      referred to our institution for endoscopic resection of a gastric lesion. The
      tumor was classified as type 0-I + IIa according to the Paris classification.
      Magnifying endoscopy with narrow band imaging (ME-NBI) revealed different
      structures of crypts and vessels among the components, illustrating the collision
      of 2 types of gastric cancer. INTERVENTIONS: We performed endoscopic submucosal
      dissection and successfully removed the tumor en bloc. OUTCOMES: The histological
      findings differed markedly between the 0-I lesion and the 0-IIa lesion. The
      superficial part of the 0-I lesion consisted of a papillary structure, and the
      deeper part consisted of a tubular structure that showed inverted downward growth
      to the submucosal layer with the lamina muscularis mucosae.
      Immunohistochemically, the superficial part of the 0-I lesion was positive for
      MUC5AC, which had differentiated to foveolar epithelium. The deeper part was
      positive for pepsinogen-I and MUC6, which had differentiated to fundic gland. The
      0-I lesion was diagnosed as gastric phenotype of adenocarcinoma differentiated to
      fundic gland mucosa with upward growth in the superficial part and downward
      growth in the deeper part. The 0-IIa lesion was composed of a tubular structure
      positive for MUC2, and it was diagnosed as an intestinal phenotype of well
      differentiated adenocarcinoma. The boundary was clear, and no transitional tissue
      was observed between the 0-I and 0-IIa lesions, suggesting that the 0-I + IIa
      lesion was a gastric collision tumor of GA-FGM and well differentiated
      adenocarcinoma. LESSONS: We herein report the first case of inverted GA-FGM
      colliding with well differentiated adenocarcinoma. ME-NBI can be used to diagnose
      GA-FGM even if the lesion collides with other types of adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 28591046
TI  - Immunogenicity study to investigate the interchangeability among three different
      types of polio vaccine: A cohort study in Japan.
AB  - In Japan, the routine immunization program with oral polio vaccine (OPV) has been
      suspended since September 2012, when a program with 4 doses of inactivated
      monovalent polio vaccine (IPV) or quadrivalent vaccine against diphtheria,
      pertussis, and tetanus with IPV (DTaP-IPV) was introduced. The aim of this study
      was to examine the interchangeability among these 3 types of polio vaccines.We
      conducted a prospective cohort study at 5 pediatric clinics in Japan. A total of
      153 infants were assigned to 1 of the 4 groups by considering the vaccination
      history of OPV and trivalent vaccine against DTaP. Eleven infants with a history
      of OPV received 3 doses of DTaP-IPV; 49 infants with a history of OPV and DTaP
      received 3 doses of IPV; 50 polio vaccine-naive infants received 2 doses of IPV
      followed by 2 doses of DTaP-IPV; and 43 polio vaccine-naive infants received 2
      doses of DTaP-IPV followed by IPV. The immunogenicity after polio vaccination was
      evaluated among these 4 groups.After 2 doses of polio vaccination, more than 80%
      of the infants exhibited a neutralization antibody titer >=1:8 for all Sabin
      strains and wild strains in all groups. After the third dose, the seroprotection
      proportion (i.e., a neutralization antibody titer >=1:8) reached about 100%.
      After the fourth dose, a neutralization antibody titer exceeded the required
      protective levels (i.e., a neutralization antibody titer >=1:8) considerably in
      all groups.Four doses of polio vaccines induced a sufficient level of immunity in
      Japanese infants, irrespective of vaccine combinations or order.

PMID- 28591048
TI  - Effects of dexmedetomidine on sleep quality of patients after surgery without
      mechanical ventilation in ICU.
AB  - Sleep quality of patients in intensive care unit (ICU) has been recently
      recognized as an important aspect of the intensive care. Dexmedetomidine is one
      of the most recently introduced for sedation in the ICU. This study was designed
      to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on sleep quality of patients without
      mechanical ventilation in ICU.The patients who were included in this study were
      divided into two groups. In the sedation group, dexmedetomidine was given by a
      continuous infusion targeting a sedation level -1 to -2 on the score of RASS
      (Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale). In the no sedation group, the patients slept
      by themselves. No other sedatives were given. Bispectral Index (BIS) was
      performed on these hemodynamically stable critically ill patients for 12
      consecutive hours. Sleep time and sleep depth were recorded.Twenty patients were
      studied. Compared to no sedation group, sleep efficiency and sleep time of
      patients in the sedation group was significantly higher during the night.
      Moreover, there was no significantly difference between the changes of blood
      pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate.Dexmedetomidine is a clinically
      effective and safe sedative for the highly selected critically ill patients
      without endotracheal tube and mechanical ventilation in the ICU to increases
      total sleep time and improve sleep efficiency.

PMID- 28591049
TI  - Impact of serum SP-A and SP-D levels on comparison and prognosis of idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has a poor
      prognosis in general; however, it is heterogeneous to detect relative biomarkers
      for predicting the disease progression. Serum biomarkers can be conveniently
      collected to detect and help to differentially diagnose IPF and predict IPF
      prognosis. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the use of serum surfactant
      proteins A and D (SP-A and SP-D) for differential diagnosis and prognosis of IPF.
      METHODS: Relevant articles were searched in PubMed, Embase, and Chinese National
      Knowledge Infrastructure databases and reviewed by 2 independent readers.
      Standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated
      to assess the difference in serum levels of SP-A/D among patients with IPF, when
      compared to patients with non-IPF interstitial lung disease (ILD), pulmonary
      infection, and healthy control. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CI were used to compare
      the relative risk of mortality. RESULTS: Twenty-one articles (totalling 1289 IPF
      patients) were included in final meta-analysis. Serum SP-A levels were
      significantly higher in patients with IPF than in patients with non-IPF ILD (SMD:
      1.108 [0.584, 1.632], P < .001), or pulmonary infection (SMD: 1.320 [0.999,
      1.640], P < .001) and healthy controls (SMD: 2.802 [1.901, 3.702], P < .001).
      There was no significant difference in serum SP-D levels between patients with
      IPF and those with non-IPF ILD patients (SMD: 0.459 [-0.000, 0.919], P = .050).
      Serum SP-D levels were significantly higher in patients with IPF than in patients
      with pulmonary infection (SMD: 1.308 [0.813, 1.803], P < .001) and healthy
      controls (SMD: 2.235 [1.739, 2.731], P < .001). Risk of death in patients with
      IPF and elevated serum SP-A was increased 39% compared to patients with low SP-A
      groups. Elevated SP-D increased risk by 111% when compared to low SP-D. In acute
      exacerbation of IPF, serum SP-A/D were higher than those in stable stage. The
      comparisons and prognosis might be different in Asian and Caucasian patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum SP-A/D detection might be useful for differential diagnosis
      and prediction of survival in patients with IPF.

PMID- 28591051
TI  - Association between red blood cell distribution width and Henoch-Schonlein
      purpura nephritis.
AB  - To investigate whether red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a marker of the
      risk of Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) nephritis (HSPN), a total of 669 HSP
      patients and 168 healthy controls were included in this retrospective study. Two
      hundred fifty-six (38.3%) of the patients had kidney involvement. Compared with
      the HSP group, RDW was significantly higher in the HSPN group (P < .001). Binary
      logistic regression identified that HSPN was independently associated with age,
      RDW, platelet, and total cholesterol (odds ratio = 1.409, 1.353, 0.996, and
      2.019, respectively). In addition, RDW values of HSPN patients with crescents on
      histopathology (classes III, IV, and V) were higher compared with those of HSPN
      without crescents (classes I and II) (P = .019). The receiver-operating
      characteristic curve analysis showed that the RDW at a cut-off point of 13.25 has
      61% sensitivity and 79% specificity in predicting the presence of crescents on
      histopathology. It was first shown that RDW levels in HSPN are significantly
      higher than those in HSP without nephritis and healthy controls. RDW can be an
      independent predictor of HSPN and its levels greater than 13.25 were useful in
      the predicting the presence of crescents on histopathology.

PMID- 28591052
TI  - Effects of multidisciplinary team on emergency care for colorectal cancer
      patients: A nationwide-matched cohort study.
AB  - The literature describing the effectiveness of multidisciplinary team (MDT) for
      the care of colorectal cancer remains unclear. We investigated the effects of MDT
      care on the quality of colorectal cancer treatment, and the emergency department
      visit number was used as an indicator. In total, 45,418 patients newly diagnosed
      with colorectal cancer from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research
      Database (2005-2009) were included. Propensity score matching with a ratio of 1:3
      was adopted to reduce differences in characteristics between MDT care
      participants and non-MDT care participants. After matching, 3039 participation
      MDT care groups and 9117 nonparticipation groups were included and analyzed with
      chi and t tests, determine the distribution was similar. Without the control of
      variables, the percentage difference between participation and nonparticipation
      MDT care groups in utilization of emergency care was 0.03% (P > .05). The
      logistic regression model involving controlled variables demonstrated that odds
      ratio (OR) by probability of emergency care used for participation MDT care
      groups within a year of cancer diagnosis was less than that for nonparticipation
      (OR = 0.87, 95% confidence interval: 0.78-0.96). Large amount data were used and
      confirmed significant benefits of MDT in colorectal cancer care.

PMID- 28591050
TI  - Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of homeobox transcript antisense
      RNA expression in various cancers: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased expression of the homeobox (HOX) transcript antisense RNA
      (HOTAIR) has been reported in multiple types of malignancies and enhances the
      proliferation and migration of cancer cells. However, the association between
      HOTAIR expression and tumor progression and prognosis remains controversial. We
      performed a meta-analysis to clarify the association between the expression of
      HOTAIR and the clinicopathological features and prognosis in different cancers.
      METHODS: A systematic search of the PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Ovid
      databases was conducted, up to September 2016, for eligible studies involving
      HOTAIR expression and malignancies. The odds ratios (ORs), hazard ratios (HRs),
      and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using fixed- or
      random-effect models. Any publication bias was evaluated using Begg and Egger
      tests, and adjusted using the trim and fill method if a bias existed. RESULTS: A
      total of 4116 patients from 44 studies were included in our meta-analysis. The
      results showed that high HOTAIR expression was associated with an advanced
      clinical tumor stage (OR = 3.90, 95% CI = 3.02-5.03, P < .001), lymph node
      metastasis (OR = 3.11, 95% CI = 2.15-4.49, P < .001), poor differentiation of the
      tumor (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.01-2.41, P = .03), and worse prognosis (HR = 2.16,
      95% CI = 1.73-2.69, P < .001) in different cancer types. HOTAIR expression was
      more predictive in monitoring the clinical tumor stage of patients and there was
      no significant heterogeneity or publication bias found in the analysis.
      CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis suggests that HOTAIR is positively correlated with
      tumor development and negatively correlated with clinical outcome. Thus, an
      increase in HOTAIR expression may be a potential biomarker for tumor progression
      and evaluation of prognosis.

PMID- 28591053
TI  - Use of sugammadex in a patient with progressive muscular atrophy and in a patient
      with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We herein present 2 cases involving the combination of rocuronium
      and sugammadex in patients with motor neuron disease. The patients were a 54-year
      old man with progressive muscular atrophy who underwent removal of internal
      fixators in the arm and leg, and a 66-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis who underwent skin grafting in the left lower leg. General anesthesia
      was induced with propofol, rocuronium, and remifentanil and maintained with
      desflurane and remifentanil. At the end of the surgical procedure, we
      administered sugammadex. Three or 4 minutes after administration of sugammadex,
      the patients began to breathe spontaneously and were extubated without
      complications. CONCLUSION: Sugammadex can be used successfully to reverse
      neuromuscular blockade in patients with motor neuron disease.

PMID- 28591054
TI  - Thromboelastometry: Relation to the severity of liver cirrhosis in patients
      considered for liver transplantation.
AB  - The severity of liver disease is assessed by scoring systems, which include the
      conventional coagulation test prothrombin time-the international normalized ratio
      (PT-INR). However, PT-INR is not predictive of bleeding in liver disease and
      thromboelastometry (ROTEM) has been suggested to give a better overview of the
      coagulation system in these patients. It has now been suggested that coagulation
      as reflected by tromboelastomety may also be used for prognostic purposes. The
      objective of our study was to investigate whether thrombelastometry may
      discriminate the degree of liver insufficiency according to the scoring systems
      Child Pugh and Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD).Forty patients with
      chronic liver disease of different etiologies and stages were included in this
      observational cross-sectional study. The severity of liver disease was evaluated
      using the Child-Pugh score and the MELD score, and blood samples for
      biochemistry, conventional coagulation tests, and ROTEM were collected at the
      time of the final assessment for liver transplantation. Statistical comparisons
      for the studied parameters with scores of severity were made using Spearman
      correlation test and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Spearman
      correlation coefficients indicated that the thromboelastometric parameters did
      not correlate with Child-Pugh or MELD scores. The ROC curves of the
      thromboelastometric parameters could not differentiate advanced stages from early
      stages of liver cirrhosis.Standard ROTEM cannot discriminate the stage of chronic
      liver disease in patients with severe chronic liver disease.

PMID- 28591055
TI  - Stereoelectroencephalography based on the Leksell stereotactic frame and
      Neurotech operation planning software.
AB  - This study aimed to introduce a new stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) system
      based on Leksell stereotactic frame (L-SEEG) as well as Neurotech operation
      planning software, and to investigate its safety, applicability, and
      reliability.L-SEEG, without the help of navigation, includes SEEG operation
      planning software (Neurotech), Leksell stereotactic frame, and corresponding
      surgical instruments. Neurotech operation planning software can be used to
      display three-dimensional images of the cortex and cortical vessels and to plan
      the intracranial electrode implantation. In 44 refractory epilepsy patients, 364
      intracranial electrodes were implanted through the L-SEEG system, and the
      postoperative complications such as bleeding, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)
      leakage, infection, and electrode-related problems were also investigated.All
      electrodes were implanted accurately as preoperatively planned shown by
      postoperative lamina computed tomography and preoperative lamina magnetic
      resonance imaging. There was no severe complication after intracranial electrode
      implantation through the L-SEEG system. There were no electrode-related problems,
      no CSF leakage and no infection after surgery. All the patients recovered
      favorably after SEEG electrode implantation, and only 1 patient had asymptomatic
      frontal lateral ventricle hematoma (3 mL).The L-SEEG system with Neurotech
      operation planning software can be used for safe, accurate, and reliable
      intracranial electrode implantation for SEEG.

PMID- 28591056
TI  - Epidemiology and clinical analysis of critical patients with child maltreatment
      admitted to the intensive care units.
AB  - Children with abuse who are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) may have
      high mortality and morbidity and commonly require critical care immediately. It
      is important to understand the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of these
      critical cases of child maltreatment.We retrospectively evaluated the data for
      355 children with maltreatments admitted to the ICU between 2001 and 2015.
      Clinical factors were analyzed and compared between the abuse and the neglect
      groups, including age, gender, season of admission, identifying settings, injury
      severity score (ISS), etiologies, length of stay (LOS) in the ICU, clinical
      outcomes, and mortality. In addition, neurologic assessments were conducted with
      the Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (PCPC) scale.The most common type of
      child maltreatments was neglect (n = 259), followed by physical abuse (n = 96).
      The mean age of the abuse group was less than that of the neglect group (P <
      .05). Infants accounted for the majority of the abuse group, and the most common
      etiology of abuse was injury of the central nervous system (CNS). In the neglect
      group, most were of the preschool age and the most common etiologies of abuse
      were injury of the CNS and musculoskeletal system (P < .001). The mortality rate
      in the ICU was 9.86%. The ISS was significantly associated with mortality in both
      the 2 groups (both P < .05), whereas the LOS in the ICU and injuries of the CNS,
      musculoskeletal system, and respiratory system were all associated with mortality
      in the neglect group (all P < .05). The PCPC scale showed poor prognosis in the
      abuse group as compared to the neglect group (P < .01).In the ICU, children in
      the abuse group had younger age, higher ISS, and worse neurologic outcome than
      those in the neglect group. The ISS was a predictor for mortality in the abuse
      and neglect groups but the LOS in the ICUs, injuries of the CNS, musculoskeletal
      system, and respiratory system were indicators for mortality in the neglect
      group. Most importantly, identifying the epidemiological information may provide
      further strategies to reduce the harm, lower the medical costs, and improve
      clinical care quality and outcomes in children with abuse.

PMID- 28591057
TI  - Increase the risk of intellectual disability in children with scabies: A
      nationwide population-based cohort study.
AB  - Scabies is a common and distressing disease caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei
      var. hominis. Psychiatric disorder in childhood is an important disease and
      easily neglected. There are several similarities in scabies and psychiatric
      disorders in childhood (PDC). Both of them may present with pruritus. They are
      relatively common in patients with lower socioeconomic status and crowded
      environment. Furthermore, immune-mediated inflammatory processes play a role in
      the pathophysiology in both diseases. An association between scabies and
      psychiatric disorders may exist. This nationwide population-based cohort study
      utilized data from the National Health Insurance Research Database to investigate
      the relationship between scabies and PDC. A total of 2137 children with scabies
      were identified as the study group and 8548 age- and sex-matched children were
      selected as the control group. A total of 607 (5.68%) children developed PDC
      during the 7-year follow-up period. The overall incidences of PDC are similar but
      patients with scabies had a higher risk of developing intellectual disability
      (ID) (scabies group vs control group: 1.3% vs 0.6%, adjusted hazard ratio: 2.04
      and 95% confidence interval: 1.25-3.32). The immune-mediated inflammatory
      processes of both diseases were reviewed and may contribute to the 104% increased
      risk of interleukin in patients with scabies. We suggest a more comprehensive
      management in treating patients with scabies or ID. Early and comprehensive
      treatment of scabies and other risk factors may decrease the risk of subsequent
      ID. When we approach patients with ID, concurrent evaluation of scabies and other
      risk factors may contribute to successful management.

PMID- 28591059
TI  - Left sinus of valsalva aneurysm ruptured into left ventricle: A case report of
      320-multidetector CT findings.
AB  - RATIONALE: Ruptured aneurysm originating from the left coronary sinus of Valsalva
      into the left ventricle (LV) is extremely rare. Imaging features of sinus
      aneurysm has been commonly reported using echocardiography or angiography. Here,
      we report multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) findings of left sinus of
      Valsalva aneurysm extending into the LV and caused severe aortic regurgitation
      (AR) in a 44-year-old male with latent infective endocarditis. The role of MDCT
      in preoperative surgical planning was also emphasized. PATIENT CONCERNS: The
      patient visited our hospital due to worsening exertional dyspnea for 3 months.
      DIAGNOSES: On cardiac computed tomography (CT) using 320-MDCT, a saccular
      aneurysm arising from the left coronary sinus of Valsalva extending into the LV
      was diagnosed as the cause of severe AR. INTERVENTIONS: The patient underwent
      resection of the aneurysm, aortic root reconstruction, and aortic valve
      replacement. OUTCOMES: The patient made an uneventful recovery. Follow-up
      echocardiography showed no paravalvular leakage with improved LV function.
      LESSONS: MDCT with wide coverage and high temporal resolution can provide exact
      and comprehensive information about complicated conditions, leading to confident
      surgical planning and successful management.

PMID- 28591058
TI  - Primary hepatic malignant fibrous histiocytoma combined with invasion of inferior
      vena cava: A case report and literature review.
AB  - RATIONALE: Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH), primary presented in liver, was
      very rare and displayed a poor prognosis because of high aggression. As a few of
      cases had been reported merely, we shared the case of primary hepatic MFH
      combined with invasion of inferior vena cava (IVC). PATIENTS CONCERNS: A 69-year
      old women presented with abdominal pain. DIAGNOSES: Abdominal computed tomography
      and magnetic resonance imaging indicated a soft mass about 5.4 * 4.2 cm in the
      caudate lobe, accompanied with IVC invaded. INTERVENTIONS: After the
      multidisciplinary consultation, laparotomy was performed, followed by
      chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Primary hepatic MFH was demonstrated
      pathologically. Till now, the patient was alive for >22 months after surgery and
      no evidence of recurrence or distant metastasis was suspected. OUTCOMES: We
      discussed the integrated procedure of diagnosis and treatment, combined with data
      from literature review. LESSONS: To our knowledge, the primary hepatic MFH
      combined with invasion of IVC was hardly reported. Despite the poor prognosis,
      the comprehensive treatment integrating the surgery, chemotherapy, and
      radiotherapy showed the satisfactory disease-free and overall survival. However,
      further investigations are definitely warranted.

PMID- 28591060
TI  - Body mass index is a practical preoperative nutritional index for postoperative
      infectious complications after intestinal resection in patients with Crohn's
      disease.
AB  - The patients with Crohn's disease (CD) are often accompanied with nutritional
      deficiencies. Compared with other intestinal benign disease, patients with CD
      have the higher risk of developing postoperative complications following
      intestinal resection. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors
      for postoperative infectious complications (PICs) after intestinal resection for
      CD, as well as search a practical preoperative nutritional index for PICs in
      patients with CD. A total of 122 patients who underwent intestinal resection for
      CD during 2011 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. After operation, 28
      (22.95%) patients experienced PICs. Compared with the non-PICs group, the
      patients with PICs have the lower preoperative body mass index (BMI) (16.96 +/-
      2.33 vs 19.53 +/- 2.49 kg/m, P < .001), lower albumin (ALB) (33.64 +/- 5.58 vs
      36.55 +/- 5.69 g/L, P = .013), higher C-reactive protein (CRP) level (30.44 +/-
      37.06 vs 15.99 +/- 33.30 mg/L, P = .052), and longer hospital stay (22.64 +/-
      9.93 vs 8.90 +/- 4.32 days, P < .001). By analyzing the receiver-operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve, BMI have better value in predicting the occurrence of
      PICs than ALB. The areas under the ROC curves of BMI for PICs was 0.784 (95%
      confidence interval 0.690-0.878, P < .001) with an optimal diagnostic cut-off
      value of 17.5 kg/m. In the univariate and multivariate analysis, BMI < 17.5 kg/m
      (P = .001), ALB < 33.6 g/L (P = .024), CRP >= 10 mg/L (P = .026) were risk
      factors for PICs. Patients with a lower preoperative BMI (BMI < 17.5 kg/m) had a
      7.35 times greater risk of PICs. Therefore, preoperative BMI could be regarded as
      a practical preoperative nutritional index for evaluating the nutritional
      preparation sufficiency before CD operations. Preoperative treatment with the aim
      of reducing CRP level and improving the patient's nutritional status may be
      helpful to reduce the rate of PICs.

PMID- 28591061
TI  - Effects of elastic resistance exercise on body composition and physical capacity
      in older women with sarcopenic obesity: A CONSORT-compliant prospective
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is associated with loss of muscle mass and an increased
      risk of physical disability in elderly people. However, the prevalence of
      sarcopenia has increased in obese elderly populations. The purpose of this study
      was to identify the clinical efficacy of elastic resistance exercise training
      (RET) in patients with sarcopenic obesity. METHODS: This study was conducted at
      the rehabilitation center of a university-based teaching hospital and was
      designed as a prospective and randomized controlled trial with an intention-to
      treat analysis. A total of 46 women aged 67.3 (5.2) years were randomly assigned
      to an experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). The EG underwent elastic
      RET for 12 weeks, and the CG received no RET intervention. All outcome measures
      were assessed at the baseline and posttest, including body composition measured
      using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, muscle quality (MQ) defined as a ratio of
      muscular strength to muscle mass, and physical capacity assessed using functional
      mobility tests. One-way analysis of covariance and Pearson correlation were used
      to compare outcomes between the 2 groups and to identify the relationship between
      changes in body composition and physical outcomes, respectively. A chi-square
      test was performed to identify differences in qualitative data between the 2
      groups. RESULTS: At the posttest, a significant between-group difference was
      observed in fat-free mass, MQ, and physical capacity (all P < .05); and a
      significant correlation was found between leg-lean-mass change and gait speed (r
      = 0.36; P < .05). After 12 weeks of elastic RET intervention, the EG had
      significantly fewer patients exhibiting sarcopenia (P < .05) and experiencing
      physical difficulty (P < .001) than the CG. CONCLUSION: The present data suggest
      that elastic resistance exercise exerted benefits on the body composition, MQ,
      and physical function in patients with sarcopenic obesity. Regular exercise
      incorporating elastic RET should be used to attenuate muscle mass loss and
      prevent physical difficulty in obese older adults with sarcopenia on
      reconditioning therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry,
      ChiCTR-IPR-15006069.

PMID- 28591062
TI  - Extracranial bone metastases from recurrent anaplastic astrocytoma on FDG PET/CT:
      A case report a care-compliant article.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Extracranial bone metastases from astrocytoma are rare and frequently
      detected as part of multiorgan metastases. It is extremely rare for astrocytoma
      to have extracranial bone metastases alone. The importance of whole-body
      fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT)
      imaging in evaluating extracranial metastasis (ECMs) has not been described
      effectively due to the rarity of this event. The purpose of our case report is to
      emphasize the role of FDG PET/CT in the assessment of tumor recurrence and
      extracranial bone metastases from anaplastic astrocytoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      A 25-year-old woman was firstly admitted with a 4-month history of progressive
      blurred vision, and 2-month history of intermittent headache. Presurgical MRI
      imaging revealed a large mass in the left trigone of lateral ventricle.
      Subsequently, she underwent tumor resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. A
      final pathological diagnosis of anaplastic astrocytoma (WHO III) was made. Nearly
      12 months after the surgery, the follow-up brain MR imaging revealed a contrast
      enhanced lesion in the site of operative region. Whole-body FDG PET/CT imaging
      was performed to evaluate the situation. RESULTS: Postoperative brain FDG PET/CT
      showed an abnormal focal FDG uptake corresponding to the contrast-enhanced lesion
      in the operative area, suggesting a tumor recurrence. Whole-body FDG PET/CT also
      showed multiple FDG-avid osteosclerotic lesions in the body. It was highly
      suggestive of extracranial bone metastases. A subsequent open bone biopsy of FDG
      avid lesion in right iliac crest was performed. Histopathological and
      immunohistochemical findings indicated characteristic of glioma. The patient died
      1 month later, nearly 13 months after the initial diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: ECMs
      from anaplastic astrocytoma are extremely rare but they do occur. Whole-body FDG
      PET/CT imaging with inclusion of brain was valuable in differentiating tumor
      recurrence from radiation necrosis and in detecting uncommon extracranial bone
      metastases from anaplastic astrocytoma, which were closely related to prognosis
      of this disease.

PMID- 28591063
TI  - A new technique for lipid core plaque detection by optical coherence tomography
      for prevention of peri-procedural myocardial infarction: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) provides effective
      revascularization of atherosclerotic coronary arteries but the invasive nature of
      treatment can result in complications. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 53-year old man
      underwent coronary angiography due to chest pain with minimal ST-segment
      elevation in the inferior leads of the electrocardiogram. DIAGNOSIS: We proceeded
      directly to coronary angiography and delineated a moderate stenosis with haziness
      in the mid right coronary artery (RCA). INTERVENTIONS: Expert analysis of the pre
      intervention OCT imaging demonstrated a large lipid core plaque (LCP), upstream
      of the culprit site, with minimal thrombus burden. Subsequent implantation of a
      bioresorbable vascular scaffold, protected with distal deployment of a filter
      protection device provided an excellent result with retrieval of plaque material.
      Post-hoc attenuation analysis confirmed the presence of large LCP. OUTCOMES: A
      post-procedural transthoracic echocardiogram confirmed good left ventricular
      function with no regional wall motion abnormality. An excellent clinical outcome
      was achieved. LESSONS: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) derived attenuation
      analysis can provide with qualitative and quantitative detailed evaluation of the
      underlying plaque substrate. Our case shows OCT can provide the interventionist
      with qualitative and qualitative assessment of large LCP for prevention of
      periprocedural complications, which may improve outcome for PCI.

PMID- 28591064
TI  - Clinical Documentation Improvement and Nursing Informatics.

PMID- 28591065
TI  - The Evolution of the TIGER Initiative.

PMID- 28591066
TI  - Understanding Nurses' Strategies to Handle (Un)wanted Nurse Calls: A Resilience
      Perspective.

PMID- 28591068
TI  - World Gastroenterology Organisation News and Events.

PMID- 28591067
TI  - Bergamot Polyphenolic Fraction Supplementation Improves Cognitive Functioning in
      Schizophrenia: Data From an 8-Week, Open-Label Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Novel treatment strategies for cognitive dysfunctions may prevent
      long-term disability in patients with schizophrenia, and polyphenolic compounds
      might be a promising strategy. Bergamot (Citrus bergamia), a citrus fruit
      characterized by a high amount of flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides, may
      represent a potential nutraceutical approach to cognitive dysfunction. The
      present study was aimed to explore the efficacy of bergamot polyphenolic fraction
      (BPF) supplementation on cognitive/executive functioning in a sample of patients
      with schizophrenia receiving second-generation antipsychotics. METHODS: Twenty
      outpatients treated with second-generation antipsychotics assumed BPF at an oral
      daily dose of 1000 mg/d for 8 weeks. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Wisconsin
      Card Sorting Test (WCST), Verbal Fluency Task-Controlled Oral Word Association
      Test, and Stroop Color-Word Test were administered. RESULTS: At end point, (week
      8) BPF supplementation significantly improved WCST "perseverative errors" (P =
      0.004) and semantic fluency test (P = 0.004). Moreover, a trend for other
      cognitive variable (WCST "categories," phonemic fluency, and Stroop Color-Word
      Test) improvement was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence that
      BPF administration may be proposed as a potential supplementation strategy to
      improve cognitive outcome in schizophrenia. Further clinical trials with
      adequately powered and well-designed methodology are needed to better explore the
      BPF effectiveness on cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28591069
TI  - World Gastroenterology Organisation Global Guidelines: GERD Global Perspective on
      Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

PMID- 28591071
TI  - Comparison of Intra-articular Thoracic Facet Joint Steroid Injection and Thoracic
      Medial Branch Block for the Management of Thoracic Facet Joint Pain.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective observational study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study
      was to show the effect of intra-articular (IA) thoracic facet joint (TFJ) steroid
      injection for the management of TFJ pain, and to compare it with the effect of
      therapeutic thoracic medial branch block (MBB) with a local anesthetic and
      steroid. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Several studies have shown the effects of
      thoracic MBB with local anesthetics with or without steroids and radiofrequency
      neurotomy in managing TFJ pain, but thus far, the effectiveness of IA TFJ steroid
      injection has not been studied. METHODS: Forty patients with TFJ pain were
      recruited and randomly assigned to one of two groups, the IA steroid injection
      and the MBB group, each with 20 patients. For IA TFJ steroid injection and
      therapeutic MBB, we injected 0.5 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine, mixed with 10 mg (0.25
      mL) of dexamethasone. We assessed the severity of TFJ pain using a numeric rating
      scale (NRS) before treatment and at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. RESULTS:
      Compared to the pretreatment NRS scores, the NRS scores at 1, 3, and 6 months
      after each treatment showed a significant decrease in patients in both the
      groups. Intergroup changes in the NRS scores were not significantly different
      over time. Six months after the treatment, 65% of the patients in the IA steroid
      injection group reported successful pain relief (pain relief >=50%), and 40% of
      the patients in the MBB group showed successful pain relief. CONCLUSION: In the
      present study, both IA TFJ steroid injection and therapeutic MBB significantly
      relieved TFJ pain. Their effects persisted for at least 6 months after the
      procedure. Thus, we think that both IA TFJ steroid injection and therapeutic
      thoracic MBB are useful treatment options for managing TFJ pain. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28591070
TI  - Emerging Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases in Asia Pacific: Implications to
      Health Care in the Region (World Gastroenterology Organization: Asian Pacific
      Association of Gastroenterology Distinguished Global Lecture 2015).
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), inflammatory
      bowel disease (IBD), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are considered
      important emerging diseases in the Asia Pacific (AP) region. The incidence rate
      of CRC is the highest among gastrointestinal cancers in the region surpassing
      that of gastric cancer. However, population CRC screening is limited by
      availability of adequate health resources and financing. GERD is a highly
      prevalent disease in AP with the prevalence of GERD symptoms and reflux
      esophagitis reported to be increasing. The usage of proton pump inhibitors has
      also been reported to be high. The incidence and prevalence of IBD is not as high
      as in the west but is now an increasingly recognizable disease in the AP region.
      Being a complicated disease, IBD will pose a huge financial burden with the
      increasing use of expensive biological drugs. In tandem with the exponential
      increase in obesity and diabetes mellitus in AP, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
      will become the most important liver disease in the region in the coming years.
      These emerging diseases reflect the continued fast-paced socioeconomic
      development in the region with marked lifestyle changes and increasing affluence.

PMID- 28591072
TI  - Incremental Hospital Cost and Length-of-stay Associated With Treating Adverse
      Events Among Medicare Beneficiaries Undergoing Cervical Spinal Fusion During
      Fiscal Year 2013 and 2014.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To report the incremental
      hospital resources consumed with treating adverse events experienced by Medicare
      beneficiaries undergoing a two or three vertebrae level cervical spinal fusion.
      SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Hospitals are increasingly at financial risk for
      patients experiencing adverse events due "pay for performance." Little is known
      about incremental resources consumed when treating patients who experienced an
      adverse event after cervical spinal fusions. METHODS: Fiscal years 2013 and 2014
      Medicare Provider Analysis and Review file was used to identify 86,265
      beneficiaries who underwent 2 or 3 vertebrae level cervical spinal fusion.
      International Classification of Diseases 9th Clinical Modification diagnostic and
      procedure codes were used to identify 10 adverse events. This study estimated
      both the observed and risk-adjusted incremental hospital resources consumed (cost
      [2014 US $] and length-of-stay) in treating beneficiaries experiencing each
      adverse event. RESULTS: Overall, 6.2% of beneficiaries undergoing cervical spinal
      fusion experienced at least one of the study's adverse events. Beneficiaries
      experiencing any complication consumed significantly more hospital resources
      (incremental cost of $28,638) and had longer length-of-stay (incremental stays of
      9.1 days). After adjusting for patient demographics and comorbid conditions,
      incremental cost of treating adverse events ranged from $42,358 (infection) to
      $10,100 (dural tear). CONCLUSION: Adverse events frequently occur and add
      substantially to the hospital costs of patients undergoing cervical spinal
      fusion. Shared decision-making instruments should clearly provide these risk
      estimates to the patient before surgical consideration. Investment in activities
      that have been shown to reduce specific adverse events is warranted, and this
      study may allow health systems to prioritize performance improvement areas. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28591073
TI  - Predictors of Persistent Axial Neck Pain After Cervical Laminoplasty.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of prospective data. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this study was to reveal baseline predictors of persistent postlaminoplasty neck
      pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Axial neck pain is one of the most common
      complications after cervical laminoplasty; however, baseline predictors of
      persistent postlaminoplasty neck pain are unclear. METHODS: We analyzed data from
      156 patients who completed a 2-year follow-up after double-door laminoplasty for
      degenerative cervical myelopathy. Patients rated the average intensity of axial
      neck pain in the last month using an 11-point numerical rating scale
      preoperatively and at the 2-year follow-up. The dependent variable was the
      presence of moderate-to-severe neck pain (numerical rating scale >=4) at the 2
      year follow-up. The independent variables included patient characteristics,
      baseline radiological parameters, surgical variables, baseline axial neck pain
      intensity, and baseline functions, which were measured by the Japanese
      Orthopaedic Association score and the Short Form-36 survey (SF-36). Logistic
      regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of moderate
      to-severe neck pain after laminoplasty. RESULTS: At the 2-year follow-up, 51
      patients (32%) had moderate-to-severe neck pain, and 106 patients (68%) had no or
      mild pain. Univariate analysis revealed that the ratio of cervical
      anterolisthesis, ratio of current smoking, baseline neck pain intensity, and
      baseline SF-36 Mental Component Summary differed significantly between the
      groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that independent
      predictors of moderate-to-severe neck pain at the 2-year follow-up include the
      presence of anterolisthesis, current smoking, moderate-to-severe baseline neck
      pain, and lower SF-36 Mental Component Summary. The presence of anterolisthesis
      and moderate-to-severe baseline neck pain were also associated with significantly
      poorer physical function after surgery. CONCLUSION: The presence of
      anterolisthesis was associated not only with the highest odds ratio of persistent
      neck pain but also with significantly poorer functional outcomes. Indications for
      cervical laminoplasty should be carefully determined in patients with cervical
      anterolisthesis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28591074
TI  - Different Fusion Approaches for Single-level Lumbar Spondylolysis Have Similar
      Perioperative Outcomes.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study OBJECTIVE.: The aim of this study was to
      compare perioperative adverse events for patients with lumbar spondylolysis
      treated with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), posterior spinal
      fusion (PSF), combined anterior and posterior fusion (AP fusion), or anterior
      lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous cohort
      studies have shown similar long-term outcomes for different surgical approaches
      for this indication, but potential differences in 30-day perioperative adverse
      events have not been well characterized. METHODS: The present study uses data
      extracted from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality
      Improvement Database. Patients undergoing fusion with different approaches for
      lumbar spondylolysis were identified. Propensity score matching was utilized to
      account for potential differences in demographic and comorbidity factors.
      Comparisons among perioperative outcomes were then made among the propensity
      score-matched study groups. RESULTS: Of 1077 cases of spondylolysis identified,
      556 underwent TLIF, 327 underwent PSF, 108 underwent AP fusion, and 86 underwent
      ALIF. After propensity score matching, there were no differences in the rates of
      any of the 30-day individual adverse events studied and no differences in the
      aggregated groupings of any adverse event, serious adverse event, or minor
      adverse event. There was a significantly increased operative time in the AP
      fusion group, but there were no differences in hospital length of stay or
      readmission rates. CONCLUSION: Because perioperative adverse event rates were
      similar, even with a slightly longer operative time in the AP fusion group, these
      findings suggest that surgeon preference and long-term outcomes are better used
      to determine the recommendation of one surgical approach over another for single
      level fusions for lumbar spondylolysis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28591075
TI  - Comparison of the Vacuum Mattress versus the Spine Board Alone for Immobilization
      of the Cervical Spine Injured Patient: A Biomechanical Cadaveric Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A biomechanical cadaveric study. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine
      the amount of motion generated in an unstable cervical spine fracture with use of
      the vacuum mattress versus the spine board alone. Our hypothesis is that the
      vacuum mattress will better immobilize an unstable cervical fracture. SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: Trauma patients in the United States are immobilized on a rigid
      spine board, whereas in many other places, vacuum mattresses are used with the
      proposed advantages of improved comfort and better immobilization of the spine.
      METHODS: Unstable subaxial cervical injuries were surgically created in five
      fresh whole human cadavers. The amount of motion at the injured motion segment
      during testing was measured using a Fastrak, three-dimensional, electromagnetic
      motion analysis device (Polhemus Inc.). The measurements recorded in this
      investigation included maximum displacements during application and removal of
      the device, while tilting to 90 degrees , during a bed transfer, and a lift onto
      a gurney. Linear and angular displacements were compared using the Generalized
      Linear Model analysis of variance for repeated measures for each of the six
      dependent variables (three planes of angulations and three axes of displacement).
      RESULTS: There was more motion in all six planes of motion during the application
      process with use of the spine board alone, and this was statistically significant
      for axial rotation (P = 0.011), axial distraction (P = 0.035), medial-lateral
      translation (P = 0.027), and anteroposterior translation (P = 0.026). During
      tilting, there was more motion with just the spine board, but this was only
      statistically significant for anteroposterior translation (P = 0.033). With
      lifting onto the gurney, there was more motion with the spine board in all planes
      with statistical significance, except lateral bending. During the removal
      process, there was more motion with the spine board alone, and this was
      statistically significant for axial rotation (P = 0.035), lateral bending (P =
      0.044), and axial distraction (P = 0.023). CONCLUSION: There was more motion when
      using a spine board alone during typical maneuvers performed during early
      management of the spine injured patient than the vacuum mattress. There may be
      benefit of use of the vacuum mattress versus the spine board alone in preventing
      motion at an unstable, subaxial cervical spine injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28591076
TI  - Is Traditional Closed Thoracic Drainage Necessary to Treat Pleural Tears After
      Posterior Approach Thoracic Spine Surgery?
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the outcomes and efficacy of using a 10Fr elastic tube with a regular
      negative pressure ball to treat the operative pleural tear in the complicated
      single-stage posterior approach thoracic spine surgeries. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND
      DATA: In some complicated single-stage posterior approach thoracic spine
      surgeries, such as total en bloc spondylectomy, pleural tear is quite inevitable.
      Traditional chest tube with a water-sealed bottle has many shortcomings, as pain,
      inconvenience, and other complications. In many thoracic surgeries, a smaller
      caliber elastic tube has been used to avoid such complications and achieve quick
      recovery. However, there are concerns about the efficacy and safety of the
      smaller-caliber elastic tube. METHODS: A prospective trial was performed in 72
      patients between April 2008 and March 2012. Pleural tear occurred in 19 patients,
      among whom 10 patients were inserted a 10Fr elastic tube with a regular negative
      pressure ball (Group I), and nine were inserted a 28Fr chest tube with a water
      sealed bottle (Group II). Comparative evaluation of the clinical and radiographic
      data was carried out. RESULTS: The basic condition of two groups did not differ
      significantly. The oxygen saturation monitor, hospital length of stay, average
      volume, and failure rate of drainage between two groups were not statistically
      significant. The difference of the visual analog score was significant (1.10 +/-
      0.35 vs. 3.89 +/- 0.59, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients who received a 10Fr
      elastic tube with a regular negative pressure ball experienced less pain and a
      tendency of quicker recovery than those who received a 28Fr chest tube with a
      water-sealed bottle. The complication rate in Group I was not higher than Group
      II, indicating an equally good drainage efficacy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28591077
TI  - Progressive Bone Formation After Cervical Disc Replacement: Minimum of 5-Year
      Follow-up.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to examine the
      prevalence, clinical significance, ramifications, and possible etiology of
      postoperative bone formation at the index level after cervical disc replacement
      (CDR) with a minimum of 5 years of follow-up. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: CDR can
      be complicated by postoperative ossification and unwanted ankylosis at the index
      level, which some authors have termed "heterotopic ossification." This
      terminology may be inaccurate as it assumes the postoperative bone formation is
      unnatural and a consequence of the CDR surgery. We advocate that this phenomenon
      has more to do with individual patient factors rather than the surgery. METHODS:
      Patients who underwent Bryan CDR for cervical myelopathy or radiculopathy between
      12/2003 and 8/2008 with a minimum of 5-years follow-up were analyzed. They were
      divided into two groups, those with and without postoperative bone formation.
      Patient-reported outcomes (Japanese Orthopaedic Association score, Neck
      Disability Index, Visual Analogue Scale for neck and arm pain) and radiographic
      parameters were collected pre- and postoperatively and compared between groups.
      RESULTS: Sixty-one patients (76 levels) were identified (mean follow-up 94.2 mo).
      The overall incidence of postoperative ossification was 50%. Both groups had
      sustained significant improvements across all patient-reported outcome measures
      at final follow-up. Notably, patients with more severe preoperative cervical
      spondylosis had higher rates of postoperative ossification (P = 0.036) and
      adjacent segment degeneration (P = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Although the long-term
      incidence of postoperative bone formation after CDR was relatively high, this did
      not adversely affect patient outcomes. Patients with more severe preoperative
      spondylosis had higher rates of postoperative ossification, suggesting that
      postoperative ossification at the CDR segment is likely one of progressive bone
      formation in individuals already predisposed to forming bone rather than one of
      alleged heterotopic ossification as a consequence of the surgery. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28591078
TI  - Proximal Junctional Kyphosis: Inter- and Intra-observer Reliability of
      Radiographic Measurements in Adult Spinal Deformity.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Reliability study of radiographic measures of proximal junctional
      kyphosis in adult spinal deformity patients. OBJECTIVE: Assess impacts of level
      of proximal endpoint and vertebral fracture on reliability of measurement of
      junctional kyphosis. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Radiographic assessment is
      important in determining management of patients with Proximal Junctional Kyphosis
      (PJK) or Proximal Junctional Failure (PJF). No study to date has evaluated the
      reliability of radiographic measurement of the junctional kyphotic angle after
      surgery for Adult Spinal Deformity (ASD). METHODS: Post-operative radiographs
      from 52 ASD patients were divided into four categories based on the level of the
      upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) and the presence or absence of PJF: upper
      thoracic without failure (UT), thoracolumbar without failure (TL), upper thoracic
      with PJF (UTF) and thoracolumbar with PJF (TLF). Nine surgeon reviewers performed
      radiographic measurements of kyphosis between UIV+2 and UIV twice at least 4
      weeks apart. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to
      determine inter- and intra-observer reliability. RESULTS: Inter-observer
      reliability for measurements of UT, TL, UTF, TLF were all "almost perfect" with
      ICC scores of 0.917, 0.965, 0.956, 0.882, and 0.932, 0.975, 0958, 0.989, for
      sessions 1 and 2 respectively. Similarly, ICC's for kyphosis measurements for the
      TL and TLF group had "almost perfect" agreement with means of 0.898 (range: 0.817
      0.969) and 0.976 (range: 0.931-0.995), respectively. ICC's for measurements for
      the UT and UTF groups all had "substantial" or "almost perfect" agreement with
      means of 0.801 (range: 0.662-0.942) and 0.879 (range: 0.760-0.988), respectively.
      CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates high inter- and intra-observer reliability of
      proximal junctional kyphosis measurement following instrumented fusion for ASD,
      independent of the presence or absence of PJF. Although slightly lower for upper
      thoracic than for thoracolumbar proximal endpoints, all ICC's consistently
      reached at least "substantial agreement" and "near perfect agreement" for most.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28591080
TI  - Muscle Pain Induces a Shift of the Spatial Distribution of Upper Trapezius Muscle
      Activity During a Repetitive Task: A Mechanism for Perpetuation of Pain With
      Repetitive Activity?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An association exists between repetitive movements and the development
      or perpetuation of neck-shoulder muscle pain. The mechanisms underlying this
      association remain unclear. This observational study investigated the effect of
      upper trapezius muscle pain on the distribution of upper trapezius activity
      during repetitive lifting. It was hypothesized that nociception would change the
      distribution of activity resulting in activation of muscle regions which would
      not normally be active during the task. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healthy men
      repeatedly lifted a box with a cycle time of 3 seconds for 50 cycles, at
      baseline, following injection of isotonic and hypertonic saline into the upper
      trapezius muscle and 15 minutes after the last injection. High-density surface
      electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the upper trapezius using a grid of 64
      electrodes. The EMG amplitude was computed for each location to form a map of the
      EMG amplitude distribution. RESULTS: During the painful condition, the overall
      EMG amplitude was lower compared with all other conditions (P<0.05) and in
      addition, the center of upper trapezius activity was shifted toward the caudal
      region of the muscle (P<0.01), a region not normally active during the task. The
      described alterations of muscle activity likely play an important role in the
      perpetuation of pain during repetitive activity. DISCUSSION: Novel mapping of the
      spatial distribution of upper trapezius muscle activity showed that nociception
      induced a redistribution of activity during repetitive lifting. This knowledge
      provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying the perpetuation of pain
      with repetitive activity.

PMID- 28591081
TI  - Pain-related Activity Management Patterns and Function in Patients With
      Fibromyalgia Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To clarify the importance of avoidance, pacing, and overdoing pain
      related activity management patterns as predictors of adjustment in patients with
      fibromyalgia syndrome. METHODS: A total of 119 tertiary care patients with
      fibromyalgia syndrome who agreed to be part of an activity management pain
      program completed a survey, which requested information about demographics, pain
      intensity and pain interference, psychological and physical function, and pain
      related activity management patterns. Hierarchical regression analyses were used
      to identify the unique contributions of the 3 different pain-related activity
      management patterns (avoidance, pacing, and overdoing) to the prediction of pain
      interference, psychological function, and physical function. RESULTS: The
      avoidance pattern was a significant and unique predictor of worse psychological
      and physical function as well as greater pain interference. Pacing was
      significantly associated with less pain interference and better psychological
      function, whereas overdoing was not found to predict patient functioning.
      DISCUSSION: The findings confirm the importance of pain-related activity
      management patterns as predictors of patient function, and support the necessity
      of addressing these factors in chronic pain treatment. In addition, the results
      suggest that targeting increases in activity pacing and decreases in pain
      avoidance, specifically, might yield the best patient outcomes. However, further
      research to evaluate this possibility is necessary.

PMID- 28591082
TI  - Opioid-sparing Effects of SoluMatrix Indomethacin in a Phase 3 Study in Patients
      With Acute Postoperative Pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report the opioid-sparing effects of SoluMatrix indomethacin,
      developed using SoluMatrix Fine Particle Technology, in a phase 3 study in
      patients with acute pain following bunionectomy. METHODS: This phase 3, placebo
      controlled study randomized 462 patients with moderate-to-severe pain following
      bunionectomy surgery to receive SoluMatrix indomethacin 40 mg 3 times daily,
      SoluMatrix indomethacin 40 mg twice daily, SoluMatrix indomethacin 20 mg 3 times
      daily, celecoxib 400-mg loading dose followed by 200 mg twice daily, or placebo.
      Patients were permitted to receive opioid-containing rescue medication throughout
      the study. The proportion of patients who used rescue medication and the amount
      of rescue medication used on the first (0 to 24 h) and second (>24 to 48 h) days
      following initial dose of study medication, as well as time to first rescue
      medication use, were assessed. RESULTS: Significantly fewer patients who received
      SoluMatrix indomethacin 40 or 20 mg 3 times daily used opioid-containing rescue
      medication on day 1 compared with those receiving placebo (P<=0.034), and fewer
      patients in all active treatment groups used rescue medication during the second
      day compared with those in the placebo group (P<0.001). All active treatment
      groups used significantly fewer rescue medication tablets on days 1 and 2
      following randomization compared with placebo (P<0.001). The most common adverse
      events were nausea, postprocedural edema, and headache. DISCUSSION: SoluMatrix
      indomethacin was associated with opioid-sparing effects in patients with acute
      postoperative pain.

PMID- 28591079
TI  - Genetic analyses of HIV env associated with uveitis in antiretroviral-naive
      individuals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze and compare HIV-1 env sequences from the eye to those from
      the blood of individuals with uveitis attributed to HIV with the goal of gaining
      insight into the pathogenesis of HIV-associated eye disease. DESIGN: A
      prospective case series of five HIV-infected antiretroviral-naive individuals
      with uveitis negative for other pathogens. METHODS: RNA from blood plasma and
      ocular aqueous humor was reverse transcribed using random hexamers. HIV env C2-V5
      (HXB2: 6990-7668) sequences were generated by single-genome amplification using
      nested polymerase chain reaction followed by bidirectional Sanger sequencing.
      Sequence analyses by Geneious, Geno2Pheno, N-GLYCOSITE, DIVEIN, and HyPhy
      evaluated relationships between HIV in plasma and aqueous humor. RESULTS: A
      median of 20 (range: 13-22) plasma and 15 (range: 9-18) aqueous humor sequences
      were generated from each individual. The frequencies of sequences with predicted
      N-linked-glycosylation sites and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 were comparable
      in aqueous humor and plasma of all five patients. Aqueous humor sequences had
      lower median genetic diversity compared with plasma across all patients, but
      similar divergence, in four of five patients. Aqueous humor HIV sequences were
      compartmentalized from plasma across subjects by Critchlow correlation
      coefficient, Slatkin and Maddison, nearest-neighbor statistic, and Fixation
      index. CONCLUSION: Among antiretroviral-naive individuals with uveitis attributed
      to HIV, the universal compartmentalization and decreased diversity of eye
      compared with blood sequences suggests time-limited passage of a small subset of
      variants from each patient's viral population into the eye tissues, followed by
      limited immune selection despite the inflammatory uveitis.

PMID- 28591083
TI  - Investigating the Fear Avoidance Model in People With Whiplash: The Association
      Between Fear of Movement and In Vivo Activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between fear
      of movement and activity levels in people with whiplash-associated disorders
      (WAD) over the first 3 months postinjury, to determine the mediating effect of:
      fear of movement on the relationship between catastrophizing and activity levels,
      and activity levels on the relationship between fear of movement and disability
      in patients with WAD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ambulatory monitoring of physical
      activity was conducted for a minimum of 8 waking hours on 2 consecutive days
      within 4 weeks postinjury and at 12 weeks postinjury for 103 (74 female) people
      with WAD. Time spent in upright postures (uptime) and time in motion (TIM) were
      collected along with measures of pain, disability, pain catastrophizing, and fear
      of movement. The association of self-report outcome measures with uptime and TIM
      were examined. Mediation analyses were performed to determine the mediating
      effect of: fear of movement on the relationship between catastrophizing and
      activity, and activity levels on the relationship between fear of movement and
      disability. RESULTS: Fear of movement was significantly related to uptime but not
      TIM. Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between fear of movement and
      disability was not mediated by activity levels, and that the relationship between
      catastrophizing and activity levels was not mediated by fear of movement.
      DISCUSSION: Our data suggests measures of Fear Avoidance Model are not related to
      general physical activity in people with WAD. Investigation of movements specific
      to the cervical spine and alternative explanatory models may be required.

PMID- 28591084
TI  - Efficacy of Postoperative Analgesia of Local Ketamine Wound Instillation
      Following Total Thyroidectomy: A Randomized, Double-blind, Controlled Clinical
      Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total thyroidectomy is recommended as a line of management of thyroid
      cancer in many cases. Our aim was to compare postoperative analgesic effect of
      local ketamine 1 mg/kg instilled in the wound to that of intramuscular (IM)
      ketamine and placebo after total thyroidectomy. METHODS: A total of 90 patients
      aged 18 to 60 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I to II,
      with a body weight of 50 to 90 kg, scheduled for total thyroidectomy were
      enrolled after ethics committee approval in this prospective, randomized, double
      blind, controlled study and divided randomly into 3 groups to receive treatment
      after hemostasis. Group (I) received 1 mg/kg ketamine in a total volume of 10 mL
      normal saline instilled in the wound. Group (II) received 1 mg/kg of IM ketamine.
      Group (III) received 10 mL of normal saline instilled in the wound. Total amount
      of morphine consumption, first request of analgesia, and side effects were
      recorded. Visual analog scale at rest and movement and hemodynamics were assessed
      immediately, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours postoperatively. RESULTS: Total
      morphine consumption was reduced and first request of analgesia was delayed in
      group I compared with that in groups II and III, and in group II compared with
      that in group III (P=0.000). Visual analog scale at rest and movement were
      decreased immediately postoperatively in groups I and II in comparison with their
      values in group III; group II had higher sedation scores. CONCLUSIONS: Local
      wound ketamine instillation provided superior postoperative analgesia with lower
      incidence of side effects in comparison with IM ketamine and placebo following
      total thyroidectomy.

PMID- 28591085
TI  - Influence of OPRM1 Polymorphism on Postoperative Pain After Intrathecal Morphine
      Administration in Italian Patients Undergoing Elective Cesarean Section.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this prospective observational study was to evaluate the
      influence of OPRM1 polymorphism on the analgesic efficacy (including visual
      analog scale [VAS] scores and requirement for rescue analgesia) of a standard
      dose of intrathecal morphine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An Italian cohort of 63
      parturients, scheduled for elective cesarean section at a tertiary University
      Hospital, received spinal anesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine and morphine 100
      mcg. For the first 48 hours in the postoperative period the patients received
      acetaminophen 1 g IV q6hr. Incident pain was treated with ketorolac 30 mg IV.
      Every 6 hours the following parameters were registered: VAS at rest, VAS during
      movements, postoperative nausea and vomiting, pruritus, and rescue analgesic
      medications requirements. Age and anthropometric data, number of pregnancies,
      educational level, OPRM1 genotype, were also obtained. RESULTS: Of the 63
      patients enrolled, 45 (71%) were homozygous genotype A/A (118A group), whereas 18
      carried the G variants of OPRM1 (A/G or G/G) (118G group). No significant
      differences in analgesic rescue doses' administration and in incidence of
      moderate/severe postoperative pain (VAS>3) between the 2 groups were observed.
      Pruritus was more frequent in the 118A group than in the 118G group in the first
      24 hours of the postoperative period. DISCUSSION: In the Italian population
      participating in this study there was a different incidence of pruritus in the
      postcesarean period in response to intrathecal opioids related to OPRM1 gene
      polymorphism, but not of postoperative pain.

PMID- 28591086
TI  - Dexamethasone Injected Perineurally is More Effective than Administered
      Intravenously for Peripheral Nerve Blocks: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized
      Controlled Trials.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) are widely and increasingly used for
      better acute perioperative pain control for a variety of procedures. Clinically
      preservative-free dexamethasone is arguably the most commonly used adjuvant and
      offers the most optimization effects on PNBs yet with the least side-effects
      noted. Our aim was to compare the effectiveness of intravenous versus perineural
      dexamethasone on the effectiveness and safety of PNBs. METHODS: Major databases
      (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar) were
      systematically searched for randomized controlled trials comparing the
      effectiveness of intravenous versus perineural dexamethasone on PNBs. Study
      characteristics, intraoperative events, and postoperative outcomes including
      duration of analgesia, duration of sensory block, duration of motor block, pain
      score at 24 hours, opioid consumption, and postoperative nausea and vomiting,
      were extracted from the articles. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effect
      models. RESULTS: Thirteen randomized controlled trials comprising a total of 937
      patients (intravenous: 464 patients; perineural: 473 patients) were included in
      this meta-analysis. Perineural dexamethasone significantly prolonged the duration
      of analgesia (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.48 h; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.18-0.79) and sensory block (SMD, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.53-0.94). In subgroup of
      studies that used 4 to 5 mg we found that perineural dexamethasone was
      universally more effective to prolong analgesia as compared with intravenous
      dexamethasone (SMD, 0.48 h; 95% CI, 0.24-0.72), but there was no significant
      difference between intravenous versus perineural dexamethasone when using a dose
      of dexamethasone >=8 mg (SMD, 0.33 h; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.77). Perineural
      dexamethasone had similarly more benefits in terms of prolongation of motor block
      duration, decreasing pain score, reducing opioid consumption, and less
      postoperative nausea and vomiting. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation not only
      confirmed the better analgesic effects of perineurally administered dexamethasone
      as compared with its intravenous injection, but also implicitly supported the
      hypothesis of local interaction between dexamethasone and the nerve as one of the
      pain modulation mechanisms of dexamethasone, because systemic absorption alone
      could not explain the superior quality of PNBs.

PMID- 28591089
TI  - Recent advances in understanding glucocorticoid receptor function in cancer.

PMID- 28591087
TI  - Hyperhomocysteinemia as a Metabolic Risk Factor for Glucose Intolerance Among
      High-Risk Groups of Chinese Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is characterized by insulin
      resistance and causes atherosclerosis. Hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with
      insulin resistance and predicts cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we
      assessed the possible association between homocysteine and IGT. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of 118 consecutive subjects with IGT
      (IGT group) and 128 consecutive subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT
      group). Homocysteine and clinical characteristics were measured. RESULTS The IGT
      group had higher homocysteine than the NGT group [18.00 (14.00, 22.25) vs. 12.50
      (9.00, 15.00) MUmol/L, p<0.001]. Homocysteine was positively associated with body
      mass index (BMI) (r=0.178, p=0.005), triglycerides (r=0.306, p<0.001), fasting
      blood glucose (FBG) (r=0.312, p<0.001), 2-hour postchallenge glucose (2hPG)
      (r=0.363, p<0.001), fasting insulin (FINS) (r=0.655, p<0.001), and homeostasis
      model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (r=0.643, p<0.001), and was
      negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (r=
      0.250, p<0.001). After controlling for confounders, hyperinsulinemia (beta=7.430,
      p<0.001) was independently related to hyperhomocysteinemia. In a logistic
      regression analysis, high triglycerides (OR=1.177, p<0.001) and homocysteine
      (OR=1.508, p=0.007), and low HDL-C (OR=0.315, p=0.026) were associated with IGT.
      CONCLUSIONS Patients with IGT have higher homocysteine levels compared with
      subjects with normal glucose tolerance, and hyperhomocysteinemia might be
      correlated with IGT.

PMID- 28591090
TI  - Common fungal infections in patients with leukemia.

PMID- 28591091
TI  - Antifibrinolytic agents in acquired bleeding disorders.

PMID- 28591092
TI  - The role of radiation therapy in upper gastrointestinal cancers.
AB  - Upper gastrointestinal cancers are common and account for a high proportion of
      cases of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Combined-modality therapy with
      surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy is standard treatment for esophageal
      and gastroesophageal junction cancers. For gastric cancer, the need to include
      radiation therapy appears to depend on the quality of the surgery performed.
      Radiation therapy plays an uncertain role in the surgical management of
      pancreatic cancer, and the results of ongoing clinical trials are awaited.
      Retrospective studies support the inclusion of radiotherapy in the surgical
      management of biliary tract cancers. The development of more effective systemic
      therapy for upper gastrointestinal cancers may ultimately lead to a greater
      survival benefit due to the potential for improved local tumor control achieved
      with radiotherapy.

PMID- 28591093
TI  - Testicular cancer update.
AB  - The advances seen in the treatment of testicular cancer are among the great
      achievements in modern medicine. These advances were made possible by the
      collaborative efforts of cancer researchers around the world. Investigators have
      been able to address many questions regarding the treatment of patients with
      disease limited to the testis, those with metastasis to the retroperitoneum only,
      and those with advanced metastatic disease. Questions answered include the
      chemotherapeutic agents to be used and in what combinations, the proper intensity
      of treatment and appropriate dosing, the optimal number of cycles of chemotherapy
      according to validated risk stratification, appropriate surgical approaches that
      preserve sexual function, the treatment of relapsed disease, what supportive care
      measures to take, and survivorship issues following treatment of testicular
      cancer. Today, cure is achievable in 95% of all patients with testicular cancer
      and 80% of those who have metastatic disease. Despite remarkable results with
      frontline and salvage combination chemotherapy, metastatic testicular cancer
      remains incurable in approximately 10% of patients, and novel treatment
      approaches are warranted. This review highlights past and recent discoveries in
      the treatment of patients with testicular cancer.

PMID- 28591094
TI  - Non-clear cell renal cell carcinomas: biological insights and therapeutic
      challenges and opportunities.
AB  - The non-clear cell renal cell carcinomas (nccRCCs) are a diverse group of rare
      variant renal carcinomas. Each subtype harbors a distinct cell of origin and
      exhibits a distinct clinical behavior and response to therapy. The advent of next
      generation sequencing has drastically advanced our understanding of key genetic
      and epigenetic drivers in these tumors, although mechanistic studies are needed
      to elucidate pathogenesis. The only 2 randomized clinical trials in nccRCC
      included patients with diverse histologic subtypes. Both of these trials compared
      everolimus with sunitinib and provided evidence suggesting that frontline
      sunitinib is superior to everolimus in terms of progression-free survival. Renal
      medullary and collecting duct carcinomas do not respond to targeted agents,
      supporting the use of platinum-based chemotherapy as frontline therapy. Clinical
      evidence is currently emerging on the efficacy of c-MET inhibitors in patients
      with papillary type 1 RCC harboring germline c-MET mutations. Data on the
      activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors in this setting are lacking; however,
      several trials are ongoing in this space. The management of patients with nccRCC
      likely will improve in the future with histology-driven trials, which may pave
      the way for personalized therapies based on the molecular characterization of
      these orphan kidney cancer subtypes. Efforts must also be made to establish in
      vitro and animal models for testing hypotheses generated through extensive
      genomic analysis. Ultimately, collaborative national and international studies
      are urgently needed to improve therapeutic strategies in patients with metastatic
      disease.

PMID- 28591096
TI  - Genetic conditions associated with a predisposition to kidney cancer.

PMID- 28591097
TI  - The best treatments to use after checkpoint inhibition in melanoma.

PMID- 28591098
TI  - The use of CAR T cells in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28591100
TI  - Antibody-drug conjugates in breast cancer.

PMID- 28591101
TI  - Advances in the management of patients with carcinoid syndrome.

PMID- 28591102
TI  - How direct-to-patient research can improve interest in clinical trials.

PMID- 28591103
TI  - Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in older adults: now and the future.
AB  - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an uncommon disease with poor outcomes in
      older patients. Although intensive chemotherapy can induce complete responses in
      older patients, the mortality rate is unacceptably high. The 5-year survival rate
      for patients achieving a remission ranges from 17% to 23%. ALL is usually more
      aggressive in older patients, and these patients' reduced functional capacity
      renders them less able to tolerate treatment. The need for less-intensive, more
      efficient treatment modalities in this population of frail and high-risk patients
      is evident. Clinicians should strongly consider treatment in clinical trials for
      their older patients. If such trials are not available on site, physicians should
      refer older patients to tertiary centers for possible enrollment in a study.
      Significant advances have been made in the past decade toward understanding the
      biology of ALL and in developing novel therapeutic agents. Blinatumomab,
      inotuzumab ozogamicin, and newer-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors appear to
      be promising agents. Clinical studies show remarkable results with these agents,
      either alone or in combination with low-dose chemotherapy. Now that clinical
      trials are being designed with less-intensive treatment regimens and broad entry
      criteria, older age is less likely to be an exclusionary factor. However,
      clinical trials that enroll older patients with ALL should include detailed
      documentation of their underlying comorbidities, cognitive function, and
      performance status.

PMID- 28591104
TI  - Myeloma bone disease: pathogenesis and treatment.
AB  - Bone involvement manifesting as osteolytic bone disease (OBD) or osteopenia is
      one of the defining features of multiple myeloma (MM). Osteolytic lesions develop
      in nearly 90% of patients with MM, and these are frequently complicated by
      skeleton-related events (SREs) such as severe bone pain, pathologic fractures,
      vertebral collapse, hypercalcemia, and spinal cord compression. SREs have a
      negative effect on patients' quality of life and affect their long-term outcomes,
      including survival. In MM, the delicate balance between bone formation and bone
      destruction is perturbed. OBD is a consequence of increased osteoclast activation
      along with osteoblast inhibition, which alter bone remodeling. Although MM
      remains incurable, tremendous progress has been made in the treatment of the
      disease. As such, there is a need to address the symptoms of the disease that
      affect quality of life and, ultimately, overall survival. Novel agents targeting
      OBD are promising therapeutic strategies not only for the treatment of MM OBD but
      also for the treatment of MM itself. In addition to bisphosphonates, several
      novel agents are currently under investigation for their positive effect on bone
      remodeling via osteoclast inhibition or osteoblast stimulation. Future studies
      will look to combine or sequence all of these agents to improve quality of life,
      decrease the symptoms of MM OBD, and enhance antitumor activity.

PMID- 28591105
TI  - Everything old is new again: the case for imatinib as frontline therapy in 2017.

PMID- 28591107
TI  - Industry 'road tests' new wave of immune checkpoints.

PMID- 28591106
TI  - The biology of CML supports second-generation TKIs as frontline treatment.

PMID- 28591109
TI  - Interest rekindles in drug cocktails that reprogram cells.

PMID- 28591110
TI  - Patents as collateral for securitization.

PMID- 28591111
TI  - Verily chases a perfectly healthy human.

PMID- 28591113
TI  - Recent patents in microbiomes and microbial genomics.

PMID- 28591114
TI  - First deuterated drug approved.

PMID- 28591115
TI  - Alternative drug sensitivity metrics improve preclinical cancer pharmacogenomics.

PMID- 28591116
TI  - A synthetic biology approach to integrative high school STEM training.

PMID- 28591117
TI  - The illusion of control in germline-engineering policy.

PMID- 28591118
TI  - Hanging on a thread.

PMID- 28591112
TI  - The promise of organ and tissue preservation to transform medicine.
AB  - The ability to replace organs and tissues on demand could save or improve
      millions of lives each year globally and create public health benefits on par
      with curing cancer. Unmet needs for organ and tissue preservation place enormous
      logistical limitations on transplantation, regenerative medicine, drug discovery,
      and a variety of rapidly advancing areas spanning biomedicine. A growing
      coalition of researchers, clinicians, advocacy organizations, academic
      institutions, and other stakeholders has assembled to address the unmet need for
      preservation advances, outlining remaining challenges and identifying areas of
      underinvestment and untapped opportunities. Meanwhile, recent discoveries provide
      proofs of principle for breakthroughs in a family of research areas surrounding
      biopreservation. These developments indicate that a new paradigm, integrating
      multiple existing preservation approaches and new technologies that have
      flourished in the past 10 years, could transform preservation research.
      Capitalizing on these opportunities will require engagement across many research
      areas and stakeholder groups. A coordinated effort is needed to expedite
      preservation advances that can transform several areas of medicine and medical
      science.

PMID- 28591119
TI  - Manufacture of CAR-T cells in the body.

PMID- 28591121
TI  - A spring collection of designer yeast chromosomes.

PMID- 28591122
TI  - CAR-T death strikes Kite.

PMID- 28591123
TI  - Building the human inner ear in an organoid.

PMID- 28591124
TI  - Patient-centered drug manufacture.

PMID- 28591126
TI  - Around the world in a month.

PMID- 28591127
TI  - Eat a water bottle or two.

PMID- 28591128
TI  - After Glybera's withdrawal, what's next for gene therapy?

PMID- 28591125
TI  - Open-source, community-driven microfluidics with Metafluidics.
AB  - Microfluidic devices have the potential to automate and miniaturize biological
      experiments, but open-source sharing of device designs has lagged behind sharing
      of other resources such as software. Synthetic biologists have used microfluidics
      for DNA assembly, cell-free expression, and cell culture, but a combination of
      expense, device complexity, and reliance on custom set-ups hampers their
      widespread adoption. We present Metafluidics, an open-source, community-driven
      repository that hosts digital design files, assembly specifications, and open
      source software to enable users to build, configure, and operate a microfluidic
      device. We use Metafluidics to share designs and fabrication instructions for
      both a microfluidic ring-mixer device and a 32-channel tabletop microfluidic
      controller. This device and controller are applied to build genetic circuits
      using standard DNA assembly methods including ligation, Gateway, Gibson, and
      Golden Gate. Metafluidics is intended to enable a broad community of engineers,
      DIY enthusiasts, and other nontraditional participants with limited fabrication
      skills to contribute to microfluidic research.

PMID- 28591129
TI  - The shallow water equation and the vorticity equation for a change in height of
      the topography.
AB  - We consider the shallow water equation and the vorticity equations for a variable
      height of topography. On the assumptions that the atmosphere is incompressible
      and a constant density, we simplify the coupled dynamic equations. The change in
      topographic height is handled as the sum of the inherent and changing topography
      using the perturbation method, together with appropriate boundary conditions of
      the atmosphere, to obtain the relationship between the relative height of the
      flow, the inherent topography and the changing topography. We generalize the
      conservation of the function of relative position, and quantify the relationship
      between the height of the topography and the relative position of a fluid
      element. If the height of the topography increases (decreases), the relative
      position of a fluid element descends (ascends). On this basis, we also study the
      relationship between the vorticity and the topography to find the vorticity
      decreasing (increasing) for an increasing (decreasing) height of the topography.

PMID- 28591130
TI  - Natal and breeding philopatry of female Steller sea lions in southeastern Alaska.
AB  - Information on drivers of dispersal is critical for wildlife conservation but is
      rare for long-lived marine mammal species with large geographic ranges. We fit
      multi-state mark-recapture models to resighting data of 369 known-aged Steller
      sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) females marked as pups on their natal rookeries in
      southeastern Alaska from 1994-2005 and monitored from 2001-15. We estimated
      probabilities of females being first observed parous at their natal site (natal
      philopatry), and of not moving breeding sites among years (breeding philopatry)
      at large (> 400 km, all five rookeries in southeastern Alaska) and small (< 4 km,
      all islands within the largest rookery, Forrester Island Complex, F) spatial
      scales. At the rookery scale, natal philopatry was moderately high (0.776-0.859)
      for most rookeries and breeding philopatry was nearly 1, with < 3% of females
      switching breeding rookeries between years. At more populous islands at F, natal
      philopatry was 0.500-0.684 versus 0.295-0.437 at less populous islands, and
      breeding philopatry was 0.919-0.926 versus 0.604-0.858. At both spatial scales,
      the probability of pupping at a non-natal site increased with population size of,
      and declined with distance from, the destination site. Natal philopatry of < 1
      would increase gene flow, improve population resilience, and promote population
      recovery after decline in a heterogeneous environment. Very high breeding
      philopatry suggests that familiarity with neighboring females and knowledge of
      the breeding site (the topography of pupping sites and nearby foraging locations)
      may be a critical component to reproductive strategies of sea lions.

PMID- 28591131
TI  - Visualization of early influenza A virus trafficking in human dendritic cells
      using STED microscopy.
AB  - Influenza A viruses (IAV) primarily target respiratory epithelial cells, but can
      also replicate in immune cells, including human dendritic cells (DCs). Super
      resolution microscopy provides a novel method of visualizing viral trafficking by
      overcoming the resolution limit imposed by conventional light microscopy, without
      the laborious sample preparation of electron microscopy. Using three-color
      Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy, we visualized input IAV
      nucleoprotein (NP), early and late endosomal compartments (EEA1 and LAMP1
      respectively), and HLA-DR (DC membrane/cytosol) by immunofluorescence in human
      DCs. Surface bound IAV were internalized within 5 min of infection. The
      association of virus particles with early endosomes peaked at 5 min when 50% of
      NP+ signals were also EEA1+. Peak association with late endosomes occurred at 15
      min when 60% of NP+ signals were LAMP1+. At 30 min of infection, the majority of
      NP signals were in the nucleus. Our findings illustrate that early IAV
      trafficking in human DCs proceeds via the classical endocytic pathway.

PMID- 28591132
TI  - Early menarche: A systematic review of its effect on sexual and reproductive
      health in low- and middle-income countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescent girls aged 15-19 bear a disproportionate burden of
      negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes in low- and middle-income
      countries. Research from several high-income countries suggests that early age at
      menarche is an important determinant of sexual and reproductive health. We
      conducted this systematic review to better understand whether and how early
      menarche is associated with various negative sexual and reproductive health
      outcomes in low- and middle-income countries and the implications of such
      associations. METHODS: We systematically searched eight health and social
      sciences databases for peer-reviewed literature on menarche and sexual and
      reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries. Two reviewers
      independently assessed all studies for inclusion, overall quality and risk of
      bias, and performed data extraction on all included studies. RESULTS: Twenty-four
      articles met all inclusion criteria-nine of moderate quality and fifteen with
      several methodological weaknesses. Our review of the minimal existing literature
      showed that early menarche is associated with early sexual initiation, early
      pregnancy and some sexually transmitted infections in low- and middle-income
      countries, similar to what has been observed in high-income countries. Early
      menarche is also associated with early marriage-an association that may have
      particularly important implications for countries with high child marriage rates.
      CONCLUSIONS: Early age at menarche may be an important factor affecting the
      sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and young women in low- and
      middle-income countries. More research is needed to confirm the existence of the
      identified associations across different settings and to better understand the
      process through which early menarche and other markers of early pubertal
      development may contribute to the increased vulnerability of girls to negative
      sexual and reproductive health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.
      Given the association of early menarche with early marriage, ongoing efforts to
      reduce child marriage may benefit from targeting efforts to early maturing girls.

PMID- 28591133
TI  - Combined Red Clover isoflavones and probiotics potently reduce menopausal
      vasomotor symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natural estrogen decline leads to vasomotor symptoms (VMS). Hormone
      therapy alleviates symptoms but increases cancer risk. Effective treatments
      against VMS with minimal cancer risks are needed. We investigate the effects of a
      highly bioavailable aglycone rich Red Clover isoflavone treatment to alleviate
      existing menopausal VMS, assessed for the first time by 24hour ambulatory skin
      conductance (SC). METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a parallel, double blind,
      randomised control trial of 62 peri-menopausal women aged 40-65, reporting >= 5
      hot flushes/day and follicle stimulating hormone >=35 IU/L. Participants received
      either twice daily treatment with bioavailable RC extract (RCE), providing 34
      mg/d isoflavones and probiotics, or masked placebo formulation for 12 weeks. The
      primary outcome was change in daily hot flush frequency (HFF) from baseline to 12
      weeks using 24hr SC. Secondary outcomes were change in SC determined hot flush
      intensity (HFI), self-reported HFF (rHFF) and hot flush severity (rHFS), blood
      pressure and plasma lipids. A significant decrease in 24hr HFF (P < 0.01) and HFI
      (P<0.05) was found when comparing change from baseline to 12 months of the RCE (
      4.3 HF/24hr, CI -6.8 to -2.3; -12956 MUS s-1, CI -20175 to -5737) with placebo
      (0.79 HF/24hr, CI -1.56 to 3.15; 515 MUS s-1, CI -5465 to 6496). rHFF was also
      significantly reduced (P <0.05)in the RCE (-2.97 HFs/d, CI -4.77 to -1.17) group
      compared to placebo (0.036 HFs/d, CI -2.42 to 2.49). Other parameters were non
      significant. RCE was well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that moderate
      doses of RCE were more effective and superior to placebo in reducing
      physiological and self-reported VMS. Findings support that objective
      physiological symptom assessment methods should be used together with self-report
      measures in future studies on menopausal VMS. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02028702.

PMID- 28591134
TI  - Global gene expression profiling and antibiotic susceptibility after repeated
      exposure to the carbon monoxide-releasing molecule-2 (CORM-2) in multidrug
      resistant ESBL-producing uropathogenic Escherichia coli.
AB  - Treatment of urinary tract infections is today a challenge due to the increasing
      prevalence of multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing uropathogenic Escherichia coli
      (UPEC). There is an urgent need for new treatment strategies for multidrug
      resistant UPEC and preferably with targets that have low potential for
      development of resistance. Carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs) are novel
      and potent antibacterial agents. The present study examines the transcriptomic
      targets of CORM-2 in a multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing UPEC isolate in
      response to a single exposure to CORM-2 and after repeated exposure to CORM-2.
      The bacterial viability and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) were also
      examined after repeated exposure to CORM-2. Microarray analysis revealed that a
      wide range of processes were affected by CORM-2, including a general trend of
      down-regulation in energy metabolism and biosynthesis pathways and up-regulation
      of the SOS response and DNA repair. Several genes involved in virulence (ibpB),
      antibiotic resistance (marAB, mdtABC) and biofilm formation (bhsA, yfgF) were up
      regulated, while some genes involved in virulence (kpsC, fepCEG, entABE),
      antibiotic resistance (evgA) and biofilm formation (artIP) were down-regulated.
      Repeated exposure to CORM-2 did not alter the gene expression patterns, the
      growth inhibitory response to CORM-2 or the MIC values for CORM-2, cefotaxime,
      ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim. This study identifies several enriched gene
      ontologies, modified pathways and single genes that are targeted by CORM-2 in a
      multidrug-resistant UPEC isolate. Repeated exposure to CORM-2 did not change the
      gene expression patterns or fold changes and the susceptibility to CORM-2
      remained after repeated exposure.

PMID- 28591136
TI  - Breeding chronology and social interactions affect ungulate foraging behavior at
      a concentrated food resource.
AB  - Prey species must balance predator avoidance behavior with other essential
      activities including foraging, breeding, and social interactions. Anti-predator
      behaviors such as vigilance can impede resource acquisition rates by altering
      foraging behavior. However, in addition to predation risk, foraging behavior may
      also be affected by socio-sexual factors including breeding chronology and social
      interactions. Therefore, we investigated how time-of-day, distance-to-forest,
      group size, social interactions (presence of different sex-age class), and
      breeding chronology (pre-breeding, breeding, post-breeding seasons) affected
      probability of feeding (hereafter: feeding) for different sex and age-classes
      (mature males, immature males, adult females, and juveniles) of white-tailed deer
      at feed sites. We developed a set of candidate models consisting of social,
      habitat, reproductive, and abiotic factors and combinations of these factors. We
      then used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to estimate the probability of
      feeding and used model averaging of competing models for multimodel inference.
      Each adult sex-age class' feeding was influenced by breeding chronology.
      Juveniles were more likely to be feeding than adults in all seasons. Feeding
      increased with group size for all sex-age classes. The presence of a mature male
      negatively influenced the feeding of immature males and juveniles were more
      likely to be feeding when an adult female was present. Feeding decreased with
      increasing distance-to-forest for mature males but not for other sex-age classes.
      Our results indicate that each sex-age class modulates vigilance levels in
      response to socio-sexual factors according to the unique pressures placed upon
      them by their reproductive status and social rank.

PMID- 28591135
TI  - Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) for measuring the hydration status
      in young elite synchronized swimmers.
AB  - PURPOSE: The assessment of body hydration is a complex process, and no
      measurement is valid for all situations. Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis
      (BIVA) has emerged as a relatively novel technique for assessing hydration status
      in sports. We applied BIVA a) to determine hydration changes evoked by an intense
      synchronized swimming (SS) training session; b) to characterize the sample of
      young elite swimmers in relation with a nonathletic reference population; and c)
      to generate its 50%, 75% and 95% percentiles of the bioelectrical variables.
      METHODS: Forty-nine elite SS female swimmers of two age categories, comen (Co:
      13.9 +/- 0.9 years, n = 34) and junior (Jr: 16.3 +/- 0.6 years, n = 15),
      performed a long, high intensity training session. Body mass (BM) and
      bioelectrical variables (R, resistance; Xc, reactance; PA, phase angle; and Z,
      impedance module) were assessed pre- and post-training. BIVA was used to
      characterize 1) the distribution pattern of the bioelectrical vector (BIA vector)
      for both age groups, and 2) pre- to post-training BIA vector migration.
      Bioelectrical variables were also correlated with BM change values. RESULTS: Most
      swimmers were mostly located outside the 75% and some beyond the 95% percentile
      of the bioelectrical tolerance ellipses of the general population. The BIA vector
      showed statistically significant differences in both Co (T2 = 134.7, p = 0.0001)
      and Jr (T2 = 126.2, p < 0.001). Both groups were also bioelectrically different
      (T2 = 17.6, p < 0.001). After the training session, a decrease in BM (p = 0.0001)
      and an increase in BIA variables (p = 0.01) was observed. BIVA also showed a
      significant pre-post vector migration both in Co (T2 = 82.1; p < 0.001) and Jr
      (T2 = 41.8; p < 0.001). No correlations were observed between BM changes and
      bioelectrical variables. CONCLUSIONS: BIVA showed specific bioelectrical
      characteristics in young elite SS athletes. Considering the decrease in BM and
      the migration of the BIA vector, we conclude that the homeostatic hydration
      status of these young elite female swimmers was affected by the execution of
      intense training sessions. From a methodological perspective, BIVA appears to be
      sensitive enough to detect subtle hydration changes, but further research is
      needed to ensure its validity and reliability. Moreover, these findings highlight
      the importance of ensuring adequate fluid intake during training in young SS
      athletes.

PMID- 28591137
TI  - Increasing medication adherence and income assistance access for first-episode
      psychosis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assertive community treatment for first-episode psychosis programs
      have been shown to improve symptoms and reduce service use. There is little or no
      evidence on whether these programs can increase access to income assistance and
      improve medication adherence in first episode psychosis patients. This research
      examines the impact of the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Service
      (EPPIS) on these outcomes. METHODS: We extracted data on EPPIS patients held in
      the Data Repository at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. The Repository is a
      comprehensive collection of person-level de-identified administrative records,
      including data from Manitoba's health services. We compared income assistance use
      and antipsychotic medication adherence in EPPIS patients to a historical cohort
      matched on pattern of diagnosis. Confounders were adjusted through propensity
      score weighting with asymmetrical trimming. Odds ratios (OR), hazard ratios (HR)
      and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: We identified a matched
      sample of 244 patients and 449 controls. EPPIS patients had a higher rate of
      income assistance use during the program (67.4% vs. 38.7%; p< 0.0001). EPPIS
      patients were more likely to have been prescribed at least one antipsychotic
      medication than the control cohort, both during the program (OR = 15.05; 95%CI
      10.81 to 20.94) and after the program ended (OR = 5.20; 95%CI: 4.50 to 6.02).
      Patients in EPPIS were also more likely to adhere to their medication during the
      program (OR = 4.71; 95%CI 3.75 to 5.92), and after the program (OR = 2.54; 95%CI
      2.04 to 3.16). CONCLUSION: Enrolment in the EPPIS program was associated with
      increased adherence to antipsychotic medication treatment and improved uptake of
      income assistance.

PMID- 28591138
TI  - Understanding the dynamics of terrorism events with multiple-discipline datasets
      and machine learning approach.
AB  - Terror events can cause profound consequences for the whole society. Finding out
      the regularity of terrorist attacks has important meaning for the global counter
      terrorism strategy. In the present study, we demonstrate a novel method using
      relatively popular and robust machine learning methods to simulate the risk of
      terrorist attacks at a global scale based on multiple resources, long time series
      and globally distributed datasets. Historical data from 1970 to 2015 was adopted
      to train and evaluate machine learning models. The model performed fairly well in
      predicting the places where terror events might occur in 2015, with a success
      rate of 96.6%. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the model with optimized tuning
      parameter values successfully predicted 2,037 terrorism event locations where a
      terrorist attack had never happened before.

PMID- 28591140
TI  - Correction: Pleiotropic Mechanisms Indicated for Sex Differences in Autism.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006425.].

PMID- 28591139
TI  - Physical education policy compliance and Latino children's fitness: Does the
      association vary by school neighborhood socioeconomic advantage?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the contribution of school neighborhood socioeconomic
      advantage to the association between school-district physical education policy
      compliance in California public schools and Latino students' physical fitness.
      METHODS: Cross-sectional Fitnessgram data for public-school students were linked
      with school- and district-level information, district-level physical education
      policy compliance from 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, and 2000 United States Census
      data. Multilevel logistic regression models examined whether income and education
      levels in school neighborhoods moderated the effects of district-level physical
      education policy compliance on Latino fifth-graders' fitness levels. RESULTS:
      Physical education compliance data were available for 48 California school
      districts, which included 64,073 Latino fifth-graders. Fewer than half (23, or
      46%) of these districts were found to be in compliance, and only 16% of Latino
      fifth-graders attended schools in compliant districts. Overall, there was a
      positive association between district compliance with physical education policy
      and fitness (OR, 95%CI: 1.38, 1.07, 1.78) adjusted for covariates. There was no
      significant interaction between school neighborhood socioeconomic advantage and
      physical education policy compliance (p>.05): there was a positive pattern in the
      association between school district compliance with physical education policy and
      student fitness levels across levels of socioeconomic advantage, though the
      association was not always significant. CONCLUSIONS: Across neighborhoods with
      varying levels of socioeconomic advantage, increasing physical education policy
      compliance in elementary schools may be an effective strategy for improving
      fitness among Latino children.

PMID- 28591141
TI  - Floodplain farm fields provide novel rearing habitat for Chinook salmon.
AB  - When inundated by floodwaters, river floodplains provide critical habitat for
      many species of fish and wildlife, but many river valleys have been extensively
      leveed and floodplain wetlands drained for flood control and agriculture. In the
      Central Valley of California, USA, where less than 5% of floodplain wetland
      habitats remain, a critical conservation question is how can farmland occupying
      the historical floodplains be better managed to improve benefits for native fish
      and wildlife. In this study fields on the Sacramento River floodplain were
      intentionally flooded after the autumn rice harvest to determine if they could
      provide shallow-water rearing habitat for Sacramento River fall-run Chinook
      salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Approximately 10,000 juvenile fish (ca. 48 mm,
      1.1 g) were reared on two hectares for six weeks (Feb-March) between the fall
      harvest and spring planting. A subsample of the fish were uniquely tagged to
      allow tracking of individual growth rates (average 0.76 mm/day) which were among
      the highest recorded in fresh water in California. Zooplankton sampled from the
      water column of the fields were compared to fish stomach contents. The primary
      prey was zooplankton in the order Cladocera, commonly called water fleas. The
      compatibility, on the same farm fields, of summer crop production and native fish
      habitat during winter demonstrates that land management combining agriculture
      with conservation ecology may benefit recovery of native fish species, such as
      endangered Chinook salmon.

PMID- 28591142
TI  - Collective phenomena in crowds-Where pedestrian dynamics need social psychology.
AB  - This article is on collective phenomena in pedestrian dynamics during the
      assembling and dispersal of gatherings. To date pedestrian dynamics have been
      primarily studied in the natural and engineering sciences. Pedestrians are
      analyzed and modeled as driven particles revealing self-organizing phenomena and
      complex transport characteristics. However, pedestrians in crowds also behave as
      living beings according to stimulus-response mechanisms or act as human subjects
      on the basis of social norms, social identities or strategies. To show where
      pedestrian dynamics need social psychology in addition to the natural sciences we
      propose the application of three categories-phenomena, behavior and action. They
      permit a clear discrimination between situations in which minimal models from the
      natural sciences are appropriate and those in which sociological and
      psychological concepts are needed. To demonstrate the necessity of this
      framework, an experiment in which a large group of people (n = 270) enters a
      concert hall through two different spatial barrier structures is analyzed. These
      two structures correspond to everyday situations such as boarding trains and
      access to immigration desks. Methods from the natural and social sciences are
      applied. Firstly, physical measurements show the influence of the spatial
      structure on the dynamics of the entrance procedure. Density, waiting time and
      speed of progress show large variations. Secondly, a questionnaire study (n = 60)
      reveals how people perceive and evaluate these entrance situations. Markedly
      different expectations, social norms and strategies are associated with the two
      spatial structures. The results from the questionnaire study do not always
      conform to objective physical measures, indicating the limitations of models
      which are based on objective physical measures alone and which neglect subjective
      perspectives.

PMID- 28591143
TI  - The Weapons Identification Task: Recommendations for adequately powered research.
AB  - This article synthesizes the extant literature on the Weapons Identification Task
      (WIT), a sequential priming paradigm developed to investigate the impact of
      racial priming on identification of stereotype-congruent and stereotype
      irrelevant objects. Given recent controversy over the replicability of and
      statistical power required to detect priming effects, the aim of this synthesis
      is to systematically assess the literature in order to develop recommendations
      for statistical power in future research with the WIT paradigm. To develop these
      recommendations, the present article first quantitatively ascertains the
      magnitude of publication bias in the extant literature. Next, expected effect
      sizes and power recommendations are generated from the extant literature.
      Finally, a close conceptual replication of the WIT paradigm is conducted to
      prospectively test these recommendations. Racial priming effects are detected in
      this prospective test providing increased confidence in the WIT priming effect
      and credibility to the proposed recommendations for power.

PMID- 28591144
TI  - ERRalpha negatively regulates type I interferon induction by inhibiting TBK1-IRF3
      interaction.
AB  - Estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRalpha) is a member of the nuclear receptor
      superfamily controlling energy homeostasis; however, its precise role in
      regulating antiviral innate immunity remains to be clarified. Here, we showed
      that ERRalpha deficiency conferred resistance to viral infection both in vivo and
      in vitro. Mechanistically, ERRalpha inhibited the production of type-I interferon
      (IFN-I) and the expression of multiple interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs).
      Furthermore, we found that viral infection induced TBK1-dependent ERRalpha
      stabilization, which in turn associated with TBK1 and IRF3 to impede the
      formation of TBK1-IRF3, IRF3 phosphorylation, IRF3 dimerization, and the DNA
      binding affinity of IRF3. The effect of ERRalpha on IFN-I production was
      independent of its transcriptional activity and PCG-1alpha. Notably, ERRalpha
      chemical inhibitor XCT790 has broad antiviral potency. This work not only
      identifies ERRalpha as a critical negative regulator of antiviral signaling, but
      also provides a potential target for future antiviral therapy.

PMID- 28591146
TI  - Recent tree cover increases in eastern China linked to low, declining human
      pressure, steep topography, and climatic conditions favoring tree growth.
AB  - Globally, the extent of forest continues to decline, however, some countries have
      increased their forest extent in recent years. China is one of these countries
      and has managed to increase their tree cover through huge reforestation and
      afforestation programs during recent decades as well as land abandonment
      dynamics. This study investigates tree cover change in the eastern half of China
      between 2000 and 2010 on three different scales, using random forest modeling of
      remote sensing data for tree cover in relation to environmental and anthropogenic
      predictor variables. Our results show that between the years 2000 and 2010
      2,667,875 km2 experienced an increase in tree cover while 1,854,900 km2
      experienced a decline in tree cover. The area experiencing >=10% increase in tree
      cover is almost twice as large as the area with >=10% drop in tree cover. There
      is a clear relation between topography and tree cover change with steeper and mid
      elevation areas having a larger response on tree cover increase than other areas.
      Furthermore, human influence, change in population density, and actual
      evapotranspiration are also important factors in explaining where tree cover has
      changed. This study adds to the understanding of tree cover change in China, as
      it has focus on the entire eastern half of China on three different scales and
      how tree cover change is linked to topography and anthropogenic pressure. Though,
      our results show an increase in tree cover in China, this study emphasizes the
      importance of incorporating anthropogenic factors together with biodiversity
      protection into the reforestation and afforestation programs in the future.

PMID- 28591145
TI  - Successful implementation of Helping Babies Survive and Helping Mothers Survive
      programs-An Utstein formula for newborn and maternal survival.
AB  - Globally, the burden of deaths and illness is still unacceptably high at the day
      of birth. Annually, approximately 300.000 women die related to childbirth, 2.7
      million babies die within their first month of life, and 2.6 million babies are
      stillborn. Many of these fatalities could be avoided by basic, but prompt care,
      if birth attendants around the world had the necessary skills and competencies to
      manage life-threatening complications around the time of birth. Thus, the
      innovative Helping Babies Survive (HBS) and Helping Mothers Survive (HMS)
      programs emerged to meet the need for more practical, low-cost, and low-tech
      simulation-based training. This paper provides users of HBS and HMS programs a 10
      point list of key implementation steps to create sustained impact, leading to
      increased survival of mothers and babies. The list evolved through an Utstein
      consensus process, involving a broad spectrum of international experts within the
      field, and can be used as a means to guide processes in low-resourced countries.
      Successful implementation of HBS and HMS training programs require country-led
      commitment, readiness, and follow-up to create local accountability and
      ownership. Each country has to identify its own gaps and define realistic service
      delivery standards and patient outcome goals depending on available financial
      resources for dissemination and sustainment.

PMID- 28591147
TI  - Jaccard distance based weighted sparse representation for coarse-to-fine plant
      species recognition.
AB  - Leaf based plant species recognition plays an important role in ecological
      protection, however its application to large and modern leaf databases has been a
      long-standing obstacle due to the computational cost and feasibility. Recognizing
      such limitations, we propose a Jaccard distance based sparse representation
      (JDSR) method which adopts a two-stage, coarse to fine strategy for plant species
      recognition. In the first stage, we use the Jaccard distance between the test
      sample and each training sample to coarsely determine the candidate classes of
      the test sample. The second stage includes a Jaccard distance based weighted
      sparse representation based classification(WSRC), which aims to approximately
      represent the test sample in the training space, and classify it by the
      approximation residuals. Since the training model of our JDSR method involves
      much fewer but more informative representatives, this method is expected to
      overcome the limitation of high computational and memory costs in traditional
      sparse representation based classification. Comparative experimental results on a
      public leaf image database demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other
      existing feature extraction and SRC based plant recognition methods in terms of
      both accuracy and computational speed.

PMID- 28591148
TI  - Natural disasters and indicators of social cohesion.
AB  - Do adversarial environmental conditions create social cohesion? We provide new
      answers to this question by exploiting spatial and temporal variation in exposure
      to earthquakes across Chile. Using a variety of methods and controlling for a
      number of socio-economic variables, we find that exposure to earthquakes has a
      positive effect on several indicators of social cohesion. Social cohesion
      increases after a big earthquake and slowly erodes in periods where environmental
      conditions are less adverse. Our results contribute to the current debate on
      whether and how environmental conditions shape formal and informal institutions.

PMID- 28591149
TI  - Greater HbA1c variability is associated with increased cardiovascular events in
      type 2 diabetes patients with preserved renal function, but not in moderate to
      advanced chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Emerging evidence suggests that glycemic variability may be a more reliable
      measure of glycemic control than mean HbA1c in type 2 diabetes mellitus. This
      study aimed to determine if HbA1c variability is associated with cardiovascular
      events in type 2 diabetic patients and if different renal functions affect such
      association. This longitudinal study enrolled 8259 diabetic patients from the
      Kaohsiung Medical University Research Database in 2009 and were followed-up until
      2015. Intra-individual HbA1C variability was defined as the standard deviation
      (SD) of HbA1c and cardiovascular events were defined as hospitalization for
      coronary artery disease, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, stroke,
      peripheral artery disease, and cardiovascular death. The patients were grouped
      into two based on their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >= 60 or < 60
      min/ml/1.73m2. In a mean follow-up period of 6.3 years, cardiovascular events
      were recorded in 8.9% of the patients. In an adjusted Cox model, high HbA1c SD
      (hazard ratio, 1.290; 95% confidence interval, 1.008-1.650; p = 0.043), but not
      mean HbA1c, was associated with significantly increased risk of cardiovascular
      events in patients with eGFR >= 60 min/ml/1.73m2. This association was not seen
      in patients with eGFR < 60 min/ml/1.73m2. In this study, greater HbA1c
      variability is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular among patients
      with preserved renal function, but not in those with moderate to advanced chronic
      kidney disease.

PMID- 28591150
TI  - More than one fungus in the pepper pot: Integrative taxonomy unmasks hidden
      species within Myriostoma coliforme (Geastraceae, Basidiomycota).
AB  - Since the nineteenth century, Myriostoma has been regarded as a monotypic genus
      with a widespread distribution in north temperate and subtropical regions.
      However, on the basis of morphological characters and phylogenetic evidence of
      DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and the large
      subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (LSU), four species are now delimited: M.
      areolatum comb. & stat. nov., M. calongei sp. nov., M. capillisporum comb. &
      stat. nov., and M. coliforme. Myriostoma coliforme is typified by selecting a
      lectotype (iconotype) and a modern sequenced collection as an epitype. The four
      species can be discriminated by a combination of morphological characters, such
      as stomatal form, endoperidial surface texture, and basidiospore size and
      ornamentation.

PMID- 28591151
TI  - Cardiac glycosides use and the risk and mortality of cancer; systematic review
      and meta-analysis of observational studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac glycosides (CGs) including digitalis, digoxin and digitoxin
      are used in the treatment of congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation.
      Pre-clinical studies have investigated the anti-neoplastic properties of CGs
      since 1960s. Epidemiological studies concerning the association between CGs use
      and cancer risk yielded inconsistent results. We have performed a systematic
      review and meta-analysis to summarize the effects of CGs on cancer risk and
      mortality. METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane library, Medline and Web of
      Knowledge were searched for identifying relevant studies. Summary relative risks
      (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects
      model. RESULTS: We included 14 case-control studies and 15 cohort studies
      published between 1976 and 2016 including 13 cancer types. Twenty-four studies
      reported the association between CGs and cancer risk and six reported the
      association between CGs and mortality of cancer patients. Using CGs was
      associated with a higher risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.330, 95% CI: 1.247-1.419).
      Subgroup analysis showed that using CGs increased the risk of ER+ve breast cancer
      but not ER-ve. Using CGs wasn't associated with prostate cancer risk (RR = 1.015,
      95% CI: 0.868-1.87). However, CGs decreased the risk in long term users and
      showed a protective role in decreasing the risk of advanced stages. CGs use was
      associated with increased all-cause mortality (HR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.248-1.46) but
      not cancer-specific mortality (HR = 1.075, 95% CI: 0.968-1.194). CONCLUSION: The
      anti-tumor activity of CGs observed in pre-clinical studies requires high
      concentrations which can't be normally tolerated in humans. However, the estrogen
      like activity of CGs could be responsible for increasing the risk of certain
      types of tumors.

PMID- 28591152
TI  - Increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism in patients
      with aortic aneurysms: A nationwide cohort study.
AB  - Studies on the association between aortic aneurysm (AA) and the subsequent risk
      of venous thromboembolism (VTE) are limited to a few case reports and
      investigations which only focused on surgical effects. Therefore, we used the
      National Health Insurance Research Database to clarify whether patients with AAs
      have a heightened risk of subsequent VTEs, including deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
      and pulmonary embolism (PE). Our retrospective cohort study comprised patients
      aged >= 18 years who received a diagnosis of an AA and were hospitalized at any
      point during 2000-2010 (n = 16,630). Each AA patient was frequency-matched to 4
      non-AA hospitalized patients based on age, sex, and index year (n = 66,453). The
      Cox proportional hazard regressions model was used to estimate the adjusted
      effect of AAs on VTE risk. The overall incidence of DVT and PE was higher in the
      patients with AA than in the non-AA group patients (23.5 versus 13.2 and 13.5
      versus 7.98/1,000 person-years). After adjustment for age, sex, duration of
      hospitalization in the study period, and comorbidities, patients with AAs were
      associated with a 1.88-fold higher risk of DVT and 1.90-fold higher risk of PE
      compared to the non-AA cohort. Patients with abdominal AAs were more likely to
      develop DVT, whereas thoracic AA patients were more likely to develop PE. A
      diagnosis of a ruptured AA was associated with a substantially increased risk of
      DVT. Surgical treatment of AAs was associated with a heightened risk of VTE
      within 6-months post-operation. Our study demonstrates that AAs are associated
      with an increased risk of subsequent VTE. Future investigations are encouraged to
      delineate the mechanisms underlying this association and to evaluate the cost
      effectiveness of screening for VTEs in patients with AAs.

PMID- 28591153
TI  - Effects of gravity changes on gene expression of BDNF and serotonin receptors in
      the mouse brain.
AB  - Spaceflight entails various stressful environmental factors including
      microgravity. The effects of gravity changes have been studied extensively on
      skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, immune and vestibular systems, but those on
      the nervous system are not well studied. The alteration of gravity in ground
      based animal experiments is one of the approaches taken to address this issue.
      Here we investigated the effects of centrifugation-induced gravity changes on
      gene expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and serotonin
      receptors (5-HTRs) in the mouse brain. Exposure to 2g hypergravity for 14 days
      showed differential modulation of gene expression depending on regions of the
      brain. BDNF expression was decreased in the ventral hippocampus and hypothalamus,
      whereas increased in the cerebellum. 5-HT1BR expression was decreased in the
      cerebellum, whereas increased in the ventral hippocampus and caudate putamen. In
      contrast, hypergravity did not affect gene expression of 5-HT1AR, 5-HT2AR, 5
      HT2CR, 5-HT4R and 5-HT7R. In addition to hypergravity, decelerating gravity
      change from 2g hypergravity to 1g normal gravity affected gene expression of
      BDNF, 5-HT1AR, 5-HT1BR, and 5-HT2AR in various regions of the brain. We also
      examined involvement of the vestibular organ in the effects of hypergravity.
      Surgical lesions of the inner ear's vestibular organ removed the effects induced
      by hypergravity on gene expression, which suggests that the effects of
      hypergravity are mediated through the vestibular organ. In summary, we showed
      that gravity changes induced differential modulation of gene expression of BDNF
      and 5-HTRs (5-HT1AR, 5-HT1BR and 5-HT2AR) in some brain regions. The modulation
      of gene expression may constitute molecular bases that underlie behavioral
      alteration induced by gravity changes.

PMID- 28591154
TI  - Prediction of in-hospital mortality after pancreatic resection in pancreatic
      cancer patients: A boosting approach via a population-based study using health
      administrative data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One reason for the aggressiveness of the pancreatic cancer is that it
      is diagnosed late, which often limits both the therapeutic options that are
      available and patient survival. The long-term survival of pancreatic cancer
      patients is not possible if the tumor is not resected, even among patients who
      receive chemotherapy in the earliest stages. The main objective of this study was
      to create a prediction model for in-hospital mortality after a pancreatectomy in
      pancreatic cancer patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of all
      pancreatic resections in pancreatic cancer patients in Spanish public hospitals
      (2013). Data were obtained from records in the Minimum Basic Data Set. To develop
      the prediction model, we used a boosting method. RESULTS: The in-hospital
      mortality of pancreatic resections in pancreatic cancer patients was 8.48% in
      Spain. Our model showed high predictive accuracy, with an AUC of 0.91 and a Brier
      score of 0.09, which indicated that the probabilities were well calibrated. In
      addition, a sensitivity analysis of the information available prior to the
      surgery revealed that our model has high predictive accuracy, with an AUC of
      0.802. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we developed a nation-wide system that is
      capable of generating accurate and reliable predictions of in-hospital mortality
      after pancreatic resection in patients with pancreatic cancer. Our model could
      help surgeons understand the importance of the patients' characteristics prior to
      surgery and the health effects that may follow resection.

PMID- 28591155
TI  - Electroacupuncture prevents endothelial dysfunction induced by ischemia
      reperfusion injury via a cyclooxygenase-2-dependent mechanism: A randomized
      controlled crossover trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Exploring clinically effective methods to reduce ischemia-reperfusion
      (IR) injury in humans is critical. Several drugs have shown protective effects,
      but studies using other interventions have been rare. Electroacupuncture (EA) has
      induced similar protection in several animal studies but no study has
      investigated how the effects could be translated and reproduced in humans. This
      study aimed to explore the potential effect and mechanisms of EA in IR-induced
      endothelial dysfunction in humans. METHODS: This is a prospective, randomized,
      crossover, sham-controlled trial consisting of two protocols. Protocol 1 was a
      crossover study to investigate the effect of EA on IR-induced endothelial
      dysfunction. Twenty healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to EA or sham EA
      (sham). Flow mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery (BA), nitroglycerin
      mediated endothelial independent dilation, blood pressure before and after IR
      were measured. In protocol 2, seven volunteers were administered COX-2 inhibitor
      celecoxib (200 mg orally twice daily) for five days. After consumption,
      volunteers underwent FMD before and after IR identical to protocol 1. RESULTS: In
      protocol 1, baseline BA diameter, Pre-IR BA diameter and FMD were similar between
      the two groups (p = NS). After IR, sham group showed significantly blunted FMD
      (Pre-IR: 11.41 +/- 3.10%, Post-IR: 4.49 +/- 2.04%, p < 0.001). However, EA
      protected this blunted FMD (Pre-IR: 10.96 +/- 5.30%, Post-IR: 9.47 +/- 5.23%, p =
      NS, p < 0.05 compared with sham EA after IR). In protocol 2, this protective
      effect was completely abolished by pre-treatment with celecoxib (Pre-IR: 11.05 +/
      3.27%; Post-IR: 4.20 +/- 1.68%, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: EA may prevent IR
      induced endothelial dysfunction via a COX-2 dependent mechanism.

PMID- 28591156
TI  - Dark eyes in female sand gobies indicate readiness to spawn.
AB  - In animals, colorful and conspicuous ornaments enhance individual attractiveness
      to potential mates, but are typically tempered by natural selection for crypsis
      and predator protection. In species where males compete for females, this can
      lead to highly ornamented males competing for mating opportunities with choosy
      females, and vice versa. However, even where males compete for mating
      opportunities, females may exhibit conspicuous displays. These female displays
      are often poorly understood and it may be unclear whether they declare mating
      intent, signal intrasexual aggression or form a target for male mate preference.
      We examined the function of the conspicuous dark eyes that female sand gobies
      temporarily display during courtship by experimentally testing if males preferred
      to associate with females with artificially darkened eyes and if dark eyes are
      displayed during female aggression. By observing interactions between a male and
      two females freely associating in an aquarium we also investigated in which
      context females naturally displayed dark eyes. We found that dark eyes were more
      likely to be displayed by more gravid females than less gravid females and
      possibly ahead of spawning, but that males did not respond behaviorally to dark
      eyes or prefer dark-eyed females. Females behaving aggressively did not display
      dark eyes. We suggest that dark eyes are not a signal per se but may be an aspect
      of female mate choice, possibly related to vision.

PMID- 28591157
TI  - The impact of de novo liver metastasis on clinical outcome in patients with
      advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - Liver metastasis has been found to affect outcome in prostate cancer and
      colorectal cancer, but its role in lung cancer is unclear. The current study
      aimed to evaluate the impact of de novo liver metastasis (DLM) on stage IV non
      small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) outcomes and to examine whether tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors (TKI) reverse poor prognosis in patients with DLM and epidermal growth
      factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant NSCLC. Among 1392 newly diagnosed NSCLC patients,
      490 patients with stage IV disease treated between November 2010 and March 2014
      at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital were included. Patients were divided
      into two groups according to DLM status. There were 75 patients in the DLM group
      and 415 patients in the non-DLM group. The DLM group included more patients with
      bone metastasis, fewer patients with a lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) > 3.1,
      and fewer patients with pleural metastasis. In the DLM group, Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology Group performance status 3-4 and LMR ?3.1 were associated with poor
      outcome. In patients without DLM, overall survival (OS) was longer in patients
      with EGFR-mutant NSCLC than in those without (20.2 vs. 7.3 months, p < 0.001).
      Among DLM patients, OS was similar between the EGFR-mutant and wild-type EGFR
      tumor subgroups (11.9 vs. 7.7 months, p = 0.155). We found that DLM was a
      significant poor prognostic factor in the EGFR-mutant patients treated with EGFR
      TKIs, whereas DLM did not affect the prognosis of EGFR-wild-type patients.

PMID- 28591159
TI  - Technological variability during the Early Middle Palaeolithic in Western Europe.
      Reduction systems and predetermined products at the Bau de l'Aubesier and Payre
      (South-East France).
AB  - The study of the lithic assemblages of two French sites, the Bau de l'Aubesier
      and Payre, contributes new knowledge of the earliest Neanderthal techno-cultural
      variability. In this paper we present the results of a detailed technological
      analysis of Early Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblages of MIS 8 and 7 age from
      the two sites, which are located on opposite sides of the Rhone Valley in the
      south-east of France. The MIS 9-7 period is considered in Europe to be a time of
      new behaviours, especially concerning lithic strategies. The shift from the Lower
      Palaeolithic to the Early Middle Palaeolithic is "classically" defined by an
      increase in the number of core technologies, including standardized ones, which
      are stabilized in the full Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5-3), associated with the
      decline of the "Acheulean" biface. Applying a common technological approach to
      the analysis of the two assemblages highlights their technological variability
      with respect to reduction systems and end products. Differences between Payre and
      the Bau de l'Aubesier concerning raw material procurement and faunal exploitation
      only partially explain this multifaceted technological variability, which in our
      opinion also reflects the existence of distinct technological strategies within
      the same restricted geographic area, which are related to distinct traditions,
      site uses, and/or as yet unknown parameters.

PMID- 28591158
TI  - Mitochondrial function of immune cells in septic shock: A prospective
      observational cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reduced cellular ATP synthesis due to impaired mitochondrial function
      of immune cells may be a factor influencing the immune response in septic shock.
      We investigate changes in mitochondrial function and bioenergetics of human
      monocytes and lymphocyte subsets. METHODS: Thirty patients with septic shock were
      studied at ICU admission, after 24 and 48 hours, and after resolution of shock.
      Enzymatic activities of citrate synthase and mitochondrial complexes I, IV, and
      ATP synthase and ATP content of monocytes, T-cells and B-cells and pro
      inflammatory (IL-1beta and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokine plasma
      concentrations were compared to samples from 20 healthy volunteers. RESULTS:
      Large variations in mitochondrial enzymatic activities of immune cells of septic
      patients were detected. In monocytes, maximum levels of citrate synthase activity
      in sepsis were significantly lower when compared to controls (p = 0.021). Maximum
      relative enzymatic activity (ratio relative to citrate synthase activity) of
      complex I (p<0.001), complex IV (p = 0.017) and ATP synthase (p<0.001) were
      significantly higher. In T-cells, maximum levels of citrate synthase (p = 0.583)
      and relative complex IV (p = 0.602) activity did not differ between patients and
      controls, whereas levels of relative complex I (p = 0.006) and ATP synthase (p =
      0.032) were significantly higher in septic patients. In B-cells of patients,
      maximum levels of citrate synthase activity (p = 0.004) and relative complex I
      (p<0.001) were significantly higher, and mean levels of relative complex IV (p =
      0.042) lower than the control values, whereas relative ATP synthase activity did
      not differ (p = 1.0). No significant difference in cellular ATP content was
      detected in any cell line (p = 0.142-0.519). No significant correlations between
      specific cytokines and parameters of mitochondrial enzymatic activities or ATP
      content were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes of mitochondrial
      enzymatic activities occur in human peripheral blood immune cells in septic shock
      when compared to healthy controls. Assessed sub-types of immune cells showed
      differing patterns of regulation. Total ATP-content of human immune cells did not
      differ between patients in septic shock and healthy volunteers.

PMID- 28591160
TI  - The association of ferritin with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in
      community-dwellers: The English longitudinal study of ageing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ferritin constitutes a sensitive iron-storage index and multi
      functional protein. Evidence on its association with mortality in general
      population is scarce and conflicting. We investigated the sex-specific
      associations of ferritin levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a
      population-based cohort. METHODS: Data came from the English Longitudinal Study
      of Ageing and the national mortality registry. The sample comprised 5,471
      participants aged >=52 years. Blood concentration of ferritin was measured at
      baseline in 2004-05. Sex-specific Cox proportional hazards models were estimated
      with adjustment for age, major chronic diseases, marital status, educational
      attainment, total net household wealth, anemia, inflammatory markers, body mass
      index, smoking, and physical activity. Stratified analyses by chronic disease
      status were also performed. RESULTS: We categorized ferritin in sex-specific
      quartiles. In men, we used, the following categorization: lowest (2-69ng/ml),
      second lowest (70-118ng/ml), second highest (reference category) (119-193ng/ml)
      and highest (194-598ng/ml) ferritin quartiles. In women, ferritin was categorized
      as follows: lowest (2-44ng/ml), second lowest (45-73ng/ml), second highest
      (reference category) (74-115ng/ml) and highest (116-341ng/ml) ferritin quartiles.
      841 deaths of which 262 cardiovascular disease-related were recorded over a mean
      follow-up time of 7.7 years. Risk for all-cause mortality was found increased in
      men with hyperferritinemia (194-598ng/ml) and no history of major chronic
      diseases compared with the reference group [fully-adjusted HR: 1.49 (95%CI 1.03
      2.16)]. Among women, those in the lowest ferritin quartile (2-44ng/ml) had
      increased risk for all-cause mortality [fully-adjusted HR: 1.59 (95%CI 1.18
      2.13)] compared with the reference group after adjustment for all covariates.
      Regarding cardiovascular mortality, we observed a positive association with
      ferritin levels in men, which was blunted after adjustment for inflammatory
      markers and lifestyle parameters. Men with no major chronic diseases who were in
      the highest ferritin quartile had a significantly increased risk of
      cardiovascular mortality. No association between ferritin levels and
      cardiovascular mortality was detected in women. CONCLUSION: Circulating ferritin
      levels showed sex-specific prognostic patterns. High ferritin levels in men with
      no major chronic disease and low ferritin levels in all women were associated
      with increased all-cause mortality after adjusting for covariates. High ferritin
      levels in men with no major chronic diseases were also independently associated
      with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. Future research is needed to
      clarify the prognostic role of ferritin.

PMID- 28591162
TI  - Whether weather matters: Evidence of association between in utero meteorological
      exposures and foetal growth among Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers in rural
      Uganda.
AB  - Pregnancy and birth outcomes have been found to be sensitive to meteorological
      variation, yet few studies explore this relationship in sub-Saharan Africa where
      infant mortality rates are the highest in the world. We address this research gap
      by examining the association between meteorological factors and birth weight in a
      rural population in southwestern Uganda. Our study included hospital birth
      records (n = 3197) from 2012 to 2015, for which we extracted meteorological
      exposure data for the three trimesters preceding each birth. We used linear
      regression, controlling for key covariates, to estimate the timing, strength, and
      direction of meteorological effects on birth weight. Our results indicated that
      precipitation during the third trimester had a positive association with birth
      weight, with more frequent days of precipitation associated with higher birth
      weight: we observed a 3.1g (95% CI: 1.0-5.3g) increase in birth weight per
      additional day of exposure to rainfall over 5mm. Increases in average daily
      temperature during the third trimester were also associated with birth weight,
      with an increase of 41.8g (95% CI: 0.6-82.9g) per additional degree Celsius. When
      the sample was stratified by season of birth, only infants born between June and
      November experienced a significant associated between meteorological exposures
      and birth weight. The association of meteorological variation with foetal growth
      seemed to differ by ethnicity; effect sizes of meteorological were greater among
      an Indigenous subset of the population, in particular for variation in
      temperature. Effects in all populations in this study are higher than estimates
      of the African continental average, highlighting the heterogeneity in the
      vulnerability of infant health to meteorological variation in different contexts.
      Our results indicate that while there is an association between meteorological
      variation and birth weight, the magnitude of these associations may vary across
      ethnic groups with differential socioeconomic resources, with implications for
      interventions to reduce these gradients and offset the health impacts predicted
      under climate change.

PMID- 28591161
TI  - Health-related quality of life among military HIV patients on antiretroviral
      therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were: (i) to determine the factors associated
      with HRQOL at baseline in our cohort, and (ii) to evaluate if there are
      differences in baseline HRQOL measures by antiretroviral treatment. METHODS: The
      Short Form 36 (SF-36) was administered between 2006 and 2010 among members of the
      United States HIV Natural History Study cohort (NHS), and participants who
      completed the SF-36 were included in the study. Physical component summary (PCS)
      and mental component summary (MCS) scores were computed based on standard
      algorithms. Multivariate linear regression models were constructed for PCS and
      MCS to estimate the association between selected variables and HRQOL scores.
      RESULTS: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) was not independently associated with HRQOL
      scores. Factors associated with PCS were CD4+ count < 200 cells/mm3 (beta = 
      5.84, 95% CI: -7.63, -4.06), mental comorbidity (beta = -2.82, 95% CI: -3.79, 
      1.85), medical comorbidity (beta = -2.51, 95% CI: -3.75, -1.27), AIDS diagnosis
      (beta = -2.38, 95% CI: -3.79, -0.98). Others were gender, military rank, marital
      status, and age. Factors independently associated with MCS were CD4+ count < 200
      cells/mm3 (beta = -1.93, 95% CI: -3.85, -0.02), mental comorbidity (beta = -6.25,
      95% CI: -7.25, -5.25), age (beta = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.60), and being African
      American (beta = 1.55, 95% CI: 0.63, 2.47). CONCLUSION: Among military active
      duty and beneficiaries with HIV, modifiable factors associated with HRQOL
      measures included advanced HIV disease, and mental or medical comorbidity.
      Addressing these factors may improve quality of life of HIV-infected individuals
      in the NHS cohort.

PMID- 28591163
TI  - Strong influence of livestock environments on the emergence and dissemination of
      distinct multidrug-resistant phenotypes among the population of non-typhoidal
      Salmonella.
AB  - The problem of emergence and dissemination of multidrug resistance, especially
      among Gram-negative bacteria, has reached alarming levels. This increases the
      need to develop surveillance methods that more effectively and accurately provide
      information about the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant organisms. In
      this study, using a well-defined population of non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS)
      isolates associated with avian, bovine and porcine hosts, we found that the
      livestock environments had a specific (P < 0.005) and profound (P < 0.005) effect
      on the evolution of multidrug-resistant phenotypes among population of NTS
      isolates. The MDR pattern containing penicillins, tetracyclines and macrolides
      and the evolving counterparts (i.e., penicillins, tetracyclines and macrolides +
      other antibiotic classes) were significantly (P < 0.005) associated with NTS
      isolates of porcine origin. Similarly, MDR patterns containing folate pathway
      inhibitors, macrolides and aminocyclitol or containing penicillins,
      cephalosporins, tetracyclines, phenicols and macrolides were significantly
      associated with avian (P < 0.005) and bovine (P < 0.005) NTS isolates,
      respectively. Furthermore, STRUCTURE, an evolutionary analysis, clearly showed
      that the host origin (i.e., livestock environment), and not the genetic
      background of different NTS serovars, was the most determinative factor for
      acquisition and spread of MDR phenotypes. In addition, we described a novel non
      synonymous mutation, located outside of the QRDR at position 864 of GyrA, that
      was likely associated with fluoroquinolone resistance.

PMID- 28591164
TI  - Alamandine reduces leptin expression through the c-Src/p38 MAP kinase pathway in
      adipose tissue.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obesity is associated with an increased risk of diabetes mellitus,
      hypertension, and renal dysfunction. Angiotensin 1-7 and alamandine are
      heptameric renin angiotensin system peptide hormones. Further, alamandine levels
      increase with renal dysfunction. In the cardiovascular system, angiotensin 1-7
      and alamandine produce similar improvements and counterbalance angiotensin II in
      regulating vascular function. We aimed to determine whether the effect of
      alamandine on leptin expression and secretion in adipocytes was similar to that
      of angiotensin 1-7. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We studied isolated peri-renal visceral
      adipose tissue and peri-renal isolated visceral adipocytes from male Wistar rats.
      Angiotensin II from 0.01 to 10nM had no effect on leptin expression. Angiotensin
      1-7 (1 nM) increased leptin secretion and expression, whereas alamandine (1 nM)
      decreased leptin secretion and expression in adipose tissue and isolated
      adipocytes and reduced blood leptin levels in vivo. These effects were mediated
      by Gq, c-Src, p38 mitogen-activated protein, and IkappaB activation.
      Additionally, alamandine induced nitric oxide expression via inducible nitric
      oxidase synthase and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 expression in adipose
      tissue and isolated adipocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Angiotensin 1-7 and alamandine
      produced opposing effects on leptin expression and secretion in adipose tissue.
      This result suggests that the action of Mas (angiotensin 1-7 receptor) and Mas
      related G-protein coupled receptor D in adipocytes exhibited opposing actions
      similar to angiotensin II type 1 and type 2 receptors.

PMID- 28591166
TI  - Assessment of the effectiveness of a small quantity lipid-based nutrient
      supplement on reducing anaemia and stunting in refugee populations in the Horn of
      Africa: Secondary data analysis.
AB  - Stunting and micronutrient malnutrition are persistent public health problems in
      refugee populations. UNHCR and its partner organisations implement blanket
      supplementary feeding programmes using a range of special nutritional products as
      one approach to address these issues. The evidence base for the efficacy and
      effectiveness of a small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement,
      Nutributter(r), in reducing stunting and anaemia is limited. Secondary data
      analysis was used to assess the effectiveness of Nutributter(r) distribution on
      anaemia and stunting in children aged 6-23 months (programme target group) and 6
      59 months (the standard age group sampled in routine nutrition surveys). Analysis
      was conducted using routine pre and post-intervention cross-sectional nutrition
      survey data collected between 2008-2011 in five refugee camps in Kenya and
      Djibouti. Changes in total anaemia (Haemoglobin<110g/L), anaemia categories
      (mild, moderate and severe), and stunting (height-for-age z-score <-2) were
      explored using available data on the Nutributter(r) programme and contextual
      factors. A significant reduction in the prevalence of anaemia in children aged 6
      23 months and 6-59 months was seen in four of five, and in all five camps,
      respectively (p<0.05). Reductions ranged from 12.4 to 23.0, and 18.3 to 29.3
      percentage points in each age group. Improvements were largely due to reductions
      in moderate and severe anaemia and occurred where the prevalence of acute
      malnutrition was stable or increasing. No change in stunting was observed in four
      of five camps. The replicability of findings across five sites strongly suggests
      that Nutributter(r) distribution was associated with a reduction in anaemia, but
      not stunting, among refugee children in the Horn of Africa. Benefits were not
      restricted to the 6-23 month target group targeted by the nutrition programme.
      However, even following this intervention anaemia remained a serious public
      health problem and additional work to define and evaluate an effective
      intervention package is warranted.

PMID- 28591165
TI  - Dichloroacetate affects proliferation but not apoptosis in canine mammary cell
      lines.
AB  - Targeting mitochondrial energy metabolism is a novel approach in cancer research
      and can be traced back to the description of the Warburg effect. Dichloroacetate,
      a controversially discussed subject of many studies in cancer research, is a
      pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase inhibitor. Dichloroacetate causes metabolic changes
      in cancerous glycolysis towards oxidative phosphorylation via indirect activation
      of pyruvate dehydrogenase in mitochondria. Canine mammary cancer is frequently
      diagnosed but after therapy prognosis still remains poor. In this study, canine
      mammary carcinoma, adenoma and non-neoplastic mammary gland cell lines were
      treated using 10 mM Dichloroacetate. The effect on cell number, lactate release
      and PDH expression and cell respiration was investigated. Further, the effect on
      apoptosis and several apoptotic proteins, proliferation, and microRNA expression
      was evaluated. Dichloroacetate was found to reduce cell proliferation without
      inducing apoptosis in all examined cell lines.

PMID- 28591167
TI  - Genomic analysis of stayability in Nellore cattle.
AB  - Stayability, which can be defined as the probability of a cow calving at a
      certain age when given the opportunity, is an important reproductive trait in
      beef cattle because it is directly related to herd profitability. The objective
      of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and to identify possible genomic
      regions associated with the phenotypic expression of stayability in Nellore cows.
      The variance components were estimated by Bayesian inference using a threshold
      animal model that included the systematic effects of contemporary group and
      sexual precocity and the random effects of animal and residual. The SNP effects
      were estimated by the single-step genomic BLUP method using information of 2,838
      animals (2,020 females and 930 sires) genotyped with the Illumina High-Density
      BeadChip Array (San Diego, CA, USA). The variance explained by windows formed by
      200 consecutive SNPs was used to identify genomic regions of largest effect on
      the expression of stayability. The heritability was 0.11 +/- 0.01 when A matrix
      (pedigree) was used and 0.14 +/- 0.01 when H matrix (relationship matrix that
      combines pedigree information and SNP data) was used. A total of 147 candidate
      genes for stayability were identified on chromosomes 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 20 and on
      the X chromosome. New candidate regions for stayability were detected, most of
      them related to reproductive, immunological and central nervous system functions.

PMID- 28591168
TI  - Exploiting repetitive sequences and BAC clones in Festuca pratensis karyotyping.
AB  - The Festuca genus is thought to be the most numerous genus of the Poaceae family.
      One of the most agronomically important forage grasses, Festuca pratensis Huds.
      is treated as a model plant to study the molecular mechanisms associated with
      tolerance to winter stresses, including frost. However, the precise mapping of
      the genes governing stress tolerance in this species is difficult as its
      karyotype remains unrecognized. Only two F. pratensis chromosomes with 35S and 5S
      rDNA sequences can be easily identified, but its remaining chromosomes have not
      been distinguished to date. Here, two libraries derived from F. pratensis nuclear
      DNA with various contents of repetitive DNA sequences were used as sources of
      molecular probes for fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH), a BAC library and
      a library representing sequences most frequently present in the F. pratensis
      genome. Using FISH, six groups of DNA sequences were revealed in chromosomes on
      the basis of their signal position, including dispersed-like sequences,
      chromosome painting-like sequences, centromeric-like sequences, knob-like
      sequences, a group without hybridization signals, and single locus-like
      sequences. The last group was exploited to develop cytogenetic maps of diploid
      and tetraploid F. pratensis, which are presented here for the first time and
      provide a remarkable progress in karyotype characterization.

PMID- 28591170
TI  - A potential role of microRNAs in protein accumulation in cellular senescence
      analyzed by bioinformatics.
AB  - Cellular senescence is an important protective mechanism against cell
      proliferation and has critical roles in aging and aging-related disease.
      Recently, one interesting observation is that the protein abundance is higher in
      senescent cells than that in young cells. So far, some factors were presented to
      interpret this observation, such as active protein synthesis linked with
      autophagy, mTOR, and oxidative stress. Here, applying bioinformatic analysis of
      microRNA profiles in young cells and aging cells, we revealed that globally
      senescent cells show lower miRNA abundance than that in young cells, suggesting
      that the repression of protein synthesis by miRNA in senescent cells could be
      largely attenuated. This finding provides clues that protein accumulation in
      cellular senescence could be associated with lower miRNA abundance in aging
      cells.

PMID- 28591169
TI  - Exposure of bighorn sheep to domestic goats colonized with Mycoplasma
      ovipneumoniae induces sub-lethal pneumonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchopneumonia is a population limiting disease of bighorn sheep
      (Ovis canadensis) that has been associated with contact with domestic Caprinae.
      The disease is polymicrobial but is initiated by Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, which
      is commonly carried by both domestic sheep (O. aries) and goats (Capra aegagrus
      hircus). However, while previous bighorn sheep comingling studies with domestic
      sheep have resulted in nearly 100% pneumonia mortality, only sporadic occurrence
      of fatal pneumonia was reported from previous comingling studies with domestic
      goats. Here, we evaluated the ability of domestic goats of defined M.
      ovipneumoniae carriage status to induce pneumonia in comingled bighorn sheep.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In experiment 1, three bighorn sheep naive to M.
      ovipneumoniae developed non-fatal respiratory disease (coughing, nasal discharge)
      following comingling with three naturally M. ovipneumoniae-colonized domestic
      goats. Gross and histological lesions of pneumonia, limited to small areas on the
      ventral and lateral edges of the anterior and middle lung lobes, were observed at
      necropsies conducted at the end of the experiment. A control group of three
      bighorn sheep from the same source housed in isolation during experiment 1
      remained free of observed respiratory disease. In experiment 2, three bighorn
      sheep remained free of observed respiratory disease while comingled with three M.
      ovipneumoniae-free domestic goats. In experiment 3, introduction of a domestic
      goat-origin strain of M. ovipneumoniae to the same comingled goats and bighorn
      sheep used in experiment 2 resulted in clinical signs of respiratory disease
      (coughing, nasal discharge) in both host species. At the end of experiment 3,
      gross and histological evidence of pneumonia similar to that observed in
      experiment 1 bighorn sheep was observed in both affected bighorn sheep and
      domestic goats. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: M. ovipneumoniae strains carried by
      domestic goats were transmitted to comingled bighorn sheep, triggering
      development of pneumonia. However, the severity of the disease was markedly
      milder than that seen in similar experiments with domestic sheep strains of the
      bacterium.

PMID- 28591171
TI  - Mixed-mode oscillations in pyramidal neurons under antiepileptic drug conditions.
AB  - Subthreshold oscillations in combination with large-amplitude oscillations
      generate mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs), which mediate various spatial and
      temporal cognition and memory processes and behavioral motor tasks. Although many
      studies have shown that canard theory is a reliable method to investigate the
      properties underlying the MMOs phenomena, the relationship between the results
      obtained by applying canard theory and conductance-based models of neurons and
      their electrophysiological mechanisms are still not well understood. The goal of
      this study was to apply canard theory to the conductance-based model of pyramidal
      neurons in layer V of the Entorhinal Cortex to investigate the properties of MMOs
      under antiepileptic drug conditions (i.e., when persistent sodium current is
      inhibited). We investigated not only the mathematical properties of MMOs in these
      neurons, but also the electrophysiological mechanisms that shape spike
      clustering. Our results show that pyramidal neurons can display two types of MMOs
      and the magnitude of the slow potassium current determines whether MMOs of type I
      or type II would emerge. Our results also indicate that slow potassium currents
      with large time constant have significant impact on generating the MMOs, as
      opposed to fast inward currents. Our results provide complete characterization of
      the subthreshold activities in MMOs in pyramidal neurons and provide explanation
      to experimental studies that showed MMOs of type I or type II in pyramidal
      neurons under antiepileptic drug conditions.

PMID- 28591172
TI  - Multi-state modelling of heart failure care path: A population-based
      investigation from Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: How different risk profiles of heart failure (HF) patients can
      influence multiple readmissions and outpatient management is largely unknown. We
      propose the application of two multi-state models in real world setting to
      jointly evaluate the impact of different risk factors on multiple hospital
      admissions, Integrated Home Care (IHC) activations, Intermediate Care Unit (ICU)
      admissions and death. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The first model (model 1) concerns
      only hospitalizations as possible events and aims at detecting the determinants
      of repeated hospitalizations. The second model (model 2) considers both
      hospitalizations and ICU/IHC events and aims at evaluating which profiles are
      associated with transitions in intermediate care with respect to repeated
      hospitalizations or death. Both are characterized by transition specific
      covariates, adjusting for risk factors. We identified 4,904 patients (4,129 de
      novo and 775 worsening heart failure, WHF) hospitalized for HF from 2009 to 2014.
      2,714 (55%) patients died. Advanced age and higher morbidity load increased the
      rate of dying and of being rehospitalized (model 1), decreased the rate of being
      discharged from hospital (models 1 and 2) and increased the rate of inactivation
      of IHC (model 2). WHF was an important risk factor associated with hospital
      readmission. CONCLUSION: Multi-state models enable a better identification of two
      patterns of HF patients. Once adjusted for age and comorbidity load, the WHF
      condition identifies patients who are more likely to be readmitted to hospital,
      but does not represent an increasing risk factor for activating ICU/IHC. This
      highlights different ways to manage specific patients' patterns of care. These
      results provide useful healthcare support to patients' management in real world
      context. Our study suggests that the epidemiology of the considered clinical
      characteristics is more nuanced than traditionally presented through a single
      event.

PMID- 28591173
TI  - Overinterpretation is common in pathological diagnosis of appendix cancer during
      patient referral for oncologic care.
AB  - CONTEXT: Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN) and appendiceal
      adenocarcinoma are known to cause the majority of pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP,
      i.e. mucinous ascites); however, recognition and proper classification of these
      neoplasms can be difficult despite established diagnostic criteria. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the pathological diagnostic concordance for appendix neoplasia and
      related lesions during patient referral to an academic medical center specialized
      in treating patients with PMP. DESIGN: The anatomic pathology laboratory
      information system was searched to identify cases over a two-year period
      containing appendix specimens with mucinous neoplasia evaluated by an outside
      pathology group and by in-house slide review at a single large academic medical
      center during patient referral. RESULTS: 161 cases containing appendix specimens
      were identified over this period. Forty-six of 161 cases (28.6%) contained
      appendiceal primary neoplasia or lesions. Of these, the originating pathologist
      diagnosed 23 cases (50%) as adenocarcinoma and 23 cases (50%) as LAMN; however,
      the reference pathologist diagnosed 29 cases (63.0%) as LAMN, 13 cases (28.3%) as
      adenocarcinoma, and 4 cases (8.7%) as ruptured simple mucocele. Importantly, for
      cases in which the originating pathologist rendered a diagnosis of
      adenocarcinoma, the reference pathologist rendered a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma
      (56.5%, 13 of 23), LAMN (39.1%, 9 of 23), or simple mucocele (4.3%, 1 of 23). The
      overall diagnostic concordance rate for these major classifications was 71.7% (33
      of 46) with an unweighted observed kappa value of 0.48 (95% CI, 0.27-0.69),
      consistent with moderate interobserver agreement. All of the observed discordance
      (28.3%) for major classifications could be attributed to over-interpretation. In
      addition, the majority of LAMN cases (65.5%) had potential diagnostic
      deficiencies including over-interpretation as adenocarcinoma and lacking or
      discordant risk stratification (i.e. documentation of extra-appendiceal
      neoplastic epithelium). CONCLUSIONS: Appendiceal mucinous lesions remain a
      difficult area for appropriate pathological classification with substantial
      discordance due to over-interpretation in this study. The findings highlight the
      critical need for recognition and application of diagnostic criteria regarding
      these tumors. Recently published consensus guidelines and a checklist provided
      herein may help facilitate improvement of diagnostic concordance and thereby
      reduce over-interpretation and potential overtreatment. Further studies are
      needed to determine the extent of this phenomenon and its potential clinical
      impact.

PMID- 28591174
TI  - The acute effects of lower limb intermittent negative pressure on foot macro- and
      microcirculation in patients with peripheral arterial disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intermittent negative pressure (INP) applied to the lower leg and
      foot increases foot perfusion in healthy volunteers. The aim of the present study
      was to describe the effects of INP to the lower leg and foot on foot macro- and
      microcirculation in patients with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease
      (PAD). METHODS: In this experimental study, we analyzed foot circulation during
      INP in 20 patients [median (range): 75 (63-84yrs)] with PAD. One leg was placed
      inside an air-tight vacuum chamber connected to an INP-generator. During
      application of INP (alternating 10s of -40mmHg/7s of atmospheric pressure), we
      continuously recorded blood flow velocity in a distal foot artery (ultrasound
      Doppler), skin blood flow on the pulp of the first toes (laser Doppler), heart
      rate (ECG), and systemic blood pressure (Finometer). After a 5-min baseline
      sequence (no pressure), a 10-min INP sequence was applied, followed by 5-min post
      INP (no pressure). To compare and quantify blood flow fluctuations between
      sequences, we calculated cumulative up-and-down fluctuations in arterial blood
      flow velocity per minute. RESULTS: Onset of INP induced an increase in arterial
      flow velocity and skin blood flow. Peak blood flow velocity was reached 3s after
      the onset of negative pressure, and increased 46% [(95% CI 36-57), P<0.001] above
      baseline. Peak skin blood flow was reached 2s after the onset of negative
      pressure, and increased 89% (95% CI 48-130), P<0.001) above baseline. Cumulative
      fluctuations per minute were significantly higher during INP-sequences compared
      to baseline [21 (95% CI 12-30)cm/s/min to 41 (95% CI 32-51)cm/s/min, P<0.001].
      Mean INP blood flow velocity increased significantly ~12% above mean baseline
      blood flow velocity [(6.7 (95% CI 5.2-8.3)cm/s to 7.5 (95% CI 5.9-9.1)cm/s, P =
      0.03)]. CONCLUSION: INP increases foot macro- and microcirculatory flow
      pulsatility in patients with PAD. Additionally, application of INP resulted in
      increased mean arterial blood flow velocity.

PMID- 28591176
TI  - Moxibustion treatment for primary osteoporosis: A systematic review of randomized
      controlled trials.
AB  - Primary osteoporosis (POP) has a serious impact on quality of life for middle
      aged and elderly, which particularly increase the risk of fracture. We conducted
      the systematic review to evaluate the effects of moxibustion for POP in
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Eight databases were searched from their
      inception to July 30, 2016. The RCTs reporting the moxibustion as a monotherapy
      or in combination with conventional therapy for POP were enrolled. The outcomes
      might be fracture incidence, quality of life, clinical symptoms, death attributed
      to osteoporosis, adverse effect, bone mineral density (BMD), and biochemical
      indicators. Literature selection, data abstraction, quality evaluation, and data
      analysis were in accordance with Cochrane standards.Thirteen trials including 808
      patients were included. Meta-analysis was not conducted because of the obvious
      clinical or statistical heterogeneity. Limited evidence suggested that
      moxibustion plus anti-osteoporosis medicine might be more effective in relieving
      the pain (visual analogue scale scores average changed 2 scores between groups, 4
      trials), increasing the BMD of femoral neck (average changed 0.4 g/cm2 between
      groups, 3 trials), and improving the level of bone gla protein, osteoprotegerin
      and bone alkaline phosphatase (2 trials) compared with anti-osteoporosis medicine
      alone. However, the quality of previous studies was evaluated as generally poor.
      The safety evidence of moxibustion was still insufficient. Due to the paucity of
      high-quality studies, there was no definite conclusion about the efficacy and
      safety of moxibustion treating POP although parts of positive results were
      presented. Future research should pay attention to the dose-response relation and
      fracture incidence of moxibustion for POP.

PMID- 28591175
TI  - Tigers in the Terai: Strong evidence for meta-population dynamics contributing to
      tiger recovery and conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape.
AB  - The source populations of tigers are mostly confined to protected areas, which
      are now becoming isolated. A landscape scale conservation strategy should strive
      to facilitate dispersal and survival of dispersing tigers by managing habitat
      corridors that enable tigers to traverse the matrix with minimal conflict. We
      present evidence for tiger dispersal along transboundary protected areas
      complexes in the Terai Arc Landscape, a priority tiger landscape in Nepal and
      India, by comparing camera trap data, and through population models applied to
      the long term camera trap data sets. The former showed that 11 individual tigers
      used the corridors that connected the transboundary protected areas. The
      estimated population growth rates using the minimum observed population size in
      two protected areas in Nepal, Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta National Park
      showed that the increases were higher than expected from growth rates due to in
      situ reproduction alone. These lines of evidence suggests that tigers are
      recolonizing Nepal's protected areas from India, after a period of population
      decline, and that the tiger populations in the transboundary protected areas
      complexes may be maintained as meta-population. Our results demonstrate the
      importance of adopting a landscape-scale approach to tiger conservation,
      especially to improve population recovery and long term population persistence.

PMID- 28591177
TI  - Identification and characterization of CONSTANS-like (COL) gene family in upland
      cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).
AB  - The CONSTANS/FLOWERING LOCUS T (CO/FT) regulon plays a central role in the
      control of flowering time in photoperiod-sensitive plants. Flowering time in wild
      cotton (Gossypium spp.) has strict photoperiod sensitivity, but domesticated
      cotton is day-neutral. Information on the molecular characterization of the CO
      and CO-like (COL) genes in cotton is very limited. In this study, we identified
      42 COL homologs (GhCOLs) in the G. hirsutum genome, and many of them were
      previously unreported. We studied their chromosome distribution, phylogenetic
      relationships, and structures of genes and proteins. Our results showed that
      GhCOLs were classified into three groups, and 14 COLs in group I showed conserved
      structure when compared with other plants. Two homoeologous pairs, GhCOL1-A and
      GhCOL1-D in Group I, showed the highest sequence similarity to Arabidopsis
      thaliana CO and rice CO homologous gene Heading date1 (Hd1). Tissue-specific
      expression showed that 42 GhCOL genes may function as tissue-specific regulators
      in different cells or organs. We cloned and sequenced the 14 GhCOL genes in Group
      I related to flowering induction to study their diurnal expression pattern, and
      found that their expression showed distinct circadian regulation. Most of them
      peaked at dawn and decreased rapidly to their minima at dusk, then started to
      accumulate until following dawn under long- or short-day conditions. Transgenic
      study in the Arabidopsis co-2 mutant demonstrated that GhCOL1-A and GhCOL1-D
      fully rescued the late-flowering phenotype, whereas GhCOL3-A, GhCOL3-D, GhCOL7-A,
      and GhCOL7-D partially rescued the late-flowering phenotype, and the other five
      homoeologous pairs in Group I did not promote flowering. These results indicate
      that GhCOL1-A and GhCOL1-D were potential flowering inducers, and are candidate
      genes for research in flowering regulation in cotton.

PMID- 28591178
TI  - Unfolded protein response plays a critical role in heart damage after myocardial
      ischemia/reperfusion in rats.
AB  - The unfolded protein response (UPR) plays a critical role in cell death mediated
      by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, little is known about the exact
      mechanism of UPR signaling pathways after myocardial I/R injury in rats. An
      attempt was therefore made to assess whether the myocardial I/R induced UPR, and
      which branch of UPR (ATF6, IRE1 and PERK) signal pathway was activated. Sprague
      Dawley rats were pretreated with UPR stimulator dithiothreitol (DTT) and UPR
      inhibitor 4-phenylbutyrate (4PBA) and then subjected to myocardial I/R surgery.
      Compared with sham-operated group, the expression of GRP78, ATF6, CHOP and sXBP1
      in the I/R injured group is significantly increased at transcript and protein
      levels, which indicated that all the three signal pathways of UPR were activated
      in the myocardial I/R injury. Compared with the I/R injured group, treatment with
      4PBA effectively decreased myocardium infarct size, reduced myocardial apoptosis,
      down-regulated caspase-12 expression, diminished serum creatine kinase and
      lactate dehydrogenase levels. In contrast, these effects were reversed in DTT
      treated group. In summary, these results demonstrated that myocardial I/R injury
      activates UPR and inhibiting cell UPR possesses a cardioprotective effect through
      the suppression of ER stress-induced apoptosis. Therefore, inhibition of UPR
      might be used as a therapeutic target during myocardial I/R injury.

PMID- 28591179
TI  - A systematic review of elephant impact across Africa.
AB  - Contradictory findings among scientific studies that address a particular issue
      may impede the conversion of science to management implementation. A systematic
      review of peer-reviewed studies to generate a single outcome may overcome this
      problem. The contentious topic of the impact that a megaherbivore such as the
      savanna elephant have for other species and their environment can benefit from
      such an approach. After some 68 years, 367 peer-reviewed papers covered the topic
      and 51 of these papers provided sufficient data to be included in a meta
      analysis. We separated the direct impact that elephants had on trees and herbs
      from the indirect effects on other vertebrates, invertebrates, and soil
      properties. Elephants have an impact on tree structure and abundance but no
      overall negative cascading effects for species that share space with them.
      Primary productivity explained a small amount of variation of elephant impact on
      vegetation. Elephant numbers (density), study duration, rainfall, tree cover, and
      the presence of artificial water and fences failed to describe patterns of
      impact. We conclude that published information do not support the calls made for
      artificially manipulating elephant numbers to ameliorate elephant impact, and
      call for the management of space use by elephants to maintain savanna
      heterogeneity.

PMID- 28591180
TI  - The oldest fossil mushroom.
AB  - A new fossil mushroom is described and illustrated from the Lower Cretaceous
      Crato Formation of northeast Brazil. Gondwanagaricites magnificus gen. et sp.
      nov. is remarkable for its exceptional preservation as a mineralized replacement
      in laminated limestone, as all other fossil mushrooms are known from amber
      inclusions. Gondwanagaricites represents the oldest fossil mushroom to date and
      the first fossil mushroom from Gondwana.

PMID- 28591181
TI  - Combined use of tri-axial accelerometers and GPS reveals the flexible foraging
      strategy of a bird in relation to weather conditions.
AB  - Tri-axial accelerometry has proved to be a useful technique to study animal
      behavior with little direct observation, and also an effective way to measure
      energy expenditure, allowing a refreshing revisit to optimal foraging theory.
      This theory predicts that individuals should gain the most energy for the lowest
      cost in terms of time and energy when foraging, in order to maximize their
      fitness. However, during a foraging trip, central-place foragers could face
      different trade-offs during the commuting and searching parts of the trip,
      influencing behavioral decisions. Using the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) as an
      example we study the time and energy costs of different behaviors during the
      commuting and searching parts of a foraging trip. Lesser kestrels are small
      insectivorous falcons that behave as central-place foragers during the breeding
      season. They can commute by adopting either time-saving flapping flights or
      energy-saving soaring-gliding flights, and capture prey by using either time
      saving active hovering flights or energy-saving perch-hunting. We tracked 6
      lesser kestrels using GPS and tri-axial accelerometers during the breeding
      season. Our results indicate that males devoted more time and energy to flight
      behaviors than females in agreement with being the sex responsible for food
      provisioning to the nest. During the commuting flights, kestrels replaced
      flapping with soaring-gliding flights as solar radiation increased and thermal
      updrafts got stronger. In the searching part, they replaced perch-hunting with
      hovering as wind speed increased and they experienced a stronger lift. But also,
      they increased the use of hovering as air temperature increased, which has a
      positive influence on the activity level of the preferred prey (large
      grasshoppers). Kestrels maintained a constant energy expenditure per foraging
      trip, although flight and hunting strategies changed dramatically with weather
      conditions, suggesting a fixed energy budget per trip to which they adjusted
      their commuting and searching strategies in response to weather conditions.

PMID- 28591182
TI  - An integrated calcium imaging processing toolbox for the analysis of neuronal
      population dynamics.
AB  - The development of new imaging and optogenetics techniques to study the dynamics
      of large neuronal circuits is generating datasets of unprecedented volume and
      complexity, demanding the development of appropriate analysis tools. We present a
      comprehensive computational workflow for the analysis of neuronal population
      calcium dynamics. The toolbox includes newly developed algorithms and interactive
      tools for image pre-processing and segmentation, estimation of significant single
      neuron single-trial signals, mapping event-related neuronal responses, detection
      of activity-correlated neuronal clusters, exploration of population dynamics, and
      analysis of clusters' features against surrogate control datasets. The modules
      are integrated in a modular and versatile processing pipeline, adaptable to
      different needs. The clustering module is capable of detecting flexible,
      dynamically activated neuronal assemblies, consistent with the distributed
      population coding of the brain. We demonstrate the suitability of the toolbox for
      a variety of calcium imaging datasets. The toolbox open-source code, a step-by
      step tutorial and a case study dataset are available at
      https://github.com/zebrain-lab/Toolbox-Romano-et-al.

PMID- 28591183
TI  - Acanthamoeba castellanii is not be an adequate model to study human adenovirus
      interactions with macrophagic cells.
AB  - Free living amoebae (FLA) including Acanthamoeba castellanii, are protozoa that
      feed on different microorganisms including viruses. These microorganisms show
      remarkable similarities with macrophages in cellular structures, physiology or
      ability to phagocyte preys, and some authors have therefore wondered whether
      Acanthamoeba and macrophages are evolutionary related. It has been considered
      that this amoeba may be an in vitro model to investigate relationships between
      pathogens and macrophagic cells. So, we intended in this study to compare the
      interactions between a human adenovirus strain and A. castellanii or THP-1
      macrophagic cells. The results of molecular and microscopy techniques following
      co-cultures experiments have shown that the presence of the adenovirus decreased
      the viability of macrophages, while it has no effect on amoebic viability. On
      another hand, the viral replication occurred only in macrophages. These results
      showed that this amoebal model is not relevant to explore the relationships
      between adenoviruses and macrophages in in vitro experiments.

PMID- 28591184
TI  - Occult hepatitis B virus infection in HIV positive patients at a tertiary
      healthcare unit in eastern India.
AB  - Occult HBV infection (OBI), defined by the presence of HBV DNA in absence of
      hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), is a significant concern in the HIV-infected
      population. Of 441 HIV+/HBsAg- patients analyzed, the overall prevalence of OBI
      was 6.3% (28/441). OBI was identified in 21 anti-HBc positives (17.8%), as well
      as among those who lacked any HBV-specific serological markers (2.2%). Comparison
      with HIV/HBV co-infection revealed that the levels of CD4, ALT, and HBV DNA were
      significantly lower during occult infection. Discrete differences were also
      observed with respect to quasispecies divergence. Additionally, subgenotype D1
      was most frequent in occult infection, while D2 was widespread during chronic
      infection. The majority (~90%) of occult D1 sequences had the sQ129R mutation in
      the surface gene. This study highlights several distinct features of OBI in India
      and underscores the need for additional HBV DNA screening in HIV-positive
      individuals.

PMID- 28591185
TI  - Selection of suitable endogenous reference genes for qPCR in kidney and
      hypothalamus of rats under testosterone influence.
AB  - Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) is the most reliable and accurate technique for
      analyses of gene expression. Endogenous reference genes are being used to
      normalize qPCR data even though their expression may vary under different
      conditions and in different tissues. Nonetheless, verification of expression of
      reference genes in selected studied tissue is essential in order to accurately
      assess the level of expression of target genes of interest. Therefore, in this
      study, we attempted to examine six commonly used reference genes in order to
      identify the gene being expressed most constantly under the influence of
      testosterone in the kidneys and hypothalamus. The reference genes include
      glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), actin beta (ACTB), beta-2
      microglobulin (B2m), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT),
      peptidylprolylisomerase A (Ppia) and hydroxymethylbilane synthase (Hmbs). The
      cycle threshold (Ct) value for each gene was determined and data obtained were
      analyzed using the software programs NormFinder, geNorm, BestKeeper, and rank
      aggregation. Results showed that Hmbs and Ppia genes were the most stably
      expressed in the hypothalamus. Meanwhile, in kidneys, Hmbs and GAPDH appeared to
      be the most constant genes. In conclusion, variations in expression levels of
      reference genes occur in kidneys and hypothalamus under similar conditions; thus,
      it is important to verify reference gene levels in these tissues prior to
      commencing any studies.

PMID- 28591187
TI  - Male suicide rates in German prisons and the role of citizenship.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prisoners are at a particularly high risk of suicide. In contrast to
      other psychosocial risk factors it remains unclear to what degree the risk of
      suicide differs between prisoners with local citizenship and foreigners. In order
      to provide more detailed information for suicide prevention in prisons, this
      study aims to compare suicide rates (SR) between these populations in German
      criminal custody. METHODS: Based on a German national database of completed
      suicide in custody, suicides by prisoners were analysed and compared with
      epidemiological data of the prison population and the general population,
      stratified for German and foreign citizenship. Data analysis was adjusted for
      differences in the age distribution of both populations by calculating standard
      mortality ratios (SMR) for suicide. RESULTS: SR were higher in prisoners with
      German citizenship than those with foreign citizenship (SR = 76.5 vs. SR = 42.8,
      P<0.01). This association was not specific to the prison population, as the
      higher SR in citizens compared to non-citizens (SR = 19.3 vs. SR = 9.0, P<0.01)
      were also found in the general population. The association between prison suicide
      and citizenship was comparable in juvenile and adult prisoners, indicating its
      relevance to both the juvenile and adult detention systems. CONCLUSION:
      Imprisonment is associated with a substantially increased risk of suicide in both
      German and non-German citizens, a finding which needs to be taken into
      consideration by the justice system. The lower suicide risk in non-German
      citizens is independent of whether or not they are in custody.

PMID- 28591188
TI  - A constrained multinomial Probit route choice model in the metro network:
      Formulation, estimation and application.
AB  - Considering that metro network expansion brings us with more alternative routes,
      it is attractive to integrate the impacts of routes set and the interdependency
      among alternative routes on route choice probability into route choice modeling.
      Therefore, the formulation, estimation and application of a constrained
      multinomial probit (CMNP) route choice model in the metro network are carried out
      in this paper. The utility function is formulated as three components: the
      compensatory component is a function of influencing factors; the non-compensatory
      component measures the impacts of routes set on utility; following a multivariate
      normal distribution, the covariance of error component is structured into three
      parts, representing the correlation among routes, the transfer variance of route,
      and the unobserved variance respectively. Considering multidimensional integrals
      of the multivariate normal probability density function, the CMNP model is
      rewritten as Hierarchical Bayes formula and M-H sampling algorithm based Monte
      Carlo Markov Chain approach is constructed to estimate all parameters. Based on
      Guangzhou Metro data, reliable estimation results are gained. Furthermore, the
      proposed CMNP model also shows a good forecasting performance for the route
      choice probabilities calculation and a good application performance for transfer
      flow volume prediction.

PMID- 28591186
TI  - Increasing incidence of mucormycosis in a large Spanish hospital from 2007 to
      2015: Epidemiology and microbiological characterization of the isolates.
AB  - We studied 19 cases of proven/probable mucormycosis diagnosed from 2007 to 2015
      in our hospital and assessed the microbiological characteristics of the isolates.
      We recorded the incidence of mucormycosis and clinical and microbiological data
      of infected patients. Isolates were identified to molecular level and tested for
      their antifungal susceptibility to azoles, amphotericin B, and liposomal
      amphotericin B according to the CLSI M-38 A2 procedure. The incidence of
      mucormycosis in cases/100,000 hospital admissions during 2007-2015 increased
      significantly with respect to that reported in 1988-2006 (3.3 vs. 1.2; P<0.05).
      Patients mainly had hematological malignancies (52.6%) and/or trauma/surgical
      wounds (52.6%) and had received antifungal agents before the diagnosis of
      mucormycosis in 68% of cases. Diagnosis was by isolation (n = 17/19) and/or
      direct staining (n = 17/18) of Mucorales fungi in clinical samples.
      Identification was by panfungal PCR in patients with negative results in culture
      and in direct staining. The microorganisms identified were Lichtheimia spp.
      (42%), Rhizopus spp. (21%), Cunninghamella bertholletiae (16%), and others (21%).
      Liposomal amphotericin B was always more active than the other drugs against all
      the microorganisms except C. bertholletiae. All patients received antifungal
      treatment with 1 or more antifungal agents, mainly liposomal amphotericin B
      (17/19). Mortality was 47.4%, although this was significantly lower in the 11
      patients in whom debridement was performed (18% vs. 87.5%) (P = 0.015). The
      incidence of mucormycosis has risen in recent years. The proportion of cases with
      soft tissue involvement was high, and Lichtheimia was the most frequently
      involved species. The highest antifungal activity was observed with liposomal
      amphotericin B.

PMID- 28591190
TI  - Statistical methods used in the public health literature and implications for
      training of public health professionals.
AB  - Statistical literacy and knowledge is needed to read and understand the public
      health literature. The purpose of this study was to quantify basic and advanced
      statistical methods used in public health research. We randomly sampled 216
      published articles from seven top tier general public health journals. Studies
      were reviewed by two readers and a standardized data collection form completed
      for each article. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and frequency
      distributions. Results were summarized for statistical methods used in the
      literature, including descriptive and inferential statistics, modeling, advanced
      statistical techniques, and statistical software used. Approximately 81.9% of
      articles reported an observational study design and 93.1% of articles were
      substantively focused. Descriptive statistics in table or graphical form were
      reported in more than 95% of the articles, and statistical inference reported in
      more than 76% of the studies reviewed. These results reveal the types of
      statistical methods currently used in the public health literature. Although this
      study did not obtain information on what should be taught, information on
      statistical methods being used is useful for curriculum development in graduate
      health sciences education, as well as making informed decisions about continuing
      education for public health professionals.

PMID- 28591189
TI  - Shift from slow- to fast-water habitats accelerates lineage and phenotype
      evolution in a clade of Neotropical suckermouth catfishes (Loricariidae:
      Hypoptopomatinae).
AB  - Identifying habitat characteristics that accelerate organismal evolution is
      essential to understanding both the origins of life on Earth and the ecosystem
      properties that are most critical to maintaining life into the future. Searching
      for these characteristics on a large scale has only recently become possible via
      advances in phylogenetic reconstruction, time-calibration, and comparative
      analyses. In this study, we combine these tools with habitat and phenotype data
      for 105 species in a clade of Neotropical suckermouth catfishes commonly known as
      cascudinhos. Our goal was to determine whether riverine mesohabitats defined by
      different flow rates (i.e., pools vs. rapids) and substrates (plants vs. rocks)
      have affected rates of cascudinho cladogenesis and morphological diversification.
      In contrast to predictions based on general theory related to life in fast
      flowing, rocky riverine habitats, Neoplecostomini lineages associated with these
      habitats exhibited increased body size, head shape diversity, and lineage and
      phenotype diversification rates. These findings are consistent with a growing
      understanding of river rapids as incubators of biological diversification and
      specialization. They also highlight the urgent need to conserve rapids habitats
      throughout the major rivers of the world.

PMID- 28591191
TI  - Reanalysis of BRCA1/2 negative high risk ovarian cancer patients reveals novel
      germline risk loci and insights into missing heritability.
AB  - While up to 25% of ovarian cancer (OVCA) cases are thought to be due to inherited
      factors, the majority of genetic risk remains unexplained. To address this gap,
      we sought to identify previously undescribed OVCA risk variants through the whole
      exome sequencing (WES) and candidate gene analysis of 48 women with ovarian
      cancer and selected for high risk of genetic inheritance, yet negative for any
      known pathogenic variants in either BRCA1 or BRCA2. In silico SNP analysis was
      employed to identify suspect variants followed by validation using Sanger DNA
      sequencing. We identified five pathogenic variants in our sample, four of which
      are in two genes featured on current multi-gene panels; (RAD51D, ATM). In
      addition, we found a pathogenic FANCM variant (R1931*) which has been recently
      implicated in familial breast cancer risk. Numerous rare and predicted to be
      damaging variants of unknown significance were detected in genes on current
      commercial testing panels, most prominently in ATM (n = 6) and PALB2 (n = 5). The
      BRCA2 variant p.K3326*, resulting in a 93 amino acid truncation, was
      overrepresented in our sample (odds ratio = 4.95, p = 0.01) and coexisted in the
      germline of these women with other deleterious variants, suggesting a possible
      role as a modifier of genetic penetrance. Furthermore, we detected loss of
      function variants in non-panel genes involved in OVCA relevant pathways; DNA
      repair and cell cycle control, including CHEK1, TP53I3, REC8, HMMR, RAD52, RAD1,
      POLK, POLQ, and MCM4. In summary, our study implicates novel risk loci as well as
      highlights the clinical utility for retesting BRCA1/2 negative OVCA patients by
      genomic sequencing and analysis of genes in relevant pathways.

PMID- 28591192
TI  - Perinatal outcomes and congenital heart defect prognosis in 53313 non-selected
      perinatal infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate perinatal outcomes and congenital heart defect (CHD)
      prognosis in a non-selected population. METHODS: The population-based
      surveillance data used in this assessment of CHDs were based on birth defect
      surveillance data collected from 2010-2012 in Liuyang City, China. Infants living
      with CHDs were followed up for 5 years to determine their prognosis. Prevalence,
      prenatal diagnosis, perinatal outcomes, and total and type-specific prognosis
      data were assessed using SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: In total, 190 CHD cases were
      identified among the 53313 included perinatal infants (PIs), indicating a CHD
      prevalence of 35.64 per 10000 PIs in this non-selected population. The five most
      frequently identified types of CHDs were ventricular septal defects (VSDs,
      38.95%), atrial septal defects (ASDs, 15.79%), cardiomegaly (7.89%), tetralogy of
      Fallot (TOF, 5.79%), and atrioventricular septal defects (AVSDs, 5.26%). Of the
      190 CHD cases, 110 (57.89%) were diagnosed prenatally, 30 (15.79%) were diagnosed
      with associated malformations, and 69 (36.32%) resulted in termination of
      pregnancy (TOP). Moreover, 15 (7.89%) PIs died within 7 days after delivery, and
      42 (22.10%) died within 1 year. In contrast, 79 (41.58%) were still alive after 5
      years. When TOP cases were included, the 5-year survival rate of PIs with
      prenatally detected CHDs was lower than that of PIs with postnatally detected
      CHDs (25.45% vs. 63.75%). The CHD subtype associated with the highest rate of
      infant (less than 1 year old) mortality was transposition of the great arteries
      (100%). The subtypes associated with higher 5-year survival rates were patent
      ductus arteriosus (80%), ASD (63.33%), VSD (52.70%) and AVSD (50%). CONCLUSIONS:
      The rates of prenatal CHD detection and TOP were high in this study population,
      and the 5-year survival rate of PIs with CHDs was low. The government should
      strengthen efforts to educate pediatricians regarding this issue and provide
      financial assistance to improve the prognosis of infants living with CHDs,
      especially during the first year of life.

PMID- 28591193
TI  - Differential effects of formaldehyde exposure on airway inflammation and
      bronchial hyperresponsiveness in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice.
AB  - Epidemiological evidence suggests that formaldehyde (FA) exposure may influence
      the prevalence and severity of allergic asthma. However, the role of genetic
      background in FA-induced asthma-like responses is poorly understood. In the
      present study, we investigated the nature and severity of asthma-like responses
      triggered by exposure to different doses of FA together with or without ovalbumin
      (OVA) in two genetically different mouse strains-BALB/c and C57BL/6. Both mouse
      strains were divided into two main groups: the non-sensitized group and the OVA
      sensitized group. All the groups were exposed to 0, 0.5 or 3.0 mg/m3 FA for 6
      h/day over 25 consecutive days. At 24 h after the final FA exposure, the
      pulmonary parameters were evaluated. We found that FA exposure induced Th2-type
      allergic responses in non-sensitized BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. In addition, FA
      induced allergic responses were significantly more prominent in BALB/c mice than
      in C57BL/6 mice. In sensitized BALB/c mice, however, FA exposure suppressed the
      development of OVA-induced allergic responses. Exposure to 3.0 mg/m3 FA in
      sensitized C57BL/6 mice also led to suppressed allergic responses, whereas
      exposure to 0.5 mg/m3 FA resulted in exacerbated allergic responses to OVA. Our
      findings suggest that FA exposure can induce differential airway inflammation and
      bronchial hyperresponsiveness in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice.

PMID- 28591194
TI  - Regulation of neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation by Kinesin
      family member 2a.
AB  - In the developing neocortex, cells in the ventricular/subventricular zone are
      largely multipotent neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells. These cells
      undergo self-renewal at the early stage of embryonic development to amplify the
      progenitor pool and subsequently differentiate into neurons. It is thus of
      considerable interest to investigate mechanisms controlling the switch from
      neural stem cells or neural progenitor cells to neurons. Here, we present
      evidence that Kif2a, a member of the Kinesin-13 family, plays a role in
      regulating the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells or neural
      progenitor cells at embryonic day 13.5. Silencing Kif2a by use of in utero
      electroporation of Kif2a shRNA reduced neural stem cells proliferation or self
      renewal but increased neuronal differentiation. We further found that knockdown
      of Kif2a decreased the protein level of beta-catenin, which is a critical
      molecule for neocortical neurogenesis. Together, these results reveal an
      important function of Kif2a in embryonic neocortical neurogenesis.

PMID- 28591195
TI  - Hyponatremia and increased risk of dementia: A population-based retrospective
      cohort study.
AB  - Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder and also a predictor of mild
      cognition impairment. However, the association between hyponatremia and dementia
      in long follow up periods is rarely investigated. A retrospective cohort study
      was performed using the claims data of all insured residents who were covered by
      Taiwan's universal health insurance from 2000 to 2011. A total of 4900
      hyponatremia patients and 19545 matched comparisons were recruited for the
      analysis. The incidences of hyponatremia and dementia were diagnosed with
      clinical protocol and defined using the International Classification of Diseases,
      9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). Cox proportional hazard
      regression and Kaplan-Meier curves were used for the analyses. Independent of
      adjusting factors, hyponatremia patients had 2.36-fold higher chances of
      suffering dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD dementia, than
      the comparisons. Severe hyponatremia patients had higher risks of suffering
      dementia than the non-severe hyponatremia patients (adjusted hazard ratio: 4.29
      (95% CI: 3.47-5.31) versus 2.08 (95% CI: 1.83-2.37)). A dose response
      relationship was observed between hyponatremia and dementia. Those hyponatremia
      patients with baseline or incident stroke had significantly higher chances of
      suffering dementia compared with those patients without hyponatremia and stroke.
      Stroke is a significant modifier of the relationship between hyponatremia and
      dementia. Cerebrovascular disease after incident hyponatremia must be prevented
      to reduce the incidence of dementia.

PMID- 28591196
TI  - Trajectories of dementia-related cognitive decline in a large mental health
      records derived patient cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modeling trajectories of decline can help describe the variability in
      progression of cognitive impairment in dementia. Better characterisation of these
      trajectories has significant implications for understanding disease progression,
      trial design and care planning. METHODS: Patients with at least three Mini-mental
      State Examination (MMSE) scores recorded in the South London and Maudsley NHS
      Foundation Trust Electronic Health Records, UK were selected (N = 3441) to form a
      retrospective cohort. Trajectories of cognitive decline were identified through
      latent class growth analysis of longitudinal MMSE scores. Demographics, Health of
      Nation Outcome Scales and medications were compared across trajectories
      identified. RESULTS: Four of the six trajectories showed increased rate of
      decline with lower baseline MMSE. Two trajectories had similar initial MMSE
      scores but different rates of decline. In the faster declining trajectory of the
      two, a higher incidence of both behavioral problems and sertraline prescription
      were present. CONCLUSIONS: We find suggestive evidence for association of
      behavioral problems and sertraline prescription with rate of decline. Further
      work is needed to determine whether trajectories replicate in other datasets.

PMID- 28591197
TI  - Efficacy of targeted drugs in germ cell cancer cell lines with differential
      cisplatin sensitivity.
AB  - METHODS: The in vitro activity of kinase inhibitors targeting mTOR (RAD001),
      EGFR, HER2/neu, VEGFR (AEE788) and IGF-1R (AEW541) alone or in combination with
      cisplatin was tested in the cisplatin sensitive TGCT cell lines H12.1 and GCT72
      as well as in the resistant cell lines H12.1RA, H12.1D, 1411HP and 1777NRpmet
      using the sulforhodamin-B-(SRB)-cytotoxicity-assay. To evaluate the activity of
      the kinase inhibitors, western blot analysis of the targeted receptors and their
      phosphorylated state was performed before and after exposure to each substance.
      RESULTS: The different kinase inhibitors demonstrated significant cell growth
      inhibition in both cisplatin sensitive and resistant cell lines. The examined
      cell lines showed different protein expression levels of the targeted receptors.
      However there was no correlation between the targeted receptor expression and
      phosphorylation level and the antiproliferative effect of the respective agent.
      Furthermore, the combination of cisplatin and the kinase inhibitors exerted both
      additive and antagonistic effects in the studied cell lines. CONCLUSION: Our data
      suggest potential activity of the investigated kinase inhibitors in both
      cisplatin sensitive and resistant TGCT cell lines as a single agent. However,
      when combined with cisplatin they did not demonstrate any promising ability to
      overcome cisplatin resistance in TGCTs.

PMID- 28591200
TI  - Correction: Use of molecular markers in identification and characterization of
      resistance to rice blast in India.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176236.].

PMID- 28591198
TI  - Single dose primaquine to reduce gametocyte carriage and Plasmodium falciparum
      transmission in Cambodia: An open-label randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single low dose primaquine (SLD PQ, 0.25mg/kg) is recommended in
      combination with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) as a gametocytocide
      to prevent Plasmodium falciparum transmission in areas threatened by artemisinin
      resistance. To date, no randomized controlled trials have measured primaquine's
      effect on infectiousness to Anopheline mosquitoes in Southeast Asia. METHODS:
      Cambodian adults with uncomplicated falciparum malaria were randomized to receive
      a single 45mg dose of primaquine (equivalent to three SLD PQ) or no primaquine
      after the third dose of dihydroartemisin-piperaquine (DHP) therapy. A membrane
      feeding assay measured infectiousness to Anopheles dirus on days 0, 3, 7, and 14
      of blood-stage therapy. Gametocytemia was evaluated by microscopy and reverse
      transcriptase PCR. RESULTS: Prior to trial halt for poor DHP treatment efficacy,
      101 participants were randomized and 50 received primaquine. Overall microscopic
      gametocyte prevalence was low (9%), but gametocytemic subjects given primaquine
      were gametocyte-free by day 14, and significantly less likely to harbor
      gametocytes by day 7 compared to those treated with DHP-alone, who remained
      gametocytemic for a median of two weeks. Only one infectious subject was
      randomized to the primaquine group, precluding assessment of transmission
      blocking efficacy. However, he showed a two-fold reduction in oocyst density of
      infected mosquitoes less than 24 hours after primaquine dosing. In the DHP-alone
      group, four subjects remained infectious through day 14, infecting roughly the
      same number of mosquitoes pre and post-treatment. Overall, microscopic
      gametocytemia was an excellent predictor of infectiousness, and performed better
      than submicroscopic gametocytemia post-treatment, with none of 474 mosquitoes
      infected post-treatment arising from submicroscopic gametocytes. CONCLUSIONS: In
      a setting of established ACT resistance, a single dose of 45mg primaquine added
      to DHP rapidly and significantly reduced gametocytemia, while DHP-alone failed to
      reduce gametocytemia and prevent malaria transmission to mosquitoes. Continued
      efforts to make single dose primaquine widely available are needed to help
      achieve malaria elimination.

PMID- 28591199
TI  - Sperm DNA fragmentation index does not correlate with blastocyst aneuploidy or
      morphological grading.
AB  - High DNA fragmentation index (DFI) may be associated with poor outcome after IVF.
      Our aim was to determine whether DFI impacts blastocyst quality or clinical
      outcome. This retrospective study included 134 couples who underwent 177 IVF-ICSI
      and pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) cycles during January 1st, 2014
      March 31st, 2016 and had documented previous DFI. Group 1 (DFI>30%) encompassed
      25 couples who underwent 36 cycles; Group 2 (DFI 15-30%) included 45 couples and
      57 cycles; group 3 (DFI<15%) included 64 couples and 83 cycles. Male partners
      within group 1 were older (45.1 compared to 40.6 and 38.3 years, respectively,
      p<0.05), had higher BMI (32.4 compared to 26.6 and 25.8 respectively, p<0.05) and
      lower sperm count and motility (46*106/ml and 35.5%, respectively) compared to
      groups 2 (61.8*106/ml and 46.6%, respectively) and 3 (75.8*106/ml and 55.1%,
      respectively, p<0.05). Female parameters including ovarian reserve and response
      and embryo development were similar. Total numbers of biopsied blastocysts were
      116, 175 and 259 in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. PGS for 24 chromosomes
      revealed comparable euploidy rate of 46-50.4%, with a similar morphological
      classification. No significant differences were found regarding pregnancy rates
      or pregnancy loss. It seems that DFI doesn't correlate with blastocyst aneuploidy
      or morphological grading.

PMID- 28591202
TI  - Epidemiological features of influenza circulation in swine populations: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The emergence of the 2009 influenza pandemic virus with a swine
      origin stressed the importance of improving influenza surveillance in swine
      populations. The objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to
      describe epidemiological features of swine influenza (SI) across the world and
      identify factors impacting swine influenza virus surveillance. METHODS: The
      systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines. Articles published after 1990
      containing data on SI on pig and herd-level seroprevalence, isolation and
      detection rates, and risk factors were included. Meta-regression analyses using
      seroprevalence and virological rates were performed. RESULTS: A total of 217
      articles were included. Low avian influenza (AI) seroprevalence (means pig =
      4.1%; herd = 15%) was found, showing that AIV do not readily establish themselves
      in swine while SIV seroprevalence was usually high across continents (influenza A
      means pig = 32.6-87.8%; herd = 29.3-100%). Higher pig density and number of pigs
      per farm were shown by the meta-regression analyses and/or the risk factor
      articles to be associated with higher SI seroprevalence. Lower seroprevalence
      levels were observed for countries with low-to-medium GDP. These results suggest
      that larger industrial farms could be more at risk of SIV circulation. Sampling
      swine with influenza-like illness (ILI) was positively associated with higher
      isolation rates; most studies in Europe, Latin and North America were targeting
      swine with ILI. CONCLUSIONS: To improve understanding of SI epidemiology,
      standardization of the design and reporting of SI epidemiological studies is
      desirable. Performance of SI surveillance systems in low-to-medium GDP countries
      should be evaluated to rule out technical issues linked to lower observed SIV
      prevalence. Targeting certain swine age groups, farming systems and swine with
      ILI may improve the surveillance cost-effectiveness. However, focusing on pigs
      with ILI may bias virus detection against strains less virulent for swine but
      which may be important as pandemic threats.

PMID- 28591203
TI  - Positive mental health among health professionals working at a psychiatric
      hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Positive mental health (PMH) is a combination of emotional,
      psychological and social well-being that is necessary for an individual to be
      mentally healthy. The current study aims to examine the socio-demographic
      differences of PMH among mental health professionals and to explore the
      association between job satisfaction and total PMH. METHODS: Doctors, nurses and
      allied health staff (n = 462) completed the online survey which included the
      multidimensional 47-item PMH instrument as well as a single item job satisfaction
      question. Associations of PMH with job satisfaction were investigated via linear
      regression models. RESULTS: Significant differences in PMH total and domain
      specific scores were observed across socio-demographic characteristics. Age and
      ethnicity were significantly correlated with PMH total scores as well as various
      domain scores, while gender, marital and residency status and the staff's
      position were only significantly correlated with domain specific scores. Job
      satisfaction was also found to be a significantly associated with total PMH.
      CONCLUSION: The workplace is a key environment that affects the mental health and
      well-being of working adults. In order to promote and foster PMH, workplaces need
      to consider the importance of psychosocial well-being and the wellness of staff
      whilst providing an environment that supports and maintains overall health and
      work efficiency.

PMID- 28591201
TI  - Hippocampal neurogenesis and volume in migrating and wintering semipalmated
      sandpipers (Calidris pusilla).
AB  - Long distance migratory birds find their way by sensing and integrating
      information from a large number of cues in their environment. These cues are
      essential to navigate over thousands of kilometers and reach the same breeding,
      stopover, and wintering sites every year. The semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris
      pusilla) is a long-distance migrant that breeds in the arctic tundra of Canada
      and Alaska and winters on the northeast coast of South America. Its fall
      migration includes a 5,300-kilometer nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean. The
      avian hippocampus has been proposed to play a central role in the integration of
      multisensory spatial information for navigation. Hippocampal neurogenesis may
      contribute to hippocampal function and a variety of factors including cognitive
      activity, exercise, enrichment, diet and stress influence neurogenesis in the
      hippocampus. We quantified hippocampal neurogenesis and volume in adult migrating
      and wintering semipalmated sandpipers using stereological counts of doublecortin
      (DCX) immunolabeled immature neurons. We found that birds captured in the coastal
      region of Braganca, Brazil during the wintering period had more DCX positive
      neurons and larger volume in the hippocampus than individuals captured in the Bay
      of Fundy, Canada during fall migration. We also estimate the number of NeuN
      immunolabeled cells in migrating and wintering birds and found no significant
      differences between them. These findings suggest that, at this time window,
      neurogenesis just replaced neurons that might be lost during the transatlantic
      flight. Our findings also show that in active fall migrating birds, a lower level
      of adult hippocampal neurogenesis is associated with a smaller hippocampal
      formation. High levels of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and a larger hippocampal
      formation found in wintering birds may be late occurring effects of long distance
      migratory flight or the result of conditions the birds experienced while
      wintering.

PMID- 28591205
TI  - Shift in tuna catches due to ocean warming.
AB  - Ocean warming is already affecting global fisheries with an increasing dominance
      of catches of warmer water species at higher latitudes and lower catches of
      tropical and subtropical species in the tropics. Tuna distributions are highly
      conditioned by sea temperature, for this reason and their worldwide distribution,
      their populations may be a good indicator of the effect of climate change on
      global fisheries. This study shows the shift of tuna catches in subtropical
      latitudes on a global scale. From 1965 to 2011, the percentage of tropical tuna
      in longliner catches exhibited a significantly increasing trend in a study area
      that included subtropical regions of the Atlantic and western Pacific Oceans and
      partially the Indian Ocean. This may indicate a movement of tropical tuna
      populations toward the poles in response to ocean warming. Such an increase in
      the proportion of tropical tuna in the catches does not seem to be due to a shift
      of the target species, since the trends in Atlantic and Indian Oceans of tropical
      tuna catches are decreasing. Our results indicate that as populations shift
      towards higher latitudes the catches of these tropical species did not increase.
      Thus, at least in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, tropical tuna catches have
      reduced in tropical areas.

PMID- 28591204
TI  - Feeding toxicity and impact of imidacloprid formulation and mixtures with six
      representative pesticides at residue concentrations on honey bee physiology (Apis
      mellifera).
AB  - Imidacloprid is the most widely used insecticide in agriculture. In this study,
      we used feeding methods to simulate in-hive exposures of formulated imidacloprid
      (Advise(r) 2FL) alone and mixtures with six representative pesticides for
      different classes. Advise, fed at 4.3 mg/L (equal to maximal residue detection of
      912 ppb active ingredient [a.i.] in pollen) induced 36% mortality and 56% feeding
      suppression after 2-week feeding. Treatments with individual Bracket (acephate),
      Karate (lambda-cyhalothrin), Vydate (oxamyl), Domark (tetraconazole), and Roundup
      (glyphosate) at residue level had a mortality range of 1.3-13.3%, statistically
      similar to that of control (P>0.05). The additive/synergistic toxicity was not
      detected from binary mixtures of Advise with different classes of pesticides at
      residue levels. The feeding of the mixture of all seven pesticides increased
      mortality to 53%, significantly higher than Advise only but still without
      synergism. Enzymatic data showed that activities of invertase, glutathione S
      transferase, and acetylcholinesterase activities in imidacloprid-treated
      survivors were mostly similar to those found in control. Esterase activity mostly
      increased, but was significantly suppressed by Bracket (acephate). The immunity
      related phenoloxidase activity in imidacloprid-treated survivors tended to be
      lower, but most treatments were statistically similar to the control. Increase of
      cytochrome P450 activity was correlated with Advise concentrations and reached
      significant difference at 56 mg/L (12 ppm a.i.). Our data demonstrated that
      residue levels of seven pesticide in pollens/hive may not adversely affect honey
      bees, but long term exclusive ingestion of the maximal residue levels of
      imidacloprid (912 ppb) and sulfoxaflor (3 ppm a.i.) may induce substantial bee
      mortality. Rotating with other insecticides is a necessary and practical way to
      reduce the residue level of any given pesticide.

PMID- 28591207
TI  - Long-term growth comparison studies of FBS and FBS alternatives in six head and
      neck cell lines.
AB  - Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is depended upon by investigators as an indispensable
      supplement in cell and tissue culture systems. Due to increased demand and
      limited availability, the price of FBS has increased by greater than 300% in the
      past few years. In addition, there are ethical and scientific controversies about
      the collection and use of FBS in culture systems. In response to the shortage of
      FBS, many FBS alternative serum products have been developed. Although many have
      claimed comparable performance to FBS, their support of long-term cell growth and
      effects on cell phenotype have not been revealed. In this study, we examined the
      performances of six bovine calf serum-based FBS alternatives in six head and neck
      cell lines and compared them with FBS. The results indicate that some of these
      sera had growth promoting capabilities comparable or superior to that of FBS.
      Additionally, these alternative sera supported long-term (30 passages) growth of
      tested cells and exhibited plating efficiencies comparable to that of FBS. Cells
      cultured in alternative sera also exhibited comparable anchorage-independent
      growth and similar drug inhibition responses in FBS. Still, caution should be
      taken in choosing suitable sera given that changes in cell morphology and
      variations in chemotactic responses were noted for cells maintained in certain
      sera. These FBS alternatives are more readily available, cost less, and are
      associated with less ethical concerns, thus making them attractive alternatives
      to FBS in cell culture systems.

PMID- 28591208
TI  - AKT and its related molecular feature in aged mice skin.
AB  - Previous studies suggest that Akt signaling promotes tissue regeneration and
      decreased Akt activities are found in aged tissues. However, this study finds
      that the expression and activation levels of Akt in the mice skin increased with
      age. Additionally, the expression levels of Pten, p16, p21 and p53 also elevated
      with increased age. Immuno-fluorescence analysis showed that Akt phosphorylation
      found in the epidermal cells (with increased levels of NF-kappaB activation) were
      also found. In vivo inhibition of AKT activity result in reduced NF-kappaB
      activation. Our results suggest that increasing Akt/ NF-kappaB is a crucial
      mediator of skin aging, which can increase the susceptibility of cell
      transformation.

PMID- 28591209
TI  - Sexual function and postpartum depression 6 months after attempted operative
      vaginal delivery according to fetal head station: A prospective population-based
      cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the fetal head station at attempted
      operative vaginal delivery (aOVD), and specifically midpelvic or low aOVD, on
      female and male sexual function and symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) at 6
      months. DESIGN: Prospective population-based cohort study. SETTING: 1,941 women
      with singleton term fetuses in vertex presentation with midpelvic or low aOVD
      between 2008 and 2013 in a tertiary care university hospital. METHODS: Symptoms
      of female sexual dysfunction using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary
      Incontinence/Sexual Function Short Form Questionnaire (PISQ-12), symptoms of PPD
      using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score, symptoms of male
      sexual dysfunction using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-15)
      and perineal pain were assessed 6 months after aOVD. We measured the association
      between midpelvic or low aOVD and symptoms of female and male sexual function and
      symptoms of PPD at 6 months using multiple regression and adjusting for
      demographics, and risk factors of sexual dysfunction, symptoms of PPD and
      perineal pain with adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%
      CI). RESULTS: The study included 907 women (46.7%) who responded to the
      questionnaire; 18.4% (167/907) had midpelvic aOVD, and 81.6% (740/907) low. Most
      women (873/907 [96.3%]) of those with partners reported sexual activity at 6
      months. No significant difference was observed for PISQ-12, EPDS, IIEF-15 scores
      and perineal pain between mid and low pelvic groups. Compared with low pelvic
      aOVD, midpelvic aOVD was not significantly associated with either female or male
      sexual dysfunction (p = 0.89 and p = 0.76, respectively), or maternal symptoms of
      PPD (p = 0.83). Perineal pain significantly increased the risk of male and female
      sexual dysfunction and maternal symptoms of PPD at 6 months (p = 0.02, p = 0.006,
      and p = 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSION: Midpelvic compared with low pelvic aOVD
      was not associated with an increase in sexual dysfunction, nor with symptoms of
      PPD at 6 months.

PMID- 28591210
TI  - The dual role of friendship and antipathy relations in the marginalization of
      overweight children in their peer networks: The TRAILS Study.
AB  - Weight-based stigma compromises the social networks of overweight children. To
      date, research on the position of overweight children in their peer network has
      focused only on friendship relations, and not on negative relationship
      dimensions. This study examined how overweight was associated with relations of
      friendship and dislike (antipathies) in the peer group. Exponential random graph
      models (ERGM) were used to examine friendship and antipathy relations among
      overweight children and their classmates, using a sub-sample from the TRacking
      Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (N = 504, M age 11.4). Findings showed that
      overweight children were less likely to receive friendship nominations, and were
      more likely to receive dislike nominations. Overweight children were also more
      likely than their non-overweight peers to nominate classmates that they disliked.
      Together, the results indicate that positive and negative peer relations are
      impacted by children's weight status, and are relevant to addressing the social
      marginalization of overweight children.

PMID- 28591206
TI  - ERBB3: A potential serum biomarker for early detection and therapeutic target for
      devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1).
AB  - Devil Facial Tumour 1 (DFT1) is one of two transmissible neoplasms of Tasmanian
      devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) predominantly affecting their facial regions.
      DFT1's cellular origin is that of Schwann cell lineage where lesions are evident
      macroscopically late in the disease. Conversely, the pre-clinical timeframe from
      cellular transmission to appearance of DFT1 remains uncertain demonstrating the
      importance of an effective pre-clinical biomarker. We show that ERBB3, a marker
      expressed normally by the developing neural crest and Schwann cells, is
      immunohistohemically expressed by DFT1, therefore the potential of ERBB3 as a
      biomarker was explored. Under the hypothesis that serum ERBB3 levels may increase
      as DFT1 invades local and distant tissues our pilot study determined serum ERBB3
      levels in normal Tasmanian devils and Tasmanian devils with DFT1. Compared to the
      baseline serum ERBB3 levels in unaffected Tasmanian devils, Tasmanian devils with
      DFT1 showed significant elevation of serum ERBB3 levels. Interestingly Tasmanian
      devils with cutaneous lymphoma (CL) also showed elevation of serum ERBB3 levels
      when compared to the baseline serum levels of Tasmanian devils without DFT1.
      Thus, elevated serum ERBB3 levels in otherwise healthy looking devils could
      predict possible DFT1 or CL in captive or wild devil populations and would have
      implications on the management, welfare and survival of Tasmanian devils. ERBB3
      is also a therapeutic target and therefore the potential exists to consider modes
      of administration that may eradicate DFT1 from the wild.

PMID- 28591211
TI  - Dispersal strategies in the highly polygynous ant Crematogaster (Orthocrema)
      pygmaea Forel (Formicidae: Myrmicinae).
AB  - In ants, dispersal strategies and morphology of female sexuals are generally
      linked to the mode of colony founding. In species using long-range dispersal
      tactics, queen/worker dimorphism is generally high and young queens are able to
      initiate new colonies by themselves, using their metabolic reserves. By contrast,
      in species using short-range dispersal strategies, queen/worker dimorphism is
      generally low and, due to their limited metabolic reserves, queens have lost the
      capacity to raise their brood alone and to found their colony independently.
      Moreover, polygyny is also often associated with short-range dispersal
      strategies, although the relationship between the number of queens and the
      dispersal strategy in ants is not clear-cut. Here, dispersal strategies were
      investigated in C. pygmaea, a highly polygynous and polydomous ant species from
      northeastern Brazil. Field observations and laboratory experiments show that this
      ant exhibits a suite of traits that are more commonly associated with long-range
      dispersal and independent colony foundation: functional wings in both males and
      females, high queen/worker dimorphism, strong weight loss in mature queens,
      nuptial flights and, in the lab, ability of young queens to found new colonies in
      haplometrotic conditions. On the other hand, this species shows a high degree of
      polygyny with a strong seasonal component, and, at least under laboratory
      conditions, mature queens seem able to develop propagules if they are accompanied
      by at least 10 workers. These features strongly suggest that (1) some of the
      gynes do not engage in a long-range dispersal but become new queens in their
      mother colony and (2) that budding events are possible in this species. We
      therefore speculate that C. pygmaea has a dual dispersal strategy probably
      related to environmental conditions: some gynes engage in long-range dispersal
      followed by independent colony foundation at the beginning of rainy season, while
      others mate in the parental colony and are re-adopted leading to high polygyny.
      During the rainy season, budding events can lead to colony extension and
      increased polydomy. Polydomy is commonly thought to improve resource discovery
      and exploitation through decentralized foraging behavior, a significant advantage
      during the rainy season when food ressources (mainly floral/extrafloral nectaries
      and hemipteran honeydew) are more abundant and when colony needs for food
      supplies are highest.

PMID- 28591212
TI  - Reduced ADAMTS13 levels in patients with acute and chronic cerebrovascular
      disease.
AB  - Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) plays a major role in thrombosis and hemostasis and
      its thrombogenicity is controlled by ADAMTS13. Whereas increasing evidence shows
      a clear association between VWF levels and acute ischemic stroke, little is known
      about a correlation with ADAMTS13. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
      compare plasma levels of ADAMTS13 between 85 healthy volunteers (HV), 104
      patients with acute ischemic stroke and 112 patients with a chronic
      cerebrovascular disease (CCD). In this case-control study, plasma ADAMTS13
      antigen levels were measured by ELISA and plasma VWF levels, measured previously,
      were next used to calculate VWF:ADAMTS13 ratios. ADAMTS13 levels and VWF:ADAMTS13
      ratios were subsequently correlated with key demographic and clinical parameters.
      ADAMTS13 levels were significantly lower in acute ischemic stroke patients (82.6
      +/- 21.0%) compared with HV (110.6 +/- 26.9%). Also, CCD patients (99.6 +/-
      24.5%) had significantly lower ADAMTS13 levels compared with HV however these
      were still higher than in acute stroke patients. Furthermore, when assessing the
      VWF:ADAMTS13 ratios, an even greater difference was revealed between stroke
      patients (2.7 +/- 1.9), HV (1.1 +/- 0.5) and CCD patients (1.7 +/- 0.7). The
      VWF:ADAMTS13 ratio was significantly associated with stroke severity and
      modality. In conclusion, both in acute and chronic cerebrovascular disease
      patients, ADAMTS13 levels were significantly decreased, with the lowest ADAMTS13
      levels found in acute stroke patients. This difference was even more distinct
      when the ratio of VWF:ADAMTS13 was considered. These results demonstrate the
      potentially important involvement of the VWF/ADAMTS13 axis in ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28591214
TI  - 'The Devil has entered you': A qualitative study of Men Who Have Sex With Men
      (MSM) and the stigma and discrimination they experience from healthcare
      professionals and the general community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
AB  - Men who have sex with men (MSM) are often exposed to unequal treatment in
      societies worldwide as well as to various forms of stigma and discrimination in
      healthcare services. Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) is a postconflict developing
      country located in Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans, where little is
      known about the experiences of MSM regarding their communities and interactions
      with healthcare services. The aim of this study was to explore the types of
      experiences MSM face and to assess the level of stigma and discrimination they
      are exposed to in this setting. We conducted twelve in-depth face-to-face
      interviews with MSM who were 16 to 45 years old and residing in B&H. The main
      findings indicated that they all experienced various levels of stigma,
      discrimination, prejudice and inequities in treatment and attitudes from
      different segments of society, including the health care sector, that prevented
      them from fully developing their human and health potential. Additionally, these
      experiences were adversely related to opportunities to receive good quality
      health care services due to the insufficiently educated and old-fashioned health
      professionals who sometimes believed in black magic practices. The findings
      present numerous opportunities for educational trainings and structural reform to
      create a society that provides and guarantees equal opportunities for all.

PMID- 28591213
TI  - Flight of the bumble bee: Buzzes predict pollination services.
AB  - Multiple interacting factors drive recent declines in wild and managed bees,
      threatening their pollination services. Widespread and intensive monitoring could
      lead to more effective management of wild and managed bees. However, tracking
      their dynamic populations is costly. We tested the effectiveness of an
      inexpensive, noninvasive and passive acoustic survey technique for monitoring
      bumble bee behavior and pollination services. First, we assessed the relationship
      between the first harmonic of the flight buzz (characteristic frequency) and
      pollinator functional traits that influence pollination success using flight cage
      experiments and a literature search. We analyzed passive acoustic survey data
      from three locations on Pennsylvania Mountain, Colorado to estimate bumble bee
      activity. We developed an algorithm based on Computational Auditory Scene
      Analysis that identified and quantified the number of buzzes recorded in each
      location. We then compared visual and acoustic estimates of bumble bee activity.
      Using pollinator exclusion experiments, we tested the power of buzz density to
      predict pollination services at the landscape scale for two bumble bee pollinated
      alpine forbs (Trifolium dasyphyllum and T. parryi). We found that the
      characteristic frequency was correlated with traits known to affect pollination
      efficacy, explaining 30-52% of variation in body size and tongue length. Buzz
      density was highly correlated with visual estimates of bumble bee density (r =
      0.97), indicating that acoustic signals are predictive of bumble bee activity.
      Buzz density predicted seed set in two alpine forbs when bumble bees were
      permitted access to the flowers, but not when they were excluded from visiting.
      Our results indicate that acoustic signatures of flight can be deciphered to
      monitor bee activity and pollination services to bumble bee pollinated plants. We
      propose that applications of this technique could assist scientists and farmers
      in rapidly detecting and responding to bee population declines.

PMID- 28591215
TI  - Application of environmental DNA to detect an endangered marine skate species in
      the wild.
AB  - Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have only recently been applied in the marine
      environment to detect the presence of marine species. Species-specific primers
      and probes were designed to detect the eDNA of the endangered Maugean skate
      (Zearaja maugeana) from as little as 1 L of water collected at depth (10-15 m) in
      Macquarie Harbour (MH), Tasmania. The identity of the eDNA was confirmed as Z.
      maugeana by sequencing the qPCR products and aligning these with the target
      sequence for a 100% match. This result has validated the use of this eDNA
      technique for detecting a rare species, Z. maugeana, in the wild. Being able to
      investigate the presence, and possibly the abundance, of Z. maugeana in MH and
      Bathurst harbour (BH), would be addressing a conservation imperative for the
      endangered Z. maugeana. For future application of this technique in the field,
      the rate of decay was determined for Z. maugeana eDNA under ambient dissolved
      oxygen (DO) levels (55% saturation) and lower DO (20% saturation) levels,
      revealing that the eDNA can be detected for 4 and 16 hours respectively, after
      which eDNA concentration drops below the detection threshold of the assay. With
      the rate of decay being influenced by starting eDNA concentrations, it is
      recommended that samples be filtered as soon as possible after collection to
      minimize further loss of eDNA prior to and during sample processing.

PMID- 28591216
TI  - Modification effects of genetic polymorphisms in FTO, IL-6, and HSPD1 on the
      associations of diabetes with breast cancer risk and survival.
AB  - The contribution of diabetes to breast cancer remains uncertain among Chinese
      females, which may result from different genetic factors. We evaluated the
      associations of diabetes, combined with the polymorphisms in the genes of fat
      mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and heat shock
      protein 60 (HSPD1), with breast cancer risk and survival in a Chinese Han
      population. The information on the history of diabetes was collected from 1551
      incident breast cancer cases and 1605 age-frequency matched controls in
      Guangzhou, China. In total, 1168 cases were followed up. Diabetes was associated
      with both an increased risk of breast cancer [OR (95%CI): 1.67 (1.11, 2.52)] and
      a poor overall survival and progression free survival for breast cancer patients
      [HRs (95%CIs): 2.66 (1.10, 6.44) and 2.46 (1.29, 4.70), respectively]. IL-6
      rs1800796 and HSPD1 rs2605039 had interactions with diabetes on breast cancer
      risk. Among women with CC genotype of IL-6 rs1800796 or GG genotype of HSPD1
      rs2605039, diabetic individuals had a remarkably increased risk of breast cancer
      compared to non-diabetic women with ORs and 95%CIs of 2.53 (1.45, 4.41) and 6.40
      (2.29, 17.87), respectively. GT/TT genotypes of HSPD1 rs2605039 was also
      associated with a better progression free survival for breast cancer patients [HR
      (95%CI): 0.70 (0.49, 0.99)]. Our results suggest that the contribution of
      diabetes to breast cancer risk might be modified by IL-6 rs1800796 and HSPD1
      rs2605039. Diabetes and HSPD1 rs2605039 might also influence breast cancer
      prognosis.

PMID- 28591217
TI  - Effects of bevacizumab on endoplasmic reticulum stress in hypoxic retinal pigment
      epithelial cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of bevacizumab on endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      stress in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells cultured under hypoxic
      conditions. METHODS: RPE cells (ARPE-19) were cultured under hypoxic conditions
      (1% O2) with or without bevacizumab (0.3125 mg/mL) for 24 and 48 h. Cell
      viability was measured by a PrestoBlue assay. The expression of vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF), binding protein/glucose-regulated protein 78
      (BiP/GRP78), and C/EBP homologous protein-10 (CHOP) mRNA was measured by
      quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). BiP/GRP78 and CHOP
      protein levels in the cells were assessed by western blot. VEGF protein in the
      media was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Under
      hypoxic conditions, cell viability decreased and mRNA and protein levels of VEGF,
      BiP/GRP78, and CHOP increased compared to those under normoxic conditions.
      Bevacizumab improved cell viability and reduced the expression of VEGF mRNA under
      hypoxic conditions. Bevacizumab also reduced the expression of both mRNA and
      protein of two ER stress indicators, BiP/GRP78 and CHOP, under hypoxic
      conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Bevacizumab mitigated ER stress in human RPE cells
      cultured under hypoxic conditions. This effect may be involved in the improved
      cell viability and reduction of VEGF expression after bevacizumab treatment of
      hypoxic RPE cells in vitro. However, the effects of bevacizumab on RPE cells
      under experimental conditions are unlikely to be clinically equivalent to those
      in the human eye.

PMID- 28591218
TI  - When is genetic modification socially acceptable? When used to advance human
      health through avenues other than food.
AB  - Given the potential for genetic modification (GM) to impact human health, via
      food and health mechanisms, a greater understanding of the social acceptance of
      GM is necessary to facilitate improved health outcomes. This analysis sought to
      quantify U.S. residents' acceptance of GM across five potential uses (grain
      production, fruit or vegetable production, livestock production, human medicine,
      and human health, i.e. disease vector control) and provides an in-depth analysis
      of a timely case study-the Zika virus (ZIKV). The two categories with the highest
      levels of acceptance for GM use were human medicine (62% acceptance) and human
      health (68% acceptance); the proportions agreeing with the use of GM for these
      two categories were statistically different from all other categories. Acceptance
      of GM in food uses revealed 44% of the sample accepted the use of GM in livestock
      production while grain production and fruit and vegetable production showed
      similar levels of agreement with 49% and 48% of responses, respectively. Two
      variables were significant in all five models predicting GM acceptance; namely,
      being male and GM awareness. Being male was significant and positive for all
      models; respondents who reported being male were more likely (than those who
      reported female) to agree with all five of the uses of GM studied. Those who were
      reportedly aware of GM mosquito technology were also more likely to agree with
      all uses of GM technology investigated. The potential relationship between
      awareness of GM technology uses and acceptance of other uses could help inform
      rates of acceptance of new technologies by various population segments.

PMID- 28591219
TI  - Mechanisms underlying a thalamocortical transformation during active tactile
      sensation.
AB  - During active somatosensation, neural signals expected from movement of the
      sensors are suppressed in the cortex, whereas information related to touch is
      enhanced. This tactile suppression underlies low-noise encoding of relevant
      tactile features and the brain's ability to make fine tactile discriminations.
      Layer (L) 4 excitatory neurons in the barrel cortex, the major target of the
      somatosensory thalamus (VPM), respond to touch, but have low spike rates and low
      sensitivity to the movement of whiskers. Most neurons in VPM respond to touch and
      also show an increase in spike rate with whisker movement. Therefore, signals
      related to self-movement are suppressed in L4. Fast-spiking (FS) interneurons in
      L4 show similar dynamics to VPM neurons. Stimulation of halorhodopsin in FS
      interneurons causes a reduction in FS neuron activity and an increase in L4
      excitatory neuron activity. This decrease of activity of L4 FS neurons
      contradicts the "paradoxical effect" predicted in networks stabilized by
      inhibition and in strongly-coupled networks. To explain these observations, we
      constructed a model of the L4 circuit, with connectivity constrained by in vitro
      measurements. The model explores the various synaptic conductance strengths for
      which L4 FS neurons actively suppress baseline and movement-related activity in
      layer 4 excitatory neurons. Feedforward inhibition, in concert with recurrent
      intracortical circuitry, produces tactile suppression. Synaptic delays in
      feedforward inhibition allow transmission of temporally brief volleys of activity
      associated with touch. Our model provides a mechanistic explanation of a behavior
      related computation implemented by the thalamocortical circuit.

PMID- 28591220
TI  - Comparative transcriptomics of genetically divergent lines of chickens in
      response to Marek's disease virus challenge at cytolytic phase.
AB  - Marek's disease (MD), caused by Marek's disease virus (MDV), remains an
      economically significant threat to the poultry industry worldwide. Genetic
      resistance to MD is a promising alternative strategy to augment current control
      measures (vaccination and management). However, only a few functional genes
      reportedly conferring MD resistance have been identified. Here, we performed a
      comparative transcriptomics analysis of two highly inbred yet genetically
      divergent lines of chickens (line 63 and 72) that are resistant and susceptible
      to MD, respectively, in response to a very virulent plus strain of MDV (vv+MDV)
      challenge at cytolytic phase. A total of 203 DEGs in response to MDV challenge
      were identified in the two lines. Of these, 96 DEGs were in common for both
      lines, in addition to 36 and 71 DEGs that were specific for line 63 and 72,
      respectively. Functional enrichment analysis results showed the DEGs were
      significantly enriched in GO terms and pathways associated with immune response.
      Especially, the four DEGs, FGA, ALB, FN1, and F13A1 that reportedly facilitate
      virus invasion or immunosuppression, were found to be significantly up-regulated
      in the susceptible line 72 but down-regulated in the resistant line 63 birds.
      These results provide new resources for future studies to further elucidate the
      genetic mechanism conferring MD resistance.

PMID- 28591221
TI  - Loci associated with resistance to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp.
      tritici) in a core collection of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum).
AB  - Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Erikss. (Pst)
      remains one of the most significant diseases of wheat worldwide. We investigated
      stripe rust resistance by genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in 959 spring
      wheat accessions from the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural
      Research Service National Small Grains Collection, representing major global
      production environments. The panel was characterized for field resistance in
      multi-environment field trials and seedling resistance under greenhouse
      conditions. A genome-wide set of 5,619 informative SNP markers were used to
      examine the population structure, linkage disequilibrium and marker-trait
      associations in the germplasm panel. Based on model-based analysis of population
      structure and hierarchical Ward clustering algorithm, the accessions were
      clustered into two major subgroups. These subgroups were largely separated
      according to geographic origin and improvement status of the accessions. A
      significant correlation was observed between the population sub-clusters and
      response to stripe rust infection. We identified 11 and 7 genomic regions with
      significant associations with stripe rust resistance at adult plant and seedling
      stages, respectively, based on a false discovery rate multiple correction method.
      The regions harboring all, except three, of the QTL identified from the field and
      greenhouse studies overlap with positions of previously reported QTL. Further
      work should aim at validating the identified QTL using proper germplasm and
      populations to enhance their utility in marker assisted breeding.

PMID- 28591222
TI  - Ecological impact of the end-Cretaceous extinction on lamniform sharks.
AB  - Lamniform sharks are apex marine predators undergoing dramatic local and regional
      decline worldwide, with consequences for marine ecosystems that are difficult to
      predict. Through their long history, lamniform sharks have faced widespread
      extinction, and understanding those 'natural experiments' may help constrain
      predictions, placing the current crisis in evolutionary context. Here we show,
      using novel morphometric analyses of fossil shark teeth, that the end-Cretaceous
      extinction of many sharks had major ecological consequences. Post-extinction
      ecosystems supported lower diversity and disparity of lamniforms, and were
      dominated by significantly smaller sharks with slimmer, smoother and less robust
      teeth. Tooth shape is intimately associated with ecology, feeding and prey type,
      and by integrating data from extant sharks we show that latest Cretaceous sharks
      occupied similar niches to modern lamniforms, implying similar ecosystem
      structure and function. By comparison, species in the depauperate post-extinction
      community occupied niches most similar to those of juvenile sand tigers
      (Carcharias taurus). Our data show that quantitative tooth morphometrics can
      distinguish lamniform sharks due to dietary differences, providing critical
      insights into ecological consequences of past extinction episodes.

PMID- 28591224
TI  - Low-dose glucocorticoids suppresses ovarian tumor growth and metastasis in an
      immunocompetent syngeneic mouse model.
AB  - Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate among gynecologic malignancies.
      Despite chemotherapy and surgical debulking options, ovarian cancer recurs and
      disseminates frequently with a poor prognosis. We previously reported a novel
      role of glucocorticoids (GCs) in metastatic ovarian cancer by upregulating
      microRNA-708. In this study, we used an immunocompetent syngeneic mouse model and
      further evaluated the effect and optimal dosages of GCs in treating metastatic
      ovarian cancer. The treatment of C57BL/6-derived ovarian cancer ID-8 cells with a
      synthetic GC, dexamethasone (DEX), induced the expression of microRNA-708,
      leading to decreased cell migration and invasion through targeting Rap1B.
      Administration of DEX at a low dose, as low as 5 MUg/kg body weight, inhibited
      the primary tumor size and abdominal metastasis in mice bearing ID-8 cell-derived
      ovarian tumors. In the treated primary tumors, microRNA-708 was upregulated,
      whereas some proinflammatory cytokines, namely interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18,
      were downregulated. The number of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and myeloid
      derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the tumor microenvironment were reduced.
      Overall, our study shows that low-dose GCs can suppress ovarian cancer
      progression and metastasis likely through not only the upregulation of the
      metastasis suppressor microRNA-708, but also the modulation of TAMs and MDSCs in
      the tumor microenvironment.

PMID- 28591223
TI  - Why do authors derive new cardiovascular clinical prediction rules in the
      presence of existing rules? A mixed methods study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Researchers should examine existing evidence to determine the need
      for a new study. It is unknown whether developers evaluate existing evidence to
      justify new cardiovascular clinical prediction rules (CPRs). OBJECTIVE: We aimed
      to assess whether authors of cardiovascular CPRs cited existing CPRs, why some
      authors did not cite existing CPRs, and why they thought existing CPRs were
      insufficient. METHOD: Derivation studies of cardiovascular CPRs from the
      International Register of Clinical Prediction Rules for Primary Care were
      evaluated. We reviewed the introduction sections to determine whether existing
      CPRs were cited. Using thematic content analysis, the stated reasons for
      determining existing cardiovascular CPRs insufficient were explored. Study
      authors were surveyed via e-mail and post. We asked whether they were aware of
      any existing cardiovascular CPRs at the time of derivation, how they searched for
      existing CPRs, and whether they thought it was important to cite existing CPRs.
      RESULTS: Of 85 derivation studies included, 48 (56.5%) cited existing CPRs, 33
      (38.8%) did not cite any CPR, and four (4.7%) declared there was none to cite.
      Content analysis identified five categories of existing CPRs insufficiency
      related to: (1) derivation (5 studies; 11.4% of 44), (2) construct (31 studies;
      70.5%), (3) performance (10 studies; 22.7%), (4) transferability (13 studies;
      29.5%), and (5) evidence (8 studies; 18.2%). Authors of 54 derivation studies
      (71.1% of 76 authors contacted) responded to the survey. Twenty-five authors
      (46.3%) reported they were aware of existing CPR at the time of derivation.
      Twenty-nine authors (53.7%) declared they conducted a systematic search to
      identify existing CPRs. Most authors (90.7%) indicated citing existing CPRs was
      important. CONCLUSION: Cardiovascular CPRs are often developed without citing
      existing CPRs although most authors agree it is important. Common justifications
      for new CPRs concerned construct, including choice of predictor variables or
      relevance of outcomes. Developers should clearly justify why new CPRs are needed
      with reference to existing CPRs to avoid unnecessary duplication.

PMID- 28591225
TI  - Trends in food insecurity for adults with cardiometabolic disease in the United
      States: 2005-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Food insecurity, the uncertain ability to access adequate food, can
      limit adherence to dietary measures needed to prevent and manage cardiometabolic
      conditions. However, little is known about temporal trends in food insecurity
      among those with diet-sensitive cardiometabolic conditions. METHODS: We used data
      from the Continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
      2005-2012, analyzed in 2015-2016, to calculate trends in age-standardized rates
      of food insecurity for those with and without the following diet-sensitive
      cardiometabolic conditions: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart
      disease, congestive heart failure, and obesity. RESULTS: 21,196 NHANES
      participants were included from 4 waves (4,408 in 2005-2006, 5,607 in 2007-2008,
      5,934 in 2009-2010, and 5,247 in 2011-2012). 56.2% had at least one
      cardiometabolic condition, 24.4% had 2 or more, and 8.5% had 3 or more. The
      overall age-standardized rate of food insecurity doubled during the study period,
      from 9.06% in 2005-2006 to 10.82% in 2007-2008 to 15.22% in 2009-2010 to 18.33%
      in 2011-2012 (p for trend < .001). The average annual percentage change in food
      insecurity for those with a cardiometabolic condition during the study period was
      13.0% (95% CI 7.5% to 18.6%), compared with 5.8% (95% CI 1.8% to 10.0%) for those
      without a cardiometabolic condition, (parallelism test p = .13). Comparing those
      with and without the condition, age-standardized rates of food insecurity were
      greater in participants with diabetes (19.5% vs. 11.5%, p < .0001), hypertension
      (14.1% vs. 11.1%, p = .0003), coronary heart disease (20.5% vs. 11.9%, p < .001),
      congestive heart failure (18.4% vs. 12.1%, p = .004), and obesity (14.3% vs.
      11.1%, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Food insecurity doubled to historic highs from
      2005-2012, particularly affecting those with diet-sensitive cardiometabolic
      conditions. Since adherence to specific dietary recommendations is a foundation
      of the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic disease, these results have
      important implications for clinical management and public health.

PMID- 28591226
TI  - Interval to vascularization development in cirrhotic precursor nodules in
      patients with hepatitis B and C virus co-infections.
AB  - With the widespread use of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging,
      liver nodules appearing as hypovascular in the arterial phase and hypointense in
      the hepatobiliary phase, defined as hypovascular hypointense nodules, are
      increasingly detected in patients with cirrhosis and are considered precursor
      nodules. We sought to evaluate the interval to vascularization development in
      hepatitis C virus/hepatitis B virus co-infected-associated precursor nodules (BC
      HHN group) compared with that in hepatitis C virus mono-infected-associated
      precursor nodules (C-HHN group) in the hepatobiliary phase of gadoxetic acid
      enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. The interval to vascularization development
      was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the Cox proportional
      hazards model. The mean intervals to vascularization development in the BC-HHN
      and C-HHN groups were 272.9+/-31.1 and 603.8+/-47.6 days, respectively (p<0.001).
      The cumulative vascularization development incidence at 6, 12, and 18 months was
      44.9%, 73.5%, and 91.8%, respectively, in the BC-HHN group and 16.9%, 39.0%, and
      55.8%, respectively, in the C-HHN group (p<0.001). The multivariate analysis
      showed that the presence of hepatitis B virus co-infection (hazard ratio: 1.819;
      95% confidence interval: 1.222-2.707; p = 0.003) and male sex (hazard ratio:
      1.753; 95% confidence interval: 1.029-2.985; p = 0.039) were predictors of
      vascularization development. More than half of the hypovascular hypointense
      nodules showed high-signal changes on T2-weighted imaging, and almost half of
      them showed restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted images, but these did not
      predict vascularization development. In a hepatitis C virus- and hepatitis B
      virus-endemic area, such as Taiwan, precursor nodules in the BC-HHN group tended
      to have shorter intervals to vascularization development, especially in male
      patients.

PMID- 28591227
TI  - Correction: Resource Availability Modulates the Cooperative and Competitive
      Nature of a Microbial Cross-Feeding Mutualism.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002540.].

PMID- 28591229
TI  - Expanded view of ecosystem stability: A grazed grassland case study.
AB  - Analysis of stability under linearized dynamics is central to ecology. We
      highlight two key limitations of the widely used traditional analysis. First, we
      note that while stability at fixed points is often the focus, ecological systems
      may spend less time near fixed points, and more time responding to stochastic
      environmental forcing by exhibiting wide zero-mean fluctuations about those
      states. If non-steady, uniquely precarious states along the nonlinear flow are
      analyzed instead of fixed points, transient growth is possible and indeed common
      for ecosystems with stable attractive fixed points. Second, we show that in
      either steady or non-steady states, eigenvalue based analysis can misleadingly
      suggest stability while eigenvector geometry arising from the non-self
      adjointness of the linearized operator can yield large finite-time instabilities.
      We offer a simple alternative to eigenvalue based stability analysis that
      naturally and straightforwardly overcome these limitations.

PMID- 28591228
TI  - A secondary wave of neutrophil infiltration causes necrosis and ulceration in
      lesions of experimental American cutaneous leishmaniasis.
AB  - We evaluated the importance of neutrophils in the development of chronic lesions
      caused by L. Viannia spp. using the hamster as experimental model of American
      Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL). Neutrophils infiltrated the lesion within the
      first six hours post-infection. Inhibition of this early infiltration using a
      polyclonal antibody or cyclophosphamide was associated with transient parasite
      control but the protective effect vanished when lesions became clinically
      apparent. At lesion onset (approximately 10 days p.i.), there was an increased
      proportion of both uninfected and infected macrophages, and subsequently a second
      wave of neutrophils infiltrated the lesion (after 19 days p.i.) This second
      neutrophil infiltration was associated with lesion necrosis and ulceration (R2 =
      0.75) and maximum parasite burden. Intradermal delivery of N-formylmethionyl
      leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP), aimed to increase neutrophil infiltration, resulted
      in larger lesions with marked necrosis and higher parasite burden than in mock
      treated groups (p<0.001 each). In contrast, reduced neutrophil infiltration via
      cyclophosphamide-mediated depletion led to more benign lesions and lower parasite
      loads compared to controls (p<0.001 each). Neutrophils of the second wave
      expressed significantly lower GM-CSF, reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide
      than those of the first wave, suggesting that they had less efficient anti
      leishmania activity. However, there was increased inflammatory cytokines and
      expression of neutrophil proteases (myeloperoxidase, cathepsin G and elastase) in
      lesions during the second wave of neutrophil infiltration compared with the
      levels reached during the first wave (6h p.i.). This suggests that augmented
      neutrophil proteases and inflammatory cytokines during the secondary wave of
      neutrophils could contribute to skin inflammation, ulceration and necrosis in
      ACL. The overall results indicate that neutrophils were unable to clear the
      infection in this model, and that the second wave of neutrophils played an
      important role in the severity of ACL.

PMID- 28591236
TI  - Predictors of success for mandibular repositioning appliance in obstructive sleep
      apnea syndrome.
AB  - The characteristics of non-obese patients with mild to moderate Obstructive Sleep
      Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) who will present with a good response to Mandibular
      Repositioning Appliance (MRA) treatment have not yet been well established in the
      literature. The aim of this study is to assess whether polysomnographic (PSG),
      demographic, anthropometric, cephalometric, and otorhinolaryngological parameters
      predict MRA success in the treatment of OSAS. Forty (40) males with mild and
      moderate OSAS were assessed pretreatment and 2-months post-treatment after
      wearing an MRA. Demographic, anthropometric, otorhinolaryngological (ENT),
      cephalometric, and polysomnographic parameters, including continuous positive
      airway pressure (CPAP) titrated pressure, dental models, Epworth Sleepiness
      Scale, quality of life (Short Form SF-36), and mood state (Profile of Mood States
      - POMS), were assessed. The responders exhibited fewer oropharyngeal alterations,
      increased upper pharyngeal space, reduced lower airway space, and increased
      mandibular intercanine width, and they had milder disease. Nevertheless, no
      predictive factors of MRA success could be found. MRA was more successful among
      men with a more pervious airway, a larger interdental width and milder OSAS.
      However, a combined [1] functional and structural assessment is needed to
      successfully predict the [2] effectiveness of MRA treatment of OSA.

PMID- 28591230
TI  - Frequency of respiratory virus infections and next-generation analysis of
      influenza A/H1N1pdm09 dynamics in the lower respiratory tract of patients
      admitted to the ICU.
AB  - Recent molecular diagnostic methods have significantly improved the diagnosis of
      viral pneumonia in intensive care units (ICUs). It has been observed that 222G/N
      changes in the HA gene of H1N1pdm09 are associated with increased lower
      respiratory tract (LRT) replication and worse clinical outcome. In the present
      study, the frequency of respiratory viruses was assessed in respiratory samples
      from 88 patients admitted to 16 ICUs during the 2014-2015 winter-spring season in
      Lombardy. Sixty-nine out of 88 (78.4%) patients were positive for a respiratory
      viral infection at admission. Of these, 57/69 (82.6%) were positive for influenza
      A (41 A/H1N1pdm09 and 15 A/H3N2), 8/69 (11.6%) for HRV, 2/69 (2.9%) for RSV and
      2/69 (2.9%) for influenza B. Phylogenetic analysis of influenza A/H1N1pdm09
      strains from 28/41 ICU-patients and 21 patients with mild respiratory syndrome
      not requiring hospitalization, showed the clear predominance of subgroup 6B
      strains. The median influenza A load in LRT samples of ICU patients was higher
      than that observed in the upper respiratory tract (URT) (p<0.05). Overall, a
      greater number of H1N1pdm09 virus variants were observed using next generation
      sequencing on partial HA sequences (codons 180-286) in clinical samples from the
      LRT as compared to URT. In addition, 222G/N/A mutations were observed in 30% of
      LRT samples from ICU patients. Finally, intra-host evolution analysis showed the
      presence of different dynamics of viral population in LRT of patients
      hospitalized in ICU with a severe influenza infection.

PMID- 28591237
TI  - Association between pathogens from tracheal aspirate and oral biofilm of patients
      on mechanical ventilation.
AB  - The aim of this study was to detect possible associations between respiratory
      pathogens from tracheal aspirate and oral biofilm samples in intubated patients
      in an intensive care unit (ICU), and to identify the most common respiratory
      pathogens in oral biofilm, particularly in patients that developed ventilator
      associated pneumonia (VAP). Two oral biofilm samples were collected from the
      tongue of intubated patients (at admission and after 48 hours) and analyzed by
      culture with the Antibiotic Sensitivity Test. The results from the tongue biofilm
      samples were compared with the tracheal secretions samples. A total of 59.37% of
      patients exhibited the same species of pathogens in their tracheal aspirate and
      oral biofilm, of which 8 (42.1%) developed VAP, 10 (52.63%) did not develop
      pneumonia and one (5.26%) had aspiration pneumonia. There was a statistically
      significant association between presence of microorganisms in the tracheal and
      mouth samples for the following pathogens: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Candida
      albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter gergoviae, Streptococcus spp and
      Serratia marcescens (p < 0.05). Pathogens that are present in tracheal aspirates
      of intubated patients can be detected in their oral cavity, especially in those
      who developed VAP or aspiration pneumonia. Thus, the results indicate that an
      improved oral care in these patients could decrease ICU pneumonia rates.

PMID- 28591231
TI  - Association of blood pressure variability with orthostatic intolerance symptoms.
AB  - The short-term blood pressure variability (BPV) reflects autonomic regulatory
      mechanisms. However, the influence of BPV in orthostatic intolerance (OI) is
      unknown. Herein, we assessed BPV profiles in patients with OI and determined
      their association with orthostatic symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, we
      prospectively enrolled 126 patients presenting with OI at the Seoul National
      University Hospital from December 2014 to August 2016. Among them, those with
      other neurological diseases (n = 8) and insufficient BP measurements (n = 15)
      were excluded. The degree of OI symptoms were measured using the self
      administered orthostatic intolerance questionnaire (OIQ). All patients underwent
      ambulatory BP monitoring and we calculated the standard deviation and coefficient
      of variation as a measure of BPV. The mean age was 48.6 years and the average of
      the total OIQ score was 11.6. The severe OI group had higher BPV values than the
      mild group, although mean BP profiles did not differ significantly. Correlation
      analysis demonstrated that the orthostatic symptoms were positively correlated
      with diastolic BPV for the total and awake periods. Multiple linear regression
      analysis revealed that diastolic BPV (B = 0.46, p = 0.031) and current smoking (B
      = 4.687, p = 0.018) were independent factors for higher OI symptom scores after
      adjusting for covariates. The results of the current study demonstrated that a
      positive correlation exists between BPV and OI symptoms. Further studies are
      required to confirm the present findings and understand the neural mechanisms
      contributing to the excessive BPV in patients with OI.

PMID- 28591238
TI  - Salivary protein polymorphisms and risk of dental caries: a systematic review.
AB  - Dental caries is an oral pathology associated with both lifestyle and genetic
      factors. The caries process can be influenced by salivary composition, which
      includes ions and proteins. Studies have described associations between salivary
      protein polymorphisms and dental caries experience, while others have shown no
      association with salivary proteins genetic variability. The aim of this study is
      to assess the influence of salivary protein polymorphisms on the risk of dental
      caries by means of a systematic review of the current literature. An electronic
      search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Virtual Health Library. The following
      search terms were used: "dental caries susceptibility," "dental caries,"
      "polymorphism, genetics," "saliva," "proteins," and "peptides." Related MeSH
      headings and free terms were included. The inclusion criteria comprised clinical
      investigations of subjects with and without caries. After application of these
      eligibility criteria, the selected articles were qualified by assessing their
      methodological quality. Initially, 338 articles were identified from the
      electronic databases after exclusion of duplicates. Exclusion criteria eliminated
      322 articles, and 16 remained for evaluation. Eleven articles found a consistent
      association between salivary protein polymorphisms and risk of dental caries, for
      proteins related to antimicrobial activity (beta defensin 1 and lysozyme-like
      protein), pH control (carbonic anhydrase VI), and bacterial colonization/adhesion
      (lactotransferrin, mucin, and proline-rich protein Db). This systematic review
      demonstrated an association between genetic polymorphisms and risk of dental
      caries for most of the salivary proteins.

PMID- 28591239
TI  - Association between crack cocaine use and reduced salivary flow.
AB  - Crack cocaine use appears to have an impact on oral conditions. However, changes
      in the salivary flow among crack users have not been fully clarified. The aim of
      this study was to compare stimulated salivary flow and the occurrence of
      hyposalivation between crack users and non-users. A cross-sectional study was
      conducted involving 40 crack users and 40 controls matched for sex, age, and
      smoking habits. Interviews were conducted to acquire data on the perception of
      dry mouth (xerostomia) and drug use. Stimulated salivary flow was determined
      using the spitting method. A significant reduction in stimulated salivary flow
      was found among crack users in comparison to non-users (1.02 vs. 1.59 ml/min). A
      total of 42.5% and 15% of crack users had very low and low stimulated salivary
      flow, respectively. Moreover, 65% of users reported xerostomia in comparison to
      37.5% non-users (p < 0.012). No significant association was found between
      xerostomia and hyposalivation (p = 0.384). A multivariate analysis revealed that
      individuals older than 26 years of age, those with a low household income, and
      crack users (prevalence ratio: 2.59) had a significant association with the
      occurrence of hyposalivation. A significant association was found between the use
      of crack and reduced salivary flow. The use of crack was associated with the
      occurrence of hyposalivation in the multivariate analysis.

PMID- 28591240
TI  - A randomized clinical trial on the sealing of occlusal carious lesions: 3-4-year
      results.
AB  - This randomized clinical trial aimed to assess the efficacy of sealing occlusal
      carious lesions in permanent teeth. The sample consisted of 54 occlusal carious
      lesions in permanent molars and premolars of 49 patients aged 8-43 years (median:
      19 years). The inclusion criteria comprised the presence of a cavity with no
      access allowing biofilm control. The maximum depth of the lesion was the middle
      third of the dentin thickness, as assessed by bitewing radiography. The teeth
      were randomly assigned to sealant treatment (n = 28) or restorative treatment (n
      = 26). Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed after 1 year and
      after 3-4 years. The outcomes depended on the clinical performance of the
      sealant/restoration and the control of caries progression observed
      radiographically. Survival analysis was performed to assess success rates. Over
      the 3-4 years of monitoring, 2 sealants were totally lost, 1 needed repair, and 1
      showed caries progression, totaling 4 failures in the sealant group. In the
      restoration group, 1 failure was observed (in need of repair). The success rates
      were 76% and 94% in the sealant and the restoration groups, respectively (p >
      0.05). The sealing of occlusal carious lesions in permanent teeth succeeded in
      controlling caries over a 3-4-year period. However, sealed carious lesions
      require patient compliance in attending regular follow-ups to control the
      occurrence of clinical failures of the sealants.

PMID- 28591241
TI  - The anti-caries activity and toxicity of an experimental propolis-containing
      varnish.
AB  - We investigated the anti-caries effects of an experimental propolis varnish in
      vivo, and further tested its toxicity against fibroblasts. Fifty-six SPF female
      Wistar rats were infected with Streptococcus mutans UA159 (SM) and allocated into
      four groups (n = 14/group): G1, propolis varnish (15%/PV); G2, chitosan varnish
      (CV/vehicle); G3, gold standard (GS/Duraphat(r)); and G4, untreated. The animals
      received a single varnish application on their molars and were submitted to a
      high cariogenic challenge (Diet-2000, 56% sucrose, and 5% sucrose-added water, ad
      libitum) for 4 weeks. Total cultivable microbiota and SM were counted, and smooth
      surface and sulcal caries were scored. PV, CV and GS cytotoxic effects were
      tested against fibroblasts. The data were analyzed using ANOVA with the Tukey
      Kramer test (p <= 0.05). Total microbiota and SM counts did not differ among the
      treatments (p = 0.78), or in relation to the untreated group (p = 0.52). PV
      reduced development of smooth-surface enamel caries compared with the untreated
      group (p = 0.0018), with no significant difference from GS (p = 0.92); however,
      the PV effects were no longer observed when the dentin was affected. Neither PV
      nor GS prevented enamel sulcal lesion onset, but GS significantly reduced the
      severity of dentinal sulcal lesions (p < 0.0001). No significant difference was
      observed in fibroblast viability between PV and GS (p < 0.0001). In conclusion,
      PV prevented smooth-surface enamel caries and showed low cell toxicity.
      Nevertheless, due to the high cariogenic challenge, its effects were not
      sustained throughout the experiment. Further studies are encouraged to establish
      a protocol to sustain the long-term anti-caries activity of PV in the oral
      cavity.

PMID- 28591242
TI  - 3D analysis of effects of primary surgeries in cleft lip/palate children during
      the first two years of life.
AB  - This study aimed at monitoring the maxillary growth of children with cleft
      lip/palate in the first two years of life, and to evaluate the effects of primary
      surgeries on dental arch dimensions. The sample consisted of the three
      dimensional digital models of 25 subjects with unilateral complete cleft lip and
      palate (UCLP) and 29 subjects with isolated cleft palate (CP). Maxillary arch
      dimensions were measured at 3 months (before lip repair), 1 year (before palate
      repair), and at 2 years of age. Student's ttest was used for comparison between
      the groups. Repeated measures ANOVA followed by Tukey's test was used to compare
      different treatment phases in the UCLP group. Paired ttest was used to compare
      different treatment phases in the CP group. P<0.05 was considered statistically
      significant. Decreased intercanine distance and anterior arch length were
      observed after lip repair in UCLP. After palate repair, maxillary dimensions
      increased significantly, except for the intercanine distance in UCLP and the
      intertuberosity distance in both groups. At the time of palate repair and at two
      years of age, the maxillary dimensions were very similar in both groups. It can
      be concluded that the maxillary arches of children with UCLP and CP changed as a
      result of primary surgery.

PMID- 28591243
TI  - PLATELET COUNT SQUARED/SPLEEN DIAMETER-ASPARTATE AMINOTRANSFERASE RATIO: NON
      INVASIVE METHOD TO PREDICT ESOPHAGEAL VARICES.
AB  - BACKGROUND: - Variceal bleeding has a high mortality among cirrhotics, and
      screening with endoscopy is indicated at the diagnosis of cirrhosis. Screening
      with endoscopy implies discomfort, risks and considerable costs. OBJECTIVE: - To
      evaluate platelet count squared/spleen diameter-aspartate aminotransferase ratio
      (PS/SA), as a non-invasive predictor of esophageal varices in cirrhotics.
      METHODS: - This cross-sectional study evaluated cirrhotics for PS/SA and presence
      of esophageal varices. Outpatient records of cirrhotic patients were reviewed for
      the abovementioned data. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive
      predictive values of PS/SA were calculated. After the univariate analysis,
      variables with P<0.10 were submitted to a logistic regression. RESULTS: - The
      study included 164 cirrhotics, 59.70% male, with a mean age of 56.7 years.
      Hepatitis C was the most frequent cause of cirrhosis, being present in 90
      patients. Patients were classified as Child-Pugh A in 52.44% and as Child-Pugh B
      or C in 47.56%. Esophageal varices were present in 72.56% of the patients at
      endoscopy. PS/SA, with a cutoff of 3x108, had a sensitivity of 95.80% (confidence
      interval of 95% - 95%CI=0.92-0.99), a specificity of 22.70% (95%CI=0.10-0.35), a
      positive predictive value of 77.20% (95%CI=0.70-0.84) and a negative predictive
      value of 66.70% (95%CI=0.42-0.91). In the logistic regression, only platelet
      count and Child-Pugh score were associated to esophageal varices (P<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: - PS/SA has an excellent sensitivity to predict esophageal varices,
      allowing almost one fourth of patients without esophageal varices to spare
      endoscopy. Nevertheless, PS/SA is not independently associated to esophageal
      varices.

PMID- 28591244
TI  - INFLUENCE OF DRINKING A PROBIOTIC FERMENTED MILK BEVERAGE CONTAINING
      BIFIDOBACTERIUM ANIMALIS ON THE SYMPTOMS OF CONSTIPATION.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constipation is a chronic problem in many patients all over the
      world. OBJECTIVE: - To evaluate the effect of consumption of a probiotic
      fermented milk beverage containing Bifidobacterium animalis on the symptoms of
      constipation. METHODS: - This randomized, double-blind controlled trial included
      49 female patients aged 20 to 50 years and diagnosed with constipation according
      to the ROME III criteria (Diagnostic Criteria for Functional Gastrointestinal
      Disorders) and the Bristol Stool Form Scale. The patients were randomized into
      two groups: the intervention group received the probiotic fermented milk beverage
      and the control group received non-probiotic milk. Participants were instructed
      to ingest 150 mL of the beverages during 60 days. At the end of this period,
      patients were assessed again by the ROME III criteria and Bristol scale. The
      Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate pre and post-intervention results of the ROME
      III criteria and Bristol scale. The statistical significance level was considered
      as 5% ( P <=0.05). RESULTS: - The intervention group showed improvement in the
      following criteria: straining during a bowel movement ( P <0.001), feeling of
      incomplete evacuation ( P <0.001) and difficulty in passing stool ( P <0.014), in
      addition to Bristol scale results ( P <0.001). In the control group, improvements
      were observed in the following criteria: straining during a bowel movement ( P
      <0.001), feeling of incomplete evacuation ( P <0.001) and difficulty in passing
      stool ( P <0.025), in addition to Bristol scale results ( P <0.001). No
      statistically significant post-intervention differences were observed between the
      two groups for the Rome III criteria and Bristol scale. CONCLUSION: - The results
      show that the consumption of milk resulted in the improvement of constipation
      symptoms, regardless of the probiotic culture.

PMID- 28591246
TI  - Translation and adaptation of "Perception of Severity of Chronic Illness" to the
      Brazilian culture for adolescents.
AB  - Objective: To translate, adapt, and evaluate the applicability of the "Perception
      of Severity of Chronic Illness" questionnaire to the Brazilian culture for
      diabetic adolescents. Methods: This is a methodological study consisting of the
      stages of translation, synthesis of translations, back translation, review by an
      expert committee, and pre-test. The expert judges evaluated semantic, idiomatic,
      conceptual, and cultural equivalences. The judges' concordance was quantified
      using the Content Validity Index. Results: The translation and back translation
      were performed successfully. After the synthesised translation was reviewed by
      the committee, the items were altered to ensure equivalence between the original
      and translated instrument. After the pre-test, some statements were reformulated
      to make them clearer and easier to understand. The preliminary data of the
      instrument's reliability calculated using Cronbach's alpha was 0.66. Conclusion:
      The Brazilian version of the instrument Perception of Severity of Chronic Illness
      proved satisfactory in terms of the translation, cultural adaptation, and
      practicality, and it was considered an easily applicable and viable tool for
      clinical practice.

PMID- 28591245
TI  - AGREEMENT BETWEEN DIFFERENT PATHOLOGISTS IN HISTOPATHOLOGIC DIAGNOSIS OF 128
      GASTRIC POLYPS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: - Gastric polyps are elevated mucosal lesions. Most of them are less
      than 1 cm and when larger than 2 cm, has a high malignancy probability. The
      histopathological types are mainly fundic gland polyps, hyperplastic polyps and
      adenomatous polyps. OBJECTIVE: - To evaluate the agreement between three
      different pathologists in the histopathological diagnosis of 128 biopsied gastric
      polyps in Digestive Endoscopy Unit from Walter Cantideo University Hospital,
      between May 2010 to May 2012. METHODS: - To describe the intensity of agreement
      between observers, we use kappa index that is based on the number of concordant
      measures between them. RESULTS: - There was substantial agreement in the
      diagnosis of adenoma (kappa=0.799, CI: 0.899-0.698) and fundic glands
      (kappa=0.655, CI: 0.755-0.555). Regarding to hyperplastic polyps (kappa=0.415,
      CI: 0.515-0.315) and inflammatory (kappa=0.401, CI: 0.501-0.301), we obtained a
      moderate agreement. Regarding the presence of Helicobacter pylori in biopsy of
      the polyp, there was a low agreement (kappa=0.219, CI: 0.319-0.119). CONCLUSION: 
      It is clear that the agreement between pathologists depends on the histological
      type of the biopsied polyp and this agreement is more substantial in adenoma, or
      fundic gland polyps.

PMID- 28591247
TI  - Mental health care network: the views of coordinators of the Family Health
      Strategy (FHS).
AB  - Objective: This study aimed to analyze the opinions of the coordinators of the
      Family Health Strategy (FHS) on the mental health care network in the city of
      Pelotas/RS. Method: Descriptive and exploratory study with a qualitative
      approach, carried out with six FHS coordinators, in 2012. Semi-structured
      interview was used in data collection, and the results were evaluated using the
      thematic analysis. Results: The network designed by the coordinators consists of
      few formal services and is focused on the Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS). The
      informal network has a greater number of care units. Exchange of information
      related to joint responsibilities in the care is scarce, with lack of dialogue.
      Conclusion: The coordinators have scarce knowledge on the formal care network and
      on care focused on the ESF and CAPS. They also recognize the importance public
      policies that value and expand the informal care spaces in the territory.

PMID- 28591248
TI  - Communication of scientific production and knowledge visibility in nursing.

PMID- 28591249
TI  - [RETRACTED ARTICLE] GASTRIC AND JEJUNAL HISTOPATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN PATIENTS
      UNDERGOING BARIATRIC SURGERY.
AB  - [This retracts the article DOI: 10.1590/s0004-2803.2017v54n1-15.].

PMID- 28591250
TI  - Erratum.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1590/S0004-28032015000500004.].

PMID- 28591251
TI  - Analysis of the Economic Impact of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Last Five Years
      in Brazil.
AB  - Background: There is growing concern about the economic impact of cardiovascular
      diseases (CVD) in Brazil and worldwide. Objective: To estimate the economic
      impact of CVD in Brazil in the last five years. Methods: The information to
      estimate CVD costs was taken from national databases, adding the direct costs
      with hospitalizations, outpatient visits and benefits granted by social security.
      Indirect costs were added to the calculation, such as loss of income caused by
      CVD morbidity or mortality. Results: CVD mortality accounts for 28% of all deaths
      in Brazil in the last five years and for 38% of deaths in the productive age
      range (18 to 65 years). The estimated costs of CVD were R$ 37.1 billion in 2015,
      a 17% increase in the period from 2010 to 2015. The estimated costs of premature
      death due to CVD represent 61% of the total cost of CVD, Direct costs with
      hospitalizations and consultations were 22%, and costs related to the loss of
      productivity related to the disease were 15% of the total. Health expenditures in
      Brazil are estimated at 9.5% of GDP and the average cost of CVD was estimated at
      0.7% of GDP. Conclusion: CVD costs have increased significantly in the last five
      years. It is estimated that CVD costs increase as the Brazilian population ages
      and the prevalence of CVD increases.

PMID- 28591252
TI  - Impact of the Use of Different Diagnostic Criteria in the Prevalence of
      Dyslipidemia in Pregnant Women.
AB  - Background: There is a physiologic elevation of total cholesterol (TC) and
      triglycerides (TG) during pregnancy. Some authors define dyslipidemia (DLP) in
      pregnant women when TC, LDL and TG concentrations are above the 95th percentile
      (p95%) and HDL concentration is below the 5th percentile (P5%) for gestational
      age (GA). Objective: To compare the prevalence of DLP in pregnant women using
      percentiles criteria with the V Brazilian Guidelines on Dyslipidemia and the
      association with maternal and fetal outcomes. Results: Pregnant women with high
      risk conditions, aged 18-50 years, and at least one lipid profile during
      pregnancy was classified as the presence of DLP by two diagnostic criteria.
      Clinical and laboratorial data of mothers and newborns were evaluated.
      Conclusion: 433 pregnant women aged 32.9 +/- 6.5 years were studied. Most (54.6%)
      had lipid profile collected during third trimester. The prevalence of any lipid
      abnormalities according to the criteria of the National Guidelines was 83.8%: TC
      >= 200 mg/dL was found in 49.9%; LDL >= 160 mg/dL, in 14.3%, HDL <= 50 mg/dL in
      44.4% and TG >= 150 mg/dL in 65.3%. Any changes of lipid according to percentiles
      criteria was found in 19.6%: elevation above the P95% for TC was found in 0.7%;
      for LDL, 1.7%; for TG 6.4% and HDL lower than the P5% in 13%. The frequency of
      comorbidity: hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity and preeclampsia was
      similar among pregnant women when DLP was compared by both criteria. Conclusion:
      The prevalence of DLP during pregnancy varies significantly depending on the
      criteria used, however none demonstrated superiority in association with
      comorbidities.

PMID- 28591254
TI  - Bacteremia caused by Elizabethkingia meningoseptica in a mechanically ventilated
      patient successfully treated with imipenem-cilastatin and ciprofloxacin.

PMID- 28591253
TI  - Acute kidney injury complicating bee stings - a review.
AB  - Bee stings can cause severe reactions and have caused many victims in the last
      years. Allergic reactions can be triggered by a single sting and the greater the
      number of stings, the worse the prognosis. The poisoning effects can be systemic
      and can eventually cause death. The poison components are melitin, apamin,
      peptide 401, phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, histamine, dopamine, and
      norepinephrine, with melitin being the main lethal component. Acute kidney injury
      (AKI) can be observed in patients suffering from bee stings and this is due to
      multiple factors, such as intravascular hemolysis, rhabdomyolysis, hypotension
      and direct toxicity of the venom components to the renal tubules. Arterial
      hypotension plays an important role in this type of AKI, leading to ischemic
      renal lesion. The most commonly identified biopsy finding in these cases is acute
      tubular necrosis, which can occur due to both, ischemic injury and the
      nephrotoxicity of venom components. Hemolysis and rhabdomyolysis reported in many
      cases in the literature, were demonstrated by elevated serum levels of indirect
      bilirubin and creatine kinase. The severity of AKI seems to be associated with
      the number of stings, since creatinine levels were higher, in most cases, when
      there were more than 1,000 stings. The aim of this study is to present an updated
      review of AKI associated with bee stings, including the currently advised
      clinical approach.

PMID- 28591255
TI  - Entomological survey in the state of Piaui, Northeastern Brazil, reveals
      intradomiciliary colonization of Triatoma brasiliensis macromelasoma.
AB  - This survey aimed to assess the presence of triatomine vectors of Chagas disease
      within the rural communities of Sao Joao do Piaui, Northeast Brazil.
      Intradomiciliary and peridomiciliary collection strategies were implemented
      wherein 279 specimens of Triatoma brasiliensis macromelasoma, both nymph and
      adult were found in 15 (50%) of the studied homes. Of the intradomiciliary
      insects, 73 (67.6%) were identified as nymph instars (1st instar [N1]= 6, N2= 14,
      N3= 28, N4= 7 and N5= 18). In the studied communities, a continuous interaction
      between triatomine bugs and humans could be shown. It is therefore urgent that
      suitable strategies for the control of the triatomine vector are implemented in
      this area.

PMID- 28591256
TI  - Association of outcomes with comprehension, adherence and behavioral
      characteristics of tuberculosis patients using fixed-dose combination therapy in
      Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
AB  - The present study aimed to assess the association of outcomes with comprehension,
      adherence and behavioral characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) patients using
      fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy in the city of Contagem, MG, Brazil. This
      study used standardized questionnaires to collect data. Outcomes included cure in
      77.2% (64/ 83), noncompliance with treatment in 20.4% (17/ 83), and absence of
      organ failure or death cases. The rate of adherence to treatment was high (71.1% 
      59/ 83), while the level of comprehension of the treatment was insufficient for
      the majority of patients (72.3% - 60/ 83). When a greater number of medicines was
      used, the chance of noncompliance with treatment increased exponentially (p =
      0.00 - OR 1.72). Light-skinned black patients, alcoholics and those who live with
      HIV/ AIDS showed a significant association with noncompliance with treatment
      (p=0.039 - OR 3.38, p=0.002 - OR 4.68, and p=0.001 - OR 9.68, respectively).
      Comprehension also presented a significant association with noncompliance with
      treatment (p=0.01 and OR 5.76 and CI 1.49-22.29). The probability of
      noncompliance with treatment in the first few months was greater than in the
      subsequent months. This study demonstrates that if the TB patients had a better
      understanding of the treatment, the outcome would have been more favorable as
      regards a proper cure.

PMID- 28591257
TI  - Oral Candida spp carriage and periodontal diseases in HIV-infected patients in
      Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.
AB  - The majority of HIV-infected patients develop Candida spp-associated clinical
      oral lesions. Studies have shown that asymptomatic oral colonization of Candida
      spp may lead to oral lesions or become a source of disseminated infections. The
      aim of this study was to verify the effects of periodontal conditions on Candida
      spp prevalence and Candida spp carriage in the oral cavity of HIV-infected
      patients compared to non-infected patients. Twenty-five patients not infected
      with HIV and 48 HIV-infected patients were classified according to periodontal
      conditions as being periodontal healthy or with periodontal disease. Candida spp
      carriage and classification were performed in oral rinse samples. Viral load and
      CD4+ T lymphocyte (CD4+L) counts were performed in blood samples from HIV
      infected patients. No differences in Candida spp prevalence related to HIV status
      or periodontal condition were detected. However, Candida spp carriage was
      increased in periodontally affected HIV-infected patients when compared to
      periodontally healthy HIV-infected patients (p= 0.04). Periodontally healthy HIV
      infected patients presented Candida spp carriage in similar levels as healthy or
      periodontally affected non-HIV-infected patients. Candida spp carriage was
      correlated with CD4+L counting in HIV-infected patients. We concluded that
      periodontal disease is associated with increased Candida spp carriage in HIV
      infected patients and may be a predisposing factor to clinical manifestations of
      candidiasis.

PMID- 28591258
TI  - Immune development in HIV-exposed uninfected children born to HIV-infected women.
AB  - Immunological and clinical findings suggestive of some immune dysfunction have
      been reported among HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) children and adolescents.
      Whether these defects are persistent or transitory is still unknown. HEU
      pediatric population at birth, 12 months, 6-12 years were evaluated in comparison
      to healthy age-matched HIV-unexposed controls. Plasma levels of LPS, sCD14,
      cytokines, lymphocyte immunophenotyping and T-cell receptor excision circles
      (TREC) were assessed. HEU and controls had similar LPS levels, which remained low
      from birth to 6-12 years; for plasma sCD14, IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL
      13, IL-17, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, G-CSF, GM-CSF and MCP-1, which increased from
      birth to 12 months and then decreased at 6-12 years; and for TREC/106 PBMC at
      birth in HEU and controls. By contrast, plasma MIP-1beta levels were lower in HEU
      than in controls (p=0.009) at 12 months, and IL-4 levels were higher in HEU than
      controls (p=0.04) at 6-12 years. Immune activation was higher in HEU at 12 months
      and at 6-12 years than controls based on frequencies of CD38+HLA-DR+CD8+T cells
      (p=0.05) and of CD38+HLA-DR+CD4+T cells (p=0.006). Resting memory and activated
      mature B cells increased from birth to 6-12 years in both groups. The development
      of the immune system in vertically HEU individuals is comparable to the general
      population in most parameters, but subtle or transient differences exist. Their
      role in influencing clinical incidences in HEU is unknown.

PMID- 28591259
TI  - Knowledge and perceptions on toxoplasmosis among pregnant women and nurses who
      provide prenatal in primary care.
AB  - Background: Toxoplasmosis is an infection that affects almost a third of the
      world population. In adults, it is often asymptomatic, although having important
      manifestation in children- infected by placental transmission. The prenatal is an
      important moment, requiring actions in women's care during pregnancy, in order to
      prevent diseases that could compromise the mother and the child's life. Methods:
      This is a descriptive study of qualitative approach aimed to understand the
      perception of nurses and pregnant women about toxoplasmosis during primary -
      prenatal care. The study was conducted in five selected primary health care
      units, in the municipality of Sao Luis - MA. The sample consisted of 15 nurses
      working in nursing consultation and 15 pregnant women attended in prenatal care.
      For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide
      covering issues related to knowledge and conduct on toxoplasmosis were used. For
      analysis, the content analysis technique was used. Results: The answers were
      transcribed, organized and grouped thematically, where the following categories
      emerged: knowledge about examination requests; knowledge about toxoplasmosis;
      guidance during prenatal consultation; knowledge of nurses about the avidity
      test; procedures and guidelines on reagent cases. Pregnant women showed
      unawareness about toxoplasmosis and its effects. Nurses, although having basic
      knowledge about the subject, showed little applicability regarding pregnant
      women's guidance. Conclusion: The nurse plays an important role in educational
      activities regarding pregnant women, contributing to the quality of prenatal
      care. Pregnant women were shown to have some knowledge about toxoplasmosis,
      although they said they did not have assurance about prevention.

PMID- 28591260
TI  - Presence of rotavirus and free-living amoebae in the water supplies of Karachi,
      Pakistan.
AB  - Rotavirus and pathogenic free-living amoebae are causative agents of important
      health problems, especially for developing countries like Pakistan where the
      population has limited access to clean water supplies. Here, we evaluated the
      prevalence of rotavirus and free-living amoebae (Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia
      mandrillaris, Naegleria fowleri) in drinking water supplies of Karachi, Pakistan.
      Six water filtration plants that supply drinking water to the population of
      Karachi were investigated. Additionally, drinking water samples from households
      were analyzed for the presence of rotavirus and free-living amoebae. Rotavirus
      was present in 35% of the water samples collected from water filtration plants;
      however, domestic tap water samples had a prevalence of only 5%. Out of 20 water
      samples from filtration plants, 13 (65%) were positive for Acanthamoeba spp., and
      one (5%) was positive for B. mandrillaris. Out of 20 drinking water samples
      collected from different areas of Karachi, 35% were positive for Acanthamoeba
      spp. Rotavirus was detected in 5% of the drinking water samples tested. Overall,
      these findings showed for the first time the presence of rotavirus, in addition
      to pathogenic free-living amoebae in drinking water supplies of Karachi that
      could be an important public health risk for the affected population.

PMID- 28591262
TI  - Fatal Cryptococcus gattii genotype VGI infection in an HIV-positive patient in
      Barranquilla, Colombia.
AB  - Cryptococcosis is a major invasive fungal disease related worldwide with the AIDS
      population. New reports of HIV/AIDS cases to the national public health
      surveillance system (SIVIGILA) in Colombia have shown that there is a growing
      community at risk of contracting cryptococcosis throughout the country who do not
      have access to ART. Even though the most prevalent species Cryptococcus
      neoformans is mainly associated with the HIV population, we report a fatal case
      of cryptococcosis in an AIDS patient in Barranquilla, associated with
      Cryptococcus gattii VGI, isolated from blood culture.

PMID- 28591261
TI  - Sporotrichoid leishmaniasis: a cross-sectional clinical, epidemiological and
      laboratory study in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.
AB  - Background: Atypical presentations of cutaneous leishmaniasis include
      sporotrichoid leishmaniasis (SL), which is clinically described as a primary
      ulcer combined with lymphangitis and nodules and/or ulcerated lesions along its
      pathway. Aims: To assess the differences between patients with sporotrichoid
      leishmaniasis and typical cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Methods: From January
      2004 to December 2010, 23 cases of SL (4.7%) were detected among 494 CL patients
      diagnosed at a reference center for the disease in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.
      These 23 cases were compared with the remaining 471 patients presenting CL.
      Results: SL predominated in female patients (60.9%, p = 0.024), with older age (p
      = 0.032) and with lesions in upper limbs (52.2%, p = 0.028). CL affected more men
      (64.5%), at younger age, and with a higher number of lesions exclusively in lower
      limbs (34.8%). Conclusions: Differences in clinical and epidemiological
      presentation were found between SL patients as compared to CL ones, in a region
      with a known predominance of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. The results are
      similar to the features of most of the sporotrichosis patients as described in
      literature, making the differential diagnosis between ATL and sporotrichosis more
      important in overlapping areas for both diseases, like in Rio de Janeiro State.

PMID- 28591263
TI  - Myiasis associated with an invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast: case
      study.
AB  - Most breast cancers originate in the ductal epithelium and are referred to as
      invasive ductal carcinoma. In this study we report on the clinical procedures
      adopted to diagnose myiasis in association with infiltrating metastatic breast
      carcinoma in a female patient. A 41 years old woman came to the Federal Hospital
      of Andarai complaining of intense itching, warmth, redness and hardening of the
      breast, which had acquired the aspect of an orange peel. A lesion in the left
      breast was cavitated, dimpled, had fetid odor, and had fibrotic and infected air
      nodules filled with exudate and Dipteran larvae. The tissue was cleaned and 33
      larvae were extracted. The patient was hospitalized and received Ivermectin.
      Eighteen of the larvae extracted from the patient were placed in 70% alcohol, and
      twelve were placed in a container with sterile wood shavings under controlled
      conditions until they metamorphosed into adults. The taxonomic identification of
      the flies revealed that the culprit was Cochliomyia hominivorax. A
      histopathological exam conducted three months earlier had revealed infiltrating
      ductal carcinoma. Two months after the myiasis treatment, the breast tissue had
      healed. The patient had waited ten days from the onset of the myiasis to seek
      treatment, and that delay interfered negatively in the prognosis of both the
      neoplasm and the myiasis. This study is relevant to public health in view of the
      strong social impact of myiasis.

PMID- 28591264
TI  - Sarcoid-like cutaneous lesions in chronic adult paracoccidioidomycosis: report of
      two cases.
AB  - This study reports two cases of chronic paracoccidioidomycosis with sarcoid-like
      cutaneous lesions. The patients began the treatment in 2013 at Hospital
      Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho (HUCFF) of the Universidade Federal do Rio
      de Janeiro (UFRJ). The first case (mild form) was treated with trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole (8 mg /kg per day, orally) for three months and, then, with half
      the dose for nine months; the second (moderate form), with itraconazole (200 mg
      per day, orally) for 12 months. We point out the rareness of the sarcoid-like
      cutaneous lesions and the differential diagnoses for other granulomatous
      diseases.

PMID- 28591265
TI  - Disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania braziliensis in
      Southern Brazil.
AB  - The authors report a case of disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by
      Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, in a 55 years old patient with 1,119 lesions
      distributed throughout the body. The patient resides in Sabaudia municipality,
      North of Parana State, Southern Brazil, where there was no previous report of
      this form of leishmaniasis. Treatment with meglumine antimoniate was successful,
      although the diagnosis was made only five months later.

PMID- 28591266
TI  - Efficiency of noninvasive sampling methods (swab) together with Polymerase Chain
      Reaction (PCR) for diagnosing American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis.
AB  - Traditional diagnostic methods used to detect American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis,
      such as histopathology using biopsy samples, culture techniques, and direct
      search for parasites, have low sensitivity and require invasive collection
      procedures. This study evaluates the efficiency of noninvasive sampling methods
      (swab) along with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for diagnosing American
      Tegumentary Leishmaniasis using skin and mucous samples from 25 patients who had
      tested positive for leishmaniasis. The outcome of the tests performance on swab
      samples was compatible with PCR results on biopsy samples. The findings have also
      shown that PCR-kDNA test is more efficient than PCR-HSP70 and qPCR tests
      (sensitivity of 92.3%, 40.7%, and 41%, respectively). Given the high sensitivity
      of the tests and the fact that the sampling method using swabs affords greater
      patient comfort and safety, it could be said that this method is a promising
      alternative to conventional biopsy-based methods for the molecular diagnosis of
      leishmaniasis.

PMID- 28591267
TI  - The performance of serological tests for Leishmania infantum infection screening
      in dogs depends on the prevalence of the disease.
AB  - Dogs are considered the main reservoir of Leishmania infantum. This protozoan
      causes visceral leishmaniasis (VL), an uncontrolled urban zoonosis in Brazil.
      Serological tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on peripheral blood were
      performed to identify infected dogs in scenarios of higher and lower prevalence
      of the disease (Teresina and Vitoria). One-hundred infected and 57 non-infected
      animals from Teresina and 100 non-infected animals from Vitoria were studied.
      Animal selection was not dependent on previous serology. The sensitivity
      (Teresina) and specificity (Teresina and Vitoria) were as follows: indirect
      antibody fluorescence (IFAT) cut-off of 1:40 (IFAT 1:40): 96%, 18%, and 76%; IFAT
      1:80: 90%, 33%, and 93%; direct agglutination test (DAT): 96%, 33%, and 98%; fast
      agglutination screening test (FAST): 93%, 68%, and 100%; immunochromatographic
      assay with a recombinant rK39 antigen (rK39): 88%, 74%, and 98%; enzyme linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA): 91%, 79%, and 98%; rapid dual-path platform test (TR
      DPP(r)): 98%, 60%, and 98%; and blood PCR: 29%, 93%, and 97%, respectively. In
      the high transmission area, none of the tests adequately discriminated L.
      infantum-infected from non-infected dogs. However, in the high transmission city,
      the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of FAST, DAT,
      ICrK39, ELISA and TR DPP(r) was high.

PMID- 28591269
TI  - What can BDNF genotype tell us about our memory?

PMID- 28591270
TI  - Staging in bipolar disorder: one step closer to precision psychiatry.

PMID- 28591268
TI  - Diagnosis of mycobacteria in bovine milk: an overview.
AB  - Tuberculosis remains as the world's biggest threat. In 2014, human tuberculosis
      ranked as a major infectious disease by the first time, overcoming HIV death
      rates. Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic disease of global distribution that
      affects animals and can be transmitted to humans by the consumption of raw milk,
      representing a serious public health concern. Despite the efforts of different
      countries to control and eradicate bovine tuberculosis, the high negative
      economic impact on meat and milk production chains remains, given the decreased
      production efficiency (approximately 25%), the high number of condemned
      carcasses, and increased animal culling rates. This scenario has motivated the
      establishment of official programs based on regulations and diagnostic
      procedures. Although Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis are the
      major pathogenic species to humans and bovines, respectively, nontuberculous
      mycobacteria within the Mycobacterium genus have become increasingly important in
      recent decades due to human infections, including the ones that occur in
      immunocompetent people. Diagnosis of mycobacteria can be performed by
      microbiological culture from tissue samples (lymph nodes, lungs) and secretions
      (sputum, milk). In general, these pathogens demand special nutrient requirements
      for isolation/growth, and the use of selective and rich culture media. Indeed,
      within these genera, mycobacteria are classified as either fast- or slow-growth
      microorganisms. Regarding the latter ones, incubation times can vary from 45 to
      90 days. Although microbiological culture is still considered the gold standard
      method for diagnosis, molecular approaches have been increasingly used. We
      describe here an overview of the diagnosis of Mycobacterium species in bovine
      milk.

PMID- 28591271
TI  - A case of bleach addiction associated with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PMID- 28591272
TI  - S-(+)-ketamine-induced dissociative symptoms as a traumatic experience in
      patients with treatment-resistant depression.

PMID- 28591273
TI  - An index to examine the sexual HIV risk of psychiatric service users based on
      sexual partners.

PMID- 28591274
TI  - Current inpatient prescription practices for the treatment of schizophrenia in
      public hospitals of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

PMID- 28591275
TI  - A new season for the Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia (ABO).

PMID- 28591276
TI  - Comparison of optical coherence tomographic findings between Behcet disease
      patients with and without ocular involvement and healthy subjects.
AB  - Purpose:: We aimed to compare the retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell layer,
      inner plexiform layer, and the choroid thickness between patients with Behcet
      disease and healthy subjects by using spectral domain optical coherence
      tomography (SD-OCT). Methods:: Ninety eyes of 45 healthy subjects and 104 eyes of
      52 patients with Behcet disease were included in this study. Rheumatoid factor
      and C-reactive protein levels were measured by blood testing in the patients.
      Results:: The mean thickness of the retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cells
      layer, and inner plexiform layer were significantly lower in patients with
      Behcet's disease than in the healthy subjects. The mean choroidal thickness was
      significantly higher in the patients than in the healthy subjects. Conclusions::
      SD-OCT was a useful and non-invasive tool for the detection of retinal nerve
      degeneration and choroidal changes in patients with Behcet disease even in the
      absence of ocular involvement.

PMID- 28591277
TI  - Evaluation of nicotinamide as an anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic agent in
      uveal melanoma cell lines.
AB  - Purpose:: To investigate the effect of nicotinamide on the secretion of pro-an
      giogenic and pro-inflammatory cytokines in uveal melanoma cell lines. Methods::
      Two human uveal melanoma cell lines (92.1 and OCM-1) were treated with
      nicotinamide (10 mmol/L) or control media for 48 hours in culture. The su perna
      tant from each culture was used in sandwich enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay
      based angiogenesis and inflammation arrays to evaluate the effects of exogenously
      administered nicotinamide on the secretion of a total of 20 pro-an gio genic and
      pro-inflammatory proteins. Results:: Seven pro-angiogenic cytokines were detected
      under control conditions for both uveal melanoma cell lines. Treatment with
      nicotinamide resulted in a significant decrease in secretion of the following pro
      angiogenic cytokines: angiogenin, angiopoietin-2, epidermal growth factor, and
      vascular epithelial growth factor-A in the 92.1 cells; basic fibroblast growth
      factor in the OCM-1 cells; and placenta growth factor in both cell lines. Among
      the pro-inflammatory proteins, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and interleukin-8
      were expressed in both untreated cell lines and both were significantly reduced
      when treated with nicotinamide. Conclusions:: Results from this in vitro model
      suggest that nicotinamide may have anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic
      properties, which may open the possibility of using it as a chemopreventive agent
      for uveal melanoma; however, further studies including animal models are
      warranted.

PMID- 28591278
TI  - Comparisons of choroidal nevus measurements obtained using 10- and 20-MHz
      ultrasound and spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
AB  - Purpose:: To compare measurements of lesions clinically diagnosed as choroidal
      nevi using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and 10- and 20
      MHz ultrasound (US). Methods:: This prospective study, which was conducted
      between May 2011 and December 2011, evaluated eyes diagnosed with choroidal nevus
      via photographic documentation using 10- or 20-MHz A- and B-mode US (experienced
      examiner using both the transpalpebral technique and direct contact) or SD-OCT in
      the enhanced depth imaging mode (performed by a different examiner blinded to the
      US results). Anteroposterior (AP) and transverse (T) US sections corresponded to
      sections adjusted perpendicularly on SD-OCT. Results:: We evaluated 14 eyes from
      12 patients (six males, mean patient age= 64.5 years) diagnosed with choroidal
      nevus. The choroidal nevi of all samples had a melanocytic profile. Moreover,
      eight nevi were located at the equator, five nevi were located in the posterior
      pole (peripapillary in one sample), and one nevus shifted from the equator to the
      periphery. On SD-OCT, the maximum measurable dimension was 9 mm. The lesions in
      the posterior pole were easier to evaluate, and image acquisition of lesions
      located more peripherally was possible depending on patient cooperation. The
      accurate assessment of height was difficult. Baseline dimensions on 10- and 20
      MHz US were larger than those determined via OCT. No significant differences in
      height were observed between US and SD-OCT. All parameters were statistically
      similar between 10- and 20-MHz US measurements. Conclusions:: No significant
      difference in the AP and T diameters was observed between 10- and 20-MHz US
      measurements; however, these measurements (AP and T) were significantly higher
      than those obtained using OCT. No significant differences in height were observed
      among the techniques adopted.

PMID- 28591279
TI  - Detection of herpes simplex-1 and -2 and varicella zoster virus by quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction in corneas from patients with bacterial
      keratitis.
AB  - Objective:: Bacterial keratitis occurs worldwide, and despite recent
      developments, it remains a potentially blinding condition. This study assesses
      the presence of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and -2) and varicella zoster virus
      (VZV) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in corneal
      scrapings from patients with bacterial keratitis. Methods:: A total of 65
      patients with clinical diagnoses of infectious corneal ulcers prospectively
      underwent clinical eye examinations. Corneal scrapings were investigated by Gram
      staining, Giemsa staining, culture, and qPCR (the study group). Risk factors and
      epidemiological data were recorded. The control group comprising 25 eyes with
      typical herpes dendritic keratitis was also analyzed by qPCR. Results:: From the
      study group (n=65), nine patients (13.8%) had negative smears, cultures, and qPCR
      findings. Fifty-six (86.2%) patients had positive cultures: 51 for bacteria, 4
      for fungi, and 1 for amoebae. Of the patients who had positive bacterial
      cultures, qPCR identified 10 patients who were also positive for virus: one for
      VZV and nine for HSV-1. Of the 25 patients in the control group, 21 tested
      positive for HSV-1 by qPCR analysis. Conclusions:: Herpes may be present in
      patients with bacterial corneal ulcers, and qPCR may be useful in its detection.

PMID- 28591280
TI  - Keratoconus progression is not inhibited by reducing eyelid muscular force with
      botulinum toxin A treatment: a randomized trial.
AB  - Purpose:: To evaluate whether reducing eyelid muscular force through the
      administration of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) to the orbicularis oculi muscles
      of patients with keratoconus affected corneal parameters indicative of disease
      progression. Methods:: In this prospective parallel randomized clinical trial, 40
      eyes of 40 patients with keratoconus were randomized into equally sized control
      and BTX-A groups. Patients in the BTX-A group received subcutaneous BTX-A
      injections into the orbicularis muscle. The control group received no
      intervention. Palpebral fissure height, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity
      (BSCVA), and corneal topographic parameters were evaluated at baseline and at 3-,
      6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-ups. Results:: The mean +/- standard deviation
      vertical palpebral fissure heights were 9.74 +/- 1.87 mm and 9.45 +/- 1.47 mm at
      baseline in the control and BTX-A groups, respectively, and 10.0 +/- 1.49 mm and
      9.62 +/- 1.73 mm at 18 months, with no significant difference between the groups
      (p=0.337). BSCVA values were 0.63 +/- 0.56 and 0.60 +/- 0.27 at baseline in the
      control and BTX-A groups (p=0.643), and 0.52 +/- 0.59 and 0.45 +/- 0.26 at 18
      months, again with no significant difference between the groups (p=0.452). In
      addition, there were no statistical differences between the groups at 18 months
      for the three keratometry topographic parameters: flattest (K1), steepest (K2),
      and mean (Km) keratometry (p=0.562). Conclusion:: BTX-A inhibition of eyelid
      force generation did not result in detectable changes in corneal parameters in
      keratoconic patients during 18 months of follow-up.

PMID- 28591281
TI  - Topographic outcomes after corneal collagen crosslinking in progressive
      keratoconus: 1-year follow-up.
AB  - Purpose:: We aimed to report and analyze topographic and refractive outcomes
      following corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) in patients with progressive
      keratoconus (KC). Methods:: We performed a retrospective, analytical, and
      observational study of 100 eyes from 74 progressive KC patients who underwent CXL
      at the Eye Hospital of Parana. Keratometric values were analyzed preoperatively
      as well as 3 and 12 months postoperatively. Results:: For a total of 100 eyes, 68
      belonged to male patients. The mean age of our study population was 19.9 +/- 5.61
      years. The average visual acuity and topographic parameters overall were stable
      after 1 year (p<0.05). After 3 months, steepest keratometry reading (K2) and
      maximum keratometry (Kmax) were significantly decreased (p<0.05). Regarding
      topographic astigmatism (dK), there was no significant difference between the 3
      month and 12-month follow-ups. When we made comparisons between genders following
      CXL, there were no significant differences related to the changes in Kmax, K2,
      and spectacle-corrected distance visual acuity (SCDVA). Conclusions:: CXL
      promoted stabilization or improvement of keratometric values and visual acuity.
      We found that keratoconus apex stability may be achieved 3 months after the
      procedure. There was no significant difference in keratometric and refractive
      values measured between male and female patients.

PMID- 28591282
TI  - Incidence of anterior segment neovascularization during intravitreal treatment
      for macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion.
AB  - Purpose:: To analyze the effects of injections of intravitreal triamcinolone
      acetonide (IVTA) and intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) on the incidence rates of
      anterior segment neovascularization (ASN) and neovascular glaucoma (NVG) in
      patients with macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).
      Methods:: In this prospective, randomized, double-masked, sham-controlled study,
      35 patients with macular edema following CRVO were randomized to intravitreal
      bevacizumab, intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide, or sham injections during the
      first 6 months of the study. The primary outcome was the incidence rate of ASN at
      month 6. The secondary outcomes were the mean changes from baseline in best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central foveal thickness (CFT) on optical
      coherence tomography over time to month 12. Results:: ASN developed in 8 (22.86%)
      eyes, including 5 (62.50%) eyes in the sham group and 3 (37.50%) eyes in the IVTA
      group, during 12 months of fol low-up (p=0.009). BCVA differed significantly
      (p<0.05) among the groups only at month 1. CFT did not differ significantly
      (p<0.05) among the groups over 12 months. NVG required surgery and developed in
      one eye despite laser treatment. Conclusion:: Early treatment with intravitreal
      antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy decreases the rates of ASN and NVG
      after CRVO.

PMID- 28591283
TI  - Outcomes of phacoemulsification in patients with uveitis at a tertiary center in
      Sao Paulo, Brazil: a review of cases from 2007 to 2012.
AB  - Purpose:: To evaluate the outcomes of phacoemulsification with intraocular lens
      (IOL) implantation in eyes with uveitis. Methods:: Consecutive patients with
      uveitis and cataracts who had phacoemulsification and acrylic IOL implantation
      during 2007-2012 were evaluated for visual outcomes, etiology, and complications.
      Inflammation was controlled for at least 3 months before surgery, and oral
      prednisone (0.5 mg/kg/day) was administered to patients with non-infectious
      uveitis. Results:: This study investigated 45 eyes in 38 patients with a mean age
      of 52 +/- 12.5 years. The most common etiologies among non-infectious causes
      (n=32; 73.3%) were Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (n=9), Fuchs heterochromic
      iridocyclitis (n=4), and sympathetic ophthalmia (n=3). Four cases were
      idiopathic. Among infectious cases (n=13; 28.9%), the most common causes were
      toxoplasmosis (n=6) and presumed ocular tuberculosis (n=4). An acrylic IOL was
      implanted in-the-bag in all cases. After 1-year follow-up, an improvement in
      visual acuity of two or more lines was observed in 38 eyes (84.4%), and 28 eyes
      (62.2%) achieved a postoperative visual acuity of >=0.5. Posterior capsule
      opacification was observed in 10 eyes (22.2%). Persistent postoperative
      inflammation (of >6 months) was observed in seven eyes (15.5%) and recurrence
      occurred in four eyes (8.8%). IOL was explanted in one eye. Intraocular
      hypertension was observed in six eyes (13.3%). Conclusions:: Phacoemulsification
      with IOL implantation improved vision in most patients with coexisting cataracts
      and uveitis. Good preoperative and postoperative control of inflammation plays an
      important role in achieving favorable visual outcomes. Furthermore, the final
      visual outcome depends on the posterior segment status.

PMID- 28591285
TI  - Iris-claw intraocular lens implantation in children with ectopia lentis.
AB  - Purpose:: Artisan iris-claw lens implantation (AICLI) is a surgical technique for
      treating ectopia lentis. We aimed to compare visual outcomes and possible long
      term complications of AICLI surgery in pediatric patients with ectopia lentis
      with or without a diagnosable hereditary disease. Methods:: Seventeen children
      with non-traumatic ectopia lentis were retros pectively classified into two
      groups: group 1 included children with a diagnosable hereditary disease (11
      patients, 65%), and group 2 included children without any definable hereditary
      disease (six patients, 35%). Patients were evaluated for post-surgical
      refraction, best-corrected visual acuity, and clinical follow-up complications.
      Results:: The average follow-up time was 38 months, and the average age of the
      patients was 103 +/- 53 months (30-196 months). Best-corrected visual acuity
      values were significantly increased in both groups after surgery (p<0.05). Target
      refraction values were achieved at a rate of 47% in group 1 and 22% in group 2.
      Post-surgery complications, such as lens dislocation (36%, 11 eyes of 10
      patients) and hypotonia (10%, three eyes of three patients) were observed in both
      groups, and retinal detachments (10%, three eyes of three patients) were observed
      in three patients from group 1. Conclusions:: Compared with previous similar
      studies, this study utilized the largest pediatric patient group and had the
      longest post-surgery follow-up time. Moreover, it is advisable that pediatric
      patients with non-traumatic ectopia lentis be carefully screened for any
      underlying hereditary disease, especially diseases related to connective tissue
      metabolism.

PMID- 28591284
TI  - Quality of bevacizumab (Avastin(r)) repacked in single-use glass vials for
      intravitreal administration.
AB  - Purpose:: Avastin(r) (bevacizumab) is an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) monoclonal antibody given as an off-label drug by intravitreal
      administration for treatment of ocular diseases. The drug's clinical application
      and its cost-benefit profile has generated demand for its division into single
      use vials to meet the low volume and low-cost doses necessary for intraocular
      administration. However, the safety of compounding the drug in single-use vials
      is still under discussion. In this study, the stability and efficacy of
      Avastin(r) repacked in individual single-use glass vials and glass ampoules by
      external compounding pharmacies were evaluated. Methods:: Polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis (PAGE), size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), dynamic light
      scattering (DLS), and turbidimetry were selected to detect the formation of
      aggregates of various sizes. Changes in bevacizumab biological efficacy were
      investigated by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results::
      Repacked and reference bevacizumab showed similar results when analyzed by PAGE.
      By SEC, a slight increase in high molecular weight aggregates and a reduction in
      bevacizumab monomers were observed in the products of the three compounding
      pharmacies relative to those in the reference bevacizumab. A comparison of
      repacked and reference SEC chromatograms showed that the mean monomer loss was
      <=1% for all compounding pharmacies. Protein aggregates in the nanometer- and
      micrometer-size ranges were not detected by DLS and turbidimetry. In the efficacy
      assay, the biological function of repacked bevacizumab was preserved, with <3%
      loss of VEGF binding capacity relative to that of the reference. Conclusion:: The
      results showed that bevacizumab remained stable after compounding in ampoules and
      single-use glass vials; no significant aggregation, fragmentation, or loss of
      biological activity was observed.

PMID- 28591286
TI  - Structure-functional correlation using adaptive optics, OCT, and microperimetry
      in a case of occult macular dystrophy.
AB  - We report retinal functional and structural changes of a 40-year-old man
      diagnosed with occult macular dystrophy. Comprehensive ophthalmological
      evaluation was performed, followed by spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography (SD-OC - Heidelberg) and image acquisition using an adaptive optics
      (AO) camera (RTX1, Imagine Eyes) for photoreceptor density analysis. Functional
      tests included full-field ERG (ERG) and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG)
      (Diagnosys, LLC) and microperimetry with scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO)
      fixation controlled (MAIA, CenterVUE). OCT revealed a line of discontinuity
      corresponding to cone outer-segment photoreceptors associated with a loss of cone
      density, highlighted by a dark blue spot on the AO co ne-density map on the fovea
      in both eyes. Loss of central sensitivity was revealed using microperimetry; ERG
      was within the normal range, although the mfERG showed a reduced central response
      amplitude.

PMID- 28591287
TI  - Large colloid drusen analyzed with structural en face optical coherence
      tomography.
AB  - Drusen are extracellular deposits between the basal lamina of the retinal pigment
      epithelium (RPE) and the inner collagenous layer of Bruch's membrane. Large
      colloid drusen (LCD) are located below the RPE and are characterized by multiple,
      large, dome-shaped RPE detachments, with marked attenuation of the ellipsoid zone
      overlaying the drusen. This report presents the structural en face optical
      coherence tomography (OCT) findings of LCD and relates them to findings from
      fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography. We describe the case of a 55-year
      old woman who presented with the chief complaint of a 5-year history of
      progressively worsening vision. Her best-corrected visual acuities were 20/40 and
      20/400 in the right eye and the left eye, respectively. Fundus examination showed
      large bilateral, symmetrical, sub-retinal, yellowish lesions compatible with LCD.
      We describe the structural en face OCT characteristics and angiographic findings
      from this patient.

PMID- 28591288
TI  - Ocular sarcoidosis masked by positive IgM for toxoplasmosis.
AB  - We report a case of ocular sarcoidosis with positive immunoglobulin (Ig) M and
      IgG serology for toxoplasmosis. The patient was a young female with red painful
      eyes, bilateral eyelid edema, and panuveitis with periphlebitis. In laboratory
      testing, she was IgM and IgG positive for toxoplasmosis and anergic in the
      tuberculin test. Topical treatment for anterior uveitis and oral antibiotics for
      toxoplasmosis were started, without improvement. Orbit tomography showed
      increased lacrimal glands bilaterally, and chest X-ray radiographic findings were
      consistent with pulmonary sarcoidosis, which supported the presumed ocular
      sarcoidosis diagnosis. The patient was treated with oral prednisone and
      methotrexate without antibiotics. She showed clinical and vision improvement
      without recurrences during the 1-year follow-up. Ocular sarcoidosis is an
      important differential diagnosis requiring careful anamnesis and ophthalmological
      examinations. Ancillary tests, such as X-ray radiography, tomography, and
      clinical and laboratory evaluations may help rule out other causes. Treatment
      mainly consists of corticosteroids and immunosuppression.

PMID- 28591289
TI  - Oncocytoma of the lacrimal gland: a case report.
AB  - Here we describe a rare case of a benign tumor in the lacrimal gland of a healthy
      4-year-old girl. Mild proptosis was the only abnormality observed on clinical
      examination. Magnetic resonance imaging of the right orbit revealed an oval,
      solid, well-circumscribed, homogeneous mass extending from the lacrimal gland and
      measuring 2.5 * 2.3 * 1.7 cm without any evidence of invasion into adjacent
      bones. The lesion was surgically excised and histological analyses defined the
      diagnosis of oncocytoma of the lacrimal gland. Although rare, oncocytoma should
      be included in the differential diagnosis of lacrimal gland tumors.

PMID- 28591291
TI  - Macular atrophy and Zika virus infectionResponse: macular atrophy and Zika virus
      infection.

PMID- 28591292
TI  - Optical coherence tomography in congenital Zika syndrome.

PMID- 28591290
TI  - Adjuvant treatment or primary topical monotherapy for ocular surface squamous
      neoplasia: a systematic review.
AB  - In this systematic review, we evaluated studies involving adjuvant and primary
      topical treatment for ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN). The findings
      were: (i) adjuvant 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) reduces the risk of relapse after
      surgical excision with mild side effects [level Ib, grade of recommendation (GR)
      A]. (ii) Primary topical mitomycin (MMC) produces a high rate of complete
      response, low recurrence rate, and mild side effects (level Ib, GR A). (iii)
      Primary chemotherapy versus adjuvant chemotherapy produce similar rates of
      recurrence, with no significant difference (level IIb, GR B). (iv) Adjuvant 5-FU
      versus MMC showed no significant differences, with mild side effects in both
      groups and a better toxicity profile for MMC (level III, GR C). (v) Primary
      topical 5-FU versus MMC versus interferon (IFN) showed similar rates of tumor
      recurrence, mild side effects for all drugs, and more severe side effects in the
      5-FU arm, followed successively by MMC and IFN (level III, GR C).

PMID- 28591293
TI  - Evaluation metrics in science: current status and prospects.

PMID- 28591294
TI  - Impact of critical care environment on burnout, perceived quality of care and
      safety attitude of the nursing team.
AB  - Objective:: assess the perception of the nursing team about the environment of
      practice in critical care services and its relation with the safety attitude,
      perceived quality of care and burnout level. Method:: cross-sectional study
      involving 114 nursing professionals from the intensive care unit of a teaching
      hospital. The following instruments were used: Nursing Work Index-Revised,
      Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Safety Attitude Questionnaire. Results:: the
      professionals who perceived greater autonomy, good relationships with the medical
      team and better control over the work environment presented lower levels of
      burnout, assessed the quality of care as good and reported a positive perception
      on the safety attitude for the domain job satisfaction. Conclusion:: the findings
      evidenced that environments favorable to these professionals' practice result in
      lower levels of burnout, a better perceived quality of care and attitudes
      favorable to patient safety. Objetivo:: avaliar a percepcao da equipe de
      enfermagem sobre o ambiente da pratica em unidades de cuidados criticos e sua
      relacao com atitude de seguranca, percepcao da qualidade do cuidado e nivel de
      burnout. Metodo:: estudo transversal com a participacao de 114 profissionais de
      enfermagem da unidade de terapia intensiva de um hospital de ensino. Foram
      utilizados os instrumentos: Nursing Work Index-Revised, Inventario de Burnout de
      Maslach e o Questionario de Atitudes de Seguranca. Resultados:: os profissionais
      que perceberam maior autonomia, boas relacoes com a equipe medica e melhor
      controle sobre o ambiente de trabalho, apresentaram menores niveis de burnout,
      avaliaram como boa a qualidade do cuidado e relataram uma percepcao positiva da
      atitude de seguranca para o dominio satisfacao no trabalho. Conclusao:: os
      achados evidenciaram que ambientes favoraveis a pratica desses profissionais
      resultam em menores niveis de burnout, melhor percepcao da qualidade do cuidado e
      atitudes favoraveis a seguranca do paciente. Objetivo:: evaluar la percepcion del
      equipo de enfermeria sobre el ambiente de la practica en unidades de cuidados
      criticos y su relacion con actitud de seguridad, percepcion de la calidad del
      cuidado y nivel de burnout. Metodo:: estudio trasversal con la participacion de
      114 profesionales de enfermeria de la unidad de terapia intensiva de un hospital
      de ensenanza. Fueron utilizados los instrumentos: Nursing Work Index-Revised,
      Inventario de Burnout de Maslach y el Cuestionario de Actitudes de Seguridad.
      Resultados:: los profesionales que percibieron mayor autonomia, buenas relaciones
      con el equipo medico y mejor control sobre el ambiente de trabajo presentaron
      menores niveles de burnout, evaluaron como buena la calidad del cuidado y
      relataron percepcion positiva de la actitud de seguridad para el dominio
      satisfaccion en el trabajo. Conclusion:: los hallazgos evidenciaron que ambientes
      favorables a la practica de esos profesionales resultan en menores niveles de
      burnout, mejor percepcion de la calidad del cuidado y actitudes favorables a la
      seguridad del paciente.

PMID- 28591295
TI  - Associations between frailty syndrome and sociodemographic characteristics in
      long-lived individuals of a community.
AB  - Objective: investigating the association between frailty syndrome and
      sociodemographic characteristics in long-lived individuals of a community.
      Method: a cross-sectional study with a proportional stratified sample consisting
      of 243 long-lived individuals. A structured instrument, scales and tests that
      comprise evaluating frailty were applied for data collection. Univariate and
      multivariate analyzes were performed by logistic regression (p<0.05) by
      Statistica 10(r) software and Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval) were
      calculated for the predictive models. Results: of the 243 long-lived individuals
      evaluated, 36 (14.8%) were frail, 55 (63.8%) were pre-frail and 52 (21.4%) were
      not frail. A predominance of females (n=161; 66.3%), widows/widowers (n=158;
      65%), who lived with family members (n=144; 59.3%) and in a self-reported
      satisfactory financial situation (n=108; 44.5%) was observed. A significant
      association was found between the demographic variable of age (p=0.043) and
      frailty syndrome. The best predictor model for the syndrome included the
      variables: gender, age and household companion. Conclusion: the variable of age
      contributed most to the fragilization process of long-lived individuals residing
      in the community. It is essential that gerontological nursing care contemplates
      early detection of this syndrome, considering age as being indicative of care
      needs.

PMID- 28591296
TI  - Spatial distribution of tuberculosis in a municipality in the interior of Sao
      Paulo, 2008-2013.
AB  - Objective:: to describe the epidemiological clinical profile of tuberculosis and
      analyze the spatial distribution of cases in a municipality in the state of Sao
      Paulo. Method:: descriptive and ecological study of cases of tuberculosis through
      the records in an information system. Descriptive statistics were used to
      calculate central tendency (mean) and chi-square test, with Yates correction or
      Fisher exact test, when necessary. The Kernel technique was also used to
      calculate the occurrence densities of tuberculosis cases, using a radius of 1000
      meters. Type I error was set at 5%. Results:: 299 cases of tuberculosis were
      identified, with 290 (96.98%) being geocoded. The majority of these were male (n
      = 212; 70.91%), median age 40 years, and the pulmonary clinical form was
      predominant (n = 244, 81.60%). The distribution occurred in a non-random manner,
      observing important areas of the municipality with a higher density of cases of
      the disease. Conclusion:: the study evidenced an epidemiological profile of
      tuberculosis cases similar to those in the literature; however, their
      distribution does not occur in a random manner, pointing to specific population
      groups that require greater management and planning of health services for the
      control of tuberculosis. Objetivo:: caracterizar o perfil clinico epidemiologico
      da tuberculose (TB) e analisar a distribuicao espacial dos casos em municipio
      paulista. Metodo:: estudo descritivo e ecologico dos casos de tuberculose
      registrados em um sistema de informacao. Recorreu-se a estatistica descritiva com
      calculo de medidas de tendencia central (media) e aplicacao do teste qui
      quadrado, com correcao de Yates ou teste exato de Fisher, quando necessarios.
      Aplicou-se ainda a tecnica de Kernel para o calculo das densidades de ocorrencia
      dos casos da TB, utilizando um raio de 1000 metros. Fixou-se o erro tipo I em 5%.
      Resultados:: identificou-se 299 casos de TB, sendo geocodificados 290 (96,98%). A
      maioria destes foi do sexo masculino (n=212; 70,91%), idade mediana 40 anos,
      sendo a forma clinica pulmonar predominante (n=244; 81,60%). A distribuicao
      ocorreu de forma nao aleatoria, observando-se areas importantes do municipio com
      maior densidade de casos da doenca. Conclusao:: o estudo evidenciou perfil
      epidemiologico dos casos de tuberculose semelhante ao da literatura, no entanto,
      a distribuicao dos mesmos nao ocorre de forma aleatoria, apontando grupos
      especificos da populacao que necessitam de maior gestao e planejamento dos
      servicos de saude para o controle da tuberculose. Objetivo:: caracterizar el
      perfil epidemiologico clinico de tuberculosis y analizar la distribucion espacial
      de casos en un municipio paulista. Metodos:: Estudio descriptivo y ecologico de
      casos de tuberculosis registrados en un sistema de informacion. Se utilizo
      estadistica descriptiva con medidas de tendencia central (media) y aplicacion de
      chi-cuadrado, con correlacion de Yates o prueba exacta de Fisher segun necesidad.
      Para el calcular la densidad en la ocurrencia de casos de tuberculosis, se aplico
      la tecnica uniforme Kernel utilizando una distancia de 1000 metros. El error de
      tipo I fue fijado en 5%. Resultados:: Se identificaron 299 casos de tuberculosis,
      siendo geocodificados 290 (96.98%). La mayoria de los casos fueron de sexo
      masculino (n=212; 70,91%), con edad mediana de 40 anos, siendo la forma pulmonar
      la mas predominante (n=244; 81,60%). La distribucion de casos fue forma no
      aleatoria, identificando areas del municipio con mayor densidad de casos con esta
      patologia. Conclusion:: el perfil epidemiologico de casos de tuberculosis
      observado fue similar a lo observado en la literatura, aunque la distribucion de
      estos no ocurre de manera aleatoria, identificando grupos especificos de la
      poblacion los cuales requieren de mayores gestion y planificacion en los
      servicios de salud para el control de la tuberculosis.

PMID- 28591297
TI  - Organization of professional practices against intrafamily violence against
      children and adolescents in the institutional context.
AB  - Objective: to analyze based on the practitioners' discourse, the way they
      organize their practices confronting situations of intra-family violence against
      children and adolescents. Method: qualitative research carried out with 15
      professionals who work in social and health services located in the southernmost
      of Brazil. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, performed at
      the participants' workplace. We used a theoretical matrix to analyze the data,
      based on Institutional Ethnography and the technique of discursive textual
      analysis. Results: the practitioners' practices developed in situations of intra
      family violence against children and adolescents are organized on the basis of:
      power relations that take place in services that respond to violence situations;
      routines instituted to meet the demands of care in services; and the interplay
      between the conception of violence as a public health problem and the conception
      of violence as a social problem. Conclusion: the way these practices are
      organized is reflected in actions that are not protective against situations of
      intra-family violence against children and adolescents.

PMID- 28591298
TI  - Construction and validation of the Self-care Assessment Instrument for patients
      with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Objective: to construct and validate the contents of the Self-care Assessment
      instrument for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Method: methodological
      study, based on Orem's General Theory of Nursing. The empirical categories and
      the items of the instrument were elucidated through a focus group. The content
      validation process was performed by seven specialists and the semantic analysis
      by 14 patients. The Content Validity Indices of the items, >=0.78, and of the
      scale, >=0.90, were considered excellent. Results: the instrument contains 131
      items in six dimensions corresponding to the health deviation self-care
      requisites. Regarding the maintenance, a Content Validity Index of 0.98 was
      obtained for the full set of items, and, regarding the relevance, Content
      Validity Indices >=0.80 were obtained for the majority of the assessed
      psychometric criteria. Conclusion: the instrument showed evidence of content
      validity.

PMID- 28591299
TI  - Anxiety and coping in women with breast cancer in chemotherapy.
AB  - Objective: to identify the coping strategies used by women with breast cancer in
      chemotherapy and to verify the association with the anxiety profile presented by
      them. Method: cross-sectional study of the analytical type. We used a random
      sample of 307 women with cancer in previous chemotherapy, adjuvant or palliative
      treatment. The data was collected using an interview technique with form
      registration, active search in medical records, Scale of Mode of Confronting
      Problems and Inventory of Anxiety and State. The Statistical Package for Social
      Sciences 19.0, Pearson correlation coefficient and the test Mann-Whitney were
      used. Results: there was a significant association of the anxiety trait and
      problem-focused coping strategies with a focus on emotion (p<0,000) and the
      anxiety state with problem-focused coping (p=0,001) and with focus on emotion
      (p=0,004). The results demonstrate weak associations between different coping
      strategies. Conclusion: the coping strategy chosen by women with breast cancer is
      directly related to anxiety. Patients with low-level anxiety tend to use problem
      solving strategies while emotion-focused coping is applied if the level is medium
      to high.

PMID- 28591300
TI  - Risk factors for unstable blood glucose level: integrative review of the risk
      factors related to the nursing diagnosis.
AB  - Objective: to identify evidence in the literature on the possible risk factors
      for the risk of unstable blood glucose diagnosis in individuals with type 2
      diabetes mellitus, and to compare them with the risk factors described by NANDA
      International. Method: an integrative literature review guided by the question:
      what are the risk factors for unstable blood glucose level in people with type 2
      diabetes mellitus? Primary studies were included whose outcomes were variations
      in glycemic levels, published in English, Portuguese or Spanish, in PubMed or
      CINAHL between 2010 and 2015. Results: altered levels of glycated hemoglobin,
      body mass index>31 kg/m2, previous history of hypoglycemia, cognitive
      deficit/dementia, autonomic cardiovascular neuropathy, comorbidities and weight
      loss corresponded to risk factors described in NANDA International. Other risk
      factors identified were: advanced age, black skin color, longer length of
      diabetes diagnosis, daytime sleepiness, macroalbuminuria, genetic polymorphisms,
      insulin therapy, use of oral antidiabetics, and use of metoclopramide, inadequate
      physical activity and low fasting glycemia. Conclusions: risk factors for the
      diagnosis, risk for unstable blood glucose level, for persons with type 2
      diabetes mellitus were identified, and 42% of them corresponded to those of NANDA
      International. These findings may contribute to the practice of clinical nurses
      in preventing the deleterious effects of glycemic variation.

PMID- 28591301
TI  - A Grounded theory study of the intention of nurses to leave the profession.
AB  - Objective: this study explores the process of the development of an intention to
      leave bedside nursing. Method: the process was studied from the perspective of 21
      nurses using the grounded theory method. Data were collected using semi
      structured interviews and the constant comparative method of Corbin and Strauss
      was used for data analysis. Results: according to the participants, the two main
      categories, "social image of nursing", and "culture and structure of the
      bedside", were the contextual factors that influence why nurses are leaving
      bedside care provision. Disappointment with a perceived lack of progress or
      improvement in the clinical experience formed primary psychosocial concerns for
      the participants. Competence and a process of self-control were steps taken by
      the participants. These, associated with interventional conditions produced the
      outcomes of the loss of professional commitment and desire to leave bedside
      nursing. "Failure to integrate personal expectations with organizational
      expectations: in search of escape" was the central category of the study that
      linked the categories together. Conclusion: the findings of this study provide
      useful information about the needs of nurses for overcoming the intention to
      leave bedside care. The identification of this process can help in recognizing
      emerging problems and providing solutions for them.

PMID- 28591302
TI  - Translation and adaptation of the Competencias Esenciales en Salud Publica para
      los recursos humanos en salud.
AB  - Objective:: to perform the translation and cultural adaptation of the document
      named Marco Regional de Competencias Esenciales en Salud Publica para los
      Recursos Humanos en Salud de la Region de las Americas (Regional Framework of
      Core Competencies in Public Health for Health Human Resources in the Region of
      Americas) from Spanish to Brazilian Portuguese. Method:: a methodological study
      comprising the following phases: authorization for translation; initial
      translation; synthesis of translations and consensus; back-translation and
      formation of an expert committee. Result:: in the translation of domain names,
      there was no difference in 66.7% (N = 4); in the translation of domain
      description and competencies there were divergences in 100% of them (N = 6, N =
      56). A consensus of more than 80% was obtained in the translation and improvement
      in the expert committee by the change of words and expressions for approximation
      of meanings to the Brazilian context. Conclusion:: the translated and adapted
      document has the potential of application in research, and use in the practice of
      collective/public health care in Brazil. Objetivo:: realizar a traducao e
      adaptacao cultural do Marco Regional de Competencias Esenciales en Salud Publica
      para los Recursos Humanos en Salud de la Region de las Americas, do espanhol para
      a lingua portuguesa do Brasil. Metodo:: pesquisa metodologica, que seguiu as
      fases: autorizacao para traducao; traducao inicial; sintese das traducoes e
      consenso; retrotraducao e composicao de um comite de especialistas. Resultado::
      na traducao dos nomes dos dominios, nao houve diferenca em 66,7 % (N=4); na
      traducao da descricao dos dominios e das competencias ocorreram divergencias em
      100 % destes (N=6, N=56), obteve-se consenso acima de 80% ainda na traducao, e
      aprimoramento no comite de especialistas pela alteracao de palavras e expressoes
      para aproximar os significados ao contexto brasileiro. Conclusao:: o documento
      traduzido e adaptado possui potencial de aplicacao em pesquisas e utilizacao na
      pratica da atencao a saude publica/coletiva no Brasil. Objetivo:: realizar la
      traduccion y adaptacion cultural del Marco Regional de Competencias Esenciales en
      Salud Publica para los Recursos Humanos en Salud de la Region de las Americas,
      del espanol para el idioma portugues de Brasil. Metodo:: investigacion
      metodologica, que siguio las fases: autorizacion para traduccion; traduccion
      inicial; sintesis de las traducciones y consenso; y, retrotraduccion y
      composicion de un comite de especialistas. Resultado:: en la traduccion de los
      nombres de los dominios, no hubo diferencia en 66,7 % (N=4); en la traduccion de
      la descripcion de los dominios y de las competencias ocurrieron divergencias en
      100 % de estos (N=6, N=56), se obtuvo consenso arriba de 80%, durante la
      traduccion y perfeccionamiento, en el comite de especialistas, en la alteracion
      de palabras y expresiones para aproximar los significados al contexto brasileno.
      Conclusion:: el documento traducido y adaptado posee potencial de aplicacion en
      investigaciones y de utilizacion en la practica de la atencion a la salud
      publica/colectiva en Brasil.

PMID- 28591303
TI  - Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Clinical Competence
      Questionnaire for use in Brazil.
AB  - Objective: translating and transculturally adapting the Clinical Competence
      Questionnaire to Brazilian senior undergraduate Nursing students, as well as
      measuring psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Method: a methodological
      study carried out in six steps: translation of the Clinical Competence
      Questionnaire instrument, consensus of the translations, back-translation,
      analysis by an expert committee, pre-testing and then presentation of the cross
      cultural adaptation process to the developers. Psychometric properties were
      measured using Cronbach's alpha, intraclass correlation coefficient and content
      validity index. Results: the instrument was translated, transculturally adapted
      and its final version consisted of 48 items. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was
      0.90, and the agreement index of the items was 99% for students and 98% for
      evaluators. Conclusion: the Clinical Competence Questionnaire was translated and
      adapted to Brazilian students, and the psychometric properties of the Portuguese
      version of the questionnaire presented satisfactory internal consistency
      regarding the studied sample.

PMID- 28591304
TI  - Association between poor clinical prognosis and sleep duration among breast
      cancer patients.
AB  - Objective:: to investigate the association between clinical progression and the
      quality and duration of sleep in women with breast cancer. Method:: longitudinal
      study, with 114 participants, conducted in a hospital in Brazil. The instruments
      used were: questionnaire for sociodemographic and clinical characterization,
      Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Beck Depression Inventory and Herth Hope Scale.
      Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and survival analyses (outcome:
      poor clinical progression), using the Kaplan-Meier curve, Log-rank test and Cox
      proportional model. Results:: a higher probability of poor clinical progression
      was verified in women with sleep durations of less than six hours or nine hours
      and over (p=.0173). Conclusion:: the results suggest the importance of further
      studies that seek to verify whether the quantitative management of sleep
      disorders would have an impact on the progression of breast cancer. Women should
      be encouraged to report sleep problems to nurses. Objetivo:: mensurar a
      associacao entre evolucao clinica e qualidade e duracao do sono em mulheres com
      cancer de mama. Metodo:: estudo longitudinal, com 114 participantes, realizado em
      um hospital do Brasil. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: questionario para
      caracterizacao sociodemografica e clinica, Indice de Qualidade do Sono de
      Pittsburgh; Inventario de Depressao de Beck e Escala de Esperanca de Herth. Os
      dados foram analisados via analises descritivas e de sobrevivencia (resultado:
      evolucao clinica desfavoravel), utilizando-se a curva de Kaplan-Meier, o teste
      log-rank e o modelo proporcional de Cox. Resultados:: verificou-se maior
      probabilidade de evolucao clinica desfavoravel em mulheres com duracao de sono
      inferior a seis ou mais de nove horas (p = 0,0173). Conclusao:: os resultados
      sugerem a importancia de mais estudos que buscam verificar se a gestao
      quantitativa dos disturbios do sono teria um impacto sobre a evolucao do cancer
      de mama. As mulheres devem ser encorajadas a relatar isso espontaneamente aos
      enfermeiros. Objetivo:: medir la asociacion entre progresion clinica y calidad y
      duracion del sueno en mujeres con cancer de mama. Metodo:: estudio longitudinal,
      con 114 participantes, realizado en un hospital de Brasil. Los instrumentos
      utilizados fueron: cuestionario para caracterizacion sociodemografica y clinica;
      indice de calidad del sueno de Pittsburgh; Inventario de Depresion de Beck; y
      Escala de esperanza de Herth. Los datos se analizaron a traves de analisis
      descriptivo y de supervivencia (resultado: evolucion clinica desfavorable),
      utilizando la curva de Kaplan-Meier, la prueba log-rank y el modelo proporcional
      de Cox. Resultados:: se comprobo una mayor probabilidad de progresion clinica
      desfavorable en mujeres con duracion de sueno inferior a seis horas o mas de
      nueve horas (p = 0,0173). Conclusion:: los resultados sugieren la importancia de
      realizar mas estudios que busquen verificar si la gestion cuantitativa de los
      trastornos del sueno tendria un impacto en la progresion del cancer de mama. Las
      mujeres deben ser alentadas a informar esto espontaneamente a las enfermeras.

PMID- 28591305
TI  - Association between domestic violence and women's quality of life.
AB  - Objective: to analyze the association between domestic violence against women and
      quality of life. Method: a cross-sectional population-based household survey
      conducted with women 18 years and older, using a stratified sample by
      neighborhoods. For analysis, prevalence of domestic violence and quality of life
      index was verified and logistic regression was used to determine associations,
      with a significance level of 5%. Results: 424 women who had a prevalence of
      domestic violence of 54.4% and a quality of life index of 61.59 participated in
      this study. It was verified, through logistic regression, that domestic violence
      is associated with women's quality of life (p=0,017). The observed variables that
      influence the occurrence of domestic violence were in the social relations domain
      (p=0,000), provision of medical treatment for women (p=0,019) and safety
      (p=0,006). Conclusion: the study confirmed the evidence of an association between
      domestic violence against women and quality of life, a situation that reaffirms
      the importance of constructing public policies focused on gender emancipation.

PMID- 28591306
TI  - Psychometric properties of the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale in Mexican
      elderly women.
AB  - Objective: analyze and assess the psychometric properties of the subscales in the
      Spanish version of the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale in an elderly population
      in the Northeast of Mexico. Method: methodological study. The sample consisted of
      329 elderly associated with one of the five public centers for senior citizens in
      the metropolitan area of Northeast Mexico. The psychometric properties included
      the assessment of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the Kaiser Meyer Olkin
      coefficient, the inter-item correlation, exploratory and confirmatory factor
      analysis. Results: in the principal components analysis, two components were
      identified based on the 43 items in the scale. The item-total correlation
      coefficient of the exercise benefits subscale was good. Nevertheless, the
      coefficient for the exercise barriers subscale revealed inconsistencies. The
      reliability and validity were acceptable. The confirmatory factor analysis
      revealed that the elimination of items improved the goodness of fit of the
      baseline scale, without affecting its validity or reliability. Conclusion: the
      Exercise Benefits/Barriers subscale presented satisfactory psychometric
      properties for the Mexican context. A 15-item short version is presented with
      factorial structure, validity and reliability similar to the complete scale.

PMID- 28591307
TI  - Schistosomiasis and hepatopulmonary syndrome: the role of concomitant liver
      cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is defined as an oxygenation defect
      induced by intrapulmonary vasodilation in patients with liver disease or portal
      hypertension. It is investigated in patients with liver cirrhosis and less
      frequently in those with portal hypertension without liver cirrhosis, as may
      occur in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis (HSS). OBJECTIVES: To investigate the
      prevalence of HPS in patients with HSS, and to determine whether the occurrence
      of HPS is influenced by concomitant cirrhosis. METHODS: We evaluated patients
      with HSS with or without concomitant liver cirrhosis. All patients underwent
      laboratory testing, ultrasound, endoscopy, contrast echocardiography, and
      arterial blood gas analysis. FINDINGS: Of the 121 patients with HSS, 64 were also
      diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. HPS was diagnosed in 42 patients (35%) and was
      more frequent among patients with concomitant liver cirrhosis than in those
      without cirrhosis (42% vs. 26%), but the difference was not significant (p =
      0.069). HPS was more common in those with spider naevi, Child-Pugh classes B or C
      and high model for end stage liver disease (MELD) scores (p < 0.05 each). MAIN
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HPS was 35% in this study. The occurrence of liver
      cirrhosis concomitantly with HSS may have influenced the frequency of patients
      presenting with HPS.

PMID- 28591308
TI  - Prevalence of tuberculosis respiratory symptoms and associated factors in the
      indigenous populations of Paraguay (2012).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms and confirmed tuberculosis
      (TB) among indigenous groups in Paraguay is unknown. METHODS: This study assessed
      the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, confirmed pulmonary TB, and associated
      socio-economic factors among indigenous Paraguayan populations. Indigenous
      persons residing in selected communities were included in the study. A total of
      24,352 participants were interviewed at home between October and December 2012.
      Respiratory symptomatic individuals were defined as those with respiratory
      symptoms of TB. A hierarchical Poisson regression analysis was performed with
      four levels: individual characteristics, living conditions and environmental
      characteristics, source of food, and type of nutrition. FINDINGS: In this study,
      1,383 participants had respiratory symptoms (5.7%), but only 10 had culture
      confirmed TB (41/100,000 inhabitants). The small number of cases did not allow
      evaluation of the risk factors for TB. Age older than 37 years was associated
      with a two-fold increased risk of symptoms. Female sex; family history of TB;
      type of housing; home heating; a lack of hunting, fishing, or purchasing food;
      and a lack of vegetable consumption were also associated with the presence of
      symptoms. A lack of cereal consumption had a protective effect. Members of the
      Ayoreo or Manjui ethnic groups had a three-fold increased risk of symptoms. MAIN
      CONCLUSION: Individual characteristics, dietary habits, and belonging to specific
      ethnic groups were associated with respiratory symptoms.

PMID- 28591309
TI  - Detection and molecular characterisation of a diagnosis escape variant associated
      with occult hepatitis B virus in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many studies have identified mutations in the hepatitis B surface
      antigen (HBsAg) as important factors limiting the ability of commercial
      serological assays to detect this viral antigen. However, an association between
      mutations in the HBsAg gene and the occurrence of occult HBV infection (OBI) in
      patients has not been established. OBJECTIVES: To detect hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      DNA in patients with anti-HBc as a unique serological marker, a previously
      published, cost-effective TaqMan-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      test with minor groove binding probes was adapted for use in this study. The
      current study also aimed to investigate HBsAg mutations and genotypes of HBV in
      OBI at the Viral Hepatitis Ambulatory Clinic in Rio de Janeiro to determine any
      possible association. METHODS: Intra-assay and inter-assay reproducibility were
      determined, and the mean coefficient of variation values obtained were 2.07 and
      3.5, respectively. Probit analysis indicated that the 95% detection level was 25
      IU/mL. The prevalence of OBI was investigated in 35 serum samples with an 'anti
      HBc alone' profile from individuals who attended our clinic between 2011 and
      2013. FINDINGS: HBV DNA was detected in only one sample, resulting in an OBI rate
      of 2.9%. Nucleotide sequencing of the pre-S/S region was performed to genotype
      and analyse mutations within the HBsAg gene of this HBV DNA. The HBV in the OBI
      case was classified as sub-genotype A1, and a sequence analysis of the small S
      gene revealed 12 mutations in the major hydrophilic region compared to the
      consensus A1 sequence. Most of these mutations occurred in amino acid residues
      that have been reported as clinically relevant because they have been implicated
      in vaccine escape and/or inability to detect HBsAg by commercial serological
      assays. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests the importance of specific HBsAg
      mutations, different from those in D, B, and C genotypes, in sub-genotype A1 HBV
      associated with OBI.

PMID- 28591311
TI  - Participation of the arcRACME protein in self-activation of the arc operon
      located in the arginine catabolism mobile element in pandemic clone USA300.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus pandemic clone USA300 has, in addition to its constitutive
      arginine catabolism (arc) gene cluster, an arginine catabolism mobile element
      (ACME) carrying another such cluster, which gives this clone advantages in
      colonisation and infection. Gene arcR, which encodes an oxygen-sensitive
      transcriptional regulator, is inside ACME and downstream of the constitutive arc
      gene cluster, and this situation may have an impact on its activation. Different
      relative expression behaviours are proven here for arcRACME and the arcACME
      operon compared to the constitutive ones. We also show that the artificially
      expressed recombinant ArcRACME protein binds to the promoter region of the
      arcACME operon; this mechanism can be related to a positive feedback model, which
      may be responsible for increased anaerobic survival of the USA300 clone during
      infection-related processes.

PMID- 28591310
TI  - Human papillomavirus type distribution and HPV16 intratype diversity in southern
      Brazil in women with and without cervical lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that human papillomavirus (HPV)
      intratype variants (specific lineages and sublineages) are associated with
      pathogenesis and progression from HPV infection to persistence and the
      development of cervical cancer. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to verify the
      prevalence of HPV infection and distribution of HPV types and HPV16 variants in
      southern Brazil in women with normal cytology or intraepithelial lesions.
      METHODS: HPV typing was determined by L1 gene sequencing. To identify HPV16
      variants, the LCR and E6 regions were sequenced, and characteristic single
      nucleotide variants were identified. FINDINGS: A total of 445 samples were
      studied, with 355 from cervical scrapes and 90 from cervical biopsies. HPV was
      detected in 24% and 91% of these samples, respectively. The most prevalent HPV
      types observed were 16 (cervical, 24%; biopsies, 57%) and 58 (cervical, 12%;
      biopsies, 12%). Seventy-five percent of the HPV16-positive samples were
      classified into lineages, with 88% defined as lineage A, 10% as lineage D, and 2%
      as lineage B. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a high frequency of
      European and North American HPV16 lineages, consistent with the genetic
      background of the human population in southern Brazil.

PMID- 28591312
TI  - Identification of a type I nitroreductase gene in non-virulent Trypanosoma
      rangeli.
AB  - Trypanosomatid type I nitroreductases (NTRs), i.e., mitochondrial enzymes that
      metabolise nitroaromatic pro-drugs, are essential for parasite growth, infection,
      and survival. Here, a type I NTR of non-virulent protozoan Trypanosoma rangeli is
      described and compared to those of other trypanosomatids. The NTR gene was
      isolated from KP1(+) and KP1(-) strains, and its corresponding transcript and 5'
      untranslated region (5'UTR) were determined. Bioinformatics analyses and nitro
      drug activation assays were also performed. The results indicated that the type I
      NTR gene is present in both KP1(-) and KP1(+) strains, with 98% identity.
      However, the predicted subcellular localisation of the protein differed among the
      strains (predicted as mitochondrial in the KP1(+) strain). Comparisons of the
      domains and 3D structures of the NTRs with those of orthologs demonstrated that
      the nitroreductase domain of T. rangeli NTR is conserved across all the strains,
      including the residues involved in the interaction with the FMN cofactor and in
      the tertiary structure characteristics of this oxidoreductase protein family.
      mRNA processing and expression were also observed. In addition, T. rangeli was
      shown to be sensitive to benznidazole and nifurtimox in a concentration-dependent
      manner. In summary, T. rangeli appears to have a newly discovered functional type
      I NTR.

PMID- 28591313
TI  - Multiplexed reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction for
      simultaneous detection of Mayaro, Oropouche, and Oropouche-like viruses.
AB  - We describe a sensitive method for simultaneous detection of Oropouche and
      Oropouche-like viruses carrying the Oropouche S segment, as well as the Mayaro
      virus, using a multiplexed one-step reverse transcription real-time polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-qPCR). A chimeric plasmid containing both Mayaro and Oropouche
      targets was designed and evaluated for the in vitro production of transcribed
      RNA, which could be easily used as a non-infectious external control. To track
      false-negative results due to PCR inhibition or equipment malfunction, the MS2
      bacteriophage was also included in the multiplex assay as an internal positive
      control. The specificity of the multiplex assay was evaluated by Primer-Blast
      analysis against the entire GenBank database, and further against a panel of 17
      RNA arboviruses. The results indicated an accurate and highly sensitive assay
      with amplification efficiency greater than 98% for both targets, and a limit of
      detection between two and 20 copies per reaction. We believe that the assay
      described here will provide a tool for Mayaro and Oropouche virus detection,
      especially in areas where differential diagnosis of Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya
      viruses should be performed.

PMID- 28591314
TI  - Complete plasmid sequence carrying type IV-like and type VII secretion systems
      from an atypical mycobacteria strain.
AB  - The genus Mycobacterium is highly diverse and ubiquitous in nature, comprehending
      fast- and slow-growing species with distinct impact in public health. The plasmid
      mediated horizontal gene transfer represents one of the major events in bacteria
      evolution. Here, we report the complete sequence of a 160,489 bp circular plasmid
      (pCBMA213_2) from an atypical and fast-growing environmental mycobacteria. This
      is a unique plasmid, in comparison with the characterised mycobacteria plasmids,
      harboring a type IV-like and ESX-P2 type VII secretion systems. pCBMA213_2 can be
      further explored for evolutionary and conjugation studies as well as a tool to
      manipulate DNA within this bacteria genus.

PMID- 28591315
TI  - Trichophoromyia auraensis is a putative vector
AB  - The sandfly Trichophoromyia auraensis has recently evolved as a proven vector of
      Leishmania (Viannia) endemic to state of Acre in the north of Brazil. This note
      is intended to propose a correction in the report of the first occurrence of
      natural infection of Leishmania (Viannia) in this species. We and the other
      scientific groups reinforced that Tr. auraensis is a possible vector involved in
      the transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Acre, Brazil.

PMID- 28591316
TI  - Molecular detection of mixed infections with multiple dengue virus serotypes in
      suspected dengue samples in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
AB  - This study aimed to detect dengue virus (DENV) serotypes in serum samples
      obtained in Matamoros Tamaulipas, Mexico, and to determine the concordance of
      conventional nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and
      a serological test [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA NS1)]. Here, we
      detected mixed infections consisting of four serotypes of DENV. The most
      prevalent serotype was DENV-1, followed by DENV-4. This is the first report of
      DENV-4 in our region. Mixed infections were also detected in 21.5% of samples,
      and the predominant coinfection consisted of DENV-1 and DENV-2. Therefore,
      continuous epidemiological surveillance of DENV in this area is required to
      predict future forms of dengue heterologous infections and the effect of this on
      health care.

PMID- 28591317
TI  - Challenges of Translational Science.

PMID- 28591319
TI  - Self-Reported High-Cholesterol Prevalence in the Brazilian Population: Analysis
      of the 2013 National Health Survey.
AB  - Background:: Data on the prevalence of dyslipidemia in Brazil are scarce, with
      surveys available only for some towns. Objective:: To evaluate the prevalence of
      the self-reported medical diagnosis of high cholesterol in the Brazilian adult
      population by use of the 2013 National Health Survey data. Methods:: Descriptive
      study assessing the 2013 National Health Survey data, a household-based
      epidemiological survey with a nationally representative sample and self-reported
      information. The sample consisted of 60,202 individuals who reported a medical
      diagnosis of dyslipidemia. The point prevalence and 95% confidence interval
      (95%CI) for the medical diagnosis of high cholesterol/triglyceride by gender,
      age, race/ethnicity, geographic region and educational level were calculated.
      Adjusted odds ratio was calculated. Results:: Of the 60,202 participants, 14.3%
      (95%CI=13.7-14.8) never had their cholesterol or triglyceride levels tested, but
      a higher frequency of women, white individuals, elderly and those with higher
      educational level had their cholesterol levels tested within the last year. The
      prevalence of the medical diagnosis of high cholesterol was 12.5% (9.7% in men
      and 15.1% in women), and women had 60% higher probability of a diagnosis of high
      cholesterol than men. The frequency of the medical diagnosis of high cholesterol
      increased up to the age of 59 years, being higher in white individuals or those
      of Asian heritage, in those with higher educational level and in residents of the
      Southern and Southeastern regions. Conclusion:: The importance of dyslipidemia
      awareness in the present Brazilian epidemiological context must be emphasized to
      guide actions to control and prevent coronary heart disease, the leading cause of
      death in Brazil and worldwide. Fundamento:: A prevalencia de hipercolesterolemia
      no Brasil nao e conhecida para todo o pais, havendo somente inqueritos em algumas
      cidades. Objetivo: : Avaliar a prevalencia de diagnostico medico de colesterol
      alto autorreferido na populacao adulta brasileira, utilizando-se dos dados da
      Pesquisa Nacional de Saude (PNS) de 2013. Metodos: : Estudo descritivo que
      avaliou os dados da PNS de 2013, um inquerito epidemiologico de base domiciliar,
      representativo para o Brasil, com informacoes autorreferidas. A amostra
      compreendeu 60.202 individuos entrevistados com autorrelato de diagnostico medico
      de colesterol. Calculou-se a prevalencia de ponto e o intervalo de confianca de
      95% (IC95%) para diagnostico medico de colesterol/triglicerideos alto(s) por
      sexo, idade, cor da pele, regiao geografica, escolaridade. Foram calculadas as
      razoes de chance ajustadas. Resultados: : Dos 60.202 participantes adultos, 14,3%
      (IC95%=13,7-14,8) nunca tiveram colesterol ou triglicerideos dosados, sendo que
      um maior numero de mulheres, idosos, individuos com instrucao superior completa e
      de raca branca relatou afericao ha menos de um ano. A prevalencia de diagnostico
      medico de colesterol alto foi de 12,5%, maior nas mulheres (15,1%) do que nos
      homens (9,7%). A frequencia de diagnostico medico de colesterol alto foi maior
      naqueles com idade ate 59 anos, em brancos ou aqueles de origem asiatica, em
      pessoas com maior escolaridade e entre os moradores das macrorregioes Sul e
      Sudeste do pais. Conclusao: : A importancia do conhecimento da dislipidemia no
      atual contexto epidemiologico brasileiro deve ser ressaltada para orientar as
      acoes de prevencao das doencas coronarianas, que representam a primeira causa de
      obito no Brasil e no mundo.

PMID- 28591318
TI  - Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of
      Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors' Network.
AB  - The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides
      recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of
      biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical
      requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical
      aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials,
      conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship - emphasizing
      the importance of responsibility and accountability-, have been proposed. Last
      year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was
      launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing
      awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the
      Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology. Resumo O Comite
      Internacional de Editores de Revistas Medicas (ICMJE) fornece recomendacoes para
      aprimorar o padrao editorial e a qualidade cientifica das revistas biomedicas.
      Tais recomendacoes variam desde requisitos tecnicos de uniformizacao ate assuntos
      editoriais mais complexos e elusivos, como os aspectos eticos do processo
      cientifico. Recentemente, foram propostos registro de ensaios clinicos,
      divulgacao de conflitos de interesse e novos criterios de autoria, enfatizando a
      importancia da responsabilidade e da responsabilizacao. No ultimo ano, lancou-se
      uma nova iniciativa editorial para fomentar o compartilhamento dos dados de
      ensaios clinicos. Esta revisao discute essa nova iniciativa visando a aumentar a
      conscientizacao de leitores, investigadores, autores e editores filiados a Rede
      de Editores da Sociedade Europeia de Cardiologia.

PMID- 28591320
TI  - Degree of Agreement between Cardiovascular Risk Stratification Tools.
AB  - Background:: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and
      mortality in Brazil, and primary prevention care may be guided by risk
      stratification tools. The Framingham (FRS) and QRISK-2 (QRS) risk scores estimate
      10-year overall cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic individuals, but the
      instrument of choice may lead to different therapeutic strategies. Objective:: To
      evaluate the degree of agreement between FRS and QRS in 10-year overall
      cardiovascular risk stratification in disease-free individuals. Methods:: Cross
      sectional, observational, descriptive and analytical study in a convenience
      sample of 74 individuals attending the outpatient care service of a university
      hospital in Brazil between January 2014 and January 2015. After application of
      FRS and QRS, patients were classified in low/moderate risk (< 20%) or high risk
      (>= 20%). Results:: The proportion of individuals classified as at high risk was
      higher in FRS than in QRS (33.7% vs 21.6%). A synergic effect of male gender with
      systemic arterial hypertension was observed in both tools, and with for geriatric
      age group in QRS (p < 0.05) in high-risk stratum. The Kappa index was 0.519
      (95%CI = 0.386-0.652; p < 0.001) between both instruments. Conclusion:: There was
      a moderate agreement between FRS and QRS in estimating 10-year overall
      cardiovascular risk. The risk scores used in this study can identify synergism
      between variables, and their behavior is influenced by the population in which it
      was derived. It is important to recognize the need for calibrating risk scores
      for the Brazilian population. Fundamento:: A doenca cardiovascular (DCV) e a
      principal causa de morbimortalidade no Brasil, e a prevencao primaria pode ser
      direcionada com ferramentas que estratificam o risco. Os escores de Framingham
      (ERF) e QRISK-2 (ERQ) estimam o risco cardiovascular (RCV) global em 10 anos em
      individuos assintomaticos, mas a escolha do instrumento pode implicar em
      terapeuticas distintas. Objetivo:: Observar o grau de concordancia entre o ERF e
      o ERQ, na estratificacao do risco cardiovascular global em 10 anos, nos
      individuos livres da doenca. Metodos:: Estudo transversal, observacional,
      descritivo e analitico, com uma amostra de conveniencia de 74 individuos,
      atendidos em um ambulatorio de ensino de um hospital universitario brasileiro, no
      sul do pais, de janeiro de 2014 a janeiro de 2015. O ERF e o ERQ foram aplicados
      nos pacientes, que foram classificados em baixo/moderado (< 20%) ou alto risco
      (>= 20%). Resultados:: A proporcao de individuos classificados no estrato de alto
      risco foi superior no ERF que no ERQ (33,7% vs 21,6%), sendo identificado efeito
      sinergico do genero masculino com hipertensao arterial sistemica nas duas
      ferramentas, e com faixa etaria geriatrica no ERQ (p < 0,05) nesse estrato de
      risco. O indice de concordancia Kappa entre os dois escores foi igual a 0,519
      (IC95% = 0,386-0,652; p < 0,001). Conclusao:: Houve concordancia moderada entre o
      ERF e o ERQ, na estimativa de RCV global em 10 anos. Os escores utilizados podem
      identificar sinergismo entre as variaveis, e tem comportamento influenciado pela
      populacao na qual foram originados. E importante reconhecer a necessidade de
      escores calibrados para a populacao brasileira.

PMID- 28591321
TI  - Effects of a Single Bout of Resistance Exercise in Different Volumes on
      Endothelium Adaptations in Healthy Animals.
AB  - Background:: Resistance exercise (RE) has been recommended for patients with
      cardiovascular diseases. Recently, a few studies have demonstrated that the
      intensity of a single bout of RE has an effect on endothelial adaptations to
      exercise. However, there is no data about the effects of different volumes of RE
      on endothelium function. Objective:: The aim of the study was to evaluate the
      effects of different volumes of RE in a single bout on endothelium-dependent
      vasodilatation and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in the mesenteric artery of
      healthy animals. Methods:: Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups:
      Control (Ct); low-volume RE (LV, 5 sets x 10 repetitions) and high-volume RE (HV,
      15 sets x 10 repetitions). The established intensity was 70% of the maximal
      repetition test. After the exercise protocol, rings of mesenteric artery were
      used for assessment of vascular reactivity, and other mesenteric arteries were
      prepared for detection of measure NO production by DAF-FM fluorescence. Insulin
      responsiveness on NO synthesis was evaluated by stimulating the vascular rings
      with insulin (10 nM). Results:: The maximal relaxation response to insulin
      increased in the HV group only as compared with the Ct group. Moreover, the
      inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis (L-NAME) completely abolished the insulin
      induced vasorelaxation in exercised rats. NO production showed a volume-dependent
      increase in the endothelial and smooth muscle layer. In endothelial layer, only
      Ct and LV groups showed a significant increase in NO synthesis when compared to
      their respective group under basal condition. On the other hand, in smooth muscle
      layer, NO fluorescence increased in all groups when compared to their respective
      group under basal condition. Conclusions:: Our results suggest that a single bout
      of RE promotes vascular endothelium changes in a volume-dependent manner. The 15
      sets x 10 repetitions exercise plan induced the greatest levels of NO synthesis.
      Fundamentos:: O exercicio resistido (ER) tem sido recomendado para pacientes com
      doencas cardiovasculares. Recentemente, alguns estudos demonstraram que a
      intensidade de uma sessao de ER exerce um efeito sobre a disfuncao endotelial. No
      entanto, nao ha dados sobre os efeitos de diferentes volumes de ER sobre a funcao
      endotelial. Objetivo:: O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os efeitos de
      diferentes volumes de ER, realizados em uma unica sessao, sobre a vasodilatacao
      dependente do endotelio e sintese de oxido nitrico (NO) em arteria mesenterica de
      animais saudaveis. Metodos:: Ratos Wistar machos foram divididos em tres grupos:
      Controle (Ct); baixo volume (BV, 5 series x 10 repeticoes) e alto volume de ER
      (AV, 15 series x 10 repeticoes). Foi estabelecida a intensidade de 70% do teste
      de repeticao maxima. Apos o protocolo de exercicio, aneis de arteria mesenterica
      foram utilizados na avaliacao da reatividade vascular, e outras arterias
      mesentericas foram preparadas para a deteccao da producao de NO por fluorescencia
      com para do DAF-FM. A resposta a insulina pela sintese de NO foi avaliada
      estimulando-se os aneis vasculares com insulina (10nM). Resultados:: A resposta
      maxima do relaxamento induzido por insulina foi aumentada somente no grupo AV em
      comparacao ao grupo Ct. Alem disso, a inibicao da sintese do NO (L-NAME), aboliu
      completamente o relaxamento vascular induzido por insulina em ratos exercitados.
      A producao de NO mostrou um aumento dependente do volume no endotelio e no
      musculo liso. No endotelio, apenas os grupos Ct e BV mostraram aumento
      significativo na sintese de NO quando comparado aos seus respectivos grupos sob
      condicao basal. No entanto, no musculo liso, a fluorescencia foi aumentada em
      todos os grupos quando comparados aos seus respectivos grupos sob a condicao
      basal. Conclusoes:: Nossos resultados sugerem que uma unica sessao de ER foi
      capaz de promover adaptacoes no endotelio vascular. Alem disso, nos observamos
      que este efeito e volume-dependente e o volume de 15 series x10 repeticoes
      induziu o maior aumento na sintese de NO.

PMID- 28591323
TI  - Prediction Models for Decision-Making on Chagas Disease.

PMID- 28591322
TI  - Myocardial Viability on Cardiac Magnetic Resonance.
AB  - The study of myocardial viability is of great importance in the orientation and
      management of patients requiring myocardial revascularization or angioplasty. The
      technique of delayed enhancement (DE) is accurate and has transformed the study
      of viability into an easy test, not only for the detection of fibrosis but also
      as a binary test detecting what is viable or not. On DE, fibrosis equal to or
      greater than 50% of the segmental area is considered as non-viable, whereas that
      below 50% is considered viable. During the same evaluation, cardiac magnetic
      resonance (CMR) may also use other techniques for functional and perfusion
      studies to obtain a global evaluation of ischemic heart disease. This study aims
      to highlight the current concepts and broadly emphasize the use of CMR as a
      method that over the last 20 years has become a reference in the detection of
      infarction and assessment of myocardial viability. Resumo O estudo de viabilidade
      miocardica e de grande importancia para a orientacao e manejo de pacientes que
      necessitam de cirurgia de revascularizacao miocardica ou angioplastia. A tecnica
      de realce tardio (RT) e precisa e transformou o estudo de viabilidade em um teste
      facil, nao so para a deteccao de fibrose, mas tambem como um modelo binario para
      a deteccao do que e ou nao e viavel. Uma fibrose identificada pelo RT e
      considerada como nao viavel quando igual ou maior do que 50% da area segmentar e
      como viavel quando menor que 50%. A ressonancia magnetica cardiaca (RMC) tambem
      pode lancar mao de outras tecnicas para estudo funcional e de perfusao para uma
      avaliacao global da doenca isquemica do coracao no mesmo exame. Este estudo tem
      como objetivo destacar os conceitos atuais e enfatizar amplamente o uso da RMC
      como um metodo que nos ultimos 20 anos se tornou referencia na deteccao de
      infarto e avaliacao de viabilidade miocardica.

PMID- 28591325
TI  - Myocardial Deformation by Echocardiogram after Transcatheter Aortic Valve
      Implantation.

PMID- 28591324
TI  - Case 2/2017 - 56-Year-Old Male with Refractory Heart Failure, Systemic Arterial
      Hypertension and Aortic Valve Stenosis That Led to Heart Transplantation.

PMID- 28591326
TI  - Three-Dimensional Printing Model-Guided Percutaneous Closure of Atrial Septal
      Defect.

PMID- 28591327
TI  - [Strategy to improve access to etiological treatment of Chagas disease at the
      first level of care in Argentina].
AB  - Objective: Improve distribution of etiological treatment of Chagas disease by
      identifying barriers to the decentralization of treatment to the first level of
      care in Argentina. Methods: A qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study was
      conducted using semi-structured interviews of key actors belonging to the
      National Chagas Program and members of health teams at the first level of care,
      for the purpose of identifying barriers to diagnosis and treatment of Chagas
      disease at different levels (administrative, health agents, and community) that
      could affect a decentralized distribution strategy. Additionally, pilot
      decentralization was instituted in 10 primary health care centers in an Argentine
      province. Results: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 program
      heads and health professionals. Principal obstacles found were lack of systematic
      case-finding, poor coordination among levels of care and health system actors,
      lack of health team training on treatment, patient monitoring, and patient
      related barriers. A pilot decentralization program was carried out and strategies
      were evaluated to optimize large-scale intervention. Conclusions: The results
      made it possible to improve implementation of the plan to decentralize treatment
      through better inter-program coordination, capitalization on existing monitoring
      and communication tools, and sensitization of health teams. Furthermore,
      recommendations were developed to improve diagnosis and treatment of Chagas
      disease.

PMID- 28591328
TI  - [Health-worker barriers to syphilis screening in pregnant women in Bolivia's Los
      Andes network].
AB  - Objective: Identify health-worker barriers that keep pregnant women who receive
      prenatal care from being screened for syphilis (Los Andes Health Network,
      Bolivia). Methods: Semi-structured interviews were done with 46 health care
      providers and 249 clinical health records of pregnant women were analyzed in
      eight public health facilities in the Los Andes network. Results: Health-worker
      barriers to syphilis screening in pregnant women included lack of time by
      personnel to raise awareness of the benefit of syphilis screening; some mentioned
      that syphilis tests should only be done in facilities that attend deliveries and
      have a laboratory; lack of communication between clinicians and laboratory
      personnel; and problems with provision of supplies and reagents. The clinical
      record review found that only 55.4% contained syphilis laboratory results and
      only 37.4% of perinatal clinical histories had records of laboratory results. The
      interviews found that providers believe that syphilis screening is done in 100%
      of pregnant women receiving prenatal care. Conclusion: Syphilis screening is not
      being done according to Bolivia's strategy for the elimination of congenital
      syphilis, and is not done on more than half of pregnant women in prenatal care
      with perinatal clinical history records. This is not perceived by health
      professionals and can become a barrier to syphilis screening in pregnant women.

PMID- 28591329
TI  - [Evaluation of the teleconsultation process from the perspective of the provider
      (Oaxaca Telehealth Program, Mexico)].
AB  - Objective: Identify barriers to implementation of the teleconsultation process in
      order to develop strategies to improve the program's operation. Methods: A
      process evaluation strategy was used to study the implementation of the
      teleconsultation service. The program's operating manuals were compared with the
      qualitative and quantitative information compiled on the practical implementation
      of the teleconsultation process. Results: The factors reported as obstacles to
      the teleconsultation process were: slow Internet connection, the hours available
      to the public, the specialized services offered, and insufficient clinical
      history included in teleconsultation requests. It was determined that 60% of
      internal medicine patients received two or more teleconsultations in the study
      period, as did 44% of patients of the gynecology service. Four consulting medical
      units accounted for 75% of the teleconsultations and the rest were distributed
      among 12 medical units. Conclusions: The barriers identified in the
      teleconsultation process mainly affect consulting physicians; even so,
      productivity is on an upward trend. Despite the existing barriers, it was
      determined that some patients receive follow-up through the program, which favors
      access to care. It is necessary to standardize implementation and to conduct
      subsequent research on patients' health condition.

PMID- 28591331
TI  - [CYTED-RITMOS network: toward the search for solutions to promote mobile health
      in Latin America].
AB  - The area of mobile technologies applied to health (mHealth) is a growing
      worldwide trend that has generated enormous expectations for the mitigation of
      problems related to medical services delivery and public health stemming from a
      lack of resources and the limited number of specialists. The numerous
      opportunities offered by mobile technologies, together with their ease of use,
      have attracted the interest both of governments and universities. This is the
      case of the Ibero-American Mobile Technologies and Health Network (CYTED-RITMOS,
      Spanish acronym). As a result of the network's first year of activity, in October
      2015 the RITMOS International Workshop was held in Barcelona to present the
      priority areas in Latin America where research, development, and innovation
      (R&D+i) projects on mobile health could be carried out and possible solutions
      found. The objective of this article is to present the potentialities and
      applicability of mHealth in the Region of the Americas.

PMID- 28591330
TI  - [Access barriers to comprehensive care for people affected by tuberculosis and
      human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in Peru, 2010-2015].
AB  - Objective: Identify the programmatic barriers that hinder access to comprehensive
      care of patients with tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (TB/HIV)
      coinfection. Methods: This is a mixed-method study. Qualitative research was
      conducted via in-depth interviews with key actors and the quantitative component
      involved cross-sectional descriptive analysis of programmatic data from 2010-2015
      on tuberculosis and HIV programs at health facilities in the cities of Lima and
      Iquitos. Results: Twenty-two key actors in seven establishments were interviewed.
      The identified barriers were: little or no coordination between tuberculosis and
      HIV teams, separate management of tuberculosis and HIV cases at different levels
      of care, insufficient financing, limited or poorly trained human resources, and
      lack of an integrated information system. It was found that HIV screening in TB
      patients increased (from 18.8% in 2011 to 95.2% in 2015), isoniazid coverage of
      HIV patients declined (from 62% to 9%), and the proportion of deaths among TB/HIV
      coinfection cases averaged 20%. Conclusions: There is poor coordination between
      HIV and TB health strategies. Management of TB/HIV coinfection is fragmented into
      different levels of care, which has an impact on comprehensive patient care. As a
      result of this research, a technical document was prepared to establish joint
      procedures that should be implemented to improve comprehensive care of TB/HIV
      coinfection.

PMID- 28591332
TI  - Prevalence of bullying by gender and education in a city with high violence and
      migration in Mexico.
AB  - Objective: To understand the prevalence of bullying, by gender and educational
      level, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a city with high rates of violence and
      migration. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted in
      2012 - 2014 using a questionnaire known as the Bullying-Mexican. A probabilistic
      multistage cluster-sampling method obtained a study sample of 2 347 students (10 
      27 years of age) from the 400 000 enrolled in grade 5 - university level at the
      611 public schools in Ciudad Juarez. Bullying prevalence and frequency (never,
      rarely, sometimes, often, every day) were analyzed with descriptive statistics.
      The statistical differences between males and females was assessed using a chi
      square test; associations between frequency and academic level were determined by
      correspondence analysis and the Spearman Rho correlation. A multinomial logistic
      regression was performed to analyze whether gender and academic level acted
      independently in the frequency of bullying. Results: Bullying prevalence was
      reported by 38% of females and 47% of males: 'only victim' represented 8.7%;
      'only aggressor,' 13.2%; and 'victim and aggressor,' 21%. At higher levels of
      education, bullying prevalence declined; however, at the university, prevalence
      increased in the last semesters. Mockery and social exclusion were the two most
      dominant types of bullying, followed by beating, threats, and punishment.
      Conclusions: The prevalence of bullying in Ciudad Juarez public schools is among
      the highest compared to other random studies and surveys. Bullying diminishes
      with age and educational level.

PMID- 28591333
TI  - [Regionalization of perinatal health care in the province of Santa Fe,
      Argentina].
AB  - Objective: Improve the performance of the regionalization policy in the province
      of Santa Fe, Argentina, as a strategy to improve perinatal health care by
      analyzing implementation processes and building consensus among decision makers
      and stakeholders around an action plan. Methods: Implementation research was
      conducted using mixed methodology. A needs assessment established tracer
      indicators to measure adherence to the components of the policy. Actors were
      studied to identify the barriers and facilitators of implementation. Training was
      provided on the development of consensus- and evidence-based policies, through
      workshops in which policy briefs were prepared and through a deliberative
      dialogue. Results: There were improvements in the number of births in appropriate
      hospitals and in the number of births in maternity hospitals with Essential
      Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CONE). Barriers were identified in the referral
      systems and in communication on policy, which resulted in an initial agreement on
      the need for guidelines and specific technical training on the transfer of babies
      and mothers. Conclusions: The participation of health workers in identifying
      barriers and strategies to overcome them, and the use of tools to report this to
      management, permit the adoption of consensus- and evidence-based strategies to
      improve policy implementation.

PMID- 28591334
TI  - [Evaluation of implementation of the protocol for managing tuberculosis/ human
      immunodeficiency virus coinfection in specialized care services in ceara state].
AB  - Objectives: Identify barriers and strategies for implementation of the protocol
      for managing tuberculosis/ human immunodeficiency virus (TB/HIV) coinfection in
      specialized care services in Ceara state, through evaluation research. Methods:
      The study followed iPIER methodology, a new initiative to help improve the
      implementation of health programs through the use of research that is conducted
      as a part of the implementation process. Data were collected on the structure and
      processes of 22 services and barriers were explored in four focus groups with 28
      participants, from the standpoint of the health team, administrators, and users.
      The discussions were transcribed and interpreted with regard to the objectives of
      the study. Results: The information on structure and process revealed that six
      services manage TB/HIV coinfection and 16 do not. The barriers were: team members
      were unaware of the protocol; lack of clinical practice guidelines in the
      services; specialized care services working at all three levels of the health
      system; inadequate spaces for treatment of airborne diseases; and lack of
      communication with primary health care sectors for patient transfers. The results
      were discussed with teams and administrators in seminars held in the services and
      with program managers for sexually transmitted infections, human immunodeficiency
      virus, AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. Conclusions: Direct dialogue between
      administrators, implementers, users, and researchers generated knowledge about
      the services and led to joint preparation of modifications in workflow aimed at
      acceptance and use of the protocol; however, users continue to resist adherence
      to treatment.

PMID- 28591335
TI  - [Evaluation of tools for the implementation of clinical practice guidelines on
      sexually transmitted infections].
AB  - Objective: Determine the acceptability, perceived usefulness, and adoption of
      implementation tools and technical assistance provided by the Health Technology
      Assessment Institute (IETS) in hospitals in two regions of Colombia. Methods:
      Assistance was provided for implementation of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs)
      in 24 hospitals (17 in Antioquia and seven in Cundinamarca) in areas with high
      prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, and for use of the implementation
      tools. Health professionals were given surveys and medical specialists were
      interviewed. Results: Overall, 86% of respondents are familiar with the GPGs, 86%
      with the tracer recommendations, 79% with the interactive flow charts, and 82%
      with the evidence sheets, while 41% never used the implementation tools. Of the
      respondents who used the tools, 55% did so on their work computer, while 24% used
      their personal telephone. The most useful tools were the evidence sheets and flow
      charts (98%) and the tracer recommendations (92%). The least useful were the
      budgetary impact tools (81%). Conclusions: The implementation tools and technical
      assistance provided in hospitals in two regions of Colombia are perceived as
      useful and acceptable, although the degree of implementation is low. The findings
      of this research will help the different actors, such as the Ministry of Health
      and Social Protection, the IETS, and the Administrative Department of Science,
      Technology and Innovation (Colciencias), among others, improve their programs for
      the implementation of clinical practice guidelines.

PMID- 28591336
TI  - Prognostic factors affecting outcomes in multivisceral en bloc resection for
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:: This study sought to determine the clinical and pathological factors
      associated with perioperative morbidity, mortality and oncological outcomes after
      multivisceral en bloc resection in patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS::
      Between January 2009 and February 2014, 105 patients with primary colorectal
      cancer selected for multivisceral resection were identified from a prospective
      database. Clinical and pathological factors, perioperative morbidity and
      mortality and outcomes were obtained from medical records. Estimated local
      recurrence and overall survival were compared using the log-rank method, and Cox
      regression analysis was used to determine the independence of the studied
      parameters. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02859155. RESULTS:: The median age of the
      patients was 60 (range 23-86) years, 66.7% were female, 80% of tumors were
      located in the rectum, 11.4% had stage-IV disease, and 54.3% received neoadjuvant
      chemoradiotherapy. The organs most frequently resected were ovaries and annexes
      (37%). Additionally, 30.5% of patients received abdominoperineal resection.
      Invasion of other organs was confirmed histologically in 53.5% of patients, and
      R0 resection was obtained in 72% of patients. The overall morbidity rate of
      patients in this study was 37.1%. Ureter resection and intraoperative blood
      transfusion were independently associated with an increased number of
      complications. The 30-day postoperative mortality rate was 1.9%. After 27 (range
      5-57) months of follow-up, the mortality and local recurrence rates were 23% and
      15%, respectively. Positive margins were associated with a higher recurrence
      rate. Positive margins, lymph node involvement, stage III/IV disease, and stage
      IV disease alone were associated with lower overall survival rates. On
      multivariate analysis, the only factor associated with reduced survival was lymph
      node involvement. CONCLUSIONS:: Multivisceral en bloc resection for primary
      colorectal cancer can be performed with acceptable rates of morbidity and
      mortality and may lead to favorable oncological outcomes.

PMID- 28591338
TI  - Muscle strength and body composition in severe obesity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:: The aim of our study was to evaluate associations between maximum
      voluntary contraction torques of the lower limbs and body composition for
      subjects with severe obesity. METHODS:: Body composition was evaluated by
      bioelectrical impedance analysis, and maximum voluntary contraction torques of
      the lower limbs were measured using an isokinetic dynamometer. One hundred thirty
      two patients were enrolled (100 females and 32 males). Eighty-seven patients had
      a body mass index between 40 and 49.9 kg/m2 (the A group), and 45 patients had a
      body mass index between 50 and 59.9 kg/m2 (the B group). RESULTS:: Absolute
      extension and flexion torques had weak associations with fat-free mass but a
      moderate association with absolute extension torque and fat-free mass of the
      lower limbs. There were no significant differences between the A and B groups
      with respect to absolute extension and flexion torques. For the A group, absolute
      extension and flexion torques were moderately associated with fat-free mass and
      with fat-free mass of the lower limbs. For the B group, there were only moderate
      associations between absolute extension and flexion torques with fat-free mass of
      the lower limbs. CONCLUSIONS:: Our findings demonstrate that both groups
      exhibited similar absolute torque values. There were weak to moderate
      associations between absolute extension and flexion torques and fat-free mass but
      a moderate association with fat-free mass of the lower limbs. Individuals with
      severe obesity should strive for greater absolute torques, fat-free mass and
      especially fat-free mass of the lower limbs to prevent functional limitations and
      physical incapacity.

PMID- 28591337
TI  - Placental weight and birth weight to placental weight ratio in monochorionic and
      dichorionic growth-restricted and non-growth-restricted twins.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:: The aim of the present study was to compare the placental weight and
      birth weight/placental weight ratio for intrauterine growth-restricted and non
      intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic and dichorionic twins. METHODS::
      This was a retrospective analysis of placentas from twin pregnancies. Placental
      weight and the birth weight/placental weight ratio were compared in intrauterine
      growth-restricted and non-intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic and
      dichorionic twins. The association between cord insertion type and placental
      lesions in intrauterine growth-restricted and non-intrauterine growth-restricted
      monochorionic and dichorionic twins was also investigated. RESULTS:: A total of
      105 monochorionic (intrauterine growth restriction=40; non-intrauterine growth
      restriction=65) and 219 dichorionic (intrauterine growth restriction=57; non
      intrauterine growth restriction=162) placentas were analyzed. A significantly
      lower placental weight was observed in intrauterine growth-restricted
      monochorionic (p=0.022) and dichorionic (p<0.001) twins compared to non
      intrauterine growth-restricted twins. There was no difference in the birth
      weight/placental weight ratio between the intrauterine growth restriction and non
      intrauterine growth restriction groups for either monochorionic (p=0.36) or
      dichorionic (p=0.68) twins. Placental weight and the birth weight/placental
      weight ratio were not associated with cord insertion type or with placental
      lesions. CONCLUSION:: Low placental weight, and consequently reduced functional
      mass, appears to be involved in fetal growth restriction in monochorionic and
      dichorionic twins. The mechanism by which low placental weight influences the
      birth weight/placental weight ratio in intrauterine growth-restricted
      monochorionic and dichorionic twins needs to be determined in larger prospective
      studies.

PMID- 28591339
TI  - Oral motor and electromyographic characterization of adults with facial
      fractures: a comparison between different fracture severities.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:: To characterize the oral motor system of adults with facial injuries
      and to compare the oral motor performance/function between two different groups.
      METHODS:: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in
      38 patients presenting with facial trauma who were assigned to the Division of
      Orofacial Myology of a Brazilian School Hospital. Patients were divided into two
      groups: Group 1 (G1) consisted of 19 patients who were submitted to open
      reduction of at least one facial fracture, and Group 2 (G2) consisted of 19
      individuals who were submitted to closed fracture reduction with
      maxillomandibular fixation. For comparison purposes, a group of 19 healthy
      volunteers was recruited. All participants underwent a clinical assessment that
      included an oral motor evaluation, assessment of the mandibular range of motions,
      and electromyographic assessment of the masticatory muscles. RESULTS:: Clinical
      assessment of the oral motor organs indicated that G1 and G2 presented deficits
      related to the posture, position, and mobility of the oral motor organs. Patients
      also presented limited mandibular ranges of movement. Deficits were greater for
      individuals in G1, especially for maximal incisor opening. Additionally, patients
      in G1 and G2 presented a similar electromyographic profile of the masticatory
      muscles (i.e., patients with facial fractures presented lower overall muscle
      activity and significant asymmetrical activity of the masseter muscle during
      maximum voluntary teeth clenching). CONCLUSION:: Patients in G1 and G2 presented
      similar functional deficits after fracture treatment. The severity of facial
      fractures did not influence muscle function/performance 4 months after the
      correction of fractures.

PMID- 28591340
TI  - Uterine artery Doppler flow velocimetry parameters for predicting gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasia after complete hydatidiform mole, a prospective cohort
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:: Doppler ultrasonography can be used to assess neoangiogenesis, a
      characteristic feature of postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. However,
      there is limited information on whether uterine artery Doppler flow velocimetry
      parameters can predict gestational trophoblastic neoplasia following a complete
      hydatidiform mole. The purpose of this study was as follows: 1) to compare
      uterine blood flow before and after complete mole evacuation between women who
      developed postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia and those who achieved
      spontaneous remission, 2) to assess the usefulness of uterine Doppler parameters
      as predictors of postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia and to determine
      the best parameters and cutoff values for predicting postmolar gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasia. METHODS:: This prospective cohort study included 246
      patients with a complete mole who were treated at three different trophoblastic
      diseases centers between 2013 and 2014. The pulsatility index, resistivity index,
      and systolic/diastolic ratio were measured by Doppler flow velocimetry before and
      4-6 weeks after molar evacuation. Statistical analysis was performed using
      Wilcoxon's test, logistic regression, and ROC analysis. RESULTS:: No differences
      in pre- and post-evacuation Doppler measurements were observed in patients who
      developed postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. In those with
      spontaneous remission, the pulsatility index and systolic/diastolic ratio were
      increased after evacuation. The pre- and post-evacuation pulsatility indices were
      significantly lower in patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (odds
      ratio of 13.9-30.5). A pre-evacuation pulsatility index <=1.38 (77% sensitivity
      and 82% specificity) and post-evacuation pulsatility index <=1.77 (79%
      sensitivity and 86% specificity) were significantly predictive of gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS:: Uterine Doppler flow velocimetry
      measurements, particularly pre- and post-molar evacuation pulsatility indices,
      can be useful for predicting postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.

PMID- 28591341
TI  - The Effect of FRAX on the Prediction of Osteoporotic Fractures in Urban Middle
      aged and Elderly Healthy Chinese Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:: We aimed to analyze the applicability of a fracture risk assessment
      tool for the prediction of osteoporotic fractures in middle-aged and elderly
      healthy Chinese adults. METHODS:: A standard questionnaire was administered, and
      bone mineral density was measured in residents visiting the Dongliu Street
      Community Health Service Center. Paired t-tests were used to compare the FRAX
      based probabilities of fractures estimated with and without consideration of bone
      mineral density. Risk stratification and partial correlation analyses were
      applied to analyze the associations between FRAX-based probabilities and body
      mass index or bone mineral density at different sites. RESULTS:: A total of 444
      subjects were included in this study. Of these subjects, 175 (39.59%) were
      diagnosed as osteoporotic, and 208 (47.06%) were diagnosed as osteopenic. The
      Kappa value for the detection of osteoporosis at the L1-L4 lumbar spine and
      femoral neck was 0.314. The FRAX-based 10-year major osteoporotic fracture
      probability and hip osteoporotic fracture probability estimated without
      considering bone mineral density were 4.93% and 1.64%, respectively; when
      estimated while considering bone mineral density, these probabilities were 4.97%
      and 1.54%, respectively. A significant positive association was observed between
      the FRAX-based fracture probabilities estimated with and without consideration of
      bone mineral density, while significant negative associations between body mass
      index and the estimated FRAX-based fracture probabilities after adjustment for
      age and the estimated FRAX-based fracture probabilities and femoral neck bone
      mineral density were identified. These results remained the same after
      controlling for lumbar spine bone mineral density. CONCLUSIONS:: The Chinese FRAX
      model could predict osteoporotic fracture risk regardless of whether bone mineral
      density was considered and was especially appropriate for predicting osteoporotic
      fractures of the femoral neck.

PMID- 28591342
TI  - Risk factors for the prognosis of pediatric medulloblastoma: a retrospective
      analysis of 40 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:: In this study, we evaluated the association of molecular subtypes,
      clinical characteristics and pathological types with the prognosis of patients
      with medulloblastoma. METHODS:: We analyzed forty patients with medulloblastoma
      who underwent surgical resection at our center between January 2004 and June
      2014. Risk factors associated with survival, disease progression and recurrence
      were analyzed with a univariate Cox regression analysis, and the identified
      significant risk factors were further analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival curves.
      RESULTS:: Factors associated with overall survival included M stage (p=0.014),
      calcification (p=0.012), postoperative treatment, postoperative Karnofsky
      Performance Scale (KPS) score (p=0.015), and molecular subtype (p=0.005 for WNT
      and p=0.008 for SHH). Number of symptoms (p=0.029), M stage (p<0.001), and
      postoperative radiotherapy (p=0.033) were associated with disease progression.
      Patients with the WNT or SHH subtype had better survival outcomes than patients
      with non-WNT/SHH subtypes. Risk factors for disease progression-free survival
      were symptoms >2 and >=M1 stage without postoperative radiotherapy. The risk of
      recurrence increased with advanced M stage. Protective factors for recurrence
      included M0 stage and a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
      CONCLUSION:: We identified the risk factors associated with survival, disease
      progression and recurrence of medulloblastoma patients. This information is
      helpful for understanding the prognostic factors related to medulloblastoma.

PMID- 28591343
TI  - Burnout syndrome in health-care professionals in a university hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:: To evaluate professional achievement and factors associated with
      occupational burnout among health professionals. METHODS:: An institution-based
      cross-sectional study was conducted on 436 healthcare providers, consisting of
      101 nurses, 81 doctors and 254 nursing technicians, all meeting pre-established
      inclusion criteria. Occupational burnout was detected using the Maslach
      occupational burnout inventory tool. Data were collected by self-administered
      questionnaires comprising questions concerning socio-demographics, education and
      training, and the Maslach occupational burnout inventory was used to identify
      levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and professional achievement.
      RESULTS:: Emotional exhaustion was associated with education level and work place
      for nursing technicians. Depersonalization was associated with gender in nursing
      technicians. For nurses, depersonalization showed a significant association with
      education level, whereas this factor was associated with number of jobs for
      doctors. Lower levels of professional achievement were observed for unspecialized
      doctors compared to those with further training. Higher levels of professional
      achievement were associated with professionals with postgraduate training
      compared to those without. CONCLUSIONS:: High levels of emotional exhaustion were
      found in professionals from the maternity unit as well as in professionals with
      lower educational levels. Depersonalization was higher in physicians with several
      jobs and in female nurses. Low professional achievement was found in
      unspecialized doctors, while high professional achievement was associated with
      postgraduate training.

PMID- 28591344
TI  - Aerobic Swim Training Restores Aortic Endothelial Function by Decreasing
      Superoxide Levels in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:: We aimed to determine whether aerobic training decreases superoxide
      levels, increases nitric oxide levels, and improves endothelium-dependent
      vasodilation in the aortas of spontaneously hypertensive rats. METHODS::
      Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) were
      distributed into 2 groups: sedentary (SHRsd and WKYsd, n=10 each) and swimming
      trained (SHRtr, n=10 and WKYtr, n=10, respectively). The trained group
      participated in training sessions 5 days/week for 1 h/day with an additional work
      load of 4% of the animal's body weight. After a 10-week sedentary or aerobic
      training period, the rats were euthanized. The thoracic aortas were removed to
      evaluate the vasodilator response to acetylcholine (10-10 to 10-4 M) with or
      without preincubation with L-NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L
      NAME; 10-4 M) in vitro. The aortic tissue was also used to assess the levels of
      the endothelial nitric oxide synthase and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
      oxidase subunit isoforms 1 and 4 proteins, as well as the superoxide and nitrite
      contents. Blood pressure was measured using a computerized tail-cuff system.
      RESULTS:: Aerobic training significantly increased the acetylcholine-induced
      maximum vasodilation observed in the SHRtr group compared with the SHRsd group
      (85.9+/-4.3 vs. 71.6+/-5.2%). Additionally, in the SHRtr group, superoxide levels
      were significantly decreased, nitric oxide bioavailability was improved, and the
      levels of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase subunit isoform 4 protein
      were decreased compared to the SHRsd group. Moreover, after training, the blood
      pressure of the SHRtr group decreased compared to the SHRsd group. Exercise
      training had no effect on the blood pressure of the WKYtr group. CONCLUSIONS:: In
      SHR, aerobic swim training decreased vascular superoxide generation by
      nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase subunit isoform 4 and increased nitric
      oxide bioavailability, thereby improving endothelial function.

PMID- 28591346
TI  - Prevalence of and factors associated with self-reported high blood pressure in
      Brazilian adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with self-reported high blood pressure
      among adults in Brazilian state capitals. METHODS: The study uses data from
      Sistema de Vigilancia de Fatores de Risco e Protecao para Doencas Cronicas por
      Inquerito Telefonico (Vigitel - Surveillance System of Risk and Protection
      Factors of Noncommunicable Diseases by Telephone Survey) collected in 2013.
      Prevalence rates and their respective 95% confidence intervals by gender were
      estimated according to sociodemographic variables, lifestyle, reported
      noncommunicable diseases and self-rated health status. Multivariate logistic
      regression modeling was used to identify variables associated with self-reported
      high blood pressure with alpha < 0.05. RESULTS: Prevalence of self-reported high
      blood pressure among adults living in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal
      District was 24.1%. The following variables were associated with self-reported
      high blood pressure: age group, taking 18-24 as reference (all age groups
      presented increased risk - from 25-34 years [OR = 2.6; 95%CI 2.0-3.4] up to 65
      years or more [OR = 28.1; 95%CI 21.7-36.4]); low education level (9 to 11 years
      of study [OR = 0.8; 95%CI 0.7-0.9] and 12 years or more [OR = 0.6; 95%CI 0.6
      0.7]); Black race or skin color (OR = 1.3; 95%CI 1.1-1.5); being a former smoker
      (OR = 1.2; 95%CI 1.1-1.3); obesity (OR = 2.7; 95%CI 2.4-3.0); diabetes (OR = 2.9;
      95%CI 2.5-3.5%), and high cholesterol (OR = 1.9; 95%CI 1.8-2.2). CONCLUSIONS:
      Approximately one quarter of the adult population living in Brazilian state
      capitals reported having high blood pressure. Information from Vigitel is useful
      to monitor high blood pressure and identity its associated factors, supporting
      public policies for health promotion, surveillance and care.

PMID- 28591345
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of amfepramone and
      mazindol as a monotherapy for the treatment of obese or overweight patients.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of amfepramone,
      fenproporex and mazindol as a monotherapy for the treatment of obese or
      overweight patients. A systematic review of primary studies was conducted,
      followed by a direct meta-analysis (random effect) and mixed treatment
      comparison. Medline and other databases were searched. Heterogeneity was explored
      through I2 associated with a p-value. Of 739 identified publications, 25 were
      included in the meta-analysis. The global evaluation of Cochrane resulted in 19
      studies with a high level of bias and six with unclear risk. Due to the lack of
      information in primary studies, direct meta-analyses were conducted only for
      amfepramone and mazindol. Compared to placebo, amfepramone resulted in higher
      weight loss in the short-term (<180 days; mean difference (MD) -1.281 kg; p<0.05;
      I2: 0.0%; p=0.379) and long-term (>=180 days; MD -6.518 kg; p<0.05; I2: 0.0%;
      p=0.719). Only studies with long-term follow up reported efficacy in terms of
      abdominal circumference and 5-10% weight reduction. These results corroborated
      the finding that the efficacy of amfepramone is greater than that of placebo.
      Treatment with mazindol showed greater short-term weight loss than that with
      placebo (MD -1.721 kg; p<0.05; I2: 0.9%; p=0.388). However, metabolic outcomes
      were poorly described, preventing a meta-analysis. A mixed treatment comparison
      corroborated the direct meta-analysis. Considering the high level of risk of bias
      and the absence of important published outcomes for anti-obesity therapy
      assessments, this study found that the evaluated drugs showed poor evidence of
      efficacy in the treatment of overweight and obese patients. Robust safety data
      were not identified to suggest changes in their regulatory status.

PMID- 28591347
TI  - Factors associated with self-reported diabetes according to the 2013 National
      Health Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the factors associated with self-reported diabetes among
      adult participants of the National Health Survey (PNS). METHODS: Cross-sectional
      study using data of the PNS carried out in 2013, from interviews with adults (>=
      18 years) of 64,348 Brazilian households. The prevalence of self-reported
      diabetes, assessed by the question "Has a doctor ever told you that you have
      diabetes?," was related to sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, self
      reported chronic disease, and self-evaluation of the health condition. Prevalence
      ratios were adjusted according to age, sex, and schooling by Poisson regression
      with robust variance. RESULTS: The diagnosis of diabetes was reported by 6.2% of
      respondents. Its crude prevalence was higher in women (7.0% vs. 5.4%), and among
      older adults, reaching 19.8% in the elderly. Black adults who received less
      schooling showed higher prevalence. Among those classified as obese, 11.8%
      reported having diabetes. Ex-smokers, those insufficiently active and those who
      consume alcohol abusively reported diabetes more often. Differences were not
      verified in eating habits among adults who reported, or did not, diabetes. A
      relation between diabetes and hypertension was found. CONCLUSIONS: After
      adjustment according to age, schooling and sex, diabetes was shown to be
      associated with higher age, lower schooling, past smoking, overweight and
      obesity, and hypertension, as well as with a self-declared poor state of health,
      indicating a pattern of risk factors common to many chronic non-communicable
      diseases and the association of the disease with morbidity.

PMID- 28591348
TI  - Informal and paid care for Brazilian older adults (National Health Survey, 2013).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and sociodemographic factors associated
      with informal and paid care for Brazilian older adults with functional
      limitations. METHODS: Of the 23,815 participants of the National Health Survey
      aged 60 or older, 5,978 reported needing help to perform activities of daily
      living and were included in this analysis. The dependent variable was the source
      of care, categorized as exclusively informal (unpaid), exclusively formal (paid),
      mixed or none. The socio-demographic variables were age (60-64, 65-74, >= 75
      years old), gender and number of residents in the household (1, 2, >= 3). The
      multivariate analysis was based on binomial and multinomial logistic regressions.
      RESULTS: Informal care predominated (81.8%), followed by paid (5.8%) or mixed
      (6.8%) and no care (5.7%). The receipt of care from any source increased
      gradually with the number of residents in a same household, regardless of age and
      gender (OR = 4.85 and 9.74 for 2 and >= 3, respectively). Age was positively
      associated with receiving any care while the male gender showed a negative
      association. The number of residents in the household showed the strongest
      association with informal care (OR = 10.94 for >= 3 residents), compared with
      paid (OR = 5.48) and mixed (OR = 4.16) care. CONCLUSIONS: Informal care is the
      main source of help for community-dwelling older adults with functional
      limitations. In a context of rapid population aging and decline in family size,
      the results reinforce the need for policies to support long-term care for older
      Brazilians.

PMID- 28591349
TI  - Family influence on the consumption of sugary drinks by children under two years
      old.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of family habits and household
      characteristics on the consumption of sugary drinks by Brazilian children under
      two years old. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that used secondary data
      generated by the National Health Survey (PNS) in 2013. We studied 4,839 pairs of
      children under two years old and adults living in the same house. We estimated
      the prevalence of the indicator of sugary drinks consumption for the total sample
      of children and according to family and household variables. We applied multiple
      logistic regression analysis to evaluate the influence of family habits and
      household characteristics on the consumption of sugary drinks by the children.
      RESULTS: The consumption of sugary drinks was identified in 32% of the studied
      children (95%CI 30.6-33.3) and was independently associated with the following
      family and household characteristics: regular consumption of sugary drinks by the
      adult living in the house (OR = 1.78; 95%CI 1.51-2.10), watching TV for more than
      three hours per day (OR = 1.22; 95%CI 1.03-1.45), older age (OR = 3.10; 95%CI
      1.54-6.26), greater education level (OR = 0.70; 95%CI 0.53-0.91), house located
      in the Northeast region (OR = 0.65; 95%CI 1.54-6.26), and number of family
      members (OR = 1.05; 95%CI 1.00-1.09). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the high
      prevalence of sugary drinks consumption by Brazilian children under two years old
      and show that sociodemographic characteristics and family habits affect this
      feeding practice not recommended in childhood.

PMID- 28591350
TI  - Factors associated with chronic back pain in adults in Brazil.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify associations of chronic back pain with sociodemographic
      characteristics, lifestyles, body mass index, self-reported chronic diseases and
      health assessment, according to sex. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2013
      National Health Survey, estimated the prevalence and their respective 95%
      confidence intervals (95%CI) of chronic back pain, according to selected
      variables and performed adjustment by age and education. RESULTS: 18.5% of the
      Brazilian population reported chronic back pain, 15.5% (95%CI 14.7-16.4) of them
      being men and 21.1% (95%CI 20.2-22.0) being women. The characteristics that
      remained associated and statistically significant (p < 0.05) after adjustment, in
      men, were: age group, higher in men with 65 years or older (ORa = 6.06); low
      education level; living in rural area; history of smoking, high salt intake,
      increase in the time of heavy physical activity at work and at home; being
      overweight (ORa = 1.18) or obese (ORa = 1.26); diagnostic of hypertension (ORa =
      1.42), high cholesterol (ORa = 1.60); and worse health assessment in comparison
      with very good (good [ORa = 1.48]; regular [ORa = 3.22]; poor [ORa = 5.00], very
      poor [ORa = 8.60]). Among women, they were: increase with age, higher among women
      with 55-64 years (ORa = 3.64); low education level; history of smoking, regular
      candy consumption, high salt intake, heavy physical activity at work and at home
      and increase in the time of these activities; being overweight (ORa = 1.23) or
      obese (ORa = 1.32); diagnosis of hypertension (ORa = 1.50), high cholesterol (ORa
      = 1.84); and worse health assessment than very good (good [ORa = 1.43]; regular
      [ORa = 3.16]; poor [ORa = 5.44], very poor [ORa = 8.19]). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings point out differences by sex and contribute to the knowledge of the
      panorama of chronic back pain, which, besides affecting individuals, generate
      negative socioeconomic impacts, by causing work-related disabilities and
      hindering everyday activities.

PMID- 28591351
TI  - Use of and access to health services in Brazil, 2013 National Health Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the use of health services in the Brazilian population by
      sociodemographic factors, according to data from the 2013 Brazilian National
      Health Survey. METHODS: The study analyzed data from 205,000 Brazilian citizens
      in all age groups who participated in the Brazilian National Health Survey, a
      cross-sectional study carried out in 2013. Prevalence and confidence intervals
      were estimated for indicators related to access to and use of health services
      according to age group, level of education of head of household, and Brazilian
      macroregions. RESULTS: Among individuals who sought health services in the two
      weeks prior to the survey, 95.3% (95%CI 94.9-95.8) received care in their first
      visit. Percentages were higher in the following groups: 60 years of age and over;
      head of household with complete tertiary education; living in the South and
      Southeast regions. In addition, 82.5% (95%CI 81.2-83.7) of individuals who
      received health care and prescriptions were able to obtain all the necessary
      medicines, 1/3 of them from SUS. Less than half the Brazilian population (44.4%;
      95%CI 43.8-45.1) visited a dentist in the 12 months prior to the survey, with
      smaller percentages among the following groups: 60 years of age or older; head of
      household with no education or up to incomplete elementary; living in the North
      region of Brazil. CONCLUSIONS: People living in the South and Southeast regions
      still have greater access to health services, as do those whose head of household
      has a higher level of education. The (re)formulation of health policies to reduce
      disparities should consider differences encountered between regions and social
      levels. OBJETIVO: Descrever o uso de servicos de saude na populacao brasileira
      segundo fatores sociodemograficos, de acordo com dados da Pesquisa Nacional de
      Saude, 2013. METODOS: Foram analisados dados referentes a 205 mil brasileiros, de
      todas as faixas etarias, que participaram da Pesquisa Nacional de Saude, estudo
      transversal conduzido em 2013. Calcularam-se as prevalencias e seus intervalos de
      confianca para indicadores referentes ao acesso e a utilizacao dos servicos de
      saude, segundo grupos de idade, nivel de instrucao do chefe da familia e
      macrorregioes do pais. RESULTADOS: Dentre os individuos que procuraram o servico
      de saude nas duas semanas previas a pesquisa, 95,3% (IC95% 94,9-95,8) conseguiu
      usa-lo na primeira vez que procurou. As proporcoes foram maiores: no grupo de 60
      anos ou mais; cujo chefe da familia tinha nivel superior completo; e nas regioes
      Sul e Sudeste. Ainda, dos individuos atendidos e que tiveram medicamentos
      receitados, 82,5% (IC95% 81,2-83,7) conseguiram obter todos os medicamentos,
      sendo 1/3 pelo SUS. Menos da metade da populacao brasileira (44,4%; IC95% 43,8
      45,1) consultou um dentista nos 12 meses anteriores a pesquisa, com proporcoes
      menores entre: individuos com 60 anos ou mais; cujo chefe da familia nao possuia
      nivel de instrucao ou tinha ate o fundamental incompleto; e individuos que
      residiam na regiao Norte do pais. CONCLUSOES: Pessoas que residem nas regioes Sul
      e Sudeste ainda possuem maior acesso aos servicos de saude, bem como aquelas cujo
      chefe da familia tem maior nivel de instrucao. A (re)formulacao de politicas de
      saude no intuito de reduzir disparidades deve considerar as diferencas regionais
      e entre niveis sociais encontradas.

PMID- 28591352
TI  - Depression and health behaviors in Brazilian adults - PNS 2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of health-related behaviors according to
      presence and type of depression in Brazilian adults. METHODS: Based on a sample
      of 49,025 adults (18 to 59 years) from the National Survey on Health 2013 (PNS
      2013), we estimated the prevalence of health-related behaviors (smoking; passive
      smoking; frequent or risky alcohol consumption; leisure time physical activity;
      time watching TV; and eating pattern indicators), according to the presence of
      depression (minor and major), evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire - 9
      (PHQ-9), and the report of depressive mood (in up to seven days or more than
      seven days) over a two-week period. Prevalence ratios were estimated by Poisson
      regression. RESULTS: Evaluated by the PHQ-9 scale, 9.7% of the Brazilian adults
      had depression and 3.9% presented major depression. About 21.0% reported
      depressive mood and, in 34.9% of them, that feeling has been present for more
      than seven days. In individuals with major depression (PHQ-9), higher prevalence
      was found in almost all unhealthy behaviors analyzed, in particular, smoking (PR
      = 1.65), passive smoking (PR = 1.55), risk alcohol consumption (PR = 1.72), TV
      for >= 5 hours/day (PR = 2.13), consumption of fat meat (PR = 1.43) and soft
      drink (PR = 1.42). The prevalence ratios tended to be lower in those with minor
      depression. Similar results were observed in adults with depressive mood.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study detected relevant association between depression and
      health behaviors, in particular for smoking and physical activity. The
      associations found with the PHQ were similar to those observed with the
      application of a single question about depressive mood. Our results indicate the
      importance of assessing the presence of depression and the frequency and severity
      of symptoms when implementing actions for the promotion of healthy behaviors.

PMID- 28591353
TI  - Noncommunicable diseases and the use of health services: analysis of the National
      Health Survey in Brazil.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether sex, education level, and health insurance affect
      the use of health services among the adult Brazilian population with chronic
      noncommunicable diseases (NCD). METHODS: Data from a cross-sectional survey were
      analyzed, the National Health Survey (PNS). Frequency of use of services in the
      population that referred at least one NCD were compared with the frequency from a
      population that did not report NCD, according to sex, education level, health
      insurance, and NCD number (1, 2, 3, 4, or more). The prevalence and prevalence
      ratios were calculated crude and adjusted for sex, age, region, and 95%
      confidence intervals. RESULTS: The presence of a noncommunicable disease was
      associated with increase in hospitalizations in the last 12 months, in 1.7 times
      (95%CI 1.53-1.9). Failing to perform usual activities in the last two weeks for
      health reasons was 3.1 times higher in NCD carriers (95%CI 2.78-3.46); while the
      prevalence of medical consultation in the last 12 months was 1.26 times higher
      (95%CI 1.24-1.28). NCD carriers make more use of health services, as well as
      women, people with higher number of comorbidities, with health insurance, and
      higher education level. CONCLUSIONS: NCD carriers make more use of health
      services, as well as women, people with higher number of comorbidities, with
      health insurance, and higher education level.

PMID- 28591354
TI  - Inequalities in healthy life expectancy by Federated States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the healthy life expectancy at 60 years by sex and
      Federated States and to investigate geographical inequalities by socioeconomic
      status. METHODS: Healthy life expectancy was estimated by the Sullivan method,
      based on the information of the National Survey on Health, 2013. Three criteria
      were adopted for the definition of "unhealthy state": self-assessment of bad
      health, functionality for performing the activities of daily living, and the
      presence of noncommunicable disease with intense degree of limitation. The
      indicator of socioeconomic status was built based on the number of goods at
      household and educational level of the head of household. To analyze the
      geographical inequalities and socioeconomic level, inequality measures were
      calculated, such as the ratio, the difference, and the angular coefficient.
      RESULTS: Healthy life expectancy among men ranged from 13.8 (Alagoas) to 20.9
      (Espirito Santo) for the self-assessment criterion of bad health. Among women,
      the corresponding estimates were always higher and ranged from 14.9 (Maranhao) to
      22.2 (Sao Paulo). As to the ratio of inequality by Federated State, the medians
      were always higher for healthy life expectancy than for life expectancy,
      regardless of the definition adopted for healthy state. Regarding the differences
      per Federated State, the healthy life expectancy was seven years higher in one
      state than in another. By socioeconomic status, differences of three and four
      years were found, approximately, between the last and first fifth, for men and
      women, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the association of the mortality
      indicators with living conditions, the inequalities are even more pronounced when
      the welfare and the limitations in usual activities are considered, showing the
      necessity to promote actions and programs to reduce the socio-spatial gradient.

PMID- 28591355
TI  - Effect of the inclusion of mobile phone interviews to Vigitel.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact on the prevalence changes of risk factors for
      chronic diseases, published in the Surveillance System of Risk and Protection
      Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel), after the inclusion
      of data from the population only with mobile phone. METHODS: Our study used data
      from the 26 State capitals and Federal District of Brazil obtained by the
      National Survey on Health (PNS) and Vigitel, both held in 2013. In each capital,
      we added a subsample of 200 adults living in households with only mobile phones,
      extracted from PNS, to the Vigitel 2013 database, with approximately 1,900
      households, named Vigitel dual frame. RESULTS: Vigitel results showed absolute
      relative biases between 0.18% and 14.85%. The system underestimated the frequency
      of adult smokers (10.77%), whole milk consumption (52.82%), and soft drink
      consumption (22.22%). Additionally, it overestimated the prevalence of
      hypertension (25.46%). In the simulations using Vigitel dual frame, with
      inclusion of the sample of adults living in households with only mobile phones,
      the bias of estimates was reduced in five out of eight analyzed indicators, with
      greater effects in regions with lower rates of landline coverage. In comparing
      regions, we observed negative correlation (rho = -0.91) between the percentage of
      indicators with presence of bias and the percentage of households with only
      mobile phone. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate the benefits of
      including a subsample of 200 adults with only mobile phone on the Vigitel sample,
      especially in the capitals of the North and Northeast regions. OBJETIVO: Avaliar
      o impacto nas mudancas das prevalencias de fatores de risco de doencas cronicas,
      divulgadas no Vigitel, apos a inclusao de dados provenientes da populacao com
      somente telefone celular. METODOS: O estudo utilizou os dados das capitais
      obtidos da Pesquisa Nacional de Saude e do Vigitel, que foram realizados em 2013.
      Em cada capital, acrescentou-se uma subamostra de 200 adultos residentes em
      domicilios com somente celular, extraida da PNS, a base de dados do Vigitel 2013,
      com aproximadamente 1.900 domicilios, denominado Vigitel cadastro duplo.
      RESULTADOS: Os resultados do Vigitel mostraram vicios relativos absolutos entre
      0,18% e 14,85%. O sistema subestimou a frequencia de adultos fumantes (10,77%), o
      consumo de leite com teor integral de gordura (52,82%) e o consumo de
      refrigerante (22,22%). Adicionalmente, superestimou a prevalencia de hipertensao
      (25,46%). Nas simulacoes utilizando o Vigitel cadastro duplo, com inclusao da
      amostra de adultos residentes em domicilios com somente celular, o vicio das
      estimativas foi reduzido em cinco de oito indicadores analisados, com maiores
      efeitos nas regioes com menores taxas de cobertura de telefonia fixa. Na
      comparacao entre as regioes, observa-se correlacao negativa (rho = -0,91) entre o
      percentual de indicadores com presenca de vicio e o percentual de cobertura de
      domicilios com somente celular. CONCLUSOES: Os resultados do presente estudo
      indicam os beneficios da inclusao de uma subamostra de 200 adultos com somente
      celular na amostra do Vigitel, especialmente nas capitais das regioes Norte e
      Nordeste.

PMID- 28591356
TI  - Early detection of breast cancer in Brazil: data from the National Health Survey,
      2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze whether the actions of early detection of breast cancer,
      initiated with the medical request for mammography, differ between users of the
      Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and those who have private health
      insurance. METHODS: From the data collected in the National Health Survey, we
      estimated the proportions of women who had medical request for mammography
      according to presence or absence of private health insurance. For assessing the
      factors related to having mammography medical request, we estimated crude and
      adjusted odds ratios and respective 95%CI by logistic regression. We also
      analyzed the main reasons reported for not having performed mammography after
      medical request, as well as the time between examination and result. RESULTS: Of
      the women interviewed, 66.7% had a medical request for mammography (59.4% among
      SUS users and 83.9% among those with private health insurance). Having private
      health insurance, higher education level, and being white were positively
      associated with having the medical request. Only 5.4% (95%CI 4.8-6.0) of women
      who received medical request failed to perform mammography - 7.6% were SUS users
      and 1.7% had health insurance. The most reported reasons for not being able to
      perform the examination were: not thinking it was necessary; having the test
      scheduled, but not yet performed; and not being able to schedule it. More than
      70% of women received the result with less than one month from its execution.
      CONCLUSIONS: The barriers to access a medical request for mammographic screening
      for breast cancer are higher among women who depend exclusively on SUS.

PMID- 28591357
TI  - Use of health services by Brazilian older adults with and without functional
      limitation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the use of health services and the quality of medical care
      received by Brazilian older adults with and without functional limitation.
      METHODS: The main analyses were based on a national sample representing 23,815
      participants of the National Survey on Health (PNS) aged 60 years or older.
      Functional limitation was defined by the difficulty to perform at least one out
      of ten basic or instrumental activities of daily living. Potential confounding
      variables included predisposing and enabling factors of the use of health
      services. RESULTS: The prevalence of functional limitation was 30.1% (95%CI 29.2
      31.4). The number of doctor visits and hospitalizations in the past 12 months
      showed statistically significant associations with functional limitation, both
      for users of the public system (OR = 2.48 [95%CI 2.13-2.88] for three or more
      doctor visits and OR = 2.58 [95%CI 2.15-3.09] for one or more hospitalizations)
      and of the private system (OR = 2.56 [95%CI 1.50-4.36] and OR = 2.22 [95%CI 1.64
      3.00], respectively). The propensity to use basic health units was higher among
      users of the private system with functional limitations (OR = 2.01 [95%CI 1.12
      3.59]). Only two out of seven indicators of the quality of medical care received
      were associated with functional limitation, in the perception of users of public
      and private systems. The public system users with functional limitations did
      worse evaluation of the freedom for choosing the doctor and waiting time for an
      appointment, when compared with users of the same system without these
      limitations (OR = 0.81 [95%CI 0.67-0.99] and OR = 0.76 [95%CI 0.62-0.93],
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with functional limitations use more
      health services in comparison with those without such limitations. The magnitude
      of the association between functional limitation and number of doctor visits and
      hospitalizations was similar in the public and private health systems.

PMID- 28591358
TI  - Factor associated with self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders in
      Brazilian adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorder
      (WMSD) and analyze the factors associated with this outcome in the Brazilian
      population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional, population-based study, we use data
      from the National Survey on Health (PNS) of 2013. The sample was composed of
      60,202 Brazilians aged 18 years or older. The outcome variable was the occurrence
      of self-reported WMSD. Sociodemographic and occupational characteristics,
      personal resources, and health conditions were investigated as explanatory
      variables. Analyses were performed with the software Stata 12.0 and considered
      the weighting imposed by the sampling design of the study. Then, univariate and
      multivariate binary logistic models were carried out, considering a significance
      level of 5%. RESULTS: The results obtained indicated that the prevalence of WMSD
      in the Brazilian population was of 2.5%, ranging from 0.2% (Acre) to 4.2% (Santa
      Catarina). The factors associated with a greater chance of occurrence of WMSD
      were: female sex (OR = 2.33; 95%CI 1.72-3.15); be temporarily away from work (OR
      = 2.44; 95%CI 1.41-4.23); be exposed to noise at the workplace (OR = 2.16; 95%CI
      1.68-2.77); seniority equal to or greater than 4.5 years at the current job (OR =
      1.37; 95%CI 1.09-1.72); participate in volunteer work (OR = 1.65; 95%CI 1.25
      2.17); report medical diagnosis of arthritis or rheumatism (OR = 2.40; 95%CI 1.68
      3.44); and depression (OR = 2.48; 95%CI 1.86-3.31). On the other hand, factors
      associated with less chance of WMSD were: not having a partner (OR = 0.73; 95%CI
      0.37-0.71) and working in an open environment (OR = 0.51; 95%CI 0.37-0.71).
      CONCLUSIONS: The associated factors and the prevalence found indicate regional
      and gender differences. Special attention to comorbidities and environmental
      noise monitoring would benefit the health of workers in the Country.

PMID- 28591359
TI  - Population-based surveys and monitoring of noncommunicable diseases.

PMID- 28591360
TI  - Chronic noncommunicable diseases and population surveys.

PMID- 28591361
TI  - Doppler velocimetry in fetal rats exposed to enoxaparin and unfractionated
      heparin (UFH) during pregnancy.
AB  - Purpose: : To evaluate the effects of enoxaparin and unfractionated heparin (UFH)
      administered in prophylactic and therapeutic doses on fetal vessels in healthy
      pregnant Wistar rats, according to Doppler velocimetry measurements. Methods: :
      Fifty animals were assigned to one of five groups: controls (saline),
      prophylactic and therapeutic enoxaparin (1 and 2 mg/kg/day, respectively), and
      prophylactic and therapeutic UFH (72 and 400 UI/kg/day, respectively). Uterine
      horns were examined by ultrasound for identification of live fetuses. A sample of
      these fetuses underwent Doppler velocimetry. Spectral curves, peak systolic
      velocity (PSV), pulsatility index (PI), and resistance index (RI) of the middle
      cerebral artery, ductus venosus, and umbilical artery were investigated.
      Differences were considered statistically significant when p<0.05. Results: : No
      significant differences in PSV, PI, or RI values were observed among the groups.
      Conclusion: : Doppler velocimetry measurements revealed no significant effects of
      enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin on fetal vessels in pregnant Wistar rats.

PMID- 28591362
TI  - The relationship between renal warm ischemia time and glomerular loss. An
      experimental study in a pig model.
AB  - Purpose: : To investigate the glomerular number after different warm ischemia
      times. Methods: : Thirty two pigs were assigned into four groups. Three groups
      (G10, G20, and G30) were treated with 10, 20, and 30 minutes of left renal warm
      ischemia. The sham group underwent the same surgery without renal ischemia. The
      animals were euthanized after 3 weeks, and the kidneys were collected. Right
      kidneys were used as controls. The kidney weight, volume, cortical-medullar
      ratio, glomerular volumetric density, volume-weighted mean glomerular volume, and
      the total number of glomeruli per kidney were obtained. Serum creatinine levels
      were assessed pre and postoperatively. Results: : Serum creatinine levels did not
      differ among the groups. All parameters were similar for the sham, G10, and G20
      groups upon comparison of the right and left organs. The G30 group pigs' left
      kidneys had lower weight, volume, and cortical-medullar ratio and 24.6% less
      glomeruli compared to the right kidney. A negative correlation was found between
      warm ischemia time and glomerular number. Conclusions: : About one quarter of
      glomeruli was lost after 30 minutes of renal warm ischemia. No glomeruli loss was
      detected before 20 minutes of warm ischemia. However, progressive glomerular loss
      was associated with increasing warm ischemia time.

PMID- 28591363
TI  - Effects of chronic consumption of green tea on weight and body fat distribution
      of Wistar rats evaluated by computed tomography.
AB  - Purpose: : To evaluate the effects of chronic consumption of green tea on body
      weight and distribution of visceral fat by Computed tomography in female Wistar
      rats. Methods: : Wistar rats were divided into control group (n = 5), which
      received water and feed ad libitum, and green tea group (n = 8), in which water
      has been replaced by green tea. The animals were weighed weekly and Computed
      Tomography was used at the beginning (1st week) and end (18th week) of the
      experiment for evaluating the distribution of visceral fat. The animals were
      followed for 18 weeks. Results: : There was no significant difference in body
      weight between the groups. However, there was significant difference in visceral
      fat area. The green tea group had less visceral fat area at the end of the
      experiment, 3.67 +/- 1.2 cm2, while the control group showed an area of 6.25 +/-
      2.2 cm (p = 0.00). Conclusions: : Chronic consumption of green tea leads to
      decreased visceral adipose tissue area.

PMID- 28591365
TI  - Expression dynamics of caveolin-1 in fibroblasts of newborn rats with chronic
      lung disease and its impact on lung fibroblast proliferation.
AB  - Purpose:: To evaluate the changes of caveolin-1 in lung fibroblasts in newborn
      Wistar rats when exposed to hyperoxic conditions, as well as lung fibroblasts
      cell cycle. Methods: : One hundred newborn Wistar rats were randomly divided (50
      rats/group) into experimental and control groups, exposed to hyperoxic conditions
      or normal air, respectively. The fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) in the
      experimental group was 90%, whereas this value was 21% in the control group. Lung
      fibroblasts were collected on days 3, 7, and 14 of the experiment. Caveolin-1
      expression dynamics in lung fibroblasts was assayed in each group by
      immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to
      assess the proportions of lung fibroblasts at different stages of the cell cycle.
      Results:: On day 3, no significant difference in caveolin-1 expression was
      observed between the hyperoxic and control groups; however, on days 7 and 14,
      caveolin-1 expression was significantly lower in the hyperoxic group than in the
      control (P<0.05). No apparent differences were observed in caveolin-1 expression
      in the control group at the different time points. Using FCM analysis, we showed
      that the proportion of lung fibroblasts in G0/G1 phase in the hyperoxic group
      decreased compared to that of the control group on day 7, while the proportion of
      S-phase cells increased (P<0.05). These differences were more significant when
      the groups were compared on day 14 (P<0.01). Conclusion:: After seven days the
      exposure to hyperoxic conditions, lung fibroblasts proliferated and caveolin-1
      expression decreased.

PMID- 28591364
TI  - Roles of the ERK1/2 and PI3K/PKB signaling pathways in regulating the expression
      of extracellular matrix genes in rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.
AB  - Purpose: : To investigate the mechanisms by which PD98059 and LY294002 interfere
      with the abnormal deposition of extracellular matrix regulated by connective
      tissue growth factor (CTGF) of rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs).
      Methods: : Rat PASMCs were cultured and separated into a control group. Real-time
      fluorescence quantitative PCR was performed to detect the expression of collagen
      III and fibronectin mRNA. Immunohistochemistry and western blot analyses were
      performed to detect the expression of collagen III protein. Results: : The
      expression of collagen III and fibronectin mRNA was greater in PASMCs stimulated
      with CTGF for 48 h, than in the control group. After 72h of stimulation, the
      expression of collagen III protein in the PASMCs was greater than in the control.
      The equivalent gene and protein expression of the CPL group were much more
      significant. Conclusions: : CTGF can stimulate the gene expression of collagen
      III and fibronectin in PASMCs, which may be one of the factors that promote
      pulmonary vascular remodeling (PVR) under the conditions of pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH). PD98059 and LY294002 can inhibit the ERK1/2 and PI3K/PKB
      signaling pathways, respectively, thus interfering with the biological effects of
      CTGF. This may be a new way to reduce PAH-PVR.

PMID- 28591366
TI  - Creation of a contusion injury method for skeletal muscle in rats with differing
      impacts.
AB  - Purpose:: To realize a morphological examination of the musculoskeletal tissue,
      assessing the effect of a contusion method for the production in rat
      gastrocnemius, comparing the inflammatory responses generated by different
      impacts. Methods: : For the analysis of a contusion method, twelve female Wistar
      rats were distributed into four groups. The lesion was generated by 324 g of mass
      that was dropped from different predetermined heights for each group (30, 45, 60
      and 70 cm). Results: : In the analysis of musculoskeletal tissue, the response to
      injury varied according to the mass of the height drop onto the muscle. Only the
      group that was injured from 70 cm responded with uniform and severe inflammation,
      whereas the groups 30, 45 and 60 cm showed inflammation in some regions of the
      tissue with mild and moderate infiltrates. Conclusion: : The method with the 324
      gram mass dropped from a 70-cm height onto the gastrocnemius muscle of rats seems
      to be the most suitable for the production of muscle injury in these animals
      after 72 hours, showing an important inflammatory infiltrate.

PMID- 28591367
TI  - Myocardial ischemic post-conditioning protects the lung against myocardial
      ischemia/reperfusion-induced damage by activating GSK-3beta.
AB  - Purpose:: To investigate whether modulating GSK-3beta could attenuate myocardial
      ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI) induced acute lung injury (ALI) and analyze
      the underlying mechanism. Methods:: Male SD rats were subjected to MIRI with or
      without myocardial ischemic post-conditioning in the presence or absence of GSK
      3beta inhibitor. GSK-3beta inhibitor was injected peritoneally 10min before MIRI.
      Lung W/D weight ratio, MPO, PMNs, histopathological changes, TUNEL, Bax, Bcl-2,
      IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, GSK-3beta, and caspase-3 were evaluated in the lung tissues of
      all rats. Results:: After MIRI, lung injury was significantly increased
      manifested as significant morphological changes and increased leukocytes in the
      interstitial capillaries, Lung W/D ratio, MPO, and PMN in BALF, which was
      associated with enhanced inflammation evidenced by increased expressions of IL-6,
      IL-8 and reduced expression of IL-10. MIRI significantly increased cell apoptosis
      in the lung as increased levels of apoptotosis, Bax, cleaved caspase-3, and
      reduced expression of Bcl-2 was observed, which was concomitant with reduced p
      GSK-3beta. All these changes were reversed/prevented by ischemic post
      conditioning, while these beneficial effects of ischemic post-conditioning were
      abolished by GSK-3beta inhibition. Conclusion:: Myocardial ischemia reperfusion
      injury induces acute lung injury by induction of inflammation and cell apoptosis.
      Ischemic post-conditioning protects the lung from ALI following MIRI by
      increasing p-GSK-3beta.

PMID- 28591368
TI  - DNA damage in Wistar Kyoto rats exercised during pregnancy.
AB  - Purpose: : To evaluate DNA damage levels in pregnant rats undergoing a treadmill
      exercise program. Methods:: Wistar Kyoto rats were allocated into two groups (n=
      5 animals/group): non-exercise and exercise. The pregnant rats were underwent an
      exercise protocol on a treadmill throughout pregnancy. Exercise intensity was set
      at 50% of maximal capacity during maximal exercise testing performed before
      mating. Body weight, blood pressure and glucose levels, and triglyceride
      concentration were measured during pregnancy. At day 10 post-natal, the animals
      were euthanized and maternal blood samples were collected for DNA damage.
      Results:: Blood pressure and glucose levels and biochemical measurements showed
      no significant differences. Increased DNA damage levels were found in exercise
      group compared to those of non-exercise group (p<0.05). Conclusion: : The
      exercise intensity protocol used in the study might have been exhaustive leading
      to maternal increased DNA damage levels, demonstrating the relevance of an
      adequate protocol of physical exercise.

PMID- 28591369
TI  - Propofol attenuates cytokine-mediated upregulation of expression of inducible
      nitric oxide synthase and apoptosis during regeneration post-partial hepatectomy.
AB  - Purpose: : To determine the effects of propofol and ketamine anesthesia on liver
      regeneration in rats after partial hepatectomy (PHT). Methods: : Male Wistar
      albino rats were assigned randomly to four groups of 10. Anesthesia was induced
      and maintained with propofol in groups 1 and 2, and with ketamine in groups 3 and
      4. PHT was undertaken in groups 1 and 3. Rats in groups 2 and 4 (control groups)
      underwent an identical surgical procedure, but without PHT. At postoperative day
      5, rats were killed. Regenerated liver was removed, weighed, and evaluated (by
      immunohistochemical means) for expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase
      (iNOS), endothelial NOS (eNOS), apoptosis protease-activating factor (APAF)-1,
      and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Also, blood samples were collected
      for measurement of levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin
      (IL)-6. Results: : Between groups 2 and 4, there were no differences in tissue
      levels of iNOS, eNOS, and APAF-1 or plasma levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6. eNOS
      expression was similar in group 1 and group 3. Expression of iNOS and APAF-1 was
      mild-to-moderate in group 1, but significantly higher in group 3. Groups 1 and 3
      showed an increase in PCNA expression, but expression in both groups was
      comparable. Plasma levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 increased to a lesser degree in
      group 1 than in group 3. Conclusion:: Propofol, as an anesthetic agent, may
      attenuate cytokine-mediated upregulation of iNOS expression and apoptosis in an
      animal model of liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy.

PMID- 28591370
TI  - Relating family satisfaction to the care provided in intensive care units:
      quality outcomes in Saudi accredited hospitals.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to identify the satisfaction levels of the family
      members of patients in intensive care units. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional
      analytical study. General intensive care units offer a variety of services to
      clinical and surgical patients. For the purpose of this study, a trained
      interviewer communicated with the families of patients, either before or after
      visiting hours. RESULTS: The study included 208 participants: 119 (57.2%) males
      and 89 (42.8%) females. Seventy-three (35.1%) of the patients attended a private
      hospital, and 135 (64.9%) attended a public hospital in the city of Al Madinah Al
      Munawarah. All of the participants were either family members or friends of
      patients admitted to the intensive care units at the hospitals. The responses of
      both groups yielded low scores on the satisfaction index. However, a relatively
      high score was noted in response to questions 2, 6, and 10, which concerned the
      care that was extended by the hospital staff to their patients, the courteous
      attitude of intensive care unit staff members towards patients, and patients'
      satisfaction with the medical care provided, respectively. A very low score was
      obtained for item 11, which was related to the possibility for improvements to
      the medical care that the patients received. Overall, greater satisfaction with
      the services offered by the public intensive care units was reported compared to
      the satisfaction with the services offered by the private intensive care units.
      CONCLUSION: An overall low score on the satisfaction index was obtained, and
      further studies are recommended to assess the current situation and improve the
      satisfaction and quality of care provided by intensive care units.

PMID- 28591371
TI  - [Food insecurity in rural communities in Northeast Brazil: does belonging to a
      slave-descendent community make a difference?]
AB  - This study aimed to measure the prevalence of food insecurity in a rural area of
      Northeast Brazil and investigate this outcome according to residence in
      quilombola communities (descendants of African slaves) versus non-quilombola
      communities. This was a cross-sectional study in 21 rural communities, 9 of which
      quilombolas, in 2014, using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA).
      Prevalence rates and prevalence ratios were estimated for food insecurity, and
      Poisson multiple regression analysis with robust variance was performed. Food
      insecurity was found in 52.1% of the families: 64.9% in quilombola communities
      and 42% in the others. Food insecurity was associated with belonging to a
      quilombola community (PR = 1.25), lower economic status (PR = 1.89; 2.98, and
      3.22 for status C2, D, and E, respectively), beneficiaries of Bolsa Familia
      program (PR = 1.52), and four or more household members (PR = 1.20). Food
      insecurity prevalence was high in the entire population, but it was even higher
      in quilombola communities, even though they belonged to the same coverage area.
      The results emphasize this population's vulnerability.

PMID- 28591372
TI  - [Factors associated with cross-nursing in two cities in Southeast Brazil].
AB  - The objective was to estimate the prevalence of cross-nursing in two Brazilian
      cities and analyze factors associated with the practice. This was a cross
      sectional study nested in a cohort of pregnant women recruited at public health
      services that offered prenatal care in two medium-sized cities in the State of
      Rio de Janeiro: one in Greater Metropolitan Rio and the other in the Mountainous
      Region, conducted from 2008 to 2010. The current study included women interviewed
      when their infants were six months old. Adjusted prevalence ratios were obtained
      with a Poisson regression model, and exposure variables that reached p <= 0.05
      comprised the final model. Cross-nursing was practiced by 43.4% of the mothers in
      Greater Metropolitan Rio de Janeiro and 34.5% in Mountainous Region. Low
      socioeconomic status was associated with cross-nursing in both cities. In
      addition, in Mountainous Region the outcome was directly associated with
      adolescent motherhood, maternal schooling less than or equal to complete primary,
      and fewer than six prenatal visits. In Greater Metropolitan Rio de Janeiro, in
      addition to socioeconomic status, only multiparity was associated (inversely)
      with cross-nursing. Cross-nursing, although contraindicated by the Brazilian
      Ministry of Health, showed high prevalence among the mothers in the sample and
      was more frequent among the more vulnerable population groups.

PMID- 28591373
TI  - [Vulnerability to HIV infection in serodiscordant couples in Rio de Janeiro,
      Brazil].
AB  - A new era in HIV/AIDS treatment began in 1996 with the advent of highly active
      antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The advent of these new medicines expanded the
      treatment resources and improved life expectancy and quality of life for persons
      living with HIV and AIDS, favoring the maintenance and initiation of
      relationships between partners with discordant HIV serological status. The main
      objective of this study with serodiscordant couples was to understand the three
      dimensions of vulnerability - programmatic, social, and individual - in these
      couples. The study, belonging to the field of social constructionism, used
      analysis of discursive practices and production of meanings. Forty in-depth
      interviews were conducted with couples followed in a clinical research institute.
      The main results include the lack of information on sexuality in the family and
      in schools, distorted knowledge on HIV prevention and transmission, inadequacies
      in HIV testing, and flaws in communicating test results.

PMID- 28591374
TI  - [Health agents' perspective on the incorporation of self-collected samples in HPV
      screening programs].
AB  - The objective of this study was to analyze health agents' perception of self
      collecting of samples for HPV testing among women and the degree of agreement by
      the agents to incorporate this approach into their daily tasks. A self
      administered questionnaire was applied to 127/191 health agents that participated
      in the EMA Project (Proyecto Evaluacion Modalidad Autotoma) in the province of
      Jujuy, Argentina, in 2012-2013. The health agents with and without the experience
      of offering self-collected sampling expressed a high degree of agreement towards
      adoption of the strategy (78.7%), given its potential to prevent cervical cancer
      and its contribution to health care for the women under their coverage. However,
      the health agents identified the extra work and problems linking to the formal
      health system as the main barriers to offering this modality in the future. The
      study found that self-collecting of samples is a practice that can be adopted by
      health agents in the province of Jujuy, but that it should be accompanied by
      support measures from the formal health system.

PMID- 28591375
TI  - [Barriers to the search for female sterilization among women in the Bolsa Familia
      Program].
AB  - Poor women in the Bolsa Familia program are accused of having more children in
      order to enroll or remain in the program. In an ethnographic study (2012-2014),
      we analyzed reports by five beneficiaries of the program and found exactly the
      opposite. The women reported that they had gone to public health services in
      Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil, in hopes of avoiding more children, but that
      they had encountered various obstacles. Such barriers included difficulties in
      obtaining reversible contraception and restrictions in the supply of
      sterilization in these services, which increases the demand for cesarean
      sections. Their argument that they are beneficiaries of Bolsa Familia aims to
      emphasize their poverty and increase the odds of obtaining sterilization (not
      always successful). Only two of the women had succeeded in obtaining
      sterilization, which they attributed to "luck" and "the grace of God" rather than
      as a right. The study's findings suggest that poor women increase their offspring
      not because they are enrolled in Bolsa Familia, but due to the lack of access to
      reproductive rights.

PMID- 28591376
TI  - [Vulnerabilities and recognition: a life story approach to links between youth
      and violence in marginalized neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina].
AB  - We present the results of a study analyzing the experience of young people with
      violence in marginalized neighborhoods, examining the links to processes of
      vulnerability and recognition. We used the methodological strategy of life story
      reports, built on semi-structured interviews with ten young people 18 to 26 years
      of age, with their spaces of sociability in marginalized neighborhoods in Greater
      Metropolitan Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following the theory's lines, we
      simultaneously built, coded, and analyzed the data, using the Atlas.ti package.
      Recording the young people's experiences with violence allows visualizing the
      dynamic and multidimensional nature of their processes of vulnerability,
      identifying the links to forms of recognition (affective, legal-moral, and
      ethical-social), the denial of which at different moments in their lives
      generates situations of disparagement or social invisibility.

PMID- 28591377
TI  - Effects of heme oxygenase-1 recombinant Lactococcus lactis on the intestinal
      barrier of hemorrhagic shock rats.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the effects of heme oxygenase-1 recombinant
      Lactococcus lactis (LL-HO-1) on the intestinal barrier of rats with hemorrhagic
      shock. One hundred Sprague-Dawley male rats (280-320 g) were randomly divided
      into healthy control group (N group) and hemorrhagic shock group (H group). Each
      group was subdivided into HO1t, HO2t, HO3t, PBS and LL groups in which rats were
      intragastrically injected with LL-HO-1 once, twice and three times, PBS and L.
      lactis (LL), respectively. The mortality, intestinal myeloperoxidase (MPO)
      activity, intestinal contents of TNF-alpha, IL-10 and HO-1, and intestinal Chiu's
      score were determined. Results showed that in N group, the HO-1 content increased
      after LL-HO-1 treatment, and significant difference was observed in HO1t group
      and HO2t group (P<0.05). In H groups, MPO activity and Chiu's score decreased,
      but IL-10 content increased in LL-HO-1-treated groups when compared with PBS and
      LL groups (P<0.05). When compared with N group, the MPO activity reduced
      dramatically in LL-HO-1-treated groups. Thus, in healthy rats (N group),
      intragastrical LL-HO-1 treatment may increase the intestinal HO-1 expression, but
      has no influence on the intestinal barrier. In hemorrhagic shock rats, LL-HO-1
      may significantly protect the intestinal barrier, and repeating the
      intragastrical LL-HO-1 treatments twice has the most obvious protection.

PMID- 28591378
TI  - Is there a role for voltage-gated Na+ channels in the aggressiveness of breast
      cancer?
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and its metastatic potential
      is responsible for numerous deaths. Thus, the need to find new targets for
      improving treatment, and even finding the cure, becomes increasingly greater. Ion
      channels are known to participate in several physiological functions, such as
      muscle contraction, cell volume regulation, immune response and cell
      proliferation. In breast cancer, different types of ion channels have been
      associated with tumorigenesis. Recently, voltage-gated Na+ channels (VGSC) have
      been implicated in the processes that lead to increased tumor aggressiveness. To
      explain this relationship, different theories, associated with pH changes, gene
      expression and intracellular Ca2+, have been proposed in an attempt to better
      understand the role of these ion channels in breast cancer. However, these
      theories are having difficulty being accepted because most of the findings are
      contrary to the present scientific knowledge. Several studies have shown that
      VGSC are related to different types of cancer, making them a promising
      pharmacological target against this debilitating disease. Molecular biology and
      cell electrophysiology have been used to look for new forms of treatment aiming
      to reduce aggressiveness and the disease progress.

PMID- 28591379
TI  - An ontogenic study of the behavioral effects of chronic intermittent exposure to
      ayahuasca in mice.
AB  - Ayahuasca is a beverage obtained from decoctions of the Banisteriopsis caapi plus
      Psychotria viridis. In religious contexts, ayahuasca is used by different age
      groups. However, little is known of the effects of ayahuasca during ontogenic
      development, particularly with regard to the functional characteristics of the
      central nervous system. Animal models are useful for studying the ontogenic
      effects of ayahuasca because they allow exclusion of the behavioral influence
      associated with the ritualistic use. We investigated the effects of exposure to
      ayahuasca (1.5 mL/kg, orally, twice a week) on memory and anxiety in C57BL/6
      mice, with the post-natal day (PND) being used as the ontogenic criterion for
      classification: childhood (PND21 to PND35), adolescence (PND35 to PND63),
      adulthood (PND90-PND118), childhood-adolescence (PND21 to PND63), childhood
      adulthood (PND21 to PND118) and adolescence-adulthood (PND35 to PND118). One day
      after the last ayahuasca exposure, the mice were subjected to the Morris water
      maze (MWM), open field and elevated plus maze tasks (EPM). Ayahuasca did not
      affect locomotion in the open field or open arms exploration in the EPM, but
      increased the risk assessment behavior in the childhood group. Ayahuasca did not
      cause any change in acquisition of spatial reference memory in the MWM task, but
      decreased the time spent on the platform quadrant during the test session in the
      adolescence group. These results suggest that, in mice, exposure to ayahuasca in
      childhood and adolescence promoted anxiety and memory impairment, respectively.
      However, these behavioral changes were not long-lasting since they were not
      observed in the childhood-adulthood and adolescence-adulthood groups.

PMID- 28591380
TI  - Chronic intermittent exposure to ayahuasca during aging does not affect memory in
      mice.
AB  - The Quechua term ayahuasca refers to a beverage obtained from decoctions of the
      liana Banisteriopsis caapi with leaves of Psychotria viridis. The ritualistic use
      of ayahuasca is becoming a global phenomenon, with some individuals using this
      beverage throughout life, including in old age. Cognitive impairment is a common
      manifestation during aging. There are conflicting reports on the ability of some
      ayahuasca compounds to exert neuroprotective or neurotoxic effects that could
      improve or impair learning and memory. Animal models provide a relevant and
      accessible means of investigating the behavioral effects of ayahuasca without the
      environmental conditions associated with the ritualistic use of the beverage. In
      this study, we investigated the influence of chronic ayahuasca exposure
      throughout aging on the spatial reference and habituation memories of mice.
      Twenty-eight male c57bl/6 mice (6 months old) received ayahuasca or water (1.5
      mL/kg, orally) twice a week for 12 months and were tested in the Morris water
      maze (MWM), open field and elevated plus maze (EPM) tasks before and after
      treatment. During aging, there was significant impairment in the evocation (but
      not acquisition) of spatial reference memory and in habituation to the open
      field. There was also a decrease in locomotor activity in the open field and EPM
      tests, whereas the anxiety parameters were unaltered. Ayahuasca treatment did not
      alter any of these parameters associated with aging. These findings indicate that
      chronic exposure to ayahuasca during aging did not affect memory in mice.

PMID- 28591381
TI  - Presence of t(14;18) translocation in healthy individuals varies according to
      ethnic background in the Brazilian population.
AB  - Several groups have demonstrated that healthy individuals can present the
      t(14;18) translocation. In this report, the presence of the translocation was
      examined in healthy blood donors in Brazil, a country considered an ethnic
      melting pot. The translocation was detected by nested PCR in 227 peripheral blood
      samples from individuals with different ethnic backgrounds. The t(14;18)
      translocation was found in 45 of 85 White individuals (52.94%); in 57 of 72 Black
      individuals (79.17%); and in 68 of 70 individuals (97.14%) of Japanese-descent.
      In conclusion, the frequency of the t(14;18) translocation in the Brazilian
      population varies according to the ethnic background.

PMID- 28591382
TI  - Quality of life goes beyond the medical priorities in multiple sclerosis:
      assessing the impact of social support network.

PMID- 28591383
TI  - Revealing the microstructural brain damage in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the
      relentless pursuit to approach an imaging biomarker.

PMID- 28591384
TI  - Social support network and quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients.
AB  - Objective: To analyse the relationship between the social support network (SSN)
      and health related quality of life (HRQOL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.
      Methods: The sample comprised 150 consecutive MS patients attending our MS
      clinic. To assess the socio-demographic data, a specifically designed
      questionnaire was applied. The HRQOL dimensions were measured with the Short-Form
      Health Survey Questionnaire-SF36 and the SSN with the Medical Outcomes Study
      Social Support Survey. Spearman's correlation was used to compare the magnitude
      of the relationship between the SSN and HRQOL. Results: The mean patient age was
      41.7 years (+/- 10.4; range: 18-70 yr); the mean Expanded Disability Status Score
      was 2.5 (+/-2.4; range: 0-9). There was a statistically significant correlation
      between the structure of the SSN and the HRQOL. Conclusion: The composition of
      the SSN, social group membership and participation in voluntary work have an
      important role in the HRQOL of patients with MS.

PMID- 28591385
TI  - Usefulness of diffusion tensor imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:
      potential biomarker and association with the cognitive profile.
AB  - Methods: This was a case-control study conducted from December 1, 2012 to
      December 1, 2014. Clinical and demographic data were recorded. A
      neuropsychological test battery adapted to ALS patients was used. An MRI with DTI
      was performed in all patients and fractional anisotropy (FA) was analyzed in the
      white matter using the tract based spatial statistics program. Results: Twenty
      four patients with ALS (15 females, mean age 66.9 + -2.3) and 13 healthy controls
      (four females, average age 66.9 + - 2) were included. The DTI showed white matter
      damage in ALS patients vs. healthy controls (p < 0.001). Discussion: In our
      preliminary study the alterations of white matter in DTI were significantly
      associated with cognitive impairment in patients with ALS.

PMID- 28591386
TI  - Impact of insomnia on self-perceived health in the elderly.
AB  - Objective: To investigate the association between self-perceived health, and
      sociodemographic and clinical factors in a sample of elderly outpatients in Rio
      de Janeiro. Methods: A sample of 345 elderly patients was assessed with an
      anamnesis, Lawton and Brody's Scale, Katz Index, Geriatric Depression Scale,
      Timed Up and Go Test, and Study of Osteoporotic Fracture Index. Logistic
      regression analyses were performed to investigate the predictors of self
      perceived health. Results: Risk of falls, frailty, functional performance on the
      Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, insomnia, and familial support were
      related to self-perceived health. Insomnia was the variable that strongly
      influenced self-perceived health (OR = 0.47, CI 95%: 0.28-0.80, p = 0.01) in our
      sample. Conclusions: The investigation of insomnia in the elderly should be
      routinely performed in primary care, because of the negative impact it imposes on
      the health of this population.

PMID- 28591387
TI  - Treatment of drooling with sublingual atropine sulfate in children and
      adolescents with cerebral palsy.
AB  - Objective: To report the effect of sublingual atropine sulfate to treat drooling
      in children with cerebral palsy by comparing the results of the Drooling Impact
      Scale in a non-controlled open clinical trial. Results: Twenty-five children were
      assessed. The difference in the mean scores of the pre- and post-treatment scales
      reached statistical significance. There was a low frequency of side effects
      compared to studies with other anticholinergics. Conclusion: The use of
      sublingual atropine sulfate seems to be safe and there is a reduction in the
      Drooling Impact Scale score, which suggests efficacy in the treatment of drooling
      in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Our results should be replicated
      in randomized, placebo-controlled studies with larger numbers of participants.

PMID- 28591388
TI  - Incidence and functional outcome of atrial fibrillation and non-atrial
      fibrillation- related cardioembolic stroke in Joinville, Brazil: a population
      based study.
AB  - Among ischemic strokes, cardioembolic (CE) stroke has the worst outcome. We
      measured the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and non-AF related CE strokes,
      previous anticoagulant use, and the 90-day functional outcome. Using multiple
      overlapping sources, we included all CE strokes that occurred in 2015 in
      Joinville, Brazil. Of the 374 ischemic strokes, 23% (84) were CE. The CE age
      adjusted incidence, per 1,000 person-years, was 0.14 (0.11-0.17). Of the 26
      patients with known prior AF, 73% (19) were not anticoagulated, 77% (20) had a
      CHA2DS2VASc score >= 3 and 81% (21) had a HAS-BLED score < 3. After three months,
      approximately one third of those 26 patients died or became disabled. The
      incidence of CE stroke in our sample was lower than in other population-based
      studies. The opportunity for anticoagulation was missed in one third of cases.

PMID- 28591390
TI  - Long term follow-up of growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas submitted to
      endoscopic endonasal surgery.
AB  - Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the endoscopic
      transsphenoidal technique for growth hormone (GH)-secreting adenomas. Methods: A
      retrospective analysis based on medical records of 23 acromegalic patients
      submitted to endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery. Biochemical control was defined
      as basal GH < 1ng/ml, nadir GH < 0.4ng/ml after glucose load and age-adjusted IGF
      1 normal at the last follow-up. Results: The overall endocrinological remission
      rate was 39.1%. While all microademonas achieved a cure, just one third of
      macroadenomas went into remission. Suprasellar extension, cavernous sinus
      invasion and high GH levels were associated with lower rates of disease control.
      The most common complication was diabetes insipidus and the most severe was an
      ischemic stroke. Conclusion: The endoscopic transsphenoidal approach is a safe
      and effective technique to control GH-secreting adenomas. The transcavernous
      approach may increase the risk of complications. Suprasellar and cavernous sinus
      extensions may preclude gross total resection of these tumors.

PMID- 28591389
TI  - Cranial venous sinus dominance: what to expect? Analysis of 100 cerebral
      angiographies.
AB  - Methods: Data of 100 cerebral angiographies were retrospectively analyzed (p =
      0.05). Results: Mean age was 56.3 years, 62% female and 38% male. Measurements
      and dominance are shown in the Tables. There was no association between age or
      gender and dominance. Right parasagittal division of the superior sagittal sinus
      was associated with right dominance of the transverse sinus, sigmoid sinus and
      internal jugular vein; and left parasagittal division of the superior sagittal
      sinus was associated with left dominance of the transverse sinus, sigmoid sinus
      and internal jugular vein. Conclusion: A dominance pattern of cranial venous
      sinuses was found. Age and gender did not influence this pattern. Angiographic
      findings, such as division of the superior sagittal sinus, were associated with a
      pattern of cranial venous dominance. We hope this article can add information and
      assist in preoperative venous analysis for neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists.

PMID- 28591391
TI  - Evolving story: trepanation and self-trepanation to enhance brain function.
AB  - Trepanation has been performed by people interested in enhancing mental power and
      well-being since the early 1960s. The pioneers and main proponents of the
      procedure are described here. The phenomenon appeared in Europe after a Dutch
      former medical student published a psychoactive drug-friendly scroll suggesting
      trepanation as a form of permanently increasing cerebral blood volume and
      function. He trepanned himself in 1965. Three of his friends became enthusiasts.
      They also submitted themselves to the procedure and published films and books
      describing their experiences. Two of them coauthored papers, in collaboration
      with Russian researchers, and created institutions to promote discussion on
      trepanation. One of these institutions organized trips to Central and South
      America to get the operation done. Dozens of people nowadays look for trepanation
      as a method of spiritualization and increasing well-being and mental power. The
      phenomenon has an uncertain future, however, as the main proponents and
      supporters are aging.

PMID- 28591392
TI  - Andrew Lees, a visionary mentored by a madman.
AB  - Andrew Lees, Professor of Neurology at the National Hospital Queen Square
      (London, UK), has been recognized as the world's most highly-cited researcher
      over the 200-year history of Parkinson's Disease. Although he remains actively
      involved in the investigation of movement disorders, Prof. Lees embarked on a
      literary career that started in 2011 with the publication of a social history of
      his native Liverpool. His last work is Mentored by a Madman: The William
      Burroughs Experiment, which is reviewed here.

PMID- 28591393
TI  - The relationship between the First World War and neurology: 100 years of "Shell
      Shock".
AB  - The First World War was a global war, beginning on 28 July 1914, until 11
      November 1918. Soon after the beginning of the war, there was an "epidemic" of
      neurological conversion symptoms. Soldiers on both sides started to present in
      large numbers with neurological symptoms, such as dizziness, tremor, paraplegia,
      tinnitus, amnesia, weakness, headache and mutism of psychosomatic origin. This
      condition was known as shell shock, or "war neurosis". Because medically
      unexplained symptoms remain a major challenge, and considering the close
      relationship of symptoms described in shell shock with clinical neurology, we
      should study their history in order to improve future care.

PMID- 28591394
TI  - Charcot's famous secretaries.
AB  - At the pinnacle of his career, Professor Charcot had four secretaries: Charles
      Fere, Pierre Marie, Georges Gilles de la Tourette and Georges Guinon. They helped
      the great founder of neurology with his activities at La Salpetriere Hospital and
      his private clinic, examining patients before he made the final diagnosis.

PMID- 28591395
TI  - The many faces of demyelinating diseases: acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
      and Guillain-Barre syndrome in the same patient.

PMID- 28591396
TI  - Neurological manifestations of Chikungunya.

PMID- 28591397
TI  - Ophthalmological findings in myotonic dystrophy.

PMID- 28591398
TI  - High prevalence of norovirus in children with sporadic acute gastroenteritis in
      Manaus, Amazon Region, northern Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Norovirus (NoV) is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE)
      worldwide, especially in children under five years. Studies involving the
      detection and molecular characterisation of NoV have been performed in Brazil,
      demonstrating its importance as an etiological agent of AGE. OBJECTIVES: The
      objectives of this study were to investigate the frequency of human NoV and to
      genotype the strains isolated from 0-14-year-old patients of AGE in Manaus,
      Brazil, over a period of two years. METHODS: A total of 426 faecal samples were
      collected between January 2010 and December 2011. All samples were tested for the
      presence of NoV antigens using a commercial enzyme immunoassay kit. RNA was
      extracted from all faecal suspensions and reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) for the NoV-polymerase partial region was performed as a trial
      test. Positive samples were then subjected to PCR with specific primers for
      partial capsid genes, which were then sequenced. FINDINGS: NoV was detected in
      150 (35.2%) faecal samples, for at least one of the two techniques used. NoV was
      detected in children from all age groups, with the highest positivity observed
      among the group of 1-2 years old. Clinically, fever was verified in 43% of the
      positive cases and 46.3% of the negative cases, and vomiting was observed in
      75.8% and 70.8% cases in these groups, respectively. Monthly distribution showed
      that the highest positivity was observed in January 2010 (81.2%), followed by
      February and April 2010 and March 2011, when the positivity rate reached almost
      50%. Phylogenetic analyses performed with 65 positive strains demonstrated that
      58 (89.2%) cases of NoV belonged to genotype GII.4, five (7.7%) to GII.6, and one
      (1.5%) each to GII.7 and GII.3. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: This research revealed a high
      circulation of NoV GII.4 in Manaus and contributed to the understanding of the
      importance of this virus in the aetiology of AGE cases, especially in a region
      with such few studies available.

PMID- 28591399
TI  - Detection of tuberculosis drug resistance: a comparison by Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis MLPA assay versus Genotype(r)MTBDRplus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To cope with the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR
      TB), new molecular methods that can routinely be used to screen for a wide range
      of drug resistance related genetic markers in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      genome are urgently needed. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of multiplex
      ligaton-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) against Genotype(r) MTBDRplus to
      detect resistance to isoniazid (INHr) and rifampicin (RIFr). METHOD: 96 culture
      isolates characterised for identification, drug susceptibility testing (DST) and
      sequencing of rpoB, katG, and inhA genes were evaluated by the MLPA and
      Genotype(r)MTBDRplus assays. RESULTS: With sequencing as a reference standard,
      sensitivity (SE) to detect INHr was 92.8% and 85.7%, and specificity (SP) was
      100% and 97.5%, for MLPA and Genotype(r)MTBDRplus, respectively. In relation to
      RIFr, SE was 87.5% and 100%, and SP was 100% and 98.8%, respectively. Kappa value
      was identical between Genotype(r)MTBDRplus and MLPA compared with the standard
      DST and sequencing for detection of INHr [0.83 (0.75-0.91)] and RIFr [0.93 (0.88
      0.98)]. CONCLUSION: Compared to Genotype(r)MTBDRplus, MLPA showed similar
      sensitivity to detect INH and RIF resistance. The results obtained by the MLPA
      and Genotype(r)MTBDRplus assays indicate that both molecular tests can be used
      for the rapid detection of drug-resistant TB with high accuracy. MLPA has the
      added value of providing information on the circulating M. tuberculosis lineages.

PMID- 28591400
TI  - Enterocytozoon bieneusi detected by molecular methods in raw sewage and treated
      effluent from a combined system in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enterocytozoon bieneusi are the most common microsporidia associated
      with different clinical manifestations such as diarrhoea, respiratory tract
      inflammation and acalculous cholecystitis, especially in immunocompromised
      patients. Infection usually occurs by ingestion of food and water contaminated
      with spores, but can also result from direct contact with spores through broken
      skin, eye lesions, and sexual transmission, depending on the microsporidian
      species. Although there are reports of E. bieneusi found in humans and animals in
      Brazil, there are no published studies of environmental samples examined by
      molecular methods. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to verify the
      presence of E. bieneusi in raw sewage and treated effluent from a combined system
      by molecular methods. METHODS: Raw sewage and treated effluent samples collected
      from a combined system were analysed for the presence of E. bieneusi using the
      internal transcriber spacer (ITS) region of E. bieneusi by nested polymerase
      chain reaction. FINDINGS: The analysis revealed E. bieneusi presence and a novel
      genotype (EbRB) in one raw sewage sample and one treated effluent. MAIN
      CONCLUSIONS: The presence of E. bieneusi in final effluent indicates that the
      combined system may not remove microsporidian spores. This study is the first
      report of E. bieneusi in environmental samples in Brazil.

PMID- 28591401
TI  - An overview of the molecular and epidemiological features of HIV-1 infection in
      two major cities of Bahia state, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The high mutation rate of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has
      created a public health challenge because the use of antiretroviral drugs can
      generate selective pressure that drives resistance in these viruses. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this work was to characterise the molecular and epidemiological
      profile of HIV in Bahia, Brazil. METHODS: DNA sequences from regions of HIV gag,
      pol, and env genes were obtained from previous studies performed in this area
      between 2002 and 2012. Their genotype and drug-resistance mutations were
      identified using bioinformatics tools. Clinical and epidemiological data were
      analysed. FINDINGS: Among 263 individuals (46.4% male), 97.5% were asymptomatic
      and 49.1% were receiving treatment. Most of the individuals were 31 to 40 years
      old (36.9%) and infected through heterosexual contact (40.7%). The predominant
      genotype was B (68.1%) followed by BF recombinants (18.6%). Among the individuals
      infected with either F or BF genotypes, 68.4% were women and 76.8% were infected
      through heterosexual transmission. The prevalence of associated mutations
      conferring antiretroviral resistance was 14.2%, with 3.8% of all mutations
      conferring resistance to protease inhibitors, 9.43% to nucleoside reverse
      transcriptase inhibitors, and 8.5% to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase
      inhibitors. Drug resistance was higher in individuals receiving treatment (26.1%)
      than in the drug-naive (4.3%) individuals. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: This study will
      contribute to the understanding and monitoring of HIV epidemic in this Brazilian
      region.

PMID- 28591402
TI  - Towards leprosy elimination by 2020: forecasts of epidemiological indicators of
      leprosy in Corrientes, a province of northeastern Argentina that is a pioneer in
      leprosy elimination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corrientes, a province of northeastern Argentina with endemic
      leprosy, has improved its epidemiological indicators, however, a study of the
      dynamics over time is lacking. OBJECTIVES: We analysed data of 1308 leprosy
      patients between 1991 to 2014, and the forecast for 2020. METHODS: Descriptive
      statistics and stepwise Bayesian model selection were performed. Forecasts were
      made using the median of 100,000 projections using the parameters calculated via
      Monte Carlo methods. RESULTS: We found a decreasing number of new leprosy cases (
      2.04 cases/year); this decrease is expected to continue by an estimated 20.28 +/-
      10.00 cases by 2020, evidenced by a sustained decline in detection rate (from 11
      to 2.9/100,000 inhabitants). Age groups that were most affected were 15-44
      (40.13%) and 45-64 (38.83%) year olds. Multibacillary forms (MB) predominated
      (70.35%) and while gradually declining, between 10 and 30% developed disability
      grade 2 (DG2) (0.175 (0.110 - 0.337) DG2/MB cases), with a time delay between 0
      to 15 years (median = 0). The proportion of MB clinic forms and DG2 increased and
      will continuously increase in the short term (0.036 +/- 0.018 logit (MB/total of
      cases). MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Corrientes is on the way to eliminating leprosy by
      2020, however the increased proportion of MB clinical forms and DG2 signals a
      warning for disease control efforts.

PMID- 28591403
TI  - Preliminary multiplex microarray IgG immunoassay for the diagnosis of
      toxoplasmosis and rubella.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During pregnancy, toxoplasmosis and rubella can cause serious damage
      to the mother and the foetus through vertical transmission. Early diagnosis
      enables implementation of health measures aimed at preventing vertical
      transmission and minimising damage caused by these diseases. OBJECTIVE: Here, we
      report the development of a multiplex assay for simultaneous detection of IgG
      antibodies produced during toxoplasmosis and rubella infection. METHODS: This
      assay is based on xMap technology. Initially, by singleplex assays, we evaluated
      the following antigens: one Toxoplasma gondii lysate; two antigenic extracts of
      T. gondii (TOX8131 and TOX8122); fragments of T. gondii antigens [SAG-1 (amino
      acids 45-198), GRA-7 (24-100), GRA-1 (57-149), ROP-4, and MIC-3 (234-306)]; two
      chimeric antigens composed of fragments of SAG-1, GRA-7, and P35 (CTOX and
      CTOXH); and fragments of Rubella virus antigens [E-1 (157-176, 213-239, 374-390),
      E-2 (31-105), and C (1-123)]. FINDINGS: A multiplex assay to simultaneously
      diagnose toxoplasmosis and rubella was designed with the best-performing antigens
      in singleplex and multiplex assays, which included CTOXH, T. gondii lysate,
      TOX8131, E-1, and E-2. The multiplex assay showed 100% sensitivity and
      specificity for anti-T. gondii IgG detection and 95.6% sensitivity and 100%
      specificity for anti-R. virus IgG detection. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: We found that,
      despite the difficulties related to developing multiplex systems, different types
      of antigens (extracts and recombinant proteins) can be used to develop high
      performance diagnostic tests. The assay developed is suitable to screen for prior
      T. gondii and R. virus infections, because it is a rapid, high-throughput, low
      cost alternative to the current standard diagnostic tools, which require multiple
      individual tests.

PMID- 28591404
TI  - Sexual transmission of American trypanosomiasis in humans: a new potential
      pandemic route for Chagas parasites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Trypanosoma cruzi infection endemic in Latin America has now
      spread to several countries across four continents; this endemic involves
      triatomine vector-free protists. We hypothesised that the sexual transmission of
      T. cruzi contributes to the ongoing spread of Chagas disease. OBJECTIVES: A short
      term longitudinal study was conducted to evaluate this hypothesis. METHODS: The
      study population comprised 109 subjects from four families, among whom 21 had
      been diagnosed with acute Chagas disease by direct parasitological analysis.
      Blood mononuclear cells and serum samples were obtained from each study subject
      once per year for three consecutive years. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescence serological examinations were used to
      detect specific T. cruzi antibodies. Polymerase chain reaction of T. cruzi DNA
      revealed 188-nucleotide bands, which hybridised to a specific radiolabelled probe
      and were confirmed by cloning and sequencing. RESULTS: Three independent
      assessments at different time points revealed T. cruzi nuclear DNA footprints in
      76% (83/109) of the study population with active infection. In contrast, the
      ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence assays detected the T. cruzi antibody in
      28.4% (31/109) of the study samples. Moreover, the semen from 82.6% (19/23) of
      subjects people revealed harboured the 188- bp base pair T. cruzi footprint.
      Interestingly, the ejaculates of nuclear DNA-positive Chagas patient transmitted
      the T. cruzi upon peritoneal injection or infusion in the vagina of mice, and
      amastigotes were detected in the skeletal muscle, myocardium, vas deferens, and
      uterine tube. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: T. cruzi infections can be transmitted from
      females or males to naive mates through intercourse, and progeny showed
      discrepancies between the ratios of nuclear DNA footprints and specific antibody
      that can be explained by the tolerance attained during early embryo growth.
      Additional studies are needed to develop drugs to eradicate the infections.
      Additionally, the importance of a vigorous education, information, and
      communication program to prevent sexually transmitted Chagas disease in humans
      cannot be underemphasised.

PMID- 28591405
TI  - Genome analysis of yellow fever virus of the ongoing outbreak in Brazil reveals
      polymorphisms.
AB  - The current yellow fever outbreak in Brazil is the most severe one in the country
      in recent times. It has rapidly spread to areas where YF virus (YFV) activity has
      not been observed for more than 70 years and vaccine coverage is almost null.
      Here, we sequenced the whole YFV genome of two naturally infected howler-monkeys
      (Alouatta clamitans) obtained from the Municipality of Domingos Martins, state of
      Espirito Santo, Brazil. These two ongoing-outbreak genome sequences are
      identical. They clustered in the 1E sub-clade (South America genotype I) along
      with the Brazilian and Venezuelan strains recently characterised from infections
      in humans and non-human primates that have been described in the last 20 years.
      However, we detected eight unique amino acid changes in the viral proteins,
      including the structural capsid protein (one change), and the components of the
      viral replicase complex, the NS3 (two changes) and NS5 (five changes) proteins,
      that could impact the capacity of viral infection in vertebrate and/or
      invertebrate hosts and spreading of the ongoing outbreak.

PMID- 28591406
TI  - The use of circulating cathodic antigen rapid test and serology for diagnosis of
      active Schistosoma mansoni infection in migrants in Italy, a non-endemic country:
      a cross sectional study.
AB  - Diagnosis of schistosomiasis in migrants coming from endemic areas can be
      difficult, especially in asymptomatic subjects. Light-intensity disease, in fact,
      may be missed due to the low sensitivity of the stool microscopy and serologic
      testing cannot distinguish between a resolved infection and an active infection
      in patients who have been infected and treated in the past, because specific
      antibodies can persist despite cure. We describe a cross-sectional study
      conducted on 82 migrants tested for Schistosoma mansoni on single blood (anti
      schistosome antibodies, total IgE) and urine [point-of-care (POC) circulating
      cathodic-antigen (CCA) test] samples. A positive POC-CCA test (active infection)
      resulted in two untreated patients with a positive serology while all patients (n
      = 66) with a past infection showed a negative POC-CCA test. POC-CCA urine test in
      combination with serology may be helpful in rapidly differentiate active from
      past S. mansoni infection in migrants coming from endemic areas.

PMID- 28591407
TI  - Insights from tissue-specific transcriptome sequencing analysis of Triatoma
      infestans.
AB  - Triatoma infestans is an insect of subfamily Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)
      and an important vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of human Chagas
      disease. In this work we reported a transcriptome assembly and annotation of T.
      infestans heads obtained by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies.

PMID- 28591410
TI  - Competitive Energy and Electron Transfer in beta-Functionalized Free-Base
      Porphyrin-Zinc Porphyrin Dimer Axially Coordinated to C60 : Synthesis,
      Supramolecular Formation and Excited-State Processes.
AB  - Simultaneous occurrence of energy and electron transfer events involving
      different acceptor sites in a newly assembled supramolecular triad comprised of
      covalently linked free-base porphyrin-zinc porphyrin dyad, H2 P-ZnP axially
      coordinated to electron acceptor fullerene, has been successfully demonstrated.
      The dyad was connected through the beta-pyrrole positions of the porphyrin
      macrocycle instead of the traditionally used meso-positions for better electronic
      communication. Interestingly, the beta-pyrrole functionalization modulated the
      optical properties to such an extent that it was possible to almost exclusively
      excite the zinc porphyrin entity in the supramolecular triad. The measured
      binding constant for the complex with 1:1 molecular stoichiometry was in the
      order of 104  m-1 revealing moderately stable complex formation. An energy level
      diagram constructed using optical, electrochemical and computational results
      suggested that both the anticipated energy and electron events are
      thermodynamically feasible in the triad. Consequently, it was possible to
      demonstrate occurrence of excited state energy transfer to the covalently linked
      H2 P, and electron transfer to the coordinated ImC60 from studies involving
      steady-state and time-resolved emission, and femto- and nanosecond transient
      absorption studies. The estimated energy transfer was around 67 % in the dyad
      with a rate constant of 1.1*109  s-1 . In the supramolecular triad, the charge
      separated state was rather long-lived although it was difficult to arrive the
      exact lifetime of charge separated state from nanosecond transient spectral
      studies due to overlap of strong triplet excited signals of porphyrin in the
      monitoring wavelength window. Nevertheless, simultaneous occurrence of energy and
      electron transfer in the appropriately positioned energy and electron acceptor
      entities in a supramolecular triad was possible to demonstrate in the present
      study, a step forward to unraveling the complex photochemical events occurring in
      natural photosynthesis and its implications in building light energy harvesting
      devices.

PMID- 28591408
TI  - Decrease in Dengue virus-2 infection and reduction of cytokine/chemokine
      production by Uncaria guianensis in human hepatocyte cell line Huh-7.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue fever may present hemorrhages and cavitary effusions as result
      of exacerbated immune responses. We investigated hydro-alcoholic extracts from
      leaves (UGL) and bark (UGB) of the medicinal species Uncaria guinanensis with
      respect to antiviral effects in Dengue virus (DENV) infection and in
      immunological parameters associated with in vivo physiopathological features.
      METHODS: Chemical profiles from UGB or UGL were compared in thin layer
      chromatography and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance using flavonoid compounds and a
      pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid-enriched fraction as references. DENV-2-infected
      hepatocytes (Huh-7) were treated with extracts. Cell viability, DENV antigens and
      immunological factors were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
      or flow cytometry. FINDINGS: The UGL mainly differed from UGB by selectively
      containing the flavonoid kaempferitrin. UGB and UGL improved hepatocyte
      viability. Both extracts reduced intracellular viral antigen and inhibited the
      secretion of viral non-structural protein (NS1), which is indicative of viral
      replication. Reduction in secretion of macrophage migration inhibitory factor was
      achieved by UGB, of interleukin-6 by UGL, and of interleukin-8 by both UGB and
      UGL. MAIN. CONCLUSIONS: The U. guianensis extracts presented, antiviral and
      immunomodulatory effects for DENV and possibly a hepatocyte-protective activity.
      Further studies may be performed to consider these products as potential
      candidates for the development of an herbal product for the future treatment of
      dengue.

PMID- 28591409
TI  - Impact of concomitant dexamethasone dosing schedule on bortezomib-induced
      peripheral neuropathy in multiple myeloma.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is the most troublesome adverse event associated with
      the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. Studies suggest an inflammatory aetiology
      for bortezomib-induced PN (BiPN) and it has been hypothesized that reducing
      inflammation with concomitant dexamethasone may reduce BiPN incidence and/or
      severity. We retrospectively analysed PN rates from 32 studies (2697 patients
      with previously untreated multiple myeloma) incorporating bortezomib and
      differing dexamethasone schedules: partnered dosing (days of and after
      bortezomib), weekly dosing, and other dosing schedules (e.g. days 1-4, 8-11).
      Pooled overall PN rates were 45.5%, 63.9%, and 47.5%, respectively, with 5.3%,
      11.0%, and 9.6% grade >=3. Adjusting for potential confounders (age, gender,
      presence of thalidomide, bortezomib treatment duration), PN rates in patients on
      partnered dosing schedules appeared lower than in patients on weekly or other
      dosing schedules. Analyses conducted using patient-level data suggest that
      cumulative dexamethasone dose, a potential confounding factor, is unlikely to
      have influenced the analyses. Findings were similar in a separate pooled analysis
      excluding data from regimens incorporating thalidomide, when pooled overall PN
      rates were 50.1%, 63.9%, and 48.3%, respectively, with 4.2%, 11.0%, and 8.6%
      grade >=3. These findings suggest that partnered dexamethasone dosing may result
      in less severe BiPN compared with alternative dexamethasone dosing schedules.

PMID- 28591411
TI  - Late sequelae in Hodgkin lymphoma survivors.

PMID- 28591412
TI  - Management of aggressive lymphoma in very elderly patients.

PMID- 28591413
TI  - Pathology and classification of aggressive mature B-cell lymphomas.

PMID- 28591414
TI  - The costs of care in haematological cancers: Health economic issues.

PMID- 28591415
TI  - Response-adapted therapy in Hodgkin lymphoma.

PMID- 28591417
TI  - Molecular genetics of aggressive B-cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28591416
TI  - Disease-oriented treatment of T-cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28591418
TI  - Role and timing of new drugs in CLL.

PMID- 28591419
TI  - The multiple faces of marginal zone lymphomas.

PMID- 28591420
TI  - Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma and peripheral T-cell lymphoma: What can
      pediatricians and adult oncologists learn from each other?

PMID- 28591421
TI  - Immunotherapy in lymphoma.

PMID- 28591423
TI  - Preliminars and Program.

PMID- 28591422
TI  - The role of stem cell transplant for lymphoma in 2017.

PMID- 28591424
TI  - Clinical applications of genome studies.

PMID- 28591425
TI  - Treatment of aggressive B-cell lymphomas.

PMID- 28591426
TI  - Chemotherapy free treatment of indolent lymphoma.

PMID- 28591427
TI  - The 2016 updated WHO classification of lymphoid neoplasias.

PMID- 28591428
TI  - Does disestablishment lead to religious vitality? The case of Switzerland.
AB  - Economists and sociologists of religion have claimed that religious establishment
      dampens religious vitality, leading to lower recruitment efforts, low attendance,
      declining membership within established congregations, and the 'crowding out' of
      non-established congregations. Conversely, these authors have told us,
      disestablishment will lead to more religious vitality. Remarkably, even though
      these claims rest on the connection between establishment and the organizational
      and membership behaviour of local religious congregations, no research has
      directly examined that connection. We use the 2008 Swiss National Congregations
      Study as well as historical data to assess the effect of different levels of
      religious establishment on both established and non-established congregations. We
      find that established congregations do indeed show less religious vitality than
      non-established congregations. Contrary to the claims of the economic literature,
      however, these covariations are not caused by differences in religious
      establishment on the cantonal level. Both our quantitative and historical
      analyses show that disestablishment has not led to religious vitality for either
      established or non-established congregations. The only clear effect of
      disestablishment is a dramatic decrease of income for established congregations.
      Based on quantitative and historical evidence, we suggest that differences
      between established and non-established congregations are produced by differences
      in religious tradition and immigration flows, not by differences in levels of
      establishment.

PMID- 28591429
TI  - Impacts of Seasonal Pumping on Stream-Aquifer Interactions in Miryang, Korea.
AB  - Large agricultural fields in South Korea are located mostly on alluvial plains,
      where a significant amount of groundwater is used for heating of water-curtain
      insulated greenhouses. Such greenhouses are commonly used for crop cultivation
      during the winter dry season from November to March. After use the groundwater is
      discharged directly into streams, causing groundwater depletion. A
      hydrogeological study was carried out in a typical agricultural area of this
      type, located on an alluvial aquifer near the Nakdong River. Groundwater levels,
      chemical characteristics, and temperatures from 68 observation wells were
      analyzed to determine the impacts of seasonal groundwater pumping on the
      groundwater system and stream-aquifer interactions. Our results show that the
      groundwater system has not yet reached a state of dynamic equilibrium. Decades of
      excessive seasonal pumping have caused a gradual decline of groundwater levels,
      leading to groundwater depletion, especially in areas further from the river.
      Seasonal pumping has also significantly affected groundwater quality in the
      aquifer near the river. Groundwater temperature is decreasing (in this case a
      disadvantage), and saline groundwater is being diluted by induced recharge. The
      results of this study provide a basic outline for effective integrated water
      management that is widely applicable in South Korea.

PMID- 28591430
TI  - Qualitative HPLC-DAD/ESI-TOF-MS Analysis, Cytotoxic, and Apoptotic Effects of
      Croatian Endemic Centaurea ragusina L. Aqueous Extracts.
AB  - Centaurea ragusina L., an endemic Croatian plant species, revealed a good
      cytotoxic activity of aqueous extracts (AE) on human bladder (T24) and human
      glioblastoma (A1235) cancer cell lines. The chemical constituents were
      tentatively identified using high performance liquid chromatography HPLC-DAD/ESI
      TOF-MS in negative ionization mode. The main compounds of herba extract were
      sesquiterpene lactones: solstitialin A 3,13-diacetate and epoxyrepdiolide;
      organic acid: quinic acid. The main compounds of flower extract were organic
      acids: quinic acid, citric acid, and malic acid; sesquiterpene lactone:
      cynaropicrin; phenolic compounds: chlorogenic acid and phenylpropanoid: syringin.
      The AE of C. ragusina were investigated for correlation of their effects on human
      bladder (T24) and human glioblastoma (A1235) cancer cell lines using the MTT
      assay. Although both extracts showed significant dose- and time-dependent
      cytotoxic activity against both cancer cell lines, the flower extract exhibited
      slightly higher activity. In order to determine type of cell death induced by
      treatment, cell lines were exposed subsequently to a treatment with both flower
      and herba AE. The majority of the cells died by induced apoptosis treatment.
      Flower AE (26.25%), compared to a leaf AE (22.15%) showed slightly higher
      percentage of an apoptosis in T24 cells, when compared to a non-treated cells
      (0.04%).

PMID- 28591432
TI  - Pyoderma gangraenosum bei einer schwangeren Patientin unter Behandlung mit G-CSF
      (Lenograstim).

PMID- 28591431
TI  - Autumn senescence in aspen is not triggered by day length.
AB  - Autumn senescence in mature aspens, grown under natural conditions, is initiated
      at almost the same date every year. The mechanism of such precise timing is not
      understood but we have previously shown that the signal must be derived from
      light. We studied variation in bud set and autumn senescence in a collection of
      116 natural Eurasian aspen (Populus tremula) genotypes, from 12 populations in
      Sweden and planted in one northern and one southern common garden, to test the
      hypothesis that onset of autumn senescence is triggered by day length. We
      confirmed that, although bud set seemed to be triggered by a critical
      photoperiod/day length, other factors may influence it. The data on initiation of
      autumn senescence, on the other hand, were incompatible with the trigger being
      the day length per se, hence the trigger must be some other light-dependent
      factor.

PMID- 28591433
TI  - Perianale weiche, leicht druckdolente Knoten.

PMID- 28591434
TI  - Pustulobullose Variante eines SDRIFE (symmetrical drug-related intertriginous and
      flexural exanthema).

PMID- 28591435
TI  - Pseudoaneurysma der Arteria temporalis superficialis als seltene Komplikation
      nach chirurgischer Tumorentfernung im Schlafenbereich.

PMID- 28591436
TI  - Atrophodermia Pasini-Pierini entlang der Blaschko-Linien.

PMID- 28591437
TI  - Aquagene Hauterkrankungen.

PMID- 28591438
TI  - Dermatologische Erkrankungen bei Palliativpatienten: eine prospektive Studie an
      271 Patienten.

PMID- 28591439
TI  - Retrospective evaluation of exposure to natural UV radiation: experiences with
      the online UV history tool in a field study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and multiple actinic keratoses can
      be recognized as occupational diseases if the site affected has been subjected to
      additional occupational UV exposure of at least 40 %. An online UV history tool
      that allows for the quantification of occupational and recreational UV doses was
      now tested in a field study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-nine patients with
      nonmelanoma skin cancer were examined. Patient history with respect to UV
      exposure was obtained using the online UV history tool. Initial validation was
      carried out with data from ten additional patients. In the context of a pilot
      study, the applicability of the tool was assessed using a questionnaire. RESULTS:
      Overall, patient history revealed a UV exposure between 3,792 and 53,163 SEDs.
      Patients with squamous cell carcinoma, actinic keratoses, or Bowen's disease (n 
      =  22) had significantly higher SED values and were significantly older (73 vs.
      66 years) than patients with basal cell carcinoma (n  =  77). Occupational UV
      exposure was reported by 19 patients, two of whom showed an additional
      occupational UV exposure of more than 40 %, which prompted the filing of a
      (suspected) occupational disease report. With respect to validation, there was
      evidence of good inter-investigator reliability. The applicability of the tool
      was rated as good. CONCLUSIONS: The online UV history tool enables quick
      retrospective quantification of occupational and recreational UV exposure in case
      of suspicion of the occupational disease "cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or
      multiple actinic keratoses caused by natural UV radiation".

PMID- 28591440
TI  - Ulzerierende Plaque innerhalb einer Tatowierung bei einem 49-jahrigen Mann.

PMID- 28591441
TI  - Kongresskalender 2017.

PMID- 28591442
TI  - Schnell wachsende Plaque im Nacken eines gesunden Patienten.

PMID- 28591443
TI  - Low-dose isotretinoin prevents digital amputation in loricrin keratoderma
      (Vohwinkel syndrome with ichthyosis).

PMID- 28591444
TI  - S3-Leitlinie Diagnostik, Therapie und Nachsorge des Melanoms - Update 2015/2016,
      Kurzversion 2.0.

PMID- 28591445
TI  - Retrospektive Expositionsabschatzung der naturlichen UV-Strahlendosis:
      Erfahrungen mit dem Online-UV-Anamnese-Instrument im Feldversuch.

PMID- 28591447
TI  - Niedrig dosiertes Isotretinoin verhindert Amputation bei Loricrin
      Palmoplantarkeratose (Vohwinkel-Syndrom mit Ichthyose).

PMID- 28591446
TI  - Kutane Sarkome.
AB  - Cutaneous sarcomas comprise a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal spindle cell
      tumors of the dermis and subcutis, one of the best-known entities being
      dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. Other sarcomas addressed in this review include
      a typical fibroxanthoma, cutaneous undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma,
      leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, and angiosarcoma. With the exception of
      dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, which has its peak incidence in middle-aged
      adults, cutaneous sarcomas usually occur in elderly individuals starting in the
      sixth or seventh decade of life. The pathogenesis of the various disease entities
      is not uniform and has not been definitively ascertained. Histology is the key to
      arriving at a correct diagnosis, and should always include ruling out other
      dermal neoplasms such as melanoma. In recent years, molecular genetic methods
      have provided greater insight into the pathogenesis, thus paving the way for new
      targeted therapies. Treatment of choice for cutaneous sarcomas is excision with
      sufficient surgical margins. Adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapeutic concepts
      include radiation therapy and the use of targeted therapies or chemotherapies.
      Local recurrences have frequently been reported in cutaneous sarcomas. Unlike
      soft tissue sarcomas, the prognosis in terms of survival - with the exception of
      angiosarcoma - is very good if treated adequately, a fact that should be
      emphasized to patients.

PMID- 28591449
TI  - 2. Fortbildungsveranstaltung der AG Biologika der OGDV, 25. Marz 2017, Wien.

PMID- 28591448
TI  - Anaphylaktischer Schock bei Intrakutantestung auf Cefuroxim.

PMID- 28591450
TI  - Unilaterale navoide Teleangiektasien bei zwei Jugendlichen.

PMID- 28591451
TI  - UV-Schutzbundnis verabschiedet ein neues Grundsatzpapier zur
      Verhaltnispravention: Vorbeugung gesundheitlicher Schaden der Sonne -
      Verhaltnispravention in der Stadt und auf dem Land.

PMID- 28591453
TI  - "Water Stress": selten, unverstanden und unlosbar - und doch relevant.

PMID- 28591454
TI  - Pseudoaneurysm of the superficial temporal artery: a rare complication following
      tumor surgery in the temporal region.

PMID- 28591456
TI  - Pyoderma gangrenosum on G-CSF (lenograstim) treatment during pregnancy.

PMID- 28591457
TI  - Cutaneous sarcomas.
AB  - Cutaneous sarcomas comprise a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal spindle cell
      tumors of the dermis and subcutis, one of the best-known entities being
      dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. Other sarcomas addressed in this review include
      atypical fibroxanthoma, cutaneous undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma,
      leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, and angiosarcoma. With the exception of
      dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, which has its peak incidence in middle-aged
      adults, cutaneous sarcomas usually occur in elderly individuals starting in the
      sixth or seventh decade of life. The pathogenesis of the various disease entities
      is not uniform and has not been definitively ascertained. Histology is the key to
      arriving at a correct diagnosis, and should always include ruling out other
      dermal neoplasms such as melanoma. In recent years, molecular genetic methods
      have provided greater insight into the pathogenesis, thus paving the way for new
      targeted therapies. Treatment of choice for cutaneous sarcomas is excision with
      sufficient surgical margins. Adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapeutic concepts
      include radiation therapy and the use of targeted therapies or chemotherapies.
      Local recurrences have frequently been reported in cutaneous sarcomas. Unlike
      soft tissue sarcomas, the prognosis in terms of survival - with the exception of
      angiosarcoma - is very good if treated adequately, a fact that should be
      emphasized to patients.

PMID- 28591458
TI  - Program Abstracts: The 59th Annual American Headache Society Meeting.

PMID- 28591459
TI  - Simulating Head Recovery and Intermittent Discharge in Free Flowing Wells.
AB  - Modeling of the head recovery (buildup) in and intermittent operation of flowing
      wells lacks rigorous analytical tools. Presently different methods are applied in
      discharging and recovery phases. The presented reliable approximate solution
      considers a continuous free flow process and time variant screen loss parameters.
      The latter are temporarily set to large value to prevent inflow into the well
      bore during the single recovery or in repeated shut down periods. This method is
      called as screen loss control or SLC technique and is verified by means of
      comparative analysis with the constant rate pumping-recovery test simulated in
      leaky aquifer. The evaluation of the free flow and recovery test in the free
      flowing well 28 (Artesia Heights) concluded with calibrated parameters close to
      those obtained in the earlier analyses based on split well flow process. The
      simulation of intermittent flowing well operation also underwent successful
      validation resulting in reasonable values of the Qw and s response functions.

PMID- 28591460
TI  - Editorial: The Expanding World of Couple and Family Therapy.

PMID- 28591461
TI  - Changes in Families' Caregiving Experiences through Involvement as Participants
      then Facilitators in a Family Peer-Education Program for Mental Disorders in
      Japan.
AB  - A family peer-education program for mental disorders was developed in Japan,
      similar to existing programs in the United States and Hong Kong. Families that
      serve as facilitators in such programs may enhance their caregiving processes
      and, thereby, their well-being. This study's aim was to describe how families'
      caregiving experiences change, beginning with the onset of a family member's
      mental illness, through their involvement in a family group or peer-education
      program as participants then facilitators. Thus, this study was conducted in a
      family peer-education program for mental disorders in Japan. Group interviews
      were conducted with 27 facilitators from seven program sites about their
      experiences before, during, and after becoming facilitators. Interview data were
      coded and categorized into five stages of caregiving processes: (1) withdrawing
      and suppressing negative experiences with difficulty and regret; (2) finding
      comfort through being listened to about negative experiences; (3) supporting
      participants' sharing as facilitators; (4) understanding and affirming oneself
      through repeated sharing of experiences; and (5) finding value and social roles
      in one's experiences. The third, fourth, and fifth stages were experienced by the
      facilitators. The value that the facilitators placed on their caregiving
      experiences changed from negative to positive, which participants regarded as
      helpful and supportive. We conclude that serving as facilitators may improve
      families' caregiving processes.

PMID- 28591462
TI  - Preliminary Validation of a Korean Version of the Acquired Capability for Suicide
      Scale-Fearlessness About Death.
AB  - The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide proposes that the desire for
      suicide must be accompanied by the capability to do so in order for an individual
      to engage in suicidal behavior. The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale
      Fearlessness about Death (ACSS-FAD) measures fearlessness about death, a core
      component of the capability for suicide. This study aimed to validate a Korean
      version of the ACSS-FAD in a college student sample. We administered the ACSS-FAD
      and measures of suicide ideation, fear of suicide, death anxiety, pain anxiety,
      and depression in a sample of Korean college students (N = 301) and analyzed its
      reliability, factor structure, invariance across genders, convergent validity,
      and discriminant validity. The one-factor model achieved satisfactory model fit.
      Across genders, partial metric invariance and partial scalar invariance were
      established. The results also revealed that the ACSS-FAD has good internal
      consistency, convergent validity (positive correlations with fear of suicide,
      death anxiety, and pain anxiety), and discriminant validity (no relation with
      depression). The Korean version of the ACSS-FAD presents adequate psychometric
      properties and may be considered to be a promising instrument for measuring
      fearlessness about death in college students.

PMID- 28591463
TI  - Immunosuppression-associated Kaposi sarcoma following stem cell transplantation.

PMID- 28591466
TI  - Tanner Awards for the Most Cited Articles of 2014.

PMID- 28591464
TI  - Risk of low bone mineral density in testicular germ cell cancer survivors:
      association with hypogonadism and treatment modality.
AB  - The cure rate of testicular cancer exceeds 95%, but testicular cancer survivors
      (TCS) are at increased risk of hypogonadism (HG). It has been suggested that TCS
      have reduced bone mineral density (BMD), but it is unclear whether this is
      related to HG or a direct effect of cancer therapy. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate whether TCS have decreased BMD, and if BMD is related to HG and/or the
      cancer treatment given. We investigated 91 TCS (mean age at diagnosis: 31 years;
      mean 9.3 years follow-up) and equal number of age matched controls (mean age at
      inclusion 40.3 years and 41.2 years, respectively). Total testosterone and LH
      were measured. BMD was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
      Low BMD (LBD) was defined as Z-score <-1. Compared to eugonadal TCS, both TCS
      with untreated HG (mean difference: -0.063 g/cm2 ; 95% CI: -0.122; -0.004 p =
      0.037) and TCS receiving androgen replacement (mean difference -0.085 g/cm2 ; 95%
      CI: -0.168; -0.003; p = 0.043) presented with statistically significantly 6-8%
      lower hip BMD. At the spine, L1-L4, an 8% difference reached the level of
      statistical significance only for those with untreated HG (mean difference: 
      0.097 g/cm2 ; 95% CI: -0.179; -0.014; p = 0.022). TCS with untreated HG had
      significantly increased OR for spine L1-L4 LBD (OR = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.3; 13; p =
      0.020). The associations between the treatment given and BMD were statistically
      non-significant, both with and without adjustment for HG. In conclusion, TCS with
      HG are at increased risk of impaired bone health. Prevention of osteoporosis
      should be considered as an important part in future follow up of these men.

PMID- 28591467
TI  - The Effect of Impella CP on Cardiopulmonary Physiology During Venoarterial
      Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support.
AB  - Left ventricle (LV) distension is a complication of venoarterial extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) support. The effects of Impella on the pulmonary
      circulatory physiology were studied in a single-center study of six consecutive
      patients on VA-ECMO support who had LV unloading with Impella. Right ventricular
      stroke volume, pulmonary hemodynamics, and partial pressure of end-tidal CO2
      (PETCO2 ) were measured on echocardiogram, pulmonary artery catheter, and
      capnography, respectively. The addition of Impella CP increased total blood flow
      and reduced pulmonary artery wedge pressure. There was a small reduction in
      arterial oxygen saturation as Impella increased LV output. The increase in
      pulmonary artery capacitance (PCap) exceeded the reduction in pulmonary vascular
      resistance (PVR), thereby increasing the pulmonary artery time constant (product
      of PCap and PVR). The right ventricular stroke volume increased and the
      improvement in pulmonary hemodynamics and blood flow were associated with reduced
      arterial-PETCO2 gradient. The Impella CP unloads the LV during VA-ECMO support,
      increasing total flow, reducing RV afterload, and facilitating RV output and
      pulmonary blood flow with improvement in gas exchange.

PMID- 28591468
TI  - What is it all about?

PMID- 28591469
TI  - Continued decline in blood collection and transfusion in the United States-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2011 and 2013, the National Blood Collection and Utilization
      Survey (NBCUS) revealed declines in blood collection and transfusion in the
      United States. The objective of this study was to describe blood services in
      2015. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The 2015 NBCUS was distributed to all US blood
      collection centers, all hospitals performing at least 1000 surgeries annually,
      and a 40% random sample of hospitals performing 100 to 999 surgeries annually.
      Weighting and imputation were used to generate national estimates for units of
      blood and components collected, deferred, distributed, transfused, and outdated.
      RESULTS: Response rates for the 2015 NBCUS were 78.4% for blood collection
      centers and 73.9% for transfusing hospitals. In 2015, 12,591,000 units of red
      blood cells (RBCs) (95% confidence interval [CI], 11,985,000-13,197,000 units of
      RBCs) were collected, and 11,349,000 (95% CI, 10,592,000-11,747,000) were
      transfused, representing declines since 2013 of 11.6% and 13.9%, respectively.
      Total platelet units distributed (2,436,000; 95% CI, 2,230,000-2,642,000) and
      transfused (1,983,000; 95% CI, 1,816,000 = 2,151,000) declined by 0.5% and 13.1%,
      respectively, since 2013. Plasma distributions (3,714,000; 95% CI, 3,306,000
      4,121,000) and transfusions (2,727,000; 95% CI, 2,594,000-2,859,000) in 2015
      declined since 2013. The median price paid per unit in 2015-$211 for leukocyte
      reduced RBCs, $524 for apheresis platelets, and $54 for fresh frozen plasma-was
      less for all components than in 2013. CONCLUSIONS: The 2015 NBCUS findings
      suggest that continued declines in demand for blood products resulted in fewer
      units collected and distributed Maintaining a blood inventory sufficient to meet
      routine and emergent demands will require further monitoring and understanding of
      these trends.

PMID- 28591470
TI  - Cost projections for implementation of safety interventions to prevent
      transfusion-transmitted Zika virus infection in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In August 2016, the Food and Drug Administration advised US blood
      centers to screen all whole blood and apheresis donations for Zika virus (ZIKV)
      with an individual-donor nucleic acid test (ID-NAT) or to use approved pathogen
      reduction technology (PRT). The cost of implementing this guidance nationally has
      not been assessed. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Scenarios were constructed to
      characterize approaches to ZIKV screening, including universal ID-NAT, risk-based
      seasonal allowance of minipool (MP) NAT by state, and universal MP-NAT. Data from
      the 2015 National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey (NBCUS) were used to
      characterize the number of donations nationally and by state. For each scenario,
      the estimated cost per donor ($3-$9 for MP-NAT, $7-$13 for ID-NAT) was multiplied
      by the estimated number of relevant donations from the NBCUS. Cost of PRT was
      calculated by multiplying the cost per unit ($50-$125) by the number of units
      approved for PRT. Prediction intervals for costs were generated using Monte Carlo
      simulation methods. RESULTS: Screening all donations in the 50 states and DC for
      ZIKV by ID-NAT would cost $137 million (95% confidence interval [CI], $109-$167)
      annually. Allowing seasonal MP-NAT in states with lower ZIKV risk could reduce
      NAT screening costs by 18% to 25%. Application of PRT to all platelet (PLT) and
      plasma units would cost $213 million (95% CI, $156-$304). CONCLUSION: Universal
      ID-NAT screening for ZIKV will cost US blood centers more than $100 million
      annually. The high cost of PRT for apheresis PLTs and plasma could be mitigated
      if, once validated, testing for transfusion transmissible pathogens could be
      eliminated.

PMID- 28591471
TI  - Supplemental findings from the National Blood Collection and Utilization Surveys,
      2013 and 2015.

PMID- 28591472
TI  - Response to: Finding clinical efficacy with balloon sinus dilation in pediatric
      chronic rhinosinusitis patients.

PMID- 28591473
TI  - Olfactory loss in chronic rhinosinusitis.

PMID- 28591474
TI  - Expanding the Boundaries of Water-Tolerant Frustrated Lewis Pair Hydrogenation:
      Enhanced Back Strain in the Lewis Acid Enables the Reductive Amination of
      Carbonyls.
AB  - The development of a boron/nitrogen-centered frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) with
      remarkably high water tolerance is presented. As systematic steric tuning of the
      boron-based Lewis acid (LA) component revealed, the enhanced back-strain makes
      water binding increasingly reversible in the presence of relatively strong base.
      This advance allows the limits of FLP's hydrogenation to be expanded, as
      demonstrated by the FLP reductive amination of carbonyls. This metal-free
      catalytic variant displays a notably broad chemoselectivity and generality.

PMID- 28591475
TI  - Gamma Knife radiosurgery for hypothalamic hamartoma preserves endocrine
      functions.
AB  - Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GK) is an effective treatment for hypothalamic
      hamartoma. No precise data are available on the risk of endocrine side effects of
      this treatment. In this study, 34 patients with hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) were
      followed prospectively at the Department of Endocrinology, La Timone Hospital,
      Marseille, France, for a mean follow-up of >2 years (mean +/- standard deviation
      [SD] 3.6 +/- 2 years). Initial pre- and post-GK radiosurgery evaluations were
      performed, including weight, body mass index (BMI), and a complete
      endocrinological workup. At diagnosis, eight patients presented with central
      precocious puberty at a mean age of 5.4 +/- 2.4 years. At the time of GK (mean
      age 18.2 +/- 11.1 years), two patients previously treated with surgery presented
      with luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone (LH/FSH) deficiency. After
      GK, only one patient presented with a new thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH)
      deficiency, 2 years after the procedure. The other pituitary axes remained normal
      in all but two patients (who had LH/FSH deficiency prior to GK). There was no
      significant difference between pre- and post-GK mean BMI (26.9 vs. 25.1 kg/m2 , p
      = 0.59). To conclude, in this group of 34 patients, GK did not induce major
      endocrinologic side effects reported with all the other surgical techniques in
      the literature. It is, thus, a safe and effective procedure in the treatment of
      hypothalamic hamartoma.

PMID- 28591476
TI  - Clinical features and evolution of the gelastic seizures-hypothalamic hamartoma
      syndrome.
AB  - Gelastic seizures, usually with onset in early infancy, are the hallmark
      manifestation of hypothalamic hamartoma. This seizure type is directly generated
      by hamartoma itself, intrinsically epileptogenic because of its anatomofunctional
      organization. Other types of seizures, focal or generalized, may appear during
      the evolution, probably resulting from mechanisms of secondary epileptogenesis.
      Nevertheless, the clinical expression and the severity of the syndrome, ranging
      from a focal drug-resistant epilepsy to a catastrophic generalized encephalopathy
      with severe cognitive and behavioral impairments, depends on the size and the
      site of attachment of the hamartoma. Early suspicion, timely diagnosis, and
      appropriate treatment are mandatory to reverse a potential catastrophic evolution
      of this condition.

PMID- 28591477
TI  - Reduced glucose metabolism in neocortical network nodes remote from hypothalamic
      hamartomas reflects cognitive impairment.
AB  - The clinical appearance of patients with hypothalamic hamartomas is very
      heterogeneous, and interindividual variability of intellectual abilities is not
      completely understood. We retrospectively investigated cerebral dysfunction as
      indicated by reduced regional glucose metabolism in 29 patients (age range 7-49
      years) with epilepsy due to hypothalamic hamartomas. Brain metabolism assessed by
      [18 F]FDG-PET was compared between patients with and without cognitive impairment
      controlled for unevenly distributed hamartoma lateralization seen on magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI). Due to the broad age range, the variable "age" was
      included in the imaging analyses as a covariate. Additional voxel-wise analysis
      with hamartoma volume, disease duration, seizure severity, seizure frequency, and
      antiepileptic drug (AED) load as well as dosage and gender as further covariates
      was accomplished. Furthermore, global visual ratings on laterality of
      hypometabolism patterns were assessed according to clinical standards and related
      to hamartoma lateralization on MRI as well as lateralization of
      electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities. Cognitively impaired patients showed
      significantly reduced glucose metabolism in bilateral frontal as well as right
      parietal and posterior midline cortices (p < 0.005), irrespective of hamartoma
      lateralization seen on MRI. Additional voxel-wise analysis with the above
      mentioned further covariates revealed comparable results. FDG uptake values
      within the main right frontal cluster obtained from group comparison were not
      associated with hamartoma volume, disease duration, or AED load. Irrespective of
      cognitive functioning, lateralization of reduced FDG uptake in global visual
      ratings was associated with lateralization of hypothalamic hamartomas seen on MRI
      (p < 0.01), but not with EEG abnormalities. We found regions of reduced glucose
      metabolism in cognitively impaired patients remote from the hypothalamic
      hamartomas in frontal and parietal regions, which have been identified as
      important network nodes in the human brain and are linked to higher cognitive
      functions.

PMID- 28591478
TI  - Hypothalamic hamartoma: Neuropathology and epileptogenesis.
AB  - Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are congenital malformations of the ventral
      hypothalamus resulting in treatment-resistant epilepsy and are intrinsically
      epileptogenic for the gelastic seizures that are the hallmark symptom of this
      disorder. This paper reviews the neuropathologic features of HHs associated with
      epilepsy, with an emphasis on characterizing neuron phenotypes and an ultimate
      goal of understanding the cellular model of ictogenesis occurring locally within
      this tissue. We also present previously unpublished findings on Golgi staining of
      HH. The microarchitecture of HH is relatively simple, with nodular clusters of
      neurons that vary in size and abundance with poorly defined boundaries.
      Approximately 80-90% of HH neurons have an interneuron-like phenotype with small,
      round soma and short, unbranched processes that lack spines. These neurons
      express glutamic acid decarboxylase and likely utilize gamma-aminobutyric acid
      (GABA) as their primary neurotransmitter. They have intrinsic membrane properties
      that lead to spontaneous pacemaker-like firing activity. The remaining HH neurons
      are large cells with pleomorphic, often pyramidal, soma and dendrites that are
      more likely to be branched and have spines. These neurons appear to be
      excitatory, projection-type neurons, and have the functionally immature behavior
      of depolarizing and firing in response to GABA ligands. We hypothesize that the
      irregular neuronal clusters are the functional unit for ictogenesis. Further
      research to define and characterize these local networks is required to fully
      understand the cellular mechanisms responsible for gelastic seizures.

PMID- 28591481
TI  - Achieving a cure for hypothalamic hamartomas: a Sisyphean quest?

PMID- 28591480
TI  - Laser interstitial thermal therapy: A first line treatment for seizures due to
      hypothalamic hamartoma?
AB  - Successful treatment of hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) can result in the resolution
      of its sequelae including epilepsy and rage attacks. Risks and morbidity of open
      surgical management of this lesion have motivated the development of laser
      interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) as a less invasive treatment approach to the
      disease. Although overall morbidity and risk would appear to be lower,
      complications related to LITT therapy have been reported, and the longer-term
      follow-up that is now possible after initial experience helps address the
      question of whether LITT provides equivalent efficacy compared to other treatment
      options. We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes in eight
      patients undergoing LITT for HH at our center using the Visualase/Medtronic
      device. Five patients had refractory epilepsy, one had rage attacks, and two had
      both. We also compared the published seizure-free outcomes over time and the
      complication rates for different interventional approaches to the treatment of
      epilepsy due to HH including open craniotomy, neuroendoscopic, radiosurgical, and
      radiofrequency approaches. With a mean follow-up of 19.1 months in our series of
      eight patients, six of seven epilepsy patients achieved seizure freedom, whereas
      the one patient with rage attacks only did not have improvement of his symptoms.
      A length of hospital stay of 2.6 days reflects low morbidity and rapid
      postoperative recuperation with LITT. Considering other reported series and case
      reports, the overall published seizure freedom rate of 21 of 25 patients is
      superior to published outcomes of HH cases treated by stereotactic radiosurgery
      (SRS), craniotomy, or neuroendoscopy, and comparable to radiofrequency ablation.
      The cumulative experience of our center with other published series supports
      relatively lower operative morbidity than more invasive approaches and efficacy
      that is as good or better than open craniotomy procedures and SRS. Although
      morbidity appears to be lower than other open approaches, complications related
      to LITT and their avoidance should be considered carefully.

PMID- 28591482
TI  - Hypothalamic hamartoma: Epileptogenesis beyond the lesion?
AB  - The discovery of intrinsic epileptogenicity of the hypothalamic hamartoma (HH)
      marked a new area in understanding the associated clinical syndrome, often
      manifesting as progressive epileptic encephalopathy. However, therapeutic
      procedures targeting the HH proved to be inefficient to cure seizures in up to
      50% of cases, whereas in cases with partial improvement, the electroclinical
      patterns of persisting seizures suggest an involvement of distant cortical
      regions. The concept of kindling-like secondary epileptogenesis has been
      suggested as a possible underlying mechanism. Yet the role of the hypothalamic
      lesion in the pathophysiology of the syndrome remains debatable. In the
      Strasbourg-Kork series, the best outcomes were obtained when the duration of
      epilepsy before endoscopic HH surgery did not exceed 10 years. In two patients
      with HH ablation followed at a later time by a temporal lobectomy, only this
      second surgical step allowed complete seizure freedom. These findings suggest the
      existence of an independent, third stage of secondary epileptogenesis in human.
      In the Grenoble series, stereotactic intracerebral recordings (stereo
      electroencephalography [SEEG]) of five HH cases demonstrated that
      gelastic/dacrystic seizures were correlated with discharges within the HH,
      whereas other seizure types were related to discharges affecting cortical
      regions, which sometimes seemed to be triggered by HH. In the Marseille series,
      two cases explored by SEEG provided evidence of extended epileptogenicity outside
      the limits of the HH, forming complex epileptogenic networks, with HH still
      triggering clusters of neocortical seizures in the first, but not obligatory
      involved in spontaneous seizures in the second case. Taken together, our data
      argue for the existence of dynamic ictal network organization, with possible
      "kindling-like" relationships between the HH and the neocortex or widespread
      epileptogenesis. Despite the existence of secondary epileptogenesis, the
      epileptogenic zone could still be limited to the hamartoma, for which early
      surgical treatment should be pragmatically considered as a first surgical step.

PMID- 28591479
TI  - Hypothalamic hamartoma with epilepsy: Review of endocrine comorbidity.
AB  - The most common, and usually the only, endocrine disturbance in patients with
      hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) and epilepsy is central precocious puberty (CPP). The
      mechanism for CPP associated with HH may relate to ectopic generation and
      pulsatile release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the HH, but this
      remains an unproven hypothesis. Possible regulators of GnRH release that are
      intrinsic to HH tissue include the following: (1) glial factors (such as
      transforming growth factor alpha[TGFalpha) and (2) gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
      mediated excitation. Both are known to be present in surgically-resected HH
      tissue, but are present in patients with and without a history of CPP, suggesting
      the possibility that symptoms related to HH are directly associated with the
      region of anatomic attachment of the HH to the hypothalamus, which determines
      functional network connections, rather than to differences in HH tissue
      expression or pathophysiology. CPP associated with HH presents with isosexual
      development prior to the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys. It is not
      uncommon for CPP with HH to present in children at an earlier age in comparison
      to other causes of CPP, including in infancy. Surgical resection of the HH can be
      effective for treating CPP, but is reserved for patients with intractable
      epilepsy, since GnRH agonists are widely available and effective treatment. Other
      endocrine disturbances with HH are rare, but can include growth hormone
      deficiency, hypothyroidism, and adrenal insufficiency. Diabetes insipidus is
      commonly encountered postoperatively, but is not observed with HH prior to
      surgical intervention.

PMID- 28591483
TI  - Cognition in epilepsy patients with hypothalamic hamartomas.
AB  - Many patients with epilepsy caused by hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) have
      cognitive impairments during the course of the disease or following neurosurgical
      treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess cognitive function in these
      patients, as well as factors influencing preoperative cognitive performance and
      cognitive outcome after neurosurgical treatment. Using the two largest and most
      detailed neuropsychology datasets on HH and epilepsy from two centers, we
      retrospectively report on cognitive functions in 48 patients with structural
      epilepsy due to HH (mean age +/- standard deviation [SD] 20 +/- 12 years, range 5
      53 years, median 16 years; disease duration mean 17 +/- 11 years). Intelligence,
      verbal learning and recall, and speed and executive functions (processing speed
      and cognitive flexibility) were assessed before and on average 19 (+/-11) months
      after surgery (interstitial radiosurgery: N = 22; neurosurgical
      resection/disconnection: N = 26). Prior to neurosurgical treatment, 52% of
      patients showed impaired executive and 62% showed reduced verbal memory
      functions. A trend for a detrimental effect of higher drug load on cognitive
      functioning was found. After neurosurgical treatment, intellectual functions for
      the entire cohort tended to increase. This correlated with improved seizure
      frequency and decreased number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). However,
      postoperative outcomes for individual patients were highly variable, with
      significant deteriorations in 17% (processing speed) to 34% (cognitive
      flexibility and verbal learning), and performance increases in 17% (intellectual
      functioning) up to 39% (processing speed) of the patients. Higher levels of
      presurgical performance were significant predictors of cognitive decline after
      surgery. These results are highly relevant for patient consultation and may help
      with therapeutic decisions.

PMID- 28591484
TI  - Safety and efficacy of Gamma Knife radiosurgery in hypothalamic hamartomas with
      severe epilepsies: A prospective trial in 48 patients and review of the
      literature.
AB  - Epilepsies associated with hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are frequently drug
      resistant with severe psychiatric and cognitive comorbidities. We performed a
      prospective trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Gamma Knife radiosurgery
      (GKS). Between October 1999 and October 2007, a total of 57 patients were
      investigated, included and treated by GKS in Timone University Hospital.
      Preoperative workup and 3-year postoperative evaluation consisted of seizure
      diary, neuropsychological, psychiatric, endocrinologic, visual field, and visual
      acuity examinations. Follow-up of >3 years was available for 48 patients.
      Topologic type was type I in 11 patients, type II in 15, type III in 17, type IV
      in one, type V in one, type VI in one, and mixed type in 2. The median marginal
      dose was 17 Gy (min 14 and max 25 Gy). The median target volume was 398 mm3 (28
      1,600 mm3 ). Due to partial results, 28 patients (58.3%) required a second
      treatment. The median follow-up was 71 months (36-153 months). At last follow-up,
      the rate of Engel class I outcome was 39.6%, Engel class II was 29.2% (I+II
      68.8%), and Engel class III was 20%. Global psychiatric comorbidity was
      considered cured in 28%, improved in 56%, stable in 8%, and continued to worsen
      in 8%. No permanent neurologic side effect was reported (in particular, no memory
      deficit). Nondisabling transient poikilothermia was observed in three patients
      (6.2%). A transient increase of seizure frequency was reported in 8 patients
      (16.6%) with a median duration of 30 days (9-90 days). Microsurgery was proposed
      because of insufficient efficacy of GKS in seven patients (14.5%) with a
      postoperative Engel class I-II in 28.6%. This prospective trial demonstrates very
      good long-term safety and efficacy of GKS for 2 patients. Beyond seizure
      reduction, the improvement of psychiatric and cognitive comorbidities along with
      better school performance and social functioning, being better socially
      integrated, having friends having a social life, working, participating to group
      activities turn out to be major benefits of GKS in this group of patients with
      frequently catastrophic epilepsy.

PMID- 28591485
TI  - Medical management and antiepileptic drugs in hypothalamic hamartoma.
AB  - Hypothalamic hamartoma may present with epilepsy, specifically gelastic or
      dacrystic seizures, or endocrine dysfunction, commonly precocious puberty. The
      epilepsy in many patients is drug resistant, and has a high association with
      progressive cognitive, learning and behavioral difficulty. Medical treatment of
      seizures remains problematic, with many resistant to drug treatment. Surgical
      resection, or disconnection of the hamartoma provides the optimal chance of
      seizure control but with a relatively high risk of endocrine dysfunction, the
      result of interference with the hypothalamic-pituitary axis in many. Careful
      assessment and monitoring by specialist centers with discussion of optimal
      intervention is required for individual cases.

PMID- 28591486
TI  - Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of the Hemodialysis Plastic Cannula.
AB  - The jet of fluid returning to the patient through a hemodialysis venous needle
      has previously been reported as a potential source of endothelial damage which
      can lead to intimal hyperplasia (IH) in arteriovenous fistulae (AVF). Metal
      needles are the current standard practice for accessing the vascular system in
      hemodialysis. However, plastic cannulae have been used in Japan for 30 years.
      This study utilized computational fluid dynamics to analyze the hemodynamics of
      blood exiting a plastic cannula and determined the optimal placement and blood
      flow rate. Transient simulations were run using a 15G Argyle Safety Fistula
      Cannula with Anti-Reflux Valve inserted into an idealized cephalic vein. The
      cannula tip was fixed at three different locations within the vein (upper third,
      middle, and lower third) with blood flow rates of 200 mL/min, 300 mL/min, and 400
      mL/min imposed. The high degree of jet break down immediately after exiting the
      cannula was attributed to the staggered side hole arrangement, position of the
      cannula in the vein, and the imposed blood flow rate. Elevated levels of wall
      shear stress which may lead to IH were identified at the site of jet impingement
      on the vein floor as well as regions of high residency time. The risk of IH may
      be minimized by enhancing the breakdown of the jet through the use of optimal
      blood flow rates between 300 and 400 mL/min and ensuring the cannula tip is
      placed away from the walls of the vein.

PMID- 28591488
TI  - Salvage of fetal karyotype information from SNP array data obtained from products
      of conception with maternal cell contamination.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Maternal cell contamination (MCC) is known to increase the risk of
      misdiagnosis in prenatal diagnosis as well as in diagnostic tests for the
      products of conception (POC) from miscarriages. We aimed to develop a data
      correction method to salvage fetal karyotype information from single-nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) array data for POC with MCC when parental genotype data are
      available. METHODS: We obtained SNP array data from mixed genomic DNAs of a
      mother-child pair and used the dataset to assess the accuracy of data correction.
      We subsequently applied our method to miscarriage specimens with MCC. RESULTS: We
      adopted a linear interpolation model as a data correction method and implemented
      the method in an R package, snpsal. We successfully determined the fetal
      karyotypes of two miscarriage specimens that were previously undiagnosed due to
      MCC to be normal in one case and trisomy 16 in the other case using snpsal.
      CONCLUSION: The R package, snpsal, developed in this study facilitates rapid and
      accurate estimation of the fetal karyotype from SNP array data for POC with MCC.
      (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28591487
TI  - Deciphering the Nature of Enzymatic Modifications of Bacterial Cell Walls.
AB  - The major constituent of bacterial cell walls is peptidoglycan, which, in its
      crosslinked form, is a polymer of considerable complexity that encases the entire
      bacterium. A functional cell wall is indispensable for survival of the organism.
      There are several dozen enzymes that assemble and disassemble the peptidoglycan
      dynamically within each bacterial generation. Understanding of the nature of
      these transformations is critical knowledge for these events. Octasaccharide
      peptidoglycans were prepared and studied with seven recombinant cell-wall-active
      enzymes (SltB1, MltB, RlpA, mutanolysin, AmpDh2, AmpDh3, and PBP5). With the use
      of highly sensitive mass spectrometry methods, we described the breadth of
      reactions that these enzymes catalyzed with peptidoglycan and shed light on the
      nature of the cell wall alteration performed by these enzymes. The enzymes
      exhibit broadly distinct preferences for their substrate peptidoglycans in the
      reactions that they catalyze.

PMID- 28591489
TI  - Association of microalbuminuria with diabetes is stronger in people with
      prehypertension compared to those with ideal blood pressure.
AB  - AIM: Microalbuminuria (MA) has been demonstrated as a biomarker for microvascular
      dysfunction. This study is aimed to evaluate the association of glycaemic status
      with MA in prehypertensive and ideal BP subjects and to evaluate the interaction
      between glycaemic and blood pressure status as risk factors for MA prevalence.
      METHODS: 1059 subjects aged 40-70 with non-hypertension who were recruited from
      six districts of Tianjin were divided into a prehypertensive group (622 cases)
      and an ideal blood BP group (437 cases). Subjects of the prehypertensive group
      and the ideal BP group were divided respectively into three subgroups:
      normoglycaemia subgroup, prediabetes subgroup and diabetes subgroup. The
      prevalence of MA in the above three subgroups of subjects with prehypertension
      and ideal BP were assessed. We performed a statistical analysis for interaction
      test between glycaemia and BP status on microalbuminuria in the overall study
      sample by a multivariate logistic regression model. The association of glycaemic
      status (defined as normoglycaemia, prediabetes, and diabetes) with MA was
      evaluated separately in prehypertensive and ideal BP subjects. RESULTS: Results
      showed that the prevalence of MA in both prehypertensive and ideal BP groups rose
      with the increasing of classification of glycaemic level of subgroups (32.6%,
      18.3%, 14.8% vs. 23.1%, 16.2%, 13.4%), the differences in prehypertensive group
      were statistically significant (Pearson chi2 = 15.24, P < 0.001). The ORs (95%
      CI) of MA were 1.25 (0.86-1.83) for prediabetes and 2.56 (1.62-4.03) for diabetes
      in the fully adjusted model. There was no interaction between prediabetes and BP
      status regarding MA (P = 0.237) but we found a significant interaction between
      diabetes and BP status (P < 0.001). In the prehypertensive group, multivariate
      logistic regression models showed that the diabetes subgroup had a significant
      association with MA, and the adjusted odds ratio of the diabetes subgroup to the
      normoglycaemia subgroup was 2.68 (95%CI 1.54-4.67) (P < 0.001). However, there
      was no significant association of glycaemic status with MA in the ideal BP group.
      Stratified analysis by a multivariate logistic regression model in the whole
      study population showed that people with both prehypertension and diabetes had
      the highest risk of MA (adjusted OR = 2.50, 95%CI 1.16-5.36; P = 0.019), compared
      with those with ideal BP and normoglycaemia (reference group). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that there was a statistically significant association between
      diabetes and microalbuminuria only in prehypertensive subjects. In addition, our
      study highlights the interaction between prehypertension and diabetes as a risk
      factor for MA.

PMID- 28591490
TI  - Region-specific atrophy of precentral gyrus in patients with amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the region-specific atrophy of precentral gyrus (PrCG) and its
      correlation to clinical function score in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with sporadic ALS and 28 healthy
      controls underwent high-resolution 3D T1-BRAVO magnetic resonance imaging at 3T.
      The bilateral PrCG segmentations were automatically obtained from a validated
      segmentation pipeline based on diffeomorphic multi-atlas likelihood fusion.
      Patients with ALS were further subclassified into early-stage (ALS-e, n = 22) and
      late-stage (ALS-l, n = 6) groups, with 12 months as a disease duration cutoff.
      Vertex-based shape analysis was performed to quantify the region-specific
      abnormalities of PrCG in ALS subgroups as compared to controls. In addition, we
      tested the statistical association between altered PrCG morphometry and clinical
      disability in ALS as evaluated by the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS
      r). RESULTS: Compared to controls, vertex-wise analysis showed that both ALS-e
      and ALS-l had significant atrophy of the dorsal-lateral part of PrCG (P < 0.05,
      uncorrected). Importantly, atrophy in ALS-e was not as widespread as that in ALS
      l; while atrophy in ALS-e was mostly confined to the dorsal-lateral region (P <
      0.05, uncorrected, surface areas exhibiting significant difference at a level of
      P = 0.05: left 613.88 mm2 , right 937.80 mm2 ), atrophy in ALS-l occurred at the
      dorsal-medial and ventral region as well (P < 0.05, uncorrected, surface areas
      exhibiting significant difference at a level of P = 0.05: left 1465.98 mm2 ,
      right 1253.89 mm2 ). Partial correlation analysis showed that the significant
      surface area atrophy of PrCG in ALS, especially that of the dorsal-lateral
      portion, was found to link tightly with ALSFRS-r (P < 0.05, uncorrected, surface
      areas exhibiting significant correlation: left 723.08 mm2 , right 474.24 mm2 ).
      CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that an altered PrCG morphometry, especially
      atrophy of the surface area in the dorsal-lateral portion, may be associated with
      the dysfunction that characterizes ALS. This study is an initial attempt to apply
      a validated statistical shape analysis pipeline to cortical gray matter structure
      like PrCG. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 Technical Efficacy Stage: 1 J. Magn. Reson.
      Imaging 2018;47:115-122.

PMID- 28591492
TI  - [Ethics and methodology: the importance of promoting, evaluating and implementing
      education and humanities research in health].
AB  - In this editorial we initially expose the agreements that have set the mechanisms
      to guarantee safety and fair treatment to human subjects in research. Later on,
      we offer alternatives from translational and multidisciplinary research to
      promote education and humanities research in health.

PMID- 28591493
TI  - [Perception of quality of life related with health and depression in patients
      with hemophilia].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemophilia is a hemorrhagic disease characterized by the deficiency
      of either coagulation factor VIII or IX. It impacts negatively in people's
      quality of life and it causes side effects, such as depression. The objective was
      to describe and analyze the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and depression
      levels in a group of 50 pediatric patients with hemophilia (PPwH) and their
      parents. The specific objectives were: to analyze the correlation between HRQoL
      levels reported by patients and their parents, and to analyze the correlation
      between HRQoL levels and depression in PPwH. METHODS: Descriptive, cross
      sectional and correlational study with a group of 50 PPwH and their parents. The
      Pediatric Life Quality Questionnaire [PedsQLTM 4.0] was completed by PPwH and
      their parents and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) was answered only by
      PPwH. RESULTS: The average age of PPwH was 10.66 years (SD = 2.61) and that of
      parents was 36.28 years (SD = 6.4). 82% suffered from hemophilia A and 70%
      suffered from severe hemophilia. 78% of participants felt at risk or at high risk
      with regards to their quality of life, and, concerning their depression levels,
      we found moderate symptoms in 54% and severe symptoms in 10%. CONCLUSIONS: The
      HRQoL and depression levels we found are alarming. They show the importance of
      evaluating objective and subjective indicators; in addition, we emphasize the
      need of assisting the severe cases detected and suggest the activities to face
      these health issues.

PMID- 28591494
TI  - [Sepsis: the hidden enemy between the lines].

PMID- 28591495
TI  - [Risk factors associated with preterm birth in a second level hospital].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is one of the biggest problems in obstetrics and
      gynecology, given that it has an incidence of 10-11%. The objective was to
      identify the risk factors associated with a preterm birth. METHODS: A
      retrospective, observational, transversal and analytic case-control study was
      made. All premature birth incidences were determined as study objects and
      controls were integrated with term deliveries. A sample size of 344 patients with
      a control per case was calculated. A total of 688 patients were studied.
      Statistical analysis was descriptive, univariate and bivariate and we used the
      Pearson chi square test, with a p < 0.05, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence
      intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: The risk factors associated with a preterm labor
      were placenta praevia: OR = 10.2 (p = 0.005); previous preterm delivery: OR =
      10.2 (p = 0.005); preeclampsia: OR = 6.38 (p = 0.00); twin pregnancy: OR = 5.8 (p
      = 0.000); oligohydramnios: OR = 5.8 (p = 0.000); tobacco use: OR = 4.6 (p =
      0.002); premature rupture of membranes (PROM): OR = 4.1 (p = 0.000);
      cervicovaginitis: OR = 3 (p = 0.000); urinary tract infections (UTI): OR = 1.5 (p
      = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Maternal history of prenatal care, preclampsia, PROM, twin
      pregnancy, placenta praevia, cervicovaginitis, previous preterm delivery and UTI
      are risk factors with statistical significance associated with preterm delivery.

PMID- 28591496
TI  - [Answer to comment "Sepsis: The hidden enemy between the lines"].

PMID- 28591497
TI  - [ANCA-associated vasculitides at Mexico City's metropolitan Eastern area].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated (ANCA)
      vasculitides includes granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPW), Chrug
      Strauss syndrome (CSS) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Since it has low
      incidence in our field, there are a few published papers. The aim of this study
      was to report the clinical characteristics, activity and damage of these
      vasculitides in Mexico City's metropolitan eastern area. METHODS: We studied 28
      cases with ANCA-associated vasculitis in the aforementioned area. The
      classification was made according to the ACR 1990 criteria, the Chapel Hill 2012
      consensus, and the EULAR 2007 recommendations. We collected demographic data, as
      well as data of clinical manifestations, laboratory, management and outcomes. The
      activity was established using the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS)
      and the damage using the Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI). We used paired t test and
      95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: 15 females and 13 males were
      included, 20 with GPW and 8 with CCS. The mean age was 50.1 +/- 12.7 years, and
      the evolution time was 69 +/- 49.6 months. We didn't find cases of MAP. 23
      patients (82.1%) had general symptoms. The initial and final BVAS means were 10.5
      and 1.5 (p < 0.001) and the global VDI was 2.4. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of ANCA
      associated vasculitides is rare in the eastern Metropolitan area of Mexico City.
      GPW was predominant over CCS, and MPA was absent. They are multi-system
      vasculitides with high scores of initial activity and moderate damage.

PMID- 28591498
TI  - [Methodologies for estimating the indirect costs of traffic accidents].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traffic accidents generate multiple costs to society, including those
      associated with the loss of productivity. However, there is no consensus about
      the most appropriate methodology for estimating those costs. The aim of this
      study was to review methods for estimating indirect costs applied in crash cost
      studies. METHODS: A thematic review of the literature was carried out between
      1995 and 2012 in PubMed with the terms cost of illness, indirect cost, road
      traffic injuries, productivity loss. RESULTS: For the assessment of costs we used
      the the human capital method, on the basis of the wage-income lost during the
      time of treatment and recovery of patients and caregivers. In the case of
      premature death or total disability, the discount rate was applied to obtain the
      present value of lost future earnings. The computed years arose by subtracting to
      life expectancy at birth the average age of those affected who are not
      incorporated into the economically active life. CONCLUSIONS: The interest in
      minimizing the problem is reflected in the evolution of the implemented
      methodologies. We expect that this review is useful to estimate efficiently the
      real indirect costs of traffic accidents.

PMID- 28591499
TI  - [Dienogest usefulness in pelvic pain due to endometriosis. A meta-analysis of its
      effectiveness].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is the presence of functional endometrial tissue in the
      pelvic peritoneum and it affects several age groups. That is why the impact of
      endometriosis in quality of life is considerable. The objective of this study was
      to evaluate the effectiveness of dienogest in patients with pelvic pain
      associated to endometriosis (PPAE). METHODS: The evaluation of the effectiveness
      was carried out through a systematic review using the Cochrane methodology. It
      was used Markov model, which considers two states of health (with and without
      PPAE), with the possibility of weekly transition. Women between 18 and 45 years
      with PPAE were included, in a temporary horizon of 26 weeks. A level of
      statistical significance of 95% was used for a p < 0.05, with a multivariate
      probabilistic analysis of sensibility, as well as a univariate analysis of
      sensibility in several scenarios. RESULTS: The probability that the female
      patient did not experience PPAE with the initial treatment was 87.91% with
      dienogest, 80.07% with danazol, 84.93% with medroxyprogesterone (injectable and
      oral) and 89.17% with gosereline. The probability that the female patient
      abandoned her initial treatment was 9% with dienogest, 12.07% with danazol, 9.6
      and 6.75% with medroxyprogesterone injectable and oral, respectively, and 10.8
      and 3.6% 3-monthly and monthly with gosereline. CONCLUSION: Compared to danazol,
      medroxiprogesterone and gosereline, dienogest is the most efficient alternative
      to treat PPAE.

PMID- 28591500
TI  - [Optimism, family cohesion and treatment as predictors of quality of life in
      blood cancer diseases].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quality of life must be a part of the goals of care given to blood
      cancer patients and it must be used to assess the effectiveness of their
      treatment. The objective was to evaluate the quality of life of patients with
      leukemia and its relationship with psychological, familial and disease-related
      aspects. METHODS: An analytic cross-sectional study was carried out in patients
      with acute leukemia at different stages of treatment. We used SF-36, Optimism and
      Family Cohesion scales. RESULTS: Quality of life was affected physically and
      mentally in the treatment phases aimed to mitigate the active, and the advanced
      stage of this disease (50.6 +/- 25.6, 62 +/- 14.3; 46 +/- 23.2, 53.8 +/- 23.4,
      respectively), regardless of gender, age, level of optimism and family cohesion.
      Patients could carry out basic functions of self-care (bathing, feeding,
      etcetera), but not activities of daily living (shopping, household chores,
      etcetera), which require a greater effort. Although the patients perceived having
      been affected in the emotional health area-by the presence of anxiety and
      depression-they did not consider that these alterations limited their ability to
      carry out work and everyday activities. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life was most
      affected at mental dimension and physical dimension, mainly in patients at
      induction and palliative treatment. The results showed that the objectives of
      care aimed to reduce symptoms and maintain patient comfort are not achieved.

PMID- 28591501
TI  - [Implementation of a clinical prediction tool in renal transplant recipients].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kasiske developed a tool for predicting the risk of 5-year graft
      loss. We analyzed our results using this model. METHODS: 109 deceased donor
      kidney transplants were included. 5-year probability of graft survival was
      calculated during transplantation, seven days after transplantation and 1-year
      after transplantation. Z-test and ROC curves were used for proportion differences
      and discrimination ability. RESULTS: Mean age of donor and recipient was 33.7 and
      33.9 years, respectively. 59.6% died due to trauma. Mean of years on dialysis was
      3.7. 22.9% of patients had delayed graft function (DGF). Calculated 5-year
      probability of graft survival during transplantation time was 74.1%; 7 days after
      transplantation, 74.9%; and one year after transplantation, 76.4%. 5-year death
      censored graft survival was 64.9%. There were no differences between death
      censored graft survival and calculated probabilities (Z-test), with a C-statistic
      value of 0.54 +/- 0.6 (95%CI 0.42-0.65, p = 0.5) and 0.51 +/- 0.6 (0.39-0.63, 95%
      CI, p = 0. 7) for transplant time and seven days after. C-statistic value 1-year
      after transplantation was 0.68 +/- 0.8 (95%CI 0.52-0.84, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION:
      Only calculated 5-year graft survival one year after transplantation had modest
      prediction ability.

PMID- 28591502
TI  - [Factors associated with physical activity and body mass index among
      schoolchildren from Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2015, Mexico was the top country for childhood obesity. The
      objective was to identify the association between physical activity and sedentary
      lifestyle with the social and demographic characteristics of families of
      schoolchildren in Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study,
      192 schoolchildren were randomly selected. Body mass index (BMI), active and
      sedentary behaviors, and socio-demographic characteristics of families were
      obtained. Logistic regression models with the included variables were
      constructed. RESULTS: Males living in not-crowding houses [OR 6.12 (2.17-17.25),
      p = 0.001], whose mothers were housewives [OR 2.44 (1.00, 5.94), p = 0.05],
      practiced more physical activity. Active transport to school was more common in
      schoolchildren whose fathers had lower income [OR 3.13 (1.27, 7.7), p = 0.013]
      and employment as peasant or mason [OR 5.12 (1.13, 23.3), p = 0.034].
      Schoolchildren of nuclear families spent more hours watching television [OR 2.69
      (1.10, 6.58), p = 0.03]. The frequency of outdoor playing was higher in males
      whose fathers had unstable employment [OR 2.93 (1.06, 8.1), p = 0.038] and low
      education [OR 2.94 (0.96, 8.98), p = 0.059]. CONCLUSION: Families with lower
      socioeconomic strata (less educated parents, unstable employment and family
      overcrowding) are more associated with active activities that do not require
      active economic spending.

PMID- 28591503
TI  - [Cytogenetics of myelodysplastic syndromes and its impact as prognostic factor].
AB  - Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of disorders of the hematopoietic
      stem cell. They are characterized by cytopenia(s), dysplasia of one or more cell
      lines, ineffective hematopoiesis, and an increased risk for developing acute
      myelogenous leukemia. The classification of MDS has been complicated due to the
      great heterogeneity in clinical phenotype as well as in the morphological and
      cytogenetic characteristics. The prognostic value of cytogenetic abnormalities in
      MDS has been analyzed in multicenter studies. This approach raised the
      development of the revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R),
      which analyzes five prognostic variables, among which the cytogenetic study
      stands out. According to the cytogenetic findings, a classification of MDS in
      five subgroups was developed. Knowledge of the cytogenetic abnormalities has led
      to the study of genes involved in various chromosomal rearrangements. Moreover,
      DNA sequencing has helped to identify mutations in approximately 50 genes related
      to signal transduction, DNA methylation, transcriptional regulation, and RNA
      splicing. Therefore, the cytogenetic study should be used to improve the
      classification and therapeutic management of MDS. This approach will be an
      essential tool for the development of targeted therapy protocols.

PMID- 28591504
TI  - [Cellular senescence as a common denominator in age-related diseases].
AB  - Cellular senescence has been traditionally characterized by cell cycle arrest of
      pot-mitotic cells as a response to a cellular damage. Now is known that senescent
      cells secret a diverse array of cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and other
      that altogether are called senescence associates secretory phenotype (SASP),
      which might have beneficial or deleterious effects on neighbor cells. This review
      describes those effects as well as the relationship between the SASP and several
      age related diseases. We also analyze the direction that recent investigations
      are turning in order to modulate or avoid the effect of the SASP in those
      pathologies.

PMID- 28591505
TI  - [The ENARM and the schools and faculties of medicine. An analysis that nobody
      will like].
AB  - In Mexico, the career of Doctor of Medicine has been considered as a prerequisite
      stage to access the specialization. Of course the majority of medical graduates
      aspire to undertake postgraduate courses in the different institutions that have
      a university program. The Examen Nacional de Aspirantes a Residencias Medicas
      (ENARM) (National Evaluation for Medical Residency Applicants) has become for the
      supporters a gap between the possibility of practicing the profession in a decent
      way and with a regular remuneration or exercising it in very limited conditions
      and with low economic income or even without exercising it. For educational
      institutions, the ENARM and the percentages of selection of their graduates are
      indicators of efficiency and a source of prestige and even of propaganda among
      the aspirants to study medicine. In this study, we carried out an analysis of the
      results of the ENARM in the last 15 years. For this we refer to the reports of
      the Postgraduate and Continuing Education Committee of the CIFRHS of the
      Directorate of Health Education of the General Directorate of Quality and Health
      Education Of the Undersecretariat of Innovation and Quality of the Ministry of
      Health, from the examination carried out in 2001 to the one carried out in 2016.

PMID- 28591506
TI  - [Persists the controversy concerning the rutinary use of diagnostic tests in
      asymptomatic persons].
AB  - Currently, in medicine there is an environment replete with controversy and
      debate, partially due to the popular concept Evidence-Based Medicine, and to the
      development of technological advances and, apparently, better therapeutic
      resources. This has led to the establishment of an over-diagnosis epidemic and to
      an excess of therapeutic interventions, which do not necessarily lead to a longer
      life expectancy. Some medical controversies, which have called the attention of
      physicians and even of common people are those related with dislipoproteinemias,
      pre-diabetes and detection of cancer in asymptomatic persons. The debate and the
      controversy will surely continue and that is why it is very important to
      emphasize that clinical practice should be personalized, taking into account
      risks and implied benefits.

PMID- 28591507
TI  - [Regarding surface ablation as an ethically superior option when compared to
      LASIK: primum non nocere].
AB  - Refractive surgery is an extremely safe surgical intervention, with excellent
      profiles of clinical improvement and satisfaction. The ethical responsibility of
      the refractive surgeon is to look for diminishing the patients' exposure to
      unnecessary risks. Therefore, surface ablation would be a preferable option over
      LASIK as the former has a better safety profile than the latter, without
      compromising final visual acuity. Ethically, surface ablation should be
      considered as the first choice in those patients undergoing Excimer laser
      refractive surgery.

PMID- 28591508
TI  - [Considerations concerning medical knowledge inherited in Mexico from 19th
      century: the diabetes mellitus case].
AB  - In Mexico, as in the entire Western world, during the 19th century and the
      beginnings of the 20th century, medical knowledge developed in a remarkable way
      and the case of diabetes mellitus was not the exception. This situation, which
      arose on the basis of the antique paradigm, and which in turn was overthrown by
      the positivism as the emergent paradigm (with its clinical and anatomical, as
      well as physiopathological and etiopathological viewpoints), was reflected during
      the 19th the century through its actors and the communications that opened the
      access of Mexican medicine to the modernity.

PMID- 28591510
TI  - [Overlap syndrome. LEOPARD and neurofibromatosis. A case report].
AB  - We expose a clinical case of a 43-year-old patient who was attended at the
      Dermatology service in a general hospital of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro
      Social, with a disseminated pattern of lentigines, psychomotor retardation and
      electrocardiographic abnormalities. Afterwards, we made an analysis of the
      literature.

PMID- 28591509
TI  - [Double pneumotorax secondary to single proyectile weapon: One case report and
      review of literature].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 25% of traumatic deaths are due to chest trauma with a mortality
      of 28%, and closed trauma is the most common mechanism of injury. The use of
      firearms increases the relative risk of death. The five more frequent specific
      chest injuries are lung contusion (31.8%), hemothorax/pneumothorax (19.4%), rib
      fractures (13.2%), and diaphragmatic injury (7.5%). CLINICAL CASE: Patient of 25
      years with a single firearm projectile wound in the chest who assisted to the
      emergency room (ER) with significant respiratory distress and meriting surgical
      emergency airway, documenting double pneumothorax, aortic laceration and rupture
      of the trachea, which required management in the ER with bilateral chest tube
      placement and subsequent surgical repair. CONCLUSION: Anatomical and
      pathophysiological knowledge and the standardized management of the international
      guidelines are the key to keep a high level of suspect with a patient with chest
      penetrating trauma. Besides they improve the possibility of diagnosis and timely
      treatment.

PMID- 28591511
TI  - Electrodeposition of Amorphous Molybdenum Chalcogenides from Ionic Liquids and
      Their Activity for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.
AB  - This work reports on the general electrodeposition mechanism of
      tetrachalcogenmetallates from 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium
      bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide. Both tetrathio- and tetraselenomolybdate
      underwent anodic electrodeposition and cathodic corrosion reactions as determined
      by UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry. Electrodeposition was carried out by cycling
      the potential between the anodic and cathodic regimes. This resulted in a film of
      densely packed nanoparticles of amorphous MoSx or MoSex as determined by SEM,
      Raman, and XPS. The films were shown to have high activity for the hydrogen
      evolution reaction. The onset potential (J = 1 mA/cm2) of the MoSx film was E = 
      0.208 V vs RHE, and that of MoSex was E = -0.230 V vs RHE. The Tafel slope of
      MoSx was 42 mV/decade, and that of MoSex was 59 mV/decade.

PMID- 28591512
TI  - Discovery of a Highly Selective Tankyrase Inhibitor Displaying Growth Inhibition
      Effects against a Diverse Range of Tumor Derived Cell Lines.
AB  - The availability of high quality probes for specific protein targets is
      fundamental to the investigation of their function and their validation as
      therapeutic targets. We report the utilization of a dedicated chemoproteomic
      assay platform combining affinity enrichment technology with high-resolution
      protein mass spectrometry to the discovery of a novel nicotinamide isoster, the
      tetrazoloquinoxaline 41, a highly potent and selective tankyrase inhibitor. We
      also describe the use of 41 to investigate the biology of tankyrase, revealing
      the compound induced growth inhibition of a number of tumor derived cell lines,
      demonstrating the potential of tankyrase inhibitors in oncology.

PMID- 28591514
TI  - Elastin-like Polypeptide Linkers for Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy.
AB  - Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) is by now well established as a
      standard technique in biophysics and mechanobiology. In recent years, the
      technique has benefitted greatly from new approaches to bioconjugation of
      proteins to surfaces. Indeed, optimized immobilization strategies for
      biomolecules and refined purification schemes are being steadily adapted and
      improved, which in turn has enhanced data quality. In many previously reported
      SMFS studies, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was used to anchor molecules of
      interest to surfaces and/or cantilever tips. The limitation, however, is that PEG
      exhibits a well-known trans-trans-gauche to all-trans transition, which results
      in marked deviation from standard polymer elasticity models such as the worm-like
      chain, particularly at elevated forces. As a result, the assignment of unfolding
      events to protein domains based on their corresponding amino acid chain lengths
      is significantly obscured. Here, we provide a solution to this problem by
      implementing unstructured elastin-like polypeptides as linkers to replace PEG. We
      investigate the suitability of tailored elastin-like polypeptides linkers and
      perform direct comparisons to PEG, focusing on attributes that are critical for
      single-molecule force experiments such as linker length, monodispersity, and
      bioorthogonal conjugation tags. Our results demonstrate that by avoiding the
      ambiguous elastic response of mixed PEG/peptide systems and instead building the
      molecular mechanical systems with only a single bond type with uniform elastic
      properties, we improve data quality and facilitate data analysis and
      interpretation in force spectroscopy experiments. The use of all-peptide linkers
      allows alternative approaches for precisely defining elastic properties of
      proteins linked to surfaces.

PMID- 28591513
TI  - Unravelling the Molecular Basis of High Affinity Nanobodies against HIV p24: In
      Vitro Functional, Structural, and in Silico Insights.
AB  - Preventing the spread of infectious diseases remains an urgent priority
      worldwide, and this is driving the development of advanced nanotechnology to
      diagnose infections at the point of care. Herein, we report the creation of a
      library of novel nanobody capture ligands to detect p24, one of the earliest
      markers of HIV infection. We demonstrate that these nanobodies, one tenth the
      size of conventional antibodies, exhibit high sensitivity and broad specificity
      to global HIV-1 subtypes. Biophysical characterization indicates strong 690 pM
      binding constants and fast kinetic on-rates, 1 to 2 orders of magnitude better
      than monoclonal antibody comparators. A crystal structure of the lead nanobody
      and p24 was obtained and used alongside molecular dynamics simulations to
      elucidate the molecular basis of these enhanced performance characteristics. They
      indicate that binding occurs at C-terminal helices 10 and 11 of p24, a negatively
      charged region of p24 complemented by the positive surface of the nanobody
      binding interface involving CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3 loops. Our findings have broad
      implications on the design of novel antibodies and a wide range of advanced
      biomedical applications.

PMID- 28591515
TI  - ROC'n'Ribo: Characterizing a Riboswitching Expression System by Modeling Single
      Cell Data.
AB  - RNA-engineered systems offer simple and versatile control over gene expression in
      many organisms. In particular, the design and implementation of riboswitches
      presents a unique opportunity to manipulate any reporter device in cis, executing
      tight temporal and spatial control at low metabolic costs. Assembled to higher
      order genetic circuits, such riboswitch-regulated devices may efficiently process
      logical operations. Here, we propose a hierarchical stochastic modeling approach
      to characterize an in silico repressor gate based on neomycin- and tetracycline
      sensitive riboswitches. The model was calibrated on rich, transient in vivo
      single-cell data to account for cell-to-cell variability. To capture the effect
      of this variability on gate performance we employed the well-known ROC-analysis
      and derived a novel performance indicator for logic gates. Introduction of such a
      performance measure is necessary, since we aimed to assess the correct
      functionality of the gate at the single-cell level-a prerequisite for its further
      adaption to a genetic circuitry. Our results may be applied to other genetic
      devices to analyze their efficiency and ensure their correct performance in the
      light of cell-to-cell variability.

PMID- 28591516
TI  - Impact of Drug-Rich Colloids of Itraconazole and HPMCAS on Membrane Flux in Vitro
      and Oral Bioavailability in Rats.
AB  - Improving the oral absorption of compounds with low aqueous solubility is a
      common challenge that often requires an enabling technology. Frequently, oral
      absorption can be improved by formulating the compound as an amorphous solid
      dispersion (ASD). Upon dissolution, an ASD can reach a higher concentration of
      unbound drug than the crystalline form, and often generates a large number of sub
      micrometer, rapidly dissolving drug-rich colloids. These drug-rich colloids have
      the potential to decrease the diffusional resistance across the unstirred water
      layer of the intestinal tract (UWL) by acting as rapidly diffusing shuttles for
      unbound drug. In a prior study utilizing a membrane flux assay, we demonstrated
      that, for itraconazole, increasing the concentration of drug-rich colloids
      increased membrane flux in vitro. In this study, we evaluate spray-dried
      amorphous solid dispersions (SDDs) of itraconazole with hydroxypropyl
      methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS) to study the impact of varying
      concentrations of drug-rich colloids on the oral absorption of itraconazole in
      rats, and to quantify their impact on in vitro flux as a function of bile salt
      concentration. When Sporanox and itraconazole/AFFINISOL High Productivity HPMCAS
      SDDs were dosed in rats, the maximum absorption rate for each formulation rank
      ordered with membrane flux in vitro. The relative maximum absorption rate in vivo
      correlated well with the in vitro flux measured in 2% SIF (26.8 mM bile acid
      concentration), a representative bile acid concentration for rats. In vitro it
      was found that as the bile salt concentration increases, the importance of
      colloids for improving UWL permeability is diminished. We demonstrate that drug
      containing micelles and colloids both contribute to aqueous boundary layer
      diffusion in proportion to their diffusion coefficient and drug loading. These
      data suggest that, for compounds with very low aqueous solubility and high
      epithelial permeability, designing amorphous formulations that produce colloids
      on dissolution may be a viable approach to improve oral bioavailability.

PMID- 28591517
TI  - An ATP-Responsive Codelivery System of Doxorubicin and MiR-34a To Synergistically
      Inhibit Cell Proliferation and Migration.
AB  - Establishing stimulus-responsive nanosystems for the codelivery of anticancer
      drug and oligonucleotide is a promising strategy in cancer treatment owing to the
      combination of chemotherapy and gene therapy in a synergistic manner. Herein, an
      ATP aptamer and its cDNA sequence were first hybridized to produce the duplex,
      into which chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX) interacted through the GC
      rich motif of duplex, and PEI25K was then employed as a carrier to condense the
      DOX-loading duplex and miR-34a to construct the ternary nanocomplex PEI/DOX
      Duplex/miR-34a. The nanocomplex exhibited a favorable drug release profile
      through the response to high concentration of ATP in the cytosol. The ATP
      responsive delivery system was demonstrated to possess higher antiproliferative
      effect (cell viability of <40%) than the single cargo delivery, which could be
      attributed to the synergistic induction of cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest
      from DOX and miR-34a. Furthermore, wound healing and Transwell assay elucidated
      the higher antimigration effect of ternary nanocomplex than DOX-Duplex or miR-34a
      delivery. Overall, the combinatorial delivery of DOX and miR-34a through an ATP
      responsive manner could trigger the rapid release of cargoes in the cytosol and
      enhance the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration through the
      synergistic manner of these two components.

PMID- 28591518
TI  - Intra-operative mapping of the atria: the first step towards individualization of
      atrial fibrillation therapy?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation (AF), an age-related progressive disease, is
      becoming a worldwide epidemic with a prevalence rate of 33 million. Areas
      covered: In this expert review, an overview of important results obtained from
      previous intra-operative mapping studies is provided. In addition, our novel
      intra-operative high resolution mapping studies, its surgical considerations and
      data analyses are discussed. Furthermore, the importance of high resolution
      mapping studies of both sinus rhythm and AF for the development of future AF
      therapy is underlined by our most recent results. Expert commentary: Progression
      of AF is determined by the extensiveness of electropathology which is defined as
      conduction disorders caused by structural damage of atrial tissue. The severity
      of electropathology is a major determinant of therapy failure. At present, we do
      not have any diagnostic tool to determine the degree of electropathology in the
      individual patient and we can thus not select the most optimal treatment modality
      for the individual patient. An intra-operative, high resolution scale, epicardial
      mapping approach combined with quantification of electrical parameters may serve
      as a diagnostic tool to stage AF in the individual patient and to provide patient
      tailored therapy.

PMID- 28591519
TI  - Cyberattack on Britain's National Health Service - A Wake-up Call for Modern
      Medicine.

PMID- 28591520
TI  - Targeting Unconscionable Prescription-Drug Prices - Maryland's Anti-Price-Gouging
      Law.

PMID- 28591521
TI  - Changes in face-specific neural processing explain reduced cuteness and
      approachability of infants with cleft lip.
AB  - The current study investigated whether changes in the neural processing of faces
      of infants with a facial abnormality - a cleft lip - mediate effects of the cleft
      lip on judgments of infant cuteness and approachability. Event-related potentials
      (ERPs) in response to pictures of faces of healthy infants and infants with a
      cleft lip, and ratings of cuteness and approachability of these infant faces,
      were obtained from 30 females. Infants with a cleft lip were rated as less
      attractive (less cute and approachable) than healthy infants, and both the N170
      and P2 components of the ERP were of reduced amplitude in response to pictures of
      infants with a cleft lip. Importantly, decreased configural processing of infant
      faces with a cleft lip, as evidenced by reduced N170 amplitudes, mediated the
      reduced attractiveness ratings for infants with a cleft lip compared to healthy
      infants. Our findings help elucidate the mechanisms behind the less favorable
      responses to infants with a cleft lip, highlighting the role of face-specific
      rather than domain-general neural processes.

PMID- 28591522
TI  - Health Effects of Dramatic Societal Events - Ramifications of the Recent
      Presidential Election.

PMID- 28591524
TI  - Pembrolizumab for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

PMID- 28591525
TI  - Pembrolizumab for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

PMID- 28591526
TI  - Pembrolizumab for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

PMID- 28591529
TI  - Are Small Breast Cancers Good because They Are Small or Small because They Are
      Good?

PMID- 28591530
TI  - Tight Glycemic Control in Critically Ill Children.

PMID- 28591527
TI  - Case 17-2017. A 14-Year-Old Boy with Acute Fear of Choking while Swallowing.

PMID- 28591523
TI  - Completion Dissection or Observation for Sentinel-Node Metastasis in Melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sentinel-lymph-node biopsy is associated with increased melanoma
      specific survival (i.e., survival until death from melanoma) among patients with
      node-positive intermediate-thickness melanomas (1.2 to 3.5 mm). The value of
      completion lymph-node dissection for patients with sentinel-node metastases is
      not clear. METHODS: In an international trial, we randomly assigned patients with
      sentinel-node metastases detected by means of standard pathological assessment or
      a multimarker molecular assay to immediate completion lymph-node dissection
      (dissection group) or nodal observation with ultrasonography (observation group).
      The primary end point was melanoma-specific survival. Secondary end points
      included disease-free survival and the cumulative rate of nonsentinel-node
      metastasis. RESULTS: Immediate completion lymph-node dissection was not
      associated with increased melanoma-specific survival among 1934 patients with
      data that could be evaluated in an intention-to-treat analysis or among 1755
      patients in the per-protocol analysis. In the per-protocol analysis, the mean (+/
      SE) 3-year rate of melanoma-specific survival was similar in the dissection group
      and the observation group (86+/-1.3% and 86+/-1.2%, respectively; P=0.42 by the
      log-rank test) at a median follow-up of 43 months. The rate of disease-free
      survival was slightly higher in the dissection group than in the observation
      group (68+/-1.7% and 63+/-1.7%, respectively; P=0.05 by the log-rank test) at 3
      years, based on an increased rate of disease control in the regional nodes at 3
      years (92+/-1.0% vs. 77+/-1.5%; P<0.001 by the log-rank test); these results must
      be interpreted with caution. Nonsentinel-node metastases, identified in 11.5% of
      the patients in the dissection group, were a strong, independent prognostic
      factor for recurrence (hazard ratio, 1.78; P=0.005). Lymphedema was observed in
      24.1% of the patients in the dissection group and in 6.3% of those in the
      observation group. CONCLUSIONS: Immediate completion lymph-node dissection
      increased the rate of regional disease control and provided prognostic
      information but did not increase melanoma-specific survival among patients with
      melanoma and sentinel-node metastases. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute
      and others; MSLT-II ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00297895 .).

PMID- 28591531
TI  - Large Arachnoid Cyst.

PMID- 28591532
TI  - Mondor's Disease.

PMID- 28591533
TI  - Management of Septic Shock.

PMID- 28591534
TI  - The Enigma of Regional Lymph Nodes in Melanoma.

PMID- 28591535
TI  - Acute Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

PMID- 28591536
TI  - Income and Cancer Overdiagnosis - When Too Much Care Is Harmful.

PMID- 28591537
TI  - Blinatumomab for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

PMID- 28591538
TI  - Risk of Diabetic Ketoacidosis after Initiation of an SGLT2 Inhibitor.

PMID- 28591539
TI  - Data-Sharing Models.

PMID- 28591540
TI  - Reviving a Drug for Tuberculosis?

PMID- 28591542
TI  - Social Anxiety Disorder.

PMID- 28591541
TI  - Lithium Use in Pregnancy and the Risk of Cardiac Malformations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been concern that exposure to lithium early in pregnancy
      may be associated with a marked increase in the risk of Ebstein's anomaly (a
      right ventricular outflow tract obstruction defect) in infants and overall
      congenital cardiac defects, but data are conflicting and limited. METHODS: We
      conducted a cohort study involving 1,325,563 pregnancies in women who were
      enrolled in Medicaid and who delivered a live-born infant between 2000 and 2010.
      We examined the risk of cardiac malformations among infants exposed to lithium
      during the first trimester as compared with unexposed infants and, in secondary
      analyses, with infants exposed to another commonly used mood stabilizer,
      lamotrigine. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated with control
      for psychiatric and medical conditions, medications, and other potential
      confounders. RESULTS: Cardiac malformations were present in 16 of the 663 infants
      exposed to lithium (2.41%), 15,251 of the 1,322,955 nonexposed infants (1.15%),
      and 27 of the 1945 infants exposed to lamotrigine (1.39%). The adjusted risk
      ratio for cardiac malformations among infants exposed to lithium as compared with
      unexposed infants was 1.65 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 2.68). The risk
      ratio was 1.11 (95% CI, 0.46 to 2.64) for a daily dose of 600 mg or less, 1.60
      (95% CI, 0.67 to 3.80) for 601 to 900 mg, and 3.22 (95% CI, 1.47 to 7.02) for
      more than 900 mg. The prevalence of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction
      defects was 0.60% among lithium-exposed infants versus 0.18% among unexposed
      infants (adjusted risk ratio, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.00 to 7.06). Results were similar
      when lamotrigine-exposed infants were used as the reference group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Maternal use of lithium during the first trimester was associated with an
      increased risk of cardiac malformations, including Ebstein's anomaly; the
      magnitude of this effect was smaller than had been previously postulated. (Funded
      by the National Institute of Mental Health.).

PMID- 28591544
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28591545
TI  - Reply to F. Liang et al.

PMID- 28591547
TI  - Population estimates and characteristics of Australians potentially eligible for
      bariatric surgery: findings from the 2011?13 Australian Health Survey.
AB  - Objective The aim of the present study was to determine the potential demand for
      publicly and privately funded bariatric surgery in Australia.Methods Nationally
      representative data from the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey were used to
      estimate the numbers and characteristics of Australians meeting specific
      eligibility criteria as recommended in National Health and Medical Research
      Council guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity.Results Of the
      3352037 adult Australians (aged 18-65 years) estimated to be obese in 2011-13,
      882441 (26.3%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 23.0-29.6) were potentially eligible
      for bariatric surgery (accounting for 6.2% (95% CI 5.4-7.1) of the adult
      population aged 18-65 years (n=14122020)). Of these, 396856 (45.0%; 95% CI 40.4
      49.5) had Class 3 obesity (body mass index (BMI) >=40kgm-2), 470945 (53.4%; 95%
      CI 49.0-57.7) had Class 2 obesity (BMI 35-39.9kgm-2) with obesity-related
      comorbidities or risk factors and 14640 (1.7%; 95% CI 0.6-2.7) had Class 1
      obesity (BMI 30-34.9kgm-2) with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes and increased
      cardiovascular risk; 458869 (52.0%; 95% CI 46.4-57.6) were female, 404594 (45.8%;
      95% CI 37.3-54.4) had no private health insurance and 309983 (35.1%; 95% CI 28.8
      41.4) resided outside a major city.Conclusion Even if only 5% of Australian
      adults estimated to be eligible for bariatric surgery sought this intervention,
      the demand, particularly in the public health system and outside major cities,
      would far outstrip current capacity. Better guidance on patient prioritisation
      and greater resourcing of public surgery are needed.What is known about this
      topic? In the period 2011-13, 4million Australian adults were estimated to be
      obese, with obesity disproportionately more prevalent in areas of socioeconomic
      disadvantage. Bariatric surgery is considered to be cost-effective and the most
      effective treatment for adults with obesity, but is mainly privately funded in
      Australia (>90%), with 16650 primary privately funded procedures performed in
      2015. The extent to which the supply of bariatric surgery is falling short of
      demand in Australia is unknown.What does this paper add? The present study
      provides important information for health service planners. For the first time,
      population estimates and characteristics of those potentially eligible for
      bariatric surgery in Australia have been described based on the best available
      evidence, using categories that best approximate the national recommended
      eligibility criteria.What are the implications for practitioners? Even if only 5%
      of those estimated to be potentially eligible for bariatric surgery in Australia
      sought a surgical pathway (44122 of 882441), the potential demand, particularly
      in the public health system and outside major cities, would still far outstrip
      current capacity, underscoring the immediate need for better guidance on patient
      prioritisation. The findings of the present study provide a strong signal that
      more funding of public surgery and other effective interventions to assist this
      population group are necessary.

PMID- 28591543
TI  - Influence of polyphenol-rich diet on exercise-induced immunomodulation in male
      endurance athletes.
AB  - Stress is associated with increased susceptibility to infection. We investigated
      if the mechanism involves immunomodulation of dendritic cells and whether this
      can be inhibited by a polyphenol-rich diet. Blood samples were taken from a total
      of 100 male endurance athletes at 5 time points around a marathon run: 4 weeks
      before; 1 week before; and immediately, 24 h, and 72 h after. Participants were
      randomized into 2 double-blinded groups. One group received a polyphenol-rich
      beverage during a 3-week training phase before marathon while the other group
      received a placebo beverage. Flow cytometric analysis of dendritic cell (DC)
      counts and subpopulation counts (myeloid, plasmocytoid DCs) was performed. Levels
      of viral antigen presenting toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 messenger RNA was measured
      by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Marathon running induced a significant
      increase of circulating myeloid DCs (0.2% vs. 0.33% of whole-blood leukocytes
      (wbl); p < 0.01) and a significant decrease of plasmozytoid DCs (0.12% vs. 0.03%
      of wbl; p < 0.01) and TLR7 expression (decline of 60%; p < 0.01). Polyphenol
      supplementation did not significantly affect mobilization of dendritic cells but
      showed beneficial effects on regeneration of TLR7 expression in wbl at 3 days
      postmarathon (decline of 40% vs. increase of 1000%; p < 0.05). In conclusion,
      physical stress affects circulating DCs, with an increase of myeloid and a
      decrease of plasmozytoid DCs. This may partially explain the susceptibility to
      viral infections after strenuous exercise. These detrimental effects are not
      attenuated by polyphenol supplementation. However, polyphenols support
      regeneration of viral antigen presenting TLR7 after strenuous exercise.

PMID- 28591546
TI  - Problematic Landmark Analysis Has Led to a Problematic Conclusion.

PMID- 28591548
TI  - UK healthcare professionals' uncertainties, barriers and facilitators to the
      introduction of targeted human papillomavirus vaccination for men who have sex
      with men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Female-only human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination will fail to
      protect men who have sex with men (MSM) against HPV and its sequelae (i.e.
      genital warts and anal cancers). In the absence of gender-neutral HPV
      vaccination, targeted vaccination at sexual health clinics for MSM offers a
      valuable preventive opportunity. This study aimed to identify sexual healthcare
      professionals' (HCPs) perceived barriers and facilitators for MSM-targeted HPV
      vaccination. METHODS: Nineteen telephone interviews with UK-based self-referred
      HCPs (13 doctors, three nurses, three health advisers) were conducted in October
      and November 2014. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data
      were analysed thematically by two researchers. RESULTS: HCPs were unsure about
      selection criteria, acceptable healthcare settings and the source of vaccination
      funding for the introduction of MSM-targeted HPV vaccination. Lack of political
      and public support, MSMs' limited access to HPV vaccination and disclosure of
      sexual orientation to HCPs, identification of eligible MSM, patients' poor HPV
      awareness and motivation to complete HPV vaccination were perceived as
      significant barriers. HCPs believed that the introduction of official guidelines
      on HPV vaccination for MSM, awareness campaigns and integrated clinic procedures
      could improve vaccination coverage. CONCLUSION: HCPs recognised a need to protect
      MSM against HPV. However, several challenges and obstacles associated with the
      introduction of MSM-targeted HPV vaccination in the UK were reported. HCPs'
      perspectives and concerns need to be addressed when developing policies and
      guidelines for a potential MSM-targeted HPV vaccination. Future research needs to
      examine whether negative views of HCPs towards MSM-targeted HPV vaccination are
      associated with lower HPV vaccine uptake and completion rates in MSM.

PMID- 28591549
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of condom use among sexually active men who have sex
      with men in the United States: findings from the National Survey of Family
      Growth, 2002, 2006-10 and 2011-13.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately at risk of
      contracting HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs). Correct and
      consistent condom use is the most effective method to prevent HIV and other STIs
      among sexually active MSM. METHODS: Using data from the 2002, 2006-10, 2011-13
      cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), the overall prevalence of
      condom use at last sex and by sexual risk behaviours (sex with >=2 same-sex
      partners, sex with >=2 opposite sex partners, sex with a person who injects
      drugs, sex with an HIV-positive person and exchanged sex for money or drugs)
      among sexually active MSM (reported oral or anal sex with a male in the preceding
      12 months) was estimated. The association between condom use at last sex and
      demographic and sexual behaviour variables was also evaluated. RESULTS:
      Approximately 31% of all respondents (n=618; weighted n=1596702) reported condom
      use at last sex. Among MSM who reported >=1 sexual risk behaviour in the past
      year, prevalence of condom use at last sex ranged from 30 to 38%. After adjusting
      for covariates, Hispanic MSM [adjusted prevalence ratio (APR)=1.81, 95%CI=1.27
      2.58] were more likely than White MSM to report condom use at last sex; MSM with
      a recently diagnosed STI (APR=1.71, 95%CI=1.04-2.80) were more likely than MSM
      without a recently diagnosed STI to report condom use at last sex; and married or
      cohabitating MSM (APR=0.29, 95%CI=0.13-0.66) were less likely than unmarried and
      not cohabitating MSM to report condom use at last sex. There was no difference in
      temporal trends in condom use at last sex across the three NSFG cycles [2002
      (33.8%); 2006-10 (25.6%); 2011-13 (40.6%), P=0.926]. CONCLUSIONS: This study data
      suggest that prevalence of condom use among MSM is low, even among MSM who report
      sexual risk behaviours. The continued promotion of consistent condom use as an
      effective primary HIV/STI risk-reduction strategy is important because it
      mitigates HIV and STI risk and also complements the effectiveness of newer HIV
      prevention approaches such as pre-exposure prophylaxis.

PMID- 28591550
TI  - Investigation of P120catenin Expression in Human Basal Cell Carcinoma of the
      Skin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: P120(ctn) is a specific membranous adhesion protein, that maintains
      the stability of intercellular junctions. An altered expression of p120(ctn),
      either reduced in the cell membrane or increase in the cytoplasm, plays a crucial
      role in carcinogenesis. No research has analysed the expression of p120(ctn) in
      basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin so far. Therefore, we
      immunohistochemically studied p120(ctn) in a set of cutaneous BCCs in order to
      determine, whether there is difference in the expression pattern related to the
      histologic subtypes and tumor growth characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      study group consisted of 38 BCCs cathegorized into low-risk (non-infiltrative)
      subroup (8 superficial and 12 nodular subtypes) and high-risk (infiltrative)
      subgroup (10 nodular-infiltrative and 8 infiltrative subtypes). Specific
      monoclonal antibody against p120(ctn) was used for staining. RESULTS: Overall,
      there were 12 cases (31.6%) with normal preserved and 26 cases (68.4%) with
      abnormal p120(ctn) expression. In superficial, nodular, nodular-infiltrative and
      infiltrative subtypes, abnormal p120(ctn) immunoreactivity was found in 37.5%
      (3/8), 41.7% (5/12), 100% (10/10) and 100% (8/8), respectively. We have confirmed
      a strong correlation between the expression of p120(ctn) and both given, non
      infiltrative and infiltrative BCC growth phenotypes. In the latter subgroup,
      almost all lesions showed diffusely reduced membranous staining, of which five
      also manifested an aberrant immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm. This cytoplasmic
      positivity occurred solely at the invasive front of the infiltrative tumor
      formations. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that decreased membranous expression
      of p120(ctn) was a frequent event in human cutaneous BCC and it was associated
      with infiltrative growth phenotype. Considering that nearly half of the BCCs with
      non-infiltrative growth pattern also exhibited reduced membranous expression,
      aberrant cytoplasmic immunoreactivity of p120(ctn), which was found exclusively
      in the high-risk BCC variants, can more reliably reflect and predict biological
      behaviour and malignant potential.

PMID- 28591552
TI  - Aberrant Cutaneous Nerve Loops in the Axilla.
AB  - During routine dissection classes, conducted for first year undergraduate medical
      students, we encountered a rare anatomical variation in relation to the
      intercostobrachial nerve (ICBN). The ICBN represents the lateral undivided
      cutaneous branch of second intercostal nerve. In this case, the ICBN formed nerve
      loops with branches of the lateral cutaneous branch of the third intercostal
      nerve. These loops eventually gave branches that probably supplied the floor of
      the axilla and proximal arm. Nowadays, this ICBN is gaining clinical importance
      during the axillary lymph node dissections and mammary gland surgeries. Damage to
      the ICBN, may results in the sensory deficits in patients undergoing surgery. In
      our case report, ICBN was making aberrant nerve loop along with the branches from
      the third intercostal nerve. Knowledge regarding the origin, formation and route
      of ICBN is of clinical significance to axillary surgeons, radiologist and
      anesthesiologists.

PMID- 28591551
TI  - Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: Analysis of the Central Compartment's Lymph Nodes
      Metastases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid carcinoma is typical by regional lymph nodes
      metastases. Therefore we decided to analyse associated risk factors. OBJECTIVE:
      In this retrospective study we focused on the incidence of metastatic involvement
      of the central compartment's lymph nodes correlated with age, size of the primary
      tumour, infiltration of thyroid gland capsule, positive lymphangioinvasion in
      order to assess risk factors. METHOD: We analysed group of 156 patients with
      papillary carcinoma, who have undergone total thyroidectomy and bilateral
      elective central compartment neck dissection. We evaluated the occurrence of
      metastases, size, infiltration and lymphangioinvasion based on definitive
      histology of the whole group and separately for subgroups of patients under and
      over 45 years. RESULT: We found metastatic involvement in 88 (56.4%) patients.
      When comparing the subgroups of patients under (73 patients) and over 45 years
      (83 patients), we found metastases in 56 vs. 32 (76.7% vs. 38.6%) patients. In
      the subgroup of younger patients we found significant higher incidence of
      metastases compared with the group of over 45 years, P < 0.001 (P = 0.000027). We
      found significant higher incidence of metastases in patients with positive
      capsule infiltration in the whole group, P < 0.001 (P = 0.00049); in the subgroup
      of under 45 years, P < 0.001 (P = 0.00091) and in patients with positive
      lymphangioinvasion in the whole group, P < 0.01 (P = 0.00177); in the subgroup of
      over 45 years, P < 0.001 (P = 0.0002). In patients with metastases we found
      tumour size >=1cm more frequently in all groups. CONCLUSION: We recorded higher
      incidence of regional metastases in patients under 45 years, positive capsule
      infiltration, lymphangioinvasion. Age under 45 years itself does not correlate
      with less aggressive disease, to the contrary some of other analysed risk factors
      correlate with more aggressive disease.

PMID- 28591553
TI  - Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Registry in Czech Republic - History, Present and
      Future.

PMID- 28591554
TI  - NLRP3 participates in the regulation of EMT in bleomycin-induced pulmonary
      fibrosis.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive and irreversible
      lung disease. Studies have shown that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)
      plays an important role in the development of IPF. The NLRP3 inflammasome is
      reported to be activated and play an important role in many respiratory diseases.
      However, whether the NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in alveolar epithelial cells
      as well as the regulatory role of NLRP3 in EMT have not been reported. In this
      study, we transfected NLRP3 siRNA into A549 and RLE-6TN cells and treated them
      with bleomycin (BLM) for 24h. Then, we detected the expression of NLRP3
      inflammasome-related proteins, EMT-related proteins and transforming growth
      factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) via western blotting, immunofluorescence and real-time
      quantitative PCR. The mRNA and protein level of NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1
      increased after treatment with BLM. The IL-1beta levels were significantly
      decreased after inhibition of NLRP3 and caspase-1. E-cadherin expression
      increased and alpha-SMA was reduced in the BLM group when inhibited by NLRP3. The
      level of TGF-beta1 was reduced after NLRP3 silencing. These results indicated
      that the NLRP3 inflammasome was activated in alveolar epithelial cells and that
      NLRP3 may regulate EMT through TGF-beta1. These results may extend our
      understanding of the mechanism of pulmonary fibrosis and provide a new
      therapeutic target for pulmonary fibrosis.

PMID- 28591556
TI  - Regulation of USP7: A High Incidence of E3 Complexes.
AB  - Ubiquitin (Ub) conjugation is a critical signalling process in eukaryotic cells.
      The precise regulation of deubiquitination is an important component of this
      signalling cascade. Here, we discuss how USP7 (or Herpes-Associated Ubiquitin
      Specific Protease, HAUSP), one of the most abundant deubiquitinating enzymes, is
      regulated by complex formation with regulatory proteins and targets. Full
      activity of USP7 requires that its C-terminal Ub-like domains fold back onto the
      catalytic domain, to allow the remodelling of the active site to a catalytically
      competent state by the very C-terminal peptide. This regulatory mode can be
      modulated by complex formation with other proteins. USP7 is found in a large
      number of relatively stable complexes with different possible functions. Complex
      formation can provide recruitment of a target, bring in an E3 Ub ligase, or
      modulate the activation of the deubiquitinating enzyme activity. These complexes
      make up potential cellular "switches", using their (de)ubiquitination ability to
      switch pathways on or off upon cellular signals. Here, we summarize what is known
      for USP7 complexes, focussing on the prevalence of E3 Ub ligases and how complex
      formation can affect Ub switches.

PMID- 28591555
TI  - Seroepidemiological study and associated risk factors of Toxocara canis infection
      among preschool children in Osun State, Nigeria.
AB  - Human toxocariasis is caused by the nematode, Toxocara canis and it is a poorly
      understood phenomenon in Nigeria. Seroepidemiological studies have not been
      previously carried out among the preschool aged children in Nigeria. A cross
      sectional study was conducted in pre-school children in four communities from
      Osun State, Nigeria between January and July 2016. A total of 308 children Aged 9
      months and 5 years were studied comprising 53.2% (164/308) male and 46.8%
      (144/308) female. Blood samples were collected and screened for the presence of
      anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies by Western blot analysis based on the excretory
      secretory antigens of larva T. canis (TcES), targeting low molecular weight bands
      of 24 - 35kDa specific for T. canis. Questionnaires were given to
      parents/guardians of the studied children to collect information regarding
      relationship between infection and host factors. The overall seroprevalence of
      Toxocara infection was 37.3%. The seroprevalence in the studied preschool
      children ranged from 18.2% in children less than one year old to a max of 57.6%
      in children aged 3 years and above. The logistic regression analysis of risk
      factors showed that children's age (odds ratio (OR)=6.12, 95% confidence interval
      (CI)=1.25-29.90, p=0.02), contact with dogs (OR=3.17, 95% CI=1.40-7.20, p=0.01)
      and parent's religion (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.32-0.91, p=0.02) were the risk factors
      associated with Toxocara infection. However, after adjustment by multivariate
      logistic regression analysis, contact with dogs (p=0.02) remained the only
      statistically significant risk factor. Preschool children were exposed early in
      life to T. canis infection as 18.18% of children less than one year old were
      infected. This is the first serological investigation of T. canis infection among
      preschool children in Nigeria. The results show high levels of exposure to T.
      canis infection among the studied group and contact with the dog plays the
      predominant risk factor. It indicates high transmission with the consequent of
      visceral or ocular larva migrans and neurologic disorder in these children. The
      results also provide baseline data for effective prevention strategies of
      toxocariasis in Southwest Nigeria and the study recommends prompt interventional
      measures, particularly health education on personal hygiene.

PMID- 28591557
TI  - Characterization of badnaviruses infecting Dioscorea spp. in the Pacific reveals
      two putative novel species and the first report of dioscorea bacilliform RT virus
      2.
AB  - The complete genome sequences of three new badnaviruses associated with yam
      (Dioscorea spp.) originating from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Samoa were
      determined following rolling circle amplification of the virus genomes. The full
      length genomes consisted of a single molecule of circular double-stranded DNA of
      8106bp for isolate FJ14, 7871bp for isolate PNG10 and 7426bp for isolate SAM01.
      FJ14 and PNG10 contained three open reading frames while SAM01 had an additional
      open reading frame which partially overlapped the 3' end of ORF 3. Amino acid
      sequence analysis of ORF 3 from the three isolates confirmed the presence of
      conserved motifs typical of other badnaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis revealed
      the sequences to be closely related to other Dioscorea-infecting badnaviruses.
      FJ14 and PNG10 appear to be new species, which we have tentatively named
      dioscorea bacilliform ES virus (DBESV) and dioscorea bacilliform AL virus 2
      (DBALV2), respectively, while SAM01 represents a Pacific isolate of the recently
      published dioscorea bacilliform RT virus 2 and is described as dioscorea
      bacilliform RT virus 2-[4RT] (DBRTV2-[4RT]).

PMID- 28591558
TI  - Validation of a new proposal to avoid donor resuscitation in controlled donation
      after circulatory death with normothermic regional perfusion.
AB  - AIM: The use of abdominal normothermic regional perfusion (nRP) and premortem
      interventions in controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) may represent
      a significant advance to increase the number and quality of grafts recovered in
      cDCD. The main limitation for the widespread acceptance of nRP in cDCD is the
      concerns of restoring circulation to the brain once death has been declared
      should the thoracic aorta not be adequately blocked. METHODS: We describe and
      validate a specific methodology to ensure an appropriate blocking of the thoracic
      aorta in a multicenter study using this technique. RESULTS: A total of 78
      procedures with premortem cannulation and abdominal nRP were performed in four
      different hospitals. No case of heart or brain resuscitation was observed after
      nRP CONCLUSION: The use of premortem interventions before nRP and the aortic
      occlusion balloon may increase the number of grafts recovered in cDCD. Our
      proposed methodology avoids the ethical problem of resuscitation by guaranteeing
      that circulation to the heart and brain is not restored after nRP.

PMID- 28591559
TI  - Repetition suppression in aging: A near-infrared spectroscopy study on the size
      congruity effect.
AB  - Age-related changes in the hemodynamic response regarding inhibition capacity and
      repetition suppression were examined using a modified version of the numerical
      Stroop task. Young (20-38 yrs; M = 28 yrs; N = 18), middle-aged (47-59 yrs; M =
      52 yrs; N = 17), and older participants (60-78 yrs; M = 69 yrs; N = 19) solved a
      physical and numerical version of the size-congruity task, in which trials from
      the same experimental condition were presented in triplets. Response times
      revealed a strong Stroop effect in both tasks (faster reaction times during
      neutral than during incongruent trials) and increased with participants' age.
      Reaction times decreased with item repetition. In line with previous studies, the
      hemodynamic response (relative concentration changes in oxygenated and
      deoxygenated hemoglobin) assessed with near-infrared spectroscopy was comparable
      across incongruent and neutral trials. Strong repetition suppression of the
      oxygenated hemoglobin response was observed in frontal brain regions as well as
      in the left parietal region in all age groups. In middle and right parietal
      regions, repetition suppression decreased with age and was absent among older
      participants. These results indicate a reduced adaptation of the hemodynamic
      response in middle and right parietal regions of older individuals' brains in
      response to repeated interference control.

PMID- 28591560
TI  - Implications of the lysophosphatidic acid signaling axis in liver cancer.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in
      western countries. The major risk factors for HCC are hepatitis C or B viruses,
      alcohol and metabolic disorders. The increasing risk of HCC in patients with
      metabolic disorders (i.e. obesity, diabetes and non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis/NASH) regardless of the presence of liver cirrhosis is becoming
      relevant. Nevertheless, molecular mechanisms linking these risk factors to liver
      oncogenesis are unclear. This review focuses on the pathogenic role of the
      lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) pathway in HCC, highlighting the implications of this
      bioactive phospholipid in liver cancer biology and metabolism and as potential
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 28591561
TI  - Over expression of GroESL in Cupriavidus necator for heterotrophic and
      autotrophic isopropanol production.
AB  - We previously reported a metabolic engineering strategy to develop an isopropanol
      producing strain of Cupriavidus necator leading to production of 3.4gL-1
      isopropanol. In order to reach higher titers, isopropanol toxicity to the cells
      has to be considered. A toxic effect of isopropanol on the growth of C. necator
      has been indeed observed above a critical value of 15gL-1. GroESL chaperones were
      first searched and identified in the genome of C. necator. Native groEL and groES
      genes from C. necator were over-expressed in a strain deleted for PHA synthesis.
      We demonstrated that over-expressing groESL genes led to a better tolerance of
      the strain towards exogenous isopropanol. GroESL genes were then over-expressed
      within the best engineered isopropanol producing strain. A final isopropanol
      concentration of 9.8gL-1 was achieved in fed-batch culture on fructose as the
      sole carbon source (equivalent to 16gL-1 after taking into account evaporation).
      Cell viability was slightly improved by the chaperone over-expression,
      particularly at the end of the fermentation when the isopropanol concentration
      was the highest. Moreover, the strain over-expressing the chaperones showed
      higher enzyme activity levels of the 2 heterologous enzymes (acetoacetate
      carboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase) of the isopropanol synthetic operon,
      translating to a higher specific production rate of isopropanol at the expense of
      the specific production rate of acetone. Over-expressing the native chaperones
      led to a 9-18% increase in the isopropanol yield on fructose.

PMID- 28591562
TI  - Identification of Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) as a drug target against MRSA via
      interolog method of protein-protein interaction prediction.
AB  - Patently, Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs) lie at the core of significant
      biological functions and make the foundation of host-pathogen relationships.
      Hence, the current study is aimed to use computational biology techniques to
      predict host-pathogen Protein-Protein Interactions (HP-PPIs) between MRSA and
      Humans as potential drug targets ultimately proposing new possible inhibitors
      against them. As a matter of fact this study is based on the Interolog method
      which implies that homologous proteins retain their ability to interact. A
      distant homolog approach based on Interolog method was employed to speculate MRSA
      protein homologs in Humans using PSI-BLAST. In addition the protein interaction
      partners of these homologs as listed in Database of Interacting Proteins (DIP)
      were predicted to interact with MRSA as well. Moreover, a direct approach using
      BLAST was also applied so as to attain further confidence in the strategy.
      Consequently, the common HP-PPIs predicted by both approaches are suggested as
      potential drug targets (22%) whereas, the unique HP-PPIs estimated only through
      distant homolog approach are presented as novel drug targets (12%). Furthermore,
      the most repeated entry in our results was found to be MRSA Histone Deacetylase
      (HDAC) which was then modeled using SWISS-MODEL. Eventually, small molecules from
      ZINC, selected randomly, were docked against HDAC using Auto Dock and are
      suggested as potential binders (inhibitors) based on their energetic profiles.
      Thus the current study provides basis for further in-depth analysis of such data
      which not only include MRSA but other deadly pathogens as well.

PMID- 28591563
TI  - Evaluation of the cytotoxicity and intestinal absorption of a self-emulsifying
      drug delivery system containing sodium taurocholate.
AB  - Currently, many surfactants used in self-emulsifying drug delivery systems
      (SMEDDS) can cause gastrointestinal mucosal irritation and systemic toxicity. In
      the present study, SMEDDS were loaded with pueraria flavones, using sodium
      taurocholate to replace polyoxyl 40 dydrogenated castor oil (Cremophor(r) RH 40)
      as the surfactant (PF-SMEDDSNR) to reduce the toxicity of SMEDDS using
      Cremophor(r) RH 40 as the surfactant (PF-SMEDDSR). The absorption rate constants
      (Ka) and intestinal permeability coefficients (Peff) were measured. The effects
      of P-glycoprotein inhibitor (verapamil), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) inhibitor
      (2,4-dinitrophenol), and carrier inhibitor on Ka and Peff values in the ileum
      were determined. Biological safety was also evaluated. The Ka and Peff values
      increased for PF-solution concentrations of 200MUg/ml>100MUg/ml>400MUg/ml in
      individual segments of the intestines. The results indicated that Peff values of
      PF-SMEDDSNR were distinctly higher than those of SMEDDS loaded with pueraria
      flavones using Cremophor(r)RH 40 as the surfactant (PF-SMEDDSR) and PF-solution
      in four intestinal segments. However, the Ka values of PF-SMEDDSNR were higher
      only in the jejunum and ileum segments compared with those of PF-SMEDDSR and PF
      solution. The Ka and Peff values without verapamil were significantly lower than
      those with verapamil. 2,4-Dinitrophenol had no effect on Ka and Peff values. The
      Ka and Peff values of PF-SMEDDSNR significantly decreased after perfusing B
      SMEDDSNR for 1h prior to the study. The cell viabilities after exposure to
      SMEDDSNR were higher than those of SMEDDSR in the range of 81-324MUg/ml. Lactate
      dehydrogenase release from cells treated with PF-SMEDDSNR or B-SMEDDSNR was
      significantly lower than that from cells treated with PF-SMEDDSR or B-SMEDDSR at
      surfactant concentrations of 243 and 324MUg/ml. However, there were no
      differences with SMEDDS treatment at surfactant concentrations of 0-162MUg/ml.
      Hence, we conclude that SMEDDS using sodium taurocholate as the surfactant can
      reduce the toxicity of SMEDDS, meanwhile, maintain the characteristics of SMEDDS,
      and enhance intestinal absorption.

PMID- 28591565
TI  - Quantitative proteomic analysis of the fall armyworm saliva.
AB  - Lepidopteran larvae secrete saliva on plant tissues during feeding. Components in
      the saliva may aid in food digestion, whereas other components are recognized by
      plants as cues to elicit defense responses. Despite the ecological and economical
      importance of these plant-feeding insects, knowledge of their saliva composition
      is limited to a few species. In this study, we identified the salivary proteins
      of larvae of the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda; determined
      qualitative and quantitative differences in the salivary proteome of the two host
      races-corn and rice strains-of this insect; and identified changes in total
      protein concentration and relative protein abundance in the saliva of FAW larvae
      associated with different host plants. Quantitative proteomic analyses were
      performed using labeling with isobaric tags for relative and absolute
      quantification followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In
      total, 98 proteins were identified (>99% confidence) in the FAW saliva. These
      proteins were further categorized into five functional groups: proteins
      potentially involved in (1) plant defense regulation, (2) herbivore offense, (3)
      insect immunity, (4) detoxification, (5) digestion, and (6) other functions.
      Moreover, there were differences in the salivary proteome between the FAW strains
      that were identified by label-free proteomic analyses. Thirteen differentially
      identified proteins were present in each strain. There were also differences in
      the relative abundance of eleven salivary proteins between the two FAW host
      strains as well as differences within each strain associated with different
      diets. The total salivary protein concentration was also different for the two
      strains reared on different host plants. Based on these results, we conclude that
      the FAW saliva contains a complex mixture of proteins involved in different
      functions that are specific for each strain and its composition can change
      plastically in response to diet type.

PMID- 28591566
TI  - Regulation of clustered protocadherin genes in individual neurons.
AB  - Individual neurons are basic functional units in the complex system of the brain.
      One aspect of neuronal individuality is generated by stochastic and combinatorial
      expression of diverse clustered protocadherins (Pcdhs), encoded by the Pcdha,
      Pcdhb, and Pcdhg gene clusters, that are critical for several aspects of neural
      circuit formation. Each clustered Pcdh gene has its own promoter containing
      conserved sequences and is transcribed by a promoter choice mechanism involving
      interaction between the promoter and enhancers. A CTCF/Cohesin complex induces
      this interaction by configuration of DNA-looping in the chromatin structure. At
      the same time, the semi-stochastic expression of clustered Pcdh genes is
      regulated in individual neurons by DNA methylation: the methyltransferase Dnmt3b
      regulates methylation state of individual clustered Pcdh genes during early
      embryonic stages prior to the establishment of neural stem cells. Several other
      factors, including Smchd1, also contribute to the regulation of clustered Pcdh
      gene expression. In addition, psychiatric diseases and early life experiences of
      individuals can influence expression of clustered Pcdh genes in the brain,
      through epigenetic alterations. Clustered Pcdh gene expression is thus a
      significant and highly regulated step in establishing neuronal individuality and
      generating functional neural circuits in the brain.

PMID- 28591564
TI  - Effect of a model consultation informed by guidelines on recorded quality of care
      of osteoarthritis (MOSAICS): a cluster randomised controlled trial in primary
      care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of a model osteoarthritis (OA) consultation
      (MOAC) informed by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
      recommendations compared with usual care on recorded quality of care of clinical
      OA in general practice. DESIGN: Two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial.
      SETTING: Eight general practices in Cheshire, Shropshire, or Staffordshire UK.
      PARTICIPANTS: General practitioners and nurses with patients consulting with
      clinical OA. INTERVENTION: Following six-month baseline period practices were
      randomised to intervention (n = 4) or usual care (n = 4). Intervention practices
      delivered MOAC (enhanced initial GP consultation, nurse-led clinic, OA guidebook)
      to patients aged >=45 years consulting with clinical OA. An electronic (e
      )template for consultations was used in all practices to record OA quality care
      indicators. OUTCOMES: Quality of OA care over six months recorded in the medical
      record. RESULTS: 1851 patients consulted in baseline period (1015 intervention;
      836 control); 1960 consulted following randomisation (1118 intervention; 842
      control). At baseline wide variations in quality of care were noted. Post
      randomisation increases were found for written advice on OA (4-28%), exercise (4
      22%) and weight loss (1-15%) in intervention practices but not controls (1-3%).
      Intervention practices were more likely to refer to physiotherapy (10% vs 2%,
      odds ratio 5.30; 95% CI 2.11, 13.34), and prescribe paracetamol (22% vs 14%,
      1.74; 95% CI 1.27, 2.38). CONCLUSIONS: The intervention did not improve all
      aspects of care but increased core NICE recommendations of written advice on OA,
      exercise and weight management. There remains a need to reduce variation and
      uniformly enhance improvement in recorded OA care. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      ISRCTN06984617.

PMID- 28591567
TI  - A role for dystroglycan in the pathophysiology of acute leukemic cells.
AB  - AIMS: Previous reports have demonstrated that alterations or reduced expression
      of Dystroglycan (Dg) complex (alphaDg and betaDg subunits) are related to
      progression and severity of neoplastic solid tissues. Therefore we determined the
      expression pattern and subcellular distribution of Dg complex in Acute Myeloid
      Leukemia (AML) primary blasts (M1, M2, and M3 phenotypes), as well as HL-60 and
      Kasumi-1 leukemia cell lines. Additionally, we evaluated the relative expression
      of the main enzymes controlling alpha-Dg glycosylation to ascertain the post
      translational modifications in the leukemia cell phenotype. MAIN METHODS: Primary
      leukemia blasts and leukemia cell lines were processed by confocal analysis to
      determine the subcellular distribution of alpha-Dg, beta-Dg, and phosphorylated
      beta-Dg (Y892), to evaluate the expression pattern of the different Dg species we
      performed Western Blot (WB) assays, while the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of
      enzymes involved in alpha-Dg glycosylation, such as POMGnT1, POMT1, POMT2, LARGE,
      FKTN, and FKRP, were evaluated by qualitative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase
      Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Finally, in an attempt to ameliorate the leukemia cell
      phenotype, we transfected leukemia cells with a plasmid expressing the Dg
      complex. KEY FINDINGS: The Dg complex was altered in leukemia cells, including
      decreased mRNA, protein, and alpha-Dg glycosylated levels, mislocalization of
      beta-Dg, and a diminution of mRNA expression of LARGE in patients leukemia blasts
      and in cell lines. Interestingly, the exogenous expression of Dg complex promoted
      filopodial formation, differentiation, and diminished proliferation, attenuating
      some HL-60 and Kasumi cells characteristics. SIGNIFICANCE: Dg complex integrity
      and balance are required for a proper hematopoietic cell function, in that its
      disruption might contribute to leukemia pathophysiology.

PMID- 28591568
TI  - Nicotinamide induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis through oxidative stress in
      human cervical cancer HeLa cells.
AB  - AIMS: Nicotinamide participates in energy metabolism and influences cellular
      redox status and modulates multiple pathways related with both cellular survival
      and death. Recent studies have shown that it induced proliferation inhibition and
      apoptosis in many cancer cells. However, little is known about the effects of
      nicotinamide on human cervical cancer cells. We aimed to evaluate the effects of
      the indicated concentrations nicotinamide on cell proliferation, apoptosis and
      redox-related parameters in HeLa cells and investigated the apoptotic mechanism.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: After the treatment of the indicated concentrations
      nicotinamide, HeLa cell proliferation was evaluated by the CCK-8 assay and the
      production of ROS (reactive oxygen species) was measured using 2',7'
      Dichlorofluorescin diacetate. The apoptotic effect was confirmed by observing the
      cellular and nuclear morphologies with fluorescence microscope and apoptotic rate
      of HeLa cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry using Annexin-V method.
      Moreover, we examined the mitochondrial membrane potential by JC-1 method and
      measured the expression of apoptosis related genes using qRT-PCR and
      immunoblotting. KEY FINDINGS: Nicotinamide restrained the HeLa cell proliferation
      and significantly increased the accumulation of ROS and depletion of GSH at
      relatively high concentrations. Furthermore, nicotinamide promoted HeLa cell
      apoptosis via the intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. SIGNIFICANCE: Our
      study revealed that nicotinamide induced the apoptosis through oxidative stress
      and intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic pathways in HeLa cell. The results emerge
      that nicotinamide may be an inexpensive, safe and promising therapeutic agent or
      a neoadjuvant chemotherapy for cervical cancer patients, as well useful to find
      new drugs for cervical cancer therapy.

PMID- 28591569
TI  - The Alzheimer's Disease gamma-Secretase Generates Higher 42:40 Ratios for beta
      Amyloid Than for p3 Peptides.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease is characterized by intracerebral deposition of beta-amyloid
      (Abeta). While Abeta40 is the most abundant form, neurotoxicity is mainly
      mediated by Abeta42. Sequential cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by
      beta- and gamma-secretases gives rise to full-length Abeta (Abeta1-x) and N
      terminally truncated Abeta' (Abeta11-x) whereas cleavage by alpha- and gamma
      secretases leads to the shorter p3 peptides (Abeta17-x). We uncovered
      significantly higher ratios of 42- versus 40-ending variants for Abeta and Abeta'
      than for p3 secreted by mouse neurons and human induced pluripotent stem cell
      (iPSC)-derived neurons or produced in a cell-free gamma-secretase assay with
      recombinant APP-CTFs. The 42:40 ratio was highest for Abeta', followed by Abeta
      and then p3. Mass spectrometry analysis of APP intracellular domains revealed
      differential processing of APP-C83, APP-C89, and APP-C99 by gamma-secretase
      already at the epsilon-cleavage stage. This mechanistic insight could aid in
      developing substrate-targeted modulators of APP-C99 processing to specifically
      lower the Abeta42:Abeta40 ratio without compromising gamma-secretase function.

PMID- 28591570
TI  - Compromised Survival of Cerebellar Molecular Layer Interneurons Lacking GDNF
      Receptors GFRalpha1 or RET Impairs Normal Cerebellar Motor Learning.
AB  - The role of neurotrophic factors as endogenous survival proteins for brain
      neurons remains contentious. In the cerebellum, the signals controlling survival
      of molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) are unknown, and direct evidence for the
      requirement of a full complement of MLIs for normal cerebellar function and motor
      learning has been lacking. Here, we show that Purkinje cells (PCs), the target of
      MLIs, express the neurotrophic factor GDNF during MLI development and survival of
      MLIs depends on GDNF receptors GFRalpha1 and RET. Conditional mutant mice lacking
      either receptor lose a quarter of their MLIs, resulting in compromised synaptic
      inhibition of PCs, increased PC firing frequency, and abnormal acquisition of
      eyeblink conditioning and vestibulo-ocular reflex performance, but not overall
      motor activity or coordination. These results identify an endogenous survival
      mechanism for MLIs and reveal the unexpected vulnerability and selective
      requirement of MLIs in the control of cerebellar-dependent motor learning.

PMID- 28591571
TI  - Global Hypertranscription in the Mouse Embryonic Germline.
AB  - Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are vital for inheritance and evolution. Their
      transcriptional program has been extensively studied and is assumed to be well
      known. We report here a remarkable global upregulation of the transcriptome of
      mouse PGCs compared to somatic cells. Using cell-number-normalized genome-wide
      analyses, we uncover significant transcriptional amplification in PGCs, including
      mRNAs, rRNA, and transposable elements. Hypertranscription preserves tissue
      specific gene expression patterns, correlates with cell size, and can still be
      detected in E15.5 male germ cells when proliferation has ceased. PGC
      hypertranscription occurs at the level of nascent transcription, is accompanied
      by increased translation rates, and is driven by Myc factors n-Myc and l-Myc (but
      not c-Myc) and by P-TEFb. This study provides a paradigm for transcriptional
      analyses during development and reveals a major global hyperactivity of the
      germline transcriptome.

PMID- 28591572
TI  - Hepatic Diacylglycerol-Associated Protein Kinase Cepsilon Translocation Links
      Hepatic Steatosis to Hepatic Insulin Resistance in Humans.
AB  - Hepatic lipid accumulation has been implicated in the development of insulin
      resistance, but translational evidence in humans is limited. We investigated the
      relationship between liver fat and tissue-specific insulin sensitivity in 133
      obese subjects. Although the presence of hepatic steatosis in obese subjects was
      associated with hepatic, adipose tissue, and peripheral insulin resistance, we
      found that intrahepatic triglycerides were not strictly sufficient or essential
      for hepatic insulin resistance. Thus, to examine the molecular mechanisms that
      link hepatic steatosis to hepatic insulin resistance, we comprehensively analyzed
      liver biopsies from a subset of 29 subjects. Here, hepatic cytosolic
      diacylglycerol content, but not hepatic ceramide content, was increased in
      subjects with hepatic insulin resistance. Moreover, cytosolic diacylglycerols
      were strongly associated with hepatic PKCepsilon activation, as reflected by
      PKCepsilon translocation to the plasma membrane. These results demonstrate the
      relevance of hepatic diacylglycerol-induced PKCepsilon activation in the
      pathogenesis of NAFLD-associated hepatic insulin resistance in humans.

PMID- 28591573
TI  - Phosphorylation of TXNIP by AKT Mediates Acute Influx of Glucose in Response to
      Insulin.
AB  - Growth factors, such as insulin, can induce both acute and long-term glucose
      uptake into cells. Apart from the rapid, insulin-induced fusion of glucose
      transporter (GLUT)4 storage vesicles with the cell surface that occurs in muscle
      and adipose tissues, the mechanism behind acute induction has been unclear in
      other systems. Thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) has been shown to be a
      negative regulator of cellular glucose uptake. TXNIP is transcriptionally induced
      by glucose and reduces glucose influx by promoting GLUT1 endocytosis. Here, we
      report that TXNIP is a direct substrate of protein kinase B (AKT) and is
      responsible for mediating AKT-dependent acute glucose influx after growth factor
      stimulation. Furthermore, TXNIP functions as an adaptor for the basal endocytosis
      of GLUT4 in vivo, its absence allows excess glucose uptake in muscle and adipose
      tissues, causing hypoglycemia during fasting. Altogether, TXNIP serves as a key
      node of signal regulation and response for modulating glucose influx through
      GLUT1 and GLUT4.

PMID- 28591574
TI  - mTOR Inhibition Subdues Milk Disorder Caused by Maternal VLDLR Loss.
AB  - It is unknown whether and how very-low density lipoprotein receptors (VLDLRs)
      impact skeletal homeostasis. Here, we report that maternal and offspring VLDLRs
      play opposite roles in osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption. VLDLR deletion in
      the offspring augments osteoclast differentiation by enhancing RANKL signaling,
      leading to osteoporosis. In contrast, VLDLR deletion in the mother alters milk
      metabolism, which inhibits osteoclast differentiation and causes osteopetrosis in
      the offspring. The maternal effects are dominant. VLDLR-null lactating mammary
      gland exhibits higher mTORC1 signaling and cholesterol biosynthesis.
      Pharmacological probing reveals that rapamycin, but not statin, treatment of the
      VLDLR-null mother can prevent both the low bone resorption and our previously
      described inflammatory fur loss in their offspring. Genetic rescue reveals that
      maternal mTORC1 attenuation in adipocytes, but not in myeloid cells, prevents
      offspring osteopetrosis and fur loss. Our studies uncover functions of VLDLR and
      mTORC1 in lactation and osteoclastogenesis, illuminating key mechanisms and
      therapeutic insights for bone and metabolic diseases.

PMID- 28591575
TI  - MicroRNA-Mediated Dynamic Bidirectional Shift between the Subclasses of
      Glioblastoma Stem-like Cells.
AB  - Large-scale transcriptomic profiling of glioblastoma (GBM) into subtypes has
      provided remarkable insight into the pathobiology and heterogeneous nature of
      this disease. The mechanisms of speciation and inter-subtype transitions of these
      molecular subtypes require better characterization to facilitate the development
      of subtype-specific targeting strategies. The deregulation of microRNA expression
      among GBM subtypes and their subtype-specific targeting mechanisms are poorly
      understood. To reveal the underlying basis of microRNA-driven complex
      subpopulation dynamics within the heterogeneous intra-tumoral ecosystem, we
      characterized the expression of the subtype-enriched microRNA-128 (miR-128) in
      transcriptionally and phenotypically diverse subpopulations of patient-derived
      glioblastoma stem-like cells. Because microRNAs are capable of re-arranging the
      molecular landscape in a cell-type-specific manner, we argue that alterations in
      miR-128 levels are a potent mechanism of bidirectional transitions between GBM
      subpopulations, resulting in intermediate hybrid stages and emphasizing highly
      intricate intra-tumoral networking.

PMID- 28591576
TI  - Regulation of Rvb1/Rvb2 by a Domain within the INO80 Chromatin Remodeling Complex
      Implicates the Yeast Rvbs as Protein Assembly Chaperones.
AB  - The hexameric AAA+ ATPases Rvb1 and Rvb2 (Rvbs) are essential for diverse
      processes ranging from metabolic signaling to chromatin remodeling, but their
      functions are unknown. While originally thought to act as helicases, recent
      proposals suggest that Rvbs act as protein assembly chaperones. However,
      experimental evidence for chaperone-like behavior is lacking. Here, we identify a
      potent protein activator of the Rvbs, a domain in the Ino80 ATPase subunit of the
      INO80 chromatin-remodeling complex, termed Ino80INS. Ino80INS stimulates Rvbs'
      ATPase activity by 16-fold while concomitantly promoting their dodecamerization.
      Using mass spectrometry, cryo-EM, and integrative modeling, we find that Ino80INS
      binds asymmetrically along the dodecamerization interface, resulting in a
      conformationally flexible dodecamer that collapses into hexamers upon ATP
      addition. Our results demonstrate the chaperone-like potential of Rvb1/Rvb2 and
      suggest a model where binding of multiple clients such as Ino80 stimulates ATP
      driven cycling between hexamers and dodecamers, providing iterative opportunities
      for correct subunit assembly.

PMID- 28591578
TI  - PLK1 Activation in Late G2 Sets Up Commitment to Mitosis.
AB  - Commitment to mitosis must be tightly coordinated with DNA replication to
      preserve genome integrity. While we have previously established that the timely
      activation of CyclinB1-Cdk1 in late G2 triggers mitotic entry, the upstream
      regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report that Polo-like kinase 1
      (Plk1) is required for entry into mitosis during an unperturbed cell cycle and is
      rapidly activated shortly before CyclinB1-Cdk1. We determine that Plk1 associates
      with the Cdc25C1 phosphatase and induces its phosphorylation before mitotic
      entry. Plk1-dependent Cdc25C1 phosphosites are sufficient to promote mitotic
      entry, even when Plk1 activity is inhibited. Furthermore, we find that activation
      of Plk1 during G2 relies on CyclinA2-Cdk activity levels. Our findings thus
      elucidate a critical role for Plk1 in CyclinB1-Cdk1 activation and mitotic entry
      and outline how CyclinA2-Cdk, an S-promoting factor, poises cells for commitment
      to mitosis.

PMID- 28591577
TI  - Androgen Receptor Deregulation Drives Bromodomain-Mediated Chromatin Alterations
      in Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Global changes in chromatin accessibility may drive cancer progression by
      reprogramming transcription factor (TF) binding. In addition, histone acetylation
      readers such as bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) have been shown to
      associate with these TFs and contribute to aggressive cancers including prostate
      cancer (PC). Here, we show that chromatin accessibility defines castration
      resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We show that the deregulation of androgen
      receptor (AR) expression is a driver of chromatin relaxation and that AR/androgen
      regulated bromodomain-containing proteins (BRDs) mediate this effect. We also
      report that BRDs are overexpressed in CRPCs and that ATAD2 and BRD2 have
      prognostic value. Finally, we developed gene stratification signature (BROMO-10)
      for bromodomain response and PC prognostication, to inform current and future
      trials with drugs targeting these processes. Our findings provide a compelling
      rational for combination therapy targeting bromodomains in selected patients in
      which BRD-mediated TF binding is enhanced or modified as cancer progresses.

PMID- 28591579
TI  - Sonic Hedgehog Activates Phospholipase A2 to Enhance Smoothened Ciliary
      Translocation.
AB  - The G protein-coupled receptor Smoothened (Smo) is the signal transducer of the
      Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway. Smo signals through G protein-dependent and 
      independent routes, with G protein-independent canonical signaling to Gli
      effectors requiring Smo accumulation in the primary cilium. The mechanisms
      controlling Smo activation and trafficking are not yet clear but likely entail
      small-molecule binding to pockets in its extracellular cysteine-rich domain (CRD)
      and/or transmembrane bundle. Here, we demonstrate that the cytosolic
      phospholipase cPLA2alpha is activated through Gbetagamma downstream of Smo to
      release arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid binds Smo and synergizes with CRD
      binding agonists, promoting Smo ciliary trafficking and high-level signaling.
      Chemical or genetic cPLA2alpha inhibition dampens Smo signaling to Gli, revealing
      an unexpected contribution of G protein-dependent signaling to canonical pathway
      activity. Arachidonic acid displaces the Smo transmembrane domain inhibitor
      cyclopamine to rescue CRD agonist-induced signaling, suggesting that arachidonic
      acid may target the transmembrane bundle to allosterically enhance signaling by
      CRD agonist-bound Smo.

PMID- 28591581
TI  - Laminin-111 and the Level of Nuclear Actin Regulate Epithelial Quiescence via
      Exportin-6.
AB  - Nuclear actin (N-actin) is known to participate in the regulation of gene
      expression. We showed previously that N-actin levels mediate the growth and
      quiescence of mouse epithelial cells in response to laminin-111 (LN1), a
      component of the mammary basement membrane (BM). We know that BM is defective in
      malignant cells, and we show here that it is the LN1/N-actin pathway that is
      aberrant in human breast cancer cells, leading to continuous growth.
      Photobleaching assays revealed that N-actin exit in nonmalignant cells begins as
      early as 30 min after LN1 treatment. LN1 attenuates the PI3K pathway leading to
      upregulation of exportin-6 (XPO6) activity and shuttles actin out of the nucleus.
      Silencing XPO6 prevents quiescence. Malignant cells are impervious to LN1
      signaling. These results shed light on the crucial role of LN1 in quiescence and
      differentiation and how defects in the LN1/PI3K/XPO6/N-actin axis explain the
      loss of tissue homeostasis and growth control that contributes to malignant
      progression.

PMID- 28591580
TI  - MYO6 Regulates Spatial Organization of Signaling Endosomes Driving AKT Activation
      and Actin Dynamics.
AB  - APPL1- and RAB5-positive signaling endosomes play a crucial role in the
      activation of AKT in response to extracellular stimuli. Myosin VI (MYO6) and two
      of its cargo adaptor proteins, GIPC and TOM1/TOM1L2, localize to these peripheral
      endosomes and mediate endosome association with cortical actin filaments. Loss of
      MYO6 leads to the displacement of these endosomes from the cell cortex and
      accumulation in the perinuclear space. Depletion of this myosin not only affects
      endosome positioning, but also induces actin and lipid remodeling consistent with
      endosome maturation, including accumulation of F-actin and the endosomal lipid
      PI(3)P. These processes acutely perturb endosome function, as both AKT
      phosphorylation and RAC-dependent membrane ruffling were markedly reduced by
      depletion of either APPL1 or MYO6. These results place MYO6 and its binding
      partners at a central nexus in cellular signaling linking actin dynamics at the
      cell surface and endosomal signaling in the cell cortex.

PMID- 28591582
TI  - Hepatocyte ABCA1 Deletion Impairs Liver Insulin Signaling and Lipogenesis.
AB  - Plasma membrane (PM) free cholesterol (FC) is emerging as an important modulator
      of signal transduction. Here, we show that hepatocyte-specific knockout (HSKO) of
      the cellular FC exporter, ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), leads to
      decreased PM FC content and defective trafficking of lysosomal FC to the PM.
      Compared with controls, chow-fed HSKO mice had reduced hepatic (1) insulin
      stimulated Akt phosphorylation, (2) activation of the lipogenic transcription
      factor Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein (SREBP)-1c, and (3) lipogenic
      gene expression. Consequently, Western-type diet-fed HSKO mice were protected
      from steatosis. Surprisingly, HSKO mice had intact glucose metabolism; they
      showed normal gluconeogenic gene suppression in response to re-feeding and normal
      glucose and insulin tolerance. We conclude that: (1) ABCA1 maintains optimal
      hepatocyte PM FC, through intracellular FC trafficking, for efficient insulin
      signaling; and (2) hepatocyte ABCA1 deletion produces a form of selective insulin
      resistance so that lipogenesis is suppressed but glucose metabolism remains
      normal.

PMID- 28591583
TI  - Distinct Thalamic Reticular Cell Types Differentially Modulate Normal and
      Pathological Cortical Rhythms.
AB  - Integrative brain functions depend on widely distributed, rhythmically
      coordinated computations. Through its long-ranging connections with cortex and
      most senses, the thalamus orchestrates the flow of cognitive and sensory
      information. Essential in this process, the nucleus reticularis thalami (nRT)
      gates different information streams through its extensive inhibition onto other
      thalamic nuclei, however, we lack an understanding of how different inhibitory
      neuron subpopulations in nRT function as gatekeepers. We dissociated the
      connectivity, physiology, and circuit functions of neurons within rodent nRT,
      based on parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SOM) expression, and validated the
      existence of such populations in human nRT. We found that PV, but not SOM, cells
      are rhythmogenic, and that PV and SOM neurons are connected to and modulate
      distinct thalamocortical circuits. Notably, PV, but not SOM, neurons modulate
      somatosensory behavior and disrupt seizures. These results provide a conceptual
      framework for how nRT may gate incoming information to modulate brain-wide
      rhythms.

PMID- 28591584
TI  - Dorsal-CA1 Hippocampal Neuronal Ensembles Encode Nicotine-Reward Contextual
      Associations.
AB  - Natural and drug rewards increase the motivational valence of stimuli in the
      environment that, through Pavlovian learning mechanisms, become conditioned
      stimuli that directly motivate behavior in the absence of the original
      unconditioned stimulus. While the hippocampus has received extensive attention
      for its role in learning and memory processes, less is known regarding its role
      in drug-reward associations. We used in vivo Ca2+ imaging in freely moving mice
      during the formation of nicotine preference behavior to examine the role of the
      dorsal-CA1 region of the hippocampus in encoding contextual reward-seeking
      behavior. We show the development of specific neuronal ensembles whose activity
      encodes nicotine-reward contextual memories and that are necessary for the
      expression of place preference. Our findings increase our understanding of CA1
      hippocampal function in general and as it relates to reward processing by
      identifying a critical role for CA1 neuronal ensembles in nicotine place
      preference.

PMID- 28591586
TI  - Aspergillus fumigatus Copper Export Machinery and Reactive Oxygen Intermediate
      Defense Counter Host Copper-Mediated Oxidative Antimicrobial Offense.

PMID- 28591585
TI  - Tcrd Rearrangement Redirects a Processive Tcra Recombination Program to Expand
      the Tcra Repertoire.
AB  - Adaptive immunity depends on diverse T cell receptor repertoires generated by
      variable, diversity, and joining (V[D]J) recombination. Here, we define the
      principles by which combinatorial diversity is generated in the murine Tcra
      repertoire. Tcra and Tcrd gene segments share the Tcra-Tcrd locus, with
      interspersed Valpha and Vdelta segments undergoing Vdelta-Ddelta-Jdelta
      rearrangement in CD4-CD8- thymocytes and then multiple rounds of Valpha-Jalpha
      rearrangement in CD4+CD8+ thymocytes. We document stepwise, highly coordinated
      proximal-to-distal progressions of Valpha and Jalpha use on individual Tcra
      alleles, limiting combinatorial diversity. This behavior is supported by an
      extended chromatin conformation in CD4+CD8+ thymocytes, with only nearby Valpha
      and Jalpha segments contacting each other. Tcrd rearrangements can use distal
      Vdelta segments due to a contracted Tcra-Tcrd conformation in CD4-CD8-
      thymocytes. These rearrangements expand the Tcra repertoire by truncating the
      Valpha array to permit otherwise disfavored Valpha-Jalpha combinations.
      Therefore, recombination events at two developmental stages with distinct
      chromatin conformations synergize to promote Tcra repertoire diversity.

PMID- 28591587
TI  - NLRP6 Protects Il10-/- Mice from Colitis by Limiting Colonization of Akkermansia
      muciniphila.

PMID- 28591588
TI  - Hyaluronic acid in complexes with surfactants: The efficient tool for reduction
      of the cytotoxic effect of surfactants on human cell types.
AB  - The cationic surfactants carbethoxypendecinium bromide (Septonex) and
      cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) are known to be harmful for certain cell
      types (bacteria, fungi, mammal cells, etc.). Colloidal complexes of these
      surfactants with negatively-charged hyaluronic acid (HyA) were prepared for
      potential drug and/or universal delivery applications. The complexes were tested
      for their cytotoxic effect on different human cell types - osteoblasts,
      keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Both the CTAB-HyA and Septonex-HyA complexes were
      found to reduce the cytotoxicity induced by surfactants alone concerning all the
      tested concentrations. Moreover, we suggested the limits of HyA protection
      provided by the surfactant-HyA complexes, e.g. the importance of the amount of
      HyA applied. We also determined the specific sensitivity of different cell types
      to surfactant treatment. Keratinocytes were more sensitive to CTAB, while
      osteoblasts and fibroblasts were more sensitive to Septonex. Moreover, it was
      indirectly shown that CTAB combines lethal toxicity with cell metabolism
      induction, while Septonex predominantly causes lethal toxicity concerning
      fibroblasts. This comprehensive study of the effect of surfactant-HyA complexes
      on various human cell types revealed that HyA represents a useful CTAB or
      Septonex cytotoxic effect modulator at diverse levels. Potential applications for
      these complexes include drug and/or nucleic acid delivery systems, diagnostic dye
      carriers and cosmetics production.

PMID- 28591590
TI  - Salt-regulated reversible fibrillation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isocitrate
      lyase: Concurrent restoration of structure and activity.
AB  - Protein fibrillation is associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases.
      Nevertheless, several proteins not related to disease can also form fibrils in
      vitro under specific conditions. In the present study, we demonstrate the
      reversible fibrillation of a globular protein that is modulated by salt under
      physiological pH. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isocitrate lyase (MtbICL) is a
      crucial enzyme involved in the glyoxylate shunt and a potential drug target
      against M. tuberculosis infection. Under physiological pH, the enzyme self
      assembles into a fibrillar structure in the absence of salt in vitro. The mature
      fibrillar structure of MtbICL is dynamic and restores its tetrameric structure as
      well as activity with the addition of salt. The kinetics of fibril formation was
      investigated spectroscopically using 8-Anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS).
      Further, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Atomic force microscopy (AFM)
      imaging also confirmed the formation of elongated fibrils in the absence of salt.
      The results indicate the balance between stabilizing forces and the localized
      electrostatic repulsions destabilizing the tetrameric MtbICL is adjusted via ion
      shielding. Our result is in congruence of the hypothesis that amyloid formation
      is an intrinsic property of most, if not all natural proteins under an
      appropriate set of conditions.

PMID- 28591589
TI  - Can gamma-radiation modulate hemagglutinating and anticoagulant activities of
      PpyLL, a lectin from Phthirusa pyrifolia?
AB  - Blood coagulation and platelet-dependent primary homeostasis are important
      defense mechanisms against bleeding and novel inhibitors have been researched to
      obtain pharmacological and clinical applications. In this work, the PpyLL, a
      lectin obtained from Phthirusa pyrifolia, was characterized in terms of its
      molecular structure and biological functions (anticoagulant, antiplatelet
      agreggation and hemagglutinating activities) in presence or absence of Gamma
      radiation exposure. Results revealed a lectin with secondary-structure content by
      approximately 49% of beta-sheet, 20% of beta-turn and 31% of disordered
      structure. Irradiation effect demonstrated possible different sites of function
      by lectin on anticoagulant and hemagglutinating activities, once a decrease about
      80% was observed when compared the activities under 0.5kGy of exposition to gamma
      radiation. An emphatic discussion about the use of gamma radiation as a possible
      modulator of the lectin activity was made, and once the ionizing radiation
      affected differently the anticoagulation and hemagglutinating activities, we
      speculated that the results are determined by selective molecular damages in
      different binding sites. PpyLL biological activities and gamma radiation
      modulation could be considered for future researches in biomedical field aiming
      possible medical applications.

PMID- 28591591
TI  - Activation of sodium channel by a novel alpha-scorpion toxin, BmK NT2, stimulates
      ERK1/2 and CERB phosphorylation through a Ca2+ dependent pathway in neocortical
      neurons.
AB  - Neuronal excitability controls the expression of a variety of genes and proteins
      and therefore regulates neurite outgrowth and synapse formation, fundamental
      physiological processes controlling learning and memory. Scorpion venom contains
      many neurotoxins which alter ion channel activities that influence neuronal
      excitability. In this study, a novel scorpion peptide termed BmK NT2 was purified
      from venom of Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch by combining mass spectrum
      mapping and intracellular Ca2+ concentration measurement in primary cultured
      neocortical neurons. Electrophysiological experiments demonstrated that BmK NT2
      concentration-dependently delayed inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels
      (VGSCs) with an EC50 value of 0.91MUM, and shifted the steady-state activation
      and inactivation of VGSCs to hyperpolarized direction. The effects of BmK NT2 on
      electrophysiological characteristics of VGSCs were similar to that of alpha
      scorpion toxins. BmK NT2 altered Ca2+ dynamics and increased phosphorylation of
      extracellular-regulated protein kinases (ERK) 1/2 and cAMP-response element
      binding (CREB) proteins, which were eliminated by the VGSC blocker, tetrodotoxin.
      These data demonstrate that BmK NT2 is a novel VGSC alpha-scorpion toxin which is
      sufficient to increase the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and CREB proteins,
      suggesting that modulation of VGSC function by alpha-scorpion toxin exerts
      neurotrophic effect in primary cultured neocortical neurons.

PMID- 28591592
TI  - Recombinant thermo-alkali-stable endoglucanase of Myceliopthora thermophila BJA
      (rMt-egl): Biochemical characteristics and applicability in enzymatic
      saccharification of agro-residues.
AB  - Codon adaptation index (CAI) of a 1263bp long endoglucanase encoding gene from
      the thermophilic mould Myceliopthora thermophile BJA has been improved from 0.44
      to 0.76 by in vitro gene synthesis. The codon optimized endoglucanase gene (Mt
      egl) has been constitutively expressed in Pichia pastoris under the regulation of
      GAP promoter. Recombinant endoglucanase (rMt-egl), purified by size exclusion
      chromatography, has been confirmed to be a monomeric protein of ~47kDa. rMt-egl
      is optimally active at pH 10 and 50 degrees C, displaying stability in broad pH
      and temperature ranges, with a t1/2 of 60 and 15min at 90 and 100 degrees C,
      respectively. This retained ~70% of activity after 3h incubation at pH 5-12. The
      Km, Vmax, kcat and kcat/Km of rMt-egl were 5mgmL-1, 20MUmolesmin-1mg-1, 1.02*103s
      1 and 204s-1mg-1mL-1, respectively. Homology modeling and bioinformatics analysis
      confirmed catalytically important role of glutamate 234 and 344. rMt-egl released
      high amounts of reducing sugars from wheat bran and corn cobs (421 and 382mgg-1),
      thus making it a useful biocatalyst for producing bioethanol and fine chemicals
      from agro-residues.

PMID- 28591593
TI  - Hydrogel beads bio-nanocomposite based on Kappa-Carrageenan and green synthesized
      silver nanoparticles for biomedical applications.
AB  - This paper describes the fabrication and characterization of bio-nanocomposite
      hydrogel beads based on Kappa-Carrageenan (kappa-Carrageenan) and bio-synthesized
      silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). The silver nanoparticles were prepared in aqueous
      Citrullus colocynthis seed extract as both reducing and capping agent. Cross
      linked kappa-Carrageenan/Ag-NPs hydrogel beads were prepared using potassium
      chloride as the cross-linker. The hydrogel beads were characterized using XRD and
      FESEM. Moreover, swelling property of the hydrogel beads was investigated. The Ag
      release profile of the hydrogels was obtained by fitting the experimental data to
      power law equation. The direct visualization of the green synthesized Ag-NPs
      using TEM shows particle size in the range of 23+/-2nm. The bio-nanocomposite
      hydrogels showed lesser swelling behavior in comparison with pure kappa
      Carrageenan hydrogel. Regardless the slow Ag release, kappa-Carrageenan/Ag-NPs
      presented good antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Methicilin
      Resistant Staphylococcus aurous, Peseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli
      with maximum zones of inhibition 11+/-2mm. Cytotoxicity study showed that the bio
      nanocomposite hydrogels with non-toxic effect of concentration below 1000MUg/mL
      have great pharmacological potential and a suitable level of safety for use in
      the biological systems.

PMID- 28591595
TI  - Mapping the effect of the X chromosome on the human brain: Neuroimaging evidence
      from Turner syndrome.
AB  - In addition to determining sex, the X chromosome has long been considered to play
      a crucial role in brain development and intelligence. Turner syndrome (TS) is
      caused by the congenital absence of all or part of one of the X chromosomes in
      females. Thus, Turner syndrome provides a unique "knock-out model" for
      investigating how the X chromosome influences the human brain in vivo. Numerous
      cutting-edge neuroimaging techniques and analyses have been applied to
      investigate various brain phenotypes in women with TS, which have yielded
      valuable evidence toward elucidating the causal relationship between the X
      chromosome and human brain structure and function. In this review, we
      comprehensively summarize the recent progress made in TS-related neuroimaging
      studies and emphasize how these findings have enhanced our understanding of X
      chromosome function with respect to the human brain. Future investigations are
      encouraged to address the issues of previous TS neuroimaging studies and to
      further identify the biological mechanisms that underlie the function of specific
      X-linked genes in the human brain.

PMID- 28591596
TI  - Measuring the Invisible: Determining the Size of Growing Nanodomains Using the
      "Inverse FCS".

PMID- 28591594
TI  - Oleanolic-bioenhancer coloaded chitosan modified nanocarriers attenuate breast
      cancer cells by multimode mechanism and preserve female fertility.
AB  - Addressing multidrug resistant stage of breast cancer is an impediment for
      chemotherapy. Moreover, breast cancer chemotherapy has potential enduring
      confrontations i.e. related toxicity including effect on fertility of young
      female patients. The co-delivery of polyphenolic bio-enhancers with oleanolic
      acid in chitosan coated PLGA nanoparticles was designed for oral delivery with
      enhanced antitumor effect consecutively preserving the female fertility. The
      optimized oleanolic- bio-enhancer nano formulation CH-OA-B-PLGA with particle
      size was 342.2+/-3.7nm and zeta potential of 34.2+/-3.1mV was capable of lowering
      viability in MDAMB 231 cell line 16 times than OA. Further, mechanistic studies
      in MDAMB-231 cells revealed that CH-OA-PLGA induces apoptosis by mitochondrial
      membrane disruption; follows ROS mediated and caspase dependent apoptosis. The
      antitumor effect studied in 4-T1 induced Balb/c mice mammary tumor model
      displayed augmented antitumor potency by CH-OA-B-PLGA in comparison to OA. In the
      in vivo toxicity on Sprague-Dawley rat model, CH-OA-B-PLGA significantly
      displayed the safe profile and also preserves fertility in female rats. The
      experiment result suggests co-delivery of oleanolic acid with bio-enhancers as a
      breakthrough for developing safe chemotherapy for hormone independent breast
      cancer therapy countering the toxicity issues.

PMID- 28591597
TI  - Single-Molecule Threshold of HIV Fate Decision.
AB  - During early infection, the HIV virus makes a key decision between two states:
      lytic and lysogenic fate. Deterministic bistability requires combination of
      positive feedback and ultrasensitivity. Although HIV circuity includes positive
      feedback activation of the Tat transactivator, it lacks ultrasensitivity. How
      does the HIV circuit allow for multiple fates without ultrasensitivity? A new
      article suggests that HIV bistability is a result of a transient threshold that
      allows the kinetic trapping of the inactive state. Interestingly, the model shows
      that the transient threshold is a result of a single molecule threshold that
      occurs when the promoter toggles between inactive and active states.

PMID- 28591598
TI  - Mechanism of NTP Binding to the Active Site of T7 RNA Polymerase Revealed by Free
      Energy Simulation.
AB  - In genetic transcription, molecular dynamic details and energetics of NTP binding
      to the active site of RNA polymerase (RNAP) are poorly understood. In this
      article, we investigated the NTP binding process in T7 RNAP using all-atom MD
      simulation combined with the umbrella sampling technique. Based on our
      simulations, a two-step mechanism was proposed to explain NTP binding: first,
      substrate NTP in aqueous solution, which carries a magnesium ion, diffuses
      through a secondary channel of RNAP to attain a pore region, where it undergoes
      conformational changes to give a correct orientation; next, the NTP establishes
      initial basepairing contacts with the template nucleoside (TN). Our free-energy
      calculations suggest that both steps are spontaneous. This mechanism can easily
      explain the problem of NTP binding with different orientations. Moreover, it is
      found that the nascent NTP:TN basepair is fragile and easily broken by thermal
      disturbance. Therefore, we speculate that the fingers domain will be triggered to
      close, so as to create a steady environment for the next chemical step. The
      observations from the work provide valuable information for comprehensively
      understanding the mechanism of the basic step in genetic transcription.

PMID- 28591599
TI  - DNA Internal Motion Likely Accelerates Protein Target Search in a Packed
      Nucleoid.
AB  - Transcription factors must diffuse through densely packed and coiled DNA to find
      their binding sites. Using a coarse-grained model of DNA and lac repressor (LacI)
      in the Escherichia coli nucleoid, simulations were performed to examine how LacI
      diffuses in such a space. Despite the canonical picture of LacI diffusing rather
      freely, in reality the DNA is densely packed, is not rigid but highly mobile, and
      the dynamics of DNA dictates to a great extent the LacI motion. A possibly better
      picture of unbound LacI motion is that of gated diffusion, where DNA confines
      LacI in a cage, but LacI can move between cages when hindering DNA strands move
      out of the way. Three-dimensional diffusion constants for unbound LacI computed
      from simulations closely match those for unbound LacI in vivo reported in the
      literature. The internal motions of DNA appear to be governed by strong internal
      forces arising from being crowded into the small space of the nucleoid. A
      consequence of the DNA internal motion is that protein target search may be
      accelerated.

PMID- 28591600
TI  - Elastic-Fluid Model for DNA Damage and Mutation from Nuclear Fluid Segregation
      Due to Cell Migration.
AB  - When cells migrate through constricting pores, they incur DNA damage and develop
      genomic variation. Experiments show that this damage is not due to DNA breakage
      from mechanical stress on chromatin in the deformed nucleus. Here we propose a
      model for a mechanism by which nuclear deformation can lead to DNA damage. We
      treat the nucleus as an elastic-fluid system with an elastic component
      (chromatin) and fluid component that can be squeezed out when the nucleus is
      deformed. We couple the elastic-fluid model to the kinetics of DNA breakage and
      repair by assuming that the local volume fraction of the elastic component
      controls the rate of damage per unit volume due to naturally occurring DNA
      breaks, whereas the volume fraction of the fluid component controls the rate of
      repair of DNA breaks per unit volume by repair factors, which are soluble in the
      fluid. By comparing our results to a number of experiments on controlled
      migration through pores, we show that squeeze-out of the fluid, and hence of the
      mobile repair factors, is sufficient to account for the extent of DNA damage and
      genomic variation observed experimentally. We also use our model for migration
      through a cylindrical pore to estimate the variation with tissue stiffness of the
      mutation rate in tumors.

PMID- 28591601
TI  - Origin of Ion Specificity of Telomeric DNA G-Quadruplexes Investigated by Free
      Energy Simulations.
AB  - Telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of the sequence d(TTAGGG) that form G
      quadruplex structures made of stacked guanines with monovalent cations bound at a
      central cavity. Although different ions can stabilize a G-quadruplex structure,
      the preferred bound ions are typically K+ or Na+. Several different strand
      folding topologies have been reported for Q-quadruplexes formed from telomeric
      repeats depending on DNA length and ion solution condition. This suggests a
      possible dependence of the ion selectivity of the central pore on the folding
      topology of the quadruplex. Molecular dynamics free energy perturbation has been
      employed to systematically study the relative affinity of the central quadruplex
      pore for different cation types and the associated energetic and solvation
      contributions to ion selectivity. The calculations have been performed on two
      different common quadruplex folding topologies. For both topologies, the same ion
      selectivity was found with a preference for K+ followed by Rb+ and Na+, which
      agrees with the experimentally determined preference for most investigated
      quadruplexes. The selectivity is determined by a balance between attractive
      Coulomb interactions and loss of hydration but also modulated by van der Waals
      contributions. Specificity is mediated by the central guanines and no significant
      contribution of the nucleic acid backbone. The simulations indicate that
      different topologies might be stabilized by ions bound at the surface or
      alternative sites of the quadruplex because the ion specificity of the central
      pore does not depend on the strand folding topology.

PMID- 28591602
TI  - Configurational Preference of the Glutamate Receptor Ligand Binding Domain
      Dimers.
AB  - Ionotropic glutamate receptors are a family of tetrameric ion channels with
      functional states consisting of nonconducting, conducting, and desensitized
      states that are starting to become well characterized by electrophysiological and
      biophysical studies. However, the structure and relative energetics of these
      states beyond the general structure of the receptor are still not well
      understood. It is known that the interface between monomeric subunits of the
      tetramer plays a major role in distinguishing these functional states. We have
      used umbrella sampling and multimicrosecond molecular dynamics simulations of the
      GluA2 AMPA subtype glutamate receptor ligand-binding domain (LBD) dimers to
      characterize a natural propensity of the LBD dimers for various configurational
      states. Our results show a proposed desensitized conformation of the LBD dimer is
      a highly preferable conformation of the LBD dimer without the influence of other
      receptor domains or crystallographic conditions. This has been demonstrated by
      both free protein simulations of 5 MUs duration, as well as by computed free
      energy difference between the active and desensitized states. At the same time,
      the simulations performed using the same protocols revealed that for the LBD
      mutant L483Y, known to lack desensitization, the postulated active state of the
      LBD dimer is indeed the preferred configurational state, which remained stable in
      the simulations. Our findings pave the path for developing more detailed
      hypotheses of the full receptor activation mechanism. Combined with the
      energetics of glutamate binding to the LBD and the energy required to open the
      transmembrane pore helices, our results strongly support a hypothesis that the
      low absolute free-energy state is the desensitized state of the intact AMPA
      receptor.

PMID- 28591603
TI  - One-Dimensional Search Dynamics of Tumor Suppressor p53 Regulated by a Disordered
      C-Terminal Domain.
AB  - Tumor suppressor p53 slides along DNA and finds its target sequence in
      drastically different and changing cellular conditions. To elucidate how p53
      maintains efficient target search at different concentrations of divalent cations
      such as Ca2+ and Mg2+, we prepared two mutants of p53, each possessing one of its
      two DNA-binding domains, the CoreTet mutant having the structured core domain
      plus the tetramerization (Tet) domain, and the TetCT mutant having Tet plus the
      disordered C-terminal domain. We investigated their equilibrium and kinetic
      dissociation from DNA and search dynamics along DNA at various [Mg2+]. Although
      binding of CoreTet to DNA becomes markedly weaker at higher [Mg2+], binding of
      TetCT depends slightly on [Mg2+]. Single-molecule fluorescence measurements
      revealed that the one-dimensional diffusion of CoreTet along DNA consists of fast
      and slow search modes, the ratio of which depends strongly on [Mg2+]. In
      contrast, diffusion of TetCT consisted of only the fast mode. The disordered C
      terminal domain can associate with DNA irrespective of [Mg2+], and can maintain
      an equilibrium balance of the two search modes and the p53 search distance. These
      results suggest that p53 modulates the quaternary structure of the complex
      between p53 and DNA under different [Mg2+] and that it maintains the target
      search along DNA.

PMID- 28591605
TI  - Blocking of Single alpha-Hemolysin Pore by Rhodamine Derivatives.
AB  - Measurements of ion conductance through alpha-hemolysin pore in a bilayer lipid
      membrane revealed blocking of the ion channel by a series of rhodamine 19 and
      rhodamine B esters. The longest dwell closed time of the blocking was observed
      with rhodamine 19 butyl ester (C4R1), whereas the octyl ester (C8R1) was of poor
      effect. Voltage asymmetry in the binding kinetics indicated that rhodamine
      derivatives bound to the stem part of the aqueous pore lumen. The binding
      frequency was proportional to a quadratic function of rhodamine concentrations,
      thereby showing that the dominant binding species were rhodamine dimers. Two
      levels of the pore conductance and two dwell closed times of the pore were found.
      The dwell closed times lengthened as the voltage increased, suggesting
      impermeability of the channel for the ligands. Molecular docking analysis
      revealed two distinct binding sites within the lumen of the stem of the alpha
      hemolysin pore for the C4R1 dimer, but only one binding site for the C8R1 dimer.
      The blocking of the alpha-hemolysin nanopore by rhodamines could be utilized in
      DNA sequencing as additional optical sensing owing to bright fluorescence of
      rhodamines if used for DNA labeling.

PMID- 28591604
TI  - G Protein-Coupled Receptors Contain Two Conserved Packing Clusters.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have evolved a seven-transmembrane helix
      framework that is responsive to a wide range of extracellular signals. An
      analysis of the interior packing of family A GPCR crystal structures reveals two
      clusters of highly packed residues that facilitate tight transmembrane helix
      association. These clusters are centered on amino acid positions 2.47 and 4.53,
      which are highly conserved as alanine and serine, respectively. Ala2.47 mediates
      the interaction between helices H1 and H2, while Ser4.53 mediates the interaction
      between helices H3 and H4. The helical interfaces outside of these clusters are
      lined with residues that are more loosely packed, a structural feature that
      facilitates motion of helices H5, H6, and H7, which is required for receptor
      activation. Mutation of the conserved small side chain at position 4.53 within
      packing cluster 2 is shown to disrupt the structure of the visual receptor
      rhodopsin, whereas sites in packing cluster 1 (e.g., positions 1.46 and 2.47) are
      more tolerant to mutation but affect the overall stability of the protein. These
      findings reveal a common structural scaffold of GPCRs that is important for
      receptor folding and activation.

PMID- 28591606
TI  - Influence of Cholesterol on the Oxygen Permeability of Membranes: Insight from
      Atomistic Simulations.
AB  - Cholesterol is widely known to alter the physical properties and permeability of
      membranes. Several prior works have implicated cell membrane cholesterol as a
      barrier to tissue oxygenation, yet a good deal remains to be explained with
      regard to the mechanism and magnitude of the effect. We use molecular dynamics
      simulations to provide atomic-resolution insight into the influence of
      cholesterol on oxygen diffusion across and within the membrane. Our simulations
      show strong overall agreement with published experimental data, reproducing the
      shapes of experimental oximetry curves with high accuracy. We calculate the upper
      limit transmembrane oxygen permeability of a 1-palmitoyl,2
      oleoylphosphatidylcholine phospholipid bilayer to be 52 +/- 2 cm/s, close to the
      permeability of a water layer of the same thickness. With addition of
      cholesterol, the permeability decreases somewhat, reaching 40 +/- 2 cm/s at the
      near-saturating level of 62.5 mol % cholesterol and 10 +/- 2 cm/s in a 100%
      cholesterol mimic of the experimentally observed noncrystalline cholesterol
      bilayer domain. These reductions in permeability can only be biologically
      consequential in contexts where the diffusional path of oxygen is not water
      dominated. In our simulations, cholesterol reduces the overall solubility of
      oxygen within the membrane but enhances the oxygen transport parameter
      (solubility-diffusion product) near the membrane center. Given relatively low
      barriers to passing from membrane to membrane, our findings support hydrophobic
      channeling within membranes as a means of cellular and tissue-level oxygen
      transport. In such a membrane-dominated diffusional scheme, the influence of
      cholesterol on oxygen permeability is large enough to warrant further attention.

PMID- 28591607
TI  - SNARE-Mediated Single-Vesicle Fusion Events with Supported and Freestanding Lipid
      Membranes.
AB  - In vitro single-vesicle fusion assays are important tools to analyze the details
      of SNARE-mediated fusion processes. In this study, we employed planar pore
      spanning membranes (PSMs) prepared on porous silicon substrates with large pore
      diameters of 5 MUm, allowing us to compare the process of vesicle docking and
      fusion on the supported parts of the PSMs (s-PSMs) with that on the freestanding
      membrane parts (f-PSM) under the exact same experimental conditions. The PSMs
      harbor the t-SNARE DeltaN49-complex to investigate the dynamics and fusogenicity
      of single large unilamellar vesicles doped with the v-SNARE synaptobrevin 2 by
      means of spinning-disc confocal microscopy with a time resolution of 10 ms. Our
      results demonstrate that vesicles docked to the s-PSM were fully immobile,
      whereas those docked to the f-PSM were mobile with a mean diffusion coefficient
      of 0.42 MUm2/s. Despite the different dynamics of the vesicles on the two
      membrane types, similar fusion kinetics were observed, giving rise to a common
      fusion mechanism. Further investigations of individual lipid mixing events on the
      s-PSMs revealed semi-stable post-fusion structures.

PMID- 28591608
TI  - Ceramide-C16 Is a Versatile Modulator of Phosphatidylethanolamine Polymorphism.
AB  - Ceramide-C16 (CerC16) is a sphingolipid associated with several diseases like
      diabetes, obesity, Parkinson disease, and certain types of cancers. As a
      consequence, research efforts are devoted to identify the impact of CerC16 on the
      behavior of membranes, and to understand how it is involved in these diseases. In
      this work, we investigated the impacts of CerC16 (up to 20 mol %) on the lipid
      polymorphism of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE),
      using differential scanning calorimetry, and sequential 2H and 31P solid-state
      nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A partial phase diagram is proposed. The
      results indicate that the presence of CerC16 leads to an upshift of the
      temperature of the gel-to-liquid crystalline (Lbeta - Lalpha) phase transition,
      leading to a large Lbeta/Lalpha phase coexistence region where gel-phase domains
      contain ~35 mol % CerC16. It also leads to a downshift of the temperature of the
      lamellar-to-inverted hexagonal (L - HII) phase transition of POPE. The opposite
      influence on the two-phase transitions of POPE brings a three-phase coexistence
      line when the two transitions overlap. The resulting HII phase can be ceramide
      enriched, coexisting with a Lalpha phase, or ceramide depleted, coexisting with a
      Lbeta phase, depending on the CerC16 proportions. The uncommon capability of
      CerC16 to modulate the membrane fluidity, its curvature propensity, and the
      membrane interface properties highlights its potential as a versatile messenger
      in cell membrane events.

PMID- 28591609
TI  - Investigation of Nanoscopic Phase Separations in Lipid Membranes Using Inverse
      FCS.
AB  - Measurement of the sizes of nanoscopic particles is a difficult challenge,
      especially in two-dimensional systems such as cell membranes. We have extended
      inverse fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (iFCS) to endow it with unique
      advantages for measuring particle size from the nano- to the microscale. We have
      augmented iFCS with an analysis of moments of fluorescence fluctuations and used
      it to measure stages of phase separation in model lipid bilayer membranes. We
      observed two different pathways for the growth of phase domains. In one,
      nanoscopic gel domains appeared first and then gradually grew to micrometer size.
      In the other, the domains reached micrometer size quickly, and their number
      gradually increased. These measurements demonstrate the value of iFCS
      measurements through their ability, to our knowledge, to provide new information
      about the mechanism of lipid phase separation and potentially about the physical
      basis of naturally occurring nanodomains such as lipid rafts.

PMID- 28591610
TI  - A Dynamic Biochemomechanical Model of Geometry-Confined Cell Spreading.
AB  - Cell spreading is involved in many physiological and pathological processes. The
      spreading behavior of a cell significantly depends on its microenvironment, but
      the biochemomechanical mechanisms of geometry-confined cell spreading remain
      unclear. A dynamic model is here established to investigate the spreading of
      cells confined in a finite region with different geometries, e.g., rectangle,
      ellipse, triangle, and L-shape. This model incorporates both biophysical and
      biochemical mechanisms, including actin polymerization, integrin-mediated
      binding, plasma viscoelasticity, and the elasticity of membranes and
      microtubules. We simulate the dynamic configurational evolution of a cell under
      different geometric microenvironments, including the angular distribution of
      microtubule forces and the deformation of the nucleus. The results indicate that
      the positioning of the cell-division plane is affected by its boundary
      confinement: a cell divides in a plane perpendicular to its minimal principal
      axis of inertia of area. In addition, the effects of such physical factors as the
      adhesive bond density, membrane tension, and microtubule number are examined on
      the cell spreading dynamics. The theoretical predictions show a good agreement
      with relevant experimental results. This work sheds light on the geometry
      confined spreading dynamics of cells and holds potential applications in
      regulating cell division and designing cell-based sensors.

PMID- 28591611
TI  - Concise Whole-Cell Modeling of BKCa-CaV Activity Controlled by Local Coupling and
      Stoichiometry.
AB  - Large-conductance Ca2+-dependent K+ (BKCa) channels are important regulators of
      electrical activity. These channels colocalize and form ion channel complexes
      with voltage-dependent Ca2+ (CaV) channels. Recent stochastic simulations of the
      BKCa-CaV complex with 1:1 stoichiometry have given important insight into the
      local control of BKCa channels by fluctuating nanodomains of Ca2+. However, such
      Monte Carlo simulations are computationally expensive, and are therefore not
      suitable for large-scale simulations of cellular electrical activity. In this
      work we extend the stochastic model to more realistic BKCa-CaV complexes with 1:n
      stoichiometry, and analyze the single-complex model with Markov chain theory.
      From the description of a single BKCa-CaV complex, using arguments based on
      timescale analysis, we derive a concise model of whole-cell BKCa currents, which
      can readily be analyzed and inserted into models of cellular electrical activity.
      We illustrate the usefulness of our results by inserting our BKCa description
      into previously published whole-cell models, and perform simulations of
      electrical activity in various cell types, which show that BKCa-CaV stoichiometry
      can affect whole-cell behavior substantially. Our work provides a simple
      formulation for the whole-cell BKCa current that respects local interactions in
      BKCa-CaV complexes, and indicates how local-global coupling of ion channels may
      affect cell behavior.

PMID- 28591612
TI  - Role of Ambient Gas Composition on Cold Physical Plasma-Elicited Cell Signaling
      in Keratinocytes.
AB  - A particularly promising medical application of cold physical plasma is the
      support of wound healing. This is presumably achieved by modulating inflammation
      as well as skin cell signaling and migration. Plasma-derived reactive oxygen and
      nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) are assumed the central biologically active plasma
      components. We hypothesized that modulating the environmental plasma conditions
      from pure nitrogen (N2) to pure oxygen (O2) in an atmospheric pressure argon
      plasma jet (kINPen) will change type and concentration of ROS/RNS and effectively
      tune the behavior of human skin cells. To investigate this, HaCaT keratinocytes
      were studied in vitro with regard to cell metabolism, viability, growth, gene
      expression signature, and cytokine secretion. Flow cytometry demonstrated only
      slight effects on cytotoxicity. O2 shielding provided stronger apoptotic effects
      trough caspase-3 activation compared to N2 shielding. Gene array technology
      revealed induction of signaling and communication proteins such as
      immunomodulatory interleukin 6 as well as antioxidative and proproliferative
      molecules (HMOX1, VEGFA, HBEGF, CSF2, and MAPK) in response to different plasma
      shielding gas compositions. Cell response was correlated to reactive species:
      oxygen-shielding plasma induces a cell response more efficiently despite an
      apparent decrease of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which was previously shown to be a
      major player in plasma-cell regulation, emphasizing the role of non-H2O2 ROS like
      singlet oxygen. Our results suggest differential effects of ROS- and RNS-rich
      plasma, and may have a role in optimizing clinical plasma applications in chronic
      wounds.

PMID- 28591613
TI  - Analysis of Noise Mechanisms in Cell-Size Control.
AB  - At the single-cell level, noise arises from multiple sources, such as inherent
      stochasticity of biomolecular processes, random partitioning of resources at
      division, and fluctuations in cellular growth rates. How these diverse noise
      mechanisms combine to drive variations in cell size within an isoclonal
      population is not well understood. Here, we investigate the contributions of
      different noise sources in well-known paradigms of cell-size control, such as
      adder (division occurs after adding a fixed size from birth), sizer (division
      occurs after reaching a size threshold), and timer (division occurs after a fixed
      time from birth). Analysis reveals that variation in cell size is most sensitive
      to errors in partitioning of volume among daughter cells, and not surprisingly,
      this process is well regulated among microbes. Moreover, depending on the
      dominant noise mechanism, different size-control strategies (or a combination of
      them) provide efficient buffering of size variations. We further explore mixer
      models of size control, where a timer phase precedes/follows an adder, as has
      been proposed in Caulobacter crescentus. Although mixing a timer and an adder can
      sometimes attenuate size variations, it invariably leads to higher-order moments
      growing unboundedly over time. This results in a power-law distribution for the
      cell size, with an exponent that depends inversely on the noise in the timer
      phase. Consistent with theory, we find evidence of power-law statistics in the
      tail of C. crescentus cell-size distribution, although there is a discrepancy
      between the observed power-law exponent and that predicted from the noise
      parameters. The discrepancy, however, is removed after data reveal that the size
      added by individual newborns in the adder phase itself exhibits power-law
      statistics. Taken together, this study provides key insights into the role of
      noise mechanisms in size homeostasis, and suggests an inextricable link between
      timer-based models of size control and heavy-tailed cell-size distributions.

PMID- 28591614
TI  - Cell Division Induces and Switches Coherent Angular Motion within Bounded
      Cellular Collectives.
AB  - Collective cell migration underlies many biological processes, including
      embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer progression. In the embryo,
      cells have been observed to move collectively in vortices using a mode of
      collective migration known as coherent angular motion (CAM). To determine how CAM
      arises within a population and changes over time, here, we study the motion of
      mammary epithelial cells within engineered monolayers, in which the cells move
      collectively about a central axis in the tissue. Using quantitative image
      analysis, we find that CAM is significantly reduced when mitosis is suppressed.
      Particle-based simulations recreate the observed trends, suggesting that cell
      divisions drive the robust emergence of CAM and facilitate switches in the
      direction of collective rotation. Our simulations predict that the location of a
      dividing cell, rather than the orientation of the division axis, facilitates the
      onset of this motion. These predictions agree with experimental observations,
      thereby providing, to our knowledge, new insight into how cell divisions
      influence CAM within a tissue. Overall, these findings highlight the dynamic
      nature of CAM and suggest that regulating cell division is crucial for tuning
      emergent collective migratory behaviors, such as vortical motions observed in
      vivo.

PMID- 28591615
TI  - Transient Thresholding: A Mechanism Enabling Noncooperative Transcriptional
      Circuitry to Form a Switch.
AB  - Threshold generation in fate-selection circuits is often achieved through
      deterministic bistability, which requires cooperativity (i.e., nonlinear
      activation) and associated hysteresis. However, the Tat positive-feedback loop
      that controls HIV's fate decision between replication and proviral latency lacks
      self-cooperativity and deterministic bistability. Absent cooperativity, it is
      unclear how HIV can temporarily remain in an off-state long enough for the
      kinetically slower epigenetic silencing mechanisms to act-expression fluctuations
      should rapidly trigger active positive feedback and replication, precluding
      establishment of latency. Here, using flow cytometry and single-cell imaging, we
      find that the Tat circuit exhibits a transient activation threshold. This
      threshold largely disappears after ~40 h-accounting for the lack of deterministic
      bistability-and promoter activation shortens the lifetime of this transient
      threshold. Continuous differential equation models do not recapitulate this
      phenomenon. However, chemical reaction (master equation) models where the
      transcriptional transactivator and promoter toggle between inactive and active
      states can recapitulate the phenomenon because they intrinsically create a single
      molecule threshold transiently requiring excess molecules in the inactive state
      to achieve at least one molecule (rather than a continuous fractional value) in
      the active state. Given the widespread nature of promoter toggling and
      transcription factor modifications, transient thresholds may be a general feature
      of inducible promoters.

PMID- 28591617
TI  - Neuronal activity-regulated alternative mRNA splicing.
AB  - Activity-regulated gene transcription underlies plasticity-dependent changes in
      the molecular composition and structure of neurons. Numerous genes whose
      expression is induced by different neuronal plasticity inducing pathways have
      been identified, but the alteration of gene expression levels represents only
      part of the complexity of the activity-regulated transcriptional program.
      Alternative splicing of precursor mRNA is an additional mechanism that modulates
      the activity-dependent transcriptional signature. Recently developed splicing
      sensitive transcriptome wide analyses improve our understanding of the underlying
      mechanisms and demonstrate to what extend the activity regulated transcriptome is
      alternatively spliced. So far, only for a small group of differentially spliced
      mRNAs of synaptic proteins, the functional implications have been studied in
      detail. These include examples in which differential exon usage can result in the
      expression of alternative proteins which interfere with or alter the function of
      preexisting proteins and cause a dominant negative functional block of
      constitutively expressed variants. Such altered proteins contribute to the
      structural and functional reorganization of pre- and postsynaptic terminals and
      to the maintenance and formation of synapses. In addition, activity-induced
      alternative splicing can affect the untranslated regions (UTRs) and generates
      mRNAs harboring different cis-regulatory elements. Such differential UTRs can
      influence mRNA stability, translation, and can change the targeting of mRNAs to
      subcellular compartments. Here, we summarize different categories of alternative
      splicing which are thought to contribute to synaptic remodeling, give an overview
      of activity-regulated alternatively spliced mRNAs of synaptic proteins that
      impact synaptic functions, and discuss splicing factors and epigenetic
      modifications as regulatory determinants.

PMID- 28591618
TI  - Exploring drug solubility in fasted human intestinal fluid aspirates: Impact of
      inter-individual variability, sampling site and dilution.
AB  - One of the main factors defining intestinal drug absorption is the solubility of
      the compound in the gastrointestinal environment. This study reports the
      solubility of a series of 27 commonly used acidic, neutral and basic drugs in
      human intestinal fluid samples collected from the duodenum or jejunum of healthy
      volunteers under fasted state conditions. The interindividual variability as well
      as the impact of factors such as pH, sampling site and bile salts on the
      solubility in human intestinal fluids was investigated. The solubility
      measurements were evaluated using a statistical experimental design. Variability
      in solubility across volunteers and sampling sites was highly compound-specific
      and appeared to be substantial for weak acids and bases and for lipophilic drugs.
      Both pH of the samples and the abundance of amphiphilic components were
      responsible for the variability observed in the solubility values obtained. The
      results confirm strong interindividual differences in intraluminal solubility,
      especially for compounds with high lipophilicity and/or compounds with a pKa
      value within the physiological pH range. It is important to recognize this
      variability in intestinal drug solubility as it may considerably influence the
      therapeutic outcome among patients.

PMID- 28591616
TI  - Focal Adhesion Kinase: The Reversible Molecular Mechanosensor.
AB  - Sensors are the first element of the pathways that control the response of cells
      to their environment. Protein complexes that produce or enable a chemical signal
      in response to a mechanical stimulus are called "mechanosensors". In this work,
      we develop a theoretical model describing the physical mechanism of a reversible
      single-molecule stiffness sensor. Although this has the potential for general
      application, here we apply the model to focal adhesion kinase, which initiates
      the chemical signal in its active phosphorylated conformation, but can
      spontaneously return to its closed folded conformation. We find how the rates of
      conformation changes depend on the substrate stiffness and the pulling force
      applied from the cell cytoskeleton. We find the sensor is homeostatic,
      spontaneously self-adjusting to reach a state where its range of maximum
      sensitivity matches the substrate stiffness. The results compare well with the
      phenotype observations of cells on different substrates.

PMID- 28591621
TI  - RBR Ubiquitin Transfer: Not Simply an "Open" and "Closed" Case?
AB  - The three distinct types of E3 ubiquitin ligases, RING, HECT, and RBR, employ
      different modes of ubiquitin transfer including E2~Ub conjugate type and
      conformation. In this issue of Structure, Dove et al. (2017) provide a structural
      rationale for the preference and conformation of the UbcH7~Ub conjugate by the
      RBR E3 ligase HHARI.

PMID- 28591620
TI  - The effects of mechanical and hydrothermal aging on microstructure and biaxial
      flexural strength of an anterior and a posterior monolithic zirconia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of hydrothermal aging (H), mechanical cycling
      (M), and the combination of hydrothermal plus mechanical cycling (H+M) on biaxial
      flexural strength (BFS) and microstructure of two monolithic zirconias, indicated
      for anterior (AMZ) or posterior restorations (PMZ) and a conventional zirconia
      (IZr). METHODS: Disc specimens of each material (n=12) were submitted to: i) H
      (8h in autoclave at 134 degrees C); ii) M (106 cycles, at 40% of BFS); and iii)
      H+M. BFS was measured (ISO-6872) and Weibull modulus (m) and the characteristic
      strength (sigma0) were calculated. crystalline phase composition analyzed by XRD,
      and grain size measured by MEV analysis. RESULTS: XRD analysis showed AMZ was not
      susceptible to monoclinic transformation in any treatment. Conventional zirconia
      (IZr) and PMZ had monoclinic transformation only after H and H+M. BFS of AMZ was
      lower than PMZ and IZr. Cubic phase was found in all conditions for AMZ and IZr,
      while it was identified in PMZ only after H and H+M. BFS of AMZ was affected by M
      and H+M. For IZr and PMZ the unique difference detected in BFS was in the
      comparison of H to M. H treatment induced lower Weibull modulus, but
      characteristic strength was compatible with the BFS results. AMZ grain size
      (MUm2) was 8.6 times larger than PMZ grains, and 13.6 times larger than IZr
      grains. CONCLUSIONS: AMZ showed the largest mean grain size, had the lowest BFS
      values, and was affected when mechanical cycling was involved. Monoclinic
      transformation was not found in any treatment for AMZ, but was found in IZr and
      PMZ when hydrothermal aging was used alone or when combined with mechanical
      cycling. PMZ showed similar behavior to the IZr. H induced to higher fracture
      probability. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Translucent monolithic dental zirconia
      available on the market may behave differently under simulated oral aging. The
      relationship between composition and microstructure determines their properties
      presumably, and clinical performance.

PMID- 28591619
TI  - High hydrostatic pressure encapsulation of doxorubicin in ferritin nanocages with
      enhanced efficiency.
AB  - Human ferritin (HFn) nanocaging is becoming an appealing platform for anticancer
      drugs delivery. However, protein aggregation always occurs during the
      encapsulation process, resulting in low production efficiency. A new approach
      using high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) was explored in this study to overcome the
      problem of loading doxorubicin (DOX) in HFn. At the pressure of 500MPa and pH
      5.5, DOX molecules were found to be encapsulated into HFn. Meanwhile, combining
      it with an additive of 20mM arginine completely inhibited precipitation and
      aggregation, resulting in highly monodispersed nanoparticles with almost 100%
      protein recovery. Furthermore, stepwise decompression and incubation of the
      complex in atmospheric pressure at pH 7.4 for another period could further
      increase the DOX encapsulation ratio. The HFn-DOX nanoparticles (NPs) showed
      similar morphology and structural features to the hollow cage and no notable drug
      leakage occurred for HFn-DOX NPs when stored at 4 degrees C and pH 7.4 for two
      weeks. HFn-DOX NPs prepared through HHP also showed significant cytotoxicity in
      vitro and higher antitumor bioactivity in vivo than naked DOX. Moreover, This HHP
      encapsulation strategy could economize on DOX that was greatly wasted during the
      conventional preparation process simply through a desalting column. These results
      indicated that HHP could offer a feasible approach with high efficiency for the
      production of HFn-DOX NPs.

PMID- 28591622
TI  - Structural Insight into the Core of CAD.
AB  - The CAD complex catalyzes the first four reactions of the pyrimidine biosynthetic
      pathway. CAD exhibits allosteric regulaton, both negative and positive, covalent
      regulation by phosphorylation, and metabolite channeling. In this issue of
      Structure, Moreno-Morcillo et al. (2017) show that the dihydroorotase domain
      plays a crucial role in the establishment of the quaternary structure of this
      complex.

PMID- 28591623
TI  - Multiple Motifs Compete for EB-Dependent Microtubule Plus End Binding.
AB  - Microtubule (MT) dynamics are regulated by a plethora of microtubule-associated
      proteins (MAPs). An important MT regulator is the end binding protein EB, which
      serves as a scaffold to recruit other MAPs to MT plus ends. In this issue of
      Structure, Kumar et al. (2017) describe LxxPTPh, a new linear sequence motif that
      can bind EBs. The finding opens up the possibility of discovering new MT
      regulators.

PMID- 28591624
TI  - Crystal Structure of the Cul2-Rbx1-EloBC-VHL Ubiquitin Ligase Complex.
AB  - Cullin RING E3 ubiquitin ligases (CRLs) function in the ubiquitin proteasome
      system to catalyze the transfer of ubiquitin from E2 conjugating enzymes to
      specific substrate proteins. CRLs are large dynamic complexes and attractive drug
      targets for the development of small-molecule inhibitors and chemical inducers of
      protein degradation. The atomic details of whole CRL assembly and interactions
      that dictate subunit specificity remain elusive. Here we present the crystal
      structure of a pentameric CRL2VHL complex, composed of Cul2, Rbx1, Elongin B,
      Elongin C, and pVHL. The structure traps a closed state of full-length Cul2 and a
      new pose of Rbx1 in a trajectory from closed to open conformation. We
      characterize hotspots and binding thermodynamics at the interface between Cul2
      and pVHL-EloBC and identify mutations that contribute toward a selectivity switch
      for Cul2 versus Cul5 recognition. Our findings provide structural and biophysical
      insights into the whole Cul2 complex that could aid future drug targeting.

PMID- 28591625
TI  - Functional comparison of versatile carbohydrate esterases from families CE1, CE6
      and CE16 on acetyl-4-O-methylglucuronoxylan and acetyl-galactoglucomannan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The backbone structure of many hemicelluloses is acetylated, which
      presents a challenge when the objective is to convert corresponding
      polysaccharides to fermentable sugars or else recover hemicelluloses for
      biomaterial applications. Carbohydrate esterases (CE) can be harnessed to
      overcome these challenges. METHODS: Enzymes from different CE families, AnAcXE
      (CE1), OsAcXE (CE6), and MtAcE (CE16) were compared based on action and position
      preference towards acetyl-4-O-methylglucuronoxylan (MGX) and acetyl
      galactoglucomannan (GGM). To determine corresponding positional preferences, the
      relative rate of acetyl group released by each enzyme was analyzed by real time
      1H NMR. RESULTS: AnAcXE (CE1) showed lowest specific activity towards MGX, where
      OsAcXE (CE6) and MtAcE were approximately four times more active than AnAcXE
      (CE1). MtAcE (CE16) was further distinguished by demonstrating 100 times higher
      activity on GGM compared to AnAcXE (CE1) and OsAcXE (CE6), and five times higher
      activity on GGM than MGX. Following 24h incubation, all enzymes removed between
      78 and 93% of total acetyl content from MGX and GGM, where MtAcE performed best
      on both substrates. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Considering action on MGX, all esterases
      showed preference for doubly substituted xylopyranosyl residues (2,3-O-acetyl
      Xylp). Considering action on GGM, OsAcXE (CE6) preferentially targeted 2-O-acetyl
      mannopyranosyl residues (2-O-acetyl-Manp) whereas AnAcXE (CE1) demonstrated
      highest activity towards 3-O-acetyl-Manp positions; regiopreference of MtAcE
      (CE16) on GGM was less clear. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The current comparative
      analysis identifies options to control the position of acetyl group release at
      initial stages of reaction, and enzyme combinations likely to accelerate
      deacetylation of major hemicellulose sources.

PMID- 28591627
TI  - Triglyceride Metabolism under Attack.
AB  - Hydrolysis of circulating triglycerides is carried out by the enzyme lipoprotein
      lipase, which is transported and anchored to the capillary wall by the protein
      GPIHBP1. Recent evidence indicates that certain individuals develop
      autoantibodies against GPIHBP1, impairing lipoprotein lipase function and leading
      to markedly elevated plasma triglyceride levels (Beigneux et al., 2017).

PMID- 28591628
TI  - Type I Interferons Interfere with Liver Glucose Metabolism.
AB  - The specific immunological components linking metabolic stresses to liver
      inflammation and systemic metabolic pathologies in obesity are not entirely
      known. A recent study (Ghazarian et al., 2017) reveals that obesity-induced type
      I interferon signaling drives the accumulation and activation of intrahepatic
      CD8+ T cells, leading to systemic metabolic deterioration.

PMID- 28591626
TI  - Multi-omics analysis provides insight to the Ignicoccus hospitalis-Nanoarchaeum
      equitans association.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of interspecies interactions are inherently difficult due to
      the complex mechanisms which enable these relationships. A model system for
      studying interspecies interactions is the marine hyperthermophiles Ignicoccus
      hospitalis and Nanoarchaeum equitans. Recent independently-conducted 'omics'
      analyses have generated insights into the molecular factors modulating this
      association. However, significant questions remain about the nature of the
      interactions between these archaea. METHODS: We jointly analyzed multiple levels
      of omics datasets obtained from published, independent transcriptomics,
      proteomics, and metabolomics analyses. DAVID identified functionally-related
      groups enriched when I. hospitalis is grown alone or in co-culture with N.
      equitans. Enriched molecular pathways were subsequently visualized using
      interaction maps generated using STRING. RESULTS: Key findings of our multi-level
      omics analysis indicated that I. hospitalis provides precursors to N. equitans
      for energy metabolism. Analysis indicated an overall reduction in diversity of
      metabolic precursors in the I. hospitalis-N. equitans co-culture, which has been
      connected to the differential use of ribosomal subunits and was previously
      unnoticed. We also identified differences in precursors linked to amino acid
      metabolism, NADH metabolism, and carbon fixation, providing new insights into the
      metabolic adaptions of I. hospitalis enabling the growth of N. equitans.
      CONCLUSIONS: This multi-omics analysis builds upon previously identified cellular
      patterns while offering new insights into mechanisms that enable the I.
      hospitalis-N. equitans association. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our study applies
      statistical and visualization techniques to a mixed-source omics dataset to yield
      a more global insight into a complex system, that was not readily discernable
      from separate omics studies.

PMID- 28591629
TI  - Treg Cells Survive and Thrive in Inhospitable Environments.
AB  - Immune responses are dangerous by nature and require regulation to prevent
      inflammatory and/or autoimmune sequelae and allow healing. CD4+Foxp3+ T cells
      (Treg cells) play a crucial role in this process, and in this edition of Cell
      Metabolism, Angelin et al. (2017) describe how these cells are metabolically
      adapted to the job.

PMID- 28591631
TI  - Gut-Brain Glucose Signaling in Energy Homeostasis.
AB  - Intestinal gluconeogenesis is a recently identified function influencing energy
      homeostasis. Intestinal gluconeogenesis induced by specific nutrients releases
      glucose, which is sensed by the nervous system surrounding the portal vein. This
      initiates a signal positively influencing parameters involved in glucose control
      and energy management controlled by the brain. This knowledge has extended our
      vision of the gut-brain axis, classically ascribed to gastrointestinal hormones.
      Our work raises several questions relating to the conditions under which
      intestinal gluconeogenesis proceeds and may provide its metabolic benefits. It
      also leads to questions on the advantage conferred by its conservation through a
      process of natural selection.

PMID- 28591630
TI  - A Guide for the Design of Pre-clinical Studies on Sex Differences in Metabolism.
AB  - In animal models, the physiological systems involved in metabolic homeostasis
      exhibit a sex difference. Investigators often use male rodents because they show
      metabolic disease better than females. Thus, females are not used precisely
      because of an acknowledged sex difference that represents an opportunity to
      understand novel factors reducing metabolic disease more in one sex than the
      other. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) mandate to consider sex as a
      biological variable in preclinical research places new demands on investigators
      and peer reviewers who often lack expertise in model systems and experimental
      paradigms used in the study of sex differences. This Perspective discusses
      experimental design and interpretation in studies addressing the mechanisms of
      sex differences in metabolic homeostasis and disease, using animal models and
      cells. We also highlight current limitations in research tools and attitudes that
      threaten to delay progress in studies of sex differences in basic animal
      research.

PMID- 28591632
TI  - Bread Affects Clinical Parameters and Induces Gut Microbiome-Associated Personal
      Glycemic Responses.
AB  - Bread is consumed daily by billions of people, yet evidence regarding its
      clinical effects is contradicting. Here, we performed a randomized crossover
      trial of two 1-week-long dietary interventions comprising consumption of either
      traditionally made sourdough-leavened whole-grain bread or industrially made
      white bread. We found no significant differential effects of bread type on
      multiple clinical parameters. The gut microbiota composition remained person
      specific throughout this trial and was generally resilient to the intervention.
      We demonstrate statistically significant interpersonal variability in the
      glycemic response to different bread types, suggesting that the lack of
      phenotypic difference between the bread types stems from a person-specific
      effect. We further show that the type of bread that induces the lower glycemic
      response in each person can be predicted based solely on microbiome data prior to
      the intervention. Together, we present marked personalization in both bread
      metabolism and the gut microbiome, suggesting that understanding dietary effects
      requires integration of person-specific factors.

PMID- 28591633
TI  - Cytochrome c Oxidase Activity Is a Metabolic Checkpoint that Regulates Cell Fate
      Decisions During T Cell Activation and Differentiation.
AB  - T cells undergo metabolic reprogramming with major changes in cellular energy
      metabolism during activation. In patients with mitochondrial disease, clinical
      data were marked by frequent infections and immunodeficiency, prompting us to
      explore the consequences of oxidative phosphorylation dysfunction in T cells.
      Since cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is a critical regulator of OXPHOS, we created a
      mouse model with isolated dysfunction in T cells by targeting a gene, COX10, that
      produces mitochondrial disease in humans. COX dysfunction resulted in increased
      apoptosis following activation in vitro and immunodeficiency in vivo. Select T
      cell effector subsets were particularly affected; this could be traced to their
      bioenergetic requirements. In summary, the findings presented herein emphasize
      the role of COX particularly in T cells as a metabolic checkpoint for cell fate
      decisions following T cell activation, with heterogeneous effects in T cell
      subsets. In addition, our studies highlight the utility of translational models
      that recapitulate human mitochondrial disease for understanding immunometabolism.

PMID- 28591634
TI  - A Cell-Autonomous Mammalian 12 hr Clock Coordinates Metabolic and Stress Rhythms.
AB  - Besides circadian rhythms, oscillations cycling with a 12 hr period exist.
      However, the prevalence, origin, regulation, and function of mammalian 12 hr
      rhythms remain elusive. Utilizing an unbiased mathematical approach identifying
      all superimposed oscillations, we uncovered prevalent 12 hr gene expression and
      metabolic rhythms in mouse liver, coupled with a physiological 12 hr unfolded
      protein response oscillation. The mammalian 12 hr rhythm is cell autonomous,
      driven by a dedicated 12 hr pacemaker distinct from the circadian clock, and can
      be entrained in vitro by metabolic and ER stress cues. Mechanistically, we
      identified XBP1s as a transcriptional regulator of the mammalian 12 hr clock.
      Downregulation of the 12 hr gene expression strongly correlates with human
      hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis, implying its importance in maintaining
      metabolic homeostasis. The mammalian 12 hr rhythm of gene expression also is
      conserved in nematodes and crustaceans, indicating an ancient origin of the 12 hr
      clock. Our work sheds new light on how perturbed biological rhythms contribute to
      human disease.

PMID- 28591636
TI  - N-acyl Taurines and Acylcarnitines Cause an Imbalance in Insulin Synthesis and
      Secretion Provoking beta Cell Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - The processes contributing to beta cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes (T2D) are
      uncertain, largely because it is difficult to access beta cells in their intact
      immediate environment. We examined the pathophysiology of beta cells under T2D
      progression directly in pancreatic tissues. We used MALDI imaging of Langerhans
      islets (LHIs) within mouse tissues or from human tissues to generate in situ
      omics data, which we supported with in vitro experiments. Molecular interaction
      networks provided information on functional pathways and molecules. We found that
      stearoylcarnitine accumulated in beta cells, leading to arrest of insulin
      synthesis and energy deficiency via excessive beta-oxidation and depletion of TCA
      cycle and oxidative phosphorylation metabolites. Acetylcarnitine and an
      accumulation of N-acyl taurines, a group not previously detected in beta cells,
      provoked insulin secretion. Thus, beta cell dysfunction results from enhanced
      insulin secretion combined with an arrest of insulin synthesis.

PMID- 28591637
TI  - Amino Acid Transporter Slc38a5 Controls Glucagon Receptor Inhibition-Induced
      Pancreatic alpha Cell Hyperplasia in Mice.
AB  - Glucagon supports glucose homeostasis by stimulating hepatic gluconeogenesis, in
      part by promoting the uptake and conversion of amino acids into gluconeogenic
      precursors. Genetic disruption or pharmacologic inhibition of glucagon signaling
      results in elevated plasma amino acids and compensatory glucagon hypersecretion
      involving expansion of pancreatic alpha cell mass. Recent findings indicate that
      hyperaminoacidemia triggers pancreatic alpha cell proliferation via an mTOR
      dependent pathway. We confirm and extend these findings by demonstrating that
      glucagon pathway blockade selectively increases expression of the sodium-coupled
      neutral amino acid transporter Slc38a5 in a subset of highly proliferative alpha
      cells and that Slc38a5 controls the pancreatic response to glucagon pathway
      blockade; most notably, mice deficient in Slc38a5 exhibit markedly decreased
      alpha cell hyperplasia to glucagon pathway blockade-induced hyperaminoacidemia.
      These results show that Slc38a5 is a key component of the feedback circuit
      between glucagon receptor signaling in the liver and amino-acid-dependent
      regulation of pancreatic alpha cell mass in mice.

PMID- 28591635
TI  - Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis Regulates Hydrogen Sulfide Production.
AB  - Decreased growth hormone (GH) and thyroid hormone (TH) signaling are associated
      with longevity and metabolic fitness. The mechanisms underlying these benefits
      are poorly understood, but may overlap with those of dietary restriction (DR),
      which imparts similar benefits. Recently we discovered that hydrogen sulfide
      (H2S) is increased upon DR and plays an essential role in mediating DR benefits
      across evolutionary boundaries. Here we found increased hepatic H2S production in
      long-lived mouse strains of reduced GH and/or TH action, and in a cell-autonomous
      manner upon serum withdrawal in vitro. Negative regulation of hepatic H2S
      production by GH and TH was additive and occurred via distinct mechanisms, namely
      direct transcriptional repression of the H2S-producing enzyme cystathionine gamma
      lyase (CGL) by TH, and substrate-level control of H2S production by GH. Mice
      lacking CGL failed to downregulate systemic T4 metabolism and circulating IGF-1,
      revealing an essential role for H2S in the regulation of key longevity-associated
      hormones.

PMID- 28591640
TI  - Effects of atmospheric ageing under different temperatures on surface properties
      of sludge-derived biochar and metal/metalloid stabilization.
AB  - Ageing is a common phenomenon during biochar storage and its soil application. In
      this study, we exposed sludge-derived biochar (SDBC) in the air under 4  degrees
      C, 22  degrees C, and 45  degrees C for 30-120 d to imitate the ageing process
      after SDBC production. The aged SDBC was characterized and its sorption
      capacities for Pb(II), Cr(V) and As(III) were compared with the fresh ones in
      batch sorption experiments. The results showed an increase in acidity, cation
      exchange capacity, and carboxyl groups of SDBC surface, but a decrease in
      alkalinity and Fe(III) species during ageing, indicating the oxidation. In
      addition, ageing for more than 30 d was found to favor the Pb(II) and As(III)
      sorption, because of higher density of available oxygen-containing groups. The
      Cr(VI) sorption was found to be compromised by the ageing, because some reducing
      agents for Cr(VI) reduction was consumed there. Higher temperatures accelerated
      the above-mentioned ageing effect. Yet, when the SDBC was applied in the heavy
      metal contaminated soil, its performance would be affected by both ageing of SDBC
      itself as well as long-term interactions among soil components, such as colloids
      and solution, heavy metals, and SDBC, which require further investigation.

PMID- 28591638
TI  - Interrupted Glucagon Signaling Reveals Hepatic alpha Cell Axis and Role for L
      Glutamine in alpha Cell Proliferation.
AB  - Decreasing glucagon action lowers the blood glucose and may be useful
      therapeutically for diabetes. However, interrupted glucagon signaling leads to
      alpha cell proliferation. To identify postulated hepatic-derived circulating
      factor(s) responsible for alpha cell proliferation, we used
      transcriptomics/proteomics/metabolomics in three models of interrupted glucagon
      signaling and found that proliferation of mouse, zebrafish, and human alpha cells
      was mTOR and FoxP transcription factor dependent. Changes in hepatic amino acid
      (AA) catabolism gene expression predicted the observed increase in circulating
      AAs. Mimicking these AA levels stimulated alpha cell proliferation in a newly
      developed in vitro assay with L-glutamine being a critical AA. alpha cell
      expression of the AA transporter Slc38a5 was markedly increased in mice with
      interrupted glucagon signaling and played a role in alpha cell proliferation.
      These results indicate a hepatic alpha islet cell axis where glucagon regulates
      serum AA availability and AAs, especially L-glutamine, regulate alpha cell
      proliferation and mass via mTOR-dependent nutrient sensing.

PMID- 28591641
TI  - Cardiac stem cells for myocardial regeneration: promising but not ready for prime
      time.
AB  - Remarkable strides have been made in the treatment of ischemic heart disease in
      decades. As the initial loss of cardiomyocytes associated with myocardial
      infarction serves as an impetus for myocardial remodeling, the ability to replace
      these cells with healthy counterparts would represent an effective treatment for
      many forms of cardiovascular disease. The discovery of cardiac stem cells (that
      can differentiate into multiple lineages) highlighted the possibility for
      development of cell-based therapeutics to achieve this ultimate goal. Recent
      research features cardiac stem cell maintenance, proliferation, and
      differentiation, as well as direct reprogramming of various somatic cells into
      cardiomyocytes, all within the context of the holy grail of regeneration of the
      injured heart. Much work remains to be done, but the future looks bright!

PMID- 28591639
TI  - Mitochondrial Dynamics Mediated by Mitofusin 1 Is Required for POMC Neuron
      Glucose-Sensing and Insulin Release Control.
AB  - Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons are critical sensors of nutrient availability
      implicated in energy balance and glucose metabolism control. However, the precise
      mechanisms underlying nutrient sensing in POMC neurons remain incompletely
      understood. We show that mitochondrial dynamics mediated by Mitofusin 1 (MFN1) in
      POMC neurons couple nutrient sensing with systemic glucose metabolism. Mice
      lacking MFN1 in POMC neurons exhibited defective mitochondrial architecture
      remodeling and attenuated hypothalamic gene expression programs during the fast
      to-fed transition. This loss of mitochondrial flexibility in POMC neurons
      bidirectionally altered glucose sensing, causing abnormal glucose homeostasis due
      to defective insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells. Fed mice lacking MFN1 in
      POMC neurons displayed enhanced hypothalamic mitochondrial oxygen flux and
      reactive oxygen species generation. Central delivery of antioxidants was able to
      normalize the phenotype. Collectively, our data posit MFN1-mediated mitochondrial
      dynamics in POMC neurons as an intrinsic nutrient-sensing mechanism and unveil an
      unrecognized link between this subset of neurons and insulin release.

PMID- 28591642
TI  - Effects of amplitude and predictability of perturbations to the arm on
      anticipatory and reactionary muscle responses to maintain balance.
AB  - Disturbances to balance arising from forces applied to the upper limb have
      received relatively little attention compared to disturbances arising from
      support surface perturbations. In this study we applied fast ramp perturbations
      to the hand in anterior, posterior, medial and lateral directions. The effects of
      perturbation predictability and amplitude on the postural response of upper limb,
      trunk and lower limb muscles were investigated. Perturbations were applied either
      in blocks of constant amplitude and direction (predictable) or with direction and
      amplitude varying randomly (random) from trial to trial. The spatial-temporal
      patterns of anticipatory muscle activation under the predictable condition and
      the reactionary responses following the perturbation under both conditions were
      similarly organized. The size of the response increased systematically with the
      perturbation magnitude for both anticipatory and reactionary changes in muscle
      activation. However, the slope of the relation between perturbation amplitude and
      the magnitude of the change in muscle activation was greater when perturbations
      were predictable than when they were randomly selected. The timing of both the
      anticipatory and reactionary increases in muscle activation was invariant across
      perturbation amplitudes. The characteristics of the reactionary responses have a
      similar organization to the long latency muscle responses to support surface
      perturbations.

PMID- 28591643
TI  - Female choice, male dominance and condition-related traits in the polygynous
      subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum.
AB  - Ctenomys talarum is a solitary and highly territorial species in which dominant
      males aggressively deter other males and monopolize reproductive activity. Female
      preference for dominant males is not easy to assess due to coercive mating by
      males. Hence, we aimed to answer if behavioural dominance and several condition
      related traits like testosterone and cortisol levels, endoparasite load, and
      hematocrit volume may affect female preference when they have the opportunity to
      exert it. We designed a laboratory experiment using wild-caught C. talarum and
      employed a combined approach involving behavioural observations and the
      measurements of parameters of physical condition. We staged dyadic encounters
      between males to determine dominance index and then analyzed female preference
      towards tethered males (n=15) or their odours (n=18). Male dominance did not
      affect female preferences when odours were presented. When two tethered males
      were offered, females preferred those with higher dominance index. Preference of
      females for dominant males would mainly represent indirect benefits. Females did
      not show preference for males in relation to any physiological trait evaluated.
      Dominance was found negatively related to cortisol levels, probably avoiding the
      glucocorticoids-related costs, and positively related to parasite diversity,
      since they could tolerate it without impairing their health.

PMID- 28591645
TI  - Fast method for the determination of short-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates
      (scl-PHAs) in bacterial samples by In Vial-Thermolysis (IVT).
AB  - A new method based on the GC-MS analysis of thermolysis products obtained by
      treating bacterial samples at a high temperature (above 270 degrees C) has been
      developed. This method, here named "In-Vial-Thermolysis" (IVT), allowed for the
      simultaneous determination of short-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (scl-PHA)
      content and composition. The method was applied to both single strains and
      microbial mixed cultures (MMC) fed with different carbon sources. The IVT
      procedure provided similar analytical performances compared to previous Py-GC-MS
      and Py-GC-FID methods, suggesting a similar application for PHA quantitation in
      bacterial cells. Results from the IVT procedure and the traditional methanolysis
      method were compared; the correlation between the two datasets was fit for the
      purpose, giving a R2 of 0.975. In search of further simplification, the rationale
      of IVT was exploited for the development of a "field method" based on the
      titration of thermolyzed samples with sodium hydrogen carbonate to quantify PHA
      inside bacterial cells. The accuracy of the IVT method was fit for the purpose.
      These results lead to the possibility for the on-line measurement of PHA
      productivity. Moreover, they allow for the fast and inexpensive
      quantification/characterization of PHA for biotechnological process control, as
      well as investigation over various bacterial communities and/or feeding
      strategies.

PMID- 28591644
TI  - Co-expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and acyl-CoA binding protein
      enhances lipid accumulation in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.
AB  - The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is a convenient model for investigating
      lipid biosynthesis and for engineering high lipid accumulated strains. In this
      organism, the pentose phosphate pathway is the major source of NADPH for lipid
      biosynthesis. Thus, we over-expressed gene encoding NADP+-dependent glucose-6
      phosphate dehydrogenase (ZWF1) in a strain deficient in peroxisome biogenesis.
      However, this strategy suppressed growth during cultivation under lipogenic
      conditions and did not significantly increase lipid accumulation. Remarkably, co
      expression of gene encoding acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP), which functions as
      an intracellular acyl-CoA transporter and acyl-CoA-pool former, restored growth.
      Co-expression of ZWF1 and ACBP increased the lipid content to 30% of dry cell
      weight via de novo lipid synthesis. In comparison to wild type, the engineered
      strain accumulated 41% more lipids with a higher ratio of saturated to
      unsaturated fatty acids.

PMID- 28591646
TI  - Cultivating a Robust Stem Cell Field.

PMID- 28591648
TI  - Using Zebrafish to Study Pathways that Regulate Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self
      Renewal and Migration.
AB  - This perspective describes the usefulness of zebrafish as a model to study
      interaction of hematopoietic stem cells with the associated niche in vivo,
      explains how such interactions influence regeneration, migration, and clonality
      of HSCs, and defines their fate during differentiation.

PMID- 28591647
TI  - The Art of Capturing Pluripotency: Creating the Right Culture.
AB  - Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are a unique tool for genetic perturbation of
      mammalian cellular and organismal processes additionally in humans offer
      unprecedented opportunities for disease modeling and cell therapy. Furthermore,
      ESCs are a powerful system for exploring the fundamental biology of pluripotency.
      Indeed understanding the control of self-renewal and differentiation is key to
      realizing the potential of ESCs. Building on previous observations, we found that
      mouse ESCs can be derived and maintained with high efficiency through insulation
      from differentiation cues combined with consolidation of an innate cell
      proliferation program. This finding of a pluripotent ground state has led to
      conceptual and practical advances, including the establishment of germline
      competent ESCs from recalcitrant mouse strains and for the first time from the
      rat. Here, we summarize historical and recent progress in defining the signaling
      environment that supports self-renewal. We compare the contrasting requirements
      of two types of pluripotent stem cell, naive ESCs and primed post-implantation
      epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), and consider the outstanding challenge of
      generating naive pluripotent stem cells from different mammals.

PMID- 28591649
TI  - Activation of Lineage Regulators and Transposable Elements across a Pluripotent
      Spectrum.
AB  - Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are characterized by the pluripotent capacity to
      generate all embryonic lineages. Here, we show that ESCs can occupy a spectrum of
      distinct transcriptional and epigenetic states in response to varied extrinsic
      conditions. This spectrum broadly corresponds to a developmental continuum of
      pluripotency and is coupled with a gradient of increasing global DNA methylation.
      Each pluripotent state is linked with activation of distinct classes of
      transposable elements (TEs), which in turn influence ESCs through generating
      chimeric transcripts. Moreover, varied ESC culture parameters differentially
      license heterogeneous activation of master lineage regulators, including Sox1,
      Gata4, or Blimp1, and influence differentiation. Activation of Blimp1 is
      prevalent in 2i (without LIF) conditions, and marks a dynamic primordial germ
      cell (PGC)-like sub-state that is directly repressed by Klf4 downstream of
      LIF/STAT3 signaling. Thus, extrinsic cues establish a spectrum of pluripotent
      states, in part by modulating sub-populations, as well as directing the
      transcriptome, epigenome, and TE.

PMID- 28591650
TI  - Long-Term Culture of Self-renewing Pancreatic Progenitors Derived from Human
      Pluripotent Stem Cells.
AB  - Pluripotent stem cells have been proposed as an unlimited source of pancreatic
      beta cells for studying and treating diabetes. However, the long, multi-step
      differentiation protocols used to generate functional beta cells inevitably
      exhibit considerable variability, particularly when applied to pluripotent cells
      from diverse genetic backgrounds. We have developed culture conditions that
      support long-term self-renewal of human multipotent pancreatic progenitors, which
      are developmentally more proximal to the specialized cells of the adult pancreas.
      These cultured pancreatic progenitor (cPP) cells express key pancreatic
      transcription factors, including PDX1 and SOX9, and exhibit transcriptomes
      closely related to their in vivo counterparts. Upon exposure to differentiation
      cues, cPP cells give rise to pancreatic endocrine, acinar, and ductal lineages,
      indicating multilineage potency. Furthermore, cPP cells generate insulin+ beta
      like cells in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that they offer a convenient
      alternative to pluripotent cells as a source of adult cell types for modeling
      pancreatic development and diabetes.

PMID- 28591651
TI  - Transplantation of Human Pancreatic Endoderm Cells Reverses Diabetes Post
      Transplantation in a Prevascularized Subcutaneous Site.
AB  - Beta-cell replacement therapy is an effective means to restore glucose
      homeostasis in select humans with autoimmune diabetes. The scarcity of "healthy"
      human donor pancreata restricts the broader application of this effective
      curative therapy. "beta-Like" cells derived from human embryonic stem cells
      (hESC), with the capacity to secrete insulin in a glucose-regulated manner, have
      been developed in vitro, with limitless capacity for expansion. Here we report
      long-term diabetes correction in mice transplanted with hESC-derived pancreatic
      endoderm cells (PECs) in a prevascularized subcutaneous site. This advancement
      mitigates chronic foreign-body response, utilizes a device- and growth factor
      free approach, facilitates in vivo differentiation of PECs into glucose
      responsive insulin-producing cells, and reliably restores glycemic control. Basal
      and stimulated human C-peptide secretion was detected throughout the study, which
      was abolished upon graft removal. Recipient mice demonstrated physiological
      clearance of glucose in response to metabolic challenge and safely retrieved
      grafts contained viable glucose regulatory cells.

PMID- 28591652
TI  - Fetal Therapy Model of Myelomeningocele with Three-Dimensional Skin Using
      Amniotic Fluid Cell-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.
AB  - Myelomeningocele (MMC) is a congenital disease without genetic abnormalities.
      Neurological symptoms are irreversibly impaired after birth, and no effective
      treatment has been reported to date. Only surgical repairs have been reported so
      far. In this study, we performed antenatal treatment of MMC with an artificial
      skin using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) generated from a patient with
      Down syndrome (AF-T21-iPSCs) and twin-twin transfusion syndrome (AF-TTTS-iPSCs)
      to a rat model. We manufactured three-dimensional skin with epidermis generated
      from keratinocytes derived from AF-T21-iPSCs and AF-TTTS-iPSCs and dermis of
      human fibroblasts and collagen type I. For generation of epidermis, we developed
      a protocol using Y-27632 and epidermal growth factor. The artificial skin was
      successfully covered over MMC defect sites during pregnancy, implying a possible
      antenatal surgical treatment with iPSC technology.

PMID- 28591653
TI  - A Highly Efficient Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Microglia Model Displays a
      Neuronal-Co-culture-Specific Expression Profile and Inflammatory Response.
AB  - Microglia are increasingly implicated in brain pathology, particularly
      neurodegenerative disease, with many genes implicated in Alzheimer's,
      Parkinson's, and motor neuron disease expressed in microglia. There is,
      therefore, a need for authentic, efficient in vitro models to study human
      microglial pathological mechanisms. Microglia originate from the yolk sac as MYB
      independent macrophages, migrating into the developing brain to complete
      differentiation. Here, we recapitulate microglial ontogeny by highly efficient
      differentiation of embryonic MYB-independent iPSC-derived macrophages then co
      culture them with iPSC-derived cortical neurons. Co-cultures retain neuronal
      maturity and functionality for many weeks. Co-culture microglia express key
      microglia-specific markers and neurodegenerative disease-relevant genes, develop
      highly dynamic ramifications, and are phagocytic. Upon activation they become
      more ameboid, releasing multiple microglia-relevant cytokines. Importantly, co
      culture microglia downregulate pathogen-response pathways, upregulate homeostatic
      function pathways, and promote a more anti-inflammatory and pro-remodeling
      cytokine response than corresponding monocultures, demonstrating that co-cultures
      are preferable for modeling authentic microglial physiology.

PMID- 28591654
TI  - Hypoxia Epigenetically Confers Astrocytic Differentiation Potential on Human
      Pluripotent Cell-Derived Neural Precursor Cells.
AB  - Human neural precursor cells (hNPCs) derived from pluripotent stem cells display
      a high propensity for neuronal differentiation, but they require long-term
      culturing to differentiate efficiently into astrocytes. The mechanisms underlying
      this biased fate specification of hNPCs remain elusive. Here, we show that
      hypoxia confers astrocytic differentiation potential on hNPCs through epigenetic
      gene regulation, and that this was achieved by cooperation between hypoxia
      inducible factor 1alpha and Notch signaling, accompanied by a reduction of DNA
      methylation level in the promoter region of a typical astrocyte-specific gene,
      Glial fibrillary acidic protein. Furthermore, we found that this hypoxic culture
      condition could be applied to rapid generation of astrocytes from Rett syndrome
      patient-derived hNPCs, and that these astrocytes impaired neuronal development.
      Thus, our findings shed further light on the molecular mechanisms regulating hNPC
      differentiation and provide attractive tools for the development of therapeutic
      strategies for treating astrocyte-mediated neurological disorders.

PMID- 28591656
TI  - Taming Human Genetic Variability: Transcriptomic Meta-Analysis Guides the
      Experimental Design and Interpretation of iPSC-Based Disease Modeling.
AB  - Both the promises and pitfalls of the cell reprogramming research platform rest
      on human genetic variation, making the measurement of its impact one of the most
      urgent issues in the field. Harnessing large transcriptomics datasets of induced
      pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), we investigate the implications of this
      variability for iPSC-based disease modeling. In particular, we show that the
      widespread use of more than one clone per individual in combination with current
      analytical practices is detrimental to the robustness of the findings. We then
      proceed to identify methods to address this challenge and leverage multiple
      clones per individual. Finally, we evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of
      different sample sizes and experimental designs, presenting computational tools
      for power analysis. These findings and tools reframe the nature of replicates
      used in disease modeling and provide important resources for the design,
      analysis, and interpretation of iPSC-based studies.

PMID- 28591657
TI  - AGC kinases, mechanisms of regulation and innovative drug development.
AB  - The group of AGC kinases consists of 63 evolutionarily related serine/threonine
      protein kinases comprising PDK1, PKB/Akt, SGK, PKC, PRK/PKN, MSK, RSK, S6K, PKA,
      PKG, DMPK, MRCK, ROCK, NDR, LATS, CRIK, MAST, GRK, Sgk494, and YANK, while two
      other families, Aurora and PLK, are the most closely related to the group. Eight
      of these families are physiologically activated downstream of growth factor
      signalling, while other AGC kinases are downstream effectors of a wide range of
      signals. The different AGC kinase families share aspects of their mechanisms of
      inhibition and activation. In the present review, we update the knowledge of the
      mechanisms of regulation of different AGC kinases. The conformation of the
      catalytic domain of many AGC kinases is regulated allosterically through the
      modulation of the conformation of a regulatory site on the small lobe of the
      kinase domain, the PIF-pocket. The PIF-pocket acts like an ON-OFF switch in AGC
      kinases with different modes of regulation, i.e. PDK1, PKB/Akt, LATS and Aurora
      kinases. In this review, we make emphasis on how the knowledge of the molecular
      mechanisms of regulation can guide the discovery and development of small
      allosteric modulators. Molecular probes stabilizing the PIF-pocket in the active
      conformation are activators, while compounds stabilizing the disrupted site are
      allosteric inhibitors. One challenge for the rational development of allosteric
      modulators is the lack of complete structural information of the inhibited forms
      of full-length AGC kinases. On the other hand, we suggest that the available
      information derived from molecular biology and biochemical studies can already
      guide screening strategies for the identification of innovative mode of action
      molecular probes and the development of selective allosteric drugs for the
      treatment of human diseases.

PMID- 28591658
TI  - Cutaneous leishmaniasis in immigrant workers returning to Bangladesh - An
      emerging problem.

PMID- 28591655
TI  - Differentiation of Inflammation-Responsive Astrocytes from Glial Progenitors
      Generated from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.
AB  - Astrocyte dysfunction and neuroinflammation are detrimental features in multiple
      pathologies of the CNS. Therefore, the development of methods that produce
      functional human astrocytes represents an advance in the study of neurological
      diseases. Here we report an efficient method for inflammation-responsive
      astrocyte generation from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and embryonic
      stem cells. This protocol uses an intermediate glial progenitor stage and
      generates functional astrocytes that show levels of glutamate uptake and calcium
      activation comparable with those observed in human primary astrocytes.
      Stimulation of stem cell-derived astrocytes with interleukin-1beta or tumor
      necrosis factor alpha elicits a strong and rapid pro-inflammatory response. RNA
      sequencing transcriptome profiling confirmed that similar gene expression changes
      occurred in iPSC-derived and primary astrocytes upon stimulation with interleukin
      1beta. This protocol represents an important tool for modeling in-a-dish
      neurological diseases with an inflammatory component, allowing for the
      investigation of the role of diseased astrocytes in neuronal degeneration.

PMID- 28591659
TI  - Decreased levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 in root-canal exudates during root
      canal treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) levels in root
      canal exudates from teeth undergoing root-canal treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The root-canal exudates from six teeth with normal pulp and periradicular tissues
      that required intentional root canal treatment for prosthodontic reasons and from
      twelve teeth with pulp necrosis and asymptomatic apical periodontitis (AAP) were
      sampled with paper points for bacterial culture and aspirated for the detection
      of proMMP-2 and active MMP-2 by gelatin zymography and the quantification of MMP
      2 levels by ELISA. RESULTS: By gelatin zymography, both proMMP-2 and active MMP-2
      were detected in the first collection of root-canal exudates from teeth with pulp
      necrosis and AAP, but not from teeth with normal pulp, and their levels gradually
      decreased and disappeared at the last collection. Consistently, ELISA
      demonstrated a significant decrease in MMP-2 levels in the root-canal exudates of
      teeth with pulp necrosis and AAP following root canal procedures (p<0.05).
      Furthermore, the MMP-2 levels were significantly lower in the negative bacterial
      culture than those in the positive bacterial culture (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The
      levels of MMP-2 in root-canal exudates from teeth with pulp necrosis and AAP were
      gradually reduced during root canal procedures. Future studies are required to
      determine if MMP-2 levels may be used as a biomolecule for the healing of apical
      lesions, similar to the clinical application of MMP-8 as a biomarker.

PMID- 28591660
TI  - The effect of advanced secondary municipal wastewater treatment on the molecular
      composition of dissolved organic matter.
AB  - There is a growing interest in water reuse and in recovery of nutrients from
      wastewater. Because many advanced treatment processes are designed to remove
      organic matter, a better understanding of the composition of dissolved organic
      matter (DOM) in wastewater is needed. To that end, we assessed DOM in the Nine
      Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant in Madison, Wisconsin by UV-visible
      spectroscopy and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.
      Samples were collected from the influent and effluent of two different secondary
      treatment processes and their respective secondary clarifiers, the UV
      disinfection unit, and an Ostara treatment system, which produces struvite via
      chemical precipitation. The optical properties reveal that DOM throughout the
      plant is relatively aliphatic and is low in molecular weight compared to DOM in
      freshwater systems. Furthermore, the DOM is rich in heteroatoms (e.g., N, S, P,
      and Cl) and its molecular formulas are present in the lipid-, protein-,
      carbohydrate-, and lignin-like regions of van Krevelen diagrams. Secondary
      treatment produces DOM that is more aromatic and more complex, as shown by the
      loss of highly saturated formulas and the increase in the number of CHO, CHON,
      and CHOP formulas. The two secondary treatment processes produce DOM with
      distinct molecular compositions, while the secondary clarifiers and UV
      disinfection unit result in minimal changes in DOM composition. The Ostara
      process decreases the molecular weight of DOM, but does not otherwise alter its
      composition. The optical properties agree with trends in the molecular
      composition of DOM within the main treatment train of the Nine Springs plant.

PMID- 28591661
TI  - Characterisation of plastic microbeads in facial scrubs and their estimated
      emissions in Mainland China.
AB  - Plastic microbeads are often added to personal care and cosmetic products (PCCPs)
      as an abrasive agent in exfoliants. These beads have been reported to contaminate
      the aquatic environment and are sufficiently small to be readily ingested by
      aquatic organisms. Plastic microbeads can be directly released into the aquatic
      environment with domestic sewage if no sewage treatment is provided, and they can
      also escape from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) because of incomplete
      removal. However, the emissions of microbeads from these two sources have never
      been estimated for China, and no regulation has been imposed on the use of
      plastic microbeads in PCCPs. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to estimate the
      annual microbead emissions in Mainland China from both direct emissions and WWTP
      emissions. Nine facial scrubs were purchased, and the microbeads in the scrubs
      were extracted and enumerated. The microbead density in those products ranged
      from 5219 to 50,391 particles/g, with an average of 20,860 particles/g. Direct
      emissions arising from the use of facial scrubs were estimated using this average
      density number, population data, facial scrub usage rate, sewage treatment rate,
      and a few conservative assumptions. WWTP emissions were calculated by multiplying
      the annual treated sewage volume and estimated microbead density in treated
      sewage. We estimated that, on average, 209.7 trillion microbeads (306.9 tonnes)
      are emitted into the aquatic environment in Mainland China every year. More than
      80% of the emissions originate from incomplete removal in WWTPs, and the
      remaining 20% are derived from direct emissions. Although the weight of the
      emitted microbeads only accounts for approximately 0.03% of the plastic waste
      input into the ocean from China, the number of microbeads emitted far exceeds the
      previous estimate of plastic debris (>330 MUm) on the world's sea surface.
      Immediate actions are required to prevent plastic microbeads from entering the
      aquatic environment.

PMID- 28591662
TI  - A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the rapid detection of
      Enterococcus spp. in water.
AB  - Faecal pollution of water and the resulting potential presence of human enteric
      pathogens is a predominant threat to public health. Microbiological water quality
      can be assessed by the detection of standard faecal indicator bacteria (SFIB)
      such as E. coli or certain Enterococcus species. In recent years, isothermal
      amplification methods have become a useful alternative to polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR), allowing molecular diagnostics with simple or no instrumentation.
      In this study, a novel screening method for the molecular detection of
      Enterococcus spp. by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is described.
      A set of six specific LAMP primers was designed to amplify a diagnostic fragment
      of the Enterococcus 23S rRNA gene, which is present in several enterococcal
      species targeted by quantitative PCR (qPCR), which is the standard technique
      recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Sensitivity and
      specificity tests were performed using a set of 30 Enterococcus and non-target
      bacterial reference strains. It is shown that LAMP is equally sensitive and even
      more specific than the qPCR assay. A dilution series of Enterococcus faecalis DNA
      revealed that the LAMP method can reliably detect 130 DNA target copies per
      reaction within 45 min. Additionally, enterococci isolated from Austrian surface
      waterbodies, as well as a set of DNA extracts from environmental waters, were
      tested. Contingency analysis demonstrated a highly significant correlation
      between the results of the developed LAMP assay and the reference qPCR method.
      Furthermore, a simple staining procedure with a fluorescence dye demonstrated the
      identification of amplified products by eye. In conclusion, this method is an
      important component for the efficient screening and testing of water samples in
      low-resource settings lacking sophisticated laboratory equipment and highly
      trained personnel, requiring only a simple heating block.

PMID- 28591663
TI  - An application of cellular organic matter to coagulation of cyanobacterial cells
      (Merismopedia tenuissima).
AB  - Algae affect the performance of drinking water treatment significantly when they
      decay and release considerable amounts of cellular organic matter (COM). The
      study describes the cyanobacterium Merismopedia tenuissima and its COM and
      investigates the effect of their simultaneous coagulation. As COM is highly
      complex mixture, we characterised it in terms of hydrophobicity, protein content
      and molecular weights (MWs). To describe the coagulation mechanisms and molecular
      interactions in the system, we determined both COM and cell surface charge by
      means of potentiometric titration and zeta potential analysis, respectively, and
      performed the jar tests with single components and their mixtures with and
      without a coagulant (ferric sulphate). The coagulation tests performed with the
      individual components or with their mixtures proved efficient cell removals (up
      to 99%) but relatively low COM removals (37 / 57%). This disproportion can be
      attributed to the prevalence of hydrophilic compounds and to the high portion of
      low-MW organics in COM. Coagulation of COM/cell mixtures achieved comparable
      efficacy with single component tests, using even lower coagulant doses.
      Furthermore, COM presence substantially deviated the pH optimum for cell removal
      and thus altered coagulation mechanisms. While single cells interacted
      prevailingly through adsorption onto Fe-oxide-hydroxides at about neutral pH (6.0
      7.7), the COM/cell mixtures succumbed to charge neutralisation by Fe
      hydroxopolymers within moderately acidic pH range (5.0-6.5). Moreover, COM
      initiated cell flocculation also at acidic pH in both the presence (pH 3.4-3.9)
      and the absence of a coagulant (pH 3.6-4.6). This supportive effect is ascribed
      to relatively high-MW COM (>10 kDa), serving as a natural flocculant through
      inter-particle bridging mechanism and exhibiting nearly the same COM/cell
      removals as ferric sulphate.

PMID- 28591664
TI  - Retinoic acid in developmental toxicology: Teratogen, morphogen and biomarker.
AB  - This review explores the usefulness retinoic acid (RA) related physiological
      factors as possible biomarkers of embryotoxicity. RA is involved in the
      morphogenesis of the early embryo as well as in the development and maturation of
      a wide variety of organ anlagen. The region-specific homeostasis of RA in the
      embryo is in many ways the driving force determining developmental cell
      proliferation versus differentiation. As a consequence, RA concentrations are
      carefully controlled in time and space in the developing embryo. RA deficiency
      and overdosing both result in characteristic patterns of malformations that may
      involve many different organ systems. The central role of RA in embryo
      development provides us with a set of sensitive biomarkers that may be employed
      in developmental toxicity testing. This includes the synthesizing and
      metabolizing enzymes of RA, but also a myriad of related morphogenetic factors
      and their genes, of which the expression may be affected by changes in RA
      balance. Several examples of embryotoxicants interfering with the homeostasis of
      RA and related parameters have been described. A preliminary adverse outcome
      pathway framework for RA mediated malformations has been published. Expansion of
      this framework and its application in developmental toxicity testing may allow
      the detection of a large variety of embryotoxicants with diverse modes of action.
      RA homeostasis therefore provides a promising set of molecular tools that may be
      employed in the advancement of mode of action driven animal-free developmental
      toxicity testing.

PMID- 28591665
TI  - Inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing by subinhibitory
      concentrations of curcumin with gentamicin and azithromycin.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing (QS) circuits regulate
      virulence factors and co-ordinate bacterial pathogenicity. This study aimed to
      investigate the inhibitory activity of subinhibitory concentrations of curcumin
      with azithromycin and gentamicin against P. aeruginosa QS-related genes and
      virulence factors. METHODS: The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and
      synergistic activity of curcumin with azithromycin and gentamicin against P.
      aeruginosa PAO1 were determined using broth microdilution and checkerboard
      titration methods, respectively. The activity of sub-MICs (1/4* and 1/16* MIC) of
      curcumin on the QS signal molecules was assessed using a reporter strain assay.
      The influence of sub-MICs of curcumin, azithromycin and gentamicin alone and in
      combination on motility and biofilm formation was also determined and was
      confirmed by RT-PCR to test the expression of the QS regulatory genes lasI, lasR,
      rhlI and rhlR. RESULTS: Addition of curcumin drastically decreased the MIC of
      azithromycin and gentamicin. Curcumin showed synergistic effects with
      azithromycin and gentamicin. Treated PAO1 cultures in the presence of curcumin
      showed a significant reduction of signals C12-HSL and C4-HSL (P<0.05). Sub-MICs
      (1/4* and 1/16* MIC) of curcumin, azithromycin and gentamicin alone and in
      combination significantly reduced swarming and twitching motilities as well as
      biofilm formation. Expression of QS regulatory genes lasI, lasR, rhlI and rhlR
      using 1/4* MIC of curcumin, azithromycin and gentamicin alone and in combination
      was decreased significantly compared with untreated PAO1. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results indicate that a combination of sub-MIC of curcumin with azithromycin and
      gentamicin exhibited synergism against P. aeruginosa QS systems.

PMID- 28591666
TI  - Characterization of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids for wells
      located in the Marcellus Shale Play.
AB  - Hydraulic fracturing, coupled with the advances in horizontal drilling, has been
      used for recovering oil and natural gas from shale formations and has aided in
      increasing the production of these energy resources. The large volumes of
      hydraulic fracturing fluids used in this technology contain chemical additives,
      which may be toxic organics or produce toxic degradation byproducts. This paper
      investigated the chemicals introduced into the hydraulic fracturing fluids for
      completed wells located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia from data provided by
      the well operators. The results showed a total of 5071 wells, with average water
      volumes of 5,383,743 +/- 2,789,077 gal (mean +/- standard deviation). A total of
      517 chemicals was introduced into the formulated hydraulic fracturing fluids. Of
      the 517 chemicals listed by the operators, 96 were inorganic compounds, 358
      chemicals were organic species, and the remaining 63 cannot be identified. Many
      toxic organics were used in the hydraulic fracturing fluids. Some of them are
      carcinogenic, including formaldehyde, naphthalene, and acrylamide. The
      degradation of alkylphenol ethoxylates would produce more toxic, persistent, and
      estrogenic intermediates. Acrylamide monomer as a primary degradation
      intermediate of polyacrylamides is carcinogenic. Most of the chemicals appearing
      in the hydraulic fracturing fluids can be removed when adopting the appropriate
      treatments.

PMID- 28591667
TI  - Exposure to residential road traffic noise prior to conception and time to
      pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between residential road traffic noise and
      fecundity estimated by time to pregnancy (TTP). DESIGN: We identified 65,201
      mothers from the Danish National Birth Cohort with self-reported information on
      TTP collected through computer assisted telephone interviews. Road traffic noise
      was modelled at all historical addresses and expressed as time-weighted means for
      periods corresponding to individual TTP. Associations were analyzed using
      logistic regression for analyses of dichotomous outcomes and ordinal logistic
      regression for TTP in four categories, adjusting for maternal age at conception,
      disposable household income, education and air pollution (NOx). RESULTS: Ordinal
      logistic regression showed a 10dB increase in road traffic noise to be associated
      with a 8% increased risk of 6-12month TTP (95% CI:1.03; 1.12) whereas we found no
      statistically significant associations for >=12months TTP (OR=1.04, 95% CI: 0.99;
      1.09) when compared to 0-2months TTP. Similarly, when exploring TTP as a binary
      outcome we found a 10dB higher road traffic noise to be associated with a 5%
      higher risk of TTP of 6months or more (95% CI: 1.01; 1.08) as compared with
      <6months TTP, whereas when the cut-point was 12months TTP no association was
      found. CONCLUSION: Road traffic noise was associated with an increased risk of 6
      12month TTP, but not with risk of longer TTP, indicating that noise may have a
      small impact on sub-fecundity.

PMID- 28591668
TI  - The selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) raloxifene and tamoxifen
      improve ANP levels and decrease nuclear translocation of NF-kB in estrogen
      deficient rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) raloxifene and
      tamoxifen are used for the treatment of osteoporosis and cancer, respectively, in
      women. The impairment of both the Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) cell signaling
      system and the translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) to the cell
      nucleus are associated with detrimental cardiovascular effects and inflammation.
      The effects of SERMs on these parameters in the cardiac tissue of estrogen
      deficient rats has not been reported. METHODS: We investigated the effects of
      raloxifene and tamoxifen on ANP signaling, p65 NF-kB nuclear translocation,
      cardiac histology and contractility. Female rats were divided into five groups:
      control (SHAM), ovariectomized (OVX), OVX-treated 17-beta-estradiol (E), OVX
      treated raloxifene (RLX) and OVX-treated tamoxifen (TAM). The treatments started
      21days after ovariectomy and continued for 14days. RESULTS: Ovariectomy reduced
      ANP mRNA in the left atrium (LA), decreased the content of ANP protein in the LA
      and in plasma, and increased the level of p65 NF-kB nuclear translocation in the
      left ventricle. Both 17-beta-estradiol and SERMs were able to reverse these
      alterations, which were induced by the estrogen deficient state. The hemodynamic
      and cardiac structural parameters analyzed in the present work were not modified
      by the interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates, for the first time,
      the additional benefits of raloxifene and tamoxifen in an estrogen-deficient
      state. These include the normalization of plasmatic and cardiac ANP levels and
      cardiac p65 NF-kB translocation. Therefore, these treatments promote
      cardiovascular protection and may contribute to the prevention of cardiac
      dysfunction observed long-term in postmenopausal women.

PMID- 28591669
TI  - Bupropion induces social anxiety in adolescent mice: Influence of housing
      conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The antidepressant bupropion has received increasing attention as a
      pharmacological tool to treat addiction although little is known about its
      effects on social behaviour in adolescents. The present study aimed to evaluate
      if environmental housing conditions influence bupropion's actions on social
      behaviour of adolescent mice. METHODS: Mice were either group- or individually
      housed for 2-weeks and then randomly divided into 2 cohorts: half of the mice
      remained in the initial housing condition and the other half were changed to
      isolated conditions for further 2-weeks. The following groups were compared:
      isolated/isolated (ISO/ISO), isolated/group-housed (ISO/GR), group
      housed/isolated (GR/ISO), and group-housed/group-housed (GR/GR). The effects of
      bupropion (40, 20, 10mg/kg) or saline on social interaction were assessed for
      each housing condition. Social encounters were evaluated using ethological
      analysis. RESULTS: Data showed significant effects of bupropion on grooming and
      digging. This drug diminished time mice allocated to these behavioural categories
      in all housing conditions. In ISO/GR and GR/ISO conditions, bupropion increased
      environmental exploration (non-social exploration and exploration from a
      distance), reduced social investigation and increased avoidance/flee and
      defence/submission behaviours. An augment of avoidance/flee during social
      interactions was observed in bupropion-treated mice in GR/GR housing condition.
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that this drug exhibits anxiogenic-like
      properties in social encounters between adolescent mice, especially when a
      transition in housing conditions has been experienced during this period. Changes
      in housing conditions may be a useful model for evaluating the effects of
      bupropion on social behaviour and the role of environmental housing conditions.

PMID- 28591670
TI  - Novel synthetic analogs of diallyl disulfide triggers cell cycle arrest and
      apoptosis via ROS generation in MIA PaCa-2 cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diallyl disulfide (DADS), a principal organosulfur component of
      garlic, is known for its medicinal properties including anti-cancer activity.
      Prior studies have demonstrated that the compounds containing Diallyl disulfide
      moieties exhibited diverse therapeutic potential with promising biological
      activities. In the present study, we have investigated the in vitro anticancer
      activity of Diallyl disulfide derivatives (5a-5l and 7e-7m) against human cancer
      cell lines. METHODS: The effect of DADS analogs on different cancer cell lines
      was measured through MTT assay. Cell cycle progression, apoptosis, DNA
      fragmentation and levels of ROS were analyzed through FACS and confocal imaging.
      RESULTS: Bis[3-(3-fluorophenyl)prop-2-ene]disulfide (compound 5b) was the most
      potent compound among the tested DADS derivatives. FACS analysis revealed that
      increase in ROS generation by compound 5b was accompanied by cell cycle arrest in
      the G2/M phase and apoptosis in MIA PaCa-2 cells. Further, the apoptosis was
      confirmed by TUNEL assay. Western blot analysis showed that compound 5b induces
      G2/M phase arrest via ROS mediated DNA-damage, which in turn, induces
      phosphorylation of Chk1/Cdc25c/Cdc2 pathway. Furthermore, altered levels of ROS
      triggers intrinsic apoptotic cascade, as evidenced by dissipated mitochondrial
      membrane potential (psi), decrease in Bcl-2/Bax ratio, cytochrome c release and
      cleavage of procaspase-3. Scavenging of ROS by antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine
      (NAC) reversed the compound 5b induced augmented intracellular ROS levels and
      cell death. CONCLUSION: Taken together, the anti-proliferative effects of
      compound 5b were attributed to intracellular ROS accumulation, which in turn,
      triggers apoptosis by mediating DNA damage-induced G2/M phase arrest and evoking
      mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in MIA PaCa-2 cells.

PMID- 28591671
TI  - Mille viae in eukaryotic mRNA decapping.
AB  - Cellular mRNA levels are regulated via rates of transcription and decay. Since
      the removal of the mRNA 5'-cap by the decapping enzyme DCP2 is generally an
      irreversible step towards decay, it requires regulation. Control of DCP2 activity
      is likely effected by two interdependent means: by conformational control of the
      DCP2-DCP1 complex, and by assembly control of the decapping network, an array of
      mutually interacting effector proteins. Here, we compare three recent and
      conformationally distinct crystal structures of the DCP2-DCP1 decapping complex
      in the presence of substrate analogs and decapping enhancers and we discuss
      alternative substrate recognition modes for the catalytic domain of DCP2.
      Together with structure-based insight into decapping network assembly, we propose
      that DCP2-mediated decapping follows more than one path.

PMID- 28591672
TI  - Global variation in pregnancy complications in women with epilepsy: A meta
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Women with epilepsy are at risk of pregnancy complications. Whether
      these vary globally is unknown. We undertook a systematic review to assess the
      overall rates of obstetric outcomes in women with epilepsy, and variations in
      estimates across geographical region, economic status of country, and over time.
      STUDY DESIGN: We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane, AMED and CINAHL, (January 1,
      1990 and November 29, 2016), without any language restrictions for studies
      reporting core maternal and fetal outcomes in women with epilepsy. We pooled the
      results using Freeman-Tukey Transformation random effectsanalysis, and reported
      our findings as rates of complications per 100 pregnancies with 95% confidence
      intervals (CI). We assessed for differences in risk across World Health
      Organisation (WHO) regions, income status, and year of publication. RESULTS: From
      the 7420 articles screened, we included 60 studies (62 articles). In women with
      epilepsy (116,105 pregnancies), the commonest complications were caesarean
      section (29.2 per 100 pregnancies; 95% CI 25.4-33.1, I2=98.44%), and admission to
      the neonatal intensive care unit (12.5 per 100 pregnancies; 95% CI 9.6-15.8,
      I2=60.63%). There were significant differences across the WHO regions, with the
      highest rates of caesarean section (37%, 95% CI 32%-42%); spontaneous miscarriage
      (39%, 95% CI 35%-44%) and preterm birth (10%, 95% CI 8%-12%) in the Americas;
      postpartum haemorrhage (9%, 95% CI 7%-12%), hypertensive disorders (14%, 95% CI
      8%-21%) and perinatal death (2%, 95% CI 1%-7%) in the Western Pacific; induction
      of labour (30%, 95% CI 19%-41%) in South East Asia and antepartum haemorrhage
      (10%, 95% CI 5%-17%) in the Eastern Mediterranean. The reported rates of
      antepartum haemorrhage, caesarean section, gestational diabetes and spontaneous
      miscarriage were highest in high income and high-middle income countries. Over
      time, there was a significant increase in caesarean section, and reduction in
      stillbirths, perinatal deaths and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit
      in women with epilepsy. CONCLUSION: There is significant variation in reported
      maternal and offspring outcomes in pregnant women with epilepsy across
      geographical regions, economic status of country and over time, which needs to be
      considered in setting priorities for clinical management and research.

PMID- 28591673
TI  - The Windmill technique avoids manual removal of the retained placenta-A new
      solution for an old problem.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The primary objective is to assess the reduction in manual removal of
      placenta with the Windmill technique of placenta delivery in patients with
      retained placenta. DESIGN: The Windmill technique involves the application of
      continuous 360 degrees  umbilical cord traction and rotation in such a manner as
      to be perpendicular to the direction of the birth canal at the level of the
      introitus. This rotation through 360 degrees  is repeated slowly with movement
      akin to the motion of the blades of a windmill. We performed a 3-year
      retrospective case-control study at the Charite University Hospital in Berlin.
      Patients with a retained placenta more than 30min following failed traditional
      interventions were consented and offered the Windmill technique of placenta
      delivery. Study cases were compared to controls where an operative manual removal
      of placenta was performed. Patients with suspected placenta implantation
      problems, uterine atony, bleeding due to vaginal tract injury and coagulation
      disturbances were excluded. RESULTS: Over the study period 14 patients were
      recruited to the study arm and 17 patients were in the control group. With the
      Windmill technique for retained placenta, 86% (12/14, p<0.001) of patients
      avoided invasive operative manual removal of the placenta in theatre. There was a
      statistically significant reduction in mean blood loss (429ml vs 724ml, p=0.001)
      and mean postoperative fall in hemoglobin values (1.3g/dl vs 2.5g/dl, p=0.04).
      There was a reduction in the time to delivery of the placenta, antibiotic
      prophylaxis and use of general anesthesia. CONCLUSION: The Windmill technique for
      the delivery of the retained placenta is a simple, safe, effective and easy to
      teach technique that reduces invasive operative manual removal of the placenta,
      postpartum blood loss and delay in the placenta delivery. This innovative
      technique can also be a lifesaving intervention especially in areas with limited
      or no access to operative facilities.

PMID- 28591674
TI  - High-frequency power within the QRS complex in ischemic cardiomyopathy patients
      with ventricular arrhythmias: Insights from a clinical study and computer
      simulation of cardiac fibrous tissue.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The distribution of frequency power (DFP) within the QRS complex
      (QRS) is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the DFP within the QRS in
      ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) with lethal ventricular arrhythmias (L-VA). A
      computer simulation was performed to explore the mechanism of abnormal frequency
      power. METHODS: The study included 31 ICM patients with and without L-VA (n = 10
      and 21, respectively). We applied the continuous wavelet transform to measure the
      time-frequency power within the QRS. Integrated time-frequency power (ITFP) was
      measured within the frequency range of 5-300 Hz. The simulation model consisted
      of two-dimensional myocardial tissues intermingled with fibroblasts. We examined
      the relation between frequency power calculated from the simulated QRS and the
      fibroblast-to-myocyte ratio (r) of the model. RESULTS: The frequency powers
      significantly increased from 180 to 300 Hz and from 5 to 15 Hz, and also
      decreased from 45 to 80 Hz in patients with ICM and L-VA compared with the normal
      individuals. They increased from 110 Hz to 250 Hz in ICM alone. In the
      simulation, the high-frequency power increased when the ratio (r) were 2.0-2.5.
      Functional reentry was initiated if the ratio (r) increased to 2.0. CONCLUSIONS:
      Abnormal higher-frequency power (180-300 Hz) may provide arrhythmogenic signals
      in ICM with L-VA that may be associated with the fibrous tissue proliferation.

PMID- 28591676
TI  - Evolution of commensal bacteria in the intestinal tract of mice.
AB  - Hundreds of different bacterial species inhabit our intestines and contribute to
      our health status, with significant loss of species diversity typically observed
      in disease conditions. Within each microbial species a great deal of diversity is
      hidden and such intra-specific variation is also key to the proper homeostasis
      between the host and its microbial inhabitants. Indeed, it is at this level that
      new mechanisms of antibiotic resistance emerge and pathogenic characteristics
      evolve. Yet, our knowledge on intra-species variation in the gut is still limited
      and an understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms acting on it is extremely
      reduced. Here we review recent work that has begun to reveal that adaptation of
      commensal bacteria to the mammalian intestine may be fast and highly repeatable,
      and that the time scales of evolutionary and ecological change can be very
      similar in these ecosystems.

PMID- 28591675
TI  - Ramucirumab as second-line treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular
      carcinoma following first-line therapy with sorafenib: Patient-focused outcome
      results from the randomised phase III REACH study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report patient-focused outcomes as measured by quality of life (QoL)
      and performance status (PS) in REACH, a phase III placebo-controlled randomised
      study, assessing ramucirumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients
      who received prior sorafenib. METHODS: Eligible patients had advanced HCC, Child
      Pugh A, PS 0 or 1 and prior sorafenib. Patients received ramucirumab (8 mg/kg) or
      placebo (1:1) on day 1 of a 2-week cycle. QoL was assessed by FACT Hepatobiliary
      Symptom Index (FHSI)-8 and EuroQoL (EQ-5D) at baseline; cycles 4, 10, and 16; and
      end of treatment. PS was assessed at baseline, each cycle, and end of treatment.
      Deterioration in FHSI-8 was defined as a >=3-point decrease from baseline and PS
      deterioration was defined as a change of >=2. Both intention-to-treat and pre
      specified subgroup of patients with baseline serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) >=400
      ng/mL were assessed. RESULTS: There were 565 patients randomised to ramucirumab
      and placebo. Compliance with FHSI and EQ-5D was high and similar between groups.
      In the ITT population, deterioration in FHSI-8, EQ-5D, and PS was similar between
      ramucirumab and placebo. In patients with baseline AFP >=400 ng/mL, ramucirumab
      significantly reduced deterioration in FHSI-8 at the end of treatment compared
      with placebo (P = 0.0381), and there was a trend towards a delay in the
      deterioration of symptoms in FHSI-8 (HR 0.690; P = 0.054) and PS (HR 0.642; P =
      0.057) in favour of ramucirumab. CONCLUSIONS: We report one of the most
      comprehensive data sets of QoL and symptom burden in patients undergoing systemic
      therapy for advanced HCC. Ramucirumab was associated with no worsening of QoL. In
      patients with baseline AFP >=400 ng/mL, the significant survival benefit observed
      in patients treated with ramucirumab was coupled with a trend in patient-focused
      outcome benefits. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01140347.

PMID- 28591677
TI  - A highly sensitive and selective fluorimetric probe for intracellular
      peroxynitrite based on photoinduced electron transfer from ferrocene to carbon
      dots.
AB  - Herein, a highly sensitive and selective fluorimetric nanoprobe for peroxynitrite
      (ONOO-) detection based on photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from ferrocene
      (Fc) to carbon dots (CDs) is reported. The nanoprobe (named CDs-Fc) can be
      facilely constructed through covalently conjugating CDs and ferrocenecarboxylic
      acid. Further studies reveal that the energy level of highest occupied molecular
      orbital (HOMO) of the CDs is lowered with the addition of ONOO- due to its
      oxidation and nitration capabilities. Thus, an efficient electron transfer from
      Fc to the excited states of CDs could occur, leading to obvious fluorescence
      quenching. The fluorescence quenching of the nanoprobe was determined to be
      peroxynitrite concentrations dependence with a linear range between 4nM to
      0.12MUM. Thanks to the excellent optical properties of the CDs and efficient
      electron transfer efficiency from Fc to the excited CDs, the nanoprobe exhibits
      very high sensitivity to ONOO- with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.9nM. To the
      best of our knowledge, this LOD is the highest reported value till today for the
      detection of peroxynitrite. Besides, the nanoprobe also shows excellent
      selectivity to ONOO- among a broad range of substances, even including other
      reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS). Finally, the nanoprobe was verified
      to be very low cytotoxicity, and was successfully applied for intracellular ONOO-
      detection. This work would provide a promising tool for the research of ONOO- in
      cytobiology and disease diagnosis.

PMID- 28591678
TI  - Treatment outcomes after implementation of an adapted WHO protocol for severe
      sepsis and septic shock in Haiti.
AB  - PURPOSE: The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a simplified algorithm
      specific to resource-limited settings for the treatment of severe sepsis
      emphasizing early fluids and antibiotics. However, this protocol's clinical
      effectiveness is unknown. We describe patient outcomes before and after
      implementation of an adapted WHO severe sepsis protocol at a community hospital
      in Haiti. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a before-and-after study design, we
      retrospectively enrolled 99 adult Emergency Department patients with severe
      sepsis from January through March 2012. After protocol implementation in January
      2014, we compared outcomes to 67 patients with severe sepsis retrospectively
      enrolled from February to April 2014. We defined sepsis according to the WHO's
      Integrated Management of Adult Illness guidelines and severe sepsis as sepsis
      plus organ dysfunction. RESULTS: After protocol implementation, quantity of fluid
      administered increased and the physician's differential diagnoses more often
      included sepsis. Patients were more likely to have follow-up vital signs taken
      sooner, a radiograph performed, and a lactic acid tested. There were no
      improvements in mortality, time to fluids or antimicrobials. CONCLUSIONS: Use of
      a simplified sepsis protocol based primarily on physiologic parameters allows for
      substantial improvements in process measures in the care of severely septic
      patients in a resource-constrained setting.

PMID- 28591679
TI  - Serial blood lactate measurements and its prognostic significance in intensive
      care unit management of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study assesses the behavior of serial blood lactate measurements
      during intensive care unit (ICU) stay to identify prognostic factors of
      unfavorable neurological outcomes (UO) in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who were
      consecutively hospitalized with SAH between 2009 and 2016. Arterial blood lactate
      levels were routinely obtained on admission and every 6h in the ICU.
      Univariate/multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent
      predictors of UO (modified Rankin scale of 3-6 upon hospital discharge). RESULTS:
      There were 145 patients with 46% of UO. Initially, increased lactate levels
      reached maximum levels during the first 24h and then decreased to within the
      normal range. Then, the levels slightly increased again to within the normal
      range for the next 24h, especially in UO. On multiple regression analysis,
      lactate levels measured at 24h, and 48h after admission were strong predictors of
      UO. Lactate level measured at 48h after admission demonstrated the greatest
      accuracy and the highest specificity (area under the curve, 0.716; sensitivity,
      40%; specificity, 92.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The lactate level at 48h after admission
      was the most accurate predictor of UO with a high specificity in SAH patients.

PMID- 28591680
TI  - Clinical research in small genomically stratified patient populations.
AB  - The paradigm of early drug development in cancer is shifting from 'histology
      oriented' to 'molecularly oriented' clinical trials. This change can be
      attributed to the vast amount of tumour biology knowledge generated by large
      international research initiatives such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the
      use of next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques developed in recent years.
      However, targeting infrequent molecular alterations entails a series of special
      challenges. The optimal molecular profiling method, the lack of standardised
      biological thresholds, inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity, availability of
      enough tumour material, correct clinical trials design, attrition rate, logistics
      or costs are only some of the issues that need to be taken into consideration in
      clinical research in small genomically stratified patient populations. This
      article examines the most relevant challenges inherent to clinical research in
      these populations. Moreover, perspectives from the Academia point of view are
      reviewed as well as initiatives to be taken in forthcoming years.

PMID- 28591682
TI  - Misdiagnosis of epilepsy: A patient's perspective on Maria Oto's review.

PMID- 28591681
TI  - Structural features of glycan recognition among viral pathogens.
AB  - Recognition and binding to host glycans present on cellular surfaces is an
      initial and critical step in viral entry. Diverse families of host glycans such
      as histo-blood group antigens, sialoglycans and glycosaminoglycans are recognized
      by viruses. Glycan binding determines virus-host specificity, tissue tropism,
      pathogenesis and potential for interspecies transmission. Viruses including
      noroviruses, rotaviruses, enteroviruses, influenza, and papillomaviruses have
      evolved novel strategies to bind specific glycans often in a strain-specific
      manner. Structural studies have been instrumental in elucidating the molecular
      determinants of these virus-glycan interactions, aiding in developing vaccines
      and antivirals targeting this key interaction. Our review focuses on these key
      structural aspects of virus-glycan interactions, particularly highlighting the
      different strain-specific strategies employed by viruses to bind host glycans.

PMID- 28591683
TI  - A quantitative risk-assessment system (QR-AS) evaluating operation safety of
      Organic Rankine Cycle using flammable mixture working fluid.
AB  - Mixture of hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide shows excellent cycle performance in
      Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) used for engine waste heat recovery, but the
      unavoidable leakage in practical application is a threat for safety due to its
      flammability. In this work, a quantitative risk assessment system (QR-AS) is
      established aiming at providing a general method of risk assessment for flammable
      working fluid leakage. The QR-AS covers three main aspects: analysis of
      concentration distribution based on CFD simulations, explosive risk assessment
      based on the TNT equivalent method and risk mitigation based on evaluation
      results. A typical case of propane/carbon dioxide mixture leaking from ORC is
      investigated to illustrate the application of QR-AS. According to the assessment
      results, proper ventilation speed, safe mixture ratio and location of gas
      detecting devices have been proposed to guarantee the security in case of
      leakage. The results revealed that this presented QR-AS was reliable for the
      practical application and the evaluation results could provide valuable guidance
      for the design of mitigation measures to improve the safe performance of ORC
      system.

PMID- 28591684
TI  - Environmental performance, mechanical and microstructure analysis of concrete
      containing oil-based drilling cuttings pyrolysis residues of shale gas.
AB  - The overall objective of this research project is to investigate the feasibility
      of incorporating oil-based drilling cuttings pyrolysis residues (ODPR) and fly
      ash serve as replacements for fine aggregates and cementitious materials in
      concrete. Mechanical and physical properties, detailed environmental
      performances, and microstructure analysis were carried out. Meanwhile, the early
      hydration process and hydrated products of ODPR concrete were analyzed with X-ray
      diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The results
      indicated that ODPR could not be categorize into hazardous wastes. ODPR had
      specific pozzolanic characteristic and the use of ODPR had certain influence on
      slump and compressive strength of concrete. The best workability and optimal
      compressive strength were achieved with the help of 35% ODPR. Environmental
      performance tests came to conclusion that ODPR as recycled aggregates and
      admixture for the preparation of concrete, from the technique perspective, were
      the substance of mere environmental contamination.

PMID- 28591685
TI  - Identification of a consistent polyene component of purple pigment in diseased
      sclerites of Caribbean corals across region, species, and insult agent.
AB  - Gorgonians respond to insult (damage and disease) by producing sclerites
      containing a purple pigment as opposed to the normal white sclerites. Raman
      microscopy is used to study the purple areas of three species of diseased coral,
      Gorgonia ventalina, Pseudoplexaura porosa, and Eunicea laciniata obtained from
      Puerto Rico. These spectra were compared to Gorgonia ventalina samples previously
      reported that were obtained from San Salvador, Bahamas. Spectra from two samples
      of G. ventalina that had been infected by different agents, Aspergillus sydowii
      and a slime mold, were also obtained. The results indicate that the purple
      compounds (polyenes) generated by the coral in response to infection are similar
      regardless of region from which the coral were harvested, of species of coral,
      and of the infective agent. A discussion of the Raman spectra of G. ventalina and
      the other coral species is presented.

PMID- 28591686
TI  - The role of topically applied l-ascorbic acid in ex-vivo examination of burn
      injured human skin.
AB  - Wound treatment and healing is complex and is comprised of an elaborate set of
      processes including cellular, spectroscopic and biochemical ones as well as the
      "reaction" of local tissue to thermal injury. Vitamin C as l-ascorbic acid (LA)
      prevents injurious effects of oxidants because it reduces reactive oxygen species
      to stable molecules, it becomes oxidized to the short-lived ascorbyl radical. As
      a result, antioxidant treatment may contribute to minimizing injury in burn
      patients. The aim of this study is to assess changes in molecular structure of
      collagen extracted from human epidermis burn wound scab during incubation of the
      epidermis in l-ascorbic acid solution. The study will be performed using FTIR and
      FT Raman spectroscopies. During this research it was observed that the intensity
      of Raman peaks increased where healing was being modified by LA. The intensity of
      the amide III band at 1247cm-1 relative to the intensity at 1326cm-1 was used to
      test tissue repair degree at the incision site. FTIR spectra were recorded from
      frozen specimens of serum modified by LA; an analysis of shifts in the amide I
      band position was conducted. The appearance of a new band for frozen samples
      modified by LA was observed around 1149-1220cm-1. The above conclusions confirmed
      the creation of hydrogen bonds between NH stretch and CO. Samples being incubated
      in solutions of l-ascorbic acid demonstrated the absence of electrophoretic bands
      of albumin. Alterations in the surface of the skin incubated in l-ascorbic acid
      were investigated with the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). A decrease
      in external symptoms of burn injury was noted in the damaged epidermis incubated
      in l-ascorbic acid.

PMID- 28591687
TI  - mTOR-mediated Na+/Ca2+ exchange affects cell proliferation and metastasis of
      melanoma cells.
AB  - Melanoma is a common malignant tumor, which is associated with high mortality
      rate. The multiple-drug resistance of tumor cells often results in failure of
      chemotherapy. The aim of our study is to investigate the expression of Nav 1.6 in
      human melanoma cells and human epidermal melanocytes. Additionally, the effect of
      Na+channels on Ca+ current and mTOR activity in melanoma cells were also
      analyzed. The protein expression levels of Nav1.6 in human melanocyte PIG1, WM266
      and WM115 cells were investigated by western blot. After treatment of Na+ channel
      inhibitor Tetroadotoxin (TTX) or mTOR inhibitor rapamycin (RAPA), the
      electrophysiological activity (Na+ current and Ca2+ current) in WM266 and WM115
      cells was detected by patch clamp technique. The expression of mTORC1
      phosphorylates S6 kinase (p-S6), cell invasion and migration, cell proliferation
      and cell apoptosis were also performed. Results shown that Nav 1.6 was
      overexpressed in WM266 and WM115 cells, and the inhibition of Na+ channel by TTX
      reduced Na+ current. Both TTX and RAPA suppressed Ca2+ current and the expression
      of p-S6, thus inducing Na+ channel which activates the mTOR-Ca2+ signaling
      pathway. Both TTX and RAPA suppressed cell invasion, migration and proliferation,
      and promoted cell apoptosis of WM266 cells. Thus, the Nav1.6 sodium channel
      promotes cell proliferation and invasion through mTOR-mediated Na+/Ca2+ exchange
      in melanoma. The observations will provide a new perspective for understanding
      the malignant biological behavior of melanoma cells, and potentially provide a
      new drug target.

PMID- 28591688
TI  - Qa-2 expression levels is related with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes profile
      during solid Ehrlich tumor development.
AB  - The Qa-2 has been described as Human Leucocyte Antigen G (HLA-G) murine homolog.
      This homology is well accepted to gene and protein structure, in different
      pathology process and embryos implantation. However, in some neoplasm, this
      homology is questioned, where Qa-2 has been proposed as an immunogenic molecule,
      associated to tumor rejection. In this way, the aim of this study was to describe
      the pattern of Qa-2 expression and its relationship with the profile of tumor
      infiltrating lymphocytes in solid Ehrlich tumor. The Ehrlich tumor growth was
      evaluated in Balb/c female mice in different tumor stages. The inflammatory
      infiltration features were determined by histopathology and, both lymphocyte type
      and tissue Qa-2 expression by immunohistochemistry. ELISA kit was used to
      determine soluble Qa-2 in the serum from the animals. We observed that Qa-2 in
      neoplastic cells increases in intermediate tumor development stages, while, serum
      Qa-2 increases in the late stage. Qa-2 increasing is correlated with CD3+
      increase. Our results suggest that Qa-2 has a role opposite to HLA-G in Ehrlich
      solid carcinoma, and may be modulating the immune response by attracting the
      inflammatory infiltrate, especially T CD8+ Lymphocytes.

PMID- 28591689
TI  - Detrimental effects of atherogenic and high fat diet on bone and aortic
      calcification rescued by an isoflavonoid Caviunin beta-d-glucopyranoside.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atherogenic diet (AD) and high fat diet (HFD) cause deleterious effect
      on bone micro-architecture and this phenomenon prompts aortic calcification. This
      study aims to show the effects of Caviunin beta-d-glucopyranoside (CAFG), against
      bone loss and its associated aortic calcification in presence of AD and HFD
      challenged diets. METHODS: Five groups of C57BL/6 male mice with 8 animals in
      each group, comprising of chow, AD, HFD, AD+CAFG and HFD+CAFG were fed with
      respective diets for 16 weeks. At the end of the treatment period, preventive
      effects of CAFG on bone tissue were analyzed by assessing the osteogenic
      potential of bone marrow cells, bone micro-architecture, ability of new bone
      formation and histomorphometry studies. Aortic calcification was assessed by
      transcription and translation analysis of osteogenic key markers in aortic tissue
      and assessment of aortic endothelial function. Plasma lipid profiling was done to
      assess the effects of diets as its role in both bone loss and aortic
      calcification. RESULTS: Bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC's) dynamics showed that AD
      and HFD decreased osteoblast number that led to bone loss, deterioration in bone
      micro-architecture with up-regulated bone resorptive genes that lead to increase
      in aortic calcification. CAFG treatment rescued the bone health by modulating
      BMSC's towards osteogenic lineage. It increased the osteogenic gene expression
      with simultaneous decrease in osteoclastic genes thus stabilized the receptor
      activator of nuclear factor-kappa-B ligand/osteoprotegerin ratio that eventually
      reduced the amount of calcification in aorta. Biochemical studies showed that
      CAFG reduced the TC, TG and LDL-C content with no marked changes in HDL-C.
      Moreover, CAFG decreased the osteogenic key markers in the aortic tissue and
      enhanced endothelial function. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study indicates that
      CAFG protected against physiologically challenged diet induced bone loss with
      associated vascular calcification in mice. Moreover, data revealed that
      atherogenic diet is more detrimental as compared to the excess fatty acid diet to
      the bone and aorta.

PMID- 28591691
TI  - Naringenin protects keratinocytes from oxidative stress injury via inhibition of
      the NOD2-mediated NF-kappaB pathway in pemphigus vulgaris.
AB  - Naringenin is known to have anti-oxidative activity; however, the effect of
      naringenin on the progression of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) still remains unclear.
      This study aims to analyze the effect of naringenin on HaCaT cell apoptosis and
      oxidative damage under the treatment of PV serum. The results showed that PV
      serum significantly induced cell apoptosis compared with the control group;
      whereas, comparing with PV group, naringenin inhibited cell apoptosis. Moreover,
      PV serum increased the expression of bax and caspase-3, and decreased the
      expression of bcl-2; but naringenin significantly suppressed the expression of
      bax and caspase-3, induced the expression of bcl-2. Naringenin inhibited PV serum
      induced disruption of cell-cell contacts. Naringenin also down-regulated the
      expression of Dsg1, Dsg3 and E-cadherin compared with the PV group. Additionally,
      naringenin noticeably decreased the PV serum-induced ROS production and
      alleviated PV serum induced the drop of mitochondrial membrane potential.
      Furthermore, naringenin increased the activity of SOD, GSH-Px and TAC under the
      treatment of PV serum. Naringenin also decreased the expression of NOD2, RIPK2
      and NF-kappaB p-p65, but this effect could be reversed by muramyl dipeptide
      (MDP). In conclusion, these results suggested that naringenin protected
      keratinocytes from apoptosis and oxidative stress injury through inhibition of
      the NOD2-mediated NF-kappaB pathway.

PMID- 28591690
TI  - A Review on Phytoconstituents and Biological activities of Cuscuta species.
AB  - The genus Cuscuta belonging to the Cuscutaceae family comprises of about 100-170
      species spread around the world. Although several species have been studied for
      their phytochemical characterization and biological activities but still many
      species are yet unexplored till date. Cuscuta are parasitic plants generally of
      yellow, orange, red or rarely green color. The Cuscuta species were reported rich
      in flavonoid and glycosidic constituents along with alkaloids, fatty acids, fixed
      oil, minerals, essential oil and others phytomolecules also etc. Flavonoids and
      other molecules of Cuscuta species were reported for different types of
      biological activities such as antiproliferative activity, antioxidant activity,
      anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial and anxiolytic activity, while
      some other flavonoids have exhibited potential antiviral and anticancer
      especially in ovarian and breast cancer activities. This review is an attempt to
      compile all the available data for the 24 different of Cuscuta species on the
      basis of different types of phytochemical constituents and biological studies as
      above.

PMID- 28591692
TI  - The effect of 1800MHz radio-frequency radiation on NMDA receptor subunit NR1
      expression and peroxidation in the rat brain in healthy and inflammatory states.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of repeated exposure
      (5 times for 15min) of 1800MHz radio-frequency radiation (RFR) on N-methyl-d
      aspartate receptor subunit NR1 (NMDA-NR1) expression in the brains of rats in a
      persistent inflammatory state. We also measured the effect of RFR combined with
      tramadol (TRAM) to determine the potential antioxidant capacity of this agent.
      METHODS: The effects of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)
      modulated 1800MHz RFR exposure on the expression and activity of glutamate
      receptor channels with antioxidative activity in brain tissue was measured using
      oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and electron spin resonance (ESR)
      detection of the hydroxyl radical generated by the Fenton reaction. NMDA-NR1 was
      measured in the cerebral tissue of rats with inflammation (complete Freund's
      adjuvent) and those injected with tramadol after RFR exposure (RFR, RFR/TRAM) and
      in non-exposed (baseline, TRAM) rats. RESULTS: No differences between the
      baseline group and the exposed group (RFR) were observed. NMDA-NR1 expression
      decreased after CFA injection and RFR exposure, and an elevated expression of
      NMDA-NR1 was observed in healthy control rats of both groups: TRAM/RFR and RFR.
      CONCLUSIONS: ORAC assessment revealed a robust effect of RFR, however the other
      experiments revealed equivocal effects. Further studies examining the combination
      of ORAC with NMDA are warranted to elucidate more clearly the effect of RFR on
      the brain.

PMID- 28591695
TI  - Efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors for lung
      squamous carcinomas harboring EGFR mutation: A multicenter study and pooled
      analysis of published reports.
AB  - Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are common in lung
      adenocarcinoma (ADC) but rare in squamous cell carcinoma (SQC). The efficacy of
      EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) for SQC with EGFR mutations is
      unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of EGFR-TKIs for
      these patients. We performed a retrospective matched-pair case-control study from
      3 cancer centers, including 44 SQC and 44 ADC patients with EGFR mutation who
      were treated with EGFR-TKI. Subsequently, we performed a pooled analysis on the
      efficacy of EGFR-TKIs for EGFR-mutant SQC in 115 patients, including 71 patients
      selected from 25 published reports. In our multicenter study, EGFR-mutant SQC and
      ADC patients had similar objective response rate (ORR) (43.2% vs. 54.5%, p =
      0.290), but SQC patients had lower disease control rate (DCR) (71.3% vs. 100%, p
      = 0.001), significant shorter median progression free survival (PFS) (5.1 vs.
      13.0 months, p = 0.000) and median overall survival (OS) (17.2 vs. 23.6 months, p
      = 0.027). In pooled analysis, the ORR, DCR, PFS and OS of SQC patients were
      39.1%, 71.3%, 5.6 months and 15.0 months, respectively. Performance status was
      the only independent predictor of PFS and erlotinib treatment was associated with
      a better survival. In conclusion, EGFR-TKI was less effective in EGFR-mutant SQC
      than in ADC but still has clinical benefit for SQC patients. Further study is
      need to evaluate the using of EGFR-TKIs in these SQC patients.

PMID- 28591694
TI  - The nucleocapsid proteins of mouse hepatitis virus and severe acute respiratory
      syndrome coronavirus share the same IFN-beta antagonizing mechanism: attenuation
      of PACT-mediated RIG-I/ MDA5 activation.
AB  - Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a huge threat to both humans and animals and have
      evolved elaborate mechanisms to antagonize interferons (IFNs). Nucleocapsid (N)
      protein is the most abundant viral protein in CoV-infected cells, and has been
      identified as an innate immunity antagonist in several CoVs, including mouse
      hepatitis virus (MHV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV. However,
      the underlying molecular mechanism(s) remain unclear. In this study, we found
      that MHV N protein inhibited Sendai virus and poly(I:C)-induced IFN-beta
      production by targeting a molecule upstream of retinoic acid-induced gene I (RIG
      I) and melanoma differentiation gene 5 (MDA5). Further studies showed that both
      MHV and SARS-CoV N proteins directly interacted with protein activator of protein
      kinase R (PACT), a cellular dsRNA-binding protein that can bind to RIG-I and MDA5
      to activate IFN production. The N-PACT interaction sequestered the association of
      PACT and RIG-I/MDA5, which in turn inhibited IFN-beta production. However, the N
      proteins from porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine reproductive and
      respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), which are also classified in the order
      Nidovirales, did not interact and counteract with PACT. Taken together, our
      present study confirms that both MHV and SARS-CoV N proteins can perturb the
      function of cellular PACT to circumvent the innate antiviral response. However,
      this strategy does not appear to be used by all CoVs N proteins.

PMID- 28591696
TI  - Clinical evaluation of integrated panel testing by next-generation sequencing for
      somatic mutations in neuroblastomas with MYCN unamplification.
AB  - Neuroblastomas (NBs) exhibit heterogeneity and show clinically significant
      prognosis classified by genetic alterations. Among prognostic genes or genome
      factors, MYCN amplification (MNA) is the most established genomic marker of poor
      prognosis in patients with NB. However, the prognostic classification of more
      than 60% of patients without MNA has yet to be clarified. In this study, the
      application of target next-generation sequencing (NGS) was extended on the basis
      of a comprehensive panel of regions where copy number variations (CNVs) or point
      mutations occurred to improve the prognostic evaluation of these patients and
      obtain the sequence of 33 patients without MNA. A mean coverage depth of 887* was
      determined in the target regions in all of the samples, and the mapped read
      percentage was more than 99%. Somatic mutations in patients without MNA could be
      precisely defined on the basis of these findings, and 17 unique somatic
      aberrations, including 14 genes, were identified in 11 patients. Among these
      variations, most were CNVs with a number of 13. The 3-year event-free survival
      (EFS) of CNV(-) patients was 60.0% compared with the EFS (16.7%) of CNV(+)
      patients (P = 0.015, HR = 0.1344, 95%, CI = 0.027 to 0.678). CNVs were also
      associated with unfavorable histological characteristics (P = 0.003) and likely
      to occur in stage 4 (P = 0.041). These results might further indicate the role of
      CNVs in NB chemotherapy resistance (P = 0.059) and show CNVs as a therapeutic
      target. In multivariate analysis, the presence of CNVs was a clinically negative
      prognostic marker that impaired the outcome of patients without MNA and
      associated with poor prognosis in this tumor subset. Comprehensive
      genetic/genomic profiling instead of focusing on single genetic marker should be
      performed through in-depth NGS that could reveal prognostic information, improve
      NB target therapy, and provide a basis for investigations on NB pathogenesis.

PMID- 28591698
TI  - Bevacizumab for ramucirumab refractory malignant pleural effusion in non-small
      cell lung cancer: a case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a major problem associated with advanced non
      small cell lung cancer for which an optimum treatment strategy has yet to be
      determined. Notably, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling has been
      found to influence MPE, and bevacizumab, a VEGF ligand inhibitor, can effectively
      control MPE. Ramucirumab, a human monoclonal antibody specific for VEGF receptor
      2, has recently been approved for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. However,
      it remains unclear which of these agents more effectively control MPE.We describe
      a case of a 68-year-old man with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in whom
      ramucirumab plus docetaxel-refractory MPE was responsive to bevacizumab plus
      docetaxel combination therapy. The patient's MPE progressed after two cycles of
      ramucirumab plus docetaxel second-line chemotherapy. After switching to
      bevacizumab plus docetaxel, a computed tomography scan revealed a decreased MPE
      after two cycles of treatment.Bevacizumab may be more effective for treating MPE.
      However, further investigations are still warranted to determine the optimal VEGF
      targeted agent for this condition.

PMID- 28591697
TI  - Relationship between expression of PD-L1 and tumor angiogenesis, proliferation,
      and invasion in glioma.
AB  - Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is highly expressed in many cancers. We
      investigated the expression of PD-L1 and its relationship with vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase-9 and KI-67 expression
      in 64 patients with primary glioma. The expression rate of PD-L1 in glioma
      patients was 78.12%. PD-L1 levels correlated with the tumor grade (p = 0.013),
      VEGF status (p = 0.002) and KI-67 status (p = 0.002). In addition, PD-L1 levels
      correlated positively with VEGF (r = 0.314, p = 0.011) and KI-67 (r = 0.391, p =
      0.001) levels when the data were treated as continuous variables. This is the
      first report suggesting that PD-L1 is important for glioma angiogenesis and
      proliferation. Thus, further research should be conducted to assess the
      combination of targeted VEGF therapy and anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy for the
      treatment of glioma.

PMID- 28591701
TI  - DAXX/ATRX and MEN1 genes are strong prognostic markers in pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PanNETs shows heterogeneous biological behaviors. The aim was to
      investigate prognostic markers based on most frequently mutated genes in PanNETs.
      RESULTS: There was a total of 76 patients (M: 39, F: 37) with pathologically
      proven PanNETs. ATRX/DAXX and MEN1 protein expression was detected in 16 (21%)
      and 31 (41%) patients, respectively. The mean OS of the total study patients was
      16 years, and DFS was 17 years among the 68 patients with curative resections.
      PanNETs presented with distant metastasis or loss of ATRX/DAXX protein expression
      was the independent prognostic factors associated with poor OS. In curative
      resected PanNETs, there was no significant difference in the mean DFS according
      to ATRX/DAXX or MEN1 protein. However, there was statistically significant
      difference in survival after the recurrence according to the expression of
      ATRX/DAXX protein; Y/N: 10 vs. 15 years, p < 0.001. In metastatic PanNETs, we
      could find out OS was significantly longer in negative protein expression of
      ATRX/DAXX and MEN1 groups; 7 vs. 1 years, p < 0.001, 6 vs. 2 years, p = 0.02,
      respectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The histologically proven PanNETs were
      enrolled and the clinicopathologic and genetic alterations were evaluated.
      CONCLUSIONS: Protein expression of MEN1 and DAXX/ATRX can be prognostic markers
      for PanNETs. Further investigation in genetic alterations of PanNETs may give us
      insights understanding the behavior of PanNETs.

PMID- 28591699
TI  - Genetic heterogeneity in leiomyomas of deep soft tissue.
AB  - Leiomyoma of deep soft tissue is a rare type of benign smooth muscle tumor that
      mostly occurs in the retroperitoneum or abdominal cavity of women, and about
      which very little genetic information exists. In the present study, eight
      leiomyomas of deep soft tissue were genetically analyzed. G-banding showed that
      three tumors carried rearrangements of the long arm of chromosome 12, three
      others had 8q rearrangements, the 7th tumor had deletion of the long arm of
      chromosome 7, del(7)(q22), and the 8th had aberrations of chromosome bands
      3q21~23 and 11q21~22. The target genes of the 12q and 8q aberrations were HMGA2
      and PLAG1, respectively. In the leiomyomas with 12q rearrangements, both HMGA2
      and PLAG1 were expressed whereas in the tumors with 8q aberrations, only PLAG1
      was expressed. In the cases without 12q or 8q aberrations, the expression of
      HMGA2 was very low and PLAG1 was expressed only in the case with del(7)(q22). All
      eight leiomyomas of deep soft tissue expressed MED12 but none of them had
      mutation in exon 2 of that gene. In two tumors with 12q rearrangements, RPSAP52
      on 12q14.3 was fused with non-coding RNA (accession number XR_944195) from
      14q32.2 or ZFP36L1 from14q24.1. In a tumor with inv(12), exon 3 of HMGA2 was
      fused to a sequence in intron 1 of the CRADD gene from 12q22. The present data
      together with those of our two previous studies in which the fusions KAT6B-KANSL1
      and EWSR1-PBX3 were described in two retroperitoneal leiomyomas carrying a
      t(10;17)(q22;q21) and a t(9;22)(q33;q12) translocation, respectively, show that
      leiomyomas of deep soft tissue are genetically heterogenous but have marked
      similarities to uterine leiomyomas.

PMID- 28591702
TI  - FGF21 functions as a sensitive biomarker of APAP-treated patients and mice.
AB  - Acetaminophen (APAP) is a common medication that induces hepatocellular damage in
      a time- or dose-dependent manner. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) exerts a
      series of biological effects, including cellular repair. Compared to clinical
      diagnosis parameters, we aimed to evaluate whether FGF21 can serve as a sensitive
      biomarker for APAP-induced liver impairment. In the present study, we discussed
      comparable data from APAP-treated patients and parallelly established APAP
      exposed mice for investigation. The resulting human serological data showed that
      APAP-treated patients have a visible reduction of FGF21 expression in undetected
      liver impairment of clinical diagnosis. In the animal study, APAP-exposed livers
      exhibited normal metabolic functions and liver functions, as revealed by
      biochemical test and histopathological examination. Endogenous FGF21
      concentrations in APAP-treated mice were decreased in sera and liver cells.
      Moreover, comparable immunoassay data showed that hepatocellular FGF21 expression
      was reduced in a time-dependent manner. Taken together, these findings elucidate
      the involvement of abnormal FGF21 expression in early APAP-induced liver
      impairment. Interestingly, FGF21 may be a promising biomarker of APAP-exposed
      livers.

PMID- 28591704
TI  - Maintenance of cancer stemness by miR-196b-5p contributes to chemoresistance of
      colorectal cancer cells via activating STAT3 signaling pathway.
AB  - Emerging studies indicated that cancer stem cells represent a subpopulation of
      cells within the tumor that is responsible for chemotherapeutic resistance.
      However, the underlying mechanism is still not clarified yet. Here we report that
      miR-196b-5p is dramatically upregulated in CRC tissues and high expression of miR
      196b-5p correlates with poor survival in CRC patients. Moreover, recurrent gains
      (amplification) contribute to the miR-196b-5p overexpression in CRC tissues.
      Silencing miR-196b-5p suppresses spheroids formation ability, the fraction of SP
      cells, expression of stem cell factors and the mitochondrial potential, and
      enhances the apoptosis induced by 5-fluorouracil in CRC cells; while ectopic
      expression of miR-196b-5p yields an opposite effect. In addition, downregulation
      of miR-196b-5p resensitizes CRC cells to 5-fluorouracil in vivo. Our results
      further demonstrate that miR-196b-5p promotes stemness and chemoresistance of CRC
      cells to 5-fluorouracil via targeting negative regulators SOCS1 and SOCS3 of
      STAT3 signaling pathway, giving rise to activation of STAT3 signaling.
      Interestingly, miR-196b-5p is highly enriched in the serum exosomes of patients
      with CRC compared to the healthy control subjects. Thus, our results unravel a
      novel mechanism of miR-196b-5p implicating in the maintenance of stem cell
      property and chemotherapeutic resistance in CRC, offering a potential rational
      registry of anti-miR-196b-5p combining with conventional chemotherapy against
      CRC.

PMID- 28591705
TI  - M2 tumor-associated macrophages produce interleukin-17 to suppress oxaliplatin
      induced apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - M2 macrophages are a major component of the tumor microenvironment and are
      important promoters of tumor occurrence and progression. In this study, we
      detected large numbers of M2 macrophages in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues
      using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Moreover, upon oxaliplatin
      treatment, the M2 macrophages overexpressed interleukin-17, an important
      inflammatory cytokine, and thus inhibited oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis. By
      knocking down the interleukin-17 receptor and lysosome-associated membrane
      protein 2A (a key protein in chaperone-mediated autophagy) in hepatocellular
      carcinoma cells, we found that interleukin-17 stimulated chaperone-mediated
      autophagy, which further suppressed apoptosis upon oxaliplatin treatment.
      Chaperone-mediated autophagy induced tolerance to oxaliplatin treatment by
      reducing cyclin D1 expression; thus, cyclin D1 overexpression stimulated
      oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis. In addition, cyclin D1 expression was inhibited by
      interleukin-17, but increased when the interleukin-17 receptor was knocked down.
      Thus M2 macrophages in the hepatocellular carcinoma microenvironment generate
      large amounts of interleukin-17, which suppress oxaliplatin-induced tumor cell
      apoptosis by activating chaperone-mediated autophagy and in turn reducing cyclin
      D1 expression. These findings may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic
      strategies for chemorefractory liver cancer.

PMID- 28591703
TI  - Vitamin D receptor activation reduces VCaP xenograft tumor growth and counteracts
      ERG activity despite induction of TMPRSS2:ERG.
AB  - Whether vitamin D is chemopreventive and/or has potential therapeutically in
      prostate cancer is unresolved. One confounding factor is that many prostate
      cancers express a TMPRSS2:ERG fusion gene whose expression is increased both by
      androgens and by vitamin D receptor (VDR) activation. Two challenges that limit
      VDR agonist use clinically are hypercalcemia and the cooperation of VDR with ERG
      to hyper-induce the 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 metabolizing enzyme, CYP24A1,
      thus reducing VDR activity. Using the VCaP TMPRSS2:ERG positive cell line as a
      model, we found that a nonsecosteroidal CYP24A1 resistant VDR agonist, VDRM2,
      substantially reduces growth of xenograft tumors without inducing hypercalcemia.
      Utilizing next generation RNA sequencing, we found a very high overlap of
      1,25D(OH)2D3 and VDRM2 regulated genes and by drawing upon previously published
      datasets to create an ERG signature, we found activation of VDR does not induce
      ERG activity above the already high basal levels present in VCaP cells. Moreover,
      we found VDR activation opposes 8 of the 10 most significant ERG regulated
      Hallmark gene set collection pathways from Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA).
      Thus, a CYP24A1 resistant VDR agonist may be beneficial for treatment of
      TMPRSS2:ERG positive prostate cancer; one negative consequence of TMPRSS2:ERG
      expression is inactivation of VDR signaling.

PMID- 28591713
TI  - Nomogram predicts survival benefit from preoperative radiotherapy for non
      metastatic breast cancer: A SEER-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To estimate survival in non-metastatic breast cancer patients who
      failed to achieve a pathological complete response (pCR) more effectively, we
      combined the clinicpathological characteristics after preoperative radiation
      therapy (pRT) and established a novel nomogram. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, we identified 2,545
      non-metastatic breast cancer patients who underwent pRT between 1998 and 2013.
      Based on the registries of patients, the primary cohort divided into training set
      (n = 1,692) and validation set (n = 853). Nomograms were established by training
      set and validated by validation set. RESULTS: According to the multivariate
      analysis of training set, nomogram which combined age at diagnosed, marital
      status, location, grade, ER status, yp-T status, yp-N status and whether received
      breast conservation surgery (BCS) was developed. Calibration plots of the
      nomograms showed that the probability of DSS corresponded to actual observation
      closely. The C-index was 0.78 in validation set, which was significantly higher
      than that of yp-TNM staging system (0.75, p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed
      nomogram resulted in more-reliable DSS prediction for non-metastatic breast
      cancer patients in general population, it would be helpful in individualized
      survival prediction and better treatment allocation after pRT.

PMID- 28591712
TI  - An esophageal squamous cell carcinoma classification system that reveals
      potential targets for therapy.
AB  - ESCC (Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma) is a heterogeneous cancer with diverse
      prognosis. Here, to explore the biological diversity of ESCC, we employed gene
      expression profiles from 360 ESCC tumors from East Asians to establish a
      comprehensive molecular classification and characterization of ESCC. Using the
      specific 185-gene signature generated by unsupervised consensus clustering of
      gene expression data, we defined four subtypes associated with distinct clinical
      metrics: tumors with high metastasis associated with EMT (epithelial to
      mesenchymal transition) and active MAP4K4/JNK signaling pathway; tumors with high
      chromosomal instability with up regulated MYC targes; well differentiated tumors
      with less aggressive and moderated tumors. The clinical relevance of these
      subtypes was stated by significant differences in prognosis. Importantly, 24% of
      all ESCCs (n = 360) were classified into the high metastasis subtype associated
      with poorly differentiation and unfavorable prognosis. We provided evidence that
      this subtype relates to tumor microenvironment. Collectively, these results might
      contribute to more precise personalized therapeutic strategies for each subtype
      of ESCC patients in the near future.

PMID- 28591715
TI  - BRCA2, EGFR, and NTRK mutations in mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancers
      with MSH2 or MLH1 mutations.
AB  - Deficient mismatch repair (MMR) and microsatellite instability (MSI) contribute
      to ~15% of colorectal cancer (CRCs). We hypothesized MSI leads to mutations in
      DNA repair proteins including BRCA2 and cancer drivers including EGFR. We
      analyzed mutations among a discovery cohort of 26 MSI-High (MSI-H) and 558 non
      MSI-H CRCs profiled at Caris Life Sciences. Caris-profiled MSI-H CRCs had high
      mutation rates (50% vs 14% in non-MSI-H, P < 0.0001) in BRCA2. Of 1104 profiled
      CRCs from a second cohort (COSMIC), MSH2/MLH1-mutant CRCs showed higher mutation
      rates in BRCA2 compared to non-MSH2/MLH1-mutant tumors (38% vs 6%, P <
      0.0000001). BRCA2 mutations in MSH2/MLH1-mutant CRCs included 75 unique mutations
      not known to occur in breast or pancreatic cancer per COSMIC v73. Only 5
      deleterious BRCA2 mutations in CRC were previously reported in the BIC database
      as germ-line mutations in breast cancer. Some BRCA2 mutations were predicted to
      disrupt interactions with partner proteins DSS1 and RAD51. Some CRCs harbored
      multiple BRCA2 mutations. EGFR was mutated in 45.5% of MSH2/MLH1-mutant and 6.5%
      of non-MSH2/MLH1-mutant tumors (P < 0.0000001). Approximately 15% of EGFR
      mutations found may be actionable through TKI therapy, including N700D, G719D,
      T725M, T790M, and E884K. NTRK gene mutations were identified in MSH2/MLH1-mutant
      CRC including NTRK1 I699V, NTRK2 P716S, and NTRK3 R745L. Our findings have
      clinical relevance regarding therapeutic targeting of BRCA2 vulnerabilities, EGFR
      mutations or other identified oncogenic drivers such as NTRK in MSH2/MLH1-mutant
      CRCs or other tumors with mismatch repair deficiency.

PMID- 28591716
TI  - Adapting AlphaLISA high throughput screen to discover a novel small-molecule
      inhibitor targeting protein arginine methyltransferase 5 in pancreatic and
      colorectal cancers.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) are
      notoriously challenging for treatment. Hyperactive nuclear factor kappaB (NF
      kappaB) is a common culprit in both cancers. Previously, we discovered that
      protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) methylated and activated NF-kappaB.
      Here, we show that PRMT5 is highly expressed in PDAC and CRC. Overexpression of
      PRMT5 promoted cancer progression, while shRNA knockdown showed an opposite
      effect. Using an innovative AlphaLISA high throughput screen, we discovered a
      lead compound, PR5-LL-CM01, which exhibited robust tumor inhibition effects in
      both cancers. An in silico structure prediction suggested that PR5-LL-CM01
      inhibits PRMT5 by binding with its active pocket. Importantly, PR5-LL-CM01 showed
      higher anti-tumor efficacy than the commercial PRMT5 inhibitor, EPZ015666, in
      both PDAC and CRC. This study clearly highlights the significant potential of
      PRMT5 as a therapeutic target in PDAC and CRC, and establishes PR5-LL-CM01 as a
      promising basis for new drug development in the future.

PMID- 28591717
TI  - Peretinoin, an acyclic retinoid, suppresses steatohepatitis and tumorigenesis by
      activating autophagy in mice fed an atherogenic high-fat diet.
AB  - The pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is still unclear and the
      prevention of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been
      established. We established an atherogenic and high-fat diet mouse model that
      develops hepatic steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, and liver tumors at a high
      frequency. Using two NASH-HCC mouse models, we showed that peretinoin, an acyclic
      retinoid, significantly improved liver histology and reduced the incidence of
      liver tumors. Interestingly, we found that peretinoin induced autophagy in the
      liver of mice, which was characterized by the increased co-localized expression
      of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3B-II and lysosome-associated
      membrane protein 2, and increased autophagosome formation and autophagy flux in
      the liver. These findings were confirmed using primary mouse hepatocytes. Among
      representative autophagy pathways, the autophagy related (Atg) 5-Atg12-Atg16L1
      pathway was impaired; especially, Atg16L1 was repressed at both the mRNA and
      protein level. Decreased Atg16L1 mRNA expression was also found in the liver of
      patients with NASH according to disease progression. Promoter analysis revealed
      that peretinoin activated the promoter of Atg16L1 by increasing the expression of
      CCAAT/enhancer-binding-protein-alpha. Interestingly, Atg16L1 overexpression in
      HepG2 cells inhibited palmitate-induced NF-kB activation and interleukin-6
      induced STAT3 activation. We showed that Atg16L1 induced the de-phosphorylation
      of Gp130, a receptor subunit of interleukin-6 family cytokines, which
      subsequently repressed phosphorylated-STAT3 (Tyr705) levels, and this process
      might be independent of autophagy function. Thus, peretinoin prevents the
      progression of NASH and the development of HCC through activating the autophagy
      pathway by increased Atg16L1 expression, which is an essential regulator of
      autophagy and anti-inflammatory proteins.

PMID- 28591718
TI  - Riluzole exerts distinct antitumor effects from a metabotropic glutamate receptor
      1-specific inhibitor on breast cancer cells.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that glutamate signaling plays an important role in
      cancer. Riluzole is a glutamate release inhibitor and FDA-approved drug for the
      treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It has been investigated as an
      inhibitor of cancer cell growth and tumorigenesis with the intention of
      repurposing it for the treatment of cancer. Riluzole is thought to act by
      indirectly inhibiting glutamate signaling. However, the specific effects of
      riluzole in breast cancer cells are not well understood. In this study, the anti
      cancer effects of riluzole were explored in a panel of breast cancer cell lines
      in comparison to the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1-specific inhibitor BAY 36
      7620. While both drugs inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, there were
      distinct functional effects suggesting that riluzole action may be metabotropic
      glutamate receptor 1-independent. Riluzole induced mitotic arrest independent of
      oxidative stress while BAY 36-7620 had no measurable effect on mitosis. BAY 36
      7620 had a more pronounced and significant effect on DNA damage than riluzole.
      Riluzole altered cellular metabolism as demonstrated by changes in oxidative
      phosphorylation and cellular metabolite levels. These results provide a better
      understanding of the functional action of riluzole in the treatment of breast
      cancer.

PMID- 28591719
TI  - Stable and high expression of Galectin-8 tightly controls metastatic progression
      of prostate cancer.
AB  - Two decades ago, Galectin-8 was described as a prostate carcinoma biomarker since
      it is only expressed in the neoplastic prostate, but not in the healthy tissue.
      To date, no biological function has been attributed to Galectin-8 that could
      explain this differential expression. In this study we silenced Galectin-8 in two
      human prostate cancer cell lines, PC3 and IGR-CaP1, and designed a pre-clinical
      experimental model that allows monitoring the pathology from its early steps to
      the long-term metastatic stages. We show for the first time that the natural and
      conserved expression of Gal-8 in tumour cells is responsible for the metastatic
      evolution of prostate cancer. In fact, Gal-8 controls the rearrangement of the
      cytoskeleton and E-Cadherin expression, with a major impact on anoikis and
      homotypic aggregation of tumour cells, both being essential processes for the
      survival of circulating tumour cells during metastasis. While localized prostate
      cancer can be cured, metastatic and advanced disease remains a significant
      therapeutic challenge, urging for the identification of prognostic markers of the
      metastatic process. Collectively, our results highlight Galectin-8 as a potential
      target for anti-metastatic therapy against prostate cancer.

PMID- 28591720
TI  - BRSK2 induced by nutrient deprivation promotes Akt activity in pancreatic cancer
      via downregulation of mTOR activity.
AB  - Neoplastic cells in pancreatic ductual adenocarcinoma (PDAC) survive in an energy
      deprived milieu, and hyper-activation of Akt is thought to contribute to the
      neoplastic cell survival in PDAC. Kras activating mutations, common in PDAC, was
      believed to be the major driver of Akt activation. However, the inhibitor to Kras
      was not therapeutic for PDAC patients. This implied that PDAC cells might harbor
      an intrinsic merit that strengthens Akt activity. Here we showed that BRSK2, a
      serine/threonine-protein kinase of AMPK family, was induced by nutrient
      deprivation in PDAC cells and suppressed mTORC1 activity via phosphorylation of
      tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2). The suppression of mTORC1 activity in PDAC
      results in a dominant loss of feedback inhibition on Akt activity by mTORC1,
      consequently enhancing cell survival. This finding indicates that the intrinsic
      molecular merit that BRSK2 provides is a survival advantage to PDAC cells and
      strengthens the invasiveness of these neoplastic cells in energy-deprived
      environments.

PMID- 28591721
TI  - Ginkgolide K attenuates neuronal injury after ischemic stroke by inhibiting
      mitochondrial fission and GSK-3beta-dependent increases in mitochondrial membrane
      permeability.
AB  - Ginkgolide K (GK) belongs to the ginkgolide family of natural compounds found in
      Ginkgo biloba leaves, which have been used for centuries to treat cerebrovascular
      and cardiovascular diseases. We evaluated the protective effects of GK against
      neuronal apoptosis by assessing its ability to sustain mitochondrial integrity
      and function. Co-immunoprecipitation showed that Drp1 binding to GSK-3beta was
      increased after an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) insult in
      cultured neuroblastoma cells. This induced Drp1 and GSK-3beta translocation to
      mitochondria and mitochondrial dysfunction, which was attenuated by GK. GK also
      reduced mitochondrial fission by increasing Drp1 phosphorylation at Ser637 and
      inhibiting mitochondrial Drp1 recruitment. In addition, GK exposure induced GSK
      3beta phosphorylation at Ser9 and enhanced the interaction between adenine
      nucleotide translocator (ANT) and p-GSK-3beta. This interaction suppressed the
      interaction between ANT and cyclophilin D (CypD), which inhibited mitochondrial
      permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening. Similarly, suppression of
      mitochondrial fission by Mdivi-1 also inhibited GSK-3beta-induced mPTP opening.
      Treating mice with GK prevented GSK-3beta and Drp1 translocation to mitochondria
      and attenuated mitochondrial dysfunction after middle cerebral artery occlusion.
      We therefore propose that by inhibiting mitochondrial fission and attenuating
      mPTP opening, GK exerts neuroprotective effects that mitigate or prevent neuronal
      damage secondary to ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28591723
TI  - RIP1 is a central signaling protein in regulation of TNF-alpha/TRAIL mediated
      apoptosis and necroptosis during Newcastle disease virus infection.
AB  - Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is an oncolytic virus which selectively replicates
      in tumor cells and exerts anti-tumor cytotoxic activity by promoting cell death.
      In this study, we focus on characterization of the underlying mechanisms of NDV
      induced cell death in HeLa cells. We find that NDV Herts/33 strain triggers both
      extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis at late infection times. The activation of NF
      DoB pathway and subsequent up-regulation of TNF-alpha/TRAIL initiates extrinsic
      apoptosis, leading to activation of caspase 8 and cleavage of Bid into tBid. tBid
      transmits the extrinsic apoptotic signals to mitochondria and mediates intrinsic
      apoptosis, which is hallmarked by cleavage of caspase 9. Moreover, RIP1 is
      cleaved into RIP1-N and RIP1-C at D324 by caspase 8, and this cleavage promotes
      apoptosis. Surprisingly, over expression of RIP1 reduces apoptosis and depletion
      of RIP1 promotes apoptosis, suggesting full length RIP1 is anti-apoptotic.
      Moreover, necroptosis hallmark protein MLKL is activated by phosphorylation at 12
      24 h.p.i., and RIP1 regulates the level of phosphor-MLKL. Immunostaining shows
      that RIP1 aggregates to stress granules (SGs) at 8-24 h.p.i., and phosphor-MLKL
      is also recruited to SGs, instead of migrating to plasma membrane to exert its
      necrotic function. Immunoprecipitation study demonstrates that RIP1 bind to
      phosphor-MLKL, and depletion of RIP1 reduces the aggregation of MLKL to SGs,
      suggesting that RIP1 recruits MLKL to SGs. Altogether, NDV infection initiates
      extrinsic apoptosis via activation of NF-DoB and secretion of TNF-alpha/TRAIL.
      Activation of caspase 8 by TNF-alpha/TRAIL and subsequent cleavage of Bid and
      RIP1 transmit the death signals to mitochondria. Meanwhile, virus subverts the
      host defensive necroptosis via recruiting phosphor-MLKL by RIP1 to SGs. Thus,
      RIP1 is a central signaling protein in regulation of apoptosis and necroptosis
      during NDV infection.

PMID- 28591725
TI  - FOXP3 inhibits cancer stem cell self-renewal via transcriptional repression of
      COX2 in colorectal cancer cells.
AB  - Colon cancer stem cell (cCSC) is considered as the seed cell of colon cancer
      initiation and metastasis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), a downstream target of
      NFkappaB, is found to be essential in promoting cancer stem cell renewal.
      However, how COX2 is dysregulated in cCSCs is largely unknown. In this study, we
      found that the expression of transcription factor FOXP3 was much lower in the
      spheroids than that in the parental tumor cells. Overexpression of FOXP3
      significantly decreased the numbers of spheres, reduced the side population.
      Accordingly, FOXP3 expression decreased the tumor size and weight in the
      xenograft model. The tumor inhibitory effects of FOXP3 were rarely seen when COX2
      was additionally knocked down. Mechanically, FOXP3 transcriptionally repressed
      COX2 expression via interacting with and thus inhibiting p65 activity on the
      putative NFkappaB response elements in COX2 promoter. Taken together, we here
      revealed possible involvement of FOXP3 in regulating cCSC self-renewal via tuning
      COX2 expression, and thus providing a new target for the eradication of colon
      cancer stem cells.

PMID- 28591727
TI  - VEGF-C expression attributes the risk for lymphatic metastases to ovarian cancer
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peritoneal dissemination and retroperitoneal lymph node involvement
      are main routes for progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mediated angiogenesis has been identified as an
      important mechanism promoting tumour progression. METHODS: Tumour tissue of 100
      patients with EOC was analysed for protein expression of vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF)-A, -C, -D by Western Blot analysis. Expression patterns in
      patients with 'extensive intraperitoneal' metastases (pT3c pN1 and pT3b-pT3c pN0,
      n=80) were compared to patients with 'predominantly retroperitoneal' metastases
      (pT1a-pT3b, pN1, n=20). Overall and progression-free survival was analysed by
      Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: While no significant differences in expression
      levels among the different modes of metastases were noted for VEGF-A and -D, VEGF
      C expression was significantly higher in the group of predominantly
      retroperitoneal metastases compared to the group with extensive intraperitoneal
      metastases. Patients with high VEGF-C expression had a significantly worse
      overall survival compared to patients with low expression levels. CONCLUSIONS:
      Retroperitoneal tumour progression in EOC patients is associated with high VEGF-C
      expression. VEGF-C may serve as a molecular marker to identify patients with
      assumed high risk for lymphatic metastases, who might benefit from specific
      treatment strategies.

PMID- 28591732
TI  - Spindle cell carcinoma: the general demographics, basic clinico-pathologic
      characteristics, treatment, outcome and prognostic factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Owing to the rarity, the general demographics, basic clinico
      pathologic features, management, outcome and prognostic factors of spindle cell
      carcinoma (SpCC) were unexplored. METHODS: A SEER analysis was performed with
      2336 cases (1973-2016). RESULTS: A peak incidence occurred at 70~80 years without
      any gender predominance and 83.13% occurred in white people. The respiratory
      system was mostly affected tumor site (35%). Significant overall survival (OS)
      and disease specific survival (DSS) were found differentiated in gender, age,
      marital status, primary tumor location, AJCC stage, T stage, N stage, M stage,
      pathologic grade and treatment modality. In the multivariate Cox model, the age >
      69 years (Hazard ratio [HR] = 1.427 for OS, P = 0.01 and HR = 1.491 for DSS, P =
      0.003; Reference [Ref] age <= 69 years), tumor location in respiratory system (HR
      = 1.550 for OS, P = 0.041 and HR = 1.561 for DSS, P = 0.04; Ref: digestive
      system), N2 stage (HR = 1.962 for OS, P = 0.006 and HR = 1.982 for DSS, P =
      0.004; Ref: N0 stage) and AJCC stage IV (HR = 4.601 for OS, P = 0.000 and HR =
      5.107 for DSS, P = 0.000; Ref: stage I) were independently associated with worse
      OS and DSS. CONCLUSIONS: SpCC mostly occurred in white people at 70~80 years old
      without predominance in any gender. The respiratory system was mostly affected
      site. The patient's age, primary tumor location, AJCC stage were independent
      prognostic indicators for both DSS and OS of SpCC.

PMID- 28591733
TI  - ABCG2 downregulation in glioma stem cells enhances the therapeutic efficacy of
      demethoxycurcumin.
AB  - We analyzed the role of ABCG2, a drug transporter, in determining the sensitivity
      of glioma stem cells (GSCs) to demethoxycurcumin (DMC). We first demonstrated
      that ABCG2 is more highly expressed in GSCs than primary astrocytes. Modulation
      of ABCG2 levels in GSCs by transfection of ABCG2 shRNA or a lentiviral vector
      encoding ABCG2 revealed an inverse relation between ABCG2 levels and DMC-induced
      GSC growth inhibition. Suppressing ABCG2 increased DMC-induced apoptosis and
      G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in GSCs. It also increased levels reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) in GSCs treated with DMC, resulting in increased cytochrome C and caspase-3
      activity. When GSCs transfected with ABCG2 shRNA or overexpressing ABCG2 were
      xenografted and the tumor-bearing, immunodeficient mice were treated with DMC,
      ABCG2 expression suppressed the tumor proliferation rate (T/C %). These findings
      demonstrate that ABCG2 expression is critical for DMC resistance in GSCs and is a
      potential therapeutic target for GBM.

PMID- 28591751
TI  - Prognostic Accuracy of Mild Cognitive Impairment Subtypes at Different Cut-Off
      Levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prognostic accuracy of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in
      clinical settings is debated, variable across criteria, cut-offs, subtypes, and
      follow-up time. We aimed to estimate the prognostic accuracy of MCI and the MCI
      subtypes for dementia using three different cut-off levels. METHODS: Memory
      clinic patients were followed for 2 (n = 317, age 63.7 +/- 7.8) and 4-6 (n = 168,
      age 62.6 +/- 7.4) years. We used 2.0, 1.5, and 1.0 standard deviations (SD) below
      the mean of normal controls (n = 120, age 64.1 +/- 6.6) to categorize MCI and the
      MCI subtypes. Prognostic accuracy for dementia syndrome at follow-up was
      estimated. RESULTS: Amnestic multi-domain MCI (aMCI-md) significantly predicted
      dementia under all conditions, most markedly when speed/attention, language, or
      executive function was impaired alongside memory. For aMCI-md, sensitivity
      increased and specificity decreased when the cut-off was lowered from 2.0 to 1.5
      and 1.0 SD. Non-subtyped MCI had a high sensitivity and a low specificity.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that aMCI-md is the only viable subtype for
      predicting dementia for both follow-up times. Lowering the cut-off decreases the
      positive predictive value and increases the negative predictive value of aMCI-md.
      The results are important for understanding the clinical prognostic utility of
      MCI, and MCI as a non-progressive disorder.

PMID- 28591735
TI  - Discoidin domain receptor 1 modulates insulin receptor signaling and biological
      responses in breast cancer cells.
AB  - The fetal isoform A of the insulin receptor (IR-A) is frequently overexpressed in
      a variety of malignancies including breast cancer. IR overexpression has a
      recognized role in cancer progression and resistance to anticancer therapies. In
      particular, IR-A has a peculiar mitogenic potential and is activated not only by
      insulin but also by IGF-2. Previously, we identified discoidin domain receptor 1
      (DDR1) as a new IR-A interacting protein. DDR1, a non-integrin collagen tyrosine
      kinase receptor, is overexpressed in several malignancies and plays a role in
      cancer progression and metastasis.We now evaluated whether DDR1 is able to exert
      a role in breast cancer biology by functionally cross-talking with IR. In MCF-7
      human breast cancer cells, IR and DDR1 co-immunoprecipitated and co-localized
      after insulin or IGF-2 stimulation. In a panel of breast cancer cells, DDR1
      knockdown by specific siRNAs markedly inhibited IR downstream signaling as well
      as proliferation, migration and colony formation in response to insulin and IGF
      2. These effects were accompanied by reduction of IR protein and mRNA expression,
      which involved both transcriptional and post-transcriptional effects. DDR1
      overexpression elicited opposite effects. Bioinformatics analysis of public
      domain databases showed that IR and DDR1 co-expression significantly correlates
      with several clinically relevant histopathological and molecular features of
      human breast carcinomas.These findings demonstrate that, in human breast cancer
      cells, DDR1 regulates IR expression and ligand dependent biological actions. This
      novel functional crosstalk is likely clinically relevant and may become a new
      molecular target in breast cancer.

PMID- 28591752
TI  - Physical Activity in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients: The Effects of Starting
      Dialysis in the First 6 Months after the Transition Period.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Physical inactivity in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients is
      associated with increased mortality, and might be related to abnormalities in
      body composition (BC) and physical performance. It is uncertain to what extent
      starting dialysis influences the effects of ESRD on physical activity (PA). This
      study aimed to compare PA and physical performance between stage 5 chronic kidney
      disease (CKD-5) non-dialysis and dialysis patients, and healthy controls, to
      assess alterations in PA during the transition from CKD-5 non-dialysis to
      dialysis, and to relate PA to BC. METHODS: For the cross-sectional analyses 44
      CKD-5 non-dialysis patients, 29 dialysis patients, and 20 healthy controls were
      included. PA was measured by the SenseWearTM pro3. Also, the walking speed and
      handgrip strength (HGS) were measured. BC was measured by the Body Composition
      Monitor(c). Longitudinally, these parameters were assessed in 42 CKD-5 non
      dialysis patients (who were also part of the cross-sectional analysis), before
      the start of dialysis and 6 months thereafter. RESULTS: PA was significantly
      lower in CKD-5 non-dialysis patients as compared to that in healthy controls but
      not as compared to that in dialysis patients. HGS was significantly lower in
      dialysis patients as compared to that in healthy controls. Walking speed was
      significantly lower in CKD-5 non-dialysis patients as compared to that in healthy
      controls but not as compared to that in dialysis patients. Six months after
      starting dialysis, activity related energy expenditure (AEE) and walking speed
      significantly increased. CONCLUSIONS: PA is already lower in CKD-5 non-dialysis
      patients as compared to that in healthy controls and does not differ from that of
      dialysis patients. However, the transition phase from CKD-5 non-dialysis to
      dialysis is associated only with a modest improvement in AEE.

PMID- 28591753
TI  - Antinociceptive Activity of Methanol Extract of Tabebuia hypoleuca (C. Wright ex
      Sauvalle) Urb. Stems.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antinociceptive activity of
      the methanol extract of Tabebuia hypoleuca stems (THME). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      The animals were divided into 5 groups of 8 mice for each test (negative
      controls, positive controls, and 3 groups treated with THME at doses of 150, 300,
      and 500 mg/kg, p.o.). The antinociceptive effect of THME was evaluated using the
      writhing, formalin, tail flick, and hot plate models in mice. RESULTS: In the
      writhing test, THME (150, 300, and 500 mg/kg) produced significantly (p < 0.001)
      fewer writhes induced by acetic acid than in the control group. In the formalin
      test, the licking time for THME at doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg was significantly
      shorter (p < 0.001) compared to the control group in the first phase of the
      formalin test, whereas in the second phase only the dose of 500 mg/kg showed an
      antinociceptive effect. In addition, THME at doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg
      significantly increased the latency time in the tail flick test (p < 0.05 and p <
      0.001, respectively) and in the hot plate test (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001,
      respectively) compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that
      THME had antinociceptive activity using several models of nociception, and they
      suggest that the effect is mediated by the participation of both peripheral and
      central antinociceptive mechanisms.

PMID- 28591754
TI  - Changes in Sleep Architecture under Sustained Pain in Adult Male Rats Subjected
      to Neonatal Short-Lasting Local Inflammatory Insult.
AB  - Neonatal, short-lasting, local, nociceptive insult by carrageenan can cause long
      term alterations in somatosensory and neurohumoral systems. We previously
      revealed hyporesponsiveness of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) after painful
      stimulation of adult rats in a neonatal carrageenan-induced pain model. Sleep
      disturbance has been highly correlated with pain and ANS activity. In the present
      study, adult rats that had received an intraplantar injection of carrageenan on
      postnatal day 1 were investigated to determine if there were alterations in their
      sleep architecture upon the stimulation of pain. Polysomnographic and heart rate
      variability recordings were carried out, with a wireless transmission of data,
      for 24 h under baseline conditions and after an intraplantar injection of
      complete Freund's adjuvant to induce sustained nociception. Increased active
      awake (AW) and decreased quiet sleep (QS) and paradoxical sleep (PS) times were
      noted in the control animals. In the carrageenan-treated rats, the AW time
      increased but with decreased alertness, as revealed by decreases in beta and
      increases in theta power. The QS time did not decrease. The PS time decreased
      during the first 12 h, then increased during the following 12 h, suggesting an
      early rebound of formerly deprived PS time. Sympathetic activation under
      sustained pain was not apparent in any stage of sleep in carrageenan-treated rats
      and was even suppressed in AW time. An impaired sympathetic reaction to pain may
      have contributed to the atypical changes in sleep architecture in these rats. In
      conclusion, pain in early life has a long-term effect on the cardiovascular
      autonomic-electroencephalographic responses to pain later in life. The
      physiological relevance of these results remains undetermined.

PMID- 28591756
TI  - The "Fetal Reserve Index": Re-Engineering the Interpretation and Responses to
      Fetal Heart Rate Patterns.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) correlates poorly with neonatal
      outcome. We present a new metric: the "Fetal Reserve Index" (FRI), formally
      incorporating EFM with maternal, obstetrical, fetal risk factors, and excessive
      uterine activity for assessment of risk for cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective, case-control series of 50 term CP cases with apparent
      intrapartum neurological injury and 200 controls. All were deemed neurologically
      normal on admission. We compared the FRI against ACOG Category (I-III) system and
      long-term outcome parameters against ACOG monograph (NEACP) requirements for
      labor-induced fetal neurological injury. RESULTS: Abnormal FRI's identified 100%
      of CP cases and did so hours before injury. ACOG Category III identified only 44%
      and much later. Retrospective ACOG monograph criteria were found in at most 30%
      of intrapartum-acquired CP patients; only 27% had umbilical or neonatal pH <7.0.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this initial, retrospective trial, an abnormal FRI identified all
      cases of labor-related neurological injury more reliably and earlier than
      Category III, which may allow fetal therapy by intrauterine resuscitation. The
      combination of traditional EFM with maternal, obstetrical, and fetal risk factors
      creating the FRI performed much better as a screening test than EFM alone. Our
      quantified screening system needs further evaluation in prospective trials.

PMID- 28591755
TI  - A Novel Homozygous Missense FSHR Variant Associated with Hypergonadotropic
      Hypogonadism in Two Siblings from a Brazilian Family.
AB  - Hypergonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is defined by increased gonadotropin levels
      in men and women. Primary ovarian failure (POF) is a form of female infertility
      characterized by amenorrhea, hypoestrogenism, and elevated gonadotropin levels in
      women under the age of 40 years. Although several genes have been associated with
      POF, its causative genes remain to be identified. Here, we used whole-exome
      sequencing (WES) to study a consanguineous family with a 46,XX girl and a 46,XY
      man affected by HH. All exons of both siblings and their parents were captured
      and massively sequenced by WES, and the candidate variant was confirmed by Sanger
      sequencing. A novel c.1298C>A;p.Ala433Asp missense variant of the follicle
      stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) gene was found in both affected siblings in a
      homozygous state and in their parents in a heterozygous state. This FSHR variant
      is not present in available databases (1000 Genomes and NHLBI/EVS) and Brazilian
      exome controls. Moreover, it is highly conserved and predicted as deleterious in
      all prediction sites analyzed. In conclusion, the novel homozygous FSHR variant
      observed in 2 siblings with HH can expand the spectrum of FSHR mutations in
      humans.

PMID- 28591757
TI  - Special Issue Dedicated to Susan J. Vannucci and Robert C. Vannucci.

PMID- 28591758
TI  - Are the Polyomaviruses BK and JC Associated with Opportunistic Infections, Graft
      versus-Host Disease, or Worse Outcomes in Adult Patients Receiving Their First
      Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation with Low-Dose Alemtuzumab?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association of polyomaviruses BK and JC with other opportunistic
      infections and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in allogeneic stem cell
      transplantation is controversially discussed. METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective study of 64 adult patients who received their first allogeneic stem
      cell transplantation between March 2010 and December 2014; the follow-up time was
      2 years. RESULTS: Acute leukemia was the most frequent underlying disease
      (45.3%), and conditioning included myeloablative (67.2%) and nonmyeloablative
      protocols (32.8%). All patients received 10 mg of alemtuzumab on day -2 (20 mg in
      case of mismatch) as GvHD prophylaxis. Twenty-seven patients (41.5%) developed
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation. BKPyV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis was
      diagnosed in 10 patients (15.6%). Other opportunistic infections caused by
      viruses or protozoa occurred rarely (<10%). There was no association of BKPyV or
      JCPyV with CMV reactivation, Epstein-Barr virus reactivation, human herpes virus
      6, or parvovirus B19 infection requiring treatment. There was a significant
      correlation of BKPyV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis with toxoplasmosis (p =
      0.013). Additionally, there was a significant link of simultaneous BKPyV and
      JCPyV viruria with toxoplasmosis (p = 0.047). BKPyV and JCPyV were not associated
      with GvHD, relapse, or death. CONCLUSION: We found no association of BKPyV or
      JCPyV with viral infections or GvHD. Only the correlation of both polyomaviruses
      with toxoplasmosis was significant. This is a novel and interesting finding.

PMID- 28591759
TI  - PPARgamma-Coactivator-1alpha, Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide and Renal Stress
      Resistance.
AB  - With one of the highest mitochondrial densities in the body, the kidneys consume
      approximately 10% of total oxygen while constituting 0.5% of body mass. Renal
      respiration is linear to solute extraction, linking oxidative metabolism directly
      to tubular function. This fundamental role of mitochondria in renal health may
      become an "Achilles heel" under duress. Acute kidney injury (AKI) related to each
      major class of stressor - inflammation, ischemia, and toxins - exhibits early and
      prominent mitochondrial injury. The mitochondrial biogenesis regulator, PPARgamma
      coactivator-1alpha (PGC1alpha), may confer tubular protection against these
      stressors. Recent work proposes that renal PGC1alpha directly increases levels of
      nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), an essential co-factor for energy
      metabolism that has lately been proposed as an anti-aging factor. This mini
      review summarizes recent studies on AKI, PGC1alpha, and NAD+ that identify a
      direct mechanism between the regulation of metabolic health and the ability to
      resist renal stressors.

PMID- 28591760
TI  - Cultural Challenges in the Care of Refugees with End-Stage Renal Disease: What
      Western Nephrologists Should Know.
AB  - Forced migration is on the rise, mainly from the Middle East to western
      countries, resulting in unprecedented moral, political, and economic challenges
      for both refugees and host communities. Recent research showed that refugees
      represent around 1.5% of the dialysis population in several European and Middle
      Eastern countries surveyed. Despite the fact that refugees represent a small
      percentage of all dialysis patients in these countries, adequate care for this
      population is challenging. There are cultural differences between refugee
      patients with end-stage renal disease hailing from the Middle East, who are
      predominantly Muslims, and people from the western host countries. These
      differences may present a major obstacle in ensuring adequate patient care. In
      this study, we identify several of these issues that we believe western renal
      providers should be aware of.

PMID- 28591762
TI  - Current Trends in Breast Augmentation: An International Analysis.
AB  - Background: Breast augmentation surgery remains the most frequently performed
      aesthetic surgical procedure worldwide. However, many variations exist regarding
      preoperative planning, surgical management, and postoperative care. Objectives:
      The goal was to evaluate current trends and practices in breast augmentation,
      with a focus on international variability. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to
      over 5000 active breast surgeons in 44 countries worldwide. The survey inquired
      about current controversies, new technologies, common practices, secondary
      procedures, and surgeon demographics. The findings and variations were evaluated
      and correlated to evidence-based literature. Results: There were a total 628
      respondents equaling a response rate of approximately 18%. While certain
      approaches and common practices prevail also on an international basis, there
      exist several geographic controversies. For example, while almost fifty percent
      of surgeons in the United States and Latin America never use anatomically shaped
      implants, in Europe and Oceania most surgeons use them. Similarly, in Latin
      America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, over 80% of surgeons use silicone implants
      only, whereas in the United States only 20% use them - meanwhile US surgeons use
      the largest implants (78% > 300 cc). Internationally dominant practice
      preferences include preoperative sizing with silicone implants, as well as the
      use of inframammary incisions and partial submuscular pockets. Conclusions:
      Significant differences exist when comparing most common surgical breast
      augmentation approaches on an international basis. While certain techniques seem
      to be universal standards, there still remain several controversies. Further
      standardizing this most common aesthetic surgical procedure according to evidence
      based guidelines will help to improve outcomes.

PMID- 28591761
TI  - Prospective Cohort Study of Uterine Fibroids and Miscarriage Risk.
AB  - We sought to determine the relationship of fibroids to pregnancy loss in a
      prospective cohort in which fibroid status was uniformly documented in early
      pregnancy. Participants had an intake interview, transvaginal ultrasonography,
      computer-assisted telephone interview, and follow-up assessment of outcomes. We
      recruited diverse participants for the Right From the Start study from 8
      metropolitan areas in 3 states in the United States during 2000-2012.
      Participants were at least 18 years of age, trying to become pregnant or at less
      than 12 weeks' gestation, not using fertility treatments, fluent in English or
      Spanish, and available for telephone interviews. Miscarriage was defined as loss
      before 20 weeks' gestation. Fibroid presence, number, type, and volume were
      assessed using standardized ultrasonography methods. We used proportional hazards
      models to estimate associations. Among 5,512 participants, 10.4% had at least 1
      fibroid, and 10.8% experienced a miscarriage. Twenty-three percent had
      experienced a prior miscarriage and 52% prior births. Presence of fibroids was
      associated with miscarriage in models without adjustments. Adjusting for key
      confounders indicated no increase in risk (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.83, 95%
      confidence interval: 0.63, 1.08). No characteristic of fibroids was associated
      with risk. Prior evidence attributing miscarriage to fibroids is potentially
      biased. These findings imply that surgical removal of fibroids to reduce risk of
      miscarriage deserves careful scrutiny.

PMID- 28591763
TI  - Non-Linear Formation of EtG and FAEEs after Controlled Administration of Low to
      Moderate Doses of Ethanol.
AB  - Aims: Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) are non
      oxidative metabolites of alcohol that can be detected in conventional and non
      conventional biological matrices for longer periods than alcohol. The aim was to
      describe the time courses of both biomarkers after ingestion of acute low
      moderate doses of ethanol. Methods: The study design was double-blind,
      randomized, crossover and controlled with placebo. Participants were distributed
      in three different cohorts: (a) Cohort-1: two doses of 18 and 30 g of ethanol and
      placebo were administered to 12 subjects; (b) Cohort-2: two doses of 6 and 12 g
      of ethanol and placebo were administered to six subjects and (c) Cohort-3: two
      doses of 24 and 42 g of ethanol and placebo were administered to six subjects.
      Each participant received two doses of ethanol and placebo. Plasma concentrations
      (0-6 h) of ethanol and specific FAEEs (palmitic, stearic, linoleic and oleic acid
      ethyl esters) and urinary concentrations of EtG (0-24 h) were measured. Results:
      A dose-dependent increase in blood ethanol concentrations was observed. EtG
      excretion and FAEEs plasmatic concentrations showed a disproportionate increase
      with the ethanol dose suggesting non-linearity. Area under the curve (AUC0-6h) of
      ethanol concentrations showed a linear trend with non-oxidative metabolites'
      concentrations. Conclusion: The formation rate of ethanol non-oxidative
      biomarkers does not follow a linear trend, explained mainly by a disproportionate
      increase in AUC0-6h of ethanol concentrations in relation to dose. This
      observation should be taken into account when interpreting results in biological
      matrices in clinical and forensic settings. Short summary: A double-blind,
      randomized, crossover and controlled study was conducted administering ethanol (6
      42 g). Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) excretion and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs)
      plasmatic concentrations showed a disproportionate increase with the ethanol dose
      suggesting non-linearity. This observation should be taken into account when
      interpreting biomarker concentrations in clinical settings.

PMID- 28591765
TI  - Corticotomy affects both the modus and magnitude of orthodontic tooth movement.
AB  - Objective: To analyze whether the decreased bone density due to the manipulation
      of bone remodeling rate has an influence on the type of the planned tooth
      movement. Materials and methods: A finite element model of a lower incisor has
      been developed. The density of the alveolar bone surrounding the tooth has been
      assumed to simulate the one occurring after corticotomy to increase tooth
      movement rate. Moment-to-force ratios corresponding to three different types of
      movements have been simulated; uncontrolled tipping, translation, and root
      movement. The three tooth movements have been analyzed in both corticotomized and
      non-corticotomized simulations, and the final effects on the amount and type of
      tooth movement analyzed. The stress and strain levels in the periodontal ligament
      have been analyzed too. Results: The amount of tooth movement obtained in case of
      lower bone density is higher in all types of movement simulations. The centre of
      rotation of the movement shifts more apically in case of translation, controlled
      and uncontrolled tipping. In the corticotomy simulations, the compressive
      stresses in the periodontal ligament decreased while the tensile stresses
      increased. Conclusion: A decreased bone density influences not only the amount of
      tooth movement, but also its type. This study suggests that the moment-to-force
      ratios used in conventional orthodontics should be modified in case of techniques
      that decrease bone density to enhance tooth movement rate.

PMID- 28591764
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Interventions to Improve Functional
      Recovery After Hospitalization in Older Adults: Feasibility and Adherence.
AB  - Background: Hospitalization is a major risk factor for functional decline,
      disability, loss of independence, and mortality in older adults. Evidence-based
      interventions to improve functional recovery from hospitalization are difficult
      to evaluate and implement in geriatric patients. The goal of this pilot study was
      to test the feasibility of recruiting geriatric inpatients and implementing
      pragmatic interventions to improve physical function following hospitalization.
      Methods: Enrolled subjects were randomized to one of five 30-day
      posthospitalization interventions: isocaloric placebo (P), whey protein
      supplement (W), in-home rehabilitation+placebo (R+P), rehabilitation+whey protein
      (R+W), or testosterone (T). Data were collected from a single-site university
      hospital to determine: (i) institution-based feasibility (nonmodifiable factors
      including number of patients screened, eligible, contacted) and (ii) patient
      based feasibility (modifiable factors including number of patients refusing,
      enrolled, randomized, intervention adherence, and withdrawal). Results: From
      January 2014 to July 2016, 4,533 patients were chart screened; 594 (13.1%) were
      eligible to participate; 384 eligible subjects were contacted; 113 were enrolled;
      and 100 were randomized. Supplement adherence was 75% and was not different by
      age, education, level of independence, depression, supplement type, or dual
      intervention, but was significantly higher in subjects who completed the
      intervention (p < .01). Rehabilitation session adherence was 77% and did not vary
      significantly by age, education, level of independence, depression, or supplement
      type, but was significantly higher for sessions directly supervised (p < .01).
      Adherence was 100% in the testosterone arm with 94.7% of injections given within
      24 hours of discharge. Conclusions: Findings from this clinical trial indicate
      that posthospitalization interventions in geriatric patients are feasible at both
      the institution and patient level.

PMID- 28591767
TI  - An amber signal lights up before the red: do not dismiss it.

PMID- 28591766
TI  - Elective frozen elephant trunk procedure using the E-Vita Open Plus prosthesis in
      94 patients: a multicentre French registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to evaluate the operative outcomes of the frozen
      elephant trunk technique using the E-Vita Open Plus(r) hybrid prosthesis in
      chronic aortic arch diseases and report clinical and radiological outcomes at the
      1-year follow-up. METHODS: As determined from a prospective multicentre registry,
      94 patients underwent frozen elephant trunk procedures using the E-Vita Open Plus
      hybrid device for the treatment of chronic aortic conditions, including 50%
      chronic aortic dissections, 40% degenerative aneurysms and 10% miscellaneous
      indications. Fifty percent of the cases were reoperations. RESULTS: The
      perioperative mortality rate was 11.7%. Spinal cord ischaemia and stroke rates
      were 4% and 9.6%, respectively. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 252 +/-
      97 min, cardiac ischaemia time was 152 +/- 53 min and cerebral perfusion time was
      82 +/- 22 min. Concomitant procedures were observed in 15% of patients. Among the
      83 surviving patients, the survival rate after the 1-year follow-up was 98%.
      Eleven percent of patients underwent endovascular completion, whereas 4% of
      patients required aortic reintervention at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: The E-Vita Open
      Plus hybrid device confirms the favourable short- and mid-term outcomes offered
      by its predecessor in frozen elephant trunk procedures in patients with chronic
      aortic arch disease. Implantation of the E-Vita Open Plus is associated with good
      1-year survival rates, good rates of favourable aortic remodelling in both
      chronic dissection and degenerative aneurysms and a reproducible technique in a
      multicentre registry. Continued follow-up is required due to the risk of
      evolution at the downstream aorta.

PMID- 28591768
TI  - Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Aesthetic Surgery: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of
      the Current Clinical Trial, Intellectual Property, and Regulatory Landscape.
AB  - Background: Adipose tissue, which can be readily harvested via a number of
      liposuction techniques, offers an easily accessible and abundant source of
      adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Consequently, ASCs have become an increasingly
      popular reconstructive option and a novel means of aesthetic soft tissue
      augmentation. Objectives: This paper examines recent advances in the aesthetic
      surgery field, extending beyond traditional review formats to incorporate a
      comprehensive analysis of current clinical trials, adoption status, and the
      commercialization pathway. Methods: Keyword searches were carried out on clinical
      trial databases to search for trials using ASCs for aesthetic indications. An
      intellectual property landscape was created using commercial software (Thomson
      Reuters Thomson Innovation, New York, NY). Analysis of who is claiming what in
      respect of ASC use in aesthetic surgery for commercial purposes was analyzed by
      reviewing the patent landscape in relation to these techniques. Key international
      regulatory guidelines were also summarized. Results: Completed clinical trials
      lacked robust controls, employed small sample sizes, and lacked long-term follow
      up data. Ongoing clinical trials still do not address such issues. In recent
      years, claims to intellectual property ownership have increased in the "aesthetic
      stem cell" domain, reflecting commercial interest in the area. However,
      significant translational barriers remain including regulatory challenges and
      ethical considerations. Conclusions: Further rigorous randomized controlled
      trials are required to delineate long-term clinical efficacy and safety.
      Providers should consider the introduction of patient reported outcome metrics to
      facilitate clinical adoption. Robust regulatory and ethical policies concerning
      stem cells and aesthetic surgery should be devised to discourage further growth
      of "stem cell tourism."

PMID- 28591769
TI  - Functional Characterization of Xenopus Thyroid Hormone Transporters mct8 and
      oatp1c1.
AB  - Xenopus is an excellent model for studying thyroid hormone signaling as it
      undergoes thyroid hormone-dependent metamorphosis. Despite the fact that
      receptors and deiodinases have been described in Xenopus, membrane transporters
      for these hormones are yet to be characterized. We cloned Xenopus monocarboxylate
      transporter 8 (mct8) and organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1C1 (oatpc1c1),
      focusing on these two transporters given their importance for vertebrate brain
      development. Protein alignment and bootstrap analysis showed that Xenopus mct8
      and oatp1c1 are closer to their mammalian orthologs than their teleost
      counterparts. We functionally characterized the two transporters using a
      radiolabeled hormones in vitro uptake assay in COS-1 cells. Xenopus mct8 was
      found to actively transport both T3 and T4 bidirectionally. As to the thyroid
      precursor molecules, diiodotyrosine (DIT) and monoiodotyrosine (MIT), both human
      and Xenopus mct8, showed active efflux, but no influx. Again similar to humans,
      Xenopus oatp1c1 transported T4 but not T3, MIT, or DIT. We used reverse
      transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization to
      characterize the temporal and spatial expression of mct8 and oatp1c1 in Xenopus.
      Specific expression of the transporter was observed in the brain, with
      increasingly strong expression as development progressed. In conclusion, these
      results show that Xenopus thyroid hormone transporters are functional and display
      marked spatiotemporal expression patterns. These features make them interesting
      targets to elucidate their roles in determining thyroid hormone availability
      during embryonic development.

PMID- 28591770
TI  - Inferolateral early repolarization among non-ischaemic sudden cardiac death
      victims.
AB  - Aim: Inferolateral early repolarization (ER) has been associated with an
      increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). However, this association is
      thought to be mainly due to ischaemic SCD. The association of ER and non
      ischaemic SCD has not been studied. The aim was to evaluate whether inferolateral
      ER is associated with non-ischaemic SCD. Methods and results: Study population
      consists of 275 consecutive victims of non-ischaemic SCD with 12-lead ECG and
      control group of general population cohort with 10 864 subjects. Sudden cardiac
      deaths were verified as non-ischaemic by medicolegal autopsy. Hypertensive
      cardiomyopathy (HTCMP) (25%), alcohol related dilated cardiomyopathy (ACMP)
      (24%), obesity associated cardiomyopathy (OCMP) (23%), and idiopathic myocardial
      fibrosis (IMF) (15%) were the most common causes of non-ischaemic SCD. A
      structurally normal heart was seen in only 1.5%. The prevalence of inferolateral
      ER was 20.7% among patients with non-ischaemic SCD compared to 5.3% in the
      general population (P < 0.001). The ECG pattern was accompanied with a
      horizontal/descending ST segment in 95% of the cases. The prevalence of
      inferolateral ER was slightly higher in the HTCMP group (26%) and the ACMP group
      (24%) than in the IMF group (20%) and the OCMP group (13%). The history of
      previously diagnosed cardiac diseases was not higher among subjects with ER (55%)
      than those without (59%, P = 0.59). Conclusion: The prevalence of inferolateral
      ER among non-ischaemic SCD victims is high. Almost all ER patterns are
      accompanied with the malignant horizontal/descending ST segment morphology
      suggesting that inferolateral ER is not only associated with an ischaemic SCD but
      also a non-ischaemic SCD.

PMID- 28591771
TI  - The use of Twitter to facilitate sharing of clinical expertise in urology.
AB  - The use of social media in the urologic community is common and increasing.
      Although the potential benefits of platforms like Twitter have been described in
      the literature, the use of social media in the clinical context of Urology has
      not been explored.In this case report, we describe how we used Twitter to share
      ideas about the clinical management of a complex urologic patient. By posting a
      clinical scenario, a timely discussion was generated with global participation
      and expert suggestions. This knowledge was applied to the surgical management of
      a patient with positive clinical outcomes.The ability of Twitter to facilitate
      rapid communication with a wide network of contributors makes it a potentially
      useful tool for clinical decision making. Care must be taken to ensure patient
      confidentiality and caution used appropriately when evaluating the sources and
      content of the clinical information shared.

PMID- 28591773
TI  - Ethyl Glucuronide Elimination Kinetics in Fingernails and Comparison to Levels in
      Hair.
AB  - Aims: Measurement of ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in nail, as a biomarker for alcohol
      intake, has recently been suggested as alternative to measurement in hair. The
      aim of this study was to compare levels of EtG in nail and hair, and to
      investigate the elimination kinetics of EtG in fingernails during an alcohol
      abstinent period. Methods: Overall, 40 subjects (median estimated daily intake of
      ethanol (EDI) 92.5 g/day) were recruited from an alcohol rehabilitation clinic.
      Nail and hair samples were collected at inclusion and nail clippings were
      collected every 7-10th day for up to 12 weeks. Results: All patients showed
      higher nail EtG/EDI ratios compared to hair EtG/EDI ratios (P < 0.001). The
      median value of the ratios between EtG in nail and EtG in hair was 5.0 (range:
      1.07-56.1). There was a significant correlation between nail EtG/EDI and hair
      EtG/EDI (Spearman's rho = 0.638, P < 0.001). EtG disappeared from nails after ~2
      months of abstinence and the median calculated EtG half-life in nail clippings
      was 13.3 days (range: 5.5-29.0). There was a significant correlation between the
      time elapsed to last positive sample for nail EtG and nail EtG levels at time of
      inclusion (Spearman's rho = 0.449, P = 0.004). Conclusion: The present data
      indicate that EtG cut-off levels in nails should be higher compared to the
      established 30 pg/mg EtG cut-off in hair representing heavy drinking. EtG may
      disappear faster from nail than expected from nail growth physiology. Short
      summary: Nails are an alternative matrix to hair when measuring ethyl glucuronide
      (EtG). The present study indicate that EtG cut-off levels in nails should be
      higher compared to the established 30 pg/mg EtG cut-off in hair representing
      heavy drinking, and EtG may disappear faster from nail than expected.

PMID- 28591774
TI  - Host Plants of the Wheat Stem Sawfly (Hymenoptera: Cephidae).
AB  - Wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus Norton) is a pest of economic importance across
      much of the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-growing areas of the western Great
      Plains of North America as well as an ecologically important insect owing to its
      wide range of grass hosts. Little research has been published regarding the
      noncultivated native and invasive grasses attacked by this insect. Knowledge of
      the complete host range of C. cinctus can inform future research about potential
      new sources of genetic resistance, improve understanding of the biology and
      spread of natural enemies, and better define this insect's role in grassland and
      agricultural systems. The aim of this review is to compile a checklist of
      reported host plants of C. cinctus and present data from an extensive survey of
      noncultivated hosts used by C. cinctus.

PMID- 28591772
TI  - Biological Evaluation of a Fluorescent-Imaging Agent for Medullary Thyroid Cancer
      in an Orthotopic Model.
AB  - Context: The primary and definitive treatment of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC)
      is surgical resection. Recurrent or residual disease is typically a result of
      incomplete surgical removal. Objective: Our objective is to develop a compound
      that assists in intraoperative visualization of cancer, which would have the
      potential to improve surgical cure rates and outcomes. Results: We report the
      biological characterization of Compound-17, which is labeled with IRdye800,
      allowing fluorescent visualization of MTC mouse models. We found that the agent
      has high affinity for two human MTC cell lines (TT and MZ-CRC1) in vitro and in
      vivo. We further tested the affinity of the compound in a newly developed MTC
      orthotopic xenograft model and found that Compound-17 produces fluorescent
      signals within MTC-derived orthotopic xenografts in comparison with a sequence
      jumbled control compound and surrounding normal tissues. Conclusions: Compound-17
      is a unique and effective molecule for MTC identification that may have
      therapeutic potential.

PMID- 28591775
TI  - Parainfluenza Virus in the Hospitalized Adult.
AB  - Parainfluenza virus (PIV) is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus in the
      Paramyxoviridae family. There are 4 serotypes that follow seasonal patterns with
      varying rates of infection for each serotype. PIV is an established cause of
      disease and death in the pediatric and immunocompromised populations, and its
      impact on the hospitalized adult is becoming more apparent with the increased use
      of multiplex molecular assays in the clinical setting. The clinical presentation
      of PIV in hospitalized adults varies widely and includes upper respiratory tract
      infections, severe lower respiratory tract infections, and exacerbations of
      underlying disease; 0.2%-11.5% of hospitalized patients with pneumonia have been
      found to have PIV infection. Currently no licensed treatment is available for PIV
      infection. Ribavirin has been used, but case studies show no impact on mortality
      rates. DAS181, an inhaled sialidase, is undergoing clinical development for the
      treatment of PIV in adults and children.

PMID- 28591777
TI  - miR-582-5p inhibits invasion and migration of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma
      cells by targeting FOXC1.
AB  - Objective: Neurotropism of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) and pulmonary
      metastasis may lead to in treatment failure. miR-582-5p plays important roles in
      tumorigenesis, invasion and migration. Here, we aim to determine the effect of
      miR-582-5p and its role in SACC invasion and metastasis. Methods: Six primary
      human SACC samples and matching adjacent normal tissues were analyzed by
      microarray analysis. Next, quantitative real-time PCR was carried out to evaluate
      miR-582-5p expression in 16 primary human SACC samples and matching adjacent
      normal tissues. Cell invasion and migration were also analyzed, and a luciferase
      reporter assay and western analysis were conducted. Cell growth and apoptosis
      assay were performed to confirm the effect of miR-582-5p and Forkhead box C1
      (FOXC1) siRNA in cell proliferation and apoptosis. SACC tumorigenesis and
      metastasis were investigated in vivo experiment. Clinical samples from 110
      patients were analyzed using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry.
      Results: Microarray analysis revealed that miR-582-5p was significantly
      downregulated in the SACC samples compared with the matching adjacent normal
      tissues. Regulation of miR-582-5p expression significantly influenced the
      migration, invasion and proliferation ability of SACC cells by targeting FOXC1. E
      cadherin was increased, while vimentin and snail were decreased with
      downregulation of FOXC1, suggesting that FOXC1 may regulate the epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) of SACC cells by transactivating snail. In vivo, miR
      582-5p overexpression suppressed the tumorigenesis and pulmonary metastasis of
      SACC. Lower expression of miR-582-5p expression predicts unfavorable prognoses
      and high rates of metastasis. Conclusions: miR-582-5p could suppress effect on
      the process of invasion and migration in SACC cell lines, and this could occur
      through its target gene FOXC1.

PMID- 28591776
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Mini-Dose Glucagon for Treatment of Nonsevere Hypoglycemia
      in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - Context: Standard treatment of hypoglycemia is oral carbohydrate, but it often
      results in hyperglycemia and entails extra caloric intake. Objective: To evaluate
      low-dose glucagon to treat mild hypoglycemia in ambulatory adults with type 1
      diabetes (T1D). Design: Randomized crossover trial (two 3-week periods). Setting:
      Five U.S. diabetes clinics. Patients: Twenty adults with T1D using an insulin
      pump and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and experiencing frequent mild
      hypoglycemia. Intervention: Nonaqueous mini-dose glucagon (MDG) (150 ug) to treat
      nonsevere hypoglycemia. Main Outcome Measures: Successful treatment was defined
      as blood glucose (BG) >=50 mg/dL 15 minutes and >=70 mg/dL 30 minutes after
      intervention, on the study meter. Two authors, blinded to treatment arm,
      independently judged each event as a clinical success or failure. Results:
      Sixteen participants (mean age 39 years, 75% female, mean diabetes duration 23
      years, mean hemoglobin A1c 7.2%) had 118 analyzable events with initial BG of 50
      to 69 mg/dL. Successful treatment criteria were met for 58 (94%) of 62 events
      during the MDG period and 53 (95%) of 56 events during the glucose tablets (TABS)
      period (adjusted P = 0.99). Clinical assessments of success for these events were
      97% and 96%, respectively. CGM-measured time in range did not differ between
      treatment groups during the 2 hours after events, but TABS resulted in higher
      maximum glucose (116 vs 102 mg/dL; P = 0.01) over the first hour. Conclusions:
      Low-dose glucagon can successfully treat mild hypoglycemia and may be a useful
      alternative to treatment with oral carbohydrate when trying to avoid unnecessary
      caloric intake.

PMID- 28591779
TI  - Elucidating the Biological Roles of Insulin and Its Receptor in Murine Intestinal
      Growth and Function.
AB  - The role of the intestinal insulin receptor (IR) is not well understood. We
      therefore explored the effect of insulin (300 nmol/kg per day for 12 days) on the
      intestine in sex-matched C57Bl/6J mice. The intestinal and metabolic profiles
      were also characterized in male and female intestinal-epithelial IR knockout (IE
      irKO) mice compared with all genetic controls on a chow diet or Western diet (WD)
      for 4 to 12 weeks. Insulin treatment did not affect intestinal size, intestinal
      resistance, or metabolic genes, but it reduced proximal-colon crypt depth and
      acutely increased colonic serine/threonine-specific protein kinase B (AKT)
      activation. Feeding with a WD increased body weight and fasting insulin level and
      decreased oral glucose tolerance in C57Bl/6J and IE-irKO mice. However, although
      the overall responses of the IE-irKO mice were not different from those of Villin
      Cre (Vil-Cre):IRfl/+ and IRfl/fl controls, profound differences were found for
      female control Vil-Cre mice, which demonstrated reduced food intake, body weight,
      jejunal glucose transport, oral glucose tolerance, and fasting insulin and
      cholesterol levels. Vil-Cre mice also had smaller intestines compared with those
      of IE-irKO and IRfl/fl mice and greater insulin-mediated activation of jejunal IR
      and AKT. In summary, gain- and loss-of-function studies, with and without caloric
      overload, indicate that insulin did not exert remarkable effects on intestinal
      metabolic or morphologic phenotype except for a small effect on the colon.
      However, the transgenic control Vil-Cre mice displayed a distinct phenotype
      compared with other control and knockout animals, emphasizing the importance of
      thoroughly characterizing genetically modified mouse models.

PMID- 28591778
TI  - Sustained Immunogenicity of 2-dose Human Papillomavirus 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted
      Vaccine Schedules in Girls Aged 9-14 Years: A Randomized Trial.
AB  - Background: We previously reported the noninferiority 1 month after the last dose
      of 2-dose human papillomavirus 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted (AS04-HPV-16/18) vaccine
      schedules at months 0 and 6 (2D_M0,6) and months 0 and 12 (2D_M0,12) in girls
      aged 9-14 years compared with a 3-dose schedule at months 0, 1, and 6 (3D_M0,1,6)
      in women aged 15-25 years. Here, we report the results at study end (month 36
      [M36]). Methods: Girls were randomized 1:1 and received 2 vaccine doses either 6
      months (2D_M0,6) or 12 months apart (2D_M0,12); women received 3 doses at months
      0, 1, and 6 (3D_M0,1,6). Endpoints included noninferiority of HPV-16/18
      antibodies for 2D_M0,6 versus 3D_M0,1,6; 2D_M0,12 versus 3D_M0,1,6; and 2D_M0,12
      versus 2D_M0,6; and assessment of neutralizing antibodies, T cells, B cells, and
      safety. Results: At M36, the 2D_M0,6 and 2D_M0,12 schedules remained noninferior
      to the 3D_M0,1,6 schedule in terms of seroconversion rates and 3D/2D geometric
      mean titers for anti-HPV-16 and anti-HPV-18. All schedules elicited sustained
      immune responses up to M36. Conclusions: Both 2-dose schedules in young girls
      remained noninferior to the 3-dose schedule in women up to study conclusion at
      M36. The AS04-HPV-16/18 vaccine administered as a 2-dose schedule was immunogenic
      and well tolerated in young girls.

PMID- 28591781
TI  - Global Spinal Alignment in Cervical Kyphotic Deformity: The Importance of Head
      Position and Thoracolumbar Alignment in the Compensatory Mechanism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have evaluated cervical kyphosis (C-kypho) using
      cervical curvature or chin-brow vertical angle, but the relationship between C
      kypho and global spinal alignment is currently unknown. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate
      global spinal alignment and compensatory mechanisms in primary symptomatic C
      kypho using full-spine radiography. METHODS: In this retrospective multicenter
      study, symptomatic primary C-kypho patients (Cerv group; n = 103) and adult
      thoracolumbar deformity patients (TL group; n = 119) were compared. We
      subanalyzed Cerv subgroups according to sagittal vertical axis (SVA) values of C7
      (SVAC7 positive or negative [C7P or C7N]). Various Cobb angles ( degrees ) and
      SVAs (mm) were evaluated. RESULTS: SVAC7 values were -20.2 and 63.6 mm in the
      Cerv group and TL group, respectively (P < .0001). Various statistically
      significant compensatory curvatures were observed in the Cerv group, namely
      larger lumbar lordosis (LL) and thoracic kyphosis. The C7N group had
      significantly lower SVACOG (center of gravity of the head) and SVAC7 (32.9 and 
      49.5 mm) values than the C7P group (115.9 and 45.1 mm). Sagittal curvatures were
      also different in T4-12, T10-L2, LL4-S, and LL. The value of pelvic incidence
      (PI)-LL was different (C7N vs C7P; -2.2 degrees  vs 9.9 degrees ; P < .0003).
      Compensatory sagittal curvatures were associated with potential for shifting of
      SVAC7 posteriorly to adjust head position. PI-LL affected these compensatory
      mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Compensation in symptomatic primary C-kypho was via
      posterior shifting of SVAC7, small T1 slope, and large LL. However, even in C
      kypho patients, lumbar degeneration might affect global spinal alignment. Thus,
      global spinal alignment with cervical kyphosis is characterized as head balanced
      or trunk balanced.

PMID- 28591780
TI  - Position-dependent effects of regioisomeric methylated adenine and guanine
      ribonucleosides on translation.
AB  - Reversible methylation of the N6 or N1 position of adenine in RNA has recently
      been shown to play significant roles in regulating the functions of RNA. RNA can
      also be alkylated upon exposure to endogenous and exogenous alkylating agents.
      Here we examined how regio-specific methylation at the hydrogen bonding edge of
      adenine and guanine in mRNA affects translation. When situated at the third codon
      position, the methylated nucleosides did not compromise the speed or accuracy of
      translation under most circumstances. When located at the first or second codon
      position, N1-methyladenosine (m1A) and m1G constituted robust blocks to both
      Escherichia coli and wheat germ extract translation systems, whereas N2
      methylguanosine (m2G) moderately impeded translation. While m1A, m2G and N6
      methyladenosine (m6A) did not perturb translational fidelity, O6-methylguanosine
      (m6G) at the first and second codon positions was strongly and moderately
      miscoding, respectively, and it was decoded as an adenosine in both systems. The
      effects of methylated ribonucleosides on translation could be attributed to the
      methylation-elicited alterations in base pairing properties of the nucleobases,
      and the mechanisms of ribosomal decoding contributed to the position-dependent
      effects. Together, our study afforded important new knowledge about the
      modulation of translation by methylation of purine nucleobases in mRNA.

PMID- 28591783
TI  - Risk Factors for Ineffectiveness of Posterior Decompression and Dekyphotic
      Corrective Fusion with Instrumentation for Beak-Type Thoracic Ossification of the
      Posterior Longitudinal Ligament: A Single Institute Study.

PMID- 28591784
TI  - Trends in Informal Care for Disabled Older Americans, 1982-2012.
AB  - Background and Objectives: We examine trends in informal care from the
      perspective of both community-dwelling disabled older Americans and their
      caregivers from 1982 to 2012. We decompose hours of care received from spouses
      and children according to changes in: (a) the number of potential spousal and
      child caregivers ("family structure"), (b) the likelihood that existing spouses
      and children are caregivers ("caregiving propensity"), and (c) the amount of care
      provided by individual caregivers ("time burden"). Research Design and Methods:
      We examine two sets of time trends based on distinct samples of community
      dwelling disabled older Americans from the 1982-2004 waves of the National Long
      Term Care Survey (NLTCS) and the 2000-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement
      Study (HRS). Results: Existing spouses' and children's decreasing likelihood of
      being caregivers led to fewer spousal and child caregivers per disabled older
      person in the 2004 NLTCS than the 1982 NLTCS. However, the NLTCS and HRS time
      trends suggest that the amount of care provided by individual caregivers was
      similar from 1989 to 2012. Discussion and Implications: Because individual
      caregivers' time burden has remained fairly constant since at least 1989,
      advocacy on behalf of policies that promote more and better support for
      caregivers is appropriate.

PMID- 28591782
TI  - Sex-Dependent Effects of Stress on Immobility Behavior and VTA Dopamine Neuron
      Activity: Modulation by Ketamine.
AB  - Background: Stress constitutes a risk factor across several psychiatric
      disorders. Moreover, females are more susceptible to stress-related disorders,
      such as depression, than males. Although dopamine system underactivation is
      implicated in the pathophysiology of depression, little is known about the female
      dopamine system at baseline and post-stress. Methods: The effects of chronic mild
      stress were examined on ventral tegmental area dopamine neuron activity and
      forced swim test immobility by comparing male and female rats. The impact of a
      single dose of the rapid antidepressant ketamine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) on forced swim
      test immobility and ventral tegmental area function was then tested. Results:
      Baseline ventral tegmental area dopamine activity was comparable in both sexes.
      At baseline, females exhibited roughly double the forced swim test immobility
      duration than males, which corresponded to ~50% decrease in ventral tegmental
      area dopamine population activity compared with similarly treated (i.e., post
      forced swim test) males. Following chronic mild stress, there was greater
      immobility duration in both sexes and reduced ventral tegmental area dopamine
      neuron activity by approximately 50% in males and nearly 75% in females. Ketamine
      restored behavior and post-forced swim test ventral tegmental area dopamine
      activity for up to 7 days in females as well as in both male and female chronic
      mild stress-exposed rats. Conclusions: These data suggest increased female
      susceptibility to depression-like phenotypes (i.e., greater immobility, ventral
      tegmental area hypofunction) is associated with higher dopamine system
      sensitivity to both acute and repeated stress relative to males. Understanding
      the neural underpinnings of sex differences in stress vulnerability will provide
      insight into mechanisms of disease and optimizing therapeutic approaches in both
      sexes.

PMID- 28591785
TI  - Results from more than 20 years of surgical pulmonary endarterectomy for chronic
      thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in Denmark.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is a fatal disease if
      left untreated, and pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is the potentially curable
      treatment of choice. We aimed to estimate the current in-hospital mortality rate,
      complication rate and long-term survival for patients with chronic thromboembolic
      pulmonary hypertension undergoing PEA in Denmark. METHODS: All chronic
      thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension patients who underwent PEA in the period
      1994 till 2016 were consecutively enrolled in our single-centre study. All
      patients were followed from PEA until death or end of study. Kaplan-Meier
      survival analysis was used to estimate the 3-, 5- and 10-year survival rates with
      95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: In total, 239 patients were operated in
      the study period. A significant reduction in mean pulmonary arterial pressure
      from 48 mmHg to 33 mmHg, and pulmonary vascular resistance from 800 dynes s cm-5
      to 289 dynes s cm-5, was observed during the first postoperative day after PEA.
      Overall, in-hospital mortality rate was 8.4%. A significantly lower mortality
      rate in the late decade (2005-2016) compared with the early decade (1994-2004)
      was observed (4.3% vs 22.6%, P < 0.001). In-hospital mortality during the last 5
      years (n = 80) was 2.5%. Three-, 5- and 10-year survival rates were 84% (CI: 77.8
      88), 77% (CI: 70.7-82.7) and 62% (CI: 53-69.1), respectively. The majority of
      patients improved in World Health Organization functional class from III/IV to
      I/II and significantly increased their 6-min walking distance. CONCLUSIONS: PEA
      in Denmark is associated with a low in-hospital mortality rate and significant
      improvements in both haemodynamics and exercise capacity. Long-term survival is
      excellent and similar to high-volume international centres.

PMID- 28591786
TI  - Dietary intake and habits of South Asian immigrants living in Western countries.
AB  - Previous reviews have indicated that immigration from South Asian to Western
      countries leads to unhealthy changes in diet; however, these reviews have been
      limited by the methods used in some included studies. This critical narrative
      review summarizes findings from original research articles that performed
      appropriate statistical analyses on diet data obtained using culturally
      appropriate diet assessment measures. All studies quantitatively compared the
      diets of South Asian immigrants with those of residents of Western or South Asian
      countries or with those of South Asian immigrants who had varying periods of time
      since immigration. Most studies examined total energy and nutrient intake among
      adults. Total energy intake tended to decrease with increasing duration of
      residence and immigrant generation, and immigrants consumed less protein and
      monounsaturated fat compared with Westerners. However, findings for intakes of
      carbohydrate, total fat, saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and micronutrients
      were mixed. Studies that examine food group intake and include South Asians
      living in South Asia as a comparison population are needed.

PMID- 28591787
TI  - Optimizing Antimicrobial Utilization: Job of a Steward, or Time for a Pilot?

PMID- 28591788
TI  - Electronic Cigarette: A Longitudinal Study of Regular Vapers.
AB  - Introduction: It is unclear how vaping behavior changes over time in regular
      vapers, and what occurs when vapers relapse to smoking or when they stop vaping.
      We assessed change in vaping and smoking behaviors over 12 months in regular
      vapers. Methods: A longitudinal study of 3868 regular vapers enrolled on the
      Internet in 2012-2015 ("baseline"), followed after one (n = 1631, 42%), three (n
      = 1337, 35%), six (n = 1148, 30%), and 12 months (n = 893, 23%). Results:
      Participants had been vaping for a median of five months at baseline. Most (77%)
      were former smokers, who had not smoked for a median of three months at baseline.
      Over 12 months, enjoyment gradually became the most frequently cited reason to
      vape (93%), and vaping to deal with craving for tobacco gradually decreased (from
      87% to 56%). In exclusive vapers (ex-smokers), nicotine concentration in e
      liquids decreased over time (from 12 to 9 mg/mL), but puffs/day remained stable
      (200 puffs/day). After 12 months, 9% of 687 former smokers relapsed to smoking
      and 28% of 64 daily smokers (dual users) stopped smoking. After 12 months, when
      participants stopped vaping, they tended to relapse to smoking (+18% daily
      smokers among those who stopped vaping versus -2% in permanent vapers, p < .001).
      When ex-smokers relapsed to smoking, they tended to stop vaping. Conclusions:
      After 12 months, enjoyment and relapse prevention were the most important reasons
      to vape. Rates of relapse to smoking were low in former smokers and quit rates
      were high in current smokers. Stopping vaping was associated with relapsing to
      smoking. Implications: Even in established vapers, vaping behavior and reasons to
      vape change over time. This should be taken into account by clinicians,
      manufacturers and regulators. Results from this non-representative sample can
      help generate hypotheses that can later be tested in representative samples of
      vapers.

PMID- 28591789
TI  - Vancomycin Taper and Pulse Regimen With Careful Follow-up for Patients With
      Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection.
AB  - We retrospectively studied vancomycin taper and pulse treatment on 100
      consecutive, evaluable patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.
      Following taper to once-daily vancomycin dosing, 22 of 36 patients (61%) who
      received every-other-day dosing (QOD) and 50 of 64 (81%) who received QOD
      followed by every-third-day dosing were cured (P = .03).

PMID- 28591790
TI  - Asian G6PD-Mahidol Reticulocytes Sustain Normal Plasmodium Vivax Development.
AB  - Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzymatic
      disorder in humans and appears to be protective against falciparum severe
      malaria. Controversially, it is also thought that Plasmodium vivax has driven the
      recent selection of G6PD alleles. We use an experimental approach to determine
      whether G6PD-MahidolG487A variant, a widespread cause of severe G6PD deficiency
      in Southeast Asia, provides a barrier against vivax malaria. Our results show
      that the immature reticulocytes (CD71+) targeted by P. vivax invasion are
      enzymatically normal, even in hemizygous G6PD-Mahidol G487A mutants; thus,
      allowing the normal growth, development, and high parasite density in severely
      deficient samples.

PMID- 28591792
TI  - Corporate sponsorship of physical activity promotion programmes: part of the
      solution or part of the problem?
AB  - Background: Parklives is a programme intended to raise levels of physical
      activity across the UK, funded by Coca-Cola GB and delivered in association with
      Local Authorities and other organizations. Such public-private partnerships have
      been advocated by many however critics suggest that the conflict between
      stakeholder motives is too great. Methods: This study conducted a content
      analysis of twitter content related to the ParkLives physical activity programme.
      Images and text were analysed from two separate weeks, one from the school
      vacation period and one during school term time. Results: Three hundred and
      eighteen tweets were analysed. Content analysis revealed 79% of images contained
      children and 45% of these images contained prominent Coca-Cola branding, a level
      of exposure that suggests ParkLives simultaneously provides opportunities for
      children's physical activity and for targeted marketing. Content analysis also
      demonstrated that the programme allowed increased access to policy-makers.
      Conclusions: The sponsorship of a physical activity promotion campaign can allow
      a corporation to target its marketing at children and gain access to health
      related policy development networks. This study reinforces the need for
      independent evaluation of all potential impacts of such a partnership and calls
      on those responsible for community health to fully consider the ethical
      implications of such relationships.

PMID- 28591791
TI  - 5?-Vinylphosphonate improves tissue accumulation and efficacy of conjugated
      siRNAs in vivo.
AB  - 5?-Vinylphosphonate modification of siRNAs protects them from phosphatases, and
      improves silencing activity. Here, we show that 5?-vinylphosphonate confers novel
      properties to siRNAs. Specifically, 5?-vinylphosphonate (i) increases siRNA
      accumulation in tissues, (ii) extends duration of silencing in multiple organs
      and (iii) protects siRNAs from 5?-to-3? exonucleases. Delivery of conjugated
      siRNAs requires extensive chemical modifications to achieve stability in vivo.
      Because chemically modified siRNAs are poor substrates for phosphorylation by
      kinases, and 5?-phosphate is required for loading into RNA-induced silencing
      complex, the synthetic addition of a 5?-phosphate on a fully modified siRNA guide
      strand is expected to be beneficial. Here, we show that synthetic phosphorylation
      of fully modified cholesterol-conjugated siRNAs increases their potency and
      efficacy in vitro, but when delivered systemically to mice, the 5?-phosphate is
      removed within 2 hours. The 5?-phosphate mimic 5?-(E)-vinylphosphonate stabilizes
      the 5? end of the guide strand by protecting it from phosphatases and 5?-to-3?
      exonucleases. The improved stability increases guide strand accumulation and
      retention in tissues, which significantly enhances the efficacy of cholesterol
      conjugated siRNAs and the duration of silencing in vivo. Moreover, we show that
      5?-(E)-vinylphosphonate stabilizes 5? phosphate, thereby enabling systemic
      delivery to and silencing in kidney and heart.

PMID- 28591794
TI  - Does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Ventilator-Associated Event
      Definition Unintentionally Contradict Its Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative?

PMID- 28591793
TI  - Dynamics of Bile Acid Profiles, GLP-1, and FGF19 After Laparoscopic Gastric
      Banding.
AB  - Context: An increase of bile acids (BAs), fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19),
      and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) has been implicated in metabolic improvements
      after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and vertical sleeve gastrectomy. However, data are
      still conflicting regarding their role after laparoscopic adjustable gastric
      banding (LAGB). Objective: To assess the fasting BA, FGF19, and GLP-1
      concentrations in plasma before and after LAGB and to test for correlations with
      immunometabolic parameters. Furthermore, hepatic farnesoid X receptor (FXR)
      expression and regulation of FXR-dependent genes were analyzed. Design and
      Setting: Observational study at the University Hospital Innsbruck. Patients:
      Twenty obese patients. Interventions: Fasting plasma samples were taken before,
      3, 6, and 12 months after LAGB. Liver biopsies were obtained at surgery and after
      6 months postoperatively. Main Outcome Measures: BA profiles, GLP-1 and FGF19
      levels, hepatic FXR expression and regulation of FXR target genes were
      determined. Results: Total, conjugated, and secondary BAs transiently increased 3
      months after LAGB (P < 0.01). Only one BA, glycolithocholic acid sulfate,
      remained significantly elevated throughout the whole follow-up period (P < 0.05).
      GLP-1 had increased transiently 3 months after surgery (P < 0.01), whereas FGF19
      levels increased continuously (P < 0.05). Insulin, homeostasis model assessment
      index, C-reactive protein, FGF19, and GLP-1 correlated positively with different
      BAs. No differences were seen in hepatic FXR expression and FXR-regulated genes.
      Conclusions: Our study results, not only identified LAGB-induced changes in BAs
      and BA-induced hormones, but also revealed associations between changes in BA
      profile with GLP-1 and FGF19.

PMID- 28591796
TI  - Histamine Enhances Theta-Coupled Spiking and Gamma Oscillations in the Medial
      Entorhinal Cortex Consistent With Successful Spatial Recognition.
AB  - Encoding of spatial information in the superficial layers of the medial
      entorhinal cortex (sMEC) involves theta-modulated spiking and gamma oscillations,
      as well as spatially tuned grid cells and border cells. Little is known about the
      role of the arousal-promoting histaminergic system in the modification of
      information encoded in the sMEC in vivo, and how such histamine-regulated
      information correlates with behavioral functions. Here, we show that histamine
      upregulates the neural excitability of a significant proportion of neurons
      (16.32%, 39.18%, and 52.94% at 30 MUM, 300 MUM, and 3 mM, respectively) and
      increases local theta (4-12 Hz) and gamma power (low: 25-48 Hz; high: 60-120 Hz)
      in the sMEC, through activation of histamine receptor types 1 and 3. During
      spatial exploration, the strength of theta-modulated firing of putative principal
      neurons and high gamma oscillations is enhanced about 2-fold by histamine. The
      histamine-mediated increase of theta phase-locking of spikes and high gamma power
      is consistent with successful spatial recognition. These results, for the first
      time, reveal possible mechanisms involving the arousal-promoting histaminergic
      system in the modulation of spatial cognition.

PMID- 28591795
TI  - Socioeconomic Status and Reading Disability: Neuroanatomy and Plasticity in
      Response to Intervention.
AB  - Although reading disability (RD) and socioeconomic status (SES) are independently
      associated with variation in reading ability and brain structure/function, the
      joint influence of SES and RD on neuroanatomy and/or response to intervention is
      unknown. In total, 65 children with RD (ages 6-9) with diverse SES were assigned
      to an intensive, 6-week summer reading intervention (n = 40) or to a waiting-list
      control group (n = 25). Before and after, all children completed standardized
      reading assessments and magnetic resonance imaging to measure cortical thickness.
      At baseline, higher SES correlated with greater vocabulary and greater cortical
      thickness in bilateral perisylvian and supramarginal regions-especially in left
      pars opercularis. Within the intervention group, lower SES was associated with
      both greater reading improvement and greater cortical thickening across broad,
      bilateral occipitotemporal and temporoparietal regions following the
      intervention. Additionally, treatment responders (n = 20), compared with
      treatment nonresponders (n = 19), exhibited significantly greater cortical
      thickening within similar regions. The waiting control and nonresponder groups
      exhibited developmentally typical, nonsignificant cortical thinning during this
      time period. These findings indicate that effective summer reading intervention
      is coupled with cortical growth, and is especially beneficial for children with
      RD who come from lower-SES home environments.

PMID- 28591797
TI  - Cell Class-Dependent Intracortical Connectivity and Output Dynamics of Layer 6
      Projection Neurons of the Rat Primary Visual Cortex.
AB  - Neocortical information processing is powerfully influenced by the activity of
      layer 6 projection neurons through control of local intracortical and subcortical
      circuitry. Morphologically distinct classes of layer 6 projection neuron have
      been identified in the mammalian visual cortex, which exhibit contrasting
      receptive field properties, but little information is available on their
      functional specificity. To address this we combined anatomical tracing techniques
      with high-resolution patch-clamp recording to identify morphological and
      functional distinct classes of layer 6 projection neurons in the rat primary
      visual cortex, which innervated separable subcortical territories. Multisite
      whole-cell recordings in brain slices revealed that corticoclaustral and
      corticothalamic layer 6 projection neurons exhibited similar somatically recorded
      electrophysiological properties. These classes of layer 6 projection neurons were
      sparsely and reciprocally synaptically interconnected, but could be
      differentiated by cell-class, but not target-cell-dependent rules of use
      dependent depression and facilitation of unitary excitatory synaptic output.
      Corticoclaustral and corticothalamic layer 6 projection neurons were
      differentially innervated by columnar excitatory circuitry, with
      corticoclaustral, but not corticothalamic, neurons powerfully driven by layer 4
      pyramidal neurons, and long-range pathways conveyed in neocortical layer 1. Our
      results therefore reveal projection target-specific, functionally distinct,
      streams of layer 6 output in the rodent neocortex.

PMID- 28591800
TI  - Cerebral Revascularization for Aneurysms in the Flow-Diverter Era.

PMID- 28591799
TI  - Incentivizing universal safe delivery in Nepal: 10 years of experience.
AB  - Payments to users and providers of health services are an important ingredient in
      attempts to promote universal health coverage in low resource settings. The
      maternal health programme in Nepal explicitly recognizes that ensuring universal
      access to safe delivery care requires policies that both ensure effective
      services and overcome demand-side barriers. The programme has used three
      innovative financing initiatives to stimulate an increase in the use of facility
      based delivery: the maternity incentive scheme (2005) reimbursing women for
      accessing a facility, activity payments in poor districts (2006) and universal
      free-delivery (2009). We examine the impact of these mechanisms on access to safe
      delivery services. Multiple waves of the Demographic and Health Survey were
      merged to provide household-level cross-sectional data on maternity services. A
      multilevel logit model was used to investigate the roll-out of the three policies
      across ecological zones assuming a district-wide treatment effect. An interrupted
      time-series approach that includes cross sectional data on deliveries at each
      period is used to detect the association between outcomes and policy. The
      maternal Incentive programme was associated with an increase in service delivery
      in hill and tarai areas. A positive effect in mountain areas was detectable as a
      result of the supply side payments made to facilities for delivery. Although use
      among the non-poor increased across the country, a positive effect on the poorest
      population was only present in mountain areas. The beneficial impact of maternal
      financing policies in Nepal is skewed towards areas and households that are
      geographically more accessible and wealthy. Inferior services in remote areas
      reduce the impact of financing policies. Policy may need to be refocused on
      poorer, less accessible areas if improvements in access to maternal health
      services are to continue.

PMID- 28591798
TI  - Associations among body size across the life course, adult height and
      endometriosis.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Are body size across the life course and adult height associated
      with endometriosis? SUMMARY ANSWER: Endometriosis is associated with lean body
      size during childhood, adolescence and adulthood; tall total adult height; and
      tall sitting height. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: The literature suggests that both
      adult body size and height are associated with endometriosis risk, but few
      studies have investigated the role of body size across the life course.
      Additionally, no study has investigated the relationships between components of
      height and endometriosis. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: We used a nested case
      control design within E3N (Etude Epidemiologique aupres de femmes de l'Education
      Nationale), a prospective cohort of French women. Data were updated every 2-3
      years through self-administered questionnaires. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs
      were computed using logistic regression models adjusted for a priori confounding
      factors. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: A total of 2416 endometriosis
      cases were reported as surgically ascertained among the 61 208 included women.
      MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The odds of endometriosis were lower among
      women who reported having a large versus lean body size at 8 years (P for trend =
      0.003), at menarche (P for trend < 0.0001) and at ages 20-25 years (P for trend <
      0.0001). Women in the highest quartiles of height had statistically significantly
      increased odds of endometriosis compared to those in the lowest (<158 cm) (162
      164 cm: OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.12-1.46; >=165 cm: OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.18-1.49, P
      for trend < 0.0001). Statistically significantly increased odds were also
      observed among women with a taller sitting height (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.05-1.47,
      P for trend = 0.01). Leg length was not statistically significantly associated
      with endometriosis. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: Endometriosis cases may be
      prone to misclassification; however, we restricted our case definition to
      surgically-confirmed cases, which showed a high validation rate. Body size is
      based on retrospective self-report, which may be subject to recall bias. WIDER
      IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The results of this study suggest that
      endometriosis is positively associated with lean body size across the life course
      and total adult height. They also suggest that components of height are
      associated with endometriosis, which should be investigated further. STUDY
      FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): The Mutuelle Generale de l'Education Nationale
      (MGEN); the European Community; the French League against Cancer (LNCC); Gustave
      Roussy; the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). L.V.F. was
      supported by a T32 grant (#HD060454) in reproductive, perinatal and pediatric
      epidemiology from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health
      and Human Development and the National Cancer Institute (3R25CA057711) National
      Institutes of Health. M.K. was supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship within the
      seventh European Community Framework Programme (#PIOF-GA-2011-302078). The
      authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

PMID- 28591801
TI  - Systematic Review of Guidelines on Managing Patients with Harmful Use of Alcohol
      in Primary Healthcare Settings.
AB  - Aim: To appraise existing alcohol guidelines for identifying and managing harmful
      alcohol use in primary healthcare settings. Methods: Seven databases and 18
      health organization or medical society websites were systematically searched from
      inception to 31 October 2016. Guidelines in English language, developed by a
      national or international medical specialty society, government or health
      organization, and containing recommendations for identifying and managing harmful
      use of alcohol in primary healthcare settings, were included. The Appraisal of
      Guidelines Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument was used to appraise
      the guidelines. Results: Of the 970 literature identified, 17 were included for
      review, with 13 guidelines developed for use in Western countries and 4 for
      international use. The AGREE II scores ranged from 2.0 to 5.3, out of 7.
      Variations in terminology of harmful alcohol use were seen, with 'harmful
      drinking' and 'problem drinking' being mostly used. All guidelines were in favor
      of screening and brief interventions due to their effectiveness and cost
      effectiveness. Potential benefits and costs of applying screening and brief
      interventions were found, but there was a lack of evidence for long-term effects
      or specific populations. Conclusions: All 17 guidelines recommended screening and
      brief interventions due to its associated health and financial benefits. Policy
      makers are highly encouraged to integrate these practices into primary healthcare
      settings taking the drinking status, culture and resources into account. Short
      summary: Screening and brief interventions were recommended by all 17 guidelines
      on managing patients with harmful use of alcohol in primary healthcare settings.
      Policy makers and healthcare practitioners are highly encouraged to implement
      these recommendations.

PMID- 28591802
TI  - Systemic Inflammatory and Th17 Immune Activation among Patients Treated for
      Lumbar Radiculopathy Exceeds that of Patients Treated for Persistent
      Postoperative Neuropathic Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathophysiology of lumbar radiculopathy includes both mechanical
      compression and biochemical irritation of apposed neural elements. Inflammatory
      and immune cytokines have been implicated, induced by systemic exposure of immune
      privileged intervertebral disc tissue. Surgical intervention provides improved
      symptoms and quality of life, but persistent postoperative neuropathic pain
      (PPNP) afflicts a significant fraction of patients. OBJECTIVE: To compare the
      inflammatory and immune phenotypes among patients undergoing structural surgery
      for lumbar radiculopathy and spinal cord stimulation for neuropathic pain.
      METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing surgical intervention for lumbar
      radiculopathy or neuropathic pain were studied. Demographic data included age,
      gender, and VAS and neuropathic pain scores. Serum was evaluated for cytokine
      levels (IL-6, Il-17, TNF-alpha) and cellular content [white blood cell
      (WBC)/differential, lymphocyte subtypes]. The primary analysis differentiated
      molecular and cellular profiles between radiculopathy and neuropathic pain
      patients. Subgroup analysis within the surgical radiculopathy population compared
      those patients achieving relief of symptoms and those with PPNP. RESULTS:
      Heightened IL-6, Il-17, and TNF-alpha levels were observed for the lumbar
      radiculopathy group compared with the neuropathic pain group. This was
      complemented by higher WBC count and a greater fraction of Th17 lymphocytes among
      radiculopathy patients. In the lumbar discectomy subgroup, pain relief was seen
      among patients with preoperatively elevated IL-17 levels. Those patients with
      PPNP refractory to surgical discectomy exhibited normal cytokine levels.
      CONCLUSION: Differences in Th17 immune activation are seen among radiculopathy
      and neuropathic pain patients. These cellular and molecular profiles may be
      translated into biomarkers to improve patient selection for structural spine
      surgery.

PMID- 28591804
TI  - Arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death: substrates, monitoring, and prevention.

PMID- 28591803
TI  - Temporally Segmented Directionality in the Motor Cortex.
AB  - Developing models of the dynamic and complex patterns of information processing
      that take place during behavior is a major thrust of systems neuroscience. An
      underlying assumption of many models is that the same set of rules applies across
      different conditions. This has been the case for directional tuning during
      volitional movement; a single cosine function has been remarkably robust for
      describing the encoding of movement direction in different types of neurons, in
      many locations of the nervous system, and even across species. However, detailed
      examination of the tuning time course in motor cortex suggests that direction
      coding may be labile. Here, we show that there are discrete time epochs within
      single reaches, between which individual neurons change their tuning. Our
      findings suggest that motor cortical activity patterns may reflect consistent
      changes in the state of the control system during center-out reaching. These
      transitions are likely linked to different behavioral components, suggesting that
      the task defines changes in the operational structure of the control system.

PMID- 28591806
TI  - Quantitative Proteomics of Intestinal Mucosa From Male Mice Lacking Intestinal
      Epithelial Insulin Receptors.
AB  - The goal of the present study was to determine whether loss of the insulin
      receptor alters the molecular landscape of the intestinal mucosa, using
      intestinal-epithelial insulin receptor knockout (IE-irKO) mice and both genetic
      (IRfl/fl and Villin-cre) controls. Quantitative proteomic analysis by liquid
      chromatography mass spectrometry was applied to jejunal and colonic mucosa from
      mice fed a normal chow diet and mice fed a Western diet (WD). Jejunal mucosa from
      IE-irKO mice demonstrated alterations in all intestinal cell lineages: Paneth,
      goblet, absorptive, and enteroendocrine cells. Only goblet and absorptive cells
      were affected in the colon. Also, a marked effect of WD consumption was found on
      the gut proteome. A substantial reduction was detected in Paneth cell proteins
      with antimicrobial activity, including lysozyme C-1, angiogenin-4, cryptdin
      related sequence 1C-3 and -2, alpha-defensin 17, and intelectin-1a. The key
      protein expressed by goblet cells, mucin-2, was also reduced in the IE-irKO mice.
      Proteins involved in lipid metabolism, including aldose reductase-related protein
      1, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase, apolipoprotein A-II, and pyruvate
      dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4, were increased in the mucosa of WD-fed IE-irKO
      mice compared with controls. In contrast, expression of the nutrient-responsive
      gut hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and neurotensin, was
      reduced in the jejunal mucosa of IE-irKO mice, and the expression of proteins of
      the P-type adenosine triphosphatases and the solute carrier-transporter family
      was reduced in the colon of WD-fed IE-irKO mice. In conclusion, IE-irKO mice
      display a distinct molecular phenotype, suggesting a biological role of insulin
      and its receptor in determining differentiated cell specificity in the intestinal
      epithelium.

PMID- 28591805
TI  - Two DELLA-interacting proteins bHLH48 and bHLH60 regulate flowering under long
      day conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Gibberellin (GA) regulates many developmental transitions in the plant life
      cycle. Although great progress has been made, the GA signaling pathways have not
      been fully elucidated. Identifying and characterizing new targets of DELLA
      proteins is an effective approach to reveal the complicated GA signaling
      networks. In this study, two novel DELLA-interacting transcription factors,
      bHLH48 and bHLH60, were identified. Their overexpression caused plants to flower
      early under long-day conditions, whereas their functional repression resulted in
      the opposite result. The constitutive expression of bHLH48 and bHLH60 upregulated
      the transcription of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene. Chromatin
      immunoprecipitation experiments confirmed that bHLH48 bound to the promoter of FT
      and that GA promoted the DNA-binding activity of bHLH48. Genetic analyses
      indicated that the early flowering phenotype of plants overexpressing bHLH48 and
      bHLH60 depended on FT and that the overexpression of bHLH48 and bHLH60 could
      rescue the late-flowering phenotypes of RGL1 overexpressing plants. Transient
      expression assays suggested that RGL1 inhibited the transcription activation
      ability of bHLH48 and bHLH60. Taken together, this study confirmed that bHLH48
      and bHLH60 positively regulate GA-mediated flowering.

PMID- 28591807
TI  - Improving the quality and impact of public health social media activity in
      Scotland during 2016: #ScotPublicHealth.
AB  - Background: Social media, including Twitter, potentially provides a route to
      communicate public health messages to a large audience. Simple measures can boost
      onward broadcast to other users ('retweeting'). This study compares the impact of
      a structured programme of social media activity in Scotland during 2016 (using
      #ScotPublicHealth hashtag) with previous years. Methods: The Twitter search
      function was used to identify tweets between 2014 and 2016 inclusive. The first
      three tweets from each Twitter user were selected for each period. The number of
      retweets was used as a measure of impact. The quality of tweets was assessed by
      recording use of image, weblink (uniform resource locator or URL), mention of
      another Twitter user and/or hashtag, each of which have been shown to boost
      number of retweets. Results: The percentage of tweets with an image, URL and/or
      mention of another Twitter user increased during the period of study. The
      percentage of tweets retweeted during Scottish Public Health conferences
      increased from 43% in 2014 to 70% in 2016. The volume of tweeting also increased.
      Conclusions: The quality and impact of tweets sent by the Scottish Public Health
      community was higher during 2016 than previous years. Conference tweeting remains
      an area for improvement.

PMID- 28591808
TI  - Relationship between beta-lactamase production and resistance phenotype in
      Klebsiella pneumoniae strains.
AB  - This study was designed to evaluate the resistance phenotypes of beta-lactamases
      producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. The antibiotic susceptibility and beta
      lactamase activity of K. pneumoniae strains, including antibiotic-sensitive K.
      pneumoniae (KPWT), ciprofloxacin-induced resistant K. pneumoniae (KPCIP) and
      clinically isolated K. pneumoniae strains (KPCI237, KPCI263 and KPCI272) were
      determined in the absence and presence of beta-lactamase inhibitors (BLI 489,
      sulbactam, clavulanate and tazobactam). All strains were highly resistant to
      ampicillin in the absence of beta-lactamase inhibitors (MIC>= 512 MUg mL-1). In
      the presence of clavulanate, the MICs of ampicillin and piperacillin against KPWT
      were decreased by > 64-fold and 4-fold, respectively. The resistance of KPCI263
      to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone and piperacillin were increased in the
      presence of BLI-489. The antibiotic susceptibility of KPCI237 to beta-lactams was
      not noticeably changed in the presence of beta-lactamase inhibitor (clavulanate,
      sulbactam or tazobactam). KPWT, KPCIP and KPCI272 were positive for blaSHV,
      blaAmpC and blaFOX/MOX; KPCI237 for blaSHV and blaAmpC; and KPCI263 for blaSHV
      and blaOXA-48. The antibiotic susceptibility corresponded well with the results
      obtained from dual disc diffusion assay, which was in good agreement with the
      beta-lactamase production. The results provide useful information for
      understanding the resistance phenotypes in association with beta-lactamase
      production.

PMID- 28591809
TI  - Cpx-dependent expression of YqjA requires cations at elevated pH.
AB  - Under alkaline pH conditions, Escherichia coli must maintain a stable cytoplasmic
      pH of about 7.6 that is acidic relative to the environment. Bacteria employ
      various mechanisms to survive alkaline pH; however, membrane cation/H+
      antiporters play a primary role by facilitating inward transport of protons.
      Escherichia coli YqjA belongs to the DedA/Tvp38 membrane protein family and,
      along with its paralog YghB, is required for growth at 42 degrees C, proper cell
      division and antibiotic resistance. YqjA is required for viability at alkaline
      pH, requiring cations sodium or potassium to support growth under these
      conditions, suggesting it may be a transporter. We measured yqjA expression at
      different pHs and cation concentrations using a yqjA promoter-lacZ fusion. We
      found that yqjA promoter activity was highest at alkaline pH. Increased activity
      of the yqjA promoter required both the transcriptional regulator CpxR, in
      agreement with previous results, and sodium or potassium salts at alkaline pH.
      Extracellular cations are also required for activity of cpxP and degP promoters
      at alkaline pH, suggesting this is a general property of the Cpx regulon. To our
      knowledge, this is the first demonstration of cation-dependent expression of Cpx
      regulated genes at alkaline pH.

PMID- 28591810
TI  - Hessian Fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Attraction to Different Wavelengths and
      Intensities of Light-Emitting Diodes in the Laboratory.
AB  - Monitoring of Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae),
      populations is important for targeted management methods. Also, effectiveness of
      monitoring efforts is critical to surveillance efforts in regions of the world
      without this pest. Current Hessian fly monitoring traps rely purely on a single
      attractant, the female sex pheromone, which is ineffective for monitoring females
      in the population. Our objective was to examine another attractant targeting
      vision of both males and females. To do this, we evaluated emitted light of
      various wavelengths and intensities produced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
      Hessian flies were released in the center of a four-leaf clover-shaped arena,
      which contained an LED within each collection cup at the apex of each of the four
      cloverleaves. Initially, we examined a range of colors, including red, amber,
      green, and blue, with wavelengths of 624, 590, 527, and 472 nm, respectively.
      Both sexes of Hessian fly preferred green LEDs; therefore, we examined specific
      wavelengths within the green spectrum (502, 525, and 565 nm), and varied light
      intensities (4, 8, 12, and 16 W/m2). Specifically, females preferred wavelengths
      in the lower region of the green spectrum (502 and 525 nm), and both sexes
      preferred high intensity light (16 W/m2). This is the first report of Hessian fly
      attraction to select emitted wavelengths and intensities from LEDs under
      controlled conditions. Leveraging these results into new trap designs will add a
      second sensory modality to the existing trap; however, future studies are needed
      to assess attraction to LED traps under field conditions.

PMID- 28591811
TI  - Massive relaxation of the diaphragm.

PMID- 28591812
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28591813
TI  - The energy expenditure benefits of reallocating sedentary time with physical
      activity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Background: We compared direct and daily cumulative energy expenditure (EE)
      differences associated with reallocating sedentary time to physical activity in
      adults for meaningful EE changes. Methods: Peer-reviewed studies in PubMed,
      Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception to March
      2017. Randomized and non-randomized interventions with sedentary time and EE
      outcomes in adults were included. Study quality was assessed by the National
      Heart Lung and Blood Institute tool, and summarized using random-effects meta
      analysis and meta-regression. Results: In total, 26 studies were reviewed, and 24
      studies examined by meta-analysis. Reallocating 6-9 h of sedentary time to light
      intensity physical activity (LIPA) (standardized mean difference [SMD], 2.501
      [CI: 1.204-5.363]) had lower cumulative EE than 6-9 h of combined LIPA and
      moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity (LIPA and moderate-vigorous
      physical activity [MVPA]) (SMD, 5.218 [CI: 3.822-6.613]). Reallocating 1 h of
      MVPA resulted in greater cumulative EE than 3-5 h of LIPA and MVPA, but <6-9 h of
      LIPA and MVPA. Conclusions: Comparable EE can be achieved by different
      strategies, and promoting MVPA might be effective for those individuals where a
      combination of MVPA and LIPA is challenging.

PMID- 28591814
TI  - Abnormal Gray Matter Shape, Thickness, and Volume in the Motor Cortico
      Subcortical Loop in Idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder:
      Association with Clinical and Motor Features.
AB  - Idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is a major risk
      factor for Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Anatomical gray
      matter abnormalities in the motor cortico-subcortical loop areas remain under
      studied in iRBD patients. We acquired T1-weighted images and administrated
      quantitative motor tasks in 41 patients with polysomnography-confirmed iRBD and
      41 healthy subjects. Cortical thickness and voxel-based morphometry (VBM)
      analyses were performed to investigate local cortical thickness and gray matter
      volume changes, vertex-based shape analysis to investigate shape of subcortical
      structures, and structure-based volumetric analyses to investigate volumes of
      subcortical and brainstem structures. Cortical thickness analysis revealed
      thinning in iRBD patients in bilateral medial superior frontal, orbitofrontal,
      anterior cingulate cortices, and the right dorsolateral primary motor cortex. VBM
      results showed lower gray matter volume in iRBD patients in the frontal lobes,
      anterior cingulate gyri, and caudate nucleus. Shape analysis revealed extensive
      surface contraction in the external and internal segments of the left pallidum.
      Clinical and motor impaired features in iRBD were associated with anomalies of
      the motor cortico-subcortical loop. In summary, iRBD patients showed numerous
      gray matter structural abnormalities in the motor cortico-subcortical loop, which
      are associated with lower motor performance and clinical manifestations of iRBD.

PMID- 28591815
TI  - Reply to Sopirala.

PMID- 28591816
TI  - Is preoperative spirometry a predictive marker for postoperative complications
      after colorectal cancer surgery?
AB  - Background: Spirometry is a basic test that provides much information about
      pulmonary function; it is performed preoperatively in almost all patients
      undergoing colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery in our hospital. However, the value of
      spirometry as a preoperative test for CRC surgery remains unknown. The aim of
      this study was to determine whether spirometry is useful to predict postoperative
      complications (PCs) after CRC surgery. Methods: The medical records of 1236
      patients who had preoperative spirometry tests and underwent CRC surgery between
      2005 and 2014 were reviewed. Preoperative spirometry results, such as forced
      vital capacity (FVC), one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), %VC
      (FVC/predicted VC) and FEV1/FVC (%FEV1), were analyzed with regard to PCs,
      including pneumonia. Results: PCs were found in 383 (30.9%) patients, including
      218 (56%) with surgical site infections, 67 (17%) with bowel obstruction, 62
      (16%) with leakage and 20 (5.2%) with pneumonia. Of the spirometry results, %VC
      was correlated with PC according to logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, OR
      = 0.99, 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.98-0.99; P = 0.034). Multivariate
      analysis after adjusting for male sex, age, laparoscopic surgery, tumor location,
      operation time and blood loss showed that a lower %VC tends to be a risk factor
      for PC (OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.98-1.002; P = 0.159) and %VC was an independent
      risk factor for postoperative pneumonia in PCs (OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.94-0.99; P
      = 0.049). Conclusions: In CRC surgery, %VC may be a predictor of postoperative
      complications, especially pneumonia.

PMID- 28591817
TI  - Efficacy of radiotherapy for primary tumor in patients with unresectable
      pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
AB  - Background: Detailed information regarding the clinical efficacy of radiotherapy
      (RT) for primary tumor in patients with unresectable pancreatic neuroendocrine
      tumors (pNETs) is unknown. We therefore performed a retrospective study to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of RT for primary pancreatic tumors in patients
      with pNETs. Methods: We investigated 11 patients with pNETs who received RT to
      the primary site between January 1997 and June 2015. Seven patients had Grade 2
      neuroendocrine tumors (NET-G2) and four had neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC)
      according to the 2010 WHO histopathological classification. Results: The tumor
      response and control rates were 27.2% and 100%, respectively (3: partial
      response, 8: stable disease). Among patients with NET-G2 tumors, the response
      rate was 28.5% (2/7 patients) and symptomatic improvement was noted in 33.3% of
      the patients (1/3 patients). The response rate for patients with NEC were 25%
      (1/4), one NEC patients with symptoms exhibited symptomatic improvement. The
      median overall survival and median progression-free survival were 35.9 months and
      5.5 months, respectively. Grade 3 diarrhea as an acute toxicity and Grade 3
      gastrointestinal hemorrhage as a late toxicity were observed. Conclusions: RT to
      the primary cancer site in patients with pNETs was an effective modality for
      local disease control and the treated patients had good outcomes. If metastatic
      tumors are under control, RT to the primary site may be beneficial for patients
      with pNETs.

PMID- 28591818
TI  - Yokukansan for the treatment of preoperative anxiety and postoperative delirium
      in colorectal cancer patients: a retrospective study.
AB  - Background: Yokukansan (YKS), a Japanese traditional herbal medicine for neurosis
      and insomnia, is speculated to be useful for perioperative psychiatric symptoms
      in cancer patients, but there exists little empirical evidence. This study
      provides preliminary data about the efficacy, feasibility, and side effects of
      YKS for the treatment of preoperative anxiety and postoperative delirium in
      cancer patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of
      colorectal cancer patients who took YKS for preoperative anxiety, evaluating the
      following: (1) patient characteristics, (2) feasibility of taking YKS, (3)
      changes in preoperative anxiety based on the Clinical Global Impression (CGI)
      scale and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-revised (ESAS-r-anxiety), (4)
      incidence of postoperative delirium and (5) YKS-related side effects. Results: We
      reviewed 19 medical records. There was a significant difference between ESAS-r
      anxiety scores (P = 0.028) before and after taking YKS, but no difference between
      CGI scores (P = 0.056). The incidence of postoperative delirium was 5.2% (95% CI
      = 0.0-14.5). One patient could not complete the course of YKS during the
      perioperative administration period, but there were no side effects of Grade 2 or
      worse according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.
      Conclusions: Cancer patients could safely take YKS before surgery. There was a
      significant improvement in preoperative anxiety after taking YKS, and the
      incident rate of postoperative delirium was lower than in previous studies. These
      results suggest that YKS may be useful for perioperative psychiatric symptoms in
      cancer patients. Further well-designed studies are needed to substantiate our
      results.

PMID- 28591819
TI  - Comparison of phenotypic and WGS-derived antimicrobial resistance profiles of
      Shigella sonnei isolated from cases of diarrhoeal disease in England and Wales,
      2015.
AB  - Objectives: Phenotypic and genotypic methods for the detection of antimicrobial
      resistance (AMR) in Shigella sonnei in England and Wales were compared and
      evaluated. Methods: WGS data from 341 isolates of S. sonnei isolated between June
      2015 and January 2016 were mapped to genes known to be associated with phenotypic
      AMR. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on all viable isolates (n
      = 335). Results: Fifteen of 335 isolates had a discrepancy between phenotypic and
      genotypic testing for 1 of the 10 antimicrobial classes tested, equating to 15
      (0.45%) discordant results out of a possible 3350 isolate/antimicrobial
      combinations. All 15 mismatched results were genotypically resistant but
      phenotypically susceptible. Eleven of the 15 discrepancies were observed in
      streptomycin resistance profiles. The most common resistance profile was
      trimethoprim, sulphonamides, tetracyclines and streptomycin, occurring in 97
      (28.4%) isolates. Resistances to ciprofloxacin and the third-generation
      cephalosporins, not detected in England and Wales prior to 2002, were identified
      in 18.2% and 12% of isolates, respectively. Three hundred and four (89.1%)
      isolates were MDR. There was no significant association between any of the AMR
      determinants tested and recent foreign travel in male or female cases. The number
      of isolates of S. sonnei harbouring blaTEM-1 and ermB/mphA was significantly
      higher in men who reported no recent travel outside the UK. Conclusions: The use
      of WGS for routine public health surveillance is a reliable method for rapid
      detection of emerging AMR in isolates of S. sonnei.

PMID- 28591820
TI  - Proton Pump Inhibitors, Nephropathy, and Cardiovascular Disease in Type 2
      Diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study.
AB  - Context: There is emerging evidence of various adverse effects of chronic proton
      pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. Objective: To assess the impact of PPI use on
      nephropathy and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in type 2 diabetes. Design:
      Longitudinal observational study. Setting: Urban-dwelling community. Patients:
      Patients with type 2 diabetes from the Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase II and on
      stable renin-angiotensin system blocking therapy were divided into those
      remaining untreated with a PPI (group 1, n = 686), on PPI therapy throughout
      (group 2, n = 174), and commencing (group 3, n = 109) or discontinuing regular
      PPI therapy (group 4, n = 67) during the 2 years between assessments. Main
      Outcome Measures: Changes (Delta) in urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (uACR),
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and predicted 5-year CVD risk.
      Results: There were no statistically significant differences in DeltauACR between
      groups [analysis of variance (ANOVA), P = 0.36], but DeltaeGFR was different
      (ANOVA, P = 0.002), with group 3 exhibiting a greater reduction than group 1
      [adjusted mean difference (95% confidence interval), -2.7 (-4.5 to -0.8)
      mL/min/1.73 m2; P = 0.005]. The Delta5-year CVD risk showed a similar pattern
      (ANOVA, P < 0.001), with group 3 having a greater increase than group 1 [adjusted
      mean difference (95% confidence interval), 1.7% (0.6% to 2.8%); P = 0.002].
      Conclusions: Although PPI use was not associated with a sustained adverse effect
      on uACR, the association between PPI initiation and both worsening nephropathy
      and increasing 5-year CVD risk has potential clinical implications in type 2
      diabetes.

PMID- 28591821
TI  - Effect of prosthesis patient mismatch in mitral position on pulmonary
      hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with poor outcome
      after mitral valve replacement (MVR). We proposed to evaluate the effect of valve
      prosthesis patient mismatch (PPM) on pulmonary arterial (PA) pressure following
      MVR. METHODS: Five hundred patients who have undergone MVR were studied
      retrospectively. Postoperative PA systolic pressure (PASP) measured 6 months
      postoperatively by Doppler echocardiography was compared with preoperative
      values. PASP >= 40 mmHg was defined as PAH. Mitral valve effective orifice area
      was calculated by the continuity equation and indexed for body surface area. PPM
      was defined as indexed effective orifice area <= 1.2 cm2/m2. A multivariate model
      was constructed to ascertain the independent determinants of systolic PA
      pressure. Also, a propensity score model was constructed to overcome the baseline
      differences between the PPM and no PPM groups. RESULTS: The incidence of PPM in
      this study was 37.2%. The average postoperative PASPs were 30.49 and 42.35 mmHg
      in the no PPM and PPM groups, respectively; (P < 0.001). Regression of PAH in the
      PPM and no PPM groups was 76.26% and 20.64%, respectively; (P < 0.001). The
      indexed effective orifice area correlated well with postoperative PASP (r =
      0.71). The overall survival and freedom from cardiac death at 10 years were 79.8%
      and 85.3%; and at 20 years were 66.5% and 74.3%, respectively. Both, overall
      survival and the freedom from cardiac death were higher in the no PPM group than
      in the PPM group; (P < 0.001). Propensity score matching analysis yielded 112
      pairs of the PPM and no PPM cohorts, which revealed higher overall survival and
      freedom from cardiac death in the no PPM group; (P = 0.028 and 0.012,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Mitral PPM is an independent predictor of persistent
      PAH after MVR along with associated morbidity and reduced survival.

PMID- 28591823
TI  - The Survival Advantage of "Supratotal" Resection of Glioblastoma Using Selective
      Cortical Mapping and the Subpial technique.

PMID- 28591822
TI  - Neural Sources and Underlying Mechanisms of Neural Responses to Heartbeats, and
      their Role in Bodily Self-consciousness: An Intracranial EEG Study.
AB  - Recent research has shown that heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs), brain activity
      in response to heartbeats, are a useful neural measure for investigating the
      functional role of brain-body interactions in cognitive processes including self
      consciousness. In 2 experiments, using intracranial electroencephalography (EEG),
      we investigated (1) the neural sources of HEPs, (2) the underlying mechanisms for
      HEP generation, and (3) the functional role of HEPs in bodily self-consciousness.
      In Experiment-1, we found that shortly after the heartbeat onset, phase
      distributions across single trials were significantly concentrated in 10% of the
      recording sites, mainly in the insula and the operculum, but also in other
      regions including the amygdala and fronto-temporal cortex. Such phase
      concentration was not accompanied by increased spectral power, and did not
      correlate with spectral power changes, suggesting that a phase resetting, rather
      than an additive "evoked potential" mechanism, underlies HEP generation. In
      Experiment-2, we further aimed to anatomically refine previous scalp EEG data
      that linked HEPs with bodily self-consciousness. We found that HEP modulations in
      the insula reflected an experimentally induced altered sense of self
      identification. Collectively, these results provide novel and solid
      electrophysiological evidence on the neural sources and underlying mechanisms of
      HEPs, and their functional role in self-consciousness.

PMID- 28591824
TI  - LOW-DOSE CT PROTOCOL OPTIMIZATION FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS: THE
      OPTICAP PHANTOM STUDY.
AB  - : The aim was to evaluate effects of voltage, noise input (NI) and iterative
      reconstruction (IR) on radiation dose and image quality in order to establish a
      contrast enhanced low-dose protocol for assessment of acute appendicitis. An
      anthropomorphic abdominal phantom mimicking contrast enhanced abdomen was scanned
      with 80, 100 and 120 kV, standard and strong IR and 11 NIs (66 protocols). A
      total of 14 test tubes of increasing iodine dilutions and one tube with an
      appendicolith were evaluated within the phantom. The dose, HUs, noise, contrast
      to-noise ratio (CNR) and figure of merit (FOM) were determined. Visual quality
      scores were assessed by two readers. A clinically used voltage-IR combination
      (120 kV, standard IR) was used as a reference. Overall, 100 kV with standard IR
      (p = 0.002) and 80 kV with both IRs (p < 0.001) showed higher CNR than the
      reference, but noise was most pronounced at 80 kV (p < 0.001). The highest FOM
      was found in the 100 kV protocols (p < 0.001). The reference and 100 kV with
      standard IR had highest image quality scores, where the 100 kV protocol enabled a
      distinct dose reduction. Lowering the voltage seems to be a more favorable tool
      than IR changes in optimizing the dose in contrast enhanced abdominal CT. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01022567.

PMID- 28591825
TI  - Corticotrophin-releasing hormone and corticosterone impair development of
      preimplantation embryos by inducing oviductal cell apoptosis via activating the
      Fas system: an in vitro study.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: What are the mechanisms by which corticotrophin-releasing hormone
      (CRH) and corticosterone impair the development of preimplantation embryos in the
      oviduct. SUMMARY ANSWER: CRH and corticosterone do not affect preimplantation
      embryos directly, but impair their development indirectly by triggering apoptosis
      of oviductal epithelial cells (OECs) through activation of the Fas system. WHAT
      IS KNOWN ALREADY: Studies report that stress impairs embryo development with
      facilitated secretion of CRH and glucocorticoids. Although an in vivo study
      demonstrated that preimplantation stress impaired embryo development in
      conjunction with oviductal apoptosis and activation of the Fas system, whether
      CRH or glucocorticoids damage embryos directly or indirectly by way of oviductal
      cells remains to be clarified. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Mice of Kunming
      strain, the generalized lymphoproliferative disorder (gld) mice with a germline
      mutation F273L in Fas ligand in a C57BL/6J genomic background and the wild-type
      C57BL/6J mice were used. Female mice were used 8-10 weeks after birth.
      PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: While some female mice were killed 48 h
      after being injected with equine CG to collect oviducts and prepare OECs, others
      were killed to recover zygotes after mating with males following superovulation
      with eCG and hCG. The zygotes obtained were cultured with or without CRH or
      corticosterone (CRH/Cort) either in Chatot-Ziomek-Bavister (CZB) medium with or
      without OECs or in conditioned medium (CM) conditioned with OECs pretreated or
      not with CRH/Cort. Preimplantation development, levels of redox potential and
      apoptosis, and expression of CRH receptor 1 (CRHR1), glucocorticoid receptor
      (GR), Fas and 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) were observed in embryos
      recovered at different times of in vitro culture. After culture of OECs with or
      without CRH/Cort, levels of redox potential and apoptosis, mRNA and protein
      expression of growth factors, and protein expression of CRHR1, GR and Fas were
      examined in OECs and the level of FasL was measured in CM. The gld mice were used
      to confirm a role for the Fas system in triggering apoptosis of embryos and
      oviducts. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: This study showed that blastocyst
      development was unaffected when mouse zygotes were cultured in CZB medium
      containing various concentrations of CRH/Cort but was impaired when embryos were
      cultured with CRH/Cort plus OECs or in CM conditioned with OECs pretreated with
      CRH/Cort (treatment CM). Culture in treatment-CM induced oxidative stress and
      apoptosis in embryos. Preimplantation embryos expressed GR and Fas at all stages
      and CRHR1 at the blastocyst stage only. Mouse 4-cell embryos and blastocysts
      expressed HSD2 but not HSD1. Culture of OECs with CRH/Cort increased their
      oxidative stress, apoptosis, CRHR1, Fas and FasL while decreasing their GR and
      growth factors. Blastocyst development in treatment-CM conditioned with OECs from
      gld mice harboring FasL mutations was superior to treatment-CM conditioned with
      wild-type mouse OECs. The results suggest that CRH/Cort impairs embryo
      development indirectly by inducing oviductal apoptosis via activating the Fas
      system. The insensitivity of preimplantation embryos to CRH and corticosterone is
      due to, respectively, a lack of CRHR and the exclusive expression of HSD2 that
      inactivate corticosterone. LARGE SCALE DATA: Not applicable. LIMITATIONS, REASONS
      FOR CAUTION: Although significant, the conclusions were drawn from limited
      results obtained using mice and thus they need further verification in other
      species. For example, bovine embryos express both HSD1 and HSD2 at all the
      preimplantation stages whereas mouse preimplantation embryos express HSD2
      exclusively without HSD1. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The data are
      important for our understanding of the mechanisms by which stress affects female
      reproduction in both human and animals, as early stages of pregnancy are
      considered more vulnerable to stress than the late stages. STUDY FUNDING AND
      COMPETING INTEREST(S): This study was supported by grants from the National Basic
      Research Program of China (Nos. 2014CB138503 and 2012CB944403), the China
      National Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 31272444 and 30972096) and the Animal
      breeding improvement program of Shandong Province. All authors declare that their
      participation in the study did not involve factual or potential conflicts of
      interests.

PMID- 28591826
TI  - STUDY ON THE SHIELDING AND DOSE RATE DISTRIBUTIONS OF THERAPEUTIC PROTON
      SYNCHROTRON ACCELERATOR BASED ON FLUKA.
AB  - Some therapeutic proton synchrotron accelerators will be built for cancer
      treatment in China. The radiation produced by proton must be carefully evaluated
      and shielded for occupational disease hazard assessment and environmental impact
      assessment. Adopting the FLUKA code, a therapeutic room model, a synchrotron hall
      model and a high energy transport line tunnel model are constructed to get the
      ambient dose equivalent rate distributions. The ambient dose equivalent rates are
      also calculated with an empirical formula in some regions. The results calculated
      by the two ways are consistent with each other. The advantages and disadvantages
      of the two methods have been analyzed. The ambient dose equivalent rates are no
      more than 2.5 MUSv/h at 30 cm beyond the shielding wall and the maze door. The
      dose rates are <25 MUSv/h at 30 cm beyond the roof of the therapeutic room. These
      results comply with the National Occupational Health Standard requirements.

PMID- 28591828
TI  - Measuring Successful Aging With Respect for Preferences of Older Persons.
AB  - Objectives: This paper explores how to measure successful aging in a manner
      consistent with the preferences of older persons about what matters in their
      lives. Method: To overcome the fact that existing objective and subjective
      measures of successful aging may not reflect the preferences of older persons
      about what matters in their lives, a new preference-based measure of successful
      aging is proposed. To implement the measure, the preferences of older persons are
      estimated using a statistical life satisfaction model, which is estimated with
      data from 11 European countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement
      in Europe (SHARE). Results: The proposed measure is found to yield different
      results compared to objective and subjective measures in terms of how successful
      aging has evolved between 2007 and 2013 and how countries are ranked for
      successful aging. Successful aging measured by a subjective measure is highest in
      2011 compared to 2007 and 2013, for instance, whereas the ranking is reversed for
      the objective- and preference-based measures. Discussion: The findings highlight
      the relevance of the degree of importance we attribute to the preferences of
      older persons in the measurement of successful aging, methodologically as well as
      empirically.

PMID- 28591829
TI  - Benzoate transport in Pseudomonas putida CSV86.
AB  - Pseudomonas putida strain CSV86 metabolizes variety of aromatic compounds as the
      sole carbon source. Genome analysis revealed the presence of genes encoding
      putative transporters for benzoate, p-hydroxybenzoate, phenylacetate, p
      hydroxyphenylacetate and vanillate. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that benzoate
      transport and metabolism genes are clustered at the ben locus as benK-catA-benE
      benF. Protein topology prediction suggests that BenK (aromatic acid-H+ symporter
      of major facilitator superfamily) has 12 transmembrane alpha-helices with the
      conserved motif LADRXGRKX in loop 2, while BenE (benzoate-H+ symporter protein)
      has 11 predicted transmembrane alpha-helices. benF and catA encode benzoate
      specific porin, OprD and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, respectively. Biochemical
      studies suggest that benzoate was transported by an inducible and active process.
      Inhibition (90%-100%) in the presence of dinitrophenol suggests that the energy
      for the transport process is derived from the proton motive force. The maximum
      rate of benzoate transport was 484 pmole min-1 mg-1 cells with an affinity
      constant, Kmof 4.5 MUM. Transcriptional analysis of the benzoate and glucose
      grown cells showed inducible expression of benF, benK and benE, suggesting that
      besides outer membrane porin, both inner membrane transporters probably
      contribute for the benzoate transport in P. putida strain CSV86.

PMID- 28591827
TI  - Tethering not required: the glucocorticoid receptor binds directly to activator
      protein-1 recognition motifs to repress inflammatory genes.
AB  - The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-regulated transcription factor that
      controls the expression of extensive gene networks, driving both up- and down
      regulation. GR utilizes multiple DNA-binding-dependent and -independent
      mechanisms to achieve context-specific transcriptional outcomes. The DNA-binding
      independent mechanism involves tethering of GR to the pro-inflammatory
      transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1) through protein-protein
      interactions. This mechanism has served as the predominant model of GR-mediated
      transrepression of inflammatory genes. However, ChIP-seq data have consistently
      shown GR to occupy AP-1 response elements (TREs), even in the absence of AP-1.
      Therefore, the current model is insufficient to explain GR action at these sites.
      Here, we show that GR regulates a subset of inflammatory genes in a DNA-binding
      dependent manner. Using structural biology and biochemical approaches, we show
      that GR binds directly to TREs via sequence-specific contacts to a GR-binding
      sequence (GBS) half-site found embedded within the TRE motif. Furthermore, we
      show that GR-mediated transrepression observed at TRE sites to be DNA-binding
      dependent. This represents a paradigm shift in the field, showing that GR uses
      multiple mechanisms to suppress inflammatory gene expression. This work further
      expands our understanding of this complex multifaceted transcription factor.

PMID- 28591830
TI  - Letter: Factors Predicting Recurrence after Resection of Clival Chordoma Using
      Variable Surgical Approaches and Radiation Modalities.

PMID- 28591832
TI  - Reply to Bush and Kaye.

PMID- 28591831
TI  - The Gut Metagenome Changes in Parallel to Waist Circumference, Brain Iron
      Deposition, and Cognitive Function.
AB  - Context: Microbiota perturbations seem to exert modulatory effects on emotional
      behavior, stress-, and pain-modulation systems in adult animals; however, limited
      information is available in humans. Objective: To study potential relationships
      among the gut metagenome, brain microstructure, and cognitive performance in
      middle-aged, apparently healthy, obese and nonobese subjects after weight
      changes. Design: This is a longitudinal study over a 2-year period. Setting: A
      tertiary public hospital. Patients or Other Participants: Thirty-five (18 obese)
      apparently healthy subjects. Intervention(s): Diet counseling was provided to all
      subjects. Obese subjects were followed every 6 months. Main Outcome Measure(s):
      Brain relaxometry (using magnetic resonance R2*), cognitive performance (by means
      of cognitive tests), and gut microbiome composition (shotgun). Results: R2*
      increased in both obese and nonobese subjects, independent of weight variations.
      Changes in waist circumference, but not in body mass index, were associated with
      brain iron deposition (R2*) in the striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus in
      parallel to visual-spatial constructional ability and circulating beta amyloid
      Abeta42 levels. These changes were linked to shifts in gut microbiome in which
      the relative abundance of bacteria belonging to Caldiserica and
      Thermodesulfobacteria phyla were reciprocally associated with raised R2* in
      different brain nuclei. Of note, the increase in bacteria belonging to
      Tenericutes phylum was parallel to decreased R2* gain in the striatum, serum
      Abeta42 levels, and spared visual-spatial constructional ability. Interestingly,
      metagenome functions associated with circulating and brain iron stores are
      involved in bacterial generation of siderophores. Conclusions: Changes in the gut
      metagenome are associated longitudinally with cognitive function and brain iron
      deposition.

PMID- 28591834
TI  - Cholinergic Grb2-Associated-Binding Protein 1 Regulates Cognitive Function.
AB  - Grb2-associated-binding protein 1 (Gab1) is a docking/scaffolding molecule known
      to play an important role in cell growth and survival. Here, we report that Gab1
      is decreased in cholinergic neurons in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and in a
      mouse model of AD. In mice, selective ablation of Gab1 in cholinergic neurons in
      the medial septum impaired learning and memory and hippocampal long-term
      potentiation. Gab1 ablation also inhibited SK channels, leading to an increase in
      firing in septal cholinergic neurons. Gab1 overexpression, on the other hand,
      improved cognitive function and restored hippocampal CaMKII autorphosphorylation
      in AD mice. These results suggest that Gab1 plays an important role in the
      pathophysiology of AD and may represent a novel therapeutic target for diseases
      involving cholinergic dysfunction.

PMID- 28591835
TI  - Assessing phagotrophy in the mixotrophic ciliate Paramecium bursaria using GFP
      expressing yeast cells.
AB  - We used cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing green fluorescent
      protein (GFP) as fluorescently labelled prey to assess the phagocytic activities
      of the mixotrophic ciliate Paramecium bursaria, which harbours symbiotic
      Chlorella-like algae. Because of different fluorescence spectra of GFP and algal
      chlorophyll, ingested GFP-expressing yeast cells can be distinguished from
      endosymbiotic algal cells and directly counted in individual P. bursaria cells
      using fluorescence microscopy. By using GFP-expressing yeast cells, we found that
      P. bursaria altered ingestion activities under different physiological
      conditions, such as different growth phases or the presence/absence of
      endosymbionts. Use of GFP-expressing yeast cells allowed us to estimate the
      digestion rates of live prey of the ciliate. In contrast to the ingestion
      activities, the digestion rate within food vacuoles was not affected by the
      presence of endosymbionts, consistent with previous findings that food and
      perialgal vacuoles are spatially and functionally separated in P. bursaria. Thus,
      GFP-expressing yeast may provide a valuable tool to assess both ingestion and
      digestion activities of ciliates that feed on eukaryotic organisms.

PMID- 28591833
TI  - A new fully human recombinant FSH (follitropin epsilon): two phase I randomized
      placebo and comparator-controlled pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic trials.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: What are the differences and similarities of pharmacokinetic (PK)
      and pharmacodynamic (PD) characteristics of the novel recombinant human FSH
      follitropin epsilon expressed in the human cell line GlycoExpress compared with a
      Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) derived compound and a urinary derived product?
      SUMMARY ANSWER: Overall follitropin epsilon, with a fully human glycosylation,
      shows a comparable PK profile at single-dose as well as multiple-dose
      administration compared to recombinant CHO-derived FSH as well as urinary derived
      FSH, whereas the PD properties differ from product to product with follitropin
      epsilon being most active in PD parameters. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Recombinant
      FSH produced in CHO and FSH obtained from the urine of postmenopausal women show
      comparable PK and PD properties. However, more recently a comparative study of a
      recombinant FSH produced in the human cell line PerC6 and a CHO-derived FSH
      preparation revealed differences in PK and PD properties of the molecule. STUDY
      DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Both studies were randomized, placebo- and comparator
      controlled, single-blind phase I studies in healthy pituitary-suppressed female
      volunteers aged 18 and 40 years. The single-dose, dose escalation study included
      19 women (April 2011 to September 2011) with three ascending dose levels per
      subject or placebo/comparators with a 14-day washout phase between dosings. The
      multiple-dose study included 57 women (October 2011 to April 2012) in five
      cohorts with three dose levels versus placebo and two comparators. Randomization
      to the respective treatment was performed after successful downregulation of the
      pituitary gland prior to Investigational Medicinal Product dosing.
      PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: In the single-dose study, 12 subjects
      received follitropin epsilon (25, 75, 150 and 300 IU) in three of four possible
      ascending doses and seven subjects received one dose of two comparators (150 IU
      Bravelle and 150 IU Gonal-f) and placebo in random order in each treatment
      period. In the multiple-dose study, 30 subjects received follitropin epsilon (75
      IU or 150 IU once daily [QD], or 150 IU every other day [QAD], 10 subjects each)
      and 27 subjects received 150 IU Gonal-f, 150 IU Bravelle, or placebo for 7 days
      (11/10/6 subjects). Blood samples for measuring PK as well as PD parameters were
      collected systematically before, during and after dosing. Adverse events (AEs)
      and other relevant safety parameters were recorded. Data were summarized using
      descriptive statistics. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The single- and
      multiple-dose PK parameters maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the
      concentration-time curve (AUC0-last) increased in a linear fashion with
      increasing dose levels of follitropin epsilon. Follitropin epsilon showed PK
      characteristics comparable to the comparators indicating that well established
      treatment schemes could be applied. There was a dose-response effect of single
      and multiple doses of follitropin epsilon on follicular growth, which was shown
      for the biomarker inhibin B as well as for the mean number and size of follicles.
      Multiple doses of 75 IU follitropin epsilon given daily, as well as 150 IU
      follitropin epsilon every second day, showed a follicle growth comparable with
      150 IU Gonal-f given daily, while in case of daily administration of 150 IU
      Bravelle only weak follicle stimulation was observed. Multiple doses of 150 IU
      follitropin epsilon induced a much higher follicle growth compared to the same
      dose of Gonal-f. All single and multiple follitropin epsilon doses tested were
      safe and well tolerated, and overall there were no relevant differences between
      follitropin epsilon and the comparators in terms of safety. The average number of
      AEs increased with increasing dose levels. No clinically relevant abnormalities
      were reported for any of the other safety parameters assessed. No follitropin
      epsilon anti-drug antibodies were observed. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The
      studies were conducted as a single-blind design. Hormone levels or other
      parameters assessed in serum are generally not considered as being subject to
      bias. Other assessments directly performed by the investigators, such as
      transvaginal ultrasound assessments, may have been subject to personal bias. No
      prospective calculations of statistical power had been made, as is common
      practice for first in human and early phase I studies in healthy volunteers.
      WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: These early development studies showed that
      follitropin epsilon exhibits comparable PK characteristics, as well as inducing
      stronger PD effects in terms of follicle growth and serum inhibin B, than the
      comparators. Follitropin epsilon induced a dose-dependent increase in follicular
      growth. The results warrant further studies with this new fully human recombinant
      FSH. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): The studies were sponsored by GLYCOTOPE
      GmbH, Berlin, Germany. K.A-E. is an employee of QPS-Netherlands, B.V., which
      received funding for the studies from Glycotope GmbH; I.D. and C.K. are employees
      of Dinox B.V., which received funding for the studies from Glycotope GmbH; L.S.
      and S.G. are employees and shareholders of Glycotope GmbH; B.D. and K.E. are
      employees of Glycotope GmbH. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: www.clinicaltrials.gov:
      NCT01354886 (single-dose); NCT01477073 (multiple-dose). TRIAL REGISTRATION DATE:
      The single-dose trial was registered on 11 May 2011 while the multiple-dose trial
      was registered on 09 November 2011. DATE OF FIRST SUBJECT'S ENROLMENT: First
      subject was enroled in the single-dose trial in 27 April 2011 and in the multiple
      dose trial in 02 October 2011.

PMID- 28591836
TI  - Focal Cortical Anomalies and Language Impairment in 16p11.2 Deletion and
      Duplication Syndrome.
AB  - Individuals with copy number variants (CNV) in the 16p11.2 chromosomal region are
      at high risk for language disorders. We investigate whether the extent and
      location of focal cortical anomalies are associated with language impairment in
      individuals with 16p11.2 CNVs. High-resolution T1-weighted MRI scans from 30
      16p11.2 deletion (16p-del), 25 16p11.2 duplication (16p-dup), and 90 noncarrier
      controls (NCC) were analyzed to derive personalized cortical anomaly maps through
      single-case cortical thickness (CT) comparison to age-matched normative samples.
      Focal cortical anomalies were elevated in both 16p-del and 16p-dup and their
      total extent was inversely correlated with Full-Scale IQ. Clusters of abnormally
      thick cortex were more extensive in the 16p-del group and clusters of abnormally
      thin cortex were more extensive in the 16p-dup group. Abnormally thick clusters
      were more extensive in left lateral temporal and bilateral postcentral and mesial
      occipital regions in 16p-del. Focal cortical anomalies in the left middle
      temporal region and pars opercularis (Broca's region) of children with 16-del
      were associated with lower scores on a comprehensive language evaluation. Results
      extend neuroanatomical findings in 16p11.2 syndrome to include spatially
      heterogenous focal cortical anomalies that appear to disrupt language ability in
      accordance with the functional specialization of left frontotemporal regions.

PMID- 28591838
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 28591839
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 28591837
TI  - Attention Selectively Reshapes the Geometry of Distributed Semantic
      Representation.
AB  - Humans prioritize different semantic qualities of a complex stimulus depending on
      their behavioral goals. These semantic features are encoded in distributed neural
      populations, yet it is unclear how attention might operate across these
      distributed representations. To address this, we presented participants with
      naturalistic video clips of animals behaving in their natural environments while
      the participants attended to either behavior or taxonomy. We used models of
      representational geometry to investigate how attentional allocation affects the
      distributed neural representation of animal behavior and taxonomy. Attending to
      animal behavior transiently increased the discriminability of distributed
      population codes for observed actions in anterior intraparietal, pericentral, and
      ventral temporal cortices. Attending to animal taxonomy while viewing the same
      stimuli increased the discriminability of distributed animal category
      representations in ventral temporal cortex. For both tasks, attention selectively
      enhanced the discriminability of response patterns along behaviorally relevant
      dimensions. These findings suggest that behavioral goals alter how the brain
      extracts semantic features from the visual world. Attention effectively
      disentangles population responses for downstream read-out by sculpting
      representational geometry in late-stage perceptual areas.

PMID- 28591841
TI  - RSAT matrix-clustering: dynamic exploration and redundancy reduction of
      transcription factor binding motif collections.
AB  - Transcription factor (TF) databases contain multitudes of binding motifs (TFBMs)
      from various sources, from which non-redundant collections are derived by manual
      curation. The advent of high-throughput methods stimulated the production of
      novel collections with increasing numbers of motifs. Meta-databases, built by
      merging these collections, contain redundant versions, because available tools
      are not suited to automatically identify and explore biologically relevant
      clusters among thousands of motifs. Motif discovery from genome-scale data sets
      (e.g. ChIP-seq) also produces redundant motifs, hampering the interpretation of
      results. We present matrix-clustering, a versatile tool that clusters similar
      TFBMs into multiple trees, and automatically creates non-redundant TFBM
      collections. A feature unique to matrix-clustering is its dynamic visualisation
      of aligned TFBMs, and its capability to simultaneously treat multiple collections
      from various sources. We demonstrate that matrix-clustering considerably
      simplifies the interpretation of combined results from multiple motif discovery
      tools, and highlights biologically relevant variations of similar motifs. We also
      ran a large-scale application to cluster ~11 000 motifs from 24 entire databases,
      showing that matrix-clustering correctly groups motifs belonging to the same TF
      families, and drastically reduced motif redundancy. matrix-clustering is
      integrated within the RSAT suite (http://rsat.eu/), accessible through a user
      friendly web interface or command-line for its integration in pipelines.

PMID- 28591840
TI  - Novel approaches in function-driven single-cell genomics.
AB  - Deeper sequencing and improved bioinformatics in conjunction with single-cell and
      metagenomic approaches continue to illuminate undercharacterized environmental
      microbial communities. This has propelled the 'who is there, and what might they
      be doing' paradigm to the uncultivated and has already radically changed the
      topology of the tree of life and provided key insights into the microbial
      contribution to biogeochemistry. While characterization of 'who' based on marker
      genes can describe a large fraction of the community, answering 'what are they
      doing' remains the elusive pinnacle for microbiology. Function-driven single-cell
      genomics provides a solution by using a function-based screen to subsample
      complex microbial communities in a targeted manner for the isolation and genome
      sequencing of single cells. This enables single-cell sequencing to be focused on
      cells with specific phenotypic or metabolic characteristics of interest.
      Recovered genomes are conclusively implicated for both encoding and exhibiting
      the feature of interest, improving downstream annotation and revealing activity
      levels within that environment. This emerging approach has already improved our
      understanding of microbial community functioning and facilitated the experimental
      analysis of uncharacterized gene product space. Here we provide a comprehensive
      review of strategies that have been applied for function-driven single-cell
      genomics and the future directions we envision.

PMID- 28591842
TI  - Children with Cerebral Palsy Hyper-Gate Somatosensory Stimulations of the Foot.
AB  - We currently have a substantial knowledge gap in our understanding of the
      neurophysiological underpinnings of the sensory perception deficits often
      reported in the clinic for children with cerebral palsy (CP). In this
      investigation, we have begun to address this knowledge gap by using
      magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain imaging to evaluate the sensory gating of
      neural oscillations in the somatosensory cortices. A cohort of children with CP
      (Gross Motor Function Classification System II-III) and typically developing
      children underwent paired-pulse electrical stimulation of the tibial nerve during
      MEG. Advanced beamforming methods were used to image significant oscillatory
      responses, and subsequently the time series of neural activity was extracted from
      peak voxels. Our experimental results showed that somatosensory cortical
      oscillations (10-75 Hz) were weaker in the children with CP for both
      stimulations. Despite this reduction, the children with CP actually exhibited a
      hyper-gating response to the second, redundant peripheral stimulation applied to
      the foot. These results have further established the nexus of the cortical
      somatosensory processing deficits that are likely responsible for the degraded
      sensory perceptions reported in the clinic for children with CP.

PMID- 28591843
TI  - The First Evidence of Nanism in Ixodes (Ixodes) scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae),
      Found Parasitizing a Human Host.
AB  - Ixodes scapularis Say 1821, the primary vector of several human pathogens in the
      northeastern and upper Midwestern United States, has considerable genetic and
      morphological variation throughout its range. Recently, developmental or
      teratological abnormalities have been observed in this species for the first
      time, further complicating morphological identification. Here, we report the
      first evidence of nanism (dwarfism) in I. scapularis, found parasitizing a human
      host. We used molecular methods and scanning electron microscopy to identify the
      specimen. Morphological identification confirmed that the specimen is
      substantially smaller, approximately half the size, than a typical I. scapularis
      female. Here we discuss the recent reports of teratological abnormalities in I.
      scapularis, particularly from the Hudson River valley region of the northeastern
      United States, and highlight the need for additional studies of teratology in
      this important species and its potential implications in disease transmission.

PMID- 28591844
TI  - New insights into a classic aptamer: binding sites, cooperativity and more
      sensitive adenosine detection.
AB  - The DNA aptamer for adenosine (also for AMP and ATP) is a highly conserved
      sequence that has recurred in a few selections. It it a widely used model aptamer
      for biosensor development, and its nuclear magnetic resonance structure shows
      that each aptamer binds two AMP molecules. In this work, each binding site was
      individually removed by rational sequence design, while the remaining site still
      retained a similar binding affinity and specificity as confirmed by isothermal
      titration calorimetry. The thermodynamic parameters of binding are presented, and
      its biochemical implications are discussed. The number of binding sites can also
      be increased, and up to four sites are introduced in a single DNA sequence.
      Finally, the different sequences are made into fluorescent biosensors based on
      the structure-switching signaling aptamer design. The one-site aptamer has 3.8
      fold higher sensitivity at lower adenosine concentration with a limit of
      detection of 9.1 MUM adenosine, but weaker fluorescence signal at higher
      adenosine concentrations, consistent with a moderate cooperativity in the
      original aptamer. This work has offered insights into a classic aptamer for the
      relationship between the number of binding sites and sensitivity, and a shorter
      aptamer for improved biosensor design.

PMID- 28591845
TI  - Severe esophagitis associated with cytomegalovirus during concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer.
AB  - Although radiation esophagitis is one of the most common adverse events that
      occurs during chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with esophageal cancer, CRT
      associated cytomegalovirus (CMV) esophagitis is rare. CMV esophagitis typically
      occurs in patients with an immunosuppressed status. Here we report a case of CMV
      esophagitis during CRT initially treated as radiation esophagitis. A 64-year-old
      man with mid-thoracic esophageal cancer was admitted to our hospital with
      clinical stage cT4bN1M1 (supraclavicular lymph node metastasis) Stage IV
      according to the UICC ver. 7 guidelines, and he was administered definitive
      concurrent CRT. From the 39th day of CRT onwards, he presented with a sustained
      fever and severe odynophagia that was resistant to antibiotic therapy. An
      esophagoscopy revealed severe esophagitis with a circumferential ulcer throughout
      the entire esophagus, and CMV esophagitis was clinically suspected because of
      positive result of CMV antigenemia. Subsequently, antiviral therapy for CMV
      provided dramatic relief of his symptoms. Later, CMV DNA was confirmed with a
      polymerase chain reaction in the biopsy specimen.The symptoms of CMV esophagitis
      resemble those of radiation esophagitis and can make the diagnosis difficult.
      Thus, CMV esophagitis associated CRT may be overlooked or masked by radiation
      esophagitis and can cause a delay in healing. Therefore, CMV esophagitis may be
      considered when severe intractable esophagitis is observed during CRT.

PMID- 28591846
TI  - Visualization of conformational variability in the domains of long single
      stranded RNA molecules.
AB  - We demonstrate an application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for the structural
      analysis of long single-stranded RNA (>1 kb), focusing on 28S ribosomal RNA
      (rRNA). Generally, optimization of the conditions required to obtain three
      dimensional (3D) structures of long RNA molecules is a challenging or nearly
      impossible process. In this study, we overcome these limitations by developing a
      method using AFM imaging combined with automated, MATLAB-based image analysis
      algorithms for extracting information about the domain organization of single RNA
      molecules. We examined the 5 kb human 28S rRNA since it is the largest RNA
      molecule for which a 3D structure is available. As a proof of concept, we
      determined a domain structure that is in accordance with previously described
      secondary structural models. Importantly, we identified four additional small
      (200-300 nt), previously unreported domains present in these molecules. Moreover,
      the single-molecule nature of our method enabled us to report on the relative
      conformational variability of each domain structure identified, and inter-domain
      associations within subsets of molecules leading to molecular compaction, which
      may shed light on the process of how these molecules fold into the final tertiary
      structure.

PMID- 28591847
TI  - Implementing targeted expectant management in fertility care using prognostic
      modelling: a cluster randomized trial with a multifaceted strategy.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: What is the effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation
      strategy compared to usual care on improving the adherence to guideline
      recommendations on expectant management for couples with unexplained infertility?
      SUMMARY ANSWER: The multifaceted implementation strategy did not significantly
      increase adherence to guideline recommendations on expectant management compared
      to care as usual. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Intrauterine insemination (IUI) with or
      without ovarian hyperstimulation has no beneficial effect compared to no
      treatment for 6 months after the fertility work-up for couples with unexplained
      infertility and a good prognosis of natural conception. Therefore, various
      professionals and policy makers have advocated the use of prognostic profiles and
      expectant management in guideline recommendations. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION:
      A cluster randomized controlled trial in 25 clinics in the Netherlands was
      conducted between March 2013 and May 2014. Clinics were randomized between the
      implementation strategy (intervention, n = 13) and care as usual (control, n =
      12). The effect of the implementation strategy was evaluated by comparing
      baseline and effect measurement data. Data collection was retrospective and
      obtained from medical record research and a patient questionnaire.
      PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: A total of 544 couples were included at
      baseline and 485 at the effect measurement (247 intervention group/238 control
      group). MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Guideline adherence increased from
      49 to 69% (OR 2.66; 95% CI 1.45-4.89) in the intervention group, and from 49 to
      61% (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.38-3.00) in the control group. Multilevel analysis with
      case-mix adjustment showed that the difference of 8% was not statistically
      significant (OR 1.31; 95% CI 0.67-2.59). The ongoing pregnancy rate within six
      months after fertility work-up did not significantly differ between intervention
      and control group (25% versus 27%: OR 0.72; 95% CI 0.40-1.27). LIMITATIONS
      REASONS FOR CAUTION: There is a possible selection bias, couples included in the
      study had a higher socio-economic status than non-responders. How this affects
      guideline adherence is unclear. Furthermore, when powering for this study we did
      not take into account the unexpected improvement of adherence in the control
      group. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Generalization of our results to other
      countries with recommendations on expectant management might be questionable
      because barriers for expectant management can be very different in other
      countries. Furthermore, due to a large variation in improved adherence rate in
      the intervention group it will be interesting to further analyse the process of
      implementation in each clinic with a process evaluation on professionals and
      couples' exposure to and experiences with the strategy. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING
      INTEREST(S): Supported by Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and
      Development (ZonMW, project number 171203005). No competing interests. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: Dutch trial Register, www.trialregister.nl NTR3405. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION DATE: 19 April 2012. DATE OF FIRST PATIENT'S ENROLMENT: 10 July
      2012.

PMID- 28591848
TI  - Comparative genomics of free-living Gammaproteobacteria: pathogenesis-related
      genes or interaction-related genes?
AB  - Bacteria have numerous strategies to interact with themselves and with their
      environment, but genes associated with these interactions are usually cataloged
      as pathogenic. To understand the role that these genes have not only in
      pathogenesis but also in bacterial interactions, we compared the genomes of eight
      bacteria from human-impacted environments with those of free-living bacteria from
      the Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB), a relatively pristine oligotrophic site. Fifty
      one genomes from CCB bacteria, including Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Photobacterium and
      Aeromonas, were analyzed. We found that the CCB strains had several virulence
      related genes, 15 of which were common to all strains and were related to
      flagella and chemotaxis. We also identified the presence of Type III and VI
      secretion systems, which leads us to propose that these systems play an important
      role in interactions among bacterial communities beyond pathogenesis. None of the
      CCB strains had pathogenicity islands, despite having genes associated with
      antibiotics. Integrons were rare, while CRISPR elements were common. The idea
      that pathogenicity-related genes in many cases form part of a wider strategy used
      by bacteria to interact with other organisms could help us to understand the role
      of pathogenicity-related elements in an ecological and evolutionary framework
      leading toward a more inclusive One Health concept.

PMID- 28591849
TI  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing response in the absence of functional LasR
      and LasI proteins: the case of strain 148, a virulent dolphin isolate.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that presents a complex
      regulatory network called 'quorum-sensing', which is responsible for the
      transcription of genes coding for several traits implicated in its pathogenicity.
      Strain 148 is a dolphin isolate that has been shown to produce quorum-sensing
      regulated virulence traits and to be virulent in a mouse model, despite the fact
      that it contains a 20-kbp deletion that eliminates from the chromosome the lasR
      gene and the lasI promoter. LasR is a key quorum-sensing transcriptional
      regulator that, when coupled with the autoinducer 3-oxo-dodecanoyl homoserine
      lactone (3O-C12-HSL) produced by LasI, activates transcription of genes coding
      for some virulence-associated traits such as elastase, lasI, rhlI and rhlR. RhlR
      is also a key quorum-sensing transcriptional regulator that, when interacting
      with the autoinducer butanoyl homoserine lactone (C4-HSL) that is produced by the
      synthase RhlI, activates the genes involved in the synthesis of some virulence
      associated traits, as rhamnolipids and pyocyanin. We describe that in P.
      aeruginosa 148, the LasR/3O-C12-HSL-independent rhlR transcriptional activation
      is due to the release of the negative effect of Vfr (a CRP-ortholog) caused by
      the insertion of an IS element in vfr, and that rhlI transcription is driven from
      the rhlR promoter, forming the rhlR-I operon.

PMID- 28591851
TI  - Reduced Fidelity of Neural Representation Underlies Episodic Memory Decline in
      Normal Aging.
AB  - Emerging studies have emphasized the importance of the fidelity of cortical
      representation in forming enduring episodic memory. No study, however, has
      examined whether there are age-related reductions in representation fidelity that
      can explain memory declines in normal aging. Using functional MRI and
      multivariate pattern analysis, we found that older adults showed reduced
      representation fidelity in the visual cortex, which accounted for their decreased
      memory performance even after controlling for the contribution of reduced
      activation level. This reduced fidelity was specifically due to older adults'
      poorer item-specific representation, not due to their lower activation level and
      variance, greater variability in neuro-vascular coupling, or decreased
      selectivity of categorical representation (i.e., dedifferentiation). Older adults
      also showed an enhanced subsequent memory effect in the prefrontal cortex based
      on activation level, and their prefrontal activation was associated with greater
      fidelity of representation in the visual cortex and better memory performance.
      The fidelity of cortical representation thus may serve as a promising neural
      index for better mechanistic understanding of the memory declines and its
      compensation in normal aging.

PMID- 28591850
TI  - Acrolein Exposure in Hookah Smokers and Non-Smokers Exposed to Hookah Tobacco
      Secondhand Smoke: Implications for Regulating Hookah Tobacco Products.
AB  - Introduction: Acrolein is a highly ciliatoxic agent, a toxic respiratory
      irritant, a cardiotoxicant, and a possible carcinogen present in tobacco smoke
      including hookah tobacco. Methods: 105 hookah smokers and 103 non-smokers
      attended exclusively hookah smoking social events at either a hookah lounge or
      private home, and provided urine samples the morning of and the morning after the
      event. Samples were analyzed for 3-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid (3-HPMA), a
      metabolite of acrolein. Results: Geometric mean (GM) urinary 3-HPMA levels in
      hookah smokers and non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) increased
      significantly, 1.41 times, 95% CI = 1.15 to 1.74 and 1.39 times, 95% CI = 1.16 to
      1.67, respectively, following a hookah social event. The highest increase (1.68
      times, 95% CI = 1.15 to 2.45; p = 0.007) in 3-HPMA post a hookah social event was
      among daily hookah smokers (GM, from 1991 pmol/mg to 3348 pmol/mg). Pre-to-post
      event change in urinary 3-HPMA was significantly positively correlated with pre
      to-post event change in urinary cotinine among hookah smokers at either location
      of hookah event, (rho = 0.359, p = 0.001), and among non-smokers in hookah
      lounges (rho = 0.369, p = 0.012). Conclusions: Hookah tobacco smoke is a source
      of acrolein exposure. Findings support regulating hookah tobacco products
      including reducing humectants and sugar additives, which are precursors of
      acrolein under certain pyrolysis conditions. We suggest posting health warning
      signs for indoor smoking in hookah lounges, and encouraging voluntary bans of
      smoking hookah tobacco in private homes. Implications: Our study is the first to
      quantify the increase in acrolein exposure in hookah smokers and non-smokers
      exposed to exclusively hookah tobacco SHS at hookah social events in homes or
      hookah lounges. Our findings provide additional support for regulating hookah
      tobacco product content, protecting non-smokers' health by posting health warning
      signs for indoor smoking in hookah lounges, and encouraging home bans on hookah
      tobacco smoking to safeguard vulnerable residents.

PMID- 28591852
TI  - Morbidity and mortality in opioid dependent patients after entering an opioid
      pharmacotherapy compared with a cohort of non-dependent controls.
AB  - Aims: To compare morbidity and mortality in opioid dependence patients following
      the commencement of treatment with the general population. Methods: Morbidity and
      mortality in all patients treated with methadone, buprenorphine or implant
      naltrexone for opioid dependence for the first time between 2001 and 2010 in
      Western Australia was compared to a cohort of age and gender matched controls
      using state health records. Results: Compared to community controls rates of all
      cause mortality, hospital admissions and Emergency Department attendances are
      significantly elevated in opioid dependent persons following the commencement of
      their first treatment. Not surprisingly, rates of opioid and non-opioid drug
      poisoning, and intentional self-harm/suicide mortality and hospital admissions
      were significantly elevated in opioid dependent patients compared with non
      dependent controls. However, significant increases in mortality and hospital
      admissions for conditions which are not generally associated with opioid use were
      also identified including cardiovascular, respiratory and traffic accidents. Life
      time prevalence of both HBV and HCV were significantly elevated in opioid
      dependent patients compared with non-dependent patients. Conclusions: Even after
      the commencement of treatment, opioid dependent patients are at a high risk of
      morbidity and mortality compared with non-dependent age and gender matched
      controls.

PMID- 28591855
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28591854
TI  - CORRECTION FACTORS FOR ATTENUATION AND SCATTERING OF THE WALL OF A CYLINDRICAL
      IONIZATION CHAMBER IN THE 6-7 MeV HIGH-ENERGY PHOTON REFERENCE FIELD.
AB  - In high-energy photon reference fields the value of the air kerma rate is
      determined by using ionization chambers (ICs). From the charge collected inside
      the IC the dose can be calculated using a set of calibration and correction
      factors according to ISO 4037-2. A crucial parameter is the correction for the
      attenuation and scattering of the primary radiation due to the chamber wall. This
      parameter can be determined using Monte Carlo calculations. The evaluation of the
      factor was performed for a commercially available IC of the type Victoreen 550-3
      under different build-up conditions. The results were verified by measurements in
      the R-F high-energy photon fields according to ISO 4037-1 at the Physikalisch
      Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).

PMID- 28591856
TI  - A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF COMPARTMENTAL MODELING FOR INTAKE OF PLUTONIUM VIA WOUNDS.
AB  - The aim of this study is to present several approaches that have been used to
      model the behavior of radioactive materials (specifically Pu) in contaminated
      wounds. We also review some attempts by the health physics community to validate
      and revise the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP)
      156 biokinetic model for wounds, and present some general recommendations based
      on the review. Modeling of intake via the wound pathway is complicated because of
      a large array of wound characteristics (e.g. solubility and chemistry of the
      material, type and depth of the tissue injury, anatomical location of injury).
      Moreover, because a majority of the documented wound cases in humans are
      medically treated (excised or treated with chelation), the data to develop
      biokinetic models for unperturbed wound exposures are limited. Since the NCRP
      wound model was largely developed from animal data, it is important to continue
      to validate and improve the model using human data whenever plausible.

PMID- 28591853
TI  - Neisseria genomics: current status and future perspectives.
AB  - High-throughput whole genome sequencing has unlocked a multitude of possibilities
      enabling members of the Neisseria genus to be examined with unprecedented detail,
      including the human pathogens Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
      To maximise the potential benefit of this for public health, it is becoming
      increasingly important to ensure that this plethora of data are adequately
      stored, disseminated and made readily accessible. Investigations facilitating
      cross-species comparisons as well as the analysis of global datasets will allow
      differences among and within species and across geographic locations and
      different times to be identified, improving our understanding of the distinct
      phenotypes observed. Recent advances in high-throughput platforms that measure
      the transcriptome, proteome and/or epigenome are also becoming increasingly
      employed to explore the complexities of Neisseria biology. An integrated approach
      to the analysis of these is essential to fully understand the impact these may
      have in the Neisseria genus. This article reviews the current status of some of
      the tools available for next generation sequence analysis at the dawn of the
      'post-genomic' era.

PMID- 28591857
TI  - Adaptive Patterns of Mitogenome Evolution Are Associated with the Loss of Shell
      Scutes in Turtles.
AB  - The mitochondrial genome encodes several protein components of the oxidative
      phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway and is critical for aerobic respiration. These
      proteins have evolved adaptively in many taxa, but linking molecular-level
      patterns with higher-level attributes (e.g., morphology, physiology) remains a
      challenge. Turtles are a promising system for exploring mitochondrial genome
      evolution as different species face distinct respiratory challenges and employ
      multiple strategies for ensuring efficient respiration. One prominent adaptation
      to a highly aquatic lifestyle in turtles is the secondary loss of keratenized
      shell scutes (i.e., soft-shells), which is associated with enhanced swimming
      ability and, in some species, cutaneous respiration. We used codon models to
      examine patterns of selection on mitochondrial protein-coding genes along the
      three turtle lineages that independently evolved soft-shells. We found strong
      evidence for positive selection along the branches leading to the pig-nosed
      turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) and the softshells clade (Trionychidae), but
      only weak evidence for the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) branch. Positively
      selected sites were found to be particularly prevalent in OXPHOS Complex I
      proteins, especially subunit ND2, along both positively selected lineages,
      consistent with convergent adaptive evolution. Structural analysis showed that
      many of the identified sites are within key regions or near residues involved in
      proton transport, indicating that positive selection may have precipitated
      substantial changes in mitochondrial function. Overall, our study provides
      evidence that physiological challenges associated with adaptation to a highly
      aquatic lifestyle have shaped the evolution of the turtle mitochondrial genome in
      a lineage-specific manner.

PMID- 28591858
TI  - The Geographic Distribution of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Revisited: The
      Importance of Assumptions About Error Balance.
AB  - The black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, is the primary vector of Borrelia
      burgdorferi, a spirochete that causes Lyme disease, in eastern North America.
      Lyme disease risk has generally been considered to be focused in the Northeast
      and the northern Midwest in the United States, yet the distribution of the vector
      extends considerably more broadly. A recent analysis of the distribution of the
      species using ecological niche modeling approaches painted an odd biogeographic
      picture, in which the species is distributed in a "rimming" distribution across
      the northern Midwest and Northeast, and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the
      eastern United States, but not broadly in the interior of eastern North America.
      Here, we reanalyze the situation for this species, and demonstrate that the
      distribution estimated in the previous study was a consequence of assumptions
      about relative weights applied to different error types. A more appropriate error
      weighting scheme for niche modeling analyses, in which omission error is
      prioritized over commission error, shows a simpler distribution, in which the
      species ranges continuously across eastern North America; this distributional
      pattern is supported by independent occurrence data from the eastern Great
      Plains, in Kansas. We discuss implications for public health planning and
      intervention across the region, as well as for developing effective and
      predictive maps of vector distributions and pathogen transmission risk.

PMID- 28591859
TI  - Rhipicephalus microplus and Dermacentor nitens (Acari: Ixodidae) Coparasitize
      White-Tailed Deer on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.
AB  - Ticks parasitizing introduced white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus
      (Zimmermann), on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, were recorded during and after
      drought conditions. Tick infestation prevalences were 22% at the start of the
      drought (July 2015), 66% at the height of the drought (March 2016), and 35% after
      the drought had ended (July 2016; n = 67 deer). Samples of ticks from 22
      tranquilized deer in July 2016 revealed the presence of two species, the southern
      cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini), and the tropical
      horse tick, Dermacentor (Anocentor) nitens Neumann. Both tick species have
      considerable veterinary importance, especially for cattle and horses,
      respectively, as nuisance biters and also as vectors of parasitic piroplasms or
      of Anaplasma marginale Theiler. All 22 deer examined were infested by R.
      microplus, whereas 14 (64%) of the samples also included specimens of D. nitens.
      Because of the large numbers of ticks recorded, wild deer on St. John could
      develop associated health problems (pruritis, alopecia, anemia, low weight gain,
      tick-borne pathogens and parasites) and could also serve as a source of these
      ticks for cattle and horses.

PMID- 28591860
TI  - Suggestions for clinical studies on percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion:
      authors' reply.

PMID- 28591861
TI  - DIAGNOSTIC REFERENCE LEVELS IN CARDIAC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY: A
      SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.
AB  - Cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is a commonly used diagnostic tool
      for cardiovascular disease. Despite constant improvements to imaging
      technologies, the radiation dose to patients from CCTA remains a concern when
      using this procedure. There remains a need for optimisation of CCTA procedures
      and accurate dose monitoring to reduce the potential risk of cancer. Establishing
      diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) allows for the assessment of radiation dose
      variations, enabling strategies aimed at standardising doses across radiological
      centres. This systematic review explores the literature on CCTA methodologies
      that have been used to establish DRLs. A search was carried out using the Web of
      Science, SCOPUS, Medline, CINAHL and EMBASE databases. Reference lists of
      published articles were also assessed to identify further articles. The Preferred
      Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology was
      employed to evaluate articles for relevance. Articles were included if they
      assessed DRLs in CCTA. The search resulted in 448 articles, of which, six were
      included after a thorough screening process. The literature demonstrates a wide
      dose variation in reported CCTA DRLs ranging from 671 to 1510 mGy cm in DLP.
      Where reported, CTDIvol DRLs ranged from 26 to 70 mGy. Differences were found in
      the methodologies used for establishing CCTA DRLs, including the sampling
      methodology used for identifying suitable patients and scanning protocols. This
      current review emphasises the need for an international standardisation for DRLs
      establishment methods, to provide a more comparable global measurement of dose
      variations across CT sites.

PMID- 28591862
TI  - ASSESSMENT OF BODY POTASSIUM LEVEL BY GENDER AND AGE IN KOREAN ADULT GROUP.
AB  - Most internal radiation dose resulting from natural radionuclides is due to radon
      and radioactive potassium. Total body potassium (TBK) in human body may vary by
      ethnic group, gender and age. The objective of this study was to measure TBK and
      body potassium concentration in Korean subjects. Body potassium concentrations of
      the subjects were measured with a whole-body counter for 283 adult males and 181
      adult females. Average TBK value and body potassium level were 111.2 g and 1.5 g
      kg-1 for males, while for females they were 71.7 g and 1.4 g kg-1. TBK increased
      with increasing body weight. Body potassium level per body weight was inversely
      proportional to age in both genders. The annual effective doses due to 40K in the
      human body of Korean population were calculated to be 0.15 and 0.13 mSv for males
      and females, respectively.

PMID- 28591863
TI  - MEASUREMENT OF THE CONTRALATERAL BREAST PHOTON AND THERMAL NEUTRON DOSES IN
      BREAST CANCER RADIOTHERAPY: A COMPARISON BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND DYNAMIC WEDGES.
AB  - This research aimed to measure the received photon and thermal neutron doses to
      contralateral breast (CB) in breast cancer radiotherapy for various field sizes
      in presence of physical and dynamic wedges. The measurement of photon and thermal
      neutron doses was carried out on right breast region of RANDO phantom (as CB) for
      18 MV photon beams. The dose measurements were performed by thermoluminescent
      dosimeter chips. These measurements obtained for various field sizes in presence
      of physical and dynamic wedges. The findings of this study showed that the
      received doses (both of the photon and thermal neutron) to CB in presence of
      physical wedge for 11 * 13, 11 * 17 and 11 * 21 cm2 field sizes were 5.92, 6.36
      and 6.77% of the prescribed dose, respectively as well as for dynamic wedge were
      2.92, 4.63 and 5.60% of the prescribed dose, respectively. The results showed
      that the received photon and thermal neutron doses to CB increase with increment
      of field sizes. The received photon and thermal neutron doses to CB in presence
      of physical wedge were more than dynamic wedge. According to obtained findings,
      it is suggested that using a dynamic wedge is preferable than physical wedge,
      especially for medial tangential field.

PMID- 28591864
TI  - Optimism, pessimism and self-efficacy in female cancer patients.
AB  - Objective: The aim of this examination was to study whether psychological
      resource variables (optimism and self-efficacy) decrease when cancer is present
      and to test the predictive power of these variables for anxiety, depression and
      quality of life (QoL). Methods: The patient sample was comprised of 354 German
      women suffering from breast cancer or gynecological cancer. Participants filled
      in the resource assessment tools Life Orientation Test-Revised and the General
      Self-Efficacy Scale as well as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the
      Patient Health Questionnaire-4 and the QoL instrument EORTC QLQ-C30 at two time
      points: (t1) during patients' hospital stay and (t2) 3 months later. Results: The
      mean scores for optimism (total score: M = 16.2) and self-efficacy (M = 29.8)
      were even somewhat higher than the corresponding means of the general population.
      Optimism and self-efficacy were positively correlated with QoL (r between 0.15
      and 0.17, P < 0.01) and negatively associated with anxiety and depression (r
      between -0.17 and -0.36, P < 0.01). However, only optimism was predictive of the
      t2 anxiety, depression and QoL scores when statistically taking into account the
      baseline levels of the outcome variables. Conclusions: Having cancer does not
      generally reduce optimism and self-efficacy on the level of patients' mean
      scores. Cancer patients with a high level of habitual optimism will adapt to
      their disease better than pessimistic patients, even if the baseline levels of
      the outcome variables have been accounted for.

PMID- 28591865
TI  - Reliability and Accuracy of MRI Laminar Angle Measurements to Determine
      Intraprocedural Contralateral Oblique View Angle for Cervical or Thoracic
      Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injections-Safety Before Accuracy.

PMID- 28591866
TI  - Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccines in Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - There is uncertainty about the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in persons
      with asthma and its impact on asthma outcomes, which may contribute to the
      suboptimal vaccination rates in persons with asthma. This systematic review and
      meta-analysis involved searching 12 international databases for randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) and high-quality quasi-experimental and epidemiological
      studies (1970-2016). The risk of bias was low for 3 included RCTs. The quality of
      3 included observational studies was moderate. The quality of evidence was very
      low for all study outcomes. Pooled vaccine effectiveness in 1825 persons with
      asthma from 2 test-negative design case-control studies was 45% (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 31%-56%) for laboratory-confirmed influenza. Pooled efficacy of
      live vaccines in reducing influenza was 81% (95% CI, 33%- 94%). Live vaccine
      reduced febrile illness by 72% (95% CI, 20%-90%). Influenza vaccine prevented 59%
      78% of asthma attacks leading to emergency visits and/or hospitalizations. For
      persons with asthma, influenza vaccination may be effective in both reducing
      influenza infection and asthma attacks.

PMID- 28591868
TI  - Video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy for non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis: a
      right-sided or left-sided approach?
AB  - A best evidence topic in thoracic surgery was written according to a structured
      protocol. The question addressed was in [patients undergoing video-assisted
      thoracoscopic thymectomy for myasthenia gravis (MG)] is a [left-sided approach]
      superior to a [right-sided approach] in terms of [clinical outcome]? Two hundred
      and fifty-nine papers were found using the reported search. In looking at both
      procedures, we selected studies with a sizeable number of patients performing or
      studying both procedures and comparing their outcome. Hence, only 4 studies
      represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors,
      journal, date, country, study type, patient group, relevant outcomes and results
      of these papers are tabulated. Two studies compared their clinical experience
      with a right-sided versus a left-sided video assisted thoracoscopic surgery
      thymectomy approach, while 1 study compared using a bilateral versus a unilateral
      right-sided approach in patients with non-thymomatous MG. The number of patients
      studied included 31, 107 and 103 patients, respectively. All 3 studies
      demonstrated no difference regarding surgical time, intraoperative blood loss,
      postoperative hospital stay, postoperative complications and therapeutic effects
      (the last study compared the 5-year complete stable remission rate). All 3
      studies concluded that both approaches are feasible, effective and comparable in
      operative and long-term results for the treatment of non-thymomatous MG. One
      anatomical study compared both approaches in 10 cadavers, 5 in each group. They
      studied the size of the specimen resected and visualization of different anatomic
      sites via each approach. Visualization was superior using the left-sided
      approach, while a right-sided approach resulted in slightly higher chances of an
      incomplete resection. The study concluded that a left-sided approach achieves a
      better chance of radical thoracoscopic thymectomy due to anatomic considerations.
      In conclusion, despite 1 cadaveric study suggesting that a left-sided approach
      may achieve more complete resection, possibly due to anatomical considerations,
      there are no differences in outcomes with either unilateral approach in terms of
      complications, hospital stay or long-term symptom relief.

PMID- 28591871
TI  - [Relevance of Heat Health Actions Plans for Preventive Public Health in Germany].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heat waves are among the extreme weather events and represent a
      growing health hazard for the population in Europe. According to the current
      climate studies, the probability of an increase and intensification of heat waves
      has been increasing for years. Particularly affected by exposure to unusually
      high heat are people whose organism is already weakened by age or illness. As the
      share of senior citizens in Germany continues to rise as a result of demographic
      change, the health effects of heat waves are gaining in importance. OBJECTIVE:
      Heat-induced morbidity and mortality can be effectively countered by information
      provision and timely initiation of preventive measures. The heat wave of the
      summer of 2003, which killed around 70000 people across Europe, led to the
      establishment of national heat warning systems and / or hot weather plans in much
      of Europe. In Germany, the heat warning system of the German Weather Service was
      set up nationwide in 2005. Thus, a 2-stage warning process can be comprehensively
      and timely inform people of an imminent heat wave, whereupon appropriate
      preventive measures can be initiated. In addition, it is recommended to establish
      a heat action plan which, in addition to heat warning, also takes into account
      comprehensive health intervention measures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This article
      outlines the background, significance and structure of a heat action plan
      according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is based on the guidance
      document prepared in 2008 and the supplementary documents of the years 2009 and
      2011. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In order to ensure sustainable protection against
      heat-related health hazards, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the
      introduction of a national heat action plan for its Member States. There are
      fundamental differences between a heat warning system and a heat action plan.
      While the warning of a brief heat period is the central task of the heat warning
      system, the heat action plan follows an integrative approach that combines short,
      medium and long-term health protection measures within a common framework.

PMID- 28591869
TI  - Alternative splicing of CNOT7 diversifies CCR4-NOT functions.
AB  - The CCR4-associated factor CAF1, also called CNOT7, is a catalytic subunit of the
      CCR4-NOT complex, which has been implicated in all aspects of the mRNA life
      cycle, from mRNA synthesis in the nucleus to degradation in the cytoplasm. In
      human cells, alternative splicing of the CNOT7 gene yields a second CNOT7
      transcript leading to the formation of a shorter protein, CNOT7 variant 2
      (CNOT7v2). Biochemical characterization indicates that CNOT7v2 interacts with
      CCR4-NOT subunits, although it does not bind to BTG proteins. We report that
      CNOT7v2 displays a distinct expression profile in human tissues, as well as a
      nuclear sub-cellular localization compared to CNOT7v1. Despite a conserved DEDD
      nuclease domain, CNOT7v2 is unable to degrade a poly(A) tail in vitro and
      preferentially associates with the protein arginine methyltransferase PRMT1 to
      regulate its activity. Using both in vitro and in cellulo systems, we have also
      demonstrated that CNOT7v2 regulates the inclusion of CD44 variable exons.
      Altogether, our findings suggest a preferential involvement of CNOT7v2 in nuclear
      processes, such as arginine methylation and alternative splicing, rather than
      mRNA turnover. These observations illustrate how the integration of a splicing
      variant inside CCR4-NOT can diversify its cell- and tissue-specific functions.

PMID- 28591872
TI  - [The role of immunooncology in the treatment of urothelial cancer].
AB  - Data published in November 2016 showed a significant survival benefit for the PD
      1 antibody Pembrolizumab in the second-line treatment of metastatic urothelial
      cancer in comparison to standard chemotherapy. Other PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies are
      being tested in advanced clinical trials. This class of substances will become
      standard of care from the time of their approval which is expected for 2017 and
      will replace vinflunine, which is currently recommended in the German guideline.
      PD-1/PD-L1 directed substances are also being tested as a first line treatment of
      metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Monotherapy is evaluated as well as combination
      treatments with CTLA-4 inhibitors of conventional chemotherapy. First data are
      expected at the end of 2017.A new strategy is the application of PD-1/PD-L1
      directed substances in the perioperative treatment of patients with a muscle
      invasive urothelial carcinoma after complete surgical resection (cystectomy or
      nephroureterectomy). Two international phase III trials evaluate an adjuvant
      immunotherapy with nivolumab and atezolizumab. Recruitment will be completed in
      2018.

PMID- 28591870
TI  - Editor's Highlight: Transcriptome Profiling Reveals Bisphenol A Alternatives
      Activate Estrogen Receptor Alpha in Human Breast Cancer Cells.
AB  - Plasticizers with estrogenic activity, such as bisphenol A (BPA), have potential
      adverse health effects in humans. Due to mounting evidence of these health
      effects, BPA is being phased out and replaced by other bisphenol variants in "BPA
      free" products. We have compared estrogenic activity of BPA with 6 bisphenol
      analogues [bisphenol S (BPS); bisphenol F (BPF); bisphenol AP (BPAP); bisphenol
      AF (BPAF); bisphenol Z (BPZ); bisphenol B (BPB)] in 3 human breast cancer cell
      lines. Estrogenicity was assessed (10-11-10-4 M) by cell growth in an estrogen
      receptor (ER)-mediated cell proliferation assay, and by the induction of estrogen
      response element-mediated transcription in a luciferase assay. BPAF was the most
      potent bisphenol, followed by BPB > BPZ ~ BPA > BPF ~ BPAP > BPS. The addition of
      ICI 182,780 antagonized the activation of ERs. Data mining of ToxCast high
      throughput screening assays confirm our results but also show divergence in the
      sensitivities of the assays. Gene expression profiles were determined in MCF-7
      cells by microarray analysis. The comparison of transcriptome profile alterations
      resulting from BPA alternatives with an ERalpha gene expression biomarker further
      indicates that all BPA alternatives act as ERalpha agonists in MCF-7 cells. These
      results were confirmed by Illumina-based RNA sequencing. In conclusion, BPA
      alternatives are not necessarily less estrogenic than BPA in human breast cancer
      cells. BPAF, BPB, and BPZ were more estrogenic than BPA. These findings point to
      the importance of better understanding the risk of adverse effects from exposure
      to BPA alternatives, including hormone-dependent breast cancer.

PMID- 28591873
TI  - [Non-infectious Causes for Digital Bone Marrow Edema].

PMID- 28591867
TI  - Multisite Assessment of Aging-Related Tau Astrogliopathy (ARTAG).
AB  - Aging-related tau astrogliopathy (ARTAG) is a recently introduced terminology. To
      facilitate the consistent identification of ARTAG and to distinguish it from
      astroglial tau pathologies observed in the primary frontotemporal lobar
      degeneration tauopathies we evaluated how consistently neuropathologists
      recognize (1) different astroglial tau immunoreactivities, including those of
      ARTAG and those associated with primary tauopathies (Study 1); (2) ARTAG types
      (Study 2A); and (3) ARTAG severity (Study 2B). Microphotographs and scanned
      sections immunostained for phosphorylated tau (AT8) were made available for
      download and preview. Percentage of agreement and kappa values with 95%
      confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each evaluation. The overall
      agreement for Study 1 was >60% with a kappa value of 0.55 (95% CI 0.433-0.645).
      Moderate agreement (>90%, kappa 0.48, 95% CI 0.457-0.900) was reached in Study 2A
      for the identification of ARTAG pathology for each ARTAG subtype (kappa 0.37
      0.72), whereas fair agreement (kappa 0.40, 95% CI 0.341-0.445) was reached for
      the evaluation of ARTAG severity. The overall assessment of ARTAG showed moderate
      agreement (kappa 0.60, 95% CI 0.534-0.653) among raters. Our study supports the
      application of the current harmonized evaluation strategy for ARTAG with a slight
      modification of the evaluation of its severity.

PMID- 28591885
TI  - Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) for Fibroid Treatment: Results of the 6th
      Radiological Gynecological Expert Meeting.

PMID- 28591884
TI  - Consensus meetings regarding uterine artery embolization and focused ultrasound
      in fibroid treatment: an analysis.

PMID- 28591886
TI  - MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound in Fibroid Treatment - Results of the 3rd
      Radiological-Gynecological Expert Meeting.

PMID- 28591887
TI  - Accuracy of High-Field Intraoperative MRI in the Detectability of Residual Tumor
      in Glioma Grade IV Resections.
AB  - Objective To assess the sensitivity/specificity of tumor detection by T1 contrast
      enhancement in intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) in comparison to histopathological
      assessment as the gold standard in patients receiving surgical resection of grade
      IV glioblastoma. Materials and Methods 68 patients with a primary or a recurrent
      glioblastoma scheduled for surgery including fluorescence guidance and
      neuronavigation were included (mean age: 59 years, 26 female, 42 male patients).
      The ioMRI after the first resection included transverse FLAIR, DWI, T2-FFE and T1
      - 3 d FFE +/- GD-DPTA. The second resection was performed whenever residual
      contrast-enhancing tissue was detected on ioMRI. Resected tissue samples were
      histopathologically evaluated (gold standard). Additionally, we evaluated the
      early postoperative MRI scan acquired within 48 h post-OP for remaining enhancing
      tissue and compared them with the ioMRI scan. Results In 43 patients ioMRI
      indicated residual tumorous tissue, which could be confirmed in the histological
      specimens of the second resection. In 16 (4 with recurrent, 12 with primary
      glioblastoma) cases, ioMRI revealed truly negative results without residual tumor
      and follow-up MRI confirmed complete resection. In 7 cases (3 with recurrent, 4
      with primary glioblastoma) ioMRI revealed a suspicious result without tumorous
      tissue in the histopathological workup. In 2 (1 for each group) patients,
      residual tumorous tissue was detected in spite of negative ioMRI. IoMRI had a
      sensitivity of 95 % (94 % recurrent and 96 % for primary glioblastoma) and a
      specificity of 69.5 % (57 % and 75 %, respectively). The positive predictive
      value was 86 % (84 % for recurrent and 87 % for primary glioblastoma), and the
      negative predictive value was 88 % (80 % and 92 %, respectively). Conclusion
      ioMRI is effective for detecting remaining tumorous tissue after glioma
      resection. However, scars and leakage of contrast agent can be misleading and
      limit specificity. Key points  . Intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) presents with a high
      sensitivity for residual contrast-enhancing tumorous tissue during glioma
      resection.. . Contrast leakage due to bleeding and scars with reactive contrast
      enhancement can cause possible misleading artifacts in ioMRI, leading to a
      limited specificity of ioMRI.. . Bleeding control in glioma resection is crucial
      for successful usage of ioMRO for glioma resection.. Citation Format .
      Hebetaelmann V, Mager A, Goetz C et al. Accuracy of High-Field Intraoperative MRI
      in the Detectability of Residual Tumor in Glioma Grade IV Resections. Fortschr
      Rontgenstr 2017; 189: 519 - 526.

PMID- 28591888
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591889
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591893
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591895
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591898
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591900
TI  - ["Morbus Google" vs. e-Health: A Qualitative Study of Acceptance and
      Implementation of Online-Aftercare in Inpatient Rehabilitation].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Internet- and mobile-based health interventions (IMIs) e. g. in the
      form of internet-based aftercare can supplement existing treatments of inpatient
      rehabilitation. Acceptance presents a key precondition to the utilization and
      clinical implementation of new technologies and was examined in patients and
      health professionals with qualitative research methods. METHODS: In 3 inpatient
      rehabilitation clinics with various diagnostic and age groups, we interviewed
      n=15 patients individually and n=29 health professionals of various occupational
      groups in focus groups based on the 'Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
      Technology'. RESULTS: Benefits of online-aftercare were seen in the access to
      health information, motivation to health promotion or in monitoring or correcting
      health behavior. Occupational stress was not seen as an area of application.
      Reservations were expressed in terms of lack of trust in online contact. Overall,
      acceptance was higher in patients in comparison to health professionals.
      CONCLUSION: Barriers of uptake or application of IMIs in rehabilitation exceed
      technical and demographic aspects and provide important information for specific
      facilitation of acceptance of patients as well as health professionals.

PMID- 28591901
TI  - [Determinants for the Access to Follow-Up Rehabilitation Concerning Cardiological
      Patients after Surgery].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to analyze individual and environmental factors
      influencing the access to follow-up rehabilitation of cardiological patients
      after surgery. METHODS: An exploratory, cross-sectional study without
      intervention was conducted. A standardized questionnaire was used for data
      collection in two acute care clinics at cardiological and cardiosurgical wards.
      Multivariate logistic regression was used to measure the influence of different
      factors on the access to follow-up rehabilitation. In 61.0% of the patients a
      follow-up rehabilitation was granted. RESULTS: 210 patients were included. The
      average age was 52.1 years, 81.0% were male. There were significant differences
      between the groups with and without follow-up rehabilitation concerning age
      (p=0.018), sex (p=0.007), the PAREMO-scales "Anderungsbereitschaft" (p=0.011) and
      "Skepsis" (p=0.005) and the aim of rehabilitation to learn skills in dealing with
      the disease (p=0.043). The Barthel-Index was not significant different between
      the two groups. The chance to get a follow-up rehabilitation was significantly
      increased by indications corresponding to the "AHB-Indikationskatalog" (p=0.001;
      OR=5.76) and after request of the patients to get a follow-up rehabilitation
      (p<0.001; OR=17.91). DISCUSSION: The access to follow-up rehabilitation was
      predominantly indication-specific and depended on patients' request of
      cardiological patients after surgery. A follow-up rehabilitation requires an
      adequate rehabilitation capacity (Barthel-Index). However the effect of the
      Barthel-Index on the access to follow-up rehabilitation was not significant.
      CONCLUSION: It is still in question, to what extent the personal patient's wish
      can be linked to parameters of rehabilitation capacity. Furthermore it is
      necessary to develop concepts which increase the influence of rehabilitation
      capacity on the decision of a follow-up rehabilitation.

PMID- 28591902
TI  - [The Need for Psychosocial Support of Parents of Children in Neonatal Care].
AB  - Background Advances in neonatal care have reduced mortality but increased
      morbidity in babies born pre-maturely or after high-risk pregnancies. However,
      this often increases the burden on the family and the parents in particular. A
      systematic review of the literature was conducted that demonstrated the
      importance of psychosocial support for parents of children in neonatal care.
      Methods A systematic search of Pubmed, Psyndex, CINAHI and medpilot was
      conducted. Reference lists of the included articles were also searched for
      relevant publications. A free-text search found further publications. Together,
      78 publications (from 1975-2015) were included in our review. Results A shift
      from a biomedical model and child-centred treatment to family-centred care has
      already taken place in neonatal care. However, there is still a considerable gap
      between theory and practice. Although there is awareness of the need for
      psychosocial support of parents, the focus of day-to-day care is still on medical
      interventions and life-supporting treatment for the child. In particular, while
      the importance of an assessment of needs as a basis for family-centred
      psychosocial support appears to be well-known, validated screening instruments
      are rarely used. In addition, the demand for psychosocial support of parents is
      not just solely determined by the child's medical risk. Conclusions The results
      highlight the challenges of delivering individualised psychosocial support to
      families within a healthcare system of limited resources, with practitioners
      having to take into account the developing parent-child relationship as well as
      health economics. In future, psychosocial support should be based on evidence
      rather than intuition. Attachment theory and research, and health psychology can
      contribute to this development.

PMID- 28591903
TI  - Relationship between Partial Uterine Cervical Tissue Excision and Preterm Birth:
      An Experimental Animal Study.

PMID- 28591905
TI  - Management of the Third Stage of Labor: How Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping Can
      Affect Neonatal Outcome.

PMID- 28591904
TI  - Racial Disparities in Delivery Gestational Age among Twin Pregnancies.

PMID- 28591906
TI  - Improving patient information - are the new media already requested? - A
      questionnaire study at a gastroenterology outpatient clinic.
AB  - Background Information provided for patients is an essential factor for
      communication between patients and health-care professionals. To analyze the most
      used sources of medical information and requested media for patient information,
      a questionnaire study was initiated. Methods A single-center questionnaire study
      at an outpatient clinic at a tertiary care hospital. Two hundred participating
      patients, average age 54.4 years (1:1.5 m:f). Results were displayed in total and
      as count per participant (i. e., how often is a medium mentioned per
      participant). Results As a source for general information, printed media are
      mentioned 112 times (0.56 counts per participant), the Internet 125 (0.62), and
      television 124 (0.62). As a source for medical information, printed media were
      mentioned 84 times (0.42) and the Internet 133 (0.67). As the most requested
      source for additional patient information, printed media were mentioned 105 times
      (0.53) and medical apps 63 (0.32). Conclusion A majority of our patients
      regularly use the Internet for medical information. Paper-print media are still
      highly requested by patients. New media are more often requested in younger
      patients but still reach the ages for screening programs and therefore offer big
      opportunities towards patient-doctor communication. By a good mixture of media
      provided a higher patient satisfaction and adherence could be ensured by the
      health-care professionals.

PMID- 28591907
TI  - [Ultrasound in palliative care medicine, Part II].
AB  - Complementary to part 1, this review summarizes indications, opportunities and
      applications of ultrasounds in palliative care medicine. In particular, the
      following topics are discussed: . Ultrasound as a non-invasive, low-threshold,
      bedside technique, which uniquely combines diagnostic efficacy and empathy.. .
      Sonographic surveillance of patients with malignant disease.. . Point-of-care
      application of ultrasound in palliative care services.. . Ultrasound-guided
      palliative interventions (drainage of effusions and other therapeutic
      procedures)..

PMID- 28591908
TI  - [Unplanned hospitalization in the end stage of liver cirrhosis: predictable or
      not?]

PMID- 28591909
TI  - [Testosterone treatment for patients with sarcopenia and liver cirrhosis].

PMID- 28591910
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591911
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591912
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591913
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591914
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591915
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591916
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591917
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591918
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591919
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591920
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591921
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591922
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591923
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591925
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591924
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591926
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591927
TI  - ?

PMID- 28591929
TI  - Erratum: Highly Variable Femoral Morphology in Osteoarthritic Chinese: Are
      Prostheses Today Sufficiently Suitable?

PMID- 28591928
TI  - [Does Sports Activity Influence Total Knee Arthroplasty Durability? Analysis with
      a Follow-Up of 12 Years].
AB  - Background Total knee replacement is the only surgical option to treat painful
      degenerative osteoarthritis, restore knee function, improve quality of life, and
      enable patients to return to sports activity. With an aging population expecting
      an active life after retirement, patients' expectations of improvement after
      surgery are increasing as well. In view of the growing demand for higher
      performance, exercise and athletic activity, clinicians have been increasingly
      forced to question how much athletic activity a patient may resume after total
      knee replacement, and what types of athletic activity seem to be acceptable.
      However, there is currently no consensus on the appropriate intensity of physical
      activity after total knee arthroplasty or how activity levels affect the rate of
      revision surgery. Patients, material and methods In a retrospective study with a
      follow-up period of 12 years, 130 patients were asked about their sport
      activities 22 months before and after total knee replacement. Based on their
      answers, the patients were divided into one sports group (group A) and one group
      without any sports activity (group B). Seven years after surgery the same
      patients were asked about their sports activity again, and 12 years
      postoperatively they were additionally asked about whether or not they underwent
      revision surgery. Results Twenty-two months after total knee replacement 88 (67.7
      %) of the 130 patients practiced sports for a minimum of 3 times a week (group
      A), whereas 42 (32.3 %) patients reported that they practiced no sports (group
      B). In 2010 - 7 years postoperatively - 60 patients of group A and 27 patients of
      group B took part in the survey; their levels of sports activity had not changed
      over the previous 7 years. In 2015, 46 patients out of group A and 21 patients
      out of group B were questioned. We saw a revision rate of 15.2 % (7 out of 46
      patients) in the group with continuous sports activity, whereas we found an
      increased revision rate of 23.8 % (5 out of 21 patients) in the group without any
      sports activity 12 years after total knee arthroplasty. Conclusion Our study
      showed that sports activity after total knee replacement led to a reduced
      revision rate in the sports group compared with the non-sports group. Therefore,
      more liberal recommendations should be given to patients regarding athletic
      activity after total knee arthroplasty. We conclude that moderate sports
      activities have no negative influence on total knee arthroplasty and may even
      lead to improved osteointegration with a decrease in osteolytic changes and less
      prosthesis loosening.

PMID- 28591931
TI  - High Tibial Osteotomy for the Correction of Varus Knee Deformity.

PMID- 28591930
TI  - Unusually High Rate of Early Failure of Tibial Component in ATTUNE Total Knee
      Arthroplasty System at Implant-Cement Interface.

PMID- 28591932
TI  - The Rationale of Osteotomy around the Knee.

PMID- 28591933
TI  - Possible involvement of chemokine C-C receptor 7- programmed cell death-1+
      follicular helper T-cell subset in the pathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Recent studies have demonstrated that B cells and follicular
      helper T (Tfh) cells, which are central regulators of humoral immune response,
      contribute to the development and progression of autoimmune diseases. Because Tfh
      cells can be divided into several subsets with distinct functional properties,
      this study aimed to examine the roles of different subsets of circulating Tfh
      cells in the immune pathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). METHODS: Thirty
      five patients with AIH, 28 patients with primary biliary cholangitis, 22 patients
      with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 44 health controls (HC) were enrolled. The
      frequencies of different Tfh subsets in the blood and liver were examined by flow
      cytometry and immunohistochemical staining. The function of circulating Tfh
      subsets was examined after in vitro stimulation. RESULTS: In newly diagnosed AIH
      patients, the frequency of circulating chemokine C-C receptor 7- programmed cell
      death-1+ Tfh subset was significantly increased compared with that in CHB
      patients and HC, significantly correlated with clinical parameters, including
      serum IgG, prothrombin time and albumin levels, and significantly decreased after
      corticosteroid treatment. In the liver of AIH patients, the frequencies of
      activated Tfh subsets were significantly increased and positively correlated with
      those in the blood. Moreover, the ability to produce interleukin-21 and
      interleukin-17 from circulating Tfh cells was significantly increased in AIH
      patients compared with HC. CONCLUSIONS: These results significantly extend our
      understanding of Tfh subsets in AIH and suggest a potential role of dysregulated
      chemokine C-C receptor 7- programmed cell death-1+ Tfh subset in the pathogenesis
      and disease progression of AIH.

PMID- 28591936
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28591934
TI  - Long-term adverse effects after retropubic and robot-assisted radical
      prostatectomy. Nationwide, population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Surgery for prostate cancer is associated with adverse
      effects. We studied long-term risk of adverse effects after retropubic (RRP) and
      robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). METHODS: In the National Prostate
      Cancer Register of Sweden, men who had undergone radical prostatectomy (RP)
      between 2004 and 2014 were identified. Diagnoses and procedures indicating
      adverse postoperative effects were retrieved from the National Patient Register.
      Relative risk (RR) of adverse effects after RARP versus RRP was calculated in
      multivariable analyses adjusting for year of surgery, hospital surgical volume, T
      stage, Gleason grade, PSA level at diagnosis, patient age, comorbidity, and
      educational level. RESULTS: A total of 11 212 men underwent RRP and 8500 RARP.
      Risk of anastomotic stricture was lower after RARP than RRP, RR for diagnoses
      0.51 (95%CI = 0.42-0.63) and RR for procedures 0.46 (95%CI = 0.38-0.55). Risk of
      inguinal hernia was similar after RARP and RRP but risk of incisional hernia was
      higher after RARP, RR for diagnoses 1.48 (95%CI = 1.01-2.16), and RR for
      procedures 1.52 (95%CI = 1.02-2.26). CONCLUSIONS: The postoperative risk profile
      for RARP and RRP was quite similar. However, risk of anastomotic stricture was
      lower and risk of incisional hernia higher after RARP.

PMID- 28591935
TI  - Cost analysis of postmastectomy reconstruction: A comparison of two staged
      implant reconstruction using tissue expander and acellular dermal matrix with
      abdominal based perforator free flaps.

PMID- 28591938
TI  - Variants in MODY genes associated with maternal lipids profiles in second
      trimester of pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia during pregnancy increases the risk of complications of
      pregnancy. Lipid profiles have a strong genetic determinant and numerous
      susceptibility loci have been identified. However, very few studies have focused
      on the association of lipid-related loci and maternal serum lipids during
      pregnancy. For the first time, we investigated the association of common variants
      in three maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) genes (HNF1A, HNF4A and
      HNF1B) with serum lipid concentrations and glucose metabolism related
      quantitative traits in the second trimester of pregnancy. METHODS: A total of
      1797 unrelated Han Chinese pregnant women were included. Three variants in 3'-UTR
      were selected and genotyped using TaqMan allelic discrimination assays. Multiple
      linear regression adjusted for age and body mass index was applied for analysis.
      RESULTS: We found that T allele of rs1169309 in MODY3-HNF1A gene was
      significantly associated with increased levels of total cholesterol [beta = 0.123
      (0.057-0.189); p = 2.7 * 10-4 ] and LDL-C [beta = 0.075 (0.018-0.132); p = 1.0 *
      10-2 ]. Rs1169309-TT genotype carriers exhibited with higher levels of
      apolipoprotein A1 (p = 4.2 * 10-2 ) and ApoB (p = 6.0 * 10-3 ). In addition,
      correlations between minor C allele of HNF1B-rs2688 and decreased levels of HOMA
      B (p = 1.4 * 10-2 ), fasting insulin (p = 2.7 * 10-2 ) and HOMA-IR (p = 3.8 * 10
      2 ) were identified. The minor C allele of HNF4A-rs6130615 was marginally
      associated with decreased fasting insulin levels (p = 0.050) and HOMA-IR (p =
      0.048). CONCLUSIONS: Variants in MODY genes playe a critical role in lipid and
      glucose homeostasis. Future studies will be required to further clarify the
      molecular mechanisms underlying these observed associations.

PMID- 28591939
TI  - Current and future therapies for advanced pancreatic cancer.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer remains a deadly disease with a 5-year survival rate of only
      8%. Even after surgical resection, most patients have recurrence of their cancer.
      Over the last 10 years, improvements in chemotherapy regimens led to a doubling
      in median overall survival. Here we review the management of advanced pancreatic
      cancer and highlight vaccine therapy as a novel modality of treatment.

PMID- 28591940
TI  - Cost analysis of postmastectomy reconstruction: A comparison of two staged
      implant reconstruction using tissue expander and acellular dermal matrix with
      abdominal-based perforator free flaps.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Two staged tissue expander-implant with acellular
      dermal matrix (TE/I + ADM) and deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap
      are the most common implant and autologous methods of reconstruction in the U.S.
      Implant-based techniques are disproportionally more popular, partially due to its
      presumed cost effectiveness. We performed a comprehensive cost analysis to
      compare TE/I + ADM and DIEP flap. METHODS: A comparative cost analysis of TE/I +
      ADM and DIEP flap was performed. Medicare reimbursement costs for each procedure
      and their associated complications were calculated. Pooled probabilities of
      complications including cellulitis, seroma, skin necrosis, implant removal, flap
      loss, partial flap loss, and fat necrosis, were calculated using published
      studies from 2010 to 2016. RESULTS: Average actual cost for successful TE/I + ADM
      and DIEP flap were $13 304.55 and $10 237.13, respectively. Incorporating pooled
      complication data from published literature resulted in an increase in cost to
      $13 963.46 for TE/I + ADM and $12 624.29 for DIEP flap. The expected costs for
      successful TE/I + ADM and DIEP flap were $9700.35 and $8644.23, which are lower
      than the actual costs. CONCLUSIONS: DIEP flap breast reconstruction incurs lower
      costs compared to TE/I + ADM. These costs are lower at baseline and when
      additional costs from pooled complications are incorporated.

PMID- 28591941
TI  - [Study on the Effect of Overexpression of miR-18a on Cellular Proliferation and
      Migration by Targeting ATM in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the regulation to colon cancer cellular biological
      properties through miR-18a targeting ataxia-telangiectasia mutated gene (ATM).
      METHODS: A target of miR-18a was predicted by using bioinformatics tools. The miR
      18a mimics and inhibitors were designed and synthesized. The expression of
      endogenous miR-18a in colon cancer cell line HCT116 was up-regulated or down
      regulated by transfection. The effect of overexpression of miR-18a on cellular
      proliferation, invasion and migration via regulation of ATM gene expression was
      confirmed in vitro by using qRT-PCR, Western blot, MTT assay, clone forming assay
      and Transwell method, respectively. RESULTS: ATM was identified as a potential
      target gene of miR-18a in the bioinformatics analysis. In addition, through
      transient transfection leading to the overexpression of miR-18a in HCT116 cell,
      the expression level of ATM was decreased. Down-regulation of HCT116 cell
      proliferation activity while significantly reducing HCT116 cell clone forming
      ability, lateral migration ability and longitudinal invasion ability were
      observed after transfected with miR-18a mimics. All of the changes were related
      to the overexpression of miR-18a. CONCLUSIONS: miR-18a inhibited the
      proliferation and migration of colon cance cell HCT116 through negative
      regulation of ATM expression.

PMID- 28591942
TI  - [Effects of Sialidase Inhibitor on Proliferation and Apoptosis of Endometrial
      Cancer Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of sialidase inhibitor on the proliferation
      and apoptosis of endometrial cancer Ishikawa cells. METHODS: Ishikawa cells were
      cultured and divided into 2 groups: control group and sialidase inhibitor N
      Acetyl-2, 3-dehydro-2-deoxyneuraminic acid (DANA) treated group. After the
      sialidase activity was compared between the two groups, the expression level of
      matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA),
      apoptosis rate and proliferation ability were detected by immunofluorescence
      staining, flow cytometry or MTT assay. RESULTS: With the treatment of DANA, the
      activity of sialidase in the cell culture supernatant was suppressed while MMPs
      expression levels and apoptosis rate of Ishikawa cells were decreased. The
      expression level of PCNA and cell proliferation showed no statistical differences
      in two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Sialidase could affect the invasive ability and
      apoptosis rate of Ishikawa cells, but it seems no effect on cell proliferation.

PMID- 28591943
TI  - [Heregulin-beta1-induced Glycolysis Promotes Migration of Breast Cancer Cell Line
      MCF7].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore whether heregulin-beta1 (HRG-beta1) can induce glycolysis
      and the role of HRG-beta1-induced glycolysis in the migration of human breast
      cancer cell line MCF7. METHODS: MCF7 cells were treated with PBS (PBS group) or
      HRG-beta1 for 12, 24 and 48 h. Culture media were harvested for glucose uptake
      and lactate production assays, and cells were collected and lactate dehydrogenase
      A (LDHA) protein levels were detected by using Western blot. MCF7 cells were
      treated with PBS (PBS group), HRG-beta1 or HRG-beta1 plus oxamate (OX) for 24 h.
      Culture media were harvested for glucose uptake and lactate production assays,
      and cells were harvested and the protein levels of LDHA was detected by Western
      blot. The wound healing assay was used to detect the migration of MCF7 cells
      treated with PBS (PBS group), HRG-beta1 or HRG-beta1 plus OX for 48 h. RESULTS:
      MCF7 cells treated with HRG-beta1 for 12, 24 and 48 h displayed higher levels of
      glucose uptake, lactate production and LDHA protein levels when the levels
      reached the peak at 24 h. The differences of glucose uptake, lactate production
      and LDHA protein levels between PBS group and HRG-beta1 group were statistically
      significant ( P<0.05). Compared to HRG-beta1 group, the glucose uptake of HRG
      beta1 plus OX treated group was not significantly different ( P>0.05), but the
      statistically significant decrease of lactate production and LDHA protein levels
      were noticed ( P<0.01 and P<0.05). When MCF7 cells were scratched for 48 h, the
      wound healing rate of control group, HRG-beta1 group and HRG-beta1 plus OX group
      was (49+/-5.09)%, (100+/-2.21)% and (51+/-4.10)% respectively. The difference of
      each group was statistically significant ( P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: HRG-beta1
      induces glycolysis via upregualtion of LDHA and HRG-beta1-induced glycolysis
      promotes the migration of breast cancer cells line MCF7.

PMID- 28591944
TI  - [MiRNA224 Regulation Role on RKIP Gene Expression and Methylation of miRNA224
      Gene Promoter Region in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the expression levels of tumor suppressor gene RIKP and
      miRNA224 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues. To determine
      whether miRNA224 targets RKIP and the methylation status of miRNA224 gene
      promoter region in esophageal carcinoma. METHODS: The expression levels of RKIP
      and miRNA224 in ESCC and normal tissue were detected by using
      immunohistochemistry and real-time qPCR, respectively. Luciferase assay was used
      to determine the targeting of miRNA224 to RKIP. The methylation status of
      miRNA224 promoter region was studied by bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP). RESULTS:
      In 40 cases of ESCC, RKIP expression was significantly lower than that of normal
      tissue; miRNA224 expression was higher in ESCC than in paracancerous tissue.
      Luciferase assay showed that miRNA224 targets RKIP 3'UTR thus inhibit its
      expression. The miRNA224 gene promoter region was hypomethylated in ESCC.
      CONCLUSIONS: Compared with normal tissue, in ESCC, RKIP was downregulated, while
      miRNA224 was upregulated, and the promoter region of miRNA224 gene was
      hypomethylated. RKIP is the target of miRNA224, which may be closely related to
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 28591946
TI  - [The Effects of All-trans Retinoic Acid on the Expression of Inflammatory
      Cytokines and Cartilage Damage Related Protease in Rats with Collagen Induced
      Arthritis].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on
      arthritis and the expressions of inflammatory cytokines and cartilage damage
      related proteases of the collagen-induced arthritis model (CIA) rats in vivo.
      METHODS: The CIA model of rheumatoid arthritis was induced with C2 and incomplete
      Freund's adjuvant. The rats were randomly divided into control group, CIA model
      group and two ATRA dose groups (ATRA 0.50 mg/kg group and ATRA 1.00 mg/kg group).
      ATRA were given three times per week for six weeks in ATRA groups. Morphological
      changes, arthritis index (AI) scores, the semi-quantitative scores of pathology
      damage, the protein expressions of cartilage damage related proteases and the
      serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-17A, IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-10 were observed. RESULTS:
      The AI scores of ATRA groups were similar to CIA model group ( P<0.05). Apparent
      morphological disorders in knee and ankle joints were observed in the CIA model
      group and ATRA 1.00 mg/kg group. The structure of knee joint was improved
      slightly in ATRA 0.50 mg/kg group. The serum levels of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and
      IL-17A were decreased in both ATRA groups; ATRA also can increase the serum level
      of IL-4. Compared to CIA model group, the protein expressions of ADAMTS-4, MMP3,
      MMP1 were decreased in both ATRA groups ( P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ATRA, which was
      able to inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines secretion, could correct the imbalance
      of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg. ATRA also can reduce the expressions of cartilage
      damage related proteases, which proved that ATRA may have a beneficial effect on
      rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 28591945
TI  - [Effect of IFN-alpha2b on COX-2 and Angiogenesis in JAK2V617F Mutation
      Myeloproliferative Neoplasms].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the influence of interferon-alpha-2b (IFN-alpha2b)
      with JAK2 kinase, COX-2 and microvessel density in patients of MPN and the
      relation of JAK2V617F and COX-2 in human erythroleukemia cell line (HEL) cells.
      METHODS: Forty-two cases of MPN patients with JAK2V617F mutation of initial
      treatment were collected from the Frist hospital of Baoding, including the IFN
      alpha2b treatment group with 17 cases and untreated group with 25 cases. 10 cases
      of idiopathic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) patients synchronization were
      enrolled as controls. JAK2V617F/JAK2 mutation burden of MPN patients was detected
      by real time PCR (qRT-PCR);the expression levels of p-JAK2, COX-2 and
      microvascular density (MVD) marked with CD105 inpathological tissues of bone
      marrow in patients of MPN and ITP were detected by immunohistochemistry. The HEL
      cells were treated with different concentrations of IFN-alpha2b. The cell
      proliferation inhibition rate was calculated by CCK-8 test;the apoptosis rate was
      detected by flow cytometry; cell migration ability was tested by transwell
      chambers. JAK2 and COX-2 mRNA were detected by semi-quantitative PCR; p-JAK2 and
      COX-2 protein in HEL cells were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: The
      expression levels of p-JAK2, COX-2 protein and MVD in untreated group were
      significantly higher than those of control groups. p-JAK2, COX-2 and MVD levels
      were significantly reduced in patients treated with IFN-alpha2b. Cell growth
      inhibition rates and apoptosis rates raise up by dose of IFN-alpha2b in HEL cells
      at 48 h.The mRNA expression levels of JAK2 and COX-2 as well as protein
      expression levels of p-JAK2 and COX-2 had a decreasing tendency with the increase
      of IFN-alpha2b concentration at 48 h.The migration capacity level of HEL cells
      which treated with 0.5*10 4 U/L IFN-alpha2b after 24 h was lower than that of
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: Angiogenesis of MPN and COX-2 were inhibited by IFN
      alpha2b which regulates JAK2 signal pathway.

PMID- 28591947
TI  - [Inhibition of Cigarettes Smoke-induced Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition by
      the SMO Inhibitor PF-5274857 in Beas-2b Epithelial Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of the Smoothened (Smo) inhibitor PF-5274857
      on cigarette smoke (CS)-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and apply
      a new idea fororal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) treatment. METHODS: Beas-2b
      cells were used to investigate the CS-induced EMT. Both pretreat and post-treat
      were performed in the study. In pretreat group, after being pretreated with 3
      MUmol/L PF-5274857 for 2 h, cells were cultured with CS for 8 d; In post-treat
      group, cells were treated by 3 MUmol/L PF-5274857 for 4 d after CS cultrue.
      Western blot and immunofluorescence were applied to examine the EMT markers E
      cadherin, vimentin, and smooth muscle actin alpha (alpha-SMA) in Beas-2b
      epithelial cells. The transwell culture system was used in migration assays.
      RESULTS: Pretreat Beas-2b cells with PF-5274857 for 2 h can prevent the CS
      induced EMT for epithelial and mesenchymal markers, as well as migration
      capacity. Up regulated E-cadherin and down regulated vimentin and alpha-SMA were
      observed by Western blot. Furthermore Beas-2b cells induced by CS that underwent
      EMT showed increased E-cadherin and decreased vimentin and alpha-SMA after
      treatment with PF-5274857 for 4 d. Importantly, the elevated migration capacity
      level was also decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The Smo inhibitor PF-5274857 has both
      preventive effect and therapeutic potential against CS-induced EMT.

PMID- 28591948
TI  - [The Role of HMGN2 in the Development of Periodontitis Dental Plaque].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the role of high mobility group chromosomal protein N2
      (HMGN2) in the development of periodontitis plaque biofilm. METHODS: Saliva
      samples were collected before clinical interventions in patients with
      periodontitis (25 Mild periodontitis, 25 Moderate periodontitis and 25 Severe
      periodontitis) and healthy controls ( n=25).Following an estimation of dental
      plaque index, the level of HMGN2 in saliva was determined by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The recombinant human HMGN2 protein was purified and
      tested, its inhibitive effects on Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g)growth and
      formation of P.g bioflim were detected by K-B antibacterial annulus and crystal
      violet staining, respectively. RESULTS: The healthy controls had lower levels of
      HMGN2 in saliva than those with periodontitis, especially those with severe
      periodontitis ( P<0.01).The level of HMGN2 was negatively correlated with dental
      plaque index ( r=-0.363, P<0.05). HMGN2 inhibited the development of main
      periodontal bacteria biofilm ( P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HMGN2 is involved in the
      development of periodontitis plaque biofilm and plays an important role in the
      development of periodontitis.

PMID- 28591949
TI  - [Detection and Analysis the HPV16 Integration in the Specimens of the Cervical
      Carcinoma and the Cell Line Siha].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To build the viral integration sites map and verify the integration
      sites at or near the fragile site. METHODS: PCR method were applied to screen
      single HPV16 infected cervical carcinoma specimen and the viral integration sites
      in the specimens of cervical carcinomas and the cell line cells were detected by
      detection of integrated papillomavirus seguences by ligation-mediated PCR (DIPS
      PCR). RESULTS: The integration site in cell line Siha was 13q22. The integration
      sites in the specimens of the cervical cancinomas were randomly located in
      chromosome 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19 as well as in X, but the
      sites were most likely at or near the chromosome fragile site. The location of
      the integration sites were at 1p35.1, 5p15.3, 10q24, 13q21-q22 and Xp11.4. By
      using the softwares CBS prediction servers and BDGP Neural Network Promoter
      prediction we found that the integration sites were located at the promoter like
      sequences. CONCLUSIONS: DIPS-PCR can detect the viral integration sites, and the
      sites are at or near the chromosome fragile sites, and the integration sites may
      including the promoter to amplify the virus oncogene.

PMID- 28591950
TI  - [Functional Analysis of DNA Damage Repair Factor WDR70 and Its Mutation in
      Ovarian Cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the cellular function of the newly discovered DNA damage
      repair factor WDR70, and investigate the mutation in ovarian cancer to verify if
      function loss of the WDR70gene was associated with ovarian cancer. METHODS: The
      WDR70 gene was silenced by using siRNA technique or overexpressed its wild and
      mutation type by with lentivirus and plasmid in hunman cells. The subcellular
      localization and biochemical function of WDR70 was analyzes by indirect
      immunofluorescence and immunoblotting. The expression level of WDR70 and the
      mutations of its cDNA was checked with RT-PCR sequencing for 1 normal ovarian
      tissue and 16 ovarian cancer specimen. RESULTS: We found gene silencing of WDR70
      or overexpression of WDR70 mutation type disrupts the phosphorylation level of
      homologous recombination functional protein RPA32 and the ability of recruitment
      at DNA damage site of recombinase RAD51, the loss of function of WDR70 also
      causes the elevation of the chromosome breakage in metaphase. Meanwhile, we also
      noticed that the existence of multiple mutations in genomic WDR70 in ovarian
      cancer specimen. CONCLUSIONS: Our results defined that in vitro system, WDR70 is
      a DNA damage repair gene, silencing of WDR70 or overexpression of WDR70 mutation
      type disrupts homologous recombination and chromosomal instability; the frequent
      mutations of WDR70 gene in genome of ovarian cancer specimens could also lead to
      DNA repair defeat and gene instability. Consequently WDR70 gene could represent
      an anti-cancer mechanism for ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28591951
TI  - [Expressions and Significance of PTEN and LKB1 in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the correlation between the expression of PTEN and LKB1 in
      non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Paraffin blocks of 74 cases of NSCLC
      patients were collected, and the expression of LKB1 and PTEN were detected by
      immunohistochemistry. The clinical related index and the correlation with the
      expression of PTEN and LKB1 were analyzed to explore the expression clinical
      significance of them. RESULTS: The PTEN and LKB1 expression positive rate were
      47.3% and 70.3%, respectively. LKB1 expression negative samples were mostly
      associated with PTEN negative expression. Statistical analysis showed that LKB1
      was positively correlated with PTEN expression ( r=0.287, P=0.017). The
      expression of PTEN and LKB1 in NSCLC had no relationship with gender, age and
      pathology type ( P>0.05). The expression of PTEN is closely associated with lymph
      node metastasis (LNM, P=0.017), invasion ( P=0.008) and clinical stage (
      P=0.019). And lack expression of LKB1 was closely associated with tissue invasion
      ( P=0.043) and clinical stage ( P=0.003). Patients with PTEN and LKB1 positive
      showed more LNM and/or invasion than those with them negative. CONCLUSIONS: The
      expression of PTEN and LKB1 may be related to the occurrence and progression of
      NSCLC, and may have a synergistic effect, and it can be used as a judgment of the
      prognosis of NSCLC.

PMID- 28591952
TI  - [Expressions of Livin and PTEN in Cancerous Tissues of Ovary Endometriosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expressions of Livin and phosphate and tension
      homology deleted on chromsome ten (PTEN) protein in the cancerous tissues of
      ovary endometriosis. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry EliVision was used to examine
      the expressions of Livin and PETN protein in 19 samples of ovary endometriosis
      cancerous tissues, 30 samples of ovary endometriosis tissues and 30 samples of
      ovarian benign tumor tissues. RESULTS: The positive expression rate of Livin in
      ovary endometriosis cancerous tissues (68%) was obviously higher than that in
      ovary endometriosis tissues (36%) and benign tumor tissues (13%)( P<0.05). The
      positive expression rate of PTEN in ovary endometriosis cancerous tissues (16%)
      was obviously lower than that in ovary endometriosis tissues (65%) and benign
      tumor tissues (80%)( P<0.01). There was no correlations between positive
      expressions of Livin and age, clinical stage, grading, histological type and
      lymphatic metastasis of ovary endometriosis cancer ( P>0.05), the same result was
      also found for PTEN. Livin and PTEN expression presented an obviously negative
      correlation in ovary endometriosis cancer ( r=-0.559, P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Up
      regulation of Livin expression and down-regulation of PTEN may be involved in the
      occurrence and development of ovary endometriosis cancerization.

PMID- 28591953
TI  - [Magnetic Resonance Imaging Tracing the Biodistribution of SPIO-shRNA Molecular
      Probe in vivo].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the biodistribution of superparamagnetic iron oxide
      (SPIO)-shRNA molecular probe by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in vivo.
      METHODS: Six New Zealand white rabbits were injected intravenously with SPIO
      shRNA molecular probe (9.6 mg Fe/kg) via ear edge vein. The blood samples were
      collected to analyse the pharmacokinetic parameters through measuring the iron
      content by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) method at 30 min before and 1
      min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min and at 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h after
      the injection. Six Kun Ming (KM) mice were injected intravenously with SPIO-shRNA
      molecular probe (4.8 mg Fe/kg). The biodistribution of SPIO-shRNA molecular probe
      was traced by MRI in vivo. Ninety six KM mice were randomly divided into control
      group and experimental group: each mouse in experimental group was injected
      intravenously with SPIO-shRNA molecular probe (4.8 mg Fe/kg). The liver, spleen,
      kidney, brain and muscle of the control group and the experimental group on 1, 3,
      5, 7, 9, 11 and 14 d after the injection were collected. The organ iron content
      were measured by AAS method and Prussian blue staining in order to observe the
      distribution of the SPIO-shRNA molecular probe in the main organ. RESULTS: Our
      results demonstrated that the pharmacokinetics of the molecular probe complied
      with two-compartment model, and the blood half-life was (3.692+/-0.196) h. The
      data of MRI showed that the probe were distributed in liver and spleen, and the
      signs were reduced in accord with the increase of probe's doses in liver and
      spleen. The probe's metabolism was slow, and the probe was cleared from liver and
      spleen at 2 weeks after the injection. The results of AAS and Prussian blue
      staining further testified the results of MRI. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed the
      biodistribution of SPIO-shRNA molecular probe in main organs can be traced by MRI
      in vivo. Meanwhile, it provides important information for the effectiveness of
      the probe by MRI at tumor in vivo.

PMID- 28591954
TI  - [The Effect of Emulsified Sevofluran on Muscular Relaxation through Selective
      Blockage of Peripheral Nerves].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify the site that emulsified sevoflurane influences in the
      nerve system. METHODS: Thirty-six healthy New Zealand rabbits were randomly and
      equally divided into low concentration emulsified sevoflurane group [4
      mL/(kg.h)], medium concentration [6 mL/(kg.h)]group, high concentration group[10
      mL/(kg.h)]and intralipid control group. Emulsified sevoflurane was infused
      through arterial to selectively block peripheral nerves, neuro-muscular junctions
      and muscle fibers. The anterior tibial muscle resting tensions and muscle
      contraction forces were compared before and after the infusions. RESULTS:
      Significant differences of blood sevoflurane pressure between femoral veins and
      internal jugular veins appeared in rabbits in all the groups ( P<0.05). No
      significant changes in the resting tension of anterior tibia muscles were found
      in terms of single contractions and tetanic forces with the low and medium levels
      of infusion of sevoflurane compared to the base values. High level of infusion of
      sevoflurane resulted in decreased single contraction forces and tetanic forces of
      anterior tibia muscles ( P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A rabbit model with selective
      blockage of peripheral nerves was established. Peripheral nerves are not the
      primary site which low and medium levels of emulsified sevoflurane influence
      skeletal muscle relaxations.

PMID- 28591955
TI  - [Analyzing Colonization of Bifidobacteria in Infants with Real-time Fluorescent
      Quantitative PCR].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In order to know how intestinal Bifidobacteria community could be
      built in the infants and whether the environmental factors could affect them, the
      present study was conducted to characterizethe species composition and trace the
      quantitative changes of intestinal Bifidobacteria of the infants in their early
      stages with non-culture dependent molecular method. The possible association of
      Bifidobacteria community of the infants with their health was also discussed.
      METHODS: Total 16 of full-term newborn infants born between March and April 2013
      were recruited for the present study. Fecal samples were collected from them at 1
      day, 2 days, 4 days, 7 days, 10 days, 14 days, 28 days, 3 months, 6 months and 1
      year after birth. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR with genus and species
      specific premiers was used to detect Bifidobacteria and 8 predominate species in
      human intestine qualitatively and quantitatively present in these collected fecal
      samples. RESULTS: Total 136 fecal sample were collected and Bifidobacteria were
      detected from 93.4% (127/136) of them with the concentration of 1.0*10 5 to
      1.0*10 11 CFU/g. Bifidobacteria were found in 83.3% of the fecal samples
      collected from the first day after birth with more than about 10 5 CFU/g.
      However, Bifidobacteria were detected relative low until 14 days and were
      taxonomically belonged only to one or two species. Bifidobacteria were found in
      almost 100% of the fecal samples collected after birth 28 days with more than 108
      CFU/g, and the detected species of Bifidobacteria was increased to 3 species
      after 28 days to 6 months. All of the fecal samples collected from one year had
      more than 3 species of Bifidobacteria with high cell counts. Among the detected
      Bifidobacteria were B.breve 92.1%, B.infantis 66.1%, B. catenulatum 59.8%, B.
      bifidum 25.2%, B. longum 24.4%, B.dentium 13.4%, B.angulatum 5.5% and
      B.adolescentis 1.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The detected Bifidobacteria
      greatly varied qualitatively and quantitatively after birth to one year which
      could be considered as the important and sensitive period for Bifidobacteria to
      colonize and built its communityin the infants. Different from previous studies,
      the colonization of Bifidobacteria in the tested infants was found delayed and
      the composition and diversity of Bifidobacteria species was different from other
      studies. These might result from different deliveryway, feeding pattern and other
      environmental factors related to the tested infants.

PMID- 28591956
TI  - [Effects of Human Acellular Amniotic Membrane on Postsurgical Recovery of Nail
      Beds].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of human acellular amniotic membrane(HAAM)
      on postsurgical recovery of nail beds. METHODS: Patients undergoing nail surgery
      were randomly divided into two groups: 19 in the experimental and 19 in the
      control groups. Patients in the experimental group were given HAAM before the
      wounds were covered with vaseline gauze the next day after surgery; whereas those
      in the control group received vaseline gauze dressing only. Ratings of pain were
      recorded when 1, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h after the dressing was changed.
      The time when the wounds healed and the nail grew thoroughly were observed.
      RESULTS: The characteristics of patients in the two groups were similar. The
      patients in the experimental group reported significantly less pain at 4 h and 48
      h than those in the control group ( P<0.05). After dress changing 24 h, pain
      disappear in the experimental group. The wounds of the patients in the
      experimental group also healed quicker [(12.37+/-2.48) d] than those in the
      control group [(17.68+/-2.86) d, P<0.05]. It took (13.95+/-1.72) weeks for the
      patients in the experimental group to have their nails grown completely, compared
      with (15.63+/-2.00) weeks for those in the control group ( P=0.016). The
      experimental group had a similar degree of satisfaction (7.61+/-1.38) towards the
      cosmetic appearance of their nails compare the control group (7.58+/-1.18,
      P=0.919). CONCLUSIONS: HAAM can promote healing of surgical wounds on nail beds.

PMID- 28591957
TI  - [Correlates of Fatigue in Patients with Neuromyelitis Optica].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine clinical characteristics associated with fatigue in
      patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). METHODS: A questionnaire survey was
      conducted in NMO patients, measuring fatigue using the fatigue impact scale
      (FIS). RESULTS: A total of 64 NMO patients (mean age: 50.0 years; male/female:
      3/61) completed the survey: 71.9% were NMO-IgG seropositive and 43 (67.2%)
      received immunosuppressive treatments. The patients obtained a global FIS score
      of 64.8+/-36.1, with 13.2+/-8.5, 20.6+/-11.6 and 31.0+/-18.7 for the cognitive,
      physical and social dimensions, respectively. No significant differences were
      found in global FIS scores ( P=0.294 9), and cognitive ( P=0.467 1), physical (
      P=0.472 2) and social ( P=0.212 6) dimensional scores between those with and
      without immunosuppressive treatments. Age, sex, serum NMO-IgG, duration of
      disease and annual relapse rates were neither correlated with global FIS scores (
      P>0.05), nor with the three dimensional scores ( P>0.05). The Expanded Disability
      Status Scale score was positively associated with global FIS scores ( P=0.000
      5)and cognitive( P=0.018 7), physical( P=0.000 4) and social ( P=0.000
      5)dimensional scores. The frequency of attack was also positively correlated with
      cognitive dimensional scores ( P=0.007 9). CONCLUSIONS: Disability is associated
      with cognitive, physical and social dimensions of fatigue. High frequency of
      attack is positively correlated with the cognitive dimension of fatigues.

PMID- 28591958
TI  - [Survival of Patients with Metastatic Recurrent Triple-negative Breast Cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine factors associated with the survival of patients with
      metastatic recurrent triple-negative breast cancer (mrTNBC). METHODS: Initial
      metastatic recurrent (during or after therapy) patients with triple-negative
      breast cancer (TNBC) confirmed by post-operate pathology in the West China
      Hospital of Sichuan University were followed up. The accumulative survival rates
      after recurrence were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method and differences were
      tested using log-rank tests. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were
      performed to identify independent predictors of survival rates. RESULTS: A total
      of 142 patients were included in this study. They were followed up on average
      41.9 months (range: 5.1-189.5 months), and had median post-recurrence survival
      time of 22.0 months.Tumor diameter, lymph node status, TNM stage, disease-free
      interval (DFI), numbers of recurrent lesions, brain metastasis, liver metastasis
      and the rapeutic patterns were associated with the survival of patients. The Cox
      proportional hazards regression model identified multi-lesions recurrence (
      P=0.004), DFI<=12 months ( P=0.010), brain metastasis ( P=0.037) and single-modal
      therapy (SMT) ( P<0.001) as independent risk predictors of post-recurrence
      survival. In the patients with local recurrence, multi-modal therapy (MMT) had
      53.0%post-recurrence 3-year survival rate compared with 11.4% of SMT ( P=0.024).
      Similar results were also found in the patients with distant metastases (post
      recurrence 3-year survival rate 58.1% for MMT versus 29.3% for SMT, P=0.003).
      CONCLUSIONS: Multi-lesions recurrence, short DFI and brain metastasis are
      independent risk predictors, while MMT is a protective factor for the survival of
      patients with mrTNBC.

PMID- 28591959
TI  - [Learning Curve of Retroperitoneal Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy and Risk
      Analysis of Intraoperative Complications].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the learning curve of retroperitoneal laparoscopic
      donor nephrectomy (LDN) and evaluate the risk factors of intraoperative
      complications with data from a single center. METHODS: We evaluated perioperative
      data of 527 consecutive kidney donors who received retroperitoneal LDN between
      April 2009 and April 2014. The patients were divided into two groups according to
      the learning curve which was determined by the operation time:group 1 (on the
      learning curve) and group 2 (learning curve completed). RESULTS: The mean
      operation time was (88.4+/-38.07) min. The asymptote of the surgeon's learning
      curve for retroperitoneal LDN was achieved at the 100th case. The operation time
      and the incidence of intraoperative complications in group 1 were significantly
      higher than those of group 2. When cases completed, body mass index (BMI) and
      intraoperative complications were correlated to operative time. The incidence of
      intraoperative complications was 1.90% and BMI was correlated to the incidence of
      intraoperative complications. When the learning curve was completed, renal artery
      numbers and right kidney were found being correlated to operative time.
      CONCLUSIONS: Retroperitoneal LDN is a safe and effective operation method with a
      low incidence of complications. Technical proficiency in retroperitoneal LDN
      could be achieved after 100 surgeries.

PMID- 28591960
TI  - [Diagnostic Value of Immunofixation Electrophoresis and KAP/LAM Ratio in Multiple
      Myeloma Patients with Renal Injury].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the diagnostic value of immunofixation electrophoresis and
      Kappa/Lambda (KAP/LAM) ratio in multiple myeloma patients with renal injury.
      METHODS: The serum of 822 patients of renal disease were collected for the
      examnation of immunofixation electrophoresis, KAP/LAM ratio, serum immunoglobulin
      levels and renal function, including serum urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine
      (Crea), cystatin C (Cys-C) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). To
      analyze the diagnostic value of immunofixation and KAP/LAM ratio in the
      differentiation of renal injury of multiple myeloma from primary renal injury
      diseases. RESULTS: M protein was observed in 75 patients (9.1%). The ratio of
      each type was IgG 49.3%(37/75), IgA 34.7%(26/75), IgM 5.3%(4/75) and LAM
      10.7%(8/75). There was significant difference of KAP/LAM ratio between M protein
      group and non-M protein group. The KAP/LAM ratio was significant higher in KAP
      group, compared to non-M protein group. Reverse result was obtained in LAM group.
      There were higher Crea level and lower eGFR value in pure LAM light chain group,
      compared with IgG, IgA and IgM groups. CONCLUSIONS: Immunofixation
      electrophoresis and KAP/LAM ratio may play an important role in the diagnosis of
      multiple myeloma patients with renal injury, so could be early screening markers.

PMID- 28591961
TI  - [Diagnostic Value of Cystain C in Contrast Associated Acute Kidney Injury after
      Transcatheter Closure for Children with Congenital Heart Disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the diagnostic value of cystain C (SCys-C) in contrast
      associated acute kidney injury (AKI) after transcatheter closure for children
      with congenital heart disease. METHODS: There were 128 children with congenital
      heart disease (interventricular septal defect or patent ductus arteriosus)
      underwent transcatheter closure in West China Second University Hospital during
      2013. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr) and SCys-C were examined
      before surgery and at 24 and 48 h after surgery. The incidence of AKI was
      calculated. The children were divided into two groups according to glomerular
      filtration rate: AKI group (renal function stage 1, renal function stage 2
      subgroups) and non-AKI group. Differences in renal function indexes and SCys-C
      were compared between AKI group ( n=16) and non-AKI group ( n=112), renal
      function stage 1 and stage 2 subgroups. ROC curve analysis was used to calculate
      the cut-off value of SCys-C in the diagnosis of AKI . RESULTS: The levels of SCr
      and SCys-C in AKI group were significantly higher than those in non-AKI group (
      P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in BUN between the two
      groups ( P>0.05). Only SCys-C had a significant difference between renal function
      stage 1 and stage 2 subgroups ( P<0.05). The cut-off value of 24 h SCys-C in the
      diagnosis of AKI was 1.055 mg/L according to area under curve (AUC). AUC
      indicated that AKI could be diagnosed earlier with SCys-C than SCr ( P<0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: The contrast agent could increase the risk of child AKI after
      transcatheter closure for congenital disease children.SCys-C is an important
      index for this risk with its cut-off value of 1.055 mg/L at 24 h post-surgery.

PMID- 28591962
TI  - [Clinical Application of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a Tertiary
      Referral Hospital in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To review clinical application of cardiac magnetic resonace (CMR)
      imaging in a tertiary hospital. METHODS: A total of 344 medical records were
      reviewed in relation to the use of CMR imaging over one year period in a tertiary
      hospital in China. Data regarding indications for CMR imaging, cardiac structure
      and function, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), and diagnoses made from CMR
      imaging were extracted and examined. RESULTS: Detection of heart failure and
      cardiomyopathies was the most common reason for CMR imaging requests [164 (47.7%)
      of requests], which was followed by diagnoses of coronary artery disease [79
      (23.0%) of requests] and ventricular arrhythmia [65 (18.9%) of requests].
      Quantitative analyses were made in 319 (92.7%) cases, with 208 (65.2%) patients
      being identified with ventricular dilatation and 46 (14.4%) patients being
      identified with right ventricular dilatation. Apart from 74 (21.5%) cases for
      which a confirmed diagnosis could not be obtained, CMR imaging assessment
      corrected 21.2% (73 patients) and confirmed 57.3% (197 patients) of initial
      referral diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: CMR imaging is mainly used for structural and
      functional assessments of hearts, which can help identify abnormalities that are
      not detected by other imaging modalities. It can provide incremental diagnostic,
      therapeutic, and prognostic information.

PMID- 28591963
TI  - [Extensively Porous-coated Distal Fixation Long Stem Prosthesis for Unstable
      Proximal Femur Fracture with Complex Hip Disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical results of femoral proximal fracture with
      complex hip diseases using an uncemented extensively porous-coated long femoral
      stems. METHODS: 15 cases of femoral proximal fracture with complex hip diseases
      treated with the uncemented extensively porous-coated long femoral stem were
      retrospectively reviewed. All patients were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 12 months in
      the first year postoperatively and once a year from the second year
      on.Radiological evaluations were conducted using the related criteria, including
      anteropostierior radiograph of pelvis, anteropostierior and lateral radiograph of
      proximal femur, and flat tomography of lower limbs.The bone union of the femur
      fracture, the fixation of prosthesis, and periprosthetic bone loss were evaluated
      by above-mentioned radiography.The subsidence of femoral prosthesis was compared
      between 1 month postoperatively and the last follow-up. Complications during the
      follow-up period was recorded.Clinical outcomes were assessed with Harris Hip
      Score the last follow-up, including excellent (90-100), good (80-89), moderate
      (70-79) and bad (<70). RESULTS: The average follow-up period was (45.5+/-21.7)
      months. All fractures were united at mean 12.6 weeks. There were no femoral stem
      subsidence and evidence of loosening both radiologically and clinically. The
      reconstructive offset for femoral fracture was 35.8 mm, while the contralateral
      offset was 34.8 mm. The average Harris Hip Score was 89.5 at the last follow-up.
      Moreover, no loosening, dislocation or infection were observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      Total hip arthroplasty with extensively porous-coated long femoral stem provides
      a good fracture stability that promotes fracture healing and offers a successful
      solution for femoral proximal fracture with complex hip diseases.

PMID- 28591964
TI  - [New Concept for Surviving Sepsis: from Phenomenon to Essence].
AB  - Sepsis is a critical clinical syndrome which keep puzzling the medical profession
      for many years. Recently, the results from several large-scale trials challenged
      the necessity of early goal directed therapy (EGDT) in surviving sepsis bundle,
      These trials were not opposed to EGDT but bring new concept that it is essential
      to utilize therapy with multiple monitoring measures in order to minimize injury
      while guarantee the safety . Deeper understanding in the pathogenesis of sepsis
      gives rise to the update of its definition based on vital organ dysfunction. The
      importance of dynamic monitoring in defining sepsis also need to be emphasized.
      Developing more effective monitoring measures could provide better treatments,
      thus improve the prognosis of septic patients.

PMID- 28591965
TI  - [Predictive Value of Early Changes in Sublingual Microcirculation on Organ
      Failure of Patients with Septic Shock].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the predictive value of early changes in sublingual
      microcirculation on organ failure of patients with septic shock. METHODS: Side
      streamdark field imaging (SDF) videomicroscopy was performed to assess sublingual
      microcirculation of 34 adult patients at 0 h, 6 h and 24 h after they were
      diagnosed with septic shock.The patients were subject to sequential organ failure
      assessment (SOFA24 h-0 h). The patients with DeltaSOFA24 h-0 h>=1 (deteriorated
      conditions) were compared with those with DeltaSOFA24 h-0 h<1 in regard to
      sublingual microcirculation and the traditional hemodynamic indicators such as
      heart rate, mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, urine output and
      lactate. RESULTS: No significant baseline differences were found between the two
      groups of patients in age, sex and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation
      &#8545;(APACHE &#8545;), nor any differences in the traditional hemodynamic
      indicators, as well as dose of vasopressor, infusion of crystalloids, and
      colloids after septic shock was diagnosed. The patients with deteriorated
      conditions had lower proportion of perfused small vessels (PPVs) compared with
      the non-deteriorated patients at 0 h [(75.96+/-10.55)% vs.(84.03+/-10.16)%,
      P=0.032] and 24 h [(79.43+/-9.23)% vs.(86.32+/-9.02)%, P=0.037]. The ROC analysis
      showed a greater area under the curve (AUC) for PPVs at 0 h [0.750 (95%CI, 0.586
      0.914)] compared with the AUC for Lac at 0 h [0.588 (95%CI, 0.370-0.805) ],
      albeit a lack of statistical significance ( P>0.05). The incidence of organ
      failure in the patients with a lower than optimal cut-off point (81.5%) of PPVs
      was significantly higher than that of those above the cut-off point (71.4% vs.
      20.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in sublingual microcirculation (e.g. PPVs) can
      predict the development of organ failure earlier than systemic hemodynamic
      indicators in patients with septic shock.

PMID- 28591966
TI  - [The Value of Early Diastolic Transmitral Velocity to Early Mitral Anulus
      Diastolic Velocity Ratio for Pulmonary Edema in Severe Sepsis Patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between the value of early diastolic
      transmitral velocity to early mitral anulus diastolic velocity ratio
      (E/E')measured by bedside ultrasound and pulmonary edema in severe sepsis
      (including septic shock) patients. METHODS: Data were obtained from the critical
      ultrasound database between November 2014 and August 2015. The severe sepsis
      (including septic shock) patients were eligible, but those with chronic heart
      disease or acute heart failure were excluded. Pulmonary edema was quantified by
      lung ultrasound score. The patients were divided into two groups according to
      lateral E/E'. E/E'-high group was defined as the lateral E/E'>8, and the others
      were in E/E'-low group. The severity and distribution of pulmonary edema were
      compared between the two groups. The correlation analysis and logistic regression
      analysis were performed to determine whether E/E' was the independent risk factor
      of pulmonary edma. RESULTS: There were 82 cases included. The lung ultrasound
      score of E/E'-high group was significantly higher than that of E/E'-low group (
      P=0.007). There was no statistic difference of pulmonary edema severity in the
      bilateral 5 th and 6 th ultrasound exam areas, but E/E'-high group were more
      severe in the bilateral 1 th to 4 th ultrasound exam areas ( P=0.004). Linear
      regression analysis demonstrated that E/E' and inferior vena cava diameter were
      independent risk factors of pulmonary edema (standardized regression coefficients
      were 0.425 and 0.249, respectively, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: E/E' is the independent
      risk factor of pulmonary edema in severe sepsis and septic shock patients.

PMID- 28591967
TI  - [Effects of Blood Glucose Levels on Liver Functions in Sepsis Patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of blood glucose levels on liver functions in
      patients with sepsis treated in intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: We performed
      a retrospective study on 93 patients with sepsis between March 2014 to January
      2015. Patients were divided into two groups according to the initial blood
      glucose levels when admitted to ICU: high glucose group (blood glucose>10 mmol/L)
      and normal glucose group(blood glucose<=10 mmol/L). Routine blood test results,
      liver functions and coagulations function were compared between the two groups.
      RESULTS: On the first day of ICU admission, patients in normal glucose group had
      lower blood platelet count, higher total bilirubin (TB) and direct bilirubin (DB)
      levels, lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level, lower low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level, longer prothrombin time (PT),
      longer international normalized ratio (INR), longer activated partial
      thromboplastin time (APTT) and lower antithrombin &#8546; (AT &#8546;) level (
      P<0.05). However, seven days after ICU admission, there were no significant
      differences between the two groups ( P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with
      sepsis, normal blood glucose level might represent severe liver damage.

PMID- 28591968
TI  - [Risk Factors for Mortality among Patients with Sepsis Complicated with Active
      Tuberculosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine risk factors associated with mortality of patients with
      sepsis complicated with active tuberculosis (TB) in intensive care units (ICU).
      METHODS: We reviewed medical records of 61 TB patients whom were admitted to the
      ICU in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, among whom 19 were dead.
      Logistic regression models were established to determine predictors of mortality.
      RESULTS: The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE &#8545;)
      score, smear-positive sputum, delayed treatment of active TB and acute kidney
      dysfunction were independent predictors of mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality of
      patients with sepsis complicated with active tuberculosis is high. APACHE &#8545;
      score, smear-positive sputum, delayed treatment of active TB and acute kidney
      dysfunction are independent predictors of mortality.

PMID- 28591969
TI  - [Clinical Presentations and Prognostic Factors in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
      Patients with Sepsis Admitted to Intensive Care Unit].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the characteristics and prognostic factors associated with
      the death of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with sepsis in intensive care
      unit(ICU). METHODS: Clinical and laboratory documents of SLE patients with sepsis
      from Jan 2010 to Dec 2014 were retrospectively analyzed, including active organ
      involvement, systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) score,
      acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) &#8545;  score, sites of
      infection and organisms cultured. Prognostic factors were analyzed by
      multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Included patients were mainly
      females (86%, 43/50). For all patients, SLEDAI was 15.8+/-6.3; APACHE &#8545; was
      25.8+/-6.5; the mortality rate during ICU hospitalization was 46%. The most
      common causes of death and admission were multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and
      respiratory failure, respectively. The most common pathogen was Gram-negative
      bacteria.Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that
      gastrointestinal bleeding, septic shock and high APACHE &#8545;  score were
      independent risks for mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Gastrointestinal bleeding, septic
      shock and high APACHE &#8545;  score were risk factors in SLE patients with
      sepsis in ICU.

PMID- 28591970
TI  - [Reference Values for Left Ventricular Myocardial Strains Measured by Feature
      tracking Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Chinese Han Population].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish reference values for left ventricular (LV) myocardial
      strains in a cohort of healthy Chinese volunteers with feature tracking cardiac
      magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS: A total of 60 healthy volunteers were
      recruited, receiving a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) examination at
      3.0T scanner (Tim Trio, Magnetum, Siemens, Germany). A new feature tracking CMR
      software (Trufisp-strain, Siemens) was used to analyze left ventricular
      myocardial strain parameters, including radial, circumferential, longitudinal
      strain, systolic strain rate, and early diastolic strain rate. RESULTS: The image
      quality was sufficient to perform strain analysis.The reference values of global
      strain, global strain rate and segmental strains were obtained. A good inter- and
      intra-observer agreement was achieved in global strain analysis (except
      circumferential straininter-observer in apical level), with (37.7+/-9.6)% for LV
      global mean radial strain, (-18.4+/-3.3)% for circumferential strain and (-15.2+/
      2.3%) for longitudinal strain, respectively.Age was positively correlated with
      global mean radial strain ( r=0.416, P<0.001) and negatively correlated with
      early diastolic strain rate (circumferential or longitudinal) and circumferential
      strain( r=-0.436, P<0.001; r=-0.326, P=0.011; r=-0.273, P=0.035, respectively).
      Women showed higher circumferential and longituinal strain values and lower
      systolic circumferential strain rate than men. The strain parameters were
      correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ( P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      FT-CMR (Trufisp-strain software) is a fast, convenient and highly reproducible
      method for analyzing left ventricular myocardial strains, which can sensitively
      detect gender and age differences. The reference values of LV myocardial strains
      can support further studies in the future.

PMID- 28591971
TI  - [Preparing Bifidobacteria for Quantitative Detections].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare different preparation methods for quantitative real-time
      PCR (qPCR) detection of Bifidobacteria. METHODS: Standard strains of
      Bifidobacteria were prepared with concentration gradients using strain DNA, PCR
      product amplification and purification, and plasmid DNA methods. The
      concentrations of Bifidobacteria were determined with ultraviolet
      spectrophotometer and real-time quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Greater than 0.99 R 2
      in values of standard curves were achieved by all three preparation methods. The
      plasmid DNA method obtained a higher level of concentration and purity of
      Bifidobacteria than the other two methods ( P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The plasmid DNA
      method produces high quality preparations and is more suitable for real-time
      quantitative PCR, which can provide a reference for the molecular biological
      detection of Bifidobacteria.

PMID- 28591972
TI  - [One Carrier of Robinsoniella peoriensis in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study morphological feature, biochemical characteristic and
      antibiotic resistance of Robinsoniella peoriensis (R.peoriensis) strain. METHODS:
      The clinical R.peoriensis strain was isolated from ananus swab samples being
      screened in ICU. Biochemical characteristic of the strain was completed by fully
      automatic microbial identification and drug susceptibility analysis system
      (BioMerieux, Marcy-l'eE toile, France) with the ANC Vitek2. Antibiotic
      susceptibility in vitro was performed using agar dilution. RESULTS: The organism
      was found to be positive to saccharose, beta-galactopyr anosidase indoxyl, alpha
      arabinosidase and so on, while negative to the others. The susceptibility test in
      vitro showed that this strain was resistant to clindamycin, rifampicin,
      moxifloxacin, while sensitive to vancomycin, metronidazole and tetracycline.
      CONCLUSIONS: R.peoriensis is positive to many biochemical products such as
      saccharose. The clinical isolate of R.peoriensis strain is resistant to
      clindamycin, rifampicin and moxifloxacin.

PMID- 28591974
TI  - Schedules of Controlled Substances: Placement of Acetyl Fentanyl Into Schedule I.
      Final order.
AB  - With the issuance of this final order, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement
      Administration will maintain the placement of the substance acetyl fentanyl (N-(1
      phenethylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-phenylacetamide), including its isomers, esters,
      ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters and ethers, in schedule I of the
      Controlled Substances Act. This scheduling action is pursuant to the Controlled
      Substances Act and is required in order for the United States to discharge its
      obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. This action
      continues to impose the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and
      criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who
      handle (manufacture, distribute, import, export, engage in research or conduct
      instructional activities with, or possess), or propose to handle, acetyl
      fentanyl.

PMID- 28591973
TI  - [The Application of Internal Iliac Artery Balloon Occlusion in Pernicious
      Placenta Previa].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical application value of internal iliac artery
      balloon occlusion in pernicious placenta previa. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed the medical records of the patients of pernicious placenta previa in a
      single center from Jan, 2010 to Jan, 2015. The patients were divided into two
      groups, internal iliac artery balloon occlusion group and the control group
      without endovascular intervention. Blood loss in operation, volume of transfused
      blood products, caesarean hysterectomy, operating time, hospital days after
      operation and postoperative morbidity were compared between the two groups.
      RESULTS: The balloon occlusion group had significantly less blood loss, the
      volume of transfused blood products, caesarean hysterectomy, hospital day after
      operation than the control group had. There was no statistical difference in
      operating time, intensive care units (ICU), hypotension, infection, hypoxemia,
      bladder injury, bowel obstruction, neonatal asphyxia between the two groups. The
      balloon occlusion group had significantly higher rate in coagulopathy,
      hypoalbuminemia, electrolyte imbalance. Among the patients whose uterus were
      preserved, the blood loss was not significantly difference between the two
      groups. Among the patients with the complication of placenta accreta, caesarean
      hysterectomy was less in balloon group, and blood loss between the two groups was
      not significantly different. Among the patients without placenta accrete, the
      blood loss was less in balloon group, and caesarean hysterectomy between the two
      groups was not significantly different. The risk of hysterectomy in balloon group
      was related to placenta accreta, uterine arteries engorgement, placental invasive
      serosa, taking placenta by hand, placental invasive bladder, barrel-shaped
      thickening of lower uterine segment, unable to remove placenta. CONCLUSIONS:
      Internal iliac artery balloon occlusion is an effective treatment for pernicious
      placenta previa.

PMID- 28591976
TI  - Do Drug Monitoring Programs Reduce the Misuse of Opioids?

PMID- 28591975
TI  - An Overview of Home-Based Primary Care: Learning from the Field.
AB  - ISSUE: Homebound and functionally limited individuals are often unable to access
      office-based primary care, leading to unmet needs and increased health care
      spending. GOAL: Show how home-based primary care affects outcomes and costs for
      Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with complex care needs.METHODS: Qualitative
      synthesis of expert perspectives and the experiences of six case-study sites.
      FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Successful home-based primary care practices optimize
      care by: fielding interdisciplinary teams, incorporating behavioral care and
      social supports into primary care, responding rapidly to urgent and acute care
      needs, offering palliative care, and supporting family members and caregivers.
      Practices participating in Medicare's Independence at Home Demonstration saved
      $3,070 per beneficiary on average in the first year, primarily by reducing
      hospital use under this shared-savings program. The experience of a risk-based
      medical group that contracts with health plans and health systems to provide home
      based care suggests similar potential to reduce health care spending under
      capitated or value-based payment arrangements. Making effective home-based
      primary care more widely available would require a better-prepared workforce,
      appropriate financial incentives to encourage more clinicians to provide house
      calls to their home-limited patients, and relevant quality measures to ensure
      that value-based payment is calibrated to meet the needs of patients and their
      families.

PMID- 28591977
TI  - Fragmentation in the Delivery of Health Care.

PMID- 28591978
TI  - How Nurses Affect Health Care Delivery and Patient Health.

PMID- 28591979
TI  - Investigation into the antimicrobial action and mechanism of a novel endogenous
      peptide beta-casein 197 from human milk.
AB  - A novel endogenous peptide cleaved from 197-213 AA of beta-casein, named beta
      casein 197, was identified by tandem mass spectrometry. beta-casein 197
      constituted a significant proportion of the peptide content in preterm milk. This
      study investigated the antibacterial effects and mechanisms against common
      pathogenic bacteria. Six bacterial strains were selected for this study:
      Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria
      monocytogenes, Klebsiella pneumonia and Bacillus subtilis. After synthesis,
      serial twofold dilutions of beta-casein 197 were added to select for sensitive
      bacteria. The disk diffusion method and analysis of bacterial staining were used
      to identify antibacterial effect, while DNA-binding, scanning electron microscopy
      and transmission electron microscopy were used to explore antimicrobial
      mechanisms. Disk diffusion showed that E. coli, S. aureus and Y. enterocolitica
      were sensitive to the beta-casein 197. In addition, live/dead fluorescent
      staining also confirmed antibacterial effects. Scanning electron and transmission
      electron microscopy revealed affected extracellular and intracellular structure
      for three species of bacteria, while a DNA-binding assay showed that the
      antimicrobial activity did not occur through DNA binding. This study suggests
      that beta-casein 197 has antimicrobial activity against common pathogenic
      bacteria in newborns with infection. The peptide induced membrane
      permeabilization but did not bind to genomic DNA. Based on our findings, beta
      casein 197 has potential clinical value for preventing infections of premature
      infants.

PMID- 28591980
TI  - Dip-Coating Process Engineering and Performance Optimization for Three-State
      Electrochromic Devices.
AB  - Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were modified onto fluorine-doped tin oxide
      (FTO) via dip-coating technique with different nanoparticle sizes, lifting
      speeds, precursor concentrations, and dipping numbers. Electrodeposition-based
      electrochromic device with reversible three-state optical transformation
      (transparent, mirror, and black) was fabricated subsequently by sandwiching a
      suitable amount of gel electrolyte between modified FTO electrode and flat FTO
      electrode. Correlation between dip-coating process engineering, morphological
      features of TiO2 thin films, i.e., thickness and roughness, as well as
      performance of electrochromic devices, i.e., optical contrast, switching time,
      and cycling stability, were investigated. The modified device exhibits high
      optical contrast of 57%, the short coloration/bleaching switching time of 6 and
      20 s, and excellent cycling stability after 1500 cycles of only 27% decrement
      rate by adjusting dip-coating processes engineering. The results in this study
      will provide valuable guidance for rational design of the electrochromic device
      with satisfactory performance.

PMID- 28591981
TI  - [Chinese consensus statement for the management of clinical cardiovascular
      specimens].

PMID- 28591982
TI  - [Clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of early onset prostate cancer].
AB  - Objective: To observe the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of prostate
      cancer (PCa) in young men. Methods: Twenty-eight early onset (<=55 years)
      patients with PCa pathologically confirmed in the Peking University Third
      Hospital and Peking University Shougang Hospital from January 1st 2000 to August
      31st 2016 were collected. There were 18 radical prostatectomy (RP) cases and 10
      transrectal prostatic biopsy cases. Contemporaneously, 445 elderly (>55 years)
      patients were collected, of which 385 had detailed pathological information, were
      chosen as control group. The mean age of young group was 51 years (29-55 years).
      Follow-up data for 22 cases were available (1-110 months). The correlation of the
      clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed retrospectively.
      Results: Presurgical prostatic specific antigen (PSA) level was abnormal in young
      patients, with 18 cases (64.3%) had elevated fPSA level, 26 (92.9%) had increased
      tPSA level, and 26 (92.9%) had decreased fPSA/tPSA ratio. Gleason score (GS) was
      8 in 10.7% (3/28) of cases, and 9 in 42.9% (12/28) of cases. Of the 18 patients
      with RP, 17 (94.4%) had pT stage >=pT2c. PSA level (P=0.006) and GS (P=0.001)
      were positively correlated with pT stage. Family history of PCa in 1st degree
      relatives was found in 9.1% of the cases. During follow-up, 2 patients died of
      PCa, 7 patients showed progression within 24 months. There were no significant
      differences in PSA level and GS between young patients and elderly patients,
      while the former group was more likely to have incontinence (P=0.023), higher PSA
      levels (P=0.001), and lower overall survival (P=0.049). Only postsurgical PSA
      level was found to be negatively associated with overall survival (P=0.030) and
      cancer specific survival (P=0.021) in young patients. Conclusions: Presurgical
      PSA level and GS are positively correlated with pT stage of early onset PCa.
      Compared with elderly patients, young patients are more likely to have
      incontinence, higher postsurgical PSA level, and lower overall survival. Among
      all the parameters, only postsurgical PSA level shows an adverse impact on
      prognosis of early onset PCa. Young patients, especially those with family
      history, may benefit from studies on the susceptibility loci and phenotype of
      PCa.

PMID- 28591983
TI  - [Clinical and pathologic analysis of 414 cases of renal angiomyolipomain in a
      single institution].
AB  - Objective: To study the different clinicopathological characteristics between
      classic and epithelioid renal angiomyolipoma, and the relationships between
      clinicopathological characteristics and biological behaviors as basis for
      clinical treatment. Methods: The clinicopathological and follow-up data for the
      patients diagnosed with renal angiomyolipoma between 2004 and 2011 were
      retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Results: There were 414 cases of renal
      angiomyolipoma diagnosed over 8 years ago, accounting for 8.1% (414/5 287) of all
      renal parenchymal tumors. The patients included 122 male and 292 female (male-to
      female ratio of 1.0?2.4), mean age 44.0 years (range 15-74 years). Of these,
      195(47.1%) tumors occurred in the left kidney, 212(51.2%) in the right kidney and
      seven (1.7%) were bilateral. Clinically, some cases presented with hypochondrial
      pain, hematuria or palpable masses. Histologically, 394(95.2%) were classic
      angiomyolipoma, 20(4.8%) were epithelioid angiomyolipoma; 54, 23 and 7 cases had
      hemorrhage, necrosis and cystic degeneration, respectively; and 5, 30 and 14
      cases had perirenal fat invasion, atypical cells and polymorphic/giant tumor
      cell. There was a positive correlation between atypical cells and epithelioid
      tumor type, respectively. The other clinicopathological parameters did not
      correlate with histological type. Follow-up data was available in 360 patients,
      with follow-up period of 3 to 99 months. One case died from other causes. The
      remaining patients were free of disease. Conclusions: Angiomyolipoma is a common
      renal parenchyma tumor. Clinically, it is usually biologically benign.
      Histologically, it can be either classic or epithelioid types. The epithelioid
      type should be differentiated from the classic renal cell carcinoma, Mit family
      translocation renal tumor and renal hemangioblastoma. Atypical cells, more
      commonly found in the epithelioid angiomyolipoma, do not affect the clinical
      prognosis of patients.

PMID- 28591984
TI  - [Clinicopathologic features and expression of OCT4 protein in testicular diffuse
      large B cell lymphoma].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the expression of OCT4 and SALL4 in testicular diffuse
      large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and the utility of an immunohistochemical (IHC)
      panel of OCT4, SALL4 and CD20 in the differential diagnosis of DLBCL and GCT of
      the testis. Methods: Eighteen cases of testicular DLBCL were selected.IHC method
      was used to detect the protein expression of CD20, CD3, CD5, CD10, bcl-6, MUM1,
      Ki-67, bcl-2, c-MYC, OCT4 and SALL4. Results: Among the 18 cases, CD20 and PAX5
      were strongly and diffusely expressed in all cases, while CD21, CD3, cyclinD1,
      SALL4, CD117 and PLAP were all negative. CD5, bcl-2 and c-myc were expressed in
      3, 16 and 8 cases, respectively. Ki-67 proliferation index ranged from 40%-95%.
      Bcl-2 and c-MYC were co-expressed in seven cases. Four cases were GCB-DLBCL and
      the remaining 14 cases were non-GCB-DLBCL, according to Hans algorithm. Nuclear
      OCT4 expression was present in two cases, which demonstrated moderate expression
      in >50% of neoplastic cells. Univariate analysis showed that clinical stage, CD5
      and OCT4 expression were relevant to prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression
      analysis further confirmed that clinical stage, CD5 and OCT4 were independent
      prognostic factors in patients with testicular DLBCL. Conclusions: Care should be
      exercised in using OCT4 as the sole marker of germ cell differentiation in the
      testis. The association of OCT4 and CD5, bcl-2 co-expression raises the question
      of whether OCT4 expression in DLBCL may reflect more aggressive biology.

PMID- 28591985
TI  - [Application of immunohistochemistry for p16 and GATA3 and molecular HPV typing
      in diagnosis of secondary bladder involvement by cervical carcinoma].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the expression of p16 and GATA3 and the detection of
      human papillomavirus (HPV) in secondary bladder involvement by cervical
      carcinomas. Methods: Sixteen cases of cervical carcinoma with bladder involvement
      diagnosed from December 2008 to March 2016 were collected and evaluated by light
      microscopy, immunohistochemistry for p16 and GATA3 detection and PCR-reverse dot
      blot for molecular typing of HPV. Results: The age of the patients ranged from 25
      to 76 years with median of 52 years. Morphologically, 14 cases(14/16) showed
      tumor nests infiltrating lamina propria or muscle bundles of the bladder. By
      immunohistochemistry, 15 cases (15/16) were found to be diffusely and strongly
      positive for p16, and 1 showed patchy staining pattern. Seven cases (7/7) of
      corresponding original cervical cancers were also diffusely and strongly positive
      for p16. GATA3 staining was negative in 13 cases (13/16), and focal weak to
      moderate positivity was detected in 3 cases.Three cases (3/7) of corresponding
      original cervical cancers showed focal weak to moderate positivity of GATA3.
      Fifteen cases (15/16) showed concordant high risk HPV-positivity, including HPV16
      in 8 cases and HPV31 in one case. Five cases showed co-infection of HPV16 and
      HPV18. One case showed co-infection with HPV18 and HPV45. Conclusion:
      Differential diagnosis by p16 or GATA3 alone is of limited value. Combination of
      immunohistochemistry for p16 and GATA3 and molecular typing for HPV detection are
      useful to distinguish primary bladder carcinoma from the secondary involvement by
      cervical carcinoma.

PMID- 28591986
TI  - [Accurate grading of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors with Ki-67 index in fine
      needle aspiration specimens: a comparative cytologic and histologic study].
AB  - Objective: To study the cytomorphologic features and determine whether pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) sampled by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) can be
      accurately graded based on the Ki-67 index when compared to surgical samples.
      Methods: Corresponding intraoperative (19 cases) or endoscopic ultrasound-guided
      (3 cases) FNA cytology and surgical tissue specimens were obtained from 22
      tumors, which were reviewed and stained for Ki-67 proliferation marker. The
      cytological samples included more than 200 tumor cells. Samples were graded by
      scoring the Ki-67 positive index in accordance with the 2010 WHO criteria. The
      grading scores assigned to the FNA cytology samples were compared with the scores
      assigned to the corresponding histological samples. Concordance was achieved by
      using 5% (instead of 2%) as a cut-off value for defining G2 tumors. One
      cytological sample included less than 500 tumor cells was excluded in the
      concordance calculation. Results: The cytological smears consisted of uniform,
      monotonous and isolated cells, loose cellular aggregates and rosette-like
      formations. Some tumor cells clustered around segments of capillaries. The cells
      demonstrated distinct cytoplasmic and nuclear features. Mitoses and necrosis were
      rarely seen. When traditional 2% Ki-67 index cut-off value were used to classify
      G2 tumors, the majority (86.4%, kappa=0.812, P<0.01) of FNA cytology samples and
      corresponding surgical tissue specimens demonstrated concordance. When a 5% cut
      off value was adopted, the concordance rate was 95.5% (21/22, kappa=1.000,
      P<0.01). Similar concordance rates between the cytological and histological
      grades were achieved with threshold value of cytological assessment material set
      at more than 500 or 200 cells. Conclusions: The cytological Ki-67 index in
      adequate material (>200 tumor cells) is useful in grading pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumors, and a cut-off value of 5% showed better predictive value
      compared with that of 2%. Accurate grading of PanNET is critical for predicting
      tumor biology, patient prognosis, and making informed decisions regarding patient
      management and treatment.

PMID- 28591987
TI  - [Notch signaling pathway participates in the differentiation of hepatic
      progenitor cells into bile duct epithelial cells and progression of hepatic
      fibrosis in cholestatic liver fibrosis rat].
AB  - Objective: To investigate differentiation direction of hepatic progenitor cells
      (HPCs) in cholestatic liver fibrosis (CLF), and the role of Notch signaling
      pathway in the differentiation of HPCs. Methods: A CLF rat model was established
      by bile duct ligation (BDL) followed by monitoring changes of Notch signal
      pathway and the cellular origin of proliferating cholangiocytes. After
      intraperitoneal injection of DAPT (a Notch signaling inhibitor) after bile duct
      ligation, the progress of liver fibrosis and the proliferation of cholangiocytes
      after inhibition of the Notch pathway were analyzed. Results: Data showed that
      bile duct proliferation gradually increased along with inflammatory cell
      infiltration and proliferating bile duct cells surrounded by abundant collagen in
      the BDL group. Immunostaining confirmed markedly increased expression of CK19,
      OV6, Sox9 and EpCAM. In addition, RT-PCR results showed that Notch signaling
      pathway was activated significantly. Once the Notch signaling pathway was
      inhibited by DAPT, bile duct proliferation markedly suppressed along with
      significantly decreased the mRNA expression of CK19, OV6, Sox9 and EpCAM,
      compared with BDL group [(10.2+/-0.7) vs. (22.3+/-0.8), (7.6+/-1.5) vs. (18.1+/
      3.7), (1.4+/-0.4) vs. (4.1+/-1.1), (1.3+/-0.3) vs. (5.0+/-1.4), respectively,
      P<0.01]. Moreover, liver fibrosis was also reduced significantly. Conclusion:
      Notch signaling activation is required for HPCs differentiation into
      cholangiocytes in CLF and inhibition of the Notch signaling pathway may offer a
      therapeutic option for treating CLF.

PMID- 28591989
TI  - [Clinicopathologic characteristics of light chain proximal tubulopathy].

PMID- 28591988
TI  - [Correlation between Mic60 haploid insufficiency and cardiac aging in mouse].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the role of Mic60 in cardiac aging. Methods: Wild-type
      and Mic60(+ /-) male mice at age of 4-6 months (young group, n=6) and 18-20
      months (aged group, n=9) were used. H&E and Masson staining of frozen and
      paraffin sections were subjected to morphologic evaluation of the cardiac tissue
      samples. SA-beta-Gal staining was utilized to detect the activity of senescence
      associated beta-galactosidase. Western blot was performed to detect the
      expression of Mic60 and p21 in cardiac tissues. Results: Expression of Mic60 in
      mouse cardiac tissue increased in an age-dependent manner. Haploid insufficiency
      of Mic60 resulted in an increased left ventricular wall thickness [(1.32+/-0.09)
      mm vs.(1.12+/-0.09) mm, P<0.05], cardiomyocyte hypertrophy[(474.9+/-27.6) MUm(2)
      vs.(358.8+/-48.7) MUm(2), P<0.05] and interstitial fibrosis [ (38.24+/-7.58)
      *10(3)MUm(2) vs.(25.81+/-4.12)*10(3)MUm(2,) P<0.05], increased activity of SA
      beta-Gal (2.26+/-0.24 vs.0.25+/-0.05, P<0.01) and higher expression of p21
      (P<0.01) in aged mouse cardiac tissue, but not in young mice. Conclusion: Haploid
      insufficiency of Mic60 leads to cardiac hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis,
      increased activity of SA-beta-Gal and higher expression of p21 in aged cardiac
      tissue in mice, suggesting that Mic60 may prevent cardiac aging.

PMID- 28591990
TI  - [Histiocytoid breast carcinoma: a clinicopathologic analysis of 4 cases].

PMID- 28591991
TI  - [Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome: a clinicopathologic analysis of 2 cases].

PMID- 28591992
TI  - [Spindle cell hemangioma: a clinicopathologic analysis of 3 cases].

PMID- 28591993
TI  - [Application of three methods of periodic acid-silver-methenamine staining in
      renal biopsy].

PMID- 28591994
TI  - [Introduction of a simple polarization microscope].

PMID- 28591995
TI  - [Extrarenal Wilms' tumor: report of a case].

PMID- 28591996
TI  - [Multilocular ductal cystadenocarcinoma of prostate: report of a case].

PMID- 28591997
TI  - [Hepatic cavernous hemangioma with intravascular large B cell lymphoma: report of
      a case].

PMID- 28591999
TI  - [Microcystic/reticular schwannoma of hard palate mimicking salivary grand tumor:
      report of a case].

PMID- 28591998
TI  - [TFE3 translocation associated epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: report of a
      case].

PMID- 28592000
TI  - [Bronchopulmonary foregut malformation: report of a case].

PMID- 28592001
TI  - [Updates on diagnosis and classification of testicular germ cell tumors].

PMID- 28592002
TI  - [Research progress in molecular classification of muscle invasive bladder
      cancer].

PMID- 28592003
TI  - [Research progress of Rosai-Dorfman disease].

PMID- 28592004
TI  - [Children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes: challenges and opportunities].

PMID- 28592005
TI  - [Type 2 diabetes in the child and adolescent: consensus in China].

PMID- 28592006
TI  - [Consensus statement on neonatal screening, diagnosis and treatment for glucose-6
      phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency].

PMID- 28592007
TI  - [Effect of the use of antibiotics controlled by clinical pharmacist in patients
      with diabetic ketoacidosis].
AB  - Objective: To analyze the effect of the use of antibiotics intervened by clinical
      pharmacist in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) patients. Method: This was a
      prospective clinical study with a historical control group.The group 1 was the
      control group which was not intervened for antibiotics use from January 2010 to
      November 2012. The group 2 was the intervention group treated from December 2012
      to June 2016. Group 1 was divided into group 1a which included newly-onset
      diabetes patients and group 1b which included long standing diabetes patients.
      Group 2 was divided into the similar group 2a and group 2b.Clinical pharmacist
      supervised the implementation of terms to restrict the use of antibiotics.Changes
      of the rate of antibiotics use, the length of time of antibiotics use, hospital
      stay, the cost of antibiotics, etc.were compared. Result: In group 1a and group
      2a, the rate of antibiotics use was 85%(107/126) and 31%(58/190)(chi(2)=25.787),
      the length of time of antibiotics use was 11(7-18)d and 6(4-10)d (U=1 507), the
      hospital stay was 23(18-27)and 20(6-24)d(U=8 177) , the cost of antibiotics was 1
      615(1 000-2 970)and 1 080(504-1 932) yuan ( U=1 783), the differences had
      statistical significance(P<0.05). In group 1b and group 2b, the rate of
      antibiotics use was 97% (33/34) and 48% (23/48)(chi(2)=14.222), the length of
      time of antibiotics use was 8(6-12)d and 5(4-7)d (U=180), the hospital stay was
      15(10-21)and 12(8-16)d (U=580), the cost of antibiotics was 2 200(1 356-3 100)and
      1 600(705-2 200) yuan (U=223), the differences had statistical
      significance(P<0.05). Conclusion: Clinical pharmacist intervened use of
      antibiotics was effective in reducing the use of antibiotics and financial
      burden.

PMID- 28592008
TI  - [Analysis of the influence of iron overload in glucose metabolism in thalassemia
      major patients].
AB  - Objective: This study aimed at determining the characteristics of the glucose
      homeostasis and its relationship with iron overload of the patients with beta
      thalassemia major (beta-TM). Method: From Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital between
      January 2014 and December 2015, a total of 57 transfusion-dependent beta-TM
      patients with 5-18 years old were enrolled in this study and fasting blood
      glucose(FBG) and insulin level, serum ferritin (SF), serum iron, transferrin,
      total iron binding capacity, unsaturated iron binding capacity were
      determined.Insulin resistance index (IRI), insulin sensitivity index and beta
      cell function index (BFI) were also estimated. Besides, in 36 patients cardiac
      T2* and liver T2* were estimated. Result: (1) Four patients(7%) with beta-TM were
      diagnosed diabetes mellitus, and 14(24%) had impaired fasting glucose. (2) The
      incidence of abnormal glucose metabolism was significantly different according to
      levels of SF and degrees of the cardiac iron overload(chi(2)=9.737, P<0.05;
      chi(2)=17.027, P<0.05). It rose while the level of SF increased and the degree of
      cardiac iron overload aggravated. (3) The incidence of abnormal glucose level was
      not significantly different in cases with different degree of liver iron
      overload.The severe group of liver iron overload had significantly higher levels
      of INS, HOMA-betaFI, HOMA-ISI, HOMA-betaFI than the non-severe group (Z=-2.434, 
      2.515, F=8.658, all P<0.05), while no differences were found in the level of FBG,
      HOMA-betaFI between two groups. (4) The result of logistic regression analysis
      indicated that the cardiac T2* was a significant predictor for the incidence of
      abnormal glucose metabolism in TM patients (P=0.035, OR=1.182%, 95%CI=1.048 to
      1.332). Conclusion: The high prevalence of abnormal glucose metabolism in beta-TM
      patients was mainly closely related with the internal iron overload, especially
      in organs.The cardiac T2* was an independent risk factor for the incidence of
      abnormal glucose metabolism in TM patients.

PMID- 28592009
TI  - [Clinical and gene mutation analysis of three children with late-onset glycogen
      storage disease type II with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the clinical and laboratory features of three children
      with late-onset type II glycogen storage disease(GSD) who presented with
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and to analyze the effect of five mutations
      identified on the acid-alpha-glucosidase (GAA) activity and stability. Method:
      Three cases of children with muscle weakness were included in this study.GAA
      activity was analyzed in Dried Blood Spot of the patients.DNA was extracted from
      peripheral blood in all the patients and their parents and subjected to
      polymerase chain reaction and directly sequencing of GAA gene.Five mutant
      pcDNA3.1-myc-his-GAA expression plasmids(p.G478R, p.P361L, p.P266S, p.Q323X,
      p.R672Q) were constructed and transient instantaneously transfected into 293T
      cells to analyze the enzyme activity and stability of GAA. Result: All the three
      children had the onset of disease at 3 years or 1.5 years of age.They presented
      with developmental delay, muscle weakness and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.GAA
      activity of 3 patients was 2.65, 3.55 and 1.51 pmol(punch.h)(8.00
      98.02)respectively. Genetic analysis found 5 mutations (p.G478R, p. P361L, p.
      P266S, p. Q323X, p. R672Q), and all of these 3 cases had clinical manifestations
      and were diagnosed as late-onset type II glycogen storage disease.Five mutant
      pcDNA3.1-myc-his-GAA expression plasmids were transfected into 293T cells.Five
      mutant enzyme activities were found to be only 9.9%-22.5% of the wild-type enzyme
      activity and the protein expression of the five mutants was 32.0%-63.9% compared
      with the wild type. Conclusion: This study reports 3 children with late-onset GSD
      II accompanied by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and compensatory stage of cardiac
      function in addition to limb muscle weakness.Five pathogenic mutations were
      identified, and these 5 mutations result in decreased GAA activity and GAA
      expression by in vitro functional analysis.

PMID- 28592010
TI  - [Clinical diagnosis and treatment of three cases with hyperornithinemia
      hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria syndrome].
AB  - Objective: To study the clinical characteristics, methods of diagnosis and
      treatment of hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia- homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome.
      Method: From July 2011 to August 2016, 3 Chinese patients with HHH syndrome were
      enrolled in this study. The clinical course, biochemical features, brain MRI
      findings, and gene mutations were analyzed. Result: The three patients' age at
      onset of symptoms was 3 months to 7 years, and the age of diagonosis was 3 years
      and 10 months to 9 years and 10 months. All of them presented with intolerance to
      protein-rich foods from the infant period, development retardation and abnormal
      posture. Case 1 and 2 had moderate mental retardation. Serum ammonia 25-276
      MUmol/L (reference range<60 MUmol/L), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) 20-139 IU/L
      (reference range 9-50 IU/L), ornithine 29.12-99.44 MUmol/L(reference range 15-100
      MUmol/L), urinary orotic acid 1.49-29.75 mmol/mol Cr (reference range 0-7
      mmol/mol Cr), uracil 6.09-103.97 mmol/mol Cr (reference range 0-1.5 mmol/mol Cr).
      The cranial MRI revealed lesions in the basal ganglia, abnormal white matter
      signal, progressive demyelination and cerebral atrophy. On their SLC25A15 gene, a
      novel homozygous missense mutation c. 416A>G (p.E139G) was identified in case 1,
      a known pathogenic homozygous nonsense mutation c. 535C>T was found in case 2 and
      3. Liver transplantation had been performed when case 1 was 6 years old.
      Significant improvements were observed in dietary habit, mental and motor
      functions, and biochemical parameters. After the dietary intervention with the
      supplements of arginine, L-carnitine, case 2 was improved, spastic paraplegia of
      case 3 had no mitigation. Liver transplant was recommended. Conclusion: HHH
      syndrome has an aversion to protein-rich food, and the patients have recurrent
      vomiting and progressive neurological dysfunction. Clinical diagnosis of HHH
      syndrome is difficult and patients may present with incomplete biochemical
      phenotype. The genetic analysis is key for the diagnosis. Depending on their
      condition, individuals with HHH syndrome can be treated with a low-protein diet,
      drugs and liver transplantation.

PMID- 28592011
TI  - [Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based urinary metabolomics in very low
      birth weight premature infants].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the urinary metabolic spectrum and pathways in very low
      birth weight (VLBW) premature infants. Method: A prospective case-control study
      was conducted to collect and compare the data of VLBW premature infants and full
      term infants from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yet-Sen University in
      2014. Within 24 hours after birth, urine specimens in each group were collected.
      Metabolites of urine samples including amino acid, fatty acid and organic acid
      were detected using the urease pre-processing and gas chromatography mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS) technology. Using the orthogonal partial least squares
      discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), the biomarkers and differences between the two
      groups were found. The online metabolic pathway website was explored and
      multivariable analysis was conducted to investigate the valuable pathways and
      biomarkers related to the prematurity. Result: A total of 20 VLBW premature
      infants were enrolled, among whom 11 were male, 9 were female; and 20 full term
      infants were enrolled, among whom 9 were male, 11 were female. The urinary
      metabolites were established and compared between the VLBW premature and term
      infants. The investigation showed that the following nine pathways were enriched:
      amino-acyl-tRNA biosynthesis(P=0.000), lysine degradation(P=0.007), fatty acid
      biosynthesis(P=0.008), pyrimidine metabolism(P=0.014), pantothenate and CoA
      biosynthesis(P=0.022), valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis(P=0.022),
      lysine biosynthesis(P=0.031), glycerolipid metabolism(P=0.046), and valine,
      leucine and isoleucine degradation(P=0.031). Almost all the metabolites decreased
      except for the glyceric acid exhibiting a higher content in the VLBW premature
      infant. 12 potential biomarkers were explored with the most significant
      covariance and correlation, within which stearic acid, palmiticacid, myristic
      acid, beta-amino-isobutyric acid, and uric acid were lower, while myo-inositol,
      mannitol, glycine, glucose1, glucose2, glyceric acid and N-acetyl-tyrosine were
      higher in the VLBW premature group compared with the control group. Conclusion:
      There is a significant difference between the VLBW premature infants and full
      term infants in the metabolic state and pathways. The urease pre-processing and
      GC-MS technology followed by the OPLS-DA and multivariable analysis to
      investigate VLBW premature infants' urinary metabolites is a valuable method to
      evaluate the patients' metabolism.

PMID- 28592012
TI  - [Investigation of dose-dependent association between bedtime routines and sleep
      outcomes in infants and toddlers].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the current bedtime routine among Chinese children less
      than 3 years of age and explore its dose-dependent association with sleep
      duration and sleep quality. Method: Healthy full-term born children aged 0-35
      months were selected by stratified cluster random sampling method from 8
      provinces in China following the "Hospital of Province-City-County" sampling
      technical route during 2012-2013.Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire(BISQ) was used
      to assess sleep conditions of these children.Children's personal and family
      information was obtained by Shanghai Children's Medical Center Socio-demographic
      Questionnaire.Both of these questionnaires were filled in by parents. The effects
      of bedtime routine on children's sleep duration and quality were analyzed by
      multivariate analysis of variance. Result: The children's average age was(12+/
      10) months(n=1 304), of whom 689 were males (52.8%, 689/1 304). There were
      48.5%(632/1 304)of the parents reported that their children had not established
      regular sleep routines. There was a consistent dose-dependent association between
      bedtime routine and sleep duration, as well as other indicators for sleep quality
      (all P<0.05). The more regular the sleep routines, the longer the sleep duration,
      the earlier the children went to sleep, the shorter the sleep onset latency, the
      fewer the nighttime wakeup and the shorter the nighttime waking.The nighttime
      sleep duration was significantly longer for those with a bedtime routine 'every
      night' than those who 'never' had a bedtime routine (9.5(95%CI: 9.4-9.6)vs.
      8.9(95%CI: 8.6-9.3)h, t=3.345, P=0.001). Compared with children who never had
      bedtime routines, children with regular bedtime routines had fewer night wakeup
      (1.3(95%CI: 1.2-1.4) vs. 2.4( 95%CI: 2.0-2.9), t=3.182, P=0.001) and shorter
      night waking duration(16.6(95%CI: 14.6-18.8) vs. 59.2 (95%CI: 47.0-72.7)min,
      t=6.383, P<0.01). Conclusion: The percentage of children who have established
      regular bedtime routine is low in China. There is significant dose-dependent
      association between regular bedtime routine and sleep outcomes, especially sleep
      quality. The more regular the sleep routines, the better the sleep quality.

PMID- 28592013
TI  - [Reliability and validity of warning signs checklist for screening psychological,
      behavioral and developmental problems of children].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the reliability and validity of warning signs checklist
      developed by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's
      Republic of China (NHFPC), so as to determine the screening effectiveness of
      warning signs on developmental problems of early childhood. Method: Stratified
      random sampling method was used to assess the reliability and validity of
      checklist of warning sign and 2 110 children 0 to 6 years of age(1 513 low-risk
      subjects and 597 high-risk subjects) were recruited from 11 provinces of China.
      The reliability evaluation for the warning signs included the test-retest
      reliability and interrater reliability. With the use of Age and Stage
      Questionnaire (ASQ) and Gesell Development Diagnosis Scale (GESELL) as the
      criterion scales, criterion validity was assessed by determining the correlation
      and consistency between the screening results of warning signs and the criterion
      scales. Result: In terms of the warning signs, the screening positive rates at
      different ages ranged from 10.8%(21/141) to 26.2%(51/137). The median
      (interquartile) testing time for each subject was 1(0.6) minute. Both the test
      retest reliability and interrater reliability of warning signs reached 0.7 or
      above, indicating that the stability was good. In terms of validity assessment,
      there was remarkable consistency between ASQ and warning signs, with the Kappa
      value of 0.63. With the use of GESELL as criterion, it was determined that the
      sensitivity of warning signs in children with suspected developmental delay was
      82.2%, and the specificity was 77.7%. The overall Youden index was 0.6.
      Conclusion: The reliability and validity of warning signs checklist for screening
      early childhood developmental problems have met the basic requirements of
      psychological screening scales, with the characteristics of short testing time
      and easy operation. Thus, this warning signs checklist can be used for screening
      psychological and behavioral problems of early childhood, especially in community
      settings.

PMID- 28592014
TI  - [Clinical characteristics of new-onset organ dysfunction in pediatric intensive
      care unit].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of new-onset
      organ dysfunction of patients in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Method: A
      retrospective observational study identified all patients admitted to the PICU of
      Shengjing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University from January 2015 to
      January 2016. The functional status score (FSS) was evaluated at admission and
      hospital discharge respectively, and the difference defined as DeltaFSS between
      the FSS at hospital discharge and the FSS at admission was calculated. According
      to the initial FSS, the patients were divided into normal group (6-7 scores),
      mildly abnormal group (8-9 scores), moderate abnormal group (10-15 scores),
      severe abnormal group (16-21 scores) and extreme severe abnormal group (22-30
      scores). According to the primary disease, all cases were divided into
      cardiovascular disease group, urinary disease group, surgery group, digestive
      disease group, neurological disease group, respiratory disease group,
      hematological disease group, poisoning group and other group. According to the
      FSS domain, all cases were divided into mental status group, sensory group,
      communication group, motor group, feeding group, respiratory group. The incidence
      of new-onset organ dysfunction, the case fatality rate and the FSS of each group
      were calculated. Comparisons were performed using a chi-square test, t test and
      analysis of variance. Result: The study population included 928 patients
      (561(60.5%) male, mean age (31.1+/-1.3) months). The incidence of new-onset organ
      dysfunction was 8.8%(82/928) and the case fatality rate was 1.3%(12/928). The FSS
      at hospital discharge(scores), DeltaFSS (scores) and the incidence of new-onset
      organ dysfunction were significantly less in patients in the normal group (6.38+/
      0.17, -0.20+/-0.17 and 1.3%(3/229), respectively) compared to patients in the
      mildly abnormal group (7.09+/-0.27, -1.39+/-0.27 and 7.2%(12/170), respectively,
      t=2.36, 3.93, chi(2)=7.39, all P<0.05), patients in the moderately abnormal group
      (8.86+/-0.28, -2.76+/-0.28 and 10.6%(38/359), t=6.56, 6.91, chi(2)=17.14, all
      P<0.05), patients in the severely abnormal group(13.56+/-0.88, -4.39+/-0.88 and
      24.6%(19/79), t=12.29, 7.13, chi(2)=42.43, all P<0.05) and patients in the
      extreme severely abnormal group(18.68+/-0.99, -6.59+/-0.91 and 10.9%(10/91),
      t=18.15, 10.10, chi(2)=13.27, all P<0.05). Significant difference was found
      regarding the incidence of new-onset organ dysfunction among patients in
      cardiovascular disease group (27.3%, 24/88), surgery group (9.2%, 6/65),
      digestive disease group (8.2%, 8/97), neurological disease group (7.7%, 23/299),
      respiratory disease group (6.9%, 17/248), hematological disease group (3.9%,
      2/51) and toxic group (0, 0/61) (chi(2)=37.75, all P<0.05). There were
      significant differences among primary disease groups regarding the FSS at
      admission, the FSS at hospital discharge, DeltaFSS, Deltamental status FSS,
      Deltasensory FSS, Deltacommunication FSS, Deltamotor FSS, Deltafeeding FSS, and
      Deltarespiratory FSS (F=13.56, 8.97, 10.84, 6.30, 7.37, 7.84, 7.47, 9.97, 10.50,
      all P<0.05). Conclusion: The incidence of new-onset organ dysfunction in PICU was
      high. The case fatality rate in patients with new-onset organ dysfunction was
      high. The functional status at hospital discharge was strongly associated with
      the functional status at admission. Patients in the cardiovascular disease group
      had the highest incidence of new-onset organ dysfunction and the most severe
      deterioration of functional status.More attention must be paid to motor function
      and respiratory function in cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and
      hematological disease.

PMID- 28592015
TI  - [Clinical manifestations of three cases of surfactant protein C p. V39L
      mutation].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the clinical manifestations of surfactant protein C
      gene (SFTPC) exon-2 c. 115G>G/T (p.V39L). Method: Patients were screened for the
      entire coding sequence of SFTPC. Three cases from three children's hospital with
      mutation in p. V39L were reported. Result: All the three cases were females. The
      age of onset ranged from 2 months to 7 years. Two cases had recurrent lower
      respiratory tract infection and failed to thrive. One had chronic anoxia and
      clubbing fingers. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed diffused ground glass
      pattern, localized emphysema and intralobular septal thickening. In one case,
      early sign of cyst formation was also shown on CT. Two were lost to follow-up
      after alleviation of acute respiratory infection. One was treated with oral low
      dose azithromycin and nebulized budesonide and terbutaline. She had recurrent
      lower respiratory tract infection in more than one year of follow-up. Conclusion:
      Mutations in SFTPC p. V39L cause interstitial lung diseases. Clinical
      manifestations included recurrent respiratory tract infections, chronic lung
      disease. Chest CT showing diffused ground glass pattern, localized emphysema,
      intralobular septal thickening and early sign of cyst formation. The treatment
      and prognosis need further study.

PMID- 28592016
TI  - [Efficacy and safety of oseltamivir in children with suspected influenza: a
      multicenter randomized open-label trial].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oseltamivir in the treatment of
      suspected influenza in children. Method: A multicenter, randomized and open-label
      trial was conducted among 229 individuals with suspected influenza which were
      collected from the clinic of 5 hospitals in Guangdong province (Guangzhou Women
      and Children's Medical Center, Shenzhen Baoan District Maternity and Child Care
      Service Center, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical
      College, Dongguan Maternity and Child Care Service Centre, Yuexiu District
      Children's Hospital of Guangzhou) from April to July 2015. They were randomized
      either to oseltamivir group (oseltamivir 30-75 mg, twice daily for 5 days) or
      control group who were given symptom relief medicines for 5 days. Result: No
      significant difference was found between two groups in influenza symptoms of the
      patients before the treatment(P>0.05). Altogether 229 individuals (114 in
      oseltamivir group, 115 in control group) were analyzed for efficacy, in which 73
      individuals (42 oseltamivir, 31 control), 31.9%, were identified as influenza
      infected through laboratory test. No significant difference was found between the
      two groups in the duration of fever although shortened. In the 229 individuals ,
      the cumulative alleviation proportion between oseltamivir and control group was
      not significantly different (P>0.05): the median duration of illness was 69.9
      hours (95% CI 65.3-91.5) in oseltamivir group and 75.4 hours (95%CI 63.9-91. 7)
      in control group; the median duration of fever was 40.4 hours (95%CI 31.5-53.4)
      in oseltamivir group and 44.0 hours (95%CI 33.2-50.0) in control group. In the 73
      individuals, the cumulative alleviation proportion between oseltamivir and
      control group was significantly different (P<0.05). The median duration of
      illness was 61.2 hours (95%CI 48.0-121. 0) in oseltamivir group, being
      significantly shorter than that of 116.0 hours (95%CI 91.5-175.0) in control
      group. But it was not significantly different that the median duration of fever
      was 32.8 hours (95%CI 24.0-47.0 ) in oseltamivir group and 55.8 hours (95%CI 43.6
      78.3 ) in control group (P>0.05). And the median duration of fever in 60
      individuals (38 oseltamivir, 22 control) was significantly different between two
      groups(P<0.05), who had finished a course of taking oseltamivir in the 73
      individuals, 34.8 hours (95%CI 24.0-48.5 ) in oseltamivir group being
      significantly shorter than that of 53.3 hours (95%CI 43.6-104.0 ) in control
      group. There was certain difference in side effects rate between the two groups
      (oseltamivir 10%, control 2%, P<0.05). The main side-effects were
      gastrointestinal symptoms (stomachache, diarrhea, poor appetite, vomiting).
      Conclusion: The duration of illness and fever in suspected influenza patients
      treated with oseltamivir was shorter than those in the patients treated with no
      oseltamivir, the difference was not statistically significant, when 31.9% was
      confirmed with positive result of virus test in suspected influenza in children.
      But in these patients with positive result of virus test, the duration of illness
      was significantly shortened with treatment with oseltamivir as compared with no
      treatment with oseltamivir, and it would be better if full oseltamivir course was
      completed for reducing the duration of fever. Oseltamivir treatment was safe with
      mild side effects.

PMID- 28592017
TI  - [A case of severe congential neutropenia induced by ELA2 gene mutation].

PMID- 28592018
TI  - [A case report of anaplastic lymphoma kinase-negative anaplastic large-cell
      lymphoma characterized by skin panniculitis in children].

PMID- 28592019
TI  - [Progres of diagnosis and treatment of congenital lung malformations].

PMID- 28592020
TI  - [Research progress of RLR signal transduction pathways blocked by enterovirus
      71].

PMID- 28592021
TI  - [Primary immunodeficiency diseases with eosinophilia].

PMID- 28592022
TI  - [Development and prospects of interventional pulmonology in China].

PMID- 28592023
TI  - [Revival and application of rigid bronchoscopy].

PMID- 28592024
TI  - [Training and competency in interventional pulmonology--the foundation of
      professional development].

PMID- 28592025
TI  - [Comparison of two quantitative methods of endobronchial ultrasound real-time
      elastography for evaluating intrathoracic lymph nodes].
AB  - Objective: To compare the clinical value of two quantitative methods in analyzing
      endobronchial ultrasound real-time elastography (EBUS-RTE) images for evaluating
      intrathoracic lymph nodes. Methods: From January 2014 to April 2014, EBUS-RTE
      examination was performed in patients who received EBUS-TBNA examination in
      Shanghai Chest Hospital. Each intrathoracic lymph node had a selected EBUS-RTE
      image. Stiff area ratio and mean hue value of region of interest (ROI) in each
      image were calculated respectively. The final diagnosis of lymph node was based
      on the pathologic/microbiologic results of EBUS-TBNA, pathologic/microbiologic
      results of other examinations and clinical following-up. The sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy
      were evaluated for distinguishing malignant and benign lesions. Results: Fifty
      six patients and 68 lymph nodes were enrolled in this study, of which 35 lymph
      nodes were malignant and 33 lymph nodes were benign. The stiff area ratio and
      mean hue value of benign and malignant lesions were 0.32+/-0.29, 0.62+/-0.20 and
      109.99+/-28.13, 141.62+/-17.52, respectively, and statistical differences were
      found in both of those two methods (t=-5.14, P<0.01; t=-5.53, P<0.01). The area
      under curves was 0.813, 0.814 in stiff area ratio and mean hue value,
      respectively. The optimal diagnostic cut-off value of stiff area ratio was 0.48,
      and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive
      value and accuracy were 82.86%, 81.82%, 82.86%, 81.82% and 82.35%, respectively.
      The optimal diagnostic cut-off value of mean hue value was 126.28, and the
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value
      and accuracy were 85.71%, 75.76%, 78.95%, 83.33% and 80.88%, respectively.
      Conclusion: Both the stiff area ratio and mean hue value methods can be used for
      analyzing EBUS-RTE images quantitatively, having the value of differentiating
      benign and malignant intrathoracic lymph nodes, and the stiff area ratio is
      better than the mean hue value between the two methods.

PMID- 28592026
TI  - [Clinical analysis of therapeutic bronchoscopy for tracheal neoplasm].
AB  - Objective: To analyze the clinical features in adults with tracheal neoplasm and
      to evaluate the efficacy of interventional bronchoscopic treatment. Methods: We
      retrospectively analyzed the clinical features of 43 adults undergoing
      therapeutic bronchoscopy for tracheal neoplasm diagnosed in Changhai Hospital
      affiliated to the Second Military Medical University from January 2004 to July
      2014.The degree of stenosis, the grade of dyspnea, and Karnofsky performance
      status scale were evaluated before and after the last procedure. All cases were
      followed up for 2 years. Results: The 43 cases took (4.6+/-3.9) months on average
      to be diagnosed since initial symptom. The initial misdiagnosis rate was
      41.9%(18/43), and 11 cases were mistaken for asthma (11/43). Malignant tumors
      were more common than benign tumors for tracheal neoplasm in adults. Squamous
      cell carcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma were the top 2 histological types.
      Central airway obstruction was completely or partially alleviated with
      significant relief of dyspnea after the procedures, and all 6 cases of tracheal
      benign tumors got complete alleviation (the overall response rate was 100%). The
      grade of dyspnea was 3.2+/-0.7 before and 1.5+/-0.8 after the procedures(t=6.63,
      P<0.05). The value of KPS was 63+/-12 before and 83+/-11 after the
      procedures(t=5.78, P<0.05). The 2-year survival rate of 6 cases of tracheal
      benign tumors was 100.0%, and 1 case of papillomatosis had a relapse. The 1-year
      survival rate and 2-year survival rate of 37 cases of tracheal malignant tumors
      were 59.5% and 43.2% respectively with a median survival of 13.6 months.
      Conclusion: Therapeutic bronchoscopic interventions provide significantly
      alleviation of central airway obstruction and result in improvement in shortness
      of breath and quality of life for tracheal neoplasm.

PMID- 28592027
TI  - [Glyburide prevents pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and
      migration via inhibiting NLRP3 activation].
AB  - Objective: To investigate whether glyburide prevents platelet-derived growth
      factor (PDGF) induced pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells(PASMCs) proliferation
      and migration via inhibiting nucleotide binding domain leucine-rich repeat
      containing receptors protein 3(NLRP3) inflammasome activation. Methods: PASMCs
      were divided into 4 groups: control group, glyburide group, PDGF group and PDGF+
      glyburide group. Cell proliferation and migration were assessed by MTT and
      Transwell respectively. The NLRP3 inflammasome activation was assessed by Western
      blot. Results: Compared with the control group, the protein expressions of NLRP3,
      caspase-1 and IL-1beta in PASMCs were increased to (1.38+/-0.09, t=3.998,
      P<0.001), (1.32+/-0.1, t=3.268, P<0.01)and(1.43+/-0.19) (t=2.096, P<0.05) folds
      in the PDGF group. Glyburide had no effect on NLRP3, caspase-1 and IL-1beta
      expression as compared with the control group, while the NLRP3, caspase-1 and IL
      1beta were decreased by(20.49+/-7.6)% (t=2.862, P<0.01), (32.94+/-3.44)%
      (t=4.154, P<0.001) and (24.67+/-5.29)% (t=2.335, P<0.05) in the PDGF+ glyburide
      group, respectively, as compared with the PDGF group. Compared with the control
      group, the PASMCs proliferation and migration in the PDGF group were
      significantly increased to (1.74+/-0.23, t=4.717, P<0.001) and (3.12+/-0.8,
      t=5.249, P<0.001) folds, respectively. Compared with the control group, glyburide
      had no effect on PASMCs proliferation and migration. In PDGF+ glyburide group,
      cell proliferation was reduced by (50.5+/-4.27)% (t=4.462, P<0.001) and cell
      migration count was lower than in the PDGF group (42.77+/-2.84)% (t=3.716,
      P<0.001). Conclusion: Glyburide could ameliorate PDGF-induced PASMCs
      proliferation and migration by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

PMID- 28592029
TI  - [Effects of noninvasive proportional assist vs pressure support ventilation on
      respiratory work in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with
      hypercapnia].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the effect of noninvasive proportional assist
      ventilation (PAV) on respiratory work in chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease(COPD) patients, in comparison to noninvasive pressure support
      ventilation(PSV). Methods: Ten severe COPD patients with hypercapnia during acute
      exacerbation were examined. The baseline inspiratory pressure of PSV (PS) and the
      assistance level of PAV(PA) were titrated by patients' tolerance. In addition to
      the baseline PS and PA, an additional decrease by 25% (PS-=75% PS, PA-=75% PA) or
      increase by 25% (PS+ =125% PS, PA+ =125% PA) of the assist level were applied to
      the patients. After the assessment of unassisted spontaneous breathing (SB), the
      patient was placed on the 6 levels of noninvasive-PSV and noninvasive-PAV in
      random sequence. Each level lasted at least 20 minutes. Respiratory rate (RR),
      tidal volume (Vt), and respiratory work(Wex, Wip and Wv) were measured.
      Asynchrony index (AI) was calculated. Results: During ventilation, Vt was
      significantly higher with each assist level than with SB. The Vt was significant
      increased with PS+ than with PA+ . An increase in expiratory work(Wex) and
      decrease in inspiratory work(Wip) were observed respectively, with the increasing
      assist level. The inspiratory muscles assessed by Wip were more unloaded at PS
      compared with PA [PS: (1.59+/-1.27) J/min vs PA: (4.99+/-3.48) J/min P<0.01].
      However, the Wex was significantly higher with PS+ than with PA+ [PS+ : (1.17+/
      0.54) J/min vs PA+ : (0.49+/-0.56)J/min, P<0.01]. The AI was increased with the
      increasing assist level of PSV [PS-: (0.46+/-0.57)%, PS: (1.36+/-1.24)% PS+ :
      (5.26+/-4.77)]. No asynchrony events were observed at PA- and PA. "Runaway"
      (expiratory asynchrony) was observed during PA+ [AI: (2.62+/-2.72)%].
      Conclusions: Noninvasive-PAV can increase the Vt and decrease the Wip of the COPD
      patients with hypercapnia and avoid the over-assistance. The "Runaway" will occur
      at assist level higher than that set by tolerance. Physiological data can monitor
      the patient's responses and the ventilator-patient interaction, which may provide
      objective criteria for ventilator setting.

PMID- 28592028
TI  - [Analysis of 12 cases of exogenous lipoid pneumonia confirmed by pathology].
AB  - Objective: To study the etiological, clinical, radiological, diagnostic,
      therapeutic, and prognostic manifestations of exogenous lipoid pneumonia (ELP),
      and therefore to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Methods:
      The clinical data of 12 cases of ELP confirmed by pathology were retrospectively
      analyzed. Results: The patients consisted of 9 males and 3 females, with an
      average age of 73.8 years (range, 44 to 100 years). The underlying diseases were
      variable, including diseases affecting the general condition (multiple organ
      failure, chronic heart and renal insufficiency, pemphigoid, etc) and conditions
      with increased risk of aspiration (sequelae of cerebrovascular disease,
      Alzheimer's disease, advanced stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, paralytic ileus,
      etc). The 12 cases were all caused by Inhalation of mineral oil. Common symptoms
      included cough, sputum production and dyspnea. ELP had no special physical signs.
      Inflammation indexes, such as white blood cell, neutrophil percentage, ESR, C
      reactive protein, procalcitonin, D-Dimer, and blood lipid levels were usually
      normal. Radiological features of ELP mainly included consolidation, mass or
      nodules, with a little ground-glass opacity. Some patients had ventilation and/or
      diffusion dysfunction. The diagnostic methods included CT-guided percutaneous
      lung biopsy, thoracoscopy, thoracotomy or autopsy. Histopathological findings
      showed accumulation of large foamy macrophages in the alveolar spaces, with a few
      lipid deposition and polykaryocytes. The main treatment of ELP was cessation of
      lipid material contact. One case died of ELP, 6 died of other coexisting
      diseases, and the rest 6 improved with treatment and were discharged. The
      survival patients were all stable during a follow-up of 2-4.5 years. Conclusions:
      ELP was rare and its clinical manifestation was atypical. Its radiological
      manifestations were indistinguishable from pneumonia, lung cancer, interstitial
      lung diseases, etc. Pathological examination was the gold standard for diagnosis,
      and the preferred means of sampling was bronchoscopy. In cases whose diagnosis
      could not be confirmed by BALF, CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy might be
      considered. The most important treatment is cessation of lipid material contact.
      The prognosis is good.

PMID- 28592030
TI  - [Follicular bronchiolitis: report of 3 cases and literature review].
AB  - Objective: To improve understanding of the characteristics of follicular
      bronchiolitis(FB). Methods: The clinical data of 3 patients with FB confirmed by
      thoracoscopic lung biopsy were retrospectively analyzed. A literature search was
      performed with "follicular bronchiolitis" as the key word in China Knowledge
      Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang and PubMed, Ovid Database. The time
      interval was from January 1947 to December 2015. Related articles of FB were
      retrieved and the clinical, radiographic characteristics and prognosis were
      analyzed. Results: Among the 3 patients, 1 was male and 2 were female, aging 32
      55 years. Two patients were asymptomatic, and 1 patient presented with fever,
      cough and dyspnea. Two patients showed normal pulmonary ventilatory function with
      decreased diffusive function, and 1 patient showed normal pulmonary function. The
      predominant HRCT findings were bilateral multiple small nodules and cystic
      opacities, patchy ground-glass opacities, reticular opacities and traction
      bronchiectasis. The pathological examination by thoracoscopic biopsy revealed
      bronchiolar and peribronchiolar lymphoid follicles. All patients were treated
      with corticosteroids, with 2 patients receiving immunosuppressants. Follow-up
      HRCT after 1-2 months showed no improvement, and further follow-up HRCT after 2-4
      years revealed no change in 2 patients while the other patient had increased
      pulmonary nodules and cystic opacities. Seventeen articles concerning FB with
      complete records were included in the literature review. A total of 64 patients
      were reported in these articles. The typical images were bilateral multiple small
      nodules and ground-glass opacities, reticular opacities, and cystic opacities.
      The majority of patients improved after treatment of corticosteroids and (or)
      immunosuppressants. But our 3 cases showed no improvement. Conclusions: FB is a
      rare small airway disease which has non-specific clinical manifestations and
      pulmonary function. The most common imaging findings are bilateral multiple small
      nodules, with cystic opacities, ground-glass opacities, and reticular opacities.
      Surgical thoracoscopic biopsy can get ideal specimen which is useful for
      diagnosis. The curative effects of corticosteroids or immunosuppressants on FB
      need to be further clinically investigated.

PMID- 28592031
TI  - [The stimulation of human pulmonary artery endothelial cells by cigarette smoke
      extract contributed to cell senescence and induced human pulmonary artery smooth
      cell migration].
AB  - Objective: To observe the senescent effect of human pulmonary arterial
      endothelial cells (HPAEC) stimulated by cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and the
      effect of secretion of senescent cells on human pulmonary arterial smooth muscles
      cell (HPASMC) proliferation and migration. Methods: HPAEC was treated with
      different concentrations of CSE in vitro and cell proliferation was determined by
      CCK8, senescence cells analyzed by detecting the beta-gal activity, and the
      senescent proteins of cells measured by Western blot. The concentration of
      senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) was detected by ELISA and the
      expression of MCP-1 and TGF-beta1 was measured by Real-time PCR. The number of
      the proliferated cells was measured by Transwell assay and immunoflurescence.
      Results: The HPAEC was aging with the stimulation concentration of CSE increasing
      and the stimulation time prolonging (P<0.05). Western blot indicated that the
      senescent associated protein p53 or p21 increased markedly after 48 h and 72 h
      CSE-exposure (n=3, P<0.05). The SA-beta-Gal staining showed that the number of
      senescent cells increased as the exposure time prolonged. Compared with the
      control group, cell viability of 48 h group(1.8+/-0.1) and 72 h group (1.8+/-0.1)
      decreased significantly. The flow cytometry showed a significant difference
      between the CSE group(14.1+/-1.2) and the control group(28.5+/-1.8) in S
      phase(P<0.01), indicating cell cycle arrest. The SASP was increasing as the CSE
      exposure prolonged. Compared with the control group(177+/-39), the 48 h
      group(460+/-43) and the 72 h group(609+/-64) showed a marked increase in MCP
      1(P<0.05). For TGF-beta1, it had a same tendency and a significant difference
      between the control group(121+/-18) and the 48 h group(413+/-32) or 72 h
      group(606+/-67, both P<0.05). In the meantime, the bFGF increased after 48 h
      stimulation(291+/-13, P<0.05). Besides MCP-1, TGF-beta1 showed a significant
      difference between the control group and the 72 h CSE-exposure group (P<0.01).
      Premature cells could secrete SASP which induced HPASMC proliferation. After
      different times of conditioned medium stimulation, HPASMC proliferated especially
      at 72 h(P<0.05) . The immnoflorescence and Transwell assay confirmed this
      finding. Conclusion: CSE could induce senescence of HPAEC and SASP production
      which improved HPASMC proliferation and migration.

PMID- 28592032
TI  - [Tracheobronchomalacia and excessive dynamic airway collapse].

PMID- 28592033
TI  - [Advances in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and epigenetics].

PMID- 28592034
TI  - [Chemokines and tuberculosis].

PMID- 28592035
TI  - [Evaluate the role of the guidelines from the development of "Chinese guidelines
      for the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal disease in patients with
      hematological disorders and cancers" in China].

PMID- 28592036
TI  - [Undefined invasive fungal disease: a perspectie from the Chinese guidelines for
      the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal disease in patients with
      hematological disorders and cancers].

PMID- 28592037
TI  - [A prospective control study of Saccharomyces boulardii in prevention of
      antibiotic-associated diarrhea in the older inpatients].
AB  - Objective: To study the value of Saccharomyces boulardii for the prevention of
      antibiotic-associated diarrhea in older inpatients. Methods: A total of 163 older
      patients who were treated with wide-spectrum antibiotics at least three days
      during January 2014 to December 2015 were randomly divided into control and study
      group. In study group, 81 patients were administrated with oral Saccharomyces
      boulardii 500 mg twice a day for 21 days. The control group was of no
      intervention. Morbidity rate of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium
      difficile-associated diarrhea, frequency and duration of diarrhea were recorded.
      Results: The incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in study group was
      significantly lower than that in control group [14.8%(12/81) vs 28.0%(23/82),
      P<0.05], whereas no difference was seen in the incidence of Clostridium difficile
      associated diarrhea [3.7%(3/81) vs 4.9%(4/82), P>0.05] in two groups. The
      frequency and duration of diarrhea in the study group were significantly lower
      and shorter than those in control group[(4.3+/-1.7) times/day vs (6.9+/-2.0)
      times/day; (3.0+/-1.1) days vs (5.7+/-1.8) days, both P<0.01].
      Conclusion:Saccharomyces boulardii may reduce the incidence of antibiotic
      associated diarrhea therefore improving the symptom of diarrhea in older
      inpatients.

PMID- 28592038
TI  - [The application of captopril challenge test in the diagnosis of primary
      aldosteronism].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the value of captopril challenge test (CCT) in the
      diagnosis of primary aldosteronism (PA). Methods: A total of 674 patients
      [(45.0+/-13.7) years, men 341, women 333] admitted to Peking Union Medical
      College Hospital from 2000 to 2015 were analyzed. Among them, 222 subjects were
      with essential hypertension (EH), 28 were with pheochromocytoma (PHEO), 246 were
      with idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA) and 178 were with aldosterone producing
      adenoma (APA). All patients received CCT. 24 h urine sodium was measured in
      partial patients. Plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone (ALD) were detected.
      Results: Compared with EH [PRA: before 0.5(0.2, 0.9) MUg.L(-1).h(-1,) after
      0.8(0.4, 1.5) MUg.L(-1).h(-1;) ALD: before (393+/-122) pmol/L, after (360+/-97)
      pmol/L] and PHEO [PRA: before 0.3(0.1, 0.9) MUg.L(-1).h(-1,) after 0.4(0.1, 1.6)
      MUg.L(-1).h(-1;) ALD: before (396+/-108) pmol/L, after (374+/-114) pmol/L], lower
      levels of PRA and higher levels of ALD before and after CCT were observed in PA
      patients [PRA: before 0.1 (0.1, 0.2) MUg.L(-1).h(-1,) after 0.1 (0.1, 0.2) MUg.L(
      1).h(-1;) ALD: before (468+/-216) pmol/L; after (457+/-199) pmol/L]. After CCT,
      the suppression rate of ALD [2.8% (-8.8%, 15.4%) vs 6.6% (-4.3%, 17.6%)] and
      increasing rate of PRA [0(0, 50%) vs 50%(0, 200%)] in PA patients were lower than
      those in EH patients. The ALD/PRA ratio (ARR) were higher in PA than that in EH
      or PHEO patients. In the EH subjects, ALD levels of seated posture were higher
      than those of recumbent posture both before and after receiving captopril, but
      with no changes in ARR after CCT. No significant differences in ALD and ARR
      (before and after receiving captopril) were observed between seated and recumbent
      position in the PA group. The ARR after CCT tended to decrease in EH subjects
      with elevated urine-sodium compared with those with normal urine-sodium. No
      changes could be viewed in ALD and PRA levels between normal urine-sodium and
      elevated urine-sodium groups among APA, IHA and EH patients either before or
      after CCT. Among patients with APA, the ALD levels before CCT and the ARR after
      CCT were lower in the patients with AngiotensionII(AngII) reactive than those
      without. A ROC curve analysis suggested that the optimal cutoff value was 46.2
      (ALD unit: ng/dl; PRA unit: MUg.L(-1).h(-1)) for ARR after challenge in
      diagnosing PA, with the sensitivity of 88.7% and specificity of 84.8%.
      Conclusions: ARR after 25 mg captopril had high sensitivity and specificity in
      diagnosis of PA with the cutoff of 46.2. Seated CCT could replace recumbent CCT
      as a more confirmatory test. The PRA increasing rate should be taken into
      consideration when diagnosis of PA.

PMID- 28592039
TI  - [The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among adults in rural areas of Ningxia Hui
      autonomous region].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) among adults
      in rural areas of Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Methods: A cross-sectional study
      was conducted in 10 639 adults enrolled with a multistage method from Jingyuan
      County. The MS was identified according to Chinese type 2 diabetes prevention
      guide (2013). Results: Among all the subjects, 17.4% of them met the MS
      definition with the standardized prevalence of 14.7% after adjustment of sex and
      age. The prevalence and standardized rate of MS in men were 19.9% and 17.3%, and
      in women were 15.3% and 13.5%.The prevalence of MS in men was higher than that in
      women(P<0.001) and increased with aging in both genders. The prevalence and
      standardized rate of abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension, high
      triglycerides, and low HDL-C were 19.5% and 16.7%, 15.0% and 12.9%, 42.0% and
      37.1%, 25.8% and 23.1%, 28.5% and 27.7%, respectively. The rate of abdominal
      obesity was higher in women than in men (20.5% vs 18.2%, P=0.004), whereas the
      rate of hypertension, high triglycerides, and low HDL-C were higher in men than
      in women (all P<0.01). The prevalence of having one parameter of the MS was
      68.4%. Conclusion: The prevalence of MS is higher in rural areas of Ningxia Hui
      autonomous region, suggesting that a series of comprehensive prevention measures
      should be carried out to prevent and control the MS so as to improve the public
      health conditions in rural areas.

PMID- 28592040
TI  - [Surgical treatment of severe, refractory hemorrhagic cystitis following
      allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a report of 17 patients].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the clinical effect and safety of surgical treatment
      for severe, refractory hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) after allogeneic hematopoietic
      stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Methods: Patients with severe HC, who were
      admitted to Peking University Institute of Hematology from January 2010 to
      December 2015, were enrolled in this study.All patients were refractory to
      medical managements and received bladder surgery including mucous
      electrocoagulation and/or selective transcatheter arterial embolization. Results:
      A total of 17 patients with severe HC (grade III, n=5; grade IV, n=12) received
      surgical treatment, including 11 embolization and 18 mucous
      electrocoagulation.The median time from allo-HSCT to surgery was 107 d (46-179 d)
      and 75 d after HC.Eight patients only received embolization.Four patients only
      received mucous electrocoagulation.Five patients were given combined embolization
      and electrocoagulation.HC was cured in 11 patients, improved in 1 patient, which
      corresponded to a response rate of 70.6% and complete remission rate of
      64.7%.Five patients didn't respond to these methods.In patients with response,
      macroscopic hematuria disappeared 3 to 10 days after treatments whereas
      microscopic hematuria vanished after 25 to 32 days.Both procedures were well
      tolerated and no severe adverse effects were observed. Conclusion: Surgery of
      bladder mucous electrocoagulation and/or selective arterial embolization are safe
      and effective for severe HC.

PMID- 28592042
TI  - [The significances of peripheral neutrophils CD(55) and myeloperoxidase
      expression in patients with myeloperoxidase-specific anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic
      antibody associated vasculitis].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the expression of CD(55) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) on
      neutrophils in patients with MPO-specific anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody
      associated vasculitis(MPO-AAV), and analyze the relationship between the
      expression and clinical manifestation. Methods: Forty untreated patients with
      active MPO-AAV (patient group) and 30 healthy volunteers (control group) were
      enrolled in this study. The CD(55) on neutrophils and both membrane and
      cytoplasmic MPO were detected by flow cytometry. Serum fragment-from the
      activated complement factor B(Ba) and MPO were measured by ELISA. The clinical
      activity of vasculitis was valued by Birmingham vasculitis activity score-version
      3(BVAS-V3). The significance of laboratory data was evaluated by Spearman
      correlation test and multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: (1)The
      mean fluorescence intensity(MFI) of CD(55) expressed on neutrophils was
      significantly higher than that in control group[4 068.6+/-2 306.0 vs 2 999.5+/-1
      504.9, P=0.033]. Similar results of serum MPO and Ba in patient group were found
      compared to controls [500.0(381.0, 612.7) IU/L vs 286.9(225.5, 329.1) IU/L,
      P<0.001; 35.2(25.2, 79.5) ng/L vs 18.0(15.0, 28.0) ng/L, P<0.001], respectively.
      However, MIF of cytoplasmic MPO in patients was significantly lower than that of
      control group(1 577.1+/-1 175.9 vs 3 105.3+/-2 323.0, P=0.003) . (2) In patient
      group, cytoplasmic intensity of MPO was negatively associated with the serum
      levels of MPO(r=-0.710, P<0.001) and Ba (r=-0.589, P=0.001). Moreover, serum MPO
      was positively associated with serum Ba(r=0.691, P<0.001). Membrane intensity of
      CD(55) on neutrophils was positively correlated with patient age (r=0.514,
      P=0.001), C reactive protein (r=0.376, P=0.018), peripheral neutrophils count
      (r=0.485, P=0.001) and BVAS-V3 (r=0.484, P=0.002), whereas negative correlation
      between membrane CD(55) and disease duration was seen (r=-0.403, P=0.01). (3) The
      result of multiple linear regression analysis showed there was statistically
      significant positive correlation between MFI of CD(55) expressed on neutrophils
      and BVAS-V3 (beta=0.001, P=0.027). Conclusions: In MPO-AAV, CD(55) expression on
      neutrophils is markedly enhanced, which is one of the independent risk factors
      related to disease activity. It might protect neutrophils from attacking AAV,
      CD(55) expression on neutrophils is markedly enhanced, which is one of the
      independent risk factors related to disease activity. It might protect
      neutrophils from attacking by complement alternative pathway. Activated
      neutrophils release more MPO and lysosome to intensify the inflammation reaction
      and aggravate the disease. Thus CD(55) might become a new potential target for
      the treatment of this disease in the future.

PMID- 28592041
TI  - [The effects of different tidal volume ventilation on right ventricular function
      in critical respiratory failure patients].
AB  - Objective: To observe and explore the effects of different tidal volume (VT)
      ventilation on right ventricular (RV) function in patients with critical
      respiratory failure. Methods: Consecutive respiratory failure patients who were
      treated with invasive ventilator over 24 h in the Department of Critical Care
      Medicine at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from June to December
      in 2015 were enrolled in this study.Clinical data including patients' vital
      signs, ventilator parameters and RV echocardiography were collected within 6 h
      (D0), day1(D1), day2 (D2) and day3 (D3) after ventilation started.According to
      the VT, patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) were assigned to
      low VT group [S6, <=6 ml/kg predicted body weight (PBW)] and high VT group (L6,
      >6 ml/kg PBW), while non-ARDS patients were also assigned to low VT group (S8,
      <=8 ml/kg PBW) and high VT group (L8, >8 ml/kg PBW). Results: A total of 84
      patients were enrolled in this study.44.2% ARDS patients and 58.5% non-ARDS
      patients were in low VT groups.After ventilation, tricuspid annulus plane
      systolic excursion(TAPSE)decreased progressively in S6 [from 18.30(16.70, 20.70)
      mm to 17.55(15.70, 19.50) mm, P=0.001], L6 [from 19.50(17.00, 21.00) mm to
      16.30(15.00, 18.00) mm P=0.001], S8[from 18.00(16.00, 21.00) mm to 16.50(15.50,
      18.00) mm, P=0.001] and L8 [from 19.00(17.50, 21.50) mm to 16.35(15.15, 17.00)
      mm, P=0.001] groups.However, TAPSE decreased less in small VT groups (S6 and S8)
      than those of in large VT groups (S8 and L8) without significant
      differences.There were not statistical differences between different VT groups in
      terms of ventilation days, including right ventricle area/left ventricle area
      (RV(area)/LV(area)), TAPSE, peak mitral flow velocity of the early rapid filling
      wave (E), peak mitral flow velocity of the late rapid filling wave (A), early
      diastolic velocity of the tricuspid annulus (e'), pulmonary artery systolic
      pressure, inferior vena cava diameter (all P>0.05). Compared to L6 group, low VT
      (S6 group) resulted in decreased mortality at 28 days [1/19 vs 37.5%(9/24),
      P=0.014]. There were not statistical differences between different VT groups in
      terms of ventilation days, length of intensive care unit stay, length of hospital
      stay (all P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that VT could be the
      independent factor of TAPSE (OR=1.104, 95%CI 0.100-1.003, P=0.049). Conclusions:
      Positive pressure mechanical ventilation resulted in RV systolic dysfunction
      .Lower VT may have the protective effect on RV function. Trial registration:
      Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-POC-15007563.

PMID- 28592044
TI  - [Dermatomyositis associated with glycogen storage disease type II: a case
      report].

PMID- 28592043
TI  - [A report of atypical hypomyelinating leukodystrophy with atrophy of the basal
      ganglia and cerebellum caused by a de novo mutation in tubulin beta 4A (TUBB4A)
      gene and literature review].
AB  - Objective: To explore the clinical symptoms and neuroimaging features of a
      patient with atypical hypomyelinating leukodystrophy with atrophy of the basal
      ganglia and cerebellum (H-ABC) caused by a novel TUBB4A mutation. Methods: We
      analyzed the clinical data, imaging features and the result of genetic testing of
      a case diagnosed as atypical H-ABC. Results: The initial symptoms were
      progressive spasticity, mild cerebellar ataxia and mild cognitive impairment. MRI
      showed regional blurring of slight high signal on T(2)-weight and FLAIR image in
      white matter of the bilateral midbrain ventral, internal capsule, posteior horn
      of lateral ventricle and centrum semiovale, with normal bilateral cerebellar and
      caudoputamen nucleus. Compared with normal subjects of the same age and gender,
      hypometabolism was found by (18)F-FDG-PET in brainstem, cerebellar and
      caudoputamen nucleus in the patient. Genetic testing revealed a de novo
      pathogenic exome missense heterozygous mutations c. 70G>A in TUBB4A, which was
      not reported in the human gene mutation database (HGMDpro) and was assessed to be
      a pathogenic mutation by pathogenic mutation prediction software. Conclusions:
      The diversity of TUBB4A gene mutations may cause different functional and/or
      structural impairment in subcortical white matter, cerebellar and caudoputamen
      nucleus, leading to atypical symptoms and neuroimaging features. Genetic testing
      for pathogenic mutation in TUBB4A gene is a key for the diagnosis of H-ABC.

PMID- 28592045
TI  - [Standardized diagnosis and treatment of diabetes: a talk from an event that
      should not have happened].

PMID- 28592046
TI  - [The application of selectie granulocyte and monocyte apheresis in the treatment
      of ulcerative colitis].

PMID- 28592047
TI  - [The update of emerging targeted therapies of lung cancer].

PMID- 28592048
TI  - [The development of the epidemiology in osteoarthritis].

PMID- 28592049
TI  - [The Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal
      disease in patients with hematological disorders and cancers (the fifth
      revision)].
AB  - Invasive fungal disease(IFD) is a common yet highly lethal complication in
      patients with hematological malignancies receiving chemotherapy or stem cell
      transplantation, as well as immune suppressive conditions including aplastic
      anemia and other malignancies. According to the diagnostic criteria, patients are
      defined as proven, probable, possible and undefined IFD based on the evidence
      provided by histopathologic/cytologic, culture, radiographic and biomarker
      examinations. For the management of IFD, the major treatment strategies consist
      of prophylaxis, empirical, diagnostic-driven and target therapy. The Chinese
      Invasive Fungal Infection Working Group has developed the Chinese consensus for
      the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal disease based on international
      guidelines and local experience. Recently, the working group revises the
      consensus by update international guidelines and clinical studies in China.

PMID- 28592050
TI  - [The Chinese guidelines for the evaluation and management of cerebral collateral
      circulation in ischemic stroke (2017)].
AB  - Precise evaluation of the structure and function of collateral circulation is
      vital for individualized management in stroke. By summarizing the most up-to-date
      evidence, the new concepts and clinical significance of cerebral collaterals are
      highlighted in the guideline, and clinical recommendations for the evaluation and
      management strategies of cerebral collateral circulation are provided.

PMID- 28592051
TI  - [Expert consensus for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in Chinese women].
AB  - Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for Chinese women, which has
      not been paid enough attention at present. Chinese women account for 20 percent
      of 3.5 billion women all over the world. Health promotion and prevention are
      facing the rigorous challenge. The pathophysiological characteristics, clinical
      manifestations, disease diagnosis, drug metabolism and prevention strategies of
      woman cardiovascular diseases are different from those of men in some respects
      and require special attention. "Consensus for the prevention of cardiovascular
      diseases in Chinese women" is developed by Women Physician Committee of Chinese
      College Cardiovascular Physicians and Women's Health Work Group of Chinese
      Society of Cardiology, which is aimed at strengthening and promoting prevention
      of cardiovascular diseases in Chinese women.

PMID- 28592053
TI  - [Improving the management and prognosis of renal hypertension].

PMID- 28592052
TI  - [The 457th case: polyarthralgia, back pain and subcutaneous masses].
AB  - A 54-year-old man was admitted to the Department of Rheumatology in Peking Union
      Medical College Hospital due to polyarthritis, back pain and multiple
      subcutaneous masses. He had symmetrical polyarthritis at onset, which was
      diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. His follow-up and treatment were irregular.
      Back pain and multiple subcutaneous masses developed 2 year ago. Erythrocyte
      sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were elevated. Rheumatoid factor and
      Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody were positive. No evidence of
      infection or malignancy was detected. Chest CT suggested pulmonary fibrosis and
      osteolytic lesions of sternum. Spinal MRI showed paravertebral soft tissue.
      Biopsy of the soft tissue suggested the pathological finding of a rheumatoid
      nodule. The patient was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis complicated with
      multiple rheumatoid bursal cysts.Combination therapy of
      methylprednisolone(40mg/d) and cyclophosphamide(0.4 g/w) lead to a rapid
      improvement of clinical symptoms and laboratory parameters.The patient was still
      in remission at 6-month follow-up.

PMID- 28592054
TI  - [Focus on promoting the standardization of the clinical oxygen therapy in China].

PMID- 28592055
TI  - [Shortcomings of CORAL trial and prospect of treatments in the future].

PMID- 28592056
TI  - [Special Forums:Standardization of Oxygen Therapy Side effects of hyperoxia for
      respiratory critically ill patients and oxygen therapy criteria].

PMID- 28592057
TI  - [Rational oxygen therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

PMID- 28592059
TI  - [Hyperoxia induced injury and its pathological mechanisms].

PMID- 28592058
TI  - [Hazards of hyperoxia in patients with myocardial infarction and heart failure].

PMID- 28592060
TI  - [Introduction and interpretation of oxygen therapy guidelines in various
      countries].

PMID- 28592061
TI  - [Value of forced expiratory volume in 6 seconds (FEV(6)) in the evaluation of
      pulmonary function in Chinese elderly males].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the value of forced expiratory volume in 6 seconds
      (FEV(6)) in the evaluation of pulmonary function in Chinese elderly males.
      Methods: Pulmonary function tests of elderly who had received regular physical
      examination in Beijing Hospital from July 2003 to April 2015 were analyzed on
      subjects with the following characteristics: aged 60 years or older, completion
      of bronchial dilation test and able to exhale for at least six seconds. The
      included subjects were divided into 2 groups: 60-<80 years group and >=80 years
      group. The association of FEV(6) with forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV(1)/FEV(6)
      with FEV(1)/FVC, the diagnostic efficiency and influencing factor of FEV(6) and
      FEV(1)/FEV(6) were analyzed; the value of FEV(6) in the evaluation of pulmonary
      function in the study population was evaluated. Results: A total of 475 elderly
      men aged 60 years or older were enrolled, with a mean age of (77.13+/-9.53)
      years. Totally there were 269 subjects in 60-<80 years group, which accounted for
      56.6%; 206 subjects were in >=80 years group, which accounted for 43.4%. There
      were 292 subjects with irreversible airflow obstruction, accounting for 61.5%. In
      all the included subjects, FEV(6) was significantly correlated with FVC and post
      bronchodilator FEV(1)/FEV(6) was significantly correlated with post
      bronchodilator FEV(1)/FVC(r=0.971, 0.978; both P<0.001), which were similar in 60
      <80 years group and >=80 years group (r=0.967, 0.974 and r=0.955, 0.967; all
      P<0.001). FEV(1)/FEV(6) showed excellent accuracy in diagnosing airflow
      obstruction[area under curve (AUC)=0.990(95%CI: 0.983-0.996); P<0.001]. Using
      FEV(1)/FVC<0.70 as a reference, FEV(1)/FEV(6)<0.73 had the best sensitivity
      (0.952) and specificity (0.945), and there was excellent agreement between the
      two diagnostic cutoffs (kappa=0.891; P<0.001). When difference between before and
      after bronchial dilation test was analyzed, no correlation was observed between
      FEV(6) improvement and the improvement of forced expiratory time (r=0.089;
      P=0.053), but FVC improvement was significantly correlated with the improvement
      of forced expiratory time (r=0.460; P<0.001). Similar results were also found in
      subjects with irreversible airflow obstruction. Subjects with FEV(1)/FEV(6)>=0.70
      and FEV(1)/FVC<0.70 were categorized as pulmonary function middle group, a total
      of 73 cases, which included 20 cases >=80 years old. The proportion of middle
      group among >=80 years group was significantly less than that of the 60-<80 years
      group (chi(2)=8.958; P=0.003). In pulmonary function middle group, FEV(1)/FEV(6)
      or FEV(1)/FVC had no correlation with inspiratory capacity or residual
      volume/total lung capacity (all P>0.05). Conclusions: FEV(6) and FEV(1)/FEV(6)
      are strongly correlated with FVC and FEV(1)/FVC, and there is excellent agreement
      between FEV(1)/FEV(6) and FEV(1)/FVC. FEV(6) is simple, easy to operate and with
      less influencing factors, which can be used as a valid alternative for FVC in
      diagnosing airflow obstruction in elderly males.

PMID- 28592062
TI  - [Glucose excursion in senior patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary
      artery disease].
AB  - Objectives: To explore glucose excursion and incidence of hypoglycemia in senior
      patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD)
      with different hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values. Methods: Eighty-nine outpatients
      [58 male, 31 female, aged 69.0 (66.0, 73.0) years] diagnosed with T2DM and CAD in
      Beijing Anzhen Hospital between June 2013 and March 2016 were divided into group
      A (HbA1c<6.5%, n=25) and group B (HbA1c>=6.5%, n=64). Every patient wore
      continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) for 72 h. Glucose excursion
      parameters and incidence of hypoglycemia from CGMS readings were calculated.
      Results: Compared with group B, patients in group A experienced shorter diabetes
      duration [8.0 (3.5, 15.0) vs 15.0 (8.0, 20.0) years, Z=-2.222, P=0.026], lower
      standard deviation (SD) of blood glucose from CGMS, mean amplitude of glycemic
      excursions(MAGE) and mean of the daily differences(MODD) (P=0.001, 0.003, 0.001).
      However, incidence of hypoglycemia was significantly increased [56.0% (14/25) vs
      32.8% (21/64), chi(2)=4.051, P=0.044] in group A. Compared to those who had not
      experienced hypoglycemia, patients with hypoglycemia had higher SD [1.8(1.4, 2.4)
      mmol/L vs 1.4(1.1, 1.8) mmol/L, Z=-3.198, P=0.001] and MAGE [6.0(3.2, 7.4) mmol/L
      vs 3.9(2.7, 4.8 )mmol/L, Z=-2.768, P=0.006] which were appropriate tools for
      assessing intraday glycemic variability. No statistical difference were found in
      MODD which was the index for estimating interday glycemic variability.
      Conclusions: Intensive glycemic control in senior patients with T2DM and CAD had
      higher incidence of hypoglycemia. Those with hypoglycemia experienced greater
      intraday glucose excursion.

PMID- 28592064
TI  - [Clinical analysis on monitoring and comprehensive treatment after carotid
      endarterectomy].
AB  - Objective: To discuss the therapeutic effect of management of carotid
      endarterectomy in care unit. Methods: A total of 315 patients with carotid
      atherosclerotic stenosis were enrolled. All of the patients were taken into care
      unit under tracheal intubation anesthesia after carotid endarterectomy. Then the
      patients were managed with a breathing machine, continuous sedation, strict
      monitoring of hemodynamics and pupil change, strict control of heart rate and
      blood pressure, atomization inhalation therapy, treatment of anticoagulation and
      antiplatelet therapy and classification management of airway. Results: All
      patients were recovered well and no death was documented, among which cranial
      nerve injury occurred in 2 cases, incision bleeding was observed in 6 patients,
      endotracheal intubation were performed again in 4 cases due to postoperative
      airway obstruction, pneumonia was found in 2 cases, aphasia and homolateral
      hemiplegia were observed in one case, while disturbance of consciousness and
      contralateral hemiplegia occurred in 1 case, psychiatric symptoms occurred
      temporarily after operation in 8 cases, and one case suffered from acute
      myocardial infarction. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the
      comprehensive measures, including continuous sedation, strict control of heart
      rate and blood pressure, classification management of airway and so on, can be
      beneficial to postoperative anesthesia recovery and ideal blood pressure, and
      prevent the occurrence of cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome effectively.

PMID- 28592063
TI  - [Effect of cisatracurium on entropy index of children undergoing sevoflurane
      anesthesia].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the effect of cisatracurium on entropy index of
      children undergoing sevoflurane anesthesia. Methods: Forty-five child patients
      (ASAI-II) who underwent cleft lip and palate repair surgery in Beijing
      Stomatological Hospital were selected from June to November in 2015. They aged
      from 8 to 24 months and were randomly divided into 3 groups, as well as
      maintained at different end-tidal sevoflurane concentrations (C(ET)Sev),
      respectively. The C(ET)Sev in Group I was 2.5%, with a total number of 15 cases.
      The C(ET)Sev in Group II was 3.0%, with a total number of 16 cases. The C(ET)Sev
      in Group III was 3.5%, with a total number of 14 cases. After the child patients
      were sent into operating room, their ulnar nerves underwent train-of-four
      stimulation (TOF) inspection using Datex-Ohmeda anesthesia workstation. The four
      muscle twitches orderly occurring on abductor pollicis muscle were recorded as
      T(1,)T(2,)T(3) and T(4,)respectively. The level of state entropy (SE) and
      reactive entropy (RE) was monitored by the entropy index module. 6% of
      sevoflurane high-flow inhalation was used to induce children's sleep, and the
      oxygen flow was adjusted to 2 L/min. Also, the C(ET)Sev in 3 groups maintained at
      2.5%, 3.0% and 3.5%, respectively, which lasted for more than 10 min. Then, they
      were administered with 0.15 mg/kg cisatracurium, and the level of SE and RE in 3
      groups was recorded when they were before the drug delivery of cisatracurium
      (t(1)), 50% inhibition of T(1) (t(2)), 75% inhibition of T(1) (t(3)) and 100%
      inhibition of T(1) (t(4)), respectively. Results: At the time of t(1,)t(2,)t(3)
      and t(4,)the SE values in Group I were (55+/-19), (53+/-20), (48+/-18) and (43+/
      16), respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (F=3.881,
      P<0.05). The SE values in Group II were (42+/-19), (41+/-21), (39+/-18), (31+/
      13), and the differences were statistically significant (F=3.463, P<0.05). The SE
      values in Group III were (34+/-11), (33+/-16), (33+/-14) and (32+/-13),
      respectively. The differences were not statistically significant (F=0.162,
      P>0.05). At the time of t(1,)t(2,)t(3) and t(4,)the RE values in Group I were
      (54+/-13), (48+/-11), (34+/-13) and (30+/-13) respectively, and the differences
      were statistically significant (F=36.975, P<0.01). The RE values in Group II were
      (43+/-13), (38+/-13), (33+/-12) and (28+/-11) respectively, the differences were
      statistically significant (F=12.438, P<0.01). The RE values in Group III were
      (34+/-10), (33+/-11), (31+/-12) and (25+/-11) respectively, and the differences
      were statistically significant (F=6.019, P<0.01). The RE values of child patients
      in Group I, II and III decreased after the drug delivery of cisatracurium.
      Conclusion: The muscle relaxants (cisatracurium) will decrease the entropy index
      of children undergoing sevoflurane anesthesia, but will not affect their SE
      values under deep anesthesia.

PMID- 28592065
TI  - [Impact of adjuvant chemotherapy on the prognosis of hormone receptor negative
      breast cancer with residual lymph node disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy].
AB  - Objective: To explore the influence of adjuvant chemotherapy on the prognosis of
      hormone receptor negative breast cancer with residual lymph node
      disease(RLND)after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: A total of 110 hormone
      receptor negative breast cancer patients treated with 4-8 cycles of neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy were respectively analysed between 2002 and 2012. Residual lymph
      node disease was comfirmed by subsequent radical mastectomy. Then all these
      patients were classified into two groups: patients treated with adjuvant
      chemotherapy(group A) and patients untreated with adjuvant chemotherapy(group B).
      Results: All patients were female, the median age was 54.5 years old(IQR: 47-59
      years). The median follow-up time was 61 months(IQR: 51-88 months). There were 82
      patients (74.5%) in group A, and 28 patients (25.5%) in group B. The five-year
      disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 76.2% in group A and 57.6% in group B. The
      distant disease-free survival (DDFS) rate was 78.9% in group A and 60.4% in group
      B. Overall survival (OS) rate was 81.0% in group A and 60.0% in group B.
      Multivariate analysis showed that there were significant differences for DDFS
      rate (group A vs group B, P=0.033; hazard ratio [HR], 5.256; 95% confidence
      interval [95%CI], 1.14-24.17) and OS rates (group A vs group B, P=0.011; HR,
      7.478; 95%CI, 1.58-35.30) between two groups. Conclusion: The patients who have
      hormone receptor negative breast cancer with RLND after neoadjuvant chemotherapy,
      may benefit from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

PMID- 28592066
TI  - [Analysis of haematological phenotype and mutation spectrum of delta-globin gene
      from Guangdong area in Chinese Han prenatal population].
AB  - Objective: To analyze the genotype-phenotype correlations among southern Chinese
      Han prenatal population in Guangdong area with delta-globin gene mutation, so as
      to enrich the delta-thalassemia gene mutations data. Methods: A total of 33 cases
      were selected in 7 580 patients during prenatal thalassemia trait screening, from
      January 2012 to May 2015(including 10 males and 23 females, aged 22-48 years
      old). Complete blood cell count was performed on a XE 4000i automatic hemocyte
      analyzer. Hb, HbF and HbA2 were tested by high performance liquid chromatography
      (HPLC). Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples using a whole blood
      genomic DNA extraction kit. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify
      three different fragments corresponding to the exons and the regulatory sequences
      using three different couples of primers for the delta-globin gene. Results:
      Twenty one of the 33 samples were positive for the delta-globin gene defects.
      Four previously known mutations were detected: including 12 cases for 
      77(T>C)[HBD c. -127 (T>C)](57.14%), 4 cases for -30 (T>C)[HBD c. -80
      (T>C)](19.05%), 1 case for codon 10 (-G) (HBD c. 31delG)(4.76%), and 1 case for
      HBD c. 244 C>T(4.76%). Three new delta-globin gene defects which had not yet been
      reported in database were detected, including 1 case for HBD c.
      22_24delGAG(4.76%), 1 case for HBD c. 347 C>T(4.76%), and one case for HBD c. 349
      C>G(4.76%). Conclusions: -77 (T>C) is the most common mutation in Chinese
      southern prenatal population. Three new HBD gene mutations are referred in this
      report, which provide the valuable information for genetic counseling and
      prenatal diagnosis in Guangdong area.

PMID- 28592067
TI  - [Combination of PP242 and dasatinib suppresses the progression of acute myeloid
      leukemia in a mouse model].
AB  - Objective: To establish the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) mouse model, and to
      preliminarily investigate the efficiency of dasatinib, a tryosine kinase
      inhibitor, and PP242, an inhibitor of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in the
      development of AML. Methods: The lineage(-) (Lin(-)) cells of C57BL/6J were
      transduced with retrovirus carrying MSCV-MLL-AF9-IRES-GFP fusion gene. The
      transduced cells were transplanted into lethally irradiated recipient mice to
      induce AML, and then the AML mouse model were established. The leukemia mice were
      treated with vehicle, dasatinib, PP242, dasatinib+ PP242, separately. The
      survival of the recipient mice was observed and the percentage of leukemia cells
      in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) was examined every four days. The
      apoptosis rates and cell cycle status of leukemia cells were also examined by
      FLOW. The leukemia cells in different group were sorted, the mRNA of these
      leukemia were extracted and reverse transcripted for related gene expression by
      qRT-PCR. The molecular mechanism of supression of leukemia cells growth was
      studied via RNA-Seq experiments. Results: Compared with control group, either
      PP242 or dasatinib could prolong the survival rate of recipient mice, however,
      the combination treatment AML mice with PP242 and dasatinib prolonged the life
      span of AML mice more significantly. The combination of PP242 and dasatinib could
      decrease the percentage of leukemia cells in PB and BM more significantly,
      arresting more leukemia cells in G0 phase, inducing more apoptosis of leukemia
      cells. Conclusion: Combination of tryosine kinase inhibitor-dasatinib and
      PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway inhibitor- PP242 could delay the progression of
      AML by inducing more leukemia to apoptosis and arrest more leukemia cells in the
      cell cycle G0 phase, it may be provied a new method for clinical therapy.

PMID- 28592068
TI  - [Reoperation for residual aneurysm of coronary anastomosis after Bentall
      procedure].
AB  - Objective: To introduce a new operative method for residual aneurysm of coronary
      anastomosis after Bentall procedure. Methods: Between March 2011 and December
      2012, six patients in Beijing Anzhen Hospital with residual aneurysm of coronary
      anastomosis (CT showed goldfish eye sign at the openings of coronary) after
      Bentall procedure underwent the operation of concentric circular patch procedure
      under cardiopulmonary bypass. Femoral artery, right atrium and upper right
      pulmonary artery cannulation were used for cardiopulmonary bypass, and the
      artificial vessel was transected after cardiac arrest. A concentric circular
      patch was pruned, whose outside diameter was slightly larger than the aneurysm
      and the inside diameter was equal to the openings of coronary. The outer edge of
      the patch was anastomosed to the outer edge of the aneurysm (opening of
      artificial vessel in primary surgery) with 4-0 prolene. The inner edge of the
      patch was anastomosed to the openings of coronary with 5-0 prolene. Results: All
      patients had clinical recovery. Postoperative CT demonstrated the disappearance
      of residual aneurysm during follow-up (the goldfish eye sign disappeared).
      Conclusion: The concentric circular patch procedure is a feasible treatment for
      residual aneurysm of coronary anastomosis.

PMID- 28592069
TI  - [The mobile application of patient management in education and follow-up for
      patients following total knee arthroplasty].
AB  - Objective: To apply themobile application of patient management in education and
      follow-up for patients following total knee arthroplasty, and evaluate the
      clinical outcomes. Methods: A total of 150 patients following total knee
      arthroplasty were chosen from May to October 2016 in orthopaedics department of
      our hospital, and they were randomly divided into two groups. On the basis of the
      traditional education, the observation group combined with the APP education,
      guidance of functional exercise and follow-up. While traditional face-to-face and
      telephone education were combined to control group. The activity, compliance and
      satisfaction score of the two groups were observed. Results: Finally, 132
      patients were included in the study. The postoperative range of motion of the two
      groups in February were respectively (110.83+/-6.83) degrees and (105.45+/-7.53)
      degrees , the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); the range of
      motion in March were respectively (110+/-6.33) degrees and (103.26+/-7.57)
      degrees , the difference was statistically significant too (P<0.05); Patients's
      compliance and satisfaction score in observation group were significantly better
      than control group(P<0.05). Conclusion: Combination of traditional face-to-face
      education with mobile application will improve effects of functional training,
      compliance, and hospital-discharge satisfaction, it will also both shorten the
      education time and increase the education efficiency. To sum up, it's worth being
      widely applied clinically.

PMID- 28592070
TI  - [The progression of tumor liquid biopsy and its applications in precision
      medicine].
AB  - Malignant tumor is the most heterogeneous human disease, and it has been
      gradually reached the consensus in clinical oncology that the personalized
      treatment of tumor patients should be directed by molecular diagnostics. However,
      the ever-changing characteristic of tumor in heterogeneity and the fact that
      tissue samples are usually unavailable highlight the function and significant of
      liquid biopsy. The material that could be used in liquid biopsy are mainly the
      circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor cells and extracellular vesicles, which
      though have their own advantages and disadvantages, but could complement to each
      other, thus accurately and comprehensively reflecting the characteristic of the
      tumor and gave the best direction for patient's individualized therapy. This
      article reviewed the recent advances of liquid biopsy and explained its
      importance in tumor precision medicine.

PMID- 28592071
TI  - [Progress in methodological characteristics of clinical practice guideline for
      osteoarthritis].
AB  - At present, several clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of
      osteoarthritis have been developed by institutes or societies. The ultimate
      purpose of developing clinical practice guidelines is to formulate the process in
      the treatment of osteoarthritis effectively. However, the methodologies used in
      developing clinical practice guidelines may place an influence on the
      transformation and application of that in treating osteoarthritis. The present
      study summarized the methodological features of individual clinical practice
      guideline and presented the tools for quality evaluation of clinical practice
      guideline. The limitations of current osteoarthritis guidelines of China are also
      indicated. The review article might help relevant institutions improve the
      quality in developing guide and clinical transformation.

PMID- 28592072
TI  - [Effects of trabecular metal augments for the reconstruction of Paprosky type III
      acetabulum bone defects].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the methods and short-time clinical results of
      reconstruction of Paprosky type III acetabulum bone defects by using tantalum
      augments. Methods: A total of 17 patients (17 hips) with Paprosky type III
      acetabulum bone defects, treated with tantalum augments in revision of total hip
      arthroplasty at Department of Orthopedics Surgery in General Hospital of Chinese
      People's Liberation Army were retrospectively analyzed from March 2014 to May
      2016.There were 6 males and 11 females aged from 23 to 74 years with an average
      of (50.2+/-16.3) years. Tantalum augments or TM-Cup augment (the cup-on-cup
      technique) were used to reconstruct the defects.The TM-Cup augment was the
      tantalum revision cup which was removed titanium ring. The cup-on-cup technique
      combined TM-Cup augment and biological acetabulum cup. Augments were served as
      the nonresorptive structural allograft in revision of total hip arthroplasty.
      Harris hip score was used to evaluate clinical effects. The vertical position of
      the rotation center was measured and analyzed. Radiographic assessments of the
      acetabular components were performed by DeLee-Charnley and the Anderson criteria
      and recorded postoperative complications. Results: All the patients were followed
      up from 3 to 29 months with an average of (16.2+/-5.4) months, tantalum augments
      and biological acetabulum cup were used in 13 patients, the TM-Cup augment and
      biological acetabulum cup were used in 4 patients. At the time of the latest
      follow-up, the mean Harris hip score increased compared to preoperatively (86.8+/
      8.3 vs. 30.0+/-12.0) (t=12.78, P<0.01), the average vertical location of the
      center of rotation was decreased ((25.3+/-9.8) mm vs.(47.6+/-10.5)) mm (t=4.95,
      P<0.01). All the tantalum augments and biological acetabulum cups were stable,
      there were no infection, dislocation and other complications. Conclusions: The
      use of tantalum augments could be considered as an effective management of
      Paprosky type III defects providing good clinical and radiographic outcomes in
      the short term.The cup-on-cup technique which was used in reconstruction of
      severe superior-invagination acetabular bone defects and restoration relatively
      normal center of rotation had special application value.

PMID- 28592074
TI  - [Effects of iASSIST navigation system and personal specific instrument assisted
      total knee arthroplasty in the treatment of osteoarthritis].
AB  - Objective: To compare the application of iASSIST assisted total knee arthroplasty
      (TKA) and three-dimentional(3D) printing personal specific instrument (PSI)
      assist TKA in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Clinical data of 47
      patients with OA admitted at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Nanjing Medical
      University Nanjing Hospital between April and September 2016 were retrospectively
      reviewed, including 20 males and 27 females, aging from 57 to 77 years with mean
      age of (63.8+/-8.2) years. They were randomly divided into iASSIST-TKA group (23
      patients) and PSI-TKA group (24 patients). The data such as hip knee ankle (HKA)
      angle, frontal femoral component (FFC) angle, frontal tibial component (FTC)
      angle, lateral femoral component (LFC) angle, lateral tibial component (LTC)
      angle, time of operation, post-operative wound drainage, period of
      hospitalization, visual analog scale (VAS) and Knee Society Score (KSS) at 1 day,
      7 days, 14 days, 1 month and 3 months were recorded and compared between the two
      groups. T test was used to compare measurement data, Fisher exact test and chi(2)
      test were applied to enumeration data in comparison among groups, and Kruskal
      Wallis test was applied to ranked data. Results: The deviation values of HKA,
      FFC, LFC, FTC and LTC angles were all below 3 degrees (-2 degrees  to 2 degrees
      ), and there were no significant difference between iASSIST-TKA group and PSI-TKA
      group (Z=-0.610 to 0.000, P=0.542 to 1.000). Compared to PSI-TKA group, the time
      of operation was long((80.7+/-8.8) minutes vs.(60.2+/-7.8) minutes), the amount
      of post-operative wound drainage was increased((210.7+/-32.1) ml vs.(185.5+/
      30.2)ml) and the period of hospitalization decreased((5.4+/-2.4) d vs.(6.7+/-1.6)
      d) in iASSIST-TKA group, there were significant difference(t=-2.190 to 8.460,
      P=0.000 to 0.033). There were no significant difference in intra-operative blood
      drainage((18.4+/-5.4) ml vs.(17.3+/-6.2) ml) between the two groups(t=0.650,
      P=0.521). PSI-TKA group had a superior VAS score(4.8+/-0.6 vs. 5.5+/-0.9, 3.6+/
      0.8 vs. 4.3+/-0.9), KSS clinical score(49.3+/-5.5 vs. 44.2+/-6.4, 54.9+/-4.0 vs.
      50.8+/-4.2) and KSS function score(44.1+/-2.9 vs. 41.2+/-3.5, 49.6+/-3.8 vs.
      46.6+/-3.2) in 1 day and 7 days post-operation(t=-3.420 to 3.150, P=0.001 to
      0.007). There were no significant difference in VAS and KSS score in 14 days, 1
      month and 3 months post-operation(t=-1.390 to 0.530, P=0.170 to 1.000) between
      the two groups. Conclusions: The iASSIST-TKA and PSI-TKA can help to make TKA
      procedure more accurately. iASSIST-TKA may take longer time of operation and have
      slower recovery, PSI-TKA may need more X-ray input and longer period of
      hospitalization. The long-term research of both techniques may be valuable for
      the further clinical usage.

PMID- 28592075
TI  - [Influence of tibial component slope on short-term clinical outcome for Oxford
      unicompartmental knee arthroplasty].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the effects of tibial component slope change after
      microplasty (MP) Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) on short-term
      clinical outcome. Methods: A total of 116 patients(128 UKAs)underwent UKA in
      Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of China-Japan Friendship Hospital between
      January 2014 and December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Totally 100
      patients (108 UKAs) were finally included in the study. There were 31 males and
      69 females, aging from 47 to 90 years (mean 67.2 years). The mean height was
      (161.9+/-8.4) cm and the mean body mass index (BMI) was (26.2+/-3.3) kg/m(2). The
      posterior tibial slope (PTS) at preoperative and postoperative were measured on
      the lateral radiograph. The postoperative PTS were divided into five groups (<3
      degrees , 3 degrees  to 5 degrees , 5 degrees  to 7 degrees , 7 degrees  to 9
      degrees  and>9 degrees ). The Oxford Knee Score (OKS) was recorded. Pearson
      correlation analysis, ANOVA and t test were used to analyze data. Results: All
      operations were successfully accomplished and there were no transfusion,
      infection, thrombus and other complications. There was 1 patient accepted
      revision because of bearing dislocation. Compared to preoperative, the PTS
      decreased (6.5 degrees +/-2.2 degrees  vs.9.6 degrees +/-3.4 degrees )
      postoperative, there was statistical difference (t=9.053, P<0.01). Only 3
      patients were beyond the recommended range (2 degrees  to 12 degrees ). A total
      of 82 patients (86 UKAs) were followed up. The follow-up time was 1 to 2.9 years
      (mean 2 years). The OKS was 43.0+/-4.1 (mean 31 to 48). The PTS increased in 12
      patients (12 UKAs) postoperative, the mean OKS was 40.5+/-5.2. The PTS decreased
      in 70 patients (74 UKAs), the mean OKS was 43.4+/-3.8. There were significant
      difference in OKS (t=2.347, P=0.021). There were no significant difference in OKS
      between the five groups. There were positive correlation between postoperative
      PTS and preoperative PTS (r=0.201, 95%CI: 0.001 to 0.396, P=0.037), there were no
      correlations between postoperative PTS and hight and BMI. There were negative
      correlations between OKS and postoperative PTS (r=-0.255, 95%CI: -0.063 to 
      0.427, P=0.018) and PTS change (r=-0.292, 95%CI: -0.08 to -0.475, P<0.01).
      Conclusions: Satisfying PTS can be obtained by use of Oxford MP instrumentation.
      The clinical outcome of the postoperative PTS decreased was relatively better.
      Too large posterior slope of the tibial implant should be avoided.

PMID- 28592073
TI  - [Influence of patellofemoral joint degeneration on outcome of medial
      unicompartmental knee arthroplasty].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the influence of patellofemoral joint degeneration and pre
      operative pain location on the outcome of medial Oxford unicompartmental knee
      arthroplasty (UKA). Methods: A total of 58 patients (58 knees) with medial Oxford
      UKA had been performed for medial osteoarthritis from March 2013 to July 2014 in
      Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at First Teaching Hospital of Xinjiang Medical
      University were retrospective reviewed. There were 24 males and 34 females, the
      age from 43 to 87 years with the mean age was 68.5 years. The mean body mass
      index was 25.2 kg/m(2) ranging from 19.7 to 31.5 kg/m(2). Patients were divided
      into anterior-medial pain group (35 knees), anterior knee pain group (17 knees)
      and general knee pain group (6 knees) according to pre-operative pain location.
      Pre-operative radiological statuses of the patellefemoral joint were defined by
      Ahlback system and divided into patellofemoral joint degeneration group (16
      knees) and normal group (42 knees). Patients were also divided into medial
      patellofemoral degeneration group (20 knees), lateral patellofemoral degeneration
      group (12 knees) and normal group (26 knees) according to Altman scoring system.
      Outerbridge system was used intraoperatively and the patients were divided into
      patellofemoral joint degeneration group (21 knees) and normal group (37 knees).
      Pre- and post-operative outcomes were evaluated with Oxford Knee Score (OKS),
      Western Ontario and MacMaster (WOMAC) and patellofemoral score system of Lonner.
      T test and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Results: The average duration of
      follow-up was 33 months (from 26 to 42 months). There were no patients had
      complications of infection, deep vein thrombosis, dislocation or loosing at the
      last follow-up. Compared to pre-operation, OKS (18.9+/-3.5 vs. 38.9+/-4.7, 19.3+/
      4.2 vs. 39.6+/-4.6, 18.1+/-3.2 vs. 38.1+/-3.7)(t=5.64 to 7.08, all P<0.01) and
      WOMAC (10.9+/-2.3 vs.53.2+/-4.5, 10.4+/-2.1 vs.54.6+/-3.4, 11.7+/-1.8 vs.52.8+/
      3.7)(t=14.50 to 19.16, all P<0.01) decreased, and the Lonner score (88.9+/-3.4
      vs.38.6+/-2.8, 87.5+/-4.1 vs.38.2+/-2.3, 88.2+/-3.2 vs. 37.6+/-3.5)(t=-19.78 to 
      18.16, all P<0.01) increased significantly in anterior-medial pain group,
      anterior knee pain group and general knee pain group. According to Ahlback
      scoring system, compared to pre-operation, OKS (18.3+/-2.4 vs. 38.7+/-4.4, 19.6+/
      1.8 vs. 38.4+/-3.1)(t=7.05, 9.08, both P<0.01) and WOMAC (10.6 +/-2.6 vs.53.2+/
      4.5, 12.1+/-1.4 vs.52.4+/-3.3)(t=14.21, 19.52, both P<0.01) decreased, the Lonner
      score (88.1+/-3.1 vs.38.3+/-3.3, 86.9+/-2.6 vs.39.1+/-2.4)(t=-18.90, -23.40, both
      P<0.01) increased significantly in patellofemoral joint degeneration group and
      normal group, the outcomes were the same according to Altman and Outerbridge
      scoring system. There was no significant difference between patellofemoral joint
      degeneration group and normal group based on Ahlback grading system. According to
      Altman classification, compared to normal group, there was no statistically
      differences in OKS, WOMAC and Lonner scoring system between patients with
      degeneration in the medial patellofemoral joint group, OKS and WOMAC increased
      (20.2+/-1.4 vs.18.2+/-2.7, 12.5+/-1.7 vs.10.5+/-2.5) (t=-4.30, P=0.03; t=-4.80,
      P=0.02), the Lonner score decreased (84.3+/-2.8 vs.87.4+/-3.2) (t=-6.20, P=0.01)
      in lateral patellofemoral degeneration group. According to Outerbridge scoring
      system, there were no statistically differences in patients in patellofemoral
      joint degeneration group and normal group. Conclusions: There is a good evidence
      that neither mild to moderate degree of patellofemoral joint degeneration nor pre
      operative pain location will compromise the short-term outcome of medial Oxford
      UKA, and should not be considered as contraindications. The situation is less
      clear for lateral patellofemoral degeneration, and more cautious option is
      advised.

PMID- 28592076
TI  - [Effects of different pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis mismatch after long
      posterior instrumentation and fusion for adult degenerative scoliosis].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the influence of PI-LL (pelvic incidence minus lumbar
      lordosis mismatch) on scoliosis correction, living quality and internal fixation
      related complications for adult degenerative scoliosis (ASD) after long posterior
      instrumentation and fusion. Methods: A total of 79 patients with ADS underwent
      long posterior instrumentation and fusion in the Department of Orthopedics at
      Beijing Chao Yang Hospital from January 2010 to January 2014 were retrospectively
      reviewed.There were 21 males and 58 females aging from 55 to 72 years with the
      mean age (63.4+/-4.8)years. The patients were divided into three groups according
      to immediately postoperative PI-LL: PI-LL<10 degrees , 10 degrees <=PI-LL<=20
      degrees , PI-LL>20 degrees .Compare the Cobb's angles, PI-LL, Japanese
      Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Visual
      Analog Scale (VAS) and Lumbar Stiffness Disability Index (LSDI). Measurement data
      were compared via t test and ANOVA, enumeration data were compared via Kruskal
      Wallis test, noncontiguous data was performed by chi(2) test. Univariate linear
      regression equation was performed to investigate the relative influences of
      postoperative PI-LL on postoperative radiographic parameters and clinical
      outcome. Results: All the operations were successful without intraoperative
      complications. The operation time was 145-310 minutes (235.3+/-42.0) minutes, the
      intraoperative blood loss was 300-5 300 ml (1 021+/-787) ml, the duration of
      hospital was 12-18 d (14.5+/-1.3) d. A total of 4 to 10 (7.0+/-1.1) vertebra
      levels were fused. Compared to preoperative, the Cobb's angle of scoliosis
      ((4.2+/-1.8) degrees  vs. (20.1+/-2.7) degrees ), PI-LL ((16.1+/-8.6) degrees 
      vs. (36.0+/-4.3) degrees ), JOA (3.0+/-1.3 vs. 5.5+/-1.2), ODI (24.4+/-8.1 vs.
      62.9+/-2.7), VAS (3.0+/-1.0 vs. 6.8+/-1.3) were significantly decreased
      postoperative (t=18.539~53.826, P<0.01). Compared to preoperative, postoperative
      Cobb's angle of scoliosis ((4.1+/-2.7) degrees  vs. (19.5+/-2.7) degrees , (4.0+/
      1.4) degrees  vs. (20.2+/-2.4) degrees , (4.7+/-0.9) degrees  vs. (20.6+/-3.0)
      degrees ) (t=21.148-45.355, P<0.01) and PI-LL ((5.2+/-2.8) degrees  vs. (35.8+/
      4.9) degrees , (17.9+/-2.9) degrees  vs. (37.2+/-3.9) degrees , (25.8+/-2.7)
      degrees  vs. (34.5+/-4.0) degrees ) (t=7.227-38.250, P<0.01) were significantly
      reduced postoperative in PI-LL<10 degrees  group, 10 degrees <=PI-LL<=20 degrees 
      group and PI-LL>20 degrees  group. Compared to preoperative, ODI (27.7+/-4.9 vs.
      63.3+/-2.6, 17.7+/-5.9 vs. 63.1+/-2.8, 30.6+/-6.5 vs. 62.3+/-2.5)
      (t=21.218~50.858, P<0.01), JOA (2.8+/-1.2 vs. 5.2+/-1.2, 3.3+/-1.1 vs. 5.7+/-1.1,
      2.8+/-1.7 vs. 5.7+/-1.2) (t=9.042-16.025, P<0.01) and VAS (2.9+/-1.2 vs.7.0+/
      1.3, 3.3+/-0.9 vs.7.0+/-1.4, 2.9+/-0.8 vs. 6.3+/-1.2) (t=16.073-22.214, P<0.01)
      were all significantly reduced at last follow-up. There were statistic
      differences in ODI and LSDI (F=38.477, P<0.01; F=37.063, P<0.01) at the last
      follow-up among the three groups. There was a negative correlation in PI-LL and
      LSDI according to linear regression (B=-5.838, P<0.01) in the last follow-up. All
      the patients were followed up, the follow-up duration were 2 to 5 years with the
      mean (3.1+/-0.7) years. The internal fixation failure related complications in 3
      years included proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) in 19 cases, internal fixation
      loosening in 6 cases. Eight patients received reoperation for severe local pain
      and low extremity symptoms. PJK occurrences were significantly different among PI
      LL<10 degrees  group, 10 degrees <=PI-LL<=20 degrees  group and PI-LL>20 degrees 
      group. Conclusions: The PI-LL between 10 degrees  and 20 degrees  may be the best
      choice in ADS patients after long posterior instrumentation and fusion for its
      better clinical outcome and less proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK). The
      overcorrection of LL may lead to more serious postoperative lumbar stiffness.

PMID- 28592077
TI  - [Clinical effects of microsurgery in spinal cord anaplastic astrocytoma].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the surgical outcomes and prognosis of spinal cord
      anaplastic astrocytoma (AA). Methods: A total of 27 consecutive patients
      diagnosed as spinal cord AA between January 2008 and May 2015 in Department of
      Neurosurgery of Beijing Tiantan Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. There
      were 18 males and 9 females, the mean age was (30.7+/-13.0) years (ranging from 5
      to 52 years). The lesions were located at cervical level in 8 patients, at
      thoracic level in 9 patients, at cervicothoracic level in 3 patients, and at
      thoracolumbar level in 7 patients, the average number of vertebral was 3.3+/
      1.3.The median time from onset of symptom to surgery was 4 months, ranging from 3
      days to 48 months. The clinical presentations were weakness (23 cases),
      paresthesia (22 cases), pain (20 cases), sphincter disorder (15 cases) and
      paralysis (7 cases). The preoperative modified McCormick scale was as follows:
      grade II for 6 cases, grade III for 7 cases, grade IV for 7 cases, grade V for 7
      cases. The tumors were surgically removed via posterior median approach with the
      monitoring of the somatosensory-evoked potentials to minimize the neurological
      injury. All of the patients were recommonded to receive adjuvant chemotherapy and
      radiotherapy postoperatively after pothological verified and followed up by
      clinic interview or telephone postoperatively. Log-rank test was used to
      calculate the survival rate. Results: Gross total resection and subtotal
      resection were achieved in 18 patients and partial resection in 9. Twenty
      patients received adjuvant chemotherapy and (or) radiotherapy, 7 patients did not
      received chemoradiation postoperatively. Nineteen patients died and 8 were alive
      at the last follow-up. The median survival time was 23 months with 1 and 2-year
      survival rates of 85.2% and 50.0%.There was no statistical significance between
      subtotal resection group and partial resection group(chi(2)=0.089, P=0.880), the
      survival rates of patients in chemotherapy group and radiotherapy group were
      increased significantly(chi(2)=6.687, P=0.001; chi(2)=14.887, P=0.002).
      Conclusions: Spinal cord AA is a rare spinal high-grade astrocytoma with
      aggressive nature, the prognosis remains poor even after comprehensive
      treatments. Microsurgery followed by adjuvant chemoradiation is recommended for
      the treatment.

PMID- 28592078
TI  - [Treatment of single one-stage posterior atlantoaxial fixation in Chiari
      malformation].
AB  - Objective: To explore the effects of surgical technique of single one-stage
      posterior C(1-2) screw rod fixation of Chiari malformation (CM) associated with
      occipitalization and without atlantoaxial dislocation. Methods: A total of 23
      patients with CM treated between January 2014 and October 2015 in Department of
      Neurosurgery of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital were
      retrospective reviewed. All of them were diagnosis with CM associated with
      occipitalization and without atlantoaxial dislocation, including 8 males and 15
      females, aging from 11 to 57 years (mean (35.5+/-10.52) years). Single one-stage
      posterior C(1-2) screw rod fixation with bone grafting fusion was performed.
      Operation time and intraoperative blood loss were recorded. Japanese Orthopaedic
      Association (JOA) scores and Odom rating were used to evaluate the clinical
      effects at pre- and post-operative. Regression of the cerebellar tonsillar was
      measured by MRI. The results were analyzed by paired samples t test. Results:
      Twenty-three patients were implanted screws successfully, the vertebral artery
      injury and cerebrospinal fluid leakage were not found. The mean operation time
      was (172.7+/-19.9) minutes, the intraoperative blood loss was (153.9+/-49.3) ml.
      Compared to preoperative, the JOA score increased (13.7+/-1.6 vs. 11.5+/-1.4) and
      the tonsillar herniation decreased ((0.8+/-0.6)cm vs. (1.9+/-0.6) cm) in the last
      follow-up, there were statistical difference (t=13.386, P<0.01; t=17.995,
      P<0.01). The results of the postoperative Odom grading were as follows: 6 cases
      were perfect (26.1%), 13 cases were good (56.5%), 4 cases were moderate (17.4%)
      and no case was poor.No signs of instrument loosen or screw broken was noticed.
      100% bony fusion rate was achieved. The follow-up time was 6 to 23 months (mean
      (10.5+/-3.2) months). One case developed internal fixator related discomfort, the
      symptom was relieved by internal fixator removal surgery performed 4 months after
      the operation when osseous fusion had already been achieved. No new neurologic
      symptoms were observed in other 22 patients. Conclusions: The results of the
      study substantiates the effectiveness of single one-stage posterior fixation
      strategy for CM, which is associated with occipitalization and without
      atlantoaxial dislocation. This technique could be an alternative choice for this
      type of CM.

PMID- 28592079
TI  - [Endovascular aortic repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm of short neck with
      Endurant stent graft].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Endurant stent graft
      for abdominal aortic aneurysm cases with proximal neck length <10 mm. Methods:
      This study was a retrospective analysis. From January 2010 to May 2015, 22
      consecutive abdominal aortic aneurysm patients with proximal neck length <10 mm
      were treated with endovascular aortic repair by Endurant stent graft in
      Department of Vascular Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. There were
      19 (86.3%) male cases, aging from 57 to 84 years. All patients underwent
      preoperative CT angiography and the anatomic parameters of abdominal aortic
      aneurysm were measured. All patients performed standard endovascular aortic
      repair first and if there was obvious proximal typeI endoleak, the CUFF or the
      chimney technology were applied to observed the perioperative technical and the
      clinical success rate. During follow-up, the incidence of adverse events and the
      reintervention rate were observed. Results: These 22 cases had proximal neck
      length 5 to 9 mm with the average of (7.2+/-1.4) mm. Immediate endoleak occurred
      in 5 patients with 4 cases of proximal typeI endoleak, 3 cases were implanted
      proximal CUFF, 1 case implanted CUFF and left renal artery chimney. One case died
      perioperatively, the clinical success rate was 95.4%, the technical success rate
      was 77.3%. During the follow-up of 6 to 54 months, there was 1 case with delayed
      proximal type-1 endoleak, during operation the patient had no endoleak, but
      disappeared 6 months later without further intervention. So the incidence of
      adverse event was 4.5% and reintervention rate was 0. Conclusion: The Endurant
      stent graft for abdominal aortic aneurysm cases with proximal neck length < 10 mm
      is safe and effective.

PMID- 28592080
TI  - [Complete revascularization for multi-vessel coronary diseases through lower
      ministernotomy on beating heart off-pump surgery].
AB  - Objective: To discuss a novel method of complete revascularization for multi
      vessel coronary diseases on beating heart off-pump surgery through lower
      ministernotomy. Methods: Clinical data of 79 patients underwent ministernotomy
      off-pump coronary artery bypass from January 2015 to May 2016 at Department of
      Cardiac Surgery, Heart Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical
      University were analyzed retrospectively. There were 62 male and 17 female
      patients, with an average age of (65+/-9) years. All the patients were multi
      vessel coronary diseases and planned to receive coronary artery bypass grafting.
      Left internal mammary artery, radial artery and great saphenous veins were
      harvested and prepared, respectively. The perioperative clinical data was
      observed and collected. Postoperative ventilator-assisted time, intensive care
      time, and 24-hour thoracic mediastinal drainage volume were recorded.
      Postoperative cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiography. The data were
      compared between pre- and post-operative using paired t test. Results:
      Cardiopulmonary bypass was used in 2 patients during operation because of
      unstable hemodynamic status, but the incision was not needed to extend for those
      2 patients. The lower ministernotomy was converted to traditional full sternotomy
      in 2 patients due to limited space for proximal anastomosis. In total, 79
      patients had an average of (2.8+/-0.6) grafts. One proximal anastomosis was
      performed in 75 patients and 2 anastomoses in 4 patients. Distal target vessels
      consisted of left descending arteries for 79 patients, posterior descending
      artery for 60 patients, obtuse marginal branch and intermediate branch for 56
      patients and diagonal branches for 25 patients, respectively. Average
      postoperative ventilation time was (19.0+/-2.2) hours and ICU stay was (60+/-20)
      hours. One patient developed postoperative myocardial infarction and needed
      temporary intra-aortic balloon pump support. One patient was subjected to
      incision infection. None of patient died in this study. There were no significant
      differences in left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and left ventricular end
      systolic diameter between pre- and post-operative. The post-operative ejection
      fraction was significantly higher than that pre-operative (66.5%+/-1.6% vs.
      61.2%+/-2.3%, t=4.30, P=0.00). Conclusion: With lower ministernotomy, the various
      sites of distal target vessels could be reached and complete revascularization
      could be achieved for selected patients with triple vessel diseases, although the
      procedure is technical demanding.

PMID- 28592081
TI  - [Comparison of transthoracic or percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in
      the therapy of pulmonary valve stenosis].
AB  - Objective: To compare the clinical outcome of patients with pulmonary valve
      stenosis underwent transthoracic and percutaneous balloon pulmonary
      valvuloplasty. Methods: Clinical data of 806 patients diagnosed as pulmonary
      valve stenosis underwent transthoracic(171 patients as group A)or percutaneous
      balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty (635 patients as Group B) in Fuwai Hospital from
      February 2006 to January 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 72 males
      in group A (42.1%) and 344 males in group B (54.2%). The average age was (1.6+/
      1.1) years in group A and (21.0+/-18.5) years in group B. The median weight was
      7.65 (7.68) kg (M(Q(R))) in group A and 43.75 (47.38) kg in group B. There were
      732 (90.9%) patients followed up from 3 months to 10 years, with an average
      interval of (6.3+/-3.6) years. Sixty cases were ligated patent ductus arteriosus
      simultaneously, and 20 cases got Blalock-Taussig shunt at the same time of
      valvuloplasty in group A. There were 47 cases of transcatheter closure of atrial
      septal defect and 6 cases of transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus in
      group B. The t test, rank sum test and chi(2) test were used to compare data of
      two groups. Results: There were no hospital death or cardiac tamponade and other
      serious complications for all patients. The postoperative hospital stayin group A
      was significantly longer than that in group B (8(5) days vs. 2(2) days, Z=-9.404,
      P=0.000). In every further consultation, patients were reviewed with
      transthoracic echocardiography to assess transpulmonary gradient and pulmonary
      regurgitation. There were significant difference between group A and B of
      preoperative transpulmonary pressure gradient ((80.6+/-22.4) mmHg vs.(72.6+/
      20.5) mmHg, t=1.611, P=0.032, 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) and so as transpulmonary pressure
      gradient reduction value ((55.9+/-21.0) mmHg vs. (46.6+/-23.4) mmHg, t=-1.710,
      P=0.026). Patients in both groups had good cardiac function during follow-up
      interval. One patient needed surgical valvuloplasty 10 months after percutaneous
      balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty and 1 case occurred moderate to severe tricuspid
      regurgitation in group B. During follow-up period, there was no significant
      difference between group A and B of transpulmonary pressure gradient ((22.3+/
      6.5) mmHg vs. (25.2+/-12.6) mmHg, t=1.320, P=0.072), the incidence of pulmonary
      valve regurgitation in patients of group A was significantly lower than patients
      of group B (56.1% vs.65.2%, chi(2)=4.755, P=0.029). Conclusions: The clinical
      outcome and complications are similar between patients underwent two different
      routes of balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty. Transthoracic balloon pulmonary
      valvuloplasty is more suitable for infant and underweight children patients with
      pulmonary valve stenosis. Percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty is more
      suitable for the treatment of the elder children or adults.

PMID- 28592082
TI  - [Expression of nucleolar protein 14 and CD31 in pancreatic cancer mouse model and
      its correlation with tumor progression].
AB  - Objective: To investigate expression of nucleolar protein 14(NOP14) and CD31 in
      pancreatic cancer mouse model and its correlation with tumor progression.
      Methods: Clinicopathological data of 5 patients with pathologically confirmed
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC) and hepatic metastasis between January
      2013 and December 2015 was collected in Department of General Surgery, Peking
      Union Medical College Hospital. Immunohistochemistry staining was employed to
      detect the expression of NOP14 in matched primary PDAC and relevant
      metastasis.Pancreatic cancer cells with NOP14 stably knocked down were
      established by transfecting lentivirus with NOP14 targeted silencing RNA.The
      inhibition efficacy was detected by quantitative real time PCR and western
      blot.Microvascular density(MVD) in pancreatic cancer transplantation mouse model
      was determined by CD31 immunohistochemistry staining analysis and correlated with
      NOP14 expression and tumor progression. Results: NOP14 had a significant higher
      expression in liver metastasis than primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma (2.09+/
      0.45 vs. 1.31+/-0.27, P=0.028). NOP14 was knocked down 86 percent on mRNA level
      determined by qPCR and 78 percents on protein level detected by western blot. MVD
      was significantly decreased in NOP14-inhibited tumor from both pancreatic cancer
      cells subcutaneously and orthotopically grafted tumor mouse model with the value
      of 61.40+/-13.85 vs. 85.53+/-14.59 (P=0.041) and 38.33+/-10.91 vs. 59.33+/
      15.37(P =0.037), respectively. Besides, MVD was positively associated with tumor
      volume(r=0.842, P<0.01) and metastasis (r=0.726, P=0.008). Conclusion: NOP14
      presents higher expression in hepatic metastasis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and
      might promote tumor progression by increasing microvascular density.

PMID- 28592083
TI  - [Correlation between miR-1178 expression and clinicopathological significance in
      human pancreatic cancer].
AB  - Objective: To test the expression of miR-1178 in pancreatic cancer and study its
      clinicopathological significance and mechanism. Methods: The expression of miR
      1178 in 87 paired paraffin pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma specimens and
      adjacent non- cancerous pancreatic tissue diagnosed by Pathology Department of
      Peking Union Medical College Hospital was detected by hybridization in situ. The
      relationship between the expression of miR-1178 and clinicopathological
      characters was analyzed.miR-1178 mimics and inhibitor were used to further detect
      the close relationship among miR-1178 and cancer invasion. Establish a nude mice
      subcutaneously transplanted tumor model, 4 weeks after vaccination for tumor
      volume and weight measurement.Student t-test, rank sum test, and chi(2) test was
      used respectively to compare the data between two groups. Cox regression was
      adopted to improve the single factor and multiple factors analysis. Results: The
      results of hybridization in situ showed the expression of miR-1178 was increased
      in 72 cases with pancreatic cancer compared to that in paired normal pancreatic
      tissues (50/72 vs. 11/72, chi(2)=43.26, P<0.05). miR-1178 expression was
      positively associated with tumor lymph node stage (chi(2)=4.189, P=0.041).
      Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that miR-1178 was an independent
      adverse prognostic indicator for patients with pancreatic cancer (HR=2.364,
      95%CI: 1.114-5.019, P=0.025). Transwell assay indicated the over-expression of
      miR-1178 increased the number of AsPC-1 cells that penetrated the ECM-coated
      membrane (177.0+/-19.8 vs. 119.7+/-15.9)(chi(2)=8.21, P<0.05). For the in vivo
      experiment, overexpression of miR-1178 significantly promoted tumor growth,
      compared with control group (tumor volume: (5 122.4+/-760.2)mm(3) vs. (1 976.8+/
      601.8)mm(3), t=2.413, P<0.05; tumor weight: (1.55+/-0.21)g vs. (0.67+/-0.17)g,
      t=2.960, P<0.05). Over-expression of miR-1178 down-regulated the expression of
      Stub1 and elevated the expression of FAK/MMP-9 signal pathway(P<0.05).
      Conclusions: MiR-1178 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, and is effective for
      predicting patients' prognosis. MiR-1178 regulate Stub1/FAK/MMP-9 signal pathway
      and promote the invasion of AsPC-1 cells.

PMID- 28592085
TI  - [The review and significance of national seroepidemiological surveys on viral
      hepatitis in China].

PMID- 28592084
TI  - [Modified capsular arthroplasty for young patients with developmental dislocation
      of the hip].
AB  - Developmental dislocation of the hip(DDH) is one of the most serious hip
      diseases. Patients with unilateral DDH are prone to secondary osteoarthritis, low
      back pain, gait disturbance and compensatory scoliosis because of the leg length
      discrepancy. Total hip arthroplasty(THA) is the highly effective treatment for
      patients with hip pain or dysfunction caused by unilateral DDH, thus decrease the
      demand for hip-preserving surgeries such as capsular arthroplasty which may
      postpone or avoid hip replacement. However, the failure rate of THA for young
      patients is high and the majority of young patients may require one or more
      revision arthroplasties throughout their lifetime. The basic principle of
      capsular arthroplasty is that the femoral head wrapped by capsule is placed into
      a newly reamed socket on the location of true acetabulum. Therefore, hip
      replacement for patients with previous capsular arthroplasty becomes easier and
      safer than primary THA. However, the early capsular arthroplasty have been
      abandoned due to the relatively high rates of femoral head necrosis and hip
      stiffness. Ganz modified the early procedure with the technique of surgical hip
      dislocation in 2012, and emphasized the importance of postoperative
      rehabilitation. The incidence of complication, therefore, decreased greatly due
      to the preservation of main blood supply of femoral head as well as the proper
      postoperative management. In order to improve the clinical outcomes of this
      modified procedure, the selection of indications and surgeons' experience should
      also be taken into consideration.

PMID- 28592086
TI  - [Comparative analyze on hepatitis B seroepidemiological surveys among population
      aged 1-29 years in different epidemic regions of China in 1992 and 2014].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the effect of hepatitis B prevention and control by
      comparative analysis on the results of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc prevalence
      from national hepatitis B seroepidemiological surveys in 1992 and 2014 in
      different epidemic regions of China. Methods: Data was from the national
      seroepidemiological surveys of hepatitis B conducted in 1992 and 2014. The survey
      in 1992 was conducted in 145 disease surveillance points of 30 provinces
      (excluding Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan province) in
      China. The survey in 2016 was conducted in 160 disease surveillance points of 31
      provinces (excluding Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan
      province) in China. In the two surveys, face-to-face interviews with the subject
      by door to door or on the investigation site were conducted by trained staff
      using standard questionnaires to obtain basic information including birth date,
      gender, ethnicity, resident place and so on. And then 5 ml venous blood was
      collected to test the sero-markers of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc. We analyzed
      unweighted point prevalence and 95% CI of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc in 1992
      which had no design weighting, and analyzed weighted point prevalence and 95%CI
      of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc in 2014 which had design weighting. Results: 34
      291 and 31 713 people aged 1-29 years were involved in 1992 and 2014 national
      serosurveys of China, respectively. For the people aged 1-29 years, HBsAg
      prevalence was 2.64% (95%CI: 2.28%-3.06%) in 2014 and decreased by 73.92% as
      compared with the rate 10.13% (95% CI: 9.81%-10.45%) in 1992. Anti-HBc prevalence
      was 13.01% (95%CI: 12.09%-14.00%) in 2014 and decreased by 71.61% as compared
      with the rate 45.84% (95% CI: 45.31%-46.37%) in 1992. Anti-HBs prevalence was
      57.79% (95%CI: 56.33%-59.25%) in 2014 and ascended by 127.41% as compared with
      the rate 25.41% (95% CI: 24.95%-25.87%) in 1992. In high, medium and low epidemic
      region, for the people who born during 1992-2001 when hepatitis B vaccine was
      introduced in routine immunization management, HBsAg prevalence was 4.74% (95%CI:
      3.79%-5.69%), 1.59% (95%CI: 1.09%-2.10%) and 2.53% (95%CI: 1.66%-3.39%),
      respectively, and anti-HBs prevalence was 64.25% (95% CI: 62.11%-66.39%), 56.34%
      (95% CI: 54.50%-58.57%), 54.49% (95%CI: 51.75%-57.23%), respectively, and anti
      HBc prevalence was 15.16% (95%CI: 13.56%-16.76%), 11.07% (95%CI: 9.80%-12.33%),
      7.61% (95%CI: 6.15%-9.07%), respectively. In high, medium and low epidemic
      region, for the people who born during 2002-2013 the duration which hepatitis B
      vaccine was integrated in expanded immunization program born during when HBsAg
      prevalence was 0.88% (95%CI: 0.66%-1.11%), 0.37% (95%CI: 0.24%-0.49%)and 0.71%
      (95%CI: 0.48%-0.94%), respectively, and anti-HBs prevalence was 60.74% (95%CI:
      59.57%-61.90%), 59.46% (95%CI: 58.44%-60.49%), 52.56% (95% CI: 51.20%-53.92%),
      respectively, and anti-HBc prevalence was 3.30% (95% CI: 2.87%-3.72%), 1.91%
      (95%CI: 1.63%-2.20%), 2.25% (95%CI: 1.85%-2.66%), respectively. Conclusion: China
      had made great achievement in hepatitis B prevention and control. HBsAg
      prevalence among people aged 1-29 years old in 2014 decreased dramatically as
      compared with that in 1992. Since hepatitis B vaccine was integrated into
      expanded immunization program, China reduced HBsAg prevalence to less than 1%
      among people aged 1-12 years in 2014 in different epidemic region.

PMID- 28592087
TI  - [Analysis on sero-epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B virus among
      people born during 1994-2001 before and after hepatitis B vaccine catch-up
      vaccination, China].
AB  - Objective: To analyze the sero-epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B
      virus among people born during 1994-2001, conducted by the national hepatitis B
      sero-epidemiological surveys in 2006 and 2014. Methods: Based on the data of the
      two national hepatitis B sero-epidemiological surveys in 2006 and 2014, people
      born during 1994-2001 were included into our analysis as this study subjects. The
      two surveys were conducted in 160 disease surveillance points of 31 provinces
      (not including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in China. Face-to-face interviews
      with the subject by door to door or on the investigation site were conducted by
      trained staff using standard questionnaires to obtain basic information including
      birth date, sex, ethnicity, resident place and so on. And then 5 ml venous blood
      was collected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reagents were used for
      HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc measurements and Abbott micro-particle enzyme
      immunoassay (MEIA) reagents was used to confirm test. We analyzed HBsAg, anti-HBs
      and anti-HBc positive rate by gender, ethnicity, urban/rural,
      eastern/central/western region, birth years and compared the distribution of
      serum epidemiological characteristics in 2006 and 2014. Results: 19 821 and 4 712
      people born during 1994-2001 were involved in 2006 and 2014 national serosurveys
      of China, respectively. For the people born during 1994-2001, HBsAg positive rate
      were 2.02% (95% CI: 1.82%-2.21%) in 2014 and 1.95% (95% CI: 1.56%-2.35%) in 2006.
      Anti-HBc positive rate were 7.94% (95%CI: 7.17%-8.71%) in 2014 and higher than
      that in 2006 (6.49%, 95%CI: 6.15%-6.83%), especially for the female (8.31%, 95%
      CI: 7.20%-9.43%), urban (7.45%, 95% CI: 6.38%-8.52%), western region (11.25%,
      95%CI: 9.79%-12.71%), minority people (16.02%, 95%CI: 13.47%-18.57%) in 2014 were
      higher than that of the female (6.29%, 95% CI: 5.81%-6.78%), urban (4.82%, 95%
      CI: 4.40%-5.24%), western region (7.97%, 95% CI: 7.31%-8.63%), minority people
      (11.88%, 95% CI: 10.66%-13.00%) in 2006 respectively. Anti-HBs positive rate were
      57.80% (95%CI: 57.11%-58.48%) in 2014 and 59.13% (95%CI: 57.72%-60.53%) in 2006.
      Anti-HBs positive rate of rural (58.80%, 95% CI: 56.83%-60.78%),western region
      (58.50%, 95% CI: 56.23%-60.78%), minority people (57.20%, 95% CI: 53.76%-60.63%)
      in 2014 was higher than of rural (52.62%, 95% CI: 51.64%-53.61%),western region
      (51.73%, 95% CI: 50.54%-52.96%),minority people (41.14%, 95%CI: 39.28%-43.00%) in
      2006. Conclusion: Anti-HBc positive rate among people born during 1994-2001 in
      2014 survey showed a rising tendency than in 2006. The risk of HBV infection was
      existed. Hepatitis B vaccine catch-up in childhood was necessary.

PMID- 28592088
TI  - [Hepatitis B prevalence among women in child-bearing age in Shandong Province,
      China, 2014].
AB  - Objective: To know the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) among women in child
      bearing age in Shandong Province, China, providing references to the improvement
      of HBV control strategy. Methods: The participants were randomly selected by two
      stage sampling method from 12 counties which were representative for the whole
      province. Firstly two townships were selected from each county by probability
      proportional to size sampling (PPS) method. Then participants aged 1-4 years, 5
      14 years, 15-29 years and 30-59 years were selected by stratified random sampling
      method. The women in child-bearing age (20-49 years) were involved in this study.
      Questionnaire survey and 5 ml blood collection were conducted among all
      participants. Blood samples were detected for hepatitis B surface antigen
      (HBsAg), antibody against HBsAg (anti-HBs) and antibody against hepatitis B core
      antigen (anti-HBc). Those who were positive for HBsAg were further detected for
      hepatitis e antigen (HBeAg), antibody against HBeAg (anti-HBe) and the load of
      HBV DNA. The basic information of the participants including age, gender,
      occupation, nationality and residence place were collected. The prevalence of HBV
      infection indicators after weight adjustment were calculated and compared between
      participants with different demographic characteristics. Results: A total of 1
      151 women in child-bearing age were involved in this study. Twenty-seven
      participants were positive for HBsAg and the prevalence rate was 2.10% (95% CI:
      0.97%-3.23%). Five participants were positive for both HBsAg and HBeAg and the
      prevalence rate was 0.36% (95% CI: 0-0.84%). There were 567 and 291 participants
      who were positive for anti-HBs and anti-HBc respectively and the corresponding
      prevalence rates were 47.72% (95%CI: 41.68%-53.75%) and 24.40% (95% CI: 18.50%
      30.30%). The number of participants susceptible for HBV was 527 and the
      percentage of HBV susceptible women was 47.55% (95% CI: 41.63%-53.47%).
      Conclusion: HBV infection among women in child-bearing age has attained very low
      level in Shandong Province, China. However, the high proportion of women in child
      bearing age were still susceptible for HBV and hepatitis B immunization should be
      improved among them.

PMID- 28592089
TI  - [Prevalence of hepatitis A antibody among population covered by different
      hepatitis A immunization strategies in Shandong Province, 2015, China].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate prevalence of hepatitis A antibody (anti-HAV IgG) among
      population covered by different hepatitis A vaccine immunization strategies in
      Shandong Province in 2015. Methods: In October 2015, according to the
      geographical location of Shandong Province, the stratified random sampling method
      was used to stratify the 17 municipal distrcts, and the random number table
      method was used for sampling, First, two eastern cites (Qingdao, Rizhao), two
      western cities (Liaocheng, Zaozhuang) and three central cities (Jinan, Zibo and
      Laiwu) were selected; secondly, one county was drawn from each city. Finally, the
      participants were divided into five age groups including <=7 years (age group
      covered by free hepatitis A vaccination strategy), 8-11 years (age group who
      receive hepatitis A vaccination at their own charge), 12-24 years (age group
      covered by catch-up vaccination of hepatitis A), 25-34 years (age group born
      before hepatitis A vaccine was used) and >=35 years (age group born before
      hepatitis A vaccine was used). After all the paticipants or their guardians asked
      and registered basic information such as age, gender, home address, blood samples
      were collected from them and anti-HAV IgG was detected by ELISA method. The
      positive rate of anti-HAV IgG and 95%CI were calculated. Results: A total of 1
      654 participants were involved in the final analysis, including 856 males
      (51.75%) and 798 females (48.25%) whose mean age was (13.44+/-13.06) years. The
      crude positive rate of anti-HAV IgG was 91.41% (1 512/1 654, 95%CI: 89.96%
      92.72%) and the age-adjusted rate was 90.93% (95%CI: 90.92%-90.94%). The positive
      rates of anti-HAV IgG was at the highest level in the age group of <=7 years
      (95.90%, 95%CI: 95.88%-95.91%) and was at the lowest level in the age group of 25
      34 years (83.23%, 95%CI: 83.21%-83.25%). The age-specific positive rates of anti
      HAV IgG in eastern areas (96.79%, 95%CI: 96.78%-96.80%) were higher than those in
      both middle areas (86.66%, 95%CI: 86.65%-86.67%) and western areas (91.96%,
      95%CI: 91.95%-91.97%). Conclusion: The positive rate of anti-HAV IgG was high
      among the general population in Shandong Province, but relatively low among young
      and middle-aged adults. Besides the routine immunization of hepatitis A among the
      children, more efforts should be taken for the prevention and control of
      hepatitis A among young and middle-aged adults in Shandong Province, especially
      in central and western areas.

PMID- 28592090
TI  - [A cross-sectional study of seroepidemiology of viral hepatitis among Uighurs in
      Shufu of Xinjiang].
AB  - Objective: To explore the status of seroepidemiology on hepatitis A, B and C
      among students and residents aged equal or greater than 18 years in south
      Xinjiang, and to provide scientific evidence for prevention and control of viral
      hepatitis. Methods: Uyghur students in four towns and villages were selected by
      cluster random sampling from Feb to May, 2015, and Uyghur residents aged 18 to 69
      years were selected by stratified cluster sampling from May to September, 2016. 4
      507 middle and primary Uygur students and 4 833 Uyghur resides equal or greater
      than 18 years attended this survey. Self-designed questionnaire was used to
      collect the demographic information. And Elisa test was adopted to detect HAV
      IgG, HBsAg, HBsAb and HCV-IgG. Chi-square test was used to calculate the
      difference on antibody positive rate of three types of hepatitis among the
      participants. Results: The overall HAV-IgG positive rate was 99.45% (9 289/9
      340). The positive rates were 99.70% (4 006/4 018) in male and 99.27% (5 283/5
      322) in female (chi(2)=7.95, P=0.005). The HAV-IgG positive rate among people
      aged 10 to 14 years was the highest (99.91%, 2 233/2 235), and the difference
      between the age specific HAV-IgG positive rates was statistical significant
      (chi(2)=38.21, P<0.001). The overall HBsAg positive rate was 4.11% (384 cases),
      with 4.55% (183 cases) for male and 3.78% (201 cases) for female. The HBsAg
      positive rate among participants 19 to 24 years old was the highest (9.46%,
      21/222) and the differences between the age specific HBsAg was statistically
      significant (chi(2)=116.22, P<0.001). The HBsAb positive rate was 35.03% (3 272
      cases), with 35.59% (1 430 cases) for male and 34.61% (1 842 cases) for female,
      and the HBsAb positive rate among participants aged 15 to 18 years was the
      highest, which was 69.12% (696/1 007). The differences between the age specific
      HBsAb rates appeared statistically significant (chi(2)=671.80, P<0.001). The
      overall HCV-IgG positive rate was 0.65%(61 cases). The HCV-IgG positive rate in
      female was 0.86% (46 cases) and 0.37% (15 cases) in male (chi(2)=8.51,
      P=0.004).The HCV-IgG positive rate among participants aged over 70 years was the
      highest (3.78%,9/238) , and the difference between the age specific HCV-IgG
      positive rates had statistic significance (chi(2)=70.30, P<0.001). The HAV-IgG
      positive rate in hepatitis A vaccinees (100%, 876/876) was higher than that among
      the non-vaccinees (99.40%, 8 413/8 464) (chi(2)=4.26, P=0.039). The HBsAb
      positive rate in hepatitis B vaccinees was 39.32% (1 816/4 619) which was higher
      than that among the non-vaccinees (30.84%, 1 456/4 721) (chi(2)=73.68, P<0.001).
      Conclusion: The positive rate of overall HAV-IgG was high, male and participants
      aged between 10 to 14 had higher probability to be infected. But the infection
      rates of hepatitis B and C were low, with the low vaccination rate and the poor
      protective effectiveness of hepatitis B.

PMID- 28592091
TI  - [Anti-HBs persistence after revaccination with three doses of hepatitis B vaccine
      among low-responder infants following primary vaccination: 4-year of follow-up].
AB  - Objective: Assess the 4-year antibody against hepatitis B surface antigen (anti
      HBs) persistence after revaccination with 3-dose of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB)
      among low-responder infants following primary vaccination. Methods: According to
      stratified cluster sampling, a total of 4 147 infants were enrolled and primarily
      vaccinated with 5 MUg HepB derived in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (HepB-SC) at 0-1-6
      months schedule from 75 towns of Jinan, Weifang, Yantai, Weihai prefectures,
      Shandong Province, China in Aug and Sep 2009. Blood samples were collected one to
      six months after the third dose of primary immunization and tested for anti-HBs
      using chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay (CMIA). 717 infants who
      appeared low response (10 mU/ml <= anti-HBs<100 mU/ml) were revaccinated with 3
      dose of HepB. Blood samples were collected from a total of 315 infants one month
      (T(0)), four years (T(1)) after revaccination and anti-HBs, antibody against
      hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were
      detected by CMIA. Information about their birth, primary vaccination were
      collected. The risk factors associated with positive rate of anti-HBs and GMC of
      anti-HBs were identified by multiple non-conditional logistic regression analysis
      and multifactor linear regression model analysis, respectively. Results: Among
      315 children, 165 (52.38%) were male and 150 (47.62%) were female. The positive
      rate was 83.81% (264/315) at T(0) and it decreased to 16.51% (149/529) at T(1).
      The corresponding GMC decreased from 473.15 mU/ml to 17.37 mU/ml. The average
      annual decreasing rate of positive rate and GMC was 33.38% and 56.23% from T(0)
      to T(1). Multivariable analysis showed the positive rate and GMC among those
      whose anti-HBs titer higher at T(0) were significantly higher at T(1). The
      positive rate at T(1) among those whose anti-HBs titer 400-<600, 600-<800, 800-<1
      000, >=1 000 mU/ml at T(0) were significantly higher than those whose anti-HBs
      titer less than 200 mU/ml. The OR (95%CI) of the positive rate was 4.29 (1.03
      17.84), 4.53 (1.25-16.47), 4.19 (1.10-15.97) and 9.13 (2.91-28.63), respectively.
      The GMC at T(1) among those whose anti-HBs titer 400-<600, 600-<800, 800-<1 000
      mU/ml and those whose anti-HBs titer >=1 000 mU/ml at T(0) were higher than those
      whose anti-HBs titer<200 mU/ml. The b value (95% CI) of GMC was 0.84 (0.06-1.62),
      1.13 (0.46-1.79), 1.33 (0.65-2.01) and 1.88 (1.33-2.44), respectively. GMC among
      full-term infants were significantly higher than premature infants at T(1). The b
      value (95% CI) of GMC was 0.86 (0.04-1.68). Conclusion: Anti-HBs GMC decreased
      rapidly 4 years after revaccination among low-responder infants, but still kept
      good protection. The anti-HBs persistence after revaccination was associated with
      anti-HBs level of titer one month after revaccination.

PMID- 28592092
TI  - [Early physical growth and disease analysis among children born delivered by
      HBsAg-positive mothers].
AB  - Objective: To estimate the early physical growth and disease in children born to
      HBsAg-positive mothers. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Three
      areas as Xihu in Hangzhou, Lanxi in Jinhua, and Haiyan in Jiaxing in Zhejiang
      province were selected by cluster sampling. The growth outcomes of children born
      to HBsAg-positive mothers (exposure group) and matched 1?1 women uninfected with
      HBV (control group) in 2014 were investigated and compared at birth, 6, 9, 12,
      and 18 months, respectively. There were totally 342 children in each group.
      Results: The incidences of low birth weight (LBW) for children born to exposure
      and control group were 1.8% (6/342), and 2.6% (9/342), respectively (P=0.433);
      and, rates of preterm birth were 2.3% (8/342), and 2.0% (7/342), respectively
      (P=0.794). The mean birth weight of children born to mothers without HBV
      infection (3.4+/-0.4) kg was dramatically higher than children in exposure group
      (3.3+/-0.4) kg (P=0.019). At 18 months, the average head circumference was
      significantly greater among children in control group (47.3+/-1.3) cm than
      children in exposure group (47.0+/-2.0) cm (P=0.038). Additional, mean birth
      weeks, height, weight, increases in height/weight/head circumference each month,
      weight/height/head circumference for age Z scores, proportion of growth
      retardation and low weight, disease prevalence were not observed statistically
      differences between two groups (P>0.05). All children born to HBsAg-positive
      mothers were received three-dose HBV vaccination. The rate of hepatitis B
      immunoglobulin for births born to HBsAg-positive was 98.8% (338/342). Mother to
      children transmission of HBV at 18 months was 1.0% (1/97). Conclusion: No
      significant differences in growth development and disease prevalence were found
      among children born to HBsAg-positive women and women without HBV infection.

PMID- 28592093
TI  - [Comparative analysis of hepatitis B virus large protein, hepatitis B virus-DNA
      and Pre-S1 antigen in evaluating serum hepatitis B virus replication].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the comparative study of serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      large protein (HBV-LP) , HBV-DNA, and Pre S1 antigen (Pre S1-Ag) detection in the
      evaluation of serum HBV replication in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
      Methods: A total of 482 patients infected with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB)
      were enrolled and the serums were collected in a hospital of Hefei city in Anhui
      province from June 2013 to March 2015. The serum HBV-LP, HBV markers(HBV-M) and
      Pre S1-Ag were detected using ELISA, and HBV-DNA were quantified using
      quantitative real-time PCR. The positive detection rate difference of HBV-DNA,
      HBV-LP and Pre S1-Ag were compared, the correlation between the logarithm of HBV
      DNA copies number and the absorbance value of HBV-LP was analyzed using Spearman
      rank correlation. Results: The positive rates of HBV DNA, HBV-LP, and Pre S1-Ag
      were 67.22% (324/482), 73.86% (356/482), and 37.34% (180/482), respectively
      (P<0.01). The positive rates of the three markers were 54.57% (185/339), 64.90%
      (220/339), and 27.73% (94/339), respectively, in 339 HBeAg-negative CHB patients
      (P<0.01). In HBeAg negative patients, the positive rate of HBV-LP in 185 cases of
      HBV-DNA positive samples was 90.81% (168/185), which was higher than that of Pre
      S1-Ag with rate of 39.46% (73/185) (P<0.01).The positive rate of HBV-LP was
      33.77% (52/154) in 154 cases of patients with negative HBV-DNA whose positive
      rate was higher than Pre S1-Ag with positive rate of 13.64% (21/154)(P<0.01). The
      positive rates of HBV-DNA, HBV-LP and Pre S1-Ag in HBsAg, HBeAg and HBcAb
      positive groups were 97.04% (131/135), 94.81% (128/135), and 60.00% (81/135),
      (P<0.01); The positive rates of three indexes of HBsAg, HBeAb, HBcAb positive
      group were 53.74% (122/227), 63.88% (145/227), and 27.31% (62/227); The positive
      rates of three indexes of HBsAg and HBcAb positive group were 55.79% (53/95),
      67.37% (64/95), and 28.42% (27/95) (P<0.01). The absorbance value of HBV-LP was
      positively related with the logarithm of HBV-DNA copies number (Spearman rank
      correlation coefficient was 0.908, P<0.01). Conclusion: There was a good
      correlation between HBV-LP and HBV-DNA load value, and could be used as an
      effective complement for the detection of HBV-DNA and HBV-M. Compared with Pre S1
      Ag.

PMID- 28592095
TI  - [The epidemic status of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adolescents aged 10-17
      years in 2010-2012].
AB  - Objective: To invesigate the epidemic status of the metabolic syndrome (MS) among
      mainland Chinese adolescents aged 10-17 in 2010-2012. Methods: Data were
      collected from Chinese Nutrition and Health Surveillance in 2010-2012. Multi
      stage stratified proportion to the population cluster random sampling method was
      conducted to determine 16 872 adolescents in 150 counties from 31 provinces in
      mainland China. The epidemic status of metabolic syndrome was analyzed by China
      criterion (defined by Chinese Pediatric Society, Chinese Medical Association) and
      Cook criterion, respectively. The prevalence of MS and 95%CI were calculated
      through weighted complex sampling processing by population data released by the
      National Bureau of Statistics in 2009. Results: Based on China criterion, the
      weighted prevalence of MS was 2.4% (95% CI: 2.1%-2.6%) among Chinese adolescents
      aged 10-17. Prevalence in urban was higher than in rural (2.8%, 95%CI: 2.4%-3.2%
      and 1.9%, 95%CI:1.6%-2.3%, respectively). Prevalence in boys and girls were 2.7%
      (95% CI: 2.3%-3.0%), and 2.0% (95% CI: 1.7%-2.4%), respectively. Based on Cook
      criterion, the weighted prevalence was 4.3% (95% CI: 4.0%-4.7%) . The highest
      weighted prevalence of the components of the metabolic syndrome was low high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (26.8%, 95% CI: 26.0%-27.5%), followed by high
      fasting glucose (11.5%, 95% CI: 11.0%-12.0%), abdominal obesity (11.1%, 95%CI:
      10.6%-11.7%) , hypertriglyceridemia (8.8%, 95%CI: 8.4%-9.3%) , and high blood
      pressure (6.4%, 95% CI: 6.0%-6.8%). Conclusion: Among the five indicators of
      metabolic syndrome, the prevalence of central obesity and hypertriglyceridemia
      were relative high in Chinese adolescents aged 10-17 years, though the prevalence
      of metabolic syndrome was not high.

PMID- 28592094
TI  - [Epidemiological characteristics of waist circumference and abdominal obesity
      among Chinese adults in 2010-2012].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of waist
      circumference (WC) and abdominal obesity (AO) among Chinese adults aged 18 and
      above. Methods: Data were collected from China National Nutrition and Health
      Surveillance in 2010-2012. Multi-stage stratifies proportion to the population
      cluster random sampling method was conducted to determine 120 265 subjects aged
      18 and above at 150 counties in 31 provinces in China mainland. WC was determined
      for all subjects, and AO was judged according to the "Healthy Adult Weight
      Determination" (WS/T 428-2013). Using the demographic data published by the
      National Bureau of Statistics of China in 2009, we performed complex sampling
      weighted treatment to calculate the WC, AO rate and 95%CI. Results: The mean WC
      of Chinese men aged 18 and above was 82.8 cm, which of urban men (84.1 cm) was
      higher than that of rural men (81.4 cm) (P<0.001). The average WC of women was
      78.5 cm. There was no statistical difference between urban (78.7 cm) and rural
      women (78.4 cm) (P=0.965). With the increase of education level, the mean WC of
      male increased gradually from 81.2 cm to 84.3 cm (P<0.001), and the mean WC of
      female decreased from 80.3 cm to 74.3 cm (P<0.001). With the family income rose,
      the mean WC of men increased gradually from 81.9 cm to 84.7 cm (P<0.001), and the
      mean of WC of women decreased from 78.8 cm to 77.6 cm (P<0.001). The AO rate was
      25.7% (95% CI: 23.7%-27.7%) in adults aged 18 years and older. The AO rate in
      urban males (29.8% (95%CI: 26.5%-33.1%)) was significantly higher than that of
      rural males (22.3% (95%CI: 19.3%-25.2%)) (P=0.001). There was no significant
      difference in the female AO rate between urban (25.6% (95%CI: 22.8%-28.4%)) and
      rural areas (25.1% (95%CI: 22.2%-27.9%)) (P=0.772). With the increase of the
      educational level, the AO rate of men increased from 20.1% (95%CI: 18.0%-22.1%)
      to 32.6% (95%CI: 28.6%-36.6%) (P<0.001), the rate of women decreased gradually
      from 31.3% (95%CI: 28.7%-33.9%) to 13.5% (95%CI: 10.9%-16.1%) (P<0.001). With the
      increase of family income, the AO rate of male increased gradually from 23.3%
      (95%CI: 20.7%-25.9%) to 31.8% (95%CI: 27.6%-36.1%) (P<0.001), the rate of female
      decreased from 26.5% (95% CI: 24.2%-28.7%) to 20.0% (95% CI: 17.2%-22.8%)
      (P<0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of AO among Chinese residents aged 18 years
      and above was high, and there were significant differences in WC and AO rate
      between men and women under different age, region, educational level and family
      income level.

PMID- 28592096
TI  - [Survey on dietary nutrients intake of Chinese residents between 2010 and 2012].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the average dietary nutrients intake status among
      Chinese residents between 2010-2012, and to compare the difference between rural
      and urban areas. Methods: Data were collected from Chinese Nutrition and Health
      Surveillance between 2010-2012. Based on regional features and economic
      development levels, China's county-level divisions were classified into four
      types: big city, medium and small city, ordinary rural area and poor rural area.
      A total of 62 857 valid subjects, including 14 017, 16 539, 19 910 and 12 391
      respondents in each group separately, were enrolled by Multi-stage stratified
      proportion to the population cluster random sampling method. The dietary survey
      was conducted by recalling the 24 h diet in 3 consecutive days and weighting
      condiment. The daily dietary intake of energy, macronutrient, dietary fiber,
      vitamin, and mineral substance per resident were calculated based on China Food
      Composition. Results: The average energy intake per resident in Mainland China
      was 9 047.1 kJ, with highest (9 719.3 kJ) in poor rural area and lowest (8 490.4
      kJ) in medium and small city. The average dietary protein intake was 64.2 g, with
      highest (73.9 g) in big city and lowest (60.7 g) in poor rural area. The average
      dietary fat intake was 79.7 g, with highest (89.4 g) in big city and lowest (70.6
      g) in poor rural area. The average intake of micronutrients of vitamin A, vitamin
      B(2), vitamin C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc was separately 441.9 MUg, 0.8
      mg, 80.1 mg, 364.3 mg, and 21.4 mg; which were lower than Chinese Dietary
      Reference Intakes. The percentage of population whose average intake of vitamin
      A, vitamin B(2), vitamin C, calcium were lower than estimated average requirement
      was separately 77.0%, 90.2%, 67.7%, and 96.6%. Conclusion: The supply of 3
      macronutrient was sufficient in mainland China. However, it was a common issue
      that there was excessive intake of fat but deficient intake of micronutrients
      such as vitamin, calcium, iron and zinc. There were differences in nutrition
      intake among big city, medium and small city, ordinary rural area and poor rural
      area.

PMID- 28592097
TI  - [Study on breakfast consumption of children aged from 6-17 in China in 2010
      2012].
AB  - Objective: To investigate breakfast status and influencing factors among children
      aged 6-17 in China in 2010-2012. Methods: Data were collected from China National
      Nutrition and Health Surveillance in 2010-2012. By using multi-stage stratified
      sampling and population proportional stratified random sampling method, the
      research objects were 29 393 children, who aged 6 to 17 y from 150 sites in 31
      provinces in mainland China. The information of breakfast frequency and the
      numbers of breakfast dinning out (in restaurant and at schools) in the past week
      with seven days were collected by questionnaire; and compared by different ages,
      genders and areas. Results: During the past week, 91.1% (26 776/29 393) of the
      children aged 6 to 17 y had their breakfast daily, and 94.6% (13 457/14 221) of
      children aged 6 to 11 y was higher than 87.8% (13 319/15 172) of children aged 12
      to 17 y, the highest proportion of the children never eat breakfast (0 time in
      the past week) found in poor rural areas was 3.6% (189/5 261), the ratio of big
      cities, small-medium cities and normal rural areas was 1.1% (77/7 104), 0.6%
      (51/8 361), and 0.6% (54/8 667), respectively (P<0.001). The rate of boys and
      girls ate their breakfast daily in the past week were 91.3% (13 481/14 761), and
      90.9% (13 295/14 632), respectively (P>0.05). Totally 42.2% (12 398/29 393) of
      children ate breakfast outside-home (the restaurant and the school) in the past
      week, the percentage of children aged 12 to 17 y and poor rural areas was higher,
      50.9% (7 722/15 172), and 52.4% (2 756/5 261), respectively (P<0.001). 42.1% (6
      208/14 761) boys and 42.3% (6 190/14 632) girls ate their breakfast outside-home
      (P>0.05). The place of most school-age children eat outside-home was school, the
      ratio was 32.2% (9 477/29 393). Conclusion: It was common for school-aged
      children in China to skip breakfast during their daily lives, especially in poor
      rural areas and older children, lots of school-aged children ate breakfast
      outside-home, and most of them ate breakfast in school.

PMID- 28592098
TI  - [The effect of short-term exposure to ambient NO(2) on lung function and
      fractional exhaled nitric oxide in 33 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      patients].
AB  - Objectives: To investigate the effect of short-term exposure to ambient NO(2) has
      influence on lung function and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Methods: A panel of doctor
      diagnosed stable COPD patients (n=33) were recruited and repeatedly measured for
      lung function and FeNO from December 2013 to October 2014. The patients who lived
      in Beijing for more than one year and aged between 60 and 85 years old were
      included in the study. We excluded patients with asthma, bronchial tensor, lung
      cancer and other respiratory disorders other than chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease and occupational exposure and chest trauma surgery patients. Because the
      frequency of each subject visiting to the hospital was different, a total of 170
      times of lung function measurements and 215 times of FeNO measurements were
      conducted. At the same time, the atmospheric NO(2) data of Beijing environmental
      monitoring station near the residence of each patient during the study period
      were collected from 1 day to 7 days lag before the measurement. Effects of short
      term NO(2) exposure on lung function and FeNO in COPD patients were estimated by
      linear mixed-effects models. Results: The subjects' forced vital capacity (FVC),
      forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and
      exhaled NO of subjects were (3.26+/-0.83) L, (1.66+/-0.61) L, (4.13+/-1.77) L/s,
      and (48.99+/-14.30) MUg/m(3), respectively. The concentration of NO(2) was
      (70.3+/-34.2) MUg/m(3) and the interquartile range (IQR) was 39.0 MUg/m(3). Short
      term exposure to NO(2) resulted in a significant decrease in FVC among COPD
      patients' which was most obvious in 2 days lag. Every quartile range increased in
      NO(2) (39 MUg/m(3), 2 day) would cause a 1.84% (95%CI: -3.20%- -0.48%) reduction
      in FVC. The effects of exposure to higher concentration of NO(2) (>=58.0
      MUg/m(3)) on FVC estimate was -2.32% (95%CI: -4.15%- -0.48%)(P=0.02). No
      significant relevance of FeNO and NO(2) was observed in this study. Conclusions:
      Short term exposure to ambient NO(2) may bring down pulmonary function in COPD
      patients.

PMID- 28592099
TI  - [Study of the association between polymorphism of persistent obesity, human
      leptin gene/leptin receptor gene and molecular subtypes of breast cancer].
AB  - Objectives: To explore the association between the polymorphism of persistent
      obesity and genetic variations in the LEP (human leptin gene, LEP) and LEPR
      (leptin receptor gene, LEPR) genes and different molecular subtypes of breast
      cancer. Methods: All 703 female patients of breast cancer diagnosed by
      histopathology in the Sichuan Cancer Hospital or the West China Hospital,
      excluding patients with metastatic breast cancer or mental disease, were selected
      as cases from April 2014 to May 2015. At the same time, 805 healthy women
      received physical examination in medical examination center of Sichuan People
      Hospital or Shuangliu maternal and child health care hospital, excluding those
      with therioma, breast disease, and mental disease, were enrolled in control
      group. A uniform questionnaire was used to collect general information including
      demographic characteristic, reproductive history height, weight, and so on. And
      the obesity status in recent 10 years was judged. Time of Flight Mass
      Spectrometer was used to determine the genotypes of LEP rs7799039, LEPR rs1137100
      and LEPR rs1137101, while the multinomial logistic regression analysis was
      conducted to estimate the effect of risk factors related to breast cancer in
      different molecular subtypes; and then, the association between polymorphism of
      persistent obesity, the LEP, LEPR genes and breast cancer of different molecular
      subtypes was analyzed by binary logistic regression models. Results: The average
      age of controls was (48.98+/-8.83) years old, while the age of cases of TNBC,
      Luminal A, Luminal B, and HER-2+ were (51.43+/-11.33), (49.94+/-10.10), (49.73+/
      9.38), (50.50+/-9.04) years old, respectively. The frequency of genotype LEP
      rs7799039, LEPR rs1137100 and LEPR rs1137101 in control group was separately
      74.8%(1 157/1 546), 83.6%(1 339/1 602) and 88.4%(1 416/1 602); while 77.6% (1
      074/1 384), 82.4% (1 155/1 402) and 87.9% (1 232/1 402) respectively in case
      group. Compared with non-persistent obesity subjects, the persistent obesity ones
      showed an increased risk in TNBC (OR=3.58, 95%CI: 1.90-6.72), Luminal A (OR=2.65,
      95%CI: 1.35-5.21) and Luminal B (OR=1.90, 95%CI: 1.26-2.89) breast cancer. LEP
      rs7799039-AA was relevant with the upward risk of Luminal B independently
      (OR=1.30, 95%CI: 1.00-1.69). Besides, persistent obesity was found to have a
      combined effect on Luminal B (beta=3.34, 95% CI: 1.00-11.12) with LEPR rs1137101
      GG. Conclusion: Persistent obesity could increase the potential risk of TNBC,
      Luminal A and Luminal B breast cancer. Women who were suffered from persistent
      obesity with a genotype of LEPR rs1137101-GG were more susceptible to Luminal B
      breast cancer.

PMID- 28592100
TI  - [The association between aflatoxin exposure and primary hepatocellular carcinoma
      risks: a case-control study in Chongqing].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the association between aflatoxin exposure and primary
      hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) development. Methods: From December 2013 to May
      2016, we selected 214 patients newly diagnosed with PHC as cases, and 214
      patients as controls from three hospitals in Chongqing. Cases were confirmed with
      PHC diagnosis standard. And cases caused by clear reasons such as drug-induced
      liver injury, alcoholic liver damage, fatty liver and gallstones etiology, were
      excluded. Controls were included with no cancer and no digestive system disease,
      and recruited simultaneously with cases. Cases and controls were frequency
      matched (1?1) by same gender and age (+/-3 years). Peripheral blood and random
      urine samples were collected and analyzed for serum HBsAg status by biochemistry
      analyzer, and serum AFB(1)-ALB adduct and urinary AFB(1)-N(7)-GUA adduct by
      ELISA. Basic information, living habits and history of disease for patients were
      obtained by questionnaires. We used wilcoxon rank sum test to compare the median
      of serum AFB(1)-ALB adduct and urinary AFB(1)-N(7)-GUA adduct in cases and
      controls. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess risk factors for
      PHC, and synergism index (S) of aflatoxin with other factors was estimated by the
      method of Andersson. Results: There was no significant difference in age between
      PHC cases (50.74+/-9.67) years and controls (51.15+/-9.90) years. Logistic
      regression showed that the odds ratio of HBV infection for PHC development was
      46.3 (95% CI: 23.3-88.0). There was a significant difference in median
      concentrations of serum AFB(1)-ALB adduct (cases vs controls: 146.23 vs 74.42
      ng/g albumin, P<0.001), but no difference in median concentrations of urinary
      AFB(1)-N(7)-GUA adduct was observed (cases vs controls: 0.17 vs 0.14 ng/mg
      creatinine, P<0.210). The odd ratios for PHC risk after adjustment were 1.9
      (95%CI: 1.1-3.4) for AFB(1)-ALB adduct, and 2.1 (95%CI: 1.0-4.2) for AFB(1)-N(7)
      GUA adduct. Moreover, we observed a positive interaction of aflatoxin exposure
      with HBV, alcohol drinking, and diabetes. The S was 4.7 (95%CI: 2.8-7.9), 3.5
      (95%CI: 1.0-12.0), and 12.4 (95%CI: 1.8-84.2), respectively for serum AFB(1)-ALB
      adduct with each of the three factors mentioned, and was 1.9 (95%CI:1.1-3.1), 2.0
      (95%CI: 1.1-3.6), and 2.0 (95%CI: 1.1-3.6), respectively for urinary AFB(1)-N(7)
      GUA adduct with each of the three factors mentioned. Conclusion: HBV was still
      the main risk factor, and AFB(1) exposure was also an independent risk factor for
      PHC in Chongqing. There was a positive interaction of aflatoxin with HBV, alcohol
      drinking, and diabetes.

PMID- 28592101
TI  - [Analysis of related factors for primary hepatic carcinoma caused by chronic
      hepatitis B and hepatitis C].
AB  - Objective: To explore the related factors for primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC)
      caused by chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and hepatitis C (CHC). Methods: According to
      the principle of cross-sectional study, a cluster random sample method was used,
      a total of 366 chronic hepatitis patients in hospitals were recruited from three
      provincial tertiary hospitals in Shanxi, Henan and Jilin between July 2016 and
      October 2016, respectively. Using a self-designed unified questionnaire, face-to
      face interviews was conducted on subjects, including sex, age, alcohol
      consumption, coffee consumption, green tea consumption, fish consumption,
      smoking, HBV/HCV diagnosis and treatment, diabetes mellitus, family history of
      PHC (whether PHC in first-degree relatives), etc. Multivariate unconditional
      logistic regression were performed to identify the related factors for PHC with
      CHB and CHC. According to the clinical diagnosis the patients were divided into a
      chronic hepatitis group (not developing to PHC) and a PHC group. Results: Among
      366 cases patients, 287 (78.4%) cases were male, 79 cases were female (21.6%),
      average age was (52.7+/-9.3) years. 202 cases were chronic hepatitis group, 164
      cases were PHC group. Multivariate unconditional logistics regression analysis
      indicated that alcohol consumption (odds ratio (OR)=2.11, 95%CI: 1.18-3.75),
      family history of PHC (OR=5.12, 95%CI: 2.60-10.08) were positively correlated
      with the development of PHC in chronic b, green tea consumption (OR=0.45, 95%CI:
      0.23-0.88), antiviral treatment (OR=0.19, 95%CI: 0.11-0.32) were negatively
      correlated. Alcohol consumption (OR=3.98, 95%CI: 1.14-13.85) was positively
      correlated with the development of PHC in chronic c, antiviral treatment
      (OR=0.14, 95%CI: 0.04-0.50) was negatively correlated. Conclusion: Alcohol
      consumption, family history of PHC, green tea consumption and antiviral treatment
      were the related factors for the development of PHC in chronic hepatitis b.
      Alcohol consumption and antiviral treatment were the related factors for the
      development of PHC in chronic hepatitis c.

PMID- 28592102
TI  - [Assessment of comprehensive nutritional status and eating behavior among 311
      middle aged and aged women with osteoporosis in Chengdu].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the comprehensive nutritional status and diet behavior
      of middle aged and elderly women with osteoporosis, and thereby to explore the
      relationship between diet behavior and comprehensive nutritional status. Methods:
      311 middle-aged and elderly women with osteoporosis in Chengdu were included in
      this study. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was applied to assess their
      comprehensive nutritional status. Information of social-demographic
      characteristics and diet behavior (about meals, snacks and water drinking, etc.)
      of the subjects was collected by questionnaire. Chi square test was used to
      assess the differences in nutritional status among patients who have different
      eating behaviors. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the
      relationship between diet behaviors and comprehensive nutritional status.
      Results: The mean MNA score of subjects was 25.8+/-2.5. 20.3% (63/311) of the
      subjets were at risk of potential malnutrition, but there was no malnourished
      subjects found. 46.9% (46/311) of the subjects were in good appetite. 95.2%
      (296/311) of them had a fixed food intake each meal. 65.8% (198/311) of them had
      snacks every day, and the most common choice was fruit (86.4% (248/287)). 54.8%
      (165/311) of them had initiative drinking water habits, and the most common
      choice was plain boiled water (79.9%, 246/308). 76.5% (238/311) of them had daily
      portable water less than 1 500 ml. After adjusting the effects of age, occupation
      and education level, bad appetite (OR=3.50, 95%CI: 1.18-10.62), unfixed food
      intake (OR=7.27, 95%CI: 1.40-35.83), and seldom or never intake of snack
      (OR=3.71, 95%CI: 1.42-9.72) were risk factors for malnutrition risk, while tea
      drinking was protective factor(OR=0.31, 95%CI: 0.11-0.93). Conclusion: Risk of
      potential malnutrition and unhealthy diet behavior among the middle aged and
      elderly women with osteoporosis should be paid more attention. Unhealtghy diet
      behavior has a negative effect on their comprehensive nutritional status.

PMID- 28592105
TI  - [Prevalence and associated factors of postpartum depression of 1 355 puerperas in
      Shenzhen].

PMID- 28592104
TI  - [Loop-mediated isothermal amplification technique in the diagnosis of hepatitis B
      virus infection: a Meta-analysis].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of Loop-mediated isothermal
      amplification (LAMP) in the diagnosis of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection using
      Meta-analysis. Methods: Literatures about LAMP in the diagnosis of HBV
      throughPubMed database of the National Library of Medicine, the EMBASE database
      of the Dutch Medical Digest, the Cochrane Clinical Trials Database, China Science
      Periodical Database, CSPD and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)
      were searched from 2000 to 2016, and the Language limited to Chinese and English.
      English search terms include: LAMP, Loop-mediated isothermal amplification, HBV,
      hepatitis B virus; Chinese search terms include: loop-mediated isothermal
      amplification technology, HBV, hepatitis B virus. The keywords and free words are
      combined to search the literature, and the references mentioned in the retrieval
      literature are searched twice. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive
      likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), Q index
      as well as area under summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) were
      calculated with Stata 12.0 software. Results: A total of 12 literatures with 1
      494 cases were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood
      ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 0.922 (95%CI: 0.905-0.937), 0.860
      (95%CI: 0.818-0.896), 0.093 (95%CI: 0.048-0.182), and 15.400 (95%CI: 2.003
      118.380), respectively. The DOR, area under SROC and Q index were 311.090 (95%CI:
      95.841-1 009.800), 0.986 (95%CI: 0.974-0.998) and 0.949 (95%CI: 0.922-0.976),
      respectively. Deek's test indicates that no publication bias were found
      (P=0.140). Conclusion: LAMP is worth to be popularized in field tests and primary
      level hospitals tests.

PMID- 28592103
TI  - [Association of etheno-DNA adduct and DNA methylation level among workers exposed
      to diesel engine exhaust].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the association between etheno-DNA adduct and the
      promoter of DNA methylation levels of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (P16),
      Ras association domain family 1 (RASSF1A) and O-6-methylguanine-DNA
      methyltransferase (MGMT) in workers with occupational exposure to diesel engine
      exhaust (DEE). Methods: We recruited 124 diesel engine testing workers as DEE
      exposure group and 112 water pump operator in the same area as control group in
      Henan province in 2012 using cluster sampling. The demographic data were obtained
      by questionnaire survey; urine after work and venous blood samples were collected
      from each subject. The urinary etheno-DNA adducts were detected using UPLC-MS/MS,
      including 1,N6-etheno-2'-deoxyadenosine (epsilondA) and 3,N4-etheno-2'
      deoxycytidine(epsilondC). The DNA methylation levels of P16, RASSF1A, and MGMT
      were evaluated using bisulfite-pyrosequencing assay. The percentage of
      methylation was expressed as the 5-methylcytosine (5mC) over the sum of cytosines
      (%5mC). Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression were applied to
      analyze the association between etheno-DNA adducts and DNA methylation of P16,
      RASSF1A, and MGMT. Results: The median (P(25)-P(75)) of urinary epsilondA level
      was 230.00 (98.04-470.91) pmol/g creatinine in DEE exposure group, and 102.10
      (49.95-194.48) creatinine in control group. The level of epsilondA was higher in
      DEE exposure group than control group (P<0.001). DNA methylation levels of P16,
      RASSF1A and MGMT were 2.04+/-0.41, 2.19 (1.94-2.51), 2.22 (1.94-2.46)%5mC in
      exposure group, and 2.19+/-0.40, 2.41 (2.11-2.67), 2.44 (2.15-2.91)%5mC in
      control group. DNA methylation levels were lower in exposure group (P values were
      0.005, 0.002 and 0.001, respectively). Spearman correlation analysis showed that
      DNA methylation levels of P16, RASSF1A, and MGMT were negative associated with
      urinary epsilondA level (r values were -0.155, -0.137, and -0.198, respectively,
      P<0.05). No significant correlation was observed between the epsilondC level and
      any measured DNA methylation levels (P>0.05) . Multiple linear regression
      confirmed the negative correlation between epsilondA and DNA methylation levels
      of P16, RASSF1A, and MGMT in non-smoking group (beta (95%CI) was -0.068 (-0.132-
      0.003), -0.082 (-0.159--0.004) and -0.048 (-0.090--0.007), P values were 0.039,
      0.039 and 0.024, respectively). Moreover, epsilondC was negative associated with
      DNA methylation level of MGMT in non-smoking group (beta (95%CI) was -0.094 (
      0.179--0.008), P=0.032). Conclusion: DEE exposure could induce the increased of
      epsilondA and decreased of DNA methylation levels of P16, RASSF1A and MGMT.

PMID- 28592106
TI  - [Progress in environmental exposure of organophosphate flame retardants].
AB  - Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), which have both great properties of
      flame retardation and plasticization, are currently widely used as additive flame
      retardants. Due to the restriction and phase-out of brominated flame retardants
      (BFRs), the market demand for OPFRs as excellent alternatives of BFRs has been
      rapid increasing. OPFRs can be slowly released into the environment during
      production and application. Some OPFRs might be persistent in the environment. As
      a result, OPFRs have been detected in various matrices in the environment and are
      expected to accumulate in human body through various pathways. OPFRs may cause
      adverse effects to human health as some of them have been identified as
      neurotoxicants, reproductive toxicants and potential carcinogens. The article
      summarized the occurrence and patterns of OPFRs in various environmental matrices
      such as air, dust, water, food and so on, and in human specimens, estimates the
      exposure status through different pathways and body burdens of OPFRs. The
      expected hotspots of OPFRs were also discussed in the future.

PMID- 28592107
TI  - Retraction of "Preorganized Chromophores Facilitate Triplet Energy Migration,
      Annihilation and Upconverted Singlet Energy Collection".

PMID- 28592108
TI  - Geometrical Effect in 2D Nanopores.
AB  - A long-standing problem in the application of solid-state nanopores is the lack
      of the precise control over the geometry of artificially formed pores compared to
      the well-defined geometry in their biological counterpart, that is, protein
      nanopores. To date, experimentally investigated solid-state nanopores have been
      shown to adopt an approximately circular shape. In this Letter, we investigate
      the geometrical effect of the nanopore shape on ionic blockage induced by DNA
      translocation using triangular h-BN nanopores and approximately circular
      molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanopores. We observe a striking geometry-dependent
      ion scattering effect, which is further corroborated by a modified ionic blockage
      model. The well-acknowledged ionic blockage model is derived from uniform ion
      permeability through the 2D nanopore plane and hemisphere like access region in
      the nanopore vicinity. On the basis of our experimental results, we propose a
      modified ionic blockage model, which is highly related to the ionic profile
      caused by geometrical variations. Our findings shed light on the rational design
      of 2D nanopores and should be applicable to arbitrary nanopore shapes.

PMID- 28592109
TI  - Roles of the Active Site Zn(II) and Residues in Substrate Discrimination by
      Threonyl-tRNA Synthetase: An MD and QM/MM Investigation.
AB  - Threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThrRS) is a Zn(II) containing enzyme that catalyzes the
      activation of threonine and its subsequent transfer to the cognate tRNA. This
      process is accomplished with remarkable fidelity, with ThrRS being able to
      discriminate its cognate substrate from similar analogues such as serine and
      valine. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and hybrid quantum
      mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods have been used to elucidate the
      role of Zn(II) in the aminoacylation mechanism of ThrRS. More specifically, the
      role of Zn(II) and active site residues in ThrRS's ability to discriminate
      between its cognate substrate l-threonine and the noncognate l-serine, l-valine,
      and d-threonine has been examined. The present results suggest that a role of the
      Zn(II) ion, with its Lewis acidity, is to facilitate deprotonation of the side
      chain hydroxyl groups of the aminoacyl moieties of cognate Thr-AMP and noncognate
      Ser-AMP substrates. In their deprotonated forms, these substrates are able to
      adopt a conformation preferable for aminoacyl transfer from aa-AMP onto the Ado
      3'OH of the tRNAThr cosubstrate. Relative to the neutral substrates, when the
      substrates are first deprotonated with the assistance of the Zn(II) ion, the
      barrier for the rate-limiting step is decreased significantly by 42.0 and 39.2 kJ
      mol-1 for l-Thr-AMP and l-Ser-AMP, respectively. An active site arginyl also
      plays a key role in stabilizing the buildup of negative charge on the substrate's
      bridging phosphate oxygen during the mechanism. For the enantiomeric substrate
      analogue d-Thr-AMP, product formation is highly disfavored, and as a result, the
      reverse reaction has a very low barrier of 16.0 kJ mol-1.

PMID- 28592110
TI  - Mechanism of Photocatalytic Water Splitting with Graphitic Carbon Nitride:
      Photochemistry of the Heptazine-Water Complex.
AB  - Impressive progress has recently been achieved in photocatalytic hydrogen
      evolution with polymeric carbon nitride materials consisting of heptazine
      building blocks. However, the fundamental mechanistic principles of the catalytic
      cycle are as yet poorly understood. Here, we provide first-principles
      computational evidence that water splitting with heptazine-based materials can be
      understood as a molecular excited-state reaction taking place in hydrogen-bonded
      heptazine-water complexes. The oxidation of water occurs homolytically via an
      electron/proton transfer from water to heptazine, resulting in ground-state
      heptazinyl and OH radicals. It is shown that the excess hydrogen atom of the
      heptazinyl radical can be photodetached by a second photon, which regenerates the
      heptazine molecule. Alternatively to the photodetachment reaction, two heptazinyl
      radicals can recombine in a dark reaction to form H2, thereby regenerating two
      heptazine molecules. The proposed molecular photochemical reaction scheme within
      hydrogen-bonded chromophore-water complexes is complementary to the traditional
      paradigm of photocatalytic water splitting, which assumes the separation of
      electrons and holes over substantial time scales and distances.

PMID- 28592111
TI  - Tip-Specific Functionalization of Gold Nanorods for Plasmonic Biosensing: Effect
      of Linker Chain Length.
AB  - Gold nanorods are promising platforms for label-free biosensing. We have
      functionalized gold nanorods with biotin thiol linkers of increasing chain length
      and evaluated their ability in the molecular detection of streptavidin. We have
      found an unexpected effect of the increase in linker length, which resulted in a
      substantial improvement of the plasmon response at surface saturation. The
      plasmon peak shift increased from 5 to 14 nm, i.e., more than twice the response,
      between the short and long biotin linkers. This effect is observed only for site
      selective tip functionalization, whereas for a full biotin coating there is no
      improvement observed with the linker length. The improved plasmon response for
      tip functionalization is attributed to low biotin coverage but is directed to the
      most sensitive regions, which, combined with a longer chain linker, reduces the
      steric hindrance for streptavidin binding on the rod's surface. The model sensors
      were further characterized by measuring their dose-response curves and binding
      kinetic assays. Simulations of the discrete dipole approximation give theoretical
      plasmon shifts that compare well with the experimental ones for the long linker
      but not with those of the short linker, thus suggesting that steric hindrance
      affects the latter. Our results highlight the importance of specifically
      functionalizing the plasmonic hot spots in nanoparticle sensors with the adequate
      density of receptors in order to maximize their response.

PMID- 28592112
TI  - Characterization and cellular studies of molecular nanoparticle of iron (III)
      tannic complexes; toward a low cost magnetic resonance imaging agent.
AB  - Herein, a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agent based on molecular
      nanoparticles of iron(III)-tannic complexes (Fe-TA NPs) is reported. The
      paramagnetic and molecularlike Fe-TA NPs were successfully synthesized at room
      temperature within a few minutes without the use of any toxic agents or expensive
      equipment. The coordination states of the Fe-TA NPs were pH-dependent. The r1
      relaxivity values of the bis-dominated and tris-dominated structures of the Fe-TA
      NPs were determined to be 6.31 and 5.24 mM-1 s-1, respectively, by using a
      Philips Achieva 1.5T MRI scanner. The Fe-TA NPs were 177 +/- 12 nm in diameter
      (hydrodynamic size) with a zeta potential value of -28 +/- 0.9 mV, dispersing
      very well in aqueous solution and were highly stable in phosphate buffered saline
      buffer (pH 7.4) containing competitive ligands and metals. From in vitro studies,
      it was evident that the Fe-TA NPs exhibited good biocompatibility, with high
      cellular uptake in HepG2 cells. Clearly, the Fe-TA NPs were found to induce
      signal enhancement in the T1-weighted image of the HepG2 cells. As a result, it
      can be stated that the Fe-TA NPs may have the potential for being developed as
      low-cost and clinically translatable magnetic resonance imaging agents in the
      near future.

PMID- 28592114
TI  - Oleanolic acid derivative SZC014 inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis
      of human breast cancer cells in a ROS-dependent way.
AB  - Oleanolic acid (OA) and its derivatives are a novel emerging class of compounds.
      Although OA exhibits potent anticancer and anti-inflammatory function, the
      potential effect of its new derivatives (SZC014) in human breast cancers has not
      been understood yet. In this investigation, we demonstrated the anticancer effect
      of SZC014, a novel OA derivative and identified the possible mechanisms by which
      SZC014 induced MCF-7 cell death. The biological functions of SZC014 were
      validated by MTT, migration and colony formation assays in breast cancer cells.
      Cell apoptosis was monitored by Annexin V- FITC assay. Intracellular ROS and cell
      cycle were measured by flow cytometric analysis. Western blot was used to detect
      protein expression level. Our present results fully demonstrated that SZC014
      inhibits breast cancer cells proliferation, colony formation, and cell migration.
      Further investigation verified that ROS generation, apoptosis induction and G0/G1
      phase arrest was observed in SZC014-treated MCF-7 cells. However, pretreatment
      with N-acetyl- L-cysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, increased the expression of
      procaspase-3. Additionally, SZC014 treatment suppressed the levels of Akt,
      phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt), COX-2, p-p65 in the cytoplasmic and p65 in nuclear.
      Furthermore, the inhibition of p65 nuclear translocation was confirmed by
      immunofluorescence staining. These data show that SZC014 is an effectively
      selective anticancer agent against breast cancer cells, highlighting the
      potential use of this derivative as a breast cancer therapeutic agent.

PMID- 28592113
TI  - pH-dependent lipid vesicle interactions with plasma polymerized thin films.
AB  - Model lipid vesicle and supported lipid bilayer (SLB) systems are used in a
      variety of applications including biosensing, cell membrane mimics, and drug
      delivery. Exposure of a surface to a vesicle solution provides a straightforward
      method for creating such systems via vesicle adsorption and collapse. However,
      this process is complex and the relationship between the surface physicochemical
      properties and vesicle collapse is poorly understood. Plasma polymers are thin
      conformal films that can be applied to a variety of materials to modify surface
      properties. This paper uses quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation and
      fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to explore lipid vesicle
      interactions with plasma polymerized acrylic acid (ppAAc), allylamine (ppAAm),
      and ppAAc/ppAAm micropatterns. Vesicle interactions were dependent on plasma
      polymer chemistry and pH of the buffer solution. Vesicles readily and stably
      adsorbed to ppAAm over a wide pH range. ppAAc demonstrated limited interactions
      at pH 7 and vesicle adsorption at pH 4. Vesicle collapse and SLB formation could
      be induced using a pH change. FRAP was used to explore the fluidity of the lipid
      structures on both the patterned and unpatterned plasma polymer films. On
      ppAAm/ppAAc micropatterns, pH transitions combined with the presence of
      chemically distinct regions on the same substrate enabled immobile lipid islands
      on ppAAc to be surrounded by fluid lipid regions on ppAAm. This work demonstrates
      that plasma polymer films could enable spatially controlled vesicle adsorption
      and SLB formation on a wide variety of different substrates.

PMID- 28592115
TI  - Identification of chemokine CXCL10 in tumor microenvironment by antibody array as
      a prognostic marker in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Immunological microenvironment is not only composed of multiple immune cells, but
      also deposited various inflammation factors that regulate immune response to
      tumor cells. To ascertain the crucial immune factors presented in hepatocellular
      carcinoma microenvironment (HCM), tumor tissue culture supernatant (TCS) and the
      corresponding non-tumor tissue culture supernatant (NCS) from patient with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed by antibody array technology. Among
      the inflammation-associated cytokines assayed, high level of chemokines CXCL8/IL
      8 (6.82-fold increase) and CXCL10/IP-10 (16.45-fold increase) in TCS than that in
      paired NCS were evidently identified. And low expression of IL-16 (0.14-fold
      decrease) and RANTES/CCL5 (0.17-fold decrease) in TCS were also uncovered.
      Especially, overexpression of CXCL10 in primary HCC compared with their non-tumor
      counterparts was significantly associated with serum AFP level (P = 0.004), tumor
      size (P = 0.021), tumor number (P < 0.001) and TNM stage (P = 0.027). In
      addition, Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that patients with higher CXCL10
      expression levels had significantly poorer overall survival (P = 0.016) and
      disease-free survival (P = 0.022) than those with lower CXCL10 expression levels.
      Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the level of CXCL10 expression
      was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in HCC patients. In
      summary, high concentration of CXCL10 is deposited in HCM identified by antibody
      array, which may contribute to the prediction of clinical outcome of HCC
      patients.

PMID- 28592116
TI  - Radionuclides in radiation-induced bystander effect; may it share in radionuclide
      therapy?
AB  - For many years in radiobiology and radiotherapy predominated the conviction that
      cellular DNA is the main target for ionizing radiation, however, the view has
      changed in the past 20 years. Nowadays, it is assumed that not only directed
      (targeted) radiation effect, but also an indirect (non-targeted) effect may
      contribute to the result of radiation treatment. Non-targeted effect is
      relatively well recognized after external beam irradiation in vitro and in vivo,
      and comprises such phenomena like radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE),
      genomic instability, adaptive response and abscopal (out of field) effect. These
      stress-induced and molecular signaling mediated phenomena appear in non-targeted
      cells as variety responses resembling that observed in directly hit cells.
      Bystander effects can be both detrimental and beneficial in dependence on dose,
      dose-rate, cell type, genetic status and experimental condition. Less is known
      about radionuclide-induced non-targeted effects in radionuclide therapy,
      although, based on characteristics of the radionuclide radiation, on experiments
      in vitro utilizing classical and 3-D cell cultures, and preclinical study on
      animals it seems obvious that exposure to radionuclide is accompanied by various
      bystander effects, mostly damaging, less often protective. This review summarizes
      existing data on radionuclide induced bystander effects comprising radionuclides
      emitting beta- and alpha-particles and Auger electrons used in tumor radiotherapy
      and diagnostics. So far, separation of the direct effect of radionuclide decay
      from crossfire and bystander effects in clinical targeted radionuclide therapy is
      impossible because of the lack of methods to assess whether, and to what extent
      bystander effect is involved in human organism. Considerations on this topic are
      also included.

PMID- 28592117
TI  - Mechanisms regulating radiosensitivity of glioma stem cells.
AB  - Malignant glioblastoma (GBM) has become a very common and difficult brain tumor
      given its low cure rate and high recurrence rate. GBMs are resistant to
      treatments because glioma stem cells (GSCs)/glioma-initiating cells (GICs), a
      specific subpopulation of GBM, possess properties of tumor stem cells, such as
      unlimited proficiency, self-renewal, differentiation and resistance to
      chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and exhibit a very strong DNA repair capability.
      Radiotherapy has become a preponderant treatment, and researchers have found many
      significant tumor microenvironmental factors and valuable signaling pathways
      regulating the GSC radioresistance, including NOTCH, Wnt/beta-catenin, Hedgehog,
      STAT3, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR. Therefore, we seek to boost GSC radiosensitivity
      through activating or inactivating pathways alone or together to eliminate the
      likely source of glioma and prolong survival of patients.

PMID- 28592118
TI  - MiR-99a-5p regulates proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of human
      oral carcinoma cells by targeting NOX4.
AB  - Previous research has showed that miR-99a-5p was a tumor suppressor. The aim of
      our study was to explore the effect of miR-99a-5p on the vitality and
      proliferation, migration together with the invasion of oral tumor cells via
      inhibiting the expression of NOX4. QRT-PCR and Western blot were applied to
      examine the expression level of miR-99a-5p and NOX4 in human oral tumorous and
      adjacent tissues. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay was applied to confirm that
      miR-99a-5p negatively regulated directly on NOX4 in TSCC1 cells. Cell
      transfection and lentiviral vectors were used to up-regulate expression of miR
      99a-5p and NOX4, respectively. Cell proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and
      invasion along with the migration in different groups were assessed using MTT
      assay, colony formation assay, the flow cytometry, transwell assay and the wound
      healing assay, respectively. MiR-99a-5p was under-expressed in human oral tumor,
      while NOX4 was over-expressed. There was a negative relationship between miR-99a
      5p and NOX4. Up-regulating miR-99a-5p or down-regulating NOX4 suppressed the
      vitality, proliferation, migration together with invasion of TSCC1 cells. MiR-99a
      5p affected the vitality and proliferation, migration together with the invasion
      of oral tumor cells through targeting NOX4.

PMID- 28592119
TI  - Tea Polyphenol inhibits autophagy to sensitize Epirubicin-induced apoptosis in
      human bladder cancer cells.
AB  - Resistance to anticancer agents such as Epirubicin (EPI) becomes a great
      challenge for treating bladder cancer. However, the mechanism by which
      chemoresistance arised is still elusive. In the present study, we showed evidence
      that EPI induced cytoprotective autophagy in bladder cancer cell lines T24 and
      BIU87. In addition, EPI robustly activated JNK-mediated phosphorylation of Bcl-2
      and disruption of Bcl-2/Beclin-1 complex. Furthermore, the green tea derivative
      tea polyphenol (TP) inhibited EPI-induced autophagy and promoted apoptosis
      induced by EPI in bladder cancer cells. These results revealed a pathway for EPI
      induced autophagy that involved in JNK/Bcl-2/Beclin-1 in bladder cancer cells,
      and that TP synergistically promoted EPI-induced apoptosis at least partly
      through autophagy inhibition. Thus, TP could be utilized in combination with EPI
      to improve EPI-based bladder cancer therapy.

PMID- 28592120
TI  - Downregulated vimentin and upregulated E-cadherin in T1 stage non-small-cell lung
      cancer: does it suggest a mesenchymal-epithelial transition?
AB  - Lung cancer has been a major threat to human health worldwide. Vimentin (VIM) and
      E-cadherin (E-cad) are molecular markers that play important roles in epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT), which has been shown to be correlated with tumor
      progression. Herein, we investigated the associations between clinicopathological
      parameters and VIM/E-cad expression in primary T1 stage non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). Real-time PCR was performed on RNA extracted from tumor tissue
      isolated from 54 patients with T1 stage NSCLC. Immunohistochemistry was used to
      measure the protein levels of VIM and E-cad. The paired-samples t-test,
      independent-samples t- test, Kappa test, and nonparametric test were used to
      perform statistical analyses. The expression of VIM were lower (P<0.001) and that
      of E-cad was higher (P<0.001) in tumor tissue when compared with the normal
      tissue at the transcriptional level. The RNA of VIM in adenocarcinomas was
      significantly higher than that found in squamous cell carcinomas (P<0.01).
      Moreover, the level of metastasis observed in the lymph node was significantly
      higher than that observed in metastasis outside of the lymph node (P<0.05).
      Vimentin protein had a lower profile in the tumor tissue, and the protein level
      of E-cad was higher in the tumor tissue. The IHC score of VIM in tumor tissue was
      found associated with both the pathological type and smoke index, and the score
      of E-cad was found to be related to visceral pleura involvement. In conclusions,
      VIM is downregulated and E-cad is upregulated in T1 stage NSCLC. Our study
      results suggest that a mesenchymal-epithelial transition may take place in the
      early-stage of tumor development, and that EMT occurs when the tumor develops
      into a certain stage.

PMID- 28592121
TI  - Inhibition of JMJD6 expression reduces the proliferation, migration and invasion
      of neuroglioma stem cells.
AB  - Neuroglioma is the most common form of human primary malignant brain tumor, more
      and more studies recently showed only a small subpopulation of glioma cells which
      called glioma stem cells have true tumorigenic potential. Meanwhile, it was
      reported the overexpression of JMJD6 protein is closely involvement with the
      occurrence and development of multiple tumors, and JMJD6 is required for the
      differentiation of multiple organ, tissues and cells during embryogenesis.
      However, the influence of JMJD6 overexpression on neuroglioma development is
      unclear now. Hence, to explore the effects of JMJD6 expression on neuroglioma, we
      firstly isolated glioma stem cells by using CD133 MicroBead Kit, and identified
      via neurosphere-forming assay and Immunofluorescence staining. At the same time,
      we investigated the effects and mechanism of JMJD6 on the proliferation,
      migration and invasion of glioma stem cells through MTT, transwell assays and the
      Cignal finder cancer 10-pathway reporter array. The results demonstrated that the
      glioma neurosphere cells positively expressed stem cell marker SOX2,
      neuroectodermal stem cell marker Nestin, and also expressed astrocytes marker
      GFAP and neurons marker beta-tubulin III fter FBS-induced differentiation for a
      week, which proved the glioma neurosphere cells have the self-renewal and
      multipotential differentiation capacity. Moreover, shRNA lentiviral vector
      mediated knockdown of JMJD6 in glioma stem cells led to decreased proliferation,
      migration and invasion, the underlying molecular mechanism is related to the
      weaken of Wnt signaling pathway and strengthen of p53 signaling pathway.

PMID- 28592122
TI  - Knockdown of CFTR enhances sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to cisplatin via
      inhibition of autophagy.
AB  - Prostate cancer is one of the most lethal diseases in men worldwide. Although the
      survival rate of men diagnosed with prostate cancer has increased with the
      improvement of treatments, drug resistance still remains a big challenge for
      improving overall survival. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator
      (CFTR), a cAMP-activated anion channel, has been reported to have a pivotal role
      in the pathogenesis of various cancers, but its role in chemoresistance of
      prostate cancer cells is poorly understood. In our study, we found that CFTR
      expression was significantly increased in prostate cancer tissues associated the
      chemoresistance, and in the cisplatin-resistant cell line LNCaP/CP compared with
      their respective parental cells. Cisplatin treatment inhibited CFTR expression in
      a concentration-dependent manner, which was correlated with a decrease in cell
      viability. Moreover, inhibition of CFTR by transfection of small interfering RNA
      enhanced cisplatin-induced the decrease of cell viability. Autophagy was
      dramatically increased in LNCaP/CP cells, as evidenced by autopaphgic markers as
      well as fluorescence microscopy analysis of GFP-LC3, MDC and AO staining. Of
      note, inhibiting autophagy by 3MA induced LNCaP/CP cell apoptosis, showed by MTT
      assay and Hoechst 33258 staining. In addition, blockade of CFTR also inhibited
      LNCaP/CP cell viability and autophagy. Furthermore, the dephosphorylation of AKT
      and mTOR was reversed by CFTR inhibition, indicating the knockdown of CFTR might
      inhibit autophagy in LNCaP/CP cells via activation of AKT/mTOR signaling.
      Altogether, these results provide a novel understanding of the mechanism for
      acquired cisplatin. Inhibition of CFTR may be a useful strategy to increase the
      efficacy of cisplatin to treat prostate cancer by preventing the protective
      response of autophagy.

PMID- 28592124
TI  - Long non-coding RNA MALAT1 promotes cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation and
      invasion by activating PI3K/Akt pathway.
AB  - Increasing evidence indicated that metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma
      transcript 1 (MALAT1) acted as a key regulator in the proliferation and invasion
      of several cancers. However, the function of MALAT1 in the development of
      cholangiocarcinoma has not been experimentally established. In the present study,
      the expression levels of MALAT1 in cholangiocarcinoma cell lines were detected by
      quantitative real-time PCR. The effects of MALAT1 knockdown on the cell
      proliferation and invasion of cholangiocarcinoma cells were detected with Cell
      Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation assay and Trans-well assay,
      respectively. The expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related
      proteins (E-cadherin, Vimentin) were evaluated to discover whether the process of
      EMT was involved. We also evaluated the expression of phos-phatidylinositol-3
      kinase/serine/threonine kinase (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway proteins (PI3K, p
      PI3K, Akt, p-Akt) to determine the associated molecular mechanism. And we
      discovered that MALAT1 was up-regulated in cholangiocarcinoma cancer cells. CCK
      8, colony formation and trans-well assay showed that the proliferation and
      invasion of QBC-939 and RBE with MALAT1 knockdown were inhibited. Moreover,
      MALAT1 could promote EMT in cholangiocarcinoma cells. In addition, MALAT1 may
      activate PI3K/Akt pathway. These results indicated that MALAT1 promoted
      cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation and invasion. The effects of MALAT1 on
      cholangiocarcinoma cells might be through activating the PI3K/Akt signaling
      pathway. These investigations may facilitate a better understanding of MALAT1 and
      it might be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of
      cholangiocarcinoma.

PMID- 28592123
TI  - Sorafenib inhibits growth of hepatoma with hypoxia and hypoxia-driven
      angiogenesis in nude mice.
AB  - The study aimed to investigate the effects of sorafenib on growth of hepatoma
      with hypoxia and angiogenesis. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing SMMC
      7721 hepatoma cells were established via transfection with a lentiviral vector
      carrying GFP. GFP-labelled cells were treated with CoCl2 for 24 h with or without
      pretreatment of sorafenib for 30 min, and then injected subcutaneously into nude
      mice to induce hepatoma xenografts. This study used 16 BALB/c nude mice, which
      were divided into 4 groups: control group (GFP-labelled cells), CoCl2 group (GFP
      labelled cells treated with CoCl2), CoCl2 plus sorafenib group (GFP-labelled
      cells pretreated with sorafenib and then treated with CoCl2) and CoCl2 plus
      sorafenib (cell+i.g.) group (GFP-labelled cells pretreated with sorafenib and
      then treated with CoCl2). After injection, CoCl2 plus sorafenib (cell+i.g.) group
      received intragastrical administration of sorafenib daily for 40 days. Tumor
      volume and weight were measured for each mouse. Cy5.5-annexinV and in vivo
      bioluminescence imaging were used for in vivo detection of cell apoptosis in
      tumor. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD 34 were detected by
      immunohistochemistry. The results showed that, under the hypoxia condition
      induced by CoCl2, sorafenib pretreatment combined with intragastric
      administration of sorafenib more obviously suppressed tumor growth and decreased
      VEGF expression and MVD compared to sorafenib pretreatment alone, and induced
      cell apoptosis as well. Sorafenib pretreatment combined with intragastric
      administration is more effective than sorafenib pretreatment alone in the therapy
      of hepatoma.

PMID- 28592125
TI  - Correlation of Gankyrin oncoprotein overexpression with histopathological grade
      in prostate cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among men worldwide.
      Identifying new prognostic and predictive biomarkers will help stratification of
      prostate cancer patients for a better treatment. Gankyrin is a novel oncoprotein
      which regulates cell cycle and protein degradation. Gankyrin overexpression
      correlated with the malignant phenotypes and promotes the tumorigenicity and
      metastasis in many cancers. However, there are not any reports on the role of
      Gankyrin in prostate cancer. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate
      the expression of Gankyrin in prostate cancer and analyze its correlation with
      some clinicopathological characteristics. We characterized the expression of
      gankyrin in fifty five prostate cancer specimens and twenty non-cancerous tissues
      by immunohistochemical staining and the results were correlated with clinical
      characteristics and pathological parameters.Results showed that Gankyrin was
      expressed in 41 of 55 (74%) prostate cancer patients and its expression was
      significantly higher than corresponding adjacent normal tissues (p<0.001).
      Gankyrin overexpression was significantly correlated with histopathological tumor
      grade, Gleason score and tumor differentiation (P=0.002). These findings showed
      that Gankyrin is mainly overexpressed in high grade prostate tumors so it may
      have a significant role in prostate cancer progress and it May serve as a useful
      biomarker for the identification of aggressive prostate cancers.

PMID- 28592126
TI  - Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia -
      single center experience.
AB  - We aimed to determine the effect of autologous hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (auto-HSCT) on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients as a valid
      alternative therapeutic option for patients without HLA-compatible donor. This
      retrospective single center study included 79 patients with AML older than 18
      years. In this report, we describe the patient characteristics, engraftment,
      toxicity of treatment, complications, overall survival, and relapse incidence of
      79 patients treated chemotherapy and followed by auto-HSCT. The descriptive
      statistics was used, and the method of Kaplan and Meier was applied to calculate
      the actuarial rate of overall survival. The patients achieved an absolute
      neutrophile count (ANC) of >= 0.5 x109/l in between 10 to 40 days; median was 14
      days after auto-HSCT. The patients achieved platelet count >= 20 x109/l in
      between 10 to 209 days; median was 19 days after auto-HSCT. Hundred-day mortality
      after autologous transplant was 6.57% (5/76). The relapse rate was 39.5% (32
      patients) and 7 patients (8.6%) were lost from follow-up. On the date of
      evaluation (April 30, 2016), 48 patients (60.8%) were alive, including 7 (8.6%)
      patients who are lost from follow-up (not responding to check-up request). The 5
      year overall survival (OS) was 60.8%; median overall survival was not reached.
      The present clinical study has demonstrated safety and efficacy of myeloablative
      chemotherapy followed by auto-HSCT in the treatment of AML in first remission.

PMID- 28592127
TI  - Methylation of SOX1 and VIM promoters in serum as potential biomarkers for
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Aberrant methylation of tumor-related genes has been identified as a promising
      biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to investigate the
      diagnostic value of SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 1 (SOX1) and Vimentin
      (VIM) promoter methylation for HCC. The study included 360 subjects, 240 patients
      with HCC, 29 with liver cirrhosis (LC), 66 with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 25
      healthy controls (HCs). The methylation status of SOX1 and VIM promoters in the
      serum was detected by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). The
      methylation frequencies of SOX1 and VIM promoters in HCC patients were
      significantly higher than those in LC (p<0.001 and p<0.001), CHB (p<0.001 and
      p<0.001) and HC (p<0.001 and p<0.001) subjects. Furthermore, hypermethylation of
      SOX1 and VIM promoters were found in patients with advanced TNM stage (III-IV)
      and larger tumor size (>=5 cm) compared with early stage (I-II) (p<0.001 and
      p=0.004) patients with smaller tumor size (<3 cm) (p=0.018 and p=0.001).
      Moreover, the VIM promoter methylation frequency was higher in patients with
      portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) (p=0.006) and vascular invasion (p=0.003). In
      addition, the combination of alpha-fetoprotein (>=20 ng/ml) with SOX1 and VIM
      promoter methylation significantly improved their diagnostic value. In
      conclusions, aberrant methylation of SOX1 and VIM promoters may be potential
      biomarkers for noninvasive detection of HCC and HCC metastasis.

PMID- 28592128
TI  - Association of nuclear FOXP3 expression with low Ki67 index and better prognosis
      in patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma.
AB  - Recent studies have provided clear evidence that some types of human cancer cells
      expressed Forkhead Box Protein 3 (FOXP3). However, the presence and role of FOXP3
      in breast cancer are still contradictory up to now. In this study, we detected
      the expression of FOXP3 protein by immunohistochemistry in 123 cases of breast
      invasive ductal carcinoma. It exhibited that the subcellular localization of
      FOXP3 expression in breast cancer cells is heterogeneous. In nucleus, FOXP3
      expression ratio was 47.97% (59/123) and the nuclear FOXP3 expression was
      significantly associated with lower Ki67 index (P=0.041), negative vessel tumor
      embolus (P=0.024). It was also significantly correlated with the molecular
      subtypes of breast cancer (P=0.002), displaying the highest ratio in the Luminal
      A subtype (68.18%). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that high nuclear FOXP3
      expression was associated with better overall survival (OS) (94.92% vs. 82.81%,
      P=0.022) and disease-free survival (DFS) (91.53% vs. 76.56%, P=0.026). Moreover,
      nuclear FOXP3 represented an independent prognostic factor for OS (P =0.033) in
      multivariate analysis. However, in cytoplasm, FOXP3 expression ratio was 63.41%
      (78/123) and no statistic prognostic significance was found. Thus, our data
      demonstrated that nuclear FOXP3 expression correlated with low Ki-67 index and
      better outcome in breast invasive ductal carcinoma, indicating that FOXP3 acted
      as a potential prognostic marker for breast cancer.

PMID- 28592129
TI  - Allogeneic stem cell transplantation after fludarabine, melphalan and
      thymoglobulin followed by early withdrawal of prophylactic immunosuppression in
      patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia - update of single center study.
AB  - Presented are updated results of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantations (HSCTs) in 25 adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      (ALL) in complete remission (CR) after a reduced intensity conditioning (RIC)
      combining fludarabine (150 mg/m2) and melphalan (140 mg/m2) with thymoglobulin
      (4.5 mg/kg or recently 4.0 mg/kg) followed by early initiation of reduction and
      withdrawal of prophylactic posttransplant immunosuppression. The median post
      transplant follow-up was 32 (range, 4-87) months. Stable engraftment of donor's
      hematopoiesis was achieved in all patients. Acute graft versus host disease
      (GVHD) as well as the chronic one were equally observed in four cases (16%). Five
      patients (20%) relapsed with ALL in the median of 9 (range, 3-15) months after
      HSCT. During the above post-transplant follow-up, 4 recipients (16%) died.
      Disease progression and posttransplant complications were the cause of death in
      three (12%) and one (4%) of them, respectively. The probabilities of 2-year event
      free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 70.3% (95% CI 51.9-88.7%) and 86.1%
      (95% CI 71.6-100%), respectively. Presented study confirmed our previously
      reported promising results and this approach may be considered as an alternative
      to traditional HSCTs performed in high-risk patients with ALL.

PMID- 28592130
TI  - The miR-93 promotes proliferation by directly targeting PDCD4 in hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality
      worldwide. Although advances have made in treatment of HCC, the overall survival
      rate remains low and the molecular pathogenesis of HCC is still poorly
      understood. The purpose of this study was to explore the molecular pathogenesis
      of HCC. A total of 89 patients were involved in the study. MicroRNA-93 (miR-93)
      was aberrantly up-regulated in HCC tissues as determined by qRT-PCR. The high
      level of miR-93 was closely associated with larger tumor size (p < 0.05) and poor
      overall survival (p < 0.05). In in vitro and in vivo assays, we demonstrated that
      high miR-93 levels enhanced cell growth of HCC. The luciferase activity assay
      showed that PDCD4 was a direct target of miR-93 and its expression was down
      regulated by miR-93. Re-expression of PDCD4 inversely correlated with the level
      of miR-93 and attenuated the miR-93-induced promotion of cell growth in HCC.
      Taken together, our data indicate that miR-93 may function as an oncogenic factor
      in HCC, and promotes HCC cell proliferation by targeting PDCD4.

PMID- 28592131
TI  - Phosphorylated 4E-BP1 is associated with tumor progression and adverse prognosis
      in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E)- binding
      protein (4E-BP1) results in release of eIF4E, relieving translational repression
      and enhancing cancerigenic protein synthesis. This study aim to evaluate the
      level of phosphorylated 4E-BP1 (p-4E-BP1) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to
      assess the cor-relation with clinicopathological factors and patient survival.
      The level of p-4E-BP1 was detected by immunohistochemistry and western bolt in
      patients with CRC. Then Cox regression model was used to evaluate the prognostic
      value of all covariates. Among 164 assessed patients, 95 (57.9%) patients showed
      high level of p-4E-BP1. We noted that the level of p-4E-BP1 was significantly
      associated with tumor differentiation, invasive depth, lymph node metastasis and
      TNM stage. Then we compared the mRNA and protein expressions of 4E-BP1 in tumor
      regions and paired adjacent normal colorectal mucosal tissues in CRC patients.
      mRNA and protein expressions of 4E-BP1 did not differ between colorectal cancer
      and corresponding normal tissues, while the phosphorylation level of 4E-BP1 was
      markedly increased in CRC. Survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards model
      revealed that p-4E-BP1 was an independent adverse prognostic factor for both
      overall survival (OS) (HR = 5.414, p = 0.029) and progression-free survival (PFS)
      (HR = 4.754, p = 0.042). Herein, our results indicate that high p-4E-BP1 level is
      associated with tumor progression and adverse prognosis. p-4E-BP1 might be a
      novel biomarker to predict the clinical outcome of patients with CRC.

PMID- 28592132
TI  - Combination of LINE-1 hypomethylation and RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation in
      serum DNA is a non-invasion prognostic biomarker for early recurrence of
      hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.
AB  - Hepatocarcinogenesis, a multistep process, involves not only genetic mutations
      but also epigenetic alterations. Widespread of global DNA hypomethylation is
      accompanied with specific regional hypermethylation especially at tumor
      suppressor genes' promoters. The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy
      of combined DNA methylation analysis of a global DNA methylation marker - LINE-1
      and a tumor suppressor gene highly associated with the malignancy of HCC- RASSF1A
      in serum as a novel prognostic marker for diagnosis of early recurrence after
      curative resection.LINE-1 was hypomethylated in 66.7% (70/105) and RASSF1A
      promoter was hypermethylated in 73.3% (77/105) of HCC serum DNA samples by
      methylation specific PCR, but in none of the healthy controls: LINE-1
      hypometylation (0/50) and RASSF1A hypermethylation (0/50). A significant
      association was found between LINE-1 hypomethylation and clinical pathologic
      features including HBsAg positivity (p=0.009), tumor size (p=0.001) and AFP
      levels (p<0.001). Besides, significant correlation was detected between RASSF1A
      promoter hypermethylation and lymph nodes metastasis (p=0.045).The results of
      Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival suggested that LINE-1 hypomethylation was
      highly associated with poor survival of patients (disease-free survival p=0.002,
      overall survival p=0.0123). More importantly, co-evaluation of LINE-1
      hypomethylation and RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation was found to be
      significantly correlated to early recurrence and poor prognosis (disease-free
      survival p=0.0001, overall survival p=0.05) in patients after curative
      resection.In conclusion, our study showed that the combined examination of LINE-1
      hypomethylation and RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation was effective in predicting
      early recurrence of HCC after curative resection. Patients with dual positivity
      of LINE-1 hypomethylation and RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation should be
      supplied with more intensive care and close follow-up after they undergo tumor
      resection.

PMID- 28592133
TI  - Concurrent hyperthermia and re-irradiation for recurrent high-grade gliomas.
AB  - Salvage therapy for recurrent high grade gliomas (HGG) includes surgery,
      radiotherapy and chemotherapy, however, standard treatment does not exist. We
      evaluated the tolerability and efficacy of re-irradiation (re-RT) with
      hyperthermia (HT) for patients with recurrent HGG. From September 2010 to July
      2015, 20 patients with recurrent HGG were treated with re-RT and HT. The
      radiotherapy dose of 30 Gray (Gy) was delivered with 2 Gy per fraction daily, and
      HT was performed twice weekly. Primary endpoints were treatment compliance and
      toxicity. Second endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression free
      survival (PFS). The median interval between initial RT and re-RT was 11 months.
      During re-RT with HT, there were no significant acute morbidities over grade 3.
      Median overall survival (OS) from re-irradiation was 8.4 months and the 6 and 12
      months survival rate were 67% and 30%, respectively. The median progression free
      survival (PFS) from re-irradiation was 4.1 month. Our findings suggested that
      concurrent re-RT with HT was a safe and well-tolerated. In addition, the
      combination re-RT and HT could be a valuable salvage treatment option for
      selected recurrent HGG patients with poor performance status.

PMID- 28592134
TI  - Circulating annexin A5 levels are associated with carotid intima-media thickness
      but not coronary plaque composition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Annexin A5 (anxA5) is involved in processes which are crucial in
      atherogenesis. However, anxA5's relationship with atherosclerotic lesion
      extension and plaque composition in high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes
      remains unclear. Thus, we characterized the association between circulating anxA5
      levels with atherosclerotic burden and coronary plaque composition in diabetes
      mellitus patients. METHODS: Intima-media thickness was determined in 96 diabetes
      mellitus patients with stable coronary artery disease. Furthermore, intracoronary
      optical coherence tomography was performed in 106 lesions to determine plaque
      composition. RESULTS: AnxA5 plasma levels of patients with intima-media
      thickening were higher (3.49 +/- 2.19 ng/mL) compared to patients with normal
      intima-media thickness (2.24 +/- 1.67 ng/mL, p = 0.002). Furthermore, anxA5 was
      associated with intima-media thickening on univariable [odds ratio = 1.445 (1.106
      1.889), p = 0.007] and multivariable [odds ratio = 1.643 (1.166-2.314), p =
      0.005] logistic regression analysis when adjusted for multiple cardiovascular
      risk factors and biomarkers. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic
      analysis demonstrated that anxA5 predicted intima-media thickening with low
      moderate diagnostic efficiency [area under the curve = 0.700 (0.592-0.808)]. In
      contrast, there was no association between anxA5 levels and coronary plaque
      composition as assessed by optical coherence tomography including the presence of
      lipid, calcified, fibrous plaque or the minimal thickness of the fibrous cap
      overlying the necrotic lipid core ( p = ns). CONCLUSION: Circulating anxA5 levels
      are associated with carotid intima-media thickness but not coronary plaque
      composition in high-risk patients with diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 28592135
TI  - Low-Pressure, Low-Flow Voiding Dysfunction in an Elderly Male Treated Through
      Ayurveda: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neurogenic bladder is a common urological condition among elderly.
      It results in incontinence or retention of the urine depending on the synergy of
      bladder smooth muscles and urethral sphincter. There can also be a condition
      where retention causes overflow incontinence. Retention of urine in this
      condition is caused by relative lack of contractility of bladder smooth muscles
      in response to the stretch reflex. As a result, there is no urge and therefore
      the bladder remains over-distended causing retention of urine. Currently, there
      are no absolute ways to deal with such a situation except that the patients are
      advised for self-help techniques of regularly evacuating the bladder.
      Pharmacotherapy for such condition is not promising. As the patients of
      neurogenic bladder are often healthy otherwise (with manageable conditions such
      as diabetes), a bladder dysfunction is considered as a disability that they do
      not want to share. In this state, any approach that offers a regeneration of
      bladder reflex and restoration of its functions is more than one can expect for.
      METHODS: An elderly male suffering with chronic urinary retention recommended for
      indwelling catheterization after the failure of voiding trial following the
      possible conventional pharmacotherapy was treated with Ayurvedic therapy.
      RESULTS: There was a complete symptom reversal after about 45 days of Ayurvedic
      therapy. The changes were stable after 3-month follow-up of the patient.
      CONCLUSION: This case report presents the complete symptom reversal in a case of
      chronic urine retention as an outcome of Ayurvedic therapy. Seeing the importance
      of this clinical condition and unavailability of sufficient means in conventional
      medicine, it requires a serious note and enquiry into its applicability in
      similar cases.

PMID- 28592137
TI  - Defining Research: The Effect of Linguistic Choices on the Intentions to
      Participate in Clinical Research.
AB  - Significant barriers to participant recruitment for clinical research (CR) are
      related to effective communication, and nurse coordinators are entrusted with
      being knowledge brokers between investigators and prospective participants. This
      prospective cohort study sought to identify linguistic choices that could inform
      and facilitate recruitment efforts. Healthy adults ( N = 204) were invited to
      join an online survey to assess the likelihood of participation in CR based on
      short and extended definitions of CR. Five short definitions included clinical
      trial, clinical study, health-related research study, community participatory
      study, and quality improvement study. The likelihood of participation in CR was
      the lowest for clinical trial and the highest for health-related research study.
      However, when only an extended definition was provided, those differences were
      not observed. A linguistic change from trial to study could lead to positive
      attitude toward CR and improvements in recruitment. However, ethical implications
      of linguistic choices should be considered.

PMID- 28592136
TI  - Relationship of Depression With Executive Functions and Visuospatial Memory in
      Elderly.
AB  - Cognitive deficits are a potential part of the clinical picture of depression,
      especially when it comes to late-life depression. The present study was carried
      out to establish whether distinctive cognitive deficiencies can be linked with
      depression in the late-life period, especially in executive functioning, working
      memory, and visuospatial memory. Our sample consisted of 71 seniors in the age
      range between 69 and 85 years. A battery of neurocognitive tests was used,
      including tests of executive functioning (Trail Making Test [TMT], part B, Stroop
      color word test, semantic word fluency test, and partially Rey-Osterrieth Complex
      Figure test [ROCF]), tests of attention and working memory (TMT, part A and digit
      span), and test of visuospatil ability and memory (ROCF). Results demonstrated
      that depression scores were significantly negatively correlated with scores on
      Verbal Fluency test, Stroop test, and ROCF immediate copy and recall. Depression
      was also linked to slower functioning on Trail Making A and Trail Making B
      subtest. In general, higher depression scores were correlated with lower
      performance on neuropsychological tests. However, digit span showed no
      significant correlation with depression. In addition, results of regression
      analyses revealed that the strongest predictors of depression were performance on
      the Rey-Osterrieth test-immediate recall and Stroop test. Thus, we could
      ascertain that difficulties in executive functioning and visuospatial memory are
      the best predictors of depression in elderly.

PMID- 28592138
TI  - The effects of perceived social norms on handwashing behaviour in students.
AB  - Handwashing is widely considered the most effective method of preventing the
      spread of infectious illness. Exploring the determinants of handwashing is vital
      to the development of interventions to increase this behaviour. A survey based on
      Social Norms Theory assessed handwashing frequency and perceptions of peer
      handwashing in 255 university students. Participants reported their own
      handwashing frequency, and how often they thought their peers washed their hands
      in particular circumstances, to determine whether misperceptions around
      handwashing exist, and whether these influence the behaviour of individuals.
      Gender was found to be a significant determinant of handwashing frequency as
      females reported washing their hands significantly more often than males.
      Participants also believed they washed their hands significantly more frequently
      than their peers. Perceived peer handwashing frequency was significantly
      correlated with participants' own behaviour. This effect was seen in overall
      handwashing and in food, waste and illness-related hand washing. These results
      suggest perceived social norms around hand washing have a clear association with
      individual behaviour. Future research might test the effectiveness of a social
      norms intervention in other settings which carry an increased risk of infection
      spread.

PMID- 28592139
TI  - Adjuvant chemotherapy for elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - Background Adjuvant chemotherapy after complete surgical resection is currently
      the standard of care for patients with stage IB, II, or IIIA non-small-cell lung
      cancer. However, the generalizability of this treatment to elderly patients is
      controversial. We investigated the effects of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients
      aged over 75 years with stage IB-IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer. Methods We
      retrospectively analyzed 246 consecutive patients aged over 75 years with stage
      IB-IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer who underwent standard lung cancer surgery
      between January 2001 and December 2015. They were divided into 102 who had
      adjuvant chemotherapy and 144 who had none (control group). The outcomes were
      compared between the two groups, and prognostic factors were evaluated. Results
      Relapse-free survival and overall survival were significantly shorter in the
      control group than the chemotherapy group ( p = 0.006 and p = 0.008,
      respectively). In multivariable analyses, adjuvant chemotherapy was found to be
      an independent prognostic factor for relapse-free survival and overall survival
      (hazard ratio = 0.594, 95% confidence interval: 0.396-0.893, p = 0.012; and
      hazard ratio = 0.616, 95% confidence interval: 0.397-0.957, p = 0.031,
      respectively). After inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting adjustment using
      the propensity score for baseline characteristics, chemotherapy almost improved
      relapse-free survival and overall survival (hazard ratio = 0.652, 95% confidence
      interval: 0.433-0.981, p = 0.040; and hazard ratio = 0.657, 95% confidence
      interval: 0.429-1.004, p = 0.052, respectively). Conclusions Adjuvant
      chemotherapy improved the prognosis after standard lung cancer surgery in
      patients aged over 75 years with stage IB-IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer.

PMID- 28592140
TI  - Surgical treatment for double-chambered right ventricle in a septuagenarian.
AB  - The majority of patients with double-chambered right ventricle present during
      childhood; it is rarely treated in adults. We report the case of a 71-year-old
      woman who presented with mild fatigue for 2 years. Investigation of an ejection
      systolic murmur revealed a double-chambered right ventricle with a peak gradient
      of 147 mm Hg across the right ventricular outflow tract. Substantial right
      ventricular muscle bundle resection and augmentation of the right ventricular
      outflow tract with a bovine pericardial patch were performed after a right
      ventriculotomy.

PMID- 28592141
TI  - A case of supernumerary intrathoracic rib.

PMID- 28592142
TI  - Valved patch closure of aortopulmonary window.
AB  - The case of an 8-year-old boy with an aortopulmonary window who underwent
      unidirectional valved patch closure of the window is described. The advantages of
      unidirectional valved patch closure in this setting are discussed.

PMID- 28592143
TI  - Three new polyketides from the marine sponge-derived fungus Trichoderma sp.
      SCSIO41004.
AB  - Three new polyketides named trichbenzoisochromen A (1), 5,7-dihydroxy-3-methyl -2
      (2-oxopropyl)naphthalene-1,4-dione (2) and 7-acetyl-1,3,6-trihydroxyanthracene
      9,10- dione (3) together with six known compounds (4-9) were isolated from a
      sponge-derived fungus Trichoderma sp. SCSIO41004. The structures of three new
      polyketides (1-3) were determined by the extensive spectroscopic analysis,
      including 1D, 2D NMR and HRESIMS data. The absolute configuration of compound 1
      was confirmed by the specific optical rotation value and CD spectra analyses.
      Compound 4 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against EV71 with the IC50
      value of 25.7 MUM.

PMID- 28592144
TI  - Cancer-type OATP1B3 mRNA has the potential to become a detection and prognostic
      biomarker for human colorectal cancer.
AB  - AIM: We aimed to clarify diagnostic and prognostic biomarker potentials of cancer
      type organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B3 (Ct-OATP1B3) mRNA in colorectal
      cancer (CRC) patients. PATIENTS & METHODS: Ct-OATP1B3 mRNA levels in 97 CRC and
      adjacent normal colon tissues were measured by real-time PCR. The receiver
      operating characteristic curve analysis and the Kaplan-Meier curve analysis were
      performed to characterize its biomarker potentials. RESULTS: Ct-OATP1B3 mRNA
      showed noticeable diagnostic power (the area under the receiver operating
      characteristic = 0.91) in the CRC patients. Additionally, the higher/lower mRNA
      expression was clearly associated with better/poorer overall survival in the CRC
      patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ct-OATP1B3 mRNA has the potential to be a tissue
      based biomarker for definitive diagnosis and prognostic stratification in CRC.

PMID- 28592145
TI  - High expression of COX5B is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytochrome c oxidase subunit VB (COX5B), a subunit of mammalian COX,
      takes roles in COX assembling and functions. Online database predicts high COX5B
      transcription may be associated with worse disease-free survival (DFS). However,
      the clinical implications of COX5B in breast cancer remain unclear. METHODS: We
      carried out immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays of 244 patients with
      invasive ductal breast carcinoma to detected COX5B expression. RESULTS: Our
      results suggest that COX5B protein level might be associated with tumor size.
      COX5B overexpression indicated a worse DFS (p < 0.05) in breast cancer.
      Furthermore, high COX5B expression may act as an independent factor for worse DFS
      in breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Cumulatively, our findings suggest that COX5B
      might serve as an important prognostic factor for breast cancer.

PMID- 28592146
TI  - Drug Use, the Drug Environment, and Child Physical Abuse and Neglect.
AB  - Although drug use is considered a risk factor for child maltreatment, very little
      work has examined how the drug environment may affect physical abuse and neglect
      by parents. Utilizing information from a telephone survey with 2,597 respondents
      from 43 cities with valid police data on narcotics incidents, we analyzed the
      relationship between drug use, drug availability, and child maltreatment using
      multilevel models. City-level rates of drug abuse and dependence were related to
      more frequent physical abuse. Parents who use drugs in areas with greater
      availability of drugs reported more physical abuse and physical neglect.
      Emotional support was protective of all types of maltreatment. While most child
      welfare interventions focus on reducing parental drug use in order to reduce
      child abuse, these findings suggest environmental prevention or neighborhood
      strengthening approaches designed to reduce the supply of illicit drugs may also
      reduce child abuse through multiple mechanisms.

PMID- 28592148
TI  - Use of Intravenous Lidocaine for the Treatment of Acute Pain in the Emergency
      Department.

PMID- 28592147
TI  - Efficiency of three treatment strategies on occupational and quality of life
      impairments for chronic low back pain patients: is the multidisciplinary approach
      the key feature to success?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of three treatment strategies for chronic
      low back pain with varying biomechanical intensity and multidisciplinary
      approach. METHODS: A monocentric randomized controlled trial with a 12-months
      follow-up, conducted in the French Valley Loire region from May 2009 to April
      2013. Participants were working-aged patients with chronic low back pain referred
      to a French chronic low back pain care-network to support medical and
      occupational issues. Three treatment strategies, each for five weeks were
      compared: (i) intensive and multidisciplinary program conducted in a
      rehabilitation center; (ii) less intensive outpatient program conducted by a
      trained private physiotherapist; (iii) mixed strategy combining the same
      outpatient program associated with a weekly multidisciplinary intervention. The
      effects of treatment conditions were compared using an "intention to treat"
      approach: Number of days' sick leave during the 12-months following treatment,
      and quality of life and social ability assessed by auto-questionnaires. RESULTS:
      A total of 159 patients (58.9% men, 41.5 +/- 10.3 years old, median duration of
      sick leave = 221.0 days (127.5-319.0)) were included. Sick leave duration
      significantly decreased during the 12-months following treatment in the three
      groups. There was no significant difference for the evolution of participants'
      quality of life, social ability, and personal beliefs between the three groups.
      CONCLUSION: This study confirms that disparate treatments might show similar
      effectiveness because they could all work through concomitant changes in beliefs,
      attitudes, and coping mechanisms. The original mixed strategy can treat a larger
      number of chronic low back pain patients, at a lower cost and provide local
      community-based care. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02030171.

PMID- 28592149
TI  - The Comparison of Angiographic Scoring Systems With the Predictors of
      Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Syntax score (SS) and Gensini score (GS) are used to determine the complexity and
      severity of coronary artery disease. Although there are some studies indicating
      the individual relationship of these scoring systems with the carotid intima
      media thickness (cIMT) and epicardial fat tissue (EFT), there was no previous
      study that compared the SS and GS in that respect. We aimed to assess the
      relationship of SS and GS with predictors of atherosclerosis. We enrolled 522
      patients. There were positive correlations between GS and SS tertiles with cIMT
      and EFT. According to multivariate linear regression analysis for GS, EFT (beta:
      0.035, t: 2.63, and P = .49) and cIMT (beta: 0.339, t: 2.97, and P = .053) were
      not independently associated. For SS, EFT (beta: 0.009, t: 6.5, and P = .006) and
      cIMT (beta: 1.2, t: 10.1, and P = .001) were independently and significantly
      associated. We showed that the SS is significantly associated more with surrogate
      markers of atherosclerosis such as EFT and cIMT than the GS.

PMID- 28592151
TI  - Non-diagnostic thyroid nodules after application of the Bethesda system: a study
      evaluating the interval for repeat aspiration for non-diagnostic results.
AB  - Background The non-diagnostic category of the Bethesda system has a low
      malignancy rate; nevertheless, repeat ultrasonography-guided fine needle
      aspiration (US-FNA) is recommended with no consensus for follow-up intervals.
      Purpose To investigate whether a six-month time interval for repeat US-FNA is
      appropriate for non-diagnostic thyroid nodules after applying the Bethesda
      system. Material and Methods From January 2010 to January 2014, 322 thyroid
      nodules >=10 mm with non-diagnostic results on initial US-FNA with any follow-up
      with US or US-FNA were included (mean age = 52.2 years +/- 12.4). Clinical and US
      features were compared according to size change (increase, no change, decrease)
      and follow-up interval (<6 months and >=6 months after initial US-FNA), and the
      minimal time interval observed in nodules with size increase on follow-up. The
      outcome of non-diagnostic nodules according to follow-up interval and size change
      were evaluated. Results Of the 322 nodules, 13 (4.0%) were malignant and 309
      (96.0%) were benign. None of the 82 nodules with decreased size were malignant
      and 90.2% nodules with decreased size were found after six months. Of 175 nodules
      with repeat US-FNA, repeat cytology results did not differ significantly between
      the groups with follow-up US-FNA before and after six months ( P = 0.337). No
      significant differences were seen in size or extrathyroidal extension among the
      13 malignant nodules according to the six-month interval (all P > 0.05), and no
      lateral lymph node metastasis was present. Conclusion Repeat US-FNA for initially
      non-diagnostic thyroid nodules can be performed at a six-month interval after
      initial procedure without tumor progression.

PMID- 28592150
TI  - Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure: Patient
      Characteristics and Outcomes From the HEARTS Registry.
AB  - Effect of atrial fibrillation (AF) on short- and long-term outcomes in heart
      failure (HF) is controversial. Accordingly, we examined this relationship in a
      national multicenter project using data from the Hearts Function Assessment
      Registry Trial in Saudi Arabia that studied the clinical features and outcomes of
      patients admitted with de novo and acute on chronic HF. Out of 2593 patients with
      HF, 449 (17.8%) had AF at presentation. Patients with AF were more likely to be
      males and older (mean age 65.2 +/- 15.0 vs 60.5 +/- 14.8 years) to have a history
      of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (3.1% vs 1.9%) or
      cerebrovascular accident (15.0% vs 8.5%). However, they were less likely to have
      diabetes (66.0% vs 55.9%) or coronary artery disease (55.6% vs 42.3%). The 1-, 2
      , and 3-year crude mortality rates were significantly higher in patients with AF
      (23.2% vs 18.3%, 27.4% vs 22.3%, and 27.8% vs 23.2%, respectively). However,
      there was no significant difference in mortality after adjusting for covariates.
      Thus, in patients admitted with HF, AF upon presentation was not associated with
      increased mortality.

PMID- 28592152
TI  - The relationship between myocardial and hepatic T2 and T2* at 1.5T and 3T MRI in
      normal and iron-overloaded patients.
AB  - Background Cardiac and liver iron assessment using magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) is non-invasive and used as a preclinical "endpoint" in asymptomatic
      patients and for serial iron measurements in iron-overloaded patients. Purpose To
      compare iron measurements between hepatic and myocardial T2* and T2 at 1.5T and
      3T MRI in normal and iron-overloaded patients. Material and Methods The T2 and
      T2* values from the regions of interest (ROIs) at mid-left ventricle and mid
      hepatic slices were evaluated by 1.5T and 3T MRI scans for healthy and iron
      overloaded patients. Results For iron-overloaded patients, the myocardial T2
      (1.5T) and myocardial T2 (3T) values were 60.3 ms (range = 56.2-64.8 ms) and 55
      ms (range = 51.6-60.1 ms) (rho = 0.3679) while the myocardial T2* (3T) 20.5 ms
      (range = 18.4-25.9 ms) was shorter than the myocardial T2* (1.5T) 35.9 ms (range
      = 31.4-39.5 ms) (rho = 0.6454). The hepatic T2 at 1.5T and 3T were 19.1 ms (range
      = 14.8-27.9 ms) and 15.5 ms (14.6-20.4 ms) (rho = 0.9444) and the hepatic T2* at
      1.5T and 3T were 2.7 ms (range = 1.8-5.6 ms) and 1.8 ms (range = 1.1-2.9 ms) (rho
      = 0.9826). The line of best fit exhibiting the linearity of the hepatic T2*
      (1.5T) and hepatic T2* (3T) had a slope of 2 and an intercept of -0.387 ms (R =
      0.984). Conclusion Our study found myocardial T2 (1.5T) nearly equal to T2 (3T)
      with myocardial T2* (3T) 1.75 shorter than myocardial T2* (1.5T). The
      relationship of hepatic T2* (1.5T) and hepatic T2* (3T) was linear with T2*
      (1.5T) approximately double to T2* (3T) in iron-overloaded patients. This linear
      relationship between hepatic T2* (1.5T) and hepatic T2 (3T) could be an
      alternative method for estimating liver iron concentration (LIC) from 3T.

PMID- 28592153
TI  - Does Level of Hospital Matter? A Study of Mortality of Acute Myocardial
      Infarction Patients in Shanxi, China.
AB  - This study compares risk-standardized mortality rates (RSMRs) of patients with
      acute myocardial infarction among tertiary A (typically, advanced urban hospitals
      with more than 800 beds), tertiary B (urban hospitals with more than 500 beds),
      and secondary A hospitals (rural and urban hospitals with less than 500 beds) in
      Shanxi, China. In all, 43 500 acute myocardial infarction inpatient records from
      93 hospitals were included. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to estimate
      RSMRs, and Dunn's post hoc test was used to make pairwise comparisons of RSMR
      between hospital levels. It was found that the median RSMRs of secondary A
      hospitals were significantly lower than those of tertiary A and tertiary B
      hospitals (at 1% and 10% significance level, respectively), while there was no
      significant difference between the median RSMRs in tertiary A and tertiary B
      hospitals. The reasons for significant disparity in quality of care among
      different hospital levels requires further exploration.

PMID- 28592155
TI  - Future perspectives for personalized immunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma.

PMID- 28592154
TI  - "I just had to be flexible and show good patience": management of interactional
      approaches to enact mentoring roles by peer mentors with developmental
      disabilities.
AB  - PURPOSE: Peer mentoring may be an effective approach for fostering skill
      development for mentors and mentees with developmental disabilities. However,
      little is known about how mentors with developmental disabilities perceive and
      enact their roles. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: (1) How do young adults with developmental
      disabilities describe their role as a peer mentor in the context of instrumental
      peer mentoring? (2) How do they enact their perceived roles? METHODS: Thematic
      analysis of semi-structured reflections completed by six mentors with
      developmental disabilities (ages 17-35) with multiple mentoring experiences.
      RESULTS: Mentors perceived themselves as professionals with a primary role of
      teaching, and for some mentoring relationships, a secondary role of developing an
      interpersonal relationship. To enact these roles, mentors used a supportive
      interactional approach characterized by actions such as encouragement and sharing
      examples and dispositions, such as flexibility and patience. Mentors monitored
      mentee learning and engagement within the mentoring session and, as needed,
      adjusted their approach to optimize mentee learning and engagement. To
      successfully manage their interactional approach, mentors used supports such as
      peer mentoring scripts, tip sheets, and supervisors. CONCLUSIONS: While mentors
      reported several actions for teaching, they may benefit from training to learn
      approaches to facilitate more consistent development of interpersonal
      relationships. Implications for Rehabilitation Peer mentoring may be an effective
      approach for fostering skill development for young adult mentors and mentees with
      developmental disabilities. In this study, young adult peer mentors with
      developmental disabilities perceived themselves as professionals with a primary
      role of teaching and a secondary role of developing an interpersonal
      relationship. Peer mentors used actions and dispositions that matched their
      perceived roles and supported mentees with developmental disabilities to engage
      in instrumental mentoring. With supports and training, young adults with
      developmental disabilities can successfully execute the complex relational and
      teaching tasks required of peer mentoring.

PMID- 28592156
TI  - Diagnosis and management of smoldering multiple myeloma: the razor's edge between
      clonality and cancer.
AB  - Smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) is a rare plasma cell disorder, and as the
      disease is asymptomatic, diagnosis is often incidental. SMM is characterized by
      increased marrow infiltration by clonal plasma cells and/or elevated serum M
      protein in the absence of a myeloma-defining event (MDE). In recent years, SMM
      has gained increased attention owing to a broadening of the criteria for MDE,
      which include apart from the CRAB criteria, three additional parameters. Survival
      advantage may be offered by early treatment in the high-risk subset, based on a
      single trial. In this review, we assess the risk factors and models for
      progression to multiple myeloma. A review of our diagnostic and management
      approaches to SMM is presented.

PMID- 28592158
TI  - Phase Ib study of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus with low dose cytarabine in
      elderly acute myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 28592157
TI  - Correlation Between Nasal Epithelial Injury and In Vitro Cytotoxicity Using a
      Series of Small Molecule Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B Inhibitors Investigated
      for Reversal of Leptin Resistance in Obesity.
AB  - This research provides a cautionary example when evaluating changes in behavioral
      end points with respect to postulated pharmacologic activity. Various small
      molecule substrate mimetic protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitors
      were investigated as pharmacologic agents for decreasing food consumption using
      intranasal (IN) dosing as a means for direct nose-to-brain delivery along the
      olfactory/trigeminal nerve pathways. Although food consumption was decreased in
      diet-induced obese (DIO) mice, nasal discharge was observed. Studies were
      conducted to investigate local effects on the nasal airway and to develop
      structure-activity relationships. Intranasal administration of PTP1B inhibitors
      at >=0.03 mg/d to DIO mice produced dose-dependent injury to various cell types
      of the nasal epithelia. Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitors with
      calculated log octanol >3.0 were the most toxic. Whereas a pharmacologically
      inactive analog of a PTP1B inhibitor produced nasal injury, along with decreased
      food consumption, the marketed IN drug ketorolac produced no lesions at the same
      dose of 0.3 mg/d and only minor changes at 3 mg/d. Rat skin fibroblast cells were
      exposed in vitro to PTP1B inhibitors, ketorolac, paraquat, and the detergent
      sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (NDS) followed by measures of cytotoxicity. The
      most potent PTP1B inhibitors were similar to NDS, whereas ketorolac was the least
      toxic compound. Cytotoxic potency in vitro was similar to in vivo. In conclusion,
      PTP1B inhibitors injured nasal epithelium through a mechanism independent of
      PTP1B inhibition and likely due to nonspecific cytotoxicity such as disruption of
      the cell membrane. Decreased food consumption in DIO mice was due to toxicity
      rather than a pharmacologic mode of action.

PMID- 28592159
TI  - Taurine prevents ultraviolet B induced apoptosis in retinal ganglion cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compatible osmolytes accumulation is an active resistance response in
      retina under ultraviolet (UV) radiation and hypertonicity conditions. OBJECTIVE:
      The purpose of this research is to investigate the protective role of taurine on
      retina under UVB radiation. METHODS: Osmolytes transporters were measured by
      quantitative realtime PCR. Osmolytes uptake was estimated by radioimmunoassay.
      Cell viability was calculated by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow
      cytometry analysis. RESULTS: Hypertonicity accelerated osmolytes uptake into
      retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) including taurine, betadine, and myoinositol. UVB
      radiation increased osmolytes transporter expression and osmolytes uptake. In
      addition, osmolyte taurine remarkably prevented UVB radiation induced cell
      apoptosis in RGCs. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of compatible osmolyte taurine on cell
      survival rate may play an important role in cell resistance and adaption to UVB
      exposure.

PMID- 28592160
TI  - Using Virtual Reality to investigate multitasking ability in individuals with
      frontal lobe lesions.
AB  - Individuals with lesions in the prefrontal cortex often show impairments with the
      organisation of their behaviour in everyday life. These difficulties can be hard
      to detect using structured formal tests. The objective of this study was to use
      Virtual Reality (VR) to explore the multitasking performance of individuals with
      focal frontal lobe lesions, specifically using the Jansari assessment of
      Executive Functions (JEF(c)). Nineteen individuals with frontal lobe lesions were
      compared with 19 matched controls on the test and a group of commonly used
      clinical measures of neuropsychological functioning, as well as questionnaire
      measures of everyday activity, anxiety and depression. There was a significant
      difference between groups on the overall JEF(c) score and on five of the eight
      individual constructs, namely the planning, creative thinking, adaptive thinking,
      event-based Prospective Memory (PM) and time-based PM constructs. There were no
      differences between groups on the non-VR EF individual measures apart from on one
      EF control measure, Trail Making A. These results demonstrate the potential
      clinical utility of the JEF(c) and highlight the value of ecologically valid VR
      measures in detecting impairments in EF in individuals with frontal lobe lesions.

PMID- 28592161
TI  - Preparing for the future: multi-stakeholder perspectives on autonomous goal
      setting for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE: Self-determination is linked to numerous positive outcomes including
      improved social inclusion and quality of life for adolescents with autism
      spectrum disorder. Autonomous participation in therapeutic goal setting is an
      important component of self-determination. This study examined perceptions of,
      and barriers to, autonomous goal setting as perceived by: (1) adolescents with
      autism spectrum disorder, (2) parents of adolescents with autism spectrum
      disorder, and (3) interdisciplinary professionals. METHOD: Three focus groups
      (one with each of the key stakeholders) and one joint parent and child interview
      were conducted. All discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and
      thematically analyzed based on the methods outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006).
      RESULTS: A total of 7 parents (6 mothers, 1 father), 4 youth with autism spectrum
      disorder, and 10 professionals participated in the study. Three themes related to
      current experiences with goal setting emerged: (1) purpose, (2) barriers, and (3)
      types. CONCLUSIONS: Currently, adolescents with autism spectrum disorder are
      rarely active participants in the goal setting process. This study provides novel
      data, from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, about barriers,
      perceptions, and actualities related to autonomous goal setting for adolescents
      with autism spectrum disorder. Implications for rehabilitation Adolescent
      participation in autonomous goal setting is an important component of self
      determination. Rehabilitation professionals, parents, and adolescents with autism
      spectrum disorder identified similar barriers to autonomous goal setting.
      Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder described goals as short-term, concrete
      tasks, whereas parents perceived involvement in goal setting as a gateway to long
      term self-determination. Rehabilitation professionals and parents acknowledged
      the benefits and advocated for increased involvement of adolescents with autism
      spectrum disorder in the goal setting process. Similar to the paradigm shift
      toward family-centered care, rehabilitation professionals need to shift to
      include the involvement and participation of individuals with autism spectrum
      disorder.

PMID- 28592163
TI  - Updating Probability in Sex Offender Risk Assessment.
AB  - Actuarial scales like the Static-99R are widely used to predict an individual's
      risk of sexual recidivism. However, current actuarial scales only provide rates
      of detected sex offenses over 10-year follow-up and do not account for all
      recidivism risk factors. Therefore, some forensic evaluators extrapolate, adjust,
      or override recidivism rates derived from actuarial scales to predict the
      lifetime risk of committed offenses that accounts for external risk factors,
      those not addressed by the actuarial scales. However, critics contend that
      altering rates from actuarial scales degrades their predictive validity. This
      article makes the case for extrapolating risk for time of exposure and for
      evidence-based external risk factors. It proposes using odds ratios (ORs) from
      case-control studies to adjust predictions from follow-up cohort studies.
      Finally, it shows how evaluators can apply ORs and their margins of error to sex
      offender risk assessment.

PMID- 28592162
TI  - Natural and synthetic products used for the treatment of smoke inhalation: a
      patent review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Inhalation injury is the leading cause of death in burn patients
      and is usually caused by the uninhibited absorption of smoke, which has an
      extremely toxic effect on the respiratory system. The physiopathology of
      inhalation injury covers multiple factors and the injured respiratory system may
      present deterioration in a few hours. Areas covered: In this present review, we
      analyzed patents based on both natural and synthetic products developed for the
      treatment of smoke inhalation. We found 14 patents in Espacenet, 25 in WIPO and
      none in the USPTO data search. Expert opinion: Several previous reports on
      treatments used for smoke inhalation are discussed. Although there are a number
      of research based products for this injury, there has been no review of the
      patents dealing with treatments for smoke inhalation. The development of novel
      natural or synthetic products are discussed in detail in the review.

PMID- 28592164
TI  - What Did Latino Family Caregivers Expect and Learn From Education Intervention
      "Caregivers Like Me"?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: US Latinos historically have underutilized end-of-life (EOL)
      resources. This study reports the views of family caregivers before and after
      education intervention Caregivers Like Me geared to improve knowledge and
      attitudes regarding EOL resources among Latino caregivers. METHODS: This is a
      qualitative substudy within a multicentered cross-sectional study design.
      Educational intervention was offered to family caregivers of Latino elders from 3
      different communities, using an audiovisual presentation, including a case-based
      video telenovela and pre-posttest questionnaires with open-ended questions. This
      study pertains to the qualitative results for the open-ended questions before and
      after education intervention. RESULTS: Participants (N = 145) were mostly females
      (79%) with a mean age of 56 +/- 15 years and reported (92%) active learning from
      intervention. The pretest open-ended question on expected learning identified 2
      themes, care for the sick and self-care. It included 5 subthemes and the most
      common one was how to help the sick. The posttest question on actual learning
      identified the same 2 themes and 4 subthemes that were similar but different from
      the pretest. Accepting help and knowledge of services available were the most
      common. CONCLUSION: The education intervention Caregivers Like Me was able to
      improve attitudes toward EOL care because participants who wanted to help their
      loved ones realized that they need to accept professional help and were made
      aware of the services available.

PMID- 28592165
TI  - Self-Concealment Mediates the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Attitudes
      Toward Seeking Psychological Help Among Adolescents.
AB  - One of the biggest barriers in treating adolescents with mental health problems
      is their refusing to seek psychological help. This study was designed to examine
      the relationships between two forms of perfectionism, self-concealment and
      attitudes toward seeking psychological help and to test the mediating role of
      self-concealment in the relationship between perfectionism and attitudes toward
      seeking psychological help among Malaysian high school students. The participants
      were 475 Malaysian high school students from four high schools in Kuala Lumpur,
      Malaysia. Structural equation modelling results indicated that high school
      students with high levels of socially prescribed perfectionism, high levels of
      self-concealment, and low levels of self-oriented perfectionism reported negative
      attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Bootstrapping analysis showed that
      self-concealment emerged as a significant, full mediator in the link between
      socially prescribed perfectionism and attitudes toward seeking psychological
      help. Moderated mediation analysis also examined whether the results generalized
      across men and women. The results revealed that male students with socially
      prescribed perfectionism are more likely to engage in self-concealment, which in
      turn, leads to negative attitudes toward seeking psychological help more than
      their female counterparts. The results suggested that students high in socially
      prescribed perfectionism were more likely to engage in self-concealment and be
      less inclined to seek psychological help.

PMID- 28592166
TI  - Continuous bilateral thoracic paravertebral blockade for analgesia after cardiac
      surgery: a randomised, controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Continuous bilateral thoracic paravertebral blockade has been used
      for analgesia after cardiac surgery, but its efficacy has never been formally
      tested. METHOD: Fifty adult patients were enrolled in a double-blind, randomised,
      controlled study of continuous bilateral thoracic paravertebral infusion of 0.5%
      lidocaine (1 mg.kg-1.hr-1) for analgesia after coronary surgery. Control patients
      received a subcutaneous infusion of lidocaine at the same rate through catheters
      inserted at the same locations as the study group. The primary outcome was
      morphine consumption at 48 hours using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA).
      Secondary outcomes included pain, respiratory function, nausea and vomiting.
      Serum lidocaine concentrations were measured on the first two post-operative
      days. RESULTS: There was no difference in morphine consumption or in any other
      outcome measure between the groups. Serum lidocaine concentrations increased
      during the study, with a maximum of 5.9 mg.l-1. There were no adverse events as a
      consequence of the study. CONCLUSION: Bilateral paravertebral infusion of
      lidocaine confers no advantage over systemic lidocaine infusion after cardiac
      surgery. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN13424423 ( https://www.isrctn.com ).

PMID- 28592167
TI  - Friction forces and patient-centredness: Understanding how established logics
      endure during infrastructure transformation.
AB  - In this article, we examine three cases of e-health solutions for patients in
      Norway. For the analysis of the three cases, we focused on friction forces that
      come into play when different established arrangements need to change to
      accommodate novelty. We argue that the design of new technologies was shaped by
      friction related to institutionalised practices, regulatory regimes and
      entrenched patient roles. These friction forces connect the past with the
      present, come into action when aiming for novelty and result to the perpetuation
      of constituents of the past during change processes. Specifically, the e-health
      solutions under study were strongly influenced by established healthcare
      provision logics. All three initiatives expanded the healthcare information
      infrastructure towards the patients with as little disruption to established
      arrangements as possible.

PMID- 28592168
TI  - Homozygous Mutation on the beta-Globin Polyadenylation Signal in a Tunisian
      Patient with beta-Thalassemia Intermedia and Coinheritance of Gilbert's Syndrome.
AB  - We report here the clinical, hematological and molecular data in a 50-year-old
      patient with beta-thalassemia intermedia (beta-TI) caused by a homozygous beta+
      mutation on the beta-globin gene polyadenylation (polyA) signal (AATAAA>AAAAAA).
      beta Haplotype analysis was accomplished by polymerase chain reaction-restriction
      fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Haplotype and framework analysis showed
      that this mutation is associated with the [- - - - + + +] beta haplotype and
      framework 1 (CCGCT) (FW1). This mutation was previously reported in the
      heterozygous state in association with the codon 9 (+TA) mutation in a beta-TI
      patient originating from Tunisia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      report describing this mutation in the homozygous state. The case reported here,
      coinherited Gilbert's syndrome, which is characterized by hyperbilirubinemia.
      This conclusion was reached by the investigation of the promoter region
      [A(TA)nTAA] motif of the UGT1A1 gene, showing the (TA)6/(TA)7 genotype.

PMID- 28592169
TI  - Clinical and radiological control of highly active relapsing-remitting multiple
      sclerosis with first-line natalizumab.
AB  - A 33-year-old man with gait instability, weakness of the left lower extremity,
      decreased visual acuity in the left eye, and urgency and urine incontinence was
      diagnosed of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. He was treated with
      natalizumab (300 mg intravenously every 4 weeks) as first-line therapy, which
      reached at 6 months a favorable clinical evolution and dramatic radiological
      improvement (T2-weighted lesion load decreased by 50% and no gadolinium-enhancing
      T1 lesions) sustained over the course of 8 years. This clinical case shows the
      efficacy of natalizumab in a real-world setting and, particularly, the sustained
      effect of this drug in the long term as demonstrated by persistent radiological
      improvement. Natalizumab can be considered as the treatment of choice in
      relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis forms presenting with two relapses and
      gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions.

PMID- 28592170
TI  - Current options to manage Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare, incurable B-cell
      lymphoma, with a median survival of 5-10 years in symptomatic patients. There is
      no consensus on the standard of care and several agents are currently used in
      these patients. Areas covered: In this article, we will review the use of
      standard therapies and new drugs investigated such as monoclonal antibodies,
      proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, Bruton's tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors and novel agents in early-stage development. Expert commentary: RCD
      (Rituximab/Cyclophosphamide/Dexamethasone) is an effective and safe treatment in
      first line in WM. BR (Bendamustine/Rituximab) or BRD
      (Bortezomib/Rituximab/Dexamethasone) provide durable responses, and are still
      indicated in most patients. Ibrutinib is a new option and it was approved as
      primary therapy and for relapse. Carfilzomib based therapy represents an emerging
      option for proteasome-inhibitor based therapy for WM. Despite encouraging
      results, WM remains an incurable disease; therefore, new treatment options are
      needed. For this reason, continued participation in clinical trials should be
      encouraged.

PMID- 28592172
TI  - Hydrogen Storage Technologies for Future Energy Systems.
AB  - Future energy systems will be determined by the increasing relevance of solar and
      wind energy. Crude oil and gas prices are expected to increase in the long run,
      and penalties for CO2 emissions will become a relevant economic factor. Solar-
      and wind-powered electricity will become significantly cheaper, such that
      hydrogen produced from electrolysis will be competitively priced against hydrogen
      manufactured from natural gas. However, to handle the unsteadiness of system
      input from fluctuating energy sources, energy storage technologies that cover the
      full scale of power (in megawatts) and energy storage amounts (in megawatt hours)
      are required. Hydrogen, in particular, is a promising secondary energy vector for
      storing, transporting, and distributing large and very large amounts of energy at
      the gigawatt-hour and terawatt-hour scales. However, we also discuss energy
      storage at the 120-200-kWh scale, for example, for onboard hydrogen storage in
      fuel cell vehicles using compressed hydrogen storage. This article focuses on the
      characteristics and development potential of hydrogen storage technologies in
      light of such a changing energy system and its related challenges. Technological
      factors that influence the dynamics, flexibility, and operating costs of unsteady
      operation are therefore highlighted in particular. Moreover, the potential for
      using renewable hydrogen in the mobility sector, industrial production, and the
      heat market is discussed, as this potential may determine to a significant extent
      the future economic value of hydrogen storage technology as it applies to other
      industries. This evaluation elucidates known and well-established options for
      hydrogen storage and may guide the development and direction of newer, less
      developed technologies.

PMID- 28592173
TI  - Algae to Economically Viable Low-Carbon-Footprint Oil.
AB  - Algal oil as an alternative to fossil fuel has attracted attention since the
      1940s, when it was discovered that many microalgae species can produce large
      amounts of lipids. Economics and energy security were the motivational factors
      for a spurt in algae research during the 1970s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Whenever
      crude prices declined, research on algae stopped. The scenario today is
      different. Even given low and volatile crude prices ($30-$50/barrel), interest in
      algae continues all over the world. Algae, with their cure-all characteristics,
      have the potential to provide sustainable solutions to problems in the energy
      food-climate nexus. However, after years of effort, there are no signs of algae
      to-biofuel technology being commercialized. This article critically reviews past
      work; summarizes the current status of the technology; and based on the lessons
      learned, provides a balanced perspective on a potential path toward
      commercialization of algae-to-oil technology.

PMID- 28592171
TI  - Next generation human skin constructs as advanced tools for drug development.
AB  - Many diseases, as well as side effects of drugs, manifest themselves through skin
      symptoms. Skin is a complex tissue that hosts various specialized cell types and
      performs many roles including physical barrier, immune and sensory functions.
      Therefore, modeling skin in vitro presents technical challenges for tissue
      engineering. Since the first attempts at engineering human epidermis in 1970s,
      there has been a growing interest in generating full-thickness skin constructs
      mimicking physiological functions by incorporating various skin components, such
      as vasculature and melanocytes for pigmentation. Development of biomimetic in
      vitro human skin models with these physiological functions provides a new tool
      for drug discovery, disease modeling, regenerative medicine and basic research
      for skin biology. This goal, however, has long been delayed by the limited
      availability of different cell types, the challenges in establishing co-culture
      conditions, and the ability to recapitulate the 3D anatomy of the skin. Recent
      breakthroughs in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology and
      microfabrication techniques such as 3D-printing have allowed for building more
      reliable and complex in vitro skin models for pharmaceutical screening. In this
      review, we focus on the current developments and prevailing challenges in
      generating skin constructs with vasculature, skin appendages such as hair
      follicles, pigmentation, immune response, innervation, and hypodermis.
      Furthermore, we discuss the promising advances that iPSC technology offers in
      order to generate in vitro models of genetic skin diseases, such as epidermolysis
      bullosa and psoriasis. We also discuss how future integration of the next
      generation human skin constructs onto microfluidic platforms along with other
      tissues could revolutionize the early stages of drug development by creating
      reliable evaluation of patient-specific effects of pharmaceutical agents. Impact
      statement Skin is a complex tissue that hosts various specialized cell types and
      performs many roles including barrier, immune, and sensory functions. For human
      relevant drug testing, there has been a growing interest in building more
      physiological skin constructs by incorporating different skin components, such as
      vasculature, appendages, pigment, innervation, and adipose tissue. This paper
      provides an overview of the strategies to build complex human skin constructs
      that can faithfully recapitulate human skin and thus can be used in drug
      development targeting skin diseases. In particular, we discuss recent
      developments and remaining challenges in incorporating various skin components,
      availability of iPSC-derived skin cell types and in vitro skin disease models. In
      addition, we provide insights on the future integration of these complex skin
      models with other organs on microfluidic platforms as well as potential readout
      technologies for high-throughput drug screening.

PMID- 28592175
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Velocity Mapping in Chemical Engineering
      Applications.
AB  - This review aims to illustrate the diversity of measurements that can be made
      using magnetic resonance techniques, which have the potential to provide insights
      into chemical engineering systems that cannot readily be achieved using any other
      method. Perhaps the most notable advantage in using magnetic resonance methods is
      that both chemistry and transport can be followed in three dimensions, in
      optically opaque systems, and without the need for tracers to be introduced into
      the system. Here we focus on hydrodynamics and, in particular, applications to
      rheology, pipe flow, and fixed-bed and gas-solid fluidized bed reactors. With
      increasing development of industrially relevant sample environments and
      undersampling data acquisition strategies that can reduce acquisition times to <1
      s, magnetic resonance is finding increasing application in chemical engineering
      research.

PMID- 28592176
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 28592177
TI  - Biocatalytic Nanocomposites for Combating Bacterial Pathogens.
AB  - Bacterial infections remain a major public health concern. However, broad
      spectrum antibiotics largely target redundant mechanisms of bacterial survival
      and lead to gained resistance owing to microbial evolution. New methods are
      needed to attack bacterial infections, and we have only begun to seek out
      nature's vast arsenal of antimicrobial weapons. Enzymes offer one such weapon,
      and their diversity has been exploited to kill bacteria selectively through
      unique targets, particularly in bacterial cell walls, as well as nonselectively
      through generation of bactericidal molecules. In both approaches, microbial
      resistance has largely been absent, which bodes well for its potential use in
      human therapeutics. Furthermore, enzyme stabilization through conjugation to
      nanoscale materials and incorporation into polymeric composites enable their use
      on surfaces to endow them with antimicrobial properties. Here, we highlight the
      use of enzymes as antimicrobial agents, including applications that may prove
      effective in new therapeutics and through control of key societal
      infrastructures.

PMID- 28592178
TI  - Artificially Engineered Protein Polymers.
AB  - Modern polymer science increasingly requires precise control over macromolecular
      structure and properties for engineering advanced materials and biomedical
      systems. The application of biological processes to design and synthesize
      artificial protein polymers offers a means for furthering macromolecular
      tunability, enabling polymers with dispersities of ~1.0 and monomer-level
      sequence control. Taking inspiration from materials evolved in nature, scientists
      have created modular building blocks with simplified monomer sequences that
      replicate the function of natural systems. The corresponding protein engineering
      toolbox has enabled the systematic development of complex functional polymeric
      materials across areas as diverse as adhesives, responsive polymers, and medical
      materials. This review discusses the natural proteins that have inspired the
      development of key building blocks for protein polymer engineering and the
      function of these elements in material design. The prospects and progress for
      scalable commercialization of protein polymers are reviewed, discussing both
      technology needs and opportunities.

PMID- 28592174
TI  - At Light Speed: Advances in Optogenetic Systems for Regulating Cell Signaling and
      Behavior.
AB  - Cells are bombarded by extrinsic signals that dynamically change in time and
      space. Such dynamic variations can exert profound effects on behaviors, including
      cellular signaling, organismal development, stem cell differentiation, normal
      tissue function, and disease processes such as cancer. Although classical genetic
      tools are well suited to introduce binary perturbations, new approaches have been
      necessary to investigate how dynamic signal variation may regulate cell behavior.
      This fundamental question is increasingly being addressed with optogenetics, a
      field focused on engineering and harnessing light-sensitive proteins to interface
      with cellular signaling pathways. Channelrhodopsins initially defined
      optogenetics; however, through recent use of light-responsive proteins with
      myriad spectral and functional properties, practical applications of optogenetics
      currently encompass cell signaling, subcellular localization, and gene
      regulation. Now, important questions regarding signal integration within branch
      points of signaling networks, asymmetric cell responses to spatially restricted
      signals, and effects of signal dosage versus duration can be addressed. This
      review summarizes emerging technologies and applications within the expanding
      field of optogenetics.

PMID- 28592179
TI  - Driving Forces for Nonnative Protein Aggregation and Approaches to Predict
      Aggregation-Prone Regions.
AB  - Nonnative protein aggregation is the process by which otherwise folded, monomeric
      proteins are converted to stable aggregates composed of protein chains that have
      undergone some degree of unfolding. Often, a conformational change is needed to
      allow certain sequences of amino acids-so-called aggregation-prone regions (APRs)
      to form stable interprotein contacts such as beta-sheet structures. In addition
      to APRs that are needed to stabilize aggregates, other factors or driving forces
      are also important in inducing aggregation in practice. This review focuses first
      on the overall process and mechanistic drivers for nonnative aggregation,
      followed by a more detailed summary of the factors currently thought to be
      important for determining which amino acid sequences most greatly stabilize
      nonnative protein aggregates, as well as a survey of many of the existing
      algorithms that are publicly available to attempt to predict APRs. Challenges
      with experimental validation of predicted APRs for proteins are briefly
      discussed.

PMID- 28592180
TI  - Characteristics and demographics of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction
      syndrome: A large prospective series of Korean patients.
AB  - Objectives To report demographics and characteristics of reversible cerebral
      vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) in the Korean cohort. Methods We prospectively
      recruited patients with definite (imaging-proven) RCVS and probable (imaging
      negative) RCVS who visited Samsung Medical Center between June 2012 and September
      2016. Clinical manifestations, neuroimaging, treatment, and clinical outcomes
      were evaluated in all patients. Characteristics of RCVS without typical causes
      ("idiopathic RCVS") were compared with those of RCVS with identifiable causes
      ("secondary RCVS"). International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD)-3
      beta criteria for 6.7.3 RCVS and 6.7.3.1 probable RCVS were tested. Results A
      total of 138 patients (104 definite and 34 probable RCVS) were included in this
      study. Patients with definite RCVS were predominantly female (85.6%) and middle
      aged (mean, 50.7 [range, 23-82] years). Probable RCVS was associated with less
      female predominance (70.6%, p = 0.049), more typical manifestations ( p < 0.001),
      and none of neurological complications. One-hundred and one (97.1%) patients with
      definite RCVS had headache, but the typical "recurrent and/or triggered"
      thunderclap headache was reported in only 83 (82.2%). In most patients with
      definite RCVS (84.6%), RCVS was idiopathic, while only 16 (15.4%) had secondary
      causes. Compared to those with secondary RCVS, patients with idiopathic RCVS were
      older (52.8 +/- 11.42 vs. 39.1 +/- 9.55 years, p < 0.001). Patients with
      secondary RCVS had more complications than those with idiopathic RCVS (40.5% vs.
      12.5%, p = 0.018). Among idiopathic RCVS patients, 33 (37.5%) reported a
      preceding event or a change in lifestyle, environment, health, or medication
      within one month before onset. Conclusion In our cohort, RCVS was benign and
      idiopathic in most patients, and occurred frequently in middle-aged women.
      Manifestations of RCVS were more diverse than previously recognized, and forms
      without any headache existed. Different genetic, social, and environmental
      factors should be taken into account to unveil the spectrum and pathophysiology
      of RCVS.

PMID- 28592181
TI  - Grappling with the future: The messiness of pilot implementation in information
      systems design.
AB  - Pilot implementation is a method for avoiding unintended consequences of
      healthcare information systems. This study investigates how learning from pilot
      implementations is situated, messy, and therefore difficult. We analyze two pilot
      implementations by means of observation and interviews. In the first pilot
      implementation, the involved porters saw their improved overview of pending
      patient transports as an opportunity for more self-organization, but this
      opportunity hinged on the unclear prospects of extending the system with
      functionality for the porters to reply to transport requests. In the second pilot
      implementation, the involved paramedics had to print the data they had entered
      into the system because it had not yet been integrated with the electronic
      patient record. This extra work prolonged every dispatch and influenced the
      paramedics' experience of the entire system. We discuss how pilot
      implementations, in spite of their realism, leave room for uncertainty about the
      implications of the new system.

PMID- 28592182
TI  - Perioperative and Anesthetic Considerations in Atrioventricular Septal Defect.
AB  - Atrioventricular septal defect results from a failure of normal endocardial
      cushion fusion during embryologic cardiac development. This developmental
      aberration results in defects in the atrial and/or ventricular septum and
      malformation of the atrioventricular valves. The pathophysiology of
      atrioventricular septal defect is variable, and ranges from mild left to right
      shunting similar to a simple atrial septal defect to complex single-ventricle
      heart disease. This review focuses on the spectrum of atrioventricular septal
      defect from partial to complete, without associated cardiac defects.

PMID- 28592184
TI  - Don't think twice it's all right: tamoxifen and CYP2D6 genotyping in the
      treatment of breast cancer patients.
AB  - Letter in resonse to: Del Re M, Rofi E, Citi V, Fidilio L, Danesi R. Should
      CYP2D6 be genotyped when treating with tamoxifen? Pharmacogenomics 17(18), 1967
      1969 (2016).

PMID- 28592185
TI  - Gendering of day center occupations as perceived by people with psychiatric
      disabilities in Sweden.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim was to explore the experiences and views of people attending
      day centers for people with psychiatric disabilities concerning the occurrence
      and nature of gendering of the occupations performed there. METHODS: Twenty-five
      day center attendees were interviewed regarding occupational choices at the day
      centers, whether they would describe day center occupations as gendered, and if
      so what the consequences were of the gendering of occupations. The transcribed
      texts were analyzed by thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three main themes were
      identified: Thinking and doing gender; Understandings of gendering of day center
      occupations; and Consequences of gendered occupation. The participants were more
      open-minded in their reasoning than in what they were doing. They understood
      gendering to be a result of traditions, role models from childhood, ideas about
      typically male and female innate capacities, lack of knowledge and low self
      confidence. Doing seemed to reproduce gender, but being in a group of the same
      sex could shape unity and a relaxed atmosphere. CONCLUSIONS: The findings could
      be understood as a set of gender frames, which might prevent either of the sexes
      from developing their full potentials and transgress into e.g. the employment
      market. Gendering should be highlighted and debated in psychosocial
      rehabilitation.

PMID- 28592183
TI  - Vaginal film for prevention of HIV: using visual and tactile evaluations among
      potential users to inform product design.
AB  - Topical prevention of HIV and other STIs is a global health priority. To provide
      options for users, developers have worked to design safe, effective and
      acceptable vaginal dissolving film formulations. We aimed to characterize user
      experiences of vaginal film size, texture and color, and their role in product
      elicited sensory perceptions (i.e. perceptibility), acceptability and willingness
      to use. In the context of a user-centered product evaluation study, we elicited
      users' 'first impressions' of various vaginal film formulation designs via visual
      and tactile prototype inspection during a qualitative user evaluation interview.
      Twenty-four women evaluated prototypes. Participants considered size and texture
      to be important for easy insertion. Color was more important following
      dissolution than prior to insertion. When asked to combine and balance all
      properties to arrive at an ideal film, previously stated priorities for
      individual characteristics sometimes shifted, with the salience of some
      individual characteristics lessening when multiple characteristics were weighted
      in combination. While first impressions alone may not drive product uptake,
      users' willingness to initially try a product is likely impacted by such
      impressions. Developers should consider potential users' experiences and
      preferences in vaginal film design. This user-focused approach is useful for
      characterizing user sensory perceptions and experiences relevant to early design
      of prevention technologies.

PMID- 28592186
TI  - The role of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism in methotrexate-induced toxicity in
      pediatric osteosarcoma patients.
AB  - AIM: Osteosarcoma patients receive high doses of methotrexate (MTX). However,
      pharmacogenetic information remains limited and has mainly been investigated in
      leukemia so far. PATIENTS & METHODS: We investigated the link between the MTHFR
      C677T genotype, toxicity levels (mucositis, MTX plasma level, hematological
      toxicity and hepatotoxicity) and survival of 48 pediatric osteosarcoma patients.
      RESULTS: The TT genotype did not show more toxicity compared with the CC/CT
      genotype. However, plasma MTX levels were related with mucositis, but not with
      hematological toxicity, nor hepatotoxicity. Survival rates did not differ between
      homozygous and non-homozygous patients. Yet, homozygous patients had higher
      relapse risk. CONCLUSION: The MTHFR C667T polymorphism is not predictive for
      toxicity or overall survival, but could be used for relapse risk stratification.

PMID- 28592187
TI  - Outcomes of organ donation in brain-dead patient's families: Ethical perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The families of brain-dead patients have a significant role in the
      process of decision making for organ donation. Organ donation is a traumatic
      experience. The ethical responsibility of healthcare systems respecting organ
      donation is far beyond the phase of decision making for donation. The principles
      of donation-related ethics require healthcare providers and organ procurement
      organizations to respect donor families and protect them against any probable
      harm. Given the difficult and traumatic nature of donation-related experience,
      understanding the outcomes of donation appears crucial. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this study was to explore the outcomes of organ donation for the families of
      brain-dead patients. METHODS: This was a qualitative descriptive study to which a
      purposeful sample of 19 donor family members were recruited. Data were collected
      through holding in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants. Data
      analysis was performed by following the qualitative content analysis approach
      developed by Elo and Kyngas. FINDINGS: The main category of the data was
      "Decision to organ donation: a challenge from conflict to transcendence." This
      main category consisted of 10 subcategories and 3 general categories. The general
      categories were "challenging outcomes," "reassuring outcomes," and "transcending
      outcomes." Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the regional ethical
      review board. The ethical principles of informed consent, confidentiality, and
      non-identification were used. CONCLUSION: Donor families experience different
      challenges which range from conflict and doubtfulness to confidence,
      satisfaction, and transcendence. Healthcare providers and organ procurers should
      not discontinue care and support provision to donor families after obtaining
      their consent to donate because the post-decision phase is also associated with
      different complexities and difficulties with which donor families may not be able
      to cope effectively. In order to help donor families achieve positive outcomes
      from the tragedy of significant loss, healthcare professionals need to facilitate
      the process of achieving confidence and transcendence by them.

PMID- 28592189
TI  - Perceiving rejection by others: Relationship between rejection sensitivity and
      the spontaneous neuronal activity of the brain.
AB  - Rejection sensitivity (RS) can be defined as the disposition of a person to
      anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. Individuals
      with high RS are likely to suffer from mental disorders. The association between
      individual differences in RS and spontaneous neuronal activity at resting state
      has not yet been investigated. In this study, resting state data were used to
      investigate the relationship between RS and spontaneous neuronal activity in a
      large sample of healthy men (137) and women (172). The participants completed the
      rejection sensitivity questionnaire and underwent resting-state magnetic
      resonance imaging scan. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the
      correlation between the regional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF)
      and rejection sensitivity scores adjusted for age and sex. Results showed that
      the ALFF value in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) was positively
      associated with RS. Furthermore, functional connectivity with the middle frontal
      gyrus was negatively correlated with RS when sgACC was used as the seed region.
      These findings suggest that the spontaneous neuronal activity of sgACC and its
      functional connectivity with the lateral prefrontal cortex which are involved in
      experiencing social exclusion and regulating negative emotions are associated
      with individual differences in RS.

PMID- 28592188
TI  - Polymer-coated cardiopulmonary bypass circuit attenuates upregulation of both
      proteases/protease inhibitors and platelet degranulation in pigs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Interaction of blood with a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit
      activates the coagulation-fibrinolysis, complement and kinin-kallikrein systems
      that are mainly supported by proteases and their inhibitors. METHODS:
      Biocompatibility of a new polymer-coated (SEC-coated) CPB circuit was globally
      evaluated and compared with that of a non-coated CPB circuit by quantitative
      proteomics, using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification labeling
      tandem mass spectrometry. Plasma samples were taken three times (5 min after
      initiation of CPB, just before declamping and just before termination of CPB) in
      12 pigs undergoing 120 min of CPB with the SEC-coated CPB circuit or a non-coated
      CPB circuit (n = 6, respectively). RESULTS: Identified were 224 proteins having
      high protein confidence (>99%) and false discovery rate (FDR) <5%. Among these
      proteins, there were 25 significantly upregulated proteins in the non-coated CPB
      group compared to those in the SEC-coated CPB group. Dominant protein functions
      were platelet degranulation, serine-type (cysteine-type) endopeptidase inhibitor
      activity and serine-type endopeptidase activity in the 25 proteins.
      Bioinformatics analysis similarly revealed upregulation of proteins belonging to
      platelet degranulation and negative regulation of endopeptidase activity in the
      non-coated CPB group; these upregulations were effectively attenuated in the SEC
      coated CPB group. CONCLUSION: The new polymer (SEC)-coated CPB circuit
      effectively attenuated upregulation of proteins compared to the non-coated CPB
      circuit. These proteins were associated with both proteases/protease inhibitors
      and platelet degranulation.

PMID- 28592190
TI  - Genetic variants associated with warfarin dosage in Kuwaiti population.
AB  - Assessing the distinct prevalence or absence of genetic variants associated with
      differential response to the anticoagulant medication of warfarin in different
      population groups is actively pursued by pharmacogenomics community. Populations
      from Arabian Peninsula are underrepresented in such studies. By way of examining
      exome- and genome-wide genotype data from 1395 Arab individuals in Kuwait, we
      report distinct occurrence of warfarin response-related variants
      rs12460590_A/CYP2A7, rs2108622_T/CYP4F2, rs2884737_C/VKORC1 and distinct absence
      of rs11150606_C/PRSS53 in Kuwaiti population. The presented results in
      conjunction with similar literature reports on Qatari population enhance the
      worldwide understanding on population-specific distributions of genetic variants
      associated with warfarin drug dosage.

PMID- 28592192
TI  - Pyridine influence on a sequential anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic FMBR system for
      phenol, thiocyanate and ammonia removal.
AB  - A synthetic wastewater containing various pyridine concentrations (25-250 mg/L)
      was treated in a sequential anaerobic(B1)-anoxic(B2)-aerobic(B3) fed batch moving
      bed reactor (FMBR) system. Pyridine was associated with phenol (1500 mg/L), SCN-
      (800 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (5400-5430 mg/L) and NH4+-N (500 mg/L)
      at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6 (B1: 3 days; B2 and B3: 1.5 days each)
      days. In B1, pyridine removal was 10-12% from influent concentration of 25-100
      mg/L and beyond that, it was zero. Removal of phenol (53-39%) and COD (33-22%)
      occurred in B1, but pyridine above 50 mg/L inhibited both. In B2, 68-90% of
      pyridine removal occurred along with phenol (>98%), COD (>67%), SCN- (>85%)
      removal and denitrification. In B2, with an increase in pyridine loading removal
      rate of phenol, COD and nitrate increased, whereas SCN- removal decreased beyond
      pyridine loading of 0.031g/L day. In B3, nitrification decreased with high
      generation of free ammonia. Pyridine degradation in B1, B2 and B3 follows the
      Stover-Kincannon model with a maximum substrate removal rate of 111.1, 333.3 and
      23.81 g/L day, respectively. Thiocyanate removal in B2 and ammonia removal in B3
      follows the Bhatia inhibition model with a maximum substrate removal rate of
      0.641 and 0.528/day, respectively. The overall efficiency of the FMBR system
      remained unaffected up to 250 mg pyridine/L at 6 days HRT.

PMID- 28592191
TI  - Influence of two variants of CYP450 oxidoreductase on the stable dose of
      acenocoumarol in a Spanish population.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the influence of two variants of P450 oxidoreductase (POR),
      rs2868177 and POR*28, on the stable dosage of acenocoumarol. PATIENTS & METHODS:
      For this observational, cross-sectional study, patients were undergone stable
      anticoagulant treatment with acenocoumarol. Univariate and multiple regression
      analyses were performed to assess the influence of POR polymorphisms. RESULTS:
      About 340 patients were enrolled. Multiple regression had a coefficient of
      determination (R2) of 51.5% and an Akaike information criterion of 234.22. The
      inclusion of POR*28 polymorphisms increased the R2 to 52.0% and reduced the
      Akaike information criteria to 230.58. The POR*28 heterozygote showed statistical
      significance in the algorithm. CONCLUSION: The POR*28 heterozygote appears to be
      associated with the stable dose of acenocoumarol, but its clinical contribution
      to the prediction of the dosing of this drug is minimal.

PMID- 28592193
TI  - Permanent chronotropic impairment after closure of atrial or ventricular septal
      defect.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Atrial and ventricular septal defects are commonly closed surgically
      with low rates of post-operative morbidity, and the long-term outcome has widely
      been described as benign. Nevertheless, there is an increasing understanding of
      late morbidity, and the possibility of postoperative chronotropic impairment is
      continuously questioned. Furthermore, potentially abnormal chronotropic responses
      may be associated with the recently demonstrated overrepresentation of late
      arrhythmias. We conducted this review to methodically describe the potential
      effects of surgical defect closure on the chronotropic response to exercise.
      METHODS: We performed a search protocol based on the 'Preferred Reporting Items
      for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses' (PRISMA) guidelines. A data collection
      form was specifically developed and data were extracted from the included studies
      by a primary reviewer and crosschecked by a secondary reviewer. RESULTS: A search
      of electronic databases revealed 16 publications, which consistently reported an
      abnormal heart rate responses to exercise after surgical closure. In contrast,
      these and other studies convincingly showed normal chronotropic response in un
      operated patients as well as after percutaneous closure. Potential mechanisms
      include disturbances in the sinoatrial or atrioventricular conduction system and
      denervation in the proximity of the aorta during the surgical procedure.
      DISCUSSION: ASD and VSD patients have abnormal heart rate responses to exercise
      after surgical closure, which indicates a need of change in the preoperative
      information given to these patients and their parents before surgical defect
      closure. Although there may not be any alternatives to surgery, patients should
      still be informed about potential long-term consequences, including the risk of
      chronotropic incompetence. Moreover, this review suggests that 'specialized',
      long-term follow up may be indicated.

PMID- 28592194
TI  - 2,3',4,4',5-Pentachlorobiphenyl impairs insulin-induced NO production partly
      through excessive ROS production in endothelial cells.
AB  - Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been reported to be associated with
      increased risk to hypertension, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, etc.
      2,3',4,4',5-Pentachlorobiphenyl, known as PCB-118, is a member of coplanar PCBs
      which renders their structure similar to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins
      (PCDDs) and has dioxin-like activity. In our current study, we investigated the
      effect of PCB-118 exposure on nitric oxide (NO) production and the underlying
      mechanisms in vitro. Exposure of PCB-118 impaired insulin-induced NO production
      and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity in human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs) with no significant effect on cell viability.
      Furthermore, PCB-118 treatment induced oxidative stress. In addition, scavenging
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by 10 MUM N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) partly
      rescued impaired insulin-induced eNOS activities and NO productions induced by
      PCB-118 in HUVECs. Taken together, these results indicate that PCB-118 mediates
      lower eNOS activity and impairs insulin-induced NO production partly through
      excessive ROS production in endothelial cells.

PMID- 28592195
TI  - Objective multicentre performance of the automated assays for AMH and estimation
      of established critical concentrations.
AB  - The measurement of AMH has now become widespread practice within the field of
      fertility treatment and research, despite technical issues with some of the
      original assays. The two new automated assays, with their potentially improved
      technical performance, require detailed examination and comparison under
      different conditions. In addition, the determination of categories of responses
      to ovarian stimulation, require re-evaluation for these new tests. The
      performance of the assays across numerous laboratories, and over a protracted
      timeframe, has been examined through the UK NEQAS published results. The
      automated assays show high quality performance figures over a broad concentration
      range, with exceptionally low variance figures, and they also yield very similar
      absolute concentration values. Critical response diagnostic concentrations have
      been re-evaluated by determination of age-related concentrations from within
      large population datasets.

PMID- 28592196
TI  - The Use of Self-Directed Relapse Prevention Booklets to Assist in Maintaining
      Abstinence After a 6-Week Group Smoking Cessation Treatment Program: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identifying effective relapse prevention interventions is a vital
      step to help smokers maintain abstinence for the long term. AIMS: The purpose of
      this study is to determine if providing recently quit smokers with self-directed
      relapse prevention booklets is effective at maintaining abstinence after
      intensive group smoking cessation treatment. METHOD: Two hundred and twenty-five
      participants were randomized to receive Forever Free (FF) relapse prevention
      booklets or a control booklet (Surgeon General's report, SG) at the end of a 6
      week group treatment program. Participants were then contacted by phone to assess
      whether they had read the materials. Smoking status was assessed 6 months after
      their target quit date. Primary analyses focused on the 115 participants who quit
      at the end of treatment. RESULTS: There was no difference in the 6-month quit
      rate between groups (40.7% quit FF vs. 44.6% quit SG, p = .67). The FF group read
      a significantly smaller proportion of the materials versus the control booklet
      (20.0% read most or all of FF vs. 72.0% of SG, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Forever
      Free self-directed relapse prevention booklets did not reduce relapse or enhance
      cessation over general tobacco and health information when added to intensive
      group smoking cessation treatment. However, this study lacked power to detect a
      small but clinically meaningful positive effect.

PMID- 28592197
TI  - Cardiovascular effects of the addition of nilotinib to standard therapy for acute
      myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 28592198
TI  - Reversible drug-induced antiphospholipid syndrome.
AB  - We report an original case of reversible antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) due to
      minocycline in a young male patient who experienced recurrent strokes while
      taking minocycline. He started minocycline therapy (50 mg twice daily) at 15
      years old for acne. After three years of treatment, the patient experienced a
      lateral medullary syndrome. He was treated with aspirin while minocycline was
      continued. Eighteen months later, the patient complained about horizontal
      binocular diplopia. MRI revealed an infarct of the oculomotor nerve nucleus.
      Laboratory investigations revealed high titers of anti-beta 2 glycoprotein 1
      (antibeta2GP1) antibodies of 470 U/ml (normal range <15 U/ml) and
      antiphosphatidylethanolamine antibodies of 137.4 U/ml (normal range <18 U/ml).
      Other laboratory tests were normal. Six weeks after discontinuation of
      minocycline, anti-beta2GP1 antibodies decreased to 335 U/ml and to 36 U/ml at six
      months and then remained negative for six years. Many drugs have been considered
      as possibly causing APS but only in a limited number of patients. To our
      knowledge this is the first case of drug-induced APS with complete disappearance
      of high titers of anti-beta2GP1 antibodies after minocycline withdrawal. This
      case also illustrates the need to monitor the levels of antiphospholipid
      antibodies, even though initial values are high and confirmed after 12 weeks.

PMID- 28592199
TI  - Diffuse alveolar haemorrage as initial presentation of systemic lupus
      erythematosus: a case report.
AB  - Diffuse alveolar haemorrhage (DAH) is a rare life-threatening complication of
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), associated with high mortality rates. It
      usually occurs in patients with an established diagnosis of SLE. It has been
      reported as the initial presentation of SLE in 11-20% of cases. It occurs most
      frequently in females. We describe the case of a child, aged 14 years, with
      fever, asthenia, haemoptysis, dyspnea, anaemia, increased inflammatory markers,
      positivity to ANA, nDNA, direct Coombs tests, anticardiolipin antibodies and
      complement factors consumption. Computed tomography (CTscan) of the chest showed
      bilateral pulmonary alveolar infiltrates. He also developed renal involvement
      with nephritis later in the course of the disease. He was started on the
      treatment approved by the Euro Lupus Protocol for critical patients. After
      starting Mycophenolate Mofetil the clinical and radiological features were
      improved as was the survival outcome.

PMID- 28592200
TI  - Anti-carbamylated protein antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus patients
      with articular involvement.
AB  - Objective Several studies have evaluated the prevalence of rheumatoid factor (RF)
      and anti-citrullinated proteins antibodies (ACPA) in systemic lupus erythematosus
      (SLE) patients but no data are available on the anti-carbamylated proteins (anti
      CarP), a new biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We evaluated the anti-CarP
      prevalence in SLE patients with joint involvement and the associations with
      different phenotypes. Methods Seventy-eight SLE patients with joint involvement
      were enrolled (F/M 73/5; mean +/- SD age 47.6 +/- 11.2 years; mean +/- SD disease
      duration 214.3 +/- 115.6 months). As control groups, we evaluated SLE patients
      without joint manifestations ( N = 15), RA ( N = 78) and healthy individuals (HS,
      N = 98). Anti-CarP were assessed by home-made ELISA in all patients and controls,
      RF and ACPA in SLE patients with joint involvement (commercial ELISA kit).
      Results The prevalence of anti-CarP in SLE patients with joint involvement was
      similar to RA ( p = NS) and significantly higher compared with SLE without joint
      involvement and HS ( p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, respectively). Four patients were
      positive for all three antibodies: seventy-five percent of these showed Jaccoud
      arthropathy. Fourty-five percent of ACPA-ve/RF-ve patients were anti-CarP + ve.
      Conclusions The evaluation of anti-CarP in SLE joint involvement demonstrated a
      prevalence of almost 50%, similar to RA and significantly higher than SLE without
      joint involvement and HS.

PMID- 28592201
TI  - Comparative efficacy and safety of intravenous or subcutaneous belimumab in
      combination with standard therapy in patients with active systemic lupus
      erythematosus: a Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - Objective In this study, we aimed to assess the relative efficacy and safety of
      intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) belimumab compared with those of placebo in
      patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods We performed a
      Bayesian network meta-analysis to combine the direct and indirect evidence from
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the efficacy and safety of
      belimumab 1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg IV administration, and belimumab 200 mg SC
      injection, and placebo in patients with active SLE despite having received
      standard therapy. Results Five RCTs (3460 patients) met the inclusion criteria.
      The SLE Responder Index (SRI) response rate at week 52 was significantly higher
      in the belimumab 10 mg/kg group than in the placebo group (OR 2.63, 95% CrI 2.14
      3.23). Similarly, the SRI response rates were significantly higher in the
      belimumab 1 mg/kg, and belimumab 200 mg SC groups than in the placebo group (OR
      2.42, 95% CrI 1.90-3.09; OR 1.71, 95% CrI 1.27-2.29). Ranking probability based
      on surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) indicated that belimumab 10
      mg/kg had the highest probability of being the best treatment for achieving the
      SRI response (SUCRA = 0.9174), followed by belimumab 1 mg/kg (SUCRA = 0.7338),
      belimumab 200 mg SC (SUCRA = 0.3487), and placebo (SUCRA = 0.0000). However, a
      sensitivity test by omitting one outlier study showing low SRI response rate
      compared with the other three studies (11% vs. 33%, 40%, 48%) showed that
      belimumab 200 mg SC and belimumab 10 mg/kg had the highest probability of being
      the best treatment for achieving the SRI response (SUCRA = 0.7903, SUCRA =
      0.7456), followed by belimumab 1 mg/kg, and placebo. The number of serious
      adverse events (SAEs) did not differ significantly among the four treatment
      options. Conclusions Belimumab at 1 and 10 mg/kg IV and belimumab 200 mg SC in
      combination with standard therapy was an efficacious intervention for active SLE,
      and was not associated with a significant risk of SAEs.

PMID- 28592202
TI  - Pharmacogenetics and aromatase inhibitor induced side effects in breast cancer
      patients.
AB  - This paper reviews genetic variations mainly related to the onset of adverse
      events during aromatase inhibitors in early breast cancer. Genetic variability
      could occur at different steps. The analysis included studies that involved
      breast cancer patients, treated with an aromatase inhibitor, genotyped for
      CYP19A1 and/or CYP17A1 and/or CYP27B1 and/or TCLA1, and/or RANK/RANKL/OPG and/or
      ESR1/ESR2, and assessed for toxicity profile. Twenty-two articles were included
      for the analysis. Three studies evaluated outcomes and adverse events; 19 studies
      assessed only side effects. Functional variations may be useful in predicting the
      onset of toxicities. The identification of polymorphisms at increased risk of
      toxicity may enable patient management. However, more data are needed to be
      applied in the individualization of treatment in daily practice.

PMID- 28592203
TI  - The use of an online support group for neuromuscular disorders: a thematic
      analysis of message postings.
AB  - PURPOSE: People affected by neuromuscular disorders can experience adverse
      psychosocial consequences and difficulties accessing information and support.
      Online support groups provide new opportunities for peer support. The aim of this
      study was to understand how contributors used the message board function of a
      newly available neuromuscular disorders online support group. METHODS: Message
      postings (n = 1951) from the first five months of the message board of a newly
      formed online support group for neuromuscular disorders hosted by a charitable
      organization were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Members
      created a sense of community through disclosing personal information, connecting
      with people with similar illness experiences or interests, welcoming others and
      sharing aspirations for the development of a resourceful community. Experiences,
      emotional reactions and support were shared in relation to: delayed diagnosis;
      symptom interpretation; illness management and progression; the isolating impact
      of rare disorders; and the influence of social and political factors on illness
      experiences. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a novel insight into individuals'
      experiences of accessing a newly available online support group for rare
      conditions hosted by a charitable organization. The findings highlight how the
      online support group provided an important peer support environment for members
      to connect with others, exchange information and support and engender discussion
      on political and social issues unique to living with often-rare neuromuscular
      disorders. Online support groups may therefore provide an important and easily
      accessible support outlet for people with neuromuscular disorders as well as a
      platform for empowering members to raise awareness about the impact of living
      with these conditions. Further research is needed to examine member motivations
      for using such groups and any effects of participation in greater detail.
      Implications for rehabilitation Online support groups may provide a unique forum
      for information sharing and peer support between people affected by often rare,
      neuromuscular conditions. Rehabilitation professionals may wish to signpost those
      affected by neuromuscular disorders to such groups. An advantage is that these
      groups are freely available and can be accessed from anywhere and at any time.
      Members may be able to learn about the diagnosis and symptom experiences of
      others, discuss coping strategies, validate illness experiences and discuss
      social and political issues relating to living with these conditions. Further
      research is needed before researchers and clinicians can fully understand
      participants' motivations for, and experiences of, using such groups and any
      potential psychosocial benefits.

PMID- 28592204
TI  - Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Need-Supportive Teaching Style
      Scale for Physical Education.
AB  - The purpose of the current study was to examine the factor structure and
      measurement invariance of a scale measuring students' perceptions of need
      supportive teaching (Need-Supportive Teaching Style Scale in Physical Education;
      NSTSSPE). We sampled 615 secondary school students in Hong Kong, 200 of whom also
      completed a follow-up assessment two months later. Factor structure of the scale
      was examined through exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Further,
      nomological validity of the NSTSSPE was evaluated by examining the relationships
      between need-supportive teaching style and student satisfaction of psychological
      needs. Finally, four measurement models-configural, metric invariance, scalar
      invariance, and item uniqueness invariance-were assessed using multiple group
      ESEM to test the measurement invariance of the scale across gender, grade, and
      time. ESEM results suggested a three-factor structure of the NSTSSPE. Nomological
      validity was supported, and weak, strong, and strict measurement invariance of
      the NSTSSPE was evidenced across gender, grade, and time. The current study
      provides initial psychometric support for the NSTSSPE to assess student
      perceptions of teachers' need-supportive teaching style in physical education
      classes.

PMID- 28592206
TI  - Molecular modeling and SPRi investigations of interleukin 6 (IL6) protein and DNA
      aptamers.
AB  - Interleukin 6 (IL6), an inflammatory response protein has major implications in
      immune-related inflammatory diseases. Identification of aptamers for the IL6
      protein aids in diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic applications. Three
      different DNA aptamers and their interactions with IL6 protein were extensively
      investigated in a phosphate buffed saline (PBS) solution. Molecular-level
      modeling through molecular dynamics provided insights of structural,
      conformational changes and specific binding domains of these protein-aptamer
      complexes. Multiple simulations reveal consistent binding region for all protein
      aptamer complexes. Conformational changes coupled with quantitative analysis of
      center of mass (COM) distance, radius of gyration (Rg), and number of
      intermolecular hydrogen bonds in each IL6 protein-aptamer complex was used to
      determine their binding performance strength and obtain molecular configurations
      with strong binding. A similarity comparison of the molecular configurations with
      strong binding from molecular-level modeling concurred with Surface Plasmon
      Resonance imaging (SPRi) for these three aptamer complexes, thus corroborating
      molecular modeling analysis findings. Insights from the natural progression of
      IL6 protein-aptamer binding modeled in this work has identified key features such
      as the orientation and location of the aptamer in the binding event. These key
      features are not readily feasible from wet lab experiments and impact the
      efficacy of the aptamers in diagnostic and theranostic applications.

PMID- 28592207
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28592205
TI  - Pilot Feasibility Study of a Digital Storytelling Intervention for Immigrant and
      Refugee Adults With Diabetes.
AB  - Purpose The purpose of this pilot feasibility project was to examine the
      potential effectiveness of a digital storytelling intervention designed through a
      community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach for immigrants and
      refugees with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods The intervention was a 12
      minute culturally and linguistically tailored video consisting of an
      introduction, 4 stories, and a concluding educational message. A structured
      interview was used to assess the intervention for acceptability, interest level,
      and usefulness among 25 participants with T2DM (15 Latino, 10 Somali) across 5
      primary care clinical sites. After watching the video, participants rated their
      confidence and motivation about managing T2DM as a result of the intervention.
      Baseline A1C and follow-up values (up to 6 months) were abstracted from medical
      records. Results All participants reported that the intervention got their
      attention, was interesting, and was useful; 96% reported that they were more
      confident about managing their T2DM than before they watched the video, and 92%
      reported that the video motivated them to change a specific behavior related to
      T2DM self-management. The mean baseline A1C level for the intervention
      participants was 9.3% (78 mmol/mol). The change from baseline to first follow-up
      A1C level was -0.8% (-10 mmol/mol) ( P < .05). Conclusions Implementation of a
      digital storytelling intervention for T2DM among immigrant populations in primary
      care settings is feasible and resulted in self-rated improvement in psychosocial
      constructs that are associated with healthy T2DM self-management behaviors, and
      there was some evidence of improvement in glycemic control. A large-scale
      efficacy trial of the intervention is warranted.

PMID- 28592208
TI  - Is a polygenic predictor of antidepressant response a possibility?

PMID- 28592209
TI  - Breastfeeding Patterns Among Employees at a Land Grant University.
AB  - Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months of life, and up to
      1 year with complementary food. Breastfeeding rates have improved over the last
      20 years, but exclusive breastfeeding, and breastfeeding to 6 months have not yet
      met Healthy People 2020 goals. Given that the majority of women return to work
      shortly after delivery, workplace support for breastfeeding could facilitate
      breastfeeding continuance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)
      was the first federal legislation to address breastfeeding in the workplace. This
      article examines employee breastfeeding behavior before and after implementation
      of workplace breastfeeding support policies and practices. Breastfeeding behavior
      change over time was assessed by comparing employees' responses by age of their
      youngest children. Results indicated that breastfeeding among employees and
      breastfeeding after returning to work improved after initiation of breastfeeding
      support policies in this university setting.

PMID- 28592210
TI  - Incidence of disseminated Mycobacterium avium-complex infection in HIV patients
      receiving antiretroviral therapy with use of Mycobacterium avium-complex
      prophylaxis.
AB  - The incidence of disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection in HIV
      patients has fallen markedly since the introduction of effective antiretroviral
      therapy (ART). However, current guidelines still recommend primary prophylaxis.
      We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a university-affiliated hospital
      from January 1998 to January 2014. During that period, HIV patients who had at
      least one CD4 cell count below 50 cells/mm3 and had been treated with ART were
      enrolled. We compared incidence of disseminated MAC infection in the 12 months
      after the first CD4 cell count below 50 cells/mm3 between prophylaxis and
      nonprophylaxis groups. A total of 157 patients were enrolled and the total
      observation period was 144 patient-years (PY). Thirty-three patients (21%)
      received primary MAC prophylaxis. The initial CD4 cell count of the prophylaxis
      group was lower than that of the nonprophylaxis group ( P = 0.024), but the
      proportion of patients who reached a CD4 cell count >100 cells/mm3 ( P = 0.234)
      and were virologically suppressed ( P = 0.513) 12 months after ART commencement
      was not different in the prophylaxis and nonprophylaxis groups. The incidence of
      MAC did not differ significantly between the groups (3.4/100 PY versus 0.8/100
      PY, P = 0.368). Routine MAC prophylaxis may be not required in the era of
      effective ART.

PMID- 28592211
TI  - Calmodulin-like skin protein is downregulated in human cerebrospinal fluids of
      Alzheimer's disease patients with apolipoprotein E4; a pilot study using
      postmortem samples.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Calmodulin-like skin protein (CLSP) is a secreted peptide that
      inhibits neuronal cell death, linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD), by binding to
      the heterotrimeric humanin receptor and activating an intracellular survival
      pathway. CLSP is only expressed in skin keratinocytes and related epithelial
      cells, circulates in the blood stream, and passes the blood-cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF) barrier. In the current study, we addressed the issues as to whether CLSP
      functions in the central nervous system and whether the concentration of CLSP is
      reduced in the CSFs of AD patients. METHODS: Mice were intraperitoneally injected
      with 5 nmol of recombinant human CLSP. At 1h after the injection, the mice were
      sacrificed for the analysis of the existence of human CLSP in blood and
      interstitial fluid (ISF)-containing brain samples. Using postmortem CSF samples,
      we next determined the concentrations of CLSP in CSFs of human AD and control
      cases. RESULTS: Intraperitoneally administered recombinant human CLSP circulated
      in the blood stream and reached the brain interstitial fluid. The concentrations
      of CLSP in CSFs of human AD and control cases are sufficient to exhibit the CLSP
      activity. Although the concentrations of CLSP in CSFs were not significantly
      different between AD and control cases, the concentrations of CLSP are lower in
      the AD cases with the apolipoprotein E4 genotype than in the AD cases without the
      apolipoprotein E4 genotype. DISCUSSION: The first result indicates that CLSP
      enters the central nervous system through the blood-brain barrier. The second
      result suggests that CLSP functions in the human brains. The third result may
      exclude the possibility that the downregulation of the CLSP level is involved in
      the AD pathogenesis. The last result may contribute to the better understanding
      of the AD pathogenesis from the standpoint of the apolipoprotein E genotype.

PMID- 28592212
TI  - Low dose versus high dose anti-snake venom therapy in the treatment of
      haematotoxic snake bite in South India.
AB  - Most of the studies on the appropriate dose of anti-snake venom (ASV) are from
      tertiary hospitals and the guidelines are unclear. Our observational study
      compared the outcomes of two prevalent treatment regimes for haematotoxic snake
      bite in a secondary care hospital in South India. The time to normalisation of
      whole blood clotting time, mortality and complications were not different between
      the groups. The average dose of ASV required in the low and high dose groups were
      106 mL and 246 mL, respectively. Consequently, patients who received low dose ASV
      incurred approximately 50% less expense. Urticarial rashes were also
      significantly fewer in the low dose group.

PMID- 28592213
TI  - Proton Grid Therapy.
AB  - In this work, we studied the possibility of merging proton therapy with grid
      therapy. We hypothesized that patients with larger targets containing solid tumor
      growth could benefit from being treated with this method, proton grid therapy. We
      performed treatment planning for 2 patients with abdominal cancer with the
      suggested proton grid therapy technique. The proton beam arrays were cross-fired
      over the target volume. Circular or rectangular beam element shapes (building up
      the beam grids) were evaluated in the planning. An optimization was performed to
      calculate the fluence from each beam grid element. The optimization objectives
      were set to create a homogeneous dose inside the target volume with the
      constraint of maintaining the grid structure of the dose distribution in the
      surrounding tissue. The proton beam elements constituting the grid remained
      narrow and parallel down to large depths in the tissue. The calculation results
      showed that it is possible to produce target doses ranging between 100% and 130%
      of the prescribed dose by cross-firing beam grids, incident from 4 directions. A
      sensitivity test showed that a small rotation or translation of one of the used
      grids, due to setup errors, had only a limited influence on the dose distribution
      produced in the target, if 4 beam arrays were used for the irradiation. Proton
      grid therapy is technically feasible at proton therapy centers equipped with spot
      scanning systems using existing tools. By cross-firing the proton beam grids, a
      low tissue dose in between the paths of the elemental beams can be maintained
      down to the vicinity of a deep-seated target. With proton grid therapy, it is
      possible to produce a dose distribution inside the target volume of similar
      uniformity as can be created with current clinical methods.

PMID- 28592214
TI  - Multinozzle Multichannel Temperature Deposition System for Construction of a
      Blood Vessel.
AB  - 3D bioprinting is an emerging technology that drives us to construct the
      complicated tissues and organs consisting of various materials and cells, which
      has been in widespread use in tissue engineering and organ regeneration. However,
      the protection and accurate distribution of cells are the most urgent problems to
      achieve tissue and organ reconstruction. In this article, a multinozzle
      multichannel temperature deposition and manufacturing (MTDM) system is proposed
      to fabricate a blood vessel with heterogeneous materials and gradient
      hierarchical porous structures, which enables not only the reconstruction of a
      blood vessel with an accurate 3D model structure but also the capacity to
      distribute bioactive materials such as growth factors, nutrient substance, and so
      on. In addition, a coaxial focusing nozzle is proposed and designed to extrude
      the biomaterial and encapsulation material, which can protect the cell from
      damage. In the MTDM system, the tubular structure of a blood vessel was
      successfully fabricated with the different biomaterials, which proved that the
      MTDM system has a potential application prospect in tissue engineering and organ
      regeneration.

PMID- 28592215
TI  - Commentary: Toward an EVAR Prevention Strategy for Type II Endoleak.

PMID- 28592216
TI  - Benzoates intakes from non-alcoholic beverages in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the
      United States.
AB  - Food consumption data from national dietary surveys were combined with brand
      specific-use levels reported by beverage manufacturers to calculate the exposure
      to benzoic acid and its salts (INS Nos 210-213) from non-alcoholic beverages in
      Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States. These four jurisdictions were
      identified as having some of the most prevalent use of benzoates in beverages
      globally. Use levels were weighted according to the brand's market volume share
      in the respective countries. Benzoates were reported to be used primarily in
      'water-based flavoured drinks' (Codex General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA)
      category 14.1.4). As such, the assessments focused only on intakes from these
      beverage types. Two different models were established to determine exposure:
      probabilistic (representing non-brand loyal consumers) and distributional
      (representing brand-loyal consumers). All reported-use levels were incorporated
      into both models, including those above the Codex interim maximum benzoate use
      level (250 mg kg-1). The exception to this was in the brand-loyal models for
      consumers of regular carbonated soft drinks (brand loyal category) which used (1)
      the interim maximum use level for beverages with a pH <= 3.5 and (2) all reported
      use levels for beverages pH > 3.5 (up to 438 mg kg-1). The estimated exposure
      levels using both models were significantly lower than the ADI established for
      benzoates at the mean level of intake (4-40% ADI) and lower than - or at the ADI
      only for toddlers/children - at the 95th percentile (23-110% ADI). The results
      rendered in the models do not indicate a safety concern in these jurisdictions,
      and as such provide support for maintaining the current Codex interim maximum
      benzoate level of 250 mg kg-1 in water-based beverages.

PMID- 28592217
TI  - Screening of trace metal supplementation for black water anaerobic digestion.
AB  - Community on-site separation of wastewater is a treatment approach that leads to
      more efficient processes. Black water has high organic matter content and can be
      a suitable feedstock for anaerobic treatment systems. Biological methane
      production (BMP) tests were conducted using Plackett-Burman design to screen the
      effects of adding Fe, Ni, Cu, Co, Mn, Ba and Se, with simulated black water (SBW)
      as the substrate. In the inoculum, most metals were found mainly in the organic
      matter/sulfide and residual fractions except for Mn, which was present at 12.3%
      in the bioavailable fractions (exchangeable and carbonates), and Ba, which was
      evenly distributed among all the fractions. Ba had a significant negative effect
      on methane production and Mn addition enhanced the toxic effect. A specific
      methanogenic activity (SMA) between 18% and 27% lower than the control, was
      predicted at a total Ba concentration of approximately 1000-1200 mg L-1. Similar
      SMA was predicted at Ba concentration between 400 and 600 mg L-1 when 0.55 mg L-1
      of Mn is added. Se and Cu additions demonstrate the potential to improve the
      methane production from SBW. The SMA was predicted to reach 12 mLCH4 gCOD-1 d-1
      when Cu and Se are supplied at total concentrations of 3.0 mg L-1 and 0.98 mg L
      1, respectively.

PMID- 28592218
TI  - First-line use of contact aspiration for thrombectomy versus a stent retriever
      for recanalization in acute cerebral infarction: The randomized ASTER study
      protocol.
AB  - Rationale Mechanical thrombectomy with a stent retriever is now the standard of
      care in anterior circulation ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion.
      New techniques for mechanical thrombectomy, such as contact aspiration, appear
      promising to increase reperfusion status and improve clinical outcome. Aim We aim
      at ascertaining whether contact aspiration is more efficient than the stent
      retriever as a first-line endovascular procedure. Sample size estimates With a
      two-sided test (alpha = 5%, power = 90%) and an anticipated rate of spontaneous
      recanalization and catheterization failures of 15%, we estimate that a sample
      size of 380 patients will be necessary to detect an absolute difference of 15% in
      primary outcome (superiority design). Methods and design The ASTER trial is a
      prospective, randomized, multicenter, controlled, open-label, blinded end-point
      clinical trial. Patients admitted with suspected ischemic anterior circulation
      stroke secondary to large vessel occlusion, with onset of symptoms <6 h, will be
      randomly assigned to contact aspiration or stent retriever in a 1:1 ratio;
      stratified by center and prior IV thrombolysis. If the assigned treatment
      technique is not successful after three attempts, another technique will be
      applied, at the operator's discretion. Study outcomes The primary outcome will be
      successful recanalization (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score 2b
      3) at the end of the endovascular procedures. Secondary outcome will include
      successful recanalization after the assigned first-line treatment technique
      alone, procedural times, the need for a rescue technique, complications and
      modified Rankin Scale at three months. Discussion No previous head to head
      randomized trials have directly compared contact aspiration versus stent
      retriever reperfusion techniques. This prospective trial aims to provide further
      evidence of benefit of contact aspiration versus stent retriever techniques among
      patients with ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28592220
TI  - Increased inflammatory status in chronic venous insufficiency patients.

PMID- 28592219
TI  - Early risk of recurrent stroke in patients with symptomatic carotid near
      occlusion: Results from CAOS, a multicenter registry study.
AB  - Background The risk of recurrent stroke among patients with symptomatic carotid
      near-occlusion is not well established, and management of the condition remains
      controversial. Symptomatic carotid near-occlusion with full collapse has been
      identified as a strong predictor of early recurrence. We aimed to analyze the 90
      day risk of recurrent ipsilateral ischemic stroke in medically treated patients
      with symptomatic carotid near-occlusion. Methods We performed a multicenter,
      nationwide, prospective study from January 2010 to May 2016. Patients with
      angiography-confirmed symptomatic carotid near-occlusion were included. The
      primary endpoint was ipsilateral ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack
      (TIA) within 90 days after the presenting event. For this analysis, patients who
      underwent revascularization within 90 days after stroke were excluded. Results
      The study population comprised 141 patients from 17 Spanish centers; 83 patients
      were treated medically. Primary endpoint occurred in eight patients, resulting in
      a cumulative rate of 10.6% (95% CI, 3.7-17.5). Previous history of stroke or
      transient ischemic attack was identified as an independent predictor for
      recurrence in the multivariate Cox regression analysis (HR, 4.37 [95% CI, 1.05
      18.18]; p = 0.043), while the presence of full collapse was not associated with
      an increased risk (HR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.17-3.92]; p = 0.793). The risk of
      recurrence was also not affected by the presence of significant stenosis or
      occlusion of the contralateral carotid artery, or by the collateral circulation.
      Conclusions Patients with symptomatic carotid near-occlusion seem to have an
      increased risk of early ipsilateral recurrent stroke. Our results contrast with
      the low risk of symptomatic carotid near-occlusion reported to date. Full
      collapse did not increase the risk of recurrent stroke in our study.

PMID- 28592221
TI  - News & Views.

PMID- 28592222
TI  - The feline blood film.
AB  - Practical relevance: Many veterinary practices have invested in quality automated
      hematology instruments for use in-house. However, regardless of their specific
      choice of analyzer, there are important hematology findings that can only be
      determined by microscopic examination of stained blood films. For this reason,
      and also for the purpose of quality control for the analyzer, a quick blood film
      review should be performed alongside every automated complete blood count. Even
      those practices that submit their blood samples to outside diagnostic
      laboratories for evaluation, still require the capability to examine stained
      blood films in emergency situations. Series outline: This is the second of a two
      part article series that aims to familiarize the practitioner with normal
      findings on feline blood films, with a particular focus on unique features in the
      cat, as well as to assist with interpretation of common abnormalities. Part 2
      focuses on the morphology of feline leukocytes and platelets in health and
      disease. Evidence base: The information and guidance offered is based on the
      published literature and the author's own extensive clinical pathology research.

PMID- 28592224
TI  - Postoperative complications associated with external skeletal fixators in cats.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to quantify complications associated
      with external skeletal fixators (ESFs) in cats and to identify potential risk
      factors. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records and radiographs
      following ESF placement was performed. RESULTS: Case records of 140 cats were
      reviewed; fixator-associated complications (FACs) occurred in 19% of cats. The
      region of ESF placement was significantly associated with complication
      development. Complications developed most frequently in the femur (50%), tarsus
      (35%) and radius/ulna (33%). Superficial pin tract infection (SPTI) and implant
      failure accounted for 45% and 41% of all FACs, respectively. SPTI occurred more
      frequently in the femur, humerus and tibia, with implant failure more frequent in
      the tarsus. No association between breed, age, sex, weight, fracture type (open
      vs closed), ESF classification, number of pins per bone segment, degree of
      fracture load sharing, and the incidence or type of FAC was identified. No
      association between region of placement, breed, age, sex, weight, fracture type
      (open vs closed), ESF classification, number of pins per bone segment, fracture
      load sharing and the time to complication development was identified. CONCLUSIONS
      AND RELEVANCE: Complication development is not uncommon in cats following ESF
      placement. The higher complication rate in the femur, tarsus and radius/ulna
      should be considered when reviewing options for fracture management. However,
      cats appear to have a lower rate of pin tract infections than dogs.

PMID- 28592223
TI  - Feline leprosy due to Mycobacterium lepraemurium.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This paper, the second in a series of three on 'feline leprosy',
      provides a detailed description of disease referable to Mycobacterium
      lepraemurium, the most common cause of feline leprosy worldwide. METHODS: Cases
      were sourced retrospectively and prospectively for this observational study,
      describing clinical, geographical and molecular microbiological data for cats
      definitively diagnosed with M lepraemurium infection. RESULTS: A total of 145
      cases of feline leprosy were scrutinised; 114 'new' cases were sourced from the
      Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory records, veterinary pathology
      laboratories or veterinarians, and 31 cases were derived from six published
      studies. Sixty-five cats were definitively diagnosed with M lepraemurium
      infection. Typically, cats were 1-3 years of age when first infected, with a male
      gender predilection. Affected cats were generally systemically well. All had
      outdoor access. Lesions tended to consist of one or more cutaneous/subcutaneous
      nodules, typically located on the head and/or forelimbs, possibly reflecting the
      most likely locations for a rodent bite as the site of inoculation for organisms.
      Nodules had the propensity to ulcerate at some stage in the clinical course. The
      cytological and histological picture varied from tuberculoid, with relatively low
      bacterial numbers, to lepromatous with moderate to high bacterial numbers.
      Treatment was varied, although most cats underwent surgical resection of lesions
      with adjunctive medical therapy, most often using a combination of oral
      clarithromycin and rifampicin. Prognosis for recovery was generally good, and in
      two cases there was spontaneous remission without the requirement for medical
      intervention. Untreated cats continued to enjoy an acceptable quality of life
      despite persistence of the disease, which extended locally but had no apparent
      tendency to disseminate to internal organs. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: M
      lepraemurium causes high bacterial index (lepromatous) or low bacterial index
      (tuberculoid) feline leprosy. The infection typically causes nodules of the skin
      and/or subcutis (which tend towards ulceration) on the head and/or forelimbs. The
      disease usually has an indolent clinical course and infected cats have a
      generally favourable response to therapeutic interventions, with rare cases
      undergoing spontaneous resolution. Genomic analysis may yield clues as to the
      environmental niche and culture requirements of this elusive organism.
      Prospective treatment trials and/or additional drug susceptibility testing in
      specialised systems would further inform treatment recommendations.

PMID- 28592225
TI  - Diagnostic bone marrow sampling in cats.
AB  - : Practical relevance: Hematologic disorders are relatively common in cats, as
      inflammatory, immune-mediated and infectious diseases have the potential to
      impact erythroid, myeloid and thrombopoietic lines within the bone marrow.
      Clinical challenges: Clinicians often benefit from information obtained from bone
      marrow cytology and histopathology in diagnosing hematologic disorders in feline
      patients. However, these sampling procedures are ones that many veterinarians are
      intimidated by and thus not comfortably performing in clinical practice.
      AUDIENCE: This review, aimed at all veterinarians who treat cats, highlights the
      reasons a clinician may elect to sample bone marrow, and details the collection
      of bone marrow for both cytology and histopathology. Potential complications and
      limitations of each procedure are also reviewed. Evidence base: The collection of
      bone marrow for cytology and histopathology is not new to feline medicine and
      several research studies have investigated various sampling modalities in cats.
      This article offers a comprehensive review of the currently accepted best
      practices.

PMID- 28592226
TI  - Removal of sulfate and heavy metals by sulfate-reducing bacteria in an expanded
      granular sludge bed reactor.
AB  - The objective of this study is to utilize an expanded granular sludge bed reactor
      for removing heavy metals and sulfate from synthetic acid-mine drainage (AMD)
      using sewage sludge fermentation centrate as the substrate. The reactor was
      bioaugmented with an enriched consortium of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The
      bioreactor performance was studied with different chemical oxygen demand
      [Formula: see text] ratios, liquid upflow velocity (Vup), hydraulic retention
      time (HRT) and influent pH. The highest COD, sulfate and heavy metal removal
      efficiencies were achieved at a [Formula: see text] ratio of 1.5, Vup of 4.0 m/h,
      HRT of 15 h and influent pH of 6.0 (68.2%, 92.1% and 100%, respectively). The
      activity of SRB greatly increases the effluent pH. Even at an influent pH of 3.0,
      60.8% of sulfate, 41.3% of COD and 91.2% of heavy metals could be removed, and
      the effluent quality can meet the national discharge standard of China. The
      activity tests demonstrate that the sludge fermentation centrate is an excellent
      carbon source for SRB. This study shows the potential of synchronous treatment of
      residual sewage sludge and treatment of AMD.

PMID- 28592227
TI  - Long-term outcome of bioresorbable vascular scaffolds for the treatment of
      coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis of RCTs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) were developed to overcome the
      limitations of standard metallic stents, especially to address late events after
      percutaneous coronary interventions. The aim of this meta-analysis was to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of BRS, compared with Everolimus-eluting stents
      (EES), using the data available from randomized trials, with a focus on long-term
      outcomes. METHODS: Published randomized trials comparing BRS to EES for the
      treatment of coronary artery disease were searched for within PubMed, Cochrane
      Library and Scopus electronic databases up to April 4th 2017. The summary measure
      used was odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: A total of 5
      studies were eligible, including 5219 patients. At 2 years, BRS was associated
      with higher rates of target lesion failure (9.4% vs 7.2%; OR = 1.33; 95% CI 1.07
      to 1.63; p = 0.008) and device thrombosis (2.3% vs 0.7%; OR = 3.22; 95% CI 1.86
      to 5.57; p < 0.0001) compared with EES. The incidence of both early (within 30
      days after implantation, 1.1% vs 0.5%, OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.81; p = 0.05)
      and very-late device thrombosis (>1 year, 0.6% vs 0.1%, OR 4.03, 95% CI 1.37 to
      11.82; p = 0.01) was higher with BRS compared with EES. CONCLUSIONS: BRS may be
      associated with worse two-years clinical outcomes compared with EES in patients
      with coronary artery disease.

PMID- 28592228
TI  - Anti-fibrogenic effect of PPAR-gamma agonists in human intestinal myofibroblasts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intestinal fibrosis is a serious complication of inflammatory bowel
      disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. There is no specific
      treatment for intestinal fibrosis. Studies have indicated that peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor- gamma (PPAR-gamma) agonists have anti-fibrogenic
      properties in organs besides the gut; however, their effects on human intestinal
      fibrosis are poorly understood. This study investigated the anti-fibrogenic
      properties and mechanisms of PPAR-gamma agonists on human primary intestinal
      myofibroblasts (HIFs). METHODS: HIFs were isolated from normal colonic tissue of
      patients undergoing resection due to colorectal cancer. HIFs were treated with
      TGF-beta1 and co-incubated with or without one of two synthetic PPAR-gamma
      agonists, troglitazone or rosiglitazone. mRNA and protein expression of
      procollagen1A1, fibronectin, and alpha-smooth muscle actin were determined by
      semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western
      blot. LY294002 (Akt inhibitor) was used to examine whether Akt phosphorylation
      was a downstream mechanism of TGF-beta1 induced expression of procollagen1A1,
      fibronectin, and alpha-smooth muscle actin in HIFs. The irreversible PPAR-gamma
      antagonist GW9662 was used to investigate whether the effect of PPAR-gamma
      agonists was PPAR-gamma dependent. RESULTS: Both PPAR-gamma agonists reduced the
      TGF-beta1-induced expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin which was integrated
      into stress fibers in HIFs, as determined by actin microfilaments fluorescent
      staining and alpha-smooth muscle actin-specific immunocytochemistry. PPAR-gamma
      agonists also inhibited TGF-beta1-induced mRNA and protein expressions of
      procollagen1A1, fibronectin, and alpha-smooth muscle actin. TGF-beta1 stimulation
      increased phosphorylation of downstream signaling molecules Smad2, Akt, and ERK.
      TGF-beta1 induced synthesis of procollagen1A1, fibronectin, and alpha-smooth
      muscle actin through a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt-dependent mechanism.
      PPAR-gamma agonists down regulated fibrogenesis, as shown by inhibition of Akt
      and Smad2 phosphorylation. This anti-fibrogenic effect was PPAR-gamma
      independent. CONCLUSIONS: Troglitazone and rosiglitazone suppress TGF-beta1
      induced synthesis of procollagen1A1, fibronectin, and alpha-smooth muscle actin
      in HIFs and may be useful in treating intestinal fibrosis.

PMID- 28592229
TI  - The intention of Dutch general practitioners to offer vaccination against
      pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and pertussis to people aged 60 years and
      older.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing life expectancy results in a larger proportion of older
      people susceptible to vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs). In the Netherlands,
      influenza vaccination is routinely offered to people aged 60 years and older.
      Vaccination against pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and pertussis is rarely
      used. These vaccines will be evaluated by the Dutch Health Council and might be
      routinely offered to older people in the near future. Possible expansion of the
      program depends partly on the willingness of general practitioners (GPs) to
      endorse additional vaccinations. In this study, we assessed predictors of GPs'
      attitude and intention to vaccinate people aged 60 years and older. METHODS: GPs
      (N = 12.194) were invited to fill in an online questionnaire consisting of
      questions about social cognitive factors that can influence the willingness of
      GPs to vaccinate people aged 60 years and older, including underlying beliefs,
      practical considerations of adding more vaccines to the national program,
      demographics, and GPs' patient population characteristics. The questionnaire was
      filled in by 732 GPs. RESULTS: GPs were positive both about vaccination as a
      preventive tool and the influenza vaccination program, but somewhat less positive
      about expanding the current program. Prediction analysis showed that the
      intention of GPs to offer additional vaccination was predicted by their attitude
      towards offering additional vaccination, towards vaccination as a preventive
      tool, towards offering vaccination during an outbreak and on GPs opinion
      regarding suitability to offer additional vaccination (R2 = 0.60). The attitude
      of GPs towards offering additional vaccination was predicted by the perceived
      severity of herpes zoster and pneumonia, as well as the perceived incidence of
      herpes zoster. Severity of diseases was ranked as important argument to recommend
      vaccination, followed by effectiveness and health benefits of vaccines.
      CONCLUSION: Providing GPs with evidence-based information about the severity and
      prevalence of diseases, and effectiveness and health benefits of the vaccines,
      together with an active role of GPs in informing older people about vaccines,
      could modify the intention towards additional vaccination of people 60 years and
      older.

PMID- 28592230
TI  - Evaluation of targeted antimicrobial prophylaxis for transrectal ultrasound
      guided prostate biopsy: a prospective cohort trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We evaluated the effectiveness of targeted antimicrobial prophylaxis
      in transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy (TRUSP). METHODS: A prospective,
      non-randomized cohort study was conducted. Rectal swab cultures plated on non
      selective blood agar and on selective MacConkey agar supplemented with
      ciprofloxacin identified ciprofloxacin-susceptible and -resistant gram-negative
      bacteria (CS-GNB and CR-GNB). Patients with CS-GNB received ciprofloxacin while
      those with CR-GNB received directed prophylaxis. Infectious complications were
      defined clinically and microbiologically within 30 days after TRUSP. Data were
      derived at 7 and 30 days post procedure by questionnaires and electronic medical
      records. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in the infectious
      outcomes among the CS and CR groups. RESULTS: From November 1, 2012 to March 31,
      2015, 510 men completed the study; 430 (84.3%) had CS-GNB and 80 (15.7%) had CR
      GNB. 484 (94.9%) completed the study per protocol, while 26 (5.1%) had an
      intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Of the 484, 475 (98.1%) had no infections,
      nine (1.9%) had infections, six of which (1.2%) were culture-proven (CP). The
      nine infections were as follows: five (1.0%) uncomplicated UTIs, one (0.2%)
      complicated UTI, and three (0.6%) urosepsis. One case of uncomplicated UTI and
      two cases of urosepsis were not CP, but were diagnosed clinically. ITT outcomes
      were similar. The infection rates were not statistically different between the CS
      and CR-GNB patients (p-value = 0.314; 95% CI 0.8-3.3). The four patients with
      complicated UTIs or sepsis were hospitalized for a mean of 2.6 days and
      discharged without sequelae. Of the nine infections, three were antimicrobial
      prophylaxis failures (two ciprofloxacin and one amikacin); three were likely due
      to failure of the collection or processing of the rectal swab or increasing
      bacterial resistance between the time of swab collection and biopsy, and three
      developed clinical infections with no isolate recovered. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted
      antimicrobial prophylaxis follows the principles of antimicrobial stewardship and
      achieved a low rate of infectious complications with limited morbidity and no
      sequelae. This individualized method of prophylaxis may be widely applied.
      Further studies are needed to explore reasons for targeted prophylaxis failure
      and to determine comparative efficacy of non-ciprofloxacin-containing targeted
      prophylaxis regimens. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT01659866 .
      Registered 9 July 2012. First patient enrolled 1 November 2012.

PMID- 28592231
TI  - High burden of complicated skin and soft tissue infections in the Indigenous
      population of Central Australia due to dominant Panton Valentine leucocidin
      clones ST93-MRSA and CC121-MSSA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Superficial skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are common among
      the Indigenous population of the desert regions of Central Australia. However,
      the overall burden of disease and molecular epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus
      complicated SSTIs has yet to be described in this unique population. METHODS:
      Alice Springs Hospital (ASH) admission data was interrogated to establish the
      population incidence of SSTIs. A prospective observational study was conducted on
      a subset of S. aureus complicated SSTIs (carbuncles and furuncles requiring
      surgical intervention) presenting during a one month period to further
      characterize the clinical and molecular epidemiology. High resolution melting
      analysis was used for clonal complex discrimination. Real-time polymerase chain
      reaction identifying the lukF component of the Panton Valentine leucocidin (pvl)
      gene determined pvl status. Clinical and outcome data was obtained from the ASH
      medical and Northern Territory shared electronic health records. RESULTS: SSTIs
      represented 2.1% of ASH admissions during 2014. 82.6% occurred in Indigenous
      patients (n = 382) with an estimated incidence of 18.9 per 1, 000 people years
      compared to the non-Indigenous population of 2.9 per 1000, with an incident rate
      ratio of 6.6 (95% confidence interval 5.1-8.5). Clinical and molecular analysis
      was performed on 50 isolates from 47 patients. Community-associated methicillin
      resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) predominated (57% of isolates). The high burden of
      SSTIs is partly explained by the prevalence of pvl positive strains of S. aureus
      (90% isolates) for both CA-MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA).
      ST93-MRSA and CC121-MSSA were the most prevalent clones. SSTIs due to ST93-MRSA
      were more likely to require further debridement (p = 0.039), however they also
      more frequently received inactive antimicrobial therapy (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      ST93-MRSA and CC121-MSSA are the dominant causes of carbuncles and furuncles in
      Central Australia. Both of these virulent clones harbor pvl but the impact on
      clinical outcomes remains uncertain. The high prevalence of CA-MRSA supports
      empiric vancomycin use in this population when antimicrobial therapy is
      indicated. Prompt surgical intervention remains the cornerstone of treatment.

PMID- 28592233
TI  - Single-fiber electromyography in the orbicularis oculi muscle in patients with
      ocular myasthenia gravis symptoms: does abnormal jitter predict response to
      treatment?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seronegative ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) is diagnosed by ocular
      symptoms with supporting SFEMG, typically of frontalis or extensor digitorum
      muscles. We aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of orbicularis
      oculi SFEMG to diagnose and exclude myasthenia gravis and predict response to
      therapy. METHODS: Orbicularis oculi SFEMG studies were conducted in 142
      consecutive patients with symptoms and/or findings of OMG and negative AChR
      antibody during the period of 5 years. Retrospective chart review was conducted 2
      years after the SFEMG to determine whether treatments were given and responses to
      treatment. RESULTS: Orbicularis oculi SFEMG was abnormal in 31 patients and
      normal in 111 patients. Twenty-nine patients with abnormal SFEMG were treated,
      and 25 had a good response. Twenty-four patients with normal SFEMG received
      treatment; none responded to treatment or developed generalized myasthenia.
      CONCLUSION: An abnormal orbicularis oculi SFEMG in patients with seronegative OMG
      has a high predictive value for response to therapy. Our study findings may
      affect the treatment decisions in practice and aid better management of
      myasthenic patients.

PMID- 28592232
TI  - Association of frontal plane knee alignment with foot posture in patients with
      medial knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To examine the association of radiographic frontal plane knee
      alignment with three-dimensional foot posture in patients with medial knee
      osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: Participants in orthopedic clinics with
      Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) grade >=1 (88 patients and 88 knees; age, 61-91 years;
      65.9% female) were enrolled. An anteroposterior radiographic view was used to
      assess the anatomical axis angle (AAA) after subtracting a sex-specific
      correction factor. The three-dimensional foot posture was also evaluated.
      RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses showed that increased corrected AAA (i.e.,
      valgus direction) was independently associated with a decrease in the hallux
      valgus angle (regression coefficient: -0.40 per degree, 95% confidence interval
      [CI]: -0.72, -0.09; P = 0.013) and increase in the pronation angle of the
      calcaneus relative to floor (regression coefficient: 0.33 per degree, 95% CI:
      0.10, 0.56; P = 0.005) adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index. The
      relationship between the corrected AAA and hallux valgus angle strengthened
      (regression coefficient: -0.60 per degree, 95% CI: -1.08, -0.13; P = 0.014) in
      varus-aligned knees examined separately (63 knees). The other foot postures
      (navicular height, navicular height/foot length, and rearfoot angle) were not
      significantly associated with corrected AAA. CONCLUSIONS: Radiographic frontal
      plane knee alignment was associated with hallux valgus angle and calcaneus angle
      relative to the floor in patients with medial knee OA, particularly in varus
      aligned knees. These results indicate a connection between altered frontal knee
      alignment and foot posture, which may be helpful in understanding the
      pathogenesis of altered foot posture observed in patients with knee OA.

PMID- 28592234
TI  - Design and rationale for the WARFA trial: a randomized controlled cross-over
      trial testing the therapeutic equivalence of branded and generic warfarin in
      atrial fibrillation patients in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Warfarin is a commonly used anticoagulant. Whether a given dose of
      the different formulations of Brazilian warfarin will result in the same effect
      on the international normalized ratio (INR) is uncertain. The aim of the WARFA
      trial is to determine whether the branded and two generic warfarins available in
      Brazil differ in their effect on the INR. METHODS: WARFA is a cross-over RCT
      comparing three warfarins. The formulations tested are the branded Marevan(r)
      (Uniao Quimica/Farmoquimica) and two generic warfarin (manufactured respectively
      by Uniao Quimica Farmaceutica Nacional and Laboratorio Teuto Brasileiro). All of
      them were manufactured in Brazil, are available in all settings of the Brazilian
      healthcare system and were purchased from retail drugstores. Eligible
      participants had atrial fibrillation or flutter, had been using warfarin for at
      least 2 months with a therapeutic range of 2.0-3.0 and had low variability in INR
      results during the 1st period of the trial. Our primary outcome, for which we
      have an equality hypothesis, is the difference between warfarins in the mean
      absolute difference between two INR results, obtained after three and 4 weeks
      with each drug. Our secondary outcomes, that will be tested for inequality
      (except for the mean INR, which will be tested for equality), include the
      difference in the warfarin dose, and time in therapeutic range. Clinical events
      and adherence were also recorded and will be reported. DISCUSSION: To our
      knowledge, WARFA will be the first comparison of the more readily applicable INR
      results between branded and generic warfarins in Brazil. WARFA is important
      because warfarins are commonly switched between in the course of a chronic
      treatment in Brazil. Final results of WARFA are expected in May 2017. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02017197 . Registered 11 December 2013.

PMID- 28592235
TI  - Gene-centromere mapping in meiotic gynogenetic European seabass.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fully isogenic lines in fish can be developed using "mitotic"
      gynogenesis (suppression of first zygotic mitosis following inactivation of the
      sperm genome). However, genome-wide verification of the steps in this process has
      seldom been applied. We used ddRADseq to generate SNP markers in a meiotic
      gynogenetic family of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax): (i) to verify the
      lack of paternal contribution in a meiotic gynogenetic family; (ii) to generate a
      gene-centromere map from this family; (iii) to identify telomeric markers that
      could distinguish mitotic gynogenetics from meiotic gynogenetics, which sometimes
      arise spontaneously in mitotic gynogenetic families. RESULTS: From a single
      meiotic gynogenetic family consisting of 79 progeny, 42 million sequencing reads
      (Illumina, trimmed to 148 bases) resolved 6866 unique RAD-tags. The 340 male
      informative SNP markers that were identified confirmed the lack of paternal
      contribution. A gene-centromere map was constructed based on 804 female
      informative SNPs in 24 linkage groups (2n = 48) with a total length of 1251.02 cM
      (initial LG assignment was based on the seabass genome assembly, dicLab v1).
      Chromosome arm structure could be clearly discerned from the pattern of
      heterozygosity in each linkage group in 18 out of 24 LGs: the other six showed
      anomalies that appeared to be related to issues in the genome assembly.
      CONCLUSION: Genome-wide screening enabled substantive verification of the
      production of the gynogenetic family used in this study. The large number of
      telomeric and subtelomeric markers with high heterozygosity values in the meiotic
      gynogenetic family indicate that such markers could be used to clearly
      distinguish between meiotic and mitotic gynogenetics.

PMID- 28592237
TI  - Labour management guidelines for a Tanzanian referral hospital: The participatory
      development process and birth attendants' perceptions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While international guidelines for intrapartum care appear to have
      increased rapidly since 2000, literature suggests that it has only in few
      instances been matched with reviews of local modifications, use, and impact at
      the targeted low resource facilities. At a Tanzanian referral hospital, this
      paper describes the development process of locally achievable, partograph
      associated, and peer-reviewed labour management guidelines, and it presents an
      assessment of professional birth attendants' perceptions. METHODS: Part 1:
      Modification of evidence-based international guidelines through repeated
      evaluation cycles by local staff and seven external specialists in
      midwifery/obstetrics. Part 2: Questionnaire evaluation 12 months post
      implementation of perceptions and use among professional birth attendants.
      RESULTS: Part 1: After the development process, including three rounds of
      evaluation by staff and two external peer-review cycles, there were no major
      concerns with the guidelines internally nor externally. Thereby, international
      recommendations were condensed to the eight-paged 'PartoMa guidelines (c)'. This
      pocket booklet includes routine assessments, supportive care, and management of
      common abnormalities in foetal heart rate, labour progress, and maternal
      condition. It uses colour codes indicating urgency. Compared to international
      guidelines, reductions were made in frequency of assessments, information load,
      and ambiguity. Part 2: Response rate of 84% (n = 84). The majority of staff (93%)
      agreed that the guidelines helped to improve care. They found the guidelines
      achievable (89%), and the graphics worked well (90%). Doctors more often than
      nurse-midwives (89% versus 74%) responded to use the guidelines daily.
      CONCLUSIONS: The PartoMa guidelines ensure readily available, locally achievable,
      and acceptable support for intrapartum surveillance, triage, and management. This
      is a crucial example of adapting evidence-based international recommendations to
      local reality. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This paper describes the intervention of the
      PartoMa trial, which is registered on ClinicalTrials.org ( NCT02318420 , 4th
      November 2014).

PMID- 28592236
TI  - Prevalence of frailty among community dwelling older adults in receipt of low
      level home support: a cross-sectional analysis of the North Dublin Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing demand for formal government funded home help
      services to support community-dwelling older people in Ireland, yet limited
      information exists on the health profiles of this group, especially regarding
      frailty. Our aim was to profile a large cohort of adults in receipt of low level
      home help and to determine the prevalence of frailty. METHODS: A total 1312 older
      adults, (>= 65 years) in receipt of low level home help (< 5 h per week) were
      reviewed by community nurses and frailty was assessed using the Clinical Frailty
      Scale (CFS) in this cross-sectional study. Characteristics of the group were
      compared between males and females and prevalence of frailty was reported
      according to gender and principal care. Associations between frailty and a number
      of variables were explored using bivariate and regression analysis. RESULTS: The
      cohort of low level home-help users was a mean age of 82.1 (SD 7.3) years,
      predominantly female (70.6%) and over half (69.2%) lived alone. The prevalence of
      frailty in this population was 41.5%, with subjects primarily considered mildly
      (23.2%) or moderately frail (14.5%) by the CFS. A further 38.4% were classed as
      vulnerable. The degree of frailty did not differ significantly across the younger
      categories aged 65-84 years. However, in the oldest age groups, namely 90-94 and
      >95 years, moderate frailty was significantly higher relative to the younger
      groups (21% and 34%, p < 0.05, p < 0.01 respectively). Home help hours
      significantly correlated with frailty (rs = 0.371, p < 0.001) and functional
      dependency (rs = 0.609, p < 0.001), but only weakly with age (rs = 0.101, p =
      0.034). Based on regression analysis, determinants of frailty included greater
      dependency (Barthel score), higher home help hours, non-self-caring and
      communication difficulty, all of which significantly contributed to the model,
      with a r squared value of 0.508. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of frailty (41.5%)
      was documented in this population which associated with higher home help
      utilisation. Frailty was associated with greater functional dependency, but not
      strongly with chronological age, until after 90 years. These findings highlight
      opportunities for developing intervention strategies targeted at ageing in place
      among home help users.

PMID- 28592238
TI  - A survey of palliative medicine education in Japan's undergraduate medical
      curriculum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the status of undergraduate palliative
      care education among Japanese medical students using data from a survey conducted
      in 2015. METHODS: A questionnaire was originally developed, and the survey forms
      were sent to universities. The study's objectives, methods, disclosure of
      results, and anonymity were explained to participating universities in writing.
      Responses returned by the universities were considered to indicate consent to
      participate. Descriptive statistical methodology was employed. RESULTS: The
      response rate was 82.5% (66 of 80 medical faculties and colleges). Palliative
      care lectures were implemented in 98.5% of the institutions. Regarding lecture
      titles, "palliative medicine," "palliative care," and "terminal care" accounted
      for 42.4, 30.3, and 9.1% of the lectures, respectively. Teachers from the
      Department of Anesthesia, Palliative Care, and Psychiatry administered 51.5,
      47.0, and 28.8% of lectures, respectively. Subjects of lectures included general
      palliative care (81.8%), pain management (87.9%), and symptom management (63.6%).
      Clinical clerkship on palliative care was a compulsory and non-compulsory course
      in 43.9 and 25.8% of the schools, respectively; 30.3% had no clinical clerkship
      curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduate palliative care education is implemented
      in many Japanese universities. Clinical clerkship combined with participation in
      actual medical practice should be further improved by establishing a medical
      education certification system in compliance with the international standards.

PMID- 28592239
TI  - Oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices among rural-urban migrant
      children in Guangzhou: a follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the growing number of rural-urban migrant children in China,
      follow-up observation on the oral health of migrant children is still scarce.
      This study described the changes of oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental
      practices in migrant children over a period of one year. Possible factors
      affecting changes were also investigated. METHODS: The study used purposive
      sampling to select five private schools of migrant children in Guangzhou. A total
      of 1900 students in Grades 3 and 4 were recruited. A self-administered
      questionnaire was used in November 2011 to understand their basic situations,
      including oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices. A final survey
      was conducted in April 2013 to detect any changes. RESULTS: The mean accuracy of
      oral health knowledge was 53.17% and 59.42% in 2011 and 2013, respectively (p <
      0.001). For migrant children, the total score of oral hygiene, dietary habits and
      parental practices increased at the follow-up evaluation (p < 0.05). Children
      with less oral health knowledge were more likely to achieve significantly
      positive changes in score of knowledge (p < 0.001) in the final survey. Migrant
      children who had worse performance on oral hygiene (beta estimate = 0.68, p <
      0.001), dietary habits (beta estimate = 0.58, p < 0.001) and good parental
      practices in the baseline survey were more likely to obtain beneficial changes.
      No significant associations between demographic characteristics and changes of
      oral health knowledge and behaviors (p > 0.05) were observed. CONCLUSION: Oral
      health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices among migrant children
      significantly improved at the follow-up assessment. However, the overall
      situation was still poor. Positive and effective health education and prevention
      programs tailored to rural-urban migrant children with varying levels of oral
      health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices will be needed.

PMID- 28592240
TI  - Randomized controlled trial of piperacillin-tazobactam, cefepime and ertapenem
      for the treatment of urinary tract infection caused by extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase-producing Escherichia coli.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to limited therapeutic options, the spread of extended-spectrum
      beta-lactamases (ESBLs) have become a major public health concern. We conducted a
      prospective, randomized, open-label comparison of the therapeutic efficacy of
      piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ), cefepime, and ertapenem in febrile nosocomial
      urinary tract infection with ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC). METHODS:
      This study was conducted at three university hospitals between January 2013 and
      August 2015. Hospitalized adult patients presenting with fever were screened for
      healthcare-associated urinary tract infection (HA-UTI). When ESBL-EC was solely
      detected and susceptible to a randomized antibiotic in vitro, the case was
      included in the final analysis. Participants were treated for 10-14 days with
      PTZ, cefepime, or ertapenem. RESULTS: A total of 66 participants were evenly
      assigned to the PTZ and ertapenem treatment groups. After the recruitment of six
      participants, assignment to the cefepime treatment group was stopped because of
      an unexpectedly high treatment failure rate. The baseline characteristics of
      these participants did not differ from participants in other treatment groups.
      The clinical and microbiological response to PTZ treatment was estimated to be
      94% and was similar to the response to ertapenem treatment. The efficacy of
      cefepime was 33.3%. In the cefepime group, age, Charlson comorbidity index,
      genotype, and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) did not significantly affect
      the success of treatment. Similarly, genotype seemed to be irrelevant with
      respect to clinical outcome in the PTZ group. Expired cases tended to involve
      septic shock with a high Charlson comorbidity index and high MIC. CONCLUSION:
      Results from this study suggest that PTZ is effective in the treatment of urinary
      tract infection caused by ESBL-EC when the in vitro test indicates
      susceptibility. In addition, cefepime should not be used as an alternative
      treatment for urinary tract infection caused by ESBL-EC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The
      trial was registered with the Clinical Research Information Service of Korea
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (KCT0001895).

PMID- 28592241
TI  - Effect of major school playground reconstruction on physical activity and
      sedentary behaviour: Camden active spaces.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The physical school environment is a promising setting to increase
      children's physical activity although robust evidence is sparse. We examined the
      effects of major playground reconstruction on physical activity and sedentary
      time in primary schools using a quasi-experimental design (comparison group pre
      test/post-test design). METHODS: Five experimental and two control schools from
      deprived areas of inner city London were recruited at baseline. Main outcome was
      physical activity and sedentary time measured from objective monitoring
      (Actigraph accelerometer) at one year follow up. Pupils' impressions of the new
      playground were qualitatively assessed post construction. RESULTS: A total of 347
      pupils (mean age = 8 years, 55% boys; 36% Caucasian) were recruited into the
      study at baseline; 303 provided valid baseline Actigraph data. Of those, 231
      (76%) completed follow-up (n = 169 intervention; n = 62 control) and 77.4% of the
      sample recorded at least 4 days of Actigraph wear. In mixed models adjusted for
      age, sex, ethnicity, ratio activity or sedentary/wear time at baseline, wear time
      at follow up, and school, no differences were observed in total moderate -
      vigorous activity (B = -1.4, 95% CI, -7.1, 4.2 min/d), light activity (B = 4.1,
      95% CI, -17.9, 26.1), or sedentary time (B = -3.8, 95% CI, -29.2, 21.6 min/d)
      between groups. There were significant age interactions for sedentary (p = 0.002)
      and light intensity physical activity (p = 0.008). We observed significant
      reductions in total sedentary (-28.0, 95% CI, -1.9, -54.1 min/d, p = 0.037) and
      increases in total light intensity activity (24.6, 95% CI, 0.3, 48.9 min/d, p =
      0.047) for children aged under 9 yrs. old in the intervention. CONCLUSION: Major
      playground reconstruction had limited effects on physical activity, but reduced
      sedentary time was observed in younger children. Qualitative data suggested that
      the children enjoyed the new playgrounds and experienced a perceived positive
      change in well-being and social interactions.

PMID- 28592242
TI  - An avirulent Burkholderia pseudomallei ?purM strain with atypical type B LPS:
      expansion of the toolkit for biosafe studies of melioidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The work was undertaken to expand the tools available for researching
      Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp), the etiological agent of the tropical disease
      melioidosis. Melioidosis has the potential to pose a severe threat to public
      health and safety. In the United States, Bp is listed as a Tier-1 select agent by
      the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), thus requiring high levels
      of regulation and biosafety level 3 (BSL3) facilities for experimental
      manipulation of live organisms. An avirulent ?purM derivative of strain 1026b
      (Bp82) has proven to be a valuable tool for biosafe research as a select-agent
      excluded strain, but the high level of genetic diversity between Bp strains
      necessitates an expansion of the biosafe toolset. RESULTS: The ?purM mutation was
      recapitulated in the Bp 576a strain, a serotype B background. An important
      difference between strains 1026b and 576a is the lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a
      major virulence factor and protective antigen. Polyclonal sera from 1026b
      challenged non-human primates showed no cross reactivity with strain 576a LPS and
      low reactivity with whole cell lysate. Strain 576a replicates to higher levels in
      mouse organs and induces more TNF-alpha in the lungs of BALB/c mice compared to
      1026b. The newly created Bp 576a ?purM strain, designated 576mn, was auxotrophic
      for adenine in minimal media, capable of wild-type growth in rich media with
      addition of adenine, and auxotrophy was abrogated with single-copy
      complementation. Bp 576mn was unable to replicate in human cells and was
      avirulent in BALB/c mice following high-dose intranasal inoculation, similar to
      Bp82. Organ loads indicated a significant reduction in bacterial replication.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this work, the new biosafe strain 576mn with atypical type B LPS
      was generated. This strain should prove a valuable addition to the toolkit for
      biosafe studies of Bp and development of therapeutic and preventative strategies
      aimed at combatting melioidosis. Strain 576mn is an ideal candidate for select
      agent exclusion.

PMID- 28592243
TI  - Reduced Kidney Function, Albuminuria, and Risks for All-cause and Cardiovascular
      Mortality in China: A Population-based Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have indicated that reduced kidney function and
      albuminuria are associated with increased risk of mortality and adverse
      cardiovascular outcomes, however, the evidence from the Asian population is
      limited. We investigated the association between the indicators of chronic kidney
      disease (CKD) and all-cause mortality, as well as cardiovascular mortality among
      a general population in China. METHODS: We conducted an observational study among
      47,204 Chinese adults, from a cross-sectional survey, whose survival status is
      identified through December 31, 2013. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
      and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) were used as indicators of CKD. We
      determined the rates of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. RESULTS: The
      incidence rates for both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality increased with
      the advanced stages of reduced eGFR or elevated ACR. Elevated ACR levels were
      found to be significantly associated with increased risk of both all-cause and
      cardiovascular mortality, as shown in the Cox proportional hazards regression
      model. The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HR) associated with all-cause
      mortality were 1.26 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-1.53) for those with ACR
      30-299 mg/g and 2.07 (95% CI: 1.40-3.04) with ACR >= 300 mg/g, compared to those
      with ACR <30 mg/g. The corresponding HRs for the above ACR levels associated with
      cardiovascular mortality were 1.08 (95% CI: 0.77-1.50) and 2.32 (95% CI: 1.31
      4.12), respectively. We did not identify reduced eGFR as a risk predictor in the
      multivariable adjusted model for the adverse outcomes in the population, however,
      an interaction between eGFR and age were detected. Stratified analyses revealed
      that the associations of reduced eGFR (<60 mL/min/1.73 m2) with all-cause
      mortality were prominent among participants aged less than 65 years. CONCLUSIONS:
      Albuminuria was associated with an elevated risk of all-cause and cardiovascular
      mortality among the Chinese population, however, the association of reduced
      kidney function with all-cause mortality was not clear.

PMID- 28592244
TI  - Optimising child outcomes from parenting interventions: fathers' experiences,
      preferences and barriers to participation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early childhood interventions can have both immediate and long-term
      positive effects on cognitive, behavioural, health and education outcomes.
      Fathers are underrepresented in interventions focusing on the well-being of
      children. However, father participation may be critical for intervention
      effectiveness, especially for parenting interventions for child externalising
      problems. To date, there has been very little research conducted to understand
      the low rates of father participation and to facilitate the development of
      interventions to meet the needs of fathers. This study examined fathers'
      experiences of, and preferences for, parenting interventions as well as
      perceptions of barriers to participation. It also examined how these factors were
      associated with child externalising behaviour problems, and explored the
      predictors of participation in parenting interventions. METHODS: A community
      sample of 1001 fathers of children aged 2-16 years completed an online survey
      about experiences with parenting interventions, perceived barriers to
      participation, the importance of different factors in their decision to attend,
      and preferred content and delivery methods. They also completed ratings of their
      child's behaviour using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. RESULTS:
      Overall, 15% of fathers had participated in a parenting intervention or treatment
      for child behaviour, with significantly higher rates of participation for fathers
      of children with high versus low levels of externalising problems. Fathers rated
      understanding what is involved in the program and knowing that the facilitator is
      trained as the two most important factors in their decision to participate. There
      were several barriers to participation that fathers of children with high-level
      externalising problems were more likely to endorse, across practical barriers and
      help-seeking attitudes, compared to fathers of children with low-level
      externalising problems. Almost two-thirds of fathers of children with high-level
      externalising behaviour had not participated in a parenting intervention or
      treatment. The only significant predictors of intervention participation were
      severity of child externalising behaviour problems and child age. CONCLUSIONS:
      The findings have important implications for services seeking to increase father
      engagement and highlight a number of strategies to enhance the promotion and
      delivery of parenting interventions to fathers. These strategies include more
      public health messaging about parenting programs and the importance of father
      participation.

PMID- 28592246
TI  - Using a programmatic mapping approach to plan for HIV prevention and harm
      reduction interventions for people who inject drugs in three South African
      cities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stigma, criminalisation and a lack of data on drug use contribute to
      the "invisibility" of people who inject drugs (PWID) and make HIV prevention and
      treatment service delivery challenging. We aimed to confirm locations where PWID
      congregate in Cape Town, eThekwini and Tshwane (South Africa) and to estimate
      PWID population sizes within selected electoral wards in these areas to inform
      South Africa's first multi-site HIV prevention project for PWID. METHODS: Field
      workers (including PWID peers) interviewed community informants to identify
      suspected injecting locations in selected electoral wards in each city and then
      visited these locations and interviewed PWID. Interviews were used to gather
      information about the accessibility of sterile injecting equipment, location
      coordinates and movement patterns. We used the Delphi method to obtain final
      population size estimates for the mapped wards based on estimates from wisdom of
      the crowd methods, the literature and programmatic data. RESULTS: Between January
      and April 2015, we mapped 45 wards. Tshwane teams interviewed 39 PWID in 12
      wards, resulting in an estimated number of accessible PWID ranging from 568 to
      1431. In eThekwini, teams interviewed 40 PWID in 15 wards with an estimated
      number of accessible PWID ranging from 184 to 350. The Cape Town team interviewed
      61 PWID in 18 wards with an estimated number of accessible PWID ranging between
      398 and 503. Sterile needles were only available at one location. Almost all
      needles were bought from pharmacies. Between 80 and 86% of PWID frequented more
      than one location per day. PWID who reported movement visited a median of three
      locations a day. CONCLUSIONS: Programmatic mapping led by PWID peers can be used
      effectively to identify and reach PWID and build relationships where access to
      HIV prevention commodities for PWID is limited. PWID reported limited access to
      sterile injecting equipment, highlighting an important HIV prevention need.
      Programmatic mapping data show that outreach programmes should be flexible and
      account for the mobile nature of PWID populations. The PWID population size
      estimates can be used to develop service delivery targets and as baseline
      measures.

PMID- 28592245
TI  - In silico identification of potential key regulatory factors in smoking-induced
      lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide and
      is the most commonly diagnosed cancer. Like other cancers, it is a complex and
      highly heterogeneous disease involving multiple signaling pathways. Identifying
      potential therapeutic targets is critical for the development of effective
      treatment strategies. METHODS: We used a systems biology approach to identify
      potential key regulatory factors in smoking-induced lung cancer. We first
      identified genes that were differentially expressed between smokers with normal
      lungs and those with cancerous lungs, then integrated these differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) with data from a protein-protein interaction database to
      build a network model with functional modules for pathway analysis. We also
      carried out a gene set enrichment analysis of DEG lists using the Kinase
      Enrichment Analysis (KEA), Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) hubs, and KEGG
      (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) databases. RESULTS: Twelve
      transcription factors were identified as having potential significance in lung
      cancer (CREB1, NUCKS1, HOXB4, MYCN, MYC, PHF8, TRIM28, WT1, CUX1, CRX, GABP, and
      TCF3); three of these (CRX, GABP, and TCF) have not been previously implicated in
      lung carcinogenesis. In addition, 11 kinases were found to be potentially related
      to lung cancer (MAPK1, IGF1R, RPS6KA1, ATR, MAPK14, MAPK3, MAPK4, MAPK8, PRKCZ,
      and INSR, and PRKAA1). However, PRKAA1 is reported here for the first time.
      MEPCE, CDK1, PRKCA, COPS5, GSK3B, BRCA1, EP300, and PIN1 were identified as
      potential hubs in lung cancer-associated signaling. In addition, we found 18
      pathways that were potentially related to lung carcinogenesis, of which 12
      (mitogen-activated protein kinase, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, Toll-like
      receptor, ErbB, and insulin signaling; purine and ether lipid metabolism;
      adherens junctions; regulation of autophagy; snare interactions in vesicular
      transport; and cell cycle) have been previously identified. CONCLUSION: Our
      systems-based approach identified potential key molecules in lung carcinogenesis
      and provides a basis for investigations of tumor development as well as novel
      drug targets for lung cancer treatment.

PMID- 28592248
TI  - Impact of poor muscle strength on clinical and service outcomes of older people
      during both acute illness and after recovery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although Low muscle strength is an important predictor of functional
      decline in older people, however information on its impact on clinical and
      service outcomes in acute care settings is still lacking. The aim of this study
      is to measure the impact of low muscle strength on clinical and service outcomes
      in older adults during both acute illness and recovery. METHODS: Randomly
      selected 432 hospitalised older patients had their clinical characteristics and
      nutritional status assessed within 72 h of admission, at 6 weeks and at 6 months.
      Low muscle strength-hand grip was defined using the European Working Group
      criteria. Health outcome measures including nutritional status, length of
      hospital stay, disability, discharge destination, readmission and mortality were
      also measured. RESULTS: Among the 432 patients recruited, 308 (79%) had low
      muscle strength at baseline. Corresponding figures at 6 weeks and at 6 months
      were 140 (73%) and 158 (75%). Patients with poor muscle strength were
      significantly older, increasingly disabled, malnourished and stayed longer in
      hospital compared with those with normal muscle strength. A significantly higher
      number of patients with normal muscle strength discharged home independently
      compared with those with poor muscle strength (p < 0.05). One-year death rate was
      lower in patients with normal muscle strength 5(6%), compared with those with
      poor muscle strength 52(15%), however, results were not statistically significant
      after adjusting for other poor prognostic indicators [adjusted hazard ratio 0.74
      (95% CI: 0.14-3.87), p = 0.722]. CONCLUSION: Poor muscle strength in older people
      is associated with poor clinical service outcomes during both acute illness and
      recovery.

PMID- 28592247
TI  - Immunization with a DNA vaccine encoding Toxoplasma gondii Superoxide dismutase
      (TgSOD) induces partial immune protection against acute toxoplasmosis in BALB/c
      mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular protozoan
      parasite that infects all warm-blooded animals including humans and causes
      toxoplasmosis. An effective vaccine could be an ideal choice for preventing and
      controlling toxoplasmosis. T. gondii Superoxide dismutase (TgSOD) might
      participate in affecting the intracellular growth of both bradyzoite and
      tachyzoite forms. In the present study, the TgSOD gene was used to construct a
      DNA vaccine (pEGFP-SOD). METHODS: TgSOD gene was amplified and inserted into
      eukaryotic vector pEGFP-C1 and formed the DNA vaccine pEGFP-SOD. Then the BALB/c
      mice were immunized intramuscularly with the DNA vaccine and those injected with
      pEGFP-C1, PBS or nothing were treated as controls. Four weeks after the last
      immunization, all mouse groups followed by challenging intraperitoneally with
      tachyzoites of T. gondii ME49 strain. RESULTS: Results showed higher levels of
      total IgG, IgG2alpha in the sera and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) in the
      splenocytes from pEGFP-SOD inoculated mice than those unvaccinated, or inoculated
      with either empty plasmid vector or PBS. The proportions of CD4+ T cells and CD8+
      T cells in the spleen from pEGFP-SOD inoculated mice were significantly (p <
      0.05) increased compared to control groups. In addition, the survival time of
      mice immunized with pEGFP-SOD was significantly prolonged as compared to the
      controls (p < 0.05) although all the mice died. CONCLUSION: The present study
      revealed that the DNA vaccine triggered strong humoral and cellular immune
      responses, and aroused partial protective immunity against acute T. gondii
      infection in BALB/c mice. The collective data suggests the SOD may be a potential
      vaccine candidate for further development.

PMID- 28592249
TI  - Ixora (Rubiaceae) on the Philippines - crossroad or cradle?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Philippine archipelago is globally one of the most important
      model island systems for studying evolutionary processes. However, most plant
      species on this archipelago have not yet been studied in sufficient detail. The
      main aim of this study is to unravel the evolutionary history and biogeographic
      relationships of the Philippine members of the pantropical genus Ixora. RESULTS:
      The complex plastid and nuclear divergence patterns in Philippine Ixora,
      documented using tree and network approaches, reveal a highly dynamic evolution
      in Ixora, involving several phases of radiation and recolonization. Philippine
      Ixora comprises at least five lineages, of which one is most closely related to
      species from Wallacea, and the remaining four to species from Asia. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our study highlights the importance of Philippine species for understanding
      phytogeographic patterns in the Indomalayan-Australasian eco-region. The overall
      genetic differentiation, as well as the incongruence between genealogies based on
      the biparentally inherited nucleome and the maternally inherited plastome in
      Ixora, reflect the complex tectonic history of the Philippine archipelago. The
      Ixora lineage related to Wallacean species supports the delimitation of different
      ecozones along Huxley's line, because it is absent from Palawan. The remaining
      four lineages are all allied with Asian taxa, reflecting several waves of
      colonization. Close relationships between some widespread Philippine species and
      locally adapted narrow endemics suggest that the widespread, genetically diverse
      species act as pools for the formation of new species in a process of ongoing
      speciation. Our results suggest that the species concepts of some of the more
      widespread taxa need to be revised.

PMID- 28592250
TI  - Community-based intermittent mass testing and treatment for malaria in an area of
      high transmission intensity, western Kenya: study design and methodology for a
      cluster randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Most human Plasmodium infections in western Kenya are asymptomatic and are
      believed to contribute importantly to malaria transmission. Elimination of
      asymptomatic infections requires active treatment approaches, such as mass
      testing and treatment (MTaT) or mass drug administration (MDA), as infected
      persons do not seek care for their infection. Evaluations of community-based
      approaches that are designed to reduce malaria transmission require careful
      attention to study design to ensure that important effects can be measured
      accurately. This manuscript describes the study design and methodology of a
      cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate a MTaT approach for malaria
      transmission reduction in an area of high malaria transmission. Ten health
      facilities in western Kenya were purposively selected for inclusion. The
      communities within 3 km of each health facility were divided into three clusters
      of approximately equal population size. Two clusters around each health facility
      were randomly assigned to the control arm, and one to the intervention arm. Three
      times per year for 2 years, after the long and short rains, and again before the
      long rains, teams of community health volunteers visited every household within
      the intervention arm, tested all consenting individuals with malaria rapid
      diagnostic tests, and treated all positive individuals with an effective anti
      malarial. The effect of mass testing and treatment on malaria transmission was
      measured through population-based longitudinal cohorts, outpatient visits for
      clinical malaria, periodic population-based cross-sectional surveys, and
      entomological indices.

PMID- 28592252
TI  - A questionnaire for assessing breastfeeding intentions and practices in Nigeria:
      validity, reliability and translation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Validating a questionnaire/instrument (whether developed or adapted)
      before proceeding to the field for data collection is important. This article
      presents the modification of an Irish questionnaire for a Nigerian setting. The
      validation process and reliability testing of this questionnaire (which was used
      in assessing previous breastfeeding practices and breastfeeding intentions of
      pregnant women in English and Hausa languages) were also presented. METHOD: Five
      experts in the field of breastfeeding and infant feeding voluntarily and
      independently evaluated the instrument. The experts evaluated the various items
      of the questionnaire based on relevance, clarity, simplicity and ambiguity on a
      Likert scale of 4. The analysis was performed to determine the content validity
      index (CVI).Two language experts performed the translation and back-translation.
      Ten pregnant women completed questionnaires which were evaluated for internal
      consistency. Two other pregnant women completed the questionnaire twice at an
      interval of two weeks to test the reliability. SPSS version 21 was used to
      calculate the coefficient of reliability. RESULTS: The content validity index was
      high (0.94 for relevance, clarity and ambiguity and 0.96 for simplicity). The
      analysis suggested that four of the seventy one items should be removed.
      Cronbach's Alpha was 0.81, while the reliability coefficient was 0.76. The
      emerged validated questionnaire was translated from English to Hausa, then, back
      translated into English and compared for accuracy. CONCLUSION: The final
      instrument is reliable and valid for data collection on breastfeeding in Nigeria
      among English and Hausa speakers. Therefore, the instrument is recommended for
      use in assessing breastfeeding intention and practices in Nigeria.

PMID- 28592251
TI  - Distinct expression profile of HCMV encoded miRNAs in plasma from oral lichen
      planus patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. The
      aetiology and molecular mechanisms of OLP remain unclear. Human cytomegalovirus
      (HCMV) infection is a causal factor in the development of various diseases, but
      the clinical relevance of HCMV in OLP has not been thoroughly investigated.
      METHODS: In the present study, we firstly examined twenty-three HCMV-encoded
      microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in plasma from training set that including
      21 OLP patients and 18 healthy controls using RT-qPCR technology. Dysregulated
      miRNAs were subsequently confirmed in another larger cohort refereed as
      validation set consisting of 40 OLP patients and 33 healthy controls. HCMV DNA in
      peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) was also measured in an additional cohort of
      13 OLP patients and 12 control subjects. Furthermore, bioinformatics analyses,
      luciferase reporter assay and western blotting were also performed to predict and
      verify the direct potential targets of HCMV-encoded miRNAs. RESULTS: The RT-qPCR
      results showed that the plasma levels of five HCMV-encoded miRNAs including hcmv
      miR-UL112-3p, hcmv-miR-UL22a-5p, hcmv-miR-UL148d, hcmv-miR-UL36-5p and hcmv-miR
      UL59 were significantly increased in OLP patients in both training and validation
      sets. HCMV DNA in PBLs was also significantly higher in OLP patients than in
      control subjects. Additionally, by using a combination of luciferase reporter
      assay and western blotting, we demonstrated that cytomegalovirus UL16-binding
      protein 1, a molecule that mediates the killing of virus-infected cells by
      natural killer cells, is a direct target of hcmv-miR-UL59. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results demonstrate a distinct expression pattern of HCMV-encoded miRNAs in OLP
      patients, which may provide insight into the relationship between HCMV infection
      and OLP, and warrants additional study in the diagnosis and aetiology of OLP.

PMID- 28592253
TI  - iTRAQ-based proteome profile analysis of superior and inferior Spikelets at early
      grain filling stage in japonica Rice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large-panicle rice varieties often fail to achieve their yield
      potential due to poor grain filling of late-flowering inferior spikelets (IS).
      The physiological and molecular mechanisms of poor IS grain filling, and whether
      an increase in assimilate supply could regulate protein abundance and
      consequently improve IS grain filling for japonica rice with large panicles is
      still partially understood. RESULTS: A field experiment was performed with two
      spikelet removal treatments at anthesis in the large-panicle japonica rice line
      W1844, including removal of the top 1/3 of spikelets (T1) and removal of the top
      2/3 of spikelets (T2), with no spikelet removal as a control (T0). The size,
      weight, setting rate, and grain filling rate of IS were significantly increased
      after spikelet removing. The biological functions of the differentially expressed
      proteins (DEPs) between superior and inferior spikelets as well as the response
      of IS to the removal of superior spikelets (SS) were investigated by using iTRAQ
      at 10 days post anthesis. A total of 159, 87, and 28 DEPs were identified from
      group A (T0-SS/T0-IS), group B (T0-SS/T2-IS), and group C (T2-IS/T0-IS),
      respectively. Among these, 104, 63, and 22 proteins were up-regulated, and 55,
      24, and 6 proteins were down-regulated, respectively. Approximately half of these
      DEPs were involved in carbohydrate metabolism (sucrose-to-starch metabolism and
      energy metabolism) and protein metabolism (protein synthesis, folding,
      degradation, and storage). CONCLUSIONS: Reduced endosperm cell division and
      decreased activities of key enzymes associated with sucrose-starch metabolism and
      nitrogen metabolism are mainly attributed to the poor sink strength of IS. In
      addition, due to weakened photosynthesis and respiration, IS are unable to obtain
      a timely supply of materials and energy after fertilization, which might be
      resulted in the stagnation of IS development. Finally, an increased abundance of
      14-3-3 protein in IS could be involved in the inhibition of starch synthesis. The
      removal of SS contributed to transfer of assimilates to IS and enhanced enzymatic
      activities of carbon metabolism (sucrose synthase, starch branching enzyme,
      soluble starch synthase, and pullulanase) and nitrogen metabolism (aspartate
      amino transferase and alanine amino transferase), promoting starch and protein
      synthesis in IS. In addition, improvements in energy metabolism (greater
      abundance of pyrophosphate-fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase) might be
      played a vital role in inducing the initiation of grain filling. These results
      collectively demonstrate that carbohydrate supply is the main cause of poor IS
      grain filling.

PMID- 28592254
TI  - CKD.QLD: establishment of a chronic kidney disease [CKD] registry in Queensland,
      Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease [CKD] is recognised as a global public health
      problem. Until recently, the majority of information informing on CKD has been
      generated from renal registries reporting on patients with end-stage kidney
      disease [ESKD] and on renal replacement therapy [RRT]. There has been a paucity
      of information on pre-dialysis CKD cohorts, and many issues related to these
      poorly described populations are unresolved. To this end, international
      organizations have called for CKD surveillance systems across all countries.
      DESCRIPTION: In Australia, we have responded by developing the Chronic Kidney
      Disease in Queensland [CKD.QLD] with three main platforms consisting of CKD
      Registry, clinical trials and development of biobank. This registry which is the
      core component of CKD surveillance was conceptualized specifically for the pre
      dialysis population in the public health system in Queensland, Australia.
      Recruitment started in May 2011, and to date the Registry has evolved as one of
      the largest CKD cohorts in the world with recruitment close to 7000 patients. The
      Registry has had many outcomes, including being the nidus for Australia's first
      National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC] CKD Centre of Research
      Excellence [CKD.CRE]. CONCLUSIONS: The Registry, with its linkage to Queensland
      Health datasets, is reporting, and is expected to continue generating,
      significant information on multiple aspects of CKD, its trajectory, management
      and patient outcomes. Intent of the CKD.CRE is to facilitate an expanded Registry
      network that has representation from health services, both public and private,
      across Australia.

PMID- 28592255
TI  - Developing a data-driven spatial approach to assessment of neighbourhood
      influences on the spatial distribution of myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a growing understanding of the role played by
      'neighbourhood' in influencing health status. Various neighbourhood
      characteristics-such as socioeconomic environment, availability of amenities, and
      social cohesion, may be combined-and this could contribute to rising health
      inequalities. This study aims to combine a data-driven approach with clustering
      analysis techniques, to investigate neighbourhood characteristics that may
      explain the geographical distribution of the onset of myocardial infarction (MI)
      risk. METHODS: All MI events in patients aged 35-74 years occurring in the
      Strasbourg metropolitan area (SMA), from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2007
      were obtained from the Bas-Rhin coronary heart disease register. All cases were
      geocoded to the census block for the residential address. Each areal unit,
      characterized by contextual neighbourhood profile, included socioeconomic
      environment, availability of amenities (including leisure centres, libraries and
      parks, and transport) and psychosocial environment as well as specific annual
      rates standardized (per 100,000 inhabitants). A spatial scan statistic
      implemented in SaTScan was then used to identify statistically significant
      spatial clusters of high and low risk of MI. RESULT: MI incidence was non
      randomly spatially distributed, with a cluster of high risk of MI in the northern
      part of the SMA [relative risk (RR) = 1.70, p = 0.001] and a cluster of low risk
      of MI located in the first and second periphery of SMA (RR 0.04, p value  = 
      0.001). Our findings suggest that the location of low MI risk is characterized by
      a high socioeconomic level and a low level of access to various amenities;
      conversely, the location of high MI risk is characterized by a high level of
      socioeconomic deprivation-despite the fact that inhabitants have good access to
      the local recreational and leisure infrastructure. CONCLUSION: Our data-driven
      approach highlights how the different contextual dimensions were inter-combined
      in the SMA. Our spatial approach allowed us to identify the neighbourhood
      characteristics of inhabitants living within a cluster of high versus low MI
      risk. Therefore, spatial data-driven analyses of routinely-collected data
      georeferenced by various sources may serve to guide policymakers in defining and
      promoting targeted actions at fine spatial level.

PMID- 28592257
TI  - Clinical safety and efficacy of vitamin D3 analog ointment for treatment of
      obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperkeratinization is a major cause of obstructive meibomian gland
      dysfunction (oMGD) and results in degenerative gland dilation and atrophy without
      inflammation. Ointment containing 1,25-dihydroxy-22-oxavitamin D3 (maxacalcitol),
      a noncalcemic analog of the active form of vitamin D3, is applied for the
      treatment of hyperkeratotic cutaneous conditions such as psoriasis and ichtyosis
      because it suppresses the proliferation and promotes the differentiation of
      keratinocytes through interaction with the vitamin D receptor. The aim of the
      present study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of maxacalcitol ointment
      for the treatment of oMGD. METHODS: Six eyes of six healthy male subjects (mean
      age +/- SD, 36.4 +/- 10.8 years) and 12 eyes of eight oMGD patients (five men and
      three women; mean age +/- SD, 55.6 +/- 13.2 years) were enrolled in the study.
      Maxacalcitol ointment was applied to the upper and lower lid margins twice a day
      for 8 weeks. Subjective symptoms, lid margin abnormalities, tear film breakup
      time (BUT), ocular surface staining, meibum grade, Schirmer test value, and
      meibomian gland area were evaluated in the oMGD patients before, during, and
      after the treatment period. RESULTS: Severe adverse effects of ointment
      application were not observed in the healthy subjects or oMGD patients. The
      clinical scores for plugging of meibomian gland orifices and lid margin
      vascularity as well as BUT, meibum grade, and meibomian gland area were
      significantly improved in oMGD patients after the 8-week treatment period
      compared with pretreatment values (P values of <0.001, 0.020, 0.030, 0.020, and
      0.017, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Topical eyelid application of an analog of the
      active form of vitamin D3 was found to be safe as well as to improve the
      condition of patients with oMGD. Such ointment thus warrants further evaluation
      as a potential new treatment option for this condition. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This
      study was registered with the UMIN database (ID: UMIN000016230 ) on 16 January
      2015.

PMID- 28592256
TI  - High prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use among patients with
      sickle cell disease in a tertiary hospital in Lagos, South West, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attention and interest in the use of complementary and alternative
      medicine (CAM) has been reignited globally, most especially in patients with
      chronic diseases. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of such chronic diseases
      associated with devastating clinical and psychosocial consequences, thus leading
      those affected to seek alternative treatment apart from orthodox medicine. Hence,
      this study aimed to determine the prevalence, pattern and tolerability of the use
      of CAM in patients with SCD in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of 200 respondents with SCD attending
      the hematology clinics of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital over a period of
      3 months. Data on socio-demographic characteristic, clinical profile, the types
      and sources of CAM used were collected using a well structured pretested
      questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for
      Social Sciences (SPSS(r)) version 17. RESULT: Of the 200 patients who
      participated in the study, 113; 56.5% were males and 87; 43.5% were females.
      Majority of the SCD patients were 1-10 years old and their mean age was 18.8 +/-
      14.39 years. CAM was reportedly used by 88.5% of the respondents. Biological
      (herbal) products 156; 62.9% were the most commonly used CAM, followed by
      alternative medical systems 52; 20.9% and mind-body interventions 30; 12.1%.
      Relations, friends and neighbors influenced 85.2% of CAM users by recommending
      CAM to them. Tolerability of CAM was perceived to be excellent as only 33 (18.6%)
      of the respondents abandoned the use of CAM. Comparing CAM users and CAM non
      users, there was no statistical significant difference in the proportion of those
      >18 years (45.76% vs 52.17%; p = 0.658), those who experienced two or more crises
      (51.41% vs 34.78%; p = 0.183), and those with stable haemoglobin concentration of
      >7 g/dL (15.81% vs 8.69%; p = 0.539) More patients among CAM non-users (91.30%)
      significantly spend over 3000 Naira (USD 15) per month on medicine than CAM users
      (4.51%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: CAM use is highly prevalent among adults with
      sickle cell diseases in Nigeria. CAM is well tolerated and relatively affordable
      by these patients. Clinician awareness and understanding of the factors
      influencing the use of CAM and the potential herbal-orthodox medicine interaction
      are crucial during hospital treatment of these patients.

PMID- 28592258
TI  - Pathways linking car transport for young adults and the public health in Northern
      Ireland: a qualitative study to inform the evaluation of graduated driver
      licensing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Novice drivers are at relatively high risk of road traffic injury.
      There is good evidence that Graduated Driving Licensing (GDL) schemes reduce
      collisions rates, by reducing exposure to risk and by extending learning periods.
      Legislation for a proposed scheme in Northern Ireland was passed in 2016,
      providing an opportunity for future evaluation of the full public health impacts
      of a scheme in a European context within a natural experiment. This qualitative
      study was designed to inform the logic model for such an evaluation, and provide
      baseline qualitative data on the role of private cars in health and wellbeing.
      METHODS: Nine group interviews with young people aged 16-23 (N = 43) and two
      group interviews with parents of young people (N = 8) were conducted in a range
      of settings in Northern Ireland in 2015. Data were analysed using thematic
      content analysis. RESULTS: Informal car-pooling within and beyond households led
      to routine expectations of lift provision and uptake. Experiences of risky
      driving situations were widespread. In rural areas, extensive use of farm
      vehicles for transport needs meant many learner drivers had both early driving
      experience and expectations that legislation may have to be locally adapted to
      meet social needs. Cars were used as a site for socialising, as well as essential
      means of transport. Alternative modes (public transport, walking and cycling)
      were held in low esteem, even where available. Recall of other transport-related
      public health messages and parents' existing use of GDL-type restrictions
      suggested GDL schemes were acceptable in principle. There was growing awareness
      and use of in-car technologies (telematics) used by insurance companies to reward
      good driving. CONCLUSIONS: Key issues to consider in evaluating the broader
      public health impact of GDL will include: changes in injury rates for licensed
      car occupants and other populations and modes; changes in exposure to risk in the
      licensed and general population; and impact on transport exclusion. We suggest an
      important pathway will be change in social norms around offering and accepting
      lifts and to risk-taking. The growing adoption of in-car telematics will have
      implications for future GDL programmes and for evaluation.

PMID- 28592259
TI  - Safety of low-molecular-weight heparin compared to unfractionated heparin in
      hemodialysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) have been extensively studied
      and became the treatment of choice for several indications including pulmonary
      embolism. While their efficacy in hemodialysis is considered similar to
      unfractionated heparin (UFH), their safety remains controversial mainly due to a
      risk of bioaccumulation in patients with renal impairment. The aim of this
      systematic review was to evaluate the safety of LMWH when compared to UFH for
      extracorporeal circuit (ECC) anticoagulation. METHODS: We used Pubmed, Embase,
      Cochrane central register of controlled trials, Trip database and NICE to
      retrieve relevant studies with no language restriction. We looked for controlled
      experimental trials comparing LMWH to UFH for ECC anticoagulation among end-stage
      renal disease patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis. Studies were kept if they
      reported at least one of the following outcomes: bleeding, lipid profile,
      cardiovascular events, osteoporosis or heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Two
      independent reviewers conducted studies selection, quality assessment and data
      extraction with discrepancies solved by a third reviewer. Relative risk and 95%
      CI was calculated for dichotomous outcomes and mean weighted difference (MWD)
      with 95% CI was used to pool continuous variables. RESULTS: Seventeen studies
      were selected as part of the systematic. The relative risk for total bleeding was
      0.76 (95% CI 0.26-2.22). The WMD calculated for total cholesterol was -28.70
      mg/dl (95% CI -51.43 to -5.98), a WMD for triglycerides of -55.57 mg/dl (95% CI 
      94.49 to -16.66) was estimated, and finally LDL-cholesterol had a WMD of -14.88
      mg/dl (95% CI -36.27 to 6.51). CONCLUSIONS: LMWH showed to be at least as safe as
      UFH for ECC anticoagulation in chronic hemodialysis. The limited number of
      studies reporting on osteoporosis and HIT does not allow any conclusion for these
      outcomes. Larger studies are needed to evaluate properly the safety of LMWH in
      chronic hemodialysis.

PMID- 28592261
TI  - TREM2 protects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.
AB  - Although post-ischemic inflammation induced by the innate immune response is
      considered an essential step in the progression of cerebral ischemia injury, the
      role of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) in the
      pathogenesis of ischemic stroke remains to be elucidated. Here, we found that the
      transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels of TREM2 were increased in
      cultured primary microglia after oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation and
      in the ischemic penumbra of the cerebral cortex after middle cerebral artery
      occlusion (MCAO) and reperfusion in mice. TREM2 was mainly expressed in
      microglia, but not in astrocytes, neurons, or oligodendrocytes in mice subjected
      to MCAO. Manipulating TREM2 expression levels in vitro and in vivo significantly
      regulated the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators after ischemic
      stroke. TREM2 overexpression markedly suppressed the inflammatory response and
      neuronal apoptosis. By contrast, TREM2 gene silencing intensified the
      inflammatory response, increased neuronal apoptosis and infarct volume, and
      further exacerbated neurological dysfunction. Our study demonstrated that TREM2
      protects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through the aspect of post
      ischemic inflammatory response and neuronal apoptosis. Pharmacological targeting
      of TREM2 to suppress the inflammatory response may provide a new approach for
      developing therapeutic strategies in the treatment of ischemic stroke and other
      cerebrovascular diseases.

PMID- 28592260
TI  - Recent advances in the use of PI3K inhibitors for glioblastoma multiforme:
      current preclinical and clinical development.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive malignant primary
      tumor in the central nervous system. One of the most widely used chemotherapeutic
      drugs for GBM is temozolomide, which is a DNA-alkylating agent and its efficacy
      is dependent on MGMT methylation status. Little progress in improving the
      prognosis of GBM patients has been made in the past ten years, urging the
      development of more effective molecular targeted therapies. Hyper-activation of
      the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway is frequently found in a
      variety of cancers including GBM, and it plays a central role in the regulation
      of tumor cell survival, growth, motility, angiogenesis and metabolism. Numerous
      PI3K inhibitors including pan-PI3K, isoform-selective and dual PI3K/mammalian
      target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors have exhibited favorable preclinical
      results and entered clinical trials in a range of hematologic malignancies and
      solid tumors. Furthermore, combination of inhibitors targeting PI3K and other
      related pathways may exert synergism on suppressing tumor growth and improving
      patients' prognosis. Currently, only a handful of PI3K inhibitors are in phase
      I/II clinical trials for GBM treatment. In this review, we focus on the
      importance of PI3K/Akt pathway in GBM, and summarize the current development of
      PI3K inhibitors alone or in combination with other inhibitors for GBM treatment
      from preclinical to clinical studies.

PMID- 28592262
TI  - Port site recurrence after laparoscopic radical nephrectomy: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the recent development of laparoscopic devices, laparoscopic
      radical nephrectomy is the standard procedure for localized renal cell carcinoma.
      However, some studies have reported postoperative port site metastasis in several
      cancers. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Asian-Japanese man was referred to our
      hospital for a further examination of his right renal tumor in 2009. Due to a
      clinical suspicion of renal cell carcinoma, laparoscopic nephrectomy was
      performed. The histopathological diagnosis was clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
      Follow-up computed tomography revealed a mass between the internal oblique muscle
      of his abdomen and the transverse muscle of his abdomen in 2014. The tumor size
      gradually increased, and positron emission tomography-computed tomography
      revealed the accumulation of fludeoxyglucose in that tumor with maximum
      standardized uptake value of 2.7. Based on these findings, port site recurrence
      was suspected, and tumor resection was performed in 2017. The pathological
      diagnosis was metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Here we
      report a rare case of port site metastasis that was successfully treated 7 years
      after laparoscopic nephrectomy.

PMID- 28592263
TI  - Radiologic findings as a determinant and no effect of macrolide resistance on
      clinical course of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the emergence of macrolide resistance, concerns about the
      efficacy of macrolides for the treatment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia
      in children have been raised. This study aimed to determine the effect of
      macrolide resistance on the outcome of children who were hospitalized with MP
      pneumonia. METHODS: Between 2010 and 2015, we performed culture of MP from
      nasopharyngeal samples obtained from children who were hospitalized with
      pneumonia at five hospitals in Korea. Macrolide resistance was determined by the
      analysis of 23S rRNA gene transition and the minimal inhibitory concentrations of
      four macrolides. Medical records were reviewed to analyze the clinical response
      to treatment with macrolides. RESULTS: MP was detected in 116 (4.8%) of the 2436
      children with pneumonia. MP pneumonia was prevalent in 2011 and 2015. Of the 116
      patients with MP pneumonia, 82 (70.7%) were macrolide-resistant. There were no
      differences in the age distribution, total duration of fever, and chest x-ray
      patterns between the macrolide-susceptible and macrolide-resistant groups. After
      macrolide initiation, mean days to defervescence were longer in the macrolide
      resistant group than in macrolide-susceptible group (5.7 days vs. 4.1 days, P =
      0.021). However, logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of
      extrapulmonary signs (P = 0.039), homogeneous lobar consolidation (P = 0.004), or
      parapneumonic effusion (P < 0.001) were associated with fever duration of >=7
      days after the initiation of macrolides, regardless of macrolide resistance.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that fever duration in MP pneumonia was
      determined by the radiologic findings of chest x-ray, not by the presence of
      macrolide resistance. The results highlight the need for future studies to assess
      therapeutic benefit from macrolides in the treatment of children with MP
      pneumonia.

PMID- 28592264
TI  - Adaptation to new nutritional environments: larval performance, foraging
      decisions, and adult oviposition choices in Drosophila suzukii.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Understanding how species adapt to new niches is a central issue in
      evolutionary ecology. Nutrition is vital for the survival of all organisms and
      impacts species fitness and distribution. While most Drosophila species exploit
      rotting plant parts, some species have diversified to use ripe fruit, allowing
      earlier colonization. The decomposition of plant material is facilitated by yeast
      colonization and proliferation. These yeasts serve as the main protein source for
      Drosophila larvae. This dynamic rotting process entails changes in the
      nutritional composition of the food and other properties, and animals feeding on
      material at different stages of decay are expected to have behavioural and
      nutritional adaptations. RESULTS: We compared larval performance, feeding
      behaviour and adult oviposition site choice between the ripe fruit colonizer and
      invasive pest Drosophila suzukii, and a closely-related rotting fruit colonizer,
      Drosophila biarmipes. Through the manipulation of protein:carbohydrate ratios in
      artificial diets, we found that D. suzukii larvae perform better at lower protein
      concentrations and consume less protein rich diets relative to D. biarmipes. For
      adult oviposition, these species differed in preference for substrate hardness,
      but not for the substrate nutritional composition. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      highlight that rather than being an exclusive specialist on ripe fruit, D.
      suzukii's adaptation to use ripening fruit allow it to colonize a wider range of
      food substrates than D. biarmipes, which is limited to soft foods with higher
      protein concentrations. Our results underscore the importance of nutritional
      performance and feeding behaviours in the colonization of new food niches.

PMID- 28592265
TI  - Building freeways: piloting communication skills in additional languages to
      health service personnel in Cape Town, South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study reflects on the development and teaching of communication
      skills courses in additional national languages to health care staff within two
      primary health care facilities in Cape Town, South Africa. These courses were
      aimed at addressing the language disparities that recent research has identified
      globally between patients and health care staff. Communication skills courses
      were offered to staff at two Metropolitan District Health Services clinics to
      strengthen patient access to health care services. This study reflects on the
      communicative proficiency in the additional languages that were offered to health
      care staff. METHODS: A mixed-method approach was utilised during this case study
      with quantitative data-gathering through surveys and qualitative analysis of
      assessment results. The language profiles of the respective communities were
      assessed through data obtained from the South African National census, while
      staff language profiles were obtained at the health care centres. Quantitative
      measuring, by means of a patient survey at the centres, occurred on a randomly
      chosen day to ascertain the language profile of the patient population.
      Participating staff performed assessments at different phases of the training
      courses to determine their skill levels by the end of the course. RESULTS: The
      performances of the participating staff during the Xhosa and Afrikaans language
      courses were assessed, and the development of the staff communicative
      competencies was measured. Health care staff learning the additional languages
      could develop Basic or Intermediate Xhosa and Afrikaans that enables
      communication with patients. CONCLUSIONS: In multilingual countries such as South
      Africa, language has been recognised as a health care barrier preventing patients
      from receiving quality care. Equipping health care staff with communication
      skills in the additional languages, represents an attempt to bridge a vital
      barrier in the South African health care system. The study proves that offering
      communication skills courses in additional languages, begins to equip health care
      staff to be multilingual, that allows patients to communicate about their
      illnesses within their mother tongues.

PMID- 28592266
TI  - Urgent needs in fostering neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) laboratory capacity
      in WHO Western Pacific Region: results from the external quality assessment on
      NTDs diagnosis in 2012-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a heterogeneous group of
      mainly chronic, debilitating and often stigmatizing diseases that largely affects
      low-income and politically marginalized populations, causing a large burden of
      public health, social and economies in the NTDs endemic countries. NTDs are
      caused by infections with a range of pathogen, including bacteria, parasites,
      protozoa and viruses. The accurate diagnosis of NTDs is important for reducing
      morbidity, preventing mortality and for monitoring of control programs. External
      Quality Assessment (EQA), a component of laboratory quality assurance, aims to
      assess the performance of participating laboratories in detecting parasitic
      infections. The aim of this paper is to report the findings and put forward the
      recommendations on capacity build from the EQA results of participating NTDs
      laboratories in selected countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region from 2012 to
      2015. METHODS: Reference or public health laboratories at national level working
      on NTDs in 6 countries participated in EQAs organized by the National Institute
      of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD) of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
      (CDC) based in Shanghai, China. Two representatives of each participating
      laboratory were invited to NIPD to detect NTDs' parasitic infections using the
      same prepared samples for serological tests (IHA and ELISA) and helminth eggs'
      morphological tests (Direct smear and Kato-Katz). All of the results were scored
      and analyzed by using SPSS statistics 19.0 software. RESULTS: The percentage of
      participants who had EQA score >= 60 during 2012-2015 for direct smear test were
      80.00% (2012), 71.43% (2013), 100% (2014) and 75.00% (2015), whereas for Kato
      Katz test were 80.00% (2012), 57.14% (2013), 100% (2014) and 37.50% (2015),
      respectively. The detection rate of helminth eggs varied in different species,
      with Ascaris lumbricoides being the highest at 94.07% in average. All
      laboratories did very well with ELISA tests as shown by the high scores in all
      four years except Lab A in the first and last EQA. For the positive or negative
      judgments of serum samples, the total coincidence rates of ELISA between 2012 and
      2015 were 90.00%, 99.29%, 94.29% and 98.75%, respectively. While the total
      coincidence rates of IHA were respectively 100%, 95.00%, 90.00% and 97.50%.
      However, detecting low levels of serum antibody remained problematic for IHA when
      the titres of samples were taken into consideration. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrate that EQA scheme have been beneficial to the participating
      laboratories. The EQA programme identifies certain deficiencies which were needed
      to overcome and improved the laboratories' performance in helminthiasis
      diagnosis. However, further optimization of accuracy and uniformity in NTDs
      diagnosis remains a big challenge.

PMID- 28592267
TI  - A vaccine with Abeta oligomer-specific mimotope attenuates cognitive deficits and
      brain pathologies in transgenic mice with Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: beta-Amyloid peptide (Abeta) oligomers are initial factors used to
      induce Alzheimer's disease (AD) development, and Abeta monomers have normal
      physiological function. The antibodies or vaccines against Abeta monomers have
      serious problems, such as side effects and low curative effects. Therefore, it is
      essential to specifically target Abeta oligomers rather than monomers for the
      treatment of AD. METHODS: The mimotopes of Abeta oligomers were obtained by
      panning the phage-displayed random peptide libraries using oligomer-specific
      antibodies as targets and expressed on the surface of EBY100 Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae to generate yeast cell base vaccines. One vaccine (AOE1) induced
      antibodies specifically against Abeta oligomers and was selected for further
      study. The APP/PS1 mice were subcutaneously immunized with AOE1 eight times. The
      levels and characteristics of antibodies induced by AOE1 were determined by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effect of AOE1 on the cognitive deficits
      of AD mice was tested by novel object recognition (NOR) and Y-maze. Dot blot
      analysis, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry were applied to measure
      the effects of AOE1 on Abeta pathologies, neuroinflammation, and microhemorrhages
      in the brains of AD mice. RESULTS: Eight mimotope candidates of Abeta oligomers
      were selected and expressed on EBY100 S. cerevisiae. Only AOE1 vaccine containing
      mimotope L2 induced antibodies that specifically recognized Abeta42 oligomers
      rather than monomers. AOE1 immunization significantly increased the AD mice's
      exploration times for the novel object in the NOR test and the choices for new
      arms in the Y-maze test, and it reduced levels of Abeta oligomers and glial
      activation in the AD mouse brains. No activation of Abeta-specific T cells and
      microhemorrhages was observed in their brains following AOE1 vaccination.
      CONCLUSIONS: AOE1 is the first vaccine applying the oligomer-specific mimotope as
      an immunogen, which could induce antibodies with high specificity to Abeta
      oligomers. AOE1 immunization attenuated Abeta pathologies and cognitive deficits
      in AD mice, decreased the overactivation of glial cells, and did not induce
      microhemorrhage in the brains of AD mice. These findings suggest that AOE1 may be
      a safer and more effective vaccine for AD treatment.

PMID- 28592268
TI  - Prevalence, perceptions and predictors of alcohol consumption and abstinence
      among South Australian school students: a cross-sectional analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption by young people (particularly early initiation)
      is a predictor for poorer health in later life. In addition, evidence now clearly
      shows a causal link between alcohol and cancer. This study investigated
      prevalence, predictors of alcohol consumption among adolescents including
      perceptions of the link between alcohol and cancer, and the role of parents and
      peers. METHODS: A sample of Australian school students aged 12-17 years
      participated in a survey (n = 2885). Logistic regression analysis was undertaken
      to determine predictors. RESULTS: Alcohol use increased with age and by 16, most
      had tried alcohol with 33.1% of students aged 12-17 reporting that they drank at
      least occasionally (95% CI = 31.0-35.2). Awareness of the link between alcohol
      and cancer was low (28.5%). Smoking status and friends' approval were predictive
      of drinking, whereas parental disapproval was protective. Those aged 14-17 who
      did not think the link between alcohol and cancer was important were more likely
      to drink, as were those living in areas of least disadvantage. The only factors
      that predicted recent drinking were smoking and the perception that alcohol was
      easy to purchase. CONCLUSIONS: An education campaign highlighting the link
      between alcohol and cancer may have positive flow-on effects for young people,
      and schools should incorporate this messaging into any alcohol education
      programs. Consideration should be given to factors that serve to regulate under
      aged accessibility of alcohol.

PMID- 28592269
TI  - The health and healthcare impact of providing insurance coverage to uninsured
      children: A prospective observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Of the 4.8 million uninsured children in America, 62-72% are eligible
      for but not enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. Not enough is known, however, about the
      impact of health insurance on outcomes and costs for previously uninsured
      children, which has never been examined prospectively. METHODS: This prospective
      observational study of uninsured Medicaid/CHIP-eligible minority children
      compared children obtaining coverage vs. those remaining uninsured. Subjects were
      recruited at 97 community sites, and 11 outcomes monitored monthly for 1 year.
      RESULTS: In this sample of 237 children, those obtaining coverage were
      significantly (P < .05) less likely than the uninsured to have suboptimal health
      (27% vs. 46%); no PCP (7% vs. 40%); experienced never/sometimes getting immediate
      care from the PCP (7% vs. 40%); no usual source of preventive (1% vs. 20%) or
      sick (3% vs. 12%) care; and unmet medical (13% vs. 48%), preventive (6% vs. 50%),
      and dental (18% vs. 62%) care needs. The uninsured had higher out-of-pocket
      doctor-visit costs (mean = $70 vs. $29), and proportions of parents not
      recommending the child's healthcare provider to friends (24% vs. 8%) and
      reporting the child's health caused family financial problems (29% vs. 5%), and
      lower well-child-care-visit quality ratings. In bivariate analyses, older age,
      birth outside of the US, and lacking health insurance for >6 months at baseline
      were associated with remaining uninsured for the entire year. In multivariable
      analysis, children who had been uninsured for >6 months at baseline (odds ratio
      [OR], 3.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-10.3) and African-American children
      (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.1-7.3) had significantly higher odds of remaining uninsured
      for the entire year. Insurance saved $2886/insured child/year, with mean
      healthcare costs = $5155/uninsured vs. $2269/insured child (P = .04).
      CONCLUSIONS: Providing health insurance to Medicaid/CHIP-eligible uninsured
      children improves health, healthcare access and quality, and parental
      satisfaction; reduces unmet needs and out-of-pocket costs; and saves
      $2886/insured child/year. African-American children and those who have been
      uninsured for >6 months are at greatest risk for remaining uninsured.
      Extrapolation of the savings realized by insuring uninsured, Medicaid/CHIP
      eligible children suggests that America potentially could save $8.7-$10.1 billion
      annually by providing health insurance to all Medicaid/CHIP-eligible uninsured
      children.

PMID- 28592270
TI  - Waist-to-height ratio and its associations with body mass index in a sample of
      Tuscan children in primary school.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Visceral obesity in children increases the risk of developing
      cardiovascular diseases. To evaluate overweight children, in addition to Body
      Mass Index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) can be used to predict
      cardiometabolic risk. The goal of this study is to describe WHtR in a sample of
      Tuscan children. METHODS: A sample of children living in the province of Pistoia,
      Tuscany, was measured for the following anthropometric parameters: weight,
      height, and waist circumference. BMI and WHtR were calculated. For the latter
      indicator, a threshold of 0.5 was considered as a cardiovascular risk predictor.
      The subjects were classified into underweight, normal weight, overweight, and
      obese using Cole's cut-offs. RESULTS: The number of children enrolled were 1575
      (821 males; 754 females), aged 6-11 years. Of them, 64.3% were normal weight,
      4.9% underweight, 22.3% overweight, and 8.5% obese. Moreover, 12.8% had a WHtR
      >=0.5 (85.7% males; 88.7% females). The average WHtR value was 0.45 +/- 0.045,
      and was significantly different as per gender (F = 0.45 vs. M = 0.46). WHtR was
      significantly correlated with BMI (r = 0.766). CONCLUSION: The average WHtR value
      was in line with previous studies conducted among children of similar age groups.
      Large-scale perspective studies are needed to validate the Italian WHtR cut-offs
      for children.

PMID- 28592271
TI  - Simulating therapeutic drug monitoring results for dose individualisation to
      maintain investigator blinding in a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is essential practice when dosing
      drugs with a narrow therapeutic index in order to achieve a plasma drug
      concentration within a narrow target range above the efficacy concentration but
      below the toxicity concentration. However, TDM with dose individualisation is
      challenging during a double-blind clinical trial with laboratory staff and
      investigators blinded to treatment arm allocation. METHODS: Drug concentrations
      were simulated for participants in the placebo arm by an unblinded independent
      statistician, utilising the measured values from the treatment arm participants.
      Simulated and actual concentrations were re-blinded and passed on to a dose
      adjusting investigator, who made dose adjustment recommendations but was not
      directly responsible for clinical care of participants. RESULTS: A total of 257
      sham lithium plasma concentrations were simulated utilising 242 true lithium
      plasma concentrations in real time as the trial progressed. The simulated values
      had a median (interquartile range) of 0.59 (0.46, 0.72) compared to 0.53 (0.39,
      0.72) in the treatment arm. Blinding of the laboratory staff and dose-adjusting
      investigator was maintained successfully. CONCLUSIONS: We succeeded in simulating
      sham lithium plasma concentrations while maintaining blinding. Our simulated
      values have a smaller range than the observed data, which can be explained by the
      challenges with respect to drug adherence and dose timing that were experienced.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pan African Clinical Trials Registry, PACTR201310000635418 .
      Registered on 30 August 2013.

PMID- 28592273
TI  - Research on subgroups is not research on equity attributes: Evidence from an
      overview of systematic reviews on vaccination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Equity remains a priority in the international health development
      agenda. However, major inequities in vaccination coverage jeopardise the
      achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We aim at comprehensively
      describing how research has addressed equity issues related to vaccination.
      METHODS: We carried out an overview of systematic reviews (SRs) that explicitly
      explored the effects of interventions to improve vaccination in any context; for
      any vaccine and, in any language. We followed standard research synthesis methods
      to systematically search for SR, assess them for inclusion and extracting
      relevant data, particularly on vaccination related outcomes. To gather evidence
      on equity issues addressed in the SR, we used the PROGRESS-plus framework.
      FINDINGS: Our search obtained 2,003 hits which resulted in 54 included SRs,
      published between 1994 and 2014. The quality of SRs was generally poor, with less
      than half complying with most of the quality criteria. Reported vaccines
      included, by order of frequency, influenza and Expanded Programme on Immunisation
      vaccines. The types of interventions more frequently reported were related to
      vaccination delivery strategies, financial support and information, education and
      communication. Most of the SRs suggested effects favouring intervention groups as
      opposed to comparison groups. The most frequently reported equity attribute was
      'place of residence' and the least reported equity attributes were sexual
      orientation and religion. Very few estimates of effects actually measured
      differences or changes between groups having those attributes and all of them
      referred to the place of residence. No data was found about reducing equity gaps
      for vulnerable groups or minorities, or attributes such as sexual orientation,
      education or specific religious groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although research on
      vulnerable populations as a subgroup is abundant, it fails to report on the
      interventions that will actually reduce inequities and consider how
      redistribution of health care resources could shrink the gap between the
      privileged and most vulnerable groups including minorities. Research, if aiming
      at being responsive to global health policy trends, needs to report not only on
      specific attributes but also on how a better redistribution of health care
      resources could contribute to alleviating the unjust situation of the most
      vulnerable populations.

PMID- 28592274
TI  - The magnitude and correlates of Parvovirus B19 infection among pregnant women
      attending antenatal clinics in Mwanza, Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection has been associated with
      congenital infection which may result into a number of the adverse pregnancy
      outcomes. The epidemiology and the magnitude of B19 infections among pregnant
      women have been poorly studied in developing countries. This study was done to
      establish preliminary information about the magnitude of B19 among pregnant women
      attending antenatal clinics in the city of Mwanza, Tanzania. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted between December 2014 and June 2015 among 258
      pregnant women attending two antenatal clinics representing rural and urban areas
      in the city of Mwanza. Socio-demographic data were collected using structured
      data collection tool. Specific B19 IgM and IgG antibodies were determined using
      indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kits (DRG Instruments GmbH, Germany).
      Data were analyzed using STATA version 11 software. RESULTS: The median age of
      study participants was 21 IQR (19-25) years. Of 253 pregnant women; 116(44.96%),
      109(42.25%) and 33(12.79%) were in the first, second and third trimester
      respectively. The majority 168(66.4%) of women were from urban areas. Of 253
      pregnant women, the overall prevalence of IgM was 83(32.8%) while that of IgG was
      142(55.0%) among 258 women tested. A total of 50(19.4%) women were positive for
      both IgG and IgM indicating true IgM positive. History of baby with low birth
      weight (OR: 10, 95% CI: 1.82-58.05, P = 0.01) was independent predictor of B19
      IgG seropositivity and being at the third trimester was protective (OR: 0.38, 95%
      CI: 0.16-0.92, P = 0.03). The IgG titers were found to decrease significantly as
      gestational age increases (Spearman's rho = -0.2939, p = 0.0004) CONCLUSION: More
      than a half of pregnant women in Mwanza city are B19 IgG sero-positive with about
      one third of these being B19 IgM seropositive. Further studies to determine the
      impact of B19 infections among pregnant women and their newborns are recommended
      in developing countries.

PMID- 28592272
TI  - Betaine promotes cell differentiation of human osteoblasts in primary culture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Betaine (BET), a component of many foods, is an essential osmolyte
      and a source of methyl groups; it also shows an antioxidant activity. Moreover,
      BET stimulates muscle differentiation via insulin like growth factor I (IGF-I).
      The processes of myogenesis and osteogenesis involve common mechanisms with
      skeletal muscle cells and osteoblasts sharing the same precursor. Therefore, we
      have hypothesized that BET might be effective on osteoblast cell differentiation.
      METHODS: The effect of BET was tested in human osteoblasts (hObs) derived from
      trabecular bone samples obtained from waste material of orthopedic surgery. Cells
      were treated with 10 mM BET at 5, 15, 60 min and 3, 6 and 24 h. The possible
      effects of BET on hObs differentiation were evaluated by real time PCR, western
      blot and immunofluorescence analysis. Calcium imaging was used to monitor
      intracellular calcium changes. RESULTS: Real time PCR results showed that BET
      stimulated significantly the expression of RUNX2, osterix, bone sialoprotein and
      osteopontin. Western blot and immunofluorescence confirmed BET stimulation of
      osteopontin protein synthesis. BET stimulated ERK signaling, key pathway involved
      in osteoblastogenesis and calcium signaling. BET induced a rise of intracellular
      calcium by means of the calcium ions influx from the extracellular milieu through
      the L-type calcium channels and CaMKII signaling activation. A significant rise
      in IGF-I mRNA at 3 and 6 h and a significant increase of IGF-I protein at 6 and
      24 h after BET stimulus was detected. Furthermore, BET was able to increase
      significantly both SOD2 gene expression and protein content. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study showed that three signaling pathways, i.e. cytosolic calcium influx, ERK
      activation and IGF-I production, are enhanced by BET in human osteoblasts. These
      pathways could have synergistic effects on osteogenic gene expression and protein
      synthesis, thus potentially leading to enhanced bone formation. Taken together,
      these results suggest that BET could be a promising nutraceutical therapeutic
      agent in the strategy to counteract the concomitant and interacting impact of
      sarcopenia and osteoporosis, i.e. the major determinants of senile frailty and
      related mortality.

PMID- 28592275
TI  - NCBO Ontology Recommender 2.0: an enhanced approach for biomedical ontology
      recommendation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ontologies and controlled terminologies have become increasingly
      important in biomedical research. Researchers use ontologies to annotate their
      data with ontology terms, enabling better data integration and interoperability
      across disparate datasets. However, the number, variety and complexity of current
      biomedical ontologies make it cumbersome for researchers to determine which ones
      to reuse for their specific needs. To overcome this problem, in 2010 the National
      Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) released the Ontology Recommender, which is
      a service that receives a biomedical text corpus or a list of keywords and
      suggests ontologies appropriate for referencing the indicated terms. METHODS: We
      developed a new version of the NCBO Ontology Recommender. Called Ontology
      Recommender 2.0, it uses a novel recommendation approach that evaluates the
      relevance of an ontology to biomedical text data according to four different
      criteria: (1) the extent to which the ontology covers the input data; (2) the
      acceptance of the ontology in the biomedical community; (3) the level of detail
      of the ontology classes that cover the input data; and (4) the specialization of
      the ontology to the domain of the input data. RESULTS: Our evaluation shows that
      the enhanced recommender provides higher quality suggestions than the original
      approach, providing better coverage of the input data, more detailed information
      about their concepts, increased specialization for the domain of the input data,
      and greater acceptance and use in the community. In addition, it provides users
      with more explanatory information, along with suggestions of not only individual
      ontologies but also groups of ontologies to use together. It also can be
      customized to fit the needs of different ontology recommendation scenarios.
      CONCLUSIONS: Ontology Recommender 2.0 suggests relevant ontologies for annotating
      biomedical text data. It combines the strengths of its predecessor with a range
      of adjustments and new features that improve its reliability and usefulness.
      Ontology Recommender 2.0 recommends over 500 biomedical ontologies from the NCBO
      BioPortal platform, where it is openly available (both via the user interface at
      http://bioportal.bioontology.org/recommender , and via a Web service API).

PMID- 28592277
TI  - Perceived barriers to effective implementation of public reporting of hospital
      performance data in Australia: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Public reporting of government funded (public) hospital performance
      data was mandated in Australia in 2011. Studies suggest some benefit associated
      with such public reporting, but also considerable scope to improve reporting
      systems. METHODS: In 2015, a purposive sample of 41 expert informants were
      interviewed, representing consumer, provider and purchasers perspectives across
      Australia's public and private health sectors, to ascertain expert opinion on the
      utility and impact of public reporting of health service performance. Qualitative
      data was thematically analysed with a focus on reporting perceived strengths and
      barriers to public reporting of hospital performance data (PR). RESULTS: Many
      more weaknesses and barriers to PR were identified than strengths. Barriers were:
      conceptual (unclear objective, audience and reporting framework); systems-level
      (including lack of consumer choice, lack of consumer and clinician involvement,
      jurisdictional barriers, lack of mandate for private sector reporting); technical
      and resource related (including data complexity, lack of data relevance
      consistency, rigour); and socio-cultural (including provider resistance to public
      reporting, poor consumer health literacy, lack of consumer empowerment).
      CONCLUSIONS: Perceptions of the Australian experience of PR highlight important
      issues in its implementation that can provide lessons for Australia and
      elsewhere. A considerable weakness of PR in Australia is that the public are
      often not considered its major audience, resulting in information ineffectually
      framed to meet the objective of PR informing consumer decision-making about
      treatment options. Greater alignment is needed between the primary objective of
      PR, its audience and audience needs; more than one system of PR might be
      necessary to meet different audience needs and objectives. Further research is
      required to assess objectively the potency of the barriers to PR suggested by our
      panel of informants.

PMID- 28592276
TI  - Different strategies for mechanical VENTilation during CardioPulmonary Bypass
      (CPBVENT 2014): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no consensus on which lung-protective strategies should be
      used in cardiac surgery patients. Sparse and small randomized clinical and animal
      trials suggest that maintaining mechanical ventilation during cardiopulmonary
      bypass is protective on the lungs. Unfortunately, such evidence is weak as it
      comes from surrogate and minor clinical endpoints mainly limited to elective
      coronary surgery. According to the available data in the academic literature, an
      unquestionable standardized strategy of lung protection during cardiopulmonary
      bypass cannot be recommended. The purpose of the CPBVENT study is to investigate
      the effectiveness of different strategies of mechanical ventilation during
      cardiopulmonary bypass on postoperative pulmonary function and complications.
      METHODS/DESIGN: The CPBVENT study is a single-blind, multicenter, randomized
      controlled trial. We are going to enroll 870 patients undergoing elective cardiac
      surgery with planned use of cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients will be randomized
      into three groups: (1) no mechanical ventilation during cardiopulmonary bypass,
      (2) continuous positive airway pressure of 5 cmH2O during cardiopulmonary bypass,
      (3) respiratory rate of 5 acts/min with a tidal volume of 2-3 ml/Kg of ideal body
      weight and positive end-expiratory pressure of 3-5 cmH2O during cardiopulmonary
      bypass. The primary endpoint will be the incidence of a PaO2/FiO2 ratio <200
      until the time of discharge from the intensive care unit. The secondary endpoints
      will be the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and 30-day
      mortality. Patients will be followed-up for 12 months after the date of
      randomization. DISCUSSION: The CPBVENT trial will establish whether, and how,
      different ventilator strategies during cardiopulmonary bypass will have an impact
      on postoperative pulmonary complications and outcomes of patients undergoing
      cardiac surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02090205 .
      Registered on 8 March 2014.

PMID- 28592278
TI  - Effects of oil quality and antioxidant supplementation on sow performance, milk
      composition and oxidative status in serum and placenta.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of oil quality and
      antioxidant (AOX) supplementation on sow performance, milk composition and
      oxidative status. METHODS: A total of 80 PIC (PIC breeding, 3 ~ 5 parities) sows
      with similar body condition were allocated to four groups (n = 20), receiving
      diets including fresh corn oil, oxidized corn oil, fresh corn oil plus AOX and
      oxidized corn oil plus AOX, respectively, from d 85 of gestation to d 21 of
      lactation. AOX was provided at 200 mg/kg diet and mixed with corn oil prior to
      dietary formulation. RESULTS: The results showed that sows fed oxidized corn oil
      had significantly lower feed intake (P < 0.05) during lactation period. Feeding
      oxidized corn oil markedly decreased (P < 0.05) the contents of protein and fat
      in colostrums and milk, but the addition of AOX in oxidized corn oil prevented
      the decrease on protein content of colostrums. Moreover, sows fed oxidized corn
      oil had significantly lower serum activities of total SOD and Mn-SOD across
      lactation (P < 0.05). In contrast, addition of AOX to oxidized corn oil tended to
      inhibit the production of MDA (P = 0.08) in sows across lactation relative to
      fresh oil. Intriguingly, the placental oxidative status was affected by oil
      quality and AOX supplementation, as indicated by the markedly increased placental
      gene expression of GPX and SOD (P < 0.05) in sows fed oxidized corn oil but
      normalized by supplementation of AOX. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, feeding oxidized
      corn oil did not markedly affect reproductive performance in addition to
      decreasing feed intake during lactation. Milk composition and systemic oxidative
      status were deteriorated in sows fed oxidized corn oil and partially improved by
      AOX supplementation. Moreover, placental antioxidant system of sows may have an
      adaptive response to oxidative stress, but normalized by AOX.

PMID- 28592279
TI  - The effect of post-traumatic-stress-disorder on intra-operative analgesia in a
      veteran population during cataract procedures carried out using retrobulbar or
      topical anesthesia: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A growing proportion of veterans treated at the Veterans Health
      Administration (VA) have a history of post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD), and
      there exists a higher rate of PTSD amongst veterans than the general population.
      The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between PTSD and intra
      operative analgesia, intra-operative time, and anesthesia type for cataract
      surgery in a veteran population. Secondary objectives are to determine if patient
      age, and first or second eye surgery affect intra-operative pain control or are
      correlated with type of anesthesia modality. METHODS: A retrospective study of
      330 cataract surgeries performed by resident physicians between January and
      September 2012 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Tennessee Valley Healthcare
      System, Nashville and Murfreesboro Campuses was completed. Three hundred and
      thirty veteran patients were selected if their cataract surgery was performed
      between January and September 2012. Combined cases were excluded. The primary
      outcome evaluated was intra-operative analgesia. Secondary outcomes included
      history of post-traumatic-stress-disorder, anesthesia type, first or second eye,
      pain control, intra-operative heart rate and blood pressure, age, and case
      complexity. Data was analyzed using an unpaired two-sample Welch's t-test
      assuming unequal variance and Z test of comparison of proportions. RESULTS:
      Patients with post-traumatic-stress-disorder reported higher pain scores, had
      longer operative times, and were more likely to have received a retrobulbar
      block. Operative time was not associated with an increased pain score,
      irrespective of anesthesia type, when controlled for PTSD. Complex cases had
      longer operative times, more sedation, and higher pain scores. P < 0.05 was used
      consistently. CONCLUSIONS: Post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety are more
      prevalent in the veteran population. Our data suggests that a history of post
      traumatic-stress-disorder was correlated with higher pain scores, longer
      operative times, and with having received a retrobulbar block. Patients without a
      history of PTSD were more likely to have received topical anesthesia with or
      without sedation. The veteran population requires more sedation to allay anxiety
      and perceptions of discomfort, which may account for longer surgical times. The
      veteran population is a special population and it is important to investigate how
      PTSD in the veteran population affects intra-operative analgesia.

PMID- 28592280
TI  - White blood cell count predicts the odds of kidney function decline in a Chinese
      community-based population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory processes are very important in the development of
      kidney disease. Nevertheless, the association between white blood cell (WBC)
      count and the risk of renal dysfunction has not been well-established, especially
      in subjects without chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our study investigated the
      association between WBC count and kidney function decline in a Chinese community
      based population with baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >=60
      mL/min/1.73 m2. METHODS: A total of 3768 subjects who were enrolled in an
      atherosclerosis cohort in Beijing were included in this study. EGFRs were
      calculated at baseline and follow-up using the CKD-EPI formula. The outcomes of
      this study were renal function decline (RFD) (a drop in eGFR stage along with a
      decline in eGFR of 25% or exceeding 5 mL/min/1.73 m2/year), rapid eGFR decline
      (an annual decrease in eGFR exceeding 3 mL/min/1.73 m2), and incident CKD (eGFR
      <60 min/1.73 m2 at follow-up). Multivariate logistic regression models were used
      to evaluate the associations between WBC count and each outcome. RESULTS: On
      average, the subjects were 56.6 +/- 8.5 years old, and 35.9% were male. Of the
      participants, 48.6% had hypertension and 17.4% had diabetes. The mean (SD) WBC
      count at baseline was 6.1 +/- 1.5 * 109/L. The mean (SD) eGFR at baseline was
      101.1 +/- 10.6 mL/min/1.73 m2. After 2.3 years follow-up, the incidence rates of
      RFD, rapid eGFR decline and new CKD were 7.7, 20.9, and 0.8%, respectively. WBC
      count was significantly related to RFD, rapid eGFR decline and new CKD in the
      univariate analyses. Even after adjustment for demographic variables,
      comorbidities, medications and baseline eGFR, these associations remained.
      Moreover, similar trends in RFD were observed in nearly all subgroups stratified
      by each confounding variable. The increase in the odds of RFD associated with
      each 109/L increase in WBC count was significantly greater in subjects not
      undergoing treatment with lipid-lowering drugs than those not undergoing this
      treatment (P-interaction: 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, elevated WBC count
      served as a predictor of the odds of kidney function decline in this population,
      which supports the hypothesis that systemic inflammation may serve as a risk
      factor for CKD development.

PMID- 28592281
TI  - Influence of Plantago ovata husk (dietary fiber) on the bioavailability and other
      pharmacokinetic parameters of metformin in diabetic rabbits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metformin is an oral hypoglycemic agent frequently used in patients
      with type 2 diabetes. In this study, we have investigated the influence of the
      dietary fiber Plantago ovata husk on the pharmacokinetics of this drug when
      included in the diet, as well as when administered at the same time as metformin.
      METHODS: Six groups of 6 rabbits were used. Groups 1 to 3 were fed with standard
      chow and groups 4 to 6 with chow supplemented with fiber (3.5 mg/kg/day). Groups
      1 and 4 received metformin intravenously (30 mg/kg). Groups 2 and 5 received
      metfomin orally (30 mg/kg), and number 3 and 6 were treated orally with metformin
      (30 mg/kg) and fiber (300 mg/kg). RESULTS: The changes caused by the inclusion of
      fiber in the feeding were more important in groups that received oral metformin.
      In this way, metformin oral bioavailability showed an increase of 34.42% when
      rabbits were fed with supplemented chow. CONCLUSIONS: Plantago ovata husk
      increased the amount of absorbed metformin when included in the diet (significant
      increase in AUC), and delayed its absorption when administered at the same time
      (significant increase in tmax).

PMID- 28592283
TI  - Health systems research in fragile and conflict affected states: a qualitative
      study of associated challenges.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High quality health systems research (HSR) in fragile and conflict
      affected states (FCAS) is essential to guiding the policies and programmes that
      will improve access to health services and, ultimately, health outcomes. Yet,
      conducting HSR in FCAS is challenging. An understanding of these challenges is
      essential to tackling them and to supporting research conducted in these complex
      environments. Led by the Thematic Working Group on Health Systems in FCAS, the
      primary aim of this study was to develop a research agenda on HSR in FCAS. The
      secondary aim was to identify the challenges associated with conducting HSR in
      these contexts. This paper presents these challenges. METHODS: Guided by a
      purposely-selected steering group, this qualitative study collected respondents'
      perspectives through an online survey (n = 61) and a group discussion at the
      Third Global Symposium on HSR in September 2014 (n = 11). Respondents with
      knowledge and/or experience of HSR in FCAS were intentionally recruited. RESULTS:
      Of those ever involved in HSR in FCAS (45/61, 75%), almost all (98%) experienced
      challenges in conducting their research. Challenges fall under three broad
      thematic areas: (1) lack of appropriate support; (2) complex local research
      environment, including access constraints, weak local research capacity,
      collaboration challenges and lack of trust in the research process; and (3)
      limited research application, including rapidly outdated findings and lack of
      engagement with the research process and results. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows
      that those familiar with HSR in FCAS face many challenges in gaining support for
      and in conducting and applying high-quality research. There is a need for more
      sustainable support, including commitment to and long-term funding of HSR in
      FCAS; investment in capacity building within FCAS to meet the challenges related
      to implementation of research in these complex environments; relationship and
      trust building among stakeholders involved in HSR, particularly between local and
      international researchers and between researchers and participants; and
      innovative and flexible approaches to research design and implementation in these
      insecure and rapidly changing contexts.

PMID- 28592284
TI  - Biogenic selenium nanoparticles induce ROS-mediated necroptosis in PC-3 cancer
      cells through TNF activation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Selenium is well documented to inhibit cancer at higher doses;
      however, the mechanism behind this inhibition varies widely depending on the cell
      type and selenium species. Previously, we have demonstrated that Bacillus
      licheniformis JS2 derived biogenic selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) induce non
      apoptotic cell death in prostate adenocarcinoma cell line, PC-3, at a minimal
      concentration of 2 ug Se/ml, without causing toxicity to the primary cells.
      However, the mechanism behind its anticancer activity was elusive. RESULTS: Our
      results have shown that these SeNPs at a concentration of 2 ug Se/ml were able to
      induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated necroptosis in PC-3 cells by
      gaining cellular internalization. Real-time qPCR analysis showed increased
      expression of necroptosis associated tumor necrotic factor (TNF) and interferon
      regulatory factor 1 (IRF1). An increased expression of RIP1 protein was also
      observed at the translational level upon SeNP treatment. Moreover, the cell
      viability was significantly increased in the presence of necroptosis inhibitor,
      Necrostatin-1. CONCLUSION: Data suggest that our biogenic SeNPs induce cell death
      in PC-3 cells by the ROS-mediated activation of necroptosis, independent to RIP3
      and MLKL, regulated by a RIP1 kinase.

PMID- 28592282
TI  - The role of virtual reality in improving motor performance as revealed by EEG: a
      randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many studies have demonstrated the usefulness of repetitive task
      practice by using robotic-assisted gait training (RAGT) devices, including
      Lokomat, for the treatment of lower limb paresis. Virtual reality (VR) has proved
      to be a valuable tool to improve neurorehabilitation training. The aim of our
      pilot randomized clinical trial was to understand the neurophysiological basis of
      motor function recovery induced by the association between RAGT (by using Lokomat
      device) and VR (an animated avatar in a 2D VR) by studying
      electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillations. METHODS: Twenty-four patients
      suffering from a first unilateral ischemic stroke in the chronic phase were
      randomized into two groups. One group performed 40 sessions of Lokomat with VR
      (RAGT + VR), whereas the other group underwent Lokomat without VR (RAGT-VR). The
      outcomes (clinical, kinematic, and EEG) were measured before and after the
      robotic intervention. RESULTS: As compared to the RAGT-VR group, all the patients
      of the RAGT + VR group improved in the Rivermead Mobility Index and Tinetti
      Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment. Moreover, they showed stronger event
      related spectral perturbations in the high-gamma and beta bands and larger fronto
      central cortical activations in the affected hemisphere. CONCLUSIONS: The robotic
      based rehabilitation combined with VR in patients with chronic hemiparesis
      induced an improvement in gait and balance. EEG data suggest that the use of VR
      may entrain several brain areas (probably encompassing the mirror neuron system)
      involved in motor planning and learning, thus leading to an enhanced motor
      performance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Retrospectively registered in Clinical Trials on
      21-11-2016, n. NCT02971371 .

PMID- 28592285
TI  - Blockade of adenosine A2A receptor enhances CD8+ T cells response and decreases
      regulatory T cells in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer immunotherapy offers a promising approach in cancer treatment.
      The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) could protect cancerous tissues from immune
      clearance via inhibiting T cells response. To date, the role of A2AR in head and
      neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has not been investigated. Here, we sought
      to explore the expression and immunotherapeutic value of A2AR blockade in HNSCC.
      METHODS: The expression of A2AR was evaluated by immunostaining in 43 normal
      mucosae, 48 dysplasia and 165 primary HNSCC tissues. The immunotherapeutic value
      of A2AR blockade was assessed in vivo in genetically defined immunocompetent
      HNSCC mouse model. RESULTS: Immunostaining of HNSCC tissue samples revealed that
      increased expression of A2AR on tumor infiltrating immune cells correlated with
      advanced pathological grade, larger tumor size and positive lymph node status.
      Elevated A2AR expression was also detected in recurrent HNSCC and HNSCC tissues
      with induction chemotherapy. The expression of A2AR was found to be significantly
      correlated with HIF-1alpha, CD73, CD8 and Foxp3. Furthermore, the increased
      population of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs), which partially expressed
      A2AR, was observed in an immunocompetent mouse model that spontaneously develops
      HNSCC. Pharmacological blockade of A2AR by SCH58261 delayed the tumor growth in
      the HNSCC mouse model. Meanwhile, A2AR blockade significantly reduced the
      population of CD4+ Foxp3+ Tregs and enhanced the anti-tumor response of CD8+ T
      cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results offer a preclinical proof for the
      administration of A2AR inhibitor on prophylactic experimental therapy of HNSCC
      and suggest that A2AR blockade can be a potential novel strategy for HNSCC
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 28592286
TI  - Immunological effect of local ablation combined with immunotherapy on solid
      malignancies.
AB  - Recent comprehensive investigations clarified that immune microenvironment
      surrounding tumor cells are deeply involved in tumor progression, metastasis, and
      response to treatment. Furthermore, several immunotherapeutic trials have
      achieved successful results, and the immunotherapeutic agents are available in
      clinical practice. To enhance their demonstrated efficacy, combination of
      immunotherapy and ablation has begun to emerge. Local ablations have considerable
      advantages as an alternative therapeutic option, especially its minimal
      invasiveness. In addition, local ablations have shown immune-regulatory effect in
      preclinical and clinical studies. Although the corresponding mechanisms are still
      unclear, the local ablations combined with immunotherapy have been suggested in
      the treatment of several solid malignancies. This article aims to review the
      published data on the immune-regulatory effects of local ablations including
      stereotactic body radiotherapy, cryoablation, radiofrequency ablation, and high
      intensity-focused ultrasound. We also discuss the value of local ablations
      combined with immunotherapy. Local ablations have the potential to improve future
      patient outcomes; however, the effectiveness and safety of local ablations
      combined with immunotherapy should be further investigated.

PMID- 28592287
TI  - Naloxone and the Inner City Youth Experience (NICYE): a community-based
      participatory research study examining young people's perceptions of the BC take
      home naloxone program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Take home naloxone (THN) programs reduce mortality by training
      bystanders to respond to opioid overdoses. Clinical observation by the health
      care team at the Inner City Youth (ICY) program indicated that young adults
      appeared to enthusiastically participate in the THN program and developed
      improved relationships with staff after THN training. However, we found a dearth
      of literature exploring the experiences of young adults with THN programs. This
      study set out to address this gap and identify suggestions from the young adults
      for program improvement. The primary research question was "How do street
      involved young people experience the THN Program in Vancouver, BC?" METHODS: The
      study was undertaken at the ICY Program. Two peer researchers with lived
      experience of THN were recruited from ICY and were involved in all phases of the
      study. The peer researchers and a graduate student facilitated two focus groups
      and five individual interviews with ICY program participants using a semi
      structured interview guide. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. The cut
      up-and-put-in-folders approach was used to identify emerging themes. RESULTS: The
      themes that emerged were perceptions of risk, altruism, strengthening
      relationship with staff, access to training, empowerment, and confidence in
      ability to respond, and suggestions for youth-friendly training. These themes
      were then situated within the framework of the health belief model to provide
      additional context. Participants viewed themselves as vulnerable to overdose and
      spoke of the importance of expanding access to THN training. Following training,
      participants reported an increase in internal locus of control, an improved sense
      of safety among the community of people who use drugs, improved self-esteem, and
      strengthened relationships with ICY staff. Overall, participants found THN
      training engaging, which appeared to enhance participation in other ICY
      programming. CONCLUSIONS: Young people perceived THN training as a positive
      experience that improved relationships with staff. Participant recommendations
      for quality improvement were implemented within the provincial program.

PMID- 28592288
TI  - Stool frequency recording in severe acute malnutrition ('StoolSAM'); an agreement
      study comparing maternal recall versus direct observation using diapers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 50% of the deaths of children under the age of 5 can be
      attributed to undernutrition, which also encompasses severe acute malnutrition
      (SAM). Diarrhoea is strongly associated with these deaths and is commonly
      diagnosed solely based on stool frequency and consistency obtained through
      maternal recall. This trial aims to determine whether this approach is equivalent
      to a 'directly observed method' in which a health care worker directly observed
      stool frequency using diapers in hospitalised children with complicated SAM.
      METHODS: This study was conducted at 'Moyo' Nutritional Rehabilitation Unit,
      Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi. Participants were children aged 5-59
      months admitted with SAM. We compared 2 days of stool frequency data obtained
      with next-day maternal-recall versus a 'gold standard' in which a health care
      worker observed stool frequency every 2 h using diapers. After study completion,
      guardians were asked their preferred method and their level of education.
      RESULTS: We found poor agreement between maternal recall and the 'gold standard'
      of directly observed diapers. The sensitivity to detect diarrhoea based on
      maternal recall was poor, with only 75 and 56% of diarrhoea cases identified on
      days 1 and 2, respectively. However, the specificity was higher with more than
      80% of children correctly classified as not having diarrhoea. On day 1, the mean
      stool frequency difference between the two methods was -0.17 (SD; 1.68) with
      limits of agreement (of stool frequency) of -3.55 and 3.20 and, similarly on day
      2, the mean difference was -0.2 (SD; 1.59) with limits of agreement of -3.38 and
      2.98. These limits extend beyond the pre-specified 'acceptable' limits of
      agreement (+/-1.5 stool per day) and indicate that the 2 methods are non
      equivalent. The higher the stool frequency, the more discrepant the two methods
      were. Most primary care givers strongly preferred using diapers. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study shows lack of agreement between the assessment of stool frequency in
      SAM patients using maternal recall and direct observation of diapers. When
      designing studies, one should consider using diapers to determining diarrhoea
      incidence/prevalence in SAM patients especially when accuracy is essential. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN11571116 (registered 29/11/2013).

PMID- 28592290
TI  - DNA methylation-based chromatin compartments and ChIP-seq profiles reveal
      transcriptional drivers of prostate carcinogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Profiles of DNA methylation of many tissues relevant in human disease
      have been obtained from microarrays and are publicly available. These can be used
      to generate maps of chromatin compartmentalization, demarcating open and closed
      chromatin across the genome. Additionally, large sets of genome-wide
      transcription factor binding profiles have been made available thanks to ChIP-seq
      technology. METHODS: We have identified genomic regions with altered chromatin
      compartmentalization in prostate adenocarcinoma tissue relative to normal
      prostate tissue, using DNA methylation microarray data from The Cancer Genome
      Atlas. DNA binding profiles from the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) ChIP
      seq studies have been systematically screened to find transcription factors with
      inferred DNA binding sites located in discordantly open/closed chromatin in
      malignant tissue (compared with non-cancer control tissue). We have combined this
      with tests for corresponding up-/downregulation of the transcription factors'
      putative target genes to obtain an integrated measure of cancer-specific
      regulatory activity to identify likely transcriptional drivers of prostate
      cancer. RESULTS: Generally, we find that the degree to which transcription
      factors preferentially bind regions of chromatin that become more accessible
      during prostate carcinogenesis is significantly associated to the level of
      systematic upregulation of their targets, at the level of gene expression. Our
      approach has yielded 11 transcription factors that show strong cancer-specific
      transcriptional activation of targets, including the novel candidates KAT2A and
      TRIM28, alongside established drivers of prostate cancer MYC, ETS1, GABP and YY1.
      CONCLUSIONS: This approach to integrated epigenetic and transcriptional profiling
      using publicly available data represents a cheap and powerful technique for
      identifying potential drivers of human disease. In our application to prostate
      adenocarcinoma data, the fact that well-known drivers are amongst the top
      candidates suggests that the discovery of novel candidate drivers may unlock
      pathways to future medicines. Data download instructions and code to reproduce
      this work are available at GitHub under 'edcurry/PRAD-compartments'.

PMID- 28592289
TI  - Weight-for-length, early weight-gain velocity and atopic dermatitis in infancy
      and at two years of age: a cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overweight and atopic dermatitis (AD) are major health problems in
      most industrialised countries, but the relationship between overweight and AD in
      infants and young children is unclear. We investigated if weight-for-length at
      birth, in infancy and at two years, as well as early weight-gain velocity, are
      associated with the development of AD in early life. METHODS: Cohort study of
      infants (n = 642), all living in south-east Norway, hospitalized with acute
      bronchiolitis (n = 404) or recruited from the general population (n = 238),
      examined at mean age 5.1 months (enrolment) and at a two-year follow-up visit (n
      = 499; 78%) at mean age 24.6 months. Exposures were weight-for-length (g/cm) at
      birth, enrolment and two-year follow-up, and early weight-gain velocity
      (gram/month from birth to enrolment). Excessive weight-for-length was defined as
      weight-for-length >95th percentile of WHO child-growth standards. Data on weight
      for-length at the three time points were obtained for 435, 428 and 473 children.
      AD was diagnosed according to the Hanifin & Rajka criteria or from a history of
      physician-diagnosed AD. We performed multivariate analyses with weight-for-length
      at birth, at enrolment and at the two-year follow-up visit and with early weight
      gain velocity for the endpoint AD at each visit. RESULTS: In adjusted analyses,
      excessive weight-for-length at enrolment was associated with concurrent AD (OR
      3.03; 95% CI 1.23-7.50) and with AD at two years (OR 2.40; 1.11-5.17). In infants
      without AD, weight-for-length at enrolment increased the risk of AD at two years,
      with OR being 1.02 (95% CI 1.00-1.04) per increased gram/cm. AD at two years was
      not associated with concurrent excessive weight-for-length, nor was AD at any
      time associated with weight-for-length at birth or with early weight-gain
      velocity. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that overweight in infancy may
      contribute to the development of AD in early life, highlighting the need for
      child health-care professionals to address potential overweight and atopic
      disease when advising infants' caregivers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      number, NCT00817466 , EudraCT number, 2009-012667-34.

PMID- 28592291
TI  - Tightly controlled MRTF-A activity regulates epithelial differentiation during
      formation of mammary acini.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTF) A and B link actin
      dynamics and mechanotransduction to gene expression. In mice, MRTF-A is involved
      in mammary gland differentiation, but its role in human mammary epithelial cells
      remains unclear. METHODS: Three-dimensional cultures of human mammary epithelial
      MCF10A cells were used to model acinar morphogenesis. Stable MRTF-A knockdown,
      MRTF-A/B rescue and MRTF-A/B overexpression was established to characterize the
      functional role during morphogenesis using confocal microscopy and expression
      analysis. Breast cancer patient databases were analyzed for MRTF-A expression.
      RESULTS: We showed that a precise temporal control of MRTFs is required for
      normal morphogenesis of MCF10A mammary acini. MRTF transcriptional activity, but
      not their protein amounts, is transiently induced during 3D acini formation. MRTF
      A knockdown dramatically reduces acini size and prevents lumen formation. These
      effects are rescued by re-expression of MRTF-A, and partially by MRTF-B.
      Conversely, overexpression of MRTF-A and MRTF-B increases acini size, resulting
      in irregular spheroids without lumen and defective apico-basal polarity. These
      phenotypes correlate with deregulated expression of cell cycle inhibitors
      p21/Waf1, p27/Kip1 and altered phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein. In MRTF
      overexpressing spheroids, proliferation and apoptosis are simultaneously
      increased at late stages, whilst neither occurs in control acini. MRTFs interfere
      with anoikis of the inner cells and cause an integrin switch from alpha6 to
      alpha5, repression of E-cadherin and induction of mesenchymal markers vimentin,
      Snai2 and Zeb1. Moreover, MRTF-overexpressing spheroids are insensitive to
      alteration in matrix stiffness. In two breast cancer cohorts, high expression of
      MRTF-A and known target genes was associated with decreased patient survival.
      CONCLUSION: MRTF-A is required for proliferation and formation of mammary acini
      from luminal epithelial cells. Conversely, elevated MRTF activity results in pre
      malignant spheroid formation due to defective proliferation, polarity loss and
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

PMID- 28592292
TI  - Effects of amiodarone on short QT syndrome variant 3 in human ventricles: a
      simulation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Short QT syndrome (SQTS) is a newly identified clinical disorder
      associated with atrial and/or ventricular arrhythmias and increased risk of
      sudden cardiac death (SCD). The SQTS variant 3 is linked to D172N mutation to the
      KCNJ2 gene that causes a gain-of-function to the inward rectifier potassium
      channel current (I K1), which shortens the ventricular action potential duration
      (APD) and effective refractory period (ERP). Pro-arrhythmogenic effects of SQTS
      have been characterized, but less is known about the possible pharmacological
      treatment of SQTS. Therefore, in this study, we used computational modeling to
      assess the effects of amiodarone, class III anti-arrhythmic agent, on human
      ventricular electrophysiology in SQT3. METHODS: The ten Tusscher et al. model for
      the human ventricular action potentials (APs) was modified to incorporate I K1
      formulations based on experimental data of Kir2.1 channels (including WT, WT
      D172N and D172N conditions). The modified cell model was then implemented to
      construct one-dimensional (1D) and 2D tissue models. The blocking effects of
      amiodarone on ionic currents were modeled using IC50 and Hill coefficient values
      from literatures. Effects of amiodarone on APD, ERP and pseudo-ECG traces were
      computed. Effects of the drug on the temporal and spatial vulnerability of
      ventricular tissue to genesis and maintenance of re-entry were measured, as well
      as on the dynamic behavior of re-entry. RESULTS: Amiodarone prolonged the
      ventricular cell APD and decreased the maximal voltage heterogeneity (deltaV)
      among three difference cells types across transmural ventricular wall, leading to
      a decreased transmural heterogeneity of APD along a 1D model of ventricular
      transmural strand. Amiodarone increased cellular ERP, prolonged QT interval and
      decreased the T-wave amplitude. It reduced tissue's temporal susceptibility to
      the initiation of re-entry and increased the minimum substrate size necessary to
      sustain re-entry in the 2D tissue. CONCLUSIONS: At the therapeutic-relevant
      concentration of amiodarone, the APD and ERP at the single cell level were
      increased significantly. The QT interval in pseudo-ECG was prolonged and the re
      entry in tissue was prevented. This study provides further evidence that
      amiodarone may be a potential pharmacological agent for preventing
      arrhythmogenesis for SQT3 patients.

PMID- 28592293
TI  - Plasmobase: a comparative database of predicted domain architectures for
      Plasmodium genomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the availability of complete genome sequences of both human and
      non-human Plasmodium parasites, it is now possible to use comparative genomics to
      look for orthology across Plasmodium species and for species specific genes. This
      comparative analyses could provide important clues for the development of new
      strategies to prevent and treat malaria in humans, however, the number of
      functionally annotated proteins is still low for all Plasmodium species. In the
      context of genomes that are hard to annotate because of sequence divergence, such
      as Plasmodium, domain co-occurrence becomes particularly important to trust
      predictions. In particular, domain architecture prediction can be used to improve
      the performance of existing annotation methods since homologous proteins might
      share their architectural context. RESULTS: Plasmobase is a unique database
      designed for the comparative study of Plasmodium genomes. Domain architecture
      reconstruction in Plasmobase relies on DAMA, the state-of-the-art method in
      architecture prediction, while domain annotation is realised with CLADE, a novel
      annotation tool based on a multi-source strategy. Plasmobase significantly
      increases the Pfam domain coverage of all Plasmodium genomes, it proposes new
      domain architectures as well as new domain families that have never been reported
      before for these genomes. It proposes a visualization of domain architectures and
      allows for an easy comparison among architectures within Plasmodium species and
      with other species, described in UniProt. CONCLUSIONS: Plasmobase is a valuable
      new resource for domain annotation in Plasmodium genomes. Its graphical
      presentation of protein sequences, based on domain architectures, will hopefully
      be of interest for comparative genomic studies. It should help to discover
      species-specific genes, possibly underlying important phenotypic differences
      between parasites, and orthologous gene families for deciphering the biology of
      these complex and important Apicomplexan organisms. In conclusion, Plasmobase is
      a flexible and rich site where any biologist can find something of his/her own
      interest. AVAILABILITY: Plasmobase is accessible at
      http://genome.lcqb.upmc.fr/plasmobase/ .

PMID- 28592294
TI  - Exercise in claudicants increase or decrease walking ability and the response
      relates to mitochondrial function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise of patients with intermittent claudication improves walking
      performance. Exercise does not usually increase blood flow, but seems to increase
      muscle mitochondrial enzyme activities. Although exercise is beneficial in most
      patients, it might be harmful in some. The mitochondrial response to exercise
      might therefore differ between patients. Our hypothesis was that changes in
      walking performance relate to changes in mitochondrial function after 8 weeks of
      exercise. At a subgroup level, negative responders decrease and positive
      responders increase mitochondrial capacity. METHODS: Two types of exercise were
      studied, calf raising and walking (n = 28). We wanted to see whether there were
      negative and positive responders, independent of type of exercise. Measurements
      of walking performance, peripheral hemodynamics, mitochondrial respiration and
      content (citrate synthase activity) were obtained on each patient before and
      after the intervention period. Multiple linear regression was used to test
      whether changes in peak walking time relate to mitochondrial function. Subgroups
      of negative (n = 8) and positive responders (n = 8) were defined as those that
      either decreased or increased peak walking time following exercise. Paired t test
      and analysis of covariance was used to test changes within and between subgroups.
      RESULTS: Changes in peak walking time were related to changes in mitochondrial
      respiration supported by electron transferring flavoprotein (ETF + CI)P (p =
      0.004), complex I (CI + ETF)P (p = 0.003), complex I + complex II (CI + CII +
      ETF)P (p = 0.037) and OXPHOS coupling efficiency (p = 0.046) in the whole group.
      Negative responders had more advanced peripheral arterial disease. Mitochondrial
      respiration supported by electron transferring flavoprotein (ETF + CI)P (p =
      0.0013), complex I (CI + ETF)P (p = 0.0005), complex I + complex II (CI + CII +
      ETF)P (p = 0.011) and electron transfer system capacity (CI + CII + ETF)E (p =
      0.021) and OXPHOS coupling efficiency decreased in negative responders (p =
      0.0007) after exercise. Positive responders increased citrate synthase activity
      (p = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in walking performance seem to relate to
      changes in mitochondrial function after exercise. Negative responders have more
      advanced peripheral arterial disease and decrease, while positive responders
      increase mitochondrial capacity. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID:
      NCT023110256.

PMID- 28592295
TI  - Angiostrongylus vasorum infection in dogs from a cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis
      endemic area of Northwestern Italy: a case study and a retrospective data
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Italy, Angiostrongylus vasorum, an emergent parasite, is being
      diagnosed in dogs from areas considered free of infection so far. As clinical
      signs are multiple and common to other diseases, its diagnosis can be
      challenging. In particular, in areas where angiostrongylosis and dirofilariosis
      overlap, a misleading diagnosis of cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis might occur
      even on the basis of possible misleading outcomes from diagnostic kits. CASE
      PRESENTATION: Two Cavalier King Charles spaniel dogs from an Italian breeding in
      the Northwest were referred to a private veterinary hospital with respiratory
      signs. A cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis was diagnosed and the dogs treated with
      ivermectin, but one of them died. At necropsy, pulmonary oedema, enlargement of
      tracheo-bronchial lymphnodes and of cardiac right side were detected. Within the
      right ventricle lumen, adults of A. vasorum were found. All dogs from the same
      kennel were subjected to faecal examination by FLOTAC and Baermann's techniques
      to detect A. vasorum first stage larvae; blood analysis by Knott's for
      Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae, and antigenic tests for both A. vasorum (Angio
      DetectTM) and D.immitis (DiroCHEK(r) Heartworm, Witness(r)Dirofilaria). The
      surviving dog with respiratory signs resulted positive for A. vasorum both at
      serum antigens and larval detection. Its Witness(r) test was low positive
      similarly to other four dogs from the same kennel, but false positive results due
      to cross reactions with A. vasorum were also considered. No dogs were found
      infected by A. vasorum. Eventually, the investigation was deepened by browsing
      the pathological database of Veterinary Pathology Laboratories at Veterinary
      School of Milan University through 1998-2016, where 11 cases of angiostrongylosis
      were described. Two out of 11 dogs had a mixed infection with Crenosoma vulpis.
      CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates the need for accurate surveys to acquire
      proper epidemiological data on A. vasorum infection in Northwestern Italy and for
      appropriate diagnostic methods. Veterinary clinicians should be warned about the
      occurrence of this canine parasite and the connected risk of a misleading
      diagnosis, particularly in areas endemic for cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis.

PMID- 28592296
TI  - Pigsties near dwellings as a potential risk factor for the prevalence of Japanese
      encephalitis virus in adult in Shanxi, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increasing trend of adult cases of Japanese encephalitis (JE) in
      China, particularly in northern China, has become an important public health
      issue. We conducted an epidemiological investigation in the south of Shanxi
      Province to examine the relationships between mosquitoes, Japanese encephalitis
      virus (JEV), and adult JE cases. METHODS: Mosquito specimens were collected from
      the courtyards of farmers' households and pig farms in Shanxi Province.
      Mosquitoes were pooled, homogenized, and centrifuged. Reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect mosquito-borne arbovirus
      genes in homogenates. Specimens positive for these genes were inoculated into the
      baby hamster kidney cell line (BHK-21) to isolate virus. Minimum infection rate
      was calculated and phylogenetic analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 7
      943 mosquitoes belonging to six species in four genera were collected; Culex
      tritaeniorhynchus accounted for 73.08% (5 805/7 943), C. pipiens pallens for
      24.75% (1 966/7 943), and the remaining 3% (104/ 7943) consisted of Anopheles
      sinensis, Aedes vexans, Ae. dorsalis, and Armigeres subalbatus. Sixteen pools
      were positive for JEV based on RT-PCR using JEV pre-membrane gene nested primers.
      Phylogenetic analyses showed that all JEVs belonged to genotype I; two pools were
      positive using Getah Virus (GETV) gene primers. In addition, one JEV strain
      (SXYC1523) was isolated from C. pipiens pallens specimens. These results indicate
      that the minimum infection rate of JEV in mosquito specimens collected from the
      courtyards of farmers' households with pigsties was 7.39/1 000; the rate for pig
      farms was 2.68/1 000; and the rate for farmers' courtyards without pigsties was
      zero. CONCLUSIONS: The high-prevalence regions of adult JE investigated in this
      study are still the natural epidemic focus of JEV. Having pigsties near dwellings
      is a potential risk factor contributing to the prevalence of adult JE. To prevent
      the occurrence of local adult JE cases, a recommendation was raised that, besides
      continuing to implement the Expanded Program on Immunization for children, the
      government should urge local farmers to cease raising pigs in their own
      courtyards to reduce the probability of infection with JEV.

PMID- 28592297
TI  - Negative anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody at switch to maintenance therapy is
      associated with a reduced risk of relapse.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relapse of disease is frequent in anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody
      (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). It is unclear whether persistent ANCA when
      starting maintenance therapy increases the risk of relapse. We examined the
      association between ANCA status and relapse in two randomised controlled trials.
      METHODS: ANCA-positive patients in two trials, CYCLOPS and IMPROVE, were switched
      from cyclophosphamide to maintenance therapy after achieving clinical remission.
      We classified patients as being either ANCA-positive or ANCA-negative at the time
      they started maintenance therapy. We compared the risk of relapse in ANCA
      positive and ANCA-negative patients. RESULTS: Of 252 patients included, 102 (40%)
      experienced at least one relapse during the follow-up period. At the time of the
      switch from induction to maintenance therapy, 111 were ANCA-positive, of whom 55
      (50%) relapsed, compared to 141 patients who were ANCA-negative, of whom 47 (33%)
      relapsed. In multivariable time-to-event analysis, a reduced risk of relapse was
      associated with having become ANCA-negative at the time of switching to
      maintenance therapy (hazard ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.42-0.95; p =
      0.026). In addition, initial proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA, younger age, lower serum
      creatinine, pulsed cyclophosphamide for remission induction, and mycophenolate
      mofetil for remission maintenance were all associated with an increased risk of
      relapse. CONCLUSIONS: Becoming ANCA-negative before the switch to maintenance is
      associated with a reduced risk of relapse. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CYCLOPS:
      ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00430105 . Registered retrospectively on 31 January 2007.
      IMPROVE: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00307645 . Registered retrospectively on 27 March
      2006.

PMID- 28592298
TI  - Exploring breast cancer preventive lifestyle and social support of Iranian women:
      a study protocol for a mixed-methods approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that a healthy lifestyle may decrease the
      probability of developing cancer. This study aimed to describe a study protocol
      that makes it possible to explore preventive health lifestyles of Iranian women
      and their received social support for the purpose of developing cultural
      strategies to increase breast cancer prevention. METHODS: A mixed-methods study
      will be accomplished in two sequential parts. First, a cross-sectional study will
      be conducted in which 2,250 Iranian women are recruited by using a random
      multistage cluster sampling of 20 health care centers. Structured face-to-face
      interviews will be conducted to obtain information on the participants' health
      lifestyle and perceived social support. Data will be analyzed using both
      multivariate regression and structural equation modeling techniques. Then, a
      qualitative study will be conducted among employed women using a purposive
      sampling design. Data will be collected by means of focus groups and semi
      structured interviews and will be analyzed using a conventional content analysis
      approach. The results of the quantitative and qualitative study will be used to
      develop breast cancer preventive strategies. DISCUSSION: Researchers need to
      acquire knowledge regarding the lifestyle and perceived social support of Iranian
      women that will foster culturally competent approaches to promote healthy
      lifestyles to develop breast cancer preventive strategies. Examining breast
      cancer preventive lifestyles provides valuable information for designing
      applicable intervention programs for improving women's health.

PMID- 28592300
TI  - Factors influencing treatment success of negative pressure wound therapy in
      patients with postoperative infections after Osteosynthetic fracture fixation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is being increasingly used to
      treat postoperative infections after osteosynthetic fracture fixation. The aim of
      the present study was to analyze the influence of epidemiological and
      microbiological parameters on outcome. METHODS: Infections following operative
      fracture fixation were registered in a comprehensive Critical Incidence Reporting
      System and subsequently analyzed retrospectively for characteristics of patients
      including comorbidity, bacteria, and clinical factors. The influence of the
      investigated parameters was analyzed using logistic regression models based on
      data from 106 patients. RESULTS: Staged wound lavage in combination with NPWT
      allowed implant preservation in 44% and led to successful healing in 73% of
      patients. Fermentation characteristics, load and behavior after gram staining
      revealed no statistically significant correlation with either healing or implant
      preservation. Infecting bacteria were successfully isolated in 87% of patients.
      20% of all infections were caused by bacterial combinations. We observed a change
      in the infecting bacterial species under therapy in 23%. Age, gender, metabolic
      diseases or comorbidities did not influence the probability of implant
      preservation or healing. The delayed manifestation of infection (>4 weeks)
      correlated with a higher risk for implant loss (OR 5.1 [95% CI 1.41-17.92]) as
      did the presence of bacterial mixture (OR 5.0 [95% CI 1.41-17.92]) and open soft
      tissue damage >= grade 3 (OR 10.2 [CI 1.88-55.28]). Wounds were less likely to
      heal in conjunction with high CRP blood levels (>20 mg/l) at the time of
      discharge (OR 3.6 [95% CI 1.31-10.08]) or following a change of the infecting
      bacterial species under therapy (OR 3.2 [95% CI, 1.13-8.99]). CONCLUSIONS: These
      results indicate that the delayed manifestation of infection, high CRP blood
      levels at discharge, and alterations in the infecting bacterial species under
      therapy raise the risk of NPWT failure.

PMID- 28592299
TI  - Real versus sham proximal biofield therapy in the treatment of warts of the hands
      and feet in adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (MAGNETIK
      study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the lack of scientific studies on biofield therapies, they
      are widely acclaimed by patients. The mechanisms of action are not explained by
      current allopathic medical approaches. Warts are common and contagious viral
      lesions that may be refractory to standard dermatologic treatments such as
      cryotherapy, laser therapy, and keratolytic ointments. Biofield therapies are
      efficient in various pathologies. Their ability to treat warts has never been
      demonstrated in a scientific study with a robust methodology. Patients with
      refractory warts often place their trust in these alternative therapies because
      of the poor results obtained from traditional medicine. We propose a prospective,
      randomized, single-blind, assessor-blind trial to evaluate the efficacy of
      treatment of warts by biofield therapy. METHODS/DESIGN: Subjects with warts on
      their feet or hands will be randomized into two groups: real biofield therapy
      versus sham therapy. The diagnosis will be made at the time of inclusion, and
      follow-up will take place in week 3. Comparison of pictures of the warts at
      baseline and after 3 weeks will be used as the primary outcome measure. The
      hypothesis is that the extent of the disappearance of the original wart in the
      group treated by real biofield therapy will be 70% and that it will be 30% in the
      group treated by sham therapy. Using 90% power and an alpha risk of 5%, 31
      subjects are required in each group for a two-tailed proportion comparison test.
      DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the efficacy of
      biofield therapy on warts. Therefore, the aim of this study is to extend
      knowledge of biofield therapy to another area of medicine such as dermatology and
      to propose complementary or alternative practices to improve patient well-being.
      The main strength of the study is that it is a randomized, single-blind, assessor
      blind, placebo-controlled study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier: NCT02773719 . Registered on 22 April 2016.

PMID- 28592301
TI  - Pneumococcal meningitis with normal cerebrospinal biochemistry and no pneumococci
      at microscopy, mimicking a stroke: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacterial meningitis commonly presents with symptoms such as
      headache, impaired consciousness, neck stiffness, and fever. In most cases,
      cerebrospinal fluid analysis will yield white cell counts >100/mm3. Atypical
      presentations occur, especially in the very young or very elderly and the
      immunocompromised. We report an unusual case of pneumococcal meningitis in a
      healthy 78-year-old Danish woman who presented with clinical features mimicking a
      stroke with normal cerebrospinal fluid parameters and without microscopic
      evidence of bacteria. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was admitted after being
      found unconscious on her bed. Upon admittance, she was considered confused, with
      a temperature of 39.4  degrees C and slight neutrophilic leukocytosis, but no
      neck stiffness. A neurological examination revealed bilateral horizontal
      nystagmus, unstable eye movements, and suspected right-sided gaze paralysis.
      Cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed normal parameters, and the microscopy
      result was negative for bacteria. The most likely diagnosis was considered to be
      stroke with concomitant infection. However, cerebrospinal fluid and blood
      cultures subsequently were rapidly positive for pneumococci. Neither
      immunodeficiency nor blood contamination was considered a likely cause of this
      discrepancy. CONCLUSIONS: This case emphasizes the need to consider a
      multidisciplinary approach and empirical meningitis treatment until diagnostic
      results from microbiological cultures are obtained.

PMID- 28592302
TI  - Fourth Surviving Sepsis Campaign's hemodynamic recommendations: a step forward or
      a return to chaos?

PMID- 28592303
TI  - Assessing the efficiency of catch-up campaigns for the introduction of
      pneumococcal conjugate vaccine: a modelling study based on data from PCV10
      introduction in Kilifi, Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organisation recommends the use of catch-up
      campaigns as part of the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs)
      to accelerate herd protection and hence PCV impact. The value of a catch-up
      campaign is a trade-off between the costs of vaccinating additional age groups
      and the benefit of additional direct and indirect protection. There is a paucity
      of observational data, particularly from low- and middle-income countries, to
      quantify the optimal breadth of such catch-up campaigns. METHODS: In Kilifi,
      Kenya, PCV10 was introduced in 2011 using the three-dose Expanded Programme on
      Immunisation infant schedule and a catch-up campaign in children <5 years old. We
      fitted a transmission dynamic model to detailed local data, including
      nasopharyngeal carriage and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), to infer the
      marginal impact of the PCV catch-up campaign over hypothetical routine cohort
      vaccination in that setting and to estimate the likely impact of alternative
      campaigns and their dose efficiency. RESULTS: We estimated that, within 10 years
      of introduction, the catch-up campaign among children <5 years old prevents an
      additional 65 (48-84) IPD cases across age groups, compared to PCV cohort
      introduction alone. Vaccination without any catch-up campaign prevented 155 (121
      193) IPD cases and used 1321 (1058-1698) PCV doses per IPD case prevented. In the
      years after implementation, the PCV programme gradually accrues herd protection,
      and hence its dose efficiency increases: 10 years after the start of cohort
      vaccination alone the programme used 910 (732-1184) doses per IPD case averted.
      We estimated that a two-dose catch-up among children <1 year old uses an
      additional 910 (732-1184) doses per additional IPD case averted. Furthermore, by
      extending a single-dose catch-up campaign to children aged 1 to <2 years and
      subsequently to those aged 2 to <5 years, the campaign uses an additional 412
      (296-606) and 543 (403-763) doses per additional IPD case averted. These results
      were not sensitive to vaccine coverage, serotype competition, the duration of
      vaccine protection or the relative protection of infants. CONCLUSIONS: We find
      that catch-up campaigns are a highly dose-efficient way to accelerate population
      protection against pneumococcal disease.

PMID- 28592305
TI  - Incremental diagnostic utility of systematic double-bed SPECT/CT for bone
      scintigraphy in initial staging of cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: SPECT/CT has been shown to increase the diagnostic performance of
      bone scintigraphy for staging of malignancies. A systematic double-bed SPECT/CT
      of the trunk may allow further improvement. However, this would be balanced by
      higher dosimetry and longer acquisition time. The objective was to assess the
      incremental diagnostic utility of a systematic double-bed SPECT/CT acquisition
      for bone scintigraphy in initial staging of cancer patients, especially compared
      with the usual approach consisting in a whole body planar scan (WBS) plus one
      single-bed targeted SPECT/CT. METHODS: One hundred two consecutive patients
      referred for bone scintigraphy for initial staging of malignancy were analyzed.
      All patients underwent a double-bed SPECT/CT acquisition of the trunk. Images
      were interpreted by two nuclear medicine physicians in a 3-step procedure.
      Firstly, only WBS planar images were used; secondly, one additional single-bed
      SPECT/CT chosen based on planar images was used; finally, WBS planar and double
      bed SPECT/CT images were interpreted. Lesions were classified as benign,
      equivocal or suspicious for metastasis. A per-lesion, per-anatomical region and
      per-patient analysis was performed. RESULTS: In a per-lesion analysis, the number
      of equivocal and suspicious lesions was 91 and 241 using WBS planar images, 17
      and 259 using a single-bed SPECT/CT acquisition and 11 and 269 using double-bed
      SPECT/CT images, respectively. In a per-patient analysis, the diagnostic
      conclusion was negative, equivocal or suspicious for malignancy in 35, 53 and 14
      patients using WB planar images, 77, 6 and 19 patients using an additional single
      bed SPECT/CT and 76, 7 and 19 using double-bed SPECT/CT images, respectively.
      Seventeen lesions unseen on WBS images were interpreted as suspicious (n = 12) or
      equivocal (n = 5) on double-bed SPECT/CT images. Six lesions unseen on "WBS +
      targeted single-bed SPECT/CT" were interpreted as suspicious on double-bed
      SPECT/CT, with no shift in the metastatic status of patients. CONCLUSION: A
      systematic double-bed SPECT/CT acquisition has a limited incremental diagnostic
      value over an oriented single-bed SPECT/CT in terms of specificity and
      conclusiveness of bone scintigraphy in the initial staging of cancer patients.
      However, it slightly improved the sensitivity of the test by detecting unseen
      lesions on WBS, which may be of value for initial staging of cancer.

PMID- 28592306
TI  - Priorities and strategies for improving Roma women's access to primary health
      care services in cases on intimate partner violence: a concept mapping study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With an explicit focus on Roma women in Spain (Kale/Spanish Gypsies),
      this study aims to integrate key informants' opinions about the main actions
      needed to improve primary health care services' and professionals' responses to
      Roma women in an Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) situation. METHODS: Concept
      mapping study. A total of 50 (brainstorming phase), 36 (sorting and rating phase)
      and 16 (interpretation phase) participants from Roma civil society groups,
      primary health care professionals and other related stakeholders (social
      services, academic experts and other IPV NGOs representatives) from different
      cities in Spain were involved in the different study phases. RESULTS: Among the
      55 action proposals generated, ten priority actions were identified through
      consensus as most important for improving primary health care's response to
      Romani women in an IPV situation, and these included primary, secondary and
      tertiary prevention activities. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that efforts to
      address this challenge should take an integrated approach that reinforces the
      primary health care response to IPV in general, while also promoting more
      specific actions to address barriers to access that affect all Roma women and
      those who experience IPV in particular.

PMID- 28592304
TI  - Post translational changes to alpha-synuclein control iron and dopamine
      trafficking; a concept for neuron vulnerability in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder, the aetiology
      of which remains elusive. The primary clinical feature of progressively impaired
      motor control is caused by a loss of midbrain substantia nigra dopamine neurons
      that have a high alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) and iron content. alpha-Syn is a
      neuronal protein that is highly modified post-translationally and central to the
      Lewy body neuropathology of the disease. This review provides an overview of
      findings on the role post translational modifications to alpha-syn have in
      membrane binding and intracellular vesicle trafficking. Furthermore, we propose a
      concept in which acetylation and phosphorylation of alpha-syn modulate endocytic
      import of iron and vesicle transport of dopamine during normal physiology.
      Disregulated phosphorylation and oxidation of alpha-syn mediate iron and dopamine
      dependent oxidative stress through impaired cellular location and increase
      propensity for alpha-syn aggregation. The proposition highlights a connection
      between alpha-syn, iron and dopamine, three pathological components associated
      with disease progression in sporadic Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28592307
TI  - Global gene expression in muscle from fasted/refed trout reveals up-regulation of
      genes promoting myofibre hypertrophy but not myofibre production.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compensatory growth is a phase of rapid growth, greater than the
      growth rate of control animals, that occurs after a period of growth-stunting
      conditions. Fish show a capacity for compensatory growth after alleviation of
      dietary restriction, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are unknown. To learn
      more about the contribution of genes regulating hypertrophy (an increase in
      muscle fibre size) and hyperplasia (the generation of new muscle fibres) in the
      compensatory muscle growth response in fish, we used high-density microarray
      analysis to investigate the global gene expression in muscle of trout during a
      fasting-refeeding schedule and in muscle of control-fed trout displaying normal
      growth. RESULTS: The compensatory muscle growth signature, as defined by genes up
      regulated in muscles of refed trout compared with control-fed trout, showed
      enrichment in functional categories related to protein biosynthesis and
      maturation, such as RNA processing, ribonucleoprotein complex biogenesis,
      ribosome biogenesis, translation and protein folding. This signature was also
      enriched in chromatin-remodelling factors of the protein arginine N-methyl
      transferase family. Unexpectedly, functional categories related to cell division
      and DNA replication were not inferred from the molecular signature of
      compensatory muscle growth, and this signature contained virtually none of the
      genes previously reported to be up-regulated in hyperplastic growth zones of the
      late trout embryo myotome and to potentially be involved in production of new
      myofibres, notably genes encoding myogenic regulatory factors, transmembrane
      receptors essential for myoblast fusion or myofibrillar proteins predominant in
      nascent myofibres. CONCLUSION: Genes promoting myofibre growth, but not myofibre
      formation, were up-regulated in muscles of refed trout compared with continually
      fed trout. This suggests that a compensatory muscle growth response, resulting
      from the stimulation of hypertrophy but not the stimulation of hyperplasia,
      occurs in trout after refeeding. The generation of a large set of genes up
      regulated in muscle of refed trout may yield insights into the molecular and
      cellular mechanisms controlling skeletal muscle mass in teleost and serve as a
      useful list of potential molecular markers of muscle growth in fish.

PMID- 28592309
TI  - Machine learning techniques for diabetic macular edema (DME) classification on SD
      OCT images.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) (SD-OCT) is most
      widely imaging equipment used in ophthalmology to detect diabetic macular edema
      (DME). Indeed, it offers an accurate visualization of the morphology of the
      retina as well as the retina layers. METHODS: The dataset used in this study has
      been acquired by the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), using CIRRUS TM
      (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA, USA) SD-OCT device. The dataset consists
      of 32 OCT volumes (16 DME and 16 normal cases). Each volume contains 128 B-scans
      with resolution of 1024 px * 512 px, resulting in more than 3800 images being
      processed. All SD-OCT volumes are read and assessed by trained graders and
      identified as normal or DME cases based on evaluation of retinal thickening, hard
      exudates, intraretinal cystoid space formation, and subretinal fluid. Within the
      DME sub-set, a large number of lesions has been selected to create a rather
      complete and diverse DME dataset. This paper presents an automatic classification
      framework for SD-OCT volumes in order to identify DME versus normal volumes. In
      this regard, a generic pipeline including pre-processing, feature detection,
      feature representation, and classification was investigated. More precisely,
      extraction of histogram of oriented gradients and local binary pattern (LBP)
      features within a multiresolution approach is used as well as principal component
      analysis (PCA) and bag of words (BoW) representations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
      Besides comparing individual and combined features, different representation
      approaches and different classifiers are evaluated. The best results are obtained
      for LBP[Formula: see text] vectors while represented and classified using PCA and
      a linear-support vector machine (SVM), leading to a sensitivity(SE) and
      specificity (SP) of 87.5 and 87.5%, respectively.

PMID- 28592310
TI  - Validation of the Spanish version of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and
      Information Scale (APAIS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative anxiety is a frequent and challenging problem with
      deleterious effects on the development of surgical procedures and postoperative
      outcomes. To prevent and treat preoperative anxiety effectively, the level of
      anxiety of patients needs to be assessed through valid and reliable measuring
      instruments. One such measurement tool is the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and
      Information Scale (APAIS), of which a Spanish version has not been validated yet.
      OBJECTIVE: To perform a Spanish cultural adaptation and empirical validation of
      the APAIS for assessing preoperative anxiety in the Spanish population. METHODS:
      A two-step forward/back translation of the APAIS scale was performed to ensure a
      reliable Spanish cultural adaptation. The final Spanish version of the APAIS
      questionnaire was administered to 529 patients between the ages of 18 to 70
      undergoing elective surgery at hospitals of the Agencia Sanitaria Costa del Sol
      (Spain). Cronbach's alpha, homogeneity index, intra-class correlation
      coefficient, and confirmatory factor analysis were calculated to assess internal
      consistency and criteria and construct validity. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor
      analysis showed that a one-factor model was better fitted than a two-factor
      model, with good fitting patterns (root mean square error of approximation: 0.05,
      normed-fit index: 0.99, goodness-of-fit statistic: 0.99). The questionnaire
      showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.84) and a good correlation
      with the Goldberg Anxiety Scale (CCI: 0.62 (95% CI: 0.55 to 0.68). CONCLUSIONS:
      The Spanish version of the APAIS is a valid and reliable preoperative anxiety
      measurement tool and shows psychometric properties similar to those obtained by
      similar previous studies.

PMID- 28592308
TI  - Examining clinical similarities between myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue
      syndrome and D-lactic acidosis: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pursuit for clarity in diagnostic and treatment pathways for the
      complex, chronic condition of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
      (ME/CFS) continues. This systematic review raises a novel question to explore
      possible overlapping aetiology in two distinct conditions. Similar neurocognitive
      symptoms and evidence of D-lactate producing bacteria in ME/CFS raise questions
      about shared mechanisms with the acute condition of D-lactic acidosis (D-la).
      METHODS: D-la case reports published between 1965 and March 2016 were reviewed
      for episodes describing both neurological symptoms and high D-lactate levels.
      Fifty-nine D-la episodes were included in the qualitative synthesis comparing D
      la symptoms with ME/CFS diagnostic criteria. A narrative review of D-la
      mechanisms and relevance for ME/CFS was provided. RESULTS: The majority of
      neurological disturbances reported in D-la episodes overlapped with ME/CFS
      symptoms. Of these, the most frequently reported D-la symptoms were motor
      disturbances that appear more prominent during severe presentations of ME/CFS.
      Both patient groups shared a history of gastrointestinal abnormalities and
      evidence of bacterial dysbiosis, although only preliminary evidence supported the
      role of lactate-producing bacteria in ME/CFS. LIMITATIONS: Interpretation of
      results are constrained by both the breadth of symptoms included in ME/CFS
      diagnostic criteria and the conservative methodology used for D-la symptom
      classification. Several pathophysiological mechanisms in ME/CFS were not
      examined. CONCLUSIONS: Shared symptomatology and underlying microbiota-gut-brain
      interactions raise the possibility of a continuum of acute (D-la) versus chronic
      (ME/CFS) presentations related to D-lactate absorption. Measurement of D-lactate
      in ME/CFS is needed to effectively evaluate whether subclinical D-lactate levels
      affect neurological symptoms in this clinical population.

PMID- 28592311
TI  - The effects of green cardamom on blood glucose indices, lipids, inflammatory
      factors, paraxonase-1, sirtuin-1, and irisin in patients with nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease and obesity: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between dietary components and nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD) needs to be further investigated. The potential health
      benefits of cardamom have been found in some studies. Cardamom showed beneficial
      effect on hepatomegaly, dyslipidemia, and fasting hyperglycemia in animals.
      However, some adverse effects of cardamom have been reported in animals. No
      previous human study had been conducted on the effects of cardamom in NAFLD. This
      study aims to determine the effects of green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)
      supplementation on blood glucose indices, lipids, inflammatory profiles, and
      liver function, especially by examining irisin, paraxonase-1 (PON1) and sirtuin-1
      (Sirt1) in obese patients with NAFLD. METHODS: This trial is to be conducted at
      the polyclinic of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Central Hospital,
      Tehran. Eighty obese patients with NAFLD will be selected according to the
      eligibility criteria. The NAFLD diagnosis method is ultrasonography. Patients
      will be randomly divided into two groups by a random-number table (cardamom and
      placebo groups, two 500-mg capsules, three times/day, taken with meals for 3
      months, follow-up monthly). General characteristics, dietary intakes (at the
      beginning, middle, and end), and physical activity (at the beginning and end)
      will be assessed using a general, 24-h food recall, and short-form International
      Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ), respectively. Lifestyle advice will be
      presented to both groups identically. At the beginning and the end,
      anthropometrics (weight, height, and waist circumference), blood pressure, extent
      of fatty liver, and blood biomarkers, including serum glucose indices (fasting
      blood sugar (FBS)) and insulin (FBI), homeostasis model assessment-insulin
      resistance (HOMA-IR), Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI)),
      lipids (triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c), high
      density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c), total cholesterol (TC)), inflammatory
      markers (highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6)), liver enzymes (alanine transaminase
      (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST)), irisin, PON1, and Sirt1, will be
      determined. DISCUSSION: This trial would be the first to assess the effects of
      green cardamom on several blood factors, including glucose indices, lipids,
      inflammatory markers, liver enzymes, irisin, PON1, and Sirt1, and blood pressure
      and anthropometry in obese patients with NAFLD. Further study of cardamom's
      potential in improving NAFLD is suggested. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Iranian Registry
      of Clinical Trials (IRCT), ID number: IRCT2015121317254N4 . Registered on 27
      December 2015.

PMID- 28592312
TI  - Vertical bone regeneration using rhBMP-2 and VEGF.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sufficient vertical and lateral bone supply and a competent
      osteogenic healing process are prerequisities for the successful osseointegration
      of dental implants in the alveolar bone. Several techniques including autologous
      bone grafts and guided bone regeneration are applied to improve quality and
      quantity of bone at the implantation site. Depending on the amount of lacking
      bone one- or two-stage procedures are required. Vertical bone augmentation has
      proven to be a challenge particularly in terms of bone volume stability. This
      study focuses on the three dimensional vertical bone generation in a one stage
      procedure in vivo. Therefore, a collagenous disc-shaped scaffold (ICBM =
      Insoluble Collagenous Bone Matrix) containing rhBMP-2 (Bone Morphogenetic Protein
      2) and/or VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) was applied around the
      coronal part of a dental implant during insertion. RhBMP-2 and VEGF released
      directly at the implantation site were assumed to induce the generation of new
      vertical bone around the implant. METHODS: One hundred eight titanium implants
      were inserted into the mandible and the tibia of 12 mini pigs. Four experimental
      groups were formed: Control group, ICBM, ICBM + BMP-2, and ICBM + BMP-2 + VEGF.
      After 1, 4 and 12 weeks the animals were sacrificed and bone generation was
      investigated histologically and histomorphometrically. RESULTS: After 12 weeks
      the combination of ICBM + rhBMP2 + VEGF showed significantly more bone volume
      density (BVD%), a higher vertical bone gain (VBG) and more vertical bone gain
      around the implant (PVBG) in comparison to the control group. CONCLUSION: By
      using collagenous disc-shaped matrices in combination with rhBMP-2 and VEGF
      vertical bone can be generated in a one stage procedure without donor site
      morbidity. The results of the presenting study suggest that the combination of
      rhBMP-2 and VEGF applied locally by using a collagenous carrier improves vertical
      bone generation in vivo. Further research is needed to establish whether this
      technique is applicable in clinical routines.

PMID- 28592313
TI  - Impact of community-initiated Kangaroo Mother Care on survival of low birth
      weight infants: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Around 70% neonatal deaths occur in low birth weight (LBW) babies.
      Globally, 15% of babies are born with LBW. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) appears to
      be an effective way to reduce mortality and morbidity among LBW babies. KMC
      comprises of early and continuous skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby as
      well as exclusive breastfeeding. Evidence derived from hospital-based studies
      shows that KMC results in a 40% relative reduction in mortality, a 58% relative
      reduction in the risk of nosocomial infections or sepsis, shorter hospital stay,
      and a lower risk of lower respiratory tract infections in babies with birth
      weight <2000 g. There has been considerable interest in KMC initiated outside
      health facilities for LBW babies born at home or discharged early. Currently,
      there is insufficient evidence to support initiation of KMC in the community
      (cKMC). Formative research in our study setting, where 24% of babies are born
      with LBW, demonstrated that KMC is feasible and acceptable when initiated at home
      for LBW babies. The aim of this trial is to determine the impact of cKMC on the
      survival of these babies. METHODS/DESIGN: This randomized controlled trial is
      being undertaken in the Palwal and Faridabad districts in the State of Haryana,
      India. Neonates weighing 1500-2250 g identified within 3 days of birth and their
      mothers are being enrolled. Other inclusion criteria are that the family is
      likely to be available in the study area over the next 6 months, that KMC was not
      initiated in the delivery facility, and that the infant does not have an illness
      requiring hospitalization. Eligible neonates are randomized into intervention and
      control groups. The intervention is delivered through home visits during the
      first month of life by study workers with a background and education similar to
      that of workers in the government health system. An independent study team
      collects mortality and morbidity data as well as anthropometric measurements
      during periodic home visits. The primary outcomes of the study are postenrollment
      neonatal mortality and mortality between enrollment and 6 months of age. The
      secondary outcomes are breastfeeding practices; prevalence of illnesses and care
      seeking practices for the same; hospitalizations; weight and length gain; and, in
      a subsample, neurodevelopment. DISCUSSION: This efficacy trial will answer the
      question whether the benefits of KMC observed in hospital settings can also be
      observed when KMC is started in the community. The formative research used for
      intervention development suggests that the necessary high level of KMC adoption
      can be reached in the community, addressing a problem that seriously constrained
      conclusions in the only other trial in which researchers examined the benefits of
      cKMC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02653534 . Registered
      on 26 December 2015 (retrospectively registered).

PMID- 28592314
TI  - Binge drinking and total alcohol consumption from 16 to 43 years of age are
      associated with elevated fasting plasma glucose in women: results from the
      northern Swedish cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have indicated that moderate alcohol consumption is
      associated with lower incidence of diabetes in women. However, not only the
      amount but also the drinking pattern could be of importance when assessing the
      longitudinal relation between alcohol and glucose. Also, there is a lack of
      studies on alcohol use beginning in adolescence on adult glucose levels. The aim
      was to examine the association between total alcohol consumption and binge
      drinking between ages 16 and 43 and fasting plasma glucose at age 43. METHODS:
      Data were retrieved from a 27-year prospective cohort study, the Northern Swedish
      Cohort. In 1981, all 9th grade students (n = 1083) within a municipality in
      Sweden were invited to participate. There were re-assessments at ages 18, 21, 30
      and 43. This particular study sample consisted of 897 participants (82.8%).
      Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) was measured at a health examination at age 43.
      Total alcohol consumption (in grams) and binge drinking were calculated from
      alcohol consumption data obtained from questionnaires. RESULTS: Descriptive
      analyses showed that men had higher levels of fasting plasma glucose as compared
      to women. Men also reported higher levels of alcohol consumption and binge
      drinking behavior. Linear regressions showed that total alcohol consumption in
      combination with binge drinking between ages 16 and 43 was associated with
      elevated fasting plasma glucose at age 43 in women (beta = 0.14, p = 0.003) but
      not in men after adjustment for BMI, hypertension and smoking at age 43.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that reducing binge drinking and alcohol
      consumption among young and middle-aged women with the highest consumption might
      be metabolically favorable for their future glucose metabolism.

PMID- 28592315
TI  - Efficacy and safety of enzyme-replacement-therapy with agalsidase alfa in 36
      treatment-naive Fabry disease patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder
      resulting from the alpha-galactosidase A gene mutations. Enzyme-replacement
      therapy (ERT) products for FD currently used include agalsidase alfa and
      agalsidase beta. There are many reports on efficacy and safety of ERT. However,
      most of the previous studies are done as a retrospective medical records
      analysis. METHODS: The Japan Fabry Research - 002 (JFR-002) was a prospective
      observational clinical study of 36 ERT-naive FD patients (14 men and 22 women) at
      baseline (BL) and after initiation of ERT with agalsidase alfa 0.2 mg/kg every
      two weeks, a median period 62.5 months. The parameters measured included
      globotriaosylceramide (Gb3), globotriaosylsphingosine (Lyso-Gb3), left
      ventricular mass index (LVMI), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), high-sensitivity
      troponin I (hs-Trop I), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and anti
      agalsidase alfa IgG antibody formation. RESULTS: All parameters remained steady
      during ERT treatment period. BNP levels in 14 patients whose BL levels were
      within the normal range (<19.5 pg/mL) remained within the same range, while 22
      patients whose BL levels were abnormally high (>=19.5 pg/mL) gradually showed
      decreased levels after start of ERT. Gb3 and Lyso-Gb3 levels remarkably decreased
      after the initiation of ERT and remained low. CONCLUSION: The JFR-002 suggests
      that agalsidase alfa is effective in maintaining organ function in FD patients,
      and that the incidence of infusion reactions related to the treatment with
      agalsidase alfa is low, indicating the good tolerability to this ERT. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: The JFR-002 was retrospectively registered at Japan Medical
      Association Center for Clinical Trials (Registration number: JMA-IIA00291 ) on
      May 19th, 2017.

PMID- 28592316
TI  - The influence of climatic factors on the development of hemorrhagic fever with
      renal syndrome and leptospirosis during the peak season in Korea: an ecologic
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and leptospirosis are
      seasonal rodent-borne infections in the Republic of Korea (Korea). The
      occurrences of HFRS and leptospirosis are influenced by climatic variability.
      However, few studies have examined the effects of local climatic variables on the
      development of these infections. The purpose of this study was to estimate the
      effect of climatic factors on the occurrence of HFRS and leptospirosis in Korea.
      METHODS: Daily records on human cases of HFRS and leptospirosis between January
      2001 to December 2009 were analyzed. The associations of climatic factors with
      these cases in high incidence provinces were estimated using the time-series
      method and multivariate generalized linear Poisson models with a maximal lag of
      12 weeks. RESULTS: From 2001 to 2009, a total of 2912 HFRS and 889 leptospirosis
      cases were reported, with overall incidences of 0.67 and 0.21 cases per 100,000,
      respectively, in the study areas. The increase in minimum temperature (1  degrees
      C) at a lag of 11 weeks was associated with 17.8% [95% confidence interval (CI):
      15.1, 20.6%] and 22.7% (95% CI: 16.5, 29.3%) increases in HFRS and leptospirosis
      cases, respectively. A 1-h increase in the daily sunshine was related to a 27.5%
      (95% CI: 18.2, 37.6%) increase in HFRS at a lag of 0 week. A 1% increase in daily
      minimum relative humidity and a 1 mm increase in daily rainfall were associated
      with 4.0% (95% CI:1.8, 6.1) and 2.0% (95% CI: 1.2, 2.8%) increases in weekly
      leptospirosis cases at 11 and 6 weeks later, respectively. A 1 mJ/m2 increase in
      daily solar radiation was associated with a 13.7% (95% CI: 4.9, 23.2%) increase
      in leptospirosis cases, maximized at a 2-week lag. CONCLUSIONS: During the peak
      season in Korea, climatic factors play a significant role in the development of
      HFRS and leptospirosis. The findings of this study may be applicable to the
      forecasting and prediction of disease outbreaks.

PMID- 28592317
TI  - Modeling the spatio-temporal dynamics of porcine reproductive & respiratory
      syndrome cases at farm level using geographical distance and pig trade network
      matrices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the
      most economically devastating infectious diseases for the swine industry. A
      better understanding of the disease dynamics and the transmission pathways under
      diverse epidemiological scenarios is a key for the successful PRRS control and
      elimination in endemic settings. In this paper we used a two step parameter
      driven (PD) Bayesian approach to model the spatio-temporal dynamics of PRRS and
      predict the PRRS status on farm in subsequent time periods in an endemic setting
      in the US. For such purpose we used information from a production system with 124
      pig sites that reported 237 PRRS cases from 2012 to 2015 and from which the pig
      trade network and geographical location of farms (i.e., distance was used as a
      proxy of airborne transmission) was available. We estimated five PD models with
      different weights namely: (i) geographical distance weight which contains the
      inverse distance between each pair of farms in kilometers, (ii) pig trade weight
      (PT ji ) which contains the absolute number of pig movements between each pair of
      farms, (iii) the product between the distance weight and the standardized
      relative pig trade weight, (iv) the product between the standardized distance
      weight and the standardized relative pig trade weight, and (v) the product of the
      distance weight and the pig trade weight. RESULTS: The model that included the
      pig trade weight matrix provided the best fit to model the dynamics of PRRS cases
      on a 6-month basis from 2012 to 2015 and was able to predict PRRS outbreaks in
      the subsequent time period with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.88 and the
      accuracy of 85% (105/124). CONCLUSION: The result of this study reinforces the
      importance of pig trade in PRRS transmission in the US. Methods and results of
      this study may be easily adapted to any production system to characterize the
      PRRS dynamics under diverse epidemic settings to more timely support decision
      making.

PMID- 28592319
TI  - High Dephosphorylated-Uncarboxylated MGP in Hemodialysis patients: risk factors
      and response to vitamin K2, A pre-post intervention clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vascular calcifications are highly prevalent in hemodialysis
      patients. Dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated MGP (dp-ucMGP) was found to increase in
      vitamin K-deficient patients and may be associated with vascular calcifications.
      Supplementation of hemodialysis patients with vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7) has been
      studied in Europe with a maximum 61% drop of dp-ucMGP levels. The aim of this
      study is to assess first the drop of dp-ucMGP in an Eastern Mediterranean cohort
      after vitamin K2 treatment and second the correlation between baseline dp-ucMGP
      and vascular calcification score. METHODS: This is a prospective, pre-post
      intervention clinical trial involving 50 hemodialysis patients who received daily
      360 MUg of menaquinone-7 for 4 weeks. At baseline they were assessed for plasma
      dp-ucMGP levels and vascular calcification scores (AC-24) as well as for other
      demographic, clinical and biological variables. Dp-ucMGP levels were measured a
      second time at 4 weeks. RESULTS: At baseline, dp-ucMGP levels were extremely
      elevated with a median of 3179.15 (1825.25; 4339.50) pM and correlated
      significantly with AC-24 (Spearman's rho = 0.43, P = 0.002). Using a bivariate
      regression analysis, the association between dp-ucMGP levels and AC-24 was most
      significant when comparing dp-ucMGP levels less than 1000 to those more than 1000
      pM (P = 0.02). Dp-ucMGP levels higher than 5000 pM were significantly associated
      with females, patients with recent fracture and patients with lower serum albumin
      (respectively P = 0.02, 0.004 and 0.046). The average drop of dp-ucMGP at 4 weeks
      of treatment was found to be 86% with diabetics having the lowest drop rate (P =
      0.01). CONCLUSION: Vitamin K deficiency, as assessed by high dp-ucMGP levels, is
      profound in hemodialysis patients from the Eastern Mediterranean region and it is
      significantly correlated with vascular calcifications. Daily 360 MUg of
      menaquinone-7, given for 4 weeks, effectively reduces dp-ucMGP in this
      population. Future studies are needed to assess the changes in vascular
      calcifications in hemodialysis patients treated with vitamin K2 over a longer
      follow-up period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The clinical trial was registered on
      clinicaltrials.gov (Identification number NCT02876354 , on August 11, 2016).

PMID- 28592318
TI  - Potential survival benefit of polymyxin B hemoperfusion in patients with septic
      shock: a propensity-matched cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether polymyxin B
      hemoperfusion (PMX-HP) improves the survival of patients with septic shock.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective, multicenter study conducted on patients
      treated during a 3-year period. We performed propensity-score analyses of the
      Japan Septic Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (JSEPTIC DIC) study database.
      The study included data on 1723 patients with septic shock aged 16 years or
      older. Furthermore, we divided patients into to PMX-HP- and non-PMX-HP-treated
      groups. The primary endpoint was all-cause hospital mortality; secondary
      endpoints included intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and number of ICU-free
      days (ICUFDs) in the first 28 days. RESULTS: Of 1,723 eligible patients, 522 had
      received PMX-HP. Propensity score matching created 262 matched pairs (i.e., 262
      patients in each of the non-PMX-HP and PMX-HP groups). The proportion of all
      cause hospital mortality was significantly lower in the PMX-HP group than in the
      non-PMX-HP group (32.8% vs. 41.2%; odds ratio (OR): 0.681; 95% confidence
      interval (CI): 0.470-0.987; P = 0.042). The number of ICUFD in the first 28 days
      was significantly higher in the PMX-HP group than in the non-PMX-HP group (18 (0
      22) vs. 14 (0-22) days, respectively; P = 0.045). On the other hand, there was no
      significant difference in ICU mortality between the two groups (21.8% vs. 24.4%;
      OR: 0.844; CI: 0.548-1.300; P = 0.443). CONCLUSIONS: Our results strongly suggest
      that PMX-HP reduces all-cause hospital mortality and length of ICU stay in
      patients with septic shock.

PMID- 28592320
TI  - Infectivity, transmission and pathogenicity of H5 highly pathogenic avian
      influenza clade 2.3.4.4 (H5N8 and H5N2) United States index viruses in Pekin
      ducks and Chinese geese.
AB  - In late 2014, a H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, clade
      2.3.4.4, spread by migratory waterfowl into North America reassorting with low
      pathogenicity AI viruses to produce a H5N2 HPAI virus. Since domestic waterfowl
      are common backyard poultry frequently in contact with wild waterfowl, the
      infectivity, transmissibility, and pathogenicity of the United States H5 HPAI
      index viruses (H5N8 and H5N2) was investigated in domestic ducks and geese. Ducks
      infected with the viruses had an increase in body temperature but no or mild
      clinical signs. Infected geese did not show increase in body temperature and most
      only had mild clinical signs; however, some geese presented severe neurological
      signs. Ducks became infected and transmitted the viruses to contacts when
      inoculated with high virus doses [(104 and 106 50% embryo infective dose
      (EID50)], but not with a lower dose (102 EID50). Geese inoculated with the H5N8
      virus became infected regardless of the virus dose given, and transmitted the
      virus to direct contacts. Only geese inoculated with the higher doses of the H5N2
      and their contacts became infected, indicating differences in infectivity between
      the two viruses and the two waterfowl species. Geese shed higher titers of virus
      and for a longer period of time than ducks. In conclusion, the H5 HPAI viruses
      can infect domestic waterfowl and easily transmit to contact birds, with geese
      being more susceptible to infection and disease than ducks. The disease is mostly
      asymptomatic, but infected birds shed virus for several days representing a risk
      to other poultry species.

PMID- 28592321
TI  - Characterization of MED12, HMGA2, and FH alterations reveals molecular
      variability in uterine smooth muscle tumors.
AB  - Uterine smooth muscle tumors range from benign leiomyomas to malignant
      leiomyosarcomas. Based on numerous molecular studies, leiomyomas and
      leiomyosarcomas mostly lack shared mutations and the majority of tumors are
      believed to develop through distinct mechanisms. To further characterize the
      molecular variability among uterine smooth muscle tumors, and simultaneously
      insinuate their potential malignant progression, we examined the frequency of
      known genetic leiomyoma driver alterations (MED12 mutations, HMGA2
      overexpression, biallelic FH inactivation) in 65 conventional leiomyomas, 94
      histopathological leiomyoma variants (18 leiomyomas with bizarre nuclei, 22
      cellular, 29 highly cellular, and 25 mitotically active leiomyomas), and 51
      leiomyosarcomas. Of the 210 tumors analyzed, 107 had mutations in one of the
      three driver genes. No tumor had more than one mutation confirming that all
      alterations are mutually exclusive. MED12 mutations were the most common
      alterations in conventional and mitotically active leiomyomas and
      leiomyosarcomas, while leiomyomas with bizarre nuclei were most often FH
      deficient and cellular tumors showed frequent HMGA2 overexpression. Highly
      cellular leiomyomas displayed the least amount of alterations leaving the
      majority of tumors with no known driver aberration. Our results indicate that
      based on the molecular background, histopathological leiomyoma subtypes do not
      only differ from conventional leiomyomas, but also from each other. The presence
      of leiomyoma driver alterations in nearly one third of leiomyosarcomas suggests
      that some tumors arise through leiomyoma precursor lesion or that these mutations
      provide growth advantage also to highly aggressive cancers. It is clinically
      relevant to understand the molecular background of various smooth muscle tumor
      subtypes, as it may lead to improved diagnosis and personalized treatments in the
      future.

PMID- 28592322
TI  - Potential for rapid antibody detection to identify tuberculous cattle with non
      reactive tuberculin skin test results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bovine tuberculosis (TB) control programs generally rely on the
      tuberculin skin test (TST) for ante-mortem detection of Mycobacterium bovis
      infected cattle. RESULTS: Present findings demonstrate that a rapid antibody test
      based on Dual-Path Platform (DPP(r)) technology, when applied 1-3 weeks after
      TST, detected 9 of 11 and 34 of 52 TST non-reactive yet M. bovis-infected cattle
      from the US and GB, respectively. The specificity of the assay ranged from 98.9%
      (n = 92, US) to 96.0% (n = 50, GB) with samples from TB-free herds. Multi-antigen
      print immunoassay (MAPIA) revealed the presence of antibodies to multiple
      antigens of M. bovis in sera from TST non-reactors diagnosed with TB.
      CONCLUSIONS: Thus, use of serologic assays in series with TST can identify a
      significant number of TST non-reactive tuberculous cattle for more efficient
      removal from TB-affected herds.

PMID- 28592323
TI  - Antibacterial and anticancer activities of acetone extracts from in vitro
      cultured lichen-forming fungi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lichens that were used in traditional medicine for ages produce
      numerous secondary metabolites, however our knowledge about biological activities
      of substances secreted by separated bionts is scarce. The main objectives of this
      study were to isolate and find optimal conditions for the growth of mycelia from
      three common lichen-forming fungi, i.e. Caloplaca pusilla, Protoparmeliopsis
      muralis and Xanthoria parietina and to evaluate antibacterial and
      antiproliferative activities of their acetone extracts. METHODS: Agar disc
      diffusion and broth microdilution methods were used to test antimicrobial
      activity against six species of bacteria. MTT method, flow cytometry assay and
      DAPI staining were applied to test antiproliferative activity of selected
      extracts against MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), PC-3 (human prostate
      cancer) and HeLa (human cervix adenocarcinoma) cancer cells. RESULTS: P. muralis
      strongly inhibited the growth of Gram-positive bacteria, i.e. Bacillus subtilis,
      Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MICs
      from 6.67 to 100.00 MUg mL-1). X. parietina grown on PDA and G-LBM media
      decreased HeLa or MCF-7 cancer cells viability with IC50 values of about 8 MUg mL
      1, while C. pusilla grown on G-LBM medium showed the highest potency in
      decreasing MCF-7 (7.29 MUg mL-1), PC-3 (7.96 MUg mL-1) and HeLa (6.57 MUg mL-1)
      cancer cells viability. We also showed induction of apoptosis in HeLa, PC-3 and
      MCF-7 cell lines treated with increasing concentrations of C. pusilla extract.
      CONCLUSION: We showed that selected acetone extracts demonstrated a strong
      antimicrobial and anticancer effects that suggests that aposymbiotically cultured
      lichen-forming fungi can be a source of antibacterial and antiproliferative
      compounds.

PMID- 28592324
TI  - Comparison of local infiltration analgesia and sciatic nerve block for pain
      control after total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis aimed to perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the
      efficiency and safety between local infiltration analgesia (LIA) and sciatic
      nerve block (SNB) when combined with femoral nerve block (FNB) after total knee
      arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE (1966
      2017.04), PubMed (1966-2017.04), Embase (1980-2017.04), ScienceDirect (1985
      2017.04), and the Cochrane Library. Only high-quality studies were selected. Meta
      analysis was performed using Stata 11.0 software. RESULTS: Four randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) and two non-randomized controlled trials (non-RCTs),
      including 273 patients met the inclusion criteria. The present meta-analysis
      indicated that there were significant differences between groups in terms of
      visual analogue scale (VAS) score at 12 h (SMD = -0.303, 95% CI -0.543 to -0.064,
      P = 0.013), VAS score at 24 h (SMD = -0.395, 95% CI -0.636 to -0.154, P = 0.001),
      morphine equivalent consumption at 24 h (SMD = -0.395, 95% CI -0.636 to -0.154, P
      = 0.001), and incidence of nausea (RD = 0.233, 95% CI 0.107 to 0.360, P = 0.000)
      and vomiting (RD = 0.131, 95% CI 0.025 to 0.237, P = 0.015). CONCLUSION: FNB
      combined SNB provides superior pain relief and less morphine consumption within
      the first 24 h compared FNB-combined LIA in total knee arthroplasty. In addition,
      there were fewer side effects associated with SNB. Because the sample size and
      the number of included studies were limited, a multicenter RCT is needed to
      identify the effects of the two kinds of methods and further work must include
      range of motion analyses and functional test.

PMID- 28592325
TI  - Isolation and characterization of the first phage infecting ecologically
      important marine bacteria Erythrobacter.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erythrobacter comprises a widespread and ecologically significant
      genus of marine bacteria. However, no phage infecting Erythrobacter spp. has been
      reported to date. This study describes the isolation and characterization of
      phage vB_EliS-R6L from Erythrobacter. METHODS: Standard virus enrichment and
      double-layer agar methods were used to isolate and characterize the phage.
      Morphology was observed by transmission electron microscopy, and a one-step
      growth curve assay was performed. The phage genome was sequenced using the
      Illumina Miseq platform and annotated using standard bioinformatics tools.
      Phylogenetic analyses were performed based on the deduced amino acid sequences of
      terminase, endolysin, portal protein, and major capsid protein, and genome
      recruitment analysis was conducted using Jiulong River Estuary Virome, Pacific
      Ocean Virome and Global Ocean Survey databases. RESULTS: A novel phage, vB_EliS
      R6L, from coastal waters of Xiamen, China, was isolated and found to infect the
      marine bacterium Erythrobacter litoralis DSM 8509. Morphological observation and
      genome analysis revealed that phage vB_EliS-R6L is a siphovirus with a 65.7-kb
      genome that encodes 108 putative gene products. The phage exhibits growth at a
      wide range of temperature and pH conditions. Genes encoding five methylase
      related proteins were found in the genome, and recognition site predictions
      suggested its resistance to restriction-modification host systems. Genomic
      comparisons and phylogenetic analyses indicate that phage vB_EliS-R6L is distinct
      from other known phages. Metagenomic recruitment analysis revealed that vB_EliS
      R6L-like phages are widespread in marine environments, with likely distribution
      in coastal waters. CONCLUSIONS: Isolation of the first Erythrobacter phage
      (vB_EliS-R6L) will contribute to our understanding of host-phage interactions,
      the ecology of marine Erythrobacter and viral metagenome annotation efforts.

PMID- 28592326
TI  - The genomic road to invasion-examining the similarities and differences in the
      genomes of associated oral pre-cancer and cancer samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is frequently assumed that pre-invasive lesions are simpler
      precursors of cancer and will contain a limited subset of the genomic changes
      seen in their associated invasive disease. Driver mutations are thought to occur
      early, but it is not known how many of these are present in pre-invasive lesions.
      These assumptions need to be tested with the increasing focus on both
      personalised cancer treatments and early detection methodologies. METHODS: We
      examined genomic copy number changes in 256 pre-invasive and invasive samples
      from 69 oral cancer patients. Forty-eight samples from 16 patients were further
      examined using exome sequencing. RESULTS: Evidence of a shared ancestor of both
      dysplasia and carcinoma was seen in all but one patient. One-third of dysplasias
      showed independent copy number events. The remainder had a copy number pattern
      that was similar to or simpler than that of the carcinoma. All dysplasias
      examined contained somatic mutations absent in the related carcinoma. Previously
      observed copy number changes and TP53 mutations were very frequently observed,
      and almost always shared between dysplasia and carcinoma. Other gene changes were
      more sporadic. Pathway analysis confirmed that each patient's disease developed
      in a different way. Examining the numbers of shared mutations and the rate of
      accumulation of mutations showed evidence that all samples contain a population
      of sub-clones, with little evidence of selective advantage of a subset of these.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that most of the genomic changes driving oral
      cancer occur in the pre-cancerous state by way of gradual random accumulation
      rather than a dramatic single event.

PMID- 28592327
TI  - Is detection of intraperitoneal exfoliated tumor cells after surgical resection
      of rectal cancer a prognostic factor of survival?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognostic significance of free cancer cells detected in
      peritoneal fluid at the time of rectal surgery remains unclear. A substantial
      number of patients will develop metastatic disease even with successful local
      treatment. This prospective non-randomized study investigated the prognostic
      value of intraperitoneal free cancer cells harvested in peritoneal lavage after
      surgery for rectal cancer. Mutational hotspots in mitochondrial DNA were examined
      as potential molecular signatures to detect circulating intraperitoneal free
      cancer cells when present in primary tumor and in lavage. METHODS: Point
      mutations in mitochondrial DNA amplifications were determined in primary tumors
      and corresponding exfoliated intraperitoneal free cancer cells in lavage from 191
      patients with locally advanced rectal cancer scheduled for radical treatment.
      Mitochondrial DNA target sequences were amplified by polymerase chain reaction
      and base substitutions were detected by denaturant, cycling temperature capillary
      electrophoresis. Detection of intraperitoneal free cancer cells was correlated to
      survival. RESULTS: Of 191patients analyzed, 138 (72%) were identified with
      somatic mitochondrial point mutations in rectal cancer tumors. From this
      fraction, 45 patients (33%) had positive lavage fluid with corresponding somatic
      mtDNA point mutations in lavage representing circulating intraperitoneal free
      cancer cells. There was no significant survival difference between patients
      identified with or without somatic mitochondrial DNA point mutations in the
      corresponding lavage. CONCLUSION: Somatic mitochondrial DNA point mutations
      identified in primary rectal tumors enable detection of circulating
      intraperitoneal free cancer cells in lavage fluid. Intraperitoneal free cancer
      cells harvested from lavage immediately after surgery for rectal cancer does not
      represent an independent prognostic factor on survival.

PMID- 28592329
TI  - Autoimmune antibody decline in Parkinson's disease and Multiple System Atrophy; a
      step towards immunotherapeutic strategies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parkinson's' disease (PD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) are
      progressive brain disorders characterized by intracellular accumulations of alpha
      synuclein and nerve cell loss in specific brain areas. This loss causes problems
      with movement, balance and/or autonomic functions. Naturally occurring
      autoantibodies (NAbs) play potentially an important role in clearing or/and
      blocking circulating pathological proteins. Little is known about the functional
      properties of anti-alpha-synuclein NAbs in PD and MSA, and there have been
      opposing reports regarding their plasma concentrations in these disorders.
      METHODS: We have investigated the apparent affinity of anti-alpha-synuclein NAbs
      in plasma samples from 46 PD patients, 18 MSA patients and 41 controls using
      competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Meso Scale Discovery
      (MSD) set-ups. RESULTS: We found that the occurrence of high affinity anti-alpha
      synuclein NAbs in plasma from PD patients is reduced compared to healthy
      controls, and nearly absent in plasma from MSA patients. Also, levels of alpha
      synuclein/NAbs immunocomplexes is substantially reduced in plasma from both
      patient groups. Further, cross binding of anti-alpha-synuclein NAbs with beta-
      and gamma-synuclein monomers suggest, the high affinity anti-alpha-synuclein
      plasma component, seen in healthy individuals, is directed mainly against C
      terminal epitopes. Furthermore, we also observed reduced occurrence of high
      affinity anti-phosphorylated-alpha-synuclein NAbs in plasma from PD and MSA
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: One interpretation implies that these patients may have
      impaired ability to clear and/or block the effects of pathological alpha
      synuclein due to insufficient/absent concentration of NAbs and as such provides a
      rationale for testing immune-based therapeutic strategies directed against
      pathological alpha-synuclein. Following this interpretation, we can hypothesize
      that high affinity autoantibodies efficiently bind and clear potentially
      pathological species of alpha-synuclein in healthy brain, and that this mechanism
      is impaired or absent in PD and MSA patients.

PMID- 28592328
TI  - Severe varicella-zoster virus pneumonia: a multicenter cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is a dreaded complication of varicella-zoster virus (VZV)
      infection in adults; however, the data are limited. Our objective was to
      investigate the clinical features, management, and outcomes of critically ill
      patients with VZV-related community-acquired pneumonia (VZV-CAP). METHODS: This
      was an observational study of patients with VZV-CAP admitted to 29 intensive care
      units (ICUs) from January 1996 to January 2015. RESULTS: One hundred and two
      patients with VZV-CAP were included. Patients were young (age 39 years
      (interquartile range 32-51)) and 53 (52%) were immunocompromised. Time since
      respiratory symptom onset was 2 (1-3) days. There was a seasonal distribution of
      the disease, with more cases during spring and winter time. All but four patients
      presented with typical skin rash on ICU admission. Half the patients received
      mechanical ventilation within 1 (1-2) day following ICU admission (the ratio of
      arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) = 150
      (80-284), 80% with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)). Sequential Organ
      Failure Assessment (SOFA) score on day 1 (odds ratio (OR) 1.90 (1.33-2.70); p <
      0.001), oxygen flow at ICU admission (OR 1.25 (1.08-1.45); p = 0.004), and early
      bacterial co-infection (OR 14.94 (2.00-111.8); p = 0.009) were independently
      associated with the need for mechanical ventilation. Duration of mechanical
      ventilation was 14 (7-21) days. ICU and hospital mortality rates were 17% and
      24%, respectively. All patients were treated with aciclovir and 10 received
      adjunctive therapy with steroids. Compared to 60 matched steroid-free controls,
      patients treated with steroids had a longer mechanical ventilation duration, ICU
      length of stay, and a similar hospital mortality, but experienced more ICU
      acquired infections. CONCLUSIONS: Severe VZV-CAP is responsible for an acute
      pulmonary involvement associated with a significant morbidity and mortality.
      Steroid therapy did not influence mortality, but increased the risk of
      superinfection.

PMID- 28592331
TI  - Thyroid nodule recognition in computed tomography using first order statistics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) is one of the popular tools for early
      detection of thyroid nodule. The pixel intensity of thyroid in CT image is very
      important information to distinguish nodule from normal thyroid tissue. The pixel
      intensity in normal thyroid tissues is homogeneous and smooth. In the benign or
      malignant nodules, the pixel intensity is heterogeneous. Several studies have
      shown that the first order features in ultrasound image can be used as imaging
      biomarkers in nodule recognition. METHODS: In this paper, we investigate the
      feasibility of utilizing the first order texture features to identify nodule from
      normal thyroid tissue in CT image. A total of 284 thyroid CT images from 113
      patients were collected in this study. We used 150 healthy controlled thyroid CT
      images from 55 patients and 134 nodule images (50 malignant and 84 benign
      nodules) from 58 patients who have undergone thyroid surgery. The final diagnosis
      was confirmed by histopathological examinations. In the presented method, first,
      regions of interest (ROIs) from axial non-enhancement CT images were delineated
      manually by a radiologist. Second, average, median, and wiener filter were
      applied to reduce photon noise before feature extraction. The first-order texture
      features, including entropy, uniformity, average intensity, standard deviation,
      kurtosis and skewness were calculated from each ROI. Third, support vector
      machine analysis was applied for classification. Several statistical values were
      calculated to evaluate the performance of the presented method, which includes
      accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative
      predictive value (NPV), and area of under receiver operating characteristic curve
      (AUC). RESULTS: The entropy, uniformity, mean intensity, standard deviation,
      skewness (P < 0.05), except kurtosis (P = 0.104) of thyroid tissue with nodules
      have a significant difference from those of normal thyroid tissue. The optimal
      classification was obtained from the presented method. The accuracy, sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV)
      are 0.880, 0.821, 0.933, 0.917, 0.854, and 0.953 respectively. CONCLUSION: First
      order texture features can be used as imaging biomarkers, and the presented
      system can be used to assist radiologists to recognize the nodules in CT image.

PMID- 28592332
TI  - The negative effect of initial high-dose methylprednisolone and tapering regimen
      for acute respiratory distress syndrome: a retrospective propensity matched
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of corticosteroid use in acute respiratory distress
      syndrome (ARDS) remains controversial. Generally, short-term high-dose
      corticosteroid therapy is considered to be ineffective in ARDS. On the other
      hand, low-dose, long-term use of corticosteroids has been reported to be
      effective since they provide continued inhibition of the systemic inflammatory
      response syndrome (SIRS) that accompanies ARDS. Thus far, no reports have been
      published on the efficacy of initiating treatment with a high-dose corticosteroid
      regimen with tapering. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study
      involving 186 patients treated at a teaching hospital (68% had sepsis, pneumonia,
      or aspiration pneumonia). ARDS was diagnosed according to the Berlin definition.
      Patients were divided into a high-dose (n = 21) or low-dose corticosteroid group
      (n = 165) to compare the effectiveness of a down-titration regimen. The primary
      medical team chose which treatment a patient would receive. We were careful to
      conduct a differential diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia (e.g., acute
      eosinophilic pneumonia) since corticosteroid treatment has been proven effective
      in that patient population. The primary outcome was the 60-day mortality rate.
      The secondary outcome was the number of ventilator-free days (VFD). RESULTS:
      Those started on a high-dose regimen had a significantly higher 60-day mortality
      rate (P = 0.031) with significantly fewer VFD (P = 0.021). Propensity scores were
      used to adjust patient backgrounds in a variable analysis that also showed the
      high-dose regimen was a factor in decreasing VFD (OR, 95.63; 95% CI, 1.74
      5271.07; P = 0.026) and worsening the 60-day mortality rate (OR, 2.54; 95% CI,
      0.92-7.02; P = 0.072). CONCLUSIONS: A tapering regimen after high-dose
      corticosteroids is likely to increase ventilator dependency and might aggravate
      the prognosis of patients with ARDS diagnosed according to the Berlin definition.

PMID- 28592333
TI  - Effect of Cessation of Contact Isolation for Endemic Methicillin-Resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci.

PMID- 28592330
TI  - State of play and clinical prospects of antibody gene transfer.
AB  - Recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are one of today's most successful
      therapeutic classes in inflammatory diseases and oncology. A wider accessibility
      and implementation, however, is hampered by the high product cost and prolonged
      need for frequent administration. The surge in more effective mAb combination
      therapies further adds to the costs and risk of toxicity. To address these
      issues, antibody gene transfer seeks to administer to patients the mAb-encoding
      nucleotide sequence, rather than the mAb protein. This allows the body to produce
      its own medicine in a cost- and labor-effective manner, for a prolonged period of
      time. Expressed mAbs can be secreted systemically or locally, depending on the
      production site. The current review outlines the state of play and clinical
      prospects of antibody gene transfer, thereby highlighting recent innovations,
      opportunities and remaining hurdles. Different expression platforms and a
      multitude of administration sites have been pursued. Viral vector-mediated mAb
      expression thereby made the most significant strides. Therapeutic proof of
      concept has been demonstrated in mice and non-human primates, and intramuscular
      vectored mAb therapy is under clinical evaluation. However, viral vectors face
      limitations, particularly in terms of immunogenicity. In recent years, naked DNA
      has gained ground as an alternative. Attained serum mAb titers in mice, however,
      remain far below those obtained with viral vectors, and robust pharmacokinetic
      data in larger animals is limited. The broad translatability of DNA-based
      antibody therapy remains uncertain, despite ongoing evaluation in patients. RNA
      presents another emerging platform for antibody gene transfer. Early reports in
      mice show that mRNA may be able to rival with viral vectors in terms of generated
      serum mAb titers, although expression appears more short-lived. Overall,
      substantial progress has been made in the clinical translation of antibody gene
      transfer. While challenges persist, clinical prospects are amplified by ongoing
      innovations and the versatility of antibody gene transfer. Clinical introduction
      can be expedited by selecting the platform approach currently best suited for the
      mAb or disease of interest. Innovations in expression platform, administration
      and antibody technology are expected to further improve overall safety and
      efficacy, and unlock the vast clinical potential of antibody gene transfer.

PMID- 28592335
TI  - Disaster Management Structure of Universities: Case Study of the Central Campus
      of the University of Tehran.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Research on the disaster management plans of renowned universities
      worldwide shows that such plans are generally compiled in 3 categories:
      structural, nonstructural, and organizational sections. The importance of
      earthquakes in Tehran and the high vulnerability of the University of Tehran to
      earthquakes encouraged us to challenge the university's plans concerning disaster
      management. METHODS: An initial attempt was made to analyze the disaster
      management of 23 renowned universities worldwide and their structure compared
      with the present organizational structure of the University of Tehran. Then an
      expert opinion study was done to determine the appropriate management structure
      of the Incident Command System. RESULTS: These efforts resulted in an adhocratic
      system as the proper one for emergency situations after an earthquake.
      Furthermore, the results of the comparative study led to a general management
      structure that may be considered as a global pattern. CONCLUSIONS: An appropriate
      organizational structure is proposed for the disaster management of the
      University of Tehran, which may be used as an appropriate disaster management
      structure for other universities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness.
      2017;11:681-693).

PMID- 28592334
TI  - Impact of oocyte-secreted factors on its developmental competence in buffalo.
AB  - Oocyte-secreted factors (OSFs) play an important role in the acquisition of
      oocyte developmental competence through bidirectional cross-talk between oocyte
      and cumulus cells via gap junctions. Thus, the present study was designed to
      investigate the effect of two OSFs, growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and
      bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15), on the developmental competence of buffalo
      oocytes derived from two different follicle sizes. Cumulus-oocyte complexes
      (COCs) from large follicles (LF, >6 mm) or small follicles (SF, 0.05) between DOs
      and combination groups. Relative mRNA analysis revealed significantly higher (P >
      0.05) expression of the cumulus cell marker genes EGFR, HAS2, and CD44 in LF
      derived than SF-derived oocyte; the expression of these markers was significantly
      higher (P > 0.05) in DOs and combination groups, irrespective of the follicle
      size. These results suggested that LF-derived oocytes have a higher developmental
      competence than SF-derived oocytes and that supplementation of GDF9 and BMP15
      modulates the developmental competence of buffalo oocytes by increasing the
      relative abundance of cumulus-enabling factors and thereby increasing cleavage
      and the quality of blastocyst production.

PMID- 28592336
TI  - Changing Tradition in the Humanitarian Sector: The Business Model Approach of the
      Kenya Red Cross.

PMID- 28592337
TI  - Phylogenetic relationships among European and Asian representatives of the genus
      Aspidogaster Baer, 1827 (Trematoda: Aspidogastrea) inferred from molecular data.
AB  - In the present study, phylogenetic relationships of European and Far Eastern
      representatives of the genus Aspidogaster Baer, 1827 were analysed: A. conchicola
      Baer, 1827, A. limacoides Diesing, 1834, A. ijimai Kawamura, 1915 and A.
      chongqingensis Wei, Huang & Dai, 2001. Based on ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequence
      data, an obvious differentiation was seen between specimens of A. limacoides
      sensu stricto from the European part of Russia and A. limacoides sensu Chen et
      al., 2010 from China (13.7%); the latter parasites were recognized as A.
      chongqingensis. Aspidogaster chongqingensis was more closely related to A. ijimai
      than to A. limacoides s. str. Specimens of A. ijimai from the Amur River, Khanka
      Lake (Russian Far East) and China were grouped into a single clade with low intra
      specific molecular differentiation (d = 0-0.3%). Specimens of A. conchicola from
      the European part of Russia, the Russian Far East and China also formed a single
      distinct clade. Genetic differentiation between European and Chinese samples of
      this species was two times lower (d = 0.45%) than between Russian Far East and
      European or Chinese samples (d = 0.96%), suggesting a long-term separate
      existence of A. conchicola in the Russian Far East.

PMID- 28592338
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of isolated total anomalous systemic venous connection to the
      left atrium.
AB  - We report the prenatal diagnosis and the neonatal follow-up of a patient with
      isolated total abnormal systemic venous connection to the left atrium. Right
      sided and left-sided superior caval veins and the inferior caval vein were all
      connected to the left atrium. Pulmonary venous return was normal. This was
      associated with some right ventricular underdevelopment. To our knowledge, this
      is the first fetal description of this very rare congenital cardiac malformation.

PMID- 28592339
TI  - Mass Casualty Incidents in the Underground Mining Industry: Applying the Haddon
      Matrix on an Integrative Literature Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Underground mining is associated with obvious risks that can lead to
      mass casualty incidents. Information about such incidents was analyzed in an
      integrated literature review. METHODS: A literature search (1980-2015) identified
      564 modern-era underground mining reports from countries sharing similar
      occupational health legislation. These reports were condensed to 31 reports after
      consideration of quality grading and appropriateness to the aim. The Haddon
      matrix was used for structure, separating human factors from technical and
      environmental details, and timing. RESULTS: Most of the reports were descriptive
      regarding injury-creating technical and environmental factors. The influence of
      rock characteristics was an important pre-event environmental factor. The organic
      nature of coal adds risks not shared in hard-rock mines. A sequence of mechanisms
      is commonly described, often initiated by a human factor in interaction with
      technology and step-wise escalation to involve environmental circumstances.
      Socioeconomic factors introduce heterogeneity. In the Haddon matrix, emergency
      medical services are mainly a post-event environmental issue, which were not well
      described in the available literature. The US Quecreek Coal Mine incident of 2002
      stands out as a well-planned rescue mission. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of the
      preparedness to handle underground mining incidents deserves further scientific
      attention. Preparedness must include the medical aspects of rescue operations.
      (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:138-146).

PMID- 28592341
TI  - Intensive Care Unit Probiotic Utilization Rates: When Committee Recommendations
      and Physician Utilization Diverge.

PMID- 28592340
TI  - Influence of gonadotropins on ovarian follicle growth and development in vivo and
      in vitro.
AB  - Gonadotropins are the key regulators of ovarian follicles development. They are
      applied in therapeutic practice in assisted reproductive technology clinics. In
      the present review we discuss the basic gonadotropic hormones - recombinant human
      follicle-stimulating hormone, its derivatives, luteinizing hormone and
      gonadotropin serum of pregnant mares, their origin, and application in ovarian
      follicle systems in in vitro culture systems.

PMID- 28592342
TI  - Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Excessive Reassurance Seeking in
      an Older Adult: A Single Case Quasi-Experimental Design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive behavioural interventions for excessive reassurance seeking
      (ERS) typically focus on encouraging individuals to refrain from seeking any
      reassurance and in some cases banning caregivers (e.g. family members) from
      providing it. However, this blanket consideration that reassurance is a bad thing
      that should simply be stopped may not always be appropriate or helpful. Cognitive
      behavioural treatment (CBT) targeting ERS by helping the sufferer to shift from
      seeking reassurance to seeking support may be a promising treatment intervention.
      AIMS: This study aims to examine the targeted treatment of ERS in an older adult
      who has been suffering from severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) for seven
      decades. METHOD: Using a single case quasi-experimental design (ABCD), the
      frequency of reassurance seeking, urges to seek reassurance, OCD beliefs and
      anxiety were measured daily for almost a year in addition to standard symptom
      measures. RESULTS: At the end of treatment, visual inspection showed that
      reassurance seeking was no longer considered excessive and OCD severity fell from
      the severe to non-clinical range across the treatment sessions. All treatment
      gains were maintained at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates how CBT
      can be successfully applied to treat long-standing OCD and ERS in an older adult.
      Engendering support as an alternative to reassurance seeking in CBT may be a
      particularly promising intervention for ERS.

PMID- 28592343
TI  - External Validation of Three Prediction Tools for Patients at Risk of a
      Complicated Course of Clostridium difficile Infection: Disappointing in an
      Outbreak Setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Estimating the risk of a complicated course of Clostridium difficile
      infection (CDI) might help doctors guide treatment. We aimed to validate 3
      published prediction models: Hensgens (2014), Na (2015), and Welfare (2011).
      METHODS The validation cohort comprised 148 patients diagnosed with CDI between
      May 2013 and March 2014. During this period, 70 endemic cases of CDI occurred as
      well as 78 cases of CDI related to an outbreak of C. difficile ribotype 027.
      Model calibration and discrimination were assessed for the 3 prediction rules.
      RESULTS A complicated course (ie, death, colectomy, or ICU admission due to CDI)
      was observed in 31 patients (21%), and 23 patients (16%) died within 30 days of
      CDI diagnosis. The performance of all 3 prediction models was poor when applied
      to the total validation cohort with an estimated area under the curve (AUC) of
      0.68 for the Hensgens model, 0.54 for the Na model, and 0.61 for the Welfare
      model. For those patients diagnosed with CDI due to non-outbreak strains, the
      prediction model developed by Hensgens performed the best, with an AUC of 0.78.
      CONCLUSION All 3 prediction models performed poorly when using our total cohort,
      which included CDI cases from an outbreak as well as endemic cases. The
      prediction model of Hensgens performed relatively well for patients diagnosed
      with CDI due to non-outbreak strains, and this model may be useful in endemic
      settings. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:897-905.

PMID- 28592344
TI  - Whole grain intake of Australians estimated from a cross-sectional analysis of
      dietary intake data from the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend Australians choose mostly
      whole-grain and/or high-fibre varieties within the grains (cereal) foods
      category, with other groups specifying a whole grain Daily Target Intake of 48 g
      for Australians aged 9 years or above. The USA and UK report estimates of whole
      grain intake that are low and declining, and no comprehensive studies on whole
      grain intake in the Australian population are available. The present study aimed
      to determine national estimates of whole grain intake, compared with current
      recommendations. DESIGN: A recently updated whole grain database was applied to
      the most current population dietary intake data. Single 24 h dietary recall
      intake data were reviewed against age group, sex, relative to energy intake and
      whole grain recommendations. SETTING: Australia. SUBJECTS: Australians (2-85
      years) participating in the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey (n 12 153). RESULTS:
      The median daily whole grain intake was 21 g for adults (19-85 years) and 17 g
      for children/adolescents (2-18 years), or 28 and 23 g/10 MJ per d, respectively.
      Approximately 30 % of children/adolescents consumed no whole grains on the day of
      the survey. Whole grain intake was lowest for the age group 14-18 years (8.7
      g/d). Of all participants aged >=9 years, 73 % did not reach the recommended
      Daily Target Intake of 48 g. CONCLUSIONS: Whole grain intake in Australia is
      below recommendations in all age groups. Adolescents may be a key target for
      campaigns to increase whole grain consumption. This study provides the first
      quantification of absolute whole grain intake from all food sources in a national
      sample of Australians.

PMID- 28592345
TI  - The effect of kinetic heat shock on bovine oocyte maturation and subsequent gene
      expression of targeted genes.
AB  - The exposure of oocytes to heat stress during the maturation process results in
      harmful effects to their internal organelles, low fertilization capability and
      higher embryonic losses. In the present experiment the effect of heat shock (HS)
      during the maturation process was assessed. In Assay 1, oocytes from winter
      (December-March; n = 100) and summer (June-September; n = 100) months were
      collected and matured to analyse their HS tolerance. Total RNA was extracted from
      matured oocytes and cDNA synthesis was performed, followed by qPCR for selected
      genes (Cx43, CDH1, DNMT1, HSPA14), compared with two reference genes (GAPDH and
      SDHA). In Assay 2, oocytes collected during the winter were subjected to kinetic
      HS by stressing them at 39.5 degrees C for 6, 12, 18 or 24 h and were afterwards
      matured at control temperature (38.5 degrees C), and subsequently subjected to
      the previously described gene analysis procedure. Results of Assay 1 show that
      summer-collected oocytes exhibited lower maturation rate than winter-collected
      oocytes, which may be due to the down-regulation of the HSPA 14 gene. Assay 2
      showed that 6 h of HS had no effect on gene regulation. CDH1 and DNMT1 up
      regulation was observed starting at 12 h, which may represent the effect of heat
      shock on oocyte development.

PMID- 28592346
TI  - Analysing Tuberculosis Cases Among Healthcare Workers to Inform Infection Control
      Policy and Practices.
AB  - OBJECTIVE To determine the number and proportion of healthcare worker (HCW)
      tuberculosis (TB) cases infected while working in healthcare institutions in the
      Netherlands and to learn from circumstances that led to these infections. DESIGN
      Cohort analysis. METHODS We included all HCW TB patients reported to the
      Netherlands TB Register from 2000 to 2015. Using data from this register,
      including DNA fingerprints of the bacteria profile and additional information
      from public health clinics, HCW TB cases were classified into 4 categories: (1)
      infected during work in the Netherlands, (2) infected in the community, (3)
      infected outside the Netherlands, or (4) outside these 3 categories. An in-depth
      analysis of category 1 cases was performed to identify factors contributing to
      patient-to-HCW transmission. RESULTS In total, 131 HCW TB cases were identified:
      32 cases (24%) in category 1; 13 cases (10%) in category 2; 42 cases (32%) in
      category 3; and 44 cases (34%) in category 4. The annual number of HCW TB cases
      (P<.05), the proportion among reported cases (P<.01), and the number of category
      1 HCW TB cases (P=.12) all declined over the study period. Delayed diagnosis in a
      TB patient was the predominant underlying factor of nosocomial transmission in
      47% of category 1 HCW TB patients, most of whom were subsequently identified in a
      contact investigation. Performing high-risk procedures was the main contributing
      factor in the other 53% of cases. CONCLUSION In low-incidence countries, every
      HCW TB case should warrant timely and thorough investigation to help further
      define and fine-tune the HCW screening policy and to monitor its proper
      implementation. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:976-982.

PMID- 28592348
TI  - Distinguishing Clostridium difficile Recurrence From Reinfection: Independent
      Validation of Current Recommendations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Distinguishing recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), defined
      as CDI caused by the same genotype, from reinfection with a different genotype,
      has important implications for surveillance and clinical trials investigating
      treatment effectiveness. We validated the proposed 8-week period for
      distinguishing "same genotype CDI" from "different genotype CDI," and we aimed to
      identify clinical variables with distinctiveness to propose an improved
      definition. METHODS From January 2004 to December 2013, a cohort of all
      inpatients with CDI at the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, was
      established, and respective strains were collected. In patients with a second
      episode of CDI, both strains were compared using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      ribotyping. The standard definition of recurrence (within 8 weeks after initial
      diagnosis) was evaluated for its performance to predict CDI caused by the same
      genotype. RESULTS Among 750 patients with CDI, 130 (17.3%) were diagnosed with
      recurrence or reinfection. Strains from both episodes were available from 106
      patients. Identical strains were identified in 36 patients with recurrence (36 of
      47) and 27 patients with reinfection (27 of 59). Sensitivity, specificity, and
      negative and positive predictive values of the standard definition were 56%, 74%,
      53%, and 76%, respectively. An extended period of 20 weeks resulted in the best
      match for both sensitivity and specificity (83% and 58%, respectively), while
      none of the clinical characteristics revealed independent distinctive power.
      CONCLUSIONS Our results challenge the utility of the 8-week cutoff for
      distinguishing recurrent CDI from reinfection. An extended period of 20 weeks may
      result in improved overall performance characteristics, but this finding requires
      external validation. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:891-896.

PMID- 28592347
TI  - Management of the thyroid gland during laryngectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to: describe the incidence of thyroid gland
      involvement in advanced laryngeal cancer, analyse patterns of spread to the
      thyroid and elucidate predictors of thyroid involvement. METHODS: A retrospective
      review was performed on patients who underwent laryngectomy from 1991 to 2015 as
      a primary or salvage treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx,
      hypopharynx or base of tongue. The incidence of thyroidectomy during total
      laryngectomy, type of thyroidectomy, incidence of gland involvement, route of
      spread, and positive predictors of spread were analysed and reported. RESULTS: A
      total of 188 patients fit the inclusion criteria. Of these, 125 (66 per cent)
      underwent thyroidectomy. The thyroid was involved in 10 of the 125 patients (8
      per cent), 9 by direct extension and 1 by metastasis. Cartilage invasion was a
      predictor of thyroid gland involvement, with a positive predictive value of 26
      per cent. CONCLUSION: There is a low incidence of thyroid gland involvement in
      laryngeal carcinoma. Most cases of gland involvement occurred by direct
      extension. Thyroidectomy during laryngectomy should be considered for advanced
      stage tumours with cartilage invasion.

PMID- 28592349
TI  - Development of a video-delivered relaxation treatment of late-life anxiety for
      veterans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Behavioral treatments reduce anxiety, yet many older adults may not
      have access to these efficacious treatments. To address this need, we developed
      and evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a video-delivered anxiety
      treatment for older Veterans. This treatment program, BREATHE (Breathing,
      Relaxation, and Education for Anxiety Treatment in the Home Environment),
      combines psychoeducation, diaphragmatic breathing, and progressive muscle
      relaxation training with engagement in activities. METHODS: A mixed methods
      concurrent study design was used to examine the clarity of the treatment videos.
      We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 Veterans (M age = 69.5, SD = 7.3
      years; 55% White, Non-Hispanic) and collected ratings of video clarity. RESULTS:
      Quantitative ratings revealed that 100% of participants generally or definitely
      could follow breathing and relaxation video instructions. Qualitative findings,
      however, demonstrated more variability in the extent to which each video segment
      was clear. Participants identified both immediate benefits and motivation
      challenges associated with a video-delivered treatment. Participants suggested
      that some patients may need encouragement, whereas others need face-to-face
      therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative ratings of video clarity and qualitative
      findings highlight the feasibility of a video-delivered treatment for older
      Veterans with anxiety. Our findings demonstrate the importance of ensuring
      patients can follow instructions provided in self-directed treatments and the
      role that an iterative testing process has in addressing these issues. Next steps
      include testing the treatment videos with older Veterans with anxiety disorders.

PMID- 28592351
TI  - Actual expense associated with patients with Alzheimer's disease in Colombia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is paucity in the level of knowledge on the actual insurer
      expenses associated with patients suffering with dementia in the developing
      world. Less is known about direct costs by severity and how costs vary because of
      the presence of other comorbidities. METHODS: Using claims data from an insurer
      for three years, we identified patients with AD with an algorithm that takes
      advantage of information on age, primary diagnosis, and services and drugs
      provided. RESULTS: Distribution by dementia stage was as follows: mild 21%,
      moderate 53%, severe 17%, and undetermined 9%. Expenses paid for all causes by
      the insurer were at least double than estimated in the literature and were
      increasing annually at rates higher than 30%. Also, 92% of patients have at least
      another chronic condition. CONCLUSIONS: Worldwide costs of dementia estimates
      maybe underestimating the actual costs to health systems in the developing world.

PMID- 28592350
TI  - Vitamin D status in renal transplant recipients living in a low-latitude city:
      association with body fat, cardiovascular risk factors, estimated glomerular
      filtration rate and proteinuria.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency is associated with CVD,
      impaired kidney function and proteinuria. To date, no study has evaluated these
      associations in renal transplant recipients (RTR) adjusting for body adiposity
      assessed by a 'gold standard' method. This study aimed to evaluate the vitamin D
      status and its association with body adiposity, CVD risk factors, estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and proteinuria in RTR, living in Rio de
      Janeiro, Brazil (a low-latitude city (22 degrees 54'10"S)), taking into account
      body adiposity evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). This cross
      sectional study included 195 RTR (114 men) aged 47.6 (sd 11.2) years. Nutritional
      evaluation included anthropometry and DXA. Risk factors for CVD were
      hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia and the metabolic syndrome. eGFR
      was evaluated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration
      equation. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration was used to define
      vitamin D status as follows: 10 % (n 19) had vitamin D deficiency (30 ng/ml).
      Percentage of body fat (DXA) was significantly associated with vitamin D
      deficiency independently of age, sex and eGFR. Lower 25(OH)D was associated with
      higher odds of the metabolic syndrome and dyslipidaemia after adjustment for age,
      sex and eGFR, but not after additional adjustment for body fat. Hypertension and
      diabetes were not related to 25(OH)D. Lower serum 25(OH)D was associated with
      increasing proteinuria and decreasing eGFR even after adjustments for age, sex
      and percentage of body fat. This study suggests that in RTR of a low-latitude
      city hypovitaminosis D is common, and is associated with excessive body fat,
      decreased eGFR and increased proteinuria.

PMID- 28592352
TI  - The health and health preparation of long-term Australian travellers.
AB  - A growing number of Australians are travelling domestically for extended periods.
      This creates challenges in both continuity of health care and burdens on health
      services. This paper reports a cross-sectional survey aimed to explore the health
      needs and health planning of long-term travellers. In total, 316 respondents who
      had travelled for more than 3 months consecutively in the last year participated.
      Most respondents were retired (n=197; 62.3%); however, ages ranged from 26 to 89
      years. Nearly half of the respondents or their travel companion had a long-term
      illness that affected their daily life (n=135; 42.7%). Nearly half of respondents
      visited a GP (n=133; 42.1%), nearly one-quarter visited an Emergency Department
      (n=72; 22.8%) and 19.9% (n=63) visited another health provider while travelling.
      The level of preparation around health while travelling varied between
      participants. This study highlights that long-term travellers have significant
      health needs and are likely to require health services during their extended
      travel. Additionally, it identifies that currently few strategies are used to
      plan for health care during travel. This raises issues for rural and remote
      health services in terms of both capacity and continuity of care.

PMID- 28592353
TI  - Role of information and communication technology in promoting oral health at
      residential aged care facilities.
AB  - Information and communication technology (ICT) can provide knowledge and clinical
      support to those working in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). This paper
      aims to: (1) review literature on ICT targeted at residents, staff and external
      providers in RACFs including general practitioners, dental and allied health
      professionals on improving residents' oral health; (2) identify barriers and
      enablers to using ICT in promoting oral health at RACFs; and (3) investigate
      evidence of effectiveness of these approaches in promoting oral health. Findings
      from this narrative literature review indicate that ICT is not widely used in
      RACFs, with barriers to usage identified as limited training for staff,
      difficulties accessing the Internet, limited computer literacy particularly in
      older staff, cost and competing work demands. Residents also faced barriers
      including impaired cognitive and psychosocial functioning, limited computer
      literacy and Internet use. Findings suggest that more education and training in
      ICT to upskill staff and residents is needed to effectively promote oral health
      through this medium.

PMID- 28592355
TI  - Why intensity is not a bad word - Benefits and practical aspects of high effort
      resistance training to the older.

PMID- 28592354
TI  - Post wall fixation by lag screw only in associated both column fractures with
      posterior wall involvement.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the quality of reduction, clinical outcomes and
      complications of associated both column acetabular fractures with posterior wall
      involvement that are treated through single ilioinguinal approach and fixation of
      posterior wall by lag screws only. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review
      involving ninety-nine consecutive patients with associated both column fractures
      of acetabulum treated through single ilioinguinal approach. Patients were divided
      into two groups. The first group consisted of 35 patients presented with both
      column fractures with posterior wall involvement that fixation performed with lag
      screws. This group was compared to a second group of 64 patients with both column
      fractures without posterior wall involvement. The quality of reduction was
      assessed using criteria described by Matta. The size of posterior wall fragment
      was measured. Functional outcome was evaluated using Modified Postel Merle
      D'Aubigne score. Radiographs at the latest follow up were analyzed for arthritis
      (Kellgren-Lawrence classification), and femoral head avascular necrosis
      (Ficat/Arlet classification). RESULTS: The study showed no significant
      differences in all preoperative variables (P>0.05). While intraoperative blood
      loss and operative time in group 1 were increased compared to group 2, the
      difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The height, relative depth
      and peripheral length of posterior wall respectively were 27.8+/-2.5mm (range: 24
      35mm), 71.5+/-5.4% (range: 65-88%), 23.0+/-2.3mm (range: 17-28mm). The mean
      posterior wall fracture displacement is 5.0+/-3.2mm (range: 0-11mm). There was no
      difference regarding the quality of reduction between the two groups (P>0.05).
      The excellent to good clinical outcome was around 71.4% in the group 1 versus
      73.4% in the group 2 at the final follow-up, this difference was not
      statistically significant (P>0.05). There was no difference in rate of
      complications between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lag screws fixation
      of posterior wall through single ilioinguinal approach in associated both column
      fractures of acetabulum is a safe and effective method. Our results shown that
      the presence of posterior wall fracture in cases of associated both column
      fractures does not compromise the clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28592356
TI  - Use of health resources and healthcare costs associated with nutritional risk:
      The FRADEA study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In spite of its high prevalence and its clinical relevance, the
      economic impact of malnutrition has not been sufficiently explored. OBJECTIVE: To
      study whether malnutrition predicts total hospital healthcare costs and costs
      related to specialist visits, emergency department visits and hospitalization in
      older adults. METHODS: Concurrent cohort study in Albacete City, Spain. The study
      sample included 827 subjects aged 70 and over from the FRADEA Study. Mini
      Nutritional Assessment(r)-Short Form (MNA(r)-SF) was recorded at baseline. Use of
      hospital resources (hospital admissions, emergency visits, and specialist
      visits), and hospital healthcare costs were recorded at follow-up. Generalized
      linear models (GLM) adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, polypharmacy, and
      disability in basic activities of daily living were used to estimate the impact
      of nutritional factors on total healthcare costs per person/year (? base year
      2013) as well as specialist visit costs, emergency department visit costs and
      hospitalization costs. RESULTS: The average cost associated with the use of
      health resources was 1922?/year. Subjects with MNA(r)-SF between 0 and 7 had an
      average total health cost of 3492?/year, 2744?/year in those with MNA(r)-SF
      between 8 and 11, and 1542?/year in those with MNA(r)-SF between 12 and 14. Of
      the total health cost, 67.2% was associated with hospital admission costs.
      Adjusted healthcare costs were 714?/year greater in subjects with malnutrition or
      nutritional risk. Subjects with malnutrition or nutritional risk presented an
      increased adjusted risk of hospitalization (OR1.72, 95% CI 1.22-2.43).
      CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition assessed by MNA(r)-SF is a prognostic factor of high
      healthcare cost and use of resources in older adults.

PMID- 28592358
TI  - Engineering waterborne Pseudomonas aeruginosa out of a critical care unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe engineering and holistic interventions on water outlets
      contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the observed impact on clinical P.
      aeruginosa patient isolates in a large Intensive Care Unit (ICU). DESIGN:
      Descriptive study. SETTING: Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB), part of
      University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust is a tertiary referral
      teaching hospital in Birmingham, UK and provides clinical services to nearly 1
      million patients every year. METHODS: Breakpoint models were used to detect any
      significant changes in the cumulative yearly rates of clinical P. aeruginosa
      patient isolates from August 2013-December 2016 across QEHB. RESULTS: Water
      sampling undertaken on the ICU indicated 30% of the outlets were positive for P.
      aeruginosa at any one time. Molecular typing of patient and water isolates via
      Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis suggested there was a 30% transmission rate of
      P. aeruginosa from the water to patients on the ICU. From, February 2014, QEHB
      implemented engineering interventions, consisting of new tap outlets and PALL
      point-of-use filters; as well as holistic measures, from February 2016 including
      a revised tap cleaning method and appropriate disposal of patient waste water.
      Breakpoint models indicated the engineering and holistic interventions resulted
      in a significant (p<0.001) 50% reduction in the number of P. aeruginosa clinical
      patient isolates over a year. CONCLUSION: Here we demonstrate that the role of
      waterborne transmission of P. aeruginosa in an ICU cannot be overlooked. We
      suggest both holistic and environmental factors are important in reducing
      transmission.

PMID- 28592357
TI  - Physicochemical parameters affecting the perception of borehole water quality in
      Ghana.
AB  - Rural Ghanaian communities continue using microbiologically contaminated surface
      water sources due in part to undesirable organoleptic characteristics of
      groundwater from boreholes. Our objective was to identify thresholds of physical
      and chemical parameters associated with consumer complaints related to
      groundwater. Water samples from 94 boreholes in the dry season and 68 boreholes
      in the rainy season were analyzed for 18 parameters. Interviews of consumers were
      conducted at each borehole regarding five commonly expressed water quality
      problems (salty taste, presence of particles, unfavorable scent, oily sheen
      formation on the water surface, and staining of starchy foods during cooking).
      Threshold levels of water quality parameters predictive of complaints were
      determined using the Youden index maximizing the sum of sensitivity and
      specificity. The probability of complaints at various parameter concentrations
      was estimated using logistic regression. Exceedances of WHO guidelines were
      detected for pH, turbidity, chloride, iron, and manganese. Concentrations of
      total dissolved solids (TDS) above 172mg/L were associated with salty taste
      complaints. Although the WHO guideline is 1000mg/L, even at half the guideline,
      the likelihood of salty taste complaint was 75%. Iron concentrations above 0.11,
      0.14 and 0.43mg/L (WHO guideline value 0.3mg/L) were associated with complaints
      of unfavorable scent, oily sheen, and food staining, respectively. Iron and TDS
      concentrations exhibited strong spatial clustering associated with specific
      geological formations. Improved groundwater sources in rural African communities
      that technically meet WHO water quality guidelines may be underutilized in
      preference of unimproved sources for drinking and domestic uses, compromising
      human health and sustainability of improved water infrastructure.

PMID- 28592360
TI  - Clinical study of a new Modified Early Warning System scoring system, some
      lingering doubts.

PMID- 28592359
TI  - Mercury accumulation in Lethrinus nebulosus from the marine waters of the Qatar
      EEZ.
AB  - Total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were recorded in the commercial
      demersal fish Lethrinus nebulosus, caught from six locations in Qatar EEZ
      (Exclusive Economic Zone). Concentrations of THg decreased in the order:
      liver?muscle?gonad. THg concentrations in fish tissue ranged from 0.016ppm in
      gonad to 0.855ppm (mgkg-1w/w) in liver tissues, while concentrations in muscle
      tissue ranged from 0.24 to 0.49ppm (mgkg-1w/w) among sampling sites. MeHg
      concentrations were used to validate food web transfer rate calculations. Intake
      rates were calculated to assess the potential health impact of the fish
      consumption. There is no major threat to human health from the presence of Hg in
      L. nebulosus, based upon reasonable consumption patterns, limited to no more than
      three meals of L. nebulosus per week.

PMID- 28592361
TI  - CT imaging of solid renal masses: pitfalls and solutions.
AB  - Computed tomography (CT) remains the first-line imaging test for the
      characterisation of renal masses; however, CT has inherent limitations, which if
      unrecognised, may result in errors. The purpose of this manuscript is to present
      10 pitfalls in the CT evaluation of solid renal masses. Thin section non-contrast
      enhanced CT (NECT) is required to confirm the presence of macroscopic fat and
      diagnosis of angiomyolipoma (AML). Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) can mimic renal
      cysts at NECT when measuring <20 HU, but are usually heterogeneous with irregular
      margins. Haemorrhagic cysts (HC) may simulate solid lesions at NECT; however, a
      homogeneous lesion measuring >70 HU is essentially diagnostic of HC. Homogeneous
      lesions measuring 20-70 HU at NECT or >20 HU at contrast-enhanced (CE) CT, are
      indeterminate, requiring further evaluation. Dual-energy CT (DECT) can accurately
      characterise these lesions at baseline through virtual NECT, iodine overlay
      images, or quantitative iodine concentration analysis without recalling the
      patient. A minority of hypo-enhancing renal masses (most commonly papillary RCC)
      show indeterminate or absent enhancement at multiphase CT. Follow-up, CE
      ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is required to further
      characterise these lesions. Small (<3 cm) endophytic cysts commonly show pseudo
      enhancement, which may simulate RCC; this can be overcome with DECT or MRI. In
      small (<4 cm) solid renal masses, 20% of lesions are benign, chiefly AML without
      visible fat or oncocytoma. Low-dose techniques may simulate lesion heterogeneity
      due to increased image noise, which can be ameliorated through the appropriate
      use of iterative reconstruction algorithms.

PMID- 28592362
TI  - In vitro treatment of Toxoplasma gondii with copper(II) complexes induces
      apoptosis-like and cellular division alterations.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, which is one of the
      most common parasitic diseases in the world. This pathogen causes severe damage
      to immunocompromised hosts, and the most frequently used therapy is the
      combination of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, which has side effects. Thus,
      there is a need for new therapies that target T. gondii. Herein, we present the
      anti-Toxoplasma effect of two new copper(II) complexes: [(H2L1) Cu (MU-Cl)2
      Cu(H2L1)] Cl2.5H2O (1) and [(H2L2) Cu (MU-Cl)2 Cu(H2L2)] Cl2.6H2O (2). Complexes
      (1) and (2) irreversibly controlled parasite growth in vitro, with IC50 values of
      0.78MUM and 3.57MUM, respectively, after 48h. These complexes induced part of the
      tachyzoite population to convert to bradyzoites, which eventually die. The cell
      death mechanism was unknown, but signs of apoptosis, such as membrane blebs and
      nuclear fragmentation, and necrosis, such as plasma membrane disruption, intense
      cytoplasm vesiculation and the release of cellular contents, were seen. In
      addition, complex (2) interfered with the correct disposition of the inner
      membrane complex of the parasite, affecting cell division. These results indicate
      that these copper complexes have potential effects against T. gondii and may be
      used as drugs in the future or serve as prototypes for the development of new
      drugs to treat toxoplasmosis.

PMID- 28592363
TI  - LDL apheresis as it relates to nursing practice.
AB  - Nurses are an essential partner in the treatment of complex diseases and they
      have extensive influence on patient outcomes. Connecting a patient to a machine
      takes courage, skill, and a whole lot of trust. Anyone who has earned the title
      of "nurse" has shown courage. Skill comes with hours and hours of practice. Trust
      is earned and ongoing. Combine these three attributes and you get the "care" that
      goes into nursing care. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis is a well
      established therapy for hypercholesterolemia. This article will focused on the
      Liposorber(r) MA-03 system in a brief conversation of LDL apheresis as it relates
      to nursing practice.

PMID- 28592365
TI  - Assisted baseline subtraction in complex chromatograms using the BEADS algorithm.
AB  - The data processing step of complex signals in high-performance liquid
      chromatography may constitute a bottleneck to obtain significant information from
      chromatograms. Data pre-processing should be preferably done with little (or no)
      user supervision, for a maximal benefit and highest speed. In this work, a tool
      for the configuration of a state-of-the-art baseline subtraction algorithm,
      called BEADS (Baseline Estimation And Denoising using Sparsity) is developed and
      verified. A quality criterion based on the measurement of the autocorrelation
      level was designed to select the most suitable working parameters to obtain the
      best baseline. The use of a log transformation of the signal attenuated artifacts
      associated to a large disparity in signal size between sample constituents.
      Conventional BEADS makes use of trial-and-error strategies to set up the working
      parameters, which makes the process slow and inconsistent. This constitutes a
      major drawback in its successful application. In contrast, the assisted BEADS
      simplifies the setup, shortens the processing time and makes the baseline
      subtraction more reliable. The assisted algorithm was tested on several complex
      chromatograms corresponding to extracts of medicinal herbs analysed with
      acetonitrile-water gradients, and a mixture of sulphonamides eluted with
      acetonitrile gradients in the presence of the non-ionic surfactant Brij-35 under
      micellar conditions.

PMID- 28592364
TI  - Erratum to "Characteristics and prognosis of Japanese colorectal cancer patients:
      The BioBank Japan Project" [J Epidemiol 27(3S) (2017) S36-S42].

PMID- 28592367
TI  - Corrigendum to "Safety assessment and attenuation of cisplatin induced
      nephrotoxicity by tuberous roots of Boerhaavia diffusa" [Regul. Toxicol. and
      Pharmacol. 81 (2016) 341-352].

PMID- 28592366
TI  - Unmet needs for information and psychosocial support in relation to quality of
      life and emotional distress: A comparison between gynecological and breast cancer
      patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We compared gynecological and breast cancer patients regarding their
      needs for information and psychosocial support, quality of life (QoL), and
      emotional distress and the relationship among these constructs. METHODS: In a
      multicenter, cross-sectional study in Germany, we evaluated 1214 female cancer
      patients (317 with gynecological cancer, 897 with breast cancer). We obtained
      self-reports of unmet needs, using a self-developed measure. We measured QoL with
      the EORTC QLQ-C30, symptoms of depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire
      (PHQ-9), and symptoms of anxiety with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD
      7). RESULTS: Compared to breast cancer patients, gynecological cancer patients
      felt less informed about several aspects of their disease, particularly regarding
      psychological support (p<0.001), tended to have more unmet information needs, and
      reported lower QoL levels. Lower emotional functioning, but higher physical
      functioning were independent correlates of the level of unmet information needs.
      Depressive symptoms and higher physical functioning (only in breast cancer) were
      independent correlates of higher needs for psychosocial support. CONCLUSION:
      Compared to breast cancer, gynecological cancer patients were less satisfied with
      the information received and reported lower levels of QoL. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:
      Both clinicians and policy makers should take efforts to address the higher needs
      of gynecological cancer patients.

PMID- 28592368
TI  - Plant Breeding Goes Microbial.
AB  - Plant breeding has traditionally improved traits encoded in the plant genome.
      Here we propose an alternative framework reaching novel phenotypes by modifying
      together genomic information and plant-associated microbiota. This concept is
      made possible by a novel technology that enables the transmission of endophytic
      microbiota to the next plant generation.

PMID- 28592370
TI  - Smoking-epigenetics interaction: What do microRNAs tell us about susceptibility
      to atherosclerotic disease in smokers?

PMID- 28592369
TI  - Preliminary study of histamine H4 receptor expressed on human CD4+ T cells and
      its immunomodulatory potency in the IL-17 pathway of psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown the expression of histamine H4 receptor
      (H4R) on CD4+ T cells, especially human CD4+ Th2-polarized T cells. OBJECTIVE:
      This study aimed to investigate the role of H4R on these effector T cells in
      psoriasis. METHODS: We enrolled three patients each with active psoriasis,
      inactive psoriasis, scalp seborrheic dermatitis, and three normal controls, and
      compared the basal expression of H4R mRNA in their peripheral blood CD4+ T cells.
      Then, we identified H4R expression in dermal CD4+ T cells. Furthermore, we
      investigated H4R expression after stimulating separated peripheral blood CD4+ T
      cells with several inflammatory cytokines. RESULTS: The results showed higher H4R
      expression in the active psoriasis group compared to the inactive psoriasis
      group. It was interesting that interleukin (IL)-23, which is a representative
      cytokine contributing to Th17 cell differentiation, stimulated H4R expression
      significantly. After adding a selective H4R antagonist (JNJ-7777120) while the
      CD4+ T cells were polarized into Th17 cells, we observed a tendency toward
      suppressed IL-17 secretion. CONCLUSIONS: Histamine stimulation influences the IL
      17 pathway in psoriasis via the fourth histamine receptor subtype, H4R, on CD4+ T
      cells. The immunomodulatory roles of H4R suggest its potency as a new therapeutic
      target for obstinate psoriasis.

PMID- 28592371
TI  - Low yield of blood and wound cultures in patients with skin and soft-tissue
      infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend blood cultures in skin and soft-tissue
      infection (SSTI) patients only with signs of systemic toxicity and wound cultures
      for severe purulent infections. Our objectives were to determine: 1) blood and
      wound culture yields in patients admitted with SSTIs; 2) whether injection drug
      users (IDUs) and febrile patients had higher blood culture yields; and 3) whether
      blood and wound cultures grew organisms sensitive to typical SSTI empiric
      antibiotics. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled adult patients admitted from the
      ED with SSTIs at an urban hospital. We recorded patient characteristics,
      including IDU, comorbidities and temperatures, and followed admitted patients
      throughout their hospital course. RESULTS: Of 734 SSTI patients enrolled, 246
      (33.5%) were admitted. Of 86 (35.0%) patients who had blood cultures, six had
      positive cultures (yield=7.0%; 95% confidence intervals [CIs] 3.2-14.4); 4 were
      methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and 2 were methicillin
      resistant (MRSA). Of 29 febrile patients, 1 had a positive culture (yield=3.5%;
      95% CI 0.6-17.2). Of 101 admitted IDU patients, 46 (46%) received blood cultures,
      and 4 had positive cultures (yield=8.7%; 95% CI 3.4-20.3). Of 89 patients with
      purulent wounds, 44 (49.4%) patients had ED wound cultures. Thirteen had positive
      cultures (yield=29.6%; 95% CI 18.2-44.2%). Most were MRSA, MSSA, and group A
      Streptococcus species - all sensitive to Vancomycin. CONCLUSIONS: Febrile and IDU
      patients had low yields of blood cultures similar to yields in non-IDU and
      afebrile patients. All blood and wound culture species were adequately covered by
      currently recommended empiric antibiotic regimens.

PMID- 28592373
TI  - "What's the next step?" Improving interfacility emergency department transfer
      handoff communication.

PMID- 28592372
TI  - Scene time interval and good neurological recovery in out-of-hospital cardiac
      arrest.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: It is unclear whether scene time interval (STI) is associated with
      better neurological recovery in the emergency medical service (EMS) system with
      intermediate service level. METHODS: Adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA)
      patients with presumed cardiac etiology (2012 to 2014) were analyzed, excluding
      patients not-resuscitated, occurred in ambulance/medical/nursing facility,
      unknown STI or extremely longer STI (>60 min), and unknown outcomes. STI was
      classified into short (0.0-3.9 min), middle (4.0-7.9 min), long (8.0-11.9 min),
      and very-long (12.0-59.9 min), respectively. The end point was a good cerebral
      performance category (CPC) 1 or 2. Multivariable logistic regression by STI group
      (reference=short) was performed to calculate adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95%
      confidence intervals (95% CIs) for outcomes with or without interaction term
      (STI*prehospital return of spontaneous circulation, (PROSC)). RESULTS: Of 79,832
      OHCA patients, 41,054 cases were analyzed; good CPC in the short (3.0%), middle
      (3.2%), long (3.0%), and very-long (2.9%) STI groups were similar, respectively
      (p=0.55). The AORs (95% CI) for good CPC in the final model without interaction
      term were 0.74 (0.58-0.95) for the middle, 0.51 (0.39-0.67) for the long, and
      0.45 (0.33-0.61) for the very-long STI group (reference=short STI). The AORs in
      PROSC group were 1.18 (0.97-1.44) for middle STI group, 0.72 (0.57-0.92) for long
      group, and 0.56 (0.42-0.77) for very-long group. The AORs in non-PROSC group were
      1.22 (1.06-1.40) for middle STI group, 0.82 (0.70-0.96) for long group, and 0.70
      (0.57-0.85) for very-long group. CONCLUSION: The middle STI (4-7min) was
      associated with the highest odds of neurological recovery for patients who could
      not be restored in the field. The STI may be a clinically useful predictor of
      good neurology outcome in victims of cardiac arrest.

PMID- 28592374
TI  - Characteristics and outcomes of acute pediatric blunt torso trauma based on
      injury intent.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Blunt trauma is a leading cause of pediatric morbidity. We compared
      injuries, interventions and outcomes of acute pediatric blunt torso trauma based
      on intent. METHODS: We analyzed de-identified data from a prospective, multi
      center emergency department (ED)-based observational cohort of children under age
      eighteen. Injuries were classified based on intent (unintentional/inflicted). We
      compared demographic, physical and laboratory findings, ED disposition,
      hospitalization, need for surgery, 30-day mortality, and cause of death between
      groups using Chi-squared or Fisher's test for categorical variables, and Mann
      Whitney test for non-normal continuous factors comparing median values and
      interquartile ranges (IQR). RESULTS: There were 12,044 children who sustained
      blunt torso trauma: Inflicted=720 (6%); Unintentional=9563 (79.4%);
      Indeterminate=148 (1.2%); Missing=1613 (13.4%). Patients with unintentional torso
      injuries significantly differed from those with inflicted injuries in median age
      in years (IQR) [10 (5, 15) vs. 14 (8, 16); p-value<0.001], race, presence of
      pelvic fractures, hospitalization and need for non-abdominal surgery. Mortality
      rates did not differ based on intent. Further adjustment using binary, logistic
      regression revealed that the risk of pelvic fractures in the inflicted group was
      96% less than the unintentional group (OR: 0.04; 95%CI: 0.01-0.26; p
      value=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Children who sustain acute blunt torso trauma due to
      unintentional causes have a significantly higher risk of pelvic fractures and are
      more likely to be hospitalized compared to those with inflicted injuries.

PMID- 28592375
TI  - An educational intervention allows for greater prehospital recognition of acute
      stroke.

PMID- 28592376
TI  - Post-operative fatal blood aspiration after routine lung surgery.
AB  - A routine question encountered in medicolegal practice is whether the death of a
      patient in proximity to a surgical procedure is due to medical malpractice. The
      case of a 62-year-old man who died two weeks after undergoing a VATS sleeve
      resection of the upper right lung lobe in conjunction with radical
      lymphadenectomy, a routine surgical procedure, is reported. To address the issue
      of medical malpractice, a forensic autopsy was ordered by the investigative
      authority. During the autopsy, the lungs were removed as a whole and fixed in
      formalin and were later dissected in cooperation with a thoracic surgeon. In the
      course of this dissection, a bronchovascular fistula, which had led to the
      occlusion of the bronchial system with clotted blood, was discovered.
      Bronchovascular fistulas are a rare complication of bronchial sleeve resections.
      Because this surgical complication is essentially always fatal, it is highly
      pertinent to medicolegal practice. The presented case report also lists other
      important complications associated with bronchial anastomosis and elucidates a
      pragmatic approach to obtaining an expert clinical assessment of possible medical
      malpractice after operations through the example of a dissection performed in
      cooperation with a thoracic surgeon.

PMID- 28592377
TI  - Normative Values of Short-Term Heart Rate Variability Parameters in Koreans and
      Their Clinical Value for the Prediction of Mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is an important clinical tool
      for characterising cardiac autonomic status. We sought to determine the normative
      values and characteristics of the HRV parameters derived from a short-term study
      in Koreans and to determine their clinical role in predicting mortality. METHODS:
      A total of 1828 consecutive patients (range 20-84 years, men 64.8%) with no
      serious comorbid conditions were recruited. The RR intervals from 10-minute
      electrocardiograms were used for computation of the following HRV parameters:
      conventional time- and frequency-domain measures and nonlinear measures. RESULTS:
      A greater age-dependence of most conventional parameters, including the low
      frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) powers, was observed than that of the
      Shannon entropy (ShanEn), approximate entropy (ApEn), and sample entropy. Fifty
      four patients (14 cardiac deaths) died during a 10-year follow-up period. The
      LF/HF ratio (odds ratio [OR], 0.876; p=0.025), ShanEn (OR, 0.372; p=0.028), and
      ApEn (OR, 0.093; p=0.030) were found to be predictors of all-cause mortality in
      the multivariate regression analysis. Age was also a powerful risk factor for all
      cause mortality (OR, 1.141; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We presented the normative
      values and characterised the short-term HRV parameters in Koreans. Among the
      short-term nonlinear parameters, the ShanEn and ApEn were adjunctive parameters
      for predicting the all-cause mortality in the general population.

PMID- 28592378
TI  - No FAD, No CRY: Redox and Circadian Rhythms.
AB  - There is growing evidence of reciprocal interactions between the endogenous
      circadian clock and subcellular redox pathways. Recently, researchers at the
      University of California unearthed another possible link between redox metabolism
      and the mammalian circadian clock: the redox cofactor FAD stabilises the clock
      protein cryptochrome (CRY), modifying rhythmic clock gene expression.

PMID- 28592379
TI  - Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in Men Aged 70 Years or Older with Localised
      Prostate Cancer Undergoing Radical Radiotherapy.
AB  - AIMS: Treatment decisions for men aged 70 years or over with localised prostate
      cancer need to take into account the risk of death from competing causes and
      fitness for the proposed treatment. Objective assessments such as those included
      in a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) might help to inform the decision
      making process. The aim of this study was to describe the CGA scores of a cohort
      of older men with prostate cancer, evaluate potential screening tools in this
      population and assess whether any CGA component predicts significant acute
      radiotherapy toxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study
      undertaking pretreatment CGA, Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13) and G8 assessment
      in patients aged 70 years and over with localised prostate cancer planned to
      undergo radical external beam radiotherapy. RESULTS: In total, 178 participants
      were recruited over a 3 year period and underwent a CGA. Fifty-five (30.1%)
      participants were defined as having health needs identified by their CGA. Both
      VES-13 and G8 screening tools showed a statistically significant association with
      CGA needs (P < 0.001 and X2 = 15.02, P < 0.001, respectively), but their
      sensitivity was disappointing. There was no association between a CGA (or its
      components) and significant acute radiotherapy toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Many older
      men with localised prostate cancer are vulnerable according to a CGA. The
      screening tools evaluated were not sufficiently sensitive to identify this group.
      CGA outcome does not predict for significant acute radiotherapy toxicity.

PMID- 28592380
TI  - Good practices of publishing AYUSH research: A practical checklist for authors.
AB  - Since its inception, Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (J-AIM) has
      been constantly striving to create an environment that inculcates and strengthens
      "Good Publication Practices (GPP)" amongst students, practitioners and
      researchers in AYUSH community. The J-AIM has been doing this in the form of
      conducting workshops on scientific writing and research methods on different
      platforms. This article is based on our experiences and varied discussions that
      we have had with students, teachers, practitioners and researchers during these
      interactive sessions, and is intended at addressing the gap that prevails in the
      domain. The need for such awareness is felt even more strongly ever since the
      Beall's list of predatory journals has been unpublished. This article tries to
      fill the void this disappearance has created. We analyze the current scenario of
      AYUSH publications, enumerate the common perceptions and concerns among the
      workers in the field, and consider the periodicals where the doctoral and
      postgraduate level of Ayurveda research works are being published at present. The
      article also presents a practical checklist that will be helpful for students and
      teachers to refer authentic resources and submit their work to an appropriate
      scholarly journal.

PMID- 28592381
TI  - Getting under the skin.

PMID- 28592382
TI  - Incidence of MRI-detected brain lesions and neurocognitive function after
      electrical cardioversion in anticoagulated patients with persistent atrial
      fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After electrical cardioversion (eCV) in patients with atrial
      fibrillation (AF), the risk for clinically apparent cerebral thromboembolism is
      increased in the subsequent weeks. To date, there is little evidence on the
      incidence of acute brain lesions (ABL) detected with cerebral magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) after eCV, in particular in patients treated with the Non-Vitamin K
      Antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC). AIMS: The aim of this pilot study was to
      evaluate the incidence of MRI-detected ABL, as well as the neuro-cognitive
      function after eCV in patients with persistent AF using NOACs as compared to
      phenprocoumon. METHODS AND RESULTS: 50 consecutive patients with persistent AF
      (mean age 69.6+/-3.5years, 26 male) were evaluated in this prospective study.
      Cerebral 3Tesla MRI and neuro-cognitive assessment using the National Institutes
      of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test
      (MoCA) were performed in all patients within 24h before eCV and after a median
      follow-up duration of 14days (Q1: 13, Q3: 19days). Patients were treated with an
      OAC for at least 4weeks after eCV and according to the CHA2DS2-Vasc-score
      thereafter. Thirty-nine patients were treated with NOACs (Dabigatran 10/50 [20%],
      Apixaban 21/50 [42%] and Rivaroxaban 8/50 [16]) and 11/50 patients with
      Phenprocoumon (22%). No patient developed ABL on cerebral MRI at the 2-week
      follow-up. Neurological as well as cognitive function were similar before and
      2weeks after eCV (NIHSS-score: p=0.35; MoCa score: p=0.21). CONCLUSION:
      Electrical CV in patients with persistent AF, in particular when treated with
      NOACs, carries a low risk for the development of MRI-detected ABL or
      neurocognitive decline. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION:
      GermanClinicalTrialsRegister number: DRKS00010460.

PMID- 28592383
TI  - Long-term outcome prediction by functional parameters derived from coronary
      computed tomography angiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Estimation of hemodynamic relevance of a coronary stenosis from
      coronary computed angiography (CCTA) has raised substantial interest. Recently,
      the corrected coronary opacification (CCO) decrease and the transluminal
      attenuation gradient (TAG) have been suggested as faster alternatives to the
      FFRCT. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the diagnostic accuracy of
      CCO decrease and TAG translates into an added prognostic value in patients
      evaluated for coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: This retrospective study
      consists of 162 consecutive patients referred for evaluation of known or
      suspected CAD by CCTA. CCO decrease was defined as difference of mean luminal
      coronary attenuation normalized to aorta attenuation proximal-distal of a
      stenosis. To calculate TAG, mean attenuation was measured at 5-mm intervals from
      the ostium to a distal segment with a minimal cross-sectional area of 2.0mm2.
      Death, myocardial infarction, unstable angina requiring hospitalization, and
      coronary revascularization were defined as major adverse cardiac events (MACE).
      Multivariate analysis included covariates age, sex, >=3 cardiovascular risk
      factors and stenosis severity. RESULTS: Follow-up was completed in 154 patients,
      CAD was found in 72. During median follow-up of 6.1years (interquartile range,
      5.8-6.9years), 55 patients experienced a MACE. Among CAD patients, the presence
      of an abnormal CCO decrease (p<0.05) but not TAG (p=0.894) was associated with a
      worse MACE-free survival. In multivariate analysis, CCO decrease was an
      independent predictor of MACE (HR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.14-4.52; p=0.02) while TAG was
      not predictive (p=0.895). CONCLUSION: In CAD patients, CCO decrease adds long
      term prognostic value over clinical characteristics and stenosis severity while
      TAG does not.

PMID- 28592384
TI  - Gender differences in long-term clinical outcomes and prognostic factors in
      patients with vasospastic angina.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Men are more likely to suffer from vasospastic angina (VSA) than
      women; however, gender differences in the long-term prognosis of VSA patients
      have not been fully elucidated. We sought to investigate clinical outcomes and
      predictive factors of VSA patients according to gender. METHODS: A total of 986
      patients (838 men and 148 women) with a positive result on intracoronary
      ergonovine provocation test between January 2003 and December 2014 were analyzed.
      The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as a
      composite of cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, revascularization, or
      rehospitalization due to recurrent angina. RESULTS: Women were younger and showed
      a lower prevalence of smoking or fixed coronary stenosis than men. The risk for
      MACE was similar between male and female patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.95; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 0.65-1.39; p=0.79). In multivariable prediction models
      for MACE, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level was a significant
      predictor of MACE in male patients (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.25-3.06; p=0.003), but
      there was no significant predictor in female patients. There was a significant
      interaction between hs-CRP level and MACE rate across genders (interaction
      p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term clinical outcome was not different between
      genders. Hs-CRP was an important predictor of long-term clinical outcomes in male
      patients with VSA, but not in female patients.

PMID- 28592385
TI  - Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (Nod2) modulates
      T1DM susceptibility by gut microbiota.
AB  - Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (Nod2) is an
      innate immune receptor. To investigate the role of Nod2 in susceptibility to the
      autoimmune disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), we generated Nod2-/- non
      obese diabetic (NOD) mice. The Nod2-/-NOD mice had different composition of the
      gut microbiota compared to Nod2+/+NOD mice and were significantly protected from
      diabetes, but only when housed separately from Nod2+/+NOD mice. This suggested
      that T1DM susceptibility in Nod2-/-NOD mice is dependent on the alteration of gut
      microbiota, which modulated the frequency and function of IgA-secreting B-cells
      and IL-10 promoting T-regulatory cells. Finally, colonizing germ-free NOD mice
      with Nod2-/-NOD gut microbiota significantly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine
      secreting immune cells but increased T-regulatory cells. Thus, gut microbiota
      modulate the immune system and T1D susceptibility. Importantly, our study raises
      a critical question about the housing mode in the interpretation of the disease
      phenotype of genetically-modified mouse strains in T1DM studies.

PMID- 28592389
TI  - Spaces of well-being among young adults with physical disabilities transitioning
      from pediatric to adult healthcare.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Youth with disabilities are at risk of poor health outcomes as they
      transition to adult healthcare. Although space and place play an important role
      in accessing healthcare little is known about the spatial aspects of youth's
      transition from pediatric to adult healthcare. OBJECTIVE: To understand the
      spaces of well-being as youth with physical disabilities transition from
      pediatric to adult healthcare. METHODS: This study draws on a qualitative design
      involving 63 in-depth interviews with young adults (n = 22), parents (n = 17),
      and clinicians (n = 24) involved in preparing young adults for transition. All
      participants were recruited from a pediatric rehabilitation hospital within a
      metropolitan area of Ontario, Canada. Data were analyzed using an inductive
      content analysis approach that was informed by the spaces of well-being
      framework. RESULTS: The results highlight that within the 'spaces of capability'
      those with more disability-related complications and/or those using a mobility
      device encountered challenges in their transition to adult care. The 'spaces of
      security' influencing youth's well-being during their transition included:
      temporary (in)security while they were away at college, and health (in)security.
      Most of the focus on youth's transition included 'integrative spaces', which can
      enhance or hinder their well-being. Such spaces included: spatial
      (dis)connections (distance to access care), embeddedness (family and community),
      physical access, and distance. Meanwhile, therapeutic spaces involved having
      spaces that youth were satisfied with and enhanced their well-being as they
      transitioned to adult care. CONCLUSIONS: In applying the spaces of well-being
      framework, the findings showed that youth had varied experiences regarding spaces
      of capability, security, integrative, and therapeutic spaces.

PMID- 28592387
TI  - Dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with BRAFV600-mutant melanoma brain
      metastases (COMBI-MB): a multicentre, multicohort, open-label, phase 2 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dabrafenib plus trametinib improves clinical outcomes in BRAFV600
      mutant metastatic melanoma without brain metastases; however, the activity of
      dabrafenib plus trametinib has not been studied in active melanoma brain
      metastases. Here, we report results from the phase 2 COMBI-MB trial. Our aim was
      to build on the current body of evidence of targeted therapy in melanoma brain
      metastases through an evaluation of dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with
      BRAFV600-mutant melanoma brain metastases. METHODS: This ongoing, multicentre,
      multicohort, open-label, phase 2 study evaluated oral dabrafenib (150 mg twice
      per day) plus oral trametinib (2 mg once per day) in four patient cohorts with
      melanoma brain metastases enrolled from 32 hospitals and institutions in Europe,
      North America, and Australia: (A) BRAFV600E-positive, asymptomatic melanoma brain
      metastases, with no previous local brain therapy, and an Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1; (B) BRAFV600E-positive,
      asymptomatic melanoma brain metastases, with previous local brain therapy, and an
      ECOG performance status of 0 or 1; (C) BRAFV600D/K/R-positive, asymptomatic
      melanoma brain metastases, with or without previous local brain therapy, and an
      ECOG performance status of 0 or 1; and (D) BRAFV600D/E/K/R-positive, symptomatic
      melanoma brain metastases, with or without previous local brain therapy, and an
      ECOG performance status of 0, 1, or 2. The primary endpoint was investigator
      assessed intracranial response in cohort A in the all-treated-patients
      population. Secondary endpoints included intracranial response in cohorts B, C,
      and D. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02039947.
      FINDINGS: Between Feb 28, 2014, and Aug 5, 2016, 125 patients were enrolled in
      the study: 76 patients in cohort A; 16 patients in cohort B; 16 patients in
      cohort C; and 17 patients in cohort D. At the data cutoff (Nov 28, 2016) after a
      median follow-up of 8.5 months (IQR 5.5-14.0), 44 (58%; 95% CI 46-69) of 76
      patients in cohort A achieved an intracranial response. Intracranial response by
      investigator assessment was also achieved in nine (56%; 95% CI 30-80) of 16
      patients in cohort B, seven (44%; 20-70) of 16 patients in cohort C, and ten
      (59%; 33-82) of 17 patients in cohort D. The most common serious adverse events
      related to study treatment were pyrexia for dabrafenib (eight [6%] of 125
      patients) and decreased ejection fraction (five [4%]) for trametinib. The most
      common grade 3 or worse adverse events, regardless of study drug relationship,
      were pyrexia (four [3%] of 125) and headache (three [2%]). INTERPRETATION:
      Dabrafenib plus trametinib was active with a manageable safety profile in this
      melanoma population that was consistent with previous dabrafenib plus trametinib
      studies in patients with BRAFV600-mutant melanoma without brain metastases, but
      the median duration of response was relatively short. These results provide
      evidence of clinical benefit with dabrafenib plus trametinib and support the need
      for additional research to further improve outcomes in patients with melanoma
      brain metastases. FUNDING: Novartis.

PMID- 28592386
TI  - CT-P6 compared with reference trastuzumab for HER2-positive breast cancer: a
      randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, phase 3 equivalence trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CT-P6 is a proposed biosimilar to reference trastuzumab. In this
      study, we aimed to establish equivalence of CT-P6 to reference trastuzumab in
      neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer. METHODS: In
      this randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, phase 3 equivalence trial, we
      recruited women aged 18 years or older with stage I-IIIa operable HER2-positive
      breast cancer from 112 centres in 23 countries. Inclusion criteria were an
      Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0 or 1; a normal
      left ventricular ejection fraction of at least 55%; adequate bone marrow,
      hepatic, and renal function; at least one measureable lesion; and known oestrogen
      and progesterone receptor status. Exclusion criteria included bilateral breast
      cancer, previous breast cancer treatment, previous anthracycline treatment, and
      pregnancy or lactation. We randomly allocated patients 1:1 to receive neoadjuvant
      CT-P6 or reference trastuzumab intravenously (eight cycles, each lasting 3 weeks,
      for 24 weeks; 8 mg/kg on day 1 of cycle 1 and 6 mg/kg on day 1 of cycles 2-8) in
      conjunction with neoadjuvant docetaxel (75 mg/m2 on day 1 of cycles 1-4) and FEC
      (fluorouracil [500 mg/m2], epirubicin [75 mg/m2], and cyclophosphamide [500
      mg/m2]; day 1 of cycles 5-8) therapy. We stratified randomisation by clinical
      stage, receptor status, and country and used permuted blocks. We did surgery
      within 3-6 weeks of the final neoadjuvant study drug dose, followed by an
      adjuvant treatment period of up to 1 year. We monitored long-term safety and
      efficacy for 3 years after the last patient was enrolled. Participants and
      investigators were masked to treatment until study completion. The primary
      efficacy endpoint, analysed in the per-protocol population, was pathological
      complete response, assessed via specimens obtained during surgery, analysed by
      masked central review of local histopathology reports. The equivalence margin was
      -0.15 to 0.15. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number
      NCT02162667, and is ongoing, but no longer recruiting. FINDINGS: Between Aug 7,
      2014, and May 6, 2016, we randomly allocated 549 patients (271 [49%] to CT-P6 vs
      278 [51%] to reference trastuzumab). A similar proportion of patients achieved
      pathological complete response with CT-P6 (116 [46.8%; 95% CI 40.4-53.2] of 248
      patients) and reference trastuzumab (129 [50.4%; 44.1-56.7] of 256 patients). The
      95% CI of the estimated treatment outcome difference (-0.04% [95% CI -0.12 to
      0.05]) was within the equivalence margin. 19 (7%) of 271 patients in the CT-P6
      group reported serious treatment-emergent adverse events versus 22 (8%) of 278 in
      the reference trastuzumab group; frequent (occurring in more than one patient)
      serious adverse events were febrile neutropenia (four [1%] vs one [<1%]) and
      neutropenia (one [<1%] vs two [1%]). Grade 3 or worse treatment-related adverse
      events occurred in 17 (6%) of 271 patients in the CT-P6 group versus 23 (8%) of
      278 in the reference trastuzumab group; the most frequently reported adverse
      event was neutropenia in ten (4%) versus 14 (5%). INTERPRETATION: CT-P6 showed
      equivalent efficacy to reference trastuzumab and adverse events were similar.
      Availability of trastuzumab biosimilars could increase access to this targeted
      therapy for HER2-positive early-stage cancer. FUNDING: Celltrion Inc.

PMID- 28592388
TI  - Characterization of Clinical Cases of Advanced Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma via
      Comprehensive Genomic Profiling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) is a rare subset of RCC. The
      Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data largely reflect localized disease, and there are
      limited data for advanced PRCC. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the frequency of
      genomic alterations (GAs) in patients with advanced PRCC for whom comprehensive
      genomic profiling (CGP) was performed in the context of routine clinical care.
      DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue was
      obtained for 169 consecutive patients with confirmed PRCC. DNA was extracted and
      comprehensive genomic profiling was performed in a certified central laboratory.
      MEASUREMENTS: Hybrid-capture, adaptor ligation-based libraries of up to 315 genes
      were sequenced to a median coverage of 648*. All classes of GAs were identified,
      including substitutions, insertions/deletions, copy number alterations, and
      rearrangements. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: From 169 patients, either primary tumor
      tissue (102 patients, 60%) or metastatic tissue (67 patients, 40%) was collected.
      In patients with type 1 PRCC, commonly altered genes were MET (33%; 8 activating
      mutations, 5 amplifications at >6 copies), TERT (30%), CDKN2A/B (13%), and EGFR
      (8%). In patients with type 2 PRCC, commonly altered genes were CDKN2A/B (18%),
      TERT (18%), NF2 (13%), and FH (13%); MET GAs (5 mutations, 3 amplifications) were
      observed in 7% of type 2 cases. Notable differences from TCGA data include higher
      frequencies of MET, NF2, and CDKN2A/B GAs, association of alterations in SWI/SNF
      complex genes with type 2 PRCC, and observation of frequent CDKN2A/B alterations
      in both type 1 and type 2 disease. CONCLUSIONS: Both the current study and the
      TCGA experience represent similarly sized cohorts of patients with PRCC. Key
      differences in GA frequency probably underscore the marked difference in stage
      distribution between these data sets. These results may inform planned precision
      medicine trials for metastatic PRCC. PATIENT SUMMARY: Papillary renal cell
      carcinoma (PRCC) is a rare subtype of kidney cancer, and understanding of the
      biology of advanced PRCC is limited. This report highlights some of the unique
      biologic features of PRCC that may inform on future use of targeted therapies for
      the treatment of metastatic disease.

PMID- 28592390
TI  - Greywater characterization and loadings - Physicochemical treatment to promote
      onsite reuse.
AB  - Greywater is the wastewater produced in bathtubs, showers, hand basins, kitchen
      sinks, dishwashers and laundry machines. Segregation of greywater and blackwater
      and on site greywater treatment in order to promote its reuse for toilet flushing
      and/or garden irrigation is an interesting option especially in water deficient
      areas. The objective of this study was to characterize the different greywater
      sources in Greek households and to evaluate the performance of alternative
      physicochemical treatment systems to treat several types of greywater. Based on
      the results average daily greywater production was equal to 98 L per person per
      day and accounts for approximately 70-75% of the total household wastewater
      production (135 L per person per day). Among the different sources, laundry and
      kitchen sink are the main contributors to the total greywater load of organic
      carbon, suspended solids and surfactants, whereas dishwasher and bathroom
      greywater are the main sources of phosphorus and endocrine disrupting chemicals
      respectively. Depending on sources, greywater accounts for as low as 15% of the
      total wastewater load of organic carbon (in the case of light greywater sources),
      to as high as 74% of the total load organic load (in the case of the heavy
      greywater sources). On the other hand, the nutrients load of greywater is
      limited. The application of a physical treatment system consisting of
      coagulation, sedimentation, sand filtration, granular activated carbon filtration
      and disinfection can provide for a final effluent with high quality
      characteristics for onsite reuse, especially when treating light greywater.

PMID- 28592391
TI  - Long-term fate of the upper tracts following complete primary repair of bladder
      exstrophy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy (CPRE) is widely used
      for classic bladder exstrophy (CBE) closure. Long-term renal function with or
      without dilation in these patients is poorly characterized and may be impacted by
      bladder storage parameters or recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs).
      OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess our long-term experience with CPRE and investigate
      factors that may influence upper-tract deterioration. STUDY DESIGN: A
      retrospective review of patients at our institution with CBE undergoing CPRE from
      1990 to 2015 was performed. Patients were considered included if age at the last
      renal ultrasound was at least 5 years. Renal imaging and renal function were
      reviewed. The Society of Fetal Urology (SFU) and Upper Tract Dilation (UTD)
      grades were retrospectively assigned to all available ultrasounds with
      hydronephrosis (HN). Additionally, outcomes related to vesicoureteral reflux and
      lower urinary tract function were assessed. Descriptive and comparative
      statistical analyses were performed to assess factors influencing HN and renal
      function at follow-up. RESULTS: Thirty patients (57% male) had a median follow-up
      of 9.7 (3.9-22.3) years. The table shows the HN status and grade for the entire
      group, stratified by gender, continence, and surgical reconstruction in. The mean
      creatinine was 0.50 mg/dL (0.2-1.0) and the mean estimated glomerular filtration
      rate (eGFR) was 106.8 mL/min/1.73 m2. No patient had greater than stage 2 chronic
      kidney disease. Male gender was associated with worse renal outcomes, including
      overall rate of HN (p < 0.001), severity of HN (p = 0.004) and worse eGFR (p =
      0.05). Lower tract reconstruction, urodynamic parameters, and continence were not
      associated with differences in upper-tract outcomes. Ureteral reimplantation was
      performed in 22 patients (73%) at a mean age of 22 months for indications of
      persistent VUR (10), worsening HN (1), or recurrent UTI (11). DISCUSSION: HN is
      common following CPRE, although severe HN is seen infrequently. Overall long-term
      renal outcomes are similar to those of other techniques presented in the
      literature. However, male gender portends a higher risk for long-term upper-tract
      deterioration as measured by HN and eGFR. Ureteral reimplantation and the status
      of the lower urinary tract were not associated with differences in upper-tract
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Prospective, standardized approaches to characterize upper
      tract outcomes are needed to follow children with bladder exstrophy into
      adulthood. We believe higher-risk patients should be assessed early and managed
      more aggressively with attention paid towards accurately assessing renal function
      and lower tract anatomy.

PMID- 28592392
TI  - Code Krishna: an innovative practice respecting death, dying and beyond.
AB  - In moments of grief, human beings seek solace and attempt to discover the meaning
      of life and death by reaching out to wider and deeper dimensions of existence
      that stem from their religious, cultural and spiritual beliefs. Conventional
      patient care fails to consider this vital aspect of our lives. Many hold the view
      that life and its experiences do not end with death; the body is but a sheath
      which holds the soul that inhabits it. The use of a protocol-based practice to
      create a solemn atmosphere around the departed individual can bridge the gap
      between the materialistic and non-materialistic perceptions of the dimensions of
      care. The innovative practice, "Code Krishna", is aimed at institutionalising a
      practice which sensitises and empowers the treating team to address the grief of
      the relatives of deceased patients, and respect the departed in consonance with
      the family's cultural, religious and spiritual beliefs. The practice entails the
      creation of a solemn atmosphere amidst the action-packed environment of the
      critical care unit at the time of the patient's death, offering of collective
      prayer and floral tributes, and observation of silence both by the healthcare
      team and family members. Code Krishna attempts to blend current care practices
      with spirituality, ensuring that the treating team is the first to commiserate
      with the grieving family, with warmth and openness. In this piece, we briefly
      report our first-hand experiences of practising Code Krishna in our hospital
      [Shree Krishna Hospital, Karamsad, Central Gujarat].

PMID- 28592393
TI  - Enhancing the autonomy of Indian nurses.
AB  - With additional training and qualification, nurses in several countries are
      recognised as independent professionals. Evidence from several countries shows
      that capacitating nurses to practise independently could contribute to better
      health outcomes. Recently, the idea of nurses practising independently has been
      gaining momentum in Indian health policy circles as well, and the Ministry of
      Health and Family Welfare is contemplating the introduction of nurse
      practitioners (NPs) in primary healthcare. We briefly assess the policy
      environment for the role of NPs in India. We argue for the need to conceptualise
      health stewardship anew, keeping the nursing profession in mind, within the
      currently doctor-centred health system in India. We argue that, in the current
      policy environment, conditions for independent nursing practice or for the
      introduction of a robust NP in primary healthcare do not yet exist.

PMID- 28592395
TI  - Using Social Media to Characterize Public Sentiment Toward Medical Interventions
      Commonly Used for Cancer Screening: An Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although cancer screening reduces morbidity and mortality, millions
      of people worldwide remain unscreened. Social media provide a unique platform to
      understand public sentiment toward tools that are commonly used for cancer
      screening. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to examine public sentiment
      toward colonoscopy, mammography, and Pap smear and how this sentiment spreads by
      analyzing discourse on Twitter. METHODS: In this observational study, we
      classified 32,847 tweets (online postings on Twitter) related to colonoscopy,
      mammography, or Pap smears using a naive Bayes algorithm as containing positive,
      negative, or neutral sentiment. Additionally, we characterized the spread of
      sentiment on Twitter using an established model to study contagion. RESULTS:
      Colonoscopy-related tweets were more likely to express negative than positive
      sentiment (negative to positive ratio 1.65, 95% CI 1.51-1.80, P<.001), in
      contrast to the more positive sentiment expressed regarding mammography (negative
      to positive ratio 0.43, 95% CI 0.39-0.47, P<.001). The proportions of negative
      versus positive tweets about Pap smear were not significantly different (negative
      to positive ratio 0.95, 95% CI 0.87-1.04, P=.18). Positive and negative tweets
      tended to share lexical features across screening modalities. Positive tweets
      expressed resonance with the benefits of early detection. Fear and pain were the
      principal lexical features seen in negative tweets. Negative sentiment for
      colonoscopy and mammography spread more than positive sentiment; no correlation
      with sentiment and spread was seen for Pap smear. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of social
      media data provides a unique, quantitative framework to better understand the
      public's perception of medical interventions that are commonly used for cancer
      screening. Given the growing use of social media, public health interventions to
      improve cancer screening should use the health perceptions of the population as
      expressed in social network postings about tests that are frequently used for
      cancer screening, as well as other people they may influence with such postings.

PMID- 28592394
TI  - Social Media Use and Access to Digital Technology in US Young Adults in 2016.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2015, 90% of US young adults with Internet access used social
      media. Digital and social media are highly prevalent modalities through which
      young adults explore identity formation, and by extension, learn and transmit
      norms about health and risk behaviors during this developmental life stage.
      OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to provide updated estimates of social
      media use from 2014 to 2016 and correlates of social media use and access to
      digital technology in data collected from a national sample of US young adults in
      2016. METHODS: Young adult participants aged 18-24 years in Wave 7 (October 2014,
      N=1259) and Wave 9 (February 2016, N=989) of the Truth Initiative Young Adult
      Cohort Study were asked about use frequency for 11 social media sites and access
      to digital devices, in addition to sociodemographic characteristics. Regular use
      was defined as using a given social media site at least weekly. Weighted analyses
      estimated the prevalence of use of each social media site, overlap between
      regular use of specific sites, and correlates of using a greater number of social
      media sites regularly. Bivariate analyses identified sociodemographic correlates
      of access to specific digital devices. RESULTS: In 2014, 89.42% (weighted n,
      1126/1298) of young adults reported regular use of at least one social media
      site. This increased to 97.5% (weighted n, 965/989) of young adults in 2016.
      Among regular users of social media sites in 2016, the top five sites were Tumblr
      (85.5%), Vine (84.7%), Snapchat (81.7%), Instagram (80.7%), and LinkedIn (78.9%).
      Respondents reported regularly using an average of 7.6 social media sites, with
      85% using 6 or more sites regularly. Overall, 87% of young adults reported access
      or use of a smartphone with Internet access, 74% a desktop or laptop computer
      with Internet access, 41% a tablet with Internet access, 29% a smart TV or video
      game console with Internet access, 11% a cell phone without Internet access, and
      3% none of these. Access to all digital devices with Internet was lower in those
      reporting a lower subjective financial situation; there were also significant
      differences in access to specific digital devices with Internet by race,
      ethnicity, and education. CONCLUSIONS: The high mean number of social media sites
      used regularly and the substantial overlap in use of multiple social media sites
      reflect the rapidly changing social media environment. Mobile devices are a
      primary channel for social media, and our study highlights disparities in access
      to digital technologies with Internet access among US young adults by
      race/ethnicity, education, and subjective financial status. Findings from this
      study may guide the development and implementation of future health interventions
      for young adults delivered via the Internet or social media sites.

PMID- 28592396
TI  - Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Childhood Asthma, Rhinitis, and Eczema in Hong
      Kong: Proposal for a Cross-Sectional Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that particulate matter is a major
      problem in indoor air quality in Hong Kong schools, but little has been done to
      assess its relationship with health indicators in the children attending those
      schools. Our study aims to address this research gap by collecting aerosol data
      in schools to examine the link between different air pollutants with childhood
      respiratory health. It is important to explore whether or not the prevalence of
      asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema are increasing in local
      children. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to (1) examine the prevalence of asthma, allergic
      rhinitis, and eczema in school children aged 6-7 years in Hong Kong between 2001
      and 2017, and (2) measure air quality at primary schools and explore its
      relationship with health outcomes measured by the International Study of Asthma
      and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) survey. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional
      study consisting of an ISAAC questionnaire and aerosol data collection. We have
      recruited over 2000 parents of primary school students aged 6-7 years old for the
      questionnaire, and so far 19 schools have completed aerosol data collection.
      RESULTS: The study is expected to be completed this year. CONCLUSIONS: We predict
      that our study will show a significant change in the prevalence of asthma,
      allergic rhinitis, and eczema in school children aged 6-7 years old in recent
      years. In addition, we expect to show a significant association between air
      quality at school and health outcomes measured by the ISAAC survey.

PMID- 28592399
TI  - Dacomitinib Beats Gefitinib for EGFR+ NSCLC.
AB  - The irreversible EGFR inhibitor dacomitinib reduced the chance of lung cancer
      progression compared with an older, first-generation EGFR inhibitor, gefitinib,
      in a phase III trial. As reported at the 2017 American Society of Clinical
      Oncology Annual Meeting, the experimental drug also increased toxicity, which
      could limit its use, especially with a safer, more effective third-generation
      EGFR inhibitor not far behind in the development pipeline.

PMID- 28592397
TI  - Gamification in Stress Management Apps: A Critical App Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In today's society, stress is more and more often a cause of disease.
      This makes stress management an important target of behavior change programs.
      Gamification has been suggested as one way to support health behavior change.
      However, it remains unclear to which extend available gamification techniques are
      integrated in stress management apps, and if their occurrence is linked to the
      use of elements from behavior change theory. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was
      to investigate the use of gamification techniques in stress management apps and
      the cooccurrence of these techniques with evidence-based stress management
      methods and behavior change techniques. METHODS: A total of 62 stress management
      apps from the Google Play Store were reviewed on their inclusion of 17
      gamification techniques, 15 stress management methods, and 26 behavior change
      techniques. For this purpose, an extended taxonomy of gamification techniques was
      constructed and applied by 2 trained, independent raters. RESULTS: Interrater
      reliability was high, with agreement coefficient (AC)=.97. Results show an
      average of 0.5 gamification techniques for the tested apps and reveal no
      correlations between the use of gamification techniques and behavior change
      techniques (r=.17, P=.20), or stress management methods (r=.14, P=.26).
      CONCLUSIONS: This leads to the conclusion that designers of stress management
      apps do not use gamification techniques to influence the user's behaviors and
      reactions. Moreover, app designers do not exploit the potential of combining
      gamification techniques with behavior change theory.

PMID- 28592400
TI  - Dual Checkpoint Blockade Takes Aim at Relapsed Mesothelioma.
AB  - In the largest clinical trial to date of immune checkpoint inhibitors for
      mesothelioma, patients treated with nivolumab-either alone or in combination with
      ipilimumab-posted impressive response rates and survival outcomes, according to
      data presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
      However, the combination, although more effective, was also more toxic.

PMID- 28592403
TI  - Saliha Mahmood: Junior doctor, master chef.

PMID- 28592401
TI  - Transgenic tomatoes expressing the 6F peptide and ezetimibe prevent diet-induced
      increases of IFN-beta and cholesterol 25-hydroxylase in jejunum.
AB  - Feeding LDL receptor (LDLR)-null mice a Western diet (WD) increased the
      expression of IFN-beta in jejunum as determined by quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR),
      immunohistochemistry (IHC), and ELISA (all P < 0.0001). WD also increased the
      expression of cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) as measured by RT-qPCR (P <
      0.0001), IHC (P = 0.0019), and ELISA (P < 0.0001), resulting in increased levels
      of 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-OHC) in jejunum as determined by LC-MS/MS (P <
      0.0001). Adding ezetimibe at 10 mg/kg/day or adding a concentrate of transgenic
      tomatoes expressing the 6F peptide (Tg6F) at 0.06% by weight of diet
      substantially ameliorated these changes. Adding either ezetimibe or Tg6F to WD
      also ameliorated WD-induced changes in plasma lipids, serum amyloid A, and HDL
      cholesterol. Adding the same doses of ezetimibe and Tg6F together to WD (combined
      formulation) was generally more efficacious compared with adding either agent
      alone. Surprisingly, adding ezetimibe during the preparation of Tg6F, but before
      addition to WD, was more effective than the combined formulation for all
      parameters measured in jejunum (P = 0.0329 to P < 0.0001). We conclude the
      following: i) WD induces IFN-beta, CH25H, and 25-OHC in jejunum; and ii) Tg6F and
      ezetimibe partially ameliorate WD-induced inflammation by preventing WD-induced
      increases in IFN-beta, CH25H, and 25-OHC.

PMID- 28592404
TI  - Alcohol-flavoured tobacco products.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned characterising
      flavours in cigarettes (except for menthol) due to their appeal to teen starter
      smokers. In August 2016, the agency deemed all tobacco products to be under its
      authority and a more comprehensive flavour ban is under consideration.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine the scope and scale of alcohol-flavoured tobacco
      products among cigars & cigarillos, hookahs and electronic cigarettes (e
      cigarettes). METHODS: Alcohol-flavoured tobacco products were identified by
      online search of tobacco purveyors' product lines and via Google search cross
      referencing the various tobacco product types versus a list of alcoholic beverage
      flavours (eg, wine, beer, appletini, margarita). RESULTS: 48 types of alcohol
      flavoured tobacco products marketed by 409 tobacco brands were identified.
      Alcohol flavours included mixed drinks (n=25), spirits (11), liqueurs (7) and
      wine/beer (5). Sweet and fruity tropical mixed drink flavours were marketed by
      the most brands: pina colada (96), mojito (66) and margarita (50). Wine flavours
      were common with 104 brands. Among the tobacco product categories, brands
      offering alcohol-flavoured e-cigarettes (280) were most numerous, but alcohol
      flavoured products were also marketed by cigars & cigarillos (88) and hookah
      brands (41). Brands by major tobacco companies (eg, Philip Morris, Imperial
      Tobacco) were well represented among alcohol-flavoured cigars & cigarillos with
      five companies offering a total of 17 brands. CONCLUSIONS: The widespread
      availability of alcohol-flavoured tobacco products illustrates the need to
      regulate characterising flavours on all tobacco products.

PMID- 28592406
TI  - Factors influencing practice variation in the management of nephrotic syndrome: a
      qualitative study of pediatric nephrology care providers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment protocols for childhood nephrotic syndrome are highly
      variable between providers and care centres. We conducted a qualitative study to
      understand the complex multilevel processes that lead to practice variation and
      influence provider management of nephrotic syndrome. METHODS: Focus groups with
      multidisciplinary pediatric nephrology care providers (n = 67) from 10 Canadian
      pediatric nephrology centres that had more than 1 pediatric nephrologist were
      conducted between September 2013 and April 2015. Focus group discussions were
      guided by the Ottawa Model for Research Use. We used a semistructured interview
      guide to elicit participants' perspectives regarding 1) the work setting and
      context of the clinical environment, 2) reasons for variation at the provider
      level and 3) clinical practice guidelines for nephrotic syndrome. Focus group
      discussions were transcribed and analyzed concurrently with the use of
      qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Emerging themes were grouped into 2
      categories: centre-level factors and provider-level factors. At the centre level,
      the type of care model used, clinic structures and resources, and lack of
      communication and collaboration within and between Canadian centres influenced
      care variation. At the provider level, use of experiential knowledge versus
      empirical knowledge and interpretation of patient characteristics influenced
      provider management of nephrotic syndrome. INTERPRETATION: Centre- and provider
      level factors play an important role in shaping practice differences in the
      management of childhood nephrotic syndrome. Further research is needed to
      determine whether variation in care is associated with disparities in outcomes.

PMID- 28592410
TI  - Ernest Walton.

PMID- 28592408
TI  - Recovery of Corneal Sensitivity and Increase in Nerve Density and Wound Healing
      in Diabetic Mice After PEDF Plus DHA Treatment.
AB  - Diabetic keratopathy decreases corneal sensation and tear secretion and delays
      wound healing after injury. In the current study, we tested the effect of
      treatment with pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in combination with
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on corneal nerve regeneration in a mouse model of
      diabetes with or without corneal injury. The study was performed in
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice (C57BL/6). Ten weeks after streptozotocin
      injection, diabetic mice showed significant decreases of corneal sensitivity,
      tear production, and epithelial subbasal nerve density when compared with age
      matched normal mice. After diabetic mice were wounded in the right eye and
      treated in both eyes with PEDF+DHA for 2 weeks, there was a significant increase
      in corneal epithelial nerve regeneration and substance P-positive nerve density
      in both wounded and unwounded eyes compared with vehicle-treated corneas. There
      also was elevated corneal sensitivity and tear production in the treated corneas
      compared with vehicle. In addition, PEDF+DHA accelerated corneal wound healing,
      selectively recruited type 2 macrophages, and prevented neutrophil infiltration
      in diabetic wounded corneas. These results suggest that topical treatment with
      PEDF+DHA promotes corneal nerve regeneration and wound healing in diabetic mice
      and could potentially be exploited as a therapeutic option for the treatment of
      diabetic keratopathy.

PMID- 28592409
TI  - Undergraduate and Medical School Physiology Education in the United States.

PMID- 28592412
TI  - Polypill is not just for cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28592414
TI  - Effects of sarcolipin deletion on skeletal muscle adaptive responses to
      functional overload and unload.
AB  - Overexpression of sarcolipin (SLN), a regulator of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum
      Ca2+-ATPases (SERCAs), stimulates calcineurin signaling to enhance skeletal
      muscle oxidative capacity. Some studies have shown that calcineurin may also
      control skeletal muscle mass and remodeling in response to functional overload
      and unload stimuli by increasing myofiber size and the proportion of slow fibers.
      To examine whether SLN might mediate these adaptive responses, we performed
      soleus and gastrocnemius tenotomy in wild-type (WT) and Sln-null (Sln-/-) mice
      and examined the overloaded plantaris and unloaded/tenotomized soleus muscles. In
      the WT overloaded plantaris, we observed ectopic expression of SLN, myofiber
      hypertrophy, increased fiber number, and a fast-to-slow fiber type shift, which
      were associated with increased calcineurin signaling (NFAT dephosphorylation and
      increased stabilin-2 protein content) and reduced SERCA activity. In the WT
      tenotomized soleus, we observed a 14-fold increase in SLN protein, myofiber
      atrophy, decreased fiber number, and a slow-to-fast fiber type shift, which were
      also associated with increased calcineurin signaling and reduced SERCA activity.
      Genetic deletion of Sln altered these physiological outcomes, with the overloaded
      plantaris myofibers failing to grow in size and number, and transition towards
      the slow fiber type, while the unloaded soleus muscles exhibited greater
      reductions in fiber size and number, and an accelerated slow-to-fast fiber type
      shift. In both the Sln-/- overloaded and unloaded muscles, these findings were
      associated with elevated SERCA activity and blunted calcineurin signaling. Thus,
      SLN plays an important role in adaptive muscle remodeling potentially through
      calcineurin stimulation, which could have important implications for other muscle
      diseases and conditions.

PMID- 28592413
TI  - Recruitment of endosomal signaling mediates the forskolin modulation of guinea
      pig cardiac neuron excitability.
AB  - Forskolin, a selective activator of adenylyl cyclase (AC), commonly is used to
      establish actions of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that are initiated
      primarily through activation of AC/cAMP signaling pathways. In the present study,
      forskolin was used to evaluate the potential role of AC/cAMP, which is a major
      signaling mechanism for the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide
      (PACAP)-selective PAC1 receptor, in the regulation of guinea pig cardiac neuronal
      excitability. Forskolin (5-10 uM) increases excitability in ~60% of the cardiac
      neurons. The forskolin-mediated increase in excitability was considered related
      to cAMP regulation of a cyclic nucleotide gated channel or via protein kinase A
      (PKA)/ERK signaling, mechanisms that have been linked to PAC1 receptor
      activation. However, unlike PACAP mechanisms, forskolin enhancement of
      excitability was not significantly reduced by treatment with cesium to block
      currents through hyperpolarization-activated nonselective cation channels (Ih) or
      by treatment with PD98059 to block MEK/ERK signaling. In contrast, treatment with
      the clathrin inhibitor Pitstop2 or the dynamin inhibitor dynasore eliminated the
      forskolin-induced increase in excitability; treatments with the inactive Pitstop
      analog or PP2 treatment to inhibit Src-mediated endocytosis mechanisms were
      ineffective. The PKA inhibitor KT5702 significantly suppressed the forskolin
      induced change in excitability; further, KT5702 and Pitstop2 reduced the
      forskolin-stimulated MEK/ERK activation in cardiac neurons. Collectively, the
      present results suggest that forskolin activation of AC/cAMP/PKA signaling leads
      to the recruitment of clathrin/dynamin-dependent endosomal transduction cascades,
      including MEK/ERK signaling, and that endosomal signaling is the critical
      mechanism underlying the forskolin-induced increase in cardiac neuron
      excitability.

PMID- 28592416
TI  - Understanding the American healthcare reform debate.

PMID- 28592417
TI  - Electrophysiological findings show generalised post-photoreceptoral deficiency in
      macular telangiectasia type 2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Photoreceptor damage, reported in single observations, has been
      suggested to contribute to the disease pathogenesis in macular telangiectasia
      type 2 (MacTel2). The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the
      photoreceptor or post-photoreceptoral function is affected in MacTel2 and could
      be detected using electrophysiological examination. METHODS: Thirty-five eyes
      from 18 patients (15 men, aged 60.1+/-9.6 years, range 38-77 years) with MacTel2
      were included in the study. All patients underwent standard ophthalmic
      examination followed by pattern electroretinography (PERG) and full-field ERG.
      The data were compared against 22 normal control subjects (10 men, age 59.83+/
      6.28 years, range 48-76). RESULTS: Mean PERG P50 amplitude and peak time in
      patients with MacTel2 did not differ significantly from control values (p>0.2)
      but P50 amplitude was subnormal in three patients. The mean scotopic rod b-wave
      amplitude was significantly lower in patients than in healthy controls (p=0.027).
      A lower dark-adapted 10.0 b-wave (p=0.06) but not a-wave amplitude (p=0.58) was
      present in patients with MacTel2. Photopic single-flash a-wave and b-wave
      amplitudes did not differ between patient and control groups (p=0.2 and 0.3), but
      30 Hz flicker peak time was significantly later in patients with MacTel2 with no
      effect on amplitude (p=0.04 and 0.7). CONCLUSION: Both scotopic (rod system
      dominated) and photopic ERGs (cone system) are consistent with post
      photoreceptoral dysfunction. There was no electrophysiological evidence of
      dysfunction at the level of the photoreceptor.

PMID- 28592405
TI  - Current and Emerging Topical Antibacterials and Antiseptics: Agents, Action, and
      Resistance Patterns.
AB  - Bacterial skin infections represent some of the most common infectious diseases
      globally. Prevention and treatment of skin infections can involve application of
      a topical antimicrobial, which may be an antibiotic (such as mupirocin or fusidic
      acid) or an antiseptic (such as chlorhexidine or alcohol). However, there is
      limited evidence to support the widespread prophylactic or therapeutic use of
      topical agents. Challenges involved in the use of topical antimicrobials include
      increasing rates of bacterial resistance, local hypersensitivity reactions
      (particularly to older agents, such as bacitracin), and concerns about the
      indiscriminate use of antiseptics potentially coselecting for antibiotic
      resistance. We review the evidence for the major clinical uses of topical
      antibiotics and antiseptics. In addition, we review the mechanisms of action of
      common topical agents and define the clinical and molecular epidemiology of
      antimicrobial resistance in these agents. Moreover, we review the potential use
      of newer and emerging agents, such as retapamulin and ebselen, and discuss the
      role of antiseptic agents in preventing bacterial skin infections. A
      comprehensive understanding of the clinical efficacy and drivers of resistance to
      topical agents will inform the optimal use of these agents to preserve their
      activity in the future.

PMID- 28592415
TI  - Role of STIM1 (Stromal Interaction Molecule 1) in Hypertrophy-Related Contractile
      Dysfunction.
AB  - RATIONALE: Pathological increases in cardiac afterload result in myocyte
      hypertrophy with changes in myocyte electrical and mechanical phenotype.
      Remodeling of contractile and signaling Ca2+ occurs in pathological hypertrophy
      and is central to myocyte remodeling. STIM1 (stromal interaction molecule 1)
      regulates Ca2+ signaling in many cell types by sensing low endoplasmic reticular
      Ca2+ levels and then coupling to plasma membrane Orai channels to induce a Ca2+
      influx pathway. Previous reports suggest that STIM1 may play a role in cardiac
      hypertrophy, but its role in electrical and mechanical phenotypic alterations is
      not well understood. OBJECTIVE: To define the contributions of STIM1-mediated
      Ca2+ influx on electrical and mechanical properties of normal and diseased
      myocytes, and to determine whether Orai channels are obligatory partners for
      STIM1 in these processes using a clinically relevant large animal model of
      hypertrophy. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cardiac hypertrophy was induced by slow
      progressive pressure overload in adult cats. Hypertrophied myocytes had increased
      STIM1 expression and activity, which correlated with altered Ca2+-handling and
      action potential (AP) prolongation. Exposure of hypertrophied myocytes to the
      Orai channel blocker BTP2 caused a reduction of AP duration and reduced diastolic
      Ca2+ spark rate. BTP2 had no effect on normal myocytes. Forced expression of
      STIM1 in cultured adult feline ventricular myocytes increased diastolic spark
      rate and prolonged AP duration. STIM1 expression produced an increase in the
      amount of Ca2+ stored within the sarcoplasmic reticulum and activated
      Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. STIM1 expression also increased
      spark rates and induced spontaneous APs. STIM1 effects were eliminated by either
      BTP2 or by coexpression of a dominant negative Orai construct. CONCLUSIONS: STIM1
      can associate with Orai in cardiac myocytes to produce a Ca2+ influx pathway that
      can prolong the AP duration and load the sarcoplasmic reticulum and likely
      contributes to the altered electromechanical properties of the hypertrophied
      heart.

PMID- 28592418
TI  - Growth of meibomian gland tissue after intraductal meibomian gland probing in
      patients with obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of meibomian gland probing (MGP) on meibomian
      gland (MG) area from the upper lids of patients with obstructive meibomian gland
      dysfunction (o-MGD). METHODS: Retrospective study comparing pre-MGP/post-MGP non
      contact infrared meibography results in patients with o-MGD, viewing signs of MG
      growth within total measurement field. RESULTS: Post-MGP meibography of 34 lids
      (19 patients, >=4.5 to <=12 months' follow-up) showed 41.2% with MG growth. Ten
      lids had meibographies suitable for analysis, showing significant collective (116
      glands) increase in mean individual glandular area (MIGA) of 4.87% (p=0.0145).
      Four of 10 lids independently showed significant increase in MIGA, ranging from
      10.70% to 21.13% (p<0.0001, p=0.0277, p=0.0292, p=0.0345), while six did not.At
      >12 and <25 months' follow-up, 16 lids (9 additional patients) had follow-up
      showing 25% with signs of MG growth. Analysis of three lids showed a significant
      collective (33 glands) increase in MIGA of 11.19% (p=0.0004). Two of three lids
      independently showed significant increase in MIGA of 13.73% and 20.00% (p=0.0097,
      p=0.0001). Collectively, for all 13 analysed lids (149 glands), there was a
      significant increase of 6.38% in total glandular area (p=0.0447) and a
      significant increase of 6.23% in MIGA (p=0.0003). CONCLUSION: MGP was associated
      with increased MG tissue area and growth of atrophied MGs as viewed on
      meibography. MGP provides unequivocal physical proof of a patent meibum outflow
      tract through the natural orifice, and may promote glandular growth in part by
      direct mechanical establishment of a patent duct/orifice system.

PMID- 28592420
TI  - Patterns of cannabis use during adolescence and their association with harmful
      substance use behaviour: findings from a UK birth cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence on the role of cannabis as a gateway drug is inconsistent.
      We characterise patterns of cannabis use among UK teenagers aged 13-18 years, and
      assess their influence on problematic substance use at age 21 years. METHODS: We
      used longitudinal latent class analysis to derive trajectories of cannabis use
      from self-report measures in a UK birth cohort. We investigated (1) factors
      associated with latent class membership and (2) whether latent class membership
      predicted subsequent nicotine dependence, harmful alcohol use and recent use of
      other illicit drugs at age 21 years. RESULTS: 5315 adolescents had three or more
      measures of cannabis use from age 13 to 18 years. Cannabis use patterns were
      captured as four latent classes corresponding to 'non-users' (80.1%), 'late-onset
      occasional' (14.2%), 'early-onset occasional' (2.3%) and 'regular' users (3.4%).
      Sex, mother's substance use, and child's tobacco use, alcohol consumption and
      conduct problems were strongly associated with cannabis use. At age 21 years,
      compared with the non-user class, late-onset occasional, early-onset occasional
      and regular cannabis user classes had higher odds of nicotine dependence (OR=3.5,
      95% CI 0.7 to 17.9; OR=12.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 150.3; and OR=37.2, 95% CI 9.5 to
      144.8, respectively); harmful alcohol consumption (OR=2.6, 95% CI 1.5 to 4.3;
      OR=5.0, 95% CI 2.1 to 12.1; and OR=2.6, 95% CI 1.0 to 7.1, respectively); and
      other illicit drug use (OR=22.7, 95% CI 11.3 to 45.7; OR=15.9, 95% CI 3.9 to
      64.4; and OR=47.9, 95% CI 47.9 to 337.0, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: One-fifth of
      the adolescents in our sample followed a pattern of occasional or regular
      cannabis use, and these young people were more likely to progress to harmful
      substance use behaviours in early adulthood.

PMID- 28592419
TI  - Serum uric acid levels and multiple health outcomes: umbrella review of evidence
      from observational studies, randomised controlled trials, and Mendelian
      randomisation studies.
AB  - Objective To map the diverse health outcomes associated with serum uric acid
      (SUA) levels.Design Umbrella review.Data sources Medline, Embase, Cochrane
      Database of Systematic Reviews, and screening of citations and
      references.Eligibility criteria Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of
      observational studies that examined associations between SUA level and health
      outcomes, meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials that investigated health
      outcomes related to SUA lowering treatment, and Mendelian randomisation studies
      that explored the causal associations of SUA level with health outcomes.Results
      57 articles reporting 15 systematic reviews and144 meta-analyses of observational
      studies (76 unique outcomes), 8 articles reporting 31 meta-analyses of randomised
      controlled trials (20 unique outcomes), and 36 articles reporting 107 Mendelian
      randomisation studies (56 unique outcomes) met the eligibility criteria. Across
      all three study types, 136 unique health outcomes were reported. 16 unique
      outcomes in meta-analyses of observational studies had P<10-6, 8 unique outcomes
      in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials had P<0.001, and 4 unique
      outcomes in Mendelian randomisation studies had P<0.01. Large between study
      heterogeneity was common (80% and 45% in meta-analyses of observational studies
      and of randomised controlled trials, respectively). 42 (55%) meta-analyses of
      observational studies and 7 (35%) meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials
      showed evidence of small study effects or excess significance bias. No
      associations from meta-analyses of observational studies were classified as
      convincing; five associations were classified as highly suggestive (increased
      risk of heart failure, hypertension, impaired fasting glucose or diabetes,
      chronic kidney disease, coronary heart disease mortality with high SUA levels).
      Only one outcome from randomised controlled trials (decreased risk of
      nephrolithiasis recurrence with SUA lowering treatment) had P<0.001, a 95%
      prediction interval excluding the null, and no large heterogeneity or bias. Only
      one outcome from Mendelian randomisation studies (increased risk of gout with
      high SUA levels) presented convincing evidence. Hypertension and chronic kidney
      disease showed concordant evidence in meta-analyses of observational studies, and
      in some (but not all) meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials with
      respective intermediate or surrogate outcomes, but they were not statistically
      significant in Mendelian randomisation studies.Conclusion Despite a few hundred
      systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and Mendelian randomisation studies exploring
      136 unique health outcomes, convincing evidence of a clear role of SUA level only
      exists for gout and nephrolithiasis.

PMID- 28592422
TI  - Association of Sex with Risk of Kidney Graft Failure Differs by Age.
AB  - Prior studies of sex differences in kidney graft survival showed conflicting
      results. We hypothesized that the association between recipient sex and kidney
      graft failure risk differs by recipient age and donor sex. We evaluated 159,417
      patients recorded in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database
      who received a first deceased-donor kidney transplant (1995-2013). We used time
      varying Cox models to estimate the association between recipient sex and death
      censored graft failure. Models, stratified on donor sex and adjusted for
      potential confounders, included a recipient sex by current age interaction term.
      Among recipients of male donors, females of all ages had significantly higher
      graft failure risks than males (adjusted hazard ratios 0-14 years: 1.51 [95%
      confidence intervals 1.19 to 1.90]; 15-24 years: 1.37 [1.18 to 1.59]; 25-44
      years: 1.14 [1.03 to 1.26]; 45 years: 1.05 [1.01 to 1.09]). Among recipients of
      female-donor grafts, only female recipients aged 15-24 years had a significantly
      higher graft failure risk than their male counterparts had (1.28 [1.06 to 1.53]).
      Indeed, female recipients aged >=45 years had a significantly lower graft failure
      risk than their male counterparts had (0.95 [0.91 to 0.99]). These observations
      might be explained by the combined influence of several factors, including
      recognition of sex-determined minor histocompatibility antigens, influence of sex
      hormones on immune activation, sex- and age-related differences in medication
      adherence, and sex-related differences in body size. Additional studies should
      determine whether sex- and age-specific immunosuppression strategies are
      warranted for kidney graft recipients.

PMID- 28592421
TI  - Clustering of Ca2+ transients in interstitial cells of Cajal defines slow wave
      duration.
AB  - Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in the myenteric plexus region (ICC-MY) of the
      small intestine are pacemakers that generate rhythmic depolarizations known as
      slow waves. Slow waves depend on activation of Ca2+-activated Cl- channels (ANO1)
      in ICC, propagate actively within networks of ICC-MY, and conduct to smooth
      muscle cells where they generate action potentials and phasic contractions. Thus,
      mechanisms of Ca2+ regulation in ICC are fundamental to the motor patterns of the
      bowel. Here, we characterize the nature of Ca2+ transients in ICC-MY within
      intact muscles, using mice expressing a genetically encoded Ca2+ sensor, GCaMP3,
      in ICC. Ca2+ transients in ICC-MY display a complex firing pattern caused by
      localized Ca2+ release events arising from multiple sites in cell somata and
      processes. Ca2+ transients are clustered within the time course of slow waves but
      fire asynchronously during these clusters. The durations of Ca2+ transient
      clusters (CTCs) correspond to slow wave durations (plateau phase). Simultaneous
      imaging and intracellular electrical recordings revealed that the upstroke
      depolarization of slow waves precedes clusters of Ca2+ transients. Summation of
      CTCs results in relatively uniform Ca2+ responses from one slow wave to another.
      These Ca2+ transients are caused by Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and
      depend on ryanodine receptors as well as amplification from IP3 receptors.
      Reduced extracellular Ca2+ concentrations and T-type Ca2+ channel blockers
      decreased the number of firing sites and firing probability of Ca2+ transients.
      In summary, the fundamental electrical events of small intestinal muscles
      generated by ICC-MY depend on asynchronous firing of Ca2+ transients from
      multiple intracellular release sites. These events are organized into clusters by
      Ca2+ influx through T-type Ca2+ channels to sustain activation of ANO1 channels
      and generate the plateau phase of slow waves.

PMID- 28592423
TI  - Remission of Hematuria Improves Renal Survival in IgA Nephropathy.
AB  - Hematuria is a cardinal symptom in IgA nephropathy, but its influence on the risk
      of disease progression has been scarcely investigated. We followed a cohort of
      112 patients with IgA nephropathy for a mean+/-SEM period of 14+/-10.2 years,
      during which clinical and analytic risk factors (including urine sediment
      examination) were regularly recorded. According to the magnitude of time-averaged
      hematuria, we classified patients as those with persistent hematuria and those
      with negative or minimal hematuria. We also classified patients according to the
      magnitude of time-averaged proteinuria (>0.75 or <=0.75 g/d). The proportion of
      patients reaching ESRD or a 50% reduction of renal function was significantly
      greater among patients with persistent hematuria than patients with minimal or
      negative hematuria (30.4% and 37.0% versus 10.6% and 15.2%, respectively;
      P=0.01). Multivariable analysis revealed time-averaged hematuria, time-averaged
      proteinuria, renal function at baseline, and the presence of tubulointerstitial
      fibrosis on renal biopsy as independent predictors of ESRD. After hematuria
      disappearance, which occurred in 46% of the patients, the rate of renal function
      decline changed from -6.45+/-14.66 to -0.18+/-2.56 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year
      (P=0.001). Patients with time-averaged proteinuria >0.75 g/d had significantly
      poorer renal survival than those with time-averaged proteinuria <=0.75 g/d.
      However, on further classification by time-averaged hematuria, only those
      patients with time-averaged proteinuria >0.75 g/d and persistent hematuria had
      significantly worse renal survival than those in the other three groups. In
      conclusion, remission of hematuria may have a significant favorable effect on IgA
      nephropathy outcomes.

PMID- 28592424
TI  - Uromodulin in the Bloodstream: Old Wine in a New Wineskin.

PMID- 28592425
TI  - Targeting Plasma Cells with Proteasome Inhibitors: Principles from Primates.

PMID- 28592426
TI  - A Nonadjuvanted IgG2a Monoclonal Antibody against Nucleosomes Elicits Potent T
      Cell-Dependent, Idiotype-Specific IgG1 Responses and Glomerular IgG1/IgG2a
      Deposits in Normal Mice.
AB  - Idiotypes (Ids) are unique epitopes of Ab V regions and can trigger anti-Id
      immune responses, but immunization with several nonadjuvanted isologous IgG mAbs
      has induced tolerance to their Ids. We immunized non-lupus-prone mice with 11
      allotype "a" of IgG2a (IgG2aa) and 4 IgG2c nonadjuvanted, isologous mAbs purified
      from serum-free medium. Of five IgG2aa mAbs with specificity for nucleosomes, the
      repeating histone-DNA subunit of chromatin, four elicited an IgG1 anti-mAb
      response and one mAb was nonimmunogenic. In contrast, none of six IgG2aa mAbs
      with unknown specificity triggered anti-mAb responses. The data suggested a link
      between immunogenicity and specificity for nucleosomes. One anti-nucleosome
      IgG2aa mAb, termed 3F7.A10, copurified with self-histones and was a potent
      immunogen for BALB/c mice. The response against IgG2aa 3F7.A10 was CD4+ Th cell
      dependent, dominated by the IgG1 subclass, and Id specific. Ultracentrifugation
      converted the purified 3F7.A10 mAb into a weak immunogen, suggesting that the mAb
      had formed immunogenicity-enhancing immune complexes (ICs) with nucleosomal Ags
      during cell culture. BALB/c mice injected with viable MHC-incompatible 3F7.A10
      hybridoma cells grown in serum-free medium mounted strong anti-Id responses. TLR9
      deficient mice responded significantly weaker to Id-3F7.A10 than did TLR9
      sufficient mice, suggesting that the cognate BCR efficiently internalizes the Id
      in an IC with nucleosomes. Passive transfer of IgG2aa 3F7.A10 to BALB/c mice with
      high titers of IgG1 anti-3F7.A10 led to glomerular deposits of IgG1/IgG2a
      complexes. The immunogenicity of Id-3F7.A10 raises the possibility that diverse
      Ids of nucleosome-specific Abs form ICs with nucleosomes released from dying
      cells and elicit spontaneous formation of anti-Id Abs in vivo.

PMID- 28592427
TI  - Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Macaques with Tuberculosis Identifies
      Temporal Changes in Granuloma Glucose Metabolism and Integrin alpha4beta1
      Expressing Immune Cells.
AB  - Positron emission tomography and computed tomography imaging (PET/CT) is an
      increasingly valuable tool for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB). The glucose analog
      [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-2-d-glucose ([18F]-FDG) is commonly used in PET/CT that is
      retained by metabolically active inflammatory cells in granulomas, but lacks
      specificity for particular cell types. A PET probe that could identify
      recruitment and differentiation of different cell populations in granulomas would
      be a useful research tool and could improve TB diagnosis and treatment. We used
      the Mycobacterium-antigen murine inflammation model and macaques with TB to
      identify [64Cu]-labeled CB-TE1A1P-PEG4-LLP2A ([64Cu]-LLP2A), a high affinity
      peptidomimetic ligand for very late Ag-4 (VLA-4; also called integrin
      alpha4beta1) binding cells in granulomas, and compared [64Cu]-LLP2A with [18F]
      FDG over the course of infection. We found that [64Cu]-LLP2A retention was driven
      by macrophages and T cells, with less contribution from neutrophils and B cells.
      In macaques, granulomas had higher [64Cu]-LLP2A uptake than uninfected tissues,
      and immunohistochemical analysis of granulomas with known [64Cu]-LLP2A uptake
      identified significant correlations between LLP2A signal and macrophage and T
      cell numbers. The same cells coexpressed integrin alpha4 and beta1, further
      supporting that macrophages and T cells drive [64Cu]-LLP2A avidity in granulomas.
      Over the course of infection, granulomas and thoracic lymph nodes experienced
      dynamic changes in affinity for both probes, suggesting metabolic changes and
      cell differentiation or recruitment occurs throughout granuloma development.
      These results indicate [64Cu]-LLP2A is a PET probe for VLA-4, which when used in
      conjunction with [18F]-FDG, may be a useful tool for understanding granuloma
      biology in TB.

PMID- 28592428
TI  - EBV Infection Empowers Human B Cells for Autoimmunity: Role of Autophagy and
      Relevance to Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - The efficacy of B cell depletion therapy in multiple sclerosis indicates their
      central pathogenic role in disease pathogenesis. The B lymphotropic EBV is a
      major risk factor in multiple sclerosis, via as yet unclear mechanisms. We
      reported in a nonhuman primate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model
      that an EBV-related lymphocryptovirus enables B cells to protect a proteolysis
      sensitive immunodominant myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) epitope
      (residues 40-48) against destructive processing. This facilitates its cross
      presentation to autoaggressive cytotoxic MHC-E-restricted CD8+CD56+ T cells. The
      present study extends these observations to intact human B cells and identifies a
      key role of autophagy. EBV infection upregulated APC-related markers on B cells
      and activated the cross-presentation machinery. Although human MOG protein was
      degraded less in EBV-infected than in uninfected B cells, induction of cathepsin
      G activity by EBV led to total degradation of the immunodominant peptides MOG35
      55 and MOG1-20 Inhibition of cathepsin G or citrullination of the arginine
      residue within an LC3-interacting region motif of immunodominant MOG peptides
      abrogated their degradation. Internalized MOG colocalized with autophagosomes,
      which can protect from destructive processing. In conclusion, EBV infection
      switches MOG processing in B cells from destructive to productive and facilitates
      cross-presentation of disease-relevant epitopes to CD8+ T cells.

PMID- 28592429
TI  - A centennial gift from Einstein.

PMID- 28592431
TI  - Psychiatrist who kicked back at patient is suspended for six months.

PMID- 28592430
TI  - Relativistic deflection of background starlight measures the mass of a nearby
      white dwarf star.
AB  - Gravitational deflection of starlight around the Sun during the 1919 total solar
      eclipse provided measurements that confirmed Einstein's general theory of
      relativity. We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the analogous
      process of astrometric microlensing caused by a nearby star, the white dwarf
      Stein 2051 B. As Stein 2051 B passed closely in front of a background star, the
      background star's position was deflected. Measurement of this deflection at
      multiple epochs allowed us to determine the mass of Stein 2051 B-the sixth
      nearest white dwarf to the Sun-as 0.675 +/- 0.051 solar masses. This mass
      determination provides confirmation of the physics of degenerate matter and lends
      support to white dwarf evolutionary theory.

PMID- 28592432
TI  - Upregulation of lysyl oxidase and adhesion to collagen of human megakaryocytes
      and platelets in primary myelofibrosis.

PMID- 28592435
TI  - Sex differences in renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system affect extracellular
      volume in healthy subjects.
AB  - Several studies reported sex differences in aldosterone. It is unknown whether
      these differences are associated with differences in volume regulation. Therefore
      we studied both aldosterone and extracellular volume in men and women on
      different sodium intakes. In healthy normotensive men ( n = 18) and premenopausal
      women ( n = 18) we investigated plasma aldosterone, blood pressure, and
      extracellular volume (125I-iothalamate), during both low (target intake 50 mmol
      Na+/day) and high sodium intake (target intake 200 mmol Na+/day) in a crossover
      setup. Furthermore, we studied the adrenal response to angiotensin II infusion
      (0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 ng.kg-1.min-1 for 1 h) on both sodium intakes. Men had a
      significantly higher plasma aldosterone, extracellular volume, and systolic blood
      pressure than women during high sodium intake ( P < 0.05). During low sodium
      intake, extracellular volume and blood pressure were higher in men as well ( P <
      0.05), whereas the difference in plasma aldosterone was no longer significant ( P
      = 0.252). The adrenal response to exogenous angiotensin II was significantly
      lower in men than in women on both sodium intakes. Constitutive sex differences
      in the regulation of aldosterone, characterized by a higher aldosterone and a
      lower adrenal response to exogenous angiotensin II infusion in men, are
      associated with a higher extracellular volume and blood pressure in men. These
      findings suggest that sex differences in the regulation of aldosterone contribute
      to differences in volume regulation between men and women.

PMID- 28592434
TI  - Effect of Rosuvastatin on Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Children With
      Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia: The CHARON Study
      (Hypercholesterolemia in Children and Adolescents Taking Rosuvastatin Open
      Label).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) is an autosomal
      dominant disorder leading to premature atherosclerosis. Children with HeFH
      exhibit early signs of atherosclerosis manifested by increased carotid intima
      media thickness (IMT). In this study, we assessed the effect of 2-year treatment
      with rosuvastatin on carotid IMT in children with HeFH. METHODS: Children with
      HeFH (age, 6-<18 years) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol >4.9 mmol/L or
      >4.1 mmol/L in combination with other risk factors received rosuvastatin for 2
      years, starting at 5 mg once daily, with uptitration to 10 mg (age, 6-<10 years)
      or 20 mg (age, 10-<18 years). Carotid IMT was assessed by ultrasonography at
      baseline and 12 and 24 months in all patients and in age-matched unaffected
      siblings. Carotid IMT was measured at 3 locations (common carotid artery, carotid
      bulb, internal carotid artery) in both the left and right carotid arteries. A
      linear mixed-effects model was used to evaluate differences in carotid IMT
      between children with HeFH and the unaffected siblings. P values were adjusted
      for age, sex, carotid artery site, and family relations. RESULTS: At baseline,
      mean+/-SD carotid IMT was significantly greater for the 197 children with HeFH
      compared with the 65 unaffected siblings (0.397+/-0.049 and 0.377+/-0.045 mm,
      respectively; P=0.001). During 2 years of follow-up, the change in carotid IMT
      was 0.0054 mm/y (95% confidence interval, 0.0030-0.0082) in children with HeFH
      and 0.0143 mm/y (95% confidence interval, 0.0095-0.0192) in unaffected siblings
      (P=0.002). The end-of-study difference in mean carotid IMT between children with
      HeFH and unaffected siblings after 2 years was no longer significant (0.408+/
      0.043 and 0.402+/-0.042 mm, respectively; P=0.2). CONCLUSIONS: In children with
      HeFH who were >=6 years of age, carotid IMT was significantly greater at baseline
      compared with unaffected siblings. Rosuvastatin treatment for 2 years resulted in
      significantly less progression of increased carotid IMT in children with HeFH
      than untreated unaffected siblings. As a result, no difference in carotid IMT
      could be detected between the 2 groups after 2 years of rosuvastatin. These
      findings support the value of early initiation of statin treatment for low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction in children with HeFH. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01078675.

PMID- 28592433
TI  - Bifurcated BACH2 control coordinates mantle cell lymphoma survival and dispersal
      during hypoxia.
AB  - BACH2, a B-cell-specific transcription factor, plays a critical role in oxidative
      stress-mediated drug resistance in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL); however, the
      biological functions of BACH2 and its regulation of B-cell malignancies in
      chronic hypoxic microenvironment have not been studied. Here, we found that
      silencing BACH2 led to not only increased tumor formation and colony formation
      but also increased tumor dispersal to spleen and bone marrow. Decreased BACH2
      levels in patients were also correlated with bone marrow and gastrointestinal
      dispersal of MCL and blastoid subtypes of MCL. Unexpectedly, decreased BACH2
      levels in dispersed MCL cells were due to direct transcriptional repression by
      hypoxia-induced factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and increased heme-mediated protein
      degradation. In normoxic conditions, BACH2 was able to modulate HIF-1alpha
      degradation by suppressing prolyl hydroxylase 3 expression. Bifurcated BACH2
      controls during hypoxia and normoxia coordinate not only MCL tumor dispersal but
      also drug resistance, including bortezomib resistance, via plasmacytic
      differentiation. Our data highlight an interactive relationship between tumor
      cells and local microenvironment and the mechanisms of B-cell transcription
      factor in the regulation of MCL dispersal.

PMID- 28592437
TI  - Characterization of the transport activity of SGLT2/MAP17, the renal low-affinity
      Na+-glucose cotransporter.
AB  - The cotransporter SGLT2 is responsible for 90% of renal glucose reabsorption, and
      we recently showed that MAP17 appears to work as a required beta-subunit. We
      report in the present study a detailed functional characterization of human SGLT2
      in coexpression with human MAP17 in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Addition of external
      glucose generates a large inward current in the presence of Na, confirming an
      electrogenic transport mechanism. At a membrane potential of -50 mV, SGLT2
      affinity constants for glucose and Na are 3.4 +/- 0.4 and 18 +/- 6 mM,
      respectively. The change in the reversal potential of the cotransport current as
      a function of external glucose concentration clearly confirms a 1:1 Na-to-glucose
      transport stoichiometry. SGLT2 is selective for glucose and alpha-methylglucose
      but also transports, to a lesser extent, galactose and 3-O-methylglucose. SGLT2
      can be inhibited in a competitive manner by phlorizin (Ki = 31 +/- 4 nM) and by
      dapagliflozin (Ki = 0.75 +/- 0.3 nM). Similarly to SGLT1, SGLT2 can be activated
      by Na, Li, and protons. Pre-steady-state currents for SGLT2 do exist but are
      small in amplitude and relatively fast (a time constant of ~2 ms). The leak
      current defined as the phlorizin-sensitive current in the absence of substrate
      was extremely small in the case of SGLT2. In summary, in comparison with SGLT1,
      SGLT2 has a lower affinity for glucose, a transport stoichiometry of 1:1, very
      small pre-steady-state and leak currents, a 10-fold higher affinity for
      phlorizin, and an affinity for dapagliflozin in the subnanomolar range.

PMID- 28592436
TI  - Bladder fibrosis during outlet obstruction is triggered through the NLRP3
      inflammasome and the production of IL-1beta.
AB  - Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) triggers inflammation in the bladder through the
      NLRP3 inflammasome. BOO also activates fibrosis, which is largely responsible for
      the decompensation of the bladder in the chronic state. Because fibrosis can be
      driven by inflammation, we have explored a role for NLRP3 (and IL-1beta produced
      by NLRP3) in the activation and progression of BOO-induced fibrosis. Female rats
      were divided into five groups: 1) control, 2) sham, 3) BOO + vehicle, 4) BOO +
      the NLRP3 inhibitor glyburide, or 5) BOO + the IL-1beta receptor antagonist
      anakinra. Fibrosis was assessed by Masson's trichrome stain, collagen secretion
      via Sirius Red, and protein localization by immunofluorescence. BOO increased
      collagen production in the bladder, which was blocked by glyburide and anakinra,
      clearly implicating the NLRP3/IL-1beta pathway in fibrosis. The collagen was
      primarily found in the lamina propria and the smooth muscle, while IL-1 receptor
      1 and prolyl 4-hydroylase (an enzyme involved in the intracellular modification
      of collagen) both localized to the urothelium and the smooth muscle. Lysyl
      oxidase, the enzyme involved in the final extracellular assembly of mature
      collagen fibrils, was found to some extent in the lamina propria where its
      expression was greatly enhanced during BOO. In vitro studies demonstrated
      isolated urothelial cells from BOO rats secreted substantially more collagen than
      controls, and collagen expression in control cultures could be directly
      stimulated by IL-1beta. In summary, NLRP3-derived-IL-1beta triggers fibrosis
      during BOO, most likely through an autocrine loop in which IL-1beta acts on
      urothelia to drive collagen production.

PMID- 28592439
TI  - High body mass index and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28592438
TI  - CD14+ CD15- HLA-DR- myeloid-derived suppressor cells impair antimicrobial
      responses in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Immune paresis in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF)
      accounts for infection susceptibility and increased mortality. Immunosuppressive
      mononuclear CD14+HLA-DR- myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSCs) have recently
      been identified to quell antimicrobial responses in immune-mediated diseases. We
      sought to delineate the function and derivation of M-MDSC in patients with ACLF,
      and explore potential targets to augment antimicrobial responses. DESIGN:
      Patients with ACLF (n=41) were compared with healthy subjects (n=25) and patients
      with cirrhosis (n=22) or acute liver failure (n=30). CD14+CD15-CD11b+HLA-DR-
      cells were identified as per definition of M-MDSC and detailed immunophenotypic
      analyses were performed. Suppression of T cell activation was assessed by mixed
      lymphocyte reaction. Assessment of innate immune function included cytokine
      expression in response to Toll-like receptor (TLR-2, TLR-4 and TLR-9) stimulation
      and phagocytosis assays using flow cytometry and live cell imaging-based
      techniques. RESULTS: Circulating CD14+CD15-CD11b+HLA-DR- M-MDSCs were markedly
      expanded in patients with ACLF (55% of CD14+ cells). M-MDSC displayed
      immunosuppressive properties, significantly decreasing T cell proliferation
      (p=0.01), producing less tumour necrosis factor-alpha/interleukin-6 in response
      to TLR stimulation (all p<0.01), and reduced bacterial uptake of Escherichia coli
      (p<0.001). Persistently low expression of HLA-DR during disease evolution was
      linked to secondary infection and 28-day mortality. Recurrent TLR-2 and TLR-4
      stimulation expanded M-MDSC in vitro. By contrast, TLR-3 agonism reconstituted
      HLA-DR expression and innate immune function ex vivo. CONCLUSION:
      Immunosuppressive CD14+HLA-DR- M-MDSCs are expanded in patients with ACLF. They
      were depicted by suppressing T cell function, attenuated antimicrobial innate
      immune responses, linked to secondary infection, disease severity and prognosis.
      TLR-3 agonism reversed M-MDSC expansion and innate immune function and merits
      further evaluation as potential immunotherapeutic agent.

PMID- 28592440
TI  - Rome Foundation-Asian working team report: Asian functional gastrointestinal
      disorder symptom clusters.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are diagnosed by the
      presence of a characteristic set of symptoms. However, the current criteria-based
      diagnostic approach is to some extent subjective and largely derived from
      observations in English-speaking Western patients. We aimed to identify latent
      symptom clusters in Asian patients with FGID. DESIGN: 1805 consecutive unselected
      patients with FGID who presented for primary or secondary care to 11 centres
      across Asia completed a cultural and linguistic adaptation of the Rome III
      Diagnostic Questionnaire that was translated to the local languages. Principal
      components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify symptom
      clusters. RESULTS: Nine symptom clusters were identified, consisting of two
      oesophageal factors (F6: globus, odynophagia and dysphagia; F9: chest pain and
      heartburn), two gastroduodenal factors (F5: bloating, fullness, belching and
      flatulence; F8 regurgitation, nausea and vomiting), three bowel factors (F2:
      abdominal pain and diarrhoea; F3: meal-related bowel symptoms; F7: upper
      abdominal pain and constipation) and two anorectal factors (F1: anorectal pain
      and constipation; F4: diarrhoea, urgency and incontinence). CONCLUSION: We found
      that the broad categorisation used both in clinical practice and in the Rome
      system, that is, broad anatomical divisions, and certain diagnoses with long
      historical records, that is, IBS with diarrhoea, and chronic constipation, are
      still valid in our Asian societies. In addition, we found a bowel symptom cluster
      with meal trigger and a gas cluster that suggests a different emphasis in our
      populations. Future studies to compare a non-Asian cohort and to match to
      putative pathophysiology will help to verify our findings.

PMID- 28592441
TI  - FOXAI: a phase II trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial
      infusion of oxaliplatin plus fluorouracil/leucovorin for advanced hepatocellular
      carcinoma.

PMID- 28592442
TI  - The low FODMAP diet: recent advances in understanding its mechanisms and efficacy
      in IBS.
AB  - There is an intensifying interest in the interaction between diet and the
      functional GI symptoms experienced in IBS. Recent studies have used MRI to
      demonstrate that short-chain fermentable carbohydrates increase small intestinal
      water volume and colonic gas production that, in those with visceral
      hypersensitivity, induces functional GI symptoms. Dietary restriction of short
      chain fermentable carbohydrates (the low fermentable oligosaccharide,
      disaccharide, monosaccharide and polyol (FODMAP) diet) is now increasingly used
      in the clinical setting. Initial research evaluating the efficacy of the low
      FODMAP diet was limited by retrospective study design and lack of comparator
      groups, but more recently well-designed clinical trials have been published.
      There are currently at least 10 randomised controlled trials or randomised
      comparative trials showing the low FODMAP diet leads to clinical response in 50%
      80% of patients with IBS, in particular with improvements in bloating,
      flatulence, diarrhoea and global symptoms. However, in conjunction with the
      beneficial clinical impact, recent studies have also demonstrated that the low
      FODMAP diet leads to profound changes in the microbiota and metabolome, the
      duration and clinical relevance of which are as yet unknown. This review aims to
      present recent advances in the understanding of the mechanisms by which the low
      FODMAP diet impacts on symptoms in IBS, recent evidence for its efficacy, current
      findings regarding the consequences of the diet on the microbiome and
      recommendations for areas for future research.

PMID- 28592448
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28592443
TI  - ESCRT-mediated vesicle concatenation in plant endosomes.
AB  - Ubiquitinated plasma membrane proteins (cargo) are delivered to endosomes and
      sorted by endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery into
      endosome intralumenal vesicles (ILVs) for degradation. In contrast to the current
      model that postulates that ILVs form individually from inward budding of the
      endosomal limiting membrane, plant ILVs form as networks of concatenated vesicle
      buds by a novel vesiculation mechanism. We ran computational simulations based on
      experimentally derived diffusion coefficients of an ESCRT cargo protein and
      electron tomograms of Arabidopsis thaliana endosomes to measure cargo escape from
      budding ILVs. We found that 50% of the ESCRT cargo would escape from a single
      budding profile in 5-20 ms and from three concatenated ILVs in 80-200 ms. These
      short cargo escape times predict the need for strong diffusion barriers in ILVs.
      Consistent with a potential role as a diffusion barrier, we find that the ESCRT
      III protein SNF7 remains associated with ILVs and is delivered to the vacuole for
      degradation.

PMID- 28592444
TI  - Cellular differentiation state modulates the mRNA export activity of SR proteins.
AB  - SR proteins function in nuclear pre-mRNA processing, mRNA export, and
      translation. To investigate their cellular dynamics, we developed a quantitative
      assay, which detects differences in nucleocytoplasmic shuttling among seven
      canonical SR protein family members. As expected, SRSF2 and SRSF5 shuttle poorly
      in HeLa cells but surprisingly display considerable shuttling in pluripotent
      murine P19 cells. Combining individual-resolution cross-linking and
      immunoprecipitation (iCLIP) and mass spectrometry, we show that elevated arginine
      methylation of SRSF5 and lower phosphorylation levels of cobound SRSF2 enhance
      shuttling of SRSF5 in P19 cells by modulating protein-protein and protein-RNA
      interactions. Moreover, SRSF5 is bound to pluripotency-specific transcripts such
      as Lin28a and Pou5f1/Oct4 in the cytoplasm. SRSF5 depletion reduces and
      overexpression increases their cytoplasmic mRNA levels, suggesting that enhanced
      mRNA export by SRSF5 is required for the expression of pluripotency factors.
      Remarkably, neural differentiation of P19 cells leads to dramatically reduced
      SRSF5 shuttling. Our findings indicate that posttranslational modification of SR
      proteins underlies the regulation of their mRNA export activities and
      distinguishes pluripotent from differentiated cells.

PMID- 28592445
TI  - Lymphocyte Galactocerebrosidase Activity by LC-MS/MS for Post-Newborn Screening
      Evaluation of Krabbe Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme galactosylcerebrosidase (GALC)
      causes Krabbe disease. Newborn screening for Krabbe disease is ongoing, but
      improved methods for follow-up analysis of screen-positive babies are needed to
      better advise families and to optimize treatment. We report a new assay for the
      enzymatic activity of GALC in lymphocytes. METHODS: T lymphocytes were isolated
      from venous blood by magnetic bead technology. The assay used a close structural
      analog of the natural substrate and LC-MS/MS to quantify the amount of product
      with the aid of a chemically identical internal standard. RESULTS: The analytical
      range of the assay (ratio of assay response for the QC high standard to that from
      all non-enzymatic-dependent processes) was 20-fold greater than that for the
      conventional radiometric GALC assay. The LC-MS/MS could distinguish cells that
      were null in GALC from those that contained traces of active enzyme (down to 0.3%
      of normal). There was a good correlation between the level of residual GALC
      activity in lymphocytes and the severity of Krabbe disease. CONCLUSIONS: The new
      assay can measure small amounts of residual GALC activity in leukocytes with high
      accuracy compared to previous assays and can contribute, along with genotyping,
      biomarker analysis, and neurological imaging, a better plan for post-newborn
      screening follow-up for Krabbe disease.

PMID- 28592449
TI  - SUDEP: An important cause of premature mortality in epilepsy across the life
      spectrum.

PMID- 28592450
TI  - A propensity score analysis for comparison of T-3b and VATET in myasthenia
      gravis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We performed propensity score (PS) models to compare the outcome of
      patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) submitted to 2 different surgical
      approaches: extended transsternal (T-3b) or thoracoscopic extended thymectomy
      (VATET). METHODS: Patients' clinical data were retrieved from the MG database of
      the C. Besta Neurologic Institute Foundation. In the PS analysis, a matching
      ratio of 1:1 of the main clinical variables was obtained for the 2 groups of
      patients and treatment effect was estimated by comparing their outcome. RESULTS:
      A total of 210 patients met the inclusion criteria, by having a complete set of
      clinical data, and were included in the PS model; a matched dataset of 122
      participants (61 per group) showed an adequate balance of all the covariates. Our
      analysis demonstrated that 68.9% of patients who had thymectomy by the VATET
      technique reached the pharmacologic remission/remission status at 2 years from
      thymectomy compared to 34.4% of those operated on by the T-3b technique (p <
      0.001), had a lower INCB-MG score (p < 0.001), and had less muscle fatigability
      (p = 0.004). Similar results were found considering only nonthymomatous patients
      with MG. Results were also confirmed by paired statistical tests. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our PS matching analysis showed that VATET is a reliable and effective surgical
      approach alternative to T-3b in patients with MG who are candidates for
      thymectomy. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class IV evidence
      that for patients with MG, VATET is more effective than T-3b thymectomy.

PMID- 28592451
TI  - Baseline motor findings and Parkinson disease prognostic subtypes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the significance of baseline motor features to the
      lifelong prognostic motor subtypes in a Parkinson disease (PD) cohort. METHODS:
      In a previous study of 166 PD cases, we observed different prognosis in tremor
      dominant, akinetic-rigid, and mixed subtypes. This study includes the same cases,
      but we excluded 10 cases with symptoms of >=15 years duration at baseline.
      Relative severity of tremor, bradykinesia/akinesia, and rigidity at baseline were
      evaluated as predictors of the motor subtypes, which are known to have different
      prognosis. RESULTS: The most common motor subtype was mixed, followed by akinetic
      rigid and then the tremor-dominant. Seventy cases were not receiving
      antiparkinsonian drugs at baseline. The prognostic subtypes could be predicted at
      baseline in 85% of all and in 91% of the treatment-naive cases. Sensitivity,
      specificity, and positive predictive values were strong for the mixed and the
      akinetic-rigid but weak for the tremor-dominant subtype. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      show that motor profile at baseline can predict prognosis in most PD cases. These
      findings can be incorporated into clinical practice.

PMID- 28592452
TI  - Dementia with Lewy bodies advances: A new consensus report.

PMID- 28592454
TI  - Coated-platelets predict stroke at 30 days following TIA.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the potential for coated-platelets, a subset of highly
      procoagulant platelets observed on dual agonist stimulation with collagen and
      thrombin, for predicting stroke at 30 days in patients with TIA. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients with TIA were enrolled and followed up prospectively. ABCD2
      scores were obtained for each patient. Coated-platelet levels, reported as
      percent of cells converted to coated-platelets, were determined at baseline. The
      primary endpoint was the occurrence of stroke at 30 days. Receiver operator
      characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to calculate area under the curve (AUC)
      values for a model including coated-platelets to predict incident stroke at 30
      days. RESULTS: A total of 171 patients with TIA were enrolled, and 10 strokes
      were observed at 30 days. A cutoff of 51.1% for coated-platelet levels yielded a
      sensitivity of 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-1.0), specificity of 0.73
      (95% CI 0.66-0.80), positive predictive value of 0.16 (95% CI 0.06-0.26), and
      negative predictive value of 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-1.0). The adjusted hazard ratio of
      incident stroke in patients with coated-platelet levels >=51.1% was 10.72
      compared to those with levels <51.1%. ROC analysis showed significant improvement
      in the predictive ability of the coated-platelet model compared to ABCD2 score
      (AUC 0.78 +/- 0.07 vs 0.54 +/- 0.07, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest a role for coated-platelets in risk stratification for stroke at 30 days
      after TIA.

PMID- 28592455
TI  - The incidence of SUDEP: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify all cases of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)
      among people in Sweden during 1 year and to determine the SUDEP incidence in
      relation to age, sex, and psychiatric comorbidity. METHODS: We included all
      individuals with a hospital-based ambulatory care or hospital discharge diagnosis
      of epilepsy in the Swedish National Patient Registry during 1998-2005 who were
      alive on January 1, 2008. Deaths during 2008 were identified by linkage to the
      National Cause of Death Registry. Death certificates, medical charts, and police
      and autopsy reports were extensively reviewed to identify SUDEP cases. RESULTS:
      Of 57,775 epilepsy patients alive on January 1, 2008, 1,890 died (3.3%) during
      2008. Of these, 99 met the Annegers SUDEP criteria (49 definite, 19 probable, and
      31 possible). SUDEP accounted for 5.2% of all deaths and 36% of deaths in the 0
      15 years age group. The incidence of definite/probable SUDEP was 1.20/1,000
      person-years, and higher in men (1.41) than in women (0.96). All SUDEP cases <16
      years were in boys. SUDEP incidence at ages <16, 16-50, and >50 years was 1.11,
      1.13, and 1.29, respectively, per 1,000 person-years. The incidence was 5-fold
      increased among female patients with psychiatric comorbidities compared to those
      without. Epilepsy was mentioned on the death certificate in only 62 of the 99
      (63%) SUDEP cases. CONCLUSIONS: Methods relying on death certificates
      underestimate SUDEP incidence. SUDEP risk has been underestimated especially in
      boys and in older people regardless of sex. Patients with psychiatric
      comorbidities, women in particular, are at increased SUDEP risk.

PMID- 28592453
TI  - Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: Fourth consensus report of
      the DLB Consortium.
AB  - The Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) Consortium has refined its recommendations
      about the clinical and pathologic diagnosis of DLB, updating the previous report,
      which has been in widespread use for the last decade. The revised DLB consensus
      criteria now distinguish clearly between clinical features and diagnostic
      biomarkers, and give guidance about optimal methods to establish and interpret
      these. Substantial new information has been incorporated about previously
      reported aspects of DLB, with increased diagnostic weighting given to REM sleep
      behavior disorder and 123iodine-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial
      scintigraphy. The diagnostic role of other neuroimaging, electrophysiologic, and
      laboratory investigations is also described. Minor modifications to pathologic
      methods and criteria are recommended to take account of Alzheimer disease
      neuropathologic change, to add previously omitted Lewy-related pathology
      categories, and to include assessments for substantia nigra neuronal loss.
      Recommendations about clinical management are largely based upon expert opinion
      since randomized controlled trials in DLB are few. Substantial progress has been
      made since the previous report in the detection and recognition of DLB as a
      common and important clinical disorder. During that period it has been
      incorporated into DSM-5, as major neurocognitive disorder with Lewy bodies. There
      remains a pressing need to understand the underlying neurobiology and
      pathophysiology of DLB, to develop and deliver clinical trials with both
      symptomatic and disease-modifying agents, and to help patients and carers
      worldwide to inform themselves about the disease, its prognosis, best available
      treatments, ongoing research, and how to get adequate support.

PMID- 28592456
TI  - CSF sAPPbeta, YKL-40, and neurofilament light in frontotemporal lobar
      degeneration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical utility of 3 CSF biomarkers and their
      structural imaging correlates in a large cohort of patients with different
      dementia and parkinsonian syndromes within the spectrum of frontotemporal lobar
      degeneration (FTLD). METHODS: We analyzed 3 CSF biomarkers (YKL-40, soluble beta
      fragment of amyloid precursor protein [sAPPbeta], neurofilament light [NfL]) and
      core Alzheimer disease (AD) biomarkers (beta-amyloid1-42, total tau,
      phosphorylated tau) in patients with FTLD-related clinical syndromes (n = 159):
      behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (n = 68), nonfluent (n = 23) and
      semantic (n = 19) variants of primary progressive aphasia, progressive
      supranuclear palsy (n = 28), and corticobasal syndrome (n = 21). We also included
      patients with AD (n = 72) and cognitively normal controls (CN; n = 76). We
      compared cross-sectional biomarker levels between groups, studied their
      correlation with cortical thickness, and evaluated their potential diagnostic
      utility. RESULTS: Patients with FTLD-related syndromes had lower levels of
      sAPPbeta than CN and patients with AD. The levels of sAPPbeta showed a strong
      correlation with cortical structural changes in frontal and cingulate areas. NfL
      and YKL-40 levels were high in both the FTLD and AD groups compared to controls.
      In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the sAPPbeta/YKL-40 and
      NfL/sAPPbeta ratios had areas under the curve of 0.91 and 0.96, respectively,
      distinguishing patients with FTLD from CN, and of 0.84 and 0.85, distinguishing
      patients with FTLD from patients with AD. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of
      sAPPbeta with YKL-40 and with NfL in CSF could be useful to increase the
      certainty of the diagnosis of FTLD-related syndromes in clinical practice.
      CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that CSF
      levels of sAPPbeta, YKL-40, and NfL are useful to identify patients with FTLD
      related syndromes.

PMID- 28592458
TI  - Localized and systemic variations in central motor drive at different local skin
      and muscle temperatures.
AB  - This study investigated the ability to sustain quadriceps central motor drive
      while subjected to localized heat and metaboreceptive feedback from the
      contralateral leg. Eight active males each completed two counter-balanced trials,
      in which muscle temperature (Tm) of a single-leg (TEMP-LEG) was altered to 29.4
      degrees C (COOL) or 37.6 degrees C (WARM), while the contralateral leg (CL-LEG)
      remained thermoneutral: 35.3 degrees C and 35.2 degrees C Tm in COOL and WARM,
      respectively. To activate metaboreceptive feedback, participants first performed
      one 120-s isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of the knee extensors in
      the TEMP-LEG, immediately followed by postexercise muscle ischemia (PEMI) via
      femoral blood flow occlusion. To assess central motor drive of a remote muscle
      group immediately following PEMI, another 120-s MVC was subsequently performed in
      the CL-LEG. Voluntary muscle activation (VA) was assessed using the twitch
      interpolation method. Perceived mental effort and limb discomfort were also
      recorded. In a cooled muscle, a significant increase in mean force output and
      mean VA (force, P < 0.001; VA, P < 0.05), as well as a significant decrease in
      limb discomfort (P < 0.05) occurred during the sustained MVC in the TEMP-LEG.
      However, no differences between Tm were observed in mean force output, mean VA,
      or limb discomfort during the sustained MVC in the CL-LEG (force, P = 0.33; VA, P
      > 0.68; and limb discomfort, P = 0.73). The present findings suggest that
      elevated local skin temperature and Tm can increase limb discomfort and decrease
      central motor drive, but this does not limit systemic motor activation of a
      thermoneutral muscle group.

PMID- 28592459
TI  - Effects of 10 days of separate heat and hypoxic exposure on heat acclimation and
      temperate exercise performance.
AB  - Adaptations to heat and hypoxia are typically studied in isolation but are often
      encountered in combination. Whether the adaptive response to multiple stressors
      affords the same response as when examined in isolation is unclear. We examined
      1) the influence of overnight moderate normobaric hypoxia on the time course and
      magnitude of adaptation to daily heat exposure and 2) whether heat acclimation
      (HA) was ergogenic and whether this was influenced by an additional hypoxic
      stimulus. Eight males [Vo2max = 58.5 (8.3) ml.kg-1.min-1] undertook two 11-day HA
      programs (balanced-crossover design), once with overnight normobaric hypoxia
      (HAHyp): 8 (1) h per night for 10 nights [[Formula: see text] = 0.156; SpO2 = 91
      (2)%] and once without (HACon). Days 1, 6, and 11 were exercise-heat stress tests
      [HST (40 degrees C, 50% relative humidity, RH)]; days 2-5 and 7-10 were
      isothermal strain [target rectal temperature (Tre) ~38.5 degrees C], exercise
      heat sessions. A graded exercise test and 30-min cycle trial were undertaken pre
      , post-, and 14 days after HA in temperate normoxia (22 degrees C, 55% RH; FIO2 =
      0.209). HA was evident on day 6 (e.g., reduced Tre, mean skin temperature (Tsk),
      heart rate, and sweat [Na+], P < 0.05) with additional adaptations on day 11
      (further reduced Tsk and heart rate). HA increased plasma volume [+5.9 (7.3)%]
      and erythropoietin concentration [+1.8 (2.4) mIU/ml]; total hemoglobin mass was
      unchanged. Peak power output [+12 (20) W], lactate threshold [+15 (18) W] and
      work done [+12 (20) kJ] increased following HA. The additional hypoxic stressor
      did not affect these adaptations. In conclusion, a separate moderate overnight
      normobaric hypoxic stimulus does not affect the time course or magnitude of HA.
      Performance may be improved in temperate normoxia following HA, but this is
      unaffected by an additional hypoxic stressor.

PMID- 28592457
TI  - Functional network integrity presages cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer
      disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the utility of resting-state functional connectivity MRI
      (rs-fcMRI) measurements of network integrity as a predictor of future cognitive
      decline in preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD). METHODS: A total of 237 clinically
      normal older adults (aged 63-90 years, Clinical Dementia Rating 0) underwent
      baseline beta-amyloid (Abeta) imaging with Pittsburgh compound B PET and
      structural and rs-fcMRI. We identified 7 networks for analysis, including 4
      cognitive networks (default, salience, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal
      control) and 3 noncognitive networks (primary visual, extrastriate visual,
      motor). Using linear and curvilinear mixed models, we used baseline connectivity
      in these networks to predict longitudinal changes in preclinical Alzheimer
      cognitive composite (PACC) performance, both alone and interacting with Abeta
      burden. Median neuropsychological follow-up was 3 years. RESULTS: Baseline
      connectivity in the default, salience, and control networks predicted
      longitudinal PACC decline, unlike connectivity in the dorsal attention and all
      noncognitive networks. Default, salience, and control network connectivity was
      also synergistic with Abeta burden in predicting decline, with combined higher
      Abeta and lower connectivity predicting the steepest curvilinear decline in PACC
      performance. CONCLUSIONS: In clinically normal older adults, lower functional
      connectivity predicted more rapid decline in PACC scores over time, particularly
      when coupled with increased Abeta burden. Among examined networks, default,
      salience, and control networks were the strongest predictors of rate of change in
      PACC scores, with the inflection point of greatest decline beyond the fourth year
      of follow-up. These results suggest that rs-fcMRI may be a useful predictor of
      early, AD-related cognitive decline in clinical research settings.

PMID- 28592460
TI  - Heads you gain, tails you lose.

PMID- 28592461
TI  - RBM24 promotes U1 snRNP recognition of the mutated 5' splice site in the IKBKAP
      gene of familial dysautonomia.
AB  - The 5' splice site mutation (IVS20+6T>C) of the inhibitor of kappa light
      polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells, kinase complex-associated protein (IKBKAP)
      gene in familial dysautonomia (FD) is at the sixth intronic nucleotide of the 5'
      splice site. It is known to weaken U1 snRNP recognition and result in an
      aberrantly spliced mRNA product in neuronal tissue, but normally spliced mRNA in
      other tissues. Aberrantly spliced IKBKAP mRNA abrogates IKK complex-associated
      protein (IKAP)/elongator protein 1 (ELP1) expression and results in a defect of
      neuronal cell development in FD. To elucidate the tissue-dependent regulatory
      mechanism, we screened an expression library of major RNA-binding proteins (RBPs)
      with our mammalian dual-color splicing reporter system and identified RBM24 as a
      regulator. RBM24 functioned as a cryptic intronic splicing enhancer binding to an
      element (IVS20+13-29) downstream from the intronic 5' splice site mutation in the
      IKBKAP gene and promoted U1 snRNP recognition only to the mutated 5' splice site
      (and not the wild-type 5' splice site). Our results show that tissue-specific
      expression of RBM24 can explain the neuron-specific aberrant splicing of IKBKAP
      exon 20 in familial dysautonomia, and that ectopic expression of RBM24 in
      neuronal tissue could be a novel therapeutic target of the disease.

PMID- 28592462
TI  - Ten-Year (2001-2011) Trends in the Incidence Rates and Short-Term Outcomes of
      Early Versus Late Onset Cardiogenic Shock After Hospitalization for Acute
      Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a serious complication of acute myocardial
      infarction, and the time of onset of CS has a potential role in influencing its
      prognosis. Limited contemporary data exist on this complication, however,
      especially from a population-based perspective. Our study objectives were to
      describe decade-long trends in the incidence, in-hospital mortality, and factors
      associated with the development of CS in 3 temporal contexts: (1) before hospital
      arrival for acute myocardial infarction (prehospital CS); (2) within 24 hours of
      hospitalization (early CS); and (3) >=24 hours after hospitalization (late CS).
      METHODS AND RESULTS: The study population consisted of 5782 patients with an
      acute myocardial infarction who were admitted to all 11 hospitals in central
      Massachusetts on a biennial basis between 2001 and 2011. The overall proportion
      of patients who developed CS was 5.2%. The proportion of patients with
      prehospital CS (1.6%) and late CS (1.5%) remained stable over time, whereas the
      proportion of patients with early CS declined from 2.2% in 2001-2003 to 1.2% in
      2009-2011. In-hospital mortality for prehospital CS increased from 38.9% in 2001
      2003 to 53.6% in 2009-2011, whereas in-hospital mortality for early and late CS
      decreased over time (35.9% and 64.7% in 2001-2003 to 15.8% and 39.1% in 2009
      2011, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Development of prehospital and in-hospital CS
      was associated with poor short-term survival and the in-hospital death rates
      among those with prehospital CS increased over time. Interventions focused on
      preventing or treating prehospital and late CS are needed to improve in-hospital
      survival after acute myocardial infarction.

PMID- 28592465
TI  - Closing the Science-Health Gap With Technology: Evidence-Based Living.

PMID- 28592464
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Changes in Liver Failure and Impact on Drug Therapy.

PMID- 28592463
TI  - Associations of Glycemic Control With Cardiovascular Outcomes Among US
      Hemodialysis Patients With Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a lack of data on the relationship between glycemic control
      and cardiovascular end points in hemodialysis patients with diabetes mellitus.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We included adult Medicare-insured patients with diabetes
      mellitus who initiated in-center hemodialysis treatment from 2006 to 2008 and
      survived for >90 days. Quarterly mean time-averaged glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)
      values were categorized into <48 mmol/mol (<6.5%) (reference), 48 to <58 mmol/mol
      (6.5% to <7.5%), 58 to <69 mmol/mol (7.5% to <8.5%), and >=69 mmol/mol (>=8.5%).
      Medicare claims were used to identify outcomes of cardiovascular mortality,
      nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), fatal or nonfatal MI, stroke, and peripheral
      arterial disease. We used Cox models as a function of time-varying exposure to
      estimate multivariable adjusted hazard ratios and 95%CI for the associations
      between HbA1c and time to study outcomes in a cohort of 16 387 eligible patients.
      Patients with HbA1c 58 to <69 mmol/mol (7.5% to <8.5%) and >=69 mmol/mol (>=8.5%)
      had 16% (CI, 2%, 32%) and 18% (CI, 1%, 37%) higher rates of cardiovascular
      mortality (P-trend=0.01) and 16% (CI, 1%, 33%) and 15% (CI, 1%, 32%) higher rates
      of nonfatal MI (P-trend=0.05), respectively, compared with those in the reference
      group. Patients with HbA1c >=69 mmol/mol (>=8.5%) had a 20% (CI, 2%, 41%) higher
      rate of fatal or nonfatal MI (P-trend=0.02), compared with those in the reference
      group. HbA1c was not associated with stroke, peripheral arterial disease, or all
      cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Higher HbA1c levels were significantly associated
      with higher rates of cardiovascular mortality and MI but not with stroke,
      peripheral arterial disease, or all-cause mortality in this large cohort of
      hemodialysis patients with diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 28592466
TI  - Adults in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Pediatric Nurse's Perspective.

PMID- 28592467
TI  - Supplementing Intensivist Staffing With Nurse Practitioners: Literature Review.
AB  - In the United States, providing health care to critically ill patients is a
      challenge. An increase in patients older than 65 years, a decrease in critical
      care physicians, and a decrease in work hours for residents cause intensivist
      staffing issues. In this article, use of nurse practictioners to fill the
      intensive care unit intensivist staffing gap is assessed and evidence-based
      recommendations are identified to better incorporate nurse practitioners as part
      of intensive care unit intensivist staffing. The literature reveals that when
      nurse practitioners are part of a staffing model, outcomes are either positively
      impacted or no different from physician outcomes. However, successfully
      integrating nurse practitioners into an intensive care unit team is not
      adequately discussed in the literature. This gap is addressed and 3 mechanisms to
      integrate nurse practitioners into the intensive care unit are identified: (1)
      use of a multidisciplinary staffing model, (2) completion of onboarding programs,
      and (3) evaluation of nurse practitioner productivity.

PMID- 28592468
TI  - Improving Health Care Provider Communication in End-of-Life Decision-Making.
AB  - Critical care providers are responsible for many aspects of patient care,
      primarily focusing on preserving life. However, nearly 40% of patients who are
      admitted to an adult critical care unit will not survive. Initiating a
      conversation about end-of-life decision-making is a daunting task. Often, health
      care providers are not trained, experienced, or comfortable facilitating these
      conversations. This article describes a quality improvement project that
      identified current views on end-of-life communication in the intensive care unit
      and potential barriers that obstruct open discussion, and offering strategies for
      improvement.

PMID- 28592469
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 28592470
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 28592471
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 28592472
TI  - Family-Centered Care.

PMID- 28592473
TI  - Implementing the SCCM Family-Centered Care Guidelines in Critical Care Nursing
      Practice.
AB  - Family-centered care is an important component of holistic nursing practice,
      particularly in critical care, where the impact on families of admitted patients
      can be physiologically and psychologically burdensome. Family-centered care
      guidelines, developed by an international group of nursing, medical, and academic
      experts for the American College of Critical Care Medicine/Society of Critical
      Care Medicine, explore the evidence base in 5 key areas of family-centered care.
      Evidence in each of the guideline areas is outlined and recommendations are made
      about how critical care nurses can use this information in family-centered care
      practice.

PMID- 28592474
TI  - Implementing Intensive Care Unit Family-Centered Care: Resources to Identify and
      Address Gaps.
AB  - During creation of the 2017 Society of Critical Care Medicine Guidelines for
      Family-Centered Care in the Intensive Care Unit, 2 implementation tools were
      developed to assist intensive care unit clinicians in incorporating the new
      recommendations into local practice: a gap analysis tool and a work tools
      document. The gap analysis tool helps intensive care unit teams rapidly develop
      unit- or organization-specific recommendations to enhance family-centered care
      and assess local barriers to implementation. The work tools document identifies
      readily available and tested resources that may further assist with action
      planning for change. The goal of these implementation tools is to promote rapid
      translation of the SCCM Guideline recommendations into practice, thereby
      streamlining the process of enacting meaningful evidence-based practice change.

PMID- 28592475
TI  - Promoting Patient- and Family-Centered Care in the Intensive Care Unit: A
      Dissemination Project.
AB  - Awareness of patient-centered and family-centered care research can assist
      clinicians to promote patient and family engagement in the intensive care unit.
      Project Dispatch (Disseminating Patient-Centered Outcomes Research to Healthcare
      Professionals) was developed to disseminate patient- and family-centered care
      research and encourage its application in clinical practice. The 3-year project
      involved the development of an interactive website platform, online educational
      programming, social media channels, a podcast and webcast series, and electronic
      and print media. The project's webpages received more than 5200 page views with
      over 4000 unique visitors from 36 countries. The podcast series has download
      numbers ranging from 35 596 for "Family Presence in the ICU" to 25 843 for
      "Improving Patient and Family satisfaction in the ICU" and 22 148 for "Family
      Satisfaction in the ICU." The project therefore successfully developed resources
      for critical care health care professionals to promote the patient- and family
      centric perspective.

PMID- 28592477
TI  - Sleep in the Intensive Care Unit in a Model of Family-Centered Care.
AB  - The desire for families to be physically present to support their loved ones in
      the intensive care unit, and guidelines in favor of this open visitation
      approach, require that clinicians consider both patient and family sleep. This
      article reviews the causes of poor sleep for patients and their family members in
      the intensive care unit as well as the expected changes in cognition and emotion
      that can result from sleep deprivation. Measures are proposed to improve the
      intensive care unit environment to promote family sleep. A framework to educate
      family members and engage them in preservation of their and their loved one's
      circadian rhythm is also presented. Although further research is needed, the
      proposed framework has the potential to improve outcomes for patients and their
      families in the intensive care unit.

PMID- 28592476
TI  - Factors Influencing Active Family Engagement in Care Among Critical Care Nurses.
AB  - Critical care nurses are vital to promoting family engagement in the intensive
      care unit. However, nurses have varying perceptions about how much family members
      should be involved. The Questionnaire on Factors That Influence Family Engagement
      was given to a national sample of 433 critical care nurses. This correlational
      study explored the impact of nurse and organizational characteristics on barriers
      and facilitators to family engagement. Study results indicate that (1) nurses
      were most likely to invite family caregivers to provide simple daily care; (2)
      age, degree earned, critical care experience, hospital location, unit type, and
      staffing ratios influenced the scores; and (3) nursing work-flow partially
      mediated the relationships between the intensive care unit environment and
      nurses' attitudes and between patient acuity and nurses' attitudes. These results
      help inform nursing leaders on ways to promote nurse support of active family
      engagement in the intensive care unit.

PMID- 28592478
TI  - Measuring Outcomes of an Intensive Care Unit Family Diary Program.
AB  - Patients discharged from intensive care units are at risk of short- and long-term
      physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms known as post-intensive care
      syndrome. Family members of intensive care unit patients are at risk of similar
      symptoms known as post-intensive care syndrome-family. Both syndromes are common,
      and strategies to reduce risk factors should be employed. An intensive care unit
      diary project to help reduce these syndromes was implemented in 2 intensive care
      units using an evidence-based framework. The effects of these diaries were
      studied using the Family Satisfaction with Care in the Intensive Care Unit
      survey. Rates of referrals to a postintensive care unit recovery clinic were also
      observed in relation to the diaries. Although preliminary data did not reveal a
      significant increase in family satisfaction, the surveys provided important staff
      feedback. The diaries fostered feelings of compassion and caring as well as built
      trust between staff and family members of intensive care unit patients. The
      diaries increased referrals to the postintensive care unit recovery clinic.

PMID- 28592479
TI  - Innovation and Technology: Electronic Intensive Care Unit Diaries.
AB  - Hospitalization in the intensive care unit can be a stressful time for patients
      and their family members. Patients' family members often have difficulty
      processing all of the information that is given to them. Therefore, an intensive
      care unit diary can serve as a conduit for synthesizing information, maintaining
      connection with patients, and maintaining a connection with family members
      outside the intensive care unit. Paper intensive care unit diaries have been used
      outside the United States for many years. This article explores the development
      of an electronic intensive care unit diary using a rapid prototyping model to
      accelerate the process. Initial results of design testing demonstrate that it is
      feasible, useful, and desirable to consider the implementation of electronic
      intensive care unit diaries for patients at risk for post-intensive care
      syndrome.

PMID- 28592480
TI  - Implementing Family-Centered Care Through Facilitated Sensemaking.
AB  - The Society of Critical Care Medicine has released updated recommendations for
      care of the family in neonatal, pediatric, and adult intensive care units.
      Translation of the recommendations into practice may benefit from a supporting
      theoretical framework. Facilitated sensemaking is a mid-range theory built from
      the same literature that formed the basis for recommendations within the
      guidelines. The process of facilitated sensemaking may be used to help nurses
      adopt the SCCM recommendations into practice through the development of caring
      relationships, promoting family presence, teaching family engagement strategies,
      and supporting families with communication, information gathering, and
      participation in decision-making.

PMID- 28592481
TI  - Creating Clinical Research Protocols in Advanced Practice: Part IV, Designing
      Research to Fit Practice.

PMID- 28592482
TI  - Aid in Dying: The Role of the Critical Care Nurse.

PMID- 28592483
TI  - Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia.

PMID- 28592484
TI  - Analysis of neointima development in flow diverters using optical coherence
      tomography imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Flow diverters are used for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.
      Surface modification may decrease the thrombogenicity of flow diverters but the
      details are unknown. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an intravascular
      imaging test with high resolution which identifies neointimal growth over stents.
      We compared the development of neointima in a flow diverter and stents with and
      without surface modification in a swine model. METHODS: In this study we
      implanted four devices (two in each carotid artery) in four pigs. The devices
      used were the Pipeline Flex embolization device (PED Flex, n=6), PED with Shield
      technology (PED Shield, n=6), and Solitaire AB (n=4). Serial carotid angiographic
      and OCT images were obtained on days 0, 7, 14, and 21. The data analyzed
      included: neointimal area (lumen area - stent area), neointimal ratio ([lumen
      area - stent area]/stent area), and the neointimal thickness ratio (minimum
      neointimal thickness/maximum neointimal thickness). RESULTS: There was no
      significant difference in where neointima formation was initiated in relation to
      the implanted device (distal vs middle vs proximal). The PED Shield had a trend
      towards earlier endothelial formation at day 7. By day 21 the neointimal ratio
      was significantly higher for the PED Flex and PED Shield devices than for
      Solitaire (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). The neointimal thickness ratio was
      significantly higher with PED Shield than with PED Flex and Solitaire (p<0.05 and
      p<0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: OCT enabled us to follow and compare in vivo
      the development of neointima over implants. PED Shield showed a similar
      neointimal volume to PED Flex and more concentric neointima.

PMID- 28592485
TI  - Energetics of side-chain partitioning of beta-signal residues in unassisted
      folding of a transmembrane beta-barrel protein.
AB  - The free energy of water-to-interface amino acid partitioning is a major
      contributing factor in membrane protein folding and stability. The interface
      residues at the C terminus of transmembrane beta-barrels form the beta-signal
      motif required for assisted beta-barrel assembly in vivo but are believed to be
      less important for beta-barrel assembly in vitro Here, we experimentally measured
      the thermodynamic contribution of all 20 amino acids at the beta-signal motif to
      the unassisted folding of the model beta-barrel protein PagP. We obtained the
      partitioning free energy for all 20 amino acids at the lipid-facing interface
      (DeltaDeltaG0w,i(phi)) and the protein-facing interface (DeltaDeltaG0w,i(pi))
      residues and found that hydrophobic amino acids are most favorably transferred to
      the lipid-facing interface, whereas charged and polar groups display the highest
      partitioning energy. Furthermore, the change in non-polar surface area correlated
      directly with the partitioning free energy for the lipid-facing residue and
      inversely with the protein-facing residue. We also demonstrate that the interface
      residues of the beta-signal motif are vital for in vitro barrel assembly, because
      they exhibit a side chain-specific energetic contribution determined by the
      change in nonpolar accessible surface. We further establish that folding
      cooperativity and hydrophobic collapse are balanced at the membrane interface for
      optimal stability of the PagP beta-barrel scaffold. We conclude that the PagP C
      terminal beta-signal motif influences the folding cooperativity and stability of
      the folded beta-barrel and that the thermodynamic contributions of the lipid- and
      protein-facing residues in the transmembrane protein beta-signal motif depend on
      the nature of the amino acid side chain.

PMID- 28592486
TI  - Exploring cancer metabolism using stable isotope-resolved metabolomics (SIRM).
AB  - Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer. The changes in metabolism are
      adaptive to permit proliferation, survival, and eventually metastasis in a harsh
      environment. Stable isotope-resolved metabolomics (SIRM) is an approach that uses
      advanced approaches of NMR and mass spectrometry to analyze the fate of
      individual atoms from stable isotope-enriched precursors to products to deduce
      metabolic pathways and networks. The approach can be applied to a wide range of
      biological systems, including human subjects. This review focuses on the
      applications of SIRM to cancer metabolism and its use in understanding drug
      actions.

PMID- 28592487
TI  - Electrostatic control of DNA intersegmental translocation by the ETS
      transcription factor ETV6.
AB  - To find their DNA target sites in complex solution environments containing excess
      heterogeneous DNA, sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins execute various
      translocation mechanisms known collectively as facilitated diffusion. For
      proteins harboring a single DNA contact surface, long-range translocation occurs
      by jumping between widely spaced DNA segments. We have configured biosensor-based
      surface plasmon resonance to directly measure the affinity and kinetics of this
      intersegmental jumping by the ETS-family transcription factor ETS variant 6
      (ETV6). To isolate intersegmental target binding in a functionally defined
      manner, we pre-equilibrated ETV6 with excess salmon sperm DNA, a heterogeneous
      polymer, before exposing the nonspecifically bound protein to immobilized
      oligomeric DNA harboring a high-affinity ETV6 site. In this way, the mechanism of
      ETV6-target association could be toggled electrostatically through varying NaCl
      concentration in the bulk solution. Direct measurements of association and
      dissociation kinetics of the site-specific complex indicated that 1) freely
      diffusive binding by ETV6 proceeds through a nonspecific-like intermediate, 2)
      intersegmental jumping is rate-limited by dissociation from the nonspecific
      polymer, and 3) dissociation of the specific complex is independent of the
      history of complex formation. These results show that target searches by proteins
      with an ETS domain, such as ETV6, whose single DNA-binding domain cannot contact
      both source and destination sites simultaneously, are nonetheless strongly
      modulated by intersegmental jumping in heterogeneous site environments. Our
      findings establish biosensors as a general technique for directly and
      specifically measuring target site search by DNA-binding proteins via
      intersegmental translocation.

PMID- 28592488
TI  - DNA damage-induced ATM- and Rad-3-related (ATR) kinase activation in non
      replicating cells is regulated by the XPB subunit of transcription factor IIH
      (TFIIH).
AB  - The role of the DNA damage response protein kinase ataxia telangiectasia-mutated
      (ATM)- and Rad-3-related (ATR) in the cellular response to DNA damage during the
      replicative phase of the cell cycle has been extensively studied. However, little
      is known about ATR kinase function in cells that are not actively replicating DNA
      and that constitute most cells in the human body. Using small-molecule inhibitors
      of ATR kinase and overexpression of a kinase-inactive form of the enzyme, I show
      here that ATR promotes cell death in non-replicating/non-cycling cultured human
      cells exposed to N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene (NA-AAF), which generates bulky
      DNA adducts that block RNA polymerase movement. Immunoblot analyses of soluble
      protein extracts revealed that ATR and other cellular proteins containing SQ
      motifs become rapidly and robustly phosphorylated in non-cycling cells exposed to
      NA-AAF in a manner largely dependent on ATR kinase activity but independent of
      the essential nucleotide excision repair factor XPA. Although the topoisomerase I
      inhibitor camptothecin also activated ATR in non-cycling cells, other
      transcription inhibitors that do not directly damage DNA failed to do so.
      Interestingly, genetic and pharmacological inhibition of the XPB subunit of
      transcription factor IIH prevented the accumulation of the single-stranded DNA
      binding protein replication protein A (RPA) on damaged chromatin and severely
      abrogated ATR signaling in response to NA-AAF and camptothecin. Together, these
      results reveal a previously unknown role for transcription factor IIH in ATR
      kinase activation in non-replicating, non-cycling cells.

PMID- 28592489
TI  - Sustained Notch2 signaling in osteoblasts, but not in osteoclasts, is linked to
      osteopenia in a mouse model of Hajdu-Cheney syndrome.
AB  - Individuals with Hajdu-Cheney syndrome (HCS) present with osteoporosis, and HCS
      is associated with NOTCH2 mutations causing deletions of the proline-, glutamic
      acid-, serine-, and threonine-rich (PEST) domain that are predicted to enhance
      NOTCH2 stability and cause gain-of-function. Previously, we demonstrated that
      mice harboring Notch2 mutations analogous to those in HCS (Notch2HCS) are
      severely osteopenic because of enhanced bone resorption. We attributed this
      phenotype to osteoclastic sensitization to the receptor activator of nuclear
      factor-kappaB ligand and increased osteoblastic tumor necrosis factor superfamily
      member 11 (Tnfsf11) expression. Here, to determine the individual contributions
      of osteoclasts and osteoblasts to HCS osteopenia, we created a conditional-by
      inversion (Notch2COIN ) model in which Cre recombination generates a
      Notch2DeltaPEST allele expressing a Notch2 mutant lacking the PEST domain. Germ
      line Notch2COIN inversion phenocopied the Notch2HCS mutant, validating the model.
      To activate Notch2 in osteoclasts or osteoblasts, Notch2COIN mice were bred with
      mice expressing Cre from the Lyz2 or the BGLAP promoter, respectively. These
      crosses created experimental mice harboring a Notch2DeltaPEST allele in Cre
      expressing cells and control littermates expressing a wild-type Notch2
      transcript. Notch2COIN inversion in Lyz2-expressing cells had no skeletal
      consequences and did not affect the capacity of bone marrow macrophages to form
      osteoclasts in vitro In contrast, Notch2COIN inversion in osteoblasts led to
      generalized osteopenia associated with enhanced bone resorption in the cancellous
      bone compartment and with suppressed endocortical mineral apposition rate.
      Accordingly, Notch2 activation in osteoblast-enriched cultures from Notch2COIN
      mice induced Tnfsf11 expression. In conclusion, introduction of the HCS mutation
      in osteoblasts, but not in osteoclasts, causes osteopenia.

PMID- 28592490
TI  - Functional analyses yield detailed insight into the mechanism of thrombin
      inhibition by the antihemostatic salivary protein cE5 from Anopheles gambiae.
AB  - Saliva of blood-feeding arthropods carries several antihemostatic compounds whose
      physiological role is to facilitate successful acquisition of blood. The
      identification of novel natural anticoagulants and the understanding of their
      mechanism of action may offer opportunities for designing new antithrombotics
      disrupting blood clotting. We report here an in-depth structural and functional
      analysis of the anophelin family member cE5, a salivary protein from the major
      African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae that specifically, tightly, and quickly
      binds and inhibits thrombin. Using calorimetry, functional assays, and
      complementary structural techniques, we show that the central region of the
      protein, encompassing amino acids Asp-31-Arg-62, is the region mainly responsible
      for alpha-thrombin binding and inhibition. As previously reported for the
      Anopheles albimanus orthologue anophelin, cE5 binds both thrombin exosite I with
      segment Glu-35-Asp-47 and the catalytic site with the region Pro-49-Arg-56, which
      includes the highly conserved DPGR tetrapeptide. Moreover, the N-terminal Ala-1
      Ser-30 region of cE5 (which includes an RGD tripeptide) and the additional C
      terminal serine-rich Asn-63-Glu-82 region (absent in orthologues from anophelines
      of the New World species A. albimanus and Anopheles darlingi) also played some
      functionally relevant role. Indeed, we observed decreased thrombin binding and
      inhibitory properties even when using the central cE5 fragment (Asp-31-Arg-62)
      alone. In summary, these results shed additional light on the mechanism of
      thrombin binding and inhibition by this family of salivary anticoagulants from
      anopheline mosquitoes.

PMID- 28592493
TI  - Back to the Future: Multiparent Populations Provide the Key to Unlocking the
      Genetic Basis of Complex Traits.

PMID- 28592492
TI  - Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K inhibits heat shock-induced
      transcriptional activity of heat shock factor 1.
AB  - When cells are exposed to heat shock and various other stresses, heat shock
      factor 1 (HSF1) is activated, and the heat shock response (HSR) is elicited. To
      better understand the molecular regulation of the HSR, we used 2D-PAGE-based
      proteome analysis to screen for heat shock-induced post-translationally modified
      cellular proteins. Our analysis revealed that two protein spots typically present
      on 2D-PAGE gels and containing heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP
      K) with trioxidized Cys132 disappeared after the heat shock treatment and
      reappeared during recovery, but the total amount of hnRNP K protein remained
      unchanged. We next tested whether hnRNP K plays a role in HSR by regulating HSF1
      and found that hnRNP K inhibits HSF1 activity, resulting in reduced expression of
      hsp70 and hsp27 mRNAs. hnRNP K also reduced binding affinity of HSF1 to the heat
      shock element by directly interacting with HSF1 but did not affect HSF1
      phosphorylation-dependent activation or nuclear localization. hnRNP K lost its
      ability to induce these effects when its Cys132 was substituted with Ser, Asp, or
      Glu. These findings suggest that hnRNP K inhibits transcriptional activity of
      HSF1 by inhibiting its binding to heat shock element and that the oxidation
      status of Cys132 in hnRNP K is critical for this inhibition.

PMID- 28592491
TI  - Exploiting fine-scale genetic and physiological variation of closely related
      microbes to reveal unknown enzyme functions.
AB  - Polysaccharide degradation by marine microbes represents one of the largest and
      most rapid heterotrophic transformations of organic matter in the environment.
      Microbes employ systems of complementary carbohydrate-specific enzymes to
      deconstruct algal or plant polysaccharides (glycans) into monosaccharides.
      Because of the high diversity of glycan substrates, the functions of these
      enzymes are often difficult to establish. One solution to this problem may lie
      within naturally occurring microdiversity; varying numbers of enzymes, due to
      gene loss, duplication, or transfer, among closely related environmental microbes
      create metabolic differences akin to those generated by knock-out strains
      engineered in the laboratory used to establish the functions of unknown genes.
      Inspired by this natural fine-scale microbial diversity, we show here that it can
      be used to develop hypotheses guiding biochemical experiments for establishing
      the role of these enzymes in nature. In this work, we investigated alginate
      degradation among closely related strains of the marine bacterium Vibrio
      splendidus One strain, V. splendidus 13B01, exhibited high extracellular alginate
      lyase activity compared with other V. splendidus strains. To identify the enzymes
      responsible for this high extracellular activity, we compared V. splendidus 13B01
      with the previously characterized V. splendidus 12B01, which has low
      extracellular activity and lacks two alginate lyase genes present in V.
      splendidus 13B01. Using a combination of genomics, proteomics, biochemical, and
      functional screening, we identified a polysaccharide lyase family 7 enzyme that
      is unique to V. splendidus 13B01, secreted, and responsible for the rapid
      digestion of extracellular alginate. These results demonstrate the value of
      querying the enzymatic repertoires of closely related microbes to rapidly
      pinpoint key proteins with beneficial functions.

PMID- 28592494
TI  - Epistasis: Searching for Interacting Genetic Variants Using Crosses.

PMID- 28592495
TI  - Genomes of the Mouse Collaborative Cross.
AB  - The Collaborative Cross (CC) is a multiparent panel of recombinant inbred (RI)
      mouse strains derived from eight founder laboratory strains. RI panels are
      popular because of their long-term genetic stability, which enhances
      reproducibility and integration of data collected across time and conditions.
      Characterization of their genomes can be a community effort, reducing the burden
      on individual users. Here we present the genomes of the CC strains using two
      complementary approaches as a resource to improve power and interpretation of
      genetic experiments. Our study also provides a cautionary tale regarding the
      limitations imposed by such basic biological processes as mutation and selection.
      A distinct advantage of inbred panels is that genotyping only needs to be
      performed on the panel, not on each individual mouse. The initial CC genome data
      were haplotype reconstructions based on dense genotyping of the most recent
      common ancestors (MRCAs) of each strain followed by imputation from the genome
      sequence of the corresponding founder inbred strain. The MRCA resource captured
      segregating regions in strains that were not fully inbred, but it had limited
      resolution in the transition regions between founder haplotypes, and there was
      uncertainty about founder assignment in regions of limited diversity. Here we
      report the whole genome sequence of 69 CC strains generated by paired-end short
      reads at 30* coverage of a single male per strain. Sequencing leads to a
      substantial improvement in the fine structure and completeness of the genomes of
      the CC. Both MRCAs and sequenced samples show a significant reduction in the
      genome-wide haplotype frequencies from two wild-derived strains, CAST/EiJ and
      PWK/PhJ. In addition, analysis of the evolution of the patterns of heterozygosity
      indicates that selection against three wild-derived founder strains played a
      significant role in shaping the genomes of the CC. The sequencing resource
      provides the first description of tens of thousands of new genetic variants
      introduced by mutation and drift in the CC genomes. We estimate that new SNP
      mutations are accumulating in each CC strain at a rate of 2.4 +/- 0.4 per
      gigabase per generation. The fixation of new mutations by genetic drift has
      introduced thousands of new variants into the CC strains. The majority of these
      mutations are novel compared to currently sequenced laboratory stocks and wild
      mice, and some are predicted to alter gene function. Approximately one-third of
      the CC inbred strains have acquired large deletions (>10 kb) many of which
      overlap known coding genes and functional elements. The sequence of these mice is
      a critical resource to CC users, increases threefold the number of mouse inbred
      strain genomes available publicly, and provides insight into the effect of
      mutation and drift on common resources.

PMID- 28592496
TI  - Male Infertility Is Responsible for Nearly Half of the Extinction Observed in the
      Mouse Collaborative Cross.
AB  - The goal of the Collaborative Cross (CC) project was to generate and distribute
      over 1000 independent mouse recombinant inbred strains derived from eight inbred
      founders. With inbreeding nearly complete, we estimated the extinction rate among
      CC lines at a remarkable 95%, which is substantially higher than in the
      derivation of other mouse recombinant inbred populations. Here, we report genome
      wide allele frequencies in 347 extinct CC lines. Contrary to expectations,
      autosomes had equal allelic contributions from the eight founders, but chromosome
      X had significantly lower allelic contributions from the two inbred founders with
      underrepresented subspecific origins (PWK/PhJ and CAST/EiJ). By comparing extinct
      CC lines to living CC strains, we conclude that a complex genetic architecture is
      driving extinction, and selection pressures are different on the autosomes and
      chromosome X Male infertility played a large role in extinction as 47% of extinct
      lines had males that were infertile. Males from extinct lines had high
      variability in reproductive organ size, low sperm counts, low sperm motility, and
      a high rate of vacuolization of seminiferous tubules. We performed QTL mapping
      and identified nine genomic regions associated with male fertility and
      reproductive phenotypes. Many of the allelic effects in the QTL were driven by
      the two founders with underrepresented subspecific origins, including a QTL on
      chromosome X for infertility that was driven by the PWK/PhJ haplotype. We also
      performed the first example of cross validation using complementary CC resources
      to verify the effect of sperm curvilinear velocity from the PWK/PhJ haplotype on
      chromosome 2 in an independent population across multiple generations. While
      selection typically constrains the examination of reproductive traits toward the
      more fertile alleles, the CC extinct lines provided a unique opportunity to study
      the genetic architecture of fertility in a widely genetically variable
      population. We hypothesize that incompatibilities between alleles with different
      subspecific origins is a key driver of infertility. These results help clarify
      the factors that drove strain extinction in the CC, reveal the genetic regions
      associated with poor fertility in the CC, and serve as a resource to further
      study mammalian infertility.

PMID- 28592497
TI  - Increased Power To Dissect Adaptive Traits in Global Sorghum Diversity Using a
      Nested Association Mapping Population.
AB  - Adaptation of domesticated species to diverse agroclimatic regions has led to
      abundant trait diversity. However, the resulting population structure and genetic
      heterogeneity confounds association mapping of adaptive traits. To address this
      challenge in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]-a widely adapted cereal crop
      we developed a nested association mapping (NAM) population using 10 diverse
      global lines crossed with an elite reference line RTx430. We characterized the
      population of 2214 recombinant inbred lines at 90,000 SNPs using genotyping-by
      sequencing. The population captures ~70% of known global SNP variation in
      sorghum, and 57,411 recombination events. Notably, recombination events were four
      to fivefold enriched in coding sequences and 5' untranslated regions of genes.
      To test the power of the NAM population for trait dissection, we conducted joint
      linkage mapping for two major adaptive traits, flowering time and plant height.
      We precisely mapped several known genes for these two traits, and identified
      several additional QTL. Considering all SNPs simultaneously, genetic variation
      accounted for 65% of flowering time variance and 75% of plant height variance.
      Further, we directly compared NAM to genome-wide association mapping (using
      panels of the same size) and found that flowering time and plant height QTL were
      more consistently identified with the NAM population. Finally, for simulated QTL
      under strong selection in diversity panels, the power of QTL detection was up to
      three times greater for NAM vs. association mapping with a diverse panel. These
      findings validate the NAM resource for trait mapping in sorghum, and demonstrate
      the value of NAM for dissection of adaptive traits.

PMID- 28592498
TI  - Genetic Dissection of Nutrition-Induced Plasticity in Insulin/Insulin-Like Growth
      Factor Signaling and Median Life Span in a Drosophila Multiparent Population.
AB  - The nutritional environments that organisms experience are inherently variable,
      requiring tight coordination of how resources are allocated to different
      functions relative to the total amount of resources available. A growing body of
      evidence supports the hypothesis that key endocrine pathways play a fundamental
      role in this coordination. In particular, the insulin/insulin-like growth factor
      signaling (IIS) and target of rapamycin (TOR) pathways have been implicated in
      nutrition-dependent changes in metabolism and nutrient allocation. However,
      little is known about the genetic basis of standing variation in IIS/TOR or how
      diet-dependent changes in expression in this pathway influence phenotypes related
      to resource allocation. To characterize natural genetic variation in the IIS/TOR
      pathway, we used >250 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a
      multiparental mapping population, the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource,
      to map transcript-level QTL of genes encoding 52 core IIS/TOR components in three
      different nutritional environments [dietary restriction (DR), control (C), and
      high sugar (HS)]. Nearly all genes, 87%, were significantly differentially
      expressed between diets, though not always in ways predicted by loss-of-function
      mutants. We identified cis (i.e., local) expression QTL (eQTL) for six genes, all
      of which are significant in multiple nutrient environments. Further, we
      identified trans (i.e., distant) eQTL for two genes, specific to a single
      nutrient environment. Our results are consistent with many small changes in the
      IIS/TOR pathways. A discriminant function analysis for the C and DR treatments
      identified a pattern of gene expression associated with the diet treatment.
      Mapping the composite discriminant function scores revealed a significant global
      eQTL within the DR diet. A correlation between the discriminant function scores
      and the median life span (r = 0.46) provides evidence that gene expression
      changes in response to diet are associated with longevity in these RILs.

PMID- 28592499
TI  - Structural Variation Shapes the Landscape of Recombination in Mouse.
AB  - Meiotic recombination is an essential feature of sexual reproduction that ensures
      faithful segregation of chromosomes and redistributes genetic variants in
      populations. Multiparent populations such as the Diversity Outbred (DO) mouse
      stock accumulate large numbers of crossover (CO) events between founder
      haplotypes, and thus present a unique opportunity to study the role of genetic
      variation in shaping the recombination landscape. We obtained high-density
      genotype data from [Formula: see text] DO mice, and localized 2.2 million CO
      events to intervals with a median size of 28 kb. The resulting sex-averaged
      genetic map of the DO population is highly concordant with large-scale (order 10
      Mb) features of previously reported genetic maps for mouse. To examine fine-scale
      (order 10 kb) patterns of recombination in the DO, we overlaid putative
      recombination hotspots onto our CO intervals. We found that CO intervals are
      enriched in hotspots compared to the genomic background. However, as many as
      [Formula: see text] of CO intervals do not overlap any putative hotspots,
      suggesting that our understanding of hotspots is incomplete. We also identified
      coldspots encompassing 329 Mb, or [Formula: see text] of observable genome, in
      which there is little or no recombination. In contrast to hotspots, which are a
      few kilobases in size, and widely scattered throughout the genome, coldspots have
      a median size of 2.1 Mb and are spatially clustered. Coldspots are strongly
      associated with copy-number variant (CNV) regions, especially multi-allelic
      clusters, identified from whole-genome sequencing of 228 DO mice. Genes in these
      regions have reduced expression, and epigenetic features of closed chromatin in
      male germ cells, which suggests that CNVs may repress recombination by altering
      chromatin structure in meiosis. Our findings demonstrate how multiparent
      populations, by bridging the gap between large-scale and fine-scale genetic
      mapping, can reveal new features of the recombination landscape.

PMID- 28592501
TI  - A Physicist's Quest in Biology: Max Delbruck and "Complementarity".
AB  - Max Delbruck was trained as a physicist but made his major contribution in
      biology and ultimately shared a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was the
      acknowledged leader of the founders of molecular biology, yet he failed to
      achieve his key scientific goals. His ultimate scientific aim was to find
      evidence for physical laws unique to biology: so-called "complementarity." He
      never did. The specific problem he initially wanted to solve was the nature of
      biological replication but the discovery of the mechanism of replication was made
      by others, in large part because of his disdain for the details of biochemistry.
      His later career was spent investigating the effect of light on the fungus
      Phycomyces, a topic that turned out to be of limited general interest. He was
      known both for his informality but also for his legendary displays of devastating
      criticism. His life and that of some of his closest colleagues was acted out
      against a background of a world in conflict. This essay describes the man and his
      career and searches for an explanation of his profound influence.

PMID- 28592500
TI  - Epistatic Networks Jointly Influence Phenotypes Related to Metabolic Disease and
      Gene Expression in Diversity Outbred Mice.
AB  - Genetic studies of multidimensional phenotypes can potentially link genetic
      variation, gene expression, and physiological data to create multi-scale models
      of complex traits. The challenge of reducing these data to specific hypotheses
      has become increasingly acute with the advent of genome-scale data resources.
      Multi-parent populations derived from model organisms provide a resource for
      developing methods to understand this complexity. In this study, we
      simultaneously modeled body composition, serum biomarkers, and liver transcript
      abundances from 474 Diversity Outbred mice. This population contained both sexes
      and two dietary cohorts. Transcript data were reduced to functional gene modules
      with weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), which were used as
      summary phenotypes representing enriched biological processes. These module
      phenotypes were jointly analyzed with body composition and serum biomarkers in a
      combined analysis of pleiotropy and epistasis (CAPE), which inferred networks of
      epistatic interactions between quantitative trait loci that affect one or more
      traits. This network frequently mapped interactions between alleles of different
      ancestries, providing evidence of both genetic synergy and redundancy between
      haplotypes. Furthermore, a number of loci interacted with sex and diet to yield
      sex-specific genetic effects and alleles that potentially protect individuals
      from the effects of a high-fat diet. Although the epistatic interactions
      explained small amounts of trait variance, the combination of directional
      interactions, allelic specificity, and high genomic resolution provided context
      to generate hypotheses for the roles of specific genes in complex traits. Our
      approach moves beyond the cataloging of single loci to infer genetic networks
      that map genetic etiology by simultaneously modeling all phenotypes.

PMID- 28592503
TI  - A Short History and Description of Drosophila melanogaster Classical Genetics:
      Chromosome Aberrations, Forward Genetic Screens, and the Nature of Mutations.
AB  - The purpose of this chapter in FlyBook is to acquaint the reader with the
      Drosophila genome and the ways in which it can be altered by mutation. Much of
      what follows will be familiar to the experienced Fly Pusher but hopefully will be
      useful to those just entering the field and are thus unfamiliar with the genome,
      the history of how it has been and can be altered, and the consequences of those
      alterations. I will begin with the structure, content, and organization of the
      genome, followed by the kinds of structural alterations (karyotypic aberrations),
      how they affect the behavior of chromosomes in meiotic cell division, and how
      that behavior can be used. Finally, screens for mutations as they have been
      performed will be discussed. There are several excellent sources of detailed
      information on Drosophila husbandry and screening that are recommended for those
      interested in further expanding their familiarity with Drosophila as a research
      tool and model organism. These are a book by Ralph Greenspan and a review article
      by John Roote and Andreas Prokop, which should be required reading for any new
      student entering a fly lab for the first time.

PMID- 28592502
TI  - The Mouse Lemur, a Genetic Model Organism for Primate Biology, Behavior, and
      Health.
AB  - Systematic genetic studies of a handful of diverse organisms over the past 50
      years have transformed our understanding of biology. However, many aspects of
      primate biology, behavior, and disease are absent or poorly modeled in any of the
      current genetic model organisms including mice. We surveyed the animal kingdom to
      find other animals with advantages similar to mice that might better exemplify
      primate biology, and identified mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) as the outstanding
      candidate. Mouse lemurs are prosimian primates, roughly half the genetic distance
      between mice and humans. They are the smallest, fastest developing, and among the
      most prolific and abundant primates in the world, distributed throughout the
      island of Madagascar, many in separate breeding populations due to habitat
      destruction. Their physiology, behavior, and phylogeny have been studied for
      decades in laboratory colonies in Europe and in field studies in Malagasy
      rainforests, and a high quality reference genome sequence has recently been
      completed. To initiate a classical genetic approach, we developed a deep
      phenotyping protocol and have screened hundreds of laboratory and wild mouse
      lemurs for interesting phenotypes and begun mapping the underlying mutations, in
      collaboration with leading mouse lemur biologists. We also seek to establish a
      mouse lemur gene "knockout" library by sequencing the genomes of thousands of
      mouse lemurs to identify null alleles in most genes from the large pool of
      natural genetic variants. As part of this effort, we have begun a citizen science
      project in which students across Madagascar explore the remarkable biology around
      their schools, including longitudinal studies of the local mouse lemurs. We hope
      this work spawns a new model organism and cultivates a deep genetic understanding
      of primate biology and health. We also hope it establishes a new and ethical
      method of genetics that bridges biological, behavioral, medical, and conservation
      disciplines, while providing an example of how hands-on science education can
      help transform developing countries.

PMID- 28592506
TI  - An Extraordinary Sex Determination Mechanism in a Book Louse.

PMID- 28592507
TI  - Alternative Poly(A) Tails Meet miRNA Targeting in Caenorhabditis elegans.

PMID- 28592510
TI  - Methodological utility of chemerin as a novel biomarker of immunity and
      metabolism.
AB  - Chemerin is a recently discovered adipokine with inflammatory and metabolic
      actions relevant for chronic disease development. However, evidence from human
      research on the role of chemerin in chronic disease risk is still lacking. We
      assessed the reliability of plasma chemerin concentrations measured on two
      occasions over a 4-month period in 207 apparently healthy participants. In
      addition, we explored the cross-sectional associations between chemerin and
      inflammatory biomarkers using Spearman partial correlation and multivariable
      linear regression analyses. Intra-individual reproducibility of chemerin
      measurements was assessed by calculating intraclass correlation coefficients
      (ICCs) and exploration of Bland-Altman plots. Reliability analyses revealed good
      reproducibility of chemerin measurements (ICC: 0.72 (95%-CI 0.65, 0.78)). Visual
      inspection of Bland-Altman plots confirmed that the two time point measurements
      had a high level of agreement. In correlation analyses, chemerin was positively
      correlated with adiposity measures (body mass index and waist circumference). In
      addition, independent of adiposity measures, chemerin was correlated with the
      biomarkers C-reactive protein, fatty acid-binding protein 4 and progranulin (Rho
      s ranging from 0.23 to 0.37). In multivariable linear regression analysis, a
      combination of correlated factors including body mass index, waist circumference,
      C-reactive protein, progranulin and fatty acid-binding protein-4 explained 28.0%
      of chemerin concentrations. These findings demonstrate methodological utility of
      chemerin concentrations in population-based research setting. Human studies are
      highly warranted in order to provide further insights into the role of chemerin
      as a biomarker linking immunity and metabolism in relation to chronic disease
      risk.

PMID- 28592509
TI  - Comparative functional genomic screens of three yeast deletion collections reveal
      unexpected effects of genotype in response to diverse stress.
AB  - The Yeast Knockout (YKO) collection has provided a wealth of functional
      annotations from genome-wide screens. An unintended consequence is that 76% of
      gene annotations derive from one genotype. The nutritional auxotrophies in the
      YKO, in particular, have phenotypic consequences. To address this issue,
      'prototrophic' versions of the YKO collection have been constructed, either by
      introducing a plasmid carrying wild-type copies of the auxotrophic markers
      (Plasmid-Borne, PBprot) or by backcrossing (Backcrossed, BCprot) to a wild-type
      strain. To systematically assess the impact of the auxotrophies, genome-wide
      fitness profiles of prototrophic and auxotrophic collections were compared across
      diverse drug and environmental conditions in 250 experiments. Our quantitative
      profiles uncovered broad impacts of genotype on phenotype for three deletion
      collections, and revealed genotypic and strain-construction-specific phenotypes.
      The PBprot collection exhibited fitness defects associated with plasmid
      maintenance, while BCprot fitness profiles were compromised due to strain loss
      from nutrient selection steps during strain construction. The repaired
      prototrophic versions of the YKO collection did not restore wild-type behaviour
      nor did they clarify gaps in gene annotation resulting from the auxotrophic
      background. To remove marker bias and expand the experimental scope of deletion
      libraries, construction of a bona fide prototrophic collection from a wild-type
      strain will be required.

PMID- 28592504
TI  - Experimental Evolution with Caenorhabditis Nematodes.
AB  - The hermaphroditic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been one of the primary
      model systems in biology since the 1970s, but only within the last two decades
      has this nematode also become a useful model for experimental evolution. Here, we
      outline the goals and major foci of experimental evolution with C. elegans and
      related species, such as C. briggsae and C. remanei, by discussing the principles
      of experimental design, and highlighting the strengths and limitations of
      Caenorhabditis as model systems. We then review three exemplars of Caenorhabditis
      experimental evolution studies, underlining representative evolution experiments
      that have addressed the: (1) maintenance of genetic variation; (2) role of
      natural selection during transitions from outcrossing to selfing, as well as the
      maintenance of mixed breeding modes during evolution; and (3) evolution of
      phenotypic plasticity and its role in adaptation to variable environments,
      including host-pathogen coevolution. We conclude by suggesting some future
      directions for which experimental evolution with Caenorhabditis would be
      particularly informative.

PMID- 28592511
TI  - Androgenic potential of human fetal adrenals at the end of the first trimester.
AB  - The onset of steroidogenesis in human fetal adrenal glands (HFA) during the first
      trimester is poorly investigated. An unresolved question is the capacity of the
      HFA to produce potent androgen DHT via conventional and/or the backdoor
      pathway(s) at the end of first trimester, when androgen-responsive organs are
      developed. Our aim was to explore steroidogenesis and the expression of
      steroidogenic enzymes and transcription factors in HFA at gestational weeks (GW)
      9-12 with focus on their androgenic potential. Steroids in the HFA were analyzed
      by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The expression of steroidogenic enzymes
      and transcription factors in the HFA at GW9-12 was investigated by qPCR,
      automated Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. We demonstrated that during
      GW9-12 HFA produced steroids of the ?5, ?4 and the backdoor pathways of the
      biosynthesis of DHT, though the latter was limited to production of 17alpha-OH
      dihydroprogesterone, androsterone and androstanedione without further conversion
      to DHT. The only androgens identified in the HFA were testosterone and
      androsterone, a precursor in the biosynthesis of DHT. We also observed higher
      levels of CYP17A1 but low expression of 3betaHSD2 at GW11-12 in the HFA. Elevated
      levels of CYP17A1 were associated with an increased expression of SF-1 and GATA
      6. Altogether, our data demonstrate that of those steroids analyzed, the only
      potent androgen directly produced by the HFA at GW9-12 was testosterone. The
      onset of steroidogenesis in the HFA is a complex process that is regulated by the
      coordinated action of related transcription factors.

PMID- 28592505
TI  - Genome Diversity and Evolution in the Budding Yeasts (Saccharomycotina).
AB  - Considerable progress in our understanding of yeast genomes and their evolution
      has been made over the last decade with the sequencing, analysis, and comparisons
      of numerous species, strains, or isolates of diverse origins. The role played by
      yeasts in natural environments as well as in artificial manufactures, combined
      with the importance of some species as model experimental systems sustained this
      effort. At the same time, their enormous evolutionary diversity (there are yeast
      species in every subphylum of Dikarya) sparked curiosity but necessitated further
      efforts to obtain appropriate reference genomes. Today, yeast genomes have been
      very informative about basic mechanisms of evolution, speciation, hybridization,
      domestication, as well as about the molecular machineries underlying them. They
      are also irreplaceable to investigate in detail the complex relationship between
      genotypes and phenotypes with both theoretical and practical implications. This
      review examines these questions at two distinct levels offered by the broad
      evolutionary range of yeasts: inside the best-studied Saccharomyces species
      complex, and across the entire and diversified subphylum of Saccharomycotina.
      While obviously revealing evolutionary histories at different scales, data
      converge to a remarkably coherent picture in which one can estimate the relative
      importance of intrinsic genome dynamics, including gene birth and loss, vs.
      horizontal genetic accidents in the making of populations. The facility with
      which novel yeast genomes can now be studied, combined with the already numerous
      available reference genomes, offer privileged perspectives to further examine
      these fundamental biological questions using yeasts both as eukaryotic models and
      as fungi of practical importance.

PMID- 28592512
TI  - Higher Maternal Protein Intake during Pregnancy Is Associated with Lower Cord
      Blood Concentrations of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF)-II, IGF Binding Protein
      3, and Insulin, but Not IGF-I, in a Cohort of Women with High Protein Intake.
AB  - Background: Prenatal exposure to dietary protein may program growth-regulating
      hormones, consequently influencing early-life growth patterns and later risk of
      associated chronic diseases. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis is of
      particular interest in this context given its influence on pre- and postnatal
      growth and its sensitivity to the early nutritional environment.Objective: Our
      objective was to examine associations of maternal protein intake during pregnancy
      with cord blood concentrations of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3),
      and insulin.Methods: We studied 938 mother-child pairs from early pregnancy
      through delivery in the Project Viva cohort. Using multivariable linear
      regression models adjusted for maternal race/ethnicity, education, income,
      smoking, parity, height, and gestational weight gain and for child sex, we
      examined associations of second-trimester maternal protein intake [grams per
      kilogram (weight before pregnancy) per day], as reported on a food frequency
      questionnaire, with IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-3, and insulin concentrations in cord
      blood. We also examined how these associations may differ by child sex and
      parity.Results: Mothers were predominantly white (71%), college-educated (64%),
      and nonsmokers (67%). Mean +/- SD protein intake was 1.35 +/- 0.35 g ? kg-1 ? d-1
      Each 1-SD increment in second-trimester protein intake corresponded to a change
      of -0.50 ng/mL (95% CI: -2.26, 1.26 ng/mL) in IGF-I and -0.91 MUU/mL (95% CI: 
      1.45, -0.37 MUU/mL) in insulin. Child sex and parity modified associations of
      maternal protein intake with IGF-II and IGFBP-3: protein intake was inversely
      associated with IGF-II in girls (P-interaction = 0.04) and multiparous mothers (P
      interaction = 0.05), and with IGFBP-3 in multiparous mothers (P-interaction =
      0.04).Conclusions: In a cohort of pregnant women with relatively high mean
      protein intakes, higher intake was associated with lower concentrations of growth
      promoting hormones in cord blood, suggesting a pathway that may link higher
      protein intake to lower fetal growth. This trial was registered at
      clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02820402.

PMID- 28592513
TI  - Iron, Zinc, Folate, and Vitamin B-12 Status Increased among Women and Children in
      Yaounde and Douala, Cameroon, 1 Year after Introducing Fortified Wheat Flour.
AB  - Background: Few data are available on the effectiveness of large-scale food
      fortification programs.Objective: We assessed the impact of mandatory wheat flour
      fortification on micronutrient status in Yaounde and Douala, Cameroon.Methods: We
      conducted representative surveys 2 y before and 1 y after the introduction of
      fortified wheat flour. In each survey, 10 households were selected within each of
      the same 30 clusters (n = ~300 households). Indicators of inflammation, malaria,
      anemia, and micronutrient status [plasma ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor
      (sTfR), zinc, folate, and vitamin B-12] were assessed among women aged 15-49 y
      and children 12-59 mo of age.Results: Wheat flour was consumed in the past 7 d by
      >=90% of participants. Postfortification, mean total iron and zinc concentrations
      of flour samples were 46.2 and 73.6 mg/kg (target added amounts were 60 and 95
      mg/kg, respectively). Maternal anemia prevalence was significantly lower
      postfortification (46.7% compared with 39.1%; adjusted P = 0.01), but mean
      hemoglobin concentrations and child anemia prevalence did not differ. For both
      women and children postfortification, mean plasma concentrations were greater for
      ferritin and lower for sTfR after adjustments for potential confounders. Mean
      plasma zinc concentrations were greater postfortification and the prevalence of
      low plasma zinc concentration in women after fortification (21%) was lower than
      before fortification (39%, P < 0.001); likewise in children, the prevalence
      postfortification (28%) was lower than prefortification (47%, P < 0.001). Mean
      plasma total folate concentrations were ~250% greater postfortification among
      women (47 compared with 15 nmol/L) and children (56 compared with 20 nmol/L), and
      the prevalence of low plasma folate values was <1% after fortification in both
      population subgroups. In a nonrepresentative subset of plasma samples, folic acid
      was detected in 77% of women (73% of those fasting) and 93% of children. Mean
      plasma and breast-milk vitamin B-12 concentrations were >50% greater
      postfortification.Conclusion: Although the pre-post survey design limits causal
      inference, iron, zinc, folate, and vitamin B-12 status increased among women and
      children in urban Cameroon after mandatory wheat flour fortification.

PMID- 28592514
TI  - A Western Diet Pattern Is Associated with Higher Concentrations of Blood and Bone
      Lead among Middle-Aged and Elderly Men.
AB  - Background: Little is known about the effects of overall dietary pattern on lead
      concentration.Objective: We examined the association of overall dietary patterns,
      derived from a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, with bone and blood
      lead concentrations.Methods: These longitudinal analyses included mostly non
      Hispanic white, middle-aged-to-elderly men from the Veterans Affairs Normative
      Aging Study. Long-term lead exposures were measured as tibia and patella lead
      concentrations by using K-shell-X-ray fluorescence. Short-term lead exposures
      were measured as blood lead concentrations by using graphite furnace atomic
      absorption spectroscopy. Dietary pattern scores were derived by using factor
      analysis. Linear mixed-effects models were utilized to predict blood lead
      concentrations among 983 men, aged 44-92 y at baseline, with a total of 3273
      observations (during 1987-2008). We constructed linear regression models to
      determine the relations between dietary patterns and bone lead concentrations
      among 649 participants with an age range of 49-93 y.Results: Two major dietary
      patterns were identified: a prudent dietary pattern, characterized by high
      intakes of fruit, legumes, vegetables, whole grains, poultry, and seafood; and a
      Western dietary pattern, characterized by high intakes of processed meat, red
      meat, refined grains, high-fat dairy products, French fries, butter, and eggs.
      After adjusting for age, smoking status, body mass index, total energy intake,
      education, occupation, neighborhood-based education and income level, men in the
      highest tertile of the Western pattern score (compared with the lowest) had 0.91
      MUg/dL (95% CI: 0.41, 1.42 MUg/dL) higher blood lead, 5.96 MUg/g (95% CI: 1.76,
      10.16 MUg/g) higher patella lead, and 3.83 MUg/g (95% CI: 0.97, 6.70 MUg/g)
      higher tibia lead. No significant association was detected with the prudent
      dietary pattern in the adjusted model.Conclusions: These findings suggest that
      the Western diet is associated with a greater lead body burden among the middle
      aged-to-elderly men. More studies are needed to examine the underlying mechanisms
      by which dietary patterns are associated with lead concentrations.

PMID- 28592515
TI  - Intragastric Lysine Lowers the Circulating Glucose and Insulin Responses to a
      Mixed-Nutrient Drink without Slowing Gastric Emptying in Healthy Adults.
AB  - Background: Lysine is reported to lower the glycemic response to oral glucose in
      humans and, albeit at high loads, to slow gastric emptying of glucose and
      decrease food intake in rats.Objective: We investigated the effects of
      intragastrically administered lysine on early (15 min) and later (60 min) blood
      glucose and insulin responses to and gastric emptying of a mixed-nutrient drink,
      and effects on subsequent energy intake.Methods: Twelve healthy volunteers (7 men
      and 5 women; mean +/- SEM age: 24 +/- 2 y) received intragastric infusions (200
      mL) containing 5 or 10 g l-lysine or a control solution within 2 min on 3
      different occasions in randomized order. Fifteen minutes later, participants
      consumed a mixed-nutrient drink (300 mL, 400 kcal, and 56 g carbohydrates) within
      1 min. For the next hour (t = 0-60 min), we collected blood samples every 15 min
      (to measure blood glucose, plasma insulin, and plasma glucagon) and breath
      samples every 5 min (to measure gastric emptying via a 13C-acetate breath test).
      We then quantified subjects' energy intake from a buffet-style meal (t = 60-90
      min).Results: There were no differences between the 2 lysine treatments; hence,
      data were pooled for further analysis. Lysine did not affect blood glucose at 15
      min or the blood glucose area under the curve from 0 to 60 min (AUC0-60min) but
      it decreased blood glucose at 60 min compared with the control solution (-9.1% +/
      3.1%, P < 0.01). Similarly, the early insulin response and insulin AUC0-60min
      were not affected by lysine, but plasma insulin at 60 min was 20.9% +/- 5.6%
      lower than after the control (P < 0.05). Plasma glucagon at both 15 min (20.7% +/
      4.7%, P < 0.001) and 60 min (14.1% +/- 5.4%, P < 0.05) and the glucagon AUC0
      60min (P < 0.01) were greater after lysine than after the control. Lysine did not
      slow gastric emptying, and there was no effect on energy intake.Conclusion: In
      healthy adults, lysine slightly reduced the glycemic response to an oral mixed
      macronutrient drink, an effect that was apparently independent of insulin or
      slowing of gastric emptying. This trial was registered at www.anzctr.orgau as
      12614000837628.

PMID- 28592516
TI  - Maternal Night-Fasting Interval during Pregnancy Is Directly Associated with
      Neonatal Head Circumference and Adiposity in Girls but Not Boys.
AB  - Background: Synchrony between daily feeding-fasting signals and circadian rhythms
      has been shown to improve metabolic health in animals and adult humans, but the
      potential programming effect on fetal growth is unknown.Objective: We examined
      the associations of the maternal night-fasting interval during pregnancy with
      offspring birth size and adiposity.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of
      mother-offspring dyads within the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy
      Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort. For 384 mothers aged 30.8 +/- 4.8 y (mean +/- SD), the
      night-fasting interval at 26-28 wk of gestation was determined from a 3-d food
      diary based on the average of the fasting duration at night (1900-0659).
      Offspring birth weight, length, and head circumference were measured and
      converted to weight-for-gestational age (GA), length-for-GA, and head
      circumference-for-GA z scores, respectively, by using local customized percentile
      charts. The percentage of neonatal total body fat (TBF) was derived by using a
      validated prediction equation. Multivariable general linear models, stratified by
      child sex, were performed.Results: The mean +/- SD maternal night-fasting
      interval was 9.9 +/- 1.3 h. In infant girls, each 1-h increase in the maternal
      night-fasting interval was associated with a 0.22-SD (95% CI: 0.05-, 0.40-SD; P =
      0.013) increase in birth head circumference-for-GA and a 0.84% (95% CI: 0.19%,
      1.49%; P = 0.012) increase in TBF at birth, after adjustment for confounders. In
      infant boys, no associations were observed between the maternal night-fasting
      interval and birth size or TBF.Conclusions: An increased maternal night-fasting
      interval in the late second trimester of pregnancy is associated with increased
      birth head circumference and TBF in girls but not boys. Our findings are in
      accordance with previous observations that suggest that there are sex-specific
      responses in fetal brain growth and adiposity, and raise the possibility of the
      maternal night-fasting interval as an underlying influence. This trial was
      registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01174875.

PMID- 28592518
TI  - Zinc Supplementation Does Not Alter Indicators of Insulin Secretion and
      Sensitivity in Black and White Female Adolescents.
AB  - Background: Zinc is a micronutrient involved in the production of, and peripheral
      sensitivity to, pancreatic beta cell-derived insulin. To our knowledge, the
      effect of zinc supplementation on insulin outcomes, and potential risk of
      diabetes, in otherwise healthy children in the United States has not been
      investigated.Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the
      influence of zinc supplementation on insulin outcomes in black and white girls in
      the early stages of adolescence. A secondary objective was to determine relations
      between baseline zinc concentrations and insulin outcomes.Methods: Healthy black
      and white girls aged 9-11 y were randomly assigned to daily supplementation of
      zinc (9 mg elemental Zn/d; n = 75; blacks: n = 35) or placebo (n = 72; blacks: n
      = 32) for 4 wk. Fasting serum insulin, glucose, and C-peptide were assessed at
      baseline and at 4 wk. C-peptide and glucose values were used to calculate the
      computer model-derived homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA2
      IR). Changes in outcome measures were compared by using repeated-measures, mixed
      model ANOVA.Results: Baseline plasma zinc was not correlated with C-peptide (r = 
      0.07), insulin (r = -0.06), or HOMA2-IR (r = -0.09) (all P > 0.05) after
      controlling for race and age. Treatment * time interactions for C-peptide and
      HOMA2-IR were not significant (both P > 0.05). Although the treatment * race *
      time interactions for C-peptide and HOMA2-IR were not significant (both P =
      0.08), black girls who received the placebo experienced slight increases in C
      peptide (15.7%) and HOMA2-IR (17.7%) (P = 0.06).Conclusions: Four weeks of zinc
      supplementation had no effect on insulin outcomes in healthy black and white
      early-adolescent girls, although C-peptide and HOMA2-IR tended to increase in
      black girls who received placebo. Additional trials that are appropriately
      powered should further explore the effect of zinc on markers of diabetes risk,
      and whether race affects this relation. This trial was registered at
      clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01892098.

PMID- 28592517
TI  - Consumption of Fish Is Not Associated with Risk of Differentiated Thyroid
      Carcinoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
      (EPIC) Study.
AB  - Background: Differentiated thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine
      cancer. Fish can be an important source of iodine and other micronutrients and
      contaminants that may affect the thyroid gland and TC risk.Objective: We
      prospectively evaluated the relations between the consumption of total fish and
      different fish types and shellfish and TC risk in the EPIC (European Prospective
      Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study.Methods: EPIC is a cohort of
      >500,000 men and women, mostly aged 35-70 y, who were recruited in 10 European
      countries. After a mean follow-up of 14 y, 748 primary differentiated TC cases
      were diagnosed; 666 were in women and 601 were papillary TC. Data on intakes of
      lean fish, fatty fish, fish products, and shellfish were collected by using
      country-specific validated dietary questionnaires at recruitment. Multivariable
      Cox regression was used to calculate HRs and 95% CIs adjusted for many potential
      confounders, including dietary and nondietary factors.Results: No significant
      association was observed between total fish consumption and differentiated TC
      risk for the highest compared with the lowest quartile (HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.81,
      1.32; P-trend = 0.67). Likewise, no significant association was observed with the
      intake of any specific type of fish, fish product, or shellfish. No significant
      heterogeneity was found by TC subtype (papillary or follicular tumors), by sex,
      or between countries with low and high TC incidence.Conclusion: This large study
      shows that the intake of fish and shellfish was not associated with
      differentiated TC risk in Europe, a region in which iodine deficiency or excess
      is rare.

PMID- 28592520
TI  - Tyrannosauroid integument reveals conflicting patterns of gigantism and feather
      evolution.
AB  - Recent evidence for feathers in theropods has led to speculations that the
      largest tyrannosaurids, including Tyrannosaurus rex, were extensively feathered.
      We describe fossil integument from Tyrannosaurus and other tyrannosaurids
      (Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Tarbosaurus), confirming that
      these large-bodied forms possessed scaly, reptilian-like skin. Body size
      evolution in tyrannosauroids reveals two independent occurrences of gigantism;
      specifically, the large sizes in Yutyrannus and tyrannosaurids were independently
      derived. These new findings demonstrate that extensive feather coverings observed
      in some early tyrannosauroids were lost by the Albian, basal to Tyrannosauridae.
      This loss is unrelated to palaeoclimate but possibly tied to the evolution of
      gigantism, although other mechanisms exist.

PMID- 28592521
TI  - No evidence for extrinsic post-zygotic isolation in a wild Saccharomyces yeast
      system.
AB  - Although microorganisms account for the largest fraction of Earth's biodiversity,
      we know little about how their reproductive barriers evolve. Sexual
      microorganisms such as Saccharomyces yeasts rapidly develop strong intrinsic post
      zygotic isolation, but the role of extrinsic isolation in the early speciation
      process remains to be investigated. We measured the growth of F1 hybrids between
      two incipient species of Saccharomyces paradoxus to assess the presence of
      extrinsic post-zygotic isolation across 32 environments. More than 80% of hybrids
      showed either partial dominance of the best parent or over-dominance for growth,
      revealing no fitness defects in F1 hybrids. Extrinsic reproductive isolation
      therefore likely plays little role in limiting gene flow between incipient yeast
      species and is not a requirement for speciation.

PMID- 28592519
TI  - Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Is a Novel Molecular Mechanism Linking Folate
      Availability and Cell Function.
AB  - Folate deficiency has been linked to a wide range of disorders, including cancer,
      neural tube defects, and fetal growth restriction. Folate regulates cellular
      function mediated by its involvement in the synthesis of nucleotides, which are
      needed for DNA synthesis, and its function as a methyl donor, which is critical
      for DNA methylation. Here we review current data showing that folate sensing by
      mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) constitutes a novel and distinct pathway
      by which folate modulates cell functions such as nutrient transport, protein
      synthesis, and mitochondrial respiration. The mTOR signaling pathway responds to
      growth factors and changes in nutrient availability to control cell growth,
      proliferation, and metabolism. mTOR exists in 2 complexes, mTOR complex (mTORC) 1
      and mTORC2, which have distinct upstream regulators and downstream targets.
      Folate deficiency in pregnant mice caused a marked inhibition of mTORC1 and
      mTORC2 signaling in multiple maternal and fetal tissues, downregulation of
      placental amino acid transporters, and fetal growth restriction. In addition,
      folate deficiency in primary human trophoblast (PHT) cells resulted in inhibition
      of mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling and decreased the activity of key amino acid
      transporters. Folate sensing by mTOR in PHT cells is independent of the
      accumulation of homocysteine and requires the proton-coupled folate transporter
      (PCFT; solute carrier 46A1). Furthermore, mTORC1 and mTORC2 regulate trophoblast
      folate uptake by modulating the cell surface expression of folate receptor alpha
      and the reduced folate carrier. These findings, which provide a novel link
      between folate availability and cell function, growth, and proliferation, may
      have broad biological significance given the critical role of folate in normal
      cell function and the multiple diseases that have been associated with decreased
      or excessive folate availability. Low maternal folate concentrations are linked
      to restricted fetal growth, and we propose that the underlying mechanisms involve
      trophoblast mTOR folate sensing resulting in inhibition of mTORC1 and mTORC2 and
      downregulation of placental amino acid transporters.

PMID- 28592522
TI  - Feasibility of physiologist-led stress echocardiography for the assessment of
      coronary artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physiologist-led stress echocardiography (PLSE) services provide
      potential for expansion of SE services and increased productivity for
      cardiologists. There are however no published data on the feasibility of PLSE. We
      sought to assess the feasibility, safety and robustness of PLSE and cardiologist
      led stress echocardiography (CLSE) for coronary artery disease (CAD) assessment.
      METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 898 patients undergoing PLSE or CLSE for CAD
      assessment using exercise or dobutamine stress over 24 months. PLSE involved 2
      cardiac physiologists (exercise) or 1 physiologist plus 1 cardiac nurse
      (dobutamine). A cardiology registrar was present in the echocardiography
      department during PLSE in case of medical complications. CLSE involved 1
      physiologist and 1 trainee cardiologist who analysed the study and reviewed
      findings with an imaging cardiologist. Sixteen-segment wall motion scoring (WMS,
      WMSI) analysis was performed. Feasibility (stressor, image quality, proportion of
      completed studies, agreement with imaging cardiologist analysis) and safety
      (complication rate) were compared for PLSE and CLSE. RESULTS: The majority of
      studies were CLSE (56.2%) and used dobutamine (68.7%). PLSE more commonly used
      exercise (69.2%). Overall, 96% of studies were successfully completed (>14
      diagnostic segments in 98%, P = 0.899 PLSE vs CLSE). Commencement of PLSE was
      associated with an increase in annual SE's performed for CAD assessment.
      Complication rates were comparably very low for PLSE and CLSE (0.8% vs 1.8%, P =
      0.187). There was excellent agreement between PLSE and CLSE WMS interpretation of
      480 myocardial segments at rest (kappa = 0.87) and stress (kappa = 0.70) and WMSI
      (ICCs and Pearson's r >0.90, zero Bland-Altman mean bias). CONCLUSION: This to
      our knowledge is the first study of the feasibility of PLSE. PLSE performed by
      well-trained physiologists is feasible and safe in contemporary practice. PLSE
      and CLSE interpretation of stress echocardiography for CAD agree very closely.

PMID- 28592523
TI  - Germline CDKN2A/P16INK4A mutations contribute to genetic determinism of sarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sarcomas are rare mesenchymal malignancies whose pathogenesis is
      poorly understood; both environmental and genetic risk factors could contribute
      to their aetiology. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed whole-exome sequencing
      (WES) in a familial aggregation of three individuals affected with soft-tissue
      sarcoma (STS) without TP53 mutation (Li-Fraumeni-like, LFL) and found a shared
      pathogenic mutation in CDKN2A tumour suppressor gene. We searched for individuals
      with sarcoma among 474 melanoma-prone families with a CDKN2A-/+ genotype and for
      CDKN2A mutations in 190 TP53-negative LFL families where the index case was a
      sarcoma. Including the initial family, eight independent sarcoma cases carried a
      germline mutation in the CDKN2A/p16INK4A gene. In five out of seven formalin
      fixed paraffin-embedded sarcomas, heterozygosity was lost at germline CDKN2A
      mutations sites demonstrating complete loss of function. As sarcomas are rare in
      CDKN2A/p16INK4A carriers, we searched in constitutional WES of nine carriers for
      potential modifying rare variants and identified three in platelet-derived growth
      factor receptor (PDGFRA) gene. Molecular modelling showed that two never
      described variants could impact the PDGFRA extracellular domain structure.
      CONCLUSION: Germline mutations in CDKN2A/P16INK4A, a gene known to predispose to
      hereditary melanoma, pancreatic cancer and tobacco-related cancers, account also
      for a subset of hereditary sarcoma. In addition, we identified PDGFRA as a
      candidate modifier gene.

PMID- 28592524
TI  - Loss of function in ROBO1 is associated with tetralogy of Fallot and septal
      defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common birth defect affecting
      approximately 1% of newborns. Great progress has been made in elucidating the
      genetic aetiology of CHD with advances in genomic technology, which we leveraged
      in recovering a new pathway affecting heart development in humans previously
      known to affect heart development in an animal model. METHODS: Four hundred and
      sixteen individuals from Thailand and the USA diagnosed with CHD and/or
      congenital diaphragmatic hernia were evaluated with chromosomal microarray and
      whole exome sequencing. The DECIPHER Consortium and medical literature were
      searched for additional patients. Murine hearts from ENU-induced mouse mutants
      and transgenic mice were evaluated using both episcopic confocal histopathology
      and troponin I stained sections. RESULTS: Loss of function ROBO1 variants were
      identified in three families; each proband had a ventricular septal defect, and
      one proband had tetralogy of Fallot. Additionally, a microdeletion in an
      individual with CHD was found in the medical literature. Mouse models showed
      perturbation of the Slit-Robo signalling pathway, causing septation and outflow
      tract defects and craniofacial anomalies. Two probands had variable facial
      features consistent with the mouse model. CONCLUSION: Our findings identify Slit
      Robo as a significant pathway in human heart development and CHD.

PMID- 28592525
TI  - Association of Glycemic Status During Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease With
      Early Dialysis Mortality in Patients With Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although early trials suggested that intensive glycemic targets reduce
      the number of complications with diabetes, contemporary trials indicate no
      cardiovascular benefit and potentially higher mortality risk. As patients with
      advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) transitioning to treatment with dialysis
      were excluded from these studies, the optimal glycemic level in this population
      remains uncertain. We hypothesized that glycemic status, defined by hemoglobin
      A1c (HbA--1c) and random glucose levels, in the pre-end-stage renal disease
      (ESRD) period is associated with higher 1-year post-ESRD mortality among patients
      with incident diabetes who have ESRD. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Among 17,819
      U.S. veterans with diabetic CKD transitioning to dialysis from October 2007 to
      September 2011, we examined the association of mean HbA--1c and random glucose
      levels averaged over the 1-year pre-ESRD transition period with mortality in the
      first year after dialysis initiation. All-cause mortality hazard ratios (HRs)
      were estimated using multivariable survival models. Secondary analyses examined
      cardiovascular mortality using competing risks methods. RESULTS: HbA--1c levels
      >=8% (>=64 mmol/mol) were associated with higher mortality in the first year
      after dialysis initiation (reference value 6% to <7% [42-53 mmol/mol]): adjusted
      HRs [aHRs] 1.19 [95% CI 1.07-1.32] and 1.48 (1.31-1.67) for HbA--1c 8% to <9% [64
      75 mmol/mol] and >=9% [>=75 mmol/mol], respectively). Random glucose levels >=200
      mg/dL were associated with higher mortality (reference value 100 to <125 mg/dL):
      aHR 1.34 [95% CI 1.20-1.49]). Cumulative incidence curves showed that
      incrementally higher mean HbA--1c and random glucose levels were associated with
      increasingly higher cardiovascular mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with
      diabetes and CKD transitioning to dialysis, higher mean HbA--1c and random
      glucose levels during the pre-ESRD prelude period were associated with higher 1
      year post-ESRD mortality. Clinical trials are warranted to examine whether
      modulating glycemic status improves survival in this population.

PMID- 28592527
TI  - Zika virus hijacks stress granule proteins and modulates the host stress
      response.
AB  - Zika virus (ZIKV), a member of the Flaviviridae family, has recently emerged as
      an important human pathogen with increasing economic and health impact worldwide.
      Because of its teratogenic nature and association with the serious neurological
      condition Guillain-Barre syndrome, a tremendous amount of effort has focused on
      understanding ZIKV pathogenesis. To gain further insights into ZIKV interaction
      with host cells, we investigated how this pathogen affects stress response
      pathways. While ZIKV infection induces stress signaling that leads to
      phosphorylation of eIF2alpha and cellular translational arrest, stress granule
      (SG) formation was inhibited. Further analysis revealed that the viral proteins
      NS3 and NS4A are linked to translational repression, whereas expression of the
      capsid protein, NS3/NS2B-3 and NS4A interfered with SG formation. Some but not
      all flavivirus capsid proteins also blocked SG assembly, indicating differential
      interactions between flaviviruses and SG biogenesis pathways. Depletion of the SG
      components G3BP1, TIAR and Caprin-1, but not TIA-1 reduced ZIKV replication. Both
      G3BP1 and Caprin-1 formed complexes with capsid whereas viral genomic RNA stably
      interacted with G3BP1 during ZIKV infection. Taken together, these results are
      consistent with a scenario in which ZIKV uses multiple viral components to hijack
      key SG proteins to benefit viral replication.IMPORTANCE There is a pressing need
      to understand ZIKV pathogenesis in order to advance the development of vaccine
      and therapeutics. The cellular stress response constitutes one of the first lines
      of defense against viral infection and therefore, understanding how ZIKV evades
      this antiviral system will provide key insights into ZIKV biology and potentially
      pathogenesis. Herein, we show that ZIKV induces the stress response through
      activation of the UPR (unfolded protein response) and PKR (protein kinase R),
      leading to host translational arrest, a process likely mediated by the viral
      proteins NS3 and NS4A. Despite the activation of translational shut-off,
      formation of SG is strongly inhibited by the virus. Specifically, ZIKV hijacks
      the core SG proteins G3BP1, TIAR and Caprin-1 to facilitate viral replication,
      resulting in impaired SG assembly. This process is potentially facilitated by the
      interactions of the viral RNA with G3BP1 as well as the viral capsid protein with
      G3BP1 and Caprin-1. Interestingly, expression of capsid proteins from several
      other flaviviruses also inhibited SG formation. Taken together, the present study
      provides novel insights into how ZIKV modulates cellular stress response pathways
      during replication.

PMID- 28592526
TI  - Novel Cross-Reactive Monoclonal Antibodies against Ebolavirus Glycoproteins Show
      Protection in a Murine Challenge Model.
AB  - Out of an estimated 31,100 cases since their discovery in 1976, ebolaviruses have
      caused approximately 13,000 deaths. The vast majority (~11,000) of these occurred
      during the 2013-2016 West African epidemic. Three out of five species in the
      genus are known to cause Ebola Virus Disease in humans. Several monoclonal
      antibodies against the ebolavirus glycoprotein are currently in development as
      therapeutics. However, there is still a paucity of monoclonal antibodies that can
      cross-react between the glycoproteins of different ebolavirus species, and the
      mechanism of these monoclonal antibody therapeutics is still not understood in
      detail. Here, we generated a panel of eight murine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs)
      utilizing a prime-boost vaccination regimen with a Zaire ebolavirus glycoprotein
      expression plasmid followed by infection with a vesicular stomatitis virus
      expressing the Zaire ebolavirus glycoprotein. We tested the binding breadth of
      the resulting monoclonal antibodies using a set of recombinant surface
      glycoproteins from Reston, Tai Forest, Bundibugyo, Zaire, Sudan, and Marburg
      viruses and found two antibodies that showed pan-ebolavirus binding. An in vivo
      Stat2-/- mouse model was utilized to test the ability of these MAbs to protect
      from infection with a vesicular stomatitis virus expressing the Zaire ebolavirus
      glycoprotein. Several of our antibodies, including the broadly binding ones,
      protected mice from mortality despite lacking neutralization capability in vitro,
      suggesting their protection may be mediated by Fc-FcR interactions. Indeed, three
      antibodies displayed cellular phagocytosis and/or antibody-dependent cell
      mediated cytotoxicity in vitro Our antibodies, specifically the two identified
      cross-reactive monoclonal antibodies (KL-2E5 and KL-2H7), might add to the
      understanding of anti-ebolavirus humoral immunity.IMPORTANCE This study describes
      the generation of a panel of novel anti-ebolavirus glycoprotein monoclonal
      antibodies, including two antibodies with broad cross-reactivity to all known
      ebolavirus species. The antibodies were raised using a heterologous DNA-viral
      vector prime-boost regimen, resulting in a high proportion of cross-reactive
      antibodies (25%). Similar vaccination regimens have been used successfully to
      induce broad protection against influenza viruses in humans, and our limited data
      indicate that this might be a useful strategy for filovirus vaccines as well.
      Several of our antibodies showed protective efficacy when tested in a novel
      murine challenge model and may be developed into future therapeutics.

PMID- 28592528
TI  - HDM2 Promotes NEDDylation of Hepatitis B Virus HBx To Enhance Its Stability and
      Function.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-encoded X protein (HBx) plays a critical role in HBV
      related hepatocarcinoma development. In this study, we demonstrate that HBx is
      specifically modified by NEDD8. We found that E3 ligase HDM2 promotes NEDDylation
      of HBx to enhance HBx stability by preventing its ubiquitination-mediated
      degradation. Consistently, analysis of 160 hepatocellular carcinoma patient
      specimens indicated that the amount of HDM2 protein correlates with HBx protein
      level. We identified that HBx K91 and K95 as the key HBx NEDDylation sites and
      observed that the NEDDylation-deficient HBx has shorter half-life. We generated
      Huh7 cell lines which ectopically express wild-type and NEDDylation-deficient HBx
      and found that NEDDylation-deficient HBx showed less chromatin localization and
      less DDB1 binding. Consistently, the expression of HBx-regulated genes (IL-8,
      MMP9, and YAP) and HBV transcription (the activity of HBV enhancer and the amount
      of pgRNA transcribed from cccDNA) were significantly higher in cells expressing
      wild-type (WT) HBx than that in cells expressing mutant HBx. In addition, HBx
      expressing cells proliferated faster than control and mutant HBx-expressing
      cells. We also showed that the ability of WT HBx-expressing cells to form tumors
      in nude mice was significantly higher than that of mutant HBx-expressing cells.
      In conclusion, we revealed that E3 ligase HDM2 promotes NEDDylation of HBx to
      enhance HBx stability and chromatin localization, which in turn favors HBx
      dependent transcriptional regulation, cell proliferation, and HBV-driven tumor
      growth.IMPORTANCE Hepatitis B virus (HBV) HBx protein plays a critical role in
      viral replication and hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the regulation of HBx
      stability is not well understood. We found that HBx is modified by NEDD8 and that
      the HDM2 E3 ligase promotes HBx NEDDylation to enhance HBx stability by
      inhibiting its ubiquitination. We provide a new evidence to show the positive
      correlation between HDM2 and HBx in clinical hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      samples. We also identified the major NEDDylation sites on HBx. Our studies
      indicate that the defective NEDDylation of HBx negatively affects its ability to
      activate the transcription of downstream genes and promote cell proliferation and
      tumor growth in vivo Taken together, our findings reveal a novel
      posttranslational modification of HBx by HDM2 which regulates its stability,
      subcellular localization, and functions. These findings indicate that HDM2 is an
      important regulator on HBx and a potential diagnosis/therapeutic marker for HBV
      associated HCC.

PMID- 28592529
TI  - Guanylate-Binding Protein 1 Inhibits Nuclear Delivery of Kaposi's Sarcoma
      Associated Herpesvirus Virions by Disrupting Formation of Actin Filament.
AB  - Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a typical gammaherpesvirus that
      establishes persistent lifelong infection in host cells. In order to establish
      successful infection, KSHV has evolved numerous immune evasion strategies to
      bypass or hijack the host immune system. However, host cells still produce immune
      cytokines abundantly during primary KSHV infection. Whether the immune effectors
      produced are able to inhibit viral infection and how KSHV successfully conquers
      these immune effectors remain largely unknown. The guanylate-binding protein 1
      (GBP1) gene is an interferon-stimulated gene and exerts antiviral functions on
      several RNA viruses; however, its function in DNA virus infection is less well
      understood. In this study, we found that KSHV infection increases both the
      transcriptional and protein levels of GBP1 at the early stage of primary
      infection by activating the NF-kappaB pathway. The overexpression of GBP1
      significantly inhibited KSHV infection, while the knockdown of GBP1 promoted KSHV
      infection. The GTPase activity and dimerization of GBP1 were demonstrated to be
      responsible for its anti-KSHV activity. Furthermore, we found that GBP1 inhibited
      the nuclear delivery of KSHV virions by disrupting the formation of actin
      filaments. Finally, we demonstrated that replication and transcription activator
      (RTA) promotes the degradation of GBP1 through a proteasome pathway. Taken
      together, these results provide a new understanding of the antiviral mechanism of
      GBP1, which possesses potent anti-KSHV activity, and suggest the critical role of
      RTA in the evasion of the innate immune response during primary infection by
      KSHV.IMPORTANCE GBP1 can be induced by various cytokines and exerts antiviral
      activities against several RNA viruses. Our study demonstrated that GBP1 can
      exert anti-KSHV function by inhibiting the nuclear delivery of KSHV virions via
      the disruption of actin filaments. Moreover, we found that KSHV RTA can promote
      the degradation of GBP1 through a proteasome-mediated pathway. Taken together,
      our results elucidate a novel mechanism of GBP1 anti-KSHV activity and emphasize
      the critical role of RTA in KSHV evasion of the host immune system during primary
      infection.

PMID- 28592530
TI  - Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Utilizes and Manipulates RNA N6-Adenosine
      Methylation To Promote Lytic Replication.
AB  - N6-adenosine methylation (m6A) is the most common posttranscriptional RNA
      modification in mammalian cells. We found that most transcripts encoded by the
      Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) genome undergo m6A modification.
      The levels of m6A-modified mRNAs increased substantially upon stimulation for
      lytic replication. The blockage of m6A inhibited splicing of the pre-mRNA
      encoding the replication transcription activator (RTA), a key KSHV lytic switch
      protein, and halted viral lytic replication. We identified several m6A sites in
      RTA pre-mRNA crucial for splicing through interactions with YTH domain containing
      1 (YTHDC1), an m6A nuclear reader protein, in conjunction with serine/arginine
      rich splicing factor 3 (SRSF3) and SRSF10. Interestingly, RTA induced m6A and
      enhanced its own pre-mRNA splicing. Our results not only demonstrate an essential
      role of m6A in regulating RTA pre-mRNA splicing but also suggest that KSHV has
      evolved a mechanism to manipulate the host m6A machinery to its advantage in
      promoting lytic replication.IMPORTANCE KSHV productive lytic replication plays a
      pivotal role in the initiation and progression of Kaposi's sarcoma tumors.
      Previous studies suggested that the KSHV switch from latency to lytic replication
      is primarily controlled at the chromatin level through histone and DNA
      modifications. The present work reports for the first time that KSHV genome
      encoded mRNAs undergo m6A modification, which represents a new mechanism at the
      posttranscriptional level in the control of viral replication.

PMID- 28592531
TI  - Use of a Recombinant Gamma-2 Herpesvirus Vaccine Vector against Dengue Virus in
      Rhesus Monkeys.
AB  - Research on vaccine approaches that can provide long-term protection against
      dengue virus infection is needed. Here we describe the construction,
      immunogenicity, and preliminary information on the protective capacity of
      recombinant, replication-competent rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV), a persisting
      herpesvirus. One RRV construct expressed nonstructural protein 5 (NS5), while a
      second recombinant expressed a soluble variant of the E protein (E85) of dengue
      virus 2 (DENV2). Four rhesus macaques received a single vaccination with a
      mixture of both recombinant RRVs and were subsequently challenged 19 weeks later
      with 1 * 105 PFU of DENV2. During the vaccine phase, plasma of all vaccinated
      monkeys showed neutralizing activity against DENV2. Cellular immune responses
      against NS5 were also elicited, as evidenced by major histocompatibility complex
      class I (MHC-I) tetramer staining in the one vaccinated monkey that was Mamu-A*01
      positive. Unlike two of two unvaccinated controls, two of the four vaccinated
      monkeys showed no detectable viral RNA sequences in plasma after challenge. One
      of these two monkeys also showed no anamnestic increases in antibody levels
      following challenge and thus appeared to be protected against the acquisition of
      DENV2 following high-dose challenge. Continued study will be needed to evaluate
      the performance of herpesviral and other persisting vectors for achieving long
      term protection against dengue virus infection.IMPORTANCE Continuing studies of
      vaccine approaches against dengue virus (DENV) infection are warranted,
      particularly ones that may provide long-term immunity against all four serotypes.
      Here we investigated whether recombinant rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV) could
      be used as a vaccine against DENV2 infection in rhesus monkeys. Upon vaccination,
      all animals generated antibodies capable of neutralizing DENV2. Two of four
      vaccinated monkeys showed no detectable viral RNA after subsequent high-dose
      DENV2 challenge at 19 weeks postvaccination. Furthermore, one of these vaccinated
      monkeys appeared to be protected against the acquisition of DENV2 infection on
      the basis of undetectable viral loads and the lack of an anamnestic antibody
      response. These findings underscore the potential utility of recombinant
      herpesviruses as vaccine vectors.

PMID- 28592532
TI  - Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel 1 Interacts with Ribonucleoprotein Complexes To
      Enhance Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Polymerase Activity.
AB  - Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus.
      Segment A contains two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs), which encode viral
      proteins VP2, VP3, VP4, and VP5. Segment B contains one ORF and encodes the viral
      RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, VP1. IBDV ribonucleoprotein complexes are composed
      of VP1, VP3, and dsRNA and play a critical role in mediating viral replication
      and transcription during the virus life cycle. In the present study, we
      identified a cellular factor, VDAC1, which was upregulated during IBDV infection
      and found to mediate IBDV polymerase activity. VDAC1 senses IBDV infection by
      interacting with viral proteins VP1 and VP3. This association is caused by RNA
      bridging, and all three proteins colocalize in the cytoplasm. Furthermore, small
      interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated downregulation of VDAC1 resulted in a reduction
      in viral polymerase activity and a subsequent decrease in viral yield. Moreover,
      overexpression of VDAC1 enhanced IBDV polymerase activity. We also found that the
      viral protein VP3 can replace segment A to execute polymerase activity. A
      previous study showed that mutations in the C terminus of VP3 directly influence
      the formation of VP1-VP3 complexes. Our immunoprecipitation experiments
      demonstrated that protein-protein interactions between VDAC1 and VP3 and between
      VDAC1 and VP1 play a role in stabilizing the interaction between VP3 and VP1,
      further promoting IBDV polymerase activity.IMPORTANCE The cellular factor VDAC1
      controls the entry and exit of mitochondrial metabolites and plays a pivotal role
      during intrinsic apoptosis by mediating the release of many apoptogenic
      molecules. Here we identify a novel role of VDAC1, showing that VDAC1 interacts
      with IBDV ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) and facilitates IBDV replication by enhancing
      IBDV polymerase activity through its ability to stabilize interactions in RNP
      complexes. To our knowledge, this is the first report that VDAC1 is specifically
      involved in regulating IBDV RNA polymerase activity, providing novel insight into
      virus-host interactions.

PMID- 28592533
TI  - MicroRNAs of Epstein-Barr Virus Control Innate and Adaptive Antiviral Immunity.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has established lifelong infection in more than 90% of
      humanity. While infection is usually controlled by the immune system, the human
      host fails to completely eliminate the pathogen. Several herpesviral proteins are
      known to act as immunoevasins, preventing or reducing recognition of EBV-infected
      cells. Only recently were microRNAs of EBV identified to reduce immune
      recognition further. This Gem summarizes what we know about immunomodulatory
      microRNAs of herpesviruses.

PMID- 28592534
TI  - Comprehensive Cross-Clade Characterization of Antibody-Mediated Recognition,
      Complement-Mediated Lysis, and Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity of HIV-1 Envelope
      Specific Antibodies toward Eradication of the HIV-1 Reservoir.
AB  - Immunotherapy with passive administration of broadly neutralizing HIV-1 envelope
      specific antibodies (bnAbs) in the setting of established infection in vivo has
      yielded mixed results. The contribution of different antibodies toward the direct
      elimination of infected cells is poorly understood. In this study, we determined
      the ability of 12 well-characterized anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies to
      recognize and eliminate primary CD4 T cells infected with HIV-1 belonging to
      clades A, B, C, and D, via antibody-dependent complement-mediated lysis (ADCML)
      and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), in vitro We further
      tested unique combinations of these antibodies to determine the optimal antibody
      cocktails to be tested in future clinical trials. We report that antibody binding
      to infected CD4 T cells is highly variable and correlates with ADCML and ADCC
      processes. Particularly, antibodies targeting the envelope glycan shield (2G12)
      and V1/V2 site (PG9, PG16, and PGT145) are best at recognizing HIV-1-infected CD4
      T cells. However, only PG9 and PG16 and their combinations with other bnAbs
      sufficiently induced the elimination of HIV-1-infected CD4 T cells by ADCML,
      ADCC, or both. Notably, CD4 binding site antibodies VRC01, 3BNC117, and NIH45-46
      G54W did not exhibit recognition of infected cells and were unable to induce
      their killing. Future trials geared toward the development of a cure for HIV/AIDS
      should incorporate V1/V2 antibodies for maximal clearance of infected cells. With
      the use of only primary immune cells, we conducted a comprehensive cross-clade
      physiological analysis to aid the direction of antibodies as therapeutics toward
      the development of a cure for HIV/AIDS.IMPORTANCE Several antibodies capable of
      neutralizing the majority of circulating HIV-1 strains have been identified to
      date and have been shown to prevent infection in animal models. However, the use
      of combinations of such broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) for the treatment
      and eradication of HIV-1 in infected humans remains uncertain. In this study, we
      tested the ability of bnAbs to directly recognize and eliminate primary human CD4
      T cells infected with diverse HIV-1 strains representative of the global epidemic
      by antibody-dependent pathways. We also tested several combinations of bnAbs in
      our assays in order to maximize the clearance of infected cells. We show that the
      ability of bnAbs to identify and kill infected cells is highly variable and that
      only a few of them are able to exert this function. Our data will help guide the
      formulation of bnAbs to test in future human trials aimed at the development of a
      cure.

PMID- 28592536
TI  - Evasion of the STING DNA-Sensing Pathway by VP11/12 of Herpes Simplex Virus 1.
AB  - The stimulator of interferon (IFN) genes (STING) is a broad antimicrobial factor
      that restricts herpes simplex virus (HSV) by activating type I interferon and
      proinflammatory responses upon sensing of foreign DNA. UL46 is one of the most
      abundant tegument proteins of HSV-1, but a well-established function has yet to
      be found. We found that the HSV-1 UL46 protein interacts with and colocalizes
      with STING. A DeltaUL46 virus displayed growth defects and activated innate
      immunity, but both effects were alleviated in STING knockdown cells. UL46 was
      also required for the inhibition of the 2',3'-cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP)-dependent
      immune responses during infection. In cells expressing UL46, out of the context
      of the infection, innate immunity to a DeltaICP0 virus was largely compromised,
      and that permitted ICP0-deficient mutants to replicate. The UL46-expressing cell
      lines also rescued the defects of the DeltaUL46 virus and enhanced wild-type
      virus infection. The UL46-expressing cell lines did not activate interferon
      stimulated gene (ISG) transcription following treatment with the noncanonical
      cyclic dinucleotide 2',3'-cGAMP, suggesting that the STING pathway may be
      compromised. Indeed, we found that both proteins STING and IFI16 were eliminated
      in cells constitutively expressing UL46 and that the accumulation of their
      transcripts was blocked. Finally, we demonstrated that UL46 via its N terminus
      binds to STING and, via its C terminus, to TBK1. These interactions appear to
      modulate the functions of STING during HSV-1 infection. Taken together, our
      studies describe a novel function for one of the least-studied proteins of HSV,
      the tegument protein UL46, and that function involves the evasion of foreign DNA
      sensing pathways.IMPORTANCE Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) afflicts 80% of the
      population worldwide, causing various diseases. After initial infection, the
      virus establishes latent reservoirs in sensory neurons and persists for life.
      Here we describe novel interactions between HSV-1 and the DNA sensor STING. We
      found that (i) HSV-1 tegument protein UL46 interacts with and colocalizes with
      STING; (ii) UL46 expressed out of the context of the infection blocks type I
      interferon triggered by STING stimuli, through the elimination of STING and of
      interferon-inducible protein 16 (IFI16); (iii) a DeltaUL46 virus displayed growth
      defects, which were rescued in STING knockdown cells; (iv) the DeltaUL46 virus
      failed to block innate immunity triggered by ligands of STING such as 2',3'-cGAMP
      and also activated IFN-beta and ISG expression; and (v) UL46 binds to both STING
      and TBK1 through different domains. We conclude that UL46 counteracts the actions
      of STING during HSV-1 infection.

PMID- 28592535
TI  - Newcastle Disease Virus Establishes Persistent Infection in Tumor Cells In Vitro:
      Contribution of the Cleavage Site of Fusion Protein and Second Sialic Acid
      Binding Site of Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase.
AB  - Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is an oncolytic virus being developed for the
      treatment of cancer. Following infection of a human ovarian cancer cell line
      (OVCAR3) with a recombinant low-pathogenic NDV, persistent infection was
      established in a subset of tumor cells. Persistently infected (PI) cells
      exhibited resistance to superinfection with NDV and established an antiviral
      state, as demonstrated by upregulation of interferon and interferon-induced genes
      such as myxoma resistance gene 1 (Mx1) and retinoic acid-inducing gene-I (RIG-I).
      Viruses released from PI cells induced higher cell-to-cell fusion than the
      parental virus following infection in two tumor cell lines tested, HT1080 and
      HeLa, and remained attenuated in chickens. Two mutations, one in the fusion (F)
      protein cleavage site, F117S (F117S), and another in hemagglutinin-neuraminidase
      (HN), G169R (HN169R), located in the second sialic acid binding region, were
      responsible for the hyperfusogenic phenotype. F117S improves F protein cleavage
      efficiency, facilitating cell-to-cell fusion, while HN169R possesses a
      multifaceted role in contributing to higher fusion, reduced receptor binding, and
      lower neuraminidase activity, which together result in increased fusion and
      reduced viral replication. Thus, establishment of persistent infection in vitro
      involves viral genetic changes that facilitate efficient viral spread from cell
      to cell as a potential mechanism to escape host antiviral responses. The results
      of our study also demonstrate a critical role in the viral life cycle for the
      second receptor binding region of the HN protein, which is conserved in several
      paramyxoviruses.IMPORTANCE Oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) could
      establish persistent infection in a tumor cell line, resulting in a steady
      antiviral state reflected by constitutively expressed interferon. Viruses
      isolated from persistently infected cells are highly fusogenic, and this
      phenotype has been mapped to two mutations, one each in the fusion (F) and
      hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) proteins. The F117S mutation in the F protein
      cleavage site improved F protein cleavage efficiency while the HN169R mutation
      located at the second receptor binding site of the HN protein contributed to a
      complex phenotype consisting of a modest increase in fusion and cell killing,
      lower neuraminidase activity, and reduced viral growth. This study highlights the
      intricate nature of these two mutations in the glycoproteins of NDV in the
      establishment of persistent infection. The data also shed light on the critical
      balance between the F and HN proteins required for efficient NDV infection and
      their role in avian pathogenicity.

PMID- 28592537
TI  - Role of Autophagy in HIV-1 Matrix Protein p17-Driven Lymphangiogenesis.
AB  - AIDS-related lymphomas (ARLs) are expected to increase in the future since
      combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) enhances the life expectancy of HIV-1
      infected (HIV+) patients but does not affect the occurrence of ARLs to the same
      extent as that of other tumors. Lymphangiogenesis is essential in supporting
      growth and metastatic spreading of ARLs. HIV-1 does not infect the neoplastic B
      cells, but HIV-1 proteins have been hypothesized to play a key role in sustaining
      a prolymphangiogenic microenvironment in lymphoid organs. The HIV-1 matrix
      protein p17 is detected in blood and accumulates in the germinal centers of lymph
      nodes of HIV+ patients under successful cART. The viral protein displays potent
      lymphangiogenic activity in vitro and in vivo This is, at least in part, mediated
      by the secretion of the lymphangiogenic factor endothelin-1, suggesting that
      activation of a secretory pathway sustains the lymphangiogenic activity of p17.
      Here, we show that the p17 lymphangiogenic activity occurs on human lymph node
      derived lymphatic endothelial cells (LN-LECs) under stress conditions only and
      relies entirely on activation of an autophagy-based pathway. In fact, induction
      of autophagy by p17 promotes lymphangiogenesis, whereas pharmacological and
      genetic inhibition of autophagy inhibits p17-triggered lymphangiogenesis.
      Similarly, the vasculogenic activity of p17 was totally inhibited in autophagy
      incompetent mice. Our findings reveal a previously unrecognized role of autophagy
      in lymphangiogenesis and open the way to identify novel treatment strategies
      aimed at inhibiting aberrant tumor-driven lymphangiogenesis in HIV+
      patients.IMPORTANCE AIDS-related lymphomas (ARLs) are the most common
      malignancies in HIV-1-infected (HIV+) patients after the introduction of combined
      antiretroviral therapy (cART). Lymphangiogenesis is of critical importance in
      sustaining growth and metastasis of ARLs. Indeed, enhanced lymphangiogenesis
      occurs in the lymph nodes of HIV+ patients under successful cART. The HIV-1
      matrix protein p17 is detected in blood and accumulates in the lymph node
      germinal centers even in the absence of virus replication. Several findings
      suggest a key role for p17 as a microenvironmental factor capable of promoting
      lymphangiogenesis. Here, we show that p17 promotes lymphangiogenesis of human
      lymph node-derived lymphatic endothelial cells (LN-LECs). The lymphangiogenic
      activity of p17 is sustained by an autophagy-based pathway that enables LN-LECs
      to release prolymphangiogenic factors into the extracellular microenvironment.
      Our findings indicate that specific targeting of autophagy may provide an
      important new tool for treating ARLs.

PMID- 28592538
TI  - Identification of Interleukin-27 (IL-27)/IL-27 Receptor Subunit Alpha as a
      Critical Immune Axis for In Vivo HIV Control.
AB  - Intact and broad immune cell effector functions and specific individual cytokines
      have been linked to HIV disease outcome, but their relative contribution to HIV
      control remains unclear. We asked whether the proteome of secreted cytokines and
      signaling factors in peripheral blood can be used to discover specific pathways
      critical for host viral control. A custom glass-based microarray, able to measure
      >600 plasma proteins involved in cell-to-cell communication, was used to measure
      plasma protein profiles in 96 HIV-infected, treatment-naive individuals with high
      (>50,000) or low (<10,000 HIV RNA copies/ml) viral loads. Univariate and
      regression model analysis demonstrate that plasma levels of soluble interleukin
      27 (IL-27) are significantly elevated in individuals with high plasma viremia (P
      < 0.0001) and are positively correlated with proviral HIV-DNA copy numbers in
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (Rho = 0.4011; P = 0.0027). Moreover,
      soluble IL-27 plasma levels are negatively associated with the breadth and
      magnitude of the total virus-specific T-cell responses and directly with plasma
      levels of molecules involved in Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. In addition to IL-27,
      gene expression levels of the specific IL-27 receptor (IL27RA) in PBMC correlated
      directly with both plasma viral load (Rho = 0.3531; P = 0.0218) and the proviral
      copy number in the peripheral blood as an indirect measure of partial viral
      reservoir (Rho = 0.4580; P = 0.0030). These results were validated in unrelated
      cohorts of early infected subjects as well as subjects before and after
      initiation of antiretroviral treatment, and they identify IL-27 and its specific
      receptor as a critical immune axis for the antiviral immune response and as
      robust correlates of viral load and proviral reservoir size in PBMC.IMPORTANCE
      The detailed knowledge of immune mechanisms that contribute to HIV control is a
      prerequisite for the design of effective treatment strategies to achieve HIV
      cure. Cells communicate with each other by secreting signaling proteins, and the
      blood is a key conduit for transporting such factors. Investigating the
      communication factors promoting effective immune responses and having potentially
      antiviral functions against HIV using a novel focused omics approach
      ("communicome") has the potential to significantly improve our knowledge of
      effective host immunity and accelerate the HIV cure agenda. Including 140
      subjects with variable viral loads and measuring the plasma levels of >600
      soluble proteins, our data highlight the importance of Th17 cells and Wnt/beta
      catenin signaling in HIV control and especially identify the IL-27/IL-27 receptor
      subunit alpha (IL-27RA) axis as a predictor of plasma viral load and proviral
      copy number in the peripheral blood. These data may provide important guidance to
      therapeutic approaches in the HIV cure agenda.

PMID- 28592539
TI  - HIV-1 Epitope Variability Is Associated with T Cell Receptor Repertoire
      Instability and Breadth.
AB  - Mutational escape of HIV-1 from HIV-1-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTLs) is a
      major barrier for effective immune control. Each epitope typically is targeted by
      multiple clones with distinct T cell receptors (TCRs). While the clonal
      repertoire may be important for containing epitope variation, determinants of its
      composition are poorly understood. We investigate the clonal repertoire of 29 CTL
      responses against 23 HIV-1 epitopes longitudinally in nine chronically infected
      untreated subjects with plasma viremia of <3,000 RNA copies/ml over 17 to 179
      weeks. The composition of TCRs targeting each epitope varied considerably in
      stability over time, although clonal stability (Sorensen index) was not
      significantly time dependent within this interval. However, TCR stability
      inversely correlated with epitope variability in the Los Alamos HIV-1 Sequence
      Database, consistent with TCR evolution being driven by epitope variation.
      Finally, a robust inverse correlation of TCR breadth against each epitope versus
      epitope variability further suggested that this variability drives TCR repertoire
      diversification. In the context of studies demonstrating rapidly shifting HIV-1
      sequences in vivo, our findings support a variably dynamic process of shifting
      CTL clonality lagging in tandem with viral evolution and suggest that preventing
      escape of HIV-1 may require coordinated direction of the CTL clonal repertoire to
      simultaneously block escape pathways.IMPORTANCE Mutational escape of HIV-1 from
      HIV-1-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTLs) is a major barrier to effective immune
      control. The number of distinct CTL clones targeting each epitope is proposed to
      be an important factor, but the determinants are poorly understood. Here, we
      demonstrate that the clonal stability and number of clones for the CTL response
      against an epitope are inversely associated with the general variability of the
      epitope. These results show that CTLs constantly lag epitope mutation, suggesting
      that preventing HIV-1 escape may require coordinated direction of the CTL clonal
      repertoire to simultaneously block escape pathways.

PMID- 28592540
TI  - Covalent Linkage of HIV-1 Trimers to Synthetic Liposomes Elicits Improved B Cell
      and Antibody Responses.
AB  - We have demonstrated that a liposomal array of well-ordered trimers enhances B
      cell activation, germinal center formation, and the elicitation of tier-2
      autologous neutralizing antibodies. Previously, we coupled well-ordered cleavage
      independent NFL trimers via their C-terminal polyhistidine tails to nickel lipids
      integrated into the lipid bilayer. Despite favorable in vivo effects, concern
      remained over the potentially longer-term in vivo instability of noncovalent
      linkage of the trimers to the liposomes. Accordingly, we tested both cobalt
      coupling and covalent linkage of the trimers to the liposomes by reengineering
      the polyhistidine tail to include a free cysteine on each protomer of model BG505
      NFL trimers to allow covalent linkage. Both cobalt and cysteine coupling resulted
      in a high-density array of NFL trimers that was stable in both 20% mouse serum
      and 100 mM EDTA, whereas the nickel-conjugated trimers were not stable under
      these conditions. Binding analysis and calcium flux with anti-Env-specific B
      cells confirmed that the trimers maintained conformational integrity following
      coupling. Following immunization of mice, serologic analysis demonstrated that
      the covalently coupled trimers elicited Env-directed antibodies in a manner
      statistically significantly improved compared to soluble trimers and nickel
      conjugated trimers. Importantly, the covalent coupling not only enhanced gp120
      directed responses compared to soluble trimers, it also completely eliminated
      antibodies directed to the C-terminal His tag located at the "bottom" of the
      spike. In contrast, soluble and noncovalent formats efficiently elicited anti-His
      tag antibodies. These data indicate that covalent linkage of well-ordered trimers
      to liposomes in high-density array displays multiple advantages in vitro and in
      vivoIMPORTANCE Enveloped viruses typically encode a surface-bound glycoprotein
      that mediates viral entry into host cells and is a primary target for vaccine
      design. Liposomes with modified lipid head groups have a unique feature of
      capturing and displaying antigens on their surfaces, mimicking the native
      pathogens. Our first-generation nickel-based liposomes captured HIV-1 Env
      glycoprotein trimers via a noncovalent linkage with improved efficacy over
      soluble glycoprotein in activating germinal center B cells and eliciting tier-2
      autologous neutralizing antibodies. In this study, we report the development of
      second-generation cobalt- and maleimide-based liposomes that have improved in
      vitro stability over nickel-based liposomes. In particular, the maleimide
      liposomes captured HIV-1 Env trimers via a more stable covalent bond, resulting
      in enhanced germinal center B cell responses that generated higher antibody
      titers than the soluble trimers and liposome-bearing trimers via noncovalent
      linkages. We further demonstrate that covalent coupling prevents release of the
      trimers prior to recognition by B cells and masks a nonneutralizing determinant
      located at the bottom of the trimer.

PMID- 28592542
TI  - Gender parity trends for invited speakers at four prominent virology conference
      series.
AB  - Scientific conferences are most beneficial to participants when they showcase
      significant new experimental developments, accurately summarize the current state
      of the field, and provide strong opportunities for collaborative networking. A
      top-notch slate of invited speakers, assembled by conference organizers or
      committees, is key to achieving these goals. The perceived underrepresentation of
      female speakers at prominent scientific meetings is currently a popular topic for
      discussion, but one that often lacks supportive data. We compiled the full
      rosters of invited speakers over the last 35 years for four prominent
      international virology conferences, the American Society for Virology Annual
      Meeting (ASV), the International Herpesvirus Workshop (IHW), the Positive-Strand
      RNA Virus Symposium (PSR), and the Gordon Research Conference on Viruses & Cells
      (GRC). The rosters were cross-indexed by unique names, gender, year, and repeat
      invitations. When plotted as gender-dependent trends over time, all four
      conferences showed a clear proclivity for male-dominated invited speaker lists.
      Encouragingly, shifts toward parity are emerging within all units, but at
      different rates. Not surprisingly, both selection of a larger percentage of first
      time participants and the presence of a woman on the speaker selection committee
      correlated with improved parity. Session chair information was also collected for
      the IHW and GRC. These visible positions also displayed a strong male dominance
      over time that is eroding slowly. We offer our personal interpretation of these
      data to aid future organizers achieve improved equity among the limited number of
      available positions for session moderators and invited speakers.IMPORTANCE
      Politicians and media members have a tendency to cite anecdotes as conclusions
      without any supporting data. This happens so frequently now, that a name for it
      has emerged: fake news. Good science proceeds otherwise. The under representation
      of women as invited speakers at international scientific conferences exemplifies
      a present-day discussion topic usually occurring without facts to support or
      refute the arguments. We now provide records profiling four prominent virology
      conferences over the years 1982 to 2017 with the intention that the trends and
      accompanying analyses of the gender parity of invited speakers may allow the
      ongoing discussions to be informed.

PMID- 28592541
TI  - Dimerization Efficiency of Canine Distemper Virus Matrix Protein Regulates
      Membrane-Budding Activity.
AB  - Paramyxoviruses rely on the matrix (M) protein to orchestrate viral assembly and
      budding at the plasma membrane. Although the mechanistic details remain largely
      unknown, structural data suggested that M dimers and/or higher-order oligomers
      may facilitate membrane budding. To gain functional insights, we employed a
      structure-guided mutagenesis approach to investigate the role of canine distemper
      virus (CDV) M protein self-assembly in membrane-budding activity. Three six
      alanine-block (6A-block) mutants with mutations located at strategic oligomeric
      positions were initially designed. While the first one includes residues
      potentially residing at the protomer-protomer interface, the other two display
      amino acids located within two distal surface-exposed alpha-helices proposed to
      be involved in dimer-dimer contacts. We further focused on the core of the
      dimeric interface by mutating asparagine 138 (N138) to several nonconservative
      amino acids. Cellular localization combined with dimerization and
      coimmunopurification assays, performed under various denaturing conditions,
      revealed that all 6A-block mutants were impaired in self-assembly and cell
      periphery accumulation. These phenotypes correlated with deficiencies in
      relocating CDV nucleocapsid proteins to the cell periphery and in virus-like
      particle (VLP) production. Conversely, all M-N138 mutants remained capable of
      self-assembly, though to various extents, which correlated with proper
      accumulation and redistribution of nucleocapsid proteins at the plasma membrane.
      However, membrane deformation and VLP assays indicated that the M-N138 variants
      exhibiting the most reduced dimerization propensity were also defective in
      triggering membrane remodeling and budding, despite proper plasma membrane
      accumulation. Overall, our data provide mechanistic evidence that the efficiency
      of CDV M dimerization/oligomerization governs both cell periphery localization
      and membrane-budding activity.IMPORTANCE Despite the availability of effective
      vaccines, both measles virus (MeV) and canine distemper virus (CDV) still lead to
      significant human and animal mortality worldwide. It is assumed that postexposure
      prophylaxis with specific antiviral compounds may synergize with vaccination
      campaigns to better control ongoing epidemics. Targeting the matrix (M) protein
      of MeV/CDV is attractive, because M coordinates viral assembly and egress through
      interaction with multiple cellular and viral components. However, the lack of
      basic molecular knowledge of how M orchestrates these functions precludes the
      rational design of antivirals. Here we combined structure-guided mutagenesis with
      cellular, biochemical, and functional assays to investigate a potential
      correlation between CDV M self-assembly and virus-like particle (VLP) formation.
      Altogether, our findings provide evidence that stable M dimers at the cell
      periphery are required to productively trigger VLPs. Such stabilized M dimeric
      units may facilitate further assembly into robust higher-order oligomers
      necessary to promote plasma membrane-budding activity.

PMID- 28592543
TI  - Mapping of Transcription Termination within the S Segment of SFTS Phlebovirus
      Facilitated Generation of NSs Deletant Viruses.
AB  - SFTS phlebovirus (SFTSV) is an emerging tick-borne bunyavirus that was first
      reported in China in 2009. Here we report the generation of a recombinant SFTSV
      (rHB29NSsKO) that cannot express the viral nonstructural protein (NSs) upon
      infection of cells in culture. We show that rHB29NSsKO replication kinetics are
      greater in interferon (IFN)-incompetent cells and that the virus is unable to
      suppress IFN induced in response to viral replication. The data confirm for the
      first time in the context of virus infection that NSs acts as a virally encoded
      IFN antagonist and that NSs is dispensable for virus replication. Using 3' rapid
      amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), we mapped the 3' end of the N and NSs mRNAs,
      showing that the mRNAs terminate within the coding region of the opposite open
      reading frame. We show that the 3' end of the N mRNA terminates upstream of a 5'
      GCCAGCC-3' motif present in the viral genomic RNA. With this knowledge, and using
      virus-like particles, we could demonstrate that the last 36 nucleotides of the
      NSs open reading frame (ORF) were needed to ensure the efficient termination of
      the N mRNA and were required for recombinant virus rescue. We demonstrate that it
      is possible to recover viruses lacking NSs (expressing just a 12-amino-acid NSs
      peptide or encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein [eGFP]) or an NSs-eGFP
      fusion protein in the NSs locus. This opens the possibility for further studies
      of NSs and potentially the design of attenuated viruses for vaccination
      studies.IMPORTANCE SFTS phlebovirus (SFTSV) and related tick-borne viruses have
      emerged globally since 2009. SFTSV has been shown to cause severe disease in
      humans. For bunyaviruses, it has been well documented that the nonstructural
      protein (NSs) enables the virus to counteract the human innate antiviral defenses
      and that NSs is one of the major determinants of virulence in infection.
      Therefore, the use of reverse genetics systems to engineer viruses lacking NSs is
      an attractive strategy to rationally attenuate bunyaviruses. Here we report the
      generation of several recombinant SFTS viruses that cannot express the NSs
      protein or have the NSs open reading frame replaced with a reporter gene. These
      viruses cannot antagonize the mammalian interferon (IFN) response mounted to
      virus infection. The generation of NSs-lacking viruses was achieved by mapping
      the transcriptional termination of two S-segment-derived subgenomic mRNAs, which
      revealed that transcription termination occurs upstream of a 5'-GCCAGCC-3' motif
      present in the virus genomic S RNA.

PMID- 28592544
TI  - Time-Sampled Population Sequencing Reveals the Interplay of Selection and Genetic
      Drift in Experimental Evolution of Potato Virus Y.
AB  - RNA viruses are one of the fastest-evolving biological entities. Within their
      hosts, they exist as genetically diverse populations (i.e., viral mutant swarms),
      which are sculpted by different evolutionary mechanisms, such as mutation,
      natural selection, and genetic drift, and also the interactions between genetic
      variants within the mutant swarms. To elucidate the mechanisms that modulate the
      population diversity of an important plant-pathogenic virus, we performed
      evolution experiments with Potato virus Y (PVY) in potato genotypes that differ
      in their defense response against the virus. Using deep sequencing of small RNAs,
      we followed the temporal dynamics of standing and newly generated variations in
      the evolving viral lineages. A time-sampled approach allowed us to (i)
      reconstruct theoretical haplotypes in the starting population by using clustering
      of single nucleotide polymorphisms' trajectories and (ii) use quantitative
      population genetics approaches to estimate the contribution of selection and
      genetic drift, and their interplay, to the evolution of the virus. We detected
      imprints of strong selective sweeps and narrow genetic bottlenecks, followed by
      the shift in frequency of selected haplotypes. Comparison of patterns of viral
      evolution in differently susceptible host genotypes indicated possible
      diversifying evolution of PVY in the less-susceptible host (efficient in the
      accumulation of salicylic acid).IMPORTANCE High diversity of within-host
      populations of RNA viruses is an important aspect of their biology, since they
      represent a reservoir of genetic variants, which can enable quick adaptation of
      viruses to a changing environment. This study focuses on an important plant
      virus, Potato virus Y, and describes, at high resolution, temporal changes in the
      structure of viral populations within different potato genotypes. A novel and
      easy-to-implement computational approach was established to cluster single
      nucleotide polymorphisms into viral haplotypes from very short sequencing reads.
      During the experiment, a shift in the frequency of selected viral haplotypes was
      observed after a narrow genetic bottleneck, indicating an important role of the
      genetic drift in the evolution of the virus. On the other hand, a possible case
      of diversifying selection of the virus was observed in less susceptible host
      genotypes.

PMID- 28592545
TI  - Development of a Web Tool for Escherichia coli Subtyping Based on fimH Alleles.
AB  - The aim of this study was to construct a valid publicly available method for in
      silico fimH subtyping of Escherichia coli particularly suitable for
      differentiation of fine-resolution subgroups within clonal groups defined by
      standard multilocus sequence typing (MLST). FimTyper was constructed as a FASTA
      database containing all currently known fimH alleles. The software source code is
      publicly available at https://bitbucket.org/genomicepidemiology/fimtyper, the
      database is freely available at
      https://bitbucket.org/genomicepidemiology/fimtyper_db, and a service implementing
      the software is available at https://cge.cbs.dtu.dk/services/FimTyper FimTyper
      was validated on three data sets: one containing Sanger sequences of fimH alleles
      of 42 E. coli isolates generated prior to the current study (data set 1), one
      containing whole-genome sequence (WGS) data of 243 third-generation-cephalosporin
      resistant E. coli isolates (data set 2), and one containing a randomly chosen
      subset of 40 E. coli isolates from data set 2 that were subjected to conventional
      fimH subtyping (data set 3). The combination of the three data sets enabled an
      evaluation and comparison of FimTyper on both Sanger sequences and WGS data.
      FimTyper correctly predicted all 42 fimH subtypes from the Sanger sequences from
      data set 1 and successfully analyzed all 243 draft genomes from data set 2.
      FimTyper subtyping of the Sanger sequences and WGS data from data set 3 were in
      complete agreement. Additionally, fimH subtyping was evaluated on a phylogenetic
      network of 122 sequence type 131 (ST131) E. coli isolates. There was perfect
      concordance between the typology and fimH-based subclones within ST131, with
      accurate identification of the pandemic multidrug-resistant clonal subgroup ST131
      H30. FimTyper provides a standardized tool, as a rapid alternative to
      conventional fimH subtyping, highly suitable for surveillance and outbreak
      detection.

PMID- 28592546
TI  - Rapid and Robust Identification of the Agents of Black-Grain Mycetoma by Matrix
      Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Eumycetoma, a chronic fungal infection endemic in India, Indonesia, and parts of
      Africa and South and Central America, follows traumatic implantation of
      saprophytic fungi and frequently requires radical surgery or amputation in the
      absence of appropriate treatment. Fungal species that can cause black-grain
      mycetomas include Madurella spp., Falciformispora spp., Trematosphaeria grisea,
      Nigrograna mackinnonii, Pseudochaetosphaeronema larense, Medicopsis romeroi, and
      Emarellia spp. Rhytidhysteron rufulum and Parathyridaria percutanea cause similar
      subcutaneous infections, but these infections lack the draining sinuses and
      fungal grains characteristic of eumycetoma. Accurate identification of the agents
      of subcutaneous fungal infection is essential to guide appropriate antifungal
      therapy. Since phenotypic identification of the causative fungi is often
      difficult, time-consuming molecular approaches are currently required. In the
      study described here we evaluated whether matrix-assisted laser desorption
      ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry might allow the accurate
      identification of eumycetoma agents and related fungi. A panel of 57 organisms
      corresponding to 10 different species from confirmed cases of eumycetoma and
      subcutaneous pedal masses, previously formally identified by PCR amplification
      and sequencing of internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), was employed.
      Representative isolates of each species were used to create reference MALDI-TOF
      spectra, which were then used for the identification of the remaining isolates in
      a user-blinded manner. Here, we demonstrate that MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
      accurately identified all of the test isolates, with 100%, 90.4%, and 67.3% of
      isolates achieving log scores greater than 1.8, 1.9, and 2.0, respectively.

PMID- 28592548
TI  - Evaluation of the Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx Assay for HIV-1 RNA Quantitation in
      Different Biological Specimen Types.
AB  - The search for a cure for HIV infection has highlighted the need for increasingly
      sensitive and precise assays to measure viral burden in various tissues and body
      fluids. We describe the application of a standardized assay for HIV-1 RNA in
      multiple specimen types. The fully automated Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx assay (Aptima
      assay) is FDA cleared for blood plasma HIV-1 RNA quantitation. In this study, the
      Aptima assay was applied for the quantitation of HIV RNA in peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMCs; n = 72), seminal plasma (n = 20), cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF; n = 36), dried blood spots (DBS; n = 104), and dried plasma spots (DPS; n =
      104). The Aptima assay was equivalent to or better than commercial assays or
      validated in-house assays for the quantitation of HIV RNA in CSF and seminal
      plasma. For PBMC specimens, the sensitivity of the Aptima assay in the detection
      of HIV RNA decayed as background uninfected PBMC counts increased; proteinase K
      treatment demonstrated some benefit in restoring signal at higher levels of
      background PBMCs. Finally, the Aptima assay yielded 100% detection rates of DBS
      in participants with plasma HIV RNA levels of >=35 copies/ml and 100% detection
      rates of DPS in participants with plasma HIV RNA levels of >=394 copies/ml. The
      Aptima assay can be applied to a variety of specimens from HIV-infected subjects
      to measure HIV RNA for studies of viral persistence and cure strategies. It can
      also detect HIV in dried blood and plasma specimens, which may be of benefit in
      resource-limited settings.

PMID- 28592547
TI  - Performance of the Abbott RealTime MTB and MTB RIF/INH Assays in a Setting of
      High Tuberculosis and HIV Coinfection in South Africa.
AB  - South Africa is a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis (TB), complicated
      by coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The Xpert MTB/RIF
      (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) is used in South Africa as the test for the initial
      diagnosis of TB, and other molecular platforms such as the m2000 (Abbott
      Molecular, Des Plaines, IL, USA) are widely used for molecular monitoring of HIV
      load. The latter platform is now also equipped with the RealTime (RT) MTB and
      RealTime MTB RIF/INH assays for TB and first-line drug resistance screening but
      has not been evaluated in settings of HIV and TB coinfection. A prospective
      clinical validation study was conducted at a community health center in
      Johannesburg, South Africa, and consenting individuals with presumptive pulmonary
      TB were enrolled. The performance of the Abbott assays was compared with those of
      the Xpert MTB/RIF, liquid culture, drug susceptibility testing, and clinical case
      definitions. A statistical analysis was performed on 206 individuals (73% were
      HIV positive). The sensitivity and specificity of the RT MTB were 82.5%
      (confidence interval [CI], 67.2 to 92.7) and 93.1% (CI, 86.2 to 97.2) on raw
      sputum and 77.5% (CI, 61.5 to 89.2) and 95.1% (CI, 88.9 to 98.4) on concentrated
      sputum, respectively, compared with those from liquid culture. The RT MTB
      correctly identified 17/35 more smear-negative culture-positive specimens than
      the Xpert MTB/RIF. Both the RT MTB and the Xpert MTB/RIF displayed sensitivities
      >70% and specificities >90% in HIV-positive individuals. The available drug
      resistance results concurred with MTBDRplus and drug susceptibility profiles. The
      RT MTB assay has similar diagnostic performance to the Xpert MTB/RIF and is
      suited to testing presumptive TB patients coinfected with HIV. The existing
      laboratory information system connectivity, training, and technical support make
      this a viable polyvalent option to scale up TB alongside HIV laboratory testing
      services in South Africa.

PMID- 28592549
TI  - Emergence of a Staphylococcus aureus Clone Resistant to Mupirocin and Fusidic
      Acid Carrying Exotoxin Genes and Causing Mainly Skin Infections.
AB  - Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) caused by mupirocin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus strains have recently increased in number in our settings.
      We sought to evaluate the characteristics of these cases over a 43-month period.
      Data for all community-acquired staphylococcal infections caused by mupirocin
      resistant strains were retrospectively reviewed. Genes encoding products
      producing high-level resistance (HLR) to mupirocin (mupA), fusidic acid
      resistance (fusB), resistance to macrolides and lincosamides (ermC and ermA),
      Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) (lukS/lukF-PV), exfoliative toxins (eta and
      etb), and fibronectin binding protein A (fnbA) were investigated by PCRs in 102
      selected preserved strains. Genotyping was performed by SCCmec and agr typing,
      whereas clonality was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and
      multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A total of 437 cases among 2,137
      staphylococcal infections were recorded in 2013 to 2016; they were all SSTIs with
      the exception of 1 case of primary bacteremia. Impetigo was the predominant
      clinical entity (371 cases [84.9%]), followed by staphylococcal scalded skin
      syndrome (21 cases [4.8%]), and there were no abscesses. The number of infections
      detected annually increased during the study years. All except 3 isolates were
      methicillin susceptible. The rates of HLR to mupirocin and constitutive
      resistance to clindamycin were 99% and 20.1%, respectively. Among the 102 tested
      strains, 100 (98%) were mupA positive and 97 (95%) were fusB positive, 26/27
      clindamycin-resistant strains (96.3%) were ermA positive, 83 strains (81.4%) were
      lukS/lukF positive, 95 (93%) carried both eta and etb genes, and 99 (97%) were
      fnbA positive. Genotyping of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strains
      revealed that 96/99 (96.7%) belonged to one main pulsotype, pulsotype 1,
      classified as sequence type 121 (ST121). The emergence of a single MSSA clone
      (ST121) causing impetigo was documented. Resistance to topical antimicrobials and
      a rich toxinogenic profile confer to this clone adaptability for spread in the
      community.

PMID- 28592551
TI  - Molecular Identification of Saprochaete capitata in Human Blood and Paraffinized
      Tissue Samples.

PMID- 28592550
TI  - Validation and Implementation of Clinical Laboratory Improvements Act-Compliant
      Whole-Genome Sequencing in the Public Health Microbiology Laboratory.
AB  - Public health microbiology laboratories (PHLs) are on the cusp of unprecedented
      improvements in pathogen identification, antibiotic resistance detection, and
      outbreak investigation by using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). However,
      considerable challenges remain due to the lack of common standards. Here, we
      describe the validation of WGS on the Illumina platform for routine use in PHLs
      according to Clinical Laboratory Improvements Act (CLIA) guidelines for
      laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). We developed a validation panel comprising 10
      Enterobacteriaceae isolates, 5 Gram-positive cocci, 5 Gram-negative nonfermenting
      species, 9 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, and 5 miscellaneous bacteria. The
      genome coverage range was 15.71* to 216.4* (average, 79.72*; median, 71.55*); the
      limit of detection (LOD) for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was 60*. The
      accuracy, reproducibility, and repeatability of base calling were >99.9%. The
      accuracy of phylogenetic analysis was 100%. The specificity and sensitivity
      inferred from multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and genome-wide SNP-based
      phylogenetic assays were 100%. The following objectives were accomplished: (i)
      the establishment of the performance specifications for WGS applications in PHLs
      according to CLIA guidelines, (ii) the development of quality assurance and
      quality control measures, (iii) the development of a reporting format for end
      users with or without WGS expertise, (iv) the availability of a validation set of
      microorganisms, and (v) the creation of a modular template for the validation of
      WGS processes in PHLs. The validation panel, sequencing analytics, and raw
      sequences could facilitate multilaboratory comparisons of WGS data. Additionally,
      the WGS performance specifications and modular template are adaptable for the
      validation of other platforms and reagent kits.

PMID- 28592552
TI  - Colistin and Polymyxin B Susceptibility Testing for Carbapenem-Resistant and mcr
      Positive Enterobacteriaceae: Comparison of Sensititre, MicroScan, Vitek 2, and
      Etest with Broth Microdilution.
AB  - Colistin and polymyxin B remain part of the last line of antibiotics for
      multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, such as carbapenem-resistant
      Enterobacteriaceae Current joint EUCAST-CLSI recommendations are for broth
      microdilution (BMD) to be performed for MIC testing of colistin. Commercial
      susceptibility testing methods were evaluated and compared against the reference
      BMD, using a susceptibility breakpoint of <=2 mg/liter for both colistin and
      polymyxin B. Seventy-six Enterobacteriaceae were included, of which 21 were mcr-1
      positive (18 Escherichia coli isolates, 2 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, and 1
      Enterobacter aerogenes isolate). Rates of essential agreement (EA) of colistin
      test results between BMD and Vitek 2, Sensititre, and Etest were 93.4%, 89.5%,
      and 75.0%, respectively. Rates of EA of polymyxin B test results between BMD and
      Vitek 2, Sensititre, and Etest were 96.1%, 96.1%, and 48.7%, respectively. A
      positive MIC correlation with a categorical agreement of >90% was achieved for
      Sensititre (colistin Spearman's rho = 0.863, and polymyxin B Spearman's rho =
      0.877) and Vitek 2 (polymyxin B [only] Spearman's rho = 0.8917). Although a
      positive MIC correlation (Spearman's rho = 0.873) with the reference method was
      achieved for colistin testing with Vitek 2, categorical agreement was <90%, with
      very major error rates of 36%. Correlation with the Etest MIC was lower, with
      very major error rates of 12% (colistin) and 26.1% (polymyxin B). MicroScan
      (colistin) categorical agreement was 88.2%, with a very major error rate of 4%.
      Colistin MICs for 15 of the 21 mcr-1-positive isolates were >2 mg/liter, and
      polymyxin MICs for 17 of them were >2 mg/liter by broth microdilution. The use of
      a lower breakpoint of <=1 mg/liter further improves detection of mcr-1 for all
      testing methods. However, further data on the correlation between MICs and
      clinical outcome are required to determine the most suitable breakpoint to guide
      clinical management.

PMID- 28592553
TI  - Accurate and Rapid Differentiation of Acinetobacter baumannii Strains by Raman
      Spectroscopy: a Comparative Study.
AB  - In recent years, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has become the standard for routine bacterial species
      identification due to its rapidity and low costs for consumables compared to
      those of traditional DNA-based methods. However, it has been observed that
      strains of some bacterial species, such as Acinetobacter baumannii strains,
      cannot be reliably identified using mass spectrometry (MS). Raman spectroscopy is
      a rapid technique, as fast as MALDI-TOF, and has been shown to accurately
      identify bacterial strains and species. In this study, we compared hierarchical
      clustering results for MS, genomic, and antimicrobial susceptibility test data to
      hierarchical clustering results from Raman spectroscopic data for 31 A. baumannii
      clinical isolates labeled according to their pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
      data for strain differentiation. In addition to performing hierarchical cluster
      analysis (HCA), multiple chemometric methods of analysis, including principal
      component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA),
      were performed on the MS and Raman spectral data, along with a variety of
      spectral preprocessing techniques for best discriminative results. Finally,
      simple HCA algorithms were performed on all of the data sets to explore the
      relationships between, and natural groupings of, the strains and to compare
      results for the four data sets. To obtain numerical comparison values of the
      clustering results, the external cluster evaluation criteria of the Rand index of
      the HCA dendrograms were calculated. With a Rand index value of 0.88, Raman
      spectroscopy outperformed the other techniques, including MS (with a Rand index
      value of 0.58).

PMID- 28592554
TI  - Urinary glycated uromodulin in diabetic kidney disease.
AB  - Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) form during oxidative stress, which is
      increased in diabetes mellitus (DM). Uromodulin is a protein with a renal
      protective effect, and may be subject to glycation. The implications of
      uromodulin glycation and AGEs in the urine are not understood. Here,
      immunoprecipitation and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry identified
      glycated uromodulin (glcUMOD) in the urine of 62.5% of patients with diabetic
      kidney disease (DKD), 20.0% of patients with non-diabetic chronic kidney disease
      (CKD), and no DM patients with normal renal function or healthy control
      participants; a finding replicated in a larger cohort of 84 patients with CKD in
      a case-control study (35 with DM, 49 without). Uromodulin forms high molecular
      weight polymers that associate with microvesicles and exosomes. Differential
      centrifugation identified uromodulin in the supernatant, microvesicles, and
      exosomes of the urine of healthy participants, but only in the supernatant of
      samples from patients with DKD, suggesting that glycation influences uromodulin
      function. Finally, the diagnostic and prognostic utility of measuring urinary
      glcUMOD concentration was examined. Urinary glcUMOD concentration was
      substantially higher in DKD patients than non-diabetic CKD patients. Urinary
      glcUMOD concentration predicted DKD status, particularly in patients with CKD
      stages 1-3a aged <65 years and with urine glcUMOD concentration >=9,000 arbitrary
      units (AU). Urinary uromodulin is apparently glycated in DKD and forms AGEs, and
      glcUMOD may serve as a biomarker for DKD.

PMID- 28592555
TI  - Genetic Dissection of Morphometric Traits Reveals That Phytochrome B Affects
      Nucleus Size and Heterochromatin Organization in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Microscopically visible chromatin is partitioned into two major components in
      Arabidopsis thaliana nuclei. On one hand, chromocenters are conspicuous foci of
      highly condensed "heterochromatic" domains that contain mostly repeated
      sequences. On the other hand, less condensed and gene-rich "euchromatin" emanates
      from these chromocenters. This differentiation, together with the dynamic nature
      of chromatin compaction in response to developmental and environmental stimuli,
      makes Arabidopsis a powerful system for studying chromatin organization and
      dynamics. Heterochromatin dynamics can be monitored by measuring the
      Heterochromatin Index, i.e., the proportion of nuclei displaying well-defined
      chromocenters, or the DNA fraction of chromocenters (relative heterochromatin
      fraction). Both measures are composite traits, thus their values represent the
      sum of effects of various underlying morphometric properties. We exploited
      genetic variation between natural occurring accessions to determine the genetic
      basis of individual nucleus and chromocenter morphometric parameters (area,
      perimeter, density, roundness, and heterogeneity) that together determine
      chromatin compaction. Our novel reductionist genetic approach revealed
      quantitative trait loci (QTL) for all measured traits. Genomic colocalization
      among QTL was limited, which suggests a complex genetic regulation of chromatin
      compaction. Yet genomic intervals of QTL for nucleus size (area and perimeter)
      both overlap with a known QTL for heterochromatin compaction that is explained by
      natural polymorphism in the red/far-red light and temperature receptor
      Phytochrome B. Mutant analyses and genetic complementation assays show that
      Phytochrome B is a negative regulator of nucleus size, revealing that perception
      of climatic conditions by a Phytochrome-mediated hub is a major determinant for
      coordinating nucleus size and heterochromatin compaction.

PMID- 28592556
TI  - Whole-Genome Resequencing Identifies the Molecular Genetic Cause for the Absence
      of a Gy5 Glycinin Protein in Soybean PI 603408.
AB  - During ongoing proteomic analysis of the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr)
      germplasm collection, PI 603408 was identified as a landrace whose seeds lack
      accumulation of one of the major seed storage glycinin protein subunits. Whole
      genomic resequencing was used to identify a two-base deletion affecting glycinin
      5 The newly discovered deletion was confirmed to be causative through
      immunological, genetic, and proteomic analysis, and no significant differences in
      total seed protein content were found to be due to the glycinin 5 loss-of
      function mutation per se In addition to focused studies on this one specific
      glycinin subunit-encoding gene, a total of 1,858,185 nucleotide variants were
      identified, of which 39,344 were predicted to affect protein coding regions. In
      order to semiautomate analysis of a large number of soybean gene variants, a new
      SIFT 4G (Sorting Intolerant From Tolerated 4 Genomes) database was designed to
      predict the impact of nonsynonymous single nucleotide soybean gene variants,
      potentially enabling more rapid analysis of soybean resequencing data in the
      future.

PMID- 28592557
TI  - Comparative Mapping of Seed Dormancy Loci Between Tropical and Temperate Ecotypes
      of Weedy Rice (Oryza sativa L.).
AB  - Genotypic variation at multiple loci for seed dormancy (SD) contributes to plant
      adaptation to diverse ecosystems. Weedy rice (Oryza sativa) was used as a model
      to address the similarity of SD genes between distinct ecotypes. A total of 12
      quantitative trait loci (QTL) for SD were identified in one primary and two
      advanced backcross (BC) populations derived from a temperate ecotype of weedy
      rice (34.3 degrees N Lat.). Nine (75%) of the 12 loci were mapped to the same
      positions as those identified from a tropical ecotype of weedy rice (7.1 degrees
      N Lat.). The high similarity suggested that the majority of SD genes were
      conserved during the ecotype differentiation. These common loci are largely those
      collocated/linked with the awn, hull color, pericarp color, or plant height loci.
      Phenotypic correlations observed in the populations support the notion that
      indirect selections for the wild-type morphological characteristics, together
      with direct selections for germination time, were major factors influencing
      allelic distributions of SD genes across ecotypes. Indirect selections for crop
      mimic traits (e.g., plant height and flowering time) could also alter allelic
      frequencies for some SD genes in agroecosystems. In addition, 3 of the 12 loci
      were collocated with segregation distortion loci, indicating that some
      gametophyte development genes could also influence the genetic equilibria of SD
      loci in hybrid populations. The SD genes with a major effect on germination
      across ecotypes could be used as silencing targets to develop transgene
      mitigation (TM) strategies to reduce the risk of gene flow from genetically
      modified crops into weed/wild relatives.

PMID- 28592559
TI  - Time-dependent inhibition of PHD2.
AB  - Prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) down-regulate the level of hypoxia-inducible factors
      (HIFs) by hydroxylating key proline residues that trigger the degradation of the
      protein and affect the cell and its ability to respond to hypoxic stress. Several
      small molecule PHD inhibitors are now in various preclinical and clinical stages
      for the treatment of anemia. The present study provides a detail kinetic analysis
      for some of these inhibitors. The data generated in the present study suggest
      that these compounds are reversible and compete directly with the co-substrate, 2
      oxoglutarate (2-OG) for binding at the enzyme active site. Most of these
      compounds are pan PHD inhibitors and exhibit a time-dependent inhibition (TDI)
      mechanism due to an extremely slow dissociation rate constant, koff, and a long
      residence time.

PMID- 28592558
TI  - Duplication and Loss of Function of Genes Encoding RNA Polymerase III Subunit C4
      Causes Hybrid Incompatibility in Rice.
AB  - Reproductive barriers are commonly observed in both animals and plants, in which
      they maintain species integrity and contribute to speciation. This report shows
      that a combination of loss-of-function alleles at two duplicated loci, DUPLICATED
      GAMETOPHYTIC STERILITY 1 (DGS1) on chromosome 4 and DGS2 on chromosome 7, causes
      pollen sterility in hybrid progeny derived from an interspecific cross between
      cultivated rice, Oryza sativa, and an Asian annual wild rice, O. nivara Male
      gametes carrying the DGS1 allele from O. nivara (DGS1-nivaras ) and the DGS2
      allele from O. sativa (DGS2-T65s ) were sterile, but female gametes carrying the
      same genotype were fertile. We isolated the causal gene, which encodes a protein
      homologous to DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RNAP) III subunit C4 (RPC4). RPC4
      facilitates the transcription of 5S rRNAs and tRNAs. The loss-of-function alleles
      at DGS1-nivaras and DGS2-T65s were caused by weak or nonexpression of RPC4 and an
      absence of RPC4, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that gene
      duplication of RPC4 at DGS1 and DGS2 was a recent event that occurred after
      divergence of the ancestral population of Oryza from other Poaceae or during
      diversification of AA-genome species.

PMID- 28592560
TI  - Ectopic calcification in pseudoxanthoma elasticum responds to inhibition of
      tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase.
AB  - Biallelic mutations in ABCC6 cause pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), a disease
      characterized by calcification in the skin, eyes, and blood vessels. The function
      of ATP-binding cassette C6 (ABCC6) and the pathogenesis of PXE remain unclear. We
      used mouse models and patient fibroblasts to demonstrate genetic interaction and
      shared biochemical and cellular mechanisms underlying ectopic calcification in
      PXE and related disorders caused by defined perturbations in extracellular
      adenosine 5'-triphosphate catabolism. Under osteogenic culture conditions, ABCC6
      mutant cells calcified, suggesting a provoked cell-autonomous defect. Using a
      conditional Abcc6 knockout mouse model, we excluded the prevailing pathogenic
      hypothesis that singularly invokes failure of hepatic secretion of an endocrine
      inhibitor of calcification. Instead, deficiency of Abcc6 in both local and
      distant cells was necessary to achieve the early onset and penetrant ectopic
      calcification observed upon constitutive gene targeting. ABCC6 mutant cells
      additionally had increased expression and activity of tissue-nonspecific alkaline
      phosphatase (TNAP), an enzyme that degrades pyrophosphate, a major inhibitor of
      calcification. A selective and orally bioavailable TNAP inhibitor prevented
      calcification in ABCC6 mutant cells in vitro and attenuated both the development
      and progression of calcification in Abcc6-/- mice in vivo, without the
      deleterious effects on bone associated with other proposed treatment strategies.

PMID- 28592563
TI  - The effects of treatment failure generalize across different routes of drug
      administration.
AB  - Failure of medical treatments can hamper responses to subsequent treatments. It
      has been suggested that changing the route of drug administration could reduce
      such negative carry-over effects, but direct evidence for this approach is
      lacking. We therefore investigated in 211 healthy volunteers whether changes in
      drug administration route reduce such carry-over effects. A positive or negative
      treatment history with topical analgesic treatments was induced experimentally in
      a mock clinical trial setting. Subsequently, a different inert drug was
      introduced via the same (topical) or another (oral) route of administration and
      its analgesic efficacy was tested. Changing the route of drug administration
      induced expectations of positive treatment effects in the subjects but did not
      actually counteract the negative carry-over effects on treatment efficacy. These
      findings indicate that learned carry-over effects generalize over time and across
      routes of drug administration-independent of conscious expectations. Other
      strategies are needed to prevent negative carry-over effects of treatment failure
      from influencing the results of subsequent treatment attempts.

PMID- 28592564
TI  - Modeling human brain development.
AB  - Human forebrain spheroids enable in vitro observation of region-specific neural
      migration and circuit formation during brain development.

PMID- 28592561
TI  - Vaccine priming is restricted to draining lymph nodes and controlled by adjuvant
      mediated antigen uptake.
AB  - The innate immune mechanisms by which adjuvants enhance the potency and
      protection of vaccine-induced adaptive immunity are largely unknown. We introduce
      a model to delineate the steps of how adjuvant-driven innate immune activation
      leads to priming of vaccine responses using rhesus macaques. Fluorescently
      labeled HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) was administered together with the
      conventional aluminum salt (alum) adjuvant. This was compared to Env given with
      alum with preabsorbed Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) ligand (alum-TLR7) or the
      emulsion MF59 because they show superiority over alum for qualitatively and
      quantitatively improved vaccine responses. All adjuvants induced rapid and robust
      immune cell infiltration to the injection site in the muscle. This resulted in
      substantial uptake of Env by neutrophils, monocytes, and myeloid and plasmacytoid
      dendritic cells (DCs) and migration exclusively to the vaccine-draining lymph
      nodes (LNs). Although less proficient than monocytes and DCs, neutrophils were
      capable of presenting Env to memory CD4+ T cells. MF59 and alum-TLR7 showed more
      pronounced cell activation and overall higher numbers of Env+ cells compared to
      alum. This resulted in priming of higher numbers of Env-specific CD4+ T cells in
      the vaccine-draining LNs, which directly correlated with increased T follicular
      helper cell differentiation and germinal center formation. Thus, strong innate
      immune activation promoting efficient vaccine antigen delivery to infiltrating
      antigen-presenting cells in draining LNs is an important mechanism by which
      superior adjuvants enhance vaccine responses.

PMID- 28592565
TI  - Anti-VEGF AAV2 injections: The fewer the better.
AB  - A single intravitreal injection of AAV2 provides sustained delivery of anti-VEGF
      protein for the treatment of neovascular AMD.

PMID- 28592562
TI  - Functional neuroimaging of high-risk 6-month-old infants predicts a diagnosis of
      autism at 24 months of age.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by
      social deficits and repetitive behaviors that typically emerge by 24 months of
      age. To develop effective early interventions that can potentially ameliorate the
      defining deficits of ASD and improve long-term outcomes, early detection is
      essential. Using prospective neuroimaging of 59 6-month-old infants with a high
      familial risk for ASD, we show that functional connectivity magnetic resonance
      imaging correctly identified which individual children would receive a research
      clinical best-estimate diagnosis of ASD at 24 months of age. Functional brain
      connections were defined in 6-month-old infants that correlated with 24-month
      scores on measures of social behavior, language, motor development, and
      repetitive behavior, which are all features common to the diagnosis of ASD. A
      fully cross-validated machine learning algorithm applied at age 6 months had a
      positive predictive value of 100% [95% confidence interval (CI), 62.9 to 100],
      correctly predicting 9 of 11 infants who received a diagnosis of ASD at 24 months
      (sensitivity, 81.8%; 95% CI, 47.8 to 96.8). All 48 6-month-old infants who were
      not diagnosed with ASD were correctly classified [specificity, 100% (95% CI, 90.8
      to 100); negative predictive value, 96.0% (95% CI, 85.1 to 99.3)]. These findings
      have clinical implications for early risk assessment and the feasibility of
      developing early preventative interventions for ASD.

PMID- 28592567
TI  - Driver mutations take the wheel in invasive yet nonmalignant disease.
AB  - Despite their low risk for malignant transformation, infiltrating endometriotic
      lesions harbor cancer-associated mutations.

PMID- 28592568
TI  - Congenital Zika virus infection: More than just microcephaly.
AB  - A nonhuman primate model demonstrates efficient vertical transmission of Zika
      virus.

PMID- 28592569
TI  - Rett syndrome modeling goes simian.
AB  - Rett syndrome modeling in monkey mirrors the human disorder.

PMID- 28592566
TI  - Combined immune checkpoint blockade as a therapeutic strategy for BRCA1-mutated
      breast cancer.
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors have emerged as a potent new class of anticancer
      therapy. They have changed the treatment landscape for a range of tumors,
      particularly those with a high mutational load. To date, however, modest results
      have been observed in breast cancer, where tumors are rarely hypermutated.
      Because BRCA1-associated tumors frequently exhibit a triple-negative phenotype
      with extensive lymphocyte infiltration, we explored their mutational load, immune
      profile, and response to checkpoint inhibition in a Brca1-deficient tumor model.
      BRCA1-mutated triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) exhibited an increased
      somatic mutational load and greater numbers of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes,
      with increased expression of immunomodulatory genes including PDCD1 (PD-1) and
      CTLA4, when compared to TNBCs from BRCA1-wild-type patients. Cisplatin treatment
      combined with dual anti-programmed death-1 and anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte
      associated antigen 4 therapy substantially augmented antitumor immunity in Brca1
      deficient mice, resulting in an avid systemic and intratumoral immune response.
      This response involved enhanced dendritic cell activation, reduced suppressive
      FOXP3+ regulatory T cells, and concomitant increase in the activation of tumor
      infiltrating cytotoxic CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, characterized by the induction of
      polyfunctional cytokine-producing T cells. Dual (but not single) checkpoint
      blockade together with cisplatin profoundly attenuated the growth of Brca1
      deficient tumors in vivo and improved survival. These findings provide a
      rationale for clinical studies of combined immune checkpoint blockade in BRCA1
      associated TNBC.

PMID- 28592570
TI  - Editorial retraction.

PMID- 28592571
TI  - Evaluating the short-term and long-term effects of an internet-based aural
      rehabilitation programme for hearing aid users in general clinical practice: a
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Guided internet-based intervention beyond hearing aid (HA) fitting has
      been shown to be efficacious in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). However,
      internet interventions have rarely been applied clinically as a part of regular
      aural rehabilitation (AR). Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of internet
      based AR for HA users from a clinical population. OUTCOME MEASURES: The Hearing
      Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE) was used as the primary outcome
      measure, and the Communication Strategies Scale (CSS) and the Hospital Anxiety
      and Depression Scale were used as secondary outcome measures. All questionnaires
      were administered before and directly after the intervention and at 6 months
      postintervention. METHODS: We used a parallel group design (RCT). The data were
      collected in 2013-2014 at three different clinics. Seventy-four HA users were
      randomly assigned to receive either full internet-based AR (intervention group,
      n=37) or one element of the internet-based AR (control group, n=37). RESULTS:
      Data were analysed following the intention-to-treat principle. Each group showed
      improved HHIE scores over time and did not differ significantly from each other.
      The intervention group showed significantly greater improvement compared with the
      control group for the CSS total and the non-verbal subscale scores. The
      intervention group and control group were also subdivided into two age groups: 20
      59 years and 60-80 years. Significantly better improvement on the CSS total and
      non-verbal subscale scores was found in the older group compared with the younger
      participants. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that participants in an internet
      based intervention applied in general clinical practice showed improved self
      reported communication skills compared with a control group. Receiving a full
      intervention was not more effective in improving self-reported hearing problems
      than receiving just one element of the internet-based intervention. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: This trial is registered at ClinicalTrals.gov, NCT01837550;
      results.

PMID- 28592572
TI  - Impact of iron fortification on the geospatial patterns of malaria and non
      malaria infection risk among young children: a secondary spatial analysis of
      clinical trial data from Ghana.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patterns of infection among children with varying levels of iron
      status in a malaria endemic area may vary spatially in ways requiring integrated
      infection and iron deficiency control programmes. The objective of this secondary
      analysis was to determine the geospatial factors associated with malaria and non
      malaria infection status among young Ghanaian children at the end of a 5-month
      iron intervention trial. DESIGN: Cluster-randomised controlled trial. SETTING:
      Rural Ghana PARTICIPANTS: 1943 children (6-35 months of age) with geocoded
      compounds. INTERVENTIONS: Point-of-use fortification with micronutrient powders
      containing vitamins and minerals with or without iron. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Generalised linear geostatistical models with a Matern spatial
      correlation function were used to analyse four infection response variables,
      defined using different combinations of inflammation (C-reactive protein, CRP >5
      mg/L) and malaria parasitaemia. Analyses were also stratified by treatment group
      to assess the independent effects of the iron intervention. RESULTS: The by-group
      and combined-group analyses both showed that baseline infection status was the
      most consistent predictor of endline infection risk, particularly when infection
      was defined using parasitaemia. In the No-iron group, age above 24 months and
      weight-for-length z-score at baseline were associated with high CRP at endline.
      Higher asset score was associated with a 12% decreased odds of endline infection,
      defined as CRP >5 mg/L and/or parasitaemia (OR 0.88, 95% credible interval 0.78
      to 0.98), regardless of group. Maps of the predicted risk and spatial random
      effects showed a defined low-risk area around the District centre, regardless of
      how infection was defined. CONCLUSION: In a clinical trial setting of iron
      fortification, where all children receive treated bed nets and access to malaria
      treatment, there may be geographical variation in the risk of infection with
      distinct high-risk and low-risk areas, particularly around municipal centres.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01001871.

PMID- 28592573
TI  - Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of the effect of dapagliflozin,
      metformin and exercise on glycaemic variability, body composition and
      cardiovascular risk in prediabetes (the PRE-D Trial).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The primary aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of three
      short-term glucose-lowering interventions (exercise, metformin and dapagliflozin)
      on glycaemic variability in overweight or obese men and women with elevated
      diabetes risk (ie, prediabetes, defined as haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)39-47 mmol/mol
      / 5.7%-6.4%). The secondary aims are to investigate the effects of the
      interventions on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: The Pre-D Trial is an investigator-initiated, randomised, controlled,
      parallel, open-label, superiority trial. The study aims to assign 120
      participants in a 1:1:1:1 ratio to receive one of four interventions for 13
      weeks: (1) dapagliflozin (10 mg once daily); (2) metformin (850 mg twice daily);
      (3) exercise (interval training, 5 days a week, 30 min per session); or (4)
      control (lifestyle advice). After the 13 weeks of intervention, a follow-up
      period of 13 weeks will follow to study the long-term effects of the
      interventions. The primary endpoint is reduction from baseline to end-of
      treatment (13 weeks) in mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions measured by
      continuous glucose monitoring. The secondary endpoints include concomitant
      changes in various measures of glucose metabolism, body weight, cardiorespiratory
      fitness, blood pressure, plasma lipids, objectively measured physical activity
      and dietary intake. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study protocol has been
      approved by the Ethics Committee of the Capital Region and the Danish Medicines
      Agency. Approval of data and biobank storage has been obtained from the Danish
      Data Protection Board. The study will be carried out according to the Declaration
      of Helsinki and to the regulations for good clinical practice. The results from
      this trial will allow a number of research questions concerning the effect of
      exercise versus dapagliflozin or metformin in HbA1c-defined prediabetes to be
      addressed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02695810.

PMID- 28592574
TI  - Dyspnoea-12: a translation and linguistic validation study in a Swedish setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dyspnoea consists of multiple dimensions including the intensity,
      unpleasantness, sensory qualities and emotional responses which may differ
      between patient groups, settings and in relation to treatment. The Dyspnoea-12 is
      a validated and convenient instrument for multidimensional measurement in
      English. We aimed to take forward a Swedish version of the Dyspnoea-12. METHODS:
      The linguistic validation of the Dyspnoea-12 was performed (Mapi Language
      Services, Lyon, France). The standardised procedure involved forward and backward
      translations by three independent certified translators and revisions after
      feedback from an in-country linguistic consultant, the developerand three native
      physicians. The understanding and convenience of the translated version was
      evaluated using qualitative in-depth interviews with five patients with dyspnoea.
      RESULTS: A Swedish version of the Dyspnoea-12 was elaborated and evaluated
      carefully according to international guidelines. The Swedish version, 'Dyspne
      12', has the same layout as the original version, including 12 items distributed
      on seven physical and five affective items. The Dyspnoea-12 is copyrighted by the
      developer but can be used free of charge after permission for not industry-funded
      research. CONCLUSION: A Swedish version of the Dyspnoea-12 is now available for
      clinical validation and multidimensional measurement across diseases and settings
      with the aim of improved evaluation and management of dyspnoea.

PMID- 28592575
TI  - A cross-sectional study measuring vanadium and chromium levels in paediatric
      patients with CKD.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although many secondary effects of high levels of vanadium (V) and
      chromium (Cr) overlap with symptoms seen in paediatric patients with chronic
      kidney disease (CKD), their plasma V and Cr levels are understudied. DESIGN:
      Ancillary cross-sectional study to a prospective, longitudinal, randomised
      controlled trial. SETTING: Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London Health
      Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: 36 children and
      adolescents 4-18 years of age with CKD. INTERVENTIONS: 1-6 trace element
      measurements per patient. Cystatin C (CysC) estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (eGFR) was calculated using the Filler formula. Plasma V and Cr levels were
      measured using high-resolution sector field inductively coupled mass
      spectrometry. Anthropomorphic data and blood parameters were collected from our
      electronic chart programme. Water Cr and V data were obtained from the Ontario
      Water (Stream) Quality Monitoring Network. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Primary outcomes: plasma Cr and V. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: age, season,
      CysC, CysC eGFR, and Cr and V levels in environmental water. RESULTS: The median
      (IQR) eGFR was 51 mL/min/1.73 m2 (35, 75). The median V level was 0.12 ug/L
      (0.09, 0.18), which was significantly greater than the 97.5th percentile of the
      reference interval of 0.088 ug/L; 32 patients had at least one set of V levels
      above the published reference interval. The median Cr level was 0.43 ug/L (0.36,
      0.54), which was also significantly greater than the established reference
      interval; 34 had at least one set of Cr levels above the published reference
      interval. V and Cr levels were moderately correlated. Only some patients had high
      environmental exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that paediatric patients
      with CKD have elevated plasma levels of V and Cr. This may be the result of both
      environmental exposure and a low eGFR. It may be necessary to monitor V and Cr
      levels in patients with an eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT02126293; HC#172241.

PMID- 28592576
TI  - Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for assessing perceived listening
      effort in hearing loss: protocol for a systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the UK, it is estimated that a disabling hearing loss (HL)
      affects 1 in 6 people. HL has functional, economic and social-emotional
      consequences for affected individuals. Intervention for HL focuses on improving
      access to the auditory signal using hearing aids or cochlear implants. However,
      even if sounds are audible and speech is understood, individuals with HL often
      report increased effort when listening.Listening effort (LE) may be measured
      using self-reported measures such as patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
      PROMs are validated questionnaires completed by patients to measure their
      perceptions of their own functional status and well-being. When selecting a PROM
      for use in research or clinical practice, it is necessary to appraise the
      evidence of a PROM's acceptability to patients, validity, responsiveness and
      reliability. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A systematic review of studies evaluating the
      measurement properties of PROMs available to measure LE in HL will be undertaken.
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO and Web of Science will be searched
      electronically. Reference lists of included studies, key journals and the grey
      literature will be hand-searched to identify further studies for inclusion. Two
      reviewers will independently complete title, abstract and full-text screening to
      determine study eligibility. Data on the characteristics of each study and each
      PROM will be extracted. Methodological quality of the included studies will be
      appraised using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health
      Measurement INstruments, the quality of included PROMs appraised and the
      credibility of the evidence assessed. A narrative synthesis will summarise
      extracted data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical permission is not required, as
      this study uses data from published research. Dissemination will be through
      publication in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and the lead
      author's doctoral dissertation. Findings may inform the selection of PROMs used
      to measure LE in HL.

PMID- 28592578
TI  - Bacterial meningitis in Finland, 1995-2014: a population-based observational
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bacterial meningitis remains an important cause of morbidity and
      mortality worldwide. Its epidemiological characteristics, however, are changing
      due to new vaccines and secular trends. Conjugate vaccines against Haemophilus
      influenzae type b and Streptococcus pneumoniae (10-valent) were introduced in
      1986 and 2010 in Finland. We assessed the disease burden and long-term trends of
      five common causes of bacterial meningitis in a population-based observational
      study. METHODS: A case was defined as isolation of S. pneumoniae, Neisseria
      meningitidis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Listeria monocytogenes or H. influenzae
      from cerebrospinal fluid and reported to national, population-based laboratory
      surveillance system during 1995-2014. We evaluated changes in incidence rates
      (Poisson or negative binomial regression), case fatality proportions (chi2) and
      age distribution of cases (Wilcoxon rank-sum). RESULTS: During 1995-2014, S.
      pneumoniae and N. meningitidis accounted for 78% of the total 1361 reported
      bacterial meningitis cases. H. influenzae accounted for 4% of cases (92% of
      isolates were non-type b). During the study period, the overall rate of bacterial
      meningitis per 1 00 000 person-years decreased from 1.88 cases in 1995 to 0.70
      cases in 2014 (4% annual decline (95% CI 3% to 5%). This was primarily due to a
      9% annual reduction in rates of N. meningitidis (95% CI 7% to 10%) and 2%
      decrease in S. pneumoniae (95% CI 1% to 4%). The median age of cases increased
      from 31 years in 1995-2004 to 43 years in 2005-2014 (p=0.0004). Overall case
      fatality proportion (10%) did not change from 2004 to 2009 to 2010-2014.
      CONCLUSIONS: Substantial decreases in bacterial meningitis were associated with
      infant conjugate vaccination against pneumococcal meningitis and secular trend in
      meningococcal meningitis in the absence of vaccination programme. Ongoing
      epidemiological surveillance is needed to identify trends, evaluate serotype
      distribution, assess vaccine impact and develop future vaccination strategies.

PMID- 28592577
TI  - The eSMART study protocol: a randomised controlled trial to evaluate electronic
      symptom management using the advanced symptom management system (ASyMS) remote
      technology for patients with cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: While some evidence exists that real-time remote symptom monitoring
      devices can decrease morbidity and prevent unplanned admissions in oncology
      patients, overall, these studies have significant methodological weaknesses. The
      electronic Symptom Management using the Advanced Symptom Management System
      (ASyMS) Remote Technology (eSMART) study is designed to specifically address
      these weaknesses with an appropriately powered, repeated-measures, parallel-group
      stratified randomised controlled trial of oncology patients. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: A total of 1108 patients scheduled to commence first-line chemotherapy
      (CTX) for breast, colorectal or haematological cancer will be recruited from
      multiple sites across five European countries.Patients will be randomised (1:1)
      to the ASyMS intervention (intervention group) or to standard care currently
      available at each site (control group). Patients in the control and intervention
      groups will complete a demographic and clinical questionnaire, as well as a set
      of valid and reliable electronic patient-reported outcome measures at enrolment,
      after each of their CTX cycles (up to a maximum of six cycles) and at 3, 6, 9 and
      12 months after completion of their sixth cycle of CTX. Outcomes that will be
      assessed include symptom burden (primary outcome), quality of life, supportive
      care needs, anxiety, self-care self-efficacy, work limitations and cost
      effectiveness and, from a health professional perspective, changes in clinical
      practice (secondary outcomes). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval will be
      obtained prior to the implementation of all major study amendments. Applications
      will be submitted to all of the ethics committees that granted initial
      approval.eSMART received approval from the relevant ethics committees at all of
      the clinical sites across the five participating countries. In collaboration with
      the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), the trial results will be
      disseminated through publications in scientific journals, presentations at
      international conferences, and postings on the eSMART website and other relevant
      clinician and consumer websites; establishment of an eSMART website
      (www.esmartproject.eu) with publicly accessible general information; creation of
      an eSMART Twitter Handle, and production of a toolkit for implementing/utilising
      the ASyMS technology in a variety of clinical practices and other transferable
      health care contexts. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02356081.

PMID- 28592579
TI  - Attitudes and behaviours of adolescents towards antibiotics and self-care for
      respiratory tract infections: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To understand attitudes and behaviours of adolescents towards
      antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance and respiratory tract infections. DESIGN:
      Qualitative approach informed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Semi-structured
      interviews and focus groups were undertaken. We aimed to inform the development
      of an intervention in an international setting to improve antibiotic use among
      adolescents; therefore on completion of thematic analysis, findings were
      triangulated with qualitative data from similar studies in France, Saudi Arabia
      and Cyprus to elucidate differences in the behaviour change model and adaptation
      to diverse contexts. SETTING: 7 educational establishments from the south of
      England. PARTICIPANTS: 53 adolescents (16-18 years) participated in seven focus
      groups and 21 participated in interviews. RESULTS: Most participants had taken
      antibiotics and likened them to other common medications such as painkillers;
      they reported that their peers treat antibiotics like a 'cure-all' and that they
      themselves were not interested in antibiotics as a discussion topic. They
      demonstrated low knowledge of the difference between viral and bacterial
      infections.Participants self-cared for colds and flu but believed antibiotics are
      required to treat other RTIs such as tonsillitis, which they perceived as more
      'serious'. Past history of taking antibiotics for RTIs instilled the belief that
      antibiotics were required for future RTIs. Those who characterised themselves as
      'non-science students' were less informed about antibiotics and AMR. Most
      participants felt that AMR was irrelevant to them and their peers. Some 'non
      science' students thought resistance was a property of the body, rather than
      bacteria. CONCLUSION: Addressing adolescents' misperceptions about antibiotics
      and the treatment of RTIs using a behaviour change intervention should help
      improve antibiotic awareness and may break the cycle of patient demand for
      antibiotics to treat RTIs amongst this group. Schools should consider educating
      all students in further education about antibiotic usage and AMR, not only those
      taking science.

PMID- 28592580
TI  - The influence of multisite pain and psychological comorbidity on prognosis of
      chronic low back pain: longitudinal data from the Norwegian HUNT Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the prospective influence of
      multisite pain, depression, anxiety, self-rated health and pain-related
      disability on recovery from chronic low back pain (LBP). SETTING: The data is
      derived from the second (1995-1997) and third (2006-2008) wave of the Nord
      Trondelag Health Study (HUNT) in Norway. PARTICIPANTS: The study population
      comprises 4484 women and 3039 men in the Norwegian HUNT Study who reported
      chronic LBP at baseline in 1995-1997. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary
      outcome was recovery from chronic LBP at the 11-year follow-up. Persons not
      reporting pain and/or stiffness for at least three consecutive months during the
      last year were defined as recovered. A Poisson regression model was used to
      estimate adjusted risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs. RESULTS: At follow-up, 1822
      (40.6%) women and 1578 (51.9%) men reported recovery from chronic LBP. The
      probability of recovery was inversely associated with number of pain sites (P
      trend<0.001). Compared with reporting 2-3 pain sites, persons with only LBP had a
      slightly higher probability of recovery (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.22 in women
      and RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.21 in men), whereas people reporting 6-9 pain sites
      had substantially lower probability of recovery (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.63 in
      women and RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.79 in men). Poor/not so good self-rated
      general health, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and pain-related disability
      in work and leisure were all associated with reduced probability of recovery, but
      there was no statistical interaction between multisite pain and these
      comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing number of pain sites was inversely
      associated with recovery from chronic LBP. In addition, factors such as poor self
      rated health, psychological symptoms and pain-related disability may further
      reduce the probability of recovery from chronic LBP.

PMID- 28592581
TI  - The STOP-AB trial protocol: efficacy and safety of discontinuing patient
      antibiotic treatment when physicians no longer consider it necessary.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since 2011, the Spanish Society of Family Medicine has recommended
      general practitioners (GPs) to ask their patients to stop taking antibiotics when
      they suspect a viral infection. However, this practice is seldom used because
      uncertainty about diagnosis, and fear of consequences of discontinuing antibiotic
      therapy, as well as perceived pressure to continue prescribing antibiotics and
      potential conflict with patients are more of a concern for GPs than antibiotic
      resistance. The main objective of this study is to determine whether
      discontinuation of antibiotic therapy when a GP no longer considers it necessary
      has any impact on the number of days with severe symptoms. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:
      This is a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled clinical trial. The
      study was conducted in 10 primary care centres in Spain. We included patients
      from 18 to 75 years of age with uncomplicated acute respiratory tract infections
      acute rhinosinusitis, acute sore throat, influenza or acute bronchitis-who had
      previously taken any dose of antibiotic for <3 days, which physicians no longer
      considered necessary. The patients were randomly assigned to the usual strategy
      of continuing antibiotic treatment or to discontinuing antibiotic therapy. A
      sample size of 240 patients per group was calculated on the basis of a reduction
      of 1 day in the duration of severe symptoms being a clinically relevant outcome.
      The primary outcome was the duration of severe symptoms, that is, symptoms scored
      5 or 6 by means of validated symptom diaries. Secondary outcomes included
      antibiotics taken, adverse events, patient satisfaction and complications within
      the first 3 months. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by the
      Ethical Board of Fundacio Jordi Gol i Gurina (reference number: 16/093). The
      findings of this trial will bedisseminated through research conferences and peer
      reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02900820; pre-results.

PMID- 28592582
TI  - Adverse childhood or adult experiences and risk of bilateral oophorectomy: a
      population-based case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bilateral oophorectomy has commonly been performed in conjunction
      with hysterectomy even in women without a clear ovarian indication; however,
      oophorectomy may have long-term deleterious consequences. To better understand
      this surgical practice from the woman's perspective, we studied the possible
      association of adverse childhood or adult experiences with the subsequent
      occurrence of bilateral oophorectomy. DESIGN: Population-based case-control
      study. SETTING: Olmsted County, Minnesota (USA). PARTICIPANTS: From an
      established population-based cohort study, we sampled 128 women who underwent
      bilateral oophorectomy before age 46 years for a non-cancerous condition in 1988
      2007 (cases) and 128 age-matched controls (+/-1 year). METHODS: Information about
      adverse experiences was abstracted from the medical records dating back to age 15
      years or earlier archived in the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) records
      linkage system. Adverse childhood experiences were summarised using the Adverse
      Childhood Experience (ACE) score. RESULTS: We observed an association of
      bilateral oophorectomy performed before age 46 years with verbal or emotional
      abuse, physical abuse, any abuse, substance abuse in the household, and with an
      ACE score >=1 experienced before age 19 years (OR=3.23; 95% CI 1.73 to 6.02;
      p<0.001). In women who underwent the oophorectomy before age 40 years, we also
      observed a strong association with physical abuse experienced during adulthood
      (OR=4.33; 95% CI 1.23 to 15.21; p=0.02). Several of the associations were higher
      in women who underwent oophorectomy at a younger age (<40 years) and in women
      without an ovarian indication for the surgery. None of the psychosocial or
      medical variables explored as potential confounders or intervening variables
      changed the results noticeably. CONCLUSIONS: Women who suffered adverse childhood
      experiences or adult abuse are at increased risk of undergoing bilateral
      oophorectomy before menopause. We suggest that the association may be explained
      by a series of biological, emotional, and psychodynamic mechanisms.

PMID- 28592583
TI  - Rehabilitation interventions to improve patient-reported outcomes and physical
      fitness in survivors of muscle invasive bladder cancer: a systematic review
      protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Survivors of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) experience
      physical and psychosocial side effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment. These
      negative side effects have a crucial impact on their health-related quality of
      life (HRQoL). To date, there is evidence that rehabilitation interventions such
      as physical activity and psychosocial support have a positive effect on the HRQoL
      of cancer survivors. Unfortunately, there are no specific guidelines for
      rehabilitation or survivorship programmes for MIBC survivors. Therefore, this
      systematic review aims to assess the effects of exercise-based and psychosocial
      rehabilitation interventions in MIBC survivors. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The
      approach of this review is consistent with the Cochrane methodology. Randomized
      controlled trials and non-randomised studies will be included. The population of
      interest is patients (>=18 years of age) with diagnosis of MIBC or high-risk non
      MIBC for whom a radical cystectomy is indicated. There will be two eligible
      intervention types for inclusion: exercise-based and psychosocial rehabilitation
      interventions. The primary outcome measures are patient-reported outcomes (eg,
      HRQoL, fatigue and pain) and physical fitness. Studies will be identified
      independently by two review authors by searching the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and the Physiotherapy Evidence
      Database. A third reviewer will be asked by disagreements. Risk of bias will be
      assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
      Data will be summarised descriptively. If homogeneity of the studies is
      sufficient, meta-analysis will be undertaken. The broad scope of this review (ie,
      different interventions and study designs) is needed to have a comprehensive view
      on effective rehabilitation interventions. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics
      approval is not required, as no primary data will be collected. Results will be
      disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication.

PMID- 28592585
TI  - A systematic review of alcohol screening and assessment measures for young
      people: a study protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Alcohol consumption creates a significant public health burden, and
      young people who drink alcohol place themselves at risk of harm. Expert guidance
      and reviews have highlighted the pressing need for reliable and valid, age
      appropriate alcohol screening and assessment measures for young people. The
      proposed systematic review will evaluate existing alcohol screening and
      assessment measures for young people aged 24 and under. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Six
      electronic databases will be searched for published and grey literature. In
      addition, reverse and forward citation searching and consultation with experts
      will be performed. Three sets of search terms will be combined, including alcohol
      use/problems, young people and validation studies. The titles and abstracts of
      reports from the searches will be screened, and potentially relevant full-text
      reports will be retrieved and independently assessed for inclusion by two
      reviewers based on prespecified criteria. Discrete validation studies within
      included reports will then be assessed for eligibility. There will be an a priori
      basic quality threshold for predictive validity, internal and test-retest for
      studies to warrant full data extraction. Studies above the quality threshold will
      be assessed for quality using the modified consensus-based standards for the
      selection of health measurement instruments checklist and a quality assessment
      tool for diagnostic accuracy studies. DISSEMINATION: This review will highlight
      the best performing measures both for screening and assessment based on their
      psychometric properties and the quality of the validation studies supporting
      their use. Providing clear guidance on which existing measures perform best to
      screen and assess alcohol use and problems in young people will inform policy,
      practice and decision-making, and clarify the need for further research. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews,
      CRD42016053330.

PMID- 28592586
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28592584
TI  - Utilising advance care planning videos to empower perioperative cancer patients
      and families: a study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite positive health outcomes associated with advance care
      planning (ACP), little research has investigated the impact of ACP in surgical
      populations. Our goal is to evaluate how an ACP intervention video impacts the
      patient centredness and ACP of the patient-surgeon conversation during the
      presurgical consent visit. We hypothesise that patients who view the intervention
      will engage in a more patient-centred communication with their surgeons compared
      with patients who view a control video. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Randomised
      controlled superiority trial of an ACP video with two study arms (intervention
      ACP video and control video) and four visits (baseline, presurgical consent,
      postoperative 1 week and postoperative 1 month). Surgeons, patients, principal
      investigator and analysts are blinded to the randomisation assignment. SETTING:
      Single, academic, inner city and tertiary care hospital. Data collection began
      July 16, 2015 and continues to March 2017. PARTICIPANTS: Patients recruited from
      nine surgical oncology clinics who are undergoing major cancer surgery.
      INTERVENTIONS: In the intervention arm, patients view a patient preparedness
      video developed through extensive engagement with patients, surgeons and other
      stakeholders. Patients randomised to the control arm viewed an informational
      video about the hospital surgical programme. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary
      Outcome: Patient centredness and ACP of patient-surgeon conversations during the
      presurgical consent visit as measured through the Roter Interaction Analysis
      System. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: patient Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score;
      patient goals of care; patient, companion and surgeon satisfaction; video
      helpfulness; medical decision maker designation; and the frequency patients watch
      the video. Intent-to-treat analysis will be used to assess the impact of video
      assignment on outcomes. Sensitivity analyses will assess whether there are
      differential effects contingent on patient or surgeon characteristics. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the Johns Hopkins School of
      Medicine institutional review board and is registered on clinicaltrials.gov
      (NCT02489799, First received: July 1, 2015). TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02489799.

PMID- 28592588
TI  - Fake peer review - too good to be true.

PMID- 28592590
TI  - Respite for 2-Dimensional Right Ventricular Imaging?

PMID- 28592589
TI  - Right Heart End-Systolic Remodeling Index Strongly Predicts Outcomes in Pulmonary
      Arterial Hypertension: Comparison With Validated Models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Right ventricular (RV) end-systolic dimensions provide information on
      both size and function. We investigated whether an internally scaled index of end
      systolic dimension is incremental to well-validated prognostic scores in
      pulmonary arterial hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS: From 2005 to 2014, 228
      patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension were prospectively enrolled. RV end
      systolic remodeling index (RVESRI) was defined by lateral length divided by
      septal height. The incremental values of RV free wall longitudinal strain and
      RVESRI to risk scores were determined. Mean age was 49+/-14 years, 78% were
      female, 33% had connective tissue disease, 52% were in New York Heart Association
      class >=III, and mean pulmonary vascular resistance was 11.2+/-6.4 WU. RVESRI and
      right atrial area were strongly connected to the other right heart metrics. Three
      zones of adaptation (adapted, maladapted, and severely maladapted) were
      identified based on the RVESRI to RV systolic pressure relationship. During a
      mean follow-up of 3.9+/-2.4 years, the primary end point of death, transplant, or
      admission for heart failure was reached in 88 patients. RVESRI was incremental to
      risk prediction scores in pulmonary arterial hypertension, including the Registry
      to Evaluate Early and Long-Term PAH Disease Management score, the Pulmonary
      Hypertension Connection equation, and the Mayo Clinic model. Using multivariable
      analysis, New York Heart Association class III/IV, RVESRI, and log NT-proBNP (N
      Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide) were retained (chi2, 62.2; P<0.0001).
      Changes in RVESRI at 1 year (n=203) were predictive of outcome; patients
      initiated on prostanoid therapy showed the greatest improvement in RVESRI. Among
      right heart metrics, RVESRI demonstrated the best test-retest characteristics.
      CONCLUSIONS: RVESRI is a simple reproducible prognostic marker in patients with
      pulmonary arterial hypertension.

PMID- 28592587
TI  - Linaclotide activates guanylate cyclase-C/cGMP/protein kinase-II-dependent
      trafficking of CFTR in the intestine.
AB  - The transmembrane receptor guanylyl cyclase-C (GC-C), expressed on enterocytes
      along the intestine, is the molecular target of the GC-C agonist peptide
      linaclotide, an FDA-approved drug for treatment of adult patients with Irritable
      Bowel Syndrome with Constipation and Chronic Idiopathic Constipation. Polarized
      human colonic intestinal cells (T84, CaCo-2BBe) rat and human intestinal tissues
      were employed to examine cellular signaling and cystic fibrosis transmembrane
      conductance regulator (CFTR)-trafficking pathways activated by linaclotide using
      confocal microscopy, in vivo surface biotinylation, and protein kinase-II (PKG
      II) activity assays. Expression and activity of GC-C/cGMP pathway components were
      determined by PCR, western blot, and cGMP assays. Fluid secretion as a marker of
      CFTR cell surface translocation was determined using in vivo rat intestinal
      loops. Linaclotide treatment (30 min) induced robust fluid secretion and
      translocation of CFTR from subapical compartments to the cell surface in rat
      intestinal loops. Similarly, linaclotide treatment (30 min) of T84 and CaCo-2BBe
      cells increased cell surface CFTR levels. Linaclotide-induced activation of the
      GC-C/cGMP/PKGII signaling pathway resulted in elevated intracellular cGMP and
      pVASPser239 phosphorylation. Inhibition or silencing of PKGII significantly
      attenuated linaclotide-induced CFTR trafficking to the apical membrane.
      Inhibition of protein kinase-A (PKA) also attenuated linaclotide-induced CFTR
      cell surface trafficking, implying cGMP-dependent cross-activation of PKA
      pathway. Together, these findings support linaclotide-induced activation of the
      GC-C/cGMP/PKG-II/CFTR pathway as the major pathway of linaclotide-mediated
      intestinal fluid secretion, and that linaclotide-dependent CFTR activation and
      recruitment/trafficking of CFTR from subapical vesicles to the cell surface is an
      important step in this process.

PMID- 28592591
TI  - Identification of High-Risk Patients After ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial
      Infarction: Comparison Between Angiographic and Magnetic Resonance Parameters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of angiographic no reflow (NR) and microvascular
      obstruction (MVO) at cardiac magnetic resonance is significantly different. The
      aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of NR and MVO in a cohort of
      consecutive patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction treated with
      primary percutaneous coronary interventions. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this
      prospective study, 88 consecutive ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction
      patients were enrolled within 12 hours from symptoms onset. All patients
      underwent cardiac magnetic resonance between 2 and 5 days after primary
      percutaneous coronary interventions. NR was defined as thrombolysis in myocardial
      infarction flow grade <=2 and as myocardial blush grade <2. Presence of early or
      late MVO was assessed 4 and 10 to 15 minutes after gadolinium injection. Thirty
      one patients (36%) had evidence of NR, whereas 58 (67%) had MVO. One NR patient
      did not have MVO. In contrast, NR was present in 30 of 58 MVO patients. MVO
      patients had higher troponin T peak (P<0.0001), larger late gadolinium
      enhancement area (P<0.0001), and lower left ventricular ejection fraction
      (P<0.001) because of an increased end-systolic volume (P=0.015). In contrast,
      patients with NR had higher troponin T peak (P=0.006) but similar late gadolinium
      enhancement area (P=0.24) compared with those without NR. Major cardiovascular
      adverse events-free survival was worse in patients with MVO (P=0.014), although
      it was similar in patients with and without NR (P=0.33). The independent
      predictors of major cardiovascular adverse events were MVO (hazard ratio, 3.418;
      P=0.046) and ischemic time (hazard ratio, 1.016; P<0.001). MVO was a strong
      predictor of target lesion revascularization occurrence (P=0.017 for log-rank
      test). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with coronary angiography performed soon after
      recanalization of the culprit artery, cardiac magnetic resonance performed during
      index hospitalization provides better prognostic stratification of ST-segment
      elevation myocardial infarction patients treated with primary percutaneous
      coronary interventions. Another novel finding of our study is a significantly
      increased rate of clinically driven target lesion revascularization in the index
      event culprit vessel in patients with MVO.

PMID- 28592594
TI  - Arterial Loading and the Prevention of Atrial Dysfunction.

PMID- 28592595
TI  - Coronary Microvascular Obstruction: Key Factor in the Prognosis of ST-Segment
      Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

PMID- 28592593
TI  - Aortic Cross-Sectional Area/Height Ratio and Outcomes in Patients With Bicuspid
      Aortic Valve and a Dilated Ascending Aorta.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with bicuspid aortic valve and dilated proximal ascending
      aorta, we sought to assess (1) factors associated with increased longer-term
      cardiovascular mortality and (2) incremental prognostic use of indexing aortic
      root to patient height. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 969 consecutive bicuspid
      aortic valve patients (50+/-13 years; 87% men) with proximal aorta >=4 cm, who
      also had a gated contrast-enhanced thoracic computed tomography or magnetic
      resonance angiography. A ratio of ascending aortic area/height was calculated on
      tomography, and >=10 cm2/m was considered abnormal, as previously reported.
      Society of Thoracic Surgeons score and cardiovascular death were recorded.
      Greater than or equal to III+ aortic regurgitation and severe aortic stenosis
      were seen in 37% and 10%, respectively. Society of Thoracic Surgeons score and
      right ventricular systolic pressure were 2+/-3 and 15+/-16 mm Hg, respectively.
      Abnormal ascending aortic area/height ratio was noted in 33%; 44% underwent
      ascending aortic surgery at 34 days. At 10.8 years (interquartile range, 9.6
      12.3), 82 (9%) died (0.4% in-hospital postoperative mortality). On multivariable
      Cox survival analysis, ascending aortic area/height ratio (hazard ratio, 2; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.20-3.35) was associated with cardiovascular death, whereas
      aortic surgery (hazard ratio, 0.46; confidence interval, 0.26-0.80) was
      associated with improved survival (both P<0.01). Of the 405 patients with
      ascending aortic diameter of 4.5 to 5.5 cm, 64% had an abnormal ascending aortic
      area/height ratio, and 70% deaths occurred in patients with an abnormal ratio.
      CONCLUSIONS: In bicuspid aortic valve patients with dilated proximal ascending
      aorta, ascending aortic area/height ratio was independently associated with
      cardiovascular death.

PMID- 28592592
TI  - Late Systolic Myocardial Loading Is Associated With Left Atrial Dysfunction in
      Hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Late systolic load has been shown to cause diastolic dysfunction in
      animal models. Although the systolic loading sequence of the ventricular
      myocardium likely affects its coupling with the left atrium (LA), this issue has
      not been investigated in humans. We aimed to assess the relationship between the
      myocardial loading sequence and LA function in human hypertension. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: We studied 260 subjects with hypertension and 19 normotensive age- and
      sex-matched controls. Time-resolved central pressure and left ventricular
      geometry were measured with carotid tonometry and cardiac magnetic resonance
      imaging, respectively, for computation of time-resolved ejection-phase myocardial
      wall stress (MWS). The ratio of late/early ejection-phase MWS time integrals was
      computed as an index of late systolic myocardial load. Atrial mechanics were
      measured with cine-steady-state free-precession magnetic resonance imaging using
      feature-tracking algorithms. Compared with normotensive controls, hypertensive
      participants demonstrated increased late/early ejection-phase MWS and reduced LA
      function. Greater levels of late/early ejection-phase MWS were associated with
      reduced LA conduit, reservoir, and booster pump LA function. In models that
      included early and late ejection-phase MWS as independent correlates of LA
      function, late systolic MWS was associated with lower, whereas early systolic MWS
      was associated with greater LA function, indicating an effect of the relative
      loading sequence (late versus early MWS) on LA function. These relationships
      persisted after adjustment for multiple potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: A
      myocardial loading sequence characterized by prominent late systolic MWS was
      independently associated with atrial dysfunction. In the context of available
      experimental data, our findings support the deleterious effects of late systolic
      loading on ventricular-atrial coupling.

PMID- 28592596
TI  - Indexed Aortic Area in Bicuspid Valve Disease: An Important Step Toward a More
      Personalized Approach to Risk Prediction and Clinical Decision Making.

PMID- 28592597
TI  - Trends in added sugars from packaged beverages available and purchased by US
      households, 2007-2012.
AB  - Background: The US Food and Drug Administration's updated nutrition labeling
      requirements will include added sugars starting in July 2018, but no measure
      currently exists to identify the added sugar content of products and what it
      represents among purchases. Beverages are one of the first targets for reducing
      added sugar consumption, and hence are the focus here.Objective: Our goal was to
      estimate trends in added sugars in nonalcoholic packaged beverage products
      available in the United States and to estimate amounts of added sugars obtained
      from these beverages given the purchases of US households overall and by
      subpopulations.Design: On the basis of nutrition label data from multiple
      sources, we used a stepwise approach to derive the added sugar content of 160,713
      beverage products recorded as purchased by US households in 2007-2012 (345,193
      observations from 110,539 unique households). We estimated the amounts of added
      sugars obtained from packaged beverages US households reported buying in 2007
      2008, 2009-2010, and 2011-2012, overall and by subpopulations based on household
      composition, race/ethnicity, and income. The key outcomes are added sugars in
      terms of per capita grams per day and the percentage of calories from packaged
      beverages.Results: Packaged beverages alone account for per capita consumption of
      12 g/d of added sugars purchased by US households in 2007-2012, representing 32
      48% of calories from packaged beverages. Whereas the absolute amount of added
      sugars from beverages has not changed meaningfully over time, the relative
      contribution of added sugars to calories from beverages has increased. Non
      Hispanic black households and low-income households obtain both higher absolute
      and relative amounts of added sugars from beverages than non-Hispanic white
      households and high-income households (all P < 0.01).Conclusions: These results
      provide measures of added sugars from packaged beverages at both the product
      level and the population level in the United States and can be used for
      comparisons after the revised nutrition labels are implemented and for future
      monitoring.

PMID- 28592598
TI  - Twenty-year trends in dietary patterns in French-speaking Switzerland: toward
      healthier eating.
AB  - Background: Dietary patterns provide a summary of dietary intake, but to our
      knowledge, few studies have assessed trends in dietary patterns in the
      population.Objective: The aim was to assess 20-y trends in dietary patterns in a
      representative sample of the Geneva, Switzerland, population with the
      consideration of age, sex, education, and generation.Design: Repeated,
      independent cross-sectional studies were conducted between 1993 and 2014. Dietary
      intake was assessed by using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Dietary
      patterns were assessed by using principal components analyses.Results: Among
      18,763 adults, 1 healthy ("fish and vegetables") and 2 unhealthy ("meat and
      chips" and "chocolate and sweets") patterns were identified. Scores for the "fish
      and vegetables" pattern increased, whereas the "meat and chips" and "chocolate
      and sweets" pattern scores decreased in both sexes and across all age groups. The
      stronger increase in the "fish and vegetables" pattern score among the less well
      educated participants led to a narrowing of educational differences (mean +/- SD
      scores in 1993: -0.56 +/- 1.39 compared with -0.05 +/- 1.58 in low- compared with
      highly educated groups, respectively; P < 0.001; scores in 2014: 0.28 +/- 1.64
      compared with 0.24 +/- 1.83, respectively; P = 0.772). Generational analysis
      showed that older age groups tended to show smaller changes than younger age
      groups: the yearly score change in "chocolate and sweets" was -0.021 (95% CI: 
      0.027, -0.014; P < 0.001) for the 35- to 44-y cohort compared with -0.002 (95%
      CI: -0.009, 0.005; P = 0.546) for the 45- to 54-y cohort.Conclusions: Three
      dietary patterns were identified; scores for the "fish and vegetables" pattern
      increased, whereas the "meat and chips" and the "chocolate and sweets" pattern
      scores decreased. The stronger increases in the "fish and vegetables" pattern
      score among the less well-educated participants led to a smaller difference in
      dietary intake across the different educational levels.

PMID- 28592599
TI  - Modeled dietary impact of industry-wide food and beverage reformulations in the
      United States and France.
AB  - Background: Food reformulation has been identified as a strategy to improve
      nutritional intakes; however, little is known about the potential impact of
      industry-wide reformulations.Objective: The aim of the study was to model the
      dietary impact of food and beverage reformulation following the Nestle
      Nutritional Profiling System (NNPS) standards for children, adolescents, and
      adults in the United States and France.Design: Dietary intakes of individuals
      aged >=4 y were retrieved from nationally representative surveys: the US NHANES
      2011-2012 (n = 7456) and the French Individual and National Survey on Food
      Consumption (n = 3330). The composition of all foods and beverages consumed were
      compared with the NNPS standards for energy, total and saturated fats, sodium,
      added sugars, protein, fiber, and calcium. Two scenarios were modeled. In the
      first, the nutrient content of foods and beverages was adjusted to the NNPS
      standards if they were not met. In the second, products not meeting the standards
      were replaced by the most nutritionally similar alternative meeting the standards
      from the same category. Dietary intakes were assessed against local nutrient
      recommendations, and analyses were stratified by body mass index and
      socioeconomic status.Results: Scenarios 1 and 2 showed reductions in US adults'
      mean daily energy (-88 and -225 kcal, respectively), saturated fats (-4.2, -6.9
      g), sodium (-406, -324 mg), and added sugars (-29.4, -35.8 g). Similar trends
      were observed for US youth and in France. The effects on fiber and calcium were
      limited. In the United States, the social gradient of added sugars intake was
      attenuated in both scenarios compared with the baseline values.Conclusions:
      Potential industry-wide reformulation of the food supply could lead to higher
      compliance with recommendations in both the United States and France, and across
      all socioeconomic groups. NNPS standards seemed to be especially effective for
      nutrients consumed in excess.

PMID- 28592601
TI  - The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program: benefit and concerns.

PMID- 28592600
TI  - Association between noncow milk beverage consumption and childhood height.
AB  - Background: Cow milk consumption in childhood has been associated with increased
      height, which is an important measure of children's growth and development. Many
      parents are choosing noncow milk beverages such as soy and almond milk because of
      perceived health benefits. However, noncow milk contains less protein and fat
      than cow milk and may not have the same effect on height.Objective: We sought to
      determine whether there is an association between noncow milk consumption and
      lower height in childhood and assess whether cow milk consumption mediates the
      relation between noncow milk consumption and height.Design: This was a cross
      sectional study of 5034 healthy Canadian children aged 24-72 mo enrolled in the
      Applied Research Group for Kids cohort. The primary exposure was the volume of
      noncow milk consumption (number of 250-mL cups per day). The primary outcome was
      height, which was measured as height-for-age z score. Multivariable linear
      regression was used to determine the association between noncow milk consumption
      and height. A mediation analysis was conducted to explore whether cow milk
      consumption mediated the association between noncow milk consumption and
      height.Results: There was a dose-dependent association between higher noncow milk
      consumption and lower height (P < 0.0001). For each daily cup of noncow milk
      consumed, children were 0.4 cm (95% CI: 0.2, 0.8 cm) shorter. In the mediation
      analysis, lower cow milk consumption only partially mediated the association
      between noncow milk consumption and lower height. The height difference for a
      child aged 3 y consuming 3 cups noncow milk/d relative to 3 cups cow milk/d was
      1.5 cm (95% CI: 0.8, 2.0 cm).Conclusions: Noncow milk consumption was associated
      with lower childhood height. Future research is needed to understand the causal
      relations between noncow milk consumption and height.

PMID- 28592602
TI  - Cholecystokinin responsiveness varies across the population dependent on
      metabolic phenotype.
AB  - Background: Cholecystokinin (CCK) is an important satiety factor, acting at type
      1 receptors (CCK1Rs) on vagal afferent neurons; however, CCK agonists have failed
      clinical trials for obesity. We postulated that CCK1R function might be defective
      in such patients due to abnormal membrane composition, such as that observed in
      cholesterol gallstone disease.Objective: Due to the challenges in directly
      studying CCK1Rs relevant to appetite control, our goal was to develop and apply a
      method to determine the impact of a patient's own cellular environment on CCK
      stimulus-activity coupling and to determine whether CCK sensitivity correlated
      with the metabolic phenotype of a high-risk population.Design: Wild-type CCK1Rs
      were expressed on leukocytes from 112 Hispanic patients by using adenoviral
      transduction and 24-h culture, with quantitation of cholesterol composition and
      intracellular calcium responses to CCK. Results were correlated with clinical,
      biochemical, and morphometric characteristics.Results: Broad ranges of cellular
      cholesterol and CCK responsiveness were observed, with elevated cholesterol
      correlated with reduced CCK sensitivity. This was prominent with increasing
      degrees of obesity and the presence of diabetes, particularly when poorly
      controlled. No single standard clinical metric correlated directly with CCK
      responsiveness. Reduced CCK sensitivity best correlated with elevated serum
      triglycerides in normal-weight participants and with low HDL concentrations and
      elevated glycated hemoglobin in obese and diabetic patients.Conclusions: CCK
      responsiveness varies widely across the population, with reduced signaling in
      patients with obesity and diabetes. This could explain the failure of CCK
      agonists in previous clinical trials and supports the rationale to develop
      corrective modulators to reverse this defective servomechanism for appetite
      control. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03121755.

PMID- 28592603
TI  - Chronic fructose substitution for glucose or sucrose in food or beverages has
      little effect on fasting blood glucose, insulin, or triglycerides: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Background: Conflicting evidence exists on the role of long-term fructose
      consumption on health. No systematic review has addressed the effect of
      isoenergetic fructose replacement of other sugars and its effect on glycated
      hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, insulin, and triglycerides.Objective:
      The objective of this study was to review the evidence for a reduction in fasting
      glycemic and insulinemic markers after chronic, isoenergetic replacement of
      glucose or sucrose in foods or beverages by fructose. The target populations were
      persons without diabetes, those with impaired glucose tolerance, and those with
      type 2 diabetes.Design: We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the
      WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal, and
      clinicaltrials.gov The date of the last search was 26 April 2016. We included
      randomized controlled trials of isoenergetic replacement of glucose, sucrose, or
      both by fructose in adults or children with or without diabetes of >=2 wk
      duration that measured fasting blood glucose. The main outcomes analyzed were
      fasting blood glucose and insulin as well as fasting triglycerides, blood
      lipoproteins, HbA1c, and body weight.Results: We included 14 comparison arms from
      11 trials, including 277 patients. The studies varied in length from 2 to 10 wk
      (mean: 28 d) and included doses of fructose between 40 and 150 g/d (mean: 68
      g/d). Fructose substitution in some subgroups resulted in significantly but only
      slightly lowered fasting blood glucose (-0.14 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.24, -0.036
      mmol/L), HbA1c [-10 g/L (95% CI: -12.90, -7.10 g/L; impaired glucose tolerance)
      and -6 g/L (95% CI: -8.47, -3.53 g/L; normoglycemia)], triglycerides (-0.08
      mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.14, -0.02 mmol/L), and body weight (-1.40 kg; 95% CI: -2.07, 
      0.74 kg). There was no effect on fasting blood insulin or blood
      lipids.Conclusions: The evidence suggests that the substitution of fructose for
      glucose or sucrose in food or beverages may be of benefit to individuals,
      particularly those with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes. However,
      additional high-quality studies in these populations are required.

PMID- 28592604
TI  - A methodologic framework for modeling and assessing biomarkers of environmental
      enteropathy as predictors of growth in infants: an example from a Peruvian birth
      cohort.
AB  - Background: Environmental enteropathy (EE) impairs the gut's absorptive capacity
      and immune function and causes decelerations in statural growth that manifest
      gradually over time.Objective: To illustrate an approach for assessing emerging
      biomarkers of EE, we separately assessed the associations between 3 such markers
      and subsequent nutritional status.Design: Stool samples were routinely collected
      between January 2010 and November 2014 from a cohort of 303 Peruvian infants and
      analyzed for concentrations of the biomarkers alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT),
      myeloperoxidase, and neopterin. For each marker, a mixed-effects linear
      regression model was fitted for length-for-age z scores (LAZs) obtained from
      anthropometric assessments that incorporated covariate predictors, polynomial
      terms for age, and product interaction terms to test associations over varying
      lag lengths. The biomarkers' contribution to the models was assessed with the use
      of the likelihood ratio test and partial R2 statistics.Results: Test statistics
      for the combined inclusion of the 4-model terms that involved the biomarker were
      highly statistically significant for AAT (28.71; P < 0.0001) and myeloperoxidase
      (62.79; P < 0.0001) over a 3-mo lag and moderately so for neopterin (13.97; P =
      0.0074). AAT and myeloperoxidase seemed to interact strongly with age, with the
      magnitude and direction of the effect varying considerably over the first 3 y of
      life. The largest proportion of the variance explained by any biomarker (2.8%)
      and the largest difference in LAZ predicted between the 5th and 95th percentile
      (0.25) was by myeloperoxidase over a 2-mo lag.Conclusions: Of the 3 fecal
      biomarkers studied, 2 that related to intestinal function-AAT and myeloperoxidase
      were associated with small but highly statistically significant differences in
      future statural growth trajectories in infants in this cohort, lending further
      evidence to the EE hypothesis that increased gut permeability and inflammation
      adversely affects subsequent nutritional status. This association exhibited a
      complex interaction with age. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as
      NCT02441426.

PMID- 28592606
TI  - High dietary phosphorus density is a risk factor for incident chronic kidney
      disease development in diabetic subjects: a community-based prospective cohort
      study.
AB  - Background: High serum phosphorus concentrations are associated with an increased
      risk of cardiovascular disease and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD).
      However, the relation between dietary phosphorus intake and CKD development has
      not been well evaluated.Objective: In this study, we investigated the impact of
      dietary phosphorus density on the development of incident CKD in a cohort of
      subjects with normal renal function.Design: Data were retrieved from the Korean
      Genome and Epidemiology Study, a prospective community-based cohort study. The
      study cohort consisted of subjects aged 40-69 y, who were followed up biennially
      from 2001 to 2014. A total of 873 subjects with diabetes mellitus (DM) and 5846
      subjects without DM (non-DM) were included in the final analysis. The primary
      endpoint was incident CKD, defined as a composite of estimated glomerular
      filtration rate <60 mL . min-1 . 1.73 m-2 and/or the development of
      proteinuria.Results: In the DM and non-DM groups, the mean ages of the
      participants were 55.6 +/- 8.7 and 51.4 +/- 8.6 y, the numbers of male subjects
      were 454 (52.0%) and 2784 (47.6%), and the mean estimated glomerular filtration
      rates were 91.6 +/- 14.0 and 94.5 +/- 14.0 mL . min-1 . 1.73 m-2, respectively.
      The mean values of dietary phosphorus density, defined as the ratio of a single
      day dietary phosphorus amount to the total daily calorie intake, were 0.51 +/-
      0.08 mg/kcal in the DM group and 0.51 +/- 0.07 mg/kcal in the non-DM group.
      During the follow-up, CKD newly developed in 283 (32.4%) and 792 subjects (13.5%)
      in the DM and non-DM groups, respectively. When the subjects were divided into
      quartiles according to the dietary phosphorus density in each group, the highest
      quartile was significantly associated with the development of incident CKD by
      multiple Cox proportional hazard analysis in the DM group (P = 0.02) but not in
      the non-DM group (P = 0.72).Conclusions: High dietary phosphorus density is
      associated with an increased risk of CKD development in DM patients with normal
      renal function. The causality in this association needs to be tested in a
      randomized controlled trial.

PMID- 28592608
TI  - Nutrition in the elderly: a recommendation for more (evenly distributed) protein?

PMID- 28592605
TI  - Interaction between genes and macronutrient intake on the risk of developing type
      2 diabetes: systematic review and findings from European Prospective
      Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-InterAct.
AB  - Background: Gene-diet interactions have been reported to contribute to the
      development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, to our knowledge, few examples
      have been consistently replicated to date.Objective: We aimed to identify
      existing evidence for gene-macronutrient interactions and T2D and to examine the
      reported interactions in a large-scale study.Design: We systematically reviewed
      studies reporting gene-macronutrient interactions and T2D. We searched the
      MEDLINE, Human Genome Epidemiology Network, and WHO International Clinical Trials
      Registry Platform electronic databases to identify studies published up to
      October 2015. Eligibility criteria included assessment of macronutrient quantity
      (e.g., total carbohydrate) or indicators of quality (e.g., dietary fiber) by use
      of self-report or objective biomarkers of intake. Interactions identified in the
      review were subsequently examined in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation
      into Cancer)-InterAct case-cohort study (n = 21,148, with 9403 T2D cases; 8
      European countries). Prentice-weighted Cox regression was used to estimate
      country-specific HRs, 95% CIs, and P-interaction values, which were then pooled
      by random-effects meta-analysis. A primary model was fitted by using the same
      covariates as reported in the published studies, and a second model adjusted for
      additional covariates and estimated the effects of isocaloric macronutrient
      substitution.Results: Thirteen observational studies met the eligibility criteria
      (n < 1700 cases). Eight unique interactions were reported to be significant
      between macronutrients [carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, dietary fiber, and
      glycemic load derived from self-report of dietary intake and circulating n-3
      (omega-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids] and genetic variants in or near
      transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2), gastric inhibitory polypeptide receptor
      (GIPR), caveolin 2 (CAV2), and peptidase D (PEPD) (P-interaction < 0.05). We
      found no evidence of interaction when we tried to replicate previously reported
      interactions. In addition, no interactions were detected in models with
      additional covariates.Conclusions: Eight gene-macronutrient interactions were
      identified for the risk of T2D from the literature. These interactions were not
      replicated in the EPIC-InterAct study, which mirrored the analyses undertaken in
      the original reports. Our findings highlight the importance of independent
      replication of reported interactions.

PMID- 28592607
TI  - Maternal dietary intakes of refined grains during pregnancy and growth through
      the first 7 y of life among children born to women with gestational diabetes.
AB  - Background: Refined grains, a major source of dietary carbohydrates, have been
      related to impaired glucose homeostasis and obesity. Emerging animal data suggest
      that in utero exposure to dietary refined carbohydrates may predispose offspring
      to an obese phenotype, indicating a potential role for nutritional programming in
      the early origins of obesity, but intergenerational human data are
      lacking.Objective: We prospectively investigated refined-grain intake during
      pregnancy in association with offspring growth through age 7 y among high-risk
      children born to women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).Design: The
      analysis included 918 mother-singleton child dyads from the Danish National Birth
      Cohort. Offspring body mass index z scores (BMIZs) were calculated by using
      weight and length or height measured at birth, 5 and 12 mo, and 7 y. Overweight
      or obesity was defined by WHO cutoffs. Linear and Poisson regressions were used,
      with adjustment for maternal demographic, lifestyle, and dietary factors.Results:
      Refined-grain intake during pregnancy was positively associated with offspring
      BMIZ (adjusted beta per serving increase per day: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.15) and
      risk of overweight or obesity at age 7 y [adjusted RR (aRR) comparing the highest
      with the lowest quartile: 1.80; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.98; P-trend = 0.032]. The
      association appeared to be more pronounced among children who were breastfed <6
      mo. The substitution of 1 serving refined grains/d with an equal serving of whole
      grains during pregnancy was related to a 10% reduced risk of offspring overweight
      or obesity at 7 y of age (aRR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.82, 0.98). No associations were
      observed between refined-grain intake and infant growth.Conclusions: Higher
      maternal refined-grain intake during pregnancy was significantly related to a
      greater BMIZ and a higher risk of overweight or obesity at age 7 y among children
      born after pregnancies complicated by GDM. The findings highlight pregnancy as a
      potential window of susceptibility associated with offspring growth and obesity
      risk among this high-risk population. Data with longer follow-up are warranted.

PMID- 28592609
TI  - Tracking of vitamin D status from childhood to early adulthood and its
      association with peak bone mass.
AB  - Background: To our knowledge, there are few longitudinal studies of vitamin D
      status from childhood to early adulthood, and it is uncertain whether vitamin D
      predicts peak bone mass in young adults.Objectives: The purpose of this
      longitudinal study was to evaluate the long-term stability of vitamin D status
      from ages 6 to 20 y in healthy individuals and to study associations between
      serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] at different developmental stages and bone
      mass measured at age 20 y.Design: Participants were offspring of the Western
      Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) study. Serum 25(OH)D was assessed at ages 6,
      14, 17, and 20 y, and whole-body bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral
      density (BMD) were measured at age 20 y through the use of dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA). Our analysis included 821 participants (385 females) who
      had >=3 serum 25(OH)D measures and DXA data. We used latent class growth analysis
      and identified 4 vitamin D status trajectories: consistently lower (n = 259),
      decreasing (n = 125), increasing (n = 138), and consistently higher (n =
      299).Results: There were significant correlations between serum 25(OH)D
      concentrations at different time points in both sexes (r = 0.346-0.560, P <
      0.001), with stronger correlations at adjacent time points. In males, but not in
      females, serum 25(OH)D at ages 6, 17, and 20 y was positively associated with
      total-body BMC and BMD at age 20 y [covariate-adjusted increments of 40.7-53.9 g
      and 14.7-18.6 mg/cm2, respectively, per 25 nmol/L 25(OH)D]; when 25(OH)D at all 4
      ages was included in the same model, the concentration at age 6 y remained
      significant. Males in the "consistently higher" trajectory had 3.2-3.4% higher
      total body BMC and BMD than those who were in the "consistently lower"
      trajectory, accounting for age and anthropometric and lifestyle
      factors.Conclusions: Within both sexes, there are moderate associations between
      vitamin D status measured in prepuberty, adolescence, and early adulthood.
      Vitamin D status in childhood is a significant predictor of peak bone mass in
      male but not female subjects.

PMID- 28592611
TI  - Fructose replacement of glucose or sucrose in food or beverages lowers
      postprandial glucose and insulin without raising triglycerides: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Background: Conflicting evidence exists on the effects of fructose consumption in
      people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. No systematic review has
      addressed the effect of isoenergetic fructose replacement of glucose or sucrose
      on peak postprandial glucose, insulin, and triglyceride concentrations.Objective:
      The objective of this study was to review the evidence for postprandial glycemic
      and insulinemic responses after isoenergetic replacement of either glucose or
      sucrose in foods or beverages with fructose.Design: We searched the Cochrane
      Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
      Search Portal, and clinicaltrials.gov The date of the last search was 26 April
      2016. We included randomized controlled trials measuring peak postprandial
      glycemia after isoenergetic replacement of glucose, sucrose, or both with
      fructose in healthy adults or children with or without diabetes. The main
      outcomes analyzed were peak postprandial blood glucose, insulin, and triglyceride
      concentrations.Results: Replacement of either glucose or sucrose by fructose
      resulted in significantly lowered peak postprandial blood glucose, particularly
      in people with prediabetes and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Similar results were
      obtained for insulin. Peak postprandial blood triglyceride concentrations did not
      significantly increase.Conclusions: Strong evidence exists that substituting
      fructose for glucose or sucrose in food or beverages lowers peak postprandial
      blood glucose and insulin concentrations. Isoenergetic replacement does not
      result in a substantial increase in blood triglyceride concentrations.

PMID- 28592610
TI  - Adult height, dietary patterns, and healthy aging.
AB  - Background: Adult height has shown directionally diverse associations with
      several age-related disorders, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, decline
      in cognitive function, and mortality.Objective: We investigated the associations
      of adult height with healthy aging measured by a full spectrum of health
      outcomes, including incidence of chronic diseases, memory, physical functioning,
      and mental health, among populations who have survived to older age, and whether
      lifestyle factors modified such relations.Design: We included 52,135 women (mean
      age: 44.2 y) from the Nurses' Health Study without chronic diseases in 1980 and
      whose health status was available in 2012. Healthy aging was defined as being
      free of 11 major chronic diseases and having no reported impairment of subjective
      memory, physical impairment, or mental health limitations.Results: Of all
      eligible study participants, 6877 (13.2%) were classified as healthy agers. After
      adjustment for demographic and lifestyle factors, we observed an 8% (95% CI: 6%,
      11%) decrease in the odds of healthy aging per SD (0.062 m) increase in height.
      Compared with the lowest category of height (<=1.57 m), the OR of achieving
      healthy aging in the highest category (>=1.70 m) was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.87; P
      trend < 0.001). In addition, we found a significant interaction of height with a
      prudent dietary pattern in relation to healthy aging (P-interaction = 0.005), and
      among the individual dietary factors characterizing the prudent dietary pattern,
      fruit and vegetable intake showed the strongest effect modification (P
      interaction = 0.01). The association of greater height with reduced odds of
      healthy aging appeared to be more evident among women with higher adherence to
      the prudent dietary pattern rich in vegetable and fruit intake.Conclusions:
      Greater height was associated with a modest decrease in the likelihood of healthy
      aging. A prudent diet rich in fruit and vegetables might modify the relation.

PMID- 28592612
TI  - Fried potato consumption is associated with elevated mortality: an 8-y
      longitudinal cohort study.
AB  - Background: Few studies have assessed the association between potato consumption
      and mortality.Objective: We investigated whether potato consumption (including
      fried and unfried potatoes) is associated with increased premature mortality risk
      in a North American cohort.Design: A longitudinal analysis included 4440
      participants aged 45-79 y at baseline with an 8-y follow-up from the
      Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort study. Potato consumption (including fried and
      unfried potatoes) was analyzed by using a Block Brief 2000 food-frequency
      questionnaire and categorized as <=1 time/mo, 2-3 times/mo, 1 time/wk, 2
      times/wk, or >=3 times/wk. Mortality was ascertained through validated cases of
      death. To investigate the association between potato consumption and mortality,
      Cox regression models were constructed to estimate HRs with 95% CIs, with
      adjustment for potential confounders.Results: Of the 4400 participants, 2551
      (57.9%) were women with a mean +/- SD age of 61.3 +/- 9.2 y. During the 8-y
      follow-up, 236 participants died. After adjustment for 14 potential baseline
      confounders, and taking those with the lowest consumption of potatoes as the
      reference group, participants with the highest consumption of potatoes did not
      show an increased risk of overall mortality (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.91).
      However, subgroup analyses indicated that participants who consumed fried
      potatoes 2-3 times/wk (HR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.11, 3.41) and >=3 times/wk (HR: 2.26;
      95% CI: 1.15, 4.47) were at an increased risk of mortality. The consumption of
      unfried potatoes was not associated with an increased mortality risk.Conclusions:
      The frequent consumption of fried potatoes appears to be associated with an
      increased mortality risk. Additional studies in larger sample sizes should be
      performed to confirm if overall potato consumption is associated with higher
      mortality risk. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00080171.

PMID- 28592613
TI  - Diagnosis and assessment of dilated cardiomyopathy: a guideline protocol from the
      British Society of Echocardiography.
AB  - Heart failure (HF) is a debilitating and life-threatening condition, with 5-year
      survival rate lower than breast or prostate cancer. It is the leading cause of
      hospital admission in over 65s, and these admissions are projected to rise by
      more than 50% over the next 25 years. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is the
      first-line step in diagnosis in acute and chronic HF and provides immediate
      information on chamber volumes, ventricular systolic and diastolic function, wall
      thickness, valve function and the presence of pericardial effusion, while
      contributing to information on aetiology. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the
      third most common cause of HF and is the most common cardiomyopathy. It is
      defined by the presence of left ventricular dilatation and left ventricular
      systolic dysfunction in the absence of abnormal loading conditions (hypertension
      and valve disease) or coronary artery disease sufficient to cause global systolic
      impairment. This document provides a practical approach to diagnosis and
      assessment of dilated cardiomyopathy that is aimed at the practising sonographer.

PMID- 28592614
TI  - Cannabinoid CB2 Agonist GW405833 Suppresses Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain
      through a CB1 Mechanism that is Independent of CB2 Receptors in Mice.
AB  - GW405833, widely accepted as a cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) agonist, suppresses
      pathologic pain in preclinical models without the unwanted central side effects
      of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) agonists; however, recent in vitro studies have
      suggested that GW405833 may also behave as a noncompetitive CB1 antagonist,
      suggesting that its pharmacology is more complex than initially appreciated.
      Here, we further investigated the pharmacologic specificity of in vivo
      antinociceptive actions of GW405833 in models of neuropathic (i.e., partial
      sciatic nerve ligation model) and inflammatory (i.e., complete Freund's adjuvant
      model) pain using CB2 and CB1 knockout (KO) mice, their respective wild-type (WT)
      mice, and both CB2 and CB1 antagonists. GW405833 (3, 10, and 30 mg/kg i.p.) dose
      dependently reversed established mechanical allodynia in both pain models in WT
      mice; however, the antiallodynic effects of GW405833 were fully preserved in
      CB2KO mice and absent in CB1KO mice. Furthermore, the antiallodynic efficacy of
      GW405833 (30 mg/kg i.p.) was completely blocked by the CB1 antagonist rimonabant
      (10 mg/kg i.p.) but not by the CB2 antagonist SR144528 (10 mg/kg i.p.). Thus, the
      antinociceptive properties of GW405833 are dependent on CB1 receptors. GW405833
      (30 mg/kg i.p.) was also inactive in a tetrad of tests measuring cardinal signs
      of CB1 activation. Additionally, unlike rimonabant (10 mg/kg i.p.), GW405833 (10
      mg/kg, i.p.) did not act as a CB1 antagonist in vivo to precipitate withdrawal in
      mice treated chronically with Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol. The present results
      suggest that the antiallodynic efficacy of GW405833 is CB1-dependent but does not
      seem to involve engagement of the CB1 receptor's orthosteric site.

PMID- 28592617
TI  - The Patients We Have to See.

PMID- 28592615
TI  - A Phase Ib Dose-Escalation Study of the Safety, Tolerability, and
      Pharmacokinetics of Cobimetinib and Duligotuzumab in Patients with Previously
      Treated Locally Advanced or Metastatic Cancers with Mutant KRAS.
AB  - LESSONS LEARNED: Cobimetinib and duligotuzumab were well tolerated as single
      agents and in combination with other agents.The cobimetinib and duligotuzumab
      combination was associated with increased toxicity, most notably
      gastrointestinal, and limited efficacy in the patient population tested.
      BACKGROUND: KRAS-mutant tumors possess abnormal mitogen-activated protein kinases
      (MAPK) pathway signaling, leading to dysregulated cell proliferation. Cobimetinib
      blocks MAPK signaling. The dual-action antibody duligotuzumab (MEHD7945A)
      inhibits ligand binding to both epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3). Blockade of EGFR/HER3 and inhibition
      of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) in KRAS-mutant tumors may provide
      additive benefit. METHODS: Patients with KRAS-mutant solid tumors were eligible
      for this phase Ib dose-escalation study with a planned expansion phase.
      Duligotuzumab was given intravenously (IV) at 1,100 mg every 2 weeks (q2w), while
      cobimetinib was given orally in a standard 3 + 3 design to identify the
      recommended phase II dose (RP2D). The primary objective was to evaluate the
      safety and tolerability of this combination. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients were
      enrolled. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) included grade 4 hypokalemia and grade
      3 mucosal inflammation, asthenia, and dermatitis acneiform. Seventy percent of
      patients experienced grade 3 or worse adverse events (AEs). Five (22%) and 12
      (52%) patients missed at least 1 dose of duligotuzumab and cobimetinib,
      respectively, and 9 (39%) patients required a cobimetinib dose reduction. Three
      (13%) patients discontinued due to an AE. Best response was limited to 9 patients
      with stable disease and 13 patients with progressive disease. CONCLUSION: Given
      the limited tolerability and efficacy of this combination, the study did not
      proceed to expansion stage and closed for enrollment.

PMID- 28592616
TI  - Multicenter Phase II Study of Panitumumab in Platinum Pretreated, Advanced Head
      and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer.
AB  - LESSONS LEARNED: Panitumumab shows activity in terms of disease control rate and
      preventing disease progression but not for tumor shrinkage in head and neck
      squamous cell cancer for second-line treatment. Epidermal growth factor receptor
      (EGFR) copy number gain, a property of tumor cells that theoretically could
      identify patients more likely to experience disease response, was common among
      patients having disease control.Our trial, given the lower toxicity with an every
      2-week schedule, provides guidance for future trials, for example, in
      combinations of immune therapies and anti-EGFR-antibodies. BACKGROUND: The
      objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of panitumumab
      (anti-epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR] antibody) given as a single agent
      in platinum-pretreated head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). METHODS:
      Patients with advanced HNSCC previously treated with platinum-containing therapy
      were included. Panitumumab was administered intravenously every 2 weeks at a dose
      of 6 mg/kg. Primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) according to
      Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1; secondary
      endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. A Simon's two-step
      design was chosen; 4 partial remissions (PR) in the first 32 patients were
      required for continuing to step two. An exploratory biomarker analysis was
      performed. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients were enrolled. Two patients obtained a
      PR for an ORR of 6%, and 15 (45%) showed stable disease (SD) for at least 2
      months, resulting in a 51% disease control rate. Median PFS was 2.6 months (95%
      confidence interval [CI]: 1.7-3.7), while median OS was 9.7 months (95% CI: 6.3
      17.2). The most frequent adverse drug reactions were cutaneous rash (64%) and
      hypomagnesemia (55%). Overall, 30% of patients experienced grade 3/4 adverse
      events. No infusion-related reactions occurred. EGFR copy number gain (CNG) was
      more frequent in patients who benefitted from panitumumab. Two uncommon KRAS
      mutations (G48E, T50I) and 3 canonical PIK3CA mutations (all E545K) were
      detected. High-risk HPV16 was found in 10 patients and EGFR CNG in 13 treated
      patients. EGFR CNG seems to be more frequent in individuals with at least SD
      compared with patients with progressive disease (59% vs. 30%). PFS for patients
      with EGFR CNG was 4.6 months (95% CI: 1.0-9.2 months) and 1.9 months (95% CI: 1.0
      3.2 months) for patients without CNG (p = .02). CONCLUSION: Panitumumab
      monotherapy in pretreated HNSCC patients was well tolerated but moderately
      active. We observed a considerable disease control rate. Future strategies with
      this agent comprise right patient selection through the identification of
      reliable biomarkers and gene signatures predicting response and, considering good
      tolerability and convenience, combination strategies with novel agents and immune
      therapeutic agents.

PMID- 28592618
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab Administered in a Single
      Infusion Bag, Followed by Vinorelbine: VELVET Cohort 2 Final Results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: VELVET Cohort 1 demonstrated the applicability of pertuzumab,
      trastuzumab, and vinorelbine as an alternative first-line treatment regimen for
      patients with HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC)
      who cannot receive docetaxel. Co-infusion of pertuzumab and trastuzumab may
      reduce clinic time and medical resource utilization. We report results from
      Cohort 2, in which pertuzumab and trastuzumab were co-infused, followed by
      vinorelbine. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During cycle 1, patients with HER2-positive
      locally advanced or MBC received loading doses of pertuzumab (840 mg) and
      trastuzumab (8 mg/kg) on consecutive days, followed by vinorelbine (25 mg/m2) on
      days two and nine. From cycle 2 onwards, patients received a co-infusion of
      pertuzumab (420 mg) and trastuzumab (6 mg/kg) on day one, followed by vinorelbine
      (30-35 mg/m2) on days one and eight (or days two and nine). The primary endpoint
      was objective response rate (ORR) in patients with measurable disease. Secondary
      endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. RESULTS: Cohort 2
      enrolled 107 patients. The ORR was 63.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 53.0-73.6)
      in patients with measurable disease (91/107; 85.0%). Median PFS was 11.5 months
      (95% CI 10.3-15.8). The most common adverse events [AEs] were diarrhea (57.9%),
      neutropenia (57.0%), and nausea (41.1%). Grade >=3 AEs occurred in 85 patients
      (79.4%) and serious AEs in 44 patients (41.1%). Eighteen patients (16.8%) had AEs
      suggestive of congestive heart failure. CONCLUSION: These results support the
      feasibility of pertuzumab and trastuzumab co-infusion from a safety perspective
      and support Cohort 1 conclusions that vinorelbine offers an alternative
      chemotherapy companion for pertuzumab and trastuzumab. The Oncologist
      2017;22:1160-1168 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Combined treatment with pertuzumab,
      trastuzumab, and docetaxel is the standard of care for first-line HER2-positive
      metastatic breast cancer. However, some patients cannot, or choose not to,
      receive docetaxel. VELVET Cohort 2 results support the results from Cohort 1 that
      suggest that pertuzumab plus trastuzumab and vinorelbine is a suitable
      alternative for these patients. In addition to this, results from Cohort 2
      support the feasibility of administering pertuzumab and trastuzumab together in a
      single infusion bag, which has the potential to offer greater patient convenience
      and reduce active health care professional time and medical resource utilization
      compared with administering them separately.

PMID- 28592619
TI  - Incorporating Tumor Characteristics to the American Joint Committee on Cancer
      Breast Cancer Staging System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) breast cancer staging
      system provides important prognostic information. The recently published eighth
      edition incorporates biological markers and recommends the use of a complex
      "prognostic stage." In this study, we assessed the relationship between stage,
      breast cancer subtype, grade, and outcome in a large population-based cohort and
      evaluated a risk score system incorporating tumor characteristic to the AJCC
      anatomic staging system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed with primary
      breast cancer stage I-IV between 2005-2008 were identified in the California
      Cancer Registry. For patients with stage I-III disease, pathologic stage was
      recorded. For patients with stage IV disease, clinical stage was utilized. Five
      year breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS) rates were
      determined for each potential tumor size-node involvement-metastases (TNM)
      combination according to breast cancer subtype. A risk score point-based system
      using grade, estrogen receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
      (HER2) status was designed to complement the anatomic AJCC staging system.
      Survival probabilities between groups were compared using log-rank test. Cox
      proportional hazards models were used. RESULTS: Among 43,938 patients, we
      observed differences in 5-year BCSS and OS for each TNM combination according to
      breast cancer subtype. The most favorable outcomes were seen for hormone receptor
      positive tumors followed closely by HER2-positive tumors, with the worst outcomes
      observed for triple negative breast cancer. Our risk score system separated
      patients into four risk groups within each stage category (all p < .05).
      CONCLUSION: Our simple risk score system incorporates biological factors into the
      AJCC anatomic staging system, providing accurate prognostic information.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study demonstrates that stage, but also breast
      cancer subtype and grade, define prognosis in a large population of breast cancer
      patients. It shows that a point-based risk score system that incorporates these
      biological factors provides refined stratification and information on prognosis,
      improving the anatomic American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system.
      In addition, the overall mortality and breast cancer specific mortality rates
      detailed here provide much-needed information about prognosis in the current era,
      refining the current AJCC staging.

PMID- 28592621
TI  - Bevacizumab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Global Cost-Effectiveness
      Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the U.S., the addition of bevacizumab to first-line chemotherapy
      in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has been demonstrated to provide 0.10
      quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) at an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
      (ICER) of $571,000/QALY. Due to variability in pricing, value for money may be
      different in other countries. Our objective was to establish the cost
      effectiveness of bevacizumab in mCRC in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and
      Israel. METHODS: We performed the analysis using a previously established Markov
      model for mCRC. Input data for efficacy, adverse events, and quality of life were
      considered to be generalizable and therefore identical for all countries. We used
      country-specific prices for medications, administration, and other health service
      costs. All costs were converted from local currency to U.S. dollars at the
      exchange rates in March 2016. We conducted one-way and probabilistic sensitivity
      analyses (PSA) to assess the model robustness across parameter uncertainties.
      RESULTS: Base case results demonstrated that the highest ICER was in the U.S.
      ($571,000/QALY) and the lowest was in Australia ($277,000/QALY). In Canada, the
      U.K., and Israel, ICERs ranged between $351,000 and $358,000 per QALY. PSA
      demonstrated 0% likelihood of bevacizumab being cost-effective in any country at
      a willingness to pay threshold of $150,000 per QALY. CONCLUSION: The addition of
      bevacizumab to first-line chemotherapy for mCRC consistently fails to be cost
      effective in all five countries. There are large differences in cost
      effectiveness between countries. This study provides a framework for analyzing
      the value of a cancer drug from the perspectives of multiple international
      payers. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab varies
      significantly between multiple countries. By conventional thresholds, bevacizumab
      is not cost-effective in metastatic colon cancer in the U.S., the U.K.,
      Australia, Canada, and Israel.

PMID- 28592622
TI  - Li-Fraumeni versus Pseudo-Li-Fraumeni Syndrome: Key Insights for Interpreting
      Next-Generation Sequencing Reports in Patients with Suspected Cancer
      Predisposition Syndromes.

PMID- 28592623
TI  - Amani's Silence.

PMID- 28592620
TI  - Phase II Study of First-Line Trebananib Plus Sorafenib in Patients with Advanced
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - LESSONS LEARNED: Trebananib leveraging anti-angiogenic mechanism that is distinct
      from the classic sorafenib anti-vascular endothelial growth factor inhibition did
      not demonstrate improved progression-free survival at 4 months in patients with
      advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).In support of previously reported high
      Ang-2 levels' association with poor outcome in HCC for patients, trebananib
      treatment with lower baseline Ang-2 at study entry was associated with improved
      overall survival to 22 months and may suggest future studies to be performed
      within the context of low baseline Ang-2. BACKGROUND: Ang-1 and Ang-2 are
      angiopoietins thought to promote neovascularization via activation of the Tie-2
      angiopoietin receptor. Trebananib sequesters Ang-1 and Ang-2, preventing
      interaction with the Tie-2 receptor. Trebananib plus sorafenib combination has
      acceptable toxicity. Elevated Ang-2 levels are associated with poor prognosis in
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Patients with HCC, Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology Group <=2, and Childs-Pugh A received IV trebananib at 10 mg/kg or 15
      mg/kg weekly plus sorafenib 400 mg orally twice daily. The study was planned for
      >=78% progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 4 months relative to 62% for
      sorafenib historical control (power = 80% alpha = 0.20). Secondary endpoints
      included safety, tolerability, overall survival (OS), and multiple biomarkers,
      including serum Ang-2. RESULTS: Thirty patients were enrolled sequentially in
      each of the two nonrandomized cohorts. Demographics were comparable between the
      two arms and the historical controls. PFS rates at 4 months were 57% and 54% on
      the 10 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg trebananib cohorts, respectively. Median OS was 17 and
      11 months, respectively. Grade 3 and above events noted in >=10% of patients
      included fatigue, hypertension, diarrhea, liver failure, palmar-plantar
      erythrodysesthesia syndrome, dyspnea, and hypophosphatemia. One death was due to
      hepatic failure. Serum Ang-2 dichotomized at the median was associated with
      improved OS in both cohorts. CONCLUSION: There was no improvement in PFS rate at
      4 months in either cohort, when compared with sorafenib historical control.

PMID- 28592624
TI  - Prolonged Pemetrexed Infusion Plus Gemcitabine in Refractory Metastatic
      Colorectal Cancer: Preclinical Rationale and Phase II Study Results.
AB  - LESSONS LEARNED: Difficulties in translating in vitro results into clinical
      practice are inevitable.Further efforts to verify the efficacy of alternative
      schedules of pemetrexed in solid tumors are encouraged. BACKGROUND: We
      investigated the cytotoxic activity of pemetrexed in combination with several
      drugs (gemcitabine, carboplatin, vinorelbine, and mitomycin C) using different
      exposure schedules in three colon cancer cell lines. The best results were
      obtained with the following schedule: a prolonged pemetrexed exposure followed by
      a 48-hour wash-out and then gemcitabine. This combination was then advanced to a
      phase II clinical trial. METHODS: Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in
      progression after standard treatment were included in the study. Adequate bone
      marrow reserve, normal hepatic and renal function, and an Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2 were required. Treatment
      consisted of an 8-hour intravenous infusion of pemetrexed 150 mg/m2 on day 1 and
      a 30-minute intravenous infusion of gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 on day 3 of each
      cycle, repeated every 14 days. RESULTS: Fourteen patients were enrolled onto the
      study (first step). No objective responses were seen, and evidence of stable
      disease was observed in only one of the 12 evaluable patients. The most important
      grade 3-4 side effects were hematological toxicity (neutropenia 64.2%,
      thrombocytopenia 71.4%, anemia 28.7%), fatigue (50.0%), and stomatitis (21.5%).
      Median overall survival and time to progression were 5.8 months (95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 3.9-7.1) and 2.1 months (95% CI: 1.7-2.8), respectively.
      CONCLUSION: The experimental pemetrexed-gemcitabine combination proved to be
      inactive and moderately toxic.

PMID- 28592626
TI  - Longitudinal IP-10 Serum Levels Are Associated with the Course of Disease
      Activity and Remission in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, persistent autoimmune disease,
      10 to 15% of RA patients achieve sustained disease-modifying antirheumatic drug
      (DMARD)-free remission over time. The biological mechanisms underlying the
      resolution of persistent inflammation in RA are still unidentified, and there is
      a lack of prognostic markers. It is well established that increased serum levels
      of gamma interferon-induced protein 10 (IP-10) are associated with (acute)
      increased inflammatory responses (e.g., in leprosy). In order to assess the
      potential of IP-10 as a diagnostic tool for inflammatory episodes of RA, we
      performed a retrospective study and assessed IP-10 levels in longitudinally
      banked serum samples obtained from patients upon first diagnosis of RA. The
      selection consisted of 15 persistent RA patients and 19 patients who achieved
      DMARD-free sustained remission. IP-10 levels, measured by use of a user-friendly
      quantitative lateral flow assay (LFA), showed up to 170-fold variation
      interindividually, and baseline IP-10 levels could not be differentiated between
      the two patient groups. However, a difference in the change in IP-10 levels
      between the first and last visits (DeltaIP-10) was observed (P = 0.003) between
      DMARD-free (median DeltaIP-10, -662 pg/ml [decrease]) and persistent (median
      DeltaIP-10, 468 pg/ml [increase]) RA patients. Moreover, intraindividual changes
      in IP-10 levels during the course of disease corresponded to the disease activity
      score (DAS) (P = 0.05). These data indicate that IP-10 is associated with disease
      activity and perseverance of RA. The association of IP-10 with DAS indicates that
      this tool may be a practical diagnostic aid to help in monitoring disease
      progression in RA patients and may also find applications in other chronic
      diseases with exacerbated inflammatory episodes.

PMID- 28592625
TI  - Current Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma: A
      Systematic Review and Critical Evaluation.
AB  - : The landscape of local and systemic therapy of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is
      rapidly changing. The increase in the incidental finding of small renal tumors
      has increased the application of nephron-sparing procedures, while ten novel
      agents targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or the mammalian
      target of rapamycin pathways, or inhibiting the interaction of the programmed
      death 1 receptor with its ligand, have been approved since 2006 and have
      dramatically improved the prognosis of metastatic RCC (mRCC). These rapid
      developments have resulted in continuous changes in the respective Clinical
      Practice Guidelines/Expert Recommendations. We conducted a systematic review of
      the existing guidelines in MEDLINE according to the Preferred Reporting Items for
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses statement, aiming to identify areas of
      agreement and discrepancy among them and to evaluate the underlying reasons for
      such discrepancies. Data synthesis identified selection criteria for nonsurgical
      approaches in renal masses; the role of modern laparoscopic techniques in the
      context of partial nephrectomy; selection criteria for cytoreductive nephrectomy
      and metastasectomy in mRCC; systemic therapy of metastatic non-clear-cell renal
      cancers; and optimal sequence of available agents in mRCC relapsed after anti
      VEGF therapy as the major areas of uncertainty. Agreement or uncertainty was not
      always correlated with the availability of data from phase III randomized
      controlled trials. Our review suggests that the combination of systematic review
      and critical evaluation can define practices of wide applicability and areas for
      future research by identifying areas of agreement and uncertainty among existing
      guidelines. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Currently, there is uncertainity on the
      role of surgery in MRCC and on the choice of available guidelines in relapsed
      RCC. The best practice is individualization of targeted therapies. Systematic
      review of guidelines can help to identify unmet medical needs and areas of future
      research.

PMID- 28592630
TI  - Management of superficial venous thrombosis of the leg.
AB  - Although for many people superficial venous thrombosis of the leg is a benign
      self-limiting condition, for others it is a potentially serious problem
      associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary
      embolism.1-4 Here, we consider some of the challenges associated with managing
      superficial venous thrombosis and review the evidence for non-surgical treatment
      options.

PMID- 28592627
TI  - Cytokines Are Markers of the Clostridium difficile-Induced Inflammatory Response
      and Predict Disease Severity.
AB  - The host immune response affects pathogen virulence in Clostridium difficile
      infection (CDI). Thus, cytokine responses to CDI likely are associated with
      disease initiation and progression. Understanding the molecular drivers of
      inflammation and biochemical markers of disease severity is important for
      developing novel therapies and predicting disease prognosis. In this study, we
      investigated cytokine production in patients with CDI and evaluated the potential
      of cytokines to serve as biomarkers for CDI and predictors of disease severity.
      The systemic cytokine profiles of 36 CDI patients (20 with severe disease) and 8
      healthy donors and the toxin-induced cytokine profiles of peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMC) were determined. Further, we evaluated
      glucosyltransferase (GT) activity in regulation of toxin-induced cytokine
      expression. We found upregulation of the majority of measured cytokines (11/20,
      55%) in CDI patients. Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, IL-8, IL-17A, and IL-16
      were the most upregulated. High serum levels of IL-2 and IL-15 were associated
      with a poor prognosis in CDI patients, whereas high levels of IL-5 and gamma
      interferon (IFN-gamma) were associated with less severe disease. Both TcdA and
      TcdB were potent inducers of cytokine responses, as demonstrated by stimulation
      of a greater number and amount of cytokines. In addition to confirming prior
      reports on the role of IL-8, IL-1beta, and IL-6 in CDI, our data suggest that IL
      16 and IL-17A, as well as the IL-1beta/Th17 axis, play a key role in driving
      inflammatory responses in CDI. A functional GT domain of C. difficile toxins was
      required for the induction of a majority of cytokines investigated.

PMID- 28592628
TI  - Chemiluminescence Immunoassay for the Detection of Antibodies against the 2C and
      3ABC Nonstructural Proteins Induced by Infecting Pigs with Foot-and-Mouth Disease
      Virus.
AB  - The potential diagnostic value of chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIAs) has been
      accepted in recent years, although their use for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
      diagnostics has not been reported. Full-length 3ABC and 2C proteins were
      expressed in bacteria and purified by affinity chromatography to develop a rapid
      and accurate approach to distinguish pigs infected with foot-and-mouth disease
      virus (FMDV) from vaccinated pigs. The recombinant proteins were then used as
      antigens to develop two CLIAs for the detection of antibodies against
      nonstructural viral proteins. The diagnostic performance of the two assays was
      compared by analyzing serum from pigs (naive pigs, n = 63; vaccinated, uninfected
      pigs, n = 532; naive, infected pigs, n = 117) with a known infection status. The
      3ABC-2C CLIA had a higher accuracy rate, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 100%
      and a diagnostic specificity of 96.5%, than the 3ABC CLIA, which had a diagnostic
      sensitivity of 95.7% and a diagnostic specificity of 96.0%. The results of the
      3ABC-2C CLIA also had a high rate of concordance with those of two commercial
      FMDV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits used to assess serum
      collected from 962 pigs in the field (96.2% and 97.8%, respectively). The 3ABC-2C
      CLIA detected infection in serum samples from infected pigs earlier than the
      commercial ELISA kits. In addition, the 3ABC-2C CLIA produced results within 15
      min. On the basis of these findings, the 3ABC-2C CLIA could serve as the
      foundation for the development of penside FMD diagnostics and offers an
      alternative method to detect FMDV infections.

PMID- 28592629
TI  - Immune-Related Tumor Response Dynamics in Melanoma Patients Treated with
      Pembrolizumab: Identifying Markers for Clinical Outcome and Treatment Decisions.
AB  - Purpose: Characterize tumor burden dynamics during PD-1 inhibitor therapy and
      investigate the association with overall survival (OS) in advanced
      melanoma.Experimental Design: The study included 107 advanced melanoma patients
      treated with pembrolizumab. Tumor burden dynamics were assessed on serial CT
      scans using irRECIST and were studied for the association with OS.Results: Among
      107 patients, 96 patients had measurable tumor burden and 11 had nontarget
      lesions alone at baseline. In the 96 patients, maximal tumor shrinkage ranged
      from -100% to 567% (median, -18.5%). Overall response rate was 44% (42/96; 5
      immune-related complete responses, 37 immune-related partial responses). Tumor
      burden remained <20% increase from baseline throughout therapy in 57 patients
      (55%). Using a 3-month landmark analysis, patients with <20% tumor burden
      increase from baseline had longer OS than patients with >=20% increase (12-month
      OS rate: 82% vs. 53%). In extended Cox models, patients with <20% tumor burden
      increase during therapy had significantly reduced hazards of death [HR = 0.19;
      95% confidence interval (CI), 0.08-0.43; P < 0.0001 univariate; HR = 0.18; 95%
      CI, 0.08-0.41; P < 0.0001, multivariable]. Four patients (4%) experienced
      pseudoprogression; 3 patients had target lesion increase with subsequent
      response, which was noted after confirmed immune-related progressive disease
      (irPD). One patient without measurable disease progressed with new lesion that
      subsequently regressed.Conclusions: Tumor burden increase of <20% from the
      baseline during pembrolizumab therapy was associated with longer OS, proposing a
      practical marker for treatment decision guides that needs to be prospectively
      validated. Pseudoprogressors may experience response after confirmed irPD,
      indicating a limitation of the current strategy for immune-related response
      evaluations. Evaluations of patients without measurable disease may require
      further attention. Clin Cancer Res; 23(16); 4671-9. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28592631
TI  - Why measure carbohydrate deficient transferrin?
AB  - The acute or chronic harmful use of alcohol is among the top five risk factors
      for disease, disability and death worldwide.1 Monitoring alcohol consumption is
      an important aspect of the management of alcohol-use disorders and may include
      subjective self-reported questionnaires or objective tests.1,2-6 Such tests
      include measuring alcohol or alcohol metabolite levels or biomarkers such as
      liver enzymes or red cell indices.2-6 Carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) is
      a biomarker used for assessing chronic alcohol misuse.6 Here, we review CDT and
      its place in the assessment of chronic alcohol use.

PMID- 28592632
TI  - Rear-polarized Wnt5a-receptor-actin-myosin-polarity (WRAMP) structures promote
      the speed and persistence of directional cell migration.
AB  - In contrast to events at the cell leading edge, rear-polarized mechanisms that
      control directional cell migration are poorly defined. Previous work described a
      new intracellular complex, the Wnt5a-receptor-actomyosin polarity (WRAMP)
      structure, which coordinates the polarized localization of MCAM, actin, and
      myosin IIB in a Wnt5a-induced manner. However, the polarity and function for the
      WRAMP structure during cell movement were not determined. Here we characterize
      WRAMP structures during extended cell migration using live-cell imaging. The
      results demonstrate that cells undergoing prolonged migration show WRAMP
      structures stably polarized at the rear, where they are strongly associated with
      enhanced speed and persistence of directional movement. Strikingly, WRAMP
      structures form transiently, with cells displaying directional persistence during
      periods when they are present and cells changing directions randomly when they
      are absent. Cells appear to pause locomotion when WRAMP structures disassemble
      and then migrate in new directions after reassembly at a different location,
      which forms the new rear. We conclude that WRAMP structures represent a rear
      directed cellular mechanism to control directional migration and that their
      ability to form dynamically within cells may control changes in direction during
      extended migration.

PMID- 28592634
TI  - High-quality frozen extracts of Xenopus laevis eggs reveal size-dependent control
      of metaphase spindle micromechanics.
AB  - Cell-free extracts from unfertilized Xenopus laevis eggs offer the opportunity
      for a variety of biochemical and biophysical assays for analyzing essential cell
      cycle events such as metaphase spindle assembly. However, the extracts often
      exhibit substantial variation in quality and have low storage stability, factors
      that hamper their experimental utility. Here we report a simple two-step method
      for preparing frozen egg extracts that retain spindle assembly activity levels
      similar to those of freshly prepared extracts. Extract degradation associated
      with the freeze-thaw process can be substantially reduced by using centrifugal
      filter-based dehydration and slow sample cooling. Large amounts of frozen extract
      stocks from single-batch preparations allowed us to collect extensive data in
      micromanipulation experiments, which are often low-throughput, and thus enabled
      the clarification of correlations between metaphase spindle size and stiffness.
      Our method provides an assay platform with minimized biological variability and
      improves the accessibility of egg extracts for research.

PMID- 28592633
TI  - The phospho-caveolin-1 scaffolding domain dampens force fluctuations in focal
      adhesions and promotes cancer cell migration.
AB  - Caveolin-1 (Cav1), a major Src kinase substrate phosphorylated on tyrosine-14
      (Y14), contains the highly conserved membrane-proximal caveolin scaffolding
      domain (CSD; amino acids 82-101). Here we show, using CSD mutants (F92A/V94A) and
      membrane-permeable CSD-competing peptides, that Src kinase-dependent pY14Cav1
      regulation of focal adhesion protein stabilization, focal adhesion tension, and
      cancer cell migration is CSD dependent. Quantitative proteomic analysis of Cav1
      GST (amino acids 1-101) pull downs showed sixfold-increased binding of vinculin
      and, to a lesser extent, alpha-actinin, talin, and filamin, to phosphomimetic
      Cav1Y14D relative to nonphosphorylatable Cav1Y14F. Consistently, pY14Cav1
      enhanced CSD-dependent vinculin tension in focal adhesions, dampening force
      fluctuation and synchronously stabilizing cellular focal adhesions in a high
      tension mode, paralleling effects of actin stabilization. This identifies
      pY14Cav1 as a molecular regulator of focal adhesion tension and suggests that
      functional interaction between Cav1 Y14 phosphorylation and the CSD promotes
      focal adhesion traction and, thereby, cancer cell motility.

PMID- 28592635
TI  - A cytoskeletal clutch mediates cellular force transmission in a soft, three
      dimensional extracellular matrix.
AB  - The ability of cells to impart forces and deformations on their surroundings
      underlies cell migration and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and is thus an
      essential aspect of complex, metazoan life. Previous work has resulted in a
      refined understanding, commonly termed the molecular clutch model, of how cells
      adhering to flat surfaces such as a microscope coverslip transmit cytoskeletally
      generated forces to their surroundings. Comparatively less is known about how
      cells adhere to and exert forces in soft, three-dimensional (3D), and
      structurally heterogeneous ECM environments such as occur in vivo. We used time
      lapse 3D imaging and quantitative image analysis to determine how the actin
      cytoskeleton is mechanically coupled to the surrounding matrix for primary dermal
      fibroblasts embedded in a 3D fibrin matrix. Under these circumstances, the
      cytoskeletal architecture is dominated by contractile actin bundles attached at
      their ends to large, stable, integrin-based adhesions. Time-lapse imaging reveals
      that alpha-actinin-1 puncta within actomyosin bundles move more quickly than the
      paxillin-rich adhesion plaques, which in turn move more quickly than the local
      matrix, an observation reminiscent of the molecular clutch model. However, closer
      examination did not reveal a continuous rearward flow of the actin cytoskeleton
      over slower moving adhesions. Instead, we found that a subset of stress fibers
      continuously elongated at their attachment points to integrin adhesions,
      providing stable, yet structurally dynamic coupling to the ECM. Analytical
      modeling and numerical simulation provide a plausible physical explanation for
      this result and support a picture in which cells respond to the effective
      stiffness of local matrix attachment points. The resulting dynamic equilibrium
      can explain how cells maintain stable, contractile connections to discrete points
      within ECM during cell migration, and provides a plausible means by which
      fibroblasts contract provisional matrices during wound healing.

PMID- 28592636
TI  - Interleukin 6 protects pancreatic beta cells from apoptosis by stimulation of
      autophagy.
AB  - IL-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine with complex roles in inflammation and metabolic
      disease. The role of IL-6 as a pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokine is still
      unclear. Within the pancreatic islet, IL-6 stimulates secretion of the
      prosurvival incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) by alpha cells and
      acts directly on beta cells to stimulate insulin secretion in vitro Uncovering
      physiologic mechanisms promoting beta-cell survival under conditions of
      inflammation and stress can identify important pathways for diabetes prevention
      and treatment. Given the established role of GLP-1 in promoting beta-cell
      survival, we hypothesized that IL-6 may also directly protect beta cells from
      apoptosis. Herein, we show that IL-6 robustly activates signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a transcription factor that is involved in
      autophagy. IL-6 stimulates LC3 conversion and autophagosome formation in cultured
      beta cells. In vivo IL-6 infusion stimulates a robust increase in lysosomes in
      the pancreas that is restricted to the islet. Autophagy is critical for beta-cell
      homeostasis, particularly under conditions of stress and increased insulin
      demand. The stimulation of autophagy by IL-6 is regulated via multiple
      complementary mechanisms including inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin
      complex 1 (mTORC1) and activation of Akt, ultimately leading to increases in
      autophagy enzyme production. Pretreatment with IL-6 renders beta cells resistant
      to apoptosis induced by proinflammatory cytokines, and inhibition of autophagy
      with chloroquine prevents the ability of IL-6 to protect from apoptosis.
      Importantly, we find that IL-6 can activate STAT3 and the autophagy enzyme
      GABARAPL1 in human islets. We also see evidence of decreased IL-6 pathway
      signaling in islets from donors with type 2 diabetes. On the basis of our
      results, we propose direct stimulation of autophagy as a novel mechanism for IL-6
      mediated protection of beta cells from stress-induced apoptosis.-Linnemann, A.
      K., Blumer, J., Marasco, M. R., Battiola, T. J., Umhoefer, H. M., Han, J. Y.,
      Lamming, D. W., Davis, D. B. Interleukin 6 protects pancreatic beta cells from
      apoptosis by stimulation of autophagy.

PMID- 28592640
TI  - Editorial: Looking Back on a Year as Editor-in-Chief.

PMID- 28592637
TI  - In vivo imaging of prodromal hippocampus CA1 subfield oxidative stress in models
      of Alzheimer disease and Angelman syndrome.
AB  - Hippocampus oxidative stress is considered pathogenic in neurodegenerative
      diseases, such as Alzheimer disease (AD), and in neurodevelopmental disorders,
      such as Angelman syndrome (AS). Yet clinical benefits of antioxidant treatment
      for these diseases remain unclear because conventional imaging methods are unable
      to guide management of therapies in specific hippocampus subfields in vivo that
      underlie abnormal behavior. Excessive production of paramagnetic free radicals in
      nonhippocampus brain tissue can be measured in vivo as a greater-than-normal 1/T1
      that is quenchable with antioxidant as measured by quench-assisted (Quest) MRI.
      Here, we further test this approach in phantoms, and we present proof-of-concept
      data in models of AD-like and AS hippocampus oxidative stress that also exhibit
      impaired spatial learning and memory. AD-like models showed an abnormal gradient
      along the CA1 dorsal-ventral axis of excessive free radical production as
      measured by Quest MRI, and redox-sensitive calcium dysregulation as measured by
      manganese-enhanced MRI and electrophysiology. In the AS model, abnormally high
      free radical levels were observed in dorsal and ventral CA1. Quest MRI is a
      promising in vivo paradigm for bridging brain subfield oxidative stress and
      behavior in animal models and in human patients to better manage antioxidant
      therapy in devastating neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases.
      Berkowitz, B. A., Lenning, J., Khetarpal, N., Tran, C., Wu, J. Y., Berri, A. M.,
      Dernay, K., Haacke, E. M., Shafie-Khorassani, F., Podolsky, R. H., Gant, J. C.,
      Maimaiti, S., Thibault, O., Murphy, G. G., Bennett, B. M., Roberts, R. In vivo
      imaging of prodromal hippocampus CA1 subfield oxidative stress in models of
      Alzheimer disease and Angelman syndrome.

PMID- 28592639
TI  - Physiological role of reactive oxygen species as promoters of natural defenses.
AB  - It has been 60 yr since the discovery of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biology
      and the beginning of the scientific community's attempt to understand the impact
      of the unpaired electron of ROS molecules in biological pathways, which was
      eventually noted to be toxic. Several studies have shown that the presence of ROS
      is essential in triggering or acting as a secondary factor for numerous
      pathologies, including metabolic and genetic diseases; however, it was
      demonstrated that chronic treatment with antioxidants failed to show efficacy and
      positive effects in the prevention of diseases or health complications that
      result from oxidative stress. On the contrary, such treatment has been shown to
      sometimes even worsen the disease. Because of the permanent presence of ROS in
      organisms, elaborate mechanisms to adapt with these reactive molecules and to use
      them without necessarily blocking or preventing their actions have been studied.
      There is now a large body of evidence that shows that living organisms have
      conformed to the presence of ROS and, in retrospect, have adapted to the
      bioactive molecules that are generated by ROS on proteins, lipids, and DNA. In
      addition, ROS have undergone a shift from being molecules that invoked oxidative
      damage in regulating signaling pathways that impinged on normal physiological and
      redox responses. Working in this direction, this review unlocks a new conception
      about the involvement of cellular oxidants in the maintenance of redox
      homeostasis in redox regulation of normal physiological functions, and an
      explanation for its essential role in numerous pathophysiological states is
      noted.-Roy, J., Galano, J.-M., Durand, T., Le Guennec, J.-Y., Lee, J. C.-Y.
      Physiological role of reactive oxygen species as promoters of natural defenses.

PMID- 28592641
TI  - Distinct Neural Networks Support Autobiographical and Episodic Remembering.

PMID- 28592643
TI  - Back to the Future: Multiparent Populations Provide the Key to Unlocking the
      Genetic Basis of Complex Traits.

PMID- 28592638
TI  - Sestrin2 prevents age-related intolerance to ischemia and reperfusion injury by
      modulating substrate metabolism.
AB  - A novel stress-inducible protein, Sestrin2 (Sesn2), declines in the heart with
      aging. AMPK has emerged as a pertinent stress-activated kinase that has been
      shown to have cardioprotective capabilities against myocardial ischemic injury.
      We identified the interaction between Sesn2 and AMPK in the ischemic heart. To
      determine whether ischemic AMPK activation-modulated by the Sesn2-AMPK complex in
      the heart-is impaired in aging that sensitizes the heart to ischemic insults,
      young C57BL/6 mice (age 3-4 mo), middle-aged mice (age 10-12 mo), and aged mice
      (age 24-26 mo) were subjected to left anterior descending coronary artery
      occlusion for in vivo regional ischemia. The ex vivo working heart system was
      used for measuring substrate metabolism. The protein level of Sesn2 in hearts was
      gradually decreased with aging. Of interest, ischemic AMPK activation was blunted
      in aged hearts compared with young hearts (P < 0.05); the AMPK downstream glucose
      uptake and the rate of glucose oxidation were significantly impaired in aged
      hearts during ischemia and reperfusion (P < 0.05 vs. young hearts). Myocardial
      infarction size was larger in aged hearts (P < 0.05 vs. young hearts).
      Immunoprecipitation with Sesn2 Ab revealed that cardiac Sesn2 forms a complex
      with AMPK and upstream liver kinase B1 (LKB1) during ischemia. Of interest, the
      binding affinity between Sesn2 and AMPK upstream LKB1 is impaired in aged hearts
      during ischemia (P < 0.05 vs. young hearts). Furthermore, Sesn2-knockout hearts
      demonstrate a cardiac phenotype and response to ischemic stress that is similar
      to wild-type aged hearts (i.e., impaired ischemic AMPK activation and higher
      sensitivity to ischemia- and reperfusion- induced injury). Adeno-associated virus
      Sesn2 was delivered to aged hearts via a coronary delivery approach and
      significantly rescued the protein level of Sesn2 and the ischemic tolerance of
      aged hearts; therefore, Sesn2 is a scaffold protein that mediates AMPK activation
      in the ischemic myocardium via an interaction with AMPK upstream LKB1. Decreased
      Sesn2 levels in aging lead to a blunted ischemic AMPK activation, alterations in
      substrate metabolism, and an increased sensitivity to ischemic insults-Quan, N.,
      Sun, W., Wang, L., Chen, X., Bogan, J. S., Zhou, X., Cates, C., Liu, Q., Zheng,
      Y., Li J. Sestrin2 prevents age-related intolerance to ischemia and reperfusion
      injury by modulating substrate metabolism.

PMID- 28592644
TI  - Epistasis: Searching for Interacting Genetic Variants Using Crosses.

PMID- 28592645
TI  - Inbred Strain Variant Database (ISVdb): A Repository for Probabilistically
      Informed Sequence Differences Among the Collaborative Cross Strains and Their
      Founders.
AB  - The Collaborative Cross (CC) is a panel of recently established multiparental
      recombinant inbred mouse strains. For the CC, as for any multiparental population
      (MPP), effective experimental design and analysis benefit from detailed knowledge
      of the genetic differences between strains. Such differences can be directly
      determined by sequencing, but until now whole-genome sequencing was not publicly
      available for individual CC strains. An alternative and complementary approach is
      to infer genetic differences by combining two pieces of information:
      probabilistic estimates of the CC haplotype mosaic from a custom genotyping
      array, and probabilistic variant calls from sequencing of the CC founders. The
      computation for this inference, especially when performed genome-wide, can be
      intricate and time-consuming, requiring the researcher to generate nontrivial and
      potentially error-prone scripts. To provide standardized, easy-to-access CC
      sequence information, we have developed the Inbred Strain Variant Database
      (ISVdb). The ISVdb provides, for all the exonic variants from the Sanger
      Institute mouse sequencing dataset, direct sequence information for CC founders
      and, critically, the imputed sequence information for CC strains. Notably, the
      ISVdb also: (1) provides predicted variant consequence metadata; (2) allows rapid
      simulation of F1 populations; and (3) preserves imputation uncertainty, which
      will allow imputed data to be refined in the future as additional sequencing and
      genotyping data are collected. The ISVdb information is housed in an SQL database
      and is easily accessible through a custom online interface
      (http://isvdb.unc.edu), reducing the analytic burden on any researcher using the
      CC.

PMID- 28592647
TI  - The Beavis Effect in Next-Generation Mapping Panels in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - A major goal in the analysis of complex traits is to partition the observed
      genetic variation in a trait into components due to individual loci and perhaps
      variants within those loci. However, in both QTL mapping and genetic association
      studies, the estimated percent variation attributable to a QTL is upwardly biased
      conditional on it being discovered. This bias was first described in two-way QTL
      mapping experiments by William Beavis, and has been referred to extensively as
      "the Beavis effect." The Beavis effect is likely to occur in multiparent
      population (MPP) panels as well as collections of sequenced lines used for genome
      wide association studies (GWAS). However, the strength of the Beavis effect is
      unknown-and often implicitly assumed to be negligible-when "hits" are obtained
      from an association panel consisting of hundreds of inbred lines tested across
      millions of SNPs, or in multiparent mapping populations where mapping involves
      fitting a complex statistical model with several d.f. at thousands of genetic
      intervals. To estimate the size of the effect in more complex panels, we
      performed simulations of both biallelic and multiallelic QTL in two major
      Drosophila melanogaster mapping panels, the GWAS-based Drosophila Genetic
      Reference Panel (DGRP), and the MPP the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource
      (DSPR). Our results show that overestimation is determined most strongly by
      sample size and is only minimally impacted by the mapping design. When < 100,
      200, 500, and 1000 lines are employed, the variance attributable to hits is
      inflated by factors of 6, 3, 1.5, and 1.1, respectively, for a QTL that truly
      contributes 5% to the variation in the trait. This overestimation indicates that
      QTL could be difficult to validate in follow-up replication experiments where
      additional individuals are examined. Further, QTL could be difficult to cross
      validate between the two Drosophila resources. We provide guidelines for: (1) the
      sample sizes necessary to accurately estimate the percent variance to an
      identified QTL, (2) the conditions under which one is likely to replicate a
      mapped QTL in a second study using the same mapping population, and (3) the
      conditions under which a QTL mapped in one mapping panel is likely to replicate
      in the other (DGRP and DSPR).

PMID- 28592646
TI  - Loci Contributing to Boric Acid Toxicity in Two Reference Populations of
      Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Populations maintain considerable segregating variation in the response to toxic,
      xenobiotic compounds. To identify variants associated with resistance to boric
      acid, a commonly-used household insecticide with a poorly understood mechanism of
      action, we assayed thousands of individuals from hundreds of strains. Using the
      Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (DSPR), a multi-parental population
      (MPP) of inbred genotypes, we mapped six QTL to short genomic regions containing
      few protein-coding genes (3-188), allowing us to identify plausible candidate
      genes underlying resistance to boric acid toxicity. One interval contains
      multiple genes from the cytochrome P450 family, and we show that ubiquitous RNAi
      of one of these genes, Cyp9b2, markedly reduces resistance to the toxin.
      Resistance to boric acid is positively correlated with caffeine resistance. The
      two phenotypes additionally share a pair of QTL, potentially suggesting a degree
      of pleiotropy in the genetic control of resistance to these two distinct
      xenobiotics. Finally, we screened the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP)
      in an attempt to identify sequence variants within mapped QTL that are associated
      with boric acid resistance. The approach was largely unsuccessful, with only one
      QTL showing any associations at QTL-specific 20% False Discovery Rate (FDR)
      thresholds. Nonetheless, these associations point to a potential candidate gene
      that can be targeted in future validation efforts. Although the mapping data
      resulting from the two reference populations do not clearly overlap, our work
      provides a starting point for further genetic dissection of the processes
      underlying boric acid toxicity in insects.

PMID- 28592648
TI  - Allelic Variation in the Toll-Like Receptor Adaptor Protein Ticam2 Contributes to
      SARS-Coronavirus Pathogenesis in Mice.
AB  - Host genetic variation is known to contribute to differential pathogenesis
      following infection. Mouse models allow direct assessment of host genetic factors
      responsible for susceptibility to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus
      (SARS-CoV). Based on an assessment of early stage lines from the Collaborative
      Cross mouse multi-parent population, we identified two lines showing highly
      divergent susceptibilities to SARS-CoV: the resistant CC003/Unc and the
      susceptible CC053/Unc. We generated 264 F2 mice between these strains, and
      infected them with SARS-CoV. Weight loss, pulmonary hemorrhage, and viral load
      were all highly correlated disease phenotypes. We identified a quantitative trait
      locus of major effect on chromosome 18 (27.1-58.6 Mb) which affected weight loss,
      viral titer and hemorrhage. Additionally, each of these three phenotypes had
      distinct quantitative trait loci [Chr 9 (weight loss), Chrs 7 and 12 (virus
      titer), and Chr 15 (hemorrhage)]. We identified Ticam2, an adaptor protein in the
      TLR signaling pathways, as a candidate driving differential disease at the Chr 18
      locus. Ticam2-/- mice were highly susceptible to SARS-CoV infection, exhibiting
      increased weight loss and more pulmonary hemorrhage than control mice. These
      results indicate a critical role for Ticam2 in SARS-CoV disease, and highlight
      the importance of host genetic variation in disease responses.

PMID- 28592649
TI  - Oas1b-dependent Immune Transcriptional Profiles of West Nile Virus Infection in
      the Collaborative Cross.
AB  - The oligoadenylate-synthetase (Oas) gene locus provides innate immune resistance
      to virus infection. In mouse models, variation in the Oas1b gene influences host
      susceptibility to flavivirus infection. However, the impact of Oas variation on
      overall innate immune programming and global gene expression among tissues and in
      different genetic backgrounds has not been defined. We examined how Oas1b acts in
      spleen and brain tissue to limit West Nile virus (WNV) susceptibility and disease
      across a range of genetic backgrounds. The laboratory founder strains of the
      mouse Collaborative Cross (CC) (A/J, C57BL/6J, 129S1/SvImJ, NOD/ShiLtJ, and
      NZO/HlLtJ) all encode a truncated, defective Oas1b, whereas the three wild
      derived inbred founder strains (CAST/EiJ, PWK/PhJ, and WSB/EiJ) encode a full
      length OAS1B protein. We assessed disease profiles and transcriptional signatures
      of F1 hybrids derived from these founder strains. F1 hybrids included wild-type
      Oas1b (F/F), homozygous null Oas1b (N/N), and heterozygous offspring of both
      parental combinations (F/N and N/F). These mice were challenged with WNV, and
      brain and spleen samples were harvested for global gene expression analysis. We
      found that the Oas1b haplotype played a role in WNV susceptibility and disease
      metrics, but the presence of a functional Oas1b allele in heterozygous offspring
      did not absolutely predict protection against disease. Our results indicate that
      Oas1b status as wild-type or truncated, and overall Oas1b gene dosage, link with
      novel innate immune gene signatures that impact specific biological pathways for
      the control of flavivirus infection and immunity through both Oas1b-dependent and
      independent processes.

PMID- 28592650
TI  - Identification of Ganoderma Disease Resistance Loci Using Natural Field Infection
      of an Oil Palm Multiparental Population.
AB  - Multi-parental populations are promising tools for identifying quantitative
      disease resistance loci. Stem rot caused by Ganoderma boninense is a major threat
      to palm oil production, with yield losses of up to 80% prompting premature
      replantation of palms. There is evidence of genetic resistance sources, but the
      genetic architecture of Ganoderma resistance has not yet been investigated. This
      study aimed to identify Ganoderma resistance loci using an oil palm multi
      parental population derived from nine major founders of ongoing breeding
      programs. A total of 1200 palm trees of the multi-parental population was planted
      in plots naturally infected by Ganoderma, and their health status was assessed
      biannually over 25 yr. The data were treated as survival data, and modeled using
      the Cox regression model, including a spatial effect to take the spatial
      component in the spread of Ganoderma into account. Based on the genotypes of 757
      palm trees out of the 1200 planted, and on pedigree information, resistance loci
      were identified using a random effect with identity-by-descent kinship matrices
      as covariance matrices in the Cox model. Four Ganoderma resistance loci were
      identified, two controlling the occurrence of the first Ganoderma symptoms, and
      two the death of palm trees, while favorable haplotypes were identified among a
      major gene pool for ongoing breeding programs. This study implemented an
      efficient and flexible QTL mapping approach, and generated unique valuable
      information for the selection of oil palm varieties resistant to Ganoderma
      disease.

PMID- 28592652
TI  - Pedigree-Based Analysis in a Multiparental Population of Octoploid Strawberry
      Reveals QTL Alleles Conferring Resistance to Phytophthora cactorum.
AB  - Understanding the genetic architecture of traits in breeding programs can be
      critical for making genetic progress. Important factors include the number of
      loci controlling a trait, allele frequencies at those loci, and allele effects in
      breeding germplasm. To this end, multiparental populations offer many advantages
      for quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses compared to biparental populations.
      These include increased power for QTL detection, the ability to sample a larger
      number of segregating loci and alleles, and estimation of allele effects across
      diverse genetic backgrounds. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of
      resistance to crown rot disease caused by Phytophthora cactorum in strawberry
      (Fragaria * ananassa), using connected full-sib families from a breeding
      population. Clonal replicates of > 1100 seedlings from 139 full-sib families
      arising from 61 parents were control-inoculated during two consecutive seasons.
      Subgenome-specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci were mapped in allo
      octoploid strawberry (2n = 8 * = 56), and FlexQTL software was utilized to
      perform a Bayesian, pedigree-based QTL analysis. A major locus on linkage group
      (LG) 7D, which we name FaRPc2, accounts for most of the genetic variation for
      resistance. Four predominant SNP haplotypes were detected in the FaRPc2 region,
      two of which are strongly associated with two different levels of resistance,
      suggesting the presence of multiple resistance alleles. The phenotypic effects of
      FaRPc2 alleles across trials and across numerous genetic backgrounds make this
      locus a highly desirable target for genetic improvement of resistance in
      cultivated strawberry.

PMID- 28592651
TI  - Identification of Nitrogen Consumption Genetic Variants in Yeast Through QTL
      Mapping and Bulk Segregant RNA-Seq Analyses.
AB  - Saccharomyces cerevisiae is responsible for wine must fermentation. In this
      process, nitrogen represents a limiting nutrient and its scarcity results in
      important economic losses for the wine industry. Yeast isolates use different
      strategies to grow in poor nitrogen environments and their genomic plasticity
      enables adaptation to multiple habitats through improvements in nitrogen
      consumption. Here, we used a highly recombinant S. cerevisiae multi-parent
      population (SGRP-4X) derived from the intercross of four parental strains of
      different origins to identify new genetic variants responsible for nitrogen
      consumption differences during wine fermentation. Analysis of 165 fully sequenced
      F12 segregants allowed us to map 26 QTL in narrow intervals for 14 amino acid
      sources and ammonium, the majority of which represent genomic regions previously
      unmapped for these traits. To complement this strategy, we performed Bulk
      segregant RNA-seq (BSR-seq) analysis in segregants exhibiting extremely high and
      low ammonium consumption levels. This identified several QTL overlapping
      differentially expressed genes and refined the gene candidate search. Based on
      these approaches, we were able to validate ARO1, PDC1, CPS1, ASI2, LYP1, and ALP1
      allelic variants underlying nitrogen consumption differences between strains,
      providing evidence of many genes with small phenotypic effects. Altogether, these
      variants significantly shape yeast nitrogen consumption with important
      implications for evolution, ecological, and quantitative genomics.

PMID- 28592653
TI  - Approaches in Characterizing Genetic Structure and Mapping in a Rice
      Multiparental Population.
AB  - Multi-parent Advanced Generation Intercross (MAGIC) populations are fast becoming
      mainstream tools for research and breeding, along with the technology and tools
      for analysis. This paper demonstrates the analysis of a rice MAGIC population
      from data filtering to imputation and processing of genetic data to
      characterizing genomic structure, and finally quantitative trait loci (QTL)
      mapping. In this study, 1316 S6:8 indica MAGIC (MI) lines and the eight founders
      were sequenced using Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS). As the GBS approach often
      includes missing data, the first step was to impute the missing SNPs. The
      observable number of recombinations in the population was then explored. Based on
      this case study, a general outline of procedures for a MAGIC analysis workflow is
      provided, as well as for QTL mapping of agronomic traits and biotic and abiotic
      stress, using the results from both association and interval mapping approaches.
      QTL for agronomic traits (yield, flowering time, and plant height), physical
      (grain length and grain width) and cooking properties (amylose content) of the
      rice grain, abiotic stress (submergence tolerance), and biotic stress (brown spot
      disease) were mapped. Through presenting this extensive analysis in the MI
      population in rice, we highlight important considerations when choosing
      analytical approaches. The methods and results reported in this paper will
      provide a guide to future genetic analysis methods applied to multi-parent
      populations.

PMID- 28592655
TI  - Economic development, flow of funds, and the equilibrium interaction of financial
      frictions.
AB  - We use a variety of different datasets from Thailand to study not only the
      extremes of micro and macro variables but also within-country flow of funds and
      labor migration. We develop a general equilibrium model that encompasses regional
      variation in the type of financial friction and calibrate it to measured
      variation in regional aggregates. The model predicts substantial capital and
      labor flows from rural to urban areas even though these differ only in the
      underlying financial regime. Predictions for micro variables not used directly
      provide a model validation. Finally, we estimate the impact of a policy of
      counterfactual, regional isolationism.

PMID- 28592654
TI  - Water is an active matrix of life for cell and molecular biology.
AB  - Szent-Gyorgi called water the "matrix of life" and claimed that there was no life
      without it. This statement is true, as far as we know, on our planet, but it is
      not clear whether it must hold throughout the cosmos. To evaluate that question
      requires a close consideration of the many varied and subtle roles that water
      plays in living cells-a consideration that must be free of both an assumed
      essentialism that gives water an almost mystical life-giving agency and a
      traditional tendency to see it as a merely passive solvent. Water is a
      participant in the "life of the cell," and here I describe some of the features
      of that active agency. Water's value for molecular biology comes from both the
      structural and dynamic characteristics of its status as a complex, structured
      liquid as well as its nature as a polar, protic, and amphoteric reagent. Any
      discussion of water as life's matrix must, however, begin with an acknowledgment
      that our understanding of it as both a liquid and a solvent is still incomplete.

PMID- 28592658
TI  - The structural response of the cornea to changes in stromal hydration.
AB  - The primary aim of this study was to quantify the relationship between corneal
      structure and hydration in humans and pigs. X-ray scattering data were collected
      from human and porcine corneas equilibrated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to
      varying levels of hydration, to obtain measurements of collagen fibril diameter,
      interfibrillar spacing (IFS) and intermolecular spacing. Both species showed a
      strong positive linear correlation between hydration and IFS2 and a nonlinear, bi
      phasic relationship between hydration and fibril diameter, whereby fibril
      diameter increased up to approximately physiological hydration, H = 3.0, with
      little change thereafter. Above H = 3.0, porcine corneas exhibited a larger
      fibril diameter than human corneas (p < 0.001). Intermolecular spacing also
      varied with hydration in a bi-phasic manner but reached a maximum value at a
      lower hydration (H = 1.5) than fibril diameter. Human corneas displayed a higher
      intermolecular spacing than porcine corneas at all hydrations (p < 0.0001). Human
      and porcine corneas required a similar PEG concentration to reach physiological
      hydration, suggesting that the total fixed charge that gives rise to the swelling
      pressure is the same. The difference in their structural responses to hydration
      can be explained by variations in molecular cross-linking and
      intra/interfibrillar water partitioning.

PMID- 28592657
TI  - Induced pluripotent stem cell models of lysosomal storage disorders.
AB  - Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have provided new opportunities to explore
      the cell biology and pathophysiology of human diseases, and the lysosomal storage
      disorder research community has been quick to adopt this technology. Patient
      derived iPSC models have been generated for a number of lysosomal storage
      disorders, including Gaucher disease, Pompe disease, Fabry disease, metachromatic
      leukodystrophy, the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses, Niemann-Pick types A and C1,
      and several of the mucopolysaccharidoses. Here, we review the strategies employed
      for reprogramming and differentiation, as well as insights into disease etiology
      gleaned from the currently available models. Examples are provided to illustrate
      how iPSC-derived models can be employed to develop new therapeutic strategies for
      these disorders. We also discuss how models of these rare diseases could
      contribute to an enhanced understanding of more common neurodegenerative
      disorders such as Parkinson's disease, and discuss key challenges and
      opportunities in this area of research.

PMID- 28592656
TI  - Hypothalamic circuits regulating appetite and energy homeostasis: pathways to
      obesity.
AB  - The 'obesity epidemic' represents a major global socioeconomic burden that
      urgently calls for a better understanding of the underlying causes of increased
      weight gain and its associated metabolic comorbidities, such as type 2 diabetes
      mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Improving our understanding of the cellular
      basis of obesity could set the stage for the development of new therapeutic
      strategies. The CNS plays a pivotal role in the regulation of energy and glucose
      homeostasis. Distinct neuronal cell populations, particularly within the arcuate
      nucleus of the hypothalamus, sense the nutrient status of the organism and
      integrate signals from peripheral hormones including pancreas-derived insulin and
      adipocyte-derived leptin to regulate calorie intake, glucose metabolism and
      energy expenditure. The arcuate neurons are tightly connected to other
      specialized neuronal subpopulations within the hypothalamus, but also to various
      extrahypothalamic brain regions, allowing a coordinated behavioral response. This
      At a Glance article gives an overview of the recent knowledge, mainly derived
      from rodent models, regarding the CNS-dependent regulation of energy and glucose
      homeostasis, and illustrates how dysregulation of the neuronal networks involved
      can lead to overnutrition and obesity. The potential impact of recent research
      findings in the field on therapeutic treatment strategies for human obesity is
      also discussed.

PMID- 28592659
TI  - Mitochondrial DNA 3243A>G heteroplasmy is associated with changes in cytoskeletal
      protein expression and cell mechanics.
AB  - Mitochondrial and mechanical alterations in cells have both been shown to be
      hallmarks of human disease. However, little research has endeavoured to establish
      connections between these two essential features of cells in both functional and
      dysfunctional situations. In this work, we hypothesized that a specific genetic
      alteration in mitochondrial function known to cause human disease would trigger
      changes in cell mechanics. Using a previously characterized set of mitochondrial
      cybrid cell lines, we examined the relationship between heteroplasmy for the
      mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 3243A>G mutation, the cell cytoskeleton, and resulting
      cellular mechanical properties. We found that cells with increasing mitochondrial
      dysfunction markedly differed from one another in gene expression and protein
      production of various co-regulated cytoskeletal elements. The intracellular
      positioning and organization of actin also differed across cell lines. To explore
      the relationship between these changes and cell mechanics, we then measured
      cellular mechanical properties using atomic force microscopy and found that cell
      stiffness correlated with gene expression data for known determinants of cell
      mechanics, gamma-actin, alpha-actinin and filamin A. This work points towards a
      mechanism linking mitochondrial genetics to single-cell mechanical properties.
      The transcriptional and structural regulation of cytoskeletal components by
      mitochondrial function may explain why energetic and mechanical alterations often
      coexist in clinical conditions.

PMID- 28592661
TI  - Raman spectroscopy as a tool for ecology and evolution.
AB  - Scientists are always on the lookout for new modalities of information which
      could reveal new biological features that are useful for deciphering the
      complexity of biological systems. Here, we introduce Raman spectroscopy as a
      prime candidate for ecology and evolution. To encourage the integration of this
      microscopy technique in the field of ecology and evolution, it is crucial to
      discuss first how Raman spectroscopy fits within the conceptual, technical and
      pragmatic considerations of ecology and evolution. In this paper, we show that
      the spectral information holds reliable indicators of intra- and interspecies
      variations, which can be related to the environment, selective pressures and
      fitness. Moreover, we show how the technical and pragmatic aspects of this
      modality (non-destructive, non-labelling, speed, relative low cost, etc.) enable
      it to be combined with more conventional methodologies. With this paper, we hope
      to open new avenues of research and extend the scope of available methodologies
      used in ecology and evolution.

PMID- 28592660
TI  - Mechanical interactions in bacterial colonies and the surfing probability of
      beneficial mutations.
AB  - Bacterial conglomerates such as biofilms and microcolonies are ubiquitous in
      nature and play an important role in industry and medicine. In contrast to well
      mixed cultures routinely used in microbial research, bacteria in a microcolony
      interact mechanically with one another and with the substrate to which they are
      attached. Here, we use a computer model of a microbial colony of rod-shaped cells
      to investigate how physical interactions between cells determine their motion in
      the colony and how this affects biological evolution. We show that the
      probability that a faster-growing mutant 'surfs' at the colony's frontier and
      creates a macroscopic sector depends on physical properties of cells (shape,
      elasticity and friction). Although all these factors contribute to the surfing
      probability in seemingly different ways, their effects can be summarized by two
      summary statistics that characterize the front roughness and cell alignment. Our
      predictions are confirmed by experiments in which we measure the surfing
      probability for colonies of different front roughness. Our results show that
      physical interactions between bacterial cells play an important role in
      biological evolution of new traits, and suggest that these interactions may be
      relevant to processes such as de novo evolution of antibiotic resistance.

PMID- 28592662
TI  - A cohort of new adhesive proteins identified from transcriptomic analysis of
      mussel foot glands.
AB  - The adaptive attachment of marine mussels to a wide range of substrates in a high
      energy, saline environment has been explored for decades and is a significant
      driver of bioinspired wet adhesion research. Mussel attachment relies on a
      fibrous holdfast known as the byssus, which is made by a specialized appendage
      called the foot. Multiple adhesive and structural proteins are rapidly
      synthesized, secreted and moulded by the foot into holdfast threads. About 10
      well-characterized proteins, namely the mussel foot proteins (Mfps), the preCols
      and the thread matrix proteins, are reported as representing the bulk of these
      structures. To explore how robust this proposition is, we sequenced the
      transcriptome of the glandular tissues that produce and secrete the various
      holdfast components using next-generation sequencing methods. Surprisingly, we
      found around 15 highly expressed genes that have not previously been
      characterized, but bear key similarities to the previously defined mussel foot
      proteins, suggesting additional contribution to byssal function. We verified the
      validity of these transcripts by polymerase chain reaction, cloning and Sanger
      sequencing as well as confirming their presence as proteins in the byssus. These
      newly identified proteins greatly expand the palette of mussel holdfast
      biochemistry and provide new targets for investigation into bioinspired wet
      adhesion.

PMID- 28592665
TI  - Signs of embryo-maternal communication: miRNAs in the maternal serum of pregnant
      pigs.
AB  - Circulating miRNAs were proposed to be indicators of normal or complicated
      pregnancies. Based on this knowledge and our recent transcriptomic approach
      showing expression of miRNAs in the porcine endometrium, conceptuses and uterine
      extracellular vesicles during pregnancy, we have hypothesized that signs of
      ongoing local embryo-maternal crosstalk involving miRNAs can be detected in the
      circulation of pregnant gilts as early as a few days after maternal recognition
      of pregnancy. By applying several molecular biology techniques that differ in
      dynamic range and precision in maternal serum of Day 16 pregnant pigs, we were
      able to show for the first time increased levels of several miRNAs, previously
      reported to be expressed in either conceptuses and extracellular vesicles (miR
      26a and miR-125b) or pregnant endometrium (miR-23b). Our results clearly showed
      that real-time RT-PCR and digital PCR are the most reliable methods, being able
      to detect small-fold changes of low-abundant circulating miRNAs. Further
      validation in a separate group of gilts confirmed an increase in miR-23b and miR
      125b levels. In silico analyses identified pregnancy-related biological processes
      and pathways affected by these miRNAs. Target prediction analysis revealed
      hundreds of porcine transcripts with conserved sites for these miRNAs, which were
      classified into signaling pathways relevant to pregnancy. We conclude that a
      unique set of miRNAs can already be observed in the circulation of pigs during
      the first weeks of pregnancy, as a result of the initiation of embryo-maternal
      communication.

PMID- 28592664
TI  - Altered retinoid signaling compromises decidualization in human endometriotic
      stromal cells.
AB  - Decidualization alters multiple molecular pathways in endometrium to permit
      successful embryo implantation. We have reported that paracrine factors,
      including retinoids, secreted from progesterone-treated endometrial stromal
      cells, act on nearby epithelial cells to induce the estradiol metabolizing enzyme
      HSD17B2. This same induction is not seen in endometriotic stromal cells. We have
      also shown significant differences in retinoid uptake, metabolism and action in
      endometriotic tissue and stromal cells compared to normal endometrium. Here, we
      characterize retinoid signaling during decidualization in these cells.
      Endometrial and endometriotic cells were isolated, cultured and incubated and
      decidualized. Genes involved in retinoid metabolism and trafficking were examined
      using RT-PCR and Western blotting. Prolactin, a decidualization marker, was also
      examined. We found that both endometrial and endometriotic stromal cells express
      all intracellular proteins involved in retinoid uptake and metabolism.
      Decidualization significantly reduced the expression of the genes responsible for
      retinoid uptake and shuttling to the nucleus. However, expression of CRBP1, an
      intracellular carrier protein for retinol, increased, as did RBP4, a carrier
      protein for retinol in the blood, which can function in a paracrine manner.
      Secreted RBP4 was detected in the media from decidualized endometrial cells but
      not from endometriotic cells. We believe that retinoid trafficking in endometrial
      stromal cells during decidualization may shift to favor paracrine rather than
      intracrine signaling, which may enhance signaling to the adjacent epithelium.
      There is blunting of this signaling in endometriotic cells. These alterations in
      retinoid signaling may help explain the decidualization defects and deficient
      estradiol inactivation (via HSD17B2) seen in endometriosis.

PMID- 28592663
TI  - Inspiration for wing design: how forelimb specialization enables active flight in
      modern vertebrates.
AB  - Harnessing flight strategies refined by millions of years of evolution can help
      expedite the design of more efficient, manoeuvrable and robust flying robots.
      This review synthesizes recent advances and highlights remaining gaps in our
      understanding of how bird and bat wing adaptations enable effective flight.
      Included in this discussion is an evaluation of how current robotic analogues
      measure up to their biological sources of inspiration. Studies of vertebrate
      wings have revealed skeletal systems well suited for enduring the loads required
      during flight, but the mechanisms that drive coordinated motions between bones
      and connected integuments remain ill-described. Similarly, vertebrate flight
      muscles have adapted to sustain increased wing loading, but a lack of in vivo
      studies limits our understanding of specific muscular functions. Forelimb
      adaptations diverge at the integument level, but both bird feathers and bat
      membranes yield aerodynamic surfaces with a level of robustness unparalleled by
      engineered wings. These morphological adaptations enable a diverse range of
      kinematics tuned for different flight speeds and manoeuvres. By integrating
      vertebrate flight specializations-particularly those that enable greater
      robustness and adaptability-into the design and control of robotic wings,
      engineers can begin narrowing the wide margin that currently exists between
      flying robots and vertebrates. In turn, these robotic wings can help biologists
      create experiments that would be impossible in vivo.

PMID- 28592666
TI  - ROOT DETERMINED NODULATION1 Is Required for M. truncatula CLE12, But Not CLE13,
      Peptide Signaling through the SUNN Receptor Kinase.
AB  - The combinatorial interaction of a receptor kinase and a modified CLE peptide is
      involved in several developmental processes in plants, including autoregulation
      of nodulation (AON), which allows legumes to limit the number of root nodules
      formed based on available nitrogen and previous rhizobial colonization. Evidence
      supports the modification of CLE peptides by enzymes of the hydroxyproline O
      arabinosyltransferase (HPAT/RDN) family. Here, we show by grafting and genetic
      analysis in Medicago truncatula that, in the AON pathway, RDN1, functioning in
      the root, acts upstream of the receptor kinase SUNN, functioning in the shoot. As
      expected for a glycosyltransferase, we found that RDN1 and RDN2 proteins are
      localized to the Golgi, as was shown previously for AtHPAT1. Using composite
      plants with transgenic hairy roots, we show that RDN1 and RDN2 orthologs from
      dicots as well as a related RDN gene from rice (Oryza sativa) can rescue the
      phenotype of rdn1-2 when expressed constitutively, but the less related MtRDN3
      cannot. The timing of the induction of MtCLE12 and MtCLE13 peptide genes
      (negative regulators of AON) in nodulating roots is not altered by the mutation
      of RDN1 or SUNN, although expression levels are higher. Plants with transgenic
      roots constitutively expressing MtCLE12 require both RDN1 and SUNN to prevent
      nodule formation, while plants constitutively expressing MtCLE13 require only
      SUNN, suggesting that the two CLEs have different requirements for function.
      Combined with previous work, these data support a model in which RDN1
      arabinosylates MtCLE12, and this modification is necessary for the transport
      and/or reception of the AON signal by the SUNN kinase.

PMID- 28592667
TI  - Motorboat noise impacts parental behaviour and offspring survival in a reef fish.
AB  - Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of international concern, with mounting
      evidence of disturbance and impacts on animal behaviour and physiology. However,
      empirical studies measuring survival consequences are rare. We use a field
      experiment to investigate how repeated motorboat-noise playback affects parental
      behaviour and offspring survival in the spiny chromis (Acanthochromis
      polyacanthus), a brooding coral reef fish. Repeated observations were made for 12
      days at 38 natural nests with broods of young. Exposure to motorboat-noise
      playback compared to ambient-sound playback increased defensive acts, and reduced
      both feeding and offspring interactions by brood-guarding males. Anthropogenic
      noise did not affect the growth of developing offspring, but reduced the
      likelihood of offspring survival; while offspring survived at all 19 nests
      exposed to ambient-sound playback, six of the 19 nests exposed to motorboat-noise
      playback suffered complete brood mortality. Our study, providing field-based
      experimental evidence of the consequences of anthropogenic noise, suggests
      potential fitness consequences of this global pollutant.

PMID- 28592668
TI  - Nineteenth-century collapse of a benthic marine ecosystem on the open continental
      shelf.
AB  - The soft-sediment seafloor of the open continental shelf is among the least-known
      biomes on Earth, despite its high diversity and importance to fisheries and
      biogeochemical cycling. Abundant dead shells of epifaunal suspension-feeding
      terebratulid brachiopods (Laqueus) and scallops on the now-muddy mainland
      continental shelf of southern California reveal the recent, previously
      unsuspected extirpation of an extensive offshore shell-gravel ecosystem,
      evidently driven by anthropogenic siltation. Living populations of attached
      epifauna, which formerly existed in a middle- and outer-shelf mosaic with patches
      of trophically diverse muds, are restricted today to rocky seafloor along the
      shelf edge and to the sandier shelves of offshore islands. Geological age-dating
      of 190 dead brachiopod shells shows that (i) no shells have been produced on the
      mainland shelf within the last 100 years, (ii) their shell production declined
      steeply during the nineteenth century, and (iii) they had formerly been present
      continuously for at least 4 kyr. This loss, sufficiently rapid (less than or
      equal to 100 years) and thorough to represent an ecosystem collapse, coincides
      with intensification of alluvial-plain land use in the nineteenth century,
      particularly livestock grazing. Extirpation was complete by the start of
      twentieth-century urbanization, warming, bottom fishing and scientific surveys.
      The loss of this filter-feeding fauna and the new spatial homogeneity and
      dominance of deposit- and detritus-feeders would have altered ecosystem
      functioning by reducing habitat heterogeneity and seawater filtering. This
      discovery, attesting to the power of this geological approach to recent
      ecological transitions, also strongly increases the spatial scope attributable to
      the negative effects of siltation, and suggests that it has been under-recognized
      on continental shelves elsewhere as a legacy of coastal land use.

PMID- 28592669
TI  - What shapes the continuum of reproductive isolation? Lessons from Heliconius
      butterflies.
AB  - The process by which species evolve can be illuminated by investigating barriers
      that limit gene flow between taxa. Recent radiations, such as Heliconius
      butterflies, offer the opportunity to compare isolation between pairs of taxa at
      different stages of ecological, geographical, and phylogenetic divergence. Here,
      we report a comparative analysis of existing and novel data in order to quantify
      the strength and direction of isolating barriers within a well-studied clade of
      Heliconius Our results highlight that increased divergence is associated with the
      accumulation of stronger and more numerous barriers to gene flow. Wing pattern is
      both under natural selection for Mullerian mimicry and involved in mate choice,
      and therefore underlies several isolating barriers. However, pairs which share a
      similar wing pattern also display strong reproductive isolation mediated by
      traits other than wing pattern. This suggests that, while wing pattern is a key
      factor for early stages of divergence, it may become facultative at later stages
      of divergence. Additional factors including habitat partitioning, hybrid
      sterility, and chemically mediated mate choice are associated with complete
      speciation. Therefore, although most previous work has emphasized the role of
      wing pattern, our comparative results highlight that speciation is a multi
      dimensional process, whose completion is stabilized by many factors.

PMID- 28592671
TI  - Biological interactions both facilitate and resist climate-related functional
      change in temperate reef communities.
AB  - Shifts in the abundance and location of species are restructuring life on the
      Earth, presenting the need to build resilience into our natural systems. Here, we
      tested if protection from fishing promotes community resilience in temperate reef
      communities undergoing rapid warming in Tasmania. Regardless of protection
      status, we detected a signature of warming in the brown macroalgae, invertebrates
      and fishes, through increases in the local richness and abundance of warm
      affinity species. Even so, responses in protected communities diverged from
      exploited communities. At the local scale, the number of cool-affinity fishes and
      canopy-forming algal species increased following protection, even though the
      observation window fell within a period of warming. At the same time, exploited
      communities gained turf algal and sessile invertebrate species. We further found
      that the recovery of predator populations following protection leads to marked
      declines in mobile invertebrates-this trend could be incorrectly attributed to
      warming without contextual data quantifying community change across trophic
      levels. By comparing long-term change in exploited and protected reefs, we
      empirically demonstrate the role of biological interactions in both facilitating
      and resisting climate-related biodiversity change. We further highlight the
      potential for trophic interactions to alter the progression of both range
      expansions and contractions.

PMID- 28592670
TI  - Tetranychus urticae mites do not mount an induced immune response against
      bacteria.
AB  - The genome of the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, a herbivore, is missing
      important elements of the canonical Drosophila immune pathways necessary to fight
      bacterial infections. However, it is not known whether spider mites can mount an
      immune response and survive bacterial infection. In other chelicerates, bacterial
      infection elicits a response mediated by immune effectors leading to the survival
      of infected organisms. In T. urticae, infection by either Escherichia coli or
      Bacillus megaterium did not elicit a response as assessed through genome-wide
      transcriptomic analysis. In line with this, spider mites died within days even
      upon injection with low doses of bacteria that are non-pathogenic to Drosophila
      Moreover, bacterial populations grew exponentially inside the infected spider
      mites. By contrast, Sancassania berlesei, a litter-dwelling mite, controlled
      bacterial proliferation and resisted infections with both Gram-negative and Gram
      positive bacteria lethal to T. urticae This differential mortality between mite
      species was absent when mites were infected with heat-killed bacteria. Also, we
      found that spider mites harbour in their gut 1000-fold less bacteria than S.
      berlesei We show that T. urticae has lost the capacity to mount an induced immune
      response against bacteria, in contrast to other mites and chelicerates but
      similarly to the phloem feeding aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum Hence, our results
      reinforce the putative evolutionary link between ecological conditions regarding
      exposure to bacteria and the architecture of the immune response.

PMID- 28592672
TI  - Primate energy input and the evolutionary transition to energy-dense diets in
      humans.
AB  - Humans and other large-brained hominins have been proposed to increase energy
      turnover during their evolutionary history. Such increased energy turnover is
      plausible, given the evolution of energy-rich diets, but requires empirical
      confirmation. Framing human energetics in a phylogenetic context, our meta
      analysis of 17 wild non-human primate species shows that daily metabolizable
      energy input follows an allometric relationship with body mass where the
      allometric exponent for mass is 0.75 +/- 0.04, close to that reported for daily
      energy expenditure measured with doubly labelled water in primates. Human
      populations at subsistence level (n = 6) largely fall within the variation of
      primate species in the scaling of energy intake and therefore do not consume
      significantly more energy than predicted for a non-human primate of equivalent
      mass. By contrast, humans ingest a conspicuously lower mass of food (-64 +/- 6%)
      compared with primates and maintain their energy intake relatively more
      constantly across the year. We conclude that our hominin hunter-gatherer
      ancestors did not increase their energy turnover beyond the allometric
      relationship characterizing all primate species. The reduction in digestive costs
      due to consumption of a lower mass of high-quality food, as well as stabilization
      of energy supply, may have been important evolutionary steps enabling
      encephalization in the absence of significantly raised energy intakes.

PMID- 28592673
TI  - Evidence for strategic cooperation in humans.
AB  - Humans may cooperate strategically, cooperating at higher levels than expected
      from their short-term interests, to try and stimulate others to cooperate. To
      test this hypothesis, we experimentally manipulated the extent an individual's
      behaviour is known to others, and hence whether or not strategic cooperation is
      possible. In contrast with many previous studies, we avoided confounding factors
      by preventing individuals from learning during the game about either pay-offs or
      about how other individuals behave. We found clear evidence for strategic
      cooperators-just telling some individuals that their groupmates would be informed
      about their behaviour led to them tripling their initial level of cooperation,
      from 17 to 50%. We also found that many individuals play as if they do not
      understand the game, and their presence obscures the detection of strategic
      cooperation. Identifying such players allowed us to detect and study strategic
      motives for cooperation in novel, more powerful, ways.

PMID- 28592674
TI  - Three-month-old human infants use vocal cues of body size.
AB  - Differences in vocal fundamental (F0) and average formant (Fn) frequencies covary
      with body size in most terrestrial mammals, such that larger organisms tend to
      produce lower frequency sounds than smaller organisms, both between species and
      also across different sex and life-stage morphs within species. Here we examined
      whether three-month-old human infants are sensitive to the relationship between
      body size and sound frequencies. Using a violation-of-expectation paradigm, we
      found that infants looked longer at stimuli inconsistent with the relationship
      that is, a smaller organism producing lower frequency sounds, and a larger
      organism producing higher frequency sounds-than at stimuli that were consistent
      with it. This effect was stronger for fundamental frequency than it was for
      average formant frequency. These results suggest that by three months of age,
      human infants are already sensitive to the biologically relevant covariation
      between vocalization frequencies and visual cues to body size. This ability may
      be a consequence of developmental adaptations for building a phenotype capable of
      identifying and representing an organism's size, sex and life-stage.

PMID- 28592675
TI  - Global biogeography since Pangaea.
AB  - The break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea around 180 Ma has left its imprint on
      the global distribution of species and resulted in vicariance-driven speciation.
      Here, we test the idea that the molecular clock dates, for the divergences of
      species whose geographical ranges were divided, should agree with the
      palaeomagnetic dates for the continental separations. Our analysis of recently
      available phylogenetic divergence dates of 42 pairs of vertebrate taxa, selected
      for their reduced ability to disperse, demonstrates that the divergence dates in
      phylogenetic trees of continent-bound terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates are
      consistent with the palaeomagnetic dates of continental separation.

PMID- 28592676
TI  - Life or death: disease-tolerant coral species activate autophagy following immune
      challenge.
AB  - Global climate change has increased the number and severity of stressors
      affecting species, yet not all species respond equally to these stressors.
      Organisms may employ cellular mechanisms such as apoptosis and autophagy in
      responding to stressful events. These two pathways are often mutually exclusive,
      dictating whether a cell adapts or dies. In order to examine differences in
      cellular response to stress, we compared the immune response of four coral
      species with a range of disease susceptibility. Using RNA-seq and novel pathway
      analysis, we were able to identify differences in response to immune stimulation
      between these species. Disease-susceptible species Orbicella faveolata activated
      pathways associated with apoptosis. By contrast, disease-tolerant species Porites
      porites and Porites astreoides activated autophagic pathways. Moderately
      susceptible species Pseudodiploria strigosa activated a mixture of these
      pathways. These findings were corroborated by apoptotic caspase protein assays,
      which indicated increased caspase activity following immune stimulation in
      susceptible species. Our results indicate that in response to immune stress,
      disease-tolerant species activate cellular adaptive mechanisms such as autophagy,
      while susceptible species turn on cell death pathways. Differences in these
      cellular maintenance pathways may therefore influence the organismal stress
      response. Further study of these pathways will increase understanding of
      differential stress response and species survival in the face of changing
      environments.

PMID- 28592677
TI  - Indirect effects of ocean acidification drive feeding and growth of juvenile
      crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci.
AB  - The indirect effects of changing climate in modulating trophic interactions can
      be as important as the direct effects of climate stressors on consumers. The
      success of the herbivorous juvenile stage of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS),
      Acanthaster planci, may be affected by the impacts of ocean conditions on its
      crustose coralline algal (CCA) food. To partition the direct effects of near
      future ocean acidification on juvenile COTS and indirect effects through changes
      in their CCA food, COTS were grown in three pHT levels (7.9, 7.8, 7.6) and fed
      CCA grown at similar pH levels. Consumption of CCA by COTS was bolstered when the
      COTS were grown in low pH and when they were fed CCA grown in low pH regardless
      of the pH in which the COTS were reared. COTS fed CCA grown at pH 7.6 grew
      fastest, but the pH/pCO2 that the COTS were reared in had no direct effect on
      growth. Ocean acidification conditions decreased the C : N ratio and carbonate
      levels in the CCA. Bolstered growth in COTS may be driven by enhanced
      palatability, increased nutritive state and reduced defences of their CCA food.
      These results indicate that near future acidification will increase the success
      of early juvenile COTS and boost recruitment into the coral-eating life stage.

PMID- 28592678
TI  - The route of infection determines Wolbachia antibacterial protection in
      Drosophila.
AB  - Bacterial symbionts are widespread among metazoans and provide a range of
      beneficial functions. Wolbachia-mediated protection against viral infection has
      been extensively demonstrated in Drosophila. In mosquitoes that are artificially
      transinfected with Drosophila melanogaster Wolbachia (wMel), protection from both
      viral and bacterial infections has been demonstrated. However, no evidence for
      Wolbachia-mediated antibacterial protection has been demonstrated in Drosophila
      to date. Here, we show that the route of infection is key for Wolbachia-mediated
      antibacterial protection. Drosophila melanogaster carrying Wolbachia showed
      reduced mortality during enteric-but not systemic-infection with the opportunist
      pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosaWolbachia-mediated protection was more pronounced
      in male flies and is associated with increased early expression of the
      antimicrobial peptide Attacin A, and also increased expression of a reactive
      oxygen species detoxification gene (Gst D8). These results highlight that the
      route of infection is important for symbiont-mediated protection from infection,
      that Wolbachia can protect hosts by eliciting a combination of resistance and
      disease tolerance mechanisms, and that these effects are sexually dimorphic. We
      discuss the importance of using ecologically relevant routes of infection to gain
      a better understanding of symbiont-mediated protection.

PMID- 28592679
TI  - Glacial survival of trophically linked boreal species in northern Europe.
AB  - Whether non-arctic species persisted in northern Europe during the Last Glacial
      Maximum (LGM) is highly debated. Until now, the debate has mostly focused on
      plants, with little consideration for other groups of organisms, e.g. the
      numerous plant-dependent insect species. Here, we study the late-Quaternary
      evolution of the European range of a boreo-montane leaf beetle, Gonioctena
      intermedia, which feeds exclusively on the boreal and temperate trees Prunus
      padus and Sorbus aucuparia Using species distribution models, we estimated the
      congruence between areas of past and present suitable climate for this beetle and
      its host plants. Then we derived historical hypotheses from the congruent range
      estimates, and evaluated their compatibility with observed DNA sequence variation
      at five independent loci. We investigated compatibility using computer
      simulations of population evolution under various coalescence models. We find
      strong evidence for range modifications in response to late-Quaternary climate
      changes, and support for the presence of populations of G. intermedia in northern
      Europe since the beginning of the last glaciation. The presence of a co-dependent
      insect in the region through the LGM provides new evidence supporting the glacial
      survival of cold-tolerant tree species in northern Europe.

PMID- 28592680
TI  - Chimpanzees, bonobos and children successfully coordinate in conflict situations.
AB  - Social animals need to coordinate with others to reap the benefits of group
      living even when individuals' interests are misaligned. We compare how
      chimpanzees, bonobos and children coordinate their actions with a conspecific in
      a Snowdrift game, which provides a model for understanding how organisms
      coordinate and make decisions under conflict. In study 1, we presented pairs of
      chimpanzees, bonobos and children with an unequal reward distribution. In the
      critical condition, the preferred reward could only be obtained by waiting for
      the partner to act, with the risk that if no one acted, both would lose the
      rewards. Apes and children successfully coordinated to obtain the rewards.
      Children used a 'both-partner-pull' strategy and communicated during the task,
      while some apes relied on an 'only-one-partner-pulls' strategy to solve the task,
      although there were also signs of strategic behaviour as they waited for their
      partner to pull when that strategy led to the preferred reward. In study 2, we
      presented pairs of chimpanzees and bonobos with the same set-up as in study 1
      with the addition of a non-social option that provided them with a secure reward.
      In this situation, apes had to actively decide between the unequal distribution
      and the alternative. In this set-up, apes maximized their rewards by taking their
      partners' potential actions into account. In conclusion, children and apes showed
      clear instances of strategic decision-making to maximize their own rewards while
      maintaining successful coordination.

PMID- 28592681
TI  - Pay-off-biased social learning underlies the diffusion of novel extractive
      foraging traditions in a wild primate.
AB  - The type and variety of learning strategies used by individuals to acquire
      behaviours in the wild are poorly understood, despite the presence of behavioural
      traditions in diverse taxa. Social learning strategies such as conformity can be
      broadly adaptive, but may also retard the spread of adaptive innovations.
      Strategies like pay-off-biased learning, by contrast, are effective at diffusing
      new behaviour but may perform poorly when adaptive behaviour is common. We
      present a field experiment in a wild primate, Cebus capucinus, that introduced a
      novel food item and documented the innovation and diffusion of successful
      extraction techniques. We develop a multilevel, Bayesian statistical analysis
      that allows us to quantify individual-level evidence for different social and
      individual learning strategies. We find that pay-off-biased and age-biased social
      learning are primarily responsible for the diffusion of new techniques. We find
      no evidence of conformity; instead rare techniques receive slightly increased
      attention. We also find substantial and important variation in individual
      learning strategies that is patterned by age, with younger individuals being more
      influenced by both social information and their own individual experience. The
      aggregate cultural dynamics in turn depend upon the variation in learning
      strategies and the age structure of the wild population.

PMID- 28592683
TI  - Molecular basis of function and the unusual antioxidant activity of a
      cyanobacterial cysteine desulfurase.
AB  - Cysteine desulfurases, which supply sulfur for iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis,
      are broadly distributed in all phyla including cyanobacteria, the progenitors of
      plant chloroplasts. The SUF (sulfur utilization factor) system is responsible for
      Fe-S cluster biosynthesis under stress. The suf operon from cyanobacterium
      Anabaena PCC 7120 showed the presence of a cysteine desulfurase, sufS (alr2495),
      but not the accessory sulfur-accepting protein (SufE). However, an open reading
      frame (alr3513) encoding a SufE-like protein (termed AsaE, Anabaena sulfur
      acceptor E) was found at a location distinct from the suf operon. The purified
      SufS protein existed as a pyridoxal 5' phosphate (PLP)-containing dimer with a
      relatively low desulfurase activity. Interestingly, in the presence of the AsaE
      protein, the catalytic efficiency of this reaction increased 10-fold. In
      particular, for sulfur mobilization, the AsaE protein partnered only SufS and not
      other cysteine desulfurases from Anabaena. The SufS protein was found to
      physically interact with the AsaE protein, demonstrating that AsaE was indeed the
      missing partner of Anabaena SufS. The conserved cysteine of the SufS or the AsaE
      protein was essential for activity but not for their physical association.
      Curiously, overexpression of the SufS protein in Anabaena caused reduced
      formation of reactive oxygen species on exposure to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2),
      resulting in superior oxidative stress tolerance to the oxidizing agent when
      compared with the wild-type strain. Overall, the results highlight the functional
      interaction between the two proteins that mediate sulfur mobilization, in the
      cyanobacterial SUF pathway, and further reveal that overexpression of SufS can
      protect cyanobacteria from oxidative stress.

PMID- 28592682
TI  - Hotspots of age-related protein degradation: the importance of neighboring
      residues for the formation of non-disulfide crosslinks derived from cysteine.
AB  - Over time, the long-lived proteins that are present throughout the human body
      deteriorate. Typically, they become racemized, truncated, and covalently cross
      linked. One reaction responsible for age-related protein cross-linking in the
      lens was elucidated recently and shown to involve spontaneous formation of
      dehydroalanine (DHA) intermediates from phosphoserine. Cys residues are another
      potential source of DHA, and evidence for this was found in many lens
      crystallins. In the human lens, some sites were more prone to forming non
      disulfide covalent cross-links than others. Foremost among them was Cys5 in
      betaA4 crystallin. The reason for this enhanced reactivity was investigated using
      peptides. Oxidation of Cys to cystine was a prerequisite for DHA formation, and
      DHA production was accelerated markedly by the presence of a Lys, one residue
      separated from Cys5. Modeling and direct investigation of the N-terminal sequence
      of betaA4 crystallin, as well as a variety of homologous peptides, showed that
      the epsilon amino group of Lys can promote DHA production by nucleophilic attack
      on the alpha proton of cystine. Once a DHA residue was generated, it could form
      intermolecular cross-links with Lys and Cys. In the lens, the most abundant cross
      link involved Cys5 of betaA4 crystallin attached via a thioether bond to
      glutathione. These findings illustrate the potential of Cys and disulfide bonds
      to act as precursors for irreversible covalent cross-links and the role of nearby
      amino acids in creating 'hotpsots' for the spontaneous processes responsible for
      protein degradation in aged tissues.

PMID- 28592684
TI  - Trajectory curvature in saccade sequences: spatiotopic influences vs. residual
      motor activity.
AB  - When decisions drive saccadic eye movements, traces of the decision process can
      be inferred from the movement trajectories. For example, saccades can curve away
      from distractor stimuli, which was thought to reflect cortical inhibition biasing
      activity in the superior colliculus. Recent neurophysiological work does not
      support this theory, and two recent models have replaced top-down inhibition with
      lateral interactions in the superior colliculus or neural fatigue in the
      brainstem saccadic burst generator. All current models operate in retinotopic
      coordinates and are based on single saccade paradigms. To extend these models to
      sequences of saccades, we assessed whether and how saccade curvature depends on
      previously fixated locations and the direction of previous saccades. With a two
      saccade paradigm, we first demonstrated that second saccades curved away from the
      initial fixation stimulus. Furthermore, by varying the time from fixation offset
      and the intersaccadic duration, we distinguished the extent of curvature
      originating from the spatiotopic representation of the previous fixation location
      or residual motor activity of the previous saccade. Results suggest that both
      factors drive curvature, and we discuss how these effects could be implemented in
      current models. In particular, we propose that the collicular retinotopic maps
      receive an excitatory spatiotopic update from the lateral interparial region.NEW
      & NOTEWORTHY Saccades curve away from locations of previous fixation. Varying
      stimulus timing demonstrates the effects of both 1) spatiotopic representation
      and 2) motor residual activity from previous saccades. The spatiotopic effect can
      be explained if current models are augmented with an excitatory top-down
      spatiotopic signal.

PMID- 28592685
TI  - Robotic navigation to subcortical neural tissue for intracellular
      electrophysiology in vivo.
AB  - In vivo studies of neurophysiology using the whole cell patch-clamp technique
      enable exquisite access to both intracellular dynamics and cytosol of cells in
      the living brain but are underrepresented in deep subcortical nuclei because of
      fouling of the sensitive electrode tip. We have developed an autonomous method to
      navigate electrodes around obstacles such as blood vessels after identifying them
      as a source of contamination during regional pipette localization (RPL) in vivo.
      In mice, robotic navigation prevented fouling of the electrode tip, increasing
      RPL success probability 3 mm below the pial surface to 82% (n = 72/88) over
      traditional, linear localization (25%, n = 24/95), and resulted in high-quality
      thalamic whole cell recordings with average access resistance (32.0 MOmega) and
      resting membrane potential (-62.9 mV) similar to cortical recordings in
      isoflurane-anesthetized mice. Whole cell yield improved from 1% (n = 1/95) to 10%
      (n = 9/88) when robotic navigation was used during RPL. This method opens the
      door to whole cell studies in deep subcortical nuclei, including multimodal cell
      typing and studies of long-range circuits.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This work represents
      an automated method for accessing subcortical neural tissue for intracellular
      electrophysiology in vivo. We have implemented a novel algorithm to detect
      obstructions during regional pipette localization and move around them while
      minimizing lateral displacement within brain tissue. This approach leverages
      computer control of pressure, manipulator position, and impedance measurements to
      create a closed-loop platform for pipette navigation in vivo. This technique
      enables whole cell patching studies to be performed throughout the living brain.

PMID- 28592687
TI  - Efferent inhibition strength is a physiological correlate of hyperacusis in
      children with autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that is poorly
      understood. ASD can influence communication, social interaction, and behavior.
      Children with ASD often have sensory hypersensitivities, including auditory
      hypersensitivity (hyperacusis). In adults with hyperacusis who are otherwise
      neurotypical, the medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent reflex is stronger than
      usual. In children with ASD, the MOC reflex has been measured, but without also
      assessing hyperacusis. We assessed the MOC reflex in children with ASD by
      measuring the strength of MOC-induced inhibition of transient-evoked otoacoustic
      emissions (TEOAEs), a noninvasive physiological measure that reflects cochlear
      amplification. MOC activity was evoked by contralateral noise. Hyperacusis was
      assessed subjectively on the basis of the children's symptoms. We found a
      significant correlation between hyperacusis scores and MOC strength in children
      with ASD. When children were divided into ASD-with-severe-hyperacusis (ASDs), ASD
      with-not-severe-hyperacusis (ASDns), and neurotypical (NT) groups, the last two
      groups had similar hyperacusis and MOC reflexes, whereas the ASDs group, on
      average, had hyperacusis and MOC reflexes that were approximately twice as
      strong. The MOC inhibition of TEOAEs averaged larger at all frequencies in the
      ASDs compared with ASDns and NT groups. The results suggest that the MOC reflex
      can be used to estimate hyperacusis in children with ASD and might be used to
      validate future questionnaires to assess hyperacusis. Our results also provide
      evidence that strong MOC reflexes in children with ASD are associated with
      hyperacusis and that hyperacusis is a comorbid condition and is not a necessary,
      integral part of the abnormal neural processing associated with ASD.NEW &
      NOTEWORTHY Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are a heterogeneous
      group, some with hyperacusis and some without. Our research shows that
      hyperacusis can be estimated in children with ASD by using medial olivocochlear
      (MOC) reflex measurements. By establishing that an objective measure correlates
      with attributes of hyperacusis, our results enable future work to enable
      subtyping of children with ASD to provide improved individualized treatments to
      at-risk children and those without adequate language to describe their
      hyperacusis symptoms.

PMID- 28592686
TI  - Adaptation modulates correlated subthreshold response variability in visual
      cortex.
AB  - Cortical sensory responses are highly variable across stimulus presentations.
      This variability can be correlated across neurons (due to some combination of
      dense intracortical connectivity, cortical activity level, and cortical state),
      with fundamental implications for population coding. Yet the interpretation of
      correlated response variability (or "noise correlation") has remained fraught
      with difficulty, in part because of the restriction to extracellular neuronal
      spike recordings. Here, we measured response variability and its correlation at
      the most microscopic level of electrical neural activity, the membrane potential,
      by obtaining dual whole cell recordings from pairs of cortical pyramidal neurons
      during visual processing in the turtle whole brain ex vivo preparation. We found
      that during visual stimulation, correlated variability adapts toward an
      intermediate level and that this correlation dynamic is likely mediated by
      intracortical mechanisms. A model network with external inputs, synaptic
      depression, and structure reproduced the observed dynamics of correlated
      variability. These results suggest that intracortical adaptation self-organizes
      cortical circuits toward a balanced regime at which correlated variability is
      maintained at an intermediate level.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Correlated response
      variability has profound implications for stimulus encoding, yet our
      understanding of this phenomenon is based largely on spike data. Here, we
      investigate the dynamics and mechanisms of membrane potential-correlated
      variability (CC) in visual cortex with a combined experimental and computational
      approach. We observe a visually evoked increase in CC, followed by a fast return
      to baseline. Our results further suggest a link between this observation and the
      adaptation-mediated dynamics of emergent network phenomena.

PMID- 28592688
TI  - Validation of electrical stimulation models: intracellular calcium measurement in
      three-dimensional scaffolds.
AB  - Peripheral nerve injury can be disabling. Regeneration is limited by the rate of
      axonal extension, and proximal injury to peripheral nerves can take over a year
      to reach target organs. Electrical stimulation (ES) has been shown to increase
      the rate of neurite growth, though the mechanism is not yet well understood. In
      our prior manuscript, we developed a computational model that demonstrates how ES
      can functionally elevate intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) based on
      ES intensity and duration. In this article, we validate the computation model for
      the [Ca2+]i changes in neuron soma. Embryonic chicken dorsal root ganglion cells
      were suspended in 3-dimensional collagen scaffolds. Fura-2 was used to measure
      [Ca2+]i in response to biphasic ES pulses ranging from 70 to 60,000 V/m in
      intensity and from 10 us to 100 ms in duration. The computational model most
      closely matched the experimental data of the neurons with the highest [Ca2+]i
      elevation for ES pulses 100 us or greater in duration. Nickel (200 uM) and
      cadmium (200 uM) blocked 98-99% of the [Ca2+]i rise, indicating that the rise in
      [Ca2+]i in response to ES is via voltage-dependent calcium channels. The average
      [Ca2+]i rise in response to ES was about one-tenth of the peak rise. Therefore,
      the computational model is validated for elevating [Ca2+]i of neurons and can be
      used as a tool for designing efficacious ES protocols for improving neuronal
      regeneration.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Electrical stimulation is used to enhance neuron
      growth, and the role of neuronal intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) is
      an area of research interest. Widely varying stimulation parameters in the
      literature make it difficult to compare stimulation protocols. The results in
      this manuscript are the first to show neuronal [Ca2+]i in response to a broad and
      defined range of electrical pulse durations and intensities. These results
      validate our previously published novel computational model of [Ca2+]i.

PMID- 28592689
TI  - Control of the strength of visual-motor transmission as the mechanism of rapid
      adaptation of priors for Bayesian inference in smooth pursuit eye movements.
AB  - Bayesian inference provides a cogent account of how the brain combines sensory
      information with "priors" based on past experience to guide many behaviors,
      including smooth pursuit eye movements. We now demonstrate very rapid adaptation
      of the pursuit system's priors for target direction and speed. We go on to
      leverage that adaptation to outline possible neural mechanisms that could cause
      pursuit to show features consistent with Bayesian inference. Adaptation of the
      prior causes changes in the eye speed and direction at the initiation of pursuit.
      The adaptation appears after a single trial and accumulates over repeated
      exposure to a given history of target speeds and directions. The influence of the
      priors depends on the reliability of visual motion signals: priors are more
      effective against the visual motion signals provided by low-contrast vs. high
      contrast targets. Adaptation of the direction prior generalizes to eye speed and
      vice versa, suggesting that both priors could be controlled by a single neural
      mechanism. We conclude that the pursuit system can learn the statistics of visual
      motion rapidly and use those statistics to guide future behavior. Furthermore, a
      model that adjusts the gain of visual-motor transmission predicts the effects of
      recent experience on pursuit direction and speed, as well as the specifics of the
      generalization between the priors for speed and direction. We suggest that
      Bayesian inference in pursuit behavior is implemented by distinctly non-Bayesian
      internal mechanisms that use the smooth eye movement region of the frontal eye
      fields to control of the gain of visual-motor transmission.NEW & NOTEWORTHY
      Bayesian inference can account for the interaction between sensory data and past
      experience in many behaviors. Here, we show, using smooth pursuit eye movements,
      that the priors based on past experience can be adapted over a very short time
      frame. We also show that a single model based on direction-specific adaptation of
      the strength of visual-motor transmission can explain the implementation and
      adaptation of priors for both target direction and target speed.

PMID- 28592690
TI  - Dynamics of human subthalamic neuron phase-locking to motor and sensory cortical
      oscillations during movement.
AB  - Coupled oscillatory activity recorded between sensorimotor regions of the basal
      ganglia-thalamocortical loop is thought to reflect information transfer relevant
      to movement. A neuronal firing-rate model of basal ganglia-thalamocortical
      circuitry, however, has dominated thinking about basal ganglia function for the
      past three decades, without knowledge of the relationship between basal ganglia
      single neuron firing and cortical population activity during movement itself. We
      recorded activity from 34 subthalamic nucleus (STN) neurons, simultaneously with
      cortical local field potentials and motor output, in 11 subjects with Parkinson's
      disease (PD) undergoing awake deep brain stimulator lead placement. STN firing
      demonstrated phase synchronization to both low- and high-beta-frequency cortical
      oscillations, and to the amplitude envelope of gamma oscillations, in motor
      cortex. We found that during movement, the magnitude of this synchronization was
      dynamically modulated in a phase-frequency-specific manner. Importantly, we found
      that phase synchronization was not correlated with changes in neuronal firing
      rate. Furthermore, we found that these relationships were not exclusive to motor
      cortex, because STN firing also demonstrated phase synchronization to both
      premotor and sensory cortex. The data indicate that models of basal ganglia
      function ultimately will need to account for the activity of populations of STN
      neurons that are bound in distinct functional networks with both motor and
      sensory cortices and code for movement parameters independent of changes in
      firing rate.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Current models of basal ganglia-thalamocortical
      networks do not adequately explain simple motor functions, let alone dysfunction
      in movement disorders. Our findings provide data that inform models of human
      basal ganglia function by demonstrating how movement is encoded by networks of
      subthalamic nucleus (STN) neurons via dynamic phase synchronization with cortex.
      The data also demonstrate, for the first time in humans, a mechanism through
      which the premotor and sensory cortices are functionally connected to the STN.

PMID- 28592691
TI  - All for One But Not One for All: Excitatory Synaptic Scaling and Intrinsic
      Excitability Are Coregulated by CaMKIV, Whereas Inhibitory Synaptic Scaling Is
      Under Independent Control.
AB  - Neocortical circuits use a family of homeostatic plasticity mechanisms to
      stabilize firing, including excitatory and inhibitory synaptic scaling and
      homeostatic intrinsic plasticity (Turrigiano and Nelson, 2004). All three
      mechanisms can be induced in tandem in cultured rat neocortical pyramidal neurons
      by chronic manipulations of firing, but it is unknown whether they are coinduced
      by the same activity-sensors and signaling pathways, or whether they are under
      independent control. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type IV (CaMKIV)
      is a key sensory/effector in excitatory synaptic scaling that senses
      perturbations in firing through changes in calcium influx, and translates this
      into compensatory changes in excitatory quantal amplitude (Ibata et al., 2008;
      Goold and Nicoll, 2010). Whether CaMKIV also controls inhibitory synaptic scaling
      and intrinsic homeostatic plasticity was unknown. To test this we manipulated
      CaMKIV signaling in individual neurons using dominant-negative (dn) or
      constitutively-active (ca) forms of nuclear-localized CaMKIV and measured the
      induction of all three forms of homeostatic plasticity. We found that excitatory
      synaptic scaling and intrinsic plasticity were bidirectionally coinduced by these
      manipulations. In contrast, these cell-autonomous manipulations had no impact on
      inhibitory quantal amplitude. Finally, we found that spontaneous firing rates
      were shifted up or down by dnCaMKIV or caCaMKIV, respectively, suggesting that
      uncoupling CaMKIV activation from activity generates an error signal in the
      negative feedback mechanism that controls firing rates. Together, our data show
      that excitatory synaptic scaling and intrinsic excitability are tightly
      coordinated through bidirectional changes in the same signaling pathway, whereas
      inhibitory synaptic scaling is sensed and regulated through an independent
      control mechanism.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Maintaining stable function in highly
      interconnected neural circuits is essential for preventing circuit disorders, and
      is accomplished through a set of negative feedback mechanisms that sense and
      compensate for perturbations in activity. These "homeostatic" mechanisms can
      target synaptic excitation, synaptic inhibition, and intrinsic excitability, but
      whether they are independently controlled is not known. We find that synaptic
      excitation and intrinsic excitability are coregulated in individual neurons
      through CaMKIV signaling, which is tightly controlled by neuronal activity. In
      contrast, synaptic inhibition is unaffected by changes in firing or CaMKIV
      signaling in individual neurons. These results show that circuit stability is
      controlled both through cell-autonomous mechanisms that regulate some aspects of
      excitability, as well as circuit-level mechanisms that adjust inhibition.

PMID- 28592692
TI  - Genome-Wide Temporal Expression Profiling in Caenorhabditis elegans Identifies a
      Core Gene Set Related to Long-Term Memory.
AB  - The identification of genes related to encoding, storage, and retrieval of
      memories is a major interest in neuroscience. In the current study, we analyzed
      the temporal gene expression changes in a neuronal mRNA pool during an olfactory
      long-term associative memory (LTAM) in Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites.
      Here, we identified a core set of 712 (538 upregulated and 174 downregulated)
      genes that follows three distinct temporal peaks demonstrating multiple gene
      regulation waves in LTAM. Compared with the previously published positive LTAM
      gene set (Lakhina et al., 2015), 50% of the identified upregulated genes here
      overlap with the previous dataset, possibly representing stimulus-independent
      memory-related genes. On the other hand, the remaining genes were not previously
      identified in positive associative memory and may specifically regulate aversive
      LTAM. Our results suggest a multistep gene activation process during the
      formation and retrieval of long-term memory and define general memory-implicated
      genes as well as conditioning-type-dependent gene sets.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The
      identification of genes regulating different steps of memory is of major interest
      in neuroscience. Identification of common memory genes across different learning
      paradigms and the temporal activation of the genes are poorly studied. Here, we
      investigated the temporal aspects of Caenorhabditis elegans gene expression
      changes using aversive olfactory associative long-term memory (LTAM) and
      identified three major gene activation waves. Like in previous studies, aversive
      LTAM is also CREB dependent, and CREB activity is necessary immediately after
      training. Finally, we define a list of memory paradigm-independent core gene sets
      as well as conditioning-dependent genes.

PMID- 28592694
TI  - Opening a New Time Window for Treatment of Stroke by Targeting HDAC2.
AB  - Narrow therapeutic window limits treatments with thrombolysis and neuroprotection
      for most stroke patients. Widening therapeutic window remains a critical
      challenge. Understanding the key mechanisms underlying the pathophysiological
      events in the peri-infarct area where secondary injury coexists with
      neuroplasticity over days to weeks may offer an opportunity for expanding the
      therapeutic window. Here we show that ischemia-induced histone deacetylase 2
      (HDAC2) upregulation from 5 to 7 d after stroke plays a crucial role. In this
      window phase, suppressing HDAC2 in the peri-infarct cortex of rodents by HDAC
      inhibitors, knockdown or knock-out of Hdac2 promoted recovery of motor function
      from stroke via epigenetically enhancing cells survival and neuroplasticity of
      surviving neurons as well as reducing neuroinflammation, whereas overexpressing
      HDAC2 worsened stroke-induced functional impairment of both WT and Hdac2
      conditional knock-out mice. More importantly, inhibiting other isoforms of HDACs
      had no effect. Thus, the intervention by precisely targeting HDAC2 in this window
      phase is a novel strategy for the functional recovery of stroke
      survivors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Narrow time window phase impedes current
      therapies for stroke patients. Understanding the key mechanisms underlying
      secondary injury may open a new window for pharmacological interventions to
      promote recovery from stroke. Our study indicates that ischemia-induced histone
      deacetylase 2 upregulation from 5 to 7 d after stroke mediates the secondary
      functional loss by reducing survival and neuroplasticity of peri-infarct neurons
      as well as augmenting neuroinflammation. Thus, precisely targeting histone
      deacetylase 2 in the window phase provides a novel therapeutic strategy for
      stroke recovery.

PMID- 28592695
TI  - Unraveling the Role of the Hippocampus in Reversal Learning.
AB  - Research in reversal learning has mainly focused on the functional role of
      dopamine and striatal structures in driving behavior on the basis of classic
      reinforcement learning mechanisms. However, recent evidence indicates that,
      beyond classic reinforcement learning adaptations, individuals may also learn the
      inherent task structure and anticipate the occurrence of reversals. A candidate
      structure to support such task representation is the hippocampus, which might
      create a flexible representation of the environment that can be adaptively
      applied to goal-directed behavior. To investigate the functional role of the
      hippocampus in the implementation of anticipatory strategies in reversal
      learning, we first studied, in 20 healthy individuals (11 women), whether the
      gray matter anatomy and volume of the hippocampus were related to anticipatory
      strategies in a reversal learning task. Second, we tested 20 refractory temporal
      lobe epileptic patients (11 women) with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis, who
      served as a hippocampal lesion model. Our results indicate that healthy
      participants were able to learn the task structure and use it to guide their
      behavior and optimize their performance. Participants' ability to adopt
      anticipatory strategies correlated with the gray matter volume of the
      hippocampus. In contrast, hippocampal patients were unable to grasp the higher
      order structure of the task with the same success than controls. Present results
      indicate that the hippocampus is necessary to respond in an appropriately
      flexible manner to high-order environments, and disruptions in this structure can
      render behavior habitual and inflexible.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding the
      neural substrates involved in reversal learning has provoked a great deal of
      interest in the last years. Studies with nonhuman primates have shown that,
      through repetition, individuals are able to anticipate the occurrence of
      reversals and, thus, adjust their behavior accordingly. The present investigation
      is devoted to know the role of the hippocampus in such strategies. Importantly,
      our findings evidence that the hippocampus is necessary to anticipate the
      occurrence of reversals, and disruptions in this structure can render behavior
      habitual and inflexible.

PMID- 28592693
TI  - Nongenomic Actions of 17-beta Estradiol Restore Respiratory Neuroplasticity in
      Young Ovariectomized Female Rats.
AB  - Gonadal steroids modulate CNS plasticity, including phrenic long-term
      facilitation (pLTF), a form of spinal respiratory neuroplasticity resulting in
      increased phrenic nerve motor output following exposure to acute intermittent
      hypoxia (aIH; three 5 min episodes, 10.5% O2). Despite the importance of
      respiratory system neuroplasticity, and its dependence on estrogen in males,
      little is known about pLTF expression or mechanisms of estrogen signaling in
      females. Here, we tested the hypotheses that (1) pLTF expression in young,
      gonadally intact female rats would be expressed during estrous cycle stages in
      which 17beta-estradiol (E2) is naturally high (e.g., proestrus vs estrus), (2)
      pLTF would be absent in ovariectomized (OVX) rats and in physiological conditions
      in which serum progesterone, but not E2, is elevated (e.g., lactating rats, 3-10
      d postpartum), and (3) acute E2 administration would be sufficient to restore
      pLTF in OVX rats. Recordings of phrenic nerve activity in female Sprague Dawley
      rats (3-4 months) revealed a direct correlation between serum E2 levels and pLTF
      expression in cycling female rats. pLTF was abolished with OVX, but was re
      established by acute E2 replacement (3 h, intraperitoneal). To identify
      underlying E2 signaling mechanisms, we intrathecally applied BSA-conjugated E2
      over the spinal phrenic motor nucleus and found that pLTF expression was restored
      within 15 min, suggesting nongenomic E2 effects at membrane estrogen receptors.
      These data are the first to investigate the role of ovarian E2 in young cycling
      females, and to identify a role for nongenomic estrogen signaling in any form of
      respiratory system neuroplasticity.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Exposure to acute
      intermittent hypoxia induces phrenic long-term facilitation (pLTF), a form of
      spinal respiratory motor plasticity that improves breathing in models of spinal
      cord injury. Although pathways leading to pLTF are well studied in males and
      estradiol (E2) is known to be required, it has seldom been investigated in
      females, and underlying mechanisms of E2 signaling are unknown in either sex. We
      found that while ovariectomy abolished pLTF, it could be restored by acute
      systemic E2, or by intraspinal application of the membrane-impermeable E2 (BSA
      conjugated E2; 15 min). The ability of nongenomic estrogen signaling within the
      cervical spinal cord to recover respiratory neuroplasticity in disorders of
      respiratory insufficiency suggests that membrane estrogen receptors may represent
      novel therapeutic targets to restore breathing in both sexes.

PMID- 28592696
TI  - Visual Working Memory Enhances the Neural Response to Matching Visual Input.
AB  - Visual working memory (VWM) is used to maintain visual information available for
      subsequent goal-directed behavior. The content of VWM has been shown to affect
      the behavioral response to concurrent visual input, suggesting that visual
      representations originating from VWM and from sensory input draw upon a shared
      neural substrate (i.e., a sensory recruitment stance on VWM storage). Here, we
      hypothesized that visual information maintained in VWM would enhance the neural
      response to concurrent visual input that matches the content of VWM. To test this
      hypothesis, we measured fMRI BOLD responses to task-irrelevant stimuli acquired
      from 15 human participants (three males) performing a concurrent delayed match-to
      sample task. In this task, observers were sequentially presented with two shape
      stimuli and a retro-cue indicating which of the two shapes should be memorized
      for subsequent recognition. During the retention interval, a task-irrelevant
      shape (the probe) was briefly presented in the peripheral visual field, which
      could either match or mismatch the shape category of the memorized stimulus. We
      show that this probe stimulus elicited a stronger BOLD response, and allowed for
      increased shape-classification performance, when it matched rather than
      mismatched the concurrently memorized content, despite identical visual
      stimulation. Our results demonstrate that VWM enhances the neural response to
      concurrent visual input in a content-specific way. This finding is consistent
      with the view that neural populations involved in sensory processing are
      recruited for VWM storage, and it provides a common explanation for a plethora of
      behavioral studies in which VWM-matching visual input elicits a stronger
      behavioral and perceptual response.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans heavily rely on
      visual information to interact with their environment and frequently must
      memorize such information for later use. Visual working memory allows for
      maintaining such visual information in the mind's eye after termination of its
      retinal input. It is hypothesized that information maintained in visual working
      memory relies on the same neural populations that process visual input.
      Accordingly, the content of visual working memory is known to affect our
      conscious perception of concurrent visual input. Here, we demonstrate for the
      first time that visual input elicits an enhanced neural response when it matches
      the content of visual working memory, both in terms of signal strength and
      information content.

PMID- 28592698
TI  - A Screening of UNF Targets Identifies Rnb, a Novel Regulator of Drosophila
      Circadian Rhythms.
AB  - Behavioral circadian rhythms are controlled by multioscillator networks
      comprising functionally different subgroups of clock neurons. Studies have
      demonstrated that molecular clocks in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster are
      regulated differently in clock neuron subclasses to support their specific
      functions (Lee et al., 2016; Top et al., 2016). The nuclear receptor unfulfilled
      (unf) represents a regulatory node that provides the small ventral lateral
      neurons (s-LNvs) unique characteristics as the master pacemaker (Beuchle et al.,
      2012). We previously showed that UNF interacts with the s-LNv molecular clocks by
      regulating transcription of the core clock gene period (per) (Jaumouille et al.,
      2015). To gain more insight into the mechanisms by which UNF contributes to the
      functioning of the circadian master pacemaker, we identified UNF target genes
      using chromatin immunoprecipitation. Our data demonstrate that a previously
      uncharacterized gene CG7837, which we termed R and B (Rnb), acts downstream of
      UNF to regulate the function of the s-LNvs as the master circadian pacemaker.
      Mutations and LNv-targeted adult-restricted knockdown of Rnb impair locomotor
      rhythms. RNB localizes to the nucleus, and its loss-of-function blunts the
      molecular rhythms and output rhythms of the s-LNvs, particularly the circadian
      rhythms in PDF accumulation and axonal arbor remodeling. These results establish
      a second pathway by which UNF interacts with the molecular clocks in the s-LNvs
      and highlight the mechanistic differences in the molecular clockwork within the
      pacemaker circuit.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Circadian behavior is generated by a
      pacemaker circuit comprising diverse classes of pacemaker neurons, each of which
      contains a molecular clock. In addition to the anatomical and functional
      diversity, recent studies have shown the mechanistic differences in the molecular
      clockwork among the pacemaker neurons in Drosophila Here, we identified the
      molecular characteristics distinguishing the s-LNvs, the master pacemaker of the
      locomotor rhythms, from other clock neuron subtypes. We demonstrated that a newly
      identified gene Rnb is an s-LNv-specific regulator of the molecular clock and
      essential for the generation of circadian locomotor behavior. Our results provide
      additional evidence to the emerging view that the differential regulation of the
      molecular clocks underlies the functional differences among the pacemaker neuron
      subgroups.

PMID- 28592697
TI  - Top-Down Beta Enhances Bottom-Up Gamma.
AB  - Several recent studies have demonstrated that the bottom-up signaling of a visual
      stimulus is subserved by interareal gamma-band synchronization, whereas top-down
      influences are mediated by alpha-beta band synchronization. These processes may
      implement top-down control of stimulus processing if top-down and bottom-up
      mediating rhythms are coupled via cross-frequency interaction. To test this
      possibility, we investigated Granger-causal influences among awake macaque
      primary visual area V1, higher visual area V4, and parietal control area 7a
      during attentional task performance. Top-down 7a-to-V1 beta-band influences
      enhanced visually driven V1-to-V4 gamma-band influences. This enhancement was
      spatially specific and largest when beta-band activity preceded gamma-band
      activity by ~0.1 s, suggesting a causal effect of top-down processes on bottom-up
      processes. We propose that this cross-frequency interaction mechanistically
      subserves the attentional control of stimulus selection.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT
      Contemporary research indicates that the alpha-beta frequency band underlies top
      down control, whereas the gamma-band mediates bottom-up stimulus processing. This
      arrangement inspires an attractive hypothesis, which posits that top-down beta
      band influences directly modulate bottom-up gamma band influences via cross
      frequency interaction. We evaluate this hypothesis determining that beta-band top
      down influences from parietal area 7a to visual area V1 are correlated with
      bottom-up gamma frequency influences from V1 to area V4, in a spatially specific
      manner, and that this correlation is maximal when top-down activity precedes
      bottom-up activity. These results show that for top-down processes such as
      spatial attention, elevated top-down beta-band influences directly enhance
      feedforward stimulus-induced gamma-band processing, leading to enhancement of the
      selected stimulus.

PMID- 28592699
TI  - Lower Affinity of Isradipine for L-Type Ca2+ Channels during Substantia Nigra
      Dopamine Neuron-Like Activity: Implications for Neuroprotection in Parkinson's
      Disease.
AB  - Ca2+-influx through L-type Ca2+-channels (LTCCs) is associated with activity
      related stressful oscillations of Ca2+ levels within dopaminergic (DA) neurons in
      the substantia nigra (SN), which may contribute to their selective degeneration
      in Parkinson's disease (PD). LTCC blockers were neuroprotective in mouse
      neurotoxin models of PD, and isradipine is currently undergoing testing in a
      phase III clinical trial in early PD. We report no evidence for neuroprotection
      by in vivo pretreatment with therapeutically relevant isradipine plasma levels,
      or Cav1.3 LTCC deficiency in 6-OHDA-treated male mice. To explain this finding,
      we investigated the pharmacological properties of human LTCCs during SN DA-like
      and arterial smooth muscle (aSM)-like activity patterns using whole-cell patch
      clamp recordings in HEK293 cells (Cav1.2 alpha1-subunit, long and short Cav1.3
      alpha1-subunit splice variants; beta3/alpha2delta1). During SN DA-like
      pacemaking, only Cav1.3 variants conducted Ca2+ current (ICa) at subthreshold
      potentials between action potentials. SN DA-like burst activity increased
      integrated ICa during (Cav1.2 plus Cav1.3) and after (Cav1.3) the burst.
      Isradipine inhibition was splice variant and isoform dependent, with a 5- to 11
      fold lower sensitivity to Cav1.3 variants during SN DA-like pacemaking compared
      with Cav1.2 during aSM-like activity. Supratherapeutic isradipine concentrations
      reduced the pacemaker precision of adult mouse SN DA neurons but did not affect
      their somatic Ca2+ oscillations. Our data predict that Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 splice
      variants contribute differentially to Ca2+ load in SN DA neurons, with prominent
      Cav1.3-mediated ICa between action potentials and after bursts. The failure of
      therapeutically relevant isradipine levels to protect SN DA neurons can be
      explained by weaker state-dependent inhibition of SN DA LTCCs compared with aSM
      Cav1.2.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The high vulnerability of dopamine (DA) neurons in
      the substantia nigra (SN) to neurodegenerative stressors causes Parkinson's
      disease (PD). Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channels (LTCCs), in
      particular Cav1.3, appears to contribute to this vulnerability, and the LTCC
      inhibitor isradipine is currently being tested as a neuroprotective agent for PD
      in a phase III clinical trial. However, in our study isradipine plasma
      concentrations approved for therapy were not neuroprotective in a PD mouse model.
      We provide an explanation for this observation by demonstrating that during SN DA
      like neuronal activity LTCCs are less sensitive to isradipine than Cav1.2 LTCCs
      in resistance blood vessels (mediating dose-limiting vasodilating effects) and
      even at supratherapeutic concentrations isradipine fails to reduce somatic Ca2+
      oscillations of SN DA neurons.

PMID- 28592700
TI  - Thrombosis in diabetes: a shear flow effect?
AB  - Cardiovascular events are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Type 2
      diabetes (T2D). This condition is associated with heightened platelet reactivity,
      contributing to increased atherothrombotic risk. Indeed, individuals with
      diabetes respond inadequately to standard antiplatelet therapy. Furthermore, they
      often experience recurrent events as well as side effects that include excess
      bleeding. This highlights the need for identification of novel regulators of
      diabetes-associated thrombosis to target for therapeutic intervention. It is well
      established that platelet aggregation, a process essential for thrombus
      formation, is tightly regulated by shear stress; however, the mechanisms
      underlying shear activation of platelets, particularly in the setting of
      diabetes, are still poorly understood. This review will address the limitations
      of current diagnostic systems to assess the importance of shear stress in the
      regulation of thrombus formation in T2D, and the inability to recapitulate the
      pro-thrombotic phenotype seen clinically in the setting of T2D. Moreover, we will
      discuss recent findings utilizing new technologies to define the importance of
      shear stress in thrombus formation and their potential application to the setting
      of diabetes. Finally, we will discuss the potential of targeting shear-dependent
      mechanisms of thrombus formation as a novel therapeutic approach in the setting
      of T2D.

PMID- 28592701
TI  - Thrombospondin-1 contributes to slower aortic aneurysm growth by inhibiting
      maladaptive remodeling of extracellular matrix.
AB  - In this issue of Clinical Science, Krishna and colleagues describe recent work on
      thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) maturation and its association with slower growth of
      aortic aneurysm in TSP-1 knockdown mouse models. The authors conclude that TSP-1
      deficiency promotes maladaptive remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM)
      leading to accelerated aortic aneurysm progression. We comment on a causal
      relation between TSP-1 and the progression of aortic aneurysm.

PMID- 28592702
TI  - A past and present overview of macrophage metabolism and functional outcomes.
AB  - In 1986 and 1987, Philip Newsholme et al. reported macrophages utilize glutamine,
      as well as glucose, at high rates. These authors measured key enzyme activities
      and consumption and production levels of metabolites in incubated or cultured
      macrophages isolated from the mouse or rat intraperitoneal cavity. Metabolic
      pathways essential for macrophage function were then determined. Macrophages
      utilize glucose to generate (i) ATP in the pathways of glycolysis and
      mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, (ii) glycerol 3-phosphate for the
      synthesis of phospholipids and triacylglycerols, (iii) NADPH for the production
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and (iv) ribose for the synthesis of RNA and
      subsequently production and secretion of protein mediators (e.g. cytokines).
      Glutamine plays an essential role in macrophage metabolism and function, as it is
      required for energy production but also provides nitrogen for synthesis of
      purines, pyrimidines and thus RNA. Macrophages also utilize fatty acids for both
      energy production in the mitochondria and lipid synthesis essential to plasma
      membrane turnover and lipid meditator production. Recent studies utilizing
      metabolomic approaches, transcriptional and metabolite tracking technologies have
      detailed mitochondrial release of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) intermediates (e.g.
      citrate and succinate) to the cytosol, which then regulate pro-inflammatory
      responses. Macrophages can reprogramme their metabolism and function according to
      environmental conditions and stimuli in order to polarize phenotype so generating
      pro- or anti-inflammatory cells. Changes in macrophage metabolism result in
      modified function/phenotype and vice versa. The plasticity of macrophage
      metabolism allows the cell to quickly respond to changes in environmental
      conditions such as those induced by hormones and/or inflammation. A past and
      present overview of macrophage metabolism and impact of endocrine regulation and
      the relevance to human disease are described in this review.

PMID- 28592704
TI  - The added value of exhaled breath temperature in respiratory medicine.
AB  - Recognition of the huge economic burden chronic respiratory diseases pose for
      society motivated fundamental and clinical research leading to insight into the
      role of airway inflammation in various disease entities and their phenotypes.
      However, no easy, cheap and patient-friendly methods to assess it have found a
      place in routine clinical practice. Measurement of exhaled breath temperature
      (EBT) has been suggested as a non-invasive method to detect inflammatory
      processes in the airways as a result of increased blood flow within the airway
      walls. As EBT values are within a narrow range, the thermometers designed for the
      purpose of assessing it need to be precise and very sensitive. EBT increases
      linearly over the pediatric age range and seems to be influenced by gender, but
      not by height and body weight. In non-smoking individuals with no history of
      respiratory disease EBT has a natural circadian peak about noon and increases
      with food intake and physical exercise. When interpreting EBT in subjects with
      alleged airway pathology, the possibilities of tissue destruction (chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis) or excessive bronchial
      obstruction and air trapping (severe asthma) need to be considered, as these
      conditions drive (force) EBT down. A prominent advantage of the method is to
      assess EBT when patients are in a steady state of their disease and to use this
      'personal best' to monitor them and guide their treatment. Individual devices
      outfitted with microprocessors and memory have been created, which can be used
      for personalized monitoring and disease management by telemedicine.

PMID- 28592705
TI  - Smoking Cessation without Educational Instruction could Promote the Development
      of Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - AIM: Smoking cessation is particularly important for maintaining health; however,
      the subsequent risk of an increased body weight is of major concern. The present
      study investigated the influence of smoking cessation on the incidence of
      metabolic syndrome and its components in the Japanese general population.
      METHODS: This study enrolled individuals without metabolic syndrome or a history
      of smoking via our annual health checkup program (n=5,702, 55.2+/-11.5 years).
      Participants were divided into three groups mentioned below and followed up with
      the endpoint being the development of metabolic syndrome: (1) subjects who had
      never smoked and did not smoke during the observation period (non-smoker); (2)
      those who continued smoking during the observation period (continuous smoker);
      and (3) those who ceased smoking during the observation period (smoking
      cessation). RESULTS: During the observation period (median 1,089 days), 520
      subjects developed metabolic syndrome, and Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a higher
      incidence of metabolic syndrome in the smoking cessation group than in the other
      groups. Smoking cessation was confirmed as an independent predictor of the new
      onset of metabolic syndrome by multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis
      after adjustment. Subjects only from the smoking cessation group showed a
      significant deterioration in metabolic factors during the study in correlation
      with an increased waist circumference after smoking cessation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Smoking cessation without instruction could be followed by the development of
      metabolic syndrome, and the incidence of metabolic syndrome might reduce the
      benefit obtained from smoking cessation. Therefore, further educational outreach
      is needed to prevent the progression of metabolic syndrome during the course of
      smoking cessation.

PMID- 28592706
TI  - Efficacy and safety of long-acting pasireotide in Japanese patients with
      acromegaly or pituitary gigantism: results from a multicenter, open-label,
      randomized, phase 2 study.
AB  - A multicenter, open-label, phase 2 study was conducted to investigate the
      efficacy and safety of long-acting pasireotide formulation in Japanese patients
      with acromegaly or pituitary gigantism. Medically naive or inadequately
      controlled patients (on somatostatin analogues or dopamine agonists) were
      included. Primary end point was the proportion of all patients who achieved
      biochemical control (mean growth hormone [GH] levels<2.5MUg/L and normalized
      insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1]) at month 3. Thirty-three patients
      (acromegaly, n=32; pituitary gigantism, n=1) were enrolled and randomized 1:1:1
      to receive open-label pasireotide 20mg, 40mg, or 60mg. The median age was 52
      years (range, 31-79) and 20 patients were males. At month 3, 18.2% of patients
      (6/33; 90% confidence interval: 8.2%, 32.8%) had biochemical control (21.2%
      [7/33] when including a patient with mean GH<2.5MUg/L and IGF-1< lower limit of
      normal). Reductions in the median GH and IGF-1 levels observed at month 3 were
      maintained up to month 12; the median percent change from baseline to month 12 in
      GH and IGF-1 levels were -74.71% and -59.33%, respectively. Twenty-nine patients
      completed the 12-month core phase, 1 withdrew consent, and 3 discontinued
      treatment due to adverse events (AEs; diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia, liver
      function abnormality, n=1 each). Almost all patients (97%; 32/33) experienced
      AEs; the most common AEs were nasopharyngitis (48.5%), hyperglycemia (42.4%),
      diabetes mellitus (24.2%), constipation (18.2%), and hypoglycemia (15.2%).
      Serious AEs were reported in 7 patients with the most common being hyperglycemia
      (n=2). Long-acting pasireotide demonstrated clinically relevant efficacy and was
      well tolerated in Japanese patients with acromegaly or pituitary gigantism.

PMID- 28592703
TI  - Real-Time Transferrin-Based PET Detects MYC-Positive Prostate Cancer.
AB  - Noninvasive biomarkers that detect the activity of important oncogenic drivers
      could significantly improve cancer diagnosis and management of treatment. The
      goal of this study was to determine whether 68Ga-citrate (which avidly binds to
      circulating transferrin) can detect MYC-positive prostate cancer tumors, as the
      transferrin receptor is a direct MYC target gene. PET imaging paired with 68Ga
      citrate and molecular analysis of preclinical models, human cell-free DNA
      (cfDNA), and clinical biopsies were conducted to determine whether 68Ga-citrate
      can detect MYC-positive prostate cancer. Importantly, 68Ga-citrate detected human
      prostate cancer models in a MYC-dependent fashion. In patients with castration
      resistant prostate cancer, analysis of cfDNA revealed that all patients with 68Ga
      citrate avid tumors had a gain of at least one MYC copy number. Moreover, biopsy
      of two PET avid metastases showed molecular or histologic features characteristic
      of MYC hyperactivity. These data demonstrate that 68Ga-citrate targets prostate
      cancer tumors with MYC hyperactivity. A larger prospective study is ongoing to
      demonstrate the specificity of 68Ga-citrate for tumors with hyperactive
      MYC.Implications: Noninvasive measurement of MYC activity with quantitative
      imaging modalities could substantially increase our understanding of the role of
      MYC signaling in clinical settings for which invasive techniques are challenging
      to implement or do not characterize the biology of all tumors in a patient.
      Moreover, measuring MYC activity noninvasively opens the opportunity to study
      changes in MYC signaling in patients under targeted therapeutic conditions
      thought to indirectly inhibit MYC. Mol Cancer Res; 15(9); 1221-9. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28592708
TI  - Low-signal Intensity Rims along the Cerebral Cortex and U-fibers on
      Susceptibility-weighted Imaging in Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy.

PMID- 28592707
TI  - Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase-Independent Pleiotropic Effects of Pitavastatin
      Against Atherogenesis and Limb Ischemia in Mice.
AB  - AIM: Statins have a protective impact against cardiovascular diseases through not
      only lipid-lowering effects but also pleiotropic effects, including activation of
      the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) system. We aimed to clarify the
      protective effects of a statin against atherogenesis and ischemia in eNOS-/-
      mice. METHODS: Study 1. eNOS-/- Apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-/- mice were treated with
      a vehicle or pitavastatin (0.3 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks. Study 2. eNOS-/- mice were
      also treated with a vehicle or the same dose of pitavastatin for 2 weeks prior to
      hind-limb ischemia. RESULTS: In Study 1, pitavastatin attenuated plaque formation
      and medial fibrosis of the aortic root with decreased macrophage infiltration in
      eNOS-/- ApoE-/- mice. PCR array analysis showed reductions in aortic gene
      expression of proatherogenic factors, including Ccl2 and Ccr2 in pitavastatin
      treated double mutant mice. In addition, pitavastatin activated not only
      atherogenic p38MAPK and JNK but also anti-atherogenic ERK1/2 and ERK5 in the
      aorta of the double mutant mice. In Study 2, pitavastatin prolonged hind-limb
      survival after the surgery with increased BCL2-to-BAX protein ratio and
      inactivated JNK. Enhanced expression of anti-apoptotic genes, including Vegf,
      Api5, Atf5, Prdx2, and Dad1, was observed in the ischemic limb of pitavastatin
      treated eNOS-/- mice. Furthermore, pitavastatin activated both aortic and
      skeletal muscle AMPK in the eNOS-deficient vascular injury models. CONCLUSION:
      Pitavastatin exerts eNOS-independent protective effects against atherogenesis and
      hind-limb ischemia in mice, which may occur via modifications on key molecules
      such as AMPK and diverse molecules.

PMID- 28592709
TI  - Relationship between Contrast Enhancement of the Perivascular Space in the Basal
      Ganglia and Endolymphatic Volume Ratio.
AB  - PURPOSE: We routinely obtain the endolymphatic hydrops (EH) image using heavily
      T2-weighted three dimensional-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (hT2w-3D-FLAIR)
      imaging at 4 hours after intravenous administration of a single-dose of
      gadolinium-based contrast media (IV-SD-GBCM). While repeating the examination, we
      speculated that the contrast enhancement of the perivascular space (PVS) in the
      basal ganglia might be related to the degree of EH. Therefore, the purpose of
      this study was to investigate the relationship between the endolymphatic volume
      ratio (%ELvolume) and the signal intensity of the PVS (SI-PVS). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In 20 patients with a suspicion of EH, a heavily T2-weighted 3D-turbo
      spin echo sequence for MR cisternography (MRC) and an hT2w-3D-FLAIR as a positive
      perilymph image (PPI) were obtained at 4 hours after IV-SD-GBCM. The %ELvolume of
      the cochlea and the vestibule were measured on the previously reported HYDROPS2
      Mi2 image. The PVS in the basal ganglia was segmented on MRC using a region
      growing method. The PVS regions were copied and pasted onto the PPI, and the SI
      PVS was measured. The larger value of the right and the left ears was employed as
      the %ELvolume, and the weighted average of both sides was employed as the SI-PVS.
      The correlation between the %ELvolume and the SI-PVS was evaluated. RESULT: There
      was a strong negative linear correlation between the %ELvolume of the cochlea and
      the SI-PVS (r = -0.743, P < 0.001); however, there was no significant correlation
      between the %ELvolume of the vestibule and the SI-PVS (r = -0.267, P = 0.256).
      CONCLUSION: There was a strong negative correlation between the cochlear
      %ELvolume and the SI-PVS. Contrast enhancement of PVS might be a biomarker of EH.

PMID- 28592711
TI  - Occupational violence in pregnant women in Brazil: a sample of cases in the Labor
      Court.
AB  - Brazilian women are still a recurring target of discrimination in the workplace,
      facing violence related to gender relations and moral harassment, especially when
      they are pregnant. When the worker perceives discriminatory acts and attitudes or
      any violation of the rights guaranteed by law, she may appeal to the Labor Court
      to initiate legal action. This in turn exposes the worker to a number of issues,
      such as workplace persecution and future dismissal. The rights of pregnant women
      to temporary stability, free time for medical examinations, change of duties and
      maternity leave contrast with the usurpation of the administration's workforce.
      The rights of pregnant women to temporary stability, free time for medical
      examinations, change of duties and maternity leave contrast with the growing
      power of labor administration.

PMID- 28592710
TI  - Possible changes of New-Generation inflammation markers with occupational lead
      exposure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Occupational lead (Pb) exposure is still an important health problem
      in the world. Long-term Pb exposure causes several adverse effects. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the changes of inflammation markers with chronic Pb
      exposure by analyzing neopterin levels and kynurenine (Kyn) to tryptophan (Trp)
      ratio that reflects indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity and to compare with
      healthy volunteers' parameters. METHODS: Blood lead levels (BLLs) were analyzed
      by atomic absorption spectrometry. Urinary neopterin and serum Kyn and Trp levels
      were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: According to
      our results, mean BLL of the 29 workers was 20.4+/-9.6 MUg/dl. Urinary neopterin
      levels, serum Kyn levels, and Kyn/Trp of Pb workers (188+/-52 MUmol/mol
      creatinine, 2.70+/-0.66 MUM, and 43.19+/-10.38 MUmol/mmol, respectively) were
      significantly higher than controls (144+/-35 MUmol/mol creatinine, 2.08+/-0.34
      MUM, and 32.24+/-7.69 MUmol/mmol, respectively). Pb-exposed workers were divided
      into further three groups according to their BLLs: as 10-19 MUg/dl (n=18), 20-29
      MUg/dl (n=8), and 30-49 MUg/dl (n=3). Neopterin levels of the workers with BLL of
      30-49 MUg/dl were significantly higher than those of BLL with 10-29 MUg/dl, while
      Trp levels decreased. Kyn/Trp of workers with BLL of 30-49 MUg/dl were elevated
      significantly compared with the workers with BLL<30 MUg/dl. In addition to
      neopterin, Kyn and Kyn/Trp levels were positively influenced by Pb exposure.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increased level of inflammation markers confirms the adverse effects
      of Pb even low BLLs, and we suggest that monitoring BLLs with inflammation
      markers could help to prevent serious occupational health problems.

PMID- 28592712
TI  - High Serum HDGF Levels Are Predictive of Bone Metastasis and Unfavorable
      Prognosis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) is a heparin-binding protein possessing
      mitogenic activity and could be secreted from necrotic cells passively or
      actively, thereby functioning as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP).
      The high expression of HDGF in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues is
      associated with unfavorable prognosis. However, the clinical significance of
      serum HDGF has not been elucidated in NSCLC yet. In the present study, we
      compared the serum levels of HDGF in 235 patients with NSCLC (141 adenocarcinoma
      and 94 squamous cell carcinoma cases) with those in 40 healthy subjects.
      Moreover, we explored the correlation between serum HDGF levels and
      clinicopathologic factors or the overall survival rates. We thus found that the
      serum HDGF levels were significantly higher in NSCLC patients than those in
      healthy subjects (P < 0.001). Moreover, there was no significant difference in
      the serum HDGF levels between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
      Importantly, the higher serum levels of HDGF were significantly associated with
      bone metastasis and with lower overall survival rates. Thus, serum HDGF was
      identified as an independent prognostic factor indicating poor prognosis of
      NSCLC. Using A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, we demonstrated that an
      autophagy inhibitor, chloroquine, could inhibit the HDGF secretion, while
      quercetin, an autophagy inducer derived from a traditional Chinese drug, could
      facilitate HDGF secretion. In conclusion, high serum levels of HDGF were
      significantly correlated to bone metastasis and poorer prognosis of NSCLC. We
      suggest that anti-HDGF therapy is potential to protect NSCLC patients with
      advanced stages from bone metastasis.

PMID- 28592713
TI  - Pulmonary-Limited Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis Coexisting with Mixed
      Connective Tissue Disease.
AB  - Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a systemic disease characterized by
      necrotizing, granulomatous vasculitis of the upper and lower respiratory tracts
      and glomerulonephritis, and is classified as a classical or limited form. The
      classical form of GPA demonstrates the involvement of the upper respiratory
      tract, sinuses, lungs and kidneys, whereas the limited form is characterized by
      the lack of the renal involvement with female predominance. On the other hand,
      mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) shows the clinical and laboratorial
      features of systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis and polymyositis,
      along with high titers of anti-ribonucleoprotein antibodies and is characterized
      by good response to corticosteroid therapy and favorable prognosis. We herein
      report a patient with a history of MCTD that developed into a limited form of GPA
      (pulmonary-limited GPA). A 39-year-old woman suffered from persistent cough, left
      back pain and appetite loss. At 21 years of age she was diagnosed with MCTD, but
      the persistent administration of prednisolone or immunosuppressants was not
      needed. On admission, high-resolution chest computed tomography showed bilateral,
      multiple, poorly circumscribed nodules and masses, some of which showed
      cavitation. A surgical lung biopsy demonstrated granulomas with vasculitis
      surrounding the necrotic lesions. She was diagnosed with pulmonary-limited GPA.
      In conclusion, we should recognize that GPA may develop during the disease course
      of MCTD even after prolonged disease remission. To prevent progression to an
      irreversible state, physicians should consider a surgical lung biopsy for the
      diagnosis in patients suspected of having pulmonary-limited GPA.

PMID- 28592714
TI  - The 2016 WHO Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System: The Major
      Points of Revision.
AB  - The updated 2016 edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of
      Tumours of the Central Nervous System (CNS) uses molecular parameters and the
      histology to define the main tumor categories for the first time. This represents
      a shift from the traditional principle of using neuropathological diagnoses,
      which are primarily based on the microscopic features, to using molecularly
      oriented diagnoses. Major restructuring was made with regard to diffuse gliomas,
      medulloblastomas and other embryonal tumors. New entities that are defined by
      both the histological and molecular features include glioblastoma, isocitrate
      dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype and glioblastoma, IDH-mutant; diffuse midline
      glioma, H3 K27M-mutant; RELA fusion-positive ependymoma; medulloblastoma,
      wingless (WNT)-activated and medulloblastoma, sonic hedgehog (SHH)-activated; and
      embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes, C19MC-altered. In addition, some
      entities that are no longer diagnostically relevant-such as CNS-primitive
      neuroectodermal tumor-have been deleted from this updated edition. The WHO2016
      certainly facilitates clinical and basic research to improve the diagnosis of
      brain tumors and patient care.

PMID- 28592715
TI  - Synthesis of Clovamide Analogues That Inhibit NO Production in Activated BV-2
      Microglial Cells.
AB  - A series of methyl ester of clovamide analogues, where the hydroxyl group of
      catechol moiety in caffeic acid and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) was
      replaced with various functional groups, were synthesized and their inhibitory
      effects on nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible NO synthase (iNOS)
      expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV2 cells were tested. Among the
      synthesized compounds, 3,5-ditrifluoromethyl analogue 9l (IC50=2.8 uM) exhibited
      a potency about 26.3 times greater than that of the parent compound 9a (IC50=73.6
      uM) and suppressed NO production dose-dependently without cytotoxicity. Compound
      9l also inhibited iNOS expression in LPS-induced BV2 cells at 2.5, 5 and 10 uM
      concentrations. These results suggested that the dihydroxyl group of catechol
      moiety in caffeic acid unit is not essential for the suppression of NO production
      and that 9l has potential as a potent inhibitor of NO production.

PMID- 28592716
TI  - Animal ethics and welfare education in wet-lab training can foster residents'
      ethical values toward life.
AB  - Live animals are used in surgical skills training in wet lab, which has
      undeniable effectiveness for the development of future surgeons. However, where
      such training is provided, animal welfare is a major consideration. Increasingly,
      institutions that offer wet-lab training are incorporating animal ethics and
      welfare-related content into their training courses, but the effectiveness of
      such animal ethics education has yet to be evaluated quantitatively. We
      investigated whether the animal ethics content of a training course affected
      trainees by measuring increase in ethical awareness using visual analog scale
      questionnaires before and after training. Our results demonstrated a significant
      and positive increase in awareness of animal ethics (significance level of 5%;
      0.0380<=P<=0.0016).

PMID- 28592717
TI  - Hypomethylated Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme2 Q1 (UBE2Q1) Gene Promoter in the
      Serum Is a Promising Biomarker for Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Hepatocellular
      Carcinoma.
AB  - Aberrant DNA methylation, which can be detected in circulating cell-free DNA
      (cfDNA), is one of the major epigenetic alterations in hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). UBE2Q1, a putative member of the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family,
      might play substantial roles in tumorigenesis. However, the methylation status of
      the UBE2Q1 gene in HCC remains unknown. We aimed to determine the methylation
      status of the UBE2Q1 gene promoter and to evaluate its potential clinical
      significance for HCC detection. The methylation-specific polymerase chain
      reaction (MSP) assay was used to detect the UBE2Q1 gene methylation status in
      serum samples from 80 patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC, 40
      patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), 40 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB),
      and 20 healthy controls (HCs). Significantly lower methylation frequencies were
      detected in HCC patients (33.75%) compared with LC patients (55.00%, p = 0.026)
      and CHB patients (60.00%, p = 0.006) and HCs (65.00%, p = 0.011). Hypomethylation
      of the UBE2Q1 gene was negatively associated with the tumor node metastasis stage
      (rs = -0.30, p = 0.008). The UBE2Q1 gene methylation status combined with alpha
      fetoprotein using cut-off points of 20, 200 and 400 ng/ml showed sensitivity and
      specificity values of 58.8% and 75.0%, 53.8% and 87.5%, and 37.5% and 88.7%,
      respectively, and yielded a significantly increased area under the ROC curve
      (0.720, 0.760 and 0.694, respectively) for discriminating HCC from LC and CHB.
      Our study results suggest that hypomethylation of the UBE2Q1 gene promoter is a
      potential biomarker for detecting HBV-associated HCC.

PMID- 28592718
TI  - Long-Term Subclinical Hyperglycemia and Hypoglycemia as Independent Risk Factors
      for Mild Cognitive Impairment in Elderly People.
AB  - Dementia is one of the most common geriatric diseases, and mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI) is considered to be incipient dementia. MCI patients have
      elevated risk of progressing to dementia. Multiple metabolic abnormalities have
      an unconfirmed effect on MCI risk, and taking adequate measures against metabolic
      abnormalities might prevent the developing of MCI. Thus, the present study
      explored the association of MCI risk with common metabolic abnormalities, such as
      hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, hyperlipidemia and hypouricemia, and to provide the
      basis for MCI prevention. A total of 1,262 elderly outpatients with normal
      cognitive function and without confirmed diabetes mellitus, hyperlipoidemia and
      gout were enrolled. During the five-year follow-up period, 142 subjects were
      diagnosed with MCI according to Mini Mental State Examination and Montreal
      Cognitive Assessment. Furthermore, annual blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin,
      lipids and uric acid values were obtained, and mean of each indicator was
      calculated. Only mean values were included in the study to reflect long-term
      effect of metabolic abnormalities on MCI risk. Thus, the increased risk of MCI
      was associated with the mean values of blood glucose < 4.7 mmol/L (RR: 1.57, 95%
      CI: 1.14-2.32), blood glucose >= 6.3 mmol/L (RR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.03-2.39),
      glycated hemoglobin >= 5.9% (RR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.59-3.91), triglycerides >= 2.0
      mmol/L (RR: 2.79, 95% CI: 2.14-3.79), total cholesterol >= 5.5 mmol/L (RR: 2.37,
      95% CI: 1.69-3.39) and uric acid <= 380 MUmol/L (RR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.08-2.51). In
      conclusion, long-term subclinical hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, hyperlipidemia,
      and hypouricemia are independent risk factors for MCI in elderly people.

PMID- 28592720
TI  - Effect of Flooding and the nosZ Gene in Bradyrhizobia on Bradyrhizobial Community
      Structure in the Soil.
AB  - We investigated the effects of the water status (flooded or non-flooded) and
      presence of the nosZ gene in bradyrhizobia on the bradyrhizobial community
      structure in a factorial experiment that examined three temperature levels (20
      degrees C, 25 degrees C, and 30 degrees C) and two soil types (andosol and gray
      lowland soil) using microcosm incubations. All microcosms were inoculated with
      Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA6T, B. japonicum USDA123, and B. elkanii USDA76T,
      which do not possess the nosZ gene, and then half received B. diazoefficiens
      USDA110Twt (wt for the wild-type) and the other half received B. diazoefficiens
      USDA110DeltanosZ. USDA110Twt possesses the nosZ gene, which encodes N2O
      reductase; 110DeltanosZ, a mutant variant, does not. Changes in the community
      structure after 30- and 60-d incubations were investigated by denaturing-gradient
      gel electrophoresis and an image analysis. USDA6T and 76T strains slightly
      increased in non-flooded soil regardless of which USDA110T strain was present. In
      flooded microcosms with the USDA110Twt strain, USDA110Twt became dominant,
      whereas in microcosms with the USDA110DeltanosZ, a similar change in the
      community structure occurred to that in non-flooded microcosms. These results
      suggest that possession of the nosZ gene confers a competitive advantage to B.
      diazoefficiens USDA110T in flooded soil. We herein demonstrated that the
      dominance of B. diazoefficiens USDA110Twt within the soil bradyrhizobial
      population may be enhanced by periods of flooding or waterlogging systems such as
      paddy-soybean rotations because it appears to have the ability to thrive in
      moderately anaerobic soil.

PMID- 28592719
TI  - Effects of toceranib phosphate (Palladia) monotherapy on multidrug resistant
      lymphoma in dogs.
AB  - We examined whether multidrug resistant (MDR) canine lymphoma increases gene
      expression for platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha),
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), and c-KIT, and whether
      toceranib phosphate (TOC) has potential as a treatment for MDR canine lymphoma.
      The clinical data showed that PDGFRalpha expression was higher in canine subjects
      with MDR T-cell lymphoma than in those with untreated T-cell lymphoma, and that c
      KIT expression was greater in subjects with T-cell lymphoma than in those with B
      cell lymphoma. TOC monotherapy was well tolerated without serious adverse
      effects, and two of the five subjects that received TOC exhibited partial
      responses. The data presented here could contribute to the assessment of TOC
      based therapy for dogs with MDR or T-cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28592721
TI  - Factors Determining the Biodiversity of Halophilic Microorganisms on Historic
      Masonry Buildings.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to obtain insights into the relationship between
      the chemical (salt content and pH) and physico-mechanical (humidity and
      compressive strength) properties of mineral-based materials from historic
      buildings with salt efflorescence and the growth and biodiversity of halophilic
      microorganisms. Samples were mainly characterized by pH 6.5-8.5 and a moisture
      content of between 0.12 and 3.3%. Significant variations were also found in the
      salt content (sulfates, chlorides, and nitrates) of the materials. An SEM/EDS
      analysis of material surfaces revealed the presence of halite, calcite, gypsum,
      sodium sulfate, and potassium-sodium sulfate. Culture-dependent and culture
      independent (clone library construction) approaches were both applied to detect
      halophilic microorganisms. Results derived from culturable methods and the
      materials analysis revealed a correlation between the total halophile count and
      pH value as well as sulfate content. A correlation was not observed between the
      concentration of chlorides or nitrates and the number of halophilic
      microorganisms. The materials studied were inhabited by the culturable halophilic
      bacteria Halobacillus sp., Virgibacillus sp., and Marinococcus sp. as well as the
      yeast Sterigmatomyces sp., which was isolated for the first time from mineral
      materials. Culture-independent techniques revealed the following bacterial
      species: Salinibacterium, Salinisphaera, Rubrobacter, Rubricoccus, Halomonas,
      Halorhodospira, Solirubrobacter, Salinicoccus, and Salinibacter. Biodiversity was
      the highest in materials with high or moderate salinity.

PMID- 28592722
TI  - Release and Constancy of an Antibiotic Resistance Gene in Seawater under Grazing
      Stress by Ciliates and Heterotrophic Nanoflagellates.
AB  - Extracellular DNA (exDNA) is released from bacterial cells through various
      processes. The antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) coded on exDNA may be
      horizontally transferred among bacterial communities by natural transformation.
      We quantitated the released/leaked tetracycline resistance gene, tet(M) over time
      under grazing stress by ciliates and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNFs), and
      found that extracellular tet(M) (ex-tetM) increased with bacterial grazing.
      Separate microcosms containing tet(M)-possessing bacteria with ciliates or HNFs
      were prepared. The copy number of ex-tetM in seawater in the ciliate microcosm
      rapidly increased until 3 d after the incubation, whereas that in the HNF
      microcosm showed a slower increase until 20 d. The copy number of ex-tetM was
      stable in both cases throughout the incubation period, suggesting that
      extracellular ARGs are preserved in the environment, even in the presence of
      grazers. Additionally, ARGs in bacterial cells were constant in the presence of
      grazers. These results suggest that ARGs are not rapidly extinguished in a marine
      environment under grazing stress.

PMID- 28592723
TI  - Chondroma of the Sternum Growing in a Pregnant Patient: A Case Report.
AB  - PURPOSE: Benign tumors are known to grow or develop sometimes during pregnancy.
      We present a case report about a young woman with a growing sternal tumor.
      METHODS: After her second pregnancy, a 32-year-old female presented with a rapid
      growing sternal tumor. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a tumor measuring
      10 * 8 * 7 cm with an intrathoracic bulk, compressing the heart and the upper
      margin of the liver. RESULTS: Resection of the tumor was performed uneventfully.
      Histologic examination of the resected mass revealed a chondroma. CONCLUSION: To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a huge sternal chondroma
      growing in a pregnant patient. There is not often a need to treat these patients
      before delivery, however, thereafter surgical treatment of growing tumors is
      recommended.

PMID- 28592724
TI  - Association of Airflow Limitation With Carotid Atherosclerosis in a Japanese
      Community - The Hisayama Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been no large-scale observational study examining the
      association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or airflow
      limitation and carotid atherosclerosis in the general population across a wide
      range of generations in Asia. In the present study we assessed the association
      between airflow limitation and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in a general
      Japanese population, with consideration of a comprehensive array of
      cardiovascular risk factors.Methods and Results:In all, 2,099 community-dwelling
      Japanese subjects were included in the study. Airflow limitation was defined by
      spirometry. Maximum and mean IMT values were measured using carotid
      ultrasonography. Among the subjects, 352 (16.8%) had airflow limitation. The
      geometric mean values of maximum IMT and mean IMT were significantly higher in
      subjects with than without airflow limitation (1.27 vs. 1.18 mm, respectively,
      for maximum IMT; 0.73 mm vs. 0.72 mm, respectively, for mean IMT) and increased
      with the severity of airflow limitation after adjustment for conventional risk
      factors, including smoking habits and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.
      It should be noted that the magnitude of these associations was greater in the
      middle-aged (40-64 years) than elderly (>=65 years) subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings of the present study suggest that airflow limitation is a significant
      risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis, especially in midlife, in the general
      Japanese population.

PMID- 28592725
TI  - Useful Computed Tomography Score for Estimation of Early Neurologic Outcome in
      Post-Cardiac Arrest Patients With Therapeutic Hypothermia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is used to assess
      early ischemic stroke damage. This study compared bilateral ASPECTS (ASPECTS-b)
      with the gray:white matter ratio (GWR) and quantitative regional abnormality
      (QRA) to evaluate the prognostic utility of early computed tomography (CT)
      findings in post-cardiac arrest patients.Methods and Results:Out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) who
      underwent brain CT (<6 h after onset) and therapeutic hypothermia were recruited
      from a university hospital over a 2-year period. General demographics, ROSC
      characteristics, ASPECTS-b (total score=20 points), GWR, and QRA were assessed.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to predict neurologic outcome
      using cerebral performance category (CPC) at 1 month. The study population was
      divided into good (n=20; CPC 1-2) and poor (n=47; CPC 3-5) outcome groups. The
      good (vs. poor) outcome group was younger (mean [+/-SD] age 46.7+/-11.8 vs.
      60.3+/-17.2 years; P=0.002) and had more initial shockable rhythms (40.0% vs.
      8.5%; P=0.002). In addition, the good outcome group had a higher mean ASPECTS-b
      score (15.3+/-2.7 vs. 9.0+/-4.9; P<0.001), despite no differences in QRA and mean
      GWR. Age and ASPECTS-b were independent predictors of outcome after adjusting for
      potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that an initial CT
      score (ASPECTS-b) could help estimate early neurologic outcomes in post-cardiac
      arrest patients treated with therapeutic hypothermia.

PMID- 28592726
TI  - Effect of Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors on Cardiovascular Outcome and Cardiac
      Function in Patients With Diabetes and Heart Failure - Insights From the Ibaraki
      Cardiac Assessment Study-Heart Failure (ICAS-HF) Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although experimental animal studies report many pleiotropic effects
      of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), their prognostic value has not
      been demonstrated in clinical trials.Methods and Results:Among 838 prospectively
      enrolled heart failure (HF) patients hospitalized for acute decompensated HF, 79
      treated with DPP-4i were compared with 79 propensity score-matched non-DPP-4i
      diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality;
      the secondary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death and
      hospitalization. During follow-up (423+/-260 days), 8 patients (10.1%) in the DPP
      4i group and 13 (16.5%) in the non-DPP-4i group died (log-rank, P=0.283). The DPP
      4i group did not have a significantly higher rate of all-cause mortality (log
      rank, P=0.283), or cardiovascular death or hospitalization (log-rank, P=0.425).
      In a subgroup analysis of HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF; n=75), the
      DPP-4i group had a significantly better prognosis than the non-DPP-4i group
      regarding the primary endpoint (log-rank, P=0.021) and a tendency to have better
      prognosis regarding the secondary endpoint (log-rank, P=0.119). In patients with
      HF with reduced EF (n=83), DPP-4i did not result in better prognosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: DPP-4i did not increase the risk of adverse clinical outcomes in
      patients with DM and HF. DPP-4i may be beneficial in HFpEF.

PMID- 28592727
TI  - Temporal Sequential Pattern of Right Ventricular Free Wall Contraction in Normal
      Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The temporal sequence of right ventricular (RV) deformation is
      related to RV dysfunction. The sequence of RV free wall contraction was
      investigated.Methods and Results:In this prospective study, strain profiles using
      speckle-tracking echocardiography and tissue Doppler-derived pulmonary and
      tricuspid annular motion were assessed in 60 normal children. Circumferential RV
      free wall strain of 3 individual segments (anterior, lateral, and inferior) was
      evaluated. Longitudinal strain was assessed in 3 individual segments (RV outflow
      tract [RVOT], apical, and RV inflow tract [RVIT]). The isovolumetric contraction
      time (ICT) and the time interval between the onset of the QRS wave to the peak s'
      wave were measured for pulmonary and tricuspid annular motion velocities. The
      time to peak circumferential strain was significantly lower in the anterior than
      in the lateral and inferior segments (339.1+/-19.5, 358.3+/-21.8, and 366.6+/
      22.4 ms, respectively; P<0.0001). Longitudinal deformation of the RVOT segment
      occurred before the apical and RVIT segments (351.8+/-23.1, 366.3+/-20.1, and
      369.2+/-21.3 ms, respectively; P<0.0001). The ICT and the time to peak s' were
      significantly shorter in pulmonary than in tricuspid annular motion (49.4+/-10.1
      vs 58.0+/-13.2 ms; and 104.7+/-12.2 vs. 160.5+/-27.1 ms; P<0.0001 for each).
      CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal deformation of RVOT precedes RVIT. Circumferential
      deformation occurs in the anterior segment before the lateral and posterior
      segments. The presence of mechanical time heterogeneity appears important for RV
      performance.

PMID- 28592728
TI  - Inflammaging and age-associated diseases.

PMID- 28592729
TI  - Is dementia a treatable disease?

PMID- 28592730
TI  - Kumamoto Earthquake and health issues of the elderly.

PMID- 28592731
TI  - Health condition of elderlies and re-construction of the city after the Great
      East Earthquake and Tsunamis. -report from Rikuzentakata.

PMID- 28592732
TI  - The predicament of elderly disaster victims: 6 years after the Great East Japan
      Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.

PMID- 28592733
TI  - Disaster medicine for the elderlies -chronological aspects of the Great East
      Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and future issues.

PMID- 28592734
TI  - A cross-sectional study on the factors related to cognitive decline in community
      dwelling elderly.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive
      decline and physical activity, sitting time, and social participation among
      elderly people living independently in a local community. METHODS: In January
      2015, 1,133 independently-living elderly individuals from a local Japanese
      community completed self-administrated questionnaires. A total of 929
      participants completed the questionnaire (valid response rate: 82.0%). A multiple
      logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between
      cognitive decline, physical activity, sitting time, and social participation. The
      factors related to cognitive decline were examined using three statistical
      models: (1) Model 1 was not adjusted for any factors; (2) Model 2 was adjusted
      for age, education level, smoking status, and drinking status; and (3) Model 3
      was adjusted for the covariates in Model 2, plus depression. RESULTS: Cognitive
      decline was observed in 33% of men and 26% of women. The results indicated that
      decreased social participation was significantly related to cognitive decline in
      Models 1 and 2. For men, local community activity and political/economic activity
      were significantly associated with cognitive decline in Models 1 and 2. Among
      women, physical activity was significantly related to cognitive decline in Model
      1. There was also a significant association between social participation and
      cognitive decline in Models 1 and 2; decreased volunteer activity was
      significantly related to cognitive decline in all three models. CONCLUSION: The
      results of the present study indicated that attending volunteer activities was
      significantly related to cognitive decline in women.

PMID- 28592735
TI  - The development of a scale for social participation among community-dwelling
      frail older adults: a preliminary survey.
AB  - AIM: The aim of our study was to draft a scale measuring the social participation
      of community-dwelling frail older adults. METHODS: A questionnaire consisting of
      37 items was prepared based on the findings of previous studies. We recruited
      community-dwelling older adults >=65 years of age living in Mitaka City, Tokyo.
      The inclusion criteria were as follows: native speakers of Japanese; not being
      covered as support and care level; support level 1; support level 2; care level
      1; and care level 2. In total, 328 individuals were investigated. The selected
      individuals were categorized into the following six groups, according to a
      Japanese frailty scale and the Japanese Long-term Care Insurance System: non
      frail, frail and at high-risk of requiring long-term care, support level 1,
      support level 2, care level 1, and care level 2. We then randomly selected
      individuals adjusted for age and gender in each group. The Rasch model was used
      to select items and to examine the validity. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to
      examine reliability. RESULTS: We analyzed 170 subjects. Of the 37 items, 22 were
      considered based on the Rasch model for inclusion in a draft scale of social
      participation. The Cronbach's alpha for these items ranged from 0.86-0.87.
      CONCLUSIONS: We conducted a preliminary survey to develop a scale describing
      social participation among community-dwelling frail older adults. The construct
      validity and reliability were adequate for this scale. Based on the findings of
      this preliminary survey, we will investigate a larger sample size to enhance the
      scale.

PMID- 28592737
TI  - Octreotide LAR was useful for avoiding hypoglycemia in an elderly patient with
      insulinoma.
AB  - An 80-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a hypoglycemia attack. She
      was diagnosed with insulinoma based on her high insulin level at the time of the
      hypoglycemia attack and the presence of a hypervascular tumor in her pancreas.
      The patient refused surgical treatment and octreotide was used to prevent
      hypoglycemia.It is known that octreotide suppresses the secretion of insulin from
      the pancreas; however, insulin secretion is not always suppressed in patients
      with insulinoma. Moreover, there is no particular protocol for the use of
      octreotide in the treatment of insulinoma.We examined the effect of octreotide in
      preventing hypoglycemia using CGM. The injection of octreotide (50 MUg) at 21: 00
      prevented hypoglycemia during the night.However the patient could not perform
      self-injection due to the sequelae of a cerebral infarction. We therefore chose
      to have her eat an extra meal at 11 pm.After a while the patient became exhausted
      by eating meals at night. We examined the effects of octreotide LAR using CGM,
      and it was found to prevent hypoglycemia for 4 weeks. The patient's QOL was
      improved by being released from a restriction that affected her daily life.

PMID- 28592736
TI  - A cloud-based home health care information sharing system to connect patients
      with home healthcare staff -A case report of a study in a mountainous region.
AB  - We have developed a cloud system, the e-Renraku Notebook (e-RN) for sharing of
      home care information based on the concept of "patient-centricity". In order to
      assess the likelihood that our system will enhance the communication and sharing
      of information between home healthcare staff members and home-care patients, we
      selected patients who were residing in mountainous regions for inclusion in our
      study. We herein report the findings.Eighteen staff members from 7 medical
      facilities and 9 patients participated in the present study.The e-RN was
      developed for two reasons: to allow patients to independently report their health
      status and to have staff members view and respond to the information received.
      The patients and staff members were given iPads with the pre-installed
      applications and the information being exchanged was reviewed over a 54-day
      period.Information was mainly input by the patients (61.6%), followed by the
      nurses who performed home visits (19.9%). The amount of information input by
      patients requiring high-level nursing care and their corresponding staff member
      was significantly greater than that input by patients who required low-level of
      nursing care.This patient-centric system in which patients can independently
      report and share information with a member of the healthcare staff provides a
      sense of security. It also allows staff members to understand the patient's
      health status before making a home visit, thereby giving them a sense of security
      and confidence. It was also noteworthy that elderly patients requiring high-level
      nursing care and their staff counterpart input information in the system
      significantly more frequently than patients who required low-level care.

PMID- 28592738
TI  - A case of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia with hepatic encephalopathy due
      to portal hepatic venous shunt.
AB  - An 86-year-old male who was able to perform all activities of daily living (ADL)
      was diagnosed with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) at 70 years of
      age. Following his diagnosis, he had been receiving treatment at our hospital.
      After the sudden onset of a consciousness disorder, he was admitted to our
      hospital's emergency department with asterixis, a high serum ammonia level, and
      hepatic encephalopathy. After angiography, he was diagnosed with hepatic
      encephalopathy due to portal hepatic venous shunts. HHT is characterized by
      abnormal blood vessel construction and the formation of peripheral vasodilatation
      and shunt blood vessels. Although rare, portal hepatic venous shunts may
      sometimes cause hepatic encephalopathy. The extent of this shunt increases with
      age. As Japan is an increasingly aging society, the number of HHT patients with
      hepatic encephalopathy is likely to increase markedly in the future.

PMID- 28592739
TI  - A case of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus in an elder diabetic patient.
AB  - The clinical entity idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is
      characterized by dementia, urinary incontinence, gait ataxia. An 80-year old man
      with a past history of Type 2 diabetes mellitus admitted to our hospital.
      Combination of twice Aspart and Aspart premixed30/70 insulin were used. Although,
      he was unable to inject insulin by himself recently. On physical examination, he
      walked in a mildly wide based manner. According to his family, urinary
      incontinence was existed. Laboratory data were as follows: Postrandial blood
      glucose 243 mg/dl and glycated hemoglobin 8.0% (NGSP). Brain magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) scans showed thinning of the corpus callosum with enlargement of
      the lateral ventricles on a colonal image. Evan's ratio was 0.29. The revised
      version of Hasegawa's Dementia scale (HDS-R) was 10. The patient showed no
      evidence a related antecedent event, such as head trauma, intracerebral
      hemorrhage and meningitis. Thus, he was diagnosed as having possible Idiopathic
      normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). The following several psychological tests
      and walking test were applied. Before and after the tap, he was evaluated using
      the HDS-R, Mini mental state examination (MMSE), Timed Up and Go test (TUG).
      Insulin was replaced by glargine, and Sitagliptin was added. On the 31 day, the
      patient underwent Ventriculo-perioneal shunt. Laboratoly data and memory
      impairment were also improved. 8 month's later, HbA1c was 7.5%. iNPH occurs in
      the elderly and is characterized by a clinical triad of gait disturbance, urinary
      incontinence and dementia. In the present case, thinning of the corpus callosum
      with enlargement of the lateral ventricles was detected by MRI. 49% of iNPH
      patients had Diabetes mellitus. However, we were unable to detect a relationship
      iNPH and Diabetes mellitus. Cognitive impairment may interfere with the insulin
      therapy. In the present case, failure of insulin self-injection was the first
      clinical sign to appear. We were able to reduce dose of insulin. We conclude that
      iNPH is a treatable disorder, especially when treatment is started early in the
      course of the disease.

PMID- 28592740
TI  - Serum amyloid A protein in blistering skin disease and peripheral circulatory
      disturbance.

PMID- 28592744
TI  - Treatment advances and prognosis for patients with adult T-cell leukemia
      lymphoma.
AB  - A classification for adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATL) based on clinical
      features was proposed in 1991: acute, lymphoma, chronic, and smoldering types,
      and their median survival times (MSTs) were reported to be 6.2, 10.2, 24.3
      months, and not reached, respectively. Several new therapies for ATL have since
      been developed, i.e. dose-intensity multi-agent chemotherapies, allogeneic
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), monoclonal antibodies, and
      anti-viral therapy. The monoclonal antibody to CCR4, mogamulizumab, clearly
      improved response rates in patients with treatment-naive and relapsed aggressive
      ATL, and has the potential to provide a survival advantage. The outcomes of allo
      HSCT have been reported since the early 2000s. High treatment-related mortality
      was initially the crucial issue associated with this treatment approach; however,
      reduced intensity conditioning regimens have decreased the risk of treatment
      related mortality. The introduction of allo- HSCT has had a positive impact on
      the prognosis of and potential curability with treatments for ATL. A meta
      analysis of a treatment with interferon-alpha and zidovudine (IFN/AZT) revealed a
      survival benefit in patients with the leukemic subtype. A phase 3 study comparing
      IFN/AZT with watchful waiting in patients with indolent ATL is ongoing in Japan.
      Several clinical trials on novel agents are currently being conducted, such as
      the histone deacetylase inhibitors, alemtuzumab, brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab,
      and an EZH1/2 dual inhibitor.

PMID- 28592745
TI  - Clinicopathological features of cryptococcal lymphadenitis and a review of
      literature.
AB  - Cryptococcosis is an invasive fungal infection in immunocompromised patients. The
      clinicopathological characteristics of cryptococcal lymphadenitis are not well
      known. We analyzed three cases of cryptococcal lymphadenitis and compared their
      characteristics with those in previous reports. Two patients were human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) carriers, and one patient was a human T-cell
      leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) carrier. The age of the HTLV-1 carrier with
      cryptococcosis was much higher than that of the HIV-1 carriers. CD4-positive cell
      counts in peripheral blood were 5.8/MUL (Case 1) and 79.9/MUL (Case 2) in the HIV
      carriers and 3285/MUL in the HTLV-1 carrier (Case 3). According to flow
      cytometric analysis of the lymph nodes of Cases 1, 2, and 3, 50.0%, 87.1%, and
      85.9%, respectively, of the T-cells were CD3; 9.8%, 16.3%, and 75.8%,
      respectively, were CD4; and 35.5%, 77.3%, and 10.2%, respectively, were CD8.
      Cryptococcus neoformans was detected in tissue culture in all patients. Although
      gelatinous lesions and numerous fungal cocci were observed in the two HIV
      patients, the granuloma formation was small. Gelatinous formation and granuloma
      formation were observed in the HTLV-1 carrier. Necrosis was observed in all
      cases. In previous reports, granuloma formation, epithelioid cells, and necrotic
      lesions were observed in most cases. Most of the patients were also
      immunosuppressed. However, no HTLV-1 carrier was detected. In conclusion,
      lymphadenopathy in a HTLV-1 carrier may suggest the presence of cryptococcal
      lymphadenitis. The frequency of cryptococcosis in HTVL-1 carriers may increase
      with increase in the long-term survival rate of HTLV-1 carriers.

PMID- 28592746
TI  - Examining Occupational Health Nurse Competencies when Collaborating with Public
      Health Services.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the competencies of
      occupational health nurses who collaborate with public health services. METHODS:
      Ten occupational health nurses who work for companies that collaborate with
      public health services were the subjects. They were the finalists selected from
      among those occupational health nurses who participated in a preparatory survey
      and phone interviews that inquired about their collaborative activity experiences
      with public health services; they were selected because of their greater
      experience with these collaborations. Semi-structured interviews using an
      interview guide were conducted, and a Qualitative Content Analysis approach
      developed by Mayring was used for data analysis. First, collected data were coded
      based on four aspects of collaborative activity: "Routine engagement"; "Execution
      of collaboration"; "Engagement for better understanding in the organization"; and
      "Perceptions, attitudes, and thoughts as foundations of collaboration." Then,
      categories and subcategories of responses were generated by similarity sorting.
      RESULTS: Our findings clarified the following specific competencies required of
      occupational health nurses when collaborating with public health services:
      "Collection of public health information," "Construction of good relationships
      with public health personnel," "Extraction of problems within the family among
      employees," "Connection of employees and their family members with public health
      personnel," "Utilization of public health resources," and "Demonstration of the
      importance of collaboration with public health services." Furthermore, the
      following attitudes and thoughts were clarified: "Retention of supportive
      attitude and viewpoint toward the entire life of employees and their family
      factors," "Retention of attitude of promoting collaboration with public health
      services by occupational health nurses," and "Being aware of the importance of
      occupational health nurses." CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that
      occupational health nurses need to engage in collaborative activities with more
      holistic attitudes and thoughts to consider the whole lives of employees and
      their families. Thus, it is important to provide occupational health nurses with
      more opportunities to acquire these competencies. Subjects in this study were
      making efforts to collaborate with public health personnel to enrich their
      support services by exhibiting "Construction of good relationships with public
      health personnel" and "Utilization of public health resources," even in
      understaffed environments with only one occupational health nurse.

PMID- 28592747
TI  - Roles of Hypoxia Response in Retinal Development and Pathophysiology.
AB  - The hypoxia response is a fundamental phenomenon mainly regulated by hypoxia
      inducible factors (HIFs). For more than a decade, we have investigated and
      revealed the roles of the hypoxia response in the development, physiology, and
      pathophysiology of the retina by generating and utilizing cell-type-specific
      conditional knockout mice. To investigate the functions of genes related to the
      hypoxia response in cells composing the retina, we generated various mouse lines
      that lack HIFs and/or related genes specifically in retinal neurons, astrocytes,
      myeloid cells, or retinal pigment epithelium cells. We found that these genes in
      the different types of retinal cells contribute in various ways to the
      homeostasis of ocular vascular and visual function. We hypothesized that the
      activation of HIFs is likely involved in the development and progress of retinal
      diseases, and we subsequently confirmed the pathological roles of HIFs in animal
      models of neovascular and atrophic ocular diseases. Currently, anti-vascular
      endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy is a first-line treatment widely
      used for neovascular retinal diseases. However, alternative or additional targets
      are now required because several recent large-scale clinical trials and animal
      studies, including our own research, have indicated that VEGF antagonism may
      induce retinal vascular and neuronal degeneration. We have identified and
      confirmed a microRNA as a candidate for an alternative target against neovascular
      retinal diseases, and we are now working to establish a novel HIF inhibitor for
      clinical use based on the disease mechanism that we identified.

PMID- 28592749
TI  - Dynamics of Oxidative Stress Evoked by Myocardial Ischemia Reperfusion After Off
      Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Elucidated by Bilirubin Oxidation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Revascularization therapy relieves myocardial ischemia, but can also
      result in ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by oxidative stress. However, the
      biokinetics of oxidative stress after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion are
      uncertain. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamics of oxidative stress after
      off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) by measuring urinary biopyrrin
      levels. Biopyrrin is an oxidative metabolite of bilirubin thought to reflect
      oxidative stress, along with reactive nitrogen species (RNS).Methods and
      Results:The study included 18 patients who underwent OPCAB; patients were divided
      into effort angina pectoris (EAP; n=11) and unstable angina pectoris (UAP; n=7).
      Urinary biopyrrin and RNS levels were measured during the perioperative period
      (<=48 h after surgery). Biopyrrin levels transiently increased 4-12 h post
      surgery (early phase), followed by a prolonged increase approximately 24-32 h
      post-surgery (late phase). The delayed increase in biopyrrin tended to be higher
      in patients with UAP, with a simultaneous increase in RNS. The patients in the
      UAP group had generally high pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), although
      the cardiac index was within a normal range during the delay phase. CONCLUSIONS:
      The dynamics of biopyrrin levels revealed a biphasic pattern of oxidative stress
      after OPCAB. Delayed production of oxidative stress may be influenced by
      preoperative severity of myocardial ischemia and delayed RNS production.

PMID- 28592750
TI  - Migration of Large Thrombus From the Left Atrial Appendage During Transesophageal
      Echocardiography in a Stroke Patient.

PMID- 28592748
TI  - Epigenetic Targeted Therapy for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.
AB  - Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare but uniformly fatal cancer of
      the brain, with peak incidence in children of 5-7 years of age. In contrast to
      most types of human cancer, there has been no significant improvement in
      treatment outcomes for patients with DIPG. Since DIPG occurs in the brainstem, a
      vital region of the brain, there are no surgical options for providing relief to
      patients, and chemotherapy as well as radiation therapy provide palliative relief
      at best. To date, more than 250 clinical trials evaluating radiotherapy along
      with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, as well as newer biologic agents, have
      failed to improve the dismal outcome when compared with palliative radiation
      alone. The recent discovery of somatic oncogenic histone gene mutations affecting
      chromatin regulation in DIPG has dramatically improved our understanding of the
      disease pathogenesis in DIPG, and these findings have stimulated the development
      of novel therapeutic approaches targeting epigenetic regulators for disease
      treatment. This review will discuss about the role of histone modification in
      chromatin machinery and epigenetic therapeutic strategies for the treatment of
      DIPG.

PMID- 28592752
TI  - Successful Vascular Intervention Without Embolic Complications in Budd-Chiari
      Syndrome.

PMID- 28592751
TI  - Effect of Ezetimibe on Stabilization and Regression of Intracoronary Plaque - The
      ZIPANGU Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diminishing yellow color is associated with plaque stabilization. We
      assessed the hypothesis that a combination of ezetimibe and statin provides more
      effective plaque stabilization and regression than statin alone as assessed by
      plaque color.Methods and Results:Stable coronary artery disease patients (n=131)
      who underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention and had yellow plaques
      were randomized to combination therapy (atorvastatin 10-20 mg and ezetimibe 10
      mg/day; Group C) or statin monotherapy (atorvastatin 10-20 mg; Group M). Changes
      in plaque color and plaque volume during 9 months were assessed by angioscopy and
      intravascular ultrasound. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased
      from 103+/-28 to 63+/-18 mg/dL in Group C (P<0.001) and from 100+/-28 to 75+/-17
      mg/dL in Group M (P<0.001). Yellow color grade decreased significantly in both
      Group M (2.1+/-1.1 vs. 1.7+/-1.0, P=0.005) and Group C (2.2+/-1.2 vs. 1.8+/-1.2,
      P=0.002), but did not differ between the groups. %plaque volume did not change in
      Group M (48.5+/-10.2% vs. 48.2+/-10.4%, P=0.4), but decreased significantly in
      Group C (50.0+/-9.8% vs. 49.3+/-9.8%, P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with statin
      monotherapy, combination therapy with ezetimibe further reduced LDL-C levels.
      Significant plaque volume reduction was achieved by the combination therapy, but
      not statin monotherapy; however, plaque stabilization was similarly achieved by
      both therapies. Furthermore, reduction in plaque volume was dependent on
      reduction in LDL-C, regardless of whether it was achieved by statin alone or
      statin plus ezetimibe.

PMID- 28592754
TI  - Efficacy of chemotherapy in extremely elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma.
AB  - The safety and effective dose of chemotherapy in treating non-Hodgkin lymphoma in
      elderly patients is yet to be established. In this study, we assessed the
      prognosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in elderly patients (>=75
      years) treated with an optimal dose of R-CHOP. No significant differences were
      observed in progression-free survival between elderly patients and patients aged
      <74 years with DLBCL. Furthermore, no differences were observed between full-dose
      R-CHOP and 80% dose R-CHOP groups. Median relative dose intensity was 0.80 in
      elderly patients with DLBCL. Thus, our data suggested that 80% dose R-CHOP is
      tolerable and effective in these patients.

PMID- 28592753
TI  - Recent Surgical Results for Active Endocarditis Complicated With Perivalvular
      Abscess.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment for endocarditis patients with a perivalvular
      abscess is still challenging.Methods and Results:From 2009 to 2016, 470 patients
      underwent surgery for active endocarditis at 11 hospitals. Of these, 226 patients
      underwent aortic valve surgery. We compared the clinical results of 162 patients
      without a perivalvular abscess, 37 patients who required patch reconstruction of
      the aortic annulus (PR group) and 27 who underwent aortic root replacement (ARR
      group). Patients with a perivalvular abscess had a greater number
      ofStaphylococcusspecies and prosthetic valve endocarditis, a greater level of
      inflammation at diagnosis and symptomatic heart failure before surgery,
      especially in the ARR group. Nevertheless, the duration between diagnosis and
      surgery was similar, because of a high prevalence of intracranial hemorrhage in
      the ARR group. Hospital death occurred in 13 (9%) patients without a perivalvular
      abscess, in 4 (12%) in the PR and in 7 (32%) in the ARR group. Postoperative
      inflammation and end-organ function were similar between the groups. Overall
      survival of patients without a perivalvular abscess and that of the PR group was
      similar, but was significantly worse in the ARR group (P=0.050, 0.026). Freedom
      from endocarditis recurrence was similar among all patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients treated with patch reconstruction showed favorable clinical results.
      Early surgical intervention is necessary when a refractory invasive infection is
      suspected.

PMID- 28592755
TI  - Acute myeloid leukemia developing secondary immune thrombocytopenia after
      umbilical cord blood transplantation.
AB  - A 64-year-old man was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia M2 (FLT3-ITD
      positive). After induction chemotherapy and four courses of consolidation
      therapy, he underwent umbilical cord blood transplantation (CBT) in his first
      remission. He developed acute graft-versus-host disease (skin stage 2) after
      successful engraftment. On post-transplantation day 147, he was admitted to the
      hospital suffering from pneumonia. During the treatment, drastic thrombocytopenia
      was observed on day 251. Both platelet-associated immunoglobulin G and platelet
      antibody producing B cells were detected, and he was diagnosed with immune
      thrombocytopenia (ITP). Treatment with prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day), eltrombopag
      (25 mg/day), and intravenous immunoglobulin (400 mg/kg) was commenced, but there
      was no improvement in his platelet count. After switching from eltrombopag to
      romiplostim (350 ug/week), and addition of cyclosporine, the platelet count
      rapidly elevated to 150,000/ul. ITP after allogenic stem cell transplantation is
      a rare complication, and it is often refractory to the 1st-line treatment such as
      steroids. Herein, we report successful treatment using a combination of
      romiplostim and an immunosuppressive agent in the case of treatment failure in
      ITP that developed after CBT.

PMID- 28592756
TI  - CEA-producing multiple myeloma with meningeal invasion during relapse.
AB  - Here we describe the case of a 62-year-old woman diagnosed with multiple myeloma
      (IgA-kappa type) who had a high serum CEA level of 27.7 ng/ml. Upper and lower
      gastrointestinal endoscopy and PET/CT scan showed no abnormality. After two
      courses of VAD therapy, the serum CEA level decreased to 5.7 ng/ml, with a
      decrease in the IgA level, suggesting the diagnosis of CEA-producing myeloma.
      After 4 years and 1 month, she had a relapse with an increase in the LDH level
      and myeloma cells in the blood, followed by cognitive loss and convulsion. She
      died 1 month after the onset of neurological symptoms. Several myeloma cells were
      detected in the cerebral spinal fluid, which suggested the diagnosis of
      myelomatous meningitis. Myelomatous meningitis is a rare disease and accounts for
      1% of all myelomas. This is the fourth reported case of CEA-producing myeloma.

PMID- 28592758
TI  - Haploidentical transplantation using post-transplant high-dose cyclophosphamide
      for adult T-cell lymphoma after mogamulizumab treatment.
AB  - A 53-year-old man diagnosed with adult T-cell lymphoma (ATL) was treated with
      mLSG15 chemotherapy and achieved a first complete remission. Subsequently, a
      liver tumor emerged that was pathologically diagnosed as ATL (first relapse). A
      second remission was achieved after local irradiation and four cycles of
      mogamulizumab treatment. The patient received peripheral blood stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT) from a one haplotype HLA-mismatched daughter after total
      body irradiation and the administration of fludarabine as a myeloablative
      conditioning regimen, followed by post-transplant cyclophosphamide. While
      subsequent acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was never more than Grade I,
      severe chronic GVHD (cGVHD) developed in the oral cavity and skin that was
      resistant to escalated doses of cyclosporine and prednisolone. The patient
      subsequently had a second relapse of ATL as a subcutaneous mass and eventually
      died of disease progression. Mogamulizumab is a humanized monoclonal IgG that
      targets CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) and is a key treatment option for relapsed
      ATL. It reportedly increases the risk of acute GVHD after HSCT due to the
      depletion of CCR4-positive regulatory T-cells; however, information on its impact
      on cGVHD is unavailable. Here, we discuss the potential risks and benefits of
      mogamulizumab, particularly in a haploidentical donor setting during a HSCT for
      ATL.

PMID- 28592757
TI  - HIV-negative plasmablastic lymphoma attaining sustained remission with bortezomib
      combined dose-adjusted EPOCH therapy.
AB  - A 61-year-old, HIV-negative, immunocompetent woman was admitted to our hospital
      for significant weight loss, painful swelling of her right cheek, and rapid
      growth of a tumor in the right hard palate. A CT scan revealed a neoplastic
      lesion in the right maxillary sinus, extending to the surrounding soft bone
      tissue and oral cavity, as well as multiple osteolytic lesions in the skull. A
      pathologic examination revealed that the neoplastic cells in the oral cavity were
      plasmablasts tending to appear as differentiated plasma cells. The tumor cells
      strongly expressed CD138, Vs38c, EBER, and MYC, and were negative for CD20 and
      CD19. The MIB-1 index was 90%, and MYC/IgH fusion gene was detected by
      fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. Based on these clinical and
      pathological findings, we confirmed the diagnosis of plasmablastic lymphoma. This
      disease has characteristics of aggressive lymphoma originating from
      differentiated plasma cells. Treatment was initiated with dose-adjusted EPOCH
      added to a concurrent bortezomib regimen. After completion of four cycles, the
      patient achieved and sustained complete remission.

PMID- 28592760
TI  - Overview.

PMID- 28592759
TI  - Primary breast diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in a male.
AB  - A 74-year-old male with a mass in the right breast visited the Department of
      Breast and Endocrine Surgery in November 20XX. Core needle biopsy was performed.
      Pathological diagnosis was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The Ann Arbor clinical
      stage was IIA, and international prognostic index was low-intermediate. Six
      courses of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone
      and four courses of intrathecal chemotherapy were administered, and the patient
      achieved complete remission.

PMID- 28592761
TI  - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: pathophysiology and current therapy.
AB  - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is seen in both children and adults, but its
      incidence peaks between 2 and 5 years and also increases in the older population.
      Although most children can be cured, the prognosis of adults with ALL remains
      poor. Recent identification of novel genetic alterations and sequence mutations
      has contributed to the elucidation of the pathogenesis of ALL. The World Health
      Organization classification was revised in 2016. ALL was included within the
      subgroup of myeloid neoplasms and acute leukemia. New provisional entities with
      recurrent abnormalities have been recognized and incorporated into the
      classification. Treatment of ALL involves some of the most complex chemotherapy
      combinations and treatment schedules used in oncology. Two main chemotherapy
      regimens are being used. The Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster framework consists of an
      induction regimen, consolidation regimen, reintensification regimen, and
      maintenance therapy and is mostly used in Europe for adult ALL trials. Another
      approach is to alternatively repeat two different intensive chemotherapy cycles,
      such as the hyper-CVAD regimen designed by investigators at the MD Anderson
      Cancer Center. Furthermore, the treatment of older patients with ALL is an unmet
      medical need. Novel targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and reduced-intensity
      SCT are promising approaches.

PMID- 28592762
TI  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: pathophysiology and current therapy.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most frequent adult leukemia in western
      countries, but it is rare in Japan. Several mutations have been identified in
      patients with CLL using next-generation sequencing, but disease-specific
      mutations were not found. Some mutations, such as those in TP53, NOTCH1, SF3B,
      and BIRC3 are useful for risk stratification and prognosis prediction in patients
      with CLL. Strategies for treating CLL are rapidly evolving, with targeted agents
      such as the B-cell receptor signaling pathway inhibitors (ibrutinib, idelalisib),
      novel anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (obinutuzumab), and Bcl-2 inhibitor
      (venetoclax) being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Although key
      drugs such as chlorambucil and rituximab cannot be used in Japan, others such as
      ibrutinib and bendamustine were recently approved for CLL treatment in Japan.

PMID- 28592764
TI  - Multiple myeloma: pathophysiology and progress in management.
AB  - There have been dramatic recent advances in understanding the basic
      pathophysiology and treatment strategies for multiple myeloma (MM). Research has
      shown both a high inter-patient diversity and intra-clonal heterogeneity even in
      a single patient in terms of cytogenetic/molecular abnormalities, and has also
      identified marked diversity in the immunological factors involved in tumor
      surveillance among MM patients. In the presence of a variety of novel agents,
      including molecular-targeted agents, immunomodulatory agents, and monoclonal
      antibodies, the optimal translation of current knowledge on both molecular and
      immunologic findings into clinical use is crucial for managing MM. In addition,
      the application of the decision-making process for the selection of treatment
      strategies, the classification of disease risk, the prediction of outcome, and
      disease status monitoring have greatly influenced the clinical course of MM. In
      this review, we summarize recent advances in understanding the pathophysiology of
      MM, including molecular/cytogenetic/epigenetic abnormalities and immunologic
      dysregulation of both tumor and immune cells. In addition, we also briefly
      discuss the changes/innovations in both diagnostic approaches and treatment
      concepts.

PMID- 28592763
TI  - Malignant lymphoma: pathophysiology and current therapy.
AB  - Recent advances in the understanding of molecular pathogenesis of lymphoma have
      enabled us to clearly define disease entity by means of a disease-specific gene
      mutation and to select candidates for novel targeted therapy. In this review
      three different clinically relevant topics related to the molecular pathogenesis
      of lymphoma were covered. In the 2016 revision of the World Health Organization
      classification of lymphoid malignancies, firstly, disease-specific mutations such
      as MYD88 L265P in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia and BRAF V600E in hairy cell
      leukemia were incorporated into diagnostic tests, and secondly, the determination
      of cell-of-origin in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was strongly
      recommended in diagnosis. Ibrutinib or lenalidomide was shown to be more
      effective in activated B-cell (ABC) -type-DLBCL than in germinal center B-cell
      type-DLBCL. Therefore, randomized trials to evaluate the efficacy of adding these
      agents to standard chemoimmunotherapy focused on the ABC type-DLBCL. Finally, the
      molecular mechanisms behind the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as
      anti-programmed cell death 1 antibody in Hodgkin lymphoma, and other lymphoma
      subtypes were discussed.

PMID- 28592765
TI  - Overview.

PMID- 28592766
TI  - Fecal microbiota transplantation for acute graft-versus-host disease of the gut.
AB  - Advances in microbial analysis have provided new insights into the complex
      interactions between the host and gut microbiota. An imbalance in the gut
      microbiota (dysbiosis) is associated with various disorders and their
      pathogenesis. Furthermore, in allogeneic stem cell transplantation, increasing
      evidence indicates that the gut microbiota is closely associated with acute graft
      versus-host disease (GVHD) and transplant outcomes, suggesting that its
      manipulation could be a new treatment strategy for this acute condition. We
      conducted a feasibility study of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for acute
      GVHD of the gut in four human transplant recipients. No severe adverse events
      that were obviously attributable to FMT were observed. All patients responded to
      FMT: three patients showed a complete response and one a partial response. Our
      results indicate that FMT could be a new treatment option for acute GVHD of the
      gut. However, the use of FMT in treating acute GVHD is in the initial stages of
      clinical application. FMT has limitations that need to be addressed, such as
      safety and determination of the optimal donor screening or the treatment
      protocol. Further evaluation is thus warranted.

PMID- 28592767
TI  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation.
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies, have
      revolutionized cancer therapy, particularly in the treatment of malignant
      melanoma and lung cancer. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      (allo-HCT) is another form of immunotherapy and is being widely used to cure high
      risk hematological malignancies. However, more than one-third of patients suffer
      a relapse after allo-HCT and often have a poor prognosis. A phase I/Ib study to
      assess the safety and efficacy of ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4 antibody) for the
      treatment of relapsed hematological malignancies after allo-HCT has shown that
      induction treatment with ipilimumab led to remissions in some patients, including
      those with myeloid malignancies, without eliciting severe graft versus host
      disease (GVHD). The efficacy of treatment with anti-PD-1 antibodies before or
      after allo-HCT has been reported in some case reports and in one retrospective
      study, but one case of fatal GVHD caused by anti-PD-1 antibody therapy after allo
      HCT raises a concern. Considering that remission status after transplantation is
      a strong prognostic factor in allo-HCT, immune checkpoint inhibitors might work
      better during post-remission consolidation than during induction. Further studies
      on immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of hematological malignancies
      are warranted.

PMID- 28592768
TI  - Overview.

PMID- 28592769
TI  - Thrombotic complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) involves some serious transplant
      associated complications (TACs) or vascular disorders, such as veno-occlusive
      disease (VOD), thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), and graft-versus-host disease
      (GVHD). VOD is related to a clinical syndrome characterized by tender
      hepatomegaly, jaundice, fluid retention, and unexplained weight gain. When TMA is
      described in patients who have undergone HSCT, it is often implied that the
      clinical diagnosis of TMA is similar to that of thrombotic thrombocytopenic
      purpura. Therefore, levels of cytokines, chemokines, and soluble molecules are
      useful biomarkers for VOD and TMA after HSCT. Acute GVHD (aGVHD) occurs in the
      early period after transplantation and is initiated by alloreactive donor T
      cells. The mechanisms whereby immune responses trigger this post-transplantation
      condition remain unclear, but endothelial cell function might play a role in
      this. The authors investigated the expression of endothelial cell activation
      markers such as sE-selectin, sVCAM-1, PAI-1, and microparticle in patients
      undergoing allogeneic HSCT. Levels of endothelial cell activation markers were
      significantly higher in 143 patients who developed aGVHD than in those who did
      not develop aGVHD. Moreover, patients who received rTM exhibited a significantly
      lower frequency of aGVHD and reduced levels of endothelial cell activation
      markers. These findings suggest that endothelial cell activation might be linked
      to TAC and that rTM may, at least in part, act to prevent TAC through its effect
      on endothelial cells.

PMID- 28592770
TI  - DIC: an update on diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was considered to be a fatal
      disease. However, it has recently been suggested that very early DIC protects the
      host against microthrombosis and infection localization. Therefore, early
      treatment of DIC may be contraindicated in patients with sepsis. These factors
      suggest that the diagnosis and treatment of DIC will gain further importance. The
      Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock
      2016 (J-SSCG2016), which include details regarding the management of DIC, have
      been recently published. Differences in recommendations for DIC treatment, such
      as antithrombin and recombinant human thrombomodulin, between J-SSCG2016 and
      other guidelines, including the Japanese Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis
      (JSTH), British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCST), Italian Society
      for Thrombosis and Haemostasis (SISET), and International Society on Thrombosis
      and Haemostasis (ISTH) have been discussed. Furthermore, differences in the
      diagnostic criteria for DIC between the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and
      Welfare, ISTH overt, ISTH non-overt, Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, and
      JSTH have been discussed.

PMID- 28592771
TI  - TTP and aHUS: new insights.
AB  - Both TTP and aHUS are officially designated as intractable diseases by a new
      Japanese law in 2015. New clinical practice guidelines for TTP and aHUS have been
      published. Both conditions share some common pathophysiology such as thrombotic
      microangiopathy. Unfortunately, most professionals in the fields of
      hematology/oncology are unaware of these diseases. Therefore, I will provide an
      updated overview of TTP and aHUS in this article.

PMID- 28592772
TI  - Current topics in primary immune thrombocytopenia.
AB  - Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by
      early platelet destruction due to antiplatelet autoantibodies. Recently,
      significant progress has been made regarding the pathophysiology of ITP.
      Nonetheless, the diagnosis of ITP in daily clinical practice is still based on
      differential diagnosis because of the lack of laboratory tests that can diagnose
      autoimmunity in ITP. In this chapter, the recent topics regarding the diagnosis
      and management of ITP have been reviewed.

PMID- 28592773
TI  - Towards comprehensive health risk assessments of chemicals for occupational and
      environmental health.

PMID- 28592774
TI  - Erratum to: Transforming Growth Factor b1/Smad4 Signaling Affects Osteoclast
      Differentiation via Regulation of miR-155 Expression.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 211 in vol. 40.].

PMID- 28592776
TI  - Audiovestibular Loss of a Vascular Cause: A Distinction Should Be Made between
      Cochlear and Vestibular Symptoms.

PMID- 28592775
TI  - Blood Pressure Management for Stroke Prevention and in Acute Stroke.
AB  - Elevated blood pressure (BP) is the leading modifiable risk factor for stroke and
      the benefit of BP lowering therapy on the stroke risk reduction is well
      established. The optimal BP target for preventing stroke and other vascular
      events have been controversial, but the evidences from epidemiological studies
      and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) support intensive BP lowering for greater
      vascular protection, particularly for stroke prevention. For secondary stroke
      prevention, the evidence of intensive BP lowering benefit is limited since only a
      single RCT for patients with lacunar infarctions was conducted and most data were
      driven by exploratory analyses. In acute intracerebral hemorrhage, immediate BP
      lowering targeting systolic BP<140 mm Hg is recommended by guidelines based on
      the results from RCTs. In contrast, in acute ischemic stroke, early BP lowering
      is not usually recommended because of no benefit on functional outcome and future
      vascular events and potential harm of stroke progression. This review aims to
      summarize the updated evidence for optimal BP management for primary and
      secondary stroke prevention and in patients with acute stroke.

PMID- 28592777
TI  - Causes and Solutions of Endovascular Treatment Failure.
AB  - In a meta-analysis of individual patient data from 5 randomized controlled
      trials, endovascular treatment (EVT) mainly using a stent retriever achieved
      successful recanalization in 71.1% of patients suffering from acute stroke due to
      anterior circulation large artery occlusion (LAO). However, EVT still failed in
      28.9% of LAO cases in those 5 successful trials. Stent retriever failure may
      occur due to anatomical challenges (e.g., a tortuous arterial tree from the
      aortic arch to a target occlusion site), a large quantity of clots, tandem
      occlusion, clot characteristics (fresh versus organized clots), different
      pathomechanisms (embolic versus non-embolic occlusion), etc. Given that
      recanalization success is the most important factor in the neurological outcome
      of acute stroke patients, it is important to seek solutions for such difficult
      cases. In this review, the basic technique of EVT is briefly summarized and then
      various difficult cases with diverse conditions are discussed along with
      suggested solutions.

PMID- 28592778
TI  - Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies for Acute Intracranial Atherosclerosis
      related Occlusions.
AB  - Intracranial atherosclerosis-related occlusion (ICAS-O) is frequently encountered
      at the time of endovascular revascularization treatment (ERT), especially in
      Asian countries. However, because baseline angiographic findings are similar
      between ICAS-O and embolism-related occlusion (EMB-O), it is difficult to
      differentiate the etiologies before the ERT procedure. Moreover, despite
      successful randomized trials on ERT, results from studies examining the optimal
      treatment protocol in ICAS-O patients remain unclear. In this review, we describe
      the clinical and imaging factors that may possibly differentiate ICAS-O from EMB
      O. We will also discuss some current hurdles for treating ICAS-O in the
      hyperacute period and suggest the optimal ERT strategy for ICAS-O patients.

PMID- 28592779
TI  - Thrombectomy in Acute Ischemic Stroke: Challenges to Procedural Success.
AB  - The overwhelming clinical benefit of intra-arterial stroke therapy owes to the
      major advance in revascularization brought on by the current generation of
      thrombectomy devices. Nevertheless, there remains a sizeable proportion of
      patients for whom substantial reperfusion cannot be achieved or is achieved too
      late. This article addresses the persistent challenges that face
      neurointerventionists and reviews technical refinements that may help to mitigate
      these obstacles to procedural success. Insights from in vitro modeling and
      clinical research are organized around a conceptual framework that examines the
      interaction between the device, the thrombus and the vessel wall.

PMID- 28592780
TI  - Response to Letter by Dr. Cristina Brandolini.

PMID- 28592781
TI  - Endovascular Therapy: The Second Round Begins.

PMID- 28592783
TI  - Association of Optimal Combination Drug Treatment with Obesity Status among
      Recent Ischemic Stroke Patients: Results of the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke
      Prevention (VISP) Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: One explanation for the 'obesity paradox', where obese
      patients seem to have better cardiovascular outcomes than lean patients, is that
      obese patients display an identifiable high cardiovascular risk phenotype that
      may lead to receiving or seeking earlier/more aggressive treatment. METHODS: We
      analyzed a clinical trial dataset comprising 3643 recent (<120 days) ischemic
      stroke patients followed up for 2 years. Subjects were categorized as lean (body
      mass index [BMI], <25 kg/m2, n=1,006), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m2, n=1,493), or
      obese (>=30 kg/m2, n=1,144). Subjects were classified as level 0 to III depending
      on the number of secondary prevention prescriptions divided by the number of
      potentially indicated drugs (0=none of the indicated medications and III=all
      indicated medications as optimal combination drug treatment [OCT]). Independent
      associations between each BMI category and stroke/myocardial infarction/vascular
      death (major vascular events [MVEs]) and all-cause death were assessed. RESULTS:
      MVEs occurred in 17.4% of lean, 16.1% of overweight, and 17.1% of obese patients;
      death occurred in 7.3%, 5.5%, and 5.1%, respectively. Individuals with a higher
      BMI status received more OCT (45.8%, 51.7%, and 55.3%, respectively; P<0.001). In
      the lean patient group, multivariable adjusted Cox analyses, showed that compared
      with levels 0-I, level II and level III were linked to lower risk of MVEs (hazard
      ratio [HR] 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32-0.95 and HR 0.48; 95% CI:
      0.28-0.83, respectively) and death (0.44; 0.21-0.96 and 0.23; 0.10-0.54,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: OCT for secondary prevention after an ischemic stroke
      is less frequent in lean (vs. obese) subjects, but when implemented is related to
      significantly better clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28592784
TI  - Nationwide "Hospital Emergent Capability Accreditation by Level-Stroke" Improves
      Stroke Treatment in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) is one of
      the proven therapies that improve the outcome of patients with acute ischemic
      stroke (AIS). In 2009, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Executive Yuan,
      Republic of China, launched the project "Hospital Emergent Capability
      Accreditation by Level-Stroke (HECAL-Stroke)" to improve AIS treatment in Taiwan.
      The current study was performed to determine whether the project launched by the
      government was effective in promoting rtPA therapy among AIS patients. METHODS:
      All participating hospitals were verified and designated as "heavy duty (HD),"
      "moderate duty (MoD)," or "medium duty (MeD)" according to the stroke center
      criteria. Four annual indices (rates of treatment, protocol adherence, in-time
      treatment, and complications) were recorded from 2009 to 2014 as outcome
      measures. The data were analyzed using the chi2 test for significance. RESULTS:
      The number of certified hospitals progressively increased from 74 to 112 during
      the 6-year period and finally consisted of 33 HD, 9 MoD and 70 MeD hospitals in
      2014. The annual intravenous rtPA treatment rate increased significantly from
      3.0% in 2009 to 4.5% in 2014. The protocol adherence rates were 95.7% in the HD
      group, 92.4% in the MoD group and 72.8% in the MeD group. The annual in-time
      treatment rate significantly improved from 26.0% in 2009 to 60.1% in 2014. The
      overall symptomatic intracranial hemorrhagic rate after rtPA treatment was 8.6%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of the HECAL-Stroke project by the government
      significantly improved rtPA treatment in Taiwan.

PMID- 28592782
TI  - Family History and Stroke Risk in China: Evidence from a Large Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Large cohort studies on relationship between family
      history of stroke (FHS) and stroke risk are lacking in Asians. We aimed to
      systematically evaluate the association of FHS with stroke risk in a cohort study
      of 0.5 million Chinese adults. METHODS: Information about FHS was self-reported.
      The median follow-up time was 7.16 years and the end-point of follow-up was
      incident stroke, which was entered directly into the China Kadoorie Biobank
      system. Multivariate analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazards model,
      and interaction analyses were carried using likelihood-ratio tests. RESULTS:
      Compared with participants without FHS, the hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence
      interval, CI) of stroke for participants with FHS was 1.50 (1.46-1.55). The HRs
      increased with the number of first degree relatives with stroke (HRs=1.41, 1.98
      and 2.47 for 1, 2 and >=3 relatives, respectively, Ptrend <0.001). The HRs were
      1.57 (95% CI: 1.50-1.66) and 1.49 (95% CI: 1.45-1.54) for sibling history and
      parental history, respectively. Similar associations with offspring stroke risk
      were observed between paternal history (HR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.43-1.54) and maternal
      history (HR=1.49, 95% CI: 1.43-1.55). Moreover, significant interactions were
      detected between FHS and health-risk behaviors (tobacco smoking and alcohol
      drinking). CONCLUSIONS: FHS is an independent risk factor for stroke in Chinese.
      The more first degree relatives are affected by stroke, the higher are
      individuals' risk of suffering from stroke. The management of the health-risk
      behaviors for reducing stroke should be highlighted, especially for the
      individuals with FHS.

PMID- 28592785
TI  - Multidisciplinary Approach to Decrease In-Hospital Delay for Stroke Thrombolysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Decreasing the time delay for thrombolysis, including
      intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) with tissue plasminogen activator and intra
      arterial thrombectomy (IAT), is critical for decreasing the morbidity and
      mortality of patients experiencing acute stroke. We aimed to decrease the in
      hospital delay for both IVT and IAT through a multidisciplinary approach that is
      feasible 24 h/day. METHODS: We implemented the Stroke Alert Team (SAT) on May 2,
      2016, which introduced hospital-initiated ambulance prenotification and
      reorganized in-hospital processes. We compared the patient characteristics, time
      for each step of the evaluation and thrombolysis, thrombolysis rate, and post
      thrombolysis intracranial hemorrhage from January 2014 to August 2016. RESULTS: A
      total of 245 patients received thrombolysis (198 before SAT; 47 after SAT). The
      median door-to-CT, door-to-MRI, and door-to-laboratory times decreased to 13 min,
      37.5 min, and 8 min, respectively, after SAT implementation (P<0.001). The median
      door-to-IVT time decreased from 46 min (interquartile range [IQR] 36-57 min) to
      20.5 min (IQR 15.8-32.5 min; P<0.001). The median door-to-IAT time decreased from
      156 min (IQR 124.5-212.5 min) to 86.5 min (IQR 67.5-102.3 min; P<0.001). The
      thrombolysis rate increased from 9.8% (198/2,012) to 15.8% (47/297; P=0.002), and
      the post-thrombolysis radiological intracranial hemorrhage rate decreased from
      12.6% (25/198) to 2.1% (1/47; P=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: SAT significantly decreased
      the in-hospital delay for thrombolysis, increased thrombolysis rate, and
      decreased post-thrombolysis intracranial hemorrhage. Time benefits of SAT were
      observed for both IVT and IAT and during office hours and after-hours.

PMID- 28592786
TI  - Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Lymphoproliferative Disorders: Review and Update on
      2016 WHO Classification.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus (human herpesvirus-4) is very common virus that can be
      detected in more than 95% of the human population. Most people are asymptomatic
      and live their entire lives in a chronically infected state (IgG positive).
      However, in some populations, the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been involved in
      the occurrence of a wide range of B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs),
      including Burkitt lymphoma, classic Hodgkin's lymphoma, and immune-deficiency
      associated LPDs (post-transplant and human immunodeficiency virus-associated
      LPDs). T-cell LPDs have been reported to be associated with EBV with a subset of
      peripheral T-cell lymphomas, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphomas, extranodal
      nasal natural killer/T-cell lymphomas, and other rare histotypes. This article
      reviews the current evidence covering EBV-associated LPDs based on the 2016
      classification of the World Health Organization. These LPD entities often pose
      diagnostic challenges, both clinically and pathologically, so it is important to
      understand their unique pathophysiology for correct diagnoses and optimal
      management.

PMID- 28592788
TI  - Levamisole-Induced Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis with Negative Serology in a
      Cocaine User.
AB  - BACKGROUND Levamisole is a common adulterant of cocaine. It can cause
      agranulocytosis and cutaneous vasculitis that can possibly lead to cutaneous
      necrosis. In all reported cases of levamisole-induced vasculitis, it has been
      described as a clinical syndrome characterized by a constellation of typical
      clinical features and a positive serum serology for ANCA levels, especially very
      high-titer p-ANCA levels, in the background of cocaine abuse. However, patients
      may have a negative serology and here, we present the first such case. CASE
      REPORT A 58-year-old African American man with a history of polysubstance abuse,
      4 days after last cocaine use, presented with sudden onset of painful pruritic
      rash and polyarthralgias. He was found to have normal vital signs, with bilateral
      tender knees and erythematous-purplish maculopapular lesions involving the
      abdomen and the left thigh. Laboratory work-up was significant for elevated CRP,
      negative c-ANCA, p-ANCA ANA, and RA levels, and a positive urine toxicology for
      cocaine. Urine analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography was positive
      for levamisole. Ultimately, a final diagnosis was made by skin biopsy, which
      revealed findings suggestive of leukocytoclastic vasculitis. CONCLUSIONS
      Cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis can be caused by levamisole, which is used
      as an adulterant in cocaine. Most cases are associated with positive ANCA levels;
      however, a negative serology is also a possibility.

PMID- 28592789
TI  - Are Sutureless Aortic Valves Suitable for Severe High-Risk Patients Suffering
      from Active Infective Aortic Valve Endocarditis?
AB  - BACKGROUND Sutureless aortic valves were introduced to facilitate minimally
      invasive aortic valve surgery. Since sutureless aortic valves are a feasible
      procedure, we evaluated if any benefits could be identified in severe high-risk
      patients with active infective endocarditis of the aortic valve. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS Between April 2014 and April 2015, a total of 42 patients received a
      sutureless Perceval(r) aortic valve (Sorin Biomedica Cardio Srl, Saluggia, Italy)
      for different indications. Nine of these patients (median age 71 years, range 47
      83 years) suffered from active infective endocarditis, including four patients
      with prosthetic aortic valve endocarditis. Five patients underwent prior cardiac
      surgery, including transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The median
      EuroSCORE II was 29.5% (range 16.8-87.7%). Post-operatively, data regarding
      mortality, operative results, and early operative morbidity were collected.
      RESULTS There were no cases of 30-day mortality. Four patients needed abscess
      closure with pericardium. Three patients underwent left atrial appendix closure:
      one left ventricular thrombectomy, one bypass grafting, and one arch replacement.
      Median aortic cross-clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass time was 35 minutes (range
      26-88 minutes) and 52 minutes (range 40-133 minutes), respectively. The median
      intubation time was 14 hours (range 1-9 hours). In these high-risk patients, no
      postoperative morbidity was found except for one re-intubation due to extensive
      delirium and one re-exploration. No pacemaker implantation was needed.
      Echocardiographic evaluation showed no central or para-valvular regurgitation,
      and a median discharge mean gradient of 5.5 mm Hg (range 2.5-10.0 mm Hg).
      CONCLUSIONS Sutureless aortic valve replacement in very high-risk patients
      suffering from active infection endocarditis seems to be an option with limited
      morbidity and appropriate echocardiographic results, however, further studies are
      needed.

PMID- 28592787
TI  - Rare Gastric Lesions Associated with Helicobacter pylori Infection: A
      Histopathological Review.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer
      disease, gastric adenocarcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.
      However, some rare gastric lesions exhibiting distinctive histological features
      may also be associated with H. pylori infection, including lymphocytic gastritis,
      granulomatous gastritis, Russell body gastritis, or crystal-storing
      histiocytosis. Although diverse factors can contribute to their development,
      there is convincing evidence that H. pylori infection may play a pathogenic role.
      These findings are mainly based on studies in patients with these lesions who
      exhibited clinical and histological improvements after H. pylori eradication
      therapy. Thus, H. pylori eradication therapy might be indicated in patients with
      no other underlying disease, particularly in countries with a high prevalence of
      H. pylori infection. This review describes the characteristic histological
      features of these rare lesions and evaluates the evidence regarding a causative
      role for H. pylori infection in their pathogenesis.

PMID- 28592790
TI  - miR-19a contributes to gefitinib resistance and epithelial mesenchymal transition
      in non-small cell lung cancer cells by targeting c-Met.
AB  - Gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor,
      is used as a first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). However, most NSCLC patients inevitably develop gefitinib resistance,
      and the mechanisms underlying this resistance are not fully understood. In this
      study, we show that miR-19a is significantly down-regulated in gefitinib
      resistant NSCLC cell lines compared with gefitinib-sensitive cell lines. In
      addition, the down-regulation of miR-19a suppressed the expression of epithelial
      markers but induced the expression levels of mesenchymal markers. A mechanistic
      analysis revealed that miR-19a regulated c-Met expression by directly targeting
      the c-Met 3'UTR. Overexpression of miR-19a decreased c-Met expression and re
      sensitized gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cells in vitro and in vivo. Consistent with
      the in vitro findings, the miR-19a serum level was significantly decreased in
      NSCLC patients with acquired gefitinib resistance compared with the level
      observed prior to the acquisition of resistance in each patient, indicating that
      miR-19a expression may be a valuable biomarker for the prediction of acquired
      gefitinib resistance in a clinical setting. Our data demonstrate that the miR
      19a/c-Met pathway plays a critical role in acquired resistance to gefitinib and
      that the manipulation of miR-19a might provide a therapeutic strategy for
      overcoming acquired gefitinib resistance.

PMID- 28592791
TI  - Dimensionless number is central to stress relaxation and expansive growth of the
      cell wall.
AB  - Experiments demonstrate that both plastic and elastic deformation of the cell
      wall are necessary for wall stress relaxation and expansive growth of walled
      cells. A biophysical equation (Augmented Growth Equation) was previously shown to
      accurately model the experimentally observed wall stress relaxation and expansive
      growth rate. Here, dimensional analysis is used to obtain a dimensionless
      Augmented Growth Equation with dimensionless coefficients (groups of variables,
      or Pi parameters). It is shown that a single Pi parameter controls the wall
      stress relaxation rate. The Pi parameter represents the ratio of plastic and
      elastic deformation rates, and provides an explicit relationship between
      expansive growth rate and the wall's mechanical properties. Values for Pi are
      calculated for plant, algal, and fungal cells from previously reported
      experimental results. It is found that the Pi values for each cell species are
      large and very different from each other. Expansive growth rates are calculated
      using the calculated Pi values and are compared to those measured for plant and
      fungal cells during different growth conditions, after treatment with IAA, and in
      different developmental stages. The comparison shows good agreement and supports
      the claim that the Pi parameter is central to expansive growth rate of walled
      cells.

PMID- 28592792
TI  - Fabrication of Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 Nanosheets with Structural Defects as High-Rate and
      Long-Life Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Development of high-power lithium-ion batteries with high safety and durability
      has become a key challenge for practical applications of large-scale energy
      storage devices. Accordingly, we report here on a promising strategy to
      synthesize a high-rate and long-life Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 anode material. The novel
      material exhibits remarkable rate capability and long-term cycle stability. The
      specific capacities at 20 and 30 C (1 C = 175 mA g-1) reach 170.3 and 168.2 mA h
      g-1, respectively. Moreover, a capacity of up to 161.3 mA h g-1 is retained after
      1000 cycles at 20 C, and the capacity retention ratio reaches up to 94.2%. The
      extraordinary rate performance of the Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 composite is attributed to
      the existence of oxygen vacancies and grain boundaries, significantly enhancing
      electrical conductivity and lithium insertion/extraction kinetics. Meanwhile, the
      pseudocapacitive effect is induced owing to the presence of abundant interfaces
      in the composite, which is beneficial to enhancing specific capacity and rate
      capability. Additionally, the ultrahigh capacity at low rates, greater than the
      theoretical value of spinel Li4Ti5O12, may be correlated to the lithium vacancies
      in 8a sites, increasing the extra docking sites of lithium ions.

PMID- 28592793
TI  - Identification of a Simplest Hypervalent Hydrogen Fluoride Anion in Solid Argon.
AB  - Hypervalent molecules are one of the exceptions to the octet rule. Bonding in
      most hypervalent molecules is well rationalized by the Rundle-Pimentel model
      (three-center four-electron bond), and high ionic bonding between the ligands and
      the central atom is essential for stabilizing hypervalent molecules. Here, we
      produced one of the simplest hypervalent anions, HF-, which is known to deviate
      from the Rundle-Pimentel model, and identified its ro-vibrational features. High
      level ab inito calculations reveal that its bond dissociation energy is
      comparable to that of dihalides, as supported by secondary photolysis experiments
      with irradiation at various wavelengths. The charge distribution analysis
      suggested that the F atom of HF- is negative and hypervalent and the bonding is
      more covalent than ionic.

PMID- 28592795
TI  - Interferometric control of the absorption in optical patch antennas.
AB  - Optical patch nano-antennas possess unique absorption, field enhancement and
      concentration capabilities - but their crosssection, as well as their response
      outside of normal incidence are not well understood. Here we explain the large
      cross-section by considering that each patch nanoantenna is a cavity excited from
      both sides. Such a simple physical picture allows to fully understand the
      influence of the angle of incidence - that odd resonances have a very high
      absorption cross-section which decreases when the incidence angle increases,
      while even resonances cannot be excited in normal incidence. A direct application
      would be to use these structures as an optical nanometric set-square.

PMID- 28592794
TI  - The dynamic functional core network of the human brain at rest.
AB  - The human brain is an inherently complex and dynamic system. Even at rest,
      functional brain networks dynamically reconfigure in a well-organized way to
      warrant an efficient communication between brain regions. However, a precise
      characterization of this reconfiguration at very fast time-scale (hundreds of
      millisecond) during rest remains elusive. In this study, we used dense
      electroencephalography data recorded during task-free paradigm to track the fast
      temporal dynamics of spontaneous brain networks. Results obtained from network
      based analysis methods revealed the existence of a functional dynamic core
      network formed of a set of key brain regions that ensure segregation and
      integration functions. Brain regions within this functional core share high
      betweenness centrality, strength and vulnerability (high impact on the network
      global efficiency) and low clustering coefficient. These regions are mainly
      located in the cingulate and the medial frontal cortex. In particular, most of
      the identified hubs were found to belong to the Default Mode Network. Results
      also revealed that the same central regions may dynamically alternate and play
      the role of either provincial (local) or connector (global) hubs.

PMID- 28592796
TI  - Immunochemical Approach for Monitoring of Structural Transition of ApoA-I upon
      HDL Formation Using Novel Monoclonal Antibodies.
AB  - Apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) undergoes a large conformational reorganization
      during remodeling of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles. To detect
      structural transition of apoA-I upon HDL formation, we developed novel monoclonal
      antibodies (mAbs). Splenocytes from BALB/c mice immunized with a recombinant
      human apoA-I, with or without conjugation with keyhole limpet hemocyanin, were
      fused with P3/NS1/1-Ag4-1 myeloma cells. After the HAT-selection and cloning, we
      established nine hybridoma clones secreting anti-apoA-I mAbs in which four mAbs
      recognize epitopes on the N-terminal half of apoA-I while the other five mAbs
      recognize the central region. ELISA and bio-layer interferometry measurements
      demonstrated that mAbs whose epitopes are within residues 1-43 or 44-65 obviously
      discriminate discoidal and spherical reconstituted HDL particles despite their
      great reactivities to lipid-free apoA-I and plasma HDL, suggesting the
      possibility of these mAbs to detect structural transition of apoA-I on HDL.
      Importantly, a helix-disrupting mutation of W50R into residues 44-65 restored the
      immunoreactivity of mAbs whose epitope being within residues 44-65 against
      reconstituted HDL particles, indicating that these mAbs specifically recognize
      the epitope region in a random coil state. These results encourage us to develop
      mAbs targeting epitopes in the N-terminal residues of apoA-I as useful probes for
      monitoring formation and remodeling of HDL particles.

PMID- 28592797
TI  - Distinct Biological Potential of Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus
      sanguinis Revealed by Comparative Genome Analysis.
AB  - Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus sanguinis are pioneer colonizers of
      dental plaque and important agents of bacterial infective endocarditis (IE). To
      gain a greater understanding of these two closely related species, we performed
      comparative analyses on 14 new S. gordonii and 5 S. sanguinis strains using
      various bioinformatics approaches. We revealed S. gordonii and S. sanguinis
      harbor open pan-genomes and share generally high sequence homology and number of
      core genes including virulence genes. However, we observed subtle differences in
      genomic islands and prophages between the species. Comparative pathogenomics
      analysis identified S. sanguinis strains have genes encoding IgA proteases,
      mitogenic factor deoxyribonucleases, nickel/cobalt uptake and cobalamin
      biosynthesis. On the contrary, genomic islands of S. gordonii strains contain
      additional copies of comCDE quorum-sensing system components involved in genetic
      competence. Two distinct polysaccharide locus architectures were identified, one
      of which was exclusively present in S. gordonii strains. The first evidence of
      genes encoding the CylA and CylB system by the alpha-haemolytic S. gordonii is
      presented. This study provides new insights into the genetic distinctions between
      S. gordonii and S. sanguinis, which yields understanding of tooth surfaces
      colonization and contributions to dental plaque formation, as well as their
      potential roles in the pathogenesis of IE.

PMID- 28592798
TI  - Fate of neutral-charged gold nanoparticles in the roots of the Hordeum vulgare L.
      cultivar Karat.
AB  - Nanoparticles (NPs) have a significant impact on the environment and living
      organisms. The influence of NPs on plants is intensively studied and most of the
      data indicate that NPs can penetrate into plants. The studies presented here were
      performed on the roots of Hordeum vulgare L. seedlings using neutral-charge gold
      nanoparticles (AuNPs) of different sizes. In contrast to the majority of the
      published data, the results presented here showed that during the culture period,
      AuNPs: 1/did not enter the root regardless of their size and concentration,
      2/that are applied directly into the cells of a root do not move into
      neighbouring cells. The results that were obtained indicate that in order to
      extend our knowledge about the mechanisms of the interactions between NPs and
      plants, further studies including, among others, on different species and a
      variety of growth conditions are needed.

PMID- 28592800
TI  - Paradoxical puborectalis syndrome on diffusion-weighted imaging: a retrospective
      study of 72 cases.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the application value of diffusion-weighted imaging
      (DWI) for assessing paradoxical puborectalis syndrome (PPS) in patients with
      obstructive defecation syndrome (ODS). The medical records of 72 ODS patients who
      underwent magnetic resonance (MR)-DWI and MR-defecography were retrospectively
      reviewed. The differences in the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) and the
      thickness of the right and left branches of the puborectalis muscles between the
      PPS(+) and PPS(-) groups were compared. In addition, the absolute within-patient
      differences between the right and left branches (ADC, thickness) were compared
      between the two groups. The absolute difference in ADCs (right branch - left
      branch) was significantly different between the two groups. Regardless of whether
      the ADC was acquired through single-ROI (0.10 +/- 0.08 vs 0.23 +/- 0.18, P =
      0.000) or multi-ROI (0.16 +/- 0.14 vs 0.27 +/- 0.17, P = 0.009) analysis, the
      PPS(+) patients displayed a lower absolute ADC difference than did the PPS(-)
      patients. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the ADC
      value, thickness or the absolute difference in thickness between the two groups.
      These findings suggest that DWI may have value in quantitatively assessing the
      puborectalis muscle in ODS patients, whereas the value of puborectalis thickness
      in such aspect needs further study.

PMID- 28592799
TI  - WhiB4 Regulates the PE/PPE Gene Family and is Essential for Virulence of
      Mycobacterium marinum.
AB  - During the course of infection, pathogenic mycobacteria including Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis (M. tb) encounter host environments of variable oxygen tension,
      ranging from the hypoxic center of granulomas to the most oxygenated region in
      the lung cavities. Mycobacterial responses to changes of oxygen tension are
      critically related to infection outcomes, such as latency and reactivation. WhiB4
      is an iron-sulfur containing transcription factor that is highly sensitive to
      oxygen exposure. In this study, we found that WhiB4 of Mycobacterium marinum (M.
      marinum), a pathogenic mycobacterial species that is closely related to M. tb, is
      required for its virulence. M. marinum DeltawhiB4 exhibited defective
      intracellular replication in macrophages and diminished virulence in zebrafish.
      Histology analysis revealed that the host had successfully controlled DeltawhiB4
      bacteria, forming well-organized granulomas. RNA-seq analysis identified a large
      number of pe/ppe genes that were regulated by WhiB4, which provides an
      explanation for the essential role of WhiB4 in M. marinum virulence. Several
      antioxidant enzymes were also upregulated in DeltawhiB4, supporting its role in
      modulation of oxidative stress response. Taken together, we have provided new
      insight into and proposed a model to explain the physiological role of WhiB4.

PMID- 28592801
TI  - Immune cell-derived cytokines contribute to obesity-related inflammation,
      fibrogenesis and metabolic deregulation in human adipose tissue.
AB  - Adipose tissue contains a variety of immune cells, which vary in abundance and
      phenotype with obesity. The contribution of immune cell-derived factors to
      inflammatory, fibrotic and metabolic alterations in adipose tissue is not well
      established in human obesity. Human primary adipose tissue cells, including pre
      adipocytes, endothelial cells and mature adipocytes, were used to investigate
      deregulation of cell- and pathway-specific gene profiles. Among factors known to
      alter adipose tissue biology, we focus on inflammatory (IL-1beta and IL-17) and
      pro-fibrotic (TGF-beta1) factors. rIL-1beta and rIL-17 induced concordant pro
      inflammatory transcriptional programs in pre-adipocytes and endothelial cells,
      with a markedly more potent effect of IL-1beta than IL-17. None of these
      cytokines had significant effect on fibrogenesis-related gene expression,
      contrasting with rTGF-beta1-induced up-regulation of extracellular matrix
      components and pro-fibrotic factors. In mature adipocytes, all three factors
      promoted down-regulation of genes functionally involved in lipid storage and
      release. IL-1beta and IL-17 impacted adipocyte metabolic genes in relation with
      their respective pro-inflammatory capacity, while the effect of TGF-beta1
      occurred in face of an anti-inflammatory signature. These data revealed that IL
      1beta and IL-17 had virtually no effect on pro-fibrotic alterations but promote
      inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in human adipose tissue, with a prominent
      role for IL-1beta.

PMID- 28592802
TI  - A kinetic Monte Carlo simulation method of van der Waals epitaxy for atomistic
      nucleation-growth processes of transition metal dichalcogenides.
AB  - Controlled growth of crystalline solids is critical for device applications, and
      atomistic modeling methods have been developed for bulk crystalline solids.
      Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation method provides detailed atomic scale
      processes during a solid growth over realistic time scales, but its application
      to the growth modeling of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures has not yet been
      developed. Specifically, the growth of single-layered transition metal
      dichalcogenides (TMDs) is currently facing tremendous challenges, and a detailed
      understanding based on KMC simulations would provide critical guidance to enable
      controlled growth of vdW heterostructures. In this work, a KMC simulation method
      is developed for the growth modeling on the vdW epitaxy of TMDs. The KMC method
      has introduced full material parameters for TMDs in bottom-up synthesis: metal
      and chalcogen adsorption/desorption/diffusion on substrate and grown TMD surface,
      TMD stacking sequence, chalcogen/metal ratio, flake edge diffusion and vacancy
      diffusion. The KMC processes result in multiple kinetic behaviors associated with
      various growth behaviors observed in experiments. Different phenomena observed
      during vdW epitaxy process are analysed in terms of complex competitions among
      multiple kinetic processes. The KMC method is used in the investigation and
      prediction of growth mechanisms, which provide qualitative suggestions to guide
      experimental study.

PMID- 28592804
TI  - Physiological mechanisms of drought-induced tree die-off in relation to carbon,
      hydraulic and respiratory stress in a drought-tolerant woody plant.
AB  - Drought-induced tree die-off related to climate change is occurring worldwide and
      affects the carbon stocks and biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Hydraulic
      failure and carbon starvation are two commonly proposed mechanisms for drought
      induced tree die-off. Here, we show that inhibited branchlet respiration and soil
      to-leaf hydraulic conductance, likely caused by cell damage, occur prior to
      hydraulic failure (xylem embolism) and carbon starvation (exhaustion of stored
      carbon in sapwood) in a drought-tolerant woody species, Rhaphiolepis wrightiana
      Maxim. The ratio of the total leaf area to the twig sap area was used as a health
      indicator after drought damage. Six adult trees with different levels of tree
      health and one dead adult tree were selected. Two individuals having the worst
      and second worst health among the six live trees died three months after our
      study was conducted. Soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance and leaf gas exchange
      rates decreased linearly as tree health declined, whereas xylem cavitation and
      total non-structural carbon remained unchanged in the branchlets except in the
      dead and most unhealthy trees. Respiration rates and the number of living cells
      in the sapwood decreased linearly as tree health declined. This study is the
      first report on the importance of dehydration tolerance and respiration
      maintenance in living cells.

PMID- 28592803
TI  - First comprehensive proteome analysis of lysine crotonylation in seedling leaves
      of Nicotiana tabacum.
AB  - Histone crotonylation is a new lysine acylation type of post-translational
      modification (PTM) enriched at active gene promoters and potential enhancers in
      yeast and mammalian cells. However, lysine crotonylation in nonhistone proteins
      and plant cells has not yet been studied. In the present study, we performed a
      global crotonylation proteome analysis of Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) using high
      resolution LC-MS/MS coupled with highly sensitive immune-affinity purification. A
      total of 2044 lysine modification sites distributed on 637 proteins were
      identified, representing the most abundant lysine acylation proteome reported in
      the plant kingdom. Similar to lysine acetylation and succinylation in plants,
      lysine crotonylation was related to multiple metabolism pathways, such as carbon
      metabolism, the citrate cycle, glycolysis, and the biosynthesis of amino acids.
      Importantly, 72 proteins participated in multiple processes of photosynthesis,
      and most of the enzymes involved in chlorophyll synthesis were modified through
      crotonylation. Numerous crotonylated proteins were implicated in the
      biosynthesis, folding, and degradation of proteins through the ubiquitin
      proteasome system. Several crotonylated proteins related to chromatin
      organization are also discussed here. These data represent the first report of a
      global crotonylation proteome and provide a promising starting point for further
      functional research of crotonylation in nonhistone proteins.

PMID- 28592805
TI  - Cdc6 contributes to abrogating the G1 checkpoint under hypoxic conditions in HPV
      E7 expressing cells.
AB  - The human papillomavirus (HPV) plays a central role in cervical carcinogenesis
      and its oncogene E7 is essential in this process. We showed here that E7
      abrogated the G1 cell cycle checkpoint under hypoxia and analyzed key cell cycle
      related proteins for their potential role in this process. To further explore the
      mechanism by which E7 bypasses hypoxia-induced G1 arrest, we applied a proteomic
      approach and used mass spectrometry to search for proteins that are
      differentially expressed in E7 expressing cells under hypoxia. Among
      differentially expressed proteins identified, Cdc6 is a DNA replication
      initiation factor and exhibits oncogenic activities when overexpressed. We have
      recently demonstrated that Cdc6 was required for E7-induced re-replication.
      Significantly, here we showed that Cdc6 played a role in E7-mediated G1
      checkpoint abrogation under hypoxic condition, and the function could possibly be
      independent from its role in DNA replication initiation. This study uncovered a
      new function of Cdc6 in regulating cell cycle progression and has important
      implications in HPV-associated cancers.

PMID- 28592807
TI  - Reconstruction of Complex Directional Networks with Group Lasso Nonlinear
      Conditional Granger Causality.
AB  - Reconstruction of networks underlying complex systems is one of the most crucial
      problems in many areas of engineering and science. In this paper, rather than
      identifying parameters of complex systems governed by pre-defined models or
      taking some polynomial and rational functions as a prior information for
      subsequent model selection, we put forward a general framework for nonlinear
      causal network reconstruction from time-series with limited observations. With
      obtaining multi-source datasets based on the data-fusion strategy, we propose a
      novel method to handle nonlinearity and directionality of complex networked
      systems, namely group lasso nonlinear conditional granger causality. Specially,
      our method can exploit different sets of radial basis functions to approximate
      the nonlinear interactions between each pair of nodes and integrate sparsity into
      grouped variables selection. The performance characteristic of our approach is
      firstly assessed with two types of simulated datasets from nonlinear vector
      autoregressive model and nonlinear dynamic models, and then verified based on the
      benchmark datasets from DREAM3 Challenge4. Effects of data size and noise
      intensity are also discussed. All of the results demonstrate that the proposed
      method performs better in terms of higher area under precision-recall curve.

PMID- 28592806
TI  - Platelet-rich plasma respectively reduces and promotes adipogenic and
      myofibroblastic differentiation of human adipose-derived stromal cells via the
      TGFbeta signalling pathway.
AB  - Autologous fat grafting is a gold standard therapy for soft tissue defects, but
      is hampered by unpredictable postoperative outcomes. Fat graft enrichment with
      adipose-derived stromal cell (ASCs) was recently reported to enhance graft
      survival. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has also emerged as a biologic scaffold that
      promotes fat graft viability. Combined ASC/PRP fat grafting enrichment is thus a
      promising new regenerative medicine approach. The effects of PRP on ASC
      proliferation are well documented, but the impact of PRP on ASC differentiation
      has yet to be investigated in depth to further elucidate the PRP clinical
      effects. Here we analyzed the human ASC fate upon PRP treatment. PRP was found to
      sharply reduce the potential of ASCs to undergo differentiation into adipocytes.
      Interestingly, the PRP anti-adipogenic effect was accompanied by the generation
      of myofibroblast-like cells. Among the various factors released from PRP, TGFbeta
      pathway activators played a critical role in both the anti-adipogenic and pro
      myofibroblastic PRP effects. Overall, these data suggest that PRP participates in
      maintaining a pool of ASCs and in the repair process by promoting ASC
      differentiation into myofibroblast-like cells. TGFbeta may provide an important
      target pathway to improve PRP clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28592809
TI  - Evidence for mutual assessment in a wild primate.
AB  - In aggressive interactions, game theory predicts that animals should assess an
      opponent's condition relative to their own prior to escalation or retreat.
      Despite the benefits of such mutual assessment, few studies have been able to
      reject simpler assessment strategies. Here we report evidence for mutual
      assessment in a wild primate. Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) males have
      conspicuous loud calls that may function as a signal of male quality. "Leader"
      males with harems putatively use loud calls to deter challenges from non
      reproductive "bachelor" males. By contrast, leader males pose no threat to each
      other and congregate in large groups for a dilution effect against bachelors. In
      playback experiments and natural observations, gelada males responded to loud
      calls according to both their own and their opponent's attributes. Although
      primates routinely classify others relative to themselves using individual
      attributes, this represents some of the first direct evidence for mutual
      assessment in primate signaling contests.

PMID- 28592808
TI  - SNX10 gene mutation leading to osteopetrosis with dysfunctional osteoclasts.
AB  - Autosomal recessive osteopetrosis (ARO) is a heterogeneous disorder,
      characterized by defective osteoclastic resorption of bone that results in
      increased bone density. We have studied nine individuals with an intermediate
      form of ARO, from the county of Vasterbotten in Northern Sweden. All afflicted
      individuals had an onset in early infancy with optic atrophy, and in four
      patients anemia was present at diagnosis. Tonsillar herniation, foramen magnum
      stenosis, and severe osteomyelitis of the jaw were common clinical features.
      Whole exome sequencing, verified by Sanger sequencing, identified a splice site
      mutation c.212 + 1 G > T in the SNX10 gene encoding sorting nexin 10. Sequence
      analysis of the SNX10 transcript in patients revealed activation of a cryptic
      splice site in intron 4 resulting in a frame shift and a premature stop (p.S66Nfs
      * 15). Haplotype analysis showed that all cases originated from a single
      mutational event, and the age of the mutation was estimated to be approximately
      950 years. Functional analysis of osteoclast progenitors isolated from peripheral
      blood of patients revealed that stimulation with receptor activator of nuclear
      factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) resulted in a robust formation of large,
      multinucleated osteoclasts which generated sealing zones; however these
      osteoclasts exhibited defective ruffled borders and were unable to resorb bone in
      vitro.

PMID- 28592810
TI  - Historical and Projected Surface Temperature over India during the 20th and 21st
      century.
AB  - Surface Temperature (ST) over India has increased by ~0.055 K/decade during 1860
      2005 and follows the global warming trend. Here, the natural and external
      forcings (e.g., natural and anthropogenic) responsible for ST variability are
      studied from Coupled Model Inter-comparison phase 5 (CMIP5) models during the
      20th century and projections during the 21st century along with seasonal
      variability. Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and Land Use (LU) are the major factors that
      gave rise to warming during the 20th century. Anthropogenic Aerosols (AA) have
      slowed down the warming rate. The CMIP5 projection over India shows a sharp
      increase in ST under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 8.5 where it
      reaches a maximum of 5 K by the end of the 21st century. Under RCP2.6 emission
      scenarios, ST increases up to the year 2050 and decreases afterwards. The
      seasonal variability of ST during the 21st century shows significant increase
      during summer. Analysis of rare heat and cold events for 2080-2099 relative to a
      base period of 1986-2006 under RCP8.5 scenarios reveals that both are likely to
      increase substantially. However, by controlling the regional AA and LU change in
      India, a reduction in further warming over India region might be achieved.

PMID- 28592811
TI  - Evaluating the impact of vitreomacular adhesion on anti-VEGF therapy for retinal
      vein occlusion using machine learning.
AB  - Vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) represents a prognostic biomarker in the management
      of exudative macular disease using anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
      agents. However, manual evaluation of VMA in 3D optical coherence tomography
      (OCT) is laborious and data on its impact on therapy of retinal vein occlusion
      (RVO) are limited. The aim of this study was to (1) develop a fully automated
      segmentation algorithm for the posterior vitreous boundary and (2) to study the
      effect of VMA on anti-VEGF therapy for RVO. A combined machine learning/graph cut
      segmentation algorithm for the posterior vitreous boundary was designed and
      evaluated. 391 patients with central/branch RVO under standardized ranibizumab
      treatment for 6/12 months were included in a systematic post-hoc analysis. VMA
      (70%) was automatically differentiated from non-VMA (30%) using the developed
      method combined with unsupervised clustering. In this proof-of-principle study,
      eyes with VMA showed larger BCVA gains than non-VMA eyes (BRVO: 15 +/- 12 vs. 11
      +/- 11 letters, p = 0.02; CRVO: 18 +/- 14 vs. 9 +/- 13 letters, p < 0.01) and
      received a similar number of retreatments. However, this association diminished
      after adjustment for baseline BCVA, also when using more fine-grained VMA
      classes. Our study illustrates that machine learning represents a promising path
      to assess imaging biomarkers in OCT.

PMID- 28592812
TI  - Activity-independent targeting of mTOR to lysosomes in primary osteoclasts.
AB  - Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is activated by numerous stimuli, including
      amino acids and growth factors. This kinase is part of the mTOR complex 1
      (mTORC1) which regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and autophagy.
      Active mTORC1 is located on lysosomes and has been reported to disassociate from
      the lysosomal surface in the absence of amino acids. Furthermore, mTORC1 activity
      has been linked to the vacuolar H+-ATPases (V-ATPases), the proton pumps
      responsible for lysosomal acidification; however, the exact role of the V-ATPases
      in mTORC1 signaling is not known. To elucidate the mechanisms involved in mTORC1
      regulation by the V-ATPases, we used primary osteoclasts derived from mice
      carrying a point (R740S) mutation in the a3 subunit of the V-ATPase. In these
      cells, the mutant protein is expressed but the pump is not functional, resulting
      in higher lysosomal pH. By analyzing mTOR activation, mTOR/lysosome co
      localization, and lysosomal positioning using confocal microscopy, fractionation,
      and ultrapure lysosomal purification methods, we demonstrate that in primary
      osteoclasts, mTOR is localized on the lysosomal surface even when mTOR activity
      is inhibited. Our findings reveal that mTOR targeting to the lysosome in
      osteoclasts is activity-independent, and that its disassociation from the
      lysosome during starvation is not universal.

PMID- 28592813
TI  - Simplifying the design of microstructured optical fibre pressure sensors.
AB  - In this paper, we propose a way to simplify the design of microstructured optical
      fibres with high sensitivity to applied pressure. The use of a capillary fibre
      with an embedded core allows the exploration of the pressure-induced material
      birefringence due to the capillary wall displacements and the photoelastic
      effect. An analytical description of pressure-induced material birefringence is
      provided, and fibre modal characteristics are explored through numerical
      simulations. Moreover, a capillary fibre with an embedded core is fabricated and
      used to probe pressure variations. Even though the embedded-core fibre has a non
      optimized structure, measurements showed a pressure sensitivity of (1.04 +/-
      0.01) nm/bar, which compares well with more complex, specially designed fibre
      geometries reported in the literature. These results demonstrate that this
      geometry enables a novel route towards the simplification of microstructured
      fibre-based pressure sensors.

PMID- 28592814
TI  - Impairment of the activin A autocrine loop by lopinavir reduces self-renewal of
      distinct human adipose progenitors.
AB  - Maintenance of the adipose tissue requires a proper balance between self-renewal
      and differentiation of adipose progenitors (AP). Any deregulation leads either to
      fat overexpansion and obesity or fat loss and consequent lipodystrophies.
      Depending on the fat pad location, APs and adipocytes are heterogeneous. However,
      information on the pharmacological sensitivity of distinct APs to drugs known to
      alter the function of adipose tissue, especially HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) is
      scant. Here we show that PIs decreased proliferation and clonal expansion of APs,
      modifying their self-renewal potential. Lopinavir was the most potent PI tested.
      Decrease in self-renewal was accompanied by a reduced expression of the immediate
      early response gene IER3, a gene associated with tissue expansion. It was more
      pronounced in chin-derived APs than in knee-derived APs. Furthermore, lopinavir
      lowered the activin A-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Expressions of the
      transcription factor EGR1 and its targets, including INHBA were subsequently
      altered. Therefore, activin A secretion was reduced leading to a dramatic
      impairment of APs self-renewal sustained by the activin A autocrine loop. All
      together, these observations highlight the activin A autocrine loop as a crucial
      effector to maintain APs self-renewal. Targeting this pathway by HIV-PIs may
      participate in the induction of unwanted side effects.

PMID- 28592815
TI  - Impact of genotype on endocrinal complications of Children with Alpha-thalassemia
      in China.
AB  - Alpha-thalassemia occurs with high frenquency in China. Four common alpha-globin
      gene deletion mutations (-SEA, -alpha3.7, and -alpha4.2, Haemoglobin Constant
      Spring (CS) mutation) were identified in Chinese patients. Individuals with alpha
      thalassemia syndrome are more often of children. However report on endocrinal
      complications in children with alpha thalassemia in China are still absent. The
      present study aimed to investigate the impact of genotype on endocrinal
      complications in Chinese children. Association analysis between genotype and
      endocrinal compliaction development was conducted on 200 patients with 200
      healthy controls. Hypogonadism was found to be the most prominent endocrinal
      complications (84.0%) leading to the growth retardation, hypogonadism, diabetes
      mellitus, hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism whose incidence were
      significantly higher in pateints. (alphaCSalpha/-SEA) was the main genotype of
      Alpha thalassemia identified in the patients (37.5%), and patients with the (
      alpha4.2/-SEA) genotype had a higher prevalence of hypogonadism, diabetes
      mellitus and hypoparathyroidism (P = 0.001, P = 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively).

PMID- 28592816
TI  - Comparing photoelectrochemical water oxidation, recombination kinetics and charge
      trapping in the three polymorphs of TiO2.
AB  - In this article we present the first comparative study of the transient decay
      dynamics of photo-generated charges for the three polymorphs of TiO2. To our
      knowledge, this is the first such study of the brookite phase of TiO2 over
      timescales relevant to the kinetics of water splitting. We find that the behavior
      of brookite, both in the dynamics of relaxation of photo-generated charges and in
      energetic distribution, is similar to the anatase phase of TiO2. Moreover, links
      between the rate of recombination of charge carriers, their energetic
      distribution and the mode of transport are made in light of our findings and used
      to account for the differences in water splitting efficiency observed across the
      three polymorphs.

PMID- 28592817
TI  - Imaging gold nanoparticles in mouse liver by laser ablation inductively coupled
      plasma mass spectrometry.
AB  - Imaging the size distribution of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in a tissue has
      important implications in terms of evaluating NP toxicity. Microscopy techniques
      used to image tissue NPs are limited by complicated sample preparation or poor
      resolution. In this study, we developed a laser ablation (LA) system coupled to
      single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) for
      quantitative imaging of gold (G)NPs in tissue samples. In this system, GNPs were
      ablated but did not disintegrate and integrate under optimised operation
      conditions, which were verified by characterising LA particles by scanning
      electron microscopy. The feasibility of imaging size distributions in tissue was
      validated using reference GNPs 60 and 80 nm in size on matrix-matched kidney. A
      transport efficiency of 6.07% was obtained by LA-SP-ICP-MS under optimal
      conditions. We used this system to image 80-nm GNPs in mouse liver and the size
      distribution thus obtained was in accordance with that determined by nebuliser SP
      ICP-MS. The images revealed that 80-nm GNPs mainly accumulate in the liver and
      did not obviously aggregate. Our results demonstrate that LA-SP-ICP-MS is an
      effective tool for evaluating the size distribution of metal NPs in tissue.

PMID- 28592818
TI  - Characteristics of Chinese Costal Cartilage and Costa Calcification Using Dual
      Energy Computed Tomography Imaging.
AB  - To assess characteristics of Chinese costal cartilage and costa calcification
      using Dual-Energy computed tomography(DECT). 154 patients who underwent chest
      DECT scanning were included in our study. They were divided into following
      groups: less than 30 years old, 31-40 years old, 41-50 years old, 51-60 years old
      and over 60 years old. The sixth, seventh and eighth costal cartilages and costas
      were evaluated. Calcification patterns of cartilage were classified as
      central(C), peripheral(P), mixed(M) and no calcification(N) types. Calcification
      degree of cartilage was distinguished as 1(0-25%), 2(26-50%) and 3(>50%). CT
      value, calcium and water concentrations were measured in costal cartilage,
      cortical or cancellous bone respectively. An increasing C pattern of cartilage
      was displayed in females, while P type preferred in males as age increased.
      Calcification degree generally changed from 1 to 2 or 3 in females. CT value and
      calcium concentration of cartilage went through a gradual rising course and
      peaked in their 40-50 years, while those two indices of cancellous bone decreased
      gradually since their 50 years in females. The findings suggest a gradual
      calcification of the costal cartilage took place before 40-50 years old and a
      sharp bone loss of the costa happened after 40-50 years old in females.

PMID- 28592820
TI  - One dimensional transport in silicon nanowire junction-less field effect
      transistors.
AB  - Junction-less nanowire transistors are being investigated to solve short channel
      effects in future CMOS technology. Here we demonstrate 8 nm diameter silicon
      nanowire junction-less transistors with metallic doping densities which
      demonstrate clear 1D electronic transport characteristics. The 1D regime allows
      excellent gate modulation with near ideal subthreshold slopes, on- to off-current
      ratios above 108 and high on-currents at room temperature. Universal conductance
      scaling as a function of voltage and temperature similar to previous reports of
      Luttinger liquids and Coulomb gap behaviour at low temperatures suggests that
      many body effects including electron-electron interactions are important in
      describing the electronic transport. This suggests that modelling of such
      nanowire devices will require 1D models which include many body interactions to
      accurately simulate the electronic transport to optimise the technology but also
      suggest that 1D effects could be used to enhance future transistor performance.

PMID- 28592821
TI  - Development of a 3D angiogenesis model to study tumour - endothelial cell
      interactions and the effects of anti-angiogenic drugs.
AB  - The tumour microenvironment and tumour angiogenesis play a critical role in the
      development and therapy of many cancers, but in vitro models reflecting these
      circumstances are rare. In this study, we describe the development of a novel tri
      culture model, using non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines (A549 and
      Colo699) in combination with a fibroblast cell line (SV 80) and two different
      endothelial cell lines in a hanging drop technology. Endothelial cells aggregated
      either in small colonies in Colo699 containing microtissues or in tube like
      structures mainly in the stromal compartment of microtissues containing A549. An
      up-regulation of hypoxia and vimentin, ASMA and a downregulation of E-cadherin
      were observed in co- and tri-cultures compared to monocultures. Furthermore, a
      morphological alteration of A549 tumour cells resembling "signet ring cells" was
      observed in tri-cultures. The secretion of proangiogenic growth factors like
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was measured in supernatants.
      Inhibition of these proangiogenic factors by using antiangiogenic drugs
      (bevacizumab and nindetanib) led to a significant decrease in migration of
      endothelial cells into microtissues. We demonstrate that our method is a
      promising tool for the generation of multicellular tumour microtissues and
      reflects in vivo conditions closer than 2D cell culture.

PMID- 28592824
TI  - Structural Properties and Sensing Performance of CeYxOy Sensing Films for
      Electrolyte-Insulator-Semiconductor pH Sensors.
AB  - In this study we developed CeY x O y sensing membranes displaying super-Nernstian
      pH-sensitivity for use in electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) pH sensors.
      We examined the effect of thermal annealing on the structural properties and
      sensing characteristics of the CeY x O y sensing membranes deposited through
      reactive co-sputtering onto Si substrates. X-ray diffraction, atomic force
      microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the structural,
      morphological, and chemical features, respectively, of the CeY x O y films after
      their annealing at 600-900  degrees C. Among the tested systems, the CeY x O y
      EIS device prepared with annealing at 800  degrees C exhibited the highest
      sensitivity (78.15 mV/pH), the lowest hysteresis voltage (1.4 mV), and the lowest
      drift rate (0.85 mV/h). Presumably, these annealing conditions optimized the
      stoichiometry of (CeY)O2 in the film and its surface roughness while suppressing
      silicate formation at the CeY x O y -Si interface. We attribute the super
      Nernstian pH-sensitivity to the incorporation of Y ions in the Ce framework,
      thereby decreasing the oxidation state Ce (Ce4+ -> Ce3+) and resulting in less
      than one electron transferred per proton in the redox reaction.

PMID- 28592822
TI  - Bacterial Sphingomyelinase is a State-Dependent Inhibitor of the Cystic Fibrosis
      Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR).
AB  - Sphingomyelinase C (SMase) inhibits CFTR chloride channel activity in multiple
      cell systems, an effect that could exacerbate disease in CF and COPD patients.
      The mechanism by which sphingomyelin catalysis inhibits CFTR is not known but
      evidence suggests that it occurs independently of CFTR's regulatory "R" domain.
      In this study we utilized the Xenopus oocyte expression system to shed light on
      how CFTR channel activity is reduced by SMase. We found that the pathway leading
      to inhibition is not membrane delimited and that inhibited CFTR channels remain
      at the cell membrane, indicative of a novel silencing mechanism. Consistent with
      an effect on CFTR gating behavior, we found that altering gating kinetics
      influenced the sensitivity to inhibition by SMase. Specifically, increasing
      channel activity by introducing the mutation K1250A or pretreating with the CFTR
      potentiator VX-770 (Ivacaftor) imparted resistance to inhibition. In primary
      bronchial epithelial cells, we found that basolateral, but not apical,
      application of SMase leads to a redistribution of sphingomyelin and a reduction
      in forskolin- and VX-770-stimulated currents. Taken together, these data suggest
      that SMase inhibits CFTR channel function by locking channels into a closed state
      and that endogenous CFTR in HBEs is affected by SMase activity.

PMID- 28592825
TI  - Variation in growth rates of branching corals along Australia's Great Barrier
      Reef.
AB  - Coral growth is an important component of reef health and resilience. However,
      few studies have investigated temporal and/or spatial variation in growth of
      branching corals, which are important contributors to the structure and function
      of reef habitats. This study assessed growth (linear extension, density, and
      calcification) of three branching coral species (Acropora muricata, Pocillopora
      damicornis and Isopora palifera) at three distinct locations (Lizard Island,
      Davies/Trunk Reef, and Heron Island) along Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR).
      Annual growth rates of all species were highest at Lizard Island and declined
      with increasing latitude, corresponding with differences in temperature. Within
      locations, however, seasonal variation in growth did not directly correlate with
      temperature. Between October 2012 and October 2014, the highest growth of A.
      muricata was in the 2013-14 summer at Lizard Island, which was unusually cool and
      ~0.5  degrees C less than the long-term summer average temperature. At locations
      where temperatures reached or exceeded the long-term summer maxima, coral growth
      during summer periods was equal to, if not lower than, winter periods. This study
      shows that temperature has a significant influence on spatiotemporal patterns of
      branching coral growth, and high summer temperatures in the northern GBR may
      already be constraining coral growth and reef resilience.

PMID- 28592823
TI  - Comparison of the active and resident community of a coastal microbial mat.
AB  - Coastal microbial mats form a nearly closed micro-scale ecosystem harboring a
      complex microbial community. Previous DNA based analysis did not necessarily
      provide information about the active fraction of the microbial community because
      it includes dormant, inactive cells as well as a potential stable pool of
      extracellular DNA. Here we focused on the active microbial community by comparing
      16S rRNA sequences obtained from the ribosomal RNA pool with gene sequences
      obtained from the DNA fraction. In addition, we aimed to establish an optimal and
      feasible sampling protocol that takes potential spatial and temporal
      heterogeneity into account. The coastal microbial mat investigated here was
      sampled randomly and at regular time points during one 24-h period. DNA and RNA
      was extracted and after conversion of the RNA fraction to cDNA, the V1-V3 and the
      V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were targeted for high-throughput amplicon
      sequencing. We show that the community composition varies little in time and
      space whereas two amplified 16S regions gave significant different results. The
      largest differences were found when comparing the "resident community" (DNA) with
      the "active community" (cDNA/RNA); in the latter, Cyanobacteria dominated for
      almost 95% while they represented 60% of the resident fraction.

PMID- 28592826
TI  - PH-Dependent Enantioselectivity of D-amino Acid Oxidase in Aqueous Solution.
AB  - D-amino acid oxidases (DAAO) are stereospecific enzymes which are generally
      almost inactive towards L-enantiomer in neutral solution when L-, D-amino acids
      are supplied as substrates. In this paper, the D-amino acid oxidase can catalytic
      oxidize L-amino acids by modulating pH of aqueous solution. With L-Pro as
      substrate, the catalytic rate (k cat) and the affinity (K m) of DAAO were 6.71 s
      1 and 33 mM at pH 8.0, respectively, suggesting that optimal pH condition
      enhanced the activity of DAAO towards L-Pro. Similar results were obtained when L
      Ala (pH 9.8), L-Arg (pH 6.5), L-Phe (pH 9.0), L-Thr (pH 9.4), and L-Val (pH 8.5)
      were catalyzed by DAAO at various pH values. The racemization of the L-amino
      acids was not found by capillary electrophoresis analysis during oxidation, and
      quantification analysis of L-amino acids before and after catalytic reaction was
      performed, which confirmed that the modulation of enantioselectivity of DAAO
      resulted from the oxidation of L-amino acids rather than D-amino acids by
      changing pH. A mechanistic model was proposed to explain enhanced activity of
      DAAO towards L-amino acids under optimal pH condition.

PMID- 28592827
TI  - A comprehensive characterisation of the metabolic profile of varicose veins;
      implications in elaborating plausible cellular pathways for disease pathogenesis.
AB  - Metabolic phenotypes reflect both the genetic and environmental factors which
      contribute to the development of varicose veins (VV). This study utilises
      analytical techniques to provide a comprehensive metabolic picture of VV disease,
      with the aim of identifying putative cellular pathways of disease pathogenesis.
      VV (n = 80) and non-VV (n = 35) aqueous and lipid metabolite extracts were
      analysed using 600 MHz 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy and Ultra
      Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. A subset of tissue samples
      (8 subjects and 8 controls) were analysed for microRNA expression and the data
      analysed with mirBase (www.mirbase.org). Using Multivariate statistical analysis,
      Ingenuity pathway analysis software, DIANALAB database and published literature,
      the association of significant metabolites with relevant cellular pathways were
      understood. Higher concentrations of glutamate, taurine, myo-inositol, creatine
      and inosine were present in aqueous extracts and phosphatidylcholine,
      phosphatidylethanolamine and sphingomyelin in lipid extracts in the VV group
      compared with non-VV group. Out of 7 differentially expressed miRNAs, spearman
      correlation testing highlighted correlation of hsa-miR-642a-3p, hsa-miR-4459 and
      hsa-miR-135a-3p expression with inosine in the vein tissue, while miR-216a-5p,
      conversely, was correlated with phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine.
      Pathway analysis revealed an association of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin
      with inflammation and myo-inositol with cellular proliferation.

PMID- 28592828
TI  - A highly conserved sequence of the viral TAP inhibitor ICP47 is required for
      freezing of the peptide transport cycle.
AB  - The transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) translocates antigenic
      peptides into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen for loading onto MHC class I
      molecules. This is a key step in the control of viral infections through CD8+ T
      cells. The herpes simplex virus type-1 encodes an 88 amino acid long species
      specific TAP inhibitor, ICP47, that functions as a high affinity competitor for
      the peptide binding site on TAP. It has previously been suggested that the
      inhibitory function of ICP47 resides within the N-terminal region (residues 1
      35). Here we show that mutation of the highly conserved 50PLL52 motif within the
      central region of ICP47 attenuates its inhibitory capacity. Taking advantage of
      the human cytomegalovirus-encoded TAP inhibitor US6 as a luminal sensor for
      conformational changes of TAP, we demonstrated that the 50PLL52 motif is
      essential for freezing of the TAP conformation. Moreover, hierarchical functional
      interaction sites on TAP dependent on 50PLL52 could be defined using a
      comprehensive set of human-rat TAP chimeras. This data broadens our understanding
      of the molecular mechanism underpinning TAP inhibition by ICP47, to include the
      50PLL52 sequence as a stabilizer that tethers the TAP-ICP47 complex in an inward
      facing conformation.

PMID- 28592829
TI  - Speckle Tracking Stress Echocardiography Uncovers Early Subclinical Cardiac
      Involvement in Pediatric Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an established risk factor for cardiovascular
      disease (CVD). However, whether cardiac consequences present early in IBD is
      unknown. This is the first study in children aiming to unmask altered myocardial
      mechanics in IBD. We enrolled 50 consecutive normotensive children with Crohn's
      disease (CD) (n = 28) or ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 22). The study groups
      consisted of 18 patients with active inflammatory disease (mean age 14.6 +/- 2.5
      years) and 32 children with IBD in remission (14.3 +/- 2.3 years). 60 age- and
      gender-matched children served as healthy controls. Speckle tracking stress
      echocardiography (STE) was used to assess left ventricular (LV) myocardial strain
      and strain rate. Circumferential strain rate was significantly decreased in
      children with active IBD (-1.55 +/- 0.26 s-1) and IBD in remission (-1.49 +/-
      0.26 s-1) versus healthy controls (1.8 +/- 0.4 s-1) both at rest (p < 0.001) and
      during exercise (p = 0.021). Moreover, longitudinal strain rate, circumferential
      strain and E/E' ratio were significantly impaired in IBD. Pediatric patients with
      IBD feature subclinical signs of LV systolic and diastolic myocardial impairment
      early in the course of CD and UC. This may not be reversible even when IBD is
      clinically controlled. Patients with IBD should be regularly screened for signs
      of CVD.

PMID- 28592830
TI  - Choice of analysis pathway dramatically affects statistical outcomes in breaking
      continuous flash suppression.
AB  - Breaking Continuous Flash Suppression (bCFS) has been adopted as an appealing
      means to study human visual awareness, but the literature is beclouded by
      inconsistent and contradictory results. Although previous reviews have focused
      chiefly on design pitfalls and instances of false reasoning, we show in this
      study that the choice of analysis pathway can have severe effects on the
      statistical output when applied to bCFS data. Using a representative dataset
      designed to address a specific controversy in the realm of language processing
      under bCFS, namely whether psycholinguistic variables affect access to awareness,
      we present a range of analysis methods based on real instances in the published
      literature, and indicate how each approach affects the perceived outcome. We
      provide a summary of published bCFS studies indicating the use of data
      transformation and trimming, and highlight that more compelling analysis methods
      are sparsely used in this field. We discuss potential interpretations based on
      both classical and more complex analyses, to highlight how these differ. We
      conclude that an adherence to openly available data and analysis pathways could
      provide a great benefit to this field, so that conclusions can be tested against
      multiple analyses as standard practices are updated.

PMID- 28592831
TI  - Genetic variation of dopamine and serotonin function modulates the feedback
      related negativity during altruistic punishment.
AB  - Why do humans cooperate and often punish norm violations of others? In the
      present study, we sought to investigate the genetic bases of altruistic
      punishment (AP), which refers to the costly punishment of norm violations with
      potential benefit for other individuals. Recent evidence suggests that norm
      violations and unfairness are indexed by the feedback-related negativity (FRN),
      an anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) generated neural response to expectancy
      violations. Given evidence on the role of serotonin and dopamine in AP as well as
      in FRN-generation, we explored the impact of genetic variation of serotonin and
      dopamine function on FRN and AP behavior in response to unfair vs. fair monetary
      offers in a Dictator Game (DG) with punishment option. In a sample of 45 healthy
      participants we observed larger FRN amplitudes to unfair DG assignments both for
      7-repeat allele carriers of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon III polymorphism
      and for l/l-genotype carriers of the serotonin transporter gene-linked
      polymorphic region (5-HTTLRP). Moreover, 5-HTTLPR l/l-genotype carriers punished
      unfair offers more strongly. These findings support the role of serotonin and
      dopamine in AP, potentially via their influence on neural mechanisms implicated
      in the monitoring of expectancy violations and their relation to impulsive and
      punishment behavior.

PMID- 28592832
TI  - High-precision spatial localization of mouse vocalizations during social
      interaction.
AB  - Mice display a wide repertoire of vocalizations that varies with age, sex, and
      context. Especially during courtship, mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs)
      of high complexity, whose detailed structure is poorly understood. As animals of
      both sexes vocalize, the study of social vocalizations requires attributing
      single USVs to individuals. The state-of-the-art in sound localization for USVs
      allows spatial localization at centimeter resolution, however, animals interact
      at closer ranges, involving tactile, snout-snout exploration. Hence, improved
      algorithms are required to reliably assign USVs. We develop multiple solutions to
      USV localization, and derive an analytical solution for arbitrary vertical
      microphone positions. The algorithms are compared on wideband acoustic noise and
      single mouse vocalizations, and applied to social interactions with optically
      tracked mouse positions. A novel, (frequency) envelope weighted generalised cross
      correlation outperforms classical cross-correlation techniques. It achieves a
      median error of ~1.4 mm for noise and ~4-8.5 mm for vocalizations. Using this
      algorithms in combination with a level criterion, we can improve the assignment
      for interacting mice. We report significant differences in mean USV properties
      between CBA mice of different sexes during social interaction. Hence, the
      improved USV attribution to individuals lays the basis for a deeper understanding
      of social vocalizations, in particular sequences of USVs.

PMID- 28592834
TI  - Impact of naturally leaking carbon dioxide on soil properties and ecosystems in
      the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.
AB  - One of the major concerns for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is the potential risk
      of CO2 leakage from storage reservoirs on the shallow soil property and
      vegetation. This study utilizes a naturally occurring CO2 leaking site in the
      Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to analog a "leaking CCS site". Our observations from this
      site indicates that long-term CO2 invasion in the vadose zone results in
      variations of soil properties, such as pH fluctuation, slight drop of total
      organic carbon, reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus, and concentration changes
      of soluble ions. Simultaneously, XRD patterns of the soil suggest that
      crystallization of soil is enhanced and mineral contents of calcite and anorthite
      in soil are increased substantially. Parts of the whole ecosystem such as natural
      wild plants, soil dwelling animals and microorganisms in shallow soil are
      affected as well. Under a moderate CO2 concentration (less than 110000 ppm), wild
      plant growth and development are improved, while an intensive CO2 flux over
      112000 ppm causes adverse effects on the plant growth, physiological and
      biochemical system of plants, and crop quality of wheat. Results of this study
      provide valuable insight for understanding the possible environmental impacts
      associated with potential CO2 leakage into shallow sediments at carbon
      sequestration sites.

PMID- 28592833
TI  - Demonstration of electron beam laser excitation in the UV range using a GaN/AlGaN
      multiquantum well active layer.
AB  - This study investigated electron beam laser excitation in the UV region using a
      GaN/AlGaN multiquantum well (MQW) active layer. Laser emission was observed when
      the GaN/AlGaN MQW was excited by an electron beam, with a wavelength of
      approximately 353 nm and a threshold power density of 230 kW/cm2. A comparison of
      optical pumping and electron beam pumping demonstrated that the rate of
      generation of electron-hole pairs when using electron beam excitation was
      approximately one quarter that of light excitation.

PMID- 28592836
TI  - Differential surface plasmon polaritons transmission line with controllable
      common mode rejection.
AB  - In this paper, a spoof surface plasmon polarions (SPPs) transmission line is
      designed by patterning thin metal film in open-cross shape arranged in array.
      Numerical simulations show the proposed open-cross array can support spoof SPPs
      with enlarged propagation constant and hence enhanced confinement at
      metal/dielectric interface as compared to the reported ultra-thin plasmonic
      waveguide with the rectangular groove or solid-cross. Furthermore, a differential
      transmission line pair is built with such two close plasmonic arrays. A narrow
      metal strip locates at the symmetrical plane of the two SPPs waveguides and acts
      as a resonator to realize common-mode rejection at specific frequency. The notch
      frequency for common mode can be adjusted by tuning the metal strip length of the
      resonator while differential mode propagation remains unaffected. Both simulated
      and experimental results with good agreement are given to verify the proposed
      idea.

PMID- 28592835
TI  - Increased platelet distribution width predicts poor prognosis in melanoma
      patients.
AB  - Activated platelets promote cancer progression and metastasis. Nevertheless, the
      prognostic value of platelet indices in melanoma had been rarely reported. The
      aim of this study was to investigate the predictive significance of platelet
      indices in melanoma. A total of 220 consecutive patients with melanoma were
      retrospectively enrolled between January 2009 and December 2009. The relationship
      between PDW and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier
      method and Cox regression were used to evaluate the prognostic impact of PDW. Of
      the 220 patients, high platelet distribution width (PDW) levels were observed in
      63 (28.6%) patients. Increased PDW was associated with tumor subtype (P < 0.001).
      Survival curves found that patients with increased PDW had significantly shorter
      survival time than those with normal PDW (P < 0.001). Cox regression analysis
      revealed that elevated PDW was an independent prognostic factor for overall
      survival (hazard ratio, 2.480; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.386-4.436, P =
      0.002). In conclusion, PDW is easily available in routine blood test. Our
      findings indicated that PDW is an independent predictor and that it may also be a
      potential parameter for targeted therapy in melanoma.

PMID- 28592837
TI  - Maternally derived 15q11.2-q13.1 duplication and H19-DMR hypomethylation in a
      patient with Silver-Russell syndrome.
AB  - Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a congenital developmental disorder
      characterized by intrauterine and postnatal growth failure, craniofacial features
      (including a triangular shaped face and broad forehead), relative macrocephaly,
      protruding forehead, body asymmetry and feeding difficulties. Hypomethylation of
      the H19 differentially methylated region (DMR) on chromosome 11p15.5 is the most
      common cause of the SRS phenotype. We report the first SRS patient with
      hypomethylation of the H19-DMR and maternally derived 15q11.2-q13.1 duplication.
      Although her clinical manifestations overlapped with those of previously reported
      SRS cases, the patient's intellectual disability and facial dysmorphic features
      were inconsistent with the SRS phenotype. Methylation analyses, array comparative
      genomic hybridization, and a FISH analysis revealed the hypomethylation of the
      H19-DMR and a maternally derived interstitial 5.7 Mb duplication at 15q11.2-q13.1
      encompassing the Prader-Willi/Angelman critical region in the patient. On the
      basis of the genetic and clinical findings in the present and previously reported
      cases, it is unlikely that the 15q duplication in the patient led to the
      development of hypomethylation of the H19-DMR and it is reasonable to consider
      that the characteristic phenotype in the patient was caused by the coexistence of
      the two (epi)genetic conditions. Further studies are needed to clarify the
      mechanisms leading to methylation aberrations in SRS.

PMID- 28592838
TI  - The first Neanderthal remains from an open-air Middle Palaeolithic site in the
      Levant.
AB  - The late Middle Palaeolithic (MP) settlement patterns in the Levant included the
      repeated use of caves and open landscape sites. The fossil record shows that two
      types of hominins occupied the region during this period-Neandertals and Homo
      sapiens. Until recently, diagnostic fossil remains were found only at cave sites.
      Because the two populations in this region left similar material cultural
      remains, it was impossible to attribute any open-air site to either species. In
      this study, we present newly discovered fossil remains from intact archaeological
      layers of the open-air site 'Ein Qashish, in northern Israel. The hominin remains
      represent three individuals: EQH1, a nondiagnostic skull fragment; EQH2, an upper
      right third molar (RM3); and EQH3, lower limb bones of a young Neandertal male.
      EQH2 and EQH3 constitute the first diagnostic anatomical remains of Neandertals
      at an open-air site in the Levant. The optically stimulated luminescence ages
      suggest that Neandertals repeatedly visited 'Ein Qashish between 70 and 60 ka.
      The discovery of Neandertals at open-air sites during the late MP reinforces the
      view that Neandertals were a resilient population in the Levant shortly before
      Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens populated the region.

PMID- 28592839
TI  - Inhibition of AURKA kinase activity suppresses collective invasion in a
      microfluidic cell culture platform.
AB  - Tumor local invasion is the first step of metastasis cascade which remains the
      key obstacle for cancer therapy. Collective cell migration plays a critical role
      in tumor invading into surrounding tissues. In vitro assays fail to assess
      collective invasion in a real time manner. Herein we aim to develop a three
      dimensional (3D) microfluidic cell invasion model to determine the dynamic
      process. In this model, collective invasion of breast cancer cells is induced by
      the concentration gradient of fetal bovine serum. We find that breast cancer
      cells adopt a collective movement rather than a random manner when the cells
      invade into extracellular matrix. The leading cells in the collective movement
      exhibit an increased expression of an Aurora kinase family protein - AURKA
      compared with the follower cells. Inhibition of AURKA kinase activity by VX680 or
      AKI603 significantly reduces the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (Thr202/Tyr204) and
      collective cohort formation. Together, our study illustrates that AURKA acts as a
      potential therapeutic target for suppressing the process of tumor collective
      invasion. The 3D microfluidic cell invasion model is a reliable, measurable and
      dynamic platform for exploring potential drugs to inhibit tumor collective
      invasion.

PMID- 28592840
TI  - Overexpression of LINC00152 correlates with poor patient survival and knockdown
      impairs cell proliferation in lung cancer.
AB  - We employed RNA sequencing analysis to reveal dysregulated lncRNAs in lung cancer
      utilizing 461 lung adenocarcinomas and 156 normal lung tissues from 3 separate
      cohorts. We found that LINC00152 was highly overexpressed in lung tumors as
      compared to their adjacent normal tissues. Patients with high LINC00152
      expression demonstrate a significantly poorer survival than those with low
      expression. We verified the diagnostic/prognostic potential of LINC00152
      expression in an independent cohort of lung tumor tissues using quantitative RT
      PCR. After knockdown of LINC00152 using siRNAs in lung cancer cell lines, both
      cell proliferation and colony formation were decreased. Cell fractionation and
      qRT-PCR analysis indicated that LINC00152 is found mainly in the cytoplasm.
      Treatment with Trichostatin A in cell lines having low LINC00152 expression
      indicated that histone acetylation may be one mechanism underlying LINC00152
      overexpression in NSCLC. Western blot analyses indicated that p38a, STAT1, STAT3,
      CREB1, CCNE1 and c-MYC proteins were decreased after LINC00152 siRNA treatment.
      Our study indicates LINC00152 plays an important role in lung tumor growth and is
      potentially a diagnostic/prognostic marker. Further characterization of LINC00152
      in regulating its target proteins may provide a novel therapeutic target of lung
      cancer.

PMID- 28592842
TI  - The Effects of e-interventions on the Medical Outcomes of Hemodialysis Patients:
      A Retrospective Matched Patient Cohort Study.
AB  - Aggressively applying e-interventions in the health care industry has become a
      global trend to improve the quality of medical care. The present retrospective
      study evaluated the effect of electronic information systems on the quality of
      medical care provide to hemodialysis (HD) patients. In total, 600 patients (300
      patients each in the e-intervention and non-e-intervention groups, were matched
      for sex, age, HD duration, diabetes, and hypertension) receiving HD at the study
      institute for four years were included in this study. The e-intervention group
      had significantly fewer hospitalization days than the non-e-intervention group.
      Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the non-e-intervention group had a
      significantly higher mortality rate than the e-intervention group. Stratified
      analysis revealed significant differences between the e-intervention and non-e
      intervention groups in their serum albumin levels, urea reduction ratios, and
      cardiothoracic ratios at 1-year follow-up. The patients in the e-intervention
      group had a significantly higher HD blood flow rate, fewer hospitalization days
      and a lower 4-year all-cause mortality rate than those in the non-e-intervention
      group. The implementation of the e-intervention improved patient outcomes, but
      additional studies are required to evaluate the cost effectiveness of such
      implementations.

PMID- 28592841
TI  - Lipopolysaccharides induced inflammatory responses and electrophysiological
      dysfunctions in human-induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Severe infections like sepsis lead frequently to cardiomyopathy. The mechanisms
      are unclear and an optimal therapy for septic cardiomyopathy still lacks. The aim
      of this study is to establish an endotoxin-induced inflammatory model using human
      induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) for
      mechanistic and therapeutic studies. hiPSC-CMs were treated by lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS) in different concentrations for different times. ELISA, FACS, qPCR, and
      patch-clamp techniques were used for the study. TLR4 (Toll-like receptor 4) and
      its associated proteins, CD14, LBP (lipopolysaccharide binding protein), TIRAP
      (toll-interleukin 1 receptor domain containing adaptor protein), Ly96 (lymphocyte
      antigen 96) and nuclear factor kappa B as well as some pro-and anti-inflammatory
      factors are expressed in hiPSC-CMs. LPS-treatment for 6 hours increased the
      expression levels of pro-inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines (TNF-a, IL-1beta,
      IL-6, CCL2, CCL5, IL-8), whereas 48 hour-treatment elevated the expression of
      anti-inflammatory factors (IL-10 and IL-6). LPS led to cell injury resulting from
      exaggerated cell apoptosis and necrosis. Finally, LPS inhibited small conductance
      Ca2+-activated K+ channel currents, enhanced Na+/Ca2+-exchanger currents,
      prolonged action potential duration, suggesting cellular electrical dysfunctions.
      Our data demonstrate that hiPSC-CMs possess the functional reaction system
      involved in endotoxin-induced inflammation and can model some bacterium-induced
      inflammatory responses in cardiac myocytes.

PMID- 28592843
TI  - Pluronic F127 and D-alpha-Tocopheryl Polyethylene Glycol Succinate (TPGS) Mixed
      Micelles for Targeting Drug Delivery across The Blood Brain Barrier.
AB  - A novel polymeric mixed micelle composed of Pluronic F127 and D-alpha-tocopheryl
      polyethylene glycol succinate (TPGS) was developed to improve the delivery of
      fluorescent dyes and protein across the blood brain barrier (BBB). Rhodamine 123
      (Rho123) and DiR loaded mixed micelles, composed of Pluronic F127 and TPGS with
      proportion of 4:1 (FT), were prepared by thin-film hydration, and beta
      galactosidase (beta-Gal) loaded FT mixed micelles were prepared by self-assembly.
      The brain-targeted capability of FT mixed micelles were evaluated both in vitro
      and in vivo. The FT mixed micelles showed that a average particle size of 20.03
      nm, and a low CMC of 0.0031% in water. The in vitro release of Rho123 from Rho123
      loaded FT mixed micelles (FT/Rho123) presented a sustained-release property.
      FT/Rho123 also showed higher efficiency for the accumulation in brain capillary
      endothelial cells (BCECs) and brain tissues. beta-Gal, a model protein, was also
      delivered and accumulated efficiently in the brain by spontaneous loading in the
      FT mixed micelles. Therefore, the results indicated that F127/TPGS mixed micelles
      may be considered as an effective nanocarrier for the brain-targeted delivery of
      diagnostic and therapeutic drugs.

PMID- 28592844
TI  - The Complexity of Standing Postural Sway Associates with Future Falls in
      Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The MOBILIZE Boston Study.
AB  - Standing postural control is complex, meaning that it is dependent upon numerous
      inputs interacting across multiple temporal-spatial scales. Diminished
      physiologic complexity of postural sway has been linked to reduced ability to
      adapt to stressors. We hypothesized that older adults with lower postural sway
      complexity would experience more falls in the future. 738 adults aged >=70 years
      completed the Short Physical Performance Battery test (SPPB) test and assessments
      of single and dual-task standing postural control. Postural sway complexity was
      quantified using multiscale entropy. Falls were subsequently tracked for 48
      months. Negative binomial regression demonstrated that older adults with lower
      postural sway complexity in both single and dual-task conditions had higher
      future fall rate (incident rate ratio (IRR) = 0.98, p = 0.02, 95% Confidence
      Limits (CL) = 0.96-0.99). Notably, participants in the lowest quintile of
      complexity during dual-task standing suffered 48% more falls during the four-year
      follow-up as compared to those in the highest quintile (IRR = 1.48, p = 0.01, 95%
      CL = 1.09-1.99). Conversely, traditional postural sway metrics or SPPB
      performance did not associate with future falls. As compared to traditional
      metrics, the degree of multi-scale complexity contained within standing postural
      sway-particularly during dual task conditions- appears to be a better predictor
      of future falls in older adults.

PMID- 28592845
TI  - Relaxing learned constraints through cathodal tDCS on the left dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex.
AB  - We solve problems by applying previously learned rules. The dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a pivotal role in automating this process of rule
      induction. Despite its usual efficiency, this process fails when we encounter new
      problems in which past experience leads to a mental rut. Learned rules could
      therefore act as constraints which need to be removed in order to change the
      problem representation for producing the solution. We investigated the
      possibility of suppressing the DLPFC by transcranial direct current stimulation
      (tDCS) to facilitate such representational change. Participants solved matchstick
      arithmetic problems before and after receiving cathodal, anodal or sham tDCS to
      the left DLPFC. Participants who received cathodal tDCS were more likely to solve
      the problems that require the maximal relaxation of previously learned
      constraints than the participants who received anodal or sham tDCS. We conclude
      that cathodal tDCS over the left DLPFC might facilitate the relaxation of learned
      constraints, leading to a successful representational change.

PMID- 28592846
TI  - Formation Mechanism for 2015/16 Super El Nino.
AB  - The extreme El Nino (EN) events in 1997/98 and 1982/83, referred to as super EN,
      exerted remarkable global influence. A super EN was anticipated on the way in
      early 2014 but failed to materialize toward the end of 2014. Whilst the
      scientific community was still puzzling about the cause of the aborted EN event
      in 2014, the remnants of the decaying warming in late 2014 unexpectedly reignited
      since February 2015 and grew into a super EN by the end of 2015. Understanding
      the onset mechanism of the 2015 EN event and its differences from past super EN
      events is crucial for improving EN prediction in a changing climate. Our
      observational analyses and modeling studies demonstrate that the principal
      difference between the 2015 EN and the past super ENs lies in exceptionally
      strong and consecutive occurrence of westerly wind burst events that turned
      around unfavorable ocean thermocline conditions in tropical western Pacific in
      early 2015, reigniting rapidly the surface warming in the eastern Pacific. By
      August the sea surface temperature anomalies reached a critical amplitude similar
      to that of the past super ENs; positive atmosphere-ocean feedbacks further
      amplify this warm episode into a super EN by the end of 2015.

PMID- 28592847
TI  - TGF-beta-induced hepatocyte lincRNA-p21 contributes to liver fibrosis in mice.
AB  - Hepatocyte death, as well as the following inflammatory and fibrogenic signaling
      cascades, is the key trigger of liver fibrosis. Here, we isolated hepatocytes
      from CCl4-induced fibrotic liver and found that hepatocyte lincRNA-p21
      significantly increased during liver fibrosis. The increase of hepatocyte lincRNA
      p21 was associated with the loss of miR-30, which can inhibit TGF-beta signaling
      by targeting KLF11. We revealed that lincRNA-p21 modulated miR-30 availability by
      acting as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). The physiological significance of
      this interaction is highlighted by the feedback loop, in which lincRNA-p21 works
      as a downstream effector of the TGF-beta signaling to strengthen TGF-beta
      signaling and mediate its role in promoting liver fibrosis by interacting with
      miR-30. In vivo results showed that knockdown of hepatocyte lincRNA-p21 greatly
      reduced CCl4-induced liver fibrosis and inflammation, whereas ectopic expression
      of miR-30 in hepatocyte exhibited the similar results. Mechanistic studies
      further revealed that inhibition of miR-30 impaired the effects of lincRNA-p21 on
      liver fibrosis. Additionally, lincRNA-p21 promoted hepatocyte apoptosis in vitro
      and in vivo, whereas the proliferation rate of hepatocyte was suppressed by
      lincRNA-p21. The pleiotropic roles of hepatocyte lincRNA-p21 suggest that it may
      represent an unknown paradigm in liver fibrosis and serve as a potential target
      for therapy.

PMID- 28592848
TI  - Metal biogeochemistry in constructed wetlands based on fluviatile sand and
      zeolite- and clinopyroxene-dominated lava sand.
AB  - For the first time, speciation of Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu and Pb was determined along
      the profiles of 8 constructed wetlands (CWs) consisting of fluviatile sand
      (Fluv), clinopyroxene-dominated lava sand (Cl-LS) and zeolite-dominated lava sand
      (Ze-LS), aiming at quantifying metal behaviour in CWs and the impact caused by
      different filter materials. With the exception of Mn, which underwent reductive
      dissolution, CWs were sinks for the studied metals. Metal accumulation rates
      differed in the following order: Ze-LS >= Cl-LS > Fluv CWs, reflecting the
      highest metal adsorption capacity and the lowest hydraulic conductivity of Ze-LS.
      Sequential extraction data indicated the highest metal mobility (readily
      mobilised and adsorbed fractions summing up to ~60%) in Fluv CWs, implying a
      higher risk of metal release into adjacent environments if Fluv from CWs will be
      improperly disposed after usage. Zinc and Ni were transported into the deeper CW
      layers to a larger extent than Cu and Pb, reflecting adsorption affinity to all
      filter materials in the order of Pb > Cu > Zn > Ni. Therefore, understanding
      metal speciation and mobility in such materials is crucial when they are
      considered for application as filters in CWs.

PMID- 28592849
TI  - Imaging grading system for the diagnosis of dural ossification based on 102
      segments of TOLF CT bone-window data.
AB  - Thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum (TOLF) complicated with dural
      ossification (DO) is a severe clinical disease. The diagnosis of DO
      preoperatively remains challenging. The current study retrospectively analyzed
      imaging features of 102 segments with TOLF from 39 patients and proposed a
      grading system for evaluating DO risk. Logistic regression results showed that
      unilateral spinal canal occupational rate (UCOR), tram track signs, and C-signs
      were all risk factors for DO (odds ratios of 5.393, 19.734 and 72.594,
      respectively). In validation analyses for the TOLF-DO grading system, sensitivity
      was 76.0% (19/25), specificity was 91.0% (70/77), and Youden's index was 0.66.
      Thus, implementation of the TOLF-DO grading system has the potential to improve
      the diagnosis of DO.

PMID- 28592851
TI  - Left ventricular hemodynamic forces as a marker of mechanical dyssynchrony in
      heart failure patients with left bundle branch block.
AB  - Left bundle branch block (LBBB) causes left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony which
      is often associated with heart failure. A significant proportion of heart failure
      patients do not demonstrate clinical improvement despite cardiac
      resynchronization therapy (CRT). How LBBB-related effects on LV diastolic
      function may contribute to those therapeutic failures has not been clarified. We
      hypothesized that LV hemodynamic forces calculated from 4D flow MRI could serve
      as a marker of diastolic mechanical dyssynchrony in LBBB hearts. MRI data were
      acquired in heart failure patients with LBBB or matched patients without LBBB. LV
      pressure gradients were calculated from the Navier-Stokes equations. Integration
      of the pressure gradients over the LV volume rendered the hemodynamic forces. The
      findings demonstrate that the LV filling forces are more orthogonal to the main
      LV flow direction in heart failure patients with LBBB compared to those without
      LBBB during early but not late diastole. The greater the conduction abnormality
      the greater the discordance of LV filling force with the predominant LV flow
      direction (r2 = 0.49). Such unique flow-specific measures of mechanical
      dyssynchrony may serve as an additional tool for considering the risks imposed by
      conduction abnormalities in heart failure patients and prove to be useful in
      predicting response to CRT.

PMID- 28592850
TI  - NAD+ augmentation ameliorates acute pancreatitis through regulation of
      inflammasome signalling.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a complicated disease without specific drug therapy.
      The cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an important regulator
      of cellular metabolism and homeostasis. However, it remains unclear whether
      modulation of NAD+ levels has an impact on caerulein-induced AP. Therefore, in
      this study, we investigated the effect of increased cellular NAD+ levels on
      caerulein-induced AP. We demonstrated for the first time that the activities and
      expression of SIRT1 were suppressed by reduction of intracellular NAD+ levels and
      the p53-microRNA-34a pathway in caerulein-induced AP. Moreover, we confirmed that
      the increase of cellular NAD+ by NQO1 enzymatic action using the substrate beta
      Lapachone suppressed caerulein-induced AP with down-regulating TLR4-mediated
      inflammasome signalling, and thereby reducing the inflammatory responses and
      pancreatic cell death. These results suggest that pharmacological stimulation of
      NQO1 could be a promising therapeutic strategy to protect against pathological
      tissue damage in AP.

PMID- 28592852
TI  - Soil Respiration of the Dahurian Larch (Larix gmelinii) Forest and the Response
      to Fire Disturbance in Da Xing'an Mountains, China.
AB  - Despite the high frequency of wildfire disturbances in boreal forests in China,
      the effects of wildfires on soil respiration are not yet well understood. We
      examined the effects of fire severity on the soil respiration rate (Rs) and its
      component change in a Dahurian Larch (Larix gmelinii) in Northeast China. The
      results showed that Rs decreased with fire burning severity. Compared with the
      control plots, Rs in the low burning severity plots decreased by 19%, while it
      decreased by 28% in the high burning severity plots. The Rs decrease was mainly
      due to a decreased autotrophic respiration rate (Ra). The temperature sensitivity
      (Q 10) of Rs increased after the low severity fire disturbances, but it decreased
      after the high severity fire disturbance. The Rs were triggered by the soil
      temperature, which may explain most of the Rs variability in this area. Our
      study, for the first time, provides the data-based foundation to demonstrate the
      importance of assessing CO2 fluxes considering both fire severity and
      environmental factors post-fire in boreal forests of China.

PMID- 28592853
TI  - Framing susceptibility in a risky choice game is altered by galvanic vestibular
      stimulation.
AB  - Recent research provides evidence that galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) has
      a modulating effect on somatosensory perception and spatial cognition. However,
      other vestibular stimulation techniques have induced changes in affective control
      and decision making. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of GVS
      on framing susceptibility in a risky-choice game. The participants were to decide
      between a safe and a risky option. The safe option was framed either positively
      or negatively. During the task, the participants were exposed to either left
      anodal/right cathodal GVS, right anodal/left cathodal GVS, or sham stimulation
      (control condition). While left anodal/right cathodal GVS activated more right
      hemispheric vestibular brain areas, right anodal/left cathodal GVS resulted in
      more bilateral activation. We observed increased framing susceptibility during
      left anodal/right cathodal GVS, but no change in framing susceptibility during
      right anodal/left cathodal GVS. We propose that GVS results in increased reliance
      on the affect heuristic by means of activation of cortical and subcortical
      vestibular-emotional brain structures and that this effect is modulated by the
      lateralization of the vestibular cortex.

PMID- 28592854
TI  - Transcriptomic analysis of short-fruit 1 (sf1) reveals new insights into the
      variation of fruit-related traits in Cucumis sativus.
AB  - Fruit size is an important quality trait in different market classes of Cucumis
      sativus L., an economically important vegetable cultivated worldwide, but the
      genetic and molecular mechanisms that control fruit size are largely unknown. In
      this study, we isolated a natural cucumber mutant, short fruit 1 (sf1), caused by
      a single recessive Mendelian factor, from the North China-type inbred line CNS2.
      In addition to significantly decreased fruit length, other fruit-related
      phenotypic variations were also observed in sf1 compared to the wild-type (WT)
      phenotype, indicating that sf1 might have pleiotropic effects. Microscopic
      imaging showed that fruit cell size in sf1 was much larger than that in WT,
      suggesting that the short fruit phenotype in sf1 is caused by decreased cell
      number. Fine mapping revealed that sf1 was localized to a 174.3 kb region on
      chromosome 6. Similarly, SNP association analysis of bulked segregant RNA-Seq
      data showed increased SNP frequency in the same region of chromosome 6. In
      addition, transcriptomic analysis revealed that sf1 might control fruit length
      through the fine-tuning of cytokinin and auxin signalling, gibberellin
      biosynthesis and signal transduction in cucumber fruits. Overall, our results
      provide important information for further study of fruit length and other fruit
      related features in cucumber.

PMID- 28592855
TI  - Statistical Analysis of Zebrafish Locomotor Behaviour by Generalized Linear Mixed
      Models.
AB  - Upon a drastic change in environmental illumination, zebrafish larvae display a
      rapid locomotor response. This response can be simultaneously tracked from larvae
      arranged in multi-well plates. The resulting data have provided new insights into
      neuro-behaviour. The features of these data, however, present a challenge to
      traditional statistical tests. For example, many larvae display little or no
      movement. Thus, the larval responses have many zero values and are imbalanced.
      These responses are also measured repeatedly from the same well, which results in
      correlated observations. These analytical issues were addressed in this study by
      the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). This approach deals with binary
      responses and characterizes the correlation of observations in the same group. It
      was used to analyze a previously reported dataset. Before applying the GLMM, the
      activity values were transformed to binary responses (movement vs. no movement)
      to reduce data imbalance. Moreover, the GLMM estimated the variations among the
      effects of different well locations, which would eliminate the location effects
      when two biological groups or conditions were compared. By addressing the data
      imbalance and location-correlation issues, the GLMM effectively quantified true
      biological effects on zebrafish locomotor response.

PMID- 28592856
TI  - Quaternary history, population genetic structure and diversity of the cold
      adapted Alpine newt Ichthyosaura alpestris in peninsular Italy.
AB  - Mediterranean peninsulas are major biodiversity hotspots, and cold-adapted
      species are an important component of this biodiversity. However, cold-adapted
      species contributed surprisingly little to our knowledge of the intimate links
      between Quaternary environmental changes, species' responses to these changes,
      and current patterns of intraspecific biodiversity. Here, we investigated the
      genetic structure and evolutionary history of a cold-adapted amphibian, the
      Alpine newt Ichthyosaura alpestris, within the Italian peninsula. Nuclear and
      mitochondrial markers consistently identified three distinct genetic lineages,
      whose divergence dates to the Early Pleistocene (1.9 and 0.8 million years ago).
      Our results show that the Italian peninsula provided multiple Pleistocene refugia
      to this cold-adapted species, and suggest that allopatric fragmentation followed
      by secondary admixture have been key events in the formation of its current
      pattern of genetic diversity. Indeed, estimates of population genetic diversity
      clearly identified contact populations as those achieving the highest levels of
      diversity. Such concordance among cold-adapted and temperate species in terms of
      processes triggering the formation of regional patterns of genetic diversity
      provides strong support for the hypothesis that gene exchange between divergent
      lineages, rather than long-term stability of refugial populations, has been the
      main step toward the formation of hotspots of intraspecific biodiversity.

PMID- 28592857
TI  - Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on temperature and pain
      perception.
AB  - Transcranial direct current stimulation modifies cortical excitability and in
      consequence some cerebral functions. In the present study we aimed to elucidate
      whether tDCS could affect temperature and pain perceptions in healthy subjects
      testing different stimulation parameters. A total of 20 healthy subjects were
      studied by means of quantitative sensory testing. Two different experiments were
      performed. First, we studied the effects of 15 minutes 2 mA anodal transcranial
      direct current stimulation applied over left M1 and parietal cortex in two
      separated sessions. Then, we tested the effects of 5 minutes tDCS over M1 by
      means of a sham controlled design to optimize the possibility to study minimal
      effects of tDCS using different polarities (cathodal and anodal) and intensities
      (1 and 2 mA). 2 mA anodal tDCS, when applied for both 15 and 5 minutes over the
      motor cortex, increased cold perception threshold. Conversely, motor cortex
      cathodal tDCS modulated cold perception threshold only when 1 mA intensity was
      used. M1-tDCS can modify the temperature perception; these effects are polarity
      and intensity dependent. As stimulation intensity seems critical to determine the
      effects, we suggest that for clinical application strong anodal tDCS (>1 mA) or
      weak cathodal tDCS (<2 mA) should be used for pain control.

PMID- 28592858
TI  - Inefficient skeletal muscle oxidative function flanks impaired motor neuron
      recruitment in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis during exercise.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate muscle oxidative function during exercise in
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients (pALS) with non-invasive methods in order
      to assess if determinants of reduced exercise tolerance might match ALS clinical
      heterogeneity. 17 pALS, who were followed for 4 months, were compared with 13
      healthy controls (CTRL). Exercise tolerance was assessed by an incremental
      exercise test on cycle ergometer measuring peak O2 uptake ([Formula: see
      text]O2peak), vastus lateralis oxidative function by near infrared spectroscopy
      (NIRS) and breathing pattern ([Formula: see text]E peak). pALS displayed: (1) 44%
      lower [Formula: see text]O2peak vs. CTRL (p < 0.0001), paralleled by a 43%
      decreased peak skeletal muscle oxidative function (p < 0.01), with a linear
      regression between these two variables (r2 = 0.64, p < 0.0001); (2) 46% reduced
      [Formula: see text]Epeak vs. CTRL (p < 0.0001), achieved by using an inefficient
      breathing pattern (increasing respiratory frequency) from the onset until the end
      of exercise. Inefficient skeletal muscle O2 function, when flanking the impaired
      motor units recruitment, is a major determinant of pALS clinical heterogeneity
      and working capacity exercise tolerance. CPET and NIRS are useful tools for
      detecting early stages of oxidative deficiency in skeletal muscles, disclosing
      individual impairments in the O2 transport and utilization chain.

PMID- 28592859
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of ultralong SiC nanowires with unique optical
      properties, excellent thermal stability and flexible nanomechanical properties.
AB  - Several-millimeter long SiC nanowires (NWs) with unique optical properties,
      excellent thermal stability and flexible nanomechanical properties were
      synthesized using a simple method with silicon and phenolic resin as the raw
      materials. The SiC NWs displayed special optical properties that were attributed
      to their large size and Al-doping. They displayed broad green emission at 527.8
      nm (2.35 eV) and purple emission concentrated at 438.9 nm (2.83 eV), in contrast
      to the other results, and the synthesized SiC NWs could also remain relatively
      stable in air up to 1000  degrees C indicating excellent thermal stability. The
      Young's moduli of the SiC NWs with a wide range of NW diameters (215-400 nm) were
      measured using an in situ nanoindentation method with a hybrid scanning electron
      microscopy/scanning probe microscopy (SEM/SPM) system for the first time. The
      results suggested that the values of the Young's modulus of the SiC NWs showed no
      clear size dependence, and the corresponding Young's moduli of the SiC NWs with
      diameters of 215 nm, 320 nm, and 400 nm were approximately 559.1 GPa, 540.0 GPa
      and 576.5 GPa, respectively. These findings provide value and guidance for
      studying and understanding the properties of SiC nanomaterials and for expanding
      their possible applications.

PMID- 28592861
TI  - Genomic admixture tracks pulses of economic activity over 2,000 years in the
      Indian Ocean trading network.
AB  - The Indian Ocean has long been a hub of interacting human populations. Following
      land- and sea-based routes, trade drove cultural contacts between far-distant
      ethnic groups in Asia, India, the Middle East and Africa, creating one of the
      world's first proto-globalized environments. However, the extent to which
      population mixing was mediated by trade is poorly understood. Reconstructing
      admixture times from genomic data in 3,006 individuals from 187 regional
      populations reveals a close association between bouts of human migration and
      trade volumes during the last 2,000 years across the Indian Ocean trading system.
      Temporal oscillations in trading activity match phases of contraction and
      expansion in migration, with high water marks following the expansion of the Silk
      Roads in the 5th century AD, the rise of maritime routes in the 11th century and
      a drastic restructuring of the trade network following the arrival of Europeans
      in the 16th century. The economic fluxes of the Indian Ocean trade network
      therefore directly shaped exchanges of genes, in addition to goods and concepts.

PMID- 28592860
TI  - Role of flagella and type four pili in the co-migration of Burkholderia terrae
      BS001 with fungal hyphae through soil.
AB  - Burkholderia terrae BS001 has previously been found to be able to disperse along
      with growing fungal hyphae in soil, with the type-3 secretion system having a
      supportive role in this movement. In this study, we focus on the role of two
      motility- and adherence-associated appendages, i.e. type-4 pili (T4P) and
      flagella. Electron microcopy and motility testing revealed that strain BS001
      produces polar flagella and can swim on semi-solid R2A agar. Flagellum- and T4P
      negative mutants were then constructed to examine the ecological roles of the
      respective systems. Both in liquid media and on swimming agar, the mutant strains
      showed similar fitness to the wild-type strain in mixed culture. The flagellar
      mutant had completely lost its flagella, as well as its swimming capacity. It
      also lost its co-migration ability with two soil-exploring fungi, Lyophyllum sp.
      strain Karsten and Trichoderma asperellum 302, in soil microcosms. In contrast,
      the T4P mutant showed reduced surface twitching motility, whereas its co
      migration ability in competition with the wild-type strain was slightly reduced.
      We conclude that the co-migration of strain BS001 with fungal hyphae through soil
      is dependent on the presence of functional flagella conferring swimming motility,
      with the T4P system having a minor effect.

PMID- 28592862
TI  - Identification of unique cardiolipin and monolysocardiolipin species in
      Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - Acidic glycerophospholipids play an important role in determining the resistance
      of Gram-negative bacteria to stress conditions and antibiotics. Acinetobacter
      baumannii, an opportunistic human pathogen which is responsible for an increasing
      number of nosocomial infections, exhibits broad antibiotic resistances. Here
      lipids of A. baumannii have been analyzed by combined MALDI-TOF/MS and TLC
      analyses; in addition GC-MS analyses of fatty acid methyl esters released by
      methanolysis of membrane phospholipids have been performed. The main
      glycerophospholipids are phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, acyl
      phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin together with monolysocardiolipin, a
      lysophospholipid only rarely detected in bacterial membranes. The major acyl
      chains in the phospholipids are C16:0 and C18:1, plus minor amounts of short
      chain fatty acids. The structures of the cardiolipin and monolysocardiolipin have
      been elucidated by post source decay mass spectrometry analysis. A large variety
      of cardiolipin and monolysocardiolipin species were found in A. baumannii.
      Similar lysocardiolipin levels were found in the two clinical strains A.
      baumannii ATCC19606 T  and AYE whereas in the nonpathogenic strain Acinetobacter
      baylyi ADP1 lysocardiolipin levels were highly reduced.

PMID- 28592863
TI  - Human cortical activity evoked by contextual processing in attentional orienting.
AB  - The ability to assess another person's direction of attention is paramount in
      social communication, many studies have reported a similar pattern between gaze
      and arrow cues in attention orienting. Neuroimaging research has also
      demonstrated no qualitative differences in attention to gaze and arrow cues.
      However, these studies were implemented under simple experiment conditions.
      Researchers have highlighted the importance of contextual processing (i.e., the
      semantic congruence between cue and target) in attentional orienting, showing
      that attentional orienting by social gaze or arrow cues could be modulated
      through contextual processing. Here, we examine the neural activity of
      attentional orienting by gaze and arrow cues in response to contextual processing
      using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results demonstrated that the
      influence of neural activity through contextual processing to attentional
      orienting occurred under invalid conditions (when the cue and target were
      incongruent versus congruent) in the ventral frontoparietal network, although we
      did not identify any differences in the neural substrates of attentional
      orienting in contextual processing between gaze and arrow cues. These results
      support behavioural data of attentional orienting modulated by contextual
      processing based on the neurocognitive architecture.

PMID- 28592865
TI  - Comparison of Different Drying Methods for Recovery of Mushroom DNA.
AB  - Several methods have been reported for drying mushroom specimens for population
      genetic, taxonomic, and phylogenetic studies. However, most methods have not been
      directly compared for their effectiveness in preserving mushroom DNA. In this
      study, we compared silica gel drying at ambient temperature and oven drying at
      seven different temperatures. Two mushroom species representing two types of
      fruiting bodies were examined: the fleshy button mushroom Agaricus bisporus and
      the leathery shelf fungus Trametes versicolor. For each species dried with the
      eight methods, we assessed the mushroom water loss rate, the quality and quantity
      of extracted DNA, and the effectiveness of using the extracted DNA as a template
      for PCR amplification of two DNA fragments (ITS and a single copy gene). Dried
      specimens from all tested methods yielded sufficient DNA for PCR amplification of
      the two genes in both species. However, differences among the methods for the two
      species were found in: (i) the time required by different drying methods for the
      fresh mushroom tissue to reach a stable weight; and (ii) the relative quality and
      quantity of the extracted genomic DNA. Among these methods, oven drying at 70 
      degrees C for 3-4 h seemed the most efficient for preserving field mushroom
      samples for subsequent molecular work.

PMID- 28592864
TI  - Infectious DNAs derived from insect-specific flavivirus genomes enable
      identification of pre- and post-entry host restrictions in vertebrate cells.
AB  - Flaviviruses such as West Nile virus (WNV), dengue virus and Zika virus are
      mosquito-borne pathogens that cause significant human diseases. A novel group of
      insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs), which only replicate in mosquitoes, have
      also been identified. However, little is known about the mechanisms of ISF host
      restriction. We report the generation of infectious cDNA from two Australian
      ISFs, Parramatta River virus (PaRV) and Palm Creek virus (PCV). Using circular
      polymerase extension cloning (CPEC) with a modified OpIE2 insect promoter,
      infectious cDNA was generated and transfected directly into mosquito cells to
      produce infectious virus indistinguishable from wild-type virus. When infectious
      PaRV cDNA under transcriptional control of a mammalian promoter was used to
      transfect mouse embryo fibroblasts, the virus failed to initiate replication even
      when cell entry steps were by-passed and the type I interferon response was
      lacking. We also used CPEC to generate viable chimeric viruses between PCV and
      WNV. Analysis of these hybrid viruses revealed that ISFs are also restricted from
      replication in vertebrate cells at the point of entry. The approaches described
      here to generate infectious ISF DNAs and chimeric viruses provide unique tools to
      further dissect the mechanisms of their host restriction.

PMID- 28592866
TI  - A protein-protein interaction dictates Borrelial infectivity.
AB  - Two Borrelia burgdorferi interacting proteins, BB0238 and BB0323, play distinct
      roles in pathogen biology and infectivity although a significance of their
      interaction remained enigmatic. Here we identified the polypeptide segment
      essential for BB0238-BB0323 interaction and examined how it supports spirochete
      infectivity. We show that the interaction region in BB0323 requires amino acid
      residues 22-200, suggesting that the binding encompasses discontinuous protein
      segments. In contrast, the interaction region in BB0238 spans only 11 amino
      acids, residues 120-130. A deletion of these 11 amino acids neither alters the
      overall secondary structure of the protein, nor affects its stability or
      oligomerization property, however, it reduces the post-translational stability of
      the binding partner, BB0323. Mutant B. burgdorferi isolates producing BB0238
      lacking the 11-amino acid interaction region were able to persist in ticks but
      failed to transmit to mice or to establish infection. These results suggest that
      BB0238-BB0323 interaction is critical for post-translational stability of BB0323,
      and that this interaction is important for mammalian infectivity and transmission
      of B. burgdorferi. We show that saturation or inhibition of BB0238-BB0323
      interaction could be studied in a luciferase assay, which could be amenable for
      future identification of small molecule inhibitors to combat B. burgdorferi
      infection.

PMID- 28592867
TI  - TiO(OH)2 - highly effective catalysts for optimizing CO2 desorption kinetics
      reducing CO2 capture cost: A new pathway.
AB  - The objective is to find a new pathway for significant reduction in CO2 capture
      energy consumption. Specifically, nanoporous TiO(OH)2 was used to realize the
      objective, which was desired as a catalyst to significantly accelerate the
      decomposition of aqueous NaHCO3, essentially CO2 desorption - the key step of
      Na2CO3/NaHCO3 based CO2 capture technologies from overall CO2 energy consumption
      perspective. Effects of several important factors on TiO(OH)2-catalyzed NaHCO3
      decomposition were investigated. The quantity of CO2 generated from 0.238 mol/L
      NaHCO3 at 65  degrees C with catalyst is ~800% of that generated without the
      presence of catalyst. When a 12 W vacuum pump was used for carrying the generated
      CO2 out of reactor, the total amount of CO2 released was improved by ~2,500%
      under the given experimental conditions. No significant decrease in the catalytic
      effect of TiO(OH)2 was observed after five cyclic CO2 activated tests. In
      addition, characterizations with in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,
      thermal gravity analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller of TiO(OH)2 indicate that
      TiO(OH)2 is quite stable. The discovery in this research could inspire
      scientists' interests in starting to focus on a new pathway instead of making
      huge effort or investment in designing high-capacity but expensive CO2 sorbent
      for developing practical or cost-effective CO2 technologies.

PMID- 28592869
TI  - Experiment-based modelling of grain boundary beta-phase (Mg2Al3) evolution during
      sensitisation of aluminium alloy AA5083.
AB  - An empirical model for the evolution of beta-phase (Mg2Al3) along grain
      boundaries in aluminium alloy AA5083 (Al-Mg-Mn) during isothermal exposures is
      proposed herein. Developing a quantitative understanding of grain boundary
      precipitation is important to interpreting intergranular corrosion and stress
      corrosion cracking in this alloy system. To date, complete ab initio models for
      grain boundary precipitation based upon fundamental principles of thermodynamics
      and kinetics are not available, despite the critical role that such precipitates
      play in dictating intergranular corrosion phenomena. Empirical models can
      therefore serve an important role in advancing the understanding of grain
      boundary precipitation kinetics, which is an approach applicable beyond the
      present context. High resolution scanning electron microscopy was to quantify the
      size and distribution of beta-phase precipitates on Ga-embrittled intergranular
      fracture surfaces of AA5083. The results are compared with the degree of
      sensitisation (DoS) as judged by nitric acid mass loss testing (ASTM-G67-04), and
      discussed with models for sensitisation in 5xxx series Al-alloys. The work herein
      allows sensitisation to be quantified from an unambiguous microstructural
      perspective.

PMID- 28592870
TI  - Influence of a patient transfer network of US inpatient facilities on the
      incidence of nosocomial infections.
AB  - Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections are a substantial source of morbidity
      and mortality and have a common reservoir in inpatient settings. Transferring
      patients between facilities could be a mechanism for the spread of these
      infections. We wanted to assess whether a network of hospitals, linked by
      inpatient transfers, contributes to the spread of nosocomial infections and
      investigate how network structure may be leveraged to design efficient
      surveillance systems. We construct a network defined by the transfer of Medicare
      patients across US inpatient facilities using a 100% sample of inpatient
      discharge claims from 2006-2007. We show the association between network
      structure and C. difficile incidence, with a 1% increase in a facility's C.
      difficile incidence being associated with a 0.53% increase in C. difficile
      incidence of neighboring facilities. Finally, we used network science methods to
      determine the facilities to monitor to maximize surveillance efficiency. An
      optimal surveillance strategy for selecting "sensor" hospitals, based on their
      network position, detects 80% of the C. difficile infections using only 2% of
      hospitals as sensors. Selecting a small fraction of facilities as "sensors" could
      be a cost-effective mechanism to monitor emerging nosocomial infections.

PMID- 28592868
TI  - The shape and size of hydroxyapatite particles dictate inflammatory responses
      following implantation.
AB  - The extent of regeneration following biomaterial implantation is dependent on the
      microenvironment surrounding the implant. Since implant composition can have a
      profound effect on inflammation, it is essential to understand this process as a
      non-resolving inflammatory response can lead to fibrous encapsulation and
      insufficient integration. Incorporation of particulates into implants confers
      structural and functional benefits, thus optimizing particulate characteristics
      to enhance immune mediated efficacy is important. We investigated the
      relationship between the nature of hydroxyapatite (HA) particles and the innate
      immune response, focusing on how particle size (0.1 um, 5 um, 20 um, 100 um) and
      morphology (needle-shaped/spherical; smooth/rough surface) modulates inflammatory
      responses. We observed a shape and size-dependent activation of the NLRP3
      inflammasome and IL-1beta secretion; while needle-shaped and smaller HA particles
      significantly enhanced cytokine secretion, larger particles did not. Moreover, HA
      particle characteristics profoundly influenced patterns of innate immune cell
      recruitment and cytokine production following injection. While small, needle
      shaped particles induced a strong inflammatory response, this was not observed
      with smooth, spherical particles of comparable size or with larger particles.
      These findings indicate that hydroxyapatite particle characteristics dictate
      immune cell recruitment and the ensuing inflammatory response, providing an
      opportunity to tailor HA particle characteristics to regulate immune responses
      induced after biomaterial implantation.

PMID- 28592871
TI  - Incorporation of Fluorescence Ceramide-Based HPLC Assay for Rapidly and
      Efficiently Assessing Glucosylceramide Synthase In Vivo.
AB  - Glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) is a rate-limiting enzyme catalyzing ceramide
      glycosylation, thereby regulating cellular ceramide levels and the synthesis of
      glycosphingolipids (GSLs) in cellular membranes. Alterations of GCS not only
      affect membrane integrity, but also closely correlate with stem cell
      pluripotency, cancer drug resistance, GSL storage disorders and other diseases.
      Enzyme activities measured conventionally with currently available ex-vivo
      methods do not enable reliable assessment of the roles played by GCS in vivo. We
      report herein a substrate-incorporation method enabling rapid and efficient
      assessment of GCS in-vivo activity. Upon nanoparticle-based delivery, fluorescent
      NBD C6-ceramide was efficiently converted to NBD C6-glucosylceramide in live
      cells or in mouse tissues, whereupon an HPLC assay enabled detection and
      quantification of NBD C6-glucosylceramide in the low-femtomolar range. The enzyme
      kinetics of GCS in live cells and mouse liver were well-described by the
      Michaelis-Menten model. GCS activities were significantly higher in drug
      resistant cancer cells and in tumors overexpressing GCS, but reduced after
      silencing GCS expression or inhibiting this enzyme. Our studies indicate that
      this rapid and efficient method provides a valuable means for accurately
      assessing the roles played by GCS in normal vs. pathological states, including
      ones involving cancer drug resistance.

PMID- 28592873
TI  - Synthesis method of asymmetric gold particles.
AB  - Asymmetric particles can exhibit unique properties. However, reported synthesis
      methods for asymmetric particles hinder their application because these methods
      have a limited scale and lack the ability to afford particles of varied shapes.
      Herein, we report a novel synthetic method which has the potential to produce
      large quantities of asymmetric particles. Asymmetric rose-shaped gold particles
      were fabricated as a proof of concept experiment. First, silica nanoparticles
      (NPs) were bound to a hydrophobic micro-sized polymer containing 2
      chlorotritylchloride linkers (2-CTC resin). Then, half-planar gold particles with
      rose-shaped and polyhedral structures were prepared on the silica particles on
      the 2-CTC resin. Particle size was controlled by the concentration of the gold
      source. The asymmetric particles were easily cleaved from the resin without
      aggregation. We confirmed that gold was grown on the silica NPs. This facile
      method for synthesizing asymmetric particles has great potential for materials
      science.

PMID- 28592872
TI  - NOD1 deficiency impairs CD44a/Lck as well as PI3K/Akt pathway.
AB  - Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are crucial for host defense and tissue
      homeostasis against infecting pathogens. PRRs are highly conserved cross species,
      suggesting their key roles in fundamental biological processes. Though much have
      been learned for NOD1 receptor in the innate and adaptive immune responses, the
      roles of NOD1 during embryonic and larval stages remain poorly understood. Here,
      we report that NOD1 is necessary for the modulation of PI3K-Akt pathway and
      larval survival in zebrafish. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the
      significantly enriched pathways in NOD1 -/- zebrafish larvae were mainly involved
      in metabolism and immune system processes. Biochemical analysis demonstrated that
      NOD1 was required for the expression of CD44a that, in turn, activated the PI3K
      Akt pathway during larval development. Conversely, over-expression of CD44a in
      NOD1-deficient zebrafish restored the modulation of the PI3K-Akt pathway and
      improved larval survival. Collectively, our work indicates that NOD1 plays a
      previously undetected protective role in larval survival through CD44a-mediated
      activation of the PI3K-Akt signaling.

PMID- 28592874
TI  - CT-Based Local Distribution Metric Improves Characterization of COPD.
AB  - Parametric response mapping (PRM) of paired CT lung images has been shown to
      improve the phenotyping of COPD by allowing for the visualization and
      quantification of non-emphysematous air trapping component, referred to as
      functional small airways disease (fSAD). Although promising, large variability in
      the standard method for analyzing PRMfSAD has been observed. We postulate that
      representing the 3D PRMfSAD data as a single scalar quantity (relative volume of
      PRMfSAD) oversimplifies the original 3D data, limiting its potential to detect
      the subtle progression of COPD as well as varying subtypes. In this study, we
      propose a new approach to analyze PRM. Based on topological techniques, we
      generate 3D maps of local topological features from 3D PRMfSAD classification
      maps. We found that the surface area of fSAD (SfSAD) was the most robust and
      significant independent indicator of clinically meaningful measures of COPD. We
      also confirmed by micro-CT of human lung specimens that structural differences
      are associated with unique SfSAD patterns, and demonstrated longitudinal feature
      alterations occurred with worsening pulmonary function independent of an increase
      in disease extent. These findings suggest that our technique captures additional
      COPD characteristics, which may provide important opportunities for improved
      diagnosis of COPD patients.

PMID- 28592875
TI  - Splice variants as novel targets in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Despite a wealth of genomic information, a comprehensive alternative splicing
      (AS) analysis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been performed
      yet. In the present study, we assessed whole exome-based transcriptome and AS
      profiles of 43 pancreas tissues using Affymetrix exon array. The AS analysis of
      PDAC indicated on average two AS probe-sets (ranging from 1-28) in 1,354
      significantly identified protein-coding genes, with skipped exon and alternative
      first exon being the most frequently utilised. In addition to overrepresented
      extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction and focal adhesion that were also
      seen in transcriptome differential expression (DE) analysis, Fc gamma receptor
      mediated phagocytosis and axon guidance AS genes were also highly represented. Of
      note, the highest numbers of AS probe-sets were found in collagen genes, which
      encode the characteristically abundant stroma seen in PDAC. We also describe a
      set of 37 'hypersensitive' genes which were frequently targeted by somatic
      mutations, copy number alterations, DE and AS, indicating their propensity for
      multidimensional regulation. We provide the most comprehensive overview of the AS
      landscape in PDAC with underlying changes in the spliceosomal machinery. We also
      collate a set of AS and DE genes encoding cell surface proteins, which present
      promising diagnostic and therapeutic targets in PDAC.

PMID- 28592876
TI  - Elongation factor Tu on Escherichia coli isolated from urine of kidney stone
      patients promotes calcium oxalate crystal growth and aggregation.
AB  - Escherichia coli is the most common bacterium isolated from urine and stone
      matrix of calcium oxalate (CaOx) stone formers. Whether it has pathogenic role(s)
      in kidney stone formation or is only entrapped inside the stone remains unclear.
      We thus evaluated differences between E. coli isolated from urine of patients
      with kidney stone (EUK) and that from patients with urinary tract infection (UTI)
      without stone (EUU). From 100 stone formers and 200 UTI patients, only four pairs
      of EUK/EUU isolates had identical antimicrobial susceptibility patterns.
      Proteomic analysis revealed nine common differentially expressed proteins. Among
      these, the greater level of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) in EUK was validated by
      Western blotting. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) derived from EUK had greater
      promoting activities on CaOx crystallization, crystal growth and aggregation as
      compared to those derived from EUU. Neutralizing the OMVs of EUK with monoclonal
      anti-EF-Tu antibody, not with an isotype antibody, significantly reduced all
      these OMVs-induced promoting effects. Moreover, immunofluorescence staining of EF
      Tu on bacterial cell surface confirmed the greater expression of surface EF-Tu on
      EUK (vs. EUU). Our data indicate that surface EF-Tu and OMVs play significant
      roles in promoting activities of E. coli on CaOx crystallization, crystal growth
      and aggregation.

PMID- 28592877
TI  - omega-3 free fatty acids and all-trans retinoic acid synergistically induce
      growth inhibition of three subtypes of breast cancer cell lines.
AB  - All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), one of vitamin A derivatives, shows greater
      growth inhibition of breast cancer cell for ER-positive than ER-negative cells,
      while triple negative breast cancer cell such as MDA-MB-231 cell is poorly
      responsive to ATRA treatment. In this study, we found that combination of omega-3
      free fatty acids (omega-3 FFAs) and ATRA exhibited synergistic inhibition of cell
      growth in three subtypes (ER+ MCF7, HER2+ SK-BR-3, Triple negative HCC1806 and
      MDA-MB-231 cells) of human breast cancer cell lines. The combined treatment of
      omega-3 FFAs and ATRA resulted in cell cycle arrest. omega-3 FFAs combined with
      ATRA synergistically provoked cell apoptosis via the caspase signals but not p53.
      These findings suggest that combined chemotherapy of omega-3 FFAs with ATRA is
      beneficial for improvement of ATRA sensitivity in breast cancer cells.

PMID- 28592878
TI  - Imbalance-Aware Machine Learning for Predicting Rare and Common Disease
      Associated Non-Coding Variants.
AB  - Disease and trait-associated variants represent a tiny minority of all known
      genetic variation, and therefore there is necessarily an imbalance between the
      small set of available disease-associated and the much larger set of non
      deleterious genomic variation, especially in non-coding regulatory regions of
      human genome. Machine Learning (ML) methods for predicting disease-associated non
      coding variants are faced with a chicken and egg problem - such variants cannot
      be easily found without ML, but ML cannot begin to be effective until a
      sufficient number of instances have been found. Most of state-of-the-art ML-based
      methods do not adopt specific imbalance-aware learning techniques to deal with
      imbalanced data that naturally arise in several genome-wide variant scoring
      problems, thus resulting in a significant reduction of sensitivity and precision.
      We present a novel method that adopts imbalance-aware learning strategies based
      on resampling techniques and a hyper-ensemble approach that outperforms state-of
      the-art methods in two different contexts: the prediction of non-coding variants
      associated with Mendelian and with complex diseases. We show that imbalance-aware
      ML is a key issue for the design of robust and accurate prediction algorithms and
      we provide a method and an easy-to-use software tool that can be effectively
      applied to this challenging prediction task.

PMID- 28592879
TI  - Biogeography of Amazon birds: rivers limit species composition, but not areas of
      endemism.
AB  - Amazonian rivers are usually suggested as dispersal barriers, limiting
      biogeographic units. This is evident in a widely accepted Areas of Endemism
      (AoEs) hypothesis proposed for Amazonian birds. We empirically test this
      hypothesis based on quantitative analyses of species distribution. We compiled a
      database of bird species and subspecies distribution records, and used this
      dataset to identify AoEs through three different methods. Our results show that
      the currently accepted Amazonian AoEs are not consistent with areas identified,
      which were generally congruent among datasets and methods. Some Amazonian rivers
      represent limits of AoEs, but these areas are not congruent with those previously
      proposed. However, spatial variation in species composition is correlated with
      largest Amazonian rivers. Overall, the previously proposed Amazonian AoEs are not
      consistent with the evidence from bird distribution. However, the fact that major
      rivers coincide with breaks in species composition suggest they can act as
      dispersal barriers, though not necessarily for all bird taxa. This scenario
      indicates a more complex picture of the Amazonian bird distribution than
      previously imagined.

PMID- 28592880
TI  - Expression and Transcriptional Regulation of Human ATP6V1A Gene in Gastric
      Cancers.
AB  - Recent studies demonstrate that the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer
      (GC) is closely associated with a multi-subunit vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase).
      Here we investigated the expression and role of the human ATP6V1A gene that
      encodes the catalytic subunit A of V-ATPase in GC. We found that ATP6V1A
      expression level is significantly elevated in GCs compared to normals, but GC
      patients with higher expression levels of ATP6V1A have a better prognosis.
      Genomic analysis revealed that APT6V1A copy number is gained in a small fraction
      of GC patients and lost in a minimum number. Moreover, the ATP6V1A copy number
      was positively correlated with its mRNA level. To explore additional mechanisms
      by which ATP6V1A overexpressed in GCs, we investigated the relationship between
      transcription factor YY1 and ATP6V1A, and found that mRNA expression of YY1 had
      significant correlation with that of ATP6V1A. To validate that YY1
      transcriptionally regulates ATP6V1A, we discovered that the ATP6V1A core promoter
      region contains three YY1 binding sites. Moreover, RNAi-mediated knockdown of YY1
      in GC cells significantly decreased ATP6V1A mRNA and protein expression, while
      YY1 overexpression increased ATP6V1A expression level. In conclusion, YY1 may
      play an important regulatory role in ATP6V1A expression with potential
      mechanistic and clinical implications in GC.

PMID- 28592881
TI  - Pretreatment C-reactive protein to albumin ratio for predicting overall survival
      in advanced pancreatic cancer patients.
AB  - Although previous studies demonstrated that elevated C-reactive protein to
      albumin ratio (CAR) predicted poor prognosis in various solid tumors, little was
      known about the prognostic value of CAR in patients with advanced pancreatic
      cancer (APC). The aim of the present study was to assess CAR as one independent
      prognostic factor in predicting overall survival (OS) in APC patients who had
      received palliative chemotherapy. Data of 142 APC patients who received
      palliative chemotherapy between 2009 and 2014 were retrospectively documented. We
      classified the patients into two groups based on the optimal cutoff value of CAR
      identified by generating receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. The
      clinicopathological parameters were compared between two CAR groups. Pearson
      correlation test showed that the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) was inversely
      correlated with albumin (r = -0.387; P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis
      demonstrated overall survival (OS) was significantly longer in CAR < 0.156 group
      than CAR >= 0.156 group (11.2 vs 5.9 months, P < 0.001). CAR was an independent
      prognostic factor for OS in the Cox regression model (HR, 1.623; 95% CI, 1.093
      2.410; P = 0.016). Furthermore, the discrimination ability of CAR (AUC = 0.648, P
      = 0.025) was slightly higher than that of other inflammation-based factors.
      Therefore, pretreatment CAR could be an independent prognostic biomarker for APC
      patients.

PMID- 28592882
TI  - ML290 is a biased allosteric agonist at the relaxin receptor RXFP1.
AB  - Activation of the relaxin receptor RXFP1 has been associated with improved
      survival in acute heart failure. ML290 is a small molecule RXFP1 agonist with
      simple structure, long half-life and high stability. Here we demonstrate that
      ML290 is a biased agonist in human cells expressing RXFP1 with long-term
      beneficial actions on markers of fibrosis in human cardiac fibroblasts (HCFs).
      ML290 did not directly compete with orthosteric relaxin binding and did not
      affect binding kinetics, but did increase binding to RXFP1. In HEK-RXFP1 cells,
      ML290 stimulated cAMP accumulation and p38MAPK phosphorylation but not cGMP
      accumulation or ERK1/2 phosphorylation although prior addition of ML290 increased
      p-ERK1/2 responses to relaxin. In human primary vascular endothelial and smooth
      muscle cells that endogenously express RXFP1, ML290 increased both cAMP and cGMP
      accumulation but not p-ERK1/2. In HCFs, ML290 increased cGMP accumulation but did
      not affect p-ERK1/2 and given chronically activated MMP-2 expression and
      inhibited TGF-beta1-induced Smad2 and Smad3 phosphorylation. In vascular cells,
      ML290 was 10x more potent for cGMP accumulation and p-p38MAPK than for cAMP
      accumulation. ML290 caused strong coupling of RXFP1 to Galphas and GalphaoB but
      weak coupling to Galphai3. ML290 exhibited signalling bias at RXFP1 possessing a
      signalling profile indicative of vasodilator and anti-fibrotic properties.

PMID- 28592883
TI  - The lateral distance between a proton pump and ATP synthase determines the ATP
      synthesis rate.
AB  - We have investigated the effect of lipid composition on interactions between
      cytochrome bo 3 and ATP-synthase, and the ATP-synthesis activity driven by proton
      pumping. The two proteins were labeled by fluorescent probes and co-reconstituted
      in large (d ? 100 nm) or giant (d ? 10 um) unilamellar lipid vesicles.
      Interactions were investigated using fluorescence correlation/cross-correlation
      spectroscopy and the activity was determined by measuring ATP production, driven
      by electron-proton transfer, as a function of time. We found that conditions that
      promoted direct interactions between the two proteins in the membrane (higher
      fraction DOPC lipids or labeling by hydrophobic molecules) correlated with an
      increased activity. These data indicate that the ATP-synthesis rate increases
      with decreasing distance between cytochrome bo 3 and the ATP-synthase, and
      involves proton transfer along the membrane surface. The maximum distance for
      lateral proton transfer along the surface was found to be ~80 nm.

PMID- 28592884
TI  - Enhancement of Th1/Th17 inflammation by TRIM21 in Behcet's disease.
AB  - The etiology of Behcet's disease (BD), a chronic, multisystemic autoinflammatory
      and autoimmune disease, remains unknown; however, researchers have postulated
      that infectious agents, such as herpes simplex virus, are significant triggering
      factors of BD. Tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) proteins exhibit antiviral
      properties, mediating antiviral defense mechanisms. The purpose of this study was
      to investigate TRIM21 protein expression in the monocytes of BD patients and to
      identify the role of TRIM21 in immune dysregulation in BD. In this study, the
      expression of TRIM21 and related molecules, including interferon regulatory
      factor 8 (IRF8), was analyzed in monocytes from BD patients. Functional analyses
      using small interfering RNA and co-culture with responder T cells were performed
      to examine the pathological role of TRIM21 in BD. Peripheral blood monocytes from
      BD patients showed increased TRIM21 expression and decreased IRF8 expression
      compared with that in monocytes from healthy controls. TRIM21 was found to
      decrease IRF8 expression. BD monocytes facilitated Th1 and Th17 differentiation
      of co-cultured T cells, and knock-down of TRIM21 expression by small interfering
      RNA inhibited this differentiation. In conclusion, TRIM21 played a pivotal role
      in regulating the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in monocytes of BD
      patients.

PMID- 28592885
TI  - Low genetic diversity and potential inbreeding in an isolated population of alder
      buckthorn (Frangula alnus) following a founder effect.
AB  - Alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus) is one of Ireland's rarest tree species, and in
      Northern Ireland the species is now restricted to a single population in
      Peatlands Park, Co. Armagh numbering ca. 140 mature trees. Genotyping of 95% of
      the trees at nine nuclear microsatellite loci revealed that levels of genetic
      diversity within this population were generally lower than those reported from
      larger populations in Spain. Analysis of six chloroplast microsatellite loci
      revealed no variation. The level of F IS was significantly higher than that in
      the Spanish populations, as well as in other populations across Europe,
      potentially indicating inbreeding. Spatial autocorrelation analysis indicated
      some evidence of fine-scale genetic structuring, most likely due to limited seed
      dispersal, but the overall level of differentiation between subpopulations was
      low, indicating high levels of gene flow, probably due to cross-pollination by
      bees. Our results are consistent with a gradual population expansion from a
      limited number of individuals. We suggest that more immediate conservation
      efforts might be best focused on ensuring suitable habitat for the continued
      recovery of this isolated population.

PMID- 28592886
TI  - MDS with deletions in the long arm of chromosome 11 are associated with a high
      frequency of SF3B1 mutations.

PMID- 28592887
TI  - CHIP, ICUS, CCUS and other four-letter words.
AB  - Clonal hematopoiesis can be identified by the presence of somatic mutations in
      blood or bone marrow even in individuals without a myeloid malignancy. Advances
      in DNA sequencing have led to the discovery that clonal hematopoiesis is
      remarkably common and occurs in a wide variety of settings, each often described
      by unique acronym. These distinctions can be useful as the implications of clonal
      hematopoiesis depend almost entirely on the clinical context in which it is
      identified. However, some generalizations can be made. The prevalence of clonal
      hematopoiesis increases with age, particularly after the fifth decade of life.
      Clonal hematopoiesis in normal individuals with very small clones is typically
      benign, while patients with clinically abnormal hematopoiesis, larger clones and
      more driver gene mutations appear to be at much greater risk. Understanding the
      significance of clonal hematopoiesis in the various contexts in which it occurs
      can influence how physicians assess risk, select therapies and counsel their
      patients. This concise review examines the implications of clonal hematopoiesis
      in several settings, including normal aging, aplastic anemia, unexplained
      cytopenias and patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy.

PMID- 28592888
TI  - TCRalpha rearrangements identify a subgroup of NKL-deregulated adult T-ALLs
      associated with favorable outcome.
AB  - T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) results from leukemic transformation
      of T-cell precursors arrested at specific differentiation stages, including an
      'early-cortical' thymic maturation arrest characterized by expression of
      cytoplasmic TCRbeta but no surface T-cell receptor (TCR) and frequent ectopic
      expression of the TLX1/3 NK-like homeotic proteins (NKL). We designed a TCRalpha
      VJC PCR to identify clonal TCRalpha rearrangements in 32% of 127 T-ALLs,
      including 0/52 immature/TCRgammadelta lineage cases and 41/75 (55%) TCRalphabeta
      lineage cases. Amongst the latter, TCRalpha rearrangements were not identified in
      30/54 (56%) of IMbeta/pre-alphabeta early-cortical T-ALLs, of which the majority
      (21/30) expressed TLX1/3. We reasoned that the remaining T-ALLs might express
      other NKL proteins, so compared transcript levels of 46 NKL in T-ALL and normal
      thymic subpopulations. Ectopic overexpression of 10 NKL genes, of which six are
      unreported in T-ALL (NKX2-3, BARHL1, BARX2, EMX2, LBX2 and MSX2), was detectable
      in 17/104 (16%) T-ALLs. Virtually all NKL overexpressing T-ALLs were TCRalpha
      unrearranged and ectopic NKL transcript expression strongly repressed Ealpha
      activity, suggesting that ectopic NKL expression is the major determinant in
      early-cortical thymic T-ALL maturation arrest. This immunogenetic T-ALL subtype,
      defined by TCRbeta VDJ but no TCRalpha VJ rearrangement, is associated with a
      favorable outcome in GRAALL-treated adult T-ALLs.

PMID- 28592889
TI  - Extended follow-up and impact of high-risk prognostic factors from the phase 3
      RESONATE study in patients with previously treated CLL/SLL.
AB  - In the phase 3 RESONATE study, ibrutinib demonstrated superior progression-free
      survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and overall response rate (ORR) compared
      with ofatumumab in relapsed/refractory CLL patients with high-risk prognostic
      factors. We report updated results from RESONATE in these traditionally
      chemotherapy resistant high-risk genomic subgroups at a median follow-up of 19
      months. Mutations were detected by Foundation One Heme Panel. Baseline mutations
      in the ibrutinib arm included TP53 (51%), SF3B1 (31%), NOTCH1 (28%), ATM (19%)
      and BIRC3 (14%). Median PFS was not reached, with 74% of patients randomized to
      ibrutinib alive and progression-free at 24 months. The improved efficacy of
      ibrutinib vs ofatumumab continues in all prognostic subgroups including del17p
      and del11q. No significant difference within the ibrutinib arm was observed for
      PFS across most genomic subtypes, although a subset carrying both TP53 mutation
      and del17p had reduced PFS compared with patients with neither abnormality.
      Reduced PFS or OS was not evident in patients with only del17p. PFS was
      significantly better for ibrutinib-treated patients in second-line vs later lines
      of therapy. The robust clinical activity of ibrutinib continues to show ongoing
      efficacy and acceptable safety consistent with prior reports, independent of
      various known high-risk mutations.

PMID- 28592890
TI  - Polymorphism in the gene encoding toll-like receptor 10 may be associated with
      asthma after bronchiolitis.
AB  - Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognise microbes that contribute to the severity of
      bronchiolitis and the subsequent risk of asthma. We evaluated whether post
      bronchiolitis asthma was associated with polymorphisms in the TLR3 rs3775291,
      TLR4 rs4986790, TLR7 rs179008, TLR8 rs2407992, TLR9 rs187084, and TLR10 rs4129009
      genes. The gene polymorphisms were studied at the age of 6.4 years (mean) in 135
      children hospitalised for bronchiolitis in infancy. The outcome measure was
      current or previous asthma. Current asthma was more common (30%) in children with
      the variant AG or GG genotype in the TLR10 rs4129009 gene versus those who were
      homozygous for the major allele A (11%) (p = 0.03). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR)
      was 4.30 (95% CI 1.30-14.29). Asthma ever was more common (34.6%) in girls with
      the TLR7 variant AT or TT genotype versus those who were homozygous for the major
      allele A (12.5%) (p = 0.03). The adjusted OR was 3.93 (95% CI 1.06-14.58).
      Corresponding associations were not seen in boys. There were no significant
      associations between TLR3, TLR4, TLR8, or TLR9 polymorphisms and post
      bronchiolitis asthma. Polymorphism in the TLR10 gene increases and in the TLR7
      gene may increase the risk of asthma in preschool-aged children after infant
      bronchiolitis.

PMID- 28592891
TI  - Dynamic Triple-Mode Sorption and Outgassing in Materials.
AB  - Moisture uptake and outgassing can be detrimental to a system by altering the
      chemical and mechanical properties of materials within the system over time. In
      this work, we conducted isotherm experiments to investigate dynamic moisture
      sorption and desorption in markedly different materials, i.e., a polymeric
      material, Sylgard-184 and a ceramic aluminosilicate material, Zircar RS-1200, at
      different temperatures (30  degrees C-70  degrees C) by varying the water
      activity (0.0-0.90). Sylgard-184 showed a linear sorption and outgassing behavior
      with no-hysteresis over the entire temperature and water activity range
      considered here. Whereas, the sorption and outgassing of Zircar RS-1200 was
      highly non-linear with significant hysteresis, especially at higher water
      activities, at all temperatures considered here. The type of hysteresis suggested
      the presence of mesopores in Zircar RS-1200, whereas the lack of hysteresis in
      Sylgard-184 indicates that it has a nonporous structure. A diffusion model
      coupled with a dynamic, triple-mode sorption (Langmuir, Henry, and pooling modes)
      model employed in this study matched our experimental data very well and provides
      mechanistic insight into the processes. Our triple-mode sorption model was
      adaptive enough to (1) model these distinctly different materials and (2) predict
      sorption and outgassing under conditions that are distinctly different from the
      parameterization experiments.

PMID- 28592892
TI  - Noncanocial cell death program independent of caspase activation cascade and
      necroptotic modules is elicited by loss of TGFbeta-activated kinase 1.
AB  - Programmed cell death (PCD) occurs in several forms including apoptosis and
      necroptosis. Apoptosis is executed by the activation of caspases, while
      necroptosis is dependent on the receptor interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3).
      Precise control of cell death is crucial for tissue homeostasis. Indeed,
      necroptosis is triggered by caspase inhibition to ensure cell death. Here we
      identified a previously uncharacterized cell death pathway regulated by TAK1,
      which is unexpectedly provoked by inhibition of caspase activity and necroptosis
      cascades. Ablation of TAK1 triggers spontaneous death in macrophages.
      Simultaneous inhibition of caspases and RIPK3 did not completely restore cell
      viability. Previous studies demonstrated that loss of TAK1 in fibroblasts causes
      TNF-induced apoptosis and that additional inhibition of caspase leads to
      necroptotic cell death. However, we surprisingly found that caspase and RIPK3
      inhibitions do not completely suppress cell death in Tak1-deficient cells.
      Mechanistically, the execution of the third cell death pathway in Tak1-deficient
      macrophages and fibroblasts were mediated by RIPK1-dependent rapid accumulation
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Conversely, activation of RIPK1 was sufficient
      to induce cell death. Therefore, loss of TAK1 elicits noncanonical cell death
      which is mediated by RIPK1-induced oxidative stress upon caspase and necroptosis
      inhibition to further ensure induction of cell death.

PMID- 28592895
TI  - Spondyloarthropathies: Targeting IL-17 in refractory PsA.

PMID- 28592896
TI  - Lupus nephritis: NLRP3 inflammasome ignites podocyte dysfunction.

PMID- 28592897
TI  - Stem cells: Synovial stem cells respond to a YAP.

PMID- 28592893
TI  - Regional brain functions in the resting state indicative of potential differences
      between depression and chronic pain.
AB  - Complex relationships between depression and chronic pain have been reported in
      previous studies. However, only a few neuroimaging studies have investigated
      similarities and differences in neural systems underlying them. We examined the
      brain functions in the resting state of 43 patients with depression, 41 patients
      with chronic pain (somatoform pain disorder) and 41 healthy controls, by using
      regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity analysis. Depressive
      symptoms were assessed by using the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI
      II). ReHo values for the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) significantly
      decreased for chronic pain patients, and functional connectivity between the
      DLPFC and thalamus decreased only for these patients. These findings are
      indicative of distinct brain functions related to depression and chronic pain.
      Understanding these differences would further elucidate the pathophysiology of
      these conditions.

PMID- 28592894
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis: Forward and reverse inheritance - the yin and the yang.

PMID- 28592898
TI  - Historical grassland desertification changes in the Horqin Sandy Land, Northern
      China (1985-2013).
AB  - Since rural reforms in the 1980s, both the state and local governments of China
      have devoted great efforts to combating desertification through a number of eco
      environmental restoration campaigns, resulting in burgeoning contention at all
      levels of government and sparking public concern. Monitoring and accurately
      assessing the statuses and trends of grassland desertification are important for
      developing effective restoration strategies. The Horqin Sandy Land (HSL), a very
      typical desertified grassland (DG) with better hydrothermal conditions among
      sandy lands in north China, was recently selected (1985-2013) to assess the
      spatiotemporal dynamic performances of grassland desertification before and after
      implementing restoration projects. Landsat images (TM/ETM+/OLI), field
      investigations and expert review were integrated to form a classification scheme
      for the HSL. Then, spectral mixture analysis and the decision-tree method were
      used to extract bare-sand ratios and vegetation cover fraction dynamics. A
      favourable phenomenon of DG was seen to be reversed in an accelerated pace during
      2001-2013, despite challenge from both climatic and anthropogenic factors.
      However, overexploitation of grassland (especially for farming) and ground water
      for irrigation has led to remarkable decreases in the ground water level in
      recent decades, which should be highly concerning regarding the formulation of
      restoration campaigns in the sandy land.

PMID- 28592899
TI  - Origin and evolutionary history of freshwater Rhodophyta: further insights based
      on phylogenomic evidence.
AB  - Freshwater representatives of Rhodophyta were sampled and the complete
      chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes were determined. Characteristics of the
      chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes were analyzed and phylogenetic relationship
      of marine and freshwater Rhodophyta were reconstructed based on the organelle
      genomes. The freshwater member Compsopogon caeruleus was determined for the
      largest chloroplast genome among multicellular Rhodophyta up to now. Expansion
      and subsequent reduction of both the genome size and GC content were observed in
      the Rhodophyta except for the freshwater Compsopogon caeruleus. It was inferred
      that the freshwater members of Rhodophyta occurred through diverse origins based
      on evidence of genome size, GC-content, phylogenomic analysis and divergence time
      estimation. The freshwater species Compsopogon caeruleus and Hildenbrandia
      rivularis originated and evolved independently at the inland water, whereas the
      Bangia atropurpurea, Batrachospermum arcuatum and Thorea hispida are derived from
      the marine relatives. The typical freshwater representatives Thoreales and
      Batrachospermales are probably derived from the marine relative Palmaria palmata
      at approximately 415-484 MYA. The origin and evolutionary history of freshwater
      Rhodophyta needs to be testified with more organelle genome sequences and wider
      global sampling.

PMID- 28592901
TI  - High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Regenerating Adult Zebrafish
      Heart.
AB  - The adult zebrafish is a well-established model for studying heart regeneration,
      but due to its tissue opaqueness, repair has been primarily assessed using
      destructive histology, precluding repeated investigations of the same animal. We
      present a high-resolution, non-invasive in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      method incorporating a miniature respiratory and anaesthetic perfusion set-up for
      live adult zebrafish, allowing for visualization of scar formation and heart
      regeneration in the same animal over time at an isotropic 31 um voxel resolution.
      To test the method, we compared well and poorly healing cardiac ventricles using
      a transgenic fish model that exhibits heat-shock (HS) inducible impaired heart
      regeneration. HS-treated groups revealed persistent scar tissue for 10 weeks,
      while control groups were healed after 4 weeks. Application of the advanced MRI
      technique allowed clear discrimination of levels of repair following cryo- and
      resection injury for several months. It further provides a novel tool for in vivo
      time-lapse imaging of adult fish for non-cardiac studies, as the method can be
      readily applied to image wound healing in other injured or diseased tissues, or
      to monitor tissue changes over time, thus expanding the range of questions that
      can be addressed in adult zebrafish and other small aquatic species.

PMID- 28592900
TI  - White matter microstructural changes are related to cognitive dysfunction in
      essential tremor.
AB  - Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have detected white matter microstructural
      changes in essential tremor (ET). However, it is still unclear whether these
      changes are related to cognitive deficits, which have been described in ET
      patients. DTI-derived fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity (MD), axial
      diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity measures were compared between 23 ET
      patients and 23 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy individuals, using
      whole-brain tract-based spatial statistics. Correlations of white matter changes
      with scores obtained from a detailed neuropsychological assessment were
      subsequently examined. ET patients demonstrated increases in MD in the bilateral
      posterior corona radiata, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, bilateral
      fornix (cres)/stria terminalis, genu and splenium of the corpus callosum,
      bilateral anterior and posterior limbs of internal capsule, bilateral
      retrolenticular region part of internal capsule, and left posterior thalamic
      radiation. Except for the genu of the corpus callosum, an increase in AD values
      was also found in these same tracts. Furthermore, increased MD and AD values in
      different white matter areas was negatively correlated with performance on
      language and verbal memory and positively with visuospatial ability. These
      correlations suggest that white matter changes might be involved in the
      pathogenesis of cognitive deficits in ET.

PMID- 28592902
TI  - GGNBP2 is necessary for testis morphology and sperm development.
AB  - Gametogenetin Binding Protein 2 (GGNBP2) was identified as a tumor suppressor and
      verified as such by several studies. GGNBP2 has also been reported to be
      essential for pregnancy maintenance via regulation of trophoblast stem cells.
      Gametogenetin (GGN) is a testicular germ cell-specific gene expressed in adult
      testes. As a potential GGN1-interacting protein, the role of GGNBP2 in
      spermatogenesis has not yet been clarified. We generated heterozygous GGNBP2
      knockout mice and bred them by intercrossing. We found that among the offspring,
      homozygous GGNBP2 knockout (KO) mice were present in severely reduced numbers.
      The GGNBP2 KO pups developed normally, but the male siblings showed dramatically
      reduced fertility. In these male homozygous GGNBP2 KO mice, the only pathological
      finding was abnormal morphology of the testes and absence of spermatozoa. In
      addition, increased apoptosis was observed in the testes of GGNBP2 KO mice. SOX9
      staining revealed that SOX9-positive Sertoli cells were absent in the
      seminiferous tubules. In homozygous mice, proliferating cell nuclear antigen
      (PCNA)-positive cells were localized in the lumen of the convoluted seminiferous
      tubules. These results suggest that GGNBP2 plays a key role in spermatogenesis by
      affecting the morphology and function of SOX9-positive Sertoli cells.

PMID- 28592903
TI  - Learning and memory: When novel becomes familiar.

PMID- 28592906
TI  - Erratum to Bortkiewicz et al. "Mobile phone use and risk for intracranial tumors
      and salivary gland tumors - A meta-analysis" (Int J Occup Med Environ Health
      2017;30(1):27-43).

PMID- 28592907
TI  - [Epidemiology of asthma in adults living in the Silesian voivodeship according to
      secondary epidemiological data].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma is a serious public health challenge because of the increasing
      number of people with a new diagnosis and consequently the increasing costs of
      medical treatment (direct and indirect). The aim of this study is to analyze
      available epidemiological data with respect to their spatial and temporal
      variability in the Silesian voivodeship. In addition, the costs incurred by the
      National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia - NFZ) in treating asthmaic
      patients are analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The epidemiological descriptive
      study concerns adult inhabitants of the Silesian voivodeship with asthma
      diagnosed under the health service delivery system, financed by NFZ, as well as
      diagnossis and/or hospitalization registed in the routine register run by the NFZ
      in Katowice. Crude and standardized incidence and prevalence rates are calculated
      and their changes are evaluated. Spatial variability in districts is evaluated as
      well and costs incurred by NFZ are revealed. RESULTS: In the years 2006-2010 the
      standardized rate of asthma remained at a high level of 392.3-469.6/100 000
      inhabitants. Greater values were related to women than to men, as well as to
      inhabitants of districts located in the central and southern parts of the
      Silesian voivodeship. A slight decrease in the values of crude prevalence rates,
      from 52/100 000 inhabitants to 42/100 000, is reported. The annual cost of new
      cases treatment is 17 million PLN while the annual cost of all hospitalizations
      is at the level of 10 million PLN. CONCLUSIONS: Variability of incidence and
      prevalence due to asthma in the Silesian voivodeship is observed. An attempt at
      explaining this diversity requires in-depth research. A slight decrease in the
      values of both rates over time indicates less significant reduction in
      expenditure devoted to hospital treatment of asthmatic patients. Med Pr
      2017;68(4):479-489.

PMID- 28592908
TI  - [How do Polish workers respond to the information concerning health-oriented
      lifestyle?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information overload, including commercial ones, about healthy
      lifestyle, is a challenge for perception of health education. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The empirical data gathered from 100 employees in 2010 by means of free
      interviews with a standardized list of required information, aimed at analyzing a
      feeling of pressure to lead a healthy lifestyle, including reactions to meassages
      provided by the media. RESULTS: Respondents feel pressure associated with a
      healthy lifestyle from doctors, the state, relatives, friends and themselves.
      They accept pressure exerted by doctors and appreciate it from relatives and
      friends, however, the latter may stimulate adverse behavior. As a negative
      pressure they perceive that imposed by the media, government's shifting the
      responsibility for citizens' health, information overload contradictory to their
      own knowledge, unattainable recommendations and their volatility. Such pressure
      evokes conviction for their own resistance or rejection of the messages. They
      criticize the media for promoting unhealthy behavior, attending interests of
      advertisers, hiding information about harmful environmental influence. They
      appreciate the media for facilitating learning about health and preventive
      examinations. Health education messages are only occasionally identified by
      better educated people. CONCLUSIONS: "Dense" information environment is a hostile
      background for health education. An excess of critically evaluated information
      evokes pressure and lack of trust in information. Therefore, health education
      should facilitate the identification of its contents, avoid normative methods,
      limit the number of guidelines and better explain the faced changes, counteract
      tendencies to associate healthy lifestyle mainly with consumer behaviors, teach
      how to maintain self orientation in information overload conditions, and build up
      awareness of one's own brand. Med Pr 2017;68(4):525-543.

PMID- 28592910
TI  - Psychometric Properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale With Older
      American Indians: The Native Elder Care Study.
AB  - Resilience is a term that refers to a person's ability to successfully adapt to
      adversity. Resilience research has been relatively limited with older adults,
      particularly with older American Indians. Also, none of the resilience measures
      have been validated in older American Indians. This study's objective was to
      assess the psychometric properties of the full 25-item and abbreviated 10-item
      versions of Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) with a sample of older
      American Indians. Both CD-RISC versions performed similarly in the study sample
      compared with what has been reported in other populations. The full version
      demonstrated adequate internal consistency and convergent and divergent validity,
      but a meaningful factor structure was not confirmed. The abbreviated version
      showed good internal consistency and convergent and divergent validity and
      appeared to have a stable one-factor solution. These findings lend greater
      support to the use of the abbreviated version than the full version of the CD
      RISC with older American Indians.

PMID- 28592909
TI  - Does Partner Responsiveness Predict Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being? A 10-Year
      Longitudinal Study.
AB  - Motivated by attachment theory and recent conceptualizations of perceived partner
      responsiveness as a core feature of close relationships, the present study
      examined change in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being over a decade in a sample of
      more than 2,000 married adults across the United States. Longitudinal analyses
      revealed that perceived partner responsiveness- the extent to which individuals
      believe that their partner cares for, appreciates, and understands them-predicted
      increases in eudaimonic well-being a decade later. These results remained after
      controlling for initial hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, age, gender,
      extraversion, neuroticism, and perceived responsiveness of family and friends.
      Affective reactivity, measured via an 8-day diary protocol in a subset of the
      sample, partially mediated this longitudinal association. After controlling for
      covariates, perceived partner responsiveness did not prospectively predict
      hedonic well-being. These findings are the first to document the long-term
      benefits of perceived partner responsiveness on eudaimonic well-being.

PMID- 28592911
TI  - Marginal Shape Deep Learning: Applications to Pediatric Lung Field Segmentation.
AB  - Representation learning through deep learning (DL) architecture has shown
      tremendous potential for identification, localization, and texture classification
      in various medical imaging modalities. However, DL applications to segmentation
      of objects especially to deformable objects are rather limited and mostly
      restricted to pixel classification. In this work, we propose marginal shape deep
      learning (MaShDL), a framework that extends the application of DL to deformable
      shape segmentation by using deep classifiers to estimate the shape parameters.
      MaShDL combines the strength of statistical shape models with the automated
      feature learning architecture of DL. Unlike the iterative shape parameters
      estimation approach of classical shape models that often leads to a local minima,
      the proposed framework is robust to local minima optimization and illumination
      changes. Furthermore, since the direct application of DL framework to a multi
      parameter estimation problem results in a very high complexity, our framework
      provides an excellent run-time performance solution by independently learning
      shape parameter classifiers in marginal eigenspaces in the decreasing order of
      variation. We evaluated MaShDL for segmenting the lung field from 314 normal and
      abnormal pediatric chest radiographs and obtained a mean Dice similarity
      coefficient of 0.927 using only the four highest modes of variation (compared to
      0.888 with classical ASM1 (p-value=0.01) using same configuration). To the best
      of our knowledge this is the first demonstration of using DL framework for
      parametrized shape learning for the delineation of deformable objects.

PMID- 28592904
TI  - Non-motor features of Parkinson disease.
AB  - Many of the motor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) can be preceded, sometimes
      for several years, by non-motor symptoms that include hyposmia, sleep disorders,
      depression and constipation. These non-motor features appear across the spectrum
      of patients with PD, including individuals with genetic causes of PD. The
      neuroanatomical and neuropharmacological bases of non-motor abnormalities in PD
      remain largely undefined. Here, we discuss recent advances that have helped to
      establish the presence, severity and effect on the quality of life of non-motor
      symptoms in PD, and the neuroanatomical and neuropharmacological mechanisms
      involved. We also discuss the potential for the non-motor features to define a
      prodrome that may enable the early diagnosis of PD.

PMID- 28592905
TI  - Functional consequences of neuropeptide and small-molecule co-transmission.
AB  - Colocalization of small-molecule and neuropeptide transmitters is common
      throughout the nervous system of all animals. The resulting co-transmission,
      which provides conjoint ionotropic ('classical') and metabotropic ('modulatory')
      actions, includes neuropeptide- specific aspects that are qualitatively different
      from those that result from metabotropic actions of small-molecule transmitter
      release. Here, we focus on the flexibility afforded to microcircuits by such co
      transmission, using examples from various nervous systems. Insights from such
      studies indicate that co-transmission mediated even by a single neuron can
      configure microcircuit activity via an array of contributing mechanisms,
      operating on multiple timescales, to enhance both behavioural flexibility and
      robustness.

PMID- 28592913
TI  - ERRATUM.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/S0377-1237(08)80076-7.].

PMID- 28592912
TI  - Prospective and Descriptive Study on Serum Androstenedione Concentration in
      Healthy Children from Birth until 18 Years of Age and Its Associated Factors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Androstenedione (A4) is an adrenal and gonadal steroid biomarker,
      useful in the assessment of children in whom steroidogenic disorders are
      suspected. The first key step in the evaluation of a diagnostic test resides on
      confident reference intervals (RI). The lack of updated A4-RI with current
      methods in pediatrics may mislead A4 results and limit its diagnosis accuracy.
      AIM: To provide A4 reference ranges in healthy children. METHODS: Prospective,
      descriptive study. 283 children aged 4 days to 18 years were included. In
      children < 1 yr, A4 was measured directly in serum (NE-A4) and postorganic
      solvent extraction (E-A4) for the assessment of interfering steroids. The
      influence of chronological age (CA), gender, and Tanner stage (T) were
      investigated. RESULTS: In the neonatal period, E-A4 was significantly lower than
      NE-A4; boys had higher NE-A4; sexual dimorphism disappeared after extraction
      procedure. In children older than 4 months, A4 concentration remained low until
      the age of 5 years. Thereafter, A4 increased significantly in association with CA
      and T (r2 = 0.65; p < 0.001), obtaining the highest concentrations in children
      within pubertal ages without sexual dimorphism. CONCLUSION: We recommend to
      perform solvent extraction in neonates and to take into account age and sexual
      development to properly interpret A4 results in childhood.

PMID- 28592914
TI  - Size-controlled gold nanoparticles on octahedral anatase particles as efficient
      plasmonic photocatalyst.
AB  - Octahedral anatase particles (OAPs), prepared by ultrasonication-hydrothermal
      reaction (US-HT), were modified with 2 wt% of gold by photodeposition. Conditions
      of US-HT process such as durations of US and durations of HT were varied to
      obtain OAPs products different by physicochemical and morphological properties.
      Au/OAPs samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning
      transmission electron microscopy (STEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
      and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activity was
      tested under UV irradiation for decomposition of acetic acid (CO2 system) and
      dehydrogenation of methanol (H2 system) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions,
      respectively, and for oxidation of 2-propanol under visible light irradiation.
      Photodeposition of gold was very fast for all OAPs samples (0.5-10 min) under Ar
      atmosphere, and the clear correlation between the content of electron traps (ETs)
      and the induction period, during which nanoparticles (NPs) of gold are formed,
      indicates that ETs in titania samples are a key-factor for rapidity of gold
      photodeposition on titania surface. It was found that better morphology of
      titania (larger content of faceted particles) resulted in formation of larger
      gold NPs, while small gold NPs were deposited on structural defects. Modification
      of OAPs with gold NPs resulted in significant enhancement of photocatalytic
      activity, being e.g., 1.5 (CO2 system), 7.7 (H2 system), and even more than 40
      under vis irradiation. It was found that both the properties of titania and gold
      are crucial for resultant photocatalytic activity, but a direct correlation
      between one structural/physical property and photocatalytic activity could not be
      obtained since all structural properties changed simultaneously when conditions
      of photocatalyst preparation (US-HT) were changed. Therefore, gold NPs of
      controlled sizes were deposited on OAPs product with the best morphology by
      modified photodeposition method. Clear correlation between photocatalytic
      activity under visible light and the size of gold NPs indicates that gold
      properties are decisive for visible light activity rather than titania
      properties. 3D-FDTD simulations confirm that an increase in the size of gold NPs
      results in extended surface areas with field enhancement.

PMID- 28592915
TI  - Activated Platelets Induce an Anti-Inflammatory Response of Monocytes/Macrophages
      through Cross-Regulation of PGE2 and Cytokines.
AB  - Platelets are well known for their role in hemostasis and are also increasingly
      recognized for their roles in the innate immune system during inflammation and
      their regulation of macrophage activation. Here, we aimed to study the influence
      of platelets on the production of inflammatory mediators by monocytes and
      macrophages. Analyzing cocultures of platelets and murine bone marrow-derived
      macrophages or human monocytes, we found that collagen-activated platelets
      release high amounts of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) that leads to an increased
      interleukin- (IL-) 10 release and a decreased tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha
      secretion out of the monocytes or macrophages. Platelet PGE2 mediated the
      upregulation of IL-10 in both cell types via the PGE2 receptor EP2. Notably, PGE2
      mediated IL-10 synthesis was also mediated by EP4 in murine macrophages.
      Inhibition of TNFalpha synthesis via EP2 and EP4, but not EP1, was mediated by IL
      10, since blockade of the IL-10 receptor abolished the inhibitory effect of both
      receptors on TNFalpha release. This platelet-mediated cross-regulation between
      PGE2 and cytokines reveals one mechanism how monocytes and macrophages can
      attenuate excessive inflammatory responses induced by activated platelets in
      order to limit inflammatory processes.

PMID- 28592916
TI  - A Reduction in Selenoprotein S Amplifies the Inflammatory Profile of Fast-Twitch
      Skeletal Muscle in the mdx Dystrophic Mouse.
AB  - Excessive inflammation is a hallmark of muscle myopathies, including Duchenne
      muscular dystrophy (DMD). There is interest in characterising novel genes that
      regulate inflammation due to their potential to modify disease progression. Gene
      polymorphisms in Selenoprotein S (Seps1) are associated with elevated
      proinflammatory cytokines, and in vitro SEPS1 is protective against inflammatory
      stress. Given that SEPS1 is highly expressed in skeletal muscle, we investigated
      whether the genetic reduction of Seps1 exacerbated inflammation in the mdx mouse.
      F1 male mdx mice with a heterozygous Seps1 deletion (mdx:Seps1-/+) were
      generated. The mdx:Seps1-/+ mice had a 50% reduction in SEPS1 protein expression
      in hindlimb muscles. In the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles, mRNA
      expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (Mcp-1) (P = 0.034), macrophage
      marker F4/80 (P = 0.030), and transforming growth factor-beta1 (Tgf-beta1) (P =
      0.056) were increased in mdx:Seps1-/+ mice. This was associated with a reduction
      in muscle fibre size; however, ex vivo EDL muscle strength and endurance were
      unaltered. In dystrophic slow twitch soleus muscles, SEPS1 reduction had no
      effect on the inflammatory profile nor function. In conclusion, the genetic
      reduction of Seps1 appears to specifically exacerbate the inflammatory profile of
      fast-twitch muscle fibres, which are typically more vulnerable to degeneration in
      dystrophy.

PMID- 28592918
TI  - Electrochemiluminescence Arrays for Studies of Metabolite-related Toxicity.
AB  - This article reviews recent progress from our laboratory in
      electrochemiluminescence (ECL) arrays designed for screening toxicity-related
      chemistry of chemical and drug candidates. Cytochrome P450s and metabolic
      bioconjugation enzymes convert lipophilic chemicals in our bodies by oxidation
      and bioconjugation that can lead to toxic metabolites. DNA can be used as an
      easily measurable toxicity-related endpoint, targeting DNA oxidation and addcut
      formation with metabolites. ECL using guanosines in the DNA strands as co
      reactants have been used in high throughput arrays utilizing DNA-enzyme films
      fabricated layer-by-layer. This review describes approaches developed to provide
      new high throughput ECL arrays to aid in toxicity assessment for drug and
      chemical product development.

PMID- 28592917
TI  - Persistent Unresolved Inflammation in the Mecp2-308 Female Mutated Mouse Model of
      Rett Syndrome.
AB  - Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder usually caused by
      mutations in the X-linked gene methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2). Several
      Mecp2 mutant mouse lines have been developed recapitulating part of the clinical
      features. In particular, Mecp2-308 female heterozygous mice, bearing a truncating
      mutation, are a validated model of the disease. While recent data suggest a role
      for inflammation in RTT, little information on the inflammatory status in murine
      models of the disease is available. Here, we investigated the inflammatory status
      by proteomic 2-DE/MALDI-ToF/ToF analyses in symptomatic Mecp2-308 female mice.
      Ten differentially expressed proteins were evidenced in the Mecp2-308 mutated
      plasma proteome. In particular, 5 positive acute-phase response (APR) proteins
      increased (i.e., kininogen-1, alpha-fetoprotein, mannose-binding protein C, alpha
      1-antitrypsin, and alpha-2-macroglobulin), and 3 negative APR reactants were
      decreased (i.e., serotransferrin, albumin, and apolipoprotein A1). CD5 antigen
      like and vitamin D-binding protein, two proteins strictly related to
      inflammation, were also changed. These results indicate for the first time a
      persistent unresolved inflammation of unknown origin in the Mecp2-308 mouse
      model.

PMID- 28592920
TI  - Phase I dose-escalation trial of intravaginal curcumin in women for cervical
      dysplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This is a Phase I trial demonstrating safety and tolerability of
      intravaginal curcumin for future use in women with cervical neoplasia. OBJECTIVE:
      The objective of this study was to assess the safety, tolerability, and
      pharmacokinetics of intravaginal curcumin in healthy women. STUDY DESIGN: We
      conducted a 3+3 dose-escalation Phase I trial in a group of women aged 18-45
      years. Thirteen subjects were given one of four doses of curcumin powder (500 mg,
      1,000 mg, 1,500 mg, and 2,000 mg) packed in gelatin capsules, which was
      administered intravaginally daily for 14 days. The primary end point for this
      study was safety based on severe adverse events regarding laboratory toxicity,
      clinical findings, and colposcopic abnormalities. We administered an
      acceptability questionnaire to assess product experience and attributes. RESULTS:
      No dose-limiting toxicities (0/13) were experienced (95% confidence interval:
      0.0%-22.8%) in this study. The pharmacokinetics data demonstrated that curcumin
      and curcumin conjugates were not measurable in the serum and negligible in the
      urine of the study participants. Although 23 adverse events occurred during the
      course of the trial, all events were grade I based on the National Cancer
      Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Version 4.0 and were
      resolved by the end of the study in an average of 9 days. Fifty-six percent of
      the adverse events were related to the study drug, which included genital
      pruritus (23% of subjects), vaginal discharge (100%), vaginal dryness (15%),
      abnormal prothrombin (23%), and hypokalemia (8%). CONCLUSION: Intravaginal
      curcumin was well tolerated by all subjects and safe. In this Phase I trial,
      there were no severe adverse events observed at any of the administered dose
      levels. All adverse events were grade I and did not result in early termination
      of the study. There was no evidence of systemic absorption or significant local
      absorption of intravaginally administered curcumin.

PMID- 28592919
TI  - Multiplex Immunosensor Arrays for Electrochemical Detection of Cancer Biomarker
      Proteins.
AB  - Measuring panels of protein biomarkers offer a new personalized approach to early
      cancer detection, disease monitoring and patients' response to therapy. Multiplex
      electrochemical methods are uniquely positioned to provide faster, more
      sensitive, point of care (POC) devices to detect protein biomarkers for clinical
      diagnosis. Nanomaterials-based electrochemical methods offer sensitivity needed
      for early cancer detection. This review discusses recent advances in multiplex
      electrochemical immunosensors for cancer diagnostics and disease monitoring.
      Different electrochemical strategies including enzyme-based immunoarrays,
      nanoparticle-based immunoarrays and electrochemiluminescence methods are
      discussed. Many of these methods have been integrated into microfluidic systems,
      but measurement of more than 2-4 protein markers in a small single serum sample
      is still a challenge. For POC applications, a simple, low cost method is
      required. Major challenges in multiplexed microfluidic immunoassays are reagent
      additions and washing steps that require creative engineering solutions. 3-D
      printed microfluidics and paper-based microfluidic devices are also explored.

PMID- 28592921
TI  - Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors State of the Science: Leveraging
      Clinical and Biological Insights into Effective Therapies.
AB  - Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) is the leading cause of mortality
      in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1. In 2002, an MPNST consensus statement
      reviewed the current knowledge and provided guidance for the diagnosis and
      management of MPNST. Although the improvement in clinical outcome has not
      changed, substantial progress has been made in understanding the natural history
      and biology of MPNST through imaging and genomic advances since 2002. Genetically
      engineered mouse models that develop MPNST spontaneously have greatly facilitated
      preclinical evaluation of novel drugs for translation into clinical trials led by
      consortia efforts. Continued work in identifying alterations that contribute to
      the transformation, progression, and metastasis of MPNST coupled with
      longitudinal follow-up, biobanking, and data sharing is needed to develop
      prognostic biomarkers and effective prevention and therapeutic strategies for
      MPNST.

PMID- 28592922
TI  - Development and evaluation of a modified brief assertiveness training for nurses
      in the workplace: a single-group feasibility study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective communication has a great impact on nurses' job
      satisfaction, team relationships, as well as patient care/safety. Previous
      studies have highlighted the various beneficial effects of enhancing
      communication through assertiveness training programs for nurses. However, most
      programs take a long time to implement; thus, briefer programs are urgently
      required for universal on-the-job-training in the workplace. The purpose of this
      feasibility study was to develop and evaluate a modified brief assertiveness
      training program (with cognitive techniques) for nurses in the workplace.
      METHODS: This study was carried out as a single-group, open trial (pre-post
      comparison without a control group). Registered nurses and assistant nurses,
      working at two private psychiatric hospitals in Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan,
      were recruited. After enrolling in the study, participants received a program of
      two 90-min sessions with a 1-month interval between sessions. The primary outcome
      was the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS), with secondary measurements using
      the Brief Version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE) and the Brief
      Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ). Assessments were conducted at baseline and after
      a 1-month interval (pre- and post-intervention). RESULTS: A total of 22
      participants enrolled in the study and completed the program. The mean total
      score on the primary outcome (RAS) significantly improved from -12.9 (SD = 17.2)
      to -8.6 (SD = 18.6) (p = 0.01). The within-group effect size at the post
      intervention was Cohen's d = 0.24; this corresponds to the small effect of the
      program. Regarding secondary outcomes, there were no statistically significant
      effects on the BFNE or any of the BJSQ subscales (job-stressors, psychological
      distress, physical distress, worksite support, and satisfaction). CONCLUSIONS:
      This single-group feasibility study demonstrated that our modified brief
      assertiveness training for nurses seems feasible and may achieve a favorable
      outcome in improving their assertiveness. Further controlled trials with longer
      follow-up periods are required in order to address the limitations of this study.

PMID- 28592924
TI  - Suppression of endothelial cell migration by tumor associated macrophage-derived
      exosomes is reversed by epithelial ovarian cancer exosomal lncRNA.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the mechanism by which epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC)
      derived exosomes restore the migration of endothelial cells that is suppressed by
      TAM-derived exosomes. METHODS: Exosomes were isolated from TAMs in the ascites of
      patients with EOC. The effect of exosomes on the expression of endothelial cell
      miRNA was monitored by PCR. The miRNA mimics were transfected to explore their
      effects. Microarray data and literature searches were used to predict target
      genes and the impact of target gene pathways, and small interfering RNA was used
      to target these genes. We used migration assays to determine whether ovarian
      cancer cell-derived exosomes participate in the regulation of TAMs and
      endothelial cells. We used microarray data to identify the target lncRNA, and we
      constructed target lncRNA expression plasmids to validate targets by Western
      blotting. RESULTS: We separated TAMs from the ascites of patients with EOC and
      isolated exosomes from TAM supernatants. After co-culture with HUVECs, these
      exosomes were efficiently incorporated into HUVECs. The migration of HUVECs was
      suppressed significantly in the exosome group compared with blank controls (P <
      0.05).The miRNA mimic transfection and target gene prediction found that TAM
      derived exosomes targeted the miR-146b-5p/TRAF6/NF-kappaB/MMP2 pathway to
      suppress endothelial cell migration; this result was supported by PCR and Western
      blotting analyses. The expression of exosomal miR-146b-5p isolated from serum in
      the EOC group was significantly increased compared to healthy individuals.
      Finally, TAM-derived exosomes and EOC SKOV3-derived exosomes in combination
      stimulated HUVEC cells and overcame the inhibition of endothelial cell migration
      caused by TAM-derived exosomes. Two lncRNAs that were carried by SKOV3-derived
      exosomes were identified as NF-kappaB pathway-associated genes by Western
      blotting. CONCLUSION: TAM-derived exosomes can inhibit the migration of
      endothelial cells by targeting the miR-146b-5p/TRAF6/NF-kB/MMP2 pathway. However,
      EOC-derived exosomes can transfer lncRNAs to remotely reverse this effect of TAMs
      on endothelial cells.

PMID- 28592926
TI  - The treatment of palmar contact burns in children: a five-year review.
AB  - Pediatric palmar contact burns are becoming a common trauma, especially in young
      children. Treatment of this kind of burn is challenging as well as controversial,
      regarding the choice between split-thickness or full-thickness skin graft to
      close the defect. The aim of this review was to evaluate the treatment algorithm
      at our clinic. We conducted a retrospective study including all patients 0 - 5
      years of age admitted to our department from 2008 to 2012 with isolated
      superficial or deep partial-thickness palmar burns. The mean age was 16.1 months.
      In 27 cases (52.9%) we were able to close the wound conservatively. Average
      healing time in this group was 13.3 days. Two of these 27 patients developed
      flexion contractures, but none of them required additional operation. Twenty-four
      patients were treated using split-thickness skin graft. The average time period
      from the day of injury to the day of surgery was 14.2 days. Contractures occurred
      in 5 (20.8%) of the patients who underwent grafting, Secondary reconstruction
      using full-thickness skin graft was performed in all 5 of them, which represents
      9.8% of all patients. We consider split-thickness grafting quick, easy and
      effective, with minimal to no donor site morbidity and insignificant inflammation
      complications. Due to reduced healing time after the actual grafting,
      rehabilitation can commence earlier.

PMID- 28592925
TI  - Second generation multiple reaction monitoring assays for enhanced detection of
      ultra-low abundance Mycobacterium tuberculosis peptides in human serum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent of
      Tuberculosis (TB), the number one cause of death due to an infectious disease. TB
      diagnosis is performed by microscopy, culture or PCR amplification of bacterial
      DNA, all of which require patient sputum or the biopsy of infected tissue.
      Detection of mycobacterial products in serum, as biomarkers of diagnosis or
      disease status would provide an improvement over current methods. Due to the low
      abundance of mycobacterial products in serum, we have explored exosome enrichment
      to improve sensitivity. Mtb resides intracellularly where its secreted proteins
      have been shown to be packaged into host exosomes and released into the
      bloodstream. Exosomes can be readily purified assuring an enrichment of
      mycobacterial analytes from the complex mix of host serum proteins. METHODS:
      Multiple reaction monitoring assays were optimized for the enhanced detection of
      41 Mtb peptides in exosomes purified from the serum of individuals with TB.
      Exosomes isolated from the serum of healthy individuals was used to create and
      validate a unique data analysis algorithm and identify filters to reduce the rate
      of false positives, attributed to host m/z interference. The final optimized
      method was tested in 40 exosome samples from TB positive patients. RESULTS: Our
      enhanced methods provide limit of detection and quantification averaging in the
      low femtomolar range for detection of mycobacterial products in serum. At least
      one mycobacterial peptide was identified in 92.5% of the TB positive patients.
      Four peptides from the Mtb proteins, Cfp2, Mpt32, Mpt64 and BfrB, show normalized
      total peak areas significantly higher in individuals with active TB as compared
      to healthy controls; three of the peptides from these proteins have not
      previously been associated with serum exosomes from individuals with active TB
      disease. Some of the detected peptides were significantly associated with
      specific geographical locations, highlighting potential markers that can be
      linked to the Mtb strains circulating within each given region. CONCLUSIONS: An
      enhanced MRM method to detect ultra-low abundance Mtb peptides in human serum
      exosomes is demonstrated, highlighting the potential of this methodology for TB
      diagnostic biomarker development.

PMID- 28592927
TI  - Cost-utility of burns management in Nigeria: a case study of the National
      Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu.
AB  - A major problem of burns is the high cost of management, as well as the
      discrimination and disability they can cause to patients. Maximising resource
      utilisation is of key importance for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) like
      Nigeria. There is a need to know if Nigerian patients who were victims of burns
      get the best value for money. This study aimed to evaluate the average cost of
      managing burns in Nigeria, and determine if the treatment approach is cost
      effective. The study was a cost-utility analysis from the perspective of health
      service providers in Nigeria, a case study of the National Orthopaedic Hospital
      Enugu (NOHE) using 2013 Microsoft excel. Data on the cost of burn management were
      obtained from a retrospective study conducted in NOHE in 2012 on 285 patients.
      Costs were adjusted to reflect the future (2015) value using a real interest rate
      of 3%. These costs were presented in 2015 US dollars, and a discount rate of 3%
      was used for both cost and outcome. Health outcome was presented in disability
      adjusted life years (DALYs). Based on a cost-effectiveness threshold of $2,758.4
      (i.e. representing Nigerian GDP/capita), burn management is cost-effective in
      Nigeria ($526.68/DALY averted). The result also showed that the cost of managing
      burns in Nigeria is $7,123.28 per patient, which is more than the average income.
      Burn management in Nigeria is cost-effective but too expensive for most Nigerians
      to afford.

PMID- 28592928
TI  - Comparison of six outcome prediction models in an adult burn population in a
      developing country.
AB  - There are two types of prognostic model - burn-specific and general - to predict
      mortality risk in burn patients. Most prediction models were devised in developed
      countries. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of six outcome
      models in a developing country. In a retrospective cohort study, data of all
      thermal burned adult patients (age >= 18 years) admitted to the Burn Intensive
      Care Unit (BICU) were collected and then the following six prediction models were
      used to assess each patient: Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation
      (APACHE II), Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI), Belgian Outcome in Burn
      Injury (BOBI), the Ryan model, revised Baux and FLAMES model. Discriminative
      ability and goodness-of-fit of the prediction models were determined by receiver
      operating characteristic curve analysis and Hosmer-Lemeshow tests. We included
      238 patients (mean age: 38.3 +/- 18.39 years, average TBSA: 58.27% +/- 24.55) in
      our study; 172 (72.3%) of them were diagnosed with inhalation injury and 178
      (72.4%) were intubated. Mortality rate was 69.7%. Deceased patients had
      significantly higher mean age, %TBSA and number of inhalation injury. The area
      under the curve of the models was between 64.5 (APACHE II) and 85.9 (ABSI). The
      best estimation of predicted mortality was obtained with the ABSI model (67.2%).

PMID- 28592923
TI  - Omics-based molecular techniques in oral pathology centred cancer: prospect and
      challenges in Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The completion of the human genome project and the accomplished
      milestones in the human proteome project; as well as the progress made so far in
      computational bioinformatics and "big data" processing have contributed immensely
      to individualized/personalized medicine in the developed world. MAIN BODY: At the
      dawn of precision medicine, various omics-based therapies and bioengineering can
      now be applied accurately for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and risk
      stratification of cancer in a manner that was hitherto not thought possible. The
      widespread introduction of genomics and other omics-based approaches into the
      postgraduate training curriculum of diverse medical and dental specialties,
      including pathology has improved the proficiency of practitioners in the use of
      novel molecular signatures in patient management. In addition, intricate details
      about disease disparity among different human populations are beginning to
      emerge. This would facilitate the use of tailor-made novel theranostic methods
      based on emerging molecular evidences. CONCLUSION: In this review, we examined
      the challenges and prospects of using currently available omics-based
      technologies vis-a-vis oral pathology as well as prompt cancer diagnosis and
      treatment in a resource limited setting.

PMID- 28592929
TI  - ?
AB  - Cement burn is a common cause of chemical burns in France. They usually need
      surgical treatment. This retrospective study was performed among 49 patients,
      aged 21-71 years, admitted to the St Joseph-St Luc Hospital in Lyon, France.
      Patients were mainly male, fairly young (mean 44 years) and had a professional
      activity, although burns usually occurred at home. Burns were deep, on the lower
      limbs, and were not extensive (3% TBS). All but one patient needed grafting,
      performed on d13. LOS was eight days. Seven patients had to be admitted to a
      rehabilitation centre afterwards. This study confirms the local seriousness of
      cement burns. It emphasises their socio-economic impact since they occur in job
      active patients. Education on cement hazards should be developed, targeting this
      population, who are seldom building professionals. Current regulations,
      classifying cement as an 'irritant', do not address the causticity of wet cement
      and should be amended.

PMID- 28592930
TI  - The airway in inhalational injury: diagnosis and management.
AB  - It is estimated that 13.000 to 22.000 individuals suffer from inhalational burns
      each year in the United States alone. Despite these high numbers, inhalational
      burns remain a major challenge to otolaryngologists. In this paper, a review of
      literature is presented in order to provide otolaryngologists with a systematic
      approach to patients with inhalational burns to optimize treatment, cost,
      morbidity and, most importantly, mortality. For this purpose, a broad PubMed
      search was conducted. The available literature was found to highlight the
      importance of airway management in terms of the timing of intubation, method of
      intubation, trachea-esophageal (TE) fistula formation and TE rupture. It also
      emphasizes the importance of carbon monoxide intoxication and prompt correction.
      Drugs such as heparin sulfate, N-acetylcysteine and albuterol have been proven to
      help in the treatment of patients with inhalational burns, and more research is
      currently underway with the purpose of developing chelating drugs that scavenge
      the toxic substances in the smoke before they can damage the airway.

PMID- 28592931
TI  - Burn-related factors affecting anxiety, depression and self-esteem in burn
      patients: an exploratory study.
AB  - Burns are physically, psychologically and economically challenging injuries, and
      the factors leading to them are many and under-studied. The aim of the current
      study was to assess level of anxiety, depression and self-esteem in burn
      patients, and look at various burn-related variables that affect them. This cross
      sectional study included 100 patients with burn injuries admitted to a tertiary
      care private hospital in an urban metropolis in India. The patients were assessed
      for anxiety, depression and self-esteem using the Hamilton anxiety rating scale,
      Hamilton depression rating scale and Rosenberg self-esteem scale respectively.
      Assessment was carried out within 2-8 weeks of injury following medical
      stabilization. The data was tabulated and statistically analyzed. The study
      sample was predominantly male (54%), married (69%), with a mean age of 34.1 +/-
      10.8 years. Accidental burns (94%) were the most common modality of injury. The
      majority (46%) suffered burns involving 20-59% total body surface area (TBSA),
      and facial burns were present (57%). No significant association was found between
      TBSA and anxiety, depression or self-esteem, and the same was true for facial
      burns. Deep burns, however, were significantly associated with anxiety (p=0.03)
      and depression (p=0.0002). High rates of anxiety and depression are associated
      with burn injuries and related to burn depth. Adjustment and recovery in these
      patients depends on various other factors like the patient's psychological
      status, nature/extent of the injury and ensuing medical care. Further research is
      warranted to reveal the magnitude and predictors of psychological problems in
      burn patients.

PMID- 28592932
TI  - Lactate: prognostic biomarker in severely burned patients.
AB  - Plasma lactate (PL) has been used as a marker of cellular hypoxia and shock. The
      correlation between PL and clinical outcome has been well accepted in hemorrhagic
      and septic shock. In contrast to the existing evidence, there are no or almost no
      data dealing with lactate and burn-related outcome. We attempted to assess
      whether early plasma lactate (PL) is a useful parameter to predict outcome in
      burned patients. A prospective study was conducted in a 20-bed adult burn ICU at
      a university-affiliated teaching hospital in Tunis. Patients admitted within the
      first 24h post burn with greater than 10% total body surface area (TBSA) burned
      were enrolled in the study. There were 60 males and 20 females. Mean age was 40.7
      +/- 19.5 years old, and average TBSA was 32 +/- 21%. At admission, 86.7% patients
      had an initial lactate value of more than 2 mmol/L. In our study, an initial
      lactate value of 4 mmol/L provided the best sensitivity and specificity: 88% and
      79% respectively for predicting sepsis, with an area under the ROC curve of 0,82.
      Furthermore, plasma lactate cut-off value for mortality prediction was 4.46
      mmol/l with a good sensitivity (86%) and specificity (92%). Mortality rate was
      36.25%. Plasma lactate appears to be a powerful predictor biomarker of sepsis and
      mortality in burn patients.

PMID- 28592933
TI  - Prevalence of biofilm producing aerobic bacterial isolates in burn wound
      infections at a tertiary care hospital in northern India.
AB  - Burn wounds frequently get infected due to a break in skin integrity and
      prolonged hospitalization. Microbial flora originating from the patient's own
      flora colonize and infect the burn wounds. Bacterial biofilms in particular are
      postulated as the culprit for the development of non-healing burn wounds by
      inducing chronic inflammation in these patients. In the present study, 190 wound
      isolates obtained from patients admitted to the burn ward at the Pt. B.D. Sharma
      PGIMS, Rohtak, were evaluated for biofilm formation along with Antimicrobial
      Susceptibility Testing (AST). Biofilm detection was done by modified Tissue
      Culture Plate method and AST was done by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. A
      total of 190 isolates were studied, which included Staphylococcus aureus,
      Coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter
      baumannii, Klebsiella spp., Proteus spp., Citrobacter spp., Escherichia coli and
      Enterobacter spp. Of these, 68.9% isolates showed biofilm formation. Biofilm
      formation was more common in Pseudomonas aeruginosa followed by Klebsiella spp.
      and Staphylococcus aureus. Biofilm producing isolates showed greater multidrug
      resistance than non-biofilm producers. In our study, a high rate of biofilm
      formation and antimicrobial drug resistance was seen.

PMID- 28592934
TI  - New dressing combination for the treatment of partial thickness burn injuries in
      children.
AB  - Burns are among the most common causes of injury in children. Several wound
      dressings are available to conservatively treat second-degree burns. Seventy
      three children were treated with Aquacel Ag foam and Zn-hyaluronon gel to
      determine their effectiveness on partial thickness burns. We applied silver
      nitrate solution on 25% of patients for 24 hrs, then checked burn depth. If the
      burn was superficial second degree, we applied the dressing under study. All
      dressings were removed 6-7 days later. In the remaining children we used Aquacel
      Ag foam dressing with Zn-hyaluronon gel at first intervention. The dressing was
      checked on the second day, and removed on the sixth or seventh day (unless it had
      spontaneously separated). Hot water scalds were the main cause of injury. Other
      causes included hot oil, flame and contact, among others. Wound size was on
      average 5% total body surface area. Burns were seen on all body parts, and in 38
      cases on more than one area. None of the 73 children treated with this dressing
      were diagnosed with wound infection. We observed the epithelialization of the
      burned areas on the 6th or 7th day after primary treatment. These dressings
      efficiently promote epithelialization, and a further advantage of Zn-hyaluronon
      gel is that it enhances cell regeneration and inhibits dressing fixation into the
      wound. Based on our experience, with this dressing combination we can achieve
      gentle, child-friendly and cost-effective treatment, excellent wound healing and
      favourable cosmetic results.

PMID- 28592935
TI  - Surgery on burns sequelae in developing countries.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of surgery and follow
      up of children operated on for burn sequelae. For many years, we have organized
      two missions per year to Benin and Togo, one for surgery and one for follow-up.
      We analyzed the files of children born in Africa and victims of burns from the
      years 2002 to 2011. Children were referred through a non-governmental
      organization (NGO) and assessed in Africa by local paediatricians before and
      after surgery. Treatment consisted in operating on burn sequelae such as
      contractures, hypertrophic scars and hard cords. Impaired mobility was our only
      indication for the operation. We kept a database on all patients. Sixty files
      were reviewed, of which fifty were deemed suitable for analysis. The most common
      methods of surgery were skin grafting and Z-plasty. There were no complications,
      such as infection or graft/flap necrosis after immediate surgery. Long-term
      follow-up revealed a recurrence of hypertrophic scarring (47%), retractions (24%)
      and hard cords (2%) due to a lack of occupational therapy and physiotherapy
      treatment. Partnership with an NGO and a local team allows us to treat children
      with burn injury sequelae in Western Africa. A continued and often long-lasting
      follow-up by occupational therapists and physiotherapists is highly mandatory in
      order to guarantee good long-term results. In 2010, we initiated local
      rehabilitation therapy.

PMID- 28592936
TI  - Grafting both acute wound site and adjacent donor site with the same graft: an
      easy and safe procedure to improve healing and minimize pain in elderly and
      bedridden patients.
AB  - In harvesting skin to cover the defect caused by a burn, a second wound is
      created, the donor site wound. We propose an alternative method to manage the
      donor site: taking a split-thickness skin graft (STSG) from a donor site adjacent
      to the burn wound to be treated, and meshing at a 3:1 ratio to cover both sites
      at once. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of
      covering both burn wound and adjacent donor site with the same STSG in elderly
      and bedridden patients. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 6
      patients over 60 years old or/and bedridden presenting with a small burn wound
      who underwent STSG of both burn wound and adjacent donor site between April 2016
      and November 2016 in the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burn Treatment at
      Percy Military Hospital (France). Their data were compared with data of five
      patients who had undergone the usual STSG procedure during the same period. There
      was a statistically significant difference between patients who underwent
      adjacent STSG procedure and those who underwent usual STSG procedure in healing
      time (days) mean (SD) (7,33 +/- 1,03 vs. 16,2 +/- 0,83; p = 0,007) and Numeric
      Rating Scale pain mean (SD) at day 2 (0,33 +/- 0,33 vs. 2,4 +/- 1,35; p = 0,04).
      Grafting both acute burn wound and adjacent donor site with the same graft seems
      to be an easy method to improve healing and minimize pain in the STSG donor site
      in elderly and bedridden patients.

PMID- 28592937
TI  - The pedicled groin flap in resurfacing hand burn scar release and other injuries:
      a five-case series report and review of the literature.
AB  - XX.

PMID- 28592938
TI  - Thermal burn in a 30-minute-old newborn: report on the youngest patient with
      iatrogenic burn injury.
AB  - Burns in infants are rare. The majority of neonatal burns occur in the hospital
      setting. The immaturity of their immune system, their fragile and thin skin,
      difficulties in resuscitation, engraftment paucity limited by donor sites, and
      long-term complications make taking care of burned newborns extremely difficult.
      We present the case of a newborn burned 30 minutes after his birth over a total
      body surface of 35%, when the hot water bottle used in the hospital accidentally
      burst. This is the earliest iatrogenic burn in a newborn reported to date. The
      newborn was discharged home after 30 days in hospital for resuscitation,
      dressings and skin grafting. He is now under regular observation.

PMID- 28592939
TI  - Ashura: a festival of charity associated with a serious and disabling eye injury
      (report of 12 cases).

PMID- 28592940
TI  - MBC News.

PMID- 28592942
TI  - Reaction of Global Collection of Rye (Secale cereale L.) to Tan Spot and
      Pyrenophora tritici-repentis Races in South Dakota.
AB  - Rye (Secale cereale L.) serves as an alternative host of Pyrenophora tritici
      repentis (PTR) the cause of tan spot on wheat. Rye is cultivated as a forage or
      cover crop and overlaps with a significant portion of wheat acreage in the U.S.
      northern Great Plains; however, it is not known whether the rye crop influences
      the evolution of PTR races. We evaluated a global collection of 211 rye
      accessions against tan spot and assessed the diversity in PTR population on rye
      in South Dakota. All the rye genotypes were inoculated with PTR races 1 and 5,
      and infiltrated with Ptr ToxA and Ptr ToxB, at seedling stage. We observed 21% of
      the genotypes exhibited susceptibility to race 1, whereas, 39% were susceptible
      to race 5. All 211 accessions were insensitive to both the Ptr toxins. It
      indicates that though rye exhibits diversity in reaction to tan spot, it lacks
      Ptr ToxA and ToxB sensitivity genes. This suggests that unknown toxins or other
      factors can lead to PTR establishment in rye. We characterized the race structure
      of 103 PTR isolates recovered from rye in South Dakota. Only 22% of the isolates
      amplified Ptr ToxA gene and were identified as race 1 based on their phenotypic
      reaction on the differential set. The remaining 80 isolates were noted to be race
      4. Our results show that races 1 and 4 are prevalent on rye in South Dakota with
      a higher frequency of race 4, suggesting a minimal role of rye in the disease
      epidemiology.

PMID- 28592943
TI  - Identification and Characterization of Pathogenic and Endophytic Fungal Species
      Associated with Pokkah Boeng Disease of Sugarcane.
AB  - Pokkah Boeng is a serious disease of sugarcane, which can lead to devastating
      yield losses in crop-producing regions, including southern China. However, there
      is still uncertainty about the causal agent of the disease. Our aim was to
      isolate and characterize the pathogen through morphological, physiological, and
      molecular analyses. We isolated sugarcane-colonizing fungi in Fujian, China.
      Isolated fungi were first assessed for their cell wall degrading enzyme
      capabilities, and five isolates were identified for further analysis. Internal
      transcribed spacer sequencing revealed that these five strains are Fusarium,
      Alternaria, Phoma, Phomopsis, and Epicoccum. The Fusarium isolate was further
      identified as F. verticillioides after Calmodulin and EF-1alpha gene sequencing
      and microscopic morphology study. Pathogenicity assay confirmed that F.
      verticillioides was directly responsible for disease on sugarcane. Co-inoculation
      of F. verticillioides with other isolated fungi did not lead to a significant
      difference in disease severity, refuting the idea that other cellulolytic fungi
      can increase disease severity as an endophyte. This is the first report
      characterizing pathogenic F. verticillioides on sugarcane in southern China.

PMID- 28592944
TI  - Potential Reasons for Prevalence of Fusarium Wilt in Oriental Melon in Korea.
AB  - This study aims to examine the potential reasons for the current prevalence of
      the fusarium wilt in the oriental melon. Twenty-seven Fusarium isolates obtained
      from oriental melon greenhouses in 2010-2011 were identified morphologically and
      by analysis of elongation factor-1 alpha gene (EF-1alpha) and internal
      transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences as 6 Fusarium species (8 isolates of F.
      oxysporum, 8 F. commune, 5 F. proliferatum, 3 F. equiseti, 2 F. delphinoides, and
      1 F. andiyazi), which were classified as same into 6 EF-1alpha sequence-based
      phylogenetic clades. Pathogenicity of the Fusarium isolates on the oriental melon
      was highest in F. proliferatum, next in F. oxysporum and F. andiyazi, and lowest
      in the other Fusarium species tested, suggesting F. proliferatum and F. oxysporum
      were major pathogens of the oriental melon, inducing stem rots and vascular
      wilts, respectively. Oriental melon and watermelon were more susceptible to F.
      oxysporum than shintosa and cucumber; and cucumber was most, oriental melon and
      watermelon, medially, and shintosa was least susceptible to F. proliferatum,
      whose virulence varied among and within their phylogenetic subclades. Severe root
      knot galls were formed on all the crops infected with Meloidogyne incognita;
      however, little indication of vascular wilts or stem and/or root rots was shown
      by the nematode infection. These results suggest the current fungal disease in
      the oriental melon may be rarely due to virulence changes of the fusarium wilt
      pathogen and the direct cause of the severe root-knot nematode infection, but may
      be potentially from other Fusarium pathogen infection that produces seemingly
      wilting caused by severe stem rotting.

PMID- 28592941
TI  - The Plant Cellular Systems for Plant Virus Movement.
AB  - Plasmodesmata (PDs) are specialized intercellular channels that facilitate the
      exchange of various molecules, including sugars, ribonucleoprotein complexes,
      transcription factors, and mRNA. Their diameters, estimated to be 2.5 nm in the
      neck region, are too small to transfer viruses or viral genomes. Tobacco mosaic
      virus and Potexviruses are the most extensively studied viruses. In viruses, the
      movement protein (MP) is responsible for the PD gating that allows the
      intercellular movement of viral genomes. Various host factors interact with MP to
      regulate complicated mechanisms related to PD gating. Virus replication and
      assembly occur in viral replication complex (VRC) with membrane association,
      especially in the endoplasmic reticulum. VRC have a highly organized structure
      and are highly regulated by interactions among the various host factors, proteins
      encoded by the viral genome, and the viral genome. Virus trafficking requires
      host machineries, such as the cytoskeleton and the secretory systems. MP
      facilitates the virus replication and movement process. Despite the current level
      of understanding of virus movement, there are still many unknown and complex
      interactions between virus replication and virus movement. While numerous studies
      have been conducted to understand plant viruses with regards to cell-to-cell
      movement and replication, there are still many knowledge gaps. To study these
      interactions, adequate research tools must be used such as molecular, and
      biochemical techniques. Without such tools, virologists will not be able to gain
      an accurate or detailed understanding of the virus infection process.

PMID- 28592946
TI  - Characterization of the rcsA Gene from Pantoea sp. Strain PPE7 and Its Influence
      on Extracellular Polysaccharide Production and Virulence on Pleurotus eryngii.
AB  - RcsA is a positive activator of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) synthesis in
      the Enterobacteriaceae. The rcsA gene of the soft rot pathogen Pantoea sp. strain
      PPE7 in Pleurotus eryngii was cloned by PCR amplification, and its role in EPS
      synthesis and virulence was investigated. The RcsA protein contains 3 highly
      conserved domains, and the C-terminal end of the open reading frame shared
      significant amino acid homology to the helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif of
      bacterial activator proteins. The inactivation of rcsA by insertional mutagenesis
      created mutants that had decreased production of EPS compared to the wild-type
      strain and abolished the virulence of Pantoea sp. strain PPE7 in P. eryngii. The
      Pantoea sp. strain PPE7 rcsA gene was shown to strongly affect the formation of
      the disease symptoms of a mushroom pathogen and to act as the virulence factor to
      cause soft rot disease in P. eryngii.

PMID- 28592947
TI  - Efficacy of Tissue Culture in Virus Elimination from Caprifig and Female Fig
      Varieties (Ficus carica L.).
AB  - Fig mosaic disease (FMD) is a viral disease that spreads in all Tunisian fig
      (Ficus carica L.) orchards. RT-PCR technique was applied to leaf samples of 29
      fig accessions of 15 fig varieties from the fig germplasm collection of High
      Agronomic Institute (I.S.A) of Chatt-Mariem, to detect viruses associated to FMD.
      Analysis results show that 65.5% of the accessions (19/29) and 80.0% (12/15) of
      the fig varieties are infected by FMD-associated viruses. From all fig
      accessions, 41.4% of them are with single infection (one virus) and 24.1% are
      with multi-infections (2 virus and more). Viruses infecting fig leaf samples are
      Fig mosaic virus (FMV) (20.7%), Fig milde-mottle-associated virus (FMMaV)
      (17.25%), Fig fleck associated virus (FFkaV) (3.45%), and Fig cryptic virus (FCV)
      (55.17%). A reliable protocol for FCV and FMMaV elimination from 4 local fig
      varieties Zidi (ZDI), Soltani (SNI), Bither Abiadh (BA), and Assafri (ASF) via in
      vitro culture of 3 meristem sizes was established and optimized. With this
      protocol, global sanitation rates of 79.46%, 65.55%, 68.75%, and 70.83%
      respectively for ZDI, SNI, BA, and ASF are achieved. For all sanitized varieties,
      the effectiveness of meristem culture for the elimination of FCV and FMMaV
      viruses was related to meristem size. Meristem size 0.5 mm provides the highest
      sanitation rates ranging from 70% to 90%.

PMID- 28592945
TI  - Defense Response and Suppression of Phytophthora Blight Disease of Pepper by
      Water Extract from Spent Mushroom Substrate of Lentinula edodes.
AB  - The spent mushroom substrate (SMS) of Lentinula edodes that was derived from
      sawdust bag cultivation was used as materials for controlling Phytophthora blight
      disease of pepper. Water extract from SMS (WESMS) of L. edodes inhibited mycelial
      growth of Phytophthora capsici, suppressed Phytophthora blight disease of pepper
      seedlings by 65% and promoted growth of the plant over 30%. In high performance
      liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis, oxalic acid was detected as the main
      organic acid compound in WESMS and inhibited the fungal mycelium at a minimum
      concentration of 200 mg/l. In quantitative real-time PCR, the transcriptional
      expression of CaBPR1 (PR protein 1), CaBGLU (beta-1,3-glucanase), CaPR-4 (PR
      protein 4), and CaPR-10 (PR protein 10) were significantly enhanced on WESMS and
      DL-beta-aminobutyric acid (BABA) treated pepper leaves. In addition, the
      salicylic acid content was also increased 4 to 6 folds in the WESMS and BABA
      treated pepper leaves compared to water treated leaf sample. These findings
      suggest that WESMS of L. edodes suppress Phytophthora blight disease of pepper
      through multiple effects including antifungal activity, plant growth promotion,
      and defense gene induction.

PMID- 28592948
TI  - Occurrence and Evolutionary Analysis of Coat Protein Gene Sequences of Iranian
      Isolates of Sugarcane mosaic virus.
AB  - Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) is one of the most damaging viruses infecting
      sugarcane, maize and some other graminaceous species around the world. To
      investigate the genetic diversity of SCMV in Iran, the coat protein (CP) gene
      sequences of 23 SCMV isolates from different hosts were determined. The
      nucleotide sequence identity among Iranian isolates was more than 96%. They
      shared nucleotide identities of 75.5-99.9% with those of other SCMV isolates
      available in GenBank, the highest with the Egyptian isolate EGY7-1 (97.5-99.9%).
      The results of phylogenetic analysis suggested five divergent evolutionary
      lineages that did not completely reflect the geographical origin or host plant of
      the isolates. Population genetic analysis revealed greater between-group than
      within-group evolutionary divergence values, further supporting the results of
      the phylogenetic analysis. Our results indicated that natural selection might
      have contributed to the evolution of isolates belonging to the five identified
      SCMV groups, with infrequent genetic exchanges occurring between them.
      Phylogenetic analyses and the estimation of genetic distance indicated that
      Iranian isolates have low genetic diversity. No recombination was found in the CP
      cistron of Iranian isolates and the CP gene was under negative selection. These
      findings provide a comprehensive analysis of the population structure and driving
      forces for the evolution of SCMV with implications for global exchange of
      sugarcane germplasm. Gene flow, selection and somehow homologous recombination
      were found to be the important evolutionary factors shaping the genetic structure
      of SCMV populations.

PMID- 28592949
TI  - Development of Multiplex PCR for Simultaneous Detection of Citrus Viruses and the
      Incidence of Citrus Viral Diseases in Late-Maturity Citrus Trees in Jeju Island.
AB  - Satsuma dwarf virus (SDV) or Citrus mosaic sadwavirus (CiMV) were not
      consistently detected in RT-PCR assay with the primer sets based on gene of Japan
      isolates. SDV and CiMV isolates were distinctively divided into two groups based
      on phylogenetic analysis of PP2 gene cloned from 22 Korean isolates, and the
      Korean CiMV and SDV isolates shared 95.5-96.2% and 97.1-97.7% sequence identity
      with Japanese isolate, respectively. We developed PP2-1 primer set based on the
      PP2 gene sequence of Korean isolates to simultaneously and effectively detect SDV
      and CiMV. And CTLV-2013 and CTV-po primer sets were newly designed for detection
      of Citrus tatter leaf virus (CTLV) and Citrus tristeza virus (CTV), respectively.
      Using these primer sets, a new multiplex PCR assay was developed as a means to
      simultaneously detect 4 citrus viruses, CTV, CTLV, SDV, and CiMV. The degree of
      detection by the multiplex PCR were consistent with those of uniplex RT-PCR for
      detection of each of the viruses. Therefore, the new multiplex PCR provides an
      efficient method for detecting 4 citrus viruses, which will help diagnose many
      citrus plants at the same time. We verified that 35.2% and 72.1% of 775 trees in
      155 orchards were infected with SDV or CiMV (SDV/CiMV) and CTV by the multiplex
      PCR assay, respectively, and CTLV was not detected in any of the trees tested.

PMID- 28592950
TI  - Purification and Characterization of a Major Extracellular Chitinase from a
      Biocontrol Bacterium, Paenibacillus elgii HOA73.
AB  - Chitinase-producing Paenibacillus elgii strain HOA73 has been used to control
      plant diseases. However, the antimicrobial activity of its extracellular
      chitinase has not been fully elucidated. The major extracellular chitinase gene
      (PeChi68) from strain HOA73 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli in this
      study. This gene had an open reading frame of 2,028 bp, encoding a protein of 675
      amino acid residues containing a secretion signal peptide, a chitin-binding
      domain, two fibronectin type III domains, and a catalytic hydrolase domain. The
      chitinase (PeChi68) purified from recombinant E. coli exhibited a molecular mass
      of approximately 68 kDa on SDS-PAGE. Biochemical analysis indicated that optimum
      temperature for the actitvity of purified chitinase was 50oC. However, it was
      inactivated with time when it was incubated at 40oC and 50oC. Its optimum
      activity was found at pH 7, although its activity was stable when incubated
      between pH 3 and pH 11. Heavy metals inhibited this chitinase. This purified
      chitinase completely inhibited spore germination of two Cladosporium isolates and
      partially inhibited germination of Botrytis cinerea spores. However, it had no
      effect on the spores of a Colletotricum isolate. These results indicate that the
      extracellular chitinase produced by P. elgii HOA73 might have function in
      limiting spore germination of certain fungal pathogens.

PMID- 28592951
TI  - Application of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi during the Acclimatization of Alpinia
      purpurata to Induce Tolerance to Meloidogyne arenaria.
AB  - An experiment was conducted to evaluate the tolerance of micropropagated and
      mycorrhized alpinia plants to the parasite Meloidogyne arenaria. The experimental
      design was completely randomized with a factorial arrangement of four inoculation
      treatments with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Gigaspora albida,
      Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Acaulospora longula, and a non-inoculated control) in
      the presence or absence of M. arenaria with five replicates. The following
      characteristics were evaluated after 270 days of mycorrhization and 170 days of
      M. arenaria inoculation: height, number of leaves and tillers, fresh mass of
      aerial and subterranean parts, dry mass of aerial parts, foliar area, nutritional
      content, mycorrhizal colonization, AMF sporulation, and the number of galls, egg
      masses, and eggs. The results indicated a significant interaction between the
      treatments for AMF spore density, total mycorrhizal colonization, and nutrient
      content (Zn, Na, and N), while the remaining parameters were influenced by either
      AMF or nematodes. Plants inoculated with A. longula or C. etunicatum exhibited
      greater growth than the control. Lower N content was observed in plants
      inoculated with AMF, while Zn and Na were found in larger quantities in plants
      inoculated with C. etunicatum. Fewer galls were observed on mycorrhized plants,
      and egg mass production and the number of eggs were lower in plants inoculated
      with G. albida. Plants inoculated with A. longula showed a higher percentage of
      total mycorrhizal colonization in the presence of the nematode. Therefore, the
      association of micropropagated alpinia plants and A. longula enhanced tolerance
      to parasitism by M. arenaria.

PMID- 28592952
TI  - Development of a Biofungicide Using a Mycoparasitic Fungus Simplicillium
      lamellicola BCP and Its Control Efficacy against Gray Mold Diseases of Tomato and
      Ginseng.
AB  - To develop a commercial product using the mycoparasitic fungus Simplicillium
      lamellicola BCP, the scaleup of conidia production from a 5-l jar to a 5,000-l
      pilot bioreactor, optimization of the freeze-drying of the fermentation broth,
      and preparation of a wettable powder-type formulation were performed. Then, its
      disease control efficacy was evaluated against gray mold diseases of tomato and
      ginseng plants in field conditions. The final conidial yields of S. lamellicola
      BCP were 3.3 * 109 conidia/ml for a 5-l jar, 3.5 * 109 conidia/ml for a 500-l
      pilot vessel, and 3.1 * 109 conidia/ml for a 5,000-l pilot bioreactor. The
      conidial yield in the 5,000-l pilot bioreactor was comparable to that in the 5-l
      jar and 500-l pilot vessel. On the other hand, the highest conidial viability of
      86% was obtained by the freeze-drying method using an additive combination of
      lactose, trehalose, soybean meal, and glycerin. Using the freeze-dried sample, a
      wettable powder-type formulation (active ingredient 10%; BCP-WP10) was prepared.
      A conidial viability of more than 50% was maintained in BCP-WP10 until 22 weeks
      for storage at 40 degrees C. BCP-WP10 effectively suppressed the development of
      gray mold disease on tomato with control efficacies of 64.7% and 82.6% at 500-
      and 250-fold dilutions, respectively. It also reduced the incidence of gray mold
      on ginseng by 65.6% and 81.3% at 500- and 250-fold dilutions, respectively. The
      results indicated that the new microbial fungicide BCP-WP10 can be used widely to
      control gray mold diseases of various crops including tomato and ginseng.

PMID- 28592953
TI  - Efficient Transmission and Propagation of Tomato Chlorosis Virus by Simple Single
      Leaflet Grafting.
AB  - Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), a member of the genus Crinivirus, has caused an
      epidemic disease in tomato worldwide. ToCV is phloem-limited and transmitted by
      whiteflies in a semi-persistent manner, but not by mechanical inoculation.
      Experimental propagation of ToCV has been performed primarily by using whitefly
      mediated inoculation. To develop a simple and convenient method for transmission
      of ToCV, we investigated grafting single-leaflets from tomato plants infected
      with ToCV to recipient tomato seedlings. Forty-one of 46 tomato seedlings tested
      were grafted successfully with single-leaflets infected with ToCV. Among them, 36
      seedlings (87.8%) were systemically infected with ToCV and developed typical
      symptoms. Our results demonstrated that single-leaflet grafting could provide a
      sufficient amount of inoculum for the transmission of ToCV to the grafted
      seedlings.

PMID- 28592955
TI  - Atrial fibrillation in the elderly.

PMID- 28592956
TI  - Prevalence and incidence of interatrial block in global population and in
      different clinical situations.

PMID- 28592954
TI  - Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in waters: occurrence, toxicity, and
      risk.
AB  - Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) are compounds with special
      physical and chemical properties that address the care of animal and human
      health. PPCP have been detected in surface water and wastewater in the ng/L to
      ug/L concentration range worldwide. PPCP ecotoxicity has been studied in a
      variety of organisms, and multiple methods have been used to assess the risk of
      PPCP in the environment to ecological health. Here we review the occurrence,
      effects, and risk assessment of PPCP in aquatic systems, as well as the
      sustainability of current methods for managing PPCP contamination in aquatic
      systems. The major points are the following: (1) a number of PPCP present
      potential concerns at environmentally relevant concentrations. PPCP mixtures may
      produce synergistic toxicity. (2) Various methods have been used for the
      ecological risk assessment of PPCP in aquatic systems. There are similarities in
      these methods, but no consensus has emerged regarding best practices for the
      ecological risk assessment of these compounds. (3) Human health risk assessments
      of PPCP contamination in aquatic systems have generally indicated little cause
      for concern. However, there is a lack of information regarding whether antibiotic
      contamination in wastewater and aquatic systems could lead to an increase in
      clinically relevant antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes.
      (4) Over the next century, the combination of increasing global population size
      and potential droughts may result in reduced water availability, increased need
      for water reuse, and increasing concentrations of PPCP in wastewaters. The
      current wastewater treatment methods do not remove all PPCP effectively. This,
      coupled with the possibility that antibiotics may promote the development of
      antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes, leads to concerns
      about the sustainability of global water supplies.

PMID- 28592957
TI  - Diagnosis of interatrial block.

PMID- 28592958
TI  - Anticoagulation in elderly patients at high risk of atrial fibrillation without
      documented arrhythmias.

PMID- 28592959
TI  - Advanced interatrial block as a key marker for atrial fibrillation recurrence:
      Bayes' syndrome.

PMID- 28592960
TI  - Atrial fibrosis: an obligatory component of arrhythmia mechanisms in atrial
      fibrillation?

PMID- 28592961
TI  - Predisposing factors for atrial fibrillation in the elderly.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) in the elderly occurs as a consequence of cardiovascular
      aging and an age related increase of comorbidity. Several predisposing factors
      for AF have been identified for the overall AF population. Most of them,
      cardiovascular disease in particular, play a role in younger and older patients.
      The longer time period during which these risk factors can cause structural
      changes that ultimately lead to AF may, at least in part, explain the association
      between age and AF. In addition, less well defined age-related changes in
      cellular electrophysiologic properties and structure predispose to AF in the
      elderly.

PMID- 28592962
TI  - How to detect atrial fibrosis.
AB  - In the last twenty years, new imaging techniques to assess atrial function and to
      predict the risk of recurrence of atrial fibrillation after treatment have been
      developed. The present review deals with the role of these techniques in the
      detection of structural and functional changes of the atrium and diagnosis of
      atrial remodeling, particularly atrial fibrosis. Echocardiography allows the
      detection of anatomical, functional changes and deformation of the atrial wall
      during the phases of the cardiac cycle. For this, adequate acquisition of atrial
      images is necessary using speckle tracking imaging and interpretation of the
      resulting strain and strain rate curves. This allows to predict new-onset atrial
      fibrillation and recurrences. Its main limitations are inter-observer
      variability, the existence of different software manufacturers, and the fact that
      the software used were originally developed for the evaluation of the ventricular
      function and are now applied to the atria. Cardiac magnetic resonance, using
      contrast enhancement with gadolinium, plays a key role in the visualization and
      quantification of atrial fibrosis. This is the established method for in vivo
      visualization of myocardial fibrotic tissue. The non-invasive evaluation of
      atrial fibrosis is associated with the risk of recurrence of atrial fibrillation
      and with electro-anatomical endocardial mapping. We discuss the limitations of
      these techniques, derived from the difficulty of demonstrating the correlation
      between fibrosis imaging and histology, and poor intra- and inter-observer
      reproducibility. The sources of discordance are described, mainly due to image
      acquisition and processing, and the challenges ahead in an attempt to eliminate
      differences between operators.

PMID- 28592964
TI  - A rare case of single right coronary artery arising from the right sinus of
      Valsalva with severe three-vessel disease.

PMID- 28592963
TI  - Atrial fibrillation: the current epidemic.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia diagnosed in clinical
      practice. The consequences of AF have been clearly established in multiple large
      observational cohort studies and include increased stroke and systemic embolism
      rates if no oral anticoagulation is prescribed, with increased morbidity and
      mortality. With the worldwide aging of the population characterized by a large
      influx of "baby boomers" with or without risk factors for developing AF, an
      epidemic is forecasted within the next 10 to 20 years. Although not all studies
      support this evidence, it is clear that AF is on the rise and a significant
      amount of health resources are invested in detecting and managing AF. This review
      focuses on the worldwide burden of AF and reviews global health strategies
      focused on improving detection, prevention and risk stratification of AF,
      recently recommended by the World Heart Federation.

PMID- 28592965
TI  - Is there any link between homocysteine and atherosclerosis?

PMID- 28592966
TI  - Patient satisfaction with TB care clinical consultations in Kampala: a cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction towards care during encounter with clinicians is
      key for better treatment outcomes. We assessed patient satisfaction with TB
      clinical care consultations in Kampala, Uganda. METHODS: This was a facility
      based cross sectional study done between September 2012 and February 2013 using
      qualitative method of data collection. Participants consecutively completed a pre
      tested structured satisfaction questionnaire. A criteria of the rating as good;
      >75% was considered acceptable, (50-75%) as more effort is needed and <50 as
      unacceptable and require immediate action was used to categorize data for
      analysis using Epi-info 7.1.4.0. RESULTS: Of the 260 registered TB patients,
      178(68.5%) completed the questionnaire. Overall, 162 (91.0%) were satisfied with
      the clinical consultation. Factors that contributed to high patient satisfaction,
      were: time spent with clinician (85.4%), explanation of what was done (87.6%),
      technical skills (91.6%), personal manner of the clinician seen (91.6%). Factors
      for low satisfaction were; waiting time before getting an appointment (61.8%),
      convenience of location of consultation office (53.4%), getting through to the
      office by phone (21.3%) and length of time waiting at the office (61.2%).
      CONCLUSION: Tuberculosis patients in Kampala are satisfied with TB clinical care
      consultations. Addressing factors with low patient satisfaction may significantly
      impact on treatment outcome.

PMID- 28592967
TI  - Nomogram Prediction of Anastomotic Leakage and Determination of an Effective
      Surgical Strategy for Reducing Anastomotic Leakage after Laparoscopic Rectal
      Cancer Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although many surgical strategies have been used to reduce the
      anastomotic leak (AL) rate after laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery, limited data
      are available on the risk factors for AL and the effective strategy to reduce AL.
      METHODS: The present study enrolled 736 consecutive patients who underwent
      laparoscopic resection without a diverting stoma for rectal adenocarcinoma. A
      nomogram was constructed to predict AL. Based on the nomogram, personalized risk
      was calculated and sequential surgical strategies were monitored using risk
      adjusted cumulative sum (RA-CUSUM) analysis. RESULTS: Among the 736 patients,
      clinical AL occurred in 65 patients (8.8%). Sex, an American Society of
      Anesthesiologists score, operation time, blood transfusion, and tumor location
      were identified as significant predictive factors for AL. Based on these factors,
      a nomogram was created to predict AL, with a concordance index (C-index) of 0.753
      (95% confidence interval, 0.690-0.816). A calibration plot showed good
      statistical performance on internal validation (bias-corrected C-index of 0.742).
      The RA-CUSUM curve showed that extended splenic flexure mobilization (SFM) could
      be the most influential strategy to reduce AL. CONCLUSIONS: Our nomogram for
      predicting AL after laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery might be helpful to
      identify the individual risk of AL. Furthermore, extended SFM might be the most
      appropriate strategy for reducing AL.

PMID- 28592968
TI  - Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection of Gastric Epithelial Neoplasms after Partial
      Gastrectomy: A Single-Center Experience.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the feasibility and safety of endoscopic submucosal
      dissection (ESD) of gastric epithelial neoplasms in the remnant stomach (GEN-RS)
      after various types of partial gastrectomy. METHODS: This study included 29
      patients (31 lesions) who underwent ESD for GEN-RS between March 2006 and August
      2016. Clinicopathologic data were retrieved retrospectively to assess the
      therapeutic ESD outcomes, including en bloc and complete resection rates and
      procedure-related adverse events. RESULTS: The en bloc, complete, and curative
      resection rates were 90%, 77%, and 71%, respectively. The types of previous
      gastrectomy, tumor size, macroscopic type, and tumor histology were not
      associated with incomplete resection. Only tumors involving the suture lines from
      the prior partial gastrectomy were significantly associated with incomplete
      resection. The procedure-related bleeding and perforation rates were 6% and 3%,
      respectively; none of the adverse events required surgical intervention. During a
      median follow-up period of 25 months (range, 6-58 months), there was no
      recurrence in any case. CONCLUSIONS: ESD is a safe and feasible treatment for GEN
      RS regardless of the previous gastrectomy type. However, the complete resection
      rate decreases for lesions involving the suture lines.

PMID- 28592969
TI  - Corrigendum to "Pharmacogenetics of Risperidone and Cardiovascular Risk in
      Children and Adolescents".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/5872423.].

PMID- 28592971
TI  - Formulation Development of High Strength Gel System and Evaluation on Profile
      Control Performance for High Salinity and Low Permeability Fractured Reservoir.
AB  - For the large pores and cracks of reservoirs with low temperatures, high
      salinity, and low permeability, a new type of high strength gel ABP system is
      developed in this paper. The defects of conventional gels such as weak gel
      strength, no gelling, and easy dehydration are overcome under the conditions of
      low temperature and high salinity. The temperature and salt resistance, plugging
      characteristics, and EOR of the gel system are studied. Under the condition of 32
      degrees C and 29500 mg/L salinity, the ABP system formulation is for 0.3%
      crosslinking agent A + 0.09% coagulant B + 3500 mg/L polymer solution P. The
      results show that when the temperature was increased, the delayed crosslinking
      time of the system was shortened and the gel strength was increased. The good
      plugging characteristics of the ABP system were reached, and the plugging rate
      was greater than 99% in cores with different permeability. A good profile control
      performance was achieved, and the recovery rate was improved by 19.27% on the
      basis of water flooding. In the practical application of the gel system, the
      salinity of formation water and the permeability of fractures are necessary to
      determine the appropriate formulation.

PMID- 28592970
TI  - LPS from P. gingivalis Negatively Alters Gingival Cell Mitochondrial
      Bioenergetics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Oral inflammatory pathologies are linked to increased oxidative
      stress, thereby partly explaining their relevance in the etiology of systemic
      disorders. The purpose of this work was to determine the degree to which LPS from
      Porphyromonas gingivalis, the primary pathogen related to oral inflammation,
      altered gingival mitochondrial function and reactive oxygen species generation.
      METHODS: Human gingival fibroblast (HGF-1) cells were treated with
      lipopolysaccharide of P. gingivalis. Mitochondrial function was determined via
      high-resolution respirometry. P GINGIVALIS: Mitochondrial function was determined
      via high-resolution respirometry. RESULTS: LPS-treated HGF-1 cells had
      significantly higher mitochondrial complex IV and higher rates of mitochondrial
      respiration. However, this failed to translate into greater ATP production, as
      ATP production was paradoxically diminished with LPS treatment. Nevertheless,
      production of the reactive H2O2 was elevated with LPS treatment. CONCLUSIONS: LPS
      elicits an increase in gingival cell mitochondria content, with a subsequent
      increase in reactive oxygen species production (i.e., H2O2), despite a
      paradoxical reduction in ATP generation. These findings provide an insight into
      the nature of oxidative stress in oral inflammatory pathologies.

PMID- 28592972
TI  - Fabrication of Polycaprolactone/Polyurethane Loading Conjugated Linoleic Acid and
      Its Antiplatelet Adhesion.
AB  - Polycaprolactone/polyurethane (PCL/PU) fibrous scaffold was loaded with
      conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) by electrospinning method to improve the
      hemocompatibility of the polymeric surface. Fourier Transform Infrared
      Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observation
      were employed to characterize the chemical structure and the changing morphology
      of electrospun PCL/PU and PCL/PU loaded with CLA (PCL/PU-CLA) scaffolds. Platelet
      adhesion and whole blood clot formation tests were used to evaluate the effect of
      CLA on antithrombotic property of PCL/PU-CLA scaffold. Endothelial cells (EC)
      were also seeded on the scaffold to examine the difference in the morphology of
      EC layer and platelet attachment with and without the presence of CLA. SEM
      results showed that CLA supported the spreading and proliferation of EC and
      PCL/PU-CLA surface induced lower platelet adhesion as well as attachment of other
      blood cells compared to the PCL/PU one. These results suggest that
      electrospinning method can successfully combine the antiplatelet effects of CLA
      to improve hemocompatibility of PCL/PU scaffolds for applications in artificial
      blood vessels.

PMID- 28592973
TI  - Exploring the Concern about Food Allergies among Secondary School and University
      Students in Ontario, Canada: A Descriptive Analysis.
AB  - Our objective was to explore the perceived risk of food allergies among students
      in Ontario, Canada. We analyzed blinding questions ("I am concerned about food
      allergies"; "food allergies are currently a big threat to my health") from three
      existing food safety surveys, given to high school and university undergraduate
      students (n = 3,451) circa February 2015, using descriptive analysis, and
      explored how concern related to demographics and self-reported cooking ability
      using linear regression. Overall, high school students were neutral in their
      concern, although Food and Nutrition students specifically were significantly
      less concerned (p = 0.002) than high school students overall. University
      undergraduates were moderately unconcerned about food allergies. Concern was
      highest in younger students, decreasing between 13 and 18 years of age and
      plateauing between 19 and 23 years. Among students aged 13-18 years, concern was
      higher among those who worked or volunteered in a daycare and who had previously
      taken a food preparation course. Among students aged 19-23 years, concern was
      higher among females and those with less advanced cooking abilities. Concern was
      significantly correlated with perceiving food allergies as a personal threat.
      This study offers a first exploration of perceived risk of food allergies among
      this demographic and can guide future, more rigorous assessments.

PMID- 28592974
TI  - Clitoral size in term newborns in Kumasi, Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on normative clitoral sizes in newborns is relatively sparse and
      racial/ethnic differences have also been reported. This study was performed to
      establish norms for clitoral size in term Ghanaian female newborns. METHODS: This
      was a cross-sectional study of all apparently well full-term newborns of
      postnatal age < 48 h and birth weight between 2.5 and 4.0 kg delivered at Komfo
      Anokye Teaching Hospital between May and September, 2014. Anthropometric and
      genital parameters were documented for study subjects as well as parental socio
      demographic indices. RESULTS: In 612 newborn females studied, the mean (+/-SD)
      clitoral length (MCL) and the mean (+/-SD) clitoral width (MCW) were 4.13 +/- 1.6
      mm and 4.21 +/- 1.1 mm, respectively. MCL was inversely related to birth weight
      (r = -0.62; p < 0.001 ) while MCW was inversely related to both gestational age
      (r = -0.1; p = 0.02 ) and birth weight (r = -0.54; p < 0.001 ). Babies with a
      clitoris that was completely covered by the labia majora had relatively lower
      clitoral sizes (p < 0.001) than those who had a partially covered or prominent
      clitoris. Neither MCL nor MCW differed significantly by birth length or maternal
      tribe. CONCLUSIONS: Clitoral size varies with birth weight and gestational age.
      Babies with a completely covered clitoris are unlikely to warrant detailed
      clitoral measurements for clitoromegaly.

PMID- 28592975
TI  - Prognostic factors and treatment of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - The event-free survival (EFS) for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
      has shown remarkable improvement in the past several decades. In Korea also, a
      recent study showed 10-year EFS of 78.5%. Much of the improved outcome for
      pediatric ALL stems from the accurate identification of prognostic factors, the
      designation of risk group based on these factors, and treatment of appropriate
      duration and intensity according to risk group, done within the setting of
      cooperative clinical trials. The schema of first-line therapy for ALL remains
      mostly unchanged, although many groups have now reported on the elimination of
      cranial irradiation in all patients with low rates of central nervous system
      relapse. Specific high risk subgroups, such as Philadelphia chromosome-positive
      (Ph+) ALL and infant ALL continue to have significantly lower survival than other
      ALL patients. The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors into therapy has led
      to enhanced outcome for Ph+ ALL patients. Infant ALL patients, particularly those
      with MLL rearrangements, continue to have poor outcome, despite treatment
      intensification including allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Relapsed
      ALL is a leading cause of mortality in pediatric cancer. Recent advances in
      immunotherapy targeting the CD19 of the ALL blast have shown remarkable efficacy
      in some of these relapsed and refractory patients. With improved survival, much
      of the current focus is on decreasing the long-term toxicities of treatment.

PMID- 28592976
TI  - Healthcare access challenges facing six African refugee mothers in South Korea: a
      qualitative multiple-case study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Following legal reform in 2013, the annual number of asylum seekers
      entering South Korea has increased from 1,143 in 2012 to 5,711 in 2015. We
      interviewed six African refugee mothers of young children regarding their health
      needs and barriers to access maternal child health services. METHODS: We
      recruited mothers who had visited a clinic for immigrants between July 2013 and
      August 2015. Participants were African refugee women, aged over 18 years, who had
      given birth in Korea within the previous 5 years and had come to Korea over a
      year before recruitment. Interview questions examined participants' experiences
      in pregnancy and childbirth and concerns regarding their child's health status.
      Initial data analysis involved all researchers' immersion in the entire
      collection of transcripts. We then noted recurrent topics and themes and
      identified similar issues. RESULTS: At the time of giving birth, 5 participants
      were asylum seekers and one had undocumented status. The following barriers
      impeded their access to maternal child healthcare: socioeconomic factors
      (unstable social identity, low economic status, difficulty obtaining health
      insurance), language barriers (lack of linguistically appropriate health
      information, limited access to translation services), and cultural barriers
      (religious and cultural differences). Weak social support also hindered access to
      healthcare soon after migration; however, social links with the community emerged
      as a key coping strategy following settlement. CONCLUSION: We identified barriers
      to maternal and child healthcare and coping strategies among African refugee
      mothers in Korea. Future research should assess refugees' health status and
      improve health access and literacy among refugee mothers.

PMID- 28592977
TI  - Clostridium difficile colonization and/or infection during infancy and the risk
      of childhood allergic diseases.
AB  - PURPOSE: The gut microbiota can influence several diseases through immune
      modulation; however, the exact role of microbes such as Clostridium difficileand
      the relationship between microbiota colonization and allergic diseases are not
      well known. This study aimed to determine the relationship between C.
      difficilecolonization and/or infection (CDCI) during infancy and allergic
      diseases during early childhood. METHODS: Infants 1-12 months of age presenting
      changes in bowel habits for more than 2 weeks were enrolled in this study. After
      dividing them into 2 groups according to the presence and absence of C.
      difficile, the risk of allergic disease development during childhood was
      identified and compared. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were included in this
      study; 22 (33.8%) were diagnosed with CDCI. No significant differences were
      observed in baseline characteristics between the C. difficile-positive and 
      negative groups except for antibiotic exposure (22.7% vs. 60.5%, P=0.004).
      Compared to the C. difficile-negative group, the risk of developing at least one
      allergic disease was higher in the C. difficile-positive group after adjusting
      other variables (adjusted odds ratios, 5.61; 95% confidence interval, 1.52-20.74;
      P=0.007). Furthermore, food allergies were more prevalent in the C. difficile
      positive group (P=0.03). CONCLUSION: CDCI during infancy were associated with a
      higher risk of developing allergic diseases during early childhood. These results
      suggest that CDCI during infancy might reflect the reduced diversity of the
      intestinal microbiota, which is associated with an increased risk of allergic
      sensitization. To identify the underlying mechanism, further investigation and a
      larger cohort study will be needed.

PMID- 28592978
TI  - Prevalence and clinical manifestations of macrolide resistant Mycoplasma
      pneumoniae pneumonia in Korean children.
AB  - PURPOSE: Macrolide resistance rate of Mycoplasma pneumoniae has rapidly increased
      in children. Studies on the clinical features between macrolide susceptible-M.
      pneumoniae (MSMP) and macrolide resistant-M. pneumoniae (MRMP) are lacking. The
      aim of this study was to identify the macrolide resistance rate of M. pneumoniae
      in Korean children with M. pneumoniae penupmonia in 2015 and compare
      manifestations between MSMP and MRMP. METHODS: Among 122 children (0-18 years
      old) diagnosed with M. pneumoniae pneumonia, 95 children with the results of
      macrolide sensitivity test were included in this study. Clinical manifestations
      were acquired using retrospective medical records. RESULTS: The macrolide
      resistant rate of M. pneumoniae was 87.2% (82 of 94 patients) in children with M.
      pneumoniae pneumonia. One patient showed a mixed type of wild type and A2063G
      mutation in 23S rRNA of M. pneumoniae. There were no significant differences in
      clinical, laboratory, and radiologic findings between the MSMP and MRMP groups at
      the first visit to our hospital. The time interval between initiation of
      macrolide and defervescence was significantly longer in the MRMP group (4.9+/-3.3
      vs. 2.8+/-3.1 days, P=0.039). CONCLUSION: The macrolide resistant rate of M.
      pneumoniae is very high in children with M. pneumoniae pneumonia in Korea. The
      clinical manifestations of MRMP are similar to MSMP except for the defervescence
      period after administration of macrolide. Continuous monitoring of the occurrence
      and antimicrobial susceptibility of MRMP is required to control its spread and
      establish strategies for treating second-line antibiotic resistant M. pneumoniae
      infection.

PMID- 28592980
TI  - Decreased Spontaneous Electrical Activity and Acetylcholine at Myofascial Trigger
      Spots after Dry Needling Treatment: A Pilot Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study are to investigate the changes in spontaneous
      electrical activities (SEAs) and in acetylcholine (ACh), acetylcholine receptor
      (AChR), and acetylcholine esterase (AChE) levels after dry needling at myofascial
      trigger spots in model rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight male Sprague
      Dawley rats were divided into four groups. Thirty-six rats were assigned to three
      model groups, which underwent MTrSs modeling intervention. Twelve rats were
      assigned to the blank control (BC) group. After model construction, the 36 model
      rats were randomly subdivided into three groups according to treatment: MTrSs
      model control (MC) and two dry needling groups. One dry needling group received
      puncturing at MTrSs (DN-M), whereas the other underwent puncturing at non-MTrSs
      (DN-nM). Dry needling treatment will last for two weeks, once a week. SEAs and
      ACh, AChR, and AChE levels were measured after one-week rest of dry needling
      treatment. RESULTS: The amplitudes and frequencies of endplate noise (EPN) and
      endplate spike (EPS) significantly decreased after dry needling treatment in the
      DN-M group. Moreover, ACh and AChR levels significantly decreased, whereas AChE
      significantly increased after dry needling treatment in the DN-M group.
      CONCLUSION: Dry needling at the exact MTrSs is more effective than dry needling
      at non-MTrSs.

PMID- 28592979
TI  - Sleep problems in children and adolescents at pediatric clinics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the frequency of childhood sleep problems at pediatric
      clinics in Seoul and Gyeonggi provinces. METHODS: Children (n=936) and their
      parents who visited 5 primary and 1 secondary pediatric outpatient clinics were
      invited to complete a Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire. RESULTS: Among patients, 901
      (96.3%) answered questionnaires in sufficient detail for evaluation. The
      participant's mean age was 4.35+/-3.02 years (range, 0-18 years). The male to
      female ratio was 1:0.93 (466 boys, 435 girls). Habitual snoring (>3 day/week) was
      reported in 16.9% of the participants. The prevalence of habitual snoring in
      children <2 years and those between 2-5 years was 9% and 18%, respectively. Sleep
      disordered breathing was found in 15.1% (106 of 700) of children >2 years.
      Insomnia was reported in 13.2% of children. The prevalence of sleepwalking, night
      terrors, and bruxism, is 1.6%, 19%, and 21.1%, respectively. Snoring was
      associated with increased incidence of sleepwalking, night terrors, and bruxism.
      Age was associated with insomnia and habitual snoring (P<0.05). Insomnia was more
      prevalent in younger (21%) than in older children (6%). Snoring was more frequent
      in both preschool (34%) and school-aged children (33%). The frequency of sleep
      disordered breathing and insomnia did not vary significantly with gender.
      However, snoring was more prevalent in boys. CONCLUSION: Sleep problems are
      frequent among children in Korea. Children with snoring have an increased risk of
      sleepwalking, night terror, and bruxism. Primary clinicians should consider
      children's sleep habits to improve their health.

PMID- 28592981
TI  - Acupuncture Stimulation at GB34 Restores MPTP-Induced Neurogenesis Impairment in
      the Subventricular Zone of Mice.
AB  - Adult neurogenesis has recently been considered a new therapeutic paradigm of
      Parkinson's disease. In this study, we investigated whether acupuncture restores
      1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine- (MPTP-) induced impaired
      neurogenesis in the subventricular zone (SVZ). Male C57BL/6 mice were given 30
      mg/kg of MPTP intraperitoneally once a day for 5 days, after which they were
      intraperitoneally injected with 50 mg/kg of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and given
      acupuncture stimulation at HT7 or GB34 for 12 consecutive days. Dopaminergic
      neuronal survival in the nigrostriatal pathway and cell proliferation in the SVZ
      was then evaluated by immunostaining. MPTP administration induced dopaminergic
      neuronal death in the nigrostriatal pathway, which was suppressed by acupuncture
      stimulation at GB34. MPTP administration also suppressed the number of BrdU
      positive cells and glial fibrillary acidic protein/BrdU-positive cells and
      increased the number of doublecortin/BrdU-positive cells in the SVZ, which were
      restored by acupuncture stimulation at GB34. These results indicate that
      acupuncture stimulation at GB34 restores MPTP-induced neurogenesis impairment.

PMID- 28592982
TI  - Herbal Medicine Treatment for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize and evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines
      used for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. METHODS:
      Thirteen electronic databases were searched from their inception to November
      2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the efficacy of herbal
      medicines alone or in combination with other Traditional Chinese Medicine
      treatments for ASD in children were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was
      used and other data analyses were performed using RevMan (Version 5.3). RESULTS:
      Ten RCTs involving 567 patients with ASD were included for qualitative synthesis.
      In conjunction with conventional therapy, herbal medicines significantly improved
      the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score, but the results of effects on
      total effective rate (TER) were different between the included studies. The use
      of herbal medicines with integrative therapy improved the CARS score and TER. In
      the studies that documented adverse events, no serious events were associated
      with herbal medicines. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of herbal medicines for the
      treatment of ASD appears to be encouraging but was inconclusive owing to low
      methodological quality, herbal medicine diversity, and small sample size of the
      examined studies.

PMID- 28592983
TI  - Age dependent accumulation patterns of advanced glycation end product receptor
      (RAGE) ligands and binding intensities between RAGE and its ligands differ in the
      liver, kidney, and skeletal muscle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Much evidence indicates receptor for advanced glycation end products
      (RAGE) related inflammation play essential roles during aging. However, the
      majority of studies have focused on advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and
      not on other RAGE ligands. In the present study, the authors evaluated whether
      the accumulation of RAGE ligands and binding intensities between RAGE and its
      ligands differ in kidney, liver, and skeletal muscle during aging. RESULTS: In
      C57BL/6 N mice aged 12 weeks, 12 months, and 22 months, ligands accumulation,
      binding intensities between RAGE and its ligands, activated macrophage
      infiltration, M1/M2 macrophage expression, glyoxalase-1expression, and signal
      pathways related to inflammation were evaluated. The RAGE ligands age-associated
      accumulation patterns were found to be organ dependent. Binding intensities
      between RAGE and its ligands in kidney and liver increased with age, but those in
      skeletal muscle were unchanged. Infiltration of activated macrophages in kidney
      and liver increased with age, but infiltration in the skeletal muscle was
      unchanged. M1 expression increased and M2 and glyoxalase-1 expression decreased
      with age in kidney and liver, but their expressions in skeletal muscle were not
      changed. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate patterns of RAGE ligands
      accumulation, RAGE/ligands binding intensities, or inflammation markers changes
      during aging are organs dependent.

PMID- 28592984
TI  - On hazard ratio estimators by proportional hazards models in matched-pair cohort
      studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In matched-pair cohort studies with censored events, the hazard ratio
      (HR) may be of main interest. However, it is lesser known in epidemiologic
      literature that the partial maximum likelihood estimator of a common HR
      conditional on matched pairs is written in a simple form, namely, the ratio of
      the numbers of two pair-types. Moreover, because HR is a noncollapsible measure
      and its constancy across matched pairs is a restrictive assumption, marginal HR
      as "average" HR may be targeted more than conditional HR in analysis. METHODS:
      Based on its simple expression, we provided an alternative interpretation of the
      common HR estimator as the odds of the matched-pair analog of C-statistic for
      censored time-to-event data. Through simulations assuming proportional hazards
      within matched pairs, the influence of various censoring patterns on the marginal
      and common HR estimators of unstratified and stratified proportional hazards
      models, respectively, was evaluated. The methods were applied to a real
      propensity-score matched dataset from the Rotterdam tumor bank of primary breast
      cancer. RESULTS: We showed that stratified models unbiasedly estimated a common
      HR under the proportional hazards within matched pairs. However, the marginal HR
      estimator with robust variance estimator lacks interpretation as an "average"
      marginal HR even if censoring is unconditionally independent to event, unless no
      censoring occurs or no exposure effect is present. Furthermore, the exposure
      dependent censoring biased the marginal HR estimator away from both conditional
      HR and an "average" marginal HR irrespective of whether exposure effect is
      present. From the matched Rotterdam dataset, we estimated HR for relapse-free
      survival of absence versus presence of chemotherapy; estimates (95% confidence
      interval) were 1.47 (1.18-1.83) for common HR and 1.33 (1.13-1.57) for marginal
      HR. CONCLUSION: The simple expression of the common HR estimator would be a
      useful summary of exposure effect, which is less sensitive to censoring patterns
      than the marginal HR estimator. The common and the marginal HR estimators, both
      relying on distinct assumptions and interpretations, are complementary
      alternatives for each other.

PMID- 28592985
TI  - Child feeding practices and diarrheal disease among children less than two years
      of age of the nomadic people in Hadaleala District, Afar Region, Northeast
      Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is a serious public health problem in Ethiopia. It is
      responsible for 24-30% of all infant deaths and there is a lack of evidence on
      the health burdens among the nomadic people. This study was therefore designed to
      assess the prevalence of diarrhea among children less thanvtwo year's of age and
      its association with feeding practices among the nomadic people in Hadaleala
      district, northeast Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in
      Hadaleala district. A total of 367 children less than two years of age were
      included using the multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected by
      a structured questionnaire. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was
      used to identify variables associated with diarrheal disease. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of diarrhea among children less than two year's of age during the two
      week period was 31.3% (95% CI, 25.9, 36.1%). Diarrhea occurrence was associated
      with; children aged between 6-11 months (AOR 6.28, 95% CI, 3.00, 13.12), aged
      between 12-24 months (AOR 6.21, 95% CI, 3.13, 12.30), illiterate mothers (AOR
      6.61, 95% CI, 2.27, 19.21), delay to initiate early breastfeeding for children
      aged less than six months (AOR 9.13, 95% CI, 1.78, 46.72), children less than six
      months of age not currently exclusively breastfed (AOR 13.33, 95% CI, 1.59,
      112.12), delay to initiate early breastfeeding for children aged 6-24 months (AOR
      2.87, 95% CI, 1.49, 5.51), no breastfeeding at the time of the survey (AOR 3.51,
      95% CI, 1.57, 7.82), children aged 6-24 months who didn't exclusively breastfeed
      in the first six months (AOR 19.24, 95% CI, 8.26, 44.82), consuming uncooked
      foods (AOR 6.99, 95% CI, 2.89, 16.92), not eating cooked foods immediately after
      cooking (AOR 3.74, 95% CI, 1.48, 9.45), hand washing with only water (AOR 24.94,
      95% CI, 6.68, 93.12), and rotavirus vaccination (AOR 0.09, 95% CI, 0.03, 0.29).
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of diarrhea among children less than two year's of
      age in Hadaleala district was high. To prevent diarrhea, the mothers should start
      breastfeeding early and practice exclusive breastfeeding. Moreover, mothers
      should improve the hygiene of supplementary foods.

PMID- 28592987
TI  - An efficient protocol for perennial ryegrass mesophyll protoplast isolation and
      transformation, and its application on interaction study between LpNOL and
      LpNYC1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is an important temperate
      grass used for turf and forage purposes. With the increasing accumulation of
      genomic and transcriptomic data of perennial ryegrass, an efficient protoplast
      and transient gene expression protocol is highly desirable for in vivo gene
      functional studies in its homologous system. RESULTS: In this report, a highly
      efficient protoplast isolation (5.6 * 107 protoplasts per gram of leaf material)
      and transient expression (plasmid transformation efficiency at 55.2%) was
      developed and the detailed protocol presented. Using this protocol, the
      subcellular locations of two ryegrass proteins were visualized in chloroplasts
      and nuclei, respectively, and protein-protein interaction between two chlorophyll
      catabolic enzymes (LpNOL and LpNYC1) was recorded in its homologous system for
      the first time. CONCLUSION: This efficient protoplast isolation and
      transformation protocol is sufficient for studies on protein subcellular
      localization and protein-protein interaction, and shall be suitable for many
      other molecular biology applications where the mesophyll protoplast system is
      desirable in perennial ryegrass.

PMID- 28592986
TI  - Correlates of early neonatal feeding practice in Dabat HDSS site, northwest
      Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delaying the start of breastfeeding and giving prelacteal feeding
      leads to a significant increase in neonatal and infant deaths, particularly in a
      resource limited countries, like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess
      early neonatal feeding practice and its determinants in Dabat HDSS site,
      northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: The census for the reconciliation of the
      surveillance of the Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site
      was conducted from October to December 2014. Data were entered into the Household
      Registration System (HRS) version 2.1 and analyzed using Stata version 14. A
      total of 6,761 mother-child pairs were included in the study. Sociodemographic
      factors, maternal health care and early neonatal feeding practices (early
      initiation of breastfeeding and prelacteal feeding) were collected by
      interviewing the mothers. The prevalence of early/timely initiation of
      breastfeeding was computed as the ratio of children put to the breast within one
      hour of delivery to the total number of children. Prelacteal feeding was defined
      as giving anything to drink other than breast milk in the first three days
      following birth. Binary logistic regression models were used to identify
      variables which were associated with the dependent variable. A multivariable
      logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify factors associated with
      early initiation of breastfeeding. RESULTS: The prevalence of early initiation of
      breastfeeding was 43.9% (95% CI, 41.6, 46.2). More than half (56%) of the mothers
      gave prelacteal feeds. An urban residence (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 1.47, 95%
      Confidence Interval [CI] 1.25. 1.73) and antenatal care (AOR 1.41, 95% CI 1.24,
      1.59) were correlated with early initiation of breastfeeding. Similarly,
      increased odds of timely initiation of breastfeeding were observed among mothers
      who didn't give prelacteal feeds (AOR 5.72; 95% CI, 5.12, 6.40). CONCLUSION:
      Delayed initiation of breastfeeding and prelacteal feeding still remain public
      health concerns in this community. The promotion of improved infant and young
      child feeding (IYCF) practices and the utilization of antenatal care services
      should be intensified.

PMID- 28592988
TI  - Algorithms for computing the double cut and join distance on both gene order and
      intergenic sizes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Combinatorial works on genome rearrangements have so far ignored the
      influence of intergene sizes, i.e. the number of nucleotides between consecutive
      genes, although it was recently shown decisive for the accuracy of inference
      methods (Biller et al. in Genome Biol Evol 8:1427-39, 2016; Biller et al. in
      Beckmann A, Bienvenu L, Jonoska N, editors. Proceedings of Pursuit of the
      Universal-12th conference on computability in Europe, CiE 2016, Lecture notes in
      computer science, vol 9709, Paris, France, June 27-July 1, 2016. Berlin:
      Springer, p. 35-44, 2016). In this line, we define a new genome rearrangement
      model called wDCJ, a generalization of the well-known double cut and join (or
      DCJ) operation that modifies both the gene order and the intergene size
      distribution of a genome. RESULTS: We first provide a generic formula for the
      wDCJ distance between two genomes, and show that computing this distance is
      strongly NP-complete. We then propose an approximation algorithm of ratio 4/3,
      and two exact ones: a fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithm and an integer
      linear programming (ILP) formulation. CONCLUSIONS: We provide theoretical and
      empirical bounds on the expected growth of the parameter at the center of our FPT
      and ILP algorithms, assuming a probabilistic model of evolution under wDCJ, which
      shows that both these algorithms should run reasonably fast in practice.

PMID- 28592989
TI  - Outcome of HIV-associated lymphoma in a resource-limited setting of Jos, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphoma is a leading cause of cancer-related death among human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals in the current era of potent
      anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Globally, mortality after HIV-associated lymphoma
      has profound regional variation. Little is known about HIV-associated lymphoma
      mortality in Nigeria and other resource-limited setting in sub-Saharan Africa.
      Therefore, we evaluated the all-cause mortality after lymphoma and associated
      risk factors including HIV at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH)
      Nigeria. METHODS: We conducted a ten-year retrospective cohort study of lymphoma
      patients managed in JUTH. The main outcome measured was all-cause mortality and
      HIV infection was the main exposure variable. Overall death rate was estimated
      using the total number of death events and cumulative follow up time from
      lymphoma diagnosis to death. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to
      assess factors associated with mortality after lymphoma diagnosis. RESULTS: Out
      of 40 lymphoma patients evaluated, 8(20.0%) were HIV positive and 32(80.0%) were
      HIV negative. After 127.63 person- years of follow-up, there were 16 deaths
      leading to a crude mortality rate of 40.0 per 100 person-years. The 2-year
      probability of survival was 30% for HIV-infected patients and 74% for HIV
      uninfected. Median survival probability for HIV-infected patients was 2.1 years
      and 7.6 years for those without HIV. Unadjusted hazard of death was associated
      with late stage, HR 11.33(95% CI 2.55, 50.26,p = 0.001); low cumulative cycles of
      chemotherapy, HR 6.43(95% CI 1.80, 22.89,p = 0.004); greater age, HR 5.12(95% CI
      1.45,18.08,p = 0.01); presence of comorbidity, HR 3.43(95% CI 1.10,10.78,p =
      0.03); and HIV-infection, HR 3.32(95% CI 1.05, 10.51,p = 0.04). In an adjusted
      model only stage was significantly associated with death, AHR 5.45(1.14-26.06, p
      = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that HIV- infection accounted for three
      times probability of death in lymphoma patients compared to their HIV-uninfected
      counterparts due to late stage of lymphoma presentation in this population. Also
      initiation of chemotherapy was associated with lower probability of death among
      lymphoma patients managed at JUTH, Nigeria. Earlier stage at lymphoma diagnosis
      and prompt therapeutic intervention is likely to improve survival in these
      patients. Future research should undertake collaborative studies to obtain
      comprehensive regional data and identify unique risk factors of poor outcomes
      among HIV-infected patients with lymphoma in Nigeria.

PMID- 28592990
TI  - Predictors of successful long-term weight loss maintenance: a two-year follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weight regain is a common problem following weight loss intervention,
      with most people who seek treatment for obesity able to lose weight, but few able
      to sustain the changes in behavior required to prevent subsequent weight regain.
      The identification of factors that predict which patients will successfully
      maintain weight loss or who are at risk of weight regain after weight loss
      intervention is necessary to improve the current weight maintenance strategies.
      The aim of the present study is identify factors associated with successful
      weight loss maintenance by women with overweight or obesity who completed group
      cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for weight loss. METHODS: Ninety women with
      overweight or obesity completed a 7-month weight loss intervention. The data of
      86 who completed follow-up surveys 12 and 24 months after the end of the
      treatment was analyzed. Depression, anxiety, binge eating, food addiction, and
      eating behaviors were assessed before and after the weight loss intervention.
      Participants who lost at least 10% of their initial weight during the weight loss
      intervention and had maintained the loss at the month 24 follow-up were defined
      as successful. RESULTS: The intervention was successful for 27 participants
      (31.3%) and unsuccessful for 59 (68.6%). Multiple logistic regression analysis
      extracted larger weight reduction during the weight loss intervention, a lower
      disinhibition score, and a low food addiction score at the end of the weight loss
      intervention as associated with successful weight loss maintenance. CONCLUSION:
      The results suggest that larger weight reduction during the weight loss
      intervention and lower levels of disinhibition and food addiction at the end of
      the weight loss intervention predicted successful weight loss maintenance. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Trial registry name: Development and validation of effective
      treatments of weight loss and weight-loss maintenance using cognitive behavioral
      therapy for obese patients. Registration ID: UMIN000006803 Registered 1 January
      2012. URL: https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open
      bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000008052.

PMID- 28592991
TI  - AAV-based dual-reporter circuit for monitoring cell signaling in living human
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-throughput methods based on molecular reporters have greatly
      advanced our knowledge of cell signaling in mammalian cells. However, their
      ability to monitor various types of cells is markedly limited by the inefficiency
      of reporter gene delivery. Recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are
      efficient tools widely used for delivering and expressing transgenes in diverse
      animal cells in vitro and in vivo. Here we present the design, construction and
      validation of a novel AAV-based dual-reporter circuit that can be used to monitor
      and quantify cell signaling in living human cells. RESULTS: We first design and
      construct the AAV-based reporter system. We then validate the versatility and
      specificity of this system in monitoring and quantifying two important cell
      signaling pathways, inflammation (NFkappaB) and cell growth and differentiation
      (AP-1), in cultured HEK293 and MCF-7 cells. Our results demonstrate that the AAV
      reporter system is both specific and versatile, and it can be used in two common
      experimental protocols including transfection with plasmid DNA and transduction
      with packaged viruses. Importantly, this system is efficient, with a high signal
      to-background noise ratio, and can be easily adapted to monitor other common
      signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS: The AAV-based system extends the dual-reporter
      technology to more cell types, allowing for cost-effective and high throughput
      applications.

PMID- 28592992
TI  - Streamlining recombination-mediated genetic engineering by validating three
      neutral integration sites in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 (henceforth Synechococcus) is developing
      into a powerful synthetic biology chassis. In order to streamline the integration
      of genes into the Synechococcus chromosome, validation of neutral integration
      sites with optimization of the DNA transformation protocol parameters is
      necessary. Availability of BioBrick-compatible integration modules is desirable
      to further simplifying chromosomal integrations. RESULTS: We designed three
      BioBrick-compatible genetic modules, each targeting a separate neutral
      integration site, A2842, A0935, and A0159, with varying length of homologous
      region, spanning from 100 to 800 nt. The performance of the different modules for
      achieving DNA integration were tested. Our results demonstrate that 100 nt
      homologous regions are sufficient for inserting a 1 kb DNA fragment into the
      Synechococcus chromosome. By adapting a transformation protocol from a related
      cyanobacterium, we shortened the transformation procedure for Synechococcus
      significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The optimized transformation protocol reported in
      this study provides an efficient way to perform genetic engineering in
      Synechococcus. We demonstrated that homologous regions of 100 nt are sufficient
      for inserting a 1 kb DNA fragment into the three tested neutral integration
      sites. Integration at A2842, A0935 and A0159 results in only a minimal fitness
      cost for the chassis. This study contributes to developing Synechococcus as the
      prominent chassis for future synthetic biology applications.

PMID- 28592993
TI  - Can we use short rotation coppice poplar for sugar based biorefinery feedstock?
      Bioconversion of 2-year-old poplar grown as short rotation coppice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Feedstock cost is a substantial barrier to the commercialization of
      lignocellulosic biorefineries. Poplar grown using a short rotation coppice (SRC)
      system has the potential to provide a low-cost feedstock and economically viable
      sugar yields for fuels and chemicals production. In the coppice management
      regime, poplars are harvested after 2 years' growth to develop the root system
      and establish the trees. The biomass from these 2-year-old trees is very
      heterogeneous, and includes components of leaf, bark, branch, and wood chip. This
      material is quite different than the samples that have been used in most poplar
      bioconversion research, which come from mature trees of short rotation forestry
      (SRF) plantations. If the coppice management regime is to be used, it is
      important that feedstock growers maximize their revenue from this initial
      harvest, but the heterogeneous nature of the biomass may be challenging for
      bioconversion. This work evaluates bioconversion of 2-year-old poplar coppice and
      compares its performance to whitewood chips from 12-year-old poplar. RESULTS: The
      2-year-old whole tree coppice (WTC) is comprised of 37% leaf, 9% bark, 12%
      branch, and 42% wood chip. As expected, the chemical compositions of each
      component were markedly different. The leaf has a low sugar content but is high
      in phenolics, ash, and extractives. By removing the leaves, the sugar content of
      the biomass increased significantly, while the phenolic, ash, and extractives
      contents decreased. Leaf removal improved monomeric sugar yield by 147 kg/tonne
      of biomass following steam pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Bioconversion
      of the no-leaf coppice (NLC) achieved a 67% overall sugar recovery, showing no
      significant difference to mature whitewood from forestry plantation (WWF, 71%).
      The overall sugar yield of NLC was 135 kg/tonne less than that of WWF, due to the
      low inherent sugar content in original biomass. An economic analysis shows the
      minimum ethanol selling price required to cover the operating cost of NLC
      bioconversion was $1.69/gallon. CONCLUSIONS: Leaf removal resulted in significant
      improvement in overall monomeric sugar production from SRC biomass. Leaf removal
      is essential to achieve good yields in bioconversion of poplar. Economic analysis
      suggests the NLC could be a reasonable feedstock provided it can be obtained at a
      discounted price.

PMID- 28592994
TI  - Effects of global transcription factor NtcA on photosynthetic production of
      ethylene in recombinant Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cyanobacteria are considered potential photosynthetic microbial cell
      factories for biofuel and biochemical production. Ethylene, one of the most
      important organic chemicals, has been successfully synthesized in cyanobacteria
      by introducing an exogenous ethylene-forming enzyme (Efe). However, it remains
      challenging to significantly improve the biosynthetic efficiency of
      cyanobacterial ethylene. Genetic modification of transcription factors is a
      powerful strategy for reprogramming cellular metabolism toward target products.
      In cyanobacteria, nitrogen control A (NtcA), an important global transcription
      regulator of primary carbon/nitrogen metabolism, is expected to play a crucial
      role in ethylene biosynthesis. RESULTS: The partial deletion of ntcA (MH021)
      enhanced ethylene production by 23%, while ntcA overexpression (MH023) in a
      single-copy efe recombinant Synechocystis (XX76) reduced ethylene production by
      26%. Compared to XX76, the Efe protein content increased 1.5-fold in MH021. This
      result may be due to the release of the negative regulation of NtcA on promoter P
      cpcB , which controls efe expression. Glycogen content showed a 23% reduction in
      MH021, and the ratio of intracellular succinate to 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG)
      increased 4.8-fold. In a four-copy efe recombinant strain with partially deleted
      ntcA and a modified tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle (MH043), a peak specific
      ethylene production rate of 2463 +/- 219 MUL L-1 h-1 OD730-1 was achieved, which
      is higher than previously reported. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of global
      transcription factor NtcA on ethylene synthesis in genetically engineered
      Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 were evaluated, and the partial deletion of ntcA
      enhanced ethylene production in both single-copy and multi-copy efe recombinant
      Synechocystis strains. Increased Efe expression, accelerated TCA cycling, and
      redirected carbon flux from glycogen probably account for this improvement. The
      results show great potential for improving ethylene synthetic efficiency in
      cyanobacteria by modulating global regulation factors.

PMID- 28592996
TI  - Immune responses upon Campylobacter jejuni infection of secondary abiotic mice
      lacking nucleotide-oligomerization-domain-2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni infections are of rising importance worldwide.
      Given that innate immune receptors including nucleotide-oligomerization-domain-2
      (Nod2) are essentially involved in combating enteropathogenic infections, we here
      surveyed the impact of Nod2 in murine campylobacteriosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: In
      order to overcome physiological colonization resistance preventing from C. jejuni
      infection, we generated secondary abiotic Nod2-/- and wildtype (WT) mice by broad
      spectrum antibiotic treatment. Mice were then perorally infected with C. jejuni
      strain 81-176 on 2 consecutive days and could be stably colonized by the pathogen
      at high loads. Notably, Nod2 deficiency did not affect gastrointestinal
      colonization properties of C. jejuni. Despite high intestinal pathogenic burdens
      mice were virtually uncompromised and exhibited fecal blood in single cases only.
      At day 7 postinfection (p.i.) similar increases in numbers of colonic epithelial
      apoptotic cells could be observed in mice of either genotype, whereas C. jejuni
      infected Nod2-/- mice displayed more distinct regenerative properties in the
      colon than WT controls. C. jejuni infection was accompanied by increases in
      distinct immune cell populations such as T lymphocytes and regulatory T cells in
      mice of either genotype. Increases in T lymphocytes, however, were less
      pronounced in large intestines of Nod2-/- mice at day 7 p.i. when compared to WT
      mice, whereas colonic numbers of B lymphocytes were elevated in WT controls only
      upon C. jejuni infection. At day 7 p.i., colonic pro-inflammatory mediators
      including nitric oxide, TNF, IFN-gamma and IL-22 increased more distinctly in
      Nod2-/- as compared to WT mice, whereas C. jejuni induced IL-23p19 and IL-18
      levels were lower in the large intestines of the former. Converse to the colon,
      however, ileal concentrations of nitric oxide, TNF, IFN-gamma, IL-6 and IL-10
      were lower in Nod2-/- as compared to WT mice at day 7 p.i. Even though MUC2 was
      down-regulated in C. jejuni infected Nod2-/- mice, this did not result in
      increased pathogenic translocation from the intestinal tract to extra-intestinal
      compartments. CONCLUSION: In secondary abiotic mice, Nod2 signaling is involved
      in the orchestrated host immune responses upon C. jejuni infection, but does not
      control pathogen loads in the gastrointestinal tract.

PMID- 28592995
TI  - The quest for epigenetic regulation underlying unisexual flower development in
      Cucumis melo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Melon (Cucumis melo) is an important vegetable crop from the
      Cucurbitaceae family and a reference model specie for sex determination, fruit
      ripening and vascular fluxes studies. Nevertheless, the nature and role of its
      epigenome in gene expression regulation and more specifically in sex
      determination remains largely unknown. RESULTS: We have investigated genome wide
      H3K27me3 and H3K9ac histone modifications and gene expression dynamics, in five
      melon organs. H3K9ac and H3K27me3 were mainly distributed along gene-rich regions
      and constrained to gene bodies. H3K9ac was preferentially located at the TSS,
      whereas H3K27me3 distributed uniformly from TSS to TES. As observed in other
      species, H3K9ac and H3K27me3 correlated with high and low gene expression levels,
      respectively. Comparative analyses of unisexual flowers pointed out sex-specific
      epigenetic states of TFs involved in ethylene response and flower development.
      Chip-qPCR analysis of laser dissected carpel and stamina primordia, revealed sex
      specific histone modification of MADS-box genes. Using sex transition mutants, we
      demonstrated that the female promoting gene, CmACS11, represses the expression of
      the male promoting gene CmWIP1 via deposition of H3K27me3. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings reveal the organ-specific landscapes of H3K9ac and H3K27me3 in melon.
      Our results also provide evidence that the sex determination genes recruit
      histone modifiers to orchestrate unisexual flower development in monoecious
      species.

PMID- 28592998
TI  - The use of lung ultrasound images for the differential diagnosis of pulmonary and
      cardiac interstitial pathology.
AB  - In recent years, great advances have been made in the use of lung ultrasound to
      detect pulmonary edema and interstitial changes in the lung. However, it is clear
      that B-lines oversimplify the description of the physical phenomena associated
      with their presence. The artifactual images that ultrasounds provide in
      interstitial pulmonary pathology are merely the ultimate outcome of the complex
      interaction of a specific acoustic wave with a specific three-dimensional
      biological structure. This interaction lacks a solid physical interpretation of
      the acoustic signs to support it. The aim of this paper was to describe the
      differences between the sonographic interstitial syndrome related to lung
      diseases and that related to cardiogenic edema in the light of current knowledge
      regarding the pleural plane's response to ultrasound waves.

PMID- 28592997
TI  - Diagnoses and characteristics of autism spectrum disorders in children with
      Prader-Willi syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A small percentage of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
      have alterations in chromosome 15q11.2-q3, the critical region for Prader-Willi
      syndrome (PWS). Data are limited, however, on the rates and characteristics of
      ASD in PWS. Previous estimates of ASD in PWS (25 to 41%) are questionable as they
      are based solely on autism screeners given to parents. Inaccurate diagnoses of
      ASD in PWS can mislead intervention and future research. METHODS: One hundred
      forty-six children and youth with PWS aged 4 to 21 years (M = 11) were assessed
      with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2). An expert clinical
      team-made best-estimate ASD diagnoses based on ADOS-2 videotapes, calibrated
      severity scores, and children's developmental histories and indices of current
      functioning. Children were also administered the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test
      2, and parents completed the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised and Vineland
      Adaptive Behavior Scales. Scores were compared across children with PWS + ASD
      versus PWS only. The performance of an ASD screener, the Social Communication
      Questionnaire (SCQ) and the ADOS-2 were evaluated in relation to best-estimate
      diagnoses. RESULTS: Best-estimate diagnoses of ASD were made in 18 children, or
      12.3% of the sample, and the majority of them had the maternal uniparental disomy
      (mUPD) PWS genetic subtype. Compared to the PWS-only group, children with PWS +
      ASD had lower verbal and composite IQ's and adaptive daily living and
      socialization skills, as well as elevated stereotypies and restricted interests.
      Regardless of ASD status, compulsivity and insistence on sameness in routines or
      events were seen in 76-100% of children and were robustly correlated with lower
      adaptive functioning. The SCQ yielded a 29-49% chance that screen-positive cases
      will indeed have ASD. The ADOS-2 had higher sensitivity, specificity and
      predictive values. Communication problems were seen in children who were ADOS-2
      positive but deemed not to have ASD by the clinical team. CONCLUSIONS: Autism
      screeners should not be the sole index of probable ASD in PWS; children need to
      be directly observed and evaluated. Compulsivity and insistence on sameness are
      salient in PWS and likely impede adaptive functioning. Most children with PWS
      only evidenced sub-threshold problems in social interactions that could signal
      risks for other psychopathologies.

PMID- 28593000
TI  - Ultrasound and EMG-NCV study (electromyography and nerve conduction velocity)
      correlation in diagnosis of nerve pathologies.
AB  - PURPOSE: Nerve disorders are commonly encountered in clinical practice.
      Ultrasonography (USG) is a useful modality in the evaluation of most of the
      peripheral and superficial pathologies amenable to penetration by ultrasound. The
      primary objective is to study the USG findings of various peripheral nerve
      pathologies and to correlate them with electrophysiological (EMG-NCV) findings.
      METHOD: 42 patients referred with suspicion of peripheral nervous system
      affection were evaluated with USG along with EMG-NCV. After reviewing detailed
      anatomy of the region, the affected nerve was visualized along the major
      neurovascular bundle or at a known anatomical landmark with a high-frequency (9
      20 MHz) linear/hockey stick transducer. RESULTS: The USG parameters, namely loss
      of fibrillary pattern, hypoechogenicity and nerve thickening, showed significant
      p value (p < 0.05) on the tests of significance, suggesting these parameters are
      significant predictors of nerve affection/pathology on USG. Each ultrasound
      parameter was correlated individually with SNAP and CMAP. The results revealed
      positive correlation of echogenicity (r = 0.210, p = 0.05), fibrillary pattern (r
      = 0.209, p = 0.05) and thickening (r = 0.387, p < 0.05) with sensory nerve action
      potential (SNAP) and compound muscle action potential (CMAP). CONCLUSION: USG can
      be used as corroborative investigation to strengthen the findings of EMG-NCV.
      This combination represents a powerful tool in enabling appropriate planning for
      treatment, preventing unnecessary intervention and thus improving overall
      outcomes in patients with peripheral neuropathy.

PMID- 28593001
TI  - Teaching echoscopy for the early diagnosis of ascites in cirrhosis: assessment of
      an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We assessed the efficacy of a brief, 8-h teaching program, using an
      objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for the use of a pocket
      ultrasound device (echoscope) focused on bed side diagnosis of subclinical
      ascites in chronic liver disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ten cirrhotic patients,
      five with subclinical ascites and five without, were selected during ultrasound
      examination performed with a high performance equipment for screening of
      hepatocellular carcinoma. Five post graduate medical doctors residents in
      Gastroenterology or Internal Medicine underwent a brief, 8-h theoretical and
      hands-on examinations training. The methodology to assess the correct competence
      consisted in two phases defined by actions and answers to questions. RESULTS: The
      evaluation of the technical efficacy was positive in all five students. The
      diagnostic efficacy for the ten patients examined consisted in no false positive
      diagnosis of ascites and one false negative. CONCLUSIONS: In this preliminary
      experience, the use of a pocket ultrasound device (echoscope) for diagnosis of
      subclinical ascites in the context of a short structured teaching program and
      examination was efficient.

PMID- 28592999
TI  - Contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the carotid system: a review of the current
      literature.
AB  - Carotid disease is a major current health problem accounting for a significant
      part of stroke patients. Ultrasound with colour Doppler and spectral analysis is
      the primary imaging technique used for screening and diagnostic evaluation of the
      extracranial part of carotid arteries offering identification and grading of
      carotid disease. However, inherent limitations of this technique include flow
      related artefacts like Doppler angle dependence and aliasing artefact which may
      sometimes hinder complete assessment of a stenotic part of the vessel,
      potentially failing to address clinically significant differential diagnosis
      issues. The intravenous use of microbubbles as an US contrast agent has been
      introduced for the supplementation of conventional technique. The value of
      contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been investigated in the evaluation of
      carotid disease leading to promising results. CEUS provides improved flow
      visualization free of artefacts and detailed plaque surface delineation, thus
      being able to accurately grade stenosis, identify carotid plaque ulcerations,
      differentiate occlusion from highly stenotic plaques and identify carotid
      dissection. Furthermore, microbubbles can be used to identify and grade
      intraplaque neovascularization, carotid wall inflammation in patients with
      arteritis, follow-up patients after carotid intervention and assist
      interventional procedures reducing the need for nephrotoxic contrast agents. The
      purpose of this review is to present and discuss the current literature regarding
      the various uses of CEUS in carotid arteries.

PMID- 28593002
TI  - Management and outcomes of cystic hygromas: experience of a tertiary center.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cystic hygroma (CH) is a fetal sonographic finding with an incidence of
      1%. Chromosomal abnormalities and structural malformations are commonly related
      with CH. We aimed to describe our experience and determine the association
      between diagnosis of CH and adverse pregnancy outcome. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed data of prenatal CH diagnoses over a ten-year period.
      Cases were evaluated for maternal age, gestational week at CH diagnosis, invasive
      procedure, karyotype result, associated abnormality and perinatal outcome. We
      categorized cases into two groups to understand the impact of maternal age on
      perinatal outcomes, and the cut-off was 35 years old. RESULTS: Totally 28
      individuals were enrolled in the study. The median maternal age at birth was 27.5
      years old, and 7 patients were over 35 years old. Karyotype results were
      available for all individuals, and 15 had an abnormal chromosome (53.5%). Five
      fetuses had structural abnormalities, and they were all observed within patients
      under 35 years old. Healthy fetuses (without any problem at antenatal screening
      and birth) were found to be only 14.3% in advanced maternal age (AMA) group and
      33.3% in young mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Women with AMA and CH had a higher risk of
      having a baby with a chromosomal abnormality, as compared with younger women.

PMID- 28593003
TI  - Focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) by emergency medicine residents in patients
      with suspected cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Few studies have assessed the value and accuracy of focused cardiac
      ultrasound (FOCUS) performed by emergency physicians. The aim of the present
      study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FOCUS performed by emergency
      medicine residents compared to echocardiography performed by a cardiologist in
      emergency department (ED) patients suspected of cardiovascular disease. METHODS:
      The research involved a prospective observational cross-sectional study enrolling
      patients over 18-years old suspected of having cardiovascular disease who
      required an echocardiograph. For each patient, a FOCUS test was conducted by a
      trained emergency medicine resident. The diagnostic accuracy of ED performed
      FOCUS was compared to echocardiography performed by a cardiologist (gold
      standard) in the ED. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive
      values, and likelihood ratios were calculated for FOCUS. The agreement of EM
      residents and cardiologists on each finding was evaluated using Cohen's kappa
      coefficient with 95% CI. RESULTS: Two hundred and five patients, with a mean age
      of 61.0 +/- 17 years (50% male), were included in this study. Agreement between
      FOCUS performed by an emergency medicine resident and echocardiography performed
      by a cardiologist in measuring ejection fraction of the left ventricle was 91%
      (kappa = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.79-0.91). Reports of the two groups for identifying
      right ventricular enlargement showed 96% agreement (kappa = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.82
      0.90). The agreements for right ventricular pressure overload, wall motion
      abnormality and pericardial effusion were 100% (kappa = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.77
      0.89), 92% (kappa = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.76-0.90), and 96% (kappa = 0.83; 95% CI =
      0.77-0.89), respectively. CONCLUSION: FOCUS performed by emergency medicine
      residents is comparable to echocardiography performed by cardiologists.
      Therefore, it could be a reliable tool and screening test for initial testing of
      patients suspected of cardiac abnormalities.

PMID- 28593005
TI  - Real-time elastography in Crohn's disease: feasibility in daily clinical
      practice.
AB  - Ultrasound (US) is the first-line investigation in patients with abdominal
      symptoms and it has a role in the diagnosis and monitoring of inflammatory bowel
      diseases. Strain elastography (SE) is a US method for estimating tissue
      elasticity. This method is still not routinely used in clinical practice,
      although it is suggested by the EFSUMB Guidelines for the characterization of
      intestinal stenosis in Crohn's disease. The purpose of this Pictorial Essay is to
      confirm the feasibility of elastography in Crohn's disease in clinical practice
      by comparing elastography images with corresponding endoscopic or radiological
      images. At present, diagnostic accuracy of SE is reported in the literature only
      in connection with detection of bowel wall fibrosis in advanced cases of Crohn's
      disease. However, in our opinion, SE can add useful diagnostic information to
      grayscale and color Doppler US by providing a more accurate characterization of
      the bowel wall in the various manifestations of Crohn's disease.

PMID- 28593006
TI  - Ultrasound detection of aortoenteric fistula in a patient with sepsis.
AB  - We report a case of an 81-year-old man, hospitalized for sepsis unresponsive to
      targeted antibiotic therapy, who underwent abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy with
      stent placement before 12 years. Point-of-care ultrasound examination showed the
      presence of a voluminous and inhomogeneous lesion adjacent to the anterior wall
      of aortic bifurcation with pulsatile flow from the aorta into the lesion,
      highlighted by Color-Doppler, and peripheral (closely with intestinal loops)
      floating hyperechoic spots marked by posterior comet tail artifact, suggestive
      for the presence of air bubbles. The presence of an aortoenteric fistula not
      excluding in differential diagnosis and the possibility of an abscess of
      aneurysmatic sac with colonization of gas-producing bacteria were suspected; an
      abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography was requested and it confirmed
      the suspicion of an aortoenteric fistula. The patient underwent emergency
      surgical intervention with good technical success (evidence of aorto-appendicular
      fistula), but he died the day after of cardiac arrest.

PMID- 28593004
TI  - Influence of subjects' characteristics and technical variables on muscle
      stiffness measured by shear wave elastosonography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to quantitatively assess lower limbs muscle
      elasticity in a court of healthy subjects and to evaluate the influence of
      technical variables (e.g., diameter of the ROI-region of interest) and examined
      subjects' characteristics (e.g., sex, levels of physical activity, side
      evaluated) on muscle stiffness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 54 healthy subjects (48
      men, 6 women) were evaluated for a total of 108 lower limbs. Shear wave
      elastography was performed with a multifrequency linear probe (15-4 MHz). Two
      radiologists performed the evaluation of lower limbs from left to right side
      (first calf and then thigh). The measures were taken on gastrocnemius and on
      femoral biceps muscle belly. We chose to place for this study two ROIs of 4 and 2
      mm of diameter. RESULTS: The mean muscle stiffness was 1.98 +/- 0.48 (range
      between 1.89 +/- 0.36 and 2.15 +/- 0.57 m/s). The difference in muscle stiffness
      between left and right side of the body and between different levels of physical
      activity never became statistically significant (p value between 0.314 and
      0.915). Only in one test out of eight the difference of muscle stiffness between
      male and female resulted statistically significant (p value 0.020). When
      comparing the measurement obtained with a 2 and 4 mm diameter ROIs the values
      were statistically different only for the left thigh (p value 0.028). CONCLUSION:
      Our study, despite its limitations (low sample and low female population), seems
      to give some clear advice: physiological or technical factors do not determine
      statistically significant differences on passive muscle stiffness.

PMID- 28593007
TI  - Case report: acute portal vein thrombosis associated with acute cytomegalovirus
      infection in an immunocompetent adult.
AB  - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is usually asymptomatic and self-limiting in
      healthy individuals, but significant complications can develop in
      immunosuppressed patients. Venous or arterial thromboembolic phenomena are
      uncommon yet very serious complications of CMV infection. Most published reports
      describe immunosuppressed patients, but thrombotic events in CMV-infected
      immunocompetent individuals may also occur. We describe the case of an
      immunocompetent young man with acute CMV hepatitis that was complicated with
      portal vein thrombosis (PVT). We also review the literature regarding the
      association between PVT and CMV in immunocompetent patients. Thromboembolism is
      an underestimated but significant complication of acute CMV infection. Several
      local and systemic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of acute PVT. This
      case emphasizes the central role of ultrasound in its diagnosis and the
      potentially serious complications that can occur in immunocompetent individuals
      with no other prothrombotic risk factors.

PMID- 28593008
TI  - Meckel-Gruber syndrome: ultrasonographic and fetal autopsy correlation.
AB  - Meckel-Gruber syndrome (MGS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder which is
      characterized by a classic triad of occipital encephalocele, polycystic kidneys
      and postaxial polydactyly. We describe a case of classic MGS, diagnosed on
      ultrasonography and genetic analysis, with subsequent confirmation and
      correlation by fetal autopsy.

PMID- 28593010
TI  - Superb microvascular imaging: a potential tool in the detection of FNH.

PMID- 28593011
TI  - Pesticide exposure and subjective symptoms of cut-flower farmers.
AB  - Sales of cut-flowers depend much on the outer appearance of the flowers. They are
      not intended to be used as foodstuffs; thus, pesticides are used more liberally
      for cut flower growing than for other agricultural products. Flower production is
      often carried out in greenhouses; therefore, pesticide exposure seems to reach
      not only the person spraying the pesticides, but also the non-spraying workers as
      well. In 2009, a special research project on pesticide poisoning, affiliated with
      the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine, developed a study that focused on cut
      flower farmers' exposure to pesticide, subsequent adverse symptoms experienced,
      and treatment modalities to relieve pesticide-related symptoms. In this group of
      farmers, the pesticide sprayers were almost entirely male, while the females did
      not do any spraying. The organophosphate metabolite level in the urine of the
      males was higher than that of the females. However, in the female group, a
      positive relation was found between average working times in the greenhouse, and
      urine concentration of dialkylphosphates. In 2 males of this group, the level of
      dimethylphosphate was detected at 1,000 times the median level. Their
      butyrylcholinesterase activity levels on the day of testing had declined to 64%,
      72% of their average level of the proximate 4 years, respectively. Communication
      with these subjects regarding pesticide exposure and methods of prevention
      appeared to be an effective approach for reducing symptom severity. Among soil
      fumigants, chloropicrin and 1,3-dichloropropene were most often used. Difficulty
      breathing was one of the subjective symptoms associated with chloropicrin, as
      well as watery eyes, coughing, and runny nose. These symptoms were effectively
      suppressed by the preventative practice of wearing gas masks and goggles while
      using soil fumigants. It would be beneficial to strongly encourage use of
      suitable protective gear among farmers exposed to soil fumigants.

PMID- 28593009
TI  - Ultrasound as point of care in management of polytrauma and its complication.
AB  - PURPOSE: Traumatic injuries constitute a major risk for patients in emergency
      units. Point-of-care ultrasound may be a determinant in reducing the deleterious
      impact of complications and in prognosis. METHODS: We describe the case of a 28
      year-old female who reported cranial trauma, abdominal and thoracic trauma, and
      suspected bilateral fracture of the femur. RESULTS: Ultrasound was useful for
      evaluating and monitoring multiple organ failure. CONCLUSION: Combining cost
      effective advantages with bedside real-time imaging, ultrasound is a powerful
      adjunct to standard clinical assessment in the management of polytrauma when it
      is administered at the point of care.

PMID- 28593013
TI  - Emotional and instrumental support influencing male caregivers for people with
      dementia living at home.
AB  - Object: To clarify the emotional and instrumental support influencing male
      caregivers for people with dementia living at home. Patients/Materials and
      Methods: The subjects were 298 male caregivers. Nursing care burden was assessed
      using the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale. Ability to cope with care problems was
      assessed using the Nursing Care Problems Coping Scale for Male Caregivers for
      People with Dementia Living at Home (NCSM). Emotional support was assessed using
      the Emotional Support Network Scale. Instrumental support was assessed using the
      question "Do you have someone to help when you have a problem with nursing
      care?". Results: There was a significant correlation (P < 0.04) between the point
      (index) of NCSM and Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale. A positive significant
      correlation was found in three coping styles. A negative significant correlation
      was found in one coping style, and no significant correlation in one coping
      style. The 'Solve the problem' coping style was linked to support from both
      within and beyond the family. Both 'Emotional avoidance' and 'Cognitive
      transformation' coping styles were linked to support from within the family, and
      "Request assistance" style only to external support. There were no correlations
      between the source of support and the "Careful supervision and waiting" coping
      style. Conclusion: Emotional and instrumental support for male caregivers was
      more than three times more likely to be obtained from within the family than
      outside it. With families becoming smaller, it is becoming more important for
      communities and society in general to provide emotional and instrumental support
      for male caregivers. Male caregivers need support from someone with whom they
      feel comfortable. It is particularly necessary to consider how to support male
      caregivers who use the "Emotional avoidance" coping style.

PMID- 28593012
TI  - Potential benefit of physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service for
      regional trauma care system activation: An observational study in rural Japan.
AB  - Objective: Involvement of all regional medical facilities in a trauma system is
      challenging in rural regions. We hypothesized that the physician-staffed
      helicopter emergency medical service potentially encouraged local facilities to
      participate in trauma systems by providing the transport of patients with trauma
      to those facilities in a rural setting. Materials and Methods: We performed two
      retrospective observational studies. First, yearly changes in the numbers of
      patients with trauma and destination facilities were surveyed using records from
      the Miyazaki physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service from April
      2012 to March 2014. Second, we obtained data from medical records regarding the
      mechanism of injury, severity of injury, resuscitative interventions performed
      within 24 h after admission, secondary transports owing to undertriage by
      attending physicians, and deaths resulting from potentially preventable causes.
      Data from patients transported to the designated trauma center and those
      transported to non-designated trauma centers in Miyazaki were compared. Results:
      In total, 524 patients were included. The number of patients transported to non
      designated trauma centers and the number of non-designated trauma centers
      receiving patients increased after the second year. We surveyed 469 patient
      medical records (90%). There were 194 patients with major injuries (41%) and 104
      patients with multiple injuries (22%), and 185 patients (39%) received
      resuscitative interventions. The designated trauma centers received many more
      patients with trauma (366 vs. 103), including many more patients with major
      injuries (47% vs. 21%, p < 0.01) and multiple injuries (25% vs. 13%, p < 0.01),
      than the non-designated trauma centers. The number of patients with major
      injuries and patients who received resuscitative interventions increased for non
      designated trauma centers after the second year. There were 9 secondary
      transports and 26 deaths. None of these secondary transports resulted from
      undertriage by staff physicians and none of these deaths resulted from
      potentially preventable causes. Conclusion: The rural physician-staffed
      helicopter emergency medical service potentially encouraged non-designated trauma
      centers to participate in trauma systems while maintaining patient safety.

PMID- 28593015
TI  - Target range of motion for rehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty.
AB  - Objective: Postoperative knee range of motion (ROM) is among the most important
      factors influencing patient satisfaction after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The
      purpose of this study was to clarify the time course of improvement in knee ROM
      up to 12 months after TKA, including intraoperative knee ROM after implantation,
      and to clarify a target ROM for rehabilitation after TKA. Patients and Methods:
      In total, 39 knee joints in 26 patients with osteoarthritis who underwent TKA
      (retaining the posterior cruciate ligament) were evaluated. Goniometry was used
      to measure the knee range of extension and flexion preoperatively;
      intraoperatively; at 1 and 2 weeks after TKA; and then at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months
      after TKA. Results: The postoperative extension range gradually improved up to a
      maximum at 6 months after TKA; there were no significant differences in the
      extension range between intraoperative and 6 months after TKA, intraoperative and
      12 months after TKA, or 6 and 12 months after TKA. The postoperative flexion
      range gradually improved, with the maximum improvement observed at 3 months after
      TKA; there were no significant differences in the flexion range before TKA and 3,
      6, and 12 months after TKA. There were no significant differences between flexion
      ROM measured at 3, 6, and 12 months after TKA. Conclusions: The changes in the
      knee range of extension plateaued 6 months after TKA, and those in the knee range
      of flexion plateaued 3 months after TKA. The target range of extension for
      rehabilitation from 6 months to 12 months after TKA was the intraoperative range,
      and the target range of flexion for rehabilitation from 3 months to 12 months
      after TKA was the preoperative range.

PMID- 28593014
TI  - A qualitative study on barriers to achieving high-quality, community-based
      integrated dementia care.
AB  - Introduction: High-quality, community-based dementia care requires a
      comprehensive, holistic approach. This study aimed to identify the barriers to
      achieving efficient cooperation and coordination among medical professionals,
      care managers, and medical social workers, and to improve the management model of
      community-based, integrated dementia care. Methods: We collected qualitative data
      through three focus group discussions at JA Konan Kosei Hospital. Thirteen
      participants (four directors of nursing service departments, three chief nurses,
      four medical social workers, and two care managers) were recruited for the
      discussions. The data were analyzed using an inductive, multi-step approach
      referred to as the qualitative content analysis. Results: Nine themes arose as
      follows: little attention given to patient wishes, lack of time and space to
      provide high-quality care, disturbing hospital environment, poor compensation for
      staff members, refusing to visit outpatient clinics, declined admission, daily
      life support by family members and caregivers, dementia care team, and community
      bonding. Conclusion: The participants wanted to launch a dementia care team in
      their hospital to improve the care environment and the quality of dementia
      specific care. The study also suggested that advance care planning could be
      systematically implemented in clinical practice as a way to honor the decisions
      made by dementia patients.

PMID- 28593016
TI  - Associations among anthropometric measures, food consumption, and quality of life
      in school-age children in Tanzania.
AB  - Objectives: The factors associated with quality of life (QOL) and anthropometric
      measurements as outcomes of food consumption were examined among school-age
      children in Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in
      September 2013 in Tanzania. Anonymous self-administered questionnaire surveys
      were conducted in the Kiswahili language among primary school children in the
      fifth and/or sixth grade aged 10-14 years. The survey probed sociodemographic
      characteristics such as age, gender, living with family members, number of
      meals/snacks per day, food consumption in the previous 24 hours, and QOL, as well
      as anthropometric measurements (height and weight). The Rohrer index was
      calculated based on height and weight. After presenting the mean and standard
      deviation (SD) of height, weight, and the Rohrer index score by age and gender,
      the Rohrer index score was categorized into three groups (low weight, normal
      weight, and overweight) and analyzed according to sociodemographic
      characteristics and food consumption using the chi-square test. Furthermore, the
      QOL score was analyzed using the t test. Multivariate linear regression analysis
      was used to analyze the associations between the QOL score and sociodemographic
      characteristics and food consumption. Results: A total of 694 children (male:
      312; female: 382) participated in this study. According to the Rohrer index, 273
      (39.3%) children were classified as low weight, 353 (50.9%) were normal weight,
      and 68 (9.8%) were overweight. A total of 459 (66.1%) children reported having
      had three or more meals and/or snacks on the day before the study. In addition,
      127 (18.3%) children had not eaten any protein-rich food on the day before the
      study, although almost all had eaten at least one carbohydrate-rich food per day.
      Regardless of region, location, gender, and age, living without parents was
      associated with short stature (P = 0.010). A high QOL score was associated with
      having three or more meals and/or snacks per day (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The
      security of physiological needs such as a guarantee of three meals per day could
      contribute to higher QOL among underserved children.

PMID- 28593017
TI  - The rendezvous technique involving insertion of a guidewire in a percutaneous
      transhepatic gallbladder drainage tube for biliary access in a case of difficult
      biliary cannulation.
AB  - Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a diagnostic method and
      treatment approach for biliary diseases. However, biliary cannulation can be
      difficult in some cases. We performed ERCP in a 97-year-old woman with abdominal
      pain resulting from acute cholangitis caused by choledocholithiasis and observed
      difficult biliary cannulation. Eventually, the patient was successfully treated
      with the rendezvous technique. We could not cannulate the biliary duct during
      ERCP twice. Therefore, we placed a percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage
      (PTGBD) tube without intrahepatic dilation. The rendezvous technique was
      performed using the PTGBD tube. The patient did not experience pancreatitis or
      perforation.

PMID- 28593018
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis following ciguatera poisoning: A case report.
AB  - Objective: To report the first case of ciguatera-associated rheumatoid arthritis
      in Japan. Patient: A 53-year-old man presented to our clinic with morning
      stiffness and pain in the fingers and wrists. Results: For six months, he had
      suffered from chronic pain in both hands and shoulders caused by ciguatera
      poisoning. He was referred to a local general hospital and diagnosed with RA.
      Conclusion: When synovitis becomes evident in chronic ciguatera poisoning,
      reevaluation is necessary, including investigation of chronic arthritis, which
      might be associated with the onset of RA.

PMID- 28593019
TI  - Rural physicians' scope of practice on remote islands: A case report of severe
      pneumonia that required overnight artificial airway management.
AB  - Objective: To clarify the scope of practice on rural islands of Okinawa. Patient:
      A 59-year-old man presented to our clinic with shortness of breath. He was
      intubated due to acute respiratory failure caused by severe pneumonia. We could
      not transfer him owing to bad weather, and had to continue patient care in the
      clinic for more than 24 hours. Discussion: In remote regions, rural physicians
      may require a broad scope of practice from primary to tertiary care, in addition
      to preventive and end-of-life care. Conclusion: This case illustrates the current
      state of emergency care and unique scope of practice on rural islands of Okinawa.

PMID- 28593020
TI  - Corrigendum to "Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Inhibits Apoptosis and Promotes
      Proliferation of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Isolated from Patients
      with Type 2 Diabetes by Reducing Cellular Oxidative Stress".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2017/3027109.].

PMID- 28593022
TI  - MicroRNA Regulation of Oxidative Stress-Induced Cellular Senescence.
AB  - Aging is a time-related process of functional deterioration at cellular, tissue,
      organelle, and organismal level that ultimately brings life to end. Cellular
      senescence, a state of permanent cell growth arrest in response to cellular
      stress, is believed to be the driver of the aging process and age-related
      disorders. The free radical theory of aging, referred to as oxidative stress (OS)
      theory below, is one of the most studied aging promoting mechanisms. In addition,
      genetics and epigenetics also play large roles in accelerating and/or delaying
      the onset of aging and aging-related diseases. Among various epigenetic events,
      microRNAs (miRNAs) turned out to be important players in controlling OS, aging,
      and cellular senescence. miRNAs can generate rapid and reversible responses and,
      therefore, are ideal players for mediating an adaptive response against stress
      through their capacity to fine-tune gene expression. However, the importance of
      miRNAs in regulating OS in the context of aging and cellular senescence is
      largely unknown. The purpose of our article is to highlight recent advancements
      in the regulatory role of miRNAs in OS-induced cellular senescence.

PMID- 28593021
TI  - Tissue- and Condition-Specific Isoforms of Mammalian Cytochrome c Oxidase
      Subunits: From Function to Human Disease.
AB  - Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is the terminal enzyme of the electron transport chain
      and catalyzes the transfer of electrons from cytochrome c to oxygen. COX consists
      of 14 subunits, three and eleven encoded, respectively, by the mitochondrial and
      nuclear DNA. Tissue- and condition-specific isoforms have only been reported for
      COX but not for the other oxidative phosphorylation complexes, suggesting a
      fundamental requirement to fine-tune and regulate the essentially irreversible
      reaction catalyzed by COX. This article briefly discusses the assembly of COX in
      mammals and then reviews the functions of the six nuclear-encoded COX subunits
      that are expressed as isoforms in specialized tissues including those of the
      liver, heart and skeletal muscle, lung, and testes: COX IV-1, COX IV-2, NDUFA4,
      NDUFA4L2, COX VIaL, COX VIaH, COX VIb-1, COX VIb-2, COX VIIaH, COX VIIaL, COX
      VIIaR, COX VIIIH/L, and COX VIII-3. We propose a model in which the isoforms
      mediate the interconnected regulation of COX by (1) adjusting basal enzyme
      activity to mitochondrial capacity of a given tissue; (2) allosteric regulation
      to adjust energy production to need; (3) altering proton pumping efficiency under
      certain conditions, contributing to thermogenesis; (4) providing a platform for
      tissue-specific signaling; (5) stabilizing the COX dimer; and (6) modulating
      supercomplex formation.

PMID- 28593023
TI  - Mechanisms Underlying the Essential Role of Mitochondrial Membrane Lipids in
      Yeast Chronological Aging.
AB  - The functional state of mitochondria is vital to cellular and organismal aging in
      eukaryotes across phyla. Studies in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have
      provided evidence that age-related changes in some aspects of mitochondrial
      functionality can create certain molecular signals. These signals can then define
      the rate of cellular aging by altering unidirectional and bidirectional
      communications between mitochondria and other organelles. Several aspects of
      mitochondrial functionality are known to impact the replicative and/or
      chronological modes of yeast aging. They include mitochondrial electron
      transport, membrane potential, reactive oxygen species, and protein synthesis and
      proteostasis, as well as mitochondrial synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters, amino
      acids, and NADPH. Our recent findings have revealed that the composition of
      mitochondrial membrane lipids is one of the key aspects of mitochondrial
      functionality affecting yeast chronological aging. We demonstrated that
      exogenously added lithocholic bile acid can delay chronological aging in yeast
      because it elicits specific changes in mitochondrial membrane lipids. These
      changes allow mitochondria to operate as signaling platforms that delay yeast
      chronological aging by orchestrating an institution and maintenance of a distinct
      cellular pattern. In this review, we discuss molecular and cellular mechanisms
      underlying the essential role of mitochondrial membrane lipids in yeast
      chronological aging.

PMID- 28593025
TI  - Ziziphus nummularia Inhibits Inflammation-Induced Atherogenic Phenotype of Human
      Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death
      worldwide. Atherosclerosis is a CVD characterized by plaque formation resulting
      from inflammation-induced insults to endothelial cells, monocytes, and vascular
      smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Despite significant advances, current treatments for
      atherosclerosis remain insufficient, prompting the search for alternative
      modalities, including herbal medicine. Ziziphus nummularia is an herb commonly
      used in the amelioration of symptoms associated with many health conditions such
      as cold, diarrhea, cancer, and diabetes. However, its effect on the inflammation
      induced behavior of VSMCs remains unknown. In this study, we sought to determine
      the effect of the ethanolic extract of Z. nummularia (ZNE) on TNF-alpha-induced
      phenotypic changes of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs). The treatment of
      HASMCs with ZNE decreased cell proliferation, adhesion to fibronectin, migration,
      and invasion. ZNE treatment also caused a concentration- and time-dependent
      reduction in the TNF-alpha-induced expression of matrix metalloproteases MMP-2
      and MMP-9, NF-kappaB, and cell adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Furthermore,
      ZNE decreased the adhesion of THP-1 monocytes to HASMCs and endothelial cells in
      a concentration-dependent manner. These data provide evidence for the anti
      inflammatory effect of Ziziphus nummularia, along with potential implications for
      its use as an agent that could ameliorate inflammation-induced atherogenic
      phenotype of VSMCs in atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28593026
TI  - Corrigendum to "(-)-Epicatechin Prevents Blood Pressure Increase and Reduces
      Locomotor Hyperactivity in Young Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/6949020.].

PMID- 28593024
TI  - Cardiovascular Mitochondrial Dysfunction Induced by Cocaine: Biomarkers and
      Possible Beneficial Effects of Modulators of Oxidative Stress.
AB  - Cocaine abuse has long been known to cause morbidity and mortality due to its
      cardiovascular toxic effects. The pathogenesis of the cardiovascular toxicity of
      cocaine use has been largely reviewed, and the most recent data indicate a
      fundamental role of oxidative stress in cocaine-induced cardiovascular toxicity,
      indicating that mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the mechanisms of
      oxidative stress. The comprehension of the mechanisms involving mitochondrial
      dysfunction could help in selecting the most appropriate mitochondria injury
      biological marker, such as superoxide dismutase-2 activity and glutathionylated
      hemoglobin. The potential use of modulators of oxidative stress (mitoubiquinone,
      the short-chain quinone idebenone, and allopurinol) in the treatment of cocaine
      cardiotoxic effects is also suggested to promote further investigations on these
      potential mitochondria-targeted antioxidant strategies.

PMID- 28593027
TI  - Draft genome sequence of Desulfoplanes formicivorans Pf12BT, a sulfate-reducing
      bacterium of the family Desulfomicrobiaceae.
AB  - Desulfoplanes formicivorans strain Pf12BT is the type strain of the type species
      in the genus Desulfoplanes, which is the one of the genera in the family
      Desulfomicrobiaceae within the order Desulfovibrionales. This
      deltaproteobacterium was isolated from a blackish meromictic lake sediment. D.
      formicivorans strain Pf12BT is a Gram-negative, motile and sulfate-reducing
      bacterium. Cells of strain Pf12BT are characterized by possession of vibroid
      morphology and red fluorescent pigment. Here we describe the features, draft
      genome sequence and annotation of this organism, the sole species of the genus
      Desulfoplanes. The genome comprised 3,000,979 bp, 2,657 protein-coding genes and
      58 RNA genes.

PMID- 28593029
TI  - ANATOMICAL GUIDED SEGMENTATION WITH NON-STATIONARY TISSUE CLASS DISTRIBUTIONS IN
      AN EXPECTATION-MAXIMIZATION FRAMEWORK.
AB  - High quality segmentation of brain MR images is a challenging task. To deal with
      this problem many automatic segmentation methods rely on atlas information of
      anatomical structures. We further investigate this line of research by
      introducing hierarchical representations of anatomical structures in an
      Expectation-Maximization framework. This new approach enables us to divide a
      complex segmentation scenario into less difficult sub-problems reducing the
      scenario's statistical complexity. We demonstrate the method's strength by
      segmenting a set of brain MR images into 31 different anatomical structures as
      well as comparing it to other methods.

PMID- 28593030
TI  - MONITORING SLOWLY EVOLVING TUMORS.
AB  - Change detection is a critical task in the diagnosis of many slowly evolving
      pathologies. This paper describes an approach that semi-automatically performs
      this task using longitudinal medical images. We are specifically interested in
      meningiomas, which experts often find difficult to monitor as the tumor evolution
      can be obscured by image artifacts. We test the method on synthetic data with
      known tumor growth as well as ten clinical data sets. We show that the results of
      our approach highly correlate with expert findings but seem to be less impacted
      by inter- and intra-rater variability.

PMID- 28593028
TI  - Genomics insights into production of 2-methylisoborneol and a putative
      cyanobactin by Planktothricoides sp. SR001.
AB  - Planktothricoides is a free-living filamentous cyanobacterium belonging to the
      order Oscillatoriales and the family Phormidiaceae, capable of forming bloom in
      fresh and brackish waters. A unicyanobacterial non-axenic culture dominated by
      Planktothricoides sp. SR001 was obtained from a freshwater reservoir in
      Singapore. The draft genome presented here is the first tropical freshwater
      Planktothricoides sp. ever sequenced. The genome of 7.0Mbp contains 5,776 genes
      predicted using the JGI IMG pipeline. The whole genome sequence allows
      identification of genes encoding for nitrogen-fixation, accessory photosynthetic
      pigments and biosynthesis of an off-flavor compound, 2-methylisoborneol, which
      has been experimentally verified here based on metabolite detection. In addition,
      strain SR001 genome contains an operon putatively involved in the production of a
      linear tripeptide cyanobactin related to viridisamide A and aeruginosamide, with
      the later known to possess anti-microbial or cytotoxic effect.

PMID- 28593031
TI  - COMBINING REGIONAL METRICS FOR DISEASE-RELATED BRAIN POPULATION ANALYSIS.
AB  - In this paper, we present a new metric combining regional measurements to improve
      image based population studies that use manifold learning techniques. These
      studies currently rely on a single score over the whole brain image domain. Thus,
      they require large amount of training data to uncover spatially complex variation
      in the whole brain impacted by diseases. We reduce the impact of this issue by
      first computing pairwise measurements in local regions separately and then
      combining regional measurements into a single pairwise metric. We apply the new
      metric to learn the manifold of ADNI data and evaluate the resulting
      morphological representation by fitting multiple linear regression models to the
      mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score. The regression models show that the
      morphological representations from the proposed metric achieves higher estimation
      accuracy of MMSE score compared to those from the conventional global scores.

PMID- 28593032
TI  - AUTO-ENCODING OF DISCRIMINATING MORPHOMETRY FROM CARDIAC MRI.
AB  - We propose a fully-automatic morphometric encoding targeted towards
      differentiating diseased from healthy cardiac MRI. Existing encodings rely on
      accurate segmentations of each scan. Segmentation generally includes labour
      intensive editing and increases the risk associated with intra- and inter-rater
      variability. Our morphometric framework only requires the segmentation of a
      template scan. This template is non-rigidly registered to the other scans. We
      then confine the resulting deformation maps to the regions outlined by the
      segmentations. We learn a manifold for each region and identify the most
      informative coordinates with respect to distinguishing diseased from healthy
      scans. Compared with volumetric measurements and a deformation-based score, this
      encoding is much more accurate in capturing morphometric patterns distinguishing
      healthy subjects from those with Tetralogy of Fallot, diastolic dysfunction, and
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28593033
TI  - Acoustic Radiation Force of a Quasi-Gaussian Beam on an Elastic Sphere in a
      Fluid.
AB  - Acoustic radiation force has many applications. One of the related technologies
      is the ability to noninvasively expel stones from the kidney. To optimize the
      procedure it is important to develop theoretical approaches that can provide
      rapid calculations of the radiation force depending in stone size and elastic
      properties, together with ultrasound beam diameter, intensity, and frequency. We
      hypothesize that the radiation force nonmonotonically depends on the ratio
      between the acoustic beam width and stone diameter because of coupling between
      the acoustic wave in the fluid and shear waves in the stone. Testing this
      hypothesis by considering a spherical stone and a quasi-Gaussian beam was
      performed in the current work. The calculation of the radiation force was
      conducted for elastic spheres of two types. Dependence of the magnitude of the
      radiation force on the beam diameter at various fixed values of stone diameters
      was modeled. In addition to using real material properties, speed of shear wave
      in the stone was varied to reveal the importance of shear waves in the stone. It
      was found that the radiation force reaches its maximum at the beamwidth
      comparable to the stone diameter; the gain in the force magnitude can reach 40%
      in comparison with the case of a narrow beam.

PMID- 28593036
TI  - Disseminated and late metastatic disease from nasal pit leiomyosarcoma after
      radical surgical resection. Case report of a singular presentation of a rare
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leiomyosarcoma of the head and neck is a rare cancer with high local
      aggressiveness. Radical surgery and adjuvant treatment offer the best chance for
      cure, nonetheless 5-years recurrence rate remains high. Despite international
      guidelines are available for soft tissue sarcomas, no recommendations are
      specifically endorsed for leiomyosarcoma of the head and neck, due to the rarity
      of its presentation and consequently scarcity of data on long-term outcome. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 50-year old woman, operated 10 years before for leiomyosarcoma of
      the nasal pit and with negative 5-years follow-up, was admitted to our ward for
      impairment of the hepatic function. Total-body CT scan detected multiple
      localizations at lungs, kidneys, pancreas, bones, muscles, lymph nodes and
      thyroid. The pathologic report after lung biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of
      metastasis from leiomyosarcoma and the patients was scheduled for first line
      chemo-radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite adequate primary treatment, distant and
      disseminated metastatic disease may be not excluded in leiomyosarcoma of the head
      and neck.

PMID- 28593037
TI  - Targeted approaches to improve outcomes for highest-cost patients.
AB  - Bash and colleagues, using data from Maccabi Healthcare Services, have documented
      increased cost and utilization attributable to patients with congestive heart
      failure (CHF). The CHF patients were older than the general population and had
      high rates of important comorbid conditions. While it is somewhat predictable
      that such a population would have higher healthcare utilization and costs, the
      extent of the difference was still surprising. Most CHF patients (78%) were
      hospitalized at least once, compared to only 21% of patients without CHF. CHF
      patients used dramatically more of every kind of health care, including physician
      visits, emergency department visits, and specialty care visits. In this paper,
      Bash and colleagues have provided essential information about the "cost
      epidemiology" of CHF patients in the Israeli context. This commentary places
      these results in a broader context of how "cost epidemiology" information can be
      translated into targeted programs to improve outcomes and costs for vulnerable
      populations. The commentary makes three key points. First, beyond showing the
      increased utilization and cost attributable to CHF, there is also a need to
      examine which patients within this broad category contribute most to these
      increased costs, and might therefore be targeted for enhanced services. Second,
      it is helpful to make a business case for intervening to improve outcomes with a
      subpopulation, focusing in particular on the return on investment from the
      standpoint of the payer. Finally, while Israeli health collectives have already
      deployed programs to improve outcomes in older and sicker patients, there may be
      a need to more precisely define important subpopulations based on social risk
      factors or particularly severe disease manifestations, and then target those
      subpopulations with tailored programs focused on their particular needs.

PMID- 28593039
TI  - Is it time for comprehensive geriatric assessment to move beyond primary care?
      The case for targeting medical sub-specialty practice.
AB  - Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) as a consultative service for older
      adults with complex medical and psychosocial challenges has existed for decades.
      However, studies have often showed inconsistent acceptance and implementation of
      geriatric recommendations by primary care providers (PCPs) raising doubts about
      the overall benefits of CGA in this setting. Press and colleagues investigated
      the patient- and provider-related factors that affect recommendation
      implementation, and like previous studies, they too found similarly low rates of
      implementation. In this commentary, we acknowledge the perennial challenges that
      exist to improving the acceptance of CGA in primary care practice, and we suggest
      an alternative target: medical sub-specialty practice. By highlighting three
      medical sub-specialty fields (oncology, nephrology, and cardiology), which have
      demonstrated that CGA can be incorporated into their respective clinical
      practices, we argue that CGA may prove to have greater impact in these settings
      than in primary care. We also propose initial research steps that could further
      delineate the trends, outcomes, and next steps for such consultations.

PMID- 28593038
TI  - Comprehensive healthcare resource use among newly diagnosed congestive heart
      failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is among the most common causes of
      hospital admissions and readmissions in the Western world. However, the burden of
      ambulatory care has not been as well investigated. The objective of this study
      was to assess the relative burden and direct medical costs of CHF including
      inpatient and outpatient care. METHODS: We used longitudinal clinical data from a
      two-million member health organization in Israel (Maccabi Healthcare Services) to
      identify adults with newly diagnosed CHF between January 2006 and December 2012,
      either in the in- or outpatient setting. Adults without CHF were age- and sex
      matched to CHF patients and healthcare utilization and all modes of healthcare
      costs were compared among them, excluding those in their last year of life.
      RESULTS: The burden posed by 6592 CHF patients was significantly (p < 0.001)
      larger than that of 32,960 matched controls. CHF patients had significantly
      higher rates of baseline comorbidity and healthcare utilization compared to non
      CHF controls. This was evident in all categories of healthcare services and
      expenses, including in- and outpatient visits, laboratory expenses, medication
      costs, among younger and older, men and women. Among those who incurred any
      healthcare costs, younger (45-64y) and older (65 + y) subjects with CHF were
      observed to have about 3.25 (95% CI: 2.96-3.56) and 2.08 (95% CI: 1.99-2.17)
      times the healthcare costs, respectively, compared to subjects without CHF after
      adjusting for patient characteristics. CONCLUSION: CHF is associated with an
      overall two- to three-fold higher cost of healthcare services depending on
      patient age, accounting for over half of all healthcare costs incurred by elderly
      CHF patients, and more than two-thirds of all costs among younger CHF patients.
      Observations of the large burden posed on one of the youngest societies in the
      developed world are profound, implicative of great opportunities to control the
      costs of CHF. Further research to understand how resource use impacts health
      outcomes and quality of care is warranted.

PMID- 28593040
TI  - The impact of penicillin allergy labels on antibiotic and health care use in
      primary care: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suspected penicillin allergy (Pen-A) is often not verified by
      diagnostic testing. In third line penicillin allergy labels were associated with
      prescription of broad spectrum antibiotics, hospital stay duration and
      readmission. OBJECTIVE: Assess the impact of Pen-A labels on antibiotic and
      health care use in primary care. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was
      conducted in primary care in the Utrecht area, the Netherlands. All patients
      registered with a penicillin allergy on 31 December 2013 were selected from the
      General Practitioner Network database. Each patient with a Pen-A label was
      matched for age, gender, follow-up period with three patients without Pen-A
      label. Risk (OR) of receiving a reserve and second choice antibiotic, number and
      type of antibiotics prescribed during follow-up and number of GP contacts were
      compared between the two cohorts. RESULTS: Of 196,440 patients, 1254 patients
      (0.6%) with a Pen-A label were identified and matched with 3756 patients without
      Pen-A label. Pen-A labels resulted in higher risk of receiving >=1 antibiotic
      prescription per year (OR 2.56, 95% CI 2.05-3.20), >=1 s choice antibiotic
      prescription per year (OR 2.21 95% CI 1.11-4.40), and >=4 GP contacts per year
      (OR 1.71 95% CI 1.46-2.00). The chance of receiving tetracyclins (OR 2.24, 95% CI
      1.29-3.89), macrolides/lincosamides/streptogamins (OR 8.69, 95% CI 4.26-17.73)
      and quinolones (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.22-5.48) was higher in Pen-A patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: In primary health care Pen-A labels are associated with increased
      antibiotic use, including second choice antibiotics, and more health care use.

PMID- 28593041
TI  - The biopsychosocial model and chiropractic: a commentary with recommendations for
      the chiropractic profession.
AB  - There is an increasing awareness, interest and acceptance of the biopsychosocial
      (BPS) model by all health care professionals involved with patient care. The
      areas of spine care and pain medicine are no exception, and in fact, these areas
      of health care are a major centerpiece of the movement from the traditional
      biomedical model to a BPS model of patient assessment and delivery of care. The
      chiropractic approach to health care has a history that is grounded in key
      aspects of the BPS model. The profession has inherently implemented certain
      features of the BPS model throughout its history, perhaps without a full
      understanding or realization. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview
      of the BPS model, its relationship with spine care and pain management, and to
      discuss the BPS model, particularly psychosocial aspects, in the context of its
      historical relationship with chiropractic. We will also provide recommendations
      for the chiropractic profession as it relates to successful adoption of a full
      integration of the BPS model.

PMID- 28593042
TI  - Challenges facing the veterinary profession in Ireland: 1. clinical veterinary
      services.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The provision of veterinary clinical services is known to elicit a
      range of challenges which require an ethical appraisal. In a recent Policy Delphi
      study, referrals/second opinions and 24 h emergency care were identified as
      matters of key concern by veterinary professionals in Ireland. In this case study
      (the first in a series of three resulting from a research workshop exploring
      challenges facing the veterinary profession in Ireland; the other two case
      studies investigate the on-farm use of veterinary antimicrobials and
      emergency/casualty slaughter certification) we aim to provide a value-based
      reflection on the constraints and possible opportunities for two prominent
      veterinary clinical services in Ireland: referrals/second opinions and 24 h
      emergency care. RESULTS: Using a qualitative focus group approach, this study
      gathered evidence from relevant stakeholders, namely referral and referring
      veterinarians, clients, animal charities, and the regulatory body. Six
      overarching, interrelated constraints emerged from the thematic analysis: the
      need to improve current guidance, managing clients' expectations, concerns with
      veterinarian well-being, financial issues, timeliness of referral, and conflicts
      between veterinary practices. CONCLUSIONS: Possible solutions to improve
      veterinary referral and out-of-hours clinical services included clarifying the
      terms used in current norms and regulations (namely 'referral', 'second opinion',
      '24 h emergency care' and '24 h cover'), improved communication (making the
      client aware of the different levels of veterinary care that are being offered,
      and transparent and full disclosure of clinical records), and the promotion of
      Continuing Veterinary Education in communication, business management and ethical
      decision-making. These findings may help inform the Veterinary Council of Ireland
      about future recommendations and regulatory measures.

PMID- 28593044
TI  - Surveillance of surgical site infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and strain
      characterization in Tanzanian hospitals does not provide proof for a role of
      hospital water plumbing systems in transmission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of hospital water systems in the development of Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) surgical site infections (SSIs) in low-income
      countries is barely studied. This study characterized P. aeruginosa isolates from
      patients and water in order to establish possible epidemiological links. METHODS:
      Between December 2014 and September 2015, rectal and wound swabs, and water
      samples were collected in the frame of active surveillance for SSIs in the two
      Tanzanian hospitals. Typing of P. aeruginosa was done by multi-locus sequence
      typing. RESULTS: Of 930 enrolled patients, 536 were followed up, of whom 78
      (14.6%, 95% CI; 11.6-17.5) developed SSIs. P. aeruginosa was found in eight (14%)
      of 57 investigated wounds. Of the 43 water sampling points, 29 were positive for
      P. aeruginosa. However, epidemiological links to wound infections were not
      confirmed. The P. aeruginosa carriage rate on admission was 0.9% (8/930). Of the
      363 patients re-screened upon discharge, four (1.1%) possibly acquired P.
      aeruginosa during hospitalization. Wound infections of the three of the eight P.
      aeruginosa SSIs were caused by a strain of the same sequence type (ST) as the one
      from intestinal carriage. Isolates from patients were more resistant to
      antibiotics than water isolates. CONCLUSIONS: The P. aeruginosa SSI rate was low.
      There was no evidence for transmission from tap water. Not all P. aeruginosa SSI
      were proven to be endogenous, pointing to other routes of transmission.

PMID- 28593043
TI  - Diffusion of clindamycin-resistant and erythromycin-resistant methicillin
      susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), potential ST398, in United States
      Veterans Health Administration Hospitals, 2003-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Changing phenotypic profiles of methicillin-susceptible
      Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) isolates can indicate the emergence of novel
      sequence types (ST). The diffusion of MSSA ST can be tracked by combining
      established genotypic profiles with phenotypic surveillance data. ST398 emerged
      in New York City (NYC) and exhibits resistance to clindamycin and erythromycin
      but tetracycline susceptibility ("potential ST398"). Trends of potential ST398
      were examined in a national cohort of all Veterans Health Administration patients
      with MSSA invasive infections during 2003-2014. METHODS: A retrospective cohort
      of all patients with MSSA invasive infections, defined as a positive clinical
      culture from a sterile site, during 2003-2014 was created. Only isolates tested
      against clindamycin, erythromycin and tetracycline were included. Annual hospital
      level proportions of potential ST398 were compared according to facility distance
      from NYC and region. RESULTS: A total of 34,025 patient isolates from 136 VA
      medical centers met the inclusion criteria. Of those, 4582 (13.5%) met the
      definition of potential ST398. Potential ST398 increased over the 12-year cohort
      and diffused outwards from NYC. Incidence Rate Ratios of >1.0 (p < 0.01) reflect
      increases in potential ST398 over time in hospitals nearer to NYC. CONCLUSIONS:
      We observe an increase in the phenotypic profile of potential ST398 MSSA isolates
      in invasive infections in a national cohort of patients in the US. The increase
      is not evenly distributed across the US but appears to diffuse outwards from NYC.
      Novel MSSA strain emergence may have important clinical implications,
      particularly for the use of clindamycin for suspected S. aureus infections.

PMID- 28593046
TI  - Erratum to: The evidence on tiotropium bromide in asthma: from the rationale to
      the bedside.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s40248-017-0094-3.].

PMID- 28593045
TI  - Virulence traits associated with Burkholderia cenocepacia ST856 epidemic strain
      isolated from cystic fibrosis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Burkholderia cenocepacia is considered one of the most problematic
      cystic fibrosis (CF) pathogens. Colonization prevalence in the Serbian CF
      population is high and virtually exclusively limited to a single highly
      transmissible clone of B. cenocepacia ST856 which is positive for both the B.
      cepacia epidemic strain marker (BCESM) and cable pilin, and is closely related to
      the epidemic strain CZ1 (ST32). METHODS: Biofilm formation for 182 isolates, and
      adhesion to components of the host extracellular matrix, proteolytic activity,
      mucoidy and motility of selected ST856 representatives, as well as B. cenocepacia
      ST858 and ST859, and B. stabilis ST857, novel STs isolated from Serbian CF
      patients, were investigated in this study. The presence of the cepI, cepR, fliG,
      llpE, wbiI, and bcscV genes was analyzed. RESULTS: Biofilm-formation ability of
      analyzed strains was poor under standard laboratory conditions, but changed in
      stress conditions (cold stress) and conditions that mimic CF milieu (increased
      CO2). All strains expressed ability to bind to collagen and fibronectin albeit
      with different intensity. Representatives of ST856 exhibited gelatinase activity.
      ST858, ST859 and 9/11 of ST856 genotypes were positive for swimming and twitching
      motility whereas ST857 was non-motile. Mucoidy was demonstrated in all ST856
      genotypes, ST857 was semi-mucoid, and ST858 and ST859 were non-mucoid. Molecular
      analysis for major virulence factors revealed that ST856 and ST857 carried the
      six analyzed genes, while ST858 and ST859 were negative for the llpE gene.
      CONCLUSION: Variations in virulence phenotypes in different genotypes of epidemic
      B. cenocepacia ST856 clone, in vitro, could be a consequence of diversification
      driven by pathoadaptation. Diversity of epidemic clone genotypes virulence, could
      be challenging for accurate diagnosis and treatment, as well as for infection
      control.

PMID- 28593047
TI  - Integration of a bacterial gene sequence into a chronic eosinophilic leukemia
      patient's genome as part of a fusion gene linker.
AB  - Analysis of databases from the human genome project (HGP), the 1000 Genomes
      Project (1KGP), and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) revealed bacterial DNA
      integration into the human somatic genome, particularly in tumor tissues. Fusion
      genes have also been associated with tumorigenesis and 34 PDGFR fusion genes are
      linked to hematological malignancies. Here, we determined that a 17-bp homologous
      sequence in Marinobacter sp. Hb8, Rhodococcus fascians D188, Rhodococcus sp.
      PBTS2, Micrococcus luteus strain trpE16 and M. luteus NCTC 2665 integrates into
      the genome of a chronic eosinophilic leukemia patient as part of the linker for
      the novel CDK5RAP2-PDGFRalpha fusion gene. The resulting fusion protein that has
      CDK5RAP2's self-activating domain and PDGFRa's tyrosine kinase domain but lacks
      PDGFRa's membrane-binding and ligand-dependent activation properties may act
      together with the integrated bacterial sequence to readily phosphorylate
      downstream targets, amplify proliferation signals and promote leukemic cancer
      progression.

PMID- 28593048
TI  - Neural correlates of ataxia severity in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado
      Joseph disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado-Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD) is an
      autosomal dominant inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Several post-mortem and
      imaging studies have shown cerebellar and brainstem atrophy. A number of studies
      have used volumetric regional information to investigate the relationship between
      neurodegeneration and the ataxia severity. However, regional analysis can obscure
      the specific location in which the degenerative process is affecting the brain
      tissue, which can be crucial for the development of new target treatments for
      this disease. Here we explored the relationship between the gray matter
      degeneration and the ataxia severity on a cohort of SCA3 patients using a voxel
      wise approach. METHODS: Seventeen patients with molecular diagnose of SCA3 and 17
      matched healthy controls participated in this study. Magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) brain images were acquired and voxel-based morphometry was used to obtain
      the grey matter volume of each participant. Ataxia severity in the patient group
      was evaluated using the scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia (SARA).
      RESULTS: Group comparison revealed significant atrophy in SCA3 including
      bilateral cerebellum, vermis, brainstem, and occipital cortex. Significant
      negative correlations between gray matter volume and SARA scores were found in
      the cerebellum and the cingulate gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the
      specific contribution of the cerebellum and the cingulate cortex to the ataxia
      deficits among the other regions showing neurodegeneration in SCA3 patients.

PMID- 28593049
TI  - Development of a scoring system for non-specialist ratings of clinical competence
      in global mental health: a qualitative process evaluation of the Enhancing
      Assessment of Common Therapeutic Factors (ENACT) scale.
AB  - Task-sharing is the involvement of non-specialist providers to deliver mental
      health services. A challenge for task-sharing programs is to achieve and maintain
      clinical competence of non-specialists, including primary care workers,
      paraprofessionals, and lay providers. We developed a tool for non-specialist peer
      ratings of common factors clinical competency to evaluate and optimize competence
      during training and supervision in global mental health task-sharing initiatives.
      The 18-item ENhancing Assessment of Common Therapeutic factors (ENACT) tool was
      pilot-tested with non-specialists participating in mental health Gap Action
      Programme trainings in Nepal. Qualitative process evaluation was used to document
      development of the peer rating scoring system. Qualitative data included
      interviews with trainers and raters as well as transcripts of pre- and post
      training observed structured clinical evaluations. Five challenges for non
      specialist peer ratings were identified through the process evaluation: (1)
      balance of training and supervision objectives with research objectives; (2)
      burden for peer raters due to number of scale items, number of response options,
      and use of behavioral counts; (3) capturing hierarchy of clinical skills; (4)
      objective v. subjective aspects of rating; and (5) social desirability when
      rating peers. The process culminated in five recommendations based on the key
      findings for the development of scales to be used by non-specialists for peer
      ratings in low-resource settings. Further research is needed to determine the
      ability of ENACT to capture the relationship of clinical competence with client
      outcomes and to explore the relevance of these recommendations for non-specialist
      peer ratings in high-resource settings.

PMID- 28593050
TI  - RimabotulinumtoxinB in sialorrhea: systematic review of clinical trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy, safety and dosing
      practices of rimabotulinumtoxinB (BoNT-B) for the treatment of patients with
      sialorrhea based on a systematic review of clinical trials. METHODS: A systematic
      literature review was performed to identify randomized controlled trials and
      other comparative clinical studies of BoNT-B for the treatment of sialorrhea
      published in English between January 1999 and December 2015. Medical literature
      databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE) were searched and a total of 41
      records were identified. Of these, six primary publications that evaluated BoNT-B
      for the treatment of sialorrhea met criteria and were included in the final data
      report. SYNTHESIS: Total BoNT-B doses ranged from 1500 to 4000 units for
      sialorrhea. Most of the studies in sialorrhea showed statistically significant
      benefits of BoNT-B versus placebo (range 4-19.2 weeks). BoNT-B was generally well
      tolerated across the individual studies; most adverse events reported were
      considered unrelated to treatment. Adverse events considered potentially
      associated with BoNT-B included: dry mouth, change in saliva thickness, mild
      transient dysphagia, mild weakness of chewing and diarrhea. CONCLUSIONS: BoNT-B
      significantly reduces sialorrhea at doses between 1500 and 4000 units. The
      relatively mild dose-dependent adverse events suggest both direct and remote
      toxin effects.

PMID- 28593051
TI  - The need for preventive and curative services for malaria when the military is
      deployed in endemic overseas territories: a case study and lessons learned.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sri Lanka has been free from indigenous malaria since November 2012
      and received the WHO certificate for malaria-free status in September 2016. Due
      to increased global travel, imported malaria cases continue to be reported in the
      country. Military personnel returning home from international peace-keeping
      missions in malaria endemic countries represent a key risk group in terms of
      imported malaria. The present study intended to characterize the potential causes
      of a malaria outbreak among the Sri Lankan security forces personnel deployed in
      the Central African Republic (CAR). METHODS: Data were collected from a cross
      sectional survey distributed among Sri Lankan Air Force personnel who had
      returned from United Nations peace-keeping missions in the CAR region. A pre
      tested questionnaire was used for the data collection, and focus group
      discussions were also conducted. RESULTS: One hundred twenty male Air Force
      personnel were interviewed (out of a group of 122 officers and airmen). All
      participants were deployed in the CAR for 14 months and were aware of the
      existence of chemoprophylaxis against malaria. The majority of the subjects
      (92.5%, 111/120) also knew that prophylaxis should be started prior to departure.
      However, the regular use of chemoprophylaxis was reported by only 61.7% (74/120)
      of the sample. Overall, 30.8% of the participants (37/120) had 44 symptomatic
      episodes of malaria during deployment, and one person succumbed to severe
      malaria. All cases were associated with noncompliance with chemoprophylaxis.
      CONCLUSION: Better coordination with overseas healthcare services and the
      establishment of directly observed chemoprophylaxis may help to avoid similar
      outbreaks in the future.

PMID- 28593052
TI  - Scaling up contraceptives use in the division with lowest contraceptives use in
      Bangladesh: sources, methods, and determinants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total fertility rate (TFR) is high and at a static level for the last
      two decades in Bangladesh. Reduction of fertility by increasing contraceptives
      use could reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. To achieve the targeted
      contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) of Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) Initiative,
      it is important to increase CPR in all regions of the country. However, it is
      lower in Sylhet Division compared to other divisions in Bangladesh. This study
      looked into the methods, source and determinants of contraceptives use in this
      division. METHODS: Data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014
      (BDHS 2014) were analyzed. After reporting the sources of obtaining
      contraceptives and choice of methods, distributions of contraceptives use were
      reported by selected characteristics. Logistic regression was applied to
      calculate the odds ratios. RESULTS: A total of 599 women were analyzed. CPR was
      lower in rural areas compared to urban areas, 45.4% and 58.5%, respectively. The
      majority of the women received services from governmental sectors. The birth
      control pill was the most common contraceptive method. The proportion of women
      using long-acting permanent methods was low (<10%) in both urban and rural areas.
      In the multivariate analyses, number of alive children (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)
      of >=5 children: 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-2.2), presence of a male
      child (AOR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.6), higher education level of the husband (AOR:
      1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.6), receiving a visit from a family planning worker (AOR: 2.4;
      95% CI: 1.6-3.4) and membership in a non-governmental organization (AOR:1.4, 95%
      CI: 1.1-1.8) were positively associated with contraceptives use in Sylhet after
      controlling for age, education level and other contextual factors. Conversely,
      rural women had the lower likelihood of using contraceptives (AOR: 0.6; 95% CI:
      0.4-0.8) than urban women. Women's education level and religion were not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive strategy is required for
      this division to address multiple factors which simultaneously influence
      contraceptives use. In addition to more awareness programs to increase
      contraceptives use, providing contraceptive distribution services through family
      planning workers, involving women with non-governmental organizations and
      prioritizing rural areas could increase contraceptives use in Sylhet Division.

PMID- 28593054
TI  - Meibomian Gland Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate meibomian gland and tear film function in patients with
      type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This prospective study compared changes in meibomian
      gland and tear film function in type 2 diabetic patients with nondiabetic
      patients. Meibomian gland function was evaluated by measuring lipid layer
      thickness (LLT), grading of meibomian gland loss, lid margin abnormalities, and
      expression of meibum. Tear film function was assessed by measuring tear breakup
      time (TBUT), the Schirmer I test, noninvasive breakup time (NIBUT), tear meniscus
      height (TMH), and corneal fluorescein staining. RESULTS: Meibography scores were
      significantly higher in the diabetic group compared with the nondiabetic group (p
      = 0.004). The number of expressible glands was significantly lower in the
      diabetic group in temporal, central, and nasal third of the lower eyelid (nasal:
      p = 0.002; central: p = 0.040; and temporal: p = 0.039). The lid margin
      abnormality score was significantly higher in the diabetic group than in the
      nondiabetic group (p = 0.04). There was no statistically significant difference
      in the tear film function parameters between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) in type 2 diabetic patients is more severe
      compared with nondiabetic patients. Overall, most of the diabetic patients
      manifest as having asymptomatic MGD.

PMID- 28593055
TI  - A Surgical Cryoprobe for Targeted Transcorneal Freezing and Endothelial Cell
      Removal.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the effects of transcorneal freezing using a new cryoprobe
      designed for corneal endothelial surgery. METHODS: A freezing console employing
      nitrous oxide as a cryogen was used to cool a series of different cryoprobe tip
      designs made of silver for high thermal conductivity. In vitro studies were
      conducted on 426 porcine corneas, followed by preliminary in vivo investigations
      on three rabbit corneas. RESULTS: The corneal epithelium was destroyed by
      transcorneal freezing, as expected; however, the epithelial basement membrane
      remained intact. Reproducible endothelial damage was optimally achieved using a
      3.4 mm diameter cryoprobe with a concave tip profile. Stromal edema was seen in
      the pre-Descemet's area 24 hrs postfreeze injury, but this had been resolved by
      10 days postfreeze. A normal collagen fibril structure was seen 1 month
      postfreeze, concurrent with endothelial cell repopulation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Transcorneal freezing induces transient posterior stromal edema and some residual
      deep stromal haze but leaves the epithelial basement membrane intact, which is
      likely to be important for corneal re-epithelialization. Localized destruction of
      the endothelial monolayer was achieved in a consistent manner with a 3.4 mm
      diameter/concave profile cryoprobe and represents a potentially useful approach
      to remove dysfunctional corneal endothelial cells from corneas with endothelial
      dysfunction.

PMID- 28593057
TI  - Clomiphene Associated Inferior STEMI in a Young Female due to Right Coronary
      Artery Dissection.
AB  - Nonatherosclerotic spontaneous coronary artery dissection (NA-SCAD) is an
      uncommon cause of myocardial infarction. It most commonly affects females in the
      perimenopausal age. NA-SCAD has been associated with many predisposing factors
      including pregnancy and hormonal therapy for both contraception and ovulation
      induction. The presented case is a previously healthy 41-year-old woman diagnosed
      with inferior ST-elevation myocardial infarction due to right descending coronary
      artery dissection associated with recent use of clomiphene monotherapy for
      ovulation induction (a previously fertile woman), which was not previously
      reported. Learning Objectives. Emergency physicians (EPs) should be aware about
      NA-SCAD as a cause of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) especially in perimenopausal
      women even with no risk factors. NA-SCAD occurs more commonly in the postpartum
      period and in females following hormonal therapy. Here, clomiphene monotherapy
      was reported as a possible contributing factor to NA-SCAD. Guidelines for NA-SCAD
      management are not up to date, and EPs should avoid some interference before the
      final diagnosis of the cause of myocardial infarction.

PMID- 28593058
TI  - Yokenella regensburgei Septicemia in a Chinese Farmer Immunosuppressed by HIV: A
      Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - Yokenella regensburgei is a member in the family Enterobacteriaceae and a few
      cases have been reported in immunocompromised hosts. Herein, we described a case
      of septicemia in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patient in South
      West China, which is the first reported case of Y. regensburgei infection in HIV
      infected populations. We then reviewed the literature on all the reported cases
      of Y. regensburgei infection worldwide and presented some common features of
      them. Our case report and literature review will help increase the knowledge of
      the bacterium Y. regensburgei and its clinical implications.

PMID- 28593053
TI  - Natural graft tissues and synthetic biomaterials for periodontal and alveolar
      bone reconstructive applications: a review.
AB  - Periodontal disease is categorized by the destruction of periodontal tissues.
      Over the years, there have been several clinical techniques and material options
      that been investigated for periodontal defect repair/regeneration. The
      development of improved biomaterials for periodontal tissue engineering has
      significantly improved the available treatment options and their clinical
      results. Bone replacement graft materials, barrier membranes, various growth
      factors and combination of these have been used. The available bone tissue
      replacement materials commonly used include autografts, allografts, xenografts
      and alloplasts. These graft materials mostly function as osteogenic,
      osteoinductive and/or osteoconductive scaffolds. Polymers (natural and synthetic)
      are more widely used as a barrier material in guided tissue regeneration (GTR)
      and guided bone regeneration (GBR) applications. They work on the principle of
      epithelial cell exclusion to allow periodontal ligament and alveolar bone cells
      to repopulate the defect before the normally faster epithelial cells. However, in
      an attempt to overcome complications related to the epithelial down-growth and/or
      collapse of the non-rigid barrier membrane and to maintain space, clinicians
      commonly use a combination of membranes with hard tissue grafts. This article
      aims to review various available natural tissues and biomaterial based bone
      replacement graft and membrane options used in periodontal regeneration
      applications.

PMID- 28593059
TI  - Fulminating Postcaesarean Necrotising Fasciitis: A Rare and Lethal Condition
      Successfully Managed in a Resource-Disadvantaged Setting in Sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - Necrotising fasciitis is a rare but potentially lethal condition in obstetrics
      which usually presents with fulminant tissue destruction and a resultant high
      mortality. We report a 19-year-old Sub-Saharan female diagnosed with a rapidly
      erosive necrotising fasciitis on day 5 after caesarean section in a resource
      limited setting. Timely diagnosis, aggressive antibiotic therapy, and prompt
      surgical intervention via an extensive abdominal wall debridement were pivotal to
      her survival.

PMID- 28593060
TI  - Fracture of the Tibial Baseplate 16 Years after Miller-Galante II Total Knee
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - We report a rare case of tibial baseplate fracture of Miller-Galante II (MG II)
      prosthesis. We examine the factors that may cause such late fracture and review
      the literature on radiographic analysis and retrieval studies. A 76-year-old
      woman, who had undergone bilateral MG II total knee arthroplasty due to
      rheumatoid arthritis 16 years earlier, presented to our department with a 3-month
      history of left knee pain. Plain radiographs revealed severe distortion of the
      medial tibial component. During revision knee arthroplasty, we observed severe
      metallosis in the knee joint, polyethylene insert deformation, and posteromedial
      coronal baseplate fracture. After removal of the fractured tray, a bone deficit
      due to osteolysis was noted. The revision prosthesis (LCCK, Zimmer-Biomet) was
      implanted uneventfully. Four months after revision surgery, the patient was
      ambulating and had no complications. The implants on the right side had survived
      without complications for 17 years. We speculate that the primary causative
      factor of the fatigue fracture of the base plate due to loss of bony support most
      likely secondary to osteolysis was varus malalignment at primary implantation.
      This case highlights the importance of paying close attention to the correct
      alignment of each component at primary implantation.

PMID- 28593062
TI  - Elastic Intramedullary Nailing of a Medial Clavicle Fracture in a Pediatric
      Patient.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Injuries to the medial clavicle in pediatric patients typically
      involve the physis and/or sternoclavicular joint. Clavicle fractures are one of
      the most common injuries in children, but ones at its medial end are rare. Most
      medial clavicle fractures are treated nonoperatively, but surgery is indicated in
      some cases. This original case report is unique in describing the use of an
      elastic intramedullary nail for fixation of a completely displaced medial
      clavicle fracture in a pediatric patient. CASE PRESENTATION: A pediatric patient
      sustained a completely displaced fracture of the medial clavicle. The fracture
      was lateral to the medial physis of the clavicle and did not involve the
      sternoclavicular joint. Internal fixation was achieved in an anatomic position
      with an elastic intramedullary nail. The postoperative course was unremarkable
      and resulted in complete healing of the fracture in an anatomic position. The
      patient returned to full activities without any pain or dysfunction. CONCLUSION:
      The use of elastic intramedullary nails is a viable option for internal fixation
      of displaced medial clavicle fractures. Knowledge of the surgical anatomy,
      potential implant complications, and rehabilitation principles is essential to a
      successful outcome.

PMID- 28593061
TI  - Fibroma of Tendon Sheath Presenting Limited Flexion of the Fingers.
AB  - A 35-year-old Japanese man presented with a 1-month history of limited flexion
      and radiating pain in the left middle and ring fingers. A physical examination
      revealed a hard nodular mass in his left palm. Magnetic resonance imaging showed
      a 2 * 1.5 * 1 cm mass of low intensity on T1-weighted images and high intensity
      on T2-weighted images and gadolinium enhancement. The tumor was marginally
      resected, adhering to the flexor digitorum profundus of both the third and fourth
      fingers. The histological diagnosis was fibroma of tendon sheath. After the
      surgery, the range of motion and hand function were improved. No recurrence has
      been observed. Fibroma of tendon sheath usually arises on the fingers and hands
      with strong attachment to the tendon or tendon sheath. The tumor in the present
      case probably limited the range of flexion of the fingers by obstruction of the
      transverse carpal ligament.

PMID- 28593056
TI  - Management Options for Advanced Low or Intermediate Grade Gastroenteropancreatic
      Neuroendocrine Tumors: Review of Recent Literature.
AB  - Our understanding of the biology, genetics, and natural history of neuroendocrine
      tumors (NETs) of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas has improved
      considerably in the last several decades and the spectrum of available
      therapeutic options is rapidly expanding. The management of patients with
      metastatic low or intermediate grade NETs has been revolutionized by the
      development of new treatment strategies such as molecular targeting therapies
      with everolimus and sunitinib, somatostatin analogs, tryptophan hydroxylase
      inhibitors, and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy that can be used alone or
      as a multimodal approach with or without surgery. To further define and clarify
      the utility, appropriateness, and the sequence of the growing list of available
      therapies for this patient population will require more high level evidence;
      however, data from well-designed randomized phase III clinical trials is rapidly
      accumulating that will further stimulate development of new management
      strategies. It is therefore important to thoroughly review emerging evidence and
      report major findings in frequent updates, which will expand our knowledge and
      contribute to a better understanding, characterization, and management of
      advanced NETs.

PMID- 28593063
TI  - Parotitis as an Initial Symptom of Kawasaki Disease.
AB  - We report the case of a 13-month-old boy who developed right side parotitis as a
      first symptom of Kawasaki disease (KD). The data presented herein suggest that
      physicians should be aware that nonsuppurative parotitis is a possible
      manifestation of KD.

PMID- 28593064
TI  - Physiological Striae Atrophicae of Adolescence with Involvement of the Axillae
      and Proximal Arms.
AB  - We report a 16-year-old adolescent male with multiple violaceous, atrophic,
      vertical linear striae isolated to the axillae and proximal arms of approximately
      one-year duration. In the past two years, he indulged in heavy weight-lifting. He
      experienced a growth spurt over the past few years. The patient was otherwise in
      good health and was not on any medications. Physiological striae atrophicae of
      adolescence where the striae were restricted to the axillae and proximal arms
      have very rarely been reported.

PMID- 28593065
TI  - High Expression of Galectin-3 in Patients with IgG4-Related Disease: A Proteomic
      Approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a multiorgan condition
      manifesting itself in different forms. This study aimed to investigate protein
      expression profiles and to find the possible biomarker for IgG4-RD by liquid
      chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) using tissue sections in IgG4-RD
      patients. METHODS: Protein expression profiles in five IgG4-related pancreatitis
      and three normal pancreatic samples were compared using LC-MS and were validated
      by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), immunoblotting, and
      immunohistochemistry. ELISA was employed in the serum of 20 patients with
      systemic IgG4-RD before and during steroid treatment. RESULTS: LC-MS indicated
      that the levels of 17 proteins were significantly higher and 12 others were
      significantly lower in IgG4-related pancreatitis patients compared to controls.
      Among these proteins, galectin-3 levels were 13-fold higher in IgG4-related
      pancreatitis (P < 0.01). These results were confirmed by immunoblotting and qRT
      PCR. The average number of galectin-3 + cells in various organs of IgG4-RD
      patients, including salivary glands, lungs, and lymph nodes, was higher than in
      controls. Galectin-3 was detectable in macrophages, dendritic cells, and stromal
      myofibroblast-like cells, but not in lymphocytes by immunofluorescence staining.
      Serum galectin-3 levels were higher in patients with IgG4-RD compared with
      healthy donors and remained high during steroid therapy. CONCLUSION: Galectin-3
      was overexpressed in IgG4-RD and the levels were indirectly related to clinical
      activity.

PMID- 28593066
TI  - Sequence Analysis of Long-Term Readmissions among High-Impact Users of
      Cerebrovascular Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Understanding the chronological order of the causes of readmissions
      may help us assess any repeated chain of events among high-impact users, those
      with high readmission rate. We aim to perform sequence analysis of administrative
      data to identify distinct sequences of emergency readmissions among the high
      impact users. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of all cerebrovascular patients
      identified through national administrative data and followed for 4 years.
      RESULTS: Common discriminating subsequences in chronic high-impact users (n =
      2863) of ischaemic stroke (n = 34208) were "urological conditions-chest
      infection," "chest infection-urological conditions," "injury-urological
      conditions," "chest infection-ambulatory condition," and "ambulatory condition
      chest infection" (p < 0.01). Among TIA patients (n = 20549), common
      discriminating (p < 0.01) subsequences among chronic high-impact users were
      "injury-urological conditions," "urological conditions-chest infection,"
      "urological conditions-injury," "ambulatory condition-urological conditions," and
      "ambulatory condition-chest infection." Among the chronic high-impact group of
      intracranial haemorrhage (n = 2605) common discriminating subsequences (p < 0.01)
      were "dementia-injury," "chest infection-dementia," "dementia-dementia-injury,"
      "dementia-urine infection," and "injury-urine infection." Conclusion. Although
      common causes of readmission are the same in different subgroups, the high-impact
      users had a higher proportion of patients with distinct common sequences of
      multiple readmissions as identified by the sequence analysis. Most of these
      causes are potentially preventable and can be avoided in the community.
      CONCLUSION: Although common causes of readmission are the same in different
      subgroups, the high-impact users had a higher proportion of patients with
      distinct common sequences of multiple readmissions as identified by the sequence
      analysis. Most of these causes are potentially preventable and can be avoided in
      the community.

PMID- 28593068
TI  - Occupational Exposure to Knee Loading and the Risk of Osteoarthritis of the Knee:
      A Systematic Review and a Dose-Response Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis of the knee is considered to be related to knee
      straining activities at work. The objective of this review is to assess the
      exposure dose-response relation between kneeling or squatting, lifting, and
      climbing stairs at work, and knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: We included cohort and
      case-control studies. For each study that reported enough data, we calculated the
      odds ratio (OR) per 5,000 hours of cumulative kneeling and per 100,000 kg of
      cumulative lifting. We pooled these incremental ORs in a random effects meta
      analysis. RESULTS: We included 15 studies (2 cohort and 13 case-control studies)
      of which nine assessed risks in more than two exposure categories. We considered
      all but one study at high risk of bias. The incremental OR per 5,000 hours of
      kneeling was 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.17-1.35, 5 studies, moderate quality
      evidence) for a log-linear exposure dose-response model. For lifting, there was
      no exposure dose-response per 100,000 kg of lifetime lifting (OR 1.00, 95%
      confidence interval 1.00-1.01). For climbing, an exposure dose-response could not
      be calculated. CONCLUSION: There is moderate quality evidence that longer
      cumulative exposure to kneeling or squatting at work leads to a higher risk of
      osteoarthritis of the knee. For other exposure, there was no exposure dose
      response or there were insufficient data to establish this. More reliable
      exposure measurements would increase the quality of the evidence.

PMID- 28593067
TI  - Strategies for Worksite Health Interventions to Employees with Elevated Risk of
      Chronic Diseases.
AB  - Chronic disease rates have become more prevalent in the modern American
      workforce, which has negative implications for workplace productivity and
      healthcare costs. Offering workplace health interventions is recognized as an
      effective strategy to reduce chronic disease progression, absenteeism, and
      healthcare costs as well as improve population health. This review documents
      intervention and evaluation strategies used for health promotion programs
      delivered in workplaces. Using predetermined search terms in five online
      databases, we identified 1,131 published items from 1995 to 2014. Of these items,
      27 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria; reporting data from
      completed United States-based workplace interventions that recruited at-risk
      employees based on their disease or disease-related risk factors. A content
      rubric was developed and used to catalogue these 27 published field studies.
      Selected workplace interventions targeted obesity (n = 13), cardiovascular
      diseases (n = 8), and diabetes (n = 6). Intervention strategies included
      instructional education/counseling (n = 20), workplace environmental change (n =
      6), physical activity (n = 10), use of technology (n = 10), and incentives (n =
      13). Self-reported data (n = 21), anthropometric measurements (n = 17), and
      laboratory tests (n = 14) were used most often in studies with outcome
      evaluation. This is the first literature review to focus on interventions for
      employees with elevated risk for chronic diseases. The review has the potential
      to inform future workplace health interventions by presenting strategies related
      to implementation and evaluation strategies in workplace settings. These
      strategies can help determine optimal worksite health programs based on the
      unique characteristics of work settings and the health risk factors of their
      employee populations.

PMID- 28593069
TI  - Reproductive Toxic Chemicals at Work and Efforts to Protect Workers' Health: A
      Literature Review.
AB  - A huge number of chemicals are produced and used in the world, and some of them
      can have negative effects on the reproductive health of workers. To date, most
      chemicals and work environments have not been studied for their potential to have
      damaging effects on the workers' reproductive system. Because of the lack of
      information, many workers may not be aware that such problems can be related to
      occupational exposures. Newly industrialized countries such as Republic of Korea
      have rapidly amassed chemicals and other toxicants that pose health hazards,
      especially to the reproductive systems of workers. This literature review
      provides an overview of peer-reviewed literature regarding the teratogenic impact
      and need for safe handling of chemicals. Literature searches were performed using
      PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect. Search strategies were narrowed based
      on author expertise and 100 articles were chosen for detailed analysis. A total
      of 47 articles met prespecified inclusion criteria. The majority of papers
      contained studies that were descriptive in nature with respect to the Medical
      Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and keywords: "reproductive and heath or hazard
      and/or workplace or workers or occupations." In the absence of complete
      information about the safe occupational handling of chemicals in Republic of
      Korea (other than a material safety data sheet), this review serves as a valuable
      reference for identifying and remedying potential gaps in relevant regulations.
      The review also proposes other public health actions including hazard
      surveillance and primary prevention activities such as reduction, substitution,
      ventilation, as well as protective equipment.

PMID- 28593070
TI  - Safety Evaluation of the Lighting at the Entrance of a Very Long Road Tunnel: A
      Case Study in Ilam.
AB  - BACKGROUND: At the entrance of a tunnel, reflection of sunlight from the
      surrounding environment and a lack of adequate lighting usually cause some vision
      problems. The purpose of this study was to perform a safety evaluation of
      lighting on a very long road in Ilam, Iran. METHODS: The average luminance was
      measured using a luminance meter (model S3; Hagner, Solna, Sweden). A camera
      (model 108, 35-mm single-lens reflex; Yashica, Nagano, Japan) was used to take
      photographs of the safe stopping distance from the tunnel entrance. Equivalent
      luminance was determined according to the Holliday polar diagram. RESULTS:
      Considering the average luminance at the tunnel entrance (116.7 cd/m2) and using
      Adrian's equation, the safe level of lighting at the entrance of the tunnel was
      determined to be 0.7. CONCLUSION: A comparison between the results of the safe
      levels of lighting at the entrance of the tunnel and the De Boer scale showed
      that the phenomenon of black holes is created at the tunnel entrance. This may
      lead to a misadaptation of the drivers' eyes to the change in luminance level at
      the entrance of the tunnel, thereby increasing the risk of road accidents in this
      zone.

PMID- 28593071
TI  - Evaluation of the Quality of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems
      Based on Key Performance Indicators in Certified Organizations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems are becoming more
      widespread in organizations. Consequently, their effectiveness has become a core
      topic for researchers. This paper evaluates the performance of the Occupational
      Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001 specification in certified companies in
      Iran. METHODS: The evaluation is based on a comparison of specific criteria and
      indictors related to occupational health and safety management practices in three
      certified and three noncertified companies. RESULTS: Findings indicate that the
      performance of certified companies with respect to occupational health and safety
      management practices is significantly better than that of noncertified companies.
      CONCLUSION: Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001-certified
      companies have a better level of occupational health and safety; this supports
      the argument that Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems play an
      important strategic role in health and safety in the workplace.

PMID- 28593072
TI  - Recovery and Return to Work After a Pelvic Fracture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pelvic ring fractures (PRFs) may influence the daily activities and
      quality of life of the injured. The aim of this retrospective study was to
      explore the functional outcomes and factors related to return to work (RTW) after
      PRF. METHODS: During the years 2003-2012, 282 injured individuals aged 20-55
      years on the date of the accident, were hospitalized and treated for PRFs in a
      large tertiary hospital in Athens, Greece. One hundred and three patients were
      traced and contacted; 77 who were on paid employment prior to the accident gave
      their informed consent to participate in the survey, which was conducted in early
      2015 through telephone interviews. The questionnaire included variables related
      to injury, treatment and activities, and the Majeed pelvic score. Univariate and
      multiple regression analyses were used for statistical assessment. RESULTS:
      Almost half of the injured (46.7%) fully RTW, and earning losses were reported to
      be 35% after PRF. The univariate analysis confirmed that RTW was significantly
      related to accident site (labor or not), the magnitude of the accident's force,
      concomitant injuries, duration of hospitalization, time to RTW, engagement to the
      same sport, Majeed score, and complications such as limp and pain as well as
      urologic and sexual complaints (p < 0.05 for all). On multiple logistic
      regression analysis, the accident sustained out of work (odds ratio: 6.472, 95%
      confidence interval: 1.626-25.769) and Majeed score (odds ratio: 3.749, 95%
      confidence interval: 2.092-6.720) were identified as independent predictive
      factors of full RTW. CONCLUSION: PRFs have severe socioeconomic consequences.
      Possible predictors of RTW should be taken into account for health management and
      policies.

PMID- 28593073
TI  - Cancer Incidence in Asbestos-Exposed Workers: An Update on Four Finnish Cohorts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assessed the cancer risks of four different Finnish asbestos
      exposed cohorts. We also explored if the cohorts with varying profiles of
      asbestos exposure exhibited varying relative risks of cancer. METHODS: The
      incident cancer cases for the asbestos-exposed worker cohorts were updated to the
      end of 2012 using the files of the Finnish Cancer Registry. The previously formed
      cohorts consisted of asbestos mine workers, asbestosis patients, asbestos
      sprayers, and workers who had taken part in a screening study based on asbestos
      exposure at work. RESULTS: The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for
      mesothelioma varied from about threefold to > 100-fold in the different cohorts.
      In the screening cohort the SIR for mesothelioma was highest in 2003-2007, In
      other cohorts it was more constant in 5-year period inspection. The SIR for lung
      cancer was about twofold to tenfold in all except the screening cohort. Asbestos
      sprayers were at the highest risk of mesothelioma and lung cancer. CONCLUSION:
      The SIR for mesothelioma is high in all of the cohorts that represent different
      kinds of asbestos exposure. The smaller SIR for mesothelioma in the screening
      cohort with lowest level of asbestos exposure might suggest dose-responsiveness
      between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. It does seem that the highest risk of
      lung cancer in these cohorts except in the youngest of the cohorts, the screening
      cohort, is over. The highest SIR for lung cancer of the asbestosis patient and
      sprayers cohort is explained by their heavy asbestos exposure.

PMID- 28593074
TI  - Safety and Health Perceptions in Work-related Transport Activities in Ghanaian
      Industries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the recent rapid industrialization, occupational safety and
      health (OSH) has become an important issue in all industrial and human
      activities. However, incidents of injuries and fatality rates in the Ghanaian
      industry sector continue to increase. Despite this increase, there is no evidence
      regarding the element of OSH management in transport activities in Ghanaian
      industries. Thus, this study aims to examine the perceptions regarding the
      importance of safety and health in work-related transport activities in Ghanaian
      industries. METHODS: A survey data collection technique was used to gather
      information on best safety practices over a 5-month period. We randomly selected
      298 respondents from industries to answer structured questionnaires. The
      respondents included drivers, transport managers, and safety engineers. Standard
      multiple regression model and Pearson product-movement correlation were used to
      performed the analysis. RESULTS: The result shows that for interventions to
      improve safety and health, concentration has been on drivers' safety practice
      with less attention to safe driving environments and vehicle usage. Additionally,
      the respondents are aware of the importance of OSH in transport activities, but
      the level of integration does not measure up to the standard to reduce
      operational accidents and injuries. Finally, strong commitment to changing unsafe
      practices at all levels of operations appears to be the effective way to improve
      safety situations. CONCLUSION: OSH culture is not fully complied in industries
      transport activities. This study, therefore, supports the use of safety seminars
      and training sessions for industry workers responsible for transport operations
      for better integration of safety standards.

PMID- 28593075
TI  - Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Associated with Gait Changes among Firefighters
      after a Live Burn Training Evolution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recommendations have been proposed for minimum aerobic fitness among
      firefighters but it is unclear if those criteria relate to performance on the
      fireground. Less fit individuals fatigue more quickly than fit individuals when
      working at comparable intensity and may have gait changes, increasing risk of
      falls. We evaluated the effect of fatigue during a live burn evolution on gait
      parameters and functional balance comparing them to aerobic fitness levels.
      METHODS: A total of 24 firefighters had gait and balance tested before and after
      a live burn evolution. Data were stratified by aerobic fitness of greater/less
      than 14 metabolic equivalents (METs). RESULTS: Analysis of gait cycles
      measurements before and after the live burn evolution revealed that single leg
      stance, cycle, and swing time decreased (p < 0.05) but there were no differences
      in the other measures. There were no differences in time to complete the
      functional balance test, or errors committed before or after a live burn
      evolution. When firefighters were sorted by fitness level of 14 METs, there were
      no differences for errors or time before or after the live burn evolution.
      Balance data were analyzed using a linear regression. Individuals with lower
      fitness levels required more time to complete the test. CONCLUSION: A 14-MET
      criterion failed to distinguish gait or balance characteristics in this group.
      However, less fit firefighters did require more time to complete the balance test
      (p = 0.003). Aerobic fitness alone does not predict gait changes among
      firefighters following a live burn evolution but does appear to influence
      functional balance.

PMID- 28593076
TI  - Control of Industrial Safety Based on Dynamic Characteristics of a Safety Budget
      Industrial Accident Rate Model in Republic of Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the recent efforts to prevent industrial accidents in the
      Republic of Korea, the industrial accident rate has not improved much. Industrial
      safety policies and safety management are also known to be inefficient. This
      study focused on dynamic characteristics of industrial safety systems and their
      effects on safety performance in the Republic of Korea. Such dynamic
      characteristics are particularly important for restructuring of the industrial
      safety system. METHODS: The effects of damping and elastic characteristics of the
      industrial safety system model on safety performance were examined and feedback
      control performance was explained in view of cost and benefit. The implications
      on safety policies of restructuring the industrial safety system were also
      explored. RESULTS: A strong correlation between the safety budget and the
      industrial accident rate enabled modeling of an industrial safety system with
      these variables as the input and the output, respectively. A more effective and
      efficient industrial safety system could be realized by having weaker elastic
      characteristics and stronger damping characteristics in it. A substantial
      decrease in total social cost is expected as the industrial safety system is
      restructured accordingly. CONCLUSION: A simple feedback control with proportional
      integral action is effective in prevention of industrial accidents. Securing a
      lower level of elastic industrial accident-driving energy appears to have
      dominant effects on the control performance compared with the damping effort to
      dissipate such energy. More attention needs to be directed towards physical and
      social feedbacks that have prolonged cumulative effects. Suggestions for further
      improvement of the safety system including physical and social feedbacks are also
      made.

PMID- 28593077
TI  - Alteration in Leukocyte Subsets and Expressions of FcgammaR and Complement
      Receptors among Female Ragpickers in Eastern India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are a million ragpickers in India who gather and trade
      recyclable municipal solid wastes materials for a living. The objective of this
      study was to examine whether their occupation adversely affects their immunity.
      METHODS: Seventy-four women ragpickers (median age, 30 years) and 65 age-matched
      control housemaids were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to measure leukocyte
      subsets, and leukocyte expressions of Fcgamma receptor I (CD64), FcgammaRIII
      (CD16), complement receptor 1 (CD35) and CR3 (CD11b/CD18), and CD14. Serum total
      immunoglobulin-E was estimated with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS:
      Compared with the controls, ragpickers had significantly (p < 0.0001) higher
      levels of CD8+T-cytotoxic, CD16+CD56+natural killer, and CD4+CD45RO+memory T
      cells, but depleted levels of CD19+B-cells. The percentage of CD4+T-helper-cells
      was lower than the control group (p < 0.0001), but their absolute number was
      relatively unchanged (p = 0.42) due to 11% higher lymphocyte counts in
      ragpickers. In ragpickers, the percentages of CD14+CD16+intermediate and CD14dim
      CD16+nonclassical monocyte subsets were elevated with a decline in CD14+CD16
      classical monocytes. The expressions of CD64, CD16, CD35, and CD11b/CD18 on both
      monocytes and neutrophils, and CD14 on monocytes were significantly higher in
      ragpickers. In addition, ragpickers had 2.7-times more serum immunoglobulin-E
      than the controls (p < 0.0001). After controlling potential confounders, the
      profession of ragpicking was positively associated with the changes. CONCLUSION:
      Ragpicking is associated with alterations in both innate (neutrophils, monocytes,
      and natural killer cell numbers and expression of complement and Fcgamma
      receptors) and adaptive immunity (numbers of circulating B cells, helper,
      cytotoxic, and memory T cells).

PMID- 28593078
TI  - Non-chemical Risk Assessment for Lifting and Low Back Pain Based on Bayesian
      Threshold Models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-reported low back pain (LBP) has been evaluated in relation to
      material handling lifting tasks, but little research has focused on relating
      quantifiable stressors to LBP at the individual level. The National Institute for
      Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Composite Lifting Index (CLI) has been
      used to quantify stressors for lifting tasks. A chemical exposure can be readily
      used as an exposure metric or stressor for chemical risk assessment (RA).
      Defining and quantifying lifting nonchemical stressors and related adverse
      responses is more difficult. Stressor-response models appropriate for CLI and LBP
      associations do not easily fit in common chemical RA modeling techniques (e.g.,
      Benchmark Dose methods), so different approaches were tried. METHODS: This work
      used prospective data from 138 manufacturing workers to consider the linkage of
      the occupational stressor of material lifting to LBP. The final model used a
      Bayesian random threshold approach to estimate the probability of an increase in
      LBP as a threshold step function. RESULTS: Using maximal and mean CLI values, a
      significant increase in the probability of LBP for values above 1.5 was found.
      CONCLUSION: A risk of LBP associated with CLI values > 1.5 existed in this worker
      population. The relevance for other populations requires further study.

PMID- 28593079
TI  - Seat Pressure Distribution Characteristics During 1 Hour Sitting in Office
      Workers With and Without Chronic Low Back Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is a major problem for office workers.
      Individuals adopting poor postures during prolonged sitting have a considerably
      increased risk of experiencing LBP. This study aimed to investigate seat pressure
      distribution characteristics, i.e., average pressure, peak pressure ratio,
      frequency of postural shift, and body perceived discomfort (BPD), during 1 hour
      of sitting among office workers with and without chronic LBP. METHODS: Forty-six
      participants (chronic LBP = 23, control = 23) typed a standardized text passage
      at a computer work station for an hour. A seat pressure mat device was used to
      collect the seat pressure distribution data. Body discomfort was assessed using
      the Body Perceived Discomfort scale. RESULTS: Office workers with chronic LBP sat
      significantly more asymmetrically than their healthy counterparts. During 1-hour
      sitting, all workers appeared to assume slumped sitting postures after 20 minutes
      of sitting. Healthy workers had significantly more frequent postural shifts than
      chronic LBP workers during prolonged sitting. CONCLUSION: Different sitting
      characteristics between healthy and chronic LBP participants during 1 hour of
      sitting were found, including symmetry of sitting posture and frequency of
      postural shift. Further research should examine the roles of these sitting
      characteristics on the development of LBP.

PMID- 28593080
TI  - Urinary Trans, Trans-Muconic Acid is Not a Reliable Biomarker for Low-level
      Environmental and Occupational Benzene Exposures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Benzene is a known occupational and environmental pollutant. Its
      urinary metabolite trans, trans-muconic acid (tt-MA) has been introduced by some
      environmental and occupational health regulatory associations as a biological
      index for the assessment of benzene exposure; however, recently, doubts have been
      raised about the specificity of tt-MA for low-level benzene exposures. In the
      present study, we investigated the association between urinary levels of tt-MA
      and inhalational exposure to benzene in different exposure groups. METHODS:
      Benzene exposure was assessed by personal air sampling. Collected benzene on
      charcoal tube was extracted by carbon disulfide and determined by a gas
      chromatograph (gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector). Urinary tt
      MA was extracted by a strong anion-exchange column and determined with high
      performance liquid chromatography-UV. RESULTS: Urinary levels of tt-MA in
      intensive benzene exposure groups (chemical workers and police officers) were
      significantly higher than other groups (urban and rural residents), but its
      levels in the last two groups with significant different exposure levels (mean =
      0.081 ppm and 0.019 ppm, respectively) showed no significant difference (mean =
      388 MUg/g creatinine and 282 MUg/g, respectively; p < 0.05). Before work shift,
      urine samples of workers and police officers showed a high amount of tt-MA and
      its levels in rural residents' samples were not zero. CONCLUSION: Our results
      suggest that tt-MA may not be a reliable biomarker for monitoring low-level
      (below 0.5 ppm) benzene exposures.

PMID- 28593081
TI  - The Use of Noise Dampening Mats to Reduce Heavy-Equipment Noise Exposures in
      Construction.
AB  - The performance of sound barriers was evaluated to determine their technical
      effectiveness and practicality in reducing noise exposures to operating engineers
      in construction. Commercially purchased sound dampening mats (SDMats) were
      installed inside three heavy-equipment engine compartments. Sound pressure levels
      (SPLs) were measured before and after installing the SDMats while the equipment
      was on idle and full-throttle settings where it normally operates. SPLs inside
      the heavy-equipment operator cabs were significantly reduced by 5.6-7.6 dBA on
      the full-throttle setting following installation of the SDMats (p < 0.01). The
      evaluated engineering control intervention was simple to install, affordable, and
      substantially reduced the engine noise reaching the heavy-equipment operator,
      potentially reducing reliance on hearing-protection devices to protect
      construction workers from noise exposures.

PMID- 28593082
TI  - Control of Selectivity through Synergy between Catalysts, Silanes and Reaction
      Conditions in Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrosilylation of Dienes and Terminal Alkenes.
AB  - Readily accessible ( i-PrPDI)CoCl2 [ i-Pr PDI = 2,6-bis(2,6
      diisopropylphenyliminoethyl)pyridine] reacts with 2 equivalents of NaEt3BH at -78
      degrees C in toluene to generate a catalyst that effects highly selective anti
      Markovnikov hydrosilylation of the terminal double bond in 1,3- and 1,4-dienes.
      Primary and secondary silanes such as PhSiH3, Ph2SiH2 and PhSi(Me)H2 react with a
      broad spectrum of terminal dienes without affecting the configuration of the
      other double bond. When dienes conjugated to an aromatic ring are involved, both
      Markovnikov and anti-Markovnikov products are formed. The reaction is tolerant of
      various functional groups such as an aryl bromide, aryl iodide, protected
      alcohol, and even a silyl enol ether. Reactions of 1-alkene under similar
      conditions cleanly lead to a mixture of Markovnikov and anti-Markovnikov
      hydrosilation products, where ratio of the products increasingly favors the
      latter, as the size of the 2,6-substituents in the iminoylaryl group becomes
      larger. The complex ( i-PrPDI)CoCl2 gives exclusively the linear silane for a
      wide variety of terminal alkenes. Mechanistic studies suggest a pathway that
      involves a key role for an in situ generated metal hydride, (L)Co(I)-H. Exclusive
      reduction of the terminal double bond (vis-a-vis hydrosilylation) when
      (EtO)2Si(Me)H is used in the place of PhSiH3 is explained on the basis of an
      alternate silane-mediated decomposition path for the linear Co(I)-alkyl
      intermediate.

PMID- 28593083
TI  - DYNAMIC OSCILLATORY STRETCHING EFFICACY ON HAMSTRING EXTENSIBILITY AND STRETCH
      TOLERANCE: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While static stretch (SS), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation
      (PNF) and oscillatory physiological mobilization techniques are documented to
      have positive effects on a range of motion (ROM), there are no reports on the
      effect of dynamic oscillatory stretching (DOS), a technique that combines these
      three techniques, on hamstring extensibility. PURPOSE: To determine whether DOS
      improves hamstring extensibility and stretch tolerance to a greater degree than
      SS in asymptomatic young participants. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized Controlled Trial.
      METHODS: Sixty participants (47 females, 13 males, mean age 22 +/- 1 years,
      height 166 +/- 6 centimeters, body mass 67.6 +/- 9.7 kg) completed a passive
      straight leg (SLR) to establish hamstring extensibility and stretch tolerance as
      perceived by participants, using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Participants were
      randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (SS or DOS) or a placebo control
      (20 per group). Tests were repeated immediately following and one hour after each
      intervention. Data were assessed using a two-way repeated measure analysis of
      variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's post hoc test. RESULTS: Immediately post
      intervention, there was a significant improvement in the hamstring extensibility
      as measured by the SLR in both the SS and DOS groups, with the DOS group
      exhibiting a significantly greater increase than the SS group (Control 73 +/- 12
      degrees , SS 86 +/- 8 degrees , DOS 94 +/- 11 degrees , p < 0.001). One hour post
      intervention, hamstring extensibility in the DOS group remained elevated, while
      the SS group no longer differed from the control group (Control 73 +/- 12 degrees
      , SS 80 +/- 8 degrees , DOS 89 +/- 12 degrees , p = 0.001). Furthermore, the
      stretch tolerance remained significantly elevated for the SS group, but there was
      no difference between the control and DOS groups, (Control 4.6 +/- 1.3, SS 5.9 +/
      0.8, DOS 4.3 +/- 1.0 AU, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: DOS was more effective than SS
      at achieving an immediate increase in hamstring extensibility, and DOS
      demonstrated an increased stretch tolerance one-hour post-intervention. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 2C.

PMID- 28593084
TI  - STRENGTH PROFILES IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT SCAPULAR DYSKINESIS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Muscular weakness of the shoulder complex is commonly found in
      patients presenting with scapular dyskinesis; however, little is known regarding
      muscular performance in healthy individuals with scapular dyskinesis. PURPOSE: To
      compare isometric strength measures of the shoulder complex between healthy
      individuals with and without scapular dyskinesis. It was hypothesized that
      healthy individuals with scapular dyskinesis would demonstrate decreased
      isometric strength of the scapular stabilizers and rotator cuff when compared to
      healthy individuals without scapular dyskinesis. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      study. METHODS: Forty healthy, college-aged participants were recruited. Sixty
      eight percent of subjects (27 of 40) presented with scapular dyskinesis. Thus, a
      matched-pairs analysis was conducted with 26 subjects (age: 22.00 +/- 2.06 y;
      height: 168.77 +/- 8.07 cm; mass: 70.98 +/- 13.14 kg; BMI: 24.75 +/- 3.04 kg/m2;
      6 males; 20 females). The presence of scapular dyskinesis was determined visually
      using the scapular dyskinesis test with a dichotomous outcome (yes/no). Strength
      of the scapular stabilizers and rotator cuff was assessed via manual muscle
      testing using a handheld dynamometer. Force measures obtained with the handheld
      dynamometer were used to quantify strength. For each muscle tested, the mean peak
      force of three trials were normalized to body weight and used for data analysis.
      Additionally, strength ratios were calculated and analyzed. Differences in
      strength and strength ratios between those with and without scapular dyskinesis
      were compared using separate two-way mixed ANOVAs with repeated measures.
      RESULTS: No significant differences for either strength (F1.83,43.92 = 1.10, p =
      .34) or strength ratios (F1.83,44.02 = 1.93, p = .16) were observed between those
      with and without scapular dyskinesis. A significant main effect (F1.83,43.92 =
      239.32, p < .01) for muscles tested was observed, and post-hoc analysis revealed
      significant trends resulting in a generalized order: the upper trapezius
      generated the greatest amount of force, followed by serratus anterior and middle
      trapezius, lower trapezius, supraspinatus, medial rotators, and lateral rotators.
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that differences in shoulder
      muscle strength do not exist between healthy subjects with and without scapular
      dyskinesis. Additionally, scapular dyskinesis appears to be prevalent in healthy
      populations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.

PMID- 28593085
TI  - POSTURAL STABILITY AND KINETIC CHANGE IN SUBJECTS WITH PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN AFTER
      A NINE-WEEK HIP AND CORE STRENGTHENING INTERVENTION.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic patellofemoral pain (PFP) has been linked to hip weakness
      and abnormal lower extremity mechanics. The effect of a strengthening
      intervention on balance has not been well studied among individuals with PFP.
      HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate changes in
      center of pressure displacement during the single limb squat following a nine
      week physical therapy intervention among adolescent females with PFP. STUDY
      DESIGN: Interventional and cross-sectional. METHODS: Seven adolescent females
      with PFP (10 extremities) were included in the study. Center of Pressure (CoP)
      excursions during a single limb squat task were measured before and after a nine
      week of physical therapy intervention focused on strengthening of the hip and
      core. Seven asymptomatic females were matched to the PFP group on the basis of
      age and activity level, and were tested as a reference group. CoP trajectories
      were reduced into four variables: mean distance (MDIST), root-mean-square
      distance (RDIST), range (RANGE), and 95% confidence interval circle area (AREA
      CC). Maximum knee flexion angle, peak knee power generation and absorption were
      also recorded. Linear mixed models were used to test for within and between group
      differences in CoP metrics. RESULTS: Pre-intervention, CoP range, knee power
      absorption and generation were significantly decreased in the PFP group relative
      to the reference group. Post-intervention, the PFP group reported a significant
      decrease in symptom severity. There was also a significant (p<0.05) increase in
      MDIST, RDIST, RANGE, AREA-CC, peak knee flexion angle, peak power absorption and
      power generation. There was no difference (p>0.05) in knee flexion, knee power or
      CoP displacement between the two groups after the physical therapy intervention.
      CONCLUSION: Hip and core-strengthening resulted in a significant decrease in
      symptom severity as well as significant reductions in CoP displacement. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28593086
TI  - KINEMATIC AND KINETIC VARIABLES DIFFER BETWEEN KETTLEBELL SWING STYLES.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kettlebell (KB) and indian club swings (ICS) are used diversely for
      developing strength and power. It has been proposed that multiple swing
      techniques can be used interchangeably to elicit similar adaptations within
      performance training. Hypothesis/Purpose: It was hypothesized that there will be
      not be a difference in peak joint angles between types of swings. Furthermore,
      given the nature of the overhead kettlebell swing (OKS), it was hypothesized that
      the OKS will be associated with a greater cycle time and a greater vertical
      impulse compared to shoulder height swing (SKS) and ICS. The purpose of this
      study was to analyze the kinematics and kinetics of the SKS, OKS, and ICS. STUDY
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort. METHODS: Fifteen healthy subjects underwent 3D
      biomechanical analysis for assessment of kinematic and kinetic data. Subjects
      performed two trials of ten repetitions at full effort for each swing in a
      randomized order using either a standard set of 0.45 kg indian clubs or sex
      specific KB loads (Female = 12kg, Male = 20kg). Lower extremity sagittal plane
      kinematics and kinetics were analyzed for peak values during the down and up
      portions of the swing patterns. Statistical analyses were carried out utilizing
      one-way ANOVAs (p<.05) and effect size indices. RESULTS: Cycle time for the OKS
      was 34% longer than the SKS and ICS (p<.001; ESISKS = 2.09, ESIICS=1.92). In
      general, ankle (SKS: 0.82 +/- 0.16; OKS: 0.90 +/- 0.21; ICS: 0.60 +/- 0.15 BW*BH)
      and hip joint moments (SKS: 2.34 +/- 0.68; OKS: 2.32 +/- 0.53; ICS: 1.84 +/- 0.47
      BW*BH) and joint powers, along with peak vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF)
      (SKS: 0.98 +/- 0.14; OKS: 0.96 +/- 0.10; ICS: 0.86 +/- 0.11 BW/s), were higher in
      the SKS and OKS than the ICS (p<.001; ankle: ESISKS/OKS=0.43, ESISKS/ICS=1.42;
      hip: ESISKS/OKS=0.03, ESISKS/ICS=0.87; vGRF: ESISKS/OKS=1.80, ESISKS/ICS=0.20).
      There were no observed differences found in peak joint angles between the
      movements. CONCLUSION: Although these swings are kinematically similar, the
      differing kinetic demands of these exercises may be important in selecting the
      right training modality for specific strength and power training. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28593087
TI  - A DYNAMIC VALGUS INDEX THAT COMBINES HIP AND KNEE ANGLES: ASSESSMENT OF UTILITY
      IN FEMALES WITH PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two=dimensional motion analysis of lower=extremity movement typically
      focuses on the knee frontal plane projection angle, which considers the position
      of the femur and the tibia. A measure that includes the pelvis may provide a more
      comprehensive and accurate indicator of lower=extremity movement.
      Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe the utility of a
      two=dimensional dynamic valgus index (DVI) in females with patellofemoral pain.
      The hypothesis was that the DVI would be more reliable and valid than the knee
      frontal plane projection angle, be greater in females with patellofemoral pain
      during a single=limb squat than in females without patellofemoral pain, and
      decrease in females with patellofemoral pain following instruction. Study Design:
      Controlled Laboratory Study. METHODS: Data were captured while participants
      performed single limb squats under two conditions: usual and corrected.
      Two=dimensional hip and knee angles and a DVI that combined the hip and knee
      angles were calculated. Three=dimensional sagittal, frontal, and transverse plane
      angles of the hip and knee and a DVI combining the frontal and transverse plane
      angles were calculated. RESULTS: The two=dimensional DVI demonstrated moderate
      reliability (ICC=0.74). The correlation between the two=dimensional and
      three=dimensional DVI's was 0.635 (p<0001). Females with patellofemoral pain
      demonstrated a greater two=dimensional DVI (31.14  degrees +/-13.36  degrees )
      than females without patellofemoral pain (18.30  degrees +/-14.97  degrees ;
      p=0.010). Females with patellofemoral pain demonstrated a decreased DVI in the
      corrected (19.04  degrees +/-13.70  degrees ) versus usual (31.14  degrees +/
      13.36  degrees ) condition (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The DVI is a reliable and valid
      measure that may provide a more comprehensive assessment of lower=extremity
      movement patterns than the knee frontal plane projection angle in individuals
      with lower=extremity musculoskeletal pain problems. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b.

PMID- 28593088
TI  - THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN HIP STRENGTH AND HIP KINEMATICS DURING A SINGLE LEG HOP
      IN RECREATIONAL ATHLETES POST ACL RECONSTRUCTION COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Only a small amount of evidence exists linking hip abductor weakness
      to dynamic knee valgus during static and dynamic activities. The associations of
      hip extensor strength and hip kinematics during the landing of a single leg hop
      are not known. Purpose: To determine if relationships exist between hip extensor
      and abductor strength and hip kinematics in both involved and uninvolved limb
      during the landing phase of a single leg hop in recreational athletes post
      anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The presence of similar
      associations was also evaluated in healthy recreational athletes. STUDY DESIGN:
      Controlled Laboratory Study; Cross-sectional. METHODS: Twenty-four recreational
      college-aged athletes participated in the study (12 post ACL reconstruction; 12
      healthy controls). Sagittal and frontal plane hip kinematic data were collected
      for five trials during the landing of a single leg hop. Hip extensor and abductor
      isometric force production was measured using a hand-held dynamometer and
      normalized to participants' height and weight. Dependent and independent t-tests
      were used to analyze for any potential differences in hip strength or kinematics
      within and between groups, respectively. Pearson's r was used to demonstrate
      potential associations between hip strength and hip kinematics for both limbs in
      the ACL group and the right limb in the healthy control group. RESULTS:
      Independent t-tests revealed that participants post ACL reconstruction exhibited
      less hip extensor strength (0.18 N/Ht*BW vs. 0.25 N/Ht*BW, p=<.01) and landed
      with greater hip adduction (9.0 o vs. 0.8 o, p=<.01) compared with their healthy
      counterparts. In the ACL group, Pearson's r demonstrated a moderate and indirect
      relationship (r=-.62, p=.03) between hip extensor strength and maximum hip
      abduction/adduction angle in the involved limb. A moderate and direct
      relationship between hip abductor strength and maximum hip flexion angle was
      demonstrated in the both the involved (r=.62) and uninvolved limb (r=.65, p=.02).
      No significant associations were demonstrated between hip extensor or abductor
      strength and hip flexion and/or abduction/adduction angles in the healthy group.
      CONCLUSION: The results suggest that hip extensors may play a role in minimizing
      hip adduction in the involved limb while the hip abductors seem to play a role in
      facilitating hip flexion during the landing phase of a single leg hop for both
      limbs following ACL reconstruction. Researchers and clinicians alike should
      consider the importance of the hip extensors in playing a more prominent role in
      contributing to frontal plane motion. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Level 2a.

PMID- 28593089
TI  - INJURY INCIDENCE, DANCE EXPOSURE AND THE USE OF THE MOVEMENT COMPETENCY SCREEN
      (MCS) TO IDENTIFY VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH INJURY IN FULL-TIME PRE-PROFESSIONAL
      DANCERS.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSES: Prospective studies utilizing standardized injury and
      exposure measures are needed to consolidate our knowledge of injury incidence and
      associated risk factors for musculoskeletal injury amongst pre-professional
      dancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the injury incidence
      amongst pre-professional dancers attending a fulltime training school in New
      Zealand. The secondary purposes of this study were to investigate the
      relationship between dance exposure and injury risk, and the relationship between
      risk factors (specifically the MCS outcome scores) and injury risk. METHODS: A
      prospective cohort study of 66 full-time pre-professional dancers was undertaken
      over one full academic year (38 weeks), included 40 females (mean age 17.78 yrs,
      SD 1.18) and 26 males (mean age 18.57yrs, SD 1.72). Injury surveillance included
      both reported and self reported injury data. Dancers were screened using the MCS
      in the first week of term one. RESULTS: Eighty-six per cent of dancers sustained
      one or more injuries. Fifty-nine per cent of all injuries were time-loss. The
      injury incidence rate was 2.27 per 1000 hours of dance exposure (DEhr) and 3.35
      per 1000 dance exposures (DE). There was a significant association between the
      total number of injuries and total DE per month (B=0.003, 95% CI 0.001 - 0.006,
      p=0.016). Dancers who had a MCS score < 23 were more likely to be injured than
      those who scored >=23 (B = -0.702, 95% CI = -1.354 - -0.050, p=0.035).
      CONCLUSION: Injury prevalence and incidence was comparable with other
      international cohorts. The number of dance exposures was more highly associated
      with injury risk than the hours of dance exposure. The MCS may be a useful tool
      to help identify dancers at risk of injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3b,
      Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study.

PMID- 28593090
TI  - DYNAMIC HIP ADDUCTION, ABDUCTION AND ABDOMINAL EXERCISES FROM THE HOLMICH GROIN
      INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAM ARE INTENSE ENOUGH TO BE CONSIDERED STRENGTHENING
      EXERCISES - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Training intensity is an important variable in strength training and
      above 80% of one repetition maximum is recommended for promoting strength for
      athletes. Four dynamic and two isometric on-field exercises are included in the
      Holmich groin-injury prevention study that initially failed to show a reduction
      in groin injuries in soccer players. It has been speculated that exercise
      intensity in this groin-injury prevention program was too low to induce the
      strength gains necessary to protect against groin-related injuries. PURPOSE: To
      estimate the intensity of the six exercises from the Holmich program using
      electromyography (EMG) and possibly categorize them as strength-training
      exercises. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: 21 adult male soccer
      players training >5 hours weekly were included. Surface-EMG was recorded from
      adductor longus, gluteus medius, rectus abdominis and external obliques during
      isometric adduction against a football placed between the ankles (IBA), isometric
      adduction against a football placed between the knees (IBK), folding knife (FK),
      cross-country skiing on one leg (CCS), adduction partner (ADP) and abduction
      partner (ABP). The EMG-signals were normalized (nEMG) to an isometric maximal
      voluntary contraction for each tested muscle. RESULTS: Adductor longus activity
      during IBA was 84% nEMG (95% CI: 70-98) and during IBK it was 118% nEMG (95% CI
      106-130). For the dynamic exercises, ADP evoked 87% nEMG (95% CI 69-105) in
      adductor longus, ABP evoked 88% nEMG (95% CI 76-100) in gluteus medius, FK evoked
      82% nEMG (95% CI 68-96) rectus abdominis, and 101% nEMG (95% CI 85-118) in
      external obliques. During CSS < 37% nEMG was evoked from all muscles. CONCLUSION:
      These data suggest that exercise-intensity of all the six investigated exercises
      in the Holmich groin injury prevention program, except cross-county skiing, is
      sufficient to be considered strength-training for specific muscle groups in and
      around the groin region. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28593091
TI  - A COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUMENT FOR EVALUATING MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
      (MTBI)/CONCUSSION IN INDEPENDENT ADULTS: A PILOT STUDY.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One common component of concussion rehabilitation is a computerized
      cognitive test free of concomitant physical demands. Healthcare professionals may
      be able to provide more patient-centered care after a diagnosed concussion if
      specific areas of impairment are identified and treated, such as the physical
      aspect of neurocognitive function. Hypothesis/Purpose: To evaluate the test
      retest reliability of a unique combination of neurocognitive assessment tools
      currently utilized in concussion assessments into one single, inclusive
      instrument that measures both neurocognitive function and physical capability.
      STUDY DESIGN: Original research - diagnostic tests. METHODS: Fourteen individuals
      (nine males, age: 29 + 17.9, five females, age: 46.0 +/- 21.5 years) either with
      normal cognitive function (NBI) without history of a health event (e.g. cerebral
      vascular accident/stroke, mTBI) that resulted in brain injury within one year of
      the study, or who had suffered a health event that has resulted in a medically
      documented brain injury (BI) participated in the study. Participants completed
      the full hybrid assessment instrument for a baseline test, then completed a
      follow-up test using the same instrument within 72-96 hours of baseline. Test
      retest reliability was measured using Pearson product-moment correlations of the
      first and second testing sessions, and a two-way ANOVA (group between factor: NBI
      and BI and time within factor: session 1 and session 2) was performed on the
      summative scores to determine differences between each group. RESULTS: Test
      retest reliability was strong and statistical significant for both the NBI (r =
      .858, p = .014) and the BI (r = .967, p = .033) groups. There was a significant
      difference between summative scores for the NBI and BI groups (F1,20 = 42.325, p
      < .0001). CONCLUSION: The newly created Comprehensive Instrument for Evaluating
      Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (CIEMTBI) demonstrates good test-retest reliability
      and was able to discriminate the results between individuals in the NBI and BI
      groups. Further research, specifically with different samples, is needed to
      better determine the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of the instrument. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: 2c.

PMID- 28593092
TI  - AORTIC INJURY DUE TO PARAGLIDING: A CASE REPORT.
AB  - : A 64-year-old male fell from an altitude of 10 m while paragliding after
      stalling due to the wind. The purpose of this case report is to describe the
      outcomes after multiple injuries sustained during a paragliding accident,
      including a potentially life-threating injury to the thoracic aorta. The subject
      sustained a bite wound on his tongue, injuries to his chest (left side) and back,
      and a right forearm deformity. Enhanced whole body computed tomography (CT)
      revealed fractures of the bilateral laminae of the second and third cervical
      bones, right first rib, the tenth thoracic vertebral body (compression type),
      second lumbar vertebral body (burst type) and the right radius, Other injuries
      included an injury to the thoracic aortic arch and the presence of intraabdominal
      fluid collection without perforation of the digestive tract. Endovascular
      treatment was selected for the aortic injury because of multiple injuries.
      Immediate management included hypotensive rate control therapy using calcium and
      a beta blocker. On the fourth hospital day, the subject underwent deployment of a
      stent-graft to the aorta and subsequent surgical immobilization for the lumbar
      burst fracture. He also underwent surgical immobilization of the radial fracture
      and was discharged on the 28th hospital day. First responders or physicians
      should consider the possibility of aortic injury when treating patients who
      suffer falls while paragliding and provide appropriate management. Failure to
      provide appropriate management of an aortic injury could result in death. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28593093
TI  - SUPERIOR CAPSULE RECONSTRUCTION FOR MASSIVE ROTATOR CUFF TEARS - KEY
      CONSIDERATIONS FOR REHABILITATION.
AB  - : Superior capsule reconstruction is a recently-developed surgical technique for
      the treatment of massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears. So far, biomechanical
      cadaveric studies and clinical outcomes results have been promising concerning
      integrity, stability, and ROM after superior capsule reconstruction. As this
      technique has only been recently developed, an evidence-based rehabilitation
      protocol has not been previously designed. Thus, the purpose of this clinical
      commentary is to provide an overview of superior capsule reconstruction and to
      propose a rehabilitation program based on the available scientific evidence. The
      existing evidence is supplemented by the experience of the senior author who has
      performed more than forty superior capsule reconstruction procedures to date.
      This proposed rehabilitation protocol consists of four distinct phases, focusing
      on maximal protection, range of motion and muscular endurance, muscular strength
      and return to activity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 5.

PMID- 28593094
TI  - ANODAL TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION (TDCS) INCREASES ISOMETRIC
      STRENGTH OF SHOULDER ROTATORS MUSCLES IN HANDBALL PLAYERS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weakness of the rotator cuff muscles can lead to imbalances in the
      strength of shoulder external and internal rotators, change the biomechanics of
      the glenohumeral joint and predispose an athlete to injury. Transcranial direct
      current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that has
      demonstrated promising results in a variety of health conditions. However few
      studies addressed its potential approach in the realm of athletics.
      HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate if transcranial
      direct current stimulation (tDCS) technique increases the isometric muscle
      strength of shoulder external and internal rotators in handball athletes. STUDY
      DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. METHODS:
      Eight female handball players aged between 17 and 21 years (Mean=19.65; SD=2.55)
      with 7.1 +/- 4.8 years of experience in training, participating in regional and
      national competitions were recruited. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction
      (MVIC) of shoulder external and internal rotator muscles was evaluated during and
      after 30 and 60 minutes post one session of anodal and sham current (2mA;
      0.057mA/cm2) with a one-week interval between stimulations. RESULTS: Compared to
      baseline, MVIC of shoulder external and internal rotators significantly increased
      after real but not sham tDCS. Between-group differences were observed for
      external and internal rotator muscles. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction of
      external rotation increased significantly during tDCS, and 30 and 60 minutes post
      tDCS for real tDCS compared to that for sham tDCS. For internal rotation MVIC
      increased significantly during and 60 minutes post-tDCS. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      indicate that transcranial direct current stimulation temporarily increases
      maximal isometric contractions of the internal and external rotators of the
      shoulder in handball players. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28593095
TI  - LOAD-ENHANCED MOVEMENT QUALITY SCREENING AND TACTICAL ATHLETICISM: AN EXTENSION
      OF EVIDENCE.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Military organizations use movement quality screening for prediction
      of injury risk and performance potential. Currently, evidence of an association
      between movement quality and performance is limited. Recent work has demonstrated
      that external loading strengthens the relationship between movement screens and
      performance outcomes. Such loading may therefore steer us toward robust
      implementations of movement quality screens while maintaining their appeal as
      cost effective, field-expedient tools. PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study
      was to quantify the effect of external load-bearing on the relationship between
      clinically rated movement quality and tactical performance outcomes while
      addressing the noted limitations. STUDY DESIGN: Crossover Trial. METHODS: Fifty
      young adults (25 male, 25 female, 22.98 +/- 3.09 years, 171.95 +/- 11.46 cm,
      71.77 +/- 14.03 kg) completed the Functional Movement ScreenTM with (FMSTMW) and
      without (FMSTMC) a weight vest in randomized order. Following FMSTM testing,
      criterion measures of tactical performance were administered, including agility T
      Tests, sprints, a 400-meter run, the Mobility for Battle (MOB) course, and a
      simulated casualty rescue. For each performance outcome, regression models were
      selected via group lasso with smoothed FMSTM item scores as candidate predictor
      variables. RESULTS: For all outcomes, proportion of variance accounted for was
      greater in FMSTMW (R2 = ;0.22 [T-Test], 0.29 [Sprint], 0.17 [400 meter], 0.29
      [MOB], and 0.11 [casualty rescue]) than in FMSTMC (R2 = ;0.00 [T-Test], 0.11
      [Sprint], 0.00 [400 meter], 0.19 [MOB], and 0.00 [casualty rescue]). From the
      FMSTMW condition, beneficial performance effects (p<0.05) were observed for Deep
      Squat (sprint, casualty rescue), Hurdle Step (T-Agility, 400 meter run), Inline
      Lunge (sprint, MOB), and Trunk Stability Push Up (all models). Similar effects
      for FMSTMC item scores were limited to Trunk Stability Push Up (p<0.05, all
      models). CONCLUSIONS: The present study extends evidence supporting the validity
      of load-enhanced movement quality screening as a predictor of tactical
      performance ability. Future designs should seek to identify mechanisms explaining
      this effect. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28593096
TI  - EMG OF SHOULDER MUSCLES DURING REACTIVE ISOMETRIC ELASTIC RESISTANCE EXERCISES.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditionally, shoulder isometrics are introduced in the early stages
      of shoulder rehabilitation. A patient's isometric torque output is based on a
      subjective perception of force generation. By utilizing elastic resistance
      elongation (strain) to standardize force output, clinicians could prescribe
      shoulder therapeutic isometrics based on % maximum voluntary contraction (%MVC).
      PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to measure electromyographic
      (EMG) activity and determine the %MVC during shoulder flexion, external rotation
      and abduction isometrics at varying lengths of TheraBand(r) elastic resistance.
      It was hypothesized that increased elongation of progressive resistance bands
      would proportionately increase the %MVC of the shoulder musculature. STUDY
      DESIGN: Laboratory design using healthy subjects. METHODS: Eight healthy subjects
      (16 shoulders) (5 females, 3 males; avg. age 29.2) were tested. Surface EMG
      electrodes were placed over the anterior deltoid, middle deltoid, and
      infraspinatus muscles. A force transducer was anchored to a stable surface with
      its corresponding end in series with an extremity strap securely holding the
      elastic band. Subjects were asked to maintain shoulder position for the proper
      isometric contraction (flexion, abduction and external rotation) while taking
      incremental steps away from the anchored elastic resistance, to the beat of a
      metronome to clearly marked distances on the floor (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250% of
      band elongation). This was repeated with yellow, red, green, and blue
      TheraBand(r) resistance levels. Maximum voluntary contractions for both force and
      EMG were collected for each subject in all three test positions. EMG data were
      normalized and expressed as a %MVC. RESULTS: For external rotation and flexion,
      the infraspinatus and anterior deltoid activity increased with band elongation
      (p<0.01) and progressive colors (p<0.01). The increases in EMG activity with
      elongation plateaued with the yellow and red bands but continued to increase with
      the green and blue bands (p<0.01). The increase in infraspinatus and anterior
      deltoid EMG activity with progressive band color was more apparent for green and
      blue bands compared with yellow and red band (p<0.01). For the abduction
      exercise, middle deltoid activity increased with band elongation (p<0.01) and
      progressive color (p<0.01). In all three exercises, there was an increase in
      force exerted by the band with increasing length and band color (p < 0.001).
      However, while there were clear increases in force from red to green to blue,
      there was no difference in force between yellow and red regardless of elongation
      (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Isometric flexion, external rotation and abduction muscle
      activity can be accurately prescribed clinically by adjusting the elongation and
      resistance associated with progressive colors of resistance bands. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28593097
TI  - THE EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION VERSUS SHAM CUEING ON SCAPULAR POSITION
      DURING EXERCISE IN PATIENTS WITH SCAPULAR DYSKINESIS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conventional therapeutic exercise programs are commonly used to treat
      patients with scapular dyskinesis. There are no studies that have examined
      traditional therapeutic exercise programs with the addition of remote triggered
      electrical stimulation (ES) to affect the position of the scapula (using spine to
      scapular border distance as a reference point) during the performance of
      exercises that have lower upper trapezius (UT) to lower trapezius (LT) ratio
      exercises. PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to compare scapular
      position after performance of three low UT/LT ratio therapeutic exercises in two
      conditions, electrical stimulation (ESTherex) and sham electrical stimulation
      (ShamTherex) in asymptomatic persons who were positive for scapular dyskinesis.
      STUDY DESIGN: Randomized trial, single-blinded. METHODS: Eleven asymptomatic
      university students representing 15 scapulae with a positive Scapular Dyskinesis
      Test were recruited as subjects. Participants were randomized into exercise and
      electrical stimulation (ESTherex) or exercise and sham electrical stimulation
      (ShamTherex). Subjects performed side-lying shoulder external rotation and
      flexion, and prone horizontal abduction with external rotation in both
      conditions. Scapular position was assessed during active abduction at four angles
      before and after performance of these exercises. RESULTS: There were no
      significant differences in scapula to spine distance between ESTherex and
      ShamTherex groups at 0, 45, 90 and 120 degrees of shoulder abduction. A between
      group difference (ESTherex and ShamTherex) approached significance at 45 degrees
      (p = 0.089, CI=-.152 to 1.88 cm) with the post mean measurement of the ShamTherex
      group (6.44 cm) greater than the post mean measurement of the ESTherex group
      (5.57 cm). The ESTherex showed a significant pre-to-post mean within group
      improvement in spine to scapula distance at 120 degrees (mean 2.76 cm, t=4.89,
      p=.003). CONCLUSIONS: Electrical stimulation with exercises for scapular
      dyskinesis showed improvements in spine to scapula distance at 120 degrees of
      shoulder abduction. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapy, level 1b.

PMID- 28593098
TI  - RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A BIOMECHANICALLY BASED ANALYSIS METHOD FOR THE
      TENNIS SERVE.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An observational tennis serve analysis (OTSA) tool was developed
      using previously established body positions from three-dimensional kinematic
      motion analysis studies. These positions, defined as nodes, have been associated
      with efficient force production and minimal joint loading. However, the tool has
      yet to be examined scientifically. PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this
      investigation was to determine the inter-observer reliability for each node
      between two health care professionals (HCPs) that developed the OTSA, and
      secondarily to investigate the validity of the OTSA. METHODS: Two separate
      studies were performed to meet these objectives. An inter-observer reliability
      study preceded the validity study by examining 28 videos of players serving. Two
      HCPs graded each video and scored the presence or absence of obtaining each node.
      Discriminant validity was determined in 33 tennis players using video taped
      records of three first serves. Serve mechanics were graded using the OSTA and
      categorized players into those with good ( >= 5) and poor ( <= 4) mechanics.
      Participants performed a series of field tests to evaluate trunk flexibility,
      lower extremity and trunk power, and dynamic balance. RESULTS: The group with
      good mechanics demonstrated greater backward trunk flexibility (p=0.02), greater
      rotational power (p=0.02), and higher single leg countermovement jump (p=0.05).
      Reliability of the OTSA ranged from K = 0.36-1.0, with the majority of all the
      nodes displaying substantial reliability (K>0.61). CONCLUSION: This study
      provides HCPs with a valid and reliable field tool used to assess serve
      mechanics. Physical characteristics of trunk mobility and power appear to
      discriminate serve mechanics between players. Future intervention studies are
      needed to determine if improvement in physical function contribute to improved
      serve mechanics. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28593099
TI  - DO GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS EXAMINE INJURED RUNNERS?
AB  - BACKGROUND: General Medical Practitioners (GMP) in Denmark perform clinical
      examinations of patients with musculoskeletal pain. However, the prevalence
      proportion of examinations caused by running-related injuries remains unknown.
      PURPOSE: The primary purpose of the present study was to estimate the prevalence
      proportion of consultations in general medical practice caused by running-related
      injuries. The secondary purpose was to estimate the prevalence proportion of
      injured runners, who consult their GMP, that are referred to additional
      examinations or treatments. STUDY DESIGN: A survey-based study. METHODS: An
      online survey was distributed in October and November 2015 to more than 370 GMPs
      in Denmark and completed by 27. RESULTS: The median prevalence proportion of
      consultations caused by running-related injuries in the prior two weeks was 0.80%
      [25th percentile = 0.00%; 75th percentile = 1.43%]. Ten (37%) GMPs reported to
      refer between 0-24% of the injured runners to additional examination or
      treatment, whereas thirteen (48%) of GMPs referred between 25-49% and four (15%)
      referred 50-74% of injured runners. CONCLUSION: Although a very small part (<1%)
      of the GMPs consultations were related to running injuries, this result suggests
      that injured runners seek advice in the primary health-care system in Denmark. As
      a consequence, physiotherapists willing to treat runners with running-related
      injuries may inform the GMPs in their local community about the treatment
      possibilities they offer. The low response-proportion highlights the challenges
      recruiting GMPs willing to respond to questionnaires on running-related injuries.
      It is plausible to assume that the estimates reported in the present study are
      overestimated owing to selection bias. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28593100
TI  - IMPAIRMENT BASED EXAMINATION AND TREATMENT OF COSTOCHONDRITIS: A CASE SERIES.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Costochondritis is commonly encountered in primary care, but is not
      routinely referred to PT. Costochondritis can last from several weeks to several
      months, limiting the patient's ability to perform tasks at work and home.
      PURPOSE: Identify common impairments and examine the effects of treatment in
      subjects with costochondritis. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: Eight subjects were referred to physical therapy for costochondritis
      (mean duration of condition 6.3 +/- 1.3 months) and reported that their condition
      restricted their ability to participate in occupational and fitness activities.
      The numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and patient-specific functional scale
      (PSFS) were administered at the initial evaluation and at discharge. The Global
      Rating of Change (GROC) scale was only administered at discharge. All subjects
      received treatment directed at the cervicothoracic spine and ribcage and
      consisting of manual therapy and exercise. OUTCOMES: Subjects were seen 4.8 +/-
      0.9 (mean+/-standard deviation) times. All subjects showed clinically meaningful
      changes at discharge. The mean NPRS decreased by 5.1 +/- 1.7 points; the mean
      PSFS increased by 5.3 +/- 1.4 points; and the mean GROC was 5.9 +/- 1.1 points.
      All subjects were able to return to participation in previous activities without
      restrictions at discharge. DISCUSSION - CONCLUSION: The results of this case
      series suggests that PT utilizing an impairment based examination and treatment
      approach including manual therapy and therapeutic exercise may facilitate the
      resolution of costochondritis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

PMID- 28593101
TI  - DRY NEEDLING INCREASES MUSCLE THICKNESS IN A SUBJECT WITH PERSISTENT MUSCLE
      DYSFUNCTION: A CASE REPORT.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Muscle dysfunction is very common following
      musculoskeletal injury. There is very little evidence to suggest that muscle
      function may be positively impacted by soft tissue interventions, such as dry
      needling. The purpose of this case report is to describe the immediate effect of
      dry needling on muscle thickness in a subject after shoulder surgery. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 22 year-old competitive gymnast presented seven months post
      shoulder surgery with significant impairments and functional limitations.
      Previous physical therapy focused on restoration of range of motion and strength
      using general exercise interventions, but the subject had persistent tightness
      and weakness of musculature of the shoulder complex. A subject-specific physical
      therapy program including manual physical therapy resulted in significant initial
      improvement, but lack of flexibility and weakness of the rotator cuff limited
      progress. Dry needling was used to address persistent myofascial trigger points.
      OUTCOMES: Immediately after dry needling the infraspinatus, the muscle's
      thickness was significantly improved as measured by rehabilitative ultrasound
      imaging. There was a corresponding increase in force production of external
      rotation at 90 degrees of abduction. DISCUSSION: Minimal research exists that
      validates the potential of dry needling on muscle function, as assessed by muscle
      thickness measured using rehabilitative ultrasound imaging. The results of this
      case report suggest that dry needling contributed to improvement in muscle
      thickness and strength in a subject with muscle dysfunction following an injury.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28593103
TI  - Natural History of Rod-Mediated Dark Adaptation over 2 Years in Intermediate Age
      Related Macular Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize the natural history of rod-mediated dark adaptation
      (RMDA) over 2 years in eyes with intermediate age-related macular degeneration
      (AMD). This information will be useful in understanding the potential of RMDA to
      serve as a functional endpoint in proof-of-concept studies and clinical trials on
      intermediate AMD. METHODS: RMDA was measured in eyes with intermediate AMD at
      baseline and follow-up visits over 2 years at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. A
      computerized dark adaptometer measured sensitivity for targets centered at 11
      degrees  on the superior vertical meridian of the retina. Rod intercept time
      (RIT) characterized the speed of dark adaptation and was defined as the duration
      (in minutes) required for sensitivity to reach a criterion level of 3.0 log units
      of attenuation of the stimulus. RESULTS: Mean change in RIT over 24 months for 30
      eyes was 10.5 minutes (standard deviation 19.4), p < 0.0001; 73.3% of eyes had a
      RIT increase >1 minute, 56.7% had an increase >3 minutes, and 36.7% had an
      increase >6 minutes; for 26.7% RIT was unchanged (0- to 1-minute increase) or
      decreased. Greater increase in RIT over 24 months was associated with smoking.
      CONCLUSIONS: RMDA slows in intermediate AMD over 2 years in most eyes. There was
      wide variability in RIT at both baseline and in the extent to which it increased
      over 24 months. A major risk factor for AMD, smoking, exacerbated RMDA slowing.
      TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: RMDA as assessed by RIT may be useful as a functional
      endpoint in proof-of-concept studies and clinical trials on intermediate AMD with
      2-year designs.

PMID- 28593102
TI  - REHABILITATION FOLLOWING MEDIAL PATELLOFEMORAL LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION FOR
      PATELLAR INSTABILITY.
AB  - : Patellar instability is a common problem seen by physical therapists, athletic
      trainers and orthopedic surgeons. Although following an acute dislocation,
      conservative rehabilitation is usually the first line of defense; refractory
      cases exist that may require surgical intervention. Substantial progress has been
      made in the understanding of the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) and its
      role as the primary stabilizer to lateral patellar displacement. Medial
      patellofemoral ligament disruption is now considered to be the essential lesion
      following acute patellar dislocation due to significantly high numbers of
      ruptures following this injury. Evidence is now mounting that demonstrates the
      benefits of early reconstruction with a variety of techniques. Recently
      rehabilitation has become more robust and progressive due to our better
      understanding of soft tissue reconstruction and repair techniques. The purpose of
      this manuscript is to describe the etiology of patellar instability, the anatomy
      and biomechanics and examination of patellofemoral instability, and to describe
      surgical intervention and rehabilitation following MPFL rupture. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 5.

PMID- 28593106
TI  - A Post Hoc Summary of a Memorable Annual Meeting: The 27th Annual NASBS Meeting:
      March 1-5, 2017; The Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

PMID- 28593105
TI  - Photobiomodulation with Near Infrared Light Helmet in a Pilot, Placebo Controlled
      Clinical Trial in Dementia Patients Testing Memory and Cognition.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common, chronic expensive debilitating
      neurodegenerative disease with no current treatments to prevent the physical
      deterioration of the brain and the consequent cognitive deficits. The current
      pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of neurofibrillary
      tangles (NFTs) of hyperphosphorylated tau protein and amyloid-beta (Abeta)
      plaques. Antibody therapy of Tau and Amyloid beta, vaccines and other methods to
      decrease Tau and or Amyloid have not been successful after considerable
      pharmaceutical and biotech efforts. For example, Eli Lilly announced a major
      change to its closely watched clinical trial for the Alzheimer's drug solanezumab
      which failed to reach statistical significance. Recently, a report on animal
      models using photomodulation with near infrared light to treat AD pathology in
      K369I tau transgenic model (K3) l engineered to develop neurofibrillary tangles,
      and the APPs/PSEN1dE9 transgenic model (APP/PS1) to develop amyloid plaques. Mice
      were treated with NIR 20 times over a four-week period and NIR treatment (600
      1000 nm) was associated with a reduction in the size and number of amyloid-beta
      plaques in the neocortex and hippocampus. We now report a small pilot double
      blind, placebo-controlled trial (n=11) 6 active, 3 controls and 2 dropouts
      assessing the effect of 28 consecutive, sixminute transcranial sessions of near
      infrared (NIR) stimulation using 1060-1080 nm light emitting diodes. Subjects
      were independently diagnosed with dementia conducted in an outpatient behavioral
      healthcare clinic. IRB approval was obtained through the Quietmind Foundation's
      institutional review Board (IRB). Results showed changes in executive
      functioning; clock drawing, immediate recall, praxis memory, visual attention and
      task switching (Trails A&B) as well as a trend of improved EEG amplitude and
      connectivity measures. Neuroplasticity has also been reported with NIR light
      stimulation and mitochondrial enhancement.

PMID- 28593107
TI  - Minimally Invasive Approach for Resection of Parameningeal Rhabdomyosarcoma.
AB  - Background  About one-third of rhabdomyosarcomas arise in the head and neck, with
      parameningeal primaries accounting for half of these. Principles of management
      involve chemotherapy, radiation, or both, in addition to surgical biopsy,
      debulking, and complete or near-complete resection. In the head and neck,
      diagnostic biopsies have historically been performed without attempt at resection
      due to proximity to critical structures and cosmetic considerations. Methods 
      Retrospective chart review of three cases of rhabdomyosarcoma at the cranial base
      managed through minimally invasive endoscopic surgical resection and adjuvant
      therapy. Results  Three patients were identified as having undergone endoscopic
      surgical debulking or margin-negative resection of a rhabdomyosarcoma of the
      cranial base. Two of three patients had complete resection based on
      intraoperative margin control. All three patients underwent adjuvant therapy
      within 1 month of diagnosis. Follow-up time ranged from 5 months to 3 years with
      all patients disease-free at last follow-up. Conclusion  Skull base surgeons
      should routinely be involved in multidisciplinary treatment planning for
      parameningeal rhabdomyosarcomas, as surgical options have evolved to allow for
      potential endoscopic resection with low morbidity and no or minimal delay in
      additional treatment options.

PMID- 28593109
TI  - Extent of Endoscopic Resection for Anterior Skull Base Tumors: An MRI-Based
      Volumetric Analysis.
AB  - Objective  To determine the volume of ventral skull base tumor removed following
      endoscopic endonasal (EEA) resection using MRI-based volumetric analysis and to
      evaluate the inter-rater reliability of such analysis. Design  Retrospective case
      series. Setting  Academic tertiary care hospital. Participants  EEA patients
      November 2012 to August 2015. Main Outcome Measures  Volumetric analysis of pre-
      and immediately postoperative MR imaging was performed independently by two
      investigators. The percentage of total tumor resected was evaluated according to
      resection goal and tumor type. Results  A total of 39 patients underwent
      resection. Intraclass correlation coefficients between the raters were 0.9988 for
      preoperative and 0.9819 for postoperative images. Tumors (and average percentage
      removed) included 17 nonsecreting pituitary adenomas (95.3%), 8 secreting
      pituitary adenomas (86.2%), 4 meningiomas (81.6%), 3 olfactory neuroblastomas
      (100%), 2 craniopharyngiomas (100%), 1 large B-cell lymphoma (90.5%), 1 germ cell
      neoplasm (48.3), 1 benign fibrous connective tissue mass (93.4%), 1 epidermoid
      cyst (68.4%), and 1 chordoma (100%). For tumors treated with intent for gross
      total resection, 96.9 +/- 4.8% was removed. Conclusion  EEAs achieved tumor
      resection rates of ~97% when total resection was attempted. The radiographic
      finding of residual tumor is of uncertain clinical significance. The volumetric
      analysis employed in this study demonstrated high inter-rater reliability and
      could facilitate further study.

PMID- 28593104
TI  - Acidic Ca2+ stores in neurodegeneration.
AB  - Lysosomes have emerged in the last decade as an immensely important intracellular
      site of Ca2+ storage and signalling. More recently there has been an increase in
      the number of new ion channels found to be functional on lysosomes and the
      potential roles that these signalling pathways might play in fundamental cellular
      processes are being uncovered. Defects in lysosomal function have been shown to
      result in changes in lysosomal Ca2+ homeostasis and ultimately can result in cell
      death. Several neurodegenerative diseases, from rare lysosomal storage diseases
      through to more common diseases of ageing, have recently been identified as
      having alterations in lysosomal Ca2+ homeostasis that may play an important role
      in neuronal excitotoxicity and ultimately cell death. This review will critically
      summarise these recent findings.

PMID- 28593108
TI  - Nano-hemostats and a Pilot Study of Their Use in a Large Animal Model of Major
      Vessel Hemorrhage in Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery.
AB  - Nano-hemostats are synthetic amino acid chains that self-assemble into a scaffold
      under certain conditions. These have been shown to be effective in stopping
      bleeding in small animal models of hemorrhage. Proposed mechanisms for their
      effect are that they form a mesh analogous to the fibrin plug in native
      hemostasis and that they may potentiate both platelet activation and the
      coagulation cascade. These may potentially become valuable adjuncts to endoscopic
      skull base surgery where there is the potential for both major vessel injury and
      smaller perforator injury to eloquent areas where bipolar cautery may not be
      suitable. We present a summary of the clinical studies to date and a small pilot
      study of nano-hemostat in an endoscopic sheep model of major vessel hemorrhage to
      determine its efficacy in stopping bleeding in this potentially catastrophic
      complication.

PMID- 28593110
TI  - Endoscopic Endonasal Transclival Approach versus Dual Transorbital Port Technique
      for Clip Application to the Posterior Circulation: A Cadaveric Anatomical and
      Cerebral Circulation Simulation Study.
AB  - Purpose  Simulation training offers a useful opportunity to appreciate vascular
      anatomy and develop the technical expertise required to clip intracranial
      aneurysms of the posterior circulation. Materials and Methods  In cadavers, a
      comparison was made between the endoscopic transclival approach (ETA) alone and a
      combined multiportal approach using the ETA and a transorbital precaruncular
      approach (TOPA) to evaluate degrees of freedom, angles of visualization, and
      ergonomics of aneurysm clip application to the posterior circulation depending on
      basilar apex position relative to the posterior clinoids. Results  ETA alone
      provided improved access to the posterior circulation when the basilar apex was
      high riding compared with the posterior clinoids. ETA + TOPA provided a
      significantly improved functional working area for instruments and visualization
      of the posterior circulation for a midlevel basilar apex. A single-shaft clip
      applier provided improved visualization and space for instruments. Proximal and
      distal vascular control and feasibility of aneurysmal clipping were demonstrated.
      Conclusions  TOPA is a medial orbital approach to the central skull base; a
      transorbital neuroendoscopic surgery approach. This anatomical simulation
      provides surgical teams an alternative to the ETA approach alone to address
      posterior circulation aneurysms, and a means to preoperatively prepare for
      intraoperative anatomical and surgical instrumentation challenges.

PMID- 28593111
TI  - Phantosmia and Dysgeusia following Endoscopic Transcribriform Approaches to
      Olfactory Groove Meningiomas.
AB  - The endoscopic, endonasal transcribriform approach (EETA) is an important
      technique used to directly access the anterior skull base and is increasingly
      being used in the management of olfactory groove meningiomas (OGMs). As this
      approach requires removal of the cribriform plate and olfactory epithelium en
      route to the tumor, patients are anosmic postoperatively. Here, we report the
      development of phantosmia and dysgeusia in two patients who underwent EETAs for
      OGMs, which has not yet been reported in the literature. We hypothesize that
      phantosmia and dysgeusia may result from aberrant neuronal signals or
      misinterpretation centrally from the remaining distal portions of the olfactory
      and taste pathways. Since EETAs are newer than traditional open craniotomy-based
      techniques, reporting these outcomes will be important to appropriately counsel
      patients preoperatively.

PMID- 28593112
TI  - Comparative Neurologic Outcomes of Salvage and Definitive Gamma Knife
      Radiosurgery for Glomus Jugulare: A 20-Year Experience.
AB  - Objective  This case series investigates management of glomus jugulare (GJ)
      tumors utilizing definitive and salvage Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery
      (GKSRS). Methods  A retrospective chart review was performed to collect data.
      Statistical analysis included patient, tumor, and treatment information. Results 
      From 1996 to 2013, 17 patients with GJ received GKSRS. Median age was 64 years
      (range, 27-76). GKSRS was delivered for definitive treatment in eight (47%) and
      salvage in nine (53%) patients. Median tumor volume was 9.8 cm 3 (range, 2.8-42
      cm 3 ). Median dose was 15 Gy (range, 13-18 Gy). Median follow-up was 123 months
      (range, 38-238 months). Tumor size decreased in 10 (59%), stabilized in 6 (35%),
      and increased in 1 patient (6%). Overall neurological deficit improved in 53%,
      stabilized in 41%, and worsened in 6% of patients. Overall cause-specific
      survival was 100%, and actuarial local control was 94%. Eighty-eight percent of
      patients without prior resection experienced neurologic deficit improvement,
      while 25% of patients with prior resection experienced neurologic improvement ( p
      = 0.02). Conclusion  Gamma Knife radiosurgery provides effective long-term
      control of GJ and overall improvement or stabilization of neurological deficit in
      most patients. Patients with prior resection are less likely to experience
      improvement of neurologic deficit.

PMID- 28593114
TI  - Transient Exacerbation of Nasal Symptoms following Endoscopic Transsphenoidal
      Surgery for Pituitary Tumors: A Prospective Study.
AB  - Object  Endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery is the commonest approach to pituitary
      tumors. One disadvantage of this approach is the development of early
      postoperative nasal symptoms. Our aim was to clarify the peak onset of these
      symptoms and their temporal evolution. Methods  The General Nasal Patient
      Inventory (GNPI) was administered to 56 patients undergoing endoscopic
      transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors preoperatively and at 1 day, 3 days,
      2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 to 12 months postoperatively. Most patients underwent
      surgery for pituitary adenomas ( N  = 49; 88%) and through a uninostril approach
      ( N  = 55; 98%). Total GNPI (0-135) and scores for the 45 individual components
      were compared. Results  GNPI scores peaked at 1 to 3 days postoperatively, with
      rapid reduction to baseline by 2 weeks and below baseline by 6 to 12 months
      postsurgery ( p  < 0.01). Of the 45 individual symptoms on the GNPI scale, 19
      (42%) worsened transiently after surgery ( p  < 0.05). Functioning tumors had a
      higher GNPI scores at postoperative day 1 and 3 than nonfunctioning tumors,
      although their temporal evolution was the same ( p  < 0.05). Conclusions  Nasal
      morbidity following endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery is common, but
      transient, more so in the functioning subgroup. Nasal symptoms improve below
      baseline by 6 to 12 months, without the need for specific long-term postoperative
      interventions in the vast majority of patients.

PMID- 28593115
TI  - Clival Osteomyelitis Presenting as a Skull Base Mass.
AB  - Central skull base osteomyelitis is a rare, but potentially life-threatening
      disease entity often lacking otologic symptoms or external auditory canal
      pathology. We present a case of a man in his 70s who had developed cranial nerve
      deficits with radiographic evidence that was consistent with a tumor due to this
      uncommon entity. The radiologic findings and our experience are discussed to
      increase awareness in the otolaryngology community.

PMID- 28593113
TI  - The Added Value of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis and
      Posttreatment Evaluation of Skull Base Chordomas.
AB  - Objectives  To determine the use of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the pre-
      and posttreatment evaluation of skull base chordomas. Design  Retrospective
      study. Setting  Tertiary care university hospital. Participants  In total, 17
      patients with histopathological diagnosis of chordoma who had magnetic resonance
      (MR) imaging and DWI were evaluated. Of them, 13 patients had posttreatment MR
      imaging including DWI. Main Outcome Measures  Three apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC) values were obtained from tumor, and an ADC value was measured
      from pons for the purpose of normalization. ADC values of the subtypes of
      chordomas (typical and chondroid chordomas) were compared. Results  Ten (59%)
      masses had increased signal on trace DWI at pretreatment evaluation. The mean ADC
      entire tumor /ADC pons was calculated as 1.55 +/- 0.44. The mean ADC entire tumor
      values of typical and chondroid chordomas were 1.26 +/- 0.29 * 10 -3 mm 2 /s and
      0.99 +/- 0.46 * 10 -3 mm 2 /s, respectively. There was no statistically
      significant difference between ADC values of the subtypes ( p  > 0.05). For
      posttreatment evaluation, DWI enabled detection of residual tumor in the majority
      (85%) of cases. Conclusions  DWI is useful in diagnosis and posttreatment
      evaluation of skull base chordomas. However, ADC values in our series did not
      distinguish the subtypes of chordomas.

PMID- 28593116
TI  - Bridging the gap between clinical practice and public health: Using EHR data to
      assess trends in the seasonality of blood-pressure control.
AB  - Electronic health records (EHRs) provide timely access to millions of patient
      data records while limiting errors associated with manual data extraction. To
      demonstrate these advantages of EHRs to public health practice, we examine the
      ability of a EHR calculated blood-pressure (BP) measure to replicate seasonal
      variation as reported by prior studies that used manual data extraction. Our
      sample included 609 primary-care practices in New York City. BP control among
      hypertensives was defined as systolic blood pressure of 140 or less and diastolic
      blood pressure of 90 or less (BP < 140/90 mm Hg). An innovative query
      distribution system was used to extract monthly BP control values from the EHRs
      of adult patients diagnosed with hypertension over a 25-month period. Generalized
      estimating equations were used to compare the association between seasonal
      temperature variations and BP control rates at the practice level, while
      adjusting for known demographic factors (age, gender), comorbid diseases
      (diabetes) associated with blood pressure, and months since EHR implementation.
      BP control rates increased gradually from the spring months to peak summer months
      before declining in the fall months. In addition to seasonal variation, the
      adjusted model showed that a 1% increase in patients with a diabetic comorbidity
      is associated with an increase of 3% (OR 1.03; CI 1.028-1.032) on the BP measure.
      Our findings identified cyclic trends in BP control and highlighted greater
      association with increased proportion of diabetic patients, therefore confirming
      the ability of the EHR as a tool for measuring population health outcomes.

PMID- 28593117
TI  - Seasonality in swimming and cycling: Exploring a limitation of accelerometer
      based studies.
AB  - Accelerometer-based studies of children's physical activity have reported
      seasonal patterns in activity levels. However, the inability of many
      accelerometers to detect activity while the wearer is swimming or cycling may
      introduce a bias to the estimation of seasonality if participation in these
      activities are themselves seasonally patterned. We explore seasonal patterns in
      children's swimming and cycling among a sample of 7-8 year olds (N = 591)
      participating in the Millennium Cohort Study, UK. Participating children wore an
      accelerometer for one week on up to five occasions over the year and their
      parents completed a diary recording daily minutes spent swimming and cycling.
      Both swimming and cycling participation showed seasonal patterns, with 2.7 (SE
      0.8) more minutes swimming and 5.7 (0.7) more minutes cycling performed in summer
      compared to winter. Adding swimming and cycling time to accelerometer-determined
      MVPA increased the summer-winter difference in MVPA from 16.6 (1.6) to 24.9 min.
      The seasonal trend in swimming and cycling appears to follow the same pattern as
      accelerometer-measured MVPA. Studies relying solely on accelerometers may
      therefore underestimate seasonal differences in children's activity.

PMID- 28593118
TI  - Ideal cardiovascular health and peripheral artery disease in African Americans:
      Results from the Jackson Heart Study.
AB  - We sought to determine the association of Life's Simple Seven (LSS) with
      peripheral artery disease (PAD) in African Americans. We performed a cross
      sectional analysis of baseline data (2000-2004) from subjects participating in
      the Jackson Heart Study. African American men and women (N = 4403) age 35-84
      years participated in the study. PAD was defined by an ankle-brachial index (ABI)
      of < 0.9. We assessed frequency of LSS (body mass index [BMI], blood pressure,
      total cholesterol, glucose, dietary habits, physical activity, and smoking) among
      participants with and without PAD. LSS variables were categorized as ideal,
      intermediate, or poor to indicate a participant's health status. Data were
      analyzed using logistic regression to assess the association of PAD with LSS. PAD
      was diagnosed in 113 participants (2.6%). The percentage of the cohort meeting
      criteria for ideal health for each of the seven LSS factors was: 14.2% for BMI,
      17.1% for blood pressure, 38.0% for total cholesterol, 72.9% for glucose, 1.0%
      for dietary habits, 19.2% for physical activity, and 84.6% for smoking. Having >=
      3 LSS variables within the category of poor health was associated with elevated
      odds for PAD (odds ratio (OR) 1.34, 95% CI 1.11-1.63) after adjusting for age.
      Among African American adults, LSS variables are associated with PAD. Further
      studies are needed to determine the association of LSS with PAD among other
      racial/ethnic groups.

PMID- 28593119
TI  - Provider-patient communication about Zika during prenatal visits.
AB  - Zika virus transmission within and between the Americas is of global concern.
      This study assessed knowledge about the Zika virus among pregnant women in the
      United States, their travel plans to endemic areas, and whether their health care
      providers discussed Zika with them. This cross-sectional study used data from 492
      pregnant women (18-50 years) from an online survey conducted from April 8 to July
      27, 2016. Pregnant women were recruited online through Facebook, Twitter,
      Craigslist, and Reddit. Almost all (97.8%) participants had heard of the Zika
      virus, of which 71% first learned about it from the internet. Over one third of
      these pregnant women reported that their health providers discussed transmission
      of the Zika virus with them. Most respondents reported that their providers had
      discussed risks related to travelling to areas with Zika outbreaks. Half of the
      survey respondents reported that their providers gave them information about
      avoiding mosquito bites. Pregnant women were not concerned about Zika affecting
      their own health, but 34% were very or extremely concerned about it affecting
      their babies' health. Almost no pregnant women currently had travel plans to
      areas with ongoing Zika transmissions, and of the 14% who previously had plans,
      most (85%) cancelled their travel due to concerns about Zika. Overall, pregnant
      women in our sample were highly knowledgeable about Zika virus. Over one third of
      women received suggestions regarding prevention of Zika from their healthcare
      providers.

PMID- 28593120
TI  - Addition of estimated cardiorespiratory fitness to the clinical assessment of 10
      year coronary heart disease risk in asymptomatic men.
AB  - The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) was developed to quantify a patient's coronary
      heart disease (CHD) risk. Non-exercise estimated CRF (e-CRF) may provide a
      clinically practical method for describing cardiorespiratory fitness. We computed
      e-CRF and tested its association with the FRS and CHD. Male participants (n =
      29,854) in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS) who completed a baseline
      examination between 1979-2002 were followed for 12 years to determine incident
      CHD defined by self-report of myocardial infarction, revascularization, or CHD
      mortality. e-CRF was defined from a 7-item scale and categorized using age
      specific tertiles. Multivariable survival analysis determined associations
      between FRS, e-CRF, and CHD. Interaction between e-CRF and FRS was tested by
      stratified analysis by 'low' and 'moderate or high' 10-year CHD risk. Men with
      high e-CRF were significantly (p-value < 0.0001) younger, and less likely to be
      smokers, compared to men with low e-CRF. Multivariable survival analysis reported
      men with high e-CRF were 29% (HR = 0.71; 95% 0.56, 0.88) less likely to
      experience a CHD event compared to men with low e-CRF. Stratified analyses showed
      men with 'low' 10-year FRS predicted CHD risk and high e-CRF had a 28% (HR =
      0.72; 95% CI 0.57, 0.91) lower CHD-mortality risk compared to men with low e-CRF,
      no association was found in this group and men with moderate e-CRF. Men who were
      more fit had a decreased risk for CHD compared to men in the lowest third of
      fitness. Estimated CRF may add clinical value to the FRS and help clinicians
      better predict long-term CHD risk.

PMID- 28593121
TI  - Adherence support strategies for exercise interventions in people with mild
      cognitive impairment and dementia: A systematic review.
AB  - Exercise-based therapy may improve health status for people with Mild Cognitive
      Impairment (MCI) or dementia but cannot work without adherence, which has proven
      difficult. This review aimed to evaluate strategies to support adherence among
      people with MCI or Dementia and was completed in Nottingham/UK in 2017. A
      narrative synthesis was used to investigate the effectiveness or usefulness of
      adherence support strategies. Fifteen adherence support strategies were used
      including theoretical underpinning (programmes based on behavior change
      theories), individual tailoring, worksheets and exercise booklets, goal setting,
      phone calls or reminders, newsletters, support to overcome exercise barriers,
      information, adaptation periods, individual supervision, support for clinicians,
      group setting, music, accelerometers/pedometers and emphasis on enjoyable
      activities. Music was the only strategy that was investigated in a comparative
      design but was found to be effective only for those who were generally interested
      in participating in activities. A wide range of adherence support strategies are
      being included in exercise interventions for people with MCI or dementia, but the
      evidence regarding their effectiveness is limited.

PMID- 28593122
TI  - Trends over time in enrollment in non-group health insurance plans by tobacco use
      in the United States.
AB  - Healthcare.gov was created to facilitate the market for non-group insurance in
      states that did not establish their own marketplaces. In Healthcare.gov, families
      are asked to report their tobacco use status, and tobacco use surcharges of up to
      50% may result. We tabulate enrollment information for 35 states offering
      insurance plans through Healthcare.gov in both 2014 and 2016. The Centers for
      Medicare and Medicaid Services provided counts of enrollees indicating tobacco
      use, by state, year, and risk level. The number of enrollees increased from 5.0
      million in 2014 to 9.4 million in 2016. From 2014 to 2016, the number of
      enrollees rose 39% for tobacco users and 90% for non-tobacco users. Reported non
      tobacco user enrollment rose faster than reported tobacco user enrollment in 30
      out of 35 states. Reported tobacco users are enrolling in marketplace plans at a
      lower rate and are more likely to enroll in less generous plans. The decline in
      smoking as reported when purchasing insurance on Healthcare.gov surpasses
      declines in smoking observed in other data sources, which suggests that tobacco
      users may be decreasingly likely to report their tobacco use status accurately to
      avoid surcharges. Finally, we find no evidence of the surcharges being associated
      with lower enrollment among self-reported tobacco users, or in rates of smoking.

PMID- 28593123
TI  - Socio-demographic predictors of residential fire and unwillingness to call the
      fire service in New South Wales.
AB  - In most industrialised countries, the majority of fire-related deaths and
      injuries occur in the home. Australia has implemented fire prevention programs
      and strategies, including the use of smoke alarms, to minimise this burden. The
      number of reported house fires has declined over the past decade. However, there
      is a growing recognition that unreported fires are important in the estimation of
      total fire hazards and their associated injuries. This current study used data
      from the 2014 New South Wales (NSW) Population Health Survey, a yearly telephone
      survey, consisting of 14,732 survey respondents. Univariate and multiple binary
      logistic regression models were conducted to examine predictors of residential
      fire and (un)willingness to call the fire service in the event of a residential
      fire. The proportion of respondents who experienced residential fires in NSW was
      10% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.3, 10.8). The proportion of respondents who
      were willing to call the fire service was 3.1% (95% CI: 2.7%, 3.6%) and that of
      respondents unwilling to call was 6.9% (95% CI: 6.3%, 7.6%). Multivariate
      analyses revealed that respondents spoke another language in addition to English
      were significantly less likely to have experienced a home fire (odds ratio [OR] =
      0.46; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.65, p < 0.001) and significantly less likely to call the
      fire service (OR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.54, p < 0.001), compared with those who
      only spoke English at home. The results in this study will inform Fire & Rescue
      NSW's ongoing development of appropriate interventions and awareness-raising
      programs about residential fire prevention.

PMID- 28593124
TI  - Pragmatic evaluation of the Go2Play Active Play intervention on physical activity
      and fundamental movement skills in children.
AB  - Active play is a novel approach to addressing low physical activity levels and
      fundamental movement skills (FMS) in children. This study aimed to determine if a
      new school-based, 'Go2Play Active Play' intervention improved school day physical
      activity and FMS. This was a pragmatic evaluation conducted in Scotland during
      2015-16. Participants (n = 172; mean age = 7 years) were recruited from seven
      primary schools taking part in the 5-month intervention, plus 24 participants not
      receiving the intervention were recruited to act as a comparison group.189
      participants had physical activity measured using an Actigraph GT3X accelerometer
      at baseline and again at follow-up 5 months later. A sub-sample of participants
      from the intervention (n = 102) and comparison (n = 21) groups had their FMS
      assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) at baseline and
      follow-up. Changes in school day physical activity and FMS variables were
      examined using repeated measures ANOVA. The main effect was 'group' on 'time'
      from baseline to follow-up. Results indicated there was a significant interaction
      for mean counts per minute and percent time in sedentary behavior, light
      intensity physical activity and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA)
      (all p < 0.01) for school day physical activity. There was a significant
      interaction for gross motor quotient (GMQ) score (p = 0.02) and percentile (p =
      0.04), locomotor skills score and percentile (both p = 0.02), but no significant
      interaction for object control skills score (p = 0.1) and percentile (p = 0.3).
      The Go2Play Active Play intervention may be a promising way of improving physical
      activity and FMS but this needs to be confirmed in an RCT.

PMID- 28593125
TI  - Physiological health parameters among college students to promote chronic disease
      prevention and health promotion.
AB  - This study aimed to provide physiologic health risk parameters by gender and age
      among college students enrolled in a U.S. Midwestern University to promote
      chronic disease prevention and ameliorate health. A total of 2615 college
      students between 18 and 25 years old were recruited annually using a series of
      cross-sectional designs during the spring semester over an 8-year period.
      Physiologic parameters measured included body mass index (BMI), percentage body
      fat (%BF), blood serum cholesterol (BSC), and systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP)
      blood pressure. These measures were compared to data from NHANES to identify
      differences in physiologic parameters among 18-25 year olds in the general versus
      college-enrolled population. A quantitative instrument assessed health behaviors
      related to physical activity, diet, and licit drug use. Results suggest that
      average physiologic parameters from 18 to 25 year olds enrolled in college were
      significantly different from parameters of 18-25 year olds in the general
      population. Generally, men reported higher percentiles for BMI, SBP, and DBP than
      women, but lower %BF and BSC percentiles than women at each age. SBP and DBP
      significantly increased with age and alcohol use. Students in the lowest (5th)
      and highest percentiles (95th and 75th), for most age groups, demonstrated DBP,
      BMI, and %BF levels potentially problematic for health and future development of
      chronic disease based on percentiles generated for their peer group. Newly
      identified physiologic parameters may be useful to practitioners serving college
      students 18-25 years old from similar institutions in determining whether
      behavior change or treatment interventions are appropriate.

PMID- 28593126
TI  - Aerobic fitness and metabolic health in children: A clinical validation of
      directly measured maximal oxygen consumption versus performance measures as
      markers of health.
AB  - High aerobic fitness is consistently associated with a favorable metabolic health
      profile in children. However, measurement of oxygen uptake, regarded as the gold
      standard for evaluating aerobic fitness, is often not feasible. Thus, the aim of
      the present study was to perform a clinical validation of three measures of
      aerobic fitness (peak oxygen consumption [VO2peak] and time to exhaustion [TTE]
      determined from a graded treadmill protocol to exhaustion, and the Andersen
      intermittent running test) with clustered metabolic health in 10-year-old
      children. We included 93 children (55 boys and 38 girls) from Norway during 2012
      2013 in the study. Associations between aerobic fitness and three different
      composite metabolic health scores (including lipoprotein subgroup particle
      concentrations, triglyceride, glucose, systolic blood pressure, and waist-to
      height ratio) were determined by regression analyses adjusting for sex. The
      relationships among the measures of aerobic fitness were r = 0.78 for VO2peak vs.
      TTE, r = 0.63 for VO2peak vs. the Andersen test, and r = 0.67 for TTE vs. the
      Andersen test. The Andersen test showed the strongest associations across all
      markers of metabolic health (r = - 0.45 to - 0.31, p < 0.002), followed by
      VO2peak (r = - 0.35 to - 0.12, p < 0.256), and TTE (r = - 0.28 to - 0.10, p <
      0.334). Our findings indicate that indirect measures of aerobic fitness do not
      stand back as markers of metabolic health status in children, compared to
      VO2peak. This is of great importance as good field tests provide opportunities
      for measuring aerobic fitness in many settings where measuring VO2peak are
      impossible.

PMID- 28593127
TI  - Cessation-related weight concern among homeless male and female smokers.
AB  - Concern about post-cessation weight gain is a barrier to making attempts to quit
      smoking; however, its effect on smoking cessation is unclear. In this study we
      examine cessation-related weight concern among the homeless, which hasn't been
      studied. Homeless males (n = 320) and females (n = 110) participating in a
      smoking cessation RCT in the Twin Cities, Minnesota from 2009 to 2011 completed
      surveys on cessation-related weight concern, smoking status, and components from
      the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations. Generalized estimating equations
      were used to examine baseline predictors of cessation-related weight concern at
      baseline, the end of treatment, and 26-weeks follow-up. Logistic regression
      models were used to examine the relationship between cessation-related weight
      concern and smoking status at the end of treatment and follow-up. Females had
      higher cessation-related weight concern than males. Among males, older age, Black
      race, higher BMI, depression, and having health insurance were associated with
      higher cessation-related weight concern. Among females, nicotine dependence,
      greater cigarette consumption, indicating quitting is more important, older age
      of smoking initiation, and less support to quit from family were associated with
      higher cessation-related weight concern. In multivariate analyses, cessation
      related weight concern decreased over time among females. Cessation-related
      weight concern wasn't associated with smoking cessation. Although several types
      of characteristics predicted cessation-related weight concern among males, only
      smoking characteristics predicted cessation-related weight concern among females.
      Given the small proportion of quitters in this study (8% of males and 5% of
      females), further research on the impact of cessation-related weight concern on
      smoking cessation among the homeless is warranted.

PMID- 28593128
TI  - Including mobile-only telephone users in a statewide preventive health survey
      Differences in the prevalence of health risk factors and impact on trends.
AB  - The Queensland preventive health survey is conducted annually to monitor the
      prevalence of behavioural risk factors in the north-east Australian state.
      Prompted by domestic and international trends in mobile telephone usage, the 2015
      survey incorporated both mobile and landline telephone numbers from a list-based
      sampling frame. Estimates for landline-accessible and mobile-only respondents are
      compared to assess potential bias in landline-only surveys in the context of
      public health surveillance. Significant differences were found in subcategories
      of all health prevalence estimates considered (alcohol consumption, body mass
      index, smoking, and physical activity) from 2015 survey results. Results from
      Australian and international studies that have considered mobile telephone non
      coverage bias are also summarised and discussed. We find that adjusting for
      sampling biases of telephone surveys by weighting does not fully compensate for
      the differences in prevalence estimates. However, predicted trends from previous
      years' surveys only differ significantly for the 2015 prevalence estimates of
      alcohol consumption. We conclude that the inclusion of mobile telephones into
      standard telephones surveys is important for obtaining valid, reliable and
      representative data to reduce bias in health prevalence estimates. Importantly,
      unlike some international experiences, the addition of mobiles telephones into
      the Queensland preventive health survey occurred before population trends were
      significantly affected.

PMID- 28593129
TI  - Associations between green area in school neighbourhoods and overweight and
      obesity among Norwegian adolescents.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between green
      areas and adolescents' body mass index (BMI). This is based on the notion that
      nature environment is known to have beneficial effects on human health, and that
      some of the explanation for this is that green areas are especially motivating or
      suitable as arenas for physical activity. We included 10,527 participants from
      the Norwegian Youth Study, which was conducted between 2001 and 2004. The
      participants reported body weight, height, and important potential confounding
      variables about lifestyle, family situation, and neighbourhood characteristics.
      Green area was assessed from land cover maps and we calculated the percentage of
      green areas within 1 km and 5 km buffers around the adolescents' schools. We
      found that the percentage of overweight and obese adolescents increased
      significantly when the percentage of green areas in the participants' surrounding
      increased (p < 0.001 for both outcomes and buffer sizes). The same results were
      found in logistic regression models where we adjusted for a large set of
      variables. As an example, the odds for being overweight was 1.38 times higher
      (95% CI: 1.02-1.85) for participants living in the most green surroundings
      compared to participants living in the least green surroundings (1 km buffer).
      Norwegian green areas are typically farmland, woods, and mountains, and we
      speculate if these areas are less accessible and attractive for adolescents, who
      might need more facilitated green areas for sport and physical activity.

PMID- 28593130
TI  - The neuronal and astrocytic protein SLC38A10 transports glutamine, glutamate, and
      aspartate, suggesting a role in neurotransmission.
AB  - In brain cells, glutamine transporters are vital to monitor and control the
      levels of glutamate and GABA. There are 11 members of the SLC38 family of amino
      acid transporters of which eight have been functionally characterized. Here, we
      report the first histological and functional characterization of the previously
      orphan member, SLC38A10. We used pairwise global sequence alignments to determine
      the sequence identity between the SLC38 family members. SLC38A10 was found to
      share 20-25% transmembrane sequence identity with several family members, and was
      predicted to have 11 transmembrane helices. SLC38A10 immunostaining was abundant
      in mouse brain using a custom-made anti-SLC38A10 antibody and colocalization of
      SLC38A10 immunoreactivity with markers for neurons and astrocytes was detected.
      Using Xenopus laevis oocytes overexpressing SLC38A10, we show that SLC38A10
      mediates bidirectional transport of l-glutamine, l-alanine, l-glutamate, and d
      aspartate, and efflux of l-serine. This profile mostly resembles system A members
      of the SLC38 family. In conclusion, the bidirectional transport of glutamine,
      glutamate, and aspartate by SLC38A10, and the immunostaining detected in neurons
      and astrocytes, suggest that SLC38A10 plays a role in pathways involved in
      neurotransmission.

PMID- 28593131
TI  - miR-127-5p negatively regulates enterovirus 71 replication by directly targeting
      SCARB2.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the major causative agent of hand-foot-and-mouth disease
      in young children and can cause severe cerebral and pulmonary complications and
      even fatality. This study aimed at elucidating whether and how EV71 infection is
      regulated by a cellular microRNA, miR-127-5p. We found that miR-127-5p can
      downregulate the expression of SCARB2, a main receptor of EV71, by targeting two
      potential sites in its 3' UTR region and inhibit EV71 infection. Meanwhile, miR
      127-5p expression was upregulated during EV71 infection. Notably, transfecting
      cells with miR-127-5p mimics led to a significant decrease in viral replication,
      while inhibition of endogenous miR-127-5p facilitated viral replication.
      Furthermore, our evidence showed that miR-127-5p did not affect postentry viral
      replication. Taken together, these results indicated that miR-127-5p inhibited
      EV71 replication by targeting the SCARB2 mRNA.

PMID- 28593132
TI  - Activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling by lithium chloride attenuates d
      galactose-induced neurodegeneration in the auditory cortex of a rat model of
      aging.
AB  - Degeneration of the central auditory system, which is characterized by reduced
      understanding of speech and source localization of sounds, is an important cause
      of age-related hearing loss (presbycusis). Accumulating evidence has demonstrated
      that Wnt/beta-catenin signaling plays an essential role in the development of the
      auditory system but its potential role in presbycusis remains unclear. In this
      study, we used a rat model of aging, created by chronic systemic exposure to d
      galactose (d-gal), and explored changes in Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in the
      auditory cortex. A decrease in Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in the auditory cortex
      was found in both naturally aging and d-gal-mimetic aging rats, as indicated by
      increased GSK3beta activity and decreased beta-catenin activity. Moreover,
      lithium chloride (Licl), an activator of Wnt signaling pathway, was administered
      long term to 15-month-old d-gal-treated rats. Activation of Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling by Licl attenuated d-gal-induced auditory cortex apoptosis and
      neurodegeneration. Bmi1, a transcription factor implicated in antiaging and
      resistance to apoptosis, can be modulated by beta-catenin activity. Here, we
      showed that the expression of Bmi1 was reduced and the expression of its
      downstream genes, p16INK4a , p19Arf , and p53 were increased in the auditory
      cortex both of naturally aging and d-gal-mimetic aging rats. In addition, Licl
      significantly increased Bmi1 expression and reduced p16INK4a, p19Arf, and p53
      expression. Our results indicated that decreased Wnt/beta-catenin signaling might
      participate in the pathogenesis of central presbycusis through modulating the
      expression of Bmi1. Wnt/beta-catenin signaling might be used as a potential
      therapeutic target against presbycusis.

PMID- 28593134
TI  - Quantum chemical modeling of the reaction path of chorismate mutase based on the
      experimental substrate/product complex.
AB  - Chorismate mutase is a well-known model enzyme, catalyzing the Claisen
      rearrangement of chorismate to prephenate. Recent high-resolution crystal
      structures along the reaction coordinate of this enzyme enabled computational
      analyses at unprecedented detail. Using quantum chemical simulations, we
      investigated how the catalytic reaction mechanism is affected by electrostatic
      and hydrogen-bond interactions. Our calculations showed that the transition state
      (TS) was mainly stabilized electrostatically, with Arg90 playing the leading
      role. The effect was augmented by selective hydrogen-bond formation to the TS in
      the wild-type enzyme, facilitated by a small-scale local induced fit. We further
      identified a previously underappreciated water molecule, which separates the
      negative charges during the reaction. The analysis includes the wild-type enzyme
      and a non-natural enzyme variant, where the catalytic arginine was replaced with
      an isosteric citrulline residue.

PMID- 28593135
TI  - Evaluation of cell death pathways initiated by antitumor drugs melatonin and
      valproic acid in bladder cancer cells.
AB  - Effective drug combinations have the potential to strengthen therapeutic efficacy
      and combat drug resistance. Both melatonin and valproic acid (VPA) exhibit
      antitumor activities in various cancer cells. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the cell death pathways initiated by anticancer combinatorial effects of
      melatonin and VPA in bladder cancer cells. The results demonstrated that the
      combination of melatonin and VPA leads to significant synergistic growth
      inhibition of UC3 bladder cancer cells. Gene expression studies revealed that
      cotreatment with melatonin and VPA triggered the up-regulation of certain genes
      related to apoptosis (TNFRSF10A and TNFRSF10B), autophagy (BECN, ATG3 and ATG5)
      and necrosis (MLKL, PARP-1 and RIPK1). The combinatorial treatment increased the
      expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress-related genes ATF6, IRE1, EDEM1
      and ERdj4. Cotreatment with melatonin and VPA enhanced the expression of E
      cadherin, and decreased the expression of N-cadherin, Fibronectin, Snail and
      Slug. Furthermore, the Wnt pathway and Raf/MEK/ERK pathway were activated by
      combinatorial treatment. However, the effects on the expression of certain genes
      were not further enhanced in cells following combinatorial treatment in
      comparison to individual treatment of melatonin or VPA. In summary, these
      findings provided evidence that cotreatment with melatonin and VPA exerted
      increased cytotoxicity by regulating cell death pathways in UC3 bladder cancer
      cells, but the clinical significance of combinatorial treatment still needs to be
      further exploited.

PMID- 28593133
TI  - The Hfq regulon of Neisseria meningitidis.
AB  - The conserved RNA-binding protein, Hfq, has multiple regulatory roles within the
      prokaryotic cell, including promoting stable duplex formation between small RNAs
      and mRNAs, and thus hfq deletion mutants have pleiotropic phenotypes. Previous
      proteome and transcriptome studies of Neisseria meningitidis have generated
      limited insight into differential gene expression due to Hfq loss. In this study,
      reversed-phase liquid chromatography combined with data-independent alternate
      scanning mass spectrometry (LC-MSE) was utilized for rapid high-resolution
      quantitative proteomic analysis to further elucidate the differentially expressed
      proteome of a meningococcal hfq deletion mutant. Whole-cell lysates of N.
      meningitidis serogroup B H44/76 wild-type (wt) and H44/76Deltahfq (Deltahfq)
      grown in liquid growth medium were subjected to tryptic digestion. The resulting
      peptide mixtures were separated by liquid chromatography (LC) prior to analysis
      by mass spectrometry (MSE). Differential expression was analyzed by Student's t
      test with control for false discovery rate (FDR). Reliable quantitation of
      relative expression comparing wt and Deltahfq was achieved with 506 proteins
      (20%). Upon FDR control at q <= 0.05, 48 up- and 59 downregulated proteins were
      identified. From these, 81 were identified as novel Hfq-regulated candidates,
      while 15 proteins were previously found by SDS/PAGE/MS and 24 with microarray
      analyses. Thus, using LC-MSE we have expanded the repertoire of Hfq-regulated
      proteins. In conjunction with previous studies, a comprehensive network of Hfq
      regulated proteins was constructed and differentially expressed proteins were
      found to be involved in a large variety of cellular processes. The results and
      comparisons with other gram-negative model systems, suggest still unidentified
      sRNA analogs in N. meningitidis.

PMID- 28593136
TI  - AMP-activated protein kinase regulates lipid metabolism and the fibrotic
      phenotype of hepatic stellate cells through inhibition of autophagy.
AB  - Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the principal hepatic cell type responsible for
      liver fibrosis. Although AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is known to regulate
      the activation of HSCs, little is known about its underlying molecular
      mechanisms. In the present study, we demonstrate that AMPK activation by 5
      aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-4-ribofuranoside (AICAR) restricts the fibrotic
      potential elicited by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in LX-2 cells
      through modulation of autophagy. AICAR treatment activated the mechanistic target
      of rapamycin/Akt pathway and thus inhibited autophagy flux and lipid droplet
      degradation in lysosomes induced by TGF-beta. Pretreatment with the autophagy
      inducer rapamycin reversed the effects of AMPK, further confirming that AICAR
      inhibited TGF-beta-induced HSC activation via the regulation of autophagy flux.
      Our study indicates that AICAR exerts its anti-fibrotic and anti-lipid depletion
      effect, at least in part, by inhibiting TGF-beta-induced autophagy flux.

PMID- 28593137
TI  - MSK1 regulates transcriptional induction of Arc/Arg3.1 in response to
      neurotrophins.
AB  - The immediate early gene activity-regulated cytoskeletal protein (Arc)/Arg3.1 and
      the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) play important roles in
      synaptic plasticity and learning and memory in the mammalian brain. However, the
      mechanisms by which BDNF regulates the expression of Arc/Arg3.1 are unclear. In
      this study, we show that BDNF acts via the ERK1/2 pathway to activate the nuclear
      kinase mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase 1 (MSK1). MSK1 then induces
      Arc/Arg3.1 expression via the phosphorylation of histone H3 at the Arc/Arg3.1
      promoter. MSK1 can also phosphorylate the transcription factor cyclic-AMP
      response element-binding protein (CREB) on Ser133. However, this is not required
      for BDNF-induced Arc.Arg3.1 transcription as a Ser133Ala knockin mutation had no
      effect on Arc/Arg3.1 induction. In parallel, ERK1/2 directly activates Arc/Arg3.1
      mRNA transcription via at least one serum response element on the promoter, which
      bind a complex of the Serum Response Factor (SRF) and a Ternary Complex Factor
      (TCF).

PMID- 28593138
TI  - Licochalcone A specifically induces cell death in glioma stem cells via
      mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant primary intrinsic brain tumor.
      Glioma stem cells (GSCs) are associated with chemoradiotherapy resistance and the
      recurrence of glioblastomas after conventional therapy. The targeting of GSCs is
      potentially an effective treatment for the long-term survival of glioblastoma
      patients. Licochalcone A, a natural chalconoid from licorice root, exerts
      anticancer effects; however, its effect on GSCs remains unknown. We found that
      Licochalcone A induced massive caspase-dependent death in GSCs but not in
      differentiated GSCs nor normal somatic and neural stem cells. Prior to cell
      death, Licochalcone A caused mitochondrial fragmentation and reduced the membrane
      potential and ATP production in GSCs. Thus, Licochalcone A induces mitochondrial
      dysfunction and shows promise as an anticancer stem cell drug.

PMID- 28593139
TI  - Oxygen binding and nitric oxide dioxygenase activity of cytoglobin are altered to
      different extents by cysteine modification.
AB  - Cytoglobin (Cygb), like other members of the globin family, is a nitric oxide
      (NO) dioxygenase, metabolizing NO in an oxygen (O2)-dependent manner. We examined
      the effect of modification of cysteine sulfhydryl groups of Cygb on its O2
      binding and NO dioxygenase activity. The two cysteine sulfhydryls of Cygb were
      modified to form either an intramolecular disulfide bond (Cygb_SS), thioether
      bonds to N-ethylmaleimide (NEM; Cygb_SC), or were maintained as free SH groups
      (Cygb_SH). It was observed that the NO dioxygenase activity of Cygb only slightly
      changed (~ 25%) while the P50 of O2 binding to Cygb changed over four-fold with
      these modifications. Our results suggest that it is possible to separately
      regulate one Cygb function (such as O2 binding) without largely affecting the
      other Cygb functions (such as its NO dioxygenase activity).

PMID- 28593140
TI  - DNA-induced unfolding of the thyroid hormone receptor alpha A/B domain through
      allostery.
AB  - The A/B domains of nuclear receptors such as thyroid receptor alpha (TRalpha) are
      considered to be conformationally flexible and can potentially adopt multiple
      structural conformations. We used intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence quenching and
      circular dichroism spectroscopy to characterize the unfolding of this A/B domain
      upon DNA binding to the contiguous DNA-binding domain (DBD). We propose that this
      allosteric change in A/B domain conformation can allow it to make the multiple
      interactions with distinct molecular factors of the transcriptional preinitiation
      complex. We further suggest that by influencing the affinity of the DBD for DNA,
      A/B domain can fine-tune the recognition of promotor DNA by TRalpha.

PMID- 28593141
TI  - Glycosyl chains and 25-hydroxycholesterol contribute to the intracellular
      transport of amyloid beta (Abeta-42) in Jurkat T cells.
AB  - Amyloid beta (Abeta) is a peptide responsible for the development of Alzheimer's
      disease (AD). Misfolding and accumulation of endogenous Abeta can lead to neural
      cell apoptosis through endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Added exogenous Abeta
      can also result in ER stress, leading to neurotoxicity and apoptosis, which is
      identical to that caused by the endogenous peptide. We have speculated that the
      endocytic transport of Abeta causes ER stress and have previously shown that the
      oxysterol, in particular, 7-ketocholesterol (7-keto) induces more surface
      interaction between Abeta-42 and Jurkat cells than cholesterol. However, the
      interaction was not enough to induce intracellular transfer of the peptide. In
      this study, we investigated the effect of another oxysterol, 25
      hydroxycholesterol (25-OH) on the membrane raft-dependent transport of Abeta-42
      in Jurkat cells. Interestingly, intracellular transfer of Abeta-42 was observed
      in the presence of 25-OH only after the inclusion of cholera toxin B subunit (CT
      B), a marker used to detect the raft domain. We speculated that 25-OH can induce
      intracellular movement of Abeta peptides. Furthermore, CT-B together with GM1
      provided negative curvature, which resulted in the intracellular transport of
      Abeta-42. Notably, we used a protofibrillar species of Abeta-42 in this study. We
      have shown that the transport was microtubule-dependent since it could not be
      observed in depolymerized microtubules. These results demonstrate that oxysterols
      and glycosyl chains are important factors affecting intracellular transport.
      These compounds are also associated with aging and advanced glycation are risk
      factors for AD. Thus, this study should further understanding of the pathology of
      AD.

PMID- 28593142
TI  - Spontaneous formation of neutrophil extracellular traps in serum-free culture
      conditions.
AB  - Neutrophils play a critical role in the innate immune response. Recently, a new
      neutrophilic biological defense mechanism, termed neutrophil extracellular traps
      (NETs), has been attracting attention. Neutrophils have been observed to release
      both lysosomal enzymes and their nuclear contents, including unfolded chromatin,
      which together trap and inactivate bacteria. The environment in tissues where
      neutrophils act is thought to be different from that of the blood serum. In this
      study, we assessed the effect of serum on NET formation. We found that
      neutrophils spontaneously form NETs in serum-free cultivation conditions at early
      times. These NETs functioned properly to trap bacteria. Furthermore, we
      demonstrated that reactive oxygen species play a critical role in the spontaneous
      formation of NETs. These results suggest that the serum condition must be
      considered in studies on neutrophils, including the formation and mechanism of
      action of NETs.

PMID- 28593143
TI  - Corrigendum.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.12205.].

PMID- 28593144
TI  - Schwannoma of the femur: A rare case report.
AB  - Schwannoma is a benign tumor derived from Schwann cells that cover myelinated
      nerve fibers (1). Among primary bone tumors, intraosseous schwannoma accounts for
      less than 0.2% (2). We are reporting a rare case of an 18-year-old female
      presented with swelling in the posterior right thigh. The patient was
      asymptomatic and this was incidentally discovered by her massage therapist.
      However, the swelling was gradually growing since then. The plain radiograph
      findings were suggestive of a benign bone tumor. MRI with gadolinium was
      performed for further evaluation but it demonstrated suspicious features as
      evidenced by the extra osseous enhancing soft tissue component. Three phase bone
      scan was done thereafter and it showed hyperemia with mild increased uptake of
      the lesion on the delayed phase. Osteosarcoma was suspected and chest CT was
      performed for staging purposes which turned out to be negative for metastasis.
      The lesion was biopsied under ultrasound guidance. The histologic features and
      the immunohistochemically profile were consistent with a benign schwannoma. The
      posterior thigh soft tissue mass was surgically resected with femur bone
      grafting. Recurrence of schwannoma should be considered but its malignant
      transformation is exceedingly rare and this can be discounted (3).

PMID- 28593145
TI  - Secondary syphilis-related oral mucous patches.

PMID- 28593146
TI  - Cholesterol Granuloma of the Abdominal Wall: An Unusual Finding in the Setting of
      Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Cholesterol granulomas are composed of a distinct type of granulation tissue that
      contains lipids and cholesterol crystals. They are not believed to be a
      pathological entity, but rather an inflammatory tissue reaction to the presence
      of trapped blood secondary to localized hemorrhage.1 Cholesterol granulomas can
      be identified histologically by the presence of multi-nucleated giant cells,
      hemosiderin, and red blood cells along with their associated break-down
      products.1 Recognizing cholesterol granulomas can provide clinical utility as
      they demonstrate a tendency to mimic carcinoma both clinically and
      radiologically.

PMID- 28593147
TI  - Single Large Bladder Stone in a Young Male Adult with Primary
      Hyperparathyroidism.
AB  - Bladder stones are caused when minerals are built up in the bladder, especially
      if the bladder is incompletely emptied. These stones will pass while they are
      small. Otherwise, they get stuck to the bladder wall or ureter. If this happens,
      they gradually gather more mineral crystals, becoming larger over time. Primary
      hyperparathyroidism is usually caused by a tumor within the parathyroid gland,
      and elevated calcium levels can cause digestive symptoms, psychiatric
      abnormalities, bone disease and multiple kidney stones.

PMID- 28593148
TI  - Endovascular Repair in Acute Complicated Type B Aortic Dissection: 3-Year Results
      from the Valiant US Investigational Device Exemption Study.
AB  - Acute complicated type B aortic dissection (TBAD) is a potentially catastrophic,
      life-threatening condition. If left untreated, there is a high risk of aortic
      rupture, irreversible organ or limb damage, or death. Several risk factors have
      been associated with acute complicated TBAD, including age and refractory
      hypertension. In the acute phase, even uncomplicated patients are more prone to
      develop complications if hypertension and pain are left medically untreated.
      Innovations in stent graft technologies have incrementally improved outcomes
      since their first use for this condition in 1999, though improvement is needed in
      mitigating periprocedural complications, adverse events, and mortality. In the
      past decade, endovascular repair has become the preferred treatment because of
      its superior outcomes to open repair and medical therapy. The Valiant Captivia
      Thoracic Stent Graft System is a third-generation endovascular stent graft with
      advancements in minimally invasive delivery, conformability to the anatomy, and
      the minimization of adverse sequelae. Herein, this stent graft is briefly
      reviewed and its 3-year outcomes are presented. Freedom from all-cause and
      dissection-related mortality was 79.1% and 90.0%, respectively. The Valiant
      Captivia Stent Graft represents a safe, effective intervention for acute
      complicated TBAD. Continued surveillance is needed to verify its longer-term
      durability.

PMID- 28593150
TI  - The Antitumor Effect of C-terminus of Hsp70-Interacting Protein via Degradation
      of c-Met in Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) receptor can be
      overexpressed in solid tumors, including small cell lung cancer (SCLC). However,
      the molecular mechanism regulating MET stability and turnover in SCLC remains
      undefined. One potential mechanism of MET regulation involves the C-terminus of
      Hsp70-interacting protein (CHIP), which targets heat shock protein 90-interacting
      proteins for ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. In the present study, we
      investigated the functional effects of CHIP expression on MET regulation and the
      control of SCLC cell apoptosis and invasion. METHODS: To evaluate the expression
      of CHIP and c-Met, which is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MET gene
      (the MET proto-oncogene), we examined the expression pattern of c-Met and CHIP in
      SCLC cell lines by western blotting. To investigate whether CHIP overexpression
      reduced cell proliferation and invasive activity in SCLC cell lines, we
      transfected cells with CHIP and performed a cell viability assay and cellular
      apoptosis assays. RESULTS: We found an inverse relationship between the
      expression of CHIP and MET in SCLC cell lines (n=5). CHIP destabilized the
      endogenous MET receptor in SCLC cell lines, indicating an essential role for CHIP
      in the regulation of MET degradation. In addition, CHIP inhibited MET-dependent
      pathways, and invasion, cell growth, and apoptosis were reduced by CHIP
      overexpression in SCLC cell lines. CONCLUSION: CHIP is capable of regulating SCLC
      cell apoptosis and invasion by inhibiting MET-mediated cytoskeletal and cell
      survival pathways in NCI-H69 cells. CHIP suppresses MET-dependent signaling, and
      regulates MET-mediated SCLC motility.

PMID- 28593149
TI  - Effects of a Proteasome Inhibitor on Cardiomyocytes in a Pressure-Overload
      Hypertrophy Rat Model: An Animal Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is an important pathway of
      proteolysis in pathologic hypertrophic cardiomyocytes. We hypothesize that MG132,
      a proteasome inhibitor, might prevent hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (CMP) by
      blocking the UPS. Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells
      (NF-kappaB) and androgen receptor (AR) have been reported to be mediators of CMP
      and heart failure. This study drew upon pathophysiologic studies and the analysis
      of NF-kappaB and AR to assess the cardioprotective effects of MG132 in a left
      ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) rat model. METHODS: We constructed a transverse
      aortic constriction (TAC)-induced LVH rat model with 3 groups: sham (TAC-sham,
      n=10), control (TAC-cont, n=10), and MG132 administration (TAC-MG132, n=10). MG
      132 (0.1 mg/kg) was injected for 4 weeks in the TAC-MG132 group. Pathophysiologic
      evaluations were performed and the expression of AR and NF-kappaB was measured in
      the left ventricle. RESULTS: Fibrosis was prevalent in the pathologic examination
      of the TAC-cont model, and it was reduced in the TAC-MG132 group, although not
      significantly. Less expression of AR, but not NF-kappaB, was found in the TAC
      MG132 group than in the TAC-cont group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: MG-132 was found to
      suppress AR in the TAC-CMP model by blocking the UPS, which reduced fibrosis.
      However, NF-kappaB expression levels were not related to UPS function.

PMID- 28593151
TI  - The Absence of Atrial Contraction as a Predictor of Permanent Pacemaker
      Implantation after Maze Procedure with Cryoablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The absence of atrial contraction (AC) after the maze procedure has
      been reported to cause subsequent annular dilatation and to increase the risk of
      embolic stroke. We hypothesized that the lack of AC could increase the risk of
      permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation in patients undergoing the maze procedure.
      METHODS: In 376 consecutive patients who had undergone a cryo-maze procedure and
      combined valve operation, recovery of AC was assessed at baseline and at
      immediate (<=2 weeks), early (<=1 year, 4.6+/-3.8 months), and late (>1 year,
      3.5+/-1.1 years) postoperative stages. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 53
      months, 10 patients underwent PPM implantation. Seven PPM implants were for sinus
      node dysfunction (pauses of 9.6+/-2.4 seconds), one was for marked sinus
      bradycardia, and two were for advanced/complete atrioventricular block. The
      median (interquartile range) time to PPM implantation was 13.8 (0.5-68.2) months.
      Our time-varying covariate Cox models showed that the absence of AC was a risk
      factor for PPM implantation (hazard ratio, 11.92; 95% confidence interval, 2.52
      to 56.45; p=0.002). CONCLUSION: The absence of AC may be associated with a
      subsequent risk of PPM implantation.

PMID- 28593152
TI  - Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation in Elderly Patients with the Cox Maze Procedure
      Concurrently with Other Cardiac Operations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In elderly patients who have atrial fibrillation (AF), surgical
      ablation of the arrhythmia during cardiac surgery may be challenging. Despite the
      reported advantages of ablating AF with the Cox maze procedure (CMP), the
      addition of the CMP may complicate other cardiac operations. We evaluated the
      effect of the CMP in elderly patients concurrent with other cardiac operations.
      METHODS: From October 2007 to December 2015, we enrolled 27 patients aged >70
      years who had AF and who underwent the CMP concurrently with other cardiac
      operations. The mean preoperative additive European System for Cardiac Operative
      Risk Evaluation score was 8+/-11 (high risk). RESULTS: Only 1 hospital death
      occurred (4%). The Kaplan-Meier method showed a high 5-year cumulative survival
      rate (92%). At mean follow-up of 51 months, 23 patients (89%) had sinus rhythm
      conversion. The postoperative left atrial dimensions did not significantly differ
      between the 8 patients who had reduction plasty for giant left atrium (53.4+/-7.5
      cm) and the 19 patients who did not have reduction plasty (48.7+/-5.7 cm).
      CONCLUSION: In patients aged >70 years, concurrent CMP may be associated with a
      high rate of sinus rhythm conversion without increased surgical risk, despite the
      added complexity of the main cardiac procedure.

PMID- 28593153
TI  - Early Detection of the Acute Exacerbation of Interstitial Pneumonia after the
      Surgical Resection of Lung Cancer by Planned Chest Computed Tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To improve postoperative outcomes associated with interstitial
      pneumonia (IP) in patients with lung cancer, the management of the postoperative
      a cute exacerbation of IP (PAEIP) was investigated. METHODS: Patients with
      primary lung cancer were considered to be at risk for PAEIP (possible PAEIP)
      based on a preoperative evaluation. The early phase of this study was from
      January 2001 to December 2008, and the late phase was from January 2009 to
      December 2014. In the early phase, chest computed tomography (CT) was performed
      for patients for whom PAEIP was suspected based on their symptoms, whereas in the
      late phase, chest CT was routinely performed within a few days postoperatively.
      The numbers of possible PAEIP cases, actual PAEIP cases, and deaths within 90
      days due to PAEIP were compared between both phases. RESULTS: In the early and
      late phases, surgery was performed in 712 and 617 patients, 31 and 72 possible
      PAEIP cases were observed, nine and 12 actual PAEIP cases occurred, and the mean
      interval from the detection of PAEIP to starting treatment was 7.3+/-2.3 and
      5.0+/-1.8 days, respectively. Five patients died in the early phase, and one
      patient died in the late phase. Significantly fewer PAEIP-related deaths were
      observed in the late phase (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Identifying patients at risk for
      PAEIP by routine postoperative CT examinations led to the early diagnosis and
      treatment of PAEIP, resulting in the reduction of PAEIP-related mortality.

PMID- 28593154
TI  - Mid-Term Outcomes of Single-Port versus Conventional Three-Port Video-Assisted
      Thoracoscopic Surgery for Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The benefits of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) have been
      demonstrated over the past decades; as a result, VATS has become the gold
      standard treatment for primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). Due to
      improvements in surgical technique and equipment, single-port VATS (s-VATS) is
      emerging as an alternative approach to conventional three-port VATS (t-VATS). The
      aim of this study was to evaluate s-VATS as a treatment for PSP by comparing
      operative outcomes and recurrence rates for s-VATS versus t-VATS. METHODS:
      Between March 2013 and December 2015, VATS for PSP was performed in 146 patients
      in Kyungpook National University Hospital. We retrospectively reviewed the
      medical records of these patients. RESULTS: The mean follow-up duration was
      13.4+/-6.5 months in the s-VATS group and 28.7+/-3.9 months in the t-VATS group.
      Operative time (p<0.001), the number of staples used for the operation (p=0.001),
      duration of drainage (p=0.001), and duration of the postoperative stay (p<0.001)
      were significantly lower in the s-VATS group than in the t-VATS group. There was
      no difference in the overall recurrence-free survival rate between the s-VATS and
      t-VATS groups. CONCLUSION: No significant differences in operative outcomes and
      recurrence rates were found between s-VATS and t-VATS for PSP. Therefore, we
      cautiously suggest that s-VATS may be an appropriate alternative to t-VATS in the
      treatment of PSP.

PMID- 28593155
TI  - Feasibility and Safety of Single-Port Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery for Primary
      Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The feasibility of single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery
      (SPVATS) for primary lung cancer is not well understood. In this study, we
      compared SP and multi-port (MP) VATS for the surgical treatment of patients with
      primary lung cancer. METHODS: Surgical treatment was performed in 181 patients
      with primary lung cancer at Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital between June
      2012 and December 2015. A propensity-matched analysis was used to compare the
      postoperative outcomes and to evaluate the comparative feasibility and safety of
      SPVATS and MPVATS. RESULTS: There were 37 patients in the SPVATS group and 67
      patients in the MPVATS group. Propensity matching produced 32 pairs. The
      operation time (210 minutes versus 200 minutes, p=0.11), volume of the estimated
      blood loss (170 mL versus 160 mL, p=0.19), duration of chest tube drainage (5
      days versus 6 days, p=0.66), and length of hospital stay (9 days versus 10 days,
      p=0.89) were similar between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: In our study, SPVATS for
      primary lung cancer was safe and feasible in well selected patients. A
      prospective, randomized study with a large group and long-term follow-up is
      necessary to evaluate the clinical feasibility and the advantages of SPVATS for
      primary lung cancer.

PMID- 28593156
TI  - Comparison of the Long-Term Results of R3 and R4 Sympathicotomy for Palmar
      Hyperhidrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathicotomy has been determined to be
      the best way to treat palmar hyperhidrosis. However, satisfaction with the
      surgical outcomes decreases with the onset of compensatory hyperhidrosis (CH)
      over time. The ideal level of sympathicotomy is controversial. Therefore, we
      compared the long-term results of R3 and R4 sympathicotomy. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed 186 patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic
      sympathicotomy between September 2001 and September 2015. We analyzed the long
      term results with respect to hand sweating and CH, and the overall satisfaction
      in 186 patients. RESULTS: With respect to hand sweating, significantly more
      patients complained of overly dry hands in the R3 group (25% versus 3.7%,
      p<0.001) and of mildly wet hands in the R4 group (2.9% versus 13.4%, p=0.007).
      There was a significantly increased occurrence rate of CH in the R3 group (97.1%
      versus 65.9%, p< 0.001). The most frequent site of CH was the trunk area. The
      overall satisfaction was higher in the R4 group, but without significance (75%
      versus 85.4%, p=0.082). Significantly more patients reported being very satisfied
      in the R4 group (5.8% versus 22.0%, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The R4 group had a
      higher rate of satisfaction than the R3 group with respect to hand sweating. CH
      and hand dryness were significantly less common in the R4 group than in the R3
      group. The lower occurrence of hand dryness and CH resulted in a higher
      satisfaction rate in the R4 group.

PMID- 28593157
TI  - Early Aggressive Surgical Treatment of Multiloculated Empyema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Empyema is the collection of purulent exudate within the pleural
      space. Overall, 36%-65% of patients with empyema cannot be treated by medical
      therapy alone and require surgery. Multiloculated empyema is particularly
      difficult to treat with percutaneous drainage. Therefore, we describe our
      experiences with early aggressive surgical treatment for rapid progressive
      multiloculated empyema. METHODS: From January 2001 to October 2015, we
      retrospectively reviewed 149 patients diagnosed with empyema who received
      surgery. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether they
      underwent emergency surgery or not. We then compared surgical outcomes between
      these groups. RESULTS: The patients in group A (emergency surgery, n=102) showed
      a more severe infectious state, but a lower complication rate and shorter length
      of hospital stay. The incidence of lung abscess was higher in group A, and
      abscesses were associated with diabetes and severe alcoholism. CONCLUSION: Early
      aggressive surgical treatment resulted in good surgical outcomes for patients
      with rapid progressive multiloculated empyema. Furthermore, we suspect that the
      most likely causes of multiloculated empyema are lung abscesses found in patients
      with diabetes mellitus as well as severe alcoholism.

PMID- 28593158
TI  - Fontan Revision with Y-Graft in a Patient with Unilateral Pulmonary Arteriovenous
      Malformation.
AB  - The extracardiac conduit Fontan procedure is the last surgical step in the
      treatment of patients with a functional single ventricle. An acquired pulmonary
      arteriovenous malformation may appear perioperatively or postoperatively due to
      an uneven hepatic flow distribution. Here we report a case of a bifurcated Y
      graft Fontan operation in a 15-year-old male patient with a unilateral pulmonary
      arteriovenous malformation after an extracardiac conduit Fontan operation.

PMID- 28593159
TI  - Delayed Repair of Ventricular Septal Rupture Following Preoperative Awake
      Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support.
AB  - Outcomes of ventricular septal rupture (VSR) as a complication of acute
      myocardial infarction are extremely poor, with an in-hospital mortality rate of
      45% in surgically treated patients and 90% in patients managed with medication.
      Delaying surgery for VSR is a strategy for reducing mortality. However,
      hemodynamic instability is the main problem with this strategy. In the present
      case, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used to provide
      stable hemodynamic support before the delayed surgery. Awake ECMO was also used
      to avoiding the complications of sedatives and mechanical ventilation. Here, we
      describe a successful operation using awake ECMO as a bridge to surgery.

PMID- 28593160
TI  - Development of a Pulmonary Arteriovenous Fistula after a Modified Glenn Shunt in
      Tetralogy of Fallot and Its Resolution after Shunt Takedown in a 57-Year-Old
      Patient.
AB  - Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) is a complication of the Glenn shunt. A 57
      year-old tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) patient, who had undergone a Glenn shunt and
      TOF total correction, complained of dyspnea and cyanosis. PAVFs were present in
      the right lung, and right lung perfusion was nearly absent. After coil
      embolization, takedown of the Glenn shunt, and reconstruction of the right
      pulmonary artery, the patient's symptoms were relieved. Extrapulmonary
      radioisotope uptake caused by the PAVFs shown in lung perfusion scans decreased,
      and right lung perfusion increased gradually. Although the development and
      resolution of PAVFs after a Glenn shunt have been reported in the pediatric
      population, this may be the first report on this change in old age.

PMID- 28593161
TI  - Surgical Management of a Coronary-Bronchial Artery Fistula Combined with
      Myocardial Ischemia Revealed by 13N-Ammonia Positron Emission Tomography.
AB  - A 71-year-old male with known bronchiectasis and atrial fibrillation was admitted
      to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital with recurrent transient ischemic attack.
      Radiofrequency ablation was performed to resolve the patient's atrial
      fibrillation, but failed. However, a fistula between the left circumflex artery
      and the bilateral bronchial arteries was found on computed tomography. Fistula
      ligation and a left-side maze operation were planned due to his recurrent symptom
      of dizziness, and these procedures were successfully performed. After the
      operation, the fistula was completely divided and no recurrence of atrial
      fibrillation took place. A coronary-bronchial artery fistula is a rare anomaly,
      and can be safely treated by surgical repair.

PMID- 28593162
TI  - Extravascular Migration of a Fractured Inferior Vena Cava Filter Strut.
AB  - A 20-year-old man presented with a femur fracture and epidural hemorrhage (EDH)
      following a fall. One month after fracture surgery, swelling developed in both
      legs, and he was diagnosed as having a deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary
      embolism. A retrievable inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) was inserted, because
      EDH is a contraindication to anticoagulants. Four months later, he complained of
      abdominal pain, and a computed tomography scan showed a fractured IVCF strut.
      After percutaneous removal failed 3 times, the IVCF was surgically removed by
      orthopedists using a portable image intensifier without cardiopulmonary bypass.

PMID- 28593163
TI  - Corrigendum: Circulating Aneuploid Cells Detected in the Blood of Patients with
      Infectious Lung Diseases.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 126 in vol. 50, PMID: 28382274.].

PMID- 28593164
TI  - Chemiluminescence systems; do all lead to same results in prolactin analysis?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human prolactin (PRL) is a hormone that is mainly secreted by
      lactotroph cells of the anterior pituitary gland and is involved in many
      biological processes including lactation and reproduction. Prolactin level may be
      determined quantitatively in serum by many different systems including
      chemiluminescence systems. However, comparison of the measured values between
      systems is difficult. METHODS: The prolactin values obtained and compared in two
      chemiluminescence systems; AUTOBIO DIAGNOSTICS MICROPLATE LUMOMETER and LIAISON
      XL Analyzer using BioRad tri level serum quality control materials and serum
      samples from n = 44 female patients; (Age mean & range) = (33: 21-65) years.
      RESULTS: Obtained PRL mean and range in Autobio and Liason systems were X = 414.8
      +/- 230.0; Range: 25.7-980.9 MUlU/mL & X = 391.7 +/- 225.6; Range: 26.0-991.4
      MUlU/mL respectively. Both system's results were correlated (Pearson product
      moment correlation r = 0.97 at p = 0.01 and Regression Analysis). CONCLUSION:
      Because of the differences between CLIA systems the authors conclude laboratories
      measuring range for PRL be accomplished on particular analyzer and verified
      against reference intervals stated by the manufacture. More importantly,
      consecutive PRL level determinations and patients follow up should be performed
      on only one analyzer rather than different analyzers. In this regard, mentioning
      the method and system type on the final laboratory reports become important and
      verify that a laboratory considers the clinical aspects of laboratory request as
      well as the quality assurance in performing the PRL determination.

PMID- 28593165
TI  - Minimally invasive surgical therapies for benign prostatic hypertrophy: The rise
      in minimally invasive surgical therapies.
AB  - The prevalence of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) causing bothersome lower
      urinary tract symptoms increases with our ageing population. Treatment of BPH
      traditionally begins with medical therapy and surgical intervention is then
      considered for those whose symptoms progress despite treatment. Minimally
      invasive surgical therapies have been developed as an intermediary in the
      treatment of BPH with the aim of decreasing the invasiveness of interventions.
      These therapies also aim to reduce morbidity and dysfunction related to invasive
      surgical procedures. Multiple treatment options exist in this group including
      mechanical and thermo-ablative strategies. Emerging therapies utilizing differing
      technologies range from the established to the experimental. We review the
      current literature related to these minimally invasive therapies and the evidence
      of their effectiveness in treating BPH. The role of minimally invasive surgical
      therapies in the treatment of BPH is still yet to be strongly defined. Given the
      experimental nature of many of the modalities, further study is required prior to
      their recommendation as alternatives to invasive surgical therapy. More mature
      evidence is required for the analysis of durability of effect of these therapies
      to make robust conclusions of their effectiveness.

PMID- 28593166
TI  - Protective effect of Chuquiraga spinosa extract on N-methyl-nitrosourea (NMU)
      induced prostate cancer in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main objective was to evaluate the possible protective effect of
      Chuquiraga spinosa extract on N-methyl nitrosourea (NMU)-induced prostate cancer
      in rats and DU-145 cell line. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prostate carcinogenesis was
      induced in 30 male Holtzman rats by providing cyproterone acetate, testosterone,
      and NMU. The tumors were monitored and hematological and biochemical parameters
      and frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes were recorded. The
      cell line was assessed by a cytotoxicity assay. RESULTS: Oral administration of
      C. spinosa extract significantly lowered superoxide dismutase malondialdehyde,
      NO, C-reactive protein, and prostate-specific antigen levels (all P < 0.01
      compared with Inductor Group). There was a significant decrease in the frequency
      of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (P < 0.05). C. spinosa presented a
      selectivity index of 17.24 in the cytotoxicity assay. CONCLUSIONS: Considering
      its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antigenotoxic effects, and important
      variations on biochemical and hematological parameters, including prostate
      specific antigen of C. spinosa extract, we conclude that it has a protective
      effect on NMU-induced prostate cancer in rats and cytotoxicity in the DU-145 cell
      line.

PMID- 28593168
TI  - Prostate-specific antigen reduction after empiric antibiotic treatment does not
      rule out biopsy in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms: prospective,
      controlled, single-center study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate men, with lower urinary tract symptoms and newly elevated
      serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) to determine whether a three-week course of
      ciprofloxacin antibiotics lowers serum PSA levels and affects recommendations for
      prostate biopsy. METHODS: A prospective, controlled, single-center prospective
      trial of 177 men with a newly elevated PSA and lower urinary tract symptoms was
      conducted. Patients were randomized to three weeks of ciprofloxacin or
      observation. After three weeks, patients PSA levels and derivatives were
      repeated. At the end of 3 weeks, all patients underwent TRUS guided systematic 12
      core prostate biopsies regardless of the final PSA value. RESULTS: Of 177 men who
      completed the study, 88 were in the treatment and 89 in the observation group.
      46.5% of treatment and %18 of control groups patients PSA levels had decreased
      after 3 weeks and a significant PSA reduction was observed in the treatment group
      compare to control group (p: 0.035) but no significant prostate cancer detection
      rates were observed between the groups (p: 0.418). Also, in the treatment group
      prostate cancer detection rate was significantly higher in patients whom PSA
      levels were decreased (p: 0.011). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that, use
      empirical antibiotic treatment decreased the PSA levels but did not have any
      effect on prostate cancer detection. In addition, prostate cancer detection rates
      were found to be higher in patients with reduced PSA levels after treatment.
      Therefore, it may not be safe to rule out biopsies in patients who achieve a
      satisfactory PSA response to antibiotics.

PMID- 28593167
TI  - Correlation between postoperative prostate-specific antigen and biochemical
      recurrence in positive surgical margin patients: Single surgeon series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the relationship between postoperative prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA) levels and biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical
      prostatectomy, especially in patients with positive surgical margins (PSMs).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 144 patients who underwent radical
      prostatectomies performed by a single surgeon without any neoadjuvant or adjuvant
      treatment were analyzed. Differences in clinicopathological factors were compared
      by surgical margin status, and the relationship between postoperative PSA level
      and BCR in patients with PSMs was evaluated. RESULTS: Fifty of the 144 patients
      (34.7%) had PSMs. Of these, 74% experienced BCR. The negative surgical margins
      and PSMs groups differed significantly in terms of PSA level at diagnosis,
      clinical T stage, and risk group by the cancer of the prostate risk assessment
      score (P = 0.002, P = 0.002, and P = 0.004, respectively). Also, the nadir PSA
      level, tumor volume, and BCR rate differed between the two groups (P = 0.007, P =
      0.015, and P = 0.005, respectively) On Kaplan-Meier analysis, BCR-free survival
      was better in the negative surgical margins than the PSMs group (64.1 vs. 55.4
      months, log-rank test, P = 0.011). BCR-free survival did not differ significantly
      in PSMs patients according to whether PSA level was or was not detectable at 1
      month postoperatively. However, BCR-free survival improved when the nadir PSA
      level was undetectable (compared to detectable) in PSMs patients (64.3 vs. 26.1
      months, log-rank test, P < 0.001). In PSMs patients belonging to the high risk
      group by cancer of the prostate risk assessment score, BCR-free survival was
      significantly better when the PSA level attained the nadir within 3 months,
      compared to > 6 months, postoperatively (64.2 vs. 29.5 months, log-rank test, P =
      0.022). CONCLUSION: If PSA is detectable in PSMs patients until 1 month after
      operation, cautious observation may be possible. If the nadir is attained within
      3 months postoperatively in high-risk patients with PSMs, better BCR-free
      survival may be expected.

PMID- 28593169
TI  - Atherosclerosis is associated with erectile function and lower urinary tract
      symptoms, especially nocturia, in middle-aged men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis is a systematic disease in which plaque builds up
      inside the arteries that can lead to serious problems related to quality of life
      (QOL). Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), erectile dysfunction (ED), and late
      onset hypogonadism (LOH) are highly prevalent in aging men and are significantly
      associated with a reduced QOL. However, few questionnaire-based studies have
      fully examined the relation between atherosclerosis and several urological
      symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised 303 outpatients who visited
      our clinic with symptoms of LOH. Several factors influencing atherosclerosis,
      including serum concentrations of triglyceride, fasting blood sugar, and total
      testosterone measured by radioimmunoassay, were investigated. We also measured
      brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and assessed symptoms by specific
      questionnaires, including the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM), Erection
      Hardness Score (EHS), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), QOL index, and
      Aging Male Symptoms rating scale (AMS). Stepwise associations between the ratio
      of measured/age standard baPWV and clinical factors including laboratory data and
      the scores of the questionnaires were compared using the Jonckheere-Terpstra test
      for trend. The associations between the ratio of measured/age standard baPWV and
      each IPSS score were assessed in a multivariate linear regression model after
      adjustment for serum triglyceride, fasting blood sugar, and total testosterone.
      RESULTS: Regarding ED, a higher level of the ratio of measured/age standard baPWV
      was associated with a lower EHS, whereas no association was found with SHIM.
      Regarding LUTS, a higher ratio of measured/age standard baPWV was associated with
      a higher IPSS and QOL index. However, there was no statistically significant
      difference between the ratio of measured/age standard baPWV and AMS. A
      multivariate linear regression model showed only nocturia to be associated with
      the ratio of measured/age standard baPWV for each IPSS score. CONCLUSION:
      Atherosclerosis is associated with erectile function and LUTS, especially
      nocturia.

PMID- 28593170
TI  - Increased detrusor collagen is associated with detrusor overactivity and
      decreased bladder compliance in men with benign prostatic obstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between detrusor
      collagen content and urodynamic parameters in men with benign prostatic
      obstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Nineteen consecutive patients undergoing open
      prostatectomy for bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) due to benign prostatic
      hyperplasia (BPH) were evaluated. Urodynamic tests were performed in all
      patients. BOO and detrusor contractility were assessed with the BOO index (BOOI)
      and the bladder contractility index (BCI), respectively. A bladder fragment was
      obtained during prostatectomy. Eight cadaveric organ donors composed the control
      group. Bladder sections were stained with picrosirius red and hematoxylin-eosin.
      The collagen to smooth muscle ratio (C/M) in the detrusor was measured and its
      relationship with urodynamic parameters was investigated. RESULTS: Seven (36.8%)
      patients were operated on due to lower urinary tract symptoms and 12 (63.2%) had
      urinary retention. The mean prostate volume was 128.6 cm3 +/- 32.3 cm3, the mean
      BOOI was 76.4 +/- 33.0, and the mean BCI was 116.1 +/- 33.7. The mean C/M in BPH
      patients and controls were 0.43 +/- 0.13 and 0.33 +/- 0.09, respectively (P =
      0.042). A negative correlation was shown between C/M and bladder compliance (r = 
      0.488, P = 0.043). The C/M was increased in BPH patients with detrusor
      overactivity (DO) compared to those without DO (0.490 +/- 0.110 and 0.360 +/-
      0.130, respectively; P = 0.030) and also in patients with urinary retention (P =
      0.002). No correlation was shown between C/M and maximum cystometric capacity,
      BOOI, or BCI. CONCLUSION: Men with BOO/BPH have increased detrusor collagen
      content which is associated with decreased bladder compliance, detrusor
      overactivity, and urinary retention.

PMID- 28593171
TI  - Withania somnifera targets interleukin-8 and cyclooxygenase-2 in human prostate
      cancer progression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) is a common noncutaneous malignancy in men. The
      incidence of PC is increasing at an alarming rate across the globe. Progression
      of PC is associated with elevated levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in malignant cells. Overexpression of these players is
      accompanied by chronic inflammation, increased angiogenesis, proliferation,
      migration, and inhibition of apoptosis. Moreover, their elevated circulating
      levels promote the disease progression from androgen-dependent to androgen
      independent state. Thus, inhibiting the expression of IL-8 and COX-2 would be a
      promising target in the development of PC therapeutics. In this study, we
      investigated the inhibitory effects of Withania somnifera extract on highly
      metastatic, androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line (PC3). Additionally,
      we compared the real-time expression of IL-8 and COX-2 in prostate tissue
      samples. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cell viability and cytotoxicity of W.
      somnifera extract in PC3 cells was quantified colorimetrically by 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide and lactate dehydrogenase
      leakage assay, respectively. Hematoxylin and eosin staining for histological
      examination, trypan blue, and acridine orange dyes to enumerate apoptotic and
      live cells, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to determine the
      expression and flow cytometry to study the cell cycle analysis were used.
      RESULTS: We observed a significant decrease in the cell viability with a half
      maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 10 MUg/mL. The expression levels of IL
      8 and COX-2 in prostate tissue samples and in PC3 cells were predominantly high;
      however, the lowest dose of W. somnifera significantly inhibited the enhanced
      expression of IL-8 and COX-2 in PC3 cells in 24 hours. Furthermore, W. somnifera
      extract (10 MUg/mL) irreversibly arrested the cell cycle in G2/M phase, which was
      evident from the rapid accumulation of PC3 cells significantly. CONCLUSION: Our
      results indicate that inherent metastatic and selective inhibitory potential of
      W. somnifera against PC. W. somnifera may be a good therapeutic agent in addition
      to the existing drugs for PC. Further studies with more prostate tissue samples
      are warranted.

PMID- 28593172
TI  - Allied Health Professional Support in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A
      Survey from the Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network-A Joint
      Partnership of CIHR and the CH.I.L.D. Foundation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The current number of healthcare providers (HCP) caring for children
      with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) across Canadian tertiary-care centres is
      underinvestigated. The aim of this survey was to assess the number of healthcare
      providers (HCP) in ambulatory pediatric IBD care across Canadian tertiary-care
      centres. METHODS: Using a self-administered questionnaire, we examined available
      resources in academic pediatric centres within the Canadian Children IBD Network.
      The survey evaluated the number of HCP providing ambulatory care for children
      with IBD. RESULTS: All 12 tertiary pediatric gastroenterology centres
      participating in the network responded. Median full-time equivalent (FTE) of
      allied health professionals providing IBD care at each site was 1.0
      (interquartile range (IQR) 0.6-1.0) nurse, 0.5 (IQR 0.2-0.8) dietitian, 0.3 (IQR
      0.2-0.8) social worker, and 0.1 (IQR 0.02-0.3) clinical psychologists. The ratio
      of IBD patients to IBD physicians was 114 : 1 (range 31 : 1-537 : 1), patients to
      nurses/physician assistants 324 : 1 (range 150 : 1-900 : 1), dieticians 670 : 1
      (range 250 : 1-4500 : 1), social workers 1558 : 1 (range 250 : 1-16000 : 1), and
      clinical psychologists 2910 : 1 (range 626 : 1-3200 : 1). CONCLUSIONS: There was
      a wide variation in HCP support among Canadian centres. Future work will examine
      variation in care including patients' outcomes and satisfaction across Canadian
      centres.

PMID- 28593173
TI  - A Type III Effector NleF from EHEC Inhibits Epithelial Inflammatory Cell Death by
      Targeting Caspase-4.
AB  - Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) is a highly pathogenic bacterial strain capable
      of inducing severe gastrointestinal disease. Here, we show that EHEC uses the
      T3SS effector NleF to counteract the host inflammatory response by dampening
      caspase-4-mediated inflammatory epithelial cell death and by preventing the
      production of IL-1beta. The other two inflammatory caspases, caspase-1 and
      caspase-5, are not involved in EHEC DeltanleF-induced inflammatory cell death. We
      found that NleF not only interrupted the heterodimerization of caspase-4-p19 and
      caspase-4-p10, but also inhibited the interaction of caspase-1 and caspase-4. The
      last four amino acids of the NleF carboxy terminus are essential in inhibiting
      caspase-4-dependent inflammatory cell death.

PMID- 28593175
TI  - Polyketide-Terpene Hybrid Metabolites from an Endolichenic Fungus Pestalotiopsis
      sp.
AB  - Five new polyketide-terpene hybrid metabolites (1-5) with highly functionalized
      groups, together with six known derivatives (6-11), were isolated from the
      endolichenic fungus Pestalotiopsis sp. Their structures were elucidated by
      extensive NMR experiments including 1H, 13C, HMQC, COSY, and HMBC. The relative
      configurations of the new compounds were determined by analysis of coupling
      constants and ROESY correlations. The absolute configurations especially the
      secondary alcohol at C-15 in 1 and secondary alcohol at C-14 in 5 were
      established via the CD experiments of the in situ formed [Rh2(OCOCF3)4] complex
      with the acetonide derivatives. These compounds were tested for their inhibition
      activity against six plant pathogens. Compounds 1 and 5 exhibited pronounced
      efficiency against Fusarium oxysporum, and compounds 5 and 6 potently inhibited
      Fusarium gramineum with MIC value of 8 ug/mL, which revealed the plausible
      ecological role of endolichenic fungus in providing chemical protection for its
      host lichen in the fungus-plant relationship. The biosynthetic pathway of
      compounds 1-11 was postulated for the first time, which paved the way for its
      further biosynthesis research.

PMID- 28593174
TI  - Current Evidence for a Role of Neuropeptides in the Regulation of Autophagy.
AB  - Neuropeptides drive a wide diversity of biological actions and mediate multiple
      regulatory functions involving all organ systems. They modulate intercellular
      signalling in the central and peripheral nervous systems as well as the cross
      talk among nervous and endocrine systems. Indeed, neuropeptides can function as
      peptide hormones regulating physiological homeostasis (e.g., cognition, blood
      pressure, feeding behaviour, water balance, glucose metabolism, pain, and
      response to stress), neuroprotection, and immunomodulation. We aim here to
      describe the recent advances on the role exerted by neuropeptides in the control
      of autophagy and its molecular mechanisms since increasing evidence indicates
      that dysregulation of autophagic process is related to different pathological
      conditions, including neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, and cancer.

PMID- 28593177
TI  - In-Hospital Outcomes and Long-Term Follow-Up after Percutaneous Transcatheter
      Closure of Postinfarction Ventricular Septal Defects.
AB  - Postinfarction ventricular septal defects (VSD) represent a devastating
      complication of acute myocardial infarction and are associated with high
      mortality. Percutaneous interventional closure of postinfarction VSD has been
      proposed as a potential alternative to surgery. The study aimed to evaluate the
      therapeutic safety and efficacy of percutaneous interventional closure of
      postinfarction ventricular septal defects (VSD). Each patient was assigned to one
      of two groups, based on whether they died during hospitalization (death group) or
      survived (survival group) in this retrospective study. In-hospital and follow-up
      data were analyzed. Placement of the VSD occluder was successful in 12 procedures
      (80%). The mean defect size was 14.20 +/- 4.89 mm. Compared to the patients who
      died, those who survived had higher systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood
      pressure, and left ventricular ejection fraction upon admission, as well as lower
      pulmonary/systemic flow ratio and shorter time from acute myocardial infarction
      to procedure. The incidence of cardiac shock and class IV heart failure was lower
      in the survival group than in the death group, and these factors correlated with
      in-hospital and 30-day mortality. Percutaneous closure of postinfarction VSD is
      an effective technique, which can be performed with a high procedural success
      rate.

PMID- 28593176
TI  - Radix Bupleuri: A Review of Traditional Uses, Botany, Phytochemistry,
      Pharmacology, and Toxicology.
AB  - Radix Bupleuri (Chaihu) has been used as a traditional medicine for more than
      2000 years in China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries. Phytochemical
      studies demonstrated that this plant contains essential oils, triterpenoid
      saponins, polyacetylenes, flavonoids, lignans, fatty acids, and sterols. Crude
      extracts and pure compounds isolated from Radix Bupleuri exhibited various
      biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antipyretic,
      antimicrobial, antiviral, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, and immunomodulatory
      effects. However, Radix Bupleuri could also lead to hepatotoxicity, particularly
      in high doses and with long-term use. Pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated
      that the major bioactive compounds (saikosaponins a, b2, c, and d) were absorbed
      rapidly in rats after oral administration of the extract of Radix Bupleuri. This
      review aims to comprehensively summarize the traditional uses, botany,
      phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and pharmacokinetics of Radix Bupleuri
      reported to date with an emphasis on its biological properties and mechanisms of
      action.

PMID- 28593178
TI  - Association of Toll-Like Cell Receptors TLR2 (p.Arg753GLN) and TLR4 (p.Asp299GLY)
      Polymorphisms with Indicators of General and Local Immunity in Patients with
      Atopic Dermatitis.
AB  - A whole group of polymorphisms of genes involved in the formation of the
      epidermal barrier, immune responses, and their regulation is important in the
      formation of atopic phenotype. The purpose of the study is to determine the
      relationship of polymorphisms of genes of Toll-like receptors TLR2 and TLR4 with
      clinical and immunological parameters in atopic dermatitis patients in a "case
      control" study. Polymorphisms of genes TLR2 (p.Arg753Gln) and TLR4 (Asp299Gly)
      were detected by PCR. Parameters of the state of innate and adaptive immunity
      were assessed by the level of local production of sIgA, cytokine profile of blood
      serum for IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-gamma. Biological samples from 50 people with
      allergic pathology, aged 4.5 to 35 years, and 100 healthy individuals (controls)
      were analyzed. Observed dysregulation of cytokine production (IL-4, IL-10) in
      patients with heterozygous polymorphic genotypes probably reflects an imbalance
      of Th1/Th2/Th17 regulation of immune system response in these individuals.

PMID- 28593179
TI  - Rapamycin reduces Drosophila longevity under low nutrition.
AB  - Rapamycin treatment is considered a pharmacological intervention with the
      potential to mimic the longevity benefits of dietary manipulations. However, how
      rapamycin interacts with nutrition is not fully understood. Here we studied the
      effect of rapamycin on the longevity of Drosophila under a range of dietary
      conditions. In diets low in nutrients, rapamycin reduced longevity in a dosage
      dependent manner. This dosage effect requires some nutrients as rapamycin has no
      impact on survival under starvation conditions. Under a balanced diet of yeast
      and sugar, rapamycin had no repeatable beneficial effect on organismal longevity.
      These results show that the effect of rapamycin on longevity is sensitive to the
      nutritional environment and it can reduce lifespan when nutrients are limited.

PMID- 28593180
TI  - Surgical management of spontaneous, late-onset Descemet membrane detachment after
      penetrating keratoplasty for keratoconus: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To report a surgical method for treating corneal oedema in a case of
      late-onset Descemet membrane detachment after penetrating keratoplasty. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 55-year old patient presented with sudden visual loss in his left
      eye 28 years after penetrating keratoplasty for keratoconus. Slit-lamp
      biomicroscopy revealed a distortion of the corneal graft anatomy with protrusion
      of the graft and peripheral thinning and steepening in the residual host tissue,
      accompanied by corneal graft oedema. Anterior segment optical coherence
      tomography revealed detachment of Descemet membrane localized to the area of the
      graft oedema. We proceeded with a full-thickness, partially circumferential
      incision in the graft-host junction, followed by repositioning and re-suturing of
      the graft in place, and intracameral air injection in order to achieve
      reattachment of Descemet membrane. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal graft repositioning in
      combination with re-bubbling may represent an effective therapeutic option in
      keratoconic patients with peripheral thinning in the residual host corneal tissue
      and subsequent Descemet membrane detachment.

PMID- 28593181
TI  - Representing and Learning Complex Object Interactions.
AB  - We present a framework for representing scenarios with complex object
      interactions, in which a robot cannot directly interact with the object it wishes
      to control, but must instead do so via intermediate objects. For example, a robot
      learning to drive a car can only indirectly change its pose, by rotating the
      steering wheel. We formalize such complex interactions as chains of Markov
      decision processes and show how they can be learned and used for control. We
      describe two systems in which a robot uses learning from demonstration to achieve
      indirect control: playing a computer game, and using a hot water dispenser to
      heat a cup of water.

PMID- 28593182
TI  - The Circadian Clock Gene BMAL1 Coordinates Intestinal Regeneration.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The gastrointestinal syndrome is an illness of the intestine
      caused by high levels of radiation. It is characterized by extensive loss of
      epithelial tissue integrity, which initiates a regenerative response by
      intestinal stem and precursor cells. The intestine has 24-hour rhythms in many
      physiological functions that are believed to be outputs of the circadian clock: a
      molecular system that produces 24-hour rhythms in transcription/translation.
      Certain gastrointestinal illnesses are worsened when the circadian rhythms are
      disrupted, but the role of the circadian clock in gastrointestinal regeneration
      has not been studied. METHODS: We tested the timing of regeneration in the mouse
      intestine during the gastrointestinal syndrome. The role of the circadian clock
      was tested genetically using the BMAL1 loss of function mouse mutant in vivo, and
      in vitro using intestinal organoid culture. RESULTS: The proliferation of the
      intestinal epithelium follows a 24-hour rhythm during the gastrointestinal
      syndrome. The circadian clock runs in the intestinal epithelium during this
      pathologic state, and the loss of the core clock gene, BMAL1, disrupts both the
      circadian clock and rhythmic proliferation. Circadian activity in the intestine
      involves a rhythmic production of inflammatory cytokines and subsequent rhythmic
      activation of the JNK stress response pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that
      a circadian rhythm in inflammation and regeneration occurs during the
      gastrointestinal syndrome. The study and treatment of radiation-induced
      illnesses, and other gastrointestinal illnesses, should consider 24-hour timing
      in physiology and pathology.

PMID- 28593183
TI  - Columnar Metaplasia in Three Types of Surgical Mouse Models of Esophageal Reflux.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Esophageal adenocarcinoma develops in the setting of
      gastroesophageal reflux and columnar metaplasia in distal esophagus. Columnar
      metaplasia arising in gastroesophageal reflux models has developed in rat;
      however, gastroesophageal reflux models in mice have not been well-characterized.
      METHODS: One hundred thirty-five C57Bl/6J mice aged 8 weeks old were divided into
      the following operations: esophagogastrojejunostomy (side-to-side) (EGJ),
      esophageal separation and esophagojejunostomy (end-to-side) (EJ), and EJ and
      gastrectomy (end-to-side) (EJ/TG). The animals were euthanized after 40 weeks and
      the histology of the junction was examined. Immunohistochemistry for p53, PDX-1,
      and CDX-2 was performed. RESULTS: Metaplasia developed in 15/33 (45.5%) of EGJ,
      0/38 (0%) of EJ, and 6/39 (15.4%) of EJ/TG (P < .05) and dysplasia developed 7/33
      (21.2%) of EGJ, 0% of EJ, and 1/39 (2.6%) of EJ/TG. p53 was positive in all of
      the dysplastic regions, 12/15 (80%) metaplasias in the EGJ model, and 1/6 (16.7%)
      metaplasia in the EJ/TG model. CDX-2 was positive in all cases of metaplasias,
      but decreased in some cases of dysplasia. PDX-1 was positive in 7/8 (88%) cases
      of dysplasia and in 15/21 (71%) cases of metaplasia (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The
      EGJ model, which causes reflux of gastric acid and duodenal content, developed
      metaplasia and dysplasia most frequently. No metaplasia developed in the EJ model
      in which gastric juice and duodenal content mixed before reflux. Thus, duodenal
      contents alone can induce columnar metaplasia and dysplasia; however, the
      combination of gastric acid with duodenal content reflux can cause metaplasia and
      dysplasia more efficiently.

PMID- 28593186
TI  - Origin of Barrett's Epithelium: Esophageal Submucosal Glands.
AB  - The origin of the progenitor cell for Barrett's esophagus remains a major
      unsolved mystery. Understanding the source of this progenitor may improve
      strategies to prevent the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Esophageal
      submucosal glands (ESMGs) and ducts may serve as a potential source of progenitor
      cells that respond to esophageal injury. Through the use of human histologic and
      molecular analysis, ESMGs and ducts have been described in physical continuity
      with areas of columnar esophagus, and shared mutations have been described
      between ESMG ducts and Barrett's esophagus. Acinar ductal metaplasia, associated
      with carcinogenesis in other organs, occurs within ESMGs with human esophageal
      injury and esophageal adenocarcinoma. By using atypical animal models, a squamous
      epithelial defect well above the gastroesophageal junction healed to columnar
      epithelium and continuity of ESMG ducts was noted in the new epithelium.
      Increased proliferation in ESMGs and ducts in response to injury also has been
      noted in human beings and animals.

PMID- 28593184
TI  - Epigenetics and Liver Fibrosis.
AB  - Liver fibrosis arises because prolonged injury combined with excessive scar
      deposition within hepatic parenchyma arising from overactive wound healing
      response mediated by activated myofibroblasts. Fibrosis is the common end point
      for any type of chronic liver injury including alcoholic liver disease,
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis, and cholestatic liver
      diseases. Although genetic influences are important, it is epigenetic mechanisms
      that have been shown to orchestrate many aspects of fibrogenesis in the liver.
      New discoveries in the field are leading toward the development of epigenetic
      biomarkers and targeted therapies. This review considers epigenetic mechanisms as
      well as recent advances in epigenetic programming in the context of hepatic
      fibrosis.

PMID- 28593185
TI  - Induction of Colonic Regulatory T Cells by Mesalamine by Activating the Aryl
      Hydrocarbon Receptor.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Mesalamine is a first-line drug for treatment of inflammatory
      bowel diseases (IBD). However, its mechanisms are not fully understood. CD4+
      Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a potential role in suppressing IBD. This
      study determined whether the anti-inflammatory activity of mesalamine is related
      to Treg induction in the colon. METHODS: We examined the frequencies of Tregs in
      the colons of wild-type mice, mice deficient for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR-/
      mice), and bone marrow-chimeric mice lacking AhR in hematopoietic cells (BM-AhR
      /- mice), following oral treatment with mesalamine. We also examined the effects
      of mesalamine on transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta expression in the colon.
      RESULTS: Treatment of wild-type mice with mesalamine increased the accumulation
      of Tregs in the colon and up-regulated the AhR target gene Cyp1A1, but this
      effect was not observed in AhR-/- or BM-AhR-/- mice. In addition, mesalamine
      promoted in vitro differentiation of naive T cells to Tregs, concomitant with AhR
      activation. Mice treated with mesalamine exhibited increased levels of the active
      form of TGF-beta in the colon in an AhR-dependent manner and blockade of TGF-beta
      signaling suppressed induction of Tregs by mesalamine in the colon. Furthermore,
      mice pretreated with mesalamine acquired resistance to dextran sodium sulfate
      induced colitis. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a novel anti-inflammatory mechanism of
      mesalamine for colitis: induction of Tregs in the colon via the AhR pathway,
      followed by TGF-beta activation.

PMID- 28593187
TI  - The Esophageal Squamous Epithelial Cell-Still a Reasonable Candidate for the
      Barrett's Esophagus Cell of Origin?
AB  - Barrett's esophagus is the metaplastic change of the squamous epithelium lining
      the distal esophagus into an intestinalized columnar epithelium that predisposes
      to esophageal adenocarcinoma development. The cell that gives rise to Barrett's
      esophagus has not been identified definitively, although several sources for the
      Barrett's esophagus cell of origin have been postulated. One possible source is a
      fully differentiated squamous epithelial cell or a squamous epithelial progenitor
      or stem cell native to the esophagus that, through molecular reprogramming,
      either transdifferentiation or transcommitment, could give rise to an
      intestinalized columnar cell. Multilayered epithelium found in human patients and
      rodents with Barrett's esophagus and direct phenotypic conversion of mouse
      embryonic esophageal epithelium provide support for this. Limitations in current
      experimental approaches may explain why it has been difficult to fully change an
      esophageal squamous epithelial cell into an intestinalized columnar cell in
      vitro.

PMID- 28593188
TI  - Barrett's Stem Cells as a Unique and Targetable Entity.
AB  - Although metaplasias have always attracted because of their strangeness, it is
      now clear they represent precursors for some of the most intractable human
      cancers. Despite this notoriety, they remain curiously understudied, and even
      their origins have been the subject of acrimonious debate stretching back to
      Virchow in the 19th century. Barrett's esophagus, with its high incidence, easy
      endoscopic access, and strong link to esophageal adenocarcinoma, would seem an
      ideal opportunity to address the origin problem. However, the field has settled
      into an uneasy status quo marked by no fewer than 4 parallel hypotheses, each of
      which is said to suffer fatal flaws. We favor one of these deficient hypotheses,
      that Barrett's arises from a distinct lineage of junctional cells present in all
      normal individuals, and discuss efforts to shore it up. It will be important to
      resolve this dialectic so that preemptive strategies for the eradication of
      Barrett's can reach patient care.

PMID- 28593189
TI  - Formulation and Development of a Validated UV-Spectrophotometric Analytical
      Method of Rutin Tablet.
AB  - Rutin is available in some foods, fruits, and vegetables. It has various
      beneficial medical effects making it useful in the treatment of various diseases.
      Rutin is available in different oral dosage forms such as tablets or capsules,
      widely available in the market. Rutin and many herbal medicines lack quality
      control due to unavailability of analytical methods. In this study, we formulated
      rutin tablet and studied its stability using a simple developed analytical
      method. The dissolution profile of our formulated tablet was also inspected. The
      results showed that our developed method was linear (R2 = 0.999), precise (% RSD
      = 0.026), and accurate (% recovery = 98.55-103.34). The formulated rutin tablet
      was stable under accelerated conditions as well as room temperature for 150 days
      (% assay > 91.69). The dissolution profile over 45 minutes of our formulated
      tablet showed a better dissolution (26.5%) compared with the internationally
      marketed Rutin(r) tablet (18.5%). This study can serve as a guideline to
      companies that manufacture herbal products to improve their formulated herbs and
      apply validated analytical methods to check the quality of their product.

PMID- 28593191
TI  - At What Latency Does the Phase of Brain Oscillations Influence Perception?
AB  - Recent evidence has shown a rhythmic modulation of perception: prestimulus
      ongoing electroencephalography (EEG) phase in the theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha (8-13
      Hz) bands has been directly linked with fluctuations in target detection. In
      fact, the ongoing EEG phase directly reflects cortical excitability: it acts as a
      gating mechanism for information flow at the neuronal level. Consequently, the
      key phase modulating perception should be the one present in the brain when the
      stimulus is actually being processed. Most previous studies, however, reported
      phase modulation peaking 100 ms or more before target onset. To explain this
      discrepancy, we first use simulations showing that contamination of spontaneous
      oscillatory signals by target-evoked ERP and signal filtering (e.g., wavelet) can
      result in an apparent shift of the peak phase modulation towards earlier
      latencies, potentially reaching the prestimulus period. We then present a
      paradigm based on linear systems analysis which can uncover the true latency at
      which ongoing EEG phase influences perception. After measuring the impulse
      response function, we use it to reconstruct (rather than record) the brain
      activity of human observers during white noise sequences. We can then present
      targets in those sequences, and reliably estimate EEG phase around these targets
      without any influence of the target-evoked response. We find that in these
      reconstructed signals, the important phase for perception is that of fronto
      occipital ~6 Hz background oscillations at about 75 ms after target onset. These
      results confirm the causal influence of phase on perception at the time the
      stimulus is effectively processed in the brain.

PMID- 28593190
TI  - Nucleus Accumbens Shell Dopamine Preferentially Tracks Information Related to
      Outcome Value of Reward.
AB  - Effective decision-making requires organisms to predict reward values and bias
      behavior toward the best available option. The mesolimbic dopamine system,
      including the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and core, is involved in this
      process. Although studies support a role of the shell and core in specific
      aspects of decision-making (e.g., risk, effort, delay), no studies have directly
      compared dopamine release dynamics in these subregions to cues exclusively
      signaling the availability of different reward magnitudes. Here, fast-scan cyclic
      voltammetry was used to compare rapid dopamine release dynamics in the NAc
      subregions during a magnitude-based decision-making task. Rats learned that
      distinct cues signaled the availability of either a small or large reward (one or
      two sugar pellets), and then were given an opportunity to choose their preferred
      option. We found that peak dopamine release tracked the more preferred (higher
      magnitude) option in both core and shell subregions. Critically, however, overall
      (i.e., global) dopamine release was significantly higher and longer lasting in
      the shell and tracked the preferred magnitude during the entire cue period.
      Further, in the shell (not core), dopamine signaling significantly declined
      immediately at the lever press for reward but increased during the period of
      reward consumption. Collectively, the results indicate that although dopamine
      release in both the core and shell are activated by cues signaling the
      opportunity to respond for rewards of different magnitudes, dopamine release in
      the shell plays a differential and unique role in tracking information related to
      the outcome value of reward.

PMID- 28593192
TI  - Intravenous Heroin Induces Rapid Brain Hypoxia and Hyperglycemia that Precede
      Brain Metabolic Response.
AB  - Heroin use and overdose have increased in recent years as people transition from
      abusing prescription opiates to using the cheaper street drug. Despite a long
      history of research, many physiological effects of heroin and their underlying
      mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we used high-speed amperometry to examine the
      effects of intravenous heroin on oxygen and glucose levels in the nucleus
      accumbens (NAc) in freely-moving rats. Heroin within the dose range of human drug
      use and rat self-administration (100-200 MUg/kg) induced a rapid, strong, but
      transient drop in NAc oxygen that was followed by a slower and more prolonged
      rise in glucose. Using oxygen recordings in the subcutaneous space, a densely
      vascularized site with no metabolic activity, we confirmed that heroin-induced
      brain hypoxia results from decreased blood oxygen, presumably due to drug-induced
      respiratory depression. Respiratory depression and the associated rise in CO2
      levels appear to drive tonic increases in NAc glucose via local vasodilation.
      Heroin-induced changes in oxygen and glucose were rapid and preceded the slow and
      prolonged increase in brain temperature and were independent of enhanced intra
      brain heat production, an index of metabolic activation. A very high heroin dose
      (3.2 mg/kg), corresponding to doses used by experienced drug users in overdose
      conditions, caused strong and prolonged brain hypoxia and hyperglycemia coupled
      with robust initial hypothermia that preceded an extended hyperthermic response.
      Our data suggest heroin-induced respiratory depression as a trigger for brain
      hypoxia, which leads to hyperglycemia, both of which appear independent of
      subsequent changes in brain temperature and metabolic neural activity.

PMID- 28593193
TI  - Differential Expression and Cell-Type Specificity of Perineuronal Nets in
      Hippocampus, Medial Entorhinal Cortex, and Visual Cortex Examined in the Rat and
      Mouse.
AB  - Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are specialized extracellular matrix (ECM) structures
      that condense around the soma and proximal dendrites of subpopulations of
      neurons. Emerging evidence suggests that they are involved in regulating brain
      plasticity. However, the expression of PNNs varies between and within brain
      areas. A lack of quantitative studies describing the distribution and cell
      specificity of PNNs makes it difficult to reveal the functional roles of PNNs. In
      the current study, we examine the distribution of PNNs and the identity of PNN
      enwrapped neurons in three brain areas with different cognitive functions: the
      dorsal hippocampus, medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) and primary visual cortex
      (V1). We compared rats and mice as knowledge from these species are often
      intermingled. The most abundant expression of PNNs was found in the mEC and V1,
      while dorsal hippocampus showed strikingly low levels of PNNs, apart from dense
      expression in the CA2 region. In hippocampus we also found apparent species
      differences in expression of PNNs. While we confirm that the PNNs enwrap
      parvalbumin-expressing (PV+) neurons in V1, we found that they mainly colocalize
      with excitatory CamKII-expressing neurons in CA2. In mEC, we demonstrate that in
      addition to PV+ cells, the PNNs colocalize with reelin-expressing stellate cells.
      We also show that the maturation of PNNs in mEC coincides with the formation of
      grid cell pattern, while PV+ cells, unlike in other cortical areas, are present
      from early postnatal development. Finally, we demonstrate considerable effects on
      the number of PSD-95-gephyrin puncta after enzymatic removal of PNNs.

PMID- 28593194
TI  - Fine-Scale Structure Analysis Shows Epidemic Patterns of Clonal Complex 95, a
      Cosmopolitan Escherichia coli Lineage Responsible for Extraintestinal Infection.
AB  - The Escherichia coli lineage known as clonal complex 95 (CC95) is a cosmopolitan
      human-associated lineage responsible for a significant fraction of
      extraintestinal infections of humans. Whole-genome sequence data of 200 CC95
      strains from various origins enabled determination of the CC95 pangenome. The
      pangenome analysis revealed that strains of the complex could be assigned to one
      of five subgroups that vary in their serotype, extraintestinal virulence,
      virulence gene content, and antibiotic resistance gene profile. A total of 511
      CC95 strains isolated from humans living in France, Australia, and the United
      States were screened for their subgroup membership using a PCR-based method. The
      CC95 subgroups are nonrandomly distributed with respect to their geographic
      origin. The relative frequency of the subgroups was shown to change through time,
      although the nature of the changes varies with continent. Strains of the
      subgroups are also nonrandomly distributed with respect to source of isolation
      (blood, urine, or feces) and host sex. Collectively, the evidence indicates that
      although strains belonging to CC95 may be cosmopolitan, human movement patterns
      have been insufficient to homogenize the distribution of the CC95 subgroups.
      Rather, the manner in which CC95 strains evolve appears to vary both spatially
      and temporally. Although CC95 strains appeared globally as pandemic, fine-scale
      structure analysis shows epidemic patterns of the CC95 subgroups. Furthermore,
      the observation that the relative frequency of CC95 subgroups at a single
      locality has changed over time indicates that the relative fitness of the
      subgroups has changed. IMPORTANCEEscherichia coli clonal complex 95 represents a
      cosmopolitan, genetically diverse lineage, and the extensive substructure
      observed in this lineage is epidemiologically and clinically relevant. The
      frequency with which CC95 strains are responsible for extraintestinal infection
      appears to have been stable over the past 15 years. However, the different
      subgroups identified within this lineage have an epidemic structure depending on
      the host, sample, continent, and time. Thus, the evolution and spread of strains
      belonging to CC95 are very different from those of another cosmopolitan human
      associated clonal complex, CC131, which has increased significantly in frequency
      as a cause of extraintestinal infection over the past 15 years due to the
      evolution and spread of two very closely related, nearly monomorphic lineages.

PMID- 28593195
TI  - Lake Bacterial Assemblage Composition Is Sensitive to Biological Disturbance
      Caused by an Invasive Filter Feeder.
AB  - One approach to improve forecasts of how global change will affect ecosystem
      processes is to better understand how anthropogenic disturbances alter bacterial
      assemblages that drive biogeochemical cycles. Species invasions are important
      contributors to global change, but their impacts on bacterial community ecology
      are rarely investigated. Here, we studied direct impacts of invasive dreissenid
      mussels (IDMs), one of many invasive filter feeders, on freshwater lake
      bacterioplankton. We demonstrated that direct effects of IDMs reduced bacterial
      abundance and altered assemblage composition by preferentially removing larger
      and particle-associated bacteria. While this increased the relative abundances of
      many free-living bacterial taxa, some were susceptible to filter feeding, in line
      with efficient removal of phytoplankton cells of <2 MUm. This selective removal
      of particle-associated and larger bacteria by IDMs altered inferred bacterial
      functional group representation, defined by carbon and energy source utilization.
      Specifically, we inferred an increased relative abundance of
      chemoorganoheterotrophs predicted to be capable of rhodopsin-dependent energy
      generation. In contrast to the few previous studies that have focused on the
      longer-term combined direct and indirect effects of IDMs on bacterioplankton, our
      study showed that IDMs act directly as a biological disturbance to which
      freshwater bacterial assemblages are sensitive. The negative impacts on particle
      associated bacteria, which have been shown to be more active than free-living
      bacteria, and the inferred shifts in functional group representation raise the
      possibility that IDMs may directly alter bacterially mediated ecosystem
      functions. IMPORTANCE Freshwater bacteria play fundamental roles in global
      elemental cycling and are an intrinsic part of local food webs. Human activities
      are altering freshwater environments, and much has been learned regarding the
      sensitivity of bacterial assemblages to a variety of these disturbances. Yet,
      relatively few studies have focused on how species invasion, which is one of the
      most important aspects of anthropogenic global change, affects freshwater
      bacterial assemblages. This study focuses on the impact of invasive dreissenid
      mussels (IDMs), a globally distributed group of invasive species with large
      impacts on freshwater phyto- and zooplankton assemblages. We show that IDMs have
      direct effects on lake bacterioplankton abundance, taxonomic composition, and
      inferred bacterial functional group representation.

PMID- 28593197
TI  - Significant Impacts of Increasing Aridity on the Arid Soil Microbiome.
AB  - Global deserts occupy one-third of the Earth's surface and contribute
      significantly to organic carbon storage, a process at risk in dryland ecosystems
      that are highly vulnerable to climate-driven ecosystem degradation. The forces
      controlling desert ecosystem degradation rates are poorly understood,
      particularly with respect to the relevance of the arid-soil microbiome. Here we
      document correlations between increasing aridity and soil bacterial and archaeal
      microbiome composition along arid to hyperarid transects traversing the Atacama
      Desert, Chile. A meta-analysis reveals that Atacama soil microbiomes exhibit a
      gradient in composition, are distinct from a broad cross-section of nondesert
      soils, and yet are similar to three deserts from different continents. Community
      richness and diversity were significantly positively correlated with soil
      relative humidity (SoilRH). Phylogenetic composition was strongly correlated with
      SoilRH, temperature, and electrical conductivity. The strongest and most
      significant correlations between SoilRH and phylum relative abundance were
      observed for Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, and
      Euryarchaeota (Spearman's rank correlation [rs] = >0.81; false-discovery rate [q]
      = <=0.005), characterized by 10- to 300-fold decreases in the relative abundance
      of each taxon. In addition, network analysis revealed a deterioration in the
      density of significant associations between taxa along the arid to hyperarid
      gradient, a pattern that may compromise the resilience of hyperarid communities
      because they lack properties associated with communities that are more
      integrated. In summary, results suggest that arid-soil microbiome stability is
      sensitive to aridity as demonstrated by decreased community connectivity
      associated with the transition from the arid class to the hyperarid class and the
      significant correlations observed between soilRH and both diversity and the
      relative abundances of key microbial phyla typically dominant in global soils.
      IMPORTANCE We identify key environmental and geochemical factors that shape the
      arid soil microbiome along aridity and vegetation gradients spanning over 300 km
      of the Atacama Desert, Chile. Decreasing average soil relative humidity and
      increasing temperature explain significant reductions in the diversity and
      connectivity of these desert soil microbial communities and lead to significant
      reductions in the abundance of key taxa typically associated with fertile soils.
      This finding is important because it suggests that predicted climate change
      driven increases in aridity may compromise the capacity of the arid-soil
      microbiome to sustain necessary nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration
      functions as well as vegetative cover in desert ecosystems, which comprise one
      third of the terrestrial biomes on Earth.

PMID- 28593196
TI  - Quantitative Proteomics Shows Extensive Remodeling Induced by Nitrogen Limitation
      in Prochlorococcusmarinus SS120.
AB  - Prochlorococcus requires the capability to accommodate to environmental changes
      in order to proliferate in oligotrophic oceans, in particular regarding nitrogen
      availability. A precise knowledge of the composition and changes in the proteome
      can yield fundamental insights into such a response. Here we report a detailed
      proteome analysis of the important model cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus
      SS120 after treatment with azaserine, an inhibitor of ferredoxin-dependent
      glutamate synthase (GOGAT), to simulate extreme nitrogen starvation. In total,
      1,072 proteins, corresponding to 57% of the theoretical proteome, were identified
      the maximum proteome coverage obtained for any Prochlorococcus strain thus far.
      Spectral intensity, calibrated quantification by the Hi3 method, was obtained for
      1,007 proteins. Statistically significant changes (P value of <0.05) were
      observed for 408 proteins, with the majority of proteins (92.4%) downregulated
      after 8 h of treatment. There was a strong decrease in ribosomal proteins upon
      azaserine addition, while many transporters were increased. The regulatory
      proteins PII and PipX were decreased, and the global nitrogen regulator NtcA was
      upregulated. Furthermore, our data for Prochlorococcus indicate that NtcA also
      participates in the regulation of photosynthesis. Prochlorococcus responds to the
      lack of nitrogen by slowing down translation, while inducing photosynthetic
      cyclic electron flow and biosynthesis of proteins involved in nitrogen uptake and
      assimilation. IMPORTANCEProchlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic
      organism on Earth, contributing significantly to global primary production and
      playing a prominent role in biogeochemical cycles. Here we study the effects of
      extreme nitrogen limitation, a feature of the oligotrophic oceans inhabited by
      this organism. Quantitative proteomics allowed an accurate quantification of the
      Prochlorococcus proteome, finding three main responses to nitrogen limitation:
      upregulation of nitrogen assimilation-related proteins, including transporters;
      downregulation of ribosome proteins; and induction of the photosystem II cyclic
      electron flow. This suggests that nitrogen limitation affects a range of
      metabolic processes far wider than initially believed, with the ultimate goal of
      saving nitrogen and maximizing the nitrogen uptake and assimilation capabilities
      of the cell.

PMID- 28593199
TI  - Analysis of instrumentation failures after three column osteotomies of the spine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Correction of fixed spinal imbalance in a sagittal and/or coronal
      plane frequently needs a tricolumnar wedge resection when the deformity is rigid.
      Complications associated with deformity correction surgery are pseudoarthrosis
      and implant failure located along the construct. The purposes of this study were
      to assess comparative rates of pseudoarthrosis (implant failure) at weaker points
      along lumbosacral junction and level of osteotomy, estimate overall incidence of
      implant failure, and comparatively analyze failures at different points along the
      construct. METHODS: This was an IRB approved, single center study retrospective
      analysis. Twenty-six patients who underwent three column osteotomies were grouped
      according to procedure: pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO, (n = 18)); vertebral
      column resection (VCR, (n = 4)); hemivertebra excision (HE, (n = 2)); and
      extracavitary corpectomy (EC, (n = 2)). Follow-up data is presented on all of the
      study patients. Number of levels of fusion, anchors, percent saturation of
      fixation levels, type of bone graft and graft substitutes, and rod material and
      diameter were recorded. Radiographical data was reviewed preoperatively and
      postoperatively at 2 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months and annually to determine
      sagittal and coronal balance, lumbopelvic parameters, presence or absence of
      interbody structural support, laterality or rod failure, and time to implant
      failure. RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent (7/26) patients demonstrated rod breakage
      either unilaterally (N = 2) or bilaterally (N = 5) during follow-up. Seventy-one
      percent had increasing back pain or worsening sagittal balance, while remaining
      failures found incidentally. No failures in children were seen. CONCLUSION:
      Tricolumnar osteotomy by posterior approach is a valuable tool. Rod failures
      found approximately 1 year from surgery, with 86% located at level of osteotomy
      and 14% at lumbosacral junction. Possible reasons are increased stress in the rod
      at this point and relatively deficient bone stock secondary to wide laminectomy.
      The low rate of rod breakage at lumbosacral junction may be related to adoption
      of structural interbody graft and stronger iliac screws. Additional biomechanical
      studies needed to assess the importance of these factors. This was a level IV
      study.

PMID- 28593200
TI  - SKELETAL MUSCLE MITOCHONDRIAL ALTERATIONS IN CARBOXYL TERMINUS OF HSC70
      INTERACTING PROTEIN (CHIP) -/- MICE.
AB  - AIM: Hereditary ataxias are characterized by a slowly progressive loss of gait,
      hand, speech, and eye coordination and cerebellar atrophy. A subset of these,
      including hypogonadism, are inherited as autosomal recessive traits involving
      coding mutations of genes involved in ubiquitination including RNF216, OTUD4, and
      STUB1. Cerebellar CHIPopathy (MIM 615768) is a form of autosomal recessive
      spinocerebellar ataxia (SCAR16) and when accompanied with hypogonadism,
      clinically resembles the Gordon Holmes Syndrome (GHS). A causal missense mutation
      in the gene that encodes the carboxy terminus of HSP-70 interacting protein
      (CHIP) protein was reported for the first time in 2014. CHIP-/- mice were found
      to phenocopy the motor deficiencies and some aspects of the hypogonadism observed
      in patients with STUB1 mutations. However, mechanisms responsible for these
      deficits are not known. METHODS: In a survey of skeletal muscle by transmission
      electron microscopy. RESULTS: CHIP-/- mice at 6 months of age were found to have
      morphological changes consistent with increased sarcoplasmic reticulum
      compartments in quadriceps muscle and gastrocnemius (toxic oligomers and tubular
      aggregates), but not in soleus. CONCLUSION: Since CHIP has been implicated in ER
      stress in non-muscle cells, these findings illustrate potential parallel roles of
      CHIP in the muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum, a hypothesis that may be clinically
      relevant in a variety of common muscular and cardiac diseases.

PMID- 28593198
TI  - Biphasic Metabolism and Host Interaction of a Chlamydial Symbiont.
AB  - Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria comprising well-known human
      pathogens and ubiquitous symbionts of protists, which are characterized by a
      unique developmental cycle. Here we comprehensively analyzed gene expression
      dynamics of Protochlamydia amoebophila during infection of its Acanthamoeba host
      by RNA sequencing. This revealed a highly dynamic transcriptional landscape,
      where major transcriptional shifts are conserved among chlamydial symbionts and
      pathogens. Our data served to propose a time-resolved model for type III protein
      secretion during the developmental cycle, and we provide evidence for a biphasic
      metabolism of P. amoebophila during infection, which involves energy parasitism
      and amino acids as the carbon source during initial stages and a postreplicative
      switch to endogenous glucose-based ATP production. This fits well with major
      transcriptional changes in the amoeba host, where upregulation of complex sugar
      breakdown precedes the P. amoebophila metabolic switch. The biphasic chlamydial
      metabolism represents a unique adaptation to exploit eukaryotic host cells, which
      likely contributed to the evolutionary success of this group of microbes.
      IMPORTANCE Chlamydiae are known as major bacterial pathogens of humans, causing
      the ancient disease trachoma, but they are also frequently found in the
      environment where they infect ubiquitous protists such as amoebae. All known
      chlamydiae require a eukaryotic host cell to thrive. Using the environmental
      chlamydia Protochlamydia amoebophila within its natural host, Acanthamoeba
      castellanii, we investigated gene expression dynamics in vivo and throughout the
      complete chlamydial developmental cycle for the first time. This allowed us to
      infer how a major virulence mechanism, the type III secretion system, is
      regulated and employed, and we show that the physiology of chlamydiae undergoes a
      complete shift regarding carbon metabolism and energy generation. This study
      provides comprehensive insights into the infection strategy of chlamydiae and
      reveals a unique adaptation to life within a eukaryotic host cell.

PMID- 28593201
TI  - Risk Factors for Visual Impairment in an Uninsured Population and the Impact of
      the Affordable Care Act.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess risk factors for visual impairment in a high-risk population
      of people: those without medical insurance. Secondarily, we assessed risk factors
      for remaining uninsured after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and
      evaluated whether the ACA changed demand for local safety net ophthalmology
      clinic services one year after its implementation. METHODS: In a retrospective
      cohort study of patients who attended a community-academic partnership free
      ophthalmology clinic in Southeastern, Michigan between September 2012 - March
      2015, we assessed the prevalence of presenting with visual impairment, the most
      common causes of presenting with visual impairment and used logistic regression
      to assess socio-demographic risk factors for visual impairment. We assessed the
      initial impact of the ACA on clinic utilization. We also analyzed risk factors
      for remaining uninsured one year after implementation of the ACA private
      insurance marketplace and Medicaid expansion in the state of Michigan. RESULTS:
      Among 335 patients, one-fifth (22%) presented with visual impairment; refractive
      error was the leading cause for presenting with visual impairment. Unemployment
      was the single significant risk factor for presenting with visual impairment
      after adjusting for multiple confounding factors (OR = 3.05, 95% CI 1.19-7.87,
      p=0.01). There was no difference in proportion of visual impairment or type of
      vision-threatening disease between the insured and uninsured (p=0.26). Seventy
      six percent of patients remained uninsured one year after ACA implementation.
      Patients who were white, spoke English as a first language and were US Citizens
      were more likely to gain insurance coverage through the ACA in our population
      (p<= 0.01). There was a non-significant decline in the mean number of patient
      treated per clinic (52 to 43) before and after ACA implementation (p=0.69).
      CONCLUSION: Refractive error was a leading cause for presenting with visual
      impairment in this vulnerable population, and being unemployed significantly
      increased the risk for presenting with visual impairment. The ACA did not
      significantly reduce the need for our free ophthalmology services. It is
      critically important to continue to support safety net specialty care initiatives
      and policy change to provide care for those in need.

PMID- 28593203
TI  - Two-dimensional salt and temperature DNA denaturation analysis using a
      magnetoresistive sensor.
AB  - We present a microfluidic system and its use to measure DNA denaturation curves
      by varying the temperature or salt (Na+) concentration. The readout is based on
      real-time measurements of DNA hybridization using magnetoresistive sensors and
      magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as labels. We report the first melting curves of
      DNA hybrids measured as a function of continuously decreasing salt concentration
      at fixed temperature and compare them to the corresponding curves obtained vs.
      temperature at fixed salt concentration. The magnetoresistive sensor platform
      provided reliable results under varying temperature as well as salt
      concentration. The salt concentration melting curves were found to be more
      reliable than temperature melting curves. We performed a two-dimensional mapping
      of the melting profiles of a target to probes targeting its wild type (WT) and
      mutant type (MT) variants in the temperature-salt concentration plane. This map
      clearly showed a region of optimum ability to differentiate between the two
      variants. We finally demonstrated single nucleotide polymorphysm (SNP) genotyping
      using both denaturation methods on both separate sensors but also using a
      differential measurement on a single sensor. The results demonstrate that
      concentration melting provides an attractive alternative to temperature melting
      in on-chip DNA denaturation experiments and further show that the
      magnetoresistive platform is attractive due to its low cross-sensitivity to
      temperature and liquid composition.

PMID- 28593202
TI  - Feature Selection Based on Iterative Canonical Correlation Analysis for Automatic
      Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a major progressive neurodegenerative disorder.
      Accurate diagnosis of PD is crucial to control the symptoms appropriately.
      However, its clinical diagnosis mostly relies on the subjective judgment of
      physicians and the clinical symptoms that often appear late. Recent neuroimaging
      techniques, along with machine learning methods, provide alternative solutions
      for PD screening. In this paper, we propose a novel feature selection technique,
      based on iterative canonical correlation analysis (ICCA), to investigate the
      roles of different brain regions in PD through T1-weighted MR images. First of
      all, gray matter and white matter tissue volumes in brain regions of interest are
      extracted as two feature vectors. Then, a small group of significant features
      were selected using the iterative structure of our proposed ICCA framework from
      both feature vectors. Finally, the selected features are used to build a robust
      classifier for automatic diagnosis of PD. Experimental results show that the
      proposed feature selection method results in better diagnosis accuracy, compared
      to the baseline and state-of-the-art methods.

PMID- 28593204
TI  - Steering patchy particles using multivalent electrolytes.
AB  - Proteins and many recently designed colloids can be regarded as patchy particles
      where directional interactions strongly influence and govern assembly behavior.
      Using explicit ion implicit solvent Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations, we
      investigate spherical model particles, carrying both charge and electric patches,
      in dilute aqueous 1 : 1, 1 : 3, and 3 : 1 electrolyte solutions. Striking
      differences in pair interaction free energies and orientational correlations are
      induced by three different salts which are discussed and rationalized in terms of
      ion-binding to surface groups, ion-ion correlations, and double layer forces.
      These findings suggest a general strategy where directional, intermolecular
      interactions can be invoked and tuned via small amounts of a carefully chosen
      electrolyte.

PMID- 28593205
TI  - Elastic properties and short-range structural order in mixed network former
      glasses.
AB  - Elastic properties of alkali containing glasses are of great interest not only
      because they provide information about overall structural integrity but also they
      are related to other properties such as thermal conductivity and ion mobility. In
      this study, we investigate two mixed-network former glass systems, sodium
      borosilicate 0.2Na2O + 0.8[xBO1.5 + (1 - x)SiO2] and sodium borogermanate 0.2Na2O
      + 0.8[xBO1.5 + (1 - x)GeO2] glasses. By mixing network formers, the network
      topology can be changed while keeping the network modifier concentration
      constant, which allows for the effect of network structure on elastic properties
      to be analyzed over a wide parametric range. In addition to non-linear, non
      additive mixed-glass former effects, maxima are observed in longitudinal, shear
      and Young's moduli with increasing atomic number density. By combining results
      from NMR spectroscopy and Brillouin light scattering with a newly developed
      statistical thermodynamic reaction equilibrium model, it is possible to determine
      the relative proportions of all network structural units. This new analysis
      reveals that the structural characteristic predominantly responsible for
      effective mechanical load transmission in these glasses is a high density of
      network cations coordinated by four or more bridging oxygens, as it provides for
      establishing a network of covalent bonds among these cations with connectivity in
      three dimensions.

PMID- 28593211
TI  - Architecture of CoNx single clusters on nanocarbon as excellent oxygen reduction
      catalysts with high-efficient atomic utilization.
AB  - A new strategy to fabricate CoNx single cluster supported nanocarbon catalysts
      (C/P/2Co600) with enhanced atomic utilization towards the oxygen reduction
      reaction (ORR) is reported. N-Coordination protection and low-temperature
      pyrolysis are the two key factors for the formation of CoNx single clusters on
      nanocarbon supports. Morphological and structural identification confirmed the
      simultaneous anchoring of homo-dispersed CoNx single clusters and N-doping on the
      nanocarbon under relatively mild thermal treatment conditions. Expectedly, the
      obtained single cluster catalyst with a trace amount of metal atoms exhibited
      excellent ORR performance including a positive half-wave potential (0.846 V), a
      high mass activity (0.98 A mgCo-1, ampere per milligram of cobalt) and
      outstanding chemical durability after 8000 potential cycles. We believe that our
      findings provide a new route for the rational design of low-cost and highly
      active ORR catalytic materials.

PMID- 28593213
TI  - Obituary for Professor Dr. rer. nat. Karl Sommer, Berlin.

PMID- 28593212
TI  - [Myokard-Perfusions-SPECT. Myocardial perfusion SPECT - Update S1 guideline].
AB  - The S1 guideline for myocardial perfusion SPECT has been published by the
      Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) and is valid
      until 2/2022. This paper is a short summary with comments on all chapters and
      subchapters wich were modified and amended.

PMID- 28593214
TI  - Association Between Gender and Drug Cost for Over-the-Counter Minoxidil.

PMID- 28593215
TI  - Cutting-edge Efforts in Surgical Patient Safety.

PMID- 28593219
TI  - Massive Intra-abdominal Mass.

PMID- 28593216
TI  - Real-World Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Treatments in a Nationwide Cohort of 29
      823 Patients With Schizophrenia.
AB  - Importance: It has remained unclear whether there are clinically meaningful
      differences between antipsychotic treatments with regard to preventing relapse of
      schizophrenia, owing to the impossibility of including large unselected patient
      populations in randomized clinical trials, as well as residual confounding from
      selection biases in observational studies. Objective: To study the comparative
      real-world effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments for patients with
      schizophrenia. Design, Setting, and Participants: Prospectively gathered
      nationwide databases were linked to study the risk of rehospitalization and
      treatment failure from July 1, 2006, to December 31, 2013, among all patients in
      Sweden with a schizophrenia diagnosis who were 16 to 64 years of age in 2006 (29
      823 patients in the total prevalent cohort; 4603 in the incident cohort of newly
      diagnosed patients). Within-individual analyses were used for primary analyses,
      in which each individual was used as his or her own control to eliminate
      selection bias. Traditional Cox proportional hazards multivariate regression was
      used for secondary analyses. Main Outcomes and Measures: Risk of
      rehospitalization and treatment failure (defined as psychiatric
      rehospitalization, suicide attempt, discontinuation or switch to other
      medication, or death). Results: There were 29 823 patients (12 822 women and 17
      001 men; mean [SD] age, 44.9 [12.0] years). During follow-up, 13 042 of 29 823
      patients (43.7%) were rehospitalized, and 20 225 of 28 189 patients (71.7%)
      experienced treatment failure. The risk of psychiatric rehospitalization was the
      lowest during monotherapy with once-monthly long-acting injectable paliperidone
      (hazard ratio [HR], 0.51; 95% CI, 0.41-0.64), long-acting injectable
      zuclopenthixol (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.48-0.57), clozapine (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.48
      0.58), long-acting injectable perphenazine (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.52-0.65), and
      long-acting injectable olanzapine (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.44-0.77) compared with no
      use of antipsychotic medication. Oral flupentixol (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74-1.14),
      quetiapine (HR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-1.00), and oral perphenazine (HR, 0.86; 95%
      CI, 0.77-0.97) were associated with the highest risk of rehospitalization. Long
      acting injectable antipsychotic medications were associated with substantially
      lower risk of rehospitalization compared with equivalent oral formulations (HR,
      0.78; 95% CI, 0.72-0.84 in the total cohort; HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.53-0.86 in the
      incident cohort). Clozapine (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.53-0.63) and all long-acting
      injectable antipsychotic medications (HRs 0.65-0.80) were associated with the
      lowest rates of treatment failure compared with the most widely used medication,
      oral olanzapine. The results of several sensitivity analyses were consistent with
      those of the primary analyses. Conclusions and Relevance: Clozapine and long
      acting injectable antipsychotic medications were the pharmacologic treatments
      with the highest rates of prevention of relapse in schizophrenia. The risk of
      rehospitalization is about 20% to 30% lower during long-acting injectable
      treatments compared with equivalent oral formulations.

PMID- 28593242
TI  - Primary Care-Based Skin Cancer Screening in a Veterans Affairs Health Care
      System.
AB  - Importance: Skin cancer screening may improve melanoma outcomes and keratinocyte
      carcinoma morbidity, but little is known about the feasibility of skin cancer
      training and clinical skin examination (CSE) by primary care practitioners (PCPs)
      in large health care systems. Objective: To assess the association of skin cancer
      training and screening by PCPs with dermatology referral patterns and rates of
      skin biopsies. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this pilot interventional
      study performed at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, patients 35
      years or older scheduled for an annual health habits screen in the PCP general
      medicine clinics were studied. Interventions: Six PCPs underwent Internet
      Curriculum for Melanoma Early Detection (INFORMED) training in May 2015, and 5
      screened patients during the following 14 months. Main Outcomes and Measures:
      Proportion of dermatology referrals, subsequent skin biopsies, and PCP diagnostic
      accuracy for skin cancer or precancer compared with dermatologist diagnosis were
      assessed in screened patients 14 months before the intervention (February 18,
      2014, through April 30, 2015) and after the intervention (June 18, 2015, through
      August 30, 2016). Results: Among 258 patients offered screening (median age, 70
      years; age range, 35-94 years; 255 [98.8%] male), 189 (73.3%) received CSE and 69
      (26.7%) declined. A total of 62 of 189 patients (32.8%) were referred to a
      dermatologist after intervention: 33 (53.2%) for presumptive skin cancers and 15
      (24.2%) for precancers. Nine of 50 patients (18.0%) evaluated in dermatology
      clinic underwent biopsy to exclude skin cancer. Correct diagnoses were made by
      PCPs in 13 of 38 patients (34.2%; 4 of 27 patients [14.8%] diagnosed with skin
      cancers and 5 of 11 patients [45.5%] diagnosed with actinic keratoses).
      Comparison of all outpatient visits for the 5 main participating PCPs before vs
      after intervention revealed no significant differences in dermatology referrals
      overall and those for presumptive skin cancer or actinic keratoses, skin
      biopsies, or PCP diagnostic accuracy with the exception of significantly fewer
      postintervention dermatology referrals that lacked specific diagnoses (25 [1.0%]
      vs 10 [0.4%], P = .01). Conclusions and Relevance: This pilot study suggests that
      PCP-based skin cancer training and screening are feasible and have the potential
      to improve PCP diagnostic accuracy without increasing specialty referrals or skin
      biopsies. Additional studies comparing screening rates, specialty referrals, and
      patient outcomes in trained vs untrained PCPs are needed before screening is
      widely implemented in large health care systems in the United States.

PMID- 28593243
TI  - The Increasing Call for Protective Ventilation During Anesthesia.

PMID- 28593244
TI  - Effect of Mandarin Orange Yogurt on Allergic Conjunctivitis Induced by
      Conjunctival Allergen Challenge.
AB  - Purpose: To evaluate the effects of mandarin orange yogurt containing nobiletin
      and beta-lactoglobulin on the allergic conjunctivitis induced by a conjunctival
      allergen challenge (CAC). Methods: Experiment 1 was performed on 26 asymptomatic
      patients (age, 25.3 +/- 5.3 years) with proven seasonal allergic conjunctivitis
      due to cedar pollen. We compared the degree of conjunctivitis induced by CAC
      before and after ingesting mandarin orange yogurt for 2 weeks. Experiment 2 was a
      double-blind, placebo-controlled trial performed on 31 patients (age, 32.5 +/-
      12.2 years). A diet containing mandarin orange yogurt was compared to a diet
      containing yogurt lacking the mandarin orange on the conjunctivitis induced by
      CAC. The temperature of the inferior bulbar conjunctiva was measured before and
      20 minutes after the CAC with an ocular surface thermographer (OST). The degree
      of conjunctival injection and chemosis was graded by slit-lamp biomicroscopy. The
      changes in the symptoms were evaluated by a questionnaire. Results: In experiment
      1, the scores of redness (3.07 +/- 3.03 vs. 1.05 +/- 1.70), chemosis (2.84 +/-
      2.27 vs. 0.81 +/- 1.11), itching (4.34 +/- 3.05 vs. 1.39 +/- 2.12), and
      temperature (0.73 +/- 0.42 degrees C vs. 0.45 +/- 0.43 degrees C) were
      significantly lower (P < 0.001) after a diet of mandarin orange yogurt for 2
      weeks. In experiment 2, the scores of redness (1.03 +/- 0.18 vs. 1.28 +/- 0.52; P
      = 0.0156), itching (1.93 +/- 1.92 vs. 2.82 +/- 2.21; P = 0.0133), and surface
      temperature (0.54 +/- 0.21 degrees C vs. 0.31 +/- 0.25 degrees C; P < 0.001) were
      significantly lower in the mandarin orange yogurt group than in the control
      yogurt group. Conclusions: Mandarin orange yogurt can be an effective nutritional
      intervention for allergic conjunctivitis.

PMID- 28593246
TI  - Socially Assistive Robots Help Patients Make Behavioral Changes.

PMID- 28593247
TI  - Demodex-Positive Acneiform Eruption Responsive to Ivermectin in a Patient Taking
      an Epidermal Growth Factor Inhibitor.

PMID- 28593248
TI  - Human efficiency in detecting and discriminating biological motion.
AB  - Using an "information meter" provided by ideal observer analysis, we measured the
      efficiency with which human observers processed different walking stimuli against
      luminance noise and spatial uncertainty to either detect the presence of a walker
      or to discriminate the walking direction. Human efficiency was examined across
      four renderings of a human walker: contour, point lights, silhouette, and
      skeleton. We replicated the previous finding of low discrimination efficiency in
      biological motion (Gold, Tadin, Cook, & Blake, 2008) and also found low detection
      efficiency for biological motion. Interestingly, in both detection and
      discrimination tasks, the skeleton display was among those yielding the highest
      level of efficiency in processing visual information. This finding suggests that
      structural information about the relative position of joints, highlighted in the
      skeleton display, provides a critical component of the internal representation
      for biological motion.

PMID- 28593245
TI  - A GPR119 Signaling System in the Murine Eye Regulates Intraocular Pressure in a
      Sex-Dependent Manner.
AB  - Purpose: GPR119 is a G protein-coupled receptor that may be the endogenous target
      for 2-oleoylglycerol (2-OG), a lipid related to the endocannabinoid family of
      neuromodulators. Interest in GPR119 has centered on its role in regulating
      insulin secretion; however, the role of GPR119 has not been examined in the eye.
      The purpose of this study was to explore a potential GPR119-based signaling
      system in the murine eye. Methods: We used a combination of RT-PCR,
      immunohistochemistry, lipid measurement, and IOP measurement in a normotensive
      mouse model, with GPR119 knockout mice as controls. Results: We detected GPR119
      mRNA and protein in the anterior eye of the mouse and cow, with GPR119 mRNA
      levels elevated in female relative to male mice. GPR119 protein expression is
      most prominent in structures near the angle, including trabecular meshwork, as
      well as iris and corneal epithelium. We detected 2-OG in the anterior eye and
      detected alterations in lipid levels in GPR119 knockout versus wild type and also
      by sex. Last, we found that 2-OG preferentially reduces IOP in female mice in a
      normotensive model. Conclusions: In summary, we offer evidence for a GPR119-based
      signaling system in the mammalian eye, with receptors, ligands, and function in
      the form of a reduction in IOP. Notably this reduction in pressure is restricted
      to female mice.

PMID- 28593250
TI  - Asymptomatic Pigmented Lesions of the Gingiva.

PMID- 28593249
TI  - Personal familiarity enhances sensitivity to horizontal structure during
      processing of face identity.
AB  - What makes identification of familiar faces seemingly effortless? Recent studies
      using unfamiliar face stimuli suggest that selective processing of information
      conveyed by horizontally oriented spatial frequency components supports accurate
      performance in a variety of tasks involving matching of facial identity. Here, we
      studied upright and inverted face discrimination using stimuli with which
      observers were either unfamiliar or personally familiar (i.e., friends and
      colleagues). Our results reveal increased sensitivity to horizontal spatial
      frequency structure in personally familiar faces, further implicating the
      selective processing of this information in the face processing expertise
      exhibited by human observers throughout their daily lives.

PMID- 28593251
TI  - Are There Differences in Disruptions of Reward Processing Between Substance Use
      Disorder and Gambling Disorder?-Reply.

PMID- 28593252
TI  - Standard vs Expanded Indications for Esophageal Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation
      for Reflux Disease.

PMID- 28593268
TI  - Incorrect SD Values in Table 1.

PMID- 28593266
TI  - Wireless Monitoring Program of Patient-Centered Outcomes and Recovery Before and
      After Major Abdominal Cancer Surgery.
AB  - Importance: A combined subjective and objective wireless monitoring program of
      patient-centered outcomes can be carried out in patients before and after major
      abdominal cancer surgery. Objective: To conduct a proof-of-concept pilot study of
      a wireless, patient-centered outcomes monitoring program before and after major
      abdominal cancer surgery. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this proof-of
      concept pilot study, patients wore wristband pedometers and completed online
      patient-reported outcome surveys (symptoms and quality of life) 3 to 7 days
      before surgery, during hospitalization, and up to 2 weeks after discharge.
      Reminders via email were generated for all moderate to severe scores for symptoms
      and quality of life. Surgery-related data were collected via electronic medical
      records, and complications were calculated using the Clavien-Dindo
      classification. The study was carried out in the inpatient and outpatient
      surgical oncology unit of one National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive
      cancer center. Eligible patients were scheduled to undergo curative resection for
      hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal cancers, were English speaking, and were 18
      years or older. Twenty participants were enrolled over 4 months. The study dates
      were April 1, 2015, to July 31, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes
      included adherence to wearing the pedometer, adherence to completing the surveys
      (MD Anderson Symptom Inventory and EuroQol 5-dimensional descriptive system), and
      satisfaction with the monitoring program. Results: This study included a final
      sample of 20 patients (median age, 55.5 years [range, 22-74 years]; 15 [75%]
      female) with evaluable data. Pedometer adherence (88% [17 of 20] before surgery
      vs 83% [16 of 20] after discharge) was higher than survey adherence (65% to 75%
      [13 of 20 and 15 of 20] completed). The median number of daily steps at day 7 was
      1689 (19% of daily steps at baseline), which correlated with the Comprehensive
      Complication Index, for which the median was 15 of 100 (r = -0.64, P < .05).
      Postdischarge overall symptom severity (2.3 of 10) and symptom interference with
      activities (3.5 of 10) were mild. Pain (4.4 of 10), fatigue (4.7 of 10), and
      appetite loss (4.0 of 10) were moderate after surgery. Quality-of-life scores
      were lowest at discharge (66.6 of 100) but improved at week 2 (73.9 of 100).
      While patient-reported outcomes returned to baseline at 2 weeks, the number of
      daily steps was only one-third of preoperative baseline. Conclusions and
      Relevance: Wireless monitoring of combined subjective and objective patient
      centered outcomes can be carried out in the surgical oncology setting.
      Preoperative and postoperative patient-centered outcomes have the potential of
      identifying high-risk populations who may need additional interventions to
      support postoperative functional and symptom recovery.

PMID- 28593269
TI  - Confusion Regarding Surgical Delirium-Is Dexmedetomidine the Answer?

PMID- 28593267
TI  - National Trends in Use and Outcomes of Pulmonary Artery Catheters Among Medicare
      Beneficiaries, 1999-2013.
AB  - Importance: Recent studies have observed an increase in the rate of pulmonary
      artery catheter (PAC) use in heart failure admissions. Little is known about the
      national trends in other previously common indications for PAC placement, PAC use
      overall, or outcomes associated with PAC placement. Objective: To determine
      national trends in PAC use overall as well as across sociodemographic groups and
      key clinical conditions, including acute myocardial infarction, heart failure,
      and respiratory failure. Design, Setting, and Participants: Centers for Medicare
      and Medicaid Services inpatient claims data and International Classification of
      Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes were used to conduct a
      serial cross-sectional cohort study between January 1, 1999, and December 31,
      2013, identifying hospitalizations during which a PAC was placed. Data analysis
      was conducted from September 25, 2015, to April 10, 2017. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Rate of use of a PAC per 1000 admissions, 30-day mortality, and length
      of stay. Results: Among the 68 374 904 unique Medicare beneficiaries in the
      study, there were 469 582 hospitalizations among 457 193 patients (204 232 women
      and 252 961 men; mean [SD] age, 76.3 [6.9] years) during which a PAC was placed.
      There was a 67.8% relative decrease in PAC use (6.28 per 1000 admissions in 1999
      to 2.02 per 1000 admissions in 2013; P < .001), with 2 distinct trends:
      significant year-on-year decreases from 1999 to 2011, followed by stable use
      through 2013. There was variation in rates of PAC use across race/ethnicity, age,
      and sex, but use decreased across all subgroups. Although there were sustained
      decreases in PAC use for acute myocardial infarction (20.0 PACs placed per 1000
      admissions in 1999 to 5.2 in 2013 [74.0% reduction]; P < .001 for trend) and
      respiratory failure (29.9 PACs placed per 1000 admission in 1999 to 2.3 in 2013
      [92.3% reduction]; P < .001 for trend) during the study period, there was an
      initial decrease in PAC use in heart failure, with a nadir in 2009 followed by a
      subsequent increase (9.1 PACs placed per 1000 admissions in 1999 to 4.0 in 2009
      to 5.8 in 2013). In-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, and length of stay
      decreased during the study period. Conclusions and Relevance: In the wake of
      mounting evidence suggesting a lack of benefit to the routine use of PACs, there
      has been a de-adoption of PAC use overall and across sociodemographic groups but
      heterogeneity in patterns of use across clinical conditions. The clinical
      outcomes of patients with PACs have significantly improved. These findings raise
      important questions about the optimal use of PACs and the drivers of the observed
      trends.

PMID- 28593270
TI  - Are There Differences in Disruptions of Reward Processing Between Substance Use
      Disorder and Gambling Disorder?

PMID- 28593271
TI  - Increased Cardiovascular Risk Associated With E-Cigarette Use-Reply.

PMID- 28593298
TI  - Increased Cardiovascular Risk Associated With E-Cigarette Use.

PMID- 28593281
TI  - Simultaneous Antidepressant and Benzodiazepine New Use and Subsequent Long-term
      Benzodiazepine Use in Adults With Depression, United States, 2001-2014.
AB  - Importance: Benzodiazepines have been prescribed for short periods to patients
      with depression who are beginning antidepressant therapy to improve depressive
      symptoms more quickly, mitigate concomitant anxiety, and improve antidepressant
      treatment continuation. However, benzodiazepine therapy is associated with risks,
      including dependency, which may take only a few weeks to develop. Objectives: To
      examine trends in simultaneous benzodiazepine and antidepressant new use among
      adults with depression initiating an antidepressant, assess antidepressant
      treatment length by simultaneous new use status, estimate subsequent long-term
      benzodiazepine use in those with simultaneous antidepressant and benzodiazepine
      new use, and identify determinants of simultaneous new use and long-term
      benzodiazepine use. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study using a
      US commercial claims database included commercially insured adults (aged 18-64
      years) from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2014, with a recent depression
      diagnosis who began antidepressant therapy but had not used antidepressants or
      benzodiazepines in the prior year. Exposures: Simultaneous new use, defined as a
      new benzodiazepine prescription dispensed on the same day as a new antidepressant
      prescription. Main Outcomes and Measures: The proportion of antidepressant
      initiators with simultaneous new use and continuing antidepressant treatment for
      6 months and the proportion of simultaneous new users receiving long-term (6
      months) benzodiazepine therapy. Results: Of the 765 130 adults (median age, 39
      years; interquartile range, 29-49 years; 507 451 women [66.3%]) who initiated
      antidepressant treatment, 81 020 (10.6%) also initiated benzodiazepine treatment.
      The mean annual increase in the proportion simultaneously starting use of both
      agents from 2001 to 2014 was 0.49% (95% CI, 0.47%-0.51%), increasing from 6.1%
      (95% CI, 5.5%-6.6%) in 2001 to 12.5% (95% CI, 12.3%-12.7%) in 2012 and
      stabilizing through 2014 (11.3%; 95% CI, 11.1%-11.5%). Similar findings were
      apparent by age group and physician type. Antidepressant treatment length was
      similar in simultaneous new users and non-simultaneous new users. Among
      simultaneous new users, 12.3% (95% CI, 12.0%-12.5%) exhibited long-term
      benzodiazepine use (64.0% discontinued taking benzodiazepines after the initial
      fill). Determinants of long-term benzodiazepine use after simultaneous new use
      were longer initial benzodiazepine days' supply, first prescription for a long
      acting benzodiazepine, and recent prescription opioid fills. Conclusions and
      Relevance: One-tenth of antidepressant initiators with depression simultaneously
      initiated benzodiazepine therapy. No meaningful difference in antidepressant
      treatment at 6 months was observed by simultaneous new use status. Because of the
      risks associated with benzodiazepines, simultaneous new use at antidepressant
      initiation and the benzodiazepine regimen itself require careful consideration.

PMID- 28593300
TI  - Trends in Cardiovascular Health of US Adults by Income, 2005-2014.

PMID- 28593301
TI  - Income Disparities in Absolute Cardiovascular Risk and Cardiovascular Risk
      Factors in the United States, 1999-2014.
AB  - Importance: Large improvements in the control of risk factors for cardiovascular
      disease have been achieved in the United States, but it remains unclear whether
      adults in all socioeconomic strata have benefited equally. Objective: To assess
      temporal trends in 10-year predicted absolute cardiovascular risk and
      cardiovascular risk factors among US adults in different socioeconomic strata.
      Design, Setting, and Participants: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using
      data on adults 40 to 79 years of age without established cardiovascular disease
      from the 1999 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
      Exposures: Socioeconomic status was based on the family income to poverty ratio
      and participants were divided into the following 3 groups: high income (family
      income to poverty ratio, >=4), middle income (>1 and <4), or at or below the
      federal poverty level (<=1). Main Outcomes and Measures: We assessed predicted
      absolute cardiovascular risk using the pooled cohort equation. We assessed the
      following 4 risk factors: systolic blood pressure, smoking status, diabetes, and
      total cholesterol. Results: Of the 17 199 adults whose data were included in the
      study (8828 women and 8371 men; mean age, 54.4 years), from 1999-2014, trends in
      the percentage of adults with predicted absolute cardiovascular risk of 20% or
      more, mean systolic blood pressure, and the percentage of current smokers varied
      by income strata (P <= .02 for interaction). For adults with incomes at or below
      the federal poverty level, there was little evidence of a change in any of these
      outcomes across survey years (cardiovascular risk >=20%, 14.9% [95% CI, 12.9%
      16.8%] in 1999-2004; 16.5% [95% CI, 13.7%-19.2%] in 2011-2014; P = .41; mean
      systolic blood pressure, 127.6 [95% CI, 126.1-129.0] mm Hg in 1999-2004; 126.8
      [95% CI, 125.2-128.5] mm Hg in 2011-2014; P = .44; and smoking, 36.5% [95% CI,
      32.1%-41.0%] in 1999-2004; 36.0% [95% CI, 31.1%-40.8%] in 2011-2014; P = .87).
      For adults in the high-income stratum, these variables decreased across survey
      years (cardiovascular risk >=20%, 12.0% [95% CI, 10.7%-13.3%] in 1999-2004; 9.5%
      [95% CI, 8.2%-10.7%] in 2011-2014; P = .003; systolic blood pressure, 126.0 [95%
      CI, 125.0-126.9] mm Hg in 1999-2004; 122.3 [95% CI, 121.3-123.3] mm Hg in 2011
      2014; P < .001; and smoking, 14.1% [95% CI, 12.0%-16.2%] in 1999-2004; 8.8% [95%
      CI, 6.6%-11.0%] in 2011-2014; P = .001). Trends in the percentage of adults with
      diabetes and the mean total cholesterol level did not vary by income. Conclusions
      and Relevance: Adults in each socioeconomic stratum have not benefited equally
      from efforts to control cardiovascular risk factors.

PMID- 28593302
TI  - The Increasing Call for Protective Ventilation During Anesthesia-Reply.

PMID- 28593304
TI  - Incorrect Correspondence Address.

PMID- 28593303
TI  - Factors in Early Adolescence Associated With a Mole-Prone Phenotype in Late
      Adolescence.
AB  - Importance: Nevi are important phenotypic risk factors for melanoma in adults.
      Few studies have examined the constitutional and behavioral factors associated
      with a mole-prone phenotype in adolescents. Objective: To identify host,
      behavioral, and dermoscopic factors in early adolescence (age, 14 years) that are
      associated with a mole-prone phenotype in late adolescence (age, 17 years).
      Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective observational cohort study from
      the Study of Nevi in Children was conducted from January 1, 2009, to December 31,
      2014, with a 2- to 3-year follow-up. A total of 569 students from the school
      system in Framingham, Massachusetts, were enrolled in the 8th or 9th grade
      (baseline; mean [SD] age, 14.4 [0.7] years). The overall retention rate was
      73.3%, and 417 students were reassessed in the 11th grade. Main Outcome and
      Measures: Mole-prone phenotype in the 11th grade, defined as total nevus count of
      the back and 1 randomly selected leg in the top decile of the cohort or having
      any nevi greater than 5 mm in diameter. Results: Of the 417 students assessed at
      follow-up in the 11th grade (166 females and 251 males; mean [SD] age, 17.0 [0.4]
      years), 111 participants (26.6%) demonstrated a mole-prone phenotype: 69 students
      (62.2%) with 1 nevus greater than 5 mm in diameter, 23 students (20.7%) with
      total nevus count in the top decile, and 19 students (17.1%) with both
      characteristics. On multivariate analysis, baseline total nevus count (adjusted
      odds ratio, 9.08; 95% CI, 4.0-23.7; P < .001) and increased variability of nevus
      dermoscopic pattern (adjusted odds ratio, 4.24; 95% CI, 1.36-13.25; P = .01) were
      associated with a mole-prone phenotype. Conclusions and Relevance: This study
      found clinically recognizable factors associated with a mole-prone phenotype that
      may facilitate the identification of individuals at risk for melanoma. These
      findings could have implications for primary prevention strategies and help
      target at-risk adolescents for higher-intensity counseling about sun protection
      and skin self-examination.

PMID- 28593305
TI  - Study of drug diffusion rate by laser beam deflection technique.
AB  - Drug administration is an unavoidable part of treatment. When a drug is
      administered orally or intravenously, it gets absorbed into the blood stream. The
      rate and efficiency of absorption depend on the route of administration. When a
      drug is administered through the oral route, it penetrates the epithelial cells
      of the intestinal mucosa. The diffusion of the drug into the blood stream depends
      on various parameters, such as concentration, temperature, and the nature of the
      mucous membrane. The passive diffusion of drugs is found to obey Fick's law.
      Water soluble drugs penetrate the cell membrane through aqueous channel or pores.
      Hence, the study of diffusion of drugs into the water and finally into the blood
      stream is important. An attempt has been made to study the diffusion of the drug
      in water as 60% to 80% of human body is water. For the study of drug diffusion in
      water, a commonly used cough syrup of specific gravity 1.263 is used. It is found
      that the diffusion rate increases with the concentration of the drug.

PMID- 28593325
TI  - The Big Bang.

PMID- 28593306
TI  - Comparative Analysis of Tumor Cell Dissemination to the Sentinel Lymph Nodes and
      to the Bone Marrow in Patients With Nonmetastasized Colon Cancer: A Prospective
      Multicenter Study.
AB  - Importance: Small nodal tumor infiltrates (SNTI; isolated tumor cells and
      micrometastases) in sentinel lymph nodes and bone marrow micrometastases (BMM)
      were independently described as prognostic factors in patients with colon cancer.
      Objective: To examine the association between the occurrence of SNTI and BMM as
      well as their prognostic relevance. Design, Setting, and Participants: This
      prospective study was conducted at 3 university-affiliated institutions in
      Switzerland between May 2000 and December 2006. Statistical analyses were
      performed in October 2016. A total of 122 patients with stage I to III colon
      cancer were included. Follow-up time exceeded 6 years, with no patients lost to
      follow-up. Interventions: Bone marrow aspiration from the iliac crests and in
      vivo sentinel lymph node mapping were performed during open standard oncological
      resection. Bone marrow aspirates were stained with the pancytokeratin marker A45
      B/B3. All sentinel lymph nodes underwent multilevel sectioning and were stained
      with hematoxylin-eosin and the pancytokeratin marker AE1/AE3. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Association of SNTI in sentinel lymph nodes and BMM in patients with
      stage I to III colon cancer and the prognostic effect on disease-free survival
      (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Of the 122 patients, 63 (51.6%) were
      female, with a mean (SD) age of 71.2 (11.7) years. Small nodal tumor infiltrates
      and BMM were found in a total of 21 patients (17.2%) and 46 patients (37.7%),
      respectively. The occurrence of BMM was not associated with the presence of SNTI
      by standard correlation (kappa, -0.07; 95% CI, -0.29 to 0.14; P = .49) nor by
      univariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.22-1.67; P =
      .37) or multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.34
      3.28; P = .88). The presence of SNTI was an independent negative prognostic
      factor for DFS (hazard ratio [HR], 2.93; 95% CI, 1.24-6.93; P = .02) and OS (HR,
      4.04; 95% CI, 1.56-10.45; P = .005), as was BMM (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.06-4.06; P =
      .04; and HR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.26-5.70; P = .01; respectively). The combined
      detection of BMM and SNTI demonstrated the poorest DFS (HR, 6.73; 95% CI, 2.29
      19.76; P = .006) and OS (HR, 5.96; 95% CI, 1.66-21.49; P = .03). Conclusions and
      Relevance: This study demonstrates no association between the occurrence of SNTI
      and BMM in patients with stage I to III colon cancer. However, both SNTI and BMM
      are independent negative prognostic factors regarding DFS and OS, and the
      occurrence of both is associated with significantly worse prognosis compared with
      either one of them. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT00826579.

PMID- 28593327
TI  - QTL mapping of root traits in phosphorus-deficient soils reveals important
      genomic regions for improving NDVI and grain yield in barley.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Major QTLs for root rhizosheath size are not correlated with grain
      yield or yield response to phosphorus. Important QTLs were found to improve
      phosphorus efficiency. Root traits are important for phosphorus (P) acquisition,
      but they are often difficult to characterize and their breeding values are seldom
      assessed under field conditions. This has shed doubts on using seedling-based
      criteria of root traits to select and breed for P efficiency. Eight root traits
      were assessed under controlled conditions in a barley doubled-haploid population
      in soils differing in P levels. The population was also phenotyped for grain
      yield, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), grain P uptake and P
      utilization efficiency at maturity (PutEGY) under field conditions. Several
      quantitative traits loci (QTLs) from the root screening and the field trials were
      co-incident. QTLs for root rhizosheath size and root diameter explained the
      highest phenotypic variation in comparison to QTLs for other root traits. Shared
      QTLs were found between root diameter and grain yield, and total root length and
      PutEGY. A common major QTL for rhizosheath size and NDVI was mapped to the HvMATE
      gene marker on chromosome 4H. Collocations between major QTLs for NDVI and grain
      yield were detected on chromosomes 6H and 7H. When results from BIP and MET were
      combined, QTLs detected for grain yield were also those QTLs found for NDVI. QTLs
      qGY5H, qGY6H and qGY7Hb on 7H were robust QTLs in improving P efficiency. A
      selection of multiple loci may be needed to optimize the breeding outcomes due to
      the QTL x Environment interaction. We suggest that rhizosheath size alone is not
      a reliable trait to predict P efficiency or grain yield.

PMID- 28593328
TI  - Abnormalities in the brain-immune system in psychotic disorders: from
      pathogenesis to prevention.

PMID- 28593326
TI  - Intraoperative Infusion of Dexmedetomidine for Prevention of Postoperative
      Delirium and Cognitive Dysfunction in Elderly Patients Undergoing Major Elective
      Noncardiac Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Postoperative delirium occurs in 10% to 60% of elderly patients
      having major surgery and is associated with longer hospital stays, increased
      hospital costs, and 1-year mortality. Emerging literature suggests that
      dexmedetomidine sedation in critical care units is associated with reduced
      incidence of delirium. However, intraoperative use of dexmedetomidine for
      prevention of delirium has not been well studied. Objective: To evaluate whether
      an intraoperative infusion of dexmedetomidine reduces postoperative delirium.
      Design, Setting, and Participants: This study was a multicenter, double-blind,
      randomized, placebo-controlled trial that randomly assigned patients to
      dexmedetomidine or saline placebo infused during surgery and for 2 hours in the
      recovery room. Patients were assessed daily for postoperative delirium (primary
      outcome) and secondarily for postoperative cognitive decline. Participants were
      elderly (>68 years) patients undergoing major elective noncardiac surgery. The
      study dates were February 2008 to May 2014. Interventions: Dexmedetomidine
      infusion (0.5 ug/kg/h) during surgery and up to 2 hours in the recovery room.
      Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary hypothesis tested was that intraoperative
      dexmedetomidine administration would reduce postoperative delirium. Secondarily,
      the study examined the correlation between dexmedetomidine use and postoperative
      cognitive change. Results: In total, 404 patients were randomized; 390 completed
      in-hospital delirium assessments (median [interquartile range] age, 74.0 [71.0
      78.0] years; 51.3% [200 of 390] female). There was no difference in postoperative
      delirium between the dexmedetomidine and placebo groups (12.2% [23 of 189] vs
      11.4% [23 of 201], P = .94). After adjustment for age and educational level,
      there was no difference in the postoperative cognitive performance between
      treatment groups at 3 months and 6 months. Adverse events were comparably
      distributed in the treatment groups. Conclusions and Relevance: Intraoperative
      dexmedetomidine does not prevent postoperative delirium. The reduction in
      delirium previously demonstrated in numerous surgical intensive care unit studies
      was not observed, which underscores the importance of timing when administering
      the drug to prevent delirium. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
      NCT00561678.

PMID- 28593329
TI  - Core curriculum illustration: pediatric buckle fracture of the distal radius.
AB  - This is the 38th installment of a series that will highlight one case per
      publication issue from the bank of cases available online as part of the American
      Society of Emergency Radiology (ASER) educational resources. Our goal is to
      generate more interest in and use of our online materials. To view more cases
      online, please visit the ASER Core Curriculum and Recommendations for Study
      online at: http://www.erad.org/page/CCIP_TOC.

PMID- 28593330
TI  - Core curriculum illustration: pediatric viral parotitis.
AB  - This is the 36th installment of a series that will highlight one case per
      publication issue from the bank of cases available online as part of the American
      Society of Emergency Radiology (ASER) educational resources. Our goal is to
      generate more interest in and use of our online materials. To view more cases
      online, please visit the ASER Core Curriculum and Recommendations for Study
      online at http://www.aseronline.org/curriculum/toc.htm .

PMID- 28593332
TI  - Population health intervention research: myths and misconceptions.

PMID- 28593333
TI  - Survival and Adaptation of the Thermophilic Species Geobacillus thermantarcticus
      in Simulated Spatial Conditions.
AB  - Astrobiology studies the origin and evolution of life on Earth and in the
      universe. According to the panspermia theory, life on Earth could have emerged
      from bacterial species transported by meteorites, that were able to adapt and
      proliferate on our planet. Therefore, the study of extremophiles, i.e. bacterial
      species able to live in extreme terrestrial environments, can be relevant to
      Astrobiology studies. In this work we described the ability of the thermophilic
      species Geobacillus thermantarcticus to survive after exposition to simulated
      spatial conditions including temperature's variation, desiccation, X-rays and UVC
      irradiation. The response to the exposition to the space conditions was assessed
      at a molecular level by studying the changes in the morphology, the lipid and
      protein patterns, the nucleic acids. G. thermantarcticus survived to the
      exposition to all the stressing conditions examined, since it was able to restart
      cellular growth in comparable levels to control experiments carried out in the
      optimal growth conditions. Survival was elicited by changing proteins and lipids
      distribution, and by protecting the DNA's integrity.

PMID- 28593331
TI  - Clustering of energy balance-related behaviours, sleep, and overweight among
      Finnish adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine how clusters of energy balance-related behaviours (EBRBs),
      including sleep related factors, were associated with overweight among
      adolescents. METHODS: In Finland, 4262 adolescents, aged 13-15, participated in
      the cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The
      adolescents completed questionnaires assessing EBRBs [sleep duration, discrepancy
      and quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, junk food, fruit, and vegetable
      intake] and height and weight. Clusters were identified with kappa-means cluster
      analysis and their associations with overweight with logistic regression
      analyses. RESULTS: Common clusters for boys and girls were labelled "Healthy
      lifestyle" and "High screen time, unhealthy lifestyle". In addition, the cluster
      "Low/moderate screen time, unhealthy lifestyle" was identified among boys, and
      the cluster "Poor sleep, unhealthy lifestyle" among girls. Only girls in the
      cluster "High screen time, unhealthy lifestyle" were at increased risk for
      overweight. CONCLUSIONS: Girls, whose EBRB was characterized by high screen time
      and low PA, but not with poor sleep, were at increased risk for overweight.
      Future studies should examine ways to promote PA among adolescent girls with high
      interest in screen-based activities.

PMID- 28593334
TI  - Seasonal variation in patient characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of
      Takotsubo syndrome: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in Japan.
AB  - Although there is reportedly seasonal variation in the occurrence of Takotsubo
      syndrome (TTS), it is unknown whether there is a relationship between season and
      patient characteristics, or whether season influences outcomes. Using the
      Diagnosis Procedure Combination database in Japan, we retrospectively identified
      4306 patients (mean age 73.6 years) hospitalized with TTS between January 2011
      and December 2013. We divided patients into four groups according to season of
      admission [n = 914, Spring (March-May); n = 1243, Summer (June-August); n = 1245,
      Autumn (September-November); n = 904, Winter (December-February)]. The outcomes
      were in-hospital mortality and cardiovascular complications. We compared patient
      backgrounds and outcomes across seasons and estimated the adjusted odds ratios
      (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for outcomes in logistic regression
      analyses adjusted for multiple propensity scores. Although there was no
      significant difference in age across seasons, the proportion of males differed
      significantly (from 18.5% in autumn to 23.9% in winter; p = 0.016). The incidence
      of psychiatric disease (from 4.9% in spring to 7.9% in summer; p = 0.025) and
      sepsis (from 0.8% in winter to 2.6% in summer; p = 0.019) also differed
      significantly with season. In-hospital mortality was not significantly influenced
      by season (p = 0.377): spring, 5.1%; summer, 6.0%; autumn, 4.6%; winter, 6.0%.
      However, in-hospital mortality ranged widely across months from 3.0% in September
      to 7.5% in April. The incidence of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation was
      significantly different (p = 0.038): spring, 2.2% (reference); summer, 3.3% (aOR
      1.46, 95% CI 0.84-2.51); autumn, 2.7% (aOR 1.27, 95% CI 0.72-2.22); winter, 4.4%
      (aOR 1.92, 95% CI 1.11-3.33). Although season did not appear to influence the in
      hospital mortality of TTS, monthly variation may exist in the risk of death in
      patients with TTS. There were significant seasonal variations in the proportions
      of males, patients with psychiatric disease or sepsis, and the incidence of
      ventricular arrhythmias among patients with TTS.

PMID- 28593335
TI  - Key points to optimizing management and research on cancer-associated thrombosis.
AB  - Despite the fact that thromboembolism is relatively common in oncology patients
      and that the interrelationship between thrombotic risk and specific mechanisms of
      tumorigenesis has long been known, many cardinal elements of prevention and
      treatment remain unresolved. Among the existing knowledge gaps, the need to
      validate the Ay scale and compare it to the Khorana index, develop, and
      standardize the use of predictive biomarkers for thrombotic risk, conduct
      clinical trials in thromboprophylaxis adapted to thrombotic risk, evaluate the
      efficacy and safety of direct anticoagulants, select patients who can benefit
      from anticoagulants for antitumor treatment, validate the EPIPHANY study decision
      tree to choose patients with low-risk pulmonary embolism, and accumulate more
      practical experience in special situations (rethrombosis, prolonged therapy
      beyond 6 months, etc.) are especially remarkable. These gray areas surrounding
      cancer-related thromboembolism explain why it continues to be a relatively common
      cause of serious events, at times interfering significantly with the development
      of new tumor-fighting strategies.

PMID- 28593336
TI  - Effect of urea-supplemented diets on the ruminal bacterial and archaeal community
      composition of finishing bulls.
AB  - In this study, we evaluated the effects of urea-supplemented diets on the ruminal
      bacterial and archaeal communities of finishing bulls using sequencing
      technology. Eighteen bulls were fed a total mixed ration based on maize silage
      and concentrate (40:60) and randomly allocated to one of three experimental
      diets: a basal diet with no urea (UC, 0%), a basal diet supplemented with low
      urea levels (UL, 0.8% dry matter (DM) basis), and a basal diet supplemented with
      high urea levels (UH, 2% DM basis). All treatments were iso-nitrogenous (14%
      crude protein, DM basis) and iso-metabolic energetic (ME = 11.3 MJ/kg, DM basis).
      After a 12-week feeding trial, DNA was isolated from ruminal samples and used for
      16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. For bacteria, the most abundant phyla were
      Firmicutes (44.47%) and Bacteroidetes (41.83%), and the dominant genera were
      Prevotella (13.17%), Succiniclasticum (4.24%), Butyrivibrio (2.36%), and
      Ruminococcus (1.93%). Urea supplementation had no effect on most phyla (P >
      0.05), while there was a decreasing tendency in phylum TM7 with increasing urea
      levels (P = 0.0914). Compared to UC, UH had lower abundance of genera
      Butyrivibrio and Coprococcus (P = 0.0092 and P = 0.0222, respectively). For
      archaea, the most abundant phylum was Euryarchaeota (99.81% of the sequence
      reads), and the most abundant genus was Methanobrevibacter (90.87% of the
      sequence reads). UH increased the abundance of genus Methanobrevibacter and
      Methanobacterium (P = 0.0299 and P = 0.0007, respectively) and decreased the
      abundance of vadinCA11 (P = 0.0151). These findings suggest that urea
      supplemented diets were associated with a shift in archaeal biodiversity and
      changes in the bacterial community in the rumen.

PMID- 28593337
TI  - Functionalization of natural compounds by enzymatic fructosylation.
AB  - Enzymatic fructosylation of organic acceptors other than sugar opens access to
      the production of new molecules that do not exist in nature. These new
      glycoconjugates may have improved physical-chemical and bioactive properties like
      solubility, stability, bioavailability, and bioactivity. This review focuses on
      different classes of acceptors including alkyl alcohols, aromatic alcohols,
      alkaloids, flavonoids, and xanthonoids, which were tested for the production of
      fructoderivatives using enzymes from the glycoside hydrolase (GH) families 32 and
      68 that use sucrose as donor substrate. The enzymatic strategies and the reaction
      conditions required for the achievement of these complex reactions are discussed,
      in particular with regard to the type of acceptors. The solubility and
      pharmacokinetic and antioxidant activity of some of these new beta-D
      fructofuranosides in comparison is reviewed and compared with their glucoside
      analogs to highlight the differences between these molecules for technological
      applications.

PMID- 28593338
TI  - [Diagnostic workup and therapy of acute venous diseases].
AB  - Acute venous diseases, especially deep leg and pelvic vein thrombosis, present an
      angiological emergency and can lead to acute life-threatening events such as
      pulmonary embolism. Long-term consequences may be postthrombotic syndromes. In
      addition to stroke and myocardial infarction, deep leg and pelvic vein thrombosis
      are one of the most common cardiovascular diseases. Early diagnosis and rapid
      initiation of therapy are important.

PMID- 28593339
TI  - [Facial manifestations of granulomatous diseases].
AB  - Clinical manifestations of granulomatous diseases are a recurring challenge in
      everyday dermatological practice. Clinical presentation and histological patterns
      are variable, depending on the particular disease. Knowledge about the
      differential diagnosis of granulomatous changes in the face is of decisive
      importance for making a rational diagnosis and therapy considering the patient's
      well-being. Therefore, histological and clinical characteristics of important
      granulomatous diseases that typically manifest on the face are presented here.

PMID- 28593340
TI  - A previously unclassified variant of sternalis muscle.
AB  - PURPOSE: We propose an addition to the Snosek et al. classification to include a
      subtype variant of sternalis muscle: mixed type and triple subtype. METHODS:
      Dissection of the anterior thorax of a 96-year-old female cadaver revealed
      bilateral sternalis muscles with an undocumented variant of the right sternalis
      muscle. RESULTS: The left sternalis muscle presented as a simple type-left single
      using the Snosek et al. classification scheme. The right sternalis muscle
      revealed a previously undocumented classification type. It consisted of three
      bellies and two heads, with the lateral head formed by two converging bellies and
      the medial head formed from the superficial medial belly. CONCLUSIONS: The unique
      presentation of right sternalis muscle can be classified by expanding the Snosek
      et al. classification scheme to include triple-bellied subtypes. This
      presentation is classified as a mixed type-right triple, with single bicipital
      converging and single bicipital diverging. Documentation of sternalis muscle
      variations can prevent misdiagnoses within the anterior thorax.

PMID- 28593342
TI  - The role of dual leucine zipper kinase (DLK) in beta-cell apoptosis: a potential
      target for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes? : Commentary to:
      Borchers et al., TNF-alpha induced DLK activation contributes to apoptosis in the
      beta-cell line HIT.

PMID- 28593343
TI  - Configurations and characteristics of boron and B36 clusters.
AB  - Characteristics of the ring and linear structures of the boron cluster B36 and
      its doped clusters were investigated with DFT/B3LYP/6-31G. The results illustrate
      that the ring B3 structure is the most stable configuration compared with other
      rings. Odd and even linear structures have different bonding; there is one
      different bond in the center of even linear structures, while the remaining bonds
      have left and right symmetry. The B36 cluster upholds the configuration rule of
      pure ring and linear molecules. However, the N-doped B36N cluster exhibits
      obvious distortion compared with the B36 molecule. The impurity N changes the
      structure of the energy band of the B36 cluster. The wavelength of absorption
      spectra and electronic circular dichroism of the N-doped B36N cluster shifts to a
      longer wavelength compared with that of the B36 cluster.

PMID- 28593341
TI  - Activation of remote monitoring for cardiac implantable electronic devices: small
      dog for tall weeds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Remote monitoring (RM) of cardiac implantable electronic devices
      (CIEDs) has been popularized as a precious patients' management tool. We have
      investigated RM within the premises of a multicenter, prospective, real-world
      registry, i.e., the German Device II. METHODS: We have focused on: (1) CIEDs with
      RM capabilities implantation rate and (2) actual rate of RM features activation.
      RESULTS: A cohort of 1223 CIEDs patients were treated from 04/11 to 02/14. Of
      these, 720 (58.8%) were implanted with RM-capable devices and were presenting
      significantly more often a clinical diagnosis of dilatative cardiomyopathy and an
      indication for cardiac resynchronization. At discharge, the RM feature was
      activated in only 12.6% (91/720) of the total number of patients implanted with
      RM-capable CIEDs. After adjusting for implanting center, there was no significant
      correlation between any of the patient clinical characteristics and RM
      activation. One-year estimated mortality was 9.0% in patients with activated RM,
      5.6% in those with not activated RM, and 7.7% in those without RM capability (p =
      0.3). The RM feature was still activated in 13.8% of the patients surviving at
      follow-up. Patients undergoing RM had a trend for higher re-hospitalization rate
      and less visits in the device outpatient clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Although RM in
      CIEDs may be a clinically valuable technological armamentarium, its activation
      does not reflect patients' clinical profile. In fact, RM is often not activated,
      most probably because it is still recognized as a source of increased workload in
      a reality where reimbursement plans for dedicated human resources are not yet
      optimized.

PMID- 28593344
TI  - The addition reactions of germylenoid H2GeAlCl3 with ethylene: a theoretical
      investigation.
AB  - Theoretical calculations using the M062X and QCISD methods were performed on the
      addition reactions of the aluminum germylenoid H2GeAlCl3 with ethylene. The most
      two stable structures of germylenoid H2GeAlCl3, i.e., the p-complex and three
      membered ring structures, respectively, were employed as reactants. The
      calculated results indicate that, for the p-complex, H2GeAlCl3 there are two
      pathways, I and II, of which path I involves just one transition state, while
      path II involves two transition states between reactants and products. Comparing
      the reaction barrier heights of path I (44.6 kJ mol-1) and II (37.6 kJ mol-1),
      the two pathways are competitive, with similar barriers under the same
      conditions, while for the three-membered ring structure, another two pathways,
      III and IV, also exist. Path III has one transition state; however, in path IV,
      two transition states exist. By comparing their barrier heights, path III
      (barrier height 39.2 kJ mol-1) could occur more easily than path IV (barrier
      height 92.8 kJ mol-1). Considering solvent effects on these addition reactions,
      the PCM model and CH2Cl2 solvent were used in calculations, and the calculated
      results demonstrate that CH2Cl2 solvent is unfavorable for the reactions, except
      for path II. In CH2Cl2 solvent, paths II and III are more favorable than paths I
      and IV.

PMID- 28593345
TI  - Exocrine Gland Morphogenesis: Insights into the Role of Amphiregulin from
      Development to Disease.
AB  - Amphiregulin (AREG) is a well-characterized member of the epidermal growth factor
      (EGF) family and is one of the ligands of the EGF receptor (EGFR). AREG plays a
      key role in mammalian development and in the control of branching morphogenesis
      in various organs. Furthermore, AREG participates in a wide range of
      physiological and pathological processes activating the major intracellular
      signalling cascades governing cell survival, proliferation and motility. In this
      article, we review current advances in exocrine glands morphogenesis, focusing on
      the salivary gland, and discuss the essential aspects of AREG structure, function
      and regulation, and its differential role within the EGFR family of ligands.
      Finally, we identify emerging aspects in AREG research applied to mammary gland
      development and the salivary gland autoimmune disease, Sjogren's syndrome.

PMID- 28593346
TI  - The first identified cathelicidin from tree frogs possesses anti-inflammatory and
      partial LPS neutralization activities.
AB  - As of February 2017, approximately 7639 amphibian species have been described in
      the AmphibiaWeb database. However, only 20 cathelicidin-like antimicrobial
      peptides have been identified to date from 10 amphibian species. Half of these
      peptides were identified from genome sequences and have not yet been functionally
      characterized. In this study, a novel cathelicidin-like peptide designated
      cathelicidin-PP was purified from the skin of tree frog Polypedates puerensis.
      Cathelicidin-PP is a 32 residue peptide of sequence
      ASENGKCNLLCLVKKKLRAVGNVIKTVVGKIA. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated that
      cathelicidin-PP mainly adopts a beta-sheet structure in membrane-mimetic
      solutions. Cathelicidin-PP exhibits potent antimicrobial activity against
      bacteria and fungi, especially Gram-negative bacteria. Meanwhile, it shows low
      cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells. Scanning electron microscopy analysis
      indicated that cathelicidin-PP kills bacteria through the disruption of the
      bacterial cell membrane integrity. Furthermore, cathelicidin-PP exerts
      significant anti-inflammatory functions by inhibiting the lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS)-mediated generation of nitric oxide and pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta, and interleukin-6. The MAPKs (ERK, JNK,
      and p38) and NF-kappaB signaling pathways are involved in the anti-inflammatory
      effect. Cathelicidin-PP caused partial neutralization of LPS in a dose-dependent
      manner. Quantitative PCR indicated that infection of tree frogs with bacteria
      causes increased expression of cathelicidin-PP in immune-related tissues. Taken
      together, cathelicidin-PP is the first identified cathelicidin-like peptide from
      tree frogs. Our findings demonstrate that in addition to direct bactericidal
      capacity, cathelicidin-PP also possesses immunomodulatory properties, including
      partial neutralization of LPS, and inhibiting the production of inflammatory
      cytokines.

PMID- 28593347
TI  - [Pathology of the R1 classification in visceral cancer surgery].
AB  - The completeness of tumor removal is described in the residual tumor
      classification (R classification). The R category of a surgical specimen reflects
      the effects of treatment, influences further treatment decisions and is
      associated with patient survival. Thorough pathological examination of all
      resection planes, including the circumferential margin, is necessary for accurate
      classification.

PMID- 28593348
TI  - Acute effects of binary mixtures of Type II pyrethroids and organophosphate
      insecticides on Oreochromis niloticus.
AB  - Pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides have been used for more than 20 years
      worldwide to control a variety of insect pest in different settings. These
      pesticides have been detected in a variety of environmental samples, including
      surface waters and sediments and therefore there is significant concern about
      their potential toxic effects on non-target organisms. Mixtures of compounds from
      these groups of pesticides have been found to frequently show enhanced toxicity
      but it has been a challenge to predict whether or not enhanced toxicity will
      occur for a given combination of compounds. This study therefore studied the
      effects of binary pyrethroid-organophosphate mixtures using cypermethrin,
      deltamethrin and dimethoate in an acute toxicity test system with Oreochromis
      niloticus. The 96 h LC50s for individual insecticides were 9.13 ug/l, 9.42 ug/l
      and 45.52 mg/l for cypermethrin, deltamethrin and dimethoate respectively. These
      showed that the pyrethroid insecticides were highly toxic to Oreochromis
      niloticus and were far more toxic than dimethoate. All mixtures were also more
      toxic than single insecticides throughout the concentration-response curve with
      mixtures resulting in mortality at concentrations which the individual pesticides
      in the mixture were below their respective NOECs. In addition, observed mixture
      toxicities deviated from the predicted mixture effects based either on the
      Concentration Addition (CA) or Independent Action (IA) models independent of
      mixture ratio. However, the extent of observed mixture mortality deviation was
      dependent on the effect level. Significant deviations (MDR > 2.0) were observed
      at lower concentrations indicating synergistic effects at lower and possibly
      environmentally relevant concentrations. This is not unexpected since
      organophosphate insecticides are known to inhibit acetylcholinesterase as well as
      inactivate esterase, resulting in reduced detoxification of pyrethroid
      insecticides and consequently greater toxicity than would be expected. This has
      important implications for risk assessment of mixtures since the risk of
      pyrethroid-organophosphate mixtures may be underestimated if either the CA or IA
      model is employed.

PMID- 28593349
TI  - Transcriptomic Analysis of the Swarm Motility Phenotype of Salmonella enterica
      Serovar Typhimurium Mutant Defective in Periplasmic Glucan Synthesis.
AB  - Movement of food-borne pathogens on moist surfaces enables them to migrate
      towards more favorable niches and facilitate their survival for extended periods
      of time. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium mutants defective in
      Osmoregulated periplasmic glucans (OPG) synthesis are unable to exhibit motility
      on moist surfaces (swarming); however, their mobility in liquid (swim motility)
      remains unaffected. In order to understand the role of OPG in swarm motility,
      transcriptomic analysis was performed using cells growing on a moist agar
      surface. In opgGH deletion mutant, lack of OPG significantly altered
      transcription of 1039 genes out of total 4712 genes (22%). Introduction of a
      plasmid-borne copy of opgGH into opgGH deletion mutant restored normal expression
      of all but 30 genes, indicating a wide-range influence of OPG on gene expression
      under swarm motility condition. Major pathways that were differentially expressed
      in opgGH mutants were motility, virulence and invasion, and genes related to the
      secondary messenger molecule, cyclic di-GMP. These observations provide insights
      and help explain the pleiotropic nature of OPG mutants such as sub-optimal
      virulence and competitive organ colonization in mice, biofilm formation, and
      sensitivity towards detergent stress.

PMID- 28593352
TI  - Bone and joint infection, from prevention to complications.

PMID- 28593351
TI  - [What is the perception of the 10-point plan of the German Federal Ministry of
      Health against multidrug-resistant pathogens and measures of antibiotic
      stewardship? : An interdisciplinary analysis among German clinicians and
      development of a decision tool for urologists].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to increasing antibiotic resistances, relevant treatment problems
      are currently emerging in clinical practice. In March 2015, the German Federal
      Ministry of Health (BMG) published a 10-point plan designed to combat this
      development. Furthermore, the first German guideline on antibiotic stewardship
      (ABS) was implemented in 2013 and instructs physicians of different specialties
      about several treatment considerations. Evidence is scarce on how such concepts
      (10-point plan/BMG, ABS) are perceived among clinicians. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Within the MR2 study (Multiinstitutional Reconnaissance of practice with
      MultiResistant bacteria - a survey focusing on German hospitals), a questionnaire
      including 4 + 35 items was sent to 18 German hospitals between August and October
      2015, surveying internists, gynecologists, general surgeons, and urologists.
      Using multivariate logistic regression models (MLRM), the impact of medical
      specialty and further criteria on the endpoints (1) awareness of the 10-point
      plan/BMG and (2) knowledge of ABS measures were assessed. Fulfillment of
      endpoints was predefined when average or full knowledge was reported (reference:
      poor to no knowledge). RESULTS: Overall response rate was 43% (456/1061) for
      fully evaluable questionnaires. Only 63.0 and 53.6% of urologists and
      nonurologists (internists, gynecologists, and general surgeons), respectively,
      attended training courses regarding multidrug-resistance or antibiotic
      prescribing in the 12 months prior to the study (P = 0.045). The endpoints
      average and full knowledge regarding 10-point plan/BMG and ABS measures were
      fulfilled in only 31.4 and 32.8%, respectively. In MLRM, clinicians with at least
      one previous training course (reference: no training course) were 2.5- and 3.8
      fold more likely to meet respective endpoint criteria (all P < 0.001). Medical
      specialty (urologists vs. nonurologists) did not significantly impact the
      endpoints in both MLRM. CONCLUSIONS: The 10-point plan/BMG and ABS programs
      should be implemented into clinical practice, but awareness and knowledge of both
      is insufficient. Thus, it stands to reason that the actual realization of such
      measures is inadequate and continuous training towards rational prescription of
      antibiotics is necessary, regardless of medical specialty.

PMID- 28593350
TI  - Age-Related Changes in the Composition of Gut Bifidobacterium Species.
AB  - Bifidobacteria are one of the major components in human microbiota that are
      suggested to function in maintaining human health. The colonization and cell
      number of Bifidobacterium species in human intestine vary with ageing. However,
      sequential changes of Bifidobacterium species ranging from newborns to
      centenarians remain unresolved. Here, we investigated the gut compositional
      changes of Bifidobacterium species over a wide range of ages. Faecal samples of
      441 healthy Japanese subjects between the ages of 0 and 104 years were analysed
      using real-time PCR with species-specific primers. B. longum group was widely
      detected from newborns to centenarians, with the highest detection rate. B. breve
      was detected in approximately 70% of children under 3 years old. B. adolescentis
      and B. catenulatum groups were predominant after weaning. B. bifidum was detected
      at almost all ages. The detection rate of B. dentium was higher in the elderly
      than in other ages. B. animalis ssp. lactis was detected in 11.4% of the subjects
      and their ages were restricted. B. gallinarum goup was detected in only nine
      subjects, while B. minimum and B. mongoliense were undetected at any age. The
      presence of certain Bifidobacterium groups was associated with significantly
      higher numbers of other Bifidobacterium species/subspecies. Inter-species
      correlations were found among each species, exception for B. animalis ssp.
      lactis. These results revealed the patterns and transition points with respect to
      compositional changes of Bifidobacterium species that occur with ageing, and the
      findings indicate that there may be symbiotic associations between some of these
      species in the gut microbiota.

PMID- 28593353
TI  - Diabetic ketoacidosis and diabetes associated with antipsychotic exposure among a
      previously diabetes-naive population with schizophrenia: a nationwide nested case
      control study.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a potentially fatal metabolic
      emergency of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Although there is a reduced risk of
      type 1 diabetes in schizophrenia, the incidence of DKA is tenfold higher than
      that of the general population. Thus, we aimed to investigate associations
      between exposure to antipsychotic medication (within 3 months prior to event) and
      DKA, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. We also reported related, clinically
      relevant outcomes. METHODS: Using a nested case-control study design, we
      identified cases of DKA, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes in a previously
      diabetes-naive population with schizophrenia in Denmark from 1995 to 2014. Cases
      were matched (by age, sex and year of schizophrenia onset) 1:5 to schizophrenic
      control individuals who were alive and had not emigrated prior to event.
      Conditional logistic regression was used to compute ORs with 95% CIs. Other
      outcomes included diabetes aetiology of DKA, in-hospital mortality, DKA
      readmissions and temporal trends of use of insulin and oral glucose-lowering
      agents. RESULTS: Of 29,955 individuals with schizophrenia, we identified 28
      individuals with DKA, 90 with type 1 diabetes and 2140 with type 2 diabetes.
      These were matched to 137, 410 and 9861 individuals in the control group,
      respectively. Antipsychotic exposure was associated with DKA (OR 2.60; 95% CI
      1.06, 6.38) and type 2 diabetes (OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.48, 1.83). A trend towards
      increased risk of type 1 diabetes was found but remained insignificant (OR 1.38;
      95% CI 0.84, 2.29). Diabetes aetiology of DKA was type 1 in eight cases and type
      2 in 14 cases. Of the remaining six cases of DKA, aetiology could not be
      determined, as four were fatal within 8 days and for two, no prescriptions for
      insulin and oral glucose-lowering agents were redeemed. Of all DKA cases, six had
      more than one episode of DKA, and of all type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes
      cases, four and 11, respectively, had at least one episode. Use of insulin and
      oral glucose-lowering agents was higher among individuals with DKA relative to
      those with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION:
      Antipsychotic exposure was associated with DKA and type 2 diabetes in a
      previously diabetes-naive schizophrenia population. Antipsychotic-associated DKA
      is relevant not only for psychiatrists but also for other physicians who may
      manage and admit such patients.

PMID- 28593354
TI  - [Educational gerontology and social work].
AB  - Educational gerontology has become established over the past 40 years in a
      multifaceted, differentiated practice which, against the background of social
      change processes, combined with the phenomena of demographic change, takes up and
      creates room for accompanying irritations, learning requirements and
      opportunities. A corresponding theoretical foundation exists in the scientific
      discipline of geragogy, which is located at the interfaces between gerontology,
      educational science and social work. The close proximity between education of and
      social work with the elderly is meanwhile also evident in many recent research
      and development projects, in which theory formation for geragogy and social work
      as scientific disciplines take place at the same time. Against this background,
      the core developmental lines of geragogy are briefly sketched in this article and
      linked with the exemplary scientific discourse within gerontology and social work
      sciences. The result is a form of synthesis of central theoretical premises of
      social gerontology in the field of educational gerontology. This claim becomes
      more concrete by a recourse to the results of relevant research and development
      projects, which refer to different facets of educational work in different
      gerontological fields or as a conscious approach to methodological integration,
      also in the sense of participatory procedures. Theoretical and didactic
      approaches to educational gerontology are of increasing importance in terms of
      enabling integration and participation and also in the context of research and
      development projects. This also involves participation of the elderly as experts
      in their own field as well as participatory procedures and approaches.
      Willingness to learn and openness to educational approaches will also be the
      basic prerequisites for older people in the future, creating orientation in a
      rapidly changing world and social participation. One important task for
      educational gerontology in this context is to reach and to involve older people
      who are not very well educated and to open them up to the necessary room for
      social integration and participation. Methods of social work can therefore be
      very helpful.

PMID- 28593356
TI  - [Gerontological research in social and behavioral sciences in Germany since 1968
      : Review, critical assessment and perspectives].
AB  - This article addresses the development of German social and behavioral aging
      research during the last 50 years based on four propositions: (a) the development
      and unfolding of social and behavioral aging research in the 1960s and 1970s was
      tedious. (b) During the 1980s and 1990s the significance of social and behavioral
      aging research grew considerably. (c) The last 20 years brought increasing and
      strong recognition of social and behavioral aging research. (d) Currently, social
      and behavioral aging research in Germany follows high and internationally
      established standards, and findings are published in internationally recognized
      journals. In a resume and outlook the structural aspects, future research topics,
      funding dynamics, and issues of the application of social and behavioral aging
      science are discussed.

PMID- 28593355
TI  - [Municipalities as places for social work for the elderly].
AB  - Against the background of social and demographic changes, this article addresses
      the design and organization of processes of aging within municipal contexts. It
      is assumed that the renaissance of the local communal situation corresponds to
      processes of individualization and subjectivation, which are characteristic for
      (post)industrial western societies, and that this development is one of the
      reasons that community-based social work is regaining importance. A case study of
      social work for the elderly in a municipality of the Ruhr area, which is imbedded
      in a municipal senior citizens policy concept, illustrates this assumption. The
      conclusion identifies the scope of actions for social work for the elderly as
      well as their limitations.

PMID- 28593357
TI  - HIV infection or HAART therapy: what is the cause of adverse obstetric outcomes.

PMID- 28593358
TI  - Accuracy in identifying the elbow rotation axis on simulated fluoroscopic images
      using a new anatomical landmark.
AB  - External fixation of the elbow requires identification of the elbow rotation
      axis, but the accuracy of traditional landmarks (capitellum and trochlea) on
      fluoroscopy is limited. The relative distance (RD) of the humerus may be helpful
      as additional landmark. The first aim of this study was to determine the optimal
      RD that corresponds to an on-axis lateral image of the elbow. The second aim was
      to assess whether the use of the optimal RD improves the surgical accuracy to
      identify the elbow rotation axis on fluoroscopy. CT scans of elbows from five
      volunteers were used to simulate fluoroscopy; the actual rotation axis was
      calculated with CT-based flexion-extension analysis. First, three observers
      measured the optimal RD on simulated fluoroscopy. The RD is defined as the
      distance between the dorsal part of the humerus and the projection of the
      posteromedial cortex of the distal humerus, divided by the anteroposterior
      diameter of the humerus. Second, eight trauma surgeons assessed the elbow
      rotation axis on simulated fluoroscopy. In a preteaching session, surgeons used
      traditional landmarks. The surgeons were then instructed how to use the optimal
      RD as additional landmark in a postteaching session. The deviation from the
      actual rotation axis was expressed as rotational and translational error (+/-SD).
      Measurement of the RD was robust and easily reproducible; the optimal RD was 45%.
      The surgeons identified the elbow rotation axis with a mean rotational error
      decreasing from 7.6 degrees  +/- 3.4 degrees  to 6.7 degrees  +/- 3.3 degrees 
      after teaching how to use the RD. The mean translational error decreased from 4.2
      +/- 2.0 to 3.7 +/- 2.0 mm after teaching. The humeral RD as additional landmark
      yielded small but relevant improvements. Although fluoroscopy-based external
      fixator alignment to the elbow remains prone to error, it is recommended to use
      the RD as additional landmark.

PMID- 28593359
TI  - Guided growth for valgus deformity correction of knees in a girl with
      osteopetrosis: a case report.
AB  - : Autosomal dominant osteopetrosis (Albers-Schonberg disease) classically
      displays the radiographic signs of osteosclerosis. The main ADO complications
      involve the skeleton: low-impact bone fractures, scoliosis and hip
      osteoarthritis. Management of osteopetrosis-related orthopedic problems is a
      surgical challenge due to increased bone density. The healing process is very
      slow in these patients because of bone remodeling defects related to osteoblast
      function failure. In case of bone deformities, a realignment method should be
      appropriated to osteopetrosis conditions. This article presents a case report of
      operative treatment of an 11-year-old girl affected with ADO, who underwent a
      simultaneous valgus knee deformity correction of both limbs with medial eight
      plate epiphysiodesis. Simultaneous correction of valgus deformity on both limbs
      using an extraperiosteal tension plate technique for medial tibial
      hemiepiphysiodesis was performed in a girl of 11.5 years old with autosomal
      dominant osteopetrosis. The treatment duration from surgery to complete deformity
      correction and removal of plates was 18 months. The final aMPTA was 86 degrees 
      on the right side and 85 degrees  on the left side. The correction rate was 0.61
      degrees /month (right tibia) and 0.67 degrees /month (left tibia). The MAD
      correction rate was evaluated as 1.5 mm/month for the right limb and 1.6 mm/month
      for the left limb. At the moment of plate removal, one screw was broken because
      of tight fixation in osteopetrotic bone. But it did not compromise the final
      result. The latest follow-up visit at the age of 14 years 6 months revealed
      excellent realignment without any deformity relapse. There was no any functional
      impairment. We consider the guided growth by tension band technique as very
      interesting and promising solution for treatment of pediatric angular deformity
      in patients with OP. This method allows to avoid osteotomy and related important
      risk of delayed union or nonunion frequently observed in osteopetrosis. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level IV.

PMID- 28593362
TI  - Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1beta maturity-onset diabetes of the young in a Chinese
      child presenting with hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state.

PMID- 28593360
TI  - Strongest FamiliesTM Managing Our Mood (MOM): a randomized controlled trial of a
      distance intervention for women with postpartum depression.
AB  - The present study investigated whether a distance-delivered intervention could
      significantly decrease mild to moderate postpartum depression (PPD) in mothers as
      compared to usual care. Mothers with PPD (n = 62) were randomly assigned to the
      intervention or standard community care. Participants receiving the intervention
      followed a 12-session cognitive behavioural informed handbook supplemented with
      telephone-based coaching support. Diagnostic status and depressive symptoms were
      assessed at baseline and 3, 6 and 12 months postrandomization. Odds ratios
      indicated that intervention group participants were 1.5 times as likely to
      experience diagnostic remission at 3 months (mid-intervention) (p = 0.742), 1.54
      times as likely at 6 months (p = 0.696) and 12.5 times as likely at 12 months (p
      = 0.009). Intervention 'dosage' significantly moderated this effect; for every
      additional coaching session completed, individuals had a 1.4 times greater chance
      of showing improvement at 3 and 6 months. Mothers reported high satisfaction with
      the intervention. Findings suggest positive outcomes at each time point and
      superior outcomes to the control condition at the long-term follow-up. Caution in
      interpreting these results is warranted due to small sample size and incomplete
      data; however, they support further investigation into the use of distance
      interventions as an accessible and effective solution for women with PPD.

PMID- 28593361
TI  - Different patterns of depressive symptoms during pregnancy.
AB  - Recently, the US Preventive Services Task Force has advocated to screen pregnant
      and postpartum women for depression. However, we questioned the meaning of a
      single elevated depression score: does it represent just one episode of
      depression or do these symptoms persist throughout the entire pregnancy? This
      study assessed depressive symptoms at each trimester in a cohort of 1813 pregnant
      women and evaluated whether women with different patterns of depressive symptoms
      showed other characteristics. Depending on the trimester, elevated depression
      scores were prevalent in 10-15% of the pregnant women. Up to 4% reported
      persistent symptoms of depression throughout pregnancy. Different patterns of
      depressive symptoms were observed, for which persistent symptoms were related to
      other characteristics than incidentally elevated symptoms. Besides a previous
      history of mental health problems as best overall predictor, incidentally
      elevated depression scores were related to major life events. Furthermore,
      persistently depressive symptoms were related to unplanned pregnancy and
      multiparity. An EDS assessment at 12 weeks of gestation including three
      additional items (history of mental health problems, unplanned pregnancy and
      multiparity) enabled us to identify 83% of the women with persistent depressive
      symptoms. A depression screening strategy in pregnant women should take into
      account the potential chronicity of depressive symptoms by repeated assessments
      in order to offer an intervention to the most vulnerable women.

PMID- 28593364
TI  - Transvaginal approach to distal ureterectomy in an obstructed remnant.

PMID- 28593363
TI  - The glenoid track: a review of the clinical relevance, method of calculation and
      current evidence behind this method.
AB  - In the setting of bipolar bone injury, orthopedic surgeons are currently making
      use of the glenoid track method to guide surgical management. Using preoperative
      CT or MR imaging, this method allows the identification of patients who are more
      likely to fail a primary capsuloligamentous Bankart repair. As the glenoid track
      method becomes increasingly used in preoperative planning, it is important for
      the radiologist to become familiar with its concept and method of calculation.
      This review article aims to concisely summarize the current literature and the
      clinical implications of the glenoid track method.

PMID- 28593366
TI  - Vaginal evisceration following colpocleisis.

PMID- 28593365
TI  - Urinary symptoms after bladder flap at the time of primary cesarean delivery: a
      randomized controlled trial (RTC).
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to evaluate urinary
      symptoms in the postpartum period after omission of the bladder flap at the time
      of primary cesarean delivery. METHODS: This was a single-blind parallel-group
      randomized comparison (bladder flap, no bladder flap) in women scheduled for a
      primary cesarean delivery at 37 weeks gestation or later. The primary outcome was
      urinary symptom scores at 6-8 weeks postpartum. Secondary outcomes included
      comparisons of preoperative and postoperative pelvic floor symptom scores and the
      proportions of symptom bother responses between the study groups. RESULTS: A
      total 43 women were available for analysis. Randomization was as follows:
      omission of the bladder flap (n = 22) and bladder flap (n = 21). Demographic
      characteristics and baseline pelvic floor symptom scores were similar between the
      groups. The primary outcome, urinary symptom scores at 6-8 weeks postpartum, did
      not differ significantly between the groups, but urinary symptom bother was
      significantly higher in women who received a bladder flap. Pelvic floor symptom
      scores improved significantly following delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary symptom
      scores as measured by the UDI-6 did not differ between women randomized to
      bladder flap or omission of the bladder flap, but the proportion of women with
      urinary symptom bother was significantly higher among those who received a
      bladder flap.

PMID- 28593367
TI  - Vulvar lichen sclerosus in women is associated with lower urinary tract symptoms.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Lichen sclerosus (LS) is thought to be primarily a
      disease of postmenopausal women. Little is reported about lower urinary tract
      symptoms (LUTS) in association with LS. The aims of this study were to evaluate
      the odds of having LS-associated LUTS and to identify the predominant type of LS
      associated bladder dysfunction. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with
      two cohorts investigating the association between LS and LUTS and the predominant
      type of LS-associated bladder dysfunction. RESULTS: The odds of LUTS in women
      with LS were more than four times higher than in women without LS (OR 4.5, 95% CI
      2.6-8.0; p < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in the occurrence of
      LUTS between women who experienced the first LS symptoms before and after the age
      of 50 years (36% and 53%, respectively, p = 0.14), or in the occurrence of the
      different types of LUTS between women with and without LS (p = 0.3). The most
      common type of LUTS was overactive bladder (OAB) in both women with LS (67.3%)
      and without LS (60%). The most prevalent type of LS-associated LUTS was OAB.
      CONCLUSIONS: The odds of developing LUTS (self-reported) are four times higher in
      women with LS than in those without. The predominant type of LUTS in women with
      and without LS is OAB.

PMID- 28593368
TI  - Intrauterine device visualized as extrinsic bladder mass on cystoscopy.

PMID- 28593369
TI  - Miniaturised sample preparation method for the multiresidual determination of
      regulated organohalogenated pollutants and related compounds in wild bird eggs.
AB  - A simplified, miniaturised matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD)-based method
      allowing the simultaneous extraction and purification of contaminants belonging
      to selected families of regulated persistent organic pollutants (POPs), i.e.
      polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and penta- to
      octa-polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and related contaminants of emerging
      concern, such as deca-BDE and Dechlorane Plus (DP), has been proposed. Wild bird
      eggs were used as biotic fat-containing model matrices. Once optimised, the
      procedure allowed sample preparation to be accomplished within 30 min, in a
      single step, and with minimal sample and reagent consumption and waste
      generation. These features contributed to speeding up and greening the analytical
      process as compared to the large-scale multistep procedures for these types of
      analyses. The method was combined with gas chromatography-quadrupole mass
      spectrometry (GC-qMS) for PCB and OCP analysis and with GC-negative ion chemical
      ionisation-quadrupole mass spectrometry (NCI-qMS) for PBDE and DP determination.
      The complete analytical method provided satisfactory recoveries of the target
      compounds (above 83% for all analytes, except for PBDE 209, 63%), although as
      small an amount of sample as 0.300 g was used. The repeatability of the complete
      procedure was less than 16% (with the only exception for PCB 153, which looked to
      be affected by an interference). The limits of detection were in all cases lower
      than 34 pg g-1 dry weight (as calculated for real samples), demonstrating the
      feasibility of the proposed procedure for accurate determination of the target
      compounds in biological samples. The proposed procedure was applied to the
      analysis of the target POPs in unhatched eggs of wild bird species. Graphical
      abstract Scheme of the miniaturised methodology proposed for environmental
      monitoring of POPs and related compounds in wild bird eggs.

PMID- 28593370
TI  - Identification of optimum fatty acid extraction methods for two different
      microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Haematococcus pluvialis for food and
      biodiesel applications.
AB  - Microalgae have the potential to synthesize and accumulate lipids which contain
      high value fatty acids intended for nutrition and biodiesel applications.
      Nevertheless, lipid extraction methods for microalgae cells are not well
      established and there is not a standard analytical methodology to extract fatty
      acids from lipid-producing microalgae. In this paper, current lipid extraction
      procedures employing organic solvents (chloroform/methanol, 2:1 and 1:2, v/v),
      sodium hypochlorite solution (NaClO), acid-catalysed hot-water extraction and the
      saponification process [2.5 M KOH/methanol (1:4, v/v)] have been evaluated with
      two species of microalgae with different types of cell walls. One is a marine
      diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and the other a freshwater green microalga,
      Haematococcus pluvialis. Lipids from all types of extracts were estimated
      gravimetrically and their fatty acids were quantified by a HPLC equipped with Q
      TOF mass spectrometer. Results indicated significant differences both in lipids
      yield and fatty acids composition. The chloroform and methanol mixture was the
      most effective extraction solvent for the unsaturated fatty acids such as DPA
      (C22:05), DHA, (C22:06), EPA (C20:05) and ARA (C20:04). While acid treatments
      improved the saturated fatty acids (SFAs) yield, especially the short chain SFA,
      lauric acid (C12:0), whose amount was 64% higher in P. tricornutum and 156%
      higher in H. pluvialis compared to organic solvent extractions. Graphical
      abstract ?.

PMID- 28593371
TI  - Design of a novel electrochemical biosensor based on intramolecular G-quadruplex
      DNA for selective determination of lead(II) ions.
AB  - An electrochemical DNA biosensor based on a G-quadruplex (G4) for the sensitive
      determination of Pb2+ was reported using a carbon paste electrode (CPE) or a
      multi-walled carbon nanotube paste electrode (MWCNTPE) as working electrodes,
      ethyl green (EG) as a new G4 intercalator, and a single-stranded nucleic acid
      sequence rich in guanine (G) as DNA probe. Electrochemical determination of Pb2+
      relied on probe structural changes from single - stranded to the stabilized
      intramolecular G4 in the presence of Pb2+, which caused a change in the current
      of the EG reduction peak due to the intercalation of EG into the G4 structure.
      The change in the reduction peak of EG before and after its intercalation into
      the stabilized G4 (?I) had a linear correlation to the concentration of Pb2+
      ions. The linear ranges of 4.0 * 10-10-5.0 * 10-9 M and 2 * 10-7-1 * 1-5 M with a
      detection limit (LOD) of 1.04 * 10-10 M were obtained using CPE, while improved
      linear ranges of 4.0 * 10-11-1.0 * 10-9 M and 2 * 10-7-1 * 10-5 M with a lower
      LOD of 2.64 * 10-11 M were achieved using the MWCNTPE biosensor. The biosensors
      exhibited satisfactory results in terms of selectivity and practical
      applicability in the analysis of real samples. Graphical abstract The principle
      of the electrochemical sensing of Pb2+ based on intramolecular G-quadruplex using
      EG.

PMID- 28593372
TI  - Simultaneous determination of dechloranes, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and
      novel brominated flame retardants in food and serum.
AB  - A sensitive method for the simultaneous quantification of dechloranes,
      polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and novel brominated flame retardants
      (NBFRs) has been developed for gas chromatography (GC) coupled to tandem mass
      spectrometry operating in electron capture negative ionization (ECNI) mode. The
      major advance has been achieved by combining selected ion monitoring (SIM) and
      multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) modes in well-defined time windows, to
      determine dechloranes, PBDEs and NBFRs at picogram per gram level in one single
      analysis in complex matrix biological samples. From the chromatographic point of
      view, efforts were devoted to study several injection modes using multimode inlet
      (MMI) in order to obtain low instrumental detection limits, necessary for trace
      compounds such as Dechlorane Plus (DP) isomers. Method performance was also
      evaluated: calibration curves were linear from 20 fg MUL-1 to 100 pg MUL-1 for
      the studied compounds, with method detection limits at levels of 50 fg g-1 for
      DPs. Repeatability and reproducibility, expressed as relative standard deviation,
      were better than 5% even in solvent vent mode for the injection of standards. The
      application to a wide range of complex samples (including food, human and animal
      serum samples) indicated a sensitive and reliable way to quantify at the picogram
      per gram level 4 halogenated norbornenes (HNs), Dechlorane Plus (anti-DP and syn
      DP) and 2 of their homologues (Dechlorane-602 and Dechlorane-603), 11 PBDE
      congeners (no. 28, 47, 49, 66, 85, 99, 100, 153, 154, 183 and 209) and 5 novel
      BFRs, i.e. decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane
      (BTBPE), hexabromobenzene (HBB), 2,3,4,5-tetrabromo-ethylhexyl-benzoate (TBB) and
      tetrabromophthalate (TBPH). Graphical Abstract GC-ECNI-MS/MS chromatograms
      showing the most sensitive transition for DPs when injecting 2 MUL of a 16 fg/MUL
      standard solution of s-DP and a-DP at three different source temperatures.

PMID- 28593373
TI  - Preparation of a self-cleanable molecularly imprinted sensor based on surface
      enhanced Raman spectroscopy for selective detection of R6G.
AB  - Novel molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) based on the technique of surface
      enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) were successfully prepared. Firstly, ZnO
      nanorods were fabricated with Ag by reduction of Ag+ on the surface of the ZnO
      nanorods. Then, ZnO/Ag heterostructures were used as the substrate, rhodamine 6G
      was used as the template molecule, acrylamide was used as the functional monomer,
      ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was used as the cross-linker, and 2,2'-azobis(2
      methylpropionitrile) was used as the initiator to prepare the ZnO/Ag MIPs (ZOA
      MIPs). Through characterization analysis, it was proved that the novel ZOA-MIPs
      exhibited excellent SERS properties and selectivity. Under the optimal
      conditions, there was a good linear relationship (R 2 = 0.996) between the Raman
      signal (at 1654 cm-1) and the concentration of the templates, and the detection
      limit was 10-13 mol L-1. It was also proved that the ZOA-MIPs had the property of
      self-cleaning, resulting in good reusability. It is envisaged that the
      sensitivity of SERS coupled with the selectivity of MIPs could result in a
      promising chemosensor for practical applications.

PMID- 28593376
TI  - Insight into Signal Response of Protein Ions in Native ESI-MS from the Analysis
      of Model Mixtures of Covalently Linked Protein Oligomers.
AB  - Native ESI-MS is increasingly used for quantitative analysis of biomolecular
      interactions. In such analyses, peak intensity ratios measured in mass spectra
      are treated as abundance ratios of the respective molecules in solution. While
      signal intensities of similar-size analytes, such as a protein and its complex
      with a small molecule, can be directly compared, significant distortions of the
      peak ratio due to unequal signal response of analytes impede the application of
      this approach for large oligomeric biomolecular complexes. We use a model system
      based on concatenated maltose binding protein units (MBPn, n = 1, 2, 3) to
      systematically study the behavior of protein mixtures in ESI-MS. The MBP
      concatamers differ from each other only by their mass while the chemical
      composition and other properties remain identical. We used native ESI-MS to
      analyze model mixtures of MBP oligomers, including equimolar mixtures of two
      proteins, as well as binary mixtures containing different fractions of the
      individual components. Pronounced deviation from a linear dependence of the
      signal intensity with concentration was observed for all binary mixtures
      investigated. While equimolar mixtures showed linear signal dependence at low
      concentrations, distinct ion suppression was observed above 20 MUM. We
      systematically studied factors that are most often used in the literature to
      explain the origin of suppression effects. Implications of this effect for
      quantifying protein-protein binding affinity by native ESI-MS are discussed in
      general and demonstrated for an example of an anti-MBP antibody with its ligand,
      MBP. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 28593375
TI  - Clinical implication of novel drug resistance-conferring mutations in resistant
      tuberculosis.
AB  - Evolving novel and/or unfamiliar mutations are revolutionizing the pathways of
      antibiotic resistance of clinical tuberculosis. The accumulation and interaction
      of these poorly characterized mutations augment the complexity of resistant
      pathogenic strains and raise public health concerns. This article reviews our
      current understanding of the genetic changes that characterize drug resistance in
      tuberculosis and highlights the imperative for further investigations focusing on
      the effects of an individual mutation and interacting mutations with detailed
      strain epidemiology, particularly as these pertain to technology-limited
      countries with high tuberculosis incidence rates. Concomitantly, there is a need
      for the development, testing, and uptake of new tools for studying the effects of
      these mutations in drug resistance and fitness cost of the pathogen. Such genetic
      data are critical for effective localized and global tuberculosis control
      interventions and for accurate epidemiological predictions.

PMID- 28593378
TI  - Letter to the Editor concerning "New classification for the treatment of pyogenic
      spondylodiscitis: validation study on a population of 250 patients with a follow
      up of 2 years" by Enrico Pola et al. Eur Spine J (2017) doi:10.1007/s00586-017
      5043-5.

PMID- 28593377
TI  - microMS: A Python Platform for Image-Guided Mass Spectrometry Profiling.
AB  - Image-guided mass spectrometry (MS) profiling provides a facile framework for
      analyzing samples ranging from single cells to tissue sections. The fundamental
      workflow utilizes a whole-slide microscopy image to select targets of interest,
      determine their spatial locations, and subsequently perform MS analysis at those
      locations. Improving upon prior reported methodology, a software package was
      developed for working with microscopy images. microMS, for microscopy-guided mass
      spectrometry, allows the user to select and profile diverse samples using a
      variety of target patterns and mass analyzers. Written in Python, the program
      provides an intuitive graphical user interface to simplify image-guided MS for
      novice users. The class hierarchy of instrument interactions permits integration
      of new MS systems while retaining the feature-rich image analysis framework.
      microMS is a versatile platform for performing targeted profiling experiments
      using a series of mass spectrometers. The flexibility in mass analyzers greatly
      simplifies serial analyses of the same targets by different instruments. The
      current capabilities of microMS are presented, and its application for off-line
      analysis of single cells on three distinct instruments is demonstrated. The
      software has been made freely available for research purposes. Graphical Abstract
      ?.

PMID- 28593379
TI  - Erratum to: Stereoradiography imaging motion artifact: does it affect
      radiographic measures after spinal instrumentation?

PMID- 28593374
TI  - Chromatin loops and causality loops: the influence of RNA upon spatial nuclear
      architecture.
AB  - An intrinsic and essential trait exhibited by cells is the properly coordinated
      and integrated regulation of an astoundingly large number of simultaneous
      molecular decisions and reactions to maintain biochemical homeostasis. This is
      especially true inside the cell nucleus, where the recognition of DNA and RNA by
      a vast range of nucleic acid-interacting proteins organizes gene expression
      patterns. However, this dynamic system is not regulated by simple "on" or "off"
      signals. Instead, transcription factor and RNA polymerase recruitment to DNA are
      influenced by the local chromatin and epigenetic environment, a gene's relative
      position within the nucleus and the action of noncoding RNAs. In addition, major
      phase-separated structural features of the nucleus, such as nucleoli and
      paraspeckles, assemble in direct response to specific transcriptional activities
      and, in turn, influence global genomic function. Currently, the interpretation of
      these data is trapped in a causality dilemma reminiscent of the "chicken and the
      egg" paradox as it is unclear whether changes in nuclear architecture promote RNA
      function or vice versa. Here, we review recent advances that suggest a complex
      and interdependent interaction network between gene expression, chromatin
      topology, and noncoding RNA function. We also discuss the functional links
      between these essential nuclear processes from the nanoscale (gene looping) to
      the macroscale (sub-nuclear gene positioning and nuclear body function) and
      briefly highlight some of the challenges that researchers may encounter when
      studying these phenomena.

PMID- 28593380
TI  - Expert's comment concerning Grand Rounds case entitled "Paraspinal hibernoma:
      Grand Round presentation of a rare benign adipocytic tumor" by S. Ghailane et al.
      (Eur Spine J; 2017: DOI 10.1007/s00586-017-5124-5).

PMID- 28593381
TI  - Paraspinal hibernoma: Grand Round presentation of a rare benign adipocytic tumor.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We report an uncommon case of paraspinal hibernoma with a T12-L1
      foraminal extension and discuss the potential differential diagnoses of
      paraspinal adipocytic tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 32-year-old woman
      consulted our department with a right subscapular and paraspinal mass. There was
      no associated neurological deficit. The MRI revealed a paraspinal adipocytic
      tumor with a T12-L1 right foraminal extension. Percutaneous biopsy suggested a
      diagnosis of hibernoma. RESULTS: Hibernoma is a rare and benign adipocytic tumor
      arising from embryologic remnants of brown fat. Specific MRI findings are
      discussed to differentiate hibernoma from other soft-tissue tumors. A planned
      marginal resection was undertaken with the final histopathology confirming the
      diagnosis of hibernoma. CONCLUSION: Based on the Grand Round case and relevant
      literature, we discuss a rare case of paraspinal hibernoma with a foraminal
      component and no recurrence at 3-year follow-up.

PMID- 28593382
TI  - Idiopathic spinal cord herniation: consideration of its pathogenesis based on the
      histopathology of the dura mater.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We present a patient with idiopathic spinal cord herniation (ISCH)
      whose dura mater was histopathologically examined to elucidate its pathogenesis.
      CASE REPORT: A 33-year-old previously healthy man presented with progressive
      walking difficulty, spasticity of the right lower leg, and hyperesthesia below
      the right chest. Neuroimaging revealed right ventral displacement of the spinal
      cord at T5-6. The diagnosis was ISCH and he underwent release of the herniation
      from the ventral dural opening. Dural biopsy at the edge of the ventral opening
      and in the dorsal durotomy was performed. Postoperatively, his gait was improved.
      Histopathological examination of the ventral dural specimen showed non-specific
      degeneration, i.e., loose arrangements of collagen fibers, edematous changes,
      minor inflammatory cell infiltration, and angiogenesis. The specimen from the
      dorsal durotomy was normal. CONCLUSION: It is unclear whether the observed
      degeneration besides the ventral opening was the primary cause of ISCH or
      reflected secondary changes resulting from cumulative damage due to pulsation of
      the herniated spinal cord. However, the degeneration limited to the ventral
      opening suggests that ISCH was a local event in an individual with a normal dural
      theca.

PMID- 28593383
TI  - Tubercular spondylodiscitis in elderly is a more severe disease: a report of 66
      consecutive patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: (1) To analyze peculiarities of presentation and prognosis of tubercular
      spondylodiscitis (TBS) in elderly. (2) To assess if associated co-morbidities and
      risks lead to poorer outcome (3) To observe if different management strategy
      needs to be implemented in them. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 66
      consecutive elderly TBS patients (>60 years) treated conservatively or surgically
      between January 2010 and July 2013 was performed. Details regarding clinical
      presentation (general health, ambulatory status, co-morbidities), neurological
      status, medical or surgical complications and outcome measurements [visual analog
      score, clinico-radiological evidence of healing and lumbar lordosis in lumbar (L)
      or lumbo-sacral (LS) or focal kyphosis in thoracic (T) or thoraco-lumbar (TL)
      disease] were analysed. RESULTS: Of 66 patients (mean age 67.9 years), 85% had at
      least one medical co-morbidity and only 45% were community ambulators. Mean delay
      in presentation was 132 days and lumbar disease was commonest. 35% had neuro
      deficit. Most patients had stage 2 (38%) or 3 (42.4%) disease. 19 patients were
      conservatively managed, while others underwent surgery. Significant complications
      occurred in 23 patients, most common being liver dysfunction (9 patients). Five
      patients (8%) expired during treatment: three succumbed to multi-focal tubercular
      disease, while two expired secondary to medical illnesses. Mean loss of lordosis
      in conservatively treated (CG) L/LS disease was 8 degrees , while lordosis was
      restored by 11.6 degrees  in operative group (OG). In T/TL disease, sagittal
      alignment correction by 12.6 degrees  was observed in OG as against 5.7 degrees 
      kyphotic collapse in CG patients. 92% patients were cured with no recurrences.
      The final VAS scores in operative and conservative groups were not significantly
      different (OG 1.4 +/- 0.6, CG 1.9 +/- 0.7). CONCLUSION: TBS in elderly differed
      from that in younger by having a higher co-morbidities, later presentation,
      higher neuro-deficit, greater mortality and increased complications.
      Nevertheless, in those who survived, clinico-radiological outcomes of both
      conservative and surgical treatments were good.

PMID- 28593384
TI  - Anterior cervical osteotomy: operative technique.
AB  - PURPOSE: Correction of rigid cervical deformities often requires osteotomies to
      realign the spine. Cervical pedicle subtraction osteotomy can be technically
      challenging due to the presence of cervical nerve roots and usually can only be
      performed at C7 or T1 due to the presence of vertebral arteries. In contrast,
      anterior cervical osteotomy can be performed throughout the cervical spine and is
      a safe and effective method for correction of both sagittal and coronal cervical
      deformities. We describe the anterior cervical osteotomy technique with a review
      of the pertinent literature. METHODS: A step-by-step technical guide for anterior
      cervical osteotomy is provided with a focus on surgical nuances and complication
      avoidance. Two illustrative cases of fixed sagittal and coronal deformities are
      included to demonstrate the substantial amount of deformity correction achievable
      using the anterior cervical osteotomy technique. RESULTS: Both patients in the
      illustrative cases had successful clinical and radiographic outcome following
      deformity correction utilizing the anterior cervical osteotomy technique.
      CONCLUSION: Anterior cervical osteotomy is a safe and effective technique for
      correction of rigid cervical deformities. Spine surgeons should be familiar with
      this technique to optimize clinical outcome in patients undergoing cervical
      deformity correction.

PMID- 28593385
TI  - Tailor-made management of thoracic scoliosis with cervical hyperextension in
      muscular dystrophy.
AB  - PURPOSE: We report the case of a 13-year-old boy managed for fixed cervical
      hyperextension due to congenital muscular dystrophy with partial merosin
      deficiency. He presented a right decompensated thoracic scoliosis (T6-L1 Cobb
      angle 72 degrees ) associated with cervical and lumbar lordosis. The spinal
      extension was accompanied by major flexion of the hip resulting in the trunk
      being bent forward. This posture caused daily severe back pain responsible for
      significant loss of quality of life. This led to the decision to perform surgery.
      METHODS: Initially, the surgery was limited to the thoraco-lumbo-sacral area. An
      anterior release was done, followed by posterior T1-pelvis vertebral fusion using
      a modified Luque-Galveston technique. The correction achieved was satisfactory in
      the coronal plane, but the correction of the thoracic kyphosis was insufficient
      to compensate for the cervical hyperextension. Cervical spine was fixed at 52
      degrees  of lordosis, and associated with a left 50 degrees  rotation and a right
      45 degrees  inclination of the head. We performed a posterior and lateral release
      of the cervical muscles followed by positioning of the halo, itself connected to
      a made-for-measure thoracic corset. A daily adjustment of the threaded rods was
      done daily for 3 months to correct the cervical position. Then, we performed a
      spinal fusion without instrumentation, by posterior articular abrasion and
      grafting from the occiput to T1. Following that, the halo-corset was kept in
      place for 4 months. RESULTS: At the end of 8 month treatment, the clinical result
      was satisfactory with a balanced spine both face on, and sideways, allowing for
      comfortable painless positioning. At 5 year follow-up, he showed stable spinal
      fusion without any loss of correction. CONCLUSION: There is no gold standard
      treatment for cervical hyperextension, but approaches have to be tailor-made to
      the patient's needs and the team's experience.

PMID- 28593386
TI  - Prostate-specific membrane antigen PET imaging and immunohistochemistry in
      adenoid cystic carcinoma- a preliminary analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (AdCC) of the head and neck is an uncommon
      malignant epithelial tumour of the secretory glands. Many patients develop slowly
      growing local recurrence and/or distant metastasis, for which treatment options
      are limited. A retrospective analysis of 9 AdCC patients was conducted to analyse
      the visualization of AdCC on PSMA PET/CT and to investigate the expression of
      PSMA on primary, recurrent and metastatic AdCC tumour tissue using
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Local recurrence occurred in six patients and
      eight developed distant metastasis. All PET/CTs depicted PSMA-ligand uptake. Four
      PSMA PET/CTs showed suspected residual disease, eight scans depicted uptake in
      areas suspected of distant metastasis. Median Maximum Standardized Uptake Value
      (SUVmax) in local recurrent and distant metastatic AdCC was 2.52 (IQR 2.41-5.95)
      and 4.01 (IQR 2.66-8.71), respectively. All primary tumours showed PSMA
      expression on immunohistochemistry (5-90% expression), as well as all available
      specimens of local recurrence and distant metastases. CONCLUSION: PSMA PET/CT is
      able to detect and visualize local recurrent and distant metastatic AdCC. PSMA
      specific targeting is supported by PSMA expression on immunohistochemistry.

PMID- 28593387
TI  - Increased odds of patient-reported success at 2 years after anterior cruciate
      ligament reconstruction in patients without cartilage lesions: a cohort study
      from the Swedish National Knee Ligament Register.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether the surgical technique of single-bundle anterior
      cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, the visualization of anatomic surgical
      factors and the presence or absence of concomitant injuries at primary ACL
      reconstruction are able to predict patient-reported success and failure. The
      hypothesis of this study was that anatomic single-bundle surgical procedures
      would be predictive of patient-reported success. METHODS: This cohort study was
      based on data from the Swedish National Knee Ligament Register during the period
      of 1 January 2005 through 31 December 2014. Patients who underwent primary single
      bundle ACL reconstruction with hamstring tendons were included. Details on
      surgical technique were collected using an online questionnaire comprising
      essential anatomic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction scoring checklist
      items, defined as the utilization of accessory medial portal drilling, anatomic
      tunnel placement, the visualization of insertion sites and pertinent landmarks. A
      univariate logistic regression model adjusted for age and gender was used to
      determine predictors of patient-reported success and failure, i.e. 20th and 80th
      percentile, respectively, in the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score
      (KOOS), 2 years after ACL reconstruction. RESULTS: In the 6889 included patients,
      the surgical technique used for single-bundle ACL reconstruction did not predict
      the predefined patient-reported success or patient-reported failure in the KOOS4.
      Patient-reported success was predicted by the absence of concomitant injury to
      the meniscus (OR = 0.81 [95% CI, 0.72-0.92], p = 0.001) and articular cartilage
      (OR = 0.70 [95% CI, 0.61-0.81], p < 0.001). Patient-reported failure was
      predicted by the presence of a concomitant injury to the articular cartilage (OR
      = 1.27 [95% CI, 1.11-1.44], p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Surgical techniques used in
      primary single-bundle ACL reconstruction did not predict the KOOS 2 years after
      the reconstruction. However, the absence of concomitant injuries at index surgery
      predicted patient-reported success in the KOOS. The results provide further
      evidence that concomitant injuries at ACL reconstruction affect subjective knee
      function and a detailed knowledge of the treatment of these concomitant injuries
      is needed. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Retrospective cohort study, Level III.

PMID- 28593389
TI  - Erratum to: Delayed spontaneous closure of postsurgical cyclodialysis cleft.

PMID- 28593388
TI  - Different clinical effect of several types of airborne allergens on the severity
      of bronchial hyperreactivity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic sensitization belongs to the most common risk factors for
      bronchial asthma. However, in clinical practice, it is not clear whether
      sensitization against pollen and perennial allergens is differently associated
      with the severity of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR). AIM: To find out
      whether patients sensitized to perennial allergens differ in severity of
      bronchial hyperresponsiveness from patients sensitized to pollen allergens.
      METHODS: The study includes 109 patients. Based on the results of skin prick
      tests, patients were divided into three groups: sensitivity to pollen allergens -
      group A; sensitivity to perennial allergens - group B; sensitivity to both pollen
      and perennial allergens - group C. Based on the histamine bronchoprovocation
      test, we compared the values of histamine provocative concentration causing a 20%
      drop in FEV1 (PC20) among particular groups of patients. Mild bronchial
      hyperresponsiveness was determined if the value of PC20 was >4 mg/ml, while if
      the value of PC20 was <4 mg/ml, the bronchial hyperresponsiveness was considered
      as moderate/severe. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found in
      the degrees of bronchial hyperresponsiveness between the three groups of
      patients, namely, group A with the patients sensitized only to the pollen
      allergens, group B comprising patients sensitized to the perennial allergens
      only, and group C, involving patients sensitized to the combination of both
      pollen and perennial allergens. The PC20 values were higher among the patients
      from the group A (7.46 mg/ml) compared to group B (4.25 mg/ml) and C (4.52
      mg/ml). The odds ratio for moderate/severe BHR was 5.21 and 5.04 in group B and
      group C, respectively. CONCLUSION: Severity of bronchial hyperresponsiveness
      shows differences according to sensitization to particular allergens. Perennial
      allergens are more often associated with serious forms of bronchial
      hyperresponsiveness which also have an impact on the severity and prognosis of
      bronchial asthma.

PMID- 28593390
TI  - Origin, differentiation and functional ultrastructure of egg envelopes in the
      cestode Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 (Cyclophyllidea: Taeniidae).
AB  - The origin, differentiation and functional ultrastructure of oncospheral or egg
      envelopes in Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 were studied by
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and cytochemistry. The purpose of our
      study is to describe the formation of the four primary embryonic envelopes,
      namely vitelline capsule, outer envelope, inner envelope and oncospheral
      membrane, and their transformation into the oncospheral or egg envelopes
      surrounding the mature hexacanth. This transformation takes place in the
      preoncospheral phase of embryonic development. The vitelline capsule and
      oncospheral membrane are thin membranes, while the outer and inner envelopes are
      thick cytoplasmic layers formed by two specific types of blastomeres: the outer
      envelope by cytoplasmic fusion of two macromeres and the inner envelope by
      cytoplasmic fusion of three mesomeres. Both outer and inner envelopes are
      therefore cellular in origin and syncytial in nature. During the advanced phase
      of embryonic development, the outer and inner envelopes undergo great
      modifications. The outer envelope remains as a metabolically active layer
      involved in the storage of glycogen and lipids for the final stages of egg
      development and survival. The inner envelope is the most important protective
      layer because of its thick layer of embryophoric blocks that assures oncospheral
      protection and survival. This embryophore is the principal layer of mature eggs,
      affording physical and physiological protection for the differentiated embryo or
      oncosphere, since the outer envelope is stripped from the egg before it is
      liberated. The embryophore is very thick and impermeable, consisting of polygonal
      blocks of an inert keratin-like protein held together by a cementing substance.
      The embryophore therefore assures extreme resistance of eggs, enabling them to
      withstand a wide range of environmental temperatures and physicochemical
      conditions.

PMID- 28593391
TI  - Wavelet decomposition analysis in the two-flash multifocal ERG in early glaucoma:
      a comparison to ganglion cell analysis and visual field.
AB  - PURPOSE: To further improve analysis of the two-flash multifocal
      electroretinogram (2F-mfERG) in glaucoma in regard to structure-function
      analysis, using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) analysis. METHODS: Sixty
      subjects [35 controls and 25 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)] underwent 2F
      mfERG. Responses were analyzed with the DWT. The DWT level that could best
      separate POAG from controls was compared to the root-mean-square (RMS)
      calculations previously used in the analysis of the 2F-mfERG. In a subgroup
      analysis, structure-function correlation was assessed between DWT, optical
      coherence tomography and automated perimetry (mf103 customized pattern) for the
      central 15 degrees . RESULTS: Frequency level 4 of the wavelet variance analysis
      (144 Hz, WVA-144) was most sensitive (p < 0.003). It correlated positively with
      RMS but had a better AUC. Positive relations were found between visual field, WVA
      144 and GCIPL thickness. The highest predictive factor for glaucoma diagnostic
      was seen in the GCIPL, but this improved further by adding the mean sensitivity
      and WVA-144. CONCLUSIONS: mfERG using WVA analysis improves glaucoma diagnosis,
      especially when combined with GCIPL and MS.

PMID- 28593392
TI  - Multimodal imaging and functional correlations identify unusual cases of macular
      retinal pigment epithelium hypopigmentation occurring without functional loss.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with unusual macular retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)
      hypopigmentation are described and analyzed using retinal multimodal imaging.
      METHODS: We report three cases of patients with unilateral (2) or bilateral (1)
      macular lesions discovered incidentally on fundoscopy. A comprehensive ophthalmic
      examination including visual acuity, fundoscopy, spectral-domain optical
      coherence tomography (SD-OCT), short-wavelength light and near-infrared
      autofluorescence, fluorescein angiography, microperimetry, multifocal
      electroretinogram, adaptive optics (AO), and OCT-angiography (OCT-A) has been
      performed. RESULTS: Visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes of all patients. The
      lesion appeared hyperautofluorescent on short-wavelength light and
      hypoautofluorescent on near-infrared light. Fluorescein angiography revealed a
      sharply demarcated macular hyperfluorescence without any leakage, suggesting a
      window defect. Interestingly, SD-OCT revealed only a choroidal hyperreflectivity
      in relation to the lesions without any abnormality of the outer retinal layers.
      Microperimetry was normal except for 1 patient with bilateral lesion and subtle
      decrease in macular sensitivity. Mf ERG was normal in all three patients. AO
      showed a well-preserved cone mosaic, suggesting that the abnormality was
      localized under the photoreceptor layers. OCT-A revealed hyperreflectivity just
      below the RPE layer, corresponding to the macular lesion observed on fundoscopy
      and the choroidal hyperreflectivity seen on SD-OCT. CONCLUSIONS: Macular RPE
      hypopigmentation should be considered in case of an isolated macular lesion
      without functional visual impairment or anatomical defect on SD-OCT.

PMID- 28593394
TI  - Double Balloon-Assisted Coil Embolization (BACE) Combined with Proximal and
      Distal Balloon Inflation for Short Abdominal Arterial Segments: Comparison with
      Single BACE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences of technique between coil embolization for
      short abdominal arterial segments with only proximal balloon inflation and
      combined proximal and distal balloon inflation, as well as the volume
      embolization ratio (VER) and the ratio of the first coil diameter to the target
      vessel diameter (first coil diameter ratio). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January
      2014 to August 2016, we performed coil embolization of the short segment in seven
      patients. The target vessels were the common hepatic arteries before distal
      pancreatectomy with en bloc celiac axis resection in five patients, the superior
      mesenteric artery for isolation of pseudoaneurysm in one patient and the celiac
      trunk for preventing Type II endoleak before endovascular aortic repair in one
      patient. We evaluate VER and first coil diameter ratio in single balloon-assisted
      coil embolization (BACE) with only proximal balloon inflation and double BACE
      with combined proximal and distal balloon inflation. RESULTS: The BACE (single
      BACE; n = 4, double BACE; n = 3) was safely finished. The VER was median 12.1%
      (single BACE; mean 11.7%, double BACE; mean 12.4%). The first coil diameter ratio
      was median 1.82 in both groups. CONCLUSION: The coil embolization was safely
      performed by BACE. Double BACE allowed planning of the distal end of the coil
      embolization site and the embolization segment prior to coil placement. We
      achieved sufficient friction to prevent coil migration by choosing detachable
      microcoils with a median diameter 1.82 times larger than that of the target
      vessel and a VER >=12%, allowing us to embolize short vascular segments.

PMID- 28593393
TI  - Endovascular Management of Severe Arterial Haemorrhage After Radical
      Prostatectomy: A Case Series.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to assess the safety, effectiveness and long
      term outcome of endovascular management of arterial haemorrhage after radical
      prostatectomy (RP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients who received endovascular
      treatment for refractory bleeding after RP between January 2008 and December 2016
      were retrospectively identified. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) was
      performed and followed by catheter-directed treatment by means of transarterial
      embolization (TAE) or stent graft placement. Follow-up included analysis of
      bleeding recurrence, embolization-related adverse events and tumour recurrence.
      RESULTS: Contrast-enhanced CT and catheter-directed angiography showed pelvic
      contrast extravasation in nine patients. Nine patients were successfully treated
      with TAE of the internal pudendal, superior and/or inferior vesical or (the
      anterior division or main branch of) the internal iliac arteries using
      microparticles in two patients, coils in two patients, a combination of
      microparticles and coils in three patients, glue in one patient and Gelfoam in
      one patient. The remaining patient was treated with stent graft placement in the
      external iliac artery, which was most likely injured during robot-assisted
      lymphadenectomy. One patient developed a puncture site pseudoaneurysm. No other
      complications related to the endovascular procedures occurred, in particular no
      pelvic ischaemic complications were identified. Mean follow-up period was 45
      months (range 22-80). CONCLUSIONS: The endovascular management of arterial
      haemorrhage after RP is safe and effective, without post-embolization ischaemic
      events.

PMID- 28593395
TI  - Anti-tumor Effects of Sorafenib Administered at Different Time Points in
      Combination with Transarterial Embolization in a Rabbit VX2 Liver Tumor Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the most suitable timing parameters when using
      sorafenib to enhance the anti-tumor effects of transarterial embolization (TAE)
      in a rabbit VX2 liver tumor model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five Japanese
      white rabbits were randomly assigned to five equal groups two weeks after VX2
      tumor transplantation to the liver. We then performed the combination treatment
      with sorafenib and TAE in the according ways; Group 1 (TAE just before
      consecutive 7-day administration of sorafenib), Group 2 (TAE on second day of the
      administration period), Group 3 (TAE on fourth day of the administration period),
      and Group 4 (TAE after the administration period). Group 5 underwent TAE only.
      The anti-tumor effects were assessed by the tumor growth rates and by the
      immunohistochemical analysis of the density of intratumoral vessels. RESULTS: The
      tumor size increased by 103 +/- 23% in Group 1, 126 +/- 50% in Group 2, 177 +/-
      44% in Group 3 196 +/- 78% in Group 4, and 211 +/- 20% in Group 5. The difference
      between Group 1 and Group 5 and Group 2 and Group 5 was significant. The ratio of
      areas positive for CD31 in specimens was 2.06 +/- 0.90% in Group 1, 1.86 +/-
      0.59% in Group 2, 3.51 +/- 2.10% in Group 3, 3.67 +/- 0.79% in Group 4, and 4.84
      +/- 0.81% in Group 5. The difference between Group 1 and Group 5, Group 2 and
      Group 5, and Group 2 and Group 4 was significant. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the
      ideal time of TAE is prior to or early after commencement of sorafenib
      administration.

PMID- 28593396
TI  - Balloon-Occluded Microwave Ablation: A Potential Therapeutic Option in Liver
      Lesions Bearing Close Proximity to Major Hepatic and/or Portal Veins.

PMID- 28593397
TI  - 5-ALA fluorescence behavior of cerebral infectious and inflammatory disease.

PMID- 28593398
TI  - Localization of angiosarcoma by peri-operative transesophageal echocardiography.
AB  - Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic
      resonance (MR) cannot always clearly identify angiosarcoma. A 22 year old woman
      presented with dyspnea. Preoperative TTE showed no tumor, and CT and MR both gave
      the impression that an extra-cardiac, mediastinal tumor was present.
      Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), performed during surgery showed an intra
      cardiac tumor, which was a well-delineated mass at the intra-ventricular groove
      of the right heart and surrounding the superior vena cava. The tumor was excised
      and found to be a malignant angiosarcoma. TEE provides diagnostic advantages over
      other cardiac imaging techniques and can serve as a useful adjunct during and
      before intrathoracic surgery.

PMID- 28593399
TI  - MRI use for atrial tissue characterization in arrhythmias and for EP procedure
      guidance.
AB  - We review the utilization of magnetic resonance imaging methods for classifying
      atrial tissue properties that act as a substrate for common cardiac arrhythmias,
      such as atrial fibrillation. We then review state-of-the-art methods for mapping
      this substrate as a predicate for treatment, as well as methods used to ablate
      the electrical pathways that cause arrhythmia and restore patients to sinus
      rhythm.

PMID- 28593400
TI  - A collaborative intervention to improve surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in
      children: results from a prospective multicenter study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) in children is poorly
      characterized. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a quality improvement
      (QI) intervention targeting SAP in children, by means of a multicenter
      prospective intervention study, with a before and after design. METHODS: We
      prospectively investigated elective surgical procedures performed in children <18
      years, prior to the QI intervention, after the intervention and at 9-month follow
      up. The primary outcomes were adherence to SAP indications and SAP
      appropriateness, defined considering antibiotic choice, timing of first dose and
      duration of administration. We compared SAP adherence and appropriateness prior
      the QI intervention, to the post-intervention and the follow-up. We considered
      patient and procedure characteristics as covariates in two logistic regression
      models to assess the effect of the QI intervention on SAP adherence and
      appropriateness. RESULTS: We collected information on 2383 procedures (pre
      intervention: 784; post-intervention: 790; follow-up: 809). The QI intervention
      had a significant impact on the adherence to SAP indications (86.6% in the post
      intervention, compared to 82.0% prior to the intervention; p < 0.05), and on its
      appropriateness (35.7% compared to 19.9%; p < 0.01). The impact of the
      intervention on SAP appropriateness was maintained at follow-up (38.3%; p < 0.01
      compared to pre-intervention). All components of SAP appropriateness
      significantly improved after the intervention and at follow-up. The logistic
      regression analyses confirmed the effect of intervention in improving adherence
      to SAP indications and appropriateness. CONCLUSIONS: Following the QI
      intervention, there was a significant improvement in quality of SAP in pediatric
      surgery, though more efforts are needed to increase SAP appropriateness.

PMID- 28593401
TI  - External validation of a biomarker and clinical prediction model for hospital
      mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mortality prediction in ARDS is important for prognostication and risk
      stratification. However, no prediction models have been independently validated.
      A combination of two biomarkers with age and APACHE III was superior in
      predicting mortality in the NHLBI ARDSNet ALVEOLI trial. We validated this
      prediction tool in two clinical trials and an observational cohort. METHODS: The
      validation cohorts included 849 patients from the NHLBI ARDSNet Fluid and
      Catheter Treatment Trial (FACTT), 144 patients from a clinical trial of
      sivelestat for ARDS (STRIVE), and 545 ARDS patients from the VALID observational
      cohort study. To evaluate the performance of the prediction model, the area under
      the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), model discrimination, and
      calibration were assessed, and recalibration methods were applied. RESULTS: The
      biomarker/clinical prediction model performed well in all cohorts. Performance
      was better in the clinical trials with an AUC of 0.74 (95% CI 0.70-0.79) in
      FACTT, compared to 0.72 (95% CI 0.67-0.77) in VALID, a more heterogeneous
      observational cohort. The AUC was 0.73 (95% CI 0.70-0.76) when FACTT and VALID
      were combined. CONCLUSION: We validated a mortality prediction model for ARDS
      that includes age, APACHE III, surfactant protein D, and interleukin-8 in a
      variety of clinical settings. Although the model performance as measured by AUC
      was lower than in the original model derivation cohort, the biomarker/clinical
      model still performed well and may be useful for risk assessment for clinical
      trial enrollment, an issue of increasing importance as ARDS mortality declines,
      and better methods are needed for selection of the most severely ill patients for
      inclusion.

PMID- 28593402
TI  - Clinical presentation and prognostic indicators in 100 adults and children with
      neurofibromatosis 1 associated non-optic pathway brain gliomas.
AB  - Type 1 Neurofibromatosis (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant condition, with a
      major impact on the nervous system, eye, bone, and skin, and a predisposition to
      malignancy. At present it is not possible to predict clinically or on imaging,
      whether a brain tumour will remain indolent or undergo high-grade change. There
      are no consensus guidelines on the follow-up of non-optic pathway glioma (non
      OPG) tumours in NF1. One hundred patients from the National NF1 Service with
      generalised NF1 and a diagnosis of non-OPG glioma were followed up for a median
      time of 63 months after glioma detection. Forty-two patients underwent surgical
      intervention. Ninety-one percent (38) of those requiring surgery did so within 5
      years of diagnosis of glioma. Serial neuroimaging was undertaken in 88 patients.
      In 66 (75%), the lesion on the scan was stable or had improved at follow-up. High
      grade lesions were present in five patients and were strongly associated with
      tumours in the thalamus (p = 0.001). Five patients died during follow-up. The
      diagnosis of high-grade glioma had a HR of 99.7 (95% CI 11.1-898.9, p < 000.1) on
      multivariate Cox regression to evaluate predictive factors related to death. In
      our cohort of 100 patients with NF1, we have shown that tumours in the thalamus
      are more likely to be associated with radiological progression, high-grade
      tumours, and surgical intervention. As a result of this finding, heightened
      surveillance with more frequent imaging should be considered in thalamic
      involvement. We have also demonstrated that over 40% of patients underwent
      surgery, and did so within 5 years of tumour diagnosis. Serial imaging should be
      undertaken for at the very least, 5 years from tumour detection.

PMID- 28593403
TI  - Submuscular double bridge plating for complex distal fractures of the humerus: an
      alternative, safe, and efficient treatment method.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of our study is to show the functional outcomes and complication
      rates of humeral complex fractures in adults, using osteosynthesis with two
      bridging orthogonal submuscular plates. METHODS: The study consists of a
      prospective case series of 13 patients with isolated humeral complex fractures
      treated with two bridging orthogonal submuscular plates. Functional assessment
      was performed using disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) score with
      30 items. The age ranged from 22 to 68 years, with a mean age of 39 years.
      Functional assessment with DASH score was performed at the twelfth postoperative
      week. RESULTS: All patients presented fracture healing in the fourth
      postoperative month. Of the 13 patients, five (38%) had a DASH score of zero
      (best function possible). One patient developed neuropraxis and presented with a
      score of 100 (worst possible). One case developed superficial infection, which
      was treated with oral antibiotics and local debridement. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated satisfactory functional outcome in patients with distal-third
      diaphyseal humeral complex fractures treated with two locked submuscular plates.
      The authors consider it as a safe method and an efficient alternative, especially
      in younger patients who require early functional recovery.

PMID- 28593404
TI  - Association Between Depressive Symptom Patterns and Clinical Profiles Among
      Persons Living with HIV.
AB  - To describe patterns of depressive symptoms across 10-years by HIV status and to
      determine the associations between depressive symptom patterns, HIV status, and
      clinical profiles of persons living with HIV from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort
      Study (N = 980) and Women's Interagency HIV Study (N = 1744). Group-based
      trajectory models were used to identify depressive symptoms patterns between 2004
      and 2013. Multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to determine
      associations of depression risk patterns. A 3-group model emerged among HIV
      negative women (low: 58%; moderate: 31%; severe: 11%); 5-groups emerged among HIV
      positive women (low: 28%; moderate: 31%; high: 25%; decreased: 7%; severe: 9%). A
      4-group model emerged among HIV-negative (low: 52%; moderate: 15%; high: 23%;
      severe: 10%) and HIV-positive men (low: 34%; moderate: 34%; high: 22%; severe:
      10%). HIV+ women had higher odds for moderate (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.10,
      95% CI 1.63-2.70) and severe (AOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.33-2.91) depression risk groups,
      compared to low depression risk. HIV+ men had higher odds for moderate depression
      risk (AOR 3.23, 95% CI 2.22-4.69), compared to low risk. The Framingham Risk
      Score, ART use, and unsuppressed viral load were associated with depressive
      symptom patterns. Clinicians should consider the impact that depressive symptoms
      may have on HIV prognosis and clinical indicators of comorbid illnesses.

PMID- 28593405
TI  - Inducible nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms are associated with a risk of
      nephritis in Henoch-Schonlein purpura children.
AB  - : Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is the most common form of systemic small-vessel
      vasculitis in children, and HSP nephritis (HSPN) is a major complication of HSP
      and is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have
      suggested that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) may play an important role
      in the pathogenesis of HSP. In this study, we performed a detailed analysis to
      investigate the potential association between iNOS polymorphisms and the risk of
      HSP and the tendency for children with HSP to develop HSPN in a Chinese Han
      population. A promoter pentanucleotide repeat (CCTTT)n and 10 functional single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 532 healthy controls and 513 children with
      HSP were genotyped using the MassARRAY system and GeneScan. The results suggested
      that the allelic and genotypic frequencies of the rs3729508 polymorphism were
      nominally associated with susceptibility to HSP. In addition, there was a
      significant difference in the allelic distribution of the (CCTTT)12 repeats and
      rs2297518 between the HSP children with and without nephritis; the HSP children
      with nephritis exhibited a significantly higher frequency of the (CCTTT)12
      repeats and A allele of rs2297518 than the HSP children without nephritis (P FDR
      = 0.033, OR = 1.624, 95% CI = 1.177-2.241 and P FDR = 0.030, OR = 1.660, 95% CI =
      1.187-2.321, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results support that iNOS
      polymorphisms are associated with the risk of HSP and may strongly contribute to
      the genetic basis of individual differences in the progression to nephritis among
      children with HSP in the Chinese Han population. What is Known: * The etiology of
      HSP is unknown, but the genetic factors may play an important role in the
      pathogenesis of HSP. * iNOS could contribute to the development and clinical
      manifestations of HSP, and this has not been studied extensively so far. What is
      New: * Our results support that iNOS polymorphisms not only are associated with
      HSP risk but also strongly contribute to the genetic basis of individual
      differences in the progression of HSP to nephritis among Chinese Han children.

PMID- 28593407
TI  - Feasibility of real-time location systems in monitoring recovery after major
      abdominal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early mobilization after major abdominal surgery decreases
      postoperative complications and length of stay, and has become a key component of
      enhanced recovery pathways. However, objective measures of patient movement after
      surgery are limited. Real-time location systems (RTLS), typically used for asset
      tracking, provide a novel approach to monitoring in-hospital patient activity.
      The current study investigates the feasibility of using RTLS to objectively track
      postoperative patient mobilization. METHODS: The real-time location system
      employs a meshed network of infrared and RFID sensors and detectors that sample
      device locations every 3 s resulting in over 1 million data points per day. RTLS
      tracking was evaluated systematically in three phases: (1) sensitivity and
      specificity of the tracking device using simulated patient scenarios, (2)
      retrospective passive movement analysis of patient-linked equipment, and (3)
      prospective observational analysis of a patient-attached tracking device.
      RESULTS: RTLS tracking detected a simulated movement out of a room with
      sensitivity of 91% and specificity 100%. Specificity decreased to 75% if time out
      of room was less than 3 min. All RTLS-tagged patient-linked equipment was
      identified for 18 patients, but measurable patient movement associated with
      equipment was detected for only 2 patients (11%) with 1-8 out-of-room walks per
      day. Ten patients were prospectively monitored using RTLS badges following major
      abdominal surgery. Patient movement was recorded using patient diaries, direct
      observation, and an accelerometer. Sensitivity and specificity of RTLS patient
      tracking were both 100% in detecting out-of-room ambulation and correlated well
      with direct observation and patient-reported ambulation. CONCLUSION: Real-time
      location systems are a novel technology capable of objectively and accurately
      monitoring patient movement and provide an innovative approach to promoting early
      mobilization after surgery.

PMID- 28593406
TI  - Laparoscopic liver surgery: towards a day-case management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ambulatory surgery (AS) is a contemporary subject of interest. The
      feasibility and safety of AS for solid abdominal organs are still dubious. In the
      present study, we aimed at defining potential surgical criteria for AS by
      analyzing a large database of patients who underwent laparoscopic liver surgery
      (LLS) in two French expert centers. METHODS: This study was performed using
      prospectively filled databases including patients that underwent pure LLS between
      1998 and 2015. Patients whose perioperative medical characteristics (ASA score
      <3, no associated extra-hepatic procedure, surgical duration <=180 min, blood
      loss <=300 mL, no intraoperative anesthesiological or surgical complication, no
      postoperative drainage) were potentially adapted for ambulatory LLS were included
      in the analysis. In order to determine the risk factors for postoperative
      complications, multivariate analysis was carried out. RESULTS: During the study
      period, pure LLS was performed in 994 patients. After preoperative and
      intraoperative characteristics screening, 174 (17.5%) patients were considered
      for the final analysis. Lesions (benign (46%) and liver metastases (43%)) were
      predominantly single with a mean size of 37 +/- 32 mm in an underlying normal or
      steatotic liver parenchyma (94.8%). The vast majority of LLS performed were
      single procedures including wedge resections and liver cyst unroofing or left
      lateral sectionectomies (74%). The global morbidity rate was 14% and six patients
      presented a major complication (Dindo-Clavien >=III). The mean length of stay was
      5 +/- 4 days. Multivariate analysis showed that major hepatectomy [OR 29.04 (2.26
      37.19); P = 0.01] and resection of tumors localized in central segments [OR 41.24
      (1.08-156.47); P = 0.04] were independent predictors of postoperative morbidity.
      CONCLUSIONS: In experienced teams, approximately 7% of highly selected patients
      requiring laparoscopic hepatic surgery (wedge resection, liver cyst unroofing, or
      left lateral sectionectomy) could benefit from ambulatory surgery management.

PMID- 28593408
TI  - A novel model for prediction of pure laparoscopic liver resection surgical
      difficulty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extending the clinical indications for laparoscopic liver resection
      (LLR) should be carefully considered based on a surgeon's experience and skill.
      However, objective indexes to help surgeons assess the estimated difficulty of
      LLR are scarce. The aim of our study was to develop the first objective numerical
      rating scale to predict the surgical difficulty of various LLR procedures.
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of the operative outcomes of 187
      patients who underwent a pure LLR. First, the value of preoperative factors for
      predicting surgical time was evaluated by multivariate linear regression
      analyses, and a scoring system was constructed. Next, the integrity of our
      predictive linear model was evaluated against the documented operative outcomes
      for patients forming our study group. RESULTS: Four predictive factors were
      identified and scored based on the weighted contribution of each factor
      predicting surgical time: extent of resection (scored 0, 2, or 3); location of
      tumor (scored 0, 1, or 2); obesity (scored 0 or 1); and platelet count (scored 0
      or 1). The scores were summed to classify surgical difficulty into three levels:
      low (total score <=1); medium (total score 2-3); and high (total score >=4).
      Operative outcomes, including surgical time, volume of blood loss, length of
      hospital stay, and rate of morbidity, were significantly different between the
      three surgical difficulty levels. CONCLUSION: Our novel model will be useful for
      surgeons to predict the difficulty of an LLR procedure relative to their own
      experience and skill.

PMID- 28593409
TI  - Validation of newly developed physical laparoscopy simulator in transabdominal
      preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A realistic simulator for transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP)
      inguinal hernia repair would enhance surgeons' training experience before they
      enter the operating theater. The purpose of this study was to create a novel
      physical simulator for TAPP inguinal hernia repair and obtain surgeons' opinions
      regarding its efficacy. METHODS: Our novel TAPP inguinal hernia repair simulator
      consists of a physical laparoscopy simulator and a handmade organ replica model.
      The physical laparoscopy simulator was created by three-dimensional (3D) printing
      technology, and it represents the trunk of the human body and the bendability of
      the abdominal wall under pneumoperitoneal pressure. The organ replica model was
      manually created by assembling materials. The TAPP inguinal hernia repair
      simulator allows for the performance of all procedures required in TAPP inguinal
      hernia repair. Fifteen general surgeons performed TAPP inguinal hernia repair
      using our simulator. Their opinions were scored on a 5-point Likert scale.
      RESULTS: All participants strongly agreed that the 3D-printed physical simulator
      and organ replica model were highly useful for TAPP inguinal hernia repair
      training (median, 5 points) and TAPP inguinal hernia repair education (median, 5
      points). They felt that the simulator would be effective for TAPP inguinal hernia
      repair training before entering the operating theater. All surgeons considered
      that this simulator should be introduced in the residency curriculum.
      CONCLUSIONS: We successfully created a physical simulator for TAPP inguinal
      hernia repair training using 3D printing technology and a handmade organ replica
      model created with inexpensive, readily accessible materials. Preoperative TAPP
      inguinal hernia repair training using this simulator and organ replica model may
      be of benefit in the training of all surgeons. All general surgeons involved in
      the present study felt that this simulator and organ replica model should be used
      in their residency curriculum.

PMID- 28593410
TI  - Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis: Is an initial laparoscopic approach feasible?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis is an inflammatory disease with
      pathologically distinct characteristics such as accumulation of lipid-laden
      macrophages, fibrous tissue, and acute and chronic inflammatory cells. It often
      involves adjacent organs and mimics gallbladder cancer. The purpose of this study
      was to review the clinical findings of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis and to
      determine the appropriate treatment plan. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed
      clinical demographics, operation records, and postoperative results of 31
      patients with a pathological diagnosis of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis who
      underwent surgery between January 2010 and 2015 at two university hospitals.
      RESULTS: Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis was found in 0.81% (31/3820) of
      cholecystectomy patients in our hospital over 5 years. The most frequently
      observed clinical symptom was abdominal pain (21 patients, 67.7%). Preoperative
      radiological studies showed cholelithiasis in 23 patients (74.2%), thickening of
      the gallbladder wall in 23 patients (74.2%), and suspicious cancer in 2 patients
      (6.5%), but there were no cases of gallbladder cancer accompanying
      xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was planned in
      all patients and was converted to open cholecystectomy in five patients. T-tube
      choledocholithotomy was needed in one patient due to common bile duct injury.
      Mean operation time was 149.2 min, and estimated blood loss was 270.1 mL. There
      were two patients with complications greater than Clavien-Dindo Classification
      grade III (CBD injury, pleural effusion). CONCLUSION: An initial laparoscopic
      approach is possible for xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis. However, it is
      troublesome and challenging, with significantly higher conversion and
      complication rates compared to standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PMID- 28593411
TI  - C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and procalcitonin levels as early markers of
      staple line leak after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in morbidly obese patients
      within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The performance of most bariatric procedures within an Enhanced
      Recovery After Surgery program has resulted in significant advantages, including
      a reduction in the length of hospital stay to 2-3 days. However, some
      postoperative complications may appear after the patient has been discharged. The
      aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of various acute-phase
      parameters determined 24 h after a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for predicting
      staple line leak in the postoperative course. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective
      study of 208 morbidly obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy
      as bariatric procedure between 2012 and 2015 was performed. Blood analysis was
      performed 24 h after surgery. Acute-phase parameters (C-reactive protein,
      procalcitonin, fibrinogen, and White Blood Cell count) were investigated.
      RESULTS: Staple line leak appeared in eight patients (3.8%). Using receiver
      operating characteristic analysis at 24 h postoperatively, a cutoff level of CRP
      at 9 mg/dL achieved 85% sensitivity and 90% specificity for predicting staple
      line leak, a cutoff level of procalcitonin at 0.85 ng/mL achieved 70% sensitivity
      and 90% specificity, and a cutoff level of fibrinogen at 600 mg/dL achieved 80%
      sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. CONCLUSION: An elevation of CRP > 9 mg/dL,
      procalcitonin > 0.85 ng/mL and fibrinogen > 600 mg/dL should alert the surgeon
      the possibility of occurrence of postoperative staple line leak.

PMID- 28593412
TI  - Does laparoscopic adhesiolysis decrease the risk of recurrent symptoms in small
      bowel obstruction? A propensity score-matched analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The outcomes of laparoscopic adhesiolysis for small bowel obstruction
      have generally been satisfactory over the short term. However, the long-term
      outcomes, including recurrence of symptoms and management of recurrence, remain
      controversial. This study compares the long-term outcomes of a series of
      laparoscopic and open surgery procedures for the treatment of small bowel
      obstruction. METHODS: Patients who underwent adhesiolysis for small bowel
      obstruction at our institution between 2008 and 2015 were retrospectively
      reviewed. In total, 156 patients were enrolled, 78 with laparoscopic and 78 with
      open surgery. Propensity score matching was used to minimize the bias in patient
      selection. Long-term outcomes included incidence of recurrent symptoms and
      reoperation. In addition to the comparison of outcomes, risk factor assessment
      for recurrent symptoms and analysis of detailed information in patients with
      reoperation were performed. Statistical methods included chi 2 test, Mann-Whitney
      U test, Cox proportional hazards model, and Kaplan-Meier plots with log-rank
      comparison. RESULTS: Laparoscopy was performed in a younger population with
      milder bowel dilation and less complicated etiologies. These factors were used to
      construct the propensity score model, which yielded a matched cohort of 52 legs
      in each group. Laparoscopy achieved good short-term outcomes including early
      recovery of gastrointestinal function, reduced incidence of complications, and
      shorter hospital stay. For long-term outcomes, while the overall recurrence rate
      did not differ between the groups (11.5 vs 7.7%), the incidence of reoperation
      for recurrence was significantly higher in the laparoscopically treated group
      (7.7 vs 0%, p = .017). The Cox proportional hazards model showed that multiple
      prior surgeries (>=3 times) were a risk factor for overall recurrence (hazard
      ratio 7.39, p = .041). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic adhesiolysis did not decrease the
      incidence of recurrent symptoms; rather, it was related to higher incidence of
      recurrent small bowel obstruction requiring surgical treatment.

PMID- 28593413
TI  - Effect of ulinastatin on postoperative renal function in patients undergoing
      robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: a randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RLPN) is an emerging
      technique for treating small renal masses. Although RLPN has many advantages,
      ischemic kidney injury is inevitable during renal artery clamping. The overall
      incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) after partial nephrectomy has been
      reported to be up to 39%. Moreover, effective pharmacological protection against
      AKI after partial nephrectomy has not yet been demonstrated. Ulinastatin has been
      shown to protect the kidney from ischemia/reperfusion injury via its anti
      inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate
      the effect of ulinastatin on postoperative kidney function in patients undergoing
      RLPN. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study,
      patients undergoing RLPN received either intravenous ulinastatin (100,000
      units/10 kg; ulinastatin group, n = 35) or the same volume of normal saline
      (control group, n = 35) for 1 h starting 10 min before renal artery clamping. The
      primary outcome was incidence of postoperative AKI. Secondary outcomes were
      levels of serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), cystatin
      C, and inflammatory markers and were measured before operation and at 1, 24, 48,
      and 72 h postoperatively. RESULTS: The incidence of postoperative AKI was 18% in
      the ulinastatin group, whereas it was 30% in the control group (p = 0.251). No
      significant differences in postoperative changes of serum creatinine, eGFR, or
      cystatin C were observed between the two groups. Postoperative inflammatory
      markers including C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, and neutrophil
      percentage were significantly increased until 72 h after operation compared to
      the preoperative values in both groups, with no significant differences between
      the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of ulinastatin (100,000 units/10 kg)
      during the warm ischemia and reperfusion periods did not show any beneficial
      effects on postoperative kidney function or inflammatory responses in patients
      undergoing RLPN.

PMID- 28593414
TI  - Safety and effectiveness of day-surgery laparoscopic cholecystectomy is still
      uncertain: meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials based on GRADE
      approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no consensus on whether laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy (LC) performed as day-surgery is safe and effective and can be
      considered as the standard for the management of symptomatic gallbladder disease.
      We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate
      the safety and effectiveness of this intervention based on the Grading of
      Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. METHODS:
      We conducted a systematic search of several databases from their inception to
      November 10, 2016 for entries on the mortality, morbidity after discharge,
      readmission, postoperative morbidity, and patient satisfaction at 1 week of day
      surgery LC. Pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was
      calculated using the fixed-effects model. Rare outcomes were presented as the
      Peto odds ratio (Peto OR). Meta-analysis was performed by using the RevMan 5.1
      software, and the level of evidence was assessed by using the GRADE guideline and
      GRADEpro GDT software. RESULTS: Eight RCTs totaling 624 participants were
      included. The result showed no intergroup difference in short-term mortality.
      Compared to overnight-stay surgery, day-surgery did not show any clear evidence
      of reduced morbidity after discharge (Peto OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.39-2.02), lower
      readmission rate (Peto OR 0.68; 95% CI 0.23-2.05), or higher postoperative
      morbidity rates (RR 1.28; 95% CI 0.81-2.02). However, the results suggested that
      day-surgery may improve patient satisfaction at 1 week (RR 1.17; 95% CI 1.03
      1.33). Evaluation by the GRADE approach revealed that the quality of evidence for
      each outcome was of low to very low quality due to the risk of bias, imprecision,
      and inconsistency. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis shows that the safety and
      effectiveness of day-surgery LC is still uncertain. Additional well-designed and
      adequately powered RCTs are required before the procedure can be recommended as
      the standard for clinical practice.

PMID- 28593415
TI  - The effects of laparoscopic graspers with enhanced haptic feedback on applied
      forces: a randomized comparison with conventional graspers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Haptic feedback, which enables surgeons to perceive information on
      interaction forces between instrument and tissue, is deficient in laparoscopic
      surgery. This information, however, is essential for accurate tissue manipulation
      and recognition of tissue consistencies. To this end, a laparoscopic grasper with
      enhanced haptic feedback has been developed: the force reflecting operation
      instrument (FROI). This study tested the effects of enhanced haptic feedback on
      force control, tissue consistency interpretation, and the associated surgeons'
      level of confidence through a randomized controlled crossover experiment.
      METHODS: A randomized three-period crossover trial was conducted, in which seven
      surgical residents and 13 medical students participated. The setup involved a box
      trainer in which slices of porcine organs (lung, small intestine, or liver) were
      presented. Participants performed three series of blinded palpation tasks
      involving three different graspers: the conventional grasper, the FROI with
      enhanced haptic feedback activated, and the FROI with enhanced haptic feedback
      deactivated. In each series, nine pairs of organ tissues were palpated to compare
      consistencies. The orders of presenting both instruments and tissues were
      randomized. RESULTS: The force applied during tissue palpation significantly
      decreased, by a mean factor of 3.1 with enhanced haptic feedback. Tissue
      consistency interpretation was significantly improved with more correct
      assessments and participants answered with significantly more confidence when
      enhanced haptic feedback was available. CONCLUSION: The availability of enhanced
      haptic feedback enabled participants to operate with significantly reduced
      interaction force between instrument and tissues. This observation is expected to
      have multiple important clinical implications, such as less tissue damage, fewer
      complications, shorter operation times, and improved ergonomics.

PMID- 28593416
TI  - Laparoscopic left liver resections: how far can we go?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to analyse the outcomes of laparoscopic
      anatomic hepatectomies of the left liver segments. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective multicentre study including all patients operated on
      laparoscopically divided into unisegmentectomy of 2, 3 or 4 (Group 1), left
      lobectomy (or left lateral sectionectomy LLS) (Group 2), left hepatectomy (Group
      3) and extended left hepatectomy (Group 4) between 2000 and 2016. These four
      groups were compared in terms of demographics, intraoperative data and
      postoperative outcomes. RESULTS: Among the 190 selected patients, the groups 1,
      2, 3, 4 included 25 (13.2%), 116 (61.0%), 27 (14.2%) and 22 (11.6%) patients,
      respectively. The cohorts were comparable except for the number of lesions (p =
      0.001) and tumour diameter (p = 0.004). The operative time, blood loss and the
      use of vascular clamping were more frequent in the Groups 3 and 4 (p = 0.0001),
      as is the rate of conversion to laparotomy (p = 0.001). Total morbidity was
      23.3%, and major complications were more frequent in Group 4 (p = 0.0001). The
      prevalence of hepatic complications (11.6%), intra-abdominal collections (7.4%)
      and respiratory complications (3.7%) was proportionally correlated to the
      hepatectomy extension (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: All laparoscopic left liver
      resections seem safe and feasible even though extended hepatectomy is associated
      with a significant morbidity.

PMID- 28593417
TI  - Laparoscopic approach for the treatment of chronic groin pain after inguinal
      hernia repair : Laparoscopic approach for inguinodynia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional methods of clinical research may not be adequate to
      improve the value of care for patients with complex medical problems such as
      chronic pain after inguinal hernia repair. This problem is very complex with many
      potential factors contributing to the development of this complication. METHODS:
      We have implemented a clinical quality improvement (CQI) effort in an attempt to
      better measure and improve outcomes for patients suffering with chronic groin
      pain (inguinodynia) after inguinal hernia repair. Between April 2011 and June
      2016, there were 93 patients who underwent 94 operations in an attempt to relieve
      pain (1 patient had two separate unilateral procedures). Patients who had prior
      laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (26) had their procedure completed
      laparoscopically. Patients who had open inguinal hernia repair (68) had a
      combination of a laparoscopic and open procedure in an attempt to relieve pain.
      Initiatives to attempt to improve measurement and outcomes during this period
      included the administration of pre-operative bilateral transversus abdominis
      plane and intra-operative inguinal nerve blocks using long-acting local
      anesthetic as a part of a multimodal regimen, the introduction of a low pressure
      pneumoperitoneum system, and the expansion of a pre-operative questionnaire to
      assess emotional health pre-operatively. RESULTS: The results included the
      assessment of how much improvement was achieved after recovery from the
      operation. Forty-five patients (48%) reported significant improvement, 39
      patients (41%) reported moderate improvement, and 10 patients (11%) reported
      little or no improvement. There were 3 (3%) complications, 13 (11%) hernia
      recurrences, and 15 patients (13%) developed a new pain in the inguinal region
      after the initial pain had resolved. CONCLUSIONS: The principles of CQI can be
      applied to a group of patients suffering from chronic pain after inguinal hernia
      repair. Based on these results additional process improvement ideas will be
      implemented in an attempt to improve outcomes.

PMID- 28593419
TI  - Multiple detection of zoonotic variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 RNA in different
      squirrel species suggests a possible unknown origin for the virus.
AB  - The recently discovered variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1) caused the
      death of three squirrel breeders in Germany. Subsequent first screening of
      squirrels with in vivo collected swab samples and a VSBV-1-specific RT-qPCR
      revealed not only variegated squirrel infections (Sciurus variegatoides), but
      also Prevost's squirrels (Callosciurus prevostii) as positive for VSBV-1 genome.
      In this study, 328 squirrels were tested using the established RT-qPCR assays. In
      16 individual animals VSBV-1 RNA could be detected; 15 individuals were from
      small breedings and zoological gardens in Germany, with the remaining individual
      being from a zoological garden in Croatia. Positive animals belonged to the
      species C. prevostii, C. finlaysonii, and Tamiops swinhoei within the subfamily
      Callosciurinae and Sciurus granatensis within the subfamily Sciurinae. Repeated
      non-invasive oral swab sampling in one holding indicated positive animals months
      after a first negative result. Besides the oral swabs, VSBV-1 was also detected
      in fecal (pool) samples allowing the future monitoring of squirrel holdings based
      on RT-qPCR investigation of such samples. The detection in zoological gardens
      emphasizes the need for further investigations into the transmission route to
      humans in order to develop rational public health measures for prevention of
      transmission. Finally, the detection of several closely related VSBV-1 sequences
      in squirrels from different subfamilies raises questions as to the origin of the
      virus.

PMID- 28593418
TI  - A novel training device for tip control in colonoscopy: preliminary validation
      and efficacy as a training tool.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective control of the colonoscope tip is one of the most
      fundamental components of colonoscopy skill. Mastering fine tip control can be
      problematic for novice trainees, yet no validated training regimes exist for
      developing this specific skill component in isolation. We aimed to conduct a
      preliminary validation of a novel training device for colonoscopic tip control,
      and to assess its efficacy as a training tool. METHODS: In study 1 (validation),
      13 experienced colonoscopists and 16 novices used a colonoscope to accurately
      track 28 targets on each of four concave "training surfaces" as quickly as
      possible, and we compared their performance. In study 2 (pre-post-training
      study), another 16 novices were tested before and after a six-session training
      program. In both studies, the main outcome measurements were completion time
      (measured automatically by the device) and variability of individual performance
      (the SD of each individual's completion times across trials). RESULTS: Compared
      with novices, experienced colonoscopists were faster (P < 0.0001) and their
      performances less variable (P < 0.0001). With training, novices became faster (P
      < 0.0001) and more consistent (P = 0.003), and these improvements also
      generalized to novel training surfaces (P's < 0.01). After training, the novices'
      tip control performance was indistinguishable from that of the experienced
      colonoscopists (P's > 0.05). The composite measures of completion time used in
      both studies all had acceptable to excellent internal consistency reliability
      (alpha's ranged from 0.72 to 0.93). CONCLUSIONS: We found that performance
      measures derived from using the device to assess skill can discriminate between
      experienced colonoscopists and novices in terms of their ability to control and
      guide the colonoscope tip precisely, providing preliminary evidence to support
      the construct validity of the metrics. The device is also an effective training
      tool for this fundamental component of colonoscopy skill.

PMID- 28593421
TI  - Interventional treatment of the aortic valve : Current evidence.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become a standard treatment for
      patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis. Whereas its use was first
      limited to inoperable high-risk patients, recent studies demonstrated that TAVR
      was not inferior to standard surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for
      intermediate-risk patients. Besides equivalent outcomes, the type and rates of
      complications differ between the two procedures. Here, we provide an overview of
      the latest randomized study results comparing TAVR with SAVR and describe
      possible future directions in transcatheter aortic valve treatment.

PMID- 28593420
TI  - Does the histologic predominance of pathological stage IA lung adenocarcinoma
      influence the extent of resection?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We studied whether histologic subtype according to the new
      IASLC/ATS/ERS adenocarcinoma classification influences the extent of resection in
      patients with pathological stage IA lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Data on 288
      patients with pathological stage IA lung adenocarcinoma were analyzed
      retrospectively. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were compared according to
      clinicopathological characteristics, including predominant histologic subtype and
      extent of resection. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 38.9 months. Lobectomy was
      performed in 146 patients, and sublobar resection in 142 patients. When
      recurrence was compared among the low-grade group (adenocarcinoma in situ, AIS;
      minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, MIA), intermediate-grade group (lepidic,
      acinar, and papillary) and high-grade group (solid and micropapillary), the RFS
      rate decreased as the grade increased (p = 0.037). There was no recurrence in the
      low-grade or lepidic predominant groups. The recurrence pattern did not differ
      according to the type of resection or histological subtype. Even in the
      intermediate- and high-grade groups, the extent of resection was not
      significantly related to the RFS rate (p = 0.622, p = 0.516). The results were
      unchanged after adjusting for independent risk factors. The concordance rate
      between clinical and pathological stage IA was good in low (98.6%) and
      intermediate grade (84.6%) and poor in high grade (41.2%). CONCLUSIONS: AIS, MIA,
      and lepidic predominant may be curable by any type of complete resection. Even in
      invasive subtypes, lobectomy does not offer a recurrence-free advantage over
      sublobar resection. However, in the high-grade group, less than half of clinical
      stage IA was actually pathological stage IA. Physicians should exercise caution
      whenever sublobar resection is planned.

PMID- 28593422
TI  - Treatment of asymptomatic aortic valve stenosis : Watchful waiting or early
      intervention?
AB  - There is ongoing debate about the optimal management of severe asymptomatic
      aortic stenosis (AS). Thus far, current guidelines recommend a watchful waiting
      strategy for the majority of asymptomatic patients. However, data on the
      prognosis of asymptomatic AS are inconsistent. Some reports claim an increased
      risk of complications and even mortality in this subset of patients when treated
      conservatively. Several factors are considered to contribute to the impaired
      outcome of asymptomatic patients, such as progressive myocardial damage or sudden
      cardiac death, during the watchful waiting period. Indeed, a few nonrandomized
      studies are available in the literature showing improved survival with early
      aortic valve replacement during the asymptomatic phase compared with watchful
      waiting. However, these studies have several limitations particularly with regard
      to methodology, and thus making a clear recommendation on treatment options
      impossible. Therefore, randomized controlled trials are urgently needed in order
      to treat these patients on the basis of adequate evidence.

PMID- 28593424
TI  - Hepatopancreatic cells of a stone crab Menippe frontalis from Peru: separation,
      viability study, and evaluation of lipoperoxidation against cadmium
      contamination.
AB  - Crustaceans are frequently used as bioindicators, and changes in their metabolism
      at the hepatopancreas (HP) level are often followed in these studies. The HP is
      the site of digestion, absorption, nutrient storage, and toxic metal
      detoxification, enabling crabs to survive in metal contaminated regions. Cellular
      damage and high lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels have been found in crab
      populations under high cadmium (Cd) concentrations. The aim of this work was to
      separate and characterize the HP cells of the stone crab Menippe frontalis from
      the Pacific Ocean, Peru (5 degrees  5' 21" S-81 degrees  6' 51" W) and to measure
      the cellular viability and LPO after exposure to the non-essential metal Cd. The
      HP cells were dissociated by magnetic stirring, with posterior separation by
      sucrose gradient at concentrations of 10, 20, 30, and 40%. We found the same cell
      types that were described for other species (e.g., Ucides cordatus, Atlantic
      Ocean, Brazil). High cellular viability against 1 mmol L-1 of Cd was observed for
      resorptive (R) cells in 20% sucrose layer (88 +/- 8%, *P < 0.05, ANOVA), and
      blister (B) cells in the 40% sucrose layers (92 +/- 7%, *P < 0.05, ANOVA). Cd (1
      mmol L-1) caused an increase in LPO levels, suggesting that crabs from polluted
      areas can be affected by toxic metals, generating a physiological stress. The
      gradient sucrose methodology can be used for different species and results in a
      similar separation, viability, and cellular identification. The results are a
      starting point for toxic metal studies for species distributed across different
      geographic coordinates.

PMID- 28593423
TI  - [Telemonitoring in heart failure : Update on health-related and economic
      implications].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure is one of the most common and cost-intensive chronic
      diseases worldwide. Telemonitoring offers the potential to improve care of heart
      failure treatment and reduce cost. Empirical findings of its efficacy are
      inconsistent up to now. This systematic review examines the current state of
      research regarding health-related and economic endpoints. METHODS: A systematic
      review was conducted in July 2016 using the PubMed database and randomised
      controlled trials for the years 2011-2016. Only clinical research trials with
      heart failure patients were considered where the intervention was performed using
      external monitoring devices which transmitted data via information and
      communication technology. In all, 10 clinical trials were included. RESULTS:
      There is no definite evidence regarding improvement in care based solely on the
      most recent literature. Hospitalisation for heart failure and health-related
      quality of life were most positively influenced. There was no correlation between
      mortality and hospitalisations for all causes regarding telemonitoring. The
      overall costs tended to be higher for telemonitoring. CONCLUSION: Further
      research is needed to examine the health-related and economic benefits of
      telemonitoring for heart failure. A particular challenge is the evidence of cause
      effect relationships within complex technology-supported health-care settings.
      The latest studies support the previous state of research.

PMID- 28593425
TI  - Challenges with cataract surgery in pars planitis patients.

PMID- 28593426
TI  - [Spondyloarthritides].
AB  - Spondyloarthritides (SpA) are inflammatory rheumatic diseases affecting the axial
      skeleton, peripheral joints and entheses, and also manifest at extraskeletal
      sites. According to the more recently introduced nomenclature, predominant axial
      SpA is distinguished from predominant peripheral SpA. Axial SpA is further
      divided into radiographic and nonradiographic axial SpA. Genetic factors are
      relevant, with HLA-B27 being most important. The interleukin 23/17 pathway seems
      to be relevant and points towards new therapeutic targets. Inflammatory back pain
      is the leading symptom in axial SpA and has certain characteristics. In addition,
      HLA-B27 and sacroiliitis on imaging are important for diagnosis. Therapy consists
      of physiotherapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (first line) and
      biologicals (second line). Conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are
      effective only in peripheral arthritis.

PMID- 28593429
TI  - Ultrasound imaging of the thenar motor branch of the median nerve: a cadaveric
      study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anatomic variations of the median nerve (MN) increase the risk of
      iatrogenic injury during carpal tunnel release surgery. We investigated whether
      high-frequency ultrasonography could identify anatomic variations of the MN and
      its thenar motor branch (MBMN) in the carpal tunnel. METHODS: For each volar
      wrist of healthy non-embalmed cadavers, the type of MN variant (Lanz
      classification), course and orientation of the MBMN, and presence of hypertrophic
      muscles were scored by 18-MHz ultrasound and then by dissection. RESULT: MBMN was
      identified by ultrasound in all 30 wrists (15 subjects). By dissection, type 1, 2
      and 3 variants were found in 84%, 3%, and 13% of wrists, respectively. Ultrasound
      had good agreement with dissection in identifying the variant type (kappa =0.9).
      With both techniques, extra-, sub-, and transligamentous courses were recorded in
      65%, 31%, and 4% of cases, respectively. With both techniques, the bifid nerve,
      hypertrophic muscles, and bilateral symmetry for variant type were identified in
      13.3%, 13.3%, and 86.7% of wrists, respectively. Agreement between ultrasound and
      dissection was excellent for the MBMN course and orientation (kappa =1).
      CONCLUSION: Ultrasound can be used reliably to identify anatomic variations of
      the MN and MBMN. It could be a useful tool before carpal tunnel release surgery.
      KEY POINTS: * Ultrasound can identify variations of the motor branch of the
      median nerve. * Ultrasound mapping should be used prior to carpal tunnel release
      surgery. * All sub-, extra-, and transligamentous courses were accurately
      identified. * Type 3 variants (bifid nerve), hypertrophic muscles, and bilateral
      symmetry were accurately identified.

PMID- 28593427
TI  - Drinking and exercise behaviors among college students: between and within-person
      associations.
AB  - Prior work has suggested a paradoxical positive relationship between the risk
      behavior alcohol use and the health behavior exercise, particularly in young
      adults. Though seldom tested, different theoretical perspectives exist on the
      mechanisms that may explain the positive relationship. The aims of this study
      were to test theorized mechanisms of association, including common causes shared
      by both behaviors (e.g., personality, motives, affective), compensatory processes
      such as exercising to compensate for calories from alcohol consumption, and
      methodological confounds (e.g., between vs. within subject effects) in a college
      sample (N = 132; 56.3% male; 76% Caucasian; M age = 19.15, SD = 0.99) using a
      cross-sectional design and time line follow back methods. A positive, between
      subjects association between alcohol and exercise was found and explained by
      exercising to compensate for calories of alcohol consumption, enhancement
      motives, and physical activity enjoyment. However, we also observed a significant
      and negative within-subjects association between the two constructs, suggesting
      that, on a given day, individuals who exercise more tended to drink less.
      Furthermore, individuals who exercised more during the week tended to have
      declines in weekend drinking over time. Results suggest a complex relationship
      between exercise and alcohol use among young adults, and highlight the importance
      of distinguishing between and within subject processes, as well as the temporal
      ordering of the two behaviors. Implications are discussed in regard to theory,
      prevention, and intervention.

PMID- 28593428
TI  - Size matters: The width and location of a ureteral stone accurately predict the
      chance of spontaneous passage.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine how to most accurately predict the chance of spontaneous
      passage of a ureteral stone using information in the diagnostic non-enhanced
      computed tomography (NECT) and to create predictive models with smaller stone
      size intervals than previously possible. METHODS: Retrospectively 392 consecutive
      patients with ureteric stone on NECT were included. Three radiologists
      independently measured the stone size. Stone location, side, hydronephrosis, CRP,
      medical expulsion therapy (MET) and all follow-up radiology until stone expulsion
      or 26 weeks were recorded. Logistic regressions were performed with spontaneous
      stone passage in 4 weeks and 20 weeks as the dependent variable. RESULTS: The
      spontaneous passage rate in 20 weeks was 312 out of 392 stones, 98% in 0-2 mm,
      98% in 3 mm, 81% in 4 mm, 65% in 5 mm, 33% in 6 mm and 9% in >=6.5 mm wide
      stones. The stone size and location predicted spontaneous ureteric stone passage.
      The side and the grade of hydronephrosis only predicted stone passage in specific
      subgroups. CONCLUSION: Spontaneous passage of a ureteral stone can be predicted
      with high accuracy with the information available in the NECT. We present a
      prediction method based on stone size and location. KEY POINTS: * Non-enhanced
      computed tomography can predict the outcome of ureteral stones. * Stone size and
      location are the most important predictors of spontaneous passage. * Prediction
      models based on stone width or length and stone location are introduced. * The
      observed passage rates for stone size in mm-intervals are reported. * Clinicians
      can make better decisions about treatment.

PMID- 28593430
TI  - The prevalence and significance of renal perfusion defects in early kidney
      transplants quantified using 3D contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Vascular complications are one of the most common causes of early
      kidney transplant dysfunction. Contrast enhanced ultrasound increases sensitivity
      to vascular changes. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and size
      of vascular abnormalities in early renal transplants using 3D CEUS and the
      significance of perfusion defects on renal function. METHODS: Ninety-nine renal
      transplant patients underwent 3D CEUS after surgery to quantify perfusion defects
      as percentage total renal volume (TRV). Serum creatinine and estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) were recorded up to 3 months post-surgery. RESULTS: Twenty
      participants had focal perfusion defects (0.2-43%TRV). There was a meaningful
      difference in patients with perfusion defects in eGFR at 1 month (90% CI 2.7-19.2
      mL/min/1.73 m2) and 3 months (90% CI 1.9-19.6 mL/min/1.73 m2) and creatinine at 3
      months (90% CI -56 - -8 MUmol/L) using a predetermined clinical threshold.
      Perfusion defect size correlated well with both serum creatinine and eGFR at 3
      months (R = 0.80, p <= 0.000 and 0.58, p = 0.038). No correlation was seen prior
      to 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: Perfusion defects in kidney transplants were more
      common than expected and were highly likely to reduce renal function at 1-3
      months, and the size of the defect affected the degree of functional change at 3
      months. KEY POINTS: * Perfusion defects were more common than previously thought.
      * Perfusion defects could be quantified using 3D CEUS. * The presence of even
      small perfusion defects may affect kidney function. * Size of perfusion defects
      correlated with subsequent kidney function at 3 months. * Potentially useful in
      informing clinician expectations of kidney function post-surgery.

PMID- 28593431
TI  - Prognostic implication of the metastatic lesion-to-ovarian cancer standardised
      uptake value ratio in advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prognostic value of metabolic activity of metastatic
      lesions measured by 18F-flurodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake on preoperative
      positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with
      advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: Clinico-pathological
      variables and PET/CT parameters such as the maximum standardised uptake value of
      the ovarian cancer (SUVovary), metastatic lesions (SUVmeta), and the metastatic
      lesion-to-ovarian cancer standardised uptake value ratio (SUVmeta/SUVovary) were
      assessed in International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage
      III, IV patients. RESULTS: Clinico-pathological data were retrospectively
      reviewed for 94 eligible patients. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was
      18.5 months (range, 6-90 months), and 57 (60.6%) patients experienced recurrence.
      Older age [P = 0.017, hazard ratio (HR) 1.036, 95% CI 1.006-1.066], residual
      disease after surgery (P = 0.024, HR 1.907, 95% CI 1.087-3.346), and high
      SUVmeta/SUVovary (P = 0.019, HR 2.321, 95% CI 1.148-4.692) were independent risk
      factors of recurrence. Patients with high SUVmeta/SUVovary showed a significantly
      worse PFS than those with low SUVmeta/SUVovary (P = 0.007, log-rank test).
      CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative SUVmeta/SUVovary was significantly associated with
      recurrence and has an incremental prognostic value for PFS in patients with
      advanced serous EOC. KEY POINTS: * The prognostic value of the metabolic activity
      of metastatic lesions was investigated. * SUVmeta/SUVovary was significantly
      associated with recurrence of serous EOC. * Preoperative SUVmeta/SUVovary can be
      a predicator of serous EOC recurrence.

PMID- 28593432
TI  - Risk of acute kidney injury after transarterial chemoembolisation in
      hepatocellular carcinoma patients: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This nationwide population-based cohort study evaluated the
      association between acute kidney injury (AKI) and transarterial chemoembolisation
      (TACE) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: The case cohort
      included patients with HCC who had undergone TACE treatment between 1 January
      1998 and 31 March 2010. Patients with baseline chronic kidney disease, with
      baseline end-stage renal disease, and aged younger than 20 years were excluded.
      HCC patients with TACE and HCC patients without TACE were matched 1:1 in terms of
      propensity scores. RESULTS: A total of 1132 HCC patients with TACE and 1132 HCC
      patients without TACE (controls) were enrolled, of which 72 and 66 patients
      developed AKI, respectively. After adjustment for age, sex, comorbidity, and
      other medications, the risk of AKI was higher in HCC patients with TACE [hazard
      ratio (HR) = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.17-2.34]. The HRs of post-TACE AKI were 1.56 (95%
      CI = 1.02-2.37) and 1.74 (95% CI = 1.23-2.48) for patients having at least one
      comorbidity and less frequent sessions of TACE (<=3 times), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that TACE increases the risk of AKI in
      patients with HCC without chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease. KEY
      POINTS: * Seventy-two of1132 patients with TACE and 62/1132 patients without TACE
      developed AKI. * AKI risk was higher in HCC patients with TACE. * HRs were 1.56
      and 1.74 for those with comorbidities and less frequent TACE.

PMID- 28593433
TI  - Additional value of diffusion-weighted imaging to evaluate multifocal and
      multicentric breast cancer detected using pre-operative breast MRI.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) aids pre
      operative dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to
      evaluate additional lesions in breast cancer patients. METHODS: DCE-MRI and DWI
      were performed on 131 lesions, with available histopathological results. The
      apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of each lesion was measured, and the cut-off
      value for differentiation between malignant and benign lesions was calculated. A
      protocol combining the ADC cut-off value with DCE-MRI was validated in a cohort
      of 107 lesions in 77 patients. RESULTS: When an ADC cut-off value of 1.11 * 10-3
      mm2/s from the development cohort was applied to the additional lesions in the
      validation cohort, the specificity increased from 18.9% to 67.6% (P < 0.001), and
      the diagnostic accuracy increased from 61.7% to 82.2% (P = 0.05), without
      significant loss of sensitivity (98.6% vs. 90.0%, P = 0.07). The negative
      predictive values of lesions in the same quadrant had decreased, as had those of
      lesions >=1 cm in diameter. The ADC cut-off value in the validation cohort was
      1.05 * 10-3 mm2/s. CONCLUSIONS: Additional implementation of DWI for breast
      lesions in pre-operative MRI can help to obviate unnecessary biopsies by
      increasing specificity. However, to avoid missing cancers, clinicians should
      closely monitor lesions located in the same quadrant or lesions >=1 cm. KEY
      POINTS: * DWI can be used to further differentiate lesions during pre-operative
      cancer staging. * ADC cut-off values were similar in the development and
      validation cohorts. * DWI improves both PPV and NPV in cases of multicentric
      lesions. * DWI improves both PPV and NPV in lesions <1 in diameter. * NPVs are
      decreased in multifocal lesions and lesions >=1 cm in diameter.

PMID- 28593434
TI  - Pam2CSK4 and Pam3CSK4 induce iNOS expression via TBK1 and MyD88 molecules in
      mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of TLR
      adaptor molecules, such as TRIF, MyD88, and TBK1 in the induction of iNOS and
      nitric oxide (NO) production in Pam2CSK4 and Pam3CSK4-treated mouse macrophages.
      METHOD: Mouse macrophage cell line (RAW264.7) was transfected with trif, myd88,
      and tbk1 siRNAs before stimulated with Pam2CSK4 and Pam3CSK4. The iNOS gene and
      protein expression were determined by RT-PCR and immunoblotting, respectively.
      The NO production was determined by Griess reaction assay. RESULTS: The results
      showed that the induction of iNOS expression and NO production by Pam2CSK4 and
      Pam3CSK4 were diminished in tbk1 and myd88-depleted mouse macrophages but not
      trif-depleted cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that the TBK1 and MyD88
      molecules were essential for the induction of iNOS expression and NO production
      by both Pam2CSK4 and Pam3CSK4 via TLR2 signaling.

PMID- 28593435
TI  - Hypoxanthine Induces Neuroenergetic Impairment and Cell Death in Striatum of
      Young Adult Wistar Rats.
AB  - Hypoxanthine is the major purine involved in the salvage pathway of purines in
      the brain. High levels of hypoxanthine are characteristic of Lesch-Nyhan Disease.
      Since hypoxanthine is a purine closely related to ATP formation, the aim of this
      study was to investigate the effect of intrastriatal hypoxanthine administration
      on neuroenergetic parameters (pyruvate kinase, succinate dehydrogenase, complex
      II, cytochrome c oxidase, and ATP levels) and mitochondrial function
      (mitochondrial mass and membrane potential) in striatum of rats. We also
      evaluated the effect of cell death parameters (necrosis and apoptosis). Wistar
      rats of 60 days of life underwent stereotactic surgery and were divided into two
      groups: control (infusion of saline 0.9%) and hypoxanthine (10 MUM).
      Intrastriatal hypoxanthine administration did not alter pyruvate kinase activity,
      but increased succinate dehydrogenase and complex II activities and diminished
      cytochrome c oxidase activity and immunocontent. Hypoxanthine injection decreased
      the percentage of cells with mitochondrial membrane label and increased
      mitochondrial membrane potential labeling. There was a decrease in the number of
      live cells and an increase in the number of apoptotic cells by caused
      hypoxanthine. Our findings show that intrastriatal hypoxanthine administration
      altered neuroenergetic parameters, and caused mitochondrial dysfunction and cell
      death by apoptosis, suggesting that these processes may be associated, at least
      in part, with neurological symptoms found in patients with Lesch-Nyhan Disease.

PMID- 28593436
TI  - Long-Term Plasticity in Amygdala Circuits: Implication of CB1-Dependent LTD in
      Stress.
AB  - The amygdala mediates many forms of emotional learning, during which the central
      nucleus of amygdala (CeA) functions as a major output of the amygdala by
      converging inputs from the basolateral nucleus (BLA) and other amygdalar
      subregions. However, the contribution of BLA-CeA synaptic transmission and
      plasticity of this transmission after exposure to emotional stimuli remains to be
      completely understood. Using paired recording, we simultaneously recorded BLA and
      CeA neurons, and observed that BLA-CeA transmission was glutamatergic. In this
      transmission, high-frequency stimulation induced NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-dependent
      LTP, low-frequency stimulation induced NMDAR-dependent LTD, whereas modest
      frequency stimulation induced cannabinoid receptor1 (CB1)-dependent LTD. After
      acute stress, CB1-dependent LTD of this transmission was selectively abolished.
      This effect of stress was mimicked by intra-CeA administration of CB1-selective
      agonists and prevented by CB1-selective antagonists. Furthermore, intra-CeA
      administration of CB1 antagonists prevented stress-induced reduction of
      explorative behaviors. These results indicate that CB1 signaling-mediated
      plasticity in local circuits of the amygdala plays a critical role in emotional
      responses.

PMID- 28593437
TI  - Incidence and Clinical Outcomes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in South Korea,
      2011-2014: A Nationwide Population-Based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in
      East Asia; however, population-based data from this region are lacking. AIM: We
      conducted a nationwide, population-based study to examine the incidence and
      disease course of IBD in South Korea. METHODS: Using the National Health
      Insurance claims data, we collected data on patients diagnosed with IBD [10,049
      with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 5595 with Crohn's disease (CD)] from 2011 to
      2014. RESULTS: During the study period, the average annual incidence of UC was
      5.0 per 105, while that of CD was 2.8 per 105. Among patients with UC, the
      cumulative rates of surgery 1 and 4 years after diagnosis were 1.0 and 2.0%;
      those among patients with CD were 9.0 and 13.9%, respectively. The 1- and 4-year
      cumulative rates of moderate- to high-dose corticosteroid use were, respectively,
      26.6 and 45.2% among patients with UC, and 29.9 and 50.8% among those with CD.
      Similarly, the 1- and 4-year cumulative rates of immunomodulator use were 14.1
      and 26.4% among patients with UC, and 58.3 and 76.1% among those with CD,
      respectively. With regard to biologic use, the 1- and 4-year cumulative rates
      were 3.0 and 9.0% among patients with UC, and 11.1 and 31.7% among those with CD,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The recent incidence of IBD in South Korea has been
      the highest in East Asia. Patients who had been diagnosed recently with IBD
      showed lower rates of surgery and higher rates of immunomodulator and biologic
      use compared to those reported ever in South Korea.

PMID- 28593438
TI  - Eye Movements Are Correctly Timed During Walking Despite Bilateral Vestibular
      Hypofunction.
AB  - Individuals with bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH) often report symptoms of
      oscillopsia (the perception that the world is bouncing or unstable) during
      walking. Efference copy/proprioception contributes to locomotion gaze stability
      in animals, sometimes inhibiting the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Gaze
      stability requires both adequate eye velocity and appropriate timing of eye
      movements. It is unknown whether eye velocity (VOR gain), timing (phase), or both
      are impaired for individuals with BVH during walking. Identifying the specific
      mechanism of impaired gaze stability can better inform rehabilitation options.
      Gaze stability was measured for eight individuals with severe BVH and eight
      healthy age- and gender-matched controls while performing a gaze fixation task
      during treadmill walking. Frequency response functions (FRF) were calculated from
      pitch eye and head velocity. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine group
      differences for each frequency bin of the FRF. Pearson correlation coefficients
      were calculated to determine the relationship between the real and imaginary
      parts of the FRF and the Oscillopsia Visual Analog Scale (oVAS) scores.
      Individuals with BVH demonstrated significantly lower gains than healthy controls
      above 0.5 Hz, but their phase was ideally compensatory for frequencies below 3
      Hz. Higher oVAS scores were correlated with lower gain. Individuals with BVH
      demonstrated ideal timing for vertical eye movements while walking despite slower
      than ideal eye velocity when compared to healthy controls. Rehabilitation
      interventions focusing on enhancing VOR gain during walking should be developed
      to take advantage of the intact timing reported here. Specifically, training VOR
      gain while walking may reduce oscillopsia severity and improve quality of life.

PMID- 28593440
TI  - Multi-level mental representations of written, auditory, and audiovisual text in
      children and adults.
AB  - We examined whether the comprehension of narrative texts differed between
      auditory, audiovisual, and written text presentations in a sample of 8- and 10
      year-olds and adults. Based on multi-level theories of text comprehension that
      assume text comprehension to involve at least three levels of mental
      representation, we applied a sentence recognition task that enabled the separate
      assessment of the memory of the text surface, text base, and the situation model.
      Results indicate that 8-year-olds benefit from audiovisual and auditory text
      presentations in comparison with written text presentations in terms of their
      memory of situation model information. For 10-year-olds and adults, their text
      comprehension did not differ between audiovisual, auditory, and written text
      presentations. Additionally, the mode of text presentation had no effect on the
      memory of text surface and text base information.

PMID- 28593439
TI  - Clinical and Histopathological Amelioration of Experimental Autoimmune
      Encephalomyelitis by AAV Vectors Expressing a Soluble Interleukin-23 Receptor.
AB  - The role of the T helper (Th)17 pathway has been clearly demonstrated in the
      onset and progression of autoimmune diseases, where interleukin (IL)-23 is a key
      molecule in maintaining the response mediated by Th17 cells. As a consequence,
      recent strategies based on blocking the interaction between IL-23 and its
      receptor (IL-23R), for example the anti-p19 antibody tildrakizumab, have been
      developed to regulate the Th17 pathway from the initial stages of the disease.
      Here, a soluble (s)IL-23R cDNA was cloned in expression plasmids and viral
      vectors. The clinical efficacy of sIL-23R was evaluated in myelin oligodendrocyte
      glycoprotein-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice intravenously
      injected with a single dose of adeno-associated virus AAV8-sIL-23R vectors.
      Cytokine secretion was determined by multiplex assay, while histopathological
      analysis of the central nervous system was performed to study demyelination,
      inflammatory infiltration, and microglia and astroglia activation. We observed
      that administration of adeno-associated vector 8 encoding sIL-23R was associated
      with a significant disease improvement, including delay in the onset of the
      clinical signs; slower progress of the disease; interference with IL-23-mediated
      signal transducer and activator of transcription response by inhibiting of signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 3 phosphorylation; reduced
      demyelination and infiltration in the central nervous system; and lower astrocyte
      and microglia activation. Our results suggest that the use of vectors carrying
      sIL-23R to block the IL-23/IL-23R interaction may be a new therapeutic strategy
      for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 28593443
TI  - Impact of Diclofenac Sodium on Tilmicosin-Induced Acute Cardiotoxicity in Rats
      (Tilmicosin and Diclofenac Cardiotoxicity).
AB  - To assess the influence of diclofenac sodium (DIC) treatment on tilmicosin (TIL)
      prompted cardiotoxicity, forty albino rats were randomly divided into four equal
      groups: control, TIL group (single subcutaneous injection of 75 mg/kg BW
      tilmicosin phosphate 30%), TIL + DIC group (single subcutaneous injection of
      tilmicosin phosphate 30% and then injection intramuscularly of 13.5 mg/kg BW/day
      for 6 days diclofenac sodium) and DIC group (intramuscular injection of 13.5
      mg/kg BW/day diclofenac sodium for 6 days). Creatine kinase-MB, lactate
      dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, urea and
      creatinine significantly elevated in all treated groups, but markedly in TIL +
      DIC group serum. Lipid peroxidation significantly increased, and reduced
      glutathione significantly decreased in tissues of all groups. Several
      histopathological alterations were noticed in heart, liver, kidneys and lungs of
      all treated groups, particularly TIL + DIC group. Ultrastructurally, myocardium
      of TIL and TIL + DIC groups showed characteristic changes for myocardial
      apoptosis and degeneration. Significant differences were detected in area
      percentage of caspase-3 protein expression and bcl-2 immunoreactivity in
      cardiomyocytes, particularly in TIL + DIC group. This study is the first to
      indicate that one of the possible mechanisms of TIL cardiotoxicity is myocardial
      apoptosis. DIC amplifies TIL-induced cardiotoxicity besides its hepato
      nephrotoxicity.

PMID- 28593442
TI  - Remodeling of heterochromatin structure slows neuropathological progression and
      prolongs survival in an animal model of Huntington's disease.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant inherited neurological
      disorder caused by expanded CAG repeats in exon 1 of the Huntingtin (HTT) gene.
      Altered histone modifications and epigenetic mechanisms are closely associated
      with HD suggesting that transcriptional repression may play a pathogenic role.
      Epigenetic compounds have significant therapeutic effects in cellular and animal
      models of HD, but they have not been successful in clinical trials. Herein, we
      report that dSETDB1/ESET, a histone methyltransferase (HMT), is a mediator of
      mutant HTT-induced degeneration in a fly HD model. We found that nogalamycin, an
      anthracycline antibiotic and a chromatin remodeling drug, reduces trimethylated
      histone H3K9 (H3K9me3) levels and pericentromeric heterochromatin condensation by
      reducing the expression of Setdb1/Eset. H3K9me3-specific ChIP-on-ChIP analysis
      identified that the H3K9me3-enriched epigenome signatures of multiple neuronal
      pathways including Egr1, Fos, Ezh1, and Arc are deregulated in HD transgenic
      (R6/2) mice. Nogalamycin modulated the expression of the H3K9me3-landscaped
      epigenome in medium spiny neurons and reduced mutant HTT nuclear inclusion
      formation. Moreover, nogalamycin slowed neuropathological progression, preserved
      motor function, and extended the life span of R6/2 mice. Together, our results
      indicate that modulation of SETDB1/ESET and H3K9me3-dependent heterochromatin
      plasticity is responsible for the neuroprotective effects of nogalamycin in HD
      and that small compounds targeting dysfunctional histone modification and
      epigenetic modification by SETDB1/ESET may be a rational therapeutic strategy in
      HD.

PMID- 28593441
TI  - Context and craving during stressful events in the daily lives of drug-dependent
      patients.
AB  - RATIONALE: Knowing how stress manifests in the lives of people with substance-use
      disorders could help inform mobile "just in time" treatment. OBJECTIVES: The
      purpose of this paper is to examine discrete episodes of stress, as distinct from
      the fluctuations in background stress assessed in most EMA studies. METHODS: For
      up to 16 weeks, outpatients on opioid-agonist treatment carried smartphones on
      which they initiated an entry whenever they experienced a stressful event (SE)
      and when randomly prompted (RP) three times daily. Participants reported the
      severity of stress and craving and the context of the report (location,
      activities, companions). Decomposition of covariance was used to separate within
      person from between-person effects; r effect sizes below are within-person.
      RESULTS: Participants (158 of 182; 87%) made 1787 stress-event entries. Craving
      for opioids increased with stress severity (r effect = 0.50). Stress events
      tended to occur in social company (with acquaintances, 0.63, friends, 0.17, or on
      the phone, 0.41) rather than with family (spouse, -0.14; child, -0.18), and in
      places with more overall activity (bars, 0.32; outside, 0.28; walking, 0.28) and
      more likelihood of unexpected experiences (with strangers, 0.17). Being on the
      internet was slightly protective (-0.22). Our prior finding that being at the
      workplace protects against background stress in our participants was partly
      supported in these stressful-event data. CONCLUSIONS: The contexts of specific
      stressful events differ from those we have seen in prior studies of ongoing
      background stress. However, both are associated with drug craving.

PMID- 28593445
TI  - Erratum to: Compartmental tongue resection with submental island flap
      reconstruction for large carcinoma of the oral tongue.

PMID- 28593444
TI  - Efficacy of dietary supplementation of fatty acid compound on performance and
      production in finishing pigs.
AB  - The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dietary
      supplementation of 0.5 and 1% of fatty acid (FA) compound containing conjugated
      linoleic acid as active component on growth performance, apparent nutrient
      digestibility, serum lipid profile, meat quality, and fatty acid profiles in
      muscle and adipose tissue in finishing pigs. A total of 90 finishing pigs
      ([Yorkshire * Landrace] * Duroc) were used in 5-week trial. The growth
      performance and nutrient digestibility were unaffected with FA supplementation.
      The lean percentage was greater (P = 0.05) in pigs fed FA-supplemented diet
      whereas the 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value was reduced (P <
      0.05) during the storage. The FA supplementation tended (P = 0.06) to reduce
      serum total cholesterol. However, it improved (P < 0.05) C14:0, C16:0, C18:0,
      saturated fatty acid, conjugated linoleic acid, and omega 3 levels and reduced (P
      < 0.05) C18:1, C18:2, unsaturated fatty acid, and omega 6 levels in muscle and
      subcutaneous adipose tissue. In conclusion, FA supplementation tended to reduce
      total serum cholesterol and improved lean percentage as well as meat value
      through enrichment of conjugated linoleic acid and omega 3 fatty acid in the
      muscle and adipose tissue.

PMID- 28593446
TI  - C3 glomerulonephritis with a severe crescentic phenotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is rare type of glomerulonephritis resulting
      from the glomerular deposition of C3 due to dysregulation of the alternative
      pathway of complement. It is further subdivided into C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN)
      and dense deposit disease (DDD), depending on the ultrastructural features. C3GN
      usually presents with a membranoproliferative pattern of injury. Crescents may or
      may not be present. However, we have noted a severe necrotizing and crescentic
      glomerulonephritis in a small subset of C3GN patients. CASE DIAGNOSIS/TREATMENT:
      We present the clinical features, kidney biopsy findings, complement evaluation,
      treatment, and follow-up of four C3GN patients. We also compare the findings with
      four DDD patients with a severe necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis.
      The patients were young and presented with hematuria and proteinuria. The biopsy
      was remarkable for the large number of crescents, in association with bright
      glomerular staining for C3. The patients were treated with
      steroids/immunosuppressive drugs. Three of the 4 C3GN patients and 2 of the 4 DDD
      patients showed stable renal function at follow-up. We find remarkable
      similarities between our C3GN patients with crescents and the previously
      described entity of juvenile acute nonproliferative glomerulonephritis.
      CONCLUSIONS: To summarize, C3G with a severe crescentic phenotype is rare,
      affects children and young adults, and has a variable response to steroid and
      immunosuppressive treatment. It is important to recognize this rare cause of
      crescentic glomerulonephritis so that appropriate evaluation and treatment can be
      carried out.

PMID- 28593448
TI  - Erratum to: Assessing the feasibility of the Effectiveness of Discontinuing
      Bisphosphonates trial: a pilot study.

PMID- 28593447
TI  - Predictors of near-term fracture in osteoporotic women aged >=65 years, based on
      data from the study of osteoporotic fractures.
AB  - : Using data from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF), several clinical
      characteristics predictive of near-term (1-year) risk of hip and non-vertebral
      fracture among elderly osteoporotic women were identified, and a subset of those
      for hip fracture was incorporated into a risk assessment tool. Additional
      research is needed to validate study findings. INTRODUCTION: While several risk
      factors are known to contribute to long-term fracture risk in women with
      osteoporosis, factors predicting fracture risk over a shorter time horizon, such
      as over a 1-year period, are less well-established. METHODS: We utilized a
      repeated-observations design and data from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures to
      identify factors contributing to near-term risk of hip fracture and any non
      vertebral fracture, respectively, among osteoporotic women aged >=65 years.
      Potential predictors of hip fracture and any non-vertebral fracture over the 1
      year period subsequent to each qualifying SOF exam were examined using
      multivariable frailty models. Because the discriminative ability of the hip
      fracture model was acceptable, a corresponding risk-prediction tool was also
      developed. RESULTS: Study population included 2499 women with osteoporosis, who
      contributed 6811 observations. Incidence of fracture in the 1-year period
      subsequent to each exam was 2.2% for hip fracture and 6.6% for any non-vertebral
      fracture. Independent predictors of hip fracture included low total hip T-score,
      prior fracture, and risk factors for falls (multivariable model c-statistic =
      0.71 (95% CI 0.67-0.76)). Independent predictors of any non-vertebral fracture
      included age, total hip T-score, prior falls, prior fracture, walking speed,
      Parkinson's disease or stroke, and smoking (multivariable model c-statistic =
      0.62 (0.59-0.65)). CONCLUSIONS: Several clinical characteristics predictive of
      hip and non-vertebral fracture within a 1-year follow-up period among elderly
      women with osteoporosis were identified, and a subset of those for hip fracture
      was incorporated into a risk assessment tool. Assessment of these risk factors
      may help guide osteoporosis treatment choices by identifying patients in whom
      there is urgency to treat. Additional research is needed to validate the findings
      of this study and the accuracy of the risk assessment tool.

PMID- 28593449
TI  - FRAX for fracture prediction shorter and longer than 10 years: the Manitoba BMD
      registry.
AB  - : In a large clinical registry for the province of Manitoba, Canada, FRAX
      predicted incident MOF and hip fracture from 1 to 15 years following baseline
      assessment. A simple linear rescaling of FRAX outputs seems useful for predicting
      both short- and long-term fracture risk in this population. INTRODUCTION: FRAX(r)
      estimates 10-year probability of major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) and hip
      fracture. We examined FRAX predictions over intervals shorter and longer than 10
      years. METHODS: Using a population-based clinical registry for Manitoba, Canada,
      we identified 62,275 women and 6455 men 40 years and older with baseline dual
      energy X-ray absorptiometry scans and FRAX scores. Incident MOF and hip fracture
      were assessed up to 15 years from population-based data. We assessed agreement
      between estimated fracture probability from 1 to 15 years using linearly rescaled
      FRAX scores and observed cumulative fracture probability. The gradient of risk
      for FRAX probability and incident fracture was examined overall and for 5-year
      intervals. RESULTS: FRAX predicted incident MOF and hip fracture for all time
      intervals. There was no attenuation in the gradient of risk for MOF even for
      years >10. Gradient of risk was slightly lower for hip fracture prediction in
      years >10 vs years <5, though HRs remained high. Linear agreement was seen in the
      relationships between observed vs predicted (rescaled) FRAX probabilities (R 2
      0.95-1.00). Among women, there was near-perfect linearity in MOF predictions.
      Deviations from linearity, with a slightly higher observed than predicted MOF
      probability, were most evident in the first years following a fracture event and
      after 10 years for hip fracture prediction in women using FRAX with BMD.
      Simulations showed that results were robust to large differences in fracture
      rates and moderate differences in mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: FRAX predicts
      incident MOF and hip fracture up to 15 years and could be adapted to predict
      fracture over time periods shorter and longer term than 10 years in populations
      with fracture and mortality epidemiology similar to Canada.

PMID- 28593450
TI  - Clinical assessment of endothelial function in patients with chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
AB  - Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased
      cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Flow-mediated (FMD) and nitrate-mediated
      dilatation (NMD) are considered non-invasive methods to assess endothelial
      function and surrogate markers of subclinical atherosclerosis. We performed a
      systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression to evaluate the impact
      of COPD on FMD and NMD. Studies were systematically searched in the PubMed, Web
      of Science, Scopus and EMBASE databases. The random-effect method was used to
      take into account the variability among included studies. A total of eight
      studies were included in the final analysis, eight with data on FMD (334 COPD
      patients) and two on NMD (104 COPD patients). Compared to controls, COPD patients
      show a significantly lower FMD (MD -3.15%; 95% CI -4.89, -1.40; P < 0.001) and
      NMD (MD -3.53%; 95% CI -7.04, -0.02; P = 0.049). Sensitivity analyses
      substantially confirms the results. Meta-regression models show that a more
      severe degree of airway obstruction is associated with a more severe FMD
      impairment in COPD patients than in controls. Regression analyses confirm that
      the association between COPD and endothelial dysfunction is independent of
      baseline smoking status and most traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In
      conclusion, COPD is significantly and independently associated with endothelial
      dysfunction. These findings may be useful to plan adequate cardiovascular
      prevention strategies in this clinical setting, with particular regard to
      patients with a more severe disease.

PMID- 28593451
TI  - Clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic features of patients admitted to acute care
      hospitals with trunk compared to lower limb cellulitis.
AB  - The objective of this study is to report the clinical course and risk factors of
      trunk cellulitis, to identify diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, and compare
      them to patients with lower limb cellulitis. Medical records of adult patients
      with trunk cellulitis were reviewed and compared to an equal number of randomly
      selected patients with lower limb cellulitis. Demographic, clinical, and
      laboratory data were collected and analyzed using binary univariate and
      multivariate logistic regression analyses. Primary outcome was surgical drainage.
      Secondary outcomes were use of imaging studies, length of stay, readmission
      within 30 days, and 30-day mortality. During the study period, 74 patients were
      diagnosed with trunk cellulitis. Compared to patients with lower limb cellulitis,
      there are more women (57 vs. 39%, p = 0.032) and they are younger (mean age 59.7
      vs. 68.4 years, p = 0.005). The only co-morbidity found as a significant risk
      factor for trunk cellulitis is malignancy (p = 0.017). These variables remain
      independent risk factors for trunk cellulitis after multivariate regression
      analysis. There is a trend toward more surgical interventions in the study group
      [6 (8%) patients vs. 1 (1%) with leg cellulitis, p = 0.116], and a longer
      hospital stay (5.8 days in the study group vs. 4.3 days in the control group, p =
      0.025). Laboratory data are similar in both groups. There are risk factors for
      trunk cellulitis compared to lower limb cellulitis. However, diagnostic and
      therapeutic approaches are similar, except for a trend for more surgical
      interventions.

PMID- 28593452
TI  - Physical therapy in the management of stone fragments: progress, status, and
      needs.
AB  - With an increased risk of symptomatic events, the complications related to
      residual fragments are complex and intractable. The management of stone fragments
      is a challenge to urologists. This review focused on the progress, status, and
      needs of the newly developed physical therapies to remove fragments and improve
      the stone-free rate. Physical therapies, including mechanical percussion,
      diuresis, and inversion therapy, ultrasonic propulsion technology, glue-clot
      technology, and magnetization technology, will facilitate progress in endoscopic
      stone fragment retrieval.

PMID- 28593453
TI  - Targeting Small Bowel Receptors to Treat Constipation and Diarrhea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The options for the treatment of diarrhea and constipation are
      evolving as emerging therapies target small bowel receptors. The goal of this
      review is to discuss small bowel receptors involved in intestinal absorption,
      secretion, and motility. The review highlights therapies already approved or
      currently being studied for the modulation of these receptors. METHODS: The
      articles cited in this review focus on the molecular level of pathways involved
      in diarrhea and constipation, and highlight the respective pharmacotherapies.
      RESULTS: The majority of the studies in the current literature investigate the
      effects of both the small and large intestine receptors on diarrhea and
      constipation. There are fewer studies that isolate the effects of these receptors
      solely on the small bowel, and focusing more on the receptors found distinctly in
      the small intestine may be an area of interest for future studies as this can
      inspire more targeted therapies.

PMID- 28593455
TI  - Monitoring tissue oxygen heterogeneities and their influence on optical glucose
      measurements in an animal model.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to characterize the heterogeneity of oxygen partial
      pressure in different adipose tissue zones and to assess the possibility of
      compensating these heterogeneities during optical glucose measurements. In this
      proof of concept study, the heterogeneity of oxygen partial pressure was
      determined in the adipose tissue of a pig by using 48 oxygen sensors in 3 zones
      of the abdominal region at two different blood oxygen levels. Sensor oxygen
      values correlated well with reference blood oxygen values and we identified
      heterogeneities in oxygen partial pressure among the defined zones of the
      abdominal region. Significant differences in the mean oxygen partial pressure
      were found when comparing the three abdominal zones but no significant
      differences were found when comparing two sensors located in close proximity (on
      one cannula). The low heterogeneity on one cannula allows the compensation of
      physiological oxygen variations for optical glucose measurements by using an
      additional oxygen sensor in close proximity to the glucose sensor. In addition,
      this setup can be used to continuously monitor tissue oxygenation e.g. in
      patients with adipose tissue dysfunction or serve limb ischemia.

PMID- 28593454
TI  - Permanent Cerebellar Degeneration After Acute Hyperthermia with Non-toxic Lithium
      Levels: a Case Report and Review of Literature.
AB  - This was a study of a 33-year-old man with bipolar disorder treated with lithium
      who developed cerebellar atrophy after an event of extreme hyperthermia. Unlike
      previously reported cases of acute cerebellar atrophy after heat stroke,
      neuroleptic syndrome or lithium toxicity, this case was characterized by a
      chronic cerebellar atrophy that developed after sepsis-induced hyperthermia in
      the setting of non-toxic lithium levels. Unique to this case also was the early
      finding of cerebellar atrophy on MRI 2 weeks after the episode of hyperthermia,
      long-term neurotoxicity after the novo lithium therapy, and longest follow-up
      case of chronic cerebellar syndrome after hyperthermia with non-toxic lithium
      levels.

PMID- 28593457
TI  - Use of solvent mixtures for total lipid extraction of Chlorella vulgaris and gas
      chromatography FAME analysis.
AB  - Lipid extraction is the bottleneck step for algae-based biodiesel production.
      Herein, 12 solvent mixture systems (mixtures of three non-polar and two polar
      organic solvents) were examined to evaluate their effects on the total lipid
      yield from Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris). Moreover, the extraction yields of
      three solvent systems with maximum extraction efficiency of esterifiable lipids
      were determined by acidic transesterification and GC-FID analysis. Three solvent
      systems, which resulted in a higher extraction yield, were further subjected to
      fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis. The total lipid extraction yields (based
      on dry biomass) were (38.57 +/- 1.51), (25.33 +/- 0.58), and (25.17 +/- 1.14) %,
      for chloroform-methanol (1:2) (C1M2), hexane-methanol (1:2) (H1M2), and
      chloroform-methanol (2:1) (C2M1), respectively. The extraction efficiency of C1M2
      was approximately 1.5 times higher than H1M2 and C2M1, whereas the FAME profile
      of extracted lipids by H1M2 and C1M2 were almost identical. Moreover, the
      esterifiable lipid extraction yields of (18.14 +/- 2.60), (16.66 +/- 0.35), and
      (13.22 +/- 0.31) % (based on dry biomass) were obtained for C1M2, H1M2, and C2M1
      solvent mixture systems, respectively. The biodiesel fuel properties produced
      from C. vulgaris were empirically predicted and compared to that of the EN 14214
      and ASTM 6751 standard specifications.

PMID- 28593456
TI  - Impact of hemodynamic goal-directed resuscitation on mortality in adult
      critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - The effect of hemodynamic optimization in critically ill patients has been
      challenged in recent years. The aim of the meta-analysis was to evaluate if a
      protocolized intervention based on the result of hemodynamic monitoring reduces
      mortality in critically ill patients. We performed a systematic review and meta
      analysis according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of
      Interventions. The study was registered in the PROSPERO database
      (CRD42015019539). Randomized controlled trials published in English, reporting
      studies on adult patients treated in an intensive care unit, emergency department
      or equivalent level of care were included. Interventions had to be protocolized
      and based on results from hemodynamic measurements, defined as cardiac output,
      stroke volume, stroke volume variation, oxygen delivery, and central venous-or
      mixed venous oxygenation. The control group had to be treated without any
      structured intervention based on the parameters mentioned above, however,
      monitoring by central venous pressure measurements was allowed. Out of 998
      screened papers, thirteen met the inclusion criteria. A total of 3323 patients
      were enrolled in the six trials with low risk of bias (ROB). The mortality was
      22.4% (374/1671 patients) in the intervention group and 22.9% (378/1652 patients)
      in the control group, OR 0.94 with a 95% CI of 0.73-1.22. We found no
      statistically significant reduction in mortality from hemodynamic optimization
      using hemodynamic monitoring in combination with a structured algorithm. The
      number of high quality trials evaluating the effect of protocolized hemodynamic
      management directed towards a meaningful treatment goal in critically ill
      patients in comparison to standard of care treatment is too low to prove or
      exclude a reduction in mortality.

PMID- 28593458
TI  - Sensitivity-based adaptive mesh refinement collocation method for dynamic
      optimization of chemical and biochemical processes.
AB  - Collocation on finite element (CFE) is an effective simultaneous method of
      dynamic optimization to increase the profitability or productivity of industrial
      process. The approach needs to select an optimal mesh of time interval to balance
      the computational cost with desired solution. A new CFE approach with non-uniform
      refinement procedure based on the sensitivity analysis for dynamic optimization
      problems is, therefore, proposed, where a subinterval is further refined if the
      obtained control parameters have significant effect on the performance index. To
      improve the efficiency, the sensitivities of state parameters with respect to
      control parameters are derived from the solution of the discretized dynamic
      system. The proposed method is illustrated by testing two classic dynamic
      optimization problems from chemical and biochemical engineering. The detailed
      comparisons among the proposed method, the CFE with uniform mesh, and other
      reported methods are also carried out. The research results reveal the
      effectiveness of the proposed approach.

PMID- 28593459
TI  - Impact of surgery and surveillance in the management of branch duct intraductal
      papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas according to Fukuoka guidelines: the
      Bologna experience.
AB  - The objective of the study was to evaluate the Fukuoka guidelines in indicating
      the proper management for recognising the risk factors of malignancy. Data of
      patients with branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms who underwent
      pancreatic resection or surveillance according to the Fukuoka risk parameters
      were collected in a prospective database. The clinical outcome (development of
      pancreatic cancer, overall and disease-specific survival) and pathological
      results were evaluated in all patients and in resected cases, respectively. The
      data of 197 patients were collected: 23 primarily resected and 174 primarily
      followed. Of the latter, 16 were secondarily resected. Among the patients
      resected, 21 (53.9%) showed diagnosis of in situ or invasive carcinoma and only
      contrast-enhancing mural nodules were significantly related to malignancy (P =
      0.002), with a DOR of 3.3 and an LH+ of 2.2. Development of pancreatic cancer was
      shown in ten (5.7%) of the patients primarily followed. The overall survival and
      disease-specific survival were similar between patients primarily followed and
      primarily resected. It seems reasonable to suggest that a branch duct intraductal
      papillary mucinous neoplasm should be treated as a benign and indolent disease
      that is rarely malignant. Enhancing mural nodules represent the best indicator
      for surgery.

PMID- 28593460
TI  - Telegraphing your telomere length to the next generation.

PMID- 28593461
TI  - Self-prioritization and perceptual matching: The effects of temporal construal.
AB  - Recent research has revealed that self-referential processing enhances perceptual
      judgments - the so-called self-prioritization effect. The extent and origin of
      this effect remains unknown, however. Noting the multifaceted nature of the self,
      here we hypothesized that temporal influences on self-construal (i.e.,
      past/future-self continuity) may serve as an important determinant of stimulus
      prioritization. Specifically, as representations of the self increase in
      abstraction as a function of temporal distance (i.e., distance from now), self
      prioritization may only emerge when stimuli are associated with the current self.
      The results of three experiments supported this prediction. Self-relevance only
      enhanced performance in a standard perceptual-matching task when stimuli (i.e.,
      geometric shapes) were connected with the current self; representations of the
      self in the future (Expts. 1 & 2) and past (Expt. 3) failed to facilitate
      decision making. To identify the processes underlying task performance, data were
      interrogated using a hierarchical drift diffusion model (HDDM) approach. Results
      of these analyses revealed that self-prioritization was underpinned by a stimulus
      bias (i.e., rate of information uptake). Collectively, these findings elucidate
      when and how self-relevance influences decisional processing.

PMID- 28593462
TI  - Moderators of the effects of meaning-centered group psychotherapy in cancer
      survivors on personal meaning, psychological well-being, and distress.
AB  - PURPOSE: There is evidence to support that meaning-centered group psychotherapy
      for cancer survivors (MCGP-CS) is an effective intervention for improving
      personal meaning and psychological well-being, as well as reducing psychological
      distress. In order to investigate which subpopulations MCGP-CS specifically
      benefits, this explorative study aims to analyze potential sociodemographic,
      clinical, and psychosocial factors that may moderate the effects. METHODS: Cancer
      survivors (N = 114) were randomly assigned to MCGP-CS, or care as usual (CAU).
      Potential moderators included age, sex, relationship, education, employment,
      religion, cancer type, tumor stage, cancer treatment, time since treatment,
      anxiety, depression, other negative life events, and previous psychological
      treatment. Outcome measures were the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP), Scales of
      Psychological Well-Being (SPWB), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
      (HADS). Assessment took place at baseline, post-intervention (short-term), and 3-
      and 6-month follow-ups (long-term). For each moderator, separate short-term and
      long-term linear mixed models were built. RESULTS: Short-term effect of MCGP-CS
      was moderated by (male) sex (on HADS-D; F(1,98) = 6.1, p = .015) and (a high
      level of) depressive symptoms at baseline (on SPWB; F(1,93) = 5.7, p = .019).
      Long-term effect of MCGP-CS was moderated by (not having received) previous
      psychological treatment (on HADS-total; F(3253) = 3.4, p = .017). CONCLUSIONS:
      Most sociodemographic and clinical characteristics do not appear to moderate the
      positive effect of MCGP-CS on personal meaning. However, MCGP-CS appears to
      reduce depressive symptoms, particularly in males, and to improve purpose in life
      of survivors with depressive symptoms. In the long-term, MCGP-CS appears to
      reduce psychological distress in survivors who had not received psychological
      treatment in the past year. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NTR3571.

PMID- 28593463
TI  - Factors which modulate the rates of skeletal muscle mass loss in non-small cell
      lung cancer patients: a pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with weight
      loss which may reflect skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and/or total adipose tissue
      (TAT) depletion. This study aimed to describe changes in body composition (BC)
      parameters and to identify the factors unrelated to the tumor which modulate
      them. METHODS: SMM, TAT, and the proportion of SMM to SMM + TAT were assessed
      with computed tomography. Estimates of each BC parameter at follow-up initiation
      and across time were derived from a mixed linear model of repeated measurements
      with a random intercept and a random slope. The same models were used to assess
      the independent effect of gender, age, body mass index (BMI), and initial values
      on changes in each BC parameter. RESULTS: Sixty-four patients with stage III or
      IV NSCLC were reviewed. The mean +/- SD decreases in body weight and SMM were
      respectively 59 +/- 3 g/week (P < 0.03) and 7 mm2/m2/week (P = 0.0003). During
      follow-up, no changes were identified in TAT nor in muscle density or in the
      proportion of SMM to SMM + TAT, estimated at 37 +/- 2% at baseline. SMM loss was
      influenced by initial BMI (P < 0.0001) and SMM values (P = 0.0002): the higher
      the initial BMI or SMM values, the greater the loss observed. Weight loss was
      greater when the initial weight was heavier (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our results
      demonstrate that SMM wasting in NSCLC is lower when initial SMM and BMI values
      are low. These exploratory findings after our attempt to better understand the
      intrinsic factors associated with muscle mass depletion need to be confirmed in
      larger studies.

PMID- 28593464
TI  - Fine root endophytes under scrutiny: a review of the literature on arbuscule
      producing fungi recently suggested to belong to the Mucoromycotina.
AB  - Fine root endophytes (FRE) are arbuscule-forming fungi presently considered as a
      single species-Glomus tenue in the Glomeromycota (Glomeromycotina)-but probably
      belong within the Mucoromycotina. Thus, FRE are the only known arbuscule-forming
      fungi not within the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF; Glomeromycotina) as
      currently understood. Phylogenetic differences between FRE and AMF could reflect
      ecological differences. To synthesize current ecological knowledge, we reviewed
      the literature on FRE and identified 108 papers that noted the presence of FRE
      and, in some, the colonization levels for FRE or AMF (or both). We categorized
      these records by geographic region, host-plant family and environment
      (agriculture, moderate-natural, low-temperature, high-altitude and other) and
      determined their influence on the percentage of root length colonized by FRE in a
      meta-analysis. We found that FRE are globally distributed, with many observations
      from Poaceae, perhaps due to grasses being widely distributed. In agricultural
      environments, colonization by FRE often equalled or exceeded that of AMF,
      particularly in Australasia. In moderate-natural and high-altitude environments,
      average colonization by FRE (~10%) was lower than that of AMF (~35%), whereas in
      low-temperature environments, colonization was similar (~20%). Several studies
      suggested that FRE can enhance host-plant phosphorus uptake and growth, and may
      be more resilient than AMF to environmental stress in some host plants. Further
      research is required on the functioning of FRE in relation to the environment,
      host plant and co-occurring AMF and, in particular, to examine whether FRE are
      important for plant growth in stressful environments. Targeted molecular primers
      are urgently needed for further research on FRE.

PMID- 28593466
TI  - High-content drug screening for rare diseases.
AB  - Per definition, rare diseases affect only a small number of subjects within a
      given population. Taken together however, they represent a considerable medical
      burden, which remains poorly addressed in terms of treatment. Compared to other
      diseases, obstacles to the development of therapies for rare diseases include
      less extensive physiopathology knowledge, limited number of patients to test
      treatments, and poor commercial interest from the industry. Recently, advances in
      high-throughput and high-content screening (HTS and HCS) have been fostered by
      the development of specific routines that use robot- and computer-assisted
      technologies to automatize tasks, allowing screening of a large number of
      compounds in a short period of time, using experimental model of diseases. These
      approaches are particularly relevant for drug repositioning in rare disease,
      which restricts the search to compounds that have already been tested in humans,
      thereby reducing the need for extensive preclinical tests. In the future, these
      same tools, combined with computational modeling and artificial neural network
      analyses, may also be used to predict individual clinical responses to drugs in a
      personalized medicine approach.

PMID- 28593465
TI  - High effectiveness of Rhizophagus irregularis is linked to superior modulation of
      antioxidant defence mechanisms in Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. genotypes grown
      under salinity stress.
AB  - Salinity stress leads to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which
      can cause oxidative damage in plants. A correlation between antioxidant capacity
      and salt tolerance has been demonstrated in several plant species, which may be
      enhanced by inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). However, plant
      responses to mycorrhization may differ depending on the host plant as well as AMF
      isolate. It has been proposed that AMF sourced from stressed environments may be
      better suited as stress ameliorators than non-native/exotic ones. The present
      study compared the effectiveness of a native inoculum from saline soil and two
      exotic single isolates, Funneliformis mossseae and Rhizophagus irregularis
      (single or dual mix), and associated their effectiveness with modulation of
      antioxidant defence, in two Cajanus cajan (pigeonpea) genotypes (salt sensitive
      Paras, salt tolerant-Pusa 2002) under NaCl stress. Plants subjected to NaCl (0
      100 mM) recorded a substantial build-up of ROS, more in Paras than Pusa 2002.
      Although mycorrhization with all AMF improved plant biomass and reduced oxidative
      burst by strengthening antioxidant enzymatic activities, inoculation with R.
      irregularis (alone or in combination with F. mosseae) resulted in higher biomass
      accumulation which correlated with its higher root colonization and improved
      redox stability through rapid recycling of reduced ascorbate and glutathione. The
      study thus suggested that mitigation of salt-induced oxidative burden by
      increased activation of scavenging antioxidants is an important mechanism that
      determined the higher effectiveness of R. irregularis over the native saline mix
      in pigeonpea plants.

PMID- 28593468
TI  - Association of the IL6 rs1800796, but not of the IL6 rs1800795, IL6R rs4845617
      and rs2228145 polymorphisms with hip fracture in elderly Mexican women.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Polymorphisms in Interleukin-6 (IL6) and its receptor (IL6R)
      have been associated with bone mineral density. In this work, the G-174C and G
      572C polymorphisms in IL6, G-208A, and Asp358Ala in IL6R were analyzed in Mexican
      women with hip fracture. METHODS: Postmenopausal Mexican women (60 years or over)
      with hip fragility fracture (77.97 +/- 8 years) and without hip fracture (70.5 +/
      7.02 years) were genotyped by real-time PCR. RESULTS: The rs1800796 GG genotype
      was associated with low risk of fracture (p = 0.05), while GC genotype was
      associated with high risk of fracture [p = 0.047, OR 2.3 (95% CI 1.013-5.2)]. The
      AA genotype of the rs2228145 SNP (IL6R) was significantly different [p = 0.033,
      OR 1.94 (95% CI 1.01-3.75)], but when data were adjusted by age and body mass
      index, there were no differences (p = 0.9). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that
      the IL6 rs1800796 SNP is a good marker for hip fracture risk in Mexican women.

PMID- 28593469
TI  - A patient-specific aortic valve model based on moving resistive immersed implicit
      surfaces.
AB  - In this paper, we propose a full computational framework to simulate the
      hemodynamics in the aorta including the valve. Closed and open valve surfaces, as
      well as the lumen aorta, are reconstructed directly from medical images using new
      ad hoc algorithms, allowing a patient-specific simulation. The fluid dynamics
      problem that accounts from the movement of the valve is solved by a new 3D-0D
      fluid-structure interaction model in which the valve surface is implicitly
      represented through level set functions, yielding, in the Navier-Stokes
      equations, a resistive penalization term enforcing the blood to adhere to the
      valve leaflets. The dynamics of the valve between its closed and open position is
      modeled using a reduced geometric 0D model. At the discrete level, a finite
      element formulation is used and the SUPG stabilization is extended to include the
      resistive term in the Navier-Stokes equations. Then, after time discretization,
      the 3D fluid and 0D valve models are coupled through a staggered approach. This
      computational framework, applied to a patient-specific geometry and data, allows
      to simulate the movement of the valve, the sharp pressure jump occurring across
      the leaflets, and the blood flow pattern inside the aorta.

PMID- 28593470
TI  - Effect of Selenium from Selenium-Enriched Kale Sprout Versus Other Selenium
      Sources on Productivity and Selenium Concentrations in Egg and Tissue of Laying
      Hens.
AB  - A 6-week trial was conducted to compare the effect of selenium (Se) from
      hydroponically produced Se-enriched kale sprout (HPSeKS), sodium selenite (SS),
      and Se-enriched yeast (SeY) in laying hens. A total of 144 40-week-old hens were
      randomly divided into four groups, according to a completely randomized design.
      Each group consisted of four replicates with nine hens per replicate. The dietary
      treatments were T1 (basal diet) and T2, T3, and T4 (basal diets supplemented with
      0.30 mg Se/kg from SS, SeY, and HPSeKS, respectively). Results showed that Se
      supplement did not affect (p > 0.05) productivity and egg quality. Hens fed Se
      from HPSeKS and SeY exhibited higher (p < 0.05) Se bioavailability than hens fed
      Se from SS. Whole egg Se concentration of hens fed Se from HPSeKS was similar (p
      > 0.05) to that of hens fed Se from SeY, but higher (p < 0.05) than that of hens
      fed Se from SS. However, the breast muscle and heart tissue Se concentrations of
      hens fed Se from SS, SeY, and HPSeKS were not different (p > 0.05). The results
      of this trial demonstrated that Se from HPSeKS and SeY was more efficient than Se
      from SS on Se bioavailability and whole egg Se concentration in laying hens.

PMID- 28593471
TI  - Effects of Combined Exposure to Chronic High-Fat Diet and Arsenic on Thyroid
      Function and Lipid Profile in Male Mouse.
AB  - The thyroid is one of the major endocrine glands that contribute to body and fat
      metabolism. The present study evaluated the effects of combined exposure to
      chronic high-fat diet (HFD) and arsenic on thyroid function and lipid profile. In
      this experimental study, 72 male Naval Medical Research Institute mice were
      divided into six groups and fed HFD or low-fat diet (LFD) while being exposed to
      25 or 50 ppm of arsenic in drinking water for 20 weeks. After 24 h of the last
      experimental day, blood samples were collected for hormonal and biochemical
      measurements. The data indicated that exposure to HFD alone increased the levels
      of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), leptin, lipid
      profile, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased
      the levels of high-density lipoprotein, albumin, adiponectin, and glutathione
      sulfhydryl reductase (GSH), whereas exposure to arsenic alone decreased the
      levels of T3 and GSH and increased the levels of TSH, leptin, ROS, MDA, and T4/T3
      ratio compared to those in the control LFD group. Furthermore, concomitant
      administration of HFD and arsenic decreased the lipid profile and levels of T4,
      albumin, total protein, T3, and GSH and increased the levels of TSH, adiponectin,
      leptin, ROS, MDA, and T4/T3 ratio compared to those in the control LFD or HFD
      group. In conclusion, combined exposure to HFD and arsenic induced hypothyroidism
      via reduction of thyroid hormones and enhancement of plasma TSH and T3 uptake
      levels concomitant with hypolipidemia, hyperleptinemia, hyperadiponectinemia,
      induction of oxidative stress, and reduction of GSH levels.

PMID- 28593472
TI  - L-Glutamine in vitro Modulates some Immunomodulatory Properties of Bone Marrow
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells.
AB  - Glutamine (GLUT) is a nonessential amino acid that can become conditionally
      essential under stress conditions, being able to act in the modulation of the
      immune responses. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to their capability in
      the modulation of immune responses through cell-cell contact and by the secretion
      of soluble factors. Considering that GLUT is an immunonutrient and little is
      known about the influence of GLUT on the capability of MSCs to modulate immune
      cells, this work aims to investigate how variations in GLUT concentrations in
      vitro could affect some immunomodulatory properties of MSCs. In order to evaluate
      the effects of GLUT on MSCs immunomodulatory properties, cell proliferation
      rates, the expression of NFkappaB and STAT-3, and the production of IL-1beta, IL
      6, IL-10, TGF-beta and TNF-alpha by MSCs were assessed. Based on our findings,
      GLUT at high doses (10 mM) augmented the proliferation of MSCs and modulated
      immune responses by decreasing levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL
      1beta and IL-6, and by increasing levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and
      TGF-beta. In addition, MSCs cultured in higher GLUT concentrations (10 mM)
      expressed lower levels of NF-kappaB and higher levels of STAT-3. Furthermore,
      conditioned media from MSCs cultured at higher GLUT concentrations (10 mM)
      reduced lymphocyte and macrophage proliferation, increased IL-10 production by
      both cells types, and decreased IFN-gamma production by lymphocytes. Overall,
      this study showed that 10 mM of GLUT is able to modify immunomodulatory
      properties of MSCs.

PMID- 28593473
TI  - Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Relationship of Erenumab (AMG 334) and Capsaicin
      Induced Dermal Blood Flow in Healthy and Migraine Subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: Capsaicin-induced dermal blood flow (CIDBF) is a validated biomarker
      used to evaluate the target engagement of potential calcitonin gene-related
      peptide-blocking therapeutics for migraine. To characterize the pharmacokinetics
      (PK) and quantify the inhibitory effects of erenumab (AMG 334) on CIDBF, CIDBF
      data were pooled from a single- and a multiple-dose study in healthy and migraine
      subjects. METHODS: Repeated capsaicin challenges and DBF measurements were
      performed and serum erenumab concentrations determined. A population analysis was
      conducted using a nonlinear mixed-effects modeling approach. Effects of body
      weight, gender, and age on model parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: Two
      compartment target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD) model assuming binding of
      erenumab in the central compartment best described the nonlinear PK of erenumab.
      Subcutaneous absorption half-life was 1.6 days and bioavailability was 74%.
      Erenumab produced a maximum inhibition of 89% (95% confidence interval: 87-91%).
      Erenumab concentrations required for 50% and 99% of maximum inhibition were 255
      ng/mL and 1134 ng/mL, respectively. Increased body weight was associated with
      increased erenumab clearance but had no effect on the inhibitory effect on CIDBF.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that erenumab pharmacokinetics was best
      characterized by a TMDD model and resulted in potent inhibition of CIDBF.

PMID- 28593474
TI  - High Throughput Prediction Approach for Monoclonal Antibody Aggregation at High
      Concentration.
AB  - PURPOSE: Characterization of the monoclonal antibody aggregation process and
      identification of stability factors that could be used as indicators of
      aggregation propensity with an emphasis on a large number of samples and low
      protein material consumption. METHODS: Differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic
      light scattering and size exclusion chromatography were used as the main
      methodological approaches. Conformational stability, colloidal stability and
      aggregation kinetics were assessed for two different IgG monoclonal antibody
      (mAbs) subclasses. Aggregation was induced by exposing the mAbs to 55 degrees C
      for 3 weeks. mAb samples were prepared in different formulations and
      concentrations from 1 mg/mL to 50 mg/mL. RESULTS: High temperature stress of mAb
      samples revealed that monoclonal antibodies followed first order aggregation
      kinetics, which suggests that the rate-limiting step of monomer loss was
      unimolecular. Conformational stability of mAbs was estimated with denaturation
      temperature measurements. Colloidal stability was assessed with dynamic
      interaction parameter k D . The correlation between aggregation kinetics and
      colloidal and conformational stability factors was evaluated and the dynamic
      interaction parameter was found to be a promising predictor of aggregation
      propensity of monoclonal antibodies. The meaning of using an intermolecular
      interaction parameter for prediction of what is essentially a unimolecular
      process is also discussed. CONCLUSIONS: This work estimates the significance of
      different predictors of aggregation propensity at high concentrations as a part
      of a high throughput, low resource screening method and is a contribution towards
      determining protein aggregation phenomena in actual systems used for the
      development and production of biopharmaceuticals.

PMID- 28593476
TI  - Synergy between azoles and 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative as an option to control
      fungal infections.
AB  - With emerging fungal infections and developing resistance, there is a need for
      understanding the mechanisms of resistance as well as its clinical impact while
      planning the treatment strategies. Several approaches could be taken to overcome
      the problems arising from the management of fungal diseases. Besides the
      discovery of novel effective agents, one realistic alternative is to enhance the
      activity of existing agents. This strategy could be achieved by combining
      existing antifungal agents with other bioactive substances with known activity
      profiles (combination therapy). Azole antifungals are the most frequently used
      class of substances used to treat fungal infections. Fluconazole is often the
      first choice for antifungal treatment. The aim of this work was to study
      potential synergy between azoles and 1,4-dihydropyridine-2,3,5-tricarboxylate
      (termed derivative H) in order to control fungal infections. This article points
      out the synergy between azoles and newly synthesized derivative H in order to
      fight fungal infections. Experiments confirmed the role of derivative H as
      substrate/inhibitor of fungal transporter Cdr1p relating to increased sensitivity
      to fluconazole. These findings, plus decreased expression of ERG11, are
      responsible for the synergistic effect.

PMID- 28593475
TI  - Functional metagenomics of oil-impacted mangrove sediments reveals high abundance
      of hydrolases of biotechnological interest.
AB  - Mangroves are located in coastal wetlands and are susceptible to the consequences
      of oil spills, what may threaten the diversity of microorganisms responsible for
      the nutrient cycling and the consequent ecosystem functioning. Previous reports
      show that high concentration of oil favors the incidence of epoxide hydrolases
      and haloalkane dehalogenases in mangroves. This finding has guided the goals of
      this study in an attempt to broaden the analysis to other hydrolases and thereby
      verify whether oil contamination interferes with the prevalence of particular
      hydrolases and their assigned microorganisms. For this, an in-depth survey of the
      taxonomic and functional microbial diversity recovered in a fosmid library
      (Library_Oil Mgv) constructed from oil-impacted Brazilian mangrove sediment was
      carried out. Fosmid DNA of the whole library was extracted and submitted to
      Illumina HiSeq sequencing. The resulting Library Oil_Mgv dataset was further
      compared with those obtained by direct sequencing of environmental DNA from
      Brazilian mangroves (from distinct regions and affected by distinct sources of
      contamination), focusing on hydrolases with potential use in biotechnological
      processes. The most abundant hydrolases found were proteases, esterases and
      amylases, with similar occurrence profile in all datasets. The main microbial
      groups harboring such hydrolase-encoding genes were distinct in each mangrove,
      and in the fosmid library these enzymes were mainly assigned to Chloroflexaceae
      (for amylases), Planctomycetaceae (for esterases) and Bradyrhizobiaceae (for
      proteases). Assembly and analysis of Library_Oil Mgv reads revealed three
      potentially novel enzymes, one epoxide hydrolase, one xylanase and one amylase,
      to be further investigated via heterologous expression assays.

PMID- 28593477
TI  - Trends of 'urolithiasis: interventions, simulation, and laser technology' over
      the last 16 years (2000-2015) as published in the literature (PubMed): a
      systematic review from European section of Uro-technology (ESUT).
AB  - PURPOSE: To look at the bibliometric publication trends on 'Urolithiasis' and
      aspects of treatment and training associated with it over a period of 16 years
      from 2000 to 2015. To this end, we conducted this study to look at the
      publication trends associated with urolithiasis, including the use of simulation,
      laser technology, and all types of interventions for it. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      We performed a systematic review of the literature using PubMed over the last 16
      years, from January 2000 to December 2015 for all published papers on
      'Urolithiasis'. While there were no language restrictions, English language
      articles and all non-English language papers with published English abstracts
      were also included. Case reports, animal and laboratory studies, and those
      studies that did not have a published abstract were excluded from our analysis.
      We also analyzed the data in two time periods, period-1 (2000-2007) and period-2
      (2008-2015). RESULTS: During the last 16 years, a total of 5343 papers were
      published on 'Urolithiasis', including 4787 in English language and 556 in non
      English language. This included papers on URS (n = 1200), PCNL (n = 1715), SWL (n
      = 887), open stone surgery (n = 87), laparoscopic stone surgery (n = 209),
      pyelolithotomy (n = 35), simulation in Endourology (n = 82), and use of laser for
      stone surgery (n = 406). When comparing the two time periods, during period 2,
      the change was +171% (p = 0.007), +279% (p < 0.001), and -17% (p = 0.2) for URS,
      PCNL, and SWL, respectively. While there was a rise in laparoscopic surgery
      (+116%), it decreased for open stone surgery (-11%) and pyelolithotomy (-47%). A
      total of 82 papers have been published on simulation for stone surgery including
      48 papers for URS (67% rise in period-2, p = 0.007), and 34 papers for PCNL (480%
      rise in period-2, p < 0.001). A rising trend for the use of laser was also seen
      in period 2 (increase of 126%, p < 0.02, from 124 papers to 281 papers).
      CONCLUSIONS: Published papers on intervention for Urolithiasis have risen over
      the last 16 years. While there has been a steep rise of URS and minimally
      invasive PCNL techniques, SWL and open surgery have shown a slight decline over
      this period. A similar increase has also been seen for the use of simulation and
      lasers in Endourology.

PMID- 28593478
TI  - Which MR sequences should we use for the reliable detection and localization of
      bone marrow edema in spondyloarthritis?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the diagnostic confidence in detecting and localizing areas
      of bone marrow edema in the sacroiliac joint of patients with suspected
      spondyloarthritis using a single-plane method and comparing it with multiplanar
      unenhanced and enhanced methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with clinical
      suspicion of spondyloarthritis undergoing an MRI of the sacroiliac joint were
      included in this retrospective study. To assess sacroiliitis, three methods were
      applied: single-plane (i.e., para-coronal STIR alone), multiplanar unenhanced
      (i.e., para-coronal STIR and para-axial PD-fs), and multiplanar enhanced method
      (i.e., para-coronal and para-axial post-contrast T1-fs). Two 4-point scales were
      used to evaluate, respectively, the diagnostic confidence in detection and
      localization of bone marrow edema. The distribution of certain and uncertain
      rating according to signal intensity and size of the lesions was also calculated.
      RESULTS: Seventy-four patients met the inclusion criteria. Both multiplanar
      methods increased the diagnostic confidence in detection (p < 0.001) and
      localization (p < 0.001) of sacroiliitis; no significant difference occurred
      between the multiplanar unenhanced and enhanced methods (p = 0.405 and p = 1.00,
      respectively, for detection and localization). A statistically significant
      difference between the distributions of certain and uncertain rating for
      detection based on the size and signal intensity of each lesion emerged (p =
      0.006 and p < 0.001, respectively), whereas no statistically significant
      difference occurred for the confidence of localization (p = 0.452 and p = 0.694,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The multiplanar methods increased the diagnostic
      confidence in detection and localization of sacroiliitis. The absence of a
      significant difference between the proposed unenhanced and enhanced methods
      suggests that contrast medium is not mandatory for the detection of sacroiliitis.

PMID- 28593479
TI  - RNA-binding protein Dnd1 inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer
      stem cell-related traits on hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the roles of Dead end 1 (Dnd1) in modulating cancer
      stem cell-related traits of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). RESULTS: Dead end
      (Dnd1) inhibited spheroid formation, suppressed the expression of stemness
      related genes, and increased sensitivity to sorafenib in HCC cells.
      Mechanistically, Dnd1 could bind to 3'-UTR of LATS2, the key kinase of Hippo
      pathway, thus elevating LATS2 mRNA stability and its expression, subsequently
      leading to phosphorylation of YAP and its cytoplasmic retention. As a result,
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was weakened and therefore the generation
      of HCC stem cell properties was suppressed. CONCLUSIONS: Dnd1 functions as a
      tumor suppressor by prohibiting CSC-like characteristics via activating Hippo
      pathway in HCC cells. Dnd1 could thus be a novel therapeutic target for HCC
      patients.

PMID- 28593480
TI  - Difference in susceptibility of small rodent host species to infestation by
      Ixodes ricinus larvae.
AB  - In a laboratory experiment (repeated eight times) individuals of six small rodent
      species were mixed with 500 Ixodes ricinus larvae for 24 h, than over a 3-day
      long observation period engorged ticks fallen from individually kept rodents were
      counted. Forty engorged larvae fell from the hosts, 25% from striped field mice,
      32.5% from house mice, 22.5% from common voles, 10% from bank voles, while wood
      mouse and steppe mouse proved to be almost free of successfully infesting ticks
      (both 5%). Statistical analysis indicated, that tick burden differed
      significantly among host species. Similarly significant differences were shown
      between sensitivity of two related species, house mouse and steppe mouse, and
      more ticks were collected on the second observation day compared to the first
      day. The difference in susceptibility of hosts to Ixodes infestation could be due
      to various anti-tick behavior habits of hosts, or difference in preference of the
      ticks between host species.

PMID- 28593481
TI  - Molecular survey of Coxiella burnetii in wildlife and ticks at wildlife-livestock
      interfaces in Kenya.
AB  - Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q fever, a zoonotic disease of public
      health importance. The role of wildlife and their ticks in the epidemiology of C.
      burnetii in Kenya is unknown. This study analysed the occurrence and prevalence
      of the pathogen in wildlife and their ticks at two unique wildlife-livestock
      interfaces of Laikipia and Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) with the aim to
      determine the potential risk of transmission to livestock and humans. Blood from
      79 and 73 animals in Laikipia and MMNR, respectively, and 756 and 95 ixodid ticks
      in each of the areas, respectively, was analysed. Ticks were pooled before
      analyses into 137 and 29 samples in Laikipia and MMNR, respectively, of one to
      eight non-engorged ticks according to species and animal host. Real-time PCR
      amplifying the repetitive insertion element IS1111a of the transposase gene was
      used to detect C. burnetii DNA. Although none of the animals and ticks from MMNR
      tested positive, ticks from Laikipia had an overall pooled prevalence of 2.92%
      resulting in a maximum-likelihood estimate of prevalence of 0.54%, 95% CI 0.17
      1.24. Ticks positive for C. burnetii DNA belonged to the genus Rhipicephalus at a
      pooled prevalence of 2.96% (maximum-likelihood estimate of prevalence of 0.54%,
      95% CI 0.17-1.26). These ticks were Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, R. pulchellus
      and R. evertsi at pooled prevalence of 3.77, 3.03 and 2.04%, respectively. The
      presence of C. burnetii in ticks suggests circulation of the pathogen in Laikipia
      and demonstrates they may play a potential role in the epidemiology of Q fever in
      this ecosystem. The findings warrant further studies to understand the presence
      of C. burnetii in domestic animals and their ticks within both study areas.

PMID- 28593482
TI  - Diagnostic Performance of C-Reactive Protein in Detecting Post-Operative
      Infectious Complications After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastric leak is the most common and dreaded post-operative infectious
      complication (PIC) after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Accurate
      identification of patients at risk postoperatively is of cardinal importance.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic performance of C
      reactive protein (CRP) in predicting PICs and the most optimal time to measure
      it. METHODS: CRP results were collected in patients undergoing LSG between 2011
      and 2015. CRP was systematically measured on post-operative days (POD) 1, 3, and
      5. RESULTS: Of 1326 patients, 42 (3.2%) developed a PIC at a median of 5 days
      after surgery. The incidence of leakage was 1.9%. The best area under the curve
      was observed on POD5 (0.87; 95% CI 0.77-0.96). At this time point, a cut-off of
      115 mg/L yielded a sensitivity of 66.7% (95% CI 46.5-86.8%), a specificity of
      95.1% (95% CI 93.9-96.3%), a positive and negative predictive values of 19.4%
      (95% CI 10.3-28.6%) and 99.4% (95% CI 99.0-100%), respectively, and a positive
      and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) of 13.62 and 0.35, respectively. The
      combination of sequential assessments of CRP on POD3 and 5 provided a sensitivity
      of 84.4% (95% CI 71.8-97.0%), a specificity of 91.1% (95% CI 89.5-92.8%), a
      positive and negative predictive values of 20.9% (95% CI 14.0-27.9%) and 99.5%
      (95% CI 99.1-99.9%), respectively, and a positive and a negative LRs of 9.58 and
      0.17, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CRP may be useful to identify patients at risk
      of PICs after LSG and, therefore, to prompt early investigation. However, CRP
      does not help rule out PICs.

PMID- 28593483
TI  - Adverse Childhood Experiences in a Post-bariatric Surgery Psychiatric Inpatient
      Sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sixty-three inpatients in a psychiatric hospital who had previously
      undergone bariatric surgery were interviewed by the hospital dietitian. The
      purpose of the study was to determine the frequency of adverse childhood
      experiences in this population. METHODS: Participants completed the Adverse
      Childhood Experiences (ACE) Scale. RESULTS: The average score on the ACE was 5.4
      (3.3); 76% of participants reported childhood emotional neglect, 70% childhood
      verbal abuse, and 64% childhood sexual abuse; only two participants reported no
      adverse childhood experiences. CONCLUSIONS: The participants in the study
      reported high levels of adverse childhood experiences compared to the general
      population, which is consistent with prior literature on rates of childhood
      trauma in post-bariatric surgery patients. The role of adverse childhood
      experiences in post-bariatric surgery adaptation should be investigated in future
      research, including in prospective studies.

PMID- 28593485
TI  - Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presenting as bilateral renal infiltration leading
      to acute kidney injury.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) because of bilateral renal infiltration is an uncommon
      presentation of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). A 52-year-old man
      presented to our institution with AKI and complaints of fatigue. Ultrasonography
      revealed a large, 15 cm granulomatous mass arising from the bilateral kidneys.
      The mass was biopsied laparoscopically, and histopathological analysis revealed
      evidence of DLBCL. The patient subsequently underwent R-CHOP therapy (rituximab,
      cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone). Chemotherapy
      resulted in a rapid decrease in mass size and improvement in kidney function.
      However, after five courses of R-CHOP, relapse was observed in the central
      nervous system, and the patient died 220 days after the initial onset of AKI.
      Post-mortem analysis of renal tissue confirmed the initial diagnosis of DLBCL
      associated renal infiltration. To our knowledge, this is the first report of
      DLBCL presenting as bilateral renal infiltration and AKI.

PMID- 28593484
TI  - Reflux, Sleeve Dilation, and Barrett's Esophagus after Laparoscopic Sleeve
      Gastrectomy: Long-Term Follow-Up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has become the most frequently
      performed bariatric procedure worldwide. De novo reflux might impact patients'
      quality of life, requiring lifelong proton pump inhibitor medication. It also
      increases the risk of esophagitis and formation of Barrett's metaplasia. Besides
      weight regain, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the most common reason
      for conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. METHODS: We performed 24-h pH
      metries, manometries, gastroscopies, and questionnaires focusing on reflux
      (GIQLI, RSI) in SG patients with a follow-up of more than 10 years who did not
      suffer from symptomatic reflux or hiatal hernia preoperatively. RESULTS: From a
      total of 53 patients, ten patients after adjustable gastric banding were
      excluded. From the remaining 43, six patients (14.0%) were converted to RYGB due
      to intractable reflux over a period of 130 months. Ten out of the remaining non
      converted patients (n = 26) also suffered from symptomatic reflux. Gastroscopies
      revealed de novo hiatal hernias in 45% of the patients and Barrett's metaplasia
      in 15%. SG patients suffering from symptomatic reflux scored significantly higher
      in the RSI (p = 0.04) and significantly lower in the GIQLI (p = 0.02)
      questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a high incidence of Barrett's
      esophagus and hiatal hernias at more than 10 years after SG. Its results
      therefore suggest maintaining pre-existing large hiatal hernia, GERD, and
      Barrett's esophagus as relative contraindications to SG. The limitations of this
      study-its small sample size as well as the fact that it was based on early
      experience with SG-make drawing any general conclusions about this procedure
      difficult.

PMID- 28593486
TI  - Urinary mulberry cells and mulberry bodies are useful tool to detect late-onset
      Fabry disease.
AB  - Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by a lack of alpha
      galactosidase A activity, which leads to the accumulation of
      globotriaosylceramide in various organs. A complete lack of alpha-galactosidase A
      activity in a hemizygous male is the classical phenotype, and some hemizygous
      males show primarily cardiac and/or renal symptoms that appear in adulthood; this
      is called the variant type or the late-onset type. The kidney and heart are the
      major target organs, with damage to these organs related to mortality. Thus, in
      Fabry patients, early detection and early treatment are critical to longevity.
      Here, we present a 55-year-old Japanese male patient who was diagnosed with late
      onset Fabry nephropathy with cardiomyopathy but with no abnormal urinary findings
      except for urinary mulberry cells and mulberry bodies. In spite of the absence of
      abnormal urinary findings, the light microscopic and electron microscopic
      pathological findings showed extensive deposition of globotriaosylceramide to
      podocytes. In this paper, we propose that the presence of mulberry cells and
      mulberry bodies can be used for the earlier detection of Fabry nephropathy,
      especially the late-onset type.

PMID- 28593487
TI  - Commentary: Micro-Autologous Fat Transplantation (MAFT) for Forehead Volumizing
      and Contouring.

PMID- 28593488
TI  - Optimizing Patient Selection for Direct-to-Implant Immediate Breast
      Reconstruction Using Wise-Pattern Skin-Reducing Mastectomy in Large and Ptotic
      Breasts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immediate breast reconstruction in large and ptotic breasts is
      challenging, often requiring skin-reducing procedures. The Wise-pattern skin
      reducing mastectomy (WPSRM) technique provides reliable one-stage implant
      coverage using the pectoralis muscle and a de-epithelialized inferiorly based
      dermal flap. However, de-vascularization may result in mastectomy skin flap
      necrosis. We aimed to critically evaluate and isolate patients at high risk of
      complications using this procedure. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      consecutive patients undergoing WPSRM by the senior author from January 2008 to
      December 2011. Data collected included patient demographics, breast cancer
      staging, smoking, preoperative radiation, chemotherapy, BMI, mastectomy weight,
      implant size and type. We analyzed their effect on complications, revisions and
      failure rate. RESULTS: Fifty-nine WPSRMs were performed in 39 patients with a
      minimum of 12-month follow-up. Complications occurred in 43.75% patients and
      34.88% breasts. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that age (p = 0.093)
      and BMI (p = 0.631) were not significant risk factors as opposed to previously
      published data. Mastectomy weight was significantly associated with major
      complications requiring secondary surgery (odds ratio per 100 g of breast tissue
      was 1.18; 95% CI 1.01-1.39; p = 0.036) as 90.5% of our complications occurred in
      those patients with mastectomy weight exceeding 700 g. Complications were reduced
      twofold when selecting a Becker adjustable implant over a silicone one for these
      higher mastectomy weights. CONCLUSION: WPSRM was found to be associated with an
      increased complication rate in patients with high mastectomy weights and
      immediate reconstruction with silicone implants. We propose an algorithm offering
      better patient selection for this technique in immediate breast reconstruction.
      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- 28593489
TI  - Comment to: "The Characteristics and Short-Term Surgical Outcomes of Adolescent
      Gynecomastia".

PMID- 28593490
TI  - Stenotic Breast Malformation and Its Reconstructive Surgical Correction: A New
      Concept From Minor Deformity to Tuberous Breast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several classification systems have been reported to define the
      spectrum of tuberous breast deformity, and a range of surgical techniques has
      been described. In this paper, we proposed a new classification including
      tuberous breast and minor deformity based on stenosis type, glandular trophism
      and ptosis adapting surgical planning to different breast types. METHODS: A total
      of 246 patients meeting our definition for stenotic breasts asking for surgery
      were analyzed in this study. We considered eight different types of stenotic
      breasts analyzing anatomical presentations, and we then proposed eight key-point
      maneuvers, finalized to the correction of different breast deformities and their
      possible association according to the stenotic breast type. Results have been
      evaluated by a group of three surgeons and by patients. In addition, we evaluated
      the complication incidence in terms of re-intervention rate. RESULTS: Following
      our classification eight different groups were distinguished. For each one we
      reported the prevalence and the surgical procedure adopted. Results evaluated by
      the surgeon group reported a mean aesthetic outcome of 8.2 (range 5-10), whereas
      patients reported a mean value of 7.9 (range 6-10). During a follow-up period
      with a mean of 16 months we observed a 4.9% re-intervention rate. CONCLUSIONS: We
      believe this new classification to be very complete in evaluating breast shape,
      including most of the breast evaluable features. Our results confirmed the
      suitability of the approach for appropriate preoperative planning, thus improving
      the global surgical outcome. 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- 28593491
TI  - Prune Belly Syndrome with Sacrococcygeal Teratoma.

PMID- 28593492
TI  - Classical determinants of coronary artery disease as predictors of complexity of
      coronary lesions, assessed with the SYNTAX score.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We need new biomarkers that can predict cardiovascular disease to
      improve both diagnosis and therapeutic strategies. The CIRCULATING CELLS study
      was designed to study the role of several cellular mediators of atherosclerosis
      as biomarkers of coronary artery disease (CAD). An objective and reproducible
      method for the quantification of CAD extension is required to establish
      relationships with these potential biomarkers. We sought to analyse the
      correlation of the SYNTAX score with known CAD risk factors to test it as a valid
      marker of CAD extension. METHODS AND RESULTS: A subgroup of 279 patients (67.4%
      males) were included in our analysis. Main exclusion criteria were a history of
      previous percutaneous coronary intervention or surgical revascularisation that
      prevent an accurate assessment of the SS. Diabetes mellitus, smoking, renal
      insufficiency, body mass index and a history of CAD and myocardial infarction
      were all positively and strongly associated with a higher SYNTAX score after
      adjustment for the non-modifiable biological factors (age and sex). In the
      multivariate model, age and male sex, along with smoking and renal insufficiency,
      remain statistical significantly associated with the SYNTAX score. CONCLUSION: In
      a selected cohort of revascularisation-naive patients with CAD undergoing
      coronary angiography, non-modifiable cardiovascular risk factors such as advanced
      age, male sex, as well as smoking and renal failure were independently associated
      with CAD complexity assessed by the SYNTAX score. The SYNTAX score may be a valid
      marker of CAD extension to establish relationships with potential novel
      biomarkers of coronary atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28593494
TI  - ?

PMID- 28593493
TI  - ?

PMID- 28593496
TI  - Compliance with indoor tanning bans for minors among businesses in the USA.
AB  - Indoor tanning is a known risk factor for skin cancer and is especially dangerous
      for adolescents. Some states have passed indoor tanning bans for minors, but
      business compliance with the bans is not well understood. Thus far, studies have
      assessed ban compliance in one or two states at a time. This study aimed to
      assess compliance with indoor tanning bans for minors and knowledge of dangers
      and benefits of tanning among indoor tanning businesses. Female research
      assistants posing as minors telephoned a convenience sample of 412 businesses in
      14 states with tanning bans for minors under age 17 or 18. We evaluated
      differences in compliance by census region and years since ban was implemented
      and differences in reported dangers and benefits by compliance. Most (80.1%)
      businesses told the "minor" caller she could not use the tanning facilities.
      Businesses in the south and in states with more recent bans were less compliant.
      Among those (n = 368) that completed the full interview, 52.2% identified burning
      and 20.1% mentioned skin cancer as potential dangers. However, 21.7% said dangers
      were no worse than the sun and 10.3% denied any dangers. Stated benefits included
      vitamin D (27.7%), social/cosmetic (27.2%), and treats skin diseases (26.4%),
      with only 4.9% reporting no benefits. While most businesses followed the indoor
      tanning ban when a minor called, one-fifth did not. Many stated inaccurate health
      claims. Additional enforcement or education might increase compliance with indoor
      tanning bans and action is needed to prevent businesses from stating false health
      information.

PMID- 28593495
TI  - Association of Ferredoxin:NADP+ oxidoreductase with the photosynthetic apparatus
      modulates electron transfer in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
AB  - Ferredoxins (FDX) and the FDX:NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR) represent a key junction
      of electron transport downstream of photosystem I (PSI). Dynamic recruitment of
      FNR to the thylakoid membrane has been considered as a potential mechanism to
      define the fate of photosynthetically derived electrons. In this study, we
      investigated the functional importance of the association of FNR with the
      photosynthetic apparatus in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In vitro assays based on
      NADP+ photoreduction measurements as well as NMR chemical shift perturbation
      analyses showed that FNR preferentially interacts with FDX1 compared to FDX2.
      Notably, binding of FNR to a PSI supercomplex further enhanced this preference
      for FDX1 over FDX2, suggesting that FNR is potentially capable of channelling
      electrons towards distinct routes. NADP+ photoreduction assays and immunoblotting
      revealed that the association of FNR with the thylakoid membrane including the
      PSI supercomplex is impaired in the absence of Proton Gradient Regulation 5
      (PGR5) and/or Proton Gradient Regulation 5-Like photosynthetic phenotype 1
      (PGRL1), implying that both proteins, directly or indirectly, contribute to the
      recruitment of FNR to the thylakoid membrane. As assessed via in vivo absorption
      spectroscopy and immunoblotting, PSI was the primary target of photodamage in
      response to high-light stress in the absence of PGR5 and/or PGRL1. Anoxia
      preserved the activity of PSI, pointing to enhanced electron donation to O2 as
      the source of the observed PSI inactivation and degradation. These findings
      establish another perspective on PGR5/PGRL1 knockout-related phenotypes and
      potentially interconnect FNR with the regulation of photosynthetic electron
      transport and PSI photoprotection in C. reinhardtii.

PMID- 28593498
TI  - BPDE-induced genotoxicity: relationship between DNA adducts, mutagenicity in the
      in vitro PIG-A assay, and the transcriptional response to DNA damage in TK6
      cells.
AB  - Benzo[a]pyrene is a known human carcinogen. As underlying mechanism, the
      induction of stable DNA adducts and mutations have been repeatedly demonstrated.
      Also, the activation of cellular stress response on the transcriptional level has
      been described. Nevertheless, the interrelationship between these different
      events is less well understood, especially at low, for human exposure relevant
      concentrations. Within the present study, we applied the reactive metabolite
      benzo[a]pyrene diolepoxide (BPDE) in the nanomolar, non-cytotoxic concentration
      range in human TK6 cells and quantified the induction and repair of stable DNA
      adducts at the N 2-position of guanine by HPLC with fluorescence detection.
      Significant levels of DNA lesions were detected even at the lowest concentration
      of 10 nM BPDE, with a linear increase up to 50 nM. Relative repair was similar at
      all damage levels, reaching about 30% after 8 h and 60% after 24 h. Mutation
      frequencies were quantified as GPI-deficient cells by the recently established in
      vitro PIG-A mutagenicity assay. Again, a linear dose-response-relationship in the
      before-mentioned concentration range was observed, also when plotting the number
      of GPI-deficient cells against the number of DNA adducts. Furthermore, we
      explored the time- and concentration-dependent DNA damage response on the
      transcriptional level via a high-throughput RT-qPCR technique by quantifying the
      impact of BPDE on the transcription of 95 genes comprising DNA damage response,
      DNA repair factors, oxidative stress response, cell cycle arrest, cell
      proliferation, and apoptosis. As expected, BPDE activated DNA damage signaling,
      p53 and AP-1 dependent signaling, oxidative stress response, and apoptosis.
      However, in contrast to DNA adducts and mutations, the onset of the
      transcriptional DNA damage response was restricted to higher concentrations,
      indicating that its respective activations require a certain level of DNA
      lesions. Altogether, the results indicate that in case of BPDE, DNA lesions and
      mutations were correlated at all concentrations, suggesting that repair is not
      complete even at low levels of DNA damage. Considering the ongoing discussion on
      potential thresholds also for genotoxic carcinogens, the results are of major
      relevance, both with respect to basic research as well as to risk assessment of
      chemical carcinogens.

PMID- 28593499
TI  - In-utero exposure to nicotine alters the development of the rabbit cardiac
      conduction system and provides a potential mechanism for sudden infant death
      syndrome.
AB  - In-utero exposure to tobacco smoke remains the highest risk factor for sudden
      infant death syndrome (SIDS). To alleviate the risks, nicotine replacement
      therapies are often prescribed to women who wish to quit smoking during their
      pregnancy. Cardiac arrhythmias is considered the final outcome leading to sudden
      death. Our goal in this study was to determine if exposing rabbit fetus to
      nicotine altered the cardiac conduction system of newborn kittens in a manner
      susceptible to cause SIDS. Using neuronal markers and a series of
      immunohistological and electrophysiological techniques we found that nicotine
      delayed the development of the cardiac pacemaker center (sinoatrial node) and
      decreased its innervation. At the molecular level, nicotine favored the
      expression of cardiac sodium channels with biophysical properties that will tend
      to slow heart rate and diminish electrical conduction. Our results show that
      alterations of the cardiac sodium current may contribute to the bradycardia,
      conduction disturbances and other cardiac arrhythmias often associated to SIDS
      and raise awareness on the use of replacement therapy during pregnancy.

PMID- 28593497
TI  - Mathematical and Computational Modeling for Tumor Virotherapy with Mediated
      Immunity.
AB  - We propose a new mathematical modeling framework based on partial differential
      equations to study tumor virotherapy with mediated immunity. The model
      incorporates both innate and adaptive immune responses and represents the complex
      interaction among tumor cells, oncolytic viruses, and immune systems on a domain
      with a moving boundary. Using carefully designed computational methods, we
      conduct extensive numerical simulation to the model. The results allow us to
      examine tumor development under a wide range of settings and provide insight into
      several important aspects of the virotherapy, including the dependence of the
      efficacy on a few key parameters and the delay in the adaptive immunity. Our
      findings also suggest possible ways to improve the virotherapy for tumor
      treatment.

PMID- 28593500
TI  - Bilateral thalamic deep brain stimulation for essential tremor in elderly
      patients.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of age on thalamic deep
      brain stimulation (DBS) in essential tremor (ET). Tremor, cognition, mood and
      adverse events in patients with thalamic DBS for ET were evaluated in 26
      consecutive patients with established standardized methods for tremor and
      cognition. Twelve patients <70 and 14 patients >=70 years were included and
      followed for 2 years. Clinical outcomes did not differ significantly. DBS seems
      to be safe and effective for ET independent of age.

PMID- 28593501
TI  - Drying or anaerobic digestion of fish sludge: Nitrogen fertilisation effects and
      logistics.
AB  - Application of fish sludge as fertiliser to agricultural land can contribute to
      closing nutrient cycles in fish farming. The effect of different treatment
      technologies on the nitrogen fertilisation effects of fish sludge was studied by
      a bioassay with barley (Hordeum vulgare), an incubation and a field experiment.
      Dried fish sludge resulted in relative agronomic efficiency of 50-80% compared
      with mineral fertiliser. The anaerobic digestate based on fish sludge (20 vol%)
      and dairy manure did not increase nitrogen uptake in barley. Increasing the ratio
      of fish sludge in the digestate increased the fertilisation effect, but requires
      optimisation of the biogas process. A simple logistics analysis conducted for a
      case hatchery showed that on-site drying and co-digestion of fish sludge in a
      central biogas plant can be regarded as equal in terms of costs. Norway can
      become an exporter of fish sludge-based recycling fertilisers if current
      regulations are modified to facilitate nutrient recycling.

PMID- 28593502
TI  - Prognostic Factors in Surgical Patients with Chordomas of the Cervical Spine: A
      Study of 52 Cases from a Single Institution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recurrence rate of cervical chordomas is high, and hence it is
      important to discern the prognostic factors for local relapse and overall
      survival (OS). METHODS: A retrospective review of 52 patients with cervical
      chordoma operated in our institution from January 1999 to March 2015 was
      performed. The association of clinicopathologic characteristics with local
      relapse-free survival (LRFS) and OS was analyzed. Univariate analysis was
      performed to determine whether tumor characteristics and types of therapy
      affected prognosis, and a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was
      developed to further investigate local recurrence and mortality. RESULTS: Mean
      follow-up time was 50 months. The cumulative 5- and 10-year LRFS was 35 and 0%,
      respectively, while the cumulative 5- and 10-year OS was 69 and 53%,
      respectively. The univariate analysis identified contiguous segments involved,
      intralesional surgical margin at primary surgery, primary surgery in local
      hospital, incisional biopsy, and without adjuvant radiotherapy as negative
      prognostic factors for LRFS, whereas for OS, only tumor location in the upper
      cervical spine was statistically significant. In the multivariate analysis,
      contiguous vertebral segments involved, intralesional surgical margins, and
      incisional biopsy were identified as negative prognostic factors for LRFS,
      whereas for OS, again only tumor location in the upper cervical spine was
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Contiguous vertebral segments involved,
      intralesional surgical margin, without adjuvant radiotherapy, and incisional
      biopsy significantly increase local recurrence, while tumor location in the upper
      cervical spine significantly increases tumor-related mortality. Thus, computed
      tomography-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy and total spondylectomy with
      marginal excision may improve survival of patients with cervical chordoma.

PMID- 28593504
TI  - An Algorithm to Identify Generic Drugs in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although generic drugs constitute approximately 88% of drugs
      prescribed in the US, there are no reliable methods to identify generic drugs in
      the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this
      study was to develop an algorithm for identifying generic drugs in the FAERS.
      DATA SOURCE: We used 1237 adverse event reports for tamsulosin, levothyroxine,
      and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine from the publicly available FAERS from 2011
      2013, and 277 source case narratives obtained from the FDA. METHODS: Two
      reviewers independently and in duplicate used a three-item algorithm including
      the following criteria: manufacturer name, New Drug Application (NDA)
      number/abbreviated NDA (ANDA), and specific use of the term 'generic' or 'brand'
      to classify the focal drug of each case report as definitely generic (two of
      three criteria), probably generic (one of three criteria), brand, and cannot be
      assessed. Inter-rater reliability was estimated using kappa coefficients, and
      internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach's alpha. We compared the
      classification of the drugs as generic versus non-generic in publicly available
      FAERS compared with the original case reports (reference). RESULTS: The focal
      drug was classified as generic (definite or probable) in 15.8% (39/234), 9%
      (67/742), and 16.7% (42/261) of tamsulosin, levothyroxine and
      amphetamine/dextroamphetamine cases, respectively (overall kappa 0.89, 95%
      confidence interval 0.85-0.93), while 37% of reports could not be classified due
      to incomplete information. Among the drugs classified as generics using the
      publicly available FAERS, we categorized 95.3% as generic drugs using the
      original case reports. Among those drugs that did not meet the algorithm-based
      definition of generic in the publicly available data, 20.9% were reclassified as
      generics using the original case reports. CONCLUSIONS: The algorithm demonstrated
      high inter-rater reliability with moderate internal consistency for identifying
      generic drugs in the FAERS, in our sample. Future efforts should focus on
      improving the reliability and validity of identifying generics through improving
      the completeness of reporting in the FAERS.

PMID- 28593505
TI  - Correlates of Social Support Among Latino Immigrants.
AB  - Latino immigrants encounter considerable stressors that pose risks to health and
      well-being during settlement in the USA. Social support serves as a protective
      factor that can help to buffer the negative effects of stress. Despite the
      importance of social support, we know little about how Latino immigrants
      differentially experience this protective factor. The current study analyzed data
      from 100 Latino immigrants residing in Tennessee. Hierarchical multiple
      regression analysis was employed to examine variation in self-reported social
      support by immigrant characteristics and immigration-related factors. Females,
      immigrants who are not married/cohabitating, and those who reported experiencing
      a greater number of discrete stressors in the USA each reported lower levels of
      social support. Implications for practice include an increased emphasis on
      assessing levels of social support and designing services to strengthen support
      for the most vulnerable immigrants. Future research should consider a
      longitudinal analysis and specific types of social support.

PMID- 28593503
TI  - Global Level of Plasma DNA Methylation is Associated with Overall Survival in
      Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of folate deficiency on global DNA methylation is
      uncertain. It also is unclear whether global DNA methylation is associated with
      outcome in HCC. LINE-1 methylation levels, as a surrogate marker of global
      methylation, may be influenced by folate deficiency. However, the interaction
      between LINE-1 methylation and folate level on overall survival (OS) in
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is unknown. We evaluated whether LINE-1
      hypomethylation and folate deficiency are associated with HCC prognosis. METHODS:
      We prospectively recruited 172 HCC patients between 2008 and 2012. LINE-1
      methylation levels in plasma and white blood cells (WBC) were measured by
      pyrosequencing, and plasma folate levels by a radioprotein-binding assay.
      RESULTS: Patients with plasma LINE-1 methylation <70.0% (hypomethylation) had
      significantly worse OS compared with those with >=70.0% methylation
      (hypermethylation) [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.77; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12
      2.79; P = 0.015]. HCC patients with lower plasma folate levels also had worse
      survival (<27.7 vs. >=27.7 nmol/L; HR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.24-3.09; P = 0.004).
      Furthermore, survival was poor in patients in whom both plasma LINE-1 methylation
      and folate levels were low compared with those patients in whom both levels were
      high (HR = 3.36; 95%CI, 1.77-6.40; P < 0.001). This interaction neared
      statistical significance (P = 0.057). No significant association was found
      between WBC LINE-1 methylation levels and survival. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest that both lower plasma levels of LINE-1 methylation and folate are
      associated with worse survival in HCC patients.

PMID- 28593506
TI  - Conformal mapping of carotid vessel wall and plaque thickness measured from 3D
      ultrasound images.
AB  - Measurements of vessel-wall-plus-plaque thickness (VWT) from 3D carotid
      ultrasound have been shown to be sensitive to the effect of pharmaceutical
      interventions. Since the geometry of carotid arteries is highly subject-specific,
      quantitative comparison of the distributions of point-wise VWT measured for
      different patients or for the same patients at different ultrasound scanning
      sessions requires the development of a mapping strategy to adjust for the
      geometric variability of different carotid surface models. In this paper, we
      present an algorithm mapping each 3D carotid surface to a 2D carotid template
      with an emphasis on preserving the local geometry of the carotid surface by
      minimizing local angular distortion. The previously described arc-length scaling
      (AL) approach was applied to generate an initial 2D VWT map. Using results
      established in the quasi-conformal theory, a new map was computed to compensate
      for the angular distortion incurred in AL mapping. As the 2D carotid template
      lies on an L-shaped non-convex domain, one-to-one correspondence of the mapping
      operation was not guaranteed. To address this issue, an iterative Beltrami
      differential chopping and smoothing procedure was developed to enforce
      bijectivity. Evaluations performed in the 20 carotid surface models showed that
      the reduction in average angular distortion made by the proposed algorithm was
      highly significant (P = 2.06 * 10-5). This study is the first study showing that
      a bijective conformal map to a non-convex domain can be obtained using the
      iterative Beltrami differential chopping and smoothing procedure. The improved
      consistency exhibited in the 2D VWT map generated by the proposed algorithm will
      allow for unbiased quantitative comparisons of VWT as well as local geometric and
      hemodynamic quantities in population studies.

PMID- 28593507
TI  - A stochastic algorithm for automatic hand pose and motion estimation.
AB  - In this paper, a novel, robust, and simple method for automatically estimating
      the hand pose is proposed and validated. The method uses a multi-camera
      optoelectronic system and a model-based stochastic algorithm. The approach is
      marker-based and relies on an Unscented Kalman Filter. A hand kinematic model is
      introduced for constraining relative marker's positions and improving the
      algorithm robustness with respect to outliers and possible occlusions. The
      algorithm outputs are 3D coordinate measures of markers and hand joint angle
      values. To validate the proposed algorithm, a comparison with ground truths for
      angular and 3D coordinate measures is carried out. The comparative analysis shows
      the advantages of using the model-based stochastic algorithm with respect to
      standard processing software of optoelectronic cameras in terms of implementation
      simplicity, time consumption, and user effort. The accuracy is remarkable, with a
      difference of maximum 0.035r a d and 4m m with respect to angular and 3D
      Cartesian coordinates ground truths, respectively.

PMID- 28593509
TI  - Health expenditure and economic growth - a review of the literature and an
      analysis between the economic community for central African states (CEMAC) and
      selected African countries.
AB  - African leaders accepted in the year 2001 through the Abuja Declaration to
      allocate 15% of their government expenditure on health but by 2013 only five (5)
      African countries achieved this target. In this paper, a comparative analysis on
      the impact of health expenditure between countries in the CEMAC sub-region and
      five other African countries that achieved the Abuja declaration is provided.
      Data for this study was extracted from the World Development Indicators (2016)
      database, panel ordinary least square (OLS), fully modified ordinary least square
      (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) were used as econometric technic
      of analysis. Results showed that health expenditure has a positive and
      significant effect on economic growth in both samples. A unit change in health
      expenditure can potentially increase GDP per capita by 0.38 and 0.3 units for the
      five other African countries that achieve the Abuja target and for CEMAC
      countries respectively, a significant difference of 0.08 units among the two
      samples. In addition, a long-run relationship also exist between health
      expenditure and economic growth for both groups of countries. Thus African
      Economies are strongly advised to achieve the Abuja target especially when other
      socio-economic and political factors are efficient.

PMID- 28593508
TI  - BET bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 decreases CD30 and CCR4 expression and
      proliferation of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cell lines.
AB  - Bromodomain and external domain (BET) proteins regulate cell growth,
      proliferation, cell cycle, and differentiation in various cancers. Therefore,
      they have emerged as interesting targets. The effect of BET inhibitor on
      cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), however, is yet to be known. Here, we examined
      the effect of BET inhibitor JQ1 on four cell lines (MyLa, SeAx, Hut78 and HH
      cells). CTCL cell lines were treated with JQ1 and cell number, cell cycle,
      frequency of apoptosis, and expressions of CD25, CD30 and CCR4 on the cell
      surface were evaluated by flow cytometry. Cell surface molecules were also
      analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. JQ1 dose-dependently decreased the cell number
      of CTCL cells through G1 arrest concomitantly with downregulation of c-Myc
      expression. JQ1 induced senescence in MyLa cells and apoptosis in Hut78 and HH
      cells. We also showed that JQ1 inhibited tumor growth of HH cells in vivo.
      Moreover, JQ1 downregulated CD30 and CCR4 expression both on the cell surface and
      at mRNA levels. Thus, BET bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 may be useful for treatment
      of CTCL.

PMID- 28593510
TI  - Within-Bolus Variability of the Penetration-Aspiration Scale Across Two
      Subsequent Swallows in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer.
AB  - To compare two consecutive swallowing attempts to study if there is a difference
      in Rosenbek's penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) scores between the first and
      second swallowing attempt of the same bolus type in videofluoroscopic examination
      of swallowing (VFS). Additional aims include reflecting on which bolus sizes and
      consistencies are the most relevant to include in further studies for head and
      neck cancer (HNC) patients. The VFS for 38 patients curatively treated for HNC
      was studied. All included patients showed swallowing difficulties (PAS >= 2). The
      examination protocol included two swallows each of six different boluses: 3, 5,
      10, 20 ml thin, 5 ml mildly thick, and 3 ml of extremely thick liquid. All
      boluses were compared between the first and second swallowing attempt with regard
      to PAS scores. No statistically significant differences in PAS were found between
      the first and second swallow for any of the boluses in this study on group level.
      For 20 ml thin and 3 ml extremely thick liquid, there were low Intra-Class
      Correlations, indicating a low within-bolus agreement. The greatest within-bolus
      differences were found for 20 ml thin, 5 ml mildly thick and 3 ml extremely thick
      liquid, which demonstrated high intra-individual coefficient of variation (0.458
      0.759). The data of this study show a high within-bolus variability of the PAS
      score between two subsequent swallows for all different consistencies. In order
      to assess swallowing safety, the highest PAS score for each bolus type is
      suggested for use in studies of HNC patients.

PMID- 28593512
TI  - PIPAC puts pressure on peritoneal metastases from pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 28593511
TI  - De novo exonic duplication of ATP1A2 in Italian patient with hemiplegic migraine:
      a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine is a rare form of migraine headache.
      Mutations in three different genes, two ion-channel genes and one encoding an ATP
      exchanger, CACNA1A, ATP1A2 and SCN1A are all responsible for the FHM phenotype,
      thus indicating a genetic heterogeneity for this disorder. Here, we described a
      de novo exonic duplication of ATP1A2 in an Italian patient with Hemiplegic
      Migraine. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a young woman (33 year old)
      who suffered from the age of 8 years of episodic weakness of the limbs,
      associated to other subjective and objective features. From aged 25, she
      developed neurological symptoms, like dizziness, blurred vision and an MRI scan
      revealed aspecific peritrigonal white matter hyperintensities. Aged 32 she
      suffered of right hemisomatic sudden-onset paresthesias, hypoesthesia and
      hyposthenia and the patient was genetically investigated for sporadic hemiplegic
      migraine. CONCLUSIONS: Here we report, for the first time, an exonic duplication
      in the ATP1A2 associated with hemiplegic migraine. The variation identified
      involves exon 21 of the ATP1A2 and is expected to alter the function of the
      alpha(2) subunit of the Na(+)/K(+) pump; the de novo nature of the duplication
      further supports its pathogenic role. To date, no other CNVs have been described
      in the ATP1A2 but only point mutations are reported. The novel mutation may
      result impaired M9 transmembrane domain, in a loss-of-function of the alpha(2)
      Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase with glutamate accumulation, alteration of synaptic function
      and neurotransmission.

PMID- 28593513
TI  - Gene therapy with helper-dependent adenoviral vectors: lessons from studies in
      large animal models.
AB  - Helper-dependent adenoviral vectors (HDAd) are deleted of all viral genes and
      they can efficiently transduce a wide variety of dividing and non-dividing cells
      to mediate high transgene expression levels. Unlike early generation adenoviral
      vectors, the absence of viral genes in HDAd results in long-term transgene
      expression without chronic toxicity and permits a large cloning capacity of 36
      kb. Moreover, HDAd genomes exist extra-chromosomally thus minimizing the risks of
      germline transmission and insertional mutagenesis. For these reasons, HDAd offers
      tremendous potential for in vivo gene therapy. This chapter reviews preclinical
      studies using HDAd in large animal models to assess safety and efficacy in a wide
      variety of gene therapy applications.

PMID- 28593515
TI  - Cu-resistant Kocuria sp. CRB15: a potential PGPR isolated from the dry tailing of
      Rakha copper mine.
AB  - Rhizobacteria may enhance biomass production and heavy metal tolerance of plants
      under stress conditions. The present study was carried out for isolation of metal
      resistant bacteria that can be further utilized for phytoremediation process. A
      potential metal-resistant strain CRB15 was isolated from rhizospheric region of
      Saccharum spontaneum that was found to be resistant against Cu (6.29 mM), Zn
      (3.25 mM), Pb (1.5 mM), Ni (1.25 mM), and Cd (0.25 mM). SEM analysis was
      performed for evaluation of morphological changes on bacterial isolate. FTIR
      analysis observed the change in wavenumbers after the addition of Cu. 16S rDNA
      sequence analysis showed that CRB15 isolate matched best with genus of Kocuria
      and was named as Kocuria sp. CRB15. The isolate Kocuria sp. CRB15 was a potential
      plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium as it had a high IAA (46 ug ml-1), P
      solubilisation (39.37 ug ml-1), ammonia production (30.46 umol ml-1), and
      hydrogen cyanide production capacity. Root-shoot elongation assay conducted on
      Brassica nigra under lab conditions with strain CRB15 demonstrated positive
      effects of strain CRB15 in root and shoot elongation of Cu-treated seedlings.
      This study proved the Kocuria sp. CRB15 a potential PGPR for bacterial-assisted
      phytoremediation.

PMID- 28593514
TI  - Influence of Formulation Factors on the Aerosol Performance of Suspension and
      Solution Metered Dose Inhalers: A Systematic Approach.
AB  - Metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are complex drug-device combination products widely
      used to treat pulmonary disorders. The efficacy, driven by aerosol performance of
      the products, depends on a multitude of factors including, but not limited to,
      the physicochemical properties of drug and nature and amount of excipient(s).
      Under the quality by design (QbD) paradigm, systematic investigations are
      necessary to understand how changes in critical quality attributes (CQAs) of
      formulation, device, and manufacturing process influence key product performance
      parameters, such as delivered dose (DD) and fine particle dose (FPD). The purpose
      of this work is to provide a better understanding of the effects of different
      levels of excipients and drug particle size distribution on the aerosol
      performance of MDI products, while using two fundamentally different MDI products
      as relevant model systems, Proventil(r) HFA (albuterol sulfate suspension) and
      Qvar(r) (beclomethasone dipropionate solution). These MDI products, as model
      systems, provided mid-points around which a design of experiments (DOE),
      consisting of 22 suspension and 9 solution MDI formulations, were defined and
      manufactured. The DOE included formulations factors with varying ethanol (2 to
      20% w/w and 7 to 9% w/w for the suspension and solution, respectively) and oleic
      acid concentrations (0.005 to 0.25% w/w and 0 to 2% w/w for the suspension and
      solution, respectively) and drug volumetric median particle size distribution
      (PSD D50, 1.4 to 2.5 MUm for the suspension). The MDI formulations were analyzed
      using compendial methods to elucidate the effect of these formulation variables
      (ethanol, oleic acid, and PSD D50) on DD and FPD. The outcomes of this study
      allowed defining design spaces for the formulation factors, such that DD and FPD
      would remain within specific pre-defined requirements. The systematic approach
      utilized in this work can contribute as a QbD tool to evaluate the extent to
      which the formulation factors govern the aerosol performance of MDI drug
      products, helping to design MDI formulations with desired product performance
      parameters.

PMID- 28593517
TI  - Ginger extract as green biocide to control microbial corrosion of mild steel.
AB  - In latest years, various techniques and chemicals have been used for the control
      of microbial influenced corrosion (MIC) of metals. The application of botanical
      based biocides is one of the effective and practical techniques in the fight
      against MIC. In the present study, the role of aqueous extract of ginger
      (Zingiber officinale) (GIE) as green biocide to control MIC of mild steel 1010
      (MS) in a cooling water system was investigated. Biocorrosion behavior of
      Bacillus thuringiensis EN2 on MS and its control by GIE was analyzed by
      electrochemical measurements. Polarization, electrochemical studies (ES), weight
      loss measurements (WL), and surface analysis (XRD, X-ray diffraction
      spectroscopy, and FTIR, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy) were performed
      under various incubation periods up to 4 weeks. We observed that EN2 forms a
      thick biofilm on the MS metal surface at the end of the incubation period and the
      WL significantly increased to 993 mg at fourth week when compared to the initial
      immersion period (194 +/- 2 mg). In contrast, with addition of GIE, WL was
      reduced about 41 +/- 2 mg over biotic system (993 +/- 2 mg). GC-MS analysis
      confirmed the adsorption of active component of GIE (beta-turmerone) on the metal
      surface as a protective layer to prevent the biofilm formation and thus leads to
      reduction of corrosion. The optimum 20 ppm of GIE was found to be effective
      corrosion inhibition efficiency which was about 80%. From the results of WL, ES,
      XRD, FTIR, and GC-MS, GIE was identified as biocide and thus inhibits the
      bacterial growth on MS metal surface and it leads to control MIC. XRD showed that
      the GIE with EN2 resulted in less formation of corrosion products over biotic and
      abiotic systems. Overall, this research first shed light on the antibacterial
      activity of GIE inhibiting biofilm formation, thus reducing the corrosion of MS
      in cooling water systems.

PMID- 28593516
TI  - Antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of Garcinia indica fruit rind via
      monoaminergic pathway.
AB  - Depression and anxiety are the most crippling neuropsychiatric disorders of this
      modern era. These mostly occur as anxiety followed by depression or in mixed
      state. Therefore, there is an urgent need of a safe and effective treatment,
      which proves its worth in this ailment. What else than a conventional food would
      be a better choice for a convenient therapy. Therefore, Garcinia indica, commonly
      known as Kokam, fruit rind has been used in the present study to investigate its
      antidepressant and anti-anxiety potential using forced swim test, tail suspension
      test, and reserpine-induced hypothermia; and elevated plus maze, hole-board test,
      and light dark model, respectively. Garcinia indica fruit rind given to mice with
      food for consecutive 14 days at 0.5, 1, and 2% w/w significantly (p < 0.05)
      reduced despair behavior in forced swim test, immobility duration in tail
      suspension test, and also switched the hypothermia (reserpine induced) to normal
      temperature significantly (p < 0.05). Garcinia indica significantly (p < 0.05)
      raised the time elapsed and count of entries in open arms of elevated plus maze,
      enhanced incidence of head dipping in holes of hole board along with duration of
      expending time in lit compartment of light dark model, exhibiting its anti
      anxiety effect. Garcinia indica significantly reduced monoamine oxidase and
      malondialdehyde levels providing support to neuroprotective potential of fruit
      rind. The mechanistic study showed the participation of G. indica at alpha1
      adrenoceptor and D2-dopamine receptor, by attenuating prazosin and sulpiride
      induced increase in immobility duration. Garcinia indica fruit rind showed a
      significant antidepressant and anxiolytic effect while no effect on locomotor
      activity, i.e., no psycho-stimulation.

PMID- 28593519
TI  - Solid-state fermentation for production of a bioherbicide from Diaporthe sp. and
      its formulation to enhance the efficacy.
AB  - In this study, a bioherbicide was produced by solid-state fermentation (SSF)
      using Diaporthe sp. Adjuvants were employed in a formulation to enhance the
      herbicidal activity towards the target (Cucumis sativus). The study was divided
      into two steps: (1) the fermentation condition for bioherbicide production was
      assessed; (2) evaluation of different formulations containing palm oil, Tween(r)
      80 and Span(r) 80, in order to increase phytotoxicity. In step 1, the maximum
      herbicidal activity (1.23% of the leaves had lesions) was obtained at 25  degrees
      C, moisture content of 50 wt%, supplemented with 10 wt% of corn steep liquor and
      soybean bran and inoculum density of 15 wt%. In step 2, the formulation
      containing 8.2 wt% of palm oil, 8.2 wt% of Tween(r) 80 and Span(r) 80, resulting
      in an HLB of 12.8 showed the highest phytotoxicity on the leaves. At this
      condition, dry matter and height of target were reduced about 36% in comparison
      with control. Diaporthe sp. has the potential to produce molecules with
      herbicidal activity and the use of adjuvants enhanced three times its efficiency.

PMID- 28593518
TI  - Purification, characterization and retting of Crotolaria juncea fibres by an
      alkaline pectin lyase from Fusarium oxysporum MTCC 1755.
AB  - Using solid-state fermentation, production of an industrially important pectin
      lyase from a fungal strain Fusarium oxysporum MTCC 1755 was attempted, which was
      further subjected to purification and characterization. The enzyme was purified
      by three steps, namely ammonium sulfate fractionation, cation-exchange
      chromatography on CM cellulose followed by gel filtration chromatography using
      Sephadex G-100 column. A 16-fold purification with 31.2% yield and 3.2 U/mg
      specific activity was achieved. The optimum pH of the purified enzyme was 9.0 and
      stability ranged from pH 5.0-7.0 for 24 h. Optimum temperature of purified enzyme
      was found to be 40  degrees C while temperature stability ranged from 10 to 50 
      degrees C for 30 min. The K m and k cat of the enzyme was 1.75 mg/ml and 83.3 s
      1, respectively. The purified enzyme was found to be highly stimulated by Ca2+
      ions while sugars like mannitol and sorbitol, and salts like NaCl and CaCl2
      enhanced the thermostability. The purified pectin lyase was found suitable for
      retting of Crotolaria juncea fiber.

PMID- 28593520
TI  - Antioxidant properties and polyphenolic content in terrestrial cyanobacteria.
AB  - Cell-free extracts of twenty terrestrial cyanobacteria were evaluated for their
      antioxidant properties in terms of free-radical scavenging (DPPH and ABTS) and
      metal chelating activity and deoxyribose protection. Extract of Anabaena
      constricta was the most prominent antioxidant agent (IC50 for DPPH activity 0.91
      mg ml-1, ABTS 0.23 mg ml-1, deoxyribose protection 0.63 mg ml-1 and Fe+2-ion
      chelating 0.9 mg ml-1). The extracts of cyanobacterial species contained high
      quantity of total phenol and total flavonoid that were supposed to impart
      prominent antioxidant properties. Cyanobacterial species also showed fairly high
      PAL activity. We reported varied quantities of polyphenolics gallic, chlorogenic,
      caffeic, vanillic and ferulic acids and flavonoids rutin, quercetin and
      kaempferol in cyanobacterial extracts. The presence of these polyphenolics was
      linked with the free radical scavenging, metal chelating and antioxidative damage
      protecting properties of the organisms. Cyanobacteria are the most feasible,
      promising and alternative candidates for searching out new chemical leads for
      industrial applications in pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals and biomolecules of
      importance. Presence of biomolecules such as polyphenolics and their connection
      with the prominent biological functions (e.g., antioxidant properties) make these
      organisms a potential source of secondary metabolites with predominant biological
      activities. Additionally, dominant presence of polyphenols as antioxidant agents
      in cyanobacterial species may reflect their adaptation strategies against abiotic
      stresses for their ecological success in different habitats.

PMID- 28593521
TI  - Identification of siderophore producing and cynogenic fluorescent Pseudomonas and
      a simple confrontation assay to identify potential bio-control agent for collar
      rot of chickpea.
AB  - In soil, plant roots coexist with bacteria and fungi that produce siderophores
      capable of sequestering the available iron. Microbial cyanogenesis has been
      demonstrated in many species of fungi and in a few species of bacteria (e.g.,
      Chromobacterium and Pseudomonas). Fluorescent Pseudomonas isolates P29, P59,
      P144, P166, P174, P187, P191 and P192 were cyanogenic and produced siderophores
      in the presence of a strong chelater 8-Hydroxyquinoline (50 mg/l). A simple
      confrontation assay for identifying potential antagonists was developed.
      Fluorescent Pseudomonas isolates P66, P141, P144, P166 and P174 were antagonistic
      against both Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii. Vigorous plant growth was
      observed following seed bacterization with P141, P200 and P240. In field
      experiments, seed bacterization with selected bacterial isolates resulted in
      reduced collar rot (S. rolfsii) incidence.

PMID- 28593522
TI  - Using an artificial neural network to predict the optimal conditions for
      enzymatic hydrolysis of apple pomace.
AB  - The enzymatic degradation of lignocellulosic biomass such as apple pomace is a
      complex process influenced by a number of hydrolysis conditions. Predicting
      optimal conditions, including enzyme and substrate concentration, temperature and
      pH can improve conversion efficiency. In this study, the production of sugar
      monomers from apple pomace using commercial enzyme preparations, Celluclast 1.5L,
      Viscozyme L and Novozyme 188 was investigated. A limited number of experiments
      were carried out and then analysed using an artificial neural network (ANN) to
      model the enzymatic hydrolysis process. The ANN was used to simulate the
      enzymatic hydrolysis process for a range of input variables and the optimal
      conditions were successfully selected as was indicated by the R 2 value of 0.99
      and a small MSE value. The inputs for the ANN were substrate loading, enzyme
      loading, temperature, initial pH and a combination of these parameters, while
      release profiles of glucose and reducing sugars were the outputs. Enzyme loadings
      of 0.5 and 0.2 mg/g substrate and a substrate loading of 30% were optimal for
      glucose and reducing sugar release from apple pomace, respectively, resulting in
      concentrations of 6.5 g/L glucose and 28.9 g/L reducing sugars. Apple pomace
      hydrolysis can be successfully carried out based on the predicted optimal
      conditions from the ANN.

PMID- 28593523
TI  - Dilute acid pretreatment of sorghum biomass to maximize the hemicellulose
      hydrolysis with minimized levels of fermentative inhibitors for bioethanol
      production.
AB  - Conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into monomeric carbohydrates is
      economically beneficial and suitable for sustainable production of biofuels.
      Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass using high acid concentration results in
      decomposition of sugars into fermentative inhibitors. Thus, the main aim of this
      work was to investigate the optimum hydrolysis conditions for sorghum brown
      midrib IS11861 biomass to maximize the pentose sugars yield with minimized levels
      of fermentative inhibitors at low acid concentrations. Process parameters
      investigated include sulfuric acid concentration (0.2-1 M), reaction time (30-120
      min) and temperature (80-121  degrees C). At the optimum condition (0.2 M
      sulfuric acid, 121  degrees C and 120 min), 97.6% of hemicellulose was converted
      into xylobiose (18.02 mg/g), xylose (225.2 mg/g), arabinose (20.2 mg/g) with low
      concentration of furfural (4.6 mg/g). Furthermore, the process parameters were
      statistically optimized using response surface methodology based on central
      composite design. Due to the presence of low concentration of fermentative
      inhibitors, 78.6 and 82.8% of theoretical ethanol yield were attained during the
      fermentation of non-detoxified and detoxified hydrolyzates, respectively, using
      Pichia stipitis 3498 wild strain, in a techno-economical way.

PMID- 28593524
TI  - Virulence factors associated with Coagulase Negative Staphylococci isolated from
      human infections.
AB  - Infections caused by commensal organisms by changing to infectious life style
      generate much challenge to the current treatment strategies. Coagulase Negative
      Staphylococci (CoNS) are one of them, with their coexisting biofilm forming and
      multiple antibiotic resistance properties form important agents of nosocomial
      infection. To evaluate species distribution, biofilm formation, and antibiogram,
      CoNS isolates from various clinical samples were isolated. The presence of
      biofilm and associated genes icaAB, aap, atlE, embp, bhp, and fbe in CoNS was
      screened by PCR. The biofilm chemical composition and its correlation with the
      genotypes were also analysed. Staphylococcus epidermidis (59%) was found to be
      the most prevalent CoNS species. Most of the CoNS isolates harboring biofilm gene
      showed carbohydrate-protein-eDNA biofilm, whereas carbohydrate-protein biofilms
      were also observed. High percentage of multiple drug resistance, and biofilm gene
      frequency among these CoNS isolates point towards the need of periodic
      surveillance as CoNS are recently identified to cause difficult to treat
      infections.

PMID- 28593525
TI  - Lithium Chloride Facilitates Autophagy Following Spinal Cord Injury via ERK
      dependent Pathway.
AB  - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one major cause of death and results in long-term
      disability even in the most productive periods of human lives with few
      efficacious drugs. Autophagy is a potential therapeutic target for SCI. In the
      present study, we examined the role of lithium in functional recovery in the rat
      model of SCI and explored the related mechanism. Locomotion tests were employed
      to assess the functional recovery after SCI, Western blotting and RT-PCT to
      determine the level of p-ERK and LC3-II as well as p62, immunofluorescence
      imaging to localize LC3 and p62. Here, we found that both the expression of LC3
      II and p62 were increased after SCI. However, lithium chloride enhanced the level
      of LC3-II while abrogated the abundance of p62. Furthermore, lithium treatment
      facilitated ERK activation in vivo, and inhibition of MEK/ERK signaling pathway
      suppressed lithium-evoked autophagy flux. Taken together, our results illustrated
      that lithium facilitated functional recovery by enhancing autophagy flux.

PMID- 28593527
TI  - Role of CACNA1C gene polymorphisms and protein expressions in the pathogenesis of
      schizophrenia: a case-control study in a Chinese population.
AB  - The study aimed to investigate the correlations of CACNA1C genetic polymorphisms
      and protein expression with the pathogenesis of schizophrenia in a Chinese
      population. This research included 139 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia
      (case group) and 141 healthy volunteers (control group). Case and control samples
      were genotyped using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC).
      Haplotypes of rs10848683, rs2238032, and rs2299661 were analyzed using the Shesis
      software. A mouse model of schizophrenia was established and assigned to test and
      blank groups. Western blotting was used to detect CACNA1C protein expression. The
      genotype and allele distribution of rs2238032 and rs2299661 differed between the
      case and control groups. TT genotype of rs2238032 and G allele of rs2299661 could
      potentially reduce the risk of schizophrenia. The distribution of rs2238032
      genotype has a close connection with cognitive disturbance and the results of the
      general psychopathology classification exam. The distribution of rs2299661
      genotypes was closely related to sensory and perceptual disorders, negative
      symptom subscales, and the results of the general psychopathology classification
      exam. CTC haplotype increased and CTG decreased the risk of schizophrenia in
      healthy people. In the brain tissues of mice with schizophrenia, the CACNA1C
      protein expression was higher in the test group than in the blank group. Our
      study demonstrated that CACNA1C gene polymorphisms and CACNA1C protein expression
      were associated with schizophrenia and its clinical phenotypes.

PMID- 28593529
TI  - Bisexual-Specific Minority Stressors, Psychological Distress, and Suicidality in
      Bisexual Individuals: the Mediating Role of Loneliness.
AB  - Bisexual individuals are at higher risk for poor mental health outcomes compared
      to heterosexual as well as lesbian and gay individuals and experience minority
      stressors, such as discrimination, from both heterosexual and sexual minority
      communities. However, there is little research examining the negative effects of
      bisexual-specific minority stressors on bisexual individuals' mental health as
      well as psychological factors that might help explain minority stressors'
      deleterious effects. This research examined the effects of distal minority
      stressors (i.e., anti-bisexual experiences from both heterosexual as well as
      lesbian and gay people) and proximal stressors (i.e., internalized heterosexism
      and sexual orientation concealment) on psychological distress and suicidality
      among bisexual adults (N = 503). Building on the relational framing of the
      minority stress model, we also tested one relational factor (i.e., loneliness) as
      a mediator of the associations between distal and proximal minority stressors and
      poor mental health (i.e., psychological distress and suicidality). Structural
      equation modeling analyses were used to test the mediating effects of loneliness
      on the associations between minority stressors and psychological distress and
      suicidality. Although distal and proximal minority stressors were not associated
      with each other, loneliness mediated the effects of distal and proximal minority
      stressors on psychological distress and suicidality. The results of this study
      underscore the importance of targeting bisexual-specific minority stressors as
      well as loneliness in preventive interventions to improve the mental health of
      bisexual individuals.

PMID- 28593530
TI  - Erratum to: Two early eudicot fossil flowers from the Kamikitaba assemblage
      (Coniacian, Late Cretaceous) in northeastern Japan.

PMID- 28593528
TI  - The neuropathological basis to the functional role of microglia/macrophages in
      gliomas.
AB  - The paper wants to be a tracking shot of the main recent acquisitions on the
      function and significance of microglia/macrophages in gliomas. The observations
      have been principally carried out on in vitro cultures and on tumor transplants
      in animals. Contrary to what is deduced from microglia in non-neoplastic
      pathologic conditions of central nervous system (CNS), most conclusions indicate
      that microglia acts favoring tumor proliferation through an immunosuppression
      induced by glioma cells. By immunohistochemistry, different microglia phenotypes
      are recognized in gliomas, from ramified microglia to frank macrophagic aspect.
      One wonders whether the functional conclusions drawn from many microglia studies,
      but not in conditions of human pathology, apply to all the phenotypes
      recognizable in them. It is difficult to verify in human pathology a prognostic
      significance of microglia. Only CD163-positive microglia/macrophages inversely
      correlate with glioma patients' survival, whereas the total number of microglia
      does not change with the malignancy grade.

PMID- 28593531
TI  - Distinguishing appraisal and personality influences on quality of life in chronic
      illness: introducing the quality-of-life Appraisal Profile version 2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive appraisal of quality of life (QOL) differs across
      individuals in ways that explain otherwise paradoxical findings, such as similar
      QOL ratings among individuals in highly divergent health states. Although
      warranted by a growing body of evidence, routine assessment of appraisal in QOL
      research has been impeded by measurement challenges. This study describes the QOL
      Appraisal Profile-version 2 (QOLAPv2), a new measure that addresses these
      challenges. METHODS: A heterogeneous, on-line cohort of chronic disease patients
      and caregivers completed the QOLAPv2, along with demographics, PROMIS10 and Brief
      NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI). Analyses address the psychometric properties
      and construct validity of this new measure using principal components, bivariate,
      canonical correlation, and linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Analysis
      including 4173 respondents yielded 12 second-order QOLAPv2 principal components.
      Appraisal components varied with age and disease duration. Appraisals involving
      "Wellness," "Health," and "Recent Challenges" were correlated with QOL and with
      NEO-PI scales of "Agreeableness" and "Conscientiousness." Canonical correlation
      analysis revealed that QOL scales were associated with appraisals involving
      "Spirituality," "Anticipating Decline," and "Lightness of Being." Appraisal
      dimensions of "Relationships," "Maintaining Roles," "Independence," "Pursuing
      Dreams," and "Lightness of Being" were also associated with personality scales.
      Appraisal measures accounted for significantly more variance in QOL than
      personality and demographics alone. CONCLUSIONS: Findings corroborate the Rapkin
      and Schwartz QOL appraisal theory. QOL appraisal measures correlate as expected
      with personality scales, and explain more variance in QOL than does personality.
      The QOLAPv2 can be used across populations to provide insight into patients'
      concerns, salient experiences, and comparators.

PMID- 28593533
TI  - Heart combined with adrenal multiple pheochromocytomas.
AB  - Pheochromocytoma is a kind of rare tumor, occurring at any site in the
      sympathoadrenal system. Main lesions occur within the adrenal gland; only 1%-2%
      occur within the chest, and most of these are located in the posterior
      mediastinum. Intrapericardial pheochromocytoma is extremely rare in clinic, only
      about 100 cases have been reported in total in both the domestic and
      foreignliterature since Besterman et al. first reported in 1974. It is often
      difficult to diagnose and locate these tumors. Hence, we present here a case of
      adrenal combined with heart multiple pheochromocytomas and discuss about
      techniques contributed to diagnosis and localization.

PMID- 28593532
TI  - Establishing benchmark EQ-5D-3L population health state utilities and identifying
      their correlates in Gansu Province, China.
AB  - PURPOSES: Despite a flurry of cost utility analyses conducted in the Chinese
      population in recent years, a standard set of health state utilities (HSUs) for
      the Chinese population is lacking. The aims of this study were to (1) determine
      benchmark age- and sex-specific HSUs for a Chinese population, and (2) assess key
      correlates of HSUs in this population. METHODS: Quality-of-life was evaluated
      using the validated EQ-5D-3L questionnaire. HSUs were calculated using data
      collected from Gansu Province (n = 9833). Overall differences in HSUs were
      analysed using linear regression and a two-tailed p value <0.05 was determined to
      be statistically significant. The minimal difference in weighted index was set at
      0.074. RESULTS: HSUs decreased with age in both males and females. Living in the
      non-capital areas, being separated/divorced/widowed or never married, being never
      educated, diagnosed with chronic disease, and no regular physical activity were
      associated with lower HSUs. HSUs for women were lower than for men in univariate
      regression analysis; however, no differences were found after adjusting for other
      covariates. In addition, the difference in HSU reached the level of minimal
      difference in weighted index for participants with chronic disease. HSUs for
      those who were diagnosed with chronic disease were 0.098 (0.092-0.104) lower than
      those without chronic disease. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports HSUs for a Chinese
      population in Gansu and investigates the key correlates of HSUs in this
      population. In addition, the use of EQ-5D-3L in assessing population health is
      limited given the high ceiling effect and skewed HSUs.

PMID- 28593534
TI  - Neurocardiac imaging has a proven value in patient management.

PMID- 28593535
TI  - Neuro-cardiac imaging has a proven value in patient management: Con.

PMID- 28593536
TI  - Molecular typing of non-polio enteroviruses isolated from acute flaccid paralysis
      cases in Iran from 2010 to 2015.

PMID- 28593537
TI  - Building Provincial Mental Health Capacity in Primary Care: An Evaluation of a
      Project ECHO Mental Health Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO(c))
      addresses urban-rural disparities in access to specialist care by building
      primary care provider (PCP) capacity through tele-education. Evidence supporting
      the use of this model for mental health care is limited. Therefore, this study
      evaluated a mental health and addictions-focused ECHO program. Primary outcome
      measures were PCP knowledge and perceived self-efficacy. Secondary objectives
      included: satisfaction, engagement, and sense of professional isolation. PCP
      knowledge and self-efficacy were hypothesized to improve with participation.
      METHODS: Using Moore's evaluation framework, we evaluated the ECHO program on
      participant engagement, satisfaction, learning, and competence. A pre-post design
      and weekly questionnaires measured primary and secondary outcomes, respectively.
      RESULTS: Knowledge test performance and self-efficacy ratings improved post-ECHO
      (knowledge change was significant, p < 0.001, d = 1.13; self-efficacy approached
      significance; p = 0.056, d = 0.57). Attrition rate was low (7.7%) and
      satisfaction ratings were high across all domains, with spokes reporting reduced
      feelings of isolation. DISCUSSION: This is the first study to report objective
      mental health outcomes related to Project ECHO. The results indicate high
      participant retention is achievable, and provide preliminary evidence for
      increased knowledge and self-efficacy. These findings suggest this intervention
      may improve mental health management in primary care.

PMID- 28593538
TI  - Physiological and biochemical responses of Machilus ichangensis Rehd. et Wils and
      Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd. to elevated O3 in subtropical China.
AB  - Considerable researches have documented the negative effects of ozone on woody
      species in North America and Europe; however, little is known about how woody
      tree species respond to elevated O3 in subtropical China, and most of the
      previous studies were conducted using pot experiment. In the present study,
      Machilus ichangensis Rehd. et Wils (M. ichangensis) and Taxus chinensis (Pilger)
      Rehd. (T. chinensis), evergreen tree species in subtropical China, were exposed
      to non-filtered air (NF), 100 nmol mol-1 O3 (E1) and 150 nmol mol-1 O3 (E2), in
      open-top chambers under field conditions from 21st March to 2nd November 2015. In
      this study, O3 fumigation significantly reduced net photosynthesis rate (Pn) in
      M. ichangensis in the three measurements and in T. chinensis in the last
      measurement. Also, non-stomatal factors should be primarily responsible for the
      decreased Pn. O3 fumigation-induced increase in malondialdehyde, superoxide
      dismutase, and reduced ascorbic acid levels indicated that antioxidant defense
      mechanism had been stimulated to prevent O3 stress and repair the oxidative
      damage. Yet, the increase of antioxidant ability was not enough to counteract the
      harm of O3 fumigation. Because of the decrease in CO2 assimilation, the growth of
      the two tree species was restrained ultimately. The sensitivity of the two tree
      species to O3 can be determined: M. ichangensis > T. chinensis. It suggests a
      close link between the rising O3 concentrations and the health risk of some tree
      species in subtropics in the near future.

PMID- 28593539
TI  - The AhRR-c.565C>G transversion may increase total antioxidant capacity levels of
      the seminal plasma in infertile men.
AB  - The Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-repressor (AhRR) is a regulator of the AhR
      pathway, which plays an important role in xenobiotic and reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) metabolism. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is a major factor in semen
      quality that protects sperm against ROS stress. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is the
      indicator of lipid peroxidation damage that is occurred due to ROSs. In this
      study, we determined and compared the MDA and TAC levels of infertile men's semen
      and blood plasma regarding genotype groups of AhRR-c.565C>G transversion. Semen
      and blood samples of 123 infertile males were collected from the Fatemeh Zahra
      IVF Centre, Babol, Iran. TAC and MDA levels of seminal and blood plasma were
      measured by TBARS and FRAP methods, respectively. Cases were genotyped by the PCR
      RFLP method. The frequency of c.565C>G genotypes was determined as CC (34.14%),
      CG (55.28%) and GG (10.58%). Mean levels of TAC MUm/L and MDA nmol/mL in semen
      plasma of CC, CG and GG groups were (1365.7, 1.28), (1542.8, 1.51) and (1860.2,
      0.82), respectively. Also, mean levels of TAC MUm/L and MDA nmol/mL in blood
      plasma samples in CC, CG and GG genotypes were (806.14, 1.168), (727.1, 1.006)
      and (635.7, 0.83), respectively. Comparison of marker levels between genotypes
      revealed that the TAC level of semen plasma in the GG genotype was significantly
      higher than its level in the CC group (p < 0.05). Our findings showed that in
      seminal plasma of infertile men with the GG genotype of AhRR-c.565C>G
      transversion, the level of total antioxidant capacity is significantly higher in
      comparison with the CC genotype. Then, the G allele of AhRR-c.565C>G transversion
      may have a role in the increase in antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma.

PMID- 28593540
TI  - Mesorhizobium bacterial strains isolated from the legume Lotus corniculatus are
      an alternative source for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) to
      obtain bioplastics.
AB  - Polyhydroxyalkanoic acids (PHAs) are natural polyesters that can be used to
      produce bioplastics which are biodegradable. Numerous microorganisms accumulate
      PHAs as energy reserves. Combinations of different PHAs monomers lead to the
      production of bioplastics with very different properties. In the present work, we
      show the capability of strains belonging to various phylogenetic lineages within
      the genus Mesorhizobium, isolated from Lotus corniculatus nodules, to produce
      different PHA monomers. Among our strains, we found the production of 3
      hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxyvalerate, 3-hydroxydodecanoate, and 3
      hydroxyhexadecanoate. Most of the PHA-positive strains were phylogenetically
      related to the species M. jarvisii. However, our findings suggest that the
      ability to produce different monomers forming PHAs is strain-dependent.

PMID- 28593541
TI  - Assessment and potential sources of metals in the surface sediments of the Yellow
      River Delta, Eastern China.
AB  - The Yellow River Delta is the most intact estuary wetland in China and suffers
      from great pressure of metals. Seventy-seven surface sediment samples were
      collected in the delta, and contents of Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, Ni, and Mn were
      analyzed by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry and those of Hg and As by
      atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The results showed that means of metal contents
      (ppm, dry weight) were as follows: Hg, 0.04; Cr, 61.72; Cu, 20.97; Zn, 60.73; As,
      9.47; Pb, 21.91; Cd, 0.12; Ni, 27.24; and Mn, 540.48. 43.8% of Hg and 14.3% of Cd
      were from the allogenic source while others from the authigenic source. The
      results of the geoaccumulation indexes appeared that 6.5% of sites from the
      estuarine and the Gudao areas were moderately polluted by Hg. All ecological risk
      index values of Hg and 37.7% of Cd were more than 40, which were the main factors
      of strongly and moderately potential ecological risks of 37.7% of sites in the
      delta. High Cd contents may be due to the alkaline conditions of the delta and
      the unreasonable management of the farmland, while the abnormal distribution of
      Hg to the wet or dry deposition and the erosion of the seawater. It was suggested
      to monitor Hg content in the atmosphere of the Yellow River Delta. The results
      were expected to update the pollution status of metals in the delta and created
      awareness of preserving the sound condition of the Yellow River Delta.

PMID- 28593542
TI  - Quality of institution and the FEG (forest, energy intensity, and globalization) 
      environment relationships in sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - The current share of sub-Saharan Africa in global carbon dioxide emissions is
      negligible compared to major contributors like Asia, Americas, and Europe. This
      trend is, however, likely to change given that both economic growth and rate of
      urbanization in the region are projected to be robust in the future. The current
      study contributes to the literature by examining both the direct and the indirect
      impacts of quality of institution on the environment. Specifically, we
      investigate whether the institutional setting in the region provides some sort of
      a complementary role in the environment-FEG relationships. We use the panel two
      step system generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to deal with the
      simultaneity problem. Data consists of 43 sub-Saharan African countries. The
      result shows that energy inefficiency compromises environmental standards.
      However, the quality of the institutional setting helps moderate this negative
      consequences; countries with good institutions show greater prospects than
      countries with poor institutions. On the other hand, globalization of the region
      and increased forest size generate positive environmental outcomes in the region.
      Their impacts are, however, independent of the quality of institution.
      Afforestation programs, promotion of other clean energy types, and investment in
      energy efficiency, basic city infrastructure, and regulatory and institutional
      structures, are desirable policies to pursue to safeguard the environment.

PMID- 28593545
TI  - Improved strength and durability of concrete through metabolic activity of
      ureolytic bacteria.
AB  - In recent years, biomineralization process is being employed in development of
      bioconcrete, which is emerging as a sustainable method to enhance the durability
      of concrete by way of increasing compressive strength and reducing the chloride
      permeability. In this study, different bacterial strains isolated from the soils
      of the Laguna Region of Mexico were selected for further study. ACRN5 strain
      demonstrated higher urease activity than other strains, and the optimum substrate
      concentration, pH, and temperature were 120 mM, pH 8, and 25  degrees C,
      respectively. Further, Km and Vmax of urease activity of ACRN5 were 21.38 mM and
      0.212 mM min-1, respectively. It was observed that addition of ACRN5 at 105 cells
      ml-1 to cement-water mixture significantly increased (14.94%) in compressive
      strength after 36 days of curing and reduced chloride penetration. Deposition of
      calcite in bio-mortars was observed in scanning electron microscopy and energy
      dispersive X-ray diffraction spectrometry analyses. Results of this study
      demonstrated the role of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation in
      improving the physico-mechanical properties of bio-mortars.

PMID- 28593543
TI  - The effect of Mg2+ on digestion performance and microbial community structures in
      sludge digestion systems.
AB  - The important criteria in anaerobic digestion is the rate-limiting step which
      decides the fate of value-added products especially from waste-activated sludge
      (WAS). Hence, the present study investigated the effect of magnesium (Mg2+)
      addition on anaerobic digestion of WAS. The lab-scale experiments were conducted
      at 25  degrees C with Mg2+ doses ranging from 0.01 to 0.2 mol/L. Maximum total
      volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production (372.78 mg COD/L) occurred at a Mg2+ dose
      of 0.2 mol/L, which was about eight times higher than the control tests. Further,
      Mg2+ addition facilitated sludge dewaterability and phosphorus removal. The
      mechanism of improved VFAs generation was analyzed from the view of both chemical
      and biological effects. Chemical effect significantly enhanced the release of
      calcium and iron in WAS, resulting in the disintegration of WAS, which benefited
      hydrolysis and acidification processes. Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis
      revealed that enrichment of functional bacteria and the increase of bacterial
      diversity were obtained in the 0.2 mol Mg2+/L experiment, while the influence was
      negative on the reactor with 0.025 mol/L Mg2+. Meanwhile, methanogens were
      accordantly inhibited in the experiments with Mg2+ addition.

PMID- 28593546
TI  - Differential toxicity of arsenic on renal oxidative damage and urinary metabolic
      profiles in normal and diabetic mice.
AB  - Diabetes is a common metabolic disease, which might influence susceptibility of
      the kidney to arsenic toxicity. However, relative report is limited. In this
      study, we compared the influence of inorganic arsenic (iAs) on renal oxidative
      damage and urinary metabolic profiles of normal and diabetic mice. Results showed
      that iAs exposure increased renal lipid peroxidation in diabetic mice and
      oxidative DNA damage in normal mice, meaning different effects of iAs exposure on
      normal and diabetic individuals. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based
      metabolome analyses found that diabetes significantly changed urinary metabolic
      profiles of mice. Oxidative stress-related metabolites, such as arginine,
      glutamine, methionine, and beta-hydroxybutyrate, were found to be changed in
      diabetic mice. The iAs exposure altered amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism,
      carbohydrate metabolism, and energy metabolism in normal and diabetic mice, but
      had higher influence on metabolic profiles of diabetic mice than normal mice,
      especially for oxidative stress-related metabolites and metabolisms. Above
      results indicate that diabetes increased susceptibility to iAs exposure. This
      study provides basic information on differential toxicity of iAs on renal
      toxicity and urinary metabolic profiles in normal and diabetic mice and suggests
      that diabetic individuals should be considered as susceptible population in
      toxicity assessment of arsenic.

PMID- 28593544
TI  - The environmental risks of neonicotinoid pesticides: a review of the evidence
      post 2013.
AB  - Neonicotinoid pesticides were first introduced in the mid-1990s, and since then,
      their use has grown rapidly. They are now the most widely used class of
      insecticides in the world, with the majority of applications coming from seed
      dressings. Neonicotinoids are water-soluble, and so can be taken up by a
      developing plant and can be found inside vascular tissues and foliage, providing
      protection against herbivorous insects. However, only approximately 5% of the
      neonicotinoid active ingredient is taken up by crop plants and most instead
      disperses into the wider environment. Since the mid-2000s, several studies raised
      concerns that neonicotinoids may be having a negative effect on non-target
      organisms, in particular on honeybees and bumblebees. In response to these
      studies, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was commissioned to produce
      risk assessments for the use of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam and
      their impact on bees. These risk assessments concluded that the use of these
      compounds on certain flowering crops poses a high risk to bees. On the basis of
      these findings, the European Union adopted a partial ban on these substances in
      May 2013. The purpose of the present paper is to collate and summarise scientific
      evidence published since 2013 that investigates the impact of neonicotinoids on
      non-target organisms. Whilst much of the recent work has focused on the impact of
      neonicotinoids on bees, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that persistent,
      low levels of neonicotinoids can have negative impacts on a wide range of free
      living organisms.

PMID- 28593547
TI  - Occurrence and human dietary assessment of sulfonamide antibiotics in cultured
      fish around Tai Lake, China.
AB  - As the most important fishery medicines, sulfonamides are widely used to prevent
      diseases caused by pathogens in aquaculture. However, relatively little is known
      about the residues and dietary risks associated with cultured fish around Tai
      Lake. In the present study, a sampling strategy for a complete aquaculture period
      was conducted. Specifically, 12 selected sulfonamide antibiotics were measured
      among 116 fish samples recruited from four sampling periods, four species, four
      areas, and 18 fish ponds. All 12 antibiotics were detected at detection
      frequencies of 4.31-28.45%. Total sulfonamides were detected in 77.59% of the
      fish samples, with 57.76% of fish samples containing from 0.1 to 10 MUg kg-1.
      Sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), sulfamethazine (SDD), and
      sulfamonomethoxine (SMM) were the main types of antibiotics used, and these were
      present at high concentrations (>100 MUg kg-1) with high occurrences, especially
      in the middle of the aquaculture season. Dietary assessment showed that residual
      antibiotics in all fish that were being sent to market were far below the maximum
      residue limit (MRL) of total sulfonamides and that there was almost no risk
      associated with fish consumption. The results of the present study will
      facilitate development of effective measures to produce safe aquatic products and
      meaningful suggestions for consuming aquatic products.

PMID- 28593548
TI  - Cancer risk from gaseous carbonyl compounds in indoor environment generated from
      household coal combustion in Xuanwei, China.
AB  - Airborne carbonyls were characterized from emitted indoor coal combustion.
      Samples were collected in Xuanwei (Yunnan Province), a region in China with a
      high rate of lung cancer. Eleven of 19 types of samples (58%) demonstrated
      formaldehyde concentrations higher than the World Health Organization exposure
      limit (a 30-min average of 100 MUg m-3). Different positive significant
      correlations between glyoxal/methylglyoxal and formaldehyde/acetaldehyde
      concentrations were observed, suggesting possible different characteristics in
      emissions between two pairs of carbonyl compounds. A sample in the highest
      inhalation risk shows 29.2 times higher risk than the lowest sample, suggesting
      different coal sampling locations could contribute to the variation of inhalation
      risk. Inhabitants in Xuanwei also tend to spend more time cooking and more days
      per year indoors than the national average. The calculated cancer risk ranged
      from 2.2-63 * 10-5, which shows 13 types of samples at high-risk level.
      Cumulative effect in combination with different carbonyls could have contributed
      to the additive actual inhalation cancer risk. There is a need to explicitly
      address the health effects of environmentally relevant doses, considering life
      long exposure in indoor dwellings.

PMID- 28593550
TI  - YH18421, a novel GPR119 agonist exerts sustained glucose lowering and weight loss
      in diabetic mouse model.
AB  - G-protein-coupled receptor 119 (GPR119) represents a promising target for the
      treatment of type 2 diabetes as it can increase both GLP-1 secretion from
      intestinal L cells and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) from
      pancreatic beta cells. Due to this dual mechanism of action, the development of
      small molecule GPR119 agonists has received much interest for the treatment of
      type 2 diabetes. Here, we identified a novel small-molecule GPR119 agonist,
      YH18421 and evaluated its therapeutic potential. YH18421 specifically activated
      human GPR119 with high potency and potentiated GLP-1 secretion and GSIS in vitro
      cell based systems. In normal mice, single oral administration of YH18421
      improved glucose tolerance. Combined treatment of YH18421 and the DPP-4 inhibitor
      augmented both plasma active GLP-1 levels and glycemic control. In diet induced
      obese (DIO) mice model, glucose lowering effect of YH18421 was maintained after 4
      weeks of repeat dosing and YH18421 acted additively with DPP-IV inhibitor. We
      also observed that YH18421 inhibited weight gain during 4 weeks of administration
      in DIO mice. These data demonstrate that YH18421 is capable of delivering
      sustained glucose control and preventing weight gain and combination with the DPP
      IV inhibitor maybe an effective strategy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28593549
TI  - Nitrogen and plant population change radiation capture and utilization capacity
      of sunflower in semi-arid environment.
AB  - The combination of nitrogen and plant population expresses the spatial
      distribution of crop plants. The spatial distribution influences canopy structure
      and development, radiation capture, accumulated intercepted radiation (Sa),
      radiation use efficiency (RUE), and subsequently dry matter production. We
      hypothesized that the sunflower crop at higher plant populations and nitrogen (N)
      rates would achieve early canopy cover, capture more radiant energy, utilize
      radiation energy more efficiently, and ultimately increase economic yield. To
      investigate the above hypothesis, we examined the influences of leaf area index
      (LAI) at different plant populations (83,333, 66,666, and 55,555 plants ha-1) and
      N rates (90, 120, and 150 kg ha-1) on radiation interception (Fi),
      photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) accumulation (Sa), total dry matter
      (TDM), achene yield (AY), and RUE of sunflower. The experimental work was
      conducted during 2012 and 2013 on sandy loam soil in Punjab, Pakistan. The
      sunflower crop captured more than 96% of incident radiant energy (mean of all
      treatments), 98% with a higher plant population (83,333 plants ha-1), and 97%
      with higher N application (150 kg ha-1) at the fifth harvest (60 days after
      sowing) during both study years. The plant population of 83,333 plants ha-1 with
      150 kg N ha-1 ominously promoted crop, RUE, and finally productivity of sunflower
      (AY and TDM). Sunflower canopy (LAI) showed a very close and strong association
      with Fi (R 2 = 0.99 in both years), PAR (R 2 = 0.74 and 0.79 in 2012 and 2013,
      respectively), TDM (R 2 = 0.97 in 2012 and 0.91 in 2013), AY (R 2 = 0.95 in both
      years), RUE for TDM (RUETDM) (R 2 = 0.63 and 0.71 in 2012 and 2013,
      respectively), and RUE for AY (RUEAY) (R 2 = 0.88 and 0.87 in 2012 and 2013,
      respectively). Similarly, AY (R 2 = 0.73 in 2012 and 0.79 in 2013) and TDM (R 2 =
      0.75 in 2012 and 0.84 in 2013) indicated significant dependence on PAR
      accumulation of sunflower. High temperature during the flowering stage in 2013
      shortened the crop maturity duration, which reduced the LAI, leaf area duration
      (LAD), crop growth rate (CGR), TDM, AY, Fi, Sa, and RUE of sunflower. Our results
      clearly revealed that RUE was enhanced as plant population and N application
      rates were increased and biomass assimilation in semi-arid environments varied
      with radiation capture capacity of sunflower.

PMID- 28593551
TI  - Esophageal motility disorders-Symptomatic and manometric spectrum in Punjab,
      northern India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on the spectrum of esophageal motility disorders in Indian
      population are scarce. We aimed to study the symptomatic and manometric profile
      of patients with suspected esophageal motility disorders. METHODS: Consecutive
      patients with esophageal symptoms who underwent esophageal high-resolution
      manometry (HRM) from January 2010 to December 2014 were included in this
      retrospective analysis of prospectively acquired data. HRM was performed with 22
      channel water-perfusion system and patients classified using Chicago
      classification v3.0. RESULTS: Of the 401 patients studied [median age 43 (18-85)
      years; 61% males], 217 presented with dysphagia, 157 with predominant
      retrosternal discomfort and 27 with predominant regurgitation. Among patients
      with dysphagia, 43.8% had ineffective esophageal motility [IEM], 26.3% had
      achalasia cardia [AC], 6.9% had distal esophageal spasm [DES] and 19.4% had
      normal manometry [NM]. Among patients with retrosternal discomfort, 42.7% had
      IEM, 5.7% had AC, 4.5% had DES and 42% had NM. AC was significantly more common
      among patients presenting with dysphagia compared to those with retrosternal
      discomfort [p< 0.001] or regurgitation [p< 0.001]. NM was significantly more
      common among patients presenting with retrosternal symptoms compared to those
      with dysphagia [p< 0.001]. AC patients had longer duration of dysphagia, more
      frequent bolus obstruction and more weight loss compared to those with IEM or NM
      [p< 0.05]. CONCLUSION: Dysphagia was the commonest presenting symptom followed by
      retrosternal discomfort. Ineffective esophageal motility (not achalasia cardia)
      was the commonest manometric finding both among patients with dysphagia and
      retrosternal discomfort. This study highlights the high prevalence of IEM among
      patients with esophageal symptoms, which can present with dysphagia or
      retrosternal discomfort due to poor bolus transit.

PMID- 28593552
TI  - A reformed surgical treatment modality for children with giant cystic
      craniopharyngioma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Surgical removal plays an important role in treating children's
      craniopharyngioma. For a safe and minimally invasive craniotomy, a reformed
      surgical modality was proposed in this paper by combining the insertion of an
      Ommaya reservoir system (ORS) by stereotactic puncture, aspiration of cystic
      fluid in 2-day interval for consecutive 7-10 days, and the delayed tumor
      resection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven patients (aged from 5 to 9 years old)
      with giant cystic craniopharyngiomas who had undergone the reformed surgical
      modality during November 2014 and December 2015 were collected as group A. In
      contrast, seven patients (aged from 5 to 11 years old) who had undergone the
      traditional directed operation without any prior management from January 2014 to
      October 2014 were collected into group B. A retrospective analysis was performed
      for both groups at one institution. The preoperative and postoperative clinical
      presentations, neuroimaging, early postoperative outcome, and the surgery-related
      complications of both groups were reviewed. RESULTS: For group A, the mean value
      of the maximum tumor diameters shank from 52.36 to 23.82 mm after implementing
      aspiration of the cystic fluid in 1-day interval for consecutive 8.23 days. Eight
      patients (72.73%) in group A underwent a gross total resection (GTR), while two
      (28.57%) patients underwent GTR in group B. The postoperative electrolyte
      disturbance rate and endocrine disorder rate of group B were significantly higher
      than those of group A (42.86 vs 36.36%; 71.43 vs 45.45%). Postoperative long-term
      diabetes insipidus only occurred in one patient of group B, and postoperative
      visual deterioration occurred in two patients of group B. Besides, one patient of
      group B died of severe postoperative hypothalamus dysfunction. Patients with
      residual tumors were applied with additional adjuvant radiotherapy, and no
      recurrence was observed in follow-up examinations. CONCLUSION: A favorable
      outcome can be achieved by combining the insertion of an ORS by stereotactic
      puncture, aspiration of cystic fluid in 2-day interval for continuously 7-10
      days, and the delayed tumor resection. This combined treatment modality maybe an
      effective method to treat children with giant cystic craniopharyngiomas.

PMID- 28593554
TI  - Hydrocephalus and mucopolysaccharidoses: what do we know and what do we not know?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The precise incidence of hydrocephalus in patients with
      mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) is hard to determine, because the condition lacks a
      formal, consensus-based definition. The diagnosis of hydrocephalus depends on
      symptom profile, presence of neuroimaging features, and the outcome of diagnostic
      tests. Although numerous techniques are used to identify MPS patients who are
      most likely to have hydrocephalus and respond to treatment, no definitive method
      exists to prove diagnosis. PURPOSE: The authors propose an algorithm to aid in
      the diagnosis and management of hydrocephalus in MPS patients. CONCLUSIONS: The
      theory of venous hypertension associated with the morphological changes in the
      skull base and craniocervical junction indicate the need for future neuroimaging
      studies including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and venous flow measurements to
      monitor hydrocephalus progression and select therapeutic interventions in MPS
      patients. Preoperative planning should also be based on the increased risk of
      intraoperative and postoperative hemorrhagic complications.

PMID- 28593556
TI  - Airway management changes in patients with mucopolysaccharidoses: the role of
      video laryngoscopy.

PMID- 28593553
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida: from intracranial translucency to
      intrauterine surgery.
AB  - Accurate and timely prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida (SB) is a major goal of
      modern antenatal care. Prenatal screening for open SB should be first performed
      at the time of routine first-trimester ultrasound by examining the posterior
      fossa for obliteration or non-visualization of the fourth ventricle
      ("intracranial translucency") and cisterna magna. The second step of screening is
      the second-trimester anatomy scan, at which time the features of the Chiari type
      II malformation should be looked for, including ventriculomegaly, scalloping of
      the frontal bones ("lemon" sign), and backward and caudal displacement of the
      cerebellar vermis with obliteration of the cisterna magna ("banana" sign). In
      cases with positive findings, evaluation must include a focused examination of
      the spine for defects. In cases of closed SB and SB occulta, the cranial and
      posterior fossa features will not be present as they are not associated with
      leaking of spinal fluid and resultant hindbrain herniation, highlighting the fact
      that the spine should be examined thoroughly whenever possible during the second
      trimester scan. In tertiary fetal medicine centers, two-dimensional and three
      dimensional ultrasound allows an accurate determination of the location, type,
      extent, and upper level of the spinal defect as well as the presence of
      associated anomalies. Fetal magnetic resonance imaging should be restricted to
      candidates for intrauterine surgery as part of the preoperative protocol.

PMID- 28593555
TI  - Genetic analysis of IRF6, a gene involved in craniofacial midline formation, in
      relation to pituitary and facial morphology of patients with idiopathic growth
      hormone deficiency.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Growth hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland, which forms part
      of the craniofacial midline. IRF6 encodes a transcription factor involved in the
      development of the craniofacial midline and mutations in IRF6 are known to
      disturb craniofacial development. Craniofacial and pituitary development are
      closely related. After whole exome sequencing revealed a new mutation in IRF6 in
      a family with Idiopathic Growth Hormone Deficiency (IGHD), we screened the
      remainder of our IGHD cohort for mutations in this gene and related their
      genotypes to pituitary and craniofacial morphology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      sequenced all coding exons and exon-intron boundaries of IRF6 in 81 patients with
      IGHD. We performed a multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) in
      order to exclude copy number variations in IRF6. We analyzed facial measurements
      taken from standardized digital pictures of 48 patients. RESULTS: We found two
      new variants and eleven polymorphisms. Apart from the new mutation found in the
      index family (p.Arg233Cys), we found one other new heterozygous missense mutation
      in IRF6 (Pro456Ser). p.Arg233Cys was reported as extremely rare in exome
      databases (1 allele out of 120.852 alleles sequenced), strictly conserved among
      species and was predicted deleterious by all variant predictor programs.
      Pro456Ser was predicted to be benign. MLPA did not reveal any exon deletions or
      duplications in any of the patients. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of IRF6
      analysis in an IGHD cohort. We found one new mutation which, based on in silico
      analysis, could be of functional relevance. However, we did not find any
      mutations in the other patients. Therefore, we conclude that IRF6 defects are
      rare in IGHD patients and further research should focus on new candidate genes.

PMID- 28593558
TI  - Combined effect of pulse density and grid cell size on predicting and mapping
      aboveground carbon in fast-growing Eucalyptus forest plantation using airborne
      LiDAR data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LiDAR remote sensing is a rapidly evolving technology for quantifying
      a variety of forest attributes, including aboveground carbon (AGC). Pulse density
      influences the acquisition cost of LiDAR, and grid cell size influences AGC
      prediction using plot-based methods; however, little work has evaluated the
      effects of LiDAR pulse density and cell size for predicting and mapping AGC in
      fast-growing Eucalyptus forest plantations. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the effect of LiDAR pulse density and grid cell size on AGC prediction accuracy
      at plot and stand-levels using airborne LiDAR and field data. We used the Random
      Forest (RF) machine learning algorithm to model AGC using LiDAR-derived metrics
      from LiDAR collections of 5 and 10 pulses m-2 (RF5 and RF10) and grid cell sizes
      of 5, 10, 15 and 20 m. RESULTS: The results show that LiDAR pulse density of 5
      pulses m-2 provides metrics with similar prediction accuracy for AGC as when
      using a dataset with 10 pulses m-2 in these fast-growing plantations. Relative
      root mean square errors (RMSEs) for the RF5 and RF10 were 6.14 and 6.01%,
      respectively. Equivalence tests showed that the predicted AGC from the training
      and validation models were equivalent to the observed AGC measurements. The grid
      cell sizes for mapping ranging from 5 to 20 also did not significantly affect the
      prediction accuracy of AGC at stand level in this system. CONCLUSION: LiDAR
      measurements can be used to predict and map AGC across variable-age Eucalyptus
      plantations with adequate levels of precision and accuracy using 5 pulses m-2 and
      a grid cell size of 5 m. The promising results for AGC modeling in this study
      will allow for greater confidence in comparing AGC estimates with varying LiDAR
      sampling densities for Eucalyptus plantations and assist in decision making
      towards more cost effective and efficient forest inventory.

PMID- 28593557
TI  - Assessment of myocardial blood flow and coronary flow reserve with positron
      emission tomography in ischemic heart disease: current state and future
      directions.
AB  - Positron emission tomography (PET) is a versatile imaging technology that allows
      assessment of myocardial perfusion, both at a spatially relative scale and also
      in absolute terms, thereby enabling noninvasive evaluation of myocardial blood
      flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR). Assessment of MBF using FDA-approved
      PET isotopes, such as 82Rb and 13N-ammonia, has been well validated, and several
      software packages are currently available, thereby allowing for MBF evaluation to
      be incorporated into routine workflow in contemporary nuclear laboratories.
      Incremental diagnostic and prognostic information provided with the knowledge of
      MBF has the potential for widespread applications. Improving the ability to
      identify the true burden of obstructive epicardial coronary stenoses and allowing
      for noninvasive assessment of coronary micro circulatory function can be achieved
      with MBF assessment. On the other hand, attenuated CFR has been shown to predict
      adverse cardiovascular prognosis in a variety of clinical settings and patient
      subgroups. With expanding applications of MBF, this tool promises to provide
      unique insight into the integrity of the entire coronary vascular bed beyond what
      is currently available with relative perfusion assessment. This review intends to
      provide an in-depth discussion of technical and clinical aspects of MBF
      assessment with PET as it relates to patients with ischemic heart disease.

PMID- 28593559
TI  - 1H, 13C and 15N NMR assignments of a bacterial immunoglobulin-like domain (group
      2) of a protein of a bacterium Paenarthrobacter aurescens TC1.
AB  - The bacterial immunoglobulin-like (Big) domain is one of the prevalent domain
      types, which facilitates cell-cell adhesion by assembling into multi-domain
      architectures. We selected a four Big_2 domain protein (named 'Arig') from a Gram
      positive, Paenarthrobacter aurescens TC1 (known earlier as Arthrobacter aurescens
      TC1). In an attempt to characterize structural and ligand-binding features of
      individual Big_2 domains, we have cloned, overexpressed, isolated and purified
      the second Big_2 domain of Arig along with a few of its adjacent Big_2 domain
      residues (residue 143 to 269) referred to as 'Arig2'. The 13C/15N-doubly-labeled
      His-tagged Arig2 (133 residues long) showed an ordered conformation as revealed
      by the well dispersed 2D [15N-1H]-HSQC spectrum. Subsequently, a suite of
      heteronuclear 3D NMR experiments has enabled almost complete 1H, 13C and 15N NMR
      resonance assignments of Arig2.

PMID- 28593560
TI  - 1H, 13C and 15N NMR chemical shift assignments of A. thaliana RCD1 RST.
AB  - The A. thaliana RCD1 (radical-induced cell death1) protein is a cellular
      signaling hub protein which interacts with numerous plant transcription factors
      from different families. It consists of three conserved domains and intervening
      unstructured regions, the C-terminal RST domain being responsible for the
      interactions with the transcription factors. It has been shown that many partner
      proteins interact with RCD1 RST via their intrinsically disordered regions, and
      that the domain is able to house partners with divergent folds. We aim to
      structurally characterize the RCD1 RST domain and its complexes [complex with
      DREB2A]. Here we report the 1H, 15N and 13C chemical shift assignments of the
      backbone and sidechain atoms for RCD1 (468-589) containing the RST (510-567)
      domain.

PMID- 28593561
TI  - Application of a GIS-/remote sensing-based approach for predicting groundwater
      potential zones using a multi-criteria data mining methodology.
AB  - This study integrates the application of Dempster-Shafer-driven evidential belief
      function (DS-EBF) methodology with remote sensing and geographic information
      system techniques to analyze surface and subsurface data sets for the spatial
      prediction of groundwater potential in Perak Province, Malaysia. The study used
      additional data obtained from the records of the groundwater yield rate of
      approximately 28 bore well locations. The processed surface and subsurface data
      produced sets of groundwater potential conditioning factors (GPCFs) from which
      multiple surface hydrologic and subsurface hydrogeologic parameter thematic maps
      were generated. The bore well location inventories were partitioned randomly into
      a ratio of 70% (19 wells) for model training to 30% (9 wells) for model testing.
      Application results of the DS-EBF relationship model algorithms of the surface-
      and subsurface-based GPCF thematic maps and the bore well locations produced two
      groundwater potential prediction (GPP) maps based on surface hydrologic and
      subsurface hydrogeologic characteristics which established that more than 60% of
      the study area falling within the moderate-high groundwater potential zones and
      less than 35% falling within the low potential zones. The estimated uncertainty
      values within the range of 0 to 17% for the predicted potential zones were
      quantified using the uncertainty algorithm of the model. The validation results
      of the GPP maps using relative operating characteristic curve method yielded 80
      and 68% success rates and 89 and 53% prediction rates for the subsurface
      hydrogeologic factor (SUHF)- and surface hydrologic factor (SHF)-based GPP maps,
      respectively. The study results revealed that the SUHF-based GPP map accurately
      delineated groundwater potential zones better than the SHF-based GPP map.
      However, significant information on the low degree of uncertainty of the
      predicted potential zones established the suitability of the two GPP maps for
      future development of groundwater resources in the area. The overall results
      proved the efficacy of the data mining model and the geospatial technology in
      groundwater potential mapping.

PMID- 28593562
TI  - Assessing the impacts of the changes in farming systems on food security and
      environmental sustainability of a Chinese rural region under different policy
      scenarios: an agent-based model.
AB  - Since China has undergone a series of economic reforms and implemented opening up
      policies, its farming systems have significantly changed and have dramatically
      influenced the society, economy, and environment of China. To assess the
      comprehensive impacts of these changes on food security and environmental
      sustainability, and establish effective and environment-friendly subsidy
      policies, this research constructed an agent-based model (ABM). Daligang Town,
      which is located in the two-season rice region of Southern China, was selected as
      the case study site. Four different policy scenarios, i.e., "sharply increasing"
      (SI), "no-increase" (NI), "adjusted-method" (AM), and "trend" (TD) scenarios were
      investigated from 2015 to 2029. The validation result shows that the relative
      prediction errors between the simulated and actual values annually ranged from 
      20 to 20%, indicating the reliability of the proposed model. The scenario
      analysis revealed that the four scenarios generated different variations in
      cropping systems, rice yield, and fertilizer and pesticide inputs when the
      purchase price of rice and the non-agricultural income were assumed to increase
      annually by 0.1 RMB per kg and 10% per person, respectively. Among the four
      different policy scenarios in Daligang, the TD scenario was considered the best,
      because it had a relatively high rice yield, fairly minimal use of fertilizers
      and pesticides, and a lower level of subsidy. Despite its limitations, ABM could
      be considered a useful tool in analyzing, exploring, and discussing the
      comprehensive effects of the changes in farming system on food security and
      environmental sustainability.

PMID- 28593563
TI  - Spatio-temporal monitoring of cotton cultivation using ground-based and airborne
      multispectral sensors in GIS environment.
AB  - Multispectral sensor capability of capturing reflectance data at several spectral
      channels, together with the inherent reflectance responses of various soils and
      especially plant surfaces, has gained major interest in crop production. In
      present study, two multispectral sensing systems, a ground-based and an aerial
      based, were applied for the multispatial and temporal monitoring of two cotton
      fields in central Greece. The ground-based system was Crop Circle ACS-430, while
      the aerial consisted of a consumer-level quadcopter (Phantom 2) and a modified
      Hero3+ Black digital camera. The purpose of the research was to monitor crop
      growth with the two systems and investigate possible interrelations between the
      derived well-known normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Five data
      collection campaigns were conducted during the cultivation period and concerned
      scanning soil and plants with the ground-based sensor and taking aerial
      photographs of the fields with the unmanned aerial system. According to the
      results, both systems successfully monitored cotton growth stages in terms of
      space and time. The mean values of NDVI changes through time as retrieved by the
      ground-based system were satisfactorily modelled by a second-order polynomial
      equation (R 2 0.96 in Field 1 and 0.99 in Field 2). Further, they were highly
      correlated (r 0.90 in Field 1 and 0.74 in Field 2) with the according values
      calculated via the aerial-based system. The unmanned aerial system (UAS) can
      potentially substitute crop scouting as it concerns a time-effective, non
      destructive and reliable way of soil and plant monitoring.

PMID- 28593564
TI  - Activation of adrenergic receptor in H9c2 cardiac myoblasts co-stimulates Nox2
      and the derived ROS mediate the downstream responses.
AB  - In recent years, NADPH oxidases (Noxes) have emerged as an important player in
      cardiovascular pathophysiology. Despite the growing evidences on the role of
      specific Nox isoforms, mechanisms of their activation, targets of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) generated, and their downstream effects are poorly understood as
      yet. In this study, we treated H9c2 cardiac myoblasts with norepinephrine (NE, 2
      uM), inducing ROS generation that was inhibited by Nox2-specific peptide
      inhibitor gp91ds-tat. Organelle-specific hydrogen peroxide-sensitive probe HyPer
      showed that the site of ROS generation is primarily in the cytosol, to some
      extent in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but not the mitochondria. Modulation of
      mRNAs of marker genes of cardiac hypertrophy i.e. induction in ANP and beta-MHC,
      and reduction in alpha-MHC by NE treatment was prevented by specific inhibition
      of Nox2 by gp91ds-tat. Induction of ANP and beta-MHC at the protein level were
      also attenuated by the inhibition of Nox2. Induction of c-Jun and FosB, the two
      members of the transcription factor family AP-1, were also blocked by the
      inhibition of Nox2 by gp91ds-tat. Induction of promoter-reporter constructs
      harboring multiple AP-1 elements and the upstream of FosB and ANP genes by NE
      were also blocked by the inhibition of Nox2 by gp91ds-tat and a dominant negative
      mutant of p22phox, a constituent of Nox2 that prevents its activation. This study
      for the first time establishes the significant role of Nox2 in mediating the NE
      induced pathological adrenergic signaling in cardiac myoblasts.

PMID- 28593565
TI  - Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans regulates the expression of integrins and
      reduces cell adhesion via integrin alpha5 in human gingival epithelial cells.
AB  - Gingival epithelial cells form a physiological barrier against bacterial
      invasion. Excessive bacterial invasion destroys the attachment between the tooth
      surface and the epithelium, resulting in periodontitis. Integrins play a
      significant role in cell attachment; therefore, we hypothesized that bacterial
      infection might decrease the expressions of these integrins in gingival
      epithelial cells, resulting in reduced cell adhesion. Immortalized human gingival
      epithelial cells were co-cultured with Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans Y4
      (Aa Y4), and the gene expression levels of IL-8, proliferating cell nuclear
      antigen (PCNA), and integrins (alpha2, alpha3, alpha5, beta4, and beta6) were
      measured using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
      Expression of PCNA and integrins, except integrin alpha5, was significantly
      downregulated, while expression of IL-8 and integrin alpha5 was significantly
      upregulated in the cells co-cultured with Aa Y4. The number of adherent cells
      significantly decreased when co-cultured with Aa Y4, as determined using cell
      adhesion assays. In the cells co-cultured with Aa Y4 and an integrin alpha5
      neutralizing antibody, there was no effect on the expression of IL-8 and PCNA,
      while the expressions of integrins alpha2, alpha3, beta4, and beta6, and the
      number of adherent cells did not decrease. The number of invading bacteria in the
      cells was reduced in the presence of the antibody and increased in the presence
      of TLR2/4 inhibitor. Therefore, integrin alpha5 might be involved in Aa Y4
      invasion into gingival epithelial cells, and the resulting signal transduction
      cascade reduces cell adhesion by decreasing the expression of integrins, while
      the TLR2/4 signaling cascade regulates IL-8 expression.

PMID- 28593568
TI  - Erdosteine : A Viewpoint by Margaret Wilsher.

PMID- 28593569
TI  - Erdosteine : A Viewpoint by Carlo Felice Marchioni and Maurizio Moretti.

PMID- 28593574
TI  - Challenges of Realising Patient-Centred Outcomes for Deaf Patients.
AB  - In general populations, it has been recognised that patients play a key role in
      the quality of their own healthcare. However, the idea of realising patient
      centred outcomes for the signing Deaf community, who experience the world in a
      visual way, raises some challenging issues that are rarely acknowledged. Using
      published research and translational health projects involving Deaf people both
      in the UK and internationally, this article discusses the challenges of realising
      patient-centred outcomes for Deaf people who are sign language users. The
      discussion includes an examination of: barriers to accessing healthcare for Deaf
      people; the impact of an insufficient acquisition of knowledge about health
      related issues; Deaf people's limited fund of information; not recognising Deaf
      people's values and citizenship rights; and challenges in gathering Deaf people's
      reported outcomes. We contend that without including Deaf people in shaping the
      healthcare experience for them, whether at an interpersonal level of patient
      engagement or at a structural level, the concept of fulfilling patient-centred
      outcomes for Deaf people is not achievable.

PMID- 28593573
TI  - Asthma exacerbations: risk factors for hospital readmissions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to analyse hospital readmissions due to
      asthma, as well as the factors associated with their increase. STUDY DESIGN: We
      carried out a retrospective study including all admissions of patients over 18
      years old due to exacerbation of asthma occurring in our hospital between the
      years 2000 and 2010. METHODS: The data were gathered by two members of the
      research team, by reviewing the clinical records. The first hospital admission of
      each patient was included for this study. An early readmission (ER) was defined
      as that which occurred in the following 15 days after hospital discharge and late
      readmission (LR) to that occurring from 16 days after discharge. RESULTS: This
      study included 2166 hospital admissions and 1316 patients, with a mean age of
      62.6 years. Of the 1316 patients analysed, 36 (2.7%) had one ER and 313 (23.8%)
      one LR. The only factor independently associated with a higher probability of an
      ER was poor lung function. A higher probability of LR was associated with a
      greater severity of the asthma (OR: 17.8, for severe asthma versus intermittent
      asthma), to have had any hospital admission in the previous year (OR: 3.5) and
      the use of a combination of ICS-LABA as maintenance treatment. CONCLUSIONS: About
      25% of the patients in our area admitted to hospital due to asthma exacerbation
      had repeat episodes of hospitalisation.

PMID- 28593575
TI  - The role of hERG1 ion channels in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the
      capacity of riluzole to reduce cisplatin resistance in colorectal cancer cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: The transition of cells from the epithelial to the mesenchymal state
      (EMT) plays an important role in tumor progression. EMT allows cells to acquire
      mobility, stem-like behavior and resistance to apoptosis and drug treatment.
      These features turn EMT into a central process in tumor biology. Ion channels are
      attractive targets for the treatment of cancer since they play critical roles in
      controlling a wide range of physiological processes that are frequently
      deregulated in cancer. Here, we investigated the role of ether-a-go-go-related 1
      (hERG1) ion channels in the EMT of colorectal cancer cells. METHODS: We studied
      the epithelial-mesenchymal profile of different colorectal cancer-derived cell
      lines and the expression of hERG1 potassium channels in these cell lines using
      real-time PCR. Next, we knocked down hERG1 expression in HCT116 cells using
      lentivirus mediated RNA interference and characterized the hERG1 silenced cells
      in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we investigated the capacity of riluzole, an ion
      channel-modulating drug used in humans to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, to
      reduce the resistance of the respective colorectal cancer cells to the
      chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. RESULTS: We found that of the colorectal cancer
      derived cell lines tested, HCT116 showed the highest mesenchymal profile and a
      high hERG1 expression. Subsequent hERG1 expression knockdown induced a change in
      cell morphology, which was accompanied by a reduction in the proliferative and
      tumorigenic capacities of the cells. Notably, we found that hERG1expression
      knockdown elicited a reversion of the EMT profile in HCT116 cells with a
      reacquisition of the epithelial-like profile. We also found that riluzole
      increased the sensitivity of HCT116 cisplatin-resistant cells to cisplatin.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that hERG1 plays a role in the EMT of colorectal
      cancer cells and that its knockdown reduces the proliferative and tumorigenic
      capacities of these cells. In addition, we conclude that riluzole may be used in
      combination with cisplatin to reduce chemo-resistance in colorectal cancer cells.

PMID- 28593566
TI  - Cellular and molecular targets for the immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and 3rd most common cause
      of cancer-related death. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents more than 90%
      of primary liver cancer and is a major public health problem. Due to the advanced
      stages of HCC at the time of diagnosis, utilizing the conventional treatment for
      solid tumors frequently ends with treatment failure, recurrence, or poor
      survival. HCC is highly refractory to chemotherapy and other systemic treatments,
      and locoregional therapies or selective internal radiation therapies are largely
      palliative. Considering how the pathogenesis of HCC often induces an
      immunosuppressed state which is further amplified by post-treatment recurrence
      and reactivation, immunostimulation provides a potential novel approach for the
      treatment of HCC. Immune response(s) of the body may be potentiated by
      immunomodulation of various effector cells such as B-cells, T-cells, Treg cells,
      natural killer cells, dendritic cells, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, and other antigen
      presenting cells; cellular components such as genes and microRNA; and molecules
      such as proteins, proteoglycans, surface receptors, chemokines, and cytokines.
      Targeting these effectors individually has helped in the development of newer
      therapeutic approaches; however, combinational therapies targeting multi-faceted
      biomarkers have yielded better results. Still, there is a need for further
      research to develop novel therapeutic strategies which may act as either
      complementary or an alternative treatment to the standard therapy protocols of
      HCC. This review focuses on potential cellular and molecular targets, as well as
      the role of virotherapy and combinational therapy in the treatment of HCC.

PMID- 28593576
TI  - Treatment of Osgood-Schlatter disease: review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) is a self-limiting condition which
      occurs commonly in adolescence. PURPOSE: The objective of this article is to
      review published literature regarding pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of
      OSD. METHODS: A search of the literature was performed on the electronic
      databases PubMed, Cochrane and SCOPUS databases between 1962 and 2016 for
      pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of Osgood-Schlatter disease. RESULTS:
      OSD, also known as apophysitis of the tibial tubercle, is a common disease with
      most cases resolving spontaneously with skeletal maturity. In pathophysiology,
      the most accepted theory is repetitive knee extensor mechanism contraction. The
      pain is localized to the anterior aspect of the proximal tibia over the tibial
      tuberosity. They may describe a dull ache exacerbated by jumping or stair
      climbing. Radiological evaluation may indicate superficial ossicle in the
      patellar tendon. Osgood-Schlatter is a self-limited disease and generally ceases
      with skeletal maturity. Treatment is usually symptomatic. Adults with continued
      symptoms may need surgical treatment if they fail to respond to conservative
      treatment. Surgical procedures include open, bursoscopic and arthroscopic
      technique. Arthroscopic surgery is beneficial over an open procedure due to early
      postoperative recovery, no incisional scar in front of the tuberosity that
      usually causes discomfort in kneeling with a better cosmetic result and the
      ability to address concomitant intra-articular pathology. CONCLUSION: Osgood
      Schlatter syndrome runs a self-limiting course, and usually complete recovery is
      expected with closure of the tibial growth plate. Overall prognosis for Osgood
      Schlatter syndrome is good, except for some discomfort in kneeling and activity
      restriction in a few cases. Arthroscopic techniques seem to be the best choice of
      treatment of unresolved Osgood-Schlatter lesions.

PMID- 28593577
TI  - MiR-125a regulates mitochondrial homeostasis through targeting mitofusin 1 to
      control hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling.
AB  - : Abnormal pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) proliferation is an
      important pathological process in hypoxic pulmonary arterial hypertension.
      Mitochondrial dynamics and quality control have a central role in the maintenance
      of the cell proliferation-apoptosis balance. However, the molecular mechanism is
      still unknown. We used hypoxic animal models, cell biology, and molecular biology
      to determine the effect of mitofusin 1 (Mfn1) on hypoxia-mediated PASMCs
      mitochondrial homeostasis. We found that Mfn1 expression was increased in
      hypoxia, which was crucial for hypoxia-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and
      smooth muscle cell proliferation as well as hypoxia-stimulated cell-cycle
      transition from the G0/G1 phase to S phase. Subsequently, we studied the role of
      microRNAs in mitochondrial function associated with PASMC proliferation under
      hypoxic conditions. The promotive effect of Mfn1 on pulmonary vascular remodeling
      was alleviated in the presence of miR-125a agomir, and miR-125a antagomir
      mimicked the hypoxic damage effects to mitochondrial homeostasis. Moreover, in
      vivo and in vitro treatment with miR-125a agomir protected the pulmonary vessels
      from mitochondrial dysfunction and abnormal remodeling. In the present study, we
      determined that mitochondrial homeostasis, particularly Mfn1, played an important
      role in PASMCs proliferation. MiR-125a, an important underlying factor, which
      inhibited Mfn1 expression and decreased PASMCs disordered growth during hypoxia.
      These results provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of
      pulmonary vascular remodeling. KEY MESSAGES: Hypoxia leads to upregulation of
      mitofusin 1 (Mfn1) both in vivo and in vitro. Mfn1 is involved in hypoxia-induced
      PASMCs proliferation. Mfn1-mediated mitochondrial homeostasis is regulated by miR
      125a. MiR-125a plays a role in PASMCs oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis.

PMID- 28593579
TI  - The reciprocal lagged effects of substance use and recidivism in a prisoner
      reentry context.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Much work has investigated the association between substance use,
      crime, and recidivism, yet little scholarship has examined these associations
      longitudinally among samples of recently released prisoners. We examine the
      lagged reciprocal effects of hard substance use and crime, among other
      covariates, in the context of the prisoner reentry process. METHODS: We rely on
      data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) evaluation
      and employ cross-lagged panel models to examine short-term changes in substance
      use and crime over time among a large sample of high-risk, former prisoners (N =
      1697). RESULTS: Substance use marginally predicted increased odds of rearrest at
      one wave, and rearrest significantly (p < .05) predicted increased odds of
      substance use at another. As such, the results provide limited evidence for a
      degree of lagged mutual causation; associations vary over the reentry process and
      are complicated by other realities of life after prison. A key finding is that
      both behaviors are more consistently influenced by other factors, such as service
      needs and instrumental and emotional supports. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are
      relationships between drug use and criminal behavior, these behaviors alone are
      insufficient explanations for one another in an adult reentry population.
      Alternatively, the compounding social and personal needs of the reentry
      population, and the extent to which they received support or services to address
      these needs, appear to have the strongest influence on both behaviors in the
      reentry context.

PMID- 28593580
TI  - Erratum to: Interventions for the endodontic management of non-vital traumatised
      immature permanent anterior teeth in children and adolescents: a systematic
      review of the evidence and guidelines of the European Academy of Paediatric
      Dentistry.

PMID- 28593578
TI  - Induced pluripotent stem cell-based modeling of neurodegenerative diseases: a
      focus on autophagy.
AB  - The advent of cell reprogramming has enabled the generation of induced
      pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patient skin fibroblasts or blood cells and
      their subsequent differentiation into tissue-specific cells, including neurons
      and glia. This approach can be used to recapitulate disease-specific phenotypes
      in classical cell culture paradigms and thus represents an invaluable asset for
      disease modeling and drug validation in the framework of personalized medicine.
      The autophagy pathway is a ubiquitous eukaryotic degradation and recycling
      system, which relies on lysosomal degradation of unwanted and potentially
      cytotoxic components. The relevance of autophagy in the pathogenesis of
      neurodegenerative diseases is underlined by the observation that disease-linked
      genetic variants of susceptibility factors frequently result in dysregulation of
      autophagic-lysosomal pathways. In particular, disrupted autophagy is implied in
      the accumulation of potentially neurotoxic products such as protein aggregates
      and their precursors and defective turnover of dysfunctional mitochondria. Here,
      we review the current state of iPSC-based assessment of autophagic dysfunction in
      the context of neurodegenerative disease modeling. The collected data show that
      iPSC technology is capable to reveal even subtle alterations in subcellular
      homeostatic processes, which form the molecular basis for disease manifestation.

PMID- 28593581
TI  - Intraoperative adjustment of alignment under valgus stress reduces outliers in
      patients undergoing medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A considerable percentage of outliers with under- or over
      correction continue to be reported despite precise preoperative planning and
      cautious intraoperative correction of lower limb alignment in medial opening
      wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO). The purpose of this study was to determine
      whether our novel technique for the intraoperative adjustment of alignment under
      valgus stress reduces the number of outliers in patients undergoing MOWHTO
      compared to the conventional technique, which corrects alignment according to the
      cable method only. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred seventeen consecutive knees
      were enrolled in this case-control study. The first 52 knees (51 patients) were
      corrected in accordance with preoperative plans using the Dugdale method with
      modification with an intraoperative cable (group 1). In the other 65 knees (60
      patients), the angle was corrected using the Dugdale method and limb alignment
      was adjusted using the intraoperative cable technique by applying valgus stress
      to the knee joint (group 2). The postoperative weight bearing line ratios and
      mechanical axis of the lower limb were compared at postoperative one year. Each
      knee was evaluated according to the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
      Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score preoperatively and at postoperative one year.
      RESULTS: A significant reduction in the number of outliers was seen in group 2
      compared to group 1 (group 1 = 48.1%, group 2 = 9.2%, p < 0.001). Nineteen of 52
      knees (36.5%) were under-corrected in group 1, whereas 6 of 65 knees (9.2%) were
      under-corrected in group 2 (p < 0.001). Six of 52 knees (11.6%) were over
      corrected in group 1, whereas 0 of 65 knees (0.0%) were over-corrected in group 2
      (p = 0.005). At one -year after operation, group 2 showed significantly lower
      WOMAC score than group 1 (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative adjustment of
      alignment under valgus stress significantly reduced the number of outliers
      compared to a technique that corrected alignment using the cable method in
      patients undergoing MOWHTO. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective
      comparative study.

PMID- 28593582
TI  - Morphological size evaluation of the mid-substance insertion areas and the fan
      like extension fibers in the femoral ACL footprint.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detailed anatomy of the
      femoral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) insertion site, with special attention
      given to the morphology of the mid-substance insertion areas and the fan-like
      extension fibers. METHODS: Twenty-three non-paired human cadaver knees were used
      (7 Males, 16 Females, median age 83, range 69-96). All soft tissues around the
      knee were resected except the ligaments. The ACL was divided into antero-medial
      (AM) and postero-lateral (PL) bundles according to the difference in macroscopic
      tension patterns. The ACL was carefully dissected and two outlines were made of
      the periphery of each bundle insertion site: those which included and those which
      excluded the fan-like extension fibers. An accurate lateral view of the femoral
      condyle was photographed with a digital camera, and the images were downloaded to
      a personal computer. The area of each bundle, including and excluding the fan
      like extension fibers, was measured with Image J software (National Institution
      of Health). The width and length of the mid-substance insertion sites were also
      evaluated using same image. RESULTS: The femoral ACL footprint was divided into
      four regions (mid-substance insertion sites of the AM and PL bundles, and fan
      like extensions of the AM and PL bundles). The measured areas of the mid
      substance insertion sites of the AM and PL bundles were 35.5 +/- 12.5, and 32.4
      +/- 13.8 mm2, respectively. Whole width and length of the mid-substance insertion
      sites were 5.3 +/- 1.4, and 15.5 +/- 2.9 mm, respectively. The measured areas of
      the fan-like extensions of the AM and PL bundles were 27 +/- 11.5, and 29.5 +/-
      12.4 mm2, respectively. CONCLUSION: The femoral ACL footprint was divided into
      quarters of approximately equal size (mid-substance insertion sites of the AM and
      PL bundles, and fan-like extensions of the AM and PL bundles). For clinical
      relevance, to perform highly reproducible anatomical ACL reconstruction, the
      presence of the fan-like extension fibers should be taken into consideration.

PMID- 28593589
TI  - Quinupristin-Dalfopristin A Viewpoint : A Viewpoint by Roland Leclercq.

PMID- 28593584
TI  - The action effect: Support for the biased competition hypothesis.
AB  - The action effect refers to the finding that faster response times are found when
      a previously responded to stimulus contains a target item than when it serves as
      a distracting item in a visual search. The action effect has proven robust to a
      number of perceptual and attentional manipulations, but the mechanisms underlying
      it remain unclear. In the current study, we present two experiments investigating
      a possible underlying mechanism of the action effect; that responding to a
      stimulus increases its attentional weight causing the system to prioritize it in
      the visual search. In Experiment 1, we presented the search stimulus in isolation
      and found no evidence of an action effect. Thus, when there was no requirement
      for prioritization, there was no action effect. In Experiment 2, we tested
      whether stimulus-based priming (rather than the action) can account for the
      observed validity effects. We found no evidence of a priming effect when there
      were never any actions. These findings are consistent with the biased competition
      hypothesis and provide a framework for explaining the action effect while also
      ruling out other potential explanations such as event file updating.

PMID- 28593590
TI  - Quinupristin-Dalfopristin A Viewpoint : A Viewpoint by Caroline C. Johnson.

PMID- 28593583
TI  - Regulating Autophagy as a Therapeutic Target for Diabetic Nephropathy.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Autophagy promotes cellular health in response to various
      cellular stresses and to changes in nutrient conditions. In this review, we focus
      on the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and discuss
      the regulation of autophagy as a new therapeutic target for the suppression of
      diabetic nephropathy. RECENT FINDINGS: Previous studies have indicated that
      autophagy deficiency or insufficiency in renal cells, including podocytes,
      mesangial cells, endothelial cells and tubular cells, contributes to the
      pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. Alterations in the nutrient-sensing
      pathways, including mammalian target of rapamycin complex1 (mTORC1), AMP
      activated kinase (AMPK) and Sirt1, due to excess nutrition in diabetes are
      implicated in the impairment of autophagy. Maintaining both basal and adaptive
      autophagy against cellular stress may protect the kidney from diabetes-induced
      cellular stresses. Therefore, the activation of autophagy through the modulation
      of nutrient-sensing pathways may be a new therapeutic option for the suppression
      of diabetic nephropathy.

PMID- 28593591
TI  - Remifentanil : A Viewpoint by Peter S.A. Glass.

PMID- 28593592
TI  - Remifentanil : A Viewpoint by R.M. Jones.

PMID- 28593595
TI  - Psychometric Properties of the Adapted Skillstreaming Checklist for High
      functioning Children with ASD.
AB  - This study examined the reliability and criterion-related validity of parent
      ratings on the Adapted Skillstreaming Checklist (ASC) for a sample of 275 high
      functioning children, ages 6-12 years, with ASD. Internal consistency for the
      total sample was 0.92. For two subsamples, test-retest reliability was very good
      at the 6-week and good at the 9-month intervals. Child age, IQ, and language
      abilities were unrelated to the ASC score. The ASC total score was inversely and
      strongly related to parent ratings of ASD symptom severity. Significant positive
      correlations (moderate-to-high) were found between the ASC and prosocial skills
      scales and significant negative correlations (low-to-moderate) with problem
      behavior scales on a broad measure of child functioning. Implications and
      suggestions for future study are discussed.

PMID- 28593596
TI  - Physiological Arousal and Emotion Regulation Strategies in Young Children with
      Autism Spectrum Disorders.
AB  - This study aimed to assess physiological arousal and behavioral regulation of
      emotion in the context of frustration in 29 children with Autism Spectrum
      Disorders (ASD) and 45 typically developing children (41-81 months). Heart rate
      was continuously measured and emotion strategies were coded, during a locked-box
      task. Results revealed increases in arousal followed by a decline during
      recovery, significant for both groups indicating that heart rate patterns between
      groups were identical. The ASD group deployed less constructive and more venting
      and avoidance strategies, which was related to language impairments. We conclude
      that rather than abnormal levels of emotional arousal, a key impairment in young
      children with ASD may be difficulties in behaviorally regulating and expressing
      experienced emotions to others.

PMID- 28593597
TI  - The Stability of Self-Reported Anxiety in Youth with Autism Versus ADHD or
      Typical Development.
AB  - Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for anxiety symptoms.
      Few anxiety measures are validated for individuals with ASD, and the nature of
      ASD raises questions about reliability of self-reported anxiety. This study
      examined longitudinal stability and change of self-reported anxiety in higher
      functioning youth with ASD (HFASD) compared to youth with symptoms of attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder and typical development (TD) using the
      Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (March, 2012; March et al. J Am Acad
      Child Adolesc Psychiatry 36(4):554-565, 1997). Diagnostic groups demonstrated
      comparable evidence of stability for most dimensions of anxiety. The HFASD group
      displayed higher anxiety than both comparison groups, especially physical
      symptoms. These findings have implications for identification and measurement of
      anxiety in ASD.

PMID- 28593598
TI  - Brief Report: Macrocephaly Phenotype and Psychiatric Comorbidity in a Clinical
      Sample of Mexican Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may present with macrocephaly. Few studies have
      analyzed the association with psychiatric comorbidity. Participants were 94
      children with any ASD with an age range from 2 to 16 years (Mdn 6 years), 82%
      were boys. It was found that 20% of the sample had macrocephaly and 1%
      microcephaly. There was no association between the presence of macrocephaly and
      subtype of ASD. The most associated comorbidity was attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 54.2%, followed by specific phobia 34%,
      dysthimia 29.7%, oppositional defiant disorder 13.83% motor tics 11.7%,
      separation anxiety 9.5% and Gilles de la Tourette 8.5%. In conclusion,
      macrocephaly and psychiatric comorbidity in this clinical sample of children with
      ASD is similar to the international literature results.

PMID- 28593599
TI  - Behavioral Symptoms of Reported Abuse in Children and Adolescents with Autism
      Spectrum Disorder in Inpatient Settings.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine how behavioral manifestations of
      trauma due to abuse are expressed in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
      Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) compared outcomes between patients with a
      caregiver reported history of abuse and those without. Findings indicate that
      patients with ASD and reported abuse (i.e. physical, sexual, and/or emotional)
      have more intrusive thoughts, distressing memories, loss of interest,
      irritability, and lethargy than those without reported maltreatment. Those with
      clinical diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had more severe and
      externalized symptoms than those with reported abuse not diagnosed with PTSD.
      Results emphasize the need for trauma screening measures to guide evidence-based
      treatments for children with ASD.

PMID- 28593600
TI  - Developmental Changes in Empathic Concern and Self-Understanding in Toddlers at
      Genetic Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Toddlers with an older sibling with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and low risk
      (LR) toddlers were observed at 22, 28, and 34 months during two empathy probes: a
      crying baby and an adult who pretended to hurt her finger. Toddlers with a later
      ASD diagnosis showed less empathic concern and self-distress at each age on both
      empathy probes than LR toddlers. HR toddlers with no diagnosis showed growth in
      empathic concern between 22 and 34 months in response to the adult's pain,
      differing from the children with ASD, but not the LR children, by 34 months.
      Developmental changes in parent-rated self-understanding showed a similar
      pattern. Results highlight individual differences in the social development of HR
      toddlers.

PMID- 28593602
TI  - Efficient Biotransformation of Astragaloside IV to Cycloastragenol by Bacillus
      sp. LG-502.
AB  - Cycloastragenol (CA), an exclusive telomerase activator, was derived from the
      Astragali Radix which is widely distributed in Turkey. Until now, there is no
      report to produce CA with effective and environment-friendly methods.
      Biotransformation is considered to be a promising technology. Thus, the present
      study was aimed to establish a biotransformation technology that could
      efficiently produce CA. In this paper, a microorganism, LG-502, was used to
      successfully transform astragaloside IV (ASI) to CA by analysis of thin layer
      chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The
      phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA indicated that this strain belongs to
      Bacillus sp. Three metabolites were separated during the fermentation and
      characterized to be cyclogaleginoside B, CA, and 20R, 24S-epoxy-6alpha, 16beta,
      25-trihydroxy-9, 19-cycloartan-3-one based on NMR and MS spectroscopic analyses.
      The conversion rate of ASI and yield rate of CA were achieved as high as 89 and
      84%, respectively, under optimized conditions. Enzymatic analysis showed that the
      glycosidases were mainly located inside the bacterial body, and the activities of
      glucosidases were much higher than the xylosidases under the experimental
      conditions. This study provides a feasible, effective, and eco-friendly way to
      prepare CA from ASI, which might greatly contribute to the applications of ASI.

PMID- 28593601
TI  - How Competent are Adolescent Bullying Perpetrators and Victims in Mastering
      Normative Developmental Tasks in Early Adulthood?
AB  - A substantive body of literature suggests that those involved in bullying as
      perpetrators but particularly victims are at greater risk for psychological
      maladjustment. In comparison, relatively little is known about associations
      between bullying-victimization and perpetration and mastery of early adult tasks
      in domains including romantic relationships, education, work, financial
      competence, and conduct. These links were tested using data from two Dutch
      cohorts (RADAR-young, n = 497, 43% girls; TRAILS, n = 2230, 51% girls) who
      reported on victimization and perpetration at age 11 (TRAILS) and 13 (RADAR
      young) and mastery of developmental tasks in early adulthood. Unadjusted
      regression analyses suggested for both cohorts that perpetrators were less likely
      to abide the law and more likely to smoke. Victims in TRAILS were less competent
      in the domains of education, work, and finances, and more likely to smoke in
      RADAR-young. Adjusting for childhood demographics and child intelligence and
      including psychopathology in the prediction models substantially reduced the
      strength of associations between bullying involvement and later outcomes in both
      cohorts; although association were retained between victimization and welfare
      dependence and perpetration and crime involvement in TRAILS. Parental support did
      not buffer associations in either sample and neither were gender differences
      detected. Overall, findings underline that negative outcomes of bullying are not
      only a concern for victims but also for their perpetrators although involvement
      in bullying is not a stable predictor of mastery of developmental tasks when
      childhood demographics, child intelligence, and psychopathology are taken into
      account.

PMID- 28593603
TI  - Optimization of Inexpensive Agricultural By-Products as Raw Materials for
      Bacitracin Production in Bacillus licheniformis DW2.
AB  - Bacitracin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic used extensively as a feed additive. In
      this study, inexpensive agricultural by-products were used as nitrogen sources
      for bacitracin production. Based on both the orthogonal tests, a combination of
      7% soybean meal (SBM) +2% low protein rapeseed cake (LPRC) was optimal for
      bacitracin production. Compared to the original formula, the titer of bacitracin
      increased by 20.5% reaching 910.4 U/ml in flasks. The titer of bacitracin and the
      ratio of bacitracin A increased by 12.4 and 6.8% in a 50-l fermentor.
      Furthermore, this study also explored the effects of exogenously adding different
      amino acids on the yield of bacitracin. The addition of Cys and Glu enhanced
      bacitracin production by 5.7 and 5.0%, respectively. This study provided the
      inexpensive nutrient inputs into efficient bacitracin production and also the
      insight to further research enabling better utilization of oil cakes for economic
      viability of the bioprocess industry.

PMID- 28593605
TI  - Online webcam-based eye tracking in cognitive science: A first look.
AB  - Online experimentation is emerging in many areas of cognitive psychology as a
      viable alternative or supplement to classical in-lab experimentation. While
      performance- and reaction-time-based paradigms are covered in recent studies, one
      instrument of cognitive psychology has not received much attention up to now: eye
      tracking. In this study, we used JavaScript-based eye tracking algorithms
      recently made available by Papoutsaki et al. (International Joint Conference on
      Artificial Intelligence, 2016) together with consumer-grade webcams to
      investigate the potential of online eye tracking to benefit from the common
      advantages of online data conduction. We compared three in-lab conducted tasks
      (fixation, pursuit, and free viewing) with online-acquired data to analyze the
      spatial precision in the first two, and replicability of well-known gazing
      patterns in the third task. Our results indicate that in-lab data exhibit an
      offset of about 172 px (15% of screen size, 3.94 degrees  visual angle) in the
      fixation task, while online data is slightly less accurate (18% of screen size,
      207 px), and shows higher variance. The same results were found for the pursuit
      task with a constant offset during the stimulus movement (211 px in-lab, 216 px
      online). In the free-viewing task, we were able to replicate the high attention
      attribution to eyes (28.25%) compared to other key regions like the nose (9.71%)
      and mouth (4.00%). Overall, we found web technology-based eye tracking to be
      suitable for all three tasks and are confident that the required hard- and
      software will be improved continuously for even more sophisticated experimental
      paradigms in all of cognitive psychology.

PMID- 28593604
TI  - Neutralization of matrix metalloproteinase-9 potentially enhances oncolytic
      efficacy of tanapox virus for melanoma therapy.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are involved in degradation of
      extracellular matrix, are critical regulators in tumor progression, metastasis
      and angiogenesis. Although induction of MMPs is frequently observed during the
      viral infection, the effect of MMPs on viral replication varies between viruses.
      MMP-9, for instance, is upregulated and promotes the replication of some viruses,
      such as herpes simplex virus, but inhibits the replication of others. Here, we
      report that infection with tanapox virus (TPV) promotes the expression of MMP-9
      in the melanoma cells. In addition, we show that MMP-9 exerts an anti-viral
      effect on TPV replication and plays a protective role in TPV-infected melanoma
      cells in vitro. Moreover, the neutralization of MMP-9 in melanoma cells
      remarkably enhances the TPV infection and leads to a significant reduction in
      cell survival. In summary, this study contributes to understanding of the role
      played by MMP-9 in TPV infectivity and provides more insights for using TPV as
      cancer virotherapy in future studies. Since TPV has shown substantial oncolytic
      efficacy in promoting melanoma tumor regression in animal models, identifying
      mechanisms that suppress MMP-9 expression upon TPV infection can potentially
      improve its use as a melanoma virotherapy.

PMID- 28593606
TI  - Gazepath: An eye-tracking analysis tool that accounts for individual differences
      and data quality.
AB  - Eye-trackers are a popular tool for studying cognitive, emotional, and
      attentional processes in different populations (e.g., clinical and typically
      developing) and participants of all ages, ranging from infants to the elderly.
      This broad range of processes and populations implies that there are many inter-
      and intra-individual differences that need to be taken into account when
      analyzing eye-tracking data. Standard parsing algorithms supplied by the eye
      tracker manufacturers are typically optimized for adults and do not account for
      these individual differences. This paper presents gazepath, an easy-to-use R
      package that comes with a graphical user interface (GUI) implemented in Shiny
      (RStudio Inc 2015). The gazepath R-package combines solutions from the adult and
      infant literature to provide an eye-tracking parsing method that accounts for
      individual differences and differences in data quality. We illustrate the
      usefulness of gazepath with three examples of different data sets. The first
      example shows how gazepath performs on free-viewing data of infants and adults,
      compared to standard EyeLink parsing. We show that gazepath controls for spurious
      correlations between fixation durations and data quality in infant data. The
      second example shows that gazepath performs well in high-quality reading data of
      adults. The third and last example shows that gazepath can also be used on noisy
      infant data collected with a Tobii eye-tracker and low (60 Hz) sampling rate.

PMID- 28593607
TI  - Focus on what works and why it works: bridging the gap between research knowledge
      and practical knowledge.

PMID- 28593608
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha -308 A/G gene polymorphism in children with juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis: relation to disease activity, damage, and functional
      status.
AB  - The study aims to evaluate the clinical significance of serum levels of tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and -308 A/G promoter polymorphism in juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients and find any association to the subsets,
      clinical and laboratory features, disease activity, and damage as well as
      functional disability. Forty-eight JIA children and 30 controls were included in
      the present study. Juvenile arthritis disease activity score in 27 joints (JADAS
      27) was calculated, juvenile arthritis damage index (JADI) was assessed, and
      Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) measured the functional status.
      Serum TNF-alpha was assayed by ELISA and gene (-308) promoter polymorphism was
      determined by polymerase chain reaction. The 48 JIA children (mean age 11.5 +/-
      2.8 years) were 13 systemic, 17 oligoarticular, and 18 polyarticular onset. The
      serum TNF-alpha was significantly higher in patients (90.4 +/- 6.3 ng/ml)
      compared to control (3.5 +/- 2.6 ng/ml) (p < 0.0001) with a tendency to be higher
      in the polyarticular subtype. All controls had TNF-alpha -308 GG alleles. The
      frequency of GG genotype tended to be higher in systemic onset compared to
      oligoarticular and polyarticular subtypes. The serum TNF-alpha significantly
      correlated with JADAS-27 (r = 0.32, p = 0.03) and CHAQ (r = 0.37, p = 0.01) and
      negatively with the presence of GG alleles (r = -0.48, p = 0.001). The GG alleles
      were significantly negatively associated with C-reactive protein (r = -0.32, p =
      0.03) with a tendency to negatively correlate with JADAS-27, CHAQ, and JADI
      extrarticular (r = -0.28, p = 0.06; r = -0.25, p = 0.09 and r = -0.25, p = 0.09,
      respectively). There is evidence of a possible influence of the -308 SNP promoter
      position on the production of TNF-alpha, the severity of JIA which may
      consequently influence the response to anti-TNF-alpha treatment.

PMID- 28593609
TI  - Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) as a tool in the switch from infliximab
      innovator to biosimilar in rheumatic patients: results of a 12-month
      observational prospective cohort study.
AB  - The objective of this study is to apply therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) as an
      objective tool to monitor the switch from infliximab innovator (INX) to
      infliximab biosimilar (INB) in our diverse rheumatic cohort in daily clinical
      practice. All rheumatic patients on INX treatment (Remicade(r)) and >=18 years
      were switched to INB (Inflectra(r)) as part of routine care, but in a controlled
      setting. Patients were monitored by taking blood samples just before the first
      infusion of INB (T1), and after the second (T2), fourth (T3), and seventh (T4)
      infusion of INB. T4 reflects the patients' status after ~12 months. Infliximab
      trough levels, antibodies-to-infliximab (ATI), C-reactive protein (CRP),
      erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and validated disease activity scores (if
      possible) were measured. Our population consisted of 27 patients with seven
      different rheumatic diseases who had received INX for 143 (58-161) months (median
      (IQR)). Half of the patients (52%) received concomitant immunosuppressives. We
      found widely varying infliximab levels, with only 56% within the proposed
      therapeutic range of 1-5 MUg/mL. One patient had very high ATI levels (>880
      au/mL), and two had low ATI levels (<=30 au/mL). After switching to INB, seven
      patients (26%) discontinued the therapy, partially due to subjective reasons. No
      difference in infliximab levels, CRP levels, and disease activity scores was
      found between the four time points (p >= 0.2460). In conclusion, no
      pharmacokinetic or clinical differences were found between INX and INB in our
      diverse rheumatic cohort. TDM is a helpful tool to monitor patients switching
      from INX to INB.

PMID- 28593610
TI  - Brief report: Decreased expression of CD244 (SLAMF4) on monocytes and platelets
      in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - The signalling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) family receptors play
      important roles in modulating immune responses. Previous studies in murine models
      and patients have suggested an association of the SLAM family (SLAMF) members
      with the development of autoimmunity, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus
      (SLE). Since previous investigations on CD244 expression have focussed on NK and
      T cells, the aim of this study was to evaluate the surface expression of major
      SLAMF members across monocytes and polymorphonuclear cells in an Asian SLE cohort
      and explore their potential associations with SLE-related disease activity and
      autoantibodies. Thirty-nine SLE patients and twenty-nine healthy controls (HC)
      were evaluated for the expression of CD150, CD84, CD229, CD48, CD244, CD352 and
      CD319. We determined a significantly lower expression of CD244 on monocytes in
      SLE patients compared to HC. Furthermore, monocyte CD244 expression was
      negatively associated with several serum autoantibody titres. Our findings
      suggest that this molecule plays an important role in immune tolerance mechanisms
      and should be investigated further.

PMID- 28593611
TI  - A case of ruptured infective coronary artery aneurysm.
AB  - Infective coronary artery aneurysm is extremely rare and ruptured aneurysm is
      life-threatening. We report a case of ruptured coronary artery aneurysm, which
      was successfully treated by the patch closure technique and coronary artery
      bypass grafting. Pathological examination revealed purulent inflammation in the
      aneurysmal wall. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment were essential.

PMID- 28593613
TI  - Effects of distributional information on categorization of prosodic contours.
AB  - Although prosody clearly affects the interpretation of utterances, the mapping
      between prosodic representations and acoustic features is highly variable.
      Listeners may in part cope with this variability by adapting to distributions of
      acoustic features in the input. We examined whether listeners adapt to
      distributional changes using the construction It looks like an X. When pronounced
      with an H* pitch accent on the final noun and a low boundary tone, the
      construction supports an affirmative interpretation (e.g., It looks like a ZEBRA
      [and I think it is one]). Conversely, when pronounced with a L+H* pitch accent
      and a rising boundary tone, it suggests a negative interpretation (e.g., It LOOKS
      like a zebra.... [but it is not]). Experiment 1 elicited pragmatic
      interpretations of resynthesized 12-step continua with these two contours as the
      end points. In Experiment 2, one group of listeners heard items sampled from the
      most ambiguous region along the continua followed by affirmative continuations
      (e.g., It looks like a zebra because it has stripes all over its body) and items
      near the contrastive endpoint followed by negative continuations (e.g., It looks
      like a zebra but it is actually something else). Another group heard the reverse
      (i.e., ambiguous items with negative continuations and non-contrastive items with
      affirmative continuations). The two groups of participants subsequently derived
      diverging interpretations for novel ambiguous items, suggesting that prosodic
      processing involves flexible mappings between acoustic features and prosodic
      representations that are meaningful in interpretation of speech.

PMID- 28593612
TI  - An Obesity Paradox: Increased Body Mass Index Is Associated with Decreased Aortic
      Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Brodsky et al. (Cardiovasc Pathol 25(6), 515-520, 2016) recently have reported
      that there was an unexpected and highly significant inverse correlation between
      body mass index (BMI) and atherosclerosis of the aortas of morbidly obese
      decedents (BMI >40 kg/m2). In a series of 304 decedents, 65 of whom were morbidly
      obese, minimal or no atherosclerosis was seen in 46 of them (70%) versus 20 (30%)
      who had severe atherosclerosis (P = 0.008). This obesity paradox was unexpected
      and raises important questions about the etiology and pathogenesis of
      atherosclerosis, which will be the subject of this commentary. The concept of
      healthy versus unhealthy adiposity may in part provide an explanation for the
      "obesity paradox." Another factor that will be considered is the possible role of
      adipokines and their genetic determinants that may significantly reduce the risk
      of developing aortic atherosclerosis in morbidly obese individuals. Considering
      the marked variability in the pattern and extent of atherosclerosis of the aorta,
      hemodynamic factors and endothelial cell shear stress may be the most important
      determinants that might explain the obesity paradox that we have observed.
      Finally, the possible role of gut microbiota and inflammation as factors in the
      etiopathogenesis of atherosclerosis will be considered, but their importance is
      less clear than that of hemodynamic factors. We conclude with the remarkable
      finding that a 5300-year-old, well-preserved mummy of the "Iceman," Otzi had
      atherosclerotic disease of a number of major arteries and the interesting
      questions that this raises.

PMID- 28593614
TI  - Circulating anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) associates with the maturity of boys'
      drawings: Does AMH slow cognitive development in males?
AB  - PURPOSE: High levels of circulating anti-Mullerian hormone are unique to
      developing males, but the function of anti-Mullerian hormone in boys is unknown.
      In mice, anti-Mullerian hormone contributes to the male biases in the brain, but
      its receptors are present throughout non-sexually dimorphic portions of the
      brain. In humans, the speed of maturation is the most overt difference between
      girls and boys. We postulate that this is because anti-Mullerian hormone slows
      the maturation of the male human brain. METHODS: One hundred and fourty three 5
      year or 6-year-old boys and 38 age-matched girls drew a person and donated a
      blood sample. The children's drawings were blind-scored to generate a maturity
      index. The level of anti-Mullerian hormone and the other Sertoli cell hormone,
      inhibin B, were measured by ELISA. The relationship between the children's age,
      hormones and maturity index were examined by linear regression analysis. RESULTS:
      The girls drew more complex and realistic person than the boys (32%, p = 0.001),
      with their drawings also being larger (39%, p = 0.037) and more coloured-in
      (235%, p = 0.0005). The maturity index in boys correlated with age (+r = 0.43, p
      < 0.0005) and anti-Mullerian hormone level (-r = -0.29, p < 0.0005). The
      association between maturity index and anti-Mullerian hormone level persisted
      when corrected for age and for inhibin B (r = -0.24, p = 0.0005). The calculated
      effect of the median level of anti-Mullerian hormone (1 nM) was equal to 0.81
      months of development. The size and colouring of the drawings did not correlate
      with the boys' age, anti-Mullerian hormone or inhibin B. CONCLUSIONS: This
      exploratory study provides the first indicative evidence that circulating anti
      Mullerian hormone may influence the development of the human brain.

PMID- 28593615
TI  - A single dose of dapagliflozin, an SGLT-2 inhibitor, induces higher glycosuria in
      GCK- and HNF1A-MODY than in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - AIMS: SGLT2 inhibitors are a new class of oral hypoglycemic agents used in type 2
      diabetes (T2DM). Their effectiveness in maturity onset diabetes of the young
      (MODY) is unknown. We aimed to assess the response to a single dose of 10 mg
      dapagliflozin in patients with Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1 Alpha (HNF1A)-MODY,
      Glucokinase (GCK)-MODY, and type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We examined 14 HNF1A-MODY,
      19 GCK-MODY, and 12 type 2 diabetes patients. All studied individuals received a
      single morning dose of 10 mg of dapagliflozin added to their current therapy of
      diabetes. To assess the response to dapagliflozin we analyzed change in urinary
      glucose to creatinine ratio and serum 1,5-Anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) level.
      RESULTS: There were only four patients with positive urine glucose before
      dapagliflozin administration (one with HNF1A-MODY, two with GCK-MODY, and one
      with T2DM), whereas after SGLT-2 inhibitor use, glycosuria occurred in all
      studied participants. Considerable changes in mean glucose to creatinine ratio
      after dapagliflozin administration were observed in all three groups (20.51 +/-
      12.08, 23.19 +/- 8.10, and 9.84 +/- 6.68 mmol/mmol for HNF1A-MODY, GCK-MODY, and
      T2DM, respectively, p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Post-hoc analysis revealed
      significant differences in mean glucose to creatinine ratio change between type 2
      diabetes and each monogenic diabetes in response to dapagliflozin (p = 0.02, p =
      0.003 for HNF1-A and GCK MODY, respectively), but not between the two MODY forms
      (p = 0.7231). Significant change in serum 1,5-AG was noticed only in T2DM and it
      was -6.57 +/- 7.34 mg/ml (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: A single dose of dapagliflozin,
      an SGLT-2 inhibitor, induces higher glycosuria in GCK- and HNF1A-MODY than in
      T2DM. Whether flozins are a valid therapeutic option in these forms of MODY
      requires long-term clinical studies.

PMID- 28593616
TI  - New insights on diabetes in Turner syndrome: results from an observational study
      in adulthood.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics of diabetes mellitus in adults with
      Turner syndrome. DESIGN: Observational study consisting of a prospective phase
      after the access of adults with Turner syndrome to the Endocrinology Unit (median
      period of follow-up 15.6, interquartile range: 12.0-24.5 months) and a
      retrospective collection of data from the diagnosis of Turner syndrome until the
      time of access to the Endocrinology Unit. A total of 113 Italian Turner syndrome
      patients were included in the study. During the prospective phase of the study,
      each patient underwent physical examination, fasting blood sampling, and an oral
      glucose tolerance test on a yearly basis. Oral glucose tolerance test was used to
      perform the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. RESULTS: Before access to the
      Endocrinology Unit, diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in two Turner syndrome
      patients. Another five cases of diabetes mellitus were diagnosed at the first
      access to the Endocrinology Unit, whereas seven new cases of diabetes mellitus
      were diagnosed during the prospective phase of the study. At the diagnosis of
      diabetes mellitus, only one patient had fasting glucose above 126 mg/dL, and only
      two had an HbA1c value >6.5% (48 mmol/mol). When compared to normo-glucose
      tolerant patients, the diabetic patients had a significantly lower insulin-to
      glucose ratio at 30 and 60 min of the oral glucose tolerance test. In the
      regression analyses, only age was associated with the development of diabetes
      mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that diabetes mellitus is frequent in
      Turner syndrome and suggests that it is specific to the syndrome. In addition,
      this study demonstrates that oral glucose tolerance test is a more sensitive test
      than HbA1c for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in Turner syndrome.

PMID- 28593617
TI  - The dangers of extreme body mass index values in patients with Clostridium
      difficile.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and in-hospital
      mortality in patients presenting with Clostridium difficile infections in
      emergency department visits (ED) in the USA. Infected patients with extreme BMIs
      may have an elevated mortality risk, but prior studies examining this question
      have been too small to reach definitive conclusions. METHODS: Data were from the
      Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), Healthcare Cost and Utilization
      Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality during 2012. NEDS
      records emergency department (ED) visits across the USA and provides statistical
      sampling weights to approximate a nationally representative sample of US hospital
      based EDs. Inclusion criteria were adults age 18 or older with an ICD-9 code for
      C. difficile infection (008.45) and a documented body mass index ICD-9 V code
      (V85.x). Logistic regression was used to predict mortality after adjusting for
      demographic variables and chronic comorbidities defined by Elixhauser. RESULTS: A
      weighted sample of 22,937 ED visits met all inclusion criteria. The cohort's mean
      age was 66. 64.6% were female. The unadjusted mortality rate was 6.5%. Patients
      with a BMI < 19 kg/m2 had an adjusted odds ratio of 2.73; 95% CI (1.80, 4.16), p
      < 0.001 compared to patients with a BMI of 19.0-4.9 kg/m2 (the referent
      category). In obese patients, only BMI values >40 kg/m2 were associated with
      significantly greater mortality risk. CONCLUSION: Being underweight (BMI < 19) or
      morbidly obese (BMI > 40) was associated with increased risk of in-hospital
      mortality in patients presenting with C. difficile infections.

PMID- 28593619
TI  - [Do the advantages of modern mental health care have drawbacks?]

PMID- 28593618
TI  - RIG-I: a multifunctional protein beyond a pattern recognition receptor.
AB  - It was widely known that retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I) functions as a
      cytosolic pattern recognition receptor that initiates innate antiviral immunity
      by detecting exogenous viral RNAs. However, recent studies showed that RIG-I
      participates in other various cellular activities by sensing endogenous RNAs
      under different circumstances. For example, RIG-I facilitates the therapy
      resistance and expansion of breast cancer cells and promotes T cell-independent B
      cell activation through interferon signaling activation by recognizing non-coding
      RNAs and endogenous retroviruses in certain situations. While in hepatocellular
      carcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia, RIG-I acts as a tumor suppressor through
      either augmenting STAT1 activation by competitively binding STAT1 against its
      negative regulator SHP1 or inhibiting AKT-mTOR signaling pathway by directly
      interacting with Src respectively. These new findings suggest that RIG-I plays
      more diverse roles in various cellular life activities, such as cell
      proliferation and differentiation, than previously known. Taken together, the
      function of RIG-I exceeds far beyond that of a pattern recognition receptor.

PMID- 28593620
TI  - [A comparative study of the structural stigmatisation of ADHD and autism spectrum
      disorder in Flemish newspapers].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children and adults with adhd and autism spectrum disorder (asd)
      often find themselves being stigmatised. There is ample evidence of public
      stigma, but much less is known about negative coverage in the media, a phenomenon
      that can be regarded as a form of structural stigma.<br/> AIM: To explore the
      different types of structural stigma that characterise the coverage of adhd and
      asd in Flemish newspapers.<br/> METHOD: We used the online databases of seven
      Flemish newspapers in order to select articles on adhd (n=772) and asd (n=1940)
      published between 2010 and 2014. We divided these articles into separate
      categories relating to the domain of coverage (e.g. symptomatology, epidemiology,
      medical treatment) and valence (i.e. positive, neutral and negative).<br/>
      RESULTS: We found significantly more negative than neutral/positive coverage of
      adhd than of asd (or 2.1). This finding was most striking in the domains of
      symptomatology (or 8.42), diagnostics (or 2.28) and medical treatment (or 9.40).
      Furthermore, with respect to articles specifically on adhd, the title of the
      article was significantly more negative than the actual message in the main
      article itself (chi2(2)=22.454, p < 0.001).<br/> CONCLUSION: These findings show
      that Flemish newspapers need to adjust and correct their negative and inaccurate
      portrayal of symptomatology, diagnostics and treatment of adhd and, to a lesser
      extent, of asd. Readers of these newspapers also need to be given a less negative
      impression of adhd and asd.

PMID- 28593622
TI  - [Emotional scars: impact of childhood trauma on the development of depressive and
      anxiety disorders later in life].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood trauma and negative life events in childhood are risk
      factors for the development of anxiety and depressive disorders in adulthood.
      <br/> AIM: To increase our understanding of the specific associations between
      trauma and negative life events in childhood and the development and course of
      anxiety and depressive disorders in adulthood.<br/> METHOD: Our research findings
      are based on data from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA).
      In our article we report on two cross-sectional and three prospective
      studies.<br/> RESULTS: All domains of childhood trauma are risk factors for the
      development of anxiety and/or depressive disorders in adulthood. Emotional
      neglect is the main independent predictor of the occurrence and the course of
      anxiety and depressive disorders. Certain personality characteristics and more
      unfavorable clinical factors play an important role in mediating the relationship
      between childhood trauma and the course of anxiety and depressive disorders later
      in life.<br/> CONCLUSION: Not only does childhood trauma increase an individual's
      vulnerability to the development of anxiety and depressive disorders, it is also
      associated with a more serious and more chronic course of these disorders. Our
      studies have provided new insights into the underlying mechanism that links
      childhood trauma and anxiety and later anxiety depressive disorders.
      Consequently, we feel justified in making some recommendations with regards to
      clinical practice and public health interventions.

PMID- 28593621
TI  - [Measuring changes during the treatment of eating disorders: a comparison of two
      types of questionnaires].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In mental health care routine outcome monitoring (ROM) has become an
      important part of everyday clinical practice in the Netherlands. It is important
      that the questionnaires involved are sensitive to therapeutic change. The Brief
      Symptom Inventory (BSI) is a generic instrument that is widely used and that
      seems to be responsive to therapeutic change. However, in relation to patients
      with an eating disorder, more valuable information might be obtained from a
      questionnaire that is better geared to the primary symptoms of the eating
      disorder.<br/> AIM: To find out whether the BSI and the Eating Disorder
      Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), which is a questionnaire designed to measure
      eating disorder psychopathology, reveal different degrees of therapeutic change
      in patients with an eating disorder.<br/> METHOD: The sample consisted of 1062
      patients seeking treatment for an eating disorder (DSM-IV). We performed an
      analysis of variance (2 x 2 design) in order to detect any difference between the
      two instruments regarding their sensitivity to change at the two time points.
      Patients were divided into four categories: recovered, improved, unchanged or
      deteriorated. We used a chi-squares test to determine whether the two
      questionnaires differed with regard to the proportions they gave for improved and
      recovered patients.<br/> RESULTS: The analyses revealed that in this patient
      group the EDE-Q was more sensitive to change than the BSI. The percentage of
      patients in the categories 'recovered' and 'improved' was higher in the EDE-Q
      than in the BSI. The same practice emerged with regards to the various subtypes
      of eating disorders.<br/> CONCLUSION: It does seem to matter what type of
      questionnaire is used to measure the course and outcome of treatment. When
      responsiveness to change is being measured, it is important to use an instrument
      that assesses the symptoms that are the primary focus of treatment. If the
      primary aim is to reduce eating disorder symptoms, then the best type of
      questionnaire to use is one that assesses eating disorder psychopathology.

PMID- 28593623
TI  - [Smoking cessation and schizophrenia].
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with schizophrenia smoke about 5.6 times as much as people
      without the disease. This factor is a major but treatable cause of morbidity and
      mortality in this patient population. Nevertheless, health professionals make
      relatively little effort to discourage people from smoking or to give it up
      altogether.<br/> AIM: To increase health professionals' knowledge about possible
      therapeutic interventions that can help people with schizophrenia to stop
      smoking.<br/> METHOD: We studied the relevant literature.<br/> RESULTS: Many
      people with schizophrenia do in fact want to give up smoking. However, many
      health professionals are reluctant to intervene because, as a result, people with
      schizophrenia might experience a deterioration in their mental state. We believe
      that people with schizophrenia who are determined to give up smoking need to
      receive a combination of pharmacotherapy and psychological support. This patient
      population requires a longer than normal period of treatment.<br/> CONCLUSION: So
      far, a combination of bupropion, nicotine patches and psychological support has
      proved the most effective form of support for this target group consisting of
      people with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28593625
TI  - [Reaction on 'Towards a positive psychiatry?']

PMID- 28593624
TI  - [The Othello syndrome in Parkinson's disease: an example of a lesser-known
      delusion].
AB  - Delusions are fairly common features of Parkinson's disease. Some delusions are
      easily recognised, but others are less well-known and can be missed by health
      professionals. We describe the case of a female patient with Parkinson's disease
      who believed, erroneously, that her partner was being unfaithful; this type of
      delusion is also called the Othello syndrome. After psychoeducation and the start
      of clozapine, the delusion faded and the relationship became more peaceful.

PMID- 28593626
TI  - Safety of Lateral Interbody Fusion Surgery without Intraoperative Monitoring.
AB  - AIM: Oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) is a minimally invasive surgical
      method that can provide an access to the lumbar spine without direct dissection
      of psoas muscle and the need for intraoperative neuromonitoring (IOM) is
      questionable. The aim of this study was to examine and document the transient and
      persistent perioperative complications in patients who underwent OLIF for
      degenerative lumbar disease without IOM. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 129
      consecutive patients who were diagnosed as degenerative spinal disease from L1 to
      S1 and underwent mini-open OLIF were identified and retrospectively reviewed. All
      patients were classified as two groups; non-IOM group and IOM group. According to
      the relation to surgical procedure, the complications were divided into two
      groups; "procedurerelated" and "procedure-unrelated". Based on the effect of
      duration, the complications were defined as "transient" where the symptom is
      relieved within 30 days postoperatively, and "persistent" where the symptom
      remains for more than 30 days postoperatively. RESULTS: The study groups
      comprised 57 cases in the IOM group and 72 in the non-IOM group. The complication
      rate was 24.6% (transient; 17.6%, persistent; 7.0%) in the IOM group and 29.2%
      (transient; 25.0%, persistent; 4.2%) in the non-IOM group. The incidence of
      postoperative leg symptoms related to lumbar plexus and/or psoas muscle injury
      was 6 transient and 3 persistent in the IOM group (overall 15.3%), and 12
      transient and 3 persistent in the non-IOM group (overall 20.9%). CONCLUSION: Mini
      open OLIF can be safely carried out without the aid of IOM.

PMID- 28593627
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Using N-Butyl Cyanoacrylate in Cranial Fixation Following
      Trauma and Other Pathologies.
AB  - AIM: Skull bone fixation following different cranial surgeries is essential and
      should be rigid, simple and cheap. We describe our technique of cranial fixation
      using the adhesive cyanoacrylates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: At the end of cranial
      and intracranial surgeries the craniotomy flap and bone pieces are returned,
      realigned and fixed using HistoacrylZ (N-Butyl Cyanoacrylate) glue. The glue is
      applied all around the flap in 360-degree fashion. RESULTS: The adhesive material
      was used in 24 cases after different surgeries involving the calvaria of the
      skull. Patient age ranged from 1 month to 55 years. Seven cases presented with
      depressed fractures, 5 traumatic hematomas, and 2 cases after decompressive
      craniotomies for malignant middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarctions, and 10 cases
      operated for brain tumors. No skin or bone flap infections were encountered
      during the follow up period and fusion of the edges of bone flap was observed on
      follow-up imaging in most of the cases. CONCLUSION: Skull bone realignment and
      fixation using glue is a simple, safe, and inexpensive method. The operative
      procedure was not prolonged. Good cosmetic appearance and realignment and fusion
      of the bone flap were achieved. Further neuroimaging methods are not prohibited.
      Glue is suitable for the growing skull of children. Glue is also suitable in
      compound depressed fractures of the skull with possibility of infection.

PMID- 28593628
TI  - Outcome of Microsurgical Revascularization in Patients with Moyamoya Disease:
      First Report from the Iranian Population.
AB  - AIM: To report the outcome of microsurgical revascularization in patients with
      Moyamoya Disease (MMD) in Southern Iran. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted in Southern Iran during a 7-year period from 2009
      to 2016. All the patients with Moyamoya Disease (confirmed with digital
      substraction angiography) who underwent microsurgical revascularization
      (extracranial-intracranial bypass or synangiosis) were included. All the patients
      were followed for at least 1 year and the outcome was measured using the Glasgow
      outcome scale (GOS) and modified Rankin scale (MRS). RESULTS: Overall we included
      13 patients with 14 involved hemispheres undergoing direct and indirect
      revascularization. The mean age of the patients was 20.6+/-17.5 (ranging from 0.5
      to 55) years and there were 5 (38.4%) males and 8 (61.6%) females. We did not
      have any unfavorable outcome defined as mortality and persistent vegetative
      state. We performed 12 (85.7%) superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral
      artery (MCA) bypass and 2 (14.3%) encephalo-myo-synangiosis (EMS) procedures. The
      symptoms improved in 7 (53.8%) patients and remained as the preoperative course
      in 5 (38.5%) patients. Only 1 (7.7%) patient developed immediate postoperative
      vasospasm and brain swelling, and was managed successfully with decompressive
      craniectomy and subsequent cranioplasty (GOS=5, MRS=0). CONCLUSION: This is the
      first study to report the safety, efficacy and outcome of the direct (STA-MCA
      bypass) and indirect (EMS) revascularization in patients with MMD in the Iranian
      population. As the prevalence of MMD is low in Iranian population, the experience
      and technique remains in its infancy and further advancements in the field is
      required.

PMID- 28593629
TI  - Type 2 diabetes, adiposity and cancer morbidity and mortality risk taking into
      account competing risk of noncancer deaths in a prospective cohort setting.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and adiposity associate with increased risk of several
      cancers, but the impact of competing risk of noncancer deaths on these
      associations is not known. We prospectively examined participants in the Malmo
      Diet and Cancer Study aged 44-73 years with no history of cancer at baseline (n =
      26,953, 43% men). T2D was ascertained at baseline and during follow-up, and body
      mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) at baseline. Multivariable cause
      specific hazard ratios (HR) and subdistribution hazard ratios (sHR), taking into
      account noncancer deaths, were estimated using Cox- and competing risk
      regression. During follow-up (mean 17 years), 7,061 incident cancers (3,220
      obesity-related cancer types) and 2,848 cancer deaths occurred. BMI and WC were
      associated with increased risk of obesity-related cancer incidence and cancer
      mortality. In T2D subjects, risk of obesity-related cancer was elevated among men
      (HR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.12-1.54; sHR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.10-1.52), and cancer
      mortality among both men and women (HR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.20-1.49; sHR = 1.30, 95%
      CI: 1.16-1.45). There was no elevated actual risk of cancer death in T2D patients
      with long disease duration (sHR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.83-1.20). There was a
      significant additive effect of T2D and adiposity on risk of obesity-related
      cancer and cancer mortality. In conclusion, detection bias may partially explain
      the increased risk of cancer morbidity among T2D patients. Both excess risk of
      competing events among patients with T2D and depletion of susceptibles due to
      earlier cancer detection will lower the actual risk of cancer, particularly with
      longer diabetes duration and at older ages.

PMID- 28593630
TI  - Investigating the DSM-5 severity specifiers based on thinness for adults with
      anorexia nervosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The DSM-5 severity classification scheme for adults with anorexia
      nervosa (AN) is based upon current body mass index (BMI; kg/m2 ). This study
      examined the utility of the DSM-5 severity specifiers for adults with AN in
      relation to core cognitive and behavioral features of eating pathology and
      associated psychosocial impairment. METHODS: A clinical sample of 146 adult AN
      patients (140 women, 6 men) were categorized using DSM-5 current BMI severity
      specifiers and assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE
      Q) and Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA). RESULTS: A total of 34 (23.3%)
      patients were categorized as mild (>=17.0 BMI), 35 (24.0%) as moderate (16-16.99
      BMI), 32 (21.9%) as severe (15-15.99 BMI), and 45 (30.8%) as extreme (<15 BMI).
      No significant group differences were found for age, CIA and EDE-Q global or
      subscale scores, frequency of laxative use, self-induced vomiting, binge eating,
      or excessive exercise. DISCUSSION: This study found little empirical evidence to
      support the utility of DSM-5 severity rating scheme to differentiate adults with
      AN in terms of core eating disorder pathology or associated psychosocial
      impairment.

PMID- 28593632
TI  - Rutherglen bug: An agricultural pest and an under-recognised biting culprit.

PMID- 28593631
TI  - Bivalirudin versus heparin and provisional GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors in patients
      treated for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions: Comparison of outcomes
      in a "real-world" setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The beneficial effects of bivalirudin during primary PCIs are
      controversially discussed, data on unselected patients are rare. It was the aim
      of the study to compare bivalirudin versus heparin and provisional glycoprotein
      IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs) in a "real-world" study. METHODS: From 05/2013 until
      11/2014, the STEMI-patients in the Bremen STEMI registry were treated with
      periinterventional bivalirudin; before and after this period the standard
      anticoagulative treatment was heparin and provisional GPIs. RESULTS: In 714
      patients bivalirudin was used for PCI, this cohort was compared to 683 patients
      with heparin and provisional GPIs. In patients with bivalirudin a significantly
      lower rate of hospital bleedings was observed compared to patients with heparin
      (4.6% vs 8.1%, P < 0.01, multivariate HR 0.57, 95%CI 0.35-0.93), in an exclusive
      analysis of severe bleedings a trend toward less bleedings was found in patients
      with bivalirudin (2.0% vs 3.5%, P = 0.07, multivariate HR 0.66, 95%CI 0.30-1.42).
      The rate of stent thromboses reinfarctions and mortality was not different
      between the bivalirudin and the heparin group. During 1-year follow-up
      bivalirudin was associated with a lower rate of bleedings and no significant
      differences in stent thromboses, reinfarctions, and mortality. Bivalirudin was
      not associated with an excess of bleedings or stent thromboses in subgroups that
      are regularly underrepresented in randomized trials (older patients, women,
      cardiogenic shock). CONCLUSIONS: In this "real-world" cohort of patients with
      STEMI bivalirudin compared to heparin and GPIs was associated with less bleedings
      and no significant differences in stent thromboses, reinfarctions, and mortality
      during hospital and long-term course.

PMID- 28593633
TI  - A sequence analysis of patterns in self-harm in young people with and without
      experience of being looked after in care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Young people in the public care system ('looked-after' young people)
      have high levels of self-harm. DESIGN: This paper reports the first detailed
      study of factors leading to self-harm over time in looked-after young people in
      England, using sequence analyses of the Card Sort Task for Self-harm (CaTS).
      METHODS: Young people in care (looked-after group: n = 24; 14-21 years) and young
      people who had never been in care (contrast group: n = 21; 13-21 years) completed
      the CaTS, describing sequences of factors leading to their first and most recent
      episodes of self-harm. Lag sequential analysis determined patterns of significant
      transitions between factors (thoughts, feelings, behaviours, events) leading to
      self-harm across 6 months. RESULTS: Young people in care reported feeling better
      immediately following their first episode of self-harm. However, fearlessness of
      death, impulsivity, and access to means were reported most proximal to recent
      self-harm. Although difficult negative emotions were salient to self-harm
      sequences in both groups, young people with no experience of being in care
      reported a greater range of negative emotions and transitions between them. For
      the contrast group, feelings of depression and sadness were a significant
      starting point of the self-harm sequence 6 months prior to most recent self-harm.
      CONCLUSIONS: Sequences of factors leading to self-harm can change and evolve over
      time, so regular monitoring and assessment of each self-harm episode are needed.
      Support around easing and dealing with emotional distress is required.
      Restricting access to means to carry out potentially fatal self-harm attempts,
      particularly for the young persons with experience of being in care, is
      recommended. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Self-harm (and factors associated with self
      harm) can change and evolve over time; assessments need to reflect this. Looked
      after young people reported feeling better after first self-harm; fearlessness of
      death, access to means, and impulsivity were reported as key in recent self-harm.
      Underlying emotional distress, particularly depression and self-hatred were
      important in both first and most recent self-harm. Looked-after young people
      should undergo regular monitoring and assessment of each self-harm episode and
      access to potentially fatal means should be restricted. The CaTS would have
      clinical utility as an assessment tool Recruiting participants can be a
      significant challenge in studies with looked-after children and young people.
      Future research with larger clinical samples would be valuable.

PMID- 28593634
TI  - First isolation of Rickettsia monacensis from a patient in South Korea.
AB  - A Rickettsia sp. was isolated from the blood of a patient with an acute febrile
      illness using the shell vial technique; the isolate was named CN45Kr and was
      identified by molecular assay as Rickettsia monacensis, which was first
      recognized as a pathogen in Spain. Sequencing analysis showed that the gltA
      sequence of the isolate was identical to that of Rickettsia sp. IRS3. The ompA
      5mp fragment sequence showed 100% identity to those of R. monacensis and
      Rickettsia sp. In56 and ompA-3pA In56 and 100% identity to that of Rickettsia sp.
      IRS3. The ompB sequence was found to have 99.9% similarity to that of R.
      monacensis IrR/Munich. This study confirms the pathogenicity of this agent and
      provides additional information about its geographic distribution.

PMID- 28593635
TI  - Multichannel compressed sensing MR image reconstruction using statistically
      optimized nonlinear diffusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: Eliminate the need for parametric tuning in total variation (TV) based
      multichannel compressed-sensing image reconstruction using statistically
      optimized nonlinear diffusion without compromising image quality. THEORY AND
      METHODS: Nonlinear diffusion controls the denoising process using a contrast
      parameter that separates the gradients corresponding to noise and true edges in
      the image. This parameter is statistically estimated from the variance of
      combined image gradient to yield minimum steady-state reconstruction error. In
      addition, it uses acquired k-space data to bias the diffusion process toward an
      optimal solution. RESULTS: The proposed method is compared with TV using a set of
      noisy spine and brain data sets for three, four, and five-fold undersampling. It
      is observed that the choice of regularization parameter (step size) of TV-based
      methods requires prior tuning based on an extensive search procedure. In
      contrast, statistical estimation of contrast parameter removes this need for
      tuning by adapting to the changes in data sets and undersampling levels.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although an a-priori tuned TV-based reconstruction can provide a
      comparable image quality to that of controlled nonlinear diffusion, there are
      practical limitations with regard to its time complexity for ad-hoc applications
      to multicoil compressed-sensing reconstruction. Magn Reson Med 78:754-762, 2017.
      (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28593636
TI  - Biosynthesis of 1alpha-hydroxycorticosterone in the winter skate Leucoraja
      ocellata: evidence to suggest a novel steroidogenic route.
AB  - The present study explores the ability of intracellular bacteria within the renal
      inter-renal tissue of the winter skate Leucoraja ocellata to metabolize steroids
      and contribute to the synthesis of the novel elasmobranch corticosteroid, 1alpha
      hydroxycorticosterone (1alpha-OH-B). Despite the rarity of C1 hydroxylation noted
      in the original identification of 1alpha-OH-B, literature provides evidence for
      steroid C1 hydroxylation by micro-organisms. Eight ureolytic bacterial isolates
      were identified in the renal-inter-renal tissue of L. ocellata, the latter being
      the site of 1alpha-OH-B synthesis. From incubations of bacterial isolates with
      known amounts of potential 1alpha-OH-B precursors, one isolate UM008 of the genus
      Rhodococcus was seen to metabolize corticosteroids and produce novel products via
      HPLC analysis. Cations Zn2+ and Fe3+ altered metabolism of certain steroid
      precursors, suggesting inhibition of Rhodococcus steroid catabolism. Genome
      sequencing of UM008 identified strong sequence and structural homology to that of
      Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4. A complete enzymatic pathway for steroid-ring
      oxidation as documented within other Actinobacteria was identified within the
      UM008 genome. This study highlights the potential role of Rhodococcus bacteria in
      steroid metabolism and proposes a novel alternative pathway for 1alpha-OH-B
      synthesis, suggesting a unique form of mutualism between intracellular bacteria
      and their elasmobranch host.

PMID- 28593637
TI  - Sleep hygiene behaviours in Iranian adolescents: an application of the Theory of
      Planned Behavior.
AB  - Poor sleep quality and inadequate sleep in adolescents are a rising trend
      globally. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)-which centres on an individual's
      attitude toward performing the behaviour, subjective norms and perceived
      behavioural control-has been applied to examine sleep hygiene behaviours in young
      adults. We expanded on prior works by using a longitudinal design to examine the
      effects of TPB factors, together with sleep hygiene knowledge and planning
      constructs, on sleep hygiene behaviours and on sleep quality and health in a
      group of Iranian adolescents. A total of 1822 healthy adolescents (mean age =
      13.97) from 25 high schools in Qazvin, Iran, completed a self-reported survey at
      baseline and 6 months later. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to
      delineate the pathway from adolescents' sleep hygiene knowledge, TPB constructs
      of their behavioural intentions and sleep hygiene behaviours and their sleep
      quality and self-reported health. The SEM model demonstrated that although
      behavioural intention, coping planning and action planning predicted the sleep
      hygiene behaviours positively 6 months later with acceptable model fit
      [comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.936; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.902; root mean
      square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.080; standardized root mean square
      residual (SRMR) = 0.044], sleep hygiene knowledge did not predict behavioural
      intentions significantly. Sleep hygiene behaviours were associated with sleep
      quality and psychiatric wellbeing. Thus, the TPB, combined with coping and action
      planning, is useful in understanding the sleep hygiene behaviours of adolescents.
      Health-care providers may want to emphasize TPB constructs and coping and action
      planning to improve adolescents' sleep hygiene behaviours, rather than rely
      solely upon increasing adolescents' sleep hygiene knowledge.

PMID- 28593638
TI  - Thrombotic and Nonthrombotic Types of Intratesticular Varicoceles: Value of
      Sonography for the Diagnosis.
AB  - An intratesticular varicocele is an uncommon entity, and its clinical importance
      remains unclear. The diagnosis can be made in the case of an intratesticular
      tortuous vein that shows retrograde flow on color Doppler sonography. The
      anatomic location and course of the intratesticular varicocele within the
      testicular parenchyma and its association with the existence of an ipsilateral
      extratesticular varicocele may vary among patients. The pathophysiologic
      mechanisms remain unclear; however, it may be questioned whether there is an
      association between testicular atrophy and intratesticular varicocele
      development. Although the diagnosis is usually made incidentally, patients may
      rarely present with acute scrotal pain due to acute thrombosis of an
      intratesticular varicocele.

PMID- 28593640
TI  - Truth in Advertising in Neuromodulation in the Era of "Alternative Facts".

PMID- 28593639
TI  - The Neurostimulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee (NACC): Recommendations
      on Bleeding and Coagulation Management in Neurostimulation Devices.

PMID- 28593641
TI  - The Polyanalgesic Consensus Conference (PACC): Recommendations on Intrathecal
      Drug Infusion Systems Best Practices and Guidelines.

PMID- 28593642
TI  - Assembly and performance of a 6.4 T cryogen-free dynamic nuclear polarization
      system.
AB  - We report on the assembly and performance evaluation of a 180-GHz/6.4 T dynamic
      nuclear polarization (DNP) system based on a cryogen-free superconducting magnet.
      The DNP system utilizes a variable-field superconducting magnet that can be
      ramped up to 9 T and equipped with cryocoolers that can cool the sample space
      with the DNP assembly down to 1.8 K via the Joule-Thomson effect. A homebuilt DNP
      probe insert with top-tuned nuclear magnetic resonance coil and microwave port
      was incorporated into the sample space in which the effective sample temperature
      is approximately 1.9 K when a 180-GHz microwave source is on during DNP
      operation. 13 C DNP of [1-13 C] acetate samples doped with trityl OX063 and 4-oxo
      TEMPO in this system have resulted in solid-state 13 C polarization levels of 58
      +/- 3% and 18 +/- 2%, respectively. The relatively high 13 C polarization levels
      achieved in this work have demonstrated that the use of a cryogen-free
      superconducting magnet for 13 C DNP is feasible and in fact, relatively efficient
      a major leap to offset the high cost of liquid helium consumption in DNP
      experiments.

PMID- 28593643
TI  - Did the Affordable Care Act's Dependent Coverage Expansion Affect Race/Ethnic
      Disparities in Health Insurance Coverage?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the impact of the dependent coverage expansion (DCE) on
      insurance disparities across race/ethnic groups. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING:
      Survey data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). STUDY
      DESIGN: Triple-difference (DDD) models were applied to repeated cross-sectional
      surveys of the U.S. adult population. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Data
      from 6 years (2008-2013) of the NSDUH were combined. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
      Following the DCE, the relative odds of insurance increased 1.5 times (95 percent
      CI 1.1, 1.9) among whites compared to blacks and 1.4 times (95 percent CI 1.1,
      1.8) among whites compared to Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS: Health reform efforts, such
      as the DCE, can have negative effects on race/ethnic disparities, despite
      positive impacts in the general population.

PMID- 28593644
TI  - Efficient tRNA degradation and quantification in Escherichia coli cell extract
      using RNase-coated magnetic beads: A key step toward codon emancipation.
AB  - Emancipating sense codons toward a minimized genetic code is of significant
      interest to science and engineering. A key approach toward sense codon
      emancipation is the targeted in vitro removal of native tRNA. However, challenges
      remain such as the insufficient depletion of tRNA in lysate-based in vitro
      systems and the high cost of the purified components system (PURE). Here we used
      RNase-coated superparamagnetic beads to efficiently degrade E. coli endogenous
      tRNA. The presented method removes >99% of tRNA in cell lysates, while partially
      preserving cell-free protein synthesis activity. The resulting tRNA-depleted
      lysate is compatible with in vitro-transcribed synthetic tRNA for the production
      of peptides and proteins. Additionally, we directly measured residual tRNA using
      quantitative real-time PCR. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers
      Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1401-1407, 2017.

PMID- 28593645
TI  - Ultraviolet A photosensitivity profile of dexchlorpheniramine maleate and
      promethazine-based creams: Anti-inflammatory, antihistaminic, and skin barrier
      protection properties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unwanted side effects such as dryness, hypersensitivity, and
      cutaneous photosensitivity are challenge for adherence and therapeutical success
      for patients using treatments for inflammatory and allergic skin response. AIMS:
      In this study, we compared the effects of two dermatological formulations, which
      are used in inflammatory and/or allergic skin conditions: dexchlorpheniramine
      maleate (DCP; 10 mg/g) and promethazine (PTZ; 20 mg/g). METHODS: We evaluated
      both formulations for phototoxicity potential, skin irritation, anti-inflammatory
      and antihistaminic abilities, and skin barrier repair in vitro and ex vivo using
      the standard OECD test guideline n degrees  432, the ECVAM protocol n degrees 
      78, and cultured skin explants from a healthy patient. Ultraviolet A was chosen
      as exogenous agent to induce allergic and inflammatory response. RESULTS: Both
      PTZ and DCP promoted increases in interleukin-1 (IL-1) synthesis in response to
      ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation compared to control. However, the increase observed
      with PTZ was significantly greater than the DCP, indicating that the latter has a
      lower irritant potential. DCP also demonstrated a protective effect on UVA
      induced leukotriene B4 and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) synthesis.
      Conversely, PTZ demonstrates more robust UVA antihistaminic activity. Likewise,
      PTZ promoted a significantly greater increase in the production of involucrin and
      keratin 14, both associated with protective skin barrier property. CONCLUSION: In
      conclusion, these data suggest possible diverging UVA response mechanisms of DCP
      and PTZ, which gives greater insight into the contrasting photosensitizing
      potential between DCP and PTZ observed in the patients.

PMID- 28593646
TI  - Cancer incidence and mortality: A cohort study in China, 2008-2013.
AB  - The National Central Cancer Registry of China (NCCR) was the only available
      source of cancer monitoring in China, even though only about 70% of cancer
      registration sites were qualified by now. In this study, based on a national
      large prospective cohort-the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), we aimed to provide
      additional cancer statistics and compare the difference of cancer burden between
      urban and rural areas of China. A total of 497,693 cancer-free participants aged
      35-74 years were recruited and successfully followed up from 2004 to 2013 in 5
      urban and 5 rural areas across China. Except for traditional registration
      systems, the national health insurance system and active follow-up were used to
      determine new cancer incidents and related deaths. The mortality-to-incidence
      ratio (MIR) was used to compare the differences of cancer burden between urban
      and rural areas of China. We found that cancer mortality coincided well between
      our cohort and NCCR, while the incidence was much higher in our cohort. Based on
      CKB, we found the MIR of all cancers was 0.54 in rural areas, which was
      approximately one-third higher than that in urban areas with 0.39. Cancer
      profiles in urban areas were transiting to Western distributions, which were
      characterized with high incidences of breast cancer and colorectal cancer; while
      cancers of the esophagus, liver and cervix uteri were still common in rural areas
      of China. Our results provide additional cancer statistics of China and
      demonstrate the differences of cancer burden between urban and rural areas of
      China.

PMID- 28593647
TI  - Diets and trophic guilds of small fishes from coastal marine habitats in western
      Taiwan.
AB  - The diets and trophic guilds of small fishes were examined along marine sandy
      beaches and in estuaries at depths <1.5 m in western Taiwan, Republic of China.
      Copepods were the most frequently identified item in fish guts, indicating they
      are key prey for the fish assemblages studied. Piscivore, crustacivore,
      detritivore, omnivore, zooplanktivore and terrestrial invertivore trophic guilds
      were identified. The zooplanktivore guild contained the most fish species.
      Maximum prey size consumption was positively correlated with standard length (LS
      ) in seven species and at the assemblage level and negatively correlated with LS
      in a single detritivorous species. The diet data and trophic guild scheme
      produced by this study contribute to an understanding of coastal marine food webs
      and can inform ecosystem-based fisheries management.

PMID- 28593648
TI  - Evaluation of First-Line Sorafenib Treatment for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
      in Kidney Transplant Patients: A Single-Center Experience With Four Cases.

PMID- 28593649
TI  - The Effect of Gabapentin and Tramadol in Cancer Pain Induced by Glioma Cell in
      Rat Femur.
AB  - Preclinical Research The presence of pain as part of the cancer process is
      variable. Glioblastoma multiform (GBM) can produce bone metastasis, a condition
      that involves other pathological phenotypes including neuropathic and
      inflammatory pain. Tramadol and gabapentin are drugs used in the treatment of
      neuropathic pain. However, there are no studies evaluating their analgesic
      effects in bone metastasis. We produced a pain model induced by the inoculation
      of glioma cells (105 ) into the rat femur, by perforating the intercodiloid
      fossa. Painful behavior was evaluated by measuring mechanical allodynia using the
      Von Frey test while thermal hyperalgesia was assessed in the plantar test.
      Histopathological features were evaluated and antinociceptive responses were
      compared using tramadol and gabapentin. The inoculation of cells inside the right
      femur produced nociceptive behaviors. Tramadol and gabapentin produced an anti
      allodynic effect in this condition, but tramadol did not produce an anti
      hyperalgesic response. The development of this model will allow us to perform
      tests to elucidate the pathology of bone metastasis, cancer pain, and in
      particular the pain produced by glioma. Drug Dev Res 78 : 173-183, 2017. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28593650
TI  - Delocalized Spin States in 2D Atomic Layers Realizing Enhanced Electrocatalytic
      Oxygen Evolution.
AB  - The electrocatalytic activity of transition-metal-based compounds is strongly
      related to the spin states of metal atoms. However, the ways for regulation of
      spin states of catalysts are still limited, and the underlying relationship
      between the spin states and catalytic activities remains unclear. Herein, for the
      first time, by taking NiII -based compounds without high or low spin states for
      example, it is shown that their spin states can be delocalized after introducing
      structural distortion to the atomic layers. The delocalized spin states for Ni
      atoms can provide not only high electrical conductivity but also low adsorption
      energy between the active sites and reaction intermediates for the system. As
      expected, the ultrathin nanosheets of nickel-chalcogenides with structural
      distortions show dramatically enhanced activity in electrocatalytic oxygen
      evolution compared to their corresponding bulk samples. This work establishes new
      way for the design of advanced electrocatalysts in transition-metal-based
      compounds via regulation of spin states.

PMID- 28593651
TI  - Outcomes for patients with synchronous and metachronous primary lung cancer after
      diagnosis of head and neck cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Not-infrequently patients with head and neck cancer are also
      diagnosed with synchronous lung cancer or metachronous primary lung cancer, which
      complicates the treatment decisions and prognosis. METHODS: Patients were
      identified from a database of patients with head and neck cancer with second
      primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). RESULTS: Thirty-four eligible
      patients (15 with synchronous lung cancer and 19 with metachronous lung cancer)
      were identified. Thirteen of 15 patients with synchronous lung cancer received
      curative intent treatment for head and neck cancer first. Six of 15 patients were
      in complete remission, 5 of 15 patients had died, and 4 were alive with
      progressive disease. Median time between 2 diagnoses was 47 months in the
      metachronous lung cancer group. Twelve patients had died, 3 were alive with
      disease, and 4 were lost to follow-up. Median survival from the time of lung
      cancer diagnosis was 13 months with a trend to better survival with synchronous
      lung cancer (15 vs 11 months; p = .11). CONCLUSION: Aggressive multidisciplinary
      management of second primary lung malignancies in patients with head and neck
      cancer can result in respectable long-term disease control particularly in
      patients with synchronous lung cancer. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck
      39: 1544-1549, 2017.

PMID- 28593652
TI  - Pupil size as a measure of within-task learning.
AB  - Pupillometry is commonly used in research to determine how much mental effort an
      individual is exerting while completing tasks. Traditionally, larger pupils are
      associated with increased mental effort when completing more difficult tasks.
      However, little research has investigated how pupils change as individuals learn
      a new task. In theory, as one repeatedly completes a task, the task demands
      should reduce, reliance on working memory should decrease, and the task should
      become more automatic. This should translate to faster completion times and
      smaller peak pupil dilations. We tested this hypothesis by having participants
      complete multiple trials of a cognitive task that requires individuals to orient
      themselves in space relative to a target. We found that trial completion times
      and maximum pupil size significantly reduced across trials. These data suggest
      that measuring changes in pupil dilation may help researchers determine whether
      individuals have shifted from a learned procedure to an automatic processing of
      information when learning a new task.

PMID- 28593653
TI  - Cellular Potts modeling of complex multicellular behaviors in tissue
      morphogenesis.
AB  - Mathematical modeling is an essential approach for the understanding of complex
      multicellular behaviors in tissue morphogenesis. Here, we review the cellular
      Potts model (CPM; also known as the Glazier-Graner-Hogeweg model), an effective
      computational modeling framework. We discuss its usability for modeling complex
      developmental phenomena by examining four fundamental examples of tissue
      morphogenesis: (i) cell sorting, (ii) cyst formation, (iii) tube morphogenesis in
      kidney development, and (iv) blood vessel formation. The review provides an
      introduction for biologists for starting simulation analysis using the CPM
      framework.

PMID- 28593654
TI  - Linkage of microbial kinetics and bacterial community structure of MBR and hybrid
      MBBR-MBR systems to treat salinity-amended urban wastewater.
AB  - Three pilot-scale bioreactors were started up and operated under salinity-amended
      urban wastewater feeding. The bioreactors were configured as membrane bioreactor
      and two different hybrid, moving bed biofilm reactor-membrane bioreactor and
      operated with a hydraulic retention time of 9.5 h, a solid residence time of
      11.75 days and a total solids concentration of 2500 mg L-1 . The three systems
      showed excellent performance in suspended solids, BOD5 , and COD removal (values
      of 96-100%, 97-99%, and 88-90%, respectively), but poor nitrogen removal (values
      of 20-30%). The bacterial community structure during the start-up phase and the
      stabilization phase were different, as showed by beta-diversity analyses. The
      differences between aerobic and anoxic biomass-and between suspended and attached
      biomass-were higher at the start-up phase than at the stabilization phase. The
      start-up phase showed high abundances of Chiayiivirga (mean values around 3-12%
      relative abundance) and Luteimonas (5-8%), but in the stabilization phase, the
      domination belonged to Thermomonas (3-14%), Nitrobacter (3-7%), Ottowia (3
      11.5%), and Comamonas (2-6%), among others. Multivariate redundancy analyses
      showed that Thermomonas and Nitrosomonas were positively correlated with fast
      autotrophic kinetics, while Caulobacter and Ottowia were positively correlated
      with fast heterotrophic kinetics. Nitrobacter, Rhodanobacter, and Comamonas were
      positively correlated with fast autotrophic and heterotrophic kinetics. (c) 2017
      American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1483-1495, 2017.

PMID- 28593655
TI  - Vitamin D levels strongly influence bone mineral density and bone turnover
      markers during weight gain in female patients with anorexia nervosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate a potential role for vitamin D
      status on bone mineral density (BMD) during weight gain in patients with anorexia
      nervosa (AN). METHOD: Spine and hip BMD assessed by dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA), serum vitamin D (25-OH-D), N-propeptide of type I collagen
      (P1NP), C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX), and intact parathyroid
      hormone (PTH) were measured before and after a 20-week intensive weight
      restoration program in ninety-one female patients with AN and secondary
      amenorrhoea. RESULTS: Ninety-one consecutive female patients (age 13-45 years;
      weight 39.4 +/- 5.6 kg, body mass index [BMI] 15.1 +/- 1.6 kg m-2 ) were included
      in the study. Although weight and BMI significantly increased in all patients
      during treatment, mean BMD only significantly increased at the spine (1.0% +/-
      3.6%, p = .009). The increase in spine BMD was significantly higher only above
      post-treatment 25-OH-D levels of 30 ng mL-1 (2.5% vs. 0.5%, respectively, for 25
      OH-D >= and < 30 ng mL-1 , p = .026). There was a significant decrease in bone
      resorption (CTX; p = .043) and increased bone formation (P1NP; p < .001) after
      weight restoration. Nevertheless, a significant increase in PTH was also found,
      which was inversely correlated with decreased post-treatment 25-OH-D levels (R2 
      = .153, p < .001). DISCUSSION: Hypovitaminosis D may counteract the efficacy of
      refeeding in AN through increased bone resorption mediated by secondary
      hyperparathyroidism, which strongly supports the use of vitamin D supplements for
      bone health in AN.

PMID- 28593657
TI  - The silencing effects of the childhood innocence ideal: the perceptions and
      practices of fathers in educating their children about sexuality.
AB  - This study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore eight
      fathers' perceptions and practices in talking to their ten year old children
      about puberty, relationships and reproduction. The fathers participated in face
      to face interviews which were analysed idiographically initially, followed by
      analysis at the group level. Interpretations were then developed through critical
      application of a Foucauldian lens of governmentality and biopower. The results
      revealed a tension between the fathers' cognitions, accounts and behaviours.
      Their practices were largely characterised by silence yet they reported positive
      attitudes towards children's sexuality education and perceived themselves as
      equipped and willing to take on the role of sexuality educator. They also
      reported enjoying open relationships with their children. Interpretations centred
      on contradictions and conflict between the majority of the fathers' aspirations
      and the compelling nature of the childhood innocence discourse as a technology of
      governmentality. Whilst all of the fathers felt that it was in their children's
      interests to learn about sexuality, all but one adhered to hegemonic protective
      discourses and unquestioningly integrated their normalising effects into their
      fathering practices which, it is argued, may paradoxically render their children
      more vulnerable both now and in the future.

PMID- 28593656
TI  - Clinical outcome and its predictors in hemodialysis patients with critical limb
      ischemia undergoing endovascular therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine prognosis and causes of death in
      hemodialysis (HD) patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) after endovascular
      therapy (EVT). BACKGROUND: EVT is becoming a first-line treatment in patients
      with CLI. Nonetheless, only a few studies have examined prognosis and its
      predictors in HD patients with CLI undergoing EVT, who are known to be at high
      risk. Moreover, causes of death in this population are not clarified to date.
      METHODS: We examined 175 consecutive patients who underwent EVT for CLI between
      March 2009 and March 2014. RESULTS: Among these, 126 patients were dependent on
      HD and their 2-year all-cause death and 2-year major amputation rates were 28%
      and 14%, respectively. Cox proportional hazards analyses revealed that lower body
      mass index (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.82-0.98, P
      = 0.03) and prior stroke (HR = 2.34, 95%CI = 1.10-4.85, P = 0.03) were
      independent predictors of all-cause death, and lower serum albumin (HR = 0.44,
      95%CI = 0.22-0.92, P = 0.03) along with currently smoking (HR = 4.73, 95%CI =
      1.43-14.1, P = 0.01) were independent predictors of major amputation in HD
      patients. The leading cause of death in this population was infections, most of
      which were lower extremity infections. CONCLUSIONS: The incidences of all-cause
      death and major amputation seemed acceptable in HD patients undergoing EVT for
      CLI. In this high-risk subset, management of infection might be a potential
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 28593658
TI  - Dermoscopic features of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lip.

PMID- 28593659
TI  - Interleukin-17-induced expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in
      cardiac myocytes requires nuclear factor kappaB through the phosphorylation of
      p65.
AB  - IL-17 plays a key role in a variety of autoimmune diseases. MCP-1 is involved in
      the infiltration of mononuclear cells of myocardium in VMC. However, the
      relationship between IL-17 and MCP-1 in myocardial injury remains unclear. In
      this study, expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein in cardiac myocytes was detected
      with qRT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. It was found that IL-17A induced MCP-1
      expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner in cardiac myocytes, which could
      be blocked by IL-17A and IL-17RA neutralizing antibodies. NF-kappaB p65 and p-p65
      protein expression in cardiac myocytes was studied with western blotting. Rates
      of p-p65 in whole lysates and in nuclear lysates all increased in the first 15
      min. Meanwhile, the amount of NF-kappaB p65 in whole lysates did not change, but
      the amount of NF-kappaB p65 in nuclear lysates increased in the first 15 min.
      Then the optimal sequence and concentration of NF-kappaB p65 siRNAs was selected.
      After transfection of 10 nM siRNA-2 of NF-kappaB p65 into cardiac myocytes before
      stimulation by IL-17A, expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein obviously decreased.
      In conclusion, expression of MCP-1 induced by IL-17 requires NF-kappaB through
      the phosphorylation of p65 in cardiac myocytes, which is meaningful to study the
      onset of chronic viral myocarditis and will provide a new target for the
      treatment of viral myocarditis.

PMID- 28593661
TI  - LONG-TERM EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION IN ESCHERICHIA COLI. III. VARIATION AMONG
      REPLICATE POPULATIONS IN CORRELATED RESPONSES TO NOVEL ENVIRONMENTS.
AB  - Twelve populations of Escherichia coli were founded from a single clone and
      propagated for 2000 generations in identical glucose-limited environments. During
      this time, the mean fitnesses of the evolving populations relative to their
      common ancestor improved greatly, but their fitnesses relative to one another
      diverged only slightly. Although the populations showed similar fitness
      increases, they may have done so by different underlying adaptations, or they may
      have diverged in other respects by random genetic drift. Therefore, we examined
      the relative fitnesses of independently derived genotypes in two other sugars,
      maltose and lactose, to determine whether they were homogeneous or heterogeneous
      in these environments. The genetic variation among the derived lines in fitness
      on maltose and lactose was more than 100-times greater than their variation in
      fitness on glucose. Moreover, the glucose-adapted genotypes, on average, showed
      significant adaptation to lactose, but not to maltose. That pathways for use of
      maltose and glucose are virtually identical in E. coli, except for their distinct
      mechanisms of uptake, suggests that the derived genotypes have adapted primarily
      by improved glucose transport. From consideration of the number of generations of
      divergence, the mutation rate in E. coli, and the proportion of its genome
      required for growth on maltose (but not glucose), we hypothesize that pleiotropy
      involving the selected alleles, rather than random genetic drift of alleles at
      other loci, was the major cause of the variation among the derived genotypes in
      fitness on these other sugars.

PMID- 28593660
TI  - Inhibition of left ventricular stimulation due to left ventricular lead failure
      and the left ventricular T-wave protection algorithm in patient with cardiac
      resynchronization therapy and pacemaker dependency.
AB  - The electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation in patients with cardiac
      resynchronization therapy (CRT) is often a perplexing problem. The difficulty in
      the device evaluation increases in the presence of unfamiliar timing cycles and a
      lead dysfunction. Authors describe a special function of a Biotronik CRT devices
      called the left ventricle T-wave protection (LVTP), and demonstrate its behavior
      in a patient with left ventricular (LV) lead failure. This report shows that
      sometimes it might be difficult to understand the loss of resynchronization in 12
      lead ECG when LVTP feature is on, and a malfunction of left ventricular lead
      sensing occurs.

PMID- 28593662
TI  - FINE-SCALE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF A TURKEY OAK FOREST.
AB  - Theoretical models and computer simulations of the genetic structure of a
      continuous population predict the existence of patches of highly inbred
      individuals when gene flow within the population is limited. A map of the three
      genotypes of a two-allele locus is expected to exhibit patches of homozygotes
      embedded in a matrix of heterozygotes, when gene flow is limited. A search for
      such patch structure was made on a 160 * 160 m plot within a continuous 60+ ha
      old-growth stand of Quercus laevis (turkey oak). Approximately 3400 trees were
      genotyped for 9 polymorphic loci using starch-gel electrophoresis, and the
      genetic structure was analyzed with spatial autocorrelation (both nominal and
      interval), hierarchical F statistics, and number-of-alleles-in-common. Adults
      (diameter at breast height > 0) and juveniles were analyzed separately but showed
      similar structure. While no distinct patch structure was found, a greater degree
      of relatedness was observed on a scale of 5 m-10 m than at greater distances,
      probably because of the limited acorn dispersal from maternal trees and a small
      amount of cloning by root sprouts. A computer simulation of a 10,000 tree forest
      breeding for 10,000 yr indicates that the effective neighborhood sizes (of
      randomly drawn seed- and pollen-donors) are both in excess of 440 individuals.
      The model thus cannot distinguish the observed data from panmictic mating.

PMID- 28593663
TI  - CYTOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF CHROMOSOMAL INTERMEDIATES FROM A HYBRID ZONE BETWEEN TWO
      CHROMOSOME RACES OF THE SCELOPORUS GRAMMICUS COMPLEX (SAURIA, PHRYNOSOMATIDAE).
AB  - Underdominance for chromosomal rearrangements is the central assumption of
      several models of chromosomally based speciation including the cascade model,
      proposed for the Sceloporus grammicus complex. Several cytotypes of the S.
      grammicus complex hybridize at localities in central Mexico. A hybrid zone
      between two of the most chromosomally divergent races (= cytotypes) of S.
      grammicus (F5, 2n = 34 and FM2, 2n = 44-46) was examined to assess the meiotic
      effects of heterozygosity at multiple chromosomes. Meiosis was examined in males
      heterozygous for "simple" Robertsonian fissions at chromosomes 1, 3, 4, and 6
      and/or a pericentric inversion at chromosome 4. Analysis of synaptonemal
      complexes and chromosomal configurations at diakinesis showed trivalent formation
      in fission heterozygotes and heterosynapsis (lack of reverse-loop formation) in
      an inversion heterozygote. Analysis of metaphase II configurations revealed
      primarily balanced segregation and low levels of nondisjunction regardless of
      chromosomal background. The lack of underdominance associated with "simple"
      fission heterozygosity in this narrow hybrid zone contradicts the key premise of
      most chromosomally based models of speciation.

PMID- 28593665
TI  - OVULE PACKAGING IN STOCHASTIC POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION ENVIRONMENTS.
AB  - The modular morphology of plants has important consequences for reproductive
      strategies. Ovules are packaged in discrete structures (flowers) that usually
      vary stochastically in pollen capture and ovule fertilization, because of the
      vagaries of pollen transfer by external agents. Different ovule packaging schemes
      may use limited reproductive resources more or less effectively, so that some
      number of ovules per flower may be optimal, given the prevailing probabilities of
      ovule fertilization. I derive a phenotypic model for ovule number per flower that
      maximizes the expected total ovule fertilizations on a plant when pollination and
      fertilization vary randomly among individual flowers. This model predicts that,
      except for small or inexpensive flowers, ovules should be "oversupplied" relative
      to the mean receipt of pollen tubes, so that pollen limitation of seed set should
      be common. Published data are congruent with this prediction. Additional
      hypotheses on the relation of ovule packaging to floral cost, plant size, and
      variance in pollen receipt are suggested by the model, but few data exist to
      evaluate these hypotheses.

PMID- 28593664
TI  - EVOLUTION AND EXTINCTION IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT: A QUANTITATIVE-GENETIC
      ANALYSIS.
AB  - Because of the ubiquity of genetic variation for quantitative traits, virtually
      all populations have some capacity to respond evolutionarily to selective
      challenges. However, natural selection imposes demographic costs on a population,
      and if these costs are sufficiently large, the likelihood of extinction will be
      high. We consider how the mean time to extinction depends on selective pressures
      (rate and stochasticity of environmental change, and strength of selection),
      population parameters (carrying capacity, and reproductive capacity), and
      genetics (rate of polygenic mutation). We assume that in a randomly mating,
      finite population subject to density-dependent population growth, individual
      fitness is determined by a single quantitative-genetic character under Gaussian
      stabilizing selection with the optimum phenotype exhibiting directional change,
      or random fluctuations, or both. The quantitative trait is determined by a finite
      number of freely recombining, mutationally equivalent, additive loci. The
      dynamics of evolution and extinction are investigated, assuming that the
      population is initially under mutation-selection-drift balance. Under this model,
      in a directionally changing environment, the mean phenotype lags behind the
      optimum, but on the average evolves parallel to it. The magnitude of the lag
      determines the vulnerability to extinction. In finite populations, stochastic
      variation in the genetic variance can be quite pronounced, and bottlenecks in the
      genetic variance temporarily can impair the population's adaptive capacity enough
      to cause extinction when it would otherwise be unlikely in an effectively
      infinite population. We find that maximum sustainable rates of evolution or,
      equivalently, critical rates of environmental change, may be considerably less
      than 10% of a phenotypic standard deviation per generation.

PMID- 28593666
TI  - POSITIVE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN SELFING RATE AND POLLEN-OVULE RATIO WITHIN PLANT
      POPULATIONS.

PMID- 28593667
TI  - THE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF A HYBRID ZONE BETWEEN TWO CHROMOSOME RACES OF THE
      SCELOPORUS GRAMMICUS COMPLEX (SAURIA, PHRYNOSOMATIDAE) IN CENTRAL MEXICO.
AB  - The F5 (2n = 34) and FM2 (2n = 44-46) chromosome races of the Sceloporus
      grammicus complex form a parapatric hybrid zone in the Mexican state of Hidalgo,
      characterized by steep concordant clines among three diagnostic chromosome
      markers across a straight-line distance of about 2 km. Here, we show that this
      zone is actually structured into local patches in which hybridization extends
      over an extremely irregular front. The distribution of hybrid-index (HI) scores
      across the transect reveals some hybridization at almost all localities mapped in
      a central 7 km * 3 km area. Pooling the central samples produces both a strong
      heterozygote deficit for all diagnostic markers and strong linkage disequilibria
      between all pairwise combinations of these (unlinked) markers. Moreover, a highly
      significant association exists between the habitat on which each individual was
      caught and its karyotype (F5 chromosomes are more likely to be found on oak).
      Analysis of genotype frequencies over a range of spatial scales shows that there
      is no significant heterozygote deficit or habitat association within local areas
      of less than about 200 m; however, there is significant linkage disequilibrium
      over the smallest scales (R = D (pquv)1/2 = 0.29, support limits, 0.18-0.36) over
      100 m. These patterns suggest that lizards mate and choose habitats randomly
      within local patches. This conclusion is supported by mark-recapture estimates of
      dispersal (~ 80 m in a generation) and by inference of matings from embryo and
      maternal karyotypes. Closer examination of the two-dimensional pattern reveals a
      convoluted cline for all three markers, with a width of 830 m (support limits 770
      m-930 m). This cline width, combined with the strength of local linkage
      disequilibrium, implies a dispersal rate of sigma = 160 m in a generation and an
      effective selection pressure of 30% on each chromosome marker. The proportion of
      inviable embryos is greater in females from the center of the hybrid zone; this
      is caused by effects associated with both karyotype and location. The hybrid zone
      is likely to be maintained by selection against chromosomal heterozygotes, by
      other kinds of selection against hybrids, and by selection adapting the
      chromosome races to different habitats. The structure of the contact may be
      caused by both random drift and by selection in relation to habitat.

PMID- 28593668
TI  - EVOLUTION OF ASEXUALITY IN THE COSMOPOLITAN MARINE CLAM LASAEA.
AB  - The marine clam genus Lasaea is unique among marine bivalves in that it contains
      both sexual and asexual lineages. We employed molecular tools to infer
      intrageneric relationships of geographically restricted sexual versus
      cosmopolitan asexual forms. Polymerase chain reaction primers were used to
      amplify and sequence homologous 624 nucleotide fragments of COIII from polyploid,
      asexual, direct-developing individuals representing northeastern Pacific,
      northeastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, southern Indian Ocean, and Australian
      populations. DNA sequences also were obtained from the two known diploid
      congeners, the Australian sexual, indirect developer, Lasaea australis, and an
      undescribed meiotic Australian direct developer. Estimated tree topologies did
      not support monophyly for polyploid asexual Lasaea lineages. A robust dichotomy
      was evident in all phylogenetic trees and each of the two main branches included
      one of the diploid meitoic Australian congeners. Lasaea australis clustered with
      two of the direct-developing, polyploid asexual haplotypes, one from Australia,
      the other from the northeastern Atlantic. Monophyly is supported for the diploid
      Australian direct-developing lineage together with the remaining polyploid
      asexual lineages from the northeastern Pacific, northeastern Atlantic,
      Mediterranean, and southern Indian Ocean. These results indicate that asexual
      Lasaea lineages are polyphyletic and may have resulted from multiple
      hybridization events. The high degree of genetic divergence of asexual lineages
      from co-clustering meiotic congeners (16%-22%) and among geographically
      restricted monophyletic clones (9%-11%) suggests that asexual Lasaea lineages may
      be exceptionally long lived.

PMID- 28593669
TI  - FLORAL SEX ALLOCATION IN SEQUENTIALLY BLOOMING PLANTS.
AB  - In plants whose flowers develop in a sequence, different flowers may exhibit
      temporal variation in pollen donation and receipt such that the fitness
      contributions through male and female functions can vary among flowers.
      Dichogamy, or directional pollinator movements within inflorescences, can create
      situations where flowers in different stages in the sequence may differ in the
      numbers of flowers in the female stage available as potential mates. We present
      an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) analysis of the resource allocations
      expected in different flowers in hermaphroditic plants when the mating
      environments vary among flowers. This introduces a modular element into sex
      allocation models. Our analysis shows that such variation in the mating
      environments of flowers can select for differences in sex allocation between
      flowers. When male and female fertilities are nonlinear functions of the
      allocations, variation in resource availability can also select for variation in
      sex allocation among flowers. The influence of dichogamy and pollinator
      directionality on floral sex allocation is discussed, and the empirical evidence
      supporting the predictions derived from the model is briefly reviewed. The
      implications of our results for the evolution of andromonoecy and monoecy are
      discussed.

PMID- 28593670
TI  - A REEXAMINATION OF THE POLLEN-DONATION HYPOTHESIS IN AN EXPERIMENTAL POPULATION
      OF ASCLEPIAS EXALTATA.
AB  - The evolution of large floral displays in hermaphroditic flowering plants has
      been attributed to natural selection acting to enhance male, rather than female,
      reproductive success. Proponents of the "pollen-donation hypothesis" have assumed
      that maternal resources, rather than levels of effective pollination, limit fruit
      set. We investigated the pollen-donation hypothesis in an experimental population
      of poke milkweed, Asclepias exaltata, where effective pollination did not limit
      fruit set. Specifically, we examined the effects of flower number per plant, and
      flower number per umbel on male reproductive success (number of fruits sired) and
      female reproductive success (number of fruits matured). In 1990, a paternity
      analysis was performed on fruits collected from 53 plants whose inflorescences
      were not manipulated. Flower number per plant was significantly correlated with
      male success, but not with plant gender. Flower number per plant was also
      significantly correlated with female success, but umbel number and stem number
      per plant together explained more than half (58%) the variation in female
      success. The percentage of fruit set was not significantly correlated with flower
      number per plant. Plants with large floral displays did not disproportionately
      increase in male reproductive success, relative to female success, as predicted
      by the pollen-donation hypothesis. In 1991, the effect of flower number per umbel
      on male and female reproductive success was investigated. Flower number per umbel
      was manipulated on four umbels per plant by removing flowers to leave 6, 12, or
      18 flowers in each umbel. Plants with the largest umbels effectively pollinated
      twice as many flowers on other plants, but produced only 1.35 times as many
      fruits as plants with 6 and 12 flowers per umbel. Relative maleness of plants
      with large umbels was nearly twice that of small and medium umbels. Although
      these observations are consistent with the pollen-donation hypothesis at the
      level of umbels, they are problematic, because much of the variation in flower
      number per umbel exists within, rather than among, plants in natural populations.
      Thus, plants consist of both reproductively male (large) and female (small)
      inflorescences, which act to increase total reproductive success. It is therefore
      inappropriate to explain the evolution of large floral displays in milkweeds
      solely in terms of potential male reproductive success.

PMID- 28593671
TI  - DECEIT POLLINATION AND SELECTION ON FEMALE FLOWER SIZE IN BEGONIA INVOLUCRATA: AN
      EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH.

PMID- 28593672
TI  - THE EVOLUTION OF FITNESS.
AB  - In every generation, the mean fitness of populations increases because of natural
      selection and decreases because of mutations and changes in the environment. The
      magnitudes of these effects can be measured in two ways: either directly, by
      comparing the fitnesses of selected and unselected populations, or indirectly, by
      measuring the additive variance of fitness and making use of the fundamental
      theorem of natural selection. The available data suggest that the amount by which
      natural selection increases mean fitness each generation (or degradation
      decreases mean fitness) will usually be between 0.1% and 30%; more tentatively,
      it is suggested that values will typically fall between 1% and 10%. These values
      can be used to set an upper limit of 5%-10% on the genetic advantage of mate
      choice.

PMID- 28593673
TI  - THE EVOLUTION OF FLORAL LONGEVITY: RESOURCE ALLOCATION TO MAINTENANCE VERSUS
      CONSTRUCTION OF REPEATED PARTS IN MODULAR ORGANISMS.
AB  - The component parts of modular organisms often show interspecific variation in
      their longevity. In plants, the flower is an example of such a structure. Models
      are developed in this paper to predict optimal floral longevity (the optimal
      length of time that flowers should remain open and functional) under a variety of
      conditions. A tradeoff involving allocation of resources to floral construction
      versus floral maintenance is assumed. The main model variables are the rate at
      which pollen and seed fitness accrue over time (fitness-accrual rates) and the
      daily cost of maintaining an existing flower relative to the cost of constructing
      a new one (floral maintenance cost). Long-lived flowers are selected when fitness
      accrual rates and floral maintenance costs are low, whereas short-lived flowers
      are selected when fitness-accrual rates and floral maintenance costs are high.
      Dichogamy favors longer-lived flowers relative to homogamy, whereas
      nonindependence among flowers in their attractiveness to pollinators (attraction
      to flower clusters) selects for shorter-lived flowers. Reduction in floral
      maintenance costs later on in the flower's life favors longer-lived flowers.
      Observations on the dissemination and receipt of pollen in individual flowers
      over time, together with measurements of corolla respiration and nectar sugar
      production rate are required to test the model quantitatively. The parameters
      important to the evolution of optimal floral longevity (i.e., maintenance and
      construction costs, and fitness-accrual rates) may be general features of
      evolution of optimal longevities of other repeated structures.

PMID- 28593674
TI  - FEMALE FECUNDITY IN A HYBRID ZONE BETWEEN TWO CHROMOSOME RACES OF THE SCELOPORUS
      GRAMMICUS COMPLEX (SAURIA, PHRYNOSOMATIDAE).
AB  - Individuals of the F5 and FM2 cytotypes of the Sceloporus grammicus complex form
      a narrow zone of parapatric hybridization near Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico.
      Reproductive parameters were examined among chromosomally parental and hybrid
      females to assess the degree to which reduced clutch size is correlated with the
      level of chromosomal heterozygosity. Although clutch size in the two parental
      groups was highly correlated with female body size, this was not the case for
      females with intermediate karyotypes. These females displayed increased levels of
      infertility manifested as smaller clutches and as inviable embryos. F1 females
      produced the smallest average clutches and suffered the most precipitous
      fecundity loss (up to 75%). The number of heterozygous marker chromosomes and
      heterozygosity at chromosome 2 had significant effects on the number of viable
      embryos. Analysis of embryo karyotypes revealed the production of triploid
      offspring and an excess number of embryos heterozygous at chromosome 1.
      Differences in viability, among females heterozygous for the same number of
      chromosomes, suggest that genetic background of the female and/or sire may be an
      important factor in determining reproductive success.

PMID- 28593675
TI  - GENETIC VARIATION IN INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN THE RED FLOUR BEETLE TRIBOLIUM
      CASTANEUM.
AB  - Inbreeding depression varies among species and among populations within a
      species. Few studies, however, have considered the extent to which inbreeding
      depression varies within a single population. We report on two experiments to
      provide evidence that inbreeding depression is genetically variable, such that
      within a single population some lineages suffer severe inbreeding depression,
      others suffer only mild inbreeding depression, and some lineages actually
      increase in phenotypic value at higher levels of inbreeding. We examine the
      effects of population structure on inbreeding depression for two traits in the
      first experiment (adult dry weight and female relative fitness), and for seven
      traits in the second experiment (female and male adult dry weight, female and
      male relative fitness, female and male developmental time, and egg-to-adult
      viability). In the first experiment, we collected data from 4 families within
      each of 38 lineages derived from a single ancestral stock population and
      maintained for four generations of full-sib mating. Both traits demonstrate
      significant inbreeding depression and provide evidence that even within a single
      lineage there is significant genetic variability in inbreeding depression. In the
      second experiment, we collected data from 5 replicates for each of 15 lineages
      derived from the same ancestral population used in the first experiment; these
      lineages were maintained for four generations of full-sib mating. We also
      collected data on outbred control beetles in each generation and incorporated
      these data into the analyses to account for environmental effects in an unbiased
      manner. All traits except female and male developmental time show significant
      inbreeding depression. All traits showing inbreeding depression are genetically
      variable in inbreeding depression, as is evident from a significant linear
      lineage-*-f component. For both experiments, the effect of population structure
      on inbreeding depression is further evident from the increasing amount of
      variation that can be explained by the models used to measure inbreeding
      depression when additional levels of population structure are included. Genetic
      variation in inbreeding depression has important implications for conservation
      biology and may be an important factor in mating-system evolution.

PMID- 28593676
TI  - SEED SET AND SEED MASS IN IPOMOPSIS AGGREGATA: VARIANCE PARTITIONING AND
      INFERENCES ABOUT POSTPOLLINATION SELECTION.
AB  - Events that follow pollination, such as pollen-tube growth and seed maturation,
      comprise an important phase of angiosperm reproduction. Differential success
      during this "postpollination" phase may represent phenotypic selection, including
      sexual selection, or interaction between parents caused, for example, by their
      genetic similarity. By providing a detailed partitioning of variance in success,
      diallel crossing designs offer great potential to determine which processes are
      occurring and their relative magnitudes. We performed three partial diallels with
      the montane herb Ipomopsis aggregata, using a large sample of parental plants (69
      total). Embedded in the designs were crossing-distance treatments of 1 m, 10 m,
      and 100 m, reflecting a range of parental genetic similarity. We partitioned
      phenotypic variance in seed set per fruit into six components using restricted
      maximum-likelihood (REML) analysis. For one diallel, we also partitioned variance
      in seed mass into five components, and estimated two components of covariance
      between seed set and mass. Variance caused by maternal effects (Vmat ) comprised
      12%-35% of total variance in seed set and 62% of variance in seed mass, and there
      was a significant negative environmental covariance between seed set and seed
      mass. Parental interaction made no detectable contribution to phenotypic variance
      in either of our measures of postpollination success, although crossing distance
      did contribute slightly but significantly to fit of the model in some cases.
      Finally, there was no detectable paternal variance (Vpat ) in seed set or seed
      mass. These results are in keeping with reports from other studies of natural
      plant populations. The finding of little or no paternal variance in particular
      suggests little scope for postpollination sexual selection through the male
      function of cosexual plants such as I. aggregata.

PMID- 28593677
TI  - WHEN DOES EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION PREVENT EXTINCTION?

PMID- 28593678
TI  - SEX ALLOCATION IN THE MONOECIOUS HERB BEGONIA SEMIOVATA.
AB  - Sex-allocation models predict that the evolution of self-fertilization should
      result in a reduced allocation to male function and pollinator attraction in
      plants. The evolution of sex allocation may be constrained by both functional and
      genetic factors, however. We studied sex allocation and genetic variation for
      floral sex ratio and other reproductive traits in a Costa Rica population of the
      monoecious, highly selfing annual Begonia semiovata. Data on biomass of floral
      structures, flower sex ratios, and fruit set in the source population were used
      to calculate the average proportion of reproductive allocation invested in male
      function. Genetic variation and genetic correlations for floral sex ratio and for
      floral traits related to male and female function were estimated from the
      greenhouse-grown progeny of field-collected maternal families. The proportion of
      reproductive biomass invested in male function was low (0.34 at flowering, and
      0.07 for total reproductive allocation). Significant among-family variation was
      detected in the size (mass) of individual male and female flowers, in the
      proportion of male flowers produced, and in the proportion of total flower mass
      invested in male flowers. Significant among-family variation was also found in
      flower number per inflorescence, petal length of male and female flowers, and
      petal number of female flowers. Except for female petal length, we found no
      difference in the mean value of these characters between selfed and outcrossed
      progeny, indicating that, with the possible exception of female petal length, the
      among-family variation detected was not the result of variation among families in
      the level of inbreeding. Significant positive phenotypic and broad-sense genetic
      correlations were detected between the mass of individual male and female
      flowers, between male and female petal length, and between number of male and
      number of female flowers per inflorescence. The ratio of stamen-to-pistil mass
      (0.33) was low compared to published data for autogamous species with
      hermaphroditic flowers, suggesting that highly efficient selfing mechanisms may
      evolve in monoecious species. Our results indicate that the study population
      harbors substantial genetic variation for reproductive characters. The positive
      genetic correlation between investment in male and female flowers may reflect
      selection for maximum pollination efficiency, because in this self-pollinating
      species, each female flower requires a neighboring male flower to provide pollen.

PMID- 28593679
TI  - DYNAMICS OF A NOVEL CHROMOSOMAL POLYMORPHISM WITHIN A HYBRID ZONE BETWEEN TWO
      CHROMOSOME RACES OF THE SCELOPORUS GRAMMICUS COMPLEX (SAURIA, PHRYNOSOMATIDAE).
AB  - Several chromosome races of the mesquite lizard, Sceloporus grammicus complex,
      hybridize at localities in central Mexico. In most cases, the hybridizing
      populations are delineated by centric fissions at one or more of the
      macrochromosomes. One notable exception is the Tulancingo hybrid zone between the
      F5 and FM2 cytotypes. In addition to fission and/or inversion differences at
      chromosomes 1, 3, 4, and 6, these races differ by a complex rearrangement of
      chromosome 2, which carries the nucleolus-organizer region in this species. The
      meiotic consequences of heterozygosity at this chromosome were examined in males
      to assess the potential for this chromosome to contribute to the dynamics of the
      hybrid zone. Chromosomal analysis revealed several putative F1 hybrids and
      confirmed the production of nonparental chromosomal morphologies through
      recombination. Pachytene analysis revealed meiotic pairing difficulties
      associated with chromosome 2 in males heterozygous for the parental chromosomal
      morphologies. Significant aneuploidy is expected because of random disjunction of
      the chromosome-2 elements. As a result, these males likely suffer reduced
      fertiliity and fitness. In contrast, males heterozygous for recombinant
      chromosomal morphologies displayed low levels of meiotic irregularities and
      presumably exhibit higher fertility than individuals heterozygous for parental
      morphologies. It is hypothesized that the recombinant phenotypes facilitate gene
      flow between the F5 and FM2 cytotypes.

PMID- 28593680
TI  - DOES RECOMBINATION CONSTRAIN NEUTRAL DIVERGENCE AMONG BACTERIAL TAXA?
AB  - A coalescence model for predicting the fate of neutral divergence among closely
      related taxa distinguishable as separate DNA sequence clusters is presented here.
      The model simulates iteratively the positive feedback between sequence divergence
      and sexual isolation among taxa, where increases in sequence divergence result in
      reduced recombination, and reduced recombination results in increased sequence
      divergence. Iteration of this feedback is continued until sequence divergence
      either converges on a steady state or reaches a runaway process. The eventual
      outcome of sequence divergence was shown to depend on four estimable population
      genetic parameters: the expected intrataxon sequence diversity, the baseline rate
      of intertaxon recombination, the sensitivity of the recombination rate to
      sequence divergence, and the neutral mutation rate. The model can be used to
      determine whether neutral divergence among actual taxa is destined to stop at an
      equilibrium level, or whether neutral divergence will reach a runaway process.
      Application of the model to the group of taxa containing Bacillus subtilis and
      its closest relatives showed these taxa to be on a trajectory of unbounded
      neutral divergence from one another.

PMID- 28593682
TI  - Interactive pediatric emergency checklists to the palm of your hand - How the
      Pedi Crisis App traveled around the world.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive aids help clinicians manage critical events and have been
      shown to improve outcomes by providing critical information at the point of care.
      Critical event guidelines, such as the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia's Critical
      Events Checklists described in this article, can be distributed globally via
      interactive smartphone apps. From October 1, 2013 to January 1, 2014, we
      performed an observational study to determine the global distribution and
      utilization patterns of the Pedi Crisis cognitive aid app that the Society for
      Pediatric Anesthesia developed. We analyzed distribution and utilization metrics
      of individuals using Pedi Crisis on iOS (Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) devices
      worldwide. We used Google Analytics software (Google Inc., Mountain View, CA) to
      monitor users' app activity (eg, screen views, user sessions). METHODS: The
      primary outcome measurement was the number of user-sessions and geographic
      locations of Pedi Crisis user sessions. Each user was defined by the use of a
      unique Apple ID on an iOS device. RESULTS: Google Analytics correlates session
      activity with geographic location based on local Internet service provider logs.
      Pedi Crisis had 1 252 active users (both new and returning) and 4 140 sessions
      across 108 countries during the 3-month study period. Returning users used the
      app longer and viewed significantly more screens that new users (mean screen
      views: new users 1.3 [standard deviation +/-1.09, 95% confidence interval 1.22
      1.55]; returning users 7.6 [standard deviation +/-4.19, 95% confidence interval
      6.73-8.39]P<.01) CONCLUSIONS: Pedi Crisis was used worldwide within days of its
      release and sustained utilization beyond initial publication. The proliferation
      of handheld electronic devices provides a unique opportunity for professional
      societies to improve the worldwide dissemination of guidelines and evidence-based
      cognitive aids.

PMID- 28593683
TI  - Aging in hair follicle stem cells and niche microenvironment.
AB  - Hair graying and hair loss are prominent and common characteristics of the
      elderly population. In some individuals these processes can significantly impact
      their quality of life, leading to depression, anxiety and other serious mental
      health problems. Accordingly, there has been much interest in understanding the
      complex physiological changes within the hair follicle in the aging individual.
      It is now known that hair follicles represent a prototypical stem cell niche,
      where both micro- and macroenvironmental influences are integrated alongside stem
      cell-stem cell and stem cell-stem niche interactions to determine hair growth or
      hair follicle senescence. Recent studies have identified imbalanced stem cell
      differentiation and altered stem cell activity as important factors during hair
      loss, indicating new avenues for the development of therapeutic agents to
      stimulate hair growth. Here, we pull together the latest findings on the hair
      follicle stem cell niche and the multifactorial interactions underlying the
      various forms of hair loss.

PMID- 28593681
TI  - Initial anticoagulation in patients with pulmonary embolism: thrombolysis,
      unfractionated heparin, LMWH, fondaparinux, or DOACs?
AB  - The initial treatment of haemodynamically stable patients with pulmonary embolism
      (PE) has dramatically changed since the introduction of low molecular weight
      heparins (LMWHs). With the recent discovery of the direct oral anticoagulant
      drugs (DOACs), initial treatment of PE will be simplified even further. In
      several large clinical trials it has been demonstrated that DOACs are not
      inferior to standard therapy for the initial treatment of PE, and because of
      their practicability they are becoming the agents of first choice. However, many
      relative contraindications to DOACs were exclusion criteria in the clinical
      trials. Therefore, LMWHs will continue to play an important role in initial PE
      treatment and in some cases there still is a role for unfractionated heparin
      (UFH). In this review we will give an overview of the biophysical,
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of anticoagulants currently
      available for the initial management of PE. In addition, we will provide a
      comprehensive overview of the indications for the use of UFH, LMWHs and DOACs in
      the initial management of PE from a pharmacokinetic/-dynamic point of view.

PMID- 28593686
TI  - Hypostomus sertanejo (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), new armoured catfish species
      from north-eastern Brazil.
AB  - A re-evaluation of the armoured catfish species of Hypostomus in the Rio
      Jaguaribe, north-eastern Brazil, was prompted by the discovery of specimens with
      pale spots on a dark background collected from that basin c. 1936 and deposited
      at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Recent field collections in
      the Rio Jarguaribe basin confirmed the presence of the pale-spotted specimens and
      its distinctiveness as a new species. Hypostomus sertanejo n. sp. is diagnosed
      from other species of Hypostomus by having fins and dermal-plated regions of head
      and body with pale spots or vermiculations on darker background, teeth slender,
      asymmetrically bicuspid and numerous (34-75) on dentary and premaxilla, depressed
      dorsal-fin spine not reaching adipose spine, unbranched pectoral-fin spine longer
      than unbranched pelvic-fin ray, seven branched dorsal-fin rays and one (rarely
      two) predorsal plate(s) bordering supraoccipital. Ancistrus salgadae Fowler 1941
      is hypothesized to be a junior synonym of Hypostomus carvalhoi (Miranda-Ribeiro,
      1937), a dark-spotted Hypostomus described from the Rio Granjeiro, a tributary to
      the upper Rio Salgado.

PMID- 28593684
TI  - Thyroglobulin level at week 16 of pregnancy is superior to urinary iodine
      concentration in revealing preconceptual and first trimester iodine supply.
AB  - Pregnant women are prone to iodine deficiency due to the increased need for
      iodine during gestation. Progress has recently occurred in establishing serum
      thyroglobulin (Tg) as an iodine status biomarker, but there is no accepted
      reference range for iodine sufficiency during pregnancy. An observational study
      was conducted in 164 pregnant women. At week 16 of gestation urinary iodine
      concentration (UIC), serum Tg, and thyroid functions were measured, and
      information on the type of iodine supplementation and smoking were recorded. The
      parameters of those who started iodine supplementation (>=150 MUg/day) at least 4
      weeks before pregnancy (n = 27), who started at the detection of pregnancy (n =
      51), and who had no iodine supplementation (n = 74) were compared. Sufficient
      iodine supply was found in the studied population based on median UIC (162
      MUg/L). Iodine supplementation >=150 MUg/day resulted in higher median UIC
      regardless of its duration (nonusers: 130 MUg/L vs. prepregnancy iodine starters:
      240 MUg/L, and pregnancy iodine starters: 205 MUg/L, p < .001, and p = .023,
      respectively). Median Tg value of pregnancy starters was identical to that of
      nonusers (14.5 vs. 14.6 MUg/L), whereas prepregnancy starters had lower median Tg
      (9.1 MUg/L, p = .018). Serum Tg concentration at week 16 of pregnancy showed
      negative relationship (p = .010) with duration of iodine supplementation and
      positive relationship (p = .008) with smoking, a known interfering factor of
      iodine metabolism, by multiple regression analysis. Serum Tg at week 16 of
      pregnancy may be a promising biomarker of preconceptual and first trimester
      maternal iodine status, the critical early phase of foetal brain development.

PMID- 28593688
TI  - Similarity between non-neural granular cell tumors and granular cell fibrous
      papules.

PMID- 28593687
TI  - Self-Assembly of Cyclohelicate [M3 L3 ] Triangles Over [M4 L4 ] Squares, Despite
      Near-Linear Bis-terdentate L and Octahedral M.
AB  - Self-assembly of 1:1:2 MII (BF4 )2 (M=Zn or Fe), pyrazine-2,5-dicarbaldehyde (1)
      and 2-(2-aminoethyl)pyridine gave trimetallic triangle architectures rather than
      the anticipated tetrametallic [2*2] squares. Options for the nontrivial synthesis
      of 1 are considered, and synthetic details provided for both preferred routes.
      Rare cyclohelicate triangle architectures are observed for the pair of
      structurally characterized yellow-brown [Zn3 L3 ](BF4 )6 and dark green [Fe3 L3
      ](BF4 )6 complexes of the neutral bis-terdentate Schiff base L. In order to form
      these pyrazine-edged triangles, the octahedral metal ions-with all 6 N-donors
      provided by the terdentate binding pockets of two L-are located 0.4-0.5 A out of
      the plane of the bridging pyrazines, towards the center of the triangle. Density
      functional theory calculations confirm that simple particle counting entropic
      arguments, which predict triangles over squares, are correct here, with the
      triangles shown to be energetically favored over the corresponding squares.
      However, importantly, DFT analysis of these and related triangle versus square
      systems also show that vibrational contributions to entropy dominate and may
      significantly influence the preferred architecture, such that simple particle
      counting cannot in general be reliably employed to predict the observed
      architecture.

PMID- 28593685
TI  - One-year effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab therapy for inflammatory bowel
      disease: a prospective multicentre cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We recently showed that vedolizumab is effective in patients with
      Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) with prior anti-TNF failure in a
      multicentre compassionate early-access programme before marketing authorisation
      was granted to vedolizumab. AIMS: To assess effectiveness and safety of
      vedolizumab at week 54 in patients UC and CD. METHODS: Between June and December
      2014, 173 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 121 with ulcerative colitis (UC)
      were treated with vedolizumab induction therapy. Among those 294 patients, 272
      completed the induction period and were evaluated at the week 14 visit (161
      patients with CD and 111 with UC). Disease activity was assessed using the Harvey
      Bradshaw Index for CD and the partial Mayo Clinic score for UC. The primary
      outcome was steroid-free clinical remission at week 54. RESULTS: At week 54,
      steroid-free clinical remission rates at week 54 were 27.2% and 40.5% in patients
      with CD and UC respectively. In addition, the sustained steroid-free clinical
      remission (from week 14 to week 54) rates were 8.1% and 19.0% respectively. No
      deaths were observed. Severe adverse events occurred in 17 (7.2%) patients,
      including six (2.5%) leading to vedolizumab discontinuation. CONCLUSION:
      Vedolizumab is able to maintain steroid-free clinical remission in up to one
      third of patients with UC and CD at week 54 with a reasonable safety profile. A
      significant number of patients experienced loss of response during the first year
      of treatment, particularly in patients with CD.

PMID- 28593689
TI  - Measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds.
AB  - How long does it take for a newborn to recognize an object? Adults can recognize
      objects rapidly, but measuring object recognition speed in newborns has not
      previously been possible. Here we introduce an automated controlled-rearing
      method for measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual
      worlds. We raised newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) in strictly controlled
      environments that contained no objects other than a single virtual object, and
      then measured the speed at which the chicks could recognize that object from
      familiar and novel viewpoints. The chicks were able to recognize the object
      rapidly, at presentation rates of 125 ms per image. Further, recognition speed
      was equally fast whether the object was presented from familiar viewpoints or
      novel viewpoints (30 degrees  and 60 degrees  azimuth rotations). Thus, newborn
      chicks can recognize objects across novel viewpoints within a fraction of a
      second. These results demonstrate that newborns are capable of both rapid and
      invariant object recognition at the onset of vision.

PMID- 28593690
TI  - Stigma experience of families supporting an adult member with substance misuse.
AB  - Stigmatization of families supporting an adult member with substance misuse is
      common and undermines their capacity to support the person and maintain their own
      well-being. The aims of the present study were to understand affected family
      members (AFMs)' experience of stigma within the context of substance misuse, and
      to explicate what steps, if any, they took to try to counteract stigma and social
      isolation. Semistructured, audio-recorded qualitative interviews were conducted
      with 31 AFMs from Victoria in Australia. Interpretative phenomenological analysis
      was used to guide data collection and analysis. Two main themes and related
      subthemes abstracted from the data illustrated how participants perceived and
      responded to stigma associated with a family member's substance misuse: 'engaging
      in secrecy, and minimizing contact with others' and 'lack of knowledge and
      empathy, and judgmental attitudes reinforcing isolation'. A third theme,
      'adopting measures to moderate the effect of stigma', highlights how some
      attempted to respond to stigma by challenging informal supports' misconceptions
      about substance misuse, and being open selectively with others about their
      situation. Stigma against AFMs should be identified and challenged. Mental health
      nurses and other clinicians in the alcohol and other drugs field are in a strong
      position to support AFMs, with a particular focus on reducing courtesy stigma,
      challenging some clinicians' judgmental attitudes, and improving ways of
      communicating with families.

PMID- 28593691
TI  - Psychopharmacological treatment of psychotic mania and psychotic bipolar
      depression compared to non-psychotic mania and non-psychotic bipolar depression.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: An evidence base for the treatment of mania and bipolar depression
      with psychotic symptoms is lacking. Nevertheless, clinicians may have a
      preference for treating episodes of bipolar disorder with or without psychotic
      symptoms in different ways, which is likely to reflect notions of differential
      efficacy of treatments between these subtypes. This study aimed to investigate
      whether the psychopharmacological treatment of psychotic and non-psychotic
      episodes of mania and bipolar depression, respectively, differs in clinical
      practice. METHODS: We conducted a register-based study assessing the
      psychopharmacological treatment of all individuals receiving their first
      diagnosis of mania or bipolar depression between 2010 and 2012. The
      psychopharmacological treatment within 3 months following the time of diagnosis
      was considered. Potential differences in psychopharmacological treatment between
      the psychotic and non-psychotic subtypes of mania and bipolar depression,
      respectively, were investigated by means of Pearson's chi2 test and logistic
      regression adjusted for sex and age at diagnosis of bipolar disorder. RESULTS: A
      total of 827 patients were included in the analyses. The adjusted odds ratio
      (aOR) for treatment with an antipsychotic was 1.71 (95% confidence interval [CI]:
      1.18-2.48, P<.01) for psychotic mania and 3.89 (95% CI: 1.95-7.76, P<.001) for
      psychotic bipolar depression. The aOR for treatment with the combination of an
      antipsychotic and an anticonvulsant was 1.60 (95% CI: 1.06-2.43, P<.05) for
      psychotic mania. The aOR for treatment with the combination of an antipsychotic
      and an antidepressant was 2.50 (95% CI: 1.43-4.37, P<.01) for bipolar psychotic
      depression. CONCLUSIONS: It would be of interest to conduct studies evaluating
      whether antipsychotics represent the superior pharmacological treatment for
      psychotic mania and psychotic bipolar depression.

PMID- 28593692
TI  - It's worth the wait: optimizing questioning methods for effective intraoperative
      teaching.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of questioning to engage learners is critical to furthering
      resident education intraoperatively. Previous studies have demonstrated that
      higher level questioning and optimal wait times (>3 s) result in learner
      responses reflective of higher cognition and retention. Given the importance of
      intraoperative learning, we investigated question delivery in the operating room.
      METHODS: A total of 12 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were observed and recorded.
      All questions were transcribed and classified using Bloom's Taxonomy, a framework
      associated with hierarchical levels of learning outcomes. Wait time between
      question end and response was recorded. RESULTS: Six faculty attendings and seven
      house officers at our institution were observed. A total of 133 questions were
      recorded with an average number of questions per case of 11.2. The majority of
      questions 112 out of 133 (84%) were classified as Bloom's levels 1-3, with only
      6% of questions of the highest level. The wait time before the resident answered
      the question averaged 1.75 s, with attendings interceding after 2.50 s. Question
      complexity and wait time did not vary based on resident postgraduate year level
      suggesting limited tailoring of question to learner. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative
      questioning is not aligned with higher level thinking. The majority of questions
      were Bloom's level 3 or below, limiting the complexity of answer formulation.
      Most responses were given within 2 s, hindering opportunity to pursue higher
      order thinking. This suggests including higher level questions and tailoring
      questions to learner level may improve retention and maximize gains. In addition,
      with attendings answering 20% of their own questions, increasing their wait time
      offers another area for teaching development.

PMID- 28593693
TI  - Double Gold Activation of 1-Ethynyl-2-(Phenylethynyl)Benzene Toward 5-exo-dig and
      6-endo-dig Cyclization Reactions.
AB  - In this work, a detailed characterization was carried out of the ring-closure
      mechanism of EPB (1-ethynyl-2-(phenylethynyl)benzene) toward the 5-exo-dig and 6
      endo-dig cyclization reactions, catalyzed by two Au-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)
      moieties. It was found that the 5-exo-dig cyclization takes place with a slightly
      lower activation barrier and larger exothermicity compared to that of the 6-endo
      dig cyclization, in agreement with the available experimental data. A
      phenomenological partition (structural and electronic) for rate constants
      computed using transition-state theory and the reaction force analysis was used
      to shed light into the nature of the activation rate constant. It was found that
      rate constants are influenced by a strong structural component, which is larger
      for the 5-exo-dig cyclization due to the strain to form the five-membered ring.
      On the other hand, the gold activation mechanism is evidenced by a sigma- and pi
      coordination of the Au-NHC moieties to the EPB substrate. It was found that
      differences in the sigma-coordination arise on the reaction path for the 5-exo
      dig and 6-endo-dig cyclizations. Thus, in the 6-endo-dig cyclization the sigma
      gold-EPB interaction is weakened as a consequence of the formation of the
      cationic aryl intermediate, while for the 5-exo-dig cyclization this interaction
      was found to be favored. Furthermore, although minor changes in the Au-EPB
      coordination occur on the reaction path, these bonds are formally established in
      the TS vicinity. Results support the concerted nature of the dual gold activation
      mechanism.

PMID- 28593694
TI  - Investigation of superficial mycosis in cutaneous allergy patients using topical
      or systemic corticosteroids.

PMID- 28593695
TI  - Protozoa inhibition by different salts: Osmotic stress or ionic stress?
AB  - Cell density and morphology changes were tested to examine the effects of salts
      including NaHCO3 , NaCl, KHCO3 , and KCl at 160 mM on protozoa. It was
      demonstrated that ionic stress rather than osmotic stress led to protozoa cell
      death and NaHCO3 was shown to be the most effective inhibitor. Deformation of
      cells and cell shrinkage were observed when protozoan cells were exposed to
      polyethylene glycol (PEG) or any of the salts. However, while PEG treated cells
      could fully recover in both number and size, only a small portion of the salt
      treated cells survive and cell size was 36-58% smaller than the regular. The
      disappearance of salt-treated protozoa cells was hypothetically attributed to
      disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane of these cells. It is further hypothesized
      that the PEG-treated protozoan cells carried out regulatory volume increase (RVI)
      after the osmotic shock but the RVI of salt-treated protozoa was hurdled to
      varied extents. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol.
      Prog., 33:1418-1424, 2017.

PMID- 28593696
TI  - Synergistic analgesic, anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory effects of extra virgin
      olive oil and ibuprofen in different experimental models of albino mice.
AB  - AIM: Olive oil was used in the past as a remedy for many diseases due to its
      unlimited benefits in health. This study was carried out to assess the analgesic,
      anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory activities of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) at
      a dose of 8 mL/kg body weight and to compare it with ibuprofen (IBU) as an
      individual drug therapy and in combination with two different doses of IBU
      (therapeutic dose 100 mg/kg and low dose 40 mg/kg), on different animal models in
      albino mice. METHOD: A total of 132 adult healthy male Swiss albino mice were
      used in this study. The analgesic effect was assessed using acetic acid-induced
      writhing test. The antipyretic effect was evaluated by brewer's yeast-induced
      pyrexia, while the anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by two different
      models; the carrageenan-induced paw edema and the carrageenan-induced peritonitis
      in which the levels of total leukocyte count (TLC), neutrophil count,
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interferon gamma (INF-gamma) were measured in the
      peritoneal exudates. RESULTS: The results revealed significant protection in all
      the treated groups; however, the combination of EVOO with IBU at its therapeutic
      dose showed superiority over the two compounds when used separately. CONCLUSION:
      Using EVOO with the therapeutic dose of IBU showed synergistic effect in
      controlling the cardinal signs of acute inflammation rather than using non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs alone.

PMID- 28593697
TI  - On the Accessible Reaction Channels of Vinyl Gold(I) Species: pi- and sigma
      Pathways.
AB  - The potential of vinyl Au species to react either through a controlled pi- or
      sigma-pathway is demonstrated. This nomenclature is directly derived from the
      orbitals of the vinyl Au species leading to the newly formed bonds. When the pi
      bond of the vinyl Au intermediate is transformed into a sigma-bond, we name it pi
      pathway, and a sigma- to sigma- transformation is named sigma-pathway. Examples
      of reactions following these pathways are a Au-catalysed [3,3]-sigmatropic
      rearrangement and a protodeauration reaction. These reactions have been studied
      using intrinsic bond orbitals (IBOs) and allow for the clear identification of
      these pathways. Energies for the reaction path of the Au-catalysed [3,3]
      sigmatropic rearrangement were in addition computed using CCSD(T)-F12. Analysis
      of the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) of the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement
      using IBOs further allows us to refine the previous mechanistic proposal and
      identifies a hidden intermediate along the reaction path.

PMID- 28593698
TI  - Associations between expressive and receptive language and internalizing and
      externalizing behaviours in a community-based prospective study of slow-to-talk
      toddlers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that language and social, emotional and behavioural
      (SEB) difficulties are associated in children and adolescents. When these
      associations emerge and whether they differ by language or SEB difficulty profile
      is unclear. This knowledge is crucial to guide prevention and intervention
      programmes for children with language and SEB difficulties. AIMS: To determine
      whether receptive and expressive language skills are associated with
      internalizing and externalizing behaviours in slow-to-talk toddlers. METHODS &
      PROCEDURES: In a community-based prospective study of 200 slow-to-talk children,
      language was measured at 24 and 36 months using Preschool Language Scale 4th
      Edition and at 48 months using Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals
      Preschool 2nd Edition. Internalizing and externalizing behaviours were measured
      by parent report at each age. Longitudinal data were analysed using repeated
      measures regression, with up to three observations per child. Robust standard
      errors were used to account for non-independence of measures within participants.
      The shape of the associations were examined by fitting quadratic and cubic terms.
      The effects of confounders on the associations were examined. OUTCOMES & RESULTS:
      Receptive language had a negative linear association with internalizing
      behaviours after adjusting for confounders (beta = -0.16, 95% [CI = -0.26, 
      0.07], p = .001); and a negative curved association with externalizing behaviours
      after adjusting for biological confounders (betaquadratic = 0.08 [0.01, 0.15], p
      = .03, betacubic = -0.04 [-0.07, -0.02], p = .001), attenuating after adjusting
      for environmental confounders (betaquadratic = 0.06 [-0.01, 0.13], p = .09,
      betacubic = -0.03 [-0.06, -0.003], p = .03). The curvature suggests that the
      negative association with externalizing behaviours only existed for children with
      either very low or very high receptive language scores. After controlling for
      confounders, there was no evidence that expressive language scores were
      associated with internalizing (beta = -0.08, 95% [CI = -0.17, 0.01], p = .10) or
      externalizing behaviours (beta = 0.03, 95% [CI = -0.09, 0.18], p = .61). Tests of
      interaction revealed no evidence of a differential association by age.
      CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: In 24-48-month-old slow-to-talk children, lower
      receptive language scores were associated with higher internalizing behaviours.
      The magnitude of the association was small. For children with very poor receptive
      language scores, lower receptive language skills were associated with higher
      externalizing behaviours. Young children with low receptive language abilities
      may be at risk of internalizing difficulties; those with very low receptive
      language skills may be at particular risk of externalizing difficulties. This has
      clinical implications for interventions for young children with receptive
      language difficulties.

PMID- 28593699
TI  - Angiogenic potential of human mesenchymal stromal cell and circulating
      mononuclear cell cocultures is reflected in the expression profiles of
      proangiogenic factors leading to endothelial cell and pericyte differentiation.
AB  - Endothelial progenitors found among the peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells
      (MNCs) are interesting cells for their angiogenic properties. Mesenchymal stromal
      cells (MSCs) in turn can produce proangiogenic factors as well as differentiate
      into mural pericytes, making MSCs and MNCs an attractive coculture setup for
      regenerative medicine. In this study, human bone marrow-derived MSCs and PB
      derived MNCs were cocultured in basal or osteoblastic medium without exogenously
      supplied growth factors to demonstrate endothelial cell, pericyte and
      osteoblastic differentiation. The expression levels of various proangiogenic
      factors, as well as endothelial cell, pericyte and osteoblast markers in
      cocultures were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
      Immunocytochemistry for vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 and alpha
      smooth muscle actin as well as staining for alkaline phosphatase were performed
      after 10 and 14 days. Messenger ribonucleic acid expression of endothelial cell
      markers was highly upregulated in both basal and osteoblastic conditions after 5
      days of coculture, indicating an endothelial cell differentiation, which was
      supported by immunocytochemistry for vascular endothelial growth factor receptor
      1. Stromal derived factor-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor were highly
      expressed in MSC-MNC coculture in basal medium but not in osteoblastic medium. On
      the contrary, the expression levels of bone morphogenetic protein-2 and
      angiopoietin-1 were significantly higher in osteoblastic medium. Pericyte markers
      were highly expressed in both cocultures after 5 days. In conclusion, it was
      demonstrated endothelial cell and pericyte differentiation in MSC-MNC cocultures
      both in basal and osteoblastic medium indicating a potential for
      neovascularization for tissue engineering applications.

PMID- 28593700
TI  - The One Past Health workshop: connecting ancient DNA and zoonosis research.

PMID- 28593702
TI  - The Editor recommends this issue's article to the reader.

PMID- 28593701
TI  - Comparison of efficacy of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet education programs in
      non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A randomized controlled study.
AB  - AIM: Composition of macronutrients is important in non-alcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD). Diet education programs that mainly emphasize reducing fat
      consumption have been used for NAFLD patients. We compared the efficacy of
      conventional low-fat diet education with low-carbohydrate diet education in
      Korean NAFLD patients. METHODS: One hundred and six NAFLD patients were randomly
      allocated to low-fat diet education or low-carbohydrate education groups for 8
      weeks. Liver chemistry, liver / spleen ratio, and visceral fat using abdominal
      tomography were measured. RESULTS: Intrahepatic fat accumulation decreased
      significantly in the low-carbohydrate group compared to low-fat group
      (liver/spleen 0.85 vs. 0.92, P < 0.05). Normalization of ALT activity at week 8
      was 38.5% for the low-carbohydrate and 16.7% for the low-fat group (P = 0.016).
      Not only liver enzyme, but also low density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood
      pressure levels significantly decreased in the low-carbohydrate group. Total
      energy intake was also further decreased in the low-carbohydrate group compared
      to the low-fat group. Although body weight changes were not different between the
      two groups, the carbohydrate group had a lower total abdominal fat amount.
      CONCLUSIONS: A low-carbohydrate diet program is more realistic and effective in
      reducing total energy intake and hepatic fat content in Korean NAFLD patients.
      This trial is registered with the National Research Institute of Health:
      KCT0000970 (https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/index.jsp).

PMID- 28593703
TI  - Effect of ethnicity on clinical presentation and risk of antiphospholipid
      syndrome in Roma and Caucasian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a
      multicenter cross-sectional study.
AB  - AIM: To determine if there are ethnic differences in the prevalence of
      antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), clinical presentation and autoantibody profile
      between Roma and Caucasian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
      METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted including data from Roma and
      Caucasian SLE patients consecutively attending six hospitals in Spain. Socio
      demographic characteristics, prevalence of APS, clinical and analytical features
      of SLE and APS were compared between ethnic groups. RESULTS: Data from 52 Roma
      and 98 Caucasian SLE patients were included. Roma SLE patients had a higher risk
      (odds ratio 2.56, 95% CI 1.02-6.39) and prevalence of APS (28.8% vs. 13.3%, P =
      0.027). Furthermore, Roma SLE patients had a statistically significant higher
      prevalence of abortions (23.5% vs. 10.2%, P = 0.049). In relation to other APS
      diagnostic criteria, Roma SLE patients had a non-statistically significant higher
      prevalence of fetal deaths (14.3% vs. 5.1%, P = 0.106) and thrombotic events
      (21.1% vs. 12.2%, P = 0.160). In relation to SLE clinical features, Roma patients
      had a significantly higher prevalence of arthritis (75% vs. 57.1%, P = 0.034) and
      non-significant higher prevalence of serositis (44.2% vs. 29.6%, P = 0.104),
      discoid lesions (11.5% vs. 5.1%, P = 0.191), oral ulcers (46.1% vs. 34.7%, P =
      0.218) and livedo reticularis (21.1% vs. 15.3%, P = 0.374). No statistically
      significant differences were found in the Systemic Lupus International
      Collaborating Clinics Damage Index or the autoimmune serological profile.
      CONCLUSION: Prevalence and risk of APS were significantly higher in Roma SLE
      patients. Furthermore, Roma patients had a significantly higher prevalence of
      abortions and a non-significant higher prevalence of fetal deaths and thrombotic
      events.

PMID- 28593704
TI  - Fragmentation increases wind disturbance impacts on forest structure and carbon
      stocks in a western Amazonian landscape.
AB  - Tropical second-growth forests could help mitigate climate change, but the degree
      to which their carbon potential is achieved will depend on exposure to
      disturbance. Wind disturbance is common in tropical forests, shaping structure,
      composition, and function, and influencing successional trajectories. However,
      little is known about the impacts of extreme winds on second-growth forests in
      fragmented landscapes, though these ecosystems are often located in mosaics of
      forest, pasture, cropland, and other land cover types. Indirect evidence suggests
      that fragmentation increases risk of wind damage in tropical forests, but no
      studies have found such impacts following severe storms. In this study, we ask
      whether fragmentation and forest type (old vs. second growth) were associated
      with variation in wind damage after a severe convective storm in a fragmented
      production landscape in western Amazonia. We applied linear spectral unmixing to
      Landsat 8 imagery from before and after the storm, and combined it with field
      observations of damage to map wind effects on forest structure and biomass. We
      also used Landsat 8 imagery to map land cover with the goals of identifying old-
      and second-growth forest and characterizing fragmentation. We used these data to
      assess variation in wind disturbance across 95,596 ha of forest, distributed over
      6,110 patches. We find that fragmentation is significantly associated with wind
      damage, with damage severity higher at forest edges and in edgier, more isolated
      patches. Damage was also more severe in old-growth than in second-growth forests,
      but this effect was weaker than that of fragmentation. These results illustrate
      the importance of considering landscape context in planning tropical forest
      restoration and natural regeneration projects. Assessments of long-term carbon
      sequestration potential need to consider spatial variation in disturbance
      exposure. Where risk of extreme winds is high, minimizing fragmentation and
      isolation could increase carbon sequestration potential.

PMID- 28593705
TI  - Frequency Domain Analysis of Multiwavelength Photoacoustic Signals for
      Differentiating Among Malignant, Benign, and Normal Thyroids in an Ex Vivo Study
      With Human Thyroids.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the capability of spectral parameters,
      extracted by frequency domain analysis of photoacoustic signals, to differentiate
      among malignant, benign, and normal thyroid tissue. METHODS: We acquired
      multiwavelength photoacoustic images of freshly excised thyroid specimens
      collected from 50 patients who underwent thyroidectomy after having a diagnosis
      of suspected thyroid lesions. A thyroid cytopathologist marked histologic slides
      of each tissue specimen. These marked slides were used as ground truth to
      identify the regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to malignant, benign, and
      normal thyroid tissue. Three spectral parameters: namely, slope, midband fit, and
      intercept, were extracted from photoacoustic signals corresponding to different
      ROIs. RESULTS: Spectral parameters were extracted from a total of total of 65
      ROIs. According to the ground truth, 12 of 65 ROIs belonged to malignant
      thyroids; 28 of 65 ROIs belonged to benign thyroids; and 25 of 65 ROIs belonged
      to normal thyroids. Besides slope, the other 2 spectral parameters and grayscale
      photoacoustic image pixel values were found to be significantly different (P <
      .05) between malignant and normal thyroids. Between benign and normal thyroids,
      all 3 spectral parameters and photoacoustic pixel values were significantly
      different (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results of our ex vivo human
      thyroid study show that the spectral parameters extracted from radiofrequency
      photoacoustic signals as well as the pixel values of 2-dimensional photoacoustic
      images can be used for differentiating among malignant, benign, and normal
      thyroid tissue.

PMID- 28593706
TI  - Does the ileal brake mechanism contribute to sustained weight loss after
      bariatric surgery?
AB  - Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective strategy for treating morbid
      obesity. Weight regain following significant weight loss, however, remains a
      problem, with the outcome proportional to the period of follow-up. This review
      revisits a well-established physiological neurohormonally-mediated feedback loop,
      the so called ileal brake mechanism, with a special emphasis on the gut hormone
      peptide tyrosine tyrosine. The manuscript not only highlights the potential role
      of the ileal brake mechanism in weight loss and weight maintenance thereafter
      following obesity surgery, it also provides a compelling argument for using this
      appetite suppressing feedback loop to enable sustained long-term weight loss in
      patients undergoing surgery for morbid obesity.

PMID- 28593707
TI  - Soluble CEACAM1 and CEACAM6 are differently expressed in blood serum of pregnant
      women during normal pregnancy.
AB  - PROBLEM: CEACAM1 and CEACAM6 belong to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family
      and may play an immune-modulatory role during pregnancy. The aim of the study was
      to determine the blood serum levels of soluble CEACAM1 and CEACAM6 over the
      course of pregnancy and postpartum. METHOD OF STUDY: CEACAM1 and CEACAM6 levels
      were determined with customized in-house Sandwich-enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay (ELISA) systems. The study population (n=125) was divided into four groups
      according to the pregnancy trimester and postpartum. Additionally, samples of non
      pregnant women (n=14) were analyzed. RESULTS: Serum levels of CEACAM1 in healthy
      pregnant women were much lower than in non-pregnant women, a difference not seen
      for CEACAM6. Comparison between the trimesters and postpartum revealed a
      significant difference in CEACAM1 serum levels. The highest CEACAM1 levels were
      detected in third trimester. These levels were statistically significantly
      different from the CEACAM1 levels in first trimester and second trimester. The
      lowest levels were observed in the second trimester. Postpartum CEACAM1 serum
      concentrations were slightly lower than in the third trimester, but higher than
      in the first trimester and significantly higher compared to levels in the second
      trimester. CONCLUSION: Decreased concentration of CEACAM1 during the pregnancy
      suggests its regulatory role in the immune tolerance during the course of
      pregnancy.

PMID- 28593708
TI  - Age 80 years and over is not associated with increased morbidity and mortality
      following pancreaticoduodenectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is associated with high morbidity, which
      is perceived to be increased in the elderly. To our knowledge there have been no
      Australian series that have compared outcomes of patients over the age of 80
      undergoing PD to those who are younger. METHODS: Patients who underwent PD
      between January 2008 and November 2015 were identified from a prospectively
      maintained database. RESULTS: A total of 165 patients underwent PD of whom 17
      (10.3%) were aged 80 or over. The pre-operative health status, according to
      American Society of Anesthesiologists class was similar between the groups (P =
      0.420). The 90-day mortality rates (5.9% in the elderly and 2% in the younger
      group; P = 0.355) and the post-operative complication rates (64.7% in the elderly
      versus 62.8% in the younger group; P = 0.88) were similar. Overall median length
      of hospital stay was also similar between the groups, but older patients were far
      more likely to be discharged to a rehabilitation facility than younger patients
      (47.1 versus 12.8%; P < 0.0001). Older patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (n
      = 10) had significantly lower median survival than the younger group (n = 69)
      (16.6 versus 22.5 months; P = 0.048). CONCLUSION: No significant differences were
      seen in the rate of complications following PD in patients aged 80 or over
      compared to younger patients, although there appears to be a shorter survival in
      the elderly patients treated for pancreatic cancer. Careful selection of elderly
      patients and optimal peri-operative care, rather than age should be used to
      determine whether surgical intervention is indicated in this patient group.

PMID- 28593709
TI  - Respiratory motion model based on the noise covariance matrix of a receive array.
AB  - PURPOSE: Tracking of the internal anatomy by means of a motion model that uses
      the MR-derived motion fields and noise covariance matrix (NCM) dynamic as a
      surrogate signal. METHODS: A 2D respiratory motion model was developed based on
      the MR-derived motion fields and the NCM of a receive array used in MRI. Temporal
      dynamics of the NCM were used as a motion surrogate for a linear correspondence
      motion model. The model performance was tested on five healthy volunteers with a
      liver as the target. The motion fields were calculated from the cineMR frames
      with an optical flow registration tool. RESULTS: The model estimated the liver
      motion with an average residual error of 2.3 mm (13% of the motion amplitude).
      The model formation takes 3 min and the model latency was 0.5 s in the current
      implementation. The limiting factor for the latency is the current update time of
      the NCM (0.48 s), which in principle can be reduced to 0.004 s with an
      alternative way to determine the NCM. CONCLUSIONS: The 2D respiratory motion of
      the liver can be effectively estimated with the linear motion model that uses the
      temporal behavior of the NCM as motion surrogate. Magn Reson Med 79:1730-1735,
      2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28593711
TI  - Iniencephaly Apertus: Prenatal Autopsy by Sonography and Embryoscopy.

PMID- 28593710
TI  - Ultrasound-Guided Subgluteal Sciatic Nerve Perineural Injection: Report on Safety
      and Efficacy at a Single Institution.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the safety and efficacy of ultrasound (US)-guided
      subgluteal sciatic nerve injections. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of US
      guided subgluteal sciatic nerve injections at our institution was performed.
      RESULTS: Of 221 US-guided subgluteal sciatic nerve injections, 100% achieved
      technical success, with no postprocedure complications. Sixty-eight percent of
      patients with follow-up reported symptom relief. Most patients with no relief had
      suboptimal preprocedure screening. CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate screening, our
      technique of US-guided subgluteal sciatic nerve injection is safe and effective.

PMID- 28593712
TI  - Human adipose tissue-derived tenomodulin positive subpopulation of stem cells: A
      promising source of tendon progenitor cells.
AB  - Cell-based therapies are of particular interest for tendon and ligament
      regeneration given the low regenerative potential of these tissues. Adipose
      tissue is an abundant source of stem cells, which may be employed for the healing
      of tendon lesions. However, human adult multipotent adipose-derived stem cells
      (hASCs) isolated from the stromal vascular fraction of adipose tissue originate
      highly heterogeneous cell populations that hinder their use in specific tissue
      oriented applications. In this study, distinct subpopulations of hASCs were
      immunomagnetic separated and their tenogenic differentiation capacity evaluated
      in the presence of several growth factors (GFs), namely endothelial GF, basic
      fibroblast GF, transforming GF-beta1 and platelet-derived GF-BB, which are well
      known regulators of tendon development, growth and healing. Among the screened
      hASCs subpopulations, tenomodulin-positive cells were shown to be more promising
      for tenogenic applications and therefore this subpopulation was further studied,
      assessing tendon-related markers (scleraxis, tenomodulin, tenascin C and decorin)
      both at gene and protein level. Additionally, the ability for depositing collagen
      type I and III forming extracellular matrix structures were weekly assessed up to
      28 days. The results obtained indicated that tenomodulin-positive cells exhibit
      phenotypical features of tendon progenitor cells and can be biochemically induced
      towards tenogenic lineage, demonstrating that this subset of hASCs can provide a
      reliable source of progenitor cells for therapies targeting tendon regeneration.

PMID- 28593713
TI  - Effectiveness of sleep self-management group intervention in Chinese patients
      with insomnia disorder.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of sleep self
      management group intervention for insomnia disorder. DESIGN AND METHODS: One
      hundred four patients with insomnia disorder were recruited from The Seventh
      Hospital of Hangzhou, from February to November 2015. After completing the
      Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Sleep Diary and Beliefs and Attitudes
      about Sleep Scale (DBAS), they were randomly assigned into the intervention group
      (n = 52) and the control group (n = 52). The intervention group received the
      "sleep self-management group intervention," while the control group was trained
      with routine intervention in the same form combined with 5 to 10 mg Zolpidem
      nightly. Patients from both groups completed the PSQI, DBAS, and Sleep Diary
      after 8 weeks of treatment. FINDINGS: The intervention group scored significantly
      lower on the PSQI total score, Objective Sleep Efficacy, and Sleep Disturbance
      but higher on the DBAS total score, misconceptions about the causes of insomnia,
      misattribution or amplification of the consequences of insomnia, faulty beliefs
      about sleep-promoting practices than the control group after intervention.
      PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The sleep self-management group intervention could enhance
      sleep efficacy, improve sleep disturbance, and sleep misbeliefs.

PMID- 28593714
TI  - Autism awareness in children and young people: surveys of two populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasingly, pupils on the autism spectrum are educated in inclusive
      mainstream classrooms. However, they often experience social isolation and
      bullying, and raising the awareness of autism in peers has been suggested as a
      remedy. METHODS: In order to assess autism awareness in peers, autism-related
      questions were included in two large-scale surveys: the Kids Life and Times
      survey for 11-year olds and the Young Life and Times survey for 16-year olds; a
      total of n = 3353 children and young people completed the surveys. RESULTS:
      Autism awareness was higher for the teenagers (80%) than for the younger children
      (50%). Many of the children knew someone with autism (50%) and generally reported
      positive and supportive attitudes. Self-reported prevalence of autism was 3.1%
      for teenagers and 2.7% for the younger children. Peers recognised bullying as a
      problem and were willing to help. CONCLUSIONS: Children and young people have
      good levels of awareness and knowledge about autism and reported positive
      attitudes towards peers with autism and are willing to help those who are
      bullied. A higher than expected number of children and young people self-reported
      being on the autism spectrum. These findings bode well for peer-mediated support
      strategies for inclusive education.

PMID- 28593715
TI  - Can animal habitat use patterns influence their vulnerability to extreme climate
      events? An estuarine sportfish case study.
AB  - Global climate forecasts predict changes in the frequency and intensity of
      extreme climate events (ECEs). The capacity for specific habitat patches within a
      landscape to modulate stressors from extreme climate events, and animal
      distribution throughout habitat matrices during events, could influence the
      degree of population level effects following the passage of ECEs. Here, we ask
      (i) does the intensity of stressors of an ECE vary across a landscape? And (ii)
      Do habitat use patterns of a mobile species influence their vulnerability to
      ECEs? Specifically, we measured how extreme cold spells might interact with
      temporal variability in habitat use to affect populations of a tropical,
      estuarine-dependent large-bodied fish Common Snook, within Everglades National
      Park estuaries (FL US). We examined temperature variation across the estuary
      during cold disturbances with different degrees of severity, including an extreme
      cold spell. Second, we quantified Snook distribution patterns when the passage of
      ECEs is most likely to occur from 2012 to 2016 using passive acoustic tracking.
      Our results revealed spatial heterogeneity in the intensity of temperature
      declines during cold disturbances, with some habitats being consistently 3-5
      degrees C colder than others. Surprisingly, Snook distributions during periods of
      greatest risk to experience an extreme cold event varied among years. During the
      winters of 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 a greater proportion of Snook occurred in the
      colder habitats, while the winters of 2012-2013 and 2015-2016 featured more Snook
      observed in the warmest habitats. This study shows that Snook habitat use
      patterns could influence vulnerability to extreme cold events, however, whether
      Snook habitat use increases or decreases their vulnerability to disturbance
      depends on the year, creating temporally dynamic vulnerability. Faunal global
      change research should address the spatially explicit nature of extreme climate
      events and animal habitat use patterns to identify potential mechanisms that may
      influence population effects following these disturbances.

PMID- 28593717
TI  - Genetic architecture of acne vulgaris.
AB  - Acne vulgaris is a ubiquitary skin disease characterized by chronic inflammation
      of the pilosebaceous unit resulting from bacterial colonization of hair follicles
      by Propionibacterium acnes, androgen-induced increased sebum production, altered
      keratinization and inflammation. Here, we review our current understanding of the
      genetic architecture of this intriguing disease. We analysed genomewide
      association studies (GWAS) and candidate genes studies for acne vulgaris.
      Moreover, we included GWAS studies for the associated disease polycystic ovary
      syndrome (PCOS). Overall, the available data revealed sixteen genetic loci
      flagged by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), none of which has been
      confirmed yet by independent studies. Moreover, a GWAS for PCOS identified 21
      susceptible loci. The genetic architecture is complex which has been revealed by
      GWAS. Further and larger studies in different populations are required to confirm
      or disprove results from candidate gene studies as well to identify signals that
      may overlap between different populations. Finally, studies on rare genetic
      variants in acne and associated diseases like PCOS may deepen our understanding
      of its pathogenesis.

PMID- 28593716
TI  - Does an epidemiological comparison support a common cellular lineage for similar
      subtypes of postmenopausal uterine and ovarian carcinoma? The Norwegian Women and
      Cancer Study.
AB  - Uterine and ovarian carcinomas have the same major histological subtypes, but
      whether they originate from the same cell types is a matter of ongoing debate.
      Uterine and ovarian endometrioid and clear cell carcinoma (ECC) and uterine and
      ovarian serous carcinoma (SC) may originate in the same location, or share a
      common lineage of differentiation. Epidemiologically, a common cellular lineage
      should be reflected in similar risk associations, and we explored the similarity
      of uterine and ovarian ECC and uterine and ovarian SC. We included 146,316
      postmenopausal participants from the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study. Exposure
      information was taken from self-administered questionnaires, and cancer cases
      were identified through linkage to the Cancer Registry of Norway. Hazard ratios
      with 95% confidence intervals for uterine and ovarian carcinoma and their
      subtypes were calculated using multivariable Cox regression models, and a Wald
      test was used to check for heterogeneity. During 1.6 million person-years, 1,006
      uterine and 601 ovarian carcinomas were identified. Parity, total menstrual
      lifespan, body mass index and smoking were differentially associated with total
      uterine and total ovarian carcinoma (pheterogeneity  = 0.041, 0.027, <0.001 and
      0.001, respectively). The corresponding associations for uterine and ovarian ECC
      did not differ significantly (pheterogeneity  > 0.05). Smoking was differentially
      associated with uterine and ovarian SC (pheterogeneity  = 0.021). Our
      epidemiological analyses do not contradict a common differentiation lineage for
      uterine and ovarian ECC. Uterine and ovarian SC are less likely to be of a common
      lineage of differentiation, based on their difference in risk associated with
      smoking.

PMID- 28593718
TI  - Metal Immiscibility Route to Synthesis of Ultrathin Carbides, Borides, and
      Nitrides.
AB  - Ultrathin ceramic coatings are of high interest as protective coatings from
      aviation to biomedical applications. Here, a generic approach of making scalable
      ultrathin transition metal-carbide/boride/nitride using immiscibility of two
      metals is demonstrated. Ultrathin tantalum carbide, nitride, and boride are grown
      using chemical vapor deposition by heating a tantalum-copper bilayer with
      corresponding precursor (C2 H2 , B powder, and NH3 ). The ultrathin crystals are
      found on the copper surface (opposite of the metal-metal junction). A detailed
      microscopy analysis followed by density functional theory based calculation
      demonstrates the migration mechanism, where Ta atoms prefer to stay in clusters
      in the Cu matrix. These ultrathin materials have good interface attachment with
      Cu, improving the scratch resistance and oxidation resistance of Cu. This metal
      metal immiscibility system can be extended to other metals to synthesize metal
      carbide, boride, and nitride coatings.

PMID- 28593719
TI  - Penalized estimation in latent Markov models, with application to monitoring
      serum calcium levels in end-stage kidney insufficiency.
AB  - We introduce a penalized likelihood form for latent Markov models. We motivate
      its use for biomedical applications where the sample size is in the order of the
      tens, or at most hundreds, and there are only few repeated measures. The
      resulting estimates never break down, while spurious solutions are often obtained
      by maximizing the likelihood itself. We discuss model choice based on the
      Takeuchi Information Criterion. Simulations and a real-data application to
      monitoring serum Calcium levels in end-stage kidney disease are used for
      illustration.

PMID- 28593720
TI  - Phytoestrogen-Rich Natural Preparation for Treatment of Climacteric Syndrome and
      Atherosclerosis Prevention in Perimenopausal Women.
AB  - The present study evaluated the risks and benefits of phytoestrogen treatment in
      healthy perimenopausal women in relation to the dynamics of climacteric syndrome
      and progression of atherosclerosis. Study participants were treated with placebo
      or phytoestrogen-rich natural preparation Karinat based on grape (Vitis vinifera)
      seeds, green tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves, hop (Hunulus lupulus) cone powder
      and garlic (Allium sativum) powder. The dynamics of climacteric syndrome was
      evaluated by Kupperman Index and Utian Quality of Life Scale. Atherosclerosis
      progression was evaluated by measuring carotid intima-media thickness.
      Significant changes of climacteric syndrome's severity in both Karinat and
      placebo groups (p = 0.005 and p = 0.001) were obtained after 24 months of follow
      up. Detailed analysis of Kupperman Index suggested that Karinat possessed a
      significant effect on nervousness (p = 0.010), weakness (p = 0.020) and
      formication (p = 0.010). A significant improvement of medical (p = 0.070) and
      emotional (p = 0.060) components of Kupperman Index and Utian Quality of Life
      Scale was also observed in Karinat group. However, difference in carotid intima
      media thickness between the two groups was not statistically significant at
      follow-up. A slight positive effect of phytoestrogens on climacteric syndrome
      manifestations was demonstrated in this study. Karinat can be used for
      alleviation of climacteric syndrome and cardiovascular disease prevention in
      perimenopausal women. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28593721
TI  - Nurse-patient communication within the context of non-sedated mechanical
      ventilation: A hermeneutic-phenomenological study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore non-sedated mechanically ventilated patients'
      communication with nurses in the intensive care unit. BACKGROUND: Mechanically
      ventilated patients are temporarily voiceless, making interpersonal communication
      complex. Both nurses and patients find communication challenging and may
      experience negative emotions when communication fails. In Nordic countries,
      sedation protocols have changed to light/non-sedation, resulting in more patients
      being conscious and more clinical practitioners experiencing communication
      difficulties. DESIGN: The study was qualitative with a phenomenological
      hermeneutic approach. Data were collected at two intensive care units in Denmark
      from January to April 2015. METHODS: Data collection consisted of interviews with
      patients, focus group interviews with nurses and field observations concerning
      nurse-patient communication. Data were analysed as one collective body of data
      using Ricoeur's theory of interpretation. FINDINGS: The main theme showed that
      communication is a movement between the two opposite feelings of comprehension
      and frustration. Sub-themes showed (1) the dynamics of power change when the
      patient is voiceless; (2) consciousness and voicelessness make caring difficult;
      and (3) the process of interpreting and structuring communication is situational.
      CONCLUSION: These findings are important in nursing care and provide perspectives
      on the shift from communication towards comprehension and, thus, away from
      frustration. A non-sedation protocol is a major change in clinical practice in
      relation to communication. It requires a new way of thinking where communication
      becomes an integrated part of care, and the nurse has to be constantly alert and
      adjust his or her communication strategies to the patient's changing needs and
      communication ability. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Some nursing interventions
      may optimize communication: (1) systematic assessment of patients' communication;
      (2) education of nurses in Augmentative and Alternative Communication; (3) using
      communication tools when possible; and (4) securing time, continuity, empathy and
      patience in nursing care.

PMID- 28593722
TI  - Macronutrient intake associated with weight gain in adolescent girls with
      anorexia nervosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Adolescents and women with anorexia nervosa (AN) are known to severely
      restrict total calorie and fat intake. However, data are limited regarding
      specific macronutrient intake associated with weight gain in AN. OBJECTIVE: To
      prospectively investigate dietary macronutrient composition associated with
      weight gain in adolescent girls with AN. METHOD: A prospective naturalistic study
      of 90 girls 12-18 years old; 45 with AN and 45 healthy normal-weight-controls
      over a 6-12-month period. Participants completed four-day food diaries and
      underwent body composition assessment using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.
      Weight gain was defined as a >=10% increase in body mass index (BMI) from
      baseline. RESULTS: Baseline clinical characteristics did not differ between girls
      with AN who did not gain weight (AN-0) versus those who did (AN-1) over the
      following 6-12 month period except for percentage of calories from proteins (p =
      0.046). At 6-12 month follow-up, AN-1 consumed a lower percentage of total
      calories from protein (p = .001), and a higher percentage of total calories from
      fat (p = .02) compared to AN-0. AN-1 had a significant increase in the percentage
      of total calories obtained from and poly-unsaturated-fatty acids (PUFA) (p =
      0.006) compared to AN-0, between baseline and follow-up. Within the AN group, BMI
      at follow-up was associated positively with percentage of total calories obtained
      from fat, MUFA, and PUFA (p < .05) at 6/12 months, and inversely with the
      percentage of total calories obtained from carbohydrates and proteins (p = .03).
      DISCUSSION: Consuming a greater proportion of total calories from fat is
      associated with weight gain in adolescent girls with AN.

PMID- 28593723
TI  - Imbalanced nutrient recycling in a warmer ocean driven by differential response
      of extracellular enzymatic activities.
AB  - Ocean oligotrophication concurrent with warming weakens the capacity of marine
      primary producers to support marine food webs and act as a CO2 sink, and is
      believed to result from reduced nutrient inputs associated to the stabilization
      of the thermocline. However, nutrient supply in the oligotrophic ocean is largely
      dependent on the recycling of organic matter. This involves hydrolytic processes
      catalyzed by extracellular enzymes released by bacteria, which temperature
      dependence has not yet been evaluated. Here, we report a global assessment of the
      temperature-sensitivity, as represented by the activation energies (Ea ), of
      extracellular beta-glucosidase (betaG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and alkaline
      phosphatase (AP) enzymatic activities, which enable the uptake by bacteria of
      substrates rich in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, respectively. These Ea were
      calculated from two different approaches, temperature experimental manipulations
      and a space-for-time substitution approach, which generated congruent results.
      The three activities showed contrasting Ea in the subtropical and tropical ocean,
      with betaG increasing the fastest with warming, followed by LAP, while AP showed
      the smallest increase. The estimated activation energies predict that the
      hydrolysis products under projected warming scenarios will have higher C:N, C:P
      and N:P molar ratios than those currently generated, and suggest that the warming
      of oceanic surface waters leads to a decline in the nutrient supply to the
      microbial heterotrophic community relative to that of carbon, particularly so for
      phosphorus, slowing down nutrient recycling and contributing to further ocean
      oligotrophication.

PMID- 28593724
TI  - A Strategy for Creating Organisms Dependent on Noncanonical Amino Acids.
AB  - The use of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) to control the viability of an
      organism provides a strategy for the development of conditional "kill switches"
      for live vaccines or engineered human cells. We report an approach inspired by
      the posttranslational acetylation/deacetylation of lysine residues, in which a
      protein encoded by a gene with an in-frame nonsense codon at an essential lysine
      can be expressed in its native state only upon genetic incorporation of N-epsilon
      acetyl-l-Lys (AcK), and subsequent enzymatic deacetylation in the host cell. We
      applied this strategy to two essential E. coli enzymes: the branched-chain
      aminotransferase BCAT and the DNA replication initiator protein DnaA. We also
      devised a barnase-based conditional suicide switch to further lower the escape
      frequency of the host cells. This strategy offers a number of attractive features
      for controlling host viability, including a single small-molecule-based kill
      switch, low escape frequency, and unaffected protein function.

PMID- 28593725
TI  - Xenotransplantation literature update, March/April 2017.

PMID- 28593726
TI  - The evolution of basal septal hypertrophy: From benign and age-related normal
      variant to potentially obstructive and symptomatic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Localized thickening of the basal portion of the ventricular septum or basal
      septal hypertrophy (BSH) has been identified both at autopsy and by imaging
      studies for decades; despite numerous investigations, there is no consensus on
      the significance of this finding and a remarkable lack of consistency in
      terminology. This paper summarizes the scientific literature on the topic,
      focusing on recent echocardiographic findings. A case description illustrating
      some of the complex issues involved in measurement and diagnosis and
      differentiation from sigmoidal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is presented.
      Criteria are proposed for diagnosing pathologic BSH which include the following:
      (1) Exertional symptoms compatible with left ventricular outflow tract
      obstruction (LVOTO) such as dyspnea, near-syncope, and chest discomfort; (2)
      Documented LVOTO gradient demonstrated at peak bicycle or post-treadmill exercise
      >30 mm Hg; and (3) Symptomatic improvement with beta-blocker (or other negative
      inotropic) therapy (preferably accompanied by documentation of reduction of
      exercise-induced LVOT).

PMID- 28593727
TI  - Influence of a collagen membrane positioned subjacent the sinus mucosa following
      the elevation of the maxillary sinus. A histomorphometric study in rabbits.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the healing after elevation of the sinus mucosa when a
      collagen membrane was placed between the sinus mucosa and a xenograft used as
      filler. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen rabbits were used. Sinus mucosa elevation
      was performed bilaterally, and a collagen membrane was applied subjacent to the
      sinus mucosa only at a randomly selected test site. At both sites, a collagenated
      corticocancellous porcine bone was placed within the elevated space and the
      access window was covered with a collagen membrane. The animals were sacrificed
      after 2, 4, and 8 weeks of healing, six animals for group. Ground sections were
      prepared. RESULTS: At the histomorphometric evaluation, the elevated area after 2
      and 8 weeks was 11.8 and 8.8 mm2 at the test, and 10.0 and 5.3 mm2 at the control
      sites, respectively. The available area was obtained subtracting the remaining
      area occupied by the membrane from the elevated area and, after 8 weeks, was 6.7
      +/- 0.9 mm2 . After 8 weeks of healing, the mineralized new bone within the
      elevated space was 18.2 +/- 5.5% at the test and 26.7 +/- 7.7% at the control
      sites. Within the available space at the test site, the percentage was 27.3 +/-
      7.0% after 8 weeks of healing. At 2 and 8 weeks of healing, within the elevated
      space, the xenograft proportion was 30.9 +/- 4.4% and 6.9 +/- 2.8% at the test,
      and 35.2 +/- 7.3% and 9.6 +/- 4.9% at the control sites, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The placement of a collagen membrane subjacent the sinus mucosa did
      not reveal any major morphometric difference. The collagen membrane was not
      completely resorbed after 8 weeks.

PMID- 28593728
TI  - Association of risk genotypes of ARMS2/LOC387715 A69S and CFH Y402H with age
      related macular degeneration with and without reticular pseudodrusen: a meta
      analysis.
AB  - To pool the results of published data regarding association of ARMS2/LOC387715
      A69S, CFH Y402H and CFH I62V genotypes with age-related macular degeneration
      (AMD) with and without reticular pseudodrusen (RPD). The results of this pooled
      data used to estimate the contribution of each of these genes in the pathogenesis
      of RPD. Heterogeneity of studies was evaluated using Cochran Q-test and I2 index.
      To modify the heterogeneity in the variables, we used the random effects model.
      Meta-analysis was performed using STATA. Odds ratio (OR) of genotypes in each
      study was calculated. Six studies of AMD with RPD and AMD without RPD cases
      included in this analysis. Analysis of pooled data showed that risk genotypes
      frequency of ARMS2 A69S was significantly different between AMD with RPD and AMD
      without RPD [OR = 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26-2.63 for GT versus GG
      ARMS2 A69S; OR = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.50-3.84 for TT versus GG ARMS2 A69S]. Further
      analysis also showed that the risk genotype frequency of CFH Y402H was not
      significantly different between these two groups (OR = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.69-1.50
      for CT versus TT CFH Y402H; OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.74-1.60 for CC versus TT CFH
      Y402H). Comparison of above-mentioned ORs revealed statistically higher values
      for GT and TT genotypes of ARMS2 A69S compared with CFH Y402H genotypes (p =
      0.011, p = 0.014, respectively).Our analysis showed stronger contribution of
      ARMS2 in AMD with RPD group versus AMD without RPD group, in comparison with CFH
      genotypes.

PMID- 28593729
TI  - Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Butadienylcalcium-based Heavy
      Grignard Reagents and a Ca4 [O] Inverse Crown Ether Complex.
AB  - The structure elucidation of heavy Grignard reagents (RAeX, Ae=Ca, Sr, and Ba,
      X=halides) has been greatly strived after, mainly because of their
      inaccessibility and remarkable instability. The synthesis of a series of
      butadienylcalcium compounds is presented, including 1-calcio-4-lithio-1,3
      butadiene, 1,4-dicalcio-1,3-butadiene, and a Ca4 [O] inverse crown ether complex,
      via the reaction between 1,4-dilithio-1,3-butadienes and calcium iodide in THF.
      Single-crystal X-ray analysis of these unprecedented heavy Grignard reagents
      revealed unique structural characteristics and bonding modes. Preliminary
      reaction chemistry was investigated. This study provides a novel class of alkenyl
      heavy Grignard reagents and a useful synthetic strategy for otherwise unavailable
      reactive organometallic compounds.

PMID- 28593730
TI  - Dynamics of cytokine gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of
      indigenous and exotic breeds of pigs in India.
AB  - To incorporate immune competence traits in swine breeding programs, association
      between immune responsiveness and susceptibility to specific infectious diseases
      must be established. In order to understand the differences in immune competence
      between indigenous (Zovawk) and exotic (Large White Yorkshire: LWY) pigs reared
      in India, we carried out a time course expression analysis of immune-regulating
      key cytokine genes (interleukin (IL)-2, interferon (IFN)-gamma, IL-4 and IL-10)
      in the phytohemagglutinin-P stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs). The IL-2 transcript levels in PBMCs increased several thousand-fold when
      compared to unstimulated cells in both the breeds, albeit the response in that of
      Zovawk was remarkably higher. Higher and earlier IFN-gamma and IL-4 expression
      levels in Zovawk pigs suggest that both TH 1 and TH 2 immune responsiveness of
      this indigenous breed affords better preparedness for danger signals. Moreover,
      the low expression levels of IL-10 depict a regulated adaptive immune
      responsiveness. Remarkable difference between the two breeds of the pigs is
      evident showing a clear advantage of the Zovawk over LWY in terms of a shorter
      lag period of adaptive immune response. These findings provide a lead for
      understanding the genetic differences with respect to immune competence levels of
      indigenous pigs compared to exotic counterparts.

PMID- 28593731
TI  - Multimodal-3D imaging based on MUMRI and MUCT techniques bridges the gap with
      histology in visualization of the bone regeneration process.
AB  - Bone repair/regeneration is usually investigated through X-ray computed
      microtomography (MUCT) supported by histology of extracted samples, to analyse
      biomaterial structure and new bone formation processes. Magnetic resonance
      imaging (MUMRI) shows a richer tissue contrast than MUCT, despite at lower
      resolution, and could be combined with MUCT in the perspective of conducting non
      destructive 3D investigations of bone. A pipeline designed to combine MUMRI and
      MUCT images of bone samples is here described and applied on samples of extracted
      human jawbone core following bone graft. We optimized the coregistration
      procedure between MUCT and MUMRI images to avoid bias due to the different
      resolutions and contrasts. Furthermore, we used an Adaptive Multivariate
      Clustering, grouping homologous voxels in the coregistered images, to visualize
      different tissue types within a fused 3D metastructure. The tissue grouping
      matched the 2D histology applied only on 1 slice, thus extending the histology
      labelling in 3D. Specifically, in all samples, we could separate and map 2 types
      of regenerated bone, calcified tissue, soft tissues, and/or fat and marrow space.
      Remarkably, MUMRI and MUCT alone were not able to separate the 2 types of
      regenerated bone. Finally, we computed volumes of each tissue in the 3D
      metastructures, which might be exploited by quantitative simulation. The 3D
      metastructure obtained through our pipeline represents a first step to bridge the
      gap between the quality of information obtained from 2D optical microscopy and
      the 3D mapping of the bone tissue heterogeneity and could allow researchers and
      clinicians to non-destructively characterize and follow-up bone regeneration.

PMID- 28593732
TI  - Severe metabolic impairment with increasing age for CYP3A and CYP2D substrates in
      rats: Possible consequences for drug development.

PMID- 28593733
TI  - Two new species in the Chaetoceros socialis complex (Bacillariophyta): C.
      sporotruncatus and C. dichatoensis, and characterization of its relatives, C.
      radicans and C. cinctus.
AB  - The diatom genus Chaetoceros is one of the most abundant and diverse
      phytoplankton in marine and brackish waters worldwide. Within this genus,
      Chaetoceros socialis has been cited as one of the most common species. However,
      recent studies from different geographic areas have shown the presence of pseudo
      cryptic diversity within the C. socialis complex. Members of this complex are
      characterized by curved chains (primary colonies) aggregating into globular
      clusters, where one of the four setae of each cell curves toward the center of
      the cluster and the other three orient outwards. New light and electron
      microscopy observations as well as molecular data on marine planktonic diatoms
      from the coastal waters off Chile revealed the presence of two new species,
      Chaetoceros sporotruncatus sp. nov. and C. dichatoensis. sp. nov. belonging to
      the C. socialis complex. The two new species are similar to other members of the
      complex (i.e., C. socialis and C. gelidus) in the primary and secondary structure
      of the colony, the orientation pattern of the setae, and the valve
      ultrastructure. The only morphological characters that can be used to
      differentiate the species of this complex are aspects related to resting spore
      morphology. The two newly described species are closely related to each other and
      form a sister clade to C. gelidus in molecular phylogenies. We also provide a
      phylogenetic status along with the morphological characterization of C. radicans
      and C. cintus, which are genetically related to the C. socialis complex.

PMID- 28593735
TI  - New insights into the clinical signs of supraventricular tachycardia: The "sign
      of lace-tying".
AB  - BACKGROUND: Supraventricular tachycardias (SVT) are a common arrhythmia therefore
      an accurate diagnosis is of clinical importance. Although an ECG performed during
      tachycardia greatly aids diagnosis, patient history and predisposing factors also
      improve diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: This prospective study included 100
      consecutive patients undergoing electrophysiological study for SVT with the aim
      to reassess their clinical characteristics and describe frequent predisposing
      factors, such as the "sign of lace-tying" that to our knowledge has not
      previously been reported. Each patient completed an extensive questionnaire (70
      questions) during their hospital stay. RESULTS: Our series comprised: 67% of
      patients with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT); 24% with an
      accessory pathway; and 9% presented atrial tachycardia. Half of the population
      were male and 29% of the cohort presented hypertension. Syncope during
      tachycardia appeared in 15% of patients, dizziness in 52% and thoracic pain in
      59%. We encountered a predisposing risk factor for SVT in 53% of cases; with 32%
      exhibiting an anteflexion of the trunk termed the "sign of lace-tying." Data also
      showed that younger patients tended to present AVRT and regular pounding in the
      neck appeared only in patients with AVNRT. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our study has
      highlighted the importance of considering clinical signs and patient
      characteristics both before and during SVT for the precise diagnosis of
      paroxysmal SVT. Furthermore, 32% of patients presented the "sign of lace-tying"
      or body position change before SVT, implying a diagnosis of SVT.

PMID- 28593736
TI  - Usefulness of the sigma-Aromaticity and sigma-Antiaromaticity Concepts for
      Clusters and Solid-State Compounds.
AB  - In this Review we present examples of clusters, molecules, and solid-state
      compounds, for which the use of sigma-aromaticity and sigma-antiaromaticity
      concepts is essential for understanding of chemical bonding. We show that the
      bonding patterns in these sigma-aromatic and sigma-antiaromatic compounds are
      similar to those of the corresponding pi-aromatic and pi-antiaromatic chemical
      systems, respectively. Undoubtedly, sigma-aromaticity helps us understand why the
      high symmetry isomers are the most stable among myriads of other potential
      structures. We also show that besides systems exhibiting either sigma- or pi
      aromatic features, there are species, which can possess multiple
      aromaticity/antiaromaticity, or conflicting aromaticity patterns. We believe that
      the sigma-aromaticity and sigma-antiaromaticity concepts will be helpful in
      rationalizing chemical bonding, structure, stability, and molecular properties of
      chemical species in both organic and inorganic chemistry. We hope that they will
      also be useful for other areas of science such as material science, catalysis,
      nanotechnology, and biochemistry.

PMID- 28593734
TI  - Can an NTI-tss device be effective as a first-line therapy in patients with TMD
      myofascial pain?
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate whether integrating a nociceptive trigeminal
      inhibition-tension suppression system (NTI-tss) device with first-line therapy of
      myofascial pain, which includes guidance, assurance, counselling and behavioural
      changes, would be more effective in alleviating symptoms. This randomised
      controlled clinical trial included 40 patients who were clinically diagnosed with
      myofascial pain according to Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular
      Disorders (RDC/TMD). Patients were randomly divided into two groups: the first
      group comprised patients who received guidance, assurance, counselling and
      behavioural changes; an NTI-tss device was integrated to this protocol in the
      second group. Both groups exhibited reduction in pain levels and improvement of
      jaw function compared with baseline values, but the difference was not
      significant. Both groups demonstrated improvements in 6 weeks; however, the
      integration of NTI-tss device into the therapy protocol did not provide any
      additional benefit in relieving symptoms of myofascial pain.

PMID- 28593738
TI  - Sex differences in the regulation of porcine coronary artery tone by perivascular
      adipose tissue: a role of adiponectin?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: As there is sexual dimorphism in the regulation of
      vascular tone, the aim of this present study was to determine whether there are
      sex differences in perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT)-mediated regulation of the
      porcine coronary artery (PCA) tone. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Isometric tension
      recording system was used to record changes in tone in PCAs. Western blot
      analysis was performed to examine the expression of adiponectin in PVAT and
      adiponectin receptors and adiponectin binding protein (APPL1) in PCA. The level
      of adiponectin released from PVAT was measured using elisa. KEY RESULTS: In the
      presence of adherent PVAT, contractions to the thromboxane mimetic U46619 and
      endothelin-1 were significantly reduced in PCAs from females, but not males. In
      PCAs pre-contracted with U46619, re-addition of PVAT caused relaxation in PCAs
      from females, but not males. This relaxant response in females was attenuated by
      combined inhibition of NOS (with L-NAME) and COX (with indomethacin). Pre
      incubation with an anti-adiponectin antibody abolished the relaxant effects of
      PVAT. The adiponectin receptor agonist (adipoRon) produced a greater relaxation
      in PCAs from females compared with males. However, there was no difference in
      either the expression or release of adiponectin from PVAT between sexes.
      Similarly, there was no difference in the expression of adiponectin receptors or
      the adiponectin receptor adaptor protein APPL1 in PCAs. CONCLUSION AND
      IMPLICATIONS: These findings demonstrate a clear sex difference in the regulation
      of coronary arterial tone in response to adiponectin receptor stimulation, which
      may underlie the anticontractile effects of PVAT in females.

PMID- 28593739
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the impact of iron depletion in
      dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - AIMS: Iron reduction has been proposed as treatment for dysmetabolic iron
      overload syndrome (DIOS) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but
      results of published trials are conflicting. We undertook a systematic review and
      meta-analysis to determine the impact of phlebotomy in DIOS and NAFLD. METHODS:
      We searched multiple databases systematically for studies evaluating the impact
      of phlebotomy in DIOS and NAFLD. We calculated weighted summary estimates using
      the inverse variance method. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane
      collaboration tool. RESULTS: We identified nine studies with 820 patients (427
      had phlebotomy, 393 lifestyle changes alone). Iron depletion did not improve the
      Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) index (mean difference [MD] -0.6; confidence
      interval (CI), -1.7, 0.5; P = 0.3), insulin level (MD -0.8 mU/L; CI, -5.3, 3.7; P
      = 0.73), or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (MD -0.7 IU/L; CI, -3.2, 1.8; P =
      0.6) in DIOS and/or NAFLD patients as compared to lifestyle changes alone (five
      studies, 626 patients). There was mild improvement in alanine aminotransferase
      (ALT) (MD -6.6 IU/L; CI, -11, -2.1); P < 0.01), but the effect size was very
      small (Cohen's d, 0.15; r statistic, 0.07). Even in the subgroup of patients with
      NAFLD and hyperferritinemia, phlebotomy did not improve the HOMA index, insulin
      level, ALT, or AST. Additionally, no study showed significant improvement in
      liver inflammation or fibrosis with iron reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Phlebotomy does
      not bring about significant improvement in indices of insulin resistance, liver
      enzymes, or liver histology in patients with DIOS and/or NAFLD compared to
      lifestyle changes alone. Current evidence does not support the use of phlebotomy
      in patients with DIOS or NAFLD.

PMID- 28593740
TI  - Combination of Mass Signal Amplification and Isotope-Labeled Alkanethiols for the
      Multiplexed Detection of miRNAs.
AB  - We report a fast and sensitive method for the multiplexed detection of miRNAs by
      combining mass signal amplification and isotope-labeled signal reporter
      molecules. In our strategy, target miRNAs are captured specifically by
      immobilized DNAs on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which carry a large number of
      small molecules, called amplification tags (Am-tags), as the reporter for the
      detection of target miRNAs. For multiplexed detection, we designed and
      synthesized four Am-tags containing 0, 4, 8, 12 isotopes so that they had same
      molecular properties but different molecular weights. By observing the mass
      signals of the Am-tags on AuNPs decorated along with different probe DNAs, four
      types of miRNAs in a sample could be easily discriminated, and the relative
      amounts of these miRNAs could be quantified. The practicability of our strategy
      was further verified by measuring the expression levels of two miRNAs in HUVECs
      in response to different CuSO4 concentrations.

PMID- 28593737
TI  - Influence of opioids on immune function in patients with cancer pain: from bench
      to bedside.
AB  - : In patients with cancer, opioids are principally used for the management of
      acute surgical and chronic cancer-related pain. However, opioids have many non
      analgesic effects, including direct and indirect effects on cancer cells and on
      anti-tumour immunity (NK cells, macrophages and T-cells). Direct effects on
      immune cells are manifested via opioid and non-opioid toll-like receptors,
      whereas indirect effects are manifested via the sympathetic nervous system and
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Opioids can also decrease/alter immune cell
      infiltration into the tumour micro-environment. Animal models have shown that
      this is not a class effect, in that morphine and fentanyl suppress NK cell
      cytotoxicity; buprenorphine does not affect NK cell cytotoxicity, whereas
      tramadol increases NK cell cytotoxicity, reducing metastasis. In healthy
      individuals, morphine suppresses and fentanyl enhances NK cell cytotoxicity. In
      patients undergoing surgery, fentanyl decreased and tramadol increased NK cell
      cytotoxicity; clinical outcomes were not determined. Meta-analyses of opioid
      sparing surgical studies report an association between improved recurrence-free
      and/or overall survival with regional/neuraxial anaesthesia compared with
      systemic opioids. In patients receiving opioids for non-surgical cancer-related
      pain, morphine has variable effects on immunity; clinical outcomes were not
      assessed. Although there is a potential association between systemic opioid
      administration and shorter survival in cancer patients with a prognosis of months
      to years, studies have not been designed to primarily assess survival, as a
      consequence of which causality cannot be apportioned. Pain is immunosuppressive,
      so analgesia is important. Opioids for cancer-related pain will continue to be
      recommended until definitive data on the effects of opioids on clinical outcomes
      in specific patient groups becomes available. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is
      part of a themed section on Emerging Areas of Opioid Pharmacology. To view the
      other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.14/issuetoc.

PMID- 28593741
TI  - Comparison of different methods for telomere length measurement in whole blood
      and blood cell subsets: Recommendations for telomere length measurement in
      hematological diseases.
AB  - Different methods of telomere length measurement are used to identify patients
      with telomeropathies. In our lab, we established four different methods for
      telomere length measurement, terminal restriction fragment (TRF) analysis by
      Southern blot analysis, quantitative PCR (qPCR), quantitative telomere/centromere
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (T/C-FISH) and fluorescence in situ
      hybridization combined with flow cytometry (FlowFISH). The methods each have
      distinct properties and apart from this-according to our experience and data-may
      have an impact on the individual result. In this study, we therefore compared and
      validated these methods measuring 154 healthy individuals of different age groups
      (newborn-81 years). A linear decline was found for every method (Southern
      blotting 64 bp per year; qPCR 31 bp per year; T/C-FISH 36 bp per year; FlowFISH
      50 bp per year). With the equation of the regression line the values of each
      method (T/S ratio, T/C value, RTL value) can be expressed in absolute kb. All
      methods showed acceptable accuracy. The analysis indicated good agreement between
      all methods, with the best agreement between T/C-FISH and FlowFISH. Here,
      FlowFISH was the most precise, accurate, and reproducible method compared to the
      other methods. Based on our data, we emphasize the influence of expertise and
      experience that is required to produce robust and reliable telomere length
      analyses. Furthermore, we want to provide the scientific community working in
      diagnostics and research with data-funded advice on how to choose the appropriate
      method to safely discriminate between natural variability and pathological
      telomere shortening in individual cases.

PMID- 28593742
TI  - Overview of surgery for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer in Ontario, 2003
      2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primary purpose of this study was to describe variations in
      incidence rates, resections rates, and types of surgical resection for patients
      diagnosed with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers in Ontario. METHODS: All
      laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer cases in Ontario (2003-2010) were identified
      from the Ontario Cancer Registry (n = 3034). Variations in incidence rates,
      resection rates, and type of surgical resection were compared by sex, age group,
      neighborhood income, community population, health region, and physician
      specialty. RESULTS: Incidence rates per 100 000 vary significantly by sex, age,
      neighborhood income, and community size. Women, the elderly (75+ years), those in
      the higher income quintiles, and those living in larger communities were
      significantly less likely to receive a laryngectomy procedure. CONCLUSIONS:
      Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer incidence rates vary by sex, age,
      neighborhood income, community size, and health region. Resection rates vary by
      age, sex, and health region. These disparities warrant further evaluation to
      improve the quality of delivered care in Ontario.

PMID- 28593743
TI  - Sensitive and Reversible Detection of Methanol and Water Vapor by In Situ
      Electrochemically Grown CuBTC MOFs on Interdigitated Electrodes.
AB  - The in situ electrochemical growth of Cu benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (CuBTC)
      metal-organic frameworks, as an affinity layer, directly on custom-fabricated Cu
      interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) is described, acting as a transducer.
      Crystalline 5-7 um thick CuBTC layers are grown on IDEs consisting of 100
      electrodes with a width and a gap of both 50 um and a height of 6-8 um. These
      capacitive sensors are exposed to methanol and water vapor at 30  degrees C. The
      affinities show to be completely reversible with higher affinity toward water
      compared to methanol. For exposure to 1000 ppm methanol, a fast response is
      observed with a capacitance change of 5.57 pF at equilibrium. The capacitance
      increases in time followed diffusion-controlled kinetics (k = 2.9 mmol s-0.5 g
      1CuBTC ). The observed capacitance change with methanol concentration follows a
      Langmuir adsorption isotherm, with a value for the equilibrium affinity Ke =
      174.8 bar-1 . A volume fraction fMeOH = 0.038 is occupied upon exposure to 1000
      ppm of methanol. The thin CuBTC affinity layer on the Cu-IDEs shows fast,
      reversible, and sensitive responses to methanol and water vapor, enabling
      quantitative detection in the range of 100-8000 ppm.

PMID- 28593744
TI  - Thermosensitive heparin-poloxamer hydrogels enhance the effects of GDNF on
      neuronal circuit remodeling and neuroprotection after spinal cord injury.
AB  - Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) results in paraplegia or quadriplegia, and
      currently, therapeutic interventions for axonal regeneration after SCI are not
      clinically available. Animal studies have revealed that glial cell-derived
      neurotrophic factor (GDNF) plays multiple beneficial roles in neuroprotection,
      glial scarring remodeling, axon regeneration and remyelination in SCI. However,
      the poor physicochemical stability of GDNF, as well as its limited ability to
      cross the blood-spinal cord barrier, hampers the development of GDNF as an
      effective therapeutic intervention in clinical practice. In this study, a novel
      temperature-sensitive heparin-poloxamer (HP) hydrogel with high GDNF-binding
      affinity was developed. HP hydrogels showed a supporting scaffold for GDNF when
      it was injected into the lesion epicenter after SCI. GDNF-HP by orthotopic
      injection on lesioned spinal cord promoted the beneficial effects of GDNF on
      neural stem cell proliferation, reactive astrogliosis inhibition, axonal
      regeneration or plasticity, neuroprotection against cell apoptosis, and body
      functional recovery. Most interestingly, GDNF demonstrated a bidirectional
      regulation of autophagy, which inhibited cell apoptosis at different stages of
      SCI. Furthermore, the HP hydrogel promoted the inhibition of autophagy-induced
      apoptosis by GDNF in SCI. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res
      Part A: 105A: 2816-2829, 2017.

PMID- 28593745
TI  - ox-LDL increases microRNA-29a transcription through upregulating YY1 and STAT1 in
      macrophages.
AB  - Macrophages and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) have been verified
      playing vital roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (AS). Previous studies
      demonstrated that microRNA-29a (miR-29a) was upregulated in many atherogenic
      process and cells, thus acting as an important participant in AS. But the
      detailed regulation mechanism of miR-29a in AS has not been fully understood. In
      our study, we demonstrated a positive feedback loop of ox-LDL-SRA-miR-29a.
      Furthermore, we found that YY1 and STAT1 were upregulated in ox-LDL-stimulating
      macrophages followed by translocation in the nucleus and binding to the
      transcriptional promoter region of miR-29a, thus leading to the increase of miR
      29a expression. In addition, we demonstrated that JAK1/2 signaling was involved
      in miR-29a upregulation. Finally, we found that miR-29a played important roles in
      the secretion of proinflammation factors and lipid uptake in macrophages. We
      uncovered the molecular mechanism and provide novel insights into the function
      and regulatory network of miR-29a expression regulated by ox-LDL in macrophages.

PMID- 28593747
TI  - Novel serum metabolomics-based approach by gas chromatography/triple quadrupole
      mass spectrometry for detection of human skin cancers: Candidate biomarkers.
AB  - Skin cancer incidence rates are continuing to rise; however, if detected at an
      early stage, they can be cured with minimally invasive treatment. Therefore, the
      identification of novel and robust biomarkers for the early detection of skin
      cancer is required to improve the quality of life of the patient after treatment.
      In the present study, we aimed to identify novel biomarkers of skin cancers. We
      carried out serum metabolomics using gas chromatography/triple quadrupole mass
      spectrometry for two types of skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.
      The changes in the expression of metabolites compared with healthy volunteers
      were analyzed by principal component analysis. Among all 118 metabolites, 27 in
      patients with squamous cell carcinoma and 33 in patients with melanoma showed
      significant changes in comparison with healthy volunteers. Principal component
      analysis showed that both skin cancer groups could be distinguished from the
      healthy volunteers group. We further investigated the specific metabolites most
      useful for these distinctions. In the squamous cell carcinoma group, these
      metabolites were glycerol, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, sebacic acid, fucose and
      suberic acid. In the melanoma group, these metabolites were glutamic acid,
      sebacic acid, suberic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and phenylalanine. The present
      study identified several metabolites that were distinct for certain skin cancer
      types, which could potentially be used as diagnostic biomarkers leading to novel
      clinical management strategies.

PMID- 28593746
TI  - Long-term measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence using the JIP-test show that
      combined abiotic stresses influence the photosynthetic performance of the
      perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) in a managed temperate grassland.
AB  - Several experiments have highlighted the complexity of stress interactions
      involved in plant response. The impact in field conditions of combined
      environmental constraints on the mechanisms involved in plant photosynthetic
      response, however, remains understudied. In a long-term field study performed in
      a managed grassland, we investigated the photosynthetic apparatus response of the
      perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) to environmental constraints and its
      ability to recover and acclimatize. Frequent field measurements of chlorophyll a
      fluorescence (ChlF) were made in order to determine the photosynthetic
      performance response of a population of L. perenne. Strong midday declines in the
      maximum quantum yield of primary photochemistry (FV FM ) were observed in summer,
      when a combination of heat and high light intensity increased photosynthetic
      inhibition. During this period, increase in photosystem I (PSI) activity
      efficiency was also recorded, suggesting an increase in the photochemical pathway
      for de-excitation in summer. Strong climatic events (e.g. heat waves) were shown
      to reduce electron transport between photosystem II (PSII) and PSI. This
      reduction might have preserved the PSI from photo-oxidation. Periods of low soil
      moisture and high levels of sun irradiance increased PSII sensitivity to heat
      stress, suggesting increased susceptibility to combined environmental
      constraints. Despite the multiple inhibitions of photosynthetic functionality in
      summer, the L. perenne population showed increased PSII tolerance to
      environmental stresses in August. This might have been a response to earlier
      environmental constraints. It could also be linked to the selection and/or
      emergence of well-adapted individuals.

PMID- 28593748
TI  - Characteristics and response to treatment among Indigenous people receiving
      injectable diacetylmorphine or hydromorphone in a randomised controlled trial for
      the treatment of long-term opioid dependence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: To determine the effectiveness of injectable hydromorphone
      and dicaetylmorphine for Indigenous participants in the Study to Assess Longer
      term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME) clinical trial. The study
      additionally aims to explore the prevalence and frequency of crack cocaine use
      among subgroups of participants (by gender and ethnicity). This secondary
      analysis is particularly relevant given the current need for expanded medication
      assisted treatments for opioid dependence across North America. DESIGN AND
      METHODS: Participants self-identifying as First Nations, Metis or Inuit were
      included in the analysis of Indigenous participants. Six-month treatment outcomes
      are reported as the difference between diacetylmorphine and hydromorphone
      treatment arms among Indigenous participants and change from baseline to 6 months
      in each treatment arm. Differences in outcomes are tested between Indigenous and
      non-Indigenous participants. Crack cocaine use was explored to determine
      differences between and within subgroups. RESULTS: Approximately one-third of
      SALOME participants self-identified as Indigenous. Indigenous participants
      presented to treatment with more structural vulnerabilities (e.g. lower
      education, higher rates of foster care and separation from biological parents)
      compared to non-Indigenous participants. After 6 months, Indigenous participants
      in both treatment arms had a significant reduction in days of street heroin use,
      opioid use, crack cocaine use and illegal activity. Treatment retention did not
      differ by treatment arm. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Indigenous people that are
      not engaged by first-line treatments for opioid dependence are in need of
      effective alternative treatments. Given the political and logistical barriers
      facing diacetylmorphine, hydromorphone could serve as a more accessible
      medication to reach and treat this population. [Oviedo-Joekes E, Palis H, Guh D,
      Marchand K, Brissette S, Lock K, MacDonald S, Harrison S, Anis AH, Krausz M,
      March DC, Schechter MT. Characteristics and response to treatment among
      Indigenous people receiving injectable diacetylmorphine or hydromorphone in a
      randomised controlled trial for the treatment of long-termopioid dependence. Drug
      Alcohol Rev 2018;37:137-146].

PMID- 28593751
TI  - Depth of anesthesia monitors in sedation: running together or learning from their
      distances?

PMID- 28593749
TI  - Impact of atrial fibrillation on long-term survival following oesophagectomy: a
      21-year observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-operative atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication of
      oesophagectomy and thought to signal a complicated post-operative course. AF is
      associated with prolonged admissions, increased healthcare costs and inpatient
      mortality. However, the impact of post-operative AF on long-term outcomes remains
      uncertain. METHODS: Patients undergoing open Ivor-Lewis oesophagectomy from 1994
      to 2014 at Palmerston North Hospital, New Zealand, were retrospectively
      evaluated. Demographic, perioperative and tumour variables were collected.
      Regression models were used to identify independent predictors of AF and assess
      post-discharge survival following oesophagectomy. RESULTS: In total, 89 patients
      were included. New-onset AF developed post-operatively in 27 patients (30%).
      Median follow-up was 6.3 years. Logistic regression identified volume of
      intravenous fluid in the first 24 h post-operatively as a predictor of AF. Post
      discharge survival was predicted by AF occurrence (hazard ratio (HR): 2.99, 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 1.37-6.53, P = 0.006), preoperative chemoradiotherapy
      (HR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.20-0.91, P = 0.03), 1-4 positive lymph nodes (HR: 2.29, 95%
      CI: 1.06-4.96, P = 0.04), >=5 positive nodes (HR: 2.95, 95% CI: 1.25-6.94, P =
      0.01) and year of operation from 2008 to 2014 (HR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.12-0.75, P =
      0.01). CONCLUSION: Post-operative AF was associated with poorer long-term
      survival following oesophagectomy in this cohort. Further research should
      evaluate the influence of AF on cardiovascular and oncological outcomes following
      oesophagectomy.

PMID- 28593750
TI  - Impact of obesity on mortality in patients with diabetes: Meta-analysis of 20
      studies including 250,016 patients.
AB  - AIMS/INTRODUCTION: The impact of body mass index on mortality among patients with
      diabetes remains controversial. Therefore, we carried out a meta-analysis of
      pertinent studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched OVID/MEDLINE, EMBASE and
      Cochrane databases for all reported studies, which investigated the relationship
      between body mass index and mortality in patients with diabetes. Summary
      estimates of hazard ratios (HRs) were obtained with a random effects model.
      Univariate meta-regressions were carried out. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies
      including 250,016 patients with diabetes were identified. The results of the
      present study showed a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality in
      overweight patients (HR 0.82, 95% CI: 0.74-0.91, P < 0.0001, and I2 = 91.6%) as
      compared with normal weight patients. The survival benefits of obesity were only
      observed in the elderly patients (HR 0.69, 95% CI: 0.63-0.75, P < 0.0001, and I2
      = 50.4%), but not in the younger patients (HR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.84-1.20, P = 0.96,
      I2 = 80.1%). Furthermore, the beneficial prognostic impacts on overweight
      (coefficient = 0.030, P = 0.041) and obesity (coefficient = 0.032, P = 0.010)
      were attenuated with clinical follow-up duration. CONCLUSIONS: The present meta
      analysis showed a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality in overweight
      patients with diabetes compared with normal weight patients. However, the
      survival benefits of obesity were only observed among the elderly patients.

PMID- 28593752
TI  - Transparent Flash Memory Using Single Ta2O5 Layer for Both Charge-Trapping and
      Tunneling Dielectrics.
AB  - We report reproducible multibit transparent flash memory in which a single
      solution-derived Ta2O5 layer is used simultaneously as a charge-trapping layer
      and a tunneling layer. This is different from conventional flash memory cells
      where two different dielectric layers are typically used. Under optimized
      programming/erasing operations, the memory device shows excellent programmable
      memory characteristics with a maximum memory window of ~10.7 V. Moreover, the
      flash memory device shows a stable 2-bit memory performance and good reliability,
      including data retention for more than 104 s and endurance performance for more
      than 100 cycles. The use of a common charge-trapping and tunneling layer can
      simplify the fabrication of advanced flash memories.

PMID- 28593753
TI  - Identification of an Imine Reductase for Asymmetric Reduction of Bulky
      Dihydroisoquinolines.
AB  - A new imine reductase from Stackebrandtia nassauensis (SnIR) was identified,
      which displayed over 25- to 1400-fold greater catalytic efficiency for 1-methyl
      3,4-dihydroisoquinoline (1-Me DHIQ) compared to other imine reductases reported.
      Subsequently, an efficient SnIR-catalyzed process was developed by simply
      optimizing the amount of cosolvent, and up to 15 g L-1 1-Me DHIQ was converted
      completely without a feeding strategy. Furthermore, the reaction proceeded well
      for a panel of dihydroisoquinolines, affording the corresponding
      tetrahydroisoquinolines (mostly in S-configuration) in good yields (up to 81%)
      and with moderate to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee).

PMID- 28593754
TI  - Simulation Protocol for Prediction of a Solid-Electrolyte Interphase on the
      Silicon-based Anodes of a Lithium-Ion Battery: ReaxFF Reactive Force Field.
AB  - We propose the ReaxFF reactive force field as a simulation protocol for
      predicting the evolution of solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) components such as
      gases (C2H4, CO, CO2, CH4, and C2H6), and inorganic (Li2CO3, Li2O, and LiF) and
      organic (ROLi and ROCO2Li: R = -CH3 or -C2H5) products that are generated by the
      chemical reactions between the anodes and liquid electrolytes. ReaxFF was
      developed from ab initio results, and a molecular dynamics simulation with ReaxFF
      realized the prediction of SEI formation under real experimental conditions and
      with a reasonable computational cost. We report the effects on SEI formation of
      different kinds of Si anodes (pristine Si and SiOx), of the different types and
      compositions of various carbonate electrolytes, and of the additives. From the
      results, we expect that ReaxFF will be very useful for the development of novel
      electrolytes or additives and for further advances in Li-ion battery technology.

PMID- 28593755
TI  - Exothermicity Is Not a Necessary Condition for Enhanced Diffusion of Enzymes.
AB  - Recent experiments have revealed that the diffusivity of exothermic and fast
      enzymes is enhanced when they are catalytically active, and different physical
      mechanisms have been explored and quantified to account for this observation. We
      perform measurements on the endothermic and relatively slow enzyme aldolase,
      which also shows substrate-induced enhanced diffusion. We propose a new physical
      paradigm, which reveals that the diffusion coefficient of a model enzyme
      hydrodynamically coupled to its environment increases significantly when
      undergoing changes in conformational fluctuations in a substrate concentration
      dependent manner, and is independent of the overall turnover rate of the
      underlying enzymatic reaction. Our results show that substrate-induced enhanced
      diffusion of enzyme molecules can be explained within an equilibrium picture and
      that the exothermicity of the catalyzed reaction is not a necessary condition for
      the observation of this phenomenon.

PMID- 28593756
TI  - Specific Affinity Enrichment of Electrochemically Cleaved Peptides Based on
      Cu(II)-Mediated Spirolactone Tagging.
AB  - Specific digestion of proteins is an essential step for mass spectrometry-based
      proteomics, and the chemical labeling of the resulting peptides is often used for
      peptide enrichment or the introduction of desirable tags. Electrochemical
      oxidation yielding specific cleavage C-terminal to tyrosine (Tyr) and tryptophan
      (Trp) residues provides a potential alternative to enzymatic digestion and a
      possibility for further chemical labeling by introducing reactive spirolactone
      moieties. However, spirolactone-containing peptides suffer from low stability due
      to hydrolysis and intramolecular side reactions. We found that Cu(II) ions
      stabilize the spirolactone and prevent intramolecular side reactions during
      chemical labeling, allowing efficient chemical tagging with a reduced excess of
      labeling reagent without intramolecular side reactions. On the basis of this
      reaction, we developed an analytical procedure combining electrochemical
      digestion, Cu(II)-mediated spirolactone biotinylation, and enrichment by avidin
      affinity chromatography with mass spectrometry. The method was optimized with the
      tripeptide LWL and subsequently applied to chicken egg white lysozyme, in which
      one biotinylated electrochemistry (EC)-cleaved peptide was identified after
      affinity enrichment. This proof-of-principle shows that specific enrichment of
      electrochemically cleaved spirolactone-containing peptides can be used for
      protein identification and notably that inclusion of Cu(II) ions is essential for
      stabilizing spirolactones for subsequent biotinylation.

PMID- 28593757
TI  - Total Syntheses of Festuclavine, Pyroclavine, Costaclavine, epi-Costaclavine,
      Pibocin A, 9-Deacetoxyfumigaclavine C, Fumigaclavine G, and Dihydrosetoclavine.
AB  - A new approach for the divergent total synthesis of eight ergot alkaloids is
      reported. The approach allows the first total syntheses of pyroclavine, pibocin
      A, 9-deacetoxyfumigaclavine C, and fumigaclavine G and also enables the efficient
      synthesis of festuclavine, costaclavine, epi-costaclavine, and
      dihydrosetoclavine. The main feature of the synthesis is the use of an
      unprecedented Pd-catalyzed intramolecular Larock indole annulation/Tsuji-Trost
      allylation cascade to assemble the tetracyclic core in one step.

PMID- 28593758
TI  - Fabrication of Crack-Free Photonic Crystal Films on Superhydrophobic Nanopin
      Surface.
AB  - On the basis of their superior optical performance, photonic crystals (PCs) have
      been investigated as excellent candidates for widespread applications including
      sensors, displays, separation processes, and catalysis. However, fabrication of
      structurally controllable large-area PC assemblies with no defects is still a
      tough task. Herein, we develop an effective strategy for preparing centimeter
      scale crack-free photonic crystal films by the combined effects of soft assembly
      and superhydrophobic nanopin surfaces. Owing to its large contact angle and low
      adhesive force on the superhydrophobic substrate, the colloidal suspension
      exhibits a continuous retraction of the three-phase (gas-liquid-solid) contact
      line (TCL) in the process of solvent (water molecules) evaporation. The
      constantly receding TCL can bring the colloidal spheres closer to each other,
      which could timely close the gaps due to the loss of water molecules. As a
      result, close-packed and well-ordered assembly structures can be easily obtained.
      We expect that this work may pave the way to utilize novel superhydrophobic
      materials for designing and developing high-quality PCs and to apply PCs in
      different fields.

PMID- 28593759
TI  - Enzymatic Synthesis and Purification of Galactosylated Chitosan Oligosaccharides
      Reducing Adhesion of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88.
AB  - Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 causes diarrhea in weaned piglets and
      represent a suitable model system for ETEC causing childhood diarrhea. This study
      aimed to evaluate the effects of oligosaccharides against ETEC K88 adhesion to
      porcine erythrocytes with two bioassays. Galactosylated chitosan-oligosaccharides
      (Gal-COS) were synthesized through transgalactosylation by beta-galactosidase.
      Fractions 2-5 of Gal-COS were obtained through cation exchange and size exclusion
      chromatography. Fractions 2-5 of acetylated Gal-COS were obtained through
      chemical acetylation followed by size exclusion chromatography. Gal-COS F2
      containing the largest oligosaccharides had the highest antiadhesion activity
      with the minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.22 g/L, followed by F3 and F4.
      Acetylation of Gal-COS decreased their ability to reduce ETEC K88 adhesion. The
      composition of active oligosaccharides was determined with LC-MS. Galactosylation
      of COS produces oligosaccharides which reduce ETEC K88 adhesion; moreover,
      resulting oligosaccharides match the composition of human milk oligosaccharides,
      which prevent adhesion of multiple pathogens.

PMID- 28593760
TI  - Highly Efficient All-Solution-Processed Fluorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
      Based on a Novel Self-Host Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter.
AB  - Here, we conveniently designed and synthesized a self-host thermally activated
      delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter, which can not only form a uniform thin film
      through wet-process, but also allow the subsequently deposition of electron
      transporting layer (ETL) by orthogonal solvent. By using this self-host material
      as emitter, the all-solution-processed multilayer TADF organic light emitting
      diodes (OLEDs) was successfully fabricated. The maximum current, power and
      external quantum efficiencies of this nondoped device are 46.3 cd A-1, 39.3 lm W1
      and 15.5%, respectively, which are much higher than the values of all-solution
      processed OLEDs based on tranditional fluorescence and even comparable to the
      TADF devices with vacuum-deposited ETL. Moreover, the device maintains the high
      efficiency of 42.9 cd A-1 and 39.0 cd A-1 at the luminance of 100 cd m-2 for
      display and 1000 cd m-2 for practical lighting. The high efficiency and small
      efficiency roll-off of the all-solution-processed fluorescent OLEDs can be
      attributed to the superiority of the newly designed self-host TADF emitter, which
      possesses the perfect electroluminescent property and sufficient solvent
      resistance at the same time.

PMID- 28593761
TI  - Enediol-Ligands-Encapsulated Liposomes Enables Sensitive Immunoassay: A Proof-of
      Concept for General Liposomes-Based Photoelectrochemical Bioanalysis.
AB  - Sensitive photoelectrochemical (PEC) bioanalysis usually relies on enzyme
      assisted signal amplification. This work describes the first proof-of-concept
      study for liposome-based PEC bioanalysis. Specifically, unilamellar liposomes
      were prepared and then utilized to carry the enediol-ligands and antibodies
      within their internal cavities and upon their external surfaces, respectively. On
      the other hand, the 96-well plate was used for accommodating the sandwich
      immunocomplexing, and then the confined liposomes were directed to release the
      encapsulated enediol-ligands into an individual well. The subsequent in situ
      sensitization of the TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) electrode was then used to
      transduce the recognition events. This facile strategy allows for sensitive
      immunoassay without the involvement of laborious electrode fabrication and
      enzymatic amplification. Importantly, the protocol can be extended as a general
      PEC method for numerous other targets of interest. We believe this work could
      offer a new perspective for the rational implementation of various liposome
      complexes for novel PEC bioanalysis.

PMID- 28593762
TI  - Chiral-at-Metal Rh(III) Complex Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of
      Unactivated Alkenes with alpha,beta-Unsaturated 2-Acyl Imidazoles.
AB  - A newly prepared chiral-at-metal Rh(III) complex catalyzed highly efficient
      asymmetric conjugate addition of para-vinylanilines with alpha,beta-unsaturated 2
      acyl imidazoles is developed, affording the corresponding adducts in 67-95%
      yields with 86-95% ee. Remarkably, employing as low as 0.05 mol % of Rh(III)
      complex as catalyst, a gram-scale reaction still affords the desired product in
      81% yield with 92% ee.

PMID- 28593763
TI  - High-Performance Electroactive Polymer Actuators Based on Ultrathick Ionic
      Polymer-Metal Composites with Nanodispersed Metal Electrodes.
AB  - Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) have been proposed as biomimetic actuators
      that are operable at low applied voltages. However, the bending strain and
      generating force of the IPMC actuators have generally exhibited a trade-off
      relationship, whereas simultaneous enhancement of both the qualities is required
      for their practical applications. Herein, a significant improvement in both the
      strain and force of the IPMC actuators is achieved by a facile approach,
      exploiting thickness-controlled ion-exchange membranes and nanodispersed metal
      electrodes. To guarantee a large generating force of the IPMC actuators,
      ultrathick ion-exchange membranes are prepared by stacking pre-extruded Nafion
      films. Metal electrodes with a nanodispersed structure are formed on the
      membranes via alcohol-assisted electroless plating, which allows increased
      capacitance and facilitated ion transport. The resulting actuators exhibit
      greatly enhanced electromechanical properties, including an approximately four
      times larger strain and two times larger force compared to those of actuators
      having the conventional structure. Moreover, the ability to lift 16 coins (a
      weight of 124 g) has been successfully demonstrated using ultrathick IPMC
      actuators, which shows great promise in realizing artificial muscles.

PMID- 28593764
TI  - Selective Ring-Opening of N-Alkyl Pyrrolidines with Chloroformates to 4
      Chlorobutyl Carbamates.
AB  - Our study shows that among aza-heterocycles of various ring sizes, including
      aziridines, azetidines, pyrrolidines, and piperidines, only N-alkyl pyrrolidines
      undergo competitive reaction pathways with chloroformates to yield N-dealkylated
      pyrrolidines and 4-chlorobutyl carbamates. The pathway taken depends on the
      substituent on the nitrogen, i.e., ring-opening with methyl and ethyl
      substituents and dealkylation with a benzyl substituent. Computational
      calculations support the substituent-dependent product formation by showing the
      energy difference between the transition states of both reaction pathways.
      Selective ring-opening reactions of N-methyl and N-ethyl pyrrolidine derivatives
      with chloroformates were utilized to prepare various 4-chlorobutyl carbamate
      derivatives as valuable 1,4-bifunctional compounds.

PMID- 28593766
TI  - Phase-Defined van der Waals Schottky Junctions with Significantly Enhanced
      Thermoelectric Properties.
AB  - We demonstrate a van der Waals Schottky junction defined by crystalline phases of
      multilayer In2Se3. Besides ideal diode behaviors and the gate-tunable current
      rectification, the thermoelectric power is significantly enhanced in these
      junctions by more than three orders of magnitude compared with single-phase
      multilayer In2Se3, with the thermoelectric figure-of-merit approaching ~1 at room
      temperature. Our results suggest that these significantly improved thermoelectric
      properties are not due to the 2D quantum confinement effects but instead are a
      consequence of the Schottky barrier at the junction interface, which leads to hot
      carrier transport and shifts the balance between thermally and field-driven
      currents. This "bulk" effect extends the advantages of van der Waals materials
      beyond the few-layer limit. Adopting such an approach of using energy barriers
      between van der Waals materials, where the interface states are minimal, is
      expected to enhance the thermoelectric performance in other 2D materials as well.

PMID- 28593765
TI  - Formation of Annular Protofibrillar Assembly by Cysteine Tripeptide: Unraveling
      the Interactions with NMR, FTIR, and Molecular Dynamics.
AB  - Both hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic interactions play a significant role in
      molecular assembly, including self-assembly of proteins and peptides. In this
      study, we report the formation of annular protofibrillar structure (diameter ~500
      nm) made of a newly synthesized s-benzyl-protected cysteine tripeptide, which was
      primarily stabilized by hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Atomic
      force microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses found
      small oligomers (diameter ~60 nm) to bigger annular (outer diameter ~300 nm;
      inner diameter, 100 nm) and protofibrillar structures after 1-2 days of
      incubation. Rotating-frame Overhauser spectroscopic (ROESY) analysis revealed the
      presence of several nonbonded proton-proton interactions among the residues, such
      as amide protons with methylene group, aromatic protons with tertiary butyl
      group, and methylene protons with tertiary butyl group. These added significant
      stability to bring the peptides closer to form a well-ordered assembled
      structure. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange NMR measurement further suggested that two
      individual amide protons among the three amide groups were strongly engaged with
      the adjacent tripeptide via H-bond interaction. However, the remaining amide
      proton was found to be exposed to solvent and remained noninteracting with other
      tripeptide molecules. In addition to chemical shift values, a significant change
      in amide bond vibrations of the tripeptide was found due to the formation of the
      self-assembled structure. The amide I mode of vibrations involving two amide
      linkages appeared at 1641 and 1695 cm-1 in the solid state. However, in the
      assembled state, the stretching band at 1695 cm-1 became broad and slightly
      shifted to ~1689 cm-1. On the contrary, the band at 1641 cm-1 shifted to 1659 cm
      1 and indicated that the -C?O bond associated with this vibration became stronger
      in the assembled state. These changes in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      frequency clearly indicated changes in the amide backbone conformation and the
      associated hydrogen-bonding pattern due to the formation of the assembled
      structure. In addition to hydrogen bonding, molecular dynamics simulation
      indicated that the number of pi-pi interactions also increased with increasing
      number of tripeptides participated in the self-assembly process. Combined results
      envisaged a cross beta-sheet assembly unit consisting of four intermolecular
      hydrogen bonds. Such noncovalent peptide assemblies glued by hydrogen-bonding and
      other weak forces may be useful in developing nanocapsule and related materials.

PMID- 28593767
TI  - Pd(II)-Catalyzed Arylation and Intramolecular Amidation of gamma-C(sp3)-H Bonds:
      En Route to Arylheteroarylmethane and Pyrrolidone Ring Annulated Furan/Thiophene
      Scaffolds.
AB  - We report the Pd(II)-catalyzed, bidentate directing group (BDG)-assisted
      arylation and successive arylation/intramolecular amidation of gamma-C(sp3)-H
      bonds. The Pd(II)-catalyzed BDG-assisted C-H activation and functionalization of
      the beta-C(sp3)-H bonds of carboxylic acids are well documented, but only a few
      reports are available that deal with the BDG-directed functionalization of the
      gamma-C(sp3)-H bonds. Various 3-methylthiophene/furan-2-carboxamides (1a-e) were
      derived from their corresponding carboxylic acids and bidentate directing groups.
      These compounds were then used as substrates to investigate the arylation and
      successive arylation/intramolecular amidation of the gamma-C(sp3)-H bonds. The
      gamma-C(sp3)-H arylation arose from the Pd(II)-catalyzed reactions of these
      compounds with aryl iodides with reaction periods of 4-24 h (except a few
      reactions which required 36 or 48 h). Notably, these reactions led to the
      construction of various unsymmetrical diarylmethane scaffolds, such as
      thiophene/furan-based arylheteroarylmethanes (3-6). Prolonging the reaction
      period to 48-70 h led to successive gamma-C(sp3)-H arylation/intramolecular
      amidation and the construction of both C-C and C-N bonds. Accordingly, these
      reactions led to the construction of new classes of pyrrolidone-ring annulated
      thiophene/furan-based heterocyclic scaffolds (e.g., 4,5-dihydro-6H-thieno[2,3
      c]pyrrol-6-ones (8), 4,5-dihydro-6H-furo[2,3-c]pyrrol-6-ones (10), and 1-phenyl
      1,2-dihydro-3H-benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-c]pyrrol-3-ones (12)), and notably, compounds
      8, 10, and 12 resemble the skeletons of 3-phenylisoindolin-1-ones.

PMID- 28593768
TI  - SEM as a Facile Tool for Real-Time Monitoring of Microcrystal Growth during
      Electrodeposition: The Merit of Ionic Liquids.
AB  - Due to the extremely low vapor pressure of ionic liquids (ILs), electrochemical
      deposition/dissolution of hexagonal hollow CuSn alloy tubes in IL can be real
      time observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Two specially made
      electrochemical cells are used for the top-view and side-view observations. A
      series of clear SEM images reveals the hexagonal cones are formed prior to
      further developing hexagonal tubes. At the beginning, many small nuclei are
      formed on the electrode surface. Due to the electrodeposition rate being slow
      enough for the nuclei to crystallize into hexagonal structures, the
      electrodeposition rate is faster on the periphery than the inside of the
      structures. As the electrodeposition progresses, the tube wall will grow thicker,
      and a secondary tube emerges inside the primary tube. Finally, shell-by-shell
      hexagonal tubes are formed. Furthermore, the in situ SEM observation also reveals
      that the dissolution of tube starts from its inner wall followed by a sudden
      collapse of its wall. In this paper, we establish a simple and convenient method,
      which can be broadly applied to the study of metal, alloy, and semiconductor
      growth in real time.

PMID- 28593769
TI  - Structure and Dynamics of a N-Methylfulleropyrrolidine-Mediated Gold
      Nanocomposite: A Spectroscopic Ruler.
AB  - A mechanistic understanding of the structure and dynamics of a chemically tunable
      N-methylfulleropyrrolidine (8-NMFP)-assisted gold nanocomposite and its
      aggregation via a controllable interparticle interaction is reported as a
      function of the molar ratio and pH of the medium. Electronic structure
      calculations adopting density functional theory methods implied electrostatic
      interactions to play a dominant role between 8-NMFP and citrate-capped gold
      nanoparticles. MM+ molecular mechanics force field computations revealed
      intermolecular gold-gold interactions, contributing toward the formation of
      spherical composite aggregates. Corroborating these, optical absorption spectra
      showed the usual surface plasmon band along with a higher-wavelength feature at
      ~600-650 nm, indicative of the aggregated nanocomposite. pH-controlled reversible
      tuning of the plasmonic features in the composite was evident in a pH interval ~5
      6.8, revealing prevalent interparticle electrostatic interactions. In addition,
      photoluminescence (PL) and time-correlated single-photon counting studies
      revealed a strong nanocomposite interaction with a pure fluorescent dye,
      Rhodamine B, indicating excitation energy transfer from the dye to the composite.
      The dye upon interaction with the nanocomposite showed a significant quenching of
      its PL intensity and shortening of lifetime. Energy coupling between the metal
      nanoparticle composite and the emitting molecular dipole resulted in a long-range
      surface energy transfer (SET) from the donor dye to the surface plasmon modes of
      the nanoparticle following a donor-acceptor distance dependence of 1/r4. This
      molecular beacon with correlation between the nanoscale structure and the
      nonradiative nanometal SET can be used as a spectroscopic/molecular ruler in
      probing advanced functional materials.

PMID- 28593770
TI  - [Retrospective analysis of monochorionic twin pregnancies born in the Institute
      for the Care of Mother and Child between 2012-2015].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe monochorionic twin
      pregnancies and their complications, born between 24th and 37th week of gestation
      in the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child in years 2012-2015. DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort. SETTING: The Institute for the Care of Mother and Child,
      Praha. METHODS: From 2012 to 2015 we observed 177 monochorionic twin pregnancies
      from which two or one viable fetuses were born, or both fetuses died in utero.
      RESULTS: From a total of 177 women, 12 (6.8%) gave birth before 26th week of
      gestation, between 26+0 - 27+6 four women (2.3%) gave birth, 37 women (20.9%)
      between 28+0 - 31+6, 84 women (47.8%) between 32+0 - 35+6 and after 36th week of
      gestation 40 women (22.6%) gave birth. Mean week of delivery was 33.8.
      Indications for termination of pregnancies were premature rupture of membranes
      (PPROM) in 11.9%, onset of spontaneus uterine contractions in 12.4% and in 53.3%
      other iatrogenic indication. 23.3% of pregnancies in our cohort were
      uncomplicated and terminated after 36th week of gestation. We performed caesarean
      section in 94.3%, in 5.7% patients gave birth vaginally. In vitro fertilization
      had 19.9% women, 80.1% conceived spontaneously. The age range of pregnant women
      in our cohort was 20-43, with median 32.3. Mean weight of bigger fetus was 2047.6
      g (min. 520 g, max. 3530 g), mean weight of smaller fetus was 1799.5 g (min. 350
      g, max. 2790 g). In 30 cases (16. 9%) we performed intrauterine intervetion. In
      21/30 cases (11.9%) for TTTS diagnose, in 5/30 cases (2.8%) for congenital
      abnormalities or TRAP sequence and in 4/30 cases (2.2%) for sIUGR type III. The
      most frequent complication in our cohort was sIUGR (36 patients - 20.3%), TTTS
      (21 patients - 11.9%) and on the third place congenital abnormality or TRAP
      sequence (five patients - 2.8%) Nineteen patients gave birth to one viable fetus,
      in two cases both fetuses died in utero. In one case, in twin pair, one new-born
      died shortly after the birth - it had several congenital abnormalities and due to
      anhydramnion it was impossible to perform amnioinfusion and umbilical cord
      occlusion. After the birth it was given palliative care. CONCLUSION: The study
      brought data about specific risks in monochorionic twin pregnancies and suggests
      careful observation of women in fixed intervals and necessity of immediate
      referral to perinatal centre in case of any suspicious or pathological finding.

PMID- 28593771
TI  - [Rare forms of feto-fetal transfusion in a clinical practice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze monochorionic twin pregnancies with twin anemia
      polycythemia sequence (TAPS) and acute peripartal twin to twin syndrome (aTTTS),
      to compare their prenatal management and perinatal outcome. METHODS:
      Retrospective analysis of monochorionic biamniotic twin pregnancies without signs
      of chronic TTTS within a period 10/2010 to 10/2013. Further selection of cases
      with haemoglobin difference in neonates greater than 50 g/l was made, type of
      feto-fetal haemorrhage was determined and their prenatal and postnatal
      characteristics were described. RESULTS: Based on the criteria described above we
      selected four cases out of 55 monochorionic pregnancies. One case of prenatally
      diagnosed spontaneous TAPS which fulfilled all the diagnostic criteria with
      typical angioarchitecture inclusive, one case of spontaneous TAPS diagnosed
      postnatally, a case of postlaser TAPS with a spontaneous resolution and one
      unusual case of feto-fetal haemorrhage which does not fully meet criteria of TAPS
      or aTTTS. All the pregnancies were delivered by caesarean section. All the
      anaemic neonates required blood transfusion postpartum and two of the
      polycythemic neonates needed partial exsanguination. CONCLUSION: Rare forms of
      feto-fetal transfusion syndrome form a heterogenous group and it may be difficult
      to distinguish between TAPS and aTTTS in certain cases. A recommendation for a
      management of TAPS cases was published in recent literature. However, correct
      interpretation of dopplerometric measurments belongs to the hands of experienced
      ultrasonographers in perinatal centers.

PMID- 28593772
TI  - [Complications arising out of insufficient reporting of clinical data to the
      pathologist investigating placentas].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To inform gynecologists-obstetricians about the problems associated
      with pathological examination of placentas, with special regard to the
      possibility of crucial role of complete and relevant clinical data in
      establishing the correct pathological diagnosis. DESIGN: Case report and overview
      of the problems associated with examination of placentas by pathologist. SETTING:
      Sikl's Institute of Pathology, Faculty Hospital and Medical Faculty Pilzen of the
      Charles University in Prague; Biopticka laborator, s.r.o., Pilzen. METHODS: Own
      observation in the setting of routine pathological examination. RESULTS: Case
      report representing a typical complication resulting from insufficient
      interdisciplinary communication describes a case of unsatisfactory result of
      pathological investigation of placenta due to the missing clinical information
      about complications of the late phase of pregnancy which eventually led to
      intrauterine death of the fetus. Due to the absence of the clinical information
      of paramount importance, the initial investigation of placenta was untargeted and
      thus imperfect. Therefore, the primary investigation of the placenta did not
      reveal pathological changes responsible for the complications of pregnancy. It
      was only the revision of material necessitated by the information additionally
      conveyed by gynecologist-obstetrician leading to the final correct pathological
      diagnosis, which even averted the possibility of serious forensic consequences.
      CONCLUSION: The basic prerequisite for proper pathological examination of
      placenta is sharing the available clinical data with the pathologist performing
      the morphological investigation, mainly focusing on complications of pregnancy.
      Lack of such information causes examination of placenta more difficult and
      sometimes even unable to interpret, as the interpretation of morphological
      changes of placenta have to interpreted in the context of clinical data on the
      course of pregnancy. Regarding the extreme emotional and possibly even legal
      consequences of lethal complications of pregnancy or delivery, the correct
      pathological diagnosis may be of crucial importance.

PMID- 28593773
TI  - [HELLP syndrome requiring therapeutic plasma exchange due to progression to
      multiple organ dysfunction syndrome with predominant encephalopathy, respiratory
      and renal insufficiency].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Case report of woman with twin pregnancy complicated by HELLP syndrome
      which progressed to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome with predominant
      encephalopathy, renal and respiratory insufficiency with the need to perform
      repeated therapeutic plasma exchange. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Department of
      gynecology and obstetrics, University Hospital in Ostrava; Departmet of
      hematooncology, University Hospital in Ostrava; Department of gynecology and
      obstetrics, Vsetin hospital; Department of hematology and transfusion, Vsetin
      Hospital. RESULTS: Case of 35-year-old III gravida/II para with previously normal
      ongoing twin bichorionic biamniotic pregnancy in week 35+0, which was admitted to
      secondary care delivery room for three days lasting "flu like" symptoms and the
      right upper quadrant pain. She was icteric, exhausted, but normotensive (120/75
      mm Hg). Acute caesarean section was performed for suspected fetal hypoxia and
      HELLP syndrome. The laboratory exams confirmed coagulopathy and HELLP syndrome
      second class during the operation. Blood loss was 800 ml. Despite standard
      treatment of HELLP syndrome, the condition had developed to renal insufficiency,
      bilateral fluidothorax, alveolar pulmonary edema, encephalopathy and
      hypertension. In laboratory results dominates markers of coagulopathy,
      thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia with presence of
      schistocytes. Due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome with hemolysis of
      unclear origin, patient was transferred to referral hospital on sixth
      postoperative day. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPEX) was promptly begun.
      Improvement of laboratory parameters occurred already after the first TPEX and
      after two days there was a significant improvement of neurological status. Nine
      TPEX procedures were performed. The treatment was terminated after platelet count
      reached 100*109/l. She was discharged from hospital 21 days after delivery. After
      exclusion of other clinical entities, the case was closed as postpartum
      thrombotic microangiopathic syndrome. CONCLUSION: Postpartum thrombotic
      microangiopathic syndrome includes states, which resemble HELLP syndrome with
      their laboratory result and clinical expression, but their behavior is different 
      progressively worsening with signs of disseminated intravascular coagulation and
      complex microangiopathy with multiple organ dysfunction. It is not responding to
      classic treatment of HELLP syndrome. In this cases usually improvement of
      patients condition follow initiation of therapeutic plasma exchange.

PMID- 28593774
TI  - [Two years of pharmacological termination of pregnancy in the Silesian hospital
      Opava, success and lessons].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to summarize our departments experience
      with pharmacological termination of pregnancy up to 49 days of amenorrhea, to
      assess the success, and especially, to offer a closer analysis of the
      complications of this method. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: Department
      of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the Silesian Hospital. METHODS: The monitored
      sample consisted of 161 female patients who underwent pharmacological termination
      of pregnancy at our department from 1. 7. 2014 to 30. 6. 2016 being administered
      600 mg of mifepristone (Mifegyne) and 400 ug of misoprostol (Mispregnol). Within
      the sample of patients we observed the objective process of pharmacological
      termination of pregnancy with special attention being payed to an analysis of
      complications. We compared the number of complications occurred under classic
      surgical intervention and those occurred under pharmacological termination of
      pregnancy. RESULTS: A complete abortion without the necessity of surgical
      intervention occurred with 151 patients (93.79%) of whom 15 patients with
      administering uterotonic medicaments. Ten patients (6.21%) required a consequent
      instrumental revision of the uterine cavity, seven of them (70%) had a history of
      surgical intervention in the uterine cavity. In case of one patient persisted
      vital pregnancy. Two patients underwent medical termination of pregnancy twice.
      In one case there were twins. CONCLUSION: The method of pharmacological pregnancy
      termination has a good efficiency, it is safe with minimal side effects.

PMID- 28593775
TI  - [The importance of maternal microbiome in pregnancy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To bring the most actual published findings of the influence of
      maternal microbiome on the development of pregnancy and possibilities of its
      adjusting. DESIGN: Review. SETTING: 2nd Department of Gyneacology and Obstetrics
      of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital, Bratislava. METHODS:
      Review of the literature. CONCLUSIONS: The appearance of microbes on various body
      surface areas determines the overall health status of the individual in
      significant manner. The change in composition of microbioma in pregnant woman is
      well known. It was believed that the placenta and the body of the newborn is
      sterile environment. Modern diagnostic methods proved the presence of
      microorganisms inside the fetoplacentar unit without the signs of inflammation.
      Mutual interaction between the immune system of the mother, microbioma and immune
      system of the newborn can decrease the risk of serious obstetrical syndromes as
      well as define the lifelong health status of the newborn. The risk can be
      decreased by the administration of probiotics during the pregnancy.

PMID- 28593776
TI  - [Ultrasound staging of stage I-II endometrial cancer, analysis of own file in the
      years 2012-2016].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the accuracy of
      ultrasound staging of early stage endometrial cancer depending on grading,
      evaluation of ultrasound examination accuracy growing overtime with gained
      experience of examiners and comparison of subjective versus objective modalities
      of deep myometrial invasion assessment in the file of patients who were referred
      in The Oncogyneacologic Center, Department of Gyneacology and Obstetrics in Ceske
      Budejovice. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTINGS: Department of Gyneacology and
      Obstetrics, Hospital Ceske Budejovice a.s.Methods and the file: In this arcticle
      we retrospectively evaluate the file of 136 patients with early stage endometrial
      cancer. The patients underwent diagnostic and therapeutic procedures during the
      years 2012-2016 in our department. All these patients were able to be compared in
      different aproaches to deep myometrial invasion assessment using ultrasound
      examination. RESULTS: Comparing the used methods of deep myometrial invasion
      assessment with ultrasound examination of early stage endometrial cancer patients
      the examiner's subjective evaluation seems to be the best approach. After the
      first year of doing these assessments sensitivity performed 80%, specificity 79%
      and infiltration of cervix sensitivity 70% and specificity 99%. In case the
      patients were divided into groups according to the grading, low grade assessed
      worst sensitivity 64% (high grade l00%), but the best specificity 75% (high grade
      56%). The evaluation of objective approaches of ultrasound assement with used cut
      offs performed the best sensitivity 81% tumour free minimal margin (specificity
      67%). On the contrary the best specificity 90% performed the ratio AP
      (anteroposterior) diameter tumour/AP diameter uterine (senzitivity 54%).
      CONCLUSION: Generally in oncological therapy the most important things to put
      stress on the very accurate staging of oncological disease. In oncogyneacology
      ultrasound becomes more and more required examination. In our file we proved the
      significance of ultrasound examination in diagnostics and staging of endometrial
      cancer and we also proved that the accuracy level in early stage depends on the
      examiner's experience. After one year practice our results reach the level of the
      results presented globally, no matter which of the methods - ultrasound MRI or
      frozen section - was used.

PMID- 28593777
TI  - [Aggressive angiomyxoma - case report].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present a case report of 47-years old woman with a rare mesenchymal
      tumor misdiagnosed as a cyst Bartholins gland. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING:
      Department of Gynecology, Hospital Atlas, EUC, in ZlinConclusion: Aggressive
      angiomyxoma is a rare mesenchymal tumor, which is occuring more in women, affects
      the vulva, perineum and pelvis. Typical is slowly and infiltrative growth with
      high-risk of local recurence.

PMID- 28593778
TI  - [Current FIGO staging classification for cancer of ovary, fallopian tube and
      peritoneum].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSCs) include carcinoma of
      ovary, fallopian tube, and peritoneum. Five-year survival, irrespective of the
      stage, is between 35-40%. Most patients are diagnosed in advanced stages of the
      disease. The new revised and expanded dualistic model of ovarian carcinogenesis
      shows that type II tumors are composed for the most part of high-grade serous
      ovarian carcinoma, carcinosarcoma, undifferentiated carcinoma and can be further
      subdivided into morphologic and molecular subtypes. Many type II carcinomas
      develop from STIC predominantly in the distal portion of the fallopian tube and
      it is very likely the point of the origin of a significant subset of the pelvic
      high-grade serous carcinomas. OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of major changes
      in our understanding of the origin of ovarian cancer, that led to the revision of
      FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) classification and
      its unification for the ovary, fallopian tube and peritoneum. We summarize the
      new classification, main changes compared to the former one and their clinical
      impact. METHODS: For this review, we have used the results of studies and review
      articles on the subject published in English up to October 2016. They were
      identified through a search of literature using PubMed, MEDLINE-Ovid, Scopus and
      Cochrane Library with the keywords ("serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma" or
      "high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma" or "FIGO ovarian cancer staging 2014"). We
      retrieved and assessed potentially relevant studies, and checked the reference
      lists of all papers of interest to identify additional relevant publications.
      CONCLUSION: The origin of most cases of pelvic HGSC (carcinoma of ovary, the
      fallopian tube, and peritoneum) is expected in the fallopian tube epithelium. The
      main changes in the revised FIGO classification for extrauterine pelvic serous
      carcinomas were subdivision of stages IC, III and IV and elimination of the stage
      IIC, based on new knowledge and prognostic data. A prerequisite for the proper
      treatment of patients is to perform adequate surgical and pathological staging,
      including determining the grade of carcinoma. These factors, coupled with
      appropriately performed operation with zero postoperative residuum (R0), are the
      most important prognostic factors for patients with carcinoma of the ovary,
      fallopian tube, and peritoneum.

PMID- 28593779
TI  - [Hirsutism].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Overview of excessive hair growth in women, hirsutism. Although women
      with hirsutism typically present because of cosmetic concerns, the majority also
      have an underlying endocrine disorder. DESIGN: Review article. SETTING:
      Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, General Faculty Hospital and 1st Faculty
      of Medicine of Charles Universtity, Prague. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hirsutism is a
      clinical diagnosis defined by the presence of excess terminal hair growth (dark,
      coarse hairs) in androgen-sensitive areas. It affects between five and ten
      percent of women of reproductive age. It may be the initial, and possibly only,
      sign of an underlying androgen disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The most common cause of
      hirsutism is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In some cases, hirsutism is mild
      and requires only reassurance and local (nonsystemic) therapy, while in others it
      causes significant psychological distress and requires more extensive therapy. In
      case of rapid progressive hair growth should be first exclude androgen-secerning
      tumour (ovarian, adrenal) as the most serious condition.

PMID- 28593780
TI  - [Complications tension-free vaginal tape surgery].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A comprehensive overview of the potential complications associated
      with vaginal tape operations, which are commonly used in the treatment of stress
      urinary incontinence in women. DESIGN: Review article. SETTING: Department of
      Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oblastni nemocnice Kolin, a.s. METHODS: Using medical
      databases were searched articles dealing with complications tension-free vaginal
      tape procedures. In individual cases, complications were observed their causes
      and solutions. RESULTS: Complications were divided into three groups according to
      the time of their formation due to the operation performed. Intra-operative
      complications are further divided into a group of severe, when they were wound
      blood vessels, nerves and bowel. For less serious complications result in
      injuries to the bladder, vagina injuries. Among peri-operative complications
      include retropubic hematoma, blood loss > 200 mL and urinary tract infections.
      The last group are the post-operative complications and transient urinary
      retention, persistent urinary retention, vaginal erosion, urethral erosion,
      abscess, actinomycosis, de novo urgency, erosion, bladder, urethral obstruction.
      Further complications were compared by the method of keeping tapes - retropubic
      and transobturator procedure. CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive treatment of stress
      urinary incontinence is not without serious long-term complications and their
      successful resolution can be a problem. Knowledge of the specifics of individual
      surgical procedures and their limitations. Given the statements FDA-party use of
      foreign material in reconstructive procedures for stress incontinence is required
      safest choice material tapes. Furthermore, the operation was carried out by a
      surgeon familiar with the method and at the same time able to solve any problems.

PMID- 28593781
TI  - Influence of type 2 diabetes mellitus on Khorana venous thromboembolism risk in
      colorectal cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many studies have documented the association between venous
      thromboembolism (VTE) and colorectal cancer (CRC). The Khorana model is a VTE
      risk assessment model for predicting cancer-associated thrombosis. Type 2
      diabetes (T2DM) has also been reported to increase the risk of VTE. PURPOSE: The
      aim of this study was to investigate the influence of T2DM on Khorana VTE risk in
      CRC patients and to explore the relationship between Khorana VTE category and CRC
      clinicopathological factors. METHODS: This analysis included 615 CRC patients
      (205 with T2DM). Fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were compared within each group. A
      comparison was made of the proportion of patients in different Khorana VTE risk
      categories in CRC patients with and without T2DM. The association between Khorana
      VTE risk category and clinicopathological factors among all the CRC patients was
      evaluated. RESULTS: Fibrinogen levels of CRC patients with T2DM were
      significantly higher than those of non-diabetes patients (4.13 +/- 1.06 vs 3.94
      +/- 0.98, p < 0.001). A higher proportion of CRC patients with T2DM were in the
      Khorana intermediate-to-high risk category (H = 4.749, p = 0.029). Female sex,
      diabetes, colon location (compared with rectum), larger tumor size, advanced pT
      stage and pN stage were correlated with the intermediate-to-high Khorana VTE risk
      category, with odd ratios (95% confidence intervals [CI]) of 1.537 (1.064-2.220),
      1.499 (1.027-2.186), 2.313 (1.588-3.370), 2.284 (1.542-3.383), 4.429 (2.088
      9.396) and 1.822 (1.230-2.698), respectively. CONCLUSION: T2DM increases Khorana
      VTE risk in CRC patients. Female sex, diabetes, colon location, large tumor size
      and poor stage are associated with the intermediate-to-high Khorana VTE risk
      category.

PMID- 28593782
TI  - The impact of screening on short-term outcome after surgery for colorectal
      cancer.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the influence of a screening program on the short-term
      outcome of patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. METHODS: Between
      April 2010 and December 2012 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer via the
      screening program (n = 80) were compared with patients diagnosed elsewhere (n =
      106). Only patients of >= 50 and <= 69 years of age diagnosed outside the program
      were selected as controls. The clinical variables included age, sex, American
      Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status, Charlson index, preoperative
      hemoglobin and serum albumin levels, surgical approach, tumor location and stage,
      perioperative transfusion and postoperative morbidity. A multivariate analysis
      was used to identify variables independently associated with outcome. RESULTS:
      There were no significant differences with regard to age, sex and ASA status.
      Preoperative hemoglobin (14.1 +/- 1.6 g/dl vs 12.3 +/- 2.3 g/dl; p < 0.001) and
      serum albumin (4.45 +/- 0.26 g/dl vs 4.0 +/- 0.6 g/dl; p < 0.001) levels were
      significantly higher in the screening group. The overall morbidity was
      significantly lower in the screening group (38.8% vs 63.2; p < 0.001) and mainly
      related to a higher rate of Clavien-Dindo grade II complications in controls.
      There were no differences with regard to wound infection, postoperative ileus,
      anastomotic leakage or reoperations. The median length of hospital stay was
      shorter in the screening group (6 vs 9 days; p = 0.003). Multivariate analysis
      showed that diagnosis outside the screening program, type of surgical procedure,
      open surgery and Charlson index were independent risk factors for postoperative
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of colorectal cancer via the screening
      program is associated with a lower rate of postoperative minor complications and
      a shorter hospital stay.

PMID- 28593783
TI  - Colonic lesions in patients undergoing small bowel capsule endoscopy: incidence,
      diagnostic and therapeutic impact.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, capsule endoscopy is the first-line procedure to assess the
      small bowel. During small bowel procedures, other segments of the
      gastrointestinal tract may be visualized. The aim of the current study was to
      evaluate the incidence of colonic abnormalities in patients undergoing small
      bowel capsule and its impact on patient management. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      study is a retrospective analysis of data from 526 consecutive capsule endoscopy
      procedures performed at a single tertiary-care centre between 2008 and 2011.
      Patients with incomplete procedures were excluded from the analysis. Patient
      baseline characteristics, colonic lesions, diagnosis and management before and
      after capsule endoscopy were recorded and a descriptive analysis was performed.
      RESULTS: Four hundred and sixty four patients were finally included in the
      analysis. Two hundred and ninety three patients were male (57.3%) and the mean
      age was 61.3 +/- 20.03 years (18-86). Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (59%) and
      inflammatory bowel disease (19%) were the main indications for the procedure.
      Colonic abnormalities were detected by capsule endoscopy in 47 (9%) of 464
      patients. The most common types of missed lesions were vascular lesions (34%) and
      colonic ulcers (32%). This information had a clinical or diagnostic impact of
      7.55% and a therapeutic impact of 6.03%. CONCLUSION: All images of the colon
      should be evaluated during small bowel capsule endoscopy as they may provide
      relevant information that may result in changes in patient management.

PMID- 28593784
TI  - Abdominal compartment syndrome secondary to acute necrotizing pancreatitis.
AB  - Severe acute pancreatitis occurs in around 20% of patients and is associated with
      mortality rates between 8-40%. Abdominal compartment syndrome is a fatal
      complication that is associated with new organ failure or acute worsening of
      existing organ failure and has an associated mortality of around 60%. Intra
      abdominal pressure measurements are recommended in patients with risk factors for
      intra-abdominal hypertension or abdominal compartment syndrome. Management should
      be based on a step-up method and surgical intervention may be indicated when
      conservative treatment fails.

PMID- 28593785
TI  - Endoscopically placed stents: a useful alternative for the management of
      refractory benign cervical esophageal stenosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Benign esophageal strictures are relatively frequent and can
      severely affect the quality of life of a patient. Stenting has been proposed for
      the treatment of refractory cases. Lesions affecting the cervical esophagus are
      more difficult to treat, and the placement of stents in this location has
      traditionally been restricted due to potential adverse events. The aim of this
      study was to describe the efficacy and safety of endoscopic stenting in the
      management of refractory benign cervical esophageal strictures (RBCES) in a
      single-center cohort study. METHODS: We analyzed 12 patients with RBCES
      (Kochman's criteria) and severe dysphagia. We recorded previous endoscopic
      treatments, stricture characteristics and demographic data. The two types of
      stents used were fully covered self-expandable metallic stents (FCSEMS) and
      uncovered biodegradable stents (BDS). FCSEMS were removed eight weeks after
      placement, and BDS were followed-up until degradation. We assessed technical and
      clinical success, rate of stricture recurrence and adverse events. RESULTS: The
      mean age of participants was 64 years (range 30-85). A total of 23 stents (13
      FCSEMS and 10 BDS) were placed in 12 patients (median 1.92, range 1-4). The
      technical success rate was 96% (22/23 stents). Eight patients (66.6%) maintained
      adequate oral intake at the end of follow-up (median 33.3 months, range 3-84
      months). Migration was recorded in 7/23 stents (30.4%) and epithelial hyperplasia
      in 4/23 stents (17.4%). No severe adverse events were noted. All patients
      complained of minor cervical pain after placement that was well controlled with
      mild analgesia. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic stent therapy seems to be effective and
      safe in the management of RBCES.

PMID- 28593786
TI  - Characterization of liver changes in ZSF1 rats, an animal model of metabolic
      syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the hepatic counterpart of
      the metabolic syndrome. ZSF1 rats are a metabolic syndrome animal model in which
      liver changes have not been described yet. AIM: The characterization of liver
      histological and innate immunity changes in ZSF1 rats. METHODS: Five groups of
      rats were included (n = 7 each group): healthy Wistar-Kyoto control rats (Ctrl),
      hypertensive ZSF1 lean (Ln), ZSF1 obese rats with a normal diet (Ob), ZSF1 obese
      rates with a high-fat diet (Ob-HFD), and ZSF1 obese rats with low-intensity
      exercise training (Ob-Ex). The animals were sacrificed at 20 weeks of age, their
      livers were collected for: a) measurements of the area of steatosis, fibrosis and
      inflammation (histomorphological analysis); and b) innate immunity (toll-like
      receptor [TLR] 2, TLR4, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma
      [PPARgamma], toll interacting protein [TOLLIP]) and inflammatory marker (tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha [TNFalpha], interleukin 1 [IL-1]) expression analysis by
      real-time PCR. RESULTS: Ob, Ob-HFD and Ob-Ex were significantly heavier than Ln
      and Ctrl animals. Ob, Ob-HFD and Ob-Ex animals had impaired glucose tolerance and
      insulin resistance. ZSF1 Ob, Ob-HFD and Ob-Ex presented a higher degree of
      steatosis (3,5x; p < 0.05) than Ctrl or ZSF1 Ln rats. Steatohepatitis and
      fibrosis were not observed in any of the groups. No differences in expression
      were observed between Ctrl, Ln and Ob animals (except for the significantly
      higher expression of TOLLIP observed in the Ob vs Ln comparison). Ob-HFD and Ob
      Ex rats showed increased expression of PPARgamma and TOLLIP as compared to other
      groups. However, both groups also showed increased expression of TLR2 and TLR4.
      Nevertheless, this did not translate into a differential expression of TNFalpha
      or IL-1 in any of the groups. CONCLUSION: The ZSF1 model is associated with liver
      steatosis but not with steatohepatitis or a significantly increased expression of
      innate immunity or inflammation markers.

PMID- 28593787
TI  - Cholangitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography: a rare
      complication?
AB  - In our experience, post-ERCP acute cholangitis developed in approximately 5% of
      cases with a not negligible mortality of nearly 30% in spite of antibiotic
      therapy. Analytical factors can help to identify the most serious cases that
      could benefit from a more aggressive approach.

PMID- 28593788
TI  - A complication following a biopsy sample in eosinophilic esophagitis.
AB  - We present a case of a young 16 year old patient that had an esophageal
      perforation in the context of eosinophilic esophagitis. The esophagus showed
      vertical lacerations and mucosal thickness on endoscopy, thus a biopsy was
      performed in the proximal section which resulted in profuse bleeding due to a
      deep mucosal tear. A subsequent computed tomography scan revealed a perforation.
      Due to the absence of symptoms the patient was managed conservatively. The
      patient was discharged within 48 hours after admission. The histopathology
      analysis showed a massive eosinophilic infiltration of the mucosa that verified
      the clinical suspicion.

PMID- 28593790
TI  - Molecular diagnostics for hereditary hearing loss in children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hearing loss (HL) is the most common birth defect in industrialized
      countries with far-reaching social, psychological and cognitive implications. It
      is an extremely heterogeneous disease, complicating molecular testing. The
      introduction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has resulted in great progress
      in diagnostics allowing to study all known HL genes in a single assay. The
      diagnostic yield is currently still limited, but has the potential to increase
      substantially. Areas covered: In this review the utility of NGS and the problems
      for comprehensive molecular testing for HL are evaluated and discussed. Expert
      commentary: Different publications have proven the appropriateness of NGS for
      molecular testing of heterogeneous diseases such as HL. However, several problems
      still exist, such as pseudogenic background of some genes and problematic copy
      number variant analysis on targeted NGS data. Another main challenge for the
      future will be the establishment of population specific mutation-spectra to
      achieve accurate personalized comprehensive molecular testing for HL.

PMID- 28593792
TI  - A Sensitive Photometric Procedure for Cobalt Determination in Water Employing a
      Compact Multicommuted Flow Analysis System.
AB  - In this work, a multicommuted flow analysis procedure is proposed for the
      spectrophotometric determination of cobalt in fresh water, employing an
      instrument setup of downsized dimension and improved cost-effectiveness. The
      method is based on the catalytic effect of Co(II) on the Tiron oxidation by
      hydrogen peroxide in alkaline medium, forming a complex that absorbs radiation at
      425 nm. The photometric detection was accomplished using a homemade light
      emitting-diode (LED)-based photometer designed to use a flow cell with an optical
      path-length of 100 mm to improve sensitivity. After selecting adequate values for
      the flow system variables, adherence to the Beer-Lambert-Bouguer law was observed
      for standard solution concentrations in the range of 0.13-1.5 ug L-1 Co(II).
      Other useful features including a relative standard deviation of 2.0% (n = 11)
      for a sample with 0.49 ug L-1 Co(II), a detection limit of 0.06 ug L-1 Co(II) (n
      = 20), an analytical frequency of 42 sample determinations per hour, and waste
      generation of 1.5 mL per determination were achieved.

PMID- 28593789
TI  - Prevalence and outcome of patients with cancer and acute coronary syndrome
      undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: a BleeMACS substudy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence and outcome of patients with cancer that experience
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have to be determined. METHODS AND RESULTS: The
      BleeMACS project is a multicentre observational registry enrolling patients with
      acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention worldwide
      in 15 hospitals. The primary endpoint was a composite event of death and re
      infarction after one year of follow-up. Bleedings were the secondary endpoint.
      15,401 patients were enrolled, 926 (6.4%) in the cancer group and 14,475 (93.6%)
      in the group of patients without cancer. Patients with cancer were older (70.8+/
      10.3 vs. 62.8+/-12.1 years, P<0.001) with more severe comorbidities and presented
      more frequently with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction compared with
      patients without cancer. After one year, patients with cancer more often
      experienced the composite endpoint (15.2% vs. 5.3%, P<0.001) and bleedings (6.5%
      vs. 3%, P<0.001). At multiple regression analysis the presence of cancer was the
      strongest independent predictor for the primary endpoint (hazard ratio (HR) 2.1,
      1.8-2.5, P<0.001) and bleedings (HR 1.5, 1.1-2.1, P=0.015). Despite patients with
      cancer generally being undertreated, beta-blockers (relative risk (RR) 0.6, 0.4
      0.9, P=0.05), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor
      blockers (RR 0.5, 0.3-0.8, P=0.02), statins (RR 0.3, 0.2-0.5, P<0.001) and dual
      antiplatelet therapy (RR 0.5, 0.3-0.9, P=0.05) were shown to be protective
      factors, while proton pump inhibitors (RR 1, 0.6-1.5, P=0.9) were neutral.
      CONCLUSION: Cancer has a non-negligible prevalence in patients with acute
      coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, with a major
      risk of cardiovascular events and bleedings. Moreover, these patients are often
      undertreated from clinical despite medical therapy seems to be protective.
      Registration:The BleeMACS project (NCT02466854).

PMID- 28593791
TI  - Eosinophil-rich tissue infiltrates in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia patients.
AB  - Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal hematopoietic disorder that
      associates dysplastic and proliferative features. Tissue inflammatory disorders
      occur in a fraction of CMML patients during the course of their disease. Here, we
      describe the occurrence of eosinophil-rich tissue inflammation, including
      eosinophilic pneumonia, chondritis, and cystitis, in CMML patients. Whole exome
      sequencing of leukemic cells did not identify a recurrent genetic abnormality
      among these three patients who were clinically improved by local or oral
      corticosteroids. Hypomethylating drugs were subsequently added in two of them,
      allowing decreasing corticosteroid doses and further treating their hematopoietic
      malignancy.

PMID- 28593793
TI  - Erratum.
AB  - Yuka A, Tan J, Baibergenova A, Barankin B, Cochrane CL, Humphrey S, Lynde CW,
      Marcoux D, Poulin Y, Rivers JK, Sapijaszko M, Sibbald RG, Toole J, Ulmer M, Zip
      C. Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rosacea. J Cutan Med Surg.
      2016;20(5):432-445. Original DOI: 10.1177/1203475416650427 In the above article,
      the author affiliation for Ulmer M should have been listed as Department of
      Dermatology and Skin Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC,
      Canada and Carruthers & Humphrey, Vancouver, BC, Canada. The affiliation for
      Rivers JK should have been listed as Department of Dermatology and Skin Science,
      University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada and Pacific DermAesthetics,
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.

PMID- 28593795
TI  - Reply to the letter by Siamak Sabour.

PMID- 28593794
TI  - CtHtrA: the lynchpin of the chlamydial surface and a promising therapeutic
      target.
AB  - Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterial
      infection worldwide and the leading cause of preventable blindness. Reports have
      emerged of treatment failure, suggesting a need to develop new antibiotics to
      battle Chlamydia infection. One possible candidate for a new treatment is the
      protease inhibitor JO146, which is an effective anti-Chlamydia agent that targets
      the CtHtrA protein. CtHtrA is a lynchpin on the chlamydial cell surface due to
      its essential and multifunctional roles in the bacteria's stress response,
      replicative phase of development, virulence and outer-membrane protein assembly.
      This review summarizes the current understanding of CtHtrA function and presents
      a mechanistic model that highlights CtHtrA as an effective target for anti
      Chlamydia drug development.

PMID- 28593796
TI  - The standard international prognostic index for predicting the risk of CNS
      involvement in DLBCL without specific prophylaxis.
AB  - Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is a serious complication in patients
      with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and evaluating CNS risk is an
      important issue. Using the standard international prognostic index (IPI) and CNS
      IPI, a recently proposed model including IPI risk factors and adrenal/kidney
      involvement, we assessed CNS risk in 1220 untreated DLBCL patients who received R
      CHOP without prophylaxis. According to the standard IPI, the cumulative
      incidences of CNS involvement at 2 years were 1.3, 4.6, 8.8, and 12.7% in the low
      , low-intermediate-, high-intermediate-, and high-risk groups, respectively (p
      <.001). This result is comparable with that of the CNS-IPI. Patients with breast
      involvement tended to have lower risk according to the standard IPI but showed
      frequent CNS involvement, similar to patients with testis involvement. The
      standard IPI is also a useful predictor of CNS involvement. Patients with
      breast/testis involvement would be candidates for prophylaxis regardless of the
      standard IPI risk.

PMID- 28593797
TI  - Suicidal behaviors among newly diagnosed people living with HIV in Changsha,
      China.
AB  - Newly-diagnosed people living with HIV (NPLWH) are at high risk of suicide. We
      aimed to evaluate the prevalence of suicidal behaviors among NPLWH, and explore
      the relationships between HIV-related stress, depression, anxiety, and social
      support and suicidal ideation after diagnosed with HIV infection. A cross
      sectional study was conducted using a standard set of questionnaires during 1
      March 2013 and 30 September 2014 in the HIV/AIDS Voluntary Counseling and Testing
      Clinic of the Changsha Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Among 557
      NPLWH, 27.5% (n = 153) had lifetime suicidal ideation, and 25.0% (n = 139) had
      suicidal ideation after HIV diagnosis. The results of multiple regression
      analyses indicated that suicidal ideation after HIV diagnosis was associated with
      HIV-related clinical symptoms (OR = 2.50), HIV-related stress (OR = 3.64), the co
      morbidity of positive depressive and anxiety symptoms (OR = 3.30), and social
      support (OR = 0.52). Overall, the prevalence of suicidal behaviors is high among
      NPLWH in Changsha emphasizing the need of suicidality monitoring and tracking,
      depression and anxiety screening, with an additional focus on stress management
      and social support enhancement in this vulnerable group.

PMID- 28593798
TI  - Nocebo in motor neuron disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo
      controlled clinical trials.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nocebo is very prevalent among neurological disorders, resulting in
      low adherence and treatment outcome. We sought to examine the AEs following
      placebo administration in placebo-controlled randomised clinical trials (RCTs)
      for motor neuron disease (MND). METHODS: After a systematic literature search for
      RCTs for MND pharmacotherapy treatments, we assessed the number of
      discontinuations because of placebo intolerance. RESULTS: Data were extracted
      from 12 RCTs fulfilling our search criteria. Approximately eight in 10 placebo
      treated patients (78.3%, 95% CI 74.3-82.0%) reported at least one AE and
      approximately one in 12 placebo-treated patients discontinued placebo treatment
      because of AEs (8.4%, 95% CI 6.7-10.4%). All patients participating in the MND
      trials reported similar AEs independently of the study arm to which they
      belonged. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates significant nocebo in trials for MND
      treatment, adversely affecting adherence and efficacy of current treatments in
      clinical practice, with additional implications for trial design.

PMID- 28593799
TI  - What can evolutionary rescue tell us about the emergence of new resistant
      bacteria?

PMID- 28593800
TI  - Use of copeptin for rapid rule-out of acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - Copeptin is currently understood as a quantitative marker of endogenous stress.
      It rises rapidly in multiple acute disorders including acute myocardial
      infarction. As a single variable, it has only modest diagnostic accuracy for
      acute myocardial infarction. However, the use of copeptin within a dual-marker
      strategy together with conventional cardiac troponin increases the diagnostic
      accuracy and particularly the negative predictive value of cardiac troponin alone
      for acute myocardial infarction. The rapid rule-out of acute myocardial
      infarction is the only application in acute cardiac care mature enough to merit
      consideration for routine clinical care. However, the dual-marker approach seems
      to provide only very small incremental value when used in combination with
      sensitive or high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays. This review aims to update
      and educate regarding the potential and the procedural details, as well as the
      caveats and challenges of using copeptin in clinical practice.

PMID- 28593801
TI  - Renal dysfunction indicative of outcomes in hospitalized patients with takotsubo
      syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND:: Left ventricular dysfunction as part of takotsubo syndrome is
      reversible, and the long-term prognosis appears favorable. However, life
      threatening complications are not uncommon during the acute phase, and it remains
      unclear whether renal dysfunction is a factor in complications suffered by
      hospitalized patients with takotsubo syndrome. The present study was conducted to
      investigate the implications of renal dysfunction in this setting. METHODS:: Data
      from 61 consecutive patients (male, 21; female, 40) diagnosed with takotsubo
      syndrome at our hospital between years 2010 and 2016 were evaluated
      retrospectively. In-hospital complications by definition were all-cause deaths
      and severe pump failure (Killip class >=III). RESULTS:: Overall, 30 patients
      (49%) developed renal dysfunction. In the 32 patients (52%) who suffered in
      hospital complications (mortality, 10; severe pump failure, 22), estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was significantly lower by comparison (51.3+/
      29.8 vs. 69.5+/-29.0; p=0.019). Low eGFR (<30 ml/min per 1.73m2) proved
      independently predictive of in-hospital complications (hazard ratio =2.84, 95%
      confidence interval: 1.20-6.69) in multivariate Cox hazard analysis, also showing
      a significant association with peak event rate of Kaplan-Meier curve (log-rank
      test, p=0.0073). Similarly, patients with chronic kidney disease were at
      significantly greater risk of in-hospital complications (hazard ratio=2.49, 95%
      confidence interval: 1.01-5.98), relative to non-compromised counterparts (eGFR
      >60 ml/min per 1.73m2). CONCLUSION:: Renal dysfunction is a simple but useful
      means of predicting complications in hospitalized patients with takotsubo
      syndrome, especially those with chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 28593803
TI  - Impact of tumor size on the outcome of patients with small renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims to establish potential correlation between tumor size
      and outcomes in patients with T1a kidney cancer registered within the
      surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) database. METHODS: SEER
      database (2004-2013) has been accessed through SEER*Stat program to determine the
      correlation between tumor size and cancer-specific survival in patients with T1a
      kidney cancer.  Survival analysis was conducted through Kaplan-Meier analysis and
      log-rank testing. RESULTS: Five year kidney cancer-specific survival rates show
      progressive decline with increasing tumor size.  Moreover, kidney cancer-specific
      survival has been compared according to the initial local treatment modality
      (observation, ablation, partial or radical nephrectomy) across different size
      categories (<1 cm, 1-2 cm, 2-3 cm and 3-4 cm).  Survival curves of different
      treatment modalities were almost overlapping for patients with renal mass < 1cm.
      For patients with tumor size 1-2 cm, treatment modalities were overlapping at the
      first 60 months then the curve of observation diverged (P <0.0001). For patients
      with tumor size 2-3 cm and 3-4 cm, the curve of observation diverged early in the
      time course (P <0.0001). CONCLUSION: Primary tumor size is an important factor
      that should be taken into consideration when evaluating the different treatment
      options for patients with small kidney cancers..

PMID- 28593802
TI  - The effect on the patient flow in a local health care after implementing reverse
      triage in a primary care emergency department: a longitudinal follow-up study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Reverse triage means that patients who are not considered to be in
      need of medical services are not placed on the doctor's list in an emergency
      department (ED) but are sent, after face-to-face evaluation by a triage nurse, to
      a more appropriate health care unit. It is not known how an abrupt application of
      such reverse triage in a combined primary care ED alters the demand for doctors'
      services in collaborative parts of the health care system. DESIGN: An
      observational study. SETTING: Register-based retrospective quasi-experimental
      longitudinal follow-up study based on a before-after setting in a Finnish city.
      SUBJECTS: Patients who consulted different doctors in a local health care unit.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of monthly visits to different doctor groups in
      public and private primary care, and numbers of monthly referrals to secondary
      care ED from different sources of primary care were recorded before and after
      abrupt implementation of the reverse triage. RESULTS: The beginning of reverse
      triage decreased the number of patient visits to a primary ED doctor without
      increasing mortality. Simultaneously, there was an increase in doctor visits in
      the adjacent secondary care ED and local private sector. The number of patients
      who came to secondary care ED without a referral or with a referral from the
      private sector increased. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggested that the reverse triage
      causes redistribution of the use of doctors' services rather than a true decrease
      in the use of these services.

PMID- 28593805
TI  - Ectopic Liver Within the Placental Parenchyma of a Stillborn Fetus.
AB  - Rarely, liver tissue can be seen in the umbilical cord, where it is thought to
      result from ectopic localization during embryogenesis. The placental parenchyma
      is also a rare site for this occurrence. The exact pathophysiology of ectopic
      liver in the placenta is unknown. It has been considered that aberrant migration
      or displacement of cells from the developing hepatic buds leads to ectopic liver
      formation, including groups of liver cells that become entrapped in the foregut
      as the diaphragm closes. Additional hypotheses put forward have included
      monodermal teratoma and hepatocellular adenoma. While the lesions may not
      actually be adenomas, this term has been most utilized in the literature.
      Hepatocellular adenomas of the placenta are extremely rare; only 9 cases have
      been reported thus far. We report an additional occurrence of ectopic liver in
      the placenta, which is the only one reported in a stillborn, and review the
      literature.

PMID- 28593804
TI  - The search for new sporicidal agents for medical use: where are we?

PMID- 28593806
TI  - A nitrogen removal system to limit water exchange for recirculating freshwater
      aquarium using DHS-USB reactor.
AB  - This study proposes a biological nitrogen removal system for freshwater aquaria
      consisting of a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) and an up-flow sludge blanket
      (USB). DHS-USB systems can perform nitrification and denitrification
      simultaneously, reducing ammonia (NH3) and nitrate (NO3-) toxicity in the water.
      The performance of the system was evaluated using on-site fresh water aquaria at
      ambient temperature (23-34 degrees C) over 192 days. NH3 and nitrite (NO2-) were
      maintained at a detection limit of 0.01 mg N L-1 and NO3- was maintained below 10
      mg N L-1, despite limited water exchange. The 16S rRNA gene of microorganisms
      from the sludge retained in the bioreactors was sequenced to identify the
      microbial communities present. Microbial community analysis revealed that ammonia
      oxidizing archaea (AOA), Ca. Nitrososphaera and Nitrosopumilus, played an
      important role in nitrification in the DHS reactor, while denitrifying bacteria
      Thauera played an important role in denitrification in the USB reactor. The
      proposed DHS-USB system is a promising technological advancement in the
      development of lower maintenance aquaria.

PMID- 28593807
TI  - Cyclic filtration behavior of structured cattail fiber assembly for oils removal
      from wastewater.
AB  - Structured cattail fiber assembly was reported as the filter for removing oils
      from runoff. The oil-wetted filter was recovered by rotational centrifugation and
      reused in the next filtration. The cyclic filtration behavior of the assembly was
      characterized by oil removal efficiency, oil sorption capacity, influence of
      packing density and number of filtration cycles. The efficiency of liquid removal
      and oil recovery from the centrifuged filter were also investigated. Cattail
      filters showed an excellent oil cyclic filtration performance which was found to
      have a close relationship with the inner structural characteristic of the fibers.
      The filters removed vegetable oil and diesel completely from runoff in the
      initial 40-90 min and 30-60 min in the first cycle, respectively, after which the
      oils broke through the filter's body and 29.4-71.4 L and 21.0-46.2 L of clean
      water were collected. The time of breakthrough was decreased with decreasing
      cattail's packing density. The wetted filters which absorbed up to 693.11 g
      (14.81 g/g) of vegetable oil and 497.02 g (10.62 g/g) of diesel took separately 7
      min and 30 s to be recovered. Seventy-five to ninety percent of liquids were
      removed and 70-93% of oils were re-collected.

PMID- 28593809
TI  - Nitrate analogs as attractants for soybean cyst nematode.
AB  - Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, a plant parasite, is
      one of the most serious pests of soybean. In this paper, we report that SCN is
      attracted to nitrate and its analogs. We performed attraction assays to screen
      for novel attractants for SCN and found that nitrates were attractants for SCN
      and SCN recognized nitrate gradients. However, attraction of SCN to nitrates was
      not observed on agar containing nitrate. To further elucidate the attraction
      mechanism in SCN, we performed attraction assays using nitrate analogs ([Formula:
      see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). SCN was attracted to all
      nitrate analogs; however, attraction of SCN to nitrate analogs was not observed
      on agar containing nitrate. In contrast, SCN was attracted to azuki root,
      irrespective of presence or absence of nitrate in agar media. Our results suggest
      that the attraction mechanisms differ between plant-derived attractant and
      nitrate.

PMID- 28593808
TI  - Polymorphism rs2073618 of the osteoprotegerin gene as a potential marker of
      subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in Caucasians with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The OPG/RANKL/RANK (osteoprotegerin/receptor-activator of nuclear
      factor kappaB ligand/receptor-activator of nuclear factor kappaB) axis has been
      recently linked to the development of atherosclerosis and plaque destabilization.
      We have investigated whether polymorphism rs2073618 of the OPG gene is associated
      with subclinical markers of carotid atherosclerosis in subjects with type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 595 subjects with T2DM were
      enrolled in the cross-sectional study. Subclinical markers of carotid
      atherosclerosis (carotid intima media thickness, plaque thickness, and plaques
      presence) were assessed with ultrasound at the time of recruitment. Genotyping
      for rs2073618 (a missense variant located in exon I of the OPG gene) was
      performed, and OPG serum levels were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: Compared to
      the GG genotype, the CC genotype of the rs2073618 polymorphism had a
      significantly increased risk for the presence of carotid plaque (OR = 2.54, 95 %
      CI = 1.22-5.28, p = 0.01). No statistically significant difference could be
      detected (p = 0.68) upon comparing median values of serum OPG levels among
      studied genotype groups in subjects with T2DM. Multivariable linear regression
      analyses in T2DM subjects demonstrated that GC and CC genotypes (p = 0.03 and p =
      0.003), together with statin therapy (p = 0.009), were independent predictors of
      the number of carotid segments with plaques. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the fact that
      OPG rs2073618 genotypes failed to predict the serum OPG levels as there was no
      statistical difference among compared genotypes, our results demonstrate that the
      rs2073618 polymorphism could be a possible genetic marker for the prediction of
      increased risk for carotid plaque burden as a measure of advanced subclinical
      atherosclerosis in T2DM subjects.

PMID- 28593810
TI  - Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilized onto cross-linked chitosan beads:
      application of a novel material for the removal of dye toxicity.
AB  - Waste from textile industries can severely harm the environment. Dyes are the
      main residues of these effluents. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is already known to be
      an efficient adsorbent for the removal of dyes. However, the lack of
      applicability and limitation of the use of cell biomass in an industrial
      treatment makes it impossible to apply them. Thus the aim of this work was to
      immobilize S. cerevisiae in cross-linked chitosan beads by two different
      techniques (contact immobilization and encapsulation in the polymer matrix),
      proposing two new materials for adsorption. Adsorption experiments were carried
      out to analyse the kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamics adsorptive of the
      synthesized materials. The adsorption data obtained were compared with the S.
      cerevisiae biomass and with the cell-free cross-linked chitosan beads to evaluate
      the efficiency of the two synthesized materials. The Fourier transform infrared
      spectrophotometer was used to characterize and analyse the main adsorption sites
      of the tested materials. Bioassays using the microcrustacean Daphnia similis
      verified if the materials could reduce the toxicity of the medium after its
      application in the treatment. Both materials synthesized in this work can
      potentially remove dyes from effluents, in addition to being able to
      significantly decrease dye toxicity from an aqueous medium.

PMID- 28593811
TI  - Leptin induction following irradiation is a conserved feature in mammalian
      epithelial cells and tissues.
AB  - PURPOSE: Leptin (LEP) is a peptide hormone with multiple physiological functions.
      Besides its systemic actions, it has important peripheral roles such as a mitogen
      action on keratinocytes following skin lesions. We previously showed that LEP
      mRNA is significantly induced in response to neutron irradiation in mouse skin
      and that the protein increases in the irradiated epidermis and in the related
      subcutaneous adipose tissue. In this work, we investigated the post
      transcriptional regulation of LEP by miRNAs and the conservation of LEP's role in
      radiation response in human cells. METHODS: We used microarray analysis and real
      time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to analyze modulation of miRNAs
      potentially targeting LEP in mouse skin following irradiation and bioinformatic
      analysis of transcriptome of irradiated human cell lines and cancer tissues from
      radiotherapy-treated patients to evaluate LEP expression. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSIONS: We show that a network of miRNAs potentially targeting LEP mRNA is
      modulated in irradiated mouse skin and that LEP itself is significantly modulated
      by irradiation in human epithelial cell lines and in breast cancer tissues from
      radiotherapy-treated patients. These results confirm and extend the previous
      evidence that LEP has a general and important role in the response of mammalian
      cells to irradiation.

PMID- 28593812
TI  - A retrospective study comparing the loss of anchorage following the extraction of
      maxillary first or second premolars during orthodontic treatment with fixed
      appliances in adolescent patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This retrospective study assessed the difference in anchorage loss
      using 3D superimposition of study models between cases treated with extraction of
      maxillary first premolars and maxillary second premolars carried out in
      orthodontic specialist practice. METHOD: Sixty subjects who have undergone
      extractions of either maxillary first or second premolars as part of their
      orthodontic treatment were selected. Eligibility criteria included patients with
      a Class I, mild Class II or III malocclusions, mild-to-moderate crowding with no
      anchorage reinforcement. Pre- and post-treatment maxillary dental study cases
      were scanned using a surface laser scanner to produced 3D digital images which
      were superimposed using areas of stability on the anterior hard palate. Anchorage
      loss was measured by the mesial movement of the maxillary first permanent molar.
      RESULTS: The mean mesial movement for the maxillary first molars, when adjusted
      for confounding factors was 4.7 mm (SD 1.6) in the maxillary first premolar
      extraction group and 4.6 mm (SD 1.6) in the maxillary second premolar extraction
      group. CONCLUSIONS: There is no difference in anchorage loss when comparing the
      extraction of the maxillary first premolars to the extraction maxillary second
      premolars.

PMID- 28593813
TI  - Association of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene Polymorphism With Renal
      Cell Carcinoma Risk.
AB  - The conclusion of the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor
      gene polymorphism and renal cell carcinoma risk was inconsistent. This study was
      performed to assess the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor
      gene polymorphism and renal cell carcinoma risk using meta-analysis. The
      association studies were identified from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, and
      eligible studies were included and calculated. Ten studies were included for this
      meta-analysis. vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) +405G > CC allele and GG
      genotype were associated with renal cell carcinoma risk for overall populations
      in this meta-analysis (C allele: odds ratio = 1.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.05
      1.33, P = .004; CC genotype: odds ratio = 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 0.96
      1.50, P = .12; GG genotype: odds ratio = 0.79, 95% confidence interval: 0.67
      0.93, P = .004). Furthermore, VEGF +936C>T gene polymorphism and VEGF -2578 C>A
      gene polymorphism were associated with renal cell carcinoma risk for overall
      populations (+936C>T: T allele: odds ratio = 1.16, 95% confidence interval: 1.05
      1.29, P = .004; TT genotype: odds ratio = 1.25, 95% confidence interval: 1.02
      1.52, P = .03; CC genotype: odds ratio = 0.86, 95% confidence interval: 0.75
      0.98, P = .03; -2578 C>A: A allele: odds ratio = 1.26, 95% confidence interval:
      1.15-1.38, P < .00001; AA genotype: odds ratio = 1.39, 95% confidence interval:
      1.16-1.67, P = .0004; CC genotype: odds ratio = 0.75, 95% confidence interval:
      0.61-0.92, P = .006). However, VEGF -634G>C, VEGF -460T>C, VEGF -1154 G>A, and
      VEGF +1612 G>A gene polymorphisms were not associated with renal cell carcinoma
      risk. In conclusion, VEGF +405G>CC allele and GG genotype, VEGF +936C>T gene
      polymorphism, and VEGF -2578 C>A gene polymorphism were associated with renal
      cell carcinoma risk for overall populations. However, more studies should be
      performed to assess this relationship in the future.

PMID- 28593815
TI  - Homogenous UV/periodate process in treatment of p-nitrophenol aqueous solutions
      under mild operating conditions.
AB  - Aqueous solutions of p-nitrophenol (PNP) were treated with UV-activated potassium
      periodate (UV/KPI) in an efficient photo-reactor. Either periodate or UV alone
      had little effect; however, their combination led to a significant degradation
      and mineralization. The response surface methodology was employed for design of
      experiments and optimization. The optimum conditions for treatment of 30 mg/L of
      the substrate were determined as [KPI] = 386.3 mg/L, pH = 6.2 and T = 34.6
      degrees C, under which 79.5% degradation was achieved after 60 min. Use of 25 and
      40 kHz ultrasound waves caused the degradation to enhance to 88.3% and 92.3%,
      respectively. The intermediates were identified by gas chromatography-mass
      spectroscopy analysis, leading to propose the reaction pathway. The presence of
      water conventional bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate and nitrate anions caused
      unfavorable effects in efficiency. Meanwhile, the kinetic study showed that PNP
      degradation follows a pseudo-first-order reaction and the activation energy was
      determined. The irradiation energy consumption required for one order of
      magnitude degradation was estimated as 11.18 kWh/m3. Accordingly, comparison with
      the previously reported processes showed the superiority of PNP treatment with
      the employed process.

PMID- 28593816
TI  - The experience of physicians in pharmacogenomic clinical decision support within
      eight German university hospitals.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the physicians' attitude, their
      knowledge and their experience in pharmacogenomic clinical decision support in
      German hospitals. MATERIALS & METHODS: We conducted an online survey to address
      physicians of 13 different medical specialties across eight German university
      hospitals. In total, 564 returned questionnaires were analyzed. RESULTS: The
      remaining knowledge gap, the uncertainty of test reimbursement and the
      physicians' lack of awareness of existing pharmacogenomic clinical decision
      support systems (CDSS) are the major barriers for implementing pharmacogenomic
      CDSS into German hospitals. Furthermore, pharmacogenomic CDSS are most effective
      in the form of real-time decision support for internists. CONCLUSION: Physicians
      in German hospitals require additional education of both genetics and
      pharmacogenomics. They need to be provided with access to relevant
      pharmacogenomic CDSS.

PMID- 28593817
TI  - The Meanings of Helping: An Analysis of Cystic Fibrosis Patients' Reasons for
      Participating in Biomedical Research.
AB  - Research participants often report wanting to help as a reason for participation,
      but who they want to help and why is rarely explored. We examined meanings
      associated with helping among 21 adults with cystic fibrosis (CF)-a group with
      high participation in research. Meanings included helping to advance research,
      helping others with CF, helping as their job, helping themselves, helping because
      they are special, and helping to give back. While some meanings were primarily
      oriented toward helping others, some also involved hoping for benefits for
      oneself, and some included feelings of responsibility. Despite indicating that
      they understood that research is not designed to help them directly, participants
      nevertheless hoped that it might. We discuss implications for research ethics
      oversight.

PMID- 28593818
TI  - Sensitivity and specificity should never be interpreted in isolation without
      consideration of other clinical utility metrics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the risks and pitfalls of
      interpreting sensitivity and specificity in isolation when evaluating the
      clinical utility of a new test/measure to predict a target behavior, disease, or
      condition. METHOD: This paper (a) provides a primer for a set of metrics that can
      be used to appropriately examine the clinical utility of a test/measure (i.e.
      test operating characteristics - TOC), and (b) provides a discussion regarding
      various interpretative considerations when using TOCs that supports the tenet of
      this paper. CONCLUSIONS: There are two primary conclusions. First, sensitivity
      and specificity should never be interpreted in isolation as a means for
      evaluating the clinical utility of a test/measure. When sensitivity and
      specificity are used in this manner, more often than not, this will result in
      erroneous and/or incomplete conclusions regarding the clinical utility of a new
      test/measure. Second, sensitivity and specificity values are important, but they
      must be interpreted in conjunction with other more relevant clinical utility
      metrics (e.g. positive predictive power and negative predictive power).

PMID- 28593819
TI  - Voluntary exercise improves cognitive deficits in female dominant-negative DISC1
      transgenic mouse model of neuropsychiatric disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Physical exercise has gained increasing interest as a treatment
      modality that improves prognosis in psychiatric patients. The disrupted in
      schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene is a candidate gene for major mental illness. In
      this study, we aimed to determine whether voluntary wheel running can improve
      cognitive deficits of dominant-negative DISC1 transgenic mice (DN-DISC1).
      METHODS: DN-DISC1 and control mice (10-week-old male and female) were placed for
      14 days in a cage with or without access to a running wheel. Two weeks later,
      mice underwent behavioural tests evaluating cognition and social approach and
      recognition. RESULTS: Voluntary exercise improved performance in the novel object
      recognition test, restored the impairment in spatial memory in the Y maze, and
      reversed the deficit in social recognition memory in DN-DISC1 females. DN-DISC1
      males did not exhibit behavioural deficits at baseline. Tissue analysis revealed
      that exercise induced a significant increase in hippocampal expression of
      doublecortin (DCX), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cannabinoid
      receptor type 1 (CB1R) only in DN-DISC1 females. CONCLUSIONS: Voluntary exercise
      is beneficial in attenuating cognitive deficits observed in a rodent model
      relevant for neuropsychiatric disorders. The data add a preclinical aspect to the
      accumulating clinical data supporting the incorporation of physical exercise to
      patients' care.

PMID- 28593814
TI  - Expanding Axonal Transcriptome Brings New Functions for Axonally Synthesized
      Proteins in Health and Disease.
AB  - Intra-axonal protein synthesis has been shown to play critical roles in both
      development and repair of axons. Axons provide long-range connectivity in the
      nervous system, and disruption of their function and/or structure is seen in
      several neurological diseases and disorders. Axonally synthesized proteins or
      losses in axonally synthesized proteins contribute to neurodegenerative diseases,
      neuropathic pain, viral transport, and survival of axons. Increasing sensitivity
      of RNA detection and quantitation coupled with methods to isolate axons to purity
      has shown that a surprisingly complex transcriptome exists in axons. This extends
      across different species, neuronal populations, and physiological conditions.
      These studies have helped define the repertoire of neuronal mRNAs that can
      localize into axons and imply previously unrecognized functions for local
      translation in neurons. Here, we review the current state of transcriptomics
      studies of isolated axons, contrast axonal mRNA profiles between different
      neuronal types and growth states, and discuss how mRNA transport into and
      translation within axons contribute to neurological disorders.

PMID- 28593820
TI  - Spirulina platensis biomass composition is influenced by the light availability
      and harvest phase in raceway ponds.
AB  - The behavior of cyanobacteria and its potential use for biofuel production in
      scale-up conditions is a topic of growing importance. The aim of our work is to
      study the effects of illumination, stirring, and different growth phases on the
      cultivation of the cyanobacteria Spirulina platensis in 10 L raceways. The
      cultivations were carried out in a greenhouse under measured, but not controlled,
      illumination and in agitated raceways with stirring speeds varying from 0.1 to
      0.4 m s-1, using culture media with nutrient depletion. At the end of the
      stationary phase (SP) and decline of culture, the biomass was harvested and used
      to determine the chemical composition. The stirring rate and the growing phase
      influenced the carbohydrate concentration. In both phases of cultivation,
      compared to high-speed stirring, stirring at lower speeds produced fewer
      carbohydrates in the culture. Biomass grown until the end of the SP with a
      stirring speed of 0.35 m s-1 had a carbohydrate content of 72%, which is very
      high compared to that reported in the literature.

PMID- 28593821
TI  - The effects of cleaning/disinfecting agents on biogas production in the anaerobic
      digestion of cow dung slurry.
AB  - Cleaning/disinfecting agents (CDA) are compounds known to affect the growth of
      microbes and could have impacts on biogas production in a digester. In this
      study, three commonly used CDAs (harpic, hypo and izal) in livestock pens and
      slaughter houses were applied at different digestion stages and concentrations to
      cow dung (CD) slurry, with the aim of determining their effects on biogas
      production. Three application stages (early addition, late addition and graduated
      addition) were carried out for each CDA, and a CD treatment with no CDA applied
      was set up as the control. The results showed that application stage had
      different effects on the parameters of CD monitored during the digestion.
      Significant (p <= .05) effect was recorded on: temperature of izal + CD
      treatment, pH of harpic + CD and hypo + CD treatments, total bacterial count of
      hypo + CD and izal + CD treatments and biogas of harpic + CD, hypo + CD and izal
      + CD treatments. Early addition and increased concentration of hypo appeared
      toxic to anaerobic bacteria, whereas early addition of izal seemed not to affect
      their development. While early addition and increased concentration of harpic and
      hypo inhibited biogas production, the contrary was observed with izal. At the end
      of digestion, biogas yield (% of control) in the CDA + CD treatments ranged
      between 8% and 69.4% (harpic + CD), 5.4-23.5% (hypo + CD) and 16.1-52.5% (izal +
      CD). Among the CDAs used, hypo had the highest inhibitory effect on biogas
      production from CD slurry. The introduction of harpic at fourth week of digestion
      showed the least inhibitory effect.

PMID- 28593822
TI  - Measurement and Structural Invariance of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms
      in Hispanic and Caucasian Firefighters.
AB  - This study compared across Hispanic and Caucasian firefighters the relative fit
      of the four-factor Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria posttraumatic stress disorder
      models to the more recently proposed Dysphoric Arousal five-factor model. As
      hypothesized, the Dysphoric Arousal five-factor model emerged as the best fitting
      model within each ethnic group and it also showed measurement invariance between
      groups (configural invariance). Results of multigroup confirmatory factor
      analyses and a bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals analytic approach
      indicated that the five factor model also demonstrated invariance in factor
      loadings (metric invariance) and item-level intercepts (scalar invariance) across
      the two ethnic groups. Results indicate that the Dysphoric Arousal five factor
      model captures similar psychological constructs across Caucasian and English
      speaking Hispanic firefighters. Therefore, observed factor scores are comparable
      across ethnic groups and can be combined when examining predictors of
      posttraumatic stress disorder severity.

PMID- 28593823
TI  - Adult Burkitt's lymphoma presenting as intussusception: first UK case report.
AB  - Colonic intussusception is rare in adults and can present with non-specific
      symptoms that can make diagnosis difficult and delayed. Unlike in children, it is
      commonly due to a pathological lead point that is often malignant. This case is
      the first reported case of adult intussusception due to Burkitt's lymphoma in the
      UK. We describe the case of a 22-year-old woman who presented with 4-week history
      of intermittent epigastric pain. On the third hospital admission, the diagnosis
      was made by abdominal computed tomography, which showed the 'target' sign,
      suggestive of intussusception. A right hemicolectomy was performed and histology
      later confirmed Burkitt's lymphoma. This case demonstrates the difficulty in
      diagnosing intussusception in adults, which must be considered in recurrent
      abdominal pain when more common causes have been ruled out. The rare diagnosis of
      Burkitt's lymphoma made early diagnosis and treatment important.

PMID- 28593824
TI  - Should CYP2D6 be genotyped when treating with tamoxifen?
AB  - Letter in regards to: Del Re M, Rofi E, Citi V, Fidilio L, Danesi R. Should
      CYP2D6 be genotyped when treating with tamoxifen? Pharmacogenomics 17(18), 1967
      1969 (2016). In response to: Damkier P. Don't think twice it's all right:
      tamoxifen and CYP2D6 genotyping in the treatment of breast cancer patients.
      Pharmacogenomics 18(8), XXX (2017).

PMID- 28593825
TI  - Point-of-care ultrasonography in Norwegian out-of-hours primary health care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the extent of ultrasound
      availability in Norwegian casualty clinics and estimate the prevalence of its
      use. DESIGN: A retrospective study based on a national casualty clinic registry
      and data from reimbursement claims. SETTING: Out-of-hours primary health care in
      Norway. SUBJECTS: All Norwegian casualty clinics in 2016 and reimbursement claims
      from 2008 to 2015. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percent of casualty clinics with
      ultrasound, types of ultrasound devices and probes, reasons for/against
      ultrasound access, characteristics of clinics with/without ultrasound, frequency
      of five ultrasound indications and characteristics of the physicians using/not
      using ultrasound. RESULTS: Out of 182 casualty clinics, 41 (23%) reported access
      to ultrasound. Mobile (49%) and stationary (44%) devices were most frequent.
      Physician request was the most common cited reason for ultrasound access (66%).
      Neither population served by the casualty clinic nor distance to hospital showed
      any clear association with ultrasound access. All of the five ultrasound
      reimbursement codes showed a substantial increase from 2008 to 2015 with 14.1
      ultrasound examinations being performed per 10,000 consultations in 2015. Only
      6.5% of physicians performed ultrasound in 2015 and males were significantly more
      likely to use ultrasound than females (OR 1.85, 95% CI: 1.38-2.47, p < .001),
      even when adjusted for age, speciality status and geography. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although the use of ultrasound is increasing in out-of-hours Norwegian primary
      health care, most casualty clinics do not have access and only a minority of
      physicians use ultrasound.

PMID- 28593826
TI  - Exposure to static magnetic fields increases insulin secretion in rat INS-1 cells
      by activating the transcription of the insulin gene and up-regulating the
      expression of vesicle-secreted proteins.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of static magnetic fields (SMFs) on insulin
      secretion and explore the mechanisms underlying exposure to SMF-induced insulin
      secretion in rat insulinoma INS-1 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: INS-1 cells were
      exposed to a 400 mT SMF for 72 h, and the proliferation of INS-1 cells was
      detected by (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)
      assay. The secretion of insulin was measured with an enzyme linked immunosorbent
      assays (ELISA), the expression of genes was detected by real-time PCR, and the
      expression of proteins was measured by Western blotting. RESULTS: Exposure to an
      SMF increased the expression and secretion of insulin by INS-1 cells but did not
      affect cell proliferation. Moreover, SMF exposure up-regulated the expression of
      several pancreas-specific transcriptional factors. Specifically, the activity of
      the rat insulin promoter was enhanced in INS-1 cells exposed to an SMF, and the
      expression levels of synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) and syntaxin-1A
      were up-regulated after exposure to an SMF. CONCLUSIONS: SMF exposure can promote
      insulin secretion in rat INS-1 cells by activating the transcription of the
      insulin gene and up-regulating the expression of vesicle-secreted proteins.

PMID- 28593827
TI  - Liposome-based immunotherapy against autoimmune diseases: therapeutic effect on
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - AIM: Based on the ability of apoptosis to induce immunological tolerance,
      liposomes were generated mimicking apoptotic cells, and they arrest autoimmunity
      in Type 1 diabetes. Our aim was to validate the immunotherapy in other autoimmune
      disease: multiple sclerosis. MATERIALS & METHODS: Phosphatidylserine-rich
      liposomes were loaded with disease-specific autoantigen. Therapeutic capability
      of liposomes was assessed in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: Liposomes induced a
      tolerogenic phenotype in dendritic cells, and arrested autoimmunity, thus
      decreasing the incidence, delaying the onset and reducing the severity of
      experimental disease, correlating with an increase in a probably regulatory CD25+
      FoxP3- CD4+ T-cell subset. CONCLUSION: This is the first work that confirms
      phosphatidylserine-liposomes as a powerful tool to arrest multiple sclerosis,
      demonstrating its relevance for clinical application.

PMID- 28593828
TI  - Oral naringenin nanocarriers: Fabrication, optimization, pharmacokinetic and
      chemotherapeutic efficacy assessments.
AB  - AIM: To enhance oral bioavailability and chemotherapeutic efficacy of naringenin
      (NG) by fabricating the NG-encapsulated Soluthin-maltodextrin-based nanocarrier
      (NC) system. MATERIALS & METHODS: NG-encapsulated nanocarriers (NG/NCs) were
      developed, and in vitro physicochemically characterized. Furthermore, Wistar rats
      were used to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile. Furthermore, in vitro and in
      vivo colorectal cancer efficacy was evaluated in BALB/c mice-bearing colon-26
      cells. RESULTS: The NG/NCs demonstrated favorable mean particle size (176 +/-
      2.35 nm) and percent entrapment efficiency (70.83 +/- 4.55%), respectively. The
      oral bioavailability was found to be approximately 116-fold higher and in vitro
      cytotoxicity exhibited approximately 21-fold reduction as compared with pure NG.
      Moreover, optimized NG/NCs demonstrated significant tumor suppression compared
      with pure NG in vivo. CONCLUSION: The NG/NCs would be an efficient formulation
      for enhancing oral bioavailability and chemotherapeutic efficacy of NG.

PMID- 28593829
TI  - Communication behaviors associated with successful conversation in semantic
      variant primary progressive aphasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) affects a range of language and
      cognitive domains that impact on conversation. Little is known about conversation
      breakdown in the semantic variant of PPA (svPPA, also known as semantic
      dementia). This study investigates conversation of people with svPPA. METHODS:
      Dyadic conversations about everyday activities between seven individuals with
      svPPA and their partners, and seven control pairs were video recorded and
      transcribed. Number of words, turns, and length of turns were measured. Trouble
      indicating behaviors (TIBs) and repair behaviors were categorized and identified
      as successful or not for each participant in each dyad. RESULTS: In general,
      individuals with svPPA were active participants in conversation, taking an equal
      proportion of turns, but indicating a great deal of more trouble in conversation,
      shown by the significantly higher number of TIBs than evidenced by partners or
      control participants. TIBs were interactive (asking for confirmation with a
      shorter repetition of the original utterance or a repetition which included a
      request for specific information) and non-interactive (such as failing to take up
      or continue the topic or a minimal response) and unlike those previously reported
      for people with other PPA variants and dementia of the Alzheimer type.
      Communication behaviors of the partner were critical to conversational success.
      CONCLUSIONS: Examination of trouble and repair in 10-min conversations of
      individuals with svPPA and their important communication partners has potential
      to inform speech pathology interventions to enhance successful conversation, in
      svPPA and should be an integral part of the comprehensive care plan.

PMID- 28593830
TI  - The Development and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Negative
      Beliefs about Post-Event Processing Scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although negative beliefs have been found to be associated with worry
      symptoms and depressive rumination, negative beliefs have yet to be examined in
      relation to post-event processing and social anxiety symptoms. AIMS: The purpose
      of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Negative
      Beliefs about Post-Event Processing Questionnaire (NB-PEPQ). METHOD: A large, non
      referred undergraduate sample completed the NB-PEPQ along with validation
      measures, including a measure of post-event processing and social anxiety
      symptoms. RESULTS: Based on factor analysis, a single-factor model was obtained,
      and the NB-PEPQ was found to exhibit good validity, including positive
      associations with measures of post-event processing and social anxiety symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to the literature on the metacognitive variables
      that may lead to the development and maintenance of post-event processing and
      social anxiety symptoms, and have relevant clinical applications.

PMID- 28593831
TI  - Osmoregulated Periplasmic Glucans.
AB  - Among all the systems developed by enterobacteria to face osmotic stress, only
      osmoregulated periplasmic glucans (OPGs) were found to be modulated during
      osmotic fluxes. First detected in 1973 by E.P. Kennedy's group in a study of
      phospholipid turnover in Escherichia coli, OPGs have been shown across alpha,
      beta, and gamma subdivisions of the proteobacteria. Discovery of OPG-like
      compounds in the epsilon subdivision strongly suggested that the presence of
      periplasmic glucans is essential for almost all proteobacteria. This article
      offers an overview of the different classes of OPGs. Then, the biosynthesis of
      OPGs and their regulation in E. coli and other species are discussed. Finally,
      the biological role of OPGs is developed. Beyond structural function, OPGs are
      involved in pathogenicity, in particular, by playing a role in signal
      transduction pathways. Recently, OPG synthesis proteins have been suggested to
      control cell division and growth rate.

PMID- 28593832
TI  - Notification that new names of prokaryotes, new combinations and new taxonomic
      opinions have appeared in volume 67, part 3, of the IJSEM.

PMID- 28593833
TI  - Proposed revisions of the Statutes of the International Committee of Systematics
      of Prokaryotes.
AB  - The following revisions of the Statutes (Labeda D, Whitman WB. Int J Syst Evol
      Microbiol 2015;65:1093-1100) are proposed by the Executive Board of the
      International Committee of Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP) to eliminate some
      internal inconsistencies and address other issues as discussed below. Comments
      may be sent to the Secretary of the ICSP, Lenie Dijkshoom at L.Dijkshoom@lumc.nl
      for distribution to the delegates at the Plenary Meeting in Valencia, Spain, on
      July 7-9, 2017.

PMID- 28593834
TI  - Salibacter halophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a saltern.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative and facultatively anaerobic bacterium, JZ3C34T, was
      isolated from a saltern in Feicheng, China (36 degrees  8' 24.45" E 116 degrees 
      49' 22.46" N). Cells of strain JZ3C34T were 0.3-0.4 um wide and 1.5-2.0 um long,
      catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Colonies on modified marine agar 2216
      were orange, circular, convex, translucent and approximately 1 mm in diameter
      after incubation for 96 h at 33  degrees C. Growth occurred at 20-50  degrees C
      (optimally at 33  degrees C), at pH 6.5-8.5 (optimally at 7.0-8.0) and in the
      presence of 2-18 % (w/v) NaCl (optimally in 6 % NaCl). Phylogenetic analysis of
      the 16S rRNA gene indicated that strain JZ3C34T was a member of the family
      Cryomorphaceae within the order Flavobacteriales and the most closely related
      species was Owenweeksia hongkongensis DSM 17368T (89.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence
      similarity). The major respiratory quinone of strain JZ3C34T was menaquinone MK
      7, and the dominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 1 G. The major
      polar lipids were two unidentified lipids and phosphatidylethanolamine, and the
      genomic DNA G+C content was 39.6 mol%. Polyphasic taxonomy clearly places the new
      strain as a novel species within a new genus of the family Cryomorphaceae, for
      which the name Salibacter halophilus gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of
      Salibacter halophilus is JZ3C34T (=KCTC 52047T=MCCC 1K02288T).

PMID- 28593836
TI  - Predictors and generation of risk equations for albuminuria progression in type 2
      diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease and is
      associated with increased mortality. Although only a proportion of type 2
      diabetic subjects develop albuminuria or progress, it is not currently possible
      to identify those patients who will develop this complication or who will
      progress. AIM: The aim of the study was to identify baseline risk factors for the
      development and progression of albuminuria in a cohort with type 2 diabetes and
      use this data to generate risk equations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Type 2 diabetic
      subjects who had albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) measurement in 2007 - 2008 were
      recruited and followed-up for 8 years. RESULTS: 260 patients were included in the
      study. Of all the normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients, 24.3%
      progressed. Baseline HbA1c, white cell count (WCC), smoking, and duration of
      diabetes were associated with progression of albuminuria stage in univariate
      analysis. Duration of diabetes (p = 0.034) was independently associated with
      progression in binary logistic regression. Baseline HbA1c (p = 0.002), age (p =
      0.01), serum creatinine (p = 0.02), serum potassium (p = 0.04), serum urea (p =
      0.0004), WCC (p = 0.02), serum triglycerides (p = 0.02), systolic blood pressure
      (p = 0.02), and duration of diabetes (p = 0.003) were positively correlated with
      percentage change (% change) in ACR, whilst baseline estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) (p = 0.03), serum sodium (p = 0.04), hemoglobin (p =
      0.0006), and hematocrit (p = 0.0002) were negatively correlated in Spearman
      correlation. Duration of diabetes (p = 0.025) and baseline HbA1c (p = 0.02) were
      independently associated with % change in ACR in multivariate analysis. Based on
      these results, novel risk equations were generated. CONCLUSIONS: We have
      identified baseline characteristics associated with progression of renal disease
      in type 2 diabetic subjects and generated equations to estimate the risk of
      progression. If validated in other populations, these equations might be useful
      in predicting risk of progression in clinical practice.

PMID- 28593837
TI  - Rhadinorhynchus oligospinosus n. sp. (Acanthocephala, Rhadinorhynchidae) from
      mackerels in the Pacific Ocean off Peru and related rhadinorhynchids in the
      Pacific, with notes on metal analysis.
AB  - Specimens of a new species of Rhadinorhynchus Luhe, 1911 are described from the
      chub mackerel Scomber japonicus (Scombridae) and the Chilean Jack mackerel
      Trachurus murphyi (Carangidae) (possibly a subspecies of Trachurus symmetricus)
      from the Pacific Ocean off the Peruvian coast at the Port of Chicama, La
      Libertad. Specimens of Rhadinorhynchus oligospinosus n. sp. are somewhat small
      having 11-14 rows of alternating proboscis hooks with 20-22 hooks each with
      posteriormost hooks in a continuous ring. Ventral hooks are robust with prominent
      roots but dorsal hooks are slender and shorter with discoid roots. Trunk spines
      are in two zones separated by a non-spiny region. Anterior trunk spines are in 2
      3 complete circles but posterior spines are only ventral and lateral, and do not
      extend posterior to the level of the posterior end of the proboscis receptacle in
      both sexes. The new species is closest to Rhadinorhynchus seriolae (Yamaguti,
      1963) Golvan, 1969 found in Japanese and Australian waters, but not as close to
      19 other species found in the same Pacific waters off Australia, Japan, and
      Vietnam. In R. seriolae, posterior trunk spines extend well past the receptacle
      in females, among other diagnostic differences. Proboscis hooks of the new
      species were analyzed for chemical elements using X-ray in conjunction with EDAX
      (energy-dispersive analysis for X-ray) software; sulfur had a higher
      concentration at the edge than the middle of cut hooks.

PMID- 28593839
TI  - Zika in Africa-the invisible epidemic?

PMID- 28593838
TI  - Attractiveness of black and white modified Shannon traps to phlebotomine
      sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the Brazilian Amazon Basin, an area of
      intense transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis.
AB  - In the Amazon region the phlebotomine fauna is considered one of the most diverse
      in the world. The use of Shannon traps may provide information on the
      anthropophily of the species and improve the traps' performance in terms of
      diversity and quantity of insects collected when white and black colored traps
      are used together. This study sought to verify the attractiveness of the traps to
      the phlebotomine species of the Brazilian Amazon basin using Shannon traps under
      these conditions. The insects were collected using two Shannon traps installed
      side by side, one white and the other black, in a primary forest area of the
      municipality of Xapuri, Acre, Brazil. Samples were collected once a month during
      the period August 2013 to July 2015. A sample of females was dissected to test
      for natural infection by flagellates. A total of 6,309 (864 males and 5,445
      females) specimens (36 species) were collected. Psychodopygus carrerai carrerai
      (42%), Nyssomyia shawi (36%), and Psychodopygus davisi (13%), together
      represented 90% of the insects collected. Nyssomyia shawi and Psychodopygus
      davisi were more attracted by the white color. Specimens of Nyssomyia shawi,
      Nyssomyia whitmani, and Psychodopygus hirsutus hirsutus were found naturally
      infected by flagellates in the mid and hindgut. This is the first study in Acre
      state using and comparing both black and white Shannon traps, demonstrating the
      richness, diversity, and anthropophilic behavior of the phlebotomine species and
      identifying proven and putative vectors of the etiological agents of
      leishmaniasis.

PMID- 28593840
TI  - Preventing prevention: Indian politics and public health clash.

PMID- 28593841
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in localised soft-tissue sarcomas: where do we go from
      here?

PMID- 28593844
TI  - Cracking the cancer code: a personalised genomic approach.

PMID- 28593843
TI  - Under-representation of peritoneal metastases in published clinical trials of
      metastatic colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28593842
TI  - Improving childhood cancer care in Latin America and the Caribbean: a PAHO
      Childhood Cancer Working Group position statement.

PMID- 28593845
TI  - Chernobyl's tomb.

PMID- 28593846
TI  - Do cytogenetics of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia blasts affect required duration
      and intensity of maintenance therapy?

PMID- 28593847
TI  - Do cytogenetics of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia blasts affect required duration
      and intensity of maintenance therapy? - Authors' reply.

PMID- 28593848
TI  - Short-course radiotherapy with delayed surgery for rectal cancer.

PMID- 28593849
TI  - Short-course radiotherapy with delayed surgery for rectal cancer.

PMID- 28593850
TI  - Short-course radiotherapy with delayed surgery for rectal cancer - Authors'
      reply.

PMID- 28593851
TI  - Genetics of gallbladder cancer.

PMID- 28593852
TI  - Genetics of gallbladder cancer - Authors' reply.

PMID- 28593853
TI  - "Finding NEMO" in NRAS-mutant melanoma: a step towards a sequential strategy?

PMID- 28593854
TI  - Incidence and prognosis of carcinoid syndrome: hormones or tumour burden?

PMID- 28593855
TI  - Incidence and prognosis of carcinoid syndrome: hormones or tumour burden? -
      Authors' reply.

PMID- 28593856
TI  - Correction to Lancet Oncol 2017; 18: 719-31.

PMID- 28593857
TI  - Correction to Lancet Oncol 2017; 18: 63-74.

PMID- 28593858
TI  - Correction to Lancet Oncol 2017; 18: 812.

PMID- 28593859
TI  - European Association for Neuro-Oncology (EANO) guidelines for palliative care in
      adults with glioma.
AB  - Patients with glioma present with complex palliative care needs throughout their
      disease trajectory. The life-limiting nature of gliomas and the presence of
      specific symptoms related to neurological deterioration necessitate an
      appropriate and early palliative care approach. The multidisciplinary palliative
      care task force of the European Association of Neuro-Oncology did a systematic
      review of the available scientific literature to formulate the best possible
      evidence-based recommendations for the palliative care of adult patients with
      glioma, with the aim to reduce symptom burden and improve the quality of life of
      patients and their caregivers, particularly in the end-of-life phase. When
      recommendations could not be made because of the scarcity of evidence, the task
      force either used evidence from studies of patients with systemic cancer or
      formulated expert opinion. Areas of palliative care that currently lack evidence
      and thus deserve attention for further research are fatigue, disorders of
      behaviour and mood, interventions for the needs of caregivers, and timing of
      advance care planning.

PMID- 28593860
TI  - Evolving adoptive cellular therapies in urological malignancies.
AB  - Immunotherapies have long been used to treat urological cancers but rarely lead
      to cure. In the past 5 years, success of immune checkpoint inhibition has led to
      a resurgence of enthusiasm for immunotherapy in the treatment of solid tumours.
      Increased understanding of tumour immune biology, technological advancements of
      gene transfer and cell culture, and improved clinical infrastructures for routine
      delivery of cell products, has made cell-based immunotherapeutics a real prospect
      for cancer therapy. These scientific and clinical activities, attempting to
      exploit the innate and adaptive immune systems for therapeutic gain, are well
      exemplified by the urological malignancies of renal, bladder, prostate, and
      penile cancer, a group of anatomically localised diseases, each with a distinct
      biology and different immunotherapeutic challenges. In this Review, we present
      the results of clinical studies investigating autologous cellular therapies in
      urological malignancies. Specifically, we discuss the rationale for upcoming
      studies, and how novel therapies and adoptive cell combinations can be used for
      personalised cancer therapy.

PMID- 28593861
TI  - Challenges behind proving efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after preoperative
      chemoradiation for rectal cancer.
AB  - For patients with high-risk stage II or stage III colon cancer, adjuvant
      chemotherapy with fluoropyrimidine monotherapy reduces the risk of recurrence and
      death by approximately 20-30%. Additional improvements have been reported in
      three phase 3 colon cancer trials when oxaliplatin was added to the
      chemoradiation regimen, although the effect was mainly on disease-free survival.
      However, patients with rectal cancer were specifically excluded from these
      landmark studies because of potential toxicity and the confounding impact of
      radiotherapy and chemoradiation. Hence, despite evidence from smaller individual
      postoperative adjuvant phase 3 trials, meta-analyses, retrospective analyses,
      reviews, and population studies, the precise benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy for
      patients with rectal cancer following radiotherapy or chemoradiation remains
      unclear. Consequently, clinical guidelines offer inconsistent recommendations for
      the management of this patient population. In this Review, we suggest that the
      available data do not robustly support the routine use of postoperative adjuvant
      chemotherapy for patients with rectal cancer treated with preoperative
      chemoradiation. We discuss sources of bias and offer potential reasons to explain
      this observation, as well as propose a recommended schema for a randomised phase
      3 trial that might potentially answer this question definitively.

PMID- 28593862
TI  - Malignancy in a child or something else?

PMID- 28593864
TI  - Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy: A Spanish Guideline. Egg and Milk
      Immunotherapy Spanish Guide (ITEMS GUIDE). Part II: Maintenance Phase of Cow Milk
      (CM) and Egg Oral Immunotherapy (OIT), Special Treatment Dosing Schedules. Models
      of Dosing Schedules of OIT With CM and Egg.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cow milk and egg are the most frequent causes of food
      allergy in the first years of life. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) has been
      investigated as an alternative to avoidance diets. No clinical practice
      guidelines on the management of OIT with milk and egg are currently available.
      Objectives: To develop clinical guidelines for OIT based on available scientific
      evidence and the opinions of experts. METHODS: A review was made of studies
      published between 1984 and June 2016, doctoral theses published in Spain,
      summaries of communications at scientific meetings (SEAIC, SEICAP, EAACI, and
      AAAAI), and the consensus of opinion established by a group of experts from the
      scientific societies SEICAP and SEAIC. RESULTS: Recommendations were established
      regarding the indications, requirements and practical aspects of the different
      phases of OIT, as well as special protocols for patients at high risk of adverse
      reactions. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical practice guidelines based on the consensus
      reached between Spanish experts are presented for the management of OIT with milk
      and egg.

PMID- 28593865
TI  - The semiology of benign focal epilepsy with affective symptoms.
AB  - Benign focal epilepsy with affective symptoms (BFEAS) is a rare childhood
      epilepsy syndrome essentially characterized by "epileptic attacks with affective
      symptoms of a terrifying type". Since the original description, approximately 50
      cases have been reported. To our knowledge, however, none of the studies included
      video-EEG data. Herein, we detail the electroclinical features of a
      neurodevelopmentally normal 9-year-old boy with epilepsy since the age of 2
      years. His seizure semiology essentially consisted of nocturnal focal seizures
      featuring abrupt fear and autonomic phenomena (such as excessive sweating,
      repeated swallowing, and coughing), associated with impaired consciousness. These
      seizures were often secondary generalized, and he had multiple episodes of
      convulsive status epilepticus. He has been seizure-free for the past year and a
      half on dual antiepileptic therapy with sulthiamine and valproate. His
      intellectual and social abilities are excellent (IQ of 116), although he does
      have difficulties particularly in language learning, and was recently diagnosed
      with phonological dyslexia with dysorthography. By presenting our patient's
      history and video-EEG, we intend to further detail the semiology of seizures with
      affective symptomatology. [Published with video sequence on
      www.epilepticdisorders.com].

PMID- 28593866
TI  - [Open digit amputation in cattle: Surgery, wound healing and follow-up].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this retrospective study was to document secondary wound
      healing and outcome in 20 cattle that had undergone digit amputation at the level
      of the distal metaphysis of the first phalanx between April 2009 and June 2015.
      The surgical technique for amputation was simple and fast, and granulation tissue
      covered the stump of the first phalanx 9 to 30 days postoperatively.
      Complications associated with wound healing were seen in 7 animals and in 3, a
      second surgery was required; all 20 cattle were discharged from the clinic.
      Epithelial closure was complete after a mean of 3 months (range, 2 to 7 months).
      The mean postoperative survival time was 15 months (range, 1 to 34 months), and 6
      animals were still alive at the time of follow-up inquiry. Wound healing and long
      term outcome did not differ between cattle that had undergone a more intensive
      aftercare regime than those with a less intensive postoperative treatment.

PMID- 28593867
TI  - [Diagnosis, therapy and prophylactic measures of parturient paresis in dairy
      cattle: results of an online survey for Swiss veterinarians].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to obtain the diagnostic, therapeutic and
      prophylactic approach among Swiss veterinary practitioners in cows with
      parturient hypocalcemia. All members of the Association for Ruminant Health were
      contacted per e-mail. The survey was completed by 108 (28%) of 393 that were
      contacted. According to the questionnaire responses, the typical presentation of
      a parturient paresis cow is a pluriparous middle-yielding dairy cow one day post
      partum in sternal recumbency with normal consciousness. The diagnosis is usually
      based upon the medical history. Therapy of parturient paresis consists of mixed
      infusions (with calcium, phosphorus, magnesium or glucose) as well as oral
      preparations with calcium. The veterinarians estimate that 25-50% of the cows
      treated for parturient paresis need more than one treatment and that one case of
      parturient paresis costs CHF 200-300. Prophylactic treatments are usually used
      for cows, which have suffered from parturient paresis in the previous lactation,
      elder cows (>= 3 lactations) as well as cows with a high body condition score (>
      3.25). Prophylactic measures used by the veterinarians are vitamin D3 injections
      and oral preparations with calcium. They recommended a special diet, for example
      a low calcium diet ante-partum.

PMID- 28593870
TI  - High-sensitivity cardiac troponin: do think twice, it's not all right.
AB  - A questionable scientific approach to measuring at low concentrations and
      inappropriate censoring of results below certain cut-offs have resulted in the
      dichotomous classification of troponin assays based on their so-called analytical
      sensitivity. The definition of "high-sensitivity" cardiac troponin is flawed.
      Evidence suggests that its apparent diagnostic superiority may be explained by
      the censoring of data. In the evaluation of the detection and quantification
      capabilities of analytical methods we recommend alignment with International
      Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) guidelines, including reporting of
      all results. This will allow the objective evaluation of the diagnostic
      performance of troponin assays and will render the current troponin assay
      classification and nomenclature obsolete.

PMID- 28593871
TI  - Traceability in laboratory medicine: a global driver for accurate results for
      patient care.
AB  - Laboratory medicine results influence a high percentage of all clinical
      decisions. Globalization requires that laboratory medicine results should be
      transferable between methods in the interests of patient safety. International
      collaboration is necessary to deliver this requirement. That collaboration should
      be based on traceability in laboratory medicine and the adoption of higher order
      international commutable reference materials and measurement procedures.
      Application of the metrological traceability chain facilitates a universal
      approach. The measurement of serum cholesterol and blood HbA1c serve as examples
      of the process of method standardization where an impact on clinical outcomes is
      demonstrable. The measurement of plasma parathyroid hormone and blood HbA2 serve
      as examples where the current between-method variability is compromising patient
      management and method standardization and/or harmonization is required.
      Challenges to the widespread adoption of traceability in laboratory medicine
      include the availability of reference materials and methods, geographical
      differences, the use of variable units, complex analytes and limited global
      coordination. The global collaboration requires the involvement of several
      different stakeholder groups ranging from international experts to laboratory
      medicine specialists in routine clinical laboratories. A coordinated action plan
      is presented with actions attributable to each of these stakeholder groups.

PMID- 28593872
TI  - Establishing consensus-based, assay-specific 99th percentile upper reference
      limits to facilitate proper utilization of cardiac troponin measurements.
AB  - Implementation of the 99th percentile as the upper reference limit for cardiac
      troponin (cTn) assays is a seemingly lucid recommendation, but, in reality, is
      incredibly complex. Lack of harmonization between cTn assays diminishes the
      ability to have a single medical decision point across manufacturer
      assay/instruments. Moreover, even within a single cTn assay there are several
      published values corresponding to the "99th percentile". Variability in the
      determined value is primarily a function of population selection including:
      sample size, age, sex, exclusion criteria, and statistical methods. Given the
      complexities associated with this value, some countries have taken an expert
      consensus approach to endorsing harmonized, assay-specific, cTn 99th percentile
      values. The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight the intricacies associated
      with selecting a cTn 99th percentile and to review the approach that Australia
      used to endorse a nationwide upper reference limit for the Architect STAT hs-cTnI
      assay.

PMID- 28593873
TI  - Can we still trust hemoglobin A1c in all situations?

PMID- 28593874
TI  - Parameter Estimation of a Two-Colored Urn Model Class.
AB  - Though widely used in applications, reinforced random walk on graphs have never
      been the subject of a valid statistical inference. We develop in this paper a
      statistical framework for a general two-colored urn model. The probability to
      draw a ball at each step depends on the number of balls of each color and on a
      multidimensional parameter through a function, called choice function. We
      introduce two estimators of the parameter: the maximum likelihood estimator and a
      weighted least squares estimator which is less efficient, but is closer to the
      calibration techniques used in the applied literature. In general, the model is
      an inhomogeneous Markov chain and this property makes the estimation of the
      parameter impossible on a single path, even if it were infinite. Therefore we
      assume that we observe i.i.d. experiments, each of a predetermined finite length.
      This is coherent with the usual experimental set-ups. We apply the statistical
      framework to a real life experiment: the selection of a path among pre-existing
      channels by an ant colony. We performed experiments, which consisted of letting
      ants pass through the branches of a fork. We consider the particular urn model
      proposed by J.-L. Deneubourg et al. in 1990 to describe this phenomenon. We
      simulate this model for several parameter values in order to assess the accuracy
      of the MLE and the WLSE. Then we estimate the parameter from the experimental
      data and evaluate confident regions with Bootstrap algorithms. The findings of
      this paper do not contradict the biological literature, but give statistical
      significance to the values of the parameter found therein.

PMID- 28593875
TI  - Intrauterine growth restriction and placental gene expression in severe
      preeclampsia, comparing early-onset and late-onset forms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate placental gene expression in severe early- or late-onset
      preeclampsia with intrauterine growth restriction compared to controls. STUDY
      DESIGN: Chorionic villus sampling was conducted after cesarean section from the
      placentas of five women with early- or late-onset severe preeclampsia and five
      controls for each preeclampsia group. Microarray analysis was performed to
      identify gene expression differences between the groups. RESULTS: Pathway
      analysis showed over-representation of gene ontology (GO) biological process
      terms related to inflammatory and immune response pathways, platelet development,
      vascular development, female pregnancy and reproduction in early-onset
      preeclampsia. Pathways related to immunity, complement and coagulation cascade
      were overrepresented in the hypergeometric test for the Kyoto Encyclopedia of
      Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. Ten genes (ABI3BP, C7, HLA-G, IL2RB, KRBOX1,
      LRRC15, METTL7B, MPP5, RFLNB and SLC20A) had a >=+/-1 fold expression difference
      in severe early-onset preeclampsia group compared to early controls. There were
      362 genes that had a >=+/-1 fold expression difference in severe early-onset
      preeclampsia group compared to late-onset preeclampsia group including ABI3BP,
      C7, HLA-G and IL2RB. CONCLUSION: There are significant differences in placental
      gene expression between severe early- and late-onset preeclampsia when both are
      associated with intrauterine growth restriction. ABI3BP, C7, HLA-G and IL2RB
      might contribute to the development of early form of severe preeclampsia.

PMID- 28593876
TI  - Missing value imputation for gene expression data by tailored nearest neighbors.
AB  - High dimensional data like gene expression and RNA-sequences often contain
      missing values. The subsequent analysis and results based on these incomplete
      data can suffer strongly from the presence of these missing values. Several
      approaches to imputation of missing values in gene expression data have been
      developed but the task is difficult due to the high dimensionality (number of
      genes) of the data. Here an imputation procedure is proposed that uses weighted
      nearest neighbors. Instead of using nearest neighbors defined by a distance that
      includes all genes the distance is computed for genes that are apt to contribute
      to the accuracy of imputed values. The method aims at avoiding the curse of
      dimensionality, which typically occurs if local methods as nearest neighbors are
      applied in high dimensional settings. The proposed weighted nearest neighbors
      algorithm is compared to existing missing value imputation techniques like mean
      imputation, KNNimpute and the recently proposed imputation by random forests. We
      use RNA-sequence and microarray data from studies on human cancer to compare the
      performance of the methods. The results from simulations as well as real studies
      show that the weighted distance procedure can successfully handle missing values
      for high dimensional data structures where the number of predictors is larger
      than the number of samples. The method typically outperforms the considered
      competitors.

PMID- 28593877
TI  - Advanced lipoprotein testing for cardiovascular diseases risk assessment: a
      review of the novel approaches in lipoprotein profiling.
AB  - With the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) worldwide,
      finding reliable and clinically relevant biomarkers to predict acute
      cardiovascular events has been a major aim of the scientific and medical
      community. Improvements of the understanding of the pathophysiological pathways
      of the disease highlighted the major role of lipoprotein particles, and these
      past decades have seen the emergence of a number of new methodologies to
      separate, measure and quantitate lipoproteins. Those methods, also known as
      advanced lipoprotein testing methods (ALT), have gained acceptance in the field
      of CVD risk assessment and have proven their clinical relevance. In the context
      of worldwide standardization and harmonization of biological assays, efforts have
      been initiated toward standardization of ALT methods. However, the complexity of
      lipoprotein particles and the multiple approaches and methodologies reported to
      quantify them have rendered these initiatives a critical issue. In this context
      and to better understand these challenges, this review presents a summary of the
      major methods available for ALT with the aim to point out the major differences
      in terms of procedures and quantities actually measured and to discuss the
      resulting comparability issues.

PMID- 28593878
TI  - Microbiota abnormalities and the therapeutic potential of probiotics in the
      treatment of mood disorders.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) are among the leading
      causes of burden and disability worldwide. Despite intensified research efforts
      to improve the treatment options and remission rates in mood disorders, no
      disease modifying treatment exists for these disorders. Accumulating evidence
      implicates the involvement of the gut microbiota in processes relevant to
      etiopathology of central nervous system-based disorders. The objective of this
      article was to critically evaluate the evidence supporting the link between
      gastrointestinal microbiota and mood disorders and to discuss the potential
      benefits of using probiotics in the treatment of MDD and BD. The concept of
      psychobiotics, which is bacterial-based interventions with mental health benefit,
      is emerging in the field. On the other hand, while probiotics might potentially
      represent a significant advance, specific roles of microbiota in the
      pathophysiology of mood disorders still need further investigation along with
      intervention studies.

PMID- 28593879
TI  - Deciphering the route to cyclic monoterpenes in Chrysomelina leaf beetles: source
      of new biocatalysts for industrial application?
AB  - The drastic growth of the population on our planet requires the efficient and
      sustainable use of our natural resources. Enzymes are indispensable tools for a
      wide range of industries producing food, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, or
      biofuels. Because insects constitute one of the most species-rich classes of
      organisms colonizing almost every ecological niche on earth, they have developed
      extraordinary metabolic abilities to survive in various and sometimes extreme
      habitats. Despite this metabolic diversity, insect enzymes have only recently
      generated interest in industrial applications because only a few metabolic
      pathways have been sufficiently characterized. Here, we address the biosynthetic
      route to iridoids (cyclic monoterpenes), a group of secondary metabolites used by
      some members of the leaf beetle subtribe Chrysomelina as defensive compounds
      against their enemies. The ability to produce iridoids de novo has also
      convergently evolved in plants. From plant sources, numerous pharmacologically
      relevant structures have already been described. In addition, in plants, iridoids
      serve as building blocks for monoterpenoid indole alkaloids with broad
      therapeutic applications. As the commercial synthesis of iridoid-based drugs
      often relies on a semisynthetic approach involving biocatalysts, the discovery of
      enzymes from the insect iridoid route can account for a valuable resource and
      economic alternative to the previously used enzymes from the metabolism of
      plants. Hence, this review illustrates the recent discoveries made on the steps
      of the iridoid pathway in Chrysomelina leaf beetles. The findings are also placed
      in the context of the studied counterparts in plants and are further discussed
      regarding their use in technological approaches.

PMID- 28593880
TI  - How I first met Dr. Morton K. Schwartz.

PMID- 28593883
TI  - Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT).
AB  - Congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) are found in 3-6
      out of 1.000 of the newborns, or according to some statistics they are
      represented in 0.5% of all pregnancies. Congenital abnormalities of the kidneys
      and urinary tract present a family of diseases of various anatomic spectrum,
      including renal anomalies, and anomalies of the bladder and urethra. The study
      was retrospective-prospective which means that it included newly diagnosed
      patients suffering from CAKUT, as well as those patients with already diagnosed
      and well defined CAKUT on the basis of imaging studies which have been processed
      according to the protocol for this study.

PMID- 28593884
TI  - Transposition of Subclavian Artery - Is It the Appropriate Choice?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To present patients with symptomatic subclavian artery disease and
      treatment possibility. CASE REPORT: A 53-year-old female was admitted with
      vertigo and left arm claudication. Duplex-scan and MSCT arteriography verified
      subclavian artery occlusion. After the endovascular treatment failure, the
      patient was switched to surgical treatment - subclavian artery transposition.
      After the successful surgical treatment, the patient was discharged on the second
      postoperative day. If the patient is a candidate for surgery, the literature
      review shows good initial and long-term results after the subclavian artery
      transposition, and emphasizes this technique as superior. CONCLUSION: Subclavian
      carotid transposition is a safe and effective method of treatment in patients
      after endovascular treatment failure or other indication. Also, the surgical
      treatment is technically demanding because of the difficult access to the vessel
      origin, and it requires experienced surgeons.

PMID- 28593885
TI  - Prognostic Factors on the Positivity for Metastases of the Axillary Lymph Nodes
      from Primary Breast Cancer.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to identify the impact of T stage, the presence of
      estrogen, progesterone, HER2neu receptors and the values of the Ki67 on the
      positivity for metastases of the axillary lymph nodes, from primary breast
      cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 290 surgically treated patients for breast cancer
      were included in the study. All cases have been analyzed by standard histological
      analysis including microscopic analysis on standard H&E staining. For determining
      the molecular receptors - HER2neu, ER, PR, p53 and Ki67, immunostaining by PT
      LINK immunoperoxidase has been done. RESULTS: Patients age was ranged between 18
      90 years, average of 57.6+11.9. The mean size of the primary tumor in the
      surgically treated patient was 30.27 + 18.3 mm. On dissection from the axillary
      pits 8 to 39 lymph nodes were taken out, an average of 13.81+5.56. Metastases
      have been found in 1 to 23 lymph nodes, an average 3.14+4.71. In 59% of the
      patients there have been found metastases in the axillary lymph nodes. The
      univariate regression analysis showed that the location, size of tumor,
      differentiation of the tumor, stage, the value of the Ki67 and presence of
      lymphovascular invasion influence on the positivity of the axillary lymph nodes.
      The presence of the estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and HER2neu
      receptors showed that they do not have influence on the positivity for metastatic
      deposits in axillary lymph nodes. The multivariate model and the logistic
      regression analysis as independent significant factors or predictors of
      positivity of the axillary lymph nodes are influenced by the tumor size and the
      positive lymphovascular invasion. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the involving
      of the axillary lymph nodes is mainly influenced by the size of the tumor and the
      presence of lymphovascular invasion in the tumor. Ki67 determined proliferative
      index in the univariate analysis points the important influence of positivity in
      the axillary lymph nodes, but not in the multivariate regressive analysis.

PMID- 28593886
TI  - Correlation Between Microvessel Density and Morphological Features in Skin
      Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Abnormal angiogenesis is described in tumor growth and it
      facilitates its metastatic spread. Tumors with high angiogenic activity belong to
      the category of aggressive tumors with poor prognosis for patients. The aim of
      this study was to determine the blood vessels density (BVD), i.e.
      neovascularization at the tumor invasive front in skin squamous cell carcinoma
      (SCC) in order to determine its possible role in the tumor progression, and to
      correlate it to the blood vessels density of healthy skin and with the prognostic
      parameters of the TNM classification: T status, depth of tumor invasion (DI) and
      tumor histological grade (G), which were also correlated between each other.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The material consisted of surgical specimens obtained from
      30 patients with skin SCC, who underwent surgery. Tissue samples were routinely
      processed by standard paraffin technique stained by Hematoxilin-Eosin and
      immunohistochemically with antibodies against smooth muscle actin (SMA) and CD34.
      The BVD in the invasive front of the neoplasms was correlated to the healthy
      skin, tumor status (pT), depth of invasion and grade of histological
      differentiation (pG). RESULTS: The histological analysis has shown a high
      statistical difference in the density of blood vessels in SCC compared to the
      healthy skin and statistical difference in BVD in neoplasms with different depth
      of invasion and different grade of differentiation. The density of
      neovascularzation increased with the deeper invasion and the worse
      differentiation. CONCLUSION: The increased vascularization at the invasive front
      of SCC with deeper invasion and worse differentiation has pointed out to its
      possible role in neoplasm progression.

PMID- 28593887
TI  - Type 2 Diabetes in People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds:
      Perspectives for Training and Practice from Nutritional Therapy and Dietician
      Professions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the perspectives of nutritional therapy and dietician
      practitioners, undergraduate students and academics working with people with type
      2 diabetes and who are from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)
      backgrounds. METHODS: A qualitative study design of in-depth semi-structured one
      on-one interviews with a total of 24 participants (8 practitioners, 8 students
      and 8 academics) in the fields of nutritional therapy and dietetics. Open-ended
      questions focused on the perspectives and experiences (learning, practice and
      teaching) of working with people of CALD backgrounds who have type 2 diabetes.
      All interviews were recorded for thematic and textual analysis. RESULTS: Inter
      related themes which were confirmed with investigator triangulation were the
      understanding of (i) the concepts of culture and diversity, (ii) the concepts and
      influences of health, diabetes and food across cultures, (iii) influences within
      and across cultures and (iv) systems and resourcing. Overarching perspectives
      across these themes suggested frustration in having sufficient capacity to assess
      comprehensively, to deliver effective, comprehensive and high quality management
      plans, and to achieve required health behavioural changes with people from
      different CALD backgrounds. CONCLUSIONS: There's a need for improvements in the
      undergraduate education and training and in professional development programs;
      training and resourcing of interpreters in delivery of health-related information
      and working with health professionals; for focus on culturally appropriate
      management plans that involve consultation with key decision makers in families
      and communities; and, reviews of the systems for supporting and resourcing
      nutritional therapists and dieticians in professional development from
      undergraduate to practice levels.

PMID- 28593888
TI  - BDI in the Assessment of Depression in Different Medical Conditions.
AB  - As a common disorder, depression must be diagnosed not only in psychiatric but
      also in different medical settings, especially in patients with chronic diseases.
      Beck Depression Inventory is valuable and sensitive self-report inventory used
      worldwide for assessment depressive symptoms. In this research we present
      obtained scores of BDI in different group of disorders and we showed that BDI
      scores are related to the clinical condition, as well as with the age.

PMID- 28593889
TI  - Circonscript Subcutaneous Arteriovenous Malformation of the Head.
AB  - : The aim of this study is to show the various possibilities to treat this rare
      malformation, accentuating the results of the early surgical treatment before
      complications. MATERIAL: The authors present 8 cases of patients with
      subcutaneous arteriovenous malformations, 5 females and 3 males (age of 7, 13,
      19, 23, 27, 52 and 58 years) treated in the period of 1999 until 2015 at the
      Clinic for Neurosurgery and the Clinic for Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive
      Surgery in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. This malformation has been observed by
      the parents in the childhood, around the age of 3 years in all cases. Local red
      circonscripted nodule, soft, with manually discharging tendency and varicose
      dilated veins have been observed in all cases, deaf on both sides in one case,
      while in the older case, a cavernous sinus thrombosis caused unilateral
      exophthalmia, hyaline indurated ophthalmic vein, vertigo, arrhythmia, heart
      failure and bradypsychia have been observed. The size of the malformation has
      been from 2.5 to 7 cm. The diagnostics was done using CT, CT-angiography and
      digital angiography including external carotid angiography. Endocranial arterials
      peduncle was present in all cases. RESULTS: Six cases underwent surgery, while
      two cases were treated with several treatments of endovascular embolization. The
      follow up has been ranged from 2 to 15 years. All surgically treated patients
      improved without recurrence, the exophthalmia, bradypsychia and the heart
      problems regressed, while in patients treated with endovascular non-complete
      occlusion the AVM decreased, but still remained. IN CONCLUSION: The Surgical
      treatment remains a first option if it is possible, and as earlier as possible,
      while embolization is a useful tool in cases where a complete excision is not
      possible.

PMID- 28593890
TI  - Extremely Locally Advanced Ovarian Malignant Mixed Mullerian Tumor in 37-Years
      Old Female.
AB  - Ovarian carcinosarcomas, rare variant of ovarian carcinoma, composed of both
      carcinomatous and mesenchymal components, solid and/or cystic, fleshy and
      hemorrhagic, frequently spreading beyond the ovary, are treated with surgery and
      adjuvant chemotherapy according to the treatment principles of ovarian carcinomas
      due to the small number of reported cases and lack of randomized studies. We
      report a case of a 37-year-old woman with clinical signs of extremely locally
      advanced tumor of ovarian origin, infiltrating the lower left quadrant of the
      abdominal wall with necrosis of the covering skin. Prior biopsy of the left ovary
      and omentum confirmed poorly differentiated serous adenocarcinoma. Bulky tumor
      the size of a child's head, originating from the left ovary and infiltrating into
      the lower left quadrant abdominal wall was debulked with wide excision of the
      abdominal wall and creation of wide defect of the lower left part of abdominal
      wall covered with Dexon mesh. After the recovery, the medial part of the defect
      with exposed mesh was closed with pedicled tensor fasciae latae
      fasciomyocutaneous flap, while the lateral part of the defect was covered with
      split thickness skin graft. Optimal surgical cytoreduction and adjuvant
      chemotherapy in case of extremely locally advanced ovarian malignant Mullerian
      tumor provide satisfactory recurrence-free survival period.

PMID- 28593891
TI  - On Our Science and Scientific Workers.

PMID- 28593892
TI  - Neonatal Hypoglycemia: Risk Factors and Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Severe neonatal hypoglycemia (HG) leads to neurologic
      damage, mental retardation, epilepsy, personality disorders, impaired cardiac
      performance and muscle weakness. We aimed to assess the clinical characteristics
      of children with hypoglycemia in a random population of newborns. PATIENTS,
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated 84 patients (M:F=35:48) born at the
      University Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics in Skopje (hospitalized in the
      NICU) who were found to have hypoglycemia. In total 89.25% of the babies were
      premature. The mean birth weight was 1795.95 +/596.08 grams, the mean birth
      length was 41.92+/- 4.62 cm, while the mean gestational age was 33.05+/-3.19
      weeks. 32 children (38.08%) were very low birth weight (<1500g), 38 (45.22%) were
      low birth weight (1500-2500g), while there were 8 children (9.52%) appropriate
      for age BW and no high BW for age patients (>4000 g). HG duration was 2.42+/-2.41
      hours. In the group as a whole, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) was found
      in 3 children (3.57%), infections in 22 (26.18%), respiratory distress syndrome
      (RDS) in 9 patients (10.62%), intracranial haemorrhage in 2 patients (2.38%).
      There were no inborn errors of metabolism. There were two deaths (2.38%).
      CONCLUSION: Neonatal HG is a significant factor in the overall neonatal
      mortality. HG can also cause severe invalidity. We found that infections, LBW and
      low gestational age were most commonly associated with neonatal HG. However the
      Spearman test showed weak direct correlation, without statistical significance.
      Neonatal HG requires complex and team interaction of prenatal and postnatal
      approaches to reduce the incidence of seizures, their consequences and the
      overall mortality. Special consideration is to be taken in measures that avoid
      neonatal infections, HIE, LBW and low gestational age. Further studies on a
      larger population are needed to fully understand and prevent the phenomenon of HG
      in newborns.

PMID- 28593893
TI  - Trigonocephaly - Our Experience and Treatment in the Republic of Macedonia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prematurely fused metopic suture results in developmental anomaly
      named trigonocephaly. The treatment of trigonocephaly is a surgical
      reconstruction, starting from the simple suturectomy toward the complicated
      cranial vault reconstructions with aim to obtain enough endocranial space for
      normal development of the brain and aesthetic correction as well. THE AIM: The
      aim of our paper is to present our experience on this pathology in the Republic
      of Macedonia, stressing the trigonocephaly as one of the rare forms of
      craniosynostosis. Our material: During a period of 20 years (from 1996 to 2015)
      at the Pediatric department of the Clinic for Neurosurgery in Skopje, we observed
      18 babies with trigonocephaly, including one with Carpenter syndrome and
      trigonocephaly, 14 males and 4 females. All children had simple trigonocephaly,
      one had syndromic trigonocephaly (Carpenter's syndrome). According to Oi and
      Matsumoto classification done in 19865 severe trigonocephaly is observed in 11
      cases and, moderate trigonocephaly in 7 cases. Our method: Our treatment
      consisted of slightly modified Di Rocco's3 surgical procedure named "shell"
      operation, adding transposition of the "bone flap". RESULTS: The postoperative
      period was uneventful except for the expected forehead swelling. The babies were
      discharged from the hospital on average at the 8th postoperative day. At the
      three months control after the surgery, the head had excellent aesthetic
      appearance, with regular psychomotor development according to the age of the
      patient (Fig 3a and 3b). We had no serious complications except the expected
      postoperative swelling of the forehead. All operated children had excellent "long
      term" aesthetic effect and normal psychomotor development. CONCLUSION: The early
      recognition of these anomalies including all craniosynostoses, the deformities of
      the newborn and infant's head and the preventive operative reconstruction would
      prevent abnormal disturbance of the psychomotor development during the child's
      growth. The multidisciplinary approach can prevent new disabled individuals in
      the society. Our technique allows shortening the entire surgical procedure,
      especially in the departments where blood saving devices are not available.

PMID- 28593894
TI  - 5th Rare Disease South Eastern Europe (SEE) Meeting, Skopje, Macedonia (November
      15th, 2016).
AB  - The fifth SEE meeting on rare diseases (RDs) was held in Macedonian Academy of
      Sciences and Arts (MASA) the November 11th, 2016. Several lectures dealt with
      mucopolysaccharidosis, glycogen storage diseases and the possibilities for their
      diagnosis and treatment. Enzyme replacement treatment (ERT), its availability,
      effects (or the lack of it) on the brain, and further prospects of eventual gene
      treatment were comprehensively exposed and discussed. Special accent was on
      Gaucher, Morquio IVA, Hunter and the audience was given new knowledge on the
      complexities of diagnosis and treatment. A block of lectures on rare renal
      diseases was also impressive. From renal stones, their molecular and genetic
      mechanisms to different forms of CAKUT the use of NGS and other molecular methods
      in diagnosis of RDs. Mitochondrial diseases, the novelties and importance of
      early discovery were comprehensively exposed. Special lecture was given on the
      complement system. Endocrine disruptors, microprolactinomas were also the topic
      of the meeting. A rather reach session of posters was also presented.

PMID- 28593895
TI  - Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract in Children Born Small for
      Gestational Age.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT)
      represent several types of malformations with occurrence of 1 in about 500 live
      births. OBJECTIVE: Small for gestation age (SGA) may influence in prevalence of
      CAKUT and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children. The aim of
      this study was to elaborate our experiences with detected CAKUT in a cohort of
      SGA born children in Macedonia. METHODS: Our cohort consisted of 100 SGA born
      children investigated for associated congenital anomalies of urinary tract. We
      analyzed anthropometric and clinical birth data in children with diagnosed CAKUT
      and estimated the stage and time of onset of CKD by biochemical and imaging
      technics. RESULTS: We revealed 7 (7.0%) SGA born children with congenital
      anomalies of the urinary tract. Their mean birth weight was very low 1855 gr (
      3.93 SDS) and the birth length 45.57cm (-2.17 SDS), as well. A significant growth
      failure with reduced weight and BMI were noticed at the time of diagnosis. A
      diagnosis of CAKUT in 4/7 was established in the first few months of life, but in
      others 3 later in early childhood. Three children revealed with unilateral kidney
      agenesis, 2 had hypo-dysplastic kidneys and in 2 children was found
      vesicoureteral reflux. Normal glomerular filtration rate was estimated in 2
      children with CAKUT. Stage 2 CKD with GFR 60-90 ml/minx1.73m2 had 3 children, 1
      patient was graded in stage 3 and one child needed kidney transplantation, stage
      5 CKD. CONCLUSIONS: We presented 7 SGA born children with CAKUT. An early
      recognition, assessment and treatment of these anomalies might improve their
      quality of life.

PMID- 28593896
TI  - Synergistic Effect of Hyperoxia and Biotrauma On Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury.
AB  - Patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in intensive care units (ICUs) may
      develop ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Beside the high tidal volume (Vt)
      and plateau pressure (Pplat), hyperoxia is supposed to precipitate lung injury.
      Oxygen toxicity is presumed to occur at levels of fraction of inspired oxygen
      (FiO2) exceeding 0.40. The exposure time to hyperoxia is certainly very important
      and patients who spend extended time on mechanical ventilation (MV) are probably
      more exposed to severe hyperoxic acute lung injury (HALI). Together, hyperoxia
      and biotrauma (release of cytokines) have a synergistic effect and can induce
      VILI. In the clinical practice, the reduction of FiO2 to safe levels through the
      appropriate use of the positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) and the alignment
      of mean airway pressure is an appropriate goal. The strategy for lung protective
      ventilation must include setting up FiO2 to a safe level that is accomplished by
      using PaO2/FiO2 ratio with a lower limit of FiO2 to achieve acceptable levels of
      PaO2, which will be safe for the patient without local (lungs) or systemic
      inflammatory response. The protocol from the ARDS-net study is used for
      ventilator setup and adjustment. Cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, TNFalpha and MIP-2) that
      are involved in the inflammatory response are determined in order to help the
      therapeutic approach in counteracting HALI. Computed tomography findings reflect
      the pathological phases of the diffuse alveolar damage. At least preferably the
      lowest level of FiO2 should be used in order to provide full lung protection
      against the damage induced by MV.

PMID- 28593898
TI  - Clinical Evaluation of Root End Resection Bevel in Periapical Surgery.
AB  - Root end resections play an important role in the success of periapical surgery.
      Beveling of the root end resections can vary significantly depending on the
      surgical technique, the root and canal morphology. The intention of this article
      was to clinically assess the root resections bevels and to estimate their
      relation to applied periapical surgeries. A prospective clinical study consisted
      of sixty periapical surgeries performed on teeth with chronic periapical lesions.
      Thirty periapical surgeries were performed in a conventional manner, while thirty
      were contemporary ultrasonic surgeries. Following the completion of strictly
      planned and performed intraoperative procedures, the resection bevels were
      assessed. To obtain the real bevel angles a compass was used. Root resections
      were significantly less beveled in all teeth operated with contemporary
      ultrasonic surgery, with mean values between 2.1 degrees  to 7.8 degrees . The
      number of roots and their dilacerations didn't influence the root resection
      bevel. For comparison, root resections were significantly beveled in all
      conventionally operated teeth, with mean values of 46 degrees . Due to the
      technical limitations of the conventional periapical surgery, mandibular
      premolars were exclusively operated with ultrasonic periapical surgery, with mean
      values of resection bevel not exceeding 20.7 degrees . Significantly lesser
      resection bevel associated with ultrasonic periapical surgery contributes to root
      preservation and favorable surgical outcome.

PMID- 28593897
TI  - Factors That Influence the Virological Response in Patients with Chronic
      Hepatitis C Treated with Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The success of the antiviral treatment in patients with chronic
      hepatitis C depends on the factors related to the virus and the host. The aim of
      the study is the analysis of the antiviral therapy which is a combination of
      pegylated interferon and ribavirin, considering various factors that will
      identify the predictors of the sustained virological response. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: This retrospective study included 226 patients, divided in two groups.
      Patients with sustained virological response and patients without sustained
      virological response were compared in terms of the following factors: genotype,
      viral load, gender, age, inflammatory and fibrotic changes in the liver,
      metabolic abnormalities, obesity and fatty liver. RESULTS: The rate of the
      sustained virological response is 83.6%, more frequently in patients with
      genotype 3, with evidenced statistical significance (90.54%). The factors that
      significantly contribute to sustained virological response are related to the age
      (p = 0.0001), genotype (p = 0.002), mode of transmission (p = 0.005),
      inflammatory changes in the liver (p = 0.028), body mass index (p = 0.022) and
      insulin resistance (p = 0.039). The high rate of sustained virological response
      is related to the younger age of the patients which indirectly means short
      Hepatitis C Virus infection duration, absence of advanced liver disease and lack
      of significant co-morbid conditions. Single confirmed independent predictors of
      sustained virological response are the age (OR 0.928, p = 0.0001) and genotype
      (OR 3.134, p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Factors that are related to the virological
      response are the age, genotype, mode of transmission, inflammatory changes in the
      liver, body mass index and insulin resistance, but still, independent predictors
      of sustained virologic response are the age and the genotype.

PMID- 28593899
TI  - A time warping approach to multiple sequence alignment.
AB  - We propose an approach for multiple sequence alignment (MSA) derived from the
      dynamic time warping viewpoint and recent techniques of curve synchronization
      developed in the context of functional data analysis. Starting from pairwise
      alignments of all the sequences (viewed as paths in a certain space), we
      construct a median path that represents the MSA we are looking for. We establish
      a proof of concept that our method could be an interesting ingredient to include
      into refined MSA techniques. We present a simple synthetic experiment as well as
      the study of a benchmark dataset, together with comparisons with 2 widely used
      MSA softwares.

PMID- 28593900
TI  - Phellinus rimosus improves mitochondrial energy status and attenuates
      nephrotoxicity in diabetic rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial dysfunction and increase in reactive oxygen species
      during diabetes can lead to pathological consequences in kidneys. The present
      study was aimed to investigate the effect of Phellinus rimosus in the
      streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat renal mitochondria and the possible
      mechanism of protection. METHODS: Phellinus rimosus (50 and 250 mg/kg, p.o) was
      treated after inducing diabetes by STZ (45 mg/kg, i.p) in rats. The serum samples
      were subjected to creatinine and urea estimation. Mitochondrial antioxidant
      status such as mitochondrial superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and
      reduced glutathione; adenosine triphosphate level; and lipid peroxidation were
      measured. The activities of Krebs cycle enzymes such as isocitrate dehydrogenase,
      alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, and malate
      dehydrogenase as well as mitochondrial complexes I, III, and IV in kidney
      mitochondria were also determined. RESULTS: Administration of P. rimosus (250
      mg/kg b.wt) once daily for 30 days, significantly (p<0.05) enhanced the
      activities of Krebs cycle dehydrogenases, mitochondrial electron transport chain
      complexes, and ATP level. Further, P. rimosus had significantly protected the
      renal mitochondrial antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results of the study concluded that by limiting the extent of renal mitochondrial
      damage in the hyperglycemic state, P. rimosus alleviated nephrotoxicity.

PMID- 28593901
TI  - Pseudohypoaldosteronism types I and II: little more than a name in common.
AB  - Pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA) comprises a diverse group of rare diseases
      characterized by sodium and potassium imbalances incorrectly attributed to a
      defect in aldosterone production. Two different forms of PHA have been described,
      type I (PHAI) and type II (PHAII). PHAI has been subclassified into renal and
      systemic. Given the rarity and heterogeneity of this group of disorders we report
      three patients who carry PHA and a brief revision of current literature focused
      on the comparative analysis of PHAI and PHAII. Cases 1 and 2 presented with
      hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis and elevated plasma aldosterone
      and plasma renin activity in the neonatal period. Sequence analysis of the NRC2
      gene demonstrated a novel heterozygous c.403C>T mutation in case 1 and a complete
      deletion in case 2, confirming the diagnosis of renal PHAI. Case 3 was a 4-year
      old with hypertension, hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis, normal plasma
      aldosterone and decreased plasma renin activity. Sequence analysis of the CUL3
      gene demonstrated a previously unreported heterozygous c.1377+2T>3 mutation,
      confirming the diagnosis of PHAII-E. We highlight the importance of the
      determination of plasma aldosterone and plasma renin activity in the context of
      persistent sodium and potassium imbalances in children.

PMID- 28593902
TI  - Inverted pyramid of prenatal care - is it enough? Should it be - extended
      inverted pyramid of prenatal care?

PMID- 28593904
TI  - On the 'data stirring' role of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus.
AB  - Understanding hippocampal (HC) function, as it is presently known, includes
      exploring the HC role in episodic memory storage. As pointed out by Teyler and
      DiScenna in the 1980s, the apparatus needed for recalling a stored episode, and
      awakening all its components in a coordinated manner, by necessity includes a
      triggering device able to reach each of the mental entities that must be
      awakened. In the context of neuronal networks, the triggering device in question
      takes the form of a large cell assembly, a separate one made for every new
      episode stored. The present paper deals with the creation and the properties of
      these cell assemblies ('pointer groups'). To perform the function of episodic
      memory retrieval, each of these must possess the information capacity (entropy)
      enabling it to single out an episode and the network connections enabling it to
      reach all components of it; further, to deal with the unpredictability of the
      memory items it has to address, it must have its member neurons well distributed
      through the length of the network (the HC). The requirements imply that the
      creation of a pointer group must include a randomizing step analogous to
      'stirring'. It is argued that many of the known peculiarities of granule cells in
      the dentate gyrus arise as solutions to the practical problems presented by the
      creation of the pointer groups and the details of 'stirring', and so do a series
      of other features of the HC network, some of them only discovered in the last few
      years.

PMID- 28593903
TI  - Hippocampal BDNF in physiological conditions and social isolation.
AB  - Exposure of an organism to chronic psychosocial stress may affect brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression that has been implicated in the etiology of
      psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Given that depression in humans has
      been linked with social stress, the chronic social stress paradigms for modeling
      psychiatric disorders in animals have thus been developed. Chronic social
      isolation in animal models generally causes changes in hypothalamic-pituitary
      adrenal axis functioning, associated with anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors.
      Also, this chronic stress causes downregulation of BDNF protein and mRNA in the
      hippocampus, a stress-sensitive brain region closely related to the
      pathophysiology of depression. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge
      regarding the structure, function, intracellular signaling, inter-individual
      differences and epigenetic regulation of BDNF in both physiological conditions
      and depression and changes in corticosterone levels, as a marker of stress
      response. Since BDNF levels are age dependent in humans and rodents, this review
      will also highlight the effects of adolescent and adult chronic social isolation
      models of both genders on the BDNF expression.

PMID- 28593906
TI  - Biomarkers of acute kidney injury: a step forward.

PMID- 28593907
TI  - Opioid-induced hyponatremia in a patient with central diabetes insipidus:
      independence from ADH.
AB  - Hyponatremia can be a complication of opioid therapy, which has been postulated
      to occur secondary to inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (syndrome of
      inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion [SIADH]). We report severe
      hyponatremia following wisdom teeth extraction with opioid analgesia in a 19-year
      old female with diabetes insipidus (DI) and acquired panhypopituitarism that
      challenges this theory. As this patient has DI, we believe opioid treatment
      caused severe hyponatremia by the following mechanisms: (1) Opioids have a direct
      antidiuretic effect independent of changes in ADH, as demonstrated in Brattleboro
      rats with central DI. (2) Hydrocodone may have stimulated this patient's thirst
      center contributing to hyponatremia, as demonstrated in animal studies. Opioid
      use can cause hyponatremia in patients independent of ADH. It is important for
      clinicians to be aware of this so that patients can be appropriately counseled.

PMID- 28593909
TI  - Distinction between urine crystals by automated urine analyzer SediMAX conTRUST
      is specific but lacks sensitivity.

PMID- 28593910
TI  - The EFLM strategy for harmonization of the preanalytical phase.

PMID- 28593911
TI  - The challenges of genetic risk scores for the prediction of coronary heart
      disease.

PMID- 28593905
TI  - Targeting and inactivation of bacterial toxins by human defensins.
AB  - Defensins, as a prominent family of antimicrobial peptides (AMP), are major
      effectors of the innate immunity with a broad range of immune modulatory and
      antimicrobial activities. In particular, defensins are the only recognized fast
      response molecules that can neutralize a broad range of bacterial toxins, many of
      which are among the deadliest compounds on the planet. For a decade, the mystery
      of how a small and structurally conserved group of peptides can neutralize a
      heterogeneous group of toxins with little to no sequential and structural
      similarity remained unresolved. Recently, it was found that defensins recognize
      and target structural plasticity/thermodynamic instability, fundamental
      physicochemical properties that unite many bacterial toxins and distinguish them
      from the majority of host proteins. Binding of human defensins promotes local
      unfolding of the affected toxins, destabilizes their secondary and tertiary
      structures, increases susceptibility to proteolysis, and leads to their
      precipitation. While the details of toxin destabilization by defensins remain
      obscure, here we briefly review properties and activities of bacterial toxins
      known to be affected by or resilient to defensins, and discuss how recognized
      features of defensins correlate with the observed inactivation.

PMID- 28593912
TI  - Impact of FGF21 on glycemic control.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) plays a role in regulating adaptation to
      various metabolic abnormalities. In addition, FGF21 is involved in controlling
      glucose and lipid homeostasis. The regulation of FGF21 is a complex process and
      depends upon multiple metabolic factors and hormones. Humans and animals with
      obesity or type 2 diabetes have abnormal expression and changes of FGF21 in the
      circulation. Interventional studies in rodents and monkeys with obesity, insulin
      resistance or type 2 diabetes revealed a potential therapeutic relevance of FGF21
      in correcting these abnormalities. This review summarizes the current knowledge
      about the regulation of FGF21 by distinct metabolic and endogenous factors,
      considering the most relevant studies. In this context, the results of
      interventional studies in humans and various animal models of diseases, such as
      diabetes and obesity, are discussed. In addition, potential mechanisms of the
      molecular regulation of FGF21 expression and secretion are reviewed.

PMID- 28593913
TI  - Excessive weight gain in exclusively breast-fed infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is recommended as the best source of nutrition in the
      first months of life and observational studies have associated exclusive
      breastfeeding with decreased weight gain and a protective effect against obesity
      in childhood. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of
      a cohort of exclusively breastfed obese infants to determine factors that may
      lead to this unusual weight gain. METHODS: Infants seen between 2003 and 2015 who
      were exclusively breastfed and showed excessive weight gain in the first year of
      life were followed with a focus on features of the mother, the child, feeding
      patterns and the presence of concomitant factors that influence nutritional
      status. Additionally, in a subset of the sample, macronutrients of the maternal
      breast milk were analyzed. A descriptive, prospective cross-sectional study was
      conducted. RESULTS: Of 73 patients, 63% were girls. At 3 months of life, 64% had
      a weight-for-height standard deviation score (SDS) >2. At 6 and at 12 months,
      100% of the patients had a weight-for-height >2 SDS. The mean age at semisolid
      food introduction was 7 months. The mean age at weaning was 15.8 months. The
      babies were fed on demand and no hunger-satiety pattern was observed. In the
      breast milk samples analyzed, a significantly lower fat content was found.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study lead to the assumption that inter
      individual variations in mother's milk composition may affect the growth patterns
      of children.

PMID- 28593914
TI  - Improved metabolic control in tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), responsive
      phenylketonuria with sapropterin administered in two divided doses vs. a single
      daily dose.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phenylketonuria (PKU) often requires a lifelong phenylalanine (Phe)
      restricted diet. Introduction of 6R-tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) has made a huge
      difference in the diets of patients with PKU. BH4 is the co-factor of the enzyme
      phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) and improves PAH activity and, thus, Phe
      tolerance in the diet. A limited number of published studies suggest a
      pharmacodynamic profile of BH4 more suitable to be administered in divided daily
      doses. METHODS: After a 72-h BH4 loading test, sapropterin was initiated in 50
      responsive patients. This case-control study was conducted by administering the
      same daily dose of sapropterin in group 1 (n=24) as a customary single dose or in
      two divided doses in group 2 (n=26) over 1 year. RESULTS: Mean daily consumption
      of Phe increased significantly after the first year of BH4 treatment in group 2
      compared to group 1 (p<0.05). At the end of the first year of treatment with BH4,
      another dramatic difference observed between the two groups was the ability to
      transition to a Phe-free diet. Eight patients from group 2 and two from group 1
      could quit dietary restriction. CONCLUSIONS: When given in two divided daily
      doses, BH4 was more efficacious than a single daily dose in increasing daily Phe
      consumption, Phe tolerance and the ability to transition to a Phe-unrestricted
      diet at the end of the first year of treatment.

PMID- 28593915
TI  - Analytical performance specifications for external quality assessment -
      definitions and descriptions.
AB  - External Quality Assurance (EQA) is vital to ensure acceptable analytical quality
      in medical laboratories. A key component of an EQA scheme is an analytical
      performance specification (APS) for each measurand that a laboratory can use to
      assess the extent of deviation of the obtained results from the target value. A
      consensus conference held in Milan in 2014 has proposed three models to set APS
      and these can be applied to setting APS for EQA. A goal arising from this
      conference is the harmonisation of EQA APS between different schemes to deliver
      consistent quality messages to laboratories irrespective of location and the
      choice of EQA provider. At this time there are wide differences in the APS used
      in different EQA schemes for the same measurands. Contributing factors to this
      variation are that the APS in different schemes are established using different
      criteria, applied to different types of data (e.g. single data points, multiple
      data points), used for different goals (e.g. improvement of analytical quality;
      licensing), and with the aim of eliciting different responses from participants.
      This paper provides recommendations from the European Federation of Laboratory
      Medicine (EFLM) Task and Finish Group on Performance Specifications for External
      Quality Assurance Schemes (TFG-APSEQA) and on clear terminology for EQA APS. The
      recommended terminology covers six elements required to understand APS: 1) a
      statement on the EQA material matrix and its commutability; 2) the method used to
      assign the target value; 3) the data set to which APS are applied; 4) the
      applicable analytical property being assessed (i.e. total error, bias,
      imprecision, uncertainty); 5) the rationale for the selection of the APS; and 6)
      the type of the Milan model(s) used to set the APS. The terminology is required
      for EQA participants and other interested parties to understand the meaning of
      meeting or not meeting APS.

PMID- 28593916
TI  - Preparation, calibration and evaluation of the First International Standard for
      human C-peptide.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measurement of C-peptide by immunoassay contributes to the diagnosis
      of a number of disorders related to beta cell function. Stocks of the current
      international reference reagent (IRR) for C-peptide, used to calibrate these
      immunoassays, are exhausted, and this report summarises the international study
      to establish a replacement World Health Organization (WHO) international standard
      (IS) to maintain the availability of a globally available reference material and
      support efforts to standardise C-peptide assays. METHODS: The study was conducted
      in three phases; phase I involved the assignment of a value to a primary
      calibrant in mass units by amino acid analysis and phase II applied this value to
      the calibration of a candidate standard, 13/146, by reversed phase high
      performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) assay. In phase III, the candidate
      standard was compared to the first IRR by current immunoassays to assess its
      suitability to serve as an IS. RESULTS: Calibration of the candidate standard by
      RP-HPLC gave a final estimated content of 8.64 MUg/ampoule with expanded
      uncertainty of 8.21-9.07 MUg/ampoule (95% confidence; k=2.45). The candidate
      standard also appears sufficiently stable to serve as an IS, based on HPLC
      analysis of accelerated thermal degradation samples of 13/146, and was also shown
      to have appropriate immunological activity. A difference in bias approach was
      used to assess the commutability of 13/146 with human serum and urine samples.
      With the exception of two laboratories, the candidate standard demonstrated
      commutability with respect to the serum and urine samples included in this study.
      CONCLUSIONS: The candidate standard, 13/146, is suitable to serve as the First
      International Standard for human C-peptide, and it has been formally adopted by
      the Expert Committee on Biological Standardisation of the WHO.

PMID- 28593917
TI  - Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy at term: risk factors and pregnancy outcomes.
AB  - Background Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a worldwide epidemic. The aim
      of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, its
      predictive factors and the association with pregnancy outcomes. Materials and
      methods This was a prospective observational study in a tertiary teaching
      hospital over 2-years' duration from August 2013 to August 2015. A total of 680
      women who completed 37 weeks of pregnancy were recruited. Results Five hundred
      and seventy-five patients were enrolled in the final analysis for pregnancy
      outcomes (response rate of 84.6%). There were 71.7% patients who exhibited
      vitamin D deficiency, 21.0% vitamin D insufficiency and only 7.3% who had
      adequate levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-vit D) of more than 30 ng/mL. There
      was no statistically significant association between vitamin D status with
      maternal (parity, gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia,
      intrauterine growth restriction, preterm labor, antenatal infection, bacterial
      vaginosis and anemia) and neonatal outcomes (low birth weight baby and neonatal
      intensive care unit admission) among the three groups. Conclusion A high
      prevalence of low vitamin D level among pregnant women at term was seen in this
      study, however, there was no significant finding observed between vitamin D
      status and both maternal and neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 28593918
TI  - Beyond obesity - thermogenic adipocytes and cardiometabolic health.
AB  - The global prevalence of obesity and related cardiometabolic disease continues to
      increase through the 21st century. Whilst multi-factorial, obesity is ultimately
      caused by chronic caloric excess. However, despite numerous interventions
      focussing on reducing caloric intake these either fail or only elicit short-term
      changes in body mass. There is now a focus on increasing energy expenditure
      instead which has stemmed from the recent 're-discovery' of cold-activated brown
      adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans and inducible 'beige' adipocytes. Through
      the unique mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), these thermogenic
      adipocytes are capable of combusting large amounts of chemical energy as heat and
      in animal models can prevent obesity and cardiometabolic disease. At present,
      human data does not point to a role for thermogenic adipocytes in regulating body
      weight or fat mass but points to a pivotal role in regulating metabolic health by
      improving insulin resistance as well as glucose and lipid homeostasis. This
      review will therefore focus on the metabolic benefits of BAT activation and the
      mechanisms and signalling pathways by which these could occur including
      improvements in insulin signalling in peripheral tissues, systemic lipid and
      cholesterol metabolism and cardiac and vascular function.

PMID- 28593919
TI  - Effects of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) gene 86 bp VNTR
      polymorphism on recurrent pregnancy loss: a case-control study.
AB  - Objective Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a heterogeneous disease which is
      defined as two or more consecutive fetal losses during early pregnancy.
      Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a anti-inflammatory cytokine, which
      inhibits IL-1 activity by binding to its receptors. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the association between RPL and IL-1Ra intron 2 polymorphism (86 bp
      VNTR) in Iranian women. Materials and methods In this case control study, genetic
      polymorphism was studied in 140 RPL patients and 140 healthy women as controls.
      Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood samples and polymorphism analysis was
      performed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Finally, the data
      obtained were analyzed by statistical software. Results We found an increased
      frequency of the IL-1Ra 1/1 genotype in the case group compared to the control
      group. Whereas, the frequency of IL-1Ra genotype 1/2 was higher in control group
      than in the case group. However, we did not observe an association between IL-1Ra
      86 bp VNTR polymorphism in intron 2 and RPL patients (p > 0.05). Conclusion IL
      1Ra VNTR polymorphism may not be a genetic factor for RPL. However, investigation
      of IL-1Ra polymorphism was recommended in other populations and patients with
      recurrent pregnancy loss.

PMID- 28593920
TI  - Influence of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 polymorphisms on tacrolimus and sirolimus exposure
      in stable kidney transplant recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms in genes encoding for drug-metabolizing enzymes and
      drug transporters are among multiple factors that modulate the pharmacokinetic
      variability of tacrolimus (TAC) and sirolimus (SRL). This study aimed to evaluate
      the influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on TAC and SRL dose
      adjusted concentrations (C0/D) in stable kidney transplant recipients. METHODS:
      This is an exploratory and prospective study, which includes 46 stable kidney
      transplant recipients. These patients were monitored from the 3rd to the 24th
      month after transplantation. The SRL group consisted of 25 patients receiving
      TAC, prednisone (PRED), and mycophenolate sodium (MPS), which were converted from
      TAC to SRL at 3rd month after transplantation. The TAC group consisted of 21
      patients who underwent treatment with TAC, PRED, and MPS. Both groups were
      genotyped for CYP3A4 rs2242480 (g.20230G>A), CYP3A5 rs15524 (g.31611C>T), CYP2C8
      rs10509681 (c.1196A>G) and ABCB1 rs1045642 (c.3435C>T), rs1128503 (c.1236C>T),
      and rs2032582 (c.2677G>T/A) polymorphisms. RESULTS: In the TAC group, CYP3A4
      rs2242480 A allele carriers were associated with lower TAC C0/D. For CYP3A5
      rs15524 SNP, C0/D was higher among patients carrying TT genotype when compared
      with CT and CC genotype carriers in the SRL and, more consistently, in the TAC
      groups. For ABCB1 rs1045642 SNP, TT genotype was associated with reduced SRL
      C0/D, but only at month 15. CONCLUSIONS: CYP3A4 rs2242480 and CYP3A5 rs15524 SNPs
      resulted in significant changes in SRL and TAC C0/D at different times after
      transplantation.

PMID- 28593921
TI  - Hyperandrogenism in adolescent girls: relationship with the somatotrophic axis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During puberty there is a physiologic increase in adrenal and ovarian
      androgens. It has been suggested that the somatotrophic axis may be related to
      the development of hyperandrogenism and anovulation in non-obese adult women with
      polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The objective of the study was to investigate
      whether ovarian androgen secretion in young postmenarchal girls is related to the
      function of their somatotropic axis. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of
      adolescent girls. We studied non-obese adolescent girls with hyperandrogenism
      (HA; n = 21) matched with control girls (C; n = 25) for chronological age, age at
      menarche and body mass index. We obtained a fasting blood sample for measurement
      of serum glucose, insulin, 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OH-Prog),
      dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S), androstenedione, sex hormone-binding
      globulin (SHBG), total testosterone, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-3, ghrelin,
      leptin, AMH (antiMullerian hormone), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle
      stimulating hormone (FSH) during the follicular phase of the menstrual period. We
      performed an oral glucose tolerance test to determine blood glucose, insulin and
      ghrelin levels and urine samples to measure urinary GH (growth hormone) levels.
      RESULTS: As expected, the hyperandrogenic girls had significantly higher Ferriman
      scores, basal total testosterone, free androgen index (FAI), androstenedione,
      AMH, and basal LH levels compared with the girls in controls. Serum IGF-I, IGF
      II, IGFBP-3 and urinary GH did not differ between HA and C. There was a
      correlation between urinary GH and FAI in all girls (r 0.29, p < 0.05). In
      addition, in HA girls FAI correlated with insulin, homeostasis model assessment
      (HOMA) and ghrelin. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a correlation between urinary GH and
      FAI in the hyperandrogenic and control girls, suggesting that the function of the
      somatotrophic axis may influence the secretion of androgens in adolescent girls.

PMID- 28593922
TI  - Copy number variations in "classical" obesity candidate genes are not frequently
      associated with severe early-onset obesity in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity is genetically heterogeneous and highly heritable, although
      polymorphisms explain the phenotype in only a small proportion of obese children.
      We investigated the presence of copy number variations (CNVs) in "classical"
      genes known to be associated with (monogenic) early-onset obesity in children.
      METHODS: In 194 obese Caucasian children selected for early-onset and severe
      obesity from our obesity cohort we screened for deletions and/or duplications by
      multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification reaction (MLPA). As we found one
      MLPA probe to interfere with a polymorphism in SIM1 we investigated its
      association with obesity and other phenotypic traits in our extended cohort of
      2305 children. RESULTS: In the selected subset of most severely obese children,
      we did not find CNV with MLPA in POMC, LEP, LEPR, MC4R, MC3R or MC2R genes.
      However, one SIM1 probe located at exon 9 gave signals suggestive for SIM1
      insufficiency in 52 patients. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis identified
      this as a false positive result due to interference with single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) rs3734354/rs3734355. We, therefore, investigated for
      associations of this polymorphism with obesity and metabolic traits in our
      extended cohort. We found rs3734354/rs3734355 to be associated with body mass
      index-standard deviation score (BMI-SDS) (p = 0.003), but not with parameters of
      insulin metabolism, blood pressure or food intake. CONCLUSIONS: In our modest
      sample of severely obese children, we were unable to find CNVs in well
      established monogenic obesity genes. Nevertheless, we found an association of
      rs3734354 in SIM1 with obesity of early-onset type in children, although not with
      obesity-related traits.

PMID- 28593923
TI  - The effects of transport by car on coagulation tests.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This research investigated the effects of the transport of blood
      samples between centers/laboratories by car on coagulation tests. METHODS: Five
      tubes of blood samples were taken from 20 healthy volunteers. The samples
      consisted of a baseline (control) group, centrifuged and noncentrifuged
      transported samples; centrifuged and noncentrifuged untransported samples. The
      groups of centrifuged and noncentrifuged samples were transported by car for 2 h.
      The centrifuged and noncentrifuged untransported samples were incubated in the
      laboratory until the transported samples arrived. Prothrombin time (PT) and
      activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) tests were conducted for all
      samples. RESULTS: Significant differences between the baseline group and the
      centrifuged and noncentrifuged transported samples and the noncentrifuged
      untransported samples were found for APTT levels (p<0.05, for all). In addition,
      significant mean percentage differences in PT values were found between the
      baseline group and the noncentrifuged transported samples (p<0.001) and the
      noncentrifuged untransported samples (p=0.005). The mean level of PT in the
      noncentrifuged transported samples was outside the upper limit of the clinical
      decision level. CONCLUSIONS: Noncentrifuged transported samples showed clinically
      significant differences in PT test results that may have stemmed from mechanical
      agitation during transportation. Therefore, we recommend not transporting
      noncentrifuged specimens for PT testing by car.

PMID- 28593925
TI  - Intensive educational efforts combined with external quality assessment improve
      the preanalytical phase in general practitioner offices and nursing homes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Errors in the preanalytical phase in clinical laboratories affect
      patient safety. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of intensive
      educational efforts together with external quality assessment (EQA) of the
      preanalytical phase from 2013 to 2015 to improve patient identification in
      primary health care in Norway. In addition, routines for venous and capillary
      blood sampling were investigated. METHODS: A preanalytical EQA was circulated in
      2013 by the Norwegian Quality Improvement of Laboratory Examinations (Noklus) to
      general practitioner offices and nursing homes (n=2000) to obtain information
      about important issues to focus on before launching an intensive educational
      program with courses, posters and visits in 2013-2015. Preanalytical EQA surveys
      were further circulated in 2014 and 2015. RESULTS: The response rate varied
      between 42% and 55%. The percentages of participants asking for the patients'
      name and the Norwegian identification number increased from about 8% in 2013 to
      about 35% in 2015. The increase was similar for those participating in only one
      EQA survey and for those who participated in EQA surveys both in 2013 and 2015.
      Guidelines for venous and capillary blood sampling were not always followed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Educational efforts more than the preanalytical EQA influenced the
      actions and resulted in an increase in the percentages of participants that
      followed the guidelines for patient identification. Some aspects of blood
      sampling routines need improvement.

PMID- 28593924
TI  - Influence of age, gender and body mass index on late-night salivary cortisol in
      healthy adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC) is one of the most reliable tests
      to screen for endogenous Cushing syndrome. This test is simple, inexpensive and
      noninvasive and has high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of our study was to
      analyze the putative influence of age, gender and body mass index (BMI) on LNSC
      levels in a healthy population. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in
      healthy adults. Midnight saliva samples were collected at home. Participants
      refrained from teeth brushing, eating or drinking for 2 h prior to collection.
      Salivary cortisol measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). The
      study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the hospital (number 140073).
      RESULTS: We evaluated 122 nonsmoking healthy volunteers. Mean age was 35+/-14
      years (range, 18-74 years); 63% were women. Mean BMI was 24+/-3 kg/m2, blood
      pressure 115/74 mmHg and fasting plasma glucose 4.8+/-0.5 mmol/L. LNSC presented
      a non-Gaussian distribution; the median was 3.58 (range, 0.55-8.55) nmol/L (0.13
      [range, 0.02-0.31] MUg/dL), and the 97.5th percentile (P97.5) was 8.3 nmol/L (0.3
      MUg/dL). Multiple linear regression disclosed a significant positive association
      between salivary cortisol levels and age (r2=0.21, p<0.001), but no association
      with gender (p=0.105) or BMI (p=0.119). Accordingly, participants aged >50 years
      had significantly higher salivary cortisol as compared to those aged <50 years
      (5.24 nmol/L [0.19 MUg/dL] vs. 3.31 nmol/L [0.12 MUg/dL], respectively, p<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The maximum reference value (P97.5) of LNSC was set at 8.3 nmol/L
      (0.3 MUg/dL) using ECLIA. Advanced age was associated with higher LNSC levels,
      with no evident influence of gender or BMI.

PMID- 28593926
TI  - The impact of pneumatic tube system on routine laboratory parameters: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pneumatic tube system (PTS) is a widely used method of transporting
      blood samples in hospitals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of
      the PTS transport in certain routine laboratory parameters as it has been
      implicated with hemolysis. METHODS: A systematic review and a meta-analysis were
      conducted. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched (up until November 2016) to
      identify prospective studies evaluating the impact of PTS transport in
      hematological, biochemical and coagulation measurements. The random-effects model
      was used in the meta-analysis utilizing the mean difference (MD). Heterogeneity
      was quantitatively assessed using the Cohran's Q and the I2 index. Subgroup
      analysis, meta-regression analysis, sensitivity analysis, cumulative meta
      analysis and assessment of publication bias were performed for all outcomes.
      RESULTS: From a total of 282 studies identified by the searching procedure, 24
      were finally included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis yielded
      statistically significant results for potassium (K) [MD=0.04 mmol/L; 95%
      confidence interval (CI)=0.015-0.065; p=0.002], lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
      (MD=10.343 U/L; 95% CI=6.132-14.554; p<10-4) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
      (MD=1.023 IU/L; 95% CI=0.344-1.702; p=0.003). Subgroup analysis and random
      effects meta-regression analysis according to the speed and distance of the
      samples traveled via the PTS revealed that there is relation between the rate and
      the distance of PTS with the measurements of K, LDH, white blood cells and red
      blood cells. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that PTS may be associated
      with alterations in K, LDH and AST measurements. Although these findings may not
      have any significant clinical effect on laboratory results, it is wise that each
      hospital validates their PTS.

PMID- 28593927
TI  - Laboratory characterization of leukemic cell procoagulants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In acute myeloid leukemias, there is an increased chance to develop
      thrombotic disorders. We hypothesized that in addition to leukemic promyelocytes,
      monocytic leukemia cells may also have a higher procoagulant activity. METHODS:
      Fibrin formation was assessed by a one-stage clotting assay using a magnetic
      coagulometer. The thrombin generation test (TGT) of magnetically isolated normal
      human monocytes, intact leukemic cells and their isolated microparticles was
      performed by a fluorimetric assay. Phosphatidylserine (PS) expression of leukemic
      cells and microparticle number determinations were carried out by flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: All cell lines displayed a significant procoagulant potential compared
      to isolated normal human monocytes. In the TGT test, the mean of lagtime and the
      time to peak parameters were significantly shorter in leukemic cells (3.9-4.7 and
      9.9-10.3 min) compared to monocytes (14.9 and 26.5 min). The mean of peak
      thrombin in various monocytic leukemia cell lines was 112.1-132.9 nM vs. 75.1 nM
      in monocytes; however, no significant difference was observed in the ETP
      parameter. Factor VII-deficient plasma abolished all procoagulant activity,
      whereas factor XII-deficient plasma did not affect the speed of fibrin formation
      and thrombin generation but modulated the amount of thrombin. Factor XI-deficient
      plasma affected the time to peak values in one leukemic cell line and also
      attenuated peak thrombin. Leukemia cell-derived microparticles from all three
      cell lines exerted a procoagulant effect by significantly shortening the lagtime
      in TGT; there was a nonsignificant difference in case of ETP parameter.
      CONCLUSIONS: All investigated monocytic leukemia cell lines exhibited significant
      thrombin generation. This phenomenon was achieved by the procoagulants on the
      surface of leukemic cells as well as by their microparticles.

PMID- 28593928
TI  - A survey of patients' views from eight European countries of interpretive support
      from Specialists in Laboratory Medicine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in direct patient engagement including
      receiving their laboratory medicine results. We previously established an
      appetite for Specialists in Laboratory Medicine to support patients in
      understanding results. The aim of this study was to establish whether patients
      agreed with such an approach, determined through surveying views in eight
      European countries. METHODS: A standardized five-question survey was administered
      across eight European countries to a total of 1084 individuals attending medical
      outpatient clinics, with 100 patients each in Poland, Serbia, Netherlands, Turkey
      and Czech Republic, 101 in Estonia, 116 in Denmark and 367 in Norway. The
      responses across countries were compared using the chi-square test (p<0.05).
      RESULTS: Patients wanting their results ranged from 50% to 94% (mean 65%) of
      those responding positively, a mean of 72% wanted additional information with
      their results; direct receipt was preferred over referral to a website.
      Specialists in Laboratory Medicine providing such information were acceptable to
      a mean of 62% of those respondents wishing their results; in countries where
      payment was possible, there was little interest in making additional payment for
      such a service. CONCLUSIONS: A clear proportion of patients are interested in
      receiving their laboratory medicine results, the majority with explanatory notes;
      a role for Specialists in Laboratory Medicine is acceptable and raises the
      potential for direct engagement by such specialists with patients offering a new
      paradigm for the provision of laboratory medicine activities.

PMID- 28593929
TI  - High titers of anti-infliximab antibody do not interfere with Abbott
      immunoassays.

PMID- 28593930
TI  - Intra-articular injections of ketamine and 25% dextrose improve clinical and
      pathological outcomes in the monosodium iodoacetate model of osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study evaluated the effect of intra-articular injections of
      ketamine and 25% dextrose with triamcinolone acetate (TA) and hyaluronic acid
      (HA) on joint pathology and pain behavior in monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced
      osteoarthritis (OA) in experimental mice. METHODS: In phase I, the MIA-induced OA
      model was standardized. In phase II, mice were divided into three groups: disease
      controls (DC), ketamine 12 mg/kg (K12) and ketamine 24 mg/kg (K24) to select an
      effective dose of ketamine for phase III. In phase III, the groups were: DC,
      normal controls (NC), K24, 25% dextrose (D25) - 10 MUL, TA 6 mg/kg, and HA - 3.5
      mg/kg. The effect of ketamine was compared with the standard drugs - TA and HA.
      In phases II and III, after 7 days following the induction of OA, animals were
      subjected to weekly behavioral tests and biweekly drug administration from week 2
      to week 4. Subsequently, after 4 weeks knee joint samples were collected and sent
      for histopathological evaluation to a veterinary pathologist. RESULTS: In phase
      I, the DC group showed significant OA changes as compared to NC on knee joint
      histopathology scoring. In phase II, all the behavioral tests and knee joint
      histopathology results demonstrated a significant improvement with K24 as
      compared to DC. In phase III, significant differences were found between DC vs.
      HA, DC vs. D25, DC vs. K24, K24 vs. TA, HA vs. TA for open field test and hot
      plate test (p<0.001), whereas HA and ketamine showed comparable results for these
      tests. There was a significant improvement in D25, TA and K24, HA groups as
      compared to DC in histopathology scores, (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The NMDA
      antagonist effect of ketamine and the proliferative effect of 25% dextrose showed
      a reduction in pain and disease activity in the OA model.

PMID- 28593931
TI  - Performance characterization of a 3D liquid scintillation detector for discrete
      spot scanning proton beam systems.
AB  - Existing systems for proton beam dosimetry are limited in their ability to
      provide a complete, accurate, and detailed account of volumetric dose
      distribution. In this work, we describe the design and development of a portable,
      fast, and reusable liquid scintillator-based three-dimensional (3D) optical
      detection system for use in proton therapy. Our long-term goal is to use this
      system clinically for beam characterization, dosimetry, and quality assurance
      studies of discrete spot scanning proton beam systems. The system used a 20  * 
      20  *  20 cm3 liquid scintillator volume. Three mutually orthogonal cameras
      surrounding this volume captured scintillation photons emitted in response to the
      proton beams. The cameras exhibited a mean spatial resolution of 0.21 mm over the
      complete detection volume and a temporal resolution of 11 ms. The system is shown
      to be capable of capturing all 94 beam energies delivered by a synchrotron and
      performing rapid beam range measurements with a mean accuracy of 0.073  +/- 
      0.030 mm over all energies. The range measurement uncertainty for doses less than
      1 cGy was found to be  +/-0.355 mm, indicating high precision for low dose
      detection. Finally, we demonstrated that using multiple cameras allowed for the
      precise locations of the delivered beams to be tracked in 3D. We conclude that
      this detector is capable of real-time and accurate tracking of dynamic spot beam
      deliveries in 3D. The high-resolution light profiles it generates will be useful
      for future 3D construction of dose maps.

PMID- 28593932
TI  - Study of structural properties and defects of Ni-doped SnO2 nanorods as ethanol
      gas sensors.
AB  - An ethanol gas sensor with enhanced sensor response was fabricated using Ni-doped
      SnO2 nanorods, synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method. It was found that
      the response (R = R 0/R g) of a 5.0 mol% Ni-doped SnO2 (5.0Ni:SnO2) nanorod
      sensor was 1.4 * 104 for 1000 ppm C2H5OH gas, which is about 13 times higher than
      that of pure SnO2 nanorods, (1.1 * 103) at the operating temperature of 450 
      degrees C. Moreover, for 50 ppm C2H5OH gas, the 5.0Ni:SnO2 nanorod sensor still
      recorded a significant response reading, namely 2.0 * 103 with a response time of
      30 s and recovery time of 10 min. To investigate the effect of Ni dopant (0.5-5.0
      mol%) on SnO2 nanorods, structural characterizations were demonstrated using
      field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission
      electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction
      (XRD) analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and an ultraviolet-visible
      spectrometer. XRD results confirmed that all the samples consisted of tetragonal
      shaped rutile SnO2 nanorods. It was found that the average diameter and length of
      the nanorods formed in 5.0Ni:SnO2 were four times smaller (~6 and ~35 nm,
      respectively) than those of the nanorods formed in pure SnO2 (~25 and 150 nm).
      Interestingly, both samples had the same aspect ratio, ~6. It is proposed that
      the high response of the 5.0Ni:SnO2 nanorod sensor can be attributed to the
      particle size, which causes an increase in the thickness of the charge depletion
      layer, and the presence of oxygen vacancies within the matrix of SnO2 nanorods.

PMID- 28593933
TI  - On the persistence of polar domains in ultrathin ferroelectric capacitors.
AB  - The instability of ferroelectric ordering in ultra-thin films is one of the most
      important fundamental issues pertaining realization of a number of electronic
      devices with enhanced functionality, such as ferroelectric and multiferroic
      tunnel junctions or ferroelectric field effect transistors. In this paper, we
      investigate the polarization state of archetypal ultrathin (several nanometres)
      ferroelectric heterostructures: epitaxial single-crystalline BaTiO3 films
      sandwiched between the most habitual perovskite electrodes, SrRuO3, on top of the
      most used perovskite substrate, SrTiO3. We use a combination of piezoresponse
      force microscopy, dielectric measurements and structural characterization to
      provide conclusive evidence for the ferroelectric nature of the relaxed
      polarization state in ultrathin BaTiO3 capacitors. We show that even the high
      screening efficiency of SrRuO3 electrodes is still insufficient to stabilize
      polarization in SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrRuO3 heterostructures at room temperature. We
      identify the key role of domain wall motion in determining the macroscopic
      electrical properties of ultrathin capacitors and discuss their dielectric
      response in the light of the recent interest in negative capacitance behaviour.

PMID- 28593934
TI  - Origins of life: a problem for physics, a key issues review.
AB  - The origins of life stands among the great open scientific questions of our time.
      While a number of proposals exist for possible starting points in the pathway
      from non-living to living matter, these have so far not achieved states of
      complexity that are anywhere near that of even the simplest living systems. A key
      challenge is identifying the properties of living matter that might distinguish
      living and non-living physical systems such that we might build new life in the
      lab. This review is geared towards covering major viewpoints on the origin of
      life for those new to the origin of life field, with a forward look towards
      considering what it might take for a physical theory that universally explains
      the phenomenon of life to arise from the seemingly disconnected array of ideas
      proposed thus far. The hope is that a theory akin to our other theories in
      fundamental physics might one day emerge to explain the phenomenon of life, and
      in turn finally permit solving its origins.

PMID- 28593935
TI  - Justifying quasiparticle self-consistent schemes via gradient optimization in
      Baym-Kadanoff theory.
AB  - The question of which non-interacting Green's function 'best' describes an
      interacting many-body electronic system is both of fundamental interest as well
      as of practical importance in describing electronic properties of materials in a
      realistic manner. Here, we study this question within the framework of Baym
      Kadanoff theory, an approach where one locates the stationary point of a total
      energy functional of the one-particle Green's function in order to find the total
      ground-state energy as well as all one-particle properties such as the density
      matrix, chemical potential, or the quasiparticle energy spectrum and
      quasiparticle wave functions. For the case of the Klein functional, our basic
      finding is that minimizing the length of the gradient of the total energy
      functional over non-interacting Green's functions yields a set of self-consistent
      equations for quasiparticles that is identical to those of the quasiparticle self
      consistent GW (QSGW) (van Schilfgaarde et al 2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 226402-4)
      approach, thereby providing an a priori justification for such an approach to
      electronic structure calculations. In fact, this result is general, applies to
      any self-energy operator, and is not restricted to any particular approximation,
      e.g., the GW approximation for the self-energy. The approach also shows that,
      when working in the basis of quasiparticle states, solving the diagonal part of
      the self-consistent Dyson equation is of primary importance while the off
      diagonals are of secondary importance, a common observation in the electronic
      structure literature of self-energy calculations. Finally, numerical tests and
      analytical arguments show that when the Dyson equation produces multiple
      quasiparticle solutions corresponding to a single non-interacting state,
      minimizing the length of the gradient translates into choosing the solution with
      largest quasiparticle weight.

PMID- 28593936
TI  - Yolk-shell type nanoprobe with excellent fluorescence 'blinking' behavior for
      optical super resolution imaging.
AB  - A new yolk-shell type nanoprobe for super-resolution imaging is demonstrated.
      Using the proposed nanoprobe and single molecule localization based super
      resolution imaging strategy, intracellular nanoparticle tracking and super
      resolution imaging are realized. The localization precision is about 50 nm and
      single-molecule localization microscopy using the proposed nanoprobe requires
      only one single excitation laser and no specific imaging buffer.

PMID- 28593937
TI  - Basaloid Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: Subclassification into
      Basal, Ductal, and Mixed Subtypes Based on Comparison of Clinico-pathologic
      Features and Expression of p53, Cyclin D1, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, p16,
      and Human Papillomavirus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) is a rare variant of squamous
      cell carcinoma with distinct pathologic characteristics. The histogenesis of BSCC
      is not fully understood, and the cancer has been suggested to originate from a
      totipotent primitive cell in the basal cell layer of the surface epithelium or in
      the proximal duct of secretory glands. METHODS: Twenty-six cases of head and neck
      BSCC from Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, reported during a 14-year-period
      were subclassified into basal, ductal, and mixed subtypes according to the
      expression of basal (cytokeratin [CK] 5/6, p63) or ductal markers (CK7, CK8/18).
      The cases were also subject to immunohistochemical study for CK19, p53, cyclin
      D1, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and p16 and to in situ hybridization
      for human papillomavirus (HPV), and the results were clinico-pathologically
      compared. RESULTS: Mixed subtype (12 cases) was the most common, and these cases
      showed hypopharyngeal predilection, older age, and higher expression of CK19,
      p53, and EGFR than other subtypes. The basal subtype (nine cases) showed frequent
      comedo-necrosis and high expression of cyclin D1. The ductal subtype (five cases)
      showed the lowest expression of p53, cyclin D1, and EGFR. A small number of p16-
      and/or HPV-positive cases were not restricted to one subtype. BSCC was the cause
      of death in 19 patients, and the average follow-up period for all patients was
      79.5 months. Overall survival among the three subtypes was not significantly
      different. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest a heterogeneous
      pathogenesis of head and neck BSCC. Each subtype showed variable histology and
      immunoprofiles, although the clinical implication of heterogeneity was not
      determined in this study.

PMID- 28593938
TI  - Myosin-dependent cell-cell communication controls synchronicity of division in
      acute and chronic stages of Toxoplasma gondii.
AB  - The obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii possesses a repertoire of
      11 myosins. Three class XIV motors participate in motility, invasion and egress,
      whereas the class XXII myosin F is implicated in organelle positioning and
      inheritance of the apicoplast. Here we provide evidence that TgUNC acts as a
      chaperone dedicated to the folding, assembly and function of all Toxoplasma
      myosins. The conditional ablation of TgUNC recapitulates the phenome of the known
      myosins and uncovers two functions in parasite basal complex constriction and
      synchronized division within the parasitophorous vacuole. We identify myosin J
      and centrin 2 as essential for the constriction. We demonstrate the existence of
      an intravacuolar cell-cell communication ensuring synchronized division, a
      process dependent on myosin I. This connectivity contributes to the delayed death
      phenotype resulting from loss of the apicoplast. Cell-cell communication is lost
      in activated macrophages and during bradyzoite differentiation resulting in
      asynchronized, slow division in the cysts.

PMID- 28593939
TI  - Magnetic forces enable controlled drug delivery by disrupting endothelial cell
      cell junctions.
AB  - The vascular endothelium presents a major transport barrier to drug delivery by
      only allowing selective extravasation of solutes and small molecules. Therefore,
      enhancing drug transport across the endothelial barrier has to rely on leaky
      vessels arising from disease states such as pathological angiogenesis and
      inflammatory response. Here we show that the permeability of vascular endothelium
      can be increased using an external magnetic field to temporarily disrupt
      endothelial adherens junctions through internalized iron oxide nanoparticles,
      activating the paracellular transport pathway and facilitating the local
      extravasation of circulating substances. This approach provides a physically
      controlled drug delivery method harnessing the biology of endothelial adherens
      junction and opens a new avenue for drug delivery in a broad range of biomedical
      research and therapeutic applications.

PMID- 28593940
TI  - Time-programmable drug dosing allows the manipulation, suppression and reversal
      of antibiotic drug resistance in vitro.
AB  - Multi-drug strategies have been attempted to prolong the efficacy of existing
      antibiotics, but with limited success. Here we show that the evolution of multi
      drug-resistant Escherichia coli can be manipulated in vitro by administering
      pairs of antibiotics and switching between them in ON/OFF manner. Using a
      multiplexed cell culture system, we find that switching between certain
      combinations of antibiotics completely suppresses the development of resistance
      to one of the antibiotics. Using this data, we develop a simple deterministic
      model, which allows us to predict the fate of multi-drug evolution in this
      system. Furthermore, we are able to reverse established drug resistance based on
      the model prediction by modulating antibiotic selection stresses. Our results
      support the idea that the development of antibiotic resistance may be potentially
      controlled via continuous switching of drugs.

PMID- 28593942
TI  - Dynamic contrast-enhanced photoacoustic imaging using photothermal stimuli
      responsive composite nanomodulators.
AB  - Molecular photoacoustic imaging has shown great potential in medical
      applications; its sensitivity is normally in pico-to-micro-molar range, dependent
      on exogenous imaging agents. However, tissue can produce strong background
      signals, which mask the signals from the imaging agents, resulting in orders of
      magnitude sensitivity reduction. As such, an elaborate spectral scan is often
      required to spectrally un-mix the unwanted background signals. Here we show a new
      single-wavelength photoacoustic dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging technique by
      employing a stimuli-responsive contrast agent. Our technique can eliminate
      intrinsic background noises without significant hardware or computational
      resources. We show that this new contrast agent can generate up to 30 times
      stronger photoacoustic signals than the concentration-matched inorganic
      nanoparticle counterparts. By dynamically modulating signals from the contrast
      agents with an external near-infrared optical stimulus, we can further suppress
      the background signals leading to an additional increase of more than five-fold
      in imaging contrast in vivo.

PMID- 28593941
TI  - Cross-orientation suppression in visual area V2.
AB  - Object recognition relies on a series of transformations among which only the
      first cortical stage is relatively well understood. Already at the second stage,
      the visual area V2, the complexity of the transformation precludes a clear
      understanding of what specifically this area computes. Previous work has found
      multiple types of V2 neurons, with neurons of each type selective for multi-edge
      features. Here we analyse responses of V2 neurons to natural stimuli and find
      three organizing principles. First, the relevant edges for V2 neurons can be
      grouped into quadrature pairs, indicating invariance to local translation.
      Second, the excitatory edges have nearby suppressive edges with orthogonal
      orientations. Third, the resulting multi-edge patterns are repeated in space to
      form textures or texture boundaries. The cross-orientation suppression increases
      the sparseness of responses to natural images based on these complex forms of
      feature selectivity while allowing for multiple scales of position invariance.

PMID- 28593944
TI  - Non-Ising and chiral ferroelectric domain walls revealed by nonlinear optical
      microscopy.
AB  - The properties of ferroelectric domain walls can significantly differ from those
      of their parent material. Elucidating their internal structure is essential for
      the design of advanced devices exploiting nanoscale ferroicity and such localized
      functional properties. Here, we probe the internal structure of 180 degrees 
      ferroelectric domain walls in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films and
      lithium tantalate bulk crystals by means of second-harmonic generation
      microscopy. In both systems, we detect a pronounced second-harmonic signal at the
      walls. Local polarimetry analysis of this signal combined with numerical
      modelling reveals the existence of a planar polarization within the walls, with
      Neel and Bloch-like configurations in PZT and lithium tantalate, respectively.
      Moreover, we find domain wall chirality reversal at line defects crossing lithium
      tantalate crystals. Our results demonstrate a clear deviation from the ideal
      Ising configuration that is traditionally expected in uniaxial ferroelectrics,
      corroborating recent theoretical predictions of a more complex, often chiral
      structure.

PMID- 28593946
TI  - Carbon nanotube-based three-dimensional monolithic optoelectronic integrated
      system.
AB  - Single material-based monolithic optoelectronic integration with complementary
      metal oxide semiconductor-compatible signal processing circuits is one of the
      most pursued approaches in the post-Moore era to realize rapid data communication
      and functional diversification in a limited three-dimensional space. Here, we
      report an electrically driven carbon nanotube-based on-chip three-dimensional
      optoelectronic integrated circuit. We demonstrate that photovoltaic receivers,
      electrically driven transmitters and on-chip electronic circuits can all be
      fabricated using carbon nanotubes via a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
      compatible low-temperature process, providing a seamless integration platform for
      realizing monolithic three-dimensional optoelectronic integrated circuits with
      diversified functionality such as the heterogeneous AND gates. These circuits can
      be vertically scaled down to sub-30 nm and operates in photovoltaic mode at room
      temperature. Parallel optical communication between functional layers, for
      example, bottom-layer digital circuits and top-layer memory, has been
      demonstrated by mapping data using a 2 * 2 transmitter/receiver array, which
      could be extended as the next generation energy-efficient signal processing
      paradigm.

PMID- 28593947
TI  - Water pumping in mantle shear zones.
AB  - Water plays an important role in geological processes. Providing constraints on
      what may influence the distribution of aqueous fluids is thus crucial to
      understanding how water impacts Earth's geodynamics. Here we demonstrate that
      ductile flow exerts a dynamic control on water-rich fluid circulation in mantle
      shear zones. Based on amphibole distribution and using dislocation slip-systems
      as a proxy for syn-tectonic water content in olivine, we highlight fluid
      accumulation around fine-grained layers dominated by grain-size-sensitive creep.
      This fluid aggregation correlates with dislocation creep-accommodated strain that
      localizes in water-rich layers. We also give evidence of cracking induced by
      fluid pressure where the highest amount of water is expected. These results
      emphasize long-term fluid pumping attributed to creep cavitation and associated
      phase nucleation during grain size reduction. Considering the ubiquitous process
      of grain size reduction during strain localization, our findings shed light on
      multiple fluid reservoirs in the crust and mantle.

PMID- 28593945
TI  - Human LACC1 increases innate receptor-induced responses and a LACC1 disease-risk
      variant modulates these outcomes.
AB  - Functional consequences for most inflammatory disease-associated loci are
      incompletely defined, including in the LACC1 (C13orf31) region. Here we show that
      human peripheral and intestinal myeloid-derived cells express laccase domain
      containing 1 (LACC1); LACC1 is expressed in both the cytoplasm and mitochondria.
      Upon NOD2 stimulation of human macrophages, LACC1 associates with the NOD2
      signalling complex, and is critical for optimal NOD2-induced signalling,
      mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) production, cytokine secretion and bacterial clearance.
      LACC1 constitutively associates with succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) subunit A, and
      amplifies pattern recognition receptor (PRR)-induced SDH activity, an important
      contributor to mtROS production. Relative to LACC1 Ile254, cells transfected with
      Crohn's disease-risk LACC1 Val254 or LACC1 with mutations of the nearby
      histidines (249,250) have reduced PRR-induced outcomes. Relative to LACC1 Ile254
      carriers, Val254 disease-risk carrier macrophages demonstrate decreased PRR
      induced mtROS, signalling, cytokine secretion and bacterial clearance. Therefore,
      LACC1 is critical for amplifying PRR-induced outcomes, an effect that is
      attenuated by the LACC1 disease-risk variant.

PMID- 28593949
TI  - Current-induced skyrmion generation and dynamics in symmetric bilayers.
AB  - Magnetic skyrmions are quasiparticle-like textures which are topologically
      different from other states. Their discovery in systems with broken inversion
      symmetry sparked the search for materials containing such magnetic phase at room
      temperature. Their topological properties combined with the chirality-related
      spin-orbit torques make them interesting objects to control the magnetization at
      nanoscale. Here we show that a pair of coupled skyrmions of opposite chiralities
      can be stabilized in a symmetric magnetic bilayer system by combining
      Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and dipolar coupling effects. This opens
      a path for skyrmion stabilization with lower DMI. We demonstrate in a device with
      asymmetric electrodes that such skyrmions can be independently written and
      shifted by electric current at large velocities. The skyrmionic nature of the
      observed quasiparticles is confirmed by the gyrotropic force. These results set
      the ground for emerging spintronic technologies where issues concerning skyrmion
      stability, nucleation and propagation are paramount.

PMID- 28593950
TI  - Origin of the crossover from polarons to Fermi liquids in transition metal
      oxides.
AB  - Transition metal oxides host a wealth of exotic phenomena ranging from charge,
      orbital and magnetic order to nontrivial topological phases and
      superconductivity. In order to translate these unique materials properties into
      device functionalities these materials must be doped; however, the nature of
      carriers and their conduction mechanism at the atomic scale remain unclear.
      Recent angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy investigations provided insight
      into these questions, revealing that the carriers of prototypical metal oxides
      undergo a transition from a polaronic liquid to a Fermi liquid regime with
      increasing doping. Here, by performing ab initio many-body calculations of angle
      resolved photoemission spectra of titanium dioxide, we show that this transition
      originates from non-adiabatic polar electron-phonon coupling, and occurs when the
      frequency of plasma oscillations exceeds that of longitudinal-optical phonons.
      This finding suggests that a universal mechanism may underlie polaron formation
      in transition metal oxides, and provides a pathway for engineering emergent
      properties in quantum matter.

PMID- 28593948
TI  - Conditional internalization of PEGylated nanomedicines by PEG engagers for triple
      negative breast cancer therapy.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks effective treatment options due to the
      absence of traditional therapeutic targets. The epidermal growth factor receptor
      (EGFR) has emerged as a promising target for TNBC therapy because it is
      overexpressed in about 50% of TNBC patients. Here we describe a PEG engager that
      simultaneously binds polyethylene glycol and EGFR to deliver PEGylated
      nanomedicines to EGFR+ TNBC. The PEG engager displays conditional internalization
      by remaining on the surface of TNBC cells until contact with PEGylated
      nanocarriers triggers rapid engulfment of nanocargos. PEG engager enhances the
      anti-proliferative activity of PEG-liposomal doxorubicin to EGFR+ TNBC cells by
      up to 100-fold with potency dependent on EGFR expression levels. The PEG engager
      significantly increases retention of fluorescent PEG probes and enhances the
      antitumour activity of PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin in human TNBC xenografts.
      PEG engagers with specificity for EGFR are promising for improved treatment of
      EGFR+ TNBC patients.

PMID- 28593952
TI  - Quantum annealing with all-to-all connected nonlinear oscillators.
AB  - Quantum annealing aims at solving combinatorial optimization problems mapped to
      Ising interactions between quantum spins. Here, with the objective of developing
      a noise-resilient annealer, we propose a paradigm for quantum annealing with a
      scalable network of two-photon-driven Kerr-nonlinear resonators. Each resonator
      encodes an Ising spin in a robust degenerate subspace formed by two coherent
      states of opposite phases. A fully connected optimization problem is mapped to
      local fields driving the resonators, which are connected with only local four
      body interactions. We describe an adiabatic annealing protocol in this system and
      analyse its performance in the presence of photon loss. Numerical simulations
      indicate substantial resilience to this noise channel, leading to a high success
      probability for quantum annealing. Finally, we propose a realistic circuit QED
      implementation of this promising platform for implementing a large-scale quantum
      Ising machine.

PMID- 28593951
TI  - Preventing tissue fibrosis by local biomaterials interfacing of specific cryptic
      extracellular matrix information.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to the breakdown of tissue structures
      such as the basement membrane, promoting tissue fibrosis. Here we developed an
      electrospun membrane biofunctionalized with a fragment of the laminin beta1-chain
      to modulate the expression of MMP2 in this context. We demonstrate that
      interfacing of the beta1-fragment with the mesothelium of the peritoneal membrane
      via a biomaterial abrogates the release of active MMP2 in response to
      transforming growth factor beta1 and rescues tissue integrity ex vivo and in vivo
      in a mouse model of peritoneal fibrosis. Importantly, our data demonstrate that
      the membrane inhibits MMP2 expression. Changes in the expression of epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related molecules further point towards a
      contribution of the modulation of EMT. Biomaterial-based presentation of
      regulatory basement membrane signals directly addresses limitations of current
      therapeutic approaches by enabling a localized and specific method to counteract
      MMP2 release applicable to a broad range of therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28593955
TI  - Palaeoanthropology: On the origin of our species.

PMID- 28593953
TI  - New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo
      sapiens.
AB  - Fossil evidence points to an African origin of Homo sapiens from a group called
      either H. heidelbergensis or H. rhodesiensis. However, the exact place and time
      of emergence of H. sapiens remain obscure because the fossil record is scarce and
      the chronological age of many key specimens remains uncertain. In particular, it
      is unclear whether the present day 'modern' morphology rapidly emerged
      approximately 200 thousand years ago (ka) among earlier representatives of H.
      sapiens or evolved gradually over the last 400 thousand years. Here we report
      newly discovered human fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and interpret the
      affinities of the hominins from this site with other archaic and recent human
      groups. We identified a mosaic of features including facial, mandibular and
      dental morphology that aligns the Jebel Irhoud material with early or recent
      anatomically modern humans and more primitive neurocranial and endocranial
      morphology. In combination with an age of 315 +/- 34 thousand years (as
      determined by thermoluminescence dating), this evidence makes Jebel Irhoud the
      oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin site that documents early
      stages of the H. sapiens clade in which key features of modern morphology were
      established. Furthermore, it shows that the evolutionary processes behind the
      emergence of H. sapiens involved the whole African continent.

PMID- 28593957
TI  - Nomenclature: Rules for new species from live specimens.

PMID- 28593956
TI  - Corrigendum: Black hole growth in the early Universe is self-regulated and
      largely hidden from view.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nature10103.

PMID- 28593959
TI  - Condensed-matter physics: Magnetism in flatland.

PMID- 28593962
TI  - Minerals: A rescue package for imperilled collection.

PMID- 28593963
TI  - Accelerated discovery of two crystal structure types in a complex inorganic phase
      field.
AB  - The discovery of new materials is hampered by the lack of efficient approaches to
      the exploration of both the large number of possible elemental compositions for
      such materials, and of the candidate structures at each composition. For example,
      the discovery of inorganic extended solid structures has relied on knowledge of
      crystal chemistry coupled with time-consuming materials synthesis with
      systematically varied elemental ratios. Computational methods have been developed
      to guide synthesis by predicting structures at specific compositions and
      predicting compositions for known crystal structures, with notable successes.
      However, the challenge of finding qualitatively new, experimentally realizable
      compounds, with crystal structures where the unit cell and the atom positions
      within it differ from known structures, remains for compositionally complex
      systems. Many valuable properties arise from substitution into known crystal
      structures, but materials discovery using this approach alone risks both missing
      best-in-class performance and attempting design with incomplete knowledge. Here
      we report the experimental discovery of two structure types by computational
      identification of the region of a complex inorganic phase field that contains
      them. This is achieved by computing probe structures that capture the chemical
      and structural diversity of the system and whose energies can be ranked against
      combinations of currently known materials. Subsequent experimental exploration of
      the lowest-energy regions of the computed phase diagram affords two materials
      with previously unreported crystal structures featuring unusual structural
      motifs. This approach will accelerate the systematic discovery of new materials
      in complex compositional spaces by efficiently guiding synthesis and enhancing
      the predictive power of the computational tools through expansion of the
      knowledge base underpinning them.

PMID- 28593964
TI  - Flavour-changing neutral currents making and breaking the standard model.
AB  - The standard model of particle physics is our best description yet of fundamental
      particles and their interactions, but it is known to be incomplete. As yet
      undiscovered particles and interactions might exist. One of the most powerful
      ways to search for new particles is by studying processes known as flavour
      changing neutral current decays, whereby a quark changes its flavour without
      altering its electric charge. One example of such a transition is the decay of a
      beauty quark into a strange quark. Here we review some intriguing anomalies in
      these decays, which have revealed potential cracks in the standard model-hinting
      at the existence of new phenomena.

PMID- 28593965
TI  - Population growth: Help to make food go further in Egypt.

PMID- 28593966
TI  - Mining: Heritage status could safeguard fossil beds.

PMID- 28593967
TI  - The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the
      Middle Stone Age.
AB  - The timing and location of the emergence of our species and of associated
      behavioural changes are crucial for our understanding of human evolution. The
      earliest fossil attributed to a modern form of Homo sapiens comes from eastern
      Africa and is approximately 195 thousand years old, therefore the emergence of
      modern human biology is commonly placed at around 200 thousand years ago. The
      earliest Middle Stone Age assemblages come from eastern and southern Africa but
      date much earlier. Here we report the ages, determined by thermoluminescence
      dating, of fire-heated flint artefacts obtained from new excavations at the
      Middle Stone Age site of Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, which are directly associated
      with newly discovered remains of H. sapiens. A weighted average age places these
      Middle Stone Age artefacts and fossils at 315 +/- 34 thousand years ago. Support
      is obtained through the recalculated uranium series with electron spin resonance
      date of 286 +/- 32 thousand years ago for a tooth from the Irhoud 3 hominin
      mandible. These ages are also consistent with the faunal and microfaunal
      assemblages and almost double the previous age estimates for the lower part of
      the deposits. The north African site of Jebel Irhoud contains one of the earliest
      directly dated Middle Stone Age assemblages, and its associated human remains are
      the oldest reported for H. sapiens. The emergence of our species and of the
      Middle Stone Age appear to be close in time, and these data suggest a larger
      scale, potentially pan-African, origin for both.

PMID- 28593968
TI  - Microresonator-based solitons for massively parallel coherent optical
      communications.
AB  - Solitons are waveforms that preserve their shape while propagating, as a result
      of a balance of dispersion and nonlinearity. Soliton-based data transmission
      schemes were investigated in the 1980s and showed promise as a way of overcoming
      the limitations imposed by dispersion of optical fibres. However, these
      approaches were later abandoned in favour of wavelength-division multiplexing
      schemes, which are easier to implement and offer improved scalability to higher
      data rates. Here we show that solitons could make a comeback in optical
      communications, not as a competitor but as a key element of massively parallel
      wavelength-division multiplexing. Instead of encoding data on the soliton pulse
      train itself, we use continuous-wave tones of the associated frequency comb as
      carriers for communication. Dissipative Kerr solitons (DKSs) (solitons that rely
      on a double balance of parametric gain and cavity loss, as well as dispersion and
      nonlinearity) are generated as continuously circulating pulses in an integrated
      silicon nitride microresonator via four-photon interactions mediated by the Kerr
      nonlinearity, leading to low-noise, spectrally smooth, broadband optical
      frequency combs. We use two interleaved DKS frequency combs to transmit a data
      stream of more than 50 terabits per second on 179 individual optical carriers
      that span the entire telecommunication C and L bands (centred around infrared
      telecommunication wavelengths of 1.55 micrometres). We also demonstrate coherent
      detection of a wavelength-division multiplexing data stream by using a pair of
      DKS frequency combs-one as a multi-wavelength light source at the transmitter and
      the other as the corresponding local oscillator at the receiver. This approach
      exploits the scalability of microresonator-based DKS frequency comb sources for
      massively parallel optical communications at both the transmitter and the
      receiver. Our results demonstrate the potential of these sources to replace the
      arrays of continuous-wave lasers that are currently used in high-speed
      communications. In combination with advanced spatial multiplexing schemes and
      highly integrated silicon photonic circuits, DKS frequency combs could bring chip
      scale petabit-per-second transceivers into reach.

PMID- 28593969
TI  - Optical physics: One ring to multiplex them all.

PMID- 28593970
TI  - Layer-dependent ferromagnetism in a van der Waals crystal down to the monolayer
      limit.
AB  - Since the discovery of graphene, the family of two-dimensional materials has
      grown, displaying a broad range of electronic properties. Recent additions
      include semiconductors with spin-valley coupling, Ising superconductors that can
      be tuned into a quantum metal, possible Mott insulators with tunable charge
      density waves, and topological semimetals with edge transport. However, no two
      dimensional crystal with intrinsic magnetism has yet been discovered; such a
      crystal would be useful in many technologies from sensing to data storage.
      Theoretically, magnetic order is prohibited in the two-dimensional isotropic
      Heisenberg model at finite temperatures by the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Magnetic
      anisotropy removes this restriction, however, and enables, for instance, the
      occurrence of two-dimensional Ising ferromagnetism. Here we use magneto-optical
      Kerr effect microscopy to demonstrate that monolayer chromium triiodide (CrI3) is
      an Ising ferromagnet with out-of-plane spin orientation. Its Curie temperature of
      45 kelvin is only slightly lower than that of the bulk crystal, 61 kelvin, which
      is consistent with a weak interlayer coupling. Moreover, our studies suggest a
      layer-dependent magnetic phase, highlighting thickness-dependent physical
      properties typical of van der Waals crystals. Remarkably, bilayer CrI3 displays
      suppressed magnetization with a metamagnetic effect, whereas in trilayer CrI3 the
      interlayer ferromagnetism observed in the bulk crystal is restored. This work
      creates opportunities for studying magnetism by harnessing the unusual features
      of atomically thin materials, such as electrical control for realizing
      magnetoelectronics, and van der Waals engineering to produce interface phenomena.

PMID- 28593972
TI  - Publishing: Springer Nature's reply on fake review.

PMID- 28593973
TI  - A challenge to lepton universality in B-meson decays.
AB  - One of the key assumptions of the standard model of particle physics is that the
      interactions of the charged leptons, namely electrons, muons and taus, differ
      only because of their different masses. Whereas precision tests comparing
      processes involving electrons and muons have not revealed any definite violation
      of this assumption, recent studies of B-meson decays involving the higher-mass
      tau lepton have resulted in observations that challenge lepton universality at
      the level of four standard deviations. A confirmation of these results would
      point to new particles or interactions, and could have profound implications for
      our understanding of particle physics.

PMID- 28593971
TI  - Nutrient acquisition strategies of mammalian cells.
AB  - Mammalian cells are surrounded by diverse nutrients, such as glucose, amino
      acids, various macromolecules and micronutrients, which they can import through
      transmembrane transporters and endolysosomal pathways. By using different
      nutrient sources, cells gain metabolic flexibility to survive periods of
      starvation. Quiescent cells take up sufficient nutrients to sustain homeostasis.
      However, proliferating cells depend on growth-factor-induced increases in
      nutrient uptake to support biomass formation. Here, we review cellular nutrient
      acquisition strategies and their regulation by growth factors and cell-intrinsic
      nutrient sensors. We also discuss how oncogenes and tumour suppressors promote
      nutrient uptake and thereby support the survival and growth of cancer cells.

PMID- 28593976
TI  - Rare particle decays offer hope of new physics.

PMID- 28593975
TI  - We need a science of philanthropy.

PMID- 28593977
TI  - AI summit aims to help world's poorest.

PMID- 28593978
TI  - Romania's science reforms prompt boycott.

PMID- 28593979
TI  - The mathematicians who want to save democracy.

PMID- 28593980
TI  - Italy rebuked for failure to prevent olive-tree tragedy.

PMID- 28593981
TI  - Trump pulls United States out of Paris climate agreement.

PMID- 28593982
TI  - A sugar high in structural biology.

PMID- 28593983
TI  - The G20 must govern the shift to low-carbon energy.

PMID- 28593984
TI  - NASA's dark-energy probe faces cost crisis.

PMID- 28593985
TI  - Six decades of struggle over the pill.

PMID- 28593986
TI  - US exits Paris, Jupiter's new moons and the biggest prize in science.

PMID- 28593987
TI  - Spaser as a biological probe.
AB  - Understanding cell biology greatly benefits from the development of advanced
      diagnostic probes. Here we introduce a 22-nm spaser (plasmonic nanolaser) with
      the ability to serve as a super-bright, water-soluble, biocompatible probe
      capable of generating stimulated emission directly inside living cells and animal
      tissues. We have demonstrated a lasing regime associated with the formation of a
      dynamic vapour nanobubble around the spaser that leads to giant spasing with
      emission intensity and spectral width >100 times brighter and 30-fold narrower,
      respectively, than for quantum dots. The absorption losses in the spaser enhance
      its multifunctionality, allowing for nanobubble-amplified photothermal and
      photoacoustic imaging and therapy. Furthermore, the silica spaser surface has
      been covalently functionalized with folic acid for molecular targeting of cancer
      cells. All these properties make a nanobubble spaser a promising multimodal,
      super-contrast, ultrafast cellular probe with a single-pulse nanosecond
      excitation for a variety of in vitro and in vivo biomedical applications.

PMID- 28593988
TI  - Ebola virus VP30 and nucleoprotein interactions modulate viral RNA synthesis.
AB  - Ebola virus (EBOV) is an enveloped negative-sense RNA virus that causes sporadic
      outbreaks with high case fatality rates. Ebola viral protein 30 (eVP30) plays a
      critical role in EBOV transcription initiation at the nucleoprotein (eNP) gene,
      with additional roles in the replication cycle such as viral assembly. However,
      the mechanistic basis for how eVP30 functions during the virus replication cycle
      is currently unclear. Here we define a key interaction between eVP30 and a
      peptide derived from eNP that is important to facilitate interactions leading to
      the recognition of the RNA template. We present crystal structures of the eVP30 C
      terminus in complex with this eNP peptide. Functional analyses of the eVP30-eNP
      interface identify residues that are critical for viral RNA synthesis.
      Altogether, these results support a model where the eVP30-eNP interaction plays a
      critical role in transcription initiation and provides a novel target for the
      development of antiviral therapy.

PMID- 28593991
TI  - Parity-time-symmetric quantum critical phenomena.
AB  - Synthetic non-conservative systems with parity-time (PT) symmetric gain-loss
      structures can exhibit unusual spontaneous symmetry breaking that accompanies
      spectral singularity. Recent studies on PT symmetry in optics and weakly
      interacting open quantum systems have revealed intriguing physical properties,
      yet many-body correlations still play no role. Here by extending the idea of PT
      symmetry to strongly correlated many-body systems, we report that a combination
      of spectral singularity and quantum criticality yields an exotic universality
      class which has no counterpart in known critical phenomena. Moreover, we find
      unconventional low-dimensional quantum criticality, where superfluid correlation
      is anomalously enhanced owing to non-monotonic renormalization group flows in a
      PT-symmetry-broken quantum critical phase, in stark contrast to the Berezinskii
      Kosterlitz-Thouless paradigm. Our findings can be experimentally tested in
      ultracold atoms and predict critical phenomena beyond the Hermitian paradigm of
      quantum many-body physics.

PMID- 28593989
TI  - Pentavalent HIV-1 vaccine protects against simian-human immunodeficiency virus
      challenge.
AB  - The RV144 Thai trial HIV-1 vaccine of recombinant poxvirus (ALVAC) and
      recombinant HIV-1 gp120 subtype B/subtype E (B/E) proteins demonstrated 31%
      vaccine efficacy. Here we design an ALVAC/Pentavalent B/E/E/E/E vaccine to
      increase the diversity of gp120 motifs in the immunogen to elicit a broader
      antibody response and enhance protection. We find that immunization of rhesus
      macaques with the pentavalent vaccine results in protection of 55% of pentavalent
      vaccine-immunized macaques from simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)
      challenge. Systems serology of the antibody responses identifies plasma antibody
      binding to HIV-infected cells, peak ADCC antibody titres, NK cell-mediated ADCC
      and antibody-mediated activation of MIP-1beta in NK cells as the four
      immunological parameters that best predict decreased infection risk that are
      improved by the pentavalent vaccine. Thus inclusion of additional gp120
      immunogens to a pox-prime/protein boost regimen can augment antibody responses
      and enhance protection from a SHIV challenge in rhesus macaques.

PMID- 28593990
TI  - Loss of Asxl2 leads to myeloid malignancies in mice.
AB  - ASXL2 is frequently mutated in acute myeloid leukaemia patients with t(8;21).
      However, the roles of ASXL2 in normal haematopoiesis and the pathogenesis of
      myeloid malignancies remain unknown. Here we show that deletion of Asxl2 in mice
      leads to the development of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)-like disease. Asxl2-/-
      mice have an increased bone marrow (BM) long-term haematopoietic stem cells
      (HSCs) and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors compared with wild-type controls.
      Recipients transplanted with Asxl2-/- and Asxl2+/- BM cells have shortened
      lifespan due to the development of MDS-like disease or myeloid leukaemia. Paired
      daughter cell assays demonstrate that Asxl2 loss enhances the self-renewal of
      HSCs. Deletion of Asxl2 alters the expression of genes critical for HSC self
      renewal, differentiation and apoptosis in Lin-cKit+ cells. The altered gene
      expression is associated with dysregulated H3K27ac and H3K4me1/2. Our study
      demonstrates that ASXL2 functions as a tumour suppressor to maintain normal HSC
      function.

PMID- 28593992
TI  - Insights into Hunter syndrome from the structure of iduronate-2-sulfatase.
AB  - Hunter syndrome is a rare but devastating childhood disease caused by mutations
      in the IDS gene encoding iduronate-2-sulfatase, a crucial enzyme in the lysosomal
      degradation pathway of dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate. These complex
      glycosaminoglycans have important roles in cell adhesion, growth, proliferation
      and repair, and their degradation and recycling in the lysosome is essential for
      cellular maintenance. A variety of disease-causing mutations have been identified
      throughout the IDS gene. However, understanding the molecular basis of the
      disease has been impaired by the lack of structural data. Here, we present the
      crystal structure of human IDS with a covalently bound sulfate ion in the active
      site. This structure provides essential insight into multiple mechanisms by which
      pathogenic mutations interfere with enzyme function, and a compelling explanation
      for severe Hunter syndrome phenotypes. Understanding the structural consequences
      of disease-associated mutations will facilitate the identification of patients
      that may benefit from specific tailored therapies.

PMID- 28593993
TI  - MYC activation cooperates with Vhl and Ink4a/Arf loss to induce clear cell renal
      cell carcinoma.
AB  - Renal carcinoma is a common and aggressive malignancy whose histopathogenesis is
      incompletely understood and that is largely resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapy.
      We present two mouse models of kidney cancer that recapitulate the genomic
      alterations found in human papillary (pRCC) and clear cell RCC (ccRCC), the most
      common RCC subtypes. MYC activation results in highly penetrant pRCC tumours
      (MYC), while MYC activation, when combined with Vhl and Cdkn2a (Ink4a/Arf)
      deletion (VIM), produce kidney tumours that approximate human ccRCC. RNAseq of
      the mouse tumours demonstrate that MYC tumours resemble Type 2 pRCC, which are
      known to harbour MYC activation. Furthermore, VIM tumours more closely simulate
      human ccRCC. Based on their high penetrance, short latency, and histologic
      fidelity, these models of papillary and clear cell RCC should be significant
      contributions to the field of kidney cancer research.

PMID- 28593994
TI  - Protein-directed ribosomal frameshifting temporally regulates gene expression.
AB  - Programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting is a mechanism of gene expression, whereby
      specific signals within messenger RNAs direct a proportion of translating
      ribosomes to shift -1 nt and continue translating in the new reading frame. Such
      frameshifting normally occurs at a set ratio and is utilized in the expression of
      many viral genes and a number of cellular genes. An open question is whether
      proteins might function as trans-acting switches to turn frameshifting on or off
      in response to cellular conditions. Here we show that frameshifting in a model
      RNA virus, encephalomyocarditis virus, is trans-activated by viral protein 2A. As
      a result, the frameshifting efficiency increases from 0 to 70% (one of the
      highest known in a mammalian system) over the course of infection, temporally
      regulating the expression levels of the viral structural and enzymatic proteins.

PMID- 28593995
TI  - Codon bias imposes a targetable limitation on KRAS-driven therapeutic resistance.
AB  - KRAS mutations drive resistance to targeted therapies, including EGFR inhibitors
      in colorectal cancer (CRC). Through genetic screens, we unexpectedly find that
      mutant HRAS, which is rarely found in CRC, is a stronger driver of resistance
      than mutant KRAS. This difference is ascribed to common codon bias in HRAS, which
      leads to much higher protein expression, and implies that the inherent poor
      expression of KRAS due to rare codons must be surmounted during drug resistance.
      In agreement, we demonstrate that primary resistance to cetuximab is dependent
      upon both KRAS mutational status and protein expression level, and acquired
      resistance is often associated with KRASQ61 mutations that function even when
      protein expression is low. Finally, cancer cells upregulate translation to
      facilitate KRASG12-driven acquired resistance, resulting in hypersensitivity to
      translational inhibitors. These findings demonstrate that codon bias plays a
      critical role in KRAS-driven resistance and provide a rationale for targeting
      translation to overcome resistance.

PMID- 28593996
TI  - Epidemiology and treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - In the past 2 decades, major changes have occurred in the epidemiological and
      treatment landscape of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Previously regarded
      as a disease of the young and middle-aged, contemporary registries from the
      Western world have demonstrated an increase in the age of patients with PAH, many
      of whom are elderly with multiple comorbidities. Another important observation is
      the improvement in survival of patients with PAH in the modern treatment era
      compared with historical cohorts, before the availability of advanced therapy.
      The management of PAH has also become more complex, and numerous drugs are now
      approved that target the endothelin 1, nitric oxide, and prostacyclin pathways.
      Combining drugs from different classes is now considered the standard of care and
      has been demonstrated to improve outcomes. Furthermore, the current treatment
      paradigm is the early use of combination therapy, often at the time of diagnosis,
      particularly in patients with severe disease. This Review provides a
      comprehensive update on the epidemiology and pharmacotherapy of PAH.

PMID- 28593999
TI  - A Novel PKC Inhibitor Shows Promise for Amphetamine Use Disorders.

PMID- 28593998
TI  - The ubiquitin ligase ZNRF1 promotes caveolin-1 ubiquitination and degradation to
      modulate inflammation.
AB  - Caveolin-1 (CAV1), the major constituent of caveolae, plays a pivotal role in
      various cellular biological functions, including cancer and inflammation. The
      ubiquitin/proteasomal pathway is known to contribute to the regulation of CAV1
      expression, but the ubiquitin ligase responsible for CAV1 protein stability
      remains unidentified. Here we reveal that E3 ubiquitin ligase ZNRF1 modulates
      CAV1 protein stability to regulate Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4-triggered immune
      responses. We demonstrate that ZNRF1 physically interacts with CAV1 in response
      to lipopolysaccharide and mediates ubiquitination and degradation of CAV1. The
      ZNRF1-CAV1 axis regulates Akt-GSK3beta activity upon TLR4 activation, resulting
      in enhanced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inhibition of anti
      inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Mice with deletion of ZNRF1 in their hematopoietic
      cells display increased resistance to endotoxic and polymicrobial septic shock
      due to attenuated inflammation. Our study defines ZNRF1 as a regulator of TLR4
      induced inflammatory responses and reveals another mechanism for the regulation
      of TLR4 signalling through CAV1.

PMID- 28593997
TI  - Severe congenital neutropenias.
AB  - Severe congenital neutropenias are a heterogeneous group of rare haematological
      diseases characterized by impaired maturation of neutrophil granulocytes.
      Patients with severe congenital neutropenia are prone to recurrent, often life
      threatening infections beginning in their first months of life. The most frequent
      pathogenic defects are autosomal dominant mutations in ELANE, which encodes
      neutrophil elastase, and autosomal recessive mutations in HAX1, whose product
      contributes to the activation of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G
      CSF) signalling pathway. The pathophysiological mechanisms of these conditions
      are the object of extensive research and are not fully understood. Furthermore,
      severe congenital neutropenias may predispose to myelodysplastic syndromes or
      acute myeloid leukaemia. Molecular events in the malignant progression include
      acquired mutations in CSF3R (encoding G-CSF receptor) and subsequently in other
      leukaemia-associated genes (such as RUNX1) in a majority of patients. Diagnosis
      is based on clinical manifestations, blood neutrophil count, bone marrow
      examination and genetic and immunological analyses. Daily subcutaneous G-CSF
      administration is the treatment of choice and leads to a substantial increase in
      blood neutrophil count, reduction of infections and drastic improvement of
      quality of life. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the alternative
      treatment. Regular clinical assessments (including yearly bone marrow
      examinations) to monitor treatment course and detect chromosomal abnormalities
      (for example, monosomy 7 and trisomy 21) as well as somatic pre-leukaemic
      mutations are recommended.

PMID- 28594001
TI  - A BaSiC tool for background and shading correction of optical microscopy images.
AB  - Quantitative analysis of bioimaging data is often skewed by both shading in space
      and background variation in time. We introduce BaSiC, an image correction method
      based on low-rank and sparse decomposition which solves both issues. In
      comparison to existing shading correction tools, BaSiC achieves high-accuracy
      with significantly fewer input images, works for diverse imaging conditions and
      is robust against artefacts. Moreover, it can correct temporal drift in time
      lapse microscopy data and thus improve continuous single-cell quantification.
      BaSiC requires no manual parameter setting and is available as a Fiji/ImageJ
      plugin.

PMID- 28594000
TI  - Synthesis and preliminary PET imaging of 11C and 18F isotopologues of the
      ROS1/ALK inhibitor lorlatinib.
AB  - Lorlatinib (PF-06463922) is a next-generation small-molecule inhibitor of the
      orphan receptor tyrosine kinase c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1), which has a kinase
      domain that is physiologically related to anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), and
      is undergoing Phase I/II clinical trial investigations for non-small cell lung
      cancers. An early goal is to measure the concentrations of this drug in brain
      tumour lesions of lung cancer patients, as penetration of the blood-brain barrier
      is important for optimal therapeutic outcomes. Here we prepare both 11C- and 18F
      isotopologues of lorlatinib to determine the biodistribution and whole-body
      dosimetry assessments by positron emission tomography (PET). Non-traditional
      radiolabelling strategies are employed to enable an automated multistep 11C
      labelling process and an iodonium ylide-based radiofluorination. Carbon-11
      labelled lorlatinib is routinely prepared with good radiochemical yields and
      shows reasonable tumour uptake in rodents. PET imaging in non-human primates
      confirms that this radiotracer has high brain permeability.

PMID- 28594003
TI  - Microwave-assisted deposition of a highly active cobalt catalyst on mesoporous
      silica for photochemical CO2 reduction.
AB  - Coupling with robust surfaces is a promising approach to improve the stability
      and recyclability of highly active molecular catalysts. This study builds on our
      prior success to deposit a Co(iii) cyclam complex, where cyclam is 1,4,8,11
      tetraazacyclotetradecane, on mesoporous silica via a microwave-assisted process.
      The Co(iii) complex was successfully deposited on the silica surface through
      reacting with silanol groups in the silica mesopores. The resulting surface
      Co(iii) catalyst was characterized by different techniques and tested in
      photochemical CO2 reduction in the presence of p-terphenyl as a photosensitizer.
      The synthesized Co(iii) catalyst showed significantly higher activity and
      selectivity than the unbound Co(iii) cyclam complex and a surface Co(iii)
      catalyst prepared by other methods. Microwave-assisted heating was found to be
      essential for the deposition of uniform Co(iii) sites in the silica mesopores,
      which likely accounts for the superior activity and selectivity of the
      synthesized surface Co(iii) catalyst.

PMID- 28594002
TI  - Vector assembly of colloids on monolayer substrates.
AB  - The key to spontaneous and directed assembly is to encode the desired assembly
      information to building blocks in a programmable and efficient way. In computer
      graphics, raster graphics encodes images on a single-pixel level, conferring fine
      details at the expense of large file sizes, whereas vector graphics encrypts
      shape information into vectors that allow small file sizes and operational
      transformations. Here, we adapt this raster/vector concept to a 2D colloidal
      system and realize 'vector assembly' by manipulating particles on a colloidal
      monolayer substrate with optical tweezers. In contrast to raster assembly that
      assigns optical tweezers to each particle, vector assembly requires a minimal
      number of optical tweezers that allow operations like chain elongation and
      shortening. This vector approach enables simple uniform particles to form a vast
      collection of colloidal arenes and colloidenes, the spontaneous dissociation of
      which is achieved with precision and stage-by-stage complexity by simply removing
      the optical tweezers.

PMID- 28594004
TI  - Influence of the alkyl side-chain length on the ultrafast vibrational dynamics of
      1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (CnmimNTf2) ionic
      liquids.
AB  - Probing the vibrational dynamics of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium
      bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (CnmimNTf2) ionic liquids (ILs) using
      femtosecond time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (fs-CARS) has
      indicated the ultrafast vibrational energy transfer between counter ions which is
      governed by interionic interactions and facilitated by hydrogen bonds. In this
      study, fs-CARS is used to investigate the ultrafast dynamics of the vibrational
      modes of the CnmimNTf2 ILs with n = 6, 8, 10, and 12 in a spectral region, which
      involves the imidazolium ring and the alkyl side-chain vibrations. The
      vibrational Raman modes with wavenumbers around 1418 cm-1 are excited through the
      CARS process and the ultrafast time evolution of the consequently excited
      vibrational modes is monitored. The investigation of the life times of the fs
      CARS transient signals indicates that the time scale of the dynamics becomes much
      faster when the alkyl side-chain length of the CnmimNTf2 is longer than n = 8.
      This observation suggests an increase in the hydrogen bonding interactions due to
      the nano-structuring of the ionic liquids, which became evident with an
      increasing length of the alkyl side-chain. This behavior is also found in
      molecular dynamics simulations. There, an increase of the oxygen density around
      the C(2)-H moiety of the imidazolium ring, which is the predominant site for
      hydrogen bond formation, is observed. In other words, the longer the alkyl side
      chain, the more reorganization of the ionic liquid into polar and non-polar
      domains occurs and the higher the probability of finding interionic hydrogen
      bonds at the C(2)-H position becomes.

PMID- 28594005
TI  - The effect of STW defects on the mechanical properties and fracture toughness of
      pristine and hydrogenated graphene.
AB  - Graphene is emerging as a versatile material with a diverse field of
      applications. Synthesis techniques for graphene introduce several topological
      defects such as vacancies, dislocations and Stone-Thrower-Wales (STW) defects.
      Among them STW defects are generated without deleting any atom from the lattice
      position, but are introduced by rotating single C-C bonds. In this article,
      molecular dynamics based simulations have been performed to study the effect of
      STW defects on the fracture toughness of pristine graphene as well as graphene
      with crack edges passivated with hydrogen atoms. STW defects help in generating
      out of plane displacement in conjunction with redistribution of stress around the
      crack edges that can be used to improve the fracture toughness of brittle
      graphene. An overall improvement in the fracture toughness of pristine graphene
      as well as graphene containing hydrogen at the crack edges was predicted in this
      work.

PMID- 28594006
TI  - A semi-combinatorial approach for investigating polycatenar ligand-controlled
      synthesis of rare-earth fluoride nanocrystals.
AB  - Rare-earth nanocrystals (RE NCs) are a valuable class of nanomaterials due to
      their ability to bring the attractive properties of rare earth bulk crystals to
      biomedical applications and solution-processable engineering. Of the bottom-up
      synthesis approaches, solvothermal methods yield highly crystalline and
      monodisperse RE NCs. Herein, we report a polycatenar ligand controlled synthesis
      of RE NCs using a semi-combinatorial approach with a microreactor setup that
      enables the investigation of the influences of several reaction parameters on the
      growth of the RE NCs. This approach enabled the discovery of conditions that
      yield highly monodisperse elongated plates with neutral, positive, and negative
      curvatures, as well as provide evidence of the formation of chiral morphologies.

PMID- 28594007
TI  - Gold(i)-BODIPY-imidazole bimetallic complexes as new potential anti-inflammatory
      and anticancer trackable agents.
AB  - Two new gold(i)-BODIPY-imidazole based trackable therapeutic bimetallic complexes
      have been synthesized and fully characterized. They display strong
      antiproliferative properties on several types of cancers including colon, breast,
      and prostate and one of them presents a significant anti-inflammatory effect.
      Additionally, the two compounds could be visualised in vitro by confocal
      microscopy in the submicromolar range.

PMID- 28594009
TI  - Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide/conducting polymer composites:
      synthesis and applications.
AB  - The exploration of hybridizing transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets
      with other materials as a unique approach for engineering their properties has
      attracted considerable attention from the scientific community for both basic
      studies and numerous potential applications. Among the various kinds of
      functional materials in hand, the utilization of intrinsically conducting
      polymers (CPs) in the construction of advanced hybrid composites with TMD
      nanosheets is considered as a fascinating approach. In this review, we aim at
      providing a survey of the literature on recent progress in composites based on 2D
      TMD and CPs. In this regard, we first discuss the different synthetic strategies
      used for the fabrication of two-dimensional transition metal
      dichalcogenide/conducting polymer (2D TMD/CP) composites in detail. Subsequently,
      we demonstrate the state-of-the-art advances in the utilization of these novel
      composites in promising applications such as energy storage, sensing devices,
      hydrogen production and so on. Finally, we also highlight some perspectives on
      the major challenges and future directions in this field of research.

PMID- 28594010
TI  - trans-Chalcone, a flavonoid precursor, inhibits UV-induced skin inflammation and
      oxidative stress in mice by targeting NADPH oxidase and cytokine production.
AB  - trans-Chalcone is a plant flavonoid precursor, which lacks broad investigation on
      its biological activity in inflammatory processes. In the present study, anti
      inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms of systemic administration with trans
      chalcone, a flavonoid precursor, on ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-induced skin
      inflammation and oxidative stress in hairless mice were investigated by the
      following parameters: skin edema, myeloperoxidase activity (neutrophil marker),
      matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity, reduced glutathione levels, catalase
      activity, lipid peroxidation products, superoxide anion production, gp91phox
      (NADPH oxidase subunit) mRNA expression by quantitative PCR and cytokine
      production by ELISA. Systemic treatment with trans-chalcone inhibited skin
      inflammation by reducing skin edema and neutrophil recruitment, and also
      inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity. trans-Chalcone also inhibited
      oxidative stress, gp91phox mRNA expression, and the production of a wide range of
      pro-inflammatory cytokines, while it did not affect anti-inflammatory cytokines
      induced by UV irradiation. However, trans-chalcone did not prevent oxidative
      stress in vitro, suggesting that its in vivo effect is more related to anti
      inflammatory properties rather than a direct antioxidant effect. In conclusion,
      treatment with trans-chalcone inhibited UV-induced skin inflammation resulting in
      oxidative stress inhibition in vivo. Therefore, systemic supplementation with
      this compound may represent an important therapeutic approach in inflammatory
      skin diseases induced by UV irradiation.

PMID- 28594011
TI  - A chiral salen-based MOF catalytic material with high thermal, aqueous and
      chemical stabilities.
AB  - A highly stable chiral salen-based metal-organic framework
      [(Cu4I4)2L4].20DMF.3CH3CN (1) [L = (R,R)-N,N'-bis(3-tert-butyl-5-(4
      pyridyl)salicylidene)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine nickel(ii)] has been
      synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and other
      physicochemical methods. 1 exhibits a rare 8-fold interpenetrated 3D framework
      constructed by a 4-connecting Cu4I4 cluster and a 2-coordinating L ligand.
      Remarkably, in spite of 8-fold interpenetration, 1 still possesses two types of
      1D chiral hydrophobic channels with pore window sizes of 6.77 * 8.64 A2 and 6.09
      * 10.96 A2 along the crystallographic a axis. All Ni(salen) moieties of L lie
      inside the 1D channels and the empty coordination sites of Ni2+ are oriented to
      the cavities. PXRD and N2 adsorption measurements confirmed that 1 is extremely
      stable under high temperature (>400  degrees C), in water vapor (90% relative
      humidity), in acid/base aqueous solution (pH 0-14), and in saturated NaOH
      solution at 100  degrees C, as well as in 30 wt% H2O2 and 70 wt% tert-butyl
      hydroperoxide solution. 1 was proved to be an excellent recycled heterogeneous
      catalyst for the conversion of simulated industrial CO2 (that is, involving tiny
      amounts of water vapor and other acidic gases) with epoxides into cyclic
      carbonates under mild conditions for the first time. The synthesis of beta
      hydroxy-1,2,3-triazoles from the same epoxides, alkyne and sodium azide was also
      catalyzed by 1 in aqueous solution with high yield. Interestingly, the
      cycloaddition reaction of CO2 to bulky epoxides shows a decrease in the activity
      with an increase in the alkyl chain length of the substrate because of
      confinement of the channel size of 1, showing size-dependent selectivity. The
      plausible catalytic mechanisms for these two reactions have also been proposed.

PMID- 28594012
TI  - Biosynthetic considerations of triscatechol siderophores framed on serine and
      threonine macrolactone scaffolds.
AB  - Bacteria often produce siderophores to facilitate iron uptake. One of the most
      studied siderophores is enterobactin, the macrolactone trimer of 2,3
      dihydroxybenzoyl-l-serine, produced by E. coli and many other enteric bacteria.
      Other siderophores are variants of enterobactin, with structural modifications
      including expansion of the tri-serine core to a tetra-serine macrolactone,
      substitution of l-serine with l-threonine, insertion of amino acids (i.e., Gly, l
      Ala, d-Lys, d- and l-Arg, l-Orn), catechol glucosylation, and linearization of
      the tri-serine macrolactone core. In this review we summarize the current
      understanding of the biosyntheses of these enterobactin variants, placing them in
      contrast with the well-established biosynthesis of enterobactin.

PMID- 28594013
TI  - How predictive could alchemical derivatives be?
AB  - The chemical space contains all possible compounds that can be imagined. Its size
      easily equals the number of fundamental particles in the observable universe.
      Rational design of compounds aims to find those sectors of the chemical space
      where compounds optimize a set of desired properties. Then, rational design
      demands tools to efficiently navigate the chemical space. Ab initio alchemical
      derivatives offer the possibility to navigate, without empiricism, the energy
      landscape through alchemical transformations. An alchemical transformation is any
      process, physical or fictitious, that connects to points in the chemical space.
      In this work, those transformations are constructed as a perturbative expansion
      of the energy with respect to perturbations in the stoichiometry. The response
      functions of that expansion are what is called alchemical derivatives. In this
      work we assess how effective alchemical derivatives are in predicting energy
      changes associated to changes in the composition. We do this by including in the
      expansion, for the first time, electrostatic, polarization and electron-transfer
      effects. The system we chose is one that challenges alchemical derivatives
      because none of these effects dominates its behavior. The transmutations studied
      here correspond to substitutional doping of Al13 with up to four atoms of Si,
      Al13-nSin. Two types of transformations are considered, those in which the number
      of electrons remains constant and those in which the number of electrons also
      changes. It is found that contrary to what has been reported before, polarization
      cannot be neglected. If polarization is not included, alchemical derivatives fail
      to predict the change of energy and the relative energy between isomers. For
      isoelectronic substitution of four or more atoms, the perturbative approach
      collapses because the strength of the perturbation becomes too strong to
      guarantee convergence of the series. It is shown, however, that if only one atom
      is mutated at a time, alchemical derivatives rank pretty well the isomers of Al13
      nSin according to their energy. In the case of non-isoelectronic transformations,
      it is observed that the series rapidly diverges with increasing number of
      electrons. In this situation, it becomes more important to keep the degree of
      transmutation of the parent system small.

PMID- 28594015
TI  - New amidinate complexes of indium(iii): promising CVD precursors for transparent
      and conductive In2O3 thin films.
AB  - For the first time, synthesis of two new amidinate-ligand comprising heteroleptic
      indium complexes, namely [InCl(amd)2] (1) and [InMe(amd)2] (2), via salt
      metathesis and their detailed characterization is reported. For comparison, the
      earlier reported homoleptic tris-amidinate [In(amd)3] (3) was also synthesized
      and analyzed in detail especially with respect to the thermal properties and
      molecular crystal structure analysis which are reported here for the first time.
      From nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction (XRD), all three compounds were found to be monomeric with C2
      (compound 1 and 2) and C3 symmetry (compound 3). Both halide-free compounds 2 and
      3 were evaluated regarding their thermal properties using temperature-dependent
      1H-NMR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and iso-TGA, revealing suitable
      volatility and thermal stability for their application as potential precursors
      for chemical vapor phase thin film deposition methods. Indeed, metalorganic
      chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) experiments over a broad temperature range (400
      degrees C-700  degrees C) revealed the suitability of these two compounds to
      fabricate In2O3 thin films in the presence of oxygen on Si, thermally grown SiO2
      and fused silica substrates. The as-deposited thin films were characterized in
      terms of their crystallinity via X-ray diffraction (XRD), morphology by scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM) and composition through complementary techniques such
      as Rutherford-backscattering spectrometry (RBS) in combination with nuclear
      reaction analysis (NRA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). From UV/Vis
      spectroscopy, the deposited In2O3 thin films on fused silica substrates were
      found to be highly transparent (T > 95% at 560 nm, compound 3). In addition, Hall
      measurements revealed high charge carrier densities of 1.8 * 1020 cm-3 (2) and
      6.5 * 1019 cm-3 (3) with a Hall-mobility of 48 cm2 V-1 s-1 (2) and 74 cm2 V-1 s-1
      (3) for the respective thin films, rendering the obtained thin films applicable
      as a transparent conducting oxide that could be suitable for optoelectronic
      applications.

PMID- 28594016
TI  - Optimization of hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase separation in sPEEK membranes by
      hydrothermal treatments.
AB  - Via SAXS, herein, we studied how a sPEEK microstructure evolves when it is
      immersed in water at a wide range of temperatures (20-100  degrees C) and time
      scales (from a few hours to dozens of days). In particular, we scrutinized the
      behavior of sPEEK at the temperature and time associated with the appearance of a
      well-defined nanosegregated morphology. At 80  degrees C, we observed nanoscale
      swelling along with smoothing of the water/polymer interface over a long period
      of time (several days). Herein, two of the main membrane properties, i.e., water
      uptake and proton conductivity, were studied for different immersion times and
      temperatures. It was found that the abovementioned properties were remarkably
      correlated with the evolution of the membrane microstructure, which was partly
      conserved after drying. The present findings helped us to understand that the
      thermally activated evolutions observed at both the nanoscale and macroscale were
      associated with the sPEEK beta-relaxation crossover. Therefore, the very
      different swelling behaviors of sPEEK and Nafion are correlated to the much
      higher beta-relaxation of sPEEK vs. Nafion (75  degrees C vs. -20  degrees C -
      dry state). From a practical viewpoint, this study emphasizes, for membranes
      alternative to Nafion, the importance and impact of the membrane pretreatment on
      their functional properties.

PMID- 28594017
TI  - Thermo-enhanced ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone: the
      synthesis, characterization, and catalytic behavior of aluminum hydroquinolin-8
      olates.
AB  - A series of highly sensitive aluminum hydroquinolin-8-olates (C1-C8) was
      synthesized and characterized by 1H/13C NMR spectroscopy. The molecular
      structures of compounds C1, C3, C4, and C5 were confirmed by single crystal X-ray
      crystallography and demonstrated the binuclear form. In the presence of BnOH, all
      the aluminum complexes exhibited moderate to high activities towards the ring
      opening polymerization of epsilon-CL at high temperatures, but quite low
      activities at ambient temperature. Microstructure analysis of the resultant
      polycaprolactones showed that the polymers were linear in nature with a BnO- end
      group. In addition, the mechanism was investigated by monitoring the 1H NMR and
      27Al NMR of C1 and these results suggested that the complexes existed as dimeric
      species at low temperature and partly converted into active mononuclear species
      at higher temperatures, which was easily coordinated by BnOH to afford the active
      species for the ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone.

PMID- 28594018
TI  - Biodegradable injectable polymer systems exhibiting a longer and controllable
      duration time of the gel state.
AB  - Here, we report biodegradable temperature-triggered covalent gelation systems
      exhibiting a longer and controllable duration time of the gel state by a "mixing
      strategy" utilizing a thiol-ene reaction. We synthesized a tri-block copolymer of
      poly(caprolactone-co-glycolic acid) and PEG (tri-PCG) as a temperature-responsive
      injectable polymer (IP) and attached acryloyl groups on both termini (tri-PCG
      Acryl). A tri-PCG micelle solution containing hydrophobic hexa-functional
      polythiol (Solution-A) and a tri-PCG-Acryl micelle solution (Solution-B) were
      mixed together. After mixing, the solution was still in the sol state at r.t.,
      but exhibited an irreversible sol-to-gel transition in response to temperature.
      The duration time of the gel state while soaking in PBS could be altered from 1
      day to 93 days by changing the mixing ratio of Solution-A/B. The physical
      strengths of the hydrogels were also controllable by changing the mixing ratio.
      The IP system showed good biocompatibility and a long duration time of the gel
      state after subcutaneous implantation.

PMID- 28594019
TI  - Recent progress in the biomedical applications of polydopamine nanostructures.
AB  - Polydopamine is a dark brown-black insoluble biopolymer produced by autoxidation
      of dopamine. Although its structure and polymerization mechanism have not been
      fully understood, there has been a rapid growth in the synthesis and applications
      of polydopamine nanostructures in biomedical fields such as drug delivery,
      photothermal therapy, bone and tissue engineering, and cell adhesion and
      patterning, as well as antimicrobial applications. This article is dedicated to
      reviewing some of the recent polydopamine developments in these biomedical
      fields. Firstly, the polymerization mechanism is introduced with a discussion of
      the factors that influence the polymerization process. The discussion is followed
      by the introduction of various forms of polydopamine nanostructures and their
      recent applications in biomedical fields, especially in drug delivery. Finally,
      the review is summarized followed by brief comments on the future prospects of
      polydopamine.

PMID- 28594020
TI  - Aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition of WS2 from the single source
      precursor WS(S2)(S2CNEt2)2.
AB  - WS(S2)(S2CNEt2)2 has been successfully employed in the aerosol-assisted chemical
      vapor deposition of WS2 at temperatures above 350  degrees C. This precursor was
      found to decompose primarily through the loss of H2S, CS2, and SCNEt. The WS2
      deposits were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The deposits exhibited
      plate-like structures growing vertically from the substrate.

PMID- 28594021
TI  - Phase diagram of water-methane by first-principles thermodynamics: discovery of
      MH-IV and MH-V hydrates.
AB  - Searching novel gas hydrates is an enduring topic of scientific investigations,
      owing to its outstanding implications on planetology, the origin of life and the
      exploitation of energy resources. Taking the methane-water system as a
      representative, we disclose two new dense methane hydrate phases (MH-IV and MH-V)
      using the Monte-Carlo packing algorithm and density-functional theory (DFT)
      optimization. Both of these methane clathrates with (CH4)(H2O)4 stoichiometry can
      be regarded as filled ices, since their hydrogen bond networks are closely
      related to that of ice i and ice XI, respectively. In particular, the former ice
      i network is observed for the first time in all gas hydrates. A new chemical
      composition phase diagram of methane hydrate is constructed. Our newly identified
      methane hydrate IV emerges in the transition zone for a water-methane ratio
      between 2 : 1 and 5.75 : 1. It suggests that our MH-IV phase can be stabilized
      without external pressure, which is superior to previous reported filled ices to
      apply to energy storage. These findings attest to the importance of composition
      effects on the packing mechanism of gas hydrate, and provide new perspectives for
      understanding the physicochemical and geophysical processes in the giant planets
      of the solar system.

PMID- 28594022
TI  - A remote controllable fiber-type near-infrared light-responsive actuator.
AB  - A novel near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive sodium polyacrylate (PAAS)/graphene
      oxide (GO) fiber with a torsional pre-deformation structure is reported to
      realize remote control actuation. The torsional pre-deformed PAAS/GO fiber
      exhibited various actuation phenomena, under the control of a low powered near
      infrared light (50 mW cm-2), such as rotating in a low-temperature range (<25 
      degrees C), rolling a distance of 10 times of its diameter within 10 s, and even
      driving the shape change of a fabric (the weight is as high as 20 times of the
      fiber itself).

PMID- 28594023
TI  - Ultrafast permeation of seawater pervaporation using single-layered C2N via
      strain engineering.
AB  - Emerging two-dimensional (2D) ultra-thin nanomaterials are ideal candidates for
      next-generation high-throughput membranes. 2D carbon nitride C2N possesses
      intrinsic regular and uniformly distributed sub-nanometer pores which probably
      allow a high permeation flux. This work reports on the investigation of seawater
      pervaporation through a single-layered C2N membrane via a combined approach of
      first-principles calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. The C2N layer
      remains stable when the strain is less than a threshold point of 12% at which the
      pore size is enlarged by 50%. The strained C2N membrane only allows water
      molecules from seawater to permeate, and the water flux in C2N is enhanced by one
      to four orders of magnitude compared to that in other membranes. The water flux
      exhibits an Arrhenius-type relation with temperature. The hydrogen-bonding
      interaction among water molecules in C2N is weaker and decays faster than that in
      bulk water, which is because it is energetically unfavorable for water molecules
      to enter C2N. This proof-of-concept study suggests that C2N might be an appealing
      membrane material for seawater pervaporation.

PMID- 28594024
TI  - Low loss optical waveguiding in large single crystals of a thiophene-based
      oligomer.
AB  - Active optical waveguides based on functional small organic molecules in
      micro/nano regime have attracted great interest for their potential applications
      in high speed miniaturized photonic integrations. Here, we report on the active
      waveguiding properties of millimeter sized single crystals of a newly synthesized
      thiophene-based oligomer. These large crystals exhibit low optical loss compared
      to other organic nanostructures, and optical losses depend on the emission
      energy. Moreover, we find that the coupling of photoluminescence to waveguide
      modes is very efficient, typically greater than 40%. These features indicate that
      such perfect single crystals with a low density of defects and extremely smooth
      surfaces exhibit low propagation loss, which makes them good candidates for the
      design and the fabrication of novel organic optical fibers and lasers.

PMID- 28594025
TI  - Stable AuIII complexes with four N-heterocyclic carbene groups can be prepared in
      high yield directly from KAuCl4.
AB  - Gold(iii) N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes of form [Au(NHC)4Cl2]Cl were
      synthesized by reaction of KAuCl4 with bis- and tetrakis(imidazolium) salts in
      the presence of a mild base. Treatment of these complexes with KPF6 afforded four
      coordinate AuIII complexes of form [Au(NHC)4](PF6)3. X-Ray crystallography showed
      the [AuIII(NHC)4]3+ cations in the hexafluorophosphate salts to have a square
      planar Au(NHC)4 moiety [AuCNHC 2.024(4)-2.082(7) A]. In the [AuIII(NHC)4Cl2]+
      cations in the chloride salts, coordination about Au was tetragonally-distorted
      octahedral, the axial Au-Cl bonds being substantially longer [AuCl 3.148(2)
      3.693(1) A] than the equatorial Au-CNHC bonds [AuC 2.024(4)-2.082(7) A]. NMR and
      conductance studies suggested that the structures of the complexes seen in the
      solid state persisted in DMSO solution, except in one case where a chlorido
      ligand dissociated from [AuIII(NHC)4Cl2]+ to form [AuIII(NHC)4Cl]2+. The
      AuIII(NHC)4 unit was surprisingly robust. An AuIII complex was found to undergo
      H/D exchange reactions in D2O solution at 100  degrees C with no signs of
      decomposition detectable by 1H NMR spectroscopy. 1H NMR studies showed that
      various complexes containing AuIII(NHC)4 moieties underwent little or no
      decomposition when heated at 120  degrees C in DMSO-d6 for extended periods.

PMID- 28594026
TI  - Photoactivatable europium luminescence turn-on by photo-oxygenation of beta
      diketone having pyrrole rings.
AB  - This work demonstrates a novel photoactivatable turn-on-type lanthanide(iii)
      luminescence. A beta-diketone substrate having redox-active pyrrole moieties
      (LH2) undergoes efficient photo-oxygenation to afford the corresponding alpha
      alkoxy diketone (LHOH) in the presence of lanthanide(iii) ions, which trigger
      bright europium(iii) red luminescence (PA-EuIII) turn-on, as well as activating
      the near-infrared luminescence (lambdaem = 976 nm) of ytterbium(iii). A photo
      patterning process for security imaging is successfully demonstrated.

PMID- 28594028
TI  - The role of liquid-liquid transition in glass formation of CuZr alloys.
AB  - Some glass-forming liquids have different liquid phases that have the same
      composition but different structure, density and entropy. Based on experimental
      and molecular dynamics simulation, we here report thermodynamic, dynamic, and
      structural evidence of the liquid-liquid transition (LLT) in ten Cu-Zr glass
      forming liquids well above the liquidus temperature. We find that for Cu-Zr
      alloys, the LLT is beneficial to glass formation, and there is a close
      relationship between the relative transition strength (RTS) of the LLT and the
      critical thickness representing the glass forming ability (GFA): the bigger the
      value of the RTS parameters, the stronger the GFA of Cu-Zr alloys. This work not
      only uncovers the role of the LLT of melts in the glass formation of solids, but
      also sheds light on the inheritance of properties of glassy solids from the
      aspect of the detectable dynamics of high-temperature melts.

PMID- 28594029
TI  - Positron annihilation characteristics, water uptake and proton conductivity of
      composite Nafion membranes.
AB  - The free volumes and proton conductivities of Nafion membranes were investigated
      at different humidities by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and
      using an electrochemical workstation, respectively. The results showed that the
      variation in o-Ps lifetime tauo-Ps was closely associated with the microstructure
      evolution and the development of hydrophilic ion clusters in Nafion membranes as
      a function of water uptake, regardless of metal oxide additives. In particular,
      with increasing relative humidity, the maximum value of tauo-Ps in the Nafion
      membranes corresponded to the formation of numerous water channels for proton
      transportation. Numerous well-connected water channels in Nafion-TiO2 hybrid
      membranes could be formed at a much lower relative humidity (~40% RH) than in the
      pristine one (~75% RH), due to the better water retention ability of the Nafion
      TiO2 membranes. Further, a percolation behavior of proton conductivity at high
      water uptake in Nafion membranes was observed, which showed that the percolation
      of ionic-water clusters occurred at the water uptake of ~4.5 wt%, and ~6 wt% was
      basically enough for the formation of a well-connected water channel network.

PMID- 28594033
TI  - Electrochemical synthesis to convert a Ag film into Ag nanoflowers with high
      electrocatalytic activity.
AB  - The cyclic scanning electrodeposition method was proposed to convert a thin Ag
      film into nanocrystals (NCs) with various shapes including nanoflowers, nanorods,
      dendrites, decahedrons, and icosahedrons. The flower-like Ag NCs exhibit a
      remarkably enhanced catalytic activity for electro-oxidation of glucose.

PMID- 28594034
TI  - Tryptophan/copper-catalyzed aromatization reaction of chiral cyclohexanones to
      phenols.
AB  - By merging organocatalysis with copper catalysis, a highly efficient
      stereospecific approach for the synthesis of chiral phenols from cyclohexanones
      has been developed for the first time. The aromatization reaction proceeds
      through the in situ formation of enone intermediates and further subsequent
      bromination/dehydrobromination reactions. And a series of functionalized phenol
      derivatives are obtained in good yields (up to 89%) and good to excellent
      enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee).

PMID- 28594040
TI  - A porous metal-organic framework based on an asymmetric angular diisophthalate
      for selective adsorption of C2H2 and CO2 over CH4.
AB  - A new copper-based metal-organic framework [Cu2L(H2O)2].5DMF.2H2O (ZJNU-56) has
      been solvothermally synthesized using a custom-designed asymmetric rigid bent
      diisophthalate ligand, 5,5'-(1-amine-naphthyl-2,4-diyl) diisophthalic acid (H4L),
      and structurally determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. ZJNU-56 features
      a three-dimensional (3D) open framework incorporating three different types of
      metal-organic cages and two distinct types of one-dimensional channels. With a
      moderate BET surface area of 1655 m2 g-1, optimized pore structure, and
      functional sites (open copper sites and Lewis basic amine groups) on the cage
      surface, ZJNU-56 after desolvation exhibits highly selectively adsorptive
      separation of C2H2 and CO2 over CH4 under ambient conditions. At 298 K, the
      predicted IAST selectivities are 35.7-72.9 for an equimolar C2H2/CH4 gas mixture
      and 6.8-7.0 for an equimolar CO2/CH4 gas mixture at pressures varying from 1 to
      109 kPa, respectively, which are among the highest reported to date for copper
      based MOFs.

PMID- 28594044
TI  - Quantum tunneling injection of hot electrons in Au/TiO2 plasmonic photocatalysts.
AB  - Visible light absorption of plasmonic Au nanoparticles supported on semiconductor
      TiO2 leads to injection of their photoactivated "hot electrons (ehot-)" into the
      TiO2 conduction band. This charge separation facilitates several oxidation and
      reduction reactions. These plasmonic systems, however, suffer from low quantum
      yields because the Schottky barrier created at the Au-TiO2 interface suppresses
      ehot- injection. Here we report that Au nanoparticles supported on the anatase
      particles isolated from Degussa (Evonik) P25 TiO2 promote ehot- injection with
      much higher efficiency than those supported on other commercially-available TiO2
      and catalyze aerobic oxidation with very high quantum yield (7.7% at 550 nm).
      Photoelectrochemical and spectroscopic analysis revealed that the number of Ti4+
      atoms located at the Au-TiO2 interface is the crucial factor. These Ti4+ atoms
      neutralize the negative charge of the Au particles and create a Schottky barrier
      with narrower depletion layer. This facilitates efficient ehot- injection by
      "quantum tunneling" through the Schottky barrier without overbarrier energy. The
      ehot- injection depends on several factors, and loading of 2 wt% Au particles
      with 3.5-4 nm diameters at around room temperature exhibits the highest activity
      of plasmonic photocatalysis.

PMID- 28594045
TI  - Chromophorylation (in Escherichia coli) of allophycocyanin B subunits from far
      red light acclimated Chroococcidiopsis thermalis sp. PCC7203.
AB  - Cyanobacterial phycobilisomes funnel the harvested light energy to the reaction
      centers via two terminal emitters, allophycocyanin B and the core-membrane
      linker. ApcD is the alpha-subunit of allophycocyanin B responsible for its red
      shifted absorbance (lambdamax 665 nm). Far-red photo-acclimated cyanobacteria
      contain certain allophycocyanins that show even further red-shifted absorbances
      (lambdamax > 700 nm). We studied the chromophorylation of the three far-red
      induced ApcD subunits ApcD2, ApcD3 and ApcD4 from Chroococcidiopsis thermalis sp.
      PCC7203 during the expression in E. coli. The complex behavior emphasizes that a
      variety of factors contribute to the spectral red-shift. Only ApcD2 bound
      phycocyanobilin covalently at the canonical position C81, while ApcD3 and ApcD4
      gave only traces of stable products. The product of ApcD2 was, however,
      heterogeneous. The major fraction had a broad absorption around 560 nm and double
      peaked fluorescence at 615 and 670 nm. A minor fraction was similar to the
      product of conventional ApcD, with maximal absorbance around 610 nm and
      fluorescence around 640 nm. The heterogeneity was lost in C65 and C132 variants;
      in these variants only the conventional product was formed. With ApcD4, a red
      shifted product carrying non-covalently bound phycocyanobilin could be detected
      in the supernatant after cell lysis. While this chromophore was lost during
      purification, it could be stabilized by co-assembly with a far-red light-induced
      beta-subunit, ApcB3.

PMID- 28594046
TI  - Balancing the intermolecular forces in peptide amphiphiles for controlling self
      assembly transitions.
AB  - While the influence of alkyl chain length and headgroup size on self-assembly
      behaviour has been well-established for simple surfactants, the rational control
      over the pH- and concentration-dependent self-assembly behaviour in stimuli
      responsive peptides remains an elusive goal. Here, we show that different
      amphiphilic peptides can have similar self-assembly phase diagrams, providing the
      relative strengths of the attractive and repulsive forces are balanced. Using
      palmitoyl-YYAAEEEEK(DO3A:Gd)-NH2 and palmitoyl-YAAEEEEK(DO3A:Gd)-NH2 as controls,
      we show that reducing hydrophobic attractive forces through fewer methylene
      groups in the alkyl chain will lead to a similar self-assembly phase diagram as
      increasing the electrostatic repulsive forces via the addition of a glutamic acid
      residue. These changes allow creation of self-assembled MRI vehicles with
      slightly different micelle and nanofiber diameters but with minimal changes in
      the spin-lattice T1 relaxivity. These findings reveal a powerful strategy to
      design self-assembled vehicles with different sizes but with similar self
      assembly profiles.

PMID- 28594047
TI  - Base-catalyzed diastereoselective trimerization of trifluoroacetone.
AB  - Amphiphilic fluorocarbons have unique properties that facilitate their self
      assembly and adhesion to both inorganic and biological substrates. Incorporation
      of these moieties into valuable constructs typically require complex synthetic
      routes that have limited their use. Here, the base-catalyzed diastereoselective
      synthesis of 6-methyl-2,4,6-tris(trifluoromethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2,4-diol is
      reported. Trimerization of trifluoroacetone in the presence of 5 mol% KHMDS
      delivers one of four diastereomers selectively in 81% yield with no column
      chromatography. Temperature screening revealed the reversibility of this
      trimerization and the funneling of material into the most thermodynamically
      stable oxane. Subsequent functionalization with boronic acids is reported.

PMID- 28594048
TI  - [In vivo-efficacy of an ear medication using gelatin powder as a vehicle for the
      therapy of canine otitis externa].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Otitis externa is normally treated with daily topical medication.
      Longer application intervals may be useful to facilitate therapy. In this study,
      the in vivo efficacy of a gel preparation containing marbofloxacin, dexamethasone
      and enilconazole was compared to that of a commercial otologic agent containing
      marbofloxacin, dexamethasone and clotrimazole based on clinical signs, ear
      cytology and bacterial/fungal cultures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A gel preparation
      (group A) or a registered otologic agent (group B), respectively, was applied to
      41 dogs. A total of 50 ears (25 per group) were analysed. The gel preparation was
      administered on days 0 and 5; the combination preparation was administered daily
      according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Dogs were reevaluated clinically
      and cytologically after 5 and 10 days. Initially and after 10 days, ear swabs
      were taken for bacterial and fungal cultures. RESULTS: No significant clinical or
      cytological differences were found between the groups. Significantly more
      isolates resistant to marbofloxacin were identified in group A after 10 days,
      although >98% of marbofloxacin was still detectable in vitro after 15 days.
      CONCLUSION: The clinical and cytological efficacy of a gel containing defined
      active agents applied twice 5 days apart was comparable to that of an authorised
      otologic agent applied once daily. There appears to be an increased risk with the
      gel in that a resistance to fluoroquinolones develops. Local adverse effects are
      also possible. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A gelatine preparation containing active
      agents may be an alternative to daily topical therapy of canine otitis externa.
      The development of resistances is possible.

PMID- 28594049
TI  - Venous thromboembolism: Past, present and future.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE), the third most frequent acute cardiovascular
      syndrome, is associated with a considerable disease burden which continues to
      grow along with the longer life expectancy of the population worldwide. In the
      past century, parenteral heparin prophylaxis was established for hospitalised
      patients at elevated risk of VTE. More recently, non-vitamin K antagonist oral
      anticoagulants (NOACs) with a direct inhibiting effect on factor Xa or thrombin,
      underwent extensive testing in clinical trials and have been approved for
      patients undergoing hip or knee replacement. Clinical investigation is ongoing in
      further areas of thromboprophylaxis, including medical prophylaxis in patients
      and high-risk situations in the outpatient setting. The diagnostic approach to
      suspected VTE is now based on advanced imaging techniques and robust diagnostic
      algorithms which ensure high sensitivity and specificity. Nevertheless, the role
      of clinical, or pre-test, probability assessment remains crucial to avoid
      overdiagnosis and treatment errors. Advances in reperfusion strategies, along
      progressive establishment of the NOACs as the new standard of anticoagulation
      treatment, have simplified the management of VTE, improving outcomes and
      particularly safety. While new molecular targets for anticoagulation are being
      investigated in the quest to further reduce bleeding risk, adjusting the initial
      regimen to the patient's risk and finding the optimal duration of anticoagulation
      after an index VTE event will be some of the top priorities in the years to come.
      Importantly, and in parallel to new drugs and technical advances in imaging,
      incentives such as hospital accreditation and funding based on evidence-based
      practice need to be implemented to increase guideline adherence.

PMID- 28594050
TI  - Extracellular nucleic acids in immunity and cardiovascular responses: between
      alert and disease.
AB  - Severe inflammatory complications are a potential consequence in patients with
      predetermined conditions of infections, pulmonary diseases, or cardiovascular
      disorders. Notably, the amplitude of the inflammatory response towards these
      complications can dictate the disease progression and outcome. During the recent
      years, evidence from basic research as well as from clinical studies has
      identified self-extracellular nucleic acids as important players in the crosstalk
      between immunity and cardiovascular diseases. These stress- or injury-induced
      endogenous polymeric macromolecules not only serve as "alarmins" or "Danger
      associated molecular patterns" (DAMPs), but their functional repertoire goes far
      beyond such activities in innate immunity. In fact, (patho-) physiological
      functions of self-extracellular DNA and RNA are associated and in many cases
      causally related to arterial and venous thrombosis, atherosclerosis, ischemia
      reperfusion injury or tumour progression. Yet, the underlying molecular
      mechanisms are far from being completely understood. Interestingly enough,
      however, novel antagonistic approaches in vitro and in vivo, particularly using
      natural endonucleases or synthetic nucleic acid binding polymers, appear to be
      promising and safe therapeutic options for future studies. The aim of this review
      article is to provide an overview of the current state of (patho-) physiological
      functions of self-extracellular nucleic acids with special emphasis on their role
      as beneficial / alerting or adverse / damaging factors in connection with immune
      responses, inflammation, thrombosis, and cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28594051
TI  - Antithrombotic therapy for acute coronary syndrome: Past, present and future.
AB  - Plaque erosions and ruptures are the histopathological hallmarks of arterial
      thrombus formation in the coronary arteries. The clinical condition associated
      with this process is usually referred to as acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
      Importantly, both blood platelets and the coagulation cascade are key players for
      initiation, amplification and perpetuation of ACS. There has been great progress
      in ACS treatment in recent decades, both at the technical level of (percutaneous)
      revascularisation and at the level of antithrombotic treatment. Numerous trials
      have led to significant advancements in the development of effective
      anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs. The large number of randomised controlled
      clinical trials (RCTs) and the huge number of patients enrolled in these RCTs,
      with mega trials including >10,000 patients, is unique in the history of medical
      research and also reflects the exceptional efforts associated with these huge
      research activities. The crucial issue, however, with respect to optimising
      treatment, relates to finding the delicate balance between the reduction of
      thrombotic events by effective drug treatment and the induction of bleeding that
      is linked to the use of potent or multiple antithrombotic agents. Interestingly,
      there is a gap in modern days between current guideline recommendations favouring
      potent platelet inhibition in ACS and the utilization of the respective drugs in
      clinical practice. In this review, we will summarise and discuss the past,
      present and future antithrombotic treatment for ACS patients with a focus on the
      development of optimised antiplatelet treatment strategies and their utilisation
      in the real world.

PMID- 28594052
TI  - Coagulation factor and protease pathways in thrombosis and cardiovascular
      disease.
AB  - The biochemical characterisation of the proteolytic pathways that constitute
      blood coagulation was one of the most relevant achievements in biomedical
      research during the second half of the 20th century. Understanding these pathways
      was of crucial importance for improving global health through application in
      haemostasis and thrombosis pathologies. Immediately after the cloning of the
      genes corresponding to these proteins, mutations were discovered in them that
      were associated with imbalances in haemostasis. Later, the importance of
      coagulation pathways in other pathological processes was demonstrated, such as in
      atherosclerosis and inflammation, both essential processes involved in vascular
      disease. In the present review we evaluate the concepts that have allowed us to
      reach the integrated vision on coagulation that we have today. The thrombo
      inflammation model encompassing these aspects includes a pivotal role for the
      proteases of the coagulation pathway as well as the regulatory proteins thereof.
      These concepts illustrate the importance of the coagulation cascade in
      cardiovascular pathology, not only in thrombotic processes, but also in
      atherosclerotic processes and in the response to ischaemia-reperfusion injury,
      making it a central mechanism in cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28594053
TI  - Therapeutic strategies for atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis: Past, present
      and future.
AB  - Even two centuries after they were first described, atherosclerosis and
      atherothrombosis remain among the leading causes of death worldwide. Over the
      last decades it has become clear that atherosclerosis is not only a lipid-driven
      disease but also a multifactorial process largely driven by inflammatory
      mediators, an insight that has instigated additional research and drug
      development focussing on anti-inflammatory therapies. In this review, we will
      provide a brief historical overview, followed by a more general synopsis of the
      range of currently available state-of-the-art therapies for atherosclerosis and
      atherothrombosis. Finally, we will highlight some of the promising therapeutic
      strategies that are currently under intense investigation. We believe that the
      next years will witness highly interesting developments and clinical trials
      investigating yet more novel therapies, and at the same time looking into
      potential combinations of all available therapies. This prospect closes in on the
      ultimate goal, which is to reduce the residual risk that still persists despite
      present therapeutic options.

PMID- 28594054
TI  - Personality patterns predict the risk of antisocial behavior in Spanish-speaking
      adolescents.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is a renewed interest in incorporating personality variables
      in criminology theories in order to build models able to integrate personality
      variables and biological factors with psychosocial and sociocultural factors. The
      aim of this article is the assessment of personality dimensions that contribute
      to the prediction of antisocial behavior in adolescents. METHODS: For this
      purpose, a sample of adolescents from El Salvador, Mexico, and Spain was
      obtained. The sample consisted of 1035 participants with a mean age of 16.2.
      There were 450 adolescents from a forensic population (those who committed a
      crime) and 585 adolescents from the normal population (no crime committed). All
      of participants answered personality tests about neuroticism, extraversion,
      psychoticism, sensation seeking, impulsivity, and violence risk. RESULTS:
      Principal component analysis of the data identified two independent factors: (i)
      the disinhibited behavior pattern (PDC), formed by the dimensions of neuroticism,
      psychoticism, impulsivity and risk of violence; and (ii) the extrovert behavior
      pattern (PEC), formed by the dimensions of sensation risk and extraversion. Both
      patterns significantly contributed to the prediction of adolescent antisocial
      behavior in a logistic regression model which properly classifies a global
      percentage of 81.9%, 86.8% for non-offense and 72.5% for offense behavior.
      CONCLUSIONS: The classification power of regression equations allows making very
      satisfactory predictions about adolescent offense commission. Educational level
      has been classified as a protective factor, while age and gender (male) have been
      classified as risk factors.

PMID- 28594055
TI  - Influence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms on quality of life
      and functionality in adults with eating disorders.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Eating disorders (ED) have been linked to attention deficit
      hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because they present some symptoms in common. The
      aim of this study was to explore the influence on ED of symptoms suggestive of
      adult ADHD and how these symptoms affect the clinical presentation of adult
      patients. A further aim was to assess the impact of ADHD symptoms on quality of
      life and feelings of disability. METHOD: Participants comprised 89 patients
      diagnosed with ED according to DSM-5 criteria. The ASRS v.1.1 was used to divide
      them into two groups depending on whether they presented symptoms suggestive of
      adult ADHD or not, using a cut-off point of 4. Subsequently, we administered the
      EAT-40, BITE, BIS-11, SDI and Q-LES-Q scales. RESULTS: Patients diagnosed with ED
      who also had symptoms suggestive of ADHD presented a higher number and severity
      of eating disorder symptoms, greater motor and cognitive impulsivity, increased
      dysfunction and a poorer quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that
      on average, patients with eating disorders and ADHD symptoms presented more and
      worse eating disorder symptoms, greater impulsivity, increased dysfunction and a
      poorer quality of life. It is therefore important to assess the presence of ADHD
      symptoms in patients with ED due to the implications for prognosis and
      progression.

PMID- 28594056
TI  - The effect of add-on memantine on positive, negative and depressive symptoms of
      schizophrenia: a doubleblind, randomized, controlled trial.
AB  - : treatment of schizophrenia, they don&#8217;t adequately address residual
      positive, negative and depressive symptoms. The aim of the present study is to
      assess the effect of adjunctive memantine treatment on positive, negative and
      depressive symptoms of schizophrenia. METHODS: This randomized, placebo
      controlled study was conducted in Noor Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, 2013-2014; 32
      patients in maintenance treatment were included in each group, using block
      sampling; inclusion criteria were age 18- 65 years, normal intellectual ability,
      being diagnosed with schizophrenia for the past two years, being treated with
      fixed doses of atypical antipsychotic for at least three months before
      randomization. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, breast feeding, having received
      electro-convulsive therapy in the past two weeks, drug or substance abuse and
      dependence, psychiatric/ neurological comorbidities, and sensitivity to
      memantine. Patients in the intervention group were treated with memantine plus
      atypical antipsychotic; while in the control group, patients received placebo and
      atypical antipsychotic. Patients were assessed by Positive and Negative Symptom
      Scale (PANSS) and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) initially and
      every four weeks to the end of the 12th week. Data were analyzed in SPSS 17.0
      using t-test, chi square, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and analysis of
      covariance (ANCOVA). RESULTS: Positive symptoms (p=0.028), negative symptoms
      (0.004), general psychopathology (p<0.001), depressive symptoms (p<0.001) and
      total symptom severity (p<0.001) decreased significantly in patients receiving
      add-on memantine. CONCLUSION: This study shows that, add-on memantine would be
      helpful, in the adjunctive treatment of depressive, positive, negative and
      general symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28594057
TI  - Online interventions for caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The elderly population is growing driven by the increase in life
      expectancy, which in turn entails an increase in the number of people with
      chronic diseases such as dementia. The vast majority of people suffering from
      this illness is assisted by informal caregivers, who play a key role in
      fulfilling the patients&#8217; needs, promoting the possibility for people with
      dementia to live in their home environment. The Internet as a support tool in
      psychoeducational programs can significantly improve accessibility of them,
      becoming a currently consolidated interactive resource for the training of
      patients with acute and chronic diseases, and their caregivers. POPULATION AND
      METHOD: A literature search of the Pubmed, PsyINFO, Scopus, SciELO and Psicodoc
      databases was performed to systematically review those studies related to web
      based interventions for informal caregivers of people with dementia or cognitive
      impairment. RESULTS: On balance, the studies show a significant improvement after
      the psychoeducational intervention. Specifically, the improvement in
      caregivers&#8217; wellbeing can be observed in the measures for self-efficacy,
      anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS: Online interventions are a promising
      strategy for the care of people with dementia. It would be advisable to perform
      further randomized trials to assess the reasons for lack of adherence to
      intervention, as well as usability studies to test the different software
      programs used.

PMID- 28594058
TI  - Mental disorder and mitochondrial dysfunction. Review on a case report.

PMID- 28594059
TI  - Cost-effectiveness analyses in neuropsychiatry and mental health.

PMID- 28594062
TI  - VSGBI abstracts from The Vascular Societies' Annual Scientific Meeting, 30
      November - 2 December 2016.

PMID- 28594060
TI  - Lamotrigine induced dress syndrome in bipolar disorder.

PMID- 28594061
TI  - Successful implantation of a leadless pacemaker in a patient with an IVC filter.

PMID- 28594063
TI  - On the reciprocal effects between multiple group identifications and mental
      health: A longitudinal study of Scottish adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate the link between social group
      identification and mental health outcomes in a sample of secondary school pupils.
      Based on previous work, it was predicted that multiple high group identifications
      would protect against psychological ill health. Furthermore, it was predicted
      that better mental health would also predict greater number of group
      identifications, thus creating a 'virtuous circle'. DESIGN: A longitudinal
      questionnaire design was used. METHODS: A total of 409 Scottish secondary school
      pupils aged 13-17 completed a questionnaire twice over a year. Pupils' responses
      regarding their mental health and the extent of their identification with three
      groups (the family, school, and friends) were measured. RESULTS: A path analysis
      of the data showed that greater number of high group identifications predicted
      better mental health outcomes amongst participants. However, better mental health
      also predicted greater number of high group identifications, suggesting that
      there is a cyclical relationship between both variables. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings have both theoretical and practical implications. They highlight the
      importance of conceptualizing the link between group identification and mental
      health as cyclical, rather than unidirectional. This reconceptualization has
      implications for mental health promotion strategies, as it highlights the
      importance of attempting to turn a potentially 'vicious cycle' of social
      disidentification and mental ill health into a 'virtuous cycle' of social
      identification and mental health. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Results showed that in a
      population of 409 high school pupils, the more high group identifications pupils
      had, the better their mental health outcomes. Better mental health also predicted
      a greater number of high group identifications over time. The findings suggest
      that we would benefit from conceptualizing the relationship between group
      identification and mental outcomes as being cyclical rather than unidirectional.
      Viewing the relationship between group identification and mental health in this
      way enables us to consider interventions which help turn a 'vicious cycle' into a
      'virtuous cycle'. Limitations A potential limitation of the work relates to the
      use of self-report questionnaires which may elicit socially desirable responses.
      The sample only consists of high school pupils from mainstream public schools
      within Scotland.

PMID- 28594064
TI  - Cobalt-Catalyzed Esterification of Amides.
AB  - The first cobalt-catalyzed amide activation of N-Boc-amides, and their conversion
      into esters, is reported here. This new methodology presents a very practical
      process that does not require an inert atmosphere, uses an inexpensive cobalt
      catalyst, and proceeds under mild reaction conditions. This catalytic system has
      a broad substrate scope and has been shown to be highly efficient, with catalyst
      loadings as low as 1 mol %.

PMID- 28594065
TI  - alpha,beta-Unsaturated Amides as Dipolarophiles: Catalytic Asymmetric exo
      Selective 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition with Nitrones.
AB  - 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition is a commonly exploited method to access 5-membered
      chemical entities with a variety of peripheral functionalities and their
      stereochemical arrangements. Nitrones are isolable 1,3-dipoles that exhibit
      sufficient reactivity toward electron-deficient olefins in the presence of Lewis
      acids to deliver highly substituted isoxazolidines. Herein we document that
      alpha,beta-unsaturated amides, generally regarded as barely reactive in a 1,3
      dipolar reaction manifold, were effectively activated using the designed 7
      azaindoline auxiliary in an In(OTf)3 /bishydroxamic acid catalytic system. The
      broad substrate scope and clean removal of the 7-azaindoline auxiliary from the
      product highlight the synthetic utility of the present catalysis.

PMID- 28594066
TI  - Novel biallelic mutations in the PNPT1 gene encoding a mitochondrial-RNA-import
      protein PNPase cause delayed myelination.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that impaired transcription or mitochondrial translation
      of small RNAs can cause abnormal myelination. A polynucleotide phosphorylase
      (PNPase) encoded by PNPT1 facilitates the import of small RNAs into mitochondria.
      PNPT1 mutations have been reported in patients with neurodevelopmental diseases
      with mitochondrial dysfunction. We report here 2 siblings with PNPT1 mutations
      who presented delayed myelination as well as mitochondrial dysfunction. We
      identified compound heterozygous mutations (c.227G>A; p.Gly76Asp and c.574C>T;
      p.Arg192*) in PNPT1 by quartet whole-exome sequencing. Analyses of skin
      fibroblasts from the patient showed that PNPase expression was markedly decreased
      and that import of the small RNA RNaseP into mitochondria was impaired. Exogenous
      expression of wild-type PNPT1, but not mutants, rescued ATP production in patient
      skin fibroblasts, suggesting the pathogenicity of the identified mutations. Our
      cases expand the phenotypic spectrum of PNPT1 mutations that can cause delayed
      myelination.

PMID- 28594067
TI  - Feeling the Pulse of Chemistry-Already in Practical Laboratory Courses.
AB  - "... The lessons that students can draw from a lab course are unique throughout
      the entire study of chemistry. Equally important and valuable is the authentic
      lab experience and the constant repetition of the link between acquiring
      knowledge, thorough observations, logical thinking, self-critical tenacity, and
      capacity for success throughout the experiments. The ultimate gain is
      satisfaction ..." Read more in the Editorial by Roland A. Fischer.

PMID- 28594068
TI  - Chimpanzee ankle and foot joint kinematics: Arboreal versus terrestrial
      locomotion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Many aspects of chimpanzee ankle and midfoot joint morphology are
      believed to reflect adaptations for arboreal locomotion. However, terrestrial
      travel also constitutes a significant component of chimpanzee locomotion,
      complicating functional interpretations of chimpanzee and fossil hominin foot
      morphology. Here we tested hypotheses of foot motion and, in keeping with general
      assumptions, we predicted that chimpanzees would use greater ankle and midfoot
      joint ranges of motion during travel on arboreal supports than on the ground.
      METHODS: We used a high-speed motion capture system to measure three-dimensional
      kinematics of the ankle and midfoot joints in two male chimpanzees during three
      locomotor modes: terrestrial quadrupedalism on a flat runway, arboreal
      quadrupedalism on a horizontally oriented tree trunk, and climbing on a
      vertically oriented tree trunk. RESULTS: Chimpanzees used relatively high ankle
      joint dorsiflexion angles during all three locomotor modes, although dorsiflexion
      was greatest in arboreal modes. They used higher subtalar joint coronal plane
      ranges of motion during terrestrial and arboreal quadrupedalism than during
      climbing, due in part to their use of high eversion angles in the former.
      Finally, they used high midfoot inversion angles during arboreal locomotor modes,
      but used similar midfoot sagittal plane kinematics across all locomotor modes.
      DISCUSSION: The results indicate that chimpanzees use large ranges of motion at
      their various ankle and midfoot joints during both terrestrial and arboreal
      locomotion. Therefore, we argue that chimpanzee foot anatomy enables a versatile
      locomotor repertoire, and urge caution when using foot joint morphology to
      reconstruct arboreal behavior in fossil hominins.

PMID- 28594069
TI  - Glucose targets for preventing diabetic kidney disease and its progression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD)
      around the world. Blood pressure lowering and glucose control are used to reduce
      diabetes-associated disability including kidney failure. However there is a lack
      of an overall evidence summary of the optimal target range for blood glucose
      control to prevent kidney failure. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the benefits and harms
      of intensive (HbA1c < 7% or fasting glucose levels < 120 mg/dL versus standard
      glycaemic control (HbA1c >= 7% or fasting glucose levels >= 120 mg/dL for
      preventing the onset and progression of kidney disease among adults with
      diabetes. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Kidney and Transplant
      Specialised Register up to 31 March 2017 through contact with the Information
      Specialist using search terms relevant to this review. Studies contained in the
      Specialised Register are identified through search strategies specifically
      designed for CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and EMBASE; handsearching conference proceedings;
      and searching the International Clinical Trials Register (ICTRP) Search Portal
      and ClinicalTrials.gov. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials
      evaluating glucose-lowering interventions in which people (aged 14 year or older)
      with type 1 or 2 diabetes with and without kidney disease were randomly allocated
      to tight glucose control or less stringent blood glucose targets. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently assessed studies for eligibility and
      risks of bias, extracted data and checked the processes for accuracy. Outcomes
      were mortality, cardiovascular complications, doubling of serum creatinine (SCr),
      ESKD and proteinuria. Confidence in the evidence was assessing using GRADE.
      Summary estimates of effect were obtained using a random-effects model, and
      results were expressed as risk ratios (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals
      (CI) for dichotomous outcomes, and mean difference (MD) and 95% CI for continuous
      outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: Fourteen studies involving 29,319 people with diabetes
      were included and 11 studies involving 29,141 people were included in our meta
      analyses. Treatment duration was 56.7 months on average (range 6 months to 10
      years). Studies included people with a range of kidney function. Incomplete
      reporting of key methodological details resulted in uncertain risks of bias in
      many studies. Using GRADE assessment, we had moderate confidence in the effects
      of glucose lowering strategies on ESKD, all-cause mortality, myocardial
      infarction, and progressive protein leakage by kidney disease and low or very low
      confidence in effects of treatment on death related to cardiovascular
      complications and doubling of serum creatinine (SCr).For the primary outcomes,
      tight glycaemic control may make little or no difference to doubling of SCr
      compared with standard control (4 studies, 26,874 participants: RR 0.84, 95% CI
      0.64 to 1.11; I2= 73%, low certainty evidence), development of ESKD (4 studies,
      23,332 participants: RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.34 to 1.12; I2= 52%; low certainty
      evidence), all-cause mortality (9 studies, 29,094 participants: RR 0.99, 95% CI
      0.86 to 1.13; I2= 50%; moderate certainty evidence), cardiovascular mortality (6
      studies, 23,673 participants: RR 1.19, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.92; I2= 85%; low
      certainty evidence), or sudden death (4 studies, 5913 participants: RR 0.82, 95%
      CI 0.26 to 2.57; I2= 85%; very low certainty evidence). People who received
      treatment to achieve tighter glycaemic control probably experienced lower risks
      of non-fatal myocardial infarction (5 studies, 25,596 participants: RR 0.82, 95%
      CI 0.67 to 0.99; I2= 46%, moderate certainty evidence), onset of microalbuminuria
      (4 studies, 19,846 participants: RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.93; I2= 61%, moderate
      certainty evidence), and progression of microalbuminuria (5 studies, 13,266
      participants: RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.93; I2= 75%, moderate certainty
      evidence). In absolute terms, tight versus standard glucose control treatment in
      1,000 adults would lead to between zero and two people avoiding non-fatal
      myocardial infarction, while seven adults would avoid experiencing new-onset
      albuminuria and two would avoid worsening albuminuria. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This
      review suggests that people who receive intensive glycaemic control for treatment
      of diabetes had comparable risks of kidney failure, death and major
      cardiovascular events as people who received less stringent blood glucose
      control, while experiencing small clinical benefits on the onset and progression
      of microalbuminuria and myocardial infarction. The adverse effects of glycaemic
      management are uncertain. Based on absolute treatment effects, the clinical
      impact of targeting an HbA1c < 7% or blood glucose < 6.6 mmol/L is unclear and
      the potential harms of this treatment approach are largely unmeasured.

PMID- 28594070
TI  - Labor, delivery, and anesthesia experiences of women with physical disability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although many women with physical disabilities report poor quality
      reproductive health care, little research has addressed labor, delivery, and
      anesthesia experiences of these women. This study was conducted to explore these
      experiences in women with significant mobility disabilities. METHODS: A
      qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 22 women from the United States
      who had delivered newborns within the prior 10 years. All had significant
      mobility disabilities. Two-hour, in-depth telephone interviews were conducted
      using a semistructured, open-ended interview protocol, which addressed many
      topics, including labor, delivery, and anesthesia experiences. We recruited most
      participants through social networks, interviewing women from 17 states.
      Conventional content analysis, facilitated by NVivo software, was used to
      identify major themes. RESULTS: The mean age of women was 34.8 +/- 5.3 years.
      Most women were white, college educated, and used wheeled mobility aids. Four key
      themes emerged from participants' narratives of laboring and giving birth with a
      disability. These included women's preferences for type of delivery, clinicians
      and some women expected no labor pain, fears prompting active advocacy, and
      positive experiences. As participants discussed their experiences with
      anesthesia, four additional themes were identified: importance of consultation
      with the anesthesia team, decisions about epidural/spinal vs general anesthesia,
      failed epidural with repeated efforts, and fear of injury related to anesthesia.
      CONCLUSIONS: The responses of women in this study suggest that there is need to
      make intrapartum care better for women with physical disabilities and to improve
      their experiences with labor, birth, and obstetric anesthesia care.

PMID- 28594071
TI  - Inhibition strategies of Listeria monocytogenes biofilms-current knowledge and
      future outlooks.
AB  - There is an increasing trend in the food industry on the Listeria monocytogenes
      biofilm formation and inhibition. This is attributed to its easy survival on
      contact surfaces, resistance to disinfectants or antibiotics and growth under the
      stringent condition used for food processing and preservation thereby leading to
      food contamination products by direct or indirect exposure. Though, there is a
      lack of conclusive evidences about the mechanism of biofilm formation, in this
      review, the concept of biofilm formation and various chemical, physical, and
      green technology approaches to prevent or control the biofilm formed is
      discussed. State-of-the-art approaches ranging from the application of natural to
      synthetic molecules with high effectiveness and non-toxicity targeted at the
      different steps of biofilm formation could positively influence the biofilm
      inhibition in the future.

PMID- 28594072
TI  - Empowering Marginalized Youth: A Self-Transformative Intervention for Promoting
      Positive Youth Development.
AB  - This article reports the results of a positive youth development (PYD)
      intervention for adolescents in alternative high schools (209 African American
      and Hispanic American adolescents, aged 14-18; 118 females and 91 males). The
      intervention was guided by a self-transformative model of PYD (Eichas, Meca,
      Montgomery, & Kurtines, 2014). This model proposes that the actions youth take to
      define themselves function as active ingredients in positive development over the
      life course. Consistent with the self-transformative model, results provided
      support for direct or mediated intervention effects on the self-transformative
      processes of self-construction and self-discovery, life goal development,
      identity synthesis, and internalizing problems. The findings illustrate the
      utility of using a self-transformative approach to PYD in work with marginalized
      youth populations.

PMID- 28594073
TI  - Work-related injury factors and safety climate perception in truck drivers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The trucking industry has a high burden of work-related injuries.
      This study examined factors, such as safety climate perceptions, that may impact
      injury risk. METHOD: A random sample of 9800 commercial driver's license holders
      (CDL) were sent surveys, only 4360 were eligible truck drivers. Descriptive
      statistics and logistic regression models were developed to describe the
      population and identify variables associated with work-related injury. RESULTS:
      2189 drivers completed the pertinent interview questions. Driving less-than
      truckload, daytime sleepiness, pressure to work faster, and having a poor
      composite score for safety perceptions were all associated with increased
      likelihood of work-related injury. Positive safety perception score was
      protective for odds of work-related injury, and increased claim filing when
      injured. CONCLUSIONS: Positive psychological safety climate is associated with
      decreased likelihood of work-related injury and increased likelihood that a
      driver injured on the job files a workers' compensation claim.

PMID- 28594075
TI  - Influence of dietary fat source on sow and litter performance, colostrum and milk
      fatty acid profile in late gestation and lactation.
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary
      supplementation with various fat sources (3.8-3.9% of diet) during late pregnancy
      and lactation on the reproductive performance, fatty acids profile in colostrum,
      milk and serum of sow progeny. A total of 80 multiparous sows were randomly fed a
      control (adding no oil), palm oil (PO), fish oil (FO) or soybean oil (SO)
      supplemented diet from 90 days of pregnancy to weaning. Supplementation of FO
      increased litter size of weak piglets, compared with the control-fed sows (P <
      0.05). Dietary FO and SO supplementation, enhanced the weaning survival rate,
      litter weaning weight, litter weight gain and fat content in milk (P < 0.05). The
      highest immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM levels in colostrum and milk were observed
      in the FO group (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the highest concentration of C22:5 (n-3)
      and C22:6 (n-3) in colostrum, milk and piglet serum was observed in the FO group
      (P < 0.05). Taken together, dietary inclusion of FO or SO improved growth
      performance of nursing piglets by increasing milk fat output, and FO consumption
      by sows might benefit the piglets via increasing n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid
      availability and immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) secretion.

PMID- 28594074
TI  - Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone levels in the transition zone correlate with
      prostate volume.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is still no consensus regarding intraprostatic androgen levels
      and the accumulation of androgens in the hyperplastic prostatic tissue. The
      current opinion is that intraprostatic dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentrations
      are maintained but not elevated in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), while
      there is no similar data concerning intraprostatic testosterone (T). METHODS:
      Tissue T (tT) and tissue DHT (tDHT) concentration were determined in 93 patients
      scheduled for initial prostate biopsy. The criteria for biopsy were abnormal DRE
      and/or PSA > 4 ng/mL. Total prostate volume (TPV) was determined by transrectal
      ultrasound (TRUS). During TRUS- guided prostate biopsy, 10-12 samples were
      collected from the peripheral zone (PZ) and two additional samples were collected
      from the transition zone (TZ). The samples from the TZ were immediately frozen in
      liquid nitrogen at -70 degrees C, and transported for tissue androgen
      determination, using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). RESULTS:
      Pathological analysis revealed that prostate cancer (PCa) was present in 45 and
      absent in 48 patients. In the whole group, there were 42 men with small prostate
      (TPV < 30 mL) and 51 with enlarged prostate (TPV >= 31 mL). The overall average
      tT level was 0.79 +/- 0.66 ng/g, while the average tDHT level was 10.27 +/- 7.15
      ng/g. There were no differences in tT and tDHT level in prostates with and
      without PCa. However, tT and tDHT levels were significantly higher in larger,
      than in smaller prostates (tT: 1.05 +/- 0.75 and 0.46 +/- 0.29 ng/g, and tDHT:
      15.0 +/- 6.09 and 4.51 +/- 2.75 ng/g, respectively). There were strong
      correlations between tT and TPV (r = 0.71), and tDHT and TPV (r = 0.74).
      CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirmed that both T and DHT accumulated in the
      stroma of enlarged prostates; the degree of accumulation correlated with prostate
      volume.

PMID- 28594076
TI  - The future of safety science is happening now: The modernization of the benefit
      risk paradigm.
AB  - The future of safety science is happening now and has the potential to improve
      patient outcomes through an evolving approach to benefit-risk assessment. Three
      building blocks for the future of safety science, cognitive and behavioral
      systems, medical assessment, and data science, individually and collaboratively
      advance and modernize the benefit-risk paradigm. Incorporating the patient
      perspective and patient experiences will help identify tools that are useful in
      real-world practice. Medical assessment teams will bring together the study of
      toxicity and toxicogenomics, biomarkers, and special populations to personalize
      the benefit-risk profile. Personalized benefit-risk profiles for patients will
      help improve outcomes. Data science and related quantitative sciences such as
      safety statistics, database integration, technology, and epidemiology will
      provide new approaches and tools for analysis of safety data as well as more
      rapid access to insights that benefit patients.

PMID- 28594077
TI  - Trends in antidepressant prescribing to children and adolescents in Canadian
      primary care: A time-series analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the trends and patterns of
      antidepressant (AD) prescribing to children and adolescents in Canadian primary
      care before and after the black-box warning in 2004. METHODS: Prescription data
      from the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network, a repository of
      primary care data on over 1 million patients, was used to analyze AD prescribing
      to children (8-11 y) and adolescents (12-18 y) between 2000 and 2014. Interrupted
      time series analyses were used to assess the impact of the 2004 black-box warning
      on the prescribing levels of ADs. RESULTS: The 2004 black-box warning had a
      significant and immediate effect on the prescribing of AD. However, this drop was
      not sustained, and 5 years after the advisory AD prescribing rates reversed
      direction and started to rise. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors dominated
      as the most common AD prescribed throughout the study period, increasing from 66%
      prior to the black-box warning to 83.12% after 2009. CONCLUSIONS: The black-box
      warning effectively reduced AD prescribing in primary care for approximately 5
      years before a reversal back to a positive rate of prescribing. This rebounding
      could reflect an emerging consensus about the trade-off in risks and benefits.

PMID- 28594078
TI  - Eruptive xanthoma with isomorphic response of Koebner in a construction worker
      with severe hyperlipidemia.

PMID- 28594079
TI  - Development of the breast immobilization system in prone setup: The effect of bra
      in prone position to improve the breast setup error.
AB  - PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): Accurate and reproducible positioning of the breast is
      difficult due to its deformability and softness; thus, targeting a breast tumor
      or tumor bed with fractionated radiotherapy using external beam radiation is
      difficult. The aim of this study was to develop a novel bra to aid in breast
      immobilization in the prone position. MATERIALS & METHODS: To assess the accuracy
      of prone position fixation of breast tumors, 33 breast cancer patients with 34
      lesions were recruited. The bra used in this verification was customized from a
      commercially available bra. Duplicate MRI were acquired in the prone position,
      alternating with and without the bra, and for each series, patients were asked to
      step off the MRI table and re-set up in the prone position. Patients were also
      asked to remove and re-fit the bra for the second MRI. Each pair of images were
      superimposed to match the shape of the skin surface, and the maximum difference
      in tumor geometric center in three axes was measured. The required set up margin
      was calculated as: required margin = mean difference in geometric center + 2.5
      standard deviation. The volumetric overlap of the tumor, as well as contouring
      uncertainties, was evaluated using contour analysis software. RESULTS: The median
      breast size was 498 cc. The required margins for the lateral, vertical, and
      longitudinal directions were estimated to be 4.1, 4.1, and 5.0 mm, respectively,
      with the bra, and 5.1, 6.9, and 6.7 mm, respectively, without the bra. These
      margins covered the dislocation of more than 33 lesions in total. With the bra,
      33 lesions had achieved an objective overlap of 95% and 99% with 2 and 4 mm
      margins, respectively, whereas 4 and 8 mm, respectively, were needed without the
      bra. CONCLUSION: The use of an immobilizing bra reduced the setup margin for
      prone position fixation of breast tumors.

PMID- 28594080
TI  - Structural Basis for Expansion of the Genetic Alphabet with an Artificial
      Nucleobase Pair.
AB  - Hydrophobic artificial nucleobase pairs without the ability to pair through
      hydrogen bonds are promising candidates to expand the genetic alphabet. The most
      successful nucleobase surrogates show little similarity to each other and their
      natural counterparts. It is thus puzzling how these unnatural molecules are
      processed by DNA polymerases that have evolved to efficiently work with the
      natural building blocks. Here, we report structural insight into the insertion of
      one of the most promising hydrophobic unnatural base pairs, the dDs-dPx pair,
      into a DNA strand by a DNA polymerase. We solved a crystal structure of KlenTaq
      DNA polymerase with a modified template/primer duplex bound to the unnatural
      triphosphate. The ternary complex shows that the artificial pair adopts a planar
      structure just like a natural nucleobase pair, and identifies features that might
      hint at the mechanisms accounting for the lower incorporation efficiency observed
      when processing the unnatural substrates.

PMID- 28594081
TI  - New evidence suggesting a dissociated etiology for cribra orbitalia and porotic
      hyperostosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Porotic hyperostosis (PH), characterized by porotic lesions on the
      cranial vault, and cribra orbitalia (CO), a localized appearance of porotic
      lesions on the roof of the orbits, are relatively common osteological conditions.
      Their etiology has been the focus of several studies, and an association with
      anemia has long been suggested. Anemia often causes bone marrow hypertrophy or
      hyperplasia, leading to the expansion in trabecular or cranial diploic bone as a
      result of increased hematopoiesis. Hypertrophy and/or hyperplasia is often
      coupled with a disruption of the remodeling process of outer cortical bone,
      cranially and/or postcranially, leading to the externally visible porotic lesions
      reported in osteological remains. In this article, we investigate whether
      individuals with CO have increased thickness of the diploe, the common
      morphological direct effect of increased hematopoiesis, and thus test the
      relationship between the two conditions, as well as explore the type of anemia
      that underlie it. METHODS: An analysis of medical CT scans of a worldwide sample
      of 98 complete, young to middle-aged adult dry skulls from the Duckworth
      Collection was conducted on male and female cribrotic individuals (n = 23) and
      noncribrotic individuals (n = 75), all of whom lacked any evidence of porotic
      lesions on the vault. Measurements of total and partial cranial thickness were
      obtained by virtual landmark placement, using the Amira 5.4 software; all
      analyses were conducted in IBM SPSS 21. RESULTS: Cribriotic individuals have
      significantly thinner diploic bone and thicker outer and inner tables than
      noncribriotic individuals, contrary to the expected diploic expansion that would
      result from anemic conditions associated to bone marrow hypertrophy or
      hyperplasia. Additionally, individuals without CO and those with the condition
      have distinctive cranial thickness at particular locations across the skull and
      the severity to which CO is expressed also differentiates between those with mild
      and those with a moderate to severe form of the condition. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggest a complex pattern of causality in relation to the pathologies
      that may lead to the formation of porotic lesions on the vault and the roof of
      the orbits. A form of anemia may be behind the osteological changes observed in
      PH and CO, but it is unlikely to be the same type of anemic condition that
      underlies both types of osteological lesions. We suggest that CO may be
      associated to anemias that lead to diploic bone hypocellularity and hypoplasia,
      such as those caused by anemia of chronic disease and, to a lesser extent, of
      renal failure, aplastic anemia, protein deficiency, and anemia of endocrine
      disorders, and not those that lead to bone marrow hypercellularity and
      hyperplasia and potential PH. This leads us to the conclusion that the terms PH
      and CO should be used to reflect different underlying conditions.

PMID- 28594082
TI  - Acneiform eruptions caused by vitamin B12: A report of five cases and review of
      the literature.
AB  - We describe five cases of acneiform eruption caused by vitamin B12 in five
      females aged 37, 32, 62, 29, and 21 years, respectively. The eruption appeared
      from 1 week to 5 months after the beginning of the therapy with i.m. or oral
      vitamin B12. Clinical picture was characterized by papules and pustules located
      on the face. In three patients, similar lesions were also present on the neck,
      shoulders, chest, and upper portion of the back. Comedones and cysts were absent.
      In two patients, serum vitamin B12 levels were very high. Histopathologic
      examination in one patient revealed an eosinophilic folliculitis. Spontaneous and
      complete remission was observed in all patients 3-6 weeks after vitamin B12
      discontinuation.

PMID- 28594083
TI  - Fetal echocardiographic evaluation in cases of heterotaxy syndrome.

PMID- 28594084
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28594085
TI  - Preliminary study of clinical application on IMRT three-dimensional dose
      verification-based EPID system.
AB  - The three-dimensional dose (3D) distribution of intensity-modulated radiation
      therapy (IMRT) was verified based on electronic portal imaging devices (EPIDs),
      and the results were analyzed. Thirty IMRT plans of different lesions were
      selected for 3D EPID-based dose verification. The gamma passing rates of the 3D
      dose verification-based EPID system (Edose, Version 3.01, Raydose, Guangdong,
      China) and Delta4 measurements were then compared with treatment planning system
      (TPS) calculations using global gamma criteria of 5%/3 mm, 3%/3 mm, and 2%/2 mm.
      Furthermore, the dose-volume histograms (DVHs) for planning target volumes (PTVs)
      as well as organs at risk (OARs) were analyzed using Edose. For dose verification
      of the 30 treatment plans, the average gamma passing rates of Edose
      reconstructions under the gamma criteria of 5%/3 mm, 3%/3 mm, and 2%/2 mm were
      (98.58 +/- 0.93)%, (95.67 +/- 1.97)%, and (83.13 +/- 4.53)%, respectively,
      whereas the Delta4 measurement results were (99.14% +/- 1.16)%, (95.81% +/-
      2.88)%, and (84.74% +/- 7.00)%, respectively. The dose differences between Edose
      reconstructions and TPS calculations were within 3% for D95% , D98% , and Dmean
      in each PTV, with the exception that the D98% of the PTV-clinical target volume
      (CTV) in esophageal carcinoma cases was (3.21 +/- 2.33)%. However, the larger
      dose deviations in OARs (such as lens, parotid gland, optic nerve, and spinal
      cord) can be determined based on DVHs. The difference was particularly obvious
      for OARs with small volumes; for example, the maximum dose deviation for the lens
      reached (-6.12 +/- 5.28)%. A comparison of the results obtained with Edose and
      Delta4 indicated that the Edose system could be applied for 3D pretreatment dose
      verification of IMRT. This system could also be utilized to evaluate the gamma
      passing rate of each treatment plan. Furthermore, the detailed dose distributions
      of PTVs and OARs could be indicated based on DVHs, providing additional reliable
      data for quality assurance in a clinic setting.

PMID- 28594086
TI  - Proteomic Characterization of Primary Mouse Hepatocytes in Collagen Monolayer and
      Sandwich Culture.
AB  - Dedifferentiation of primary hepatocytes in vitro makes their application in long
      term studies difficult. Embedding hepatocytes in a sandwich of extracellular
      matrix is reported to delay the dedifferentiation process to some extent. In this
      study, we compared the intracellular proteome of primary mouse hepatocytes (PMH)
      in conventional monolayer cultures (ML) to collagen sandwich culture (SW) after 1
      day and 5 days of cultivation. Quantitative proteome analysis of PMH showed no
      differences between collagen SW and ML cultures after 1 day. Glycolysis and
      gluconeogenesis were strongly affected by long-term cultivation in both ML and SW
      cultures. Interestingly, culture conditions had no effect on cellular lipid
      metabolism. After 5 days, PMH in collagen SW and ML cultures exhibit
      characteristic indications of oxidative stress. However, in the SW culture the
      defense system against oxidative stress is significantly up-regulated to deal
      with this, whereas in the ML culture a down-regulation of these important enzymes
      takes place. Regarding the multiple effects of ROS and oxidative stress in cells,
      we conclude that the down-regulation of these enzymes seem to play a role in the
      loss of hepatic function observed in the ML cultivation. In addition, enzymes of
      the urea cycle were clearly down-regulated in ML culture. Proteomics confirms
      lack in oxidative stress defense mechanisms as the major characteristic of
      hepatocytes in monolayer cultures compared to sandwich cultures. J. Cell.
      Biochem. 119: 447-454, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28594088
TI  - Isomerism: When right and left are similar, and why it matters.

PMID- 28594087
TI  - Adult prostatic sarcoma: A contemporary multicenter Rare Cancer Network study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adult prostatic sarcoma (PS) is a rare disease. While surgery is
      considered the standard approach, the role of other therapies is not completely
      established. We report results of the largest multicentric contemporary cohort of
      PS patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 61 adult PS patients
      treated in 16 American and European Institutions. Median age was 64.4 years
      (range: 22-87). Curative surgery was delivered in 48 patients (prostatectomy =
      26, cystoprostatectomy = 22), usually with lymphadenectomy (n = 40). Curative
      radiotherapy (RT) was delivered in 32 patients, as radical (n = 5), neoadjuvant
      (n = 10), or postoperative treatment (n = 17). Eighteen patients received
      chemotherapy. None of the patients received hormonal therapy. RESULTS: Median
      follow-up was 72 months (95%CI: 55-not reached). Five-year local control (LC),
      overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival, disease-free survival, and
      metastases-free rates were 47%, 53%, 56%, 35%, and 35%, respectively. Notably,
      curative RT (neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or definitive) was associated with improved 5
      year LC (55% vs. 31%, P = 0.02) and OS (59% vs. 46%, P = 0.1). Surgically treated
      patients presenting with a cT3-4 tumor (n = 31), who received RT (n = 24), had a
      significantly improved 5-year LC (68% vs, 33%, P = 0.004) and OS (65% vs. 21%, P
      < 0.001) rates compared to patients not receiving RT. cT4 patients demonstrated a
      significantly lower 5-year OS (43% vs. 61%, P = 0.006) and LC (29% vs. 69%, P <
      0.001) rates. Histologic subtype was not associated with LC and OS, but patients
      with prostatic stromal sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, or sarcomatoid carcinoma had
      worse 5-year LC compared to other types (47% vs. 55%) and OS (49% vs. 58%).
      CONCLUSION: Adult PS has a poor prognosis. Locally advanced tumors have poor LC
      and OS rates. Curative RT should be considered part of the multidisciplinary
      approach to PS.

PMID- 28594089
TI  - Validity of spectral analysis based on heart rate variability from 1-minute or
      less ECG recordings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To broaden the utility of heart rate variability (HRV) in clinical
      medicine and mass screening, results based on shorter electrocardiogram (ECG)
      recordings require validation with those based on standard 5-minute recordings.
      We investigated the association between HRV variables obtained from 5-minute ECGs
      with those obtained from ECGs shorter than 5 minutes. METHODS: Twenty-two
      participants aged 20-69 years underwent 5-minute resting ECG recordings in the
      supine position with natural breathing. Spectral analysis using MemCalc method
      was performed to calculate high-frequency (HF, which required at least 10
      seconds) and low-frequency (LF, which required at least 30 seconds) components.
      Participants were not strictly preconditioned as in previous experimental studies
      in order to simulate a setting similar to that of a general health checkup.
      Associations of each variable between the 5-minute ECG recordings and those for
      shorter recordings were examined by Pearson's correlation coefficients and Bland
      Altman plots. RESULTS: HF and LF components were log-transformed based on their
      distributions. Correlation coefficients between 5-minute data and shorter
      recordings in the supine position with natural breathing ranged from 0.80 to 0.91
      (HF by 10-second recording, 0.80; LF by 30-second recording, 0.83, respectively).
      Bland-Altman plots showed that gaps between the values from both methods slightly
      increased as the HF and LF component values increased. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      slight proportional errors were possible, values from standard 5-minute and
      shorter recordings in the supine position were strongly correlated. Our findings
      suggest that shorter ECG data without strict preconditioning can be reliably used
      for spectral analysis.

PMID- 28594090
TI  - Design and Synthesis of 1,2,4-Triazolo[3,2-b]-1,3,5-thiadiazine Derivatives as a
      Novel Template for Analgesic/Anti-Inflammatory Activity.
AB  - Previously, we demonstrated that certain heterocyclic compounds derived from 3
      substituted-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiones had promising analgesic/anti-inflammatory
      activities together with low ulcerogenic properties. Therefore, we sought to
      design and synthesize new derivatives of triazol-5-thiones-fused heterocycles. In
      the present study, a series of novel bis-Mannich bases, namely 2,6-disubstituted
      6,7-dihydro-5H-1,2,4-triazolo[3,2-b]-1,3,5-thiadiazines (1a-d, 2a-c, and 3a-d),
      were synthesized and characterized to assess their possible anti
      inflammatory/analgesic properties. Additionally, their ability to induce gastric
      toxicity was also evaluated. Several of the condensed compounds produced a degree
      of analgesic activity comparable to reference drugs in both the hot plate and
      tail-flick tests. A strong anti-inflammatory effect was observed for the
      derivatives carrying a benzyl group at the second position (2a-c). The majority
      of the prepared compounds caused comparatively less gastrointestinal (GI) side
      effects than the reference drugs naproxen and indomethacin did. These results
      showed that 1,2,4-triazolo[3,2-b]-1,3,5-thiadiazine derivatives might afford a
      safer alternative to currently available analgesic/anti-inflammatory agents for
      the treatment and management of inflammatory disease and pain.

PMID- 28594091
TI  - Contingent maternities? Maternal claims-making in third party reproduction.
AB  - The new reproductive technologies have significantly impacted definitions of
      motherhood. Historically, mothers were defined through the act of giving birth,
      but egg donation, embryo donation, and surrogacy disrupt this. Now multiple women
      can potentially claim maternity through gestational, genetic, legal, and social
      ties. Although there is some legal precedent for designating parentage, there is
      no simple solution to identify the 'true' mother. I address maternal claims
      making in third party reproduction via a content analysis of US patient
      literature for infertile women. Major tensions arise over which link to
      privilege, especially regarding genetic versus gestational ties in egg donation
      versus surrogacy; however, adding embryo donation to the analysis illuminates
      another crucial dimension previously overlooked - that heterosexual women's
      maternal claims are supported by their partner's paternity claims. Ultimately, I
      argue that although reproductive organisational discourse carefully constructs
      credible options for maternal claims-making, contemporary reproductive medicine
      does not define maternity through assisted reproduction as a truly autonomous
      connection. Rather, maternity is highly contingent and thus potentially
      discreditable.

PMID- 28594093
TI  - Size- and shape-dependent effects of microplastic particles on adult daggerblade
      grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio).
AB  - The incidence of microplastics in marine environments has been increasing over
      the past several decades. The objective of the present study was to characterize
      the size- and shape-dependent effects of microplastic particles (spheres, fibers,
      and fragments) on the adult daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio). Grass
      shrimp were exposed to 11 sizes of plastic: spheres (30, 35, 59, 75, 83, 116, and
      165 MUm), fragments (34 and 93 MUm), and fibers (34 and 93 MUm) at a
      concentration of 2000 particles/400 mL (= 50 000 particles/L) for 3 h. Following
      exposure, grass shrimp were monitored for survival, ingested and ventilated
      microplastics, and residence time. Mortality ranged from 0% to 55%. Spheres and
      fragments <50 MUm were not acutely toxic. Mortality rates in experiments with
      spheres and fragments >50 MUm ranged from 5% to 40%. Mortality was significantly
      higher in the exposure to 93-MUm fibers than other sizes tested (p < 0.001). The
      shape of the particle had a significant influence on the number of particles
      ingested by the shrimp (p < 0.001). The residence time of particles in the gut
      ranged from 27 to 75 h, with an average of 43.0 +/- 13.8 h. Within the gills, the
      residence time ranged from 27 to 45 h, with an average of 36.9 +/- 5.4 h. The
      results suggest that microplastic particles of various sizes and shapes can be
      ingested and ventilated by adult daggerblade grass shrimp, resulting in acute
      toxicity. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3074-3080. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28594094
TI  - The Application of CRISPR/Cas Technology to Efficiently Model Complex Cancer
      Genomes in Stem Cells.
AB  - CRISPR/Cas gene editing technologies have emerged as powerful tools in the study
      of oncogenic transformation. The system's specificity, versatility, and ease of
      implementation allow researchers to identify important molecular markers and
      pathways which grant cancers stem cell like properties. This technology has
      already been applied to researching specific cancers, but has seen restricted
      therapeutic applications due to inherent ethical and technical limitations.
      Active development and adaptation of the CRISPR/Cas system has produced new
      methods to take advantage of both non-homologous end joining and homologous
      recombination repair mechanisms in attempts to remedy these limitations and
      improve the versatility of gene edits that can be created. Nonetheless, until
      issues with specificity and in vivo efficiency are resolved, utilization of
      CRISPR/Cas systems would be best employed in the modeling and study of various
      cancer genes. While it may have potential therapeutic applications to targeted
      cancer therapies in the future, presently CRISPR/Cas is a remarkable technique
      that can be utilized for easy and efficient gene editing when it comes to cancer
      research. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 134-140, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28594092
TI  - Understanding the relationship between cesarean birth and stress, anxiety, and
      depression after childbirth: A nationwide cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women who undergo cesarean birth might have an increased risk for
      poor mental health after childbirth, possibly because of maternal and neonatal
      physical problems, low parental confidence, and decreased levels of oxytocin.
      However, this relationship remains controversial and requires further
      examination. The study aimed to examine the effect of cesarean birth on
      postpartum stress, anxiety, and depression. METHODS: This nationwide population
      based cohort study was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance
      Database. A total of 12 619 women who underwent cesarean birth and 12 619 control
      women who underwent vaginal birth were matched by propensity score based on age,
      socioeconomic status, residential urbanicity, antepartum comorbidity, and index
      year of delivery. We compared the incidence of stress, anxiety, and depression
      during the first postpartum year between cesarean and comparison groups by
      calculating incidence rate ratios (IRRs). RESULTS: The cesarean group showed a
      significantly higher risk for stress symptoms (IRR 1.4 [95% confidence interval
      {CI} 1.02-1.92]), but not anxiety (IRR 1.14 [95% CI 0.95-1.38]) or depression
      (IRR 1.32 [95% CI 0.94-1.87]), although the IRRs were also greater than one. The
      cesarean group had a significantly higher risk of any of the above-listed three
      disorders than the comparison group (incidence 27.6 vs 23.4 per 1000 person
      years; IRR 1.18 [95% CI 1.01-1.38]). CONCLUSIONS: Cesarean birth was associated
      with an increased risk of postpartum stress symptoms. Health professionals should
      avoid unnecessary cesarean birth, pay attention to women who deliver by cesarean,
      and intervene appropriately in an attempt to improve mental health among
      postpartum women.

PMID- 28594095
TI  - Electronic remote blood issue: near patient blood allocation using an automated
      blood storage system.

PMID- 28594096
TI  - Tetrathiafulvalene-Polychlorotriphenylmethyl Dyads: Influence of Bridge and Open
      Shell Characteristics on Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties.
AB  - Three conjugated donor-pi-acceptor radical systems (1 a-1 c) were prepared by
      bridging a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) electron-donor unit to a
      polychlorotriphenylmethyl (PTM) electron-acceptor radical through vinylene units
      of different lengths. The dependence of the intramolecular charge transfer on the
      length of the conjugated bridge has been analyzed by different electrochemical
      and spectroscopic techniques. Linear optical properties and the second-order
      nonlinear optical (NLO) response of these derivatives have been computed by
      comparing systems 1 a-1 c with the non-radical analogues (2 a-2 c).
      Interestingly, an enhanced NLO response is predicted for dyads 1 a-1 c with PTM
      in the radical form and for compounds with longer vinylene bridges. Calculations
      confirm the active role the bridge plays for electronic communication between the
      donor TTF and the acceptor PTM units.

PMID- 28594098
TI  - Target Identification of Kinase Inhibitor Alisertib (MLN8237) by Using DNA
      Programmed Affinity Labeling.
AB  - Accurate identification of the molecular targets of bioactive small molecules is
      a highly important yet challenging task in biomedical research. Previously, a
      method named DPAL (DNA-programmed affinity labeling) for labeling and identifying
      the cellular targets of small molecules and nucleic acids was developed. Herein,
      DPAL is applied for the target identification of Alisertib (MLN8237), which is a
      highly specific aurora kinase A (AKA) inhibitor and a drug candidate being tested
      in clinical trials for cancer treatment. Apart from the well-established target
      of AKA, several potential new targets of MLN8237 were identified. Among them, p38
      mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38) and laminin receptor (LAMR) were validated
      to be implicated in the anticancer activities of MLN8237. Interestingly, these
      new targets were not identified with non-DNA-based affinity probes. This work may
      facilitate an understanding of the molecular basis of the efficacy and side
      effects of MLN8237 as a clinical drug candidate. On the other hand, this work has
      also demonstrated that the method of DPAL could be a useful tool for target
      identification of bioactive small molecules.

PMID- 28594099
TI  - Cerebroplacental ratio thresholds measured within 2 weeks before birth and risk
      of Cesarean section for intrapartum fetal compromise and adverse neonatal
      outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Prediction of intrapartum fetal compromise in uncomplicated, term
      pregnancies is a global obstetric challenge. Currently, no widely accepted
      screening test for this condition exists, although the cerebroplacental ratio
      (CPR) shows promise. We aimed to evaluate prospectively the screening performance
      of the CPR 10th centile threshold for prediction of Cesarean section for
      intrapartum fetal compromise (IFC) and composite adverse neonatal outcome (ANO)
      after 36 weeks' gestation in low-risk women, and to compare this with CPR <= 1
      and < 5th centile thresholds described previously in the literature. METHODS:
      This was a blinded, prospective, observational, cohort study of 483 women with
      uncomplicated singleton pregnancy who underwent fortnightly CPR measurements from
      36 weeks to delivery, and their intrapartum and neonatal outcomes were recorded.
      The CPR 10th centile threshold screening performance was calculated for emergency
      Cesarean section for IFC and composite ANO (defined as acidosis at birth, 5-min
      Apgar score < 7 and/or admission to the neonatal intensive care unit). Comparison
      of screening performance of CPR <= 1 and < 5th and < 10th centile thresholds was
      also undertaken for these specified outcomes. RESULTS: In total, 437 women were
      included in the analysis, of whom 4.1% had an emergency Cesarean section for IFC
      and 17.8% had a composite ANO. Sensitivity and specificity for CPR < 10th centile
      were, respectively, 55.6% and 87.9% for prediction of Cesarean section for IFC,
      and 28.2% and 88.0% for composite ANO. Compared with CPR <= 1 and < 5th centile,
      CPR < 10th centile yielded the best overall test performance for detection of
      Cesarean section for IFC and composite ANO, although its predictive value was
      only fair for Cesarean section for IFC (area under the receiver-operating
      characteristics curve (AUC) = 0.72) and poor for composite ANO (AUC = 0.58).
      CONCLUSION: The CPR 10th centile threshold may be useful as a component of a risk
      assessment tool for Cesarean section for IFC in low-risk pregnancies at term.
      Copyright (c) 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28594100
TI  - More Effective Consolidation of Episodic Long-Term Memory in Children Than Adults
      Unrelated to Sleep.
AB  - Abilities to encode and remember events in their spatiotemporal context (episodic
      memory) rely on brain regions that mature late during childhood and are supported
      by sleep. We compared the temporal dynamics of episodic memory formation and the
      role of sleep in this process between 62 children (8-12 years) and 57 adults (18
      37 years). Subjects recalled "what-where-when" memories after a short 1-hr
      retention interval or after a long 10.5-hr interval containing either nocturnal
      sleep or daytime wakefulness. Although children showed diminished recall of
      episodes after 1 hr, possibly resulting from inferior encoding, unlike adults,
      they showed no further decrease in recall after 10.5 hr. In both age groups,
      episodic memory benefitted from sleep. However, children's more effective offline
      retention was unrelated to sleep.

PMID- 28594097
TI  - Functional activity of the sensorimotor cortex and cerebellum relates to cervical
      dystonia symptoms.
AB  - Cervical dystonia (CD) is the most common type of focal dystonia, causing
      abnormal movements of the neck and head. In this study, we used noninvasive
      imaging to investigate the motor system of patients with CD and uncover the
      neural correlates of dystonic symptoms. Furthermore, we examined whether a
      commonly prescribed anticholinergic medication in CD has an effect on the
      dystonia-related brain abnormalities. Participants included 16 patients with CD
      and 16 healthy age-matched controls. We collected functional MRI scans during a
      force task previously shown to extensively engage the motor system, and diffusion
      and T1-weighted MRI scans from which we calculated free-water and brain tissue
      densities. The dystonia group was also scanned ca. 2 h after a 2-mg dose of
      trihexyphenidyl. Severity of dystonia was assessed pre- and post-drug using the
      Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale. Motor-related activity in CD was
      altered relative to controls in the primary somatosensory cortex, cerebellum,
      dorsal premotor and posterior parietal cortices, and occipital cortex. Most
      importantly, a regression model showed that increased severity of symptoms was
      associated with decreased functional activity of the somatosensory cortex and
      increased activity of the cerebellum. Structural imaging measures did not differ
      between CD and controls. The single dose of trihexyphenidyl altered the fMRI
      signal in the somatosensory cortex but not in the cerebellum. Symptom severity
      was not significantly reduced post-treatment. Findings show widespread changes in
      functional brain activity in CD and most importantly that dystonic symptoms
      relate to disrupted activity in the somatosensory cortex and cerebellum. Hum
      Brain Mapp 38:4563-4573, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28594101
TI  - Effects of different n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ratio on reproductive
      performance, fecal microbiota and nutrient digestibility of gestation-lactating
      sows and suckling piglets.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary ratios of n-6:n-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on reproductive performance, fecal microbiota
      and nutrient digestibility of gestation-lactating sows and suckling piglets.
      Fifteen primiparous sows (Landrace * Yorkshire) were randomly allotted into three
      treatments. Fed diets contained different ratios of n-6:n-3 PUFA, including 20:1,
      15:1 and 10:1. No differences were detected among the treatments for average
      daily feed intake (ADFI) of sows and the back fat levels during lactation (P >
      0.05). Body weight (BW) loss of sows after farrowing to weanling was greater in
      the 10:1 treatment compared with 15:1 or 20:1 (P < 0.05). In piglets, a great
      significant difference for BW was observed at 4 weeks (P < 0.01). Furthermore,
      average daily gain (ADG) of piglets in the 10:1 treatment was higher (P < 0.05).
      No difference was observed among treatments in nutrient digestibility of sows (P
      > 0.05). A great significant difference for fecal microbiota was in the 10:1
      treatment compared with 20:1 and 15:1 treatments (P < 0.01). In conclusion,
      altering the ratio of n-6:n-3 PUFA in gestation-lactating sow diet had no
      difference on nutrient digestibility in gestation-lactating sows, but it can
      partially improve reproductive performance.

PMID- 28594102
TI  - The inhibition effects of some natural products on lactoperoxidase purified from
      bovine milk.
AB  - In this study, inhibition profiles of some natural products, which are digoxin, L
      Dopa, dopamine, isoliquiritigenin, and 1,1,2,2-tetrakis(p-hydroxyphenyl)ethane
      (Tetrakis), were investigated against bovine lactoperoxidase (LPO) enzyme.
      Digoxin, L-Dopa, and dopamine are active ingredients of some drugs, which have
      important functions in our body, especially in cases of heart failure.
      Isoliquiritigenin and tetrakis are types of natural phenolic compounds, which
      play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. LPO enzyme was
      purified from bovine milk using sepharose-4B-l-tyrosine sulfonamide affinity
      column chromatography. LPO is responsible for the nonimmune biological defense
      system and has antibacterial activity so selection of these active substances is
      important. The inhibition studies are performed with the ABTS substrate. Bovine
      LPO enzyme was effectively inhibited by phenolic molecules. Ki values of these
      natural products were found as 0.20 +/- 0.09, 0.22 +/- 0.17, 0.49 +/- 0.11, 0.49
      +/- 0.27, and 1.20 +/- 0.25 MUM, respectively. Tetrakis and digoxin exhibited
      noncompetitive inhibition, and other molecules showed competitive inhibition.

PMID- 28594104
TI  - The risk factor of false-negative and false-positive for T-SPOT.TB in active
      tuberculosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: T-SPOT.TB is a promising diagnosis tool to identify both pulmonary
      tuberculosis and extrapulmonary tuberculosis, as well as latent tuberculosis;
      however, the factors that affect the results of T-SPOT.TB remains unclear. In
      this study, we aim to figure out the risk factor of T-SPOT.TB for active TB.
      METHODS: A total of 349 patients were recruited between January 1st, 2016 and
      January 22st, 2017 at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, including 98 subjects
      with TB and 251 subjects with non-TB disease, and received T-SPOT.TB (Oxford
      Immunotec Ltd). Statistics were analyzed by SPSS 19.0 using logistic regression.
      RESULTS: The overall specificity and sensitivity of the T-SPOT.TB was 92.83%
      (233/251; 95%CI 0.8872-0.9557) and 83.67% (82/98; 95%CI 0.7454-0.9010),
      respectively. Patients with tuberculous meningitis were more likely to have false
      negative results (OR 17.4, 95%CI 3.068-98.671; P<.001) while patients with cured
      TB tended to induce false-positive results (OR 30.297; 95%CI 7.069-129.849;
      P<.001). The results were not affected by sex, age, onset time, smoke, alcohol,
      treatment, allergic history, co-morbidity, TB (exclude tuberculous meningitis)
      (P>.05). CONCLUSION: Tuberculous meningitis was a risk factor of false-negative
      for T-SPOT.TB, while cured TB was a risk factor of false-positive.

PMID- 28594105
TI  - Effects of cucumber mosaic virus-infected chilli plants on non-vector Bemisia
      tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).
AB  - Plant virus infections are known to alter host plant attractiveness and
      suitability for insect herbivores. This study was conducted to determine how
      cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)-infected chilli plants affect the fitness and
      settling preferences of nonvector whitefly, Bemisia tabaci adults under dual
      choice conditions with volatile organic compounds analyzed using solid phase
      microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
      Results showed that the presence of CMV in chilli plants substantially affects
      the settling preferences of the B. tabaci, which preferred to settle on
      noninfected plants. Duration of the egg stage and the longevity and fecundity of
      adult B. tabaci on CMV-infected chilli plants were not markedly different from
      those on noninfected chilli plants. In contrast, the developmental time from egg
      to adult was significantly reduced in CMV-infected chilli plants compared to the
      noninfected plants. The results also showed that CMV-infected chilli plants
      released significantly more linalool and phenylacetaldehyde than noninfected
      plants. Overall, it was suggested that the behavioral response of B. tabaci might
      be modified by CMV-infected plants, which alter the release of specific headspace
      volatiles. Based on these results, the modification of plant volatile profiles
      may help in enhancing the effectiveness of biological control and the protection
      of crop plants against B. tabaci.

PMID- 28594106
TI  - Inaugural Ryoji Noyori ACES Award: C.-M. Che / Honorary Membership of the
      Chemical Society of Japan: G. Erker.

PMID- 28594103
TI  - Dietary alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation improves hepatic and intestinal
      energy status and anti-oxidative capacity of Cherry Valley ducks.
AB  - alpha-Ketoglutarate (AKG) is an extensively used dietary supplement in human and
      animal nutrition. The aim of the present study was to investigate effects of
      dietary AKG supplementation on the energy status and anti-oxidative capacity in
      liver and intestinal mucosa of Cherry Valley ducks. A total of 80 1-day-old ducks
      were randomly assigned into four groups, in which ducks were fed basal diets
      supplemented with 0% (control), 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% AKG, respectively. Graded
      doses of AKG supplementation linearly decreased the ratio of adenosine
      monophosphate (AMP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the liver, but increased
      ATP content and adenylate energy charge (AEC) in a quadratic and linear manner,
      respectively (P < 0.05). Increasing dietary AKG supplemental levels produced
      linear positive responses in ATP content and AEC, and negative responses in AMP
      concentration, the ratio of AMP to ATP and total adenine nucleotide in the ileal
      mucosa (P < 0.05). All levels of dietary AKG reduced the production of jejunal
      hydrogen peroxide and hepatic malondialdehyde (P < 0.05). Hepatic and ileal
      messenger RNA expression of AMP kinase alpha-1 and hypoxia-inducible factor
      1alpha were linearly up-regulated as dietary AKG supplemental levels increased (P
      < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary AKG supplementation linearly or quadratically
      enhanced hepatic and intestinal energy storage and anti-oxidative capacity of
      Cherry Valley ducks.

PMID- 28594107
TI  - miRNAs in nutrition, obesity, and cancer: The biology of miRNAs in metabolic
      disorders and its relationship with cancer development.
AB  - SCOPE: The scope of this review is to explain how metabolic disorders originated
      by a deficient nutrition can develop into a neoplastic process by the alteration
      of epigenetic mechanisms like miRNAs. Obesity is a proinflammatory state with a
      wide impact on health around the world that is associated with neoplastic
      diseases. Epigenetic mechanisms have a central role in the obesogenic
      environment, which participates on the development of comorbidities such as
      cancer. METHODS AND RESULTS: We made an exhaustive review of the most recent
      reports about metabolic disorders with nutrition and their relationship with
      miRNAs, and their risk of developing into oncogenic processes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
      act as one of the major epigenetic mechanisms that can affect the metabolic
      reprogramming of cellular metabolism that plays an important role in the
      oncogenic process. There is evidence that some foods may contribute to
      diminishing the risk of cancer as well as epidemiological studies that support
      the notion that diets high in animal protein and fat promote cancer risk.
      Therefore, diets high in fruit and vegetables reduce the risk of cancer. One of
      the principal explanations is that these foods contain bioactive compounds that
      increase the efficacy of epigenetic mechanisms, which in turn decrease the risk
      of obesity and its comorbidities. CONCLUSION: In this review, we show how miRNAs
      are implicated in several signaling pathways as well as illustrating some
      bioactive compounds that impact inflammation and cancer development.

PMID- 28594108
TI  - Punch up your podium presentations.
AB  - The goal of most presentations is to engage audience participants. Effective
      presenters go beyond content expertise to connect with audiences through various
      techniques, formats, and presentation styles. Mayer's theory of multimedia
      learning, neurocognitive factors, and the assertion-evidence approach are
      essential elements that presenters can use if they have not had formal training
      in creating presentations. Tips are offered on how to connect with the audience
      and how to avoid known pitfalls.

PMID- 28594109
TI  - A cell-free testing platform to screen chemicals of potential neurotoxic concern
      across twenty vertebrate species.
AB  - There is global demand for new in vitro testing tools for ecological risk
      assessment. The objective of the present study was to apply a set of cell-free
      neurochemical assays to screen many chemicals across many species in a relatively
      high-throughput manner. The platform assessed 7 receptors and enzymes that
      mediate neurotransmission of gamma-aminobutyric acid, dopamine, glutamate, and
      acetylcholine. Each assay was optimized to work across 20 vertebrate species (5
      fish, 5 birds, 7 mammalian wildlife, 3 biomedical species including humans). We
      tested the screening assay platform against 80 chemicals (23 pharmaceuticals and
      personal care products, 20 metal[loid]s, 22 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and
      halogenated organic compounds, 15 pesticides). In total, 10 800 species-chemical
      assay combinations were tested, and significant differences were found in 4041
      cases. All 7 assays were significantly affected by at least one chemical in each
      species tested. Among the 80 chemicals tested, nearly all resulted in a
      significant impact on at least one species and one assay. The 5 most active
      chemicals were prochloraz, HgCl2 , Sn, benzo[a]pyrene, and vinclozolin.
      Clustering analyses revealed groupings according to chemicals, species, and
      chemical-assay combinations. The results show that cell-free assays can screen a
      large number of samples in a short period of time in a cost-effective manner in a
      range of animals not easily studied using traditional approaches. Strengths and
      limitations of this approach are discussed, as well as next steps. Environ
      Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3081-3090. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28594110
TI  - Novel application of fluorescence coupled capillary electrophoresis to resolve
      the interaction between the G-quadruplex aptamer and thrombin.
AB  - The dynamic binding status between the thrombin and its G-quadruplex aptamers and
      the stability of its interaction partners were probed using our previously
      established fluorescence-coupled capillary electrophoresis method. A 29-nucleic
      acid thrombin binding aptamer was chosen as a model to study its binding affinity
      with the thrombin ligand. First, the effects of the cations on the formation of G
      quadruplex from unstructured 29-nucleic acid thrombin binding aptamer were
      examined. Second, the rapid binding kinetics between the thrombin and 6
      carboxyfluorescein labeled G-quadruplex aptamer was measured. Third, the
      stability of G-quadruplex aptamer-thrombin complex was also examined in the
      presence of the interfering species. Remarkably, it was found that the
      complementary strand of 29-nucleic acid thrombin binding aptamer could compete
      with G-quadruplex aptamer and thus disassociated the G-quadruplex structure into
      an unstructured aptamer. These data suggest that our in-house established
      fluorescence-coupled capillary electrophoresis assay could be applied to binding
      studies of the G-quadruplex aptamers, thrombin, and their ligands, while
      overcoming the complicated and costly approaches currently available.

PMID- 28594112
TI  - Cytologic perspectives on neoteric B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.
AB  - The 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and
      lymphoid tissues has been recently revised, and publication of the updated 2016
      version is expected soon. Given that cytopathologists are often involved in the
      diagnosis of primary, recurrent, and transformed lymphoproliferative disorders,
      knowledge of updates to the WHO lymphoma classification, including terminology,
      pathogenesis, ancillary techniques, and targeted therapies is necessary. Herein,
      we reference the last decade of cytology specific literature for seven newer B
      cell disorders and provide illustrative examples of each entity from our files.

PMID- 28594111
TI  - Bone Histomorphometry in an Osteoporotic Hemodialysis Patient Treated With
      Denosumab.

PMID- 28594113
TI  - Self-gated 4D-MRI of the liver: Initial clinical results of continuous multiphase
      imaging of hepatic enhancement.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of a self-gated free-breathing volume
      interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) sequence using compressed sensing
      (CS) for contrast-enhanced multiphase liver MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      identified 23 patients who underwent multiphase gadobutrol-enhanced liver
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using 1) a prototype free-breathing VIBE
      sequence with respiratory self-gating and CS (VIBECS ), and 2) a standard breath
      hold VIBE (VIBESTD ) on the same 1.5T scanner at two timepoints. VIBECS was
      continuously acquired for 128 seconds and a time-series of 16 timepoints was
      jointly reconstructed from the dataset. The unenhanced, arterial, portal-venous,
      and venous timepoints with the best image quality were selected and compared to
      the corresponding VIBESTD series serving as reference. Image quality was assessed
      qualitatively (image quality, sharpness, lesion conspicuity, vessel contrast,
      noise, motion/other artifacts; two readers independently; 5-point Likert scale; 5
      = excellent) and quantitatively (vessel contrast [VC], coefficient-of-variation
      [CV]) Statistics were performed using Wilcoxon-sign-rank (ordinal) and paired t
      test (continuous variables). RESULTS: Image quality and lesion conspicuity
      revealed no significant differences between the sequences (P >= 0.3). VIBESTD
      showed a tendency to higher motion artifacts (P >= 0.07). Image sharpness
      significantly increased in VIBECS as compared to VIBESTD (P <= 0.03). Arterial
      phase vessel contrast appeared significantly lower in VIBECS than in VIBESTD (P =
      0.04). VIBECS showed reconstruction artifacts not present in VIBESTD (P = 0.001).
      Image noise was significantly lower in VIBECS than in VIBESTD (P <= 0.004).
      Arterial phase VC was significantly lower in VIBECS than in VIBESTD (P = 0.01).
      CV revealed no differences between sequences (P = 0.7). CONCLUSION: VIBECS is
      feasible for continuous free-breathing contrast-enhanced multiphase liver MRI,
      providing similar image quality and lesion conspicuity as VIBESTD . LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:459-467.

PMID- 28594115
TI  - Therapeutic relevance of ozone therapy in degenerative diseases: Focus on
      diabetes and spinal pain.
AB  - Ozone, one of the most important air pollutants, is a triatomic molecule
      containing three atoms of oxygen that results in an unstable form due to its
      mesomeric structure. It has been well-known that ozone has potent ability to
      oxidize organic compounds and can induce respiratory irritation. Although ozone
      has deleterious effects, many therapeutic effects have also been suggested. Since
      last few decades, the therapeutic potential of ozone has gained much attention
      through its strong capacity to induce controlled and moderated oxidative stress
      when administered in precise therapeutic doses. A plethora of scientific evidence
      showed that the activation of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1a), nuclear
      factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2
      antioxidant response element (Nrf2-ARE), and activated protein-1 (AP-1) pathways
      are the main molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of ozone
      therapy. Activation of these molecular pathways leads to up-regulation of
      endogenous antioxidant systems, activation of immune functions as well as
      suppression of inflammatory processes, which is important for correcting
      oxidative stress in diabetes and spinal pain. The present study intended to
      review critically the available scientific evidence concerning the beneficial
      properties of ozone therapy for treatment of diabetic complications and spinal
      pain. It finds benefit for integrating the therapy with ozone into
      pharmacological procedures, instead of a substitutive or additional option to
      therapy.

PMID- 28594114
TI  - Defect Chemistry, Electrical Properties, and Evaluation of New Oxides Sr2 CoNb1-x
      Tix O6-delta (0<=x<=1) as Cathode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.
AB  - The perovskite series Sr2 CoNb1-x Tix O6-delta (0<=x<=1) was investigated in the
      full compositional range to assess its potential as cathode material for solid
      oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The variation of transport properties and thus, the area
      specific resistances (ASR) are explained by a detailed investigation of the
      defect chemistry. Increasing the titanium content from x=0-1 produces both
      oxidation of Co3+ to Co4+ (from 0 up to 40 %) and oxygen vacancies (from 6.0 to
      5.7 oxygen atom/formula unit), although each charge compensation mechanism
      predominates in different compositional ranges. Neutron diffraction reveals that
      samples with high Ti-contents lose a significant amount of oxygen upon heating
      above 600 K. Oxygen is partially recovered upon cooling as the oxygen release and
      uptake show noticeably different kinetics. The complex defect chemistry of these
      compounds, together with the compositional changes upon heating/cooling cycles
      and atmospheres, produce a complicated behavior of electrical conductivity.
      Cathodes containing Sr2 CoTiO6-delta display low ASR values, 0,13 Omega cm2 at
      973 K, comparable to those of the best compounds reported so far, being a very
      promising cathode material for SOFC.

PMID- 28594116
TI  - Minimum clinically important difference analysis confirms the efficacy of IgPro10
      in CIDP: the PRIMA trial.

PMID- 28594117
TI  - Serum anti-phenolic glycolipid-1 IgA correlates to IgM isotype in leprosy
      patients: a possible candidate for seroepidemiological surveys?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare serum anti-phenolic glycolipid-1
      IgA, IgG, and IgM levels in leprosy patients and controls. METHOD: Analysis of
      anti-PGL-1 IgA, IgG, or IgM in serum samples from multibacillary (MB, n=32) and
      paucibacillary (PB, n=22) leprosy patients, and in non-endemic controls (n=17),
      using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: A strong
      correlation between serum IgM and IgA isotypes was found (r=.745, P<.0001) in MB
      patients. A moderate correlation was found in all analyses in PB patients. A
      moderate agreement was found between anti-PGL1 IgA and IgM tests. Based on the
      ROC curves, the cut-off values were selected and the parameters of validation
      were calculated. Considering the clinical forms altogether, the diagnostic
      sensitivities were 50.0% for IgA, 22.2% for IgG, and 74.1% for IgM. The positive
      (VPP) and negative (VPN) predictive values were estimated for each isotype. For
      IgA, the VPP and VPN were, respectively, 100.0% (87.0%-100.0%; 95% confidence
      interval) and 38.7% (24.4%-54.5%); for IgG, 100% (87.0%-100.0%) and 28.8% (17.8%
      42.1%), respectively; and for IgM, 95.2% (83.8%-99.4%) and 51.7% (32.5%-70.6%),
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Despite the limiting factors, anti-PGL1 IgA correlates
      to IgM levels and it could be considered as a possible laboratorial tool to be
      also used, for instance, in serological follow-up studies.

PMID- 28594119
TI  - Does Ocular Neuropathic Pain Deserve an Autonomous Position in the IHS
      Classification? Clinical and Diagnostic Evidences.

PMID- 28594118
TI  - Switching Between Giant Positive and Negative Thermal Expansions of a YFe(CN)6 
      based Prussian Blue Analogue Induced by Guest Species.
AB  - The control of thermal expansion of solid compounds is intriguing but remains
      challenging. The effect of guests on the thermal expansion of open-framework
      structures was investigated. Notably, the presence of guest ions (K+ ) and
      molecules (H2 O) can substantially switch thermal expansion of YFe(CN)6 from
      negative (alphav =-33.67*10-6  K-1 ) to positive (alphav =+42.72*10-6  K-1 )-a
      range that covers the thermal expansion of most inorganic compounds. The
      mechanism of such substantial thermal expansion switching is revealed by joint
      studies with synchrotron X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption fine structure,
      neutron powder diffraction, and density functional theory calculations. The
      presence of guest ions or molecules plays a critical damping effect on transverse
      vibrations, thus inhibiting negative thermal expansion. An effective method is
      demonstrated to control the thermal expansion in open-framework materials by
      adjusting the presence of guests.

PMID- 28594120
TI  - Migraine in Children.

PMID- 28594121
TI  - A Review of Vomiting and Migraine-Related Clinical Parameters in Pediatric
      Migraine.

PMID- 28594122
TI  - AHS Members' Choice Award.

PMID- 28594124
TI  - Melatonin in the Treatment of Primary Headache Disorders.

PMID- 28594125
TI  - The SUN Also Rises.

PMID- 28594126
TI  - Pearls and Pitfalls in Migraine Neuroimaging.

PMID- 28594128
TI  - Predatory journals: will they survive or thrive?

PMID- 28594127
TI  - No clear support for a role for vitamin D in Parkinson's disease: A Mendelian
      randomization study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Observational studies have found that relative to healthy controls,
      patients with Parkinson's disease have lower circulating concentrations of 25
      hydroxyvitamin D, a clinical biomarker of vitamin D status. However, the
      causality of this association is uncertain. We undertook a Mendelian
      randomization study to investigate whether genetically decreased 25
      hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are associated with PD to minimize confounding
      and prevent bias because of reverse causation. METHODS: As instrumental variables
      for the Mendelian randomization analysis, we used 4 single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms that affect 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations (rs2282679 in GC,
      rs12785878 near DHCR7, rs10741657 near CYP2R1, and rs6013897 near CYP24A1).
      Summary effect size estimates of the 4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms on PD were
      obtained from the International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium
      (including 5333 PD cases and 12,019 controls). The estimates of the 4 single
      nucleotide polymorphisms were combined using an inverse-variance weighted meta
      analysis. RESULTS: Of the 4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with 25
      hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, one (rs6013897 in CYP24A1) was associated with
      PD (odds ratio per 25-hydroxyvitamin D-decreasing allele, 1.09; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.02-1.16; P = 0.008), whereas no association was observed with the
      other 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (P > 0.23). The odds ratio of PD per
      genetically predicted 10% lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration, based on the 4
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms, was 0.98 (95% confidence interval, 0.93-1.04; P
      = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS: This Mendelian randomization study provides no clear
      support that lowered 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration is causally associated
      with risk of PD. (c) 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 28594129
TI  - Ranking predatory journals in dermatology: distinguishing the bad from the ugly.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The scientific community depends on high-quality peer-reviewed
      research, which is being polluted with pseudoscience published in fake journals
      that have exploited the open-access model. This "predatory publishing" has made
      its way into the field of dermatology. In a recent study, we identified and
      listed these journals. METHODS: The "predatory rate" was calculated for 76
      journals in order to rank the journals based on specific criteria associated with
      unethical publishing. RESULTS: Of the 76 journals, 89.5% were classified as
      predatory journals and the remaining as journals involved in predatory practices.
      CONCLUSION: The field of dermatology is not immune to predatory publishers. This
      study validates Beall's list as well as other previous studies. Strategies to a
      solution include spreading awareness throughout academic institutions and
      dermatology departments as well as avoiding publishers that are involved in
      predatory practices. However, some journals may be able to make necessary
      adjustments and become legitimate contributors to the field.

PMID- 28594130
TI  - Maintaining good miRNAs in the body keeps the doctor away?: Perspectives on the
      relationship between food-derived natural products and microRNAs in relation to
      exosomes/extracellular vesicles.
AB  - During the last decade, it has been uncovered that microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of
      small non-coding RNAs, are related to many diseases including cancers. With an
      increase in reports describing the dysregulation of miRNAs in various tumor
      types, it has become abundantly clear that miRNAs play significant roles in the
      formation and progression of cancers. Intriguingly, miRNAs are present in body
      fluids because they are packed in exosomes/extracellular vesicles and released
      from all types of cells. The miRNAs in the fluids are measured in a relatively
      simple way and the profile of miRNAs is likely to be an indicator of health
      condition. In recent years, various studies have demonstrated that some naturally
      occurring compounds can control tumor-suppressive and oncogenic miRNAs in a
      positive manner, suggesting that food-derived compounds could maintain the
      expression levels of miRNAs and help maintain good health. Therefore, our daily
      food and compounds in food are of great interest. In addition, exogenous diet
      derived miRNAs have been indicated to function in the regulation of target
      mammalian transcripts in the body. These findings highlight the possibility of
      diet for good health through the regulation of miRNAs, and we also discuss the
      perspective of food application and health promotion.

PMID- 28594131
TI  - Optimization of puncture injury to rat caudal disc for mimicking early
      degeneration of intervertebral disc.
AB  - The caudal discs of rats have been proposed as a puncture model in which
      intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration can be induced and novel therapies can be
      tested. For biological repair, treatments for ongoing IVD degeneration are
      ideally administered during the earlier stages. The purpose of this study was to
      elucidate the optimal puncture needle size for creating a model that mimicked the
      earlier stages of IVD degeneration. According to the disc height index,
      histologic score, and MRI grading, a puncture needle sized 21G or larger induced
      rapid degenerative processes in rat caudal discs during the initial 2-4 weeks.
      The degenerative changes were severe and continued deteriorating after 4 weeks.
      Conversely, puncture injury induced by needles sized 25G or smaller also produced
      degenerative changes in rat caudal discs during initial 2-4 weeks; however, the
      changes were less severe. Furthermore, the degenerative process became stabilized
      and showed no further deterioration or spontaneous recovery after 4 weeks. In the
      discs punctured by 25G needles, the expression of collagen I was increased at 2-4
      weeks with a gradually fibrotic transformation thereafter. The expressions of
      collagen II and SOX9 were enhanced initially but returned to pre-injury levels at
      4-8 weeks. The above-mentioned findings were more compatible with earlier
      degeneration in discs punctured by needles sized 25G or smaller than by needles
      sized 21G or larger, and the appropriate timing for intradiscal administration of
      proposed therapeutic agents would be 4 weeks or longer after puncture. (c) 2017
      Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res
      36:202-211, 2018.

PMID- 28594132
TI  - Are neonicotinoids killing bees?

PMID- 28594134
TI  - Many genes involved in Tourette syndrome pathogenesis.

PMID- 28594133
TI  - Diagnostic value of STMN1, LMO2, HGAL, AID expression and 1p36 chromosomal
      abnormalities in primary cutaneous B cell lymphomas.
AB  - AIMS: Distinction between primary cutaneous follicular lymphoma (PCFL) and
      primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma (PCMZL) is challenging, as clear-cut
      immunophenotypical and cytogenetic criteria to segregate both entities are
      lacking. METHODS AND RESULTS: To characterize PCFL and PCMZL more clearly and to
      define criteria helpful for the differential diagnosis, we compared expression of
      immunohistochemical markers [LIM-only transcription factor 2 (LMO2), human
      germinal centre-associated lymphoma (HGAL), stathmin 1 (STMN1), activation
      induced cytidine deaminase (AID), myeloid cell nuclear differentiation antigen
      (MNDA)] and the presence of cytogenetic abnormalities described previously in
      nodal follicular lymphoma [B cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) and BCL6 breaks, 1p36
      chromosomal region deletion (del 1p36)] in a series of 48 cutaneous follicular
      and marginal zone lymphomas [cutaneous follicular lymphoma (CFL) and cutaneous
      marginal zone lymphoma (CMZL)]. Immunostaining for STMN1, LMO2, HGAL and AID
      allowed the distinction between CFL and CMZL, and STMN1 was the most sensitive
      marker (100% CFL, 0% CMZL). LMO2, HGAL and AID were positive in 93.2%, 82.1% and
      86.2% CFL (all CMZL-negative). MNDA was expressed in both entities without
      significant difference (10.3% CFL, 30.8% CMZL, P = 0.18). BCL2, BCL6 breaks and
      the del 1p36 were present in 16.7%, 10.7% and 18.5% CFL and no CMZL. Finally,
      three and 29 CFL were reclassified as secondary cutaneous follicular lymphomas
      (SCFL) and PCFL without significant differences concerning phenotypical and
      cytogenetic features. BCL2, BCL6 breaks and the del 1p36 were present in 11.1%,
      8% and 16.7% PCFL and did not impact the prognosis. CONCLUSION: LMO2, HGAL, STMN1
      and AID, but not MNDA, are discriminant for the recognition between CFL and CMZL.
      BCL2, BCL6 rearrangements and the del 1p36 have a role in the pathogenesis of
      PCFL, the latest being the most common alteration.

PMID- 28594135
TI  - The IGF-1/Akt/S6 pathway and expressions of glycolytic myosin heavy chain
      isoforms are upregulated in chicken skeletal muscle during the first week after
      hatching.
AB  - Skeletal muscle mass is an important trait in the animal industry. We previously
      reported an age-dependent downregulation of the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF
      1)/Akt/S6 pathway, major protein synthesis pathway, in chicken breast muscle
      after 1 week of age, despite a continuous increase of breast muscle weight.
      Myosin heavy chain (HC), a major protein in muscle fiber, has several isoforms
      depending on chicken skeletal muscle types. HC I (fast-twitch glycolytic type) is
      known to be expressed in adult chicken breast muscle. However, little is known
      about the changes in the expression levels of protein synthesis-related factors
      and HC isoforms in perihatching chicken muscle. In the present study, protein
      synthesis-related factors, such as IGF-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels,
      phosphorylation of Akt, and phosphorylated S6 content, increased in an age
      dependent manner after post-hatch day (D) 0. The mRNA levels of HC I, III and V
      (fast-twitch glycolytic type) dramatically increased after D0. The increase ratio
      of breast muscle weight was approximately 1100% from D0 to D7. To our knowledge,
      these findings provide the first evidence that upregulation of protein synthesis
      pathway and transcription of fast twitch glycolytic HC isoforms play critical
      roles in the increase of chicken breast muscle weight during the first week after
      hatching.

PMID- 28594136
TI  - Extension of the culture period for the in vitro growth of bovine oocytes in the
      presence of bone morphogenetic protein-4 increases oocyte diameter, but impairs
      subsequent developmental competence.
AB  - Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) inhibits luteinization of granulosa cells
      during in vitro growth (IVG) culture of bovine oocytes; however, oocytes derived
      from a 12 day IVG were less competent for development than in vivo-grown oocytes.
      We herein investigated whether an extended IVG culture with BMP-4 improves oocyte
      growth and development to blastocysts after in vitro fertilization. Oocyte
      granulosa cell complexes (OGCs) were cultured for 14 or 16 days with BMP-4 (10
      ng/mL), while a 12 day culture with BMP-4 served as the in vitro control. OGC
      viability was maintained for the 16 day culture with BMP-4 (83.2%), but was
      significantly lower without BMP-4 (58.9%) than the control (83.0%). Prolong
      cultured oocytes at 16 days had statistically greater diameter (114.6 MUm) than
      the control (111.7 MUm). IVG oocytes with BMP-4 for the 16 day culture had a
      similar nuclear maturation rate to the control (approximately 67%); however,
      blastocyst rates in BMP-4 treated oocytes of 14 (1.8%) and 16 day (0%) IVG were
      statistically lower than that of 12 day IVG (9.0%). In conclusion, BMP-4
      maintained OGC viability and promoted oocyte growth in a prolonged culture, but
      impaired the developmental competence of oocytes. Prolonged culture may not be an
      appropriate strategy for enhancing the developmental competence of IVG oocytes.

PMID- 28594137
TI  - Increased Adipocyte Size, Macrophage Infiltration, and Adverse Local Adipokine
      Profile in Perirenal Fat in Cushing's Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze changes in fat cell size, macrophage infiltration, and
      local adipose tissue adipokine profiles in different fat depots in patients with
      active Cushing's syndrome. METHODS: Subcutaneous (SC) and perirenal (PR) adipose
      tissue of 10 patients with Cushing's syndrome was compared to adipose tissue of
      10 gender-, age-, and BMI-matched controls with regard to adipocyte size
      determined by digital image analysis on hematoxylin and eosin stainings,
      macrophage infiltration determined by digital image analysis on CD68 stainings,
      and adipose tissue leptin and adiponectin levels using fluorescent bead
      immunoassays and ELISA techniques. RESULTS: Compared to the controls, mean
      adipocyte size was larger in PR adipose tissue in patients. The percentage of
      macrophage infiltration of the PR adipose tissue and PR adipose tissue lysate
      leptin levels were higher and adiponectin levels were lower in SC and PR adipose
      tissue lysates in patients. The adiponectin levels were also lower in the SC
      adipose tissue supernatants of patients. Associations were found between the
      severity of hypercortisolism and PR adipocyte size. CONCLUSIONS: Cushing's
      syndrome is associated with hypertrophy of PR adipocytes and a higher percentage
      of macrophage infiltration in PR adipose tissue. These changes are associated
      with an adverse local adipokine profile.

PMID- 28594138
TI  - Therapeutic plasma exchange in refractory warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

PMID- 28594139
TI  - The questions surrounding stored blood do not get old.

PMID- 28594142
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28594141
TI  - Patient Blood Management: the new standard.

PMID- 28594143
TI  - Kids, colds, and complement: paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria.

PMID- 28594144
TI  - Cytomegalovirus-safe blood: the unclear effect of sickle hemoglobin.

PMID- 28594145
TI  - Use of antidepressant medication in pregnancy and adverse neonatal outcomes: A
      population-based investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Untreated depression and antidepressant use during pregnancy may have
      negative consequences for births. There are still conflicting data on the
      potential harmful effects of prenatal antidepressant treatment on child health.
      OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the use of antidepressant
      medication during pregnancy and selected neonatal outcomes. METHODS: A population
      based cohort study including 9825 deliveries exposed to an antidepressant between
      9 months before last menstrual date through to delivery, from January 2005 to
      December 2010 in the Lombardy region of Italy, was conducted. We evaluated the
      prevalence ratio (PR) of low Apgar score, small for gestational age, intrauterine
      hypoxia and birth asphyxia, neonatal convulsion, and other respiratory
      conditions, among infants born to mothers exposed to an antidepressant during
      pregnancy using log-binomial regression analysis. Fine stratification was applied
      to the propensity score to account for all potential confounders. Sensitivity and
      subgroup analyses restricted to specific types of antidepressant, time of
      exposure, and women with vaginal deliveries and full-term births were also
      performed. RESULTS: A total of 33.4% of women filled at least one prescription
      during pregnancy. Compared to infants born to mothers with exposure to
      antidepressants only before pregnancy, those with exposure to antidepressants
      during pregnancy had an increased prevalence ratio of a low Apgar score (PR,
      1.63, 95% CI, 1.01-2.61), intrauterine hypoxia and birth asphyxia (aPR, 1.37,
      1.08-1.73), neonatal convulsion (aPR, 2.81, 1.07-7.36), and other respiratory
      condition (aPR, 1.24, 1.00-1.52). Results were similar in the sensitivity and
      subgroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Use of antidepressants during pregnancy may have
      an increased risk for several neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 28594146
TI  - beta-Co(OH)2 Nanosheets: A Superior Pseudocapacitive Electrode for High-Energy
      Supercapacitors.
AB  - In this work, beta-Co(OH)2 nanosheets are explored as efficient pseudocapacitive
      materials for the fabrication of 1.6 V class high-energy supercapacitors in
      asymmetric fashion. The as-synthesized beta-Co(OH)2 nanosheets displayed an
      excellent electrochemical performance owing to their unique structure,
      morphology, and reversible reaction kinetics (fast faradic reaction) in both the
      three-electrode and asymmetric configuration (with activated carbon, AC). For
      example, in the three-electrode set-up, beta-Co(OH)2 exhibits a high specific
      capacitance of ~675 F g-1 at a scan rate of 1 mV s-1 . In the asymmetric
      supercapacitor, the beta-Co(OH)2 ?AC cell delivers a maximum energy density of
      37.3 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 800 W kg-1 . Even at harsh conditions (8 kW kg
      1 ), an energy density of 15.64 Wh kg-1 is registered for the beta-Co(OH)2 ?AC
      assembly. Such an impressive performance of beta-Co(OH)2 nanosheets in the
      asymmetric configuration reveals the emergence of pseudocapacitive electrodes
      towards the fabrication of high-energy electrochemical charge storage systems.

PMID- 28594148
TI  - Analysis of selected genes associated with cardiomyopathy by next-generation
      sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the leading cause of congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy
      represents a heterogenous group of heart muscle disorders. Despite considerable
      progress being made in the genetic diagnosis of cardiomyopathy by detection of
      the mutations in the most prevalent cardiomyopathy genes, the cause remains
      unsolved in many patients. High-throughput mutation screening in the disease
      genes for cardiomyopathy is now possible because of using target enrichment
      followed by next-generation sequencing. The aim of the study was to analyze a
      panel of genes associated with dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy based on
      previously published results in order to identify the subjects at risk. METHODS:
      The method of next-generation sequencing by IlluminaHiSeq 2500 platform was used
      to detect sequence variants in 16 individuals diagnosed with dilated or
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Detected variants were filtered and the functional
      impact of amino acid changes was predicted by computational programs. RESULTS:
      DNA samples of the 16 patients were analyzed by whole exome sequencing. We
      identified six nonsynonymous variants that were shown to be pathogenic in all
      used prediction softwares: rs3744998 (EPG5), rs11551768 (MGME1), rs148374985
      (MURC), rs78461695 (PLEC), rs17158558 (RET) and rs2295190 (SYNE1). Two of the
      analyzed sequence variants had minor allele frequency (MAF)<0.01: rs148374985
      (MURC), rs34580776 (MYBPC3). CONCLUSION: Our data support the potential role of
      the detected variants in pathogenesis of dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy;
      however, the possibility that these variants might not be true disease-causing
      variants but are susceptibility alleles that require additional mutations or
      injury to cause the clinical phenotype of disease must be considered.

PMID- 28594147
TI  - Casein kinase 1-epsilon deletion increases mu opioid receptor-dependent behaviors
      and binge eating1.
AB  - Genetic and pharmacological studies indicate that casein kinase 1 epsilon
      (Csnk1e) contributes to psychostimulant, opioid, and ethanol motivated behaviors.
      We previously used pharmacological inhibition to demonstrate that Csnk1e
      negatively regulates the locomotor stimulant properties of opioids and
      psychostimulants. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Csnk1e negatively regulates
      opioid and psychostimulant reward using genetic inhibition and the conditioned
      place preference assay in Csnk1e knockout mice. Similar to pharmacological
      inhibition, Csnk1e knockout mice showed enhanced opioid-induced locomotor
      activity with the mu opioid receptor agonist fentanyl (0.2 mg/kg i.p.) as well as
      enhanced sensitivity to low-dose fentanyl reward (0.05 mg/kg). Interestingly,
      female knockout mice also showed a markedly greater escalation in consumption of
      sweetened palatable food - a behavioral pattern consistent with binge eating that
      also depends on mu opioid receptor activation. No difference was observed in
      fentanyl analgesia in the 52.5 degrees C hot plate assay (0-0.4 mg/kg), naloxone
      conditioned place aversion (4 mg/kg), or methamphetamine conditioned place
      preference (0-4 mg/kg). To identify molecular adaptations associated with
      increased drug and food behaviors in knockout mice, we completed transcriptome
      analysis via mRNA sequencing of the striatum. Enrichment analysis identified
      terms associated with myelination and axon guidance and pathway analysis
      identified a differentially expressed gene set predicted to be regulated by the
      Wnt signaling transcription factor, Tcf7l2. To summarize, Csnk1e deletion
      increased mu opioid receptor-dependent behaviors, supporting previous studies
      indicating an endogenous negative regulatory role of Csnk1e in opioid behavior.

PMID- 28594151
TI  - Pembrolizumab for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

PMID- 28594149
TI  - MYB, MYBL1, MYBL2 and NFIB gene alterations and MYC overexpression in salivary
      gland adenoid cystic carcinoma.
AB  - AIMS: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (AdCC) is one of the most common salivary gland
      malignancies and the long-term prognosis is poor. In this study, we examined
      alterations of AdCC-associated genes, MYB, MYBL1, MYBL2 and NFIB, and their
      target molecules, including MYC. The results were correlated to
      clinicopathological profile of the patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using paraffin
      tumour sections from 33 cases of salivary gland AdCC, we performed a detailed
      fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) analysis for gene splits and fusions of
      MYB, MYBL1, MYBL2 and NFIB. We found that 29 of 33 (88%) AdCC cases showed gene
      splits in either MYB, MYBL1 or NFIB. None of the cases showed an MYBL2 gene
      alteration. AdCCs were divided genetically into six gene groups, MYB-NFIB (n =
      16), MYB-X (n = 4), MYBL1-NFIB (n = 2), MYBL1-X (n = 1), NFIB-X (n = 6) and gene
      split-negative (n = 4). AdCC patients showing the MYB or MYBL1 gene splits were
      associated with microscopically positive surgical margins (P = 0.0148) and
      overexpression of MYC (P = 0.0164). MYC expression was detected in both ductal
      and myoepithelial tumour cells, and MYC overexpression was associated with
      shorter disease-free survival of the patients (P = 0.0268). CONCLUSIONS: The
      present study suggests that (1) nearly 90% of AdCCs may have gene alterations of
      either MYB, MYBL1 or NFIB, suggesting the diagnostic utility of the FISH assay,
      (2) MYB or MYBL1 gene splits may be associated with local aggressiveness of the
      tumours and overexpression of MYC, which is one of the oncogenic MYB/MYBL1
      targets and (3) MYC overexpression may be a risk factor for disease-free survival
      in AdCC.

PMID- 28594152
TI  - Data-Sharing Models

PMID- 28594150
TI  - Cortical thickness is not associated with current depression in a clinical
      treatment study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reduced cortical thickness is a candidate biological marker of
      depression, although findings are inconsistent. This could reflect analytic
      heterogeneity, such as use of region-wise cortical thickness based on the
      Freesurfer Desikan-Killiany (DK) atlas or surface-based morphometry (SBM). The
      Freesurfer Destrieux (DS) atlas (more, smaller regions) has not been utilized in
      depression studies. This could also reflect differential gender and age effects.
      METHODS: Cortical thickness was collected from 170 currently depressed adults and
      52 never-depressed adults. Visually inspected and approved Freesurfer-generated
      surfaces were used to extract cortical thickness estimates according to the DK
      atlas (68 regions) and DS atlas (148 regions) for region-wise analysis (216 total
      regions) and for SBM. RESULTS: Overall, except for small effects in a few
      regions, the two region-wise approaches generally failed to discriminate
      depressed adults from nondepressed adults or current episode severity.
      Differential effects by age and gender were also rare and small in magnitude.
      Using SBM, depressed adults showed a significantly thicker cluster in the left
      supramarginal gyrus than nondepressed adults (P = 0.047) but there were no
      associations with current episode severity. CONCLUSIONS: Three analytic
      approaches (i.e., DK atlas, DS atlas, and SBM) converge on the notion that
      cortical thickness is a relatively weak discriminator of current depression
      status. Differential age and gender effects do not appear to represent key
      moderators. Robust associations with demographic factors will likely hinder
      translation of cortical thickness into a clinically useful biomarker. Hum Brain
      Mapp, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4370-4385, 2017.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28594153
TI  - Data-Sharing Models

PMID- 28594154
TI  - Tight Glycemic Control in Critically Ill Children.

PMID- 28594155
TI  - Blinatumomab for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

PMID- 28594156
TI  - Acute Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

PMID- 28594157
TI  - Validity of transcutaneous oxygen measurement in peripheral arterial disease.

PMID- 28594158
TI  - High-kappa Samarium-Based Metal-Organic Framework for Gate Dielectric
      Applications.
AB  - The self-assembly of a samarium-based metal-organic framework [Sm2(bhc)(H2O)6]n
      (1) in good yield was achieved by reacting Sm(NO3)3.6H2O with
      benzenehexacarboxylic acid (bhc) in a mixture of H2O-EtOH under hydrothermal
      conditions. A structural analysis showed that compound 1 crystallized in a space
      group of Pnmn and adopted a 3D structure with (4,8) connected nets. Temperature
      dependent dielectric measurements showed that compound 1 behaves as a high
      dielectric material with a high dielectric constant (kappa = 45.1) at 5 kHz and
      310 K, which is comparable to the values for some of the most commonly available
      dielectric inorganic metal oxides such as Sm2O3, Ta2O5, HfO2, and ZrO2. In
      addition, electrical measurements of 1 revealed an electrical conductivity of
      about 2.15 * 10-7 S/cm at a frequency of 5 kHz with a low leakage current
      (Ileakage = 8.13 * 10-12 Amm-2). Dielectric investigations of the Sm-based MOF
      provide an effective path for the development of high dielectric materials in the
      future.

PMID- 28594159
TI  - Honeycomb-Like Interconnected Network of Nickel Phosphide Heteronanoparticles
      with Superior Electrochemical Performance for Supercapacitors.
AB  - Transition-metal-based heteronanoparticles are attracting extensive attention in
      electrode material design for supercapacitors owing to their large surface-to
      volume ratios and inherent synergies of individual components; however, they
      still suffer from limited interior capacity and cycling stability due to simple
      geometric configurations, low electrochemical activity of the surface, and poor
      structural integrity. Developing an elaborate architecture that endows a larger
      surface area, high conductivity, and mechanically robust structure is a pressing
      need to tackle the existing challenges of electrode materials. This work presents
      a supercapacitor electrode consisting of honeycomb-like biphasic Ni5P4-Ni2P
      (NixPy) nanosheets, which are interleaved by large quantities of nanoparticles.
      The optimized NixPy delivers an ultrahigh specific capacity of 1272 C g-1 at a
      current density of 2 A g-1, high rate capability, and stability. An asymmetric
      supercapacitor employing as-synthesized NixPy as the positive electrode and
      activated carbon as the negative electrode exhibits significantly high power and
      energy densities (67.2 W h kg-1 at 0.75 kW kg-1; 20.4 W h kg-1 at 15 kW kg-1).
      These results demonstrate that the novel nanostructured NixPy can be potentially
      applied in high-performance supercapacitors.

PMID- 28594160
TI  - Spontaneous Pt Deposition on Defective Surfaces of In2O3 Nanocrystals Confined
      within Cavities of Hollow Silica Nanoshells: Pt Catalyst-Modified ITO Electrode
      with Enhanced ECL Performance.
AB  - Although the deposition of metallic domains on a preformed semiconductor
      nanocrystal provides an effective pathway to access diverse hybrid nanocrystals
      with synergistic metal/semiconductor heterojunction interface, those reactions
      that take place on the surface of semiconductor nanoscrystals have not been
      investigated thoroughly, because of the impediments caused by the surface-capping
      organic surfactants. By exploiting the interfacial reactions occurring between
      the solution and nanoparticles confined with the cavities of hollow
      nanoparticles, we propose a novel nanospace-confined strategy for assessing the
      innate reactivity of surfaces of inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles. This
      strategy was adopted to investigate the newly discovered process of spontaneous
      Pt deposition on In2O3 nanocrystals. Through an in-depth examination involving
      varying key reaction parameters, the Pt deposition process was identified to be
      templated by the defective In2O3 surface via a unique redox process involving the
      oxygen vacancies in the In2O3 lattice, whose density can be controlled by high
      temperature annealing. The product of the Pt-deposition reaction inside the
      hollow silica nanoparticle, bearing In2O3-supported Pt catalysts inside the
      cavity protected by a porous silica shell, was proved to be an effective
      nanoreactor system which selectively and sustainably catalyzed the reduction
      reaction of small-sized aromatic nitro-compounds. Moreover, the surfactant-free
      and electroless Pt deposition protocol, which was devised based on the surface
      chemistry of the In2O3 nanoparticles, was successfully employed to fabricate Pt
      catalyst-modified ITO electrodes with enhanced electrogenerated chemiluminescece
      (ECL) performance.

PMID- 28594161
TI  - Layered/Spinel Heterostructured and Hierarchical Micro/Nanostructured Li-Rich
      Cathode Materials with Enhanced Electrochemical Properties for Li-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Although holding a high capacity, Li-rich materials are far from the demand of
      practical market because of their inherent drawbacks, such as poor initial
      efficiency and rate capability. Herein, Li-rich materials of
      Li1.16Mn0.6Ni0.12Co0.12O2 have been prepared via a one-step solvothermal
      strategy. The detail characterizations demonstrate that the as-prepared materials
      present morphology of nanoparticle-aggregated hierarchical microspheres and a
      heterostructure of layered and Li4Mn5O12-type spinel components. Compared to
      materials of pure-layered structure, layered/spinel heterostructured materials
      exhibit simultaneously great reversible capacity (302 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C), high
      initial Coulombic efficiency (94% at 0.2 C) and remarkable rate capability (193
      mAh g-1 at 10 C).

PMID- 28594162
TI  - Mn-Based Cathode with Synergetic Layered-Tunnel Hybrid Structures and Their
      Enhanced Electrochemical Performance in Sodium Ion Batteries.
AB  - A synergistic approach for advanced cathode materials is proposed. Sodium
      manganese oxide with a layered-tunnel hybrid structure was designed, synthesized,
      and subsequently investigated. The layered-tunnel hybrid structure provides fast
      Na ion diffusivity and high structural stability thanks to the tunnel phase,
      enabling high rate capability and greatly improved cycling stability compared to
      that of the pure P2 layered phase while retaining the high specific capacity of
      the P2 layered phase. The hybrid structure provided a decent discharge capacity
      of 133.4 mAh g-1 even at 8 C, which exceeds the reported best rate capability for
      Mn-based cathodes. It also displayed an impressive cycling stability, maintaining
      83.3 mAh g-1 after 700 cycles at 10 C. Theoretical calculation and the
      potentiostatic intermittent titration technique (PITT) demonstrated that this
      hybrid structure helps enhance Na ion diffusivity during charge and discharge,
      attaining, as a result, an unprecendented electrochemical performance.

PMID- 28594163
TI  - Superior Impact Toughness and Excellent Storage Modulus of Poly(lactic acid)
      Foams Reinforced by Shish-Kebab Nanoporous Structure.
AB  - Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) foams, with the combination of shish-kebab and spherulite
      nanoporous structure in skin and core layer respectively, was prepared using a
      novel technique comprising loop oscillating push-pull molding (LOPPM) and
      supercritical carbon dioxide low-temperature foaming process (SC-CO2LTFP). The
      foams present superior impact toughness which is 6-fold higher than that of neat
      PLA, and no significant decrease was observed for the storage modulus. Moreover,
      SC-CO2LTFP at soaking temperature ranging from 110 to 150  degrees C were
      performed to determine the evolution of pore morphology. The ultratough and
      supermoduli are unprecedented for PLA, and are in great need for broader
      applications.

PMID- 28594164
TI  - Augmenting Glioblastoma Chemotherapy with Polymers.
AB  - Chemotherapeutics are vital for treating brain tumors such as glioblastoma, an
      aggressive and prolific cancer predominantly treated with DNA alkylating agents.
      The efficacy of antiglioblastoma drugs, such as temozolomide, is limited by their
      rapid clearance and instability under normal physiological conditions. Both local
      and systemic polymer-based therapeutics have shown promise for treating many
      cancers, and as such there is a growing interest in applying polymer techniques
      to augment the efficacy and stability of glioblastoma chemotherapeutics. Notably,
      brain tumor chemotherapy presents unique challenges and will require tailored
      delivery systems to develop markedly improved treatments.

PMID- 28594165
TI  - Conjugated Polyelectrolyte-Based New Strategy for in Situ Detection of Carbon
      Dioxide.
AB  - A conjugated polymer centered on fluorene and 2,1,3-benzothia-diazole (PFBT) is
      prepared for sensing CO2 in situ with high sensitivity and low background. Upon
      introducing CO2, the weaker electrostatic repulsion and stronger hydrophobic
      interactions between neighboring PFBT molecules enhance the interchain contacts
      compared to that without CO2, leading to the energy transfer from fluorene to
      2,1,3-benzothia-diazole sites and the emission color shift from blue to green,
      which is sensitive to sensing CO2 in atmospheric air with a content of ~400 ppm.
      Importantly, PFBT is employed to monitor photosynthesis and respiration upon
      cycling day and night in situ.

PMID- 28594166
TI  - Correction to Epitaxial Halide Perovskite Lateral Double Heterostructure.

PMID- 28594168
TI  - Large Scale Risks from Agricultural Pesticides in Small Streams.
AB  - Small streams are important refuges for biodiversity. In agricultural areas, they
      may be at risk from pesticide pollution. However, most related studies have been
      limited to a few streams on the regional level, hampering extrapolation to larger
      scales. We quantified risks as exceedances of regulatory acceptable
      concentrations (RACs) and used German monitoring data to quantify the drivers
      thereof and to assess current risks in small streams on a large scale. The data
      set was comprised of 1 766 104 measurements of 478 pesticides (including
      metabolites) related to 24 743 samples from 2301 sampling sites. We investigated
      the influence of agricultural land use, catchment size, as well as precipitation
      and seasonal dynamics on pesticide risk taking also concentrations below the
      limit of quantification into account. The exceedances of risk thresholds dropped
      3.7-fold at sites with no agriculture. Precipitation increased detection
      probability by 43%, and concentrations were the highest from April to June.
      Overall, this indicates that agricultural land use is a major contributor of
      pesticides in streams. RACs were exceeded in 26% of streams, with the highest
      exceedances found for neonicotinoid insecticides. We conclude that pesticides
      from agricultural land use are a major threat to small streams and their
      biodiversity. To reflect peak concentrations, current pesticide monitoring needs
      refinement.

PMID- 28594167
TI  - Toward an Expanded Genome: Structural and Computational Characterization of an
      Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System.
AB  - Although the fundamental properties of DNA as first proposed by Watson and Crick
      in 1953 provided a basic understanding of how duplex DNA was organized and might
      be replicated, it was not until the first crystal structures of DNA (Z-DNA in
      1979, B-DNA in 1980, and A-DNA in 1982) that the true complexity of the molecule
      began to be appreciated. Many crystal structures of oligonucleotides have since
      shed light on the helical forms that "Watson-Crick" DNA can adopt, their
      associated groove widths, and the properties of the nucleobase pairs and their
      interactions in all three helical forms. Additional understanding of the
      properties of Watson-Crick DNA has been provided by computational studies
      employing a variety of theoretical methods. Together with these studies devoted
      to understanding Watson-Crick DNA, recent efforts to expand the genetic alphabet
      have founded a new field in synthetic biology. One of these efforts, the
      artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS) developed by Steven
      Benner and co-workers, takes advantage of orthogonal hydrogen bonding to produce
      DNA comprised of six nucleobase pairs, of which the most extensively studied is
      referred to as P:Z with P being 2-amino-imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4(8H)-one)
      and Z being 6-amino-5-nitro-2(1H)-pyridone. P:Z forms three edge-on hydrogen
      bonds that differ from standard Watson-Crick pairs in the arrangement of
      acceptors and donor groups; P presents acceptor, acceptor, donor, and Z presents
      donor, donor, acceptor. Z is unique among the AEGIS nucleobases in having a nitro
      group present in the major groove. PZ-containing DNA has been exploited in a
      number of clinical applications and is being used to develop receptors and
      catalysts. Ultimately, the grand challenge will be to create a semisynthetic
      organism with an expanded genome. Furthermore, just as our understanding of the
      properties of natural DNA have benefited from structural and computational
      characterization, so too will our understanding of artificial DNA. This Account
      focuses on the structural and biophysical properties of AEGIS DNA containing P:Z
      pairs. We begin with the fundamental properties of P:Z nucleobase pairs,
      including their electrostatic potential and hydrogen-bonding energies, as
      elucidated by quantum mechanical calculations. We then examine the impact of
      including multiple consecutive P:Z pairs into duplex DNA providing an opportunity
      to investigate stacking interactions between P:Z pairs. The self-complementary 5'
      CTTATPPTAZZATAAG was crystallized in B-form using the host-guest system along
      with analogous natural sequences including Gs or As. Use of the host-guest system
      to characterize B-DNA obviates a number of limitations on the structural
      characterization of sequences of interest; these include the ability to
      crystallize the desired sequences and to distinguish structural effects imparted
      by the lattice constraints from those inherent in the sequence itself. On the
      other hand, 3/6ZP, 5'-CTTATPPPZZZATAAG, was crystallized in A-form in a DNA-only
      lattice allowing a comparative analysis of P:Z pairs in two of the biologically
      relevant helical forms: A- and B-DNA. Computational studies on the 3/6ZP sequence
      starting in A-form provide additional evidence for a more energetically favorable
      stacking interaction, which we term the "slide" conformer, observed in the A-form
      crystal structure; this unusual stacking interaction plays a major role in
      altering the conformational dynamics observed for the PZ-containing duplex as
      compared to a GC-containing "control" duplex in long time scale molecular
      dynamics simulations. This combined use of structural and computational
      strategies paves the way for obtaining a detailed description of artificial DNA,
      both in how it differs from Watson-Crick DNA and in the rational discovery of
      proteins, such as endonucleases, transcription factors, and polymerases, which
      can specifically manipulate DNA containing AEGIS nucleobase pairs.

PMID- 28594170
TI  - Pharmaceutical Approaches to Target Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms.
AB  - There is urgent need for new therapeutic strategies to fight the global threat of
      antibiotic resistance. The focus of this Perspective is on chemical agents that
      target the most common mechanisms of antibiotic resistance such as enzymatic
      inactivation of antibiotics, changes in cell permeability, and
      induction/activation of efflux pumps. Here we assess the current landscape and
      challenges in the treatment of antibiotic resistance mechanisms at both bacterial
      cell and community levels. We also discuss the potential clinical application of
      chemical inhibitors of antibiotic resistance mechanisms as add-on treatments for
      serious drug-resistant infections. Enzymatic inhibitors, such as the derivatives
      of the beta-lactamase inhibitor avibactam, are closer to the clinic than other
      molecules. For example, MK-7655, in combination with imipenem, is in clinical
      development for the treatment of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant
      Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are difficult to treat. In
      addition, other molecules targeting multidrug-resistance mechanisms, such as
      efflux pumps, are under development and hold promise for the treatment of
      multidrug resistant infections.

PMID- 28594171
TI  - Introducing Cobalt(II) Porphyrin/Cobalt(III) Corrole Containing Transducers for
      Improved Potential Reproducibility and Performance of All-Solid-State Ion
      Selective Electrodes.
AB  - A novel solid contact type for all-solid-state ion-selective electrodes is
      introduced, yielding high stability and reproducibility of potential readings
      between sensors as well as improved analytical performance. The transducer phase
      herein proposed takes advantage of the presence of porphyrinoids containing the
      same metal ion at different oxidation states. In contrast to the traditional
      approach, the compounds of choice are not a redox pair; although they have
      different oxidation states, they cannot be electrochemically driven one to
      another. The compounds of choice were cobalt(II) porphyrin and cobalt(III)
      corrole-both characterized by a high stability of the coordinated metal ions in
      their respective redox states and electrical neutrality, as well as relatively
      high lipophilicity. The porphyrinoids were used together with carbon nanotubes to
      yield transducer layers for ion-selective electrodes. As a result, we obtained a
      high stability of potential readings of the resulting ion-selective electrodes
      together with good reproducibility between different sensor batches. Moreover,
      advantageously the presence of porphyrinoids in the transducer phase results in
      improvement of the analytical performance of the sensors: linear response range
      and selectivity due to interactions with membrane components, resulting in
      tailoring of ion fluxes through the membrane phase. Thus, carbon nanotubes with
      the cobalt(II) porphyrin/cobalt(III) corrole system are promising alternatives
      for existing transducer systems for potentiometric sensors.

PMID- 28594169
TI  - Biosynthesis of Fluorinated Peptaibols Using a Site-Directed Building Block
      Incorporation Approach.
AB  - Synthetic biological approaches, such as site-directed biosynthesis, have
      contributed to the expansion of the chemical space of natural products, making
      possible the biosynthesis of unnatural metabolites that otherwise would be
      difficult to access. Such methods may allow the incorporation of fluorine, an
      atom rarely found in nature, into complex secondary metabolites. Organofluorine
      compounds and secondary metabolites have both played pivotal roles in the
      development of drugs; however, their discovery and development are often via
      nonintersecting tracks. In this context, we used the biosynthetic machinery of
      Trichoderma arundinaceum (strain MSX70741) to incorporate a fluorine atom into
      peptaibol-type molecules in a site-selective manner. Thus, fermentation of strain
      MSX70741 in media containing ortho- and meta-F-phenylalanine resulted in the
      biosynthesis of two new fluorine-containing alamethicin F50 derivatives. The
      fluorinated products were characterized using spectroscopic (1D and 2D NMR,
      including 19F) and spectrometric (HRESIMS/MSn) methods, and their absolute
      configurations were established by Marfey's analysis. Fluorine-containing
      alamethicin F50 derivatives exhibited potency analogous to the nonfluorinated
      parent when evaluated against a panel of human cancer cell lines. Importantly,
      the biosynthesis of fluorinated alamethicin F50 derivatives by strain MSX70741
      was monitored in situ using a droplet-liquid microjunction-surface sampling probe
      coupled to a hyphenated system.

PMID- 28594173
TI  - Excited-State Proton Transfer of Cyanonaphthols in Protic Ionic Liquids:
      Appearance of a New Fluorescent Species.
AB  - Excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) of 5-cyano-2-naphthol (5CN2) and 5,8-dicyano
      2-naphthol (DCN2) in three different protic ionic liquids (PILs),
      triethylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([N222H][CF3SO3]), triethylammonium
      methanesulfonate ([N222H][CH3SO3]), and triethylammonium trifluoroacetate
      ([N222H][CF3COO]), was studied by time-resolved fluorescence. In [N222H][CF3SO3],
      both 5CN2 and DCN2 showed fluorescence only from ROH* (normal form of substituted
      naphthol in the excited states), indicating that no ESPT occurred in
      [N222H][CF3SO3]. For 5CN2 in [N222H][CH3SO3], fluorescence bands from ROH* and RO
      * (anionic form of substituted naphthol in the excited states) were observed,
      indicating that 5CN2 could dissociate proton to surrounding solvents and form RO
      *. More interestingly, 5CN2 in [N222H][CF3COO] and DCN2 in [N222H][CH3SO3] and
      [N222H][CF3COO] showed an anomalous fluorescence band around 470 nm (5CN2) or
      around 520 nm (DCN2) which has not been reported previously. The kinetics of each
      fluorescent component of 5CN2 and DCN2 was analyzed on the basis of the time
      profile of fluorescence intensity. Plausible ESPT schemes of 5CN2 and DCN2 were
      discussed on the basis of the kinetics and the basicity of anion in PILs.

PMID- 28594174
TI  - Improving Robustness: In Situ Generation of a Pd(0) Catalyst for the Cyanation of
      Aryl Bromides.
AB  - Conditions have been developed for the palladium-catalyzed cyanation of aryl
      bromides utilizing the air-stable XantPhos-PdCl2 precatalyst. By employing a
      trialkylamine as a reducing agent, the active Pd(0) species is generated in situ,
      alleviating the need to employ the air-sensitive Pd2(dba)3. Twenty-two
      substituted benzonitriles have been synthesized using this method.

PMID- 28594172
TI  - Structure-Based Optimization of Pyridoxal 5'-Phosphate-Dependent Transaminase
      Enzyme (BioA) Inhibitors that Target Biotin Biosynthesis in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis.
AB  - The pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent transaminase BioA catalyzes the second
      step in the biosynthesis of biotin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and is an
      essential enzyme for bacterial survival and persistence in vivo. A promising BioA
      inhibitor 6 containing an N-aryl, N'-benzoylpiperazine scaffold was previously
      identified by target-based whole-cell screening. Here, we explore the structure
      activity relationships (SAR) through the design, synthesis, and biological
      evaluation of a systematic series of analogues of the original hit using a
      structure-based drug design strategy, which was enabled by cocrystallization of
      several analogues with BioA. To confirm target engagement and discern analogues
      with off-target activity, each compound was evaluated against wild-type (WT) Mtb
      in biotin-free and -containing medium as well as BioA under- and overexpressing
      Mtb strains. Conformationally constrained derivative 36 emerged as the most
      potent analogue with a KD of 76 nM against BioA and a minimum inhibitory
      concentration of 1.7 MUM (0.6 MUg/mL) against Mtb in biotin-free medium.

PMID- 28594176
TI  - Radical Deaminative ipso-Cyclization of 4-Methoxyanilines with 1,7-Enynes for
      Accessing Spirocyclohexadienone-Containing Cyclopenta[c]quinolin-4-ones.
AB  - A new C-center radical-triggered bicyclization cascade of N-tethered 1,7-enynes
      for forming 28 examples of biologically interesting spirocyclohexadienone
      containing cyclopenta[c]quinolin-4-ones with two all-carbon quaternary
      stereocenters has been established under mild conditions. The in situ generated
      diazonium salts from 4-methoxyanilines and t-BuONO are served as 4-methoxyphenyl
      precursors without additional oxidant, enabling 6-exo-dig cyclization/5-exo-trig
      ipso-cyclization to construct three new C-C bonds through metal-free
      dearomatization. The reaction also features broad substrate scope, annulation
      efficiency, and high functional group tolerance.

PMID- 28594175
TI  - Hepatitis C Virus NS3/4A Protease Inhibitors Incorporating Flexible P2
      Quinoxalines Target Drug Resistant Viral Variants.
AB  - A substrate envelope-guided design strategy is reported for improving the
      resistance profile of HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitors. Analogues of 5172-mcP1P3
      were designed by incorporating diverse quinoxalines at the P2 position that
      predominantly interact with the invariant catalytic triad of the protease.
      Exploration of structure-activity relationships showed that inhibitors with small
      hydrophobic substituents at the 3-position of P2 quinoxaline maintain better
      potency against drug resistant variants, likely due to reduced interactions with
      residues in the S2 subsite. In contrast, inhibitors with larger groups at this
      position were highly susceptible to mutations at Arg155, Ala156, and Asp168.
      Excitingly, several inhibitors exhibited exceptional potency profiles with EC50
      values <=5 nM against major drug resistant HCV variants. These findings support
      that inhibitors designed to interact with evolutionarily constrained regions of
      the protease, while avoiding interactions with residues not essential for
      substrate recognition, are less likely to be susceptible to drug resistance.

PMID- 28594177
TI  - A Versatile Toolbox for the Control of Protein Levels Using Nepsilon-Acetyl-l
      lysine Dependent Amber Suppression.
AB  - The analysis of the function of essential genes in vivo depends on the ability to
      experimentally modulate levels of their protein products. Current methods to
      address this are based on transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulation of
      mRNAs, but approaches based on the exploitation of translation regulation have so
      far been neglected. Here we describe a toolbox, based on amber suppression in the
      presence of Nepsilon-acetyl-l-lysine (AcK), for translational tuning of protein
      output. We chose the highly sensitive luminescence system LuxCDABE as a reporter
      and incorporated a UAG stop codon into the gene for the reductase subunit LuxC.
      The system was used to measure and compare the effects of AcK- and Nepsilon-(tert
      butoxycarbonyl)-l-lysine (BocK) dependent amber suppression in Escherichia coli.
      We also demonstrate here that, in combination with transcriptional regulation,
      the system allows protein production to be either totally repressed or gradually
      adjusted. To identify sequence motifs that provide improved translational
      regulation, we varied the sequence context of the amber codon and found that
      insertion of two preceding prolines drastically decreases luminescence. In
      addition, using LacZ as a reporter, we demonstrated that a strain encoding a
      variant with a Pro-Pro amber motif can only grow on lactose when AcK is supplied,
      thus confirming the tight translational regulation of protein output. In
      parallel, we constructed an E. coli strain that carries an isopropyl beta-d-1
      thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible version of the AcK-tRNA synthetase (AcKRS)
      gene on the chromosome, thus preventing mischarging of noncognate substrates.
      Subsequently, a diaminopimelic acid auxotrophic mutant (DeltadapA) was generated
      demonstrating the potential of this strain in regulating essential gene products.
      Furthermore, we assembled a set of vectors based on the broad-host-range pBBR ori
      that enable the AcK-dependent amber suppression system to control protein output
      not only in E. coli, but also in Salmonella enterica and Vibrio cholerae.

PMID- 28594178
TI  - Catalytic Dehydrogenative C-C Coupling by a Pincer-Ligated Iridium Complex.
AB  - The pincer-iridium fragment (iPrPCP)Ir (RPCP = kappa3-2,6-C6H3(CH2PR2)2) has been
      found to catalyze the dehydrogenative coupling of vinyl arenes to afford
      predominantly (E,E)-1,4-diaryl-1,3-butadienes. The eliminated hydrogen can
      undergo addition to another molecule of vinyl arene, resulting in an overall
      disproportionation reaction with 1 equiv of ethyl arene formed for each
      equivalent of diarylbutadiene produced. Alternatively, sacrificial hydrogen
      acceptors (e.g., tert-butylethylene) can be added to the solution for this
      purpose. Diarylbutadienes are isolated in moderate to good yields, up to ca. 90%
      based on the disproportionation reaction. The results of DFT calculations and
      experiments with substituted styrenes indicate that the coupling proceeds via
      double C-H addition of a styrene molecule, at beta-vinyl and ortho-aryl
      positions, to give an iridium(III) metalloindene intermediate; this intermediate
      then adds a beta-vinyl C-H bond of a second styrene molecule before reductively
      eliminating product. Several metalloindene complexes have been isolated and
      crystallographically characterized. In accord with the proposed mechanism,
      substitution at the ortho-aryl positions of the styrene precludes dehydrogenative
      homocoupling. In the case of 2,4,6-trimethylstyrene, dehydrogenative coupling of
      beta-vinyl and ortho-methyl C-H bonds affords dimethylindene, demonstrating that
      the dehydrogenative coupling is not limited to C(sp2)-H bonds.

PMID- 28594179
TI  - Organocatalytic Direct N-Acylation of Amides with Aldehydes under Oxidative
      Conditions.
AB  - The direct oxidative N-acylation reaction of primary amides with aryl/alpha,beta
      unsaturated aldehydes was achieved in the presence of azolium salt C3 and an
      inorganic base using 3,3',5,5'-tetra-tert-butyldiphenoquinone as the oxidant,
      thus providing an efficient approach for the synthesis of three types of imide
      compounds including N-sulfonylcarboxamides, N-sulfinylcarboxamides, and
      dicarboxyimides in good yield.

PMID- 28594180
TI  - Accurate Determination of Ion Polarizabilities in Aqueous Solutions.
AB  - We present a novel method for obtaining salt polarizabilities in aqueous
      solutions based on our recent theory for the refractive index of salt solutions,
      which predicts a linear relationship between the refractive index and the salt
      concentration at low concentrations, with a slope determined by the intrinsic
      values of the salt polarizability and the density of the solution. Here we apply
      this theory to determine the polarizabilities of 32 strong electrolyte salts in
      aqueous solutions from refractive index and density measurements. Setting Li+ as
      the standard ion, we then determine the polarizabilities of seven cations (Na+,
      K+, Rb+, Cs+, Ca2+, Ba2+, and Sr2+) and seven anions (F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, ClO4-,
      NO3-, and SO42-), which can be used as important reference data. We investigate
      the effect of temperature on salt polarizabilities, which decreases slightly with
      increasing temperature. The ion polarizability is found to be proportional to the
      cube of bare ionic radius (rbare3) for univalent ions, but the relationship does
      not hold for multivalent ions. Contrary to findings of Krishnamurti, we find no
      significant linear relationship between ion polarizability and the square of the
      atomic number (N2) for smaller ions.

PMID- 28594181
TI  - d0a3 Synthon Equivalents for the Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Functionalized 1,4
      Amino Alcohol Precursors.
AB  - This study demonstrates the design, synthesis, and first application of novel
      aminooxylating reagents that serve as a useful d0a3 synthon equivalents for
      organic synthesis. It has been demonstrated that their reaction with alpha,beta
      unsaturated aldehydes performed under aminocatalytic conditions provides a
      straightforward access to polysubstituted tetrahydro-1,2-oxazine derivatives,
      direct precursors of functionalized 1,4-amino alcohols. Target tetrahydro-1,2
      oxazine derivatives have been obtained with high yields (up to 89%) and with
      excellent stereocontrol (up to >20:1 dr, > 99.5:0.5 er). Furthermore, the
      synthetic usefulness of tetrahydro-1,2-oxazines obtained has been demonstrated in
      various selective transformations.

PMID- 28594182
TI  - Novel Composite Gel Electrolytes with Enhanced Electrical Conductivity and
      Thermal Stability Prepared Using Self-Assembled Nanofibrillar Networks.
AB  - Novel composite gel electrolytes were prepared using self-assembled organogels as
      scaffolds. Mixing silica with the low-molecular-weight poly(ethylene glycol)
      (PEG)-based electrolytes resulted in precipitation due to significant aggregation
      of silica. However, clear and transparent PEG-silica composite gel electrolytes
      were obtained with 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-d-sorbitol (DBS) organogels. The
      organogels resulted from the formation of DBS nanofibrillar networks in which the
      diameter sizes of the nanofibrils ranged from 10 to 100 nm, as observed by
      transmission electron microscopy. These three-dimensional nanofibrillar networks
      entrapped the silica and prevented its aggregation. The thermal properties, such
      as gel dissolution and thermal degradation temperatures, of the composite gels
      significantly increased with increasing silica content, as determined by
      polarizing optical microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The conductivity of
      the prepared composite gel electrolytes was clearly enhanced by increasing the
      silica content. The silica was well dispersed along the DBS nanofibrillar
      networks, establishing homogeneous microstructures and effective contact with
      other components of the electrolytes, leading to an increase in the conductivity.

PMID- 28594183
TI  - The Opposite Effect of Water and N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone Cosolvents on the
      Nanostructural Organization of Ethylammonium Butanoate Ionic Liquid: A Small- and
      Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering and Molecular Dynamics Simulations Study.
AB  - Two series of mixtures of ethylammoniumbutanoate (EAB, [N0 0 0 2][C3CO2]) in
      water and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) have been prepared at different molar
      fractions to assess the effect of these two polar solvents on the nanostructural
      order present in [N0 0 0 2][C3CO2]. The small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering
      (SWAXS) pattern of the liquid in neat state shows a prepeak at Q = 0.513 A-1,
      which is associated with the aggregation of nonpolar alkyl chains of both cations
      and anions. Interestingly, the two solvents affect the nanostructure of [N0 0 0
      2][C3CO2] differently, though both are polar. In the case of water addition to
      the mixture, the prepeak shifts to lower Q values, while in NMP, it moves toward
      higher values. Also, the principal peaks move in opposite direction in both
      solvents. The underlying expansion (water) or contraction (NMP) of the solutions
      observed by the scattering experiments is discussed in terms of molecular
      dynamics (MD) simulations, which are in very good agreement with the observed
      patterns.

PMID- 28594184
TI  - Lattice-Gas Modeling of Adsorbate Diffusion in Mixed-Linker Zeolitic Imidazolate
      Frameworks: Effect of Local Imidazolate Ordering.
AB  - The rates of adsorbate diffusion in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) can be
      varied by several orders of magnitude by incorporating two different imidazolate
      linkers in the ZIF crystals. Although some prior measurements of short-range
      order in these mixed-linker materials have been reported, it is unclear how this
      short-range order impacts the net diffusion of adsorbates. We introduce a lattice
      diffusion model that treats diffusion in ZIF-8x-90100-x crystals as a series of
      activated hops between cages, allowing us to assess the effects of short-range
      imidazolate order on molecular diffusion.

PMID- 28594186
TI  - Methods for Generating Highly Magnetically Responsive Lanthanide-Chelating
      Phospholipid Polymolecular Assemblies.
AB  - Mixtures of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and its lanthanide
      ion (Ln3+) chelating phospholipid conjugate, 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho
      ethanolamine-diethylene triaminepentaacetate (DMPE-DTPA), assemble into highly
      magnetically responsive polymolecular assemblies such as DMPC/DMPE-DTPA/Ln3+
      (molar ratio 4:1:1) bicelles. Their geometry and magnetic alignability is
      enhanced by introducing cholesterol into the bilayer in DMPC/Cholesterol/DMPE
      DTPA/Ln3+ (molar ratio 16:4:5:5). However, the reported fabrication procedures
      remain tedious and limit the generation of highly magnetically alignable species.
      Herein, a simplified procedure where freeze thawing cycles and extrusion are
      replaced by gentle heating and cooling cycles for the hydration of the dry lipid
      film was developed. Heating above the phase transition temperature Tm of the
      lipids composing the bilayer before cooling back below the Tm was essential to
      guarantee successful formation of the polymolecular assemblies composed of
      DMPC/DMPE-DTPA/Ln3+ (molar ratio 4:1:1). Planar polymolecular assemblies in the
      size range of hundreds of nanometers are achieved and deliver unprecedented gains
      in magnetic response. The proposed heating and cooling procedure further allowed
      to regenerate the highly magnetically alignable DMPC/Cholesterol/DMPE-DTPA/Ln3+
      (molar ratio 16:4:5:5) species after storage for one month frozen at -18  degrees
      C. The simplicity and viability of the proposed fabrication procedure offers a
      new set of highly magnetically responsive lanthanide ion chelating phospholipid
      polymolecular assemblies as building blocks for the smart soft materials of
      tomorrow.

PMID- 28594185
TI  - Double Magnetic Relaxation and Magnetocaloric Effect in the {Mn9[W(CN)8]6(4,4'
      dpds)4} Cluster-Based Network.
AB  - Cyanide-bridged {MnII9[WV(CN)8]6} clusters with the ground state spin SSG = 39/2
      were connected by a 4,4'-dipyridyl disulfide (4,4'-dpds) linker into 2-D double
      connected coordination layers of the I0O2 type, {MnII9(4,4'
      dpds)4(MeOH)16[WV(CN)8]6}.12MeOH (1). The intercluster contacts are controlled by
      the bridging MnII-(4,4'-dpds)-MnII coordination modes and direct hydrogen bonds W
      CN...HOMeOH-Mn in three crystallographic directions, with the vertex-to-vertex
      contact unprecedented in {Mn9W6}-based networks dominating over the typical edge
      to-edge contacts. The resulting 3D supramolecular network of high-spin clusters
      was subjected to a thorough magnetic characterization in context of two critical
      issues. First, the intracluster WV-CN-MnII exchange coupling and intercluster
      interaction were successfully modeled through the combination of dc measurements,
      Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, and mean-field calculations, yielding a
      reasonable Jap = -8.0 cm-1, Jeq = -19.2 cm-1 (related to apical and equatorial CN
      bridges, depending on the angle they form with the S4 axis of dodecahedral
      [W(CN)8]3- units, respectively), and zJ' = 0.014 cm-1 with the average gW = gMn =
      2.0 parameter set. Continuing this approach, we simulated the magnetocaloric
      effect (MCE) and compared it to the experimental result of DeltaSmax = 7.31 J kg
      1 K-1 for fields >5.0 T. Second, two relaxation processes were induced by a
      relatively weak magnetic field, Hdc = 500 Oe, at an Hac field frequency range of
      up to 10 kHz, which are related to dipole-dipole interactions between high-spin
      (39/2) moieties. The observed relaxation times significantly differ from each
      other, the slow process with tauslow at tenths of a second being temperature
      independent and the faster process being 3-5 orders of magnitude faster with the
      effective energy barrier Deltaeff = 17.6 K. These dynamic properties are
      surprising, since the compound is made up of isotropic high-spin molecules.

PMID- 28594188
TI  - Caregiving experience and its relation to perceptual narrowing of face gender.
AB  - This research examined whether infants tested longitudinally at 10, 14, and 16
      months of age (N = 58) showed evidence of perceptual narrowing based on face
      gender (better discrimination of female than male faces) and whether changes in
      caregiving experience longitudinally predicted changes in infants' discrimination
      of male faces. To test face discrimination, infants participated in
      familiarization/novelty preference tasks and visual search tasks including female
      and male faces. At each age of participation, they were coded as having a female
      primary caregiver only or distributed caregiving experience (alternating
      experience with a female and male primary caregiver). Perceptual narrowing was
      evident for infants with a female primary caregiver, but only within the visual
      search task, which required location of a familiarized face among 3 novel
      distractor faces (exemplar-based discrimination); it was not evident within the
      familiarity/novelty preference task, which required discrimination between a
      familiarized and novel face (individual-based discrimination). Caregiving
      experience significantly explained individual changes in infants' ability to
      locate male faces during the visual search task after 10 months. These data are
      the first to demonstrate flexibility of the face processing system in relation to
      gender discrimination when there is a change in caregiver within the infants'
      natural environment after perceptual narrowing normally manifests. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28594189
TI  - Shifting between mental sets: An individual differences approach to commonalities
      and differences of task switching components.
AB  - Switching between mental sets has been extensively investigated in both
      experimental and individual differences research using a wide range of task
      switch paradigms. However, it is yet unclear whether these different tasks
      measure a unitary shifting ability or reflect different facets thereof. In this
      study, 20 task pairs were administered to 119 young adults to assess 5 proposed
      components of mental set shifting: switching between judgments, stimulus
      dimensions, stimulus-response mappings, response sets, and stimulus sets.
      Modeling latent factors for each of the components revealed that a model with 5
      separate yet mostly correlated factors fit the data best. In this model, the
      components most strongly related to the other latent factors were stimulus
      response mapping shifting and, to a lesser degree, response set shifting. In
      addition, both factors were statistically indistinguishable from a second-order
      general shifting factor. In contrast, shifting between judgments as well as
      stimulus dimensions consistently required separate factors and could, hence, not
      fully be accounted for by the general shifting factor. Finally, shifting between
      stimulus sets was unrelated to any other shifting component but mapping shifting.
      We conclude that tasks assessing shifting between mappings are most adequate to
      assess general shifting ability. In contrast, shifting between stimulus sets
      (e.g., as in the Trail Making Test) probably reflects shifts in visual attention
      rather than executive shifting ability. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594187
TI  - Genetic and environmental sources of covariation between early drinking and adult
      functioning.
AB  - The vast majority of individuals initiate alcohol consumption for the first time
      in adolescence. Given the widespread nature of its use and evidence that
      adolescents may be especially vulnerable to its effects, there is concern about
      the long-term detrimental impact of adolescent drinking on adult functioning.
      While some researchers have suggested that genetic processes may confound the
      relationship, the mechanisms linking drinking and later adjustment remain
      unclear. The current study utilized a genetically informed sample and biometric
      modeling to examine the nature of the familial influences on this association and
      identify the potential for genetic confounding. The sample was drawn from the
      Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS), a longitudinal study consisting of 2,764
      twins assessed in 2 cohorts at regular follow-ups from age 17 to age 29 (older
      cohort) or age 11 to age 29 (younger cohort). A broad range of adult measures was
      included assessing substance use, antisocial behavior, personality, socioeconomic
      status, and social functioning. A bivariate Cholesky decomposition was used to
      examine the common genetic and environmental influences on adolescent drinking
      and each of the measures of adult adjustment. The results revealed that genetic
      factors and nonshared environmental influences were generally most important in
      explaining the relationship between adolescent drinking and later functioning.
      While the presence of nonshared environmental influences on the association are
      not inconsistent with a causal impact of adolescent drinking, the findings
      suggest that many of the adjustment issues associated with adolescent alcohol
      consumption are best understood as genetically influenced vulnerabilities.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594190
TI  - Mnemonic transmission, social contagion, and emergence of collective memory:
      Influence of emotional valence, group structure, and information distribution.
AB  - Social transmission of memory and its consequence on collective memory have
      generated enduring interdisciplinary interest because of their widespread
      significance in interpersonal, sociocultural, and political arenas. We tested the
      influence of 3 key factors-emotional salience of information, group structure,
      and information distribution-on mnemonic transmission, social contagion, and
      collective memory. Participants individually studied emotionally salient
      (negative or positive) and nonemotional (neutral) picture-word pairs that were
      completely shared, partially shared, or unshared within participant triads, and
      then completed 3 consecutive recalls in 1 of 3 conditions: individual-individual
      individual (control), collaborative-collaborative (identical group; insular
      structure)-individual, and collaborative-collaborative (reconfigured group;
      diverse structure)-individual. Collaboration enhanced negative memories
      especially in insular group structure and especially for shared information, and
      promoted collective forgetting of positive memories. Diverse group structure
      reduced this negativity effect. Unequally distributed information led to social
      contagion that creates false memories; diverse structure propagated a greater
      variety of false memories whereas insular structure promoted confidence in false
      recognition and false collective memory. A simultaneous assessment of network
      structure, information distribution, and emotional valence breaks new ground to
      specify how network structure shapes the spread of negative memories and false
      memories, and the emergence of collective memory. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594191
TI  - Overgeneral autobiographical memory in healthy young and older adults:
      Differential age effects on components of the capture and rumination, functional
      avoidance, and impaired executive control (CaRFAX) model.
AB  - The CaRFAX model (Williams et al., 2007) has been used to explain the causes of
      overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM; the difficulty to retrieve specific
      autobiographical memories), a cognitive phenomenon generally related with
      different psychopathologies. This model proposes 3 different mechanisms to
      explain OGM: capture and rumination (CaR), functional avoidance (FA) and impaired
      executive functions (X). However, the complete CaRFAX model has not been tested
      in nonclinical populations. This study aims to assess the usefulness of the
      CaRFAX model to explain OGM in 2 healthy samples: a young sample and an older
      sample, to test for possible age-related differences in the underlying causes of
      OGM. A total of 175 young (age range: 19-36 years) and 175 older (age range: 53
      88 years) participants completed measures of brooding rumination (CaR),
      functional avoidance (FA), and executive tasks (X). Using structural equation
      modeling, we found that memory specificity is mainly associated with lower
      functional avoidance and higher executive functions in the older group, but only
      with executive functions in young participants. We discuss the different roles of
      emotional regulation strategies used by young and older people and their relation
      to the CaRFAX model to explain OGM in healthy people. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594192
TI  - Networks of loss: Relationships among symptoms of prolonged grief following
      spousal and parental loss.
AB  - The death of a loved one can trigger a range of emotional, behavioral,
      motivational and cognitive reactions collectively labeled as "grief." There has
      been a recent resurgence of empirical interest in grief reactions, and there is
      now a general consensus that 7%-10% of bereaved individuals experience intense
      and chronic reactions termed Prolonged Grief (PG). However, there is ongoing
      debate about how best to conceptualize the construct. Recent studies have
      advanced this debate by applying a network, or causal systems approach. Whereas
      traditional views of psychopathology posit symptoms of disorders reflect the
      independent actions of latent entities, the network approach argues that the
      symptoms themselves interact to give rise to the disorder. A network
      conceptualization offers novel approaches to studying the mechanisms that
      contribute to PG. To date, however, research has focused only on spousal loss and
      only used a single archival data set. Therefore, in this paper we apply network
      analysis to examine relationships among PG symptoms in samples of individuals
      bereaved by loss of a spouse (Study 1, N = 193) and a parent (Study 2, N = 180).
      Participants completed the PG-13 and a measure of depression. A comparison test
      suggested the networks produced from each sample were not reliably different. The
      strongest link in both networks was between yearning and emotional pain.
      Meaninglessness was relatively central, whereas avoidance was peripheral in both
      networks. Findings are discussed with reference to theoretical models and the
      potential benefits a network approach may hold for understanding relationships
      between symptoms of PG. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594193
TI  - Examination of traumatic brain injury exposure among veterans with spinal cord
      injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated lifetime exposure to traumatic brain injury
      (TBI) among veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI) in order to describe outcome
      differences as a function of self-reported TBI history. DESIGN: Cross sectional
      study, veterans with SCI (N = 857) completed the Ohio State University TBI
      Identification interview method (OSU-TBI); Veterans RAND 36-Item Health Survey
      (VR-36); Quick Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology, Self-Report (QIDS-SR);
      Patient Health Questionnaire-9; Satisfaction with Life Scale; Craig Handicap
      Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART; along with clinician-rated Functional
      Independence Measure (FIM) Total, Motor, and Cognitive scores. RESULTS: Probable
      TBI exposure was described by 77.6% of participants, with 38% reporting
      sustaining more than one injury. Self-reported TBIs classified as moderate/severe
      comprised 49.5% of injuries. Participants with self-reported TBI obtained
      significantly lower scores on the FIM-Cognitive and CHART Cognitive Independence
      scales and reported more alcohol use. A history of multiple TBIs was additionally
      associated with lower mental well-being on the VR-36. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      highlight the need to consider more than co-occurring injuries and the potential
      utility of the OSU-TBI for this purpose. Recognizing lifetime exposure to TBI
      among veterans with SCI may help identify those with broader impairments and
      enhance the rehabilitation process. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594194
TI  - Conducting preference assessments for youth with disorders of consciousness
      during rehabilitation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Care and rehabilitation for individuals with disorders of consciousness
      (DOC) can be challenging; the use of observational data collection,
      individualized treatment programs, and incorporation of preferred, personally
      meaningful and salient items may be helpful in addressing such challenges during
      assessment and intervention. In this article, we extend the predominantly adult
      literature on use of salient items to promote differential responding by
      describing our methodology to identify preferred items across sensory domains for
      application during inpatient rehabilitation with children with DOC. METHOD:
      Details on the indirect and direct preference assessment procedures rooted in
      applied behavior analysis that we have tailored for this population are provided.
      We describe steps of the procedures, including structured caregiver interview,
      staff survey, item inclusion, in vivo single-item stimulus preference assessment,
      and treatment. Clinical case examples further illustrate implementation of our
      methodology, observed response topographies, individually identified preferred
      items, and their application for 3 children in a minimally conscious state. In
      addition, we introduce a new structured caregiver interview, the Preference
      Assessment for Youth with Disorders of Consciousness (PAYDOC), modeled on the
      Reinforcer Assessment for Individuals with Severe Disabilities (RAISD; Fisher,
      Piazza, Bowman, & Amari, 1996) and modified to be appropriate for future use as a
      clinical tool to enhance assessment of preferences with this pediatric brain
      injury population. IMPLICATIONS: This methodology can be used to identify highly
      idiosyncratic stimuli that can be incorporated in multiple ways throughout
      rehabilitation to optimize care for youth with DOC. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594196
TI  - Online and mobile technologies for self-management in bipolar disorder: A
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Internet (eHealth) and smartphone-based (mHealth) approaches to self
      management for bipolar disorder are increasingly common. Evidence-based self
      management strategies are available for bipolar disorder and provide a useful
      framework for reviewing existing eHealth/mHealth programs to determine whether
      these strategies are supported by current technologies. This review assesses
      which self-management strategies are most supported by technology. METHOD: Based
      on 3 previous studies, 7 categories of self-management strategies related to
      bipolar disorder were identified, followed by a systematic literature review to
      identify existing eHealth and mHealth programs for this disorder. Searches were
      conducted by using PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of
      Systematic Reviews for relevant peer-reviewed articles published January 2005 to
      May 2015. eHealth and mHealth programs were summarized and reviewed to identify
      which of the 7 self-management strategy categories were supported by eHealth or
      mHealth programs. RESULTS: From 1,654 publications, 15 papers were identified for
      inclusion. From these, 9 eHealth programs and 2 mHealth programs were identified.
      The most commonly supported self-management strategy categories were "ongoing
      monitoring," "maintaining hope," "education," and "planning for and taking
      action"; the least commonly supported categories were "relaxation" and
      "maintaining a healthy lifestyle." eHealth programs appear to provide more
      comprehensive coverage of self-management strategies compared with mHealth
      programs. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Both eHealth and mHealth
      programs present a wide range of self-management strategies for bipolar disorder,
      although individuals seeking comprehensive interventions might be best served by
      eHealth programs, while those seeking more condensed and direct interventions
      might prefer mHealth programs. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594195
TI  - Pain-related anxiety as a predictor of early lapse and relapse to cigarette
      smoking.
AB  - Although emerging research suggests that pain-related anxiety may play a role in
      the maintenance of tobacco dependence, no previous work has examined pain-related
      anxiety as a predictor of smoking cessation outcomes. The current study aimed to
      test the hypothesis that pain-related anxiety would predict early lapse and
      relapse to cigarette smoking. These data were collected in the context of a
      primary study examining the role of emotional vulnerabilities in smoking
      cessation. The current analyses were conducted among 55 daily cigarette smokers
      who attempted to quit without psychosocial or pharmacological cessation aids.
      Pain-related anxiety was assessed at baseline using the Pain Anxiety Symptom
      Scale-20 (PASS-20). Early lapse and relapse were assessed using timeline follow
      back procedures. Cox regression analyses indicated that pain-related anxiety was
      a significant predictor of both early smoking lapse and relapse such that for
      every 1-point increase on the PASS-20, the risk of early lapse increased by 3.7%
      and the risk of early relapse increased by 3.6%. These effects were evident above
      and beyond the variance accounted for by tobacco dependence, past 4-week pain
      severity, anxiety sensitivity, and the presence of current Axis I
      psychopathology. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses further revealed that among early
      lapsers, greater pain-related anxiety predicted a more rapid trajectory to lapse.
      Pain-related anxiety was also a significant predictor of early lapse when the
      sample was limited to smokers with past 4-week pain. These findings lend
      empirical support to the notion that pain-related anxiety may contribute to the
      maintenance of tobacco dependence among smokers who experience varying levels of
      pain intensity. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594197
TI  - The mediating role of mattering to others in recovery and stigma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examines the role of mattering to others as an
      intrapersonal construct that may mediate the relationship between social support
      and 2 separate criterion variables: recovery and internalized stigma associated
      with living with a serious mental health condition. Adults living with serious
      mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, face numerous social challenges
      that may leave them feeling isolated, stigmatized, and that they do not matter to
      others, thus thwarting the potential for recovery. Theorists and researchers
      conceptualize the sense of mattering to others as the perception that 1 is
      valued, recognized by others along with the feelings that others are concerned
      about our well-being. METHOD: Clubhouse members (N = 119) completed 1-hr, in
      depth personal interviews assessing perceived social support, experiences of
      mental health recovery, and stigma associated with living with a mental health
      condition as well as a sense of mattering to others. RESULTS: Mediation analyses
      revealed the significant effects of mattering to others as explaining the
      relationship between social support and recovery as well as the relationship
      between social support and internalized stigma. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR
      PRACTICE: The findings illuminate our understanding as to how social support
      interventions can enhance recovery and reduce stigma associated with living with
      a psychiatric condition by attention to perceptions of whether one is valued and
      recognized by others. Mattering to others among consumers of social and health
      care interventions can serve to engage individuals who may withdraw from supports
      or internalize negative self-stereotypes based on internalized stigma. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28594198
TI  - The reliability paradox of the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Corporal Punishment
      Subscale.
AB  - In the present investigation we consider and explain an apparent paradox in the
      measurement of corporal punishment with the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale
      (CTS-PC): How can it have poor internal consistency and still be reliable? The
      CTS-PC was administered to a community sample of 453 opposite sex couples who
      were parents of 3- to 7-year-old children. Internal consistency was marginal, yet
      item response theory analyses revealed that reliability rose sharply with
      increasing corporal punishment, exceeding .80 in the upper ranges of the
      construct. The results suggest that the CTS-PC Corporal Punishment subscale
      reliably discriminates among parents who report average to high corporal
      punishment (64% of mothers and 56% of fathers in the present sample), despite low
      overall internal consistency. These results have straightforward implications for
      the use and reporting of the scale. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594200
TI  - A mixed-methods study of personality conceptions in the Levant: Jordan, Lebanon,
      Syria, and the West Bank.
AB  - Personality taxonomies are investigated using either etic-style studies that test
      whether Western-developed models fit in a new culture, or emic-style studies that
      derive personality dimensions from a local culture, using a psycholexical
      approach. Recent studies have incorporated strengths from both approaches. We
      combine the 2 approaches in the first study of personality descriptors in spoken
      Arabic. In Study 1, we collected 17,283 responses from a sample of adults in
      Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank (N = 545). Qualitative analysis
      revealed 9 personality dimensions: Soft-Heartedness, Positive Social Relatedness,
      Integrity, Humility versus Dominance, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Emotional
      Stability, Intellect, and Openness. In Study 2, we converted the qualitative
      model into an indigenous personality inventory and obtained self-ratings of a
      sample of adults in the same region (N = 395). We also simultaneously obtained
      self-ratings on an adapted etic inventory that measures the lexical Big Five (N =
      325). Psychometric and conceptual considerations yielded a robust 7-factor
      indigenous model: Agreeableness/Soft Heartedness, Honesty/Integrity,
      Unconventionality, Emotional Stability, Conscientiousness, Extraversion/Positive
      Social Relatedness, and Intellect. Initial validation evidence shows that 5 of
      the 7 factors overlapped with the Big Five, whereas Honesty/Integrity and
      Unconventionality did not overlap. Also, scores on the indigenous tools were
      better predicted by relevant demographic variables than scores on the etic tool.
      Our study demonstrated the viability of combining etic and emic approaches as key
      to the understanding of personality in its cultural context. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28594199
TI  - Spillover between interparental conflict and parent-child conflict within and
      across days.
AB  - The present study used a daily reporting design to examine the bidirectional
      spillover in conflict and conflict strategies between the interparental
      relationship and the parent-child relationship. Participants were 60 parents with
      a preadolescent child at risk for aggressive behavior. Parents reported on their
      experience of interparental and parent-child conflict and their use of
      constructive and destructive conflict strategies through daily telephone
      interviews over 7 days. Each day was divided into 3 equal time periods roughly
      corresponding to early morning, daytime, and evening. Time-lagged analyses
      investigated the spillover in conflict within and across days. Results revealed
      that the presence of interparental conflict significantly predicted the presence
      of parent-child conflict 1 time period later and 1 full day later. Likewise, the
      presence of parent-child conflict significantly predicted the presence of
      interparental conflict 1 full day later. In terms of conflict strategy use,
      results revealed that parents who engaged in constructive patterns of
      interparental conflict were more likely to engage in constructive patterns of
      parent-child conflict 1 time period later and 1 full day later. Reciprocal
      effects for constructive parent-child conflict predicting subsequent
      interparental conflict were significant across all 3 time lags assessed. There
      were no significant, bidirectional effects for the spillover in destructive
      conflict. Findings have important clinical implications. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28594201
TI  - Hypocritical flip-flop, or courageous evolution? When leaders change their moral
      minds.
AB  - How do audiences react to leaders who change their opinion after taking moral
      stances? We propose that people believe moral stances are stronger commitments,
      compared with pragmatic stances; we therefore explore whether and when audiences
      believe those commitments can be broken. We find that audiences believe moral
      commitments should not be broken, and thus that they deride as hypocritical
      leaders who claim a moral commitment and later change their views. Moreover, they
      view them as less effective and less worthy of support. Although participants
      found a moral mind changer especially hypocritical when they disagreed with the
      new view, the effect persisted even among participants who fully endorsed the new
      view. We draw these conclusions from analyses and meta-analyses of 15 studies
      (total N = 5,552), using recent statistical advances to verify the robustness of
      our findings. In several of our studies, we also test for various possible
      moderators of these effects; overall we find only 1 promising finding: some
      evidence that 2 specific justifications for moral mind changes-citing a
      personally transformative experience, or blaming external circumstances rather
      than acknowledging opinion change-help moral leaders appear more courageous, but
      no less hypocritical. Together, our findings demonstrate a lay belief that moral
      views should be stable over time; they also suggest a downside for leaders in
      using moral framings. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594202
TI  - The four faces of rumination to stressful events: A psychometric analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To increase the knowledge of rumination and its associations with
      stressful events, we explored the relationships between 4 types of rumination
      (brooding, reflection, intrusive, and deliberate rumination) in a sample of 750
      adult participants who experienced a highly stressful event. We also explored the
      predictive value of the different types of rumination on posttraumatic stress
      symptoms and posttraumatic growth 6 months after the highly stressful event
      occurred. METHOD: Participants completed the Ruminative Response Scale and the
      Event-Related Rumination Inventory. Brooding and reflection rumination were
      obtained from the Ruminative Response Scale, whereas deliberate and intrusive
      rumination were obtained from the Event-Related Rumination Inventory.
      Confirmatory factorial analyses were conducted using the 4 types of rumination to
      test 3 different models: (a) 4-factor model (brooding, reflection, intrusive, and
      deliberate rumination), (b) 2-factor model: adaptive rumination (reflection and
      deliberate) and maladaptive rumination (brooding and intrusive), and (c) 2-factor
      model: depressive rumination (brooding and reflection) and posttraumatic
      rumination (intrusive and deliberate). RESULTS: It was observed that the 4-factor
      model showed the best fit to the data. Moreover, 6 months later it was observed
      that the most significant predictor of posttraumatic symptoms was intrusive
      rumination, whereas deliberate rumination was the most significant predictor of
      posttraumatic growth. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that the 4 types of
      rumination are differentiated constructs. Ruminative thoughts experienced after a
      stressful event predicted posttraumatic consequences 6 months later. Implications
      of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594203
TI  - Predictors of posttraumatic growth 10-11 months after a fatal earthquake.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a commonly observed phenomenon in the
      wake of a distressing event, capturing potentially beneficial effects for
      posttraumatic adaptation. However, it is not entirely clear what factors are
      essential for the development of PTG, especially after natural disasters. Most
      importantly, it is uncertain what type of relationship exists between
      posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and PTG. As yet, there is also no consensus
      on whether PTG can best be seen as a process outcome or as a coping mechanism.
      The current study aimed to elucidate these uncertainties. METHOD: The study
      explored PTG in a community sample (N = 412) 10-11 months after a major
      earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Nonsymptomatic predictors of PTG were
      assessed 4-7 months after the earthquake, and symptomatic predictors were
      assessed both 4-7 and 10-11 months after the earthquake, with PTG measured in the
      second assessment. RESULTS: Results showed that the unique relationship between
      PTSS and PTG was modeled best both linearly and curvilinearly, suggesting that
      PTSS over a certain level shift from a positive association with PTG to a
      negative one. PTG was predicted by being female, having less household income,
      PTSS symptoms modeled linearly and curvilinearly at Time 1, and PTSS modeled
      linearly at Time 2. CONCLUSION: Support was found for the coping model of PTG,
      suggesting the importance of fostering growth to manage posttraumatic distress.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594204
TI  - Taking forensic mental health assessment "out of the lab" and into "the real
      world": Introduction to the special issue on the field utility of forensic
      assessment instruments and procedures.
AB  - The last several decades have seen a major upswing in the development and use of
      psychological assessment instruments in forensic and correctional settings. At
      the same time, admissibility standards increasingly have stressed the importance
      of the reliability and validity of evidence in legal proceedings. Recent research
      has, however, raised serious concerns about (a) the reliability of forensic
      science evidence in general, (b) the replicability of psychological research
      findings in general and in field settings especially, and (c) the interrater
      reliability and predictive validity of forensic psychological assessment evidence
      in particular. In this introduction to the special issue of Psychological
      Assessment on the field utility of forensic assessment instruments and
      procedures, we provide an overview of key issues bearing on field studies,
      focusing on why such research is critically important to improving the quality of
      the practice of forensic mental health assessments. We also identify various
      methodological issues and constraints relevant to conducting research outside of
      controlled settings. We conclude with recommendations for how future field
      research can improve upon the current state of the discipline in forensic mental
      health assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594206
TI  - Actuarial risk assessment of sexual offenders: The psychometric properties of the
      Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG).
AB  - The Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG) is one of the most commonly used
      actuarial risk assessment instruments for sexual offenders. The aims of the
      present field study were to examine the predictive validity of the German version
      of the SORAG and its individual items for different offender subgroups and
      recidivism criteria in sexual offenders released from the Austrian Prison System
      (N = 1,104; average follow-up period M = 6.48 years) within a prospective
      longitudinal research design. For the prediction of violent recidivism the German
      version of the SORAG yielded an effect size of AUC = .74 (p < .001, 95% CI = .70
      .78). The predictive accuracy for general and violent recidivism was slightly
      higher than for general sexual and sexual hands-on recidivism. The effect sizes
      were found to be higher for the child molester sample than for rapists. However,
      the differences were significant only for general recidivism (z = 2.48, p =
      .001). Further analyses exhibited the SORAG to have incremental predictive
      validity beyond the VRAG and the PCL-R, and to remain the only significant
      predictor for violent recidivism once all 3 instruments were forced into a
      combined regression model. Twelve out of the 14 SORAG items were found to have a
      significant positive relationship with violent recidivism. The comparison of the
      relative and absolute risk indices between the Austrian and the Canadian samples
      showed that the normative data distribution yielded more (absolute risk indices)
      or less (relative risk indices) meaningful differences between the 2 countries.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594207
TI  - "Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical
      Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans": Correction to
      Bovin et al. (2016).
AB  - Reports an error in "Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic
      and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans" by
      Michelle J. Bovin, Brian P. Marx, Frank W. Weathers, Matthew W. Gallagher, Paola
      Rodriguez, Paula P. Schnurr and Terence M. Keane (Psychological Assessment,
      2016[Nov], Vol 28[11], 1379-1391). In the article, the departments and
      affiliations were incorrectly listed for authors Michelle J. Bovin, Brian P.
      Marx, Matthew W. Gallagher, Paola Rodriguez, Paula P. Schnurr, and Terence M.
      Keane. The first department and affiliation for authors Michelle J. Bovin, Brian
      P. Marx, Matthew W. Gallagher, Paola Rodriguez, and Terence M. Keane and should
      have read "National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston,
      Massachusetts". The first department and affiliation for author Paula P. Schnurr
      should have read "National Center for PTSD, White River Junction, Vermont." The
      online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the
      original article appeared in record 2015-55809-001.) This study examined the
      psychometric properties of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist for
      Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5;
      Weathers, Litz, et al., 2013b) in 2 independent samples of veterans receiving
      care at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (N = 468). A subsample of these
      participants (n = 140) was used to define a valid diagnostic cutoff score for the
      instrument using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5;
      Weathers, Blake, et al., 2013) as the reference standard. The PCL-5 test scores
      demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha = .96), test-retest reliability (r
      = .84), and convergent and discriminant validity. Consistent with previous
      studies (Armour et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2014), confirmatory factor analysis
      revealed that the data were best explained by a 6-factor anhedonia model and a 7
      factor hybrid model. Signal detection analyses using the CAPS-5 revealed that PCL
      5 scores of 31 to 33 were optimally efficient for diagnosing PTSD (kappa(.5) =
      .58). Overall, the findings suggest that the PCL-5 is a psychometrically sound
      instrument that can be used effectively with veterans. Further, by determining a
      valid cutoff score using the CAPS-5, the PCL-5 can now be used to identify
      veterans with probable PTSD. However, findings also suggest the need for research
      to evaluate cluster structure of DSM-5. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594205
TI  - Field validity of Static-99/R scores in a statewide sample of 34,687 convicted
      sexual offenders.
AB  - The Static-99 (and revision, the Static-99R) reflect the most researched and
      widely used approach to sex offender risk assessment. Because the measure is so
      widely applied in jurisdictions beyond those on which it was developed, it
      becomes crucial to examine its field validity and the degree to which published
      norms and recidivism rates apply to other jurisdictions. We present a new and
      greatly expanded field study of the predictive validity (M = 5.23 years follow
      up) of the Static-99 as applied system-wide in Texas (N = 34,687). Results
      revealed stronger predictive validity than a prior Texas field study, especially
      among offenders scored after the release of an updated scoring manual in 2003
      (AUC = .66 to .67, d = .65 to .69), when field reliability was also stronger. But
      calibration analyses revealed that the Static-99R routine sample norms led to a
      significant overestimation of risk in Texas, especially for offenders with scores
      ranging from 1 to 5. We used logistic regression to develop local Texas
      recidivism norms (with confidence intervals) for Static-99R scores. Overall,
      findings highlight the importance of revisiting and updating field study
      findings, and the potential benefits of using statewide data to develop local
      norms. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594208
TI  - Field measures of psychopathy and sexual deviance as predictors of recidivism
      among sexual offenders.
AB  - Offenders with high levels of both psychopathy and deviant sexual interests are
      often described as being more prone to recidivate than other sexual offenders,
      and many forensic evaluators report considering this psychopathy and sexual
      deviance interaction when coming to conclusions about sex offender risk. However,
      empirical support for the interaction comes from studies using sexual deviance
      measures that are rarely used in the field. We examined the ability of
      Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) field scores and possible field measures of
      sexual deviance (e.g., paraphilia diagnosis, offense characteristics) to predict
      sexual recidivism among 687 offenders released after being evaluated for
      postrelease civil commitment (M follow-up = 10.5 years). PCL-R total scores and
      antisocial personality diagnoses were predictive of a combined category of
      violent or sexual recidivism, but not sexual recidivism. Paraphilia diagnoses and
      offense characteristics were not associated with an increased likelihood of
      reoffending. There was no evidence that those with high levels of both
      psychopathy and sexual deviance were more likely than others to reoffend.
      Although the psychopathy and sexual deviance interaction findings from prior
      studies are large and compelling, our findings highlight the need for research
      examining the best ways to translate those findings into routine practice.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594209
TI  - Use of structured professional judgment by probation officers to assess risk for
      recidivism in adolescent offenders.
AB  - The current study tested a method of risk assessment for adolescent offenders
      that relies on structured professional judgment: the Structured Assessment of
      Violence Risk for Youth (SAVRY; Borum, Bartel, & Forth, 2006). Trained probation
      officers in 3 jurisdictions administered the SAVRY to 505 adjudicated adolescents
      (M age = 15.43 years, SD = 1.62). The results supported the validity of the SAVRY
      administered in this juvenile justice context. Specifically, scores from the
      SAVRY differentiated violent from nonviolent offenders and predicted both violent
      and nonviolent recidivism over a 12-month follow-up period. Violent offenders
      showed more historical and individual risk factors than nonviolent offenders, and
      violent sex offenders were rated as more deficient in empathy and remorse. The
      anger control item was a particularly important indicator of risk for reoffending
      in the violent offender group. The implications of these findings for weighting
      risk factors in individual cases when using structured professional judgment are
      discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594210
TI  - Are risk assessments racially biased?: Field study of the SAVRY and YLS/CMI in
      probation.
AB  - Risk assessment instruments are widely used by juvenile probation officers (JPOs)
      to make case management decisions; however, few studies have investigated whether
      these instruments maintain their predictive validity when completed by JPOs in
      the field. Moreover, the validity of these instruments for use with minority
      groups has been called into question. This field study examined the predictive
      validity of both the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY; n =
      383) and the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI; n = 359)
      for reoffending when completed by JPOs. The study also compared Black and White
      youth to examine the presence of test bias. The SAVRY and YLS/CMI significantly
      predicted reoffending at the test level, with most of the variance in reoffending
      accounted for by dynamic risk scales not static scales. The instruments did not
      differentially predict reoffending as a function of race but Black youth scored
      higher than White youth on the YLS/CMI scale related to official juvenile
      history. The implications for use of risk assessments in the field are discussed.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594211
TI  - How well do juvenile risk assessments measure factors to target in treatment?
      Examining construct validity.
AB  - There has been a surge of interest in using 1 type of risk assessment instrument
      to tailor treatment to juveniles to reduce recidivism. Unlike prediction-oriented
      instruments, these reduction-oriented instruments explicitly measure variable
      risk factors as "needs" to be addressed in treatment. There is little evidence,
      however, that the instruments accurately measure specific risk factors. Based on
      a sample of 237 serious juvenile offenders (Mage = 18, SD = 1.6), we tested
      whether California Youth Assessment Inventory (CA-YASI) scores validly assess the
      risk factors they purport to assess. Youth were assessed by practitioners with
      good interrater reliability on the CA-YASI, and by research staff on a battery of
      validated, multimethod criterion measures of target constructs. We meta
      analytically tested whether each CA-YASI risk domain score (e.g., Attitudes)
      related more strongly to scores on convergent measures of theoretically similar
      constructs (e.g., criminal thinking styles) than to scores on discriminant
      measures of theoretically distinct constructs (e.g., intelligence, somatization,
      and pubertal status). CA-YASI risk domain scores with the strongest validity
      support were those that assess criminal history. The only variable CA-YASI risk
      domain score that correlated more strongly with convergent (Zr = .35) than
      discriminant (Zr = .07) measures was Substance Use. There was little support for
      the construct validity of the remaining 6 variable CA-YASI risk domains-including
      those that ostensibly assess strong risk factors (e.g., "Attitudes," "Social
      Influence"). Our findings emphasize the need to test the construct validity of
      reduction-oriented instruments-and refine instruments to precisely measure their
      targets so they can truly inform risk reduction. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594212
TI  - Diagnostic field reliability in forensic mental health evaluations.
AB  - How likely are multiple forensic evaluators to agree on defendants' diagnoses in
      routine forensic mental health evaluations? A total of 720 evaluation reports
      were examined from 240 cases in which 3 evaluators, working independently,
      provided diagnoses for the same defendant. Results revealed perfect agreement
      across 6 independent diagnostic categories in 18.3% of cases. Agreement for
      individual diagnostic categories was higher, with all 3 evaluators agreeing on
      the separate presence of psychotic, mood, or substance disorders in more than
      64.7% of cases and agreeing on the presence of cognitive or developmental
      disorders in more than 89.7% of cases. However, evaluators agreed about the
      combination of psychotic and substance-related diagnoses in only 46.5% of cases.
      Agreement was enhanced by diagnoses with low base rates, and it was suppressed in
      evaluations conducted in jails. Psychiatrists and contracted evaluators were more
      likely to provide dissenting diagnostic categories than psychologists and state
      employed evaluators. These results are among the first to document diagnostic
      agreement among nonpartisan practitioners in forensic evaluations conducted in
      the field, and they allow for practice and policy recommendations for evaluators
      in routine forensic practice to be made. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594213
TI  - Assessing "credible fear": A psychometric examination of the Trauma Symptom
      Inventory-2 in the context of immigration court evaluations.
AB  - Recent immigration trends indicate that the United States is home to a remarkably
      diverse and rapidly growing population of displaced persons. Many of these
      individuals have survived exceptional trauma and are thus particularly vulnerable
      to trauma-related behavioral health disorders. Mental health professionals are
      commonly asked to assess immigrants within this population in the service of
      immigration court decision making. These assessments present a variety of
      challenges for clinicians, including the assessment and documentation of trauma
      related symptoms across cultural bounds. The Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 (TSI-2)
      may be uniquely suited to the demands of immigration court assessments, but it
      has not been previously examined in a culturally diverse sample. The current
      study provided an examination of the TSI-2 within a sample of immigrants with
      histories of trauma. De-identified TSI-2 data were drawn from several clinicians'
      existing immigration assessment files. Reliability and standardization sample
      comparison results indicated that the TSI-2 exhibits sufficient internal
      consistency within this population, and that immigrants with histories of trauma
      generally respond similarly to individuals in trauma-specific clinical samples
      (with several notable exceptions). Specific clinical implications are discussed.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594214
TI  - The influence of veteran race and psychometric testing on veterans affairs
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) disability exam outcomes.
AB  - This study examined the influence of veterans' race and examiners' use of
      psychometric testing during a Department of Veterans Affairs posttraumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) disability examination on diagnostic and service connection
      status outcomes. Participants were 764 veterans enrolled in a national
      longitudinal registry. Current and lifetime PTSD diagnostic status was determined
      with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and was compared with
      PTSD diagnosis conferred upon veterans by their compensation and pension (C&P)
      examiners as well as with ultimate Veterans Affairs (VA) PTSD service connected
      status. The concordance rate between independent SCID current PTSD diagnosis and
      PTSD disability examination diagnosis was 70.4%, and between SCID lifetime PTSD
      diagnosis and PTSD disability examination diagnosis was 77.7%. Among veterans
      with current SCID diagnosed PTSD, Black veterans were significantly less likely
      than White veterans to receive a PTSD diagnosis from their C&P examiner (odds
      ratio [OR] = .39, p = .003, confidence interval [CI] = .20-.73). Among veterans
      without current SCID diagnosed PTSD, White veterans were significantly more
      likely than Black veterans to receive a PTSD diagnosis from their C&P examiner
      (OR = 4.07, p = .005, CI = 1.51-10.92). Splitting the sample by use of
      psychometric testing revealed that examinations that did not include psychometric
      testing demonstrated the same relation between veteran race and diagnostic
      concordance. However, for examinations in which psychometric testing was used,
      the racial disparity between SCID PTSD status and disability exam PTSD status was
      no longer significant. Results suggest that psychometric testing may reduce
      disparities in VA PTSD disability exam outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594215
TI  - Identifying mental health issues in detained youth: Testing the structure and
      invariance of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory-Version 2 (MAYSI-2).
AB  - This study examined the factor structure of the Massachusetts Youth Screening
      Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2), a brief self-report measure designed to flag
      clinically significant mental health needs among youth entering the juvenile
      justice system. Participants were 981 detained youth in the southeastern United
      States (mean age = 14.58 years; SD = 1.28 years; 67.5% male; 71.5% African
      American). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a seven-factor model
      represented a satisfactory solution for the data, similar to previous research.
      The factor structure fit well across gender, age group, race (Black/White), and
      offense type (violent/nonviolent). Given the widespread use of the MAYSI-2 in
      juvenile justice settings, examining its psychometric properties is of key
      importance. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28594217
TI  - Psychometric properties and prognostic usefulness of the Youth Psychopathic
      Traits Inventory (YPI) as a component of a clinical protocol for detained youth:
      A multiethnic examination.
AB  - Prior studies have shown that the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) holds
      promise as a self-report tool for assessing psychopathic traits in detained
      adolescents. However, these studies have been conducted in a research context
      where anonymity and confidentiality are provided. Few studies have examined the
      usefulness of the YPI in clinical settings. To address this research gap, the
      present study examined data from 1,559 detained boys who completed the YPI as
      part of a clinical protocol. Official criminal records were available for a
      subsample (n = 848), allowing us to test the prognostic usefulness of the YPI.
      Results of confirmatory factor analyses, overall, support the proposed 3-factor
      structure, though model fit indices were not as good in Dutch boys compared to
      boys from other ethnic groups. Measurement invariance tests showed that the YPI
      scores are manifested in the same way across all 4 ethnic groups and suggest that
      means scores between the 4 ethnic groups are comparable. The YPI scores were
      internally consistent, and correlations with external variables, including
      aggression and conduct problems, support the convergent validity of the
      interpretation of YPI scores. Finally, results demonstrated that YPI scores were
      not significantly positively related to future criminality. In conclusion, this
      study suggests that the YPI may hold promise as a self-report tool for assessing
      psychopathic traits in detained male adolescents during a clinical protocol.
      However, the finding that the YPI did not predict future offending suggests that
      this tool should not yet be used for risk assessment purposes in forensic
      settings. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594216
TI  - Using the MAYSI-2 to identify mental disorder among Latino juvenile offenders.
AB  - Many juvenile justice agencies have adopted the Massachusetts Youth Screening
      Inventory-Version 2 (MAYSI-2; Grisso & Barnum, 2006) to facilitate appropriate
      programming for young offenders with mental illness. Although Latinos are the
      fastest-growing ethnic group in the criminal justice system, there is scant
      research on the utility of the MAYSI-2 among Latino adolescents. The present
      study examined the utility of the MAYSI-2 in detecting diagnosable mental illness
      among 398 Latino and 60 European American adolescents in a juvenile justice
      agency. In addition to testing the scoring configuration used by the agency to
      identify adolescents in need of further attention, we tested 2 additional scoring
      configurations of the MAYSI-2. We found that the MAYSI-2 had similar utility at
      identifying serious mood and anxiety disorders for both ethnic groups, but was
      less sensitive to behavioral and substance use disorders among Latinos than it
      was among European Americans. In addition, the MAYSI-2 overall was less sensitive
      to mental illness among Latino boys compared with Latina girls. We discuss these
      findings within the context of best practices for identifying adolescents with
      mental illness in juvenile justice agencies. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594218
TI  - Examining the interrater reliability of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
      across a large sample of trained raters.
AB  - The goal of the current study was to assess the interrater reliability of the
      Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) among a large sample of trained raters (N =
      280). All raters completed PCL-R training at some point between 1989 and 2012 and
      subsequently provided complete coding for the same 6 practice cases. Overall, 3
      major conclusions can be drawn from the results: (a) reliability of individual
      PCL-R items largely fell below any appropriate standards while the estimates for
      Total PCL-R scores and factor scores were good (but not excellent); (b) the cases
      representing individuals with high psychopathy scores showed better reliability
      than did the cases of individuals in the moderate to low PCL-R score range; and
      (c) there was a high degree of variability among raters; however, rater specific
      differences had no consistent effect on scoring the PCL-R. Therefore, despite low
      reliability estimates for individual items, Total scores and factor scores can be
      reliably scored among trained raters. We temper these conclusions by noting that
      scoring standardized videotaped case studies does not allow the rater to interact
      directly with the offender. Real-world PCL-R assessments typically involve a face
      to-face interview and much more extensive collateral information. We offer
      recommendations for new web-based training procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594219
TI  - The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication: Factor structure,
      interrater reliability, and association with clinician opinion of competence in a
      forensic inpatient sample.
AB  - Adjudicative competence is the most frequently referred evaluation in the
      forensic context, and it is because of this that periodic evaluation of
      competence assessment instruments is imperative. Among those instruments, the
      MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA) has
      demonstrated adequate psychometric properties suggesting its utility in informing
      the forensic inquiry. The purpose of the current study was to further investigate
      the psychometric properties and ultimate utility of subscale scores using
      archival data from a sample of 103 male and female forensic patients who were
      hospitalized for competence restoration treatment. Results of the present study
      suggested adequate internal consistency and good model fit for the factor
      structure. Interrater reliability was evaluated by comparing the absolute
      agreement of scores derived from 2 independent research assistants for each of
      the subscales; 2 of the 3 subscales fell within the acceptable range given
      established interpretative benchmarks for forensic assessment. Of particular
      interest was that the Appreciation subscale, while heralding the lowest
      intraclass correlation coefficient, explained the largest proportion of variance
      in clinician opinion relative to the other 2 subscales. In other words, the most
      subjective subscale (as evidenced by the lowest intraclass correlation),
      explained the largest proportion of variance in ultimate opinion. The authors
      argue that, although these results are an important consideration in these
      assessments, they are neither surprising nor entirely problematic when
      considering the case-specific nature of the inquiries on the subscale, as well as
      the subjectivity of scoring criteria for each of the Appreciation items.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594220
TI  - Field reliability influences field validity: Risk assessments of individuals
      found not guilty by reason of insanity.
AB  - Individuals acquitted as not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) are usually
      committed to psychiatric hospitals for treatment until they are considered
      suitable for conditional release back to the community. The clinical evaluations
      that inform conditional release decisions have rarely been studied but provide an
      ideal opportunity to examine the reliability and validity of complex evaluations
      in the field. For example, to what extent do forensic evaluators agree about an
      acquittee's readiness for conditional release? And how accurate are their
      opinions? We reviewed 175 evaluation reports across 62 cases from Hawaii, which
      requires 3 separate evaluations from independent clinicians for each felony NGRI
      acquittee referred for conditional release evaluation. Evaluators agreed about an
      NGRI acquittee's readiness for conditional release in only 53.2% of evaluations
      (kappa = .35). Courts followed the majority evaluator opinion in 79.3% of all
      cases but ruled in an opposite direction from the majority evaluator opinion in
      more than a third of cases in which evaluators disagreed. Evaluators accurately
      differentiated those conditionally released acquittees who remained in the
      community from those who were rehospitalized in 62.4% of cases. Among the 43
      insanity acquittees who were ultimately released, evaluator agreement was
      significantly associated with rehospitalization within 3 years. When the
      evaluators unanimously agreed that conditional release was appropriate, only
      34.5% were rehospitalized. When the evaluators disagreed, 71.4% were
      rehospitalized. Overall, results reveal poor agreement among independent
      evaluators in routine practice but suggest that opinions may be more accurate
      when evaluators agree than when they disagree. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594221
TI  - Field reliability of competency and sanity opinions: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - We know surprisingly little about the interrater reliability of forensic
      psychological opinions, even though courts and other authorities have long called
      for known error rates for scientific procedures admitted as courtroom testimony.
      This is particularly true for opinions produced during routine practice in the
      field, even for some of the most common types of forensic evaluations-evaluations
      of adjudicative competency and legal sanity. To address this gap, we used meta
      analytic procedures and study space methodology to systematically review studies
      that examined the interrater reliability-particularly the field reliability-of
      competency and sanity opinions. Of 59 identified studies, 9 addressed the field
      reliability of competency opinions and 8 addressed the field reliability of
      sanity opinions. These studies presented a wide range of reliability estimates;
      pairwise percentage agreements ranged from 57% to 100% and kappas ranged from .28
      to 1.0. Meta-analytic combinations of reliability estimates obtained by
      independent evaluators returned estimates of kappa = .49 (95% CI: .40-.58) for
      competency opinions and kappa = .41 (95% CI: .29-.53) for sanity opinions. This
      wide range of reliability estimates underscores the extent to which different
      evaluation contexts tend to produce different reliability rates. Unfortunately,
      our study space analysis illustrates that available field reliability studies
      typically provide little information about contextual variables crucial to
      understanding their findings. Given these concerns, we offer suggestions for
      improving research on the field reliability of competency and sanity opinions, as
      well as suggestions for improving reliability rates themselves. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28594222
TI  - Can credibility criteria be assessed reliably? A meta-analysis of criteria-based
      content analysis.
AB  - This meta-analysis synthesizes research on interrater reliability of Criteria
      Based Content Analysis (CBCA). CBCA is an important component of Statement
      Validity Assessment (SVA), a forensic procedure used in many countries to
      evaluate whether statements (e.g., of sexual abuse) are based on experienced or
      fabricated events. CBCA contains 19 verbal content criteria, which are frequently
      adapted for research on detecting deception. A total of k = 82 hypothesis tests
      revealed acceptable interrater reliabilities for most CBCA criteria, as measured
      with various indices (except Cohen's kappa). However, results were largely
      heterogeneous, necessitating moderator analyses. Blocking analyses and meta
      regression analyses on Pearson's r resulted in significant moderators for
      research paradigm, intensity of rater training, type of rating scale used, and
      the frequency of occurrence (base rates) for some CBCA criteria. The use of CBCA
      summary scores is discouraged. Implications for research vs. field settings, for
      future research and for forensic practice in the United States and Europe are
      discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594223
TI  - Bayesian hypothesis testing: Editorial to the Special Issue on Bayesian data
      analysis.
AB  - In the past 20 years, there has been a steadily increasing attention and demand
      for Bayesian data analysis across multiple scientific disciplines, including
      psychology. Bayesian methods and the related Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling
      techniques offered renewed ways of handling old and challenging new problems that
      may be difficult or impossible to handle using classical approaches. Yet, such
      opportunities and potential improvements have not been sufficiently explored and
      investigated. This is 1 of 2 special issues in Psychological Methods dedicated to
      the topic of Bayesian data analysis, with an emphasis on Bayesian hypothesis
      testing, model comparison, and general guidelines for applications in psychology.
      In this editorial, we provide an overview of the use of Bayesian methods in
      psychological research and a brief history of the Bayes factor and the posterior
      predictive p value. Translational abstracts that summarize the articles in this
      issue in very clear and understandable terms are included in the Appendix.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594224
TI  - A systematic review of Bayesian articles in psychology: The last 25 years.
AB  - Although the statistical tools most often used by researchers in the field of
      psychology over the last 25 years are based on frequentist statistics, it is
      often claimed that the alternative Bayesian approach to statistics is gaining in
      popularity. In the current article, we investigated this claim by performing the
      very first systematic review of Bayesian psychological articles published between
      1990 and 2015 (n = 1,579). We aim to provide a thorough presentation of the role
      Bayesian statistics plays in psychology. This historical assessment allows us to
      identify trends and see how Bayesian methods have been integrated into
      psychological research in the context of different statistical frameworks (e.g.,
      hypothesis testing, cognitive models, IRT, SEM, etc.). We also describe take-home
      messages and provide "big-picture" recommendations to the field as Bayesian
      statistics becomes more popular. Our review indicated that Bayesian statistics is
      used in a variety of contexts across subfields of psychology and related
      disciplines. There are many different reasons why one might choose to use Bayes
      (e.g., the use of priors, estimating otherwise intractable models, modeling
      uncertainty, etc.). We found in this review that the use of Bayes has increased
      and broadened in the sense that this methodology can be used in a flexible manner
      to tackle many different forms of questions. We hope this presentation opens the
      door for a larger discussion regarding the current state of Bayesian statistics,
      as well as future trends. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594225
TI  - Bayesian evaluation of constrained hypotheses on variances of multiple
      independent groups.
AB  - Research has shown that independent groups often differ not only in their means,
      but also in their variances. Comparing and testing variances is therefore of
      crucial importance to understand the effect of a grouping variable on an outcome
      variable. Researchers may have specific expectations concerning the relations
      between the variances of multiple groups. Such expectations can be translated
      into hypotheses with inequality and/or equality constraints on the group
      variances. Currently, however, no methods are available for testing (in)equality
      constrained hypotheses on variances. This article proposes a novel Bayesian
      approach to this challenging testing problem. Our approach has the following
      useful properties: First, it can be used to simultaneously test multiple
      (non)nested hypotheses with equality as well as inequality constraints on the
      variances. Second, our approach is fully automatic in the sense that no
      subjective prior specification is needed. Only the hypotheses need to be
      provided. Third, a user-friendly software application is included that can be
      used to perform this Bayesian test in an easy manner. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594226
TI  - Bayesian analyses of cognitive architecture.
AB  - The question of cognitive architecture-how cognitive processes are temporally
      organized-has arisen in many areas of psychology. This question has proved
      difficult to answer, with many proposed solutions turning out to be spurious.
      Systems factorial technology (Townsend & Nozawa, 1995) provided the first
      rigorous empirical and analytical method of identifying cognitive architecture,
      using the survivor interaction contrast (SIC) to determine when people are using
      multiple sources of information in parallel or in series. Although the SIC is
      based on rigorous nonparametric mathematical modeling of response time
      distributions, for many years inference about cognitive architecture has relied
      solely on visual assessment. Houpt and Townsend (2012) recently introduced null
      hypothesis significance tests, and here we develop both parametric and
      nonparametric (encompassing prior) Bayesian inference. We show that the Bayesian
      approaches can have considerable advantages. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594227
TI  - Decision qualities of Bayes factor and p value-based hypothesis testing.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to investigate the decision qualities of the Bayes
      factor (BF) method compared with the p value-based null hypothesis significance
      testing (NHST). The performance of the 2 methods is assessed in terms of the
      false- and true-positive rates, as well as the false-discovery rates and the
      posterior probabilities of the null hypothesis for 2 different models: an
      independent-samples t test and an analysis of variance (ANOVA) model with 2
      random factors. Our simulation study results showed the following: (a) The common
      BF > 3 criterion is more conservative than the NHST alpha = .05 criterion, and it
      corresponds better with the alpha = .01 criterion. (b) An increasing sample size
      has a different effect on the false-positive rate and the false-discovery rate,
      depending on whether the BF or NHST approach is used. (c) When effect sizes are
      randomly sampled from the prior, power curves tend to be flat compared with when
      effect sizes are prespecified. (d) The larger the scale factor (or the wider the
      prior), the more conservative the inferential decision is. (e) The false-positive
      and true-positive rates of the BF method are very sensitive to the scale factor
      when the effect size is small. (f) While the posterior probabilities of the null
      hypothesis ideally follow from the BF value, they can be surprisingly high using
      NHST. In general, these findings were consistent independent of which of the 2
      different models was used. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594229
TI  - Posterior calibration of posterior predictive p values.
AB  - In order to accurately control the Type I error rate (typically .05), a p value
      should be uniformly distributed under the null model. The posterior predictive p
      value (ppp), which is commonly used in Bayesian data analysis, generally does not
      satisfy this property. For example there have been reports where the sampling
      distribution of the ppp under the null model was highly concentrated around .50.
      In this case, a ppp of .20 would indicate model misfit, but when comparing it
      with a significance level of .05, which is standard statistical practice, the
      null model would not be rejected. Therefore, the ppp has very little power to
      detect model misfit. A solution has been proposed in the literature, which
      involves calibrating the ppp using the prior distribution of the parameters under
      the null model. A disadvantage of this "prior-cppp" is that it is very sensitive
      to the prior of the model parameters. In this article, an alternative solution is
      proposed where the ppp is calibrated using the posterior under the null model.
      This "posterior-cppp" (a) can be used when prior information is absent, (b)
      allows one to test any type of misfit by choosing an appropriate discrepancy
      measure, and (c) has a uniform distribution under the null model. The methodology
      is applied in various testing problems: testing independence of dichotomous
      variables, checking misfit of linear regression models in the presence of
      outliers, and assessing misfit in latent class analysis. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28594228
TI  - A comparison of Bayesian and frequentist model selection methods for factor
      analysis models.
AB  - We compare the performances of well-known frequentist model fit indices (MFIs)
      and several Bayesian model selection criteria (MCC) as tools for cross-loading
      selection in factor analysis under low to moderate sample sizes, cross-loading
      sizes, and possible violations of distributional assumptions. The Bayesian
      criteria considered include the Bayes factor (BF), Bayesian Information Criterion
      (BIC), Deviance Information Criterion (DIC), a Bayesian leave-one-out with Pareto
      smoothed importance sampling (LOO-PSIS), and a Bayesian variable selection method
      using the spike-and-slab prior (SSP; Lu, Chow, & Loken, 2016). Simulation results
      indicate that of the Bayesian measures considered, the BF and the BIC showed the
      best balance between true positive rates and false positive rates, followed
      closely by the SSP. The LOO-PSIS and the DIC showed the highest true positive
      rates among all the measures considered, but with elevated false positive rates.
      In comparison, likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) are still the preferred frequentist
      model comparison tool, except for their higher false positive detection rates
      compared to the BF, BIC and SSP under violations of distributional assumptions.
      The root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA) and the Tucker-Lewis index
      (TLI) at the conventional cut-off of approximate fit impose much more stringent
      "penalties" on model complexity under conditions with low cross-loading size, low
      sample size, and high model complexity compared with the LRTs and all other
      Bayesian MCC. Nevertheless, they provided a reasonable alternative to the LRTs in
      cases where the models cannot be readily constructed as nested within each other.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28594230
TI  - Conserved HIV-1 Gag p24 Epitopes Elicit Cellular Immune Responses That Impact
      Disease Outcome.
AB  - Although the breadth of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific
      cellular immune response and its impact on the control of viral replication have
      already been addressed, reported data have proven controversial. We hypothesize
      that the nature of targeted epitopes, rather than the simple breadth or magnitude
      of responses, correlates with disease outcome. In this study, we explore the
      occurrence of patterns of Gag p24 recognition among untreated HIV-1-infected
      patients by identifying the epitopes that compose such patterns and how they
      distinctly associate with disease progression. Utilizing enzyme-linked immunospot
      (ELISPOT) interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), we screened cellular responses of 27 HIV
      1-infected subjects against 15-mer peptides encompassing the whole Gag p24
      protein. Obtained data were used to develop a clustering analysis that allowed
      definition of two groups of individuals with totally distinct patterns of
      recognition. Although targeted Gag p24 peptides were completely different between
      the two groups, the breadth and magnitude of the responses were not.
      Interestingly, viral control and preservation of CD4+ T cells were increased in
      one group. In addition, we compared genetic conservation of amino acid sequences
      of the recognized peptides, as well as of the human leucocyte antigen class I
      (HLA-I)-restricted epitopes within them. Subjects presenting higher control of
      HIV-1 replication targeted more conserved epitopes, and higher genetic variation
      was present mainly in anchor residues for HLA-I molecules. We strengthen the
      existing evidence from cases of HIV-1 infection in humans that, cellular immune
      responses targeting conserved epitopes, rather than the magnitude and breadth of
      responses, associate with a better control of viral replication and maintenance
      of peripheral CD4+ T cell counts.

PMID- 28594231
TI  - Comparison of the effects of three surgical techniques on the rate of orthodontic
      tooth movement in a rat model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of corticotomy and corticision, with and
      without a full mucoperiosteal flap, on the rate of tooth movement and alveolar
      response in a rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty male, 6-week-old Wistar
      rats were divided into five groups based on surgical procedure, as follows:
      control (no tooth movement), orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) only, corticotomy,
      corticision, and corticision with full mucoperiosteal flap (corticision + flap).
      A force of 10-15g was applied from the maxillary left first molar to the
      maxillary incisors using nickel-titanium springs. Surgery was performed at the
      time of appliance placement (day 0), and tooth movement occurred for 21 days.
      Micro-computed tomography was performed on day 21 to evaluate the amount of tooth
      movement and alveolar bone parameters. Histomorphometry, including tartrate
      resistant acid phosphatase staining, was performed to quantify the osteoclast
      parameters at day 21. RESULTS: No statistical differences in the amount of OTM,
      bone volume fraction, and tissue density and the osteoclast parameters were found
      among all experimental groups. CONCLUSIONS: Corticotomy and corticision, with or
      without a full mucoperiosteal flap, did not show a significant effect on either
      the OTM magnitude or alveolar bone response.

PMID- 28594232
TI  - Revisiting the AIDS Epidemic in Pakistan: Where We Stand and What We Must Aim
      For.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is the major cause of acquired
      immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans, where the immune system totally
      succumbs to the virus. A large proportion of the AIDS infected belong to
      developing countries and AIDS prevalence is intensified by severe poverty,
      malnutrition, and famine; fatal illnesses with a scorn shortage of medical
      amenities complemented with the lack of education and development. Current
      Pakistani health system setting is in a dire need of improvement. Low literacy
      rates, high birth rates, and associated maternal mortality plus a lack of clean
      drinking water and appropriate sanitation system have a serious impact on general
      living conditions contributing to a relatively short lifespan. HIV is, therefore,
      becoming a growing health concern in Pakistan with a rapid rise in the reported
      cases. AIDS is most prevalent among injection drug users (IDUs), male/female sex
      workers, and unchecked deported migrant workforce. To combat this virus, the
      Pakistan Government has been working hard over the past few years with local
      bodies and international organizations in an effort to combat this menace. This
      review aims to discuss the risk factors for the rise of this epidemic in the
      country and the recommendations, efforts to be done to address this alarming
      issue.

PMID- 28594233
TI  - Own and partners' dyadic coping and depressive symptoms in individuals with early
      stage dementia and their caregiving partners.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In patients with early-stage dementia and their caregiving partners,
      reciprocal dyadic coping (DC) is crucial for preventing or reducing depressive
      symptoms in both partners. This study examines the relationships between 'own DC'
      and 'perceived partner DC' with depressive symptoms in couples coping with
      dementia on individual (actor effects) and cross-person (partner effects) levels.
      METHOD: 164 individuals (82 patients with early-stage dementia and their 82
      caregiving partners; ND = 82 dyads) participated in this prospective study with
      measures (DC, depressive symptoms, and dementia severity) taken at baseline and
      at six months. Each partner evaluated their own and the perceived partner DC.
      Actor-partner interdependence models were applied to the resulting four
      independent evaluations. RESULTS: Results differed substantially between patients
      and caregivers. DC was significantly related to patients' but not to caregivers'
      depressive symptoms, when adjustments were made for individual coping. Perceived
      partner DC showed a negative association with depressive symptoms in patients,
      whereas own DC was adversely related for actor as well as for partner effects
      across individuals. CONCLUSION: The adverse association between the own DC of the
      caregiver and the patient on depressive symptoms of the patient might be due to
      inappropriate efforts or to the loss of autonomy as a care-receiver. DC is
      important in both patients and caregivers, as shown by the negative association
      between perceived partner DC and depressive symptoms in the patients, which might
      inform interventions that target the couple as a whole.

PMID- 28594236
TI  - The blood of my veins - mercury, Minamata and the soul of Japan.
AB  - The methylmercury contamination of Minamata Bay during the WWII postwar period
      resulted in thousands of Japanese citizens suffering horrific neurological
      injury. Fear and miscommunication destroyed and changed family and social
      structure. In addition, the Minamata poisoning caused momentous changes in the
      civic discourse in Japan and was an instrumental event in the democratization of
      the country. This manuscript describes the effects that the environmental
      contamination and human poising had in the transition of Japan from a feudal
      society to a democratic one.

PMID- 28594235
TI  - Live-attenuated auxotrophic mutant of Salmonella Typhimurium expressing
      immunogenic HA1 protein enhances immunity and protective efficacy against H1N1
      influenza virus infection.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium (JOL912) as a
      live bacterial vaccine vector. MATERIALS & METHODS: The JOL912 engineered to
      deliver HA1 protein from influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (H1N1; PR8) virus was
      coined as JOL1635 and further evaluated for immunogenicity and protective
      efficacy. RESULTS: The JOL1635 stably harbored the HA1 gene within pMMP65 plasmid
      with periplasmic expression and effective delivery of HA1 protein to RAW264.7
      cells. The JOL1635 immunized chickens showed the significant increase in HA1
      specific IgG, sIgA antibody, IFN-gamma, IL-6 cytokine and cellular immune
      responses. The postoral challenge, the JOL1635-immunized chickens showed a faster
      clearance of PR8 virus cloacal shedding than the control group. CONCLUSION:
      Generated JOL1635 can establish specific immunogenicity and protection against
      the PR8 virus in chickens.

PMID- 28594237
TI  - Description of general practitioners' practices when suspecting cognitive
      impairment. Recourse to care in dementia (Recaredem) study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: General practitioners (GPs) play a major role in the assessment of
      dementia but it is still unrecognized in primary care and its management is
      heterogeneous. Our objective is to describe the usual practices, and their
      determinants, of French GPs in this field. METHODS: GPs' characteristics and
      practices when facing cognitive decline were collected through a telephone
      interview and a postal questionnaire. A descriptive analysis of all study
      variables was conducted. The study of quantitative explanatory variables was done
      by testing the equality of means and the choice of qualitative variables was
      based on the chi-square independence test or Fischer test. RESULTS: Hundred two
      GPs completed the study. GPs were in majority men, working in urban areas. Mean
      age was 54.4 years old. GPs' feeling of confidence and self-perception of follow
      up of national recommendations is linked with their practices. Performing a
      clinical interview to assess cognitive impairment is linked with good
      communication skills. GPs feel less confident to give information about resources
      for dementia. The main reason alleged for underdiagnosis is the limited
      effectiveness of drug therapy. CONCLUSIONS: This study underlines the importance
      of GPs' feeling of confidence when managing cognitively impaired patients with
      dementia, and the need of increasing training in the field of dementia, which
      could improve the awareness of GPs about diagnosis and available resources.

PMID- 28594234
TI  - Peroxiredoxins and Redox Signaling in Plants.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are thiol peroxidases with multiple functions
      in the antioxidant defense and redox signaling network of the cell. Our
      progressing understanding assigns both local and global significance to plant
      Prxs, which are grouped in four Prx types. In plants they are localized to the
      cytosol, mitochondrion, plastid, and nucleus. Antioxidant defense is
      fundamentally connected to redox signaling, cellular communication, and
      acclimation. The thiol-disulfide network is central part of the stress sensing
      and processing response and integrates information input with redox regulation.
      Recent Advances: Prxs function both as redox sensory system within the network
      and redox-dependent interactors. The processes directly or indirectly targeted by
      Prxs include gene expression, post-transcriptional reactions, including
      translation, post-translational regulation, and switching or tuning of metabolic
      pathways, and other cell activities. The most advanced knowledge is available for
      the chloroplast 2-CysPrx wherein recently a solid interactome has been defined.
      An in silico analysis of protein structure and coexpression reinforces new
      insights into the 2-CysPrx functionality. CRITICAL ISSUES: Up to now, Prxs often
      have been investigated for local properties of enzyme activity. In vitro and ex
      vivo work with mutants will reveal the ability of Prxs to interfere with multiple
      cellular components, including crosstalk with Ca2+-linked signaling pathways,
      hormone signaling, and protein homeostasis. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Complementation of
      the Prxs knockout lines with variants that mimic specific states, namely devoid
      of peroxidase activity, lacking the oligomerization ability, resembling the
      hyperoxidized decamer, or with truncated C-terminus, should allow dissecting the
      roles as thiol peroxidase, oxidant, interaction partner, and chaperone. Antioxid.
      Redox Signal. 28, 609-624.

PMID- 28594238
TI  - On the selection of stimulus for the auditory variant of the detection response
      task method for driving experiments.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The detection response task (DRT) is a method for measuring
      attentional effects of secondary tasks on a driver's cognitive load by measuring
      response times and hit rates to different types of stimuli as indirect indicators
      of increased cognitive load. ISO 17488 (International Organization for
      Standardization 2016) only provides guidelines for the technical implementation
      and measurement methods for the visual and tactile versions (use of visual and
      tactile stimuli) of the DRT method. This article presents a study with the goal
      of finding the most appropriate auditory stimulus for the implementation of an
      auditory version of the DRT method. METHODS: This article presents the results of
      an experiment in which responses to 7 different auditory DRT stimuli-varying in
      frequency-were compared while inducing users' cognitive load with a modified n
      back task. The experiment was conducted in a surrogate driving environment and in
      a within-subject design. Response times, hit rates, and secondary task
      performances were observed as indicators of increased cognitive load. RESULTS:
      Significantly shorter response times were found for the white noise signal
      compared to single-frequency signals. However, the largest differences in
      response times, for trials without and with a cognitive task, were found for 4-
      and 8-kHz single-frequency signals. No significant differences were found for hit
      rates and secondary task performances between the different stimuli. CONCLUSIONS:
      Consistent significant differences in response times for all tested stimuli prove
      that the auditory DRT variant is also sensitive to changes in cognitive load. The
      mean increase in response times of more than 25% for 4- and 8-kHz signals for
      trials with a cognitive task compared to trials without one indicates that one of
      these signals could be used as a potential auditory stimulus for the auditory DRT
      variant.

PMID- 28594239
TI  - Accidental copper sulfate toxicity after flame colorant ingestion.

PMID- 28594240
TI  - Dimethylarginine Dimethylaminohydrolase 1 Deficiency Induces the Epithelial to
      Mesenchymal Transition in Renal Proximal Tubular Epithelial Cells and Exacerbates
      Kidney Damage in Aged and Diabetic Mice.
AB  - AIMS: Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide
      synthase, is mainly degraded by dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH).
      Emerging evidence suggests that plasma ADMA accumulation and DDAH1
      activity/expression reduction are linked to chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      pathology, but the mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we examined the role
      of ADMA/DDAH1 in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tubular
      epithelial cells (TECs), an important mechanism for the pathogenesis of renal
      fibrosis. RESULTS: In HK-2 cells, DDAH1 expression was reduced by aldosterone
      treatment, and overexpression of DDAH1 significantly attenuated aldosterone
      induced EMT. More interestingly, DDAH1 deficiency resulted in EMT-related changes
      in primary TECs via increasing oxidative stress, impairing adenosine
      monophosphate-activated kinase (AMPK) signaling, and downregulating of
      peroxiredoxin 5 (Prdx5). However, those effects could not be mimicked by
      increasing the ADMA concentration. After regular feeding for 24 months or
      inducing type 2 diabetes, Ddah1-/- mice had higher serum creatinine levels than
      wild-type (WT) mice. In the kidneys of the aged or diabetic mice, loss of DDAH1
      resulted in more interstitial fibrosis, more collagen deposition, and greater
      induction of EMT-related changes and oxidative stress than in the WT kidneys.
      Innovation and Conclusion: Our results provide the first direct evidence that the
      DDAH1 has a marked effect on kidney fibrosis and oxidative stress induced by
      aging or diabetes. Our findings suggest that strategies to increase DDAH1
      activity in TECs may provide a novel approach to attenuate CKD development.
      Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 1347-1360.

PMID- 28594241
TI  - Hepatotoxicity evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines using a computational
      molecular model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver injury caused by traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) is
      reported from many countries around the world. TCM hepatotoxicity has attracted
      worldwide concerns. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to develop a more applicable and
      optimal tool to evaluate TCM hepatotoxicity. METHODS: A quantitative structure
      activity relationship (QSAR) analysis was performed based on published data and
      U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Liver Toxicity Knowledge Base (LTKB).
      RESULTS: Eleven herbal ingredients with proven liver toxicity in the literature
      were added into the dataset besides chemicals from LTKB. The finally generated
      QSAR model yielded a sensitivity of 83.8%, a specificity of 70.1%, and an
      accuracy of 80.2%. Among the externally tested 20 ingredients from TCMs, 14
      hepatotoxic ingredients were all accurately identified by the QSAR model derived
      from the dataset containing natural hepatotoxins. CONCLUSIONS: Adding natural
      hepatotoxins into the dataset makes the QSAR model more applicable for TCM
      hepatotoxicity assessment, which provides a right direction in the methodology
      study for TCM safety evaluation. The generated QSAR model has the practical value
      to prioritize the hepatotoxicity risk of TCM compounds. Furthermore, an open
      access international specialized database on TCM hepatotoxicity should be quickly
      established.

PMID- 28594242
TI  - Attitudes and Perceptions of Cancer Patients Toward Biospecimen Donation for
      Cancer Research: A Cross-Sectional Survey Among Chinese Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-quality biospecimen collection from consented patients is
      crucial for cancer research activities. Patients' attitudes and willingness
      toward specimen donation influence high-quality biospecimen collection for cancer
      research activities. METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional study among
      randomly selected patients from 11 cancer departments of Tianjin Medical
      University Cancer Institute and Hospital between August 2014 and August 2015. A
      total of 784 patients were included to complete a 30-item self-administered
      survey. We evaluated the patients' willingness to consider providing leftover
      samples and additional samples for cancer research purposes. RESULTS: Among 784
      patients, 683 (87.1%) and 653 (83.3%) were willing to donate leftover tissue and
      surplus blood after diagnosis, respectively. Six hundred thirty-one (80.5%) were
      favorably disposed to consider donating both tissue and blood samples for future
      cancer research. Female patients showed less willingness to donate biospecimens
      or related clinical data for research. First-hospitalized or older patients were
      less willing to provide leftover biospecimens or additional blood samples or even
      clinical data for research. By contrast, patients with a higher education level
      were more likely to donate leftover tissues after biopsy or surgery for research
      activities. CONCLUSIONS: Most Chinese cancer patients were willing to consider
      donating blood and tissue samples for cancer research. Several factors, including
      age, gender, first hospitalization, and education level, can influence their
      willingness to donate biospecimens. We need to provide proper education to
      increase understanding of patients in biobanking activities. IMPACT: This study
      provides novel empirical data on the likelihood of donating surplus and
      additional biospecimens and clinical health information among Chinese cancer
      patients.

PMID- 28594243
TI  - Supplement.

PMID- 28594244
TI  - Acute cholinergic syndrome in a patient with mild Alzheimer's type dementia who
      had applied a large number of rivastigmine transdermal patches on her body.
AB  - CASE PRESENTATION: A 91-year-old woman was transferred to our Emergency Medical
      Center and Poison Center with somnolence, hypertension (186/61 mm Hg), and
      repeated vomiting. Three hours later, 10 transdermal patches, each containing 18
      mg of rivastigmine (9.5 mg/24 h), were found on her lower back and both thighs,
      when miosis, facial and trunk sweating, enhanced bowel sound, hypertension, and
      sinus tachycardia were noted. She was diagnosed with acute cholinergic syndrome
      due to rivastigmine poisoning. Her hypertension and sinus tachycardia peaked 8
      and 5 h after all the patches were removed, respectively. Her symptoms subsided
      spontaneously after 17 h. DISCUSSION: In the present case, our patient was
      presented with acute cholinergic syndrome due to carbamate intoxication after
      massive transdermal exposure to rivastigmine. Toxicological analysis revealed a
      remarkably high estimated serum rivastigmine concentration (150.6 ng/ml) and
      notably low serum butyrylcholinesterase activity (35 IU/l) on admission, with a
      markedly prolonged calculated elimination half-life of 6.5 h. CONCLUSIONS:
      Emergency physicians should consider acetylcholinesterase inhibitor exposure
      (e.g., rivastigmine) when patients are present with acute cholinergic syndrome.

PMID- 28594245
TI  - Chronotype correlates with developmental index, intelligence and academic
      achievement: A study based on nationwide indicators.
AB  - Chronotype or morningness-eveningness (M/E) is an individual trait with a
      biological basis. In this study, I analysed the relationship between M/E and
      nationwide available data, such as economic variables, school achievement,
      intelligence and conscientiousness, which is a personality trait. These variables
      have been chosen because, first, they are linked on the individual level with
      circadian preference, and, second these associations have been found based on
      meta-analyses, which gives these findings a high plausibility. In addition,
      economic status has also been proposed to be related to M/E. Higher developed
      countries showed a lower morningness, based on both, the ranking of countries as
      well as on the HDI value. Similarly, GNI was related to morningness, while higher
      intelligence and performance in PISA were related to eveningness.
      Conscientiousness was related to morningness, although the results failed the
      significance level marginally. When using IQ as a control variable in partial
      correlations, the relationship between GNI and morningness disappeared, as did
      the correlation between eveningness and PISA results.

PMID- 28594246
TI  - A review of vilazodone exposures with focus on serotonin syndrome effects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vilazodone is an antidepressant with selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibition and partial 5HT1A agonism. Serotonin syndrome is believed to be due to
      excessive stimulation of 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors, resulting in the clinical
      triad of altered mentation, autonomic instability and neuromuscular
      abnormalities. The goal of this study is to define serotonergic effects after
      vilazodone exposure. METHODS: A retrospective review of two databases: the
      American Association of Poison Controls Centers' National Poison Data System
      (NPDS) and the American College of Medical Toxicology's Toxicology Investigators
      Consortium (ToxIC Registry). A case series of four patients from one medical
      toxicology service is also presented. RESULTS: During the 52-month study period,
      a total of 3192 vilazodone human exposures were reported to NPDS. Of these, 1734
      (54%) were isolated vilazodone cases. The clinical effects of vilazodone toxicity
      included drowsiness (20%), vomiting (14%), tachycardia (11%) and agitation (10%).
      Most patients (71%) had symptoms for between 2 and 24 h, though some (14%)
      remained symptomatic for more than 24 h. The most common treatment was
      intravenous fluids (15%) and the most serious intubation (2%). From the ToxIC
      Registry, a total of 23 cases of vilazodone exposures were identified. Of these,
      17 (74%) had vilazodone listed as the first (primary) agent and 10 (43%) involved
      vilazodone-only ingestions. Nine (39%) cases documented serotonin syndrome; and
      most (8/9; 89%) listed vilazodone as the primary agent. All (n = 4) subjects in
      the case series with acute vilazodone toxicity had serotonin syndrome.
      CONCLUSIONS: Vilazodone overdose, including vilazodone-only ingestions, are
      associated with serotonin syndrome. Serotonergic toxicity and appropriate
      treatments should be considered when caring for patients with vilazodone
      ingestions.

PMID- 28594247
TI  - Differences in the kinematics of booster-seated pediatric occupants using two
      different car seats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to compare the performance of forward
      facing child restraint systems (CRS) mounted on 2 different seats. METHODS: Two
      different anthropomorphic test device (ATD) sizes (P3 and P6), using the same
      child restraint system (a non-ISOFIX high-back booster seat), were exposed to the
      ECE R44 regulatory deceleration pulse in a deceleration sled. Two different seats
      (seat A, seat B) were used. Three repetitions per ATD and mounting seat were
      done, resulting in a total of 12 sled crashes. Dummy sensors measured the head
      tri-axial acceleration and angular rate and the thorax tri-axial acceleration,
      all acquired at 10,000 Hz. A high-speed video camera recorded the impact at 1,000
      frames per second. The 3D kinematics of the head and torso of the ATDs were
      captured using a high-speed motion capture system (1,000 Hz). A pair-matched
      statistical analysis compared the outcomes of the tests using the 2 different
      seats. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences in the kinematic response
      of the ATDs associated with the type of seat were observed. The maximum 3 ms peak
      of the resultant head acceleration was higher on seat A for the P3 dummy (54.5 +/
      1.9 g vs. 44.2 +/- 0.5 g; P =.012) and for the P6 dummy (56.0 +/- 0.8 g vs. 51.7
      +/- 1.2 g; P =.015). The peak belt force was higher on seat A than on seat B for
      the P3 dummy (5,488.0 +/- 198.0 N vs. 4,160.6 +/- 63.6 N; P =.008) and for the P6
      dummy (7,014.0 +/- 271.0 N vs. 5,719.3 +/- 37.4 N; P =.015). The trajectory of
      the ATD head was different between the 2 seats in the sagittal, transverse, and
      frontal planes. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the overall response of the
      booster-seated occupant exposed to the same impact conditions was different
      depending on the seat used regardless of the size of the ATD. The differences
      observed in the response of the occupants between the 2 seats can be attributed
      to the differences in cushion stiffness, seat pan geometry, and belt geometry.
      However, these results were obtained for 2 particular seat models and a specific
      CRS and therefore cannot be directly extrapolated to the generality of vehicle
      seats and CRS.

PMID- 28594248
TI  - Advanced phases and reduced amplitudes are suggested to characterize the daily
      rest-activity cycles in depressed adolescent boys.
AB  - Self-reported eveningness has been previously associated with depressed mood
      among adults and adolescents. Here, we study how circadian indicators based on
      actigraphic data differ between depressed and healthy adolescent boys. Our sample
      consisted of 17 medication-free adolescent boys, aged 14.5 to 17.5 years, of
      which eight had depressive disorder and were currently depressed and nine were
      healthy comparison participants. Psychiatric assessment was conducted by
      diagnostic interviews and complemented with observer-rating and self-rating
      scales. Actigraphic data were collected with wrist actigraphs for a minimum
      period of 25 consecutive days (range of 25 to 44 days). The behavioral trait of
      morningness-eveningness was measured with the 19-item Horne-Ostberg Morningness
      Eveningness Questionnaire. Based on the self-report, the depressed boys were more
      prone to eveningness than healthy controls, but based on the actigraphic data,
      they had earlier phases especially on school days and lower activity levels
      especially on weekends. On weekends, the depressed boys showed a greater shift
      toward later-timed phases than healthy controls. Our results confirm a mismatch
      of the subjective morningness-eveningness preference (late-preference) and the
      objective rest-activity rhythm (early-prone) during school days in depressed
      adolescent boys.

PMID- 28594249
TI  - A pilot randomized trial of school-based administration of inhaled
      corticosteroids for at-risk children with asthma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether high adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS)
      among disadvantaged urban public school children on public insurance with
      persistent asthma is achievable by having school nurses administer morning doses
      on each day that school is in session. DESIGN/METHODS: This was a pilot
      prospective randomized clinical trial of home versus school nurse-administered
      ICS among children on Medicaid enrolled in grades K-8. The primary outcome was
      the proportion of expected morning doses of ICS given to the intervention group
      in school over the 60-day treatment period. Secondary outcomes included the
      relative proportions of expected doses (morning, evening, and total), asthma
      related morbidity, quality of life, and health-care utilization. RESULTS: A total
      of 46 patients were enrolled (mean age 8.21 +/- 2.45; 56.5% male; 91.3% non
      Hispanic, African-Americans), and follow-up data were available for 44/46 (95.7%)
      patients. The groups did not differ in age, gender, race/ethnicity, or asthma
      severity. The intervention group received 91.7% of expected morning doses of ICS
      at school over the 60-day treatment period (95% CI [87.7, 95.5]). Intervention
      patients reported significantly less functional limitation (42.9% vs. 73.9%, p =
      0.04), adjustment to family life (23.8% vs. 56.5%, p = 0.03), and sleep loss (1.7
      vs. 4.1 nights in last 2 weeks, p = 0.035) than control patients at the end of
      the 60-days study period. There were no differences in unscheduled health-care
      utilization by group. CONCLUSIONS: These pilot data suggest that school-based
      administration of ICS has the potential to achieve high adherence to morning
      doses of ICS on school days among urban, disadvantaged, and largely minority
      children with asthma.

PMID- 28594251
TI  - Timely-regulated intron retention as device to fine-tune protein expression.

PMID- 28594250
TI  - Relationship between blood toxin level and clinical features in patients with
      grayanotoxin poisoning - six clinical cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate grayanotoxin (GTX)
      levels in the blood of patients with GTX intoxication and in the consumed
      Rhododendron liqueur, and to determine whether there was an association between
      blood GTX level and the patient's clinical status. METHODS: In September 2015,
      six patients were concurrently presented to the emergency department with various
      toxicity symptoms, which occurred after the consumption of Rhododendron liqueur
      at the same toxin concentration. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
      analysis was conducted on blood samples obtained from six cases of GTX
      intoxication treated in our emergency department. RESULTS: At the initial
      evaluation in the emergency department, the mean arterial pressure of the
      patients ranged from 36.7 to 76.7 mm Hg. The concentrations of GTX-I and GTX-III
      in Rhododendron liqueur were 1.436 and 16.907 ng/mL, respectively. The initial
      blood GTX-III and GTX-I levels ranged from 2.9 to 58.0 ng/mL and the lower limit
      of quantification (LLOQ) to 8.33 ng/mL, respectively. After 20 h, the mean
      arterial pressure ranged from 76.7 to 93.3 mm Hg, while the blood GTX-III and GTX
      I levels ranged from the LLOQ to 17.8 and 2.52 ng/mL, respectively. DISCUSSION:
      We estimated that the minimum blood GTX-III and GTX-I levels that caused
      hypotension were between 17.83 and 27.3 ng/mL, and 2.52 and 4.55 ng/mL,
      respectively.

PMID- 28594252
TI  - Not all TNF inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis are created equal: important
      clinical differences.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anti-TNF therapy has dramatically changed how we manage rheumatoid
      arthritis. There are many similarities among the five approved agents but also
      some important differences. Rheumatologists have 5 different options to choose
      from when they are ready to commence anti-TNF therapy. Although all block the TNF
      cytokine, there are important critical differences among them that affect their
      safety profile and clinical utility in certain scenarios. Unfortunately, there
      are no head to head trials to compare the different anti-TNF agents and none
      appear to be in the horizon. Areas covered: This article reviews the various
      clinical situations where it may be important to use a particular anti-TNF agent.
      The authors also give their expert opinion and future perspectives on the area.
      Expert opinion: Although there are many similarities among the five different
      TNFi that are clinically available, there are important clinical niches, where
      the limited data that are available, that clearly support the preferential use of
      a particular agent or class of agents. Assays or tests that allow us to find the
      'sweet spot' of TNF inhibition at the level of each patient are long overdue.

PMID- 28594253
TI  - Neuropsychological functioning following cardiac transplant in Danon disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present a unique case involving a 31-year-old male with Danon disease
      (diagnosed at 14) who received cardiac transplant and subsequent cardiac re
      transplant. RESEARCH DESIGN: Brief report/case study. METHODS: Serial
      neuropsychological assessment across a 23-year span along with a review of school
      records and prior psychoeducational assessment. RESULTS: A consistent pattern of
      higher level cognitive impairment from childhood through adulthood was found.
      This pattern is interpreted in light of the sparse literature regarding cognitive
      and adaptive functioning related to Danon disease. CONCLUSIONS: The noteworthy
      aspects of this case include the preservation of some academic abilities and an
      unexpected level of functional independence given cognitive concerns. This case
      study further explores the nature of the deficits related to Danon disease and
      highlights the benefits of neuropsychological evaluation to guide functional
      interventions and maximize level of independence across the life span.

PMID- 28594254
TI  - Predictive factors of success in neurofeedback training for children with ADHD.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neurofeedback (NF) training aims the enhancement of self-regulation
      over brain activities. While it is largely recognized as an effective treatment
      for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the existence of non
      learners has also been reported. The present study explored pre-training
      assessment indices that could predict learners prior to NF training. METHODS:
      Twenty-two children with ADHD participated in slow cortical potential (SCP) NF
      training and completed pre- and post-training assessments. Participants were
      classified into learners or non-learners based on their progress in the SCP
      regulation, and pre-training indices that differentiate the two groups were
      examined by decision tree analysis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The learner rate in
      NF training was 45.5%. Learners were predicted by pre-training cognitive and
      neurophysiological measures regarding Stroop tasks, which suggested relatively
      intact executive function as their characteristics. Given that NF training is not
      universally effective for children with ADHD, further studies are necessary to
      establish application criteria.

PMID- 28594255
TI  - The human mitochondrial Hsp60 in the APO conformation forms a stable
      tetradecameric complex.
AB  - The human mitochondrial chaperonin is a macromolecular machine that catalyzes the
      proper folding of mitochondrial proteins and is of vital importance to all cells.
      This chaperonin is composed of 2 distinct proteins, Hsp60 and Hsp10, that
      assemble into large oligomeric complexes that mediate the folding of non-native
      polypeptides in an ATP dependent manner. Here, we report the bacterial expression
      and purification of fully assembled human Hsp60 and Hsp10 recombinant proteins
      and that Hsp60 forms a stable tetradecameric double-ring conformation in the
      absence of co-chaperonin and nucleotide. Evidence of the stable double-ring
      conformation is illustrated by the 15 A resolution electron microscopy
      reconstruction presented here. Furthermore, our biochemical analyses reveal that
      the presence of a non-native substrate initiates ATP-hydrolysis within the
      Hsp60/10 chaperonin to commence protein folding. Collectively, these data provide
      insight into the architecture of the intermediates used by the human
      mitochondrial chaperonin along its protein folding pathway and lay a foundation
      for subsequent high resolution structural investigations into the conformational
      changes of the mitochondrial chaperonin.

PMID- 28594256
TI  - Nitidine chloride inhibited the expression of S phase kinase-associated protein 2
      in ovarian cancer cells.
AB  - Nitidine chloride (NC) has been reported to exert its anti-tumor activity in
      various types of human cancers. However, the molecular mechanism of NC-mediated
      tumor suppressive function is largely unclear. In the current study, we used
      several approaches such as MTT, FACS, RT-PCR, Western blotting analysis, invasion
      assay, transfection, to explore the molecular basis of NC-triggered anti-cancer
      activity. We found that NC inhibited cell growth, induced cell apoptosis, caused
      cell cycle arrest in ovarian cancer cells. Emerging evidence has demonstrated
      that Skp2 plays an important oncogenic role in ovarian cancer. Therefore, we also
      explored whether NC exerts its biologic function via downregulation of Skp2 in
      ovarian cancer cells. We observed that NC significantly inhibited the expression
      of Skp2 in ovarian cancer cells. Notably, overexpression of Skp2 abrogated the
      anti-cancer activity induced by NC in ovarian cancer cells. Consistently,
      downregulation of Skp2 expression enhanced the sensitivity of ovarian cancer
      cells to NC treatment. Thus, inactivation of Skp2 by NC could be a novel strategy
      for the treatment of human ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28594257
TI  - MRI Evaluation of an Elastic TPU Mesh under Pneumoperitoneum in IPOM Position in
      a Porcine Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The frequency of laparoscopic approaches increased in hernia surgery
      over the past years. After mesh placement in IPOM position, the real extent of
      the meshes configurational changes after termination of pneumoperitoneum is still
      largely unknown. To prevent a later mesh folding it might be useful to place the
      mesh while it is kept under tension. Conventionally used meshes may lose their
      Effective Porosity under these conditions due to poor elastic properties. The aim
      of this study was to evaluate a newly developed elastic thermoplastic
      polyurethane (TPU) containing mesh that retains its Effective Porosity under
      mechanical strain in IPOM position in a porcine model. It was visualized under
      pneumoperitoneum using MRI in comparison to polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) meshes
      with similar structure. METHODS: In each of ten minipigs, a mesh (TPU containing
      or native PVDF, 10 * 20 cm) was randomly placed in IPOM position at the center of
      the abdominal wall. After 8 weeks, six pigs underwent MRI evaluation with and
      without pneumoperitoneum to assess the visibility and elasticity of the mesh.
      Finally, pigs were euthanized and abdominal walls were explanted for histological
      and immunohistochemical assessment. The degree of adhesion formation was
      documented. RESULTS: Laparoscopic implantation of elastic TPU meshes in IPOM
      position was feasible and safe in a minipig model. Mesh position could be
      precisely visualized and assessed with and without pneumoperitoneum using MRI
      after 8 weeks. Elastic TPU meshes showed a significantly higher surface increase
      under pneumoperitoneum in comparison to PVDF. Immunohistochemically, the amount
      of CD45-positive cells was significantly lower and the Collagen I/III ratio was
      significantly higher in TPU meshes after 8 weeks. There were no differences
      regarding adhesion formation between study groups. CONCLUSIONS: The TPU mesh
      preserves its elastic properties in IPOM position in a porcine model after 8
      weeks. Immunohistochemistry indicates superior biocompatibility regarding CD45
      positive cells and Collagen I/III ratio in comparison to PVDF meshes with a
      similar structure.

PMID- 28594258
TI  - First-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed plus cisplatin for malignant peritoneal
      mesothelioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesothelioma of peritoneal origin has wider variation in treatment
      outcomes than mesothelioma of pleural origin, likely because peritoneal
      mesothelioma comprises borderline malignant variants and aggressive malignant
      peritoneal mesothelioma (MPeM). This study retrospectively evaluates the efficacy
      of first-line systemic pemetrexed and cisplatin chemotherapy in MPeM. RESEARCH
      DESIGN AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients with histologically proven MPeM were
      treated with pemetrexed plus cisplatin as a first-line systemic chemotherapy. The
      response was evaluated radiologically according to standard Response Evaluation
      Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria. Twenty-two patients underwent 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/(FDG-PET)/computed tomography(CT)
      at baseline, and 13 were eligible for metabolic assessment. RESULTS: Two complete
      responses and 9 partial responses were achieved. Overall response rate and
      disease control rate were 45.8% and 91.7%, respectively. Median progression-free
      survival and median overall survival were 11.0 months and 15.8 months,
      respectively. Wet- type MPeM had significantly longer survival (40.9 months
      median) than other clinical types (15.5 months) (P = 0.045). The baseline maximum
      standardized uptake value in 22 patients was 8.93 (range, 2.5-16.77).
      CONCLUSIONS: Systemic pemetrexed plus cisplatin is active for MPeM. Disparity
      with the outcome of cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal
      chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) needs to receive more emphasis, since peritoneal
      mesothelioma has a 5-year survival rate of 50%.

PMID- 28594259
TI  - Targeting CDK4/6 to oppose hypoxia-mediated therapeutic resistance.

PMID- 28594260
TI  - Thermoresponsive nanocomposite gel for local drug delivery to suppress the growth
      of glioma by inducing autophagy.
AB  - Although the treatments of malignant glioma include surgery, radiotherapy and
      chemotherapy by oral drug administration, the prognosis of patients with glioma
      remains very poor. We developed a polyethylene glycol-dipalmitoylphosphatidyle-
      thanoiamine (mPEG-DPPE) calcium phosphate nanoparticles (NPs) injectable
      thermoresponsive hydrogel (nanocomposite gel) that could provide a sustained and
      local delivery of paclitaxel (PTX) and temozolomide (TMZ). In addition, the
      proportion of PTX and TMZ for the optimal synergistic antiglioma effect on C6
      cells was determined to be 1:100 (w/w) by the Chou and Talalay method. Our
      results clearly indicated that the autophagy induced by PTX:TMZ NPs plays an
      important role in regulating tumor cell death, while autophagy inhibition
      dramatically reverses the antitumor effect of PTX:TMZ NPs, suggesting that
      antiproliferative autophagy occurs in response to PTX:TMZ NPs treatment. The
      antitumor efficacy of the PTX:TMZ NP-loaded gel was evaluated in situ using C6
      tumor-bearing rats, and the PTX:TMZ NP-loaded gel exhibited superior antitumor
      performance. The antitumor effects of the nanocomposite gel in vivo were shown to
      correlate with autophagic cell death in this study. The in vivo results further
      confirmed the advantages of such a strategy. The present study may provide
      evidence supporting the development of nanomedicine for potential clinical
      application.

PMID- 28594261
TI  - Hemodynamic studies of platelet thrombosis using microfluidics.
AB  - Platelets contribute to thrombus formation in a variety of ways. Platelet
      adhesion, activation, and thrombus growth depend greatly on the type of
      hemodynamic environment surrounding an inciting event. Microfluidic systems may
      be used to explore these relationships. In this review, we describe some
      important considerations required in the design of a microfluidic system and
      identify some limitations that may require use of a macroscale system.

PMID- 28594262
TI  - An analysis of gene expression data involving examination of signaling pathways
      activation reveals new insights into the mechanism of action of minoxidil topical
      foam in men with androgenetic alopecia.
AB  - Androgenetic alopecia is the most common form of hair loss. Minoxidil has been
      approved for the treatment of hair loss, however its mechanism of action is still
      not fully clarified. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the effects of 5%
      minoxidil topical foam on gene expression and activation of signaling pathways in
      vertex and frontal scalp of men with androgenetic alopecia. We identified
      regional variations in gene expression and perturbed signaling pathways using in
      silico Pathway Activation Network Decomposition Analysis (iPANDA) before and
      after treatment with minoxidil. Vertex and frontal scalp of patients showed a
      generally similar response to minoxidil. Both scalp regions showed upregulation
      of genes that encode keratin associated proteins and downregulation of ILK, Akt,
      and MAPK signaling pathways after minoxidil treatment. Our results provide new
      insights into the mechanism of action of minoxidil topical foam in men with
      androgenetic alopecia.

PMID- 28594264
TI  - Treatment response and tolerability with once-monthly paliperidone palmitate
      initiated shortly after hospital admission in patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Partial or non-adherence in patients with schizophrenia is common and
      increases the risk of relapse. This study explored safety, tolerability and
      treatment outcomes in patients hospitalised for an exacerbation of schizophrenia
      initiated on maintenance treatment of once-monthly paliperidone palmitate (PP1M).
      METHODS: A 6-week, observational cohort study of patients initiated on PP1M
      within 3 weeks after hospital admission. RESULTS: Overall, 367 patients were
      documented, 85.8% with paranoid schizophrenia subtype. Mean time from hospital
      admission to PP1M initiation was 9.4 +/- 7.7 days. Treatment-emergent adverse
      events were reported by 22.9% of patients. From baseline to endpoint, significant
      improvements were observed in psychotic symptoms (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale
      total score mean change -19.3 +/- 12.6, P < .0001) and functioning (Personal and
      Social Performance scale total score mean change 14.3 +/- 12.4, P < .0001).
      Overall, 6.0% of patients were very or extremely satisfied with their prior
      antipsychotic medication at baseline compared with 47.2% very or extremely
      satisfied with PP1M treatment at endpoint. CONCLUSIONS: Initiating PP1M in
      patients with exacerbated schizophrenia shortly after hospital admission was well
      tolerated and resulted in statistically significant and clinically relevant
      improvements in symptoms and patient functioning, suggesting that patients may
      benefit from early initiation of PP1M during their hospital stay.

PMID- 28594265
TI  - beta cell self-renewal: Cyclin D2 to the rescue.

PMID- 28594263
TI  - Phototrophy and starvation-based induction of autophagy upon removal of Gcn5
      catalyzed acetylation of Atg7 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
AB  - Magnaporthe oryzae, the ascomycete fungus that causes rice blast disease,
      initiates conidiation in response to light when grown on Prune-Agar medium
      containing both carbon and nitrogen sources. Macroautophagy/autophagy was shown
      to be essential for M. oryzae conidiation and induced specifically upon exposure
      to light but is undetectable in the dark. Therefore, it is inferred that
      autophagy is naturally induced by light, rather than by starvation during M.
      oryzae conidiation. However, the signaling pathway(s) involved in such
      phototropic induction of autophagy remains unknown. We identified an M. oryzae
      ortholog of GCN5 (MGG_03677), encoding a histone acetyltransferase (HAT) that
      negatively regulates light- and nitrogen-starvation-induced autophagy, by
      acetylating the autophagy protein Atg7. Furthermore, we unveiled novel regulatory
      mechanisms on Gcn5 at both transcriptional and post-translational levels,
      governing its function associated with the unique phototropic response of
      autophagy in this pathogenic fungus. Thus, our study depicts a signaling network
      and regulatory mechanism underlying the autophagy induction by important
      environmental clues such as light and nutrients.

PMID- 28594266
TI  - Simple fluorescence-based detection of protein kinase A activity using a
      molecular beacon probe.
AB  - Protein kinase A was detected by quantifying the amount of ATP used after a
      protein kinase reaction. The ATP assay was performed using the T4 DNA ligase and
      a molecular beacon (MB). In the presence of ATP, DNA ligase catalyzed the
      ligation of short DNA. The ligation product then hybridized to MB, resulting in a
      fluorescence enhancement of the MB. This assay was capable of determining protein
      kinase A in the range of 12.5~150 nM, with a detection limit of 1.25 nM.
      Furthermore, this assay could also be used to investigate the effect of genistein
      on protein kinase A. It was a universal, non-radioisotopic, and homogeneous
      method for assaying protein kinase A.

PMID- 28594267
TI  - A plant pathogenic bacterium exploits the tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolic
      pathway of its insect vector.
AB  - Huanglongbing in citrus is caused by a phloem-limited, uncultivable, gram
      negative alpha-proteobacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). CLas is
      transmitted by the phloem-sucking insect, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae),
      in a persistent, circulative, and propagative manner. In this study, we
      investigated the metabolomic and respiration rates changes in D. citri upon
      infection with CLas using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas
      exchange analysis. The level of glycine, L-serine, L-threonine, and gamma-amino
      butyric acid were higher in CLas-infected D. citri, while L-proline, L-aspartic
      acid, and L-pyroglutamic acid were lower in CLas-infected D. citri compared with
      the control. Citric acid was increased in CLas-infected D. citri, whereas malic
      and succinic acids were reduced. Interestingly, most of the reduced metabolites
      such as malate, succinate, aspartate, and L-proline are required for the growth
      of CLas. The increase in citric acid, serine, and glycine indicated that CLas
      induced glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) in its vector. In
      agreement with the GC-MS results, the gene expression results also indicated that
      glycolysis and TCA were induced in CLas-infected D. citri and this was
      accompanied with an increases in respiration rate. Phosphoric acid and most of
      the sugar alcohols were higher in CLas-infected D. citri, indicating a response
      to the biotic stress or cell damage. Only slight increases in the levels of few
      sugars were observed in CLas-infected D. citri, which indicated that sugars are
      tightly regulated by D. citri. Our results indicated that CLas induces nutrient
      and energetic stress in its host insect. This study may provide some insights
      into the mechanism of colonization of CLas in its vector.

PMID- 28594268
TI  - Simultaneous but spatially different regulation of non-photosynthetic callus
      formation and photosynthetic root development after shoot removal.
AB  - Plants coordinate plastid differentiation and cellular differentiation during
      tissue development. Recently, we reported a mechanism of chloroplast development
      and photosynthetic improvement in Arabidopsis roots after shoot removal. Shoot
      removal induces the expression of WOUND INDUCED DEDIFFERENTIATION (WIND)
      transcription factors at the wound site, which activates type-B ARABIDOPSIS
      RESPONSE REGULATOR (ARR)-mediated cytokinin signaling in roots. The type-B ARR
      signaling upregulates chloroplast-related transcription factors along with
      photosynthesis-associated genes, thereby inducing chloroplast development in
      detached roots. However, at the wound site, WINDs promote the development of non
      green callus cells in a type-B ARR-dependent manner. Thus, in shoot-removed
      roots, WIND-mediated cytokinin signaling has spatially distinct roles: it
      represses chloroplast development at the wound site while activating the
      development in adjacent regions. Because WINDs are strong inducers of cell
      dedifferentiation, spatial differences in their expression levels between the
      wound site and other areas may determine the fate of chloroplast development.

PMID- 28594270
TI  - Detection of text-based social cues in adults with traumatic brain injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Written text contains verbal immediacy cues-word form or grammatical
      cues that indicate positive attitude or liking towards an object, action, or
      person. We asked if adults with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI)
      would respond to these cues, given evidence of TBI-related social communication
      impairments. METHODS: Sixty-nine adults with TBI and 74 healthy comparison (HC)
      peers read pairs of sentences containing different types of immediacy cues (e.g.,
      speaker A said "these Canadians" vs. B said "those Canadians.") and identified
      which speaker (A or B) had a more positive attitude towards the underlined entity
      (Task 1); and pairs of sentences comprised of a context sentence (e.g., Fred is
      asked, "Did you visit Joan and Sue?") and a statement sentence (Fred says, "I
      visited Sue and Joan.") and were asked to indicate how much Fred liked or
      disliked the underlined words (Task 2). RESULTS: HC group scores were
      significantly higher on Task 1, indicating more sensitivity to cues. On Task 2,
      TBI and HC group ratings differed across cue types and immediacy types, and the
      TBI group appeared to have less sensitivity to these cues. CONCLUSIONS: Findings
      suggest that TBI-related impairments may reduce sensitivity to subtle social cues
      in text.

PMID- 28594271
TI  - Treatment of Cyclosporin A retains host defense against invasive pulmonary
      aspergillosis in a non-immunosuppressive murine model by preserving the myeloid
      cell population.
AB  - Cyclosporin A (CsA) is widely used as an immunosuppressive agent for organ
      transplant recipients. CsA inhibits calcineurin, which is highly conserved in
      mammals and fungi, and thus affects both types of organism. In mammals, the
      immunosuppressive effect of CsA is via hampering T cell activation. In fungi, the
      growth inhibitory effect of CsA is via interference with hyphal growth. The aim
      of this study was to determine whether CsA renders mice susceptible to invasive
      pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and whether it can protect immunosuppressed mice
      from infection. We therefore examined both the antifungal and the
      immunosuppressive activity of CsA in immunosuppressed and in immunocompetent mice
      infected with Aspergillus fumigatus to model IPA. We found that daily injections
      of CsA could not produce an antifungal effect sufficient to rescue
      immunosuppressed mice from lethal IPA. However, a 100% survival rate was obtained
      in non-immunosuppressed mice receiving daily CsA, indicating that CsA did not
      render the mice vulnerable to IPA. The lymphocyte subset was significantly
      suppressed by CsA, while the myeloid subset was not. Therefore, we speculate that
      CsA does not impair the host defense against IPA since the myeloid cells are
      preserved.

PMID- 28594272
TI  - The future is now: the impact of present fluency in judgments about the future.
AB  - Recent research has emphasised the role of episodic memory in both remembering
      past events and in envisaging future events. On the other hand, it has been
      repeatedly shown that judgments about past events are affected by the fluency
      with which retrieval cues are processed. In this paper we investigate whether
      perceptual fluency also plays a role in judgments about future events. For this
      purpose we conducted four experiments. The first experiment replicated recent
      findings showing that stimuli that are processed fluently tend to be wrongly
      recognised as having been encountered in the past outside the laboratory walls
      [Brown, A. S., & Marsh, E. J. (2009). Creating illusions of past encounter
      through brief exposure. Psychological Science, 20, 534-538. doi: 10.1111/j.1467
      9280.2009.02337.x ]. Two follow-up experiments using Brown and Marsh's [(2009).
      Creating illusions of past encounter through brief exposure. Psychological
      Science, 20, 534-538. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02337 ] task tested the
      influence of perceptual fluency on future judgments. The fourth and last
      experiment was designed to rule out a potential confounding factor in the two
      previous experiments. Across experiments, we found that people rely on fluency
      when making judgments about events that are yet to come. These results suggest
      that fluency is an equally valid cue for past and future judgments.

PMID- 28594273
TI  - Effect of TPA and HTLV-1 Tax on BRCA1 and ERE controlled genes expression.
AB  - Interference with the expression and/or functions of the multifunctional tumor
      suppressor BRCA1 leads to a high risk of breast and ovarian cancers. BRCA1
      expression is usually activated by the estrogen (E2) liganded ERalpha receptor.
      Activated ERalpha is considered as a potent transcription factor which activates
      various genes expression by 2 pathways. A classical pathway, ERalpha binds
      directly to E2-responsive elements (EREs) in the promoters of the responsive
      genes and a non-classical pathway where ERalpha indirectly binds with the
      appropriate gene promoter. In our previous study, HTLV-1Tax was found to strongly
      inhibit ERalpha induced BRCA1 expression while stimulating ERalpha induced ERE
      dependent genes. TPA is a strong PKC activator which found to induce the
      expression of HTLV-1. Here we examined the effect of TPA on the expression of
      BRCA1 and genes controlled by ERE region in MCF-7 cells and on Tax activity on
      these genes. Our results showed strong stimulatory effect of TPA on both BRCA1
      and ERE expression without treatment with E2. Tax did not show any significant
      effect on these TPA activities. It seems that TPA activation of BRCA1 and ERE
      expression is dependent on PKC activity but not through the NFkappaB pathway.
      However, 53BP1 may be involved in this TPA activity because its overexpression
      significantly reduced the TPA stimulatory effect on BRCA1 and ERE expression.
      Additionally, our Chip assay results probably exclude possible involvement of
      ERalpha pathway in this TPA activity because TPA did not interfere with the
      binding of ERalpha to both BRCA1 promoter and ERE region.

PMID- 28594274
TI  - Wall ingrowth deposition in phloem parenchyma transfer cells in Arabidopsis:
      Heteroblastic variations and a potential role in pathogen defence.
AB  - Transfer cell (TCs) develop unique wall ingrowth networks which amplify plasma
      membrane surface area and thus maximize nutrient transporter density at key
      anatomic sites for nutrient exchange within plants and their external
      environment. These sites fall into 4 main groups corresponding to 4 categories of
      trans-membrane flux: absorption/secretion of solutes from or to the external
      environment, and absorption/secretion of solutes from or to internal, extra
      cytoplasmic compartments. Research on TC biology over recent decades has
      demonstrated correlations between wall ingrowth deposition in TCs and enhanced
      transport capacity in many major agricultural species such as pea, fava bean,
      cotton and maize. Consequently, there is general consensus that the existence of
      wall ingrowth morphology implies an augmentation in membrane transport capacity.
      However, this may not be entirely applicable for phloem parenchyma (PP) TCs in
      Arabidopsis. Our recent survey of PP TC abundance and distribution in Arabidopsis
      veins indicated that PP TC development reflects heteroblastic status. A
      consequence of this observation is the suggestion that PP TCs, or at least wall
      ingrowth deposition in these cells, potentially act as a physical barrier to
      defend access of invading pathogens to sugar-rich sieve elements rather than
      solely in facilitating the export of photoassimilate from collection phloem in
      leaves.

PMID- 28594276
TI  - Pharmacological factors affecting accumulation of gemcitabine's active
      metabolite, gemcitabine triphosphate.
AB  - Gemcitabine is an anticancer agent acting against several solid tumors. It
      requires nucleoside transporters for cellular uptake and deoxycytidine kinase for
      activation into active gemcitabine-triphosphate, which is incorporated into the
      DNA and RNA. However, it can also be deaminated in the plasma. The intracellular
      level of gemcitabine-triphosphate is affected by scheduling or by combination
      with other chemotherapeutic regimens. Moreover, higher concentrations of
      gemcitabine-triphosphate may affect the toxicity, and possibly the clinical
      efficacy. As a consequence, different nucleoside analogs have been synthetized
      with the aim to increase the concentration of gemcitabine-triphosphate into
      cells. In this review, we summarize currently published evidence on
      pharmacological factors affecting the intracellular level of gemcitabine
      triphosphate to guide future trials on the use of new nucleoside analogs.

PMID- 28594275
TI  - Roles of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide during replication of two
      unrelated plant RNA viruses in Nicotiana benthamiana.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide anion (O2-), hydrogen
      peroxide (H2O2), and hydroxyl radical, act as signaling molecules to transduce
      biotic and abiotic stimuli into stress adaptations in plants. A respiratory burst
      oxidase homolog B of Nicotiana benthamiana (NbRBOHB) is responsible for O2-
      production to inhibit pathogen infection during plant innate immunity. RBOH
      derived O2- can be immediately converted into H2O2 by the action of superoxide
      dismutase. Interestingly, we recently showed that red clover necrotic mosaic
      virus (RCNMV), a plant positive-strand RNA [(+)RNA] virus, hijacks the host's ROS
      generating machinery during infection. An RCNMV replication protein associates
      with NbRBOHB and triggers intracellular ROS bursts. These bursts are required for
      robust viral RNA replication. However, what types of ROS are required for viral
      replication is currently unknown. Here, we found that RCNMV replication was
      sensitive to an O2- scavenger but insensitive to an H2O2 scavenger.
      Interestingly, replication of another plant (+)RNA virus, brome mosaic virus, was
      sensitive to both types of scavengers. These results indicate a virus-specific
      pattern requirement of O2- and H2O2 for (+)RNA virus replication and suggest a
      conserved nature of the roles of ROS in (+)RNA virus replication.

PMID- 28594277
TI  - Metabolomics analysis of rice responses to salinity stress revealed elevation of
      serotonin, and gentisic acid levels in leaves of tolerant varieties.
AB  - A GC-MS based analytical approach was undertaken to understand the metabolomic
      responses of seedlings of 2 salt sensitive (Sujala and MTU 7029) and 2 tolerant
      varieties (Bhutnath, and Nonabokra) of indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) to NaCl
      induced stress. The 4 varieties responded differently to NaCl treatment with
      respect to the conserved primary metabolites (sugars, polyols, amino acids,
      organic acids and certain purine derivatives) of the leaf of rice seedlings.
      However, there were significant differences in salt induced production of
      chorismic acid derivatives. Serotonin level was increased in both the salt
      tolerant varieties in response to NaCl induced stress. In both the salt tolerant
      varieties, increased production of the signaling molecule gentisic acid in
      response to NaCl treatment was noticed. Salt tolerant varieties also produced
      increased level of ferulic acid and vanillic acid. In the salt sensitive
      varieties, cinnamic acid derivatives, 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (in Sujala) and 4
      hydroxybenzoic acid (in MTU 7029), were elevated in the leaves. So increased
      production of the 2 signaling molecules serotonin and gentisic acid may be
      considered as 2 important biomarker compounds produced in tolerant varieties
      contributing toward NaCl tolerance.

PMID- 28594278
TI  - Clinical and educational impact of pharmacogenomics testing: a case series from
      the INGENIOUS trial.
AB  - Pharmacogenomic testing has become increasingly widespread. However, there
      remains a need to bridge the gap between test results and providers lacking the
      expertise required to interpret these results. The Indiana Genomics
      Implementation trial is underway at our institution to examine total healthcare
      cost and patient outcomes after genotyping in a safety-net healthcare system. As
      part of the study, trial investigators and clinical pharmacology fellows
      interpret genotype results, review patient histories and medication lists and
      evaluate potential drug-drug interactions. We present a case series of patients
      in whom pharmacogenomic consultations aided providers in appropriately applying
      pharmacogenomic results within the clinical context. Formal consultations not
      only provide valuable patient care information but educational opportunities for
      the fellows to cement pharmacogenomic concepts.

PMID- 28594279
TI  - Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in 5' Upstream Region of Bovine TLR4 Gene
      Affecting Expression Profile and Transcription Factor Binding Sites.
AB  - The present study in the 5' upstream region of TLR4 gene revealed four Single
      Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in Vrindavani and Tharparkar cattle. The
      polymorphic information content (PIC), heterozygosity and allelic diversity
      values were low to moderate for these SNPs. In Vrindavani cattle, one SNP was
      found to be in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) and the remaining three were
      found to be in linkage disequilibrium (LD) as indicated statistically (P > 0.05).
      In Tharparkar cattle, two SNPs were found to be in HWE and were not in LD as
      indicated statistically (P > 0.05). These SNPs were used for construction of
      haplotypes. In-silico analysis of these SNPs predicted abolition of eight
      transcription factor binding sites and creation of eight new sites. The
      quantitative real time PCR analysis did not show any significant variation of
      gene expression among haplotypes. However, gene expression between breed was
      found to be significant (P < 0.05) which suggested that upstream region of bovine
      TLR4 gene has a crucial role in its expression. These findings in TLR4 gene offer
      essential evidence that can be useful in future research exploring its role in
      immunity. TLR4 can be used as a marker for selection for disease resistance in
      bovines.

PMID- 28594280
TI  - Rapid and reliable screening of HLA-B*15:02 in four Chinese populations using
      single-tube multiplex real-time PCR assay.
AB  - AIM:  HLA-B*15:02 screening should be performed to prevent antiepileptic drug
      induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions in populations of Asian origin. This
      study aimed to develop fast and reliable HLA-B*15:02 genotyping method and to
      investigate the distribution of HLA-B*15:02 in different Chinese ethnicities.
      MATERIALS & METHODS: A single-tube multiplex real-time PCR assay for HLA-B*15:02
      genotyping was established by combining allele-specific primers with TaqMan
      probes. RESULTS: The HLA-B*15:02 genotyping results in Bouyei (n = 100) by the
      established assay were completely consistent with the corresponding PCR sequence
      based typing findings. The percentage of HLA-B*15:02 carrier in Bouyei (19%; n =
      100) was significantly higher than those of Han (1%; n = 100), Tibetan (0%; n =
      100) and Uyghur (0%; n = 50) populations (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The novel
      method provides rapid, reliable and cost-effective detection of HLA-B*15:02
      allele in clinical applications.

PMID- 28594281
TI  - Are You Smiling, or Have I Seen You Before? Familiarity Makes Faces Look Happier.
AB  - It is clear that unreinforced repetition (familiarization) influences affective
      responses to social stimuli, but its effects on the perception of facial emotion
      are unknown. Reporting the results of two experiments, we show for the first time
      that repeated exposure enhances the perceived happiness of facial expressions. In
      Experiment 1, using a paradigm in which subjects' responses were orthogonal to
      happiness in order to avoid response biases, we found that faces of individuals
      who had previously been shown were deemed happier than novel faces. In Experiment
      2, we replicated this effect with a rapid "happy or angry" categorization task.
      Using psychometric function fitting, we found that for subjects to classify a
      face as happy, they needed less actual happiness to be present in the face if the
      target was familiar than if it was novel. Critically, our results suggest that
      familiar faces appear happier than novel faces because familiarity selectively
      enhances the impact of positive stimulus features.

PMID- 28594282
TI  - Availability of CYP2D6 genotyping results in general practitioner and community
      pharmacy medical records.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the availability of CYP450-2D6 (CYP2D6) genotyping results in
      general practitioner (GP) and/or community pharmacy records, and the influence
      thereof on psychotropic CYP2D6 substrate dosing. MATERIALS & METHODS: Primary
      outcome was the percentage of patients genotyped for CYP2D6 with their
      genotype/phenotype registered in GP and/or pharmacy records. Secondary outcome
      was the number of defined daily doses of psychotropic CYP2D6 substrates
      prescribed after genotyping. RESULTS: For 216 out of 1307 eligible patients,
      medication overviews could be obtained. Genotyping results were available at GPs
      for 3.1% and at pharmacies for 5.9%. The average psychotropic CYP2D6 substrate
      dose was not different between any non-extensive metabolizer group and extensive
      metabolizer group (all p >= 0.486). CONCLUSION: Valuable information for
      individualizing psychiatric pharmacotherapy is lost on a large scale.

PMID- 28594283
TI  - A Common Eurasian Fish Tapeworm, Caryophyllaeides fennica (Cestoda), in Western
      North America: Further Evidence of 'Amphi-Pacific' Vicariance in Freshwater Fish
      Parasites.
AB  - The freshwater fish faunas of the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions show
      similarities but also notable differences, resulting in diverse distributions of
      their parasites. Relatively few parasite species occur in both regions and fewer
      still have been examined using molecular data. We report a rare example of 'amphi
      Pacific' distribution, involving the common Palaearctic parasite, the
      caryophyllidean cestode Caryophyllaeides fennica (Schneider, 1902), in the
      chiselmouth Acrocheilus alutaceus Agassiz and Pickering, 1855, an endemic
      cyprinid in northwestern Nearctic, Oregon. Available information on nonnative
      fish species in Oregon suggests that the parasite is native to the area and not
      introduced. Molecular data (18S ribosomal [r]DNA, 28S rDNA, internal transcribed
      spacer 2, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene) indicate very little genetic
      divergence between representatives from the Palaearctic and Nearctic, and
      possibly a relatively more recent colonization of the Nearctic region by this
      cestode via the Beringian land bridge. This is remarkable considering that
      Acrocheilus has reportedly been in Oregon since the Miocene.

PMID- 28594284
TI  - Evidence-based medicine and contemporary certification: Analysis of the American
      Board of Vascular Medicine endovascular board examination.
AB  - Since 2005, the American Board of Vascular Medicine (ABVM) endovascular
      examination has been used to certify vascular practitioners. Annual rigorous
      review has confirmed it is psychometrically valid and reliable. However, the
      evidence basis underlying the examination items has not been studied
      systematically. The aim of this study was to adjudicate class of recommendation
      (COR) and level of evidence (LOE) for the 2015 ABVM endovascular examination and
      establish an additional feedback mechanism for examination improvement based on
      contemporary evidence-based guidelines. We performed a pooled consensus process
      to classify each of the 110 items in the 2015 ABVM endovascular examination by
      COR and LOE as detailed in the current guideline statements. We added additional
      categories for items that were not eligible for assignment using traditional
      current evidence-based metrics: 'COR X', cannot be determined, not applicable, or
      simple recognition; and 'LOE X', cannot be determined or not applicable. COR
      classifications were assigned in the following proportion: Class I=15%, Class
      II=40%, Class III=3%, COR X=42%. LOE classifications were assigned in the
      following proportion: Level A=12%, Level B=34%, Level C=32%, LOE X=22%. Our
      analysis showed that nearly half of the 2015 ABVM endovascular examination items
      were supported by strong scientific evidence or fact-based knowledge. COR and LOE
      analysis yielded notably different results. Use of alternate classification
      schema may be powerful tools for improving certification exams in healthcare.

PMID- 28594285
TI  - Cognitive Event-Related Potentials during the Sub-Acute Phase of Severe Traumatic
      Brain Injury and Their Relationship to Outcome.
AB  - Predicting outcome in the early phase after severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI)
      is a major clinical challenge, particularly identifying patients with potential
      for good cognitive outcome. The current single-center prospective study aimed to
      explore presence and normalization of electroencephalography (EEG)-based event
      related potentials (ERPs) in the early phase followings TBI, and their
      relationship to functional and cognitive outcome 6 months post-injury. Fourteen
      adult patients (eight males) with sTBI were recruited from the neurointensive
      care unit (mean age = 38.2 years [standard deviation (SD) = 14.7]; mean lowest
      Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score within first 24 h = 5.4, SD = 1.87). EEG
      recordings were conducted biweekly at three time-points applying an ERP paradigm
      encompassing a passive condition involving hearing their own name randomly
      interspersed between an unfamiliar name (UN), and an active condition with
      instruction to count their own name. Functional and cognitive outcome 6 months
      post-injury was measured with Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) and
      neuropsychological tests of attention and memory. Ten patients demonstrated a
      significantly enhanced cognitive P3 in the active counting task compared with
      passive listening across recordings, and six presented with normalization of P3
      in the counting task. Moreover, P3 amplitude to the counting task at the third
      time-point was positively correlated with both functional outcome (GOSE) and
      cognition (verbal learning, attentional set-shifting, and switching) 6 months
      post-injury. ERP can index cognitive capacities in the early phase following
      sTBI, and the cognitive P3 component in an active design is associated with
      functional and cognitive outcome, demonstrating that the cognitive P3 may yield
      valuable information of residual cognition and provide supplementary prognostic
      information.

PMID- 28594286
TI  - Peroxisomes as Modulators of Cellular Protein Thiol Oxidation: A New Model
      System.
AB  - AIMS: Peroxisomes are ubiquitous, single-membrane-bounded organelles that contain
      considerable amounts of enzymes involved in the production or breakdown of
      hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a key signaling molecule in multiple biological
      processes and disease states. Despite this, the role of this organelle in cross
      compartmental H2O2 signaling remains largely unclear, mainly because of the
      difficulty to modulate peroxisomal H2O2 production in a selective manner. This
      study aimed at establishing and validating a cellular model suitable to decipher
      the complex signaling processes associated with peroxisomal H2O2 release.
      RESULTS: Here, we report the development of a human cell line that can be used to
      selectively generate H2O2 inside peroxisomes in a time- and dose-controlled
      manner. In addition, we provide evidence that peroxisome-derived H2O2 can oxidize
      redox-sensitive cysteine residues in multiple proteins within (e.g.,
      peroxiredoxin-5 [PRDX5]) and outside (e.g., nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1
      [NFKB1] and subunit RELA proto-oncogene [RELA], phosphatase and tensin homolog
      [PTEN], forkhead box O3 [FOXO3], and peroxin 5 [PEX5]) the peroxisomal
      compartment. Furthermore, we show that the extent of protein oxidation depends on
      the subcellular location of the target protein and is inversely correlated to
      catalase activity and cellular glutathione content. Finally, we demonstrate that
      excessive H2O2 production inside peroxisomes does not induce their selective
      degradation, at least not under the conditions examined. INNOVATION: This study
      describes for the first time a powerful model system that can be used to examine
      the role of peroxisome-derived H2O2 in redox-regulated (patho)physiological
      processes, a research area in need of further investigation and innovative
      approaches. CONCLUSION: Our results provide unambiguous evidence that peroxisomes
      can serve as regulatory hubs in thiol-based signaling networks.

PMID- 28594287
TI  - Electromyographic analyses of the erector spinae muscles during golf swings using
      four different clubs.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the electromyography (EMG) patterns of
      the thoracic and lumbar regions of the erector spinae (ES) muscle during the golf
      swing whilst using four different golf clubs. Fifteen right-handed male golfers
      performed a total of twenty swings in random order using the driver, 4-iron, 7
      iron and pitching-wedge. Surface EMG was recorded from the lead and trail sides
      of the thoracic and lumbar regions of the ES muscle (T8, L1 and L5 lateral to the
      spinous-process). Three-dimensional high-speed video analysis was used to
      identify the backswing, forward swing, acceleration, early and late follow
      through phases of the golf swing. No significant differences in muscle-activation
      levels from the lead and trail sides of the thoracic and lumbar regions of the ES
      muscle were displayed between the driver, 4-iron, 7-iron and pitching-wedge (P >
      0.05). The highest mean thoracic and lumbar ES muscle-activation levels were
      displayed in the forward swing (67-99% MVC) and acceleration (83-106% MVC) phases
      of the swing for all clubs tested. The findings from this study show that there
      were no significant statistical differences between the driver, 4-iron, 7-iron
      and pitching-wedge when examining muscle activity from the thoracic and lumbar
      regions of the ES muscle.

PMID- 28594288
TI  - In Vitro Maturation of Human iPSC-Derived Neuroepithelial Cells Influences
      Transplant Survival in the Stroke-Injured Rat Brain.
AB  - Stem cell transplantation is a promising strategy for brain tissue regeneration;
      yet, despite some success, cell survival following transplantation remains low.
      In this study, we demonstrate that cell viability is enhanced by control over
      maturation of neuronal precursor cells, which are delivered in an injectable
      blend of hyaluronan and methylcellulose. We selected three subpopulations of
      human neuronal precursor cells derived from a cortically specified
      neuroepithelial stem cell (cNESC) population based on differences in expression
      of multipotent and neuron-specific proteins: early-, mid-, and late
      differentiated neurons. These cells were transplanted into an endothelin-1 stroke
      injured rat brain and their survival and fate were investigated 1 week later.
      Significantly, more cells were found in the brain after transplanting early- or
      mid- differentiated cNESCs compared to the late-differentiated population. The
      mid-differentiated population also had significantly more beta-III tubulin
      positive cells than either the early- or late-differentiated populations. These
      results suggest that maturity has a significant impact on cell survival following
      transplantation and cells with an intermediate maturity differentiate to neurons.

PMID- 28594289
TI  - Hypoxic Three-Dimensional Cellular Network Construction Replicates Ex Vivo the
      Phenotype of Primary Human Osteocytes.
AB  - Osteocytes are deeply embedded in the mineralized matrix of bone and are
      nonproliferative, making them a challenge to isolate and maintain using
      traditional in vitro culture methods without sacrificing their inimitable
      phenotype. We studied the synergistic effects of two microenvironmental factors
      that are vital in retaining, ex vivo, the phenotype of primary human osteocytes:
      hypoxia and three-dimensional (3D) cellular network. To recapitulate the
      lacunocanalicular structure of bone tissue, we assembled and cultured primary
      human osteocytic cells with biphasic calcium phosphate microbeads in a
      microfluidic perfusion culture device. The 3D cellular network was constructed by
      the following: (1) the inhibited proliferation of cells entrapped by microbeads,
      biomimetically resembling lacunae, and (2) the connection of neighboring cells by
      dendrites through the mineralized, canaliculi-like interstitial spaces between
      the microbeads. We found that hypoxia synergistically and remarkably upregulated
      the mature osteocytic gene expressions of the 3D-networked cells, SOST (encoding
      sclerostin) and FGF23 (encoding fibroblast growth factor 23), by several orders
      of magnitude in comparison to those observed from two-dimensional and normoxic
      culture controls. Intriguingly, hypoxia facilitated the self-assembly of a
      nonproliferating, osteoblastic monolayer on the surface of the 3D-networked
      cells, replicating the osteoblastic endosteal cell layer found at the interface
      between native bone and bone marrow tissues. Our ability to replicate, with
      hypoxia, the strong expressions of these mature osteocytic markers, SOST and
      FGF23, is important since these (1) could not be significantly produced in vitro
      and (2) are new important targets for treating bone diseases. Our findings are
      therefore expected to facilitate ex vivo studies of human bone diseases using
      primary human bone cells and enable high-throughput evaluation of potential bone
      targeting therapies with clinical relevance.

PMID- 28594290
TI  - Do rapid comprehensive urine drug screens change clinical management in children?
AB  - CONTEXT: Multiple studies have concluded that urine drug screens rarely change
      clinical management. The rapid comprehensive urine drug screen (RCUDS) at our
      institution detects over 300 substances using a combination of EIA and GC/MS and
      typically takes 2-5 h for completion. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether
      this RCUDS altered management in the pediatric population. METHODS: All patients
      >1 month and <18 years of age in which a RCUDS was completed from 1 January 2012
      to 31 December 2012 were eligible for the study. Assuming that clinical
      management would not be altered in at least 90% of cases with a confidence
      interval of 95%, an alpha error of 5%, we calculated a sample size of 122 cases
      to ensure adequate study power. Four board-certified medical toxicologists
      reviewed 160 cases. Cases were assigned to the toxicologists based on a random
      number generator. In addition, each toxicologist reviewed 12 random cases from
      the other three toxicologist's cases to determine inter-rater reliability. All
      four toxicologists reviewed any case in which a RCUDS was believed to have
      changed management. RESULTS: A total of 908 RCUDS were performed during the study
      period, and 160 were selected for study. Mean age was 10.5 years; male = 83,
      female = 77. Most were ordered from the ED (101/160 = 63%), followed by the
      inpatient unit (36/160 = 23%), outpatient (14/160 = 9%), and ICU (9/160 = 6%).
      111/160 (69%) had a history of ingestion. Of the 160 randomly chosen cases, only
      three cases were found in which overall clinical management was altered based on
      the results of the RCUDS. All three cases were children <3 years old with a RCUDS
      positive for amfetamines. In all the three cases, police, Division of Family
      Services (DFS), and social work were involved. In no case did the acute clinical
      management change occurred due to the results of the RCUDS. CONCLUSIONS: The
      RCUDS rarely changed management in patients at our institution. Further study is
      warranted.

PMID- 28594291
TI  - Rickets in a 6-year-old girl resulting in extreme deformities.
AB  - Rickets remains endemic in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and has re
      emerged in high-income countries. Poverty, ignorance and poor healthcare in LMIC
      still contribute to development of the disease and, if untreated, its progression
      to severe forms. A 6-year-old girl from a poor background presented with
      malnutrition, anaemia, rachitic rosary and severe deformities of the upper and
      lower limbs owing to vitamin D deficiency. Although she responded well to
      treatment initially, some of the deformities required surgical intervention.
      Unfortunately, she was lost to follow-up.

PMID- 28594292
TI  - Men's perspectives on women's empowerment and intimate partner violence in rural
      Bangladesh.
AB  - Intimate partner violence (IPV) may increase as women in patriarchal societies
      become empowered, implicitly or explicitly challenging prevailing gender norms.
      Prior evidence suggests an inverse U-shaped relationship between women's
      empowerment and IPV, in which violence against women first increases and then
      decreases as more egalitarian gender norms gradually gain acceptance. By means of
      focus-group discussions and in-depth interviews with men in 10 Bangladeshi
      villages, this study explored men's evolving views of women, gender norms and the
      legitimacy of men's perpetration of IPV in the context of a gender transition. It
      examines men's often-contradictory narratives about women's empowerment and
      concomitant changes in norms of masculinity, and identifies aspects of women's
      empowerment that are most likely to provoke a male backlash. Findings suggest
      that men's growing acceptance of egalitarian gender norms and their self-reported
      decreased engagement in IPV are driven largely by pragmatic self-interest: their
      desire to improve their economic status and fear of negative consequences of IPV.

PMID- 28594293
TI  - The SHIVA01 trial: what have we learned?

PMID- 28594294
TI  - CeO2 nanoparticles alter the outcome of species interactions.
AB  - Despite considerable research on the environmental impacts of nanomaterials, we
      know little about how they influence interactions between species. Here, we
      investigated the acute (12 d) and chronic (64 d) toxicities of cerium oxide
      nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) and bulk particles (0-200 mg/L) to three ciliated
      protist species (Loxocephalus sp., Paramecium aurelia, and Tetrahymena
      pyriformis) in single-, bi-, and multispecies microcosms. The results show that
      CeO2 NPs strongly affected the interactions between ciliated protozoan species.
      When exposed to the highest CeO2 NPs (200 mg/L), the intrinsic growth rates of
      Loxocephalus and Paramecium were significantly decreased by 18.87% and 88.27%,
      respectively, while their carrying capacities declined by more than 90%. However,
      CeO2 NP exposure made it difficult to predict outcomes of interspecific
      competition between species. At higher NP exposure (100 and 200 mg/L),
      competition led to the extinction of both species in the Loxocephalus and
      Paramecium microcosms that survived in the absence of competitors or CeO2 NPs.
      Further, the presence of potential competitors improved the survival of
      Loxocephalus to hundreds of individuals per milliliter in microcosms with
      Tetrahymena where Loxocephalus would otherwise not be able to tolerate high
      levels of NP exposure. This result could be attributed to weakened NP adsorption
      on the cell surface due to competitor-caused reduction of NP surface charge (from
      -18.52 to -25.17 mV) and intensified NP aggregation via phagocytosis of NPs by
      ciliate cells. Our results emphasize the need to explicitly consider species
      interactions for a more comprehensive understanding of the ecological
      consequences of NP exposure.

PMID- 28594295
TI  - Long-term outcomes of second-line antiretroviral treatment in an adult and
      adolescent cohort in Myanmar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myanmar has a high burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and
      second-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) has been available since 2008 in the
      public health sector. However, there have been no published data about the
      outcomes of such patients until now. OBJECTIVE: To assess the treatment and
      programmatic outcomes and factors associated with unfavorable outcomes (treatment
      failure, death and loss to follow-up from care) among people living with HIV
      (aged >= 10 years) receiving protease inhibitor-based second-line ART under the
      Integrated HIV Care Program in Myanmar between October 2008 and June 2015.
      DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using routinely collected program data.
      RESULTS: Of 824 adults and adolescents on second-line ART, 52 patients received
      viral load testing and 19 patients were diagnosed with virological failure.
      However, their treatment was not modified. At the end of a total follow-up
      duration of 7 years, 88 (11%) patients died, 35 (4%) were lost to follow-up, 21
      (2%) were transferred out to other health facilities and 680 (83%) were still
      under care. The incidence rate of unfavorable outcomes was 7.9 patients per 100
      person years follow-up. Patients with a history of injecting drug use, with a
      history of lost to follow-up, with a higher baseline viral load and who had
      received didanosine and abacavir had a higher risk of unfavorable outcomes.
      Patients with higher baseline C4 counts, those having taken first-line ART at a
      private clinic, receiving ART at decentralized sites and taking zidovudine and
      lamivudine had a lower risk of unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term
      outcomes of patients on second-line ART were relatively good in this cohort.
      Virological failure was relatively low, possibly because of lack of viral load
      testing. No patient who failed on second-line ART was switched to third-line
      treatment. The National HIV/AIDS Program should consider making routine viral
      load monitoring and third-line ART drugs available after a careful cost-benefit
      analysis.

PMID- 28594297
TI  - Assessment of sleep in subjects with visual impairment: Comparison using
      subjective and objective methods.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to verify the agreement between objective
      and subjective measures of sleep in people with and without visual impairment.
      Thirty-seven subjects with visual impairment participated in the study (19 blind
      without light perception and 18 low-vision), as well as 34 subjects with normal
      vision, with paired age and gender characteristics. For the subjective sleep
      evaluation, we used the Sleep Quality Index-PSQI and for the objective evaluation
      we used the ActiGraph GT3X+. Among the three analyzed groups, the blind was the
      only ones who presented differences between subjective and objective sleep
      duration (p = 0.021). Furthermore, the concordance between subjective and
      objective sleep duration (ICC = 0.388; p = 0.108) was not observed in blind
      subjects, and a greater variability of differences in sleep duration between the
      two methods was observed by the Bland Altman scatter plot. We concluded that the
      sleep duration obtained by PSQI did not show agreement for the objective sleep
      duration in blind subjects without light perception.

PMID- 28594296
TI  - The p53 R72P polymorphism does not affect the physiological response to ionizing
      radiation in a mouse model.
AB  - Tissue culture and mouse model studies show that the presence of the arginine (R)
      or proline (P) coding single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the tumor
      suppressor gene p53 at codon 72 (p53 R72P) differentially affects the responses
      to genotoxic insult. Compared to the P variant, the R variant shows increased
      apoptosis in most cell cultures and mouse model tissues in response to
      genotoxins, and epidemiological studies suggest that the R variant may enhance
      cancer survival and reduce the risks of adverse reactions to genotoxic cancer
      treatment. As ionizing radiation (IR) treatment is often used in cancer therapy,
      we sought to test the physiological effects of IR in mouse models of the p53 R72P
      polymorphism. By performing blood counts, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and
      survival studies in mouse populations rigorously controlled for strain
      background, sex and age, we discovered that p53 R72P polymorphism did not
      differentially affect the physiological response to IR. Our findings suggest that
      genotyping for this polymorphism to personalize IR therapy may have little
      clinical utility.

PMID- 28594298
TI  - To stop or not to stop disease modifying therapies in secondary progressive
      multiple sclerosis, that is the question.

PMID- 28594299
TI  - Dimerization of GTR1 regulates their plasma membrane localization.
AB  - Members of the nitrate transporter 1/peptide transporter family (NPF) are
      multifunctional transporters of various compounds including plant hormones and
      play important roles in plant growth and responses to environmental stress.
      Recently, we found that Arabidopsis GTR1 (also known as NPF2.10) takes up
      gibberellic acid and jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine in addition to glucosinolates. For
      normal plant growth, GTR1 is regulated at the gene expression level; however, it
      is unclear whether post-translational regulation also occurs. Here, we found that
      dimerization of GTR1, possibly induced by dephosphorylation of the Thr residue
      located between the possible transmembrane regions, regulates its plasma membrane
      localization, leading to transport of glucosinolates and gibberellic acid in
      Xenopus oocytes. These findings suggest that dimerization of multifunctional
      transporters contributes to their activities at the plasma membrane.

PMID- 28594300
TI  - Pre-operative experiences and post-operative benefits of ptosis surgery: A
      qualitative study.
AB  - This qualitative study sought to explore the experiences of patients who had
      undergone successful ptosis correction surgery. Participants were recruited from
      Bristol Eye Hospital. Nine participants were interviewed using a semi-structured
      interview schedule and open ended questions. Data were analysed using inductive
      thematic analysis. Four major themes were identified from patient accounts.
      Patients described the psychosocial and functional difficulties they experienced
      living with ptosis, and the subsequent benefits of surgery. Patients reported
      experiencing appearance related anxiety pre-operatively due to their condition
      and engaging in behaviours to avoid social encounters. Gender differences were
      noted in the internalization of perceived negative reactions from others, with
      men describing fewer adverse impacts. Patients described perceived barriers to
      seeking surgery including a lack of awareness of ptosis as a treatable condition,
      the perception that being concerned with their appearance could be seen as vain
      and the view that ptosis surgery is synonymous with cosmetic surgery. Following
      successful surgery patients outlined positive impacts on their vision, appearance
      and psychosocial well-being after successful surgery. This qualitative study
      highlights the complexities of the factors and processes contributing to the
      psychosocial impacts of ptosis and the potential benefits of surgery and/or
      psychosocial support. An increased awareness amongst people with ptosis of the
      potential positive impacts of surgery and an enhanced understanding of the
      reasons why patients may not seek treatment amongst health care professionals are
      likely to benefit this often overlooked patient group.

PMID- 28594302
TI  - Ectopic orbital meningioma: Fact or fiction?
AB  - Primary intraorbital ectopic meningiomas are rare and their existence remains
      controversial. We present a 30-year-old female with painless, non-axial proptosis
      and a palpable superomedial mass. The MRI demonstrated that the mass had no optic
      nerve sheath or sphenoid wing involvement and was initially reported to have no
      intracranial extension. The patient was initially thought to have an ectopic
      orbital meningioma. Subsequent multidisciplinary team (MDT) consultation and
      further specialist review of the MRI revealed a subtle dural tail connecting to
      an enhancing mass in the olfactory groove. Biopsy revealed a WHO Grade 1
      transitional meningioma with an infiltrative pattern. We argue that some
      previously reported cases of ectopic meningioma may lack the requisite imaging to
      discover the primary disease. Our report highlights the importance of MRI in this
      group of patients and the role of a skull-base MDT with specialist neuroradiology
      input to determine the true origin and extent of these extradural orbital
      meningiomas.

PMID- 28594301
TI  - Orbital abscess following posterior subtenon injection of triamcinolone
      acetonide.
AB  - Orbital cellulitis is a serious sight threatening and potentially life
      threatening condition which can be complicated by orbital abscess formation.
      Posterior subtenon (PST) injection of corticosteroid is commonly used in the
      treatment of posterior segment inflammation including post-operative macular
      oedema. We report a case of orbital abscess formation as a late complication of
      PST triamcinolone acetonide and discuss the presentation, diagnosis and
      management.

PMID- 28594303
TI  - Self-inflicted enucleations: Clinical features of seven cases.
AB  - We report the clinical presentation, radiography, and management outcomes of
      autoenucleations (AE). Charts of 7 patients evaluated at 4 institutions with AE
      were reviewed. Four males and three females had a mean age of 50 years (range 26
      72 years). The etiologies were psychosis secondary to underlying mental illness
      (6, 88%) and substance use (1, 12%), and the mechanism was largely blunt digital
      injury (6, 88%). Three (43%) AE patients suffered bilateral enucleations. Common
      concomitant injuries included eyelid lacerations (5, 71%) and optic nerve
      avulsion (3, 43%). Radiography was utilized for all of the study patients with
      computed tomography as the most common (5, 71%), followed by ultrasound (1, 14%),
      and magnetic resonance imaging with CT angiography (1, 14). Orbital exploration
      was performed in the management of all patients. Orbital implants were placed in
      4 (57%) patients. Patients were followed for a mean of 1.9 months (range 1-4
      months). Autoenucleation affects both genders and is commonly associated with
      eyelid lacerations, optic nerve avulsion, and intracranial hemorrhage. The
      association with intracranial hemorrhage is consistent with prior reports of
      internal carotid artery injury following shearing of the optic nerve.
      Autoenucleation cases were seen secondary to mental or substance induced
      psychosis, and these patients may be at risk for future injuries such as AE of
      the contralateral globe. The common causes for psychosis reported our patient
      group include schizophrenia, depression, schizoaffective disorder, and
      methamphetamine-induced psychosis, which corroborates with similar cases in the
      literature. Two of three cases of bilateral AE suffered sequential AE where the
      contralateral globe was enucleated days apart. All patients suffering AE should
      have full medical, psychiatric, neurologic, and radiologic evaluation and
      monitoring while under care. When evaluating patients with obvious ocular injury,
      accompanying intracranial injuries should be ruled out in a timely fashion before
      pursuing surgical intervention.

PMID- 28594304
TI  - Role of vitamin D pathway gene polymorphisms on rifampicin plasma and
      intracellular pharmacokinetics.
AB  - AIM: We retrospectively evaluate the pharmacogenetic role of single nucleotide
      polymorphisms involved in rifampicin transport (SLCO1B1, MDR1 and PXR genes) and
      vitamin D (VDR, CYP24A1 and CYP27B1 genes) metabolism and activity on drug plasma
      and intracellular concentrations. PATIENTS & METHODS: Rifampicin Cmax and Ctrough
      were measured at weeks 2 and 4 using Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography
      tandem mass spectroscopy methods. Allelic discrimination was performed by real
      time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients were enrolled. At
      week 2, OATP1B1 521TT and CYP27B1 +2838CC/CT considering plasma and BsmIAA for
      intraperipheral blood mononuclear cells Cmax, remained in regression analysis.
      Concerning week 4, TaqITC/CC and CYP24A1 22776CT/TT were retained in plasma Cmax
      regression model. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the role of SLCO1B1 and it
      suggests the involvement of vitamin D pathway gene polymorphisms in rifampicin
      pharmacokinetics.

PMID- 28594307
TI  - 5th Congress of WUWHS Abstract book Florence, Italy September 25-29 2016.
AB  - The abstract book contains the abstracts of keynote lectures, focus sessions,
      symposia, workshops, AIUC annual meeting, AISLEC annual meeting, EPUAP annual
      meeting, ETRS special session, sponsor symposia, oral presentations, poster
      presentations and the subject index.

PMID- 28594305
TI  - Potential impact of a nonavalent HPV vaccine on HPV related low-and high-grade
      cervical intraepithelial lesions: A referral hospital-based study in Sicily.
AB  - While bivalent and quadrivalent HPV vaccines have been used for about 10 years, a
      nonavalent vaccine against HPV types 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52 and 58 has been
      recently approved by FDA and EMA and is now commercially available. The objective
      of our study was to evaluate the potential impact of the nonavalent vaccine on
      HPV infection and related low- and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions
      (LSIL, HSIL), compared to the impact of the quadrivalent vaccine, in a female
      population living in Sicily (Italy). Low estimates of HPV vaccine impact were
      calculated as prevalence of HPV 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52 and 58 genotypes, alone or
      in association, but excluding presence of other HPV types; high estimates were
      calculated as prevalence of HPV 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52 and 58 genotypes alone or
      in association, in the presence of other HPV types. The nonavalent HPV vaccine
      showed increased impact, compared to the quadrivalent vaccine. Estimates of
      potential impact varied from 30.9% (low estimate) to 53.3% (high estimate) for
      LSIL, and from 56.9% to 81,0% for HSIL. The proportion of additional cases
      potentially prevented by the nonavalent vaccine was 14.4%-23.8% for LSIL, and
      19.0%-32.8% for HSIL. The benefit of the nonavalent vaccine compared to the
      quadrivalent vaccine was more than 80% for both low and high impact estimates for
      LSIL and more than 50% for both low and high impact estimates for HSIL. The
      present study confirms that the switch from a first generation HPV vaccines to a
      nonavalent vaccine would increase the prevention of cervical HSIL in up to 90% of
      cases.

PMID- 28594306
TI  - A pilot study investigating the association between chronic bilateral
      vestibulopathy and components of a clinical functional assessment tool.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyze the association between prospectively
      assessed falls and functional abilities in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy
      (BVP). METHODS: Nineteen BVP patients had functional abilities assessed at
      baseline with the expanded timed get-up-and-go (ETGUG) test. Falls were
      prospectively recorded with a monthly "fall calendar" over a one-year period.
      Association between baseline functional abilities and falls was evaluated by Mann
      Whitney U testing. Logistic regression was applied to describe the relationship
      between falls and functional abilities. Area under the receiver-operating
      characteristic curve (AUC) was used predicting falls based on gait speed.
      RESULTS: Eight (45%) of 18 patients (61.11 +/- 15.19 years, 12 male) reported 19
      falls. Fallers had a significantly faster preferred gait speed (p = 0.03) in the
      fifth component of the ETGUG. Preferred gait speed was a significant factor in
      the prediction of falls model (odds ratio = 2.00, p = 0.05, CI = 1.00/4.00 per 10
      cm/s). ACU was 0.80 and the cutoff score of 1.35m/s (sensitivity = 75%,
      specificity = 70%) in predicting falls. DISCUSSION: BVP patients classified as
      fallers demonstrated significant faster gait speed after a turning maneuver.
      Future studies in larger BVP patient samples are needed to refute or confirm our
      findings.

PMID- 28594308
TI  - Atrazine, chlorpyrifos, and iprodione effect on the biodiversity of bacteria,
      actinomycetes, and fungi in a pilot biopurification system with a green cover.
AB  - The use of biopurification systems can mitigate the effects of pesticide
      contamination on farms. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect
      of pesticide dissipation on microbial communities in a pilot biopurification
      system. The pesticide dissipation of atrazine, chlorpyrifos and iprodione (35 mg
      kg-1 active ingredient [a.i.]) and biological activity were determined for 40
      days. The microbial communities (bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi) were analyzed
      using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). In general, pesticide
      dissipation was the highest by day 5 and reached 95%. The pesticides did not
      affect biological activity during the experiment. The structure of the
      actinomycete and bacterial communities in the rhizosphere was more stable during
      the evaluation than that in the communities in the control without pesticides.
      The rhizosphere fungal communities, detected using DGGE, showed small and
      transitory shifts with time. To conclude, rhizosphere microbial communities were
      not affected during pesticide dissipation in a pilot biopurification system.

PMID- 28594309
TI  - Understanding media publics and the antimicrobial resistance crisis.
AB  - Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) imperils health for people across the world. This
      enormous challenge is being met with the rationalisation of prescription,
      dispensing and consumption of antimicrobials in clinical settings and in the
      everyday lives of members of the general population. Individuals need to be
      reached outside clinical settings to prepare them for the necessary changes to
      the pharmaceutical management of infections; efforts that depend on media and
      communications and, therefore, how the AMR message is mediated, received and
      applied. In 2016, the UK Review on Antimicrobial Resistance called on governments
      to support intense, worldwide media activity to promote public awareness and to
      further efforts to rationalise the use of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals. In this
      article, we consider this communications challenge in light of contemporary
      currents of thought on media publics, including: the tendency of health
      communications to cast experts and lay individuals in opposition; the blaming of
      individuals who appear to 'resist' expert advice; the challenges presented by
      negative stories of AMR and their circulation in public life, and; the problems
      of public trust tied to the construction and mediation of expert knowledge on the
      effective management of AMR.

PMID- 28594310
TI  - Local narratives of sexual and other violence against children and young people
      in Zanzibar.
AB  - Understandings of violence, and especially sexual violence against children, must
      be situated within the local context. The 2009 Violence against Children Survey
      in Zanzibar indicated that 6% of girls and 9% of boys reported having experienced
      sexual violence before the age of 18 years. This paper reports on an in-depth
      qualitative study conducted in Zanzibar to provide further insights to these
      findings by examining the circumstances for sexual and other violence against
      children in Zanzibar. Twenty-four in-depth interviews with young people and 18
      focus-group discussions with young people and adults were conducted in rural and
      urban Zanzibar. A further 8 interviews were conducted with parents and key
      stakeholders in government and NGO offices that provide services for children.
      The findings revealed that religious and cultural practices, which form the
      foundation of Swahili culture in Zanzibar, provide a moral frame for childhood
      development, but structural factors make children vulnerable to sexual violence.
      Both boys and girls are vulnerable to sexual violence in the home, neighbourhood,
      at school and, in particular, at madrasa or Qur'anic schools. As religion and
      culture are strong influences on childhood, preventing sexual violence at madrasa
      schools would strengthen the positive aspects of religious teachings for ensuring
      a safe childhood.

PMID- 28594312
TI  - Warning About the Use of Critical-Size Defects for the Translational Study of
      Bone Repair: Analysis of a Sheep Tibial Model.
AB  - The repair of large long bone defects requires complex surgical procedures as the
      bone loss cannot simply be replaced by autologous grafts due to an insufficient
      bone stock of the human body. Tissue engineering strategies and the use of
      Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) for these reconstructions remain a
      considerable challenge, in particular since robust outcomes in well-defined large
      animal models are lacking. To be suitable as a model for treatment of human sized
      bone defects, we developed a large animal model in both skeletally immature and
      mature sheep and made close observations on the spontaneous healing of defects.
      We warn for the spontaneous repair of large defects in immature animals, which
      can mask the (in)effectiveness of ATMP therapies, and propose the use of large
      4.5 cm defects that are pretreated with a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spacer in
      skeletally mature animals.

PMID- 28594311
TI  - A lentiviral vector bearing a reverse intron demonstrates superior expression of
      both proteins and microRNAs.
AB  - While lentiviral expression vectors are widely used in many facets of molecular
      biology, due to their ability to stably express heterologous genes in both
      dividing and non-dividing cells, they suffer from the disadvantage that introns
      inserted into the vector genome are generally rapidly lost by splicing in
      packaging cell lines. The presence of an intron, if achievable, has the potential
      to facilitate the expression of transgene cDNAs, as splicing has been extensively
      shown to facilitate mRNA biogenesis and function. Moreover, if a stable intron
      could be introduced into a lentiviral vector, this could greatly facilitate the
      expression of microRNAs (miRNAs), and especially miRNA clusters, as the
      introduction of pri-miRNA stems into the exonic region of a lentiviral vector can
      strongly reduce both vector titer and the expression of any miRNA-linked
      indicator gene due to cleavage of the vector RNA genome by cellular Drosha. Here,
      we describe a novel lentiviral vector design in which transgenes and/or miRNAs
      are expressed using an antisense-orientated, inducible promoter driving an
      expression cassette bearing a functional intron. We demonstrate that this
      lentiviral vector, called pTREX, is able to express higher levels of both
      transgenes and pri-miRNA clusters when compared with a closely similar
      conventional lentiviral vector.

PMID- 28594313
TI  - Protection against TBI-Induced Neuronal Death with Post-Treatment with a
      Selective Calpain-2 Inhibitor in Mice.
AB  - Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide.
      The calcium-dependent protease, calpain, has been shown to be involved in TBI
      induced neuronal death. However, whereas various calpain inhibitors have been
      tested in several animal models of TBI, there has not been any clinical trial
      testing the efficacy of calpain inhibitors in human TBI. One important reason for
      this could be the lack of knowledge regarding the differential functions of the
      two major calpain isoforms in the brain, calpain-1 and calpain-2. In this study,
      we used the controlled cortical impact (CCI) model in mice to test the roles of
      calpain-1 and calpain-2 in TBI-induced neuronal death. Immunohistochemistry (IHC)
      with calpain activity markers performed at different time-points after CCI in
      wild-type and calpain-1 knock-out (KO) mice showed that calpain-1 was activated
      early in cortical areas surrounding the impact, within 0-8 h after CCI, whereas
      calpain-2 activation was delayed and was predominant during 8-72 h after CCI.
      Calpain-1 KO enhanced cell death, whereas calpain-2 activity correlated with the
      extent of cell death, suggesting that calpain-1 activation suppresses and calpain
      2 activation promotes cell death following TBI. Systemic injection(s) of a
      calpain-2 selective inhibitor, NA101, at 1 h or 4 h after CCI significantly
      reduced calpain-2 activity and cell death around the impact site, reduced the
      lesion volume, and promoted motor and learning function recovery after TBI. Our
      data indicate that calpain-1 activity is neuroprotective and calpain-2 activity
      is neurodegenerative after TBI, and that a selective calpain-2 inhibitor can
      reduce TBI-induced cell death.

PMID- 28594314
TI  - Tailoring of recommendations to reduce serious cutaneous adverse drug reactions:
      a pharmacogenomics approach.
AB  - The Health Sciences Authority launched a pharmacogenetics initiative in 2008 to
      facilitate evaluation of pharmacogenetics associations pertinent for Chinese,
      Malays and Indians in Singapore. The aim was to reduce the incidence and
      unpredictability of serious adverse drug reactions, with a focus on serious skin
      adverse drug reactions. This paper describes the gathering of evidence and
      weighing of factors that led to different genotyping recommendations for HLA
      B*15:02 with carbamazepine and HLA-B*58:01 with allopurinol, despite both having
      strong genetic associations. Translation of pharmacogenomics at a national level
      requires careful deliberation of the prevalence of at-risk allele, strength of
      genetic associations, positive predictive value, cost-effectiveness and
      availability of alternative therapies. Our experience provides a perspective on
      translating genomic discoveries in advancing drug safety.

PMID- 28594317
TI  - Understanding vantage points to stimulate dialogue.

PMID- 28594315
TI  - Forecasting Financial Resources for Future Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Care
      Using Simulation Modeling.
AB  - Survivors of traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) have intense healthcare needs
      during acute and rehabilitation care and often through the rest of life. To
      prepare for a growing and aging population, simulation modeling was used to
      forecast the change in healthcare financial resources and long-term patient
      outcomes between 2012 and 2032. The model was developed with data from acute and
      rehabilitation care facilities across Canada participating in the Access to Care
      and Timing project. Future population and tSCI incidence for 2012 and 2032 were
      predicted with data from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health
      Information. The projected tSCI incidence for 2012 was validated with actual data
      from the Rick Hansen SCI Registry of the participating facilities. Using a medium
      growth scenario, in 2032, the projected median age of persons with tSCI is 57 and
      persons 61 and older will account for 46% of injuries. Admissions to acute and
      rehabilitation facilities in 2032 were projected to increase by 31% and 25%,
      respectively. Because of the demographic shift to an older population, an
      increase in total population life expectancy with tSCI of 13% was observed
      despite a 22% increase in total life years lost to tSCI between 2012 and 2032.
      Care cost increased 54%, and rest of life cost increased 37% in 2032, translating
      to an additional CAD $16.4 million. With the demographics and management of tSCI
      changing with an aging population, accurate projections for the increased demand
      on resources will be critical for decision makers when planning the delivery of
      healthcare after tSCI.

PMID- 28594318
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28594319
TI  - Up Front.

PMID- 28594316
TI  - Effects of Irisin and Exercise on Metabolic Parameters and Reproductive Hormone
      Levels in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Female Mice.
AB  - It has been documented that exogenously administered irisin (1010 fibronectin
      type III domain-containing 5 [FNDC5]), which is a new polypeptide hormone,
      induces the browning of subcutaneous fat and thermogenesis. In this study,
      effects of physical activity and exogenous administration of irisin were
      investigated on parameters related with reproduction and metabolism in the high
      fat diet-induced obesity model of the female C57BL/6J mice. Sixty mice were
      gathered at age approximately 5 to 6weeks and were divided into 3 groups. Control
      group remained sedentary. Irisin group remained also sedentary but intravenously
      received 1010 FNDC5-expressing adenovirus after 20 weeks. Exercise group
      performed treadmill after 6 weeks. All mice were sacrificed 22 to 23 weeks after
      the start of the study. There was a significantly greater Delta weight in the
      controls compared with the irisin and exercise groups ( P < .05). Glucose and
      insulin levels were significantly higher in the controls ( P < .05). The serum
      irisin level was significantly higher in the exercise group ( P < .05). Serum
      luteinizing hormone levels were significantly increased in the irisin group ( P <
      .05). Serum anti-Mullerian hormone levels were significantly higher in irisin and
      exercise groups ( P < .05). There were significant negative correlations between
      serum irisin levels and Delta weight and homeostatic model assessment of insulin
      resistance ( r = -0.327, r = -0.297, respectively; P < .05 for both). The numbers
      of primordial follicles per ovary were similar ( P > .05), whereas primary and
      secondary follicles per ovary were higher in the irisin and exercise groups
      compared with controls ( P < .05). Pharmacologic introduction of irisin may
      improve metabolic factors such as insulin sensitivity and obesity by promoting
      weight loss and consequently improving the reproductive potential.

PMID- 28594320
TI  - Silver-containing foam dressings with Safetac: a review of the scientific and
      clinical data.
AB  - Background Topical antimicrobials, such as silver dressings, are progressively
      being used alongside systemic antibiotics to provide adjunctive, antimicrobial
      therapy to wounds that are clinically infected or at risk of infection. To help
      improve wound management, dressings that use Safetac soft silicone technology in
      combination with a silver-impregnated foam dressing material were developed by
      Molnlycke Health Care (Gothenburg, Sweden). The range comprises Mepilex Ag,
      Mepilex Border Ag and Mepilex Transfer Ag. Aims A literature review was
      undertaken to identify and summarise clinical data from the entire evidence
      hierarchy, as well as data from in vitro tests, which support the use of silver
      containing foam dressings with Safetac. Method The MEDLINE (National Library of
      Medicine, Bethesda, US) and EMBASE (Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
      bibliographic databases were searched. In addition, abstract books and
      proceedings documents relating to national and international conferences were
      scanned in order to identify presentations (oral, e-poster and poster) of
      relevance to the review. Results In vitro test results showed that the silver
      containing foam dressings with Safetac have both rapid and sustained activity
      against a range of wound pathogens, reducing planktonic and established biofilm
      cultures, and preventing biofilm formation. In numerous clinical studies,
      silvercontaining foam dressings with Safetac were used to manage wound bioburden
      effectively and resolve signs of localised infection in both acute wounds (such
      as surgical, traumatic and burn injuries) and chronic wounds (such as leg ulcers,
      pressure ulcers (PUs), diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), and cancerous wounds).
      Studies reported that silver-containing foam dressings with Safetac are easy to
      use, provide an optimal environment for wound healing, and are associated with
      atraumatic and virtually painfree removal. As well as being clinically effective,
      they are reported to be cost-effective when used on wounds that require topical
      antimicrobial therapy. Conclusion The findings of both scientific and clinical
      studies clearly indicate that clinical, patient-related and economic benefits are
      associated with the use of Mepilex Ag, Mepilex Border Ag and Mepilex Transfer Ag
      with Safetac in the treatment of wounds where antimicrobial activity is needed to
      help manage bioburden.

PMID- 28594321
TI  - Pharmacogenomics in Asia: a systematic review on current trends and novel
      discoveries.
AB  - While early pharmacogenomic studies have primarily been carried out in Western
      populations, there has been a notable increase in the number of Asian studies
      over the past decade. We systematically reviewed all pharmacogenomic studies
      conducted in Asia published before 2016 to highlight trends and identify research
      gaps in Asia. We observed that pharmacogenomic research in Asia was dominated by
      larger developed countries, notably Japan and Korea, and mainly driven by local
      researchers. Studies were focused on drugs acting on the CNS, chemotherapeutics
      and anticoagulants. Significantly, several novel pharmacogenomic associations
      have emerged from Asian studies. These developments are highly encouraging for
      the strength of regional scientific and clinical community and propound the
      importance of discovery studies in different populations.

PMID- 28594322
TI  - Caspase-8 contributes to angiogenesis and chemotherapy resistance in
      glioblastoma.
AB  - Caspase-8 is a key player in extrinsic apoptosis and its activity is often
      downregulated in cancer. However, human Caspase-8 expression is retained in some
      tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM), suggesting that it may support cancer
      growth in these contexts. GBM, the most aggressive of the gliomas, is
      characterized by extensive angiogenesis and by an inflammatory microenvironment
      that support its development and resistance to therapies. We have recently shown
      that Caspase-8 sustains neoplastic transformation in vitro in human GBM cell
      lines. Here, we demonstrate that Caspase-8, through activation of NF-kB, enhances
      the expression and secretion of VEGF, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1beta and MCP-1, leading to
      neovascularization and increased resistance to Temozolomide. Importantly, the
      bioinformatics analysis of microarray gene expression data derived from a set of
      high-grade human gliomas, shows that high Caspase-8 expression levels correlate
      with a worse prognosis.

PMID- 28594323
TI  - Epistatic mutations in PUMA BH3 drive an alternate binding mode to potently and
      selectively inhibit anti-apoptotic Bfl-1.
AB  - Overexpression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins contributes to cancer
      progression and confers resistance to chemotherapy. Small molecules that target
      Bcl-2 are used in the clinic to treat leukemia, but tight and selective
      inhibitors are not available for Bcl-2 paralog Bfl-1. Guided by computational
      analysis, we designed variants of the native BH3 motif PUMA that are > 150-fold
      selective for Bfl-1 binding. The designed peptides potently trigger disruption of
      the mitochondrial outer membrane in cells dependent on Bfl-1, but not in cells
      dependent on other anti-apoptotic homologs. High-resolution crystal structures
      show that designed peptide FS2 binds Bfl-1 in a shifted geometry, relative to
      PUMA and other binding partners, due to a set of epistatic mutations. FS2
      modified with an electrophile reacts with a cysteine near the peptide-binding
      groove to augment specificity. Designed Bfl-1 binders provide reagents for
      cellular profiling and leads for developing enhanced and cell-permeable peptide
      or small-molecule inhibitors.

PMID- 28594324
TI  - MeCP2 regulates Tet1-catalyzed demethylation, CTCF binding, and learning
      dependent alternative splicing of the BDNF gene in Turtle.
AB  - MECP2 mutations underlying Rett syndrome cause widespread misregulation of gene
      expression. Functions for MeCP2 other than transcriptional are not well
      understood. In an ex vivo brain preparation from the pond turtle Trachemys
      scripta elegans, an intraexonic splicing event in the brain-derived neurotrophic
      factor (BDNF) gene generates a truncated mRNA transcript in naive brain that is
      suppressed upon classical conditioning. MeCP2 and its partners, splicing factor Y
      box binding protein 1 (YB-1) and methylcytosine dioxygenase 1 (Tet1), bind to
      BDNF chromatin in naive but dissociate during conditioning; the dissociation
      correlating with decreased DNA methylation. Surprisingly, conditioning results in
      new occupancy of BDNF chromatin by DNA insulator protein CCCTC-binding factor
      (CTCF), which is associated with suppression of splicing in conditioning.
      Knockdown of MeCP2 shows it is instrumental for splicing and inhibits Tet1 and
      CTCF binding thereby negatively impacting DNA methylation and conditioning
      dependent splicing regulation. Thus, mutations in MECP2 can have secondary
      effects on DNA methylation and alternative splicing.

PMID- 28594325
TI  - Cyclophilin A-regulated ubiquitination is critical for RIG-I-mediated antiviral
      immune responses.
AB  - RIG-I is a key cytosolic pattern recognition receptor that interacts with MAVS to
      induce type I interferons (IFNs) against RNA virus infection. In this study, we
      found that cyclophilin A (CypA), a peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase,
      functioned as a critical positive regulator of RIG-I-mediated antiviral immune
      responses. Deficiency of CypA impaired RIG-I-mediated type I IFN production and
      promoted viral replication in human cells and mice. Upon Sendai virus infection,
      CypA increased the interaction between RIG-I and its E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM25,
      leading to enhanced TRIM25-mediated K63-linked ubiquitination of RIG-I that
      facilitated recruitment of RIG-I to MAVS. In addition, CypA and TRIM25
      competitively interacted with MAVS, thereby inhibiting TRIM25-induced K48-linked
      ubiquitination of MAVS. Taken together, our findings reveal an essential role of
      CypA in boosting RIG-I-mediated antiviral immune responses by controlling the
      ubiquitination of RIG-I and MAVS.

PMID- 28594326
TI  - ER retention is imposed by COPII protein sorting and attenuated by 4
      phenylbutyrate.
AB  - Native cargo proteins exit the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in COPII-coated
      vesicles, whereas resident and misfolded proteins are substantially excluded from
      vesicles by a retention mechanism that remains unresolved. We probed the ER
      retention process using the proteostasis regulator 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA),
      which we show targets COPII protein to reduce the stringency of retention. 4-PBA
      competes with p24 proteins to bind COPII. When p24 protein uptake is blocked,
      COPII vesicles package resident proteins and an ER-trapped mutant LDL receptor.
      We further show that 4-PBA triggers the secretion of a KDEL-tagged luminal
      resident, implying that a compromised retention mechanism causes saturation of
      the KDEL retrieval system. The results indicate that stringent ER retention
      requires the COPII coat machinery to actively sort biosynthetic cargo from
      diffusible misfolded and resident ER proteins.

PMID- 28594328
TI  - Does steatosis affect the performance of diffusion-weighted MRI values for
      fibrosis evaluation in patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 4?
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the effect of hepatic steatosis on the apparent
      diffusion coefficient (ADC) of hepatic fibrosis in patients with HCV genotype 4
      related chronic hepatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Overall, 268 chronic hepatitis
      C patients (164 males and 104 females) underwent liver biopsy for fibrosis
      assessment by the METAVIR score and grading for hepatic steatosis. They were
      classified into early fibrosis stage (F1, F2) and advanced fibrosis stage (F3,
      F4). Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) of the liver was performed using 1.5-Tesla
      scanners, and the ADC value of the patients with and without steatosis in
      different stages of fibrosis was estimated and compared. RESULTS: In patients
      with early fibrosis, the ADC value significantly decreased in patients with
      steatosis (1.52+/-0.17*10-3 mm2/s) compared to that in patients without steatosis
      (1.65+/-0.11*10-3 mm2/s) (p<0.001). In those with an advanced stage of fibrosis,
      the ADC value was also significantly decreased in patients with steatosis (1.07+/
      0.16*10-3 mm2/s) compared with that in patients without steatosis (1.35+/-0.11*10
      3 mm2/s) (p<=0.001). The cutoff value for ADC for steatosis prediction in the
      early fibrosis group was 1.585 according to the AUROC curve, with a sensitivity
      of 76.8% and a specificity of 73.5%. The cutoff value for ADC for steatosis
      prediction in patients with an advanced stage of fibrosis was 1.17*10-3 mm2/s,
      with a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 88.5%. CONCLUSION: Histologically
      detected hepatic steatosis should always be considered when assessing hepatic
      fibrosis using diffusion-weighted MRI to avoid the underestimation of the ADC
      value in patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 4.

PMID- 28594329
TI  - Updating predictors of endoscopic recurrence after ileocolic resection for Crohn
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Identifying predictors of endoscopic recurrence (ER) has become
      very important to guide the decision of postoperative strategy. This study aimed
      to determine the rate of endoscopic recurrence until 12 months after ileocolic
      resection for Crohn disease (CD) in a cohort and identify its possible
      predictors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective single-center
      study that included patients with CD who underwent ileocolic resection between
      2003 and 2014. ER was defined according to the Rutgeerts' score, defined as i2,
      i3, or i4 at ileocolonoscopy that was performed 6-12 months after surgery. The
      patients were classified into two groups according to the Rutgeerts' score: non
      ER (Rutgeerts i0/i1) and ER (Rutgeerts >=i2). Multivariate logistic regression
      analysis was performed, including significant variables on univariable analysis,
      to identify ER predictors. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were included. The mean
      period of the first postoperative colonoscopy was 9 months, and ER was observed
      in 25 patients (59.5%). The perianal disease and shorter duration of CD were the
      only ER predictors (p=0.024; OR, 8.36; 95% CI, 1.329-52.642 and p=0.039; OR,
      0.965; 95% CI, 0.933-0.998, respectively). CONCLUSION: Endoscopic recurrence
      affects almost two-thirds of patients with CD after ileocolic resection, with
      perianal involvement and a shorter duration of disease being significant risk
      factors. These factors may indicate a more aggressive disease associated with
      rapid progression and support the need of intensive early treatment to improve
      patients' outcomes.

PMID- 28594330
TI  - Risk factors of the rebleeding according to the patterns of nonvariceal upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Despite of successful endoscopic hemostasis of nonvariceal upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding (NGIB), rebleeding rate has not decreased. The aim of
      this study was to identify risk factors for rebleeding after endoscopic
      hemostasis in patients with NGIB according to bleeding patterns. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the consecutive patients with
      NGIB in whom successful primary endoscopic hemostasis had been achieved at three
      university hospitals in Korea. All patients underwent endoscopic treatment with
      hemoclips, epinephrine injection, argon-plasma coagulation, or its combinations
      within 12 h. RESULTS: A total of 198 patients were studied. The male-to-female
      ratio was 3:1. Mean age was 60.7+/-14.9 years. Rebleeding occurred in 41 cases
      (20.7%). Median day of rebleeding after endoscopic therapy was 2.0 days. Overall
      mortality rate was 5.1%. Risk factors for rebleeding were inpatients [odds ratio
      (OR) 2.61, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-6.46, p=0.038) and Forrest Ib
      (OR=2.73, 95% CI: 1.15-6.47, p=0.023) by multivariate regression analysis.
      CONCLUSION: Despite of successful emergent endoscopic therapy for NGIB,
      rebleeding occurred in 17.7% within a week. Endoscopic treatments should be more
      carefully performed for patients in hospitalization or patients with active
      oozing.

PMID- 28594327
TI  - Different TCR-induced T lymphocyte responses are potentiated by stiffness with
      variable sensitivity.
AB  - T cells are mechanosensitive but the effect of stiffness on their functions is
      still debated. We characterize herein how human primary CD4+ T cell functions are
      affected by stiffness within the physiological Young's modulus range of 0.5 kPa
      to 100 kPa. Stiffness modulates T lymphocyte migration and morphological changes
      induced by TCR/CD3 triggering. Stiffness also increases TCR-induced immune
      system, metabolism and cell-cycle-related genes. Yet, upon TCR/CD3 stimulation,
      while cytokine production increases within a wide range of stiffness, from
      hundreds of Pa to hundreds of kPa, T cell metabolic properties and cell cycle
      progression are only increased by the highest stiffness tested (100 kPa).
      Finally, mechanical properties of adherent antigen-presenting cells modulate
      cytokine production by T cells. Together, these results reveal that T cells
      discriminate between the wide range of stiffness values found in the body and
      adapt their responses accordingly.

PMID- 28594331
TI  - A 52-year-old man with abdominal pain and distension.

PMID- 28594332
TI  - Pooled analysis of HCV genotype 1 resistance-associated substitutions in NS5A,
      NS3 and NS5B pre-and post-treatment with 12 weeks of daclatasvir, asunaprevir and
      beclabuvir.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Daclatasvir (DCV; non-structural [NS]5A inhibitor) plus asunaprevir
      (ASV; NS3 inhibitor) plus beclabuvir (BCV; non-nucleoside NS5B inhibitor) is an
      approved regimen for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype (GT)-1 treatment in Japan.
      A comprehensive analysis of pre-treatment and treatment-emergent HCV resistance
      to this regimen +/- ribavirin (RBV) was performed. METHODS: Data were pooled from
      five Phase 2/3 studies of DCV+ASV+BCV+/-RBV given for 12 weeks to GT-1a- or GT-1b
      infected patients. The prevalence and impact of pre-treatment resistance
      associated substitutions (RAS) in NS5A, NS3, and NS5B on sustained virological
      response (SVR) was assessed, as were emergent RAS and their post-treatment
      persistence. RESULTS: Baseline NS5A RAS (GT-1a: M28T, Q30H/L/R/S, L31M, Y93C/H;
      GT-1b: L31I/M, Y93C/H) were present in 5% (26/561) of GT-1a and 16% (85/537) of
      GT-1b sequences. SVR12 for GT-1b without RBV was 100% (82/82) with RAS and >99%
      (427/428) without RAS. For GT-1a, SVR12 without RAS was 97% (85/88) with RBV and
      92% (410/447) without RBV; SVR12 with RAS was 100% (2/2) with RBV and 54% (13/24)
      without RBV. Baseline NS3 (at R155 or D168) and NS5B (at P495) RAS were rare
      (<=1%). Treatment-emergent NS5A RAS (mostly Q30E/H/K/R+/-Y93H/N) in GT-1a
      persisted 60 weeks post-treatment, while NS3 RAS (mostly R155K) and NS5B-P495L/S
      were no longer detected after 48 or 24 weeks, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      DCV+ASV+BCV+/-RBV was highly efficacious in HCV GT-1 infection, including HCV GT
      1b with NS5A RAS. The fitness of treatment-emergent RAS post-treatment was NS5A >
      NS3 > NS5B; NS3 and NS5B RAS were generally replaced by wild-type sequence within
      48 weeks.

PMID- 28594334
TI  - Self-consistent hybrid functionals for solids: a fully-automated implementation.
AB  - A fully-automated algorithm for the determination of the system-specific optimal
      fraction of exact exchange in self-consistent hybrid functionals of the density
      functional-theory is illustrated, as implemented into the public Crystal program.
      The exchange fraction of this new class of functionals is self-consistently
      updated proportionally to the inverse of the dielectric response of the system
      within an iterative procedure (Skone et al 2014 Phys. Rev. B 89, 195112). Each
      iteration of the present scheme, in turn, implies convergence of a self
      consistent-field (SCF) and a coupled-perturbed-Hartree-Fock/Kohn-Sham (CPHF/KS)
      procedure. The present implementation, beside improving the user-friendliness of
      self-consistent hybrids, exploits the unperturbed and electric-field perturbed
      density matrices from previous iterations as guesses for subsequent SCF and
      CPHF/KS iterations, which is documented to reduce the overall computational cost
      of the whole process by a factor of 2.

PMID- 28594335
TI  - Enhanced second and third harmonic generations of vertical and planar spiral MoS2
      nanosheets.
AB  - Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), as one of the atomically thin two-dimensional
      transition metal dichalcogenides has novel layer-dependent optical and electronic
      properties, which make it competitive for potential applications in
      optoelectronics. Here, we report chemical vapor deposition growth of vertically
      standing and planar spiral MoS2 nanosheets. These vertical spiral MoS2 nanosheets
      are formed by the compression between planar spiral MoS2 in a close proximity.
      Both structures have a polytype 3R stacking with broken inversion symmetry,
      exhibiting strong second and third harmonic generations.

PMID- 28594333
TI  - Quantification of carotid artery plaque stability with multiple region of
      interest based ultrasound strain indices and relationship with cognition.
AB  - Vulnerability and instability in carotid artery plaque has been assessed based on
      strain variations using noninvasive ultrasound imaging. We previously
      demonstrated that carotid plaques with higher strain indices in a region of
      interest (ROI) correlated to patients with lower cognition, probably due to
      cerebrovascular emboli arising from these unstable plaques. This work attempts to
      characterize the strain distribution throughout the entire plaque region instead
      of being restricted to a single localized ROI. Multiple ROIs are selected within
      the entire plaque region, based on thresholds determined by the maximum and
      average strains in the entire plaque, enabling generation of additional relevant
      strain indices. Ultrasound strain imaging of carotid plaques, was performed on 60
      human patients using an 18L6 transducer coupled to a Siemens Acuson S2000 system
      to acquire radiofrequency data over several cardiac cycles. Patients also
      underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests under a protocol based on
      National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Canadian Stroke
      Network guidelines. Correlation of strain indices with composite cognitive index
      of executive function revealed a negative association relating high strain to
      poor cognition. Patients grouped into high and low cognition groups were then
      classified using these additional strain indices. One of our newer indices,
      namely the average L  -  1 norm with plaque (AL1NWP) presented with significantly
      improved correlation with executive function when compared to our previously
      reported maximum accumulated strain indices. An optimal combination of three of
      the new indices generated classifiers of patient cognition with an area under the
      curve (AUC) of 0.880, 0.921 and 0.905 for all (n  =  60), symptomatic (n  =  33)
      and asymptomatic patients (n  =  27) whereas classifiers using maximum
      accumulated strain indices alone provided AUC values of 0.817, 0.815 and 0.813
      respectively.

PMID- 28594338
TI  - Association of alcohol consumption with the risk of stomach cancer in a Japanese
      population: a prospective cohort study.
AB  - Biological studies have provided confirmation of alcohol-related carcinogenesis
      in the stomach, but the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of
      stomach cancer remains controversial. We aimed to investigate whether
      quantitative alcohol intake is associated with the risk of stomach cancer in a
      large prospective cohort study among a Japanese population. Study participants
      included 30 714 participants (14 171 men and 16 543 women) aged 35 years or
      older, who were enrolled in the Takayama study launched on 1 September 1992.
      Alcohol consumption was assessed quantitatively using a validated food frequency
      questionnaire. According to alcohol intake (g/day), male participants were
      classified into quartile groups: Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4. Female participants were
      classified into three groups: nondrinkers, and drinkers below or above the median
      alcohol level. We estimated the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
      for stomach cancer adjusted for age, smoking, BMI, education, total energy
      intake, salt intake, physical activity, and medical history of diabetes mellitus
      for each alcohol intake group using the Cox proportional hazards regression
      model. By the end of March 2008, a total of 678 participants had been diagnosed
      with stomach cancer. For men, the multivariate-adjusted HRs of stomach cancer for
      Q2, Q3, and Q4 relative to Q1 were 1.39 (95% CI: 1.07-1.81), 1.35 (95% CI: 1.02
      1.79), and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.02-1.87), respectively. In women, no associations were
      observed. These data suggest that alcohol consumption could be associated with an
      increased risk of stomach cancer among Japanese men.

PMID- 28594336
TI  - Flagged uniform particle splitting for variance reduction in proton and carbon
      ion track-structure simulations.
AB  - Flagged uniform particle splitting was implemented with two methods to improve
      the computational efficiency of Monte Carlo track structure simulations with
      TOPAS-nBio by enhancing the production of secondary electrons in ionization
      events. In method 1 the Geant4 kernel was modified. In method 2 Geant4 was not
      modified. In both methods a unique flag number assigned to each new split
      electron was inherited by its progeny, permitting reclassification of the split
      events as if produced by independent histories. Computational efficiency and
      accuracy were evaluated for simulations of 0.5-20 MeV protons and 1-20 MeV u-1
      carbon ions for three endpoints: (1) mean of the ionization cluster size
      distribution, (2) mean number of DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) and double
      strand breaks (DSBs) classified with DBSCAN, and (3) mean number of SSBs and DSBs
      classified with a geometry-based algorithm. For endpoint (1), simulation
      efficiency was 3 times lower when splitting electrons generated by direct
      ionization events of primary particles than when splitting electrons generated by
      the first ionization events of secondary electrons. The latter technique was
      selected for further investigation. The following results are for method 2, with
      relative efficiencies about 4.5 times lower for method 1. For endpoint (1),
      relative efficiency at 128 split electrons approached maximum, increasing with
      energy from 47.2  +/-  0.2 to 66.9  +/-  0.2 for protons, decreasing with energy
      from 51.3  +/-  0.4 to 41.7  +/-  0.2 for carbon. For endpoint (2), relative
      efficiency increased with energy, from 20.7  +/-  0.1 to 50.2  +/-  0.3 for
      protons, 15.6  +/-  0.1 to 20.2  +/-  0.1 for carbon. For endpoint (3) relative
      efficiency increased with energy, from 31.0  +/-  0.2 to 58.2  +/-  0.4 for
      protons, 23.9  +/-  0.1 to 26.2  +/-  0.2 for carbon. Simulation results with and
      without splitting agreed within 1% (2 standard deviations) for endpoints (1) and
      (2), within 2% (1 standard deviation) for endpoint (3). In conclusion, standard
      particle splitting variance reduction techniques can be successfully implemented
      in Monte Carlo track structure codes.

PMID- 28594339
TI  - Cardiac Dysrhythmias Associated With Substitutive Use of Loperamide: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, several deaths secondary to cardiac arrhythmias have been
      reported in association with substitutive use of loperamide. Therefore, we
      conducted a systematic review of all reported cases to overview the epidemiologic
      patterns and clinical outcomes to better elucidate loperamide-induced cardiac
      complications. AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY: Association between substitutive use of
      loperamide and cardiac arrhythmias. DATA SOURCES: A comprehensive literature
      search was conducted across 6 databases using variety of keywords to identify all
      reports of cardiac side effects associated with loperamide abuse. Only original
      case reports of cardiac toxicity or cardiac arrhythmias after loperamide abuse or
      overuse were included. Data were extracted by 2 authors independently using a
      structured template from the selected reports. Quality assessment of the reports
      was performed by using a high-quality evaluation tool. RESULTS: Thirteen reports
      describing 19 cases were included in our review. Except for coronary artery spasm
      in one case, cardiac arrhythmias were the major reported cardiac adverse event.
      The average age of patients was 31 years with majority being men (79%). The most
      common presentation was syncope (63%). All cases were reported in US except for 1
      case. Three patients were concomitantly taking cimetidine, which is known to
      cause inhibition of CYP3A4 and CYP2C8 leading to increased levels of loperamide.
      Thirteen of 19 patients were successfully treated and discharged in a stable
      condition. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that measures such as restricting
      over-the-counter availability of loperamide and increasing awareness regarding
      loperamide's toxicity are imperative to prevent deaths associated with loperamide
      abuse.

PMID- 28594340
TI  - A New Scoring System to Predict Recurrent Disease in Grade 1 and 2 Nonfunctional
      Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to predict recurrence in patients with grade
      1 or 2 nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NF-pNET) after curative
      resection. BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is the preferred treatment for NF-pNET;
      however, recurrence occurs frequently after curative surgery, worsening prognosis
      of patients. METHODS: Retrospectively, patients with NF-pNET of 3 institutions
      were included. Patients with distant metastases, hereditary syndromes, or grade 3
      tumors were excluded. Local or distant tumor recurrence was scored. Independent
      predictors for survival and recurrence were identified using Cox-regression
      analysis. The recurrence score was developed to predict recurrence within 5 years
      after curative resection of grade 1 to 2 NF-pNET. RESULTS: With a median follow
      up of 51 months, 211 patients with grade 1 to 2 NF-pNET were included. Thirty
      five patients (17%) developed recurrence. The 5- and 10-year disease
      specific/overall survival was 98%/91% and 84%/68%, respectively. Predictors for
      recurrence were tumor grade 2, lymph node metastasis, and perineural invasion. On
      the basis of these predictors, the recurrence score was made. Discrimination [c
      statistic 0.81, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.75-0.87] and calibration
      (Hosmer Lemeshow Chi-square 11.25, P = 0.258) indicated that the ability of the
      recurrence score to identify patients at risk for recurrence is good.
      CONCLUSIONS: This new scoring system could predict recurrence after curative
      resection of grade 1 and 2 NF-pNET. With the use of the recurrence score, less
      extensive follow-up could be proposed for patients with low recurrence risk. For
      high-risk patients, clinical trials should be initiated to investigate whether
      adjuvant therapy might be beneficial. External validation is ongoing due to
      limited availability of adequate cohorts.

PMID- 28594341
TI  - Study on Impact Acoustic-Visual Sensor-Based Sorting of ELV Plastic Materials.
AB  - This paper concentrates on a study of a novel multi-sensor aided method by using
      acoustic and visual sensors for detection, recognition and separation of End-of
      Life vehicles' (ELVs) plastic materials, in order to optimize the recycling rate
      of automotive shredder residues (ASRs). Sensor-based sorting technologies have
      been utilized for material recycling for the last two decades. One of the
      problems still remaining results from black and dark dyed plastics which are very
      difficult to recognize using visual sensors. In this paper a new multi-sensor
      technology for black plastic recognition and sorting by using impact resonant
      acoustic emissions (AEs) and laser triangulation scanning was introduced. A pilot
      sorting system which consists of a 3-dimensional visual sensor and an acoustic
      sensor was also established; two kinds commonly used vehicle plastics,
      polypropylene (PP) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and two kinds of
      modified vehicle plastics, polypropylene/ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (PP
      EPDM) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/polycarbonate (ABS-PC) were tested. In
      this study the geometrical features of tested plastic scraps were measured by the
      visual sensor, and their corresponding impact acoustic emission (AE) signals were
      acquired by the acoustic sensor. The signal processing and feature extraction of
      visual data as well as acoustic signals were realized by virtual instruments.
      Impact acoustic features were recognized by using FFT based power spectral
      density analysis. The results shows that the characteristics of the tested PP and
      ABS plastics were totally different, but similar to their respective modified
      materials. The probability of scrap material recognition rate, i.e., the
      theoretical sorting efficiency between PP and PP-EPDM, could reach about 50%, and
      between ABS and ABS-PC it could reach about 75% with diameters ranging from 14 mm
      to 23 mm, and with exclusion of abnormal impacts, the actual separation rates
      were 39.2% for PP, 41.4% for PP/EPDM scraps as well as 62.4% for ABS, and 70.8%
      for ABS/PC scraps. Within the diameter range of 8-13 mm, only 25% of PP and 27%
      of PP/EPDM scraps, as well as 43% of ABS, and 47% of ABS/PC scraps were finally
      separated. This research proposes a new approach for sensor-aided automatic
      recognition and sorting of black plastic materials, it is an effective method for
      ASR reduction and recycling.

PMID- 28594342
TI  - Development and Testing of a Dual Accelerometer Vector Sensor for AUV Acoustic
      Surveys.
AB  - This paper presents the design, manufacturing and testing of a Dual Accelerometer
      Vector Sensor (DAVS). The device was built within the activities of the WiMUST
      project, supported under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, which aims to
      improve the efficiency of the methodologies used to perform geophysical acoustic
      surveys at sea by the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). The DAVS has
      the potential to contribute to this aim in various ways, for example, owing to
      its spatial filtering capability, it may reduce the amount of post processing by
      discriminating the bottom from the surface reflections. Additionally, its compact
      size allows easier integration with AUVs and hence facilitates the vehicle
      manoeuvrability compared to the classical towed arrays. The present paper is
      focused on results related to acoustic wave azimuth estimation as an example of
      its spatial filtering capabilities. The DAVS device consists of two tri-axial
      accelerometers and one hydrophone moulded in one unit. Sensitivity and
      directionality of these three sensors were measured in a tank, whilst the
      direction estimation capabilities of the accelerometers paired with the
      hydrophone, forming a vector sensor, were evaluated on a Medusa Class AUV, which
      was sailing around a deployed sound source. Results of these measurements are
      presented in this paper.

PMID- 28594343
TI  - Modeling HSV-1 Latency in Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neurons.
AB  - Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) uses latency in peripheral ganglia to persist in
      its human host, however, recurrent reactivation from this reservoir can cause
      debilitating and potentially life-threatening disease. Most studies of latency
      use live-animal infection models, but these are complex, multilayered systems and
      can be difficult to manipulate. Infection of cultured primary neurons provides a
      powerful alternative, yielding important insights into host signaling pathways
      controlling latency. However, small animal models do not recapitulate all aspects
      of HSV-1 infection in humans and are limited in terms of the available molecular
      tools. To address this, we have developed a latency model based on human neurons
      differentiated in culture from an NIH-approved embryonic stem cell line. The
      resulting neurons are highly permissive for replication of wild-type HSV-1, but
      establish a non-productive infection state resembling latency when infected at
      low viral doses in the presence of the antivirals acyclovir and interferon-alpha.
      In this state, viral replication and expression of a late viral gene marker are
      not detected but there is an accumulation of the viral latency-associated
      transcript (LAT) RNA. After a six-day establishment period, antivirals can be
      removed and the infected cultures maintained for several weeks. Subsequent
      treatment with sodium butyrate induces reactivation and production of new
      infectious virus. Human neurons derived from stem cells provide the appropriate
      species context to study this exclusively human virus with the potential for more
      extensive manipulation of the progenitors and access to a wide range of
      preexisting molecular tools.

PMID- 28594344
TI  - Design and Synthesis of Non-Peptide Mimetics Mapping the Immunodominant Myelin
      Basic Protein (MBP83-96) Epitope to Function as T-Cell Receptor Antagonists.
AB  - Encephalitogenic T cells are heavily implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple
      sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous
      system. Their stimulation is triggered by the formation of a trimolecular complex
      between the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), an immunodominant myelin basic protein
      (MBP) epitope, and the T cell receptor (TCR). We detail herein our studies
      directed towards the rational design and synthesis of non-peptide mimetic
      molecules, based on the immunodominant MBP83-96 epitope that is recognized by the
      TCR in complex with HLA. We focused our attention on the inhibition of the
      trimolecular complex formation and consequently the inhibition of proliferation
      of activated T cells. A structure-based pharmacophore model was generated, in
      view of the interactions between the TCR and the HLA-MBP83-96 complex. As a
      result, new candidate molecules were designed based on lead compounds obtained
      through the ZINC database. Moreover, semi-empirical and density functional theory
      methods were applied for the prediction of the binding energy between the
      proposed non-peptide mimetics and the TCR. We synthesized six molecules that were
      further evaluated in vitro as TCR antagonists. Analogues 15 and 16 were able to
      inhibit to some extent the stimulation of T cells by the immunodominant MBP83-99
      peptide from immunized mice. Inhibition was followed to a lesser degree by
      analogues 17 and 18 and then by analogue 19. These studies show that lead
      compounds 15 and 16 may be used for immunotherapy against MS.

PMID- 28594345
TI  - Synthesis and Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of [R4W4K]-Levofloxacin and
      [R4W4K]-Levofloxacin-Q Conjugates.
AB  - The development of a new class of antibiotics to fight bacterial resistance is a
      time-consuming effort associated with high-cost and commercial risks. Thus,
      modification, conjugation or combination of existing antibiotics to enhance their
      efficacy is a suitable strategy. We have previously reported that the amphiphilic
      cyclic peptide [R4W4] had antibacterial activity with a minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) of 2.97 ug/mL against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus (MRSA). Herein, we hypothesized that conjugation or combination of the
      amphiphilic cyclic peptide [R4W4] with levofloxacin or levofloxacin-Q could
      improve the antibacterial activity of levofloxacin and levofloxacin-Q. Fmoc/tBu
      solid-phase chemistry was employed to synthesize conjugates of [R4W4K]
      levofloxacin-Q and [R4W4K]-levofloxacin. The carboxylic acid group of
      levofloxacin or levofloxacin-Q was conjugated with the amino group of beta
      alanine attached to lysine in the presence of 2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3
      tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HBTU) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine
      (DIPEA) for 3 h to afford the products. Antibacterial assays were conducted to
      determine the potency of conjugates [R4W4K]-levofloxacin-Q and [R4W4K]
      levofloxacin against MRSA and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Although levofloxacin-Q was
      inactive even at a concentration of 128 ug/mL, [R4W4K]-levofloxacin-Q conjugate
      and the corresponding physical mixture showed MIC values of 8 ug/mL and 32 ug/mL
      against MRSA and Klebsiella pneumonia, respectively, possibly due to the activity
      of the peptide. On the other hand, [R4W4K]-levofloxacin conjugate (MIC = 32 ug/mL
      and MIC = 128 ug/mL) and the physical mixture (MIC = 8 ug/mL and 32 ug/mL) was
      less active than levofloxacin (MIC = 2 ug/mL and 4 = ug/mL) against MRSA and
      Klebsiella pneumoniae, respectively. The data showed that the conjugation of
      levofloxacin with [R4W4K] significantly reduced the antibacterial activity
      compared to the parent analogs, while [R4W4K]-levofloxacin-Q conjugate was more
      significantly potent than levofloxacin-Q alone.

PMID- 28594348
TI  - Correction: Vialard, L., et al. Toward a Socio-Territorial Approach to Health:
      Health Equity in West Africa. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 106.
AB  - n/a.

PMID- 28594347
TI  - 'Hidden Habitus': A Qualitative Study of Socio-Ecological Influences on Drinking
      Practices and Social Identity in Mid-Adolescence.
AB  - This study explored mid-adolescents' views and experiences of socio-ecological
      influences on their drinking practices in order to help inform the development of
      interventions to reduce alcohol-related risk. We conducted 31 in-depth interviews
      with young people aged 13-17 in North East England. Verbatim interview
      transcripts and field notes were coded systematically and analysed thematically,
      following the principles of constant comparison. We adopted Bourdieu's idea of
      social game-playing and elements of his conceptual toolkit (particularly habitus,
      capital and field) during analysis. Analysis yielded three intersecting themes:
      (1) 'drinking etiquette': conveying taste and disgust; (2) 'playing the drinking
      game': demonstrating cultural competency; (3) 'hidden habitus'-the role of
      alcohol marketing. Our work demonstrates that there is a nexus of influential
      factors which come together to help shape and reinforce mid-adolescents'
      behaviour, norms and values in relation to alcohol consumption. Drinking
      practices are not just formed by friendships and family traditions, these are
      also subject to wider cultural shaping including by the alcohol industry which
      can encourage brand identification, and gear specific products to add
      'distinction'. However young people are not inactive players and they use aspects
      of capital and social games to help cement their identity and present themselves
      in particular ways which in turn are influenced by age, gender and social status.
      Guided by promising work in the tobacco field, interventions which focus on
      critical awareness of the framing of alcohol products by key stakeholders, such
      as policymakers, commercial industry and public health professionals, and by
      wider society may facilitate behaviour change among young people.

PMID- 28594349
TI  - An Effective, Versatile, and Inexpensive Device for Oxygen Uptake Measurement.
AB  - In the last ten years, the use of fluorescent probes developed to measure oxygen
      has resulted in several marketed devices, some unreasonably expensive and with
      little flexibility. We have explored the use of the effective, versatile, and
      inexpensive Redflash technology to determine oxygen uptake by a number of
      different biological samples using various layouts. This technology relies on the
      use of an optic fiber equipped at its tip with a membrane coated with a
      fluorescent dye (www.pyro-science.com). This oxygen-sensitive dye uses red light
      excitation and lifetime detection in the near infrared. So far, the use of this
      technology has mostly been used to determine oxygen concentration in open spaces
      for environmental studies, especially in aquatic media. The oxygen uptake
      determined by the device can be easily assessed in small volumes of respiration
      medium and combined with the measurement of additional parameters, such as
      lactate excretion by intact cells or the membrane potential of purified
      mitochondria. We conclude that the performance of by this technology should make
      it a first choice in the context of both fundamental studies and investigations
      for respiratory chain deficiencies in human samples.

PMID- 28594346
TI  - Interactive Roles of DNA Helicases and Translocases with the Single-Stranded DNA
      Binding Protein RPA in Nucleic Acid Metabolism.
AB  - Helicases and translocases use the energy of nucleoside triphosphate binding and
      hydrolysis to unwind/resolve structured nucleic acids or move along a single
      stranded or double-stranded polynucleotide chain, respectively. These molecular
      motors facilitate a variety of transactions including replication, DNA repair,
      recombination, and transcription. A key partner of eukaryotic DNA
      helicases/translocases is the single-stranded DNA binding protein Replication
      Protein A (RPA). Biochemical, genetic, and cell biological assays have
      demonstrated that RPA interacts with these human molecular motors physically and
      functionally, and their association is enriched in cells undergoing replication
      stress. The roles of DNA helicases/translocases are orchestrated with RPA in
      pathways of nucleic acid metabolism. RPA stimulates helicase-catalyzed DNA
      unwinding, enlists translocases to sites of action, and modulates their
      activities in DNA repair, fork remodeling, checkpoint activation, and telomere
      maintenance. The dynamic interplay between DNA helicases/translocases and RPA is
      just beginning to be understood at the molecular and cellular levels, and there
      is still much to be learned, which may inform potential therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28594350
TI  - Micro-Electromechanical Affinity Sensor for the Monitoring of Glucose in
      Bioprocess Media.
AB  - An affinity-viscometry-based micro-sensor probe for continuous glucose monitoring
      was investigated with respect to its suitability for bioprocesses. The sensor
      operates with glucose and dextran competing as binding partner for concanavalin
      A, while the viscosity of the assay scales with glucose concentration. Changes in
      viscosity are determined with a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) in the
      measurement cavity of the sensor probe. The study aimed to elucidate the
      interactions between the assay and a typical phosphate buffered bacterial
      cultivation medium. It turned out that contact with the medium resulted in a
      significant long-lasting drift of the assay's viscosity at zero glucose
      concentration. Adding glucose to the medium lowers the drift by a factor of
      eight. The cglc values measured off-line with the glucose sensor for monitoring
      of a bacterial cultivation were similar to the measurements with an enzymatic
      assay with a difference of less than +/-0.15 g.L-1. We propose that lectin
      agglomeration, the electro-viscous effect, and constitutional changes of
      concanavalin A due to exchanges of the incorporated metal ions may account for
      the observed viscosity increase. The study has demonstrated the potential of the
      MEMS sensor to determine sensitive viscosity changes within very small sample
      volumes, which could be of interest for various biotechnological applications.

PMID- 28594351
TI  - Exploring Diet Quality between Urban and Rural Dwelling Women of Reproductive
      Age.
AB  - Health disparities, including weight gain and obesity exist between urban and
      rural dwelling women. The primary aim was to compare diet quality in urban and
      rural women of reproductive age, and secondary analyses of the difference in
      macronutrient and micronutrient intake in urban and rural women, and the
      predictors of diet quality. Diet quality was assessed in urban (n = 149) and
      rural (n = 394) women by a modified version of the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI)
      energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intake from a food frequency
      questionnaire (FFQ) and predictors of diet quality. Diet quality did not
      significantly differ between urban and rural women (mean +/- standard deviation
      (SD), 84.8 +/- 15.9 vs. 83.9 +/- 16.5, p = 0.264). Rural women reported a
      significantly higher intake of protein, fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat,
      cholesterol and iron and a higher score in the meat and meat alternatives
      component of the diet quality tool in comparison to urban women. In all women, a
      higher diet quality was associated with higher annual household income
      (>$Australian dollar (AUD) 80,000 vs. <$AUD80,000 p = 0.013) and working status
      (working fulltime/part-time vs. unemployed p = 0.043). Total diet quality did not
      differ in urban and rural women; however, a higher macronutrient consumption
      pattern was potentially related to a higher lean meat intake in rural women.
      Women who are unemployed and on a lower income are an important target group for
      future dietary interventions aiming to improve diet quality.

PMID- 28594353
TI  - The Development of an Open Hardware and Software System Onboard Unmanned Aerial
      Vehicles to Monitor Concentrated Solar Power Plants.
AB  - Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are increasingly gaining interest as a
      source of renewable energy. These plants face several technical problems and the
      inspection of components such as absorber tubes in parabolic trough concentrators
      (PTC), which are widely deployed, is necessary to guarantee plant efficiency.
      This article presents a system for real-time industrial inspection of CSP plants
      using low-cost, open-source components in conjunction with a thermographic sensor
      and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The system, available in open-source
      hardware and software, is designed to be employed independently of the type of
      device used for inspection (laptop, smartphone, tablet or smartglasses) and its
      operating system. Several UAV flight missions were programmed as follows: flight
      altitudes at 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 m above ground level; and three cruising
      speeds: 5, 7 and 10 m/s. These settings were chosen and analyzed in order to
      optimize inspection time. The results indicate that it is possible to perform
      inspections by an UAV in real time at CSP plants as a means of detecting
      anomalous absorber tubes and improving the effectiveness of methodologies
      currently being utilized. Moreover, aside from thermographic sensors, this
      contribution can be applied to other sensors and can be used in a broad range of
      applications where real-time georeferenced data visualization is necessary.

PMID- 28594352
TI  - Automatic Artifact Removal in EEG of Normal and Demented Individuals Using ICA-WT
      during Working Memory Tasks.
AB  - Characterizing dementia is a global challenge in supporting personalized health
      care. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a promising tool to support the diagnosis
      and evaluation of abnormalities in the human brain. The EEG sensors record the
      brain activity directly with excellent time resolution. In this study, EEG sensor
      with 19 electrodes were used to test the background activities of the brains of
      five vascular dementia (VaD), 15 stroke-related patients with mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI), and 15 healthy subjects during a working memory (WM) task. The
      objective of this study is twofold. First, it aims to enhance the recorded EEG
      signals using a novel technique that combines automatic independent component
      analysis (AICA) and wavelet transform (WT), that is, the AICA-WT technique;
      second, it aims to extract and investigate the spectral features that
      characterize the post-stroke dementia patients compared to the control subjects.
      The proposed AICA-WT technique is a four-stage approach. In the first stage, the
      independent components (ICs) were estimated. In the second stage, three-step
      artifact identification metrics were applied to detect the artifactual
      components. The components identified as artifacts were marked as critical and
      denoised through DWT in the third stage. In the fourth stage, the corrected ICs
      were reconstructed to obtain artifact-free EEG signals. The performance of the
      proposed AICA-WT technique was compared with those of two other techniques based
      on AICA and WT denoising methods using cross-correlation X C o r r and peak
      signal to noise ratio ( P S N R ) (ANOVA, p ? 0.05). The AICA-WT technique
      exhibited the best artifact removal performance. The assumption that there would
      be a deceleration of EEG dominant frequencies in VaD and MCI patients compared
      with control subjects was assessed with AICA-WT (ANOVA, p ? 0.05). Therefore,
      this study may provide information on post-stroke dementia particularly VaD and
      stroke-related MCI patients through spectral analysis of EEG background
      activities that can help to provide useful diagnostic indexes by using EEG signal
      processing.

PMID- 28594354
TI  - Letter to the Editor Re: McClure et al. Nutrients 2017, 9, 95.
AB  - n/a.

PMID- 28594355
TI  - Comparing Proteolytic Fingerprints of Antigen-Presenting Cells during Allergen
      Processing.
AB  - Endolysosomal processing has a critical influence on immunogenicity as well as
      immune polarization of protein antigens. In industrialized countries, allergies
      affect around 25% of the population. For the rational design of protein-based
      allergy therapeutics for immunotherapy, a good knowledge of T cell-reactive
      regions on allergens is required. Thus, we sought to analyze endolysosomal
      degradation patterns of inhalant allergens. Four major allergens from ragweed,
      birch, as well as house dust mites were produced as recombinant proteins.
      Endolysosomal proteases were purified by differential centrifugation from
      dendritic cells, macrophages, and B cells, and combined with allergens for
      proteolytic processing. Thereafter, endolysosomal proteolysis was monitored by
      protein gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. We found that the overall
      proteolytic activity of specific endolysosomal fractions differed substantially,
      whereas the degradation patterns of the four model allergens obtained with the
      different proteases were extremely similar. Moreover, previously identified T
      cell epitopes were assigned to endolysosomal peptides and indeed showed a good
      overlap with known T cell epitopes for all four candidate allergens. Thus, we
      propose that the degradome assay can be used as a predictor to determine
      antigenic peptides as potential T cell epitopes, which will help in the rational
      design of protein-based allergy vaccine candidates.

PMID- 28594356
TI  - Synergistic Antibacterial Effects of Chitosan-Caffeic Acid Conjugate against
      Antibiotic-Resistant Acne-Related Bacteria.
AB  - The object of this study was to discover an alternative therapeutic agent with
      fewer side effects against acne vulgaris, one of the most common skin diseases.
      Acne vulgaris is often associated with acne-related bacteria such as
      Propionibacteriumacnes, Staphylococcusepidermidis, Staphylococcusaureus, and
      Pseudomonasaeruginosa. Some of these bacteria exhibit a resistance against
      commercial antibiotics that have been used in the treatment of acne vulgaris
      (tetracycline, erythromycin, and lincomycin). In the current study, we tested in
      vitro antibacterial effect of chitosan-phytochemical conjugates on acne-related
      bacteria. Three chitosan-phytochemical conjugates used in this study exhibited
      stronger antibacterial activity than that of chitosan (unmodified control).
      Chitosan-caffeic acid conjugate (CCA) showed the highest antibacterial effect on
      acne-related bacteria along with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; 8 to 256
      MUg/mL). Additionally, the MIC values of antibiotics against antibiotic-resistant
      P. acnes and P.aeruginosa strains were dramatically reduced in combination with
      CCA, suggesting that CCA would restore the antibacterial activity of the
      antibiotics. The analysis of fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) indices
      clearly revealed a synergistic antibacterial effect of CCA with antibiotics.
      Thus, the median sum of FIC (?FIC) values against the antibiotic-resistant
      bacterial strains ranged from 0.375 to 0.533 in the combination mode of CCA and
      antibiotics. The results of the present study suggested a potential possibility
      of chitosan-phytochemical conjugates in the control of infections related to acne
      vulgaris.

PMID- 28594358
TI  - Activation of Magnesium Lignosulfonate and Kraft Lignin: Influence on the
      Properties of Phenolic Resin-Based Composites for Potential Applications in
      Abrasive Materials.
AB  - Magnesium lignosulfonate and kraft lignin were activated by different oxidizing
      agents for use in phenolic resin composites used for the production of abrasive
      components. The physicochemical properties of the oxidized materials were
      analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy (XPS), dynamic mechanical-thermal analysis (DMTA) and inverse gas
      chromatography (IGC). The homogeneity of the model abrasive composites containing
      the studied products was assessed based on observations obtained using a scanning
      electron microscope (SEM). FTIR and XPS analysis of the oxidized products
      indicated that the activation process leads mainly to the formation of carbonyl
      groups. The IGC technique was used to assess changes in the surface energy and
      the acid-base properties of the studied biopolymers. The changes in the acid-base
      properties suggest that more groups acting as electron donors appear on the
      oxidized surface of the materials. DMTA studies showed that the model composites
      with 5% magnesium lignosulfonate oxidized by H2O2 had the best thermomechanical
      properties. Based on the results it was possible to propose a hypothetical
      mechanism of the oxidation of the natural polymers. The use of such oxidized
      products may improve the thermomechanical properties of abrasive articles.

PMID- 28594359
TI  - Data Acquisition Based on Stable Matching of Bipartite Graph in Cooperative
      Vehicle-Infrastructure Systems.
AB  - Existing studies on data acquisition in vehicular networks often take the mobile
      vehicular nodes as data carriers. However, their autonomous movements, limited
      resources and security risks impact the quality of services. In this article, we
      propose a data acquisition model using stable matching of bipartite graph in
      cooperative vehicle-infrastructure systems, namely, DAS. Contents are distributed
      to roadside units, while vehicular nodes support supplementary storage. The
      original distribution problem is formulated as a stable matching problem of
      bipartite graph, where the data and the storage cells compose two sides of
      vertices. Regarding the factors relevant with the access ratio and delay, the
      preference rankings for contents and roadside units are calculated, respectively.
      With a multi-replica preprocessing algorithm to handle the potential one-to-many
      mapping, the matching problem is addressed in polynomial time. In addition,
      vehicular nodes carry and forward assistant contents to deliver the failed
      packets because of bandwidth competition. Furthermore, an incentive strategy is
      put forward to boost the vehicle cooperation and to achieve a fair bandwidth
      allocation at roadside units. Experiments show that DAS achieves a high access
      ratio and a small storage cost with an acceptable delay.

PMID- 28594357
TI  - Identification of Novel Placentally Expressed Aspartic Proteinase in Humans.
AB  - This study presents pioneering data concerning the human pregnancy-associated
      glycoprotein-Like family, identified in the genome, of the term placental
      transcriptome and proteome. RNA-seq allowed the identification of 1364 bp hPAG
      L/pep cDNA with at least 56.5% homology with other aspartic proteinases (APs). In
      silico analyses revealed 388 amino acids (aa) of full-length hPAG-L polypeptide
      precursor, with 15 aa-signal peptide, 47 aa-blocking peptide and 326 aa-mature
      protein, and two Asp residues (D), specific for a catalytic cleft of the APs
      (VVFDTGSSNLWV91-102 and AIVDTGTSLLTG274-285). Capillary sequencing identified
      9330 bp of the hPAG-L gene (Gen Bank Acc. No. KX533473), composed of nine exons
      and eight introns. Heterologous Western blotting revealed the presence of one
      dominant 60 kDa isoform of the hPAG-L amongst cellular placental proteins.
      Detection with anti-pPAG-P and anti-Rec pPAG2 polyclonals allowed identification
      of the hPAG-L proteins located within regions of chorionic villi, especially
      within the syncytiotrophoblast of term singleton placentas. Our novel data extend
      the present knowledge about the human genome, as well as placental transcriptome
      and proteome during term pregnancy. Presumably, this may contribute to
      establishing a new diagnostic tool for examination of some disturbances during
      human pregnancy, as well as growing interest from both scientific and clinical
      perspectives.

PMID- 28594360
TI  - Rapid Complexation of Aptamers by Their Specific Antidotes.
AB  - Nucleic acid ligands, aptamers, harbor the unique characteristics of small
      molecules and antibodies. The specificity and high affinity of aptamers enable
      their binding to different targets, such as small molecules, proteins, or cells.
      Chemical modifications of aptamers allow increased bioavailability. A further
      great benefit of aptamers is the antidote (AD)-mediated controllability of their
      effect. In this study, the AD-mediated complexation and neutralization of the
      thrombin binding aptamer NU172 and Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) binding R10-60
      aptamer were determined. Thereby, the required time for the generation of
      aptamer/AD-complexes was analyzed at 37  degrees C in human serum using gel
      electrophoresis. Afterwards, the blocking of aptamers' effects was analyzed by
      determining the activated clotting time (ACT) in the case of the NU172 aptamer,
      or the expression of immune activation related genes IFN-1beta, IL-6, CXCL-10,
      and IL-1beta in the case of the R10-60 aptamer. Gel electrophoresis analyses
      demonstrated the rapid complexation of the NU172 and R10-60 aptamers by
      complementary AD binding after just 2 min of incubation in human serum. A rapid
      neutralization of anticoagulant activity of NU172 was also demonstrated in fresh
      human whole blood 5 min after addition of AD. Furthermore, the TLR9-mediated
      activation of PMDC05 cells was interrupted after the addition of the R10-60 AD.
      Using these two different aptamers, the rapid antagonizability of the aptamers
      was demonstrated in different environments; whole blood containing numerous
      proteins, cells, and different small molecules, serum, or cell culture media.
      Thus, nucleic acid ADs are promising molecules, which offer several possibilities
      for different in vivo applications, such as antagonizing aptamer-based drugs,
      immobilization, or delivery of oligonucleotides to defined locations.

PMID- 28594361
TI  - Atom Efficient Preparation of Zinc Selenates for the Synthesis of Selenol Esters
      under "On Water" Conditions.
AB  - We describe here an atom efficient procedure to prepare selenol esters in good to
      excellent yields by reacting [(PhSe)2Zn] or [(PhSe)2Zn]TMEDA with acyl chlorides
      under "on water" conditions. The method is applicable to a series of aromatic and
      aliphatic acyl chlorides and tolerates the presence of other functionalities in
      the starting material.

PMID- 28594362
TI  - Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Adsorption of Lead Ions
      from Aqueous Solutions: Equilibrium, Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies.
AB  - In the present study, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized in zerumbone
      solution by a green approach and appraised for their ability to absorb Pb(II)
      ions from aqueous solution. The formation of as-synthesized NPs was established
      by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and UV
      visible studies. The XRD and TEM analyses revealed high purity and wurtzite
      hexagonal structure of ZnO NPs with a mean size of 10.01 +/- 2.6 nm. Batch
      experiments were performed to investigate the impact of process parameters viz.
      Pb(II) concentration, pH of solution, adsorbent mass, solution temperature, and
      contact time variations on the removal efficiency of Pb(II). The adsorption
      isotherm data provided that the adsorption process was mainly monolayer on ZnO
      NPs. The adsorption process follows pseudo-second-order reaction kinetic. The
      maximum removal efficiencies were 93% at pH 5. Thermodynamic parameters such as
      enthalpy change (DeltaH0), free energy change (DeltaG0), and entropy change
      (DeltaS0) were calculated; the adsorption process was spontaneous and
      endothermic. The good efficiency of the as-synthesized NPs makes them attractive
      for applications in water treatment, for removal of heavy metals from aqueous
      system.

PMID- 28594364
TI  - Undernutrition and Overnutrition Burden for Diseases in Developing Countries: The
      Role of Oxidative Stress Biomarkers to Assess Disease Risk and Interventional
      Strategies.
AB  - The increased life expectancy, urbanization, and unhealthy lifestyle
      characterized by a shift towards a sedentary lifestyle and decreased energy
      expenditure are considered the main drivers of epidemiological transition. In
      particular, developing countries are facing a double burden caused by coexisting
      under- and over-nutrition, which causes a change in the disease profile from
      infectious diseases to a chronic degenerative pattern. This review discusses the
      under- and over-nutrition context in Mauritania and India, two countries that are
      experiencing a nutritional transition, and where we began a collaboration with
      local medical staff to integrate interventional and diagnostic guidelines. If
      many studies about diet and its relationship to non-communicable diseases are
      available for India, very few nutrition and cardiovascular risk studies have been
      conducted in Mauritania. Presently, with the exponential increase of nutrition
      related diseases, targeted approaches are needed to provide balanced diets in
      parallel with the development of national preventive health systems and screening
      programs adapted to local needs. In this context, the measurement of oxidative
      stress biomarkers could be promising as an additive tool to assess cardiovascular
      (CV) risk in general population, and ameliorating prevention in patients at CV
      risk or with overt CV disease. Moreover, the possibility of improving the outcome
      by the direct employment of antioxidant remains plausible. Moreover, studies on
      the content of antioxidant in different foods may be helpful to develop a
      balanced diet, and achieve the maximal nutritional and functional properties of
      cultivars with benefits for human health.

PMID- 28594363
TI  - Alteration of SHP-1/p-STAT3 Signaling: A Potential Target for Anticancer Therapy.
AB  - The Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 1 (SHP
      1), a non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase, has been reported as a negative
      regulator of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3
      (STAT3) and linked to tumor development. In this present review, we will discuss
      the importance and function of SHP-1/p-STAT3 signaling in nonmalignant conditions
      as well as malignancies, its cross-talk with other pathways, the current clinical
      development and the potential role of inhibitors of this pathway in anticancer
      therapy and clinical relevance of SHP-1/p-STAT3 in cancers. Lastly, we will
      summarize and highlight work involving novel drugs/compounds targeting SHP-1/p
      STAT3 signaling and combined strategies that were/are discovered in our and our
      colleagues' laboratories.

PMID- 28594366
TI  - RF EMF Risk Perception Revisited: Is the Focus on Concern Sufficient for Risk
      Perception Studies?
AB  - An implicit assumption of risk perception studies is that concerns expressed in
      questionnaires reflect concerns in everyday life. The aim of the present study is
      to check this assumption, i.e., the extrapolability of risk perceptions expressed
      in a survey, to risk perceptions in everyday life. To that end, risk perceptions
      were measured by a multidimensional approach. In addition to the traditional
      focus on measuring the magnitude of risk perceptions, the thematic relevance (how
      often people think about a risk issue) and the discursive relevance (how often
      people think about or discuss a risk issue) of risk perceptions were also
      collected. Taking into account this extended view of risk perception, an online
      survey was conducted in six European countries with 2454 respondents, referring
      to radio frequency electromagnetic field (RF EMF) risk potentials from base
      stations, and access points, such as WiFi routers and cell phones. The findings
      reveal that the present study's multidimensional approach to measuring risk
      perception provides a more differentiated understanding of RF EMF risk
      perception. High levels of concerns expressed in questionnaires do not
      automatically imply that these concerns are thematically relevant in everyday
      life. We use thematic relevance to distinguish between enduringly concerned (high
      concern according to both questionnaire and thematic relevance) and not
      enduringly concerned participants (high concern according to questionnaire but no
      thematic relevance). Furthermore, we provide data for the empirical value of this
      distinction: Compared to other participants, enduringly concerned subjects
      consider radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure to a greater extent as a
      moral and affective issue. They also see themselves as highly exposed to radio
      frequency electromagnetic fields. However, despite these differences, subjects
      with high levels of thematic relevance are nevertheless sensitive to exposure
      reduction as a means for improving the acceptance of base stations in their
      neighborhood. This underlines the value of exposure reduction for the acceptance
      of radio frequency electromagnetic field communication technologies.

PMID- 28594367
TI  - From Intermolecular Interactions to Texture in Polycrystalline Surfaces of
      1,omega-alkanediols (omega = 10-13).
AB  - Differences on herringbone molecular arrangement in two forms of long-chain
      1,omega-alkanediols (CnH2n+2O2 with n = 10, 11, 12, 13) are explained from the
      analysis of O-H...O hydrogen-bond sequences in infinite chains and the role of a
      C-H...O intramolecular hydrogen-bond in stabilization of a gauche defect, as well
      as the inter-grooving effectiveness on molecular packing. GIXD (Glancing
      Incidence X-ray Diffraction) experiments were conducted on polycrystalline
      monophasic samples. Diffracted intensities were treated with the multi-axial
      March-Dollase method to correlate energetic and geometrical features of molecular
      interactions with the crystalline morphology and textural pattern of samples. The
      monoclinic (P21/c, Z = 2) crystals of the even-numbered members (n = 10, 12;
      DEDOL and DODOL, respectively) are diametrical prisms with combined form {104}/{
      104}/{001} and present a two-fold platelet-like preferred orientation, whereas
      orthorhombic (P212121, Z = 4) odd-numbered members (n = 11, 13; UNDOL and TRDOL,
      respectively) present a dominant needle-like orientation on direction [101]
      (fiber texture). We show that crystalline structures of medium complexity and
      their microstructures can be determined from rapid GIXD experiments from standard
      radiation, combined with molecular replacement procedure using crystal structures
      of compounds with higher chain lengths as reference data.

PMID- 28594365
TI  - BrWRKY65, a WRKY Transcription Factor, Is Involved in Regulating Three Leaf
      Senescence-Associated Genes in Chinese Flowering Cabbage.
AB  - Plant-specific WRKY transcription factors (TFs) have been implicated to function
      as regulators of leaf senescence, but their association with postharvest leaf
      senescence of economically important leafy vegetables, is poorly understood. In
      this work, the characterization of a Group IIe WRKY TF, BrWRKY65, from Chinese
      flowering cabbage (Brassica rapa var. parachinensis) is reported. The expression
      of BrWRKY65 was up-regulated following leaf chlorophyll degradation and yellowing
      during postharvest senescence. Subcellular localization and transcriptional
      activation assays showed that BrWRKY65 was localized in the nucleus and exhibited
      trans-activation ability. Further electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and
      transient expression analysis clearly revealed that BrWRKY65 directly bound to
      the W-box motifs in the promoters of three senescence-associated genes (SAGs)
      such as BrNYC1 and BrSGR1 associated with chlorophyll degradation, and BrDIN1,
      and subsequently activated their expressions. These findings demonstrate that
      BrWRKY65 may be positively associated with postharvest leaf senescence, at least
      partially, by the direct activation of SAGs. Taken together, these findings
      provide new insights into the transcriptional regulatory mechanism of postharvest
      leaf senescence in Chinese flowering cabbage.

PMID- 28594369
TI  - Calibration of Magnetometers with GNSS Receivers and Magnetometer-Aided GNSS
      Ambiguity Fixing.
AB  - Magnetometers provide compass information, and are widely used for navigation,
      orientation and alignment of objects. As magnetometers are affected by sensor
      biases and eventually by systematic distortions of the Earth magnetic field, a
      calibration is needed. In this paper, a method for calibration of magnetometers
      with three Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers is presented. We
      perform a least-squares estimation of the magnetic flux and sensor biases using
      GNSS-based attitude information. The attitude is obtained from the relative
      positions between the GNSS receivers in the North-East-Down coordinate frame and
      prior knowledge of these relative positions in the platform's coordinate frame.
      The relative positions and integer ambiguities of the periodic carrier phase
      measurements are determined with an integer least-squares estimation using an
      integer decorrelation and sequential tree search. Prior knowledge on the relative
      positions is used to increase the success rate of ambiguity fixing. We have
      validated the proposed method with low-cost magnetometers and GNSS receivers on a
      vehicle in a test drive. The calibration enabled a consistent heading
      determination with an accuracy of five degrees. This precise magnetometer-based
      attitude information allows an instantaneous GNSS integer ambiguity fixing.

PMID- 28594368
TI  - Methods for Measuring Autophagy in Mice.
AB  - Autophagy is a dynamic intracellular process that mediates the degradation of
      damaged cytoplasmic components by the lysosome. This process plays important
      roles in maintaining normal cellular homeostasis and energy balance. Measuring
      autophagy activity is critical and although the determination of autophagic flux
      in isolated cells is well documented, there is a need to have reliable and
      quantitative assays to evaluate autophagy in whole organisms. Because mouse
      models have been precious in establishing the functional significance of
      autophagy under physiological or pathological conditions, we present in this
      chapter a compendium of the current available methods to measure autophagy in
      mice, and discuss their advantages and limitations.

PMID- 28594370
TI  - Security-Enhanced Push Button Configuration for Home Smart Control.
AB  - With the emergence of smart and converged home services, the need for the secure
      and easy interplay of various devices has been increased. Push Button
      Configuration (PBC) is one of the technologies proposed for easy set-up of a
      secure session between IT and consumer devices. Although the Wi-Fi Direct
      specification explicitly states that all devices must support the PBC method, its
      applicability is very limited. This is because the security vulnerability of PBC
      can be maliciously exploited so that attackers can make illegitimate sessions
      with consumer devices. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel
      Security-enhanced PBC (SePBC) scheme with which we can uncover suspicious or
      malicious devices. The proposed mechanism has several unique features. First, we
      develop a secure handshake distance measurement protocol by preventing an
      adversary sitting outside the region from maliciously manipulating its distance
      to be fake. Second, it is compatible with the original Wi-Fi PBC without
      introducing a brand-new methodology. Finally, SePBC uses lightweight operations
      without CPU-intensive cryptography computation and employs inexpensive H/W.
      Moreover, it needs to incur little overhead when there is no attack. This paper
      also designs and implements the proposed SePBC in the real world. Our
      experimental results and analysis show that the proposed SePBC scheme effectively
      defeats attacks on PBC while minimizing the modification of the original PBC
      equipment.

PMID- 28594371
TI  - On Line Service Composition in the Integrated Clinical Environment for eHealth
      and Medical Systems.
AB  - Medical and eHealth systems are progressively realized in the context of
      standardized architectures that support safety and ease the integration of the
      heterogeneous (and often proprietary) medical devices and sensors. The Integrated
      Clinical Environment (ICE) architecture appeared recently with the goal of
      becoming a common framework for defining the structure of the medical
      applications as concerns the safe integration of medical devices and sensors. ICE
      is simply a high level architecture that defines the functional blocks that
      should be part of a medical system to support interoperability. As a result, the
      underlying communication backbone is broadly undefined as concerns the enabling
      software technology (including the middleware) and associated algorithms that
      meet the ICE requirements of the flexible integration of medical devices and
      services. Supporting the on line composition of services in a medical system is
      also not part of ICE; however, supporting this behavior would enable flexible
      orchestration of functions (e.g., addition and/or removal of services and medical
      equipment) on the fly. iLandis one of the few software technologies that supports
      on line service composition and reconfiguration, ensuring time-bounded
      transitions across different service orchestrations; it supports the design,
      deployment and on line reconfiguration of applications, which this paper applies
      to service-based eHealth domains. This paper designs the integration between ICE
      architecture and iLand middleware to enhance the capabilities of ICE with on line
      service composition and the time-bounded reconfiguration of medical systems based
      on distributed services. A prototype implementation of a service-based eHealth
      system for the remote monitoring of patients is described; it validates the
      enhanced capacity of ICE to support dynamic reconfiguration of the application
      services. Results show that the temporal cost of the on line reconfiguration of
      the eHealth application is bounded, achieving a low overhead resulting from the
      addition of ICE compliance.

PMID- 28594373
TI  - An FPGA-Based WASN for Remote Real-Time Monitoring of Endangered Species: A Case
      Study on the Birdsong Recognition of Botaurus stellaris.
AB  - Fast environmental variations due to climate change can cause mass decline or
      even extinctions of species, having a dramatic impact on the future of
      biodiversity. During the last decade, different approaches have been proposed to
      track and monitor endangered species, generally based on costly semi-automatic
      systems that require human supervision adding limitations in coverage and time.
      However, the recent emergence of Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks (WASN) has
      allowed non-intrusive remote monitoring of endangered species in real time
      through the automatic identification of the sound they emit. In this work, an
      FPGA-based WASN centralized architecture is proposed and validated on a simulated
      operation environment. The feasibility of the architecture is evaluated in a case
      study designed to detect the threatened Botaurus stellaris among other 19
      cohabiting birds species in The Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l'Empord.

PMID- 28594372
TI  - Purine Acquisition and Synthesis by Human Fungal Pathogens.
AB  - While members of the Kingdom Fungi are found across many of the world's most
      hostile environments, only a limited number of species can thrive within the
      human host. The causative agents of the most common invasive fungal infections
      are Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Cryptococcus neoformans. During
      the infection process, these fungi must not only combat the host immune system
      while adapting to dramatic changes in temperature and pH, but also acquire
      sufficient nutrients to enable growth and dissemination in the host. One class of
      nutrients required by fungi, which is found in varying concentrations in their
      environmental niches and the human host, is the purines. These nitrogen
      containing heterocycles are one of the most abundant organic molecules in nature
      and are required for roles as diverse as signal transduction, energy metabolism
      and DNA synthesis. The most common life-threatening fungal pathogens can degrade,
      salvage and synthesize de novo purines through a number of enzymatic steps that
      are conserved. While these enable them to adapt to the changing purine
      availability in the environment, only de novo purine biosynthesis is essential
      during infection and therefore an attractive antimycotic target.

PMID- 28594374
TI  - Higher Anti-Liver Fibrosis Effect of Cordyceps militaris-Fermented Product
      Cultured with Deep Ocean Water via Inhibiting Proinflammatory Factors and
      Fibrosis-Related Factors Expressions.
AB  - Deep ocean water (DOW) has been shown to enhance the functional components of
      fungi, resulting in increased health benefits. Therefore, using DOW for culturing
      fungi can enhance the cordycepin and adenosine of Cordyceps militaris (CM) and
      its protective effects on the liver. In this study, the antiliver fibrosis
      effects and mechanisms of ultrapure water-cultured CM (UCM), DOW-cultured CM
      (DCM), synthetic water-cultured CM, DOW, cordycepin, and adenosine were compared
      in the liver fibrosis mice induced by intraperitoneal injections of thioacetamide
      (TAA). The results indicated that DCM exhibited superior performance in reducing
      liver collagen accumulation, mitigating liver injuries, inhibiting
      proinflammatory factors and fibrosis-related factor (TGF-beta1, Smad2/3, alpha
      SMA, COL1A1) expression compared with UCM. DOW, cordycepin, and adenosine also
      performed antiliver fibrosis effect. Therefore, because DCM is rich in DOW and
      functional components, it can achieve anti-liver fibrosis effects through
      multiple pathways. These ameliorative effects are considerably superior to those
      of UCM.

PMID- 28594375
TI  - A High-Protein Diet Reduces Weight Gain, Decreases Food Intake, Decreases Liver
      Fat Deposition, and Improves Markers of Muscle Metabolism in Obese Zucker Rats.
AB  - A primary factor in controlling and preventing obesity is through dietary
      manipulation. Diets higher in protein have been shown to improve body composition
      and metabolic health during weight loss. The objective of this study was to
      examine the effects of a high-protein diet versus a moderate-protein diet on
      muscle, liver and fat metabolism and glucose regulation using the obese Zucker
      rat. Twelve-week old, male, Zucker (fa/fa) and lean control (Fa/fa) rats were
      randomly assigned to either a high-protein (40% energy) or moderate-protein (20%
      energy) diet for 12 weeks, with a total of four groups: lean 20% protein (L20; n
      = 8), lean 40% protein (L40; n = 10), obese 20% protein (O20; n = 8), and obese
      40% protein (O40; n = 10). At the end of 12 weeks, animals were fasted and
      euthanized. There was no difference in food intake between L20 and L40. O40 rats
      gained less weight and had lower food intake (p < 0.05) compared to O20. O40 rats
      had lower liver weight (p < 0.05) compared to O20. However, O40 rats had higher
      orexin (p < 0.05) levels compared to L20, L40 and O20. Rats in the L40 and O40
      groups had less liver and muscle lipid deposition compared to L20 and L40 diet
      rats, respectively. O40 had decreased skeletal muscle mechanistic target of
      rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) phosphorylation and peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) mRNA expression compared to O20 (p < 0.05),
      with no difference in 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), eukaryotic
      translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 (4EBP1), protein kinase B
      (Akt) or p70 ribosomal S6 kinase (p70S6K) phosphorylation. The data suggest that
      high-protein diets have the potential to reduce weight gain and alter metabolism,
      possibly through regulation of an mTORC1-dependent pathway in skeletal muscle.

PMID- 28594376
TI  - The Roles of Reactive Oxygen Species and Nitric Oxide in Perfluorooctanoic Acid
      Induced Developmental Cardiotoxicity and l-Carnitine Mediated Protection.
AB  - Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an environmental contaminant that could induce
      developmental cardiotoxicity in a chicken embryo, which may be alleviated by l
      carnitine. To explore the roles of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide
      (NO) in such changes and the potential effects of l-carnitine, fertile chicken
      eggs were exposed to PFOA via an air cell injection, with or without l-carnitine
      co-treatment. The ROS and NO levels in chicken embryo hearts were determined with
      electron spin resonance (ESR), and the protein levels of the nuclear factor kappa
      light chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kappaB) p65 and inducible nitric
      oxide synthase (iNOS) in chicken embryo hearts were assessed with western
      blotting. The results of ESR indicated that PFOA exposure induced an elevation in
      the ROS levels in ED19 chicken embryo hearts and hatchling chicken hearts, while
      l-carnitine could alleviate such changes. Meanwhile, increased NO levels were
      observed in ED19 embryo hearts and hatchling hearts following PFOA exposure,
      while l-carnitine co-treatment exerted modulatory effects. Western blotting
      revealed that p65 translocation in ED19 embryo hearts and hatchling hearts was
      enhanced by PFOA, while l-carnitine co-treatment alleviated such changes. iNOS
      expression levels in ED19 embryo hearts followed the same pattern as NO levels,
      while a suppression of expression was observed in hatchling hearts exposed to
      PFOA. ROS/NF-kappaB p65 and iNOS/NO seem to be involved in the late stage (ED19
      and post hatch) of PFOA-induced developmental cardiotoxicity in a chicken embryo.
      l-carnitine could exert anti-oxidant and NO modulatory effects in the developing
      chicken embryo hearts, which likely contribute to its cardioprotective effects.

PMID- 28594377
TI  - Ovicidal and Insecticidal Activities of Pyriproxyfen Derivatives with an Oxime
      Ester Group.
AB  - Based on the structural framework of a pyriproxyfen metabolite, nineteen oxime
      ester derivatives were synthesized via reaction of the carboxylic acids with 4-(2
      (2-pyridinyloxy)ethoxy)benzaldehyde oxime. The corresponding structures were
      comprehensively characterized by 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 13C-NMR,
      and electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS). All of
      the compounds were screened for their insecticidal activities against Plutella
      xylostella and Myzus persicae, and for their ovicidal activities against
      Helicoverpa armigera eggs. The results obtained show that most of the oxime ester
      derivatives displayed moderate to high insecticidal activities and ovicidal
      activities at a concentration of 600 ug/mL. In particular, the ovicidal activity
      of compounds 5j, 5o, 5p, 5q, and 5s was determined to be 100%. Importantly, some
      of the compounds presented even higher biological activities than the reference
      compound pyriproxyfen. For example, compound 5j displayed an insecticidal
      activity value of 87.5% against Myzus persicae, whereas the activity value of
      pyriproxyfen was 68.3% at a concentration of 600 ug/mL. Among the synthesized
      compounds 5j and 5s exhibited broad biological activity spectra.

PMID- 28594378
TI  - Structural Inheritance and Redox Performance of Nanoporous Electrodes from
      Nanocrystalline Fe85.2B10-14P0-4Cu0.8 Alloys.
AB  - Nanoporous electrodes have been fabricated by selectively dissolving the less
      noble alpha-Fe crystalline phase from nanocrystalline Fe85.2B14-xPxCu0.8 alloys
      (x= 0, 2, 4 at.%). The preferential dissolution is triggered by the weaker
      electrochemical stability of alpha-Fe nanocrystals than amorphous phase. The
      final nanoporous structure is mainly composed of amorphous residual phase and
      minor undissolved alpha-Fe crystals and can be predicted from initial
      microstructure of nanocrystalline precursor alloys. The structural inheritance is
      proved by the similarity of the size and outlines between nanopores formed after
      dealloying in 0.1 M H2SO4 and alpha-Fe nanocrystals precipitated after annealing
      of amorphous Fe85.2B14-xPxCu0.8 (x = 0, 2, 4 at.%) alloys. The Redox peak current
      density of the nanoporous electrodes obtained from nanocrystalline
      Fe85.2B10P4Cu0.8 alloys is more than one order higher than those of Fe plate
      electrode and its counterpart nanocrystalline alloys due to the large surface
      area and nearly-amorphous nature of ligaments.

PMID- 28594379
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Activities and Liver Protection of Alisol F and 25
      Anhydroalisol F through the Inhibition of MAPK, STAT3, and NF-kappaB Activation
      In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - Alisol F and 25-anhydroalisol F isolated from Alisma orientale, were proved to
      exhibit anti-inflammatory potential in our previous work. In the current study,
      the anti-inflammatory effects and action mechanisms of alisol F and 25
      anhydroalisol F were investigated in vitro. Moreover, the pharmacological effects
      of alisol F in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/d-galactosamine (d-gal)-induced acute
      liver-injured mice were evaluated. The results demonstrated that alisol F and 25
      anhydroalisol F could suppress LPS-induced production of nitric oxide (NO),
      interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin
      1beta (IL-1beta), as well as inhibit the mRNA and protein levels of inducible
      nitric oxide (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). In addition, we investigated
      the role of alisol F and 25-anhydroalisol F in mediating mitogen-activated
      protein kinases (MAPKs), signal transducers, and activators of transcription 3
      (STAT3) and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathways involved in the
      inflammation process of LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The phosphorylation of
      ERK, JNK, p38, and STAT3, and the NF-kappaB signaling pathway, were obviously
      suppressed in alisol F and 25-anhydroalisol F treated cells. Results obtained
      from in vitro experiments suggested alisol F obviously improved liver
      pathological injury by inhibiting the production of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL
      6, and significantly decreasing the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in LPS/d-gal-induced mice. Furthermore,
      the reduction of phosphorylation of ERK and JNK, as well as suppression of the NF
      kappaB signaling pathway, were also observed in liver tissues of the alisol F
      treated mice model. Alisol F and 25-anhydroalisol F may serve as potential leads
      for development of anti-inflammatory agents for acute liver failure treatment.

PMID- 28594380
TI  - Effects of Obesity on Pro-Oxidative Conditions and DNA Damage in Liver of DMBA
      Induced Mammary Carcinogenesis Models.
AB  - The prevalence of the overweight and obesity is on the rise worldwide. Obesity
      can increase the risk of certain cancers and liver steatosis development.
      Previously, we reported that obesity increased liver steatosis in a mammary tumor
      model, but little is known about the effects of obesity in the liver in regard to
      global DNA methylation, DNA damage, and oxidative/nitrosative stress. Using a
      mammary tumor model, we investigated the effects of obesity on oxidative stress
      and DNA reaction. Five-week-old lean and obese female rats were used. At 50 days
      of age, all rats received 7,12-dimethylbenz(alpha)anthracene (DMBA) and were
      sacrificed 155 days later. HPLC with electrochemical and ultraviolet detection
      and LC-MS were used. Obesity caused higher (p < 0.0004) methionine levels, had no
      effect (p < 0.055) on SAM levels, caused lower (p < 0.0005) SAH levels, caused
      higher (p < 0.0005) SAM/SAH ratios, and increased (p < 0.02) global DNA
      methylation. Levels of free reduced GSH were not significantly lower (p < 0.08),
      but free oxidized GSSG was higher (p < 0.002) in obese rats. The GSH/GSSG ratio
      was lower (p < 0.0001), and oxidized guanosine was higher (p < 0.002) in DNA of
      obese rats compared to lean rats. Obesity caused significant
      oxidative/nitrosative stress, oxidative DNA damage, and change of DNA methylation
      pattern in the liver, and these changes may contribute to the development of
      liver steatosis in breast cancer models.

PMID- 28594381
TI  - Lipophilicity Studies on Thiosemicarbazide Derivatives.
AB  - The lipophilicity of two series of thiosemicarbazide derivatives was assessed by
      the RP-HPLC method with the RP-18 chromatographic column and the methanol-water
      mixture as the mobile phase. Distribution coefficients logPHPLC were compared to
      calculated values generated by commonly used AClogP software and quantum chemical
      calculations. The reliability of the predictions was evaluated using the
      correlation matrix and PCA. For 4-benzoylthiosemicarbazides, a high correlation
      between theoretical and experimental logP parameters was obtained using the
      XlogP3 algorithm, while for 4-aryl/(cyclohexyl)thiosemicarbazides, the XlogP2
      parameter was strongly correlated with the experimentally obtained logP.

PMID- 28594383
TI  - Image Processing of Porous Silicon Microarray in Refractive Index Change
      Detection.
AB  - A new method for extracting the dots is proposed by the reflected light image of
      porous silicon (PSi) microarray utilization in this paper. The method consists of
      three parts: pretreatment, tilt correction and spot segmentation. First, based on
      the characteristics of different components in HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value)
      space, a special pretreatment is proposed for the reflected light image to obtain
      the contour edges of the array cells in the image. Second, through the geometric
      relationship of the target object between the initial external rectangle and the
      minimum bounding rectangle (MBR), a new tilt correction algorithm based on the
      MBR is proposed to adjust the image. Third, based on the specific requirements of
      the reflected light image segmentation, the array cells are segmented into dots
      as large as possible and the distance between the dots is equal in the corrected
      image. Experimental results show that the pretreatment part of this method can
      effectively avoid the influence of complex background and complete the
      binarization processing of the image. The tilt correction algorithm has a shorter
      computation time, which makes it highly suitable for tilt correction of reflected
      light images. The segmentation algorithm makes the dots in a regular arrangement,
      excludes the edges and the bright spots. This method could be utilized in the
      fast, accurate and automatic dots extraction of the PSi microarray reflected
      light image.

PMID- 28594384
TI  - The Development of the Differential MEMS Vector Hydrophone.
AB  - To solve the problem that MEMS vector hydrophones are greatly interfered with by
      the vibration of the platform and flow noise in applications, this paper
      describes a differential MEMS vector hydrophone that could simultaneously receive
      acoustic signals and reject acceleration signals. Theoretical and simulation
      analyses have been carried out. Lastly, a prototype of the differential MEMS
      vector hydrophone has been created and tested using a standing wave tube and a
      vibration platform. The results of the test show that this hydrophone has a high
      sensitivity, Mv = -185 dB (@ 500 Hz, 0 dB reference 1 V/MUPa), which is almost
      the same as the previous MEMS vector hydrophones, and has a low acceleration
      sensitivity, Mv = -58 dB (0 dB reference 1 V/g), which has decreased by 17 dB
      compared with the previous MEMS vector hydrophone. The differential MEMS vector
      hydrophone basically meets the requirements of acoustic vector detection when it
      is rigidly fixed to a working platform, which lays the foundation for engineering
      applications of MEMS vector hydrophones.

PMID- 28594386
TI  - The Technology Acceptance of a TV Platform for the Elderly Living Alone or in
      Public Nursing Homes.
AB  - In Mexico, many seniors are alone for most of the day or live in public nursing
      homes. Simple interaction with computer systems is required for older people.
      This is why we propose the exploration of a medium well known by seniors, such as
      the television (TV). The primary objective of this study is to improve the
      quality of life of seniors through an easier reminder system, using the
      television set. A technological platform was designed based on interactive
      television, through which seniors and their caregivers can have a better way to
      track their daily activities. Finally, an evaluation of the technology adoption
      was performed with 50 seniors living in two public nursing homes. The evaluation
      found that the elderly perceived the system as useful, easy to use, and they had
      a positive attitude and good intention to use it. This helped to generate initial
      evidence that the system supported them in achieving a better quality of life, by
      reminding them to take their medications and increasing their rate of attendance
      to their medical appointments.

PMID- 28594385
TI  - Review of SERS Substrates for Chemical Sensing.
AB  - The SERS effect was initially discovered in the 1970s. Early research focused on
      understanding the phenomenon and increasing enhancement to achieve single
      molecule detection. From the mid-1980s to early 1990s, research started to move
      away from obtaining a fundamental understanding of the phenomenon to the
      exploration of analytical applications. At the same time, significant
      developments occurred in the field of photonics that led to the advent of
      inexpensive, robust, compact, field-deployable Raman systems. The 1990s also saw
      rapid development in nanoscience. This convergence of technologies (photonics and
      nanoscience) has led to accelerated development of SERS substrates to detect a
      wide range of chemical and biological analytes. It would be a monumental task to
      discuss all the different kinds of SERS substrates that have been explored.
      Likewise, it would be impossible to discuss the use of SERS for both chemical and
      biological detection. Instead, a review of the most common metallic (Ag, Cu, and
      Au) SERS substrates for chemical detection only is discussed, as well as SERS
      substrates that are commercially available. Other issues with SERS for chemical
      detection have been selectivity, reversibility, and reusability of the
      substrates. How these issues have been addressed is also discussed in this
      review.

PMID- 28594387
TI  - 3D Printing-Based Integrated Water Quality Sensing System.
AB  - The online and accurate monitoring of drinking water supply networks is
      critically in demand to rapidly detect the accidental or deliberate contamination
      of drinking water. At present, miniaturized water quality monitoring sensors
      developed in the laboratories are usually tested under ambient pressure and
      steady-state flow conditions; however, in Water Distribution Systems (WDS), both
      the pressure and the flowrate fluctuate. In this paper, an interface is designed
      and fabricated using additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology-material
      extrusion (Trade Name: fused deposition modeling, FDM) and material jetting-to
      provide a conduit for miniaturized sensors for continuous online water quality
      monitoring. The interface is designed to meet two main criteria: low pressure at
      the inlet of the sensors and a low flowrate to minimize the water bled (i.e.,
      leakage), despite varying pressure from WDS. To meet the above criteria, a two
      dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was used to optimize the geometry
      of the channel. The 3D printed interface, with the embedded miniaturized pH and
      conductivity sensors, was then tested at different temperatures and flowrates.
      The results show that the response of the pH sensor is independent of the
      flowrate and temperature. As for the conductivity sensor, the flowrate and
      temperature affect only the readings at a very low conductivity (4 uS/cm) and
      high flowrates (30 mL/min), and a very high conductivity (460 uS/cm),
      respectively.

PMID- 28594382
TI  - Coralsnake Venomics: Analyses of Venom Gland Transcriptomes and Proteomes of Six
      Brazilian Taxa.
AB  - Venom gland transcriptomes and proteomes of six Micrurus taxa (M. corallinus, M.
      lemniscatus carvalhoi, M. lemniscatus lemniscatus, M. paraensis, M. spixii
      spixii, and M. surinamensis) were investigated, providing the most comprehensive,
      quantitative data on Micrurus venom composition to date, and more than tripling
      the number of Micrurus venom protein sequences previously available. The six
      venomes differ dramatically. All are dominated by 2-6 toxin classes that account
      for 91-99% of the toxin transcripts. The M. s. spixii venome is compositionally
      the simplest. In it, three-finger toxins (3FTxs) and phospholipases A2 (PLA2s)
      comprise >99% of the toxin transcripts, which include only four additional toxin
      families at levels >=0.1%. Micrurus l. lemniscatus venom is the most complex,
      with at least 17 toxin families. However, in each venome, multiple structural
      subclasses of 3FTXs and PLA2s are present. These almost certainly differ in
      pharmacology as well. All venoms also contain phospholipase B and vascular
      endothelial growth factors. Minor components (0.1-2.0%) are found in all venoms
      except that of M. s. spixii. Other toxin families are present in all six venoms
      at trace levels (<0.005%). Minor and trace venom components differ in each venom.
      Numerous novel toxin chemistries include 3FTxs with previously unknown 8- and 10
      cysteine arrangements, resulting in new 3D structures and target specificities. 9
      cysteine toxins raise the possibility of covalent, homodimeric 3FTxs or
      heterodimeric toxins with unknown pharmacologies. Probable muscarinic sequences
      may be reptile-specific homologs that promote hypotension via vascular mAChRs.
      The first complete sequences are presented for 3FTxs putatively responsible for
      liberating glutamate from rat brain synaptosomes. Micrurus C-type lectin-like
      proteins may have 6-9 cysteine residues and may be monomers, or homo- or
      heterodimers of unknown pharmacology. Novel KSPIs, 3* longer than any seen
      previously, appear to have arisen in three species by gene duplication and
      fusion. Four species have transcripts homologous to the nociceptive toxin,
      (MitTx) alpha-subunit, but all six species had homologs to the beta-subunit. The
      first non-neurotoxic, non-catalytic elapid phospholipase A2s are reported. All
      are probably myonecrotic. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the six taxa
      diverged 15-35 million years ago and that they split from their last common
      ancestor with Old World elapines nearly 55 million years ago. Given their early
      diversification, many cryptic micrurine taxa are anticipated.

PMID- 28594390
TI  - Does the Health Impact of Exposure to Neighbourhood Green Space Differ between
      Population Groups? An Explorative Study in Four European Cities.
AB  - It has been suggested that certain residents, such as those with a low
      socioeconomic status, the elderly, and women, may benefit more from the presence
      of neighbourhood green space than others. We tested this hypothesis for age,
      gender, educational level, and employment status in four European cities. Data
      were collected in Barcelona (Spain; n = 1002), Kaunas (Lithuania; n = 989),
      Doetinchem (The Netherlands; n = 847), and Stoke-on-Trent (UK; n = 933) as part
      of the EU-funded PHENOTYPE project. Surveys were used to measure mental and
      general health, individual characteristics, and perceived neighbourhood green
      space. Additionally, we used audit data about neighbourhood green space. In
      Barcelona, there were positive associations between neighbourhood green space and
      general health among low-educated residents. In the other cities and for the
      other population groups, there was little evidence that the association between
      health and neighbourhood green space differed between population groups. Overall,
      our study does not support the assumption that the elderly, women, and residents
      who are not employed full-time benefit more from neighbourhood green space than
      others. Only in the highly urbanised city of Barcelona did the low-educated group
      benefit from neighbourhood green spaces. Perhaps neighbourhood green spaces are
      more important for the health of low-educated residents in particularly highly
      urbanised areas.

PMID- 28594388
TI  - Gene Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Specificity, Issues and Hopes.
AB  - A recent death projection has placed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma as the
      second cause of death by cancer in 2030. The prognosis for pancreatic cancer is
      very poor and there is a great need for new treatments that can change this poor
      outcome. Developments of therapeutic innovations in combination with conventional
      chemotherapy are needed urgently. Among innovative treatments the gene therapy
      offers a promising avenue. The present review gives an overview of the general
      strategy of gene therapy as well as the limitations and stakes of the different
      experimental in vivo models, expression vectors (synthetic and viral), molecular
      tools (interference RNA, genome editing) and therapeutic genes (tumor suppressor
      genes, antiangiogenic and pro-apoptotic genes, suicide genes). The latest
      developments in pancreatic carcinoma gene therapy are described including gene
      based tumor cell sensitization to chemotherapy, vaccination and adoptive
      immunotherapy (chimeric antigen receptor T-cells strategy). Nowadays, there is a
      specific development of oncolytic virus therapies including oncolytic
      adenoviruses, herpes virus, parvovirus or reovirus. A summary of all published
      and on-going phase-1 trials is given. Most of them associate gene therapy and
      chemotherapy or radiochemotherapy. The first results are encouraging for most of
      the trials but remain to be confirmed in phase 2 trials.

PMID- 28594389
TI  - The Role of NOX4 and TRX2 in Angiogenesis and Their Potential Cross-Talk.
AB  - The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX) family is
      the major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the vascular system. In this
      family, NOX4, a constitutive active form of NOXs, plays an important role in
      angiogenesis. Thioredoxin 2 (TRX2) is a key mitochondrial redox protein that
      maintains normal protein function and also provides electrons to peroxiredoxin 3
      (PRX3) to scavenge H2O2 in mitochondria. Angiogenesis, a process of new blood
      vessel formation, is involved in a variety of physiological processes and
      pathological conditions. It seems to be paradoxical for ROS-producing NOX4 and
      ROS-scavenging TRX2 to have a similar role in promoting angiogenesis. In this
      review, we will focus on data supporting the role of NOX4 and TRX2 in
      angiogenesis and their cross-talks and discuss how ROS can positively or
      negatively regulate angiogenesis, depending on their species, levels and
      locations. NOX4 and TRX2-mediated ROS signaling could be promising targets for
      the treatment of angiogenesis-related diseases.

PMID- 28594391
TI  - Galectins-1, -3, and -7 Are Prognostic Markers for Survival of Ovarian Cancer
      Patients.
AB  - There is a tremendous need for developing new useful prognostic factors in
      ovarian cancer. Galectins are a family of carbohydrate binding proteins which
      have been suggested to serve as prognostic factors for various cancer types. In
      this study, the presence of Galectin-1, -3, and -7 was investigated in 156
      ovarian cancer specimens by immunochemical staining. Staining was evaluated in
      the cytoplasm and nucleus of cancer cells as well as the peritumoral stroma using
      a semi quantitative score (Remmele (IR) score). Patients' overall survival was
      compared between different groups of Galectin expression. Galectin (Gal)-1 and -3
      staining was observed in the peritumoral stroma as well as the nucleus and
      cytoplasm of tumor cells, while Gal-7 was only present in the cytoplasm of tumor
      cells. Patients with Gal-1 expression in the cytoplasm or high Gal-1 expression
      in the peritumoral stroma showed reduced overall survival. Nuclear Gal-3 staining
      correlated with a better outcome. We observed a significantly reduced overall
      survival for cases with high Gal-7 expression and a better survival for Gal-7
      negative cases, when compared to cases with low expression of Gal-7. We were able
      to show that both tumor and stroma staining of Gal-1 could serve as negative
      prognostic factors for ovarian cancer. We were able to confirm cytoplasmic Gal-7
      as a negative prognostic factor. Gal-3 staining in the nucleus could be a new
      positive prognosticator for ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28594393
TI  - Maritime Data Transfer Protocol (MDTP): A Proposal for a Data Transmission
      Protocol in Resource-Constrained Underwater Environments Involving Cyber-Physical
      Systems.
AB  - The utilization of autonomous maritime vehicles is becoming widespread in
      operations that are deemed too hazardous for humans to be directly involved in
      them. One of the ways to increase the productivity of the tools used during
      missions is the deployment of several vehicles with the same objective regarding
      data collection and transfer, both for the benefit of human staff and policy
      makers. However, the interchange of data in such an environment poses major
      challenges, such as a low bandwidth and the unreliability of the environment
      where transmissions take place. Furthermore, the relevant information that must
      be sent, as well as the exact size that will allow understanding it, is usually
      not clearly established, as standardization works are scarce in this domain.
      Under these conditions, establishing a way to interchange information at the data
      level among autonomous maritime vehicles becomes of critical importance since the
      needed information, along with the size of the transferred data, will have to be
      defined. This manuscript puts forward the Maritime Data Transfer Protocol, (MDTP)
      a way to interchange standardized pieces of information at the data level for
      maritime autonomous maritime vehicles, as well as the procedures that are
      required for information interchange.

PMID- 28594392
TI  - The Human Gut Phage Community and Its Implications for Health and Disease.
AB  - In this review, we assess our current understanding of the role of bacteriophages
      infecting the human gut bacterial community in health and disease. In general,
      bacteriophages contribute to the structure of their microbial communities by
      driving host and viral diversification, bacterial evolution, and by expanding the
      functional diversity of ecosystems. Gut bacteriophages are an ensemble of unique
      and shared phages in individuals, which encompass temperate phages found
      predominately as prophage in gut bacteria (prophage reservoir) and lytic phages.
      In healthy individuals, only a small fraction of the prophage reservoir is
      activated and found as extracellular phages. Phage community dysbiosis is
      characterized by a shift in the activated prophage community or an increase of
      lytic phages, and has been correlated with disease, suggesting that a proper
      balance between lysis and lysogeny is needed to maintain health. Consequently,
      the concept of microbial dysbiosis might be extended to the phage component of
      the microbiome as well. Understanding the dynamics and mechanisms to restore
      balance after dysbiosis is an active area of research. The use of phage
      transplants to re-establish health suggests that phages can be used as disease
      treatment. Such advances represent milestones in our understanding of gut phages
      in human health and should fuel research on their role in health and disease.

PMID- 28594394
TI  - Risk of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-associated renal dysfunction among
      neonates diagnosed with patent ductus arteriosus and treated with gentamicin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)
      therapy-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) among neonates diagnosed with patent
      ductus arteriosus (PDA) who are treated with gentamicin. STUDY DESIGN:
      Multicenter retrospective observational study of patients ?44 postmenstrual weeks
      of age diagnosed with PDA who received gentamicin during hospitalization between
      January 2006 and December 2014. Patients with and without NSAID exposure were
      matched on covariates associated with AKI and NSAID therapy. The primary end
      point, AKI, was defined according to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes
      neonatal criteria. RESULTS: The rate of AKI for the entire cohort (n=594) was 12%
      (n=71). Among neonates receiving NSAIDS, 14.8% (n=44) experienced an AKI as
      compared to 9.1% (n=27) for those who were not exposed (relative risk, 1.6; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.0 to 2.6). Therefore, the attributable risk of NSAID use
      was 5.7% (95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 11.0). CONCLUSION: Among neonates with
      PDA and receiving gentamicin, NSAID therapy increases the risk of AKI by about
      6%.

PMID- 28594395
TI  - Neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants resuscitated with different oxygen
      concentration at birth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 to 21 months
      corrected age (CA) of infants born at <29 weeks that received room air, an
      intermediate oxygen concentration or 100% oxygen at the initiation of
      resuscitation. STUDY DESIGN: In this retrospective cohort study, we compared
      neonatal and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 to 21 months CA among inborn
      infants born before 29 weeks' gestation that received room air, intermediate
      oxygen concentration or 100% oxygen at the initiation of resuscitation. RESULTS:
      Of 1509 infants, 445 received room air, 483 received intermediate oxygen
      concentrations and 581 received 100% oxygen. Compared to infants that received
      room air, the primary outcome of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) was
      not different in intermediate oxygen (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.01; 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.77, 1.34) or 100% oxygen (aOR 1.03; 95% CI 0.78,
      1.35). Compared to room air, there was no difference in odds of death or severe
      NDI in intermediate oxygen (aOR 1.14; 95% CI 0.82, 1.58) or 100% oxygen group
      (aOR 1.22; 95% CI 0.90, 1.67). The odds of severe NDI among survivors were
      significantly higher in infants that received 100% oxygen as compared to room air
      (aOR 1.57, 95% CI 1.05, 2.35). CONCLUSIONS: We observed no significant difference
      in the primary composite outcomes of death or NDI and death or severe NDI at 18
      to 21 months CA between infants that received room air, intermediate oxygen
      concentration or 100% oxygen at the initiation of resuscitation. However, use of
      100% oxygen was associated with increased odds of severe NDI among survivors as
      compared to room air.

PMID- 28594397
TI  - Establishment of a Quick and Highly Accurate Breath Test for ALDH2 Genotyping.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of ethanol, is a definite
      carcinogen for the esophagus, head, and neck; and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2
      (ALDH2) is a mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes the metabolism of acetaldehyde.
      The ALDH2 genotype exists as ALDH2*1/*1 (active ALDH2), ALDH2*1/*2 (heterozygous
      inactive ALDH2), and ALDH2*2/*2 (homozygous inactive ALDH2). Many epidemiological
      studies have reported that ALDH2*2 carriers are at high risk for esophageal or
      head and neck squamous cell carcinomas by habitual drinking. Therefore,
      identification of ALDH2*2 carriers would be helpful for the prevention of those
      cancers, but there have been no methods suitable for mass screening to identify
      these individuals. METHODS: One hundred and eleven healthy volunteers (ALDH2*1/*1
      carriers: 53; ALDH2*1/*2 carriers: 48; and ALDH2*2/*2 carriers: 10) were
      recruited. Breath samples were collected after drinking 100 ml of 0.5% ethanol
      using specially designed gas bags, and breath ethanol and acetaldehyde levels
      were measured by semiconductor gas chromatography. RESULTS: The median (range)
      breath acetaldehyde levels at 1 min after alcohol ingestion were 96.1 (18.1
      399.0) parts per billion (p.p.b.) for the ALDH2*1/*1 genotype, 333.5 (78.4
      1218.4) p.p.b. for the ALDH2*1/*2 genotype, and 537.1 (213.2-1353.8) p.p.b. for
      the ALDH2*2/*2 genotype. The breath acetaldehyde levels in ALDH2*2 carriers were
      significantly higher than for the ALDH2*1/*1 genotype. Notably, the ratio of
      breath acetaldehyde level-to-breath ethanol level could identify carriers of the
      ALDH2*2 allele very accurately (whole accuracy; 96.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Our novel
      breath test is a useful tool for identifying ALDH2*2 carriers, who are at high
      risk for esophageal and head and neck cancers.

PMID- 28594398
TI  - Loss of the novel mitochondrial protein FAM210B promotes metastasis via PDK4
      dependent metabolic reprogramming.
AB  - Recent advances in tumor metabolism have revealed that metabolic reprogramming
      could dramatically promote caner metastasis. However, the relation and mechanism
      between metastasis and metabolic reprogramming are not thoroughly explored. Cell
      proliferation, colony formation, and invasion analysis were performed to evaluate
      the role of FAM210B in human cancer cells. Human ovarian cancer xenograft model
      was used to determine the effects of inhibiting FAM210B by shRNA on tumor
      metastasis. Microarray analysis was used to determine the target genes of
      FAM210B. FAM210B cellular localization was performed by mitochondria isolation
      and mitochondria protein extraction. To detect FAM210B-mediated metabolic
      reprogramming, oxygen consumption rate and extracellular acidification rate were
      measured. Our previous study screened a novel cancer progression-suppressor gene,
      FAM210B, which encodes an outer mitochondrial membrane protein, by the
      suppression of mortality by antisense rescue technique (SMART). Here we
      demonstrated that FAM210B loss was significantly associated with cancer
      metastasis and decreased survival in a clinical setting. Additionally, it was
      found that low expression of FAM210B was significantly correlated with decreased
      survival and enhanced metastasis in vivo and in vitro, and the loss of FAM210B
      led to an increased mitochondrial respiratory capacity and reduced glycolysis
      through the downregulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4), which
      activated the EMT program and enhanced migratory and invasive properties.
      Collectively, our data unveil a potential metabolic target and mechanism of
      cancer metastasis.

PMID- 28594399
TI  - Essential but partially redundant roles for POU4F1/Brn-3a and POU4F2/Brn-3b
      transcription factors in the developing heart.
AB  - Congenital heart defects contribute to embryonic or neonatal lethality but due to
      the complexity of cardiac development, the molecular changes associated with such
      defects are not fully understood. Here, we report that transcription factors
      (TFs) Brn-3a (POU4F1) and Brn-3b (POU4F2) are important for normal cardiac
      development. Brn-3a directly represses Brn-3b promoter in cardiomyocytes and
      consequently Brn-3a knockout (KO) mutant hearts express increased Brn-3b mRNA
      during mid-gestation, which is linked to hyperplastic growth associated with
      elevated cyclin D1, a known Brn-3b target gene. However, during late gestation,
      Brn-3b can cooperate with p53 to enhance transcription of pro-apoptotic genes
      e.g. Bax, thereby increasing apoptosis and contribute to morphological defects
      such as non-compaction, ventricular wall/septal thinning and increased
      crypts/fissures, which may cause lethality of Brn-3a KO mutants soon after birth.
      Despite this, early embryonic lethality in e9.5 double KO (Brn-3a-/- : Brn-3b-/-)
      mutants indicate essential functions with partial redundancy during early
      embryogenesis. High conservation between mammals and zebrafish (ZF) Brn-3b (87%)
      or Brn-3a (76%) facilitated use of ZF embryos to study potential roles in
      developing heart. Double morphant embryos targeted with morpholino
      oligonucleotides to both TFs develop significant cardiac defects (looping
      abnormalities and valve defects) suggesting essential roles for Brn-3a and Brn-3b
      in developing hearts.

PMID- 28594400
TI  - The role of oligodendrocyte precursor cells expressing the GPR17 receptor in
      brain remodeling after stroke.
AB  - Following stroke-induced neuronal damage, quiescent oligodendrocyte precursors
      (OPCs) are activated to proliferate and later to differentiate to myelin
      producing cells. GPR17, a receptor transiently expressed on early OPCs, has
      emerged as a target to implement stroke repair through stimulation of OPC
      maturation. However, being GPR17 completely downregulated in myelin-producing
      oligodendrocytes, its actual role in determining the final fate of OPCs after
      cerebral ischemia is still uncertain. Here, to univocally define the
      spatiotemporal changes and final fate of GPR17-expressing OPCs, we induced
      ischemia by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in reporter GPR17iCreERT2:CAG
      eGreen florescent protein (GFP) mice, in which, upon tamoxifen treatment, cells
      expressing GPR17 become green and traceable for their entire life. Starting from
      3 days and up to 2 weeks after MCAo, GFP+ cells markedly accumulated in regions
      surrounding the ischemic lesion; several of them proliferated, as shown by co
      labeling of the DNA synthesis marker 5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU). Almost all
      GFP+/BrdU+ cells expressed the OPC early marker neural/glial antigen 2 (NG2),
      indicating that they were still precursors. Accumulation of GFP+ cells was also
      because of OPC recruitment from surrounding areas, as suggested in vivo by
      acquisition of typical features of migrating OPCs, shown in vitro in presence of
      the chemoattractant PDGF-AA and confirmed by transplantation of GFP+-OPCs in wild
      type MCAo mice. Eight weeks after MCAo, only some of these precociously recruited
      cells had undergone maturation as shown by NG2 loss and acquisition of mature
      myelinating markers like GSTpi. A pool of recruited GFP+-OPCs was kept at a
      precursor stage to likely make it available for further insults. Thus, very early
      after ischemia, GFP+-OPCs proliferate and migrate toward the lesion; however,
      most of these cells remain undifferentiated, suggesting functional roles other
      than myelination.

PMID- 28594401
TI  - Upconversion nanoparticle-mediated photodynamic therapy induces autophagy and
      cholesterol efflux of macrophage-derived foam cells via ROS generation.
AB  - Macrophage-derived foam cells are a major component of atherosclerotic plaques
      and have an important role in the progression of atherosclerotic plaques, thus
      posing a great threat to human health. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as
      a therapeutic strategy for atherosclerosis. Here, we investigated the effect of
      PDT mediated by upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles encapsulating chlorin e6
      (UCNPs-Ce6) on the cholesterol efflux of THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells and
      explored the possible mechanism of this effect. First, we found that PDT notably
      enhanced the cholesterol efflux and the induction of autophagy in both THP-1 and
      peritoneal macrophage-derived foam cells. The autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine
      and an ATG5 siRNA significantly attenuated PDT-induced autophagy, which
      subsequently suppressed the ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux. Furthermore, the
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by PDT were responsible for the induction
      of autophagy, which could be blocked by the ROS inhibitor N-acetyl cysteine
      (NAC). NAC also reversed the PDT-induced suppression of p-mTOR and p-Akt.
      Therefore, our findings demonstrate that PDT promotes cholesterol efflux by
      inducing autophagy, and the autophagy was mediated in part through the
      ROS/PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in THP-1 and peritoneal macrophage-derived
      foam cells.

PMID- 28594402
TI  - ARRDC4 regulates enterovirus 71-induced innate immune response by promoting K63
      polyubiquitination of MDA5 through TRIM65.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the main causative agent of hand, foot and mouth disease
      (HFMD), which induces significantly elevated levels of cytokines and chemokines,
      leading to local or system inflammation and severe complications, whereas the
      underlying regulatory mechanisms and the inflammatory pathogenesis remain
      elusive. ARRDC4 is one member of arrestins family, having important roles in
      glucose metabolism and G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) related physiological
      and pathological processes, however, the function of ARRDC4 in innate immune
      system is largely unknown. Here we identified that ARRDC4 expression was
      increased after EV71 infection in THP-1-derived macrophages and verified in EV71
      infected HFMD patients and the healthy candidates. The expression level of ARRDC4
      was positively correlated with the serum concentration of IL-6, TNF-alpha and
      CCL3 in clinical specimens. ARRDC4 interacted with MDA5 via the arrestin-like N
      domain, and further recruited TRIM65 to enhance the K63 ubiquitination of MDA5,
      resulting in activation of the downstream innate signaling pathway and
      transcription of proinflammatory cytokines during EV71 infection. Our data
      highlight new function of ARRDC4 in innate immunity, contributing to the better
      understanding about regulation of MDA5 activation after EV71 infection, and also
      suggest ARRDC4 may serve as a potential target for intervention of EV71-induced
      inflammatory response.

PMID- 28594403
TI  - Long noncoding RNA CRNDE stabilized by hnRNPUL2 accelerates cell proliferation
      and migration in colorectal carcinoma via activating Ras/MAPK signaling pathways.
AB  - Recent studies have furthered our understanding of the function of long noncoding
      RNAs (lncRNAs) in numerous biological processes, including cancer. This study
      investigated the expression of a novel lncRNA, colorectal neoplasia
      differentially expressed (CRNDE), in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) tissues and cells
      by real-time RT-PCR and in situ hybridization, and its biological function using
      a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments to determine its potential as a
      prognostic marker and therapeutic target. CRNDE was found to be upregulated in
      primary CRC tissues and cells (P<0.05), and the upregulation of CRNDE expression
      is a powerful predictor of advanced TNM stage (P<0.05) and poor prognosis for CRC
      patients (P=0.002). The promoting effects of CRNDE on the cell proliferation,
      cell cycling and metastasis of CRC cells were confirmed both in vitro and in vivo
      by gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments. Mechanistically, it was
      demonstrated that CRNDE could form a functional complex with heterogeneous
      nuclear ribonucleoprotein U-like 2 protein (hnRNPUL2) and direct the transport of
      hnRNPUL2 between the nucleus and cytoplasm. hnRNPUL2 that was accumulated in the
      cytoplasm could interact with CRNDE both physically and functionally, increasing
      the stability of CRNDE RNA. Moreover, gene expression profile data showed that
      CRNDE depletion in cells downregulated a series of genes involved in the
      Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Collectively, these
      findings provide novel insights into the function and mechanism of lncRNA CRNDE
      in the pathogenesis of CRC and highlight its potential as a therapeutic target
      for CRC intervention.

PMID- 28594404
TI  - Precision medicine for hepatocelluar carcinoma using molecular pattern
      diagnostics: results from a preclinical pilot study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to design a road map for personalizing cancer therapy
      in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using molecular pattern diagnostics. As an
      exploratory study, we investigated molecular patterns of tissues of two tumors
      from individual HCC patients, which in previous experiments had shown contrasting
      reactions to the phase 2 transforming growth factor beta receptor 1 inhibitor
      galunisertib. Cancer-driving molecular patterns encompass - inter alias - altered
      transcription profiles and somatic mutations in coding regions differentiating
      tumors from their respective peritumoral tissues and from each other. Massive
      analysis of cDNA ends and all-exome sequencing demonstrate a highly divergent
      transcriptional and mutational landscape, respectively, for the two tumors, that
      offers potential explanations for the tumors contrasting responses to
      galunisertib. Molecular pattern diagnostics (MPDs) suggest alternative,
      individual-tumor-specific therapies, which in both cases deviate from the
      standard sorafenib treatment and from each other. Suggested personalized
      therapies use kinase inhibitors and immune-focused drugs as well as low-toxicity
      natural compounds identified using an advanced bioinformatics routine included in
      the MPD protocol. The MPD pipeline we describe here for the prediction of
      suitable drugs for treatment of two contrasting HCCs may serve as a blueprint for
      the design of therapies for various types of cancer.

PMID- 28594405
TI  - Oroxylin A suppresses the development and growth of colorectal cancer through
      reprogram of HIF1alpha-modulated fatty acid metabolism.
AB  - The occurrence and progress of colon cancer are closely associated with obesity.
      Therefore, the lipid metabolism, especially fatty acid metabolism, is a
      significant section of energy homeostasis in colon cancer cells, and it affects
      many important cellular processes. Oroxylin A is one of the main bioactive
      flavonoids of Scutellariae radix, which has a strong anticancer effect but low
      toxicity to normal tissue. In previous studies, we have proved that oroxylin A
      reprogrammes metabolism of cancer cells by inhibiting glycolysis. Here, we
      further investigated the metabolism-modulating effects of oroxylin A on the fatty
      acid metabolism in colon cancer cells under hypoxia. We found that HIF1alpha
      upregulated adipophilin, fatty acid synthase and sterol regulatory element
      binding protein 1, and downregulated carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1),
      resulting in the promoted lipid uptake and transport, increased de novo fatty
      acid synthesis and suppressed fatty acid oxidation. Oroxylin A inactivated
      HIF1alpha and reprogrammed fatty acid metabolism of HCT116 cells, decreasing
      intracellular fatty acid level and enhancing fatty acid oxidation. Furthermore,
      the rapid decrease of fatty acid level caused by oroxylin A inhibited the nuclear
      translocation of beta-cantenin and inactivated the Wnt pathway, arousing cell
      cycle arrest in G2/M phase. In vivo studies demonstrated that high-fat diet
      increased the incidence of colon cancer and accelerated tumor development.
      Importantly, besides the growth inhibitory effects on colon cancer xenograft,
      oroxylin A prevented carcinogenesis and delayed progress of primary colon cancer
      as well. Our studies enriched the metabolic regulatory mechanism of oroxylin A,
      and suggested that oroxylin A was a potent candidate for the treatment and
      prevention of colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28594406
TI  - Simvastatin treatment boosts benefits of apoptotic cell infusion in murine lung
      fibrosis.
AB  - A single early-phase infusion of apoptotic cells can inhibit bleomycin-induced
      lung inflammation and fibrosis; however, it is unknown whether these effects can
      be enhanced with additional infusions and/or statin treatment. Here, we
      investigated whether an increased frequency of apoptotic cell injection, with or
      without efferocytosis enhancer simvastatin, facilitates therapeutic efficacy. An
      additional injection of apoptotic cells during the intermediate phase (7 days
      post-bleomycin treatment) or simvastatin administration alone on days 7-13 post
      treatment did not promote anti-fibrotic responses beyond those induced by a
      single early apoptotic cell infusion alone. Additional administration of
      apoptotic cells with simvastatin further enhanced the efferocytic ability of
      alveolar macrophages and PPARgamma activity, and induced hepatocyte growth factor
      and interleukin-10 expression, in alveolar macrophages and lung tissue.
      Additional administration of apoptotic cells with simvastatin also reduced mRNA
      expression of bleomycin-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers
      in isolated alveolar type II epithelial cells, fibrotic markers in fibroblasts,
      and hydroxyproline in lung tissue. Enhanced anti-EMT and anti-fibrotic efficacy
      was confirmed by immunofluorescence and trichrome staining of lung tissue. This
      suggests that additional administration of apoptotic cells with simvastatin
      during the intermediate phase of bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis may boost the
      anti-fibrotic properties of early apoptotic cell infusion.

PMID- 28594407
TI  - EGR-1/ASPP1 inter-regulatory loop promotes apoptosis by inhibiting cyto
      protective autophagy.
AB  - The decrease of ASPP1 (Apoptosis-Stimulating Protein of p53 1), a known p53
      activator, has been linked to carcinogenesis and the cytotoxic resistance in
      various cancers, yet the underlying mechanisms of ASPP1 expression and its
      complex functions are not yet clear. Here, we report that ASPP1 forms an inter
      regulatory loop with Early Growth Response 1 (EGR-1), and promotes apoptosis via
      inhibiting cyto-protective autophagy, independent of the well-documented p53
      dependent mechanisms. We show that ASPP1 mRNA and protein were remarkably
      elevated by ectopic EGR-1 expression or endogenous EGR-1 activation, in cells
      with different tissue origins and p53 status. Conversely, RNAi-mediated EGR-1
      knockdown suppressed ASPP1. The further mechanism studies revealed that ASPP1
      promoter, mapped to -283/+88, which contained three conserved EGR-1 binding
      sites, was required for both binding and transactivity of EGR-1. In addition, we
      demonstrate that ASPP1 promoted EGR-1 in a positive feedback loop by preventing
      proteasome-mediated EGR-1 degradation or promoting EGR-1 nuclear import in
      response to anticancer natural compound Quercetin. Furthermore, albeit activating
      p53 in the nucleus is the well-studied function of ASPP1, we found that ASPP1 was
      predominately localized in the cytoplasm. Interestingly, the cytoplasmic ASPP1
      retained its pro-apoptosis capability. Mechanistically, ASPP1 suppressed Atg5
      Atg12 and also bound with Atg5-Atg12 to prevent its further complex formation
      with Atg16, resulting in the inhibition of cyto-protective autophagy. In
      conclusion, our results provide new insights into EGR-1/ASPP1 regulatory loop in
      sensitizing Quercetin-induced apoptosis. EGR-1/ASPP1, therefore, may be
      potentially used as therapeutic targets to improve cancer's response to pro
      apoptosis treatments.

PMID- 28594408
TI  - Autophagy blockade and lysosomal membrane permeabilization contribute to lead
      induced nephrotoxicity in primary rat proximal tubular cells.
AB  - Lead (Pb) is a known nephrotoxicant that causes damage to proximal tubular cells.
      Autophagy has an important protective role in various renal injuries, but the
      role of autophagy in Pb-elicited nephrotoxicity remains largely unknown. In this
      study, Pb promoted the accumulation of autophagosomes in primary rat proximal
      tubular (rPT) cells, and subsequent findings revealed that this autophagosome
      accumulation was caused by the inhibition of autophagic flux. Moreover, Pb
      exposure did not affect the autophagosome-lysosome fusion in rPT cells. Next, we
      found that Pb caused lysosomal alkalinization, may be through suppression of two
      V-ATPase subunits. Simultaneously, Pb inhibited lysosomal degradation capacity by
      affecting the maturation of cathepsin B (CTSB) and cathepsin D (CTSD).
      Furthermore, translocation of CTSB and CTSD from lysosome to cytoplasm was
      observed in this study, suggesting that lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP)
      occurred in Pb-exposed rPT cells. Meanwhile, Pb-induced caspase-3 activation and
      apoptosis were significantly but not completely inhibited by CTSB inhibitor (CA
      074) and CTSD inhibitor (pepstatin A), respectively, demonstrating that LMP
      induced lysosomal enzyme release was involved in Pb-induced apoptosis in rPT
      cells. In conclusion, Pb-mediated autophagy blockade in rPT cells is attributed
      to the impairment of lysosomal function. Both inhibition of autophagic flux and
      LMP-mediated apoptosis contribute to Pb-induced nephrotoxicity in rPT cells.

PMID- 28594409
TI  - EIF3D promotes gallbladder cancer development by stabilizing GRK2 kinase and
      activating PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that dysregulated eIF3d expression may be critical in
      various genetic disorders as well as cancer. In this study, we observed that
      EIF3d levels increased in gallbladder cancer (GBC) samples compared with non
      tumor tissue. High eIF3d levels were associated with advanced tumor stage and
      metastasis and were correlated with poor prognosis in 92 patients with GBC.
      Depletion of EIF3d in GBC cell lines inhibited cell proliferation, colony
      formation and metastasis and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in vitro and
      in vivo. In contrast, ectopic expression of eIF3d had the opposite effects.
      Moreover, in this study, we revealed that a novel non-translational factor
      function of eIF3d mediated its protumoral effects. In details, eIF3d stabilizes
      GRK2 protein by blocking ubiquitin-mediated degradation, consequently activates
      PI3K/Akt signaling, and promotes GBC cell proliferation and migration. In
      conclusion, eIF3d promotes GBC progression mainly via eIF3d-GRK2-AKT axis and it
      may be used as a prognostic factor. The therapeutic targeting of eIF3d-GRK2 axis
      may be a potential treatment approach for GBC.

PMID- 28594412
TI  - Attitudes, knowledge and consequences of uncertain genetic findings in
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - With the surge of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies making almost all
      genetic tests more affordable and available, cardiac genetic testing now
      routinely encompasses a large number of genes within a panel setting. The
      additional sensitivity of this practice is limited and has the potential to
      inflict a spectrum of uncertainty. We sought to explore attitudes, preferences,
      recall and psychological consequences of informative and uninformative genetic
      results amongst probands diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We
      conducted semi-structured interviews and analysed the qualitative data using a
      framework analysis process. In general, we found probands were more concerned
      with their clinical diagnosis than gene result and in some, recall and
      understanding of genetic diagnosis was poor. Several participants expected
      genetic testing would alleviate uncertainty, often holding an altruistic view of
      participation in testing, removing their sense of self and failing to appreciate
      fully the familial implications. With the key utility of HCM genetic testing and
      counselling being for greater risk prediction for at-risk relatives, effective
      communication within the family is critical. While communication appeared
      adequate, further questioning found it was often vague, failing to translate into
      meaningful action by relatives. Based on these findings, a framework of key
      outcomes to assist multidisciplinary teams in genetic counselling of probands
      receiving an HCM gene result was developed.

PMID- 28594415
TI  - Expanded carrier screening: what determines intended participation and can this
      be influenced by message framing and narrative information?
AB  - Next-generation sequencing enabled us to create a population-based expanded
      carrier screening (ECS) test that simultaneously tests for 50 serious autosomal
      recessive diseases. Before offering this test universally, we wanted to know what
      factors are related to intended participation and how the general public can be
      informed about the test without being influenced in their intention to
      participate. We studied this by measuring to what extent 'message framing' and
      'narrative information' can influence people's intended participation. Data were
      collected by means of an online survey of 504 potential users, and the factors
      examined were based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and on previous research
      on intended participation in preconception carrier screening. Message framing was
      manipulated by explaining the risk of couple carriership in different ways, while
      narrative information was provided to only half of the respondents. The factors
      most positively related to intended participation were perceiving benefits of the
      screening, having a positive attitude towards the screening, having no religion,
      having an actual child wish and experiencing the choice to participate as easy.
      Perceived benefits and a positive attitude were most influential factors by far.
      Message framing and narrative information had no significant effect on intended
      participation, reinforcing that message framing and narrative information can
      help to inform the general public about ECS without influencing their intended
      participation. Future research should study if the importance of perceived
      benefits and a positive attitude can be replicated when other factors are
      included and when actual participation is measured instead of intended
      participation.

PMID- 28594418
TI  - Microemulsion-made gadolinium carbonate hollow nanospheres showing magnetothermal
      heating and drug release.
AB  - Gadolinium carbonate (Gd2(CO3)3) hollow nanospheres and their suitability for
      drug transport and magnetothermally-induced drug release are presented. The
      hollow nanospheres are prepared via a microemulsion-based synthesis using
      tris(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)gadolinium(iii) and CO2 as the starting
      materials. Size, structure and composition of the as-prepared Gd2(CO3)3 hollow
      nanospheres are comprehensively validated by several independent analytical
      methods (HRTEM, HAADF-STEM, DLS, EDXS, XRD, FT-IR, DTA-TG). Accordingly, they
      exhibit an outer diameter of 26 +/- 4 nm, an inner cavity of 7 +/- 2 nm, and a
      wall thickness of 9 +/- 3 nm. As a conceptual study, the nanocontainer
      functionality of the Gd2(CO3)3 hollow nanospheres is validated upon filling with
      the anti-cancerogenic agent doxorubicin (DOX), which is straightforward via the
      microemulsion (ME) strategy. The resulting DOX@Gd2(CO3)3 nanocontainers provide
      the option of multimodal imaging including optical and magnetic resonance imaging
      (OI, MRI) as well as magnetothermal heating and drug release. As a proof-of
      concept, we could already prove the intrinsic DOX-based fluorescence, a low
      systemic toxicity according to in vitro studies as well as the magnetothermal
      effect and a magnetothermally-induced DOX release. In particular, the latter is
      new for Gd-containing nanoparticles and highly promising in view of theranostic
      nanocontainers and synergistic physical and chemical tumor treatment.

PMID- 28594419
TI  - Carbon nitrides: synthesis and characterization of a new class of functional
      materials.
AB  - Carbon nitride compounds with high N : C ratios and graphitic to polymeric
      structures are being investigated as potential next-generation materials for
      incorporation in devices for energy conversion and storage as well as for
      optoelectronic and catalysis applications. The materials are built from C- and N
      containing heterocycles with heptazine or triazine rings linked via sp2-bonded N
      atoms (N(C)3 units) or -NH- groups. The electronic, chemical and optical
      functionalities are determined by the nature of the local to extended structures
      as well as the chemical composition of the materials. Because of their typically
      amorphous to nanocrystalline nature and variable composition, significant
      challenges remain to fully assess and calibrate the structure-functionality
      relationships among carbon nitride materials. It is also important to devise a
      useful and consistent approach to naming the different classes of carbon nitride
      compounds that accurately describes their chemical and structural characteristics
      related to their functional performance. Here we evaluate the current state of
      understanding to highlight key issues in these areas and point out new directions
      in their development as advanced technological materials.

PMID- 28594421
TI  - Reversible light-dependent molecular switches on Ag/AgCl nanostructures.
AB  - Nanostructured Ag/AgCl substrates were used to generate reversible and highly
      efficient light-dependent chemical switches based on adsorbed 4,4'
      dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB). DMAB was formed in situ via laser-induced
      dimerization either from 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) or 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP).
      The subsequent reaction pathways of DMAB, however, were quite different as
      monitored by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. In the 4-NTP/DMAB system, AgCl
      catalyses the reversal of the dimerization. Conversely, irradiation of adsorbed 4
      ATP first generated cis-DMAB attached to the surface via two Ag-S bonds, followed
      by AgCl-catalysed cleavage of one Ag-S bond and cis -> trans photoisomerisation
      of DMAB. In the dark, the trans-isomer thermally reverts to cis-DMAB. The here
      presented light-dark chemical switches, which work without changing other
      parameters (e.g., pH, anaerobic vs. aerobic), are based on the (photo)catalytic
      properties of the Ag/AgCl substrate and do not function on pure metal surfaces.

PMID- 28594416
TI  - A comparison of Cox and logistic regression for use in genome-wide association
      studies of cohort and case-cohort design.
AB  - Logistic regression is often used instead of Cox regression to analyse genome
      wide association studies (GWAS) of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and
      disease outcomes with cohort and case-cohort designs, as it is less
      computationally expensive. Although Cox and logistic regression models have been
      compared previously in cohort studies, this work does not completely cover the
      GWAS setting nor extend to the case-cohort study design. Here, we evaluated Cox
      and logistic regression applied to cohort and case-cohort genetic association
      studies using simulated data and genetic data from the EPIC-CVD study. In the
      cohort setting, there was a modest improvement in power to detect SNP-disease
      associations using Cox regression compared with logistic regression, which
      increased as the disease incidence increased. In contrast, logistic regression
      had more power than (Prentice weighted) Cox regression in the case-cohort
      setting. Logistic regression yielded inflated effect estimates (assuming the
      hazard ratio is the underlying measure of association) for both study designs,
      especially for SNPs with greater effect on disease. Given logistic regression is
      substantially more computationally efficient than Cox regression in both
      settings, we propose a two-step approach to GWAS in cohort and case-cohort
      studies. First to analyse all SNPs with logistic regression to identify
      associated variants below a pre-defined P-value threshold, and second to fit Cox
      regression (appropriately weighted in case-cohort studies) to those identified
      SNPs to ensure accurate estimation of association with disease.

PMID- 28594414
TI  - Genotype and phenotype spectrum of NRAS germline variants.
AB  - RASopathies comprise a group of disorders clinically characterized by short
      stature, heart defects, facial dysmorphism, and varying degrees of intellectual
      disability and cancer predisposition. They are caused by germline variants in
      genes encoding key components or modulators of the highly conserved RAS-MAPK
      signalling pathway that lead to dysregulation of cell signal transmission.
      Germline changes in the genes encoding members of the RAS subfamily of GTPases
      are rare and associated with variable phenotypes of the RASopathy spectrum,
      ranging from Costello syndrome (HRAS variants) to Noonan and Cardiofaciocutaneous
      syndromes (KRAS variants). A small number of RASopathy cases with disease-causing
      germline NRAS alterations have been reported. Affected individuals exhibited
      features fitting Noonan syndrome, and the observed germline variants differed
      from the typical oncogenic NRAS changes occurring as somatic events in tumours.
      Here we describe 19 new cases with RASopathy due to disease-causing variants in
      NRAS. Importantly, four of them harbored missense changes affecting Gly12, which
      was previously described to occur exclusively in cancer. The phenotype in our
      cohort was variable but well within the RASopathy spectrum. Further, one of the
      patients (c.35G>A; p.(Gly12Asp)) had a myeloproliferative disorder, and one
      subject (c.34G>C; p.(Gly12Arg)) exhibited an uncharacterized brain tumour. With
      this report, we expand the genotype and phenotype spectrum of RASopathy
      associated germline NRAS variants and provide evidence that NRAS variants do not
      spare the cancer-associated mutation hotspots.

PMID- 28594423
TI  - High performance bi-layer atomic switching devices.
AB  - Atomic switches, also known as conductive bridging random access memory devices,
      are resistive-switching devices that utilize the electrochemical reactions within
      a solid electrolyte between metal electrodes, and are considered essential
      components of future information storage and logic building blocks. In spite of
      their advantages as next generation switching components such as high density,
      large scalability, and low power consumption, the large deviations in their
      electrical properties and the instability of their switching behaviors hinder
      their application in information processing systems. Here, we report the
      fabrication of a uniform, low-power atomic switch with a bi-layer structure
      consisting of Ta2O5-x as the main switching layer (SL) and a relatively oxygen
      deficient TaOx as an oxygen vacancy control layer (VCL). The depth profiles of
      the filaments in the bi-layer device were obtained by performing conductive
      atomic force microscopy to assess the improvements in uniformity, reliability,
      and electrical performance that result from the insertion of the VCL. The
      coefficient of variation of the high resistance state of the bi-layer device was
      found to be drastically reduced from 60.92% to 2.77% in the cycle-to-cycle
      measurements and from 82.73% to 4.85% in the device-to-device measurements when
      compared with the values obtained for a single-layer device. The bi-layer device
      also exhibits a forming-free low operation voltage of ~0.4 V, a high on/off ratio
      of ~106, and high reliability with 10 years data retention at 85  degrees C.

PMID- 28594424
TI  - Protective effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides against cadmium-induced
      testicular toxicity in male mice.
AB  - The present study was performed to determine whether Lycium barbarum
      polysaccharides (LBPs) would protect mice against cadmium (Cd)-induced testicular
      toxicity. Seventy-two male mice were randomly divided into six groups with twelve
      mice per group. Four groups were administered orally with cadmium chloride (5.0
      mg per kg body weight) for 35 days and treated in combination with LBPs (0, 10.0,
      33.3 or 100 mg kg-1) from one week before exposure to Cd until the end of the
      experiment. The other two groups were administered orally with vehicle or LBP
      (100 mg kg-1) only. Pretreatment with LBP ameliorated the Cd-induced reduction in
      the body weights, sperm motility as well as the level of testosterone in serum.
      Moreover, Cd-induced increase in the abnormal sperms was reduced and effects of
      Cd on the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH
      Px) were reversed. Histopathological examination further confirmed that the LBPs
      effectively attenuated Cd-induced degeneration of seminiferous tubules. Thus,
      LBPs attenuated Cd-induced testicular injury by improving the activity of
      antioxidant enzymatic activity and lowering the oxidative stress, so it could be
      a potential auxiliary therapeutic agent for Cd-induced testicular toxicity.

PMID- 28594426
TI  - New developments in anticoagulants: Past, present and future.
AB  - Thrombosis is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, and
      anticoagulants are the mainstay of its prevention and treatment. Starting with
      unfractionated heparin (UFH) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) such as warfarin,
      the choices of anticoagulants have exploded in the past 20 years. With over 90 %
      subcutaneous bioavailability, no need for coagulation monitoring and dose
      adjustment, and a lower risk of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, low-molecular
      weight heparin and fondaparinux have replaced UFH for prevention and initial
      treatment of venous thromboembolism and for secondary prevention in cancer
      patients. In patients undergoing percutaneous interventions, bivalirudin is often
      used instead of UFH. Oral anticoagulation therapy has advanced with the
      introduction of the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), which
      include dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban. With efficacy at least
      equal to that of VKAs but with greater safety and convenience, the NOACs are now
      replacing VKAs for many indications. This paper a) highlights these advances, b)
      outlines how specific reversal agents for the NOACs will enhance their safety, c)
      reviews some of the ongoing trials with the NOACs, and d) describes the
      inhibitors of factor XII and XI that are under investigation as anticoagulants.

PMID- 28594427
TI  - Angiogenesis in metabolic-vascular disease.
AB  - Angiogenesis, literally formation of new blood vessels, is the main process
      through which the vascular system expands during embryonic and postnatal
      development. Endothelial cells, which constitute the inner lining of all blood
      vessels, are typically in a quiescent state in the healthy adult organism.
      However, in vascular and metabolic diseases, the endothelium becomes unstable and
      dysfunctional. The resulting tissue hypoxia may thereby induce pathological
      angiogenesis, which is a hallmark of disease conditions like cancer or diabetic
      retinopathy. However, recent evidence suggests that angiogenesis is also a major
      player in the context of further metabolic diseases, especially in obesity. In
      particular, deregulated angiogenesis is linked with adipose tissue dysfunction
      and insulin resistance. On the other hand, signalling pathways, such as the PI3K
      pathway, may regulate metabolic activities in the endothelium. Endothelial cell
      metabolism emerges as an important regulator of angiogenesis. This review
      summarises the role of angiogenesis in metabolic-vascular disease, with specific
      focus on the role of angiogenesis in obesity-related metabolic dysfunction and on
      signaling pathways, especially PI3K, linking cell metabolism to endothelial
      function.

PMID- 28594428
TI  - Compromised Integrity of Central Visual Pathways in Patients With Macular
      Degeneration.
AB  - Purpose: Macular degeneration (MD) affects the central retina and leads to
      gradual loss of foveal vision. Although, photoreceptors are primarily affected in
      MD, the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and central visual pathways may also be
      altered subsequent to photoreceptor degeneration. Here we investigate whether
      retinal damage caused by MD alters microstructural properties of visual pathways
      using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Methods: Six MD patients and
      six healthy control subjects participated in the study. Retinal images were
      obtained by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Diffusion
      tensor images (DTI) and high-resolution T1-weighted structural images were
      collected for each subject. We used diffusion-based tensor modeling and
      probabilistic fiber tractography to identify the optic tract (OT) and optic
      radiations (OR), as well as nonvisual pathways (corticospinal tract and anterior
      fibers of corpus callosum). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial and radial
      diffusivity values (AD, RD) were calculated along the nonvisual and visual
      pathways. Results: Measurement of RNFL thickness reveals that the temporal
      circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer was significantly thinner in eyes with
      macular degeneration than normal. While we did not find significant differences
      in diffusion properties in nonvisual pathways, patients showed significant
      changes in diffusion scalars (FA, RD, and AD) both in OT and OR. Conclusions: The
      results indicate that the RNFL and the white matter of the visual pathways are
      significantly altered in MD patients. Damage to the photoreceptors in MD leads to
      atrophy of the ganglion cell axons and to corresponding changes in
      microstructural properties of central visual pathways.

PMID- 28594429
TI  - Effects of serial and concurrent training on receptive identification tasks: A
      Systematic replication.
AB  - The current study compared the use of serial and concurrent methods to train
      multiple exemplars when teaching receptive language skills, providing a
      systematic replication of Wunderlich, Vollmer, Donaldson, and Phillips (2014).
      Five preschoolers diagnosed with developmental delays or autism spectrum
      disorders were taught to receptively identify letters or letter sounds. Subjects
      learned the target stimuli slightly faster in concurrent training and a high
      degree of generalization was obtained following both methods of training,
      indicating that both the serial and concurrent methods of training are efficient
      and effective instructional procedures.

PMID- 28594430
TI  - Substrate characteristics and ablation outcome of left atrial tachycardia in
      rheumatic mitral valve disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Right atrial tachycardia (AT) is a common arrhythmia postsurgical
      valve replacement in patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD). However, the
      substrate and the mechanism of left AT in such patients and the ablation efficacy
      is less known. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-seven RHD patients with AT were
      enrolled in this study; nine of them (33%) had left AT. Five and four patients
      had left AT during the first and second procedure, respectively. A spontaneous
      scar in the left posterior wall was identified in all patients, and obvious
      anterior scar in three patients. Dual-roof-dependent AT was found in three
      patients and macroreentry AT surrounding right pulmonary vein was identified in
      one patient, two of whom had left anterior scar. Three patients had AT circuit
      going around the mitral annulus, one of whom had left anterior scar. Entrainment
      pacing at different sites confirmed the mechanism of these macroreentries. Two
      patients had a focal origin, one was localized in posterior wall at the edge of
      the scar and the other one was originated from the left septum with normal
      voltage. After a mean follow-up of 27.4 +/- 7.9 months, the left AT group had a
      similar recurrence rate compared with the right AT group alone (67% vs 56%, P =
      0.58). In the left AT group, 11% of patients had AT recurrence and 56% of
      patients developed atrial fibrillation. CONCLUSION: Left atrial AT can occur in
      RHD patients postmitral valve replacement. Catheter ablation is feasible with
      high acute success rate. The incidence of late development atrial fibrillation is
      considerable after successful ablation.

PMID- 28594431
TI  - Distinguishing Two Ammonium and Triazolium Sites of Interaction in a Three
      Station [2]Rotaxane Molecular Shuttle.
AB  - This paper reports on the synthesis of a tri-stable [2]rotaxane molecular
      shuttle, in which the motion of the macrocycle is triggered by either selective
      protonation/deprotonation or specific carbamoylation/decarbamoylation of an
      alkylbenzylamine. The threaded axle is surrounded by a dibenzo[24]crown[8]
      (DB24C8) macrocycle and contains three sites of different binding affinities
      towards the macrocycle. An N-methyltriazolium moiety acts as a molecular station
      that has weak affinity for the DB24C8 macrocycle and is located in the centre of
      the molecular axle. Two other molecular stations, arylammonium and
      alkylbenzylammonium moieties, sit on either side of the triazolium moiety along
      the molecular axle and have stronger affinities for the DB24C8 macrocycle. These
      two ammonium moieties are covalently linked to two different stopper groups at
      each extremity of the thread: a tert-butylphenyl group and a substituted DB24C8
      unit. Owing to steric hindrance, the former does not allow any pi-pi stacking
      interactions with the encircling DB24C8 macrocycle, whereas the latter residue
      does; therefore, this allows the discrimination of the two ammonium stations by
      the surrounding DB24C8 macrocycle in the fully protonated state. In the
      deprotonated state, the contrasting reactivity of the amine functional groups, as
      either a base or a nucleophile, allows for selective reactions that trigger the
      controlled shuttling of the macrocycle around the three molecular stations.

PMID- 28594432
TI  - Involvement of the IgE-basophil system and mild complement activation in
      haemophilia B with anti-factor IX neutralizing antibodies and anaphylaxis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with haemophilia B who develop factor IX (FIX)
      neutralizing antibodies (inhibitors) after FIX infusion are at high risk of
      hypersensitivity reactions upon FIX re-exposure, but the underlying mechanisms
      are incompletely understood. AIM: To investigate biomechanisms of FIX
      hypersensitivity. METHODS: A cellular antigen stimulation test (CAST) was
      employed to evaluate leukotriene C4 (LTC4) release from basophils stimulated by
      FIX in three treated children with haemophilia B, one of whom developed FIX
      inhibitor and experienced anaphylaxis following FIX re-exposure. Anti-FIX IgE and
      IgG antibodies and markers of complement activation (C5b9, C3d and iC3b) were
      measured in plasma, the last also after FIX infusion. Ten healthy children served
      as controls. RESULTS: The patient who developed anti-FIX inhibitors and
      anaphylaxis had a nonsense mutation in FIX gene (p.Arg298Stop) and, compared to
      controls, had higher plasma levels of specific anti-FIX IgE (2.285 vs 0.084 OD492
      nm ), with marked LTC4 release from his FIX-stimulated basophils (519.8 vs 39.9
      pg/mL). Further, he had higher plasma levels of anti-FIX IgG of all the four
      subclasses (total IgG 1.180 vs 0.120 OD492 nm ) with FIX neutralizing activity
      (1.5 BU); mild complement activation occurred during FIX-induced anaphylaxis
      (C5b9 increased from 258.5 to 351.1 ng/mL). The same parameters were normal in
      the two patients who tolerated FIX infusion. CONCLUSION: In the patient with
      haemophilia B who experienced anaphylaxis after FIX, but not in the patients with
      haemophilia B who tolerated FIX, the CAST assay showed FIX-induced LTC4 release,
      which was associated with high plasma levels of specific anti-FIX IgE and IgG
      antibodies.

PMID- 28594433
TI  - Cactus-Like Hollow Cu2-x S@Ru Nanoplates as Excellent and Robust Electrocatalysts
      for the Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.
AB  - The development of Pt-free electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction
      (HER) recently is a focus of great interest. While several strategies are
      developed to control the structural properties of non-Pt catalysts and boost
      their electrocatalytic activities for the HER, the generation of highly reactive
      defects or interfaces by combining a metal with other metals, or with metal
      oxides/sulfides, can lead to notably enhanced catalytic performance. Herein, the
      preparation of cactus-like hollow Cu2-x S@Ru nanoplates (NPs) that contain
      metal/metal sulfide heterojunctions and show excellent catalytic activity and
      durability for the HER in alkaline media is reported. The initial formation of Ru
      islands on presynthesized Cu1.94 S NPs, via cation exchange between three Cu+
      ions and one Ru3+ , induces the growth of the Ru phase, which is concomitant with
      the dissolution of the Cu1.94 S nanotemplate, culminating in the formation of a
      hollow nanostructure with numerous thin Ru pillars. Hollow Cu2-x S@Ru NPs exhibit
      a small overpotential of 82 mV at a current density of -10 mA cm-2 and a low
      Tafel slope of 48 mV dec-1 under alkaline conditions; this catalyst is among
      state-of-the-art HER electrocatalysts in alkaline media. The excellent
      performance of hollow Cu2-x S@Ru NPs originates from the facile dissociation of
      water in the Volmer step.

PMID- 28594434
TI  - A Facile Method and Novel Mechanism Using Microneedle-Structured PDMS for
      Triboelectric Generator Applications.
AB  - The triboelectric generator (TEG) is a cost-effective, multi-fabricated, friendly
      mechanical-energy-harvesting device. The traditional TEG, generally formed by two
      triboelectric materials in multilayers or a simple pattern, generated
      triboelectricity as it worked in the cycling contact-separation operation. This
      paper demonstrates a novel, high-aspect-ratio, microneedle (MN)-structured
      polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based triboelectric generator (MN-TEG) by means of a
      low-cost, simple fabrication using CO2 laser ablation on the polymethyl
      methacrylate substrate and a molding process. The MN-TEG, consisting of an
      aluminum foil and a microneedle-structured PDMS (MN-PDMS) film, generates an
      output performance with an open-circuit voltage up to 102.8 V, and a short
      circuit current of 43.1 uA, corresponding to the current density of 1.5 uA cm-2 .
      With introducing MN-PDMS into the MN-TEG, a great increase of randomly closed
      bending-friction-deformation (BFD) behavior of MNs leads to highly enhanced
      triboelectric performance of the MN-TEG. The BFD keeps increasingly on in-contact
      between MN with Al that results in enhancement of electrical capacitance of PDMS.
      The effect of aspect ratio and density of MN morphology on the output performance
      of MN-PDMS TEG is studied further. The MN-TEG can rapidly charge electric energy
      on a 0.1 uF capacitor up to 2.1 V in about 0.56 s. The MN-TEG source under
      tapping can light up 53 light-emitting diodes with different colors, connected in
      series.

PMID- 28594435
TI  - Texture and lubrication properties of functional cream cheese: Effect of beta
      glucan and phytosterol.
AB  - : The effect of beta-glucan (BG) and phytosterols (PS) as fat replacers on
      textural, microstructural, and lubrication properties of reduced-fat cream cheese
      was investigated. Five formulations (BG-PS ester, PS ester, BG-PS emulsions, PS
      emulsions, and BG) of cream cheese with added beta-glucan and phytosterols (in
      emulsified and esterified form) were investigated and compared with commercial
      cheese. Among the five formulations used in this experiment, the effect of beta
      glucan appeared to be more pronounced imparting increased viscosity and firmness
      to reduced-fat cream cheese, similar to commercial high-fat cream cheese sample.
      Conversely, in lubrication study both the phytosterols (esterified and
      emulsified) were effective in reducing the coefficient of friction resulting in a
      more spreadable cream cheese. The microstructure of cream cheese with added beta
      glucan and phytosterols, used solo or in combination, exhibited more open
      structure of casein matrix, although differences in fat globule size were
      observed. Cream cheese made from PS emulsion (emulsified from phytosterols
      powder) resulted in a larger fat globule size than PS ester and beta-glucan as
      shown by confocal laser scanning microscopy. In addition, the particle size
      distribution of cream cheese formulation containing beta-glucan only showed a
      monomodal curves with small globule size, while a bimodal distribution with
      larger particle size was observed from cream cheese with phytosterols alone.
      PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Reducing the fat content, impacts the quality
      characteristics of low-fat cream cheese. This research showed a novel way to
      incorporate beta-glucan and phytosterols as fat replacers and functional
      ingredients in cream cheese formulation that improves its textural and
      lubrication properties. In addition, this article discusses the effect of beta
      glucan and phytosterols used both individually and in combination on the particle
      size, microstructural and rheological characteristics of functional cream cheese
      and compares them against commercial product. The potential use of beta-glucan
      and phytosterols as fat replacers in low-fat cream cheese will be useful for the
      industries to develop functional cream cheese that meets consumers demand.

PMID- 28594436
TI  - The First Step of the Oxidation of Elemental Sulfur: Crystal Structure of the
      Homopolyatomic Sulfur Radical Cation [S8 ].
AB  - The oxidation of elemental sulfur in superacidic solutions and melts is one of
      the oldest topics in inorganic main group chemistry. Thus far, only three
      homopolyatomic sulfur cations ([S4 ]2+ , [S8 ]2+ , and [S19 ]2+ ) have been
      characterized crystallographically although ESR investigations have given
      evidence for the presence of at least two additional homopolyatomic sulfur
      radical cations in solution. Herein, the crystal structure of the hitherto
      unknown homopolyatomic sulfur radical cation [S8 ].+ is presented. The radical
      cation [S8 ].+ represents the first step of the oxidation of the S8 molecule
      present in elemental sulfur. It has a structure similar to the known structure of
      [S8 ]2+ , but the transannular sulfur???sulfur contact is significantly
      elongated. Quantum-chemical calculations help in understanding its structure and
      support its presence in solution as a stable compound. The existence of [S8 ].+
      is also in accord with previous ESR investigations.

PMID- 28594437
TI  - Crosslinked Carbon Nanotube Aerogel Films Decorated with Cobalt Oxides for
      Flexible Rechargeable Zn-Air Batteries.
AB  - Air electrodes with high catalytic activity are of great importance for
      rechargeable zinc-air batteries. Herein, a flexible, binder-free composite air
      electrode for zinc-air batteries is reported, which utilizes a lightweight,
      conductive, and crosslinked aerogel film of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) functioned as
      a 3D catalyst-supporting scaffold for bifunctional cobalt (II/III) oxides and as
      a current collector. The composite electrode shows high catalytic activities for
      both oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, resulting from the
      synergistic effect of nitrogen-doped CNTs and spinel Co3 O4 nanoparticles. Solid
      state Zn-air batteries assembled using such free-standing air electrodes (without
      the need of additional current collectors) are bendable and show low resistances,
      low charge/discharge overpotentials, and a high cyclic stability.

PMID- 28594438
TI  - Quest for the ultimate cardiac CT scanner.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantitatively evaluate and compare six proposed system architectures
      for cardiac CT scanning. METHODS: Starting from the clinical requirements for
      cardiac CT, we defined six dedicated cardiac CT architectures. We selected these
      architectures based on a previous screening study and defined them in sufficient
      detail to comprehensively analyze their cost and performance. We developed
      rigorous comparative evaluation methods for the most important aspects of
      performance and cost, and we applied these evaluation criteria to the defined
      cardiac CT architectures. RESULTS: We found that CT system architectures based on
      the third-generation geometry provide nearly linear performance improvement
      versus the increased cost of additional beam lines (i.e., source-detector pairs),
      although similar performance improvement could be achieved with advanced motion
      correction algorithms. The third-generation architectures outperform even the
      most promising of the proposed architectures that deviate substantially from the
      traditional CT system architectures. CONCLUSION: This work confirms the validity
      of the current trend in commercial CT scanner design. However, we anticipate that
      over time, CT hardware and software technologies will evolve, the relative
      importance of the performance criteria will change, the relative costs of
      components will vary, some of the remaining challenges will be addressed, and
      perhaps new candidate architectures will be identified; therefore, the conclusion
      of a comparative analysis like this may change. The evaluation methods that we
      used can provide a framework for other researchers to analyze their own proposed
      CT architectures.

PMID- 28594439
TI  - Genetic and psychosocial predictors of alcohol use trajectories among disaster
      exposed adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adolescent alcohol misuse is associated with numerous
      long-term adverse outcomes, so we examined predictors of alcohol use among
      disaster-exposed adolescents, a group at-risk for alcohol misuse. METHODS: The
      current study (n = 332) examined severity of tornado-related exposure,
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, emotional support, and a genetic
      risk sum score (GRSS) as predictors of alcohol use trajectories. RESULTS:
      Severity of exposure interacted with the GRSS to predict both intercept (12-month
      follow up quantity of alcohol use) and growth rate. Emotional support also
      interacted with adolescent PTSD symptoms to predict intercept and growth rate.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with greater severity of disaster
      exposure and high genetic risk comprise a high risk group, on which efforts to
      prevent alcohol use should be focused. Additionally, emotional support is
      essential in buffering the effects of PTSD symptoms on alcohol use outcomes among
      adolescents. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Toward the aim of reducing adolescent
      alcohol misuse following disaster exposure, there is utility in inserting
      immediate supports (e.g., basic resources) into communities/families that have
      experienced significant disaster-related severity, particularly among adolescents
      at high levels of genetic risk for alcohol use/misuse. Additionally, prevention
      efforts aimed at improving emotional supports for adolescents with more PTSD
      symptoms may reduce propensity for alcohol misuse following disaster. This
      information can be easily incorporated into existing web-based interventions. (Am
      J Addict 2017;26:623-631).

PMID- 28594440
TI  - Calcium signalling in medial intercalated cell dendrites and spines.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Dendritic and spine calcium imaging in combination with
      electrophysiology in acute slices revealed that in medial intercalated cells of
      the amygdala: Action potentials back-propagate into the dendritic tree, but due
      to the presence of voltage-dependent potassium channels, probably Kv4.2 channels,
      attenuate over distance. A mixed population of AMPA receptors with rectifying and
      linear I-V relations are present at individual spines of a single neuron. Decay
      kinetics and pharmacology suggest tri-heteromeric NMDA receptors at basolateral
      intercalated cell synapses. NMDA receptors are the main contributors to spine
      calcium entry in response to synaptic stimulation. Calcium signals in response to
      low- and high-frequency stimulation, and in combination with spontaneous action
      potentials are locally restricted to the vicinity of active spines. Together,
      these data show that calcium signalling in these GABAergic neurons is tightly
      controlled and acts as a local signal. ABSTRACT: The amygdala plays a central
      role in fear conditioning and extinction. The medial intercalated (mITC) neurons
      are GABAergic cell clusters interspaced between the basolateral (BLA) and central
      amygdala (CeA). These neurons are thought to play a key role in fear and
      extinction, controlling the output of the CeA by feed-forward inhibition. BLA to
      mITC cell inputs are thought to undergo synaptic plasticity, a mechanism
      underlying learning, which is mediated by NMDA receptor-dependent mechanisms that
      require changes in cytosolic calcium. Here, we studied the electrical and calcium
      signalling properties of mITC neurons in GAD67-eGFP mice using whole-cell patch
      clamp recordings and two-photon calcium imaging. We show that action potentials
      back-propagate (bAP) into dendrites, and evoke calcium transients in both the
      shaft and the dendritic spine. However, bAP-mediated calcium rises in the
      dendrites attenuate with distance due to shunting by voltage-gated potassium
      channels. Glutamatergic inputs make dual component synapses on spines. At these
      synapses, postsynaptic AMPA receptors can have linear or rectifying I-V
      relationships, indicating that some synapses express GluA2-lacking AMPA
      receptors. Synaptic NMDA receptors had intermediate decay kinetics, and were only
      partly blocked by GuN2B selective blockers, indicating these receptors are
      GluN1/GluN2A/GluN2B trimers. Low- or high-frequency synaptic stimulation raised
      spine calcium, mediated by calcium influx via NMDA receptors, was locally
      restricted and did not invade neighbouring spines. Our results show that in mITC
      neurons, postsynaptic calcium is tightly controlled, and acts as a local signal.

PMID- 28594441
TI  - Rapid computation of single PET scan rest-stress myocardial blood flow parametric
      images by table look up.
AB  - PURPOSE: We have recently reported a method for measuring rest-stress myocardial
      blood flow (MBF) using a single, relatively short, PET scan session. The method
      requires two IV tracer injections, one to initiate rest imaging and one at peak
      stress. We previously validated absolute flow quantitation in ml/min/cc for
      standard bull's eye, segmental analysis. In this work, we extend the method for
      fast computation of rest-stress MBF parametric images. METHODS: We provide an
      analytic solution to the single-scan rest-stress flow model which is then solved
      using a two-dimensional table lookup method (LM). Simulations were performed to
      compare the accuracy and precision of the lookup method with the original
      nonlinear method (NLM). Then the method was applied to 16 single scan rest/stress
      measurements made in 12 pigs: seven studied after infarction of the left anterior
      descending artery (LAD) territory, and nine imaged in the native state.
      Parametric maps of rest and stress MBF as well as maps of left (fLV ) and right
      (fRV ) ventricular spill-over fractions were generated. Regions of interest
      (ROIs) for 17 myocardial segments were defined in bull's eye fashion on the
      parametric maps. The mean of each ROI was then compared to the rest (K1r ) and
      stress (K1s ) MBF estimates obtained from fitting the 17 regional TACs with the
      NLM. RESULTS: In simulation, the LM performed as well as the NLM in terms of
      precision and accuracy. The simulation did not show that bias was introduced by
      the use of a predefined two-dimensional lookup table. In experimental data,
      parametric maps demonstrated good statistical quality and the LM was
      computationally much more efficient than the original NLM. Very good agreement
      was obtained between the mean MBF calculated on the parametric maps for each of
      the 17 ROIs and the regional MBF values estimated by the NLM (K1mapLM  = 1.019 *
      K1ROINLM  + 0.019, R2  = 0.986; mean difference = 0.034 +/- 0.036 mL/min/cc).
      CONCLUSIONS: We developed a table lookup method for fast computation of
      parametric imaging of rest and stress MBF. Our results show the feasibility of
      obtaining good quality MBF maps using modest computational resources, thus
      demonstrating that the method can be applied in a clinical environment to obtain
      full quantitative MBF information.

PMID- 28594443
TI  - Growth factors for angiogenesis in peripheral arterial disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with a high clinical
      and socioeconomic burden. Treatments to alleviate the symptoms of PAD and
      decrease the risks of amputation and death are a high societal priority. A number
      of growth factors have shown a potential to stimulate angiogenesis. Growth
      factors delivered directly (as recombinant proteins), or indirectly (e.g. by
      viral vectors or DNA plasmids encoding these factors), have emerged as a
      promising strategy to treat patients with PAD. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects
      of growth factors that promote angiogenesis for treating people with PAD of the
      lower extremities. SEARCH METHODS: The Cochrane Vascular Information Specialist
      searched the Specialised Register (June 2016) and CENTRAL (2016, Issue 5). We
      searched trial registries for details of ongoing or unpublished studies. We also
      checked the reference lists of relevant publications and, if necessary, tried to
      contact the trialists for details of the studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included
      randomised controlled trials comparing growth factors (delivered directly or
      indirectly) with no intervention, placebo or any other intervention not based on
      the growth factor's action in patients with PAD of the lower extremities. The
      primary outcomes were limb amputation, death and adverse events. The secondary
      outcomes comprised walking ability, haemodynamic measures, ulceration and rest
      pain. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected
      trials and assessed the risk of bias. We used outcomes of the studies at low risk
      of bias for the main analysis and of all studies in the sensitivity analyses. We
      calculated odds ratios (OR) for dichotomous outcomes and mean differences for
      continuous outcomes with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We evaluated statistical
      heterogeneity using the I2 statistic and Cochrane's Q test. We conducted meta
      analysis for the overall effect and for each growth factor as a subgroup analysis
      using OR in a fixed-effect model. We evaluated the robustness of the results in a
      sensitivity analysis using risk ratio (RR) and/or a random-effects model. We also
      assessed the quality of the evidence for each outcome. MAIN RESULTS: We included
      20 trials in the review and used 14 studies (on approximately 1400 participants)
      with published results in the analyses. Six published studies compared fibroblast
      growth factors (FGF), four studies hepatocyte growth factors (HGF) and another
      four studies vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF), versus placebo or no
      therapy. Six of these studies exclusively or mainly investigated participants
      with intermittent claudication and eight studies exclusively participants with
      critical limb ischaemia. Follow-up generally ranged from three months to one
      year. Two small studies provided some data at 2 years and one of them also at 10
      years.The direction and size of effects for growth factors on major limb
      amputations (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.38; 10 studies, N = 1075) and death (OR
      0.99, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.41; 12 studies, N = 1371) at up to two years are
      uncertain. The quality of the evidence is low due to risk of bias and imprecision
      (at one year, moderate-quality evidence due to imprecision). However, growth
      factors may decrease the rate of any limb amputations (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.31 to
      0.99; 6 studies, N = 415). The quality of the evidence is low due to risk of bias
      and selective reporting.The direction and size of effects for growth factors on
      serious adverse events (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.50; 13 studies, N = 1411) and
      on any adverse events (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.64; 4 studies, N = 709) at up to
      two years are also uncertain. The quality of the evidence is low due to risk of
      bias and imprecision (for serious adverse events at one year, moderate-quality
      evidence due to imprecision).Growth factors may improve haemodynamic measures
      (low-quality evidence), ulceration (very low-quality evidence) and rest pain
      (very low-quality evidence) up to one year, but they have little or no effect on
      walking ability (low-quality evidence). We did not identify any relevant
      differences in effects between growth factors (FGF, HGF and VEGF). AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this review do not support the use of therapy with
      the growth factors FGF, HGF or VEGF in people with PAD of the lower extremities
      to prevent death or major limb amputation or to improve walking ability. However,
      the use of these growth factors may improve haemodynamic measures and decrease
      the rate of any limb amputations (probably due to preventing minor amputations)
      with an uncertain effect on adverse events; an improvement of ulceration and rest
      pain is very uncertain. New trials at low risk of bias are needed to generate
      evidence with more certainty.

PMID- 28594444
TI  - 2D Black Phosphorus for Energy Storage and Thermoelectric Applications.
AB  - Recent progress in the currently available methods of producing black phosphorus
      bulk and phosphorene are presented. The effective passivation approaches toward
      improving the air stability of phosphorene are also discussed. Furthermore, the
      research efforts on the phosphorene and phosphorene-based materials for potential
      applications in lithium ion batteries, sodium ion batteries, and thermoelectric
      devices are summarized and highlighted. Finally, the outlook including challenges
      and opportunities in these research fields are discussed.

PMID- 28594442
TI  - Body mass index and risk of gastric cancer: A 30-year follow-up study in the
      Linxian general population trial cohort.
AB  - Although a number of previous studies have noted either positive or no
      association for body mass index (BMI) and gastric cancer risk, little evidence
      exists in the Chinese population. We prospectively examined the associations of
      BMI with risk of gastric cancer in the Linxian General Population Trial cohort,
      with 29 584 healthy adults enrolled in 1985 and followed through to the end of
      2014. Body weight and height were measured during physical examination at
      baseline and BMI was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in
      meters squared. Body mass index from 138 subjects was missing, and a total of 29
      446 participants were included in the final analysis. Cox proportional hazards
      models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. During
      30 years of follow-up, we confirmed 1716 newly diagnosed gastric cardia
      adenocarcinoma (GCA) cases and 626 new gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma (GNCA)
      cases. Overall, compared to the lowest quartile (BMI <20.32 kg/m2 ), subjects in
      the fourth quartile (BMI >=23.31 kg/m2 ) subjects had lower risk of developing
      GNCA (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.51-0.83). Age- and sex
      specific analyses showed that this protective effect was only observed in men and
      older (52 + years) persons. No associations were observed for BMI with GCA
      incidence. Higher BMI was associated with decreased risk of GNCA in this
      population, particularly in men and older persons. Future studies are needed to
      confirm these findings. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov:
      NCT00342654.

PMID- 28594445
TI  - Mitochondrial heterogeneity, metabolic scaling and cell death.
AB  - Heterogeneity in mitochondrial content has been previously suggested as a major
      contributor to cellular noise, with multiple studies indicating its direct
      involvement in biomedically important cellular phenomena. A recently published
      dataset explored the connection between mitochondrial functionality and cell
      physiology, where a non-linearity between mitochondrial functionality and cell
      size was found. Using mathematical models, we suggest that a combination of
      metabolic scaling and a simple model of cell death may account for these
      observations. However, our findings also suggest the existence of alternative
      competing hypotheses, such as a non-linearity between cell death and cell size.
      While we find that the proposed non-linear coupling between mitochondrial
      functionality and cell size provides a compelling alternative to previous
      attempts to link mitochondrial heterogeneity and cell physiology, we emphasise
      the need to account for alternative causal variables, including cell cycle, size,
      mitochondrial density and death, in future studies of mitochondrial physiology.

PMID- 28594446
TI  - Sow housing associated with reproductive performance in breeding herds.
AB  - Female pigs in breeding herds can be managed through four phases-gilt
      development, breeding, gestation, and lactation-during which they may be housed
      in group or individual pens, stalls, or on pasture. In this review, we focus on
      housing environments that optimize outcomes during gestation and lactation.
      Appropriate housing is important during early gestation, to protect embryos and
      to confirm pregnancy, and from mid-to-late gestation, to ensure sufficient
      nutrition to increase placental and fetal growth. No difference in the number of
      pigs born alive were reported between group housing and individual stall housing,
      although more risk factors for reproductive performance are associated with group
      housing than stall housing including genetics, bedding, floor space allowance,
      group size, social ranking, and parity. Furthermore, lameness in pregnant pigs is
      more frequent in group housing than in stall housing. Housing during lactation
      helps protect piglets from being crushed or from contracting disease, and can
      foster the transfer of enough colostrum from mother to piglets. Indeed, lactating
      sows in pen housing tend to have higher pre-weaning mortality and lighter litter
      weights than those in crated housing.

PMID- 28594447
TI  - Potential overtreatment among men aged 80 years and older with localized prostate
      cancer in Japan.
AB  - Despite treatment guidelines recommending observation for men with low-risk
      prostate cancer with life expectancy <10 years, a majority of elderly patients
      choose active treatment, which may result in overtreatment. Given the growing
      burden of prostate cancer among men aged >=80 years (super-elderly men),
      accumulation of survival data for evaluation of overtreatment among super-elderly
      patients is imperative. Here, we report results of a population-based cohort
      study to clarify potential overtreatment of super-elderly men with localized
      prostate cancer. We used cancer registry data from the Monitoring of Cancer
      Incidence in Japan project, which covers 47% of the Japanese population. The
      subjects were men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2006 and 2008. Follow-up
      period was 5 years. We calculated 5-year relative survival rates among the active
      treatment and observation groups after imputation for missing values. Of the 48
      782 patients with prostate cancer included in the analysis, 15.1% were super
      elderly men. The 5-year relative survival rates of super-elderly men with
      localized cancer were 105.9% and 104.1% among the active treatment and
      observation groups, respectively. This excellent relative survival rate in the
      observation group remained consistent even after stratification by tumor grade.
      Of the 2963 super-elderly men with localized cancer, 252 (8.5%) with curative
      treatment and 1476 (49.8%) with hormone therapy were assumed to have been
      overtreated. The proportion of overtreatment was estimated to reach 80% after
      imputation. These specific survival data in super-elderly men in the observation
      group can be useful in shared decision-making for these patients and may lead to
      a reduction in overtreatment.

PMID- 28594448
TI  - Emotion dysregulation as a mechanism linking anxiety and hazardous drinking among
      Latinos in primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Research suggests that Latinos experience
      significantly more mental health and alcohol use problems than non-Latino whites.
      However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms underlying alcohol use
      in this population. One factor associated with excessive alcohol use in Latinos
      is anxiety. A potential explanatory mechanism for this relationship is emotion
      dysregulation, as emotion dysregulation in the context of anxiety may lead to
      alcohol use problems/disorders. The aim of the current study was to examine the
      indirect effect of anxiety, through emotion dysregulation, on drinking severity
      and probable hazardous drinking in Latinos. METHODS: Latino adults (N = 264) were
      recruited from a primary care health clinic as part of a larger ongoing study
      examining mental health among Latinos in primary care. Participants were
      interviewed using the MINI and then completed various self-report assessments (in
      Spanish). Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate model fit. RESULTS:
      Structural models fit the data well. Additionally, there were statistically
      significant indirect effects of anxiety via emotion dysregulation on drinking
      severity and probable screen for hazardous drinking. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
      Anxiety may contribute to alcohol use problems due to an overall tendency to
      engage in maladaptive attempts to regulate emotions. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:
      Targeting emotion dysregulation in the context of anxiety and hazardous alcohol
      use among Latinos may be one therapeutic strategy to reduce severity of alcohol
      use (and hazardous drinking). (Am J Addict 2017;26:615-622).

PMID- 28594449
TI  - Predictive therapeutic planning for irreversible electroporation treatment of
      spontaneous malignant glioma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been developed as a promising
      minimally invasive treatment to ablate spontaneous brain tumors with pulsed
      electric fields in canine patients. The purpose of the study is to determine the
      Peleg-Fermi parameters needed to incorporate pulse number and pulse duration into
      the therapeutic planning of IRE. METHODS: Seven canine patients were treated with
      IRE for spontaneous malignant glioma with MRI-based treatment planning. The
      treatment planning method consists of building patient-specific finite element
      models and using them to compute electric fields used in the IRE treatment. We
      evaluate the predictive power of tumor coverage with electric field alone vs.
      cell kill probability using radiographically confirmed clinical outcomes.
      RESULTS: Results of post-treatment diagnostic imaging, tumor biopsies, and
      neurological examinations indicated successful tumor ablation without significant
      direct neurotoxicity in six of the seven dogs. Objective tumor responses were
      seen in four (80%) of five dogs with quantifiable target lesions according to
      RANO criteria. Two dogs experienced survivals in excess of 1 yr, including one
      dog that resulted in complete response to IRE treatment for 5+ years to date.
      Tumor fraction exposed to electric field over 600 V/cm was between 0.08 and 0.73,
      while tumor fraction exposed to electric field over 300 V/cm was between 0.17 and
      0.95. Probability of cell kill of >= 90% was found in tumor volume fractions
      between 0.21 and 0.99. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that IRE is a safe and effective
      minimally invasive treatment for malignant glioma and can be predicted with the
      Peleg-Fermi cell kill probability function. A tumor coverage of >= 0.9 at a cell
      kill probability >= 90% can be used to guide IRE treatments of spontaneous
      malignant glioma based on the radiographically confirmed clinical outcomes
      achieved.

PMID- 28594450
TI  - Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Two Morphine Protocols to Treat Neonatal
      Abstinence Syndrome in a Level II Nursery in a Community Hospital.
AB  - The authors sought to evaluate the impact on length of hospital stay and
      treatment duration of morphine after implementation of a change in the
      institutional protocol for managing neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in an
      effort to improve patient outcomes. A single-center, retrospective chart review
      was conducted at a Level II nursery in a community hospital in Kentucky. Fifty
      nine neonates born between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2015, who were
      diagnosed with NAS and received morphine for treatment were included. The
      protocol 1 group consisted of 33 neonates who received an initial dose of
      morphine 0.04 mg/kg/dose administered orally every 4 hours (January 1-December
      31, 2014), and the protocol 2 group consisted of 26 neonates who received an
      initial dose of morphine 0.06 mg/kg/dose administered orally every 3 hours
      (January 1-November 30, 2015), after a change in the protocol for managing NAS
      was implemented on January 1, 2015. Data were reviewed and compared between the
      two protocol groups to determine the impact that the dosage change had on length
      of hospital stay and morphine treatment duration. The average length of stay
      decreased by 7 days in the protocol 2 group compared with the protocol 1 group
      (21 vs 28.65 days). The average duration of treatment decreased by 7 days in the
      protocol 2 group compared with the protocol 1 group (18.3 vs 25.4 days). These
      differences between groups were not statistically significant, however, because
      the population size was not large enough to achieve adequate power. These results
      indicate that protocol 2 displayed the potential to decrease length of stay and
      duration of treatment compared with protocol 1 at this facility; however,
      balancing higher starting doses with the risk of oversedation will continue to
      challenge the health care team. Concern for oversedation when using the higher
      starting dose in protocol 2 has prompted further research (e.g., protocol 3,
      initial morphine 0.05 mg/kg/dose every 3 hrs). Continued research is also
      necessary with larger patient populations to enable generalizability to other
      institutions.

PMID- 28594451
TI  - Two-Step Spin-Crossover with Three Inequivalent FeII Sites in a Two-Dimensional
      Hofmann-Type Coordination Polymer.
AB  - An unprecedented two-step spin-crossover behavior with the sequence of gammaHS
      =1<->gammaHS =3/4<->gammaHS =1/4 was observed in two-dimensional Hofmann type
      coordination polymer [Fe(isoq)2 {Ag(CN)2 }2 ] (isoq=isoquinoline), which resulted
      from three crystallographically inequivalent FeII sites with distinct transition
      temperatures.

PMID- 28594452
TI  - Progress on Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices of 2D Layered Semiconducting
      Materials.
AB  - 2D layered semiconducting materials (2DLSMs) represent the thinnest
      semiconductors, holding many novel properties, such as the absence of surface
      dangling bonds, sizable band gaps, high flexibility, and ability of artificial
      assembly. With the prospect of bringing revolutionary opportunities for
      electronic and optoelectronic applications, 2DLSMs have prospered over the past
      twelve years. From materials preparation and property exploration to device
      applications, 2DLSMs have been extensively investigated and have achieved great
      progress. However, there are still great challenges for high-performance devices.
      In this review, we provide a brief overview on the recent breakthroughs in device
      optimization based on 2DLSMs, particularly focussing on three aspects: device
      configurations, basic properties of channel materials, and heterostructures. The
      effects from device configurations, i.e., electrical contacts, dielectric layers,
      channel length, and substrates, are discussed. After that, the affect of the
      basic properties of 2DLSMs on device performance is summarized, including crystal
      defects, crystal symmetry, doping, and thickness. Finally, we focus on
      heterostructures based on 2DLSMs. Through this review, we try to provide a guide
      to improve electronic and optoelectronic devices of 2DLSMs for achieving
      practical device applications in the future.

PMID- 28594453
TI  - Risk Factors associated with defaulting from visceral leishmaniasis treatment:
      analysis under routine programme conditions in Bihar, India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the rate of default from treatment in the visceral
      leishmaniasis (VL) elimination programme and to identify risk factors and its
      underlying causes. METHODS: Case-control study conducted between December 2009
      and June 2012 in three primary health centres (PHCs) of Muzaffarpur district,
      India. Patients who defaulted from treatment from the PHCs were considered as
      'cases' and those who completed their treatment as 'controls'. Two controls were
      included in the study for each case. Respondents' opinion and satisfaction with
      the services provided at the PHCs were also elicited. Logistic regression was
      performed to assess the contribution of sociodemographic variables on patient
      status, and a discriminant analysis was used (after decomposing the original
      data) to identify factors that can predict the patient status as defaulter or
      not, based on factor scores of the components as predictor variables. RESULTS:
      During the study period, 16.3% (89/544) of patients defaulted; 87 cases and 188
      controls were interviewed through a semistructured questionnaire. Women tended to
      be more at risk for default (OR, 1.6, 95% CI (0.9 -2.9). Treatment received was
      miltefosine in 55.6% and sodium stibogluconate (SSG) in 44.4%. Most (86%)
      defaulters completed their treatment at other healthcare facilities; 70% of them
      preferred non-governmental institutions. Most cited reasons for default were
      seeking a second opinion for VL treatment and preferring to be treated in
      specialised VL centres. Discriminant analysis showed only one significant
      predictor: dissatisfaction with the medical care received in PHCs. CONCLUSION:
      Efforts are needed to enhance the quality of VL care at PHC level, which will be
      beneficial in increasing treatment completion rates.

PMID- 28594454
TI  - Precise Control of the Lateral and Vertical Growth of Two-Dimensional Ag
      Nanoplates.
AB  - Tuning localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is crucial for practical
      applications of two-dimensional Ag nanoplates (AgNPs) and relies on the precise
      control of their lateral length or/and thickness. In the present seed-mediated
      synthetic method, by taking advantage of underpotential deposition (UPD) of Cu on
      the (111) surfaces of AgNPs, a solely lateral growth of AgNPs was achieved when
      Cu(NO3 )2 was employed, while a vertical growth of AgNPs could be attained by
      introducing CuCl2 into our growth solutions. The lateral length and the vertical
      thickness of the AgNPs could be tuned in the ranges of 115 to nearly 300 nm and
      13.4 to around 200 nm, respectively. Along with control of the dimensional size
      of AgNPs, LSPR could also be tuned in the visible to near infrared range.
      Plausible growth mechanisms for the precise control of the lateral and vertical
      growth of AgNPs were proposed.

PMID- 28594455
TI  - Broadband Light Absorption and Efficient Charge Separation Using a Light
      Scattering Layer with Mixed Cavities for High-Performance Perovskite Photovoltaic
      Cells with Stability.
AB  - CH3 NH3 PbI3 is one of the promising light sensitizers for perovskite
      photovoltaic cells, but a thick layer is required to enhance light absorption in
      the long-wavelength regime ranging from PbI2 absorption edge (500 nm) to its
      optical band-gap edge (780 nm) in visible light. Meanwhile, the thick perovskite
      layer suppresses visible-light absorption in the short wavelengths below 500 nm
      and charge extraction capability of electron-hole pairs produced upon light
      absorption. Herein, we find that a new light scattering layer with the mixed
      cavities of sizes in 100 and 200 nm between transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide
      and mesoporous titanium dioxide electron transport layer enables full absorption
      of short-wavelength photons (lambda < 500 nm) to the perovskite along with
      enhanced absorption of long-wavelength photons (500 nm < lambda < 780 nm).
      Moreover, the light-driven electric field is proven to allow efficient charge
      extraction upon light absorption, thereby leading to the increased photocurrent
      density as well as the fill factor prompted by the slow recombination rate.
      Additionally, the photocurrent density of the cell with a light scattering layer
      of mixed cavities is stabilized due to suppressed charge accumulation.
      Consequently, this work provides a new route to realize broadband light
      harvesting of visible light for high-performance perovskite photovoltaic cells.

PMID- 28594456
TI  - Total Synthesis of 7-epi-Pukalide and 7-Acetylsinumaximol B.
AB  - Convergent total syntheses of the furanocembranoids 7-epi-pukalide and 7
      acetylsinumaximol B have been achieved using a one-pot Knoevenagel condensation
      and thioether-mediated furan-forming reaction. Furan formation proceeds via a
      sulfur ylide and results in rapid introduction of structural complexity during
      the coupling of two highly functionalised fragments. The targets have been
      prepared in 16 steps from (R)-perillyl alcohol.

PMID- 28594457
TI  - Highly Doped Carbon Nanobelts with Ultrahigh Nitrogen Content as High-Performance
      Supercapacitor Materials.
AB  - Nitrogen-doped and nitrogen and oxygen codoped carbon nanobelts (CNBs) (denoted
      as N-CNBs and N-O-CNBs, respectively) are respectively obtained by pyrolyzing the
      self-aligned polypyrrole (PPy) NBs and Se@poly(2-methoxy-5-nitroaniline)
      core@shell nanowires. Particularly, the uniform size, unique nanostructure, and
      well-defined edges of the PPy NBs result in the uniform size of the doped CNBs
      with an extraordinarily high N doping level (~16 at%), especially the very large
      concentrations of the redox active pyridinic (9 at%) and pyrrolic N (3.5 at%)
      species. Furthermore, the precursors in highly self-aligned, dense arrays give
      rise to a very high packing density for the N-CNBs and N-O-CNBs. These
      incomparable features provide not only appropriate pathways for the introduction
      of pseudocapacitance via rapid Faradaic reactions and enhancement of volumetric
      capacitance but also structural design and synthesis approach to new types of
      nanostructured carbon. Notably, the N-CNBs obtained at the pyrolysis temperature
      of 800  degrees C (N-CNB8) in symmetric electrochemical cells deliver a specific
      capacitance of 458 F g-1 and ultrahigh volumetric capacitance of 645 F cm-3 in
      aqueous solution, which are among the best performance ever reported for carbon
      based supercapacitive materials.

PMID- 28594458
TI  - Concizumab, an anti-tissue factor pathway inhibitor antibody, induces increased
      thrombin generation in plasma from haemophilia patients and healthy subjects
      measured by the thrombin generation assay.
AB  - AIMS: Concizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against tissue factor pathway
      inhibitor (TFPI), is being developed as a subcutaneously (s.c.) administered
      treatment for haemophilia. It demonstrated a concentration-dependent procoagulant
      effect in functional TFPI assays; however, global haemostatic assays, such as the
      thrombin generation assay (TGA), offer a more complete picture of coagulation. We
      investigated how concizumab affects thrombin generation following ex vivo spiking
      in plasma from haemophilia patients using the TGA, and if the assay can detect
      the effect of multiple s.c. concizumab doses in healthy subjects. METHODS: For
      the ex vivo spiking study, platelet-poor plasma (PPP) from 18 patients with
      severe haemophilia was spiked with 0.001-500 nm concizumab. For the multiple
      dosing study, four healthy males received concizumab 250 MUg kg-1 s.c. every
      other day for eight doses; blood was collected before and after dosing and
      processed into PPP. In both studies, thrombin generation was measured using a
      Calibrated Automated Thrombogram(r) system with 1 pm tissue factor. RESULTS: In
      spiked samples from haemophilia patients, peak thrombin and endogenous thrombin
      potential (ETP) increased concentration dependently, reaching near-normal levels
      at concizumab concentrations >10 nm. Repeated s.c. doses of concizumab in healthy
      subjects increased both peak thrombin and ETP; these effects were sustained
      throughout the dosing interval. CONCLUSIONS: Thrombin generation assay
      demonstrated increased thrombin generation with concizumab after ex vivo spiking
      of haemophilia plasma and multiple s.c. doses in healthy subjects, supporting
      both the utility of the TGA in evaluating concizumab treatment and the potential
      of s.c. concizumab as a novel haemophilia therapy.

PMID- 28594459
TI  - Computer vision syndrome-A common cause of unexplained visual symptoms in the
      modern era.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the evidence and available
      literature on the clinical, pathogenetic, prognostic and therapeutic aspects of
      Computer vision syndrome. METHODS: Information was collected from Medline, Embase
      & National Library of Medicine over the last 30 years up to March 2016. The
      bibliographies of relevant articles were searched for additional references.
      FINDINGS: Patients with Computer vision syndrome present to a variety of
      different specialists, including General Practitioners, Neurologists, Stroke
      physicians and Ophthalmologists. While the condition is common, there is a poor
      awareness in the public and among health professionals. INTERPRETATIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: Recognising this condition in the clinic or in emergency situations
      like the TIA clinic is crucial. The implications are potentially huge in view of
      the extensive and widespread use of computers and visual display units. Greater
      public awareness of Computer vision syndrome and education of health
      professionals is vital. Preventive strategies should form part of work place
      ergonomics routinely. Prompt and correct recognition is important to allow
      management and avoid unnecessary treatments.

PMID- 28594460
TI  - Detection and diagnosis of colitis on computed tomography using deep
      convolutional neural networks.
AB  - PURPOSE: Colitis refers to inflammation of the inner lining of the colon that is
      frequently associated with infection and allergic reactions. In this paper, we
      propose deep convolutional neural networks methods for lesion-level colitis
      detection and a support vector machine (SVM) classifier for patient-level colitis
      diagnosis on routine abdominal CT scans. METHODS: The recently developed Faster
      Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster RCNN) is utilized for lesion
      level colitis detection. For each 2D slice, rectangular region proposals are
      generated by region proposal networks (RPN). Then, each region proposal is
      jointly classified and refined by a softmax classifier and bounding-box
      regressor. Two convolutional neural networks, eight layers of ZF net and 16
      layers of VGG net are compared for colitis detection. Finally, for each patient,
      the detections on all 2D slices are collected and a SVM classifier is applied to
      develop a patient-level diagnosis. We trained and evaluated our method with 80
      colitis patients and 80 normal cases using 4 * 4-fold cross validation. RESULTS:
      For lesion-level colitis detection, with ZF net, the mean of average precisions
      (mAP) were 48.7% and 50.9% for RCNN and Faster RCNN, respectively. The detection
      system achieved sensitivities of 51.4% and 54.0% at two false positives per
      patient for RCNN and Faster RCNN, respectively. With VGG net, Faster RCNN
      increased the mAP to 56.9% and increased the sensitivity to 58.4% at two false
      positive per patient. For patient-level colitis diagnosis, with ZF net, the
      average areas under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.978 +/- 0.009 and 0.984 +/- 0.008
      for RCNN and Faster RCNN method, respectively. The difference was not
      statistically significant with P = 0.18. At the optimal operating point, the RCNN
      method correctly identified 90.4% (72.3/80) of the colitis patients and 94.0%
      (75.2/80) of normal cases. The sensitivity improved to 91.6% (73.3/80) and the
      specificity improved to 95.0% (76.0/80) for the Faster RCNN method. With VGG net,
      Faster RCNN increased the AUC to 0.986 +/- 0.007 and increased the diagnosis
      sensitivity to 93.7% (75.0/80) and specificity was unchanged at 95.0% (76.0/80).
      CONCLUSION: Colitis detection and diagnosis by deep convolutional neural networks
      is accurate and promising for future clinical application.

PMID- 28594461
TI  - Evaluation of a composite Gel-Alanine phantom on an end-to-end test to treat
      multiple brain metastases by a single isocenter VMAT technique.
AB  - PURPOSE: This work aims to evaluate the application of a cylindrical phantom made
      of dosimetric gel containing alanine pellets distributed inside the gel volume
      during an end-to-end test of a single isocenter VMAT for simultaneous treatment
      of multiple brain metastases. The evaluation is based on the comparison of the
      results obtained with the composite phantom with the treatment planning system
      (TPS) dose distribution validated by using the clinical conventional quality
      control with point and planar dose measurements. METHODS: A cylindrical MAGIC-f
      gel phantom containing alanine dosimeters (composite phantom) was used to design
      the VMAT plan in the treatment planning system (TPS). The alanine dosimeters were
      pellets with radius of 2.5 mm and height of 3 mm, and played the role of brain
      metastasis inside the gel cylinder, which simulated the cerebral tissue. Five of
      the alanine dosimeters were selected to simulate five lesions; five planning
      target volumes (PTVs) were created including the dosimeters and irradiated with
      different doses. Conventional quality assurance (QA) was performed on the TPS
      plan and on the composite phantom; a phantom containing only gel (Gel 1 phantom)
      was also irradiated. One day after irradiation, magnetic resonance images were
      acquired for both phantoms on a 3T scanner. An electron spin resonance
      spectrometer was used to evaluate alanine doses. Calibration curves were
      constructed for the alanine and the gel dosimeters. All the gel only measurement
      was repeated (Gel 2 phantom) in order to confirm the previous gel measurement.
      RESULTS: The VMAT treatment plan was approved by the conventional QA. The doses
      measured by alanine dosimeters on the composite gel phantom agreed to the TPS on
      average within 3.3%. The alanine dose for each lesion was used to calibrate the
      gel dosimeter measurements of the concerned PTV. Both gel dose volume histograms
      (DVH) achieved for each PTV were in agreement with the expected TPS DVH, except
      for a small discrepancy observed for the Gel 2 curve of PTV1 and the Gel 1 curve
      of PTV5. In a 3D gamma analyses performed for each PTV volume independently,
      comparing both the gels' measurements to the TPS and using 3%/3 mm, 5%/2 mm, and
      7%/2 mm, more than 90% of the points were approved for all the PTVs, except for
      the PTV5 comparison in the Gel 1 measurement and for the PTV2 comparison in the
      Gel 2 measurement. A 3D gamma analysis was also applied for each PTV
      independently, to compare both gel measurements in order to evaluate the
      consistence of repeated gel measurements of the same plan, and more than 94.5% of
      the points were approved. CONCLUSIONS: The composite Gel-Alanine phantom can be
      used for the end-to-end test of a single isocenter VMAT for simultaneous
      treatment of multiple brain metastases. The use of the alanine as the lesion
      cores for the treatment planning provided the precise dose measurements inside
      each lesion and allowed the conversion of the gel R2 values based on an accurate
      dose measurement inside the target.

PMID- 28594462
TI  - Determinants of sexual function and dysfunction in men and women with stroke: A
      systematic review.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this systematic review was to examine determinants of sexual
      function and dysfunction in men and women poststroke, and to evaluate
      effectiveness of interventions. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using
      the databases of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Psychinfo, for studies
      published between January, 2000 and October, 2016. Included were original
      research, adult >=18 years, English language, and experimental and non
      experimental designs. Excluded were studies of stroke caused by sexual activity,
      stroke triggered unusual behaviours, and changes in sexual orientation. Studies
      were evaluated for quality using The Effective Public Health Practice Project
      Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Of 19 studies reviewed, 13 were
      descriptive, three case-controlled and three intervention/randomised controlled
      trials (RCTs) designs. RESULTS: Participants across studies were predominantly
      men (90%), with moderate erectile dysfunction (ED), and mild depression. Changes
      in sexual activity, sexual dissatisfaction and sexual dysfunction were common,
      including decreased libido, orgasmic problems and ED, significantly worse from
      pre to poststroke. Results for side of hemiparesis and sexual dysfunction were
      inconclusive. Sexual rehabilitation interventions differed, but resulted in
      improved sexual satisfaction, sexual activity frequency and erectile function in
      two studies. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual dysfunction commonly occurred poststroke,
      continuing for months or as long as 2 years. Intervention studies were limited,
      with only two RCTs, thus, firm conclusions cannot be made. Few studies included
      women or younger stroke patients, indicating the need for further RCTs with
      larger and more diverse samples.

PMID- 28594463
TI  - Ultralarge Bending Strain and Fracture-Resistance Investigation of Tungsten
      Carbide Nanowires.
AB  - Hard tungsten carbide (WC) with brittle behavior is frequently applied for
      mechanical purposes. Here, ultralarge elastic bending deformation is reported in
      defect-rare WC [0001] nanowires; the tested bending strain reaches a maximum of
      20% +/- 3.33%, which challenges the traditional understanding of this material.
      The lattice analysis indicates that the dislocations are confined to the inner
      part of the WC nanowires. First, the high Peierls-Nabarro barrier hinders the
      movement of the locally formed dislocations, which causes rapid dislocation
      aggregation and hinders long-range glide, resulting in a dense distribution of
      the dislocation network. In this case, the loading is dispersed along multiple
      points, which is then balanced by the complex internal mechanical field. In the
      compressive part, the possible dislocations predominantly emerge in the (0001)
      plane and mainly slip along the axial direction. The disordered shell first forms
      at the tensile side and prevents the generation of nanocracks at the surface. The
      novel lattice kinetics make WC nanowires capable of substantial bending strain
      resistance. Analytical results of the force-displacement (F-d) curves based on
      the double-clamped beam model exhibit an obvious nonlinear elastic
      characteristic, which originates fundamentally from the lattice anharmonicity
      under moderate stress.

PMID- 28594464
TI  - Do changes in neuromuscular activation contribute to the knee extensor angle
      torque relationship?
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of the study? Do changes in
      neuromuscular activation contribute to the knee extensor angle-torque
      relationship? What is the main finding and its importance? Both agonist
      (quadriceps) and antagonist coactivation (hamstrings) differed with knee joint
      angle during maximal isometric knee extensions and thus both are likely to
      contribute to the angle-torque relationship. Specifically, two independent
      measurement techniques showed quadriceps activation to be lower at more extended
      positions. These effects might influence the capacity for neural changes in
      response to training and rehabilitation at different knee joint angles. The
      influence of joint angle on knee extensor neuromuscular activation is unclear,
      owing in part to the diversity of surface electromyography (sEMG) and/or
      interpolated twitch technique (ITT) methods used. The aim of the study was to
      compare neuromuscular activation, using rigorous contemporary sEMG and ITT
      procedures, during isometric maximal voluntary contractions (iMVCs) of the
      quadriceps femoris at different knee joint angles and examine whether activation
      contributes to the angle-torque relationship. Sixteen healthy active men
      completed two familiarization sessions and two experimental sessions of isometric
      knee extension and knee flexion contractions. The experimental sessions included
      the following at each of four joint angles (25, 50, 80 and 106 deg): iMVCs (with
      and without superimposed evoked doublets); submaximal contractions with
      superimposed doublets; and evoked twitch and doublet contractions whilst
      voluntarily passive, and knee flexion iMVC at the same knee joint positions. The
      absolute quadriceps femoris EMG was normalized to the peak-to-peak amplitude of
      an evoked maximal M-wave, and the doublet-voluntary torque relationship was used
      to calculate activation with the ITT. Agonist activation, assessed with both
      normalized EMG and the ITT, was reduced at the more extended compared with the
      more flexed positions (25 and 50 versus 80 and 106 deg; P <= 0.016), whereas
      antagonist coactivation was greatest in the most flexed compared with the
      extended positions (106 versus 25 and 50 deg; P <= 0.02). In conclusion, both
      agonist and antagonist activation differed with knee joint angle during knee
      extension iMVCs, and thus both are likely to contribute to the knee extensor
      angle-torque relationship.

PMID- 28594465
TI  - Reporting of inequalities in blindness in low income and middle income countries:
      a review of cross sectional surveys.

PMID- 28594466
TI  - Bleeding is not the main clinical issue in many patients with inherited
      thrombocytopaenias.
AB  - Bleeding diathesis has been considered for a long time the main clinical issue
      impacting the lives of patients affected by inherited thrombocytopaenias.
      However, the number of known inherited thrombocytopaenias greatly increased in
      recent years, and careful evaluation of hundreds of patients affected by these
      'new' disorders revealed that most of them are at risk of developing additional
      life-threatening disorders during childhood or adult life. These additional
      disorders are usually more serious and dangerous than low platelet count. For
      instance, it is known that mutations in RUNX1, ANKRD26 and ETV6 cause congenital
      thrombocytopaenia, but we now know that they also predispose to haematological
      malignancies. Similarly, MYH9 mutations result in congenital thrombocytopaenia
      and increase the risk of developing kidney failure, cataracts and hearing loss at
      a later stage, while MPL mutations cause a congenital thrombocytopaenia that
      almost always evolves into deadly bone marrow failure. Thus, identification of
      patients with these disorders is essential for evaluation of their prognosis,
      enabling effective genetic counselling, personalizing follow-up and giving
      appropriate treatments in case of development of additional diseases. Careful
      clinical evaluation and peripheral blood film examination are extremely useful
      tools in guiding the diagnostic process and identifying the candidate genes to be
      sequenced.

PMID- 28594467
TI  - Biochemical characterization of LR769, a new recombinant factor VIIa bypassing
      agent produced in the milk of transgenic rabbits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The bypassing agent factor VII (FVIIa) is a first-line therapy for
      the treatment of acute bleeding episodes in patients with haemophilia and high
      titre inhibitors. FVIIa is a highly post-translationally modified protein that
      requires eukaryotic expression systems to produce a fully active molecule. A
      recombinant FVIIa was produced in the milk of transgenic rabbits to increase
      expression and provide an efficient, safe and affordable product after
      purification to homogeneity (LR769). AIM: To present the biochemical and
      functional in vitro characteristics of LR769. RESULTS: Mass spectrometric
      analyses of the intact protein and of heavy and light chains revealed a fully
      activated, mature and properly post-translationally modified protein notably
      regarding N/O-glycosylations and gamma-carboxylation. Primary structure analysis,
      performed by peptide mapping, confirmed 100% of the sequence and the low level or
      absence of product-derived impurities such as oxidized, deamidated and glycated
      forms. Low levels of aggregates and fragments were observed by different
      chromatographic methods. Higher order structure investigated by circular
      dichroism showed appropriate secondary/tertiary structures and conformational
      change in the presence of Ca2+ ions. Finally, activated partial thromboplastin
      time and thrombin generation assays showed the ability of LR769 to decrease
      coagulation time and to generate thrombin in haemophiliac-A-plasmas, even in the
      presence of inhibitors. CONCLUSION: The innovative expression system used to
      produce LR769 yields a new safe and effective rhFVIIa for the treatment of
      haemophilia A or B patients with inhibitors.

PMID- 28594468
TI  - Application of an advanced maximum likelihood estimation restoration method for
      enhanced-resolution and contrast in second-harmonic generation microscopy.
AB  - Second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy has gained popularity because of its
      ability to perform submicron, label-free imaging of noncentrosymmetric biological
      structures, such as fibrillar collagen in the extracellular matrix environment of
      various organs with high contrast and specificity. Because SHG is a two-photon
      coherent scattering process, it is difficult to define a point spread function
      (PSF) for this modality. Hence, compared to incoherent two-photon processes like
      two-photon fluorescence, it is challenging to apply the various PSF-engineering
      methods to improve the spatial resolution to be close to the diffraction limit.
      Using a synthetic PSF and application of an advanced maximum likelihood
      estimation (AdvMLE) deconvolution algorithm, we demonstrate restoration of the
      spatial resolution in SHG images to that closer to the theoretical diffraction
      limit. The AdvMLE algorithm adaptively and iteratively develops a PSF for the
      supplied image and succeeds in improving the signal to noise ratio (SNR) for
      images where the SHG signals are derived from various sources such as collagen in
      tendon and myosin in heart sarcomere. Approximately 3.5 times improvement in SNR
      is observed for tissue images at depths of up to ~480 nm, which helps in
      revealing the underlying helical structures in collagen fibres with an ~26%
      improvement in the amplitude contrast in a fibre pitch. Our approach could be
      adapted to noisy and low resolution modalities such as micro-nano CT and MRI,
      impacting precision of diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.

PMID- 28594469
TI  - Modular Assembly of Reversible Multivalent Cancer-Cell-Targeting Drug Conjugates.
AB  - Herein is described a new modular platform for the construction of cancer-cell
      targeting drug conjugates. Tripodal boronate complexes featuring reversible
      covalent bonds were designed to accommodate a cytotoxic drug (bortezomib),
      poly(ethylene glycol) (Peg) chains, and folate targeting units. The B-complex
      core was assembled in one step, proved stable under biocompatible conditions,
      namely, in human plasma (half-life up to 60 h), and underwent disassembly in the
      presence of glutathione (GSH). Stimulus-responsive intracellular cargo delivery
      was confirmed by confocal fluorescence microscopy, and a mechanism for GSH
      induced B-complex hydrolysis was proposed on the basis of mass spectrometry and
      DFT calculations. This platform enabled the modular construction of multivalent
      conjugates with high selectivity for folate-positive MDA-MB-231 cancer cells and
      IC50 values in the nanomolar range.

PMID- 28594470
TI  - Effective size of density-dependent two-sex populations: the effect of mating
      systems.
AB  - Density dependence in vital rates is a key feature affecting temporal
      fluctuations of natural populations. This has important implications for the rate
      of random genetic drift. Mating systems also greatly affect effective population
      sizes, but knowledge of how mating system and density regulation interact to
      affect random genetic drift is poor. Using theoretical models and simulations, we
      compare Ne in short-lived, density-dependent animal populations with different
      mating systems. We study the impact of a fluctuating, density-dependent sex ratio
      and consider both a stable and a fluctuating environment. We find a negative
      relationship between annual Ne /N and adult population size N due to density
      dependence, suggesting that loss of genetic variation is reduced at small
      densities. The magnitude of this decrease was affected by mating system and life
      history. A male-biased, density-dependent sex ratio reduces the rate of genetic
      drift compared to an equal, density-independent sex ratio, but a stochastic
      change towards male bias reduces the Ne /N ratio. Environmental stochasticity
      amplifies temporal fluctuations in population size and is thus vital to consider
      in estimation of effective population sizes over longer time periods. Our results
      on the reduced loss of genetic variation at small densities, particularly in
      polygamous populations, indicate that density regulation may facilitate adaptive
      evolution at small population sizes.

PMID- 28594471
TI  - Centralisation of radical cystectomies for bladder cancer in England, a decade on
      from the 'Improving Outcomes Guidance': the case for super centralisation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of centralisation of radical cystectomy (RC)
      provision for bladder cancer in England, on postoperative mortality, length of
      stay (LoS), complications and re-intervention rates, from implementation of
      centralisation from 2003 until 2014. In 2002, UK policymakers introduced the
      'Improving Outcomes Guidance' (IOG) for urological cancers after a global cancer
      surgery commission identified substantial shortcomings in provision of care of
      RCs. One key recommendation was centralisation of RCs to high-output centres. No
      study has yet robustly analysed the changes since the introduction of the IOG, to
      assess a national healthcare system that has mature data on such institutional
      transformation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: RCs performed for bladder cancer in England
      between 2003/2004 and 2013/2014 were analysed from Hospital Episode Statistics
      (HES) data. Outcomes including 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year all-cause postoperative
      mortality; median LoS; complication and re-intervention rates, were calculated.
      Multivariable statistical analysis was undertaken to describe the relationship
      between each surgeon and the providers' annual case volume and mortality.
      RESULTS: In all, 15 292 RCs were identified. The percentage of RCs performed in
      discordance with the IOG guidelines reduced from 65% to 12.4%, corresponding with
      an improvement in 30-day mortality from 2.7% to 1.5% (P = 0.024). Procedures
      adhering to the IOG guidelines had better 30-day mortality (2.1% vs 2.9%; P =
      0.003) than those that did not, and better 1-year mortality (21.5% vs 25.6%; P <
      0.001), LoS (14 vs 16 days; P < 0.001), and re- intervention rates (30.0% vs
      33.6%; P < 0.001). Each single extra surgery per centre reduced the odds of death
      at 30 days by 1.5% (odds ratio [OR] 0.985, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.977
      0.992) and 1% at 1 year (OR 0.990, 95% CI 0.988-0.993), and significantly reduced
      rates of re-intervention. CONCLUSION: Centralisation has been implemented across
      England since the publication of the IOG guidelines in 2002. The improved
      outcomes shown, including that a single extra procedure per year per centre can
      significantly reduce mortality and re-intervention, may serve to offer healthcare
      planners an evidence base to propose new guidance for further optimisation of
      surgical provision, and hope for other healthcare systems that such widespread
      institutional change is achievable and positive.

PMID- 28594472
TI  - Gel network shampoo formulation and hair health benefits.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to create a shampoo formula that
      contains a stable ordered gel network structure that delivers fatty alcohols
      inside hair. METHODS: X-ray diffraction (SAXS and WAXS), SEM and DSC have been
      used to confirm formation of the ordered Lbeta gel network with fatty alcohol
      (cetyl and stearyl alcohols) and an anionic surfactant (SLE1S). Micro
      autoradiography and extraction methods using GC-MS were used to confirm
      penetration of fatty alcohols into hair, and cyclic fatigue testing was used to
      measure hair strength. RESULTS: In this work, evidence of a stable Lbeta ordered
      gel network structure created from cetyl and stearyl alcohols and anionic
      surfactant (SLE1S) is presented, and this is confirmed via scanning electron
      microscopy images showing lamella layers and differential scanning calorimetry
      (DSC) showing new melting peaks vs the starting fatty alcohols. Hair washed for
      16 repeat cycles with this shampoo showed penetration of fatty alcohols from the
      gel network into hair as confirmed by a differential extraction method with GC-MS
      and by radiolabelling of stearyl alcohol and showing its presence inside hair
      cross-sections. The gel network role in delivering fatty alcohol inside hair is
      demonstrated by comparing with a shampoo with added fatty alcohol not in an
      ordered gel network structure. The hair containing fatty alcohol was measured via
      the Dia-stron cyclic fatigue instrument and showed a significantly higher number
      of cycles to break vs control. CONCLUSIONS: The formation of a stable gel network
      was confirmed in the formulated shampoo, and it was demonstrated that this gel
      network is important to deliver cetyl and stearyl alcohols into hair. The
      presence of fatty alcohol inside hair was shown to deliver a hair strength
      benefit via cyclic fatigue testing.

PMID- 28594473
TI  - TPGS-Functionalized Polydopamine-Modified Mesoporous Silica as Drug Nanocarriers
      for Enhanced Lung Cancer Chemotherapy against Multidrug Resistance.
AB  - A nanocarrier system of d-a-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS)
      functionalized polydopamine-coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (NPs) is
      developed for sustainable and pH-responsive delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) as a
      model drug for the treatment of drug-resistant nonsmall cell lung cancer. Such
      nanoparticles are of desired particle size, drug loading, and drug release
      profile. The surface morphology, surface charge, and surface chemical properties
      are also successfully characterized by a series of techniques such as
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),
      Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic
      light scattering (DLS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The
      normal A549 cells and drug-resistant A549 cells are employed to access the
      cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of the NPs. The therapeutic effects of TPGS
      conjugated nanoparticles are evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Compared with free
      DOX and DOX-loaded NPs without TPGS ligand modification, MSNs-DOX@PDA-TPGS
      exhibits outstanding capacity to overcome multidrug resistance and shows better
      in vivo therapeutic efficacy. This splendid drug delivery platform can also be
      sued to deliver other hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs.

PMID- 28594474
TI  - Cyclopenta Ring Fused Bisanthene and Its Charged Species with Open-Shell Singlet
      Diradical Character and Global Aromaticity/ Anti-Aromaticity.
AB  - Cyclopenta ring fused bisanthene and its charged species were synthesized. The
      neutral compound has an open-shell singlet ground state and displays global anti
      aromaticity. The dication also exhibits singlet diradical character but has a
      unique [10]annulene-within-[18]annulene global aromatic structure. The dianion is
      closed-shell singlet in the ground state and shows global aromaticity with 22 pi
      electrons delocalized on the periphery. These findings prrovide new insight into
      the design and properties of global aromatic/anti-aromatic systems based on pi
      conjugated polycyclic hydrocarbons.

PMID- 28594475
TI  - What is safety?: Miracles, benefit-risk assessments, and the "right to try".
AB  - Public discourse is full of quick solutions to health care problems like cancer
      and rare diseases. Among these is Right to Try legislation for experimental
      therapies. Right to Try legislation is based on the premise that all experimental
      agents in clinical trials are safe and guaranteed to produce miracles.
      Unfortunately, this notion is at odds with expert understanding, which indicates
      that the benefits and risks of drug products can only be understood together and
      evaluated incrementally and over time. The current manuscript examines why
      benefit to risk considerations, a lynchpin of the ethical conduct of clinical
      research since the Nuremberg Code, might be easily elided from public discourse.
      This paper considers guidelines for regulatory writing, which routinely separate
      discussions of effectiveness and safety, as a possible source for some confusion.
      The internationally-accepted ICH M4E (Common Technical Document) guideline
      published in 2016 now provides additional guidance for composing Benefits and
      Risks Conclusions, which weigh and consider effectiveness and safety together.
      Yet fundamental differences in understanding the "safety" of medicinal products
      continue to exist between experts in biomedicine, politicians, and healthcare
      activists. Examining differences in the understanding of "safety" between experts
      and non-experts also may help explain the source for flawed logic about the
      safety of investigational products in Right To Try narratives. No drug product is
      100% safe. Continuing to weigh benefits and risks together is an important
      intellectual practice necessary to safeguard human health worldwide, and testing
      clinical safety is the only way to provide meaningful protections to patients.
      Science, not miracles, can ensure the protection of patients in clinical research
      as well as clinical practice. Weighing benefits and risks is an essential
      intellectual act that informs public health. Science, not miracles, can guide
      this work.

PMID- 28594476
TI  - Fibrinogen Mahdia: A congenitally abnormal fibrinogen characterized by defective
      fibrin polymerization.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Congenital dysfibrinogenemia is a rare qualitative fibrinogen
      deficiency. Molecular defects that result in dysfibrinogenemia are usually caused
      by mutations which affect fibrinopeptide release, fibrin polymerization, fibrin
      cross-linking or fibrinolysis. AIM: Here, we investigated the genetic basis of
      hypodysfibrinogenemia in two Tunisian siblings with major bleeding. METHODS:
      Coagulation-related tests were performed on the patients and their family
      members. Functional analysis was performed in plasma fibrinogen to characterize
      fibrin polymerization. The sequences of fibrinogen genes were amplified and
      analysed by sequencing. RESULTS: Coagulation studies revealed a reduced
      functional and a borderline low antigenic fibrinogen plasma levels with prolonged
      thrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times. The fibrinogen is also
      characterized by a markedly impaired polymerization and could incorporate into
      fibrin fibres to a smaller extent (22%). Mutational screening disclosed a
      heterozygous single nucleotide deletion (G) at c.1025, resulting in a frameshift
      mutation (AalphaGly323GlufsX79) that is predicted to delete a part of the alphaC
      domain containing some of the FXIII cross-linking sites. Both the normal and the
      aberrant Aalpha-chain (approximately 43 kDa) were detected by electrophoretic
      analysis in the patients. CONCLUSION: The new dysfunctional fibrinogen, Mahdia
      variant, describes its impact on fibrin assembly after the loss of the alphaC
      domains which are involved in the lateral aggregation of protofibrils. The study
      confirms that the truncated Aalpha-chain could be incorporated into mature
      fibrinogen molecules.

PMID- 28594477
TI  - Azo-Based Fluorogenic Probes for Biosensing and Bioimaging: Recent Advances and
      Upcoming Challenges.
AB  - The use of nonfluorescent azo dyes as dark quenchers in activatable optical
      bioprobes based on the Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism and
      designed to target a wide range of enzymes has been established for over two
      decades. The key value of the azo moiety (-N=N-) to act as an efficient "ON-OFF"
      switch of fluorescence once introduced within the core structure of conventional
      organic-based fluorophores (mainly fluorescent aniline derivatives) has recently
      been exploited in the development of alternative reaction-based small-molecule
      probes based on the "profluorescence" concept. These unprecedented "azobenzene
      caged" fluorophores are valuable tools for the detection of a wide range of
      reactive (bio)analytes. This review highlights the most recent and relevant
      advances made in the design and biosensing/bioimaging applications of azo-based
      fluorogenic probes. Emphasis is also placed on relevant achievements in the
      synthesis of bioconjugatable/biocompatible azo dyes used as starting building
      blocks in the rational and rapid construction of these fluorescent
      chemodosimeters. Finally, a brief glimpse of possible future biomedical
      applications (theranostics) of these "smart" azobenzene-based molecular systems
      is presented.

PMID- 28594478
TI  - What Influences the Cost Effectiveness of Dabigatran versus Warfarin for Stroke
      Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The introduction of new oral anticoagulants for the prevention of
      stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF) has changed the clinical management of AF. To
      inform decision making around dabigatran by identifying factors influencing cost
      effectiveness results, we undertook a systematic review of economic evaluations
      of dabigatran versus warfarin for the prevention of stroke in AF patients.
      METHODS: A systematic literature search of Ovid Medline and Embase, Wiley's
      Cochrane Library, HEED, PubMed databases and grey literature was carried out for
      primary economic evaluations comparing dabigatran versus warfarin in patients
      with AF. Data on study characteristics, model inputs and results, and sensitivity
      analyses were abstracted and synthesized qualitatively. RESULTS: Twenty-three
      economic evaluations were identified and RE-LY was cited in 52% of studies as the
      source of the efficacy data. Twenty evaluations used Markov modelling, 2
      performed discrete event simulation, and 1 was a trial-based evaluation. Eighty
      two percent reported base case incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of
      less than $50,000 USD/QALY. Key variables, including international normalized
      ratio (INR) control, the cost of monitoring, risk of stroke and bleeding, and age
      were found to alter the conclusions in only a few studies. Less commonly explored
      factors included time horizon and cost of long-term care follow-up. CONCLUSIONS:
      Several factors should be considered when interpreting the results of economic
      analyses which are based on randomized clinical trial evidence. Real-world data
      are needed to further assess the clinical and economic consequences of dabigatran
      relative to warfarin for the prevention of stroke in AF.

PMID- 28594479
TI  - Does the Number of Pharmacies a Patient Frequents Affect Adherence to Statins?
AB  - BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that medication adherence is affected by the number
      of pharmacies a patient frequents. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to estimate the
      strength of association between the number of pharmacies a patient frequents and
      adherence to statins. METHODS: Using administrative data from the Nova Scotia
      Seniors' Pharmacare program, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among
      subjects aged 65 years and older first dispensed statin between 1998 and 2008.
      The Usual Provider of Care (UPC), was defined as the number of dispensation days
      from the most frequented pharmacy divided by the total number of dispensation
      days. Estimated adherence of over 80% of the Medication Possession Ratio was
      defined as adherent. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression.
      RESULTS: The cohort of 25,641 subjects was 59% female with a mean age of 74
      years. During follow-up, subjects filled prescriptions in a median of 2 (mean =
      2; standard deviation = 0.88) pharmacies and visited pharmacies a median of 28
      (mean = 30) times. During that time, 61% of patients used one pharmacy
      exclusively. Among subjects using 1 pharmacy, 59% were adherent while 58% using
      more than one pharmacy were adherent. However, upon adjustment for differences in
      distributions of age, sex, and other confounders, subjects who used more than one
      pharmacy had 10% decreased odds of statin adherence (odds ratio: 0.90, 95%
      confidence interval: 0.86-0.96). These results were robust in sensitivity
      analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Among seniors newly starting statin therapy, using a
      single community pharmacy was modestly associated with adherence.

PMID- 28594480
TI  - Comparison of Drug Benefits Provided by Veterans Affairs Canada and the Canadian
      Forces Health Services Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drug benefits are provided at public expense to all actively serving
      Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel, with ongoing drug coverage offered by
      Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) for selected conditions following termination of
      employment. Differences in drug coverage between these programs could introduce
      risks for treatment disruption. OBJECTIVES: Work was undertaken to establish a
      process that would allow systematic comparison of the entire VAC and CAF
      formularies, and to identify and explain discordant listings in 14 therapeutic
      categories that pose risk of adverse outcomes with sudden treatment interruption.
      METHODS: Lists of medications were created for each program, including regular
      benefit and restricted use drugs, using files obtained from the claims processor
      in January 2015. Products were coded using the Anatomic-Therapeutic-Chemical
      (ATC) system. Degree of alignment within therapeutic categories was assessed
      based on the percentage of fifth-level ATCs that were covered in common.
      Discordantly listed drugs in 14 categories of concern were reviewed to identify
      similarities in product characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 1124 medications
      were identified in 80 therapeutic categories. Coverage of medications was
      identical in 11 categories, and overall, almost three-quarters of identified
      drugs (73.4%, n = 825) were covered in common by both plans. Many discordant
      listings reflected known differences in the programs' operating procedures. A
      number of discrepancies were also identified in newer therapeutic categories.
      CONCLUSIONS: There is significant overlap in the medications covered by the CAF
      and VAC drug benefit programs. Application of the ATC coding system allowed for
      discrepancies to be readily identified across the entire formulary, and in
      specific therapeutic categories of concern.

PMID- 28594481
TI  - Emotional Understanding in School-Aged Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
      Disorders: A Promising Target for Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are at high
      risk for secondary conditions, including mental health difficulties. Data on both
      children with typical development and other clinical conditions suggest that
      limited emotional understanding (EU) raises risk for psychopathology, but little
      is known about EU in FASD. OBJECTIVES: To determine if EU is a reasonable
      treatment target for children with FASD. METHODS: 56 children (6-13 years) with
      FASD completed the Kusche Affective Interview-Revised, a verbal interview measure
      of EU. RESULTS: Children showed striking delays in EU (2-5 years delay) relative
      to published normative data, despite mean IQ (IQ=94.56) within normal limits.
      Individual variability was considerable even after accounting for age and verbal
      IQ. CONCLUSIONS: Despite variability in individual differences, treatments
      targeting EU may benefit children with FASD as components within a comprehensive,
      tailored intervention focused on child self-regulation and caregiver behavior
      management.

PMID- 28594482
TI  - Non-severe Hypoglycemia Risk Difference between Sulfonylurea and Sodium-Glucose
      Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors (SGLT2-I) as an Add-On to Metformin in Randomized
      Controlled Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-severe hypoglycemia reduces well-being, lowers quality of life,
      reduces productivity and increases treatment costs. The non-severe hypoglycemia
      rate, attributable to sulfonylurea (SU) utilization compared with newer classes
      such as SGLT2-I, could be of clinical significance. OBJECTIVES: To explore the
      non-severe hypoglycemia risk difference (RD) for SU use compared with SGLT2-I in
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as an add on to metformin. METHODS: A search
      was conducted for RCTs of SGLT2-I. PubMed database were utilized for this search.
      The search was limited to RCTs reported in English language for canagliflozin,
      dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin. SU dose comparison was utilized to convert the
      dose of SUs to glimepiride equivalent doses. RESULTS: Totally, 118 RCTs were
      reviewed; 6 articles had an arm for a SU as add on to metformin. Six articles
      belong to 3 RCTs, which reported results for 52 weeks and 104 weeks. Average non
      severe hypoglycemia rate for SU arm was 30% (5.5%) [Mean (SD)] for 52 weeks and
      35.6% (6.1%) for 104 weeks. RD for non-severe hypoglycemia events for SU compared
      to SGLT2-I was 26.7% (4.9%) for 52 weeks (p-value less than 0.001) and 30.6%
      (5.5%) for 104 weeks (p-value less than 0.001). There was a significant
      correlation between dose of SU and hypoglycemia rate (Pearson correlation 0.995;
      R-square 99%). CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrated that a large proportion of
      patients who had exposure to SU in RCTs of SGLT2-I experienced non-severe
      hypoglycemia compared to SGLT2-I. There was a close relation between SU dose and
      increased probability of non-severe hypoglycemia events.

PMID- 28594485
TI  - Acetabular Fractures: A Problem-Oriented Approach.
AB  - The main goals of acetabular fracture management are to restore the congruity and
      stability of the hip joint. These goals are the same for all patients who have an
      acetabular fracture, regardless of the morphology or etiology of the fracture.
      Nevertheless, certain acetabular fracture types and several patient factors pose
      management challenges for surgeons. Therefore, surgeons who manage acetabular
      fractures must understand the distinctive features of acetabular fractures as
      well as the soft-tissue and patient-related factors that play a critical role in
      patient outcomes. Particular challenges in the management of acetabular fractures
      include acetabular fracture types that involve the posterior wall, acetabular
      fractures with soft-tissue concerns, acetabular fractures in patients with
      multiple injuries, and acetabular fractures in the geriatric population. Although
      the well-known protocols that were established by Judet and Letournel continue to
      be important guidelines for the management of acetabular fractures, the injury
      characteristics of acetabular fractures, the demographics of the patients in whom
      acetabular fractures occur, and the treatment options for acetabular fractures
      have evolved. Therefore, surgeons must be aware of new and more recently
      published information on acetabular fractures.

PMID- 28594486
TI  - Challenges and Controversies of Foot and Ankle Trauma.
AB  - Traumatic injury to the foot and ankle can result in long-term disability, which
      may have substantial negative implications on a patient's functional outcomes and
      quality of life. The diagnosis and appropriate management of these challenging
      injuries are not always agreed on or straightforward. In particular, the
      appropriate diagnosis and management of distal tibiofibular syndesmotic injuries
      as well as the surgical approach and role of primary subtalar arthrodesis for
      intra-articular calcaneal fractures are controversial.

PMID- 28594483
TI  - Effect of an Institutional Medication Adherence Program for Long-Acting
      Injectable Risperidone on Adherence and Psychiatric Hospitalizations: Evidence
      from a Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-acting injectable (LAI) atypical antipsychotics are associated
      with improved adherence and reduced relapse rates in schizophrenia but reminder
      based interventions may further improve outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To assess an
      institutional medication adherence program's (IMAP) effectiveness on adherence
      and psychiatric hospitalizations among schizophrenia patients taking risperidone
      LAI (RLAI). METHODS: Between 2009 and 2010, we recruited patients meeting DSM-IV
      criteria for schizophrenia treated with RLAI receiving outpatient care from
      psychiatric centres in France. The IMAP consisted of calling patients 48 hours
      prior to their scheduled RLAI injections and within 3 days of a missed
      appointment. Centres applying the IMAP to >=50% of scheduled patient injections
      were deemed compliant. Patients were followed up to one year for adherence (>=80%
      of scheduled RLAI injections received within 5 days of the scheduled date) and
      psychiatric hospitalizations. RESULTS: Among 506 patients recruited from 36
      centres, the hospitalization rate was 32.5 per 100 person-years. 15 centres
      treating 243 patients were IMAP compliant and 21 centres treating 263 patients
      were not. IMAP compliance was associated with lower psychiatric hospitalization
      rates (crude RR: 0.64 [95% CI: 0.44-0.93]; adjusted RR: 0.78 [95% CI: 0.47
      1.27]). Nearly 75% of patients were adherent to RLAI. While patient adherence had
      little impact on hospitalization rates (adjusted RR: 0.92 [95% CI: 0.59-1.44]),
      IMAP compliance was more effective among non-adherent (adjusted RR: 0.45 [95% CI:
      0.16-1.28]) than adherent (adjusted RR: 0.88 [95% CI: 0.51-1.53]) patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: IMAPs may improve patient adherence and reduce psychiatric
      hospitalizations, particularly among patients with difficulties adhering to LAI
      antipsychotics.

PMID- 28594487
TI  - Current Management of Talar Fractures.
AB  - Talar fractures are some of the most challenging injuries that orthopaedic
      traumatologists manage. The current knowledge of functional alterations with
      regard to malreduction of talar fractures is well established. Decision making
      with regard to timing, approach, and implant selection as well as strategies to
      help achieve accurate restoration of talar anatomy substantially affect outcomes
      and must be carefully considered. Perfect anatomic talar reconstruction should
      always be attempted, and orthopaedic surgeons should have a strong working
      knowledge of the vascular, three-dimensional, and radiographic anatomy of the
      talus before performing talar surgery. Almost the entire talus is surgically
      accessible via several approaches, all of which surgeons should be clinically
      familiar with to optimize reduction and fixation and safely preserve the soft
      tissue envelope. Furthermore, surgeons must appreciate the plantarmedial vascular
      area of the talus, which must be avoided during dissection. The complication
      rates in patients who have talar fractures are high, particularly in those who
      have talar neck and talar body fractures; therefore, patients should be counseled
      on their expected outcome, with a specific discussion on the risk of
      osteonecrosis and subtalar arthritis.

PMID- 28594489
TI  - Diagnosis and Management of the Biceps-Labral Complex.
AB  - The long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) is a common source of pathology. The
      biceps-labral complex (BLC) is the collective anatomic and clinical features
      shared by the biceps tendon and the superior labrum. LHBT pathology can be caused
      by inflammation, instability, or trauma. Numerous tests can be performed to
      determine the existence of biceps tendon and superior labrum anterior to
      posterior (SLAP) lesions; however, many of these tests do not have high
      sensitivity and specificity, which limit their clinical utility. Because it is
      difficult to diagnose both LHBT and SLAP pathology, management strategies are
      best guided by a strong clinical suspicion and imaging findings on either MRI or
      ultrasonography. Initial nonsurgical management of LHBT and SLAP pathology
      includes focused physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, and
      corticosteroid injections. If nonsurgical management fails, surgical techniques
      for the management of LHBT pathology include biceps anchor reattachment (SLAP
      repair), biceps tenotomy, and biceps tenodesis. Techniques for biceps tenodesis,
      which can be performed in either an arthroscopic or open manner, include soft
      tissue tenodesis, suprapectoral tenodesis, and subpectoral tenodesis. If
      appropriately managed, patients with LHBT pathology often have excellent clinical
      outcomes.

PMID- 28594488
TI  - Fractures of the Calcaneus.
AB  - Calcaneal fractures are potentially devastating injuries. To effectively manage
      calcaneal fractures, surgeons must understand the anatomy of the calcaneus as
      well as the surgical techniques necessary to restore normal biomechanics of the
      foot. Surgeons also must understand calcaneal fracture patterns and
      classifications; initial management techniques, surgical indications and
      rationale, temporizing management techniques, surgical approaches, definitive
      management techniques, and postoperative management for calcaneal fractures; as
      well as outcomes and common complications of calcaneal fractures.

PMID- 28594490
TI  - Patients in Whom Arthroscopic Bankart Repair is Not Enough: Evaluation and
      Management of Complex Anterior Glenohumeral Instability.
AB  - Arthroscopic Bankart repair has become the most common treatment option for
      patients who have anterior shoulder instability. Although arthroscopic Bankart
      repair is generally an effective treatment method, it may be insufficient for the
      treatment of many patients who have anterior shoulder instability. Risk factors
      for failure of arthroscopic Bankart repair include younger age, level and type of
      sport, and shoulder specific risks, such as ligamentous laxity and the presence
      of bone loss. Recently, researchers have defined the limits of arthroscopic
      Bankart repair and more clearly defined treatment options for patients who have a
      high risk for failure after arthroscopic Bankart repair. Surgeons must recognize
      patients with anterior shoulder instability in whom a more aggressive surgical
      approach should be considered as well as patients who have a high risk for
      failure after arthroscopic Bankart repair to optimize outcomes in this patient
      population.

PMID- 28594491
TI  - Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.
AB  - Cubital tunnel syndrome is the most common cause of symptomatic ulnar neuropathy.
      The unique anatomic course of the ulnar nerve around the elbow makes it
      particularly vulnerable at a location far from its terminal destination. The
      natural progression of cubital tunnel syndrome allows patients who have mild
      symptoms to be adequately treated nonsurgically. Minor changes in activity
      combined with appropriate splinting may acceptably alleviate symptoms. Surgical
      intervention is recommended for patients who have more severe symptoms. Current
      data confirm that in situ ulnar nerve decompression, partial medial
      epicondylectomy, and anterior transposition result in equal success rates;
      however, more invasive techniques may increase the risk for complications. If
      primary surgical intervention fails, revision surgery can provide good results.
      Modern techniques for revision surgery incorporate the placement of a protective
      circumferential barrier around the pathologic nerve to mitigate cicatrix
      formation. Although several attractive options are currently available for the
      management of cubital tunnel syndrome, further research is necessary to guide
      treatment.

PMID- 28594492
TI  - Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: Getting It Right So You Don't Have to Do It Again.
AB  - Thoracic outlet syndrome is a disorder caused by thoracic outlet compression of
      the brachial plexus and/or the subclavian vessels. The characteristics of
      thoracic outlet syndrome are highly variable. Objective tests, such as
      electrodiagnostic studies, are often unreliable in characterizing thoracic outlet
      syndrome. The existence of thoracic outlet syndrome as a discrete entity is
      controversial. Surgeons who accept the existence of thoracic outlet syndrome
      acknowledge that diagnosis is clinical. The variability and complexity of
      thoracic outlet syndrome lends itself to mistakes in both diagnosis and surgical
      treatment.

PMID- 28594493
TI  - Management of Hand Fractures: Simple to Complex.
AB  - Hand fractures are among the most common skeletal injuries. Approximately 150,000
      hand fractures occur in the United States each year. The management of hand
      fractures consists of reduction, immobilization, and rehabilitation to return
      patients to their preinjury status. Hand fractures are managed by restoring
      articular congruity, reducing malrotation and angulation of the fracture, and
      maintaining the reduction, all of which should be accomplished with minimal
      surgical intervention. Surgeons must assess concomitant soft-tissue injuries and
      respect the soft tissues during the surgical management of hand fractures.
      Fractures through the metaphyseal bone at the base and neck will heal more
      quickly than fractures through the diaphyseal bone of the shaft, which makes
      provisional fixation of metaphyseal fractures more practical compared with
      provisional fixation of diaphyseal fractures. The fracture pattern determines the
      most practical type of fixation. Patterns of angulation should be anticipated and
      corrected during reduction. More rigid fixation is required if substantial
      comminution and bone loss are present. Bone loss also indicates a high-energy
      injury, which likely indicates more substantial soft-tissue injury. As the number
      of injured structures increases, the likelihood of full function after
      rehabilitation decreases.

PMID- 28594494
TI  - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Initial Management and the Treatment of Recalcitrant
      Patients.
AB  - Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a focal compressive neuropathy of the median
      nerve at the level of the wrist. CTS is the most common type of compressive
      neuropathy that occurs in the upper extremity. Typically, patients with CTS have
      paresthesia, pain, and numbness in the radial three and one-half digits.
      Nighttime symptoms are more common earlier in the disease process, with daytime
      symptoms becoming more frequent as CTS progresses. Electrodiagnostic studies may
      be performed to confirm a diagnosis of CTS or to obtain a baseline before
      surgical treatment; however, electrodiagnostic studies may be normal in a subset
      of patients who have CTS. Patients who have mild CTS should undergo an initial
      trial of nonsurgical treatment that includes lifestyle modifications, nighttime
      splinting, and corticosteroid injections. Carpal tunnel release should be
      performed in patients in whom nonsurgical treatment fails and patients who have
      acute CTS secondary to infection or trauma or have advanced symptoms.
      Recalcitrant CTS, which may occur in as many as 25% of patients who undergo
      carpal tunnel release, most commonly results from an incomplete transverse carpal
      ligament release or an incorrect initial diagnosis. Patients with recurrent
      symptoms often have perineural fibrosis that tethers the median nerve.

PMID- 28594495
TI  - Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome, Radial Tunnel Syndrome, Anterior Interosseous Nerve
      Syndrome, and Pronator Syndrome.
AB  - In addition to the more common carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndromes,
      orthopaedic surgeons must recognize and manage other potential sites of
      peripheral nerve compression. The distal ulnar nerve may become compressed as it
      travels through the wrist, which is known as ulnar tunnel or Guyon canal
      syndrome. The posterior interosseous nerve may become entrapped in the proximal
      forearm as it travels through the radial tunnel, which results in a pain syndrome
      without motor weakness. The median nerve may become entrapped in the proximal
      forearm, which can result in a variety of symptoms. Spontaneous neuropathy of the
      anterior interosseous nerve branch of the median nerve can be observed without
      external compression. Electrodiagnostic and imaging studies may aid surgeons in
      the diagnosis of these syndromes; however, a thorough physical examination is
      paramount to localize compressed segments of these nerves. An understanding of
      the anatomy of each of these nerve areas allows surgeons to appreciate a
      patient's clinical findings and helps guide surgical decompression.

PMID- 28594496
TI  - Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: Everything You Need to Know.
AB  - Total hip arthroplasty is an extremely successful procedure that relieves pain
      and improves function. Orthopaedic surgeons should understand how to improve
      outcomes of patients who undergo primary total hip arthroplasty. Orthopaedic
      surgeons can enhance the outcomes of total hip arthroplasty by optimizing
      preoperative and perioperative management, improving surgical techniques, and
      selecting an appropriate femoral component and bearing surface.

PMID- 28594497
TI  - Arthroplasty for Unreconstructable Acute Fractures and Failed Fracture Fixation
      About the Hip and Knee in the Active Elderly: A New Paradigm.
AB  - The techniques, materials, and designs for total joint arthroplasty underwent
      major improvements in the past 30 years. During this time, trauma surgeons
      classified the severity of fractures as well as identified certain articular
      fractures that do not have good outcomes and have a high rate of failure after
      internal fixation. Advanced improvements in arthroplasty have increased its
      reliability and longevity. Total joint arthroplasty is becoming a standard of
      care for some acute articular fractures, particularly displaced femoral neck
      fractures in the active elderly. Total joint arthroplasty also has become the
      standard of care after failed internal fixation in patients who have very
      complicated fractures about the knee, hip, and shoulder. As the population ages,
      fractures worldwide continue to rapidly increase. Elderly patients have a high
      risk for fractures that result from falls because of their poor bone quality. The
      current active elderly population participates in higher risk activities than
      previous elderly populations, which places them at risk for more injuries. This
      has become both a worldwide healthcare problem and an economic problem. Surgeons
      need to manage fractures in the active elderly with the latest advancements in
      technology and patient selection to ensure rapid recovery and the reduction of
      complications.

PMID- 28594498
TI  - Bicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - Knee arthritis is one of the leading causes of disability and functional
      limitations in the United States and worldwide. Total knee arthroplasty results
      in good functional outcomes and high survival rates in patients who have
      tricompartmental arthritis. Bicompartmental knee arthroplasty is being used more
      often in patients who have arthritis that is isolated to two compartments: the
      patellofemoral compartment and either the medial or the lateral compartment.
      Bicompartmental knee arthroplasty preserves the kinematics, ligaments, and bone
      stock of the knee and is a good option for younger, active, high-demand patients
      who wish to return to their previous level of activity.

PMID- 28594499
TI  - Medial Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has substantial benefits, including
      lower perioperative morbidity and earlier recovery, compared with total knee
      arthroplasty. The traditionally strict indications for UKA have been challenged
      by studies that expanded the indications based on a diagnosis of anteromedial
      osteoarthritis of the knee and demonstrated successful outcomes. The Nuffield
      criteria no longer prohibit patients from UKA based on age, obesity, anterior
      knee pain, or involvement of the patellofemoral joint. UKA implant designs have
      evolved substantially in the past three decades, and both fixed- and mobile
      bearing UKA implants are currently available. Both fixed- and mobile-bearing UKA
      implants demonstrate excellent clinical outcomes at more than 10 years
      postoperatively but continue to have different modes of long-term implant
      failure. Proper patient selection and execution of surgical technique are
      critical to optimize patient outcomes.

PMID- 28594500
TI  - Patellofemoral Arthroplasty: An Evolving Science.
AB  - Patellofemoral arthroplasty (PFA) has long been a clinical option for patients
      with isolated patellofemoral arthritis. However, a high rate of failure as a
      result of patellar instability related to component malposition, soft-tissue
      imbalance, errant surgical techniques, and poor trochlear implant designs
      contributed to the underutilization of PFA. The evolution of surgical
      indications, trochlear implant design, component positioning, and soft-tissue
      balance has led to improved patellar tracking, fewer failures related to patellar
      instability, and improved functional outcomes. The development and broad adoption
      of onlay-style trochlear components, which can be positioned perpendicular to the
      AP axis of the femur, has substantially improved patellar tracking and, thus,
      improved the durability of PFA. In addition, favorable data showing success after
      secondary surgery or revision to total knee arthroplasty after PFA have emerged,
      which has led to increased use of PFA in appropriately selected patients.

PMID- 28594501
TI  - Prevention and Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Knee Infection.
AB  - Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has become an increasingly common treatment option
      for patients who have debilitating knee arthritis. TKA is a relatively safe and
      efficient procedure that results in promising outcomes and has a positive effect
      on a patient's quality of life. More TKAs are being performed annually because
      the procedure substantially reduces pain and improves functionality; however, as
      the number of TKAs continues to rise, there is concern for potential
      complications that may result in prosthetic joint failure. Primary TKA failure
      may result in revision procedures that have high costs and an increased risk for
      additional complications. Infection is the second most common cause of primary
      TKA failure and the single most common cause of revision TKA failure. Surgeons
      who have a better understanding of the epidemiology, risk factors, and diagnostic
      modalities associated with periprosthetic knee infection will be able to
      implement preventive measures and treat patients in whom such a complication
      occurs.

PMID- 28594502
TI  - Single-Stage Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty in the Setting of Periprosthetic
      Knee Infection: Indications, Contraindications, and Postoperative Outcomes.
AB  - Single-stage revision total knee arthroplasty has become an increasingly common
      treatment option for patients with failed knee prostheses. Periprosthetic knee
      infection is the leading and most devastating cause of revision total knee
      arthroplasty. Although periprosthetic knee infection has been extensively studied
      in the orthopaedic literature, the role of single-stage revision total knee
      arthroplasty for the treatment of periprosthetic knee infection warrants further
      research. As healthcare reform shifts from a volume-based to a value-based
      system, it is imperative that orthopaedic surgeons understand the procedural
      indications, risks, and benefits of single-stage revision total knee
      arthroplasty.

PMID- 28594503
TI  - Two-Stage Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty in the Setting of Periprosthetic Knee
      Infection.
AB  - Two-stage revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the standard of care for
      patients who require a revision procedure for the mangement of a late or chronic
      periprosthetic knee infection. A careful examination of two-stage revision TKA is
      warranted as the number of patients who require revision TKA in the United States
      continues to rise. Surgeons should understand the intricacies involved in two
      stage revision TKA, including the indications, procedural variations, and current
      deliberations on two-stage revision TKA in the literature. Surgeons also should
      understand the alternative treatments for periprosthetic knee infections.

PMID- 28594504
TI  - Achilles Tendon Rupture in Elite Athletes.
AB  - The management of acute Achilles tendon rupture in elite athletes is a current
      area of clinical controversy. Recent studies have reported near-equivocal
      outcomes in patients who undergo either nonsurgical or surgical treatment of
      Achilles tendon rupture; however, similar functional outcomes may not be observed
      in elite athletes who are at the highest levels of athletic performance and
      undergo nonsurgical or surgical treatment of Achilles tendon rupture. Surgeons
      should understand the risks and benefits of nonsurgical and surgical management
      of acute Achilles tendon rupture. Surgeons also should understand the accelerated
      rehabilitation protocols; functional nonsurgical and postoperative rehabilitation
      protocols; as well as the standard open, percutaneous, and minimally invasive
      surgical techniques for the management of Achilles tendon rupture from the
      perspective of a sports medicine foot and ankle specialist.

PMID- 28594505
TI  - Lisfranc Injuries in the Elite Athlete.
AB  - The management of sports-related Lisfranc injuries is optimized by a detailed
      understanding of the relevant anatomy, mechanisms of injury, clinical diagnostic
      maneuvers, imaging, and treatment options for patients with this disabling
      injury. A lower energy ligamentous variant Lisfranc injury, which was first
      observed in professional football players, has recently been described. The
      treatment options for patients with a Lisfranc injury include nonsurgical
      management, open reduction and internal fixation, suture-button fixation
      techniques, and arthrodesis.

PMID- 28594506
TI  - High-Risk Stress Fractures in Elite Athletes.
AB  - Surgeons should understand common factors that predispose high-level athletes to
      stress injuries as well as the importance of vitamin D and specifics related to
      vascular supply, location of injury, biomechanics, and susceptibility factors in
      high-level athletes who have stress injuries. Surgeons should be aware of
      diagnostic- and management-based recommendations for and the outcomes of anterior
      tibia, medial malleolus, tarsal navicular, and proximal fifth metatarsal stress
      fractures in professional athletes.

PMID- 28594507
TI  - Management of Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus.
AB  - Management strategies for symptomatic osteochondral lesions of the talus are
      primarily surgical. Treatment options for symptomatic osteochondral lesions of
      the talus most commonly include bone marrow stimulation techniques, osteochondral
      autograft transplantation, osteochondral allograft transplantation, autologous
      chondrocyte implantation, matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation, and
      particulated juvenile articular cartilage. The selection of the most appropriate
      treatment option should be based on the specifics of a talar lesion, in
      particular, lesion size.

PMID- 28594508
TI  - Lateral Ankle Instability and Peroneal Tendon Pathology.
AB  - Surgeons should understand the anatomic, vascular, biomechanical, and
      predisposing factors related to lateral ankle instability and peroneal tendon
      injuries, including peroneal tendinitis and tenosynovitis, peroneal tendon tears
      and ruptures, as well as peroneal tendon subluxation and dislocation. Surgeons
      should understand the treatment options and recommendations for patients who have
      lateral ankle instability and peroneal tendon injuries from the perspective of a
      sports medicine foot and ankle specialist. In addition, surgeons should be aware
      of arthroscopic approaches and an algorithm for the treatment of patients who
      have lateral ankle instability and peroneal tendon injuries.

PMID- 28594509
TI  - Differentiating Hip Pathology From Lumbar Spine Pathology: Key Points of
      Evaluation and Management.
AB  - The diagnosis and treatment of patients who have both hip and lumbar spine
      pathologies may be a challenge because overlapping symptoms may delay a correct
      diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Common complaints of patients who have both
      hip and lumbar spine pathologies include low back pain with associated buttock,
      groin, thigh, and, possibly, knee pain. A thorough patient history should be
      obtained and a complete physical examination should be performed to identify the
      primary source of pain. Plain and advanced imaging studies and diagnostic
      injections can be used to further delineate the primary pathology and guide the
      appropriate sequence of treatment. Both the surgeon and the patient should
      understand that although one pathology is managed, management of the other
      pathology may be necessary because of persistent pain. The recognition of both
      entities may help reduce the likelihood of misdiagnosis, and the management of
      both entities in the appropriate sequence may help reduce the likelihood of
      persistent symptoms.

PMID- 28594510
TI  - Surgical Management of Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy.
AB  - Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a common cause of neurologic impairment
      in adults worldwide. Numerous studies have investigated the pathophysiology of
      CSM, which has provided surgeons with insight on the important factors that lead
      to the symptoms and deficits observed in patients who have CSM. However, further
      analysis of many unknown aspects of CSM is required to fully understand the
      disease and potential alternative treatment modalities. The diagnosis of CSM is
      based on a patient's history and physical examination and then confirmed with
      imaging studies. Progression, symptomatology, and imaging findings may vary by
      patient. Because of the variability of CSM, the disease course and a patient's
      response to treatment are difficult to predict. CSM can be managed either
      nonsurgically or it can be managed surgically via posterior or anterior cervical
      approaches, each of which has its own indications and possible complications.

PMID- 28594511
TI  - Adult Lumbar Scoliosis: Nonsurgical Versus Surgical Management.
AB  - Adult spinal deformity has become an increasingly recognized condition, with a
      32% incidence in the adult population and a 68% incidence in the elderly
      population. Often, patients with adult spinal deformity are initially offered
      nonsurgical treatment for their symptoms despite the lack of data to support its
      efficacy because of the high complication rate associated with surgical treatment
      in this age group. Determining which patients would benefit the most from
      nonsurgical versus surgical treatment remains a challenge. Limited evidence
      exists to support guidelines on the most effective way to treat patients with
      adult spinal deformity. Treatment decisions for patients with adult spinal
      deformity often rely on individual surgeon experience and patient preferences.

PMID- 28594512
TI  - Realignment Planning in Adult Spinal Deformity: Formulas and Planning Tools.
AB  - Adult spinal deformity is a complex pathologic process that has many etiologies
      and several mechanisms of compensation. A complete understanding of spinopelvic
      alignment is required to differentiate the origin of spinal deformity from its
      compensation and, ultimately, optimize surgical correction. Surgeons should
      understand the spinopelvic parameters involved in the evaluation of a patient who
      has an adult spinal deformity and their implications for treatment.

PMID- 28594513
TI  - Minimally Invasive Lateral Approach for the Management of Adult Degenerative
      Scoliosis.
AB  - Minimally invasive lateral releases for the correction of lumbar scoliosis are
      becoming an increasingly common treatment alternative to posterior osteotomies or
      surgery via an open anterior approach. Minimally invasive approaches minimize
      blood loss and morbidity, which may be important in older patients who often have
      substantial comorbidities. Anterior column realignment allows lumbar lordosis to
      be restored via a minimally invasive lateral approach, which restores sagittal
      balance and is correlated with improvements in health-related quality of life.
      Surgeons should understand the development of, the indications for, the surgical
      technique for, and the complications and early clinical outcomes of the minimally
      invasive lateral approach to the spine.

PMID- 28594514
TI  - How to Decrease Complications in the Management of Adult Lumbar Scoliosis.

PMID- 28594515
TI  - Cervical Spine Injuries in the Athlete.
AB  - Cervical spine injuries are common and range from relatively minor injuries, such
      as cervical muscle strains, to severe, life-threatening cervical fractures with
      spinal cord injuries. Although cervical spine injuries are most common in
      athletes who participate in contact and collision sports, such as rugby and
      American football, they also have been reported in athletes who participate in
      noncontact sports, such as baseball, gymnastics, and diving. Cervical spine
      injuries in athletes are not necessarily the result of substantial spine trauma;
      some athletes have chronic conditions, such as congenital stenosis, that increase
      their risk for a serious cervical spine injury after even minor trauma.
      Therefore, physicians who cover athletic events must have a thorough knowledge of
      cervical spine injures and the most appropriate methods for managing them.
      Although cervical spine injuries can be career-ending injuries, athletes often
      are able to return to play after appropriate treatment if the potential for
      substantial reinjury is minimized.

PMID- 28594516
TI  - Lumbar Spine Injuries in the Athlete.
AB  - Low back pain is the most common complaint expressed by adult patients in the
      primary care setting, and the incidence of low back pain in adolescents is
      rising. Adolescents who are involved in athletics most commonly suffer from
      spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, mechanical low back pain, and herniated disks,
      whereas adult athletes most commonly suffer from lumbosacral strain and herniated
      or degenerative disks. Initial nonsurgical management aims to reduce inflammation
      and noninvasively strengthen damaged tissues. Although most patients who have low
      back pain will return to sports after nonsurgical treatment, surgery may be
      required in patients who have persistent or progressive neurologic symptoms.

PMID- 28594517
TI  - Adolescent Spondylolysis: Management and Return to Play.
AB  - The most common causes of low back pain in adolescents are spondylolysis and
      spondylolisthesis. Mechanical factors combined with rapid growth during
      adolescence place stress on the spine and can result in a stress fracture. Sports
      that require athletes to repeatedly place the spine in hyperextension may
      exacerbate both spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. Many adolescent athletes
      with spondylolysis or low-grade spondylolisthesis have minimal symptoms and
      require no treatment or alteration in activity, including sports activity. For
      adolescents with spondylolysis or low-grade spondylolisthesis who have symptoms,
      nonsurgical treatment with activity restrictions and a structured rehabilitation
      program can help in return to most sports. Surgical treatment may be required for
      patients who have symptoms that are unresponsive to nonsurgical treatment and
      patients who have grade III or grade IV spondylolisthesis. Treatment and return
      to competitive sports must be individualized based on the severity and symptoms
      of the disease in each patient.

PMID- 28594518
TI  - Pediatric Phalanx Fractures.
AB  - Phalangeal fractures are the most common type of hand fracture that occurs in the
      pediatric population and account for the second highest number of emergency
      department visits in the United States for fractures. The incidence of phalangeal
      fractures is the highest in children aged 10 to 14 years, which coincides with
      the time that most children begin playing contact sports. Younger children are
      more likely to sustain a phalangeal fracture in the home setting as a result of
      crush and laceration injuries. Salter-Harris type II fractures of the proximal
      phalanx are the most common type of finger fracture. An unmineralized physis is
      biomechanically weaker compared with the surrounding ligamentous structures and
      mature bone, which make fractures about the physis likely. A thorough physical
      examination is necessary to assess the digital cascade for signs of rotational
      deformity and/or coronal malalignment. Plain radiographs of the hand and digits
      are sufficient to confirm a diagnosis of a phalangeal fracture. The management of
      phalangeal fractures is based on the initial severity of the injury and depends
      on the success of closed reduction techniques. Nondisplaced phalanx fractures are
      managed with splint immobilization. Stable, reduced phalanx fractures are
      immobilized but require close monitoring to ensure maintenance of fracture
      reduction. Unstable, displaced phalanx fractures require surgical management,
      preferably via closed reduction and percutaneous pinning.

PMID- 28594519
TI  - Pediatric Scaphoid Fractures.
AB  - Scaphoid fractures are the most common type of carpal injuries that occur in
      children and adolescents. The injury pattern seen in children and adolescents who
      have scaphoid fractures has recently shifted to resemble that of adults who have
      scaphoid fractures, with scaphoid waist fractures being the most common injury
      pattern. This shift has been attributed to increased body mass index in children
      and adolescents as well as more intense participation in extreme sports by both
      children and adolescents. The diagnosis of scaphoid fractures is based on both a
      clinical examination and radiographic fi ndings. If a scaphoid fracture is
      clinically suspected but initial radiographs are negative, cast immobilization
      followed by repeat imaging can lead to accurate diagnosis of the injury. MRI can
      aid in the diagnosis of a scaphoid injury in pediatric patients with incomplete
      ossifi cation of the scaphoid. Acute nondisplaced scaphoid fractures have a high
      rate of healing with cast immobilization; however, surgery should be considered
      in patients who have displaced scaphoid fractures with delayed presentation. In
      general, patients with scaphoid fractures who undergo appropriate treatment and
      achieve successful union have excellent long-term functional outcomes.

PMID- 28594520
TI  - Pediatric Metacarpal Fractures.
AB  - Metacarpal fractures account for 10% to 35% of all pediatric hand fractures.
      Pediatric metacarpal fractures commonly occur in patients aged 13 to 16 years,
      with most injuries sustained during sports activities. Pseudoepiphyses can be
      confused with metacarpal fractures; however, a careful physical examination can
      help physicians distinguish the two. Thumb metacarpal base fractures that involve
      the physis warrant special attention. Thumb metacarpal base fractures with
      lateral metaphyseal fragments and pediatric Bennett fracture variants (Salter
      Harris type III and type IV fractures) are unstable and require surgical
      management. Finger metacarpal base fractures, especially those in young children,
      are often the result of high-energ y injuries and should increase a physician's
      concern for compartment syndrome. Metacarpal shaft fractures can result from a
      simple bending moment; however, they also can result from a rotational force,
      which may cause finger crossover that will not remodel and requires reduction.
      Metacarpal neck fractures account for three-fourths of all finger metacarpal
      fractures, and increasing acceptable alignment of the index finger through the
      little finger metacarpal necks (10 degrees , 20 degrees , 30 degrees , and 40
      degrees  across the digits, respectively) is commonly recommended. Metacarpal
      head fractures are rare intra-articular injuries that require anatomic fixation
      and may be underappreciated in children because of the complex geometry and
      largely cartilaginous nature of the metacarpal head.

PMID- 28594521
TI  - Pediatric Distal Radius Fractures.
AB  - Distal radius fractures are the most common orthopaedic injury that occur in the
      pediatric population. The annual incidence of distal radius fractures has
      increased as a result of earlier participation in sporting activities, increased
      body mass index, and decreased bone mineral density. Most distal radius fractures
      are sustained after a fall onto an outstretched arm that results in axial
      compression on the extremity or from direct trauma to the extremity. Physeal
      fractures of the distal radius are described based on the Salter-Harris
      classification system. Extraphyseal fractures of the distal radius are described
      as incomplete or complete based on the amount of cortical involvement. A thorough
      physical examination of the upper extremity is necessary to rule out any
      associated injuries. PA and lateral radiographs of the wrist usually are
      sufficient to diagnose a distal radius fracture. The management of distal radius
      fractures is based on several factors, including patient age, fracture pattern,
      and the amount of growth remaining. Nonsurgical management is the most common
      treatment option for patients who have distal radius fractures because marked
      potential for remodeling exists. If substantial angulation or displacement is
      present, closed reduction maneuvers with or without percutaneous pinning should
      be performed. Patients with physeal fractures of the distal radius that may
      result in malunion who present more than 10 days postinjury should not undergo
      manipulation of any kind because of the increased risk for physeal arrest.

PMID- 28594522
TI  - Skeletally Immature Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: Controversies and
      Management.
AB  - At one time, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in skeletally immature
      patients were considered rare. The recommended treatment option for skeletally
      immature patients with ACL tears was to modify activities until skeletal
      maturity, at which point definitive ACL reconstruction could be safely performed.
      The management of ACL tears in skeletally immature patients has evolved as a
      result of the increased frequency of ACL tears in younger patients and an
      increased awareness for the potential development or worsening of meniscal tears,
      chondral lesions, and degenerative changes that occur with the "wait-and-fix
      later" approach. The surgical options for ACL reconstruction in skeletally
      immature patients include physeal-sparing, partial transphyseal, and complete
      transphyseal techniques. The timing and ideal technique for ACL reconstruction in
      skeletally immature patients are controversial. Accurate assessment of skeletal
      growth remaining and concerns for iatrogenic growth disturbances continually
      challenge treating physicians. Similar controversies with regard to the treatment
      of skeletally immature patients who have partial ACL tears or congenital absence
      of the ACL also exist.

PMID- 28594523
TI  - Congenital Scoliosis: A Case-Based Approach.
AB  - Congenital scoliosis is lateral curvature of the spine caused by vertebral
      anomalies. Congenital scoliosis is associated with congenital anomalies of other
      organ systems. Traditionally, treatment options for patients with congenital
      scoliosis focused on posterior spinal fusion. Current surgical treatment options
      for young children include growing rods, vertical expandable prosthetic titanium
      ribs, and, most recently, magnetic rods. Hemivertebrae resection is an important
      early treatment option for patients who have a hemivertebra. Intraoperative
      navigation may be an important tool that can be used to improve the accuracy of
      pedicle screw placement in patients who have abnormal pedicles.

PMID- 28594524
TI  - Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Update on Bracing, Surgical Techniques, and
      Patient Safety.
AB  - The primary goal in the management of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is to
      prevent the progression of spinal deformity either with the use of a brace or
      with surgery. The goals of surgery, if indicated, are to correct the spinal
      deformity safely and to preserve overall spinal balance and as many motion
      segments as possible, which maximizes the long-term health of a patient's spine.
      Recently, tremendous advances have been made in the surgical techniques that are
      used to correct adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, and improved tools have allowed
      surgeons to perform spinal deformity surgery as safely and with as few
      complications as possible. Surgeons should be aware of recent evidence that
      demonstrates the efficacy of bracing in patients who have adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis. In addition, surgeons should understand recent advances in spinal
      deformity surgery with regard to fusion level selection, implant placement, three
      dimensional deformity correction, and techniques that are used to minimize
      perioperative complications.

PMID- 28594525
TI  - Update in Pediatric Musculoskeletal Infections: When It Is, When It Isn't, and
      What to Do.
AB  - Musculoskeletal infections, including osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and
      pyomyositis, are a substantial cause of morbidity in children and adolescents.
      The increased virulence of infectious agents and the increased prevalence of
      antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, particularly methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus, have resulted in a more complicated clinical course for
      diagnosis and management, which is evidenced by an increased length of hospital
      stays, incidence of complications, and number of surgical interventions.
      Musculoskeletal infections are a challenge for surgeons because they vary
      substantially in their presentation and in their required treatment, which is
      based on the causative organism, the location of the infection, and the age of
      the patient. The necessity for a prompt diagnosis is complicated by several
      diseases that may mimic musculoskeletal infection, including transient synovitis,
      autoimmune arthritis, and tumors. Recent innovations in diagnosis and management
      have provided surgeons with new options to differentiate musculoskeletal
      infections from these rapidly evolving disease pathologies. As diagnostic and
      treatment modalities improve, collaboration among surgeons from multiple
      disciplines is required to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidelines
      that minimize the effect of musculoskeletal infection and optimize clinical
      outcomes for patients.

PMID- 28594526
TI  - The Four Most Common Types of Knee Cartilage Damage Encountered in Practice: How
      and Why Orthopaedic Surgeons Manage Them.
AB  - Cartilage damage of the knee is common and may present in patients as a variety
      of symptoms. These conditions can be classified based on location, etiology,
      and/or pathophysiology. A systematic approach to the evaluation and
      classification of chondral injuries helps improve definitive management. The four
      most common types of knee cartilage damage are osteochondritis dissecans,
      incidental chondral defects, patellofemoral defects, and defects encountered
      after meniscectomy.

PMID- 28594527
TI  - Management of Patellofemoral Arthritis: From Cartilage Restoration to
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - The management of patellofemoral cartilage lesions is controversial and should
      begin with a comprehensive nonsurgical treatment plan. Patients with
      patellofemoral cartilage lesions in whom nonsurgical treatment fails may be
      candidates for surgical treatment. Surgical treatment strategies for the
      management of patellofemoral cartilage lesions are guided by the size, quality,
      and location of the defect. Recent advancements in cartilage restoration and
      arthroplasty techniques as well as appropriate patient selection and meticulous
      surgical technique have resulted in promising outcomes for patients with
      patellofemoral cartilage lesions who undergo surgical treatment.

PMID- 28594528
TI  - International Perspective on Revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction:
      What Have We Been Missing?
AB  - Primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a common orthopaedic
      procedure. A graft failure rate of 5% to 10% after primary ACL reconstruction has
      resulted in an increased need for revision ACL reconstruction. ACL reconstruction
      failure etiologies include trauma, technical errors, and biologic factors. Based
      on the current literature, the outcomes of revision ACL reconstruction are
      clearly inferior compared with those of primary reconstruction. A thorough
      patient evaluation, including surgical history, a physical examination, and
      imaging studies, is crucial in the assessment of a failed ACL reconstruction.
      Tunnel malposition, which is a technical error, is the most common reason for ACL
      reconstruction failure. Tunnel positioning and widening are important factors to
      consider in the decision to perform either one-stage or two-stage revision ACL
      reconstruction. Other concomitant factors such as malalignment, pathologic
      posterior tibial slope, and meniscal or ligamentous deficiency (in particular,
      deficiency of the anterolateral ligament) must be considered and addressed to
      achieve an optimal outcome. Patients who have a positive pivot shift test and
      rotational instability may require extra-articular anterolateral ligament
      reconstruction. In addition, patients who have severe pathologic tibial slope and
      anterior tibial translation may require a tibial deflexion osteotomy.

PMID- 28594529
TI  - Concussion in Sports: What Do Orthopaedic Surgeons Need to Know?
AB  - A concussion is a relatively common sports-related injury that affects athletes
      of all ages. Although not expected to replace sports medicine physicians and
      neurologists with regard to the management of concussions, orthopaedic surgeons,
      particularly those who are fellowship-trained in sports medicine, must have a
      current knowledge base of what a concussion is, how a concussion is diagnosed,
      and how a concussion should be managed. Orthopaedic surgeons should understand
      the pathophysiology, assessment, and management of concussion so that they have a
      basic comprehension of this injury that is at the forefront of the academic
      literature and North American media. This understanding will prepare orthopaedic
      surgeons to work in concert with and assist sports medicine physicians, athletic
      trainers, and physical therapists in providing comprehensive care for athletes
      with a concussion.

PMID- 28594530
TI  - Key Concepts of Musculoskeletal Infection.
AB  - Over the past few decades, musculoskeletal infections have increased in both
      incidence and severity. The clinical manifestations of musculoskeletal infections
      range from isolated osteomyelitis to multisite infections with systemic
      complications. Although this increased incidence of musculoskeletal infections
      correlates with the increased incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus infections, other nonresistant infectious organisms have been associated
      with severe musculoskeletal infections; this finding supports the likelihood that
      an antibiotic resistance profile is not a major factor in bacterial virulence.
      Instead, a multitude of virulence factors allow infectious organisms to
      manipulate and evade the immune response of the host. Organisms such as S aureus
      and Streptococcus pyogenes are able to hijack the acute phase response of the
      host, which allows for protected proliferation and dissemination. The serum
      factors produced by the acute phase response, including interleukin-6, C-reactive
      protein, erythrocytes/fibrinogen, and platelets, can be used to assess
      musculoskeletal infection severity and monitor treatment. Bacterial genome
      sequencing has identified virulence factors in a wide variety of clinical
      manifestations of musculoskeletal infections and may help identify targets for
      clinical therapy. Currently, however, the management of musculoskeletal
      infections relies on accurate organism identification and a thorough recognition
      of the sites of infection and the tissues that are involved. MRI aids in the
      localization of musculoskeletal infection and identification of sites that
      require surgical debridement.

PMID- 28594531
TI  - Soft-Tissue Tumors: A Pictorial- and Case-Based Guide to Diagnosis and
      Management.
AB  - General orthopaedic surgeons must learn how to appropriately evaluate patients
      with soft-tissue masses who present at their office. Although the incidence of
      benign soft-tissue sarcomas substantially outnumbers that of malignant soft
      tissue sarcomas, the mismanagement of soft-tissue tumors markedly increases a
      patient's morbidity. The appropriate use of imaging modalities helps general
      orthopaedic surgeons accurately diagnose a soft-tissue mass, initiate appropriate
      management of a soft-tissue mass, and gain a better understanding of which
      patients with soft-tissue lesions should be referred to an orthopaedic
      oncologist.

PMID- 28594532
TI  - What's Wrong With the Bone? An Overview of Metabolic and Neoplastic Bone
      Conditions.
AB  - The evaluation of any orthopaedic condition often begins with obtaining plain
      radiographs. Fortuitously, plain radiographs provide surgeons with direct
      information on the biologic activity and, therefore, the aggressiveness of any
      bone lesion. More advanced imaging modalities may fail to elucidate the problem
      and may even obscure the diagnosis. The accurate interpretation of the
      aggressiveness of a bone lesion on plain radiographs is the first step in
      establishing a differential diagnosis for any bone lesion and, often, may result
      in a correct diagnosis without the need for additional imaging studies. A
      thorough understanding of the radiographic classification of bone lesions will
      allow surgeons to accurately diagnose and manage metabolic bone disease, benign
      bone lesions, and malignant bone lesions.

PMID- 28594533
TI  - Implementation of TeamSTEPPS in Orthopaedic Surgery.
AB  - An Institute of Medicine report published in 2000 brought attention to the
      devastating consequences of medical errors. The report estimated that 98,000
      deaths occurred in US hospitals each year as a result of medical errors and
      spawned investigations into factors that are associated with medical errors as
      well as strategies to avoid them. Taking cues from high-reliability
      organizations, such as the airline industry, evidence-based tools were developed
      to minimize human risk factors and foster teamwork, communication, and other
      skills that are essential to patient safety and quality. Orthopaedic surgeons are
      in a unique position to advocate for patients and to lead healthcare teams
      through the cultural changes that are necessary to avoid harm and improve
      outcomes. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has made a commitment to
      educate interdisciplinary healthcare teams and uses TeamSTEPPS to educate
      orthopaedic surgeons on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary
      to develop teamwork and improve patient safety and the quality of care.
      Orthopaedic surgeons should understand the need for improved teamwork and the
      resources that are available to shape the cultural changes that are necessary to
      avoid harm and improve outcomes.

PMID- 28594534
TI  - Patient-Reported Outcome Metrics in Total Joint Arthroplasty.
AB  - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes several provisions that
      focus on improving the delivery of health care in the United States. Reducing
      overall healthcare costs and improving the quality of care delivered are two
      overarching themes of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. An
      evaluation of quality in total joint arthroplasty focuses on three main areas:
      complications, readmissions, and, more recently, patient-reported outcomes.
      Patient-reported outcomes allow surgeons and patients to objectively document
      pain relief and functional gain after total joint arthroplasty. Surgeons, groups,
      or hospitals that commit to the collection of patient-reported outcomes must
      consider which patient-reported outcomes to capture, the workflow and timing of
      postoperative patient-reported outcome collection, and how to minimize the burden
      of patient-reported outcome collection on both patients and surgeons.

PMID- 28594535
TI  - Collaborative Orthopaedic Research Between and Within Institutions.
AB  - Collaborative research is common in many medical disciplines; however, the field
      of orthopaedics has been relatively slow to adopt this type of research approach.
      Collaborative research efforts can occur between multiple institutions and, in
      some instances, may benefit from subspecialty society sponsorship. Collaborative
      research efforts between several research spheres within a single institution
      also can be advantageous. Collaborative research has many benefits, including a
      larger number of patients in studies, more power in the research, and better
      generalizability. In addition, collaborative research efforts allow resources to
      be pooled within and between institutions. The challenges of collaborative
      research include data management, funding, and the publication of manuscripts
      that have many authors.

PMID- 28594536
TI  - Surgeon-Patient Communication: The Key to Patient Satisfaction, Patient-Centered
      Care, and Shared Decision Making.
AB  - The surgeon-patient relationship is rapidly evolving from surgeon-centric to
      patient-centric. External forces, such as the Affordable Care Act and the
      unsustainable growth of healthcare costs in the United States, have disrupted the
      old model of medical care. Effective communication between surgeons and patients
      as well as patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, and shared decision making
      are essential components of the patient-centered care paradigm. Effective
      communication carries high stakes for surgeons, including increased surgeon
      satisfaction and a reduced risk of surgeon burnout and malpractice litigation.
      Communication skills are one of the six Accreditation Council for Graduate
      Medical Education core competencies, and an assessment of communication skills is
      now included in a surgeon's summative evaluations for employment, compensation,
      licensing, and maintenance of certification.

PMID- 28594537
TI  - Surgeon-Patient Communication: Disclosing Unanticipated Medical Outcomes and
      Errors.
AB  - The disclosure of unanticipated medical outcomes and errors is essential as
      physicians strive to create a safer, higher quality healthcare delivery system.
      Physicians and other healthcare providers should use an organized approach to
      guide the disclosure of unanticipated medical outcomes and errors. An expression
      of sympathy or an apology on behalf of a physician depends on whether the medical
      outcome or error occurred after appropriate care (maloccurrence) or there was a
      deviation from the standard of care (malpractice).

PMID- 28594538
TI  - Getting Research Published and Achieving the Highest Impact Factor.
AB  - High-quality surgical clinical trials are fundamental to the delivery of evidence
      based orthopaedics; however, fewer than 1% of patients who undergo surgery
      worldwide are enrolled in surgical clinical trials. Advances in orthopaedic
      surgery depend on the creativity and innovation of researchers who investigate,
      develop, and execute local, national, and international surgical clinical trials,
      all of which will ultimately affect surgical practice and patient care. Surgeons
      should understand the challenges of surgical clinical trials, including
      identifying important research questions; getting support for ideas; establishing
      clinical research networks; collecting, collating, and analyzing data; as well as
      getting research published and achieving the highest impact factor. Surgeons also
      should understand how research material should be formatted and presented in a
      manuscript that is submitted for publication as well as the elements an editor
      seeks in a research manuscript.

PMID- 28594539
TI  - SERS Assay for Copper(II) Ions Based on Dual Hot-Spot Model Coupling with MarR
      Protein: New Cu2+-Specific Biorecognition Element.
AB  - We have developed a rapid and ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering
      (SERS) assay for Cu2+ detection using the multiple antibiotic resistance
      regulator (MarR) as specific bridging molecules in a SERS hot-spot model. In the
      assay, Cu2+ induces formation of MarR tetramers, which provide Au nanoparticle
      (NP)-AuNP bridges, resulting in the formation of SERS hot spots. 4
      Mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) was used as a Raman reporter. The addition of Cu2+
      increased the Raman intensity of 4-MBA. Use of a dual hot-spot signal
      amplification strategy based on AuNP-AgNP heterodimers combined through antigen
      antibody reactions increased the sensitivity of the sensing platform by 50-fold.
      The proposed method gave a linear response for Cu2+ detection in the range of 0.5
      1000 nM, with a detection limit of 0.18 nM, which is 5 orders of magnitude lower
      than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit for Cu2+ in drinking water
      (20 MUM). In addition, all analyses can be completed in less than 15 min. The
      high sensitivity, high specificity, and rapid detection capacity of the SERS
      assay therefore provide a combined advantage over current assays.

PMID- 28594540
TI  - Noradrenergic Modulation of Dopamine Transmission Evoked by Electrical
      Stimulation of the Locus Coeruleus in the Rat Brain.
AB  - Central norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) are involved in a variety of
      physiological functions and behaviors. Accumulating evidence suggests that NE
      neurons originating from the locus coeruleus (LC) innervate DA neurons of the
      ventral tegmental area (VTA) and influence VTA-DA neural activity. However, the
      underlying mechanisms of how LC-NE regulates DA transmission via VTA-DA neurons
      remain largely unexplored. Herein, we investigated how electrical stimulation of
      the LC modulates VTA-DA neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). For
      this study, catecholamine release in the NAc and VTA evoked by electrical
      stimulation of the LC in urethane-anesthetized rats was simultaneously monitored
      with carbon-fiber microelectrodes using in vivo multichannel fast-scan cyclic
      voltammetry for comparison of its extracellular regulation. Pharmacological,
      anatomical, and electrochemical evidence suggest that electrical stimulation of
      the LC evokes NE release in the VTA and activates VTA-DA neurons, resulting in DA
      release in the NAc. The electrically evoked DA in the NAc was regulated by D2
      receptors and DA transporters (DAT) as well as alpha1-adrenergic receptors in the
      VTA, whereas NE release in the VTA was regulated by alpha2-adrenergic receptors
      and NE transporters (NET) not by D2 receptors or DAT. These results suggest that
      electrical stimulation of LC modulates VTA-DA neurons and DA transmission in the
      NAc via NE receptors.

PMID- 28594541
TI  - Direct Visualization of Nucleation and Growth Processes of Solid Electrolyte
      Interphase Film Using in Situ Atomic Force Microscopy.
AB  - An understanding of the formation mechanism of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI)
      film at the nanoscale is paramount because it is one of the key issues at
      interfaces in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, we explored the nucleation,
      growth, and formation of SEI film on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG)
      substrate in ionic liquid-based electrolytes 1-butyl-1-methyl-pyrrolidinium
      bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide ([BMP]+[FSI]-) and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium
      bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([BMP]+[TFSI]-) by in situ atomic force
      microscopy (AFM) and found that the types of anions have significant influence on
      the structure of the formed SEI. In [BMP]+[FSI]- containing LiFSI, a compact and
      thin SEI film prefers to grow in the plane of HOPG substrate, while a rough and
      loose film tends to form in [BMP]+[TFSI]- containing LiTFSI. On the basis of in
      situ AFM observations, the relationship between the SEI structure and the
      electrochemical performance was clarified.

PMID- 28594542
TI  - Development of Hybrid Ultrafiltration Membranes with Improved Water Separation
      Properties Using Modified Superhydrophilic Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticles.
AB  - Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are being intensively explored as filler
      materials for polymeric membranes primarily due to their high polymer affinity,
      large pore volumes, and alterable pore functionalities, but the development of
      MOF-based ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for water treatment lags behind. Herein,
      poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA)-functionalized MOF UiO-66-PSBMA was
      developed, and incorporated into polysulfone (PSf) casting solution to fabricate
      novel hybrid UF membranes via phase-inversion method. The resultant UiO-66
      PSBMA/PSf membrane exhibited significantly improved water flux (up to 602 L m-2 h
      1), which was 2.5 times that of the pristine PSf membrane (240 L m-2 h-1) and 2
      times that of UiO-66-NH2/PSf membrane (294 L m-2 h-1), whereas the rejection of
      UiO-66-PSBMA/PSf membrane was still maintained at a high level. Moreover, UiO-66
      PSBMA/PSf membrane exhibited improved antifouling performance. The improvement of
      membrane performances could be attributed to the well-tailored properties of UiO
      66-PSBMA. On one hand, the excellent dispersion and compatibility of UiO-66-PSBMA
      ensured the formation of a uniform structure with few defects. On the other hand,
      the superhydrophilicity of UiO-66-PSBMA could accelerate the exchange rate
      between solvent and nonsolvent, resulting in a more hydrophilic surface and a
      more porous structure. Besides, UiO-66-PSBMA nanoparticles in the thin layer
      provided additional flow paths for water permeation through their hydrophilic
      porous structure as well as the tiny interspace between PSf matrix. This study
      indicates the great application potential of UiO-66-PSBMA in fabricating hybrid
      UF membranes and provides a useful guideline to integrate other modified
      hydrophilic MOFs to design UF membranes for water treatment.

PMID- 28594544
TI  - CuV2S4: A High Rate Capacity and Stable Anode Material for Sodium Ion Batteries.
AB  - The ternary compound CuV2S4 exhibits an excellent performance as anode material
      for sodium ion batteries with a high reversible capacity of 580 mAh g-1 at 0.7 A
      g-1 after 300 cycles. A Coulombic efficiency of ~99% is achieved after the third
      cycle. Increase of the C-rate leads to a drop of the capacity, but a full
      recovery is observed after switching back to the initial C-rate. In the early
      stages of Na uptake first Cu+ is reduced and expelled from the electrode as
      nanocrystalline metallic Cu. An increase of the Na content leads to a full
      conversion of the material with nanocrystalline Cu particles and elemental V
      embedded in a Na2S matrix. The formation of Na2S is evidenced by 23Na MAS NMR
      spectra and X-ray powder diffraction. During the charge process the
      nanocrystalline Cu particles are retained, but no crystalline materials are
      formed. At later stages of cycling the reaction mechanism changes which is
      accompanied by the formation of copper(I) sulfide. The presence of
      nanocrystalline metallic Cu and/or Cu2S improves the electrical conductivity,
      leading to superior cycling and rate capability.

PMID- 28594543
TI  - Nickel-Catalyzed C-Alkylation of Nitroalkanes with Unactivated Alkyl Iodides.
AB  - Enabled by nickel catalysis, a mild and general catalytic method for C-alkylation
      of nitroalkanes with unactivated alkyl iodides is described. Compatible with
      primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl iodides; and tolerant of a wide range of
      functional groups, this method allows rapid access to diverse nitroalkanes.

PMID- 28594545
TI  - Dye Wastewater Cleanup by Graphene Composite Paper for Tailorable
      Supercapacitors.
AB  - Currently, the energy crisis and environmental pollution are two critical
      challenges confronted by humans. The development of smart strategies to address
      the above-mentioned issues simultaneously is significant. As the main accomplices
      for water pollution, several kinds of organic dyes with intrinsic redox
      functional groups such as phenothiazines derivatives, anthraquinone, and indigoid
      dyes are potential candidates for the replacement of the conventional
      pseudocapacitive materials. In this work, three typical organic dyes can be
      efficiently removed by a facile adsorption procedure using reduced graphene oxide
      coated cellulose fiber (rGO@CF) paper. Flexible supercapacitors based on
      dye/rGO@CF electrodes exhibit excellent electrochemical performances that are
      superior to or comparable with those of conventional pseudocapacitive materials
      based devices, presenting a new type of promising electrode materials. Moreover,
      benefiting from the high flexibility and considerable mechanical strength of the
      graphene composite paper, the operating potential and capacitance of the devices
      can be easily adjusted by tailoring the hybrid electrodes into different specific
      shapes followed by rational integrating. The smart design of these dye/rGO@CF
      paper based electrodes shows that energy storage and environmental remediation
      can be achieved simultaneously.

PMID- 28594546
TI  - Neuropeptide VGF C-Terminal Peptide TLQP-62 Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced
      Memory Deficits and Anxiety-like and Depression-like Behaviors in Mice: The Role
      of BDNF/TrkB Signaling.
AB  - Peripheral inflammatory responses affect central nervous system (CNS) function,
      manifesting in symptoms of memory deficits, depression, and anxiety. Previous
      studies have revealed that neuropeptide VGF (nonacronymic) C-terminal peptide
      TLQP-62 rapidly reinforces brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin
      receptor kinase B (TrkB) signaling, regulating memory consolidation and
      antidepressant-like action. However, whether it is beneficial for
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuropsychiatric dysfunction in mice is unknown.
      Herein, we explored the involvement of BDNF/TrkB signaling and biochemical
      alterations in inflammatory or oxidative stress markers in the alleviating
      effects of TLQP-62 on LPS-induced neuropsychiatric dysfunction. The mice were
      treated with TLQP-62 (2 MUg/side) via intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection
      1 h before LPS (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) administration. Our results showed that a single
      treatment with LPS (0.5 mg/kg, i.p) is sufficient to produce recognition memory
      deficits (in the novel object recognition test), depression-like behavior (in the
      forced swim test and sucrose preference test), and anxiety-like behavior (in the
      elevated zero maze). However, pretreatment with TLQP-62 prevented LPS-induced
      behavioral dysfunction, neuroinflammatory, and oxidative responses. In addition,
      our results further demonstrated that a reduction in BDNF expression mediated by
      BDNF-shRNA lentivirus significantly blocked the effects of TLQP-62, suggesting
      the critical role of BDNF/TrkB signaling in the neuroprotective effects of TLQP
      62 in the mice. In conclusion, TLQP-62 could be a therapeutic approach for
      neuropsychiatric disorders, which are closely associated with neuroinflammation
      and oxidative stress.

PMID- 28594547
TI  - Influence of the Surface Roughness of Platinum Electrodes on the Calibration of
      the Electrochemical Quartz-Crystal Nanobalance.
AB  - The electrochemical quartz-crystal nanobalance (EQCN) is an in situ technique
      that measures mass changes (Deltam) associated with interfacial phenomena.
      Analysis of Deltam sheds light on the mass balance (in addition to the charge and
      energy balances) and provides new insight into the nature of electrochemical
      processes. The EQCN measures changes in frequency (Deltaf) of a quartz-crystal
      resonator, which are converted into Deltam using the Sauerbrey equation
      containing the characteristic constant (Cf). The value of Cf is determined by
      physical parameters of the crystal and refers to an atomically smooth surface.
      However, real resonators are not smooth and electrodes have their intrinsic
      roughness. Thus, the conversion of Deltaf to Deltam should be done using an
      experimentally determined characteristic constant (Cf,exp) for a given value of
      the surface roughness factor (R). Here, we calibrate the system using Ag
      electrodeposition on Pt electrodes of gradually increasing R; the latter is
      adjusted through Pt electrodeposition. The surface morphology of the Pt
      substrates prior to and after Ag electrodeposition is examined using atomic force
      microscopy. The values of Cf,exp are determined by analyzing the slopes of charge
      density versus Deltaf plots for the Ag electrodeposition. They are different than
      Cf and increase logarithmically with R. The Cf and Cf,exp values are used in a
      comparative analysis of the mass changes (deltaDeltam) for complete cyclic
      voltammetry profiles covering the 0.05-1.40 V range. This reveals that the
      employment of Cf instead of Cf,exp provides inaccurate values of deltaDeltam, and
      the magnitude of the discrepancy increases with R.

PMID- 28594549
TI  - PlayMolecule ProteinPrepare: A Web Application for Protein Preparation for
      Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - Protein preparation is a critical step in molecular simulations that consists of
      refining a Protein Data Bank (PDB) structure by assigning titration states and
      optimizing the hydrogen-bonding network. In this application note, we describe
      ProteinPrepare, a web application designed to interactively support the
      preparation of protein structures. Users can upload a PDB file, choose the
      solvent pH value, and inspect the resulting protonated residues and hydrogen
      bonding network within a 3D web interface. Protonation states are suggested
      automatically but can be manually changed using the visual aid of the hydrogen
      bonding network. Tables and diagrams provide estimated pKa values and charge
      states, with visual indication for cases where review is required. We expect the
      graphical interface to be a useful instrument to assess the validity of the
      preparation, but nevertheless, a script to execute the preparation offline with
      the High-Throughput Molecular Dynamics (HTMD) environment is also provided for
      noninteractive operations.

PMID- 28594548
TI  - CuH-Catalyzed Regioselective Intramolecular Hydroamination for the Synthesis of
      Alkyl-Substituted Chiral Aziridines.
AB  - This report details a general and enantioselective means for the synthesis of
      alkyl-substituted aziridines. This protocol offers a direct route for the
      synthesis of alkyl-substituted chiral aziridines from achiral starting materials.
      Readily accessed allylic hydroxylamine esters undergo copper hydride-catalyzed
      intramolecular hydroamination with a high degree of regio- and enantiocontrol to
      afford the aziridine products in good to excellent yields in highly
      enantioenriched form. The utility of the products derived from this method is
      further demonstrated through derivatization of the chiral aziridine products to
      obtain a diverse array of functionalized enantioenriched amines.

PMID- 28594551
TI  - Pressure-Enabled Synthesis of Hetero-Dimers and Hetero-Rods through Intraparticle
      Coalescence and Interparticle Fusion of Quantum-Dot-Au Satellite Nanocrystals.
AB  - This report presents the fabrication and pressure-driven processing of
      heterostructural nanocrystal superlattices (HNC-SLs) self-assembled from quantum
      dot-Au (QD-Au) satellite-type HNCs. In situ small/wide-angle X-ray scattering and
      electron microscopic measurements showed that the HNC-SLs underwent structural
      transformation at both atomic- and mesoscales during the pressure processing.
      Upon deviatoric stress-driven orientational migration, the intraparticle
      coalescence of Au satellites at QD surfaces transforms individual HNCs into
      heterodimers, whereas the interparticle fusion drives assembled HNCs into ordered
      heterorod arrays. These results demonstrate high-pressure-processing as a clean
      and fast means for conversion of HNCs into novel heteromaterials that are
      difficult to achieve through conventional synthetic routes.

PMID- 28594550
TI  - Methylseleninic Acid Prevents Patulin-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Nephrotoxicity
      via the Inhibition of Oxidative Stress and Inactivation of p53 and MAPKs.
AB  - Patulin is one of the common food-borne mycotoxins. Previous studies have
      demonstrated that patulin can cause diverse toxic effects in animals including
      hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. In the present study, we have addressed the
      protective effect of two forms of selenium compounds methylseleninic acid (MSeA)
      and sodium selenite on patulin-induced nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity using
      both in vitro and in vivo models. Results showed that MSeA at concentrations of 3
      5 MUM, not sodium selenite at the same concentrations, is capable of protecting
      against patulin-induced cytotoxicity in the cell culture model. Moreover, the
      hepatoprotective and nephroprotective effects of MSeA (2 mg/kg body weight, oral
      administration) on patulin-induced toxicity (10 mg/kg body weight,
      intraperitoneal injection) were also achieved in the animal model. A further
      mechanistic study revealed that the protective effect of MSeA on patulin-mediated
      toxicity is attributed to its ability to inhibit patulin-mediated ROS generation
      and inactivate p53 and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling
      pathways. Our findings support a possible usefulness of MSeA as a novel
      detoxicant to mitigate the toxicities of patulin.

PMID- 28594552
TI  - 1,2,4-Triazolo-[1,5-a]pyridine HIF Prolylhydroxylase Domain-1 (PHD-1) Inhibitors
      With a Novel Monodentate Binding Interaction.
AB  - Herein we describe the identification of 4-{[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridin-5
      yl}benzonitrile-based inhibitors of the hypoxia-inducible factor
      prolylhydroxylase domain-1 (PHD-1) enzyme. These inhibitors were shown to possess
      a novel binding mode by X-ray crystallography, in which the triazolo N1 atom
      coordinates in a hitherto unreported monodentate interaction with the active site
      Fe2+ ion, while the benzonitrile group accepts a hydrogen-bonding interaction
      from the side chain residue of Asn315. Further optimization led to potent PHD-1
      inhibitors with good physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties.

PMID- 28594554
TI  - Correction to Efficient Calculation of Electronic Absorption Spectra by Means of
      Intensity-Selected Time-Dependent Density Functional Tight Binding.

PMID- 28594553
TI  - Development of Protein Degradation Inducers of Androgen Receptor by Conjugation
      of Androgen Receptor Ligands and Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein Ligands.
AB  - Targeted protein degradation using small molecules is a novel strategy for drug
      development. We have developed hybrid molecules named specific and nongenetic
      inhibitor of apoptosis protein [IAP]-dependent protein erasers (SNIPERs) that
      recruit IAP ubiquitin ligases to degrade target proteins. Here, we show novel
      SNIPERs capable of inducing proteasomal degradation of the androgen receptor
      (AR). Through derivatization of the SNIPER(AR) molecule at the AR ligand and IAP
      ligand and linker, we developed 42a (SNIPER(AR)-51), which shows effective
      protein knockdown activity against AR. Consistent with the degradation of the AR
      protein, 42a inhibits AR-mediated gene expression and proliferation of androgen
      dependent prostate cancer cells. In addition, 42a efficiently induces caspase
      activation and apoptosis in prostate cancer cells, which was not observed in the
      cells treated with AR antagonists. These results suggest that SNIPER(AR)s could
      be leads for an anticancer drug against prostate cancers that exhibit AR
      dependent proliferation.

PMID- 28594555
TI  - Effect of Aging on the Absorption of Small Peptides in Spontaneously Hypertensive
      Rats.
AB  - In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of aging on the absorption
      of small peptides in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Three kinds of
      dipeptides, glycyl-sarcosine (Gly-Sar), Trp-His, and captopril (a
      dipeptidomimetic drug), a Gly-Sar-Sar tripeptide, a Gly-Sar-Sar-Sar tetrapeptide,
      and a Gly-Sar-Sar-Sar-Sar pentapeptide were administered at doses of 10 mg/kg
      each to 8- and 40-week-old SHRs. The peptides were all detected in their intact
      forms in the blood. There was a significantly promoted absorption of
      di/tripeptides in aged SHRs compared with young SHRs. In contrast, the absorption
      of tetra/pentapeptides was not affected by aging. PepT1 expression in the mid
      jejunum was significantly increased in 40-week-old SHRs compared with 8-week-old
      SHRs, whereas aging did not alter the expression of claudin-1, a tight junction
      related protein. Thus, the present results suggest that SHR aging may enhance the
      absorption of di/tripeptides through the enhanced PepT1 transport route, although
      oligopeptides may be absorbed in an age-independent manner.

PMID- 28594556
TI  - Theoretical Investigation of Metallic Heterofullerenes of Silicon and Germanium
      Mixed with Phosphorus and Arsenic Atoms M-A8E6, A = Si, Ge; E = P, As; and M =
      Cr, Mo, W.
AB  - Recently, metallic heterofullerenes were experimentally prepared from mixed Ge-As
      clusters and heavier elements of groups 14 and 15. We found that the shape of
      these heterofullerenes doped by transition metals appears to be a general
      structural motif for both silicon and germanium clusters when mixing with
      phosphorus and arsenic atoms. Structural identifications for MSi8P6, MSi8As6,
      MGe8P6, and MGe8As6 clusters, with M being a transition metal of group 6 (Cr, Mo
      and W), showed that most MA8E6 clusters, except for Cr-doped derivatives
      CrSi8As6, CrGe8P6, and CrGe8As6, exhibit a high-symmetry fullerene shape in which
      metal dopant is centered in a D3h A8E6 heterocage consisting of six A3E2
      pentagonal faces and three A2E2 rhombus faces. The stability of the MA8E6
      metallic heterofullerene is significantly enhanced by formation an electron
      configuration of [1S2 1P6 1D10 1F14 1G18 2S2 2P6 2D10] enclosing 68 electrons.
      The A8E6 heterocages give a great charge transfer (~4 electrons) to centered
      dopant, establishing subsequently a d10 configuration for metal, and as a
      consequence, it induces an additional stabilization of the resulting ME8P6
      fullerene in a high-symmetry D3h shape and completely quenches the high spin of
      the metal atom, finally yielding a singlet spin ground state.

PMID- 28594558
TI  - Dynamics of Dissolutive Wetting: A Molecular Dynamics Study.
AB  - Dissolutive wetting, i.e., dynamic wetting of a liquid droplet on dissolvable
      substrates, has been studied by molecular dynamics simulations. In dissolutive
      wetting, the geometry and properties of the solid-liquid interface evolve with
      the solid dissolving into the droplet; meanwhile, the droplet spreads on the
      receding solid surfaces. The droplets advance on the dissolvable substrate
      following different dynamic laws, compared with spreading on nondissolutive
      substrate. On the basis of molecular kinetic theory, we develop a theoretical
      model to reveal physical mechanisms behind the dissolutive wetting phenomena. We
      also find that solid particles are pulled by their hydration shells to dissolve
      into liquid, changing the flow field, the atomic structure, and the hydrogen bond
      network in the droplet. Our findings may help to comprehend the dynamics of
      dissolutive wetting and assist future design in practical applications.

PMID- 28594557
TI  - Long-Lived 13C2 Nuclear Spin States Hyperpolarized by Parahydrogen in Reversible
      Exchange at Microtesla Fields.
AB  - Parahydrogen is an inexpensive and readily available source of hyperpolarization
      used to enhance magnetic resonance signals by up to four orders of magnitude
      above thermal signals obtained at ~10 T. A significant challenge for applications
      is fast signal decay after hyperpolarization. Here we use parahydrogen-based
      polarization transfer catalysis at microtesla fields (first introduced as SABRE
      SHEATH) to hyperpolarize 13C2 spin pairs and find decay time constants of 12 s
      for magnetization at 0.3 mT, which are extended to 2 min at that same field, when
      long-lived singlet states are hyperpolarized instead. Enhancements over thermal
      at 8.5 T are between 30 and 170 fold (0.02 to 0.12% polarization). We control the
      spin dynamics of polarization transfer by choice of microtesla field, allowing
      for deliberate hyperpolarization of either magnetization or long-lived singlet
      states. Density functional theory calculations and experimental evidence identify
      two energetically close mechanisms for polarization transfer: First, a model that
      involves direct binding of the 13C2 pair to the polarization transfer catalyst
      and, second, a model transferring polarization through auxiliary protons in
      substrates.

PMID- 28594559
TI  - Anion Exchange on Cationic Surfactant Micelles, and a Speciation Model for
      Estimating Anion Removal on Micelles during Ultrafiltration of Water.
AB  - Surfactant micelles combined with ultrafiltration can partially, or sometimes
      nearly completely, separate various ionic and nonionic pollutants from water. To
      this end, the selectivity of aqueous micelles composed of either
      cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA+) bromide or cetylpyridinium (CP+) chloride toward
      many environmentally relevant anions (IO3-, F-, Cl-, HCO3-, NO2-, Br-, NO3-,
      H2PO4-, HPO42-, SO42-, and CrO42-) was investigated. Selectivity coefficients of
      CTA+ micelles (with respect to Br-) and CP+ micelle (with respect to Cl-) for
      these anions were evaluated using a simple thermodynamic ion exchange model. The
      sequence of anion affinity for the CTA+ micelles and for the CP+ micelles were
      the same, with decreasing affinity occurring in the order of: CrO42- > SO42- >
      HPO42- > NO3- > Br- > NO2- > Cl- > HCO3- > H2PO4- ~ F-. From the associated
      component mass balance and ion exchange (i.e., mass action) equations, an overall
      speciation model was developed to predict the distribution of all anions between
      the aqueous and micellar pseudophase for complex ionic mixtures. Experimental
      results of both artificial and real surface waters were in good agreement to
      model predictions. Further, the results indicated that micelles combined with
      ultrafiltration may be a potential technology for nutrient and other pollutant
      removal from natural or effluent waters.

PMID- 28594560
TI  - Reflective Metasurfaces for Incoherent Light To Bring Computer Graphics Tricks to
      Optical Systems.
AB  - The normal mapping technique is widely used in computer graphics to visualize
      three-dimensional (3D) objects displayed on a flat screen. Taking advantage of
      optical properties of metasurfaces, which provide a highly efficient approach for
      manipulation of incident light wavefront, we have designed a metasurface to
      implement diffuse reflection and used the concept of normal mapping to control
      its scattering properties. As a proof of principle, we have fabricated and
      characterized a flat diffuse metasurface imitating lighting and shading effects
      of a 3D cube. The 3D image is displayed directly on the illuminated metasurface
      and it is brighter than a standard white paper by up to 2.4 times. The designed
      structure performs equally well under coherent and incoherent illumination. The
      normal mapping approach based on metasurfaces can complement traditional optical
      engineering methods of surface profiling and gradient refractive index
      engineering in the design of 3D security features, high-performance planar
      optical diffusers, novel optical elements, and displays.

PMID- 28594562
TI  - Correction to "Ionomers of Intrinsic Microporosity: In Silico Development of
      Ionic-Functionalized Gas-Separation Membranes".

PMID- 28594561
TI  - Steering Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Molecular Nanostructures via Halogen
      Exchange.
AB  - In the field of self-assembly, the quest for gaining control over the
      supramolecular architecture without affecting the functionality of the individual
      molecular building blocks is intrinsically challenging. By using a combination of
      synthetic chemistry, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, optical
      absorption measurements, and exciton theory, we demonstrate that halogen exchange
      in carbocyanine dye molecules allows for fine-tuning the diameter of the self
      assembled nanotubes formed by these molecules, while hardly affecting the
      molecular packing determined by hydrophobic/hydrophilic interactions. Our
      findings open a unique way to study size effects on the optical properties and
      exciton dynamics of self-assembled systems under well-controlled conditions.

PMID- 28594563
TI  - Foaming Behavior of Polymer-Coated Colloids: The Need for Thick Liquid Films.
AB  - The current study examined the foaming behavior of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)
      silica composite nanoparticles. Individually, the two components, PVP and silica
      nanoparticles, exhibited very little potential to partition at the air-water
      interface, and as such, stable foams could not be generated. In contrast,
      combining the two components to form silica-PVP core-shell nanocomposites led to
      good "foamability" and long-term foam stability. Addition of an electrolyte
      (Na2SO4) was shown to have a marked effect on the foam stability. By varying the
      concentration of electrolyte between 0 and 0.55 M, three regions of foam
      stability were observed: rapid foam collapse at low electrolyte concentrations,
      delayed foam collapse at intermediate concentrations, and long-term stability
      (~10 days) at the highest electrolyte concentration. The observed transitions in
      foam stability were better understood by studying the microstructure and physical
      and mechanical properties of the particle-laden interface. For rapidly collapsing
      foams the nanocomposite particles were weakly retained at the air-water
      interface. The interfaces in this case were characterized as being "liquid-like"
      and the foams collapsed within 100 min. At an intermediate electrolyte
      concentration (0.1 M), delayed foam collapse over ~16 h was observed. The
      particle-laden interface was shown to be pseudo-solid-like as measured under
      shear and compression. The increased interfacial rigidity was attributed to
      adhesion between interpenetrating polymer layers. For the most stable foam
      (prepared in 0.55 M Na2SO4), the ratio of the viscoelastic moduli, G'/G", was
      found to be equal to ~3, confirming a strongly elastic interfacial layer. Using
      optical microscopy, enhanced foam stability was assessed and attributed to a
      change in the mechanism of foam collapse. Bubble-bubble coalescence was found to
      be significantly retarded by the aggregation of nanocomposite particles, with the
      long-term destabilization being recognized to result from bubble coarsening. For
      rapidly destabilizing foams, the contribution from bubble-bubble coalescence was
      shown to be more significant.

PMID- 28594564
TI  - Dynamic Modulation of Radiative Heat Transfer beyond the Blackbody Limit.
AB  - Dynamic control of electromagnetic heat transfer without changing mechanical
      configuration opens possibilities in intelligent thermal management in nanoscale
      systems. We confirmed by experiment that the radiative heat transfer is
      dynamically modulated beyond the blackbody limit. The near-field electromagnetic
      heat exchange mediated by phonon-polariton is controlled by the metal-insulator
      transition of tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide. The functionalized heat flux is
      transferred over an area of 1.6 cm2 across a 370 nm gap, which is maintained by
      the microfabricated spacers and applied pressure. The uniformity of the gap is
      validated by optical interferometry, and the measured heat transfer is well
      modeled as the sum of the radiative and the parasitic conductive components. The
      presented methodology to form a nanometric gap with functional heat flux paves
      the way to the smart thermal management in various scenes ranging from highly
      integrated systems to macroscopic apparatus.

PMID- 28594565
TI  - Structure Formation in Langmuir Peptide Films As Revealed from Coarse-Grained
      Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - Molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with the Martini coarse-grained
      model have been used to investigate the (nonequilibrium) behavior of helical 22
      residue poly(gamma-benzyl-l-glutamate) (PBLG) peptides at the water/vapor
      interface. Preformed PBLG mono- or bilayers homogeneously covering the water
      surface laterally collapse in tens of nanoseconds, exposing significant
      proportions of empty water surface. This behavior was also observed in recent AFM
      experiments at similar areas per monomer, where a complete coverage had been
      assumed in earlier work. In the simulations, depending on the area per monomer,
      either elongated clusters or fibrils form, whose heights (together with the
      portion of empty water surface) increase over time. Peptides tend to align with
      respect to the fiber axis or with the major principal axis of the cluster,
      respectively. The aspect ratio of the cluster observed is 1.7 and, hence,
      comparable to though somewhat smaller than the aspect ratio of the peptides in
      alpha-helical conformation, which is 2.2. The heights of the fibrils is 3 nm
      after 20 ns and increases to 4.5 nm if the relaxation time is increased by 2
      orders of magnitude, in agreement with the experiment. Aggregates with heights of
      about 3 or 4.5 nm are found to correspond to local bi- or trilayer structures,
      respectively.

PMID- 28594566
TI  - Severe Hypoglycemia Before Landing in a Patient with Type 1 Diabetes Using Sensor
      Augmented Pump Therapy.

PMID- 28594567
TI  - Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a
      Precursor for Epithelial Cancers: Understanding and Translation to Early Therapy.

PMID- 28594568
TI  - Repellents and New "Spaces of Concern" in Global Health.
AB  - Today, malaria prevention hinges upon two domestic interventions: insecticide
      treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying. As mosquitoes grow resistant to
      these tools, however, novel approaches to vector control have become a priority
      area of malaria research and development. Spatial repellency, a volumetric mode
      of action that seeks to reduce disease transmission by creating an atmosphere
      inimical to mosquitoes, represents one way forward. Drawing from research that
      sought to develop new repellent chemicals in conversation with users from sub
      Saharan Africa and the United States, we consider the implications of a non
      insecticidal paradigm of vector control for how we understand the political
      ecology of malaria.

PMID- 28594569
TI  - Presence of Human Pathogens in Produce from Retail Markets in Northern Germany.
AB  - Two hundred fresh produce samples (cucumber, carrots, herbs, leaf lettuce, and
      ready-to-eat mixed salad leaves) were obtained from retail in northern Germany in
      2015. These were investigated for microbial contamination and the presence of
      foodborne pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella serovars,
      presumptive Bacillus (B.) cereus, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli
      using culture-dependent (enrichment, plating on selective media) and -independent
      (real-time polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) techniques. Overall, our results
      showed that the fresh produce samples generally showed high mean aerobic
      mesophilic bacterial counts of between 7 and 8 log10 cfu/g. However, there was
      also a considerable variation in total aerobic bacterial counts between different
      product samples. Although real-time PCR signals for pathogenic E. coli were
      detected in 14.0% of total samples analyzed, only one (0.5%) Shiga toxin
      producing E. coli isolate of serotype O26:H11 was recovered from mixed salad
      leaves and contained stx1, stx2, and eae genes. Two L. monocytogenes isolates (1%
      of total samples) were recovered from packaged mixed salad leaves and belonged to
      PCR serogroups IIb and IVb, respectively. One Salmonella isolate (0.5%) was
      recovered after selective enrichment also from mixed salad leaves and it was
      identified as Salmonella Szentes serotype 16:k:1,2. Overall the incidence of
      foodborne pathogens on the northern German retail market in 2015 was very low.

PMID- 28594570
TI  - Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Retinopathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. A
      Longitudinal Study.
AB  - RATIONALE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with several
      pathophysiological deficits found in diabetic retinopathy (DR). Hence, it's
      plausible that OSA could play a role in the pathogenesis of sight-threatening DR
      (STDR). OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship between OSA and DR in patients
      with type 2 diabetes and to assess whether OSA is associated with its
      progression. METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted in diabetes clinics
      within two U.K. hospitals. Patients known to have any respiratory disorder
      (including OSA) were excluded. DR was assessed using two-field 45-degree retinal
      images for each eye. OSA was assessed using a home-based multichannel
      cardiorespiratory device. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 230 patients
      were included. STDR and OSA prevalence rates were 36.1% and 63.9%, respectively.
      STDR prevalence was higher in patients with OSA than in those without OSA (42.9%
      vs. 24.1%; P = 0.004). After adjustment for confounders, OSA remained
      independently associated with STDR (odds ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.1
      4.9; P = 0.04). After a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 43.0 (37.0
      51.0) months, patients with OSA were more likely than patients without OSA to
      develop preproliferative/proliferative DR (18.4% vs. 6.1%; P = 0.02). After
      adjustment for confounders, OSA remained an independent predictor of progression
      to preproliferative/proliferative DR (odds ratio, 5.2; 95% CI confidence
      interval, 1.2-23.0; P = 0.03). Patients who received continuous positive airway
      pressure treatment were significantly less likely to develop
      preproliferative/proliferative DR. CONCLUSIONS: OSA is associated with STDR in
      patients with type 2 diabetes. OSA is an independent predictor for the
      progression to preproliferative/proliferative DR. Continuous positive airway
      pressure treatment was associated with reduction in
      preproliferative/proliferative DR. Interventional studies are needed to assess
      the impact of OSA treatment on STDR.

PMID- 28594571
TI  - ZMPSTE24 Is Downstream Effector of Interferon-Induced Transmembrane Antiviral
      Activity.
AB  - The zinc metalloprotease ZMPSTE24 is a constitutively and ubiquitously expressed
      host restriction factor that is responsible for limiting infection by a broad
      spectrum of enveloped viruses, including influenza A, vesicular stomatitis, zika,
      ebola, Sindbis, cowpox, and vaccinia viruses, but not murine leukemia or
      adenovirus. Antiviral function is independent of ZMPSTE24 enzymatic activity.
      Protein interaction and genetic complementation studies indicate that ZMPSTE24 is
      a component of a common antiviral pathway that is associated with interferon
      induced transmembrane proteins. In vivo studies with zmpste24-deficient mice
      demonstrate the importance of ZMPSTE24 for antiviral defense.

PMID- 28594572
TI  - Effect of High-Pressure Processing on Human Noroviruses in Laboratory
      Contaminated Oysters by Bio-Accumulation.
AB  - The contamination of oysters with human noroviruses poses a human health risk,
      since oysters are often consumed raw. In this study, human norovirus genogroup II
      was allowed to bio-accumulate in oysters, and then the effect of high-pressure
      processing (HPP) on human noroviruses in oysters was determined through a
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method with enzymatic pretreatment to
      distinguish infectious noroviruses. As a result, oysters could be artificially
      contaminated to a detectable level of norovirus genome by the reverse
      transcription-PCR. Concentrations of norovirus genome in laboratory-contaminated
      oysters were log normally distributed, as determined by the real-time PCR,
      suggesting that artificial contamination by bio-accumulation was successful. In
      two independent HPP trials, a 1.87 log10 and 1.99 log10 reduction of norovirus
      GII.17 genome concentration was observed after HPP at 400 MPa for 5 min at 25
      degrees C. These data suggest that HPP is a promising process of inactivation of
      infectious human noroviruses in oysters. To our knowledge, this is the first
      report to investigate the effect of HPP on laboratory-contaminated noroviruses in
      oysters.

PMID- 28594573
TI  - Activation of the Integrated Stress Response and Metabolic Dysfunction in a
      Murine Model of Sleep Apnea.
AB  - Intermittent hypoxia (IH) induces activation of the integrated stress response
      (ISR), but its role in IH-induced visceral white adipose tissue (vWAT) insulin
      resistance is unknown. CHOP is activated by chronic ISR, whereas GADD34
      dephosphorylates the subunit of translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2alpha),
      leading to termination of the ISR. We hypothesized that CHOP/Gadd34 null mice
      would not manifest evidence of insulin resistance after IH exposures. Eight-week
      old CHOP/GADD34-/- (double mutant [DM]) and wild-type (WT) littermates were
      randomly assigned to IH or room air (RA) exposures for 6 weeks. Glucose and
      insulin tolerance tests were performed, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) and
      macrophages in vWAT were assessed. Phosphorylated eIF2alpha:total eIF2alpha,
      ATF4, XBP1 expression, and insulin-induced pAKT/AKT expression changes were
      examined in vWATs. Single GADD34-/- and PERK+/- mice were also evaluated. Body
      weight and vWAT mass were reduced in DM and WT mice after IH. M1/M2 macrophages
      and inflammatory macrophages (Ly-6chigh) were significantly increased in WT vWAT
      but remained unchanged in DM mice. Tregs were significantly decreased in WT vWAT
      but not in DM mice. Systemic insulin and glucose tolerance tests revealed insulin
      resistance in IH-WT but not in IH-DM mice. Similarly, decreased pAKT/AKT
      responses to exogenous insulin emerged in IH-WT compared with RA-WT mice, whereas
      no significant differences emerged in IH-DM compared with DM-RA. Chronic ISR
      activation appears to contribute to the insulin resistance and vWAT inflammation
      that characteristically emerge after long-term IH exposures in a murine model of
      obstructive sleep apnea.

PMID- 28594574
TI  - A Geospatial Epidemiologic Analysis of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infection: An
      Ecological Study in Colorado.
AB  - RATIONALE: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous environmental
      microorganisms. Infection is thought to result primarily from exposure to soil
      and/or water sources. NTM disease prevalence varies greatly by geographic region,
      but the geospatial factors influencing this variation remain unclear. OBJECTIVES:
      To identify sociodemographic and environmental ecological risk factors associated
      with NTM infection and disease in Colorado. METHODS: We conducted an ecological
      study, combining data from patients with a diagnosis of NTM disease from National
      Jewish Health's electronic medical record database and ZIP code-level
      sociodemographic and environmental exposure data obtained from the U.S.
      Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Census
      Bureau. We used spatial scan methods to identify high-risk clusters of NTM
      disease in Colorado. Ecological risk factors for disease were assessed using
      Bayesian generalized linear models assuming Poisson-distributed discrete
      responses (case counts by ZIP code) with the log link function. RESULTS: We
      identified two statistically significant high-risk clusters of disease. The
      primary cluster included ZIP codes in urban regions of Denver and Aurora, as well
      as regions south of Denver, on the east side of the Continental Divide. The
      secondary cluster was located on the west side of the Continental Divide in rural
      and mountainous regions. After adjustment for sociodemographic, drive time, and
      soil variables, we identified three watershed areas with relative risks of 12.2,
      4.6, and 4.2 for slowly growing NTM infections compared with the mean disease
      risk for all watersheds in Colorado. This study population carries with it
      inherent limitations that may introduce bias. The lack of complete capture of NTM
      cases in Colorado may be related to factors such as disease severity, education
      and income levels, and insurance status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide
      evidence that water derived from particular watersheds may be an important source
      of NTM exposure in Colorado. The watershed with the greatest risk of NTM disease
      contains the Dillon Reservoir. This reservoir is also the main water supply for
      major cities located in the two watersheds with the second and third highest
      disease risk in the state, suggesting an important possible source of infection.

PMID- 28594576
TI  - Provision of Nutrients to the Acutely Ill. Introducing the "Baby Stomach"
      Concept.

PMID- 28594575
TI  - Bolus Calculator Reduces Hypoglycemia in the Short Term and Fear of Hypoglycemia
      in the Long Term in Subjects with Type 1 Diabetes (CBMDI Study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a previous study we demonstrated improvement in metabolic control
      and reduction in hypoglycemia in people with type 1 diabetes on multiple daily
      injections, after having used a bolus calculator for 4 months. OBJECTIVE: To
      demonstrate whether (1) extending its use (2) or introducing it in the control
      group, previously subjected to treatment intensification, could further improve
      metabolic control and related psychological issues. METHODS: After the previous
      clinical trial, in which the subjects were randomized either to treatment with
      the calculator or to control group for 4 months, both groups used the calculator
      during an additional 4-month period. RESULTS: In the previous control group,
      after using the device, HbA1c did not improve (7.86% +/- 0.87% vs. 8.01% +/-
      0.93%, P 0.215), although a significant decrease in postprandial hypoglycemia was
      observed (2.3 +/- 2 vs. 1.1 +/- 1.2/2 weeks, P 0.002). In the group in which the
      treatment was extended from 4 to 8 months, HbA1c did not improve either (7.61 +/-
      0.58 vs. 7.73 +/- 0.65, P 0.209); however this group had a greater perceived
      treatment satisfaction (12.03 +/- 4.26 vs. 13.71 +/- 3.75, P 0.007) and a
      significant decrease in fear of hypoglycemia (28.24 +/- 8.18 basal vs. 25.66 +/-
      8.02 at 8 months, P 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: The extension in the use of the
      calculator or its introduction in a previously intensified control group did not
      improve metabolic control, although it did confirm a decrease in hypoglycemic
      episodes in the short term, while the extension of its use to 8 months was
      associated with a reduction in fear of hypoglycemia and greater treatment
      satisfaction.

PMID- 28594577
TI  - Test-retest reliability and convergent validity of attention measures.
AB  - Recently, numerous pretest-posttest study designs have evaluated attention
      impairments and effectiveness of attention training. However, some of the
      attention tasks used in these studies show a lack of temporal stability analysis
      that reduces confidence in attention training outcomes. We aim to analyze the
      temporal stability within three attention tasks using different measures of
      attention (speed measures, accuracy measures, and global attention indexes) and
      the convergent validity between the measures. A total of 178 university students
      completed three attention tasks with a time interval of one week. Speed measures
      of attention showed higher test-retest reliability and higher convergence than
      accuracy measures. Accuracy measures showed nonnormal distributions and small
      range of variability to provide sufficient discrimination. Speed measures showed
      high practice effects. These results are consistent with previous studies of
      temporal stability and convergent validity of attention tasks. However, further
      studies of commonly used attention tasks are necessary in healthy and clinical
      samples. Additionally, attention training studies should include a control group
      to subtract the practice effect of speed measures.

PMID- 28594578
TI  - Cognitive reserve is not associated with improved performance in all cognitive
      domains.
AB  - Cognitive reserve beneficially affects cognitive performance, even into advanced
      age. However, the benefits afforded by high cognitive reserve may not extend to
      all cognitive domains. This study investigated whether cognitive reserve
      differentially affects performance on cognitive tasks, in 521 cognitively healthy
      individuals aged 60 to 98 years (Mage = 68, SD = 6.22, 287 female); years of
      education was used to index cognitive reserve. Cognitive performance variables
      assessed attention, executive functions, verbal memory, motor performance,
      orientation, perception of emotion, processing speed, and working memory.
      Bootstrapped regression analyses revealed that cognitive reserve was associated
      with attention, executive functions, verbal and working memory, and orientation;
      and not significantly related to emotion perception, processing speed, or motor
      performance. Cognitive reserve appears to differentially affect individual
      cognitive domains, which extends current theory that purports benefits for all
      domains. This finding highlights the possibility of using tests not (or
      minimally) associated with cognitive reserve, to screen for cognitive impairment
      and dementia in late life; these tests will likely best track brain health, free
      of compensatory neural mechanisms.

PMID- 28594580
TI  - The management of 'hard-to-prepare' colonoscopy patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Effective bowel cleansing is crucial for high quality colonoscopy.
      A notable portion of patients still present with low quality bowel preparation
      prior to their colonoscopy, compromising the overall quality of their
      colonoscopy. Areas covered: This review focuses on the main strategies that can
      improve the cleansing quality with a special interest on those clinical
      conditions that have been associated with a poor bowel preparation quality, such
      as patients with chronic constipation, history of bowel resection, liver
      cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. The review provides a
      practical and evidence-based approach to help clinicians in the management of
      'hard-to-prepare' patients. Expert commentary: In the past few years, the quality
      of colonoscopy has become a hot topic and bowel cleansing is a crucial part of
      it; however, the approach to patients with an increased risk of poor bowel
      preparation quality is still not always supported by high-quality evidence, since
      most of these patients are routinely excluded from the clinical studies. Trials
      focused on this subgroup of patients are recommended to provide tailored bowel
      preparation regimens and guarantee high-quality procedures.

PMID- 28594579
TI  - "From Snail Mode to Rocket Ship Mode": Adolescents and Young Adults' Experiences
      of Returning to Work and School After Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Resuming normal activities, such as work and school, is an important
      dimension of psychosocial recovery in cancer survivorship. Minimal data exist
      regarding adolescents or young adults' experiences of returning to school or work
      after cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the processes of resuming
      work and school among adolescents and young adults after hematopoietic cell
      transplantation (HCT). METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 18
      adolescents and young adults, who were 15-29 years when they underwent HCT and 6
      60 months post-transplant at study enrollment. Interview transcripts were
      systematically analyzed using Grounded Theory methodology. RESULTS: Participants
      described the context in which they attempted to return to work or school,
      specific challenges they faced, and strategies they developed in these
      environments. Feeling left behind from their peers and their pre-diagnosis
      selves, participants described "rushing" back to school and work impulsively,
      taking on too much too quickly while facing overwhelming physical and cognitive
      demands. Factors motivating this sense of urgency as well as barriers to
      successful and sustainable reentry in these settings are also addressed.
      CONCLUSION: Findings are discussed in the context of important opportunities for
      clinical management, age-appropriate interventions, and implications for future
      research. A better understanding of psychosocial late effects, specifically
      related to school and work trajectories after cancer, is critical to survivorship
      care for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

PMID- 28594581
TI  - Learning Curve Analysis of Laparoscopic Kasai Portoenterostomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the surgical outcomes of Kasai Portoenterostomy (PE) and
      investigate the learning curve of laparoscopic Kasai Portoenterostomy (Lap-PE).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 80 cases of biliary atresia
      (type III) undergoing Lap-PE at Shenzhen Children's Hospital from January 2011 to
      June 2015, all of which were performed by the same surgical team. According to
      the operative sequences, the cases were equally divided into four phases (Phase
      I, II, III, and IV), which contain 20 cases in each. The age, weight, and gender,
      the volume of intraoperative blood loss, the postoperative clearance rate of
      bilirubin, the incidence of postoperative cholangitis, and the first and second
      year native liver survival rate were all reviewed. RESULTS: There was no
      significant difference among the four phases regarding age, weight at operation,
      and gender (P > .05). Statistical difference was observed with respect to
      operative time, the volume of intraoperative blood loss, the postoperative
      jaundice clearance, and the first and second year native liver survival rate
      among Phase III and IV compared to Phase I and II (P < .05), but showed no
      significant difference in neither the first two phases nor the latter two phases
      (P > .05). The incidence of postoperative cholangitis showed no significant
      variation among the four phases. CONCLUSION: A surgeon is able to become more
      experienced after performing approximately 40 laparoscopic Kasai
      Portoenterostomys.

PMID- 28594582
TI  - Profile-likelihood Confidence Intervals in Item Response Theory Models.
AB  - Confidence intervals (CIs) are fundamental inferential devices which quantify the
      sampling variability of parameter estimates. In item response theory, CIs have
      been primarily obtained from large-sample Wald-type approaches based on standard
      error estimates, derived from the observed or expected information matrix, after
      parameters have been estimated via maximum likelihood. An alternative approach to
      constructing CIs is to quantify sampling variability directly from the likelihood
      function with a technique known as profile-likelihood confidence intervals (PL
      CIs). In this article, we introduce PL CIs for item response theory models,
      compare PL CIs to classical large-sample Wald-type CIs, and demonstrate important
      distinctions among these CIs. CIs are then constructed for parameters directly
      estimated in the specified model and for transformed parameters which are often
      obtained post-estimation. Monte Carlo simulation results suggest that PL CIs
      perform consistently better than Wald-type CIs for both non-transformed and
      transformed parameters.

PMID- 28594584
TI  - Attribution Through the Layperson's Lens: Development and Preliminary Validation
      of an Inclusive, International Measure of Beliefs About the Causes of Mental
      Illness.
AB  - Attributions, or beliefs about the causes of mental illness, have traditionally
      been dichotomized based on their locus, controllability, specificity, and
      stability. However, scholars have introduced an alternative lay beliefs model
      identifying attributions related to specific biological, social, and spiritual
      attributions. This research describes the potential benefits of this alternative
      model and outlines the validation of a comprehensive, international measure of
      lay beliefs, the Mental Illness Attribution Questionnaire (MIAQ). Validation
      included piloting, qualitative rating, confirmatory factor analysis, and
      evaluation of internal consistency, convergent validity, and test-retest
      reliability with a sample of 680 U.S.-based international students representing
      94 nations. Scales measured attributions related to supernatural forces, social
      stress, lifestyle, health, substance use, heredity, and personal weakness. This
      structure was tested across 3 conditions-schizophrenia, depression, and
      alcoholism-demonstrating strong psychometric properties. The lay beliefs model
      appears to closely reflect the manner in which laypersons attribute cause for
      mental health problems, making it a natural fit for community-based research.
      Further, its validation with 2 international samples supports its utility in
      diverse populations. Together, the results support the MIAQ as a valid and
      reliable measure of mental illness attribution with potential for examining help
      seeking and stigmatizing behavior across cultures.

PMID- 28594586
TI  - Differences in Function and Fracture Risk in Postmenopausal Women With and
      Without a Recent Distal Radius Fracture.
AB  - A distal radius fracture (DRF) is commonly the first fracture to occur in early
      postmenopausal women. The reasons for sustaining a DRF may be related to fall
      risk, bone fragility, or both. The objective of this study was to compare
      functional and fracture risk status in postmenopausal women with and without a
      recent DRF and explore the relationships between function, grip strength, and
      fracture risk status. Seventy-seven women a ges 50-78 with (n = 32) and without
      (n = 45) a history of DRF in the past 2 years participated. Balance, timed up and
      go (TUG), gait velocity, balance confidence, sit to stand, grip strength, and
      fracture risk were assessed. There was a significant group difference after
      controlling for physical activity level (Pillai's Trace, p < .05) where women
      with DRF had poorer outcomes on sit to stand, gait velocity, TUG, and fracture
      risk status. Grip strength was associated with functional tests, particularly in
      women with DRF. Women with a recent DRF demonstrated lower functional status and
      higher fracture risk compared to women without. Grip strength was associated with
      measures of function and fracture risk, and may complement screening tools for
      this population.

PMID- 28594583
TI  - Impact of Surgeon Specialty on Perioperative Outcomes of Surgery for Benign
      Esophageal Diseases: A NSQIP Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgery for benign esophageal disease is mostly performed either by
      general surgeons (GS) or cardiothoracic surgeons (CTS) in the United States. The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of surgeon specialty on
      perioperative outcomes of surgery for benign esophageal diseases. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We have conducted a retrospective analysis using the ACS-NSQIP during
      the period of 2006-2013. Patients who underwent paraesophageal hernia (PEH)
      repair, gastric fundoplication, or Heller esophagomyotomy were divided into two
      groups according to the specialty of the surgeon (GS or CTS). Outcomes compared
      between the two groups using multivariable logistic regression included 30-day
      mortality, overall morbidity, discharge destination, hospital length of stay
      (LOS), and readmission rates. RESULTS: Most of the surgeries were performed by
      general surgeons (PEH: 97.1%; fundoplication: 97.6%; Heller: 91.6%). Patients had
      lower comorbidities, better physical condition, and underwent a laparoscopic
      approach more frequently in the GS group. Regression analysis showed that GS
      group had a lower mortality rate (operating room, 0.44; 95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 0.23-0.86; P = .017), shorter LOS, and more home discharge for patients
      undergoing PEH repair. Mortality, morbidity, readmission, LOS, and home discharge
      were comparable between GS and CTS in fundoplication and Heller esophagomyotomy.
      CONCLUSION: GS perform most of esophageal surgeries for benign diseases. GS group
      has better outcomes in PEH repair compared with CTS, whereas there is no
      difference in the overall outcomes between GS and CTS in fundoplication and
      Heller esophagomyotomy. These results show that specialization is not always the
      answer to better outcomes. Difference in outcomes, however, might be related to
      disease severity, approach needed, or case volume.

PMID- 28594585
TI  - Impact of Palliative Medicine Involvement on End-of-Life Services for Patients
      With Cancer With In-Hospital Deaths.
AB  - PURPOSE: Palliative care (PC) has been shown to improve the quality of care and
      resource utilization for inpatients. We examined the relationship between PC
      consultation before and during final admission and patterns of care for dying
      patients at our tertiary cancer center. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      adult patients with solid tumor cancer with a length of stay >= 3 days who died
      in hospital between December 2012 and November 2014. We recorded services,
      including laboratory testing, imaging, blood products, medications, diet orders,
      do not resuscitate orders, and consultations, delivered within 3 days of death.
      We assessed the differences among services delivered to patients with outpatient
      PC, inpatient PC only, and no PC involvement. RESULTS: Of 695 patients, 21%
      received outpatient PC, 46% received inpatient PC only, and 33% received no PC.
      During their final admission, 11.2% of patients received radiation therapy, and
      12.5% received tumor-directed therapy, with no differences on the basis PC
      involvement ( P = .09 to .17). In the last 3 days of life, imaging tests occurred
      in 50.1%; patients with outpatient or inpatient-only PC underwent fewer studies
      (43.5% and 47.3%) than did those with no PC involvement (58.1%; P = .048). Do not
      resuscitate orders were in place within the 6 months before final admission at a
      greater rate for patients with outpatient PC (22%) than for patients with
      inpatient-only PC (8%) or those with no PC involvement (12%; P = .002).
      CONCLUSION: In this retrospective cohort of patients with solid tumor dying in
      hospital, few patients received cancer-directed therapies at the end of life.
      Involvement of PC was associated with a decrease in diagnostic testing and other
      services not clearly promoting comfort as patients approached death.

PMID- 28594587
TI  - Response to Indacaterol/Glycopyrronium (IND/GLY) by Sex in Patients with COPD: A
      Pooled Analysis from the IGNITE Program.
AB  - In this pooled analysis, we compared the effect of indacaterol/glycopyrronium
      (IND/GLY) by sex versus other commonly used chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD) treatments and placebo. Male and female patients with moderate-to-very
      severe COPD who had participated in six randomized controlled trials were
      included in the analysis. Baseline demographics and disease characteristics were
      analyzed by sex, and any differences noted. The effects of IND/GLY versus
      salmeterol/fluticasone (SFC), glycopyrronium, tiotropium and placebo, on lung
      function and the patient-reported outcomes (health status, dyspnea, rescue
      medication use and symptoms) were assessed by sex after 26 weeks treatment. The
      analysis population comprised 4719 men and 1389 women. Most baseline parameters
      differed significantly between men and women. Nonetheless, despite these
      differences in baseline characteristics, IND/GLY significantly improved lung
      function versus placebo (p < 0.0001) and all active comparators (p < 0.01) in men
      and women. Overall, IND/GLY showed better improvement in dyspnea and health
      status compared with all other treatments in both sex. Greater reduction of
      rescue medication use was observed with IND/GLY versus placebo and other
      treatments (all p < 0.01 expect IND/GLY versus SFC). Although some variability
      was observed, improvements in health status, dyspnea, rescue medication use and
      symptoms were generally larger in women than in men. Irrespective of sex, IND/GLY
      provided superior efficacy to monotherapy or SFC in both men and women. Small
      differences in efficacy response by sex were observed, which should be evaluated
      further in prospective clinical studies. Nevertheless, the benefits observed with
      IND/GLY confirm dual bronchodilator as the preferred therapy in patients with
      moderate-to-very-severe COPD regardless of sex.

PMID- 28594588
TI  - Impact of Bedside Tracheostomy on Procalcitonin Kinetics in Critically Ill
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Critically ill patients are particularly vulnerable to invasive
      procedures and complications; however, tracheostomy is frequently performed in
      the intensive care unit (ICU). We analyzed the effects of tracheostomy on
      procalcitonin (PCT) kinetics and investigated whether PCT could reliably predict
      septic complications after tracheostomy. METHODS: We retrospectively identified
      134 patients who underwent bedside tracheostomy during their ICU stay at a
      Japanese university hospital from October 2010 to December 2015. We extracted PCT
      data from the day of the procedure (day 0) to postoperative day 2 and defined
      alert PCT as a PCT level >=0.5 ng/mL, which had not decreased from the previous
      day. We divided patients into the following groups: nonevent, aseptic
      complication, and septic complication. RESULTS: Twelve (9.2%) patients developed
      acute aseptic complications, and 12 (9.2%) patients developed septic
      complications. In the nonevent group, the PCT value decreased continuously in the
      initial PCT >= 0.5 ng/mL subgroup ( P < .001, P <.001 for trend). In contrast,
      significant changes were not observed in the initial PCT < 0.5 ng/mL subgroup.
      Significant differences and an upward trend in alert PCT incidence rate existed
      between the groups ( P < .001, P < .001 for trend): nonevent group, 5.5%; aseptic
      complication group, 41.7%; and septic complication group, 66.7%. In a
      multivariate linear regression model, septic complications were independently
      associated with PCT change at postoperative days 1 and 2 (adjusted beta = 3.58, P
      < .001; adjusted beta = 9.84, P < .001, respectively). Procalcitonin predicted
      septic complications more accurately than C-reactive protein, with the area under
      the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.8 versus 0.63 ( P = .058) and
      0.91 versus 0.69 ( P = .036) at postoperative days 1 and 2, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that PCT was not elevated after
      uncomplicated surgical tracheostomy in critically ill patients.

PMID- 28594589
TI  - MEK inhibitors in oncology: a patent review (2015-Present).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways have been
      identified as promising therapeutic targets for cancer therapy. Over-activation
      of these pathways and their components including gene mutations has been
      considered as one of the major causes of melanoma. Mitogen-activated protein
      kinase (MEK) is a downstream kinase of RAS pathway found in two different forms
      MEK1/2. The MEK inhibitors in combination with other kinase/mutant gene
      inhibitors have shown promising results in patients with metastatic melanoma.
      Areas covered: A comprehensive review of the patent literature (2015 - Present)
      on MEK inhibitors, their combinations with other kinase inhibitors and structural
      insights has been highlighted. Expert opinion: Recently mitogen-activated protein
      kinase (MEK) inhibitors have attracted considerable interest in oncology
      especially in melanoma. The MEK inhibitors showed promising results in patients
      with metastatic melanoma harboring mutant genes such as BRAF, KRAS. The MEK1/2
      inhibitors in combination with BRAF, KRAS and/or PI3K inhibitors showed promising
      results in mutated colorectal, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, solid tumor, and
      relapsed/refractory melanoma. The combination delays the onset of acquired
      resistance, resulting in increased progression-free and overall survival. The
      combination and/or multi-targeted kinase/mutant gene inhibitors may be a
      therapeutic option for the personalized cancer treatment of patients with
      relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

PMID- 28594590
TI  - The Past, Present, and Future of Nutrition and Cancer: Part 1-Was A Nutritional
      Association Acknowledged a Century Ago?
AB  - Professional interest in the association of diet and nutrition with cancer first
      appeared in the early 1800s, if not before. Yet, progress in understanding this
      association over the past two centuries has been exceedingly slow and confusing.
      Without addressing this confusion, progress in using diet and nutrition
      information to prevent and even to treat cancer, will remain uncertain. To better
      understand this issue, the present paper is the first of two to explore the
      history of the diet and cancer relationship prior to a 1982 National Academy of
      Sciences (NAS) report on Diet, Nutrition and Cancer. This report was a milestone
      in the nutrition and cancer history because it was the first science-based,
      institutional report on this topic. But, based on the evidence cited in that
      report, it could be inferred that this topic was relatively new, perhaps
      beginning around 1940. While it attracted great public interest, it also
      generated great controversy, some of which was a natural response from affected
      industries. Exploring the history prior to 1940, therefore, might provide clues
      on the present-day confusion concerning the relationship between diet and cancer.
      This investigation asks three questions. First (the subject of this paper), was
      the relationship of nutrition to cancer even considered prior to 1940 and, if so,
      what was said? Second (the subject of the upcoming paper), assuming that
      nutrition was seriously considered, why then was it ignored or forgotten? Third,
      has the forgotten information contributed to the contemporary confusion
      surrounding the relationship to cancer? The answer to the first question,
      considered here, is that, yes, nutrition as a possible cause of cancer was not
      only hypothesized, it was a major topic for discussion in some quarters. But it
      also was a topic struggling to be heard among the authorities who had most of the
      power and influence in the professional cancer community. This paper documents
      that history and the corresponding struggle for this message to be heard. One
      figure, Frederick Hoffman, founder of the American Cancer Society and prodigious
      researcher, led much of that effort during the period of 1913-1943, but his
      contributions have remained almost totally unknown.

PMID- 28594591
TI  - Thirty Years of Translational Research in Zirconia Dental Implants: A Systematic
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - Thirty years of transitional research in zirconia (Zr) ceramics has led to
      significant improvements in the biomedical field, especially in dental
      implantology. Oral implants made of yttria-tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y
      TZP) because of their excellent mechanical properties, good biocompatibility, and
      esthetically acceptable color have emerged as an attractive metal-free
      alternative to titanium (Ti) implants. The aim of the review was to highlight the
      translation research in Zr dental implants that has been conducted over the past
      3 decades using preclinical animal models. A computer search of electronic
      databases, primarily PubMed, was performed with the following key words:
      "zirconia ceramics AND animal trials," "ceramic implants AND animal trials,"
      "zirconia AND animal trials," "zirconia AND in vivo animal trials," without any
      language restriction. However, the search was limited to animal trials discussing
      percentage bone-implant contact (%BIC) around zirconia implants/discs. This
      search resulted in 132 articles (reviews, in vivo studies, and animal studies) of
      potential interest. We restricted our search terms to "zirconia/ceramic," "bone
      implant-contact," and "animal trials" and found 29 relevant publications, which
      were then selected for full-text reading. Reasons for exclusion included the
      article's not being an animal study, being a review article, and not discussing
      %BIC around Zr implants/discs. Most of the studies investigated BIC around Zr in
      rabbits (30%), pigs (approximately 20%), dogs, sheep, and rats. This review of
      the literature shows that preclinical animal models can be successfully used to
      investigate osseointegration around Zr ceramics. Results of the reviewed studies
      demonstrated excellent %BIC around Zr implants. It should be noted that most of
      the studies investigated %BIC/removal torque under nonloading conditions, and
      results would have been somewhat different in functional loading situations
      because of inherent limitations of Zr ceramics. Further trials are needed to
      evaluate the performance of Zr ceramics in clinical conditions using implants
      designed and manufactured via novel techniques that enhance their biomechanical
      properties.

PMID- 28594592
TI  - Alveolar Ridge Preservation Using Allografts and Dense Polytetrafluoroethylene
      Membranes With Open Membrane Technique in Unhealthy Extraction Socket.
AB  - We evaluated the effectiveness of the open membrane technique using a high
      density polytetrafluoroethylene (dPTFE) membrane with freeze-dried bone
      allografts in damaged sockets for alveolar ridge preservation (ARP). This
      retrospective study included 26 sites from 20 patients who had received ARP for
      the placement of dental implants. ARP was conducted using dPTFE membrane with
      allografts on the day of extraction without primary closure. When the membrane
      was removed after 4 weeks, the newly formed reddish tissue at the grafted site
      was checked (first outcome, clinical evaluation). Four months after membrane
      removal, a core biopsy was performed from the center of the grafted site before
      implant placement (second outcome, histomorphometric evaluation). Radiographic
      measurements of alveolar bone changes between implant prosthesis delivery and the
      1-year follow-up were obtained (third outcome, radiographic evaluation). A total
      of 23 sites from 18 patients had no complications during the follow-up period.
      Three sites from two patients were excluded because of early membrane removal.
      Newly formed reddish tissue was found at 15 sites, and partially formed tissue
      was found at 8 sites. Although we were unable to harvest bone core from all
      sites, histomorphometric analysis in 11 patients indicated that the mean area of
      new bone was 28.48% +/- 6.60%, that of the remaining graft particle was 27.68% +/
      9.18%, and that of fibrous tissue was 43.84% +/- 6.98%. The mean loss of
      marginal bone was 0.13 +/- 0.06 mm at the mesial area and 0.15 +/- 0.06 mm at the
      distal area, as assessed using radiographic evaluations. The results of this
      nonrandomized study suggest that this technique may be an appropriate procedure
      for ARP. Further studies with a control group and more subjectives can be
      designed based on this study.

PMID- 28594593
TI  - Critical issues in ALS case-control studies: the case of the Euro-MOTOR study.
AB  - : Backround: Political and sociocultural differences between countries can affect
      the outcome of clinical and epidemiological studies in ALS. Cross-national
      studies represent the ideal process by which risk factors can be assessed using
      the same methodology in different geographical areas. METHODS: A survey of three
      European countries (The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy) has been conducted in
      which incident ALS patients and matched controls were recruited in a population
      based study based on age, gender and area of residency, under the Euro-MOTOR
      systems biology programme of research. FINDINGS: We have identified strengths and
      limitations during the trajectory of the Euro-MOTOR study, from the research
      design to data analysis. We have analysed the implications of factors including
      cross-national differences in healthcare systems, sample size, types of matching,
      the definition of exposures and statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing
      critical methodological aspects of the design of the Euro-MOTOR project minimises
      bias and will facilitate scientific assessment of the independent role of well
      defined exposures.

PMID- 28594594
TI  - Laparoscopic-Assisted Extravesical Ureteral Reimplantation and Extracorporeal
      Ureteral Tapering Repair for Primary Obstructive Megaureter in Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Open surgery is a preferred treatment for primary obstructive
      megaureter (POM) in cases where the conservative treatment fails, with reported
      success rates of 90%-96%. OBJECTIVE: To describe our initial experience in the
      treatment of POM by laparoscopic-assisted extracorporeal ureteral tapering repair
      (EUTR) and laparoscopic ureteral extravesical reimplantation (LUER) by following
      Lich Gregoir technique as an alternative to open surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 7 patients with POM underwent laparoscopic-assisted
      extracorporeal ureteral tapering repair and ureteral extravesical reimplantation
      by following Lich Gregoir technique between 2011 and 2014. Postoperative follow
      up included the following: Renal and bladder ultrasound, voiding cystourethrogram
      (VCUG), and mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) renogram were done at 6 months.
      Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was performed
      by using the SPSS software package (version 15.0; SPSS, Chicago, IL), and P < .05
      was considered statistically significant. Paired tests and Wilcoxon test were
      performed to compare pre- and post-measures. RESULTS: LUER and EUTR were
      completed successfully in all patients without conversion. A postoperative MAG3
      renogram showed nonobstructive pattern in all patients. Statistical analysis
      revealed significant differences before and after surgery in the average time of
      elimination on the MAG3 renogram (T1/2 59.10 minutes versus 13.57 minutes, P <
      .0001). After medium-term follow-up, the overall POM resolution was 100%. One
      case of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) was found during VCUG control. A total of 7
      patients were asymptomatic without recurrence of POM. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic
      assisted extracorporeal ureteral tapering repair and ureteral extravesical
      reimplantation by following Lich Gregoir technique for POM constitutes a safe and
      good option when the first line of treatment fails, with a success rate similar
      to the open procedure. Nevertheless, larger randomized prospective trials and
      long-term follow-up are required to validate this technique.

PMID- 28594595
TI  - Validation of the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale in Spanish Samples.
AB  - The aim of this study was to validate the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale (SSSS;
      Kalichman, 2011) in Spanish samples. Two independent studies were conducted. In
      Study 1, we examined the factor structure of the SSSS in a sample of 1,272
      heterosexual undergraduate students (40.0% men, 60.0% women). Results revealed a
      2-factor structure. Factor 1 was related to physical sexual sensations and risky
      sexual behaviors and Factor 2 was related to exploratory or novel sex. A
      confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this factor structure in a sample of 373
      community adults (33.8% men, 66.2% women). Two items were deleted, resulting in a
      final version composed of 8 items. This version showed good test-retest
      reliability and evidence of its concurrent validity. In Study 2, the factor
      structure was further confirmed in a sample of 1,596 university students (28.8%
      men, 71.2% women). More evidence of construct validity was provided, which
      revealed that higher levels of sexual sensation seeking were associated with more
      frequent sexual risk behaviors and poorer sexual health. Internal consistency
      reliability did not reach acceptable levels on all of the subscales. Results
      suggest that, although it has been used before, this scale needs a revision
      before its use in Spanish-speaking contexts.

PMID- 28594596
TI  - Mortality in Patients Admitted for Concurrent COPD Exacerbation and Pneumonia.

PMID- 28594598
TI  - Journal Honors Burles Johnson III, MD, PhD, As Recipient of the 2017 Journal of
      Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award.

PMID- 28594597
TI  - A Cautionary Tale: Risks of Radiation Therapy De-Escalation in Pediatric
      Malignancies.

PMID- 28594599
TI  - Genetic Variants in the IL-4/IL-13 Pathway Influence Measles Vaccine Responses
      and Vaccine Failure in Children from Mozambique.
AB  - Despite effective measles vaccines, measles still causes severe morbidity and
      mortality worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The Th2 pathway
      involving interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 cytokines, and their receptor IL-4Ralpha,
      play important roles in the Th1/Th2 balance and antibody production. A Th2
      skewing of the cytokine milieu may affect vaccine responses. We investigated IL
      4, IL-13, and IL-4Ralpha polymorphisms and their impact on measles IgG responses
      and measles vaccine failure, in two separate cohorts: 12-month-old Australian
      children immunized with measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (n = 137) and a
      case/control cohort of children aged 6 months-14 years from Mozambique, Africa (n
      = 89), some of whom were vaccinated, but still contracted measles (vaccine
      failure). We found that IL-4Ralpha haplotypes for Val75Ile, Ser503Pro, and
      Arg576Gln were associated with measles IgG in Mozambican children (p = 0.016 and
      p = 0.032 for Val.Pro.Arg and Val.Ser.Arg, respectively), but not Australian
      children. IL-4Ralpha 503Pro was more prevalent in Mozambique vaccine failure
      cases compared with controls (p = 0.008). We showed that the impact of Th2 genes
      on measles vaccine responses differs between ethnicities and IL-4Ralpha
      polymorphisms may work in combination to affect measles antibody responses and
      vaccine failure in Mozambican children. Studies in this area are particularly
      important in developing countries like Mozambique where measles is still a major
      health issue.

PMID- 28594600
TI  - Psychosocial and environmental factors in the prognosis of individuals with
      chronic pain and comorbid mental health.
AB  - Chronic pain has considerable medical, social, and economic implications as its
      high prevalence rate and negative societal burden provides justification that it
      is a major health issue. The value of understanding psychological, social, and
      environmental factors in chronic pain has become widely recognized and accepted
      as a biopsychosocial phenomenon in which the social work perspective offers a
      valuable lens. Through the critical application of systems theory and ecological
      perspective, accompanied with the diathesis stress model, this article examines
      psychosocial and environmental influences as being contributory factors in the
      prognosis of individuals with chronic pain and comorbid mental health disorders.
      The social work profession will also be explored as playing a definite role in
      addressing elements pertaining to pain management depicted from these theories.
      Lastly, implications for research, policy, and practice will be reviewed to
      better understand the association between psychosocial and environmental
      influences of individuals with chronic pain and comorbid mental health issues.

PMID- 28594601
TI  - A parenting education program for women in treatment for opioid-use disorder at
      an outpatient medical practice.
AB  - Opioid use during pregnancy poses serious risks for the mother and the unborn
      child. Opioid-use disorder may be managed with medication-assisted treatment
      (MAT) in an outpatient setting, but few MAT practices specifically address the
      challenges faced by pregnant women. This article describes a medical office-based
      educational support group for women in MAT for opioid-use disorder who were
      pregnant and/or parenting young children. Focus groups were conducted to elicit
      patient feedback. Women indicated that they found the educational support groups
      beneficial and offered suggestions. In-office educational support groups for
      pregnant women in treatment for opioid-use disorder are feasible and well
      received.

PMID- 28594602
TI  - Randomized Pilot of an Anxiety Sensitivity-Based Intervention for Individuals in
      a Substance Use Day Program.
AB  - Anxiety sensitivity (AS), or the tendency to appraise physical symptoms as
      intolerable or dangerous, may maintain the cycle between co-occurring anxiety and
      substance use disorders. This study examined preliminary efficacy of a brief
      intervention targeting AS for individuals with heterogeneous substance use
      disorders. Forty-one patients with high AS entering an addictions day program
      were randomized to treatment as usual (TAU) or to TAU plus a nine-hour AS-focused
      intervention that consisted of interoceptive exposures, psychoeducation about the
      cycle of problematic substance use and anxiety, and a single session of cognitive
      challenging (e.g., reviewing common cognitive distortions and decatastrophizing
      anxiety symptoms). Mixed-effects intent-to-treat models suggested that
      participants in the AS condition showed greater decreases in AS at post
      treatment, but this effect was lost at follow-up three months later. Intervention
      conditions did not differ in change in percent days abstinent or self-reported
      anxiety, with both conditions showing significant improvement at post-treatment.
      Results suggest that the nine-hour AS-focused intervention led to a short-term
      benefit over TAU alone, but this benefit was not sustained at three months'
      follow-up. Future AS interventions may need to target specific subconstructs of
      AS for selected populations, or target emotional distress tolerance more broadly.

PMID- 28594605
TI  - MOONLIGHT, Directed by Barry Jenkins.

PMID- 28594603
TI  - Behavior Problems and Psychiatric Diagnoses in Girls with Gender Identity
      Disorder: A Follow-Up Study.
AB  - This study evaluated the presence of clinical range behavior problems and
      psychiatric diagnoses in 25 girls referred for gender identity disorder (GID) in
      childhood (mean age: 8.88 years) at the time of follow-up in adolescence or
      adulthood (mean age: 23.2 years). At follow-up, three (12%) of the girls were
      judged to have persistent GID based on DSM-IV criteria. With regard to behavior
      problems at follow-up, 39.1% of the girls had a clinical range score on either
      the Child Behavior Checklist or Adult Behavior Checklist as rated by their
      mothers, and 33.3% had a clinical range score on either the Youth Self-Report or
      the Adult Self-Report. On either the Diagnostic Interview for Children and
      Adolescents or the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, the girls had, on average, 2.67
      diagnoses (range: 0-10); 46% met criteria for three or more diagnoses. From the
      childhood assessment, five variables were significantly associated with a
      composite Psychopathology Index (PI) at follow-up: a lower IQ, living in a non
      two-parent or reconstituted family, a composite behavior problem index, and poor
      peer relations. At follow-up, degree of concurrent homoeroticism and a composite
      index of gender dysphoria were both associated with the composite PI. Girls with
      GID show a psychiatric vulnerability at the time of follow-up in late adolescence
      or adulthood, although there was considerable variation in their general well
      being.

PMID- 28594607
TI  - The role of mindfulness skills in terms of anxiety-related cognitive risk factors
      among college students with problematic alcohol use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the current study was to examine the associations between
      the specific mindfulness skills of observing, describing, awareness, nonjudgment,
      and nonreactivity in terms of anxiety sensitivity (AS), distress tolerance (DT),
      and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) among college students with problematic
      alcohol use. METHODS: Participants were 202 (69.3% male; Mage = 18.96, SD = 2.24,
      range = 18-45 years) undergraduate college students with problematic alcohol use
      who completed self-report measures for course credit. RESULTS: Results indicated
      that after controlling for the effects of gender, smoking status, marijuana use
      status, and negative affectivity, greater use of the mindfulness skill of
      observing was associated with higher AS, greater describing was associated with
      lower AS and higher DT, greater nonjudgment was associated with lower AS and IU
      and higher DT, and greater nonreactivity was associated with increased DT.
      Awareness did not significantly predict any of the examined risk factors.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that specific mindfulness skills are
      associated with a greater tolerance of physiological, emotional, and uncertain
      states. An important next step will be to examine whether mindfulness skills are
      associated with decreased problematic alcohol use due to improvements in these
      anxiety-related risk factors.

PMID- 28594608
TI  - Etiology of Onychomycosis in Patients in Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Onychomycosis is a chronic nail infection caused by dermatophytes,
      Candida, nondermatophyte molds, and Trichosporon. The purpose of this study was
      to identify the underlying pathogen in patients with onychomycosis in our region.
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 225 cases with onychomycosis, diagnosed over
      a 27-month period at the Department of Dermatoveneorology, Bezmialem Vakif
      University, Istanbul, Turkey, and confirmed with culture, was performed. RESULTS:
      Patient age ranged from 2 to 87 years (mean +/- SD, 41.59 +/- 17.61), and female
      patients were more commonly affected (120 cases, 53.3%) than male patients.
      Lateral and distal subungual onychomycosis was detected in 180 cases (80%).
      Etiologic agents were as follows: Trichophyton rubrum, 77 cases (34.2%);
      Trichophyton mentagrophytes, 30 cases (13.3%), Candida albicans, 28 cases
      (12.4%); Candida parapsilosis, 25 cases (11.1%); Acremonium species, one case
      (0.4%); Aspergillus species, two cases (0.9%); Fusarium species, four cases
      (1.3%); and Trichosporon species, three cases (1.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The most
      frequent isolated etiologic agents were T rubrum for toenails and C albicans for
      fingernails.

PMID- 28594609
TI  - Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of the Diversity of Human Noroviruses in
      Japanese Oysters.
AB  - To obtain detailed information on the diversity of infectious norovirus in
      oysters (Crossostrea gigas), oysters obtained from fish producers at six
      different sites (sites A, B, C, D, E, and F) in Japan were analyzed once a month
      during the period spanning October 2015-February 2016. To avoid false-positive
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results derived from noninfectious virus
      particles, samples were pretreated with RNase before reverse transcription-PCR
      (RT-PCR). RT-PCR products were subjected to next-generation sequencing to
      identify norovirus genotypes in oysters. As a result, all GI genotypes were
      detected in the investigational period. The detection rate and proportion of
      norovirus GI genotypes differed depending on the sampling site and month. GII.3,
      GII.4, GII.13, GII.16, and GII.17 were detected in this study. Both the detection
      rate and proportion of norovirus GII genotypes differed depending on the sampling
      site and month. In total, the detection rate and proportion of GII.3 were highest
      from October to December among all detected genotypes. In January, the detection
      rates of GII.4 and GII.17 reached the same level as that of GII.3. The proportion
      of GII.17 was relatively lower from October to December, whereas it was the
      highest in January. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation on
      noroviruses in oysters in Japan, based on a method that can distinguish their
      infectivity.

PMID- 28594612
TI  - What compassion means to me.
AB  - In the first instalment in a series of blogs, Clare Price-Dowd, Senior Programme
      Lead, NHS Leadership Academy, Leeds, talks about her personal experience of
      compassionate nursing and discusses why it is so important in the NHS.

PMID- 28594611
TI  - Healthcare students' experiences when integrating e-learning and flipped
      classroom instructional approaches.
AB  - This article describes the experiences of undergraduate healthcare students
      taking a module adopting a 'flipped classroom' approach. Evidence suggests that
      flipped classroom as a pedagogical tool has the potential to enhance student
      learning and to improve healthcare practice. This innovative approach was
      implemented within a healthcare curriculum and in a module looking at public
      health delivered at the beginning of year two of a 3-year programme. The focus of
      the evaluation study was on the e-learning resources used in the module and the
      student experiences of these; with a specific aim to evaluate this element of the
      flipped classroom approach. A mixed-methods approach was adopted and data
      collected using questionnaires, which were distributed across a whole cohort, and
      a focus group involving ten participants. Statistical analysis of the data showed
      the positive student experience of engaging with e-learning. The thematic
      analysis identified two key themes; factors influencing a positive learning
      experience and the challenges when developing e-learning within a flipped
      classroom approach. The study provides guidance for further developments and
      improvements when developing e-learning as part of the flipped classroom
      approach.

PMID- 28594613
TI  - Long-term sustainability.

PMID- 28594614
TI  - Establishing a nurse-led pelvic floor and functional bowel service.
AB  - Jane Turner, Colorectal Nurse Specialist, Cardiff and Vale University Health
      Board, was awarded a travel scholarship by the Florence Nightingale Foundation.
      She used it to find out about the running of nurse-led pelvic floor and
      functional bowel services around the UK.

PMID- 28594616
TI  - Psychological effects of skin disease: the psoriasis exemplar.

PMID- 28594615
TI  - Oral decontamination techniques and ventilator-associated pneumonia.
AB  - Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the major nosocomial infections
      in the intensive care unit (ICU), contributing to increased mortality and
      morbidity. Studies have shown that oral decontamination through the use of
      mechanical and pharmacological agents significantly reduces the incidence of VAP,
      but oral care practices in ICUs are not consistent. A double-blind randomised
      controlled trial was undertaken in the medical ICU of a tertiary care centre in
      India, to assess the efficacy of a toothbrush-based oral care technique in
      reducing incidence of VAP. Tooth-brushing with concurrent suctioning technique
      was not proved to be superior to mouth-swabbing. The greatest risk factor for
      developing VAP was the number of ventilator days (length of time on a
      ventilator). There was a statistical association between gender and presence of
      antibiotics with VAP.

PMID- 28594617
TI  - A disclosure scheme for protecting the victims of domestic violence.
AB  - Richard Griffith, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, explains
      how the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme aims to protect potential victims by
      allowing disclosure of a partner's previous crimes.

PMID- 28594618
TI  - Complaints processes: moving forwards.
AB  - Sam Foster, Chief Nurse at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, discusses the
      issue of complaints handling, and shares a new approach aimed at making training
      on the process more memorable.

PMID- 28594619
TI  - Managing acute respiratory tract infections in children.
AB  - Respiratory tract infections (RTIs), including community-acquired pneumonia
      (CAP), bronchiolitis, viral-induced wheeze and croup, account for more primary
      care consultations than any other illness group and are the most likely reason
      for a parent or carer to contact a health professional. The majority of RTIs in
      fully immunised children are usually self-limiting. However, in a small
      percentage of children RTIs may become life threatening and it is crucial that
      all front-line health professionals are able to recognise and identify these
      children who are at risk of deterioration. To ensure this, fast recognition of
      symptoms is important, with care taken to exclude any 'red flag' features that
      may prompt a referral to secondary care. Nurses are well placed to reassure and
      support families, and to provide education regarding the facts about fever, the
      appropriate use of a single antipyretic medication, how to avoid dehydration in
      children with RTIs, and the beneficial role of immunisation in preventing
      infection. It is also important to explain in cases of CAP where antibiotics are
      necessary about how soon to expect a response, any side effects from antibiotics,
      and to provide 'safety net advice' on when to consider reassessment for the
      child. An illustrative case study is included to highlight some of the challenges
      that are likely to be encountered in clinical practice.

PMID- 28594620
TI  - Abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders in children.
AB  - Recurrent abdominal pain is a common presentation in children and mostly non
      organic in origin. Nearly one-fifth of the childhood population are known to
      suffer from it worldwide, although only 50% of these may seek consultation with a
      health professional. Non-organic recurrent abdominal pain encompasses four main
      conditions broadly labelled as abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal
      disorders (FGIDs). These are diagnosed following exclusion of organic pathologies
      and by symptom concordance with defined parameters, published as the Rome IV
      criteria for FGIDs. Appropriate evaluation includes assessment for 'red flag'
      manifestations to rule out organic causes. Appropriate review of social and
      family circumstances is vital to identify triggers and protective factors.
      Management is based on explanation, reassurance and therapeutic interventions
      that need to be decided on an individual basis. Treatment focuses primarily on
      dietary and biopsychosocial interventions, with a minimal role for
      pharmacological agents. A case study is included to highlight some of the
      challenges that may arise while managing abdominal pain-related FGIDs. Nurses
      play a vital role in early identification, providing support and education to
      children and their families. There is increasing evidence for the effectiveness
      of nurse-led services in managing these disorders, as well as providing
      continuity of care.

PMID- 28594621
TI  - An undergraduate placemement at the St John Eye Hospital, Jerusalem.
AB  - The elective placement is an opportunity for nursing undergraduates to
      independently decide where to go and what to do to widen their clinical
      experience. Being able to decide on and participate in an elective placement
      provides student nurses with a chance to work in a different area and explore
      personal ambitions. This reflective account examines a student nurse's
      experiences while on an elective placement at an eye hospital in East Jerusalem
      and the West Bank.

PMID- 28594622
TI  - Making the NHS Litigation Authority more effective as NHS Resolution.
AB  - John Tingle, Reader in Health Law at Nottingham Trent University, discusses a
      recent publication of the NHS Litigation Authority, now renamed NHS Resolution,
      which points to realignment of activity and focus in core areas.

PMID- 28594624
TI  - Recognising outstanding care.
AB  - Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses a
      report from the Care Quality Commission that sets out some examples of good and
      outstanding care.

PMID- 28594623
TI  - How work environments affect nurse burnout and patient outcomes.

PMID- 28594625
TI  - Music in the dermatology theatre: what do patients want to listen to?

PMID- 28594626
TI  - Proposed changes to nurse education: get ready to have your say.
AB  - Elizabeth Rosser, Deputy Dean (Education and Professional Practice) and Professor
      of Nursing at Bournemouth University, examines the radical changes to
      undergraduate nurse education currently proposed.

PMID- 28594627
TI  - Blood donation: I'm there.

PMID- 28594628
TI  - Three-Dimensional Versus Two-Dimensional Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the last decades, the three-dimensional (3D) imaging
      systems have been introduced in an attempt to improve depth perception and image
      quality during laparoscopic cholecystectomy interventions. The goal of our
      systematic review was to provide enough convincing evidences on superiority and
      benefits of 3D over two-dimensional (2D) imaging systems, from both surgeon's and
      patient's point of view, justifying the cost-effectiveness of newly developed 3D
      systems. METHODS: Two authors separately performed a full literature search
      aiming to find randomized controlled trials evaluating the advantages and
      disadvantages of 3D versus 2D laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedures. The
      patients who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were included in
      this study irrespective of their age and sex. Differing opinions between the two
      authors were reviewed by the third author. RESULTS: A total of 912 articles were
      initially reviewed by their titles and abstracts for eligibility. After being
      filtered through predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and excluding
      the duplicates, only 10 studies underwent the final evaluation by the full text
      assessment. Eventually, only five randomized controlled studies were included in
      this study. Operative time and depth perception/image quality were set as the
      primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. The operative time was
      significantly shorter in 60% of the studies. Of five studies that evaluated the
      depth perception and image quality, all five (100%) reported a better depth
      perception and image quality. CONCLUSIONS: 3D imaging systems tend to shorten the
      operative time compared to 2D systems and result in a better depth perception.
      More studies and investigations with bigger cohort sizes and using unique 3D
      visual systems are necessary to justify the cost-effectiveness of the new, more
      expensive 3D systems.

PMID- 28594629
TI  - Adverse Effects of Outcome Monitoring Feedback in Patients With Personality
      Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Day Treatment and Inpatient Settings.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the differential effect of outcome monitoring
      feedback to therapists and to patients on outcomes in cluster B, cluster C, and
      personality disorder not otherwise specified (PD-NOS) patients. Day treatment
      patients (n = 112) and inpatients (n = 94) were randomly assigned to a feedback
      to therapist (FbT), feedback to therapist and patient (FbTP), or no feedback
      (NFb) condition. Feedback was based on weekly administrations of the Outcome
      Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45). In cluster B and PD-NOS patients FbTP resulted in
      increased OQ-45 scores during the first 6 months of therapy for not on track
      (NOT) patients. In cluster C patients, no adverse effects of feedback were found.
      These results suggest that for certain personality disorder patient groups,
      providing feedback during treatment may not always be beneficial, although more
      research is needed to further assess these effects.

PMID- 28594630
TI  - Psychopathy and Deviant Workplace Behavior: A Comparison of Two Psychopathy
      Models.
AB  - Although psychopathy is an interpersonally harmful construct, few studies have
      compared different psycho athy models in predicting different types of workplace
      deviance. We examined how the Triarchic Psychopathy Model (TRI-PM) and the Self
      Report Psychopathy-Short Form (SRP-SF) predicted deviant workplace behaviors in
      two forms: sexual harassment and deviant work behaviors. Using structural
      equations modeling, the latent factor of psychopathy was predictive for both
      types of deviant workplace behavior. Specifically, the SRP-SF signif cantly
      predicted both measures of deviant workplace behavior. With respect to the TRI
      PM, meanness and disinhibition significantly predicted higher scores of workplace
      deviance and workplace sexual harassment measures. Future research needs to
      investigate the influence of psychopathy on deviant workplace behaviors, and
      consider the measures they use when they investigate these constructs.

PMID- 28594631
TI  - The Role of Dimensional Personality Psychopathology in a Forensic Inpatient
      Psychiatric Setting.
AB  - The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form is a widely
      used measure of psychopathology and includes the Personality Psychopathology Five
      (PSY-5) scales, which measure dimensional maladaptive personality traits similar
      to those in the DSM-5 alternative model for personality disorder (PD) diagnosis.
      The current study evaluated the role of these dimensional personality
      psychopathology characteristics in a sample of 1,110 inpatients in a forensic
      psychiatric setting, where personality psychopathology plays a significant but
      understudied role. The authors examined the extent to which dimensional
      personality psychopathology characteristics (as measured by the PSY-5) were
      associated with borderline and antisocial PD diagnoses and institutional
      aggression. Results support the usefulness of measuring dimensional personality
      traits for understanding PD diagnoses, as well as incidents of institutional
      aggression. More specifically, the PSY-5 scales appear to measure the core
      features of borderline and antisocial PDs. This study supports the inclusion of
      dimensional personality assessment in understanding aggressive behavior in
      inpatient settings.

PMID- 28594632
TI  - High Prevalence of Physical Pain Among Treatment-Seeking Individuals With
      Borderline Personality Disorder.
AB  - Research has demonstrated that about 30% of chronic pain patients suffer from
      borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet pain is not often discussed in
      research on the treatment of BPD. Sixty-five patients entering outpatient
      treatment for BPD were assessed at baseline for the prevalence of DSM-IV lifetime
      pain disorder, current medical problems, and the experience of current pain as
      measured by the McGill Pain Questionnaire. DSM-IV lifetime pain disorder
      diagnosis was present in 65% of patients. Current pain was experienced by 89% of
      participants, with intensity ranging from mild (19%) to excruciating (2%). Some
      individuals (21.5%) also reported experiencing daily medical problems in the past
      month prior to entering treatment. Physical pain is highly prevalent among
      treatment-seeking individuals with BPD. This pain phenomenon should be considered
      during treatment to help prevent a lifetime of functional impairment, including
      the possibility of abusing substances as a maladaptive coping mechanism.

PMID- 28594633
TI  - The Influence of Emotional State on Learning From Reward and Punishment in
      Borderline Personality Disorder.
AB  - Despite preliminary evidence that individuals with borderline personality
      disorder (BPD) demonstrate deficits in learning from corrective feedback, no
      studies have examined the influence of emotional state on these learning deficits
      in BPD. This laboratory study examined the influence of negative emotions on
      learning among participants with BPD (n = 17), compared with clinical (past-year
      mood/anxiety disorder; n = 20) and healthy (n = 23) controls. Participants
      completed a reinforcement learning task before and after a negative emotion
      induction. The learning task involved presenting pairs of stimuli with
      probabilistic feedback in the training phase, and subsequently assessing accuracy
      for choosing previously rewarded stimuli or avoiding previously punished stimuli.
      ANOVAs and ANCOVAs revealed no significant between-group differences in overall
      learning accuracy. However, there was an effect of group in the ANCOVA for
      postemotion induction high-conflict punishment learning accuracy, with the BPD
      group showing greater decrements in learning accuracy than controls following the
      negative emotion induction.

PMID- 28594634
TI  - Dissemination of blaOXA-23, blaOXA-24, blaOXA-58, and blaNDM-1 Genes of
      Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates from Four Tertiary Hospitals in Thailand.
AB  - Acinetobacter baumannii is a major threat to public health due to the emergence
      and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant strains. The purpose of this study was
      to determine the molecular epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant A. baumannii
      isolates collected from four tertiary hospitals in Thailand during the period
      November 2013-February 2015. We screened 339 A. baumannii, nonrepetitive clinical
      isolates to determine drug susceptibility. Among all isolates, we found that 7.9%
      was nondrug-resistant A. baumannii (NR-AB). Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CR
      AB) strains accounted for 84.9% of the total isolates, with extensively drug
      resistant A. baumannii (XDR-AB) accounting for 7.9% of the total isolates. We
      further investigated class D carbapenemase genes using multiplex-PCR
      amplification and class B metallo-beta-lactamase genes, including blaIMP, blaVIM,
      and blaNDM-1 genes, using PCR and sequencing methods. We found that 300 (88.5%)
      isolates carried acquired class D carbapenemase genes, including blaOXA-23
      (82.6%), blaOXA-24 (0.3%), and blaOXA-58 (6.5%). The genes blaIMP and blaVIM were
      not detected in any isolates. The blaNDM-1 was detected in 31 isolates from two
      hospitals (9.1%). All of the blaNDM-1-positive A. baumannii (NDM-AB) had ISAba125
      sequences upstream of the blaNDM-1 gene. A coexistence of three resistance genes
      blaOXA-23-blaOXA-58-blaNDM-1-was found in one isolate. A repetitive element
      palindromic-PCR (REP-PCR) revealed that all A. baumannii isolates were
      genetically diverse and could be divided into 33 genotypes. Only three genotypes
      were found to be predominant in all hospitals. Data from our study indicate the
      widespread emergence of multiple resistance determinants in A. baumannii isolates
      in Thailand, suggesting the need for more stringent infection control measures.

PMID- 28594635
TI  - Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infections
      in a Chinese Children's Hospital: Predominance of New Delhi Metallo-beta
      Lactamase-1.
AB  - The spread of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKp) has become a
      significant problem worldwide; however, relevant data in children are limited. We
      performed a retrospective study to better understand the epidemiology of CRKp
      bloodstream infections at Beijing Children's Hospital. A total of 164 K.
      pneumoniae strains were collected from blood cultures between January 2011 and
      September 2014, of which 52 (31.7%) were CRKp strains. All 52 CRKp strains were
      multidrug resistant; 46 (88.5%) and 49 (94.2%) isolates were resistant to
      meropenem and imipenem, respectively. Low rates of resistance to amikacin (5.8%),
      levofloxacin (7.7%), and ciprofloxacin (15.4%) were observed. All isolates were
      susceptible to colistin. Among the tested carbapenem resistance genes, the
      predominant gene was blaNDM-1, detected in 28 (53.8%) isolates, followed by
      blaIMP-4 (19, 36.5%) and blaKPC-2 (4, 7.7%). Multilocus sequence typing
      identified 31 sequence types (STs), the most predominant of which was ST782 (9,
      29.0%). All ST782 strains were New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1)
      producing. Four novel STs (ST2010, ST2011, ST2012, and ST2013) and two novel
      alleles (phoE243 and tonB324) were also detected. Hematologic disease was the
      most common underlying disease (73.1%). All children received initial empirical
      therapy. A total of 59.6% (31/52) patients received inappropriate empirical
      therapy, and 45.2% (14/31) changed antimicrobial therapy after blood culture
      results were obtained. The overall mortality rate was 11.5%. In conclusion, we
      observed a high rate of CRKp isolates collected from blood cultures and the
      predominance of NDM-1-producing K. pneumoniae among children from 2011 to 2014.

PMID- 28594637
TI  - Applying a potential difference to minimise damage to carbon fibres during carbon
      nanotube grafting by chemical vapour deposition.
AB  - The application of an in situ potential difference between carbon fibres and a
      graphite foil counter electrode (300 V, generating an electric field ca 0.3-0.7 V
      MUm-1), during the chemical vapour deposition synthesis of carbon nanotube (CNT)
      grafted carbon fibres, significantly improves the uniformity of growth without
      reducing the tensile properties of the underlying carbon fibres. Grafted CNTs
      with diameters 55 nm +/- 36 nm and lengths around 10 MUm were well attached to
      the carbon fibre surface, and were grown without the requirement for protective
      barrier coatings. The grafted CNTs increased the surface area to 185 m2 g-1
      compared to the as-received sized carbon fibre 0.24 m2 g-1. The approach is not
      restricted to batch systems and has the potential to improve CNT grafted carbon
      fibre production for continuous processing.

PMID- 28594636
TI  - Contemporary alcohol use patterns among a national sample of U.S. adult drinkers.
AB  - The aim of the current article is to identify subgroups of adult drinkers
      characterized by typical drinking patterns. Data from the National Epidemiologic
      Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III were used to classify drinkers based
      on several indicators of drinking. Past-year drinkers aged 18-64 were included (n
      = 22,776). Latent class analysis revealed a 5-class model: Occasional, Light
      Drinkers (28%), Frequent Drinkers (25%), Infrequent Drinkers with Occasional
      Binging (5%), Frequent Drinkers with Occasional Binging (22%), and High-Intensity
      Drinkers (20%). Although most were Light Drinkers, many engaged in excessive
      drinking. Given the potential risk for harm, prevention efforts are warranted
      particularly for High-Intensity Drinkers.

PMID- 28594639
TI  - Spin-valley dynamics of electrically driven ambipolar carbon-nanotube quantum
      dots.
AB  - An ambipolar n-p double quantum dot defined by potential variation along a
      semiconducting carbon-nanotube is considered. We focus on the (1e,1h) charge
      configuration with a single excess electron of the conduction band confined in
      the n-type dot and a single missing electron in the valence band state of the p
      type dot for which lifting of the Pauli blockade of the current was observed in
      the electric-dipole spin resonance (Laird et al 2013 Nat. Nanotechnol. 8 565).
      The dynamics of the system driven by periodic electric field is studied with the
      Floquet theory and the time-dependent configuration interaction method with the
      single-electron spin-valley-orbitals determined for atomistic tight-binding
      Hamiltonian. We find that the transitions lifting the Pauli blockade are strongly
      influenced by coupling to a vacuum state with an empty n dot and a fully filled p
      dot. The coupling shifts the transition energies and strongly modifies the
      effective g factors for axial magnetic field. The coupling is modulated by the
      bias between the dots but it appears effective for surprisingly large energy
      splitting between the (1e,1h) ground state and the vacuum (0e, 0h) state.
      Multiphoton transitions and high harmonic generation effects are also discussed.

PMID- 28594638
TI  - Recognition of normal-abnormal phonocardiographic signals using deep
      convolutional neural networks and mel-frequency spectral coefficients.
AB  - : Intensive care unit patients are heavily monitored, and several clinically
      relevant parameters are routinely extracted from high resolution signals.
      OBJECTIVE: The goal of the 2016 PhysioNet/CinC Challenge was to encourage the
      creation of an intelligent system that fused information from different
      phonocardiographic signals to create a robust set of normal/abnormal signal
      detections. APPROACH: Deep convolutional neural networks and mel-frequency
      spectral coefficients were used for recognition of normal-abnormal
      phonocardiographic signals of the human heart. This technique was developed using
      the PhysioNet.org Heart Sound database and was submitted for scoring on the
      challenge test set. MAIN RESULTS: The current entry for the proposed approach
      obtained an overall score of 84.15% in the last phase of the challenge, which
      provided the sixth official score and differs from the best score of 86.02% by
      just 1.87%.

PMID- 28594640
TI  - Ultra-broad polypyrrole (PPy) nano-ribbons seeded by racemic surfactants
      aggregates and their high-performance electromagnetic radiation elimination.
AB  - Ribbon-like nano-structures possess high aspect ratios, and thus have great
      potential in the development of high-performance microwave absorption (MA)
      materials that can effectively eliminate adverse electromagnetic radiation.
      However, these nano-structures have been scarcely constructed in the field of MA,
      because of the lack of efficient synthetic routes. Herein, we developed an
      efficient method to successfully construct polypyrrole (PPy) nano-ribbons using
      the self-assembly aggregates of a racemic surfactant as the seeds. The frequency
      range with a reflection loss value of lower than -10 dB reached 7.68 GHz in the
      frequency range of 10.32-18.00 GHz, and surpassed all the currently reported PPy
      nano-structures, as well as most other MA nano-materials. Through changing the
      amount of surfactant, both the nano-structures and MA performance can be
      effectively regulated. Furthermore, the reason behind the high-performance MA of
      PPy nano-ribbons has been deeply explored. It opens up the opportunity for the
      application of conducting polymer nano-ribbons as a lightweight and tunable high
      performance MA material, especially in applications of special aircraft and
      flexible electronics.

PMID- 28594641
TI  - Detection of pathological heart sounds.
AB  - : Heart sound analysis has been a major topic of research over the past few
      decades. However, the necessity for a large and reliable database has been a
      major concern in these studies. OBJECTIVE: Noting that the current heart sound
      classification methods do not work properly for noisy signals, the PhysioNet/CinC
      Challenge 2016 aims to develop the heart sound classification algorithms by
      providing a global open database for challengers. This paper addresses the
      problem of heart sound classification methods within noisy real-world
      phonocardiogram recordings by implementing an innovative approach. SIGNIFICANCE:
      After locating the fundamental heart sounds and the systolic and diastolic
      components, a novel method named cycle quality assessment is applied to each
      recording. The presented method detects those cycles which are less affected by
      noise and better segmented by the use of two criteria here proposed in this
      paper. The selected cycles are the inputs of a further feature extraction
      process. APPROACH: Due to the variability of the heart sound signal induced by
      various cardiac arrhythmias, four sets of features from the time, time-frequency
      and perceptual domains are extracted. Before starting the main classification
      process, the obtained 90-dimensional feature vector is mapped to a new feature
      space to pre-detect normal recordings by applying a Fisher's discriminant
      analysis. The main classification procedure is then done based on three feed
      forward neural networks and a voting system among classifiers. MAIN RESULTS: The
      presented method is evaluated using the training and hidden test sets of the
      PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2016. Also, the results are compared with the top five
      ranked submissions. The results indicate that the proposed method is effective in
      classifying heart sounds as normal versus abnormal recordings.

PMID- 28594642
TI  - CE: Health and the Human Microbiome: A Primer for Nurses.
AB  - : The profound impact of the human microbiome on health makes it imperative that
      nurses understand the basic structures and functions of the various microbial
      communities. In studying the human microbiome, advances in DNA and RNA sequencing
      technology offer benefits over traditional culture-based methods. Such technology
      has permitted more thorough investigations of microbial communities, particularly
      those of the gastrointestinal (GI) and female reproductive tracts. Although
      individual variations exist, each site exhibits distinct compositions. The
      diverse GI microbiota aid in digestion, mood regulation, and vitamin synthesis.
      While many factors affect the composition and functions of the GI microbiota,
      diet likely exerts the strongest influence. Vaginal microbiota tend to be less
      diverse, and mainly serve to protect women from infection. The composition of the
      vaginal microbiota is influenced by sexual activity, hygienic practices,
      medications, smoking, and other factors. Our increasing knowledge about the
      structures and functions of the GI and vaginal microbiota allows nurses to
      provide targeted, evidence-based education and care for various populations.

PMID- 28594643
TI  - CE: Early Intervention in Patients with Poststroke Depression.
AB  - : Nearly one-third of stroke survivors experience depression. Poststroke
      depression is associated with longer hospital stays, poor physical and cognitive
      recovery, poor quality of life, high caregiver distress, increased risk of
      recurrent stroke, and higher rates of morbidity and mortality. Poststroke
      depression, however, often goes unrecognized and untreated because the physical
      and cognitive repercussions of stroke make it difficult to identify. Nurses are
      well positioned to recognize poststroke depression, educate patient caregivers,
      and aid patients who have poststroke depression in their efforts to achieve
      physical, cognitive, and emotional recovery. This article explains how poststroke
      depression often manifests, describes associated risk factors, and discusses the
      screening tools and therapeutic interventions nurses can use to identify and help
      manage depression in patients following stroke.

PMID- 28594645
TI  - Novel imaging techniques in gynaecological cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe the added value of novel functional MRI techniques
      towards detection, staging, characterization, response monitoring and
      prognostication in gynaecological cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: Functional MRI
      including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-MRI and dynamic contrast-enhanced
      (DCE)-MRI adds structural, hemodynamic and physiological information to
      anatomical MRI. In endometrial and cervical cancer, the addition of DWI-MRI and
      DCE-MRI improves tumour detection as well as staging of uterine and extra-uterine
      pelvic spread. Quantitative assessment of DWI and DCE-MRI reflecting tissue
      properties of biological aggressiveness or treatment resistance may enable the
      prediction of risk of extra-uterine or extra-ovarian disease spread, predict risk
      of recurrence and assess treatment response. DWI shows high accuracy for
      detecting peritoneal metastases and allows for comprehensive staging of
      (recurrent) ovarian cancer following the clinical development of whole body DWI
      MRI. SUMMARY: The added value of DWI/DCE-MRI for characterization and staging of
      gynaecological malignancy is becoming increasingly established and may improve
      treatment stratification. Ongoing multicentre studies are expected to further
      consolidate its use in clinical routine. Quantitative evaluation of functional
      MRI may help in prognostication and risk stratification.

PMID- 28594646
TI  - Minimally invasive surgery in pelvic floor repair.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the use and efficacy of minimally invasive surgery
      in pelvic organ prolapse (POP) repair. This review summarizes surgical options
      for management of POP with special emphasis on minimally invasive surgical
      approach and discusses the recent experience and feasibility of integrating robot
      assisted technology. RECENT FINDINGS: Minimally invasive approaches have equal
      efficacy and less morbidity than laparotomy for POP repair, particularly apical
      prolapse. Robotics may facilitate the rate of minimally invasive surgery for POP
      repair with greater cost and as yet no proven superiority for conventional
      laparoscopy. SUMMARY: Minimally invasive surgery is the preferred approach to POP
      repair. Conventional laparoscopic or robotic sacral colpopexy is recommended for
      apical defect and procidentia.

PMID- 28594647
TI  - Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis Partly Due to a Penicillin Susceptible, Ceftriaxone
      Resistant Streptococcus anginosus Isolate.

PMID- 28594648
TI  - Risk profiles of ectasia after keratorefractive surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To identify and evaluate the risk factors of iatrogenic
      ectasia after refractive surgery. RECENT FINDINGS: We reviewed recently published
      papers that identified various risk factors associated with ectasia after LASIK,
      photorefractive keratectomy, small incision lenticule extraction, and other
      refractive surgical procedures. We also attempted to evaluate the relative
      contributions of these factors to the development of ectasia following refractive
      surgery. Forme fruste keratoconus, genetic predisposition to keratoconus, low
      residual stromal bed thickness (through high myopia, thin preoperative cornea, or
      thick LASIK flap), and irregular corneal topography have been identified as risk
      factors for keratectasia development after refractive surgical procedures. A
      newly proposed metric, percentage tissue altered, has been reported to be a
      robust indicator for post LASIK ectasia risk calculation. Several cases of
      keratectasia have also been reported 6 to 12 months following minimally invasive
      small incision lenticule extraction procedure. Other risk factors associated with
      iatrogenic ectasia include eye rubbing, young age, and pregnancy. SUMMARY:
      Ectasia after refractive surgery is a relatively rare complication which can lead
      to sight-threatening complications if not detected and treated in time. It is
      important to continue our quest to improve our methods of identifying absolute
      and relative risk factors of ectasia and their cut-off values following various
      keratorefractive surgical procedures.

PMID- 28594650
TI  - Impact of an Obstetrical Hospitalist Program on the Safety Events in a Mid-Sized
      Obstetrical Unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Because internal medicine hospitalist programs were developed to
      address issues in medicine such as a need to improve quality, improve efficiency,
      and decrease healthcare cost, obstetrical (OB) hospitalist models were developed
      to address needs specific to the obstetrics and gynecology field. Our objective
      was to compare outcomes measured by occurrence of safety events before and after
      implementation of an OB hospitalist program in a mid-sized OB unit. METHODS: From
      July 2012 to September 2014, 11 safety events occurred on the labor and delivery
      floor. A full-time OB hospitalist program was implemented in October 2014.
      RESULTS: From October 2014 to December 2016, there was 1 safety event associated
      with labor and delivery. CONCLUSION: It has been speculated that implementation
      of an OB hospitalist model would be associated with improved maternal and
      neonatal outcomes; our regional OB referral hospital demonstrated a statistically
      significant decrease in OB safety events after the OB hospitalist program
      implementation.

PMID- 28594649
TI  - Accelerated versus conventional corneal crosslinking for refractive instability:
      an update.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Corneal crosslinking (CXL) is a relatively new treatment
      modality offering refractive stability in patients with ectatic disorders. The
      procedure as initially described (Dresden protocol) is time consuming;
      accelerated protocols have been lately developed. The purpose of this review is
      to present the recent findings regarding the comparison of accelerated CXL with
      the conventional Dresden protocol. RECENT FINDINGS: A variety of accelerated
      protocols are described in the literature. Safety and efficacy of the procedures
      with regard to stability seem to be equivalent in initial studies but indirect
      measures of efficacy, such as demarcation line depth and laboratory measurements,
      do not always confirm equivalence of accelerated protocols in comparison to
      conventional one. Modified accelerated protocols must be developed in order to
      overcome this. SUMMARY: Accelerated CXL protocols seem to be a valid alternative
      to the conventional protocol; however, more comparative long term studies are
      needed to confirm the validity and to elucidate which accelerated protocol is
      ideal in each case.

PMID- 28594652
TI  - Providing Culturally Sensitive Care for Islamic Patients and Families.
AB  - Nurses can expect to care for patients from different cultures and faith
      traditions and need to develop cultural competence. This article describes what
      is important in providing culturally and religiously sensitive care to Muslim and
      Middle Eastern patients. The Crescent of Care Model by Lovering is offered to aid
      understanding of five key areas of culturally competent care. Jesus' story of the
      Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) offers guidance for Christian nurses caring for
      those in need.

PMID- 28594653
TI  - A Nursing Practice Model Based on Christ: The Agape Model.
AB  - Nine out of 10 American adults believe Jesus was a real person, and almost two
      thirds have made a commitment to Jesus Christ. Research further supports that
      spiritual beliefs and religious practices influence overall health and well
      being. Christian nurses need a practice model that helps them serve as kingdom
      nurses. This article introduces the Agape Model, based on the agape love and
      characteristics of Christ, upon which Christian nurses may align their practice
      to provide Christ-centered care.

PMID- 28594651
TI  - miR-4728-3p Functions as a Tumor Suppressor in Ulcerative Colitis-associated
      Colorectal Neoplasia Through Regulation of Focal Adhesion Signaling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As mechanisms of neoplasia in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC)
      remain poorly understood, we sought to identify pathways of carcinogenesis in
      this high-risk population. METHODS: MicroRNA (miRNA) and mRNA expression was
      examined in nondysplastic rectosigmoid mucosa from UC patients with (n = 19) or
      without remote colon neoplasia (n = 23). We developed a method to identify miRNA
      regulated pathways based on differentially expressed miRNAs and their putative
      mRNAs targets in the same samples. One key pathway identified in the analysis,
      miR-4728-3p regulation of focal adhesion signaling was further evaluated in vitro
      and through examination of expression in UC-cancers. RESULTS: There were 101
      significantly up-regulated and 98 down-regulated miRNAs (adjusted P < 0.05) in
      the rectal mucosa of UC patients harboring proximal neoplasia. Bioinformatic
      analysis identified miR-4728-3p as a regulator of 3 proteins involved in focal
      adhesion signaling, CAV1, THBS2, and COL1A2. Real-time PCR validated down
      regulation of miR-4728-3p in nondysplastic tissue remote from UC-neoplasia and in
      UC-associated colon cancers. miR-4728-3p transfection into colon cancer cells
      down-regulated expression levels and decreased luciferase activities in cells
      expressing a wild type 3' untranslated region compared with a mutant 3'
      untranslated region for all 3 genes. Exogenous transfected miR-4728-3p also
      delayed wound healing and decreased formation of focal adhesion complexes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with long-standing UC who harbor neoplasia can be
      identified based on miRNA and mRNA profiles in nondysplastic tissue. Using a
      method to analyze miRNA and mRNA expression from the same tissues, we identified
      that miR-4728-3p is likely an important tumor suppressor in UC-associated colon
      carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28594654
TI  - Rationale, study design, and pilot phase of tHE Management of AntiThrOMbotic
      therApy (HEMATOMA) in patients undergoing electrophysiological device surgery:
      Italian National Multicenter Observational REgistry.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the different strategies adopted for the management of
      antithrombotic therapy and the related hemorrhagic and infective complication
      rates in patients undergoing cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs)
      surgery in a real-world setting. METHODS: THE Management of AntiThrOMbotic
      therApy in patients undergoing electrophysiological device surgery: Italian
      NatiOnal Multicenter Observational REgistry (HEMATOMA NO MORE) is an
      observational, prospective, multicenter, national cohort study (with a
      retrospective, multicenter, regional pilot phase) designed to enroll patients
      with standard indications to CIED implantations/replacements receiving
      concomitant antithrombotic therapy. The primary outcome is clinically significant
      pocket hematoma defined as a postprocedural hematoma, resulting in prolonged
      hospitalization and/or requiring interruption of antithrombotic therapy and/or
      requiring further surgery and/or requiring transfusion. RESULTS: The pilot phase
      included 569 patients from 11 centers in Tuscany enrolled between September 2014
      and May 2015 and followed up for 1 month. Patients were categorized according to
      the strategy of management of antithrombotic therapy, with heparin bridging being
      associated with the highest incidence of clinically significant pocket hematoma
      (12.3%). Overall nonpocket hemorrhagic events rate was quite low (0.52%) and
      thromboembolic complications were negligible (0.17%). CONCLUSION: Occurrence of
      pocket hematoma in patients undergoing CIED surgery is largely influenced by the
      strategy of management of antithrombotic therapy. The HEMATOMA NO MORE will
      assess the impact of different strategies on the risk of developing pocket
      hematoma and of subsequent CIED-related infections.

PMID- 28594655
TI  - Life Balance in Nurse Educators: A Mixed-Methods Study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to explore relationships among nurse educator life
      balance, quality of life, and lived experience of life balance that may be used
      to develop strategies to prevent or minimize challenging aspects of the
      profession that lead to dissatisfaction and/or burnout. BACKGROUND: Nurse
      educator balance is significant to the national nurse faculty shortage crisis.
      The inability to achieve life balance contributes to job dissatisfaction and
      burnout, which contribute to the educator shortage. METHOD: Convergent parallel
      mixed-methods design. RESULTS: Participants were found to have moderate life
      balance correlating with greater perceived satisfaction. Four themes emerged from
      the qualitative data: Support, Demands, Workload, and Personal/Time Attributes.
      CONCLUSION: Findings from this study can be utilized to develop strategies to
      minimize the nurse educator shortage.

PMID- 28594656
TI  - Mentoring and Development Resources Available to New Doctorally Prepared Faculty
      in Nursing.
AB  - AIM: This study examined faculty mentoring practices and strategies currently in
      place in nursing programs. BACKGROUND: Mentoring is a critical component of
      organizations and can be especially important in times of organizational change.
      Schools of nursing are experiencing rapid organizational shifts with increases in
      retirement and the proliferation of Doctor of Nursing Practice-prepared faculty.
      METHOD: Deans and department chairs of baccalaureate and higher degree programs
      across the United States participated in a web-based survey. RESULTS: Results
      from the survey suggested that the vast majority of nursing programs had
      practices and strategies aimed at mentoring faculty that were based on the
      traditional mentor-protege approach. Few programs differentiated their mentoring
      practices depending on the type of doctoral education or anticipated roles of the
      faculty member. CONCLUSION: Our research highlights the fact that nursing
      programs still employ traditional methods of faculty mentoring. Recommendations
      for nursing programs are discussed.

PMID- 28594657
TI  - Fitness Moderates Glycemic Responses to Sitting and Light Activity Breaks.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to experimentally determine whether cardiorespiratory
      fitness (CRF) modifies postprandial glycemia during prolonged sitting and
      investigated the potentially blunting influence this may have on the benefits of
      interrupting postprandial sitting time with light activity breaks. METHODS:
      Thirty-four adults (18 women; 16 men; mean +/- SD age, 40 +/- 9 yr, body mass
      index, 24.5 +/- 3 kg.m) undertook two 7.5-h experimental conditions in a
      randomized order: 1) Prolonged sitting; 2) Sitting interspersed with 5 min light
      walking bouts every 30 min. Blood samples were obtained while fasting and
      postprandially after ingestion of two identical meals. Incremental area under the
      curve (iAUC) was calculated for glucose and insulin throughout experimental
      conditions. Maximal exercise testing quantified peak oxygen consumption (VO2
      peak) as a measure of CRF. A repeated-measures ANOVA investigated whether VO2
      peak modified glucose and insulin iAUC between conditions. RESULTS: Breaking
      sedentary time with light walking breaks reduced blood glucose iAUC from 3.89 +/-
      0.7 to 2.51 +/- 0.7 mmol.L.h (P = 0.015) and insulin iAUC from 241 +/- 46 to 156
      +/- 24 mU.L.h (P = 0.013) after adjustment for VO2 peak and sex. A significant
      interaction between treatment response and VO2 peak was observed for glucose (P =
      0.035), but not insulin (P = 0.062), whereby the treatment effect reduced with
      higher CRF. Average blood glucose iAUC responses for a man at the 25th centile of
      CRF within our cohort (42.5 mL.kg.min) went from 5.80 to 2.98 mmol.L.h during the
      prolonged sitting and light walking break conditions respectively, whereas
      average responses for a man at the 75th centile of CRF (60.5 mL.kg.min) went from
      1.99 to 1.78 mmol.L.h. Similar trends were observed for women. CONCLUSIONS:
      Individuals with low CRF gained the most metabolic benefit from breaking
      prolonged sitting with regular bouts of light walking.

PMID- 28594658
TI  - Total Percutaneous Cardiopulmonary Bypass for Robotic and Endoscopic
      Atrioventricular Valve Surgery.
AB  - Continuous technological advances in endoscopic-, robotic- and catheter-based
      cardiac interventions are paralleled by rapid evolution in cannulation strategies
      for circulatory support. The recent introduction of suture-based percutaneous
      vascular closure devices resulted in innovative strategies to deliver peripheral
      endovascular therapeutic devices through the iliac and femoral arteries.
      Percutaneous access allows rapid postoperative mobilization and potentially
      avoids the devastating neuro-lympho-vascular- and wound infection morbidities
      associated with conventional open surgical exposure. We routinely perform
      endoscopic port access surgery for all isolated atrioventricular valve pathology
      and extended the application of suture-based percutaneous vascular closure device
      to establish total percutaneous peripheral cardiopulmonary bypass in disabled,
      immune-suppressed, and morbidly obese patients at risk neuro-lympho-vascular- and
      wound infection. In this report, we provide a stepwise description of our total
      percutaneous peripheral cardiopulmonary bypass technique.

PMID- 28594659
TI  - Repeat Revascularization After Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass
      Grafting: Is It a Problem?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS CABG) via a
      small left thoracotomy is a novel technique for coronary revascularization that
      is increasingly used around the world. However, multivessel MICS CABG is
      difficult, and concerns about repeat revascularization (RR) have been raised.
      This longitudinal study describes the rates of RR among patients who have
      undergone MICS CABG and identifies targets for improvement. METHODS: A
      prospective observational study was performed on the 306 MICS CABG patients
      operated on by a single surgeon from 2005 to 2015. Minimally invasive coronary
      artery bypass grafting was performed through a small left thoracotomy, using the
      in situ left internal mammary artery, +/- a radial artery, and 1 to 3 saphenous
      veins anastomosed proximally to the aorta. Patients were followed annually. We
      examined the difference between the first half and second half of the series to
      ascertain the effects of a learning curve. RESULTS: Eighty percent of the
      procedures were performed off-pump. The median number of grafts performed were 2,
      and the left anterior descending, diagonals, obtuse marginals, and posterior
      interventricular artery were the distal targets in 94%, 12%, 44%, and 26%,
      respectively. The graftability index (#grafts/#diseased vessels) was 0.93.
      Revascularization of targets smaller than 1.5 mm decreased from 69% to 50% (P =
      0.002) between the series' first and second halves. Overall, RR was needed in 21
      patients (6.9%) and was performed at a mean +/- SD of 1.7 +/- 1.6 years
      postoperatively. The culprit lesion was attributed to the index surgical
      procedure ("graft-associated") in 52%, to a stent stenosis or progression of
      native disease in 43%, and was unidentified in 5%. Patients with graft-associated
      RR had a lower graftability index at operation (0.73 vs 0.94) and more frequent
      involvement of the circumflex system (0.8 vs 0.3). The overall rate of RR at 3
      years decreased from 11% in the first half to 2.6% in the second half (P =
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The need for RR is part of the learning curve with MICS
      CABG, involves a graft in half of the cases, is more common in patients who had a
      lower graftability index at operation, and markedly improves with experience.

PMID- 28594661
TI  - Paracrine regulation of normal and malignant hematopoiesis.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The paradigm of niche-regulation of hematopoiesis has rapidly
      and substantially evolved within the last 12 months. Here, we will review the
      most critical advances in understanding of paracrine regulation of normal and
      malignant hematopoietic stem cell fate during the past year. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Several novel paracrine mechanisms have been recently identified, highlighting
      the function of mesenchymal progenitor cells, osteoprogenitor cells and
      endothelial cells in regulating hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and
      regeneration. Similarly, niche-driven inflammatory states, paracrine mechanisms,
      exosomes, and endocytosis have each been shown to powerfully regulate the
      maintenance and propagation of leukemic cells. SUMMARY: The elucidation of
      paracrine mechanisms that regulate normal and malignant hematopoiesis is critical
      for both fundamental understanding of hematology and for the identification of
      novel molecular targets for therapeutic translation.

PMID- 28594662
TI  - Patient-derived tumor xenografts of lymphoproliferative disorders: are they
      surrogates for the human disease?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDTXs) have emerged as
      powerful platforms in medical oncology. A plethora of PDTXs were generated to
      study solid cancers, but limited data are as yet available on hematological
      diseases. The aim of this review is to describe the state of art of lymphoma
      PDTXs, discussing future directions for the development of
      integrated/personalized cancer programs. RECENT FINDINGS: In the last decades,
      several PDTXs of lymphoproliferative disorders have been produced. Most studies
      focused on acute lymphoblastic leukemias, but consistent results have recently
      been obtained also for indolent and aggressive B-/T-cell lymphomas. These models
      have contributed to characterize lymphoma biology and therapy, despite technical
      and scientific issues have partially limited their application (e.g. high costs,
      relatively low engraftment rates, lack of human-derived tumor microenvironment,
      clonal selection of engrafted cells, limited characterization of tumor grafts).
      In the next future, such limitations should be overcome by new technical
      approaches and dedicated multiinstitutional programs. SUMMARY: PDTXs represent an
      unprecedented opportunity to study the biology and clinical management of
      lymphoproliferative disorders. Many of the current models display limitations,
      which will be resolved by rigorous approaches and comprehensive libraries,
      recapitulating the extreme heterogeneity of such neoplasms.

PMID- 28594664
TI  - NACNS Newsletter: President's Message.

PMID- 28594660
TI  - Regulation of the hematopoietic stem cell lifecycle by the endothelial niche.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) predominantly reside either in
      direct contact or in close proximity to the vascular endothelium throughout their
      lifespan. From the moment of HSC embryonic specification from hemogenic
      endothelium, endothelial cells (ECs) act as a critical cellular-hub that
      regulates a vast repertoire of biological processes crucial for HSC maintenance
      throughout its lifespan. In this review, we will discuss recent findings in
      endothelial niche-mediated regulation of HSC function during development, aging
      and regenerative conditions. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies employing genetic vascular
      models have unequivocally confirmed that ECs provide the essential instructive
      cues for HSC emergence during embryonic development as well as adult HSC
      maintenance during homeostasis and regeneration. Aging of ECs may impair their
      ability to maintain HSC function contributing to the development of aging
      associated hematopoietic deficiencies. These findings have opened up new avenues
      to explore the therapeutic application of ECs. ECs can be adapted to serve as an
      instructive platform to expand bona fide HSCs and also utilized as a cellular
      therapy to promote regeneration of the hematopoietic system following
      myelosuppressive and myeloablative injuries. SUMMARY: ECs provide a fertile niche
      for maintenance of functional HSCs throughout their lifecycle. An improved
      understanding of the EC-HSC cross-talk will pave the way for development of EC
      directed strategies for improving HSC function during aging.

PMID- 28594665
TI  - Expanding the Practice Model for Greater Influence.

PMID- 28594666
TI  - Negligence and the Nurse: The Value of the Code of Ethics for Nurses.

PMID- 28594667
TI  - The Ethics, Cost, and Evidence Surrounding Current Pharmacological Treatment of
      Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

PMID- 28594668
TI  - Hysterectomy With Radiotherapy or Chemotherapy or Both for Women With Locally
      Advanced Cervical Cancer.

PMID- 28594669
TI  - Collaborative Research: An Advanced Practice Nurse's Experience in Genome
      Research and Treatment.

PMID- 28594670
TI  - Stories and Music for Adolescent/Young Adult Resilience During Transplant
      Partnerships: Strategies to Support Academic-Clinical Nurse Collaborations in
      Behavioral Intervention Studies.
AB  - Evidence-based nursing is in the forefront of healthcare delivery systems.
      Federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and healthcare delivery
      systems recognize the importance of nursing research. This article describes the
      mechanisms that facilitate nursing partnerships yielding high-level research
      outcomes in a clinical setting. A phase-II multicenter behavioral intervention
      study with pediatric stem cell transplant patients was the context of this
      academic/clinical research partnership. Strategies to develop and maintain this
      partnership involved a thorough understanding of each nurse's focus and barriers.
      A variety of communication plans and training events maximized preexisting
      professional networks. Academic/clinical nurses' discussions identified barriers
      to the research process, the most significant being role conflict. Communication
      and validation of benefits to each individual and institution facilitated the
      research process during challenging times. Establishing strong academic/clinical
      partnerships should lead to evidence-based research outcomes for the nursing
      profession, healthcare delivery systems, and patients and families.

PMID- 28594671
TI  - Incorporating Relationship-Based Care Into a Nurse Education Program for Managing
      Disruptive Patient Behaviors.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the hospitalized patient, stressors can be manifested as disruptive
      behaviors. Nursing staff confronted with disruptive behaviors from their patients
      or families may have difficulty delivering care and developing therapeutic
      relationships. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effects of an
      education program using the concepts of relationship-based care with role-play
      and reflective practice on the knowledge, attitudes, and confidence of the
      nursing staff in managing disruptive patient behaviors. DESCRIPTION: Nursing
      staff (N = 68) from an adult medical unit participated in an interactive
      education program. We compared participants' self-responses about knowledge,
      attitudes, and confidence before intervention and at 3-month and 1-year
      postintervention. The number of disruptive incidents requiring hospital security
      was also measured. OUTCOME: At 3-month and 1-year postintervention, staff
      reported higher levels of knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in managing
      disruptive behaviors. The number of disruptive incidents per 1000 patient days
      decreased from 0.78 to 0.39. CONCLUSION: Effectively managing disruptive
      behaviors creates a safe, healthy environment for patients and nurses. Role-play
      and reflective practice are useful educational methods to teach skills to manage
      these encounters. Clinical nurse specialists can play a key role in developing
      innovative education programs through interprofessional collaboration.

PMID- 28594672
TI  - The Experiences of Specialist Nurses Working Within the Uro-oncology
      Multidisciplinary Team in the United Kingdom.
AB  - PURPOSE: United Kingdom prostate cancer nursing care is provided by a variety of
      urology and uro-oncology nurses. The experience of working in multidisciplinary
      teams (MDT) was investigated in a national study. DESIGN: The study consisted of
      a national survey with descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. METHODS: A
      secondary analysis of a data subset from a UK whole population survey was
      undertaken (n = 285) of the specialist nursing workforce and the services they
      provide. Data were collected on the experience of working in the MDT. RESULTS:
      Forty-five percent of the respondents felt that they worked in a functional MDT,
      12% felt that they worked in a dysfunctional MDT, and 3.5% found the MDT meeting
      intimidating. Furthermore, 34% of the nurses felt that they could constructively
      challenge all members of the MDT in meetings. Themes emerging from open-ended
      questions were lack of interest in nonmedical concerns by other team members,
      ability to constructively challenge decisions or views within the meeting, and
      little opportunity for patients' wishes to be expressed. CONCLUSIONS: Despite
      expertise and experience, nurses had a variable, often negative, experience of
      the MDT. It is necessary to ensure that all participants can contribute and are
      heard and valued. More emphasis should be given to patients' nonmedical needs.

PMID- 28594673
TI  - Facilitators and Barriers for Interprofessional Rounding: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the barriers and
      facilitators for interprofessional patient-centered rounding across 4 acute care
      units in a large urban hospital. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive method that
      included data gathered over an 18-month period was used. METHODS: Three data
      sources were included: participant observation of rounding activities, focused
      meetings related to interprofessional practice, and exit interviews with key
      informants representing multiple professions and roles. The data were analyzed,
      and the findings were developed through an extensive transcription, coding, and
      discussion process. RESULTS: The facilitators and barriers related to the team
      included high versus low turnover of team membership, structured versus
      unstructured rounding, valuing versus skepticism about interprofessional
      practice, and confidence versus hesitancy about skills. Facilitator/barrier pairs
      related to the environment included rounding aligned versus mismatched with
      hospital's mission, time for rounding versus competing demands, geographically
      cohorted versus distributed teams, and readiness for change and innovation versus
      saturation. CONCLUSION: Factors associated with the members of the
      interprofessional team were important in successful implementation of
      interprofessional rounding. The organizational context and structure were also
      important. Leaders who anticipate implementing interprofessional rounding may
      incorporate knowledge of these facilitators and barriers into their planning
      process.

PMID- 28594674
TI  - The Tragic Consequences of Indifference.

PMID- 28594675
TI  - Feasibility and Acceptability of the Use of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in
      the Delivery of Nurse-Led, Supportive Care to Women With Cervical Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE/AIMS: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can be effectively used
      to uncover the unmet needs of women with cervical cancer for supportive care. Our
      aim was to explore the feasibility and acceptability of PROM-driven, nurse-led
      consultations to enhance delivery of supportive care to women with cervical
      cancer during active anticancer treatment. DESIGN: A 2-phased, mixed-method
      prospective study was conducted. Main research variables included feasibility and
      acceptability parameters of the trialed intervention. METHODS: Preconsultation
      PROM data were collected during 3 consecutive monthly consultations and used by
      the gynecology cancers nurse specialist (CNS) to deliver personalized supportive
      care. The problem checklist and Cervical Cancer Concerns Questionnaire were used
      to aid data collection. FINDINGS: Because of considerable recruitment challenges,
      a recruitment rate of 27% (3/11 patients) was achieved. Two patients completed
      all 3 study assessments. Seven in-clinic patient assessments were performed over
      6 months. The study participants praised the opportunity for dedicated time for
      patients to raise concerns and for the CNS to provide sensitive and personalized
      support. CONCLUSION: Women with cervical cancer perceive important benefits from
      participating in PROM-driven, time-protected sessions with their CNS. Our
      findings provide tentative evidence to support the feasibility and acceptability
      of this intervention model and warrant future confirmation. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      PRACTICE: .

PMID- 28594676
TI  - Retrospective Analysis of Catheter-Acquired Urinary Tract Infection: Relationship
      to Stroke Diagnosis.
AB  - AIMS: The objective of this study was to determine if a diagnosis of stroke was
      associated with a higher incidence of catheter-associated urinary tract
      infections (CAUTIs). Secondary aims included examining the effect of healthcare
      related variables including antibiotic and steroid use, length of stay before
      catheter insertion, and duration of catheter use on the incidence of CAUTI in
      stroke patients. DESIGN: This was a retrospective chart review analysis set in a
      large teaching hospital in the Southeastern United States. METHODS: A total of
      300 patients with indwelling urinary catheter use who also had a stroke diagnosis
      were randomly selected and matched (on age, gender, race, and admission date) to
      300 randomly selected patients with indwelling urinary catheter use and without
      stroke. Bivariate statistical tests included Wilcoxon signed-rank test and
      McNemar's test, whereas the multivariate test consisted of generalized estimating
      equations. RESULTS: The incidence of CAUTIs in stroke patients was significantly
      higher than that in nonstroke patients (6.0% vs 1.7%, P = .005). In the
      multivariable generalized estimating equations analysis, stroke patients were
      found to be approximately 3.5 times more likely to experience CAUTI compared with
      nonstroke patients (odds ratio = 3.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-10.03; P =
      .018). The proportion of patients who used steroids was greater among stroke
      patients who experienced CAUTI compared with those who did not experience CAUTI
      (55.6% vs 24.5%, P = .004). CONCLUSION: Stroke patients were more likely to
      develop CAUTI compared with nonstroke patients. These patients should be
      considered as key targets when implementing interventions aimed at reducing
      CAUTIs. Use of steroids may be associated with a higher likelihood of CAUTI in
      stroke patients. IMPLICATIONS: Clinical nurse specialists are directly
      influential in preventing CAUTIs. This study provides evidence regarding the
      association between stroke and CAUTI to clinical nurse specialists to help them
      plan CAUTI prevention initiatives.

PMID- 28594678
TI  - Transplantation of Bioprinted Tissues and Organs: Technical and Clinical
      Challenges and Future Perspectives.
AB  - : Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a revolutionary technology in building
      living tissues and organs with precise anatomic control and cellular composition.
      Despite the great progress in bioprinting research, there has yet to be any
      clinical translation due to current limitations in building human-scale
      constructs, which are vascularized and readily implantable. In this article, we
      review the current limitations and challenges in 3D bioprinting, including in
      situ techniques, which are one of several clinical translational models to
      facilitate the application of this technology from bench to bedside. A detailed
      discussion is made on the technical barriers in the fabrication of scalable
      constructs that are vascularized, autologous, functional, implantable, cost
      effective, and ethically feasible. Clinical considerations for implantable
      bioprinted tissues are further expounded toward the correction of end-stage organ
      dysfunction and composite tissue deficits.

PMID- 28594679
TI  - Initial Experience With Biologic Polymer Scaffold (Poly-4-hydroxybuturate) in
      Complex Abdominal Wall Reconstruction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of the new absorbable polymer scaffold poly-4
      hydroxybutyrate (P4HB) in complex abdominal wall reconstruction. BACKGROUND:
      Complex abdominal wall reconstruction has witnessed tremendous success in the
      last decade after the introduction of cadaveric biologic scaffolds. However, the
      use of cadaveric biologic mesh has been expensive and plagued by complications
      such as seroma, infection, and recurrent hernia. Despite widespread application
      of cadaveric biologic mesh, little data exist on the superiority of these
      materials in the setting of high-risk wounds in patients. P4HB, an absorbable
      polymer scaffold, may present a new alternative to these cadaveric biologic
      grafts. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of our initial experience with the
      absorbable polymer scaffold P4HB compared with a consecutive contiguous group
      treated with porcine cadaveric mesh for complex abdominal wall reconstructions.
      Our analysis was performed using SAS 9.3 and Stata 12. RESULTS: The P4HB group (n
      = 31) experienced shorter drain time (10.0 vs 14.3 d; P < 0.002), fewer
      complications (22.6% vs 40.5%; P < 0.046), and reherniation (6.5% vs 23.8%; P <
      0.049) than the porcine cadaveric mesh group (n = 42). Multivariate analysis for
      infection identified: porcine cadaveric mesh odds ratio 2.82, length of stay odds
      ratio 1.11; complications: drinker odds ratio 6.52, porcine cadaveric mesh odds
      ratio 4.03, African American odds ratio 3.08, length of stay odds ratio 1.11; and
      hernia recurrence: porcine cadaveric mesh odds ratio 5.18, drinker odds ratio
      3.62, African American odds ratio 0.24. Cost analysis identified that P4HB had a
      $7328.91 financial advantage in initial hospitalization and $2241.17 in the 90
      day postdischarge global period resulting in $9570.07 per case advantage over
      porcine cadaveric mesh. CONCLUSIONS: In our early clinical experience with the
      absorbable polymer matrix scaffold P4HB, it seemed to provide superior clinical
      performance and value-based benefit compared with porcine cadaveric biologic
      mesh.

PMID- 28594680
TI  - Antibiotic Therapy in Comatose Mechanically Ventilated Patients Following
      Aspiration: Differentiating Pneumonia From Pneumonitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of patients with documented bacterial
      aspiration pneumonia among comatose ICU patients with symptoms suggesting either
      bacterial aspiration pneumonia or non-bacterial aspiration pneumonitis. DESIGN:
      Prospective observational study. SETTING: University-affiliated 30-bed ICU.
      PATIENTS: Prospective cohort of 250 patients admitted to the ICU with coma
      (Glasgow Coma Scale score <= 8) and treated with invasive mechanical ventilation.
      INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was the
      proportion of patients with microbiologically documented bacterial aspiration
      pneumonia. Patients meeting predefined criteria for aspiration syndrome routinely
      underwent telescopic plugged catheter sampling during bronchoscopy before
      starting probabilistic antibiotic treatment. When cultures were negative, the
      antibiotic treatment was stopped. Of 250 included patients, 98 (39.2%) had
      aspiration syndrome, including 92 before mechanical ventilation discontinuation.
      Telescopic plugged catheter in these 92 patients showed bacterial aspiration
      pneumonia in 43 patients (46.7%). Among the remaining 49 patients, 16 continued
      to receive antibiotics, usually for infections other than pneumonia; of the 33
      patients whose antibiotics were discontinued, only two subsequently showed signs
      of lung infection. In the six patients with aspiration syndrome after mechanical
      ventilation, and therefore without telescopic plugged catheter, antibiotic
      treatment was continued for 7 days. Mechanical ventilation duration, ICU length
      of stay, and mortality did not differ between the 43 patients with bacterial
      aspiration pneumonia and the 49 patients with non-bacterial aspiration
      pneumonitis. The 152 patients without aspiration syndrome did not receive
      antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: Among comatose patients receiving mechanical
      ventilation, those without clinical, laboratory, or radiologic evidence of
      bacterial aspiration pneumonia did not require antibiotics. In those with
      suspected bacterial aspiration pneumonia, stopping empirical antibiotic therapy
      when routine telescopic plugged catheter sampling recovered no microorganisms was
      nearly always effective. This strategy may be a valid alternative to routine full
      course antibiotic therapy. Only half the patients with suspected bacterial
      aspiration pneumonia had this diagnosis confirmed by telescopic plugged catheter
      sampling.

PMID- 28594681
TI  - Delirium and Benzodiazepines Associated With Prolonged ICU Stay in Critically Ill
      Infants and Young Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Delirium is prevalent among critically ill children, yet associated
      outcomes and modifiable risk factors are not well defined. The objective of this
      study was to determine associations between pediatric delirium and modifiable
      risk factors such as benzodiazepine exposure and short-term outcomes. DESIGN:
      Secondary analysis of collected data from the prospective validation study of the
      Preschool Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU. SETTING: Tertiary-level PICU.
      PATIENTS: Critically ill patients 6 months to 5 years old. INTERVENTIONS: None.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Daily delirium assessments were completed using
      the Preschool Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU. Associations between
      baseline and in-hospital risk factors were analyzed for likelihood of ICU
      discharge using Cox proportional hazards regression and delirium duration using
      negative binomial regression. Multinomial logistic regression was used to
      determine associations between daily risk factors and delirium presence the
      following day. Our 300-patient cohort had a median (interquartile range) age of
      20 months (11-37 mo), and 44% had delirium for at least 1 day (1-2 d). Delirium
      was significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of ICU discharge in
      preschool-aged children (age-specific hazard ratios at 60, 36, and 12 mo old were
      0.17 [95% CI, 0.05-0.61], 0.50 [0.32-0.80], and 0.98 [0.68-1.41], respectively).
      Greater benzodiazepine exposure (75-25th percentile) was significantly associated
      with a lower likelihood of ICU discharge (hazard ratio, 0.65 [0.42-1.00]; p =
      0.01), longer delirium duration (incidence rate ratio, 2.47 [1.36-4.49]; p =
      0.005), and increased risk for delirium the following day (odds ratio, 2.83 [1.27
      6.59]; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Delirium is associated with a lower likelihood of
      ICU discharge in preschool-aged children. Benzodiazepine exposure is associated
      with the development and longer duration of delirium, and lower likelihood of ICU
      discharge. These findings advocate for future studies targeting modifiable risk
      factors, such as reduction in benzodiazepine exposure, to mitigate iatrogenic
      harm in pediatric patients.

PMID- 28594682
TI  - Preface and Introduction.

PMID- 28594684
TI  - Arthrogryposis Introduction.

PMID- 28594685
TI  - Background to the 2nd International Symposium on Arthrogryposis.
AB  - Arthrogryposis multiplex congenital is a relatively uncommon condition, with
      little consensus on treatment. In 2007, the 1st International Symposium on
      Arthrogryposis was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, to bring together
      patients, their families, and a multinational group of health care experts in the
      field of arthrogryposis, to discuss various aspects of the care of patients with
      arthrogryposis multiplex congenital. From that meeting, there was a coalescence
      of thought on diagnosis and classification, a sharing of practices on treatments
      and their outcomes, and an agreement on future directions. At the beginning of
      the 2nd International Symposium on Arthrogryposis held in Saint Petersburg in
      September 2014, Russia, these "lessons learnt" were synopsized to set the tone
      for the new meeting.

PMID- 28594686
TI  - Genetics and Classifications.
AB  - Arthrogryposis multiplex congenital (AMC) is a descriptive term for a group of
      conditions that all share the characteristic of congenital contractures. There
      are an estimated 400 discrete diagnoses that can lead to a child being born with
      arthrogryposis. The 2 biggest categories of conditions are amyoplasia and distal
      arthrogryposis, which combined make up ~50% to 65% of all diagnoses within the
      AMC subset. Amyoplasia, the most common AMC condition, seems to be a nongenetic
      syndrome, leading to very characteristic upper and lower limb contractures. The
      distal arthrogryposes, in contrast, have an underlying genetic abnormality, which
      in many cases seems to target the fast twitch muscles of the developing fetus.
      Classifying AMC is a difficult task, given the broad range of conditions
      represented. Four different classification schemes are presented.

PMID- 28594687
TI  - Treatment of the Upper Extremity Contracture/Deformities.
AB  - Patients with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita have a characteristic upper
      extremity resting posture consisting of internal rotation of the shoulders, elbow
      extension, flexed wrists, thumb-in palm deformities, and variable degrees of
      finger contractures. Treatment of these patients is aimed at improving
      independence and performance of activities of daily living. Although each area
      needs to be assessed independently for the most appropriate surgical procedure,
      often multiple areas can be addressed at the same operative setting. This limits
      the number of anesthetic exposures and cast immobilization time. The following is
      a synopsis of treatment strategies presented at the second international
      symposium on Arthrogryposis which took place in St Petersburg in September 2014.

PMID- 28594688
TI  - Treatment of the Lower Extremity Contracture/Deformities.
AB  - Lower extremity deformities of patients with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita
      present a wide spectrum of severity and deformity combinations. Treatment goals
      range from merely ensuring comfortable seating and shoe wear, to fully
      independent and active ambulation, but the overarching intention is to help
      realize the patient's greatest potential for independence and function. Treatment
      of hip and knee contractures and dislocations has become more interventional,
      whereas treatment of foot deformities has paradoxically become much less
      surgical. This article synopsizes the treatment strategies presented in September
      2014 in Saint Petersburg, Russia at the second international symposium on
      arthrogryposis.

PMID- 28594689
TI  - Treatment of Scoliosis Associated With Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita.
AB  - Scoliosis in children with arthrogryposis occurs in the minority of patients, but
      appears early, often present at birth. Curves can progress quickly. Treatment
      options include spine casting, bracing, expandable implant surgery, and spinal
      fusion. The goal is to allow as much chest growth and development as possible,
      along with a resulting well-balanced spine.

PMID- 28594690
TI  - Anaesthesiology for Children With Arthrogryposis.
AB  - Patients with arthrogryposis often require anesthesia for surgical procedures.
      Intubation can be challenging due to lack of visualization. Anesthetic
      maintenance is fairly routine. Pheripheral blocks are an important adjunct to
      postoperative pain management.

PMID- 28594691
TI  - Multidisciplinary Clinics.
AB  - More than 400 acquired and genetic diseases are labeled as arthrogryposis.
      Because of their rarity and complexity coordinated patient management is often
      lacking. Multidisciplinary clinics are the ideal setting to provide coordinated
      and comprehensive care to patients with special needs. Two similar experiences of
      multidisciplinary clinics for the care of patients with arthrogryposis were
      reported at the Symposium on Arthrogryposis held in Saint Petersburg in September
      2014. These clinics are organized to bring together professionals from several
      disciplines, with the aim to provide patient-centered, comprehensive clinical
      care, and reduce the burden of multiple medical appointments for the families.

PMID- 28594692
TI  - Adults Living With Amyoplasia: Function, Psychosocial Aspects, and the Benefit of
      AMC Support Groups.
AB  - Little is known about how adults manage living with amyoplasia. Two studies
      concerning adults with amyoplasia were conducted; a cross-sectional study and a
      qualitative study. The aims were to describe body functions, activity and
      participation, and to explore psychosocial dimensions. This article also
      emphasizes the importance of Patient Support Groups as arenas for sharing
      experience and gaining knowledge.

PMID- 28594693
TI  - Navigating the challenges of Meniere disease.

PMID- 28594694
TI  - Supracondylar Fracture Practice Improvement Module.

PMID- 28594695
TI  - Wrist Arthroscopy in Children and Adolescent With Chronic Wrist Pain:
      Arthroscopic Findings Compared With MRI.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wrist arthroscopy is a dynamic diagnostic procedure and its
      indications are growing as a treatment modality in the adult population. The aim
      of the study was to retrospectively report our series of pediatric and
      adolescence with chronic wrist pain, with or without wrist instability who
      underwent wrist arthroscopy after failing at least 4 months of conservative
      management. Our secondary aim was to report the sensitivity and specificity of
      clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging evaluation for various injury
      subgroups against the gold standard of the arthroscopic findings. Technical
      challenges, complications, and outcomes are also discussed. METHODS: A
      retrospective review of the medical records of 32 pediatric and adolescent
      patients who underwent wrist arthroscopy was conducted. Preoperative clinical
      diagnosis, radiographic, and intraoperative findings including classifications of
      triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) and interosseous ligaments were
      obtained. Patients were followed up to 1 year postoperatively and were discharged
      if symptom free. RESULTS: Thirty-three wrist arthroscopies in 32 patients were
      performed from 1996 to 2004. There were 2 male and 30 female patients. At
      arthroscopy 16 wrists were found to have TFCC injuries, 11 wrists had
      scapholunate injuries, and 8 had lunotriquetral (LT) injuries. Clinical
      examination for diagnosis of TFCC injury was too sensitive and nonspecific;
      however, clinical diagnosis of scapholunate injury was sensitive and specific. LT
      injury was under diagnosed clinically. Magnetic resonance imaging was found to
      have a low sensitivity for diagnosis of LT injury but diagnosis of TFCC was
      sensitive and specific. CONCLUSIONS: The sex ratio of 2 males:30 females was
      startling. Nevertheless, this therapeutic level 3 study supports a thorough
      search for pathology in any patient with persistent wrist symptoms because
      pathology was identified in 32 of the 33 wrists at arthroscopy. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level III-Therapeutic.

PMID- 28594696
TI  - Quality measures in gastrointestinal endoscopy: the current state.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to summarize the current state
      of endoscopic quality measurement and use of measures in enhancing the value of
      endoscopic services. RECENT FINDINGS: Initially, quality measurement of
      endoscopic procedures was claims based or included small unit or practice
      specific efforts. Now we have a mature national registry and large electronic
      medical or procedural records that are designed to yield valuable data relevant
      to quality measurement. SUMMARY: With the advent of better measures, we are
      beginning to understand that initial process and surrogate outcome measures
      (adenoma detection rate) can be improved to provide a better reflection of
      endoscopic quality. Importantly, however, even measures currently in use relate
      to important patient outcomes such as missed colon cancers. At a federal level,
      older cumbersome pay-for-performance initiatives have been combined into a new
      overarching program named the quality payment program within the centers for
      medicare and medicaid services. This program is an additional step toward
      furthering the progress from volume-to-value-based reimbursement. The legislation
      mandating the movement toward outcomes-linked (value) reimbursement is the
      medicare access and children's health insurance program reauthorization act,
      which was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and will not be walked back
      by alterations of the affordable care act. Increasing portions of medicare
      reimbursement (and likely commercial to follow) will be linked to quality
      metrics, so familiarity with the underlying process and rationale will be
      important for all proceduralists.

PMID- 28594697
TI  - Comparison of Femtosecond Laser-Enabled Descemetorhexis and Manual
      Descemetorhexis in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: To introduce a novel method to perform descemetorhexis in Descemet
      membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) using the femtosecond laser and to
      compare it with Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty performed with manual
      descemetorhexis (M-DMEK). METHODS: A retrospective medical chart review of 2
      groups of patients who underwent DMEK surgery combined with cataract surgery
      secondary to Fuchs corneal endothelial dystrophy and cataract: 17 patients
      underwent femtosecond laser-enabled descemetorhexis Descemet membrane endothelial
      keratoplasty (FE-DMEK) and 89 patients underwent DMEK surgery with M-DMEK. Best
      spectacle-corrected visual acuity, endothelial cell density (ECD), graft
      detachment rate, and complications were compared. RESULTS: Average age of the 106
      patients (64 women and 42 men) was 68 +/- 11 years. Postoperative best spectacle
      corrected visual acuity was 0.19 +/- 0.13 logarithm of the minimum angle of
      resolution in the FE-DMEK group and 0.35 +/- 0.48 logarithm of the minimum angle
      of resolution in the M-DMEK group (P = 0.218). One day after surgery, there were
      no significant graft detachments in the FE-DMEK group, compared with 20% graft
      detachment rate in the M-DMEK group (P = 0.041). Rebubbling was performed in 17%
      of eyes in the M-DMEK group compared with none in the FE-DMEK group (P = 0.066).
      The mean endothelial cell count in the FE-DMEK and M-DMEK groups at 6 months
      after surgery were 2105 +/- 285 cells per square millimeter (24% cells loss) and
      1990 +/- 600 cells per square millimeter (29% cells loss), respectively (P =
      0.579). CONCLUSIONS: FE-DMEK shows efficacy similar to that of M-DMEK with
      apparently less graft detachment and reduced need for rebubbling.

PMID- 28594698
TI  - Short-Term Effects of Y-27632, a Rho-Associated Protein Kinase Inhibitor, on
      Chromatin Supraorganization and DNA Amount in Epithelial Cells of the Rat Cornea
      and Limbus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the short-term effects of instilling Y-27632, an inhibitor of
      Rho/Rho-associated protein kinases, on the chromatin supraorganization and DNA
      amount of corneal and limbal epithelial cells of healthy rats. METHODS:
      Longitudinal sections (7 MUm) of enucleated eyes of healthy rats that received,
      by instillation, balanced salt solution with or without 10 mM of Y-27632 daily
      for 7 or 15 days, were subjected to the Feulgen reaction. Feulgen-stained nuclei
      of corneal and limbal epithelial cells were studied by microscopy and video image
      analysis to establish the nuclear size (area and perimeter), supraorganization of
      chromatin (texture and degrees of condensation), and the Feulgen-DNA amount.
      RESULTS: Instillation of Y-27632 for up to 15 days did not change the size of the
      nucleus or the chromatin texture of corneal and limbal epithelial cells. Samples
      treated with Y-27632 for 7 days showed condensed chromatin and a high Feulgen-DNA
      amount. Both corneal and limbal epithelium showed the presence of near-tetraploid
      nuclei corresponding to cells in the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle. The
      degrees of condensation and Feulgen-DNA amount of the nuclei of epithelial cells
      of the cornea and limbus of eyes from rats receiving Y-27632 for 15 days did not
      differ from control (no drug). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in chromatin
      supraorganization and DNA amount, such as seen in this study, are indicative of
      cell proliferation and do not seem to be associated with disturbances in gene
      activity and transcription of DNA.

PMID- 28594699
TI  - Solitary Iris Plasmacytoma With Anterior Chamber Crystalline Deposits.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of solitary iris plasmacytoma successfully treated with
      ruthenium plaque radiotherapy. METHODS: A 44-year-old white woman presented with
      pain in the right eye and raised intraocular pressure. Her medical history
      included breast cancer treated 11 years earlier with lumpectomy, lymph node
      clearance, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. On examination, the right iris had a
      tan-colored mass with crystalline deposits visible on the mass surface and on the
      corneal endothelium. The fundus and left eye were normal. An anterior segment
      ultrasound scan showed a mass with mixed internal echogenicity and internal blood
      flow. RESULTS: An iris biopsy showed an infiltrate of plasma cells.
      Immunohistochemistry for kappa and lambda light chains demonstrated lambda light
      chain restriction. Systemic hematologic investigations including complete blood
      count, serum paraproteins, bone marrow biopsy, and full-body magnetic resonance
      image were normal. The monoclonal plasma cell infiltrate was consistent with a
      solitary iris plasmacytoma. The mass was treated with ruthenium plaque
      radiotherapy. After 4 years of follow-up, the mass remained regressed, and no
      systemic myeloma has developed. CONCLUSIONS: Iris plasmacytoma is rare and should
      prompt systemic evaluation to rule out multiple myeloma. Solitary iris
      plasmacytoma can be successfully treated with plaque radiotherapy.

PMID- 28594701
TI  - 20 Things You Didn't Know About Type 2 Diabetes in Emerging Adults.

PMID- 28594702
TI  - Ozone-Related Respiratory Morbidity in a Low-Pollution Region.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effects of ozone on respiratory-related hospital
      admissions in three counties in Washington State from 1990 to 2006. We further
      examined vulnerability to ozone by key demographic factors. METHOD: Using linked
      hospital admission and ambient monitoring data, we estimated the age-, sex-, and
      health insurance-stratified associations between ozone (0 to 3 days' lag) and
      respiratory-related hospital admissions in King, Spokane, and Clark County,
      Washington. RESULTS: The adjusted relative risk (RR) for a 10 ppb increase in
      ozone at 3 days' lag was 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02, 1.07) for
      Clark County, 1.03 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.05) for Spokane County, and 1.02 (95% CI:
      1.01, 1.03) for King County. There was consistent evidence of effect modification
      by age. CONCLUSION: Ozone at levels below federal standards contributes to
      respiratory morbidity among high-risk groups in Washington.

PMID- 28594703
TI  - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Findings From The National
      Healthy Worksite Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate employers' implementation of evidence-based interventions,
      and changes in employees' behaviors associated with participating in the national
      healthy worksite program (NHWP). METHODS: NHWP recruited 100 small and mid-sized
      employers and provided training and support for 18 months. Outcome measures were
      collected with an employer questionnaire, an employee survey, and biometric data
      at baseline and 18 months later. RESULTS: The 41 employers who completed the NHWP
      implemented significantly more evidence-based interventions and had more
      comprehensive worksite health promotion programs after participating. Employees
      made significant improvements in physical activity and nutritional behaviors, but
      did not significantly improve employee weight. CONCLUSIONS: Training and
      technical support can help small and mid-sized employers implement evidence-based
      health interventions to promote positive employee behavior changes. A longer
      follow up period may be needed to assess whether NHWP led to improvements in
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28594704
TI  - Impact on Employee Productivity From Presenteeism and Absenteeism: Evidence From
      a Multinational Firm in Sri Lanka.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examines the effects of 13 psychological and physical
      health conditions on work productivity. METHODS: One hundred fifty-two staff at
      the headquarters of a Sri Lankan multinational firm completed a questionnaire
      asking whether they experienced 13 health conditions common in workplaces, and
      about their related absenteeism and presenteeism. RESULTS: Most respondents
      (85.5%) reported absenteeism, presenteeism, or both. Among those reporting a
      health condition, 57.6% reported losing days due to absenteeism, and 69.5%
      reported losing additional days to presenteeism. Among those caring for a sick
      adult or child, 57.3% reported losing days due to absenteeism, and 36.5% reported
      losing additional days due to presenteeism. Overall productivity loss was 10.43
      days each year, 3.95% of employee capacity, equating to about Sri Lanka Rupees 8
      million (US$54,421) for all headquarters employees. CONCLUSIONS: The health
      conditions' effects on productivity significantly increased employee costs.

PMID- 28594705
TI  - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Farmers: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a significant public
      health problem but it is unclear whether agricultural work causes an increased
      risk of disease. The aim of this review was to study COPD risk among farmers and
      analyze occupational exposures in agricultural workplaces. METHODS: A systematic
      literature search was conducted to identify epidemiological studies investigating
      COPD prevalence in farmers. RESULTS: In the 14 studies reviewed, COPD prevalence
      ranged from 3% to 68% due to different characteristics of study population,
      working activities, case definition/diagnosis. Livestock farmers were at higher
      risk and significant associations were observed for exposure to organic dusts,
      endotoxins, mites, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide. CONCLUSIONS: Farming work was
      associated with greater risk of developing COPD. However, considering the several
      variables that may influence the disease prevalence in farmers, we suggest the
      adoption of a standardized research strategy.

PMID- 28594706
TI  - Diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex in a patient referred for uncontrolled
      hypertension and renal dysfunction: a case highlighting the importance of proper
      diagnostic work-up of hypertensive patients.
AB  - : We report a case of a 39-year-old woman with resistant hypertension and renal
      dysfunction. The patient was hospitalized 3 months earlier for dyspnea at the
      Department of Cardiology, where she was diagnosed with heart failure (left
      ventricle injection fraction: 25-30%), pulmonary hypertension, chronic kidney
      disease (serum creatinine: 1.58 mg/dl), and resistant hypertension and discharged
      with optimal heart failure treatment. At presentation to our clinic, apart from
      uncontrolled hypertension for more than 10 years and history of pre-eclampsia and
      fetal loss, the patient had obesity (BMI: 38 kg/m) and facial fibromas. The first
      diagnostic steps proposed by the European Society of Hypertension/European
      Society of Cardiology (ESH/ESC) Guidelines to identify other target-organ damage
      and causes of secondary hypertension revealed typical proteinuric hypertensive
      nephropathy, hypertensive retinopathy, and sleep-apnea syndrome. Furthermore, a
      renal ultrasound showed multiple bilateral renal angiomyolipomas, confirmed by an
      MRI scan. Following consultation with the Neurology and Dermatology Departments,
      the diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex, based on presence of six major
      criteria, was confirmed. During the following 10 months, careful adjustments in
      the patient's antihypertensive treatment, reinforcement of lifestyle
      interventions, and improved compliance enabled her to reduce her body weight,
      control blood pressure, improve her heart (left ventricle injection fraction:
      >40%), and renal injury (creatinine urine clearance: 125 ml/min, urine protein:
      178 mg/24 day) and serum triglycerides (153 mg/dl). These improvements enabled
      the start of everolimus, required for a slight increase in angiomyolipomas' size
      (3.46 cm) in the repeated examinations.

PMID- 28594707
TI  - A comparison of blood pressure in community pharmacies with ambulatory, home and
      general practitioner office readings: systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood pressure (BP) readings are traditionally taken in a clinic
      setting, with treatment recommendations based on these measurements. The clinical
      interpretation of BP readings taken in community pharmacies is currently unclear.
      This study aimed to systematically review all literature comparing community
      pharmacy BP (CPBP) readings with ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), home BP
      monitoring and general practitioner clinic readings. METHOD: Studies were
      included if they compared CPBP with at least one other measurement modality used
      for the diagnosis or management of hypertension. Mean CPBP readings were compared
      with other measurement modalities and summarized using random-effects meta
      analyses. The primary outcome was to compare CPBP with gold standard ABPM
      readings. RESULTS: Searches generated 3815 studies of which eight were included
      in the meta-analyses. The mean systolic CPBP-daytime ABPM difference was small
      [+1.6 mmHg (95% confidence interval -1.2 to 4.3) three studies, n = 319]. CPBP
      was significantly higher than 24-h ABPM [+7.8 mmHg (95% confidence interval 1.5
      14.1) three studies n = 429]. Comparisons with general practitioner clinic
      readings (six studies, n = 2100) were inconclusive with significant heterogeneity
      between studies. CPBP and home BP monitoring readings (five studies, n = 1848)
      were nonsignificantly different. Diastolic comparisons mirrored systolic
      comparisons in all but the CPBP-daytime ABPM comparison, where CPBP was
      significantly higher. CONCLUSION: Current evidence around the clinical
      interpretation of CPBP is inconclusive. Although this review suggests that
      adopting the 135/85 mmHg threshold for hypertension might be reasonable and
      potentially result in a higher sensitivity for detecting patients with truly
      raised BP in pharmacies, the impact of this lower threshold on increased
      referrals to general practice clinics must be considered.

PMID- 28594708
TI  - Reference values of cardio-ankle vascular index in a random sample of a white
      population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), a parameter of arterial
      stiffness, has been increasingly used for cardiovascular risk estimation.
      Currently used CAVI reference values are derived from the Japanese population. It
      is not clear whether the same reference values can be used in the white
      population. The aim of the present study was to describe cardiovascular risk
      factors influencing CAVI and to establish CAVI reference values. METHODS: A total
      of 2160 individuals randomly selected from the Brno city population aged 25-65
      years were examined. Of these, 1347 patients were free from cardiovascular
      disease, nondiabetic and untreated by antihypertensive or lipid-lowering drugs,
      forming the reference value population. CAVI was measured using the VaSera VS
      1000 device (Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan). RESULTS: At each blood pressure (BP)
      level, there was a quadratic association between CAVI and age, except for a
      linear association in the optimal BP group. Although there was no association
      between BP and CAVI in younger patients, there was a linear association between
      CAVI and BP after 40 years of age. Reference values by age and sex were
      established. In each age group, except for the male 60-65-year group, reference
      values in our population were lower than in the Japanese one with the difference
      ranging from -0.29 to 0.21 for men, and from -0.38 to -0.03 for women.
      CONCLUSION: This is the first study providing CAVI reference values in a random
      sample of the white population. Our results suggest that the currently used
      values slightly overestimate CAVI in younger white, possibly underestimating
      cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 28594709
TI  - Effect of oxidative stress on racial differences in vascular function at rest and
      during hand grip exercise.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: African-Americans have a higher prevalence of hypertension compared
      with whites, possibly due to elevated oxidative stress and subsequent vascular
      dysfunction. It is unclear the contribution of aging on oxidative stress and
      vascular function in a racially diverse cohort. METHODS: Ninety-three young and
      older African-American and white participants received antioxidant (AOX) or
      placebo supplementation in a double-blind, randomized, cross-over design.
      Measures of endothelial function (reactive hyperemia, flow-mediated dilation),
      exercise blood flow, and biomarkers of oxidative stress and AOX activity were
      measured following supplementation. RESULTS: In young adults, there were racial
      differences in resistance vessel response to reactive hyperemia and no effects of
      race on macrovascular function following AOX supplementation. Following AOX
      supplementation, older white adults improved while African-Americans reduced
      resistance vessel function responses to reactive hyperemia, whereas macrovascular
      function improved in both races, with a greater increase in African-Americans.
      There were racial differences in blood flow normalized to lean mass during
      handgrip exercise at 20% maximal voluntary contraction in the young group and AOX
      supplementation led to increased forearm vascular conductance in older whites
      with a decrease in older African-Americans. There was a supplement effect in
      superoxide dismutase activity in younger adults only. CONCLUSION: The results of
      the current study show that there are differential effects of AOX supplementation
      on macrovascular and resistance vessel function, and this is impacted by both age
      and race.

PMID- 28594710
TI  - Twenty-four-hour central blood pressure is not better associated with
      hypertensive target organ damage than 24-h peripheral blood pressure.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Central blood pressure (BP) is increasingly considered as a
      better estimator of hypertension associated risks. We aimed to evaluate the
      association of 24-h central BP, in comparison with 24-h peripheral BP, with the
      presence of target organ damage (TOD). METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 208
      hypertensive patients, aged 57 +/- 12 years, 34% women. Office (mean of 4
      measurements) and 24-h central and peripheral BP were measured by the
      oscillometric Mobil-O-Graph device. TOD was assessed at cardiac (left ventricular
      hypertrophy by echocardiography), renal (reduction of glomerular filtration rate
      and/or microalbuminuria), and arterial (increased aortic pulse wave velocity)
      levels. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients (51.4%) had TOD (77, 35% patients left
      ventricular hypertrophy; 54, 25.9% renal abnormalities; and 40, 19.2% arterial
      stiffness). All SBP and pulse BP estimates (office, 24-h, daytime, and night
      time) were associated with the presence of TOD, after adjustment for age, sex,
      and antihypertensive treatment, with higher odds ratios for ambulatory-derived
      values. Odds ratios for central and peripheral BP were similar for all office, 24
      h, daytime, and night-time BP. After simultaneous adjustment, peripheral, but not
      central, 24-h and night-time SBP and pulse pressures were associated with the
      presence of TOD. CONCLUSION: TOD in hypertension is associated with BP elevation,
      independently of the type of measurement (office or ambulatory, central or
      peripheral). Central BP, even monitored during 24 h, is not better associated
      with TOD than peripheral BP. These results do not support a routine measurement
      of 24-h central BP.

PMID- 28594711
TI  - Effects of repeated yearly exposure to exercise-training on blood pressure and
      metabolic syndrome evolution.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study if repeated yearly training programs consolidate the
      transient blood pressure (BP) improvements of one exercise program into durable
      adaptations. METHODS: Obese middle-age individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS)
      underwent high-intensity aerobic interval training during 16 weeks (November to
      mid-March) in 3 consecutive years [training group (TRAIN); N = 23]. Evolution of
      MetS components was compared with a matched-group that remained sedentary
      [control group (CONT); N = 26]. RESULTS: At the end of the first training program
      (0-4 months), TRAIN lowered systolic arterial pressure, blood glucose, waist
      circumference and MetS Z-score below CONT (-8.5 +/- 2.5 mmHg; -19.9 +/- 2.6
      mg/dl; -3.8 +/- 0.1 cm and -0.3 +/- 0.1, respectively, all P < 0.05). With
      detraining (month 4-12) TRAIN adaptations relapsed to the levels of baseline
      (month 0) except for BP. A second exercise program (month 12-16) lowered blood
      glucose and waist circumference below CONT (-19.0 +/- 2.0 mg/dl; -4.1 +/- 0.1
      cm). After detraining (month 16-24) BP, blood glucose and Z-score started below
      CONT values (-6.8 +/- 0.9 mmHg; -24.6 +/- 2.5 mg/dl and -0.4 +/- 0.05,
      respectively, all P < 0.05) and those differences enlarged with the last training
      program (month 24-28). Ten-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk
      estimation increased only in CONT (8.6 +/- 1.1-10.1 +/- 1.3%; year 2-3; P <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: At least two consecutive years of 4-month aerobic interval
      training are required to chronically improve MetS (Z-score). The chronic effect
      is mediated by BP that does not fully return to pretraining values allowing a
      cumulative improvement. On the other hand, sedentarism in MetS patients during 3
      years increases their predicted atherosclerotic diseases risk. CLINICALTRIALS.
      GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT03019796.

PMID- 28594712
TI  - Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer: Turning Good Rationale Into Good
      Evidence?

PMID- 28594713
TI  - Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism in IBD: It's All About the Disease.

PMID- 28594714
TI  - Tailored Treatment Strategy for Locally Advanced Rectal Carcinoma Based on the
      Tumor Response to Induction Chemotherapy: Preliminary Results of the French Phase
      II Multicenter GRECCAR4 Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative radiochemotherapy and total mesorectal excision are the
      standard-of-care for locally advanced rectal carcinoma, but some patients could
      be over- or undertreated. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the feasibility
      of radiochemotherapy tailored based on the tumor response to induction
      chemotherapy (FOLFIRINOX) to obtain a minimum R0 resection rate of 90% in the 4
      arms of the study. DESIGN: This study is a multicenter randomized trial
      (NCT01333709). SETTING: This study was conducted at 16 French cancer specialty
      centers. PATIENTS: Two hundred six patients with locally advanced rectal
      carcinoma were enrolled between 2011 and 2014. INTERVENTIONS: Good responders
      (>=75% tumor volume reduction) were randomly assigned to immediate surgery (arm
      A) or standard radiochemotherapy (Cap 50: 50 Gy irradiation and 1600 mg/m oral
      capecitabine daily) plus surgery (arm B). Poor responders were randomly assigned
      to Cap 50 (arm C) or intensive radiochemotherapy (Cap 60, 60 Gy irradiation, arm
      D) before surgery. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary end point was a R0 resection
      rate (circumferential resection margin >1 mm). STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The
      experimental strategies were to be considered effective if at least 28 successes
      (R0 resection) among 31 patients in each arm of stratum I and 34 successes among
      40 patients in each arm of stratum II were reported (Simon 2-stage design).
      RESULTS: After induction treatment (good compliance), 194 patients were
      classified as good (n = 30, 15%) or poor (n = 164, 85%) responders who were
      included in arms A and B (16 and 14 patients) and arms C and D (113 and 51
      patients). The trial was prematurely stopped because of low accrual in arms A and
      B and recruitment completion in arms C and D. Data from 133 randomly assigned
      patients were analyzed: 11, 19, 52, and 51 patients in arms A, B, C, and D. Good
      responders had smaller tumors than poor responders (23 cm vs 45 cm; p < 0.001).
      The surgical procedure was similar among groups. The R0 resection rates [90% CI]
      were 100% [70-100], 100% [85-100], 83% [72-91], and 88% [77-95]. Among the first
      40 patients, 34 successes were reported in arms C and D (85% R0 resection rate).
      The circumferential resection margin <=1 rates were 0%, 0%, 12%, and 5% in arms
      A, B, C, and D. The rate of transformation from positive to negative
      circumferential resection margin was 93%. LIMITATIONS: There was low accrual in
      arms A and B. CONCLUSION: Tailoring preoperative radiochemotherapy based on the
      induction treatment response appears safe for poor responders and promising for
      good responders. Long-term clinical results are needed to confirm its efficacy.
      See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A359.

PMID- 28594715
TI  - Long-term Outcomes of Single-Site Laparoscopic Colectomy With Complete Mesocolic
      Excision for Colon Cancer: Comparison With Conventional Multiport Laparoscopic
      Colectomy Using Propensity Score Matching.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complete mesocolic excision has been suggested to improve oncological
      outcomes for patients with colon cancer. However, the long-term outcomes of
      single-site laparoscopic colectomy with complete mesocolic excision remain
      unclear. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the long-term outcomes of single-site
      laparoscopic colectomy with complete mesocolic excision compared with
      conventional multiport laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer, as well as the
      short-term outcomes. DESIGN: This is a single-center, retrospective study.
      SETTINGS: The study was conducted at Osaka University Hospital in Japan.
      PATIENTS: A total of 971 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery
      for colon cancer between 2008 and 2014 were included. Of these patients, 517 were
      analyzed using propensity score matching (231 with single-site laparoscopic
      colectomy and 286 with conventional multiport laparoscopic colectomy). MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Recurrence, survival, intraoperative morbidity, and
      postoperative complications were analyzed. RESULTS: Before propensity score
      matching, the single-site laparoscopic colectomy group had greater proportions of
      women and of patients with right-sided and early stage tumors compared with the
      conventional multiport laparoscopic colectomy group. After matching, the 2 groups
      each included 200 patients and did not significantly differ in any patient
      characteristics. The median follow-up period was 41.4 months. The 2 groups showed
      similar rates of intraoperative morbidity (p = 0.22) and postoperative
      complications (p = 0.87). Rates of 3-year disease-free and overall survival in
      single-site laparoscopic colectomy and conventional, multiport, laparoscopic
      colectomy groups were 95.5% and 91.3% (p = 0.44) and 100.0% and 98.7% (p = 0.24).
      The 3-year disease-free and overall survival rates in each stage did not
      significantly differ between the 2 groups. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by
      its retrospective nature. CONCLUSIONS: Single-site laparoscopic colectomy with
      complete mesocolic excision for colon cancer provided acceptable perioperative
      outcomes and oncological outcomes, similar to those achieved with conventional
      multiport laparoscopic colectomy. Evidence accumulation from randomized
      controlled trials will be necessary to promote the wide acceptance of single-site
      laparoscopic colectomy. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A326.

PMID- 28594716
TI  - Mesenteric Lymphadenectomy in Well-Differentiated Appendiceal Neuroendocrine
      Tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is the primary therapy for local and locally
      advanced appendiceal neuroendocrine tumors. The role of mesenteric
      lymphadenectomy in these patients is undefined. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this
      study was to define the role and prognostic significance of mesenteric
      lymphadenectomy. DESIGN: This was a retrospective, observational study. SETTINGS:
      A population-based cohort from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results registry (January 1988 to November 2013) was used.
      PATIENTS: Patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors and nonmixed
      histologies undergoing surgical resection were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      The risk of lymph node metastases as a function of tumor size and overall
      survival with respect to lymph node count and tumor size was measured. Lymph node
      cut-point was determined using the Contal and O'Quigely method. RESULTS: Of the
      573 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 64% were women, 79% were white, and
      76% were <60 years of age. Seventy percent of the tumors were <=2 cm, and 77%
      were lymph node negative. Median lymph nodes retrieved were 0 (interquartile
      range, 0-14). The probability of nodal metastases was 2.7% in tumors <=1.0 cm,
      31.0% in tumors 1.1 to 2.0 cm, and 64.0% in tumors >2.0 cm. The probability of a
      positive lymph node increased with increasing lymph node count up to 26 lymph
      nodes. An ideal cut-point of 12 lymph nodes was identified by statistical
      modeling. After adjustment in the multivariable model, the group with 12 or fewer
      lymph nodes examined had significantly worse overall survival (HR = 4.33 (95% CI,
      1.54-12.15); p = 0.005; 5-year survival, 88% versus 96%) than the group with more
      than 12 lymph nodes examined. LIMITATIONS: Analysis was limited by the variables
      available in the database. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest study to date that
      looks at prognostic significance of lymph node count for well-differentiated
      appendiceal neuroendocrine tumors. Overall survival was worse where 12 or fewer
      lymph nodes were identified for tumors >1 cm. See Video Abstract at
      http://links.lww.com/DCR/A352.

PMID- 28594717
TI  - Long-term Risk of Urinary Adverse Events in Curatively Treated Patients With
      Rectal Cancer: A Population-Based Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment modalities for rectal cancer, including radiation, are
      associated with urinary adverse effects. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was
      to determine the influence of surgery and radiation therapy for rectal cancer on
      long-term urinary complications. DESIGN: Using the Surveillance Epidemiology and
      End Results-Medicare data set from the United States, patients with rectal cancer
      older than 66 years of age who underwent rectal resection between 1992 and 2007
      were stratified into treatment groups that accounted for surgical resection and
      the timing of radiation therapy, if used. A control group of patients who did not
      have rectal cancer were matched by age, sex, demographics, and comorbidities. The
      primary outcome was a urinary adverse event defined as a relevant urinary
      diagnosis with an associated procedure. Patients with rectal cancer in different
      treatment groups were compared with control patients using a propensity-adjusted,
      multivariable Cox regression analysis. SETTINGS: The study was conducted with the
      Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare data set from the United
      States at our institution. RESULTS: Of the 11,068 patients with rectal cancer,
      56.2% had surgical resection alone, 21.7% received preoperative radiation, and
      22.1% received postoperative radiation. The median follow-up for all of the
      groups of patients was >2 years. All of the groups of patients with rectal cancer
      were more likely to develop a urinary adverse event compared with control
      subjects. Adjusted HRs were 2.28 (95% CI, 2.02-2.57) for abdominoperineal
      resection alone, 2.24 (95% CI, 1.79-2.80) for preoperative radiation and surgical
      resection, 2.04 (95% CI, 1.70-2.44) for surgical resection and postoperative
      radiation, and 1.69 (95% CI, 1.52-1.89) for low anterior resection alone.
      LIMITATIONS: Treatment patterns are somewhat outdated, with a large proportion of
      patients receiving postoperative radiation. The data did not allow for accurate
      assessment of urinary tract infections or mild urinary retention that is not
      managed with a procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Rectal cancer surgery with or without
      radiation is associated with a higher risk of urinary complications requiring
      procedures. Patients who undergo low anterior resection without radiation tend
      toward the lowest risk for a urinary adverse event.

PMID- 28594718
TI  - Risk of Ovarian Involvement in Advanced Colorectal or Appendiceal Tumors
      Involving the Peritoneum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ovarian metastases of GI tumors grow rapidly and are relatively
      resistant to systemic chemotherapy. They may be unilateral or bilateral and
      macroscopic or occult. The risk of macroscopic ovarian involvement or occult
      involvement of macroscopically normal ovaries is unquantified. OBJECTIVE: This
      study aims to quantify the risks of ovarian involvement in patients with
      peritoneal malignancy undergoing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic
      intraperitoneal chemotherapy. DESIGN: This was a retrospective analysis of a
      dedicated prospective malignancy database. SETTINGS: This study was conducted at
      a high-volume tertiary referral center for peritoneal malignancy. PATIENTS:
      Female patients with at least 1 remaining ovary, undergoing complete
      cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for
      appendiceal tumors or colorectal peritoneal metastases between January 2010 and
      March 2015 were included. OUTCOME MEASURES: Data regarding ovarian involvement
      was extracted from surgical and histological records. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty
      eight female patients with at least 1 ovary underwent complete cytoreduction and
      hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy during the study period. In total, 141
      of 258 (54.7%) patients had ovarian tumor involvement, and 80% with at least 1
      macroscopically abnormal ovary had bilateral involvement. Of 40 patients with 1
      macroscopic ovarian metastasis, microscopic involvement of the contralateral
      ovary was found in 18 of 40 (45.0%). Of 141 patients in whom both ovaries were
      macroscopically normal, 24 of 141 (17.0%) patients had microscopic ovarian
      involvement. LIMITATIONS: The retrospective nature limits the interpretation of
      these results. CONCLUSIONS: Occult malignancy was present in 17% when both
      ovaries looked macroscopically normal and in 45% of contralateral normal-looking
      ovaries if the other ovary was macroscopically involved. These results help to
      inform preoperative consent and intraoperative decision making in patients with
      advanced appendiceal and colorectal malignancy, and are of benefit in managing
      advanced lower GI tract malignancy.

PMID- 28594719
TI  - Bowel Dysfunction After Low Anterior Resection With Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy
      or Chemotherapy Alone for Rectal Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study from China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant therapy plays a vital role in the treatment of locally
      advanced rectal cancer but impairs bowel function after restorative surgery.
      Optimal decision making requires adequate information of functional outcomes.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess postoperative bowel function and to
      identify predictors for severe dysfunction. DESIGN: The study included a cross
      sectional cohort and retrospective assessments of pelvic anatomic features.
      SETTINGS: The study was conducted at a tertiary GI hospital in China. PATIENTS:
      Included patients underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy without
      radiation and curative low anterior resection for rectal cancer between 2012 and
      2014. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Bowel function was assessed using the validated low
      anterior resection syndrome score. The thicknesses of the rectal wall, obturator
      internus, and levator ani were measured by preoperative MRI. RESULTS: A total of
      151 eligible patients were identified, and 142 patients (94.0%) participated
      after a median of 19 months from surgery. Bowel dysfunction was observed in 71.1%
      (101/142) of patients, with 44.4% (63/142) reporting severe dysfunction. Symptoms
      of urgency and clustering were found to be major disturbances. Regression
      analysis identified preoperative long-course radiotherapy (p < 0.001) and a lower
      third tumor (p = 0.002) independently associated with severe bowel dysfunction.
      Irradiated patients with a lower-third tumor (OR = 14.06; p < 0.001) or
      thickening of the rectal wall (OR = 11.09; p < 0.001) had a markedly increased
      risk of developing severe dysfunction. LIMITATIONS: The study was based on a
      limited cohort of patients and moderate follow-up after the primary surgery.
      CONCLUSIONS: Bowel function deteriorates frequently after low anterior resection
      for rectal cancer. Severe bowel dysfunction is significantly associated with
      preoperative long-course radiotherapy and a lower-third tumor, and the thickening
      of rectal wall after radiation is a strong predictor. Treatment decisions and
      patient consent should be implemented with raising awareness of bowel symptom
      burdens. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A317.

PMID- 28594720
TI  - Clinical Relevance of a Grading System for Anastomotic Leakage After Low Anterior
      Resection: Analysis From a National Cohort Database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anastomotic leakage is a severe complication after low anterior
      resection for rectal cancer. With a global increase in registration initiatives,
      adapting uniform definitions and grading systems is highly relevant. OBJECTIVE:
      This study aimed to provide clinical parameters to categorize anastomotic leakage
      into subcategories according to the International Study Group of Rectal Cancer.
      DESIGN: All of the patients who underwent a low anterior resection in the
      Netherlands with primary anastomosis were included using the population-based
      Dutch Surgical Colorectal Audit. SETTINGS: Data were derived from the Dutch
      Surgical Colorectal Audit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The development of grade B
      anastomotic leakage (requiring invasive treatment but no surgery) versus grade C
      anastomotic leakage (requiring reoperation) was measured. RESULTS: Overall, 4287
      patients underwent low anterior resection with primary anastomosis. A total of
      159 patients (4%) were diagnosed with grade B anastomotic leakage versus 259 (6%)
      with grade C. Hospital stay and intensive care unit visits were significantly
      higher in patients with grade C anastomotic leakage compared with patients with
      grade B leakage. Mortality in patients with grade C leakage was higher compared
      with grade B leakage, although nonsignificant (5.8% vs 2.5%; p = 0.12).
      Multivariate analysis showed that patients with diverting stomas (n = 2866) had a
      decreased risk of developing grade C leakage compared with grade B (OR = 0.17
      (95% CI, 0.10-0.29)). Male patients had an increased risk of developing grade C
      anastomotic leakage, and patients receiving neoadjuvant treatment before surgery
      had an increased risk of developing grade B anastomotic leakage. LIMITATIONS:
      Some possibly relevant variables, such as smoking and nutritional status, were
      not recorded in the database. CONCLUSIONS: Anastomotic leakage after low anterior
      resection for rectal cancer was a frequent observed complication in this cohort.
      Differences in clinical outcome suggest that grade B and C leakage should be
      considered separate entities in future registrations. In patients with a
      diverting stoma, the chances of experiencing grade C anastomotic leakage were
      reduced. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A315.

PMID- 28594721
TI  - Analysis of Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Chronic
      Ulcerative Colitis: Is It the Disease or the Operation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with IBD have a higher baseline risk of venous
      thromboembolism, which further increases with surgery. Therefore, extended venous
      thromboembolism chemoprophylaxis has been suggested in certain high-risk cohorts.
      OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the underlying
      diagnosis, operative procedure, or both influence the incidence of postoperative
      venous thromboembolism. DESIGN: This was a retrospective review. SETTINGS: The
      American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Project
      database was analyzed. PATIENTS: The NSQIP database was queried for patients with
      chronic ulcerative colitis and non-IBD undergoing colorectal resections using
      surgical Current Procedural Terminology codes modeled after the 3 stages used for
      the surgical management of chronic ulcerative colitis from 2005 to 2013. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured 30-day postoperative venous thromboembolism risk in
      patients with chronic ulcerative colitis based on operative stage and risk
      factors for development of venous thromboembolism. RESULTS: A total of 18,833
      patients met inclusion criteria, with an overall rate of venous thromboembolism
      of 3.8. Among procedure risk groups, venous thromboembolism rates were high risk,
      4.4%; intermediate risk, 1.6%; and low risk, 0.7% (across risk groups, p < 0.01).
      Emergent case subjects exhibited a higher rate of venous thromboembolism than
      their elective counterparts (6.9% vs 3.1%). Factors significantly associated with
      venous thromboembolism on adjusted analysis included emergent risk case (adjusted
      OR = 7.85), high-risk elective case (adjusted OR = 5.07), intermediate-risk
      elective case (adjusted OR = 2.69), steroid use (adjusted OR = 1.54), and
      preoperative albumin <3.5 g/dL (adjusted OR = 1.45). LIMITATIONS: Because of its
      retrospective nature, correlation between procedures and venous thromboembolism
      risk can be demonstrated, but causation cannot be proven. In addition, data on
      inpatient and extended venous thromboembolism prophylaxis use are not available.
      CONCLUSIONS: Emergent status and operative procedure are the 2 highest risk
      factors for postoperative venous thromboembolism. Extended venous thromboembolism
      prophylaxis might be appropriate for patients undergoing these high-risk
      procedures or any emergent colorectal procedures. See Video Abstract at
      http://links.lww.com/DCR/A339.

PMID- 28594722
TI  - Treatment of Complex Fistula-in-Ano With a Nitinol Proctology Clip.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of complex anocutaneous fistulas remains a major
      therapeutic challenge balancing the risk of incontinence against the chance of
      permanent closure. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the
      efficacy of a nitinol proctology clip for closure of complex anocutaneous
      fistulas. DESIGN: This is a single-center cohort study with retrospective
      analysis of all of the treated patients. SETTINGS: Data were obtained from
      patient records and MRI reports, as well as follow-up telephone calls and
      clinical follow-up with endoanal ultrasonography. PATIENTS: All of the patients
      were treated for high transsphincteric and suprasphincteric anocutaneous fistulas
      at the Digestive Disease Center, Bispebjerg Hospital, between May 2013 and
      February 2015. INTERVENTIONS: All of the patients were treated with the nitinol
      proctology clip. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was fistula healing after
      proctology clip placement, as evaluated through clinical examination, endoanal
      ultrasonography, and MRI. RESULTS: The fistula healing rate 1 year after the clip
      procedure was 54.3% (19 of 35 included patients). At the end of follow-up, 17
      (49%) of 35 patients had persistent closure of the fistula tracks. No impairment
      of continence function was observed. Treatment outcome was not found to be
      statistically associated with any clinicopathological characteristics.
      LIMITATIONS: The study is limited by its retrospective and nonrandomized design.
      Selection bias may have occurred, because treatment options other than the clip
      were available during the study period. The small number of patients means that
      there is a nonnegligible risk of type II error in the conclusion, and the follow
      up may be too short to have detected all of the failures. CONCLUSIONS: Healing
      rates were comparable with those of other noninvasive, sphincter-sparing
      techniques for high-complex anocutaneous fistulas, with no risk of incontinence.
      Predictive parameters for fistula healing using this technique remain uncertain.
      See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A347.

PMID- 28594723
TI  - Is There a Role for Oral Antibiotic Preparation Alone Before Colorectal Surgery?
      ACS-NSQIP Analysis by Coarsened Exact Matching.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies demonstrated reduced postoperative complications using
      combined mechanical bowel and oral antibiotic preparation before elective
      colorectal surgery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of
      these 2 interventions on surgical site infections, anastomotic leak, ileus, major
      morbidity, and 30-day mortality in a large cohort of elective colectomies.
      DESIGN: This is a retrospective comparison of 30-day outcomes using the American
      College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program colectomy
      targeted database with coarsened exact matching. SETTINGS: Interventions were
      performed in hospitals participating in the national surgical database. PATIENTS:
      Adult patients who underwent elective colectomy from 2012 to 2014 were included.
      INTERVENTIONS: Preoperative bowel preparations were evaluated. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The primary outcomes measured were surgical site infections,
      anastomotic leak, postoperative ileus, major morbidity, and 30-day mortality.
      RESULTS: A total of 40,446 patients were analyzed: 13,219 (32.7%), 13,935
      (34.5%), and 1572 (3.9%) in the no-preparation, mechanical bowel preparation
      alone, and oral antibiotic preparation alone groups, and 11,720 (29.0%) in the
      combined preparation group. After matching, 9800, 1461, and 8819 patients
      remained in the mechanical preparation, oral antibiotic preparation, and combined
      preparation groups for comparison with patients without preparation. On
      conditional logistic regression of matched patients, oral antibiotic preparation
      alone was protective of surgical site infection (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.45-0.87),
      anastomotic leak (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.34-0.97), ileus (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.59
      0.98), and major morbidity (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.55-0.96), but not mortality (OR,
      0.32; 95% CI, 0.08-1.18), whereas a regimen of combined oral antibiotics and
      mechanical bowel preparation was protective for all 5 major outcomes. When
      directly compared with oral antibiotic preparation alone, the combined regimen
      was not associated with any difference in any of the 5 postoperative outcomes.
      LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its retrospective design with
      heterogeneous data. CONCLUSIONS: Oral antibiotic preparation alone significantly
      reduced surgical site infection, anastomotic leak, postoperative ileus, and major
      morbidity after elective colorectal surgery. A combined regimen of oral
      antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation offered no superiority when compared
      with oral antibiotics alone for these outcomes. See Video Abstract at
      http://links.lww.com/DCR/A358.

PMID- 28594724
TI  - The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Assessment Tool for Performance
      of Laparoscopic Colectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The lack of consensus for performance assessment of laparoscopic
      colorectal resection is a major impediment to quality improvement. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to develop and assess the validity of an evaluation
      tool for laparoscopic colectomy that is feasible for wide implementation. DESIGN:
      During the pilot phase, a small group of experts modified previous assessment
      tools by watching videos for laparoscopic right colectomy with the following
      categories of experience: novice (less than 20 cases), intermediate (50-100
      cases), and expert (more than 500 cases). After achieving sufficient reliability
      (kappa > 0.8), a user-friendly tool was validated among a large group of blinded,
      trained experts. SETTING: The study was conducted through the American Society of
      Colon and Rectal Surgeons Operative Competency Evaluation Committee. PATIENTS:
      Raters were from the Operative Competency Evaluation Committee of the American
      Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Assessment tool
      reliability and internal consistency were measured. RESULTS: From October 2014
      through February 2015, 4 groups of 5 raters blinded to surgeon skill level
      evaluated 6 different laparoscopic right colectomy videos (novice = 2,
      intermediate = 2, expert = 2). The overall Cronbach alpha was 0.98 (>0.9 =
      excellent internal consistency). The intraclass correlation for the overall
      assessment was 0.93 (range, 0.77-0.93) and was >0.74 (excellent) for each step.
      The average scores (scale, 1-5) for experts were significantly better than those
      in the intermediate category, with a mean (SD) of 4.51 (0.56) versus 2.94 (0.56;
      p = 0.003). Videos in the intermediate group scored more favorably than beginner
      videos for each individual step and overall performance (mean (SD) = 3.00 (0.32)
      vs 1.78 (0.42); p = 0.006). LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by rater bias to
      technique and style. CONCLUSIONS: The unique and robust methodology in this trial
      produced an assessment tool that was feasible for raters to use when assessing
      videotaped laparoscopic right hemicolectomies. The potential applications for
      this new tool are widespread, including both training and evaluation of
      competence at the attending level. See Video Abstract at
      http://links.lww.com/DCR/A369, http://links.lww.com/DCR/A370,
      http://links.lww.com/DCR/A371.

PMID- 28594725
TI  - Pelvic Exenteration Surgery: The Evolution of Radical Surgical Techniques for
      Advanced and Recurrent Pelvic Malignancy.
AB  - Pelvic exenteration was first described by Alexander Brunschwig in 1948 in New
      York as a palliative procedure for recurrent carcinoma of the cervix. Because of
      initially high rates of morbidity and mortality, the practice of this
      ultraradical operation was largely confined to a small number of American centers
      for most of the 20 century. The post-World War II era saw advances in
      anaesthesia, blood transfusion, and intensive care medicine that would facilitate
      the evolution of more radical and heroic abdominal and pelvic surgery. In the
      last 3 decades, pelvic exenteration has continued to evolve into one of the most
      important treatments for locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer. This
      review aimed to explore the evolution of pelvic exenteration surgery and to
      identify the pioneering surgeons, seminal articles, and novel techniques that
      have led to its current status as the procedure of choice for locally advanced
      and recurrent rectal cancer.

PMID- 28594726
TI  - Treatment of Anastomotic Stricture of a Handsewn Coloanal Anastomosis With
      Transanal Approach.

PMID- 28594727
TI  - Omission of Adjuvant Chemotherapy or Inadequate Surgery?

PMID- 28594728
TI  - The Authors Reply.

PMID- 28594729
TI  - Regarding the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Surgical Treatment of Patients
      With Lynch Syndrome.

PMID- 28594730
TI  - The Authors Reply.

PMID- 28594731
TI  - Fecal Incontinence Reduces Quality of Life More Than You May Think.

PMID- 28594734
TI  - General Versus Local Anesthesia for Deep Brain Stimulator Insertion.

PMID- 28594735
TI  - PRO: General Anesthesia for Deep Brain Stimulator Insertion in Patients With
      Parkinson Disease.

PMID- 28594736
TI  - CON: Deep Brain Stimulator Insertion for Functional Neurosurgery Under General
      Anesthesia.

PMID- 28594737
TI  - Safe Treatment of a Patient With an Ommaya Reservoir With Electroconvulsive
      Therapy.

PMID- 28594738
TI  - HEMORRHAGIC VASCULITIS AND RETINOPATHY HERALDING AS AN EARLY SIGN OF BACTERIAL
      ENDOPHTHALMITIS AFTER INTRAVITREAL INJECTION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a case series of postintravitreal injection, bacterial
      endophthalmitis heralded by hemorrhagic retinal vasculitis. METHODS:
      Observational case series of three patients with a history of intravitreal
      injections for age-related macular degeneration at a tertiary referral center who
      presented with vision changes and eye pain that were eventually found to have
      bacterial endophthalmitis. Clinical course was then followed. RESULTS: All
      patients developed bacterial endophthalmitis and hemorrhagic retinal vasculitis.
      CONCLUSION: These three cases highlight the importance of hemorrhagic retinal
      vasculitis as the presenting fundus finding of bacterial endophthalmitis and that
      this finding in a postinjection patient should be treated as endophthalmitis
      until proven otherwise.

PMID- 28594739
TI  - POSTERIOR VITRECTORHEXIS: A SURGICAL MODIFICATION FOR INTRAOCULAR FOREIGN BODY
      REMOVAL THROUGH LIMBAL ROUTE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a modified surgical technique of creating a posterior
      capsule opening for removal of retained intraocular foreign body, what we call as
      retroillumination-assisted posterior vitrectorhexis. METHODS: Vitrectomy probe
      through pars plana route is used to create a well-controlled circular posterior
      vitrectorhexis. RESULTS: A uniformly circular posterior capsule opening is
      created after standard pars plana vitrectomy for the removal of foreign body.
      CONCLUSION: Posterior vitrectorhexis is a well-controlled technique in the
      setting of a penetrating injury that can facilitate safe removal of different
      sizes of intraocular foreign body simultaneously preserving capsular support.

PMID- 28594740
TI  - The Importance of Registries in the Postmarketing Surveillance of Surgical
      Meshes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of registries in the postmarketing surveillance of
      surgical meshes. BACKGROUND: To date, surgical meshes are classified as group II
      medical devices. Class II devices do not require premarket clearance by clinical
      studies. Ethicon initiated a voluntary market withdrawal of Physiomesh for
      laparoscopic use after an analysis of unpublished data from the 2 large
      independent hernia registries-Herniamed German Registry and Danish Hernia
      Database. This paper now presents the relevant data from the Herniamed Registry.
      METHODS: The present analysis compares the prospective perioperative and 1-year
      follow-up data collected for all patients with incisional hernia who had
      undergone elective laparoscopic intraperitoneal onlay mesh repair either with
      Physiomesh (n = 1380) or with other meshes recommended in the guidelines (n =
      3834). RESULTS: Patients with Physiomesh repair had a markedly higher recurrence
      rate compared with the other recommended meshes (12.0% vs 5.0%; P < 0.001). In
      the multivariable analysis, the recurrence rate was highly significantly
      influenced by the mesh type used (P < 0.001). If Physiomesh was used, that led to
      a highly significant increase in the recurrence rate on 1-year follow-up (odds
      ratio 2.570, 95% CI 2.057, 3.210). The mesh type used also had a significant
      influence on chronic pain rates. CONCLUSIONS: The importance of real-world data
      for postmarketing surveillance of surgical meshes has been demonstrated in this
      registry-based study. Randomized controlled trials are needed for premarket
      approval of new devices. The role of sponsorship of device studies by the
      manufacturing company must be taken into account.

PMID- 28594742
TI  - Outcomes of Lymphedema Microsurgery for Breast Cancer-related Lymphedema With or
      Without Microvascular Breast Reconstruction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the outcome of lymphedema microsurgery with or
      without microsurgical breast reconstruction for breast cancer-related lymphedema
      (BCRL). BACKGROUND: Complete decongestive therapy, lymphovenous anastomosis, and
      vascularized lymph node flap transfer are the 3 major treatment modalities for
      BCRL. Releasing axillary contracture and transferring a free flap may potentially
      improve the BCRL. METHODS: Between 2004 and 2015, 124 patients with BCRL who
      underwent 3 treatment modalities without or with microsurgical breast
      reconstruction were included in this study as groups I and II, respectively.
      Patients were offered the lymphedema microsurgery depending on the availability
      of patent lymphatic ducts on indocyanine green lymphography if they failed to
      complete decongestive therapy. The circumferential difference, reduction rate,
      and episodes of cellulitis were used to evaluate the outcome of treatments.
      RESULTS: Improvements in the circumferential difference (12.8 +/- 4.2% vs 11.5 +/
      5.3%), the reduction rate (20.4 +/- 5.1% vs 14.7 +/- 6%), and episodes of
      cellulitis (1.7 +/- 1.1 vs 2.1 +/- 2.4 times/yr) did not significantly differ
      between groups I and II (P = 0.06, 0.07, and 0.06, respectively). In both groups,
      vascularized lymph node flap transfer was significantly superior to lymphovenous
      anastomosis or complete decongestive therapy in terms of improvements in the
      circumferential difference, reduction rate and episodes of cellulitis (P = 0.04,
      0.04, and 0.06, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Microsurgical breast reconstruction
      did not improve the outcome of BCRL. Improvements in BCRL were better for
      lymphatic microsurgery than complete decongestive therapy. Moreover, vascularized
      lymph node flap transfer provided greater improvements in the BCRL than
      lymphovenous anastomosis.

PMID- 28594741
TI  - Characterization and Optimal Management of High-risk Pancreatic Anastomoses
      During Pancreatoduodenectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the optimal fistula mitigation
      strategy following pancreaticoduodenectomy. BACKGROUND: The utility of technical
      strategies to prevent clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR
      POPF) following pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) may vary by the circumstances of the
      anastomosis. The Fistula Risk Score (FRS) identifies a distinct high-risk cohort
      (FRS 7 to 10) that demonstrates substantially worse clinical outcomes. The value
      of various fistula mitigation strategies in these particular high-stakes cases
      has not been previously explored. METHODS: This multinational study included 5323
      PDs performed by 62 surgeons at 17 institutions. Mitigation strategies, including
      both technique related (ie, pancreatogastrostomy reconstruction; dunking; tissue
      patches) and the use of adjuvant strategies (ie, intraperitoneal drains;
      anastomotic stents; prophylactic octreotide; tissue sealants), were evaluated
      using multivariable regression analysis and propensity score matching. RESULTS: A
      total of 522 (9.8%) PDs met high-risk FRS criteria, with an observed CR-POPF rate
      of 29.1%. Pancreatogastrostomy, prophylactic octreotide, and omission of
      externalized stents were each associated with an increased rate of CR-POPF (all P
      < 0.001). In a multivariable model accounting for patient, surgeon, and
      institutional characteristics, the use of external stents [odds ratio (OR) 0.45,
      95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.25-0.81] and the omission of prophylactic
      octreotide (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.30-0.78) were independently associated with
      decreased CR-POPF occurrence. In the propensity score matched cohort, an
      "optimal" mitigation strategy (ie, externalized stent and no prophylactic
      octreotide) was associated with a reduced rate of CR-POPF (13.2% vs 33.5%, P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The scenarios identified by the high-risk FRS zone represent
      challenging anastomoses associated with markedly elevated rates of fistula.
      Externalized stents and omission of prophylactic octreotide, in the setting of
      intraperitoneal drainage and pancreaticojejunostomy reconstruction, provides
      optimal outcomes.

PMID- 28594743
TI  - Increased Severe Trauma Patient Volume is Associated With Survival Benefit and
      Reduced Total Health Care Costs: A Retrospective Observational Study Using a
      Japanese Nationwide Administrative Database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations of severe
      trauma patient volume with survival benefit and health care costs. BACKGROUND:
      The effect of trauma patient volume on survival benefit is inconclusive, and
      reports on its effects on health care costs are scarce. METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective observational study, including trauma patients who were transferred
      to government-approved tertiary emergency hospitals, or hospitals with an
      intensive care unit that provided an equivalent quality of care, using a Japanese
      nationwide administrative database. We categorized hospitals according to their
      annual severe trauma patient volumes [1 to 50 (reference), 51 to 100, 101 to 150,
      151 to 200, and >=201]. We evaluated the associations of volume categories with
      in-hospital survival and total cost per admission using a mixed-effects model
      adjusting for patient severity and hospital characteristics. RESULTS: A total of
      116,329 patients from 559 hospitals were analyzed. Significantly increased in
      hospital survival rates were observed in the second, third, fourth, and highest
      volume categories compared with the reference category [94.2% in the highest
      volume category vs 88.8% in the reference category, adjusted odds ratio (95%
      confidence interval, 95% CI) = 1.75 (1.49-2.07)]. Furthermore, significantly
      lower costs (in US dollars) were observed in the second and fourth categories
      [mean (standard deviation) for fourth vs reference = $17,800 ($17,378) vs $20,540
      ($32,412), adjusted difference (95% CI) = -$2559 (-$3896 to -$1221)].
      CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals with high volumes of severe trauma patients were
      significantly associated with a survival benefit and lower total cost per
      admission.

PMID- 28594744
TI  - Probability of Opioid Prescription Refilling After Surgery: Does Initial
      Prescription Dose Matter?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the correlation between the probability of
      postoperative opioid prescription refills and the amount of opioid prescribed,
      hypothesizing that a greater initial prescription yields a lower probability of
      refill. BACKGROUND: Although current guidelines regarding opioid prescribing
      largely address chronic opioid use, little is known regarding best practices and
      postoperative care. METHODS: We analyzed Optum Insight claims data from 2013 to
      2014 for opioid-naive patients aged 18 to 64 years who underwent major or minor
      surgical procedures (N = 26,520). Our primary outcome was the occurrence of an
      opioid refill within 30 postoperative days. Our primary explanatory variable was
      the total oral morphine equivalents provided in the initial postoperative
      prescription. We used logistic regression to examine the probability of an
      additional refill by initial prescription strength, adjusting for patient
      factors. RESULTS: We observed that 8.67% of opioid-naive patients refilled their
      prescriptions. Across procedures, the probability of a single postoperative
      refill did not change with an increase with initial oral morphine equivalents
      prescribed. Instead, patient factors were correlated with the probability of
      refill, including tobacco use [odds ratio (OR) 1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      1.23-1.57], anxiety (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.15-1.47), mood disorders (OR 1.28. 95% CI
      1.13-1.44), alcohol or substance abuse disorders (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.12-1.84), and
      arthritis (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.34). CONCLUSIONS: The probability of refilling
      prescription opioids after surgery was not correlated with initial prescription
      strength, suggesting surgeons could prescribe smaller prescriptions without
      influencing refill requests. Future research that examines the interplay between
      pain, substance abuse, and mental health could inform strategies to tailor opioid
      prescribing for patients.

PMID- 28594745
TI  - Indications for Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy: A Consensus Statement
      Using Modified Delphi Methodology.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To reach a consensus about contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in
      unilateral breast cancer. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: There has been a substantial
      increase in the number of North American women with unilateral breast cancer
      undergoing a therapeutic mastectomy and a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy
      (CPM) either simultaneously or sequentially. The purpose of this project was to
      create a nationally endorsed consensus statement for CPM in women with unilateral
      breast cancer using modified Delphi consensus methodology. METHODS: A nationally
      representative expert panel of 19 general surgeons, 2 plastic surgeons, 2 medical
      oncologists, 2 radiation oncologists, and 1 psychologist was invited to
      participate in the generation of a consensus statement. Thirty-nine statements
      were created in 5 topic domains: predisposing risk factors for breast cancer,
      tumor factors, reconstruction/symmetry issues, patient factors, and miscellaneous
      factors. Panelists were asked to rate statements on a 7-point Likert scale. Two
      electronic rounds of iterative rating and feedback were anonymously completed,
      followed by an in-person meeting. Consensus was reached when there was at least
      80% agreement. RESULTS: Our panelists did not recommend for average risk women
      with unilateral breast cancer. The panel recommended CPM for women with a
      unilateral breast cancer and previous Mantle field radiation or a BrCa1/2 gene
      mutation. The panel agreed that CPM could be considered by the surgeon on an
      individual basis for: women with unilateral breast cancer and a genetic mutation
      in the CHEK2/PTEN/p53/PALB2/CDH1 gene, and in women who may have significant
      difficulty achieving symmetry after unilateral mastectomy. CONCLUSION:
      Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy is rarely recommended for women with
      unilateral breast cancer.

PMID- 28594746
TI  - Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Eliminates Racial Disparities in
      Postoperative Length of Stay After Colorectal Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)
      on racial disparities in postoperative length of stay (pLOS) after colorectal
      surgery. BACKGROUND: Racial disparities in surgical outcomes exist. We
      hypothesized that ERAS would reduce disparities in pLOS between black and white
      patients. METHODS: Patients undergoing ERAS in 2015 were 1:1 matched by
      race/ethnicity, age, sex, and procedure to a pre-ERAS group from 2010 to 2014.
      After stratification by race/ethnicity, expected pLOS was calculated using the
      American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project Risk
      Calculator. Primary outcome was the observed pLOS and observed-to-expected
      difference in pLOS. Secondary outcomes were National Surgical Quality Improvement
      Project postoperative complications including 30-day readmissions and mortality.
      Adjusted sensitivity analyses on pLOS were also performed. RESULTS: Of 420
      patients (210 ERAS and 210 pre-ERAS) examined, 28.3% were black. Black and white
      patients were similar in age, body mass index, sex, American Anesthesia
      Association class, and minimally invasive approaches. Within the pre-ERAS group,
      black patients stayed a mean of 2.7 days longer than expected compared with white
      patients (P < 0.05). Overall, ERAS patients had a significantly shorter pLOS (5.7
      vs 8 days) and observed-to-expected difference (-0.7 vs 1.4 days) compared with
      pre-ERAS patients (P < 0.01). In the ERAS group, disparities in pLOS were reduced
      with no differences in readmissions or mortality between black and white
      patients. On sensitivity analyses, race/ethnicity remained a significant
      predictor of pLOS among pre-ERAS patients, but not for ERAS patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: ERAS eliminated racial differences in pLOS between black and white
      patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Reduced pLOS occurred without increases
      in mortality, readmissions, and most postoperative complications. ERAS may
      provide a practical approach to reducing disparities in surgical outcomes.

PMID- 28594747
TI  - Groin Pain Characteristics and Recurrence Rates: Three-year Results of a
      Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Self-gripping Progrip Mesh and Sutured
      Polypropylene Mesh for Open Inguinal Hernia Repair.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate long-term groin pain and
      inguinal hernia recurrence rates of 2 types of mesh and to describe the evolution
      of postoperative groin sensory disturbances. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Some
      patients with an inguinal hernia develop chronic pain following open mesh
      insertion. Previous trials comparing a semi-resorbable, self-gripping Progrip
      mesh with a standard sutured polypropylene mesh found conflicting results
      regarding recurrence rates and residual groin pain. METHODS: Patients aged >18
      years scheduled for open primary hernia repair were randomized to a self-gripping
      mesh (Progrip) or a polypropylene mesh (standard). Removal of the inguinal nerves
      was left to the discretion of the surgeon. Pain was measured using Visual
      Analogue Scale (VAS) over a 3-year period. Pain characteristics and hernia
      recurrences were determined using physical examination. RESULTS: Data of 274
      patients were complete (75% three-year follow-up rate). Pain steadily decreased
      over time in both groups in a similar fashion (moderate pain 3.7% in each group).
      Hyperesthesia was experienced by 2.2% and 3.7% and hypoesthesia in 12% and 19% in
      Progrip and standard group, respectively. One of seven Progrip patients reported
      a foreign body feeling versus 1 of 5 standard patients (P = 0.06). Altered skin
      sensations were not related to a neurectomy. Hernia recurrence rate was 11.5% in
      the Progrip and 5% in the standard group (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Three years
      after insertion of a self-gripping Progrip mesh or a sutured polypropylene mesh
      for an open primary inguinal hernia repair, groin pain is minimal, although
      altered groin skin sensations and foreign body feeling are quite common. A
      Progrip hernia repair is associated with a high recurrence rate.

PMID- 28594748
TI  - Inhibition of Spleen Tyrosine Kinase Reduces Renal Allograft Injury in a Rat
      Model of Acute Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Sensitized Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Organ transplantation into sensitized patients with preexisting donor
      specific antibodies (DSA) is very challenging. Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk)
      promotes leukocyte recruitment and activation via signaling through various cell
      surface receptors. We investigated whether a selective Syk inhibitor (GS-492429)
      could suppress antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in a rat model of AMR in
      sensitized recipients. METHODS: Recipient Lewis rats (RT1) were immunized with
      donor (Dark Agouti, RT1) spleen cells (day -5). Recipients underwent bilateral
      nephrectomy and orthotopic renal transplantation (day 0). Cellular rejection was
      minimized by tacrolimus treatment from day -1. Groups received GS-492429 (30
      mg/kg, twice a day) (n = 11) or vehicle (n = 12) from 1 hour before
      transplantation until being killed on day 3. RESULTS: Vehicle-treated recipients
      developed graft dysfunction on day 1 which rapidly worsened by day 3. Histology
      showed severe damage (thrombosis, acute tubular injury, capillaritis) and
      infiltration of many Syk leukocytes. GS-492429 did not affect graft dysfunction
      on day 1, but treatment reduced allograft damage and prevented the rapid
      deterioration of graft function on day 3. GS-492429 reduced the prominent
      macrophage infiltrate and reduced the M1 proinflammatory response. Neutrophil and
      NK cell infiltration and capillary thrombosis were also significantly reduced by
      GS-492429 treatment. Serum DSA levels and the deposition of IgG and C4d in the
      allograft were equivalent in the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with a Syk
      inhibitor significantly reduced renal allograft injury in a model of severe
      antibody-mediated damage in highly sensitized recipients. Further studies are
      warranted to determine whether Syk inhibition is a potential adjunctive treatment
      in clinical AMR.

PMID- 28594749
TI  - CMV-Specific T Cell Monitoring Offers Superior Risk Stratification of CMV
      Seronegative Kidney Transplant Recipients of a CMV-Seropositive Donor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detectable cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T cells in CMV-seronegative
      kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) have been attributed to an absence of
      circulating antibodies despite CMV sensitization. The diagnostic value of CMV
      specific T cells, however, needs to be implemented in risk stratification for CMV
      replication. METHODS: Three hundred twenty-six KTRs were studied and classified
      with respect to CMV serostatus and presence of CMV-specific T cells. Samples were
      collected pretransplantation, at +1, +2, and +3 months posttransplantation. CMV
      specific T cells directed to CMV-IE1 and CMV-pp65 were measured by interferon
      gamma Elispot assay. RESULTS: Nineteen (28%) of 67 D+R- KTRs showed pretransplant
      CMV-specific T cells. Although no differences were observed for CMV replication,
      KTRs with CMV-specific T cells presented with lower initial and peak CMV loads (P
      < 0.05). KTRs with decreasing/undetectable CMV-IE1-specific T cells
      pretransplantation and posttransplantation were at greatest risk of CMV
      replication. KTRs with stable/increasing CMV-IE1-specific T cells from
      pretransplantation to posttransplantation, however, showed low risk of CMV
      replication (P < 0.001). One hundred sixty-two (80%) of 203 R+ KTRs showed
      pretransplant CMV-specific T cells. Decreasing/undetectable CMV-IE1-specific T
      cells from pretransplantation and posttransplantation identified those R+ KTRs at
      increased risk of CMV replication (65/80 KTRs; 81%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite CMV prophylaxis, D+R- KTRs are at greatest risk of CMV disease. Our data
      suggest that monitoring CMV-specific T cell kinetics from pretransplantation to
      posttransplantation, particularly directed to CMV-IE1, offers superior risk
      stratification compared with CMV serostatus alone.

PMID- 28594751
TI  - DHRS9 Is a Stable Marker of Human Regulatory Macrophages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The human regulatory macrophage (Mreg) has emerged as a promising
      cell type for use as a cell-based adjunct immunosuppressive therapy in solid
      organ transplant recipients. In this brief report, dehydrogenase/reductase 9
      (DHRS9) is identified as a robust marker of human Mregs. METHODS: The cognate
      antigen of a mouse monoclonal antibody raised against human Mregs was identified
      as DHRS9 by immunoprecipitation and MALDI-MS sequencing. Expression of DHRS9
      within a panel of monocyte-derived macrophages was investigated by quantitative
      PCR, immunoblotting and flow cytometry. RESULTS: DHRS9 expression discriminated
      human Mregs from a panel of in vitro derived macrophages in other polarisation
      states. Likewise, DHRS9 expression distinguished Mregs from a variety of human
      monocyte-derived tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells in current development as
      cell-based immunotherapies, including Tol-DC, Rapa-DC, DC-10, and PGE2-induced
      myeloid-derived suppressor cells. A subpopulation of DHRS9-expressing human
      splenic macrophages was identified by immunohistochemistry. Expression of DHRS9
      was acquired gradually during in vitro development of human Mregs from CD14
      monocytes and was further enhanced by IFN-gamma treatment on day 6 of culture.
      Stimulating Mregs with 100 ng/mL lipopolysaccharide for 24 hours did not
      extinguish DHRS9 expression. Dhrs9 was not an informative marker of mouse Mregs.
      CONCLUSION: DHRS9 is a specific and stable marker of human Mregs.

PMID- 28594752
TI  - RESIDUAL VITREOUS CORTEX AT THE FOVEA DURING VITRECTOMY FOR PRIMARY
      RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENT REPAIR.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the frequency of residual cortex and the effectiveness of
      removal of residual cortex in the fovea during vitrectomy for primary
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      the charts and the operative videos of the 80 patients (80 eyes) who underwent
      vitrectomy for repair and who were observed for more than 6 months. After
      triamcinolone acetonide injection, we observed residual cortex on the surface of
      the retina. Residual cortex was removed with a diamond-dusted scraper. After
      surgery, we watched for the occurrence of epiretinal membrane (ERM) for at least
      6 months. We graded ERM according to the postoperative visual acuity (thin
      membranes that did not affect vision vs. thick membranes that reduced vision).
      RESULTS: Of the 80 eyes, 60 eyes (75%) showed macular residual cortex, which we
      removed with a scraper, and 20 eyes (25%) did not have visible cortical remnants.
      Postoperative ERM occurred in 30% of eyes (24/80). The rate of postoperative ERM
      was 35% (21/60) in eyes with residual cortex and 15% (3/20) in eyes without
      residual cortex (P = 0.091). In the 60 eyes with residual cortex during
      vitrectomy, a thin membrane occurred in 18 eyes (30%) and a thick membrane
      occurred in 3 eyes (5%). In the 20 eyes without residual cortex, however, a thin
      membrane occurred in 3 eyes (15%) and no thick membrane was found. CONCLUSION:
      Eyes with residual cortex have a higher rate of ERM than eyes with no residual
      cortex after vitrectomy for primary repair. It is uncertain whether removing the
      cortex reduces the rate of postoperative ERM. The residual cortex may have
      already started the pathogenesis of ERM, or surgical trauma may have played a
      role.

PMID- 28594754
TI  - False Labor at Term in Singleton Pregnancies: Discharge After a Standardized
      Assessment and Perinatal Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate perinatal outcomes in women sent home with a diagnosis of
      false labor at term and assess the time interval to return for delivery. METHODS:
      This was a prospective observational cohort study of women at 37 0/7 to 41 6/7
      weeks of gestation without pre-existing medical complications who presented to
      our hospital-based triage unit with symptoms of labor and underwent a
      standardized evaluation. Women diagnosed as having false labor with a live
      singleton fetus in cephalic presentation without a prior cesarean delivery and
      sent home were compared with a group of similar women diagnosed to be in
      spontaneous labor. Women with hypertension, diabetes, and known fetal
      malformations were excluded. Using a perinatal composite outcome of respiratory
      insufficiency, intraventricular hemorrhage, culture-proven sepsis, Apgar score 3
      or less at 5 minutes, phototherapy, and perinatal death, we tested the
      noninferiority of being sent home compared with being admitted for labor. The
      relationship of cervical dilatation to the time interval from discharge home to
      delivery was also analyzed. RESULTS: Between October 2012 and March 2016, a total
      of 3,949 women met inclusion criteria and were diagnosed with false labor,
      discharged, and returned to deliver, whereas 2,592 similar women were admitted in
      early labor. The mean interval from discharge to return was 4.9 days. Cesarean
      delivery rates were not different between the study groups-11% for both (P=.69),
      and the perinatal composite outcome rates were not significantly different
      between those sent home and those admitted-3.2% compared with 3.1% (P=.79). Women
      with more advanced cervical dilatation at discharge returned and delivered
      significantly earlier than those with less dilatation regardless of parity.
      CONCLUSION: Discharge with false labor at term after a standardized assessment in
      a triage unit was not associated with increased rates of adverse perinatal
      composite outcomes or cesarean delivery. The time interval to return for delivery
      was significantly associated with the cervical dilatation at discharge.

PMID- 28594755
TI  - Contraception Insurance Coverage and Receipt of Long-Acting Reversible
      Contraception or Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate on the Day of Abortion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether contraceptive insurance coverage for women who
      present for an abortion is associated with obtaining long-acting reversible
      contraception or depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) on the day the abortion
      is completed. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of women
      presenting for medical or surgical abortion at a single health center in North
      Carolina. Eligible women were 18 years or older and fluent in English or Spanish.
      Data were from participant questionnaires, medical charts, and financial records.
      Our main exposure was whether the woman had insurance coverage for contraception
      at clinic intake. Our primary outcome was receiving DMPA, an intrauterine device,
      or a contraceptive subdermal implant on the same day of their surgical abortion
      or at the visit that determined their medication abortion was complete. We used
      univariable, bivariable, and multivariable analysis to report our findings.
      RESULTS: Five hundred seventy-five women enrolled in our cohort between September
      2015 and April 2016. One hundred twenty-eight (22%) had insurance coverage and
      447 (78%) did not. In the group with insurance coverage for contraception, 38%
      (49/128) received a long-acting reversible contraception method or DMPA compared
      with 7% (33/447) in the group without insurance coverage for contraception. After
      adjusting for confounding, women with contraceptive coverage were more than five
      times as likely to receive immediate postabortion contraception with one of these
      methods compared with women without coverage (relative risk 5.6, 95% confidence
      interval 3.8-8.3). CONCLUSION: Women with contraceptive insurance coverage on the
      day of their abortion were more likely to leave the abortion clinic with an
      intrauterine device or implant in place or receive DMPA injection compared with
      women without coverage.

PMID- 28594753
TI  - Opioid Use in Pregnancy, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, and Childhood Outcomes:
      Executive Summary of a Joint Workshop by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
      Institute of Child Health and Human Development, American College of
      Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society for
      Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the
      March of Dimes Foundation.
AB  - In April 2016, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
      Human Development invited experts to a workshop to address numerous knowledge
      gaps and to review the evidence for the screening and management of opioid use in
      pregnancy and neonatal abstinence syndrome. The rising prevalence of opioid use
      in pregnancy has led to a concomitant dramatic fivefold increase in neonatal
      abstinence syndrome over the past decade. Experts from diverse disciplines
      addressed research gaps in the following areas: 1) optimal screening for opioid
      use in pregnancy; 2) complications of pregnancy associated with opioid use; 3)
      appropriate treatments for pregnant women with opioid use disorders; 4) the best
      approaches for detecting, treating, and managing newborns with neonatal
      abstinence syndrome; and 5) the long-term effects of prenatal opioid exposure on
      children. Workshop participants identified key scientific opportunities to
      advance the understanding of opioid use disorders in pregnancy and to improve
      outcomes for affected women, their children, and their families. This article
      provides a summary of the workshop presentations and discussions.

PMID- 28594756
TI  - Short Cervix in a Patient With Twin Gestation.
AB  - A 28-year-old woman, gravida 1 para 0, with twin gestation presents for routine
      anatomic survey at 20 weeks of gestation without any complaints. On
      transabdominal ultrasonography, the ultrasonographer notes concern for cervical
      funneling and proceeds to perform a transvaginal ultrasonogram, which reveals a
      short cervix of 18 mm.

PMID- 28594757
TI  - Anesthetic Cream Use During Office Pessary Removal and Replacement: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of lidocaine-prilocaine cream on patient pain
      at the time of office pessary removal and reinsertion. METHODS: In this double
      blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial, participants undergoing routine
      pessary care in a urogynecology office at a tertiary referral center were
      randomized to application of 4 g of either lidocaine-prilocaine or placebo cream
      5 minutes before pessary change. Visual analog scale pain scores were collected
      from the patient at baseline, after pessary removal, and after pessary
      reinsertion. Physicians also recorded their estimate of patient pain at pessary
      removal and reinsertion. The primary outcome was the participant-reported visual
      analog scale pain score at the time of pessary removal and reinsertion. A sample
      size of 26 per group (n=52) was planned to estimate an absolute mean difference
      in visual analog scale pain of 2.1 cm at the time of pessary removal. An analysis
      of covariance was used to evaluate pain at removal and reinsertion as a function
      of treatment assignment controlling for baseline pain. RESULTS: From July 2015
      through February 2016, 116 women were screened and 54 were recruited: 28 in the
      lidocaine-prilocaine cream group and 26 in the placebo group. One patient in the
      lidocaine-prilocaine cream group was later withdrawn owing to vaginal erosion.
      The participants were all postmenopausal women, with an average age of 77.8
      years. Most characteristics were similar between groups. After adjusting for
      baseline pain, participants randomized to the lidocaine-prilocaine group had
      lower pain at pessary removal when compared with those assigned to placebo (mean
      difference=-2.05, 95% confidence interval -3.69 to -0.41; P=.015). CONCLUSION:
      Lidocaine-prilocaine cream use at the time of office pessary removal reduces
      patient-reported pain. Clinicians may wish to include this simple intervention to
      optimize patient comfort and compliance. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02380742.

PMID- 28594758
TI  - Timing of Etonogestrel-Releasing Implants and Growth of Breastfed Infants: A
      Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the growth of breastfed infants whose mothers had inserted
      an etonogestrel-releasing implant in the immediate postpartum period. METHODS: An
      open, randomized controlled, and parallel trial of postpartum women who were
      block-randomized to early (up to 48 hours postpartum before discharge) or
      conventional (at 6 weeks postpartum) insertion of an etonogestrel implant. The
      primary outcome was average infant weight at 12 months (360 days) and a
      difference of equal to or greater than 10% between groups was considered
      clinically significant. The secondary outcomes were infant's height and head and
      arm circumferences. These variables were measured at baseline and at 14, 40, 90,
      180, 270, and 360 days postpartum. The mixed-effects linear regression model was
      used to evaluate the outcomes with a power of 80% and a significance level of 1%
      for the primary outcome and 0.3% for secondary outcomes as a result of correction
      for multiple hypothesis testing. RESULTS: From June to August 2015, a total of
      100 women were randomized: 50 to early and 50 to conventional postpartum
      etonogestrel insertion. Sociodemographic characteristics were similar between the
      groups, except for educational attainment. The conventional insertion group
      included a higher proportion of women with 8 or more years of formal education
      than the early insertion group (88% [44/50] compared with 70% [35/50], P=.02).
      There was no difference in infant weight at 360 days between the groups (early
      [mean+/-standard deviation] 10.1+/-1.2 kg compared with conventional 9.8+/-1.3
      kg, mean difference estimate 0.3 kg, 95% confidence interval 0-0.7 kg). Growth
      curves, height, and head and arm circumferences did not differ between the
      groups. CONCLUSION: There is no difference in growth at 12 months among breastfed
      infants whose mothers underwent early compared with conventional postpartum
      insertion of the etonogestrel implant. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02469454.

PMID- 28594759
TI  - Associations of Parity, Breastfeeding, and Fractures in the Women's Health
      Observational Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine associations of several aspects of parity and history of
      lactation with incident hip fractures and clinical fractures and, in a subset of
      women, with bone mineral density. METHODS: In this observational study, we
      analyzed data from 93,676 postmenopausal women participating in the Women's
      Health Initiative Observational Study and all bone density data from the subset
      of participants who underwent bone density testing at three clinical centers. At
      baseline, participants were aged 50-79 years. Using Cox proportional hazards
      regression analysis, we examined associations of fracture incidence and bone
      density with several aspects of parity (number of pregnancies, age at first
      pregnancy lasting 6 months or greater, and number of pregnancies lasting 6 months
      or greater) and breastfeeding (number of episodes of breastfeeding for at least 1
      month, number of children breastfed, age when first breastfed, age when last
      breastfed, total number of months breastfed). RESULTS: The mean baseline age
      (standard deviation) of participants was 64 (+/-7.4) years (mean follow-up 7.9
      years). During follow-up, the incident rate of hip fracture was 1.27%. Ten
      percent of participants were nulligravid. In fully adjusted models, number of
      pregnancies, parity, age at first birth, number of children breastfed, age at
      first breastfeeding, age at last breastfeeding, and total duration of
      breastfeeding were not statistically significantly associated with hip fracture
      incidence. There were no consistent associations of parity or lactation
      characteristics with overall clinical fracture risk or bone density. However,
      compared with never breastfeeding, a history of breastfeeding for at least 1
      month was associated with a decreased risk of hip fracture (yes compared with no,
      hazard ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.73-0.98). CONCLUSION: Patterns of
      parity and history of lactation were largely unrelated to fracture risk or bone
      density.

PMID- 28594760
TI  - An Initiative to Reduce the Episiotomy Rate: Association of Feedback and the
      Hawthorne Effect With Leapfrog Goals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of education, performance feedback, and the
      Hawthorne effect with a reduction in the episiotomy rate in a large academic
      institution. METHODS: We describe a prospective observational study of a project
      conducted between March 2012 and February 2017 to assist clinicians in meeting
      the Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) target rates for episiotomy. Phases of
      this project included preintervention (phase 1, March 2012 to April 2014),
      education and provision of collective department episiotomy rates (phase 2, May
      2014 to December 2014), ongoing education with emphasis on a revised Leapfrog
      target rate (phase 3, January 2015 to February 2016), and provision of individual
      episiotomy rates to practitioners on a monthly basis (phase 4, March 2016 to
      February 2017). We analyzed the department episiotomy rates before, during, and
      after these efforts. Cases of shoulder dystocia were excluded from this analysis.
      Statistical analysis was performed using a two-tailed Student t test and chi test
      with P<.05 considered significant. RESULTS: During the study period 1,176
      episiotomies were performed in 16,441 vaginal deliveries (7.2%). In phase 2
      (2,352 vaginal deliveries), there was a nonsignificant drop in the episiotomy
      rate with education alone (9.0-8.2%, P=.21). In phase 3 (4,379 vaginal
      deliveries), the episiotomy rate demonstrated an additional, significant drop to
      5.9% (P<.001), but this reduction did not reach the new Leapfrog goal of 5%. In
      phase 4 (3,160 vaginal deliveries), the hospital episiotomy rate again dropped
      significantly from 5.9% to 4.37% (P=.007) and met the target rate of 5%. This
      reduction was sustained over a 12-month time period. During this same time
      period, the rate of operative vaginal delivery among vaginal births increased
      (4.5-5.4%, P=.003) and there was no significant change in the rates of third- and
      fourth-degree perineal laceration (3.8-3.3%, P=.19). CONCLUSION: Education,
      performance feedback, and the Hawthorne effect were associated with a reduction
      in the episiotomy rate in a large academic institution without a reduction in the
      rate of operative vaginal delivery or an increase in the rate of third- and
      fourth-degree lacerations.

PMID- 28594761
TI  - Wound Complication Rates After Staples or Suture for Midline Vertical Skin
      Closure in Obese Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare wound complication rates after skin closure with staples
      and subcuticular suture in obese gynecology patients undergoing laparotomy
      through a midline vertical incision. METHODS: In this randomized controlled
      trial, women with body mass indexes (BMIs) of 30 or greater undergoing surgery by
      a gynecologic oncologist through a midline vertical incision were randomized to
      skin closure with staples or subcuticular 4-0 monofilament suture. The primary
      outcome was the rate of wound complication, defined as the presence of a wound
      breakdown, or infection, within 8 weeks postoperatively. Secondary outcomes
      included operative time, Stony Brook scar cosmetic score, and patient
      satisfaction. A sample size of 162 was planned to detect a 50% reduction in wound
      complications. At planned interim review (n=82), there was no significant
      difference in primary outcome. RESULTS: Between 2013 and 2016, 163 women were
      analyzed, including 84 who received staples and 79 suture. Women who received
      staples were older (mean age 59 compared with 57 years), had lower mean BMI (37.3
      compared with 38.9), and fewer benign indications for surgery (22 compared with
      27). There were no differences in wound complication rates between staple
      compared with suture skin closure (28 [33%] compared with 25 [32%], relative risk
      1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.68-1.64). Women with staples reported worse
      median cosmetic scores (four of five compared with five of five, P<.001), darker
      scar color (37 [49%] compared with 13 [18%], relative risk 2.69, 95% CI 1.57
      4.63), and more skin marks (30 [40%] compared with three [4%], relative risk
      9.47, 95% CI 3.02-29.65) compared with women with suture closure. There was no
      group difference regarding satisfaction with their scar. Stepwise multivariate
      analysis revealed BMI (odds ratio [OR] 1.13, 95% CI 1.07-1.20), maximum
      postoperative glucose (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.01), and cigarette smoking (OR
      4.96, 95% CI 1.32-18.71) were correlates of wound complication. CONCLUSION:
      Closure of midline vertical skin incisions with subcuticular suture does not
      reduce surgical site wound complications compared with staples in obese
      gynecology patients. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov,
      NCT01977612.

PMID- 28594762
TI  - A Shared Decision-Making Intervention to Guide Opioid Prescribing After Cesarean
      Delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a shared decision-making intervention decreases the
      quantity of oxycodone tablets prescribed after cesarean delivery. TECHNIQUE: A
      tablet computer-based decision aid formed the basis of a shared decision-making
      session to guide opioid prescribing after cesarean delivery. Women first received
      information on typical trajectories of pain resolution and expected opioid use
      after cesarean delivery and then chose the number of tablets of 5 mg oxycodone
      they would be prescribed up to the institutional standard prescription of 40
      tablets. EXPERIENCE: From April 11, 2016, to June 10, 2016, 105 women were
      screened, 75 were eligible, and 51 consented to participate; one patient was
      excluded after enrollment as a result of prolonged hospitalization. The median
      number of tablets (5 mg oxycodone) women chose for their prescription was 20.0
      (interquartile range 15.0-25.0), which was less than the standard 40-tablet
      prescription (P<.001). CONCLUSION: A shared decision-making approach to opioid
      prescribing after cesarean delivery was associated with approximately a 50%
      decrease in the number of opioids prescribed postoperatively in this cohort
      compared with our institutional standard prescription. This approach is a
      promising strategy to reduce the amount of leftover opioid medication after
      treatment of acute postcesarean pain. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02770612.

PMID- 28594764
TI  - Outpatient Hysterectomy Volume in the United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the number of outpatient hysterectomies being performed
      annually in the United States in an effort to offer more correct estimates of
      hysterectomy use in light of reported decreasing inpatient case volume. METHODS:
      This is a cross-sectional analysis of State Ambulatory Surgery and Services
      Databases from 16 states with complete information for year 2011. Adult women
      undergoing hysterectomy were included. Procedure volume, route, and associated
      patient and surgical characteristics were calculated. RESULTS: There were 64,612
      ambulatory hysterectomies reported; 81.5% of surgeries were performed
      laparoscopically and 16% vaginally. If these numbers are extrapolated to national
      estimates, this represents 100,000-200,000 outpatient hysterectomies per year.
      The strongest driver of the laparoscopic, compared with vaginal, route of
      hysterectomy in this data set was presence of cancer (odds ratio 4.01 [3.19
      5.05], P<.001). In addition to indication for surgery, patient characteristics
      such as age, race, income, location, and primary payer were associated with mode
      of hysterectomy. The laparoscopic surgeries were associated with shorter length
      of stay (mean stay 0.65 days, [99% confidence interval 0.65-0.66] compared with
      0.79 days [0.78-0.81], adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.89 [0.86-0.92], P<.001)
      and higher mean charges ($24,227 [$24,053-24,402] versus $14,068 [$13,811
      14,330], P<.001) compared with vaginal surgeries. CONCLUSION: The perceived
      decline that has been reported in national hysterectomy volume may represent lack
      of reporting of surgeries performed in ambulatory settings. This information has
      considerable implications for business, public health interventions, and
      insurance carriers among other key stakeholders in women's health care delivery.

PMID- 28594763
TI  - Patterns of Opioid Prescription and Use After Cesarean Delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To define the amount of opioid analgesics prescribed and consumed
      after discharge after cesarean delivery. METHODS: We conducted a survey at six
      academic medical centers in the United States from September 2014 to March 2016.
      Women who had undergone a cesarean delivery were contacted by phone 2 weeks after
      discharge and participated in a structured interview about the opioid
      prescription they received on discharge and their oral opioid intake while at
      home. RESULTS: A total of 720 women were enrolled; of these, 615 (85.4%) filled
      an opioid prescription. The median number of dispensed opioid tablets was 40
      (interquartile range 30-40), the median number consumed was 20 (interquartile
      range 8-30), and leftover was 15 (interquartile range 3-26). Of those with
      leftover opioids, 95.3% had not disposed of the excess medication at the time of
      the interview. There was an association between a larger number of tablets
      dispensed and the number consumed independent of patient characteristics. The
      amount of opioids dispensed did not correlate with patient satisfaction, pain
      control, or the need to refill the opioid prescription. CONCLUSION: The amount of
      opioid prescribed after cesarean delivery generally exceeds the amount consumed
      by a significant margin, leading to substantial amounts of leftover opioid
      medication. Lower opioid prescription correlates with lower consumption without a
      concomitant increase in pain scores or satisfaction.

PMID- 28594766
TI  - Postdischarge Opioid Use After Cesarean Delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize postdischarge opioid use and examine factors
      associated with variation in opioid prescribing and consumption. METHODS: We
      conducted a prospective observational cohort study by recruiting all women
      undergoing cesarean delivery during an 8-week period, excluding those with major
      postoperative morbidities or chronic opioid use. Starting on postoperative day
      14, women were queried weekly regarding number of opioid pills used, amount
      remaining, and their pain experience until they had stopped opioid medication.
      Demographic and delivery information and in-hospital opioid use were recorded.
      The state Substance Monitoring Program was accessed to ascertain prescription
      filling details. Morphine milligram equivalents were calculated to perform opioid
      use comparisons. Women in the highest quartile of opioid use (top opioid quartile
      use) were compared with those in the lowest three quartiles (average opioid use).
      RESULTS: Of 251 eligible patients, 246 (98%) agreed to participate. Complete
      follow-up data were available for 179 (71% of eligible). Most women (83%) used
      opioids after discharge for a median of 8 days (interquartile range 6-13 days).
      Of women who filled their prescriptions (165 [92%]), 75% had unused tablets
      (median per person 75 morphine milligram equivalents, interquartile range 0-187,
      maximum 630) and the majority (63%) stored tablets in an unlocked location. This
      amounts to an equivalent of 2,540 unused 5-mg oxycodone tablets over our study
      period. Women who used all prescribed opioids (n=40 [22%]) were more likely to
      report that they received too few tablets than women who used some (n=109 [61%])
      or none (n=30 [17%]) of the prescribed opioids (33% compared with 4% compared
      with 5%, P<.001). The top quartile was more likely to be smokers than average
      users and consumed more opioid morphine milligram equivalents per hour of
      inpatient stay than average opioid users (1.6, interquartile range 1.1-2.3
      compared with 1.0, interquartile range 0.5-1.4, P<.001). CONCLUSION: Most women
      especially those with normal in-hospital opioid use-are prescribed opioids in
      excess of the amount needed.

PMID- 28594767
TI  - The Case for a National Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
AB  - The United States has the highest maternal mortality ratio of any high-resource
      country; the 2014 ratio of 22 per 100,000 live births is in fact four to five
      times higher than that of the best-performing nations, and recent data suggest
      that this ratio may be increasing. The causes of this disparity are unknown and
      may be related to social, economic, cultural, or medical issues or a combination
      of factors. Repeated counts of categories of maternal death are of little
      assistance in determining the actual cause of death or in identifying preventive
      measures. Furthermore, when based on administrative data, such tallies may
      themselves be inaccurate. We propose the creation of a national maternal
      mortality review committee, modeled after those in other high-resource nations,
      to assist in addressing the problem of maternal mortality in the United States.

PMID- 28594765
TI  - Patterns of Specialty-Based Referral and Perioperative Outcomes for Women With
      Endometrial Cancer Undergoing Hysterectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine patterns of referral to gynecologic oncologists and
      perioperative outcomes based on surgeon specialty for women with endometrial
      cancer and hyperplasia. METHODS: The National Surgical Quality Improvement
      Program database was used to perform a retrospective cohort study of women with
      endometrial cancer and hyperplasia who underwent hysterectomy from 2014 to 2015.
      Patients were stratified based on treatment by a gynecologic oncologist or other
      health care provider. Patterns of referral to a gynecologic oncologist was the
      primary outcome, and mode of hysterectomy and complications were secondary
      outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 6,510 women were identified. Gynecologic
      oncologists performed 90.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 90.1-91.7) of the
      hysterectomies for endometrial cancer, 66.8% (95% CI 63.1-70.4) for complex
      atypical endometrial hyperplasia, and 49.3% (95% CI 44.7-53.8) for endometrial
      hyperplasia without atypia. Older women and those with a higher American Society
      of Anesthesiology score were more likely to be treated by an oncologist.
      Minimally invasive hysterectomy was performed in 73.6% (95% CI 72.1-75.1) of
      women with endometrial cancer operated on by gynecologic oncologists compared
      with 73.8% (95% CI 68.8-78.2) of those treated by other physicians (odds ratio
      [OR] 0.99, 95% CI 0.80-1.23); lymphadenectomy was performed in 56.3% of women
      treated by gynecologic oncologists compared with 34.8% of those treated by other
      specialists (OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.99-2.94). Severe complications were uncommon and
      there was no difference in complication rates based on specialty, 2.6% (95% CI
      2.2-3.1) compared with 2.0% (95% CI 0.8-3.3). CONCLUSION: Gynecologic oncologists
      provide care for the majority of women with endometrial cancer who undergo
      hysterectomy in the United States and are also involved in the care of a large
      percentage of women with endometrial hyperplasia.

PMID- 28594768
TI  - Detection of an Inherited Deletion in Products of Conception in a Patient With
      Recurrent Losses and Normal Karyotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microarray analysis testing on products of conception can provide
      valuable information in the evaluation of recurrent pregnancy loss beyond ploidy
      status. CASE: A maternally inherited deletion on the X chromosome was detected by
      microarray analysis performed on products of conception in a couple with
      recurrent pregnancy loss. The mother had a previously demonstrated normal
      karyotype with standard cytogenetic analysis but was subsequently determined to
      have the same X chromosome deletion by oligonucleotide single-nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) microarray analysis. CONCLUSION: Direct testing of products of
      conception using oligonucleotide SNP microarray identified a maternally inherited
      microdeletion on the X chromosome in a patient with recurrent losses and normal
      karyotype. Going forward, the couple may use preimplantation genetic diagnosis
      testing to identify embryos free of this deletion for transfer.

PMID- 28594769
TI  - Four Cases of Parkinson Disease Diagnosed During the Postpartum Period.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is little experience with the effect of pregnancy on Parkinson
      disease because the number of women with Parkinson disease who are of
      childbearing age is small. We report four cases beginning during the postpartum
      period and discuss the potential contribution of different factors that may
      influence the occurrence of Parkinson disease in this time period. CASES: Four
      women aged 29-35 years developed arm tremor, shoulder pain, dizziness, or
      decreased dexterity of the hand in the first few days or months after childbirth.
      They were initially diagnosed with postpartum depression or psychogenic
      parkinsonism. Finally, dopamine transporter imaging confirmed the diagnosis of
      young-onset Parkinson disease. CONCLUSION: Early-onset Parkinson disease may
      present in postpartum women. In women with atypical motor symptoms in addition to
      depression, this diagnosis should be considered.

PMID- 28594770
TI  - Placental Abruption With Delayed Fetal Compromise in Maternal Acetaminophen
      Toxicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After maternal acetaminophen overdose, fetal fulminant liver failure,
      stillbirth, neonatal death, or preterm delivery may occur. CASE: A 27-year-old
      woman, gravida 2 para 1, presented at 28 weeks of gestation after unintentional
      acetaminophen overdose. Four days after ingestion, her laboratory values
      worsened, including serum aspartate aminotransferase of 5,460 units/L, alanine
      aminotransferase of 4,936 units/L, and international normalized ratio of 2.9. On
      day 6 after ingestion, fetal monitoring showed minimal variability with
      repetitive variable and late decelerations, which prompted cesarean delivery when
      a hematoma was noted on the maternal placental surface, consistent with placental
      abruption. The neonate showed no evidence of hepatic dysfunction. Review of the
      literature suggests that maternal acetaminophen overdose in the second and third
      trimester is associated with a 5% incidence of fetal compromise (mostly the
      result of nonreassuring fetal status leading to delivery or stillbirth) occurring
      within 6 days of ingestion. CONCLUSION: Maternal acetaminophen overdose can be
      associated with delayed fetal compromise, suggesting the importance of continued
      fetal surveillance several days after ingestion.

PMID- 28594771
TI  - Serial Head and Brain Imaging of 17 Fetuses With Confirmed Zika Virus Infection
      in Colombia, South America.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging findings
      among a series of pregnant women with confirmed Zika virus infection to evaluate
      the signs of congenital Zika syndrome with respect to timing of infection.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case series of pregnant women referred to
      two perinatal clinics in Barranquilla and Ibague, Colombia, who had findings
      consistent with congenital Zika syndrome and Zika virus infection confirmed in
      maternal, fetal, or neonatal samples. Serial ultrasound measurements, fetal
      magnetic resonance imaging results, laboratory results, and perinatal outcomes
      were evaluated. RESULTS: We describe 17 cases of confirmed prenatal maternal Zika
      virus infection with adverse fetal outcomes. Among the 14 symptomatic women, the
      median gestational age for maternal Zika virus symptoms was 10 weeks (range 7-14
      weeks of gestation). The median time between Zika virus symptom onset and
      microcephaly (head circumference less than 3 standard deviations below the mean)
      was 18 weeks (range 15-24 weeks). The earliest fetal head circumference
      measurement consistent with microcephaly diagnosis was at 24 weeks of gestation.
      The earliest sign of congenital Zika syndrome was talipes equinovarus, which in
      two patients was noted first at 19 weeks of gestation. Common findings on fetal
      magnetic resonance imaging were microcephaly, ventriculomegaly, polymicrogyria,
      and calcifications. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggests a period of at least 15
      weeks between maternal Zika virus infection in pregnancy and development of
      microcephaly and highlights the importance of serial and detailed neuroimaging.

PMID- 28594772
TI  - Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Frequency of Blood Glucose Monitoring: A
      Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether testing blood glucose four times daily compared with
      four times every other day would lead to similar birth weights among patients
      with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: This noninferiority randomized
      controlled trial was conducted at five centers. After receiving a diagnosis of
      GDM, women tested their blood glucose every day for 7 days. After that period,
      compliant women without hyperglycemia requiring treatment were randomized to
      either blood glucose testing four times a day or every other day. Noninferiority
      would be declared if the mean birth weight in the every-other-day group was no
      higher than 165 g (5% difference assuming an average birth weight of 3,296 g)
      compared with the four times a day group. A total sample size of 286 women
      allowed noninferiority to be tested (one-sided .05 level of significance).
      RESULTS: From May 2013 to May 2016, of the 293 women with GDM who were
      randomized, 149 (51%) were tested four times a day and 144 (49%) were tested
      every other day. Between the two groups, there were no significant differences
      with regard to need for medical treatment, induction, gestational age at
      delivery, mode of delivery, rate of preeclampsia, or shoulder dystocia. Birth
      weight was similar between both groups and the upper bound of the 90% confidence
      interval (CI) was less than 165 g, establishing noninferiority with a mean
      difference of -41 g (90% CI -137 to 54 g). Rate of compliance with blood glucose
      testing was higher in the every-other-day group (89% compared with 92%, P<.01).
      The differences in rates of macrosomia and birth weight greater than the 95th
      percentile were not clinically significant. Neonatal outcomes including neonatal
      hypoglycemia were similar. CONCLUSION: Among patients with well-controlled GDM,
      testing blood glucose values every other day did not increase birth weight,
      although it did increase compliance with testing when compared with women who
      tested every day. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01818557.

PMID- 28594773
TI  - All-Cause Mortality After Fertility-Sparing Surgery for Stage I Epithelial
      Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare all-cause mortality between women who underwent fertility
      sparing surgery with those who underwent conventional surgery for stage I ovarian
      cancer. METHODS: In a cohort study using the National Cancer Database, we
      identified women younger than 40 years diagnosed with stage IA and unilateral IC
      epithelial ovarian cancer between 2004 and 2012. Fertility-sparing surgery was
      defined as conservation of one ovary and the uterus. The primary outcome was time
      from diagnosis to death. We used propensity score methods to assemble a cohort of
      women who underwent fertility-sparing or conventional surgery but were otherwise
      similar on observed covariates and conducted survival analyses using the Kaplan
      Meier method and Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: We identified 1,726
      women with stage IA and unilateral IC epithelial ovarian cancer of whom 825
      (47.8%) underwent fertility-sparing surgery. Fertility-sparing surgery was
      associated with younger age, residence in the northeastern and western United
      States, and serous or mucinous histology (P<.05 for all). Propensity score
      matching yielded a cohort of 904 women who were balanced on observed covariates.
      We observed 30 deaths among women who underwent fertility-sparing surgery and 37
      deaths among propensity-matched women who underwent conventional surgery after a
      median follow-up of 63 months. Fertility-sparing surgery was not associated with
      hazard of death (hazard ratio 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49-1.29,
      P=.36). The probability of survival 10 years after diagnosis was 88.5% (95% CI
      82.4-92.6) in the fertility-sparing group and 88.9% (95% CI 84.9-92.0) in the
      conventional surgery group. In patients with high-risk features such as clear
      cell histology, grade 3, or stage IC, 10-year survival was 80.5% (95% CI 68.5
      88.3) among women who underwent fertility-sparing surgery and 83.4% (95% 76.0
      88.7) among those who had conventional surgery (hazard ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.49
      1.53, P=.61). CONCLUSION: Compared with conventional surgery, fertility-sparing
      surgery was not associated with increased risk of death in young women with stage
      I epithelial ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28594775
TI  - Perinatal and Maternal Outcomes After Training Residents in Forceps Before Vacuum
      Instrumental Birth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the rates of attempted and successful instrumental births,
      intrapartum cesarean delivery, and subsequent perinatal and maternal morbidity
      before and after implementing a training intervention to arrest the decline in
      forceps competency among resident obstetricians. METHODS: This retrospective
      cohort study examined all attempted instrumental births at Monash Health from
      2005 to 2014. We performed an interrupted time-series analysis to compare
      outcomes of attempted instrumental births in 2005-2009 with those in 2010-2014.
      RESULTS: There were 72,490 births from 2005 to 2014 at Monash Health, of which
      8,789 (12%) were attempted instrumental vaginal births. After the intervention,
      rates of forceps births increased [autoregressive integrated moving average
      coefficient (beta) 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.96; P<.001], and
      vacuum births decreased (beta -1.43, 95% CI -2.5 to -0.37; P<.01). Rates of
      postpartum hemorrhage decreased (beta -1.3, 95% CI -2.07 to -0.49; P=.002) and
      epidural use increased (beta 0.03, 95% CI 0.02-0.05; P<.001). There was no change
      in rates of unsuccessful instrumental births (beta -0.39, 95% CI -3.03 to 2.43;
      P=.83), intrapartum cesarean delivery (beta -0.29, 95% CI -0.55 to 0.14; P=.24),
      third- and fourth-degree tears (beta -1.04, 95% CI -3.1 to 1.00; P=.32), or
      composite neonatal morbidity (beta -0.18, 95% CI -0.38 to 0.02, P=.08).
      Unsuccessful instrumental births were more likely to be in nulliparous women
      (P<.001), less likely to have a senior obstetrician present (P<.001), be at later
      gestation (P<.001), and involved larger birth weight neonates (P<.001).
      CONCLUSION: A policy of ensuring obstetric forceps competency before beginning
      vacuum training results in more forceps births, fewer postpartum hemorrhages, and
      no increase in third- and fourth-degree perineal injuries or episiotomies.

PMID- 28594774
TI  - Cervical Evaluation: From Ancient Medicine to Precision Medicine.
AB  - Since ancient times, cervical assessment for predicting timing of delivery has
      relied primarily on digital (subjective) assessment of dilatation, softening, and
      length. To date, transvaginal ultrasound cervical length is the only one of these
      parameters that meets criteria for a biomarker; no objective, quantitative
      measure of cervical dilatation or softening has gained clinical acceptance. This
      review discusses how the cervix has been assessed from ancient times to the
      present day and how a precision medicine approach could improve understanding of
      not only the cervix, but also parturition in general.

PMID- 28594776
TI  - Surgical Pain After Transobturator and Retropubic Midurethral Sling Placement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare prevalence and severity of any surgical pain between
      transobturator and retropubic slings; secondary aims were to compare pain at
      anatomic locations, pain medication use, and pain resolution between
      transobturator and retropubic slings and to compare pain between types of
      transobturator slings. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the Trial of Mid
      Urethral Slings, which compared retropubic and transobturator sling outcomes and
      included 597 participants from 2006 to 2008. Postoperative assessments included
      body maps, visual analog scales, Surgical Pain Scales, and medication inventories
      for 30 days, at 6 weeks, and 6, 12, and 24 months. Postoperative pain prevalence
      and severity were compared. Mixed models compared pain resolution and severity
      over time. Regression models compared pain prevalence and severity between types
      of transobturator slings. Eighty percent power was provided for the primary
      outcome pain prevalence and 95% power was provided for the primary outcome pain
      severity. RESULTS: Postoperative prevalence of any surgical pain, pain severity,
      and pain medication was not different between retropubic and transobturator
      slings. Retropubic sling was associated with greater prevalence of suprapubic
      pain at 2 weeks (proportion difference 10.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.6
      16.4%; P<.001). Transobturator sling was associated with greater prevalence of
      groin pain at 2 weeks (proportion difference 12.0%; 95% CI 7.1-16.8%; P<.001).
      There was no difference in pain resolution (odds ratio [OR] 1.11, 95% CI 0.88
      1.40; P=.38). Between types of transobturator slings, the odds of surgical pain
      were similar at 2 (OR 2.39, 95% CI 0.51-11.31; P=.27) and 6 weeks (OR 0.46, 95%
      CI 0.02-9.20; P=.61). CONCLUSION: Transobturator and retropubic slings are
      associated with low prevalence of any surgical pain. Transobturator sling was
      associated with greater prevalence of groin pain at 2 weeks, and retropubic sling
      was associated with greater prevalence of suprapubic pain at 2 weeks. Surgical
      pain resolved quickly in both groups.

PMID- 28594777
TI  - Medical and Surgical Innovations in Health Care.

PMID- 28594778
TI  - What Is New in Zika Virus in Pregnancy?: Best Articles From the Past Year.
AB  - This month we focus on current research in Zika virus in pregnancy. Dr. Ramsey
      discusses four recent publications that are concluded with a "bottom line" that
      is a take-home message. A complete reference for each can be found in on this
      page along with direct links to abstracts.

PMID- 28594780
TI  - Clinical Conundrums: Is One Clinician's Quandary the Next Clinical Trial?

PMID- 28594782
TI  - Connect the Dots-July 2017.

PMID- 28594781
TI  - A Comprehensive Approach to the Opioid Epidemic.

PMID- 28594779
TI  - Clinical Validation of a Test for the Diagnosis of Vaginitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vaginitis may be diagnosed as bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal
      candidiasis, trichomoniasis, or coinfection. A new molecular test assays the
      vaginal microbiome and organisms that cause three common infections. The
      objective of the trial was to evaluate the clinical accuracy of the
      investigational test for vaginal swabs collected by patients (self) or
      clinicians. The primary and secondary outcomes were to compare the
      investigational test with reference methods for the three most common causes of
      vaginitis and compare clinician-collected with self-collected swabs. METHODS: We
      conducted a cross-sectional study in which women with symptoms of vaginitis were
      recruited at ten clinical centers and consented to the investigation between May
      and September 2015. The woman collected a vaginal swab, sheathed, and then handed
      it to the clinician. These swabs were to evaluate how self-collected swabs
      compared with clinician-collected swabs. The clinician collected an
      investigational test swab and reference test swabs. From 1,740 symptomatic
      patients, clinician-collected and self-collected vaginal swabs were evaluated by
      the molecular test and six tests. The reference methods for bacterial vaginosis
      were Nugent's score and Amsel's criteria for intermediate Nugent results. The
      reference methods for Candida infection were isolation of any potential Candida
      microorganisms from inoculation of two culture media: chromogenic and Sabouraud
      agar and sequencing. The reference methods for trichomoniasis were wet mount and
      culture. RESULTS: For clinician-collected swabs, by reference methods, bacterial
      vaginosis was diagnosed in 56.5%, vaginal candidiasis in 32.8%, trichomoniasis in
      8%, and none of the three infections in 24% with a coinfection rate of 20%. The
      investigational test sensitivity was 90.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 88.3
      92.2%) and specificity was 85.8% (95% CI 83.0-88.3%) for bacterial vaginosis. The
      investigational test sensitivity was 90.9% (95% CI 88.1-93.1%) and specificity
      was 94.1% (95% CI 92.6-95.4%) for the Candida group. Sensitivity for Candida
      glabrata was 75.9% (95% CI 57.9-87.8%) and specificity was 99.7% (95% CI 99.3
      99.9%). Investigational test sensitivity was 93.1% (95% CI 87.4-96.3%) and
      specificity was 99.3% (95% CI 98.7-99.6%) for trichomoniasis. Results from self
      collected swabs were similar to clinician-collected swabs. CONCLUSION: A
      molecular-based test using vaginal swabs collected by clinicians or patients can
      accurately diagnose most common bacterial, fungal, and protozoan causes of
      vaginitis. Women and their clinicians seeking accurate diagnosis and appropriate
      selection of efficacious treatment for symptoms of vaginitis might benefit from
      this molecular test.

PMID- 28594785
TI  - Notes from the Field: Two Cases of Legionnaires' Disease in Newborns After Water
      Births - Arizona, 2016.

PMID- 28594783
TI  - Progestogens for Maintenance Tocolysis in Women With a Short Cervix: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of progestogens for maintenance tocolysis in
      women undelivered after their first preterm labor episode. METHODS: Women with
      singleton pregnancies between 22 0/7 and 31 6/7 weeks of gestation with arrested
      preterm labor and a cervical length 25 mm or less at hospital discharge were
      eligible. Patients with a previous preterm birth were excluded. In a randomized
      controlled trial conducted in five university hospitals, women were randomized to
      receive vaginal progesterone (200 mg per day) or intramuscular 17alpha
      hydroxyprogesterone caproate (341 mg per week) or to an observation groups
      (control group). The primary outcome was the proportion of women with preterm
      birth at less than 37 weeks of gestation. A sample size of 160 per group (n=480)
      was planned to compare vaginal progesterone and 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone
      caproate groups with those in the control group. The sample size estimation was
      based on the hypothesis that the risk of experiencing preterm birth in the
      control group would be 30% and that 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate or
      progesterone would decrease this risk to 15%. A P value of <.025 was defined as
      statistically significant. At planned interim analysis (n=254), the trial was
      stopped for futility. RESULTS: Between July 2010 and June 2015, 257 women were
      eligible and 254 were subsequently randomly assigned to vaginal progesterone
      (n=86), 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (n=87), or observation (n=81).
      Nineteen (8%) were excluded from the analysis because they either dropped out or
      information was missing, leaving 235 women available for analysis. Demographic
      characteristics were similar across groups. The preterm birth rate did not differ
      significantly between groups: 23% in the 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate
      group, 39% in the vaginal progesterone group, and 22% in the women in the control
      group (P=.949 for 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate compared with the women in
      the control group and P=.027 for vaginal progesterone compared with women in the
      control group). CONCLUSION: The use of progestogens for maintenance tocolysis in
      women with a short cervix did not reduce the rate of preterm birth. CLINICAL
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01178788.

PMID- 28594784
TI  - Retrospective Study to Compare Selective Decongestive Devascularization and
      Gastrosplenic Shunt versus Splenectomy with Pericardial Devascularization for the
      Treatment of Patients with Esophagogastric Varices Due to Cirrhotic Portal
      Hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND For patients with esophagogastric varices secondary to portal
      hypertension due to liver cirrhosis, portosystemic shunts and devascularization
      have become the most commonly used treatment methods. We have developed a novel
      surgical approach for the treatment of patients with cirrhotic portal
      hypertension, selective decongestive devascularization, and shunt of the
      gastrosplenic region (SDDS-GSR). This aim of this study was to compare the
      efficacy and safety of SDDS-GSR with splenectomy with pericardial
      devascularization (SPD). MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective study was
      undertaken between 2006 and 2013 and included 110 patients with cirrhotic portal
      hypertension, 34 of whom underwent SDDS-GSR; 76 patients underwent SPD. Kaplan
      Meier analysis was used to evaluate clinical outcomes, mortality, the incidence
      of re-bleeding, encephalopathy, and portal venous system thrombosis (PVST).
      RESULTS Postoperatively portal venous pressure decreased by 20% in both groups.
      The long-term incidence of re-bleeding and PVST was significantly lower in the
      SDDS-GSR group compared with the SPD group (P=0.018 and P=0.039, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS This preliminary retrospective study has shown that SDDS-GSR was an
      effective treatment for patients with esophagogastric varices secondary to portal
      hypertension that may be used as a first-line treatment to prevent variceal
      bleeding and lower the incidence of PVST.

PMID- 28594786
TI  - Hospitalizations for Endocarditis and Associated Health Care Costs Among Persons
      with Diagnosed Drug Dependence - North Carolina, 2010-2015.
AB  - Opioid dependence and overdose have increased to epidemic levels in the United
      States. The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that 4.3
      million persons were nonmedical users of prescription pain relievers (1). These
      users are 40 times more likely than the general population to use heroin or other
      injection drugs (2). Furthermore, CDC estimated a near quadrupling of heroin
      related overdose deaths during 2002-2014 (3). Although overdose contributes most
      to drug-associated mortality, infectious complications of intravenous drug use
      constitute a major cause of morbidity leading to hospitalization (4). In addition
      to infections from hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV), injecting drug users are at increased risk for acquiring invasive
      bacterial infections, including endocarditis (5,6). Evidence that
      hospitalizations for endocarditis are increasing in association with the current
      opioid epidemic exists (7-9). To examine trends in hospitalizations for
      endocarditis among persons in North Carolina with drug dependence during 2010
      2015, data from the North Carolina Hospital Discharge database were analyzed. The
      incidence of hospital discharge diagnoses for drug dependence combined with
      endocarditis increased more than twelvefold from 0.2 to 2.7 per 100,000 persons
      per year over this 6-year period. Correspondingly, hospital costs for these
      patients increased eighteenfold, from $1.1 million in 2010 to $22.2 million in
      2015. To reduce the risk for morbidity and mortality related to opioid-associated
      endocarditis, public health programs and health care systems should consider
      collaborating to implement syringe service programs, harm reduction strategies,
      and opioid treatment programs.

PMID- 28594787
TI  - Measures Taken to Prevent Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy - Puerto Rico,
      2016.
AB  - Zika virus infection during pregnancy remains a serious health threat in Puerto
      Rico. Infection during pregnancy can cause microcephaly, brain abnormalities, and
      other severe birth defects (1). From January 1, 2016 through March 29, 2017,
      Puerto Rico reported approximately 3,300 pregnant women with laboratory evidence
      of possible Zika virus infection (2). There is currently no vaccine or
      intervention to prevent the adverse effects of Zika virus infection during
      pregnancy; therefore, prevention has been the focus of public health activities,
      especially for pregnant women (3). CDC and the Puerto Rico Department of Health
      analyzed data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Zika
      Postpartum Emergency Response (PRAMS-ZPER) survey conducted from August through
      December 2016 among Puerto Rico residents with a live birth. Most women (98.1%)
      reported using at least one measure to avoid mosquitos in their home environment.
      However, only 45.8% of women reported wearing mosquito repellent daily, and 11.5%
      reported wearing pants and shirts with long sleeves daily. Approximately one
      third (38.5%) reported abstaining from sex or using condoms consistently
      throughout pregnancy. Overall, 76.9% of women reported having been tested for
      Zika virus by their health care provider during the first or second trimester of
      pregnancy. These results can be used to assess and refine Zika virus infection
      prevention messaging and interventions for pregnant women and to reinforce
      measures to promote prenatal testing for Zika.

PMID- 28594789
TI  - QuickStats: Average Number of Deaths from Motor Vehicle Injuries, Suicide, and
      Homicide,* by Day of the Week - National Vital Statistics System, United States,
      2015.
AB  - In 2015, an average of 103 motor vehicle injury deaths, 121 suicides, and 49
      homicides occurred each day. Motor vehicle injury deaths were more likely to
      occur on Saturdays and Sundays and least likely to occur on Tuesdays. The highest
      number of suicides occurred on Mondays and Tuesdays and the lowest on Saturdays.
      Homicides peaked on Sundays, followed by Saturdays; homicides were less likely to
      occur on weekdays.

PMID- 28594788
TI  - Vital Signs: Health Care-Associated Legionnaires' Disease Surveillance Data from
      20 States and a Large Metropolitan Area - United States, 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia, is typically acquired
      through inhalation of aerosolized water containing Legionella bacteria.
      Legionella can grow in the complex water systems of buildings, including health
      care facilities. Effective water management programs could prevent the growth of
      Legionella in building water systems. METHODS: Using national surveillance data,
      Legionnaires' disease cases were characterized from the 21 jurisdictions (20 U.S.
      states and one large metropolitan area) that reported exposure information for
      >=90% of 2015 Legionella infections. An assessment of whether cases were health
      care-associated was completed; definite health care association was defined as
      hospitalization or long-term care facility residence for the entire 10 days
      preceding symptom onset, and possible association was defined as any exposure to
      a health care facility for a portion of the 10 days preceding symptom onset. All
      other Legionnaires' disease cases were considered unrelated to health care.
      RESULTS: A total of 2,809 confirmed Legionnaires' disease cases were reported
      from the 21 jurisdictions, including 85 (3%) definite and 468 (17%) possible
      health care-associated cases. Among the 21 jurisdictions, 16 (76%) reported 1-21
      definite health care-associated cases per jurisdiction. Among definite health
      care-associated cases, the majority (75, 88%) occurred in persons aged >=60
      years, and exposures occurred at 72 facilities (15 hospitals and 57 long-term
      care facilities). The case fatality rate was 25% for definite and 10% for
      possible health care-associated Legionnaires' disease. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE: Exposure to Legionella from health care
      facility water systems can result in Legionnaires' disease. The high case
      fatality rate of health care-associated Legionnaires' disease highlights the
      importance of case prevention and response activities, including implementation
      of effective water management programs and timely case identification.

PMID- 28594790
TI  - Japanese Encephalitis Surveillance and Immunization - Asia and Western Pacific
      Regions, 2016.
AB  - Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus is the most important vaccine-preventable cause
      of encephalitis in the Asia-Pacific region. The World Health Organization (WHO)
      recommends integration of JE vaccination into national immunization schedules in
      all areas where the disease is a public health priority (1). This report updates
      a previous summary of JE surveillance and immunization programs in Asia and the
      Western Pacific in 2012 (2). Since 2012, funding for JE immunization has become
      available through the GAVI Alliance, three JE vaccines have been WHO
      prequalified,* and an updated WHO JE vaccine position paper providing guidance on
      JE vaccines and vaccination strategies has been published (1). Data for this
      report were obtained from a survey of JE surveillance and immunization practices
      administered to health officials in countries with JE virus transmission risk,
      the 2015 WHO/United Nations Children's Fund Joint Reporting Form on Immunization,
      notes and reports from JE meetings held during 2014-2016, published literature,
      and websites. In 2016, 22 (92%) of 24 countries with JE virus transmission risk
      conducted JE surveillance, an increase from 18 (75%) countries in 2012, and 12
      (50%) countries had a JE immunization program, compared with 11 (46%) countries
      in 2012. Strengthened JE surveillance, continued commitment, and adequate
      resources for JE vaccination should help maintain progress toward prevention and
      control of JE.

PMID- 28594791
TI  - [Prospects of clinical application of pharmacological imitation of the phenomenon
      of ischaemic postconditioning of the heart].
AB  - Pharmacological imitation of the phenomenon of ischaemic postconditioning of the
      heart appears to exert a cardioprotective effect in the reperfusion period. It
      was determined that the protective effect may be carried out resulting from
      activation of the adenosine, opioid and bradykinin receptors. However, there is
      yet no common point of view concerning the question as to the activation of what
      subtypes of the receptors the cardioprotective effect of adenosine, opioids and
      bradykinin is associated with. The clinical findings strongly suggest that
      further studies are required, since the data obtained in the hitherto carried out
      trials are ambiguous, scarce, and sometimes yield contradicting results. Several
      clinical trials of adenosine have been conducted and in the majority of cases
      positive results were obtained. Adenosine administered in a dropwise manner was
      found to exert a cardioprotective effect. However, not all researchers succeeded
      in demonstrating this protective effect. Only one clinical trial was carried out
      with the opioid receptor agonist - morphine, yielding positive results, with
      morphine exerting a cardioprotective effect. Feasibility of the clinical
      application of bradykinin as a cardioprotector is not of current relevance
      because of its numerous side effects.

PMID- 28594793
TI  - [Efficacy of walking training in patients with obliterating atherosclerosis of
      lower limb arteries].
AB  - The authors assessed efficacy of treating patients with atherosclerosis
      obliterans of lower-limb arteries using the method of walking training. Our
      prospective study included a total of 84 patients suffering from intermittent
      claudication. They were divided in two groups. The Study Group (Group I)
      comprised 64 patients undergoing comprehensive treatment including walking
      training (WT) and the Control Group (Group II) consisted of 20 patients treated
      without a physical training programme. The patients were followed up monthly
      during three months, with registration of the pain-free walking distance (PFWD),
      maximum walking distance (MWD), and the ankle-brachial index (ABI). There were no
      baseline statistically significant differences between Group I and Group II
      patients in the parameters examined. The Study Group patients were found to have
      a considerable increase in the PFWD and MWD values, with the statistical
      significance of differences from the Control Group patients observed as early as
      at one month of treatment. The baseline PFWD value in the Study Group amounted to
      132.4+/-14.7 m, being at 3 months 259.7+/-29.6 m (p<0.05); the MWD value in the
      Study Group initially equalled 170.2+/-12.3 m, amounting at 3 months to 364.6+/
      39.2 m (p<0.05). The Study Group patients by the end of follow up were also found
      to have an increase in the ankle-brachial index by nearly 25% from the baseline
      level. The carried out treatment resulted in an increase in the number of
      patients with less severe stages of arterial insufficiency: initially stage IIa
      was diagnosed in 18 (28.2%) patients and at 3 months in 47 (73.4%) patients, with
      stage IIb being diagnosed in 46 (71.8 %) and 17 (26.6%) subjects, respectively. A
      conclusion was drawn that training walking considerably improved clinical
      manifestations of the disease. Taking into consideration availability of this
      therapeutic method, it should be recommended for patients suffering from
      intermittent claudication in long-term courses and in all cases where there are
      no contraindications thereto.

PMID- 28594792
TI  - [Assessment of functional state of microcirculatory bed of the foot in patients
      with lower limb critical ischaemia].
AB  - The authors assessed perfusion of the foot in patients presenting with lower limb
      critical ischaemia before and after endovascular revascularization, as well as
      analysed the interrelationship between the change of perfusion and the clinical
      result of treatment. The study includes a total of 15 patients presenting with
      ulcerative-necrotic defects of the foot. All patients underwent study of 2D
      perfusion of the foot before and after the endovascular intervention. The '2D
      perfusion' package was used within the framework of an angiographic examination,
      and required neither increase in the volume of the contrast medium nor radiation
      load. Four parameters of perfusion were evaluated: the time of ingress, the time
      of reaching the peak value, the peak value and the area under the curve. After
      the intervention, as compared with the baseline values there were statistically
      significant differences by the time of ingress (a 2.4-fold decrease; p<0.0001),
      the peak value (a 1.8-fold increase; p<0.0001) and the area under the curve (a
      2.4-fold increase; p<0.0001). No statistically significant differences were
      revealed while comparing the time of reaching the peak value before and after the
      intervention (p=0.767). Trophic defects healed in 11 (73.3%) patients, and in 4
      (26.7%) patients the process of healing continued with positive dynamics at the
      check-up examination. Hence, our first experience of using the assessment of 2D
      perfusion demonstrates simplicity of the method with no increase of the radiation
      load and the dose of the contrast medium. The method makes it possible to obtain
      important data about the state of microcirculation of the foot in patients with
      lower limb critical ischaemia, to evaluate alterations after the endovascular
      intervention. Improvement of the parameters of perfusion is associated with a
      good clinical outcome.

PMID- 28594794
TI  - [Use of a thrombin inhibitor for treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary
      thromboembolism in patients with thrombophilia].
AB  - Presented herein are the results of oral administration of dabigatran etexilate
      for treatment and secondary prevention of lower-limb deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
      and pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in patients with established thrombophilia,
      studying its efficacy and safety in prolonged administration during a year as
      compared with warfarin. The study group included a total of fifty-seven 18-to-79
      year-old patients (33 men and 24 women) with DVT and PTE, taking dabigatran
      etexilate. The comparison group was composed of a total of 126 patients (65 men
      and 61 women) with DVT and PTE, taking warfarin. Efficacy of the drugs was
      analysed in relation to the development of relapses thromboembolic complications,
      with the drugs' safety profile being evaluated in relation to the development of
      major and clinically significant haemorrhage. It was determined that prolonged
      administration of dabigatran etexilate taken at a fixed dose (150 mg twice daily)
      for 6-12 months in patients with DVT and PTE and with confirmed thrombophilia
      turned out to be effective for secondary prevention of relapsing venous
      thromboembolic complications and lethal outcomes, indirectly contributing to
      recanalization of the lower-limb venous bed, with the drug possessing a
      favourable profile of safety concerning the development of haemorrhagic
      complications as compared with warfarin and requiring no routine laboratory
      monitoring.

PMID- 28594795
TI  - [Assessing efficacy of carotid endarterectomy by means of intraoperative
      flowmetry].
AB  - AIM: The study was aimed at determining volumetric blood flow velocity (VBFV)
      through the internal carotid artery (ICA) and assessing functional outcomes of
      treatment of patients, taking into consideration the dynamics of VBFV before and
      after the operation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study comprised a total of 53
      patients subjected to examination of VBFV through the ICA before and after
      carotid endarterectomy (CEA) assessed by means of flowmetry. Neurological deficit
      was evaluated by means of the NIHS Scale (the M NIHSS prior to operation
      equalling 2.49), the degree of disability and functional independence of the
      patient after endured stroke was assessed by the modified Rankin Scale (the M mRS
      before operation amounting to 1.23) and the Rivermead Mobility Index, the
      severity of cognitive dysfunctions was determined by the Mini-Mental State
      Examination (the M MMSE before surgery equalling 24.85) and the Montreal
      Cognitive Assessment scale (the M MoCA before surgery scoring 23.3). RESULTS: At
      the first stage of examination we determined that the VBFV after the operation
      increased in all patients, but the highest values of the increment were observed
      in groups of patients with ICA stenoses of 80-89% and 90-99%. During the second
      stage, it was determined that with a higher value of the VBFV after carotid
      endarterectomy regression of neurological deficit occurred faster (the
      postoperative M NIHSS scoring 2.09, with the M mRS of 1.00), the patients
      demonstrated higher results while undergoing the tests for intellectual ability
      (the postoperative MMSE and MoCA equalling 25.4 and 23.91, respectively) compared
      with the patients showing low values of the increment of the VBFV after the
      operation. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative flowmetry is a simple and efficient method
      of evaluating the VBFV through the ICA, an increase in volumetric blood flow
      (VBF) contributes to restoration of normal perfusion of the brain and creates
      prerequisites for more complete and faster restoration of the lost functions
      after ischaemic stroke (IS) and chronic cerebral ischaemia.

PMID- 28594796
TI  - Hybrid surgery in chronic thoracoabdominal aortic dissection.
AB  - The authors describe and analyse their experience gained in performing prosthetic
      repair of the thoracoabdominal portion of the aorta, combined with open aortic
      stenting using the Djumbodis uncovered metal stent. Over the period from 2013 to
      2015 we performed a total of 16 hybrid interventions. All patients were found to
      have type B aortic dissection, with their false and true lumens patent. All
      patients underwent reconstruction of the thoracoabdominal aorta combined with
      open implantation of the Djumbodis uncovered metal stent into the area of lower
      thoracic and visceral arteries. The patients underwent either isolated prosthetic
      repair of the thoracic aortic portion - type A correction, or prosthetic repair
      of the thoracic and infrarenal portions - type B correction. In the postoperative
      period we performed MSCT angiography of the thoracic and abdominal aortic
      portions in order to control patency of the true and false lumens, patency of
      visceral arteries, to assess the diameter of the aorta, presence or absence of
      thrombosis. All five patients subjected to type B correction (100% of the total
      number of this type operation) were found to develop thrombosis of the false
      lumen, and eight patients undergoing type A correction (72.7% of the total number
      of operations of this type) were diagnosed with false channel thrombosis. There
      was 1 (6.3%) lethal case registered at the hospital stage in the group of
      patients with type A correction. There were no cases of neurological deficit,
      malperfusion of visceral organs or lower-limb ischaemia. Our experience shows
      that using hybrid technologies in surgery of the thoracoabdominal portion of the
      aorta is (appears to be) optimal from the point of view of decreasing
      intraoperative trauma, reducing the complications rate and without detriment to
      the radicality.

PMID- 28594797
TI  - [Single-centre experience with implantation of the 'E-vita open plus' hybrid
      stent graft].
AB  - Hybrid technologies appear to have been gaining ground in surgery of the thoracic
      aorta. The present study was aimed at assessing the immediate clinical outcomes
      of surgical treatment of diseases of the thoracic aorta by means of the 'E-vita
      open plus' hybrid stent graft. The 'E-vita open plus' hybrid stent graft was
      implanted to 18 patients. All operations were carried out in the conditions of
      moderate hypothermia. The brain was protected by unilateral cerebral perfusion
      through the brachiocephalic trunk. The duration of artificial circulation
      averagely amounted to 265.1 [214; 281] min., with the mean aortic cross-clamping
      time equalling 150.8 [121; 177] min., and circulatory arrest lasting 55 [47.5;
      62.5] min. In one (5.5%) case resternotomy was performed for haemorrhage. Five
      (27.8%) patients required haemodialysis to perform for postoperative renal
      insufficiency. A further five (27.8%) patients were found to have transient
      impairment of cerebral circulation. One (5.5%) patient was diagnosed as having
      haemorrhage into the area of the 'old ischaemic focus', one (5.5%) patient
      developed transient spinal ischaemia spontaneously disappearing within the first
      24 hours. There were no cases of cardiac complications. A conclusion was drawn
      that hybrid operations according to the 'frozen elephant trunk' technique yield
      satisfactory immediate clinical results of treatment in patients with thoracic
      aortic aneurysms and dissection.

PMID- 28594798
TI  - [Anatomical aspects of formation of corona phlebectatica].
AB  - The data concerning the anatomy of perforant veins of the foot can by no means be
      referred to as insufficiently known. At the same time, these descriptions are
      encountered rather rarely in the educational-and-methodical literature. To a
      certain degree, this may be explained by low pathogenetic significance of
      perforant veins of the foot; however, these data are required for the surgeon in
      carrying out both standard phlebectomy and sclerotherapy of subcutaneous varicose
      veins, especially if the zone of surgical intervention is situated immediately on
      the foot. Also, these data may be important for explaining clinical
      manifestations of chronic venous insufficiency. The present study was aimed at
      specifying the anatomical ground of formation of the corona phlebecatica and
      topography of perforant veins of the foot. The material for the study consisted
      of 15 lower extremities (cadaveric material) with no evidence of chronic venous
      diseases. The method of the study - anatomical dissection. From 4 to 6 perforant
      veins were found on the medial surface of the foot. They directly connected the
      medial marginal vein and vv. plantaris medialis. From 2 to 3 perforant veins were
      found on the lateral surface of the foot. They connected directly the lateral
      marginal vein and vv. plantaris lateralis. Topographically perforant veins pass
      behind the muscles of the lateral group of the foot, along the lateral
      intermuscular septum. Perforant veins of each group were found to have lateral
      affluents part of which independently drained the integumentary tissues of the
      lateral surfaces of the foot, and part formed anastomoses with the superficial
      venous plantar net. This makes it possible to characterize perforant veins not
      only as anastomoses connecting subcutaneous rear venous net with deep veins of
      the foot and with the superficial plantar net, but also as independently draining
      vessels. Besides, in the majority of cases, nearby a perforant vein we managed to
      isolate an artery and a nerve branchlet, originating from a. plantaris and n.
      plantaris. Hence, perforant veins of the medial and lateral surfaces of the foot
      constitute the anatomical ground for formation of the corona phlebectatica and
      are component parts of the neurovascular bundle (vein-artery-nerve).

PMID- 28594799
TI  - [Pleiotropic effects of phlebotropic drugs: from pharmacological advantages to
      adverse drug interaction].
AB  - A distinctive property of phlebotropic drugs consists in their intrinsic
      capability of exerting pronounced pleiotropic (multiple) effects. The authors
      discuss the fundamental mechanisms of pleiotropy, advantages and disadvantages of
      various types of targeted therapy (mono- and polytargeted therapy) in treatment
      of chronic venous diseases. Special attention is paid to analysing the nature of
      adverse drug interactions, methods of reducing the risk of their development. An
      electronic service known as the Drug Interactions Checker is proposed as a tool
      for assessing drug interactions in everyday practice of the
      angiologist/phlebologist.

PMID- 28594800
TI  - [Results of administering oral anticoagulants for treatment of patients with
      venous thromboembolic complications].
AB  - The objective of the study was to compare safety and efficacy of rivaroxaban and
      dabigatran with warfarin in treatment of patients with acute venous
      thromboembolic complications (VTEC). The authors analysed the results of
      examining and treating a total of 95 patients presenting with VTEC and randomly
      divided into three groups. In all groups the initial anticoagulant therapy
      consisted in unfractionated heparin administered for 5 days, after which the
      patients followed by switching were switched to a 6-month course of treatment
      with oral anticoagulants. Patients from Group One received warfarin, Group Two
      patients were treated with dabigatran etexilate, and Group Three patients were
      treated with rivaroxaban. Relapses of the disease were diagnosed in 2 (5.7%)
      patients from Group One. Haemorrhagic complications were noted in 8 (22.9%) Group
      One patients, in 3 (10%) Group Two patients and in 2 (6.7%) Group Three patients.
      After the end of treatment, complete recanalization of the thrombosed veins was
      revealed 13 (37.1%) patients from Group One, in 15 (50%) patients from Group Two
      and in 14 (46.7%) patients from Group Three. One year after the end of treatment,
      freedom from chronic venous insufficiency was observed in 8 (23.3%) patients of
      Group One, in 12 (40%) patients of Group Two and in 11 (36.6%) patients of Group
      Three. The composite quality of life indices after the treatment course were
      (appeared to be) higher in Group Two and Three patients compared with those of
      Group One. Hence, a conclusion was drawn that dabigatran and rivaroxaban turned
      out to be superior by efficacy and safety to warfarin in treatment of this
      patient cohort. No statistically significant differences were observed while
      comparing dabigatran and rivaroxaban.

PMID- 28594801
TI  - [Correction of blood microcirculation parameters and endothelial function in
      chronic venous insufficiency of lower limbs].
AB  - The authors assessed efficacy of the phlebotonic agent Venarus in treatment of
      patients presenting with chronic venous insufficiency of the lower extremities.
      The study included a total of 34 patients with various degree of chronic venous
      insufficiency according to the CEAP classification. Before the beginning of the
      study and on the background of treatment with Venarus we assessed the parameters
      of blood microcirculation by means of digital capillaroscopy of the nail bed of
      the fingers and toes, as well as determined the indices of arterial stiffness and
      endothelial function. All patients on the background of treatment demonstrated a
      decrease in the degree of symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency. A group of
      patients was revealed in whom treatment with Venarus turned out to be most
      effective: patients with initial perivascular oedema (an increase in the linear
      size of the perivascular zones) and a decrease in the mean velocity of capillary
      blood flow. On the background of treatment with Venarus they were found to have a
      decrease in perivascular oedema, an increase in the mean velocity of capillary
      blood flow, and improvement of endothelial function.

PMID- 28594802
TI  - [Remote results of carotid endarterectomy in patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus].
AB  - The authors comparatively analysed the remote results of carotid endarterectomy
      and risk factors for unfavourable outcomes in patients with and without type 2
      diabetes mellitus (DM). The outcomes of carotid endarterectomy were studied in a
      total of 168 patients, with the follow-up terms up to 8 years. Depending on the
      presence or absence of DM, the patients were divided into two groups. Group One
      comprised 79 patients with an atherosclerotic lesion of the internal carotid
      artery and accompanying DM, with Group Two consisting of 89 non-diabetic
      patients. There were no lethal outcomes in the early postoperative period. The
      composite measure 'lethality + stroke' in Group One amounted to 2.5% and in Group
      Two to 2.2%. In the remote period the survival rate was as follows: 65 (82.3%)
      people for Group One and 83 (93.3%) for Group Two, with the 5-year cumulative
      survival rate amounting to 75.1+/-6.4% and 92.5+/-3.0%, respectively. The index
      of freedom from acute vascular complications (myocardial infarction, ischaemic
      stroke) at 5 years in Group One was 54.2+/-7.2% and in Group Two 86.1+/-4.3%.
      Acute vascular complications were causes of lethal outcomes in 13 cases in the
      group with DM and in 3 cases in the group without DM. Death was most often caused
      by acute coronary complications. The index of freedom from restenosis at 5 years
      in Group One amounted to 74.5+/-8.0% and at 7 years of follow-up in Group Two to
      92.3+/-7.3%. The risk factors for the development of acute vascular complications
      in diabetic patients according to the findings of the Cox regression analysis
      were as follows: age above 65 years, DM duration of more than 5 years; the level
      of glycated haemoglobin above 7.5%; a history of myocardial infarction; presence
      of degree III arterial hypertension. The risk factors for restenosis included: DM
      duration of more than 5 years, the level of glycated haemoglobin above 7.5% and
      presence of degree III arterial hypertension. The results of the study make it
      possible to regard carotid endarterectomy efficient and safe for both cohorts of
      patients (with and without DM). In the remote postoperative period, such
      parameters as survival rate, indices of freedom from acute vascular complications
      and restenosis turned out to be statistically significantly lower in diabetic
      patients than in non-diabetic, with the predominating coronary complications
      induced by insufficient assessment of the coronary reserve and the presence of
      occult forms of ischaemic heart disease. Long-term results may be improved by
      means of widening the indications for performing coronarography in patients with
      DM.

PMID- 28594803
TI  - Treatment of vertebrobasilar insufficiency due to stenosis and aneurysm of the
      vertebral artery.
AB  - A dissecting aneurysm of the vertebral artery in the extracranial portion is a
      rare pathology. It may either have a symptom-free course or induce a clinical
      picture of vertebrobasilar insufficiency. To the main methods of surgical
      treatment belong endovascular techniques and resection of an aneurysm with
      shunting of the V3 segment of the vertebral artery. Presented in the article is a
      clinical case report regarding successful surgical management of a dissecting
      aneurysm of the extracranial portion in a young woman presenting with a clinical
      course of vertebrobasilar insufficiency and treated by means of ligation of the
      vertebral artery in the V1 segment and autovenous shunting from the external
      carotid artery to the V3 segment of the vertebral artery.

PMID- 28594804
TI  - [Use of an ex vivo technique in a patient with renal arteriovenous malformation
      in complication endovascular treatment].
AB  - Renal arteriovenous malformation is a rarely encountered disease characterized by
      the presence of a direct arteriovenous shunt between the renal artery and vein.
      This nosology was first described by Varela in 1928, and by 1997 the number of
      such cases amounted to slightly more than 200. Endovascular closure of a fistula
      seems to be an attractive method of treatment in view of low traumaticity and a
      short period of rehabilitation. However, as shown by our case report, this type
      of intervention in large-diameter fistulas may be associated with the development
      of life-threatening complications. In case of rupture of the renal capsule and/or
      arteriovenous aneurysm, radical nephrectomy, unfortunately, remains to be a
      method of choice. Described below is a case concerning treatment of a female
      patient presenting with bilateral arteriovenous malformations and the world's
      first emergency operation for a ruptured intraparenchymatous arteriovenous
      aneurysm using an extracorporeal technique.

PMID- 28594805
TI  - [Survival of patients with primary and secondary amputations for critical lower
      limb ischaemia].
AB  - The authors analysed therapeutic outcomes in a total of 171 patients presenting
      with critical lower limb ischaemia and subjected to amputation at various levels.
      In so doing, eighty-eight (Group One) patients sustained primary amputation and
      the remaining eighty-three (Group Two) patients endured secondary amputation
      after an initially undertaken attempt at revascularization. It was determined
      that performing primary amputation statistically significantly shortened the
      lifespan in the postoperative period as compared with secondary amputation
      performed. There was no clear-cut interrelationship between the presence of
      accompanying pathology and the lifespan in the post-amputation period. 18 months
      after discharge from hospital the mortality rate in Group One patients amounted
      to 52% and in Group Two patients to 29% (p<0.05).

PMID- 28594806
TI  - [A new method of endoscopic harvesting of the great saphenous vein in an open
      system].
AB  - We examined a total of 246 patients subjected to coronary artery bypass grafting
      with the use of the great saphenous vein (GSV). The patients were subdivided into
      two groups. Group One (n=121) patients endured procurement of the great saphenous
      vein by a new endoscopic technique in an open system with the help of the
      equipment Karl Storz and electric dissector Ligasure. In Group Two (n=125)
      patients the vein was harvested by means of the traditional open method. In all
      patients we evaluated complications in the early postoperative period 13+/-2.5
      days after the operation. The rate of relapsing angina pectoris in both Groups
      turned out to be low and did not differ (1.65% in Group One and 1.6% in Group
      Two). Patients of the both groups differed significantly by the incidence of
      postoperative complications on the lower limbs in the zone of procurement of the
      GSV (9.09% in Group One and 26.4% in Group Two, p=0.131). Group Two patients
      (open method of procurement of the GSV) were considerably more often found to
      have developed cases of lymphorrhoea, haematomas, disjunction of the sutures
      (21.6%) compared with Group One (endoscopic method) patients (3.3%) (p=0.167),
      which in 10.4% of cases required secondary surgical debridement of wounds in
      patients after the open harvest of the GSV. Eventually, the length of hospital
      stay for Group Two patients increased significantly (15 +/- 4.5 days) compared
      with Group One patients (8+/-1.1 days) (p=0.361). Hence, the endoscopic method of
      harvesting the GSV in the open CO2 system makes it possible to obtain a good
      cosmetic effect on the lower limbs after the operation, to considerably decrease
      the complications rate, thus reducing the length of hospital stay.

PMID- 28594807
TI  - [Development of surgery of combined gun-shot osteo-vascular injuries of
      extremities (middle XIX century - middle XX century)].
AB  - The presented review by the example of a long historical period traces the
      development of surgery of combined gun-shot osteo-vascular injuries of
      extremities, also describing both objective and subjective causes of
      unsatisfactory outcomes of treatment and presenting ways of solving the problem
      of treatment of these injuries during the period after World War II.

PMID- 28594808
TI  - [Risk factors for progression of atherosclerosis of the shunted coronary artery
      in the remote postoperative period].
AB  - The study was aimed at revealing risk factors for progression of atherosclerosis
      in the shunted coronary artery in the remote period following coronary artery
      bypass grafting. Our prospective study included a total of 292 patients having
      endured coronary artery bypass grafting. All patients were divided in two groups
      depending on the type of the bypass grafts used: either autoarterial shunts
      (Group 1) or autovenous grafts (Group 2). We thus assessed a total of 516
      autoarterial grafts and 257 autovenous grafts, as well as the coronary arteries
      shunted thereby. The long-term results were evaluated by means of
      coronaroshuntography performed not earlier than 12 months after surgery. The
      average duration of follow up amounted to 53.4+/-26.5 months. Analysing the
      cumulative risk for progression of atherosclerosis in the arteries shunted
      demonstrated that for autoarterial grafts the rate of the development of proximal
      stenosis of the coronary artery (CA) shunted was lower compared with autovenous
      grafts (p<=0.001). The Cox regression model showed that an autovein used as a
      graft increased the risk for the development of occlusion of the shunted CA by
      43% from the baseline each postoperative month. The presence of proximal stenosis
      of the shunted coronary artery amounting to or exceeding 90% increases the risk
      of occlusion by 68% per month. Also, for the patients with the SYNTAX scoring >=
      32 points the risk of coronary artery occlusion increases 2.2-fold each month
      after the operation. Such factors as the patient's gender, the diameter of the
      shunted artery, diabetes mellitus, tobacco smoking, multifocal atherosclerosis by
      the findings of the study exerted no influence on the progression of proximal
      stenosis of the shunted coronary artery.

PMID- 28594809
TI  - [Prevention of cerebrovascular complications in coronary artery bypass grafting].
AB  - The authors carried out a comparative analysis of the incidence rate of
      cerebrovascular complications following coronary artery bypass grafting performed
      using either a differentiated approach to surgical policy depending on the
      findings of epiaortic ultrasonographic scanning or the standard conventional
      approach. A total of 3,454 operations of coronary artery bypass grafting were
      performed. All patients were divided into two groups. Patients of the Study Group
      (n=765) were subjected to obligatory intraoperative epiaortic scanning, with the
      variant of further surgical intervention depending on the obtained findings of
      the examination. The Control Group patients (n=2,689) underwent standard coronary
      artery bypass grafting in the conditions of artificial circulation (AC). In the
      Study Group patients, depending on the degree and localization of the
      atherosclerotic lesion of the aorta, determined by the findings of epiaortic
      scanning, one of the following techniques of coronary artery bypass grafting
      (CABG) was chosen: cases with no lesion were managed by CABG with AC (585
      patients); a local solitary lesion was managed by altering the site of
      cannulation and application of the clamp (92 patients) or by the operation
      according to the 'single clamp' technique (43 patients); cases of manifested
      atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta were treated by the 'on-pump beating
      heart' technique in the conditions of AC without placing clamps (27 patients);
      cases of massive involvement of the ascending aorta and aortic arch were managed
      by CABG performed according to the 'no-touch aorta' technique (18 patients). The
      total mortality rate amounted to 1.1%. Thirty-three (0.96%) patients in the
      postoperative period were found to have ischaemic stroke. The mortality rate in
      the Control Group amounted to 1.4% and that in the Study Group equalled 0.3%,
      with the number of cases of ischaemic strokes amounting to 33 (1.4%) and 0,
      respectively. Perioperative infarction was diagnosed in 16 (0.6%) cases in the
      Control Group and in 5 (0.7%) patients in the group treated using the
      differentiated approach. A conclusion was drawn that the differentiated approach
      to choosing the technique of CABG based on the findings obtained by means of
      epiaortic scanning was associated with a statistically significant decrease in
      both the number of ischaemic strokes and the mortality rate after CABG
      operations.

PMID- 28594810
TI  - Kidney injury secondary to endovascular treatment of renal artery stenosis.
AB  - In this paper, we present a case of kidney injury as a complication of renal
      artery angioplasty in a 54-year-old female patient that suffered from resistant
      renovascular hypertension. This case emphasises the unpredictable nature of
      endovascular procedures, the need for careful post-procedure evaluation and the
      role of 'old fashioned' surgical techniques in resolving complications of
      endovascular procedures.

PMID- 28594811
TI  - [Successful two-stage surgical treatment of a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm: a
      case report].
AB  - Presented herein is a clinical case report regarding hybrid or two-stage surgical
      treatment of a Crawford type II thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm in an 87-year
      old woman. For the first stage operation we performed open resection of the
      abdominal aortic aneurysm with aortofemoral bifurcation prosthetic repair and
      debranching of visceral and renal arteries. Several months thereafter, the second
      stage operation was performed, consisting in transcatheter exclusion of the
      thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm with the help of two stent grafts. The
      postoperative period turned out uneventful, with no complications. The check-up
      contrast-enhanced multislice computed tomography (MSCT) carried out 8 months
      later showed neither endoleaks nor migration of the stent grafts, with the bypass
      shunts' patency preserved.

PMID- 28594812
TI  - [Staged implantation of an abdominal stent graft].
AB  - The article deals with a case report regarding successful surgical management of
      a patient presenting with an anatomically complicated aneurysm of the aortic
      infrarenal portion and iliac arteries. The first stage consisted in performing
      implantation of the Ovation Prime stent graft into the abdominal aorta. One month
      later, the second stage carried out for residual type IB endoleak consisted in
      implantation of the iliac components of the stent graft into the external iliac
      arteries on the right and the left. The postoperative period turned out
      uneventful. The findings of the check ultrasonographic examination showed no
      evidence of endoleak, with the stent graft's patency preserved. The patient was
      discharged in a satisfactory condition. The check multispiral computed tomography
      performed 30 days after the operation also demonstrated complete isolation of the
      aneurysm of the aorta and iliac arteries from blood flow, with the graft's being
      patent. The presented herein clinical case report is of sporadic occurrence and
      is of practical importance for extending the indications for aortic
      endoprosthetic repair.

PMID- 28594814
TI  - [Deliberations on lumbar sympathectomy: years and practice on the occasion of the
      90th anniversary of using the method in Russia].
AB  - The article deals with the literature data on history of and modern attitude to
      lumbar sympathectomy in treatment for occlusive lesions of lower-limb peripheral
      arteries. This is followed by analysing the experience of 1,764 operations both
      independent and those combined with vascular reconstructions over more than a 45
      year period. A conclusion is drawn that lumbar sympathectomy remains an operation
      associated with minimal traumaticity and a low complication rate, thus for long
      years improving the quality of life and destiny of patients.

PMID- 28594813
TI  - [Open thrombectomy in acute iliofemoral venous thrombosis].
AB  - AIM: The study was aimed at assessing efficacy of open thrombectomy in acute
      iliofemoral venous thrombosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 2012 to
      December 2016, a total of 37 patients underwent transfemoral thrombectomy for
      acute iliofemoral venous thrombosis. The Control Group consisted of 24 patients
      receiving standard anticoagulant therapy. Six patients were subjected to a hybrid
      operation consisting in thrombectomy supplemented with stenting of the residual
      compression stenosis of the left common iliac vein (CIV). The outcomes of the
      operations were controlled by means of duplex scanning. Clinical efficacy of the
      operations was evaluated with the help of the Venous Clinical Severity Score
      (VCSS) and CEAP classification. RESULTS: Patency of the iliofemoral segment at 6
      months of follow up after thrombectomy was observed in 92% of patients. At the
      same time, in patients receiving anticoagulant therapy recanalization of the
      iliofemoral segment was observed in only 21% (5/24; chi2=31, p<0.01) of cases.
      Recanalization of the femoropopliteal segment 6 months after thrombectomy was
      noted to occur in 70% (23/33) of patients. The median of the composite index by
      the VCSS after 6 months decreased from 7 to 2 (p=0.002). The cumulative patency
      of the iliofemoral segment 36 months after surgery amounted to 86%. Clinical
      assessment of the remote results of thrombectomy according to the CEAP
      classification demonstrated that 90% (19/21) of patients were either free from or
      had weakly pronounced symptoms of post-thrombotic syndrome. CONCLUSION:
      Performing thrombectomy for iliofemoral thrombosis by selective indications using
      modern methods of restoring patency of deep veins significantly increases
      efficacy of treating patients presenting with this severe pathology and prevents
      the development of pronounced manifestations of post-thrombotic syndrome.

PMID- 28594815
TI  - Preparation of biomimetic hierarchically helical fiber actuators from carbon
      nanotubes.
AB  - Mechanically responsive materials that are able to sense and respond to external
      stimuli have important applications in soft robotics and the formation of
      artificial muscles, such as intelligent electronics, prosthetic limbs, comfort
      adjusting textiles and miniature actuators for microfluidics. However, previous
      artificial muscles based on polymer materials are insufficient in generating
      large actuations, fast responses, diverse deformation modes and high cycle
      performances. To this end, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are proposed as promising
      candidates to be assembled into artificial muscles, as they are lightweight,
      robust and have high surface-to-volume ratios. This protocol describes a
      reproducible biomimetic method for preparing a family of hierarchically arranged
      helical fiber (HHF) actuators that are responsive to solvents and vapors. These
      HHFs are produced through helical assembly of CNTs into primary fibers and
      further twisting of the multi-ply primary fibers into a helical structure. A
      large number of nanoscale gaps between the CNTs and micron-scale gaps between the
      primary fibers ensure large volume changes and fast responses upon the
      infiltration of solvents and vapors (e.g., water, ethanol, acetone and
      dichloromethane) by capillarity. The modes of shape transformations can be
      modulated precisely by controlling how the CNTs are assembled into primary
      fibers, multi-ply primary fibers, HHFs and hierarchical springs. This protocol
      provides a prototype for preparing actuators with different fiber components. The
      overall time required for the preparation of HHF actuators is 17 h.

PMID- 28594816
TI  - mRNA quantification using single-molecule FISH in Drosophila embryos.
AB  - Spatial information is critical to the interrogation of developmental and tissue
      level regulation of gene expression. However, this information is usually lost
      when global mRNA levels from tissues are measured using reverse transcriptase
      PCR, microarray analysis or high-throughput sequencing. By contrast, single
      molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH) preserves the spatial
      information of the cellular mRNA content with subcellular resolution within
      tissues. Here we describe an smFISH protocol that allows for the quantification
      of single mRNAs in Drosophila embryos, using commercially available smFISH probes
      (e.g., short fluorescently labeled DNA oligonucleotides) in combination with wide
      field epifluorescence, confocal or instant structured illumination microscopy
      (iSIM, a super-resolution imaging approach) and a spot-detection algorithm. Fixed
      Drosophila embryos are hybridized in solution with a mixture of smFISH probes,
      mounted onto coverslips and imaged in 3D. Individual fluorescently labeled mRNAs
      are then localized within tissues and counted using spot-detection software to
      generate quantitative, spatially resolved gene expression data sets. With minimum
      guidance, a graduate student can successfully implement this protocol. The smFISH
      procedure described here can be completed in 4-5 d.

PMID- 28594817
TI  - A shifting mutational landscape in 6 nutritional states: Stress-induced
      mutagenesis as a series of distinct stress input-mutation output relationships.
AB  - Environmental stresses increase genetic variation in bacteria, plants, and human
      cancer cells. The linkage between various environments and mutational outcomes
      has not been systematically investigated, however. Here, we established the
      influence of nutritional stresses commonly found in the biosphere (carbon,
      phosphate, nitrogen, oxygen, or iron limitation) on both the rate and spectrum of
      mutations in Escherichia coli. We found that each limitation was associated with
      a remarkably distinct mutational profile. Overall mutation rates were not always
      elevated, and nitrogen, iron, and oxygen limitation resulted in major spectral
      changes but no net increase in rate. Our results thus suggest that stress-induced
      mutagenesis is a diverse series of stress input-mutation output linkages that is
      distinct in every condition. Environment-specific spectra resulted in the
      differential emergence of traits needing particular mutations in these settings.
      Mutations requiring transpositions were highest under iron and oxygen limitation,
      whereas base-pair substitutions and indels were highest under phosphate
      limitation. The unexpected diversity of input-output effects explains some
      important phenomena in the mutational biases of evolving genomes. The prevalence
      of bacterial insertion sequence transpositions in the mammalian gut or in
      anaerobically stored cultures is due to environmentally determined mutation
      availability. Likewise, the much-discussed genomic bias towards transition base
      substitutions in evolving genomes can now be explained as an environment-specific
      output. Altogether, our conclusion is that environments influence genetic
      variation as well as selection.

PMID- 28594819
TI  - Wide-Open: Accelerating public data release by automating detection of overdue
      datasets.
AB  - Open data is a vital pillar of open science and a key enabler for
      reproducibility, data reuse, and novel discoveries. Enforcement of open-data
      policies, however, largely relies on manual efforts, which invariably lag behind
      the increasingly automated generation of biological data. To address this
      problem, we developed a general approach to automatically identify datasets
      overdue for public release by applying text mining to identify dataset references
      in published articles and parse query results from repositories to determine if
      the datasets remain private. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on
      2 popular National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) repositories: Gene
      Expression Omnibus (GEO) and Sequence Read Archive (SRA). Our Wide-Open system
      identified a large number of overdue datasets, which spurred administrators to
      respond directly by releasing 400 datasets in one week.

PMID- 28594818
TI  - Leveraging functional annotations in genetic risk prediction for human complex
      diseases.
AB  - Genetic risk prediction is an important goal in human genetics research and
      precision medicine. Accurate prediction models will have great impacts on both
      disease prevention and early treatment strategies. Despite the identification of
      thousands of disease-associated genetic variants through genome wide association
      studies (GWAS), genetic risk prediction accuracy remains moderate for most
      diseases, which is largely due to the challenges in both identifying all the
      functionally relevant variants and accurately estimating their effect sizes in
      the presence of linkage disequilibrium. In this paper, we introduce AnnoPred, a
      principled framework that leverages diverse types of genomic and epigenomic
      functional annotations in genetic risk prediction for complex diseases. AnnoPred
      is trained using GWAS summary statistics in a Bayesian framework in which we
      explicitly model various functional annotations and allow for linkage
      disequilibrium estimated from reference genotype data. Compared with state-of-the
      art risk prediction methods, AnnoPred achieves consistently improved prediction
      accuracy in both extensive simulations and real data.

PMID- 28594820
TI  - Serum proteins mediate depression's association with dementia.
AB  - The latent variable "delta" (for "dementia") uniquely explains dementia severity.
      Depressive symptoms are independent predictors of delta. We explored 115 serum
      proteins as potential causal mediators of the effect of depressive symptoms on
      delta in a large, ethnically diverse, longitudinal cohort. All models were
      adjusted for age, apolipoprotein E, education, ethnicity, gender, hemoglobin A1c,
      and homocysteine, and replicated in randomly selected 50% subsets. Alpha1
      antitrypsin (A1AT), FAS, Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor (HB-EGF), Insulin
      like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Macrophage Inflammatory
      Protein type 1 alpha (MIP-1alpha), Resitin, S100b, Tissue Inhibitor of
      Metalloproteinase type 1 (TIMP-1), and Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule type 1
      (VCAM-1) each were partial mediators of depression's association with delta.
      These proteins may offer targets for the treatment of depression's specific
      effect on dementia severity and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) conversion risk.

PMID- 28594823
TI  - Video based object representation and classification using multiple covariance
      matrices.
AB  - Video based object recognition and classification has been widely studied in
      computer vision and image processing area. One main issue of this task is to
      develop an effective representation for video. This problem can generally be
      formulated as image set representation. In this paper, we present a new method
      called Multiple Covariance Discriminative Learning (MCDL) for image set
      representation and classification problem. The core idea of MCDL is to represent
      an image set using multiple covariance matrices with each covariance matrix
      representing one cluster of images. Firstly, we use the Nonnegative Matrix
      Factorization (NMF) method to do image clustering within each image set, and then
      adopt Covariance Discriminative Learning on each cluster (subset) of images. At
      last, we adopt KLDA and nearest neighborhood classification method for image set
      classification. Promising experimental results on several datasets show the
      effectiveness of our MCDL method.

PMID- 28594821
TI  - Dynamics of DNA methylomes underlie oyster development.
AB  - DNA methylation is a critical epigenetic regulator of development in mammals and
      social insects, but its significance in development outside these groups is not
      understood. Here we investigated the genome-wide dynamics of DNA methylation in a
      mollusc model, the oyster Crassostrea gigas, from the egg to the completion of
      organogenesis. Large-scale methylation maps reveal that the oyster genome
      displays a succession of methylated and non methylated regions, which persist
      throughout development. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) are strongly
      regulated during cleavage and metamorphosis. The distribution and levels of
      methylated DNA within genomic features (exons, introns, promoters, repeats and
      transposons) show different developmental lansdscapes marked by a strong increase
      in the methylation of exons against introns after metamorphosis. Kinetics of
      methylation in gene-bodies correlate to their transcription regulation and to
      distinct functional gene clusters, and DMRs at cleavage and metamorphosis bear
      the genes functionally related to these steps, respectively. This study shows
      that DNA methylome dynamics underlie development through transcription regulation
      in the oyster, a lophotrochozoan species. To our knowledge, this is the first
      demonstration of such epigenetic regulation outside vertebrates and ecdysozoan
      models, bringing new insights into the evolution and the epigenetic regulation of
      developmental processes.

PMID- 28594824
TI  - Comparing yield and relative costs of WHO TB screening algorithms in selected
      risk groups among people aged 65 years and over in China, 2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To calculate the yield and cost per diagnosed tuberculosis (TB) case
      for three World Health Organization screening algorithms and one using the
      Chinese National TB program (NTP) TB suspect definitions, using data from a TB
      prevalence survey of people aged 65 years and over in China, 2013. METHODS: This
      was an analytic study using data from the above survey. Risk groups were defined
      and the prevalence of new TB cases in each group calculated. Costs of each
      screening component were used to give indicative costs per case detected. Yield,
      number needed to screen (NNS) and cost per case were used to assess the
      algorithms. FINDINGS: The prevalence survey identified 172 new TB cases in 34,250
      participants. Prevalence varied greatly in different groups, from 131/100,000 to
      4651/ 100,000. Two groups were chosen to compare the algorithms. The medium-risk
      group (living in a rural area: men, or previous TB case, or close contact or a
      BMI <18.5, or tobacco user) had appreciably higher cost per case (USD 221, 298
      and 963) in the three algorithms than the high-risk group (all previous TB cases,
      all close contacts). (USD 72, 108 and 309) but detected two to four times more TB
      cases in the population. Using a Chest x-ray as the initial screening tool in the
      medium risk group cost the most (USD 963), and detected 67% of all the new cases.
      Using the NTP definition of TB suspects made little difference. CONCLUSIONS: To
      "End TB", many more TB cases have to be identified. Screening only the highest
      risk groups identified under 14% of the undetected cases,. To "End TB", medium
      risk groups will need to be screened. Using a CXR for initial screening results
      in a much higher yield, at what should be an acceptable cost.

PMID- 28594822
TI  - Hybridization and polyploidy enable genomic plasticity without sex in the most
      devastating plant-parasitic nematodes.
AB  - Root-knot nematodes (genus Meloidogyne) exhibit a diversity of reproductive modes
      ranging from obligatory sexual to fully asexual reproduction. Intriguingly, the
      most widespread and devastating species to global agriculture are those that
      reproduce asexually, without meiosis. To disentangle this surprising parasitic
      success despite the absence of sex and genetic exchanges, we have sequenced and
      assembled the genomes of three obligatory ameiotic and asexual Meloidogyne. We
      have compared them to those of relatives able to perform meiosis and sexual
      reproduction. We show that the genomes of ameiotic asexual Meloidogyne are large,
      polyploid and made of duplicated regions with a high within-species average
      nucleotide divergence of ~8%. Phylogenomic analysis of the genes present in these
      duplicated regions suggests that they originated from multiple hybridization
      events and are thus homoeologs. We found that up to 22% of homoeologous gene
      pairs were under positive selection and these genes covered a wide spectrum of
      predicted functional categories. To biologically assess functional divergence, we
      compared expression patterns of homoeologous gene pairs across developmental life
      stages using an RNAseq approach in the most economically important asexually
      reproducing nematode. We showed that >60% of homoeologous gene pairs display
      diverged expression patterns. These results suggest a substantial functional
      impact of the genome structure. Contrasting with high within-species nuclear
      genome divergence, mitochondrial genome divergence between the three ameiotic
      asexuals was very low, signifying that these putative hybrids share a recent
      common maternal ancestor. Transposable elements (TE) cover a ~1.7 times higher
      proportion of the genomes of the ameiotic asexual Meloidogyne compared to the
      sexual relative and might also participate in their plasticity. The intriguing
      parasitic success of asexually-reproducing Meloidogyne species could be partly
      explained by their TE-rich composite genomes, resulting from allopolyploidization
      events, and promoting plasticity and functional divergence between gene copies in
      the absence of sex and meiosis.

PMID- 28594825
TI  - Intraoperative hypothermia and its clinical outcomes in patients undergoing
      general anesthesia: National study in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Inadvertent intraoperative hypothermia (core temperature
      <36 degrees C) is a frequently preventable complication with several adverse
      consequences. Our study aimed to determine the overall incidence of inadvertent
      intraoperative hypothermia and its risk factors associated with clinical outcomes
      in this national survey in China. METHODS: We conducted a national cross
      sectional study with 30 days postoperative follow-up from November 2014 through
      August 2015. A total of 3132 eligible patients underwent general anesthesia were
      randomly selected from 28 hospitals in the nationwide of China. RESULTS: The
      overall incidence of intraoperative hypothermia was as high as 44.3%, in which
      cumulative incidence rates of hypothermia being 17.8%, 36.2%, 42.5% and 44.1%
      within 1 h, 2 h, 3 h and 4 h respectively following induction of anesthesia. All
      patients were warmed passively by covering of surgical draping, sheets or cotton
      blankets, whereas only 14.2% of patients received active warming with space
      heaters or electric heater or electronic blankets. Compared to normothermic
      patients, patients with hypothermia is associated with more postoperative ICU
      admit, longer PACU and more postoperative hospital days, but no difference in
      surgical site infection (SSI) rates or 30-day mortality. Several factors were
      shown to be associated with decreased risk of hypothermia. They are active
      warming (OR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.26-0.81), BMI >= 25 (OR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.45-0.65),
      higher baseline core temperature (OR = 0.04, 95% CI 0.03-0.06), and higher
      ambient temperature (OR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.78-0.88). Risk factors associated with
      an increased risk of hypothermia included major-plus surgery (OR = 1.49, 95% CI
      1.23-1.79), and long anesthesia (>2 h) (OR = 2.60, 95% CI 2.09-3.24).
      CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of intraoperative hypothermia in China is high, and
      the rate of active warming of patients during operation is low. Hypothermia is
      associated with more postoperative shivering, increased ICU admissions, and
      longer postoperative hospital days.

PMID- 28594826
TI  - A highly specific phage defense system is a conserved feature of the Vibrio
      cholerae mobilome.
AB  - Vibrio cholerae-specific bacteriophages are common features of the microbial
      community during cholera infection in humans. Phages impose strong selective
      pressure that favors the expansion of phage-resistant strains over their
      vulnerable counterparts. The mechanisms allowing virulent V. cholerae strains to
      defend against the ubiquitous threat of predatory phages have not been
      established. Here, we show that V. cholerae PLEs (phage-inducible chromosomal
      island-like elements) are widespread genomic islands dedicated to phage defense.
      Analysis of V. cholerae isolates spanning a 60-year collection period identified
      five unique PLEs. Remarkably, we found that all PLEs (regardless of geographic or
      temporal origin) respond to infection by a myovirus called ICP1, the most
      prominent V. cholerae phage found in cholera patient stool samples from
      Bangladesh. We found that PLE activity reduces phage genome replication and
      accelerates cell lysis following ICP1 infection, killing infected host cells and
      preventing the production of progeny phage. PLEs are mobilized by ICP1 infection
      and can spread to neighboring cells such that protection from phage predation can
      be horizontally acquired. Our results reveal that PLEs are a persistent feature
      of the V. cholerae mobilome that are adapted to providing protection from a
      single predatory phage and advance our understanding of how phages influence
      pathogen evolution.

PMID- 28594828
TI  - An individual-level meta-analysis assessing the impact of community-level
      sanitation access on child stunting, anemia, and diarrhea: Evidence from DHS and
      MICS surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A lack of access to sanitation is an important risk factor child
      health, facilitating fecal-oral transmission of pathogens including soil
      transmitted helminthes and various causes of diarrheal disease. We conducted a
      meta-analysis of cross-sectional surveys to determine the impact that community
      level sanitation access has on child health for children with and without
      household sanitation access. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using 301 two-stage
      demographic health surveys and multiple indicator cluster surveys conducted
      between 1990 and 2015 we calculated the sanitation access in the community as the
      proportion of households in the sampled cluster that had household access to any
      type of sanitation facility. We then conducted exact matching of children based
      on various predictors of living in a community with high access to sanitation.
      Using logistic regression with the matched group as a random intercept we
      examined the association between the child health outcomes of stunted growth, any
      anemia, moderate or severe anemia, and diarrhea in the previous two weeks and the
      exposure of living in a community with varying degrees of community-level
      sanitation access. For children with household-level sanitation access, living in
      a community with 100% sanitation access was associated with lowered odds of
      stunting (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.97, 95%; confidence interval (CI) = 0.94
      1.00; n = 14,153 matched groups, 1,175,167 children), any anemia (AOR = 0.73; 95%
      CI = 0.67-0.78; n = 5,319 matched groups, 299,033 children), moderate or severe
      anemia (AOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.68-0.77; n = 5,319 matched groups, 299,033
      children) and diarrhea (AOR = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.91-0.97); n = 16,379 matched
      groups, 1,603,731 children) compared to living in a community with < 30%
      sanitation access. For children without household-level sanitation access, living
      in communities with 0% sanitation access was associated with higher odds of
      stunting (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02-1.06; n = 14,153 matched groups, 1,175,167
      children), any anemia (AOR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.00-1.09; n = 5,319 matched groups,
      299,033 children), moderate or severe anemia (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.00-1.09; n =
      5,319 matched groups, 299,033 children) but not diarrhea (AOR = 1.00, 95% CI =
      0.98-1.02; n = 16,379 matched groups, 1,603,731 children) compared to children
      without household-level sanitation access living in communities with 1-30%
      sanitation access. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Community-level sanitation access is
      associated with improved child health outcomes independent of household-level
      sanitation access. The proportion of children living in communities with 100%
      sanitation access throughout the world is appallingly low. Ensuring sanitation
      access to all by 2030 will greatly improve child health.

PMID- 28594827
TI  - Unicycler: Resolving bacterial genome assemblies from short and long sequencing
      reads.
AB  - The Illumina DNA sequencing platform generates accurate but short reads, which
      can be used to produce accurate but fragmented genome assemblies. Pacific
      Biosciences and Oxford Nanopore Technologies DNA sequencing platforms generate
      long reads that can produce complete genome assemblies, but the sequencing is
      more expensive and error-prone. There is significant interest in combining data
      from these complementary sequencing technologies to generate more accurate
      "hybrid" assemblies. However, few tools exist that truly leverage the benefits of
      both types of data, namely the accuracy of short reads and the structural
      resolving power of long reads. Here we present Unicycler, a new tool for
      assembling bacterial genomes from a combination of short and long reads, which
      produces assemblies that are accurate, complete and cost-effective. Unicycler
      builds an initial assembly graph from short reads using the de novo assembler
      SPAdes and then simplifies the graph using information from short and long reads.
      Unicycler uses a novel semi-global aligner to align long reads to the assembly
      graph. Tests on both synthetic and real reads show Unicycler can assemble larger
      contigs with fewer misassemblies than other hybrid assemblers, even when long
      read depth and accuracy are low. Unicycler is open source (GPLv3) and available
      at github.com/rrwick/Unicycler.

PMID- 28594829
TI  - Mendel,MD: A user-friendly open-source web tool for analyzing WES and WGS in the
      diagnosis of patients with Mendelian disorders.
AB  - Whole exome and whole genome sequencing have both become widely adopted methods
      for investigating and diagnosing human Mendelian disorders. As pangenomic
      agnostic tests, they are capable of more accurate and agile diagnosis compared to
      traditional sequencing methods. This article describes new software called
      Mendel,MD, which combines multiple types of filter options and makes use of
      regularly updated databases to facilitate exome and genome annotation, the
      filtering process and the selection of candidate genes and variants for
      experimental validation and possible diagnosis. This tool offers a user-friendly
      interface, and leads clinicians through simple steps by limiting the number of
      candidates to achieve a final diagnosis of a medical genetics case. A useful
      innovation is the "1-click" method, which enables listing all the relevant
      variants in genes present at OMIM for perusal by clinicians. Mendel,MD was
      experimentally validated using clinical cases from the literature and was tested
      by students at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, at GENE-Nucleo de
      Genetica Medica in Brazil and at the Children's University Hospital in Dublin,
      Ireland. We show in this article how it can simplify and increase the speed of
      identifying the culprit mutation in each of the clinical cases that were received
      for further investigation. Mendel,MD proved to be a reliable web-based tool,
      being open-source and time efficient for identifying the culprit mutation in
      different clinical cases of patients with Mendelian Disorders. It is also freely
      accessible for academic users on the following URL: https://mendelmd.org.

PMID- 28594831
TI  - A morphometric system to distinguish sheep and goat postcranial bones.
AB  - Distinguishing between the bones of sheep and goat is a notorious challenge in
      zooarchaeology. Several methodological contributions have been published at
      different times and by various people to facilitate this task, largely relying on
      a macro-morphological approach. This is now routinely adopted by
      zooarchaeologists but, although it certainly has its value, has also been shown
      to have limitations. Morphological discriminant criteria can vary in different
      populations and correct identification is highly dependent upon a researcher's
      experience, availability of appropriate reference collections, and many other
      factors that are difficult to quantify. There is therefore a need to establish a
      more objective system, susceptible to scrutiny. In order to fulfil such a
      requirement, this paper offers a comprehensive morphometric method for the
      identification of sheep and goat postcranial bones, using a sample of more than
      150 modern skeletons as a basis, and building on previous pioneering work. The
      proposed method is based on measurements-some newly created, others previously
      published-and its use is recommended in combination with the more traditional
      morphological approach. Measurement ratios, used to translate morphological
      traits into biometrical attributes, are demonstrated to have substantial
      diagnostic potential, with the vast majority of specimens correctly assigned to
      species. The efficacy of the new method is also tested with Discriminant
      Analysis, which provides a successful verification of the biometrical indices, a
      statistical means to select the most promising measurements, and an additional
      line of analysis to be used in conjunction with the others.

PMID- 28594830
TI  - Effect of irrigation and nitrogen application on grain amino acid composition and
      protein quality in winter wheat.
AB  - Water management and nitrogen application are critical factors in wheat grain
      yield and protein quality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of irrigation
      and nitrogen application on the grain yield, protein content and amino acid
      composition of winter wheat. Field experiments were conducted in a split-plot
      design with three replications in high-yielding land on the North China Plain in
      2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. Three irrigation treatments were examined in
      main plots: no irrigation, irrigation at jointing, and irrigation at jointing
      plus anthesis, while subplots were assigned to nitrogen treatment at four
      different rates: 0, 180, 240, 300 kg N ha-1, respectively. The results indicated
      that irrigation at jointing and at jointing plus anthesis improved grain yield by
      an average of 12.79 and 18.65% across three cropping seasons, respectively,
      compared with no irrigation. However, different irrigation treatments had no
      significant effect on grain protein content in any cropping season. Compared with
      no N treatment, 180, 240, and 300 kg N ha-1 N application significantly increased
      grain yield, by 58.66, 61.26 and 63.42% respectively, averaged over three
      cropping seasons. Grain protein and the total, essential and non-essential amino
      acid content significantly increased with increasing nitrogen application.
      Irrigation significantly improved the essential amino acid index (EAAI) and
      protein-digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) compared with no
      irrigation; however, N application decreased them by an average of 7.68 and
      11.18% across three cropping seasons, respectively. EAAI and PDCAAS were
      positively correlated, however, they were highly negatively correlated with yield
      and grain protein content.

PMID- 28594832
TI  - The road not taken: Could stress-specific mutations lead to different
      evolutionary paths?
AB  - Organisms often encounter stressful conditions, some of which damage their DNA.
      In response, some organisms show a high expression of error-prone DNA repair
      machinery, causing a temporary increase in the genome-wide mutation rate.
      Although we now have a detailed map of the molecular mechanisms underlying such
      stress-induced mutagenesis (SIM), it has been hotly debated whether SIM alters
      evolutionary dynamics. Key to this controversy is our poor understanding about
      which stresses increase mutagenesis and their long-term consequences for
      adaptation. In a new study with Escherichia coli, Maharjan and Ferenci show that
      while only some nutritional stresses (phosphorous and carbon limitation) increase
      total mutation rates, each stress generates a unique spectrum of mutations. Their
      results suggest the potential for specific stresses to shape evolutionary
      dynamics and highlight the necessity for explicit tests of the long-term
      evolutionary impacts of SIM.

PMID- 28594833
TI  - Diet and trophic ecology of the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) from South
      African waters.
AB  - Knowledge of the diet and trophic ecology of apex predators is key for the
      implementation of effective ecosystem as well as species-based management
      initiatives. Using a combination of stomach content data and stable isotope
      analysis (delta15N and delta13C) the current study provides information on size
      based and sex-specific variations in diet, trophic position (TP) and foraging
      habitat of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) caught in the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks
      Board bather protection program. This study presents the longest time-series and
      most detailed analysis of stomach content data for G. cuvier worldwide. Prey
      identified from 628 non-empty stomachs revealed a size-based shift in diet.
      Reptiles, birds, mysticetes, and large shark species increased in dietary
      importance with G. cuvier size, concomitant with a decrease in smaller prey such
      as batoids and teleosts. Seasonal and decadal shifts in diet driven primarily by
      changes in the importance of elasmobranchs and mammal (cetacean) prey were
      recorded for medium sized (150-220 cm) G. cuvier. Both stomach content and stable
      isotope analysis indicated that G. cuvier is a generalist feeder at the
      population level. Size-based delta13C profiles indicated a movement to offshore
      foraging habitats by larger G. cuvier. Calculated TP varied by method ranging
      from 4.0 to 5.0 (TPSCA for stomach contents) and from 3.6 to 4.5 (TPscaled and
      TPadditive for delta15N). Large (> 220 cm) G. cuvier did not feed at discrete
      trophic levels, but rather throughout the food web. These data provide key
      information on the ecological role of G. cuvier to improve the accuracy of
      regional food web modelling. This will enable a better understanding of the
      ecological impacts related to changes in the abundance of this predator.

PMID- 28594834
TI  - Toll-like receptor mediated activation is possibly involved in immunoregulating
      properties of cow's milk hydrolysates.
AB  - Immunomodulating proteins and peptides are formed during the hydrolysis of cow's
      milk proteins. These proteins are potential ingredients in functional foods used
      for the management of a range of immune related problems, both in infants and
      adults. However, the mechanism behind these effects is unknown. We hypothesize
      that the interaction of peptides with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) can induce
      immune effects, since these receptors are known to sample many dietary molecules
      in the intestine in order to regulate immune effects. To investigate this, we
      compared the immune effects and TLR activation and inhibition by whey and casein
      hydrolysates with different hydrolysis levels. We first measured cytokine
      production in primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with either
      whey, casein, or their hydrolysates. IL-10 and TNFalpha were induced by whey
      hydrolysates (decreasing with increasing hydrolysis level), but not by casein
      hydrolysates. Next, the activation of TLR 2, 3, 5 and 9 receptors were observed
      by intact and mildly hydrolysed whey proteins only and not by casein hydrolysates
      in TLR reporter cell lines. Many casein hydrolysates inhibited TLR signaling
      (mainly TLR 5 and 9). These results demonstrate that the effects of cow's milk
      proteins on the immune system are protein type and hydrolysis dependent. TLR
      signaling is suggested as a possible mechanism for differences in effect. This
      knowledge contributes to a better understanding of the immune effects of
      hydrolysates and the design of infant formula, and nutrition in general, with
      specific immunoregulatory effects.

PMID- 28594836
TI  - Enhancing fish Underwater Visual Census to move forward assessment of fish
      assemblages: An application in three Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas.
AB  - Monitoring fish assemblages is needed to assess whether Marine Protected Areas
      (MPAs) are meeting their conservation and fisheries management goals, as it
      allows one to track the progress of recovery of exploited species and associated
      communities. Underwater Visual Census techniques (UVC) are used to monitor fish
      assemblages in MPAs. UVCs should be adapted to fish abundance, body-size and
      behaviour, which can strongly affect fish detectability. In Mediterranean
      subtidal habitats, however, UVC strip transects of one surface area (25x5 m2) are
      commonly used to survey the whole fish assemblage, from large shy fish to small
      crypto-benthic fish. Most high trophic level predators (HTLPs) are large shy fish
      which rarely swim close to divers and, consequently, their abundance may be under
      estimated with commonly used transects. Here, we propose an improvement to
      traditional transect surveys to better account for differences in behaviour among
      and within species. First, we compared the effectiveness of combining two
      transect surface areas (large: 35x20 m2; medium: 25x5 m2) in quantifying large,
      shy fish within and outside Mediterranean MPAs. We identified species-specific
      body-size thresholds defining a smaller and a larger size class better sampled by
      medium and large transects respectively. Combining large and medium transects
      provided more accurate biomass and species richness estimates for large, shy
      species than using medium transects alone. We thus combined the new approach with
      two other transect surface areas commonly used to survey crypto-benthic (10x1 m2)
      and necto-benthic (25x5 m2) species in order to assess how effectively MPAs
      protection the whole fish assemblage. We verified that MPAs offer significant
      protection for HTLPs, their response in terms of biomass and density increase in
      MPAs was always higher in magnitude than other functional groups. Inside MPAs,
      the contribution of HTLP reached >25% of total fish biomass, against < 2% outside
      MPAs. Surveys with multiple transect surface areas allow for a more realistic
      assessment of the structure of the whole fish assemblage and better assessment of
      potential recovery of HTLPs within reserves of HTLP.

PMID- 28594835
TI  - Rapid immunoassays for diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: Comparison
      of diagnostic accuracy, reproducibility, and costs in clinical practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunoassays are crucial in the work-up of patients with suspected
      heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and rapid tests have been recently
      developed. However, comparative data on diagnostic accuracy, reproducibility, and
      analytical costs of different immunoassays in clinical practice are limited.
      METHODS: Samples of 179 consecutive patients evaluated for suspected HIT in
      clinical practice using a polyspecific enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (GTI
      diagnostics; ELISA) and a rapid particle gel immunoassay (PaGIA), were
      additionally analysed with a IgG-specific chemiluminescent immunoassay (AcuStar
      HIT-IgG). Presence of HIT was defined as a positive functional heparin-induced
      platelet aggregation test. Diagnostic accuracy was determined for low,
      intermediate and high thresholds as previously established (ELISA: optical
      density 0.4, 1.3, and 2.0 respectively; PaGIA: positive/negative, titre of 4,
      titre of 32; AcuStar HIT-IgG: 1.0 U/ml, 2.8, 9.4) and reproducibility was
      assessed by repeated measurements. Costs of test determination were calculated
      taking reagents, controls, and working time of technicians according to Swiss
      health care system into account. RESULTS: Data on PaGIA results were available
      for 171 patients (95.5%), ELISA for 144 patients (80.4%), and AcuStar HIT-IgG for
      179 patients (100%). Sensitivity was above 95% for all assays at low and
      intermediate thresholds. Specificity increased with higher thresholds and was
      above 90% for all assays with intermediate and high thresholds. Specificity of
      AcuStar HIT-IgG (92.8%; 95% CI 87.7, 96.2) was significantly higher than PaGIA
      (83.0%; 95% CI 76.3, 88.5) and higher than ELISA (81.8%, 95% CI 74.2, 88.0) at
      low threshold (p<0.05). Reproducibility was adequate for all assays. Total costs
      per test were CHF 51.02 for ELISA, 117.70 for AcuStar HIT-IgG, and 83.13 for
      PaGIA. CONCLUSIONS: We observed favourable diagnostic accuracy measures and a
      high reproducibility for PaGIA and AcuStar HIT-IgG. Implementation into 24-hours
      service might improve patient care but the results must be confirmed in other
      settings and larger populations as well.

PMID- 28594837
TI  - Genetic variants in ALDH1B1 and alcohol dependence risk in a British and Irish
      population: A bioinformatic and genetic study.
AB  - Alcohol is metabolized in the liver via the enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)
      and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Polymorphisms in the genes encoding these
      enzymes, which are common in East Asian populations, can alter enzyme kinetics
      and hence the risk of alcohol dependence and its sequelae. One of the most
      important genetic variants, in this regards, is the single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) rs671 in ALDH2, the gene encoding the primary acetaldehyde
      metabolizing enzyme ALDH2. However, the protective allele of rs671 is absent in
      most Europeans although ALDH1B1, which shares significant sequence homology with
      ALDH2, contains several, potentially functional, missense SNPs that do occur in
      European populations. The aims of this study were: (i) to use bioinformatic
      techniques to characterize the possible effects of selected variants in ALDH1B1
      on protein structure and function; and, (ii) to genotype three missense and one
      stop-gain, protein-altering, non-synonymous SNPs in 1478 alcohol dependent cases
      and 1254 controls of matched British and Irish ancestry. No significant allelic
      associations were observed between the three missense SNPs and alcohol dependence
      risk. The minor allele frequency of rs142427338 (Gln378Ter) was higher in alcohol
      dependent cases than in controls (allelic P = 0.19, OR = 2.98, [0.62-14.37]) but
      as this SNP is very rare the study was likely underpowered to detect an
      association with alcohol dependence risk. This potential association will needs
      to be further evaluated in other large, independent European populations.

PMID- 28594838
TI  - A comprehensive overview and evaluation of circular RNA detection tools.
AB  - Circular RNA (circRNA) is mainly generated by the splice donor of a downstream
      exon joining to an upstream splice acceptor, a phenomenon known as backsplicing.
      It has been reported that circRNA can function as microRNA (miRNA) sponges,
      transcriptional regulators, or potential biomarkers. The availability of massive
      non-polyadenylated transcriptomes data has facilitated the genome-wide
      identification of thousands of circRNAs. Several circRNA detection tools or
      pipelines have recently been developed, and it is essential to provide useful
      guidelines on these pipelines for users, including a comprehensive and unbiased
      comparison. Here, we provide an improved and easy-to-use circRNA read simulator
      that can produce mimicking backsplicing reads supporting circRNAs deposited in
      CircBase. Moreover, we compared the performance of 11 circRNA detection tools on
      both simulated and real datasets. We assessed their performance regarding metrics
      such as precision, sensitivity, F1 score, and Area under Curve. It is concluded
      that no single method dominated on all of these metrics. Among all of the state
      of-the-art tools, CIRI, CIRCexplorer, and KNIFE, which achieved better balanced
      performance between their precision and sensitivity, compared favorably to the
      other methods.

PMID- 28594839
TI  - Exploratory graph analysis: A new approach for estimating the number of
      dimensions in psychological research.
AB  - The estimation of the correct number of dimensions is a long-standing problem in
      psychometrics. Several methods have been proposed, such as parallel analysis
      (PA), Kaiser-Guttman's eigenvalue-greater-than-one rule, multiple average partial
      procedure (MAP), the maximum-likelihood approaches that use fit indexes as BIC
      and EBIC and the less used and studied approach called very simple structure
      (VSS). In the present paper a new approach to estimate the number of dimensions
      will be introduced and compared via simulation to the traditional techniques
      pointed above. The approach proposed in the current paper is called exploratory
      graph analysis (EGA), since it is based on the graphical lasso with the
      regularization parameter specified using EBIC. The number of dimensions is
      verified using the walktrap, a random walk algorithm used to identify communities
      in networks. In total, 32,000 data sets were simulated to fit known factor
      structures, with the data sets varying across different criteria: number of
      factors (2 and 4), number of items (5 and 10), sample size (100, 500, 1000 and
      5000) and correlation between factors (orthogonal, .20, .50 and .70), resulting
      in 64 different conditions. For each condition, 500 data sets were simulated
      using lavaan. The result shows that the EGA performs comparable to parallel
      analysis, EBIC, eBIC and to Kaiser-Guttman rule in a number of situations,
      especially when the number of factors was two. However, EGA was the only
      technique able to correctly estimate the number of dimensions in the four-factor
      structure when the correlation between factors were .7, showing an accuracy of
      100% for a sample size of 5,000 observations. Finally, the EGA was used to
      estimate the number of factors in a real dataset, in order to compare its
      performance with the other six techniques tested in the simulation study.

PMID- 28594840
TI  - Phylogeography on the rocks: The contribution of current and historical factors
      in shaping the genetic structure of Chthamalus montagui (Crustacea, Cirripedia).
AB  - The model marine broadcast-spawner barnacle Chthamalus montagui was investigated
      to understand its genetic structure and quantify levels of population divergence,
      and to make inference on historical demography in terms of time of divergence and
      changes in population size. We collected specimens from rocky shores of the north
      east Atlantic Ocean (4 locations), Mediterranean Sea (8) and Black Sea (1). The
      312 sequences 537 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I allowed to
      detect 130 haplotypes. High within-location genetic variability was recorded,
      with haplotype diversity ranging between h = 0.750 and 0.967. Parameters of
      genetic divergence, haplotype network and Bayesian assignment analysis were
      consistent in rejecting the hypothesis of panmixia. C. montagui is genetically
      structured in three geographically discrete populations, which corresponded to
      north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, western-central Mediterranean Sea, and Aegean Sea
      Black Sea. These populations are separated by two main effective barriers to gene
      flow located at the Almeria-Oran Front and in correspondence of the Cyclades
      Islands. According to the 'isolation with migration' model, adjacent population
      pairs diverged during the early to middle Pleistocene transition, a period in
      which geological events provoked significant changes in the structure and
      composition of palaeocommunities. Mismatch distributions, neutrality tests and
      Bayesian skyline plots showed past population expansions, which started
      approximately in the Mindel-Riss interglacial, in which ecological conditions
      were favourable for temperate species and calcium-uptaking marine organisms.

PMID- 28594841
TI  - Probabilistic Entity-Relationship Diagram: A correlation between functional
      connectivity and spontaneous brain activity during resting state in major
      depressive disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alterations of functional connectivity (FC) and spontaneous brain
      activity (SBA) during the resting state has been observed in subjects with major
      depressive disorder (MDD). Although there are many studies separately describing
      on the alterations of FC and SBA in major depressive disorder, their correlation
      are still have not been performed. METHODS: A literature search based on Pubmed
      and Embase was conducted until 20 April 2016 to identify studies evaluating the
      correlation for the alterations between functional connectivity and spontaneous
      brain activity during resting-state in MDD. Meta-analyses were performed using
      the Probabilistic Entity-Relationship Diagram (PERD) approach to summarize the
      relationships among multiple factors in an intuitive manner. RESULTS: A total of
      30 studies (747 individuals with MDD and 757 healthy controls) met the inclusion
      criteria. In this study, we demonstrated that the functional connectivity and
      spontaneous brain activity, which was quantitatively measured by the primary
      analysis methods, was decreased in the parahippocampal gyrus, orbitofrontal
      cortex (OFC) and postcentral gyrus (PCG), and increased in insula and left dorsal
      medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) in MDD patients. Furthermore, we found that MDD
      patients presented negative correlation alterations both FC and SBA in the
      default mode network and the dorsal attention network, but positive correlation
      alterations both FC and SBA in the insular network, executive control network,
      the salience network and the other network. CONCLUSIONS: Our results first
      suggested that there were correlation alterations between functional connectivity
      and spontaneous brain activity during resting-state in patients with MDD.
      Besides, we applied a recent meta-analysis approach (PERD) to summarize and
      integrate the inconsistence of the existing findings regarding the network
      dysfunction of MDD.

PMID- 28594842
TI  - "If my husband leaves me, I will go home and suffer, so better cling to him and
      hide this thing": The influence of gender on Option B+ prevention of mother-to
      child transmission participation in Malawi and Uganda.
AB  - The role of gender in prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT)
      participation under Option B+ has not been adequately studied, but it is critical
      for reducing losses to follow-up. This study used qualitative methods to examine
      the interplay of gender and individual, interpersonal, health system, and
      community factors that contribute to PMTCT participation in Malawi and Uganda. We
      conducted in-depth interviews with women in PMTCT, women lost to follow-up,
      government health workers, and stakeholders at organizations supporting PMTCT as
      well as focus group discussions with men. We analyzed the data using thematic
      content analysis. We found many similarities in key themes across respondent
      groups and between the two countries. The main facilitators of PMTCT
      participation were knowledge of the health benefits of ART, social support, and
      self-efficacy. The main barriers were fear of HIV disclosure and stigma and lack
      of social support, male involvement, self-efficacy, and agency. Under Option B+,
      women learn about their HIV status and start lifelong ART on the same day, before
      they have a chance to talk to their husbands or families. Respondents explained
      that very few husbands accompanied their wives to the clinic, because they felt
      it was a female space and were worried that others would think their wives were
      controlling them. Many respondents said women fear disclosing, because they fear
      HIV stigma as well as the risk of divorce and loss of economic support. If women
      do not disclose, it is difficult for them to participate in PMTCT in secret. If
      they do disclose, they must abide by their husbands' decisions about their PMTCT
      participation, and some husbands are unsupportive or actively discouraging. To
      improve PMTCT participation, Ministries of Health should use evidence-based
      strategies to address HIV stigma, challenges related to disclosure, insufficient
      social support and male involvement, and underlying gender inequality.

PMID- 28594843
TI  - Microbes and masculinity: Does exposure to pathogenic cues alter women's
      preferences for male facial masculinity and beardedness?
AB  - Women's preferences for men's androgen dependent secondary sexual traits are
      proposed to be phenotypically plastic in response to exposure to pathogens and
      pathogen disgust. While previous studies report that masculinity in facial shape
      is more attractive to women who have recently been exposed to pathogenic cues and
      who are high in self-reported pathogen disgust, facial hair may reduce male
      attractiveness under conditions of high pathogens as beards are a possible
      breeding ground for disease carrying ectoparasites. In the present study, we test
      whether women's preferences for beardedness and facial masculinity vary due to
      exposure to different pathogenic cues. Participants (N = 688, mean age + 1SD =
      31.94 years, SD = 6.69, range = 18-67) rated the attractiveness of facial
      composite stimuli of men when they were clean-shaven or fully bearded. These
      stimuli were also manipulated in order to vary sexual dimorphism by +/-50%.
      Ratings were conducted before and after exposure to one of four experimental
      treatments in which participants were primed to either high pathogens (e.g.
      infected cuts), ectoparasites (e.g. body lice), a mixture of pathogens and
      ectoparasites, or a control condition (e.g. innocuous liquids). Participants then
      completed the three-domain disgust scale measuring attitudes to moral, sexual and
      pathogen disgust. We predicted that women would prefer facial masculinity
      following exposure to pathogenic cues, but would show reduced preferences for
      facial hair following exposure to ectoparasites. Women preferred full beards over
      clean-shaven faces and masculinised over feminised faces. However, none of the
      experimental treatments influenced the direction of preferences for facial
      masculinity or beardedness. We also found no association between women's self
      reported pathogen disgust and their preferences for facial masculinity. However,
      there was a weak positive association between moral disgust scores and
      preferences for facial masculinity, which might reflect conservatism and
      preferences for gender typicality in faces. Women's preferences for beards were
      positively associated with their pathogen disgust, which runs contrary to our
      predictions and may reflect preferences for high quality individuals who can
      withstand any costs of beardedness, although further replications are necessary
      before firm conclusions can be made. We conclude that there is little support for
      pathogenic exposure being a mechanism that underpins women's directional
      preferences for masculine traits.

PMID- 28594844
TI  - Prediction of adjuvant chemotherapy response in triple negative breast cancer
      with discovery and targeted proteomics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15-20% of all
      breast cancers and usually requires the administration of adjuvant chemotherapy
      after surgery but even with this treatment many patients still suffer from a
      relapse. The main objective of this study was to identify proteomics-based
      biomarkers that predict the response to standard adjuvant chemotherapy, so that
      patients at are not going to benefit from it can be offered therapeutic
      alternatives. METHODS: We analyzed the proteome of a retrospective series of
      formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded TNBC tissue applying high-throughput label-free
      quantitative proteomics. We identified several protein signatures with predictive
      value, which were validated with quantitative targeted proteomics in an
      independent cohort of patients and further evaluated in publicly available
      transcriptomics data. RESULTS: Using univariate Cox analysis, a panel of 18
      proteins was significantly associated with distant metastasis-free survival of
      patients (p<0.01). A reduced 5-protein profile with prognostic value was
      identified and its prediction performance was assessed in an independent targeted
      proteomics experiment and a publicly available transcriptomics dataset. Predictor
      P5 including peptides from proteins RAC2, RAB6A, BIEA and IPYR was the best
      performance protein combination in predicting relapse after adjuvant chemotherapy
      in TNBC patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a protein combination
      signature that complements histopathological prognostic factors in TNBC treated
      with adjuvant chemotherapy. The protein signature can be used in paraffin
      embedded samples, and after a prospective validation in independent series, it
      could be used as predictive clinical test in order to recommend participation in
      clinical trials or a more exhaustive follow-up.

PMID- 28594845
TI  - Temperature-amplitude coupling for stable biological rhythms at different
      temperatures.
AB  - Most biological processes accelerate with temperature, for example cell division.
      In contrast, the circadian rhythm period is robust to temperature fluctuation,
      termed temperature compensation. Temperature compensation is peculiar because a
      system-level property (i.e., the circadian period) is stable under varying
      temperature while individual components of the system (i.e., biochemical
      reactions) are usually temperature-sensitive. To understand the mechanism for
      period stability, we measured the time series of circadian clock transcripts in
      cultured C6 glioma cells. The amplitudes of Cry1 and Dbp circadian expression
      increased significantly with temperature. In contrast, other clock transcripts
      demonstrated no significant change in amplitude. To understand these experimental
      results, we analyzed mathematical models with different network topologies. It
      was found that the geometric mean amplitude of gene expression must increase to
      maintain a stable period with increasing temperatures and reaction speeds for all
      models studied. To investigate the generality of this temperature-amplitude
      coupling mechanism for period stability, we revisited data on the yeast metabolic
      cycle (YMC) period, which is also stable under temperature variation. We
      confirmed that the YMC amplitude increased at higher temperatures, suggesting
      temperature-amplitude coupling as a common mechanism shared by circadian and 4 h
      metabolic rhythms.

PMID- 28594847
TI  - Kidney volume to GFR ratio predicts functional improvement after
      revascularization in atheromatous renal artery stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomized controlled trials (RCT) have shown no overall benefit of
      renal revascularization in atherosclerotic renovascular disease (ARVD). However,
      25% of patients demonstrate improvement in renal function. We used the ratio of
      magnetic resonance parenchymal volume (PV) to isotopic single kidney glomerular
      filtration rate (isoSKGFR) ratio as our method to prospectively identify
      "improvers" before revascularization. METHODS: Patients with renal artery
      stenosis who were due revascularization were recruited alongside non-ARVD
      hypertensive CKD controls. Using the controls, 95% CI were calculated for
      expected PV:isoSK-GFR at given renal volumes. For ARVD patients, "improvers" were
      defined as having both >15% and >1ml/min increase in isoSK-GFR at 4 months after
      revascularization. Sensitivity and specificity of PV:isoSK-GFR for predicting
      improvers was calculated. RESULTS: 30 patients (mean age 68 +/-8 years),
      underwent revascularization, of whom 10 patients had intervention for bilateral
      RAS. Stented kidneys which manifested >15% improvement in function had larger
      PV:isoSK-GFR compared to controls (19+/-16 vs. 6+/-4ml/ml/min, p = 0.002). The
      sensitivity and specificity of this equation in predicting a positive renal
      functional outcome were 64% and 88% respectively. Use of PV:isoSK-GFR increased
      prediction of functional improvement (area under curve 0.93). Of note, non-RAS
      contralateral kidneys which improved (n = 5) also demonstrated larger PV:isoSK
      GFR (15.2+/-16.2 ml/ml/min, p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: This study offers early
      indicators that the ratio of PV:isoSK-GFR may help identify patients with kidneys
      suitable for renal revascularization which could improve patient selection for a
      procedure associated with risks. Calculation of the PV:isoSK-GFR ratio is easy,
      does not require MRI contrast agent.

PMID- 28594846
TI  - SbCOMT (Bmr12) is involved in the biosynthesis of tricin-lignin in sorghum.
AB  - Lignin in plant biomass represents a target for engineering strategies towards
      the development of a sustainable bioeconomy. In addition to the conventional
      lignin monomers, namely p-coumaryl, coniferyl and sinapyl alcohols, tricin has
      been shown to be part of the native lignin polymer in certain monocot species.
      Because tricin is considered to initiate the polymerization of lignin chains,
      elucidating its biosynthesis and mechanism of export to the cell wall constitute
      novel challenges for the engineering of bioenergy crops. Late steps of tricin
      biosynthesis require two methylation reactions involving the pathway intermediate
      selgin. It has recently been demonstrated in rice and maize that caffeate O
      methyltransferase (COMT) involved in the synthesis syringyl (S) lignin units
      derived from sinapyl alcohol also participates in the synthesis of tricin in
      planta. In this work, we validate in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) that the O
      methyltransferase responsible for the production of S lignin units (SbCOMT /
      Bmr12) is also involved in the synthesis of lignin-linked tricin. In particular,
      we show that biomass from the sorghum bmr12 mutant contains lower level of tricin
      incorporated into lignin, and that SbCOMT can methylate the tricin precursors
      luteolin and selgin. Our genetic and biochemical data point toward a general
      mechanism whereby COMT is involved in the synthesis of both tricin and S lignin
      units.

PMID- 28594848
TI  - Examining the correlation between diabetes and odontogenic infection: A
      nationwide, retrospective, matched-cohort study in Taiwan.
AB  - More than 90% of head and neck infections are caused by pathological changes
      originating in the teeth. When odontogenic infections are not properly treated,
      infections may spread to distant spaces and cause more serious infections in
      fascial spaces, ultimately leading to deep neck infections. Clinical experience
      has indicated that patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) may be more susceptible
      to facial cellulitis and deep neck infections caused by odontogenic infections.
      This study used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database (NHIRD) to analyze
      and examine the correlation between DM and odontogenic infections in patients. To
      this end, this study analyzed 1 million NHIRD individual datasets from 2005, of
      which 964,182 individuals had medical treatment records. The insurance database
      also recorded related factors such as age, sex, duration of hospital stays,
      season, and whether patients were low income. We also analyzed the correlation
      between urbanization and the studied diseases. The results indicated that the
      correlation between facial cellulitis and DM patients was confirmed; facial
      cellulitis was most likely to occur 2 years after the initial DM diagnosis, with
      a risk occurrence 1.409 times greater than that of the control group. Facial
      cellulitis is more likely to occur in patients originating from poorer
      socioeconomic backgrounds, and female DM patients are more likely to experience
      this condition. These conclusions may facilitate the establishment of clinical
      guidelines for preventative education and treatment. Oral prevention and health
      education for high-risk patients, as well as early-stage surgical intervention
      and antibiotic usage in early-stage odontogenic infections, can prevent disease
      progression, improve patient recovery rates, and reduce the use and waste of
      medical resources.

PMID- 28594849
TI  - High sodium diet converts renal proteoglycans into pro-inflammatory mediators in
      rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High dietary sodium aggravates renal disease by affecting blood
      pressure and by its recently shown pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic effects.
      Moreover, pro-inflammatory modification of renal heparan sulfate (HS) can induce
      tissue remodeling. We aim to investigate if high sodium intake in normotensive
      rats converts renal HS into a pro-inflammatory phenotype, able to bind more
      sodium and orchestrate inflammation, fibrosis and lymphangiogenesis. METHODS:
      Wistar rats received a normal diet for 4 weeks, or 8% NaCl diet for 2 or 4 weeks.
      Blood pressure was monitored, and plasma, urine and tissue collected. Tissue
      sodium was measured by flame spectroscopy. Renal HS and tubulo-interstitial
      remodeling were studied by biochemical, immunohistochemical and qRT-PCR
      approaches. RESULTS: High sodium rats showed a transient increase in blood
      pressure (week 1; p<0.01) and increased sodium excretion (p<0.05) at 2 and 4
      weeks compared to controls. Tubulo-interstitial T-cells, myofibroblasts and mRNA
      levels of VCAM1, TGF-beta1 and collagen type III significantly increased after 4
      weeks (all p<0.05). There was a trend for increased macrophage infiltration and
      lymphangiogenesis (both p = 0.07). Despite increased dermal sodium over time
      (p<0.05), renal concentrations remained stable. Renal HS of high sodium rats
      showed increased sulfation (p = 0.05), increased L-selectin binding to HS
      (p<0,05), and a reduction of sulfation-sensitive anti-HS mAbs JM403 (p<0.001) and
      10E4 (p<0.01). Hyaluronan expression increased under high salt conditions
      (p<0.01) without significant changes in the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan
      versican. Statistical analyses showed that sodium-induced tissue remodeling
      responses partly correlated with observed HS changes. CONCLUSION: We show that
      high salt intake by healthy normotensive rats convert renal HS into high sulfated
      pro-inflammatory glycans involved in tissue remodeling events, but not in
      increased sodium storage.

PMID- 28594850
TI  - No changes in functional connectivity during motor recovery beyond 5 weeks after
      stroke; A longitudinal resting-state fMRI study.
AB  - Spontaneous motor recovery after stroke appears to be associated with structural
      and functional changes in the motor network. The aim of the current study was to
      explore time-dependent changes in resting-state (rs) functional connectivity in
      motor-impaired stroke patients, using rs-functional MRI at 5 weeks and 26 weeks
      post-stroke onset. For this aim, 13 stroke patients from the EXPLICIT-stroke
      Trial and age and gender-matched healthy control subjects were included.
      Patients' synergistic motor control of the paretic upper-limb was assessed with
      the upper extremity section of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-UE) within 2 weeks,
      and at 5 and 26 weeks post-stroke onset. Results showed that the ipsilesional rs
      functional connectivity between motor areas was lower compared to the
      contralesional rs-functional connectivity, but this difference did not change
      significantly over time. No relations were observed between changes in rs
      functional connectivity and upper-limb motor recovery, despite changes in upper
      limb function as measured with the FMA-UE. Last, overall rs-functional
      connectivity was comparable for patients and healthy control subjects. To
      conclude, the current findings did not provide evidence that in moderately
      impaired stroke patients the lower rs-functional connectivity of the ipsilesional
      hemisphere changed over time.

PMID- 28594851
TI  - Serum N-glycome characterization and anti-carbohydrate antibody profiling in oral
      squamous cell carcinoma patients.
AB  - Glycosylation is a protein post translational modification which plays important
      role in protein function, stabilization, trafficking, and turnover. Alteration of
      protein glycosylation is a common phenomenon during tumor progression, migration,
      invasion, angiogenesis, as well as metastasis. Hence, aberrant glycan structures
      and the induced corresponding anti-carbohydrate antibodies are potential
      biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. In this study, serum N-glycomes and anti
      carbohydrate antibodies from normal populations and oral squamous cell carcinoma
      (OSCC) patients were investigated. Total serum proteins were lyophilized and
      subjected to chemical reduction, alkylation and trypsin digestion. The N-glycans
      were released, purified, permethylated, and analyzed using MALDI-TOF-Mass
      spectrometry. In addition, the serum anti-carbohydrate antibody profiles were
      also investigated by carbohydrate microarray. We found that the relative
      abundances of seven N-glycans were decreased or increased in serum of OSCC with
      diagnostic accuracy greater than 75%. The relative abundances of total tri
      antennary and tetra-antennary glycans with varying degrees of fucosylation and
      sialylation were also increased in serum N-glycomes of OSCC. In an independent
      validation group of forty-eight OCCC patients, most of the high-molecular weight
      serum N-glycans showed significantly high sensitivity and specificity according
      to the identified cutoff values. Furthermore, the serum levels of two IgM
      antibodies were elevated accompanied with the decreased levels of nine IgG
      antibodies in patient serum. Taken together, these serum N-glycans and antibodies
      identified in this study should be considered as the candidates of potential
      biomarkers for OSCC diagnosis.

PMID- 28594852
TI  - Three-dimensional characterization of root morphology for maxillary incisors.
AB  - The aim of this study was to test the reproducibility of three-dimensional (3D)
      surface models of maxillary incisors and to propose a characterization of root
      morphology. The sample was comprised of pre-treatment cone-beam computed
      tomography (CBCT) images of fifty-five patients. The CBCTs were used to construct
      3D surface models of the maxillary incisors. The reproducibility of surface
      models was tested by repeated construction of them by two observers. A 3D surface
      model that corresponded to the average of all lateral and all central incisors
      was generated. 3D surface distances and vector differences were calculated for
      each individual tooth and the average of the teeth considered. The corresponding
      points on the 3D surface mesh for each subgroup were compared statistically to
      those of the neutral subgroup using shape analysis MANCOVA and Hotelling's t
      statistic (p < 0.05). Repeated construction of surface models demonstrated
      adequate inter-rater reproducibility. The distribution of 3D models into root
      morphology subgroups was: blunt (11% and 26% of the central and lateral incisors,
      respectively), conical (15% of the central incisors), long (27% and 20% of the
      central and lateral incisors, respectively), and short (15% and 4% of the central
      and lateral incisors, respectively). Compared to the neutral average,
      statistically significant differences in root morphology were found for blunt,
      long, conical, and short central incisors and for blunt, long, and short lateral
      incisors. We can conclude that 3D surface models construction for upper incisors
      is reproducible. 3D shape analysis using CBCT images allows a phenotypic
      characterization of incisor root morphology.

PMID- 28594853
TI  - The unexpected co-occurrence of GRN and MAPT p.A152T in Basque families: Clinical
      and pathological characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The co-occurrence of the c.709-1G>A GRN mutation and the p.A152T MAPT
      variant has been identified in 18 Basque families affected by frontotemporal
      dementia (FTD). We aimed to investigate the influence of the p.A152T MAPT variant
      on the clinical and neuropathological features of these Basque GRN families.
      METHODS AND FINDINGS: We compared clinical characteristics of 14 patients who
      carried the c.709-1G>A GRN mutation (GRN+/A152T-) with 21 patients who carried
      both the c.709-1G>A GRN mutation and the p.A152T MAPT variant (GRN+/A152T+).
      Neuropsychological data (n = 17) and plasma progranulin levels (n = 23) were
      compared between groups, and 7 subjects underwent neuropathological studies. We
      genotyped six short tandem repeat markers in the two largest families. By the
      analysis of linkage disequilibrium decay in the haplotype block we estimated the
      time when the first ancestor to carry both genetic variants emerged. GRN+/A152T+
      and GRN+/A152T- patients shared similar clinical and neuropsychological features
      and plasma progranulin levels. All were diagnosed with an FTD disorder, including
      behavioral variant FTD or non fluent / agrammatic variant primary progressive
      aphasia, and shared a similar pattern of neuropsychological deficits,
      predominantly in executive function, memory, and language. All seven participants
      with available brain autopsies (6 GRN+/A152T+, 1 GRN+/A152T-) showed
      frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 inclusions (type A classification),
      which is characteristic of GRN carriers. Additionally, all seven showed mild to
      moderate tau inclusion burden: five cases lacked beta-amyloid pathology and two
      cases had Alzheimer's pathology. The co-occurrence of both genes within one
      individual is recent, with the birth of the first GRN+/A152T+ individual
      estimated to be within the last 50 generations (95% probability). CONCLUSIONS: In
      our sample, the p.A152T MAPT variant does not appear to show a discernible
      influence on the clinical phenotype of GRN carriers. Whether p.A152T confers a
      greater than expected propensity for tau pathology in these GRN carriers remains
      an open question.

PMID- 28594855
TI  - The artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium affects the gut microbiome and body
      weight gain in CD-1 mice.
AB  - Artificial sweeteners have been widely used in the modern diet, and their
      observed effects on human health have been inconsistent, with both beneficial and
      adverse outcomes reported. Obesity and type 2 diabetes have dramatically
      increased in the U.S. and other countries over the last two decades. Numerous
      studies have indicated an important role of the gut microbiome in body weight
      control and glucose metabolism and regulation. Interestingly, the artificial
      sweetener saccharin could alter gut microbiota and induce glucose intolerance,
      raising questions about the contribution of artificial sweeteners to the global
      epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Acesulfame-potassium (Ace-K), a FDA-approved
      artificial sweetener, is commonly used, but its toxicity data reported to date
      are considered inadequate. In particular, the functional impact of Ace-K on the
      gut microbiome is largely unknown. In this study, we explored the effects of Ace
      K on the gut microbiome and the changes in fecal metabolic profiles using 16S
      rRNA sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics. We
      found that Ace-K consumption perturbed the gut microbiome of CD-1 mice after a 4
      week treatment. The observed body weight gain, shifts in the gut bacterial
      community composition, enrichment of functional bacterial genes related to energy
      metabolism, and fecal metabolomic changes were highly gender-specific, with
      differential effects observed for males and females. In particular, ace-K
      increased body weight gain of male but not female mice. Collectively, our results
      may provide a novel understanding of the interaction between artificial
      sweeteners and the gut microbiome, as well as the potential role of this
      interaction in the development of obesity and the associated chronic
      inflammation.

PMID- 28594854
TI  - Identification of key microRNAs and genes in preeclampsia by bioinformatics
      analysis.
AB  - Preeclampsia is a leading cause of perinatal maternal-foetal mortality and
      morbidity. The aim of this study is to identify the key microRNAs and genes in
      preeclampsia and uncover their potential functions. We downloaded the miRNA
      expression profile of GSE84260 and the gene expression profile of GSE73374 from
      the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed miRNAs and genes
      were identified and compared to miRNA-target information from MiRWalk 2.0, and a
      total of 65 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMIs), including 32 up-regulated
      miRNAs and 33 down-regulated miRNAs, and 91 differentially expressed genes
      (DEGs), including 83 up-regulated genes and 8 down-regulated genes, were
      identified. The pathway enrichment analyses of the DEMIs showed that the up
      regulated DEMIs were enriched in the Hippo signalling pathway and MAPK signalling
      pathway, and the down-regulated DEMIs were enriched in HTLV-I infection and
      miRNAs in cancers. The gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and
      Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses of the DEGs were performed using
      Multifaceted Analysis Tool for Human Transcriptome. The up-regulated DEGs were
      enriched in biological processes (BPs), including the response to cAMP, response
      to hydrogen peroxide and cell-cell adhesion mediated by integrin; no enrichment
      of down-regulated DEGs was identified. KEGG analysis showed that the up-regulated
      DEGs were enriched in the Hippo signalling pathway and pathways in cancer. A PPI
      network of the DEGs was constructed by using Cytoscape software, and FOS, STAT1,
      MMP14, ITGB1, VCAN, DUSP1, LDHA, MCL1, MET, and ZFP36 were identified as the hub
      genes. The current study illustrates a characteristic microRNA profile and gene
      profile in preeclampsia, which may contribute to the interpretation of the
      progression of preeclampsia and provide novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets
      for preeclampsia.

PMID- 28594856
TI  - Municipal wastewater treatment by the bioaugmentation of Bacillus sp. K5 within a
      sequencing batch reactor.
AB  - Artificial municipal wastewater was treated successfully by the bioaugmentation
      of Bacillus sp. K5 capable of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification
      (SND) within a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). During the long-term operation,
      the bioaugmentation system exhibited an excellent and steady COD and NH4+-N
      removal without nitrite and nitrate accumulation. The average removal efficiency
      for COD and NH4+-N achieved to 98% and 95%, respectively. PCR-DGGE, SEM and FISH
      revealed that the introduced Bacillus sp. K5 should be an important functional
      strain and exerted a critical influence on the structure of microbial community.
      qPCR analysis indicated that the strain K5 facilitated aerobic nutrients removal
      capabilities and SND might be the primary pathway for the nitrogen removal in the
      SBR. Overall, the SBR system used in our study should be very promising for the
      future wastewater treatment.

PMID- 28594858
TI  - Factors associated with delayed defibrillation in cardiopulmonary resuscitation:
      A prospective simulation study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Early defibrillation is an important factor of survival in cardiac
      arrest. However, novice resuscitators often struggle with cardiac arrest
      patients. We investigated factors leading to delayed defibrillation performed by
      final-year medical students within a simulated bystander cardiac arrest
      situation. METHODS: Final-year medical students received a refresher lecture and
      basic life support training before being confronted with a simulated cardiac
      arrest situation in a simulation ambulance. The scenario was analyzed for factors
      leading to delayed defibrillation. We compared the time intervals the
      participants needed for various measures with a benchmark set by experienced
      resuscitators. After training, the participants were interviewed regarding
      challenges and thoughts during the scenario. RESULTS: The median time needed for
      defibrillation was 158 s (n = 49, interquartile range: 107-270 s), more than six
      fold of the benchmark time. The major part of total defibrillation time (49%;
      median, n = 49) was between onset of ventricular fibrillation and beginning to
      prepare the defibrillator, more specifically the time between end of preparation
      of the defibrillator and actual delivery of the shock, with a mean proportion of
      26% (n = 49, SD = 17%) of the overall time needed for defibrillation (maximum
      67%). Self-reported reasons for this delay included uncertainty about the next
      step to take, as reported by 73% of the participants. A total of 35% were unsure
      about which algorithm to follow. Diagnosing the patient was subjectively
      difficult for 35% of the participants. Overall, 53% of the participants felt
      generally confused. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that novice resuscitators rarely
      achieve guideline-recommended defibrillation times. The most relative delays were
      observed when participants had to choose what to do next or which algorithm to
      follow, and thus i.e. performed extensive airway management before a life-saving
      defibrillation. Our data provides a first insight in the process of
      defibrillation delay and can be used to generate new hypotheses on how to provide
      a timely defibrillation.

PMID- 28594857
TI  - Noninvasive assessment of respiratory muscle strength and activity in Myotonic
      dystrophy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate sensitivity/specificity of the maximum relaxation rate
      (MRR) of inspiratory muscles, amplitude of electromyographic activity of the
      sternocleidomastoid (SCM), scalene (SCA), parasternal (2ndIS) and rectus
      abdominis (RA) muscles; lung function and respiratory muscle strength in subjects
      with Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) compared with healthy subjects. DESIGN AND
      METHODS: Quasi-experimental observational study with control group. MRR of
      inspiratory muscles, lung function and amplitude of the electromyographic
      activity of SCM, SCA, 2ndIS and RA muscles during maximum inspiratory pressure
      (PImax), maximum expiratory pressure (PEmax) and sniff nasal inspiratory pressure
      (SNIP) tests were assessed in eighteen DM1 subjects and eleven healthy. RESULTS:
      MRR was lower in DM1 group compared to healthy (P = 0.001) and was considered
      sensitive and specific to identify disease in DM1 and discard it in controls, as
      well as SNIP% (P = 0.0026), PImax% (P = 0.0077) and PEmax% (P = 0.0002).
      Contraction time of SCM and SCA was higher in DM1 compared to controls,
      respectively, during PImax (P = 0.023 and P = 0.017) and SNIP (P = 0.015 and P =
      .0004). The DM1 group showed lower PImax (P = .0006), PEmax (P = 0.0002), SNIP (P
      = 0.0014), and higher electromyographic activity of the SCM (P = 0.002) and SCA
      (P = 0.004) at rest; of 2ndIS (P = 0.003) during PEmax and of SCM (P = 0.02) and
      SCA (P = 0.03) during SNIP test. CONCLUSIONS: MD1 subjects presented restrictive
      pattern, reduced respiratory muscle strength, muscular electrical activity and
      MRR when compared to higher compared to controls. In addition, the lower MRR
      found in MD1 subjects showed to be reliable to sensitivity and specificity in
      identifying the delayed relaxation of respiratory muscles.

PMID- 28594859
TI  - The coordinating evaluation and spatial correlation analysis of CSGC: A case
      study of Henan province, China.
AB  - This study investigates the basic characteristics and proposes a concept for the
      complex system of geographical conditions (CSGC). By analyzing the DPSIR model
      and its correlation with the index system, we selected indexes for geographical
      conditions according to the resources, ecology, environment, economy and society
      parameters to build a system. This system consists of four hierarchies: index,
      classification, element and target levels. We evaluated the elements or indexes
      of the complex system using the TOPSIS method and a general model coordinating
      multiple complex systems. On this basis, the coordination analysis experiment of
      geographical conditions is applied to cities in the Henan province in China. The
      following conclusions were reached: 1According to the pressure, state and impact
      of geographical conditions, relatively consistent measures are taken around the
      city, but with conflicting results. 2The coordination degree of geographical
      conditions is small among regions showing large differences in classification
      index value. The degree of coordination of such regions is prone to extreme
      values; however, the smaller the difference the larger the coordination degree.
      3The coordinated development of geographical conditions in the Henan province is
      at the stage of the point axis.

PMID- 28594861
TI  - Level of inflammatory cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis patients: Correlation
      with 25-hydroxy vitamin D and reactive oxygen species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder.
      Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and pro-inflammatory cytokines have been believed
      to be involved in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. The aim of the study was
      to determine the correlation of inflammatory cytokines with 25-hydroxy vitamin D
      and ROS. METHODS: 100 RA patients and 50 healthy age and sex matched individuals
      were included in the study. Patients were further divided on the basis of
      presence or absence of rheumatoid factor and disease severity. Serum 25-hydroxy
      vitamin D levels were monitored by chemiluminescent immunoassay. 10% hematocrit
      was used to detect the level of ROS by spectro fluorometer. The levels of
      inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17) were
      determined in plasma by ELISA. RESULTS: The level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D was
      found to be decreased in RA patients in comparison to the control group. However
      the level of ROS and inflammatory cytokines were found to be elevated in RA
      patients in comparison with the healthy controls, with the increase being more
      pronounced in seropositive and RA patients having high disease severity.
      Inflammatory cytokines showed negative correlation with 25-hydroxy vitamin D and
      positive correlation with ROS. CONCLUSION: This study for the first time shows
      the association of inflammatory cytokines with 25-hydroxy vitamin D and ROS in RA
      patients. The results suggest that 25-hydroxy vitamin D being an immune modulator
      is decreased in the serum of RA patients. Further ROS and cytokines play an
      important role in the pathogenesis of RA and are responsible for increasing the
      severity of disease.

PMID- 28594860
TI  - Effect of probiotic Lactobacillus on lipid profile: A systematic review and meta
      analysis of randomized, controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of probiotic Lactobacillus on serum lipids
      using a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. METHODS: Fifteen studies
      containing 15 trials, with 976 subjects were included. The pooled WMD was
      calculated by random effects model. RESULTS: Probiotic Lactobacillus consumption
      significantly reduced TC by 0.26mmol/l (95% CI, -0.40 to -0.12) and LDL-C by
      0.23mmol/l (95% CI, -0.36 to -0.10). Subgroup analysis of trials found
      significantly reduction of TC using L. plantarum and reduction of LDL-C using L.
      plantarum or L. reuteri. No significant effects were found on TG and HDL-C levels
      after supplementation with probiotic Lactobacillus. While, subgroup analysis
      found significantly beneficial effects on TG and HDL-C by consuming synbiotic
      food, containing L. sporogenes and inulin. CONCLUSION: Consuming probiotic
      Lactobacillus, especially L. reuteri and L. plantarm, could reduce TC and LDL-C
      significantly. The study also suggested significantly beneficial effects on TG
      and HDL-C by consuming synbiotic food, containing L. sporogenes and inulin.

PMID- 28594862
TI  - Application of acoustic agglomeration to enhance air filtration efficiency in air
      conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) systems.
AB  - The recent episodes of haze in Southeast Asia have caused some of the worst
      regional atmospheric pollution ever recorded in history. In order to control the
      levels of airborne fine particulate matters (PM) indoors, filtration systems
      providing high PM capturing efficiency are often sought, which inadvertently also
      results in high airflow resistance (or pressure drop) that increases the energy
      consumption for air distribution. A pre-conditioning mechanism promoting the
      formation of particle clusters to enhance PM capturing efficiency without adding
      flow resistance in the air distribution ductwork could provide an energy
      efficient solution. This pre-conditioning mechanism can be fulfilled by acoustic
      agglomeration, which is a phenomenon that promotes the coagulation of suspended
      particles by acoustic waves propagating in the fluid medium. This paper discusses
      the basic mechanisms of acoustic agglomeration along with influencing factors
      that could affect the agglomeration efficiency. The feasibility to apply acoustic
      agglomeration to improve filtration in air-conditioning and mechanical
      ventilation (ACMV) systems is investigated experimentally in a small-scale wind
      tunnel. Experimental results indicate that this novel application of acoustic pre
      conditioning improves the PM2.5 filtration efficiency of the test filters by up
      to 10% without introducing additional pressure drop. The fan energy savings from
      not having to switch to a high capturing efficiency filter largely outstrip the
      additional energy consumed by the acoustics system. This, as a whole,
      demonstrates potential energy savings from the combined acoustic-enhanced
      filtration system without compromising on PM capturing efficiency.

PMID- 28594863
TI  - High viral abundance as a consequence of low viral decay in the Baltic Sea
      redoxcline.
AB  - Throughout the Baltic Sea redoxcline, virus production and the frequency of
      lytically-infected prokaryotic cells were estimated from parallel incubations of
      undiluted seawater and seawater that contained prokaryotes with substantially
      reduced numbers of viruses (virus dilution approach), effectively preventing
      viral reinfection during the incubation period. Undiluted seawater incubations
      resulted in much higher estimates of virus production (6-35*104 mL-1 h-1) and the
      frequency of infected cells (5-84%) than the virus dilution approach (virus
      production: 1-3*104 mL-1 h-1; frequency of infected cells: 1-11%). Viral
      production and the frequency of infected cells from both approaches, however,
      cannot be directly compared, as data obtained from undiluted incubations were
      biased by viral reinfection and other uncontrollable processes during the
      incubation period. High in situ viral abundance (1-2*107 mL-1) together with low
      virus production rates based on the virus dilution approach resulted in some of
      the longest viral turnover times (24-84 d) ever reported for the epipelagial.
      Throughout a wide range of environmental conditions, viral turnover time and
      burst size were negatively correlated. Given that viral decay estimated in ultra
      filtered water was below the detection limit and the burst size was low (1-17),
      we conclude that prokaryotic viruses in the Baltic Sea redoxcline are investing
      most of their resources into stress defense (strong capsids) rather than
      proliferation (high burst size). In summary, the Baltic Sea redoxcline
      constitutes an environment where low virus production is found in combination
      with low viral decay, resulting in high viral abundance.

PMID- 28594864
TI  - Consistency in the supply of larval fishes among coral reefs in French Polynesia.
AB  - For marine fishes with a bipartite life cycle, pelagic larval dispersal can shape
      the distribution, connectivity, composition and resilience of adult populations.
      Numerous studies of larval dispersal, and associated settlement and recruitment
      processes, have examined the relationship between population connectivity and
      oceanographic features. However, relatively little is known about spatial and
      temporal variation in the abundance of larvae settling among different reefs and
      the extent to which the species assemblage of larvae settling at one location is
      reflective of the assemblage in neighbouring areas. Here, using crest nets, which
      provide a non-selective measure of the total abundance and assemblage of larvae
      settling to a reef (i.e. larval supply), we collected larval coral reef fishes at
      five locations surrounding two spatially disparate French Polynesian islands:
      Moorea and Nengo-Nengo. Overall, larval settlement patterns were correlated with
      the lunar cycle, with larval abundance peaking during the new moon. Although
      there were some spatial differences in larval supply among the five monitored
      sites, settlement patterns were largely consistent, even at the species level,
      irrespective of factors such as coastline orientation or distance between sites.
      This study provides further insights into the mechanisms driving patterns of
      dispersal and settlement of larval fishes over large spatial scales.

PMID- 28594865
TI  - Gender-linked impact of epicardial adipose tissue volume in patients who
      underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery or non-coronary valve surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional and non-traditional risk factors for atherosclerotic
      cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) are different between men and women. Gender-linked
      impact of epicardial adipose tissue volume (EATV) in patients undergoing coronary
      artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains unknown. METHODS: Gender-linked impact of
      EATV, abdominal fat distribution and other traditional ASCVD risk factors were
      compared in 172 patients (men: 115; women: 57) who underwent CABG or non-coronary
      valvular surgery (non-CABG). RESULTS: In men, EATV, EATV index (EATV/body surface
      area) and the markers of adiposity such as body mass index, waist circumference
      and visceral fat area were higher in the CABG group than in the non-CABG group.
      Traditional ASCVD risk factors were also prevalent in the CABG group. In women,
      EATV and EATV index were higher in the CABG group, but other adiposity markers
      were comparable between CABG and non-CABG groups. Multivariate logistic
      regression analysis showed that in men, CABG was determined by EATV Index and
      other ASCVD risk factors including hypertension, dyslipidemia, adiponectin, high
      sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (Corrected R2 =
      0.262, p < 0.0001), while in women, type 2 diabetes mellitus is a single strong
      predictor for CABG, excluding EATV Index (Corrected R2 = 0.266, p = 0.005).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that multiple risk factors, including epicardial
      adipose tissue volume and traditional ASCVD factors are determinants for CABG in
      men, but type 2 diabetes mellitus was the sole determinant in women. Gender
      specific disparities in risk factors of CABG prompt us to evaluate new diagnostic
      and treatment strategies and to seek underlying mechanisms.

PMID- 28594866
TI  - Revisiting the co-existence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and
      Chronic Tic Disorder in childhood-The case of colour discrimination, sustained
      attention and interference control.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Chronic Tic
      Disorder (CTD) are two common and frequently co-existing disorders, probably
      following an additive model. But this is not yet clear for the basic sensory
      function of colour processing sensitive to dopaminergic functioning in the retina
      and higher cognitive functions like attention and interference control. The
      latter two reflect important aspects for psychoeducation and behavioural
      treatment approaches. METHODS: Colour discrimination using the Farnsworth-Munsell
      100-hue Test, sustained attention during the Frankfurt Attention Inventory
      (FAIR), and interference liability during Colour- and Counting-Stroop-Tests were
      assessed to further clarify the cognitive profile of the co-existence of ADHD and
      CTD. Altogether 69 children were classified into four groups: ADHD (N = 14), CTD
      (N = 20), ADHD+CTD (N = 20) and healthy Controls (N = 15) and compared in
      cognitive functioning in a 2*2-factorial statistical model. RESULTS: Difficulties
      with colour discrimination were associated with both ADHD and CTD factors
      following an additive model, but in ADHD these difficulties tended to be more
      pronounced on the blue-yellow axis. Attention problems were characteristic for
      ADHD but not CTD. Interference load was significant in both Colour- and Counting
      Stroop-Tests and unrelated to colour discrimination. Compared to Controls,
      interference load in the Colour-Stroop was higher in pure ADHD and in pure CTD,
      but not in ADHD+CTD, following a sub-additive model. In contrast, interference
      load in the Counting-Stroop did not reveal ADHD or CTD effects. CONCLUSION: The
      co-existence of ADHD and CTD is characterized by additive as well as sub-additive
      performance impairments, suggesting that their co-existence may show simple
      additive characteristics of both disorders or a more complex interaction,
      depending on demand. The equivocal findings on interference control may indicate
      limited validity of the Stroop-Paradigm for clinical assessments.

PMID- 28594867
TI  - Gene essentiality, conservation index and co-evolution of genes in cyanobacteria.
AB  - Cyanobacteria, a group of photosynthetic prokaryotes, dominate the earth with ~
      1015 g wet biomass. Despite diversity in habitats and an ancient origin,
      cyanobacterial phylum has retained a significant core genome. Cyanobacteria are
      being explored for direct conversion of solar energy and carbon dioxide into
      biofuels. For this, efficient cyanobacterial strains will need to be designed via
      metabolic engineering. This will require identification of target knockouts to
      channelize the flow of carbon toward the product of interest while minimizing
      deletions of essential genes. We propose "Gene Conservation Index" (GCI) as a
      quick measure to predict gene essentiality in cyanobacteria. GCI is based on
      phylogenetic profile of a gene constructed with a reduced dataset of
      cyanobacterial genomes. GCI is the percentage of organism clusters in which the
      query gene is present in the reduced dataset. Of the 750 genes deemed to be
      essential in the experimental study on S. elongatus PCC 7942, we found 494 to be
      conserved across the phylum which largely comprise of the essential metabolic
      pathways. On the contrary, the conserved but non-essential genes broadly comprise
      of genes required under stress conditions. Exceptions to this rule include genes
      such as the glycogen synthesis and degradation enzymes, deoxyribose-phosphate
      aldolase (DERA), glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase (zwf) and fructose-1,6
      bisphosphatase class1, which are conserved but non-essential. While the essential
      genes are to be avoided during gene knockout studies as potentially lethal
      deletions, the non-essential but conserved set of genes could be interesting
      targets for metabolic engineering. Further, we identify clusters of co-evolving
      genes (CCG), which provide insights that may be useful in annotation. Principal
      component analysis (PCA) plots of the CCGs are demonstrated as data visualization
      tools that are complementary to the conventional heatmaps. Our dataset consists
      of phylogenetic profiles for 23,643 non-redundant cyanobacterial genes. We
      believe that the data and the analysis presented here will be a great resource to
      the scientific community interested in cyanobacteria.

PMID- 28594868
TI  - Design of short peptides to block BTLA/HVEM interactions for promoting anticancer
      T-cell responses.
AB  - Antibody based immune-checkpoint blockade therapy is a major breakthrough in
      oncology, leading to clinical benefit for cancer patients. Among the growing
      family of inhibitory receptors, the B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA), which
      interacts with herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM), is a promising target for
      immunotherapy. Indeed, BTLA inhibits T-cell proliferation and cytokine
      production. The crystal structure of the BTLA/HVEM complex has shown that the
      HVEM(26-38) fragment is directly involved in protein binding. We designed and
      analyzed the capacity of several analogs of this fragment to block the ligation
      between BTLA and HVEM, using competitive ELISA and cellular assay. We found that
      the HVEM(23-39) peptide can block BTLA/HVEM ligation. However, the blocking
      ability was due to the Cys encompassed in this peptide and that even free
      cysteine targeted the BTLA protein and blocked its interaction with HVEM. These
      data highlight a Cys-related artefact in vitro, which should be taken in
      consideration for future development of BTLA/HVEM blocking compounds.

PMID- 28594870
TI  - Spatial planning for a green economy: National-level hydrologic ecosystem
      services priority areas for Gabon.
AB  - Rapidly developing countries contain both the bulk of intact natural areas and
      biodiversity, and the greatest untapped natural resource stocks, placing them at
      the forefront of "green" economic development opportunities. However, most lack
      scientific tools to create development plans that account for biodiversity and
      ecosystem services, diminishing the real potential to be sustainable. Existing
      methods focus on biodiversity and carbon priority areas across large geographies
      (e.g., countries, states/provinces), leaving out essential services associated
      with water supplies, among others. These hydrologic ecosystem services (HES) are
      especially absent from methods applied at large geographies and in data-limited
      contexts. Here, we present a novel, spatially explicit, and relatively simple
      methodology to identify countrywide HES priority areas. We applied our
      methodology to the Gabonese Republic, a country undergoing a major economic
      transformation under a governmental commitment to balance conservation and
      development goals. We present the first national-scale maps of HES priority areas
      across Gabon for erosion control, nutrient retention, and groundwater recharge.
      Priority sub-watersheds covered 44% of the country's extent. Only 3% of the
      country was identified as a priority area for all HES simultaneously,
      highlighting the need to conserve different areas for each different hydrologic
      service. While spatial tradeoffs occur amongst HES, we identified synergies with
      two other conservation values, given that 66% of HES priority areas intersect
      regions of above average area-weighted (by sub-watersheds) total forest carbon
      stocks and 38% intersect with terrestrial national parks. Considering
      implications for development, we identified HES priority areas overlapping
      current or proposed major roads, forestry concessions, and active mining
      concessions, highlighting the need for proactive planning for avoidance areas and
      compensatory offsets to mitigate potential conflicts. Collectively, our results
      provide insight into strategies to protect HES as part of Gabon's development
      strategy, while providing a replicable methodology for application to new scales,
      geographies, and policy contexts.

PMID- 28594869
TI  - Compound heterozygous mutations in glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GARS) cause
      mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction.
AB  - Glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GARS; OMIM 600287) is one of thirty-seven tRNA-synthetase
      genes that catalyses the synthesis of glycyl-tRNA, which is required to insert
      glycine into proteins within the cytosol and mitochondria. To date, eighteen
      mutations in GARS have been reported in patients with autosomal-dominant Charcot
      Marie-Tooth disease type 2D (CMT2D; OMIM 601472), and/or distal spinal muscular
      atrophy type V (dSMA-V; OMIM 600794). In this study, we report a patient with
      clinical and biochemical features suggestive of a mitochondrial respiratory chain
      (MRC) disorder including mild left ventricular posterior wall hypertrophy,
      exercise intolerance, and lactic acidosis. Using whole exome sequencing we
      identified compound heterozygous novel variants, c.803C>T; p.(Thr268Ile) and
      c.1234C>T; p.(Arg412Cys), in GARS in the proband. Spectrophotometric evaluation
      of the MRC complexes showed reduced activity of Complex I, III and IV in patient
      skeletal muscle and reduced Complex I and IV activity in the patient liver, with
      Complex IV being the most severely affected in both tissues. Immunoblot analysis
      of GARS protein and subunits of the MRC enzyme complexes in patient fibroblast
      extracts showed significant reduction in GARS protein levels and Complex IV.
      Together these studies provide evidence that the identified compound heterozygous
      GARS variants may be the cause of the mitochondrial dysfunction in our patient.

PMID- 28594871
TI  - Association among presence of cancer pain, inadequate pain control, and
      psychotropic drug use.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pain is a common symptom in cancer patients, and its control and
      management are complex. Despite the high concomitant use of psychotropic drugs
      among such patients, the association among pain, inadequate pain control, and
      psychotropic drug use has not been fully determined. This study examined the
      prevalence of cancer pain and inadequate pain control and the association with
      psychotropic drug use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we
      investigated 402 medical records obtained by simple random sampling of oncology
      patients at a hospital in northern Spain from July 2012 to July 2014. Adjusted
      odds ratios (ORs) were estimated together with their 95% confidence intervals
      (95% CIs) by unconditional logistic regression for each type of psychotropic drug
      (anxiolytics, hypnotics, and antidepressants). RESULTS: The mean patient age was
      61.17 (standard deviation +/- 13.14) years; 57.5% were women, 42.5% men. Pain was
      present in 18.4% of patients and inadequate pain control in 54.2%. We found a
      statistically significant association between the presence of cancer pain and
      anxiolytic use (adjusted OR, 3.15; 95% CI, 1.49-6.68) and hypnotic use (adjusted
      OR, 5.19; 95% CI, 1.77-15.25). Inadequate pain control was associated to a
      greater extent with the use of those drugs: adjusted OR for anxiolytic use, 4.74
      (95% CI, 1.91-11.80); adjusted OR for hypnotic use, 6.09 (95% CI, 1.74-21.32). By
      contrast, no association was found between pain and antidepressant use (adjusted
      OR, 0.99). CONCLUSION: The presence of pain and (to a greater extent) poor pain
      control were associated with increased use of certain psychotropic drugs, such as
      anxiolytics and hypnotics. There appeared to be no association between pain and
      antidepressant use.

PMID- 28594872
TI  - Unraveling the environmental and anthropogenic drivers of bacterial community
      changes in the Estuary of Bilbao and its tributaries.
AB  - In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to characterize the changes in
      taxonomic composition and environmental factors significantly influencing
      bacterial community structure across an annual cycle in the Estuary of Bilbao as
      well as its tributaries. In spite of this estuary being small and characterized
      by a short residence time, the environmental factors most highly correlated with
      the bacterial community mirrored those reported to govern larger estuaries,
      specifically salinity and temperature. Additionally, bacterial community changes
      in the estuary appeared to vary with precipitation. For example, an increase in
      freshwater bacteria (Comamonadaceae and Sphingobacteriaceae) was observed in high
      precipitation periods compared to the predominately marine-like bacteria
      (Rhodobacterales and Oceanospirillales) that were found in low precipitation
      periods. Notably, we observed a significantly higher relative abundance of
      Comamonadaceae than previously described in other estuaries. Furthermore,
      anthropic factors could have an impact on this particular estuary's bacterial
      community structure. For example, ecosystem changes related to the channelization
      of the estuary likely induced a low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, high
      temperature, and high chlorophyll concentration period in the inner euhaline
      water in summer (samples with salinity >30 ppt). Those samples were characterized
      by a high abundance of facultative anaerobes. For instance, OTUs classified as
      Cryomorphaceae and Candidatus Aquiluna rubra were negatively associated with DO
      concentration, while Oleiphilaceae was positively associated with DO
      concentration. Additionally, microorganisms related to biological treatment of
      wastewater (e.g Bdellovibrio and Zoogloea) were detected in the samples
      immediately downstream of the Bilbao Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). There are
      several human activities planned in the region surrounding the Estuary of Bilbao
      (e.g. sediment draining, architectural changes, etc.) which will likely affect
      this ecosystem. Therefore, the addition of bacterial community profiling and
      diversity analysis into the estuary's ongoing monitoring program would provide a
      more comprehensive view of the ecological status of the Estuary of Bilbao.

PMID- 28594873
TI  - Oral uricase eliminates blood uric acid in the hyperuricemic pig model.
AB  - An elevated level of serum uric acid-hyperuricemia, is strongly associated with
      the development of gout and chronic kidney disease (CKD) which is often
      accompanied by a significantly reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR). In the
      present study, we investigated the extra-renal elimination of uric acid via the
      intestine in a healthy pig model and the effect of oral uricase therapy on plasma
      uric acid concentrations in pigs with induced hyperuricemia and CKD. The
      experiment was conducted on eleven, ten-week-old pigs (n = 11). The porcine model
      of CKD was developed by performing 9/10 nephrectomy surgery on eight pigs. A
      stable model of hyperuricemia was established in only five of the eight
      nephrectomized pigs by frequent injections of uric acid (UA) into the jugular
      vein. All pigs (three healthy pigs and five CKD pigs) were operated for
      implantation of jugular vein catheters and the three healthy pigs also had portal
      vein catheters inserted. Blood uric acid concentrations were measured
      spectrophotometrically, using the Uric Acid Assay Kit (BioAssay Systems, Hayward,
      USA). The piglets with CKD received orally administered uricase (treatment) and
      served as their own controls (without uricase supplementation). Oral uricase
      therapy significantly decreased plasma uric acid concentrations in pigs with CKD,
      whereas hyperuricemia was observed in the pigs whilst not being treated with
      uricase. Urinary uric acid excretion was similar during both the treatment and
      control periods during the first 8 h and 24 h after UA infusions in the CKD pigs.
      To demonstrate the elimination of UA via the intestine, the healthy pigs were
      infused with UA into the jugular vein. The blood collected from the jugular vein
      represents circulating UA concentrations and the blood collected from the portal
      vein represents the concentration of UA leaving the intestine. The final (after 2
      h) concentration of UA was significantly lower in blood collected from the portal
      vein compared to that collected from the jugular vein (3.34 vs. 2.43 mg/dL,
      respectively, p = 0.024). The latter allows us to suggest that UA is eliminated
      from the blood via the gut tissue.

PMID- 28594874
TI  - A comparative analysis of suicide attempts in left-behind children and non-left
      behind children in rural China.
AB  - To estimate the prevalence of suicide attempts and explore the shared and unique
      factors influencing suicide risk in left-behind children (LBC) and non-left
      behind children (NLBC) in rural China, this study collected data using a multi
      stage cluster random sampling method from 13,952 children including 6,034 LBC and
      7,918 NLBC. Sociodemographic characteristics, suicide attempts, neglect and
      physical abuse, negative life events, and loneliness were measured by self
      reported questionnaires. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models.
      Gender and mother's education level were unique influential factors for NLBC
      while family structure type was a unique influential factor for LBC. The study
      provides two novel findings regarding NLBC specifically: 1. Children with optimal
      family socioeconomic status are more likely to report suicide attempts (odds
      ratio OR = 1)than are those in the general children population, OR 0.52 (95% CI:
      0.39-0.70), and 2. Children with higher mother's education level are subject to
      higher suicide rates in high school, OR 1.67 (95% CI: 1.13-2.46), and post
      secondary education, OR 2.14 (95% CI: 1.37-3.37). The unique characteristics of
      LBC and NLBC in China suggest that investigating risk factors and determining the
      factors that might be targeted in intervention programs are urgently needed
      currently.

PMID- 28594875
TI  - Analytical evaluation of three enzymatic assays for measuring total bile acids in
      plasma using a fully-automated clinical chemistry platform.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the clinical significance of measuring bile acids
      concentration in plasma or serum has been recognized for long in patients with
      hepatobiliary disease and/or bile acid malabsorption, the reference separation
      techniques are expensive and mostly unsuitable for early diagnosis and for
      measuring large volumes of samples. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate
      the analytical performance of three commercial enzymatic techniques for measuring
      total bile acids in plasma using a fully-automated clinical chemistry platform.
      METHODS: Three commercial enzymatic assays (from Diazyme, Randox and Sentinel)
      were adapted for use on a Cobas Roche c501. We performed imprecision and
      linearity studies, and we compared results with those obtained using a reference
      liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique on an identical set of
      lithium-heparin plasma samples. RESULTS: Total imprecision was optimal, always
      equal or lower than 3%. All assays had optimal linearity between 3-138 MUmol/L.
      The comparison studies showed good correlation with LC-MS data (Spearman's
      correlation coefficients always >0.92), but all plasma samples values were
      significantly underestimated using the commercial enzymatic assays (-44% for
      Diazyme, -16% for Randox and -12% for Sentinel). The agreement at the 10 and 40
      MUmol/L diagnostic thresholds of total bile acids in plasma ranged between 86
      92%. This discrepancy was found to be mainly attributable to a heterogeneous
      composition in terms of bile acids content of the three assay calibrators.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the analytical performance of the three
      commercial enzymatic assays is excellent, thus confirming that automation of this
      important test by means of enzymatic assessment may be feasible, practical,
      reliable and supposedly cheap. Nevertheless, the underestimation of values
      compared to the reference LC-MS also suggests that the local definition and
      validation of reference ranges according to the combination between the specific
      enzymatic assay and the different clinical chemistry platforms may be advisable.

PMID- 28594876
TI  - Discretionary decisions and disparities in receiving drug-eluting stents under a
      universal healthcare system: A population-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: One of the main objectives behind the expansion of insurance coverage
      is to eliminate disparities in health and healthcare. However, researchers have
      not yet fully elucidated the reasons for disparities in the use of high-cost
      treatments among patients of different occupations. Furthermore, it remains
      unknown whether discretionary decisions made at the hospital level have an impact
      on the administration of high-cost interventions in a universal healthcare
      system. This study investigated the adoption of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus
      bare metal-stents (BMS) among patients in different occupations and income
      levels, with the aim of gauging the degree to which the inclination of health
      providers toward treatment options could affect treatment choices at the patient
      level within a universal healthcare system. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We adopted a
      cross-sectional observational study design using hierarchical modeling in
      conjunction with the population-based National Health Insurance database of
      Taiwan. Patients who received either a BMS or a DES between 2007 and 2010 were
      included in the study. RESULTS: During the period of study, 42,124 patients
      received a BMS (65.3%) and 22,376 received DES (34.7%). Patients who were
      physicians or the family members of physicians were far more likely to receive
      DES (OR: 3.18, CI: 2.38-4.23) than were patients who were neither physicians nor
      in other high-status jobs (employers, other medical professions, or public
      service). Similarly, patients in the top 5% income bracket had a higher
      probability of receiving a DES (OR: 2.23, CI: 2.06-2.47, p < .001), than were
      patients in the lowest income bracket. After controlling for patient-level
      factors, the inclination of hospitals (proportion of DES>50% or between 25% and
      50%) was shown to be strongly associated with the selection of DESs (OR: 3.64 CI:
      3.24-4.09 and OR: 2.16, CI: 2.01-2.33, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Even under the
      universal healthcare system in Taiwan, socioeconomic disparities in the use of
      high-cost services remain widespread. Differences in the care received by
      patients of lower socioeconomic status may be due to the discretionary decisions
      of healthcare providers.

PMID- 28594878
TI  - Development and evaluation of a culturally appropriate hypertension education
      (CAHE) training program for health care providers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Western countries, hypertension and hypertension-related
      complication are more common in ethnic minority groups of African descent than in
      indigenous populations. Addressing ethnic minority patients' perceptions of
      hypertension and its treatment through the use of cultural appropriate
      hypertension education (CAHE) increases adherence to medication and lifestyle
      recommendations. Given these effects, it seems warranted to develop a training
      program on how to deliver this type of patient education for Primary Care Nurse
      Practitioners (PCNPs). OBJECTIVE: Development and evaluation of a training
      program for PCNPs aimed at providing culturally appropriate hypertension patient
      education. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study evaluating attitude and intended
      behavioral changes. PARTICIPANTS: Both experienced PCNPs and PCNPs in training
      participated in this study. MAIN MEASURES: The effects of the CAHE-training were
      measured by 3 different questionnaires on 1) the satisfaction with the training
      program, 2) the attitude towards culturally appropriate care, and 3) the
      commitment to change. RESULTS: The CAHE-training program consists of 10 different
      components divided over two 4-hour sessions and was taught to 87 participating
      PCNPs. The program utilizes constructivist-learning principles and educational
      evidence on adult learning. The content of the program is based on the knowledge
      obtained from our previous studies on culturally appropriate care. The mean
      satisfaction-score was 7.5 (1-10 scale), with the role-play exercise with patient
      actors scoring highest (8.2). We observed non-significant but positive changes in
      attitude. PCNPs who reported on the implementation of their intended behavior
      change showed significant attitude changes after three months. CONCLUSION: We
      demonstrated that our evidence based training program for PCNPs resulted in a
      positive learning experience with adequate intended behavioral changes in
      practice. Unfortunately, response rates were too low to demonstrate persistent
      changes in attitude.

PMID- 28594877
TI  - An indicator cell assay for blood-based diagnostics.
AB  - We have established proof of principle for the Indicator Cell Assay PlatformTM
      (iCAPTM), a broadly applicable tool for blood-based diagnostics that uses
      specifically-selected, standardized cells as biosensors, relying on their innate
      ability to integrate and respond to diverse signals present in patients' blood.
      To develop an assay, indicator cells are exposed in vitro to serum from case or
      control subjects and their global differential response patterns are used to
      train reliable, disease classifiers based on a small number of features. In a
      feasibility study, the iCAP detected pre-symptomatic disease in a murine model of
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with 94% accuracy (p-Value = 3.81E-6) and
      correctly identified samples from a murine Huntington's disease model as non
      carriers of ALS. Beyond the mouse model, in a preliminary human disease study,
      the iCAP detected early stage Alzheimer's disease with 72% cross-validated
      accuracy (p-Value = 3.10E-3). For both assays, iCAP features were enriched for
      disease-related genes, supporting the assay's relevance for disease research.

PMID- 28594880
TI  - Application of the 3D slicer chest imaging platform segmentation algorithm for
      large lung nodule delineation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Accurate segmentation of lung nodules is crucial in the development of
      imaging biomarkers for predicting malignancy of the nodules. Manual segmentation
      is time consuming and affected by inter-observer variability. We evaluated the
      robustness and accuracy of a publically available semiautomatic segmentation
      algorithm that is implemented in the 3D Slicer Chest Imaging Platform (CIP) and
      compared it with the performance of manual segmentation. METHODS: CT images of
      354 manually segmented nodules were downloaded from the LIDC database. Four
      radiologists performed the manual segmentation and assessed various nodule
      characteristics. The semiautomatic CIP segmentation was initialized using the
      centroid of the manual segmentations, thereby generating four contours for each
      nodule. The robustness of both segmentation methods was assessed using the region
      of uncertainty (delta) and Dice similarity index (DSI). The robustness of the
      segmentation methods was compared using the Wilcoxon-signed rank test
      (pWilcoxon<0.05). The Dice similarity index (DSIAgree) between the manual and CIP
      segmentations was computed to estimate the accuracy of the semiautomatic
      contours. RESULTS: The median computational time of the CIP segmentation was 10
      s. The median CIP and manually segmented volumes were 477 ml and 309 ml,
      respectively. CIP segmentations were significantly more robust than manual
      segmentations (median deltaCIP = 14ml, median dsiCIP = 99% vs. median deltamanual
      = 222ml, median dsimanual = 82%) with pWilcoxon~10-16. The agreement between CIP
      and manual segmentations had a median DSIAgree of 60%. While 13% (47/354) of the
      nodules did not require any manual adjustment, minor to substantial manual
      adjustments were needed for 87% (305/354) of the nodules. CIP segmentations were
      observed to perform poorly (median DSIAgree~50%) for non-/sub-solid nodules with
      subtle appearances and poorly defined boundaries. CONCLUSION: Semi-automatic CIP
      segmentation can potentially reduce the physician workload for 13% of nodules
      owing to its computational efficiency and superior stability compared to manual
      segmentation. Although manual adjustment is needed for many cases, CIP
      segmentation provides a preliminary contour for physicians as a starting point.

PMID- 28594881
TI  - Importance of demographic surveys and public lands for the conservation of
      eastern hellbenders Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis in southeast USA.
AB  - Comparisons of recent and historic population demographic studies of eastern
      hellbenders Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis have identified
      significant population declines and extirpations associated with habitat
      degradation, poor water quality and disease, leading to nomination as a candidate
      for listing under the Endangered Species Act. However, populations in the
      southern Appalachian region of the range have received less attention despite
      relatively high levels of watershed protection due to the establishment of
      federally protected National Forest and National Park public lands. These
      watersheds likely represent some of the best remaining available habitat, yet the
      lack of published studies make assessment of population stability and viability
      very difficult. Our objectives were to (1) conduct a capture-mark-recapture (CMR)
      demographic study and a point transect survey on the Hiwassee River in Tennessee
      which is designated a National Scenic River, and is largely contained within the
      Cherokee National Forest, (2) quantify the size structure of the population, (3)
      compare abundance, survival and recruitment with historic and contemporary
      hellbender populations across the range, (4) assess the importance of this
      population and the significance of National Forest and National Park lands in the
      context of hellbender population conservation in the southeastern United States.
      We detected all age classes present, with larval hellbenders comprising 21.5% of
      captures. Using a combination of static life table and CMR methods, we determined
      that survival rates during the first year were low (~10%), but were high (68-94%)
      for taggable sized hellbenders. Density of hellbenders at the study site was very
      high (84 taggable sized hellbenders per 100m of river) compared to recent
      demographic studies conducted in other regions of the range. We detected
      hellbenders over ~28 km of river, with a mean density of 23 taggable sized
      hellbenders per 100m of river, and a total population estimate of 6440 taggable
      hellbenders. National Forest and National Park lands are likely to continue to
      play a particularly important role in providing suitable habitat for hellbenders
      in the southern Appalachians. In fact, only six of 21 known hellbender locations
      in Tennessee appear to show consistent larval recruitment, all of which are
      located within or adjacent to National Forest or National Park land.

PMID- 28594879
TI  - Molecular surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin-based
      combination therapies in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
AB  - Malaria is a major public health problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
      Despite progress achieved over the past decade in the fight against malaria,
      further efforts have to be done such as in the surveillance and the containment
      of Plasmodium falciparum resistant strains. We investigated resistance to
      artemisinin-based combination therapies currently in use in Democratic Republic
      of Congo by surveying molecular polymorphisms in three genes: pfcrt, pfmdr1 and
      pfk13 to explore possible emergence of amodiaquine, lumefantrine or artemisinin
      resistance in Democratic Republic of Congo. This study essentially revealed that
      resistance to chloroquine is still decreasing while polymorphism related to
      amodiaquine resistance seems to be not present in Democratic Republic of Congo,
      that three samples, located in the east of the country, harbor Pfmdr1
      amplification and that none of the mutations found in South-East Asia correlated
      with artemisinine resistance have been found in Democratic Republic of Congo. But
      new mutations have been identified, especially the M476K, occurred in the same
      position that the M476I previously identified in the F32-ART strain, strongly
      resistant to artemisinine. Antimalarial first-line treatments currently in use in
      Democratic Republic of Congo are not associated with emergence of molecular
      markers of resistance.

PMID- 28594882
TI  - Rickettsia amblyommatis infecting ticks and exposure of domestic dogs to
      Rickettsia spp. in an Amazon-Cerrado transition region of northeastern Brazil.
AB  - This study was performed in Maranhao state, a transition area two Brazilian
      biomes, Amazon and Cerrado. During 2011-2013, 1,560 domestic dogs were sampled
      for collection of serum blood samples and ticks in eight counties (3 within the
      Amazon and 5 within the Cerrado). A total of 959 ticks were collected on 150 dogs
      (9.6%). Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) was the most abundant tick
      (68% of all collected specimens), followed by Amblyomma cajennense sensu lato
      (s.l.) (12.9%), Amblyomma parvum (9.2%), and Amblyomma ovale (5.2%). Other less
      abundant species (<1%) were Amblyomma oblongoguttatum, Rhipicephalus microplus,
      Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, and Amblyomma rotundatum. Females of A. cajennense s.l.
      ticks were morphologically identified as A. cajennense sensu stricto (s.s.) or A.
      sculptum. Molecular analyses of 779 canine ticks revealed three Rickettsia
      species: Rickettsia amblyommatis in 1% (1/100) A. cajennense s.l., 'Candidatus
      Rickettsia andeanae' in 20.7% (12/58) A. parvum, Rickettsia bellii in 6.8% (3/44)
      A. ovale and 100% (1/1) A. rotundatum ticks. An additional collection of A.
      sculptum from horses in a Cerrado area, and A. cajennense s.s. from pigs in an
      Amazon area revealed R. amblyommatis infecting only the A. cajennense s.s. ticks.
      Serological analysis of the 1,560 canine blood samples revealed 12.6% canine
      seroreactivity to Rickettsia spp., with the highest specific seroreactivity rate
      (10.2%) for R. amblyommatis. Endpoint titers to R. amblyommatis were
      significantly higher than those for the other Rickettsia antigens, suggesting
      that most of the seroreactive dogs were exposed to R. amblyommatis-infected
      ticks. Highest canine seroreactivity rates per locality (13.1-30.8%) were found
      in Amazon biome, where A. cajennense s.s. predominated. Lowest seroreactivity
      rates (1.9-6.5%) were found in Cerrado localities that were further from the
      Amazon, where A. sculptum predominated. Multivariate analyses revealed that
      canine seroreactivity to Rickettsia spp. or R. amblyommatis was statistically
      associated with rural dogs, exposed to Amblyomma ticks.

PMID- 28594883
TI  - Qat use and esophageal cancer in Ethiopia: A pilot case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Qat (Catha edulis) chewing is reported to induce lesions in the
      buccal mucosa, irritation of the esophagus, and esophageal reflux. Case series
      suggest a possible etiological role in oral and esophageal cancers. This pilot
      study aimed to generate preliminary estimates of the magnitude and direction of
      the association between qat use and esophageal cancer (EC) risk and to inform the
      logistics required to conduct a multi-center case-control study. METHODS: Between
      May 2012 and May 2013, 73 EC cases (including 12 gastro-esophageal junction
      cases) and 133 controls matched individually on sex, age, and residence were
      enrolled at two endoscopy clinics and a cancer treatment hospital in Addis Ababa.
      A face-to-face structured questionnaire was administered. Qat use was defined as
      ever having chewed qat once a week or more frequently for at least one year. Odds
      ratios were calculated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: Only 8% of
      cases resided in Addis Ababa. Qat use was more frequent in cases (36%) than in
      controls (26%). A 2-fold elevation in EC risk was observed in ever qat chewers
      compared with never users in unadjusted conditional logistic regression (OR =
      2.12; 95% CI = 0.94, 4.74), an association that disappeared after adjusting for
      differences in tobacco use, consumption of alcohol and green vegetables,
      education level, and religion (OR = 0.95; 0.22, 4.22). Among never tobacco users,
      however, a non-significant increase in EC risk was suggested in ever qat users
      also after adjustment. Increases in EC risk were observed with ever tobacco use,
      alcohol consumption, low consumption of green vegetables, a salty diet,
      illiteracy, and among Muslims; the four latter associations were significant.
      CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study generated EC risk estimates in association with a
      habit practiced by millions of people and never before studied in a case-control
      design. Results must be interpreted cautiously in light of possible selection
      bias, with some demographics such as education level and religion differing
      between cases and controls. A large case-control study with enrolment of EC cases
      and carefully matched controls at health facilities from high-risk areas in the
      countryside, where the majority of cases occur, is needed to further investigate
      the association between qat use and EC.

PMID- 28594886
TI  - Impacts of El Nino-Southern Oscillation on the wheat market: A global dynamic
      analysis.
AB  - Although the widespread influence of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
      occurrences on crop yields of the main agricultural commodities is well known,
      the global socio-economic consequences of ENSO still remain uncertain. Given the
      global importance of wheat for global consumption by providing 20% of global
      calories and nourishment, the monitoring and prediction of ENSO-induced
      variations in the worldwide wheat market are essential for allowing national
      governments to manage the associated risks and to ensure the supplies of wheat
      for consumers, including the underprivileged. To this end, we propose a global
      dynamic model for the analysis of ENSO impacts on wheat yield anomalies, export
      prices, exports and stock-to-use ratios. Our framework focuses on seven
      countries/regions: the six main wheat-exporting countries-the United States,
      Argentina, Australia, Canada, the EU, and the group of the main Black Sea export
      countries, i.e. Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan-plus the rest of the world. The
      study shows that La Nina exerts, on average, a stronger and negative impact on
      wheat yield anomalies, exports and stock-to-use ratios than El Nino. In contrast,
      wheat export prices are positively related to La Nina occurrences evidencing,
      once again, its steady impact in both the short and long run. Our findings
      emphasize the importance of the two ENSO extreme phases for the worldwide wheat
      market.

PMID- 28594884
TI  - Correlation between white matter microstructure and executive functions suggests
      early developmental influence on long fibre tracts in preterm born adolescents.
AB  - MAIN OBJECTIVES: Executive functions are frequently a weakness in children born
      preterm. We examined associations of executive functions and general cognitive
      abilities with brain structure in preterm born adolescents who were born with
      appropriate weight for gestational age and who have no radiological signs of
      preterm brain injury on neuroimaging. METHODS: The Stockholm Neonatal Project
      (SNP) is a longitudinal, population-based study of children born preterm (<36
      weeks of gestation) with very low birth weight (<1501g) between 1988-1993. At age
      18 years (mean 18 years, SD 2 weeks) 134 preterm born and 94 full term
      participants underwent psychological assessment (general intelligence, executive
      function measures). Of these, 71 preterm and 63 full term participants underwent
      Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at mean 15.2 years (range 12-18 years),
      including 3D T1-weighted images for volumetric analyses and Diffusion Tensor
      Imaging (DTI) for assessment of white matter microstructure. Group comparisons of
      regional grey and white matter volumes and fractional anisotropy (FA, as a
      measure of white matter microstructure) and, within each group, correlation
      analyses of cognitive measures with MRI metrics were carried out. RESULTS:
      Significant differences in grey and white matter regional volumes and widespread
      differences in FA were seen between the two groups. No significant correlations
      were found between cognitive measures and brain volumes in any group after
      correction for multiple comparisons. However, there were significant correlations
      between FA in projection fibres and long association fibres, linking frontal,
      temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes, and measures of executive function and
      general cognitive abilities in the preterm born adolescents, but not in the term
      born adolescents. OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: In persons born preterm, in
      the absence of perinatal brain injury on visual inspection of MRI, widespread
      alterations in regional brain tissue volumes and microstructure are present in
      adolescence/young adulthood. Importantly, these alterations in WM tracts are
      correlated with measures of executive function and general cognitive abilities.
      Our findings suggest that disturbance of neural pathways, rather than changes in
      regional brain volumes, are involved in the impaired cognitive functions.

PMID- 28594885
TI  - Effect of a new formulation of micronized and ultramicronized N
      palmitoylethanolamine in a tibia fracture mouse model of complex regional pain
      syndrome.
AB  - Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-I) is a disabling and frequently
      chronic condition. It involves the extremities and is a frequent consequence of
      distal tibia and radius fractures. The inflamed appearance of the affected CRPS-I
      limb suggests that local production of inflammatory mediators may be implicated
      in the ensuing etiology. A rodent tibia fracture model, characterized by
      inflammation, chronic unilateral hindlimb warmth, edema, protein extravasation,
      allodynia and hyperalgesia resembles the clinical features of patients with acute
      CRPS-I. N-palmitoylethanolamine (PEA), a member of the family of naturally
      occurring N-acylethanolamines, is well-known for its ability to modulate
      inflammatory processes and regulate pain sensitivity. However, the large particle
      size and lipidic nature of PEA may limit its bioavailability and solubility when
      given orally. Micronized formulations are frequently used to enhance the
      dissolution rate of drug and reduce its variability of absorption when orally
      administered. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a formulation of
      micronized and ultramicronized PEA (PEA-MPS), given orally in a mouse model of
      CRPS-I. CD-1 male mice were subjected to distal tibia fracture and divided into
      two groups: control and treated with PEA-MPS (PEA micronized 300 mg/kg and
      ultramicronized 600 mg/kg). Sensibility to pain was monitored in all mice
      throughout the course of the experiment. Twenty-eight days after tibia fracture
      induction animals were sacrificed and biochemical parameters evaluated. The PEA
      MPS-treated group showed an improved healing process, fracture recovery and
      fibrosis score. PEA-MPS administration decreased mast cell density, nerve growth
      factor, matrix metalloproteinase 9 and cytokine expression. This treatment also
      reduced (poly-ADP)ribose polymerase activation, peroxynitrite formation and
      apoptosis. Our results suggest that PEA-MPS may be a new therapeutic strategy in
      the treatment of CRPS-I.

PMID- 28594887
TI  - Study of structural stability and damaging effect on membrane for four Abeta42
      dimers.
AB  - Increasing evidence shows that Abeta oligomers are key pathogenic molecules in
      Alzheimer's disease. Among Abeta oligomers, dimer is the smallest aggregate and
      toxic unit. Therefore, understanding its structural and dynamic properties is
      quite useful to prevent the formation and toxicity of the Abeta oligomers. In
      this study, we performed molecular dynamic simulations on four Abeta42 dimers,
      2NCb, CNNC, NCNC and NCCN, within the hydrated DPPC membrane. Four Abeta42 dimers
      differ in the arrangements of two Abeta42 peptides. This study aims to
      investigate the impact of aggregation pattern of two Abeta peptides on the
      structural stability of the Abeta42 dimer and its disruption to the biological
      membrane. The MD results demonstrate that the NCCN, CNNC and NCNC have the larger
      structural fluctuation at the N-terminus of Abeta42 peptide, where the beta
      strand structure converts into the coil structure. The loss of the N-terminal
      beta-strand further impairs the aggregate ability of Abeta42 dimer. In addition,
      inserting Abeta42 dimer into the membrane can considerably decrease the average
      APL of DPPC membrane. Moreover this decrease effect is largely dependent on the
      distance to the location of Abeta42 dimer and its secondary structure forms.
      Based on the results, the 2NCb is considered as a stable dimeric unit for
      aggregating the larger Abeta42 oligomer, and has a potent ability to disrupt the
      membrane.

PMID- 28594888
TI  - Semiochemicals released from five bacteria identified from animal wounds infested
      by primary screwworms and their effects on fly behavioral activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Primary screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), is a
      serious pest feeding on living flesh of any warm-blooded animal, including
      humans. It was eradicated from the United States in the early 1980s using the
      sterile male technique. However, it was recently detected in populations of wild
      deer and pets in the Florida Keys of the US. For monitoring purposes, screwworm
      flies are normally trapped using attractant bait with liver. However, there has
      been little effort to develop an efficient monitoring system for detection of
      screwworm flies using a specific synthetic attractant blend. Several studies have
      shown that odors from animal wound fluids attract screwworm adults, particularly
      gravid females. Bacteria associated with animal wounds have been identified that
      act as a major source for this attraction. To understand what volatiles attract
      screwworms we inoculated bovine blood with previously identified bacteria. We
      identified volatile chemicals released from the inoculated blood and other
      selected media over time and assessed the effect of those chemicals on behavioral
      activity of adult screwworm flies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 7
      volatile compounds were collected from bacteria incubated in either broth or
      blood using solid-phase microextraction, and their chemical structures were
      identified by their characteristic mass spectrum fragments and confirmed by
      retention times in comparison to those of synthetic standards via gas
      chromatograph combined mass spectrometry analyses. Five major volatiles including
      dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, phenol, p-cresol and indole were
      detected from a mixture of 5 bacteria incubated in blood. The ratios of volatiles
      released differed among different incubation media, time and individual bacteria.
      A synthetic mixture containing the five compounds was demonstrated to be
      attractive to adult screwworm flies both in laboratory assays and field trapping
      trials. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results obtained from this study may assist
      in developing an efficient trapping system using the identified attractant blend
      to detect the infestation of primary screwworms. This is also the first study to
      explore the complex systems in volatile release profiles from 5 bacteria isolated
      from screwworm-infested animal wounds that are incubated with different media and
      incubation time, as well as individual and multi-species bacterial communities.

PMID- 28594889
TI  - Use of the FDA nozzle model to illustrate validation techniques in computational
      fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.
AB  - A "credible" computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has the potential to
      provide a meaningful evaluation of safety in medical devices. One major challenge
      in establishing "model credibility" is to determine the required degree of
      similarity between the model and experimental results for the model to be
      considered sufficiently validated. This study proposes a "threshold-based"
      validation approach that provides a well-defined acceptance criteria, which is a
      function of how close the simulation and experimental results are to the safety
      threshold, for establishing the model validity. The validation criteria developed
      following the threshold approach is not only a function of Comparison Error, E
      (which is the difference between experiments and simulations) but also takes in
      to account the risk to patient safety because of E. The method is applicable for
      scenarios in which a safety threshold can be clearly defined (e.g., the viscous
      shear-stress threshold for hemolysis in blood contacting devices). The
      applicability of the new validation approach was tested on the FDA nozzle
      geometry. The context of use (COU) was to evaluate if the instantaneous viscous
      shear stress in the nozzle geometry at Reynolds numbers (Re) of 3500 and 6500 was
      below the commonly accepted threshold for hemolysis. The CFD results ("S") of
      velocity and viscous shear stress were compared with inter-laboratory
      experimental measurements ("D"). The uncertainties in the CFD and experimental
      results due to input parameter uncertainties were quantified following the ASME
      V&V 20 standard. The CFD models for both Re = 3500 and 6500 could not be
      sufficiently validated by performing a direct comparison between CFD and
      experimental results using the Student's t-test. However, following the threshold
      based approach, a Student's t-test comparing |S-D| and |Threshold-S| showed that
      relative to the threshold, the CFD and experimental datasets for Re = 3500 were
      statistically similar and the model could be considered sufficiently validated
      for the COU. However, for Re = 6500, at certain locations where the shear stress
      is close the hemolysis threshold, the CFD model could not be considered
      sufficiently validated for the COU. Our analysis showed that the model could be
      sufficiently validated either by reducing the uncertainties in experiments,
      simulations, and the threshold or by increasing the sample size for the
      experiments and simulations. The threshold approach can be applied to all types
      of computational models and provides an objective way of determining model
      credibility and for evaluating medical devices.

PMID- 28594890
TI  - Ellenberg's indicator values support prediction of suitable habitat for pre
      diapause larvae of endangered butterfly Euphydryas aurinia.
AB  - In spite of the great popularity of Ellenberg's Indicator Values (EIVs) in plant
      ecology, animal ecologists seldom use EIVs to address ecological questions. In
      this study we used EIVs to test their potential usefulness for the prediction of
      suitable habitat for pre-diapause larvae of the endangered butterfly species
      Euphydryas aurinia. Nine transects crossing grasslands in SW Poland with abundant
      populations of E. aurinia were designed. We sampled 76 vegetation plots along the
      transects. In addition, the presence of the larval webs of E. aurinia in sampled
      plots was also recorded. We then calculated the mean community EIVs of light,
      nitrogen, soil reaction, moisture and temperature for each sample plots.
      Generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMMs) were used to assess which factors
      determine the local occurrence of larval webs of E. aurinia. We found the larval
      webs only in 12 plots, while the host plant was present in 39 of the examined
      plots. The presence of the host plant was the most important predictor in both
      models including all plots or including only plots with host plants. The other
      significant predictor was the mean EIV of light, and its importance increased in
      models considering all plots. We attributed the importance of the EIV of light to
      the site openness and density of the vegetation layer. A positive relationship
      between this predictor and the presence of larval webs indicates that sites with
      looser vegetation, a lower contribution of shrubs and tall herbs and better
      penetration of photosynthetically active radiation to lower vegetation layers are
      preferred by E. aurinia for oviposition. Moreover, the significance of EIV of
      light may be linked with management practices. Many light-demanding species
      decline after cessation of mowing as a result of litter accumulation and the
      dominance of tall herbs. An absence of light-demanding species decreases the
      community's mean EIV of light and thus indicates the influence of meadow
      abandonment.

PMID- 28594891
TI  - Neighborhood-targeted and case-triggered use of a single dose of oral cholera
      vaccine in an urban setting: Feasibility and vaccine coverage.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In June 2015, a cholera outbreak was declared in Juba, South Sudan.
      In addition to standard outbreak control measures, oral cholera vaccine (OCV) was
      proposed. As sufficient doses to cover the at-risk population were unavailable, a
      campaign using half the standard dosing regimen (one-dose) targeted high-risk
      neighborhoods and groups including neighbors of suspected cases. Here we report
      the operational details of this first public health use of a single-dose regimen
      of OCV and illustrate the feasibility of conducting highly targeted vaccination
      campaigns in an urban area. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Neighborhoods of the
      city were prioritized for vaccination based on cumulative attack rates, active
      transmission and local knowledge of known cholera risk factors. OCV was offered
      to all persons older than 12 months at 20 fixed sites and to select groups,
      including neighbors of cholera cases after the main campaign ('case-triggered'
      interventions), through mobile teams. Vaccination coverage was estimated by multi
      stage surveys using spatial sampling techniques. 162,377 individuals received a
      single-dose of OCV in the targeted neighborhoods. In these neighborhoods vaccine
      coverage was 68.8% (95% Confidence Interval (CI), 64.0-73.7) and was highest
      among children ages 5-14 years (90.0%, 95% CI 85.7-94.3), with adult men being
      less likely to be vaccinated than adult women (Relative Risk 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68
      0.96). In the case-triggered interventions, each lasting 1-2 days, coverage
      varied (range: 30-87%) with an average of 51.0% (95% CI 41.7-60.3).
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Vaccine supply constraints and the complex realities
      where cholera outbreaks occur may warrant the use of flexible alternative
      vaccination strategies, including highly-targeted vaccination campaigns and
      single-dose regimens. We showed that such campaigns are feasible. Additional work
      is needed to understand how and when to use different strategies to best protect
      populations against epidemic cholera.

PMID- 28594892
TI  - A behavioral typology of opioid overdose risk behaviors among recent veterans in
      New York City.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify meaningful classes of opioid-using military veterans in
      terms of self-reported opioid overdose risk behaviors. METHOD: The study
      recruited a sample of 218 military veterans in the NYC area who were discharged
      from active duty service after September 11, 2001 and reported past-month opioid
      use. Survey data including measures of mental health, social stressors, substance
      use, and opioid-related overdose risk behaviors were analyzed using Latent Class
      Analysis (LCA). RESULTS: A five group solution had excellent fit scores and
      interpretability. Factor analysis confirmed the existence of two major dimensions
      of variation: non-adherence and heroin use. The five groups included lower-risk
      prescription opioid users, non-adherent prescription opioid users and heroin
      users. The non-adherent prescription opioid users and heroin user classes were
      both further subdivided into "occasional" and "regular" use categories. In
      addition to endorsing a greater number of overdose risk behaviors, users in the
      regular use classes were more likely to screen positive for alcohol and substance
      use disorders, reported greater self-medicating opioid use to relieve anxiety,
      reported greater problems with physical pain, were more likely to have had mental
      health, alcohol and drug treatment, and were less likely to be employed or in
      school. Heroin users also were less likely to report stable housing. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings indicate that opioid overdose risk classes are grounded in contextual
      factors related to experiences of psychological, physiological, and social
      adjustment pain and distress which should be addressed in tailored interventions
      targeting opioid users' unique constellations of risk behaviors and comorbid
      conditions.

PMID- 28594893
TI  - Pandemic extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) clonal group O6-B2
      ST73 as a cause of avian colibacillosis in Brazil.
AB  - Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) represent an emerging
      pathogen, with pandemic strains increasingly involved in cases of urinary tract
      infections (UTIs), bacteremia, and meningitis. In addition to affecting humans,
      the avian pathotype of ExPEC, avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), causes severe
      economic losses to the poultry industry. Several studies have revealed
      overlapping characteristics between APEC and human ExPEC, leading to the
      hypothesis of a zoonotic potential of poultry strains. However, the description
      of certain important pandemic clones, such as Sequence Type 73 (ST73), has not
      been reported in food sources. We characterized 27 temporally matched APEC
      strains from diverse poultry farms in Brazil belonging to the O6 serogroup
      because this serogroup is frequently described as a causal factor in UTI and
      septicemia in humans in Brazil and worldwide. The isolates were genotypically
      characterized by identifying ExPEC virulence factors, phylogenetically tested by
      phylogrouping and multilocus sequence type (MLST) analysis, and compared to
      determine their similarity employing the pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)
      technique. The strains harbored a large number of virulence determinants that are
      commonly described in uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) and sepsis associated E. coli
      (SEPEC) strains and, to a lesser extent in neonatal meningitis associated E. coli
      (NMEC), such as pap (85%), sfa (100%), usp (100%), cnf1 (22%), kpsMTII (66%),
      hlyA (52%), and ibeA (4%). These isolates also yielded a low prevalence of some
      genes that are frequently described in APEC, such as iss (37%), tsh, ompT, and
      hlyF (8% each), and cvi/cva (0%). All strains were classified as part of the B2
      phylogroup and sequence type 73 (ST73), with a cluster of 25 strains showing a
      clonal profile by PFGE. These results further suggest the zoonotic potential of
      some APEC clonal lineages and their possible role in the epidemiology of human
      ExPEC, in addition to providing the first description of the O6-B2-ST73 clonal
      group in poultry.

PMID- 28594894
TI  - MicroRNAs upregulated during HIV infection target peroxisome biogenesis factors:
      Implications for virus biology, disease mechanisms and neuropathology.
AB  - HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) represent a spectrum neurological
      syndrome that affects up to 25% of patients with HIV/AIDS. Multiple pathogenic
      mechanisms contribute to the development of HAND symptoms including chronic
      neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Among the factors linked to development
      of HAND is altered expression of host cell microRNAs (miRNAs) in brain. Here, we
      examined brain miRNA profiles among HIV/AIDS patients with and without HAND. Our
      analyses revealed differential expression of 17 miRNAs in brain tissue from HAND
      patients. A subset of the upregulated miRNAs (miR-500a-5p, miR-34c-3p, miR-93-3p
      and miR-381-3p), are predicted to target peroxisome biogenesis factors (PEX2,
      PEX7, PEX11B and PEX13). Expression of these miRNAs in transfected cells
      significantly decreased levels of peroxisomal proteins and concomitantly
      decreased peroxisome numbers or affected their morphology. The levels of miR-500a
      5p, miR-34c-3p, miR-93-3p and miR-381-3p were not only elevated in the brains of
      HAND patients, but were also upregulated during HIV infection of primary
      macrophages. Moreover, concomitant loss of peroxisomal proteins was observed in
      HIV-infected macrophages as well as in brain tissue from HIV-infected patients.
      HIV-induced loss of peroxisomes was abrogated by blocking the functions of the
      upregulated miRNAs. Overall, these findings point to previously unrecognized
      miRNA expression patterns in the brains of HIV patients. Targeting peroxisomes by
      up-regulating miRNAs that repress peroxisome biogenesis factors may represent a
      novel mechanism by which HIV-1 subverts innate immune responses and/or causes
      neurocognitive dysfunction.

PMID- 28594895
TI  - ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel openers diazoxide and nicorandil lower
      intraocular pressure by activating the Erk1/2 signaling pathway.
AB  - Elevated intraocular pressure is the most prevalent and only treatable risk
      factor for glaucoma, a degenerative disease of the optic nerve. While treatment
      options to slow disease progression are available, all current therapeutic and
      surgical treatments have unwanted side effects or limited efficacy, resulting in
      the need to identify new options. Previous reports from our laboratory have
      established a novel ocular hypotensive effect of ATP-sensitive potassium channel
      (KATP) openers including diazoxide (DZ) and nicorandil (NCD). In the current
      study, we evaluated the role of Erk1/2 signaling pathway in KATP channel opener
      mediated reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP). Western blot analysis of DZ and
      NCD treated primary normal trabecular meshwork (NTM) cells, human TM (isolated
      from perfusion cultures of human anterior segments) and mouse eyes showed
      increased phosphorylation of Erk1/2 when compared to vehicle treated controls. DZ
      and NCD mediated pressure reduction (p<0.02) in human anterior segments (n = 7
      for DZ, n = 4 for NCD) was abrogated by U0126 (DZ + U0126: -9.7 +/- 11.5%, p =
      0.11; NCD + U0126: -0.1 +/- 11.5%, p = 1.0). In contrast, U0126 had no effect on
      latanoprostfree acid-induced pressure reduction (-52.5 +/- 6.8%, n = 4, p =
      0.001). In mice, DZ and NCD reduced IOP (DZ, 14.9 +/- 3.8%, NCD, 16.9 +/- 2.5%, n
      = 10, p<0.001), but the pressure reduction was inhibited by U0126 (DZ + U0126,
      0.7 +/- 3.0%; NCD + U0126, 0.9 +/- 2.2%, n = 10, p>0.1). Histologic evaluation of
      transmission electron micrographs from DZ + U0126 and NCD + U0126 treated eyes
      revealed no observable morphological changes in the ultrastructure of the
      conventional outflow pathway. Taken together, the results indicate that the
      Erk1/2 pathway is necessary for IOP reduction by KATP channel openers DZ and NCD.

PMID- 28594896
TI  - Zoledronate suppressed angiogenesis and osteogenesis by inhibiting osteoclasts
      formation and secretion of PDGF-BB.
AB  - PURPOSE: Bisphosphonates related osteonecrosis of jaw (BRONJ) is a severe
      complication of systemic BPs administration, the mechanism of which is still
      unclarified. Recently, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) secreted by
      preosteoclasts was reported to promote angiogenesis and osteogenesis. This study
      aimed to clarify whether bisphosphonates suppressed preosteoclasts releasing PDGF
      BB, and whether the suppression harmed coupling of angiogenesis and osteogenesis,
      which could contribute to BRONJ manifestation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Zoledronate
      significantly inhibited osteoclast formation by tartrate-resistant acid
      phosphatase (TRAP) staining and PDGF-BB secretion tested by ELISA. In line with
      decreasing secretion of PDGF-BB by preosteoclasts exposed to zoledronate,
      conditioned medium (CM) from the cells significantly induced less migration of
      endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) compared to
      CM from unexposed preosteoclasts. Meanwhile, angiogenic function of EPCs and
      osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs also declined when culturing with CM from
      preosteoclasts treated by zoledronate (PZ-CM), evidenced by tube formation assay
      of EPCs and alkaline phosphatase activity of MSCs. Western blot assay showed that
      the expression of VEGF in EPCs and OCN, RUNX2 in MSCs declined when culturing
      with PZ-CM compared to CM from preostoeclasts without exposure of zoledronate.
      CONCLUSION: Our study found that zoledronate was able to suppress preosteoclasts
      releasing PDGF-BB, resulting in suppression of angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Our
      study may partly contributed to the mechanism of BRONJ.

PMID- 28594898
TI  - Clinical and genetic analysis of recurrent adult-type granulosa cell tumor of the
      ovary: Persistent preservation of heterozygous c.402C>G FOXL2 mutation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adult-type granulosa cell tumors of the ovary (aGCTs) are rare tumors
      that represent 2-5% of ovarian malignancies. The prognosis of this tumor is
      favorable, and it is characterized by slow progression. 10-30% of these tumors
      recur after 4-7 years of the primary surgery and the 5-year survival rate from
      the first recurrence is 55%, for the incompletely resected patients. At this
      time, complete resection is the only prognostic factor for better outcome, and
      establishing a novel strategy for identification and/or treatment of recurrent
      tumors is crucial. After the discovery of heterozygous c.402C>G FOXL2 mutations
      in 97% of cases of aGCT, much effort has been made to find the role of the
      mutation on the pathogenesis of aGCT, however, little is known about the role of
      the mutation in disease progression. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical data of 56
      aGCT patients to find a marker of recurrence. In particular, we compared the
      FOXL2 status in 5 matched primary and recurrent samples by immunohistochemistry,
      and TaqMan allelic discrimination assay to address the role of FOXL2 in potential
      mechanisms of recurrence. RESULTS: The clinical data analysis was consistent with
      complete resection as an indicator of disease eradication, though the sample size
      was limited. The genetic analysis showed all the samples, including recurrent
      tumor samples up to 14 years after the primary surgery, expressed heterozygous
      c.402C>G FOXL2 mutation and the FOXL2 protein expression. CONCLUSION: This report
      describes the preservation of heterozygous c.402C>G FOXL2 mutation in recurrent
      aGCTs. This finding adds further credence to the concept that the c.402C>G FOXL2
      mutation is oncogenic and integral to this disease.

PMID- 28594899
TI  - Validation of energy intake from a web-based food recall for children and
      adolescents.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to validate estimated energy intake from a web
      based food recall, designed for children and adolescents. We directly compared
      energy intake to estimates of total energy expenditure, calculated from
      accelerometer outputs, combined with data on weight and sex or resting energy
      expenditure prediction equations. Children (8-9 years) and adolescents (12-14
      years) were recruited through schools in Norway in 2013 (N = 253). Results showed
      that more than one third (36-37%) were identified as under-reporters of energy.
      In contrast, only 2-4% were defined as over-reporters of energy. The mean energy
      intake was under-reported with -1.83 MJ/day for the entire study sample.
      Increased underestimation was observed for overweight and obese participants, the
      oldest age group (12-14 years), boys, those with parents/legal guardians with low
      educational level and those living in non-traditional families. In conclusion,
      energy intake from the web-based food recall is significantly underestimated
      compared with total energy expenditure, and should be used with caution in young
      people.

PMID- 28594897
TI  - Prognostic value of long non-coding RNA CCAT1 expression in patients with cancer:
      A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LncRNA CCAT1 is significantly overexpressed in various types of
      cancers, suggesting that it might be associated with prognosis and
      clinicopathological features in patients with cancer. METHODS: A comprehensive
      search was performed in Pubmed, Web of Science, OVID and CNKI databases. We also
      retrieved articles from other sources, such as retrieving from the reference
      lists of relevant articles. Eligible studies were included based on defined
      exclusion and inclusion criteria to perform a meta-analysis. STATA 14.0 was used
      to estimate pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI), the
      heterogeneity among studies and publication bias to judge the prognostic value.
      RESULTS: A total of 1587 patients from 11 eligible studies were included in the
      meta-analysis. The results showed that high expression level of CCAT1 was
      significantly associated with shorter overall survival in cancer patients (HR
      2.335, 95% CI:1.551-3.517); in the subgroup analysis, region (China or UK),
      sample size (more or less than 100), type of cancer (digestive or non-digestive
      disease) and paper quality (score more or less than 7) did not alter the
      association between CCAT1 expression and cancer prognosis but preoperative
      treatment did. And CCAT1 expression was an independent prognostic marker for
      overall survival in patients with cancer (pooled HR 2.195, 95%CI:1.316-3.664)
      using Cox multivariate analyses. The clinicopathological parameters analysis
      further showed that increased expression level of CCAT1 was correlated with tumor
      size, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, distant metastasis, microvascular
      invasion and capsular formation in relevant cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The meta
      analysis results from present study suggested that increased expression level of
      CCAT1 was associated with poor prognosis and can serve as an independent
      biomarker. And the expression level of CCAT1 was associated with
      clinicopathological features in relevant cancers.

PMID- 28594901
TI  - Detection of human cytomegalovirus in glioblastoma among Taiwanese subjects.
AB  - The relationship between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and glioblastoma (GBM) has
      been debated for more than a decade. We investigated the presence of HCMV genes,
      RNA and protein in GBMs and their relationships with tumor progression. Results
      of quantitative PCR for HCMV UL73, nested PCR for HCMV UL144, in situ
      hybridization (ISH) for RNA transcript, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for
      protein expression and their relationship to the prognosis of 116 patients with
      GBM were evaluated. Nine (7.8%) cases revealed a low concentration of HCMV UL73,
      and only 2 of the 9 (1.7%) cases showed consistent positivity on repeat PCR
      testing. HCMV UL144, ISH and IHC assays were all negative. The HCMV UL73 positive
      cases did not show significant difference in the clinicopathological characters
      including age, gender, Karnofsky performance status, extent of resection,
      bevacizumab treatment, isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 mutation, O6-methylguanine-DNA
      methyltranferase status and Ki67 labeling index, and did not reveal prognostic
      significance. As only one HCMV gene was detected at low concentration in 7.8% of
      GBMs and there was no evidence of transcription, protein expression or prognostic
      impact, we cannot conclude a relationship between HCMV and GBM in Taiwanese
      patients.

PMID- 28594900
TI  - Systematic genomic and translational efficiency studies of uveal melanoma.
AB  - To further our understanding of the somatic genetic basis of uveal melanoma, we
      sequenced the protein-coding regions of 52 primary tumors and 3 liver metastases
      together with paired normal DNA. Known recurrent mutations were identified in
      GNAQ, GNA11, BAP1, EIF1AX, and SF3B1. The role of mutated EIF1AX was tested using
      loss of function approaches including viability and translational efficiency
      assays. Knockdown of both wild type and mutant EIF1AX was lethal to uveal
      melanoma cells. We probed the function of N-terminal tail EIF1AX mutations by
      performing RNA sequencing of polysome-associated transcripts in cells expressing
      endogenous wild type or mutant EIF1AX. Ribosome occupancy of the global
      translational apparatus was sensitive to suppression of wild type but not mutant
      EIF1AX. Together, these studies suggest that cells expressing mutant EIF1AX may
      exhibit aberrant translational regulation, which may provide clonal selective
      advantage in the subset of uveal melanoma that harbors this mutation.

PMID- 28594902
TI  - The stable isotope composition of nitrogen and carbon and elemental contents in
      modern and fossil seabird guano from Northern Chile - Marine sources and
      diagenetic effects.
AB  - Seabird excrements (guano) have been preserved in the arid climate of Northern
      Chile since at least the Pliocene. The deposits of marine organic material in
      coastal areas potentially open a window into the present and past composition of
      the coastal ocean and its food web. We use the stable isotope composition of
      nitrogen and carbon as well as element contents to compare the principal prey of
      the birds, the Peruvian anchovy, with the composition of modern guano. We also
      investigate the impact of diagenetic changes on the isotopic composition and
      elemental contents of the pure ornithogenic sediments, starting with modern
      stratified deposits and extending to fossil guano. Where possible, 14C
      systematics is used for age information. The nitrogen and carbon isotopic
      composition of the marine prey (Peruvian anchovy) of the birds is complex as it
      shows strong systematic variations with latitude. The detailed study of a modern
      profile that represents a few years of guano deposition up to present reveals
      systematic changes in nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition towards heavier
      values that increase with age, i.e. depth. Only the uppermost, youngest layers of
      modern guano show compositional affinity to the prey of the birds. In the
      profile, the simultaneous loss of nitrogen and carbon occurs by degassing, and
      non-volatile elements like phosphorous and calcium are passively enriched in the
      residual guano. Fossil guano deposits are very low in nitrogen and low in carbon
      contents, and show very heavy nitrogen isotopic compositions. One result of the
      study is that the use of guano for tracing nitrogen and carbon isotopic and
      elemental composition in the marine food web of the birds is restricted to fresh
      material. Despite systematic changes during diagenesis, there is little promise
      to retrieve reliable values of marine nitrogen and carbon signatures from older
      guano. However, the changes in isotopic composition from primary marine nitrogen
      isotopic signatures towards very heavy values generate a compositionally unique
      material. These compositions trace the presence of guano in natural ecosystems
      and its use as fertilizer in present and past agriculture.

PMID- 28594904
TI  - Gridding discretization-based multiple stability switching delay search
      algorithm: The movement of a human being on a controlled swaying bow.
AB  - Delay represents a significant phenomenon in the dynamics of many human-related
      systems-including biological ones. It has i.a. a decisive impact on system
      stability, and the study of this influence is often mathematically demanding.
      This paper presents a computationally simple numerical gridding algorithm for the
      determination of stability margin delay values in multiple-delay linear systems.
      The characteristic quasi-polynomial-the roots of which decide about stability-is
      subjected to iterative discretization by means of pre-warped bilinear
      transformation. Then, a linear and a quadratic interpolation are applied to
      obtain the associated characteristic polynomial with integer powers. The roots of
      the associated characteristic polynomial are closely related to the estimation of
      roots of the original characteristic quasi-polynomial which agrees with the
      system's eigenvalues. Since the stability border is crossed by the leading one,
      the switching root locus is enhanced using the Regula Falsi interpolation method.
      Our methodology is implemented on-and verified by-a numerical bio-cybernetic
      example of the stabilization of a human-being's movement on a controlled swaying
      bow. The advantage of the proposed novel algorithm lies in the possibility of the
      rapid computation of polynomial zeros by means of standard programs for technical
      computing; in the low level of mathematical knowledge required; and, in the
      sufficiently high precision of the roots loci estimation. The relationship to the
      direct search QuasiPolynomial (mapping) Rootfinder algorithm and computational
      complexity are discussed as well. This algorithm is also applicable for systems
      with non-commensurate delays.

PMID- 28594903
TI  - The role of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell derivatives in skin wound
      healing in diabetic mice.
AB  - Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown to be a promising tool in cell
      therapies to treat different conditions. Several pre-clinical and clinical
      studies have proved that the transplantation of MSCs improves wound healing.
      Here, we compare the beneficial effects of mouse bone marrow-derived allogeneic
      MSCs (allo-mBM-MSCs) and their acelullar derivatives (allo-acd-mMSCs) on skin
      wound healing in Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD) mice. One dose of allo-mBM-MSCs (1*106
      cells) or one dose of allo-acd-mMSCs (1X) were intradermally injected around
      wounds in 8-10 week old female NOD mice. Wound healing was evaluated
      macroscopically (wound closure) every two days, and microscopically
      (reepithelialization, dermoepidermal junction, skin appendage regeneration,
      leukocyte infiltration, vascularization, granulation tissue formation, and
      density of collagen fibers in the dermis) after 16 days of MSC injection. In
      addition, we measured growth factors and specific proteins that were present in
      the allo-acd-mMSCs. Results showed significant differences in the wound healing
      kinetics of lesions that received allo-acd-mMSCs compared to lesions that
      received vehicle or allo-mBM-MSCs. In particular, mice treated with allo-acd
      mMSCs reached significantly higher percentages of wound closure at day 4, 6 and
      8, relative to the allo-mBM-MSCs and vehicle groups (p < 0.05), while wound
      closure percentages could not be statistically distinguished between the allo-mBM
      MSCs and vehicle groups. Also, allo-acd-mMSCs had a greater influence in the skin
      would healing process. Specifically, they caused a less pronounced inflammatory
      severe response (p < 0.0001), more granulation tissue formation at an advanced
      stage (p < 0.0001), and higher density of collagen fibers (p < 0.05) compared to
      the other groups. Nevertheless, at day 16, both allo-mBM-MSCs and allo-acd-mMSCs
      revealed a higher effect on the recovery of the quality skin (continuous
      epidermis; regular dermoepidermal junction and skin appendages) relative to
      untreated lesions (p < 0.0001), but not between them. On the other hand, ELISA
      analyses indicated that the allo-acd-mMSCs contained growth factors and proteins
      relevant to wound healing such as IGF-1, KGF, HGF, VEGF, ANG-2, MMP-1, CoL-1 and
      PGE2. Compared to allo-acd-mMSCs, the administration of allo-mBM-MSCs is
      insufficient for wound healing in diabetic mice and delays the therapeutic
      effect, which maybe explained by the fact that trophic factors secreted by MSCs
      are critical for skin regeneration, and not the cells per se, suggesting that
      MSCs may require some time to secrete these factors after their administration.

PMID- 28594905
TI  - Comparative risk of hospitalized infection between biological agents in
      rheumatoid arthritis patients: A multicenter retrospective cohort study in Japan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Knowing the risk of hospitalized infection associated with individual
      biological agents is an important factor in selecting the best treatment option
      for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study examined the comparative
      risk of hospitalized infection between biological agents in a routine care
      setting. METHODS: We used data for all RA patients who had first begun biological
      therapy at rheumatology divisions of participating community hospitals in Japan
      between January 2009 and December 2014. New treatment episodes with etanercept,
      infliximab, adalimumab, abatacept, or tocilizumab were included. Patients were
      allowed to contribute multiple treatment episodes with different biological
      agents. Incidence rates (IRs) of hospitalized infection during the first year of
      follow-up were examined. Cox regression analysis was used to calculate hazard
      ratios (HRs) for overall hospitalized infection and for pulmonary hospitalized
      infection, adjusting for possible confounders. RESULTS: A total of 1596 new
      treatment episodes were identified. The incidence of overall hospitalized
      infection during the first year was 86 with 1239 person-years (PYs), yielding a
      crude IR of 6.9 per 100 PYs (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.6-8.6). After
      correction for confounders, no significant difference in risk of hospitalized
      infection was observed between treatment groups: adjusted HRs (95% CI) were 1.54
      (0.78-3.04) for infliximab, 1.72 (0.88-3.34) for adalimumab, 1.11 (0.55-2.21) for
      abatacept, and 1.02 (0.55-1.87) for tocilizumab compared with etanercept. Patient
      specific factors such as age, RA functional class, body mass index (BMI),
      prednisolone use, and chronic lung disease contributed more to the risk of
      hospitalized infection than specific biological agents. The incidence of
      pulmonary hospitalized infection was 50 and a crude IR of 4.0 per 100 PYs (95%
      CI, 3.1-5.3). After adjustment for confounders, adalimumab had a significantly
      higher HR for pulmonary hospitalized infection compared with tocilizumab: an
      adjusted HR (95% CI) was 4.43 (1.72-11.37) for adalimumab. BMI, prednisolone use,
      diabetes mellitus, and chronic lung disease were also significant factors
      associated with the risk of pulmonary hospitalized infection. CONCLUSIONS: The
      magnitude of the risk of overall hospitalized infection was not determined by the
      type of biological agents, and patient-specific risk factors had more impact on
      the risk of hospitalized infection. For pulmonary hospitalized infections, the
      use of adalimumab was significantly associated with a greater risk of this
      complication than tocilizumab use.

PMID- 28594908
TI  - Distribution and drivers of global mangrove forest change, 1996-2010.
AB  - For the period 1996-2010, we provide the first indication of the drivers behind
      mangrove land cover and land use change across the (pan-)tropics using time
      series Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS-1) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
      and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array-type L-band SAR
      (PALSAR) data. Multi-temporal radar mosaics were manually interpreted for
      evidence of loss and gain in forest extent and its associated driver. Mangrove
      loss as a consequence of human activities was observed across their entire range.
      Between 1996-2010 12% of the 1168 1 degrees x1 degrees  radar mosaic tiles
      examined contained evidence of mangrove loss, as a consequence of anthropogenic
      degradation, with this increasing to 38% when combined with evidence of
      anthropogenic activity prior to 1996. The greatest proportion of loss was
      observed in Southeast Asia, whereby approximately 50% of the tiles in the region
      contained evidence of mangrove loss, corresponding to 18.4% of the global
      mangrove forest tiles. Southeast Asia contained the greatest proportion (33.8%)
      of global mangrove forest. The primary driver of anthropogenic mangrove loss was
      found to be the conversion of mangrove to aquaculture/agriculture, although
      substantial advance of mangroves was also evident in many regions.

PMID- 28594907
TI  - Gastrointestinal cancer cells treatment with bevacizumab activates a VEGF
      autoregulatory mechanism involving telomerase catalytic subunit hTERT via PI3K
      AKT, HIF-1alpha and VEGF receptors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Targeting angiogenesis has been considered a promising treatment of
      choice for a large number of malignancies, including gastrointestinal cancers.
      Bevacizumab is an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) being used
      for this purpose. However, treatment efficacy is largely questioned. Telomerase
      activity, responsible for cancer cell immortality, is detected in 85-95% of human
      cancers and is considered a potential regulator of VEGF. The aim of our study was
      to investigate the interrelationship between VEGF and hTERT in gastrointestinal
      cancers and to explore cell response to a combined inhibition of telomerase and
      VEGF. METHODS: AGS (gastric cancer), Caco-2 (colorectal cancer) and HepG2/C3A
      (hepatocellular carcinoma), were treated with telomerase inhibitors BIBR-1232
      (10MUM) and costunolide (10MUM), with bevacizumab (Avastin(r) at 5 ng/ml or
      100MUg/ml) or with a combination of both types of inhibitors. VEGF and hTERT mRNA
      levels, and telomerase activity were detected by RT-PCR. VEGF levels were
      quantified by ELISA. Telomerase was knocked down using hTERT siRNA and hTERT was
      overexpressed in the telomerase negative cell line, Saos-2 (osteosarcoma), using
      constructs expressing either wild type hTERT (hTERT-WT) or dominant negative
      hTERT (hTERT-DN). Tube formation by HUVECs was assessed using ECMatrixTM (EMD
      Millipore). RESULTS: Our results showed that telomerase regulates VEGF expression
      and secretion through its catalytic subunit hTERT in AGS, Caco2, and HepG2/C3A,
      independent of its catalytic activity. Interestingly, VEGF inhibition with
      bevacizumab (100MUg/ml) increased hTERT expression 42.3% in AGS, 94.1% in Caco2,
      and 52.5% in HepG2/C3A, and increased telomerase activity 30-fold in AGS, 10.3
      fold in Caco2 and 8-fold in HepG2/C3A. A further investigation showed that VEGF
      upregulates hTERT expression in a mechanism that implicates the PI3K/AKT/mTOR
      pathway and HIF-1alpha. Moreover, bevacizumab treatment increased VEGFR1 and
      VEGFR2 expression in cancer cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells
      (HUVECs) through hTERT. Thus, the combination of bevacizumab with telomerase
      inhibitors decreased VEGF expression and secretion by cancer cells, inhibited
      VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 upregulation, and reduced tube formation by HUVECs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results suggest that bevacizumab treatment
      activates a VEGF autoregulatory mechanism involving hTERT and VEGF receptors and
      that an inhibition of this pathway could improve tumor cell response to anti-VEGF
      treatment.

PMID- 28594906
TI  - The anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory potential of braylin: Pharmacological
      properties and mechanisms by in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches.
AB  - Braylin belongs to the group of natural coumarins, a group of compounds with a
      wide range of pharmacological properties. Here we characterized the
      pharmacological properties of braylin in vitro, in silico and in vivo in models
      of inflammatory/immune responses. In in vitro assays, braylin exhibited
      concentration-dependent suppressive activity on activated macrophages. Braylin
      (10-40 MUM) reduced the production of nitrite, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and IL-6 by
      J774 cells or peritoneal exudate macrophages stimulated with LPS and IFN-gamma.
      Molecular docking calculations suggested that braylin present an interaction pose
      to act as a glucocorticoid receptor ligand. Corroborating this idea, the
      inhibitory effect of braylin on macrophages was prevented by RU486, a
      glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. Furthermore, treatment with braylin strongly
      reduced the NF-kappaB-dependent transcriptional activity on RAW 264.7 cells.
      Using the complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced paw inflammation model in
      mice, the pharmacological properties of braylin were demonstrated in vivo.
      Braylin (12.5-100 mg/kg) produced dose-related antinociceptive and
      antiedematogenic effects on CFA model. Braylin did not produce antinociception on
      the tail flick and hot plate tests in mice, suggesting that braylin-induced
      antinociception is not a centrally-mediated action. Braylin exhibited
      immunomodulatory properties on the CFA model, inhibiting the production of pro
      inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and IL-6, while increased the anti
      inflammatory cytokine TGF-beta. Our results show, for the first time, anti
      inflammatory, antinociceptive and immunomodulatory effects of braylin, which
      possibly act through the glucocorticoid receptor activation and by inhibition of
      the transcriptional activity of NF-kappaB. Because braylin is a phosphodiesterase
      4 inhibitor, this coumarin could represent an ideal prototype of glucocorticoid
      receptor ligand, able to induce synergic immunomodulatory effects.

PMID- 28594909
TI  - Waves of novelties in the expansion into the adjacent possible.
AB  - The emergence of novelties and their rise and fall in popularity is an ubiquitous
      phenomenon in human activities. The coexistence of popular evergreens with novel
      and sometimes ephemeral trends pervades technological, scientific and artistic
      production. Though this phenomenon is very intuitively captured by our common
      sense, a comprehensive explanation of how waves of novelties are not hampered by
      well established old-comers is still lacking. Here we first quantify this
      phenomenology by empirically looking at different systems that display innovation
      at very different levels: the creation of hashtags in Twitter, the evolution of
      online code repositories, the creation of texts and the listening of songs on
      online platforms. In all these systems surprisingly similar patterns emerge as
      the non-trivial outcome of two contrasting forces: the tendency of retracing
      already explored avenues (exploit) and the inclination to explore new
      possibilities. These findings are naturally explained in the framework of the
      expansion of the adjacent possible, a recently introduced theoretical framework
      that postulates the restructuring of the space of possibilities conditional to
      the occurrence of innovations. The predictions of our theoretical framework are
      borne out in all the phenomenologies investigated, paving the way to a better
      understanding and control of innovation processes.

PMID- 28594910
TI  - Testosterone improves the differentiation efficiency of insulin-producing cells
      from human induced pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) may provide potential resource for
      regenerative medicine research, including generation of insulin-producing cells
      for diabetes research and insulin production. Testosterone (T) is an androgen
      hormone which promotes protein synthesis and improves the management of type 2
      diabetes in clinical studies. Concurrently, co-existed hyperandrogenism and
      hyperinsulinism is frequently observed in polycystic ovary syndrome, congenital
      adrenal hyperplasia and some of Wermer's syndrome. However, the relationship
      among androgens, insulin and the differentiation of pancreatic beta cells is
      still not fully clear. Here we find that T improves the differentiation
      efficiency of insulin-producing cells from hiPSCs. The addition of T into routine
      differentiation formula for pancreatic beta cells increases the differentiation
      efficiency from 12% to 35%. The administration of T promotes the expression of
      key genes associated with beta cells differentiation including NGN3, NEUROD1 and
      INS. This finding benefits the ongoing process to optimize the differentiation
      protocol of pancreatic beta cells from hiPSCs, and provides some degree of
      understanding the clinical management of T for type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28594912
TI  - Cancer cell redirection biomarker discovery using a mutual information approach.
AB  - Introducing tumor-derived cells into normal mammary stem cell niches at a
      sufficiently high ratio of normal to tumorous cells causes those tumor cells to
      undergo a change to normal mammary phenotype and yield normal mammary progeny.
      This phenomenon has been termed cancer cell redirection. We have developed an in
      vitro model that mimics in vivo redirection of cancer cells by the normal mammary
      microenvironment. Using the RNA profiling data from this cellular model, we
      examined high-level characteristics of the normal, redirected, and tumor
      transcriptomes and found the global expression profiles clearly distinguish the
      three expression states. To identify potential redirection biomarkers that cause
      the redirected state to shift toward the normal expression pattern, we used
      mutual information relationships between normal, redirected, and tumor cell
      groups. Mutual information relationship analysis reduced a dataset of over 35,000
      gene expression measurements spread over 13,000 curated gene sets to a set of 20
      significant molecular signatures totaling 906 unique loci. Several of these
      molecular signatures are hallmark drivers of the tumor state. Using differential
      expression as a guide, we further refined the gene set to 120 core redirection
      biomarker genes. The expression levels of these core biomarkers are sufficient to
      make the normal and redirected gene expression states indistinguishable from each
      other but radically different from the tumor state.

PMID- 28594911
TI  - Candidate genes on murine chromosome 8 are associated with susceptibility to
      Staphylococcus aureus infection in mice and are involved with Staphylococcus
      aureus septicemia in humans.
AB  - We previously showed that chromosome 8 of A/J mice was associated with
      susceptibility to S. aureus infection. However, the specific genes responsible
      for this susceptibility are unknown. Chromosome substitution strain 8 (CSS8)
      mice, which have chromosome 8 from A/J but an otherwise C57BL/6J genome, were
      used to identify the genetic determinants of susceptibility to S. aureus on
      chromosome 8. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping of S. aureus-infected N2
      backcross mice (F1 [C8A] * C57BL/6J) identified a locus 83180780-88103009
      (GRCm38/mm10) on A/J chromosome 8 that was linked to S. aureus susceptibility.
      All genes on the QTL (n~ 102) were further analyzed by three different
      strategies: 1) different expression in susceptible (A/J) and resistant (C57BL/6J)
      mice only in response to S. aureus, 2) consistently different expression in both
      uninfected and infected states between the two strains, and 3) damaging non
      synonymous SNPs in either strain. Eleven candidate genes from the QTL region were
      significantly differently expressed in patients with S. aureus infection vs
      healthy human subjects. Four of these 11 genes also exhibited significantly
      different expression in S. aureus-challenged human neutrophils: Ier2, Crif1, Cd97
      and Lyl1. CD97 ligand binding was evaluated within peritoneal neutrophils from
      A/J and C57BL/6J. CD97 from A/J had stronger CD55 but weaker integrin alpha5beta1
      ligand binding as compared with C57BL/6J. Because CD55/CD97 binding regulates
      immune cell activation and cytokine production, and integrin alpha5beta1 is a
      membrane receptor for fibronectin, which is also bound by S. aureus, strain
      specific differences could contribute to susceptibility to S. aureus. Down
      regulation of Crif1 with siRNA was associated with increased host cell apoptosis
      among both naive and S. aureus-infected bone marrow-derived macrophages. Specific
      genes in A/J chromosome 8, including Cd97 and Crif1, may play important roles in
      host defense against S. aureus.

PMID- 28594913
TI  - Reduction in all-cause otitis media-related outpatient visits in children after
      PCV10 introduction in Brazil.
AB  - Few studies have reported the effect of 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
      (PCV10) on otitis media (OM) in infants. In particular, no population-based study
      in upper-middle income countries is available. In 2010, Brazil introduced PCV10
      into its routine National Immunization Program using a 3+1 schedule. We measured
      the impact of PCV10 on all-cause OM in children. An interrupted time-series
      analysis was conducted in Goiania/Brazil considering monthly rates (per 100,000)
      of all-cause OM outpatient visits in children aged 2-23 months. We used case
      based data from the Outpatient Visits Information System of the Unified Health
      System coded for ICD-10 diagnosis for the period of August/2008 to July/2015. As
      a comparator, we used rates of outpatient visits due to all-other causes. The
      relative reduction of all-cause OM and all-other causes of outpatient visits were
      calculated as the difference between the predicted and observed cumulative rates
      of the PCV10 post-vaccination period. We then subtracted the relative reduction
      of all-other causes of outpatient visits from all-cause OM to obtain the impact
      of PCV10 on OM. In total, 6,401 OM outpatient visits were recorded in 4,793
      children aged 2-23 months. Of these, 922 (19.2%) children had more than one OM
      episode. A significant reduction in all-cause OM visits was observed (50.7%;
      95%CI: 42.2-59.2%; p = 0.013), while the reduction in visits due to all-other
      causes was 7.7% (95% CI 0.8-14.7%; p<0.001). The impact of PCV10 on all-cause OM
      was thus estimated at 43.0% (95%CI 41.4-44.5). This is the first study to show
      significant PCV10 impact on OM outpatient visits in infants in a developing
      country. Our findings corroborate the available evidence from developed
      countries.

PMID- 28594914
TI  - Associations between dental knowledge, source of dental knowledge and oral health
      behavior in Japanese university students: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between dental
      knowledge, the source of dental knowledge and oral health behavior in a group of
      students at a university in Japan. A total of 2,220 university students (1,276
      males, 944 females) volunteered to undergo an oral examination and answer a
      questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed dental knowledge, the source of dental
      knowledge and oral health behavior (e.g., daily frequency of tooth brushing, use
      of dental floss and regular dental checkups). The odds ratio and 95% confidence
      interval for oral health behavior based on dental knowledge and source of dental
      knowledge were calculated using logistic regression models. Of the participants,
      1,266 (57.0%) students obtained dental knowledge from dental clinics, followed by
      school (39.2%) and television (29.1%). Logistic regression analyses indicated
      that use of dental floss was significantly associated with source of dental
      knowledge from dental clinics (P = 0.006). Receiving regular dental checkups was
      significantly associated with source of dental knowledge; the positive source was
      dental clinic (P < 0.001) and the negative sources were school (P = 0.004) and
      television (P = 0.018). Dental clinic was the most common source of dental
      knowledge and associated with better oral health behavior among the Japanese
      university students in this study.

PMID- 28594915
TI  - Conophylline inhibits non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in mice.
AB  - Conophylline (CnP), a vinca alkaloid extracted from the leaves of the tropical
      plant Ervatamia microphylla, attenuates hepatic fibrosis in mice. However, little
      is known about whether CnP inhibits steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in non
      alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in mice. A methionine-choline-deficient (MCD)
      diet was administered to male db/db mice as a NASH model, and CnP (1 MUg/kg/d)
      was co-administered. Eight weeks after the commencement of the MCD diet, hepatic
      steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis, and hepatic fat metabolism-, inflammation
      , and fibrosis-related markers were examined. Feeding on an MCD for 8 weeks
      induced hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. CnP significantly
      attenuated the MCD-induced increases in hepatic steatosis, as well as hepatic
      inflammation and fibrosis. The MCD diet increased hepatic transforming growth
      factor-beta (TGF-beta) mRNA levels, which are correlated with hepatic steatosis,
      inflammation, and fibrosis. The diet also attenuated acyl-coenzyme A oxidase 1
      (ACOX1) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) mRNA levels, which are
      involved in beta-oxidation. The putative mechanism of the CnP effect involves
      reduced hepatic TGF-beta mRNA levels, and increased mRNA levels of hepatic
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha and its target genes
      ACOX1 and CPT1. The results of this study indicate that CnP inhibits
      steatohepatitis, possibly through the inhibition of hepatic TGF-beta mRNA levels,
      and induces an increase in PPARalpha mRNA levels, resulting in the attenuation of
      hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in mice. CnP might accordingly be a
      suitable therapeutic option for NASH.

PMID- 28594917
TI  - Taxicab tipping and sunlight.
AB  - Does the level of sunlight affect the tipping percentage in taxicab rides in New
      York City? We examined this question using data on 13.82 million cab rides from
      January to October in 2009 in New York City combined with data on hourly levels
      of solar radiation. We found a small but statistically significant positive
      relationship between sunlight and tipping, with an estimated tipping increase of
      0.5 to 0.7 percentage points when transitioning from a dark sky to full sunshine.
      The findings are robust to two-way clustering of standard errors based on hour-of
      the-day and day-of-the-year and controlling for day-of-the-year, month-of-the
      year, cab driver fixed effects, weather conditions, and ride characteristics. The
      NYC cab ride context is suitable for testing the association between sunlight and
      tipping due to the largely random assignment of riders to drivers, direct
      exposure to sunlight, and low confounding from variation in service experiences.

PMID- 28594916
TI  - Identification of key amino acid residues in the hTGR5-nomilin interaction and
      construction of its binding model.
AB  - TGR5, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, is activated by
      bile acids. Because TGR5 promotes energy expenditure and improves glucose
      homeostasis, it is recognized as a key target in treating metabolic diseases. We
      previously showed that nomilin, a citrus limonoid, activates TGR5 and confers
      anti-obesity and anti-hyperglycemic effects in mice. Information on the TGR5
      nomilin interaction regarding molecular structure, however, has not been
      reported. In the present study, we found that human TGR5 (hTGR5) shows higher
      nomilin responsiveness than does mouse TGR5 (mTGR5). Using mouse-human chimeric
      TGR5, we also found that three amino acid residues (Q77ECL1, R80ECL1, and
      Y893.29) are important in the hTGR5-nomilin interaction. Based on these results,
      an hTGR5-nomilin binding model was constructed using in silico docking
      simulation, demonstrating that four hydrophilic hydrogen-bonding interactions
      occur between nomilin and hTGR5. The binding mode of hTGR5-nomilin is vastly
      different from those of other TGR5 agonists previously reported, suggesting that
      TGR5 forms various binding patterns depending on the type of agonist. Our study
      promotes a better understanding of the structure of TGR5, and it may be useful in
      developing and screening new TGR5 agonists.

PMID- 28594919
TI  - Weaned beef calves fed selenium-biofortified alfalfa hay have an enriched nasal
      microbiota compared with healthy controls.
AB  - Selenium (Se) is an essential trace mineral important for immune function and
      overall health of cattle. The nasopharyngeal microbiota in cattle plays an
      important role in overall respiratory health, especially when stresses associated
      with weaning, transport, and adaptation to a feedlot affect the normal
      respiratory defenses. Recent evidence suggests that cattle diagnosed with bovine
      respiratory disease complex have significantly less bacterial diversity. The
      objective of this study was to determine whether feeding weaned beef calves Se
      enriched alfalfa (Medicago sativa) hay for 9 weeks in a preconditioning program
      prior to entering the feedlot alters nasal microbiota. Recently weaned beef
      calves (n = 45) were blocked by sex and body weight, randomly assigned to 3
      treatment groups with 3 pens of 5 calves per treatment group, and fed an alfalfa
      hay based diet for 9 weeks. Alfalfa hay was harvested from fields fertilized with
      sodium selenate at a rate of 0, 45.0 or 89.9 g Se/ha. Blood samples were
      collected biweekly and analyzed for whole-blood Se concentrations. Nasal swabs
      were collected during week 9 from one or two calves from each pen (total n = 16).
      Calculated Se intake from dietary sources was 3.0, 15.6, and 32.2 mg Se/head/day
      for calves consuming alfalfa hay with Se concentrations of 0.34 to 2.42 and 5.17
      mg Se/kg dry matter, respectively. Whole-blood Se concentrations after 8 weeks of
      feeding Se-fertilized alfalfa hay were dependent upon Se-application rates (0,
      45.0, or 89.9 g Se/ha) and were 155, 345, and 504 ng/mL (PLinear < 0.0001).
      Microbial DNA was extracted from nasal swabs and amplified and sequenced. Alpha
      rarefaction curves comparing the species richness (observed OTUs) and overall
      diversity (Chao1, Observed OTU, and Shannon index) between calves fed selenium
      biofortified alfalfa hay compared with control calves showed that Se
      supplementation tended to be associated with an enriched nasal microbiota. ANOSIM
      of unweighted UniFrac distances showed that calves fed high Se-biofortified
      alfalfa hay clustered separately when compared with control calves in the PCoA
      plot (R = 0.216, P = 0.04). The bacterial orders Lactobacillales and
      Flavobacteriales were increased in healthy control calves compared with
      Clostridiales and Bacteroidales being increased in calves fed Se-biofortified
      alfalfa hay. Although there were strong trends, no significant differences were
      noted for any of the bacterial taxa. Based upon these findings, we suggest that
      weaned beef calves fed Se-biofortified hay tend to have an enriched nasal
      microbiota. Feeding Se-biofortified alfalfa hay to weaned beef calves prior to
      entering the feedlot is a strategy for increasing nasopharyngeal microbial
      diversity.

PMID- 28594918
TI  - Obesity, metabolic factors and risk of different histological types of lung
      cancer: A Mendelian randomization study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic
      conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian
      randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess
      causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. METHODS AND
      FINDINGS: We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors
      and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including
      11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and
      56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass
      index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes,
      with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR)
      [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01-1.43] and for small cell lung cancer
      (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15-2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI
      [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79-1.08])
      (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for
      BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27
      cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic
      susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence
      that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung
      cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84-0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while
      fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25-2.13] per SD
      of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR
      Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI
      in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by
      a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior.

PMID- 28594921
TI  - T6SS: The bacterial "fight club" in the host gut.

PMID- 28594920
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms associated with fatty liver disease and fibrosis in HIV
      positive patients receiving combined antiretroviral therapy (cART).
AB  - Hepatic steatosis can occur with any antiretroviral therapy (cART). Although
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified to predispose to
      alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, their role for treatment
      associated steatosis in HIV-positive patients remains unclear. We determined the
      frequency of PNPLA3 (rs738409), CSPG3/NCAN (rs2228603), GCKR (rs780094), PPP1R3B
      (rs4240624), TM6SF (rs8542926), LYPLAL1 (rs12137855) and MBOAT7 (rs626283) by RT
      PCR in 117 HIV-positive patients on cART and stratified participants based on
      their "controlled attenuation parameter" (CAP) into probable (CAP: 215-300 dB/m)
      and definite (CAP >300 dB/m) hepatic steatosis. We analyzed CAP values and
      routine metabolic parameters according to the allele frequencies. Sixty-five
      (55.6%) and 13 (11.1%) patients were allocated to probable and definite
      steatosis. CAP values (p = 0.012) and serum triglycerides (p = 0.043) were
      increased in carriers of the GCKR (rs780094) A allele. Cox logistic regression
      identified triglycerides (p = 0.006), bilirubin (p = 0.021) and BMI (p = 0.068),
      but not the genetic parameters as risk factors for the occurrence of hepatic
      steatosis. Taken together, according to the limited sample size, this exploratory
      study generates the hypothesis that genetic polymorphisms seem to exert minor
      effects on the risk for fatty liver disease in HIV-positive patients on cART.
      Nevertheless, SNPs may modify metabolic complications once metabolic
      abnormalities have developed. Hence, subsequent analysis of a larger cohort is
      needed.

PMID- 28594922
TI  - The learning curve of endoscopic total mastectomy in Taiwan: A multi-center
      study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic techniques are commonly used in abdominal and
      gynecologic surgery, while breast cancer surgery has remained largely unchanged.
      In Asia, especially in Japan, many surgeons have started to use endoscopic
      surgery for breast cancer. In Taiwan, endoscopy-assisted breast surgery started
      in 2010. The benefits of this surgical method include smaller incisions, an
      axillary anatomic approach, clear vision, no oncologic compromise, and good
      cosmetic outcomes. This is the first report to discuss the learning curve of
      endoscopy-assisted breast surgery, including the difficulties experienced.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June 2011 to December 2013, data were collected from
      134 patients who received an endoscopic total mastectomy at the Taipei Medical
      University Hospital (TMUH) or Changhua Christian Hospital (CCH). We divided these
      patients into a learning group (TMUH, n = 15; CCH, n = 15) and a mature group
      (TMUH, n = 50; CCH, n = 54). Patient data and perioperative variables were
      recorded by retrospective chart review. Variables were compared using the chi2
      test and Student's t-test. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in
      operation time (275.3 vs. 228.9 minutes, p < 0.01) between the learning and
      mature groups. Perioperative variables (lymph node dissection method, nipple
      preservation, and reconstruction method) were also analyzed, but there were no
      demographic differences between the groups. The complication rate was higher in
      the learning group, although this difference was also not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first to discuss the learning curve of
      endoscopic total mastectomy. The operation time decreased significantly after 15
      cases at each hospital. Although the operation is still more time-consuming than
      traditional methods, it has the benefit of smaller wounds and improved cosmetic
      outcomes if combined with immediate reconstruction.

PMID- 28594923
TI  - Computer-aided detection of brain metastasis on 3D MR imaging: Observer
      performance study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the effect of computer-aided detection (CAD) of brain
      metastasis (BM) on radiologists' diagnostic performance in interpreting three
      dimensional brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging using follow-up imaging and
      consensus as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The institutional
      review board approved this retrospective study. The study cohort consisted of 110
      consecutive patients with BM and 30 patients without BM. The training data set
      included MR images of 80 patients with 450 BM nodules. The test set included MR
      images of 30 patients with 134 BM nodules and 30 patients without BM. We
      developed a CAD system for BM detection using template-matching and K-means
      clustering algorithms for candidate detection and an artificial neural network
      for false-positive reduction. Four reviewers (two neuroradiologists and two
      radiology residents) interpreted the test set images before and after the use of
      CAD in a sequential manner. The sensitivity, false positive (FP) per case, and
      reading time were analyzed. A jackknife free-response receiver operating
      characteristic (JAFROC) method was used to determine the improvement in the
      diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: The sensitivity of CAD was 87.3% with an FP per
      case of 302.4. CAD significantly improved the diagnostic performance of the four
      reviewers with a figure-of-merit (FOM) of 0.874 (without CAD) vs. 0.898 (with
      CAD) according to JAFROC analysis (p < 0.01). Statistically significant
      improvement was noted only for less-experienced reviewers (FOM without vs. with
      CAD, 0.834 vs. 0.877, p < 0.01). The additional time required to review the CAD
      results was approximately 72 sec (40% of the total review time). CONCLUSION: CAD
      as a second reader helps radiologists improve their diagnostic performance in the
      detection of BM on MR imaging, particularly for less-experienced reviewers.

PMID- 28594924
TI  - Multiple extracellular vesicle types in peritoneal dialysis effluent are
      prominent and contain known biomarkers.
AB  - Peritoneal dialysis inevitability results in activation of inflammatory processes
      and its efficiency is highly variable between patients. An improved method to
      isolate biomarkers and study pathophysiological mechanisms in peritoneal dialysis
      effluent (PDE) is expected to be of much benefit for the development of this
      treatment approach and help with patient management. Extracellular vesicles (EVs)
      are released as part of normal cellular processes. Their proteome is expected to
      reflect both type and health of their cell of origin. Although there is a
      significant interest in using EVs for "liquid biopsies", little is reported of
      their presence or composition in plentiful dialysis waste fluids, including
      peritoneal dialysis effluent (PDE). Here we determined the presence of EVs in PDE
      and subsequently characterized their proteome. EVs were first isolated from PDE
      using differential centrifugation, then a further enrichment using size exclusion
      chromatography (SEC) was performed. The presence of EVs was demonstrated using
      transmission electron microscopy, and their particle counts were investigated
      using nanoparticle tracking analysis and dynamic light scattering. Using tandem
      mass spectrometry, marker proteins from three types of EVs i.e. apoptotic bodies,
      ectosomes, and exosomes were identified. The proteomic results demonstrated that
      the isolation of EVs by differential centrifugation helped enrich for over 2,000
      proteins normally masked by abundant proteins in PDE such as albumin and SEC
      markedly further improved the isolation of low abundant proteins. Gene ontology
      analysis of all identified proteins showed the marked enrichment of exosome and
      membrane-associated proteins. Over 3,700 proteins were identified in total,
      including many proteins with known roles in peritoneal pathophysiology. This
      study demonstrated the prominence of EVs in PDE and their potential value as a
      source of biomarkers for peritoneal dialysis patients.

PMID- 28594925
TI  - A comparative study of the effect of the dose and exposure duration of anabolic
      androgenic steroids on behavior, cholinergic regulation, and oxidative stress in
      rats.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess if the dose and exposure duration of the
      anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) boldenone (BOL) and stanazolol (ST) affected
      memory, anxiety, and social interaction, as well as acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
      activity and oxidative stress in the cerebral cortex (CC) and hippocampus (HC).
      Male Wistar rats (90 animals) were randomly assigned to three treatment
      protocols: (I) 5 mg/kg BOL or ST, once a week for 4 weeks; (II) 2.5 mg/kg BOL or
      ST, once a week for 8 weeks; and (III) 1.25 mg/kg BOL or ST, once a week for 12
      weeks. Each treatment protocol included a control group that received an olive
      oil injection (vehicle control) and AAS were administered intramuscularly (a
      total volume of 0.2 ml) once a week in all three treatment protocols. In the BOL
      and ST groups, a higher anxiety level was observed only for Protocol I. BOL and
      ST significantly affected social interaction in all protocols. Memory deficits
      and increased AChE activity in the CC and HC were found in the BOL groups treated
      according to Protocol III only. In addition, BOL and ST significantly increased
      oxidative stress in both the CC and HC in the groups treated according to
      Protocol I and III. In conclusion, our findings show that the impact of BOL and
      ST on memory, anxiety, and social interaction depends on the dose and exposure
      duration of these AAS.

PMID- 28594927
TI  - Estimating an area-level socioeconomic status index and its association with
      colonoscopy screening adherence.
AB  - Socioeconomic status (SES) is often considered a risk factor for health outcomes.
      SES is typically measured using individual variables of educational attainment,
      income, housing, and employment variables or a composite of these variables.
      Approaches to building the composite variable include using equal weights for
      each variable or estimating the weights with principal components analysis or
      factor analysis. However, these methods do not consider the relationship between
      the outcome and the SES variables when constructing the index. In this project,
      we used weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to estimate an area-level SES
      index and its effect in a model of colonoscopy screening adherence in the
      Minnesota-Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. We considered several
      specifications of the SES index including using different spatial scales (e.g.,
      census block group-level, tract-level) for the SES variables. We found a
      significant positive association (odds ratio = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.15-1.19) between
      the SES index and colonoscopy adherence in the best fitting model. The model with
      the best goodness-of-fit included a multi-scale SES index with 10 variables at
      the block group-level and one at the tract-level, with home ownership, race, and
      income among the most important variables. Contrary to previous index
      construction, our results were not consistent with an assumption of equal
      importance of variables in the SES index when explaining colonoscopy screening
      adherence. Our approach is applicable in any study where an SES index is
      considered as a variable in a regression model and the weights for the SES
      variables are not known in advance.

PMID- 28594926
TI  - Rotating night work, lifestyle factors, obesity and promoter methylation in BRCA1
      and BRCA2 genes among nurses and midwives.
AB  - Some recent evidence suggests that environmental and lifestyle factors may modify
      DNA methylation. We hypothesized that rotating night work and several modifiable
      factors may be associated with the methylation of the promoter regions within two
      tumor suppressor and DNA repair genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2. The methylation status of
      BRCA1 and BRCA2 was determined via qMSP reactions using DNA samples derived from
      blood leucocytes of 347 nurses and midwives working rotating nights and 363
      working during the days. The subjects were classified into unmethylated vs
      methylated BRCA1 and BRCA2 when the methylation index was 0% or >0%,
      respectively. The adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were
      calculated for night work status, smoking, obesity, physical activity and alcohol
      drinking. Current night shift work or night work history was not associated with
      methylation status of the promoter sites within BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. We
      observed weak associations between smoking and the methylation status of BRCA1
      with OR = 1.50 (95%CI: 0.98-2.29) for current smoking, OR = 1.83, 95CI: 1.08-3.13
      for smoking longer than 31 years, and 0.1>p>0.05 for trends for the number of
      cigarettes per day, smoking duration and packyears. In conclusion, no links
      between night shift work and methylation of the promoter region within the BRCA1,
      and BRCA2 genes were observed in this exploratory analysis. The findings of our
      study weakly support the hypothesis that smoking may contribute to epigenetic
      events.

PMID- 28594928
TI  - Should the WHO withdraw support for mass deworming?

PMID- 28594929
TI  - Intermittent hypoxia increases kidney tumor vascularization in a murine model of
      sleep apnea.
AB  - We investigate the effects of intermittent hypoxia (IH), a characteristic feature
      of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), on renal cancer progression in an animal and
      cell model. An in vivo mouse model (Balb/c, n = 50) of kidney cancer was used to
      assess the effect of IH on tumor growth, metastatic capacity, angiogenesis and
      tumor immune response. An in vitro model tested the effect of IH on RENCA cells,
      macrophages and endothelial cells. Tumor growth, metastatic capacity, circulating
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and content of endothelial cells, tumor
      associated macrophages and their phenotype were assessed in the tumor. In vitro,
      VEGF cell expression was quantified.Although IH did not boost tumor growth, it
      significantly increased endothelial cells (p = 0.001) and circulating VEGF
      (p<0.001) in the in vivo model. Macrophages exposed to IH in vitro increased VEGF
      expression, whereas RENCA cells and endothelial cells did not. These findings are
      in keeping with previous clinical data suggesting that OSA has no effect on
      kidney cancer size and that the association observed between OSA and higher
      Fuhrman grade of renal cell carcinoma may be mediated though a proangiogenic
      process, with a key role of macrophages.

PMID- 28594930
TI  - Evaluation of an enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocol in Salmonella
      contaminated pig holdings in the United Kingdom.
AB  - Salmonella is the second most commonly reported zoonotic gastrointestinal
      pathogen in the European Union, and a significant proportion of the cases are
      linked to the consumption of contaminated pork. Reduction of Salmonella at the
      farm level helps to mininimise the contamination pressure at the slaughterhouse,
      and therefore the number of Salmonella bacteria entering the food chain. Cleaning
      and disinfection (C&D) between batches of pigs is an intervention measure that
      has potential to reduce the transmission of Salmonella contamination within
      farms. In this study, two pig finisher buildings in each of 10 Salmonella
      positive farms were sampled pre-C&D, post-C&D, post-restocking with the following
      batch of pigs, and shortly before these pigs were sent to slaughter. The incoming
      batch of pigs was also sampled before it reached the study building (pre
      restocking). At each visit, pooled and individual faecal samples were collected
      and Salmonella isolation was carried out according to an ISO 6579:2002 Annex D
      based method. One building on each farm (intervention) was cleaned and
      disinfected according to a rigorous protocol consisting of several steps and a
      Defra-approved disinfectant used at the General Orders concentration, whilst the
      other building (control) was cleaned and disinfected as per normal farm routine.
      At the post-C&D visit, Enterobacteriaceae and total bacterial counts were
      determined to evaluate residual faecal contamination and general hygiene levels.
      Rodent specialists visited the farms before and after C&D and rodent carcasses
      were collected for Salmonella testing. The intervention buildings were
      significantly less likely (p = 0.004) to be positive for Salmonella after C&D.
      The pre-restocking pigs had the highest likelihood (p<0.001) of being Salmonella
      positive (often with multiple serovars) and there was no significant difference
      between intervention and control buildings in Salmonella prevalence at the post
      restocking visit (p = 0.199). However, the pigs housed in the intervention
      buildings were significantly less likely (p = 0.004) to be positive for
      Salmonella at slaughter age. Multivariable analysis suggested that cleaning all
      fixtures of buildings, leaving the pens empty for 2-3 days and using an effective
      disinfectant are factors significantly improving the likelihood of removing
      Salmonella contamination during C&D. Signs of rodents were recorded in all farms,
      but rodent activity and harbourage availability decreased between visits. All the
      rats tested were Salmonella negative. S. Typhimurium or its monophasic variants
      were isolated from 6 mouse carcasses in 3 farms where the same serovars were
      isolated from pigs. This study demonstrates that an appropriate C&D programme
      significantly reduces the likelihood of residual contamination in Salmonella
      positive pig buildings, and suggests a significant reduction in the prevalence of
      Salmonella in the pigs in appropriately cleaned and disinfected buildings when
      sampled before slaughter. Due to a high prevalence of infection in replacement
      pigs, control of Salmonella in pig farms is challenging. Rodents may also
      contribute to the carry-over of infection between batches. C&D is a useful
      measure to help reduce the number of infected pigs going to the slaughterhouse,
      but should be supplemented by other control measures along the pig breeding and
      production chain.

PMID- 28594931
TI  - De novo transcriptome assembly and quantification reveal differentially expressed
      genes between soft-seed and hard-seed pomegranate (Punica granatum L.).
AB  - Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) belongs to Punicaceae, and is valued for its
      social, ecological, economic, and aesthetic values, as well as more recently for
      its health benefits. The 'Tunisia' variety has softer seeds and big arils that
      are easily swallowed. It is a widely popular fruit; however, the molecular
      mechanisms of the formation of hard and soft seeds is not yet clear. We conducted
      a de novo assembly of the seed transcriptome in P. granatum L. and revealed
      differential gene expression between the soft-seed and hard-seed pomegranate
      varieties. A total of 35.1 Gb of data were acquired in this study, including
      280,881,106 raw reads. Additionally, de novo transcriptome assembly generated
      132,287 transcripts and 105,743 representative unigenes; approximately 13,805
      unigenes (37.7%) were longer than 1,000 bp. Using bioinformatics annotation
      libraries, a total of 76,806 unigenes were annotated and, among the high-quality
      reads, 72.63% had at least one significant match to an existing gene model. Gene
      expression and differentially expressed genes were analyzed. The seed formation
      of the two pomegranate cultivars involves lignin biosynthesis and metabolism,
      including some genes encoding laccase and peroxidase, WRKY, MYB, and NAC
      transcription factors. In the hard-seed pomegranate, lignin-related genes and
      cellulose synthesis-related genes were highly expressed; in soft-seed
      pomegranates, expression of genes related to flavonoids and programmed cell death
      was slightly higher. We validated selection of the identified genes using qRT
      PCR. This is the first transcriptome analysis of P. granatum L. This
      transcription sequencing greatly enriched the pomegranate molecular database, and
      the high-quality SSRs generated in this study will aid the gene cloning from
      pomegranate in the future. It provides important insights into the molecular
      mechanisms underlying the formation of soft seeds in pomegranate.

PMID- 28594932
TI  - NS5A inhibitors unmask differences in functional replicase complex half-life
      between different hepatitis C virus strains.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is synthesized by the replicase complex (RC), a
      macromolecular assembly composed of viral non-structural proteins and cellular co
      factors. Inhibitors of the HCV NS5A protein block formation of new RCs but do not
      affect RNA synthesis by pre-formed RCs. Without new RC formation, existing RCs
      turn over and are eventually lost from the cell. We aimed to use NS5A inhibitors
      to estimate the half-life of the functional RC of HCV. We compared different cell
      culture-infectious strains of HCV that may be grouped based on their sensitivity
      to lipid peroxidation: robustly replicating, lipid peroxidation resistant (LPOR)
      viruses (e.g. JFH-1 or H77D) and more slowly replicating, lipid peroxidation
      sensitive (LPOS) viruses (e.g. H77S.3 and N.2). In luciferase assays, LPOS HCV
      strains declined under NS5A inhibitor therapy with much slower kinetics compared
      to LPOR HCV strains. This difference in rate of decline was not observed for
      inhibitors of the NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase suggesting that the
      difference was not simply a consequence of differences in RNA stability. In
      further analyses, we compared two isoclonal HCV variants: the LPOS H77S.3 and the
      LPOR H77D that differ only by 12 amino acids. Differences in rate of decline
      between H77S.3 and H77D following NS5A inhibitor addition were not due to amino
      acid sequences in NS5A but rather due to a combination of amino acid differences
      in the non-structural proteins that make up the HCV RC. Mathematical modeling of
      intracellular HCV RNA dynamics suggested that differences in RC stability (half
      lives of 3.5 and 9.9 hours, for H77D and H77S.3, respectively) are responsible
      for the different kinetics of antiviral suppression between LPOS and LPOR
      viruses. In nascent RNA capture assays, the rate of RNA synthesis decline
      following NS5A inhibitor addition was significantly faster for H77D compared to
      H77S.3 indicating different half-lives of functional RCs.

PMID- 28594933
TI  - How reliable are the effects of self-control training?: A re-examination using
      self-report and physical measures.
AB  - In light of recent challenges to the strength model of self-control, our study re
      examines the effects of self-control training on established physical and self
      report measures of self-control. We also examined whether beliefs about the
      malleability of self-control qualify any training effects. Participants in the
      training condition were assigned to increase use of their non-dominant hand for
      two weeks, and did comply mainly if they held high-malleability beliefs; yet,
      compared to a control condition, the physical measure of self-control did not
      improve. This was also evident in a secondary objective measure of self-control,
      a Stroop task, as well as in self-reported self-control. The discussion focuses
      on the lack of replication of training effects on self-control.

PMID- 28594934
TI  - Effects of PPARalpha inhibition in head and neck paraganglioma cells.
AB  - Head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs) are rare tumors that may cause important
      morbidity, because of their tendency to infiltrate the skull base. At present,
      surgery is the only therapeutic option, but radical removal may be difficult or
      impossible. Thus, effective targets and molecules for HNPGL treatment need to be
      identified. However, the lack of cellular models for this rare tumor hampers this
      task. PPARalpha receptor activation was reported in several tumors and this
      receptor appears to be a promising therapeutic target in different malignancies.
      Considering that the role of PPARalpha in HNPGLs was never studied before, we
      analyzed the potential of modulating PPARalpha in a unique model of HNPGL cells.
      We observed an intense immunoreactivity for PPARalpha in HNPGL tumors, suggesting
      that this receptor has an important role in HNPGL. A pronounced nuclear
      expression of PPARalpha was also confirmed in HNPGL-derived cells. The specific
      PPARalpha agonist WY14643 had no effect on HNPGL cell viability, whereas the
      specific PPARalpha antagonist GW6471 reduced HNPGL cell viability and growth by
      inducing cell cycle arrest and caspase-dependent apoptosis. GW6471 treatment was
      associated with a marked decrease of CDK4, cyclin D3 and cyclin B1 protein
      expression, along with an increased expression of p21 in HNPGL cells. Moreover,
      GW6471 drastically impaired clonogenic activity of HNPGL cells, with a less
      marked effect on cell migration. Notably, the effects of GW6471 on HNPGL cells
      were associated with the inhibition of the PI3K/GSK3beta/beta-catenin signaling
      pathway. In conclusion, the PPARalpha antagonist GW6471 reduces HNPGL cell
      viability, interfering with cell cycle and inducing apoptosis. The mechanisms
      affecting HNPGL cell viability involve repression of the PI3K/GSK3beta/beta
      catenin pathway. Therefore, PPARalpha could represent a novel therapeutic target
      for HNPGL.

PMID- 28594936
TI  - Climatic and drought characteristics in the loess hilly-gully region of China
      from 1957 to 2014.
AB  - The loess hilly-gully region is a focus region of the "Grain for Green" program
      in China. Drought is the main problem in the study region. Precipitation and
      temperature are two indicators that directly characterize climatic drought. A
      thorough analysis of the precipitation, temperature and drought characteristics
      of the loess hilly-gully region can clarify the current water and heat conditions
      in the region to improve regional water resource management and provide a
      reliable reference for effectively improving water use efficiency. In this study,
      we fully analyzed the precipitation and temperature characteristics at 11
      representative synoptic stations in the loess hilly-gully region over the period
      from 1957 to 2014 using a combination of trend-free pre-whitening, linear trend
      estimation, Spearman's rho test, the Mann-Kendall (M-K) trend and abrupt change
      tests and wavelet analysis. The standardized precipitation evapotranspiration
      index was calculated and analyzed on different time scales. The following
      conclusions were drawn: (1) There were significant spatial differences and inter
      annual variations in precipitation at the 11 synoptic stations in the study area
      between 1957 and 2014; the precipitation consistently decreased with
      fluctuations, and the extent of the decrease varied from a maximum of 17.74
      mm/decade to a minimum of 2.92 mm/decade. Except for the downward trends of the
      autumn and winter mean temperatures at Hequ, the seasonal and annual mean
      temperatures at the stations showed upward trends, including highly significant
      upward trends. (2) Alternating drought and wetness occurred in the study area;
      the wet period mainly appeared in the 1960s, and the main dry period lasted from
      the late 20th century to 2012. There were fewer dry and wet years than normal
      years; however, the study area still showed a drying trend, and the severity of
      the drought was increasing. (3) The annual precipitation and annual mean
      temperature showed marked cyclical fluctuations at each synoptic station, and the
      first primary cycle was approximately 28 years. The seasonal precipitation and
      seasonal temperature showed different cycle lengths; the seasonal cycles of
      precipitation for spring, summer, autumn and winter were 10, 28, 10 and 26 years
      long, respectively, and the cycles of the temperature fluctuations for all four
      seasons were approximately 28 years long.

PMID- 28594935
TI  - A nested case-control study of 277 prediagnostic serum cytokines and glioma.
AB  - Recent research shows bidirectional communication between the normal brain and
      the peripheral immune system. Glioma is a primary brain tumor characterized by
      systemic immunosuppression. To better understand gliomagenesis, we evaluated
      associations between 277 prediagnostic serum cytokines and glioma. We used glioma
      (n = 487) and matched control (n = 487) specimens from the Janus Serum Bank
      Cohort in Oslo, Norway. Conditional logistic regression allowed us to identify
      those cytokines that were individually associated with glioma. Next, we used heat
      maps to compare case to control Pearson correlation matrices of 12 cytokines
      modeled in an in silico study of the interaction between the microenvironment and
      the tumor. We did the same for case-control correlation matrices of lasso
      selected cytokines and all 277 cytokines in the data set. Cytokines related to
      glioma risk (P <= .05) more than 10 years before diagnosis are sIL10RB, VEGF,
      beta-Catenin and CCL22. LIF was associated with decreased glioma risk within five
      years before glioma diagnosis (odds ratio (OR) = 0.47, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) = 0.23, 0.94). After adjustment for cytokines above, the previously observed
      interaction between IL4 and sIL4RA persisted (> 20 years before diagnosis, OR =
      1.72, 95% CI = 1.20, 2.47). In addition, during this period, case correlations
      among 12 cytokines were weaker than were those among controls. This pattern was
      also observed among 30 lasso- selected cytokines and all 277 cytokines. We
      identified four cytokines and one interaction term that were independently
      related to glioma risk. We have documented prediagnostic changes in serum
      cytokine levels that may reflect the presence of a preclinical tumor.

PMID- 28594937
TI  - Hyperferritinemia and hypergammaglobulinemia predict the treatment response to
      standard therapy in autoimmune hepatitis.
AB  - Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic hepatitis with an increasing incidence.
      The majority of patients require life-long immunosuppression and incomplete
      treatment response is associated with a disease progression. An abnormal iron
      homeostasis or hyperferritinemia is associated with worse outcome in other
      chronic liver diseases and after liver transplantation. We assessed the capacity
      of baseline parameters including the iron status to predict the treatment
      response upon standard therapy in 109 patients with untreated AIH type 1 (AIH-1)
      in a retrospective single center study. Thereby, a hyperferritinemia (> 2.09
      times upper limit of normal; Odds ratio (OR) = 8.82; 95% confidence interval
      (CI): 2.25-34.52) and lower immunoglobulins (<1.89 times upper limit of normal;
      OR = 6.78; CI: 1.87-24.59) at baseline were independently associated with the
      achievement of complete biochemical remission upon standard therapy. The
      predictive value increased when both variables were combined to a single
      treatment response score, when the cohort was randomly split into a training
      (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.749; CI 0.635-0.863) and internal validation
      cohort (AUC = 0.741; CI 0.558-0.924). Patients with a low treatment response
      score (<1) had significantly higher cumulative remission rates in the training
      (p<0.001) and the validation cohort (p = 0.024). The baseline hyperferritinemia
      was accompanied by a high serum iron, elevated transferrin saturations and mild
      hepatic iron depositions in the majority of patients. However, the abnormal iron
      status was quickly reversible under therapy. Mechanistically, the iron parameters
      were not stringently related to a hepatocellular damage. Ferritin rather seems
      deregulated from the master regulator hepcidin, which was down regulated,
      potentially mediated by the elevated hepatocyte growth factor. In conclusion,
      baseline levels of serum ferritin and immunoglobulins, which are part of the
      diagnostic work-up of AIH, can be used to predict the treatment response upon
      standard therapy in AIH-1, although confirmation from larger multicenter studies
      is pending.

PMID- 28594939
TI  - Ambiguity in the processing of Mandarin Chinese relative clauses: One factor
      cannot explain it all.
AB  - This study addresses the question of whether native Mandarin Chinese speakers
      process and comprehend subject-extracted relative clauses (SRC) more readily than
      object-extracted relative clauses (ORC) in Mandarin Chinese. Presently, this has
      been a hotly debated issue, with various studies producing contrasting results.
      Using two eye-tracking experiments with ambiguous and unambiguous RCs, this study
      shows that both ORCs and SRCs have different processing requirements depending on
      the locus and time course during reading. The results reveal that ORC reading was
      possibly facilitated by linear/temporal integration and canonicity. On the other
      hand, similarity-based interference made ORCs more difficult, and expectation
      based processing was more prominent for unambiguous ORCs. Overall, RC processing
      in Mandarin should not be broken down to a single ORC (dis)advantage, but
      understood as multiple interdependent factors influencing whether ORCs are either
      more difficult or easier to parse depending on the task and context at hand.

PMID- 28594938
TI  - The enemy within: Targeting host-parasite interaction for antileishmanial drug
      discovery.
AB  - The state of antileishmanial chemotherapy is strongly compromised by the
      emergence of drug-resistant Leishmania. The evolution of drug-resistant
      phenotypes has been linked to the parasites' intrinsic genome instability, with
      frequent gene and chromosome amplifications causing fitness gains that are
      directly selected by environmental factors, including the presence of
      antileishmanial drugs. Thus, even though the unique eukaryotic biology of
      Leishmania and its dependence on parasite-specific virulence factors provide
      valid opportunities for chemotherapeutical intervention, all strategies that
      target the parasite in a direct fashion are likely prone to select for
      resistance. Here, we review the current state of antileishmanial chemotherapy and
      discuss the limitations of ongoing drug discovery efforts. We finally propose new
      strategies that target Leishmania viability indirectly via mechanisms of host
      parasite interaction, including parasite-released ectokinases and host epigenetic
      regulation, which modulate host cell signaling and transcriptional regulation,
      respectively, to establish permissive conditions for intracellular Leishmania
      survival.

PMID- 28594941
TI  - Low level laser (LLL) attenuate LPS-induced inflammatory responses in mesenchymal
      stem cells via the suppression of NF-kappaB signaling pathway in vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Considering promising results in animal models and patients,
      therapeutic use of MSCs for immune disease is likely to undergo continued
      evaluation. Low-lever laser (LLL) has been widely applied to retard the
      inflammatory reaction. LLL treatment can potentially be applied in anti
      inflammatory therapy followed by stem cell therapy. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose
      of this study was to investigate the effect of LLL (660 nm) on the inflammatory
      reaction induced by LPS in human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs)
      and pertinent mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anti-inflammatory activity of LLL
      was investigated by LPS-induced mesenchymal stem cells. The production and
      expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines were evaluated by ELISA kits and RT
      qPCR. Nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB was indicated by immunofluorescent
      staining. Phosphorylation status of NF-kappaB p65 and IkappaBalpha were
      illustrated by western blot assay. ROS generation was measured with CM-H2DCFDA,
      and NO secretion was determined by DAF-FM. We studied surface expression of
      lymphocyte activation markers when Purified peripheral blood mononuclear cell
      (PBMC) were activated by phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) in the presence of 3 types of
      treated MSCs. RESULTS: LLL reduced the secretion of IL-1beta, IL-6, IL8, ROS and
      NO in LPS treated MSCs. Immunofluorescent assay demonstrated the nuclear
      translocation decrease of NF-kappaB in LLL treated LPS induced MSCs. Western blot
      analysis also suggested that LLL suppressed NF-kappaB activation via regulating
      the phosphorylation of p65 and IkappaBalpha. MSC significantly reduced the
      expression of activation markers CD25 and CD69 on PHA-stimulated lymphocytes.
      CONCLUSION: The results indicate that LLL suppressed the activation of NF-kappaB
      signaling pathway in LPS treated MSCs through inhibiting phosphorylation of p65
      and IkappaBalpha, which results in good anti-inflammatory effect. In addition,
      LLL attenuated activation-associated markers CD25 and CD69 in co-cultures of PBMC
      and 3 types of treated MSCs.

PMID- 28594942
TI  - Potential distribution of mosquito vector species in a primary malaria endemic
      region of Colombia.
AB  - Rapid transformation of natural ecosystems changes ecological conditions for
      important human disease vector species; therefore, an essential task is to
      identify and understand the variables that shape distributions of these species
      to optimize efforts toward control and mitigation. Ecological niche modeling was
      used to estimate the potential distribution and to assess hypotheses of niche
      similarity among the three main malaria vector species in northern Colombia:
      Anopheles nuneztovari, An. albimanus, and An. darlingi. Georeferenced point
      collection data and remotely sensed, fine-resolution satellite imagery were
      integrated across the Uraba -Bajo Cauca-Alto Sinu malaria endemic area using a
      maximum entropy algorithm. Results showed that An. nuneztovari has the widest
      geographic distribution, occupying almost the entire study region; this niche
      breadth is probably related to the ability of this species to colonize both,
      natural and disturbed environments. The model for An. darlingi showed that most
      suitable localities for this species in Bajo Cauca were along the Cauca and Nechi
      river. The riparian ecosystems in this region and the potential for rapid
      adaptation by this species to novel environments, may favor the establishment of
      populations of this species. Apparently, the three main Colombian Anopheles
      vector species in this endemic area do not occupy environments either with high
      seasonality, or with low seasonality and high NDVI values. Estimated overlap in
      geographic space between An. nuneztovari and An. albimanus indicated broad
      spatial and environmental similarity between these species. An. nuneztovari has a
      broader niche and potential distribution. Dispersal ability of these species and
      their ability to occupy diverse environmental situations may facilitate sympatry
      across many environmental and geographic contexts. These model results may be
      useful for the design and implementation of malaria species-specific vector
      control interventions optimized for this important malaria region.

PMID- 28594940
TI  - The introduction of mesenchymal stromal cells induces different immunological
      responses in the lungs of healthy and M. tuberculosis infected mice.
AB  - Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have strong immunomodulatory properties and
      therefore can be used to control inflammation and tissue damage. It was suggested
      recently that MSC injections can be used to treat multi-drug resistant
      tuberculosis (TB). However, MSC trafficking and immunomodulatory effects of MSC
      injections during Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection have not been
      studied. To address this issue we have analyzed MSC distribution in tissues and
      local immunological effects of MSC injections in Mtb infected and uninfected
      mice. After intravenous injection, MSC accumulated preferentially in the lungs
      where they were located as cell aggregates in the alveolar walls. Immunological
      analysis of MSC effects included detection of activated, IFN-gamma and IL-4
      producing CD4+ lymphocytes, the frequency analysis of dendritic cells
      (CD11c+F4/80) and macrophages (CD11c-F4/80+) located in the lungs, the expression
      of IA/IE and CD11b molecules by these cells, and evaluation of 23
      cytokines/chemokines in lung lysates. In the lungs of uninfected mice, MSC
      transfer markedly increased the percentage of IFN-gamma+ CD4+ lymphocytes and
      dendritic cells, elevated levels of IA/IE expression by dendritic cells and
      macrophages, augmented local production of type 2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10)
      and chemokines (CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CXCL1), and downregulated type 1 and
      hematopoietic cytokines (IL-12p70, IFN-gamma, IL-3, IL-6, GM-CSF). Compared to
      uninfected mice, Mtb infected mice had statistically higher "background"
      frequency of activated CD69+ and IFN-gamma+ CD4+ lymphocytes and dendritic cells,
      and higher levels of cytokines in the lungs. The injections of MSC to Mtb
      infected mice did not show statistically significant effects on CD4+ lymphocytes,
      dendritic cells and macrophages, only slightly shifted cytokine profile, and did
      not change pathogen load or slow down TB progression. Lung section analysis
      showed that in Mtb infected mice, MSC could not be found in the proximity of the
      inflammatory foci. Thus, in healthy recipients, MSC administration dramatically
      changed T-cell function and cytokine/chemokine milieu in the lungs, most likely,
      due to capillary blockade. But, during Mtb infection, i.e., in the highly
      inflammatory conditions, MSC did not affect T-cell function and the level of
      inflammation. The findings emphasize the importance of the evaluation of MSC
      effects locally at the site of their predominant post-injection localization and
      question MSC usefulness as anti-TB treatment.

PMID- 28594943
TI  - Childhood cancer risk in those with chromosomal and non-chromosomal congenital
      anomalies in Washington State: 1984-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of a congenital anomaly is associated with increased
      childhood cancer risk, likely due to large effects of Down syndrome and
      chromosomal anomalies for leukemia. Less is known about associations with
      presence of non-chromosomal anomalies. METHODS: Records of children diagnosed
      with cancer at <20 years of age during 1984-2013 in Washington State cancer
      registries were linked to their birth certificates (N = 4,105). A comparison
      group of children born in the same years was identified. Congenital anomalies
      were assessed from birth records and diagnosis codes in linked hospital discharge
      data. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) for cancer, and for specific cancer types in relation
      to the presence of any anomaly and specific anomalies. RESULTS: Having any
      congenital anomaly was associated with an increased risk of childhood cancer (OR:
      1.46, 95% CI 1.28-1.65). Non-chromosomal anomalies were also associated with
      increased childhood cancer risk overall (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.18-1.54), and with
      increased risk of several cancer types, including neuroblastoma, renal,
      hepatoblastoma, soft-tissue sarcoma, and germ cell tumors. Increasing number of
      non-chromosomal anomalies was associated with a stronger risk of childhood cancer
      (OR for 3+ anomalies: 3.11, 95% CI: 1.54-6.11). Although central nervous system
      (CNS) anomalies were associated with CNS tumors (OR: 6.05, 95% CI 2.75-13.27),
      there was no strong evidence of other non-chromosomal anomalies being
      specifically associated with cancer occurring in the same organ system or
      anatomic location. CONCLUSIONS: Non-chromosomal anomalies increased risk of
      several cancer types. Additionally, we found that increasing number of non
      chromosomal anomalies was associated with a stronger risk of cancer. Pooling
      similar data from many regions would increase power to identify specific
      associations in order to inform molecular studies examining possible common
      developmental pathways in the etiologies of birth defects and cancer.

PMID- 28594944
TI  - Development and evaluation of a core genome multilocus typing scheme for whole
      genome sequence-based typing of Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - We have employed whole genome sequencing to define and evaluate a core genome
      multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) scheme for Acinetobacter baumannii. To define
      a core genome we downloaded a total of 1,573 putative A. baumannii genomes from
      NCBI as well as representative isolates belonging to the eight previously
      described international A. baumannii clonal lineages. The core genome was then
      employed against a total of fifty-three carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii
      isolates that were previously typed by PFGE and linked to hospital outbreaks in
      eight German cities. We defined a core genome of 2,390 genes of which an average
      98.4% were called successfully from 1,339 A. baumannii genomes, while
      Acinetobacter nosocomialis, Acinetobacter pittii, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus
      resulted in 71.2%, 33.3%, and 23.2% good targets, respectively. When tested
      against the previously identified outbreak strains, we found good correlation
      between PFGE and cgMLST clustering, with 0-8 allelic differences within a
      pulsotype, and 40-2,166 differences between pulsotypes. The highest number of
      allelic differences was between the isolates representing the international
      clones. This typing scheme was highly discriminatory and identified separate A.
      baumannii outbreaks. Moreover, because a standardised cgMLST nomenclature is
      used, the system will allow inter-laboratory exchange of data.

PMID- 28594945
TI  - Participatory evaluation of delivery of animal health care services by community
      animal health workers in Karamoja region of Uganda.
AB  - AIM: An evaluation exercise was carried out to assess the performance of
      Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) in the delivery of animal health care
      services in Karamoja region, identify capacity gaps and recommend remedial
      measures. MATERIALS & METHODS: Participatory methods were used to design data
      collection tools. Questionnaires were administered to 204 CAHWs, 215 farmers and
      7 District Veterinary Officers (DVOs) to collect quantitative data. Seven DVOs
      and 1 Non Government Organization (NGO) representative were interviewed as key
      informants and one focus group discussion was conducted with a farmer group in
      Nakapiripirit to collect qualitative data. Questionnaire data was analyzed using
      SPSS version 19. Key messages from interviews and the focus group discussion were
      recorded in a notebook and reported verbatim. RESULTS: 70% of the farmers
      revealed that CAHWs are the most readily available animal health care service
      providers in their respective villages. CAHWs were instrumental in treatment of
      sick animals, disease surveillance, control of external parasites, animal
      production, vaccination, reporting, animal identification, and performing minor
      surgeries. Regarding their overall performance 88.8%(191/215) of the farmers said
      they were impressed. The main challenges faced by the CAHWs were inadequate
      facilitation, lack of tools and equipments, unwillingness of government to
      integrate them into the formal extension system, poor information flow, limited
      technical capacity to diagnose diseases, unwillingness of farmers to pay for
      services and sustainability issues. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: CAHWs remain
      the main source of animal health care services in Karamoja region and their
      services are largely satisfactory. The technical deficits identified require
      continuous capacity building programs, close supervision and technical
      backstopping. For sustainability of animal health care services in the region
      continuous training and strategic deployment of paraprofessionals that are
      formally recognised by the traditional civil service to gradually replace CAHWs
      is recommended.

PMID- 28594946
TI  - Association of vaginal dysbiosis and biofilm with contraceptive vaginal ring
      biomass in African women.
AB  - We investigated the presence, density and bacterial composition of contraceptive
      vaginal ring biomass and its association with the vaginal microbiome. Of 415
      rings worn by 120 Rwandese women for three weeks, the biomass density was
      assessed with crystal violet and the bacterial composition of biomass eluates was
      assessed with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The biomass was
      visualised after fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and with scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM). The vaginal microbiome was assessed with Nugent
      scoring and vaginal biofilm was visualised after FISH. All vaginal rings were
      covered with biomass (mean optical density (OD) of 3.36; standard deviation (SD)
      0.64). Lactobacilli were present on 93% of the rings, Gardnerella vaginalis on
      57%, and Atopobium vaginae on 37%. The ring biomass density was associated with
      the concentration of A. vaginae (OD +0.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01-0.05
      for one log increase; p = 0.002) and of G. vaginalis (OD +0.03; (95% CI 0.01
      0.05; p = 0.013). The density also correlated with Nugent score: rings worn by
      women with a BV Nugent score (mean OD +0.26), and intermediate score (mean OD
      +0.09) had a denser biomass compared to rings worn by participants with a normal
      score (p = 0.002). Furthermore, presence of vaginal biofilm containing G.
      vaginalis (p = 0.001) and A. vaginae (p = 0.005) correlated with a denser ring
      biomass (mean OD +0.24 and +0.22 respectively). With SEM we observed either a
      loose network of elongated bacteria or a dense biofilm. We found a correlation
      between vaginal dysbiosis and the density and composition of the ring biomass,
      and further research is needed to determine if these relationships are causal. As
      multipurpose vaginal rings to prevent pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually
      transmitted diseases are being developed, the potential impact of ring biomass on
      the vaginal microbiota and the release of active pharmaceutical ingredients
      should be researched in depth.

PMID- 28594947
TI  - Mass spectrometry-based serum peptidome profiling accurately and reliably
      predicts outcomes of pemetrexed plus platinum chemotherapy in patients with
      advanced lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although pemetrexed plus cis/carboplatin has become the most
      effective chemotherapy regimen for patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma,
      predictive biomarkers are not yet available, and new tools to identify
      chemosensitive patients who would likely benefit from this treatment are
      desperately needed. In this study, we constructed and validated predictive
      peptide models using the serum peptidome profiles of two datasets. METHODS: One
      hundred eighty-three patients treated with first-line platinum-based pemetrexed
      treatment for advanced lung adenocarcinoma were retrospectively enrolled and
      randomized into the training (n = 92) or validation (n = 91) set, and pre
      treatment serum samples were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and
      ClinProTools software. Serum peptidome profiles from the training set were used
      to identify potential predictive peptide biomarkers and construct a predictive
      peptide model for accurate group discrimination; which was then used to classify
      validation samples into "good" and "poor" outcome groups. The clinical outcomes
      of objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free
      survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed based on the
      classification result. RESULTS: Eight potential peptide biomarkers were
      identified. A predictive peptide model based on four distinct m/z features
      (2,142.12, 3,316.19, 4,281.94, and 6,624.02 Da) was developed based on the
      clinical outcomes of training set patients after first-line pemetrexed plus
      platinum treatment. In the validation set, the good group had significantly
      higher ORR (49.1% vs. 8.3%, P <0.001) and DCR (96.4% vs. 47.2%, P <0.001), and
      longer PFS (7.3 months vs. 2.7 months, P <0.001) vs. the poor group. However, the
      model did not predict OS (13.6 months vs. 12.7 months, P = 0.0675). CONCLUSION:
      Our predictive peptide model could predict pemetrexed plus platinum treatment
      outcomes in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma and might thus facilitate
      appropriate patient selection. Further studies are needed to confirm these
      findings.

PMID- 28594949
TI  - The nutrition and health risks faced by pregnant adolescents: Insights from a
      cross-sectional study in Bangladesh.
AB  - Little is known about nutrition and well-being indicators of pregnant adolescents
      and the availability and use of nutrition interventions delivered through
      maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) programs. This study compared the
      differences between pregnant adolescents and adult pregnant women in services
      received, and in maternal and child nutrition and health conditions. A survey of
      2,000 recently delivered women with infants <6 months of age was carried out in
      20 sub-districts in Bangladesh where MNCH program is being implemented.
      Differences in service use and outcomes between pregnant adolescents and adult
      women were tested using multivariate regression models. The coverage of antenatal
      care and nutrition services was similar for adolescent and adult mothers.
      Compared to adult mothers, adolescent mothers had significantly fewer ownership
      of assets and lower decision making power. Adolescent mothers weighed
      significantly less than adult women (45.8 vs 47.1 kg, p = 0.001), and their body
      mass index was significantly lower (19.7 vs 21.3, p = 0.001). Adolescents
      recovered later and with greater difficulty after childbirth. Infants of
      adolescent mothers had significant lower height-for-age z-score (-0.89 vs -0.74,
      p = 0.04), lower weight-for age z-score (-1.21 vs -1.08, p = 0.02) and higher
      underweight prevalence (22.4% vs 17.9%, p = 0.04) compared to infants of adult
      women. In conclusion, this study confirms that adolescent pregnancy poses
      substantial risks for maternal and infant outcomes, and emphasizes that these
      risks are significant even where services during pregnancy are available and
      accessed. A focus on preventing adolescent pregnancy is imperative, while also
      strengthening health and nutrition services for all pregnant women, whether adult
      or adolescent.

PMID- 28594948
TI  - Easy and non-invasive disease detection in pigs by adenosine deaminase activity
      determinations in saliva.
AB  - The quantification of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in porcine saliva samples has
      been analyzed for its use as a marker of disease. First, an analytical validation
      of the enzymatic assay used for ADA measurements was performed. Afterwards,
      saliva samples were collected from 50 healthy animals and 64 animals with
      different symptoms of disease, which were divided into local inflammation,
      gastrointestinal disorder, respiratory disorder and growth retardation. To
      optimize ADA measurements, total ADA (tADA), specific ADA (sADA) and ADA isoforms
      1 and 2 activities were calculated. Moreover, to preliminarily estimate the
      diagnostic value of tADA activity measurements for disease detection, receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) analyses was performed and compared to the results
      obtained for salivary acute phase proteins, haptoglobin (Hp) and C-reactive
      protein (CRP). The salivary levels of tADA activity were significantly elevated
      in animals with local inflammation, gastrointestinal disorder and respiratory
      disorder. The calculation of the different ADA activities did not provide
      additional information to tADA activity quantification for disease detection. The
      diagnostic value of tADA activity was superior to those observed for Hp and CRP
      measurements in the present study. It might be concluded that ADA analysis in
      saliva could be used as a simple, rapid, economic and non-invasive diagnostic
      tool in porcine production in field conditions.

PMID- 28594950
TI  - Association between computed tomography obstruction index and mortality in
      elderly patients with acute pulmonary embolism: A prospective validation study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) has not only
      become the method of choice for diagnosing acute pulmonary embolism (PE), it also
      allows for risk stratification of patients with PE. To date, no study has
      specifically examined the predictive value of CTPA findings to assess short-term
      prognosis in elderly patients with acute PE who are particularly vulnerable to
      adverse outcomes. METHODS: We studied 291 patients aged >=65 years with acute
      symptomatic PE in a prospective multicenter cohort. Outcomes were 90-day overall
      and PE-related mortality, recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), and length of
      hospital stay (LOS). We examined associations of the computed tomography
      obstruction index (CTOI) and the right ventricular (RV) to left ventricular (LV)
      diameter ratio with mortality and VTE recurrence using survival analysis,
      adjusting for provoked VTE, Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI), and
      anticoagulation as a time-varying covariate. RESULTS: Overall, 15 patients died
      within 90 days. There was no association between the CTOI and 90-day overall
      mortality (adjusted hazard ratio per 10% CTOI increase 0.92; 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 0.70-1.21; P = 0.54), but between the CTOI and PE-related 90-day
      mortality (adjusted sub-hazard ratio per 10% CTOI increase 1.36; 95% CI 1.03
      1.81; P = 0.03). The RV/LV diameter ratio was neither associated with overall nor
      PE-related 90-day mortality. The CTOI and the RV/LV diameter ratio were
      significantly associated with VTE recurrence and LOS. CONCLUSIONS: In elderly
      patients with acute PE, the CTOI was associated with PE-related 90-day mortality
      but not with overall 90-day mortality. The RV/LV diameter ratio did not predict
      mortality. Both measures predicted VTE recurrence and LOS. The evaluated CTPA
      findings do not appear to offer any advantage over the PESI in terms of mortality
      prediction.

PMID- 28594951
TI  - Transcriptome profiling analysis reveals the role of silique in controlling seed
      oil content in Brassica napus.
AB  - Seed oil content is an important agronomic trait in oilseed rape. However, the
      molecular mechanism of oil accumulation in rapeseeds is unclear so far. In this
      report, RNA sequencing technique (RNA-Seq) was performed to explore
      differentially expressed genes in siliques of two Brassica napus lines (HFA and
      LFA which contain high and low oil contents in seeds, respectively) at 15 and 25
      days after pollination (DAP). The RNA-Seq results showed that 65746 and 66033
      genes were detected in siliques of low oil content line at 15 and 25 DAP, and
      65236 and 65211 genes were detected in siliques of high oil content line at 15
      and 25 DAP, respectively. By comparative analysis, the differentially expressed
      genes (DEGs) were identified in siliques of these lines. The DEGs were involved
      in multiple pathways, including metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary
      metabolic, photosynthesis, pyruvate metabolism, fatty metabolism,
      glycophospholipid metabolism, and DNA binding. Also, DEGs were related to
      photosynthesis, starch and sugar metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, and lipid
      metabolism at different developmental stage, resulting in the differential oil
      accumulation in seeds. Furthermore, RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR data revealed that some
      transcription factors positively regulate seed oil content. Thus, our data
      provide the valuable information for further exploring the molecular mechanism of
      lipid biosynthesis and oil accumulation in B. nupus.

PMID- 28594952
TI  - Age and axial length on peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness
      measured by optical coherence tomography in nonglaucomatous Taiwanese
      participants.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study investigates the influence of age and axial length (AL) on
      the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, as measured by
      optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: Healthy patients visiting an eye
      clinic at a county hospital were recruited. All participants underwent
      comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations, and their retinas were scanned using
      3D OCT-1000. In total, 223 patients with 446 eyes were included. The mean age and
      AL were 42.07 +/- 13.16 (21-76) years and 25.38 +/- 1.73 (21.19-30.37) mm,
      respectively. RESULTS: The average RNFL thickness decreased by 2.71 MUm for every
      10-year increase in age (P < 0.001). Age-related RNFL thinning was more
      significant in participants older than 41 years (-0.24MUm/year; P = 0.015). The
      earliest sector showing a significant decline in RNFL thickness was after 35
      years of age (-0.70MUm/year; P = 0.011) at the superior quadrant and at the 1-2
      o'clock hour (-1.42MUm/year; P = 0.009). Meanwhile, the maximal rate of age
      associated RNFL decay was observed in these two regions as well. The reduction of
      RNFL with age progression did not differ in eyes with long AL (> 27 mm; 
      0.16MUm/year) or those with short AL (< 25 mm; -0.22MUm/year). For every 1-mm
      greater AL, RNFL was thinner by 1.78 MUm (P < 0.001). The inferior quadrant
      showed the greatest tendency of RNFL decline with longer AL (4.46 MUm/mm; P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The factors of age and AL should be considered when
      interpreting the results. Significantly age-associated RNFL thinning was found in
      participants older than 41 years. Reduction of RNFL thickness with increasing age
      was not affected by AL. Topographic variations in RNFL thinning were observed in
      that the maximal decline of RNFL thickness with advancing age at the superior
      quadrant whereas with elongation of AL at the inferior quadrant.

PMID- 28594953
TI  - Non-invasive genetics outperforms morphological methods in faecal dietary
      analysis, revealing wild boar as a considerable conservation concern for ground
      nesting birds.
AB  - Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and other grouse species represent conservation
      concerns across Europe due to their negative abundance trends. In addition to
      habitat deterioration, predation is considered a major factor contributing to
      population declines. While the role of generalist predators on grouse predation
      is relatively well known, the impact of the omnivorous wild boar has remained
      elusive. We hypothesize that wild boar is an important predator of ground-nesting
      birds, but has been neglected as a bird predator because traditional
      morphological methods underestimate the proportion of birds in wild boar diet. To
      distinguish between different mammalian predator species, as well as different
      grouse prey species, we developed a molecular method based on the analysis of
      mitochondrial DNA that allows accurate species identification. We collected 109
      wild boar faeces at protected capercaillie leks and surrounding areas and
      analysed bird consumption using genetic methods and classical morphological
      examination. Genetic analysis revealed that the proportion of birds in wild boar
      faeces was significantly higher (17.3%; 4.5*) than indicated by morphological
      examination (3.8%). Moreover, the genetic method allowed considerably more
      precise taxonomic identification of consumed birds compared to morphological
      analysis. Our results demonstrate: (i) the value of using genetic approaches in
      faecal dietary analysis due to their higher sensitivity, and (ii) that wild boar
      is an important predator of ground-nesting birds, deserving serious consideration
      in conservation planning for capercaillie and other grouse.

PMID- 28594954
TI  - The monoclonal S9.6 antibody exhibits highly variable binding affinities towards
      different R-loop sequences.
AB  - The monoclonal antibody S9.6 is a widely-used tool to purify, analyse and
      quantify R-loop structures in cells. A previous study using the surface plasmon
      resonance technology and a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) of S9.6 showed
      high affinity (0.6 nM) for DNA-RNA and also a high affinity (2.7 nM) for RNA-RNA
      hybrids. We used the microscale thermophoresis method allowing surface
      independent interaction studies and electromobility shift assays to evaluate
      additional RNA-DNA hybrid sequences and to quantify the binding affinities of the
      S9.6 antibody with respect to distinct sequences and their GC-content. Our
      results confirm high affinity binding to previously analysed sequences, but
      reveals that binding affinities are highly sequence specific. Our study presents
      R-loop sequences that independent of GC-content and in different sequence
      variations exhibit either no binding, binding affinities in the micromolar range
      and as well high affinity binding in the nanomolar range. Our study questions the
      usefulness of the S9.6 antibody in the quantitative analysis of R-loop sequences
      in vivo.

PMID- 28594955
TI  - Inorganic salts and intracellular polyphosphate inclusions play a role in the
      thermotolerance of the immunobiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus CRL 1505.
AB  - In this work, the thermotolerance of Lactobacillus rhamnosus CRL1505, an
      immunobiotic strain, was studied as a way to improve the tolerance of the strain
      to industrial processes involving heat stress. The strain displayed a high
      intrinsic thermotolerance (55 degrees C, 20 min); however, after 5 min at 60
      degrees C in phosphate buffer a two log units decrease in cell viability was
      observed. Different heat shock media were tested to improve the cell survival.
      Best results were obtained in the mediumcontaining inorganic salts (KH2PO4,
      Na2HPO4, MnSO4, and MgSO4) likely as using 10% skim milk. Flow cytometry analysis
      evinced 25.0% live cells and a large number of injured cells (59.7%) in the
      inorganic salts medium after heat stress. The morphological changes caused by
      temperature were visualized by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). In
      addition, TEM observations revealed the presence of polyphosphate (polyP)
      granules in the cells under no-stress conditions. A DAPI-based fluorescence
      technique, adjusted to Gram-positive bacteria for the first time, was used to
      determine intracellular polyP levels. Results obtained suggest that the high
      initial polyP content in L. rhamnosus CRL 1505 together with the presence of
      inorganic salts in the heat shock medium improve the tolerance of the cells to
      heat shock. To our knowledge, this is the first report giving evidence of the
      relationship between polyP and inorganic salts in thermotolerance of lactic acid
      bacteria.

PMID- 28594956
TI  - Candidate odorant binding proteins and chemosensory proteins in the larval
      chemosensory tissues of two closely related noctuidae moths, Helicoverpa armigera
      and H. assulta.
AB  - In order to acquire enough nutrients and energy for further development, larvae
      need to invest a large portion of their sensory equipments to identify food
      sources. Yet, the molecular basis of odor-driven behavior in larvae has been
      poorly investigated. Information on olfactory genes, particularly odorant binding
      proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) which are involved in the
      initial steps of olfaction is very scarce. In this study, we have identified 26
      OBP and 21 CSP genes from the transcriptomes of Helicoverpa armigera larval
      antennae and mouthparts. A comparison with the 34 OBP and 18 CSP genes of the
      adult antenna, revealed four novel OBPs and seven novel CSPs. Similarly, 27 OBPs
      (six novel OBPs) and 20 CSPs (6 novel CSPs) were identified in the transcriptomes
      of Helicoverpa assulta larval antennae and mouthparts. Tissue-specific profiles
      of these soluble proteins in H. armigera showed that 6 OBP and 4 CSP genes are
      larval tissue-specific, 15 OBPs and 13 CSPs are expressed in both larvae and
      adult, while the rest are adult- specific. Our data provide useful information
      for functional studies of genes involved in larval foraging.

PMID- 28594958
TI  - The effects of different frequency treadmill exercise on lipoxin A4 and articular
      cartilage degeneration in an experimental model of monosodium iodoacetate-induced
      osteoarthritis in rats.
AB  - The aim was to investigate the effects of different frequencies treadmill
      exercise with total exercise time being constancy on articular cartilage, lipoxin
      A4 (LXA4) and the NF-kappaB pathway in rat model of monosodium iodoacetate
      induced osteoarthritis (OA). Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided
      into five groups (n = 10): controls (CG), knee OA model (OAG), OA + treadmill
      exercise once daily (OAE1), OA + treadmill exercise twice daily, rest interval
      between exercise>4h (OAE2) and OA + treadmill exercise three times daily, rest
      interval between exercise>4h (OAE3). Rats were evaluated after completing the
      treadmill exercise program (speed, 18 m/min; total exercise time 60 min/day; 5
      days/week for 8 weeks). Interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      alpha, and LXA4 in serum and intra-articular lavage fluid were measured by ELISA.
      Changes in articular cartilage were evaluated by histology, immunohistochemistry,
      western blotting and quantitative real-time-PCR. LXA4 in the serum and intra
      articular lavage fluid increased in all OAE groups, and histological evaluation
      indicated that the OAE3 group had the best treatment response. The expression of
      COL2A1 and IkappaB-beta in articular cartilage increased in all OAE groups vs the
      OAG group, whereas expression of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, matrix metalloproteinase
      (MMP)-13, and NF-kappaB p65 was reduced in all OAE groups compared with the OAG.
      Under the condition of 60 min treadmill exercise with moderate-intensity, to
      fulfill in three times would have better chondroprotective effects than to
      fulfill in two or one time on monosodium iodoacetate-induced OA in rats. And it
      may be worked through the anti-inflammatory activity of LXA4 and the NF-kappaB
      pathway.

PMID- 28594957
TI  - Distinctive features and differential regulation of the DRTS genes of Arabidopsis
      thaliana.
AB  - In plants and protists, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and thymidylate synthase
      (TS) are part of a bifunctional enzyme (DRTS) that allows efficient recycling of
      the dihydrofolate resulting from TS activity. Arabidopsis thaliana possesses
      three DRTS genes, called AtDRTS1, AtDRTS2 and AtDRTS3, that are located
      downstream of three members of the sec14-like SFH gene family. In this study, a
      characterization of the AtDRTS genes identified alternatively spliced transcripts
      coding for AtDRTS isoforms which may account for monofunctional DHFR enzymes
      supporting pathways unrelated to DNA synthesis. Moreover, we discovered a complex
      differential regulation of the AtDRTS genes that confirms the expected
      involvement of the AtDRTS genes in cell proliferation and endoreduplication, but
      indicates also functions related to other cellular activities. AtDRTS1 is widely
      expressed in both meristematic and differentiated tissues, whereas AtDRTS2
      expression is almost exclusively limited to the apical meristems and AtDRTS3 is
      preferentially expressed in the shoot apex, in stipules and in root cap cells.
      The differential regulation of the AtDRTS genes is associated to distinctive
      promoter architectures and the expression of AtDRTS1 in the apical meristems is
      strictly dependent on the presence of an intragenic region that includes the
      second intron of the gene. Upon activation of cell proliferation in germinating
      seeds, the activity of the AtDRTS1 and AtDRTS2 promoters in meristematic cells
      appears to be maximal at the G1/S phase of the cell cycle. In addition, the
      promoters of AtDRTS2 and AtDRTS3 are negatively regulated through E2F cis-acting
      elements and both genes, but not AtDRTS1, are downregulated in plants
      overexpressing the AtE2Fa factor. Our study provides new information concerning
      the function and the regulation of plant DRTS genes and opens the way to further
      investigations addressing the importance of folate synthesis with respect to
      specific cellular activities.

PMID- 28594959
TI  - Reduced total serum bilirubin levels are associated with ulcerative colitis.
AB  - Chronic inflammation associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results in
      increased oxidative stress that damages the colonic microenvironment. Low levels
      of serum bilirubin, an endogenous antioxidant, have been associated with
      increased risk for Crohn's disease (CD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to
      examine whether total serum bilirubin levels are associated with ulcerative
      colitis (UC). We identified a retrospective case-control population (n = 6,649)
      from a single tertiary care center, Penn State Hershey Medical Center (PSU) and a
      validation cohort (n = 1,996) from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical
      Center (VCU). Cases were age- and sex-matched to controls (PSU: CD n = 254, UC n
      = 187; VCU: CD n = 233, UC n = 124). Total serum bilirubin levels were obtained
      from de-identified medical records and segregated into quartiles. Logistic
      regression analysis was performed on each quartile of total serum bilirubin
      compared to the last quartile (highest bilirubin levels) to determine the
      association of total serum bilirubin with UC. Similar to CD patients, UC patients
      demonstrated reduced levels of total serum bilirubin compared to controls at PSU
      and VCU. The lowest quartile of total serum bilirubin was independently
      associated with UC for the PSU (OR: 1.98 [95% CI: 1.09-3.63]) and VCU cohorts
      (OR: 6.07 [95% CI: 3.01-12.75]). Lower levels of the antioxidant bilirubin may
      reduce the capability of UC patients to remove reactive oxygen species leading to
      an increase in intestinal injury. Therapeutics that reduce oxidative stress may
      be beneficial for these patients.

PMID- 28594960
TI  - A portable image-based cytometer for rapid malaria detection and quantification.
AB  - Increasing resistance by malaria parasites to currently used antimalarials across
      the developing world warrants timely detection and classification so that
      appropriate drug combinations can be administered before clinical complications
      arise. However, this is often challenged by low levels of infection (referred to
      as parasitemia) and presence of predominantly young parasitic forms in the
      patients' peripheral blood. Herein, we developed a simple, inexpensive and
      portable image-based cytometer that detects and numerically counts Plasmodium
      falciparum infected red blood cells (iRBCs) from Giemsa-stained smears derived
      from infected blood. Our cytometer is able to classify all parasitic
      subpopulations by quantifying the area occupied by the parasites within iRBCs,
      with high specificity, sensitivity and negligible false positives (~ 0.0025%).
      Moreover, we demonstrate the application of our image-based cytometer in testing
      anti-malarial efficacy against a commercial flow cytometer and demonstrate
      comparable results between the two methods. Collectively, these results highlight
      the possibility to use our image-based cytometer as a cheap, rapid and accurate
      alternative for antimalarial testing without compromising on efficiency and
      minimal processing time. With appropriate filters applied into the algorithm, to
      rule out leukocytes and reticulocytes, our cytometer may also be used for field
      diagnosis of malaria.

PMID- 28594963
TI  - Biosimilars-Curb Your Enthusiasm.

PMID- 28594962
TI  - Effects of bilateral anterior agranular insula lesions on food anticipatory
      activity in rats.
AB  - Food anticipatory activity (FAA) refers to a daily rhythm of locomotor activity
      that emerges under conditions of food restriction, whereby animals develop an
      intense, predictable period of activity in the few hours leading up to a
      predictable, daily delivery of food. The neural mechanisms by which FAA is
      regulated are not yet fully understood. Although a number of brain regions appear
      to be involved in regulating the development and expression of FAA, there is
      little evidence to date concerning the role of the anterior agranular insular
      cortex (AICa). The AICa plays a critical role in integrating the perception of
      visceral states with motivational behaviour such as feeding. We assessed the
      effect of bilateral electrolytic or ibotenic acid lesions of the AICa on FAA in
      male Wistar rats receiving food for varying lengths of time (2 h, 3 h, or 5 h)
      during the middle of the light phase (starting at either ZT4 or ZT6). Contrary to
      our initial expectations, we found that both electrolytic and ibotenic acid
      lesions significantly increased, rather than decreased, the amount of FAA
      expressed in lesioned rats. Despite increased FAA, lesioned rats did not eat
      significantly more during restricted feeding (RF) periods than control rats.
      Similar to controls, AlCa-lesioned rats showed negligible anticipatory activity
      to a restricted treat suggesting that the increased anticipatory activity in
      lesioned rats is associated with food restriction, rather than the appetitive
      value of the meal. Monitoring behaviour in an open field indicated that increased
      FAA in AlCa-lesioned rats was not explained by a general increase in locomotor
      activity. Together, these findings suggest that the AICa contributes to the
      network of brain regions involved in FAA.

PMID- 28594964
TI  - Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Survival-In Reply.

PMID- 28594961
TI  - PirB regulates asymmetries in hippocampal circuitry.
AB  - Left-right asymmetry is a fundamental feature of higher-order brain structure;
      however, the molecular basis of brain asymmetry remains unclear. We recently
      identified structural and functional asymmetries in mouse hippocampal circuitry
      that result from the asymmetrical distribution of two distinct populations of
      pyramidal cell synapses that differ in the density of the NMDA receptor subunit
      GluRepsilon2 (also known as NR2B, GRIN2B or GluN2B). By examining the synaptic
      distribution of epsilon2 subunits, we previously found that beta2-microglobulin
      deficient mice, which lack cell surface expression of the vast majority of major
      histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) proteins, do not exhibit circuit
      asymmetry. In the present study, we conducted electrophysiological and anatomical
      analyses on the hippocampal circuitry of mice with a knockout of the paired
      immunoglobulin-like receptor B (PirB), an MHCI receptor. As in beta2
      microglobulin-deficient mice, the PirB-deficient hippocampus lacked circuit
      asymmetries. This finding that MHCI loss-of-function mice and PirB knockout mice
      have identical phenotypes suggests that MHCI signals that produce hippocampal
      asymmetries are transduced through PirB. Our results provide evidence for a
      critical role of the MHCI/PirB signaling system in the generation of asymmetries
      in hippocampal circuitry.

PMID- 28594965
TI  - Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Survival: The Good and the Bad.

PMID- 28594967
TI  - Response: Lack of osteopathic component in Anxiety supplement.

PMID- 28594968
TI  - Response 2: Lack of osteopathic component in Anxiety supplement.

PMID- 28594970
TI  - CME Quiz Answers.

PMID- 28594972
TI  - AACOM update: Graduate medical education concerns in light of OPTI.

PMID- 28594971
TI  - CME Quiz.

PMID- 28594973
TI  - Patient Coauthored History Could Improve Health Record Accuracy.

PMID- 28594975
TI  - Missing Source Credit for Figure and Table.

PMID- 28594974
TI  - Association Between Prognosis and Tumor Laterality in Early-Stage Colon Cancer.
AB  - Importance: Recent data have suggested that disease biology and outcome of colon
      cancer may differ between right-sided and left-sided tumors. However, the
      literature on the prognostic value of tumor laterality is conflicting. Objective:
      To explore differences in laterality based on disease characteristics and
      outcomes in a population-based cohort of early-stage colon cancer. Design,
      Setting, and Participants: This investigation was a population-based
      retrospective cohort study of patients with early-stage colon cancer from the
      province of Ontario, Canada. Electronic records of treatment were linked to the
      Ontario Cancer Registry to identify all patients with colon cancer who underwent
      resection between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2008. The date of the final
      analysis was October 20, 2016. The study population included a 25% random sample
      of all patients with resected stage I to III disease. Right-sided colon cancer
      was defined as any tumor arising in the cecum, ascending colon, hepatic flexure,
      or transverse colon. Left-sided colon cancer was defined as any tumor arising in
      the splenic flexure, descending colon, sigmoid colon, or rectosigmoid colon. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS)
      measured from the time of resection. Results: This study identified 6365 patients
      with early-stage colon cancer (48.7% [3098 of 6365] female). Their median age was
      72 years, and 51.7% (3291 of 6365) had right-sided disease. Stage distribution
      was 18.3% (1163 of 6365) stage I, 38.4% (2446 of 6365) stage II, and 43.3% (2756
      of 6365) stage III. Patients with right-sided colon cancer were more likely to be
      older (median age, 73 vs 70 years; P < .001) and female (54.4% [1790 of 3291] vs
      42.6% [1308 of 3074], P < .001) and have greater comorbidity. Right-sided cancers
      were more likely to be T4 (19.2% [631 of 3291] vs 15.9% [490 of 3074], P < .001)
      and poorly differentiated (21.1% [695 of 3291] vs 9.6% [295 of 3074], P < .001)
      but less likely to be node positive (42.0% [1383 of 3291] vs 44.7% [1373 of
      3074], P = .03) compared with left-sided disease. In adjusted analyses, there was
      no difference in long-term survival for right-sided compared with left-sided
      colon cancer: the hazard ratios were 1.00 (95% CI, 0.92-1.08) for OS and 1.00
      (95% CI, 0.91-1.10) for CSS. These results were consistent when the survival
      analyses were restricted to stage III disease: the hazard ratios were 1.03 (95%
      CI, 0.93-1.14) for OS and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.97-1.24) for CSS. Conclusions and
      Relevance: In this population-based cohort of early-stage resected colon cancer,
      disease laterality was not associated with long-term OS or CSS.

PMID- 28594976
TI  - Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Upper Airway-Related Dyspnea: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - Importance: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures address the need for patient
      centered data and are now used in diverse clinical, research, and policy
      pursuits. They are important in conditions causing upper airway-related dyspnea
      in which the patient's reported experience and physiological data can be
      discrepant. Objectives: To perform a systematic review of the literature on upper
      airway dyspnea-related PRO measures and to rigorously evaluate each measure's
      developmental properties, validation, and applicability. Evidence Review: This
      study strictly adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and
      Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. MEDLINE via the PubMed interface, the
      Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and the Health
      and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) database were searched using relevant
      vocabulary terms and key terms related to PRO measures and upper airway-related
      dyspnea. Three investigators performed abstract review, and 2 investigators
      independently performed full-text review by applying an established checklist to
      evaluate the conceptual model, content validity, reliability, construct validity,
      scoring and interpretability, and respondent burden and presentation of each
      identified instrument. The initial literature search was conducted in November
      2014 and was updated in April 2016. Findings: Of 1269 studies reviewed, 3 upper
      airway-related dyspnea PRO measures met criteria for inclusion. One PRO measure
      was designed de novo to assess upper airway-related dyspnea symptoms and monitor
      treatment outcomes, while 2 were adapted from established instruments designed
      for lower airway disease. Measurement properties and psychometric characteristics
      differed, and none met all checklist criteria. Two met a criterion in each of 7
      domains evaluated. Two demonstrated test-retest and internal consistency
      reliability, and 2 showed that their scores were responsive to change. Thematic
      deficiencies in current upper airway-related dyspnea PRO measures are lack of
      patient involvement in item development (content validity), plan for
      interpretation, and literacy level assessments. Conclusions and Relevance: PRO
      measures are critical in the assessment of patients with upper airway-related
      dyspnea. Three instruments with disparate developmental rigor have been designed
      or adapted to assess this construct. Care must be taken to understand the
      measurement characteristics and contextual relevance before applying these PRO
      measures for clinical, research, or quality initiatives.

PMID- 28594977
TI  - Association of Glaucoma-Related, Optical Coherence Tomography-Measured Macular
      Damage With Vision-Related Quality of Life.
AB  - Importance: Little is known about the association between structural macular
      damage and self-reported visual function of people with glaucoma. Objective: To
      determine the association between vision-related quality of life among patients
      with primary open-angle glaucoma with structural macular retinal ganglion cell
      plus inner plexiform layer (RGC+IPL) loss identified by spectral-domain optical
      coherence tomography (SD-OCT) machine-generated deviation maps and thickness
      measurements. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional prospective
      study was conducted from March 1, 2014, to March 30, 2015, at the Department of
      Ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center. The participants were 107
      patients who were enrolled in the study and represented the entire range of
      glaucomatous damage. All 214 eyes of the 107 participants underwent 10-2 visual
      field tests and SD-OCT scans, and all participants completed the 25-item National
      Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25). They also received
      ophthalmologic examination, including medical history review, best-corrected
      visual acuity, slitlamp biomicroscopy, intraocular pressure measurement,
      gonioscopy, dilated ophthalmoscopy, and standard automated perimetry. Macular
      RGC+IPL loss was determined by diffuse or focal patterns on SD-OCT-generated
      deviation maps (probability map that compared patients with aged-matched
      normative database) and thickness measurements. Main Outcomes and Measures:
      Regression analyses to assess the association of NEI VFQ-25 scores (score range:
      41.9-99.5; higher scores indicate better functioning) with patterns of RGC+IPL
      loss and with RGC+IPL thickness measurements. Results: Of the 107 patients, 48
      (45%) were men and the mean (SD) age was 65 (11) years. The self-reported
      race/ethnicity of participants consisted of 45 (46%) black, 47 (48%) white, and 6
      (6%) "other" individuals. In the univariable analyses, patients with diffuse
      macular RGC+IPL loss had mean composite Rasch-calibrated NEI VFQ-25 scores that
      were 6.15 points lower than the scores of patients with focal damage (beta = 
      6.15; 95% CI, -11.7 to -0.59; P = .03). The effect remained significant even
      after controlling for mean RGC+IPL thickness (beta = -7.64; 95% CI, -14.2 to 
      1.03; P = .02). Conclusions and Relevance: Characteristic patterns of glaucoma
      related macular RGC+IPL loss appeared to be more important predictors of vision
      related quality of life than thickness measures, with diffuse RGC+IPL loss as an
      indicator for diminished vision-related quality of life.

PMID- 28594980
TI  - Training Current and Future Residents in Facial Plastic Surgery.

PMID- 28594981
TI  - Cognitive Training Program to Treat Tinnitus-Reply.

PMID- 28594978
TI  - Association of Gel-Forming Mucins and Aquaporin Gene Expression With Hearing
      Loss, Effusion Viscosity, and Inflammation in Otitis Media With Effusion.
AB  - Importance: Persistent, viscous middle ear effusion in pediatric otitis media
      (OM) contributes to increased likelihood of anesthesia and surgery, conductive
      hearing loss, and subsequent developmental delays. Biomarkers of effusion
      viscosity and hearing loss have not yet been identified despite the potential
      that such markers hold for targeted therapy and screening. Objective: To
      investigate the association of gel-forming mucins and aquaporin 5 (AQP5) gene
      expression with inflammation, effusion viscosity, and hearing loss in pediatric
      OM with effusion (OME). Design, Setting, and Participants: Case-control study of
      31 pediatric patients (aged 6 months to 12 years) with OME undergoing
      tympanostomy tube placement and control individuals (aged 1 to 10 years)
      undergoing surgery for cochlear implantation from February 1, 2013, through
      November 30, 2014. Those with 1 or more episodes of OM in the previous 12 months,
      immunologic abnormality, anatomical or physiologic ear defect, OM-associated
      syndrome (ie, Down syndrome, cleft palate), chronic mastoiditis, or history of
      cholesteatoma were excluded from the study. All patients with OME and 1 control
      were recruited from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. The remainder of
      the controls were recruited from Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
      Main Outcomes and Measures: Two to 3 middle ear biopsy specimens, effusions, and
      preoperative audiometric data (obtained <3 weeks before surgery) were collected
      from patients; only biopsy specimens were collected from controls. Expression of
      the mucin 2 (MUC2), mucin 5AC (MUC5AC), mucin 5B (MUC5B), and AQP5 genes were
      assayed in middle ear biopsy specimens by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
      One middle ear biopsy specimen was sectioned for histopathologic analysis.
      Reduced specific viscosity of effusions was assayed using rheometry. Results: Of
      the 31 study participants, 24 patients had OME (mean [SD] age, 50.4 [31.9]
      months; 15 [62.5%] male; 16 [66.7%] white) and 7 acted as controls (mean [SD]
      age, 32.6 [24.4] months; 2 [26.6%] male; 6 [85.7%] white). Mucins and AQP5 gene
      expression were significantly higher in patients with OME relative to controls
      (MUC2: ratio, 127.6 [95% CI, 33.7-482.7]; MUC5AC: ratio, 3748.8 [95% CI, 558.1-25
      178.4]; MUC5B: ratio, 471.1 [95% CI, 130.7-1697.4]; AQP5: ratio, 2.4 [95% CI, 1.1
      5.6]). A 2-fold increase in MUC5B correlated with increased hearing loss (air
      bone gap: 7.45 dB [95% CI, 2.65-12.24 dB]; sound field: 6.66 dB [95% CI, 6.63
      6.69 dB]), effusion viscosity (2.75 mL/mg; 95% CI, 0.89-4.62 mL/mg), middle ear
      epithelial thickness (3.5 MUm; 95% CI, 1.96-5.13 MUm), and neutrophil
      infiltration (odds ratio, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.07-2.72). A 2-fold increase in AQP5
      correlated with increased effusion viscosity (1.94 mL/mg; 95% CI, 0.08-3.80
      mL/mg). Conclusions and Relevance: Further exploration of the role of MUC5B in
      the pathophysiology of OME holds promise for development of novel, targeted
      therapies to reduce effusion viscosity, facilitation of effusion clearance, and
      prevention of disease chronicity and hearing loss in patients with OME.

PMID- 28594979
TI  - Use of Corneal Confocal Microscopy to Evaluate Small Nerve Fibers in Patients
      With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
AB  - Importance: Objective quantification of small fiber neuropathy in patients with
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) is
      difficult but needed for diagnosis and monitoring. In vivo corneal confocal
      microscopy (IVCCM) can quantify small fiber damage. Objective: To establish
      whether IVCCM can identify an abnormality in corneal nerve fibers and Langerhans
      cells in patients with and without HIV-SN. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      This prospective, cross-sectional cohort study was conducted between July 24,
      2015, and September 17, 2015. Twenty patients who were HIV positive were
      recruited from adult outpatient clinics at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS
      Foundation Trust in England. These patients underwent IVCCM at Moorfields Eye
      Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London, England, and the IVCCM images were
      analyzed at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar in Ar-Rayyan, Qatar. Patients were given
      a structured clinical examination and completed validated symptom questionnaires
      and the Clinical HIV-Associated Neuropathy Tool. Results from patients with HIV
      were compared with the results of the age- and sex-matched healthy control
      participants (n = 20). All participants were classified into 3 groups: controls,
      patients with HIV but without SN, and patients with HIV-SN. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Comparison of corneal nerve fiber density, corneal nerve branch
      density, corneal nerve fiber length, corneal nerve fiber tortuosity, and corneal
      Langerhans cell density between healthy controls and patients with HIV with and
      without SN. Results: All 40 participants were male, and most (>=70%) self
      identified as white. Of the 20 patients with HIV, 14 (70%) had HIV-SN. This group
      was older (mean [SD] age, 57.7 [7.75] years) than the group without HIV-SN (mean
      [SD] age, 42.3 [7.26] years) and the controls (mean [SD] age, 53.8 [10.5] years).
      Corneal nerve fiber density was reduced in patients with HIV compared with the
      controls (26.7/mm2 vs 38.6/mm2; median difference, -10.37; 95.09% CI, -14.27 to 
      6.25; P < .001) and in patients with HIV-SN compared with those without (25.8/mm2
      vs 30.7/mm2; median difference, -4.53; 95.92% CI, -8.85 to -0.26; P = .03).
      Corneal nerve branch density and corneal nerve fiber length were reduced in
      patients with HIV, but no differences were identified between those with
      neuropathy and without neuropathy (corneal nerve branch density: 95.83/mm2 for
      the controls vs 72.37/mm2 for patients with HIV; median difference, -24.53;
      95.32% CI, -50.62 to -3.13; P = .01; and corneal nerve fiber length: 28.4 mm/mm2
      for the controls vs 21.9 mm/mm2 for patients with HIV; median difference, -5.24;
      95.09% CI, -8.83 to -1.38; P = .001). Tortuosity coefficient was increased in
      patients with HIV compared with controls (16.44 vs 13.95; median difference,
      2.34; 95.09% CI, 0.31 to 4.65; P = .03) and in those with HIV-SN compared with
      those without (17.84 vs 14.18; median difference, 4.32; 95.92% CI, 0.68-9.23; P =
      .01). No differences were identified in corneal Langerhans cell density (19.84
      cells/mm2 for the controls vs 41.43 cells/mm2 for patients with HIV; median
      difference, 9.38; 95% CI, -12.51 to 26.34; P = .53). Conclusions and Relevance:
      In vivo corneal confocal microscopy could be used in the assessment of HIV-SN,
      but larger studies are required to confirm this finding.

PMID- 28594982
TI  - Bilateral Retinal Problem in a Patient With Alport Syndrome.

PMID- 28594984
TI  - Prognostic and Predictive Ability of Tumor Sidedness: Another Vexing Difference
      Between Localized and Advanced Colon Cancer.

PMID- 28594985
TI  - Use of Structural End Points in Glaucoma: Beyond Visual Field Loss.

PMID- 28594983
TI  - A Facial Trauma Simulation Course for Evaluation and Treatment of Facial
      Fractures.
AB  - Importance: Traditional facial trauma laboratories are used for teaching basic
      concepts of fracture reduction and hardware manipulation. Facial trauma
      simulation laboratories allow training physicians the opportunity to develop
      unique treatment plans as they would in real patient encounters. Objective: To
      assess the value of a novel facial trauma simulation course requiring residents
      to practice advanced decision making. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data
      were prospectively collected July 23 and August 23 and 24, 2016, in a survey
      study during a resident physician trauma simulation course. Fresh frozen cadaver
      heads were fractured using an impactor that applied a measurable amount of force.
      Each head was scanned with high-resolution computed tomography. Residents were
      paired and tasked with evaluating their specimen's imaging findings and
      developing a treatment plan. Main Outcomes and Measures: Before the course,
      residents were asked their postgraduate year level, number of facial fractures
      treated as a resident surgeon, and their comfort level based on the
      Otolaryngology Milestone for Facial Trauma (OMFT; ratings range from 0-5, with 5
      indicating equivalent to fellow-level experience). After the course, residents
      were asked to assess the course's value relative to a theoretical number of
      actual operative cases, and a posttraining OMFT assessment was obtained. Results:
      Thirty resident physicians completed the course at 2 institutions. Residents
      represented an equivalent distribution of postgraduate year levels. The residents
      stated that the course was worth a mean (SD) of 6.4 (2.8) operative cases of
      facial trauma in terms of surgical learning. The mean change in self-reported
      OMFT rating after the course was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.67-1.07; P < .001, paired t
      test). On the basis of this change in self-perceived OMFT rating, the course was
      deemed to be worth 1.5 years of residency training in the management of facial
      fractures. Conclusion and Relevance: Conducting a facial trauma simulation course
      increases resident experience with advanced surgical decision making. Level of
      Evidence: NA.

PMID- 28594986
TI  - Error in Text.

PMID- 28594987
TI  - Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Survival: The Good and the Bad.

PMID- 28594988
TI  - Cognitive Training Program to Treat Tinnitus.

PMID- 28594991
TI  - Can Personalized Care Planning Improve Primary Care?

PMID- 28594992
TI  - Association of Modified Frailty Index Score With Perioperative Risk for Patients
      Undergoing Total Laryngectomy.
AB  - Importance: Objective preoperative risk assessment tools, such as the Modified
      Frailty Index (mFI), may inform patient and physician decision making when
      considering total laryngectomy. Estimation of outcomes may help to set realistic
      expectations about recovery and outcomes and facilitate optimal resource
      management. Objective: To evaluate the association between the mFI score as a
      measure of frailty and outcomes following total laryngectomy. Design, Setting,
      and Participants: Retrospective evaluation using the American College of Surgeons
      National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), a risk- and case-mix
      adjusted national quality assessment program. The ACS NSQIP database identified
      595 patients who underwent total laryngectomy between 2006 and 2012. Patients
      were assessed for demographics and comorbidity and were stratified on the basis
      of calculated mFI score. Outcomes, including postoperative complications, length
      of hospitalization, and discharge destination, were evaluated as a function of
      increasing frailty using multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional
      hazards regression models. Main Outcomes and Measures: Risk of postoperative
      complications, length of hospitalization, and discharge disposition. Results:
      After exclusion of patients who experienced significant deviation from standard
      care protocols and those with missing or incomplete data, 343 individuals were
      included in the analysis. Of these, 278 (81.0%) were men, and the mean age was 63
      years (95% CI, 61.9-64.4 years). Increasing frailty resulted in a nonlinear but
      progressive rise in incidence of postoperative adverse events. Overall, 96
      (28.0%) patients experienced a postoperative complication, and patients with an
      mFI score of 3 or higher were more likely to develop postoperative complications
      than were patients with an mFI score of 0 (50.0% vs 16.7%; OR, 3.83; 95% CI, 1.72
      8.51). Patients in the highest frailty group experienced a longer mean duration
      of hospitalization (14.2 vs 9.5 days; difference, 4.7; 95% CI, 1.3-8.1 days) and
      were more likely to require skilled care after discharge (33.3% vs 3.2%;
      difference, 30.1%; 95% CI, 7.4%-52.9%). Conclusions and Relevance: An mFI score
      of 3 or higher is associated with increased risk for postoperative complications,
      longer hospitalization, and need for postdischarge skilled care following total
      laryngectomy. The mFI provides a personalized risk assessment to better inform
      patients, physicians, and payers when planning a total laryngectomy.

PMID- 28594993
TI  - Descemet Membrane Splitting Following Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty.

PMID- 28594994
TI  - Peripheral Hypertrophic Subepithelial Corneal Degeneration.

PMID- 28594995
TI  - Folds in Descemet Membrane Associated With Forceps-Induced Injury.

PMID- 28594996
TI  - Echographic Assessment of Optic Nerve Pit.

PMID- 28594999
TI  - Regenerating Bone via Multifunctional Coatings: The Blending of Cell Integration
      and Bacterial Inhibition Properties on the Surface of Biomaterials.
AB  - In dentistry and orthopedics, it is well accepted that implant fixation is a
      major goal. However, an emerging concern is bacterial infection. Infection of
      metallic implants can be catastrophic and significantly reduce patient quality of
      life. Accordingly, in this work, we focus on multifunctional coatings to
      simultaneously address and mitigate both these problems. We have developed a
      tailor-made peptide-based chemical platform that integrates the well-known RGD
      cell adhesive sequence and the lactoferrin-derived LF1-11 antimicrobial peptide.
      The platform was covalently grafted on titanium via silanization and the
      functionalization process characterized by contact angle, XPS, and QCM-D. The
      presence of the platform statistically improved the adhesion, proliferation and
      mineralization of osteoblast-like cells compared to control surfaces. At the same
      time, colonization by representative bacterial strains was significantly reduced
      on the surfaces. Furthermore, the biological potency of the multifunctional
      platform was verified in a co-culture in vitro model. Our findings demonstrate
      that this multifunctional approach can be useful to functionalize biomaterials to
      both improve cell integration and reduce the risk of bacterial infection.

PMID- 28595000
TI  - Antimicrobial Gold Nanoclusters.
AB  - Bulk gold (Au) is known to be chemically inactive. However, when the size of Au
      nanoparticles (Au NPs) decreases to close to 1 nm or sub-nanometer dimensions,
      these ultrasmall Au nanoclusters (Au NCs) begin to possess interesting physical
      and chemical properties and likewise spawn different applications when working
      with bulk Au or even Au NPs. In this study, we found that it is possible to
      confer antimicrobial activity to Au NPs through precise control of their size
      down to NC dimension (typically less than 2 nm). Au NCs could kill both Gram
      positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This wide-spectrum antimicrobial activity is
      attributed to the ultrasmall size of Au NCs, which would allow them to better
      interact with bacteria. The interaction between ultrasmall Au NCs and bacteria
      could induce a metabolic imbalance in bacterial cells after the internalization
      of Au NCs, leading to an increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species
      production that kills bacteria consequently.

PMID- 28595001
TI  - Tailoring the Adsorption and Reaction Chemistry of the Metal-Organic Frameworks
      UiO-66, UiO-66-NH2, and HKUST-1 via the Incorporation of Molecular Guests.
AB  - Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are versatile materials highly regarded for their
      porous nature. Depending on the synthetic method, various guest molecules may
      remain in the pores or can be systematically loaded for various reasons. Herein,
      we present a study that explores the effect of guest molecules on the adsorption
      and reactivity of the MOF in both the gas phase and solution. The differences
      between guest molecule interactions and the subsequent effects on their activity
      are described for each system. Interestingly, different effects are observed and
      described in detail for each class of guest molecules studied. We determine that
      there is a strong effect of alcohols with the secondary building unit of UiO
      MOFs, while Lewis bases have an effect on the reactivity of the -NH2 group in UiO
      66-NH2 and adsorption by the coordinatively unsaturated copper sites in HKUST-1.
      These effects must be considered when determining synthesis and activation
      methods of MOFs toward various applications.

PMID- 28595003
TI  - The In Vivo Potential-Regulated Protective Protein of Nitrogenase in Azotobacter
      vinelandii Supports Aerobic Bioelectrochemical Dinitrogen Reduction In Vitro.
AB  - Nitrogenase, the only enzyme known to be able to reduce dinitrogen (N2) to
      ammonia (NH3), is irreversibly damaged upon exposure to molecular oxygen (O2).
      Several microbes, however, are able to grow aerobically and diazotrophically
      (fixing N2 to grow) while containing functional nitrogenase. The obligate aerobic
      diazotroph, Azotobacter vinelandii, employs a multitude of protective mechanisms
      to preserve nitrogenase activity, including a "conformational switch" protein
      (FeSII, or "Shethna") that reversibly locks nitrogenase into a multicomponent
      protective complex upon exposure to low concentrations of O2. We demonstrate in
      vitro that nitrogenase can be oxidatively damaged under anoxic conditions and
      that the aforementioned conformational switch can protect nitrogenase from such
      damage, confirming that the conformational change in the protecting protein can
      be achieved solely by regulating the potential of its [2Fe-2S] cluster. We
      further demonstrate that this protective complex preserves nitrogenase activity
      upon exposure to air. Finally, this protective FeSII protein was incorporated
      into an O2-tolerant bioelectrosynthetic cell whereby NH3 was produced using air
      as a substrate, marking a significant step forward in overcoming the crippling
      limitation of nitrogenase's sensitivity toward O2.

PMID- 28595005
TI  - 3D Porphyrin-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks.
AB  - The design and synthesis of three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (3D
      COFs) bearing photoelectric units have been considered as a big challenge.
      Herein, for the first time, we reported the targeted synthesis of two 3D
      porphyrin-based COFs (3D-Por-COF and 3D-CuPor-COF), starting from tetrahedral (3D
      Td) and square (2D-C4) building blocks connected through [4 + 4] imine
      condensation reactions. On the basis of structural characterizations, 3D-Por-COF
      and 3D-CuPor-COF are microporous materials with high surface areas, and are
      proposed to adopt a 2-fold interpenetrated pts topology with Pmc21 space group.
      Interestingly, both 3D COFs are photosensitive and can be used as heterogeneous
      catalyst for generating singlet oxygen under photoirradiation. However, 3D-Por
      COF shows enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with 3D-CuPor-COF, indicating
      the properties of 3D porphyrin-based COFs can be tuned by metalation of porphyrin
      rings. The results reported here will greatly inspire us to design and synthesize
      3D COFs bearing other metalloporphyrins for interesting applications (e.g.,
      catalysis) in the future.

PMID- 28595004
TI  - Origin of the Intrinsic Fluorescence of the Green Fluorescent Protein.
AB  - Green fluorescent protein, GFP, has revolutionized biology, due to its use in
      bioimaging. It is widely accepted that the protein environment makes its
      chromophore fluoresce, whereas the fluorescence is completely lost when the
      native chromophore is taken out of GFP. By the use of a new femtosecond pump
      probe scheme, based on time-resolved action spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the
      isolated deprotonated GFP chromophore can be trapped in the first excited state
      when cooled to 100 K. The trapping is shown to last for 1.2 ns, which is long
      enough to establish conditions for fluorescence and consistent with calculated
      trapping barriers in the electronically excited state. Thus, GFP fluorescence is
      traced back to an intrinsic chromophore property, and by improving excited-state
      trapping, protein interactions enhance the molecular fluorescence.

PMID- 28595002
TI  - Diacetyl/l-Xylulose Reductase Mediates Chemical Redox Cycling in Lung Epithelial
      Cells.
AB  - Reactive carbonyls such as diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) and 2,3-pentanedione in
      tobacco and many food and consumer products are known to cause severe respiratory
      diseases. Many of these chemicals are detoxified by carbonyl reductases in the
      lung, in particular, dicarbonyl/l-xylulose reductase (DCXR), a multifunctional
      enzyme important in glucose metabolism. DCXR is a member of the short-chain
      dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily. Using recombinant human enzyme, we
      discovered that DCXR mediates redox cycling of a variety of quinones generating
      superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and, in the presence of transition metals,
      hydroxyl radicals. Redox cycling activity preferentially utilized NADH as a
      cosubstrate and was greatest for 9,10-phenanthrenequinone and 1,2-naphthoquinone,
      followed by 1,4-naphthoquinone and 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (menadione). Using
      9,10-phenanthrenequinone as the substrate, quinone redox cycling was found to
      inhibit DCXR reduction of l-xylulose and diacetyl. Competitive inhibition of
      enzyme activity by the quinone was observed with respect to diacetyl (Ki = 190
      MUM) and l-xylulose (Ki = 940 MUM). Abundant DCXR activity was identified in A549
      lung epithelial cells when diacetyl was used as a substrate. Quinones inhibited
      reduction of this dicarbonyl, causing an accumulation of diacetyl in the cells
      and culture medium and a decrease in acetoin, the reduced product of diacetyl.
      The identification of DCXR as an enzyme activity mediating chemical redox cycling
      suggests that it may be important in generating cytotoxic reactive oxygen species
      in the lung. These activities, together with the inhibition of dicarbonyl/l
      xylulose metabolism by redox-active chemicals, as well as consequent deficiencies
      in pentose metabolism, are likely to contribute to lung injury following exposure
      to dicarbonyls and quinones.

PMID- 28595006
TI  - Selective Targeting of Neurons with Inorganic Nanoparticles: Revealing the
      Crucial Role of Nanoparticle Surface Charge.
AB  - Nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly used in biomedical applications, but the
      factors that influence their interactions with living cells need to be
      elucidated. Here, we reveal the role of NP surface charge in determining their
      neuronal interactions and electrical responses. We discovered that negatively
      charged NPs administered at low concentration (10 nM) interact with the neuronal
      membrane and at the synaptic cleft, whereas positively and neutrally charged NPs
      never localize on neurons. This effect is shape and material independent. The
      presence of negatively charged NPs on neuronal cell membranes influences the
      excitability of neurons by causing an increase in the amplitude and frequency of
      spontaneous postsynaptic currents at the single cell level and an increase of
      both the spiking activity and synchronous firing at neural network level. The
      negatively charged NPs exclusively bind to excitable neuronal cells, and never to
      nonexcitable glial cells. This specific interaction was also confirmed by
      manipulating the electrophysiological activity of neuronal cells. Indeed, the
      interaction of negatively charged NPs with neurons is either promoted or hindered
      by pharmacological suppression or enhancement of the neuronal activity with
      tetrodotoxin or bicuculline, respectively. We further support our main
      experimental conclusions by using numerical simulations. This study demonstrates
      that negatively charged NPs modulate the excitability of neurons, revealing the
      potential use of NPs for controlling neuron activity.

PMID- 28595007
TI  - Impact of Target Warhead and Linkage Vector on Inducing Protein Degradation:
      Comparison of Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal (BET) Degraders Derived from
      Triazolodiazepine (JQ1) and Tetrahydroquinoline (I-BET726) BET Inhibitor
      Scaffolds.
AB  - The design of proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) is a powerful small
      molecule approach for inducing protein degradation. PROTACs conjugate a target
      warhead to an E3 ubiquitin ligase ligand via a linker. Here we examined the
      impact of derivatizing two different BET bromodomain inhibitors,
      triazolodiazepine JQ1 and the more potent tetrahydroquinoline I-BET726, via
      distinct exit vectors, using different polyethylene glycol linkers to VHL ligand
      VH032. Triazolodiazepine PROTACs exhibited positive cooperativities of ternary
      complex formation and were more potent degraders than tetrahydroquinoline
      compounds, which showed negative cooperativities instead. Marked dependency on
      linker length was observed for BET-degrading and cMyc-driven antiproliferative
      activities in acute myeloid leukemia cell lines. This work exemplifies as a
      cautionary tale how a more potent inhibitor does not necessarily generate more
      potent PROTACs and underscores the key roles played by the conjugation. The
      provided insights and framework for structure-activity relationships of bivalent
      degraders are anticipated to have wide future applicability.

PMID- 28595008
TI  - Rapid and Convenient Oxidative Release of Thiol-Conjugated Forms of Microcystins
      for Chemical Analysis.
AB  - Microcystins are potent cyclic heptapeptide toxins found in some cyanobacteria,
      and usually contain an alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl group that is readily
      conjugated to thiol-containing amino acids, peptides, and proteins in vivo and in
      vitro. Methods for deconjugating these types of adducts have recently been
      reported, but the reactions are slow or result in derivatized microcystins.
      Mercaptoethanol derivatives of a range of microcystins were therefore used as
      model compounds to develop deconjugation procedures in which the dialkyl sulfide
      linkage was oxidized to a sulfoxide or sulfone that, when treated with base,
      rapidly eliminated the adducted thiol as its sulfenate or sulfinate via beta
      elimination to afford free microcystins with the alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl
      group intact. These free microcystins can be analyzed by LC/MS to determine the
      toxin profile of bound microcystins. The method was tested on Cys- and GSH
      derivatives of [Dha7]MC-LR. In solution, the deconjugation reactions were
      complete within minutes at pH 10.7 and within a few hours at pH 9.2. Oxidation of
      sulfides to sulfoxides is easier and more rapid than oxidation to sulfones,
      allowing the use of milder oxidants and shorter reaction times. Oxidation of any
      methionine residues present in the microcystins occurs inevitably during these
      procedures, and interpretation of the microcystin profile obtained by LC/MS
      analysis needs to take this into account. Oxidation of tryptophan residues and
      degradation of microcystins by excess oxidant were circumvented by the addition
      of Me2SO as a sacrificial reducing agent. These methods may be useful for other
      compounds that undergo conjugation via thia-Michael addition, such as acrylamide
      and deoxynivalenol. Oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides can occur in vivo and
      could affect the bioavailability of toxins and drugs conjugated via thia-Michael
      addition, potentially exacerbating oxidative stress by catalytically converting
      GSH to its sulfenate via conjugation, oxidation, and elimination to regenerate
      the free toxin.

PMID- 28595009
TI  - Controlled Dopant Migration in CdS/ZnS Core/Shell Quantum Dots.
AB  - The physical properties of a doped quantum dot (QD) are strongly influenced by
      the dopant site inside the host lattice, which determines the host-dopant
      coupling from the overlap between the dopant and exciton wave functions of the
      host lattice. Although several synthetic methodologies have been developed for
      introducing dopants inside the size-confined semiconductor nanocrystals, the
      controlled dopant-host lattice coupling by dopant migration is still unexplored.
      In this work, the effect of lattice mismatch of CdS/ZnS core/shell QDs on Mn(II)
      dopant behavior was studied. It was found that the dopant migration toward the
      alloyed interface of core/shell QDs is a thermodynamically driven process to
      minimize the lattice strain within the nanocrystals. The dopant migration rate
      could be represented by the Arrhenius equation and therefore can be controlled by
      the temperature and lattice mismatch. Furthermore, the energy transfer between
      host CdS QDs and dopants can be finely turned in a wide range by dopant migration
      toward the alloyed interface during ZnS shell passivation, which provides an
      efficient method to control both the number of the emission band and the ratio of
      the emission from the host lattice and dopant ions.

PMID- 28595011
TI  - Acidities under the Perspective of Energy Decomposition Analysis.
AB  - The rationalization of acid/base behavior is a central concern for chemistry and
      related fields. In this work, we describe an alternative approach toward the
      understanding of gas phase acidities based on the localized molecular orbital
      energy decomposition analysis (LMOEDA) method. Upon partitioning the molecules
      (and the corresponding anions) over the X-OH (or X-O-) bond, we have observed a
      perfect correlation between the interaction energy of the two fragments and the
      acidity, as given by the energy difference between the anion and the neutral
      molecule. On the basis of this correlation, acidities could be interpreted
      according to the energy components provided by LMOEDA, namely, electrostatic,
      exchange repulsion, polarization, and dispersion. For example, alkyl groups
      increase the gas phase acidities of alcohols mainly due to electrostatic and
      polarization interactions. Carboxylic acids are stronger acids than alcohols
      through the ability of oxygen to stabilize the extra charge formed in the anion
      (electrostatic interactions) and also through a decrease of exchange repulsions
      between the two fragments. Polarization interaction (orbital relaxation) also
      plays an important role. Electrostatic and polarization interactions dominate the
      enhanced acidity of sulfuric acid over ethanol. Electrostatic and polarization
      interactions are also responsible for the higher acidity of sulfuric over boric
      acid. The anomalous behavior of formic acid compared to acetic, propionic, and
      butyric acids is also explained. The examples worked in this report evince the
      still unexplored potential of energy decomposition to the comprehension of
      acid/base phenomena.

PMID- 28595010
TI  - Electrolyte-Induced Surface Transformation and Transition-Metal Dissolution of
      Fully Delithiated LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2.
AB  - Enabling practical utilization of layered R3m positive electrodes near full
      delithiation requires an enhanced understanding of the complex electrode
      electrolyte interactions that often induce failure. Using Li[Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05]O2
      (NCA) as a model layered compound, the chemical and structural stability in a
      strenuous thermal and electrochemical environment was explored. Operando
      microcalorimetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy identified a
      fingerprint for a structural decomposition and transition-metal dissolution
      reaction that occurs on the positive electrode at full delithiation. Surface
      sensitive characterization techniques, including X-ray absorption spectroscopy
      and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, measured a structural and
      morphological transformation of the surface and subsurface regions of NCA.
      Despite the bulk structural integrity being maintained, NCA surface degradation
      at a high state of charge induces excessive transition-metal dissolution and
      significant positive electrode impedance development, resulting in a rapid
      decrease in electrochemical performance. Additionally, the impact of electrolyte
      salt, positive electrode surface area, and surface Li2CO3 content on the
      magnitude and character of the dissolution reaction was studied.

PMID- 28595012
TI  - Ionic Exchange of Metal-Organic Frameworks to Access Single Nickel Sites for
      Efficient Electroreduction of CO2.
AB  - Single-atom catalysts often exhibit unexpected catalytic activity for many
      important chemical reactions because of their unique electronic and geometric
      structures with respect to their bulk counterparts. Herein we adopt metal-organic
      frameworks (MOFs) to assist the preparation of a catalyst containing single Ni
      sites for efficient electroreduction of CO2. The synthesis is based on ionic
      exchange between Zn nodes and adsorbed Ni ions within the cavities of the MOF.
      This single-atom catalyst exhibited an excellent turnover frequency for
      electroreduction of CO2 (5273 h-1), with a Faradaic efficiency for CO production
      of over 71.9% and a current density of 10.48 mA cm-2 at an overpotential of 0.89
      V. Our findings present some guidelines for the rational design and accurate
      modulation of nanostructured catalysts at the atomic scale.

PMID- 28595013
TI  - Fibroblast Activation Protein alpha Activated Tripeptide Bufadienolide Antitumor
      Prodrug with Reduced Cardiotoxicity.
AB  - Bufadienolides are the major pharmacologic constituents of traditional Chinese
      medicine Chan'su, which is frequently used clinically for cancer treatment in
      China. Motivated by reducing or avoiding the cardiac toxicity of bufadienolides,
      we have designed, synthesized, and evaluated the fibroblast activation protein
      alpha (FAPalpha) activated tripeptide arenobufagin prodrugs with the purpose of
      improving the safety of arenobufagin (a representative bufadienolide). Among
      these FAPalpha-activated prodrugs, 3f exhibited the best hydrolytic efficiency by
      recombinant human FAPalpha (rhFAPalpha) and was activated in tumors. The LD50 of
      3f was 6.5-fold higher than that of arenobufagin. We also observed that there are
      nonapparent changes in echocardiography, pathological section of cardiac muscle,
      and the lactate dehydrogenase activities (LDH) in 3f-treatment tumor-bearing
      mice, even when the dose reached 3 times the amount of parent drug arenobufagin
      that was used. Compound 3f also exhibits significant antitumor activity in vitro
      and in vivo. The improved safety profile and favorable anticancer properties of
      3f warrant further studies of the potential clinical implications. Our study
      suggests that FAPalpha prodrug strategy is an effective approach for successful
      increasing the therapeutic window of bufadienolides.

PMID- 28595014
TI  - Chelator-Free and Biocompatible Melanin Nanoplatform with Facile-Loading
      Gadolinium and Copper-64 for Bioimaging.
AB  - Development of a chelator-free and biocompatible platform for the facile
      construction of gadolinium3+ (Gd3+)-loaded nanoparticle based probes for in vivo
      magentic resonance imaging (MRI) is still challenging. Herein, biocompatible Gd3+
      loading melanin dots (Gd-M-dots) have been easily prepared and have exhibited
      good loading efficiency for Gd3+, high stability, and higher T1 relaxivity
      compared to the commercial Gd-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic
      acid (DOTA) agent. Furthermore, Gd-M-dots showed unique photoacoustic (PA)
      properties, and a high PA imaging signal could be observed in vivo 1 h after
      injection. Compared to the traditional Gd3+-loaded nanoparticles for single-modal
      MRI, Gd-M-dots can also be radiolabeled with 64Cu2+ for positron emission
      tomography. Overall, these attractive properties of Gd-M-dots render them a
      promising imaging agent for various biomedical applications.

PMID- 28595015
TI  - 2'-Chloro,2'-fluoro Ribonucleotide Prodrugs with Potent Pan-genotypic Activity
      against Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Culture.
AB  - Pan-genotypic nucleoside HCV inhibitors display a high genetic barrier to drug
      resistance and are the preferred direct-acting agents to achieve complete
      sustained virologic response in humans. Herein, we report, the discovery of a
      beta-d-2'-Cl,2'-F-uridine phosphoramidate nucleotide 16, as a nontoxic pan
      genotypic anti-HCV agent. Phosphoramidate 16 in its 5'-triphosphate form
      specifically inhibited HCV NS5B polymerase with no marked inhibition of human
      polymerases and cellular mitochondrial RNA polymerase. Studies on the
      intracellular half-life of phosphoramidate 16-TP in live cells demonstrated
      favorable half-life of 11.6 h, suggesting once-a-day dosing. Stability in human
      blood and favorable metabolism in human intestinal microsomes and liver
      microsomes make phosphoramidate 16 a prospective candidate for further studies to
      establish its potential value as a new anti-HCV agent.

PMID- 28595016
TI  - Stabilization of the Metastable Lead Iodide Perovskite Phase via Surface
      Functionalization.
AB  - Metastable structural polymorphs can have superior properties and applications to
      their thermodynamically stable phases, but the rational synthesis of metastable
      phases is a challenge. Here, a new strategy for stabilizing metastable phases
      using surface functionalization is demonstrated using the example of
      formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) perovskite, which is metastable at room
      temperature (RT) but holds great promises in solar and light-emitting
      applications. We show that, through surface ligand functionalization during
      direct solution growth at RT, pure FAPbI3 in the cubic perovskite phase can be
      stabilized in nanostructures and thin films at RT without cation or anion
      alloying. Surface characterizations reveal that long-chain alkyl or aromatic
      ammonium (LA) cations bind to the surface of perovskite structure. Calculations
      show that such functionalization reduces the surface energy and plays a dominant
      role in stabilizing the metastable perovskite phase. Excellent photophysics and
      optically pumped lasing from the stabilized single-crystal FAPbI3 nanoplates with
      low thresholds were demonstrated. High-performance solar cells can be fabricated
      with such directly synthesized stabilized phase-pure FAPbI3 with a lower bandgap.
      Our results offer new insights on the surface chemistry of perovskite materials
      and provide a new strategy for stabilizing metastable perovskites and metastable
      polymorphs of solid materials in general.

PMID- 28595017
TI  - Unprecedented Ferroelectric-Antiferroelectric-Paraelectric Phase Transitions
      Discovered in an Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite.
AB  - As a promising candidate for energy storage capacitors, antiferroelectric (AFE)
      materials have attracted great concern due to their congenital advantages of
      large energy storage ability from double polarization versus electric field (P-E)
      hysteresis characteristics in contrast to ferroelectrics and linear dielectrics.
      However, antiferroelectricity has only been discovered in inorganic oxides and
      some hydrogen-bonded molecular systems. In view of the structural diversity and
      unique physical properties of organic-inorganic hybrid system, it remains a great
      opportunity to introduce antiferroelectricity into organic-inorganic hybrid
      perovskites. Here, we report that polarizable antiparallel dipole arrays can be
      realized in an organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite, (3-pyrrolinium)CdBr3, which
      not only exhibits an excellent ferroelectric property (with a high spontaneous
      polarization of 7.0 MUC/cm2), but also presents a striking AFE characteristic
      revealed by clear double P-E hysteresis loops. To the best of our knowledge, it
      is the first time that such successive ferroelectric-antiferroelectric
      paraelectric phase transitions have been discovered in organic-inorganic
      perovskites. Besides, a giant dielectric constant of 1600 even at high frequency
      of 1000 kHz and a bulk electrocaloric effect with entropy change of 1.18 J K-1 kg
      1 under 7.41 kV/cm are also observed during the phase transition. Apparently, the
      combined striking AFE characteristic and giant dielectric constant make (3
      pyrrolinium)CdBr3 a promising candidate for next generation high-energy-storage
      capacitors.

PMID- 28595018
TI  - Predictors of Physical Activity Levels in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A
      Multivariate Approach Based on a Socio-Ecological Framework.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to explore cross-sectional relationships between
      self-reported physical activity (PA) and personal, social, and environmental
      factors in community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and older. Accounting for
      clustering by neighborhood, generalized estimating equations were used to examine
      associations between selected correlates and the Physical Activity Scale for the
      Elderly (PASE) score while adjusting for confounders. Data for 601 participants
      were analyzed: 79% female, 37% married, mean age 76.8 (+/- 8.7) years, mean PASE
      score 112.6 (+/- 64.8). Age, living in seniors' housing, using nursing/home care
      services, receiving encouragement to be active, and having benches available in
      the neighborhood were inversely associated with PASE. Self-efficacy, SF-12 score,
      PA barriers, social support, and the presence of trails showed positive
      associations. Several personal, social, and environmental factors associated with
      PA were identified. The inverse association between PA and living in seniors'
      housing units should be considered when developing PA programs for older adults.

PMID- 28595019
TI  - The Validity of Consumer-Level Activity Monitors in Healthy Older Adults in Free
      Living Conditions.
AB  - Consumer-level activity monitors, such as Fitbit and Misfit devices, are a
      popular and low-cost means of measuring physical activity. This study aims to
      compare the accuracy of step counts from two consumer-level activity monitors
      against two reference devices in healthy, community-dwelling older adults in free
      living conditions. Twenty-five older adults (aged 65-84) simultaneously wore 5
      devices (e.g., Misfit Shine and Fitbit Charge HR) over 7 consecutive days. All
      consumer-level activity monitors positively correlated with reference devices (p
      < .001). There was also substantial to near perfect agreement between all
      consumer-level activity monitors and reference devices. Compared to the ActiGraph
      GT3X+, the waist-worn Misfit Shine displayed the highest agreement amongst the
      devices worn (ICC = 0.96, 95% 0.91 to 0.99). The wrist-worn devices showed poorer
      agreement to reference devices. Future research needs to consider that not all
      consumer-level activity monitors are equal in terms of accuracy, design, and
      function.

PMID- 28595021
TI  - Facilitators of Attendance and Adherence to Group-Based Physical Activity for
      Older Adults: A Literature Synthesis.
AB  - This review examines program features that influence attendance and adherence to
      group-based physical activity (PA) by older adults. Medline, PubMed, CINAHL plus,
      PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies published from 1995
      2016. Quantitative and qualitative studies investigating factors related to PA
      group attendance or adherence by persons aged 55 years and over were included.
      Searching yielded eight quantitative and 13 qualitative studies, from 2,044
      titles. Quantitative findings identified social factors, instructor
      characteristics, PA types, class duration and frequency, and perceived PA
      outcomes as important for attendance and adherence, whilst qualitative studies
      identified settings, leadership, PA types, observable benefits, and social
      support factors. Studies were predominantly low- to moderate-quality. This review
      identified design and delivery considerations for group-based PA programs to
      inform best-practice frameworks and industry capacity building. Future research
      should use longitudinal and mixed-methods designs to strengthen evidence about
      facilitators of program reach and engagement.

PMID- 28595020
TI  - Tamoxifen inhibits mitochondrial membrane damage caused by disulfiram.
AB  - In this work, we studied the protective effects of tamoxifen (TAM) on disulfiram
      (Dis)-induced mitochondrial membrane insult. The results indicate that TAM
      circumvents the inner membrane leakiness manifested as Ca2+ release,
      mitochondrial swelling, and collapse of the transmembrane electric gradient.
      Furthermore, it was found that TAM prevents inactivation of the mitochondrial
      enzyme aconitase and detachment of cytochrome c from the inner membrane.
      Interestingly, TAM also inhibited Dis-promoted generation of hydrogen peroxide.
      Given that TAM is an antioxidant molecule, it is plausible that its protection
      may be due to the inhibition of Dis-induced oxidative stress.

PMID- 28595022
TI  - Combined Protein-Rich Diet With Resistance Exercise Intervention to Counteract
      Sarcopenia: A Qualitative Study on Drivers and Barriers of Compliance.
AB  - Interventions combining protein-rich diets with resistance exercises seem a
      promising avenue in helping to prevent sarcopenia. However, compliance to health
      interventions is generally low. The aim of the present study was to provide
      qualitative insights into the drivers and barriers that older adults experience
      when trying to comply with a combined dietary and physical exercise intervention.
      Semi-structured interviews with 18 older adults participating in such an
      intervention were conducted and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Most
      frequently reported drivers to comply with the diet were a fit with existing
      habits, knowledge on the health benefits, and product properties (taste,
      convenience, package). Drivers for physical exercises were existing habits,
      social contacts, customized support, and experienced physical improvement. It is
      suggested that customized support is important to successfully implement exercise
      protein interventions amongst older adults, especially regarding participants'
      habits, product preferences, and social environment.

PMID- 28595023
TI  - Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Is Crucial for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer
      Survivors.

PMID- 28595024
TI  - Sedentary Time in Male and Female Masters and Recreational Athletes Aged 55 and
      Older.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to quantify sedentary time among recreational and
      Masters (competitive) athletes aged 55 and older. A cross-sectional survey
      including questions on demographics, sport participation, as well as a short form
      of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and the Measure of Older
      Adult's Sedentary Time questionnaire was administered (n = 203). Male Masters
      athletes reported more time spent in vigorous intensity physical activity and
      less time watching TV than recreational athletes. Among females, being a Masters
      athlete was associated with being more sedentary than being a recreational
      athlete, while among males, being a recreational athlete was associated with
      being more sedentary. The intensity and duration that older Masters and
      recreational athletes spent in their sport was inversely associated with the
      amount of sedentary time accumulated. Future research using inclinometers is
      needed to further elucidate sedentary time in older male and female athletes.

PMID- 28595026
TI  - Lack of Palliative Mortality Prediction Tools for People with a Hematological
      Malignancy: Call for Action.

PMID- 28595025
TI  - The Validity of Using Health Administrative Data To Identify the Involvement of
      Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care Teams in Children with Cancer in Ontario,
      Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Population-based research to identify underserviced populations and
      the impact of palliative care (PC) is limited as the validity of such data to
      identify PC services is largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity of
      using such data to identify the involvement of specialized pediatric PC teams
      among children with cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SUBJECTS: Ontario
      children with cancer who died between 2000 and 2012, received care through a
      pediatric institution with a specialized PC team and a clinical PC database.
      MEASUREMENTS: All patients in the clinical databases were linked to population
      based health services administrative databases. Six algorithms were created to
      indicate the use of formal pediatric PC teams based on the record type (physician
      billings vs. inpatient records vs. both) and number of eligible codes required
      (>=1 vs. >=2). Each was validated against the pediatric PC clinical databases.
      RESULTS: The cohort comprised 572 children; 243 were in the clinical databases.
      Algorithms using only inpatient records had high specificity (80%-95%) but poor
      sensitivity (21%-56%). Including physician billings increased sensitivity but
      lowered specificity. The algorithm with overall best performance required >=2
      physician billing or inpatient diagnosis codes indicating PC [sensitivity 0.79
      (95% CI 0.73-0.84), specificity 0.58 (95% CI 0.53-0.64)]. CONCLUSIONS: Health
      administrative data identifies involvement of specialized pediatric PC teams with
      good sensitivity but low specificity. Studies using such data alone to compare
      patients receiving and not receiving specialized pediatric PC are at significant
      risk of misclassification and potential bias. Population-based PC databases
      should be established to conduct rigorous population-based PC research.

PMID- 28595027
TI  - Clinical Outcomes of Start-Low, Go-Slow Methadone Initiation for Cancer-Related
      Pain: What's the Hurry?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methadone has been shown to be effective for cancer pain. Most
      published switching methods are complete in less than three days, requiring very
      close supervision, usually in an inpatient setting. This need for hospitalization
      is a barrier to access. We present a large retrospective study of slow outpatient
      methadone starts and describe our starting method. METHODS: Charts were reviewed
      of patients referred to the Pain and Symptom Management/Palliative Care clinics
      at the six BC Cancer Agency's regional centers that underwent initiation of
      methadone for analgesia over a 14-year period. Patient characteristics, method of
      start, and outcomes of methadone treatment were recorded. RESULTS: Of the 652
      identified patients, we were able to determine outcomes of methadone initiation
      in 564 (86.5%). Among these, 422 (74.8%) were deemed successful initiations, as
      determined by whether or not the patient remained on methadone at follow-up with
      subjective improvement in pain control, on a stable dose of methadone. Of the
      unsuccessful trials, 97/142 were primarily due to adverse events, 16 of which
      were considered serious enough to require hospitalization, including two due to
      sudden cessation of opioid therapy leading to withdrawal. Some of the included
      adverse events were not necessarily causal from the initiation of methadone, for
      example, development of bowel obstruction or delirium. Only one death occurred
      from a deliberate overdose of multiple medications, including methadone.
      CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of methadone for analgesia in ambulatory cancer patients
      can be done safely in an outpatient setting using a start-low go-slow method, and
      can be expected to be helpful in ~75% of patients. Discontinuation is more likely
      to be for side effects than for inadequate analgesia. Access to methadone therapy
      can safely be widened by slow initiation, avoiding more dangerous rapid switching
      protocols and reducing the need for hospitalization.

PMID- 28595028
TI  - The Role of Clinical Pharmacists on the Interdisciplinary Team #334.

PMID- 28595030
TI  - Preventing Chronic Disease: Recognizing Accomplishments in 2016 and Tracking
      Progress of Priorities in 2017.

PMID- 28595029
TI  - Advancing the Public's Health by Scaling Innovations in Clinical Quality.

PMID- 28595031
TI  - Factors Associated With Parents' Intent to Vaccinate Adolescents for Human
      Papillomavirus: Findings From the 2014 National Immunization Survey-Teen.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: While factors associated with receipt of human papillomavirus (HPV)
      vaccination have been well characterized, less is known about the characteristics
      associated with parents' intent to have their adolescent children vaccinated.
      This study aimed to examine factors associated with parental intention toward HPV
      vaccination. METHODS: We analyzed data on 10,354 adolescents aged 13 to 17 years
      from the 2014 National Immunization Survey-Teen. Weighted multivariable logistic
      regression was used to examine associations between sociodemographic
      characteristics of mothers and adolescents, as well as a health care provider
      recommendation with parents' intention to have their children receive HPV
      vaccine. RESULTS: Among unvaccinated adolescents, Hispanic ethnicity (boys
      adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34-2.61; and
      girls AOR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.05-2.35), mothers with less than a high school diploma
      (boys AOR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.58-3.67; and girls AOR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.02-3.38), and
      having a health care provider recommend the vaccine (boys AOR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.52
      2.31; and girls AOR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.05-1.82) were significantly associated with
      parents' intention to have their adolescent child vaccinated within the next 12
      months. In addition, non-Hispanic black race was a significant predictor of
      parents' intent to vaccinate for boys (AOR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.35-2.65). CONCLUSION:
      Maternal education and Hispanic ethnicity were the strongest predictors of
      parental intent to vaccinate against HPV, followed by provider recommendation. As
      HPV vaccination rates in the United States remain below the Healthy People 2020
      goal, messages may need to be targeted based on maternal education,
      race/ethnicity, and provider recommendation.

PMID- 28595032
TI  - Comparing Prevalence Estimates From Population-Based Surveys to Inform
      Surveillance Using Electronic Health Records.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Electronic health record (EHR) systems provide an opportunity to
      use a novel data source for population health surveillance. Validation studies
      that compare prevalence estimates from EHRs and surveys most often use difference
      testing, which can, because of large sample sizes, lead to detection of
      significant differences that are not meaningful. We explored a novel application
      of the two one-sided t test (TOST) to assess the equivalence of prevalence
      estimates in 2 population-based surveys to inform margin selection for validating
      EHR-based surveillance prevalence estimates derived from large samples. METHODS:
      We compared prevalence estimates of health indicators in the 2013 Community
      Health Survey (CHS) and the 2013-2014 New York City Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey (NYC HANES) by using TOST, a 2-tailed t test, and other
      goodness-of-fit measures. RESULTS: A +/-5 percentage-point equivalence margin for
      a TOST performed well for most health indicators. For health indicators with a
      prevalence estimate of less than 10% (extreme obesity [CHS, 3.5%; NYC HANES,
      5.1%] and serious psychological distress [CHS, 5.2%; NYC HANES, 4.8%]), a +/-2.5
      percentage-point margin was more consistent with other goodness-of-fit measures
      than the larger percentage-point margins. CONCLUSION: A TOST with a +/-5
      percentage-point margin was useful in establishing equivalence, but a +/-2.5
      percentage-point margin may be appropriate for health indicators with a
      prevalence estimate of less than 10%. Equivalence testing can guide future
      efforts to validate EHR data.

PMID- 28595033
TI  - Temperature gradients in vivo influence maturing male and female gametes in
      mammals: evidence from the cow.
AB  - Since 1980 several reports have indicated that temperatures vary between
      preovulatory follicles and other ovarian tissues in rabbit, cow, pig and human.
      However, these observations did not achieve prominence; they were regarded as
      artefacts due to the use of anaesthetics and open surgery (laparotomy). Recently,
      without resorting to anaesthesia or surgery, direct measurements of temperature
      in preovulatory follicles have been performed in the cow by means of a thermistor
      probe introduced into the antrum under ultrasonic guidance. Such follicles
      revealed a mean antral (follicular fluid) temperature 0.74 degrees C and 1.54
      degrees C cooler than uterine surface and rectal temperatures respectively in
      ovulating cows, whereas no such temperature differences were detected in non
      ovulating cows. Cows are predominantly monovular and preovulatory follicles
      attain a diameter of 15-22mm or more. These features and the timescale of
      response to the preovulatory gonadotrophin surge make them a valuable model for
      the human preovulatory follicle. Temperature gradients are interpreted primarily
      in a context of final maturation of gametes immediately before the onset of
      fertilisation. Preovulatory follicular temperature in women could be assessed by
      a comparable approach and might become a valuable selection guide for oocyte
      viability.

PMID- 28595034
TI  - Preclinical and clinical studies of Coriolus versicolor polysaccharopeptide as an
      immunotherapeutic in China.
AB  - Conventional cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation
      therapy. In recent years, immunotherapy in cancer care has been gaining momentum.
      Interestingly, an immunotherapeutic regime that employs polysaccharopeptide
      (PSP), a unique peptide-containing polysaccharide isolated from Coriolus
      versicolor, has already become a routine clinical practice in Japan since 1977
      and in China since 1987. Coriolus versicolor is one of the most well-known
      traditional food and medicinal mushrooms in China for thousands of years.
      Medically used PSP is mostly obtained from the extraction of cultured Coriolus
      versicolor mycelia where beta-glucan is the major component. PSP has proven
      beneficial to survival and quality of life not only for cancer patients but also
      for patients with hepatitis, hyperlipidemia, and other chronic diseases. In this
      article, the results of PSP-related preclinical and clinical studies conducted in
      China from over 40 independent studies during the past 40 years based on
      searching the Chinese VIP, CNKI, and Wanfang databases are presented. Its
      immunomodulatory and anti-tumor molecular mechanisms are also summarized. PSP
      activates immune cells, increases the expressions of cytokines and chemokines
      such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukins (IL-1beta and IL
      6), histamine, and prostaglandin E, enhances dendritic and T-cell infiltration
      into tumors, and ameliorates the adverse events associated with chemotherapy. The
      clinical studies support PSP being a potential immunotherapeutic. However, the
      complicated chemical and multiple pharmacological properties of PSP need to be
      investigated further.

PMID- 28595035
TI  - N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors mediate epilepsy-induced axonal impairment and tau
      phosphorylation via activating glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and cyclin
      dependent kinase 5.
AB  - The mechanism of epilepsy-induced axonal impairment is poorly understood. N
      methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play important roles in epilepsy and
      mediate structural and functional axonal impairment. GSK-3beta and Cdk5 affect
      axons and are regulated by NMDARs, while their roles in epilepsy-induced axonal
      impairment are unclear. We demonstrated that axonal impairment is characterized
      by neurofilament heavy (NFH) reduction, amyloid precursor protein (APP)
      accumulation, and increased tau phosphorylation accompanied by a decrease of
      total tau in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)
      kindled rats. Inhibiting NMDARs using memantine and ifenprodil alleviated NFH
      reduction and APP accumulation, decreased Cdk5 expression, and inhibited the
      activity of GSK-3beta in the white matter of PTZ-kindled rats. Inhibiting GSK
      3beta and Cdk5 using lithium chloride and roscovitine also alleviated axonal
      impairment induced by PTZ. Therefore, axonal impairment in TLE may be mediated by
      NMDAR via GSK-3beta and Cdk5. In addition, inhibiting either NMDARs or GSK-3beta
      lowered the relative tau phosphorylation level by reversing the decrease of total
      tau without affecting phosphorylated tau S396 and T231. Meanwhile inhibiting Cdk5
      lowered the tau phosphorylation level by reducing phosphorylated tau without
      affecting total tau, indicating a possible role of GSK-3beta in NMDAR-mediated
      tau phosphorylation in epilepsy.

PMID- 28595037
TI  - Plasma apolipoprotein A1 levels at diagnosis are independent prognostic factors
      in invasive ductal breast cancer.
AB  - Strong evidence exists indicating that the risk of breast cancer (BC) occurrence
      is influenced by complex internal environmental factors, including blood lipid
      and lipoprotein components. However, the roles of these components in BC
      development and progression remain controversial. This study examined whether
      serial serum lipid and lipoprotein measurements were associated with breast
      cancer risk and whether lipoproteins had BC prognostic properties. We compared
      the plasma-related parameter levels, including lipid and lipoprotein levels
      between 299 patients with invasive ductal breast cancer, also known as invasive
      ductal carcinoma (IDC), and 200 healthy donors. We performed univariate and
      multivariate logistic regression analyses to assess overall survival (OS) and
      disease-free survival (DFS). We found that the serum glucose, triacylglycerol,
      and low-density lipoprotein levels were significantly higher in patients with IDC
      than in healthy donors. However, high-density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein A1
      (apoA1) levels were lower in patients with IDC than in healthy donors.
      Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that elevated apoA1 levels were
      associated with a reduced risk of IDC, and univariate analysis showed that
      patients with IDC with lower apoA1 levels at diagnosis had larger tumors than
      patients with high apoA1 levels. Moreover, patients with IDC with lower apoA1
      levels were more likely to have positive axillary lymph nodes, and were diagnosed
      at more advanced disease stages than patients with high apoA1 levels. We used a
      Cox regression model to assess the relationships between the above parameters and
      DFS and OS, after adjusting for tumor T and N stages, which were determined using
      the TNM classification system, and immunohistochemical subtypes. We found that
      lower apoA1 levels at diagnosis were associated with poor DFS and OS. At 60
      months of follow-up, the DFS rate is 74.5% in the apoA1 L1 group, 89.9% in apoA1
      L2 group, and 93.1% in apoA1 L3 group (p=0.0002). Similarly, the OS rate is 78.2%
      in apoA1 L1 group, 91.3% in apoA1 L2 group, and 93.7% in apoA1 L3 group
      (p=0.0012). In conclusion, our data indicate that low apoA1 levels are an
      independent predictor of the poor clinical outcomes in IDC patients.

PMID- 28595036
TI  - S100A1 promotes cell proliferation and migration and is associated with lymph
      node metastasis in ovarian cancer.
AB  - S100A1 is a calcium-binding protein belonging to the family of S100 proteins, and
      is highly expressed in ovarian cancer. However, its role in ovarian cancer has
      not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we examined S100A1 expression in
      ovarian cancer tissues and normal tissue controls and analyzed the correlation
      between S100A1 expression and clinicopathological parameters. We found that
      S100A1 expression was significantly upregulated in ovarian cancer tissues
      compared with fallopian and normal ovarian epithelium tissues and was
      significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and International Federation
      of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages and tumor grades. We then investigated
      the biological functions of S100A1 in ovarian cancer by cell proliferation,
      fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and migration and invasion assays.
      The results indicated that S100A1 enhanced the ovarian cancer cell proliferation
      and migration. Together, our findings demonstrated that S100A1 plays an important
      role in the malignancy of ovarian cancer, and serves as a useful marker for the
      detection of ovarian malignancy.

PMID- 28595038
TI  - Bio-electric field enhancement: the influence on hyaluronan mediated motility
      receptors in human breast carcinoma.
AB  - Mechanisms that regulate cancer cell metastasis are often intricately linked to
      mechanisms that control cell migration in wound repair. Hyaluronan Mediated
      Motility Receptor (HMMR) encodes a receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility
      (RHAMM), a non-integral cell surface hyaluronan receptor and intracellular
      protein that promotes mitotic spindle formation and cell motility. RHAMM has been
      found to have increased expression in both cancers and wounds, and when cancers
      show increased RHAMM expression poor outcomes have occurred. Therefore, RHAMM has
      been shown to contribute to both natural healing mechanisms and cancer cell
      pathology. RHAMM is expressed in breast tissue and forms a polarity normalizing
      complex with BRCA1. Mutations of BRCA1 have been associated with a loss of
      apicobasal cell polarity along with a subsequent increased expression of RHAMM.
      Here we show how a human breast carcinoma cell line was maintained in media
      prepared with a dilute saline solution that had been exposed to a
      dielectrophoretic (DEP) electromagnetic field (EMF) generated by 3 amperes of
      direct current (dc) to a device housing an array of conductive rings. This Bio
      electric Field Enhancement (BEFE) device has been available commercially for use
      in baths/footbaths since 1996 and consumers claim that it provides health
      benefits ranging from lowering blood pressure to faster wound healing. Our
      studies showed a significant inhibition of growth of human breast carcinoma MDA
      MB-231 cells when they were maintained in media prepared with dc-DEP EMF force
      treated dilute saline while no growth inhibition occurred when the same cells
      were maintained in identically prepared but untreated media. Importantly, no
      growth inhibition was observed in human epithelial MCF-10A cells when grown in
      either treated or untreated media. Also, mitotic spindle formation was inhibited
      in the human breast carcinoma when they were grown in dc-DEP EMF force treated
      media. To determine if any gene expression changes contributed to the selective
      growth inhibition and absent mitotic spindle formation in the human breast
      carcinoma grown in the treated media, we employed microarray analysis and found
      that there was large-scale transcriptional reprogramming of the tumor cells grown
      in the treated media with over 1,000 genes up- or down-regulated over 2-fold,
      whereas the non-cancerous MCF-10A cells showed relatively modest changes in gene
      expression. Of the genes affected in the MDA-MB-231 cells, the significance of
      down-regulation of HMMR is discussed. The ability to enhance cell polarity
      through the application of this dc-DEP EMF force may offer another way to
      stabilize HMMR and differentially modulate its expression in cancerous and
      noncancerous cells.

PMID- 28595039
TI  - Metabolic processing of the amyloid precursor protein -- new pieces of the
      Alzheimer's puzzle.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) continues to be a daunting and costly challenge for
      research, medicine, and society. AD pathologies point toward the involvement of
      metabolic fragments of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the pathogenesis of
      the disease. Through sequential enzymatic processing, APP is metabolized into
      several potential polypeptides, including the toxic amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide.
      Though great progress has been made in understanding the mechanism of
      conventional metabolic processing of APP to yield products such as Abeta, AD
      remains unpreventable and irreversible at any stage. Recent new reports provide
      data that add both complexity to the issue and new hope for potential avenues of
      therapeutic intervention. Novel metabolic processing events such as delta
      secretase and eta-secretase have been revealed that generate previously
      uncharacterized APP metabolic fragments with the potential to participate in AD
      pathogenesis. Additionally, enzymes known to act in other metabolic pathways,
      such as meprin beta, have been found to cleave APP to yield products known to
      participate in AD pathologies. This review provides an overview of current
      knowledge of conventional and novel APP processing.

PMID- 28595040
TI  - The "Kantian Principle" for natural history and its historical significance.

PMID- 28595041
TI  - Mercury concentrations in lean fish from the Western Mediterranean Sea: Dietary
      exposure and risk assessment in the population of the Balearic Islands.
AB  - The present study reports total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg)
      concentrations in 32 different lean fish species from the Western Mediterranean
      Sea, with a special focus on the Balearic Islands. The concentrations of THg
      ranged between 0.05mg/kg ww and 3.1mg/kg ww (mean 0.41mg/kg ww). A considerable
      number of the most frequently fish species consumed by the Spanish population
      exceed the maximum levels proposed by the European legislation when they
      originate from the Mediterranean Sea, such as dusky grouper (100% of the examined
      specimens), common dentex (65%), conger (45%), common sole (38%), hake (26%) and
      angler (15%), among others. The estimated weekly intakes (EWI) in children (7-12
      years of age) and adults from the Spanish population (2.7ug/kg bw and 2.1ug/kg
      bw, respectively) for population only consuming Mediterranean fish were below the
      provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of THg established by EFSA in 2012,
      4ug/kg bw. However, the equivalent estimations for methylmercury, involving PTWI
      of 1.3ug/kg bw, were two times higher in children and above 50% in adults. For
      hake, sole, angler and dusky grouper, the most frequently consumed fish, the
      estimated weekly intakes in both children and adults were below the maximum
      levels accepted. These intakes correspond to maximum potential estimations
      because fish from non-Mediterranean origin is often consumed by the Spanish
      population including the one from the Balearic Islands.

PMID- 28595042
TI  - Hydro-dam - A nature-based solution or an ecological problem: The fate of the
      Tonle Sap Lake.
AB  - Recent proliferation of hydro-dams was one of the nature-based solutions to meet
      the increasing demand for energy and food in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB).
      While construction of these hydro-dams generated some hydropower and facilitated
      expansion of irrigated lands, it also significantly altered the basin-wide
      hydrology and subsequently impacted wetland ecosystems. Unintended adverse
      consequences of ecosystem services from lakes and wetlands offset the intended
      gains in hydroelectricity and irrigated agriculture. The trade-offs between gains
      in energy and food production and losses in aquatic ecosystem services were
      perceived to be significant but knowledge of the magnitude, spatial extent, and
      type of ecosystem services change is lacking and, therefore, the question whether
      the hydro-dam is an optimized solution or a potential ecological problem remains
      unanswered. In this study, as the first step to answer this question and using
      the Tonle Sap Lake as an example, we quantified one of the impacts of hydro-dams
      on lake ecosystem's phenology in terms of open water area, a critical ecological
      characteristic that affects lake systems' fish production, biodiversity, and
      livelihoods of the local communities. We used the MODIS-NDVI time series,
      forecast function and the Mann-Kendall trend test method to first quantify the
      open water area, analyzed its changes over time, and then performed correlation
      analysis with climate variables to disentangle dam impacts. The results showed
      reduced hydro-periods, diminishing lake seasonality and a declining trend in
      Tonle Sap Lake open water area over the past 15 years. These changes were
      insignificantly related to climatic influence during the same period. It is
      concluded that basin-wide hydro-dam construction and associated agricultural
      irrigation were deemed to be the primary cause of these ecological changes.
      Further analyses of changes in the lake's ecosystem services, including provision
      and cultural services, need to be carried out in order to have a holistic
      understanding of the trade-offs brought by the hydro-dam proliferation as a
      solution to the emerging energy and food demand in the LMRB.

PMID- 28595044
TI  - Enhanced Responsiveness and Low-Level Awareness in Stochastic Network States.
AB  - Desynchronized brain states are known to be associated with arousal and increased
      awareness, but the exact mechanisms are unknown. Here, we show that neuronal
      networks displaying asynchronous irregular (AI) activity can implement a low
      level form of awareness, due to their specific responsiveness properties. We
      emphasize the importance of the conductance state and stochasticity to explain
      these properties. We suggest that the purpose of cortical structures is to
      generate AI states with optimal responsiveness, to be globally aware of external
      stimuli.

PMID- 28595043
TI  - The association between the incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer and
      concentrations at street-level of nitrogen dioxide and ultrafine particles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is scant information as to whether traffic-related air
      pollution is associated with the incidence of breast cancer. Nitrogen dioxide
      (NO2) and ultrafine particles (UFPs, <0.1um), are two pollutants that capture
      intra-urban variations in traffic-related air pollution and may also be
      associated with incidence. METHODS: We conducted a population-based, case-control
      study of street-level concentrations of NO2 and UFPs and incident postmenopausal
      breast cancer in Montreal, Canada. Incident cases were identified between 2008
      and 2011 from all but one hospital that treated breast cancer in the Montreal
      area. Population controls were identified from provincial electoral lists of
      Montreal residents and frequency-matched to cases using 5-year age groups.
      Concentrations of NO2 and UFPs were estimated using two separate land-use
      regression models. Exposures were assigned to residential locations at the time
      of recruitment, and we identified residential histories of women who had lived in
      these residences for 10 years or more. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence
      intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models adjusting for
      individual-level and ecological covariates. We assessed the functional form of
      NO2 and UFP exposures using natural cubic splines. RESULTS: We found that the
      functional form of the response functions between incident postmenopausal breast
      cancer and concentrations of NO2 and UFPs were consistent with linearity. For
      NO2, we found increasing risks of breast cancer for all subjects combined and
      stronger associations when analyses were restricted to those women who had lived
      at their current address for 10 years or more. Specifically, the OR, adjusted for
      personal covariates, per increase in the interquartile range (IQR=3.75 ppb) of
      NO2 was 1.08 (95%CI: 0.92-1.27). For women living in their homes for 10 years or
      more, the adjusted OR was 1.17 (95%CI: 0.93-1.46; IQR=3.84 ppb); for those not
      living at that home 10 years before the study, it was 0.93 (95%CI: 0.64, 1.36;
      IQR=3.65 ppb). For UFPs, the ORs were lower than for NO2, with little evidence of
      association in any of the models or sub-analyses and little variability in the
      ORs (about 1.02 for an IQR of ~3500cm-3). On the other hand, we found higher ORs
      amongst cases with positive oestrogen and progesterone receptor status; namely
      for NO2, the OR was 1.13 (95%CI: 0.94-1.35) and for UFPs it was 1.05 (95%CI: 0.96
      1.14). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that exposure to ambient NO2 and UFPs
      may increase the risk of incident postmenopausal breast cancer especially amongst
      cases with positive oestrogen and progesterone receptor status.

PMID- 28595045
TI  - Symmetry Breaking in Space-Time Hierarchies Shapes Brain Dynamics and Behavior.
AB  - In order to maintain brain function, neural activity needs to be tightly
      coordinated within the brain network. How this coordination is achieved and
      related to behavior is largely unknown. It has been previously argued that the
      study of the link between brain and behavior is impossible without a guiding
      vision. Here we propose behavioral-level concepts and mechanisms embodied as
      structured flows on manifold (SFM) that provide a formal description of behavior
      as a low-dimensional process emerging from a network's dynamics dependent on the
      symmetry and invariance properties of the network connectivity. Specifically, we
      demonstrate that the symmetry breaking of network connectivity constitutes a
      timescale hierarchy resulting in the emergence of an attractive functional
      subspace. We show that behavior emerges when appropriate conditions imposed upon
      the couplings are satisfied, justifying the conductance-based nature of synaptic
      couplings. Our concepts propose design principles for networks predicting how
      behavior and task rules are represented in real neural circuits and open new
      avenues for the analyses of neural data.

PMID- 28595046
TI  - Memory Retrieval from First Principles.
AB  - The dilemma that neurotheorists face is that (1) detailed biophysical models that
      can be constrained by direct measurements, while being of great importance, offer
      no immediate insights into cognitive processes in the brain, and (2) high-level
      abstract cognitive models, on the other hand, while relevant for understanding
      behavior, are largely detached from neuronal processes and typically have many
      free, experimentally unconstrained parameters that have to be tuned to a
      particular data set and, hence, cannot be readily generalized to other
      experimental paradigms. In this contribution, we propose a set of "first
      principles" for neurally inspired cognitive modeling of memory retrieval that has
      no biologically unconstrained parameters and can be analyzed mathematically both
      at neuronal and cognitive levels. We apply this framework to the classical
      cognitive paradigm of free recall. We show that the resulting model accounts well
      for puzzling behavioral data on human participants and makes predictions that
      could potentially be tested with neurophysiological recording techniques.

PMID- 28595048
TI  - How Does the Brain Work?

PMID- 28595047
TI  - From Brain-Environment Connections to Temporal Dynamics and Social Interaction:
      Principles of Human Brain Function.
AB  - Experimental data about brain function accumulate faster than does our
      understanding of how the brain works. To tackle some general principles at the
      grain level of behavior, I start from the omnipresent brain-environment
      connection that forces regularities of the physical world to shape the brain.
      Based on top-down processing, added by sparse sensory information, people are
      able to form individual "caricature worlds," which are similar enough to be
      shared among other people and which allow quick and purposeful reactions to
      abrupt changes. Temporal dynamics and social interaction in natural environments
      serve as further essential organizing principles of human brain function.

PMID- 28595049
TI  - Space-Time Dynamics of Membrane Currents Evolve to Shape Excitation, Spiking, and
      Inhibition in the Cortex at Small and Large Scales.
AB  - In the cerebral cortex, membrane currents, i.e., action potentials and other
      membrane currents, express many forms of space-time dynamics. In the spontaneous
      asynchronous irregular state, their space-time dynamics are local non-propagating
      fluctuations and sparse spiking appearing at unpredictable positions. After
      transition to active spiking states, larger structured zones with active spiking
      neurons appear, propagating through the cortical network, driving it into various
      forms of widespread excitation, and engaging the network from microscopic scales
      to whole cortical areas. At each engaged cortical site, the amount of excitation
      in the network, after a delay, becomes matched by an equal amount of space-time
      fine-tuned inhibition that might be instrumental in driving the dynamics toward
      perception and action.

PMID- 28595050
TI  - Inference in the Brain: Statistics Flowing in Redundant Population Codes.
AB  - It is widely believed that the brain performs approximate probabilistic inference
      to estimate causal variables in the world from ambiguous sensory data. To
      understand these computations, we need to analyze how information is represented
      and transformed by the actions of nonlinear recurrent neural networks. We propose
      that these probabilistic computations function by a message-passing algorithm
      operating at the level of redundant neural populations. To explain this
      framework, we review its underlying concepts, including graphical models,
      sufficient statistics, and message-passing, and then describe how these concepts
      could be implemented by recurrently connected probabilistic population codes. The
      relevant information flow in these networks will be most interpretable at the
      population level, particularly for redundant neural codes. We therefore outline a
      general approach to identify the essential features of a neural message-passing
      algorithm. Finally, we argue that to reveal the most important aspects of these
      neural computations, we must study large-scale activity patterns during
      moderately complex, naturalistic behaviors.

PMID- 28595052
TI  - Hierarchy of Information Processing in the Brain: A Novel 'Intrinsic Ignition'
      Framework.
AB  - A general theory of brain function has to be able to explain local and non-local
      network computations over space and time. We propose a new framework to capture
      the key principles of how local activity influences global computation, i.e.,
      describing the propagation of information and thus the broadness of communication
      driven by local activity. More specifically, we consider the diversity in space
      (nodes or brain regions) over time using the concept of intrinsic ignition, which
      are naturally occurring intrinsic perturbations reflecting the capability of a
      given brain area to propagate neuronal activity to other regions in a given brain
      state. Characterizing the profile of intrinsic ignition for a given brain state
      provides insight into the precise nature of hierarchical information processing.
      Combining this data-driven method with a causal whole-brain computational model
      can provide novel insights into the imbalance of brain states found in
      neuropsychiatric disorders.

PMID- 28595051
TI  - Optimizing Neural Information Capacity through Discretization.
AB  - Discretization in neural circuits occurs on many levels, from the generation of
      action potentials and dendritic integration, to neuropeptide signaling and
      processing of signals from multiple neurons, to behavioral decisions. It is clear
      that discretization, when implemented properly, can convey many benefits.
      However, the optimal solutions depend on both the level of noise and how it
      impacts a particular computation. This Perspective discusses how current
      physiological data could potentially be integrated into one theoretical framework
      based on maximizing information. Key experiments for testing that framework are
      discussed.

PMID- 28595053
TI  - The Brain as an Efficient and Robust Adaptive Learner.
AB  - Understanding how the brain learns to compute functions reliably, efficiently,
      and robustly with noisy spiking activity is a fundamental challenge in
      neuroscience. Most sensory and motor tasks can be described as dynamical systems
      and could presumably be learned by adjusting connection weights in a recurrent
      biological neural network. However, this is greatly complicated by the credit
      assignment problem for learning in recurrent networks, e.g., the contribution of
      each connection to the global output error cannot be determined based only on
      locally accessible quantities to the synapse. Combining tools from adaptive
      control theory and efficient coding theories, we propose that neural circuits can
      indeed learn complex dynamic tasks with local synaptic plasticity rules as long
      as they associate two experimentally established neural mechanisms. First, they
      should receive top-down feedbacks driving both their activity and their synaptic
      plasticity. Second, inhibitory interneurons should maintain a tight balance
      between excitation and inhibition in the circuit. The resulting networks could
      learn arbitrary dynamical systems and produce irregular spike trains as variable
      as those observed experimentally. Yet, this variability in single neurons may
      hide an extremely efficient and robust computation at the population level.

PMID- 28595055
TI  - The Body Model Theory of Somatosensory Cortex.
AB  - I outline a microcircuit theory of somatosensory cortex as a body model serving
      both for body representation and "body simulation." A modular model of innervated
      and non-innervated body parts resides in somatosensory cortical layer 4. This
      body model is continuously updated and compares to an avatar (an animatable
      puppet) rather than a mere sensory map. Superficial layers provide context and
      store sensory memories, whereas layer 5 provides motor output and stores motor
      memories. I predict that layer-6-to-layer-4 inputs initiate body simulations
      allowing rehearsal and risk assessment of difficult actions, such as jumps.

PMID- 28595054
TI  - Neural Manifolds for the Control of Movement.
AB  - The analysis of neural dynamics in several brain cortices has consistently
      uncovered low-dimensional manifolds that capture a significant fraction of neural
      variability. These neural manifolds are spanned by specific patterns of
      correlated neural activity, the "neural modes." We discuss a model for neural
      control of movement in which the time-dependent activation of these neural modes
      is the generator of motor behavior. This manifold-based view of motor cortex may
      lead to a better understanding of how the brain controls movement.

PMID- 28595056
TI  - Shaping the Default Activity Pattern of the Cortical Network.
AB  - Slow oscillations have been suggested as the default emergent activity of the
      cortical network. This is a low complexity state that integrates neuronal,
      synaptic, and connectivity properties of the cortex. Shaped by variations of
      physiological parameters, slow oscillations provide information about the
      underlying healthy or pathological network. We review how this default activity
      is shaped, how it acts as a powerful attractor, and how getting out of it is
      necessary for the brain to recover the levels of complexity associated with
      conscious states. We propose that slow oscillations provide a robust unifying
      paradigm for the study of cortical function.

PMID- 28595057
TI  - Hospitalization cost at childbirth: Health parameters and colonization with
      antimicrobial resistant bacteria and methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus
      aureus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Antimicrobial resistant bacteria (AMR) are of public health and
      economic relevance. However, there is a lack of data regarding AMR colonization
      in pregnant women and in newborns. Furthermore, there are few studies analyzing
      hospital's net income (revenues and costs). STUDY DESIGN: The cross-sectional
      study took place in two Bavarian clinics. Available data regarding women and
      newborns were collected using a standardized questionnaire, personal IDs and
      medical records in addition to AMR/MSSA screening. Economic data consisted of
      estimated hospitalization costs, calculated using a billing system called G-DRG
      (German-Diagnosis Related Groups) as well as real hospitalization costs (e.g.
      staff, medical and non-medical infrastructure costs). RESULTS: Data from 635
      pregnant women and 566 newborns were included. While AMR colonization has shown
      no significant association with clinical complications, or net hospital income;
      primipara status and medical condition during pregnancy did. AMR colonization did
      not have a significant influence on the health status of pregnant women or of the
      newborns. Net hospital income for pregnant women was mostly negative in 2014. In
      2014 and 2015 the majority of the cases had a net income between +/-? 1000.
      Newborns with clinical complications differed significantly in Apgar score at
      1min, weight, body length and AMR colonization of the pregnant woman and/or the
      newborn (p<=0.05). CONCLUSION: Results indicate that colonization does not lead
      to increased costs during hospitalization considering real hospitalization costs
      as well as G-DRG estimated costs. Both DRG groups had similar MSSA and AMR
      prevalence and health status. In future studies, a Centralized Cost Accounting as
      billing method and an improved possibility of AMR coding in G-DRG catalog would
      be desirable.

PMID- 28595058
TI  - Comparison of FSE T2 W PROPELLER and 3D-FIESTA of 3 T MR for the internal
      auditory canal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study compared the use of periodically rotated overlapping
      parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) technique fast spin echo
      (FSE) T2 W and the sequence of three-dimensional fast imaging employing steady
      state acquisition (3D-FIESTA) technique in the MRI of the internal auditory canal
      for overall image quality improvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred thirty
      two patients undergoing FSE T2 W PROPELLER and 3D-FIESTA examinations of the
      internal auditory canal were included. All examinations were performed at 3.0 T
      with comparison of a sagittal oblique FSE T2 W sequence with the PROPELLER
      technique to 3D-FIESTA in the same reconstructed orientation with PROPELLER.
      Image quality was evaluated by two radiologists using a 4-point scale. The
      Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the data of the two techniques.
      RESULTS: The image quality of FSE T2 W PROPELLER was significantly improved
      compared to the reconstructed images of 3D-FIESTA. Observer 1: median FSE T2 W
      with PROPELLER, 4 [mean, 3.455] versus median reconstructed 3D-FIESTA, 3 [mean,
      3.15], (P<.001); Observer 2: median FSE T2 W with PROPELLER, 4 [mean, 3.47]
      versus median reconstructed 3D-FIESTA, 3 [mean, 3.25], (P<.001). Interobserver
      agreement was good (k value, 0.73) for the rating of the overall image quality.
      CONCLUSION: The FSE T2 W PROPELLER technique for MRI of internal auditory canal
      reduced uncertainty caused by motion artifact and improved the quality of the
      image compared to the reconstructed 3D-FIESTA. It was affected by different
      parameters including the blade width, echo train length (ETL). This is explained
      by data oversampling at the center region of k-space, which requires additional
      imaging time over conventional MRI techniques. Increasing blade was expected to
      improve motion correction effects but also the signal-to-noise ratio. ETL
      increases the image sharpness and the overall image quality.

PMID- 28595059
TI  - Coming to the new D.A.R.E.: A preliminary test of the officer-taught elementary
      keepin' it REAL curriculum.
AB  - The present study reports a preliminary evaluation of D.A.R.E.'s new elementary
      school keepin' it REAL substance abuse prevention program. Given the widespread
      dissemination of D.A.R.E., this evaluation, even though of short term effects,
      has important implications for national prevention efforts. The new prevention
      curriculum teaches social and emotional competencies such as decision making and
      resistance skills. Social and emotional competencies and other risk factors were
      examined among students (N=943) in 26 classrooms, 13 classrooms in the treatment
      condition (n=359) and 13 classrooms in the control condition (n=584) using a
      quasi-experimental matched group design. Pretest comparisons of treatment and
      control groups were completed, along with attrition analyses, and hierarchical
      logistic and linear regressions were computed to assess the intervention. The
      results revealed that the intervention produced significant effects on
      preventative factors such as the likelihood of resisting peer pressure, increased
      responsible decision making knowledge and decision-making skills, and confidence
      in being able to explain why they would refuse offers of cigarettes. The results
      of this study suggest that D.A.R.E.'s elementary keepin' it REAL program has
      promise as a social and emotional learning (SEL) based prevention program.

PMID- 28595061
TI  - Synthesis of a glucosylated alpha-S-galactosylceramide as potential
      immunostimulant.
AB  - Synthesis of a glucosylated alpha-S-galactosylceramide (1), a potential
      immunostimulant, was achieved starting from D-galactose. Both O- and S-glycosidic
      linkages were constructed in highly stereoselective way, and the synthetic
      strategy could be extended to the synthesis of other alpha-S-GalCer analogues.

PMID- 28595060
TI  - Parent-adolescent relationships in Hispanic versus Caucasian families:
      Associations with alcohol and marijuana use onset.
AB  - Parent-adolescent relationship (PAR) factors such as social support and negative
      interactions are associated with initiation of alcohol and marijuana use during
      adolescence. However, few studies have examined whether the relationship between
      PAR, especially the paternal role, and substance use onset varies by ethnicity.
      This is important given that ethnic group differences have been related to
      alcohol and marijuana use, cultural values and parenting. This study examines
      whether ethnicity moderates the prospective prediction of substance use onset by
      PAR factors. The sample comprised 124 adolescents who self-identified as Hispanic
      and 795 adolescents who self-identified as non-Hispanic Whites, and was drawn
      from an ongoing longitudinal survey on adolescent substance use. Discrete-time
      survival modeling was used to prospectively predict age at onset of substance use
      among participants who were substance-naive at baseline. Interactions between
      ethnicity and PAR factors indicated that PAR factors had a larger influence on
      age of alcohol and marijuana onset for Hispanics than for Caucasians. Among
      Hispanics, greater social support from and greater negative interactions with the
      father-figure were more predictive of earlier onset of alcohol, and greater
      social support from the mother-figure was more predictive of later alcohol onset,
      compared to Caucasians. Similarly, greater negative interactions with the father
      figure were more predictive of earlier onset of marijuana use among Hispanics
      than among Caucasians. These findings suggest the influence of PAR on alcohol and
      marijuana use onset may be larger for Hispanics than for Caucasians.
      Incorporating these parenting factors in substance use prevention programs
      advances public health in a culturally sensitive manner that is relevant to at
      risk Hispanic adolescents.

PMID- 28595062
TI  - Self-esteem in children in joint physical custody and other living arrangements.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Parental support has been shown to be important for children's self
      esteem, which in turn is related to later important life outcomes. Today, an
      increasing number of children in the Western world spend time in both the
      parents' respective households after a separation. Children who live with both
      parents report more parental support than children who live only with one parent
      after a divorce. We took the opportunity of the commonness of children sharing
      their time between their parents' homes in Sweden to investigate children's self
      esteem in relation to family type. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: With nationally
      representative survey data (ULF) collected from both parents and children, we
      analyze differences in children's self-esteem among 4823 10-18 year olds in
      nuclear families, joint physical custody and those living mostly or only with one
      parent after a separation using ordinary least squares regression, adjusting for
      demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. RESULTS: We found no significant
      difference in self-esteem between children who lived equally much with both
      parents, mostly with one parent and those in nuclear families, whereas children
      in single care showed lower self-esteem compared with children in the other
      living arrangements. The difference was not explained by socioeconomic factors.
      CONCLUSION: The self-esteem of children who share their time between their
      parent's respective homes after a separation does not deviate from that in their
      peers in nuclear families. Instead, those in single care reported lower self
      esteem than those in the other living arrangements. These differences were not
      explained by socioeconomic factors. Longitudinal studies are needed to establish
      pre- and post-separation family characteristics that influence self-esteem and
      well-being in young people.

PMID- 28595063
TI  - Motivations for volunteers in food rescue nutrition.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A variety of organizations redistribute surplus food to low-income
      populations through food rescue nutrition. Why volunteers participate in these
      charitable organizations is unclear. The aim of this study is to document the
      participation and motivations of volunteers who are involved specifically in food
      rescue nutrition. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two
      phases. METHODS: In phase 1, a new instrument, Motivations to Volunteer Scale,
      was developed and validated in 40 participants (aged >=18 years). In phase 2, the
      new scale and a demographics questionnaire were administered to 300 participants
      who were volunteering in food pantries and churches. RESULTS: The pilot study
      showed that Motivations to Volunteer Scale exhibited an internal consistency of
      Cronbach's alpha of 0.73 (P < 0.01), and a reliability from a test-retest of
      times 1 and 2 was r = 0.9 (P < 0.05); paired t-test was insignificant (P > 0.05).
      The scale was validated also by comparison to the Volunteer Function Inventory (r
      = 0.86, P < 0.05). The constructs of the newly developed Motivations to Volunteer
      Scale were requirement, career improvement, social life, and altruism. The mean
      motivation score of the 300 volunteers was 9.15 +/- 0.17. Greater motivations
      were observed among participants who were aged >45 years, women, Hispanics,
      college/university graduates, physically inactive, non-smokers, and had an income
      >= $48,000. CONCLUSIONS: The Motivations to Volunteer Scale is a valid tool to
      assess why individuals volunteer in food rescue nutrition. The extent of
      motivations of participants was relatively high, and the primary reason for
      volunteering was altruism. Health professionals should be encouraged to
      participate in food redistribution.

PMID- 28595064
TI  - A means of improving public health in low- and middle-income countries? Benefits
      and challenges of international public-private partnerships.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the last two decades international public-private partnerships have
      become increasingly important to improving public health in low- and middle
      income countries. Governments realize that involving the private sector in
      projects for financing, innovation, development, and distribution can make a
      valuable contribution to overcoming major health challenges. Private-public
      partnerships for health can generate numerous benefits but may also raise some
      concerns. To guide best practice for public-private partnerships for health to
      maximize benefits and minimize risks, the first step is to identify potential
      benefits, challenges, and motives. We define motives as the reasons why private
      partners enter partnerships with a public partner. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a
      systematic review of the literature using the PRISMA guidelines. METHOD: We
      reviewed the literature on the benefits and challenges of public-private
      partnerships for health in low- and middle-income countries provided by
      international pharmaceutical companies and other health-related companies. We
      provide a description of these benefits, challenges, as well as of motives of
      private partners to join partnerships. An approach of systematic categorization
      was used to conduct this research. RESULT: We identified six potential benefits,
      seven challenges, and three motives. Our main finding was a significant gap in
      the available academic literature on this subject. Further empirical research
      using both qualitative and quantitative approaches is required. From the limited
      information that is readily available, we conclude that public-private
      partnerships for health imply several benefits but with some noticeable and
      crucial limitations. CONCLUSION: In this article, we provide a description of
      these benefits and challenges, discuss key themes, and conclude that empirical
      research is required to determine the full extent of the challenges addressed in
      the literature.

PMID- 28595065
TI  - New quinoline-arylamidine hybrids: Synthesis, DNA/RNA binding and antitumor
      activity.
AB  - Four series of new hybrid molecules with 7-chloroquinoline and arylamidine
      moieties joined through the rigid -O- (groups I (2a-g) and II (5a-g)) or flexible
      -NH-CH2-CH2-O- (groups III (8a-g) and IV (10a-g)) linker were synthesized, and
      their DNA/RNA binding properties and cytotoxic activity were tested, against
      several human cancer lines. The compounds and their interaction with DNA and RNA
      were studied by UV-Vis and CD spectroscopy. The obtained results showed that the
      binding affinity of the investigated compounds increases proportionally with the
      increase of the length and number of groups able to form hydrogen bonds with ds
      polynucleotides. Improvement of binding was additionally achieved by reduction of
      the structural rigidity of the investigated compounds, new hybrid compounds
      preferentially bind to ctDNA. For most of them the DNA/RNA grooves are dominant
      binding sites, except for the compounds from group II for which intercalation in
      polyA-polyU was the dominant binding mode. The antiproliferative effects were
      tested by the MTT test on normal (MDCK1), carcinoma (HeLa and CaCo2) and leukemia
      cell lines (Raji and K462). The GI50 values for all investigated compounds ranged
      from 5 to more than 100 * 10-6 mol dm-3. Carcinoma cells were more resistant to
      the investigated compounds than leukemia cells. The most effective compounds
      against leukemia cell lines were from group IV (10a-g), with GI50 values ranging
      from of 5 and 35 * 10-6 mol dm-3. The cell cycle arrest was investigated by flow
      cytometry and the obtained results indicate that the selected compounds, 2d, 2e,
      8a, 10d, 10e, and 10f, induce changes in the cell cycle of treated cells, but the
      cycle phase distribution varies between them. A significant decrease in the
      number of cells in S phase (p < 0.001) was observed in all treated cells, but
      only 10d and 10f induce cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, dominantly.

PMID- 28595066
TI  - Synthesis, antiprotozoal activity, and chemoinformatic analysis of 2-(methylthio)
      1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide derivatives: Identification of new selective
      giardicidal and trichomonicidal compounds.
AB  - A series of twelve new 2-(methylthio)-1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide derivatives
      (1-12) were synthesized and their antiparasitic activity was tested in vitro
      against Giardia intestinalis, Trichomonas vaginalis and Entamoeba histolytica.
      Experimental evaluations showed IC50 values within the nanomolar range for all
      tested compounds, some showing higher activity than metronidazole and
      albendazole. A chemoinformatic study was used to compare the structure-activity
      relationship of the synthesized carboxamides with those of 91 previously studied
      benzimidazoles, and with some Nitazoxanide-N-methylbenzimidazole hybrids recently
      synthetized by our group. Compounds 1 and 3 were identified as prominent
      selective compounds against T. vaginalis and G. intestinalis, respectively, while
      compound 4 was found to be of broad spectrum against the three protozoans.

PMID- 28595068
TI  - Molecular topology: A new strategy for antimicrobial resistance control.
AB  - The control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) seems to have come to an impasse.
      The use and abuse of antibacterial drugs has had major consequences on the
      genetic mutability of both pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms, leading
      to the development of new highly resistant strains. Because of the complexity of
      this situation, an in silico strategy based on QSAR molecular topology was
      devised to identify synthetic molecules as antimicrobial agents not susceptible
      to one or several mechanisms of resistance such as: biofilms formation (BF),
      ionophore (IA) activity, epimerase (EI) activity or SOS system (RecA inhibition).
      After selecting a group of 19 compounds, five of them showed significant
      antimicrobial activity against several strains of Staphylococcus (2 S. aureus,
      including 1 methicillin resistant, and 1 S. epidermidis), with MIC values between
      16 and 32 mg/L. Among the compounds active on RecA, one showed a marked activity
      in decreasing RecA gene expression in Escherichia coli.

PMID- 28595067
TI  - Pentapeptides for the treatment of small cell lung cancer: Optimisation by Nind
      alkyl modification of the tryptophan side chain.
AB  - The pentapeptide, tert-Prenyl4th-NH2 (DMePhe-DTrp-Phe-DTrp(N-tert-prenyl)-Leu
      NH2), has recently been reported by our group to exhibit properties of substance
      P (SP) antagonist G against small cell lung cancer (SCLC). In this study, we
      undertook a systematic structure activity investigation to optimise this lead
      compound to improve its in vitro anti-tumour activity and biocompatibility. A
      series of d-tryptophan (D-Trp) derivatives were synthesised, with a range of
      aliphatic N-alkyl chains (methyl to pentyl) on the indole nitrogen (Nind). These
      were incorporated into the pentapeptide sequence by substitution of the Nind-tert
      prenylated D-Trp 4th residue with the Nind-alkylated D-Trp derivatives. These
      pentapeptides were significantly more potent than tert-Prenyl4th-NH2, with the
      Nind-butyl modification generating the most cytotoxic peptides. Compared to tert
      Prenyl4th-NH2, a single butyl modification on the 4th D-Trp residue (Butyl4th
      NH2) showed a ~3 fold enhancement in cytotoxicity in either the chemo-naive H69
      or the DMS79 (originating from a patient treated with chemotherapeutics and
      radiation therapy) SCLC cell lines. In addition, the di-butylated sequence on the
      2nd and 4th D-Trp residues (Butyl2nd,4th-NH2) gave ~4.5 times higher cytotoxicity
      against the H69 cell line and a ~2 fold increase against the DMS79 cell line,
      compared to tert-Prenyl4th-NH2. The favoured position for butyl modification was
      the 4th D-Trp residue, as the Butyl2nd-NH2 peptide gave lower cytotoxicity on
      both cell lines. Butylated peptide sequences, when exposed to neat mouse plasma
      for 24 h at 37  degrees C, were found to resist degradation with >80% remaining
      intact compared to ~58% for tert-Prenyl4th-NH2. The degradation pathway in plasma
      occurs via de-amidation of the C-terminus, confirmed by mass spectrometry and RP
      HPLC analysis. The butyl modification also conferred resistance to metabolism
      when tested using S9 liver fraction from mouse. The optimum analogue responsive
      against the DMS79 cell line was the Butyl4th-NH2 pentapeptide, which revealed a
      concentration dependent increase in apoptosis: the level of late apoptotic cells
      rose from ~36% at 2 MUM to ~96% at 6 MUM, as determined by flow cytometry,
      compared to the unmodified peptide that showed no such effect. Concluding, the
      butyl substitutions offered the best perspective for high cytotoxicity, induction
      of apoptosis and metabolic compatibility thereby comprising an improved broad
      spectrum SP antagonist candidate for treatment of SCLC.

PMID- 28595069
TI  - Kinetic analysis of aerobic biotransformation pathways of a perfluorooctane
      sulfonate (PFOS) precursor in distinctly different soils.
AB  - With the phaseout of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) production in most
      countries and its well known recalcitrance, there is a need to quantify the
      potential release of PFOS from precursors previously or currently being emitted
      into the environment. Aerobic biodegradation of N-ethyl perfluorooctane
      sulfonamidoethanol (EtFOSE) was monitored in two soils from Indiana, USA: an
      acidic forest silt loam (FRST-48, pH = 5.5) and a high pH agricultural loam (PSF
      49, pH = 7.8) with similar organic carbon contents (2.4 and 2.6%) for 210 d and
      180 d, respectively. At designated times, triplicate samples were sacrificed for
      which headspace samples were taken followed by three sequential extractions.
      Extracts were analyzed using HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry. Measured profiles of
      EtFOSE degradation and generation/degradation of subsequent metabolites were
      fitted to the Indiana soils data as well as to a previously published data set
      for a Canadian soil using an R-based model (KinGUII) to explore pathways and
      estimate half-lives (t1/2) for EtFOSE and metabolites. EtFOSE degradation ranged
      from a few days to up to a month. PFOS yields ranged form 1.06-5.49 mol% with the
      alkaline soils being four to five times higher than the acidic soil. In addition,
      a direct pathway to PFOS had to be invoked to describe the early generation of
      PFOS in the Canadian soil. Of all metabolites, the sulfonamidoacetic acids were
      the most persistent (t1/2 >= 3 months) in all soils. We hypothesized that while
      pH-pKa dependent speciation may have impacted rates, differences in microbial
      communities between the 3 soils arising from varied soil properties including pH,
      nutrient levels, soil management, and climatic regions are likely the major
      factors affecting pathways, rates, and PFOS yields.

PMID- 28595070
TI  - Effects of limited midwifery clinical education and practice standardisation of
      student preparedness.
AB  - AIM: To explore the perceptions of midwifery educators regarding effects of
      limited standardisation of midwifery clinical education and practice on clinical
      preparedness of midwifery students. BACKGROUND: Investigation of levels of
      clinical competency of students is a critical need in the current era. Such
      competency levels are especially important in midwifery practice in South Africa
      as there is a significant increase of maternal deaths and litigations in the
      country. Most of the deaths are in the primary healthcare level maternity units
      where the newly qualified midwives practise. These areas are mainly run by
      midwives only. The current article seeks to report the findings of the study that
      was conducted to investigate how midwifery educators prepare students adequately
      for clinical readiness. SETTINGS: The study was conducted amongst midwifery nurse
      educators on three campuses of the Nursing College in the Eastern Cape. DESIGN: A
      qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used for
      the study. DATA SOURCES AND METHODS: Seventeen purposively selected midwifery
      educators, with the researcher using set criteria, from a Nursing college in the
      Eastern Cape, were the participants in the study. Data was collected using focus
      group interviews that were captured by means of an audio-voice recorder. Tesch's
      data-analysis method was used to develop themes and sub-themes. Trustworthiness
      of the study was ensured using the criteria of credibility, transferability,
      dependability and confirmability. RESULTS: Inconsistent clinical practice amongst
      midwifery educators in their clinical teaching and assessment were found to be
      the major factors resulting from limited standardisation. The inconsistent
      clinical practice and assessments of midwifery educators was found to lead to
      loss of the necessary skills required by the students which led them to perform
      poorly in their final clinical assessments. CONCLUSION: There are some barriers
      in the current clinical teaching and education strategy used in this college that
      prohibit the production of confident, independent, and safe practitioners as
      planned. Midwifery educators need to be assisted in reviewing the current
      teaching strategy. Furthermore management should be involved if not the
      initiators of that reviewing and should put in-place new measures to support the
      teaching of the clinical module.

PMID- 28595071
TI  - Wastewater remediation by TiO2-impregnated chitosan nano-grafts exhibited dual
      functionality: High adsorptivity and solar-assisted self-cleaning.
AB  - This work provides a very infrequent and unique avenue of a novel bio-based
      nanografted polymeric composites achieving encouraging results in green
      management of dye contaminants in wastewater. A chitosan-grafted-polyN
      Methylaniline (Ch-g-PNMANI) and chitosan-grafted-polyN-Methylaniline imprinted
      TiO2 nanocomposites (Ch-g-PNMANI/TiO2) were prepared and efficiently applied in
      wastewater remediation. The nanocomposites were characterized by FT-IR
      spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse
      reflectance spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area (BET)
      measurements. The prepared composites exhibit higher adsorptivity in removing
      remazol red RB-133 (RR RB-133) dye compared to other adsorbents reported in
      literature. The effects of TiO2 loadings, initial dye concentration, contact
      time, and pH on dye adsorption were investigated. The maximum adsorption of dye
      was found at low pH values. Furthermore, Ch-g-PNMANI/TiO2 of the optimum TiO2
      loading has higher adsorption capacity (116.3mg/g) than the pristine Ch-g-PNMANI
      (108.7mg/g). Moreover, the prepared adsorbents are photoactive under sunlight
      irradiation. The study addresses a nanocomposite of considerable adsorption and
      in the same time has the fastest self-cleaning photoactivity (t1/2=31.5min.)
      under sunlight irradiation where a plausible photodegradation mechanism was
      proposed. Interestingly, the presented photoactive adsorbents are still effective
      in removing dye after five adsorption/sunlight-assisted self-cleaning
      photoregeneration cycles and therefore, they can be potentially applied to the
      rapid, "green" and low-cost remediation of RR RB-133 enriched industrial printing
      and dyeing wastewater.

PMID- 28595073
TI  - Probing the binding reaction of cytarabine to human serum albumin using
      multispectroscopic techniques with the aid of molecular docking.
AB  - Cytarabine is a kind of chemotherapy medication. In the present study, the
      molecular interaction between cytarabine and human serum albumin (HSA) was
      investigated via fluorescence, UV-vis absorption, circular dichroism (CD)
      spectroscopy and molecular docking method under simulative physiological
      conditions. It was found that cytarabine could effectively quench the intrinsic
      fluorescence of HSA through a static quenching process. The apparent binding
      constants between drug and HSA at 288, 293 and 298K were estimated to be in the
      order of 103L.mol-1. The thermodynamic parameters DeltaH degrees , DeltaG degrees
      and DeltaS degrees  were calculated, in which the negative DeltaG degrees
      suggested that the binding of cytarabine to HSA was spontaneous, moreover the
      negative DeltaS degrees and negative DeltaH degrees revealed that van der Waals
      force and hydrogen bonds were the major forces to stabilize the protein
      cytarabine (1:1) complex. The competitive binding experiments showed that the
      primary binding site of cytarabine was located in the site I (subdomain IIA) of
      HSA. In addition, the binding distance was calculated to be 3.4nm according to
      the Forster no-radiation energy transfer theory. The analysis of CD and three
      dimensional (3D) fluorescence spectra demonstrated that the binding of drug to
      HSA induced some conformational changes in HSA. The molecular docking study also
      led to the same conclusion obtained from the spectral results.

PMID- 28595072
TI  - Zinc phthalocyanines attached to gold nanorods for simultaneous hyperthermic and
      photodynamic therapies against melanoma in vitro.
AB  - Studies indicate that hyperthermic therapy using gold nanorods and photodynamic
      activity with many photosensitizers can present a synergistic effect, and offer a
      great therapeutic potential, although more investigation needs to be performed
      before such approach could be implemented. We proposed to investigate the effect
      of the attachment of phthalocyanines on the surface of gold nanorods (well
      characterized devices for hyperthermia generation) for the elimination of
      melanoma, one of the most important skin cancers due to its high lethality.
      Following the synthesis of nanorods through a seed-mediated method, the efficacy
      of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and hyperthermia was assessed separately. We chose
      to coat the nanorods with two tetracarboxylated zinc phthalocyanines - with or
      without methyl-glucamine groups. After the coating process, the phthalocyanines
      formed ionic complexes with the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) that was
      previously covering the nanoparticles. The nanorod-phthalocyanines complexes were
      analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and their singlet oxygen and
      hydroxyl radical generation yields were assessed. Furthermore, they were tested
      in vitro with melanotic B16F10 and amelanotic B16G4F melanoma cells. The cells
      with nanoparticles were irradiated with laser (at 635nm), and the cell viability
      was assessed. The results indicate that the photodynamic properties of the
      phthalocyanines tested are enhanced when they are attached on the nanorods
      surface, and the combination of PDT and hyperthermia was able to eliminate over
      90% of melanoma cells. This is a novel study because two tetracarboxylated
      phthalocyanines were used and because the same wavelength was irradiated to
      activate both the nanorods and the photosensitizers.

PMID- 28595074
TI  - Protective effect of Arthrospira platensis extracts against ultraviolet B-induced
      cellular senescence through inhibition of DNA damage and matrix metalloproteinase
      1 expression in human dermal fibroblasts.
AB  - Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure causes skin photoaging, which is known to be
      preventable and controllable by application of UV-protective agents. In this
      study, we demonstrated, for the first time, that the extract of microalgae
      Arthrospira platensis has a reverse effect on UV-induced photodamage such as loss
      of cell viability, cellular senescence, DNA damage, and collagen destruction in
      dermal fibroblasts. Forty-eight extracts were prepared from the cell biomass by
      controlling culture light conditions, extract solvents, and disruption methods.
      Then, we analyzed their cytotoxicities using WST-1 assay and separated low and
      high cytotoxic extracts with normal human dermal fibroblasts (nHDFs). Using the
      low cytotoxic extracts, we performed UVB protection assay and selected the most
      effective extract demonstrating protective effect against UVB-induced nHDF
      damage. Flow cytometric analysis and senescence-associated (SA) beta
      galactosidase assay showed that pretreatment with the extract reversed UVB
      induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and senescence in nHDFs. Furthermore, UVB
      induced DNA damage in nHDFs, such as cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation, was
      significantly suppressed by the extract. Further, quantitative real-time PCR
      experiments revealed that the extract significantly inhibited UVB-induced
      upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1) and MMP3 expression in nHDFs.
      Therefore, we concluded that the microalgae extract can be a potential anti
      photoaging agent.

PMID- 28595075
TI  - Adsorption and photocatalysis efficiency of magnetite quantum dots anchored tin
      dioxide nanofibers for removal of mutagenic compound: Toxicity evaluation and
      antibacterial activity.
AB  - The Magnetite Fe3O4 quantum dots anchored SnO2 nanofibers (Fe3O4 QDs/SnO2 NFs)
      have been synthesized using the facile one step hydrothermal method. The
      characteristic structure of synthesized Fe3O4 QDs/SnO2 NFs was analyzed using X
      ray diffraction, Transmission electron Microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy,
      UV-vis diffuse reflectance, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption
      desorption instrumental techniques. The crystallites size of Fe3O4QDs/SnO2 NFs
      was 7.0nm. The average diameters of Fe3O4QDs/SnO2 NFs were 7.25nm. BET surface
      area of Fe3O4QDs/SnO2 NFs has been found 53.064m2/g. The activity of Fe3O4
      QDs/SnO2 NFs samples were compared towards adsorption and degradation of
      mutagenic compound such as Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS). The Fe3O4 QDs/SnO2 NFs
      demonstrates 93.85% and 56.85% photo degradation and adsorption activity towards
      10ppm EMS solution in 30 and 40min, respectively. Fe3O4 QDs/SnO2 NFs shows
      maximum removal of EMS at pH5. Additionally, cytotoxicity test showed that the
      newly developed catalyst has low cytotoxic effects on three kinds of human cells.
      The antibacterial activity evaluation against two bacterials, including
      Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 43300), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) was
      considered. It was found that the MIC values for the antibacterial assay in the
      presence of Fe3O4 QDs/SnO2 NFs were around 0.38mM with 83.4, and 85.5% inhibition
      for the S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa bacterial strains, respectively.

PMID- 28595076
TI  - Highly fluorescent carbon dots as selective and visual probes for sensing copper
      ions in living cells via an electron transfer process.
AB  - As an integral part of many important enzymes, Cu2+ is involved in a number of
      vital biological processes, which is linked to the oxidative damage and
      environmental contamination when Cu2+ is excessive. In this work, Cu2+ can be
      captured by the amino groups of carbon dots (CDs) to form complexes, resulting in
      a strong fluorescence quenching of CDs via a nonradiative electron transfer
      process, which offered a rapid, visual, and selective methodology for Cu2+
      detection. The probe exhibited a wide response concentration range (0.01-2MUM) to
      Cu2+ with a detection limit of 6.7nM. Significantly, the CDs presented excellent
      biocompatibility and high photostability, which were applicable for the
      visualization of Cu2+ dynamic invasion into living cells and Tilapia mossambica.
      Furthermore, the toxicity of Cu2+ ions to living cells could be inhibited with
      CDs by the formation of complexes.

PMID- 28595077
TI  - A smartphone-based chloridometer for point-of-care diagnostics of cystic
      fibrosis.
AB  - Chloride in sweat is an important diagnostic marker for cystic fibrosis (CF), but
      the implementation of point-of-care systems for diagnosis is hindered by the
      prohibitive costs of existing chloride sensors. To enable low cost diagnostic
      solutions, we recently established a citrate-derived synthesis platform for the
      development of new fluorescence sensors with high selectivity for chloride. As a
      next step, we herein designed a smartphone operated chloridometer that optimizes
      the analytical performance of the citrate-derived sensor materials for the
      detection of chloride in sweat. The sensor material demonstrated a wide linear
      range of 0.8-200mM chloride and a diffusion-limited response time; sweat chloride
      levels corresponded to measurable changes in fluorescence emission that was
      captured by a smartphone. Clinical validation was performed with sweat from
      individuals with and without CF, demonstrating convenient sweat diagnostics with
      reliable detection of cystic fibrosis. To our knowledge, this is the first
      clinical study of a smartphone-based chloride sensor, paving the way for point-of
      care diagnostic systems for CF.

PMID- 28595078
TI  - Amyloidogenic proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases activate the
      NLRP3 inflammasome.
AB  - Neuroinflammation has been shown as an essential factor in the pathogenesis of
      neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease
      (PD), Huntington's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. Furthermore, activated
      microglia and increased pro-inflammatory cytokines are the major hallmarks in
      neurodegenerative diseases. A multimolecular complex named as inflammasome is
      involved in the process of inflammatory response, which can activate inflammatory
      caspases, leading to the cleavage and secretion of inflammatory cytokines, and
      finally generates a potent inflammatory response. In neurodegenerative diseases,
      it has been widely assumed that some types of amyloid proteins might be the
      triggers to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. In this review, we summarize the
      current researches about the role of NLRP3 inflammasome, by reviewing the main
      studies in vitro and in vivo experiments and discuss the potential for new
      therapeutic interventions in neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28595079
TI  - Curcumin reduces the risk of chronic kidney damage in mice with nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis by modulating endoplasmic reticulum stress and MAPK signaling.
AB  - Developing confirmation recommends that in patients with dynamic type of NAFLD,
      particularly nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may have the pathogenic parts in
      the advancement of kidney damage. In this study we have examined the impact of
      curcumin on NASH instigated chronic kidney damage (CKD) and the putative
      mechanisms. To prepare this NASH model, neonatal C57BL/6J male mice were exposed
      to low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) and were fed high-fat diet (HFD) at the age of
      4weeks and continued up to 14weeks, curcumin was given at 100mg/kg dose by oral
      gavage daily after 10weeks of STZ injection and continued for 4weeks along with
      HFD feeding. NASH incited mice demonstrated nephrotoxicity as proved by declining
      renal capacity, which was evaluated by measuring blood urea nitrogen and
      creatinine in serum and histopathological variations from the norm. These
      progressions were switched by curcumin treatment, which brought about huge change
      in renal capacity. Furthermore, curcumin markedly decreased NAD(P)H oxidase
      subunits (p67phox, p47phox, p22phox), nitrotyrosine and CYP2E1 renal protein
      expression as well as reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression (TNFalpha, IL
      1beta, IFNgamma). Renal protein expression of mitogen activated protein kinases
      (MAPKs) (p-JNK, p-ERK1/2) and glucose regulated protein 78, CHOP were increased
      in NASH induced mice and curcumin treatment attenuated these increased
      expressions. In addition, curcumin treatment also decreased the apoptosis
      signaling proteins (cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-12) in the NASH kidney.
      Taken together, our results suggest that curcumin preserves the renal function,
      probably by attenuating the ER stress mediated MAPK signaling.

PMID- 28595080
TI  - Administration of geniposide ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis
      in mice via inhibition of inflammation and mucosal damage.
AB  - Ulcerative colitis (UC), an idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease, not only
      affects millions of patients worldwide, but also increases the risk of colon
      cancer. Geniposide is an iridoid glycoside and has many biological activities
      such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. However, its protective efficacy and
      mechanism of action against UC are still unclear. In this study, we aimed to
      investigate the protective effects and mechanisms of geniposide on dextran
      sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis in mice. The results revealed
      that geniposide alleviated body weight loss, disease activity index, colon length
      shortening and colonic pathological damage induced by DSS. Geniposide
      significantly suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines by regulating NF-kappaB and
      PPARgamma pathways in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, geniposide also
      significantly regulated the expressions of ZO-1 and occludin in DSS-induced
      experimental colitis in mice and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-triggered inflammation
      in Caco-2 cells. These findings indicated that geniposide may be a new natural
      chemopreventive agent to combat UC.

PMID- 28595082
TI  - A retrospective analysis of the effectiveness of antipsychotics in the treatment
      of ICU delirium.
AB  - PURPOSE: Conflicting data exists on the efficacy of antipsychotics for treatment
      of intensive care unit (ICU) delirium. The purpose of this study was to compare
      time to delirium resolution for ICU patients who were managed with and without
      antipsychotics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort evaluation
      included patients admitted to 12 ICUs at 5 sites over 5 weeks diagnosed with
      delirium. The primary outcome was time to delirium resolution. Secondary outcomes
      included ICU length of stay (LOS), mortality, discharge disposition and delirium
      redevelopment. A Cox proportional hazards model explored the relationship between
      covariates including antipsychotics and time to delirium resolution. RESULTS: A
      total of 255 patients met inclusion criteria; 69 (27%) received antipsychotics.
      In the antipsychotic group, time to resolution of delirium was longer (Median:
      36hours vs. 13hours, p<0.001) and ICU LOS was longer (Median: 5.9days vs.
      3.8days, p=0.005), but there were no differences in mortality or discharge
      disposition. Patients who used antipsychotics (HR=0.512; 95% CI: 0.276-0.952) and
      received mechanical ventilation (HR=0.381; 95% CI: 0.217-0.669) had slower rate
      for time to delirium resolution. CONCLUSIONS: While the treatment of delirium
      with antipsychotics remains common, antipsychotics were not associated with a
      shorter time to resolution of delirium.

PMID- 28595081
TI  - Pioglitazone attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced depression-like behaviors,
      modulates NF-kappaB/IL-6/STAT3, CREB/BDNF pathways and central serotonergic
      neurotransmission in mice.
AB  - Immune activation and inflammation are closely associated with the development of
      depression. Pioglitazone (PIO), a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      gamma (PPAR-gamma) agonist, has exhibited antidepressant-like effects in a couple
      of studies. However, the underlying mechanisms are far from being fully
      elucidated. The study aimed to investigate the effects of PIO on depression-like
      behaviors induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and to explore the possible
      underlying mechanisms. The results showed that PIO pretreatment attenuated the
      depression-like behaviors in mice challenged with intracerebroventricular
      (i.c.v.) LPS administration. Moreover, Western blot analysis revealed the effects
      of PIO on inhibiting activation of the nuclear factor kappa B/interleukin
      6/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (NF-kappaB/IL-6/STAT3)
      pathway, improving down-regulation of the cAMP response-element-binding
      protein/brain derived neurotrophic factor (CREB/BDNF) pathway, as well as
      regulating disturbed expression of proteins involved in central serotonergic
      neurotransmission following LPS administration. The beneficial effects of PIO, at
      both the behavioral and molecular level, were significantly inhibited by the PPAR
      gamma specific antagonist GW9662. In summary, our data reveals for the first time
      that the modulation of the NF-kappaB/IL-6/STAT3 and CREB/BDNF pathways, as well
      as the potential impact on central serotonergic neurotransmission, may be
      involved in the PPAR-gamma-dependent effects of PIO on depression-like behaviors
      induced by LPS. Additionally, our findings may provide a novel therapeutic target
      for the treatment of depression-like behaviors in patients with inflammatory
      status.

PMID- 28595083
TI  - Therapeutic effect of beta-blocker in patients with traumatic brain injury: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: beta-Blocker exposure has been shown to reduce mortality in traumatic
      brain injury (TBI); however, the efficacy of beta-blockers remains inconclusive.
      Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted in this paper to evaluate the safety and
      efficacy of beta-blocker therapy on patients with TBI. METHODS: The electronic
      databases were systemically retrieved from construction to February 2017. The
      odds ratio (OR), mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were
      determined. RESULTS: A total of 13 observational cohort studies involving 15,734
      cases were enrolled. The results indicated that beta-blocker therapy had
      remarkably reduced the in-hospital mortality (OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.27-0.40;
      p<0.001). However, beta-blocker therapy was also associated with increased
      infection rate (OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.50-2.69; p<0.001), longer length of stay
      (MD=7.40; 95% CI=4.39, 10.41; p<0.001) and ICU stay (MD=3.52; 95% CI=1.56, 5.47;
      p<0.001). In addition, beta-blocker therapy also led to longer period of
      ventilator support (MD=2.70; 95% CI=1.81, 3.59; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The meta
      analysis demonstrates that beta-blockers are effective in lowering mortality in
      patients with TBI. However, beta-blocker therapy has markedly increased the
      infection rate and requires a longer period of ventilator support, intensive care
      management as well as length of stay.

PMID- 28595084
TI  - Identification of peripheral blood involvement in dogs with large B-cell
      lymphoma: Comparison of different methods.
AB  - Stage V lymphoma is defined as the presence of neoplastic cells in peripheral
      blood (PB), bone marrow, or any other non-lymphoid tissue. Still, official
      guidelines do not specify which technique should be used to assess infiltration.
      We assessed the agreement among flow cytometry (FC), blood smear evaluation, and
      ADVIA120 (LUC and BASO) to quantify PB infiltration in 100 dogs with large B-cell
      lymphoma (LBCL). Significant errors were found for all methods compared to FC. A
      moderate agreement was present between FC and blood smear evaluation, whereas LUC
      and BASO had excellent specificity but unsatisfactory sensitivity in detecting FC
      infiltrated PB samples. The different techniques should not be used
      alternatively. We support the use of LUC/BASO as a speedy preliminary test to
      detect infiltrated samples, and the joined use of blood smear evaluation and FC
      to quantify definitively the infiltration. Our results are valid only within
      canine LBCL staging workup, once the diagnosis has been confirmed.

PMID- 28595085
TI  - miR-152 regulated glioma cell proliferation and apoptosis via Runx2 mediated by
      DNMT1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aberrant DNA methylation is associated with tumor onset and
      progression. Study has verified that the DNA methylation of miR-152 was mediated
      in many tumors, but whether it involved in glioblastomas was still unclear.
      METHODS: This study enrolled 20 patients with glioma to analyze the expression
      pattern of miR-152. Real-time PCR and western blot were used to detect the mRNA
      or protein expression level, respectively. The relationship between miR-152 and
      runx2 was detected by Luciferase reporter assay. The methylation level of miR-152
      was determined by methylation-specific PCR. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were
      detected by MTT and Annexin-FITC/PI assay. RESULTS: The expression of miR-152 was
      down-regulated while the expression of DNMT1 was up-regulated in both glioma
      tissue and cell lines. MiR-152 was hypermethylated and its expression was
      negatively correlated with DNMT in glioma cell lines. DNMT1 knockdown promoted
      the expression of miR-152, however, DNMT1 overexpression suppressed the
      expression of miR-152. MiR-152 overexpression promoted glioma cell apoptosis
      while miR-152 knockdown promoted cell proliferation. MiR-152 targets Runx2 to
      regulate its expression, Runx2 overexpression abolished the effects of miR-152
      overexpression. CONCLUSION: MiR-152 regulated cell proliferation and apoptosis of
      glioma mediated by Runx2, while the mechanism of down regulated miR-152 in glioma
      tissues and cells was its hypermethylation.

PMID- 28595086
TI  - Evaluation of different PCR primers for denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis
      (DGGE) analysis of fungal community structure in traditional fermentation
      starters used for Hong Qu glutinous rice wine.
AB  - Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) has become a widely used tool to
      examine microbial community structure. However, when DGGE is applied to evaluate
      the fungal community of traditional fermentation starters, the choice of
      hypervariable ribosomal RNA gene regions is still controversial. In the current
      study, several previously published fungal PCR primer sets were compared and
      evaluated using PCR-DGGE, with the purpose of screening a suitable primer set to
      study the fungal community of traditional fermentation starters for Hong Qu
      glutinous rice wine. Firstly, different primer sets were used to amplify
      different hypervariable regions from pure fungal cultures. Except NS1/FR1+ and
      ITS1fGC/ITS4, other primer sets (NL1+/LS2R, NL3A/NL4GC, FF390/FR1+, NS1/GCFung,
      NS3+/YM951r and ITS1fGC/ITS2r) amplified the target DNA sequences successfully.
      Secondly, the selected primer sets were further evaluated based on their
      resolution to distinguish different fungal cultures through DGGE fingerprints.
      Three primer sets (NL1+/LS2R, NS1/GCFung and ITS1fGC/ITS2r) were finally selected
      for investigating the fungal community structure of different traditional
      fermentation starters for Hong Qu glutinous rice wine. The internal transcribed
      spacer (ITS) region amplified by ITS1fGC/ITS2r, which is more hypervariable than
      the 18S rRNA gene and 26S rRNA gene, provides an excellent tool to separate
      amplification products of different fungal species. Results indicated that PCR
      DGGE profile using ITS1fGC/ITS2r showed more abundant fungal species than that
      using NL1+/LS2R and NS1/GCFung. Therefore, ITS1fGC/ITS2r is the most suitable
      primer set for PCR-DGGE analysis of fungal community structure in traditional
      fermentation starters for Hong Qu glutinous rice wine. DGGE profiles based on
      ITS1fGC/ITS2r revealed the presence of twenty-four fungal species in traditional
      fermentation starter. A significant difference of fungal community can be
      observed directly from DGGE fingerprints and principal component analysis. The
      statistical analysis results based on the band intensities of fungal DGGE profile
      showed that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, Rhizopus
      oryzae, Monascus purpureus and Aspergillus niger were the dominant fungal
      species. In conclusion, the comparison of several primer sets for fungal PCR-DGGE
      would be useful to enrich our knowledge of the fungal community structures
      associated with traditional fermentation starters, which may facilitate the
      development of better starter cultures for manufacturing Chinese Hong Qu
      glutinous rice wine.

PMID- 28595087
TI  - Maternal high-fat diet leads to hippocampal and amygdala dendritic remodeling in
      adult male offspring.
AB  - Early-life exposure to calorie-dense food, rich in fat and sugar, contributes to
      the increasing prevalence of obesity and its associated adverse cognitive and
      emotional outcomes at adulthood. It is thus critical to determine the impact of
      such nutritional environment on neurobehavioral development. In animals, maternal
      high-fat diet (HFD) consumption impairs hippocampal function in adult offspring,
      but its impact on hippocampal neuronal morphology is unknown. Moreover, the
      consequences of perinatal HFD exposure on the amygdala, another important
      structure for emotional and cognitive processes, remain to be established. In
      rats, we show that adult offspring from dams fed with HFD (45% from fat,
      throughout gestation and lactation) exhibit atrophy of pyramidal neuron dendrites
      in both the CA1 of the hippocampus and the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Perinatal
      HFD exposure also impairs conditioned odor aversion, a task highly dependent on
      BLA function, without affecting olfactory or malaise processing. Neuronal
      morphology and behavioral alterations elicited by perinatal HFD are not
      associated with body weight changes but with higher plasma leptin levels at
      postnatal day 15 and at adulthood. Taken together, our results suggest that
      perinatal HFD exposure alters hippocampal and amygdala neuronal morphology which
      could participate to memory alterations at adulthood.

PMID- 28595088
TI  - The relationship between cannabis use and cortisol levels in youth at ultra high
      risk for psychosis.
AB  - Recent studies have posited a relationship between cannabis use and the
      biological stress system, but this critical relationship has not been evaluated
      during the ultra high-risk (UHR) period immediately preceding the onset of
      psychotic disorders. Salivary cortisol samples were collected on 46 UHR and 29
      control adolescents; these individuals were assessed for current cannabis use
      with a urine panel and self-report. UHR participants where separated into two
      groups: Current Cannabis Use (UHR-CU) and No Current Cannabis Use (UHR-NC).
      Healthy Control participants (HC) were free of cannabis use. Consistent with the
      literature, results indicate UHR individuals showed elevated cortisol levels when
      compared to HC participants. Further, we also observed that UHR-CU participants
      exhibited elevated levels when compared to both the non-using UHR and HC groups.
      Findings suggest that cannabis use may interact with underlying biological
      vulnerability associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
      system.

PMID- 28595090
TI  - Associations between motor proficiency in children with history of maltreatment
      and living in social economically vulnerability.
AB  - Maltreatment and living in poor socioeconomic conditions during childhood may
      implicate in deficits on motor proficiency, nevertheless, the literature on this
      issue is still scarce. The goal of the study was to investigate the possible
      associations among manual dexterity, aiming and catching tasks, and balance tasks
      for children who suffers maltreatment and lived in social vulnerability. Eighty
      two (82) children (08-09 years old) participated in the study. Forty-one (41)
      belong to the (SEV-M Group) children living in social economic vulnerability and
      were previously maltreated (lived in foster homes as results of parental neglect
      and domestic violence), and 41 belong to the (SEV Group) children living in
      social economical vulnerability with no history of childhood maltreatment.
      Children were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children -2nd
      Edition. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the data. The results
      suggest the existence of a variety of motor difficulties in the group of children
      who suffered from neglect and domestic violence. The statistics model showed a
      negative effect for children in at-risk environments (regression coefficient=
      0.30) and only showed a significant effect (p=0.04) for balance abilities.
      Traumatic experiences may have a negative effect on children' balance
      proficiency.

PMID- 28595091
TI  - Detection and characterisation of bone destruction in murine rheumatoid arthritis
      using statistical shape models.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease in which chronic inflammation
      of the synovial joints can lead to destruction of cartilage and bone. Pre
      clinical studies attempt to uncover the underlying causes by emulating the
      disease in genetically different mouse strains and characterising the nature and
      severity of bone shape changes as indicators of pathology. This paper presents a
      fully automated method for obtaining quantitative measurements of bone
      destruction from volumetric micro-CT images of a mouse hind paw. A statistical
      model of normal bone morphology derived from a training set of healthy examples
      serves as a template against which a given pathological sample is compared.
      Abnormalities in bone shapes are identified as deviations from the model
      statistics, characterised in terms of type (erosion / formation) and quantified
      in terms of severity (percentage affected bone area). The colour-coded magnitudes
      of the deviations superimposed on a three-dimensional rendering of the paw show
      at a glance the severity of malformations for the individual bones and joints.
      With quantitative data it is possible to derive population statistics
      characterising differences in bone malformations for different mouse strains and
      in different anatomical regions. The method was applied to data acquired from
      three different mouse strains. The derived quantitative indicators of bone
      destruction have shown agreement both with the subjective visual scores and with
      the previous biological findings. This suggests that pathological bone shape
      changes can be usefully and objectively identified as deviations from the model
      statistics.

PMID- 28595089
TI  - Dexamethasone facilitates fear extinction and safety discrimination in PTSD: A
      placebo-controlled, double-blind study.
AB  - Psychophysiological hallmarks of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include
      exaggerated fear responses, impaired inhibition and extinction of conditioned
      fear, and decreased discrimination between safety and fear cues. This increased
      fear load associated with PTSD can be a barrier to effective therapy thus
      indicating the need for new treatments to reduce fear expression in people with
      PTSD. One potential biological target for reducing fear expression in PTSD is the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is dysregulated in PTSD. Recent
      translational rodent studies and cross-sectional clinical studies have shown that
      dexamethasone administration and the resulting suppression of cortisol in
      individuals with PTSD leads to a decrease in the fear responses characteristic of
      PTSD. These data, taken together, suggest that dexamethasone may serve as a novel
      pharmacologic intervention for heightened fear responses in PTSD. We conducted a
      double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to test our hypothesis that dexamethasone
      administration and the concomitant suppression of HPA axis hyperactivity would
      attenuate fear expression and enhance fear extinction in individuals with PTSD.
      Study participants (n=62) were recruited from Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta,
      GA. Participants were randomized to receive dexamethasone or placebo prior to
      fear conditioning and extinction, in a counterbalanced design (treatments
      separated by a week). Both PTSD- (n=37) and PTSD+ (n=25) participants showed
      significant startle increases in the presence of the danger signal during placebo
      and dexamethasone treatments (all p<0.05). However, only PTSD- control
      participants showed decreases in fear-potentiated startle across extinction
      blocks during both conditions (p's<=0.001), with PTSD+ participants showing
      deficits in fear extinction and safety discrimination in the placebo condition.
      Notably, extinction and discrimination deficits in PTSD+ subjects were markedly
      reversed with dexamethasone (p<0.001). These data suggest that dexamethasone may
      serve as a pharmacological agent with which to facilitate fear extinction and
      discrimination in individuals with PTSD.

PMID- 28595092
TI  - Ebolavirus protein VP24 interferes with innate immune responses by inhibiting
      interferon-lambda1 gene expression.
AB  - Ebolaviruses (EBOV) cause severe disease with a recent outbreak in West Africa in
      2014-2015 leading to more than 28 000 cases and 11 300 fatalities. This
      emphasizes the urgent need for better knowledge on these highly pathogenic RNA
      viruses. Host innate immune responses play a key role in restricting the spread
      of a viral disease. In this study we systematically analyzed the effects of
      cloned EBOV genes on the main host immune response to RNA viruses: the activation
      of RIG-I pathway and type I and III interferon (IFN) gene expression. EBOV VP24,
      in addition of inhibiting IFN-induced antiviral responses, was found to
      efficiently inhibit type III IFN-lambda1 gene expression. This inhibition was
      found to occur downstream of IRF3 activation and to be dependent on VP24 importin
      binding residues. These results emphasize the importance of VP24 in EBOV
      infection cycle, making VP24 as an excellent target for drug development.

PMID- 28595093
TI  - Association of polymorphisms in key Th-17 immune response genes with HBeAg
      positive chronic hepatitis B susceptibility and response to PEG-IFNa-2alpha.
AB  - This study aims to investigate effects of polymorphisms in key Th-17 immune
      response genes on the susceptibility to HBeAg-positive (HBeAg+) chronic hepatitis
      B (CHB) and response to PEG-IFNa-2alpha. A total of 139 patients with HBeAg+ CHB
      treated with PEG-IFNa-2alpha and 145 healthy controls were enrolled to explore
      the association between IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21 and IL-23R polymorphisms and HBeAg+
      CHB susceptibility, as well as treatment efficacies. Genotypes were determined by
      polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and
      DNA sequencing. IL-17A rs4711998 and IL-17F rs763780 may affect susceptibility to
      HBeAg+ CHB and response to PEG-IFNa-2alpha treatment. The T allele of IL-21
      rs12508721 may lower HBeAg+ CHB susceptibility but enhance PEG-IFNa-2alpha
      response, and the GA genotype and the A allele of IL-23R rs11209026 may reduce
      the susceptibility to HBeAg+ CHB. Th17-related gene polymorphisms were linked to
      HBeAg+ CHB susceptibility, and rs4711998, rs763780 and rs12508721 were associated
      with sustained responses to PEG-IFNa-2alpha.

PMID- 28595094
TI  - Two-plasmid system to increase the rescue efficiency of paramyxoviruses by
      reverse genetics: The example of rescuing Newcastle Disease Virus.
AB  - Within paramyxoviruses, conventional reverse genetics require the transfection of
      a minimum of four plasmids: three to reconstruct the viral polymerase complex
      that replicates and expresses the virus genome delivered by a fourth plasmid. The
      successful transfection of four or more plasmids of different sizes into one cell
      and the subsequent generation of at least one viable and replicable viral
      particle is a rare event, which explains the low rescue efficiency, especially of
      low virulent viruses with reduced replication efficiency in cell lines. In this
      study, we report on an improved reverse genetics system developed for an avian
      paramyxovirus, Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), in which the number of plasmids was
      reduced from four to two. Compared to the conventional method, the 2-plasmid
      system enables earlier and increased production of rescued viruses and, in
      addition, makes it possible to rescue viruses that it was not possible to rescue
      using the 4-plasmid system.

PMID- 28595095
TI  - Differential expression between "DSP-only" and DSP-PP523 transcripts in rat molar
      teeth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the expression patterns of two multiple transcripts derived
      from DSP-PP gene during tooth development. One is DSP-only transcript (i.e. does
      not encode PP) and the other is DSP-PP523 transcript, a main DSP-PP transcript.
      DESIGN: Unique antisense and sense riboprobes were generated from DSP-only and
      DSPPP523 cDNAs for in situ studies to examine DSP-only and DSP-PP523 transcript
      expression in developing molars. Paraffin-embedded sections (5-7MU m) from
      embryonic 20day, postnatal 2, 3 and 6days were deparaffined and hydrated. Tissues
      were prehybridized, then hybridized with DSP-only and DSP-PP523 anti-sense (AS)
      or sense (S) Digoxigenin labeled-riboprobes overnight, and washed. Anti
      Digoxigenin antibodies conjugated to alkaline phosphatase were used to detect the
      presence of bound riboprobes by color reaction with NBT/BCIP. Stro-1 antibody was
      used for immunohistochemical analysis of Stro-1 protein expression in rat molars.
      RESULTS: We found that unlike the DSP-PP523 transcript, the DSP-only transcript
      does not express in the entire polarized mature odontoblasts but is expressed in
      the areas subjacent to the mature odontoblast layer. In addition, DSP-only
      transcript is expressed in the dental pulp. Interestingly, Stro-1 protein, a stem
      cell marker, was also identified in the areas subjacentto odontoblasts and in
      dental pulp. CONCLUSION: Differential expression of DSP-only and DSP-PP523
      transcripts suggest that these two kinds of transcripts may play different roles
      during dentinogenesis. DSP-PP523 transcript is expressed in mature odontoblasts,
      which actively participates in dentin formation. DSP-only transcript might have a
      different function.

PMID- 28595096
TI  - Occurrence and mobility of toxic elements in coals from endemic fluorosis areas
      in the Three Gorges Region, SW China.
AB  - Fluorine (F) is a topic of great interest in coal-combustion related endemic
      fluorosis areas. However, little extent research exists regarding the
      environmental geochemistry of toxic elements that are enriched in coals and coal
      wastes in traditional endemic fluorosis areas, particularly focusing on their
      occurrences and mobilities during the weathering-leaching processes of coals and
      coal wastes in the surface environment. This paper addressed the issue of toxic
      elements in coals and coal wastes in the Three Gorges Region, Southwest (SW)
      China, where endemic fluorosis has historically prevailed, and investigated the
      distribution, occurrence, mobility features, and associated potential health
      risks. For this purpose, a modified experiment combined with long-term humidity
      cell test and column leaching trial was applied to elucidate the mobility of
      toxic elements in coals and coal wastes. In addition, sequential chemical
      extraction (SCE) was used to ascertain the modes of occurrence of toxic elements.
      The results demonstrated that the contents of toxic elements in the study area
      followed the order: stone coals > gangues > coal balls > coals. Furthermore,
      modes of occurrence of toxic elements were obviously different in coals and coal
      wastes. For example, cadmium (Cd) was mainly associated with monosulfide fraction
      in coals, molybdenum (Mo) and arsenic (As) were mainly associated with carbonate
      and silicate in coal gangues and stone coals, chromium (Cr) mainly existed in
      silicate and insoluble matter in coal gangues and coal balls, thallium (Tl)
      mainly occurred in organic matter in stone coals and sulfide in coals, and the
      occurrence of antimony (Sb) varied with different kinds of samples. Moreover, a
      large amount of toxic elements released to the leachates during the weathering
      and leaching process, which might pollute the environment and threaten human
      health. Based on the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), single factor index (Pi) and
      Nemerow index (PN), soils in the study area were mainly polluted by Cd, which
      constituted a potential risk to locally planted crops.

PMID- 28595097
TI  - Neuropredictors of oromotor feeding impairment in 12month-old children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Feeding impairment is prevalent in children with neurodevelopmental
      issues. Neuroimaging and neurobehavioural outcomes at term are predictive of
      later neuromotor impairment, but it is unknown whether they predict feeding
      impairment. AIMS: To determine whether neurobehavior and brain magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) at term predict oromotor feeding at 12months in preterm and term
      born children. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

PMID- 28595098
TI  - The continuity and duration of depression and its relationship to non-suicidal
      self-harm and suicidal ideation and behavior in adolescents 12-17.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a significant overlap between non-suicidal self-harm and
      suicidal ideation and behavior in young people with both symptom continuity and
      symptom duration implicated in this association. METHODS: A population sample of
      Australian 12-17 year olds. Interviewers collected measures for DSM disorders,
      symptom duration and continuity, and background information from their parents,
      while young people self-reported symptoms of depression, non-suicidal self-harm
      and suicidal ideation and behaviors. This report focusses on the 265 young people
      who met the DSM criteria for Major Depressive Disorder based on their own self
      reports. RESULTS: Relative to young people who had at least one period 2 months
      or longer without symptoms since first onset, young people who had the continuous
      presence of depressive symptoms since their first onset had significantly higher
      odds for life-time self-harm, 12-month self-harm, multiple self-harm, suicidal
      ideation and suicide attempt within the past 12 months. The duration of
      depressive symptoms and the continuity of these symptoms each independently
      contribute to elevating the risks of non-suicidal self-harming and suicidal
      ideation and behaviors. LIMITATIONS: Reliance on self-report from the young
      people and time constraints prohibiting administering diagnostic modules other
      than the Major Depressive Disorder and estimating self-reported co-morbidity.
      CONCLUSIONS: Among young people with a Major Depressive Disorder, self-reports
      about duration of depressive symptoms as well as the continuity of symptoms, each
      independently contributes to elevated risks of non-suicidal self-harming and
      suicidal ideation and behaviors. As well, un-remitting as opposed to episodic
      symptoms in this group of young people are common and are a powerful indicator of
      suffering associated with both self-harm and suicidal behavior.

PMID- 28595099
TI  - Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders as predictors for bipolar disorder in
      patients with remitted mood disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Circadian rhythm dysfunction is thought to play a key role in the
      pathogenesis of bipolar disorder (BD). We focused on circadian rhythm sleep-wake
      disorders (CRSWD) as possible predictors for bipolar disorder in patients with
      remitted mood disorders. METHOD: One hundred four BD (41 type I and 63 type II)
      outpatients and 73 age- and sex-matched major depressive disorder (MDD)
      outpatients participated in this study. The subjects were asked to answer
      questionnaires including demographic variables, clinical course of the disorder,
      and family history of psychiatric disorders. Severity of mood status was
      evaluated by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and Young Mania Rating
      Scale. CRSWD was diagnosed by clinical interview and sleep logs based on the
      International Classification of Sleep Disorders, third edition. RESULTS: The rate
      of CRSWD in BD subjects was significantly higher than that in MDD subjects (33.7%
      vs 9.6%; P < 0.001). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that
      comorbid CRSWD (OR = 3.35, 95% CI = 1.24 - 9.07; P = 0.018), two or more previous
      mood episodes within the past year (OR = 3.57, 95% CI = 1.10 - 11.63; P = 0.035),
      and antidepressant-related switch to mania/hypomania (OR = 10.01, 95% CI = 1.20 -
      83.52; P = 0.033) were significantly associated with BD in patients with remitted
      mood disorders. CONCLUSION: CRSWD, as well as other factors, could be diagnostic
      predictors for BD in patients with remitted mood disorders. Combinations of these
      factors might be useful for predicting a BD diagnosis among the mood disorders in
      a clinical setting.

PMID- 28595100
TI  - Protective effects of Momordica grosvenori extract against lipid and protein
      oxidation-induced damage in dried minced pork slices.
AB  - The experiment was conducted to assess the protective effects of Momordica
      grosvenori extract (MGE) against lipid and protein oxidation-induced damage in
      vacuum-packed dried minced pork slices stored at room temperature for 21days.
      Antioxidant activity of MGE was evaluated by measuring its radical scavenging
      activities and reducing power with progressive concentrations from 40 to 200g/L.
      MGE was added to the dried minced pork slices at 7, 10 or 15g/100g. Results
      showed that inclusion of MGE in dried minced pork slice significantly delayed the
      formation of hexanal, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and carbonyls and
      reduced the sulfhydryl loss in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05), indicating that
      MGE exerted a protective effect against lipids and protein oxidation.
      Concomitantly, an intense increase of redness and loss of lightness and
      yellowness was found to take place (P<0.05), though it exhibited little negative
      effects on the sensory properties of slices. Mogrosides, the main bioactive
      components in M. grosvenori, decreased primarily during processing while they
      were relatively stable during storage under vacuum condition, room temperature.
      All these results demonstrated MGE had great potential as a natural antioxidant
      used in meat products.

PMID- 28595101
TI  - Assessment of trabecular bone tissue elasticity with resonant ultrasound
      spectroscopy.
AB  - The material properties of the trabeculae (tissue-level properties), together
      with the trabecular architecture and the bone volume fraction determine the
      apparent millimetre-scale bone mechanical properties. We present a novel method
      to measure trabecular tissue elastic modulus Et using resonant ultrasound
      spectroscopy (RUS). The first mechanical resonance frequency fe of a freestanding
      cuboid specimen is measured and used to back-calculate Et. The steps of the back
      calculation are (1) the apparent stiffness tensors C(Et~) is computed using micro
      finite elements for a set of trial values of tissue Young's modulus Et~ based on
      the computed tomography image of the specimen; (2) the modeled free-vibration
      resonance frequencies fm(Et~) of the specimen is calculated with the Rayleigh
      Ritz method using C(Et~); (3) finally, Et is obtained by interpolation using fe
      and fm(Et~). Four bovine bone specimens were tested (nominal size 5*6 *6mm3).
      Average (standard deviation) of Et was 13.12 (1.06)GPa. The measurement of a
      single resonance frequency enabled an estimation of tissue elasticity in line
      with available data. RUS is a non destructive technique relatively easy to
      implement compared to traditional mechanical testing. The novel method could
      contribute to a better documentation of bone tissue elasticity which is an
      important parameter of micro-finite element analyses for the clinical assessment
      of bone strength.

PMID- 28595102
TI  - A comparative study of progressive wear of four dental monolithic, veneered glass
      ceramics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the wear performance and wear mechanisms of four
      dental glass-ceramics, based on the microstructure and mechanical properties in
      the progressive wear process. METHODS: Bar (N = 40, n = 10) and disk (N = 32, n =
      8) specimens were prepared from (A) lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (LD), (B)
      leucite reinforced glass-ceramic (LEU), (C) feldspathic glass-ceramic (FEL), and
      (D) fluorapatite glass-ceramic (FLU). The bar specimens were tested for three
      point flexural strength, hardness, fracture toughness and elastic modulus. The
      disk specimens paired with steatite antagonists were tested in a pin-on-disk
      tribometer with 10N up to 1000,000 wear cycles. The wear analysis of glass
      ceramics was performed using a 3D profilometer after every 200,000 wear cycles.
      Wear loss of steatite antagonists was calculated by measuring the weight and
      density using sensitive balance and Archimedes' method. Wear morphologies and
      microstructures were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The
      crystalline phase compositions were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). One
      way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data. Multiple pair-wise
      comparison of means was performed by Tukey's post-hoc test. RESULTS: LD showed
      the highest fracture toughness, flexural strength, elastic modulus and
      crystallinity, followed by LEU and FEL, and FLU showed the lowest. However, the
      hardness of LD was lower than all the other three types of ceramics. For steatite
      antagonists, LD produced the least wear loss of antagonist, followed by LEU and
      FEL, and FLU had the most wear loss. For glass-ceramic materials, LD exhibited
      similar wear loss as LEU, but more than FLU and FEL did. Moreover, fracture
      occurred on the wear surface of FLU. CONCLUSIONS: In the progressive wear
      process, veneering porcelains showed better wear resistance but fluorapatite
      veneering porcelains appeared fracture surface. Monolithic lithium disilicate
      glass-ceramics with higher mechanical properties showed more wear loss, however,
      they did not fracture and produced less wear loss of antagonists.

PMID- 28595104
TI  - Pre-beta1 HDL in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Pre-beta1 HDL, being a major acceptor of free cholesterol
      from cells, plays an important role in reverse cholesterol transport. This study
      was performed to determine whether abnormalities in pre-beta1 HDL concentration
      were present in type 2 diabetes irrespective of their HDL-cholesterol levels, and
      the impact on cholesterol efflux. METHODS: 640 type 2 diabetic patients with or
      without cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 360 non-diabetic controls matched for
      serum HDL-cholesterol levels were recruited. Plasma pre-beta1 HDL was measured by
      ELISA, and cholesterol efflux to serum, mediated by ATP-binding cassette
      transporter A1 (ABCA1), was determined by measuring the transfer of
      [3H]cholesterol from cultured cells expressing ABCA1 to the medium containing the
      tested serum. RESULTS: Despite the diabetic subjects having matched HDL
      cholesterol and total apoA1 as controls, plasma pre-beta1 HDL was significantly
      reduced in both male (p < 0.01) and female diabetic patients (p < 0.05), and
      patients with CVD had the lowest pre-beta1 HDL level. Serum capacity to induce
      ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux was impaired in the diabetic group (p < 0.01)
      and cholesterol efflux correlated with pre-beta1 HDL (Pearson's r = 0.38, p <
      0.01), and this association remained significantly even after controlling for
      age, gender, body mass index, diabetes status, smoking, apoA1, triglyceride and
      LDL. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma pre-beta1 HDL level was significantly decreased in type
      2 diabetes and was associated with a reduction in cholesterol efflux mediated by
      ABCA1. Our data would suggest that low pre-beta1 HDL might cause impairment in
      reverse cholesterol transport in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28595103
TI  - Measured pulmonary arterial tissue stiffness is highly sensitive to AFM indenter
      dimensions.
AB  - The mechanical properties of pulmonary tissues are important in normal function
      and the development of diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension. Hence it
      is critical to measure lung tissue micromechanical properties as accurately as
      possible in order to gain insight into the normal and pathological range of
      tissue stiffness associated with development, aging and disease processes. In
      this study, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) micro-indentation to
      characterize the Young's modulus of small human pulmonary arteries (vessel
      diameter less than 100um), and examined the influence of AFM tip geometry and
      diameter, lung tissue section thickness and the range of working force applied to
      the sample on the measured modulus. We observed a significant increase of the
      measured Young's modulus of pulmonary vessels (one order of magnitude) associated
      with the use of a pyramidal sharp AFM tips (20nm radius), compared to two larger
      spherical tips (1 and 2.5um radius) which generated statistically
      indistinguishable results. The effect of tissue section thickness (ranging from
      10 to 50 MUm) on the measured elastic modulus was relatively smaller (<1-fold),
      but resulted in a significant increase in measured elastic modulus for the
      thinnest sections (10 MUm) relative to the thicker (20 and 50 MUm) sections. We
      also found that the measured elastic modulus depends modestly (again <1-fold),
      but significantly, on the magnitude of force applied, but only on thick (50 MUm)
      and not thin (10 MUm) tissue sections. Taken together these results demonstrate a
      dominant effect of indenter shape/radius on the measured elastic modulus of
      pulmonary arterial tissues, with lesser effects of tissue thickness and applied
      force. The results of this study highlight the importance of AFM parameter
      selection for accurate characterization of pulmonary arterial tissue mechanical
      properties, and allow for comparison of literature values for lung vessel tissue
      mechanical properties measured by AFM across a range of indenter and indentation
      parameters.

PMID- 28595105
TI  - Docosahexaenoic acid prevents cognitive deficits in human apolipoprotein E
      epsilon 4-targeted replacement mice.
AB  - At a population level, dietary consumption of fish rich in docosahexaenoic acid
      (DHA) is associated with prevention of cognitive decline but this association is
      not clear in carriers of the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele (E4). Plasma and
      liver DHA concentrations show significant alterations in E4 carriers, in part
      corrected by DHA supplementation. However, whether DHA sufficiency in E4 carriers
      has consequences on cognition is unknown. Mice expressing human E4 or
      apolipoprotein E epsilon 3 allele (E3) were fed either a control diet or a diet
      containing DHA for 8 months and cognitive performance was tested using the object
      recognition test and the Barnes maze test. In E4 mice fed the control diet,
      impaired memory was detected and arachidonic acid concentrations were elevated in
      the hippocampus compared to E3 mice fed the control diet. DHA consumption
      prevented memory decline and restored arachidonic acid concentrations in the
      hippocampus of E4 mice. Our results suggest that long-term high-dose DHA intake
      may prevent cognitive decline in E4 carriers.

PMID- 28595106
TI  - Development and validation of a bioanalytical method based on LC-MS/MS analysis
      for the quantitation of CIGB-814 peptide in plasma from Rheumatoid Arthritis
      patients.
AB  - CIGB-814, originally named as E18-3 APL1 or APL1 in preclinical experiments, is a
      novel therapeutic peptide candidate for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). It is an
      altered peptide ligand containing a novel CD4+ T-cell epitope of human heat shock
      protein 60 (83-109, MW 2988.38g/mol) with a mutation (D100->L) that increases its
      affinity for HLA-II type molecules associated to RA. A bioanalytical method,
      based on LC-MS/MS analysis, in the SRM mode was developed and fully validated to
      quantify this peptide in human plasma. An internal standard with the same amino
      acid sequence but labeled with three (13C615N2)-Lys residues was used for
      quantitation. The method provides a linear range from 1.5 to 48ng/mL (without
      matrix effect and carry over) and an accuracy and precision good enough for
      monitoring more than 80% of the AUC of the PK profile in a phase I clinical
      trial. The peptide was administered subcutaneously in three dose levels (1, 2.5
      and 5mg) not normalized to the body weight of patients with RA. The low doses
      imposed an analytical challenge; however, a LLOQ of 1.5ng/mL enabled the PK
      analysis. The Cmax, reached at 0.5h, showed a great variability, that was most
      likely due to the non-normalized doses; the proposed mechanism for this peptide;
      and the variability between patients. A rapid clearance of this peptide (4-6h) is
      advantageous for an immunomodulatory drug, because the therapeutic schedule
      requires repeated dosages to restore peripheral tolerance.

PMID- 28595107
TI  - Application of 1H NMR spectroscopy to the metabolic phenotyping of rodent brain
      extracts: A metabonomic study of gut microbial influence on host brain
      metabolism.
AB  - 1H NMR Spectroscopy has been applied to determine the neurochemical profiles of
      brain extracts from the frontal cortex and hippocampal regions of germ free and
      normal mice and rats. The results revealed a number of differences between germ
      free (GF) and conventional (CV) rats or specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice with
      microbiome-associated metabolic variation found to be both species- and region
      dependent. In the mouse, the GF frontal cortex contained lower amounts of
      creatine, N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), glycerophosphocholine and lactate, but
      greater amounts of choline compared to that of specific pathogen free (SPF) mice.
      In the hippocampus, the GF mice had greater creatine, NAA, lactate and taurine
      content compared to those of the SPF animals, but lower relative quantities of
      succinate and an unidentified lipid-related component. The GF rat frontal cortex
      contained higher relative quantities of lactate, creatine and NAA compared to the
      CV animals whilst the GF hippocampus was characterized by higher taurine and
      phosphocholine concentrations and lower quantities of NAA, N
      acetylaspartylglutamate and choline compared to the CV animals. Of note is that,
      in both rat and mouse brain extracts, concentrations of hippocampal taurine were
      found to be greater in the absence of an established microbiome. The results
      provide further evidence that brain biochemistry can be influenced by gut
      microbial status, specifically metabolites involved in energy metabolism
      demonstrating biochemical dialogue between the microbiome and brain.

PMID- 28595108
TI  - Insulin signaling in various equine tissues under basal conditions and acute
      stimulation by intravenously injected insulin.
AB  - The aim of the study was to analyze key proteins of the equine insulin signaling
      cascade and their extent of phosphorylation in biopsies from muscle tissue (MT),
      liver tissue (LT), and nuchal AT, subcutaneous AT, and retroperitoneal adipose
      tissues. This was investigated under unstimulated (B1) and intravenously insulin
      stimulated (B2) conditions, which were achieved by injection of insulin (0.1
      IU/kg bodyweight) and glucose (150 mg/kg bodyweight). Twelve warmblood horses
      aged 15 +/- 6.8 yr (yr), weighing 559 +/- 79 kg, and with a mean body condition
      score of 4.7 +/- 1.5 were included in the study. Key proteins of the insulin
      signaling cascade were semiquantitatively determined using Western blotting.
      Furthermore, modulation of the cascade was assessed. The basal expression of the
      proteins was only slightly influenced during the experimental period. Insulin
      induced a high extent of phosphorylation of insulin receptor in LT (P < 0.01) but
      not in MT. Protein kinase B and mechanistic target of rapamycin expressed a
      higher extent of phosphorylation in all tissues in B2 biopsies. Adenosine
      monophosphate protein kinase, as a component related to insulin signaling,
      expressed enhanced phosphorylation in MT (P < 0.05) and adipose tissues (nuchal
      AT P < 0.05; SCAT P < 0.01; retroperitoneal adipose tissue P < 0.05), but not in
      LT at B2. Tissue-specific variations in the acute response of insulin signaling
      to intravenously injected insulin were observed. In conclusion, insulin
      sensitivity in healthy horses is based on a complex concerted action of different
      tissues by their variations in the molecular response to insulin.

PMID- 28595109
TI  - Effects of nonglycosylated and glycosylated prolactin on basal and gonadotropin
      stimulated steroidogenesis in chicken ovarian follicles.
AB  - In galliformes, the circulating isoform of prolactin (PRL) significantly changes
      during different reproductive states. However, the role of the major isoform
      (glycosylated PRL [G-PRL]) in ovarian steroidogenesis is unknown. The present
      study aimed to compare the effects of nonglycosylated (NG-) and G-PRL on basal
      and gonadotropin-stimulated estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) production in
      granulosa cells or follicular walls of chicken of different size class follicles.
      In the initial experiment, granulosa cells of preovulatory F3-F1 and
      prehierarchical 6- to 8-mm follicles were incubated for 24 h with different
      concentrations of NG- or G-PRL (0, 1, 10, 100, or 1,000 ng/mL). In the subsequent
      experiments, these categorized granulosa cells and follicular walls of
      prehierarchical 4-6, 2-4, and <2-mm follicles were incubated for 24 h in the
      absence and presence of 10-ng/mL FSH or LH, or in combination with different
      concentrations of NG- or G-PRL (10, 100, or 1,000 ng/mL). We observed that lower
      levels of NG-PRL induced (P < 0.05) E2 and P4 secretion in granulosa cells of
      either preovulatory or prehierarchical follicles, but at higher levels, this
      effect was reduced. In contrast, G-PRL promoted (P < 0.05) basal E2 and P4
      secretion in preovulatory granulosa cells but was inhibitory (P < 0.05) in
      prehierarchical granulosa cells. Results obtained by real-time quantitative PCR
      (qPCR) demonstrated that these effects were mediated through modulation of the
      expression of StAR, CYP11A1, CYP19A1, and 3beta-HSD. Furthermore, G-PRL was less
      potent than NG-PRL in inhibiting FSH- or LH-stimulated E2 and P4 production in
      granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles, whereas NG-PRL enhanced (P < 0.05) but
      G-PRL reduced (P < 0.05) FSH-induced P4 production in those of prehierarchical
      follicles. In follicular walls from each group of prehierarchical 4-6, 2-4, and
      <2-mm follicles, NG- and G-PRL had both stimulatory and inhibitory influences on
      the actions of FSH on E2 and P4 secretion, but both suppressed (P < 0.05) LH
      induced E2 and P4 secretion except for the synergistic effects of LH and G-PRL on
      P4 secretion by follicular walls of the follicles of 4-6 mm. Taken together,
      these results suggest that both NG- and G-PRL are biologically active in
      regulating basal and gonadotropin-stimulated E2 and P4 production in chicken
      ovarian follicles. However, their effects are different depending on the
      concentration, the type of gonadotropin (FSH or LH), and the stage of follicle
      development.

PMID- 28595111
TI  - Similarity and accuracy of mental models formed during nursing handovers: A
      concept mapping approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Shared mental models are crucial for constructing mutual
      understanding of the patient's condition during a clinical handover. Yet, scant
      research, if any, has empirically explored mental models of the parties involved
      in a clinical handover. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the similarities
      among mental models of incoming and outgoing nurses, and to test their accuracy
      by comparing them with mental models of expert nurses. DESIGN: A cross-sectional
      study, exploring nurses' mental models via the concept mapping technique.
      PARTICIPANTS: 40 clinical handovers. DATA COLLECTION: Data were collected via
      concept mapping of the incoming, outgoing, and expert nurses' mental models
      (total of 120 concept maps). Similarity and accuracy for concepts and
      associations indexes were calculated to compare the different maps. RESULTS:
      About one fifth of the concepts emerged in both outgoing and incoming nurses'
      concept maps (concept similarity=23%+/-10.6). Concept accuracy indexes were 35%+/
      18.8 for incoming and 62%+/-19.6 for outgoing nurses' maps. Although incoming
      nurses absorbed fewer number of concepts and associations (23% and 12%,
      respectively), they partially closed the gap (35% and 22%, respectively) relative
      to expert nurses' maps. The correlations between concept similarities, and
      incoming as well as outgoing nurses' concept accuracy, were significant (r=0.43,
      p<0.01; r=0.68 p<0.01, respectively). Finally, in 90% of the maps, outgoing
      nurses added information concerning the processes enacted during the shift,
      beyond the expert nurses' gold standard. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Two
      seemingly contradicting processes in the handover were identified. "Information
      loss", captured by the low similarity indexes among the mental models of incoming
      and outgoing nurses; and "information restoration", based on accuracy measures
      indexes among the mental models of the incoming nurses. Based on mental model
      theory, we propose possible explanations for these processes and derive
      implications for how to improve a clinical handover.

PMID- 28595110
TI  - Utilization of registered nurses in primary care teams: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Registered nurses are increasingly becoming embedded in primary care
      teams yet there is a wide variability in nursing roles and responsibilities
      across organizations. Policy makers are calling for a closer look at how to best
      utilize registered nurses in primary care teams. Lack of knowledge about
      effective primary care nursing roles and responsibilities challenges policy
      makers' abilities to develop recommendations to effectively deploy registered
      nurses in primary care needed to assure efficient, evidence-based, and quality
      health care. OBJECTIVE: To synthesize international evidence about primary care
      RN roles and responsibilities to make recommendations for maximizing the
      contributions of RNs in team-based primary care models. DESIGN: Systematic
      review. DATA SOURCES: The Meta-Analysis and Systematic Reviews of Observational
      Studies framework guided the conduct of this review. Five electronic databases
      (OVID Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Library) were searched using
      MeSH terms: primary care, roles, and responsibilities. The term "nurs*" was
      truncated to identify all literature relevant to nursing. REVIEW METHODS: The
      initial search yielded 2243. Abstracts and titles were screened for relevance and
      seventy-one full text reviews were completed by two researchers. Inclusion
      criteria included: (1) registered nurses practicing in interprofessional teams;
      (2) description of registered nursing roles and responsibilities; (3) primary
      care setting. All eligible studies underwent quality appraisal using the
      Integrative Quality Criteria for Review of Multiple Study Designs tool. RESULTS:
      Eighteen studies met eligibility across six countries: Australia, United States,
      Spain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Registered nurses play a large role
      in chronic disease management, patient education, medication management, and
      often can shift between clinical and administrative responsibilities. There are a
      limited number of registered nurses that participate in primary care policy
      making and research. CONCLUSION: Integrating registered nurses into primary care
      has the potential to increase patient access to a primary care provider because
      registered nurses can supplement some of the provider workload: they renew
      prescriptions, address patient questions, and provide patient education. Clear
      practice protocols and nursing policy should be written by registered nurses to
      ensure safe, and effective nursing care. The use of a medical assistant or
      nurse's aide to perform non-nursing tasks allows registered nurses to take on
      more complex patient care. Future research should expand on emerging payment
      models for nurse-specific tasks.

PMID- 28595112
TI  - Oxygen therapy for acute myocardial infarction: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Potential benefits or risks of oxygen inhalation for patients with
      acute myocardial infarction are not fully understood. OBJECTIVE: We performed
      this study to systematically assess the effectiveness and safety of oxygen
      therapy for patients with acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: We searched randomized controlled trials
      systematically in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library up to June
      2016. REVIEW METHODS: Randomized controlled trials that estimated the
      effectiveness and safety of oxygen therapy for patients with acute myocardial
      infarction were identified by two independent reviewers. The primary outcomes
      were short-term mortality and recurrent rate of myocardial infarction, and the
      secondary outcomes were arrhythmia incidence and pain incidence. Relative risks
      (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to measure the pooled data.
      RESULTS: A total of five randomized controlled trials were in accordance with
      inclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with no
      oxygen group, the oxygen group did not significantly reduce short-term death (RR:
      1.08, 95%CI: 0.31-3.74), and there was moderate heterogeneity (I2=50.8%, P<0.107)
      among studies. We found a significant increase in the rate of recurrent
      myocardial infarction (RR: 6.73, 95%CI: 1.80-25.17, I2=0.0%, P=0.598) in the
      oxygen group. The oxygen group did not have a significant reduction in arrhythmia
      (RR: 1.12, 95%CI: 0.91-1.36; I2=46.2%, P<0.156) or pain (RR: 0.97, 95%CI: 0.91
      1.04; I2=7.2%, P=0.340). CONCLUSIONS: Oxygen inhalation did not benefit patients
      with acute myocardial infarction with normal oxygen saturation. It may increase
      the rate of recurrent myocardial infarction. High quality trials with larger
      sample sizes are required.

PMID- 28595113
TI  - The impact of semantically congruent and incongruent visual information on
      auditory object recognition across development.
AB  - The ability to use different sensory signals in conjunction confers numerous
      advantages on perception. Multisensory perception in adults is influenced by
      factors beyond low-level stimulus properties such as semantic congruency.
      Sensitivity to semantic relations has been shown to emerge early in development;
      however, less is known about whether implementation of these associations changes
      with development or whether development in the representations themselves might
      modulate their influence. Here, we used a Stroop-like paradigm that requires
      participants to identify an auditory stimulus while ignoring a visual stimulus.
      Prior research shows that in adults visual distractors have more impact on
      processing of auditory objects than vice versa; however, this pattern appears to
      be inverted early in development. We found that children from 8years of age (and
      adults) gain a speed advantage from semantically congruent visual information and
      are disadvantaged by semantically incongruent visual information. At 6years of
      age, children gain a speed advantage for semantically congruent visual
      information but are not disadvantaged by semantically incongruent visual
      information (as compared with semantically unrelated visual information). Both
      children and adults were influenced by associations between auditory and visual
      stimuli, which they had been exposed to on only 12 occasions during the learning
      phase of the study. Adults showed a significant speed advantage over children for
      well-established associations but showed no such advantage for newly acquired
      pairings. This suggests that the influence of semantic associations on
      multisensory processing does not change with age but rather these associations
      become more robust and, in turn, more influential.

PMID- 28595114
TI  - The tendency of unconscious thought toward global processing style.
AB  - This study explored whether unconscious thought has a tendency to process
      information globally. In three experiments, a Navon task was used to activate
      global or local processing styles. Findings showed that in the unconscious
      thought groups, those performing the local Navon task presented a poorer decision
      making performance when compared to those performing the global Navon task
      (Experiment 1); participants reported that their judgments were made based on
      partial attributes (Experiment 2), and evaluated a target individual mainly based
      on information consistent with stereotypes (Experiment 3). These results showed
      that when presented with distracter tasks, conscious thought activates local
      processing, which impairs its ability to process information globally. However,
      this impairment would not happen if global processing were activated instead.
      This study provides support to the idea that unconscious thought has a tendency
      to process information globally.

PMID- 28595115
TI  - The "weakest link" as an indicator of cognitive vulnerability differentially
      predicts symptom dimensions of anxiety in adolescents in China.
AB  - This multiwave longitudinal study examined the cognitive vulnerability-stress
      component of hopelessness theory to differentially predict symptom dimensions of
      anxiety using a "weakest link" approach in a sample of adolescents from Hunan
      Province, China. Baseline and 6-month follow-up data were obtained from 553
      middle-school students. During an initial assessment, participants completed
      measures of assessing their weakest links, anxious symptoms, and the occurrence
      of stress. Participants subsequently completed measures assessing stress, and
      anxious symptoms one a month for six months. Higher weakest link scores were
      associated with greater increases in the harm avoidance and separation
      anxiety/panic dimensions, but not the physical or social anxiety dimension, of
      anxious symptoms following stress in Chinese adolescents. These results support
      the applicability of the "weakest link" approach, derived from hopelessness
      theory, in Chinese adolescents. Weakest link scores as cognitive vulnerability
      factors may play a role in the development of anxious symptoms, especially in the
      cognitive dimensions (e.g., harm avoidance and separation anxiety/panic). Our
      findings also have potential value in explaining the effectiveness of cognitive
      relevant therapy in treating the cognitive dimensions of anxious symptoms.

PMID- 28595116
TI  - The unique spliceosome signature of human pluripotent stem cells is mediated by
      SNRPA1, SNRPD1, and PNN.
AB  - Spliceosomes are the core host of pre-mRNA splicing, allowing multiple protein
      isoforms to be produced from a single gene. Herein, we reveal that spliceosomes
      are more abundant in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSs), including human
      embryonic stem cells (hESs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSs),
      than non-hPSs, and their presence is associated with high transcriptional
      activity. Supportively, spliceosomal components involved in the catalytically
      active pre-mRNA splicing step were mainly co-localized with hPS spliceosomes. By
      profiling the gene expression of 342 selected splicing factors, we found that 71
      genes were significantly altered during the reprogramming of human somatic cells
      into hiPSs. Among them, SNRPA1, SNRPD1, and PNN were significantly up-regulated
      during the early stage of reprogramming, identified as hub genes by interaction
      network and cluster analysis. SNRPA1, SNRPD1, or PNN depletion led to a
      pronounced loss of pluripotency and significantly blocked hiPS generation.
      SNRPA1, SNRPD1, and PNN co-localized with the hPS spliceosomes, physically
      interacted with each other, and positively influenced the appearance of hPS
      spliceosomes. Our data suggest that SNRPA1, SNRPD1, and PNN are key players in
      the regulation of pluripotency-specific spliceosome assembly and the acquisition
      and maintenance of pluripotency.

PMID- 28595118
TI  - Application of phenyl-based stationary phases for the study of retention and
      separation of oligonucleotides.
AB  - The main goal of our work was to apply three different phenyl-bonded stationary
      phases in ion pair chromatography for the analysis of synthetic oligonucleotides
      of various sequences. The influence of the stationary phase structure and the
      impact of ion-pairing reagent concentration on the retention of oligonucleotides
      were tested. Moreover the influence of oligonucleotide sequence on their
      interactions with phenyl-based stationary phases was also investigated. Such
      complex studies for analysis of oligonucleotides with these adsorbents were done
      for the first time. Investigations were implemented in the Quantitative Structure
      Retention Relationships analysis in order to improve the discussion on the
      retention mechanism of analyzed compounds. The retention of oligonucleotides was
      the lowest for polar embedded phenyl stationary phase, however its selectivity
      was high and allowed for complete separation of studied compounds in the shortest
      time. It was shown that the low retention factor value was observed for
      oligonucleotides forming secondary structures, such as hairpin loops. Moreover
      obtained data showed that except for electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions,
      pi-pi also influences on the retention mechanism. These interactions cause higher
      retention factor values for phenyl-based stationary phases compared to octadecyl
      ones.

PMID- 28595117
TI  - Effect of the anticoagulant, storage time and temperature of blood samples on the
      concentrations of 27 multiplex assayed cytokines - Consequences for defining
      reference values in healthy humans.
AB  - Cytokines are potentially useful biomarkers of sepsis and other inflammatory
      conditions. Many cytokines can be released by leukocytes and platelets after
      sampling. The sampling and processing techniques are consequently critically
      important to measure the in vivo levels. We therefore examined the effects of
      four different anticoagulants, EDTA, citrate, lepirudin, heparin compared to
      serum, on the levels of 27 different cytokines. The effects of storage
      temperature, freezing and thawing on the plasma cytokines were examined.
      Cytokines were analysed using a multiplex immunoassay. The cytokine levels in
      serum were significantly higher compared with plasma, consistent with release of
      cytokines in vitro during coagulation. In general, the lowest values for all
      cytokines were found in EDTA samples, stored on crushed ice, centrifuged within
      4h and thereafter stored at -80 degrees C. MCP-1 and MIP-1beta levels were
      highest in heparin plasma and storage of blood for up to 4h at room temperature
      significantly increased the interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-8, IFN-gamma and GM-CSF
      levels in EDTA plasma, indicating post-sampling release. In contrast, the IP-10
      levels were unaffected by sample storage at both temperatures. Our results
      indicate that the cytokines were more stable in plasma than in whole blood after
      sampling. Thus, cytokines should be analysed in EDTA plasma samples stored on ice
      and centrifuged within 4h. Based on these data, the reference ranges of 27
      cytokines in EDTA plasma in 162 healthy human donors were calculated.

PMID- 28595119
TI  - Optimized fast mixing device for real-time NMR applications.
AB  - We present an improved fast mixing device based on the rapid mixing of two
      solutions inside the NMR probe, as originally proposed by Hore and coworkers (J.
      Am. Chem. Soc. 125 (2003) 12484-12492). Such a device is important for off
      equilibrium studies of molecular kinetics by multidimensional real-time NMR
      spectrsocopy. The novelty of this device is that it allows removing the injector
      from the NMR detection volume after mixing, and thus provides good magnetic field
      homogeneity independently of the initial sample volume placed in the NMR probe.
      The apparatus is simple to build, inexpensive, and can be used without any
      hardware modification on any type of liquid-state NMR spectrometer. We
      demonstrate the performance of our fast mixing device in terms of improved
      magnetic field homogeneity, and show an application to the study of protein
      folding and the structural characterization of transiently populated folding
      intermediates.

PMID- 28595120
TI  - Background field removal using a region adaptive kernel for quantitative
      susceptibility mapping of human brain.
AB  - Background field removal is an important MR phase preprocessing step for
      quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). It separates the local field induced
      by tissue magnetic susceptibility sources from the background field generated by
      sources outside a region of interest, e.g. brain, such as air-tissue interface.
      In the vicinity of air-tissue boundary, e.g. skull and paranasal sinuses, where
      large susceptibility variations exist, present background field removal methods
      are usually insufficient and these regions often need to be excluded by brain
      mask erosion at the expense of losing information of local field and thus
      susceptibility measures in these regions. In this paper, we propose an extension
      to the variable-kernel sophisticated harmonic artifact reduction for phase data
      (V-SHARP) background field removal method using a region adaptive kernel (R
      SHARP), in which a scalable spherical Gaussian kernel (SGK) is employed with its
      kernel radius and weights adjustable according to an energy "functional"
      reflecting the magnitude of field variation. Such an energy functional is defined
      in terms of a contour and two fitting functions incorporating regularization
      terms, from which a curve evolution model in level set formation is derived for
      energy minimization. We utilize it to detect regions of with a large field
      gradient caused by strong susceptibility variation. In such regions, the SGK will
      have a small radius and high weight at the sphere center in a manner adaptive to
      the voxel energy of the field perturbation. Using the proposed method, the
      background field generated from external sources can be effectively removed to
      get a more accurate estimation of the local field and thus of the QSM dipole
      inversion to map local tissue susceptibility sources. Numerical simulation,
      phantom and in vivo human brain data demonstrate improved performance of R-SHARP
      compared to V-SHARP and RESHARP (regularization enabled SHARP) methods, even when
      the whole paranasal sinus regions are preserved in the brain mask. Shadow
      artifacts due to strong susceptibility variations in the derived QSM maps could
      also be largely eliminated using the R-SHARP method, leading to more accurate QSM
      reconstruction.

PMID- 28595121
TI  - Magnetization transfer in a partly deuterated lyotropic liquid crystal by single-
      and dual-frequency RF irradiations.
AB  - The mechanism of magnetization transfer (MT) in a lyotropic liquid crystal made
      of sodium dodecyl sulfate, decanol, and water molecules is investigated by using
      deuterated molecules and single- and dual-frequency RF irradiations. The
      resulting Z-spectra suggest that the decanol molecules are mainly responsible for
      the MT effects in this system, through proton exchange to water. This is further
      confirmed by monitoring the relaxation of dipolar order, which allows one to
      estimate the transfer rate of magnetization from decanol to water. The potential
      benefits of using dual-frequency RF irradiation for inducing MT effects are
      explored through numerical solutions to a MT model based on Provotorov's partial
      saturation theory.

PMID- 28595122
TI  - Winds and the distribution of nearshore phytoplankton in a stratified lake.
AB  - The distribution of phytoplankton in lakes is notoriously patchy and dynamic, but
      wind-driven currents and algal buoyancy/motility are thought to determine where
      algae accumulate. In this study, nearshore phytoplankton were sampled from
      different parts of a lake basin twice a day for 4-5 consecutive days, in the
      spring and in late summer, to test whether short-term changes in phytoplankton
      biomass and community composition can be predicted from wind-driven currents. On
      windy days, phytoplankton biomass was higher at downwind than at upwind nearshore
      sites, and the magnitude of this difference increased linearly with increasing
      wind speed. However, contrary to the generally assumed downwind phytoplankton
      aggregations, these differences were mostly due to upwelling activity and the
      dilution of phytoplankton at upwind nearshore sites. The distribution of
      individual taxa was also related to wind speed, but only during late
      stratification (except for cryptophytes), and these relationships were consistent
      with the buoyancy and motility of each group. On windy days, large diatoms and
      cyanobacteria concentrated upwind, neutrally buoyant taxa (green algae, small
      diatoms) were homogeneously distributed, and motile taxa (cryptophytes,
      chrysophytes, dinoflagellates) concentrated downwind. Predictable differences in
      the biomass and composition of phytoplankton communities could affect the
      efficiency of trophic transfers in nearshore areas.

PMID- 28595123
TI  - Effects of humic acids with different polarities on the photocatalytic activity
      of nano-TiO2 at environment relevant concentration.
AB  - Large volume production and application of nano-TiO2 make it inevitably release
      to natural waters and its environmental behaviors would be affected by natural
      organic matters. In this study, the mechanisms of humic acid (HA) affecting the
      photocatalytic performance of nano-TiO2 were elucidated by using three HA
      fractions from the same source but with different polarities. Bulk HA was
      fractionated on a silica gel column to get three fractions with polarity
      increasing in the order of FA, FB and FC. FA was fulvic acid-like while FB and FC
      were humic acid-like. All the three fractions (at 0.1 mg/L) promoted the
      generation of hydroxyl radicals (OHs) by nano-TiO2, and thus in turn facilitated
      the photocatalytic degradation of bispheol A (BPA). FA and FC displayed a
      stronger promotion effect than FB and the bulk HA. Online in situ flow cell ATR
      FTIR and XPS analyses indicated that HA fractions could form charge-transfer
      complex with nano-TiO2 surface through the phenolic hydroxyl and carboxylic
      groups, which favored the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.
      Through step methylation experiments, it was verified that the phenolic hydroxyl
      and carboxylic groups of HA fractions played important roles in promoting the
      photocatalytic performance of nano-TiO2, and the effect of carboxylic group was
      more significant than the phenolic hydroxyl group.

PMID- 28595124
TI  - Probing the interphase "HO zone" originated by carbon nanotube during catalytic
      ozonation.
AB  - Carbon nanotube (CNT) is an attractive metal-free catalyst that can be explored
      in combination with ozone treatment. Using fluorescence microscopy image
      analysis, we investigated the production of hydroxyl radicals (HO) within the
      solid-liquid interphase for CNT-mediated catalytic ozonation. The visualized
      results suggest that HO was vastly generated via catalysis and accumulated within
      a surface region of the CNT (we defined this region as the interphase "HO zone").
      In this region, using 7-hydroxycoumarin as a HO marker, the radical abundance was
      at least 1000 times higher than that in the aqueous bulk phase. Owing to the
      observed inhomogeneity of HO, the CNT/ozone system effectively decomposed
      perfluorooctane sulfonate that was fairly resistant to non-catalytic ozonation,
      and the decomposition kinetics was not much inhibited by tert-butanol as bulk
      phase HO scavenger due to the remaining "HO zone" at surface region available for
      reaction. A longevity trial revealed the sustained formation of the interphase
      "HO zone" and strongly indicated that the graphitic structure may optimize the
      density of surface active sites responsible for the proliferation and local
      concentration of HO. CNT, with good catalytic efficiency, longevity and
      stability, is anticipated as the basis of future nanomaterials able to promote HO
      exposure in ozone treatment for advanced oxidation process.

PMID- 28595125
TI  - Quantifying nitrous oxide production pathways in wastewater treatment systems
      using isotope technology - A critical review.
AB  - Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas and an ozone-depleting
      substance which can be emitted from wastewater treatment systems (WWTS) causing
      significant environmental impacts. Understanding the N2O production pathways and
      their contribution to total emissions is the key to effective mitigation. Isotope
      technology is a promising method that has been applied to WWTS for quantifying
      the N2O production pathways. Within the scope of WWTS, this article reviews the
      current status of different isotope approaches, including both natural abundance
      and labelled isotope approaches, to N2O production pathways quantification. It
      identifies the limitations and potential problems with these approaches, as well
      as improvement opportunities. We conclude that, while the capabilities of isotope
      technology have been largely recognized, the quantification of N2O production
      pathways with isotope technology in WWTS require further improvement,
      particularly in relation to its accuracy and reliability.

PMID- 28595126
TI  - Effect of chelating agents on Reactive Green 19 decolorization through Fe0
      activated persulfate oxidation process.
AB  - The effect of chelating agents on the decolorization of Reactive Green 19 (RG19)
      through Fe0 activated persulfate (PS/Fe0) process was investigated. Though other
      previous studies reported that chelating agent can enhance the degradation of
      organic contaminant in Fenton-like system, our finding showed that the presence
      of chelating agents would chelate free Fe2+ and minimize free Fe2+ concentration,
      which resulted in the retardation of RG19 decolorization. RG19 decolorization
      decreased to 7%, 21%, and 15% in the presence of sodium citrate, sodium EDTA, and
      sodium oxalate, compared with control test (without chelating agent, 99%) within
      10 min. The degradation efficiencies decreased with increasing chelating agent
      concentrations because of complex formation with Fe2+. Higher PS concentration,
      Fe0 dosage, and temperature had an obvious enhancement for RG19 decolorization
      efficiency. Elucidation of RG19 containing sodium EDTA degradation pathways
      indicated that PS/Fe0 process could degrade RG19 to carboxylic acids and
      inorganic salts efficiently. The presence of sodium EDTA had no influence on by
      products, and EDTA just played a chelating agent function for chelating Fe ions.

PMID- 28595127
TI  - Key blackening and stinking pollutants in Dongsha River of Beijing: Spatial
      distribution and source identification.
AB  - Elimination of black-stinking water contamination has been listed as an urgent
      task in the Water pollution prevention action plan promulgated by State Council
      of China. However, the key blackening and stinking pollutants and their sources
      are still unclear. In this study, water quality of a black-stinking urban river
      in Beijing, Dongsha River, was evaluated firstly; then the distribution of the
      blackening and stinking pollutants was investigated, and the key pollutants and
      their potential sources were identified; and finally, the health risk of those
      pollutants was assessed. The results showed that NH3N, total phosphorus,
      dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand ranged from 1.3 to 5.3 mg/L, 0.7-3.0
      mg/L, 1.0-3.2 mg/L and 29-104 mg/L, respectively. The value of TP-based trophic
      level index indicated that Dongsha River reached severe eutrophication level; the
      maximum value of chroma and odor level reached 32 and 4, respectively. The main
      dissolved organic compounds included aromatic protein II, soluble microbiological
      metabolites, fulvic acids and humic acids. The blackening pollutants Fe, Mn, Cu
      and S2- were extensively detected, with significantly spatial differences along
      the river. Dimethyl sulfide, beta-ionone, 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin were
      identified to be the stinking pollutants. Their concentrations covered wide
      ranges, and even the lowest concentration value was thousands of times higher
      than its olfactory threshold. Correlation analysis indicated that in the
      overlaying water S2- was the key blackening pollutant, while beta-ionone and
      geosmin were the key stinking pollutants. Principal components analysis combining
      with the site survey revealed their potential sources. S2- was mainly associated
      with the decomposition of endogenous sulfur-containing organics; beta-ionone
      might be generated by the endogenous beta-carotene bio-conversion and the
      exogenous discharges, while geosmin might originate from the endogenous humus bio
      conversion and anthropic wastes. Furthermore, multi-metals in the sediment posed
      health risks to children, while dimethyl sulfide had non-cancer health risk for
      adults and children.

PMID- 28595128
TI  - Antenatal psychological and socioeconomic predictors of breastfeeding in a large
      community sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite much work to publicise the benefits of breastfeeding most
      women do not persist for the first 6months, as recommended by the WHO. Successful
      breastfeeding for 6months may depend on several factors, including perinatal
      mental health. We aimed to investigate the impact of antenatal depressive
      symptoms, attitudes towards breastfeeding and socio-demographic factors in
      predicting breastfeeding for 6months in a large community sample. METHODS: The
      sample was based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n=9479),
      a large-scale birth cohort. Breastfeeding was assessed at multiple time-points,
      from postnatal day 1 until 6months postnatal. Self-reported symptoms of maternal
      depression were assessed at 18 and 32weeks gestation and at 8weeks postnatal.
      Antenatal attitudes towards breastfeeding were assessed at 32weeks gestation.
      Antenatal, obstetric, psychosocial and socio-demographic variables were also
      assessed. RESULTS: Antenatal depressive symptoms at both 18 and 32weeks gestation
      were associated with decreased breastfeeding initiation and duration. However,
      the prediction of breastfeeding by these symptoms was confounded by socio
      demographic and psychosocial covariates. A positive antenatal attitude towards
      breastfeeding was the strongest predictor and was associated with a 20-30%
      increase in breastfeeding initiation and maintenance at all time points.
      CONCLUSION: This study highlights the wide range of factors that independently
      predict breastfeeding, and suggests that an intervention program to improve
      antenatal attitudes especially warrants investigation.

PMID- 28595129
TI  - Noisy EEG signals classification based on entropy metrics. Performance assessment
      using first and second generation statistics.
AB  - This paper evaluates the performance of first generation entropy metrics,
      featured by the well known and widely used Approximate Entropy (ApEn) and Sample
      Entropy (SampEn) metrics, and what can be considered an evolution from these,
      Fuzzy Entropy (FuzzyEn), in the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal classification
      context. The study uses the commonest artifacts found in real EEGs, such as white
      noise, and muscular, cardiac, and ocular artifacts. Using two different sets of
      publicly available EEG records, and a realistic range of amplitudes for
      interfering artifacts, this work optimises and assesses the robustness of these
      metrics against artifacts in class segmentation terms probability. The results
      show that the qualitative behaviour of the two datasets is similar, with SampEn
      and FuzzyEn performing the best, and the noise and muscular artifacts are the
      most confounding factors. On the contrary, there is a wide variability as regards
      initialization parameters. The poor performance achieved by ApEn suggests that
      this metric should not be used in these contexts.

PMID- 28595130
TI  - Cyclotorsion measurement using scleral blood vessels.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Measurements of the cyclotorsional movement of the eye
      are crucial in refractive surgery procedures. The planned surgery pattern may
      vary substantially during an operation because of the position and eye movements
      of the patient. Since these factors affect the outcome of an operation, eye
      registration methods are applied in order to compensate for errors. While the
      majority of applications are based on features of the iris, we propose a
      registration method which uses scleral blood vessels. Unlike previous offline
      techniques, the proposed method is applicable during surgery. METHODS: The
      sensitivity of the proposed registration method is tested on an artificial
      benchmark dataset involving five eye models and 46,305 instances of eye images.
      The cyclotorsion angles of the dataset vary between -10 degrees  and +10 degrees 
      at 1 degrees  intervals. Repeated measurements and ANOVA and Cochran's Q tests
      are applied in order to determine the significance of the proposed method.
      Additionally, a pilot study is carried out using data obtained from a
      commercially available device. The real data are validated using manual marking
      by an expert. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm that the proposed
      method produces a smaller error rate (mean = 0.44 +/- 0.41) compared to the
      existing method in [1] (mean = 0.64 +/- 0.58). A further conclusion is that
      feature extraction algorithms affect the results of the proposed method. The SIFT
      (mean = 0.74 +/- 0.78), SURF64 (mean = 0.56 +/- 0.46), SURF128 (mean = 0.57 +/-
      0.48) and ASIFT (mean = 0.29 +/- 0.25) feature extraction algorithms were
      examined; the ASIFT method was the most successful of these algorithms. Scleral
      blood vessels are observed to be useful as a feature extraction region due to
      their textural properties.

PMID- 28595131
TI  - A precision-guided MWNT mediated reawakening the sunk synergy in RAS for anti
      angiogenesis lung cancer therapy.
AB  - Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) with its versatility has exhibited tremendous
      superiority in drug delivery. Despite plenty of researches on MWNT based delivery
      systems, precision-guided assistances to maximize their profitable properties are
      still lacking in substantive progress. We developed here a dual-targeting and co
      delivery system based on MWNT for antiangiogenesis therapy in lung cancer which
      aimed at renin-angiotensin system (RAS) dysregulation by synergistically
      conducting angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and type 2 receptor (AT2R)
      pathway. In this work, iRGD peptide connected to polyethyleneimine (PEI) was
      linked to MWNT skeleton, accompanying with candesartan (CD) conjugated to MWNT
      mediated by cystamine (SS). The functionalized MWNT is assembled with plasmid AT2
      (pAT2) to form iRGD-PEI-MWNT-SS-CD/pAT2 complexes. iRGD and CD act as pilots for
      complexes to dually target symbolic alphanubeta3-integrin and AT1R both
      overexpressed on tumor angiogenic endothelium and lung cancer cell. CD as
      chemotherapy showed synergistic downregulation of VEGF when combining of pAT2 and
      efficiently inhibited angiogenesis. iRGD-PEI-MWNT-SS-CD/pAT2 complexes greatly
      appreciated drug activities by changing drug distribution and exhibited
      remarkable tumor growth suppression in A549 xenograft nude mice. Our work
      presents that such dual-targeting strategy highly improves the delivery
      performance of MWNT and open a new avenue for RAS related lung cancer therapy.

PMID- 28595132
TI  - Functionality based method for simultaneous isolation of rodent hepatic
      sinusoidal cells.
AB  - Chronic liver disease is the result of long term exposure to viruses or toxins
      such as alcohol, fat and drugs, and forms the basis for the development of liver
      fibrosis and primary liver cancer. In vitro and in vivo models are key to study
      the pathways involved in chronic liver disease and for the development of
      therapeutics. 3D co-culture systems are becoming the in vitro standard, which
      requires freshly isolated primary hepatic cells. We developed a novel isolation
      method to simultaneously isolate liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs),
      Kupffer cells (KCs) and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). The method exploits the
      scavenging activity of LSECs, the phagocytic capacity of KCs and the retinoid
      content of HSCs in vivo to enable direct processing by fluorescence-activated
      cell sorting without additional antibody binding and washing steps. UFACS3, for
      UV-FACS-based isolation of 3 non-parenchymal liver cell types, yields functional
      and pure LSECs (98 +/- 1%), KCs (98 +/- 1%) and HSCs (97 +/- 3%), with less hands
      on time from healthy and diseased rodent livers. This novel approach allows a
      fast and effective combined isolation of sinusoidal cells for further analysis.

PMID- 28595133
TI  - Nonclinical pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characterisation of somapacitan:
      A reversible non-covalent albumin-binding growth hormone.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Somapacitan is an albumin-binding growth hormone derivative intended
      for once weekly administration, currently in clinical development for treatment
      of adult as well as juvenile GH deficiency. Nonclinical in vivo pharmacological
      characterisation of somapacitan was performed to support the clinical trials.
      Here we present the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of somapacitan in
      rats, minipigs, and cynomolgus monkeys. METHODS: Pharmacokinetic studies
      investigating exposure, absorption, clearance, and bioavailability after single
      intravenous (i.v.) and subcutaneous (s.c.) administration were performed in all
      species. A dose-response study with five dose levels and a multiple dose
      pharmacodynamic study with four once weekly doses was performed in
      hypophysectomised rats to evaluate the effect of somapacitan on growth and IGF-I
      production. RESULTS: Pharmacokinetic profiles indicated first order absorption
      from the subcutaneous tissue after s.c. injections for somapacitan in all three
      species. Apparent terminal half-lives were 5-6h in rats, 10-12h in minipigs, and
      17-20h in monkeys. Somapacitan induced a dose-dependent growth in
      hypophysectomised rats (p<0.001) and an increase in plasma IGF-I levels in rats
      (p<0.01), minipigs (p<0.01), and cynomolgus monkeys (p<0.05) after single dose
      administration. Multiple once weekly dosing of somapacitan in hypophysectomised
      rats induced a step-wise increase in body weight with an initial linear phase the
      first 3-4days in each dosing interval (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The nonclinical
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of somapacitan showed similar
      pharmacokinetic properties, with no absorption-limited elimination, increased
      clearance and increased and sustained levels of IGF-I in plasma for up to 10days
      after a single dose administration in all three species. Somapacitan induced a
      dose-dependent increase in body weight and IGF-I levels in hypophysectomised
      rats. Multiple dosing of somapacitan in hypophysectomised rats suggested a linear
      growth for the first 3-4days in each weekly dosing interval, whereas daily hGH
      dosing showed linear growth for approximately two weeks before reaching a plateau
      level.

PMID- 28595134
TI  - Fatigue-induced dissociation between rate of force development and maximal force
      across repeated rapid contractions.
AB  - We examined whether the presence of fatigue induced by prolonged running
      influenced the time courses of force generating capacities throughout a series of
      intermittent rapid contractions. Thirteen male amateur runners performed a set of
      15 intermittent isometric rapid contractions of the knee extensor muscles, (3s/5s
      on/off) the day before (PRE) and immediately after (POST) a half marathon. The
      maximal voluntary contraction force, rate of force development (RFDpeak), and
      their ratio (relative RFDpeak) were calculated. At POST, considering the first
      (out of 15) repetition, the maximal force and RFDpeak decreased (p<0.0001) at the
      same extent (by 22+/-6% and 24+/-22%, respectively), resulting in unchanged
      relative RFDpeak (p=0.6). Conversely, the decline of RFDpeak throughout the
      repetitions was more pronounced at POST (p=0.02), thus the decline of relative
      RFDpeak was more pronounced (p=0.007) at POST (-25+/-13%) than at PRE (-3+/-13%).
      The main finding of this study was that the fatigue induced by a half-marathon
      caused a more pronounced impairment of rapid compared to maximal force in the
      subsequent intermittent protocol. Thus, the fatigue-induced impairment in rapid
      muscle contractions may have a greater effect on repeated, rather than on single,
      attempts of maximal force production.

PMID- 28595135
TI  - Soft nanocomposites of gelatin and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) nanoparticles for dual
      drug release.
AB  - We developed a nanocomposite gel composed of gelatin and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)
      polymeric nanoparticles (PNP) to be used as an injectable gel for the
      contemporaneous, dual sustained release of bioactive molecules. The hydrogel
      matrix was formed by a very simple process, using either the physical gelation of
      gelatin or the natural enzyme transglutaminase to covalently cross-link the
      gelatin chains in the presence of embedded PNP. Oscillatory rheological
      measurements showed that the addition of the PNP induced an increase in the
      storage modulus compared to pure gelatin gels, for both physical and chemical
      gels. Micrographs from scanning electron microscopy revealed that the presence of
      PNP disrupted the native structure of the gelatin chains in the hydrogel matrix.
      Dual drug encapsulation was achieved with curcumin (CM) in the PNP and naproxen
      sodium(NS) in the gelatin matrix. In vitro release studies showed that the
      hydrogel matrix acts both as a physical and chemical barrier, delaying the
      diffusion of the drugs. An initial burst release was observed in the first hours
      of the measurement, and around 90% was released on the third day for naproxen
      sodium. In free PNP, 82% of curcumin was relased after four days, while when PNP
      were embedded in the gelatin matrix only 40% was released over the same time
      period. Overall, these simple, sustainable soft nanocomposites show potential as
      an injectable co-sustained drug release system.

PMID- 28595136
TI  - Janus silver mesoporous silica nanobullets with synergistic antibacterial
      functions.
AB  - In this study, we exploited a one-pot method to fabricate cetyltrimethylammonium
      bromide (CTAB)-loaded Janus silver mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Janus Ag
      MSNs@CTAB). These bullet-like nanoparticles had a silver head (80nm in diameter)
      attached to a mesoporous silica stick (200-300nm in length). The CTAB-loaded
      nanobullets exhibited a marked affinity for the bacterial cell surface and the
      simultaneously sustained release behavior of CTAB and silver ions. The minimum
      inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of Janus Ag-MSNs@CTAB were determined to be
      10MUg/mL and 20MUg/mL for E. coli and S. Aureus, respectively. Importantly, Janus
      Ag-MSNs@CTAB provided a single-particle nanoplatform with a synergistic effect
      against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. A thorough investigation
      indicated that CTAB induces a dramatic loss of bacterial membrane integrity,
      which facilitated the internalization of silver. This report described an
      efficient and convenient method of synthesizing Janus silver mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles, and these nanobullets show promising potential in biomedical
      applications.

PMID- 28595137
TI  - Health-related quality of life in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer,
      association with systemic inflammatory response and RAS and BRAF mutation status.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cetuximab on
      health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the NORDIC-VII trial on metastatic
      colorectal cancer (mCRC), and to assess HRQoL in relation to RAS and BRAF
      mutation status and inflammatory biomarkers. PATIENT AND METHODS: HRQoL was
      assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer
      Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) at baseline, after every fourth
      cycle of chemotherapy, and at the end of treatment. HRQoL during 12 cycles of
      chemotherapy was evaluated over time, compared between treatment arms, and
      assessed for association with tumour mutation status and inflammatory markers.
      RESULTS: QLQ-C30 was completed by 512 patients (90%) before start of treatment.
      HRQoL variables were well balanced across treatment arms at baseline, and no
      statistically significant differences during treatment were seen. Patients with
      BRAF-mutated tumours reported poorer HRQoL at baseline and subsequent time points
      than patients with RAS-mutated or RAS/BRAF wild-type tumours. Patients with high
      serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) or C-reactive protein (CRP) had markedly impaired
      HRQoL compared to patients with normal levels. There was a statistically
      significant association between reduction in IL-6 and CRP levels and improvement
      in HRQoL during treatment from baseline to cycle 4. CONCLUSION: The addition of
      cetuximab to chemotherapy did not affect HRQoL in mCRC patients. Patients with
      BRAF-mutated tumours have both a worse prognosis and a poor HRQoL. The
      associations between levels of systemic inflammatory markers and reduced HRQoL
      suggest that the patients might benefit from anti-inflammatory treatment.

PMID- 28595138
TI  - Association between distance to nearest supermarket and provision of fruits and
      vegetables in English nurseries.
AB  - With 796,500 places available for children in England, pre-school nurseries could
      serve as an important setting for population-wide dietary intervention. It is
      critical to understand the determinants of healthy food provision in this
      setting, which may include access to food stores. This study examined the
      association between objective, GIS-derived supermarket proximity and fruit and
      vegetable serving frequency, using data from 623 English nurseries. Overall, 116
      (18%) nurseries served fruits and vegetables infrequently (<2-3 times/week), but
      provision differed by supermarket proximity. In adjusted multivariable regression
      models, nurseries farthest from their nearest supermarket (Q5, 1.7-19.8km) had
      2.38 (95% CI 1.01-5.63) greater odds of infrequent provision. Our results suggest
      that supermarket access may be important for nurseries in meeting fruit and
      vegetable provision guidelines. We advance a growing body of international
      literature, for the first time linking the food practices of institutions to
      their neighbourhood food retail context.

PMID- 28595140
TI  - Conditioning task switching behavior.
AB  - Most reward studies focus on the reinforcement of simple tasks or stimulus
      response rules. However, recent theories (re)emphasized that cognitive control
      representations should adhere to the same reinforcement learning principles as do
      more basic stimulus and response representations. This study focused on the act
      of switching between different tasks, and investigated the effects of
      disproportionally rewarding task alternations or repetitions in a cued task
      switching paradigm on subsequent voluntary task switching behavior (i.e., when
      participants could choose which task to perform). The results show that subjects
      who were more rewarded for task alternations (relative to those more rewarded for
      repetitions) showed more task switching behavior. Moreover, this increased task
      switching behavior also came with a cost, with participants more rewarded for
      task repetitions showing a better task focus (i.e., smaller task-rule congruency
      effects). These results demonstrate that reward can reinforce more abstract
      control representations, beyond low-level stimulus or response representations.

PMID- 28595139
TI  - Time-dependent negative bias in plasma ammonia samples in a clinical setting.

PMID- 28595141
TI  - The interplay of language and visual perception in working memory.
AB  - How do perception and language interact to form the representations that guide
      our thoughts and actions over the short-term? Here, we provide a first
      examination of this question by investigating the role of verbal labels in a
      continuous visual working memory (WM) task. Across four experiments, participants
      retained in memory the continuous color of a set of dots which were presented
      sequentially (Experiments 1-3) or simultaneously (Experiment 4). At test, they
      reproduced the colors of all dots using a color wheel. During stimulus
      presentation participants were required to either label the colors (color
      labeling) or to repeat "bababa" aloud (articulatory suppression), hence prompting
      or preventing verbal labeling, respectively. We tested four competing hypotheses
      of the labeling effect: (1) labeling generates a verbal representation that
      overshadows the visual representation; (2) labeling yields a verbal
      representation in addition to the visual one; (3) the labels function as a
      retrieval cue, adding distinctiveness to items in memory; and (4) labels activate
      visual categorical representations in long-term memory. Collectively, our
      experiments show that labeling does not overshadow the visual input; it augments
      it. Mixture modeling showed that labeling increased the quantity and quality of
      information in WM. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that labeling
      activates visual long-term categorical representations which help in reducing the
      noise in the internal representations of the visual stimuli in WM.

PMID- 28595142
TI  - Changing word usage predicts changing word durations in New Zealand English.
AB  - This paper investigates the emergence of lexicalized effects of word usage on
      word duration by looking at parallel changes in usage and duration over 130years
      in New Zealand English. Previous research has found that frequent words are
      shorter, informative words are longer, and words in utterance-final position are
      also longer. It has also been argued that some of these patterns are not simply
      online adjustments, but are incorporated into lexical representations. While
      these studies tend to focus on the synchronic aspects of such patterns, our
      corpus shows that word-usage patterns and word durations are not static over
      time. Many words change in duration and also change with respect to frequency,
      informativity and likelihood of occurring utterance-finally. Analysis of changing
      word durations over this time period shows substantial patterns of co-adaptation
      between word usage and word durations. Words that are increasing in frequency are
      becoming shorter. Words that are increasing/decreasing in informativity show a
      change in the same direction in duration (e.g. increasing informativity is
      associated with increasing duration). And words that are increasingly appearing
      utterance-finally are lengthening. These effects exist independently of the local
      effects of the predictors. For example, words that are increasing utterance
      finally lengthen in all positions, including utterance-medially. We show that
      these results are compatible with a number of different views about lexical
      representations, but they cannot be explained without reference to a production
      perception loop that allows speakers to update their representations dynamically
      on the basis of their experience.

PMID- 28595143
TI  - Brominated and phosphate flame retardants (FRs) in indoor dust from different
      microenvironments: Implications for human exposure via dust ingestion and dermal
      contact.
AB  - Indoor dust has been widely used to monitor flame retardants (FRs) in indoor
      environment, but most studies only focused on floor dust. In the present study,
      FRs were examined in indoor dust from different locations. Dust from air
      conditioner (AC) filters, beddings, floor, and windows in bedrooms, and dust from
      AC filters, printer table surface, computer table surface, floor, and windows in
      offices were collected, respectively. Polybrominated diphenyl ether congener 209
      (BDE 209) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were the most abundant brominated
      flame retardants (BFRs), and tris(chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tris(1,3
      dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) were the
      most abundant phosphate flame retardants (PFRs). In bedrooms, the AC filter dust
      had the highest median levels of BDE 209 (536 ng/g) and DBDPE (2720 ng/g), while
      bed dust had the highest median levels of SigmaPFRs (2750 ng/g) among dust
      samples. In offices, printer table dust had higher median levels of BDE 209 (1330
      ng/g), DBDPE (8470 ng/g), and SigmaPFRs (11,000 ng/g) than those in other dust
      samples. The high dust ingestion values of BDE 209, DBDPE, and individual PFR
      were 0.28, 1.20, and <0.01-0.32 ng/kg bw/day and 7.37, 31.2, and <0.01-4.54 ng/kg
      bw/day for BDE 209, DBDPE, and individual PFR for adults and toddlers,
      respectively. The high dermal exposure values of individual PFR during sleeping
      were <0.01-0.23 and <0.01-0.36 ng/kg bw/day for adults and toddlers,
      respectively. More human exposure pathways other than dust ingestion should be
      considered, such as the dermal contact with beddings and furniture.

PMID- 28595144
TI  - 37Cl/35Cl isotope ratio analysis in perchlorate by ion chromatography/multi
      collector -ICPMS: Analytical performance and implication for biodegradation
      studies.
AB  - In the present study we propose a new analytical method for 37Cl/35Cl analysis in
      perchlorate by Ion Chromatography(IC) coupled to Multicollector Inductively
      Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICPMS). The accuracy of the analytical
      method was validated by analysis of international perchlorate standard materials
      USGS-37 and USGS -38; analytical precision better than +/-0.40/00 was achieved.
      37Cl/35Cl isotope ratio analysis in perchlorate during laboratory biodegradation
      experiment with microbial cultures enriched from the contaminated soil in Israel
      resulted in isotope enrichment factor epsilon37Cl = -13.3 +/- 10/00, which falls
      in the range reported previously for perchlorate biodegradation by pure microbial
      cultures. The proposed analytical method may significantly simplify the procedure
      for isotope analysis of perchlorate which is currently applied in environmental
      studies.

PMID- 28595145
TI  - Potential value of phosphate compounds in enhancing immobilization and reducing
      bioavailability of mixed heavy metal contaminants in shooting range soil.
AB  - Shooting range soils contain mixed heavy metal contaminants including lead (Pb),
      cadmium (Cd), and zinc (Zn). Phosphate (P) compounds have been used to immobilize
      these metals, particularly Pb, thereby reducing their bioavailability. However,
      research on immobilization of Pb's co-contaminants showed the relative importance
      of soluble and insoluble P compounds, which is critical in evaluating the overall
      success of in situ stabilization practice in the sustainable remediation of mixed
      heavy metal contaminated soils. Soluble synthetic P fertilizer (diammonium
      phosphate; DAP) and reactive (Sechura; SPR) and unreactive (Christmas Island;
      CPR) natural phosphate rocks (PR) were tested for Cd, Pb and Zn immobilization
      and later their mobility and bioavailability in a shooting range soil. The
      addition of P compounds resulted in the immobilization of Cd, Pb and Zn by 1.56
      76.2%, 3.21-83.56%, and 2.31-74.6%, respectively. The reactive SPR significantly
      reduced Cd, Pb and Zn leaching while soluble DAP increased their leachate
      concentrations. The SPR reduced the bioaccumulation of Cd, Pb and Zn in
      earthworms by 7.13-23.4% and 14.3-54.6% in comparison with earthworms in the DAP
      and control treatment, respectively. Bioaccessible Cd, Pb and Zn concentrations
      as determined using a simplified bioaccessibility extraction test showed higher
      long-term stability of P-immobilized Pb and Zn than Cd. The differential effect
      of P-induced immobilization between P compounds and metals is due to the
      variation in the solubility characteristics of P compounds and nature of metal
      phosphate compounds formed. Therefore, Pb and Zn immobilization by P compounds is
      an effective long-term remediation strategy for mixed heavy metal contaminated
      soils.

PMID- 28595146
TI  - Removal of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in aqueous solution by pulsed corona
      discharge treatment: Effect of different water constituents, degradation pathway
      and toxicity assay.
AB  - A multiple pin-plane corona discharge reactor was used to generate plasma for the
      degradation of 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) from the aqueous solution.
      The 2,4-D of concentration 1 mg/L was completely removed within 6 min of plasma
      treatment. Almost complete mineralization was achieved after the treatment time
      of 14 min for a 2,4-D concentration of 10 mg/L. Effects of different water
      constituents such as carbonates, nitrate, sulphate, chloride ions, natural
      organic matter (humic acids) and pH on 2,4-D degradation was studied. A
      significant antagonistic effect of carbonate and humic acid was observed,
      whereas, the effects of other ions were insignificant. A higher first order rate
      constant of 1.73 min-1 was observed, which was significantly decreased in the
      presence of carbonate ions and humic acids. Also, a higher degradation of 2,4-D
      was observed in acidic pH conditions. Different 2,4-D intermediates were detected
      and the degradation pathway of 2,4-D in plasma treatment process was suggested.
      The toxicity of 10 mg/L 2,4-D was completely eradicated after 10 min of plasma
      treatment.

PMID- 28595147
TI  - Predictors of treatment response and drop out in the Treatment of Early-Onset
      Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (TEOSS) study.
AB  - The Treatment of Early-Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (TEOSS) compared
      the efficacy of risperidone, olanzapine, and molindone over 8 weeks in 119 youths
      age 8-19 years with early-onset schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. From
      this large dataset, we examined predictors of treatment response and drop out
      using stepwise regression and receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC)
      analysis. Treatment response was defined as having both a >= 20% improvement in
      Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score and a Clinical Global
      Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) score < 3. More severe baseline symptoms, having a
      history of being in an early education program, and previous prescription of a
      mood stabilizer increased the likelihood of responding to treatment. Anhedonia
      and poor community functioning predicted a reduction in symptom severity on the
      PANSS. Random assignment to different antipsychotic treatment was not predictive
      of outcome. Parental report of aggressive behaviors at baseline and being African
      American were associated with a greater likelihood of drop out. Our results
      suggest youth with more severe psychotic symptoms are most likely to benefit from
      treatment with antipsychotics and that aggressive youth may require additional
      support to improve treatment adherence. Further investigation is needed to
      understand potentially modifiable predictors of response like early education
      programs.

PMID- 28595148
TI  - Psychological strain and suicidal ideation: A comparison between Chinese and US
      college students.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was to explore the relation between psychological strains
      and suicidal ideation among Chinese and American college students. Another
      secondary purpose of the study was to examine the reliability of the
      psychological strains scales (PPS: Ref) one more time in China and the United
      States in college populations. METHOD: Samples of college students were randomly
      recruited from China and United States. All of 529 college students (aged 17-27,
      68.9% female) completed self-report assessments of psychological strains
      (Psychological Strain Scale), suicidal ideation (Beck Scale for Suicide
      Ideation), and indicators of psychological well-being (e.g., depression, anxiety,
      and stress). RESULTS: Empirical results show that Psychological Strain Scales
      (PSS) has a good reliability. Chinese college students reported higher suicide
      ideation scores than American students whereas there was no statistical
      difference in psychological strains. Psychological strains and, depression,
      anxiety, and stress, were positively related to suicidal ideation in both
      countries. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that psychological
      strain can significantly predict suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      provide support for the Strain Theory of Suicide for both Chinese and American
      college students and some measures can be taken to reduce psychological strains
      in students. However, future work could extend these findings by utilizing a
      longitudinal design to determine whether psychological strains are in fact
      antecedents, and not simply correlates, of suicide ideation.

PMID- 28595149
TI  - Evidence of the paradoxical effect of social network support: A study among
      Filipino domestic workers in China.
AB  - Labor migrants are at an increased risk for poor mental health. Post-migration
      stressors contribute significantly to this risk. Social network supports are
      vitally important to protect health but little is known about the role of social
      network supports among labor migrants. The current study evaluated the role of
      migration stressors on poor mental health among Filipino female domestic workers
      (FDW) and whether family and friend social network support (SNS) modified this
      relationship. Data were collected from 261 FDWs in Macau, China from May to
      September 2013. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to test for direct
      and moderating effects of social networks on psychological distress. Post
      migration stress was associated with increased anxiety, depression, somatization,
      and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. SNS from family was not associated
      with the four psychological symptoms nor did it modify the association between
      stress and these symptoms. SNS from friends was positively associated with these
      symptoms, and significantly moderated the relationship between stress and these
      symptoms. Counterintuitive to the known buffering effects of SNS, greater SNS was
      associated with greater psychological symptoms among FDWs exposed to post
      migration stressors. The present findings suggest that reliance on SNS to cope
      with post-migration stressors may worsen psychological distress.

PMID- 28595151
TI  - Ionic liquids for low-tension oil recovery processes: Phase behavior tests.
AB  - Chemical flooding with surfactants for reducing oil-brine interfacial tensions
      (IFTs) to mobilize residual oil trapped by capillary forces has a great potential
      for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Surface-active ionic liquids (SAILs) constitute
      a class of surfactants that has recently been proposed for this application. For
      the first time, SAILs or their blends with an anionic surfactant are studied by
      determining equilibrium phase behavior for systems of about unit water-oil ratio
      at various temperatures. The test fluids were model alkane and aromatic oils,
      NaCl brine, and synthetic hard seawater (SW). Patterns of microemulsions observed
      are those of classical phase behavior (Winsor I-III-II transition) known to
      correlate with low IFTs. The two anionic room-temperature SAILs tested were made
      from common anionic surfactants by substituting imidazolium or phosphonium
      cations for sodium. These two anionic and two cationic SAILs were found to have
      little potential for EOR when tested individually. Thus, also tested were blends
      of an anionic internal olefin sulfonate (IOS) surfactant with one of the anionic
      SAILs and both cationic SAILs. Most promising for EOR was the anionic/cationic
      surfactant blend of IOS with [C12mim]Br in SW. A low equilibrium IFT of ~2.10
      3mN/m was measured between n-octane and an aqueous solution having the optimal
      blend ratio for this system at 25 degrees C.

PMID- 28595152
TI  - An unexplored remarkable PNIPAM-osmolyte interaction study: An integrated
      experimental and simulation approach.
AB  - We investigate the aggregation and collapse of water soluble amphiphilic polymer,
      poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), in aqueous solution containing variable
      amount of trehalose, sucrose and sorbitol. The effect of these osmolytes on the
      coil to globular transition of the PNIPAM is studied by the use of comprehensive
      biophysical techniques like UV-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy,
      dynamic light scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The
      polarization induced by these additives promotes the collapsed state of PNIPAM at
      much lower temperature as compared to the pure PNIPAM in aqueous solution. The
      decrease in the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the polymer with
      increase in the concentration of osmolyte is due to the significant changes in
      the interactions among polymer, osmolyte and water. The high affinity of these
      additives toward water destabilize the hydrated macromolecular structure via
      preferential interactions. To investigate the molecular mechanism behind the
      decrease in the LCST of the polymer in presence of the osmolytes, a molecular
      dynamics (MD) study was performed. The MD simulation has clearly shown the
      reduction in hydration shell of the polymer after interacting with the osmolyte.
      MD study revealed significant changes in polymer conformation because of osmolyte
      interaction and strongly supports the experimental observation of polymer phase
      transition at temperature lower than typical LCST. The driving force for
      concomitant sharp configurational transition has been attributed to the rupture
      of hydrogen bonds between water and polymer and to the hydrophobic association of
      the polymer. The results of the present study can be used in the bioresponsive
      smart PNIPAM-based devices as its LCST is close to body temperature. This study
      provides an alternative method to tune the LCST of the widely accepted model
      PNIPAM polymer.

PMID- 28595150
TI  - Psychotic-like experiences and correlation with childhood trauma and other socio
      demographic factors: A cross-sectional survey in adolescence and early adulthood
      in China.
AB  - Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in adolescence are found to be risk factors for
      later mental disorders. Previous research has also found that childhood trauma
      has a positive correlation with mental health problems. However, few studies have
      focused on the relationship between them, especially in adolescence and early
      adulthood. A total of 9122 students (age between 10 and 23.3) were surveyed and
      assessed with the positive and depressive subscales of the Community Assessment
      of Psychic Experiences and the Trauma History Questionnaire. A total of 20.7%
      students experienced frequent PLEs, 17.5% had frequent delusional experiences,
      and 7.6% had frequent hallucinatory experiences. Only a small portion of this
      sample experienced frequent PLEs, associated with more types of PLEs, more
      distress, and more depressive experiences. Several socio-demographic factors were
      associated with frequent PLEs in this sample, which could be further examined in
      future prevention studies. Students with frequent PLEs experienced significantly
      higher impact from trauma events, both at the time of the events and in the
      present, indicating a possible reciprocal effect between childhood trauma and
      PLEs. The impact of childhood trauma played an important role in the relationship
      between childhood trauma and PLEs.

PMID- 28595153
TI  - Preparation and characteristics of graphene oxide-blending PVDF nanohybrid
      membranes and their applications for hazardous dye adsorption and rejection.
AB  - Graphene oxide (GO) and lithium chloride (LiCl) were introduced into poly
      (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes prepared using the immersion precipitation
      technique. The hydrophilicity, water flux, X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta
      potential, SEM and AFM images of membranes were investigated. By adjusting the
      content of GO from 0wt% to 0.9 wt%, the water flux of PVDF/GO/LiCl nanohybrid
      membranes varied from 48.4L/m2h to 61.90L/m2h at 100kPa. Because of the
      synergistic effects of GO and LiCl particles, the surface free energy (|DeltaGs|)
      of M3 (0.5wt% GO) membrane was highest (103.50mJ/m2), indicating that the
      hydrophilicity of M3 membrane was highest. Rhodamine B aqueous solution was
      firstly used to determine the adsorption and desorption ability of membranes.
      After 20 cycles, the decolorization rates and flux recovery ratios of nanohybrid
      membranes exceeded 80% and 78.2% respectively, and the Rhodamine B rejection of
      M3 membrane was maximum (67.8%) at 100kPa, which illustrated that nanohybrid
      membranes can be reused as a better ultrafiltration and dye recovery material,
      and the characteristic of M3 membrane was best.

PMID- 28595154
TI  - A detailed exploration of intermolecular interactions in 4-(4
      dimethylaminobenzylideneamino)-N-(5-methyl-3-isoxazolyl)benzenesulfonamide and
      related Schiff bases: Crystal structure, spectral studies, DFT methods, Pixel
      energies and Hirshfeld surface analysis.
AB  - The Schiff base of the title has been synthesized and its crystal structure
      determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound was characterized by
      IR, Raman, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and electronic absorption spectra. DFT calculations
      provide the quantum chemical basis for the observed molecular conformation. A
      study of intermolecular interactions of the title compound is compared with seven
      other closely related structures and reveals that molecules in most of the
      compounds are linked by a cooperative effect of strong and weak hydrogen bonds,
      CH...pi, and pi...pi stacking interactions, and also lp...pi contacts. Lattice
      energy calculations indicate that the dispersion component is the major
      contribution, with the coulombic term playing a significant role in the total
      energy. Interaction energies for molecular pairs involving NH...N bonds indicate
      a dominant contribution to packing stabilization coming from coulomb component.
      Hirshfeld surfaces and 2D-fingerprint plots allowed us to visualize different
      intermolecular contacts and its relative contributions to total surface in each
      compound. The analysis of electrostatic potential (ESP) maps correlates well with
      the computed energies providing evidences on the dominant electrostatic nature of
      NH...N and NH...O interactions.

PMID- 28595155
TI  - Multielectron dissociative ionization of methane and formaldehyde molecules with
      optimally tailored intense femtosecond laser pulses.
AB  - The multielectron dissociative ionization of CH4 and CH2O molecules has been
      investigated using optimum convolution of different dual tailored short laser
      pulses. Based on three dimensional molecular dynamics simulations and TDDFT
      approach, the dissociation probability is enhanced by designing the dual chirped
      chirped laser pulses and chirped-ordinary laser pulses for formaldehyde molecule.
      However, it is interesting to notice that the sensitivity of enhanced
      dissociation probability into different tailored laser pulses is not significant
      for methane molecule. In this presented modifications, time variation of bond
      length, velocity, time dependent electron localization function and evolution of
      the efficient occupation states are presented to analyze the time evolution of
      molecular dynamics. This work is proved to be a potential way to reduce the
      controlling costs with a currently available pulse shaping technology.

PMID- 28595156
TI  - Self-assembly of exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets and layered
      double hydroxide (LDH): Towards reducing fire hazards of epoxy.
AB  - In present study, LDH/MoS2 hybrids were facilely prepared by self-assembly of
      exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets and LDH via electrostatic force. The structure and
      morphology of the LDH/MoS2 hybrids were characterized and then introduced into
      epoxy for reducing its fire hazards. Compared with single MoS2, LDH/MoS2 hybrids
      showed a more homogeneous dispersion in the epoxy matrix and no obvious
      agglomerates were observed. Compared with MoS2, the addition of LDH/MoS2 hybrids
      endowed more excellent fire resistance to epoxy matrix, which was reflected by
      the significantly reduced peak heat release rate, total heat release and total
      smoke production. A rational flame retardant mode of action for LDH/MoS2 hybrids
      was proposed based on the analysis of pyrolysis fragments and char residues.

PMID- 28595157
TI  - Fabrication of Fe-doped birnessite with tunable electron spin magnetic moments
      for the degradation of tetracycline under microwave irradiation.
AB  - Manganese oxides exhibit an excellent microwave absorption performance that could
      increase the degradation efficiency of organic pollutants in contaminated water.
      Incorporation of various transition metals into manganese oxides could bring
      about changes in their crystal structure and improve their physicochemical
      performance. In this work, a better microwave absorption material was obtained by
      adjusting and controlling the electron spin magnetic moments of Fe-doped
      birnessite. The powder X-ray diffraction, inductive coupled plasma emission
      spectrometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and network analyses were
      performed to characterize the crystal structure, chemical composition, valence
      and content of the elements, and the microwave absorption performance of the
      obtained samples. Doping Fe into birnessite resulted in little changes to their
      crystal structure. The narrow energy spectrum of Fe (2p) revealed that the doped
      Fe was in the form of Fe (III) in birnessite structure. As the content of Fe
      (III) increased, the content of Mn (III) decreased accordingly. Substitution of
      Mn (III) by Fe (III) in the birnessite crystal lattice, confirmed by combining
      the characterization analyses with structure refinements for each doped sample,
      increased the overall numbers of unpaired electrons in birnessite structure,
      resulting in a higher electron spin magnetic moment and better microwave
      response. Compared with the non-doped sample, Fe-doped birnessite improved the
      efficiency of tetracycline degradation, which proved that Fe-doped birnessite
      indeed had better response towards the microwave, and thus, could be utilized for
      better removal of organic pollutants under microwave irradiation.

PMID- 28595158
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of a composite polymeric material including
      chelating agent for adsorption of uranyl ions.
AB  - In this study, a versatile polymeric material was synthesized by grafting Calcon
      Carboxylic Acid (CCA), which is known as a chelating agent for some metal ions,
      to polyacrylamide (PAA) structure. Thus, the adsorptive properties of inert PAA
      polymer were significantly improved owing to this procedure. The obtained new
      material, CCA-g-PAA, was characterized by point zero charge (PZC), FTIR, SEM, and
      UV-VIS-NIR analysis. The adsorption properties of new material were investigated
      comprehensively and experimental variables were optimized such as pH,
      temperature, time, and concentration. Experimental data were evaluated by using
      theoretical adsorption models. The maximum adsorption capacity of material was
      calculated as 0.079molkg-1 by considering Langmuir equation. The constants
      calculated from Freundlich and DR model were found as 6.98 and 0.441,
      respectively. Adsorption kinetic was also explained with pseudo second order and
      intra particular diffusion models. Experimental studies were showed that
      adsorption was endothermic and occurred spontaneously. The developed material has
      important advantages such as reusability, cost-effective synthesis procedure,
      high adsorption capacity, and selectivity.

PMID- 28595159
TI  - Magnetically separable sulfur-doped SnFe2O4/graphene nanohybrids for effective
      photocatalytic purification of wastewater under visible light.
AB  - In this report, magnetically recoverable sulfur-doped SnFe2O4/graphene (S-SFO/GR)
      nanohybrids have been successfully developed via a facile solvothermal method.
      The characterizations on the structural, morphology, and optical properties of
      the nanohybrids indicate that S-SFO particles are successfully embedded on the GR
      nanosheets. The photocatalytic activity has been evaluated by photocatalytic
      degradation of chlorotetracycline under visible light irradiation. Among the
      composites with various mass ratios, the quasi-first-order rate constant of the
      nanohybrids formed with 9wt% S in SFO and 15wt% GR (9S-SFO/GR-15) can reach as
      high as 1.83min-1, which is much higher than that of SFO (0.68min-1) and SFO/GR
      (0.91min-1), confirming the important role of S and GR for the photocatalytic
      process. The combination of the three components of S, SFO, and GR has enhanced
      the visible light absorption capability and inhibited the recombination of
      photogenerated electron-hole. The 9S-SFO/GR-15 nanohybrids can be recovered
      easily by a magnet and reused for five times with remained photocatalytic
      efficiency about 70%. A possible catalytic mechanism explaining the efficient
      photocatalytic performances of the prepared nanohybrids has been proposed.

PMID- 28595160
TI  - Redox signaling during hypoxia in mammalian cells.
AB  - Hypoxia triggers a wide range of protective responses in mammalian cells, which
      are mediated through transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. Redox
      signaling in cells by reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide
      (H2O2) occurs through the reversible oxidation of cysteine thiol groups,
      resulting in structural modifications that can change protein function
      profoundly. Mitochondria are an important source of ROS generation, and studies
      reveal that superoxide generation by the electron transport chain increases
      during hypoxia. Other sources of ROS, such as the NAD(P)H oxidases, may also
      generate oxidant signals in hypoxia. This review considers the growing body of
      work indicating that increased ROS signals during hypoxia are responsible for
      regulating the activation of protective mechanisms in diverse cell types.

PMID- 28595162
TI  - Rotator cuff tendinopathy alters the muscle activity onset and kinematics of
      scapula.
AB  - Athletes with rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathy demonstrate an aberrant pattern of
      scapular motion which might relate to deficits in the scapular muscles. This
      study aimed to determine whether alteration in scapular kinematics is associated
      with deficits in the activity onset of scapular muscles. Forty-three male
      volleyball players (17 asymptomatic and 26 with RC tendinopathy) joined the
      study. Three-dimensional scapular kinematics was quantified using an acromial
      marker cluster method. The activity onset of the upper (UT), middle (MT), and
      lower trapezius (LT), and serratus anterior (SA) during arm abduction was
      assessed with electromyography. Athletes with RC tendinopathy demonstrated less
      scapular upward rotation (6.6+/-2.3 vs. 8.2+/-1.1 degrees , p=0.021) in the early
      phase of shoulder abduction from 0 degrees  to 30 degrees  when compared to
      asymptomatic athletes. The tendinopathy group had delayed activity onset of LT
      (14.1+/-31.4ms vs. 74.4+/-45.1ms, p<0.001) and SA (-44.9+/-26.0ms vs. 23.0+/
      25.2ms, p<0.001) relative to UT when compared to the asymptomatic group. In
      asymptomatic athletes, earlier activity onset of MT and LT relative to UT was
      associated with more scapular upward rotation during 0-30 degrees  of abduction
      (r=0.665, p=0.021) and 30-60 degrees  of abduction (r=0.680, p=0.015),
      respectively. Our findings showed the control of the scapular upward rotation is
      related to the activity onset of the scapular muscles in athletes.

PMID- 28595163
TI  - A new method for the localization of the innervation zone based on monopolar
      surface-detected potentials.
AB  - In monopolar electrode configuration, the shape of the motor unit potential (MUP)
      undergoes essential morphologic changes with increasing distance from the
      innervation zone. In particular, the rising phase of the MUP slows down and
      becomes longer as the electrode is moved further from the innervation zone. Based
      on this, it is hypothesized that the maximum slope of the rising phase of a
      monopolar MUP (SlopeMAX) would reach its highest value at the innervation zone.
      Herein, we sought to determine whether the location of the innervation zone
      coincides with the position in the muscle of the monopolar MUP with highest
      SlopeMAX and whether new criteria for the localization of the innervation region
      can be proposed based on the SlopeMAX of monopolar potentials. Multichannel
      surface (13*5 electrode array) and intramuscular (wire electrodes inserted with
      needles of lengths 15 and 25mm) EMG signals were concurrently recorded in
      monopolar configuration from the biceps brachii muscle of 10 healthy subjects.
      The spatial distribution of monopolar and bipolar MUPs along the fibers'
      direction were obtained by spike-triggered averaging of the surface EMG. We found
      that the monopolar MUP with steepest rising phase (i.e., highest SlopeMAX) was
      located either just above or at half of the inter-electrode distance from the
      innervation zone. High levels of agreement (94-98%) were found between the
      position of the innervation zone assessed with the SlopeMAX criteria of monopolar
      potentials and the position identified using the phase reversal criteria of
      bipolar potentials. The present results legitimize the use of compound muscle
      action potentials (M waves) to localize the innervation zone: this location would
      correspond to the electrode position which yielded the monopolar M wave with
      highest SlopeMAX.

PMID- 28595164
TI  - Imaging and analysis of individual cavitation microbubbles around dental
      ultrasonic scalers.
AB  - Cavitation is a potentially effective and less damaging method of removing
      biofilm from biomaterial surfaces. The aim of this study is to characterise
      individual microbubbles around ultrasonic scaler tips using high speed imaging
      and image processing. This information will provide improved understanding on the
      disruption of dental biofilm and give insights into how the instruments can be
      optimised for ultrasonic cleaning. Individual cavitation microbubbles around
      ultrasonic scalers were analysed using high speed recordings up to a million
      frames per second with image processing of the bubble movement. The radius and
      rate of bubble growth together with the collapse was calculated by tracking
      multiple points on bubbles over time. The tracking method to determine bubble
      speed demonstrated good inter-rater reliability (intra class correlation
      coefficient: 0.993) and can therefore be a useful method to apply in future
      studies. The bubble speed increased over its oscillation cycle and a maximum of
      27ms-1 was recorded during the collapse phase. The maximum bubble radii ranged
      from 40 to 80MUm. Bubble growth was observed when the ultrasonic scaler tip
      receded from an area and similarly bubble collapse was observed when the tip
      moved towards an area, corresponding to locations of low pressure around the
      scaler tip. Previous work shows that this cavitation is involved in biofilm
      removal. Future experimental work can be based on these findings by using the
      protocols developed to experimentally analyse cavitation around various clinical
      instruments and comparing with theoretical calculations. This will help to
      determine the main cleaning mechanisms of cavitation and how clinical instruments
      such as ultrasonic scalers can be optimised.

PMID- 28595165
TI  - Propagation characteristics of interface waves between a porous medium and a
      sediment-containing two-phase fluid.
AB  - Based on the modified Biot theory of Johnson, the propagation characteristics of
      the various interface waves at an interface between a semi-infinite fluid and a
      porous medium were studied. First, based on the characteristic equations of open
      pore and sealed-pore, which were derived from the wave equations, time-domain
      waveforms at the interface were obtained by inverse Fourier transform. The
      effects of the longitudinal frame modulus on the interface waves were
      investigated. For open-pore and sealed-pore, the effect of porosity on the
      propagation of the interface waves was studied; the porosity was found to
      strongly influence the true surface wave. Based on four ultrasonic suspension
      models-Utrick, Utrick-Ament (UA), Harker-Temple (HT) and McClement, the pseudo
      Stoneley wave propagation characteristics were analyzed at the interface between
      the sediment-containing two-phase fluid and the porous medium solid. The effects
      of volume fraction and particle diameter on the phase velocity, attenuation
      coefficient and dispersion for the pseudo-Stoneley and true surface wave were
      discussed, and the results demonstrated that the properties of the fluid strongly
      impacted the pseudo-Stoneley wave but exerted very little effect on the true
      surface wave. The conclusions drawn in this paper could contribute to elucidate
      the parameters of sediment and porous media.

PMID- 28595161
TI  - Non-linear actions of physiological agents: Finite disarrangements elicit fitness
      benefits.
AB  - Finite disarrangements of important (vital) physiological agents and nutrients
      can induce plethora of beneficial effects, exceeding mere attenuation of the
      specific stress. Such response to disrupted homeostasis appears to be universally
      conserved among species. The underlying mechanism of improved fitness and
      longevity, when physiological agents act outside their normal range is similar to
      hormesis, a phenomenon whereby toxins elicit beneficial effects at low doses. Due
      to similarity with such non-linear response to toxins described with J-shaped
      curve, we have coined a new term "mirror J-shaped curves" for non-linear response
      to finite disarrangement of physiological agents. Examples from the clinical
      trials and basic research are provided, along with the unifying mechanisms that
      tie classical non-linear response to toxins with the non-linear response to
      physiological agents (glucose, oxygen, osmolarity, thermal energy, calcium, body
      mass, calorie intake and exercise). Reactive oxygen species and cytosolic calcium
      seem to be common triggers of signaling pathways that result in these beneficial
      effects. Awareness of such phenomena and exploring underlying mechanisms can help
      physicians in their everyday practice. It can also benefit researchers when
      designing studies and interpreting growing number of scientific data showing non
      linear responses to physiological agents.

PMID- 28595166
TI  - Comparison of four types of energy grasses as lignocellulosic feedstock for the
      production of bio-ethanol.
AB  - In order to utilize energy grasses as substrates for production of biofuels and
      expand the diversity of lignocellulosic feedstocks, this work developed an
      evaluation system considering 16 kinds of parameters related to the contents of
      three main compositions (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin), inhibitors
      generated from the pretreatment, the extent of enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial
      fermentation. Giant reed, corn stalks, switch grass, pennisetum and silvergrass
      were investigated. Comprehensive utilization indexes of giant reed (55.0) and
      corn stalks (40.6) revealed that giant reed had the potential for producing
      biofuels but corn stalks, widely used in bio-ethanol and xylitol production,
      possessed high contents of inhibitors which were harmful to microbial
      fermentation.

PMID- 28595167
TI  - Modulating of the pnicogen-bonding by a H?pi interaction: An ab initio study.
AB  - An ab initio study of the cooperativity in XH2P?NCH?Z and XH2P?CNH?Z complexes
      (X=F, Cl, Br, CN, NC; Z=C2H2,C6H6) connected by pnicogen-bonding and H?pi
      interactions is carried out by means of MP2 computational method. A detailed
      analysis of the structures, interaction energies and bonding properties is
      performed on these systems. For each set of the complexes considered, a favorable
      cooperativity is observed, especially in X=F and CN complexes. However, for a
      given X or Z, the amount of cooperativity effects in XH2P?CNH?Z complexes are
      more important than XH2P?NCH?Z counterparts. Besides, the influence of a H?pi
      interaction on a P?N (C) bond is more pronounced than that of a P?N (C) bond on a
      H?pi bond. The quantum theory of atoms in molecules shows that ternary complexes
      have increased electron densities at their bond critical points relative to the
      corresponding binary systems. The results also indicate that the strength of the
      P?N(C) and H?pi interactions increases in the presence of the solvent.

PMID- 28595168
TI  - Reactivation of Multiple Infectious Pathogens after Hematopoietic Stem Cell
      Transplantation.

PMID- 28595169
TI  - The Addition of Target Therapy to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Locally
      Advanced Rectal Cancer: A Review.
AB  - Currently, neoadjuvant fluoropyrimidine-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is standard
      practice in the management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). In the last
      decade there has been a lively interest in the improvement of clinical outcomes
      by modifying this standard regimen by the addition of further agents. We review
      combinations of targeted therapies and conventional CRT currently under
      investigation in LARC patients.

PMID- 28595170
TI  - Clustered Cardiovascular Risk Factors Are Associated with Inflammatory Markers in
      Adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clusters of cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors are associated with an
      increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This cross-sectional
      study assessed the associations between classic CVR factor clusters and
      inflammatory markers in Brazilian adolescents. METHODS: Measurements included
      anthropometric, clinical and biochemical parameters and selected inflammatory
      markers in 487 adolescents (236 boys/251 girls; 12.06 +/- 1.41 years). RESULTS:
      After stratifying the population by gender and adjusting for potential
      confounding variables, principal component analysis was performed and it produced
      5 independent components in both genders: adiposity, glucose metabolism, blood
      pressure, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)/triacylglycerols (TG), and
      cholesterol/low-density lipoprotein. Glucose metabolism was inversely associated
      with interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) in both genders (r = -0.026; r = -0.021); blood
      pressure was inversely associated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in
      girls (r = -0.046); HDL/TG was positively associated with interleukin-6 in girls
      (r = 0.012), with IL-1beta (r = 0.010) TNF-alpha (r = 0.045) in boys, and
      inversely associated with adiponectin in both genders (r = -0.015; r = -0.013).
      CONCLUSION: The results suggest that lipid metabolism alterations, as potential
      early events in the development of CVDs, have a strong link to the inflammatory
      process, in contrast to other clusters of risk factors.

PMID- 28595172
TI  - Routine Pouchoscopy Prior to Ileostomy Takedown May Not Be Necessary in Patients
      with Chronic Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Creation of a J pouch is the gold standard surgical intervention in
      the treatment of chronic ulcerative colitis (UC). Pouchoscopy prior to ileostomy
      takedown is commonly performed. We describe the frequency, indication, and
      findings on pouchoscopy, and determine if pouchoscopy affects rates of
      complications after takedown. METHODS: All UC or indeterminate inflammatory bowel
      disease patients with a J pouch were retrospectively evaluated from January 1994
      to December 2014. Cases were defined as having routine (asymptomatic) pouchoscopy
      after pouch creation but before ileostomy takedown. Controls were defined as
      having no pouchoscopy or pouchoscopy on the same day as that of takedown.
      RESULTS: The study included 178 patients (81.5% cases, 18.5% controls). Fifty two
      percent of pouchoscopies were reported as normal. Common abnormal endoscopy
      findings included stricture (35%), pouchitis (7%), and cuffitis (0.7%). Length of
      stay during takedown hospitalization was shorter for cases than controls (3 vs. 5
      days; p = 0.001), but neither short- nor long-term complications were
      statistically different between cases and controls. Abnormalities on pouchoscopy
      were not predictive for short-term complications (p = 0.73) or long-term
      complications (p = 0.55). Routine pouchoscopy did not delay takedown surgery in
      any of the included patients. CONCLUSIONS: Routine pouchoscopy may not be
      necessary prior to ileostomy takedown; its greatest utility is in patients with
      suspected pouch complications.

PMID- 28595171
TI  - Serum Irisin Predicts Mortality Risk in Acute Heart Failure Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Irisin is a peptide hormone cleaved from a plasma membrane
      protein fibronectin type III domain containing protein 5 (FNDC5). Emerging
      studies have indicated association between serum irisin and many major chronic
      diseases including cardiovascular diseases. However, the role of serum irisin as
      a predictor for mortality risk in acute heart failure (AHF) patients is not
      clear. METHODS: AHF patients were enrolled and serum was collected at the
      admission and all patients were followed up for 1 year. Enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay was used to measure serum irisin levels. To explore
      predictors for AHF mortality, the univariate and multivariate logistic regression
      analysis, and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used. To
      determine the role of serum irisin levels in predicting survival, Kaplan-Meier
      survival analysis was used. RESULTS: In this study, 161 AHF patients were
      enrolled and serum irisin level was found to be significantly higher in patients
      deceased in 1-year follow-up. The univariate logistic regression analysis
      identified 18 variables associated with all-cause mortality in AHF patients,
      while the multivariate logistic regression analysis identified 2 variables namely
      blood urea nitrogen and serum irisin. ROC curve analysis indicated that blood
      urea nitrogen and the most commonly used biomarker, NT-pro-BNP, displayed poor
      prognostic value for AHF (AUCs <= 0.700) compared to serum irisin (AUC = 0.753).
      Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that AHF patients with higher serum
      irisin had significantly higher mortality (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Collectively,
      our study identified serum irisin as a predictive biomarker for 1-year all-cause
      mortality in AHF patients though large multicenter studies are highly needed.

PMID- 28595174
TI  - Interactive Prosodic Marking of Focus, Boundary and Newness in Mandarin.
AB  - The current study investigates whether and how focus, phrase boundary and newness
      can be simultaneously marked in speech prosody in Mandarin Chinese. Homophones
      were used to construct three syntactic structures that differed only in boundary
      condition, focus was elicited by preceding questions, while newness of
      postboundary words was manipulated as whether they had occurred in the previous
      text. Systematic analysis of F0 and duration showed that (1) duration was a
      reliable correlate of boundary strength regardless of focus location, while
      involvement of F0 was only in terms of lowering of phrase-final F0 minima and
      raising of phrase-initial F0 minima at a relatively strong boundary, (2)
      postfocus compression (PFC) of F0 was applied across all boundaries, including
      those with long silent pauses (over 200 ms), and postfocus F0 was lowered to
      almost the same degree in all boundary conditions, and (3) newness of postfocus
      words had no systematic effect on F0 or duration. These results indicate that not
      only functionally focus is independent of prosodic structure and newness, but
      also phonetically its realization is separate from boundary marking. Focus is
      signaled mainly through pitch range adjustments, which can occur even across
      phrase breaks, whereas boundaries are mostly signaled by duration adjustments.

PMID- 28595173
TI  - Effects of Weight Loss with and without Exercise on Regional Body Fat
      Distribution in Postmenopausal Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose was to determine whether lifestyle interventions
      have different effects on regional fat in women with normal glucose tolerance vs.
      impaired glucose tolerance (NGT vs. IGT). METHODS: Changes in glucose metabolism
      (2-h oral glucose-tolerance tests), android to gynoid fat mass ratio (dual energy
      X-ray absorptiometry [DXA]), visceral to subcutaneous abdominal fat area ratio
      (CT), and abdominal to gluteal subcutaneous fat cell weight (FCW; adipose tissue
      biopsies) were determined in 60 overweight postmenopausal women (45-80 years)
      following 6 months of weight loss alone (WL; n = 28) or with aerobic exercise
      (AEX + WL; n = 32). RESULTS: The interventions led to ~8% decrease in weight, but
      only the AEX + WL group improved fitness (?11% in VO2max) and reduced the android
      to-gynoid fat mass ratio (?5%; p < 0.05). Both NGT and IGT groups reduced
      visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat areas and abdominal and gluteal FCWs,
      which related to improvements in homeostatic model assessment (r = 0.34-0.42) and
      2-h glucose (r = 0.34-0.35), respectively (p < 0.05). The decline in FCW was 2*
      greater in women with IGT following WL (p < 0.05). The ratios of abdominal-to
      gluteal FCW did not change following either intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The
      mechanisms by which WL with and without exercise impact regional fat loss should
      be explored as reductions in abdominal fat area and subcutaneous FCW appear to
      influence glucose metabolism. This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not
      subject to copyright protection in the United States. Foreign copyrights may
      apply. Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

PMID- 28595175
TI  - Untreated Psoriasis Impairs Male Fertility: A Case-Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent evidence indicates that a systemic state of inflammation may
      impair fertility, but data about psoriatic males are scarce. OBJECTIVES: The aim
      of this study was to assess gonadal function in psoriatic males implementing our
      knowledge about fertility in these subjects. METHODS: Male psoriatic patients,
      aged between 18 and 55 years, and a group of healthy subjects matched for age,
      BMI and geographic origin were enrolled. All subjects underwent a complete
      physical and andrological examination, standard semen analysis, complete
      microbiological analysis and ultrasound evaluation of sexual glands. Seminal
      levels of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and serum
      levels of testosterone, estradiol (E2), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG),
      luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone were also assessed. RESULTS:
      Fifty patients and 50 controls fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were enrolled
      in our study. Testosterone and SHBG were found to be significantly decreased in
      patients with psoriasis compared with the control group. Higher levels of E2 were
      also reported in psoriatic patients. Total sperm count, sperm motility and
      percent of spermatozoa with normal morphology were significantly reduced in
      patients compared to controls. suPAR levels were significantly increased in
      patients compared to controls and found to be above the reference limits.
      Ultrasound signs of inflammation of the accessory glands were observed in 35/50
      patients with psoriasis and in none of the controls. CONCLUSION: Our study
      suggests that untreated psoriasis may impair male fertility. We also found that
      this might be due to an impact of systemic inflammation on the hormonal profile
      and on sexual accessory gland inflammation.

PMID- 28595176
TI  - Individual Talker and Token Covariation in the Production of Multiple Cues to
      Stop Voicing.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Previous research found that individual talkers have consistent
      differences in the production of segments impacting the perception of their
      speech by others. Speakers also produce multiple acoustic-phonetic cues to
      phonological contrasts. Less is known about how multiple cues covary within a
      phonetic category and across talkers. We examined differences in individual
      talkers across cues and whether token-by-token variability is a result of
      intrinsic factors or speaking style by examining within-category correlations.
      METHODS: We examined correlations for 3 cues (voice onset time, VOT, talker
      relative onset fundamental frequency, f0, and talker-relative following vowel
      duration) to word-initial labial stop voicing in English. RESULTS: VOT for /b/
      and /p/ productions and onset f0 for /b/ productions varied significantly by
      talker. Token-by-token within-category variation was largely limited to speaking
      rate effects. VOT and f0 were negatively correlated within category for /b/
      productions after controlling for speaking rate and talker mean f0, but in the
      opposite direction expected for an intrinsic effect. Within-category talker means
      were correlated across VOT and vowel duration for /p/ productions. Some talkers
      produced more prototypical values than others, indicating systematic talker
      differences. CONCLUSION: Relationships between cues are mediated more by
      categories and talkers than by intrinsic physiological relationships.Talker
      differences reflect systematic speaking style differences.

PMID- 28595177
TI  - Genomics Perspectives on Metabolism, Survival Strategies, and Biotechnological
      Applications of Brettanomyces bruxellensis LAMAP2480.
AB  - Wine production is an important commercial issue for the liquor industry. The
      global production was estimated at 275.7 million hectoliters in 2015. The loss of
      wine production due to Brettanomyces bruxellensis contamination is currently a
      problem. This yeast causes a "horse sweat" flavor in wine, which is an undesired
      organoleptic attribute. To date, 6 B. bruxellensis annotated genome sequences are
      available (LAMAP2480, AWRI1499, AWRI1608, AWRI1613, ST05.12/22, and CBS2499), and
      whole genome comparisons between strains are limited. In this article, we
      reassembled and reannotated the genome of B. bruxellensis LAMAP2480, obtaining a
      27-Mb assembly with 5.5 kb of N50. In addition, the genome of B. bruxellensis
      LAMAP2480 was analyzed in the context of spoilage yeast and potential as a
      biotechnological tool. In addition, we carried out an exploratory transcriptomic
      analysis of this strain grown in synthetic wine. Several genes related to stress
      tolerance, micronutrient acquisition, ethanol production, and lignocellulose
      assimilation were found. In conclusion, the analysis of the genome of B.
      bruxellensis LAMAP2480 reaffirms the biotechnological potential of this strain.
      This research represents an interesting platform for the study of the spoilage
      yeast B. bruxellensis.

PMID- 28595179
TI  - Epigenetic Changes in the Acute Kidney Injury-to-Chronic Kidney Disease
      Transition.
AB  - Previously acute kidney injury (AKI) had been believed to be a transient event,
      and recovery from AKI had been thought to lead to no consequences. However,
      recent epidemiological studies have shown that even if there is complete recovery
      of the kidney function, AKI can eventually result in chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      and eventually in end-stage kidney disease in the long term. Transition of AKI to
      CKD is mediated by multiple mechanisms, including aberrant cell cycle arrest and
      hypoxia. Hypoxia of the kidney is induced by rarefaction of the peritubular
      capillaries after AKI episodes, and induces inflammation and fibrosis. It should
      also be noted that epigenetic changes are closely related to hypoxia, and
      epigenetic changes induced by hypoxia, called "hypoxic memory" can explain the
      AKI-to-CKD transition in the long term after complete recovery from the initial
      AKI episode. Targeting hypoxia and subsequent epigenetic changes are promising
      strategies to block the transition from AKI to CKD.

PMID- 28595178
TI  - Irisin Regulates Heme Oxygenase-1/Adiponectin Axis in Perivascular Adipose Tissue
      and Improves Endothelial Dysfunction in Diet-Induced Obese Mice.
AB  - AIMS: To determine whether irisin could improve endothelial dysfunction by
      regulating heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)/adiponectin axis in perivascular adipose tissue
      (PVAT) in obesity. METHODS: Male C57BL/6 mice were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD)
      with or without irisin treatment. Endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation of the
      thoracic aorta with or without PVAT (PVAT+ or PVAT-) was determined. Western blot
      was employed to determine the levels of HO-1 and adiponectin in PVAT. UCP-1,
      Cidea, and TNF-alpha gene expression in PVAT were tested by real-time PCR.
      RESULTS: The presence of PVAT significantly impaired endothelial function in the
      HFD mice. Treatment of HFD mice with irisin significantly restored this
      impairment and improved endothelial function in vivo or ex vivo. Incubated aortic
      rings (PVAT-) with PVAT-derived conditioned medium (CM) from HFD mice impaired
      endothelial function in control mice. This impairment was prevented by incubating
      the aortic rings (PVAT-) from HFD mice with PVAT-derived CM from irisin. However,
      the beneficial effects were partly attenuated in the presence of HO-1 inhibitor
      and adiponectin receptor blocking peptide. Treatment of HFD mice with irisin
      significantly increased NO production, protein levels of HO-1 and adiponectin,
      mRNA expressions of UCP-1 and Cidea, and decreased superoxide production and TNF
      alpha expression in PVAT. CONCLUSION: Irisin improved endothelial function by
      modulating HO-1/ adiponectin axis in PVAT in HFD-induced obese mice. These
      findings suggest that regulating PVAT function may be a potential mechanism by
      which irisin improves endothelial function in obesity.

PMID- 28595180
TI  - Fibrotic Changes Mediating Acute Kidney Injury to Chronic Kidney Disease
      Transition.
AB  - End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is common, costly, and it results from progressive
      chronic kidney disease (CKD). ESRD claims many lives every year. It is
      increasingly recognized that episodes of acute kidney injury (AKI) predispose to
      the future development of CKD and ESRD. While our understanding of the
      pathophysiology of the AKI to CKD transition is improving, there are no validated
      therapeutic strategies to prevent this transition. In this review, we summarize
      the recent progress made in defining the cellular and molecular events underlying
      the AKI to CKD transition and highlight potential therapeutic targets and
      strategies to reduce the incidence of CKD following AKI.

PMID- 28595181
TI  - Informant-Reported Cognitive Decline and Activity Engagement across Four Years in
      a Community Sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subtle age-related cognitive decline may be associated with the
      capacity to remain engaged in mental, physical, and social activities. Informant
      reports of cognitive decline potentially provide additional information to
      psychometric tests on change in everyday cognitive function relevant to activity
      engagement. OBJECTIVE: To investigate relations between decline in everyday
      cognitive function as assessed by informant report and activity engagement in
      community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: A sample of cognitively normal older
      adults was drawn from the 2 latest waves of the PATH Through Life Study (n =
      1,391; mean age 74.5 +/- 1.5, 48.4% female). PATH is a 16-year longitudinal
      cohort study set in the Canberra/Queanbeyan district, Australia. Assessments were
      carried out at baseline, and at 3 subsequent time-points 4 years apart. At wave
      4, the IQCODE, an informant measure of 4-year cognitive decline was provided by a
      spouse, family member, or friend of each participant. Activity engagement was
      assessed by the abbreviated RIASEC Mental Activity List, self-reported frequency
      and duration of physical activity (Whitehall Questionnaire) and the Lubben Social
      Network Scale that assessed interaction with family/friends. Participants
      provided demographic information, self-reported health status (SF-12), and
      responses to the Goldberg Depression Scale. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test
      (SDMT) and California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) were used to measure objective
      4-year cognitive change. Those with MMSE score of <=27 were excluded. RESULTS:
      IQCODE score predicted disengagement from mental activities over 4 years in
      cognitively healthy adults (beta = -0.056, standard error [SE] = 0.019, p =
      0.004). This association was robust to covariate control and change on the SDMT
      which was also significantly related to mental activity disengagement. In models
      adjusted for change scores on the SDMT and the CVLT, the IQCODE was associated
      with less physical (beta = -0.692, SE = 0.24, p = 0.004) and social engagement
      (beta -0.046, SE = 0.021, p = 0.032), but relationships were attenuated with the
      inclusion of covariates. CONCLUSION: Informant-reported cognitive decline in a
      non-clinical sample was linked to activities that support cognitive health.
      Associations were robust to adjustment for cognitive change scores. Utilising
      informant reports prior to the manifestation of clinically relevant decline may
      identify those who would benefit most from personalised activity interventions.

PMID- 28595182
TI  - The Effect of Dietary Supplements Containing Green Tea, Capsaicin and Ginger
      Extracts on Weight Loss and Metabolic Profiles in Overweight Women: A Randomized
      Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary
      supplements containing green tea, capsaicin and ginger extracts on weight loss
      and metabolic profiles among overweight women. METHODS: This randomized double
      blind placebo-controlled clinical trial was implemented among 50 overweight
      women. Participants were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group A received dietary
      supplements containing 125 mg green tea, 25 mg capsaicin and 50 mg ginger
      extracts (n = 25) group B received placebos (n = 25) twice with lunch and twice
      with dinner daily for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Compared with placebo, taking dietary
      supplements containing green tea, capsaicin and ginger resulted in a significant
      decrease in weight (-1.8 +/- 1.5 vs. +0.4 +/- 1.2 kg, respectively, p < 0.001)
      and body mass index (BMI; -0.7 +/- 0.5 vs. +0.1 +/- 0.5 kg/m2, respectively, p <
      0.001). In addition, subjects who received green tea, capsaicin and ginger co
      supplements had significantly decreased serum insulin concentrations (-2.6 +/-
      3.9 vs. -0.6 +/- 2.0 uIU/mL, p = 0.02), homeostatic model of assessment for
      insulin resistance (-0.5 +/- 0.8 vs. -0.05 +/- 0.6, p = 0.01), and increased
      quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (+0.01 +/- 0.01 vs. +0.001 +/- 0.01,
      p = 0.008) and plasma glutathione (GSH) levels (+73.8 +/- 120.6 vs. -28.3 +/-
      193.4 umol/L, p = 0.03) compared with the placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      indicated that taking green tea, capsaicin and ginger co-supplements for 8 weeks
      among overweight women had beneficial effects on weight, BMI, markers of insulin
      metabolism and plasma GSH levels.

PMID- 28595183
TI  - Association between Leptin, Adiponectin, and Leptin/Adiponectin Ratio with
      Clustered Metabolic Risk Factors in Portuguese Adolescents: The LabMed Physical
      Activity Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Circulating leptin and adiponectin levels have been associated with
      impaired vascular function, insulin resistance, and acute cardiovascular evens.
      This study aimed to evaluate the associations of leptin, adiponectin, and the
      leptin/adiponectin (L/A) ratio with a clustering of metabolic risk factors (MRF)
      in adolescents aged 12-18 years. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analysis with
      529 Portuguese adolescents aged 12-18 years. Blood samples were taken to analyze
      total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL-c),
      triglycerides glucose, insulin, leptin, and adiponectin levels. A continuous
      variable of clustered MRF score (sum of Z-scores of body fat percentage, systolic
      blood pressure, ratio TC/HDL, triglycerides, homeostatic model assessment insulin
      resistance, and cardiorespiratory fitness*[-1]) was computed. RESULTS: Regression
      analyses showed that adiponectin was a significant and negative predictor of MRF
      score (boys: beta = -0.199; p < 0.001; girls: beta = -0.200; p < 0.001); whereas
      leptin was a significant positive predictor of MRF score (boys: beta = 0.553; p <
      0.001; girls: beta = 0.399; p < 0.001). The L/A ratio was also a significant
      positive predictor of MRF score in both sexes (boys: beta = 0.593; p < 0.001;
      girls: beta = 0.461; p < 0.001), after adjustments for age, pubertal stage,
      adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and socioeconomic status. In addition,
      adiponectin, leptin, and L/A ratio were accurate to predict MRF among
      adolescents, but L/A ratio showed the highest area under receiver operating
      characteristic curve. CONCLUSION: Leptin, adiponectin, and L/A ratio are
      associated with the clustering of MRF in adolescents after adjustments for age,
      sex, pubertal stage, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and socioeconomic
      status. L/A ratio was more strongly associated with MRF score than adiponectin or
      leptin.

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

PMID- 28595185
TI  - Association of Blood Fatty Acid Composition and Dietary Pattern with the Risk of
      Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Patients Who Underwent Cholecystectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The relationship between diet and non-alcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD) in patients with gallstone disease and in those who have a high
      risk for NAFLD has not been investigated. This study was conducted to investigate
      the association between the risk of NAFLD and dietary pattern in patients who
      underwent cholecystectomy. Additionally, we assessed the association between
      erythrocyte fatty acid composition, a marker for diet, and the risk of NAFLD.
      METHODS: Patients (n = 139) underwent liver ultrasonography to determine the
      presence of NAFLD before laparoscopic cholecystectomy, reported dietary intake
      using food frequency questionnaire, and were assessed for blood fatty acid
      composition. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients were diagnosed with NAFLD. The risk of
      NAFLD was negatively associated with 2 dietary patterns: consuming whole grain
      and legumes and consuming fish, vegetables, and fruit. NAFLD was positively
      associated with the consumption of refined grain, meat, processed meat, and fried
      foods. Additionally, the risk of NAFLD was positively associated with erythrocyte
      levels of 16:0 and 18:2t, while it was negatively associated with 20:5n3, 22:5n3,
      and Omega-3 Index. CONCLUSION: The risk of NAFLD was negatively associated with a
      healthy dietary pattern of consuming whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fish, and
      fruit and with an erythrocyte level of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids rich in
      fish.

PMID- 28595186
TI  - Age-Related Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-4 Overexpression Inhibits
      Osteogenic Differentiation of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) play
      important roles in bone metabolism. IGFBP4 is involved in senescent-associated
      phenomena in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The goal of the present study was to
      determine whether age-related IGFBP4 overexpression is associated with the
      impaired osteogenic differentiation potential of aged bone marrow derived MSCs.
      METHODS: MSCs were isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats aged 3-26 months. The bone
      morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2-induced osteogenic differentiation of rat MSCs was
      assessed by analyzing the expression levels of osteoblast marker genes [runt
      related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and
      osteocalcin (OC)], ALP activity and calcification. RESULTS: Our study showed that
      IGFBP4 mRNA and protein expression increased with age in parallel with impaired
      osteogenic differentiation of MSCs cultured in BMP2-containing osteogenic medium,
      as evidenced by the downregulation of osteoblast marker genes, and decreased ALP
      activity and calcium deposits. IGFBP4 overexpression impaired BMP2-induced
      osteogenic differentiation potential of young MSCs, whereas IGFBP4 knockdown
      restored the osteogenic potency of aged MSCs. Moreover, IGFBP4 knockdown
      stimulated the activation of Erk and Smad by increasing phosphorylation.
      CONCLUSION: Collectively, our results demonstrate that IGFBP4 overexpression
      plays a role in the impairment of MSC differentiation potential via the Erk and
      Smad pathways, suggesting potential targets to improve MSC function for cell
      therapy applications.

PMID- 28595187
TI  - rs10767664 Gene Variant in Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Is Associated with
      Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 in Caucasian Females with Obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) variants on
      diabetes prevalence, basal adipokine levels, body weight, and cardiovascular risk
      factors remains unclear in obese patients. OBJECTIVE: This study is aimed at
      analyzing the effects of rs10767664 BDNF gene polymorphism on diabetes mellitus
      prevalence, body weight, cardiovascular risk factors, and serum adipokine levels
      in obese female patients. DESIGN: A total of 507 obese women were enrolled in a
      prospective way. Biochemical evaluation and anthropometric measures were
      recorded. RESULTS: The frequency of diabetes mellitus in the group of patients
      with non-T allele was 20.1 and 28.3% in T-allele carriers. Logistic regression
      showed a risk of diabetes mellitus of 1.33 (95% CI 1.17-2.08) in subjects with T
      allele adjusted by age and body mass index (BMI). T-allele carriers with diabetes
      mellitus have a higher weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose,
      homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), insulin, and C
      reactive protein (CRP) levels than non-T-allele carriers. CONCLUSION: rs10767664
      polymorphism of BDNF gene is associated with prevalence of diabetes mellitus in
      obese female patients. T-allele carriers with diabetes mellitus have a higher
      weight, fat mass, blood pressure, level of insulin, glucose, HOMA-IR, and CRP
      than non-T-allele carriers.

PMID- 28595188
TI  - Physical Growth and Biological Maturation of Children and Adolescents: Proposed
      Reference Curves.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: The study of physical growth variables in terms of chronological
      age and biological maturation may provide a common reference point to reflect on
      the occurrence of body dimensions in and between individuals. The objectives of
      this study were as follows: (a) verify if the observed gender differences in the
      variables of physical growth by chronological age are confounded by physical
      maturation, (b) compare physical growth patterns with the reference of the
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-2012, and (c) develop regional
      curves to assess physical growth in terms of biological maturation. METHODS:
      Researchers studied 3,674 children and adolescents. Weight, standing height, and
      sitting height were measured. Biological maturation was determined by using the
      age of peak velocity growth. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Growth
      variables were compared with the CDC-2012 reference. Percentiles were calculated
      by the LMS method. The students differed in weight and BMI when compared to the
      reference individuals. The differences in weight, standing height, and BMI
      between both genders are more pronounced when they are aligned with biological
      age rather than chronological age. CONCLUSION: Weight and BMI differ from the
      reference. Furthermore, the assessment of the physical growth trajectory should
      be analyzed in terms of biological maturation. The proposed regional curves may
      be used in and applied to clinical and epidemiological contexts.

PMID- 28595189
TI  - Increased Incretin But Not Insulin Response after Oral versus Intravenous
      Branched Chain Amino Acids.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are known to exert an
      insulinotropic effect. Whether this effect is mediated by incretins (glucagon
      like peptide 1 [GLP-1] or glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide [GIP]) is not
      known. The aim of this study was to show whether an equivalent dose of BCAA
      elicits a greater insulin and incretin response when administered orally than
      intravenously (IV). METHODS: Eighteen healthy, male subjects participated in 3
      tests: IV application of BCAA solution, oral ingestion of BCAA and placebo in an
      equivalent dose (30.7 +/- 1.1 g). Glucose, insulin, C-peptide, glucagon, GLP-1,
      GIP, valine, leucine and isoleucine concentrations were measured. RESULTS: Rise
      in serum BCAA was achieved in both BCAA tests, with incremental areas under the
      curve (iAUC) being 2.1 times greater for IV BCAA compared with those of the oral
      BCAA test (p < 0.0001). Oral and IV BCAA induced comparable insulin response
      greater than placebo (240 min insulin iAUC: oral 3,411 +/- 577 vs. IV 2,361 +/-
      384 vs. placebo 961.2 +/- 175 pmol/L, p = 0.0006). Oral BCAA induced higher GLP-1
      (p < 0.0001) and GIP response (p < 0.0001) compared with the IV or placebo.
      Glucose levels declined significantly (p < 0.001) in the same pattern during both
      BCAA tests with no change in the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: An equivalent dose
      of BCAA elicited a comparable insulin and greater incretin response when
      administered orally and not when administered through IV. We conclude that
      insulinotropic effects of BCAA are partially incretin dependent.

PMID- 28595190
TI  - Nonpharmacological, Biomechanical Approaches to Control Inflammation in Acute
      Kidney Injury.
AB  - Inflammation is broadly recognized as an important factor in the pathogenesis of
      acute kidney injury (AKI), but pharmacological approaches to alleviate
      inflammation in AKI have been without success in clinical trials. Neuromodulation
      by nonpharmacological methods is emerging as a novel therapeutic strategy to
      treat inflammatory diseases. Recently, our group and others have demonstrated
      that vagus nerve stimulation and pulsed ultrasound ameliorated inflammation via
      the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) in various animal models,
      including renal ischemia-reperfusion injury. Delineating the precise mechanisms
      by which these methods activate the CAP and ameliorate inflammation is mandatory
      for the broad clinical application in the future. Novel techniques, such as
      optogenetics, are expected to elucidate these complex mechanisms.

PMID- 28595191
TI  - Comparing Medical and Recreational Cannabis Users on Socio-Demographic, Substance
      and Medication Use, and Health and Disability Characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While recreational cannabis use is common, medical cannabis programs
      have proliferated across North America, including a federal program in Canada.
      Few comparisons of medical and recreational cannabis users (RCUs) exist; this
      study compared these groups on key characteristics. METHODS: Data came from a
      community-recruited sample of formally approved medical cannabis users (MCUs; n =
      53), and a sub-sample of recreational cannabis users (RCUs; n = 169) from a
      representative adult survey in Ontario (Canada). Samples were telephone-surveyed
      on identical measures, including select socio-demographic, substance and
      medication use, and health and disability measures. Based on initial bivariate
      comparisons, multivariate logistical regression with a progressive adjustment
      approach was performed to assess independent predictors of group status. RESULTS:
      In bivariate analyses, older age, lower household income, lower alcohol use,
      higher cocaine, prescription opioid, depression and anxiety medication use, and
      lower health and disability status were significantly associated with medical
      cannabis use. In the multivariate analysis, final model, household income,
      alcohol use, and disability levels were associated with medical cannabis use.
      Conclusions/Scientific Significance: Compared to RCUs, medical users appear to be
      mainly characterized by factors negatively influencing their overall health
      status. Future studies should investigate the actual impact and net benefits of
      medical cannabis use on these health problems.

PMID- 28595192
TI  - Cancer Precision Medicine: Why More Is More and DNA Is Not Enough.
AB  - Every tumour is different. They arise in patients with different genomes, from
      cells with different epigenetic modifications, and by random processes affecting
      the genome and/or epigenome of a somatic cell, allowing it to escape the usual
      controls on its growth. Tumours and patients therefore often respond very
      differently to the drugs they receive. Cancer precision medicine aims to
      characterise the tumour (and often also the patient) to be able to predict, with
      high accuracy, its response to different treatments, with options ranging from
      the selective characterisation of a few genomic variants considered particularly
      important to predict the response of the tumour to specific drugs, to deep genome
      analysis of both tumour and patient, combined with deep transcriptome analysis of
      the tumour. Here, we compare the expected results of carrying out such analyses
      at different levels, from different size panels to a comprehensive analysis
      incorporating both patient and tumour at the DNA and RNA levels. In doing so, we
      illustrate the additional power gained by this unusually deep analysis strategy,
      a potential basis for a future precision medicine first strategy in cancer drug
      therapy. However, this is only a step along the way of increasingly detailed
      molecular characterisation, which in our view will, in the future, introduce
      additional molecular characterisation techniques, including systematic analysis
      of proteins and protein modification states and different types of metabolites in
      the tumour, systematic analysis of circulating tumour cells and nucleic acids,
      the use of spatially resolved analysis techniques to address the problem of
      tumour heterogeneity as well as the deep analyses of the immune system of the
      patient to, e.g., predict the response of the patient to different types of
      immunotherapy. Such analyses will generate data sets of even greater complexity,
      requiring mechanistic modelling approaches to capture enough of the complex
      situation in the real patient to be able to accurately predict his/her responses
      to all available therapies.

PMID- 28595193
TI  - The Economic Consequences of Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an increasingly common condition associated with
      poor health outcomes. Combined with its rising incidence, AKI has emerged as a
      major public health concern with high human and financial costs. In England, the
      estimated inpatient costs related to AKI consume 1% of the National Health
      Service budget. In the United States, AKI is associated with an increase in
      hospitalization costs that range from $5.4 to $24.0 billion. The most expensive
      patients are those with AKI of sufficient severity to require dialysis, where
      cost increases relative to patients without AKI range from $11,016 to $42,077 per
      hospitalization. Even with these high costs, significant hospital-level variation
      still exists in the cost of AKI care. In this article, we review the economic
      consequences of AKI for both the general and critically ill AKI population. Our
      primary objective is to shed light on an opportunity for hospitals and
      policymakers to develop new care processes for patients with AKI that have the
      potential to yield substantial cost savings. By exposing the high rates of death
      and disability experienced by affected patients and the immense financial burden
      attributable to AKI, we also hope to motivate scientists and entrepreneurs to
      pursue a variety of innovative therapeutic strategies to combat AKI in the near
      term.

PMID- 28595194
TI  - Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of Certolizumab Pegol in an Unselected Crohn's
      Disease Population: The FACTS III Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term data of certolizumab pegol (CZP) in Crohn's disease (CD)
      from pivotal registry trials are limited. We therefore aimed to evaluate the long
      term efficacy of CZP in clinical practice in Switzerland. METHODS: In the First
      Approved Certolizumab Therapeutic Experience in Switzerland-III phase IV
      multicenter cohort, patients receiving CZP were prospectively included all over
      Switzerland in (non-) academic hospitals and private practice. RESULTS: We
      included 104 CD patients (52 male; only 22.1% anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      naive, CZP as third anti-TNF agent in 46.2%) with follow-up time between 6 weeks
      up to 5 years. During treatment with CZP, we observed a significant decrease of
      the Harvey Bradshaw Index from a median of 7 at baseline (interquartile range 4
      11) to 4, 5, 4, 3, 3, and 2 at weeks 6, 26, 52, 78, 104, and 156, respectively.
      While anti-TNF naive patients showed a significantly better response at the end
      of induction, during CZP maintenance therapy response was similar as compared to
      anti-TNF experienced patients as well as between patients with a short (0-5
      years) vs. long duration of disease (>5 years). CONCLUSIONS: CZP is an effective
      long-term treatment option, including CD patients with long disease duration and
      prior treatment with 1 or 2 anti-TNF agents.

PMID- 28595195
TI  - GAS6 Oncogene and Reverse MLLT3-KMT2A Duplications in an Infant with Acute
      Myeloid Leukemia and a Novel Complex Hyperdiploid Karyotype: Detailed High
      Resolution Molecular Cytogenetic Studies.
AB  - Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous disease,
      presenting cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities which turned out to be
      critical prognostic factors. Ploidy changes as gain or loss of individual
      chromosomes are rare in AML, occurring only in about 1-2% of the affected
      children. Hyperdiploid karyotypes are exceedingly rare in infants less than 12
      months of age. In this age group, structural rearrangements involving the KMT2A
      gene occur in about 58% of the cases. Among them, the translocation
      t(9;11)(p22;q23), KMT2A-MLLT3, is the most common abnormality accounting for
      approximately 22% of KMT2A rearrangements in infant AML cases. Here, we describe
      a 7- month-old girl with a history of fever and severe diarrhea, and a physical
      examination remarkable for pallor and hepatosplenomegaly. A novel complex
      hyperdiploid karyotype
      53,XX,+X,+6,t(9;11)(p21.3;q23.3),+der(9)t(9;11)(p21.3;q23.3),dup(13)(q31q34),+14,
      19,+21,+22 was characterized by high-resolution molecular cytogenetic approaches.
      Fluorescence in situ hybridization, multiplex-FISH, and multicolor chromosome
      banding were applied, revealing 2 reverse MLLT3-KMT2A fusions and a duplication
      of the GAS6 oncogene. Our work suggests that molecular cytogenetic studies are
      crucial for the planning of a proper strategy for risk therapy in AML infants
      with hyperdiploid karyotypes.

PMID- 28595196
TI  - Two-Year Effects of a Classroom-Based Smoking Prevention and Cessation
      Intervention Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Project EX is a classroom-based smoking prevention and cessation
      intervention program that has been well evaluated and designed for assessing the
      prevention and cessation effects among adolescents in Spain. However, its long
      term efficacy is still unknown. This study deals with the outcomes of a 2-year
      follow-up evaluation of Project EX. METHODS: The intervention was tested using a
      clustered randomized controlled trial involving 1,546 Spanish students from 3
      program schools and 3 control schools. At the end of the 2-year follow-up period,
      722 subjects had completed the questionnaires (266 in the control condition and
      456 in the program condition) administered to them. RESULTS: Compared to the
      control condition, the program condition revealed a greater reduction in nicotine
      dependence (p = 0.04), smoking intention (p = 0.02), and in the number of
      cigarettes smoked during the previous month (p = 0.03). The CO monitor repeated
      assessments revealed a significant decrease of ppm levels in the program group (p
      < 0.001). Intent-to-treat quit rates were 14.28 and 0%, respectively, for the
      program and control conditions. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence about
      the long-term effectiveness of the Project EX classroom-based program for smoking
      prevention and cessation among adolescents in Spain.

PMID- 28595197
TI  - High Serum Pepsinogen I and beta Helicobacter pylori Infection Are Risk Factors
      for Aspirin-Induced Gastroduodenal Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whether gastric hyperchlorhydria and Helicobacter pylori infection
      contribute to aspirin-induced gastroduodenal injury still lacks evidence. Because
      serum pepsinogens (PGs) and gastrin-17 (G17) can reflect gastric acid secretion,
      this study intended to elucidate whether serum PGs, serum G17, and H. pylori
      infection are associated with aspirin-induced gastrointestinal injury. SUMMARY: A
      total of 60 patients taking low-dose aspirin for more than 1 month were enrolled
      in this study. Serum PG I, PG II, and G17 were determined using ELISA. A 14C-urea
      breath test was used for the detection of an H. pylori infection. The modified
      Lanza score was used to evaluate the degree of gastroduodenal injury under
      endoscopy. The median serum PG I level was significantly higher in the intensive
      gastroduodenal injury (IGI) group compared to that in the mild gastroduodenal
      injury group (155.0 vs. 116.6 ng/mL, p = 0.006). The H. pylori infection rate was
      significantly higher in the IGI group (73 vs. 40%, p = 0.037). Receiver operator
      characteristic curves analysis revealed that the cutoff value of PG I was 123
      ng/mL, with 80% sensitivity and 61.4% specificity. H. pylori infection combined
      with PG I at >123 ng/mL had an OR (95% CI) of 15.8 (2.4 +/- 104.5) for the
      prediction of aspirin-induced gastroduodenal injury. Key Messages: Serum PG I and
      H. pylori infection could be used to identify potential high-risk aspirin-induced
      gastroduodenal injury patients.

PMID- 28595198
TI  - [Daptomycin for the treatment of infective endocarditis: When do we use it?]

PMID- 28595199
TI  - [Coronary collateral circulation and ghrelin peptide].

PMID- 28595200
TI  - [Daptomycin in left-sided endocarditis: A single center experience].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Infective endocarditis (IE) carries a high risk of cardiac morbidity
      and mortality, despite advances in the contemporary armamentarium. Along with the
      development of antibiotic resistant strains, research focusing on the efficacy of
      novel agents other than standard antibiotic regimens continues. Daptomycin, one
      of these antibiotics, is approved for the treatment of Staphylococcus bacteremia
      and right-sided endocarditis. This retrospective study was an investigation of
      the effectiveness of daptomycin in patients with left-sided IE. METHODS: Fourteen
      patients (mean age 50.9+/-16.5; range 24 to 70 years) with the diagnosis of left
      sided IE based on modified Duke criteria received daptomycin as monotherapy.
      Outcome was evaluated according to clinical improvement, microbiological
      eradication, and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Blood culture was positive in 13
      patients (92.8%) and staphylococci were isolated in all but 1 patient (92.3%).
      Daptomycin was administered as monotherapy at a dose of 6 or 8 mg/kg/day for mean
      of 40.6+/-4.4 days. Clinical recovery rate was 71.4% and microbiological
      eradication rate was 85.7%. Mean duration of clinical recovery was 8.7+/-3.2 days
      and duration of microbiological eradication was 11.1+/-3.6 days. Side effects
      developed in 6 patients, but drug discontinuation was not required in any
      patient. Ten patients improved without complications. Two patients were lost due
      to heart failure and multiple-organ failure while treatment was continuing, and 2
      patients died in early cardiac postoperative period. CONCLUSION: Daptomycin is an
      effective and safe alternative to standard antibiotic therapy for the treatment
      of left-sided IE.

PMID- 28595201
TI  - [As cardioprotective and angiogenic biomarker, can ghrelin predict coronary
      collateral development and severity of coronary atherosclerosis?]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ghrelin exerts protective effects on cardiovascular system by
      inhibiting progression of atherosclerosis, supression of vascular inflammation,
      and stimulating angiogenesis. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the
      effect of serum ghrelin on coronary collateral development and SYNTAX score in
      patients with severe coronary artery disease. METHODS: Total of 91 patients who
      had >=90% stenosis in at least one major coronary artery were prospectively
      included in this cross-sectional, observational study. Collateral degree was
      graded according to Rentrop-Cohen classification. Patients with grade 2 or 3
      collateral degree were allocated to Good Collateral Group and patients with grade
      0 or 1 collateral degree were included in Poor Collateral Group. Ghrelin and
      vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) levels were measured using
      radioimmunoassay and ELISA kits. RESULTS: Serum ghrelin and VEGF-A levels were
      significantly higher in Good Collateral Group. Furthermore, ghrelin level showed
      significant inverse correlation with SYNTAX score (r=0.348; p=0.001). In
      multivariable regression analysis, ghrelin (Odds ratio, 1.013; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.011-1.017; p=0.013), VEGF-A, fasting plasma glucose and presence of
      chronic total occlusion were independent predictors of good collateral
      development. In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, ghrelin value
      cut-off point of >=781 pg/mL predicted good collateral development with
      sensitivity of 73.1% and specificity of 67.7%. CONCLUSION: Findings suggested
      that ghrelin has antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties that protect
      endothelial functions and also stimulate angiogenesis, which results in
      development of good coronary collateral and inhibition of progression of coronary
      atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28595202
TI  - Vitamin D is a predictor of ST segment resolution and infarct size following
      thrombolysis in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D (VitD) insufficiency is linked to various chronic
      conditions, including cardiovascular disease. Aim of the present study was to
      examine role of serum VitD in resolution of ST segment elevation (STR) in
      response to thrombolytic therapy following acute ST elevation myocardial
      infarction (STEMI). METHODS: VitD was measured prospectively in all consecutive
      patients who were admitted with STEMI and received thrombolysis during the
      calendar year of 2014. STR was defined as >=50% decrease in initial magnitude of
      STR 90 minutes after treatment. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis
      was performed to identify effect of confounding variables on STR. RESULTS:
      Average age was 58+/-14 years in 227 patients (41 female and 186 male). Total of
      24.7% of patients had sufficient VitD (>30 ng/mL), whereas 46.2% had VitD
      insufficiency (10-30 ng/mL), and remaining 29.1% had VitD deficiency (<10 ng/mL).
      Significant STR occurred in 57.3% of the patients. In a nonlinear pattern, serum
      VitD concentration directly correlated with likelihood of STR (p=0.012). VitD
      deficient patients had larger enzymatic infarct size compared with those with
      sufficient VitD (p=0.026). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, while
      diabetes doubled (p=0.033) and involvement of anterior wall created 2.7-fold
      increase in probability of nonresolution (p=0.001), for every unit increase in
      serum VitD, likelihood of STR increased by 2.1% (p=0.023). CONCLUSION: VitD
      deficiency in patients with STEMI was associated with lower occurrence of STR and
      larger enzymatic infarct size in response to thrombolytic therapy.

PMID- 28595203
TI  - Parameters of ventricular repolarization in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a liver disorder that affects both
      children and adults. It is characterized by inflammatory liver histology,
      elevated transaminase level, circulating nonorgan-specific autoantibodies, and
      increased level of immunoglobulin G in the absence of known etiology. Ventricular
      repolarization has been evaluated using T wave and QT interval measurements in
      patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Ventricular repolarization may be defined using
      QT interval, QT dispersion, and T wave measurements. Recently, it has been
      demonstrated that peak and end of the T wave (Tp-e) interval, Tp-e/QT, and Tp
      e/corrected QT interval (QTc) ratios can be novel indicators for prediction of
      ventricular arrhythmias and mortality. In this study, an investigation of
      ventricular repolarization using Tp-e interval and Tp-e/QT ratio in patients with
      AIH was performed. METHODS: Total of 31 patients with AIH and 31 controls were
      enrolled in the present study. Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT, and Tp-e/QTc ratios were
      measured on 12-lead electrocardiogram. RESULTS: QT interval (378.9+/-41.4 vs.
      350.0+/-22.7; p=0.001), QTc interval (396.8+/-46.7 vs. 367.3+/-34.9; p=0.039), Tp
      e interval (68.2+/-12.3 vs. 42.5+/-6.8; p<0.001), Tp-e/QT ratio (0.18+/-0.02 vs.
      0.12+/-0.01; p<0.001) and Tp-e/QTc ratio (0.17+/-0.02 vs. 0.11+/-0.01; p<0.001)
      were significantly higher in patients with AIH than control patients. CONCLUSION:
      The results of the present study indicated that Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT, and Tp
      e/QTc ratios were greater in patients with AIH.

PMID- 28595204
TI  - Association of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and CHA2DS2-VASc score with left
      atrial thrombus in patients who are candidates for percutaneous mitral balloon
      valvuloplasty.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Association between inflammation and pro-thrombotic state has been
      described previously. Aim of the present study was to investigate if presence of
      left atrial (LA) thrombus or spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (SEC) in
      rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS) was related to neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR),
      and to determine predictive utility of the CHA2DS2-VASc risk stratification score
      in patients with mitral stenosis complicated by LA thrombus. METHODS: NLR and
      CHA2DS2-VASc score of 188 patients with MS and 35 healthy controls were
      evaluated. All analyses were also conducted according to rhythm status, excluding
      control group. RESULTS: Among patients with MS, there were 31 patients in
      thrombus-positive group, 142 patients in SEC-positive group, and 15 patients in
      thrombus/SEC-negative group. Among patients with MS and sinus rhythm (SR) (n=105;
      55.8%); 9.5% of them had LA thrombus, and 78% of them had SEC. In the SR group,
      median NLR was significantly higher in thrombus-positive group compared with
      thrombus/SEC-negative and control groups (p<0.001). Among patients with MS and
      atrial fibrillation (AF); there was no significant difference regarding NLR
      according to thrombus and SEC presence (p=0.214). In both SR and AF groups, there
      was no significant difference according to SEC/thrombus presence regarding median
      CHA2DS2-VASc score (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Elevated NLR is related to presence of
      LA thrombus in patients with MS and SR. The utility of CHA2DS2-VASc score in
      patients with MS and SR complicated by LA thrombus is debatable, according to our
      results.

PMID- 28595205
TI  - The relationship between serum lipid parameters and renal frame count in
      hypertensive patients with normal renal functions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis can contribute to renovascular disease, and high
      cholesterol level is an independent risk factor for disease progression. Renal
      frame count (RFC) is an objective angiographic method of measuring macrovascular
      blood flow in the main renal artery and its segmental branches. The aim of the
      present study was to demonstrate relationship between serum lipid parameters and
      RFC. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 116 hypertensive patients were
      allocated into 2 groups according to serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels.
      Group 1 comprised 60 patients with LDL <130 mg/dL and Group 2 consisted of 56
      individuals with LDL >=130 mg/dL. The patients were also divided into 2 groups
      according to total cholesterol (TC) levels (52 patients in group with TC <200
      mg/dL and 64 patients in group with TC >=200 mg/dL). RESULTS: Group 2 had higher
      mean RFC than Group 1 (p<0.001). RFC of both kidneys in Group 2 was significantly
      higher than results in Group 1 (p<0.001 and p=0.023, respectively). We found
      similar significant results in comparison of TC-based patient groups. RFC had
      positive correlation with smoking, TC, and LDL (r=0.326, p=0.035; r=0.393,
      p=0.010; and r=0.386, p=0.012, respectively). In multivariate linear regression
      analysis, LDL, TC, smoking, and creatinine clearance were independent predictors
      of RFC. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, in hypertensive patients with normal renal
      function, LDL, TC, and smoking may be predictors of RFC and aggressive risk
      factor modification may help to reduce the risk of renal failure.

PMID- 28595206
TI  - Transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect with atrial septal occluder in a
      patient with nickel allergy.
AB  - Presently described is transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect with atrial
      septal occluder (ASO) device in a patient with nickel allergy. Patients with
      metal allergy who will undergo nitinol device implantation should be tested for
      possible nickel hypersensitivity. ASO device and treatment strategy (percutaneous
      or surgical) should be selected according to allergy test result.

PMID- 28595207
TI  - Eosinophilic myocarditis presenting as acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - Eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) is a rare condition that may result from several
      heterogeneous eosinophilic diseases, including parasite infection,
      hypersensitivity reaction, vasculitis, and hypereosinophilic syndrome. Regardless
      of etiology, the disease may present with various cardiac conditions, such as
      acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, or arrhythmia. Irreversible
      endomyocardial fibrosis, which causes restrictive cardiomyopathy, occurs in the
      late phase of the disease. Early diagnosis and treatment is crucial to prevent
      disease progression. Presently described is a case of EM presenting as acute
      coronary syndrome that was treated with steroids.

PMID- 28595208
TI  - Atrial fibrillation following synthetic cannabinoid abuse.
AB  - Marijuana and its synthetic forms, called synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), are used
      as recreational drugs. Bonzai is a kind of SC. Adverse cardiovascular events have
      been reported with abuse of marijuana and SCs, including arrhythmia, myocardial
      infarction, and sudden cardiac death. Presently described is a case of a 23-year
      old, previously healthy man, who was admitted to the emergency department with
      atrial fibrillation after Bonzai abuse. Sinus rhythm was restored during
      observation.

PMID- 28595209
TI  - Longest surviving case of unoperated Stanford type A aortic dissection.
AB  - Stanford type A aortic dissection requires urgent intervention and immediate
      surgical approach in the emergency department. Survival rate is low, even in
      patients who undergo immediate surgery. Presently described is a case of
      unoperated Stanford type A aortic dissection that has been in follow-up under
      beta-blocker treatment for 7 years. To the best of our knowledge, our case is the
      longest surviving patient with unoperated type A aortic dissection reported in
      the literature.

PMID- 28595210
TI  - Perioperative management of combined coronary bypass surgery and thyroidectomy.
AB  - Significant swelling of the thyroid compromising the airway can be a challenging
      situation when combined thyroidectomy and cardiac surgery is planned. Induction,
      intubation, intraoperative management, and extubation require special attention
      in such cases.

PMID- 28595211
TI  - [Closure of wide patent ductus arteriosus using a fenestrated muscular VSD
      occluder device in a pediatric patient with Down syndrome and pulmonary
      hypertension].
AB  - Patients with wide patent ductus arteriosus and significant pulmonary
      hypertension not treated in time constitute a significant problem for
      cardiologists. For these patients, tests that could aid in decision-making for
      further planning include reversibility and balloon occlusion tests performed in
      the catheterization laboratory. Devices developed for the closure of ductus as
      well as different devices with off-label use may be employed in patients
      scheduled for transcatheter occlusion. When result of reversibility test is
      borderline positive, the use of fenestrated device may be applicable for selected
      patients. Presently described is case of a 10-year-old patient with Down syndrome
      who had a wide ductus and systemic pulmonary hypertension. Transcatheter closure
      procedure was performed with off-label use of a fenestrated muscular ventricular
      septal defect occluder device.

PMID- 28595213
TI  - Case Image: Long and single-piece thrombus aspirated from right coronary artery
      in inferior ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

PMID- 28595212
TI  - Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of
      Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors' Network.
AB  - The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides
      recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of
      biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical
      requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical
      aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials,
      conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship -emphasizing
      the importance of responsibility and accountability-, have been proposed. Last
      year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was
      launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing
      awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the
      Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology.

PMID- 28595214
TI  - Case Image: Extreme left diaphragm displacement in the context of tension
      pneumothorax after cardiac surgery.

PMID- 28595215
TI  - Case Image: The moment of return from the edge of death: Holter ECG recording in
      a patient with syncope.

PMID- 28595217
TI  - [Pulmonary Valve Plasty after Postoperative Pulmonary Insufficiency].
AB  - A 6-year-old boy (weight 15.5 kg) underwent pulmonary valve plasty using
      autologous pericardium. He received a diagnosis of aortic coarctation and
      ventricular septal defect. Total correction was performed at the age of 18 days (
      weight 2.2 kg). Intraoperatively, to confirm the position of the ventricular
      septum defect, we needed to incise from the main pulmonary artery to right
      ventricle through a commissure part of pulmonary valve. Although he exhibited
      stable hemodynamics, pulmonary valve regurgitation progressed. Six years after
      initial operation, we performed pulmonary valve plasty. A main pulmonary
      arteriotomy revealed that the right and anterior cusp were damaged in the initial
      operation. The right cusp had 2 defects near the commissure part, and the
      anterior cusp had a complete defect at the commissure part. The defects were
      filled with sufficient size of an autologous pericardial patch to preserve
      adequate coaptation zone. Echocardiography 1 year later revealed satisfactory
      result.

PMID- 28595216
TI  - Case Image: Unusual protruding intracardiac mass: Lipoma of left ventricular
      apex.

PMID- 28595218
TI  - [Disruption of Matsui-Kitamura Stent-graft Six Years after Treatment for Rupture
      of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm].
AB  - Matsui-Kitamura stent-graft (MKSG) is a home-made device for thoracic
      endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) developed in Japan. A 76-year-old man who had
      been treated by TEVAR (zone 3) with a MKSG for ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm
      was diagnosed as having type Ia endoleak caused by suture disruption and
      aneurysmal sac expansion 6 years later. He underwent TEVAR (zone 1) with
      debranching and type Ia endoleak disappeared. MKSG had been the effective device
      especially for acute aortic emergencies in the descending thoracic aorta until
      the stent-grafts became commercially available, but careful observation and
      appropriate re-intervention is mandatory for the continued life-saving
      contribution.

PMID- 28595219
TI  - [Hybrid Coronary Revascularization of Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass
      Grafting and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in a Patient with Left Main
      Coronary Stenosis].
AB  - We report a successful case of hybrid coronary revascularization of minimally
      invasive coronary artery bypass grafting( MICS-CABG) and percutaneous coronary
      intervention(PCI). The patient was a 78-year-old man with angina pectoris due to
      left main trunk (LMT) lesion, and had a history of repeated PCI to the left
      anterior descending artery (LAD) and the left circumflex artery (LCX) for angina
      pectoris. He presented with a chest pain on effort in June, 2015. A coronary
      angiogram showed a severe stenosis in the LMT extending to LAD and LCX. We
      performed hybrid therapy of CABG to LAD, and PCI to LMT and the proximal portion
      of LCX because the lesion was technically and suitable for PCI. CABG to LAD was
      performed via left mini thoracotomy using the left inter mammary artery (LIMA).
      LIMA was harvested under 3-dimentional endoscope. On the 5th post-operative day,
      PCI was performed to LMT and LCX. The postoperative course was uneventful and he
      was discharged on the 11th post-operative day. This case suggests that hybrid
      coronary revascularization is less invasive and feasible for selected patients
      with multi-vessel disease.

PMID- 28595220
TI  - [Metachronous Bilateral Hemothorax Due to Reverse Chance Type Thoracic Fracture].
AB  - Metachronous bilateral hemothorax due to reverse Chance type thoracic fracture is
      very rare. In this case, we experienced a case of metachronous bilateral
      hemothorax, triggered by a thoracic fracture in which the anterior component of
      the spine collapsed, so-called reverse Chance type thoracic fracture. An 83-year
      old woman with spinal kyphosis traumatically injured thoracic spine burst
      fracture, and bone fragments appeared on both sides of the destroyed vertebra.
      After injury, the left hemothorax also appeared, followed by the right hemothorax
      causing hemorrhagic shock. In thoracic destructive anterior fracture, we should
      consider the possibility of metachronous bilateral hemothorax.

PMID- 28595221
TI  - [Resection of a Tuberculous Abscess of the Thoracic Wall].
AB  - The patient was a 76-year-old man. Chest computed tomography revealed an abscess
      of the chest wall incidentally. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected by the
      aspiration of the abscess. Since the abscess cavity exhibited a larger trend in
      spite of 3 months of antituberculosis chemotherapy, surgical resection was
      performed. During the operation, indigo stain was injected thorough an aspiration
      tube to visualize the spread of the abscess. The abscess was completely resected
      with combined partial resection of the 7th, 8th, and 9th ribs, and the diaphragm.
      The patient has been well without recurrence of the lesion for 8 months after
      surgery with 3 months of adjuvant antituberculosis chemotherapy.

PMID- 28595222
TI  - [Mediastinal Pancreatic Pseudocyst with Pancreatic Pleural Effusion].
AB  - A 72-year-old man with chronic alcohol related pancreatitis was admitted for
      dyspnea and pain at the upper body. Chest X-ray showed right massive pleural
      effusion. Chest and abdominal contrast enhanced thin slice computed tomography
      revealed the route from the pancreatic head reaching the right thoracic cavity
      via the esophagus hiatus and the communication between the cystic lesion and main
      pancreatic duct. We drained the pleural effusion that showed abnormally high
      amylase activity. We diagnosed his illness as mediastinal pancreatic pseudocyst
      with pancreatic pleural effusion. Endoscopic Nasopancreatic Drainage catheter was
      placed in the main pancreatic duct, and the pleural effusion disappeared.

PMID- 28595223
TI  - [Successful Combined Modality Therapy for an Advanced Malignant Mediastinal Non
      seminomatous Germ Cell Tumor in an Elderly Female].
AB  - A 69-year-old woman was diagnosed with a germ cell tumor in the anterior
      mediastinum. Following 3 years follow-up, she experienced chest pain and an
      enlarging of the anterior mediastinal tumor and bilateral lung metastases were
      detected by chest X-ray. The tumor was diagnosed as a primary malignant
      mediastinal non-seminomatous germ cell tumor by needle biopsy. After initial
      radiotherapy (12 Gy/4 Fr), she was subsequently treated with EP chemotherapy
      which achieved a partial response. Complete resection of the residual tumors in
      the mediastinum and right lung was performed. No recurrence has been noted for 5
      years post-operatively.

PMID- 28595224
TI  - [Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor with Metastasis of Chest Wall and Both Lungs].
AB  - A 60-years-old male, who had undergone surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumor
      of small intestine 8 years before, was admitted to our hospital for surgical
      treatment of left 10th rib metastasis. Three months after the 1st operation new
      metastatic lesions appeared at hypodermic tissue at right anterior chest wall and
      left upper lobe of the lung and we performed 2nd operation to resect these
      lesions. Five months after 2nd operation, we performed 3rd operation to resect
      another metastatic pulmonary lesion at right upper lobe.

PMID- 28595225
TI  - [Mitral Valve Repair in a Patient with Two Aneurysms of the Mitral Valve Due to
      Infective Endocarditis;Report of a Case].
AB  - Echocardiography revealed 2 aneurysms in the mitral valve with mitral
      regurgitation and aortic regurgitation,in a 42-years-old man. He had had
      infective endocarditis due to Streptococcus 9 months before. A prolapse in the
      right coronary cusp without vegetation and 2 aneurysms in the anterior mitral
      leaflet were found intraoperatively. Aortic valve was replaced, and then mitral
      aneurysms were resected and repaired using his own pericardium. There has been
      almost no regurgitation or recurrence of infection over 3 years.

PMID- 28595226
TI  - [Surgical Repair for the Ventricular Septal Perforation Following Blunt Chest
      Trauma;Report of a Case].
AB  - Ventricular septal perforation(VSP) after blunt chest trauma is rare. As the
      clinical symptoms and timing of presentation are varied, appropriate diagnosis
      can be difficult or delayed. An 86-year-old man presented with a traumatic VSP
      following a forestry injury. He showed a normal cardiac structure at the time of
      injury, but echocardiography after 9 days revealed VSP. He was treated
      successfully with surgical closure of the VSP.

PMID- 28595227
TI  - [Aortic Valve Replacement and Mitral Valve Plasty in a Patient with Left
      Ventricular Noncompaction Associated with Aortic Regurgitation and Mitral
      Regurgitation;Report of a Case].
AB  - Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is believed to represent an arrest in the
      normal process of myocardial compaction, resulting in persistence of both hyper
      trabeculation and intra-trabecular recess within the left ventricle. The clinical
      features of this disease are left ventricular dilatation and systolic
      dysfunction, which carry a high mortality. Most patients die in infancy, but some
      cases of LVNC in adults have been reported. To the best of our knowledge, only 4
      cases of LVNC with valvular heart disease in adults have recently been operated.
      We describe a 51-year-old man with LVNC and severe aortic regurgitation and mild
      mitral regurgitation, who was successfully operated upon with aortic valve
      replacement using a tissue valve, and mitral valve plasty with bilateral
      papillary muscle relocation.

PMID- 28595228
TI  - [Delayed Hemolytic Anemia Associated with Anti-Jk3 Antibody Following
      Cardiovascular Surgery;Report of a Case].
AB  - We report a 73-year-old man who underwent total aortic arch replacement with an
      open stent graft for aortic arch aneurysm. The patient received blood transfusion
      intraoperatively without any signs of hemolysis. However, on post-operative day
      16, he developed hemoglobinuria, and was found to have anemia, elevated serum
      lactate dehydrogenase, elevated total bilirubin, and decreased serum haptoglobin.
      Initially, the cause for these findings was unknown. Upon further testing,
      however, antibodies against the high frequency antigen, anti-Jk3 was identified.
      The patient was conservatively treated and was discharged in stable condition on
      post-operative day 24. Jka and/or Jkb are red blood cell antigens observed in
      over 99.9% of the population worldwide. Jk (a-b-) represents the null phenotype
      and is very rare. This specific phenotype can be extremely dangerous, as
      homologous transfusion might cause severe delayed hemolysis. The actual patient
      carried Jk (a-b-) phenotype and, due to intraoperative transfusion of red blood
      cells, anti-Jk3 antibody was produced. Although very rare, patients who carry the
      red blood cell phenotype Jk( a-b-) may experience dangerous, or even fatal
      outcome due to such a common medical treatment as blood transfusion, if this
      condition is not recognized beforehand.

PMID- 28595229
TI  - [Relapse of Mitral Regurgitation Due to Tethering after Valve Plasty with Edge-to
      edge Repair;Report of a Case].
AB  - A 75-year-old woman with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) successfully underwent
      mitral valve plasty with edge-to-edge plasty and commissural annuloplasty. Three
      days after the operation, she was found to have moderate MR caused by tethering
      of the valve. Functional MR occurring as a complication of mitral edge-to-edge
      plasty could be treated conservatively.

PMID- 28595230
TI  - [Pulmonary Metastasis of Sacral Chordoma Fifteen Years after Resection of Primary
      Site;Report of a Case].
AB  - A 71-years-old man, who had undergone resection for sacral chordoma 15 years
      before, was admitted to our hospital to treat a nodule in the right middle lobe
      detected by computed tomography. The nodule was resected and was histologically
      diagnosed as lung-metastasis of chordoma.

PMID- 28595231
TI  - [Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Observed in the Subpleural Area;Report of a
      Case].
AB  - A 39-year-old man consulted our hospital because of an abnormal shadow on a chest
      X-ray without any symptoms. A chest computed tomography revealed patchy
      peripheral ground-glass attenuation, in the subpleural area. Bronchoalveolar
      lavage fluid was clear and transbronchial lung biopsy findings were inconclutive.
      A video-assisted thoracic surgery-biopsy was performed. The specimens
      demonstrated accumulation of proteinaceous materials within alveolar spaces. The
      patient was given a diagnosis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.

PMID- 28595232
TI  - [Endobronchial Lipoma Treated Left Lower Lobectomy;Report of a Case].
AB  - Endobronchial lipoma is a rare benign tumor. Bronchoscopic intervention or
      surgical resection is reported for its treatment. A 63-year-old woman underwent
      chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scan for observation of her continuous
      wheezing. CT scan showed atelectasis in the left lower lobe and a tumor in the
      left lower lobe bronchus. Bronchoscopic examinations could not confirm the
      diagnosis. Although laser therapy was conducted, the tumor could not be resected
      due to the bleeding and the patient underwent left lower lobectomy. The
      pathological diagnosis was endobronchial lipoma. After the operation, her
      symptoms improved.

PMID- 28595233
TI  - [Solitary Fibrous Tumor Originating from the Visceral Pleura Presenting an
      Extrapleural Sign;Report of a Case].
AB  - We report a case of solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) originating from the visceral
      pleura, which presented an extrapleural sign on chest computed tomography (CT)
      and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A 44-year-old woman presented at our
      hospital for a growing mass visible in chest X-rays. Chest CT and MRI detected a
      27*12 mm lesion on the intrathoracic side of the right 3rd intercostal space. The
      extrapleural signs strongly suggested the tumor to be chest wall origin. However,
      the tumor was found to be pedunculate with an umbrella-like appearance locating
      on the visceral pleura of the lung. Histopathological examination demonstrated
      SFT originating from the visceral pleura.

PMID- 28595234
TI  - [Lung Cancer with Multiple Cavitation and Ground Glass Opacity;Report of a Case].
AB  - A 81-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of cough and fever. Chest
      computed tomography(CT) showed multiple cavitation and ground glass opacity in
      the right lower lobe. Antibiotic treatment was effective in the improvement of
      the infiltrative shadow and the inflammatory reaction. After 1 year, bronchoscopy
      was performed because the shadow remained on the following chest CT, and the
      adenocarcinoma of the lung was found. A lower lobectomy of the right lung was
      performed.

PMID- 28595235
TI  - A warm-up routine that incorporates a plyometric protocol potentiates the force
      generating capacity of the quadriceps muscles.
AB  - This study was designed to investigate whether a warm-up routine that
      incorporates drop jumps, induces post-activation potentiation (PAP), and if so,
      assess the magnitude and time course of the induced PAP. Participants performed a
      standard warm-up that incorporated either drop jumps (plyometric protocol) or a
      low-paced walk (control protocol). PAP was assessed by changes in electrically
      evoked isometric muscle twitches recorded throughout both protocols. The
      plyometric protocol increased peak twitch torque (PTT), rate of force development
      (RTD) and impulse significantly (by 23%, 39% and 46%, respectively) with no
      change in the amplitude of simultaneously-evoked M-waves, indicating that the
      augmented torque was due to PAP. These increases returned to baseline within 6
      minutes, and PTT and RTD fell below baseline values at 11 - 16 minutes after the
      drop jumps. PTT, RTD and impulse decreased significantly following the standard
      warm-up. These results provide evidence that drop jumps induce PAP, markedly
      enhancing the force generating capacity of the muscle. In contrast, the standard
      warm-up did not potentiate, but rather reduced, the force generating capacity of
      the muscle. We suggest that drop jumps be incorporated into warm-up routines
      directly prior to athletic performance to maximize the force generating capacity
      of muscle.

PMID- 28595237
TI  - A comparison of muscle activation between back squats and belt squats.
AB  - A machine belt squat is a piece of equipment designed to allow the performance of
      squats while loading weight on the lifter's hips using a belt. The purpose of
      this investigation was to determine if belt squats differ from back squats in
      activation of the primary movers, and to determine the predictive capabilities of
      back squat load, training status, and anthropometric data on belt squat load.
      Thirty-one participants (16 males and 15 females) completed anthropometric
      measurements, a demographic questionnaire, a familiarization visit, and two
      testing visits, completing a 5 repetition maximum test for back squat and belt
      squat. Surface electromyography was used to measure muscle activation for the
      left and right vastus medialis (VMO), vastus lateralis (VLO), rectus femoris
      (RF), and gluteus maximus (GM). Comparison of muscle activation between the two
      exercises showed significant differences in the left GM (back squat: 0.84 +/-
      0.45, belt squat: 0.69 +/- 0.22, p=0.015) and right GM (back squat: 0.86 +/-
      0.45, belt squat: 0.71 +/- 0.29, p=0.004). Regression analysis computed
      significant prediction equations for belt squat load for general population,
      males, females, and advanced lifters. Overall, results indicate that belt squats
      may significantly differ in GM activation from back squats. Back squat load, as
      well as other variables, may be effective in accurately estimating appropriate
      belt squat load. These findings may help to more appropriately program for
      training with machine belt squats as a back squat alternative.

PMID- 28595236
TI  - Comparison of Serum Cytokine Levels in Men Who are Obese or Men Who are Lean:
      Effects of Nonlinear Periodized Resistance Training and Obesity.
AB  - Nikseresht, M. Comparison of serum cytokine levels in men who are obese or men
      who are lean: effects of nonlinear periodized resistance training and obesity. J
      Strength Cond Res 32(6): 1787-1795, 2018-This study examined the capacity of
      nonlinear resistance training (NRT) to alter some cytokines and markers of
      insulin resistance in men who are obese. An additional aim was to compare these
      variables between men who are obese and men who are lean. Age- and fitness
      matched men who are obese were randomly allocated to NRT (n = 12) and control
      (CON, n = 10) groups. An age- and fitness-matched control group of lean men (n =
      11) were also recruited for baseline comparison. The NRT (12 weeks, 3 d.wk, 5-11
      exercises) performed at different intensities (40-95% of 1 repetition maximum)
      with flexible periodization. Serum insulin, glucose, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10,
      IL-17A, and IL-20 levels were measured at baseline and after training. Men who
      were obese had significantly lower IL-20 and higher glucose, insulin, insulin
      resistance (homeostasis model assessment, HOMA-IR), IL-10, and IL-6 than lean
      participants at baseline (all, p <= 0.05). There were significant negative
      correlations between IL-10 with anthropometric markers and HOMA-IR at baseline,
      whereas these variables were inversely correlated with IL-20. After training,
      V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak and 1 repetition maximum for bench press and knee
      extension of the NRT increased significantly compared with CON, which was
      accompanied by significant reductions in anthropometric markers, insulin and HOMA
      IR. IL-6 and IL-17A did not change significantly in response to training, but IL
      10 and IL-20 increased significantly compared with baseline. An inverse
      relationship between the percent IL-20 increase and the percent waist
      circumference decrease suggests that adipocytes, or other metabolic factors such
      as glucose, may exert a lowering-effect on IL-20.

PMID- 28595238
TI  - Distinguishing Playing Status Through a Functionally Relevant Performance Measure
      in Female Division I Collegiate Soccer Athletes.
AB  - Although soccer is predominately an endurance sport, high velocity movements may
      be an important indicator of athletic success. The purpose of this investigation
      was to establish whether squat jumps (SJ) can differentiate starters from non
      starters with a female collegiate division I soccer team. Eighteen female
      division I soccer athletes were separated into two groups: 9 starters (age: 19.5
      +/- 1.0; mass = 64.8 +/- 11.5 kg; height = 167.5 +/- 7.7 cm; games started = 18.2
      +/- 4.7; minutes played = 1633.8 +/- 478.2 min) and 9 non-starters (age: 19.4 +/-
      1.4 years; mass = 63.3 +/- 4.2 kg; height = 164.7 +/- 6.8 cm; games started 0.7
      +/- 1.3; minutes played 158.2 +/- 269.3). Each athlete performed 3 maximal SJs at
      a starting knee angle of 110 degrees  without arm swing. Each participant's SJ
      height, mean power (MP), peak power (PP), mean velocity (MV), and peak velocity
      (PV) were measured during each attempt by a linear position transducer (LPT). No
      statistically significant differences (p >= 0.05) in MP and PP between the
      starters and non-starters were observed. However, starters performed
      significantly better than non-starters in SJ height (p = 0.002), MV (p = 0.025),
      and PV (p = 0.015). Additionally, SJ height was strongly correlated with MV (r =
      0.628) and PV (r = 0.647). These findings suggest that SJ height, MV and PV, may
      be important variables for discriminating differences between starters and non
      starters in division I female soccer athletes and a strong indicator of explosive
      performance.

PMID- 28595239
TI  - Changes in sprint-related outcomes during a period of systematic training in a
      girls' soccer academy.
AB  - Longitudinal data tracking performance indicators collected during structured
      training are lacking in young female soccer players. Therefore, changes in 5-m
      acceleration, 20-m speed, change-of-direction speed and repeated-sprint ability
      were quantified during a three-year period in an FA Centre of Excellence.
      Fourteen players (mean age = 12.1 years, SD = +/-0.9) were recruited and their
      best performance scores from pre-season and in-season testing were averaged.
      Players were typically exposed to soccer (2 x 90 min per week) and strength and
      conditioning training (1 x 70 min per week) and played 20 soccer matches (50-80
      min) during 35-week seasons. Mean (+/-90%CL) overall improvements over the three
      years were 5.9% (1.3) (most likely large) for speed, 4.0% (1.0) (most likely
      large) for repeated-sprint ability, 8.8% (1.1) for acceleration and 8.3% (1.4)
      for change-of-direction speed (both most likely very large). Improvements between
      years one and two ranged from most likely moderate to very large. Further small
      improvements in change-of-direction speed and 20-m speed (both likely) were
      observed between years two and three. Individual differences in response were
      apparent only for change-of-direction speed, which were moderate and small
      between years two and three. Most likely very large to near perfect within-player
      correlations were observed between maturation and sprint measures. These data
      from a single-arm longitudinal study indicate that systematic exposure to
      training, which includes one dedicated strength and conditioning session each
      week, is associated with improvements in sprint related physical qualities in
      girls.

PMID- 28595240
TI  - Toll-like receptor 7 is overexpressed in the bladder of Hunner-type interstitial
      cystitis, and its activation in the mouse bladder can induce cystitis and bladder
      pain.
AB  - Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) is associated with the pathophysiology of systemic
      lupus erythematosus and Sjogren syndrome, well-known diseases accompanying
      interstitial cystitis (IC). We studied TLR7 expression in the bladder of patients
      with Hunner-type IC (HIC) and its functional roles in bladder inflammation and
      nociception using mice. Bladder biopsy specimens were obtained from patients with
      HIC. Specimens from the noncancerous portion of the bladder of patients with
      bladder cancer served as controls. The specimens were examined by
      immunohistochemistry and real-time polymerase chain reaction of TLR7. Loxoribine
      (LX), a TLR7 agonist, was instilled in the bladder of C57BL/6N female mice, and
      TLR7-mRNA expression and histological changes of the bladder, bladder pain-like
      licking behavior, voiding behavior, cystometry, and bladder afferent nerve
      activities were investigated. The effects of hydroxychloroquine, a TLR7
      antagonist, on the LX-induced changes on cystometry and voiding behavior were
      studied. The number of TLR7 immuno-reactive cells and the mRNA expression of TLR7
      were significantly increased in HIC specimens. Intravesical instillation of LX
      induced edema, congestion, inflammation, and significantly increased TLR7-mRNA
      expression in the mouse bladder. Loxoribine-instillation also significantly
      increased licking behavior, voiding frequency, and afferent nerve activities
      associated with decreased single-voided volume and intercontraction interval of
      micturitions. Hydroxychloroquine reversed the LX-induced cystometric and voiding
      behavioral changes. Toll-like receptor 7 was up-regulated in the bladder mucosa
      of patients with HIC, and activation of TLR7 in the mouse bladder induced
      cystitis with sensory hyperactivity of the bladder. Blocking the TLR7 pathway may
      be an innovative treatment target of HIC.

PMID- 28595242
TI  - Three-Dimensional Imaging as a Novel Method of Evaluating the Longevity of
      Hyaluronic Acid Fillers in a Mouse Model.

PMID- 28595244
TI  - Dermoscopy in Facilitating the Recognition of Poikiloderma of Civatte.

PMID- 28595243
TI  - Determinants and Timeline of Perioperative Anxiety in Mohs Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) exhibit anxiety
      relating to cancer cure or the expected cosmetic outcome. OBJECTIVE: To obtain
      quantitative measurements of perioperative cancer and cosmetic anxiety levels in
      first-time MMS patients. Parameters influencing anxiety and its natural course
      were assessed. METHODS: Prospective, single-blinded, questionnaire study of 173
      patients undergoing MMS of the face. Anxiety levels were assessed using a visual
      analog scale preoperatively and postoperatively over 6 months. RESULTS: Mohs
      patients demonstrate a trend to greater or equal anxiety about cancer over
      cosmesis at all measured time points, but differences only reached statistical
      significance beginning 1 week postoperatively. Clinically relevant lowering of
      cancer anxiety levels is delayed until 3 months postoperatively. Cosmetic anxiety
      reaches a clinically relevant improvement by 1 week. The intuitive predictors of
      cosmetic anxiety, namely female gender and younger age, were quantitatively
      reinforced in this study. The predictor of cancer anxiety was the use of
      preoperative lorazepam. CONCLUSION: To maximize patient care, Mohs surgeons must
      be aware of covert patient anxieties and the parameters, which influence these
      anxieties. Identifying and anticipating the course of cancer- and cosmetic
      related anxieties will reduce patient fears, improving their satisfaction with
      the MMS experience.

PMID- 28595241
TI  - Stratifying patients with peripheral neuropathic pain based on sensory profiles:
      algorithm and sample size recommendations.
AB  - In a recent cluster analysis, it has been shown that patients with peripheral
      neuropathic pain can be grouped into 3 sensory phenotypes based on quantitative
      sensory testing profiles, which are mainly characterized by either sensory loss,
      intact sensory function and mild thermal hyperalgesia and/or allodynia, or loss
      of thermal detection and mild mechanical hyperalgesia and/or allodynia. Here, we
      present an algorithm for allocation of individual patients to these subgroups.
      The algorithm is nondeterministic-ie, a patient can be sorted to more than one
      phenotype-and can separate patients with neuropathic pain from healthy subjects
      (sensitivity: 78%, specificity: 94%). We evaluated the frequency of each
      phenotype in a population of patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy (n =
      151), painful peripheral nerve injury (n = 335), and postherpetic neuralgia (n =
      97) and propose sample sizes of study populations that need to be screened to
      reach a subpopulation large enough to conduct a phenotype-stratified study. The
      most common phenotype in diabetic polyneuropathy was sensory loss (83%), followed
      by mechanical hyperalgesia (75%) and thermal hyperalgesia (34%, note that
      percentages are overlapping and not additive). In peripheral nerve injury,
      frequencies were 37%, 59%, and 50%, and in postherpetic neuralgia, frequencies
      were 31%, 63%, and 46%. For parallel study design, either the estimated effect
      size of the treatment needs to be high (>0.7) or only phenotypes that are
      frequent in the clinical entity under study can realistically be performed. For
      crossover design, populations under 200 patients screened are sufficient for all
      phenotypes and clinical entities with a minimum estimated treatment effect size
      of 0.5.

PMID- 28595245
TI  - Massively Metastatic Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans With Fibrosarcomatous
      Transformation Years After Surgical Resection.

PMID- 28595246
TI  - Cryolipolysis for Reduction of Arm Fat: Safety and Efficacy of a Prototype
      CoolCup Applicator With Flat Contour.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cryolipolysis of the arms has been shown to be an effective but
      somewhat time-consuming process. OBJECTIVE: The study evaluated safety and
      efficacy of a contoured cup cryolipolysis applicator for reduction of arm fat.
      The prototype was designed to maximize tissue contact with the cooling surface to
      improve comfort, while reducing treatment time by 25 minutes. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Both arms were treated using a prototype device that delivered treatment
      in 35 minutes at -11 degrees C. Photographic and ultrasound documentation was
      captured at baseline and 12 weeks post-treatment. Efficacy was assessed by photo
      review and measurement of fat reduction in ultrasound images. Immediately after
      1, 4, and 12 weeks post-treatment, clinical assessments were performed to
      evaluate treatment areas and sensory alterations. RESULTS: Thirty women were
      enrolled and completed treatments to both arms. Ultrasound measurements found
      mean fat layer reduction of 3.2 mm with an SD of 2.7 mm. Blinded independent
      photo review found 85.2% correct identification of baseline photographs by at
      least 2/3 of reviewers. There were no unanticipated adverse device effects. Four
      study subjects experienced numbness in the treatment area beyond the 12-week
      visit that subsequently resolved without intervention. CONCLUSION: These data
      suggest that the CoolCup prototype applicator provides rapid, safe, and effective
      arm treatment.

PMID- 28595247
TI  - Mohs Melanoma Chemosurgery Simplified to a Single Brief Caustic Application:
      Possible Vaccine Effect.

PMID- 28595248
TI  - Novel Camera Mounting Technique for Dermatologic Surgeries.

PMID- 28595249
TI  - A Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blind Study Comparing Cyanoacrylate Adhesives
      to Sutures for Wound Closure in Skin Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives are not more likely to result in wound
      dehiscence or infection than sutured closures. However, suturing is the gold
      standard for optimal cosmetic appearance of scars. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      whether cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives produce a cosmetic outcome equivalent to
      sutures at 3 months. Secondary outcomes include time for wound closure, time
      spent on wound care, and surgeon and patient satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Seventy-one patients scheduled for skin cancer excision at Beverly Hospital were
      included in this prospective, randomized, single-blind study. Cosmetic appearance
      was assessed by a masked panel of dermatologists and plastic surgeons who
      evaluated digital photographs. Secondary outcomes were assessed by nursing
      recordings and patient and surgeon evaluations. RESULTS: There was no significant
      difference in wound appearance (Visual Analog Scale: p = .4693, modified
      Hollander Wound Evaluation Score: p = .6413) between adhesives and sutures. It
      was faster and easier for a surgeon to use adhesives, and subjects spent less
      time caring for and were more satisfied by wounds sealed with adhesives than
      sutures. CONCLUSION: Cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives produce cosmetic outcomes
      that are not statistically significantly different than sutures; furthermore,
      they are associated with fast application, easy wound care, and patient
      satisfaction.

PMID- 28595250
TI  - Prospective, Split-Face, Randomized, Long-Term Blinded Objective Comparison of
      the Performance and Tolerability of Two New Hyaluronic Acid Fillers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are requirements for long-term, objective comparisons of
      hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal fillers. OBJECTIVE: To compare efficacy and
      tolerability of ART FILLER Universal (AFU) and ART FILLER Fine lines (AFFL) with
      the existing HA fillers for the treatment of nasolabial folds and crow's feet.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective, randomized, rater- and patient-blind, split
      face comparison of AFU with JUVEDERM Ultra 3 (JUV) and AFFL with FIRST LINES
      PureSense (FLPS). The severity of nasolabial folds and crow's feet was assessed
      by independent blinded evaluators using the Lemperle scale at baseline, day (D)
      30/D45, D90, and D180. Tolerability, Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS),
      wrinkle volumes, and skin thickness and density were also measured at D30/D45,
      D90, and D180. RESULTS: At D30 and D180 respectively, 61 and 57 patients were
      assessed. Scores for nasolabial folds and crow's feet showed statistically
      significant improvements at D30, D90, and D180. AFU and AFFL were noninferior to
      JUV and FLPS, respectively. Most patients showed GAIS improvements, maintained
      until at least D180 and significant increases of collagen synthesis in crow's
      feet and nasolabial folds. Treatments were well tolerated. CONCLUSION: AFU and
      AFFL are noninferior to comparators. The methodology used represents a novel
      approach to augment existing clinical assessment of HA fillers.

PMID- 28595251
TI  - Use of Turn-in Skin Flaps for Nasal Lining Reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reconstruction of the nasal lining is the most difficult part of
      complex nasal reconstruction because the mucosa has a unique texture and
      fineness. Many techniques, ranging from skin grafts to local flaps, have been
      applied for the reconstruction of the mucosa. In some cases, even free flaps have
      been used. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to discuss the feasibility of
      using turn-in flaps in nasal reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen
      patients with full-thickness nasal defects underwent reconstruction with turn-in
      flaps. In all the patients, the bone structure was formed using cartilage grafts,
      and the skin defects were reconstructed using paramedian forehead flaps. A
      rhinoplasty procedure was added in 10 of the patients. RESULTS: Necrosis was not
      observed in any of the flaps, and the results were satisfactory for all the
      patients. CONCLUSION: This technique provided enough support for the onlay
      cartilage grafts, and the flap was thin enough to avoid any nasal airway
      obstruction. In selected patients, this technique can also be used in conjunction
      with a rhinoplasty procedure.

PMID- 28595252
TI  - Recurrent Tumors Referred for Mohs Micrographic Surgery: A 12-Year Experience at
      a Single Academic Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is used for treatment of primary and
      recurrent tumors. Compared with primary tumors, recurrent tumors are often more
      aggressive. OBJECTIVE: To understand differing characteristics between primary
      versus recurrent tumors treated by MMS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors
      conducted a retrospective review of a 12-year period at 1 academic center.
      Recurrent tumors were defined as recurrent if previously treated with
      cryotherapy, topical chemotherapeutics, electrodesiccation and curettage, or
      excision. Statistical analysis was conducted with p <= .05 considered
      significant. RESULTS: A total of 17,971 cases were reviewed, of which 10.5%
      represented recurrent tumors. Recurrent tumors occurred more commonly in men
      (ratio 2.2:1). They presented in older individuals (p < .01) and occurred more
      commonly on the scalp (p < .0001), neck (p < .0001), and trunk (p < .0001).
      Primary tumors were more commonly located on the periocular (p < .0001), nose (p
      < .0001), and perioral areas (p < .0001). Squamous cell carcinoma more commonly
      presented as primary tumors (p = .02) while squamous cell carcinoma in situ more
      commonly presented as recurrent tumors (p < .001). CONCLUSION: Distinct
      characteristics separate primary and recurrent tumors treated by MMS. Primary
      tumors were more commonly located in Area H, compared with recurrent tumors,
      which were more commonly located in Area M. This suggests appropriate usage of
      MMS based on appropriate use criteria.

PMID- 28595253
TI  - Glomangiomyoma of the Vagina: A Report of 2 Cases and Literature Review.
AB  - We report 2 cases of vaginal glomangiomyoma in a 53-year-old who presented with a
      painful vaginal mass, and a 56-year-old who had postmenopausal bleeding and in
      whom an incidental vaginal mass was identified and resected at the time of
      hysterectomy. Histologic examination of the resected masses showed solid,
      circumscribed, benign, smooth muscle-predominant tumors with interspersed small
      islands of epithelioid glomus cells. The glomus cells were intimately related to
      small-caliber blood vessels and showed no cytologic atypia or mitotic activity.
      The tumor cells showed diffuse expression of smooth muscle actin, CD34, and focal
      expression of h-caldesmon, vimentin, and estrogen receptor. No immunolabeling for
      calponin B or desmin was found. To our knowledge, there are only isolated reports
      of vaginal glomus tumors, and these are the first reported case of vaginal
      glomangiomyoma in the literature.

PMID- 28595254
TI  - On Uterine Angiosarcomas: 2 Additional Cases.

PMID- 28595255
TI  - Pilot Electroacoustic Analyses of a Sample of Direct-to-Consumer Amplification
      Products.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent national initiatives from the White House and Institute of
      Medicine have focused on strategies to increase the accessibility and
      affordability of hearing loss treatment given the average cost of $4700 for
      bilateral hearing aids. More affordable direct-to-consumer hearing technologies
      are increasingly gaining recognition, but the performance of these devices has
      been poorly studied. We investigated the technical and electroacoustic
      capabilities of several direct-to-consumer hearing devices to inform
      otolaryngologists who may be asked by patients to comment on these devices.
      PATIENTS/INTERVENTION: Nine direct-to-consumer hearing devices ranging in retail
      cost from $144.99 to $395.00 and one direct-to-consumer hearing device with a
      retail cost of $30.00. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Electroacoustic results and
      simulated real-ear measurements. Main electroacoustic measures are frequency
      response, equivalent input noise, total harmonic distortion, and maximum output
      sound pressure level at 90 dB. RESULTS: Five devices met all four electroacoustic
      tolerances presented in this study, two devices met three tolerances, one device
      met two tolerances, one device met one tolerance, and one device did not meet any
      tolerances. Nine devices were able to approximate five of nine National Acoustics
      Laboratories (NAL) targets within 10 dB while only three devices were able to
      approximate five of nine NAL targets within a more stringent 5 dB. CONCLUSION:
      While there is substantial heterogeneity among the selection of devices, certain
      direct-to-consumer hearing devices may be able to provide appropriate
      amplification to persons with mild-to-moderate hearing loss and serve as
      alternatives for hearing aids in specific cases.

PMID- 28595256
TI  - Evaluation of Cochlear Duct Length Computations Using Synchrotron Radiation Phase
      Contrast Imaging.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Evaluation of cochlear duct length (CDL) using novel imaging
      techniques will help improve the accuracy of existing CDL equations. BACKGROUND:
      Various relationships relating A value measured from a patient's computed
      tomography scan and CDL have been proposed to aid in preoperative electrode
      selection and frequency mapping. METHODS: Ten cadaveric temporal bones were
      scanned using synchrotron radiation phase-contrast imaging. Reference CDL values
      were calculated by placing points representing the organ of Corti (OC), lateral
      wall (LW), and electrode location (I) on the synchrotron radiation phase-contrast
      imaging slices along the length of the cochlea. The CDL estimates from the
      existing three equations (OC, LW, I) in addition to two newly proposed equations
      (OC and LW) were compared with reference CDL values at each respective location.
      RESULTS: When compared with reference CDL values, the new OC equation improved
      the CDL estimates from a 6.2% error to a 5.1% error while the new LW equation
      improved the CDL estimate error from 3.9 to 3.6%. Bland-Altman plots revealed
      both new equations increased similarity to reference values and brought more
      samples to within clinically significant ranges. Validation of the original
      electrode location equation to the reference values showed a 4.6% difference.
      CONCLUSION: The newly proposed equations for LW and OC provided an improvement
      over past equations for determining CDL from the A value by showing improved
      agreement with reference values. Therefore, these equations can provide quick and
      accurate preoperative estimates of CDL for improving customized frequency
      mapping.

PMID- 28595257
TI  - Are Cervical Collars a Necessary Postprocedure Restriction in Patients With
      Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Treated With Particle Repositioning
      Maneuvers?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is managed with
      particle repositioning maneuvers (PRM), following which patients are advised of
      activity restrictions to prevent recurrence. This can include wearing a cervical
      collar. OBJECTIVE: Does the use of BPPV postprocedure restriction with a cervical
      collar impact on the number of PRMs required to resolve a patient's symptoms?
      METHOD: Combination of retrospective and prospective review of 624 patients
      treated in a tertiary UK hospital. All were diagnosed with posterior canal BPPV
      and received a modified Epley maneuver (PRM). The "with cervical collar" (WC)
      retrospective group 2002 to 2009 (n = 263) were advised to wear a cervical collar
      for 48 hours postprocedure, and the "no cervical collar" (NC) prospective group
      2010 to 2014 (n = 361) were not. The main outcome measure was the resolution of
      patient symptoms following a PRM for BPPV. Quantitative and statistical analysis
      using chi test was undertaken. RESULTS: In the WC group, 84% (n = 221) had
      resolution of symptoms after the first PRM, versus 82.8% (n = 299) in the NC
      group. After the second PRM 11% (n = 29) resolved, versus 13.6% (n = 49) in the
      NC group. After the third PRM 4.9% (n = 13) resolved, versus 3.6% (n = 13) in the
      NC group. Both clinically and statistically there was no significant difference
      in outcome between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our review of 624 patients is the largest
      study in this subject and the results demonstrate that wearing a cervical collar
      following PRM for BPPV concedes no significant benefit. Excluding this from
      postprocedure guidance allows patients to manage without the inconvenience of
      wearing a cervical collar, and allows departments to update clinical guidance.

PMID- 28595258
TI  - Microsurgery for Recurrent Vestibular Schwannoma After Previous Gross Total
      Resection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present a single-institution experience and supportive systematic
      literature review examining outcomes after repeat microsurgery for recurrent
      vestibular schwannoma (VS) following previous gross total resection (GTR). STUDY
      DESIGN: Retrospective review of prospectively maintained VS database. Systematic
      literature review. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Six proven VS
      recurrences after primary GTR, treated via repeat microsurgery. INTERVENTION:
      Repeat microsurgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Facial nerve function, extent-of
      resection, time-to-repeat surgery, same versus alternate approach at repeat
      surgery (relative to primary operation). RESULTS: GTR was achieved in four (67%).
      House-Brackmann (HB) grade I-II facial nerve function was achieved in five (87%),
      including one that improved from preoperative HB grade V. An alternate surgical
      approach was chosen in four (67%). Systematic review identified four studies
      documenting 50 cases with patient-specific outcomes after repeat microsurgery for
      recurrent VS. Our cohort had significantly longer mean time-to-repeat surgery
      (117 vs. 64 months, p = 0.03), was significantly less likely to have HB III-VI
      function postrepeat (17% vs. 68%, p = 0.04), and was significantly less likely to
      undergo same approach surgery (33% vs. 90%, p = 0.0002); rates of GTR were
      nonsignificant (67% vs. 94%, p = 0.1). CONCLUSION: We report a six-patient series
      of microsurgery for recurrent VS after GTR, and the first systematic review of
      this rare and challenging entity. Anecdotally, our findings suggest that an
      alternate surgical approach may facilitate easier access to the tumor, with less
      scar encountered during the approach. Our results confirm that repeat
      microsurgery for recurrent VS is safe and effective, even for larger tumors not
      typically amenable to stereotactic radiosurgery.

PMID- 28595259
TI  - Molecular profiling of signet ring cell colorectal cancer provides a strong
      rationale for genomic targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Signet ring cell colorectal cancer (SRCCa) has a bleak prognosis.
      Employing molecular pathology techniques we investigated the potential of
      precision medicine in this disease. METHODS: Using test (n=26) and validation
      (n=18) cohorts, analysis of mutations, DNA methylation and transcriptome was
      carried out. Microsatellite instability (MSI) status was established and
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to test for adaptive immunity (CD3) and the
      immune checkpoint PDL1. RESULTS: DNA methylation data split the cohorts into
      hypermethylated (n=18, 41%) and hypomethylated groups (n=26, 59%). The
      hypermethylated group predominant in the proximal colon was enriched for CpG
      island methylator phenotype (CIMP), BRAF V600E mutation and MSI (P<0.001). These
      cases also had a high CD3+ immune infiltrate (P<0.001) and expressed PDL1 (P=0.03
      in intra-tumoural lymphoid cells). The hypomethylated group predominant in the
      distal colon did not show any characteristic molecular features. We also detected
      a common targetable KIT mutation (c.1621A>C) across both groups. No statistically
      significant difference in outcome was observed between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that SRCCa phenotype comprises two distinct genotypes.
      The MSI+/CIMP+/BRAF V600E+/CD3+/PDL1+ hypermethylated genotype is an ideal
      candidate for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. In addition, one fourth of
      SRCCa cases can potentially be targeted by KIT inhibitors.

PMID- 28595262
TI  - Dopaminergic Imaging and Prodromal Parkinson Disease: A Key Biomarker Arrives.

PMID- 28595260
TI  - KIF15 promotes pancreatic cancer proliferation via the MEK-ERK signalling
      pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is highly malignant and characterised by rapid and
      uncontrolled growth. While some of the important regulatory networks involved in
      pancreatic cancer have been determined, the cancer relevant genes have not been
      fully identified. METHODS: We screened genes that may control proliferation in
      pancreatic cancer in seven pairs of matched pancreatic cancer and normal
      pancreatic tissue samples. We examined KIF15 expression in pancreatic cancer
      tissues and the effect of KIF15 on cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. The
      mechanisms underlying KIF15 promotion of cell proliferation were investigated.
      RESULTS: mRNA microarray and functional analysis identified 22 genes that
      potentially play an important role in the proliferation of pancreatic cancer.
      High-content siRNA screening evaluated whether silencing these 22 genes affected
      proliferation of pancreatic cancer. Notably, silencing KIF15 exhibited the most
      potent inhibition of proliferation compared with the rest of the 22 genes. KIF15
      was upregulated in human pancreatic cancer tissues, and higher KIF15 expression
      levels correlated with shorter patient survival times. Upregulation KIF15
      promoted pancreatic cancer growth. KIF15 upregulated cyclin D1, CDK2, and phospho
      RB and also promoted G1/S transition in pancreatic cancer cells. KIF15
      upregulation activated MEK-ERK signalling by increasing p-MEK and p-ERK levels.
      MEK-ERK inhibitors successfully inhibited cell cycle progression, and PD98059
      blocked KIF15-mediated pancreatic cancer proliferation in vivo and in vitro.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study identified KIF15 as a critical regulator that promotes
      pancreatic cancer proliferation, broadening our understanding of KIF15 function
      in tumorigenesis.

PMID- 28595261
TI  - Speech-Processing Fatigue in Children: Auditory Event-Related Potential and
      Behavioral Measures.
AB  - Purpose: Fatigue related to speech processing is an understudied area that may
      have significant negative effects, especially in children who spend the majority
      of their school days listening to classroom instruction. Method: This study
      examined the feasibility of using auditory P300 responses and behavioral indices
      (lapses of attention and self-report) to measure fatigue resulting from sustained
      listening demands in 27 children (M = 9.28 years). Results: Consistent with
      predictions, increased lapses of attention, longer reaction times, reduced P300
      amplitudes to infrequent target stimuli, and self-report of greater fatigue were
      observed after the completion of a series of demanding listening tasks compared
      with the baseline values. The event-related potential responses correlated with
      the behavioral measures of performance. Conclusion: These findings suggest that
      neural and behavioral responses indexing attention and processing resources show
      promise as effective markers of fatigue in children.

PMID- 28595263
TI  - Assessing the Believability of Standardized Patients Trained to Portray
      Communication Disorders.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the believability of
      standardized patients portraying individuals with communication disorders as part
      of a larger study in which standardized patients help train medical and allied
      health students about communication disorders. Method: Two women portrayed
      persons with aphasia, and 2 men depicted persons with dysarthria associated with
      Parkinson's disease. Two stakeholder groups rated believability. Speech-language
      pathologists rated believability of videos online. Persons with aphasia rated
      aphasia videos during in-person sessions with the researchers. Results: Targeted
      believability was 80 or higher (0-100 scale; 0 = not at all believable, 100 =
      very believable). For speech-language pathologist raters, average ratings met the
      target for the portrayals of the aphasia characteristics of word-finding
      problems, agrammaticism, nonverbal communication, and overall portrayal but not
      for auditory comprehension problems. Targets for the portrayals were met for the
      dysarthria characteristics of reduced speech movements, reduced loudness, reduced
      intonation, flat affect, and overall portrayal but not for speech rate. Ratings
      for different standardized patients portraying the same case were not
      significantly different from each other on most characteristics. Ratings from
      persons with aphasia were highly variable. Conclusion: Standardized patients who
      do not have communication disorders can portray disorder characteristics in a
      believable manner.

PMID- 28595264
TI  - piRNA-independent PIWI function in spermatogenesis and male fertility.

PMID- 28595265
TI  - Oil Spill Field Trial at Sea: Measurements of Benzene Exposure.
AB  - Objectives: Characterize personal exposure to airborne hydrocarbons, particularly
      carcinogenic benzene, during spill of two different fresh crude oils at sea.
      Methods: The study included 22 participants taking part in an "oil on water"
      field trial in the North Sea. Two types of fresh crude oils (light and heavy)
      were released six times over two consecutive days followed by different oil spill
      response methods. The participants were distributed on five boats; three open
      sampling boats (A, B, and C), one release ship (RS), and one oil recovery (OR)
      vessel. Assumed personal exposure was assessed a priori, assuming high exposure
      downwind and close to the oil slick (sampling boats), low exposure further
      downwind (100-200 m) and upwind from the oil slick (main deck of RS and OR
      vessel), and background exposure indoors (bridge of RS/OR vessel). Continuous
      measurements of total volatile organic compounds in isobutylene equivalents were
      performed with photoionization detectors placed in all five boats. Full-shift
      personal exposure to benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, naphthalene, and n
      hexane was measured with passive thermal desorption tubes. Results: Personal
      measurements of benzene, averaged over the respective sample duration, on Day 1
      showed that participants in the sampling boats (A, B, and C) located downwind and
      close to the oil slick were highest exposed (0.14-0.59 ppm), followed by
      participants on the RS main deck (0.02-0.10 ppm) and on the bridge (0.004-0.03
      ppm). On Day 2, participants in sampling boat A had high benzene exposure (0.87
      1.52 ppm) compared to participants in sampling boat B (0.01-0.02 ppm), on the
      ships (0.06-0.10 ppm), and on the bridge (0.004-0.01 ppm). Overall, the
      participants in the sampling boats had the highest exposure to all of the
      compounds measured. The light crude oil yielded a five times higher concentration
      of total volatile organic compounds in air in the sampling boats (max 510 ppm)
      than the heavy crude oil (max 100 ppm) but rapidly declined to <20 ppm within 24
      min after release of oil, indicating short periods of exposure. Conclusions: The
      personal exposure to benzene downwind and close to the oil slick during spills of
      light crude oil was relatively high, with concentration levels approaching the
      occupational exposure limits for several participants. For bulk spill scenarios
      like in this study, cleanup should not be initiated the first 30-60 min to allow
      for evaporation, while appropriate personal protective equipment should be used
      in continuous spills when working downwind and close to the oil slick.

PMID- 28595266
TI  - Melatonin protects against cisplatin-induced ovarian damage in mice via the MT1
      receptor and antioxidant activity.
AB  - This study evaluated the receptor- and/or antioxidant stress-mediated mechanisms
      by which melatonin prevents the ovarian toxicity of cisplatin treatment. The
      expression of the MT1 receptor in mouse ovaries was investigated by
      immunohistochemistry. Pretreatment with melatonin (5, 10, or 20 mg/kg body
      weight, i.p.) before cisplatin (5 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) was administered to
      mice once daily for 3 days (phase I). The pharmacological modulation via
      melatonin type 1 and/or 2 receptors was analyzed by administration of receptor
      antagonists (luzindole: nonselective MT1/MT2 antagonist; 5 mg/kg body weight or 4
      phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin: selective MT2 antagonist; 4 mg/kg body weight)
      once daily for 3 days, 15 min before the treatment with melatonin and cisplatin
      (phase II). Thereafter, the ovaries were harvested and used for histological
      (morphology and activation), immunohistochemical (PCNA, activated caspase-3 and
      bcl-2 expression), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end
      labeling, and fluorescence (reactive oxygen species [ROS], glutathione [GSH], and
      active mitochondria levels) analyses. The expression of the MT1 protein in mouse
      ovaries was documented. Pretreatment with 20 mg/kg melatonin before cisplatin
      administration preserved the normal follicular morphology and cell proliferation
      rate, reduced apoptosis, ROS production, mitochondrial damage and increased GSH
      expression, as compared to the cisplatin treatment alone. Additionally,
      administration of the nonselective MT1/MT2 receptor antagonist inhibited the
      melatonin ovarian protection from the cytotoxic effects of cisplatin. However,
      administration of a selective MT2 antagonist did not modify the protective
      effects observed at 20 mg/kg melatonin. In conclusion, pretreatment with 20 mg/kg
      melatonin effectively protected the ovaries against cisplatin-induced damage.
      Moreover, the MT1 receptor and melatonin antioxidant effects mediated this
      cytoprotective activity.

PMID- 28595268
TI  - Review: placental biomarkers for assessing fetal health.
AB  - The placenta is a multifunctional organ that regulates key aspects of pregnancy
      maintenance and fetal development. As the placenta is in direct contact with
      maternal blood, cellular products (DNA, RNA, proteins, etc.) from the placenta
      can enter maternal circulation by a variety of ways. The application of serum
      proteins and circulating placental derived DNA has been well demonstrated for the
      diagnosis of aneuploidy, and there is great interest in exploring the use of
      placental biomarkers for the prediction of a range of fetal health parameters. In
      this review, we discuss how placental biomarkers might be used for the diagnosis
      and early detection of preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction and inflammation
      associated with preterm birth. We emphasize how increased understanding of the
      underlying placental biology can aid in the interpretation of such approaches and
      development of new biomarkers that can help predict the onset of pregnancy and
      neonatal health concerns before they manifest.

PMID- 28595267
TI  - Cholesterol uptake and regulation in high-grade and lethal prostate cancers.
AB  - Lethal prostate cancers have higher expression of squalene monooxygenase (SQLE),
      the second rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol synthesis. Preclinical studies
      suggested that aberrant cholesterol regulators, receptors and transporters
      contribute to cholesterol accumulation uniformly. We assessed their association
      with features of aggressive cancers. In the prospective prostate cancer cohorts
      within the Health Professional Follow-up Study, the Physicians' Health Study and
      the Swedish Watchful Waiting Study, tumor mRNA expression profiling was
      performed. Lethal disease was defined as mortality or metastases from prostate
      cancer (n = 266) in contrast to non-lethal disease without metastases after >8
      years of follow-up (n = 476). Associations with Gleason grade were additionally
      assessed using The Cancer Genome Atlas primary prostate cancer dataset (n = 333).
      Higher Gleason grade was associated with lower LDLR expression, lower SOAT1 and
      higher SQLE expression. Besides high SQLE expression, cancers that became lethal
      despite primary treatment were characterized by low LDLR expression (odds ratio
      for highest versus lowest quintile, 0.37; 95% CI 0.18-0.76) and by low SOAT1
      expression (odds ratio, 0.41; 95% CI 0.21-0.83). The association of LDLR
      expression and lethality was not present in tumors with high IDOL expression.
      ABCA1, PCSK9 or SCARB1 expressions were not associated with Gleason grade or
      lethal cancer. In summary, prostate cancers that progress to lethal disease rely
      on de novo cholesterol synthesis (via SQLE), rather than transcellular uptake
      (via LDLR) or cholesterol esterification (via SOAT1). These results may help
      design pharmacotherapy for high-risk patients.

PMID- 28595270
TI  - SPP1 genotype and glucocorticoid treatment modify osteopontin expression in
      Duchenne muscular dystrophy cells.
AB  - Glucocorticoids are beneficial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Osteopontin
      (OPN), the protein product of SPP1, plays a role in DMD pathology modulating
      muscle inflammation and regeneration. A polymorphism in the SPP1 promoter
      (rs28357094) has been recognized as a genetic modifier of DMD, and there is
      evidence suggesting that it modifies response to glucocorticoid treatment. The
      effect of the glucocorticoid deflazacort on SPP1 mRNA and protein expression was
      investigated in DMD primary human myoblasts and differentiated myotubes with
      defined rs28357094 genotype (TT versus TG). Both healthy and DMD
      myoblasts/myotubes abundantly express OPN. In immunoblot, OPN was detected as a
      doublet of 55 and 50 kDa bands, with a shift towards the lighter isoform in the
      transition from myoblasts to myotubes and to mature muscle. A significant
      increase in OPN expression was observed in DMD myotubes carrying the TG compared
      to the TT genotype at rs28357094. Deflazacort treatment led to a significant
      increase of OPN only in myotubes carrying the TG genotype, leading to OPN
      overexpression. Our study shows a strong effect of the rs28357094 G allele in
      increasing OPN expression in the presence of deflazacort, and adds to the
      evidence that rs28357094 polymorphism may predict response to glucocorticoids in
      DMD.

PMID- 28595271
TI  - Oviposition Preference and Survival of the Mexican Rice Borer (Lepidoptera:
      Crambidae) in Bioenergy and Conventional Sugarcane and Sorghum.
AB  - Oviposition preference and host suitability of the Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma
      loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), on bioenergy and conventional cultivars
      of sugarcane, Saccharum spp., and sorghum, Sorghum spp., were examined in a
      series of greenhouse experiments. Two energycane cultivars, two sugarcane
      cultivars, two high-biomass sorghum cultivars, and one sweet sorghum cultivar
      were assessed at two phenological stages (immature and mature). Mature plants
      possessed greater availability of dry leaf material compared with immature
      plants, and all E. loftini eggs were observed exclusively on dry leaves.
      Oviposition did not vary among host combinations (cultivar by phenological
      stage); however, eggs per plant and eggs per oviposition event were numerically
      greater on mature plants than immature plants. In a no-choice experiment,
      survival from egg to adult did not vary among host combinations, with <2.0% of E.
      loftini larvae surviving to adulthood. Failed establishment by neonates on plants
      was 13.4- to 53.9-fold greater than successful establishment across all host
      combinations. Results from this study suggest that plant physical characteristics
      continue to play an important role in host selection, but further evaluations
      will be needed to quantify other characteristics which influence host
      suitability.

PMID- 28595269
TI  - Identification of a rare LAMB4 variant associated with familial diverticulitis
      through exome sequencing.
AB  - Diverticulitis is a chronic disease of the colon in which diverticuli, or
      outpouching through the colonic wall, become inflamed. Although recent
      observations suggest that genetic factors may play a significant role in
      diverticulitis, few genes have yet been implicated in disease pathogenesis and
      familial cases are uncommon. Here, we report results of whole exome sequencing
      performed on members from a single multi-generational family with early onset
      diverticulitis in order to identify a genetic component of the disease. We
      identified a rare single nucleotide variant in the laminin beta 4 gene (LAMB4)
      that segregated with disease in a dominant pattern and causes a damaging missense
      substitution (D435N). Targeted sequencing of LAMB4 in 148 non-familial and
      unrelated sporadic diverticulitis patients identified two additional rare
      variants in the gene. Immunohistochemistry indicated that LAMB4 localizes to the
      myenteric plexus of colonic tissue and patients harboring LAMB4 variants
      exhibited reduced LAMB4 protein levels relative to controls. Laminins are
      constituents of the extracellular matrix and play a major role in regulating the
      development and function of the enteric nervous system. Reduced LAMB4 levels may
      therefore alter innervation and morphology of the enteric nervous system, which
      may contribute to colonic dysmotility associated with diverticulitis.

PMID- 28595272
TI  - Superficial and deep changes of histology, texture and particle size distribution
      in broiler wooden breast muscle during refrigerated storage.
AB  - Recently the poultry industry faced an emerging muscle abnormality termed wooden
      breast (WB), the prevalence of which has dramatically increased in the past few
      years. Considering the incomplete knowledge concerning this condition and the
      lack of information on possible variations due to the intra-fillet sampling
      locations (superficial vs. deep position) and aging of the samples, this study
      aimed at investigating the effect of 7-d storage of broiler breast muscles on
      histology, texture, and particle size distribution, evaluating whether the
      sampling position exerts a relevant role in determining the main features of WB.
      With regard to the histological observations, severe myodegeneration accompanied
      by accumulation of connective tissue was observed within the WB cases,
      irrespective of the intra-fillet sampling position. No changes in the
      histological traits took place during the aging in either the normal or the WB
      samples. As to textural traits, although a progressive tenderization process took
      place during storage (P <= 0.001), the differences among the groups were mainly
      detected when raw meat rather than cooked was analyzed, with the WB samples
      exhibiting the highest (P <= 0.001) 80% compression values. In spite of the
      increased amount of connective tissue components in the WB cases, their thermally
      labile cross-links will account for the similar compression and shear-force
      values as normal breast cases when measured on cooked samples. Similarly, the
      enlargement of extracellular matrix and fibrosis might contribute in explaining
      the different fragmentation patterns observed between the superficial and the
      deep layer in the WB samples, with the superficial part exhibiting a higher
      amount of larger particles and an increase in particles with larger size during
      storage, compared to normal breasts.

PMID- 28595273
TI  - Acupuncture Therapy in a Group Setting for Chronic Pain.
AB  - Objective: This project was designed to test the feasibility and effectiveness of
      acupuncture therapy given in a group setting for chronic pain. Design:
      Nonrandomized, repeated measures quasi-experimental trial. Setting: Care was
      delivered in a primary care clinic waiting area after clinic hours. Subjects:
      Included were primary care patients (>=18 years old) with chronic pain of the
      neck, back, shoulder, or osteoarthritis of any site of at least three months'
      duration. Methods: Subjects received eight weekly acupuncture therapy sessions in
      a group setting. Acupuncture therapy included a combination of palpation,
      acupuncture needling, Tui na, Gua sha, and auricular treatment. Baseline pain
      levels were established in a two- to four-week run-in; assessment of the
      intervention impact on pain intensity, mood, and functional status were made at
      the end of the treatment period (eight weeks) and 16 weeks after completion of
      intervention (24 weeks). Results: Of the total 113 participants recruited for the
      trial, 96 completed the 24-week protocol. We found a statistically and clinically
      significant decrease in pain severity, pain interference, and depression in our
      study population. There were no serious adverse events. Conclusions: Acupuncture
      therapy offered in the group setting was effective in reducing pain severity,
      pain interference, and depression in patients with chronic neck, back, or
      shoulder pain or osteoarthritis. Benefit persisted through the 24-week measure
      despite no additional treatment. This finding has potentially important
      implications for improving access to effective acupuncture treatment for patients
      with limited financial resources.

PMID- 28595274
TI  - Antibiotics in 16-day-old broilers temporarily affect microbial and immune
      parameters in the gut.
AB  - Animal health benefits from a stable intestinal homeostasis, for which proper
      development and functioning of the intestinal microbiota and immune system are
      essential. It has been established that changes in microbial colonization in
      early life (the first 2 wk post hatch) impacts the functioning of the adult gut
      and the associated crosstalk between microbiota and intestinal mucosal cells. The
      aim of the present study was to study the effect of the administration of
      antibiotics later in life (d 15 to 20 post hatch) on microbiota and immune
      parameters. For this purpose, chickens received from 15 d post hatch during 5 d
      amoxicillin or enrofloxacin through their drinking water. Before and at 6, 16,
      and 27 d after start of the administration of antibiotics, the composition of the
      microbiota in the jejunum was determined using a 16S ribosomal RNA gene-targeted
      DNA microarray, the CHICKChip. At 6 d after the start of the administration of
      the antibiotics, the composition and diversity of the microbiota were affected
      significantly (P < 0.05), but this change was small and observed only temporarily
      since differences disappeared at 16 d after initiating treatment with amoxillin
      and at 27 d after starting treatment with enrofloxacin. Intestinal morphology and
      development were not visibly affected since there were no differences between
      villus/crypt ratios and numbers of PAS+ and PCNA+ cells in the duodenum and
      jejunum at any time point. At 16 d after the start of antibiotic administration,
      the number of CD4+ T-cells and CD8+ T-cells in the duodenum was lower compared to
      the control animals; however, this difference was not significant. At some time
      points, significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed among the groups to
      locally expressed IL-8, IL-1beta, IFN-gamma, IL-2, and IL-4 mRNA. However, this
      effect was not long lasting, as differences that were observed at 16 d after
      starting the treatment had disappeared at 27 d after treatment was started. The
      results of this study indicate that later in the broiler's life, antibiotics only
      temporarily affect intestinal microbial and immune parameters.

PMID- 28595275
TI  - Antifungal susceptibility of Sporothrix schenckii complex biofilms.
AB  - Sporotrichosis, caused by species of Sporothrix schenckii complex, is the most
      prevalent subcutaneous mycosis in many areas of Latin America. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the ability of Sporothrix spp. to form biofilms in vitro
      and to characterize the growth kinetics, morphology, and antifungal
      susceptibility of biofilms against classical antifungals. We investigated the
      ability of strains to produce biofilms in vitro and determined the effects of
      exposure to amphotericin B, itraconazole, caspofungin, ketoconazole,
      voriconazole, and fluconazole at minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against
      planktonic form and at 10* MIC and 50* MIC on the biomass and metabolic activity
      of these biofilms. Biofilm structure was analyzed by optical microscopy using
      Congo-red staining, confocal and scanning electron microscopy. Strains were
      classified for biofilm-forming ability, through the analysis of absorbance of
      crystal violet retained by biomass of mature biofilms. We found that all S.
      brasiliensis (n = 10), S. schenckii sensu stricto (n = 2), S. globosa (n = 2),
      and S. mexicana (n = 4) strains were strong biofilm-producers. The analyzed
      biofilms had dense network of hyphae and conidia immersed in extracellular
      matrix, with presence of water channels. Antifungal drugs at the three tested
      concentrations showed different effects on biomass and metabolic activity of
      biofilms. However, the best inhibitory response was observed with 50* MIC of
      amphotericin B and caspofungin, which reduced these parameters. Furthermore, high
      drug concentrations, especially amphotericin B and caspofungin, showed antifungal
      activity against these biofilms, probably because they damaged the architecture
      and extracellular matrix, allowing diffusion of the drugs.

PMID- 28595276
TI  - Premorbid IQ Predicts Postconcussive Symptoms in OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with mTBI.
AB  - Objective: Extant literature has demonstrated that symptoms of postconcussive
      syndrome (PCS) persist well beyond the expected 3-month post-injury recovery
      period in a minority of individuals with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
      Suboptimal performance on validity measures and pre- and post-injury psychosocial
      stressors - rather than actual mTBI or current cognitive functioning - have been
      identified as predictors of chronic PCS. Whether premorbid IQ has any influence
      on chronic PCS has been understudied, in the context of established psychogenic
      etiologies. Method: The sample included 31 veterans, who underwent mTBI
      neuropsychological evaluations six or more months post-injury in a VA outpatient
      neuropsychology clinic. A two-step multiple linear regression was conducted to
      examine the effects on the outcome variable, PCS (Neurobehavioral Symptom
      Inventory), of the following predictors: cognitive functioning (Repeatable
      Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status; Attention, Immediate
      Memory, and Delayed Memory Indices), performance validity, depression (Beck
      Depression Inventory-Second Edition), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD
      Checklist, Civilian Version), quality of sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index),
      pain (Brief Pain Inventory), education, and Premorbid IQ (Wechsler Test of Adult
      Reading). Results: The overall regression model containing all nine predictor
      variables was statistically significant. Depression (p < .05) and premorbid IQ (p
      < .05) were the most salient predictors of chronic PCS; in that lower premorbid
      IQ and greater endorsed symptoms of depression were associated with higher PCS
      scores. In Step 2 of the multiple linear regression, the WTAR explained an
      additional 6.7% of the variance in PCS after controlling for psychosocial
      stressors and current cognitive ability. Conclusion: The findings support
      premorbid IQ as a unique and relevant predictor of chronic PCS, with significance
      variance accounted for beyond education, cognitive functioning, and psychosocial
      variables. Given the predictive relationship between premorbid IQ and PCS,
      adapting postconcussive interventions to meet the specific needs of individuals
      with varying levels of intellect may be important in minimizing ongoing
      symptomatology.

PMID- 28595277
TI  - Genetic alterations responsible for reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in
      community-associated MRSA strains of ST72.
AB  - Objectives: We previously reported the first case of vancomycin treatment failure
      due to development of vancomycin-intermediate resistance in a patient with an
      MRSA of ST72, a community genotype in Korea. We investigated two isogenic MRSA
      strains from this patient, who experienced treatment failure with vancomycin and
      rifampicin. Methods: We tracked the genetic alterations that confer reduced
      susceptibility to vancomycin on those two isogenic MRSA strains by WGS. Results:
      Five non-synonymous mutations were identified, including rpoB (H481Y), dprA
      (G196C), femA (F92C), vraR (E127K) and agrC (E391stop). We further studied the
      role of a mutation of vraR in reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. Introduction
      of the mutated vraR (E127K) into a vancomycin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus
      strain resulted in an increase in vraSR mRNA expression and vancomycin MIC and
      development of the hetero-VISA phenotype, which was confirmed by the population
      analysis profile (PAP)/AUC. Electron microscopy showed increased cell wall
      thickness in the strains with mutated vraR. Conclusions: Based on the genomic
      data, molecular experiments and PAP and cell wall analyses, we propose that a
      single mutation of vraR is associated with the reduced susceptibility to
      vancomycin in MRSA and further treatment failure.

PMID- 28595278
TI  - Takayasu arteritis: active or not, that's the question.

PMID- 28595279
TI  - The Association of Progressive Tension Sutures and Drains Seems to Decrease the
      Drainage Output and Seroma Formation in Abdominoplasty.

PMID- 28595280
TI  - Estimating National-Level Exposure to Antineoplastic Agents in the Workplace:
      CAREX Canada Findings and Future Research Needs.
AB  - Objectives: Occupational exposure to antineoplastic agents occurs in various
      environments and is associated with increased cancer risk and adverse
      reproductive outcomes. National-level information describing the location and
      extent of occupational exposure to antineoplastic agents is unavailable in Canada
      and most other countries. CAREX Canada aimed to estimate the prevalence and
      relative levels of occupational exposures to antineoplastic agents across work
      setting, occupation, and sex. Methods: 'Exposure' was defined as any potential
      for worker contact with antineoplastic agents. Baseline numbers of licensed
      workers were obtained from their respective professional bodies. For unlicensed
      workers, Census data or data extrapolated from human resources reports (e.g.,
      staffing ratios) were used. Prevalence was estimated by combining population
      estimates with exposure proportions from peer-reviewed and grey literature.
      Exposure levels (classified as low, moderate, and high) by occupation and work
      setting were estimated qualitatively by combining estimates of contact frequency
      and exposure control practices. Results: Approximately 75000 Canadians (0.42% of
      the total workforce) are estimated as occupationally exposed to antineoplastic
      agents; over 75% are female. The largest occupational group exposed to
      antineoplastic agents is community pharmacy workers, with 30200 exposed. By work
      setting, 39000 workers (52% of all exposed) are located in non-hospital settings;
      the remaining 48% are exposed in hospitals. The majority (75%) of workers are in
      the moderate exposure category. Conclusions: These estimates of the prevalence
      and location of occupational exposures to antineoplastic agents could be used to
      identify high-risk groups, estimate disease burden, and target new research and
      prevention activities. The limited secondary data available for developing these
      estimates highlights the need for increased quantitative measurement and
      documentation of antineoplastic agent contamination and exposure, particularly in
      work environments where use is emerging.

PMID- 28595281
TI  - Unraveling the Population History of Indian Siddis.
AB  - The Siddis are a unique Indian tribe of African, South Asian, and European
      ancestry. While previous investigations have traced their ancestral origins to
      the Bantu populations from subSaharan Africa, the geographic localization of
      their ancestry has remained elusive. Here, we performed biogeographical analysis
      to delineate the ancestral origin of the Siddis employing an admixture based
      algorithm, Geographical Population Structure (GPS). We evaluated the Siddi
      genomes in reference to five African populations from the 1000 Genomes project,
      two Bantu groups from the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP) and five South
      Indian populations. The Geographic Population Structure analysis localized the
      ancestral Siddis to Botsawana and its present-day northeastern border with
      Zimbabwe, overlapping with one of the principal areas of secondary Bantu
      settlement in southeast Africa. Our results further indicated that while the
      Siddi genomes are significantly diverged from that of the Bantus, they manifested
      the highest genomic proximity to the North-East Bantus and the Luhyas from Kenya.
      Our findings resonate with evidences supporting secondary Bantu dispersal routes
      that progressed southward from the east African Bantu center, in the
      interlacustrine region and likely brought the ancestral Siddis to settlement
      sites in south and southeastern Africa from where they were disseminated to
      India, by the Portuguese. We evaluated our results in the light of existing
      historical, linguistic and genetic evidences, to glean an improved resolution
      into the reconstruction of the distinctive population history of the Siddis, and
      advance our knowledge of the demographic factors that likely contributed to the
      contemporary Siddi genomes.

PMID- 28595282
TI  - A giant septal diverticulum in a patient with medullary sponge kidney.

PMID- 28595283
TI  - Trends Over Time in Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines (TSNAs) in Whole Tobacco and
      Smoke Emissions From Cigarettes Sold in Canada.
AB  - Introduction: Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are potent carcinogens.
      Levels of TSNAs can be modified through manufacturing practices. In the 2000s,
      TSNA levels in cigarettes sold in Canada were reduced by changes in tobacco
      curing processes. The current study examined TSNA levels over the following
      decade to examine trends over time. Methods: Data submitted to Health Canada
      under the Tobacco Reporting Regulations were used to examine whole tobacco
      constituents for 1809 brands and mainstream smoke emissions for 191 brands
      manufactured by Canada's three leading cigarette companies from 2005 through
      2011/12 using one-way analysis of variances (ANOVAs) and linear regression
      models. Results: Levels of N-nitrosoanatabine (NAT) (p < .001) and 4
      (methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) (p < .001) in whole tobacco
      showed significant differences over time, decreasing between 2005 and 2007, and
      generally increasing from 2007 through 2012. Levels of all TSNAs in mainstream
      smoke emissions reflected a similar pattern: N-nitrosoanabasine (NAB) (p < .001),
      NAT (p < .001), NNK (p < .001), and N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) (p = .021).
      Linear regression analyses showed that TSNA levels varied by manufacturer over
      time in whole tobacco for NAT, NNK, and NNN (p < .001 for all), and in smoke
      emissions for NAB, NAT, NNK, and NNN (p < .001 for all). Conclusions: The
      findings indicate that levels of TSNAs in whole tobacco and smoke emissions of
      cigarettes sold in Canada increased from 2007 through 2011/12, following initial
      reductions over the previous 2 years. Differences in TSNA levels between
      companies raise questions about manufacturing practices that may be responsible
      for these changes. Although increased levels of carcinogenic TSNAs may be
      alarming, it remains unclear whether these differences translate into differences
      in health risk. Implications: The wide variation of TSNAs within the Canadian
      market across time and across cigarette companies demonstrates the feasibility of
      reducing the levels of these potent carcinogens. Although it is unclear whether
      changes made to levels of TSNAs will result in less tobacco-related disease, the
      tobacco industry bears a responsibility to minimize the harm from smoking to the
      fullest extent possible.

PMID- 28595284
TI  - Infertility diagnosis has a significant impact on the transcriptome of developing
      blastocysts.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Is the human blastocyst transcriptome associated with infertility
      diagnosis, specifically: polycystic ovaries (PCO), male factor (MF) and
      unexplained (UE)? SUMMARY ANSWER: The global blastocyst transcriptome was
      significantly altered in association with a PCO, MF and UE infertility diagnosis.
      WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Infertility diagnosis has an impact on the probability for
      a successful outcome following an IVF cycle. Limited information is known
      regarding the relationship between a specific infertility diagnosis and
      blastocyst transcription during preimplantation development. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE,
      DURATION: Blastocysts created during infertility treatment from patients with
      specific infertility diagnoses (PCO, MF and UE) were analyzed for global
      transcriptome compared to fertile donor oocyte blastocysts (control).
      PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Surplus cryopreserved blastocysts were
      donated with patient consent and institutional review board approval. Female
      patients were <38 years old with male patients <40 years old. Blastocysts were
      grouped according to infertility diagnosis: PCO (n = 50), MF (n = 50), UE (n =
      50) and fertile donor oocyte controls (n = 50). Pooled blastocysts were lysed for
      RNA isolation followed by microarray analysis using the SurePrint G3 Human Gene
      Expression Microarray. Validation was performed on significant genes of interest
      using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE:
      Transcription alterations were observed for all infertility etiologies compared
      to controls, resulting in differentially expressed genes: PCO = 869, MF = 348 and
      UE = 473 (P < 0.05; >2-fold). Functional annotation of biological and molecular
      processes revealed both similarities, as well as differences, across the
      infertility groups. All infertility etiologies displayed transcriptome
      alterations in signal transducer activity, receptor binding, reproduction, cell
      adhesion and response to stimulus. Blastocysts from PCO patients were also
      enriched for apoptotic genes while MF blastocysts displayed enrichment for genes
      involved in cancer processes. Blastocysts from couples with unexplained
      infertility displayed transcription alterations related to various disease
      states, which included mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and adipocytokine
      signaling. RT-qPCR validation confirmed differential gene expression for the
      following genes: BCL2 like 10 (BCL2L10), heat shock protein family A member 1A
      (HSPA1A), heat shock protein family A member 1B (HSPA1B), activating
      transcription factor 3 (ATF3), fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9), left-right
      determination factor 1 (LEFTY1), left-right determination factor 2 (LEFTY2),
      growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), inhibin beta A subunit (INHBA),
      adherins junctions associated protein 1 (AJAP1), cadherin 9 (CDH9) and laminin
      subunit alpha 4 (LAMA4) (P < 0.05; >2-fold). LARGE SCALE DATA: Not available due
      to participant privacy. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Blastocyst samples for
      microarray analysis required pooling. While this allows for an overall average in
      each infertility etiology group and can reduce noise from sample-to-sample
      variation, it cannot give a detailed analysis of each blastocyst within the
      group. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Underlying patient infertility
      diagnosis has an impact on the blastocyst transcriptome, modifying gene
      expression associated with developmental competence and implantation potential.
      STUDY FUNDING AND COMPETING INTEREST(S): No conflict of interest or outside
      funding provided.

PMID- 28595286
TI  - A Multinomial Regression Approach to Model Outcome Heterogeneity.
AB  - When a risk factor affects certain categories of a multinomial outcome but not
      others, outcome heterogeneity is said to be present. A standard epidemiologic
      approach for modeling risk factors of a categorical outcome typically entails
      fitting a polytomous logistic regression via maximum likelihood estimation. In
      this paper, we show that standard polytomous regression is ill equipped to detect
      outcome heterogeneity and will generally understate the degree to which such
      heterogeneity may be present. Specifically, nonsaturated polytomous regression
      will often a priori rule out the possibility of outcome heterogeneity from its
      parameter space. As a remedy, we propose to model each category of the outcome as
      a separate binary regression. For full efficiency, we propose to estimate the
      collection of regression parameters jointly using a constrained Bayesian approach
      that ensures that one remains within the multinomial model. The approach is
      straightforward to implement in standard software for Bayesian estimation.

PMID- 28595285
TI  - Quality of life predicts overall survival in women with platinum-resistant
      ovarian cancer: an AURELIA substudy.
AB  - Background: Women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer are a heterogeneous
      group whose median overall survival is 12 months. We hypothesized that their
      quality of life (QoL) scores would be prognostic. Patients and methods: Data from
      AURELIA (n = 326), a randomized trial of chemotherapy with or without
      bevacizumab, were used to identify baseline QoL domains [EORTC (European
      Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer) QLQ-C30 and OV28] that were
      significantly associated with overall survival in multivariable Cox regression
      analyses. Patients were classified as having good, medium, or poor risk.
      Cutpoints were validated in an independent dataset, CARTAXHY (n = 136).
      Multivariable analyses of significant QoL domains on survival were adjusted for
      clinicopathological prognostic factors. The additional QoL information was
      assessed using C statistic. Results: In AURELIA, all domains, except cognitive
      function, predicted overall survival in univariable analyses. Physical function
      (P < 0.001) and abdominal/gastrointestinal symptom (P < 0.001) scores remained
      significant in multivariable models. In high (score <67), medium (67-93), and low
      (>93) risk categories for physical function, median overall survival was 11.0,
      14.7, and 19.3 months, respectively (P < 0.001). In CARTAXHY, median overall
      survival was 7.9, 16.2, and 23.9 months (P < 0.001), respectively. For high-
      (>44), medium- (13-44), and low- (<13) risk categories for
      abdominal/gastrointestinal symptoms, median overall survival was 11.9, 14.3, and
      19.7 months in AURELIA (P < 0.001) and 10.5, 19.6, and 24.1 months in CARTAXHY (P
      = 0.02). Physical function (P = 0.02) and abdominal/gastrointestinal symptoms (P
      = 0.03) remained independent prognostic factors after adjustment for
      clinicopathological factors. The C statistic of the full model was 0.71. For QoL
      factors alone, patient factors alone and disease factors alone, the C statistics
      were 0.61, 0.61, and 0.67 respectively. Conclusions: Physical function and
      abdominal/gastrointestinal symptom scores improved predictions of overall
      survival over clinicopathological factors alone in platinum-resistant ovarian
      cancer. This additional prognostic information could improve trial
      stratification, patient-doctor communication about prognosis, and clinical
      decision-making. Clinical trial registration: NCT00976911.

PMID- 28595287
TI  - Conversion to Parkinson Disease in the PARS Hyposmic and Dopamine Transporter
      Deficit Prodromal Cohort.
AB  - Importance: Detecting individuals at risk for Parkinson disease (PD) during the
      prodromal phase could clarify disease mechanisms and allow for treatment earlier
      in the disease process to possibly slow or prevent the onset of motor PD.
      Objective: To determine if the combination of smell identification testing
      followed by dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging can accurately and efficiently
      identify individuals from the general population at risk for conversion to a
      clinical diagnosis of PD. Design, Setting, and Participants: Participants were
      identified from the community by olfactory testing assessed longitudinally with
      DAT imaging 2 and 4 years after baseline and by annual clinical follow-up to
      determine whether they had clinical evidence to establish a PD diagnosis.
      Participants were contacted by mail and completed olfactory testing at home.
      Longitudinal follow-up of clinical measures and DAT imaging occurred at specialty
      centers. There were 203 hyposmic and 100 normosmic participants. A total of 185
      hyposmic and 95 normosmic individuals had at least 1 follow-up visit, and 152
      hyposmic participants (82.2%) were either observed for 4 years or converted to PD
      during follow-up. Main Outcomes and Measures: Percentage of individuals with
      hyposmia and a DAT deficit that converted to PD and the change in PD clinical
      scale scores (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) and DAT imaging during 4
      year follow-up. Results: Of 280 total participants, 140 (50.0%) were male, and
      the mean (SD) age of the cohort was 63 (8.7) years. Among 21 participants with
      hyposmia and a DAT deficit (65% or less of age-expected lowest putamen binding
      ratio) at baseline, 14 (67%) converted to PD at 4 years compared with 2 of 22
      participants (9%) with a DAT in an indeterminate range (greater than 65%-80%) and
      3 of 109 participants (2.8%) with no DAT deficit (greater than 80%) at baseline.
      Individuals with a baseline DAT deficit experienced a 4-year decline in DAT
      binding of 20.23% (SD, 15.04%) compared with 3.68% (SD, 18.36%) and 5.45% (SD,
      13.58%) for participants with an indeterminate and no DAT deficit, respectively
      (P = .002). The relative risk of conversion to a diagnosis of PD in hyposmic
      individuals with a DAT deficit was 17.47 (95% CI, 7.02-43.45) compared with
      individuals with either indeterminate or no DAT deficit. Conclusions and
      Relevance: The combination of hyposmia and DAT deficit was highly predictive of
      conversion to PD within 4 years of clinical follow-up. Individuals with hyposmia
      and a DAT deficit had a 5% reduction in DAT binding annually, similar to early
      PD. These results provide a framework for planning disease prevention studies in
      PD.

PMID- 28595288
TI  - Does Resistance to Buprofezin Improve Heat and Cold Tolerance of Laodelphax
      striatellus (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)?
AB  - There is ample evidence that insecticide resistance causes fitness costs and
      benefits in pests, while the impact of insecticide resistance on thermotolerance
      of pests is mostly unclear. The Laodelphax striatellus (Fallen), is an important
      rice insect pest, which has developed resistance to buprofezin in China. Here, we
      investigated differences in heat tolerance and cold tolerance among L.
      striatellus lines with variable buprofezin resistance. The lethal time for 50% of
      the individuals to die (LT50) at 40  degrees C increased with an increase in
      buprofezin resistance level, whereas both the survival rate under -22  degrees C
      and the supercooling point of planthoppers did not differ significantly between
      resistant and susceptible strains. The metabolic enzyme carboxylesterase was
      found to have an association with buprofezin resistance. Our research showed that
      buprofezin resistance was positively related with heat tolerance in L.
      striatellus, but it had no effect on cold tolerance. Insecticide resistance in L.
      striatellus may therefore have broader implications for the ecology of L.
      striatellus, and the management of buprofezin resistance in this pest may be
      challenging.

PMID- 28595289
TI  - The Drivers of Acute and Long-term Care Clostridium difficile Infection Rates: A
      Retrospective Multilevel Cohort Study of 251 Facilities.
AB  - Background: Drivers of differences in Clostridium difficile incidence across
      acute and long-term care facilities are poorly understood. We sought to obtain a
      comprehensive picture of C. difficile incidence and risk factors in acute and
      long-term care. Methods: We conducted a case-cohort study of persons spending at
      least 3 days in one of 131 acute care or 120 long-term care facilities managed by
      the United States Veterans Health Administration between 2006 and 2012. Patient
      (n = 8) and facility factors (n = 5) were included in analyses. The outcome was
      the incidence of facility-onset laboratory-identified C. difficile infection
      (CDI), defined as a person with a positive C. difficile test without a positive
      test in the prior 8 weeks. Results: CDI incidence in acute care was 5 times that
      observed in long-term care (median, 15.6 vs 3.2 per 10000 person-days). History
      of antibiotic use was greater in acute care compared to long-term care (median,
      739 vs 513 per 1000 person-days) and explained 72% of the variation in C.
      difficile rates. Importation of C. difficile cases (acute care: patients with
      recent long-term care attributable infection; long-term care: residents with
      recent acute care attributable infection) was 3 times higher in long-term care as
      compared to acute care (median, 52.3 vs 16.2 per 10000 person-days). Conclusions:
      Facility-level antibiotic use was the main factor driving differences in CDI
      incidence between acute and long-term care. Importation of acute care C.
      difficile cases was a greater concern for long-term care as compared to
      importation of long-term care cases for acute care.

PMID- 28595291
TI  - The expression of CXCR4 is induced by the luteinizing hormone surge and mediated
      by progesterone receptors in human preovulatory granulosa cells.
AB  - The chemokine CXC motif ligand 12 (CXCL12) and its cognate receptor, CXCR4, have
      been implicated in the ovulatory process in various animal models. However,
      little is known about the expression and regulation of CXCL12 and CXCR4 and their
      functions during the ovulatory period in the human ovary. In this study, we
      characterized the expression patterns of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in preovulatory
      follicles collected before the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge and at defined
      hours after hCG administration in women with the regular menstrual cycle. The
      levels of mRNA and protein for CXCR4 were increased in granulosa cells of late
      ovulatory follicles, whereas CXCL12 expression was constant in follicles
      throughout the ovulatory period. Both CXCR4 and CXCL12 were localized to a subset
      of leukocytes around and inside the vasculature of human preovulatory follicles.
      Using a human granulosa cell culture model, the regulatory mechanisms and
      functions of CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression were investigated. Human chorionic
      gonadotropin (hCG) stimulated CXCR4 expression, whereas CXCL12 expression was not
      affected, mimicking in vivo expression patterns. Both RU486 (progesterone
      receptor antagonist) and CoCl2 (HIFs activator) blocked the hCG-induced increase
      in CXCR4 expression, whereas AG1478 (EGFR inhibitor) had no effect. The treatment
      with CXCL12 had no effect on granulosa cell viability but decreased hCG
      stimulated CXCR4 expression.

PMID- 28595290
TI  - Dietary Fat Intake and Fecundability in 2 Preconception Cohort Studies.
AB  - The association between dietary fat and fertility is not well studied. We
      evaluated intakes of total fat, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty
      acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids (TFA), omega-3 fatty acids,
      and omega-6 fatty acids in relation to fecundability in Danish and North American
      preconception cohort studies. Women who were attempting to become pregnant
      completed a validated food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Pregnancy status
      was updated bimonthly for 12 months or until pregnancy. Fecundability ratios (FR)
      and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using multivariable proportional
      probabilities regression. Intakes of total fat and saturated, monounsaturated,
      polyunsaturated, and omega-6 fatty acids were not appreciably associated with
      fecundability. TFA intake was associated with reduced fecundability in North
      American women (for the fourth quartile vs. the first, FR = 0.86, 95% confidence
      interval (CI): 0.71, 1.04) but not Danish women (for the fourth quartile vs. the
      first, FR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.25), though intake among Danish women was low.
      In North America, omega-3 fatty acid intake was associated with higher
      fecundability, but there was no dose-response relationship (among persons who did
      not use fish oil supplements: for the fourth quartile vs. the first, FR = 1.40,
      95% CI: 1.13, 1.73); no association was found in Danish women, among whom low
      intake was rare. In the present study, high TFA intake and low omega-3 fatty acid
      intake were associated with reduced fecundity.

PMID- 28595293
TI  - Examination of Cause-of-Death Data Quality Among New York City Deaths Due to
      Cancer, Pneumonia, or Diabetes From 2010 to 2014.
AB  - The cause-of-death (COD) statement on the standard US death certificate is a
      valuable tool for public health practice, but its utility is impaired by
      reporting inaccuracies. To assess the quality of CODs reported in New York City,
      we developed and applied a quality measure to 3 leading CODs: cancer, pneumonia,
      and diabetes. The COD quality measure characterized 5 common issues with COD
      completion: nonspecific conditions as the underlying COD (UCOD); UCOD
      discrepancies; the presence of only 1 informative cause on the entire
      certificate; competing causes listed together on 1 line; and clinically
      improbable sequences. COD statements with more than 1 quality issue were defined
      as statements of "limited" quality. Of 82,116 deaths with cancer, diabetes, or
      pneumonia assigned as the UCOD in New York City from 2010 to 2014, 66.8% of
      pneumonia certificates were classified as "limited" quality as compared with
      45.6% of cancer certificates and 32.3% of diabetes certificates. Forty percent of
      cancer certificates listed only 1 informative condition on the death certificate.
      Almost half of pneumonia certificates (45.9%) contained only enough information
      to assign International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, code J18.9
      ("unspecified pneumonia") as the UCOD, whereas most diabetes certificates
      contained UCOD discrepancies (25.2%). These limitations affect the quality of
      mortality data but may be reduced through quality improvement efforts.

PMID- 28595295
TI  - Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Is a New Effective Weapon to Fight Multidrug
      Resistant Bacteria, but Harmonization and More Data Are Needed.

PMID- 28595294
TI  - Coccidioidomycosis: An underreported cause of death-Arizona, 2008-2013.
AB  - In Arizona during 1997-2013, coccidioidomycosis increased from 21 to 90
      cases/100,000 population, but coccidioidomycosis-associated deaths remained
      stable at 3-6 deaths/million population. We used the capture-recapture method by
      using death certificates and hospital discharge data to more fully estimate the
      total number of coccidioidomycosis-attributable deaths and compared this with
      published estimates. Death certificates were included if any cause of death
      included coccidioidomycosis; hospital discharge data deaths were included if any
      discharge diagnosis included coccidioidomycosis and laboratory confirmation.
      Among deaths during 2008-2013, we identified 529 coccidioidomycosis-attributable
      deaths from death certificates and 560 from hospital discharge data, with 251
      deaths identified in both databases. Capture-recapture estimated 1,178 total
      coccidioidomycosis-attributable deaths, compared with 164 deaths (underlying
      cause of death) or 529 deaths (any cause of death) on death certificates.
      Coccidioidomycosis-attributable deaths are underreported from two- to sevenfold
      on Arizona death certificates, demonstrating an education need for death
      certifiers to document coccidioidomycosis mortality.

PMID- 28595292
TI  - Neonatal Outcomes Associated With Placental Abruption.
AB  - Placental abruption (early separation of the placenta) is associated with preterm
      birth and perinatal mortality, but associations with other neonatal morbidities
      remain understudied. We examined the association between abruption and newborn
      outcomes. We analyzed 223,341 singleton deliveries from the Consortium on Safe
      Labor study, a retrospective, multisite, observational study (2002-2008) of
      electronic medical records in the United States. Adjusted relative risks,
      incidence rate ratios, and 99% confidence intervals were estimated. Direct
      effects attributable to abruption were examined by conditioning on intermediates
      (preterm birth and small for gestational age) with sensitivity analyses.
      Incidence of abruption was 1.6% (n = 3,619). Abruption was associated with an
      elevated risk of newborn resuscitation (relative risk (RR) = 1.5, 99% confidence
      interval (CI): 1.5, 1.6), apnea (RR = 5.8, 99% CI: 5.1, 6.5), asphyxia (RR = 8.5,
      99% CI: 5.7, 11.3), respiratory distress syndrome (RR = 6.5, 99% CI: 5.9, 7.1),
      neonatal intensive care unit admission (RR = 3.4, 99% CI: 3.2, 3.6), longer
      intensive care length of stay (incidence rate ratio = 2.0, 99% CI: 1.9, 2.2),
      stillbirth (RR = 6.3, 99% CI: 4.7, 7.9), and neonatal mortality (RR = 7.6, 99%
      CI: 5.2, 10.1). In sensitivity analyses, there was a direct effect of abruption
      associated with increased neonatal risks. These findings expand our knowledge of
      the association between abruption and perinatal and neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 28595296
TI  - Impact of time interval and dose rate on cell survival following low-dose
      fractionated exposures.
AB  - Enhanced cell lethality, also known as hyper-radiosensitivity, has been reported
      at low doses of radiation (<=0.5 Gy) in various cell lines, and is expected to be
      an effective cancer therapy. We conducted this study to examine the impact of
      time interval and dose rate of low-dose fractionated exposures with a short time
      interval. We evaluated the cell-survival rates of V79 and A549 cells using
      clonogenic assays. We performed fractionated exposures in unit doses of 0.25,
      0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 Gy. We exposed the cells to 2 Gy of X-rays (i) at dose-rates of
      1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 Gy/min at 1-min intervals and (ii) at a dose-rate of 2.0 Gy/min
      at 10-s, 1-min and 3-min intervals by fractionated exposures. Apoptosis and cell
      cycle analyses were also evaluated in the fractionated exposures (unit dose 0.25
      Gy) and compared with single exposures by using flow cytometry. Both cell-type
      survival rates with fractionated exposures (unit dose 0.25 Gy) with short time
      intervals were markedly lower than those for single exposures delivering the same
      dose. When the dose rates were lower, the cytotoxic effect decreased compared
      with exposure to a dose-rate of 2.0 Gy/min. On the other hand, levels of
      apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were not significantly different between
      low-dose fractionated exposures and single exposures in either cell line. These
      results indicate that a stronger cytotoxic effect was induced with low-dose
      fractionated exposures with a short time interval for a given dose due to the
      hyper-radiosensitivity phenomenon, suggesting that dose rates are important for
      effective low-dose fractionated exposures.

PMID- 28595300
TI  - Dragon--NaturallySpeaking.

PMID- 28595299
TI  - Osteopathic manifesto series XII.

PMID- 28595301
TI  - Core Curriculum in Primary Care Series: Orthopedics/Sports Medicine.

PMID- 28595298
TI  - Lowered Rilpivirine Exposure During the Third Trimester of Pregnancy in Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Women.
AB  - Background: The use of antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy is important for
      control of maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and the prevention
      of perinatal HIV transmission. Physiological changes during pregnancy can reduce
      antiretroviral exposure. We studied the pharmacokinetics of rilpivirine 25 mg
      once daily in HIV-1-infected women during late pregnancy. Methods: We conducted a
      nonrandomized, open-label, multicenter, phase 4 study. HIV-infected pregnant
      women receiving rilpivirine 25 mg once daily were included. Intensive 24-hour
      pharmacokinetic sampling was performed in the third trimester and at least 2
      weeks postpartum. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by noncompartmental
      analysis. Results: Sixteen subjects were included. Geometric mean ratios of third
      trimester vs postpartum were 0.55 (90% confidence interval [CI], .46-.66) for the
      24-hour area under the concentration-time curve (AUC0-24h); 0.65 (90% CI, .55
      .76) for the maximum concentration; and 0.51 (90% CI, .41-.63) for the minimum
      observed concentration (Cmin). Four of 16 (25%) subjects had Cmin below the
      target concentration (0.04 mg/L) in the third trimester of pregnancy. No
      subtherapeutic levels were observed postpartum. No detectable viral loads were
      observed in this study. All newborns tested negative for HIV. No birth defects
      were reported. The median (range, n = 5) rilpivirine cord-to-maternal plasma
      concentration ratio was 0.50 (range, .35-.81). Conclusions: Rilpivirine exposure
      is substantially lowered during late pregnancy. Despite lower exposure, virologic
      suppression was maintained and no perinatal transmission was observed. Overall,
      these results suggest that rilpivirine 25 mg once daily may be an alternative
      treatment option for HIV-1-infected pregnant women who are virologically
      suppressed, in settings where therapeutic drug monitoring and/or close viral load
      monitoring are feasible to detect suboptimal antiretroviral therapy. Clinical
      Trials Registration: NCT00825929.

PMID- 28595297
TI  - FGFR2 mutations in bent bone dysplasia syndrome activate nucleolar stress and
      perturb cell fate determination.
AB  - Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling promotes self-renewal in progenitor
      cells by encouraging proliferation and inhibiting cellular senescence. Yet, these
      beneficial effects can be hijacked by disease-causing mutations in FGF receptor
      (FGFR) during embryogenesis. By studying dominant FGFR2 mutations that are
      germline in bent bone dysplasia syndrome (BBDS), we reveal a mechanistic
      connection between FGFR2, ribosome biogenesis, and cellular stress that links
      cell fate determination to disease pathology. We previously showed that FGFR2
      mutations in BBDS, which amplify nucleolar targeting of FGFR2, activate ribosomal
      DNA (rDNA) transcription and delay differentiation in osteoprogenitor cells and
      patient-derived bone. Here we find that the BBDS mutations augment the ability of
      FGFR2 to recruit histone-remodeling factors that epigenetically activate
      transcriptionally silent rDNA. Nucleolar morphology is controlled by chromatin
      structure, and the high levels of euchromatic rDNA induced by the BBDS mutations
      direct nucleolar disorganization, alter ribosome biogenesis, and activate the
      Rpl11-Mdm2-p53 nucleolar stress response pathway. Inhibition of p53 in cells
      expressing the FGFR2 mutations in BBDS rescues delayed osteoblast
      differentiation, suggesting that p53 activation is an essential pathogenic factor
      in, and potential therapeutic target for, BBDS. This work establishes rDNA as
      developmentally regulated loci that receive direct input from FGF signaling to
      balance self-renewal and cell fate determination.

PMID- 28595302
TI  - Cross Sectional Anatomy Tutor: An Interactive Course for Anatomy Education and
      Evaluation.

PMID- 28595303
TI  - Atlas of the Visible Human Male: Reverse Engineering of the Human Body.

PMID- 28595304
TI  - From the FDA: Exam guidelines issued for fen-phen users.

PMID- 28595305
TI  - From the FDA: Anticlotting agent approved.

PMID- 28595306
TI  - 1997 Editorial Consultants.

PMID- 28595307
TI  - Journal of the American Osteopathic Association Index to Volume 97.

PMID- 28595309
TI  - Intra-population variability in the drought response of a beech (Fagus sylvatica
      L.) population in the southwest of Europe.
AB  - Phenotypic variability within forest species populations is considered of special
      relevance for local adaptation under new environments, albeit it has been
      analyzed to a lesser extent than inter-population phenotypic variability. A
      common garden study was carried out to assess phenotypic variability in response
      to water stress in half-sibling families from a marginal population of Fagus
      sylvatica L. at its south-western range edge distribution in Europe. Two
      irrigation regimes were applied, well-watered (WW) seedlings and those submitted
      to weekly cycles of drying-rewatering of growth media. Seedling growth and their
      leaf functional traits were recorded during the last cycle of water stress. Most
      of the phenotypic changes were explained by phenotypic plasticity in response to
      water stress, but there was also a significant effect of family in the expression
      of some of the studied traits. The relationship of carbon isotope fractioning
      with gas exchange traits across families under WW conditions did not follow the
      same pattern as the phenotypic trends. The leaf net photosynthesis across
      families was modified by the nitrogen content on a leaf mass basis that was in
      turn correlated positively with leaf nitrogen isotope fractionation. The results
      point to an important role of leaf nitrogen in determining the intrinsic water
      use efficiency (WUE) across families. Variation in WUE was ruled mainly by
      control of stomatal conductance to water vapor under water stress, but by leaf
      net photosynthesis under wet conditions. Relatively high inter-family phenotypic
      variability in growth and functional traits were observed. Within-population
      phenotypic variability, and the plasticity of some of the studied traits, is of
      fundamental importance to cope with the harsher environments beech will have to
      endure in the future at different points in its distribution range.

PMID- 28595310
TI  - Phantom: investigating heterogeneous gene sets in time-course data.
AB  - Motivation: Gene set analysis is a powerful tool to study the coordinative change
      of time-course data. However, most existing methods only model the overall change
      of a gene set, yet completely overlooked heterogeneous time-dependent changes
      within sub-sets of genes. Results: We have developed a novel statistical method,
      Phantom, to investigate gene set heterogeneity. Phantom employs the principle of
      multi-objective optimization to assess the heterogeneity inside a gene set, which
      also accounts for the temporal dependency in time-course data. Phantom improves
      the performance of gene set based methods to detect biological changes across
      time. Availability and implementation: Phantom webpage can be accessed at:
      http://www.baylorhealth.edu/Phantom . R package of Phantom is available at
      https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/phantom/index.html . Contact:
      jinghua.gu@bswhealth.org. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28595308
TI  - Pneumococcal Capsule Synthesis Locus cps as Evolutionary Hotspot with Potential
      to Generate Novel Serotypes by Recombination.
AB  - Diversity of the polysaccharide capsule in Streptococcus pneumoniae-main surface
      antigen and the target of the currently used pneumococcal vaccines-constitutes a
      major obstacle in eliminating pneumococcal disease. Such diversity is genetically
      encoded by almost 100 variants of the capsule biosynthesis locus, cps. However,
      the evolutionary dynamics of the capsule remains not fully understood. Here,
      using genetic data from 4,519 bacterial isolates, we found cps to be an
      evolutionary hotspot with elevated substitution and recombination rates. These
      rates were a consequence of relaxed purifying selection and positive,
      diversifying selection acting at this locus, supporting the hypothesis that the
      capsule has an increased potential to generate novel diversity compared with the
      rest of the genome. Diversifying selection was particularly evident in the region
      of wzd/wze genes, which are known to regulate capsule expression and hence the
      bacterium's ability to cause disease. Using a novel, capsule-centered approach,
      we analyzed the evolutionary history of 12 major serogroups. Such analysis
      revealed their complex diversification scenarios, which were principally driven
      by recombination with other serogroups and other streptococci. Patterns of
      recombinational exchanges between serogroups could not be explained by serotype
      frequency alone, thus pointing to nonrandom associations between co-colonizing
      serotypes. Finally, we discovered a previously unobserved mosaic serotype 39X,
      which was confirmed to carry a viable and structurally novel capsule. Adding to
      previous discoveries of other mosaic capsules in densely sampled collections,
      these results emphasize the strong adaptive potential of the bacterium by its
      ability to generate novel antigenic diversity by recombination.

PMID- 28595312
TI  - The sub-inhibitory theory for antibiotic growth promoters.
AB  - Antibiotics have played a critical role in the prevention, control, and treatment
      of bacterial diseases in humans and animals, and as growth promoters (AGPs) when
      used at sub-therapeutic concentrations in animal production. Numerous hypotheses
      have been proposed for the effectiveness of AGPs, which have largely centered on
      the beneficial modulation of the intestinal microbiota. However, these hypotheses
      have been doubted by some researchers, as AGPs are fed at concentrations that
      would typically be below minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC) for the
      antibiotic used. More recently, pro-inflammatory immune responses have been
      associated with poor growth performance, and this, along with reported direct,
      anti-inflammatory effects of some antibiotics, have led to suggestions that
      reducing the nutrient cost of (intestinal) inflammation may explain the growth
      promoting or permitting effect of AGPs. However, doubts about antibacterial
      effects of AGPs, and the search for alternative explanations, overlook the sub
      MIC effects of antibiotics. This paper summarizes some of the reported sub-MIC
      effects of antibiotics and considers these in the context of helping to explain
      the mode of action of AGPs and effects seen in studies in vivo. This leads to
      suggestions for the features that alternatives to AGPs could exhibit to achieve
      similar performance efficacy as AGPs.

PMID- 28595311
TI  - Evaluation of rectum and bladder dose accumulation from external beam
      radiotherapy and brachytherapy for cervical cancer using two different deformable
      image registration techniques.
AB  - We evaluated dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters based on deformable image
      registration (DIR) between brachytherapy (BT) and external beam radiotherapy
      (EBRT) that included a center-shielded (CS) plan. Eleven cervical cancer patients
      were treated with BT, and their pelvic and CS EBRT were studied. Planning CT
      images for EBRT and BT (except for the first BT, used as the reference image)
      were deformed with DIR to reference image. We used two DIR parameter settings:
      intensity-based and hybrid. Mean Dice similarity coefficients (DSCs) comparing
      EBRT with the reference for the uterus, rectum and bladder were 0.81, 0.77 and
      0.83, respectively, for hybrid DIR and 0.47, 0.37 and 0.42, respectively, for
      intensity-based DIR (P < 0.05). D1 cm3 for hybrid DIR, intensity-based DIR and
      DVH addition were 75.1, 81.2 and 78.2 Gy, respectively, for the rectum, whereas
      they were 93.5, 92.3 and 94.3 Gy, respectively, for the bladder. D2 cm3 for
      hybrid DIR, intensity-based DIR and DVH addition were 70.1, 74.0 and 71.4 Gy,
      respectively, for the rectum, whereas they were 85.4, 82.8 and 85.4 Gy,
      respectively, for the bladder. Overall, hybrid DIR obtained higher DSCs than
      intensity-based DIR, and there were moderate differences in DVH parameters
      between the two DIR methods, although the results varied among patients. DIR is
      only experimental, and extra care should be taken when comparing DIR-based dose
      values with dose-effect curves established using DVH addition. Also, a true
      evaluation of DIR-based dose accumulation would require ground truth data (e.g.
      measurement with physical phantom).

PMID- 28595313
TI  - The Genome Sizes of Ostracod Crustaceans Correlate with Body Size and
      Evolutionary History, but not Environment.
AB  - Within animals, a positive correlation between genome size and body size has been
      detected in several taxa but not in others, such that it remains unknown how
      pervasive this pattern may be. Here, we provide another example of a positive
      relationship in a group of crustaceans whose genome sizes have not previously
      been investigated. We analyze genome size estimates for 46 species across the 2
      most diverse orders of Class Ostracoda, commonly known as seed shrimps, including
      29 new estimates made using Feulgen image analysis densitometry and flow
      cytometry. Genome sizes in this group range ~80-fold, a level of variability that
      is otherwise not seen in crustaceans with the exception of some malacostracan
      orders. We find a strong positive correlation between genome size and body size
      across all species, including after phylogenetic correction. We additionally
      detect evidence of XX/XO sex determination in 3 species of marine ostracods where
      male and female genome sizes were estimated. On average, genome sizes are larger
      but less variable in Order Myodocopida than in Order Podocopida, and marine
      ostracods have larger genomes than freshwater species, but this appears to be
      explained by phylogenetic inertia. The relationship between phylogeny, genome
      size, body size, and habitat is complex in this system and provides a baseline
      for future studies examining the interactions of these biological traits.

PMID- 28595315
TI  - DETERMINATION OF LOCAL LEVELS OF RADIATION EXPOSURE IN ORTHOPEDIC INTERVENTIONS
      USING STRUCTURED DOSE REPORT DATA DRAWN FROM THE HOSPITAL PICTURE ARCHIVING AND
      COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the dosimetric parameters of radiation to
      which orthopedic in-patients are exposed, using data drawn from the hospital's
      picture archiving and communication system. Data for 310 patients, relating to
      seven different anatomical districts, were examined. Femoral operations were
      divided into three types. The 75th percentile dose at the interventional
      reference point (IRP) exceeded 2 mGy only for femoral interventions (4.6-6.2 mGy)
      with 75th percentile kerma-area product (KAP) values ranging from 84.8 to 109.1
      MUGy m2. The 75th percentile fluoroscopy time was longer than 1 min only for the
      humeral operations and the three types of femoral intervention. In general, the
      radiation exposure times and doses recorded in our institute were lower than
      those reported in the literature. The correlation between KAP and kerma at the
      IRP was very strong for all districts (R > 0.80). The correlation between KAP and
      fluoroscopy times was very strong for seven cases (R > 0.80), and strong for two
      (0.60 < R < 0.79).

PMID- 28595314
TI  - A combined meta-barcoding and shotgun metagenomic analysis of spontaneous wine
      fermentation.
AB  - Wine is a complex beverage, comprising hundreds of metabolites produced through
      the action of yeasts and bacteria in fermenting grape must. Commercially, there
      is now a growing trend away from using wine yeast (Saccharomyces) starter
      cultures, toward the historic practice of uninoculated or "wild" fermentation,
      where the yeasts and bacteria associated with the grapes and/or winery perform
      the fermentation. It is the varied metabolic contributions of these numerous non
      Saccharomyces species that are thought to impart complexity and desirable taste
      and aroma attributes to wild ferments in comparison to their inoculated
      counterparts. To map the microflora of spontaneous fermentation, metagenomic
      techniques were employed to characterize and monitor the progression of fungal
      species in 5 different wild fermentations. Both amplicon-based ribosomal DNA
      internal transcribed spacer (ITS) phylotyping and shotgun metagenomics were used
      to assess community structure across different stages of fermentation. While
      providing a sensitive and highly accurate means of characterizing the wine
      microbiome, the shotgun metagenomic data also uncovered a significant
      overabundance bias in the ITS phylotyping abundance estimations for the common
      non-Saccharomyces wine yeast genus Metschnikowia. By identifying biases such as
      that observed for Metschnikowia, abundance measurements from future ITS
      phylotyping datasets can be corrected to provide more accurate species
      representation. Ultimately, as more shotgun metagenomic and single-strain de novo
      assemblies for key wine species become available, the accuracy of both ITS
      amplicon and shotgun studies will greatly increase, providing a powerful
      methodology for deciphering the influence of the microbial community on the wine
      flavor and aroma.

PMID- 28595316
TI  - Developing a local antimicrobial resistance action plan: the Cornwall One Health
      Antimicrobial Resistance Group.
AB  - Objectives: The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy was
      published in September 2013 and recommended a One Health approach emphasizing the
      importance of collaboration to tackle AMR. We describe the inauguration of what
      we believe to be the first regional One Health group established in the UK. The
      purpose of the group was to ensure the implementation of a coordinated Cornwall
      wide response to the UK AMR Strategy and we describe the outputs of the group to
      date. Methods: The Cornwall Antimicrobial Resistance Group was set up as a sub
      group of the Health & Wellbeing Board's Health Protection Committee. Stakeholders
      reviewed the key objectives set out within the Five Year AMR strategy, identified
      local priorities and existing work streams within Cornwall, and completed a gap
      analysis. The annual work plan was developed from the gap analysis and provided a
      foundation for improved coordination of One Health antimicrobial stewardship
      (AMS) activity in Cornwall. Results: To date, outputs from the group can be
      arranged under the following themes: education and engagement with the public;
      education and engagement with healthcare workers and veterinarians; and a
      comprehensive AMS programme for all sectors. The group continues to grow in size
      with wider stakeholder engagement and increased variety of work streams.
      Conclusions: This unique group facilitates discussions across sectors, which has
      enabled the sharing of knowledge, ideas and resources, stimulated local AMS
      initiatives, and ensured a platform for the development of future AMR and AMS
      work.

PMID- 28595317
TI  - Relative Fundamental Frequency Distinguishes Between Phonotraumatic and Non
      Phonotraumatic Vocal Hyperfunction.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the ability of an acoustic
      measure, relative fundamental frequency (RFF), to distinguish between two
      subtypes of vocal hyperfunction (VH): phonotraumatic (PVH) and non-phonotraumatic
      (NPVH). Method: RFF values were compared among control individuals with typical
      voices (N = 49), individuals with PVH (N = 54), and individuals with NPVH (N =
      35). Results: Offset Cycle 10 RFF differed significantly among all 3 groups with
      values progressively decreasing for controls, individuals with NPVH, and
      individuals with PVH. Individuals with PVH also had lower Offset Cycles 8 and 9
      relative to the other 2 groups and lower RFF values for Offset Cycle 7 relative
      to controls. There was also a trend for lower Onset Cycle 1 RFF values for the
      PVH group compared with the NPVH group. Conclusions: RFF values were
      significantly different between controls and individuals with VH and also between
      the two subtypes of VH. This study adds further support to the notion that the
      differences between these two subsets of VH may be functional as well as
      structural.

PMID- 28595319
TI  - Distribution and developmental changes of ghrelin-immunopositive cells in the
      pancreas of African ostrich chicks (Struthio camelus).
AB  - Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS
      R), is produced by multiple cell types and affects feeding behavior, metabolic
      regulation, and energy balance. In the mammalian pancreas, the types of endocrine
      cells that are immunoreactive to ghrelin vary. However, little was known about
      its distribution and developmental changes in the pancreas of African ostrich
      chicks (Struthio camelus). In the present study, the distribution, morphological
      characteristics, and developmental changes of ghrelin-immunopositive (ghrelin-ip)
      cells in the pancreas of African ostrich chicks were investigated using
      immunohistochemistry. Ghrelin-ip cells were found in both the pancreatic islets
      and acinar cell regions. The greatest number of ghrelin-ip cells were found in
      the pancreatic islets, and were primarily observed at the periphery of the
      islets; some ghrelin-ip cells were also located in the central portion of the
      pancreatic islets. Interestingly, from postnatal d 1 to d 90, there was a steady
      decrease in the number of ghrelin-ip cells in the pancreatic islets and acinar
      cell regions. These results clearly demonstrated that ghrelin-ip cells exist and
      decreased with age in the African ostrich pancreas from postnatal d 1 to d90.
      Thus, these findings indicated that ghrelin may be involved in the development of
      the pancreas in the African ostrich.

PMID- 28595320
TI  - Improvement in Activities of Daily Living Among Danish Centenarians?-A
      Comparative Study of Two Centenarian Cohorts Born 20 Years Apart.
AB  - Background: With the continued rise in the proportion of the oldest-old in high
      income countries, it is of interest to know whether the functional health of
      today's oldest-olds is better or worse than in previous cohorts. Using two Danish
      centenarian birth cohorts born 20 years apart we aimed at investigating if the
      later born cohort had better functioning in terms of activities of daily living
      (ADL). Methods: Identification, methodology, and assessment instruments were
      identical in the 1895-West and 1915-West Birth Cohort Studies: All persons living
      in the western part of Denmark and turning 100 years old in 1995 and 2015,
      respectively. Data were collected through structured in-home interviews.
      Participation rates were 74% (n = 106) and 79% (n = 238), respectively. Results:
      The proportion of nondisabled women of the 1915-West cohort was more than twice
      as high compared to the 1895-West cohort and with corresponding lower proportions
      of moderately and severely disabled persons (17% vs 7%, 33% vs 40% and 50% vs 53%
      in the 1915-West and 1895-West cohorts, respectively, p = .047). Only
      nonsignificant improvements were seen among men in the 1915-West cohort. In both
      sexes, considerably higher proportions of the latest cohort used assistive
      devices than the former (statistically significant for the majority of assistive
      devices). Conclusion: This comparative study shows improvements in reported ADL
      in the later born cohort of centenarians, even though only significant among
      women. As women constitute the majority of the oldest-olds, our findings are
      encouraging from a public health care view.

PMID- 28595323
TI  - Periorbital and Temporal Anatomy, "Targeted Fat Grafting," and How a Novel
      Circulatory System in Human Peripheral Nerves and Brain May Help Avoid Nerve
      Injury and Blindness During Routine Facial Augmentation.

PMID- 28595321
TI  - Mitochondrial deficits and abnormal mitochondrial retrograde axonal transport
      play a role in the pathogenesis of mutant Hsp27-induced Charcot Marie Tooth
      Disease.
AB  - Mutations in the small heat shock protein Hsp27, encoded by the HSPB1 gene, have
      been shown to cause Charcot Marie Tooth Disease type 2 (CMT-2) or distal
      hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN). Protein aggregation and axonal transport
      deficits have been implicated in the disease. In this study, we conducted
      analysis of bidirectional movements of mitochondria in primary motor neuron axons
      expressing wild type and mutant Hsp27. We found significantly slower retrograde
      transport of mitochondria in Ser135Phe, Pro39Leu and Arg140Gly mutant Hsp27
      expressing motor neurons than in wild type Hsp27 neurons, although anterograde
      movement velocities remained normal. Retrograde transport of other important
      cargoes, such as the p75 neurotrophic factor receptor was minimally altered in
      mutant Hsp27 neurons, implicating that axonal transport deficits primarily affect
      mitochondria and the axonal transport machinery itself is less affected.
      Investigation of mitochondrial function revealed a decrease in mitochondrial
      membrane potential in mutant Hsp27 expressing motor axons, as well as a reduction
      in mitochondrial complex 1 activity, increased vulnerability of mitochondria to
      mitochondrial stressors, leading to elevated superoxide release and reduced
      mitochondrial glutathione (GSH) levels, although cytosolic GSH remained normal.
      This mitochondrial redox imbalance in mutant Hsp27 motor neurons is likely to
      cause low level of oxidative stress, which in turn will contribute to, and indeed
      may be the underlying cause of the deficits in mitochondrial axonal transport.
      Together, these findings suggest that the mitochondrial abnormalities in mutant
      Hsp27-induced neuropathies may be a primary cause of pathology, leading to
      further deficits in the mitochondrial axonal transport and onset of disease.

PMID- 28595322
TI  - The Effects of Bit Wear on Respirable Silica Dust, Noise and Productivity: A
      Hammer Drill Bench Study.
AB  - Objectives: Hammer drills are used extensively in commercial construction for
      drilling into concrete for tasks including rebar installation for structural
      upgrades and anchor bolt installation. This drilling task can expose workers to
      respirable silica dust and noise. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the
      effects of bit wear on respirable silica dust, noise, and drilling productivity.
      Method: Test bits were worn to three states by drilling consecutive holes to
      different cumulative drilling depths: 0, 780, and 1560 cm. Each state of bit wear
      was evaluated by three trials (nine trials total). For each trial, an automated
      laboratory test bench system drilled 41 holes 1.3 cm diameter, and 10 cm deep
      into concrete block at a rate of one hole per minute using a commercially
      available hammer drill and masonry bits. During each trial, dust was continuously
      captured by two respirable and one inhalable sampling trains and noise was
      sampled with a noise dosimeter. The room was thoroughly cleaned between trials.
      Results: When comparing results for the sharp (0 cm) versus dull bit (1560 cm),
      the mean respirable silica increased from 0.41 to 0.74 mg m-3 in sampler 1 (P =
      0.012) and from 0.41 to 0.89 mg m-3 in sampler 2 (P = 0.024); levels above the
      NIOSH recommended exposure limit of 0.05 mg m-3. Likewise, mean noise levels
      increased from 112.8 to 114.4 dBA (P < 0.00001). Drilling productivity declined
      with increasing wear from 10.16 to 7.76 mm s-1 (P < 0.00001). Discussion:
      Increasing bit wear was associated with increasing respirable silica dust and
      noise and reduced drilling productivity. The levels of dust and noise produced by
      these experimental conditions would require dust capture, hearing protection, and
      possibly respiratory protection. The findings support the adoption of a bit
      replacement program by construction contractors.

PMID- 28595318
TI  - Mediterranean diet and inflammaging within the hormesis paradigm.
AB  - A coherent set of epidemiological data shows that the Mediterranean diet has
      beneficial effects capable of preventing a variety of age-related diseases in
      which low-grade, chronic inflammation/inflammaging plays a major role, but the
      underpinning mechanism(s) is/are still unclear. It is suggested here that the
      Mediterranean diet can be conceptualized as a form of chronic hormetic stress,
      similar to what has been proposed regarding calorie restriction, the most
      thoroughly studied nutritional intervention. Data on the presence in key
      Mediterranean foods of a variety of compounds capable of exerting hormetic
      effects are summarized, and the mechanistic role of the nuclear factor erythroid
      2 pathway is highlighted. Within this conceptual framework, particular attention
      has been devoted to the neurohormetic and neuroprotective properties of the
      Mediterranean diet, as well as to its ability to maintain an optimal balance
      between pro- and anti-inflammaging. Finally, the European Commission-funded
      project NU-AGE is discussed because it addresses a number of variables not
      commonly taken into consideration, such as age, sex, and ethnicity/genetics, that
      can modulate the hormetic effect of the Mediterranean diet.

PMID- 28595324
TI  - Bacteriophage use to control Salmonella biofilm on surfaces present in chicken
      slaughterhouses.
AB  - Foodborne diseases represent a major risk to public health worldwide. Pathogenic
      bacteria can live in the form of biofilm within the food industry, providing a
      permanent source of contamination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      influence of the types of adhesion surfaces on Salmonella biofilm formation at
      eight different times, and analyze the action time of a bacteriophage pool on
      established biofilms. Most of the samples used were classified as weak biofilm
      producers, with serovars Enteritidis and Heidelberg showing the highest frequency
      of biofilm formation. Glass and stainless steel surfaces significantly favored
      biofilm formation at 60 and 36 h of incubation respectively, but the polyvinyl
      chloride surface did not favor biofilm production, suggesting that the type of
      material may interfere with production. The bacteriophage pool action period
      focused on 3 h, but treatment of 9 h on glass surface biofilms was superior to
      other treatments because it affected the largest number of samples. These results
      suggests that some surface types and Salmonella serotypes may promote biofilm
      formation and indicate bacteriophages as an alternative to control biofilms. But
      further studies are required to prove the effectiveness and safety of
      bacteriophage therapy as an alternative in the antimicrobial control in the
      processing plants.

PMID- 28595326
TI  - Multiarterial grafts improve the rate of early major adverse cardiac and
      cerebrovascular events in patients undergoing coronary revascularization:
      analysis of 12 615 patients with multivessel disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to compare the rates of in-hospital and 30-day major
      adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) including death, stroke,
      myocardial infarction and repeat revascularization in patients with multivessel
      disease undergoing multiarterial (MultArt) coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
      with the left internal mammary artery/saphenous vein (LIMA/SV) CABG or
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: From 1 January 1993 to 31
      December 2009, 12 615 consecutive patients underwent isolated primary CABG (n =
      6667) with LIMA/SV (n = 5712) or MultArt (n = 955) or were treated by PCI (n =
      5948) with balloon angioplasty (n = 1020), bare metal stent (n = 3242), and drug
      eluting stent (n = 1686). We excluded patients with acute myocardial infarction.
      We matched the CABG group with the 3 PCI subgroups, and the PCI group with the 2
      CABG subgroups. Multivariable analyses were used to evaluate the impact of CABG
      versus PCI and their subgroups on early MACCE. RESULTS: Unadjusted early MACCE
      were lower for MultArt (1.5%) than for LIMA/SV (4.5%, P < 0.001) and PCI (8.5%, P
      < 0.001). In matched analysis, CABG had lower early MACCE versus balloon
      angioplasty (4.7% vs 13.2%, P < 0.001), bare metal stent (4.3% vs 8.3%, P <
      0.001), and drug-eluting stent (2.9% vs 5.5%, P = 0.008), as well as LIMA/SV
      versus PCI (4.6% vs 9.2%, P < 0.001) and MultArt versus PCI (1.8% vs 7.8%, P <
      0.001). Stroke rate was similar in MultArt versus PCI (0.8% vs 0.3%, P = 0.18)
      but higher with LIMA/SV versus PCI (2.3% vs 0.4%, P < 0.001). In multivariable
      analysis, PCI (odds ratio 4.53, 95% confidence interval: 2.62-7.83; P < 0.001)
      and LIMA/SV (odds ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval: 1.18-3.53; P < 0.011) were
      strong predictors of early MACCE compared with MultArt. CONCLUSIONS: MultArt
      confers the lowest rate of early MACCE.

PMID- 28595325
TI  - Maternal Lifetime Stress and Prenatal Psychological Functioning and Decreased
      Placental Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in the PRISM Study.
AB  - Psychosocial stress contributes to placental oxidative stress. Mitochondria are
      vulnerable to oxidative stress, which can lead to changes in mitochondrial DNA
      copy number (mtDNAcn). We examined associations of maternal lifetime stress,
      current negative life events, and depressive and posttraumatic-stress-disorder
      symptom scores with placental mtDNAcn in a racially/ethnically diverse sample (n
      = 147) from the Programming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms (PRISM) study
      (Massachusetts, March 2011 to August 2012). In linear regression analyses
      adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, prenatal fine particulate
      matter exposure, prenatal smoking exposure, and the sex of the child, all
      measures of stress were associated with decreased placental mtDNAcn (all P values
      < 0.05). Weighted-quantile-sum (WQS) regression showed that higher lifetime
      stress and depressive symptoms accounted for most of the effect on mtDNAcn (WQS
      weights: 0.25 and 0.39, respectively). However, among white individuals,
      increased lifetime stress and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms explained
      the majority of the effect (WQS weights: 0.20 and 0.62, respectively) while among
      nonwhite individuals, lifetime stress and depressive symptoms accounted for most
      of the effect (WQS weights: 0.27 and 0.55, respectively). These analyses are
      first to link increased maternal psychosocial stress with reduced placental
      mtDNAcn and add to literature documenting racial/ethnic differences in the
      psychological sequelae of chronic stress that may contribute to maternal-fetal
      health.

PMID- 28595327
TI  - Parallel Evolution of Metazoan Mitochondrial Proteins.
AB  - Amino acid propensities at amino acid sites change with time due to epistatic
      interactions or changing environment, affecting the probabilities of fixation of
      different amino acids. Such changes should lead to an increased rate of
      homoplasies (reversals, parallelisms, and convergences) at closely related
      species. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeny of twelve mitochondrial proteins from
      several thousand metazoan species, and measure the phylogenetic distances between
      branches at which either the same allele originated repeatedly due to
      homoplasies, or different alleles originated due to divergent substitutions. The
      mean phylogenetic distance between parallel substitutions is ~20% lower than the
      mean phylogenetic distance between divergent substitutions, indicating that a
      variant fixed in a species is more likely to be deleterious in a more
      phylogenetically remote species, compared with a more closely related species.
      These findings are robust to artefacts of phylogenetic reconstruction or of
      pooling of sites from different conservation classes or functional groups, and
      imply that single-position fitness landscapes change at rates similar to rates of
      amino acid changes.

PMID- 28595328
TI  - Genetic Lineage Tracing in Taste Tissues Using Sox2-CreERT2 Strain.
AB  - Taste cells in taste buds are epithelial sensory cells. Old taste bud cells die
      and are replaced by new ones generated from taste stem cells. Identifying and
      characterizing adult taste stem cells is therefore important to understand how
      peripheral taste tissues are maintained. SOX2 is expressed in oral epithelium
      including gustatory papillae and has been proposed to be a marker of adult taste
      stem/progenitor cells. Nevertheless, this hypothesis has never been directly
      tested. Here, by single-color genetic lineage tracing using Sox2-CreERT2 strain,
      we reveal that all types of taste bud cells distributed throughout the oral
      epithelium are derived from stem cells that express SOX2. Short-term tracing
      shows that SOX2-positive taste stem cells actively supply taste bud cells. At the
      base of epithelium outside taste buds are distributed proliferation marker- and
      SOX2-positive cells. Consistently, taste stem cells identified by Lgr5 expression
      in the circumvallate papillae also express SOX2. Together, taste stem cells
      distributed in oral epithelia express SOX2.

PMID- 28595329
TI  - A mechanism for a single nucleotide intron shift.
AB  - Spliceosomal introns can occupy nearby rather than identical positions in
      orthologous genes (intron sliding or shifting). Stwintrons are complex
      intervening sequences, where an 'internal' intron interrupts one of the sequences
      essential for splicing, generating after its excision, a newly formed canonical
      intron defined as 'external'. In one experimentally demonstrated configuration,
      two alternatively excised internal introns, overlapping by one G, disrupt
      respectively the donor and the acceptor sequence of an external intron, leading
      to mRNAs encoding identical proteins. In a gene encoding a DHA1 antiporter in
      Pezizomycotina, we find a variety of predicted intron configurations interrupting
      the DNA stretch encoding a conserved peptidic sequence. Some sport a stwintron
      where the internal intron interrupts the donor of the external intron
      (experimentally confirmed for Aspergillus nidulans). In others, we found and
      demonstrate (for Trichoderma reesei) alternative, overlapping internal introns.
      Discordant canonical introns, one nt apart, are present in yet other species,
      exactly as predicted by the alternative loss of either of the internal introns at
      the DNA level from an alternatively spliced stwintron. An evolutionary pathway of
      1 nt intron shift, involving an alternatively spliced stwintron intermediate is
      proposed on the basis of the experimental and genomic data presented.

PMID- 28595331
TI  - The Use of Single Stent-Assisted Coiling in Treatment of Bifurcation Aneurysms: A
      Multicenter Cohort Study With Proposal of a Scoring System to Predict Complete
      Occlusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The development of stent-assisted coiling has allowed for the
      endovascular treatment of wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms. A variety of options
      exist, and little is known about the optimal stent configuration in this setting.
      We report a large multicenter experience of stent-assisted coiling of
      bifurcations aneurysms using a single stent, with attention to factors
      predisposing to aneurysm recanalization. OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and
      efficacy of single stent-assisted coiling, in addition to analyzing the factors
      associated with recanalization, and proposal of a predictive scoring scale.
      METHODS: A multicenter retrospective analysis of bifurcation aneurysms treated
      with a single stent-assisted coiling technique between 2007 and 2015 was
      performed. Clinical and radiographic data were collected and used to develop a
      scoring system to predict aneurysm occlusion. RESULTS: A total of 74 bifurcation
      aneurysms were treated with single stent-assisted coiling. At a median follow-up
      of 15.2 mo, complete occlusion or remnant neck was achieved in 90.6% of
      aneurysms. Aneurysm location, maximal diameter, neck size, and alpha angle were
      predictive of aneurysm occlusion at last follow-up. A scoring system to predict
      complete occlusion based on these factors was developed. An increasing score
      correlated with a higher rate of complete occlusion. CONCLUSION: The treatment of
      bifurcation aneurysm using single stent technique for stent-assisted coiling is
      safe and effective. Complete occlusion or remnant neck occlusion was achieved in
      90.6% of cases. Class III aneurysms can be effectively treated using a single
      stent, while class I may require Y-stent technique.

PMID- 28595330
TI  - Contribution of Progranulin to Protective Lung Immunity During Bacterial
      Pneumonia.
AB  - Background: Progranulin (PGRN) is an important immunomodulatory factor in a
      variety of inflammatory diseases. However, its role in pulmonary immunity against
      bacterial infection remains unknown. Methods: Pneumonia was induced in PGRN
      deficient and normal wild-type mice using Pseudomonas aeruginosa or
      Staphylococcus aureus, and we assessed the effects of PGRN on survival, bacterial
      burden, cytokine and chemokine production, and pulmonary leukocyte recruitment
      after bacterial pneumonia. Results: Patients with community-acquired pneumonia
      displayed elevated PGRN levels. Likewise, mice with Gram-negative and Gram
      positive pneumonia had increased PGRN production in the lung and circulation.
      Progranulin deficiency led to increased bacterial growth and dissemination
      accompanied by enhanced lung injury and mortality in bacterial pneumonia, which
      was associated with impaired recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils in the
      lung. The reduced number of pulmonary macrophages and neutrophils observed in
      PGRN-deficient mice was related to a reduction of CCL2 and CXCL1 in the lungs
      after bacterial pneumonia. Importantly, therapeutic administration of PGRN
      improved mortality in severe bacterial pneumonia. Conclusions: This study
      supports a novel role for PGRN in pulmonary immunity and suggests that treatment
      with PGRN may be a viable therapy for bacterial pneumonia.

PMID- 28595333
TI  - The Rise of the Current Mortality Pattern of the United States, 1890-1930.
AB  - This article examines how the epidemiologic transition and the reduction of the
      urban mortality penalty gave rise to the current mortality regime of the United
      States and demonstrates how the 1918 influenza pandemic signaled its advent. This
      article approaches those issues through the analysis of urban-rural mortality
      differentials from 1890 to 1930. Until 1910, infectious diseases dwarfed
      degenerative diseases in leading causes of death, and generally, the more urban
      the location was, the higher infectious disease and overall death rates were-a
      direct relationship. But by 1930, degenerative diseases had eclipsed infectious
      diseases, and infectious disease mortality had ceased to differ between cities
      and rural areas. The 1918 influenza pandemic broke out toward the end of these
      changes, and the larger the city was, the lower influenza and overall death rates
      were in that year-an inverse relationship. Such gradations characterized a new
      mortality regime emerging in the late 1910s and foreshadowed urban-rural
      mortality differentials in 1930 among persons aged 45 years or older, the group
      whose high rates of degenerative disease death would symbolize that regime. Thus,
      intertwined changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries-a shift in leading
      causes of death from infectious diseases to degenerative diseases and a
      concomitant shift from a direct relationship to an inverse relationship between
      urban environment and mortality-produced the current mortality regime of the
      United States.

PMID- 28595332
TI  - Ability to Discriminate Between Sustainable and Unsustainable Heat Stress
      Exposures-Part 1: WBGT Exposure Limits.
AB  - Objectives: Heat stress exposure limits based on wet-bulb globe temperature
      (WBGT) were designed to limit exposures to those that could be sustained for an 8
      h day using limited data from Lind in the 1960s. In general, Sustainable
      exposures are heat stress levels at which thermal equilibrium can be achieved,
      and Unsustainable exposures occur when there is a steady increase in core
      temperature. This paper addresses the ability of the ACGIH(r) Threshold Limit
      Value (TLV(r)) to differentiate between Sustainable and Unsustainable heat
      exposures, to propose alternative occupational exposure limits, and ask whether
      an adjustment for body surface area improves the exposure decision. Methods: Two
      progressive heat stress studies provided data on 176 trials with 352 pairs of
      Sustainable and Unsustainable exposures over a range of relative humidities and
      metabolic rates using 29 participants wearing woven cotton clothing. To assess
      the discrimination ability of the TLV, the exposure metric was the difference
      between the observed WBGT and the TLV adjusted for metabolic rate. Conditional
      logistic regression models and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC)
      along with ROC's area under the curve (AUC) were used. Four alternative models
      for an occupational exposure limit were also developed and compared to the TLV.
      Results: For the TLV, the odds ratio (OR) for Unsustainable was 2.5 per 1 degrees
      C-WBGT [confidence interval (CI) 2.12-2.88]. The AUC for the TLV was 0.85 (CI
      0.81-0.89). For the alternative models, the ORs were also about 2.5/ degrees C
      WBGT, with AUCs between 0.84 and 0.88, which were significantly different from
      the TLV's AUC but have little practical difference. Conclusions: This study (1)
      confirmed that the TLV is appropriate for heat stress screening; (2) demonstrated
      the TLV's discrimination accuracy with an ROC AUC of 0.85; and (3) established
      the OR of 2.5/ degrees C-WBGT for unsustainable exposures. The TLV has high
      sensitivity, but its specificity is very low, which is protective. There were no
      important improvements with alternative exposure limits, and there was weak
      evidence to support metabolic rate normalized to body surface area. In sum, the
      TLV is protective with an appropriate margin of safety for relatively constant
      occupational exposures to heat stress.

PMID- 28595334
TI  - An Olympic Legacy? Did the Urban Regeneration Associated With the London 2012
      Olympic Games Influence Adolescent Mental Health?
AB  - Public expenditure on large events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games is often
      justified by the potential legacy of urban regeneration and its associated health
      and well-being benefits for local communities. In the Olympic Regeneration in
      East London Study, we examined whether there was an association between urban
      regeneration related to the 2012 Games and improved mental health in young
      people. Adolescents aged 11-12 years attending schools in the Olympic host
      borough of Newham in London or in 3 adjacent comparison London boroughs completed
      a survey before the 2012 Games and 6 and 18 months after the Games (in 2013 and
      2014, respectively). Changes in depressive symptoms and well-being between
      baseline and each follow-up were examined. A total of 2,254 adolescents from 25
      randomly selected schools participated. Adolescents from Newham were more likely
      to have remained depressed between baseline and the 6- and 18-month follow-up
      surveys (for 6-month follow-up, relative risk = 1.78, 95% confidence interval:
      1.12, 2.83; for 18-month follow-up, relative risk = 1.93, 95% confidence
      interval: 1.01, 3.70) than adolescents from the comparison boroughs. No
      differences in well-being were observed. There was little evidence that urban
      regeneration had any positive influence on adolescent mental health and some
      suggestion that regeneration may have been associated with maintenance of
      depressive symptoms. Such programs may have limited short-term impact on the
      mental health of adolescents.

PMID- 28595335
TI  - RESULTS FROM A NEW METHOD TO ASSESS THE OCCUPATIONAL LENS DOSE IN INTERVENTIONAL
      RADIOLOGY.
AB  - Interventional radiology procedures have always been of particular concern
      because of the potential high dose to the workers. Special attention has recently
      been given to the lens dose: in 2011 the ICRP issued the recommendation
      'Statement on Tissue Reactions' where a new limit of 20 mSv in a year, averaged
      over defined periods of 5 years, is given. Due to the impossibility of measuring
      the dose directly on the eye, there is not still a general consensus on a
      standardized methodology to assess the lens dose, which should be at the same
      time reliable, robust and simple to implement in practice. The procedure
      described here aims to assess the lens dose using the Hp(0.07) equivalent dose
      measured with a dosimeter worn at chest level above the lead apron, through a
      correlation with the total KAP per procedure and considering the type of the
      protection tools used during each procedure: glasses (with lateral shields),
      ceiling screen, both or neither of them and the frequency of their use.

PMID- 28595337
TI  - Response to "The Association of Progressive Tension Sutures and Drains Seems to
      Decrease the Drainage Output and Seroma Formation in Abdominoplasty".

PMID- 28595336
TI  - Changes in serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels reflect and predict response to anti
      PD-1 treatment in melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer patients.
AB  - Background: Surrogate biomarkers of efficacy are needed for anti-PD1/PD-L1
      therapy, given the existence of delayed responses and pseudo-progressions. We
      evaluated changes in serum IL-8 levels as a biomarker of response to anti-PD-1
      blockade in melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Patients
      and methods: Metastatic melanoma and NSCLC patients treated with nivolumab or
      pembrolizumab alone or nivolumab plus ipilimumab were studied. Serum was
      collected at baseline; at 2-4 weeks after the first dose; and at the time-points
      of response evaluation. Serum IL-8 levels were determined by sandwich ELISA.
      Changes in serum IL-8 levels were compared with the Wilcoxon test and their
      strength of association with response was assessed with the Mann-Whitney test.
      Accuracy of changes in IL-8 levels to predict response was estimated using
      receiver operation characteristics curves. Results: Twenty-nine melanoma patients
      treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab were studied. In responding patients,
      serum IL-8 levels significantly decreased between baseline and best response (P
      <0.001), and significantly increased upon progression (P =  0.004). In non
      responders, IL-8 levels significantly increased between baseline and progression
      (P =  0.013). Early changes in serum IL-8 levels (2-4 weeks after treatment
      initiation) were strongly associated with response (P <0.001). These observations
      were validated in 19 NSCLC patients treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab (P = 
      0.001), and in 15 melanoma patients treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab (P
      <0.001). Early decreases in serum IL-8 levels were associated with longer overall
      survival in melanoma (P =  0.001) and NSCLC (P =  0.015) patients. Serum IL-8
      levels also correctly reflected true response in three cancer patients presenting
      pseudoprogression. Conclusions: Changes in serum IL-8 levels could be used to
      monitor and predict clinical benefit from immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma
      and NSCLC patients.

PMID- 28595339
TI  - Cardiac resynchronization therapy and electrical storm: results of the
      OBSERVational registry on long-term outcome of ICD patients (OBSERVO-ICD).
AB  - Aims: Electrical storm (ES) is a condition defined as three or more episodes of
      ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT) within 24 h, and
      usually coexist with advanced heart failure in patients with structural heart
      disease. The aim of the present study is to test whether cardiac
      resynchronization therapy (CRT) can be associated with a lower incidence of ES.
      Methods and results: The OBSERVO-ICD (NCT02735811) is a multicentre,
      retrospective registry, enrolling all consecutive patients undergoing ICD or CRT
      D implantation from 2010 to 2012 in five Italian high-volume arrhythmia centres.
      Propensity score matching was used to compare two equally sized cohorts of ICD
      and CRT-D patients with similar characteristics. The primary endpoint was the
      time free from ES. Secondary endpoints were time free from unclustered VT/VF
      episodes and time free from ES in CRT-D patients according to clinical or
      echographic response. CRT-D was associated with a 45% relative risk reduction in
      ES when compared with ICD (5.6% vs. 12.3%; log rank P = 0.014). CRT-responders
      presented lower rates of ES when compared with non-responders and negative
      responders according to both clinical and echographic criteria (log-rank P =
      0.017 and 0.023, respectively). No ES was detected in any of the 133 full
      responders to CRT-D. Clinical and echographic positive responses, but not CRT
      implant per se, were associated with lower estimate rates of unclustered VTs/VFs.
      Conclusion: Patients with CRT had a lower incidence of ES when compared with
      propensity-matched ICD patients. The long-term benefit of CRT seems to be due to
      the improved haemodynamics, as CRT-responders performed markedly better over a
      long-term follow-up.

PMID- 28595338
TI  - Influence of Temperature on the Reproductive and Developmental Biology of Ontsira
      mellipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): Implications for Biological Control of the
      Asian Longhorned Beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).
AB  - Ontsira mellipes Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a North American parasitoid
      species that develops on the invasive pest, Anoplophora glabripennis
      (Moltschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), under laboratory conditions and is
      currently being considered as a potential new-association biocontrol agent. To
      develop mass-rearing protocols and field-release strategies for this parasitoid,
      information on its reproductive biology in relation to temperature is needed. We
      determined the effect of temperature (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30  degrees C) on
      development, survivorship, and sex ratio, and its effect on the longevity,
      fecundity, and host attack rates (parasitism) of adults. Developmental time for
      parasitoid eggs to pupae decreased from 26.7 d to 6.1 d as temperature increased
      from 10  degrees C to 30  degrees C. While no pupae eclosed as adults at 10 
      degrees C, time of adult emergence from pupae decreased from 39.7 d to 12.2 d as
      temperature increased from 15  degrees C to 30  degrees C. Based on estimated
      lower development temperature threshold (11.1  degrees C), the degree-days
      required for one generation was estimated at 342.9. When female parasitoids were
      provided with host larvae, parasitism occurred at all temperatures and was
      maximized at 25  degrees C. Additionally, increasing temperatures significantly
      reduced the preoviposition period and longevity of female O. mellipes. In
      addition, combining these results with temperature data from areas in the United
      States currently infested with A. glabripennis, we estimated that O. mellipes can
      complete 1.2-3.7 generations per year. Findings from this study may be considered
      for the future development of effective mass rearing and augmentative release
      strategies of O. mellipes for biological control of A. glabripennis.

PMID- 28595340
TI  - Ability to Discriminate Between Sustainable and Unsustainable Heat Stress
      Exposures-Part 2: Physiological Indicators.
AB  - Objectives: There are times when it is not practical to assess heat stress using
      environmental metrics and metabolic rate, and heat strain may provide an
      alternative approach. Heat strain indicators have been used for decades as tools
      for monitoring physiological responses to work in hot environments. Common
      indicators of heat strain are body core temperature (assessed here as rectal
      temperature Tre), heart rate (HR), and average skin temperature (Tsk). Data
      collected from progressive heat stress trials were used to (1) demonstrate if
      physiological heat strain indicators (PHSIs) at the upper limit of Sustainable
      heat stress were below generally accepted limits; (2) suggest values for PHSIs
      that demonstrate a Sustainable level of heat stress; (3) suggest alternative
      PHSIs; and (4) determine if metabolic rate was an effect modifier. Methods: Two
      previous progressive heat stress studies included 176 trials with 352 pairs of
      Sustainable and Unsustainable exposures over a range of relative humidities and
      metabolic rates using 29 participants. To assess the discrimination ability of
      PHSIs, conditional logistic regression and stepwise logistic regression were used
      to find the best combinations of predictors of Unsustainable exposures. The
      accuracy of the models was assessed using receiver operating characteristic
      curves. Results: Current recommendations for physiological heat strain limits
      were associated with probabilities of Unsustainable greater than 0.5. Screening
      limits for Sustainable heat stress were Tre of 37.5 degrees C, HR of 105 bpm, and
      Tsk of 35.8 degrees C. Tsk alone resulted in an area under the curve of 0.85 and
      the combination of Tsk and HR (area under the curve = 0.88) performed the best.
      The adjustment for metabolic rate was statistically significant for physiological
      strain index or ?Tre-sk as main predictors, but its effect modification was
      negligible and could be ignored. Conclusions: Based on the receiver operating
      characteristic curve, PHSIs (Tre, HR, and Tsk) can accurately predict
      Unsustainable heat stress exposures. Tsk alone or in combination with HR has a
      high sensitivity, and makes better discriminations than the other PHSIs under
      relatively constant exposure (metabolic rate and environment) for an hour or so.
      Screening limits with high sensitivity, however, have low thresholds that limit
      utility. To the extent that the observed strain is low, there is good evidence
      that the exposure is Sustainable.

PMID- 28595342
TI  - Letter: Commentary: Carotid Artery Angioplasty and Stenting Without Distal
      Embolic Protection Devices.

PMID- 28595341
TI  - Obstructive Sleep Apnea Dynamically Increases Nocturnal Plasma Free Fatty Acids,
      Glucose, and Cortisol During Sleep.
AB  - Context: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with diabetes and
      cardiovascular disease. This association may be related to metabolic changes that
      transpire during sleep in OSA. Objective: To examine the impact of OSA, elicited
      by cessation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), on frequently sampled
      nocturnal metabolic markers including plasma free fatty acids (FFAs), glucose,
      insulin, triglycerides (TGs), cortisol, and lactate, as well as glucose
      production, oral glucose tolerance, blood pressure (BP), endothelial function,
      cholesterol, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Design and Setting:
      Randomized crossover trial of CPAP vs CPAP withdrawal. Patients: Thirty-one
      patients with moderate to severe OSA acclimated to CPAP. Intervention: Patients
      underwent attended polysomnography while sleeping with therapeutic CPAP, or after
      CPAP withdrawal, in random order. Venous blood was sampled at ~20-minute
      intervals on both nights. In 11 patients, we assessed glucose kinetics with an
      infusion of 6,6-[2H2]glucose. Results: CPAP withdrawal caused recurrence of OSA
      associated with hypoxemia, sleep disruption, and heart rate (HR) elevation. CPAP
      withdrawal dynamically increased nocturnal FFA (P = 0.007), glucose (P = 0.028),
      and cortisol (P = 0.037), in proportion to respiratory event frequency, HR
      elevation, or sleep fragmentation. Diabetes predisposed to glucose elevation.
      CPAP withdrawal also increased systolic BP (P = 0.017) and augmentation index (P
      = 0.008), but did not affect insulin, TGs, glucose production, oral glucose
      tolerance, cholesterol, or hsCRP. Conclusion: OSA recurrence during CPAP
      withdrawal increases FFA and glucose during sleep, associated with sympathetic
      and adrenocortical activation. Recurring exposure to these metabolic changes may
      foster diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28595343
TI  - Sequencing, de novo assembling, and annotating the genome of the endangered
      Chinese crocodile lizard Shinisaurus crocodilurus.
AB  - The Chinese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus crocodilurus, is the only living
      representative of the monotypic family Shinisauridae under the order Squamata. It
      is an obligate semi-aquatic, viviparous, diurnal species restricted to specific
      portions of mountainous locations in southwestern China and northeastern Vietnam.
      However, in the past several decades, this species has undergone a rapid decrease
      in population size due to illegal poaching and habitat disruption, making this
      unique reptile species endangered and listed in the Convention on International
      Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Appendix II since 1990. A
      proposal to uplist it to Appendix I was passed at the Convention on International
      Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Seventeenth meeting of the
      Conference of the Parties in 2016. To promote the conservation of this species,
      we sequenced the genome of a male Chinese crocodile lizard using a whole-genome
      shotgun strategy on the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. In total, we generated ~291
      Gb of raw sequencing data (*149 depth) from 13 libraries with insert sizes
      ranging from 250 bp to 40 kb. After filtering for polymerase chain reaction
      duplicated and low-quality reads, ~137 Gb of clean data (*70 depth) were obtained
      for genome assembly. We yielded a draft genome assembly with a total length of
      2.24 Gb and an N50 scaffold size of 1.47 Mb. The assembled genome was predicted
      to contain 20 150 protein-coding genes and up to 1114 Mb (49.6%) of repetitive
      elements. The genomic resource of the Chinese crocodile lizard will contribute to
      deciphering the biology of this organism and provides an essential tool for
      conservation efforts. It also provides a valuable resource for future study of
      squamate evolution.

PMID- 28595345
TI  - Supraventricular arrhythmias in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular
      dysplasia/cardiomyopathy associate with long-term outcome after catheter ablation
      of ventricular tachycardias.
AB  - Aims: This study aimed to assess the impact of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)
      on long-term results of radiofrequency catheter ablation therapy of ventricular
      tachycardia (VT) in a large cohort of patients with arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C). Methods and results:
      Supraventricular tachycardia occurrence has been studied in patients from our
      ARVD/C registry (70 patients, 48 male, age 53.2 +/- 14.0, 45 patients (64.3%)
      with previous VT ablation). SVT were diagnosed in 26 of 70 patients (37.1%).
      Atrial fibrillation (AF) was the most frequent atrial arrhythmia, diagnosed in 17
      patients (24.3%). In univariate analysis advanced age, clinical symptoms of heart
      failure, enlarged right atrium, diagnosis of significant tricuspid regurgitation
      (TR), and inappropriate implantable cardioverters-defibrillators therapy were
      associated with SVT. In binary logistic regression analysis only heart failure:
      hazard ratio (HR) 10.89, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08-109.96 (P = 0.043)
      and significant TR: HR 4.79, 95% CI 1.35-16.33 (P = 0.015) remained associated
      with SVT. In patients with previous VT ablation Cox multiple regression survival
      analysis revealed older age (>=53 years): HR 4.63, 95% CI 1.51-14.24 (P = 0.008)
      and SVT: HR 3.01, 95% CI 1.15-7.89 (P = 0.025) as predictors for VT recurrence
      during the follow-up. Conclusion: SVT and older age are associated with the
      recurrence of VT after catheter ablation in patients with ARVD/C.

PMID- 28595344
TI  - Metabolism and the Evolution of Social Behavior.
AB  - How does metabolism influence social behavior? This fundamental question at the
      interface of molecular biology and social evolution is hard to address with
      experiments in animals, and therefore, we turned to a simple microbial system:
      swarming in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using genetic engineering, we
      excised a locus encoding a key metabolic regulator and disrupted P. aeruginosa's
      metabolic prudence, the regulatory mechanism that controls expression of swarming
      public goods and protects this social behavior from exploitation by cheaters.
      Then, using experimental evolution, we followed the joint evolution of the
      genome, the metabolome and the social behavior as swarming re-evolved. New
      variants emerged spontaneously with mutations that reorganized the metabolome and
      compensated in distinct ways for the disrupted metabolic prudence. These
      experiments with a unicellular organism provide a detailed view of how metabolism
      currency of all physiological processes-can determine the costs and benefits of a
      social behavior and ultimately influence how an organism behaves towards other
      organisms of the same species.

PMID- 28595346
TI  - Sedentary Behaviors and Cardiometabolic Risk: An Isotemporal Substitution
      Analysis.
AB  - Evidence suggests that time spent engaging in sedentary behaviors is associated
      with a greater risk of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. We investigated the
      cross-sectional associations of 6 unique sedentary tasks (watching television,
      using the computer, completing paperwork, reading, talking on the telephone, and
      sitting in a car) with cardiometabolic risk factors, and also examined the effect
      of replacing one type of sedentary behavior with another on the level of
      cardiometabolic risk. Participants consisted of 3,211 individuals from the
      Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study who visited the clinic
      between 2010 and 2011. Linear regression models examined the independent and
      joint associations of sedentary tasks with a composite cardiometabolic risk
      score, as well as with individual cardiometabolic risk factors (waist
      circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin, triglycerides, and high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol) after adjusting for physical activity and other
      covariates. Replacing 2 hours of television viewing with 2 hours spent performing
      any other sedentary activity was associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk
      score of 0.06-0.09 standard deviations (all 95% confidence intervals: -0.13, 
      0.02). No other replacements of one type of sedentary task for another were
      significant. Study findings indicate that television viewing has a more adverse
      association with cardiometabolic risk factors than other sedentary behaviors.

PMID- 28595348
TI  - Has Underreporting of Cigarette Consumption Changed Over Time? Estimates Derived
      From US National Health Surveillance Systems Between 1965 and 2015.
AB  - According to survey data, the prevalence of Americans' self-reported cigarette
      smoking is dropping steadily. However, the accuracy of national surveys has been
      questioned because of declining response rates and the increasing stigmatization
      of smoking. We used data from 2 repeated, cross-sectional, nationally
      representative health surveys (National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH),
      1979-2014; and National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 1965-2015) to determine
      whether self-reported cigarette consumption has changed over time as a proportion
      of federally taxed cigarette sales. From each survey, we calculated national
      equivalents of annual cigarette consumption. From 1979 to 1997, the amount of
      cigarettes that NSDUH and NHIS respondents reported corresponded to an average of
      59.5% (standard deviation (SD), 2.3%) and 65.6% (SD, 3.2%), respectively, of
      taxed cigarette sales. After 1997, respondents' reported smoking data
      corresponded to the equivalent of an average of 64.2% (SD, 5.9%) and 63.3% (SD,
      2.5%), respectively, of taxed cigarette sales. NHIS figures remained steady
      throughout the latter period, with a decline during 2013-2015 from 65.9% to
      61.1%. NSDUH figures increased steadily, exceeding those of the NHIS after 2002.
      Given the consistent underreporting of cigarette consumption over time, these
      surveys are likely not less accurate than they were previously. The recent
      decrease in NHIS accuracy, however, gives pause about the magnitude of the
      reported decline in smoking prevalence in 2014 and 2015. Improvement in the
      accuracy of NSDUH data is encouraging.

PMID- 28595347
TI  - Genetic History of Xinjiang's Uyghurs Suggests Bronze Age Multiple-Way Contacts
      in Eurasia.
AB  - The Uyghur people residing in Xinjiang, a territory located in the far west of
      China and crossed by the Silk Road, are a key ethnic group for understanding the
      history of human dispersion in Eurasia. Here we assessed the genetic structure
      and ancestry of 951 Xinjiang's Uyghurs (XJU) representing 14 geographical
      subpopulations. We observed a southwest and northeast differentiation within XJU,
      which was likely shaped jointly by the Tianshan Mountains, which traverses from
      east to west as a natural barrier, and gene flow from both east and west
      directions. In XJU, we identified four major ancestral components that were
      potentially derived from two earlier admixed groups: one from the West, harboring
      European (25-37%) and South Asian ancestries (12-20%), and the other from the
      East, with Siberian (15-17%) and East Asian (29-47%) ancestries. By using a newly
      developed method, MultiWaver, the complex admixture history of XJU was modeled as
      a two-wave admixture. An ancient wave was dated back to ~3,750 years ago (ya),
      which is much earlier than that estimated by previous studies, but fits within
      the range of dating of mummies that exhibited European features that were
      discovered in the Tarim basin, which is situated in southern Xinjiang (4,000
      2,000 ya); a more recent wave occurred around 750 ya, which is in agreement with
      the estimate from a recent study using other methods. We unveiled a more complex
      scenario of ancestral origins and admixture history in XJU than previously
      reported, which further suggests Bronze Age massive migrations in Eurasia and
      East-West contacts across the Silk Road.

PMID- 28595350
TI  - Reducing Bruzzi's Formula to Remove Instability in the Estimation of Population
      Attributable Fraction for Health Outcomes.
AB  - The aim of this study was to reconcile 3 approaches to calculating population
      attributable fractions and attributable burden percentage: the approach of Bruzzi
      et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 1985;122(5):904-914.), the maximum-likelihood method of
      Greenland and Drescher (Biometrics. 1993;49(3):865-872.), and the multivariable
      method of Tanuseputro et al. (Popul Health Metr. 2015;13:5.). Using data from a
      statewide point prevalence survey (Western Australian Point Prevalence Survey,
      2014) linked to an administrative database, we compared estimates of attributable
      burden percentage obtained using the contrasting methods in 6 logistic models of
      health outcomes from the survey, estimating 95% confidence intervals using
      nonparametric and weighted bootstrap approaches. Our results show that
      instability can arise from the fundamental algebraic construction of Bruzzi's
      formula, and that this instability may substantially influence the calculation of
      attributable burden percentage and associated confidence intervals. These
      observations were confirmed in a simulation study. The algebraic reduction of
      Bruzzi's formula to the 2 alternative methods resulted in markedly more stable
      estimates for population attributable fraction and attributable burden percentage
      in cross-sectional studies and cohort designs with fixed follow-up time. We
      advocate the widespread implementation of the maximum-likelihood approach and the
      multivariable method.

PMID- 28595349
TI  - Prenatal exposure to antimalarials decreases the risk of cardiac but not non
      cardiac neonatal lupus: a single-centre cohort study.
AB  - Objective: Recent studies have suggested that prenatal exposure to HCQ reduces
      the risk of cardiac neonatal lupus. The aim of this study is to assess if
      maternal intake of antimalarials (AMs) throughout pregnancy lowered the risk of
      cardiac and non-cardiac neonatal lupus. Methods: Consecutive children seen
      between 1 January 1984 to 1 October 2013 born to women with a CTD and positive
      anti-Ro and/or anti-La antibodies were eligible for this single-centre
      retrospective cohort study. A total of 315 individuals were screened and 268
      participants were included. Exposure to AMs was defined as HCQ or chloroquine
      throughout pregnancy. Outcomes were cardiac and non-cardiac neonatal lupus.
      Frequentist and Bayesian analyses were performed. We hypothesized that prenatal
      AM exposure would decrease the risk of cardiac but not non-cardiac neonatal
      lupus. Results: A total of 268 pregnancies were included; 73 were exposed to AMs
      throughout pregnancy. Ninety-nine children developed neonatal lupus, 117 remained
      unaffected and 52 children did not develop cardiac neonatal lupus but could not
      be categorized as unaffected since their full non-cardiac neonatal lupus status
      was unknown. Logistic regression suggested a protective effect of AM on cardiac
      neonatal lupus, but results were not statistically significant [odds ratio (OR)
      0.21; P = 0.07]. Bayesian analysis showed that the probability of obtaining a
      protective effect (OR < 1.0) for cardiac neonatal lupus was significant (98.7%).
      The effect of AMs on non-cardiac neonatal lupus was not significant (OR 0.78; P =
      0.21). Conclusion: In this large single-centre cohort study, exposure to AMs
      throughout pregnancy was associated with a decreased probability of developing
      cardiac but not non-cardiac neonatal lupus.

PMID- 28595351
TI  - Cautious Interpretation of Optimal Timing of Maternal Pertussis Immunization.

PMID- 28595352
TI  - Neuropsychology Outcomes Following Trephine Epilepsy Surgery: The Inferior
      Temporal Gyrus Approach for Amygdalohippocampectomy in Medically Refractory
      Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgery is indicated in cases of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy(MTLE)
      that are refractory to medical management. The inferior temporal gyrus (ITG)
      approach provides access to the mesial temporal lobe (MTL) structures with
      minimal tissue disruption. Reported neuropsychology outcomes following this
      approach are limited. OBJECTIVE: To report neuropsychological outcomes using an
      ITG approach to amygdalohippocampectomy (AH) in patients with medically
      refractory MTLE based on a prospective design. METHODS: Fifty-four participants
      had Engel class I/II outcome following resection of MTL using the ITG approach.
      All participants had localization-related epilepsy confirmed by long-term surface
      video-electroencephalography and completed pre/postsurgical evaluations that
      included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Wada test or functional MRI, and
      neuropsychology assessment. RESULTS: Clinical semiology/video
      electroencephalography indicated that of the 54 patients, 28 (52%) had left MTLE
      and 26 (48%) had right MTLE. Dominant hemisphere resections were performed on 23
      patients (43%), nondominant on 31(57%). Twenty-nine (29) had pathology-confirmed
      mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS). Group level analyses found declines in verbal
      memory for patients with language-dominant resections (P < .05). No significant
      decline in neuropsychological measures occurred for patients with MTS.
      Participants without MTS who underwent a language-dominant lobe resection
      exhibited a significant decline in verbal and visual memory (P < .05).
      Nondominant resection participants did not exhibit significant change in
      neuropsychology scores (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Neuropsychology outcomes of an ITG
      approach for selective mesial temporal resection are comparable to other
      selective AH techniques showing minimal adverse cognitive effects. These data
      lend support to the ITG approach for selective AH as an option for MTLE.

PMID- 28595353
TI  - Determination of Hydroxylated Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Chinese Aquatic
      Products by LC-MS/MS.
AB  - In this reported work, a sensitive and reliable method for detecting 11
      hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) was established by a
      combination of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The aquatic products (mainly crayfish and
      grass carp) from 12 cities in China's HuBei province were examined for the
      presence of the target OH-PBDEs. The analytical process involved first extracting
      the OH-PBDEs from the crayfish and grass carp using a PLE, followed by
      purification using gel permeation chromatography. To eliminate the interference
      from matrix, isotopic dilution was used in the quantitative analysis. Compared
      with the existing methods, OH-PBDEs were determined without a need for
      derivatizing, and it was more efficient and quicker. The condition of extraction
      and cleanup were also optimized. Experimental results showed that the proposed
      method exhibited a low detection limit of 0.04-0.2 MUg/kg, with a wide linearity
      range 1-400 ng/L and a good linear correlation coefficient (r2 > 0.990) using
      this method. These results indicated the steadiness of the established method has
      the advantages of high sensitivity and facile sample preparation without matrix
      interference.

PMID- 28595354
TI  - Masked Visual Analysis: Minimizing Type I Error in Visually Guided Single-Case
      Design for Communication Disorders.
AB  - Purpose: Single-case experimental designs are widely used to study interventions
      for communication disorders. Traditionally, single-case experiments follow a
      response-guided approach, where design decisions during the study are based on
      participants' observed patterns of behavior. However, this approach has been
      criticized for its high rate of Type I error. In masked visual analysis (MVA),
      response-guided decisions are made by a researcher who is blinded to
      participants' identities and treatment assignments. MVA also makes it possible to
      conduct a hypothesis test assessing the significance of treatment effects.
      Method: This tutorial describes the principles of MVA, including both how
      experiments can be set up and how results can be used for hypothesis testing. We
      then report a case study showing how MVA was deployed in a multiple-baseline
      across-subjects study investigating treatment for residual errors affecting
      rhotics. Strengths and weaknesses of MVA are discussed. Conclusions: Given their
      important role in the evidence base that informs clinical decision making, it is
      critical for single-case experimental studies to be conducted in a way that
      allows researchers to draw valid inferences. As a method that can increase the
      rigor of single-case studies while preserving the benefits of a response-guided
      approach, MVA warrants expanded attention from researchers in communication
      disorders.

PMID- 28595355
TI  - Risk Factors Associated With Suicide Completions Among US Enlisted Marines.
AB  - US enlisted Marines have experienced a substantial increase in suicide rates. We
      sought to identify risk factors for suicide completions among male Marines who
      entered basic training in San Diego, California, between June 2001 and October
      2010. Suicides that occurred during active-duty military service were counted
      from June 1, 2001, through June 30, 2012. A total of 108,930 male Marines (66,286
      deployers and 42,644 never deployed) were followed for 467,857 person-years of
      active-duty service time. Of the 790 deaths, 123 (15.6%) were suicides. In the
      final multivariate hazard model, preservice characteristics of not being a high
      school graduate (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.28,
      3.68) and being a smoker at the time of enlistment (HR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.32,
      2.76) were significantly associated with a higher risk for suicide completion.
      Diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (HR = 4.09, 95% CI: 2.08, 8.05), diagnosed
      with depression (HR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.22, 4.58), and received relationship
      counseling (HR = 3.71, 95% CI: 1.44, 9.54) during military service were
      significant risks for suicide death. Deployment alone was not significantly
      associated with a risk for suicide death (HR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.26, 1.05).

PMID- 28595356
TI  - Treatment With Bupropion and Varenicline for Smoking Cessation and the Risk of
      Acute Cardiovascular Events and Injuries: a Swedish Case-Crossover Study.
AB  - Introduction: Bupropion and varenicline are non-nicotine medications used for
      smoking cessation that mitigate craving and withdrawal symptoms. We aim to
      investigate whether these drugs increase the risk of selected acute adverse
      outcomes when used in medical practice. Methods: Population-based case-crossover
      design using data from Swedish health and administrative registers. Adult
      individuals diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction, stroke, suicide, suicide
      attempt, fall injury, or that suffered a road traffic crash from 01.10.2006 for
      bupropion, or from 01.03.2008 for varenicline, until 31.12.2013 were included.
      Different lengths of exposure periods were analyzed within the 12-week hazard
      period prior to the adverse outcome (1-14, 15-28, and 29-84 days). The control
      period was matched using the interval preceding the hazard period (85-168 days),
      and breaking it up into equivalent periods (85-98, 99-112, and 113-168 days).
      Conditional logistic regression with each case considered as one stratum was used
      to estimate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI). Results:
      Neither medication was associated with consistent higher risks for any of the
      adverse outcomes. For bupropion and varenicline, respectively, in the 1-14 days
      hazard period, OR (95% CI) were: myocardial infarction 1.14 (0.55 to 2.34) and
      1.06 (0.70 to 1.62); stroke 1.16 (0.39 to 3.47) and 1.26 (0.72 to 2.17), and
      traffic crashes 0.85 (0.39 to 1.85) and 1.48 (0.90 to 2.41). In the other
      periods, ORs were similar or even lower. For falls and suicidal events ORs were
      generally below one for both drugs. Conclusion: The available evidence suggests
      that if prescription guidelines are properly followed regarding potential
      contraindications both of these medications could be considered relatively safe.
      Implications: The reliable exposure and diagnosis assessment used in this
      nationwide register-based study, along with the number of cases gathered makes
      this sample one of the largest of its type to assess potential side effects
      associated with the use of these drugs. Neither medication was associated with
      consistent higher risks for any of the adverse outcomes studied.

PMID- 28595357
TI  - The Alzheimer's disease transcriptome mimics the neuroprotective signature of IGF
      1 receptor-deficient neurons.
AB  - Seminal studies using post-mortem brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease
      evidenced aberrant insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) signalling.
      Addressing causality, work in animal models recently demonstrated that long-term
      suppression of IGF1R signalling alleviates Alzheimer's disease progression and
      promotes neuroprotection. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely
      elusive. Here, we showed that genetically ablating IGF1R in neurons of the ageing
      brain efficiently protects from neuroinflammation, anxiety and memory impairments
      induced by intracerebroventricular injection of amyloid-beta oligomers. In our
      mutant mice, the suppression of IGF1R signalling also invariably led to small
      neuronal soma size, indicative of profound changes in cellular homeodynamics. To
      gain insight into transcriptional signatures leading to Alzheimer's disease
      relevant neuronal defence, we performed genome-wide microarray analysis on laser
      dissected hippocampal CA1 after neuronal IGF1R knockout, in the presence or
      absence of APP/PS1 transgenes. Functional analysis comparing neurons in early
      stage Alzheimer's disease with IGF1R knockout neurons revealed strongly
      convergent transcriptomic signatures, notably involving neurite growth,
      cytoskeleton organization, cellular stress response and neurotransmission.
      Moreover, in Alzheimer's disease neurons, a high proportion of genes responding
      to Alzheimer's disease showed a reversed differential expression when IGF1R was
      deleted. One of the genes consistently highlighted in genome-wide comparison was
      the neurofilament medium polypeptide Nefm. We found that NEFM accumulated in
      hippocampus in the presence of amyloid pathology, and decreased to control levels
      under IGF1R deletion, suggesting that reorganized cytoskeleton likely plays a
      role in neuroprotection. These findings demonstrated that significant resistance
      of the brain to amyloid-beta can be achieved lifelong by suppressing neuronal
      IGF1R and identified IGF-dependent molecular pathways that coordinate an
      intrinsic program for neuroprotection against proteotoxicity. Our data also
      indicate that neuronal defences against Alzheimer's disease rely on an endogenous
      gene expression profile similar to the neuroprotective response activated by
      genetic disruption of IGF1R signalling. This study highlights neuronal IGF1R
      signalling as a relevant target for developing Alzheimer's disease prevention
      strategies.

PMID- 28595358
TI  - Reduced Antibody Response to Infant Measles Vaccination: Effects Based on Type
      and Timing of the First Vaccine Dose Persist After the Second Dose.
AB  - Background: The effect of age at first dose on the immunogenicity of a 2-dose
      pediatric schedule of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) or measles-mumps-rubella
      varicella (MMRV) vaccine was assessed in children born to mostly vaccinated
      mothers. Methods: Immunogenicity data among children given their first measles
      vaccine dose between 11 and 22 months of age were pooled from 5 randomized
      controlled trials conducted in Europe and the United States between 2004 and
      2010. Measles antibody titers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      before and after each dose; geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) and the
      proportion seronegative (GMC <150 mIU/mL) were derived by age at first dose.
      Results: Among 5542 children given a first measles vaccine dose at 11, 12, 13-14,
      and 15-22 months of age, the proportion seronegative decreased from 8.5% to 3.2%,
      2.4%, and 1.5%, respectively (P < .001), whereas GMCs increased with older age
      measles vaccine initiation (P < .001). MMRV induced higher GMCs than MMR (P <
      .001). First and second dose GMCs were highly correlated (Spearman coefficient =
      0.8). Conclusions: As previously noted among infants born to mothers with history
      of wild-type measles, antibody responses among children born to vaccinated
      mothers were reduced based on earlier administration of their first measles
      vaccine dose at <=12 vs >=15 months of age. Negative effects of earlier age at
      first measles vaccine dose persisted after the second dose. The measles
      elimination goal may require a careful balance between earlier infant protection
      and the risk of reduced antibody responses and secondary vaccine failure among
      successive birth cohorts systematically initiated to measles vaccination <15
      months of age.

PMID- 28595360
TI  - Distress from changes in physical appearance and support through information
      provision in male cancer patients.
AB  - Objective: This study aims to reveal the present situation of changes in physical
      appearance induced by treatment, the effects of these changes on social
      activities, and support from medical staff in male cancer patients. Methods: A
      questionnaire survey was administered to 949 male patients (response rate: 90.1%)
      visiting the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo over 3 days in January
      2015. Results: The final respondents were 823 patients (mean age: 65.3, standard
      deviation (SD) = 12.32). Fifty-two percent of the sample, and 79.4% of patients
      aged under 65 were employed. A total of 84.9% experienced changes in physical
      appearance, and the highest mean scores of psychological were observed for stoma
      (3.1) and skin eczema (2.9). A total of 66.4% reported no difference in daily
      life even after their physical appearance changed. However, patients younger than
      65 years old who were employed experienced high social difficulties (12.5%). Many
      wanted to stop going to work and experienced severe distress in their social
      lives; 74.1% reported it is important to have the same physical appearance at
      work as before treatment. The majority of patients obtained information from
      doctors (35.2%) and consulted with their wife or partner (66.2%) regarding their
      appearance changes, and 5.7% did not have anyone to consult with. Conclusion:
      This study clarified important aspects for supporting male cancer patients:
      timing, content, target audience and steps of information provision. Appropriate
      information provision from medical staff prior to treatment can be useful in
      preparing patients for physical appearance changes and decreasing the severity of
      symptoms.

PMID- 28595359
TI  - Intracellular Ca2+ is important for flagellin-triggered defense in Arabidopsis
      and involves inositol polyphosphate signaling.
AB  - Cytosolic Ca2+ increase is a crucial and early step of plant immunity evoked by
      pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) such as flagellin (flg).
      Components responsible for this increase are still not uncovered, although
      current models of plant immune signaling portray extracellular Ca2+ influx as
      paramount to flg activation of defense pathways. Work presented here provides new
      insights into cytosolic Ca2+ increase associated with flg-induced defense
      responses. We show that extracellular Ca2+ contributes more to immune responses
      evoked by plant elicitor peptide (Pep3) than that evoked by flg, indicating an
      intracellular Ca2+ source responsible for immune responses evoked by flg. Genetic
      impairment of the inositol polyphosphate (InsP) and G-protein signal associated
      with flg perception reduced flg-dependent immune responses. Previous work
      indicates that prior exposure of Arabidopsis plants to flg leads to an immune
      response reflected by less vigorous growth of a pathogenic microbe. We found that
      this immune response to flg was compromised in mutants lacking the ability to
      generate an InsP or G-protein signal. We conclude that the recruitment of
      intracellular Ca2+ stores by flg may involve InsP and G-protein signaling. We
      also found a notable difference in contribution of intracellular stores of Ca2+
      to the immune signaling evoked by another PAMP, elf18 peptide, which had a very
      different response profile to impairment of InsP signaling. Although Ca2+
      signaling is at the core of the innate immune as well as hypersensitive response
      to plant pathogens, it appears that the molecular mechanisms generating the Ca2+
      signal in response to different PAMPs are different.

PMID- 28595361
TI  - Mitochondrial dysfunction underlies cognitive defects as a result of neural stem
      cell depletion and impaired neurogenesis.
AB  - Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common feature of many genetic disorders that
      target the brain and cognition. However, the exact role these organelles play in
      the etiology of such disorders is not understood. Here, we show that
      mitochondrial dysfunction impairs brain development, depletes the adult neural
      stem cell (NSC) pool and impacts embryonic and adult neurogenesis. Using deletion
      of the mitochondrial oxidoreductase AIF as a genetic model of mitochondrial and
      neurodegenerative diseases revealed the importance of mitochondria in multiple
      steps of the neurogenic process. Developmentally, impaired mitochondrial function
      causes defects in NSC self-renewal, neural progenitor cell proliferation and cell
      cycle exit, as well as neuronal differentiation. Sustained mitochondrial
      dysfunction into adulthood leads to NSC depletion, loss of adult neurogenesis and
      manifests as a decline in brain function and cognitive impairment. These data
      demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction, as observed in genetic mitochondrial
      and neurodegenerative diseases, underlies the decline of brain function and
      cognition due to impaired stem cell maintenance and neurogenesis.

PMID- 28595364
TI  - Antiretroviral unbound concentration during pregnancy: piece of interest in the
      puzzle?
AB  - Atazanavir and darunavir total concentrations (drug bound to plasma proteins plus
      unbound drug) progressively decrease during pregnancy. This pharmacokinetic
      variation leads physicians to recommend increasing doses. Conversely, the unbound
      concentration (Cu), i.e. the pharmacologically active form of the drug, remains
      unchanged. The explanation of this desynchronization lies in the fact that the
      clearance of the unbound form, corresponding to the intrinsic metabolic capacity
      of the hepatocytes, is the only factor driving Cu, and is constant during
      pregnancy. The attention of HIV physicians should be attracted to this aspect of
      pharmacokinetics, which is often incompletely understood and could lead to
      inadequate dose adjustment, which could then cause overexposure of the foetus for
      many months, with unknown consequences.

PMID- 28595362
TI  - Executive Function and Dysregulated Eating Behaviors in Pediatric Obesity.
AB  - Objective: To examine the association between caregiver proxy report of executive
      function (EF) and dysregulated eating behavior in children with obesity. Methods:
      Participants were 195 youth with obesity aged 8-17 years, and their legal
      guardians. Youth height, weight, demographics, depressive symptoms, eating
      behaviors, and EF were assessed cross-sectionally during a medical visit.
      Analyses of covariance, adjusted for child age, gender, race/ethnicity,
      standardized BMI, depressive symptoms, and family income were used to examine
      differences in youth EF across caregiver and youth self-report of eating
      behaviors. Results: Youth EF differed significantly by caregiver report of eating
      behavior but not youth self-report. Post hoc analyses showed that youth with
      overeating or binge eating had poorer EF than youth without these eating
      behaviors. Conclusions: Executive dysfunction, as reported by caregivers, in
      youth with obesity may be associated with dysregulated eating behaviors
      predictive of poor long-term psychosocial and weight outcomes. Further
      consideration of EF-specific targets for assessment and intervention in youth
      with obesity may be warranted.

PMID- 28595363
TI  - More on the Best Evolutionary Rate for Phylogenetic Analysis.
AB  - The accumulation of genome-scale molecular data sets for nonmodel taxa brings us
      ever closer to resolving the tree of life of all living organisms. However,
      despite the depth of data available, a number of studies that each used thousands
      of genes have reported conflicting results. The focus of phylogenomic projects
      must thus shift to more careful experimental design. Even though we still have a
      limited understanding of what are the best predictors of the phylogenetic
      informativeness of a gene, there is wide agreement that one key factor is its
      evolutionary rate; but there is no consensus as to whether the rates derived as
      optimal in various analytical, empirical, and simulation approaches have any
      general applicability. We here use simulations to infer optimal rates in a set of
      realistic phylogenetic scenarios with varying tree sizes, numbers of terminals,
      and tree shapes. Furthermore, we study the relationship between the optimal rate
      and rate variation among sites and among lineages. Finally, we examine how well
      the predictions made by a range of experimental design methods correlate with the
      observed performance in our simulations.We find that the optimal level of
      divergence is surprisingly robust to differences in taxon sampling and even to
      among-site and among-lineage rate variation as often encountered in empirical
      data sets. This finding encourages the use of methods that rely on a single
      optimal rate to predict a gene's utility. Focusing on correct recovery either of
      the most basal node in the phylogeny or of the entire topology, the optimal rate
      is about 0.45 substitutions from root to tip in average Yule trees and about 0.2
      in difficult trees with short basal and long-apical branches, but all rates
      leading to divergence levels between about 0.1 and 0.5 perform reasonably
      well.Testing the performance of six methods that can be used to predict a gene's
      utility against our simulation results, we find that the probability of
      resolution, signal-noise analysis, and Fisher information are good predictors of
      phylogenetic informativeness, but they require specification of at least part of
      a model tree. Likelihood quartet mapping also shows very good performance but
      only requires sequence alignments and is thus applicable without making
      assumptions about the phylogeny. Despite them being the most commonly used
      methods for experimental design, geometric quartet mapping and the integration of
      phylogenetic informativeness curves perform rather poorly in our comparison.
      Instead of derived predictors of phylogenetic informativeness, we suggest that
      the number of sites in a gene that evolve at near-optimal rates (as inferred
      here) could be used directly to prioritize genes for phylogenetic inference. In
      combination with measures of model fit, especially with respect to compositional
      biases and among-site and among-lineage rate variation, such an approach has the
      potential to greatly improve marker choice and should be tested on empirical
      data.

PMID- 28595365
TI  - Evaluation of starter dietary digestible lysine level on broilers raised under a
      sex-separated or straight-run housing regime, part 2: Economics of sex separation
      and digestible lysine level for maximum returns.
AB  - The objective of this experiment was to determine the maximum net returns
      digestible lysine (dLys) levels (MNRL) when maintaining the ideal amino acid
      ratio for starter diets of broilers raised sex separate or comingled (straight
      run). A total of 3,240 Ross 708 chicks was separated by sex and placed in 90 pens
      by 2 rearing types: sex separate (36 males or 36 females) or straight-run (18
      males + 18 females). Each rearing type was fed 6 starter diets (25 d) formulated
      to have dLys levels between 1.05 and 1.80%. A common grower diet with 1.02% of
      dLys was fed from 25 to 32 days. Body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake were
      assessed at 25 and 32 d for performance evaluation. Additionally, at 26 and 33 d,
      4 birds per pen were sampled for carcass yield evaluation. Data were modeled
      using response surface methodology in order to estimate feed intake and whole
      carcass weight at 1,600 g live BW. Returns over feed cost were estimated for a
      1.8-million-broiler complex of each rearing system under 9 feed/meat price
      scenarios. Results indicated that females needed more feed to reach market
      weight, followed by straight-run birds, and then males. At medium meat and feed
      prices, female birds had MNRL at 1.07% dLys, whereas straight-run and males had
      MNRL at 1.05%. As feed and meat prices increased, females had MNRL increased up
      to 1.15% dLys. Sex separation resulted in increased revenue under certain feed
      and meat prices, and before sex separation cost was deducted. When the sexing
      cost was subtracted from the returns, sex separation was not shown to be
      economically viable when targeting birds for light market BW.

PMID- 28595366
TI  - Conserving Phylogenetic Diversity Can Be a Poor Strategy for Conserving
      Functional Diversity.
AB  - For decades, academic biologists have advocated for making conservation decisions
      in light of evolutionary history. Specifically, they suggest that policy makers
      should prioritize conserving phylogenetically diverse assemblages. The most
      prominent argument is that conserving phylogenetic diversity (PD) will also
      conserve diversity in traits and features (functional diversity [FD]), which may
      be valuable for a number of reasons. The claim that PD-maximized ("maxPD") sets
      of taxa will also have high FD is often taken at face value and in cases where
      researchers have actually tested it, they have done so by measuring the
      phylogenetic signal in ecologically important functional traits. The rationale is
      that if traits closely mirror phylogeny, then saving the maxPD set of taxa will
      tend to maximize FD and if traits do not have phylogenetic structure, then saving
      the maxPD set of taxa will be no better at capturing FD than criteria that ignore
      PD. Here, we suggest that measuring the phylogenetic signal in traits is
      uninformative for evaluating the effectiveness of using PD in conservation. We
      evolve traits under several different models and, for the first time, directly
      compare the FD of a set of taxa that maximize PD to the FD of a random set of the
      same size. Under many common models of trait evolution and tree shapes,
      conserving the maxPD set of taxa will conserve more FD than conserving a random
      set of the same size. However, this result cannot be generalized to other classes
      of models. We find that under biologically plausible scenarios, using PD to
      select species can actually lead to less FD compared with a random set.
      Critically, this can occur even when there is phylogenetic signal in the traits.
      Predicting exactly when we expect using PD to be a good strategy for conserving
      FD is challenging, as it depends on complex interactions between tree shape and
      the assumptions of the evolutionary model. Nonetheless, if our goal is to
      maintain trait diversity, the fact that conserving taxa based on PD will not
      reliably conserve at least as much FD as choosing randomly raises serious
      concerns about the general utility of PD in conservation.

PMID- 28595370
TI  - Osteopathic manifesto series XI.

PMID- 28595371
TI  - AACOM update: AACOM plays role in future of medical education.

PMID- 28595367
TI  - Limited value for ultrasonography in predicting flare in rheumatoid arthritis
      patients with low disease activity stopping TNF inhibitors.
AB  - Objective: Ultrasonography (US) can be used for treatment decisions in RA
      patients. This study investigated the added value of US to clinical variables in
      predicting flare in RA patients with longstanding low disease activity when
      stopping TNF inhibitors (TNFi). Methods: Cox models with and without using US
      added to clinical variables were developed in the Potential Optimization of
      Expediency of TNFi-UltraSonography study. RA patients (n = 259), using >1 year
      TNFi and csDMARD with DAS28 < 3.2 for 6 months prior to inclusion, were followed
      for 52 weeks after stopping TNFi. The added value of US was assessed in two ways:
      first, by the extent to which individual predictions for flare at 52 weeks with
      and without US differed; and second, by comparing how US information improved the
      prediction to classify patients at 52 weeks in the low risk (<33% flare),
      intermediate risk (33-50%) and high risk (50-100%) groups. Results: Although US
      was predictive of flare at group level (multivariate hazard ratio = 1.7; 95% CI:
      1.1, 2.5), individual predictions for flare at 52 weeks with and without US
      differed little (median difference 3.7%; interquartile range: -7.8 to 6.5%). With
      US, 15.9% of patients were designated low risk; without US, 14.6%. In fact, 12.0%
      of patients were US-classified as low risk with/without knowing US. Conclusion:
      In RA patients with longstanding low disease activity, at time of stopping TNFi,
      US is a predictor for flare at group level, but at the patient level, US has
      limited added value when common clinical parameters are used already, though the
      predictive value of clinical predictors is modest as well.

PMID- 28595374
TI  - Response: Examining quality improvement vs cost containment.

PMID- 28595375
TI  - CME Quiz Answers.

PMID- 28595378
TI  - An Alternative to the Transforaminal Cervical Epidural: A Selective Dorsal
      Epidural.

PMID- 28595376
TI  - DEIsoM: a hierarchical Bayesian model for identifying differentially expressed
      isoforms using biological replicates.
AB  - Motivation: High-throughput mRNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a powerful tool for
      quantifying gene expression. Identification of transcript isoforms that are
      differentially expressed in different conditions, such as in patients and healthy
      subjects, can provide insights into the molecular basis of diseases. Current
      transcript quantification approaches, however, do not take advantage of the
      shared information in the biological replicates, potentially decreasing
      sensitivity and accuracy. Results: We present a novel hierarchical Bayesian model
      called Differentially Expressed Isoform detection from Multiple biological
      replicates (DEIsoM) for identifying differentially expressed (DE) isoforms from
      multiple biological replicates representing two conditions, e.g. multiple samples
      from healthy and diseased subjects. DEIsoM first estimates isoform expression
      within each condition by (1) capturing common patterns from sample replicates
      while allowing individual differences, and (2) modeling the uncertainty
      introduced by ambiguous read mapping in each replicate. Specifically, we
      introduce a Dirichlet prior distribution to capture the common expression pattern
      of replicates from the same condition, and treat the isoform expression of
      individual replicates as samples from this distribution. Ambiguous read mapping
      is modeled as a multinomial distribution, and ambiguous reads are assigned to the
      most probable isoform in each replicate. Additionally, DEIsoM couples an
      efficient variational inference and a post-analysis method to improve the
      accuracy and speed of identification of DE isoforms over alternative methods.
      Application of DEIsoM to an hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) dataset identifies
      biologically relevant DE isoforms. The relevance of these genes/isoforms to HCC
      are supported by principal component analysis (PCA), read coverage visualization,
      and the biological literature. Availability and implementation: The software is
      available at https://github.com/hao-peng/DEIsoM. Contact:
      pengh@alumni.purdue.edu. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28595377
TI  - Characterization of tools to detect and enrich human and mouse O-GlcNAcase.
AB  - O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is an essential regulatory post
      translational modification of thousands of nuclear, cytoplasmic, and
      mitochondrial proteins. O-GlcNAc is dynamically added and removed from proteins
      by the O-GlcNAc transferase and the O-GlcNAcase (OGA), respectively.
      Dysregulation of O-GlcNAc-cycling is implicated in the etiology of numerous
      diseases including tumorigenesis, metabolic dysfunction, and neurodegeneration.
      To facilitate studies focused on the role of O-GlcNAc and OGA in disease, we
      sought to identify commercially available antibodies that enable the enrichment
      of full-length OGA from lysates of mouse and human origin. Here, we report that
      antibodies from Abcam and Bethyl Laboratories can be used to immunoprecipitate
      OGA to near-saturation from human and mouse cell lysates. However, Western
      blotting analysis indicates that both antibodies, as well as three non
      commercially available antibodies (345, 346, 352), detect full-length OGA and
      numerous cross-reacting proteins. These non-specific signals migrate similarly to
      full-length OGA and are detected robustly, suggesting that the use of appropriate
      controls is essential to avoid the misidentification of OGA.

PMID- 28595379
TI  - Does the prophylactic and therapeutic use of beta-blockers in preoperative
      patients with tetralogy of Fallot significantly prevent and treat the occurrence
      of cyanotic spells?
AB  - A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured
      protocol. The question addressed was 'Does the use of beta-blockers significantly
      prevent and treat the occurrence of cyanotic spells in preoperative infants with
      tetralogy of Fallot?' Altogether, 80 papers were found using the reported search,
      of which 6 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The
      author, journal, date, country of publication, patient group studied, study type,
      relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. The participants in
      the papers reviewed were uncorrected (native or palliated) tetralogy of Fallot
      patients, all younger than 18 years of age, with some patients younger than 1
      year. Each study reviewed included at least 10 patients, and all the studies were
      case series. Although even the most recent studies found were from 30 years ago,
      their data remain relevant. Several reviews reported either cases of overdosage
      or changes in efficacy of treatment after long-term usage. Four of the 6 case
      reviews demonstrated a decrease in the number of recurring cyanotic spells in at
      least 66% of the participants, following the introduction of beta-blockers. We
      can therefore conclude that the use of beta-blockers prevents the occurrence of
      cyanotic spells in preoperative patients with tetralogy of Fallot. There were
      insufficient data to establish optimum dosages or duration of treatment.

PMID- 28595380
TI  - Effects of stocking density on growth performance, feather growth, intestinal
      development, and serum parameters of geese.
AB  - This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of stocking density on the
      growth performance, feather growth, intestinal development, and serum parameters
      of geese. In total, 336 healthy, 28-day-old, male Yangzhou goslings were randomly
      allotted to 30 plastic wire-floor pens according to 5 stocking densities (2, 3,
      4, 5 and 6 birds/m2). The results showed that with the stocking density increased
      from 2 birds/m2 to 6 birds/m2, the body weights of geese at 42 d (P < 0.001) and
      70 d (P < 0.001) were reduced by 10.53% and 10.43% respectively, the primary
      feather lengths of geese at 42 d (P < 0.001) and 70 d (P = 0.021) were reduced by
      20.38% and 6.62% respectively, whereas the feed/gain ratios for 28- to 42-d
      period and 28- to 70-d period increased from 2.50 to 2.90 (P = 0.001), and 3.80
      to 4.24 (P < 0.001), respectively. The relative weights of the jejunum, ileum,
      and small intestine and the lengths of the jejunum, ileum, and small intestine
      were all adversely affected (P < 0.05) when stocking density was increased to 6
      birds/m2. Serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.013) and
      triiodothyronine (P < 0.001) decreased as the stocking density increased. The
      serum thyroxine concentration of geese from the 6 birds/m2 group was lower than
      that of geese from the other groups (P < 0.05). The reduction in thyroid hormone
      concentrations was similar to what was observed in growth rate. All the results
      suggested that high stocking density will adversely influence thyroid function
      and the developments of the body weight, body size, feathers, and small
      intestine. Under our experimental conditions, we recommend that the stocking
      density of geese should be kept to 5 or fewer birds/m2 to avoid the negative
      effects of high stocking density on geese.

PMID- 28595381
TI  - Enhanced Internalization of Macromolecular Drugs into Mycobacterium smegmatis
      with the Assistance of Silver Nanoparticles.
AB  - In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by the citrate
      reduction process and, with the assistance of n-hydroxysuccinimide and 1-ethyl-3
      (3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide, were successfully loaded with the
      macromolecular drug vancomycin (VAM) to form AgNP-VAM bioconjugates. The
      synthesized AgNPs, VAM, and AgNP-VAM conjugate were characterized by UV-visible
      spectroscopy, zeta potential analysis, confocal microscopy, and transmission
      electron microscopy. The effect of loading VAM onto AgNPs was investigated by
      testing the internalization of the bioconjugate into Mycobacterium smegmatis.
      After treatment with the AgNP-VAM conjugate, the bacterial cells showed a
      significant decrease in UV absorption, indicating that loading of the VAM on
      AgNPs had vastly improved the drug's internalization compared with that of AgNPs.
      All the experimental assessments showed that, compared with free AgNPs and VAM,
      enhanced internalization had been successfully achieved with the AgNP-VAM
      conjugate, thus leading to significantly better delivery of the macromolecular
      drug into the M. smegmatis cell. The current research provides a new potential
      drug delivery system for the treatment of mycobacterial infections..

PMID- 28595382
TI  - Anti-inflammatory properties of Bifidobacterium longum expressing human manganese
      superoxide dismutase using the TNBS-induced rats model of colitis.
AB  - The chronic enteritis disease ulcerative colitis (UC) is a formidable opponent,
      and its etiology remains unclear. Current studies have shown that oxidative
      stress is closely related to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease.
      Antioxidant enzymes, such as manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD),have been
      deemed to exert an anti-inflammatory function. Normally, oral administration of
      MnSOD directly leads to an incapacitation because of poor penetration and
      stability. To address this problem, the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum (B.
      longum), which naturally occurs in the intestinal flora, was engineered to
      secrete a biologically active human MnSOD. Then this engineered bacterium was
      utilized against a rat model harboring UC induced through trinitrobenzene
      sulfonic acid. The data showed the engineered B. longum successfully secreted a
      penetratin-hMn-SOD fusion protein. The bioactivity assay demonstrated that this
      fusion protein was delivered into Caco-2 cells and significantly decreased TNF
      alpha (P<0.01) and IL-6 (P<0.01) expression, as well as, ROS level (P<0.001) in
      LPS-induced Caco-2 cells. The rat UC model experiment indicated that the B.
      longum harboring rhMn-SOD (penetratin-hMn-SOD) successfully inhibited the release
      of cytokines like TNF-a, IL-6, IL-1beta and IL-8, and reduce MPO activity and MDA
      levels. The histological analysis of the colon tissue section revealed that the
      engineered B. longum was efficient in attenuating UC damage. These results
      suggested that preventing UC by the use of B. longum harboring rhMn-SOD could be
      an alternative choice.

PMID- 28595383
TI  - Cooperative Interactions between Toll-Like Receptor 2 and Toll-Like Receptor 4 in
      Murine Klebsiella pneumoniae Infections.
AB  - Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic and clinically significant emerging
      pathogen. We investigated the relative roles of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and
      TLR4 in initiating host defenses against K. pneumoniae. TLR2 knockout (KO), TLR4
      KO, TLR2/4 double KO (DKO), and wild-type (WT) mice were inoculated with K.
      pneumoniae. Mice in each group were sacrificed after either 12 or 24h, and the
      lungs, liver, and blood were harvested to enumerate bacterial colony-forming
      units (CFU). Cytokine and chemokine levels were analyzed using enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay and real-time PCR, and pneumonia severity was determined by
      histopathological analysis. Survival was significantly shortened in TLR4 KO and
      TLR2/4 DKO mice compared with that of WT mice after infection with 5 * 103 CFU.
      TLR2 KO mice were more susceptible to infection than WT mice after exposure to a
      higher infectious dose. Bacterial burdens in the lungs and liver were
      significantly higher in TLR2/4 DKO mice than in WT mice. Serum TNF-alpha, MCP-1,
      MIP-2, and nitric oxide levels were significantly decreased in TLR2/4 DKO mice
      relative to those in WT mice, and TLR2/4 DKO mice showed significantly decreased
      levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, MCP-1, and inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA in the
      lung compared with those in WT mice. Collectively, these data indicate that
      TLR2/4 DKO mice were more susceptible to K. pneumoniae infection than single TLR2
      KO and TLR4 KO mice. These results suggest that TLR2 and TLR4 play cooperative
      roles in lung innate immune responses and bacterial dissemination, resulting in
      systemic inflammation during K. pneumoniae infection.

PMID- 28595384
TI  - Chiral Covalent Organic Frameworks with High Chemical Stability for Heterogeneous
      Asymmetric Catalysis.
AB  - Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) featuring chirality, stability, and function
      are of both fundamental and practical interest, but are yet challenging to
      achieve. Here we reported the metal-directed synthesis of two chiral COFs (CCOFs)
      by imine-condensations of enantiopure 1,2-diaminocyclohexane with C3-symmetric
      trisalicylaldehydes having one or zero 3-tert-butyl group. Powder X-ray
      diffraction and modeling studies, together with pore size distribution analysis
      demonstrate that the Zn(salen)-based CCOFs possess a two-dimensional hexagonal
      grid network with AA stacking. Dramatic enhancement in the chemical stability
      toward acidic (1 M HCl) and basic (9 M NaOH) conditions was observed for the COF
      incorporated with tert-butyl groups on the pore walls compared to the
      nonalkylated analog. The Zn(salen) modules in the CCOFs allow for installing
      multivariate metals into the frameworks by postsynthetic metal exchange. The
      exchanged CCOFs maintain high crystallinity and porosity and can serve as
      efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalysts for asymmetric cyanation of
      aldehydes, Diels-Alder reaction, alkene epoxidation, epoxide ring-opening, and
      related sequential reactions with up to 97% ee.

PMID- 28595386
TI  - Solvent-Induced Molecular Folding and Self-Assembled Nanostructures of Tyrosine
      and Tryptophan Analogues in Aqueous Solution: Fascinating Morphology of High
      Order.
AB  - Hydrophobic derivatives of tyrosine and tryptophan, viz. octyl and dodecyl esters
      of tyrosine and octyl ester of tryptophan, are synthesized, and the interfacial
      and bulk properties in aqueous media are investigated as models for the membrane
      proteins. Molecular modeling by the density functional theory method is carried
      out to understand the molecular conformation and geometry for the purpose of
      determining the packing parameters. Water-induced molecular folding of the esters
      of both tyrosine and tryptophan, as observed using rotating frame nuclear
      Overhauser effect spectroscopy, indicates that the segregation of the hydrophobic
      and hydrophilic blocks in water is the key to the development of fascinating
      interfacial property displayed by the aromatic amino acid esters. The unusually
      high-order morphology of the aggregates, as observed using high-resolution
      transmission electron microscopy, is highly uncommon for single-chain amphiphiles
      and points to the fact that the self-assembly behavior of the present systems
      resembles that of block copolymers. The study of the growth of mesosized hollow
      aggregates with internal bilayer structures from tyrosine and tryptophan-based
      model systems would add to the understanding of biochemistry and biotechnology
      relevant to the cell membrane. The potential of biocompatible nanostructured
      motifs as the drug carriers is discussed. The highly functional role played by
      the aromatic amino acids at the membrane-water interface will be considered with
      the present amphiphilic models for future perspective.

PMID- 28595385
TI  - Bioavailability of Black Tea Theaflavins: Absorption, Metabolism, and Colonic
      Catabolism.
AB  - Data obtained with in vitro fecal incubations and a feeding study indicate black
      tea theaflavin and its galloyl derivatives are not absorbed in detectable amounts
      in either the upper or lower gastrointestinal tract. The theaflavin skeleton is
      comparatively resistant to degradation by colonic bacteria with a 67% recovery
      being obtained after a 24 h incubation, which yielded 21 phenolic and aromatic
      catabolites. The theaflavin galloyl moiety was removed by the microbiota, and the
      released gallic acid further transformed to 3-O- and 4-O-methyl gallic acids,
      pyrogallol-1-sulfate and pyrogallol-2-sulfate, which were excreted in urine in
      amounts equivalent to 94% of intake. The main urinary product potentially derived
      from breakdown of the theaflavin skeleton was 3-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid.
      A number of the colonic catabolites originating from gallic acid and theaflavins
      has been reported to be bioactive in ex vivo and in vitro models with a variety
      of potential modes of action.

PMID- 28595387
TI  - Delivery of Cisplatin Anti-Cancer Drug from Carbon, Boron Nitride, and Silicon
      Carbide Nanotubes Forced by Ag-Nanowire: A Comprehensive Molecular Dynamics
      Study.
AB  - In this work, liberation of cisplatin molecules from interior of a nanotube due
      to entrance of an Ag-nanowire inside it was simulated by classical molecular
      dynamics method. The aim of this simulation was investigation on the effects of
      diameter, chirality, and composition of the nanotube, as well as the influence of
      temperature on this process. For this purpose, single walled carbon, boron
      nitride, and silicon carbide nanotube were considered. In order for a more
      concise comparison of the results, a new parameter namely efficiency of drug
      release, was introduced. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of drug
      release is sensitive to its adsorption on outer surface of the nanotube.
      Moreover, this efficiency is also sensitive to the nanotube composition and its
      diameter. For the effect of nanotube composition, the results indicated that
      silicon carbide nanotube has the least efficiency for drug release, due to its
      strong drug-nanotube. Also, the most important acting forces on drug delivery are
      van der Waals interactions. Finally, the kinetic of drug release is fast and is
      not related to the structural parameters of the nanotube and temperature,
      significantly.

PMID- 28595388
TI  - ADMET Evaluation in Drug Discovery. Part 17: Development of Quantitative and
      Qualitative Prediction Models for Chemical-Induced Respiratory Toxicity.
AB  - As a dangerous end point, respiratory toxicity can cause serious adverse health
      effects and even death. Meanwhile, it is a common and traditional issue in
      occupational and environmental protection. Pharmaceutical and chemical industries
      have a strong urge to develop precise and convenient computational tools to
      evaluate the respiratory toxicity of compounds as early as possible. Most of the
      reported theoretical models were developed based on the respiratory toxicity data
      sets with one single symptom, such as respiratory sensitization, and therefore
      these models may not afford reliable predictions for toxic compounds with other
      respiratory symptoms, such as pneumonia or rhinitis. Here, based on a diverse
      data set of mouse intraperitoneal respiratory toxicity characterized by multiple
      symptoms, a number of quantitative and qualitative predictions models with high
      reliability were developed by machine learning approaches. First, a four-tier
      dimension reduction strategy was employed to find an optimal set of 20 molecular
      descriptors for model building. Then, six machine learning approaches were used
      to develop the prediction models, including relevance vector machine (RVM),
      support vector machine (SVM), regularized random forest (RRF), extreme gradient
      boosting (XGBoost), naive Bayes (NB), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA).
      Among all of the models, the SVM regression model shows the most accurate
      quantitative predictions for the test set (q2ext = 0.707), and the XGBoost
      classification model achieves the most accurate qualitative predictions for the
      test set (MCC of 0.644, AUC of 0.893, and global accuracy of 82.62%). The
      application domains were analyzed, and all of the tested compounds fall within
      the application domain coverage. We also examined the structural features of the
      compounds and important fragments with large prediction errors. In conclusion,
      the SVM regression model and the XGBoost classification model can be employed as
      accurate prediction tools for respiratory toxicity.

PMID- 28595390
TI  - Electron-phonon coupling in anthracene-pyromellitic dianhydride.
AB  - In this study, the electron-phonon coupling constants of the mixed-stack organic
      semiconductor anthracene-pyromellitic dianhydride (A-PMDA) are determined from
      experimental resonant Raman and absorption spectra of the charge transfer (CT)
      exciton using a time-dependent resonant Raman model. The reorganization energies
      of both intermolecular and intramolecular phonons are determined and compared
      with theoretical estimates derived from density functional theory calculations;
      they are found to agree well. We found that the dominant contribution to the
      total reorganization energy is due to intramolecular phonons, with intermolecular
      phonons only contributing a small percentage. This work goes beyond prior studies
      of the electron-phonon coupling in A-PMDA by including the coupling of all Raman
      active phonons to the charge transfer exciton. The possibility of orientational
      disorder in A-PMDA at 80 K is inferred from the inhomogeneous broadening of the
      absorption line shape.

PMID- 28595389
TI  - Test-area surface tension calculation of the graphene-methane interface:
      Fluctuations and commensurability.
AB  - The surface tension (gamma) of methane on a graphene monolayer is calculated by
      using the test-area approach. By using a united atom model to describe methane
      molecules, strong fluctuations of surface tension as a function of the surface
      area of the graphene are evidenced. In contrast with the liquid-vapor interfaces,
      the use of a larger cutoff does not fully erase the fluctuations in the surface
      tension. Counterintuitively, the description of methane and graphene from the
      Optimized Potentials for Liquid Simulations all-atom model and a flexible model,
      respectively, led to a lessening in the surface tension fluctuations. This result
      suggests that the origin of fluctuations in gamma is due to a model-effect rather
      than size-effects. We show that the molecular origin of these fluctuations is the
      result of a commensurable organization between both graphene and methane. This
      commensurable structure can be avoided by describing methane and graphene from a
      flexible force field. Although differences in gamma with respect to the model
      have been often reported, it is the first time that the model drastically affects
      the physics of a system.

PMID- 28595391
TI  - Thermodiffusion as a means to manipulate liquid film dynamics on chemically
      patterned surfaces.
AB  - The model problem examined here is the stability of a thin liquid film consisting
      of two miscible components, resting on a chemically patterned solid substrate and
      heated from below. In addition to surface tension gradients, the temperature
      variations also induce gradients in the concentration of the film by virtue of
      thermodiffusion/Soret effects. We study the stability and dewetting behaviour due
      to the coupled interplay between thermal gradients, Soret effects, long-range van
      der Waals forces, and wettability gradient-driven flows. Linear stability
      analysis is first employed to predict growth rates and the critical Marangoni
      number for chemically homogeneous surfaces. Then, nonlinear simulations are
      performed to unravel the interfacial dynamics and possible locations of the film
      rupture on chemically patterned substrates. Results suggest that appropriate
      tuning of the Soret parameter and its direction, in conjunction with either
      heating or cooling, can help manipulate the location and time scales of the film
      rupture. The Soret effect can either potentially aid or oppose film instability
      depending on whether the thermal and solutal contributions to flow are
      cooperative or opposed to each other.

PMID- 28595392
TI  - Transient Raman spectra, structure, and thermochemistry of the thiocyanate dimer
      radical anion in water.
AB  - Time-resolved resonance-enhanced Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman spectra of the
      thiocyanate dimer radical anion, (SCN)2*-, prepared by pulse radiolysis in water,
      have been obtained and interpreted in conjunction with theoretical calculations
      to provide detailed information on the molecular geometry and bond properties of
      the species. The structural properties of the radical are used to develop a
      molecular perspective on its thermochemistry in an aqueous solution. Twenty-nine
      Stokes Raman bands of the radical observed in the 120-4200 cm-1 region are
      assigned in terms of the strongly enhanced 220 cm-1 fundamental, weakly enhanced
      721 cm-1, and moderately enhanced 2073 cm-1 fundamentals, their overtones, and
      combinations. Calculations by range-separated hybrid density functionals
      (omegaB97x and LC-omegaPBE) support the spectroscopic assignments of the 220 cm-1
      vibration to a predominantly SS stretching mode and the features at 721 cm-1 and
      2073 cm-1 to CS and CN symmetric stretching modes, respectively. The
      corresponding bond lengths are 2.705 (+/-0.036) A, 1.663 (+/-0.001) A, and 1.158
      (+/-0.002) A. A first order anharmonicity of 1 cm-1 determined for the SS
      stretching mode suggests a convergence of vibrational states at an energy of ~1.5
      eV, using the Birge-Sponer extrapolation. This value, estimated for the radical
      confined in solvent cage, compares well with the calculated gas-phase energy of
      1.26 +/- 0.04 eV required for the radical to dissociate into SCN* and SCN-
      fragments. The enthalpy of dissociation drops to 0.60 +/- 0.03 eV in water when
      solvent dielectric effects on the radical and its dissociation products upon S-S
      bond scission are incorporated in the calculations. No frequency shift or
      spectral broadening was observed between light and heavy water solvents,
      indicating that the motion of solvent molecules in the hydration shell has no
      perceptible effect on the intramolecular dynamics of the radical. The Stokes and
      anti-Stokes Raman frequencies were found to be identical within the experimental
      uncertainty, suggesting that the frequency difference between the thermally
      relaxed and spontaneously created vibrational states of (SCN)2*- in water is too
      small to be observable.

PMID- 28595393
TI  - A-VCI: A flexible method to efficiently compute vibrational spectra.
AB  - The adaptive vibrational configuration interaction algorithm has been introduced
      as a new method to efficiently reduce the dimension of the set of basis functions
      used in a vibrational configuration interaction process. It is based on the
      construction of nested bases for the discretization of the Hamiltonian operator
      according to a theoretical criterion that ensures the convergence of the method.
      In the present work, the Hamiltonian is written as a sum of products of
      operators. The purpose of this paper is to study the properties and outline the
      performance details of the main steps of the algorithm. New parameters have been
      incorporated to increase flexibility, and their influence has been thoroughly
      investigated. The robustness and reliability of the method are demonstrated for
      the computation of the vibrational spectrum up to 3000 cm-1 of a widely studied 6
      atom molecule (acetonitrile). Our results are compared to the most accurate up to
      date computation; we also give a new reference calculation for future work on
      this system. The algorithm has also been applied to a more challenging 7-atom
      molecule (ethylene oxide). The computed spectrum up to 3200 cm-1 is the most
      accurate computation that exists today on such systems.

PMID- 28595394
TI  - Surprising behaviors in the temperature dependent kinetics of diatomic
      interhalogens with anions and cations.
AB  - Rate constants and product branching fractions of reactions between diatomic
      interhalogens (ICl, ClF) and a series of anions (Br-, I-) and cations (Ar+, N2+)
      are measured using a selected ion flow tube apparatus and reported over the
      temperature range 200-500 K. The efficiency of both anion reactions with ICl is
      2%-3% at 300 K to yield Cl-, increasing with temperature in a manner consistent
      with the small endothermicities of the reactions. The anion reactions with ClF
      are 10%-20% efficient at 300 K to yield Cl- and also show a positive temperature
      dependence despite being highly exothermic. The stationary points along the anion
      + ClF reaction coordinates were calculated using density functional theory,
      showing no endothermic barriers inhibiting reaction. The observed temperature
      dependence can be rationalized by a decreasing dipole attraction with increasing
      rotational energy, but confirmation requires trajectory calculations of the
      systems. All four cation reactions are fairly efficient at 300 K with small
      positive temperature dependences, despite large exothermicities to charge
      transfer. Three of the four reactions proceed exclusively by dissociative charge
      transfer to yield Cl+. The N2+ + ClF reaction proceeds by both non-dissociative
      and dissociative charge transfer, with the non-dissociative channel surprisingly
      increasing with increasing temperature. The origins of these behaviors are not
      clear and are discussed within the framework of charge-transfer reactions.

PMID- 28595395
TI  - Quantifying fermionic decoherence in many-body systems.
AB  - Practical measures of electronic decoherence, called distilled purities, that are
      applicable to many-body systems are introduced. While usual measures of
      electronic decoherence such as the purity employ the full N-particle density
      matrix which is generally unavailable, the distilled purities are based on the r
      body reduced density matrices (r-RDMs) which are more accessible quantities. The
      r-body distilled purities are derivative quantities of the previously introduced
      r-body reduced purities [I. Franco and H. Appel, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 094109
      (2013)] that measure the non-idempotency of the r-RDMs. Specifically, the
      distilled purities exploit the structure of the reduced purities to extract
      coherences between Slater determinants with integer occupations defined by a
      given single-particle basis that compose an electronic state. In this way, the
      distilled purities offer a practical platform to quantify coherences in a given
      basis that can be used to analyze the quantum dynamics of many-electron systems.
      Exact expressions for the one-body and two-body distilled purities are presented
      and the utility of the approach is exemplified via an analysis of the dynamics of
      oligo-acetylene as described by the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian. Last, the
      advantages and limitations of the purity, reduced purity, and distilled purity as
      measures of electronic coherence are discussed.

PMID- 28595396
TI  - Mechanism of the fcc-to-hcp phase transformation in solid Ar.
AB  - We present an atomistic description of the fcc-to-hcp transformation mechanism in
      solid argon (Ar) obtained from transition path sampling molecular dynamics
      simulation. The phase transition pathways collected during the sampling for an
      8000-particle system reveal three transition types according to the lattice
      deformation and relaxation details. In all three transition types, we see a
      critical accumulation of defects and uniform growth of a less ordered transition
      state, followed by a homogeneous growth of an ordered phase. Stacking disorder is
      discussed to describe the transition process and the cooperative motions of atoms
      in {111} planes. We investigate nucleation with a larger system: in a system of
      18 000 particles, the collective movements of atoms required for this transition
      are facilitated by the formation and growth of stacking faults. However, the
      enthalpy barrier is still far beyond the thermal fluctuation. The high barrier
      explains previous experimental observations of the inaccessibility of the bulk
      transition at low pressure and its sluggishness even at extremely high pressure.
      The transition mechanism in bulk Ar is different from Ar nanoclusters as the
      orthorhombic intermediate structure proposed for the latter is not observed in
      any of our simulations.

PMID- 28595397
TI  - A quantum method for thermal rate constant calculations from stationary phase
      approximation of the thermal flux-flux correlation function integral.
AB  - This paper presents a quantum mechanical approximation to the calculation of
      thermal rate constants. The rate is derived from a suitable stationary phase
      approximation to the time integral of the thermal flux-flux correlation function.
      The goal is to obtain an expression that barely depends on the position of the
      flux operators, i.e., of the dividing surfaces, so that it can be applied also to
      complex systems by arbitrarily locating the dividing surfaces. The approach is
      tested on one and two dimensional systems where quantum effects are predominant
      over a wide range of temperatures. The results are quite accurate, i.e., within a
      few percent of the exact values for a reasonable range of dividing surface
      positions.

PMID- 28595398
TI  - Simulations of simple linoleic acid-containing lipid membranes and models for the
      soybean plasma membranes.
AB  - The all-atom CHARMM36 lipid force field (C36FF) has been tested with saturated,
      monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated lipids; however, it has not been validated
      against the 18:2 linoleoyl lipids with an unsaturated sn-1 chain. The linoleoyl
      lipids are common in plants and the main component of the soybean membrane. The
      lipid composition of soybean plasma membranes has been thoroughly characterized
      with experimental studies. However, there is comparatively less work done with
      computational modeling. Our molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results show that
      the pure linoleoyl lipids, 1-stearoyl-2-linoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
      (18:0/18:2) and 1,2-dilinoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (di-18:2), agree very
      well with the experiments, which demonstrates the accuracy of the C36FF for the
      computational study of soybean membranes. Based on the experimental composition,
      the soybean hypocotyl and root plasma membrane models are developed with each
      containing seven or eight types of linoleoyl phospholipids and two types of
      sterols (sitosterol and stigmasterol). MD simulations are performed to
      characterize soybean membranes, and the hydrogen bonds and clustering results
      demonstrate that the lipids prefer to interact with the lipids of the
      same/similar tail unsaturation. All the results suggest that these two soybean
      membrane models can be used as a basis for further research in soybean and higher
      plant membranes involving membrane-associated proteins.

PMID- 28595399
TI  - Modeling the nonlinear dielectric response of glass formers.
AB  - The recently developed pragmatical model of asymmetric double-well potentials
      with a finite lifetime is applied to nonlinear dielectric data in polar
      undercooled liquids. The viscous effects from the finite lifetime provide a
      crossover from the cooperative jumps of many molecules at short times to the
      motion of statistically independent molecules at long times. The model allows us
      to determine the size of cooperatively rearranging regions from nonlinear omega
      data and throws new light on a known inconsistency between nonlinear omega and
      3omega-signals for glycerol and propylene carbonate.

PMID- 28595401
TI  - Thermodynamic electrophilicity.
AB  - We revisit the electrophilicity index proposed by Parr et al., with special
      emphasis on the working equations used to calculate this descriptor. We show that
      the standard way to obtain this reactivity index (using the conceptual density
      functional theory formalism) leads to several issues. In this contribution, we
      propose to overcome these difficulties by making use of the finite temperature
      grand-canonical formalism. In this way, we not only bypass the characteristic
      inconsistencies of the zero temperature formulation but we are able to obtain a
      simple exact working equation for the electrophilicity in terms of electronic
      structure magnitudes.

PMID- 28595400
TI  - Correlated natural transition orbital framework for low-scaling excitation energy
      calculations (CorNFLEx).
AB  - We present a new framework for calculating coupled cluster (CC) excitation
      energies at a reduced computational cost. It relies on correlated natural
      transition orbitals (NTOs), denoted CIS(D')-NTOs, which are obtained by
      diagonalizing generalized hole and particle density matrices determined from
      configuration interaction singles (CIS) information and additional terms that
      represent correlation effects. A transition-specific reduced orbital space is
      determined based on the eigenvalues of the CIS(D')-NTOs, and a standard CC
      excitation energy calculation is then performed in that reduced orbital space.
      The new method is denoted CorNFLEx (Correlated Natural transition orbital
      Framework for Low-scaling Excitation energy calculations). We calculate second
      order approximate CC singles and doubles (CC2) excitation energies for a test set
      of organic molecules and demonstrate that CorNFLEx yields excitation energies of
      CC2 quality at a significantly reduced computational cost, even for relatively
      small systems and delocalized electronic transitions. In order to illustrate the
      potential of the method for large molecules, we also apply CorNFLEx to calculate
      CC2 excitation energies for a series of solvated formamide clusters (up to 4836
      basis functions).

PMID- 28595402
TI  - Formulation of state projected centroid molecular dynamics: Microcanonical
      ensemble and connection to the Wigner distribution.
AB  - A derivation of quantum statistical mechanics based on the concept of a Feynman
      path centroid is presented for the case of generalized density operators using
      the projected density operator formalism of Blinov and Roy [J. Chem. Phys. 115,
      7822-7831 (2001)]. The resulting centroid densities, centroid symbols, and
      centroid correlation functions are formulated and analyzed in the context of the
      canonical equilibrium picture of Jang and Voth [J. Chem. Phys. 111, 2357-2370
      (1999)]. The case where the density operator projects onto a particular energy
      eigenstate of the system is discussed, and it is shown that one can extract
      microcanonical dynamical information from double Kubo transformed correlation
      functions. It is also shown that the proposed projection operator approach can be
      used to formally connect the centroid and Wigner phase-space distributions in the
      zero reciprocal temperature beta limit. A Centroid Molecular Dynamics (CMD)
      approximation to the state-projected exact quantum dynamics is proposed and
      proven to be exact in the harmonic limit. The state projected CMD method is also
      tested numerically for a quartic oscillator and a double-well potential and found
      to be more accurate than canonical CMD. In the case of a ground state projection,
      this method can resolve tunnelling splittings of the double well problem in the
      higher barrier regime where canonical CMD fails. Finally, the state-projected CMD
      framework is cast in a path integral form.

PMID- 28595403
TI  - Colloidal diffusion over a quasicrystalline-patterned surface.
AB  - We report a systematic study of colloidal diffusion over a substrate with
      quasicrystalline-patterned holes. Silica spheres of diameter comparable to the
      hole diameter diffuse over the patterned substrate and experience a gravitational
      potential U(x, y). Using optical microscopy, we track the particle trajectories
      and find two distinct states: a trapped state when the particles are inside the
      holes and a free-diffusion state when they are on the flat surface outside the
      holes. The potential U(x, y) and dynamic properties of the diffusing particle,
      such as its mean dwell time, mean square displacement, and long-time diffusion
      coefficient DL, are measured simultaneously. The measured DL is in good agreement
      with the prediction of two theoretical models proposed for diffusion over a
      quasicrystal lattice. The experiment demonstrates the applications of this newly
      constructed potential landscape.

PMID- 28595404
TI  - Self-consistent field theory of polyelectrolyte brushes with finite chain
      extensibility.
AB  - Polyelectrolyte brushes are formed by charged macromolecules tethered by the end
      segment to a solid-liquid interface. At low ionic strength of the solution, the
      intermolecular electrostatic interactions lead to strong stretching of the
      macromolecules that may, as a result, approach the limit of their extensibility
      (the contour length). Here, we present an analytical theory of polyelectrolyte
      brushes developed within the Poisson-Boltzmann approximation which explicitly
      accounts for finite extensibility of the brush-forming chains. In contrast to
      earlier theories based on the approximation of Gaussian elasticity of the brush
      forming chains, the current approach enables avoiding artificial result of
      stretching of the chains beyond the contour length at high degrees of ionization
      or/and large grafting densities.

PMID- 28595405
TI  - Phase transformations upon doping in WO3.
AB  - High levels of doping in WO3 have been experimentally observed to lead to
      structural transformation towards higher symmetry phases. We explore the
      structural phase diagram with charge doping through first-principles methods
      based on hybrid density functional theory, as a function of doping the room
      temperature monoclinic phase transitions to the orthorhombic, tetragonal, and
      finally cubic phase. Based on a decomposition of energies into electronic and
      strain contributions, we attribute the transformation to a gain in energy
      resulting from a lowering of the conduction band on an absolute energy scale.

PMID- 28595406
TI  - An alternative laser driven photodissociation mechanism of pyrrole via
      pisigma*1/S0 conical intersection.
AB  - A first principles quantum dynamics study of N-H photodissociation of pyrrole on
      the S0-1pisigma*(A21) coupled electronic states is carried out with the aid of an
      optimally designed UV-laser pulse. A new photodissociation path, as compared to
      the conventional barrier crossing on the pisigma*1 state, opens up upon
      electronic transitions under the influence of pump-dump laser pulses, which
      efficiently populate both the dissociation channels. The interplay of electronic
      transitions due both to vibronic coupling and the laser pulse is observed in the
      control mechanism and discussed in detail. The proposed control mechanism seems
      to be robust, and not discussed in the literature so far, and is expected to
      trigger future experiments on the pisigma*1 photochemistry of molecules of
      chemical and biological importance. The design of the optimal pulses and their
      application to enhance the overall dissociation probability is carried out within
      the framework of optimal control theory. The quantum dynamics of the system in
      the presence of pulse is treated by solving the time-dependent Schrodinger
      equation in the semi-classical dipole approximation.

PMID- 28595407
TI  - On extending Kohn-Sham density functionals to systems with fractional number of
      electrons.
AB  - We analyze four ways of formulating the Kohn-Sham (KS) density functionals with a
      fractional number of electrons, through extending the constrained search space
      from the Kohn-Sham and the generalized Kohn-Sham (GKS) non-interacting v
      representable density domain for integer systems to four different sets of
      densities for fractional systems. In particular, these density sets are (I)
      ensemble interacting N-representable densities, (II) ensemble non-interacting N
      representable densities, (III) non-interacting densities by the Janak
      construction, and (IV) non-interacting densities whose composing orbitals satisfy
      the Aufbau occupation principle. By proving the equivalence of the underlying
      first order reduced density matrices associated with these densities, we show
      that sets (I), (II), and (III) are equivalent, and all reduce to the Janak
      construction. Moreover, for functionals with the ensemble v-representable
      assumption at the minimizer, (III) reduces to (IV) and thus justifies the
      previous use of the Aufbau protocol within the (G)KS framework in the study of
      the ground state of fractional electron systems, as defined in the grand
      canonical ensemble at zero temperature. By further analyzing the Aufbau solution
      for different density functional approximations (DFAs) in the (G)KS scheme, we
      rigorously prove that there can be one and only one fractional occupation for the
      Hartree Fock functional, while there can be multiple fractional occupations for
      general DFAs in the presence of degeneracy. This has been confirmed by numerical
      calculations using the local density approximation as a representative of general
      DFAs. This work thus clarifies important issues on density functional theory
      calculations for fractional electron systems.

PMID- 28595408
TI  - Probing the remarkable thermal kinetics of visual rhodopsin with E181Q and S186A
      mutants.
AB  - We recently reported a very unusual temperature dependence of the rate of thermal
      reaction of wild type bovine rhodopsin: the Arrhenius plot exhibits a sharp
      "elbow" at 47  degrees C and, in the upper temperature range, an unexpectedly
      large activation energy (114 +/- 8 kcal/mol) and an enormous prefactor (1072+/-5
      s-1). In this report, we present new measurements and a theoretical model that
      establish convincingly that this behavior results from a collective, entropy
      driven breakup of the rigid hydrogen bonding networks (HBNs) that hinder the
      reaction at lower temperatures. For E181Q and S186A, two rhodopsin mutants that
      disrupt the HBNs near the binding pocket of the 11-cis retinyl chromophore, we
      observe significant decreases in the activation energy (~90 kcal/mol) and
      prefactor (~1060 s-1), consistent with the conclusion that the reaction rate is
      enhanced by breakup of the HBN. The results provide insights into the molecular
      mechanism of dim-light vision and eye diseases caused by inherited mutations in
      the rhodopsin gene that perturb the HBNs.

PMID- 28595409
TI  - Communication: A novel implementation to compute MP2 correlation energies without
      basis set superposition errors and complete basis set extrapolation.
AB  - By using a formulation based on the dynamical polarizability, we propose a novel
      implementation of second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) theory within a
      plane wave (PW) basis set. Because of the intrinsic properties of PWs, this
      method is not affected by basis set superposition errors. Additionally, results
      are converged without relying on complete basis set extrapolation techniques;
      this is achieved by using the eigenvectors of the static polarizability as an
      auxiliary basis set to compactly and accurately represent the response functions
      involved in the MP2 equations. Summations over the large number of virtual states
      are avoided by using a formalism inspired by density functional perturbation
      theory, and the Lanczos algorithm is used to include dynamical effects. To
      demonstrate this method, applications to three weakly interacting dimers are
      presented.

PMID- 28595410
TI  - Communication: Almost error-free resolution-of-the-identity correlation methods
      by null space removal of the particle-hole interactions.
AB  - We present a method to improve upon the resolution-of-the-identity (RI) for
      correlation methods. While RI is known to allow for drastic speedups, it relies
      on a cancellation of errors. Our method eliminates the errors introduced by RI
      which are known to be problematic for absolute energies. In this way,
      independence of the error compensation assumption for relative energies is also
      achieved. The proposed method is based on the idea of starting with an oversized
      RI basis and projecting out all of its unphysical parts. The approach can be
      easily implemented into existing RI codes and results in an overhead of about
      30%, while effectively removing the RI error. In passing, this process alleviates
      the problem that for many frequently employed basis sets no optimized RI basis
      sets have been constructed. In this paper, the theory is presented and results
      are discussed exemplarily for the random phase approximation and Moller-Plesset
      perturbation theory.

PMID- 28595411
TI  - Thermophysical properties of krypton-helium gas mixtures from ab initio pair
      potentials.
AB  - A new potential energy curve for the krypton-helium atom pair was developed using
      supermolecular ab initio computations for 34 interatomic distances. Values for
      the interaction energies at the complete basis set limit were obtained from
      calculations with the coupled-cluster method with single, double, and
      perturbative triple excitations and correlation consistent basis sets up to
      sextuple-zeta quality augmented with mid-bond functions. Higher-order coupled
      cluster excitations up to the full quadruple level were accounted for in a scheme
      of successive correction terms. Core-core and core-valence correlation effects
      were included. Relativistic corrections were considered not only at the scalar
      relativistic level but also using full four-component Dirac-Coulomb and Dirac
      Coulomb-Gaunt calculations. The fitted analytical pair potential function is
      characterized by a well depth of 31.42 K with an estimated standard uncertainty
      of 0.08 K. Statistical thermodynamics was applied to compute the krypton-helium
      cross second virial coefficients. The results show a very good agreement with the
      best experimental data. Kinetic theory calculations based on classical and
      quantum-mechanical approaches for the underlying collision dynamics were utilized
      to compute the transport properties of krypton-helium mixtures in the dilute-gas
      limit for a large temperature range. The results were analyzed with respect to
      the orders of approximation of kinetic theory and compared with experimental
      data. Especially the data for the binary diffusion coefficient confirm the
      predictive quality of the new potential. Furthermore, inconsistencies between two
      empirical pair potential functions for the krypton-helium system from the
      literature could be resolved.

PMID- 28595412
TI  - Non-adiabatic effects in F + CHD3 reactive scattering.
AB  - The effect of non-adiabatic transitions on the F(2P) + CHD3(nu1) -> DF + CHD2 and
      F(2P) + CHD3(nu1) -> HF + CD3 reactions is investigated. The dynamics of the
      nuclei was simulated using trajectory surface hopping and a vibronically and spin
      orbit coupled diabatic potential energy matrix. To facilitate the calculations,
      the fewest switching algorithm of Tully was adapted to the use of a complex
      diabatic potential energy matrix. For reactions of CHD3 with ground state
      fluorine atoms, F(2P3/2), the ratio between the previously computed adiabatic
      cross sections and the non-adiabatic ones was found to range from 1.4 to 2.1. The
      actual ratio depends on the translational energy and the initial vibrational
      state of CHD3. The total reactivity of CHD3(nu1 = 1) was found to be always
      larger than that of CHD3(nu1=0) mainly because of the increase in the cross
      sections for the HF + CD3 channel. Thus, the inclusion of non-adiabatic
      transitions in the theoretical treatment cannot resolve the existing disagreement
      between theory and experiment. Cross sections for the reaction of CHD3 with spin
      orbit excited fluorine atoms, F(2P1/2), were found to be significantly smaller
      than the ones for reaction with F(2P3/2).

PMID- 28595413
TI  - A simple scheme for calculating approximate transition moments within the
      equation of motion expectation value formalism.
AB  - A simple scheme for calculating approximate transition moments within the
      framework of the equation of motion coupled cluster method is proposed. It relies
      on a matrix inversion technique to calculate the excited state left eigenvectors
      and requires no additional cost over that of the excitation energy calculation.
      The new approximation gives almost identical UV-Vis spectra to that obtained
      using the standard equation of motion coupled cluster method with single and
      double excitations for molecules in a standard test set.

PMID- 28595414
TI  - Communication: Orientational structure manipulation in nematic liquid crystal
      droplets induced by light excitation of azodendrimer dopant.
AB  - Reversible orientational transitions in the droplets of a nematic liquid crystal
      (NLC) caused by the change of boundary conditions under the low intensity diode
      illumination are investigated. Photosensitivity of NLC is achieved by the
      addition of the dendrimer compound with azobenzene terminal groups. Two types of
      NLC droplets in glycerol are considered: the spherical droplets in the bulk of
      glycerol and the droplets laid-down onto the solid substrate. In the second case,
      the first order phase transition is revealed. The effects described can be useful
      for the development of highly sensitive chemical detectors and microsized photo
      tunable optical devices.

PMID- 28595415
TI  - Computational methodology for solubility prediction: Application to the sparingly
      soluble solutes.
AB  - The solubility of a crystalline substance in the solution can be estimated from
      its absolute solid free energy and excess solvation free energy. Here, we present
      a numerical method, which enables convenient solubility estimation of general
      molecular crystals at arbitrary thermodynamic conditions where solid and solution
      can coexist. The methodology is based on standard alchemical free energy methods,
      such as thermodynamic integration and free energy perturbation, and consists of
      two parts: (1) systematic extension of the Einstein crystal method to calculate
      the absolute solid free energies of molecular crystals at arbitrary temperatures
      and pressures and (2) a flexible cavity method that can yield accurate estimates
      of the excess solvation free energies. As an illustration, via classical
      Molecular Dynamic simulations, we show that our approach can predict the
      solubility of OPLS-AA-based (Optimized Potentials for Liquid Simulations All
      Atomic) naphthalene in SPC (Simple Point Charge) water in good agreement with
      experimental data at various temperatures and pressures. Because the procedure is
      simple and general and only makes use of readily available open-source software,
      the methodology should provide a powerful tool for universal solubility
      prediction.

PMID- 28595416
TI  - Self-intermediate scattering function analysis of supercooled water confined in
      hydrophilic silica nanopores.
AB  - We study the temperature dependence of the self-intermediate scattering function
      for supercooled water confined in hydrophilic silica nanopores. We simulate the
      simple point charge/extended model of water confined to pores of radii 20 A, 30
      A, and 40 A over a temperature range of 210 K to 250 K. First, we examine the
      temperature dependence of the structure of the water and find that there is
      layering next to the pore surface for all temperatures and diameters. However,
      there exists a region in the center of the pore where the density is nearly
      constant. Using the density profile, we divide confined water into different
      regions and compare the dynamics of the water molecules that start in these
      regions. To this end, we examine the mean-squared displacement and the self
      intermediate scattering functions for the water hydrogens, which would allow one
      to connect our results with quasi-elastic neutron scattering experiments. We
      examine the dependence of the self-intermediate scattering function on the
      magnitude and direction of the wavevector, as well as the proximity to the silica
      surface. We also examine the rotational-translational decoupling. We find that
      the anisotropy of the dynamics and the rotational-translational decoupling is
      weakly temperature dependent.

PMID- 28595418
TI  - What is special about how roaming chemical reactions traverse their potential
      surfaces? Differences in geodesic paths between roaming and non-roaming events.
AB  - With the notable exception of some illustrative two-degree-of-freedom models
      whose surprising classical dynamics has been worked out in detail, theories of
      roaming have largely bypassed the issue of when and why the counterintuitive
      phenomenon of roaming occurs. We propose that a useful way to begin to address
      these issues is to look for the geodesic (most efficient) pathways through the
      potential surfaces of candidate systems. Although roaming manifests itself in an
      unusual behavior at asymptotic geometries, we found in the case of formaldehyde
      dissociation that it was the pathways traversing the parts of the potential
      surface corresponding to highly vibrationally excited reactants that were the
      most revealing. An examination of the geodesics for roaming pathways in this
      region finds that they are much less tightly defined than the geodesics in that
      same region that lead directly to dissociation (whether into closed-shell
      products or into radical products). Thus, the broader set of options available to
      the roaming channel gives it an entropic advantage over more conventional
      reaction channels. These observations suggest that what leads to roaming in other
      systems may be less the presence of a localized "roaming transition state," than
      the existence of an entire region of the potential surface conducive to multiple
      equivalent pathways.

PMID- 28595417
TI  - Albumin (BSA) adsorption onto graphite stepped surfaces.
AB  - Nanomaterials are good candidates for the design of novel components with
      biomedical applications. For example, nano-patterned substrates may be used to
      immobilize protein molecules in order to integrate them in biosensing units.
      Here, we perform long MD simulations (up to 200 ns) using an explicit solvent and
      physiological ion concentrations to characterize the adsorption of bovine serum
      albumin (BSA) onto a nano-patterned graphite substrate. We have studied the
      effect of the orientation and step size on the protein adsorption and final
      conformation. Our results show that the protein is stable, with small changes in
      the protein secondary structure that are confined to the contact area and reveal
      the influence of nano-structuring on the spontaneous adsorption, protein-surface
      binding energies, and protein mobility. Although van der Waals (vdW) interactions
      play a dominant role, our simulations reveal the important role played by the
      hydrophobic lipid-binding sites of the BSA molecule in the adsorption process.
      The complex structure of these sites, that incorporate residues with different
      hydrophobic character, and their flexibility are crucial to understand the
      influence of the ion concentration and protein orientation in the different steps
      of the adsorption process. Our study provides useful information for the
      molecular engineering of components that require the immobilization of
      biomolecules and the preservation of their biological activity.

PMID- 28595419
TI  - Deep-core photoabsorption and photofragmentation of tetrachloromethane near the
      Cl K-edge.
AB  - The fragmentation of the tetrachloromethane molecule following core-shell
      photoexcitation and photoionization in the neighborhood of the chlorine K-edge
      has been studied by using time-of-flight mass spectroscopy and monochromatic
      synchrotron radiation. Branching ratios for ionic dissociation were derived for
      all the detected ions, which are informative of the decay dynamics and
      photofragmentation patterns of the core-excited species. In addition, the
      absorption yield has been measured with a new assignment of the spectral
      features. The structure that appears above the Cl 1s ionization potential in the
      photoionization spectrum has been ascribed to the existing connection with
      electron-CCl4 scattering through experimental data and calculations for low
      energy electron-molecule cross sections. In addition, the production of the
      doubly ionized Cl fragment, Cl2+, as a function of the photon energy has been
      analysed in the terms of a simple and an appealing physical picture, the half
      collision model.

PMID- 28595421
TI  - Communication: DFT treatment of strong correlation in 3d transition-metal
      diatomics.
AB  - Bonds between, and to, transition-metal atoms often involve strong electron
      correlation which cannot be handled by conventional density-functional-theory
      approximations. The recent "B13" functional of Becke [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 074109
      (2013) and J. Chem. Phys. 138, 161101 (2013)] models dynamic, static, and strong
      correlation in an exact-exchange-based framework. We test B13 on bond energies of
      transition-metal diatomics in this work, with promising results.

PMID- 28595420
TI  - Communication: Direct evidence for sequential dissociation of gas-phase Fe(CO)5
      via a singlet pathway upon excitation at 266 nm.
AB  - We prove the hitherto hypothesized sequential dissociation of Fe(CO)5 in the gas
      phase upon photoexcitation at 266 nm via a singlet pathway with time-resolved
      valence and core-level photoelectron spectroscopy with an x-ray free-electron
      laser. Valence photoelectron spectra are used to identify free CO molecules and
      to determine the time constants of stepwise dissociation to Fe(CO)4 within the
      temporal resolution of the experiment and further to Fe(CO)3 within 3 ps. Fe 3p
      core-level photoelectron spectra directly reflect the singlet spin state of the
      Fe center in Fe(CO)5, Fe(CO)4, and Fe(CO)3 showing that the dissociation
      exclusively occurs along a singlet pathway without triplet-state contribution.
      Our results are important for assessing intra- and intermolecular relaxation
      processes in the photodissociation dynamics of the prototypical Fe(CO)5 complex
      in the gas phase and in solution, and they establish time-resolved core-level
      photoelectron spectroscopy as a powerful tool for determining the multiplicity of
      transition metals in photochemical reactions of coordination complexes.

PMID- 28595423
TI  - Classification of meningiomas-advances and controversies.
AB  - Meningiomas are the most frequent primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors.
      Although approximately 80% of the tumors are slow growing and benign, some
      subtypes are associated with a less favorable outcome. An adequate classification
      system aims at providing a tool for estimating recurrence and overall survival of
      meningioma patients. The 2016 version of the World Health Organization (WHO)
      classification for CNS tumors constitutes a hallmark for neuropathological tumor
      classification since genetic alterations and histopathology are combined for a
      final diagnosis. Although this mainly applies to neuroepithelial tumors in
      meningioma research and classification the connection of histomorphological
      features and genetic profiles becomes more and more evident. Here we report on
      advances and controversies of meningioma classification in the 2016 edition of
      the WHO classification of CNS tumors. Furthermore we provide an outlook how a
      future meningioma classification system might look like.

PMID- 28595422
TI  - DNA elasticity from coarse-grained simulations: The effect of groove asymmetry.
AB  - It is well established that many physical properties of DNA at sufficiently long
      length scales can be understood by means of simple polymer models. One of the
      most widely used elasticity models for DNA is the twistable worm-like chain
      (TWLC), which describes the double helix as a continuous elastic rod with bending
      and torsional stiffness. An extension of the TWLC, which has recently received
      some attention, is the model by Marko and Siggia, who introduced an additional
      twist-bend coupling, expected to arise from the groove asymmetry. By performing
      computer simulations of two available versions of oxDNA, a coarse-grained model
      of nucleic acids, we investigate the microscopic origin of twist-bend coupling.
      We show that this interaction is negligible in the oxDNA version with symmetric
      grooves, while it appears in the oxDNA version with asymmetric grooves. Our
      analysis is based on the calculation of the covariance matrix of equilibrium
      deformations, from which the stiffness parameters are obtained. The estimated
      twist-bend coupling coefficient from oxDNA simulations is G=30+/-1 nm. The groove
      asymmetry induces a novel twist length scale and an associated renormalized twist
      stiffness kappat~80 nm, which is different from the intrinsic torsional stiffness
      C~110 nm. This naturally explains the large variations on experimental estimates
      of the intrinsic stiffness performed in the past.

PMID- 28595424
TI  - Animal models of meningiomas.
AB  - Meningiomas are frequent intracranial and intraspinal tumors. They are tumors of
      the elderly, and meningioma growth at certain localizations, as well as recurrent
      tumors or primary aggressive biology may pose a therapeutic challenge. To
      understand the growth characteristics of meningiomas, animal models can provide
      insights both from a biological and therapeutical point of view. Using
      genetically-engineered mouse models (GEMM), it has been proven that alterations
      of the neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) gene are key steps for benign meningioma
      development. Aggressive meningiomas can be induced by simultaneous activation of
      Nf2 and the PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor)/-PDGF-Receptor (R) system, or
      inactivation of Tp53 and cdkn2ab in mice. However, mechanisms acting in NF2 wild
      type meningiomas are poorly understood so far, because appropriate models are
      lacking. Xenograft models have been used either by implantation of primary
      cultures derived from human meningiomas, or immortalized human cell lines,
      respectively. While the value of primary cells is limited due to low rate of
      overall tumor growth and slow proliferation, xenograft approaches have been shown
      to be helpful for the evaluation of potential medical treatment options. Future
      studies must incorporate new molecular meningioma tumor drivers, as well as
      potential treatment options based on recurrent genetic alterations into the
      generation of meningioma models.

PMID- 28595426
TI  - Patients' perceptions of palliative surgical procedures: a qualitative analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with incurable malignancies can require surgical
      intervention. We prospectively evaluated patients treated with palliative surgery
      to qualitatively assess peri-operative outcomes. METHODS: Eligible patients were
      assessed at a tertiary care cancer center. Demographic information and peri
      operative morbidity and mortality were collected. Semi-structured qualitative
      interviews were obtained pre-operatively and post-operatively (1 month).
      Qualitative evaluation was performed using content analysis and an inductive
      approach. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients were approached and 20 consented to
      interview. Data saturation was achieved after 14 patients. Median patient age was
      58% and 56% were female. Peri-operative morbidity and mortality were 44% and 22%,
      respectively. "No other option" was seen as a dominant pre-operative theme (14 of
      18). Other pre-operative themes included a "poor understanding of prognosis and
      the role of surgery in overall treatment plan". Post-operative themes included a
      "perceived benefit from surgery" and "satisfaction with decision-making",
      notwithstanding significant complications. Improved understanding of prognosis
      and the role of surgery were described post-operatively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite
      limited options and a poor understanding of prognosis, many patients perceived
      benefit from palliative surgery. However, peri-operative mortality was
      substantial. A robust and thorough patient-centered discussion about individual
      goals for surgery should be undertaken by surgeon, patient and family prior to
      embarking on a palliative operation.

PMID- 28595427
TI  - Challenging equipotency calculation for hydromorphone after long-term intravenous
      application.
AB  - In advanced stages, most cancer patients suffer from pain which can usually be
      well controlled following the World Health Organization (WHO) level scheme. While
      the majority of patients report adequate pain relief by strong opioids (WHO III),
      some require an opioid rotation. Despite the existence of conversion tables,
      these rotations mea lead to inadequate pain control or life threatening events.
      Here, we report about a patient with urothelial cell carcinoma presenting in our
      Department of Pain Medicine with massive pain aggravation up to NRS values of
      10/10 despite administration of the highest dose of intravenously applied
      hydromorphone. After a small single dose of the far less potent opioid
      piritramide with exceptionally good response, we conducted a stepwise opioid
      rotation from hydromorphone to piritramide within one week without any signs of
      abstinence or withdrawal. After the opioid rotation, we discharged the patient
      nearly free of pain with piritramide doses far less than equianalgesic dose
      tables would have recommended. Our report impressively points out that even after
      long-term intravenous application of highly potent opioids, new titrations are
      necessary for rotation to avoid overdosage and discusses several mechanisms
      underlying individual response to different opioids.

PMID- 28595428
TI  - Relationship between patient-generated subjective global assessment and survival
      in patients in palliative care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A significant number of cancer deaths is partly due to late diagnosis
      of the disease at an advanced stage beyond cure. In this context, by applying the
      adequate tools, palliative care provides terminal cancer patients with the proper
      support for survival with a higher quality of life. The objective of this study
      was to describe the nutritional profile of terminal cancer patients and to
      evaluate the relationship among Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment
      (PG-SGA) score, clinical-functional characteristics and survival. METHODS: The
      present work is a retrospective cohort study with 104 terminal cancer patients.
      The Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) was used to obtain socio-demographic data
      and clinical history and assess functional capacity. Furthermore, patients were
      classified by groups and PG-SGA score ranges. RESULTS: In the first medical
      consultation, the PG-SGA revealed that most patients were moderately or severely
      malnourished and in critical need of immediate symptom management. Functional
      capacity of almost half of all patients lay within a KPS score of 40 to 70.
      Survival analysis revealed that the median time of mortality by cancer was 5 (3.3
      6.7) months. Furthermore, patients with an SGA-C, i.e., severely malnourished
      (P<0.001), a PG-SGA score >=9 (P=0.036) and a KPS score <=40 (P<0.001) had a
      lower median time of survival. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to evaluating nutritional
      status, the PG-SGA is directly related with survival in terminal cancer patients.
      The use of this tool in the studied population is of paramount importance to
      provide individualised and adequate support for these patients.

PMID- 28595425
TI  - African American elders' psychological-social-spiritual cultural experiences
      across serious illness: an integrative literature review through a palliative
      care lens.
AB  - Disparities in palliative care for seriously ill African American elders exist
      because of gaps in knowledge around culturally sensitive psychological, social,
      and spiritual care. The purpose of this integrative literature review is to
      summarize the research examining African American elders' psychological, social,
      and spiritual illness experiences. Of 108 articles, 60 quantitative, 42
      qualitative, and 6 mixed methods studies were reviewed. Negative and positive
      psychological, social, and spiritual experiences were noted. These experiences
      impacted both the African American elders' quality of life and satisfaction with
      care. Due to the gaps noted around psychological, social, and spiritual healing
      and suffering for African American elders, palliative care science should
      continue exploration of seriously ill African American elders' psychological,
      social, and spiritual care needs.

PMID- 28595430
TI  - Sustained effects of acupuncture in treatment of chronic constipation.

PMID- 28595429
TI  - Expanding palliative care's reach in the community via the elder service agency
      network.
AB  - Over the past two decades, palliative care has established itself as a promising
      approach to address the complex needs of individuals with advanced illness.
      Palliative care is well-established in US hospitals and has recently begun to
      expand outside of the hospital setting to meet the needs of non-hospitalized
      individuals. Experts have called for the development of innovative community
      based models that facilitate delivery of palliative care to this target
      population. Elder service agencies are important partners that researchers should
      collaborate with to develop new and promising models. Millions of older adults
      receive aging network services in the U.S., highlighting the potential reach of
      these models. Recent health care reform efforts provide support for community
      based initiatives, where coordination of care and services, delivered via health
      and social service agencies, is highly prioritized. This article describes the
      rationale for developing such approaches, including efforts to educate elder
      service agency clients about palliative care; training agency staff in palliative
      care principles; building capacity for elder services providers to screen
      individuals for palliative care needs; embedding palliative care "champions" in
      agencies to educate staff and clients and coordinate access to services among
      those with palliative care needs; and leveraging telehealth resources to conduct
      comprehensive assessments by hospital palliative care teams for elder service
      clients who have palliative care needs. We maintain that leveraging the resources
      of elder service agencies could measurably expand the reach of palliative care in
      the community.

PMID- 28595431
TI  - Palliative efficacy and local control of conventional radiotherapy for lung
      metastases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The lung is a common site of metastasis, and conventionally
      fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT) is commonly used to treat such metastases,
      usually to palliate symptoms. However, no data exists to quantify palliation or
      local control (LC) of CFRT for secondary lung tumors. We aimed to describe the
      palliative effect of CFRT for lung metastases at our institution, and compare its
      LC with that of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). METHODS: 182 patients
      received 190 courses of RT for lung metastases (99 CFRT, 91 SBRT). We
      characterized the proportion of CFRT patients who experienced palliation, the
      durability of palliative effect, and cumulative incidence of local failure (LF)
      using competing-risks regression. We also performed an exploratory comparison of
      LF between CFRT and SBRT. RESULTS: In CFRT patients, cumulative incidence of LF
      at 6 months and 1 year was 32% and 43%, respectively. Rate of initial palliation
      was 74%. Palliation rates for the most common indications were as follows:
      hemoptysis 86% (25/29), cough 71% (12/17), airway obstruction 66% (25/38), pain
      64% (7/11). Of patients who reported palliation, 6-month and 1-year cumulative
      incidence of symptom recurrence was 52% and 65%, respectively. In SBRT patients,
      LF at 6 months and 1 year was 5.8% and 19.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CFRT
      effectively alleviates a variety of symptoms in lung metastases, supporting its
      continued use in palliation of metastatic disease. However, subsequent local
      progression and symptom relapse are common with CFRT. As SBRT is associated with
      higher rates of LC, this may be preferred in eligible patients with more
      favorable prognosis.

PMID- 28595432
TI  - Challenges and successes in non-operative management of high-grade malignant
      bowel obstruction.
AB  - Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) occurs in between 3% and 15% of patients with
      cancer, and portends a poor mean survival of four weeks for patients who are not
      able to undergo operative intervention. Surgical interventions may be fraught
      with complications since these patients typically have compromised nutritional
      status and progressive metastatic disease burden, with tumor type and degree of
      aggressiveness affecting outcomes. MBO is a dynamic and difficult process to
      treat, with adequate pain control being limited by unpredictable enteral
      absorption and need for prolonged parenteral analgesia (given limited enteral
      access) with its inherent risks. To explore these difficulties, we report the
      case of a 43-year-old patient who presented with multi-level MBO from metastatic
      rectal carcinoma, and explore the challenges and successes of symptom management
      in a non-operative MBO.

PMID- 28595433
TI  - Managing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in head and neck cancer
      patients receiving cisplatin chemotherapy with concurrent radiation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose was to retrospectively examine the anti-emetic regimens
      prescribed for prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) for
      head and neck cancer patients receiving moderate- or high-emetogenic chemotherapy
      (MEC/HEC) along with concurrent radiation treatment at an outpatient ambulatory
      care center to determine the efficacy of anti-emetics prescribed. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients with head and neck cancers who initiated cisplatin
      chemotherapy with concurrent radiation treatment between January 2013 and June
      2015 were investigated. Patients' anti-emetic use and occurrence of CINV was
      extracted from available clinical documentation. Patients were divided into two
      cohorts: CISPL-HIGH (n=161), and CISPL-WEEKLY (n=38). RESULTS: A total of 199
      head and neck cancer patients (158 male, 41 female) were included in the analysis
      (mean age =59 years). In the CISPL-HIGH cohort, 33 males (26%) and 16 females
      (49%) experienced CINV. In the CISPL-WEEKLY cohort, four males (13%) and two
      females (25%) experienced CINV. Nausea occurred in 71 patients (62 HEC and 9
      MEC). The odds of achieving complete response (no nausea or vomiting) were 3.5
      (P<0.0016) times more likely for patients receiving MEC. Overall, the complete
      response rate for the prophylaxis in MEC and HEC was 61% and 31%, respectively.
      Anti-emetic changes occurred in 34% and 11% of patients receiving HEC and MEC,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In the current study CINV control for patients
      receiving HEC was sub-optimal. Changes to our prophylactic antiemetic regimens
      may help improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28595434
TI  - Radiotherapy for brain metastases near the end of life in an integrated health
      care system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To examine radiotherapy (RT) patterns-of-care and utilization at the
      end of life (EOL) among non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain
      metastasis (BrM) in an integrated health care system. METHODS: Central tumor
      registry identified 5,133 patients diagnosed with NSCLC from 2007-2011. BrM were
      determined by imaging. Patient and clinical characteristics were obtained by
      chart abstraction. In addition to abstracted variables, graded prognostic
      assessment (GPA) score of 0-1 was derived by collected data and tested as a
      predictor of death within 14 or 30 days of RT. RESULTS: On NSCLC presentation,
      10% harbored BrM while 7% developed BrM thereafter. Of 900 BrM patients, 15% were
      not referred for RT, with median time to death of 21 days. Median time to death
      for 5% not recommended RT was 48 days. Among those receiving brain RT, 11.9% died
      within 14 days and 23.3% (cumulatively) died within 30 days of treatment. Over
      50% with GPA score 0-1 received RT, 11% within 14 days and 21% within 30 days of
      death; median survival of GPA score 0-1 patients was 49 days. GPA score 0-1
      independently predicted for death within 30 days of RT receipt. CONCLUSIONS: BrM
      are common in NSCLC, and most patients are referred for brain RT. A surprising
      proportion of patients received treatment near the EOL, as 23% died within 30
      days of RT. GPA score of 0-1 predicted for death within 30 days of treatment. RT
      referral, recommendation, and timing should be better tailored to life
      expectancy, and additional benchmarks for quality of care are needed.

PMID- 28595435
TI  - A fetal diagnostic center's referral rate for perinatal palliative care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fetal specialists support standardizing the practice of offering
      women palliative care for life limiting fetal diagnoses. However, there is little
      data available regarding what fetal specialists do in practice. Since 2003, our
      center has kept a database of all women referred for fetal complications.
      METHODS: Retrospective electronic chart review of pregnant women between 2006 and
      2012 using UCSD's Fetal Care and Genetics Center referral database. Objectives
      were to determine: (I) how many high risk pregnancies referred to the University
      of California San Diego Medical Center (UCSD) over a 6-year period have
      potentially life limiting fetal diagnoses; (II) pregnancy outcome; and (III)
      referral rate to perinatal palliative care. RESULTS: Between July 2006 and July
      2012, 1,144 women were referred to UCSD's Fetal Care and Genetics Center, a
      tertiary care center. Of that cohort, 332 women (29%) were diagnosed prenatally
      with a potentially life limiting fetal diagnosis. Most women were Hispanic or
      Latino, married, and had previous children. The median gestation at confirmed
      diagnosis was 19 weeks. Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, and anencephaly comprised 21% of
      cases. The pregnancy outcome was determined in 95% cases: 56% therapeutic
      abortion, 16% intrauterine fetal demise, and 23% live birth. Only 11% of cases
      were referred to perinatal palliative care. CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of
      women with potentially life limiting fetal diagnoses are not referred to
      perinatal palliative care. Evaluation of how to integrate palliative care into
      high-risk obstetrics is needed.

PMID- 28595436
TI  - Ethical challenges in extra corporeal membrane oxygenation use.

PMID- 28595437
TI  - Perceptions and types of support coming from families caring for patients
      suffering from advanced illness in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perceptions of families who take care of patients suffering from
      advanced illness are rarely considered in Kinshasa medical practices;
      nevertheless, these families are the main actors involved in such care. The
      objective of this present study was to illustrate, in a Congolese context, the
      perceptions of families on the care of patients suffering from advanced illness,
      and to identify the possible aids provided by healthcare facilities. METHODS: A
      qualitative study was performed among focus groups in six hospitals in Kinshasa.
      Each group included eight members. RESULTS: We gathered factors that could
      negatively influence the care of a patient suffering from advanced disease. Such
      factors included: scarcity of and inaccessibility to painkillers, economic
      resilience, poor quality treatment, lack of psychological counselling, seeking
      alternative solutions and poor communication between caregivers and patients. In
      contrast, the study also showed that relatives caring for these patients often
      receive support from the wider family and from cult members. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study focuses on the miscommunication between healthcare workers and patients,
      poor management in advanced illness as well as a lack of psychological support
      from caregivers. The findings can serve as basis for further research in
      palliative care.

PMID- 28595438
TI  - Should dexamethasone be standard in the prophylaxis of pain flare after
      palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases?-a debate.
AB  - Pain flare is a well-recognized side-effect of palliative radiotherapy for the
      treatment of painful bone metastases, with recent randomized data showing
      incidence rates up to 35%. The impact of pain flare has been associated with
      worsening immobility, anxiety, depression and quality of life. The use of
      dexamethasone has recently been supported as an effective option in reducing
      radiation-induced pain flare based on the NCIC Clinical Trials Group (NCIC CTG)
      Symptom Control 23 (SC.23) randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.
      Despite this, conflicting opinions exist, and standard clinical use of
      dexamethasone to prevent pain flare continues to be debated among clinicians.
      Given this controversy, two sides of the debate are presented. Although consensus
      has not been achieved, the choice to use dexamethasone in the prophylactic
      setting to reduce pain flare incidence should be a shared decision between the
      oncologist and patient. Factors including symptom burden, comorbidities,
      performance status, quality of life and radiation dose and fractionation should
      be taken into account on an individualized level.

PMID- 28595440
TI  - On the way of liberation from suffering and pain: role of hypnosis in palliative
      care.
AB  - The huge problems related to chronic, ultimately fatal diseases involve
      disability, pain, suffering and the perception of one's doom; this calls for
      reappraising the conventional concepts of health and disease, life and death,
      encompassing spirituality and the mystery of death beyond any limited
      perspective. The management of suffering and pain to enhance resilience plays a
      central role in palliative care (PC) and is the core of the patient-centered
      approach, focused on the "to care" instead of the "to cure" of the illness
      centered medicine. In this article, the perspectives supporting these instances
      are analyzed, focusing on hypnosis, to be considered as a powerful technique able
      to improve patient's control over mind and body (including relaxation, fairness,
      analgesia, improved stability of physical parameters and wellbeing).

PMID- 28595441
TI  - Healing, spirituality and integrative medicine.
AB  - Spirituality plays a prominent role in the lives of most palliative patients
      whether or not they formally adhere to a specific religion and belief. As a
      result, the palliative care team is frequently called upon to support families
      who are experiencing their "dark night of the soul" and struggling to make sense
      of their lives during a healthcare crisis. While conventional religious practices
      provide a source of comfort and guidance for many of our patients, a significant
      number of our patients do not have a strong religious community to which to turn.
      Over the last two decades, more people in Western countries identify themselves
      as spiritual but not religious and do not belong to an organized faith community.
      For those patients who express a strong spiritual connection or sense of
      'something greater' or 'a higher power', encouraging the exploration of those
      feelings and beliefs through chaplains, clergypersons, or members of the
      interdisciplinary palliative care team can help provide context, meaning and
      purpose in their lives impacted by serious illness. One of the goals of effective
      palliative care is the facilitation of personal growth and psychological
      resilience in dealing with one's health challenges. Integrative medicine, also
      referred to as complementary and alternative medicine, provides a set of tools
      and philosophies intended to enhance wellness and a sense of wellbeing. Many of
      the modalities are derived from disciplines such as massage, acupuncture, Rei Ki,
      aromatherapy, and dietary supplements. The use of integrative medicine in North
      America is widespread and frequently not shared with one's clinician due to many
      patients' concerns that clinicians will disapprove of the patient's use of them.
      In addition to its efficacy in reducing symptoms commonly experienced by patients
      receiving palliative care (e.g., nausea, pain, depression, and existential
      suffering), integrative medicine offers non-verbal, non-cognitive avenues for
      many to achieve a peaceful and calm inner state. The calm state often achieved
      during integrative medicine treatments is similar to that seen during deep prayer
      or meditation. In such a transcendent or non-ordinary state of consciousness,
      many people experience new insights or understanding of their lives and choices
      they must make. Thus, integrative approaches facilitate patients attaining
      greater self-awareness and may meet their spiritual needs without the religious
      overtones that accompany traditional prayer. In so doing, patients may gain
      greater insight and find inner peace through simple, non-verbal approaches.

PMID- 28595442
TI  - Quality of life in responders after palliative radiation therapy for painful bone
      metastases using EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-BM22: results of a Brazilian cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bone metastases cause pain, suffering and impaired quality of life
      (QoL). Palliative radiotherapy (RT) and/or chemotherapy are effective methods in
      controlling pain, reducing analgesics use and improving QoL. This study goal was
      to investigate the changes in QoL scores among patients who responded to
      palliative treatment. METHODS: A prospective study evaluating the role of
      radiation therapy in a public academic hospital in Sao Paulo-Brazil recorded
      patients' opioid use, pain score, Portuguese version of QLQ-BM22 and QLQ-C30
      before and 2 months after radiotherapy. Analgesic use and pain score were used to
      calculate international pain response category. Overall response was defined as
      the sum of complete response (CR) and partial response (PR). CR was defined as
      pain score of 0 with no increase in analgesic intake whereas PR was defined as
      pain reduction >=2 without analgesic increase or analgesic reduction in >=25%
      without increase in pain at the treated site. RESULTS: From September 2014 to
      October 2015, 25 patients with bone metastases responded to RT or chemotherapy (1
      CR, 24 PR). There were 8 male and 17 female patients. The median age of the 25
      patients was 59 (range, 22 to 80) years old. Patient's primary cancer site was
      breast [11], prostate [5], lung [2], others [7]. For QLQ-BM 22, the mean scores
      of 4 categories at baseline were: pain site (PS) 39, pain characteristics (PC)
      61, function interference (FI) 49 and psycho-social aspects (PA) 57. At 2 month
      follow up, the scores were PS 27, PC 37, FI 70 and PA 59. Statistical significant
      improvement (P<0.05) was seen in PS, PC, FI but not PA. In the QLQ-C30, the
      scores were not statistically different for all categories, except for pain that
      demonstrated a 33 point decrease in the median pain score domain (66 to 33).
      CONCLUSIONS: Responders to RT at 2 months presented improvement in BM22 and C30
      pain domains, and also improvement in functional interference domain of the BM22
      questionnaire.

PMID- 28595443
TI  - Shedding light on the fundamental mechanism underlying hypnotic analgesia.
AB  - Owing to the increasing importance of clinical hypnosis in pain therapy and
      palliative care, there is a growing interest in uncovering the mechanism
      underlying hypnotic analgesia. The neurophysiological findings suggest that the
      hypnotic state is associated with an altered operating mode of the brain that is
      clearly different from the normal operating mode. While in the normal operating
      mode a dolorogenic stimulus induces a highly synchronized large-scale activity
      pattern that leads to the experience of pain, the altered operating mode inhibits
      the synchronization of spatially divided brain regions. As a consequence, the
      conscious experience of pain cannot arise. In order to gain a deeper
      understanding of the mechanism, a novel theoretical framework is made use of. It
      accepts consciousness as a fundamental property of the universe and is based on
      the hypothesis that the whole range of phenomenal qualities is built into the
      frequency spectrum of a ubiquitous background field. The body of evidence
      supports the view that in the normal operating mode our brains act as filters
      that extract the plethora of phenomenal nuances selectively from this field. In
      the altered operating mode, which establishes under hypnotic conditions, the
      extraction of phenomenal qualities is partially prevented. From this perspective,
      hypnotic analgesia is due to an impairment of the fundamental mechanism
      underlying conscious perception.

PMID- 28595444
TI  - International access to palliative care: the need to improve.

PMID- 28595445
TI  - Sixty-day mortality after stereotactic radiosurgery of brain metastases-a
      forgotten palliative treatment outcome.

PMID- 28595446
TI  - Life perceptions of patients receiving palliative care and experiencing psycho
      social-spiritual healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is important to identify, from the patients' perspectives, the
      different factors that contribute toward psycho-social-spiritual healing.
      METHODS: This was a qualitative study that took place at a large research center,
      an underserved clinic, and a community hospital. We used a needs assessment
      questionnaire and open-ended questions to assess the constituents of psycho
      social-spiritual healing: (I) how previous life experiences affected patients'
      present situations in dealing with their illnesses; (II) barriers to palliative
      care, and (III) benefits of palliative care. RESULTS: Of a total of 30
      participants from 3 different study sites, 24 (80%) were receiving inpatient or
      outpatient palliative care at a research center. Thirteen (43%) participants were
      female, 10 (33%) were Black/African American, and 16 (53%) reported being on
      disability. While the initial shock of the diagnosis made participants feel
      unprepared for their illnesses, many looked to role models, previous work
      experiences, and spiritual as well as religious support as sources of strength
      and coping mechanisms. Barriers to palliative care were identified as either
      external (lack of proper resources) or internal (symptom barriers and perceived
      self-limitations). The feeling of "being seen/being heard" was perceived by many
      participants as the most beneficial aspect of palliative care. CONCLUSIONS: The
      needs assessment questionnaire and open-ended questions presented in this study
      may be used in clinical settings to better help patients achieve psycho-social
      spiritual healing through palliative care and to help clinicians learn about the
      person behind the patient.

PMID- 28595447
TI  - Therapeutic suggestions with critically ill in palliative care.
AB  - Suggestions can be used without formal hypnosis, especially with critically ill
      patients, due to their spontaneous trance state. In this paper we outline data on
      the effectiveness of therapeutic suggestions. We interpret the possible mechanism
      of therapeutic suggestions in the context of stress cognition. Basic principles
      of formulating suggestions are discussed and some recommended versions of non
      pharmacological pain control are provided. Case vignettes are given of how
      suggestions are used with critically ill ICU patients.

PMID- 28595448
TI  - Do patients receiving pelvic radiation and anti-emetics experience diarrhea
      and/or constipation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pelvic radiation may cause radiation enteritis, which commonly
      manifests as diarrhea. Radiation to the abdomen or pelvis may also cause
      radiation-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV) which is often treated with anti
      emetics such as serotonin (5-HT3) receptor antagonists (RA). However, a common
      side effect of these anti-emetic medications is constipation. Both diarrhea and
      constipation can have a significant impact on patient quality of life (QOL). The
      objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of diarrhea and constipation
      in patients receiving pelvic radiation and anti-emetics. METHODS: Patients
      undergoing pelvic radiation between January 2011 and March 2017 at Sunnybrook
      Odette Cancer Centre were enrolled in three prospective clinical trials studying
      the efficacy of various anti-emetics for RINV prophylaxis. Patients completed QOL
      questionnaires which included a single question about severity of constipation at
      baseline, day 5 and 10 during radiation if applicable, and day 5 and 10 after
      completion of radiation; severity was measured on a 4-point Likert scale ranging
      from 1= "not at all" to 4= "very much". Patients also recorded severity of
      diarrhea throughout baseline, treatment, and 10 days follow-up via daily diaries;
      responses were qualitative ranging from "no diarrhea" to "severe diarrhea" on a 4
      point scale. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients received pelvic radiation across the
      three trials. The average constipation score at baseline was 1.69 [standard
      deviation (SD) 0.93], and increased up to 2.33 (SD 1.03) at day 10 during
      treatment. Following treatment, the average score decreased to 1.61 (SD 0.80) at
      day 10 follow-up with the majority of patients reporting no constipation at this
      time (57.7%). The average diarrhea score at baseline was 1.03 (SD 0.18) and
      remained stable throughout treatment and follow-up. A vast majority of patients
      reported no diarrhea after day 10 follow-up (96.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Constipation
      was more prevalent than diarrhea during radiation treatment and up to day 10
      after radiation to the pelvis. Approximately 42% of patients will have
      constipation on day 10 post radiation. Further research is needed to assess the
      causes of constipation including analgesics, and the effect on QOL during and
      shortly after palliative radiation to the pelvis.

PMID- 28595449
TI  - Speedy response can be achieved from palliative radiotherapy in the treatment of
      painful uncomplicated bone metastases.

PMID- 28595450
TI  - A new malyngamide from the marine cyanobacterium Moorea producens.
AB  - A new malyngamide (1) was isolated along with seven known compounds (2-8) from
      the marine cyanobacterium Moorea producens collected in Hawaii. Compound 1
      represented the first reported malyngamide with a hydroxy moiety at C-7 of the
      characteristic fatty acid portion of the compound. Compound 1 showed cytotoxicity
      against L1210 cell line at an IC50 value of 2.9 mM and lethal toxicity against
      the shrimp Palaemon paucidens at a LD100 value of 33.3 mg/kg. The bioactivity of
      compound 1 was approximately 10-100 times weaker than those of isomalyngamides A
      and B (3, 4). These results indicated that the methoxy group at C-7 of the fatty
      acid section confers a degree of bioactivity in malyngamides.

PMID- 28595452
TI  - Taking stock of critical clues to understanding sex differences in the prevalence
      and recurrence of autism.

PMID- 28595451
TI  - Dependent Erythema of the Legs Associated With Mild Autonomic Nervous System
      Dysfunction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dependent erythema or rubor is an erythematous discoloration of the
      limbs, most commonly associated with peripheral artery disease. We present a case
      of florid dependent erythema, associated with additional autonomic symptoms.
      METHODS: Examination and full workup of a 16-year-old healthy girl with an 8-year
      history of dependent erythema, chronic diarrhea, and mild hyperhidrosis. A
      literature search was performed to review any similar cases and generate a
      differential diagnosis. RESULTS: Examination of our patient showed symmetrical,
      asymptomatic fiery to dusky erythematous patches of the lower legs and feet, with
      intermittent areas of pallor. These florid changes occurred with erect posture.
      Resolution to near normal occurred within minutes when the patient was in the
      supine position. Full physical examination revealed mild erythema and
      hyperhidrosis of the hands. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, there have been no
      reports of painless dependent rubor associated with sympathetic dysfunction.
      Literature search reports a few cases of gravitational erythema and
      angiodyskinesia. This case presentation is most likely part of the spectrum of
      dependent erythema and may shed light on the underlying aetiology.

PMID- 28595454
TI  - Predictors of Adults' Knowledge and Awareness of HPV, HPV-Associated Cancers, and
      the HPV Vaccine: Implications for Health Education.
AB  - High human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and low HPV vaccine uptake are
      significant public health concerns. Disparities in HPV-associated cancers and HPV
      vaccine uptake rates suggest the need for additional research examining factors
      associated with vaccine acceptance. This study assessed HPV awareness and
      knowledge and identified sociodemographic characteristics associated with HPV
      knowledge at the population level. Data from adult men ( n = 1,197) and women ( n
      = 1,906) who participated in the National Cancer Institute's 2014 Health
      Information National Trends Survey were analyzed. Multivariable regression was
      used to identify predictors of four HPV knowledge categories: (1) general
      knowledge, (2) cervical cancer knowledge, (3) "other" cancer knowledge (i.e.,
      anal, oral, penile), and (4) vaccine knowledge. Significant gender differences in
      awareness and knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine were revealed. Most
      participants (>70%) knew that HPV could cause cervical cancer, but fewer (14.9%
      to 31.5%) knew of the association between HPV and "other" cancers. Women were
      more likely to report that a health care provider recommended vaccination.
      Significant predictors of general HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge included gender,
      education, income, race, and other sociodemographic characteristics. Age and
      income predicted cervical cancer knowledge. Knowledge of "other" HPV-associated
      cancers was predicted by having a child under 18 years in the household and
      relationship status. HPV knowledge appears to be socially patterned. Low HPV
      knowledge among men and some racial minorities suggests a need for further
      intervention. Health education should emphasize risks of noncervical HPV
      associated cancers. Patient-provider communication that includes education,
      counseling, and clear recommendations favoring vaccination may improve uptake.

PMID- 28595453
TI  - Chemical composition and antioxidant activities of the essential oil of Hypericum
      gaitii Haines - an endemic species of Eastern India.
AB  - The present study reports the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of
      the essential oil extracted from the leaves and tender branches of Hypericum
      gaitii Haines (Hypericaceae) - an endemic plant of Eastern India. On
      hydrodistillation, the fresh leaves and tender parts of H. gaitii yielded 0.43%
      (v/w) of pale yellowish essential oil. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry
      analysis revealed the presence of 40 compounds, which represent 96.9% of the
      total oil. Monoterpene hydrocarbons (79.3%) predominated followed by
      sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (12.6%). Of these, alpha-pinene (69.5%), beta
      caryophyllene (10.5%), sabinene (5.6%), myrcene (3.0%) and geranyl acetate (2.0%)
      were the main constituents. Antioxidant activities of oil were evaluated by three
      different systems namely 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis-3
      ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and reducing power assay. Essential
      oil exhibited moderate antioxidant activities compared to butylated
      hydroxytoluene (BHT) and ascorbic acid.

PMID- 28595457
TI  - How people with dementia and their carers adapt their homes. A qualitative study.
AB  - The objective was to explore the ways in which people with dementia and their
      carers adapt their homes, including the barriers and use of available
      information. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 people with
      dementia and their informal carer. The collected data were analysed using
      thematic analysis. Three core themes emerged: Maintaining familiarity and coping
      with change, Having knowledge and finding knowledge and Meeting challenges
      through home adaptation. The most significant barriers to making home adaptations
      were lack of knowledge and maintaining familiarity. Having more information and
      making home modifications earlier might enable individuals with dementia to
      adjust to their adapted environment.

PMID- 28595456
TI  - Altered Brain Wiring in Parkinson's Disease: A Structural Connectome-Based
      Analysis.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that predominantly
      affects the motor system. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has
      demonstrated deficits in anisotropy as well as increased diffusivity in the sub
      cortical structures, primarily in the substantia nigra in PD. However, the
      clinical spectrum of PD is not limited to motor symptoms; rather, it encompasses
      several nonmotor symptoms such as depression, psychosis, olfactory dysfunction,
      and cognitive impairment. These nonmotor symptoms underscore PD as a complex
      neurological disorder arising from dysfunction of several network components.
      Therefore, to decipher the underlying neuropathology, it is crucial to employ
      novel network-based methods that can elucidate associations between specific
      network changes. This study aimed at assessing the large-scale structural network
      changes in PD. Structural connectomes were computed by using probabilistic fiber
      tracking on diffusion MRI between 86 regions of interest. Graph theoretic
      analysis on the connectome was carried out at several levels of granularity:
      global, local (nodal), lobar, and edge wise. Our findings demonstrate lower
      network clustering capability, overall lower neural connectivity, and
      significantly reduced nodal influence of the hippocampus in PD. In addition,
      extensive patterns of reduced connectivity were observed within and between the
      temporal, parietal, and occipital areas. In summary, our findings corroborate
      widespread structural disconnectivity that can be potentially linked to the
      nonmotor symptoms in PD.

PMID- 28595455
TI  - A new antifungal and antiprotozoal bibenzyl derivative from Gavilea lutea.
AB  - A new bibenzyl derivative (4), together with two glycosylated flavonoids (1 and
      2), batatasin III (3) and the phenanthrene isohircinol (5) were isolated from the
      aerial parts of Gavilea lutea. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of
      spectroscopic studies including 1D and 2D NMR, UV, IR and HRESIMS. All isolated
      compounds were evaluated for their antifungal activity towards Candida albicans.
      The new compound 4 showed inhibitory activity with a MIQ of 50 MUg. In addition,
      compound 4 exhibited a selective activity (IC50 = 2.3 MUg/mL) against Leishmania
      donovani.

PMID- 28595458
TI  - Continuous synthesis and anti-myocardial injury of tanshinone IIA derivatives.
AB  - A series of tanshinone IIA derivatives were synthesized through sulfonation, slat
      forming, chlorination, and amidation reactions. Meanwhile, anti-myocardial injury
      activity was evaluated in vitro. D8 and D9 exhibited a slightly higher anti
      myocardial injury (5.78, 7.46 MUM) activity compared with esmolol (8.12 MUM). In
      addition, they also displayed a concentration-dependent inhibition on the anti
      myocardial injury.

PMID- 28595459
TI  - Percutaneous closure of the left atrial appendage in patients with diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left atrial appendage closure is a preventive treatment of atrial
      fibrillation-related thrombo-embolism. Patients with diabetes mellitus have
      increased risk for a negative outcome in percutaneous cardiac interventions. We
      assessed whether percutaneous left atrial appendage closure is safe and effective
      in patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: We included 78 patients (mean age of
      74.4 +/- 8.3 years) with indication for left atrial appendage closure in an open
      label observational single-centre study. RESULTS: Patients with diabetes mellitus
      ( n = 31) were at higher thrombo-embolic and bleeding risk (CHA2DS2-VASc: 4.5 +/-
      0.9, HAS-BLED: 4.7 +/- 0.7) compared to patients without diabetes mellitus ( n =
      47, CHA2DS2-VASc: 3.5 +/- 1.0, HAS-BLED: 4.1 +/- 0.8; p < 0.001 for both). Pre-
      and periprocedural risk was elevated in patients with diabetes mellitus (Euro II
      Score: 6.6 +/- 3.7 vs 3.9 +/- 1.9, p < 0.01; Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS)
      Score: 4.0 +/- 2.5 vs 2.6 +/- 1.2, p < 0.01). Procedural success was similar.
      Periprocedural major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events occurred in one
      patient from the control group (2.1%), whereas patients with diabetes mellitus
      had no events ( p = 0.672). Follow-up of 6 months revealed no bleeding
      complication in both groups. No stroke occurred in follow-up, and left atrial
      appendage flow velocity reduction (55.6 +/- 38.6 vs 51.4 +/- 19.1 cm/s, p =
      0.474) and rate of postinterventional leakage in the left atrial appendage were
      comparable (0% vs 2.1%, p = 0.672). CONCLUSION: Despite patients with diabetes
      mellitus are high-risk patients, the outcome of percutaneous left atrial
      appendage closure is similar to patients without diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 28595460
TI  - Sub-inhibitory stress with essential oil affects enterotoxins production and
      essential oil susceptibility in Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Fourteen wild strains of Staphylococcus aureus positive for gene sea were tested
      for enterotoxins production and the minimum inhibitory concentration of
      Leptospermum scoparium, Origanum majorana, Origanum vulgare, Satureja montana and
      Thymus vulgaris essential oils (EOs) were determined. After this trial, bacteria
      stressed with sub-inhibitory concentration of each EO were tested for
      enterotoxins production by an immunoenzymatic assay and resistance to the same
      EO. Oregano oil exhibited the highest antibacterial activity followed by manuka
      and thyme oils. After the exposure to a sub-inhibitory concentration of EOs,
      strains displayed an increased sensitivity in more than 95% of the cases. After
      treatment with oregano and marjoram EOs, few strains showed a modified
      enterotoxins production, while 43% of the strains were no longer able to produce
      enterotoxins after treatment with manuka EO. The results obtained in this study
      highlight that exposure to sub-inhibitory concentration of EO modifies strains
      enterotoxins production and EOs susceptibility profile.

PMID- 28595461
TI  - An in vitro examination of the antioxidant, cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory
      properties of chrysin-loaded nanofibrous mats for potential wound healing
      applications.
AB  - Chrysin (Chr) is a naturally occurring flavone with a wide spectrum of biological
      functions including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.
      Due to the low bioavailability and in vivo stability of Chr at therapeutic levels
      for wound-healing applications, Chr-loaded PCL/PEG nanofibrous mats were
      successfully fabricated by optimizing the electrospinning parameters and
      characterized using FE-SEM and FTIR. Results of MTT showed that Human foreskin
      fibroblast cells (HFF-1) have more than 80% viability on Chr-loaded nanofibers.
      The antioxidant activity of Chr-loaded PCL/PEG electrospun nanofibers was
      demonstrated applying an ORAC assay and by the capability of the nanofibers to
      maintain the viability of HFF-1 cells on the mats under an oxidative stress
      condition. The Chr-blended PCL/PEG nanofibrous mats also reduced overexpression
      of IL-6, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and excessive production of nitric oxide (NO) in
      J774A1 following stimulation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These results suggest
      that the proposed natural substance based nanofibrous mats can accelerate wound
      healing process with cell proliferation, antioxidative and anti-inflammatory
      activities.

PMID- 28595462
TI  - Isotopic and multielemental fingerprinting of organically and conventionally
      grown potatoes.
AB  - Two marker combinations were used for the differentiation of organically produced
      from conventionally produced potatoes and also for the geographical origin
      identification. Fifty-seven samples (from Romanian local producers or imported)
      were analysed from the stable isotopic (isotope ratio mass spectrometry) and
      elemental profile (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) point of view.
      In order to assess the best marker combination, both isotopic and elemental
      experimental results were subject to chemometric analysis. The statistical tests
      performed were ANOVA test, Pearson correlation, principal component analysis and
      linear discriminant analysis (LDA). For a more comprehensive differentiation
      between organic vs. conventional potato samples, LDA was applied, and 94.7 % of
      original cases were correctly classified and the percentage obtained in cross
      validation procedure was 91.2 %. Regarding the geographic origin classification,
      LDA provided an initial classification of 96.5 %, while for cross-validation the
      percentage was 87.7. LDA found delta15N, Cd, Ca, Cu and Zn as best discrimination
      markers between organically and conventionally grown potatoes. The strongest
      predictors for Romania vs. foreign geographical areas along LDA were seen to be
      Ca, P, Co, Ni and delta13C.

PMID- 28595463
TI  - A new arbutin derivative from the leaves of Vaccinium dunalianum wight.
AB  - A new arbutin derivative, namely dunalianosides J (1), along with six known
      compounds, arbutin (2), robustaside A (3), 6'-O-caffeoylarbutin (4),
      dunalianoside D (5), kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (6) and kaempferol 3-O
      beta-D-sambubioside (7) were isolated from the leaves of Vaccinium dunalianum
      Wight (Ericaceae). The structure of 1 was elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR,
      HR-MS and CD spectroscopic analyses. In which, kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-sambubioside
      (7) was isolated from the genus Vaccinium for the first time.

PMID- 28595464
TI  - The effects of baroreflex activation therapy on blood pressure and sympathetic
      function in patients with refractory hypertension: the rationale and design of
      the Nordic BAT study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) on
      hypertension in patients with treatment resistant or refractory hypertension.
      METHODS: This investigator-initiated randomized, double-blind, 1:1 parallel
      design clinical trial will include 100 patients with refractory hypertension from
      6 tertiary referral hypertension centers in the Nordic countries. A Barostim Neo
      System will be implanted and after 1 month patients will be randomized to either
      BAT for 16 months or continuous pharmacotherapy (BAT off) for 8 months followed
      by BAT for 8 months. A second randomization will take place after 16 months to
      BAT or BAT off for 3 months. Eligible patients have a daytime systolic ambulatory
      blood pressure (ABPM) of  >=145 mm Hg, and/or a daytime diastolic ABPM of  >=95
      mm Hg after witnessed drug intake (including  >=3 antihypertensive drugs,
      preferably including a diuretic). RESULTS: The primary end point is the reduction
      in 24-hour systolic ABPM by BAT at 8 months, as compared to pharmacotherapy.
      Secondary and tertiary endpoints are effects of BAT on home and office blood
      pressures, measures of indices of cardiac and vascular structure and function
      during follow-up, and safety. CONCLUSIONS: This academic initiative will increase
      the understanding of mechanisms and role of BAT in the refractory hypertension.

PMID- 28595465
TI  - Community and Individual Risk Factors for Physical Child Abuse and Child Neglect:
      Variations by Poverty Status.
AB  - Families are impacted by a variety of risk and protective factors for
      maltreatment at multiple levels of the social ecology. Individual- and
      neighborhood-level poverty has consistently been shown to be associated with
      higher risk for child abuse and neglect. The current study sought to understand
      the ways in which individual- and neighborhood-level risk and protective factors
      affect physical child abuse and child neglect and whether these factors differed
      for families based on their individual poverty status. Specifically, we used a
      three-level hierarchical linear model (families nested within census tracts and
      nested within cities) to estimate the relationships between physical child abuse
      and child neglect and neighborhood structural factors, neighborhood processes,
      and individual characteristics. We compared these relationships between lower and
      higher income families in a sample of approximately 3,000 families from 50 cities
      in the State of California. We found that neighborhood-level disadvantage was
      especially detrimental for families in poverty and that neighborhood-level
      protective processes (social) were not associated with physical child abuse and
      child neglect for impoverished families, but that they had a protective effect
      for higher income families.

PMID- 28595466
TI  - Writing a book review.
AB  - Book reviews are a good way to get started with writing for a journal and this
      Learning and CPD activity takes you through the process of understanding the aims
      of book review, undertaking practice pieces through to reviewing a book and
      advice on the dos and don'ts of book reviewing.

PMID- 28595467
TI  - Remissions after third induction chemotherapy for primary non-responders with
      acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are uncommon and short-lived.

PMID- 28595468
TI  - Compositional analysis of lignocellulosic biomass: conventional methodologies and
      future outlook.
AB  - The composition and structural properties of lignocellulosic biomass have
      significant effects on its downstream conversion to fuels, biomaterials, and
      building-block chemicals. Specifically, the recalcitrance to modification and
      compositional variability of lignocellulose make it challenging to optimize and
      control the conditions under which the conversion takes place. Various
      characterization protocols have been developed over the past 150 years to
      elucidate the structural properties and compositional patterns that affect the
      processing of lignocellulose. Early characterization techniques were developed to
      estimate the relative digestibility and nutritional value of plant material after
      ingestion by ruminants and humans alike (e.g. dietary fiber). Over the years,
      these empirical techniques have evolved into statistical approaches that give a
      broader and more informative analysis of lignocellulose for conversion processes,
      to the point where an entire compositional and structural analysis of
      lignocellulosic biomass can be completed in minutes, rather than weeks. The use
      of modern spectroscopy and chemometric techniques has shown promise as a rapid
      and cost effective alternative to traditional empirical techniques. This review
      serves as an overview of the compositional analysis techniques that have been
      developed for lignocellulosic biomass in an effort to highlight the motivation
      and migration towards rapid, accurate, and cost-effective data-driven chemometric
      methods. These rapid analysis techniques can potentially be used to optimize
      future biorefinery unit operations, where large quantities of lignocellulose are
      continually processed into products of high value.

PMID- 28595469
TI  - Application of the ICRP respiratory tract model to estimate pulmonary retention
      of industrially sampled indium-containing dusts.
AB  - Inhalation of indium-containing dusts is associated with the development of
      indium lung disease. Workers may be exposed to several different chemical forms
      of indium; however, their lung dosimetry is not fully understood. We
      characterized the physicochemical properties and measured the lung dissolution
      kinetics of eight indium-containing dusts. Indium dissolution rates in artificial
      lung fluids spanned two orders of magnitude. We used the International Commission
      on Radiological Protection (ICRP) human respiratory model (HRTM) to estimate
      pulmonary indium deposition, retention and biokinetic clearance to blood. For a
      two-year (median workforce tenure at facility) exposure to respirable-sized
      particles of the indium materials, modeled indium clearance (>99.99% removed)
      from the alveolar-interstitial compartment was slow for all dusts; salts would
      clear in 4 years, sintered indium-tin oxide (ITO) would clear in 9 years, and
      indium oxide would require 48 years. For this scenario, the ICRP HRTM predicted
      that indium translocated to blood would be present in that compartment for 3.5-18
      years after cessation of exposure, depending on the chemical form. For a 40-year
      exposure (working lifetime), clearance from the alveolar-interstitial compartment
      would require 5, 10 and 60 years for indium salts, sintered ITO and indium oxide,
      respectively and indium would be present in blood for 5-53 years after exposure.
      Consideration of differences in chemical forms of indium, dissolution rates,
      alveolar clearance and residence time in blood should be included in exposure
      assessment and epidemiological studies that rely on measures of total indium in
      air or blood to derive risk estimates.

PMID- 28595470
TI  - Twenty images over 20 years: clinical imaging and healthcare photography in the
      Wellcome Image Awards (WIA).
AB  - The Wellcome Image Awards are celebrating their 20th year of bringing us the
      world's most incredible science and health images this year. The 2017 winners can
      be seen at exhibitions to be held simultaneously across the UK, in science
      centres from Aberdeen to the Eden Project, as well as in Russia and South Africa.
      Over the last 20 years many images have featured amongst the winners and this
      gallery showcases the images from the contemporary clinical collection that were
      successful during that time.

PMID- 28595472
TI  - Correction to: Grzasko R, et al., Chromosome 1 amplification has similar
      prognostic value to del(17p13) and t(4;14)(p16;q32) in multiple myeloma patients:
      analysis of real-life data from the Polish Myeloma Study Group.

PMID- 28595471
TI  - Improved survival in multiple myeloma, with a diminishing racial gap and a
      widening socioeconomic status gap over three decades.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) is estimated to have 30,280 new cases and be associated
      with 12,590 deaths in 2017. However, quantitative analysis for survival, based on
      a large population, is lacking. Data were extracted from a total of 33,170 cases
      from nine registry sites in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
      database. The current study shows that the incidence for MM remained relatively
      stable between 1981 and 2010, with 4.6, 4.7, and 4.7 per 100,000 persons in each
      decade. In addition, survival for MM improved each decade with a larger increment
      in the last two decades, with a narrowing survival gap among races and a widening
      gap among socioeconomic status (SES) groups. The survival gap changes in races
      and SES groups may guide clinicians to design better treatment protocols and call
      for the pressing need for health-care policy to fill the gap among SES groups.

PMID- 28595473
TI  - CD4+CD26- lymphocytes are useful to assess blood involvement and define B ratings
      in cutaneous T cell lymphoma.
AB  - Bernengo et al. reported that >30% CD4+CD26- lymphocytes detect blood involvement
      in patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sezary syndrome. In addition, the
      ISCL/EORTC suggested that this threshold might serve as a criterion for the B2
      blood rating for staging. In this manuscript, we report our experience with
      measurement of CD4+CD26- and CD4+CD7- cells, Sezary cell counts, and aberrant T
      cells with diminished expression of CD2, CD3, or CD5 antigens. CD4+CD26- >=30%
      occurred in 15 of 373 (4.0%) patients with MF, 33 of 47 (70%) patients with
      erythrodermic cutaneous T cell lymphoma (ECTCL) and 2 of 54 (4%) patients with
      inflammatory skin diseases. CD4+CD26- measurements provided a more reliable
      assessment of neoplastic cell numbers in the blood than Sezary cell or CD4+CD7-
      percentages. CD4+CD26- measurements may be used to define B ratings for staging
      with B2 defined as CD4+CD26- >= 1000/MUL, plus clonality or phenotypically
      abnormal cells.

PMID- 28595474
TI  - Symptoms of depression and anxiety as predictors of physical functioning in
      breast cancer patients. A prospective study using path analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although symptoms of depression and anxiety are linked to health
      related quality of life (HRQoL), the nature of this relationship remained
      unclear. We therefore aimed to examine, in a prospective study, both possible
      directions of impact in this relationship. To avoid conceptual and measurement
      overlap between depressive and anxiety symptoms, on the one hand, and HRQoL, on
      the other hand, we focused on the physical functioning component of HRQoL.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort
      study with 436 female breast cancer patients (mean age 51 years). Both at
      baseline and after 12 months, we measured symptoms of depression and anxiety with
      the four-item Patient Heath Questionnaire (PHQ-4) and physical functioning with
      the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life
      Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). Using path analysis, we estimated (1) the
      predictive value of symptoms of depression/anxiety for subsequent physical
      functioning and (2) the predictive value of physical functioning for subsequent
      symptoms of depression/anxiety, in the same model. RESULTS: Baseline symptoms of
      depression/anxiety predicted 1-year levels of physical functioning (depression:
      standardized beta =  -.09, p = .024; anxiety: standardized beta =  -.10, p =
      .009), while the reciprocal paths linking baseline physical functioning to
      subsequent depressive and anxiety symptoms were not significant, adjusting for
      the baseline scores of all outcome variables. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive and anxiety
      symptoms were predictors of the physical functioning component of HRQoL. Thus, if
      this relation is causal, treating breast cancer patients' depressive and anxiety
      symptoms may have a favorable impact on their self-reported physical functioning.

PMID- 28595475
TI  - A novel ENT iBook: what do junior doctors think?
AB  - Exposure to the specialty of Otolaryngology is limited. It may be consolidated by
      the use of an iBook as a self-study tool. The purpose of this study was to
      ascertain the perceptions of junior doctors on the clinical relevance of this
      novel educational resource. Three focus groups were formed each consisting of
      five junior doctors (eight female: seven male, median age 27 years). The iBook
      was found to be clinically relevant to the work of junior doctors, have a clear
      layout, with adequate interactivity and a good range of integrated multimedia
      elements.

PMID- 28595476
TI  - Obituary: Dr Leslie Bowcock, MB, ChB, HonFRPS, HonFIMI.

PMID- 28595477
TI  - Positive effects of plantar vibration training for the treatment of diabetic
      peripheral neuropathy: A pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of 8-week low-frequency plantar vibration
      training on patients with sensorimotor diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).
      PARTICIPANTS: Twelve patients took part in the investigation. RESULTS: An
      increase of the nerve conductive velocity of soral and peroneal nerves of feet,
      increased postural stability, and disappearance of the pain and tingling were
      observed. CONCLUSION: The obtained results provide evidence for beneficial
      effects of 8-week plantar vibration training in patients with DPN.

PMID- 28595478
TI  - Validating Multidimensional Outcome Assessment Using the TBI Common Data
      Elements: An Analysis of the TRACK-TBI Pilot Sample.
AB  - The Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) is often the primary outcome measure in
      clinical trials for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Although the GOSE's capture of
      global function outcome has several strengths, concerns have been raised about
      its limited ability to identify mild disability and failure to capture the full
      scope of problems patients exhibit after TBI. This analysis examined the
      convergence of disability ratings across a multidimensional set of outcome
      domains in the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain
      Injury (TRACK-TBI) Pilot study. The study collected measures recommended by the
      TBI Common Data Elements (CDE) Workgroup. Patients presenting to 3 emergency
      departments with a TBI of any severity enrolled in TRACK-TBI prospectively after
      injury; outcome measures were collected at 3 and six months postinjury. Analyses
      examined frequency of impairment and overlap between impairment status across the
      CDE outcome domains of Global Level of Functioning (GOSE), Neuropsychological
      (cognitive) Impairment, Psychological Status, TBI Symptoms, and Quality of Life.
      GOSE score correlated in the expected direction with other outcomes (M Spearman's
      rho = .21 and .49 with neurocognitive and self-report outcomes, respectively).
      The subsample in the Upper Good Recovery (GOSE 8) category appeared quite healthy
      across most other outcomes, although 19.0% had impaired executive functioning
      (Trail Making Test Part B). A significant minority of participants in the Lower
      Good Recovery subgroup (GOSE 7) met criteria for impairment across numerous other
      outcome measures. The findings highlight the multidimensional nature of TBI
      recovery and the limitations of applying only a single outcome measure.

PMID- 28595479
TI  - Psychobiology of cumulative trauma: hair cortisol as a risk marker for stress
      exposure in women.
AB  - Childhood trauma (CT) is associated with long-lasting alterations of the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and elevated risk for stress exposure
      in adulthood. Although HPA alterations are present in the early aftermath of
      trauma, it remains unclear how initial HPA activity is associated with subsequent
      stress exposure and whether CT exposure influences the strength and direction of
      this association. The present study examined prospective associations between
      hair cortisol content (HCC) and stress exposure from baseline to 3-month follow
      up in young adult women with recent (i.e. past 3 months) exposure to
      interpersonal violence (IPV; i.e. physical or sexual assault) and non-traumatized
      controls. History of significant CT abuse or neglect was determined based on
      clinical cutoffs for a self-report CT measure: 12 women had abuse or neglect and
      recent IPV exposure (CT + IPV); 7 women had abuse or neglect but no IPV exposure
      (CT); 15 women had no history of trauma (NTC). HCC was computed for 3 cm sections
      reflecting cortisol secretion during the 3 months preceding the baseline
      assessment. The interaction of cumulative trauma and HCC predicted stress
      exposure over 3-month follow-up, controlling for baseline stress exposure and
      depressive symptoms. Simple slopes analyses revealed that lower baseline HCC
      predicted greater stress exposure in the CT + IPV group compared to the CT group;
      HCC was not associated with stress exposure in the NTC group. The present
      findings highlight the potential utility of HCC as a predictor of stress exposure
      for women with a history of childhood abuse or neglect, particularly in the
      context of recent IPV. Lay summary Adults with a history of CT show long-lasting
      alterations in major stress response systems, including the HPA axis. They are
      also more likely to experience stressful life events in adulthood. However, it is
      not clear how altered HPA activity influences risk for stress exposure and
      whether CT affects their relationship. The results from this study show that
      lower HPA activity (measured with hair cortisol) predicted greater stress
      exposure in women with CT - particularly for women who also experienced recent
      incidents involving physical or sexual assault.

PMID- 28595480
TI  - In vitro evaluation of cobalt oxide nanoparticle-induced toxicity.
AB  - Cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticles have applications in nanomedicine and
      nanotechnology; therefore, any possible adverse effects require thorough
      investigation. The present study investigated the effects of Co3O4 nanoparticles
      on four different cell lines: liver, HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells; lung,
      A549 lung carcinoma cells; gastrointestinal, Caco-2 colorectal adenocarcinoma
      cells; and nervous system, SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. A difference was observed
      in cell sensitivity toward Co3O4 nanoparticles. Co3O4 nanoparticles were taken up
      by all the cell types. However, no cell death was observed in HepG2, Caco-2, or
      SH-SY5Y cells; only A549 cells showed cytotoxicity at relatively high exposure
      concentrations. Co3O4 nanoparticles did not induce DNA damage or apoptosis in the
      cell lines tested except in A549. Interestingly, Co3O4 nanoparticles induced
      cellular oxidative damage in all cell types except Caco-2, resulting in increased
      malondialdehyde and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine levels and decreased glutathione
      levels. According to our results, it could be indicated that high concentrations
      of Co3O4 nanoparticles affected the pulmonary system but were unlikely to affect
      the liver, nervous system, or gastrointestinal system. Co3O4 nanoparticles might
      be safely used for industrial, commercial, and nanomedical applications if dose
      rates are adjusted depending on the route of exposure. However, further in vivo
      and in vitro studies are required to confirm the safety of Co3O4 nanoparticles.

PMID- 28595481
TI  - Retrograde Popliteal Access to Percutaneous Peripheral Intervention for Chronic
      Total Occlusion of Superficial Femoral Arteries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to present our initial experience with the
      use of the retrograde popliteal artery access in patients with chronic total
      occlusions of superficial femoral artery (SFA). METHOD: From July 2012 to May
      2014, a total of 28 patients (20 men, mean age 61.2 +/- 11.5 years) with total
      occlusion of the SFA and good distal runoff were treated with percutaneous
      atherectomy, balloon angioplasty, and stenting (mean length 165.3 +/- 57.5 mm,
      range 72-336 mm). All patients had severe claudication or critical limb ischemia,
      and most of the lesions were TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus classification
      type D (n = 21). RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in all cases. In
      majority (26, 92.8%) of the patients, endoluminal recanalization was possible
      from the popliteal access; SFA recanalization in the other 2 cases was obtained
      through the subintimal space. During a mean follow-up of 12.9 +/- 2.5 months,
      claudication, severity, rest pain, and toe ulcers improved significantly. Ankle
      brachial index changed from 0.54 +/- 0.11 to 0.91 +/- 0.2 at 1 year after
      intervention ( P < .001), and patency rates at 1, 6, and 12 months after
      interventions were 100%, 92.8%, and 85.7%, respectively. One pseudoaneurysm and 1
      arteriovenous fistula were found in the popliteal region on duplex examinations.
      There were 2 in-stent restenosis and 3 occlusions during the 12-month follow-up.
      These occlusions were treated with reendovascular procedures. Our secondary
      patency rate was 96.4%. No stent fracture was observed. CONCLUSION: The
      retrograde popliteal artery approach under duplex guidance can be considered as
      safe, efficient, and the primary SFA recanalization strategy in carefully
      selected patients, with competitive immediate and mid-term results.

PMID- 28595482
TI  - Development of edible films obtained from submicron emulsions based on whey
      protein concentrate, oil/beeswax and brea gum.
AB  - Edible films with whey protein concentrate (WPC) with a lipid component,
      sunflower oil (O) or beeswax (W), to enhance barrier to water vapor were
      obtained. Brea gum was used as emulsifier and also as matrix component. In order
      to achieve emulsion with small and homogeneous droplet size, an ultrasonicator
      equipment was used after obtaining a pre-emulsion using a blender. The films were
      made by casting. Effects of lipid fraction on droplet size, zeta potential,
      mechanical properties, water vapor permeability (WVP), solubility, and optical
      properties were determined. The droplet size of emulsions with BG decreased when
      decreasing the lipid content in the formulation. The zeta potential was negative
      for all the formulations, since the pH was close to 6 for all of them and pI of
      BG is close to 2.5, and pI of beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin (main
      proteins in WPC) are 5.2 and 4.1, respectively. Increasing W or SO content in
      blended films reduced the tensile strength and puncture resistance significantly.
      BG and WPC films without lipid presented better mechanical properties. The
      presence of lipids decreased the WVP, as expected, and those films having BG
      improved this property. BG films were slightly amber as a result of the natural
      color of the gum. BG has shown to be a good polysaccharide for emulsifying the
      lipid fraction and improving the homogeneity and mechanical properties of the
      films with WPC and beeswax or oil.

PMID- 28595483
TI  - Comparative studies on polyphenolic profile and antimicrobial activity of
      propolis samples selected from distinctive geographical areas of Hungary.
AB  - The present paper reports about a comparative survey on the chemical composition,
      antioxidant activity and in vitro antimicrobial activity of selected propolis
      samples collected in Hungary. The total levels of polyphenolic compounds
      including flavonoids in ethanolic extracts of propolis were assessed. The major
      constituents of ethanolic extracts of propolis were analysed by gas
      chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. Total phenolic content was determined
      spectrophotometrically using a Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Free radical scavenging
      activities were evaluated by means of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay. In
      vitro inhibitory activity was investigated against eight different bacterial
      strains by agar well diffusion assay. An extensive comparison was carried out
      regarding general parameters and specific polyphenolic components. The
      experimental data led to the observation that there is considerable variability
      in terms of the quality and the biological value of the distinctive propolis
      samples. These findings confirm the hypothesis of the study; versatile
      experimental results are required for proper, well-reasoned, balanced and
      standardised industrial applications. The major flavonoid components were found
      to be chrysin and pinocembrin; however, versatile minor components were also
      detected. The total polyphenol content of ethanolic extracts of propolis ranged
      between 104.6 mg/g and 286.9 mg/g (gallic acid equivalent). The radical
      scavenging activity of ethanolic extracts of propolis varied between 101.7 mg/g
      and 286.9 mg/g (ascorbic acid equivalent). As the quality of propolis depends on
      the season, vegetation and the area of collection, marked differences were found
      among the different products examined in terms of both composition and general
      characteristics. The studied samples exhibited significant differences in term of
      antimicrobial activities.

PMID- 28595484
TI  - Kinetic modelling and optimisation of antimicrobial compound production by
      Candida pyralidae KU736785 for control of Candida guilliermondii.
AB  - Biological antimicrobial compounds from yeast can be used to address the critical
      need for safer preservatives in food, fruit and beverages. The inhibition of
      Candida guilliermondii, a common fermented beverage spoilage organism, was
      achieved using antimicrobial compounds produced by Candida pyralidae KU736785.
      The antimicrobial production system was modelled and optimised using response
      surface methodology, with 22.5 C and pH of 5.0 being the optimum conditions. A
      new concept for quantifying spoilage organism inhibition was developed. The
      inhibition activity of the antimicrobial compounds was observed to be at a
      maximum after 17-23 h of fermentation, with C. pyralidae concentration being
      between 0.40 and 1.25 * 109 CFU ml-1, while its maximum specific growth rate was
      0.31-0.54 h-1. The maximum inhibitory activity was between 0.19 and 1.08 l
      contaminated solidified media per millilitre of antimicrobial compound used.
      Furthermore, the antimicrobial compound formation rate was 0.037-0.086 l VZI ml-1
      ACU h-1, respectively. The response surface methodology analysis showed that the
      model developed sufficiently described the antimicrobial compound formation rate
      1.08 l VZI ml-1 ACU, as 1.17 l VZI ml-1 ACU, predicted under the optimum
      production conditions.

PMID- 28595485
TI  - Strawberry puree processed by thermal, high pressure, or power ultrasound:
      Process energy requirements and quality modeling during storage.
AB  - Strawberry puree was processed for 15 min using thermal (65 C), high-pressure
      processing (600 MPa, 48 C), and ultrasound (24 kHz, 1.3 W/g, 33 C). These
      conditions were selected based on similar polyphenoloxidase inactivation (11%
      18%). The specific energies required for the above-mentioned thermal, high
      pressure processing, and power ultrasound processes were 240, 291, and 1233
      kJ/kg, respectively. Then, the processed strawberry was stored at 3 C and room
      temperature for 30 days. The constant pH (3.38+/-0.03) and soluble solids content
      (9.03 +/- 0.25 degrees Brix) during storage indicated a microbiological
      stability. Polyphenoloxidase did not reactivate during storage. The high-pressure
      processing and ultrasound treatments retained the antioxidant activity (70%-74%)
      better than the thermal process (60%), and high-pressure processing was the best
      treatment after 30 days of ambient storage to preserve antioxidant activity.
      Puree treated with ultrasound presented more color retention after processing and
      after ambient storage than the other preservation methods. For the three
      treatments, the changes of antioxidant activity and total color difference during
      storage were described by the fractional conversion model with rate constants k
      ranging between 0.03-0.09 and 0.06-0.22 day - 1, respectively. In resume, high
      pressure processing and thermal processes required much less energy than
      ultrasound for the same polyphenoloxidase inactivation in strawberry. While high
      pressure processing retained better the antioxidant activity of the strawberry
      puree during storage, the ultrasound treatment was better in terms of color
      retention.

PMID- 28595486
TI  - Special considerations for the diagnosis and treatment of invasive pulmonary
      aspergillosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis and treatment of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
      (IPA) are ongoing challenges in clinical practice. While important advances have
      recently been made, including enhanced diagnostic modalities as well as novel
      therapeutic and prophylactic options, more effective options are urgently needed
      as the population of immunocompromised patients continues to expand. Areas
      covered: In this paper, we review novel approaches to diagnosis of IPA, including
      multiplex PCR, Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight Mass
      Spectrometry and provide a detailed review of the extended-spectrum triazole
      isavuconazole, which was approved in 2015 to treat IPA. Expert commentary: We
      explore burgeoning approaches to diagnosis, including the lateral flow assay,
      volatile organic compounds, and artificial olfactory technology, as well as novel
      antifungal agents to treat IPA such as SCY-078 and F901318.

PMID- 28595487
TI  - Circulating Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Basic Fibroblastic
      Growth Factor in Infantile Hemangioma Versus Vascular Malformations.
AB  - Few preliminary reports studied the utility of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) for differentiation between
      infantile hemangiomas (IHs) and vascular malformations. The aim of this study was
      to investigate the role of serum VEGF and bFGF levels in differentiating IHs from
      vascular malformations and identifying the stage and clinical course of IHs.
      Serum levels of VEGF and bFGF were assessed in 60 infants and children with
      various cutaneous vascular anomalies defined in 3 groups: proliferating IHs (n =
      25), involuting IHs (n = 23), and vascular malformations (n = 12), in comparison
      with their levels in 40 healthy matched control. Serum levels of VEGF and bFGF
      were significantly elevated in all groups as compared to control ( P < .001,
      respectively). Both proliferating and involuting IHs had comparable levels of
      both markers ( P > .05, respectively) that were significantly higher in
      comparison with vascular malformations ( P < .05, respectively). Significantly
      lower VEGF levels were found in IHs that had regressed spontaneously (n = 11)
      compared to those regressed by treatment (n = 37), ( P < .05); meanwhile, bFGF
      showed no significant difference between both groups ( P > .05). Using receiver
      operating characteristic curves, a combined use of VGEF and bFGF yielded a
      sensitivity of 85.42% and a specificity of 100% for differentiating IHs from
      vascular malformations. Serum VEGF and/or bFGF levels are increased in cutaneous
      vascular anomalies and can differentiate IHs from vascular malformations. None of
      these markers could help in identifying the stage of IHs. Low VEGF is associated
      with spontaneous regression of IHs.

PMID- 28595488
TI  - Can MRI detect pulmonary hypertension in a population pre-selected by
      echocardiography?
AB  - Background The place of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the assessment of
      pulmonary hypertension (PH) remains controversial. Several studies proposed to
      use MRI to assess pulmonary pressure but the level of proof is low. Purpose To
      evaluate the diagnostic power of cardiac MRI within a non-selected population of
      patients suspected of PH after an echocardiography. Material and Methods Fifty
      six consecutive patients, suspected of PH after an echocardiography, were
      assessed with right heart catheterization and cardiac MRI (including a high
      temporal resolution pulmonary flow curve). We extracted from the MRI data the
      main parameters proposed by all precedent studies available in the literature. We
      looked for multivariate linear relations between those parameters and the mean
      pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), and eventually assessed with a logit
      regression the ability of those parameters to diagnose PH in our population.
      Results The multivariate model retained only two parameters: the right ventricle
      ejection fraction and the pulmonary trunk minimum area. The prediction of mPAP
      (r2 = 0.5) yielded limits of agreement of 15 mmHg. However, the prediction of PH
      within the population was feasible and the method yielded a specificity of 80%
      for a sensitivity of 100%. Conclusion The performance of MRI to assess mPAP is
      too low to be used as a replacement for right heart catheterization but MRI could
      be used as second line examination after echocardiography to avoid right heart
      catheterization for normal patients.

PMID- 28595489
TI  - A Brain Model of Disturbed Self-Appraisal in Depression.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A disturbed sense of self is a core feature of depression. The medial
      prefrontal cortex, which has a central role in self-appraisal processes, is often
      implicated in the illness, although it remains unclear how functional alterations
      of the region contribute to the observed disturbances. The aim of this study was
      to clarify the role of the medial prefrontal cortex in self-appraisal processes
      in depression. METHOD: The authors applied a recently developed dynamic network
      model of self-directed cognition to functional MRI data from 71 adolescents and
      young adults with moderate to severe major depressive disorder, none of whom were
      being treated with medication, and 88 healthy control participants. Bayesian
      model averaging was used to determine parameter estimates for the dynamic causal
      models, which were compared between groups. RESULTS: While self-directed
      cognitive processes in the depression group were shown to rely on the same
      dynamic network as in the healthy control group, the medial prefrontal cortex had
      a "hyperregulatory" effect on the posterior cingulate cortex in the depressed
      group, with self-appraisal causing significantly more negative modulation of
      connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate
      cortex than in the control group (odds ratio=0.54, 95% CI=0.38, 0.77). This
      parameter was significantly inversely related with a depression factor related to
      poor concentration and inner tension (r=-0.32; 95% CI=-0.51, -0.08). CONCLUSIONS:
      The exaggerated influence of the medial prefrontal cortex on the posterior
      cingulate cortex in depression is a neural correlate of the disturbed self
      appraisal that is characteristic of the illness.

PMID- 28595490
TI  - The Protective Effect of Pregnancy on Risk for Drug Abuse: A Population, Co
      Relative, Co-Spouse, and Within-Individual Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine whether pregnancy is an intrinsic
      motivator for cessation of drug abuse. METHOD: The authors conducted prospective
      cohort, co-relative, co-spouse, and within-person analyses of registration for
      drug abuse during pregnancy among Swedish women born between 1980 and 1990 who
      gave birth between ages 20 and 35 (N=149,512). Drug abuse was assessed from
      medical, criminal, and pharmacy registries. RESULTS: In the population, rates of
      drug abuse were lower during pregnancy (unadjusted odds ratio=0.67, 95% CI=0.60,
      0.74). Compared with population results, the negative association between
      pregnancy and drug abuse was moderately stronger in cousins (odds ratio=0.49, 95%
      CI=0.39, 0.62) and substantially stronger in siblings (odds ratio=0.35, 95%
      CI=0.24, 0.51) discordant for pregnancy. The estimated odds ratio for drug abuse
      in pregnancy-discordant monozygotic twins was even stronger, at 0.17 (95%
      CI=0.10, 0.31). Within individuals, the odds ratio for drug abuse while pregnant
      compared with an equivalent prepregnancy interval was similar to that seen in
      pregnancy-discordant monozygotic twins, at 0.22 (95% CI=0.19, 0.26). Compared
      with cohabiting fathers, mothers had a greater reduction in risk for drug abuse
      during pregnancy (odds ratio=0.40, 95% CI=0.34, 0.47). Pregnancy was more
      protective in women with low parental education and without a cohabiting,
      actively drug-abusing father. Compared with prepregnancy baseline, within
      individual analyses indicate that risk for drug abuse is also substantially
      reduced in the postpartum period, for example, the odds ratio for postpartum days
      0-242 was 0.13 (95% CI=0.11, 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: Risk for drug abuse in women is
      substantially reduced during pregnancy. Multiple analyses suggest that this
      association is largely causal, suggesting that pregnancy is indeed a strong
      intrinsic motivator for drug abuse cessation. Similar strong protective effects
      may be present in the immediate postpartum period. Our results have implications
      for our etiologic models of drug abuse and especially for contingency management
      programs seeking to reduce drug abuse risk.

PMID- 28595492
TI  - Current mathematical models for cancer drug discovery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pharmacometric models represent the most comprehensive approaches
      for extracting, summarizing and integrating information obtained in the often
      sparse, limited, and less-than-optimally designed experiments performed in the
      early phases of oncology drug discovery. Whilst empirical methodologies may be
      enough for screening and ranking candidate drugs, modeling approaches are needed
      for optimizing and making economically viable the learn-confirm cycles within an
      oncology research program and anticipating the dose regimens to be investigated
      in the subsequent clinical development. Areas covered: Papers appearing in the
      literature of approximately the last decade reporting modeling approaches
      applicable to anticancer drug discovery have been listed and commented. Papers
      were selected based on the interest in the proposed methodology or in its
      application. Expert opinion: The number of modeling approaches used in the
      discovery of anticancer drugs is consistently increasing and new models are
      developed based on the current directions of research of new candidate drugs.
      These approaches have contributed to a better understanding of new oncological
      targets and have allowed for the exploitation of the relatively sparse
      information generated by preclinical experiments. In addition, they are used in
      translational approaches for guiding and supporting the choice of dosing regimens
      in early clinical development.

PMID- 28595493
TI  - Genetic variation in mitochondrial cox2 of Heterakis gallinarum from poultry in
      Sichuan, China.
AB  - Heterakis gallinarum is one of the common parasitic nematodes found in the caecum
      of poultry. To investigate the genetic diversity and genetic structure of the H.
      gallinarum population in Sichuan, we amplified and sequenced the complete
      mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (cox2) gene of 59 H.
      gallinarum isolates from seven different geographical regions, then analyzed
      their genetic polymorphisms. All cox2 genes of the 59 H. gallinarum isolates were
      696 bp in length, with an average A + T content of 67.1%. Fifty-nine sequences
      contained 34 variable sites, and were classified into 23 haplotypes (HS1-HS23).
      The values of haplotype diversity (Hd) and nucleotide diversity (pi) were 0.688
      and 0.00288, respectively. Based on values of FST and Nm (FST = 0.01929, Nm =
      12.71), there was a frequent gene flow but no significant genetic differentiation
      observed among the populations. The network map showed that the most prominent
      haplotype was HS1, and the other haplotypes (HS2-HS23) were centered on HS1 with
      a star-like topology, indicating that H. gallinarum had previously experienced a
      population expansion. To our knowledge, this is the first research on the
      population genetics of H. gallinarum based on mitochondrial cox2.

PMID- 28595491
TI  - Suicidal Behavior During Lithium and Valproate Treatment: A Within-Individual 8
      Year Prospective Study of 50,000 Patients With Bipolar Disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Conclusions regarding lithium's antisuicidal effect for bipolar
      disorder have been limited due to nonrepresentative subjects and potential
      confounding factors, including varying severity of illness. Findings regarding
      the effect of valproate, the most common alternative to lithium, are inconsistent
      for suicidal behavior. This study investigated the associations of these two
      drugs with the risk of suicide-related events, and possible differences between
      drugs, by using within-individual designs in a register-based longitudinal
      cohort. METHOD: Through linkage of multiple Swedish national registers, 51,535
      individuals with bipolar disorder were followed from 2005 to 2013 for treatment
      with lithium and valproate. Stratified Cox regression was used to estimate the
      hazard ratios of suicide-related events during treated periods compared with
      untreated periods. For significant associations between medication and suicide
      related events, the population attributable fraction was estimated to assess the
      public health impact for patients with bipolar disorder. RESULTS: During follow
      up, 10,648 suicide-related events occurred. The incidence rate was significantly
      decreased by 14% during lithium treatment (hazard ratio 0.86, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 0.78-0.95) but not during valproate treatment (hazard ratio 1.02,
      95% CI 0.89-1.15). The difference in hazard ratios of suicide-related events
      between lithium and valproate was statistically significant. Estimates of the
      population attributable fraction suggested that 12% (95% CI 4%-20%) of suicide
      related events could have been avoided if patients had taken lithium during the
      entire follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that lithium should be
      considered for patients with bipolar disorder with suspected suicidal intentions,
      although risk for suicide is only one of the considerations when providing
      clinical care.

PMID- 28595495
TI  - Lipid Based nanoformulation of lycopene improves oral delivery: formulation
      optimization, ex vivo assessment and its efficacy against breast cancer.
AB  - This study aims at developing an optimised nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) of
      lycopene for efficient absorption following oral administration. The optimised
      formulation showed an average particle size of 121.9 +/- 3.66 nm, polydispersity
      index (PDI) 0.370 +/- 0.97 and zeta potential -29.0 +/- 0.83 mV. Encapsulation
      Efficiency (% EE) and drug loading (% DL) was found to be 84.50% +/- 4.38 and
      9.54% +/- 2.65, respectively. In vitro release studies demonstrated the burst
      release within 4-9 h followed by sustained release over 48 h. The IC50 value of
      lycopene extract and optimised NLC for ABTS+* were found to be 172.37 MUg Trolox
      equivalent and 184.17 MUg Trolox equivalent whereas, for DPPH*, 117.76 MUg Trolox
      equivalent and 143.08 MUg Trolox equivalent respectively. Ex vivo studies and MTT
      assay revealed that the NLC had better permeation and cause sufficiently more
      cytotoxicity as compared to drug extract due to higher bioavailability and
      greater penetration.

PMID- 28595494
TI  - A Psychopathological Comparison between Delusional Disorder and Schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To contribute to a better differential clinical categorisation of
      delusional disorder (DD) versus schizophrenia (SZ) and to add and complete
      evidence from previous clinical studies of DD compared to schizophrenia. METHODS:
      A cross-sectional study using a clinical sample of 275 patients (132 patients
      with DD) was studied. Patients were consecutively attending public clinics
      located in urban and rural areas in both Andalusia and Catalonia (Spain). All
      participants met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for either DD or SZ. Data were
      gathered on sociodemographics, illness duration, Barona-Index estimation of
      intelligence quotient (IQ), and global functioning, along with a thorough
      psychopathological assessment using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale
      (PANSS). Comparisons between both groups were calculated using chi2, Student t,
      and multivariate analysis of covariance tests. RESULTS: Patients with DD were
      older (mean [SD], 50.3 [14.6] years vs. 36.6 [11.1] years; t = 8.597; P <=
      0.0001), were more frequently married (45.4% vs. 10.8%; chi2 = 38.569; P <=
      0.0001), and had a higher mean estimated premorbid IQ (111.4 vs. 105.4; t =
      2.609; P <= 0.01). On the other hand, SZ patients were predominantly male (71.4%
      vs. 48.9%; chi2 = 14.433; P <= 0.0001) and had greater work-related disability
      than DD patients (20.5% vs. 50.3%; chi2 = 19.564; P <= 0.001). Overall, the DD
      group showed a less severe PANSS psychopathology than SZ group. Thus, total mean
      (SD) PANSS scores for schizophrenia and delusional disorder, respectively, were
      76.2 (22.4) versus 54.1 (18.4) ( t = -8.762; P <= 0.0001). Moreover, patients
      with DD showed a better global functioning than those with SZ (62.7 [13.2] vs.
      51.9 [16.9]; F = 44.114; P <= 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: DD is a milder and distinct
      disorder compared to SZ in terms of psychopathology and global functionality.

PMID- 28595497
TI  - Case study - human body relay race.
AB  - This case presentation introduces the work of Heather Lewis, Graphic Designer
      from Birmingham Community Healthcare Foundation Trust, Clinical Illustration
      department. The graphic design team offer professional design solutions in a
      variety of formats such as scientific posters, banners, patient information
      booklets and promotional items. This particular project was requested by the
      Combined Community Dental Service, a Specialist Division in Birmingham.

PMID- 28595496
TI  - Reconstruction of input functions from a dynamic PET image with sequential
      administration of 15O2 and [Formula: see text] for noninvasive and ultra-rapid
      measurement of CBF, OEF, and CMRO2.
AB  - CBF, OEF, and CMRO2 images can be quantitatively assessed using PET. Their image
      calculation requires arterial input functions, which require invasive procedure.
      The aim of the present study was to develop a non-invasive approach with image
      derived input functions (IDIFs) using an image from an ultra-rapid O2 and C15O2
      protocol. Our technique consists of using a formula to express the input using
      tissue curve with rate constants. For multiple tissue curves, the rate constants
      were estimated so as to minimize the differences of the inputs using the multiple
      tissue curves. The estimated rates were used to express the inputs and the mean
      of the estimated inputs was used as an IDIF. The method was tested in human
      subjects ( n = 24). The estimated IDIFs were well-reproduced against the measured
      ones. The difference in the calculated CBF, OEF, and CMRO2 values by the two
      methods was small (<10%) against the invasive method, and the values showed tight
      correlations ( r = 0.97). The simulation showed errors associated with the
      assumed parameters were less than ~10%. Our results demonstrate that IDIFs can be
      reconstructed from tissue curves, suggesting the possibility of using a non
      invasive technique to assess CBF, OEF, and CMRO2.

PMID- 28595499
TI  - Thermal diffusivity and perfusion constants from in vivo MR-guided focussed
      ultrasound treatments: a feasibility study.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study investigates the feasibility of non-invasively determining
      thermal diffusivity (alpha) and the Pennes perfusion parameter (w) from pre
      clinical and clinical magnetic resonance-guided focussed ultrasound (MRgFUS)
      temperature data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pre-clinical MRgFUS experiments were
      performed in rabbit muscle (N = 3, 28 sonications) using three-dimensional MR
      thermometry. Eight sonications were made in a clinical QA phantom with two
      dimensional thermometry. Retrospective property determination was performed on
      clinical uterine fibroid (N = 8, 9 sonications) and desmoid tumour (N = 4, 7
      sonications) data. The property determination method fits an analytical solution
      to MRgFUS temperatures in the coronal MR plane, including all temperatures
      acquired during heating and one cooling image. When possible, additional cooling
      data were acquired for property determination. RESULTS: Rabbit alpha and w from
      Heating Data (alpha = 0.164 mm2s-1, w = 7.9 kg m-3 s-1) and Heating and Cooling
      Data (alpha = 0.146 mm2s-1, w = 3.3 kg m-3 s-1) were within the range of gold
      standard invasive measurements, with >50% reduction in variability by including
      cooling data. QA phantom property determination with cooling data yielded
      properties within 3% of expected values (alpha = 0.144 mm2s-1, w = 0.0 kg m-3 s
      1), a difference that was not statistically significant (p = 0.053). Uterine
      fibroid (Heating Data: alpha = 0.212 mm2s-1, w = 11.0 kg m-3 s-1) and desmoid
      tumour (Heating & Cooling Data: alpha = 0.245 mm2s-1, w = 4.7 kg m-3 s-1)
      properties are feasible but lack independent verification. CONCLUSIONS: Thermal
      diffusivity and the Pennes perfusion parameter can be obtained from in vivo data
      and with clinical MRgFUS protocols. Property values are consistently improved by
      including cooling data. The utility of this property determination method will
      increase as clinical protocols implement improved temperature imaging.

PMID- 28595498
TI  - Associations of smoking with cardiometabolic profile and renal function in a
      Romanian population-based sample from the PREDATORR cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of smoking on morbidity is well known, but in Romania,
      limited data are available regarding the smoking prevalence and relationship with
      cardiometabolic profile and kidney function. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      association of smoking with cardiometabolic traits and kidney function, in a
      Romanian population-based sample from the PREDATORR study. METHODS: PREDATORR was
      an epidemiological cross-sectional study. Between 2012 and 2014, participants
      were randomly selected from the lists of general practitioners and enrolled if
      they were aged 20 to 79 years, born and living in the past 10 years in Romania.
      Sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected through interviewer
      administered questionnaires. RESULTS: Overall, 2704 participants were included in
      the analysis, 18% of them being current smokers and 30.8% former smokers. Current
      smokers compared to non-smokers had higher total cholesterol (220.6 +/- 50.4
      versus 213.9 +/- 86.8 mg/dl, P = 0.017), LDL-cholesterol (137.8 +/- 45.2 versus
      130.7 +/- 83.7 mg/dl, P = 0.004) and glomerular filtration rate (96.9 +/- 16.8
      versus 90.7 +/- 19.1 ml/min/1.73 m2, P <0.001) in women and higher triglycerides
      (170.7 +/- 129.8 versus 144.3 +/- 94.2 mg/dl, P = 0.007), glomerular filtration
      rate (97.6 +/- 17 versus 90.3 +/- 18 ml/min/1.73 m2, P < 0.001) and lower HDL
      cholesterol (48 +/- 15.5 versus 50.4 +/- 14.1 mg/dl, P = 0.002) in men. Active
      smoking was associated with hypercholesterolaemia [OR: 1.40 (95% CI: 1.01-1.96),
      P = 0.04] and low HDL-cholesterolaemia [OR: 1.39 (95% CI: 1.01-1.91), P = 0.04]
      and negatively associated with overweight/obesity [OR: 0.67 (95% CI: 0.48-0.94),
      P = 0.02]. Male former smokers had higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (82.4%
      versus 76.4%, P = 0.02), hypertriglyceridaemia (43.6% versus 35.6%, P = 0.01),
      hypertension (64% versus 56.4%, P = 0.01) and ischaemic vascular disease (40.5%
      versus 30.9%, P = 0.003) than male non-smokers. CONCLUSION: The PREDATORR study
      showed a high prevalence of smoking in the adult Romanian population providing
      data on the association of smoking with cardiometabolic traits.

PMID- 28595500
TI  - The Genus Patrinia: A Review of Traditional Uses, Phytochemical and
      Pharmacological Studies.
AB  - The aim of the present review is to comprehensively outline the botanical
      description, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of
      Patrinia, and to discuss possible trends for the further study of medicinal
      plants from the genus Patrinia. The genus Patrinia plays an important role in
      Asian medicine for the treatment of erysipelas, conjunctival congestion with
      swelling and pain, peri-appendicular abscesses, lung carbuncle, dysentery,
      leucorrhea, and postpartum disease. More than 210 chemical constituents have been
      isolated and identified from Patrinia plants, especially P. scabiosaefolia
      Fisch., P. scabra Bunge, P. villosa Juss., P. heterophylla Bunge and P.
      rupestris(Pall.) Juss[Formula: see text] Of these compounds, triterpenoids and
      saponins, iridoids, flavonoids, and lignans are the major or active constituents.
      Both in vitro and in vivo studies have indicated that some monomer compounds and
      crude extracts from the genus Patrinia possess wide pharmacological activities,
      including antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral effects. In
      addition, they have been shown to have valuable and positive effects on the
      immune and nervous system in experimental animals. There are also some reports on
      the clinical uses and toxicity of these species. However, few reports have been
      published concerning the material identification or quality control of Patrinia
      species, and the clinical uses and toxic effects of these plants are relatively
      sparse. More attention must be given to these issues.

PMID- 28595501
TI  - Astragaloside IV Inhibits Membrane Ca[Formula: see text] Current but Enhances
      Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca[Formula: see text] Release.
AB  - Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is one of the active ingredients in Astragalus
      membrananceus (Huangqi), a traditional Chinese medicine. The present study
      investigated the effects of AS-IV on Ca[Formula: see text] handling in cardiac
      myocytes to elucidate its possible mechanism in the treatment of cardiac disease.
      The results showed that AS-IV at 1 and 10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M
      reduced KCl-induced [Ca[Formula: see text]]i increase ([Formula: see text] from
      1.33[Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]0.04 (control,
      [Formula: see text] 28) to 1.22[Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula:
      see text]0.02 ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] 29) and 1.22[Formula: see
      text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]0.02 ([Formula: see text] 0.01,
      [Formula: see text]), but it enhanced Ca[Formula: see text] release from SR
      ([Formula: see text] from 1.04[Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text]0.01 (control, [Formula: see text]) to 1.44[Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text][Formula: see text]0.03 ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and
      1.60[Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]0.04 ([Formula: see
      text] 0.01, [Formula: see text]0), in H9c2 cells. Similar results were obtained
      in native cardiomyocytes. AS-IV at 1 and 10[Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text]M inhibited L-type Ca[Formula: see text] current ([Formula: see text] from
      [Formula: see text]4.42[Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text]0.58 pA/pF of control to [Formula: see text]2.25[Formula: see text][Formula:
      see text][Formula: see text]0.12 pA/pF ([Formula: see text] 0.01, [Formula: see
      text] 5) and [Formula: see text]1.78[Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text][Formula: see text]0.28 pA/pF ([Formula: see text] 0.01, [Formula: see text]
      5) respectively, when the interference of [Ca[Formula: see text]]i was eliminated
      due to the depletion of SR Ca[Formula: see text] store by thapsigargin, an
      inhibitor of Ca[Formula: see text] ATPase. Moreover, when BAPTA, a rapid
      Ca[Formula: see text] chelator, was used, CDI (Ca[Formula: see text]-dependent
      inactivation) of [Formula: see text] was eliminated, and the inhibitory effects
      of AS-IV on ICaL were significantly reduced at the same time. These results
      suggest that AS-IV affects Ca[Formula: see text] homeostasis through two opposite
      pathways: inhibition of Ca[Formula: see text] influx through L-type Ca[Formula:
      see text] channel, and promotion of Ca[Formula: see text] release from SR.

PMID- 28595503
TI  - Histology in 3D: development of an online interactive student resource on
      epithelium.
AB  - Epithelium is an important and highly specialised tissue type that makes up the
      lining of inner and outer surfaces of the human body. It is proposed that a self
      study tool adds to efficient learning and lecturing on this complicated topic in
      medical curricula. This paper describes the development and evaluation of an
      online interactive 3D resource on epithelium for undergraduate medical students.
      A first evaluation was carried out by means of an online survey (n = 37). The
      resource was evaluated positively on the website in general, its visual contents
      and its value and potential for the medical curriculum.

PMID- 28595502
TI  - The importance of trait emotional intelligence and feelings in the prediction of
      perceived and biological stress in adolescents: hierarchical regressions and
      fsQCA models.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to analyze the combined effects of trait emotional
      intelligence (EI) and feelings on healthy adolescents' stress. Identifying the
      extent to which adolescent stress varies with trait emotional differences and the
      feelings of adolescents is of considerable interest in the development of
      intervention programs for fostering youth well-being. To attain this goal, self
      reported questionnaires (perceived stress, trait EI, and positive/negative
      feelings) and biological measures of stress (hair cortisol concentrations, HCC)
      were collected from 170 adolescents (12-14 years old). Two different
      methodologies were conducted, which included hierarchical regression models and a
      fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results support trait EI
      as a protective factor against stress in healthy adolescents and suggest that
      feelings reinforce this relation. However, the debate continues regarding the
      possibility of optimal levels of trait EI for effective and adaptive emotional
      management, particularly in the emotional attention and clarity dimensions and
      for female adolescents.

PMID- 28595504
TI  - Differential Relationships Between Diabetes Knowledge Scales and Diabetes
      Outcomes.
AB  - Background Diabetes affects more than 29 million people in the US and requires
      daily self-management in addition to knowledge of the disease. Three knowledge
      assessments used are the Michigan Brief Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT), Starr
      County Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ), and Kaiser DISTANCE Survey
      (DISTANCE). Purpose The purpose of the study was to test the discriminate
      validity of 3 diabetes knowledge scales and determine which is best associated
      with diabetes self-care and glycemic control. Methods Three hundred sixty-one
      adults with type 2 diabetes were recruited from primary care clinics. Four
      analyses were conducted to investigate the validity and relationships of the
      scale: alpha statistic to test internal validity, factor analysis to determine
      how much of the variance was explained, Pearson's correlation between the 3
      scales, and Pearson's correlation between each scale, self-care, and outcomes.
      Results The DKQ had an alpha of 0.75, the DKT had an alpha of 0.49, and DISTANCE
      had an alpha of 0.36. The DKQ was significantly correlated with glycemic control.
      The DKT scale was significantly associated with general diet, the DISTANCE survey
      was significantly associated with exercise, and both DKT and DISTANCE were
      significantly associated with foot care. Conclusion Correlations among the 3
      scales were modest, suggesting the scales are not measuring the same underlying
      construct. These findings indicate that researchers should carefully select
      scales appropriate for study goals or to appropriately capture the information
      being sought to inform practice.

PMID- 28595505
TI  - Wound complications after common femoral vein endophlebectomy: Influence on
      outcome.
AB  - Introduction Venous recanalization of obstructed femoral and iliac veins is
      associated with good results regarding the feasibility and patency rate. If the
      common femoral vein with its inflow vessels is involved, open surgical
      desobliteration or endophlebectomy has been described as a crucial part of the
      intervention. However, when performing the hybrid procedure, a number of specific
      complications have been described. We present our results after venous
      recanalization including an endophlebectomy, focussing on wound complications and
      its impact on outcome. Material and methods A retrospective analysis of
      prospective recorded data of all patients who underwent a hybrid procedure for
      chronic obstruction of iliofemoral veins between 2010 and 2015 was performed. The
      patients were treated by recanalization of the affected veins combined with
      endophlebectomy of the common femoral vein and arteriovenous fistula
      implantation. Data assessment focussed on complications and patency rates.
      Results This study includes 96 patients, thereof 58 females with a mean age of
      44.1 years. The mean procedure time was 344 +/- 140 min (range 124-663). Median
      follow-up time was 12.5 months (2-33 months). Primary patency was 62.5% and
      secondary patency was 90%. Re-intervention due to early occlusion within the
      first 30 post-intervention days was necessary in 37.5% of all cases. Besides
      bleeding complications, wound complications, mainly classified as Szilagyi I,
      occurred in 33% of all patients. A multivariate analysis showed a significant
      impact of wound complications on primary as well as secondary patency rate ( p =
      0.032, respectively 0.015). Conclusion Recanalization of obstructed iliac veins
      and/or the inferior vena cava combined with endophlebectomy of the common femoral
      vein and arteriovenous fistula implantation is a safe and feasible treatment
      option in the post-thrombotic syndrome. As wound complications are a common and
      associated with a significant impact on patency rate, further attempts to improve
      the procedure are crucial.

PMID- 28595507
TI  - Design, Validation, and Clinical Implementation of a Gap-Polymerase Chain
      Reaction Method for alpha-Thalassemia Genotyping Using Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - : alpha-Thalassemia (alpha-thal) is genetically heterogeneous with most cases
      caused by variably sized deletions of the HBA1 and/or HBA2 loci. In this report,
      we describe the development, validation, and implementation of a novel gap
      polymerase chain reaction (gap-PCR)/capillary electrophoresis (CE). METHOD: This
      assay utilizes two multiplex reactions and CE to detect the following deletions: 
      alpha3.7 (rightward), -alpha4.2 (leftward), -(alpha)20.5, - -SEA (Southeast
      Asian), - -MED, - -FIL and - -THAI. Validation studies using 36 previously
      characterized patient samples and plasmid controls demonstrated 100.0% accuracy.
      Following clinical implementation, 423 patients were analyzed over 24 months. Two
      hundred and twenty-seven cases (46.0%) showed abnormal results including
      heterozygous -alpha3.7 (n = 114, 27.0%), homozygous -alpha3.7 (n = 96, 23.0%),
      heterozygous - -SEA (n = 9, 2.0%), heterozygous -alpha 4.2 (n = 5, 1.0%),
      heterozygous - -MED (n = 1, <1.0%), and compound heterozygous -alpha3.7/-alpha4.2
      (n = 2, <1.0%) deletions. Correlation with red blood cell (RBC) parameters showed
      that patients with a deletion of two or more genes were associated with
      significantly lower mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin
      (Hb) (MCH) levels than patients with wild-type results. This novel multiplex gap
      PCR protocol reliably detects the seven most common deletions giving rise to
      alpha-thal. Use of the fluorescently labeled CE method provides for a high
      throughput workflow suitable to a clinical diagnostic laboratory serving a
      multiethnic population.

PMID- 28595508
TI  - Sedative and cardiorespiratory effects of detomidine constant rate infusion in
      sheep.
AB  - The use of sheep in experiments is widespread and is increasing worldwide, and so
      is the need to develop species-specific anaesthetic techniques to ensure animal
      safety. Previous studies have mentioned several protocols involving the
      administration of alpha-2 adrenergic agonists in sheep; however, assessment of
      the efficacy and safety of these infusion techniques is still relatively new.
      Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of detomidine
      constant rate infusion (CRI) in sheep by measuring the cardiovascular and
      respiratory parameters, blood gas variables and sedation scores. Eight adult
      female Santa Ines sheep received 20 ug/kg of detomidine hydrochloride
      intravenously as a bolus loading dose, followed by an infusion rate of 60
      ug/kg/h. The heart rates and respiratory rates changed continuously during the
      CRI period. No arrhythmias were observed. The reduction in arterial partial
      pressure of oxygen (PaO2) was not significant, but one animal showed signs of
      hypoxaemia (minimum PaO2 of 66.9 mmHg). The arterial partial pressure of carbon
      dioxide (PaCO2) increased, but the animals did not become hypercapnic. The
      bicarbonate (HCO3-), pH and base excess (BE) tended towards metabolic alkalosis.
      The cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), cardiac index (CI) and ejection
      fraction (EF%) showed no significant changes. The fractional shortening (FS%)
      decreased slightly, starting at T45min. Sedation scores varied between 3 (0/10)
      after sedation and during recovery and 7 (0/10) during CRI. We concluded that
      administering detomidine at an infusion rate of 60 ug/kg/h in Santa Ines sheep is
      a simple technique that produces satisfactory sedation for minimally invasive
      procedures.

PMID- 28595509
TI  - Rehabilitation for Individuals With Genetic Degenerative Ataxia: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of genetic degenerative ataxia is currently based on
      symptom management and maintenance of function. However, utilization of
      rehabilitation is limited due to a lack of evidence supporting its efficacy.
      OBJECTIVE: This systematic review evaluated rehabilitation interventions for
      individuals with genetic degenerative ataxia. In addition, long-term outcomes
      from rehabilitation and optimal duration and intensity of rehabilitation were
      examined. METHODS: A comprehensive search of 4 databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PEDro,
      and Cochrane) identified randomized, nonrandomized controlled, and cohort studies
      published from inception through to January 2016. The studies included at least
      one measure examining function, ataxia, balance, or gait. Methodological quality
      was assessed with the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council
      (NHMRC) Hierarchy of Evidence and the randomized controlled trials were rated
      according to the PEDro scale. RESULTS: Seventeen studies met eligibility
      criteria. Five randomized controlled trials were included; however, the majority
      were classified as level III-3 and IV studies. Of 292 participants included, 148
      had autosomal dominant ataxia, and 85 had autosomal recessive ataxia.
      Rehabilitation interventions included coordination and balance training,
      multifaceted inpatient rehabilitation, a cycling regime, balance exercises with
      technology assisted biofeedback, respiratory muscle training, and treadmill
      training. Two studies examined adjuncts to rehabilitation. Fifteen of the 17
      studies demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in at least 1
      outcome measuring ataxia, function, gait, or balance. Less than half of the
      studies included assessment of long-term outcomes and follow-up time frames
      varied considerably. CONCLUSION: There is consistent evidence that rehabilitation
      improves function, mobility, ataxia, and balance in genetic degenerative ataxia.

PMID- 28595510
TI  - Young adults HIV-1 infected by vertical transmission in southern Brazil -
      Clinical, demographic, and virological features.
AB  - Combination antiretroviral therapy promotes longer life expectancy, making it
      possible for perinatally HIV-infected patients to achieve adulthood. Past therapy
      was not always optimized, suggesting that virological and host features may also
      play a role in survival. The aim of this study is to describe characteristics of
      HIV disease progression associated with virological features in adolescents
      perinatally that were HIV infected. A case series was conducted including 81
      patients that were in follow-up at Hospital de Clinicas/Universidade Federal do
      Parana, Curitiba, Brazil. Venous blood was collected to conduct tropism and viral
      subtype assays. The median age was 19 years old (interquartile range 18-21), and
      a majority of patients were female (54.3%). Viral subtype was obtained for 66
      (82%) patients, and subtypes B and C were found in 34% and 59%, respectively.
      Tropism assay was conducted in 55 (67%) patients: 71% were R5 and 29% X4.
      Distribution of viral tropism and subtype shows a significant association of
      subtype C with R5 tropism. Subtype C is more prevalent in southern Brazil and
      also in the population infected with HIV by vertical transmission. Both R5
      tropism and subtype C are associated with slower progression to AIDS. The
      survival of these patients may be related to virological features present in a
      benign pattern of disease progression.

PMID- 28595511
TI  - Breast cancer in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): receptor status and
      treatment.
AB  - Objective There is a decreased risk of breast cancer in systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE) versus the general population; little is known regarding the
      receptor status of breast cancers in SLE, or treatment. Methods Breast cancer
      cases occurring after SLE diagnosis were ascertained through linkage with tumor
      registries. We determined breast cancer positivity for estrogen receptors (ER),
      progesterone receptors (PR), and/or Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2
      (HER2), as well as cancer treatment. Results We obtained information on ER, PR,
      and/or HER2 status for 63 SLE patients with breast cancer. Fifty-three had
      information on ER and/or PR status; 36 of these (69%) were ER positive. Thirty
      six of the 63 had information on HER2 status; of these, 26 had complete
      information on all three receptors. Twenty-one of these 26 (81%) were HER2
      negative; seven of 26(27%) were triple negative. All but one patient underwent
      surgery; 11.5% received both non-tamoxifen chemotherapy and radiotherapy, 16.4%
      radiotherapy without non-tamoxifen chemotherapy, and 14.7% received non-tamoxifen
      chemotherapy without radiotherapy. Conclusion ER positivity was similar to
      historical general population figures, with a trend toward a higher proportion of
      triple-negative breast cancers in SLE (possibly reflecting the relatively young
      age of our SLE patients).

PMID- 28595512
TI  - Effects of psychosocial work characteristics on hair cortisol - findings from a
      post-trial study.
AB  - Prolonged work stress, as indicated by the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model,
      jeopardizes health. Cortisol represents a candidate mechanism connecting stress
      to ill health. However, previous findings appear inconclusive, and
      recommendations were made to assess work stress at multiple time points and also
      to investigate ERI (sub-)components. This study therefore examines the effects of
      two single time points, as well as the mean and change scores between time points
      of ERI and its components on hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a long-term
      cortisol measurement. Participants were 66 male factory workers (age: 40.68 +/-
      6.74 years; HCC: 9.00 +/- 7.11 pg/mg), who were followed up after a stress
      management intervention (2006-2008). In 2008 (T1) and 2015 (T2), participants
      completed a 23-item ERI questionnaire, assessing effort, the three reward
      components (esteem, job security, job promotion) and over-commitment. In 2015,
      participants also provided a 3-cm hair segment close to the scalp for HCC
      analysis, as well as information on relevant confounders (i.e. medication intake,
      age, work characteristics, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, number of
      stressful life events). Linear regressions revealed hardly any cross-sectional or
      longitudinal effect of ERI and its components on HCC. Only the change scores
      between T1 and T2 of job security were negatively associated with lower HCC in
      unadjusted (beta = -.320; p = .009) and adjusted (beta = -.288; p = .044) models.
      In this study, only a decrease of perceived job security over time was
      significantly associated with higher HCC, and other predictors were not related
      to this outcome. Especially after correction for multiple testing, this study
      revealed just a weak association of different psychosocial work measurements with
      HCC. Lay summary This study showed that an increase in perceived job insecurity
      is correlated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The higher
      levels of cortisol might represent a biological explanation for the negative
      health effects of job insecurity. The association was, however, relatively low,
      and more and more voices are questioning whether cortisol in hair is a reliable
      marker for perceived work stress.

PMID- 28595513
TI  - Modeling and comparative assessment of bubbling fluidized bed gasification system
      for syngas production - a gateway for a cleaner future in Pakistan.
AB  - The present study explores the potential of MSW gasification for exergy analysis
      and has been recently given a premier attention in a region like Pakistan where
      the urbanization is rapidly growing and resources are few. The plant capacity was
      set at 50 MW based on reference data available and the total exergetic efficiency
      was recorded to be 31.5 MW. The largest irreversibility distribution appears in
      the gasifier followed by methanation unit and CO2 capture. The effect of process
      temperature, equivalence ratio and MSW moisture content was explored for
      inspecting the variations in syngas composition, lower heating value, carbon
      conversion efficiency and cold gas efficiency. Special attention of the paper is
      paid to the comparative assessment of MSW gasification products in four regions,
      namely Pakistan, USA, UAE and Thailand. This extended study gave an insight into
      the spectrum of socioeconomic conditions with varying MSW compositions in order
      to explain the effect of MSW composition variance on the gasification products.

PMID- 28595514
TI  - The incidence and relative risk of pulmonary toxicity in patients treated with
      anti-PD1/PD-L1 therapy for solid tumors: a meta-analysis of current studies.
AB  - AIM: Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against PD-1/PD-L1 have recently
      entered the therapeutic algorithm of several solid tumors. Among treatment
      related adverse events pulmonary toxicity (PT) is of particular interest. We
      assess the incidence and relative risk (RR) of PT in patients treated with anti
      PD1/PD-L1 mAbs. RESULTS: 11 articles were selected. The incidence of any- and
      high-grade PT was low (2.9 and 1.0%, respectively). Compared with standard
      therapies, anti-PD-1 mAbs do not significantly increase the risk of both any
      grade (RR: 2.65; p = 0.06) and high-grade PT (RR: 1.40; p = 0.25). Of note, the
      RR: of developing any-grade (RR: 3.13; p < 0.0001) and high-grade (RR: 2.42; p =
      0.03) PT significantly increased when excluding the Checkmate-025 trial, with
      everolimus as control therapy. No differences were identified between the type of
      mAbs, the tumor type and treatment duration for both any-grade and high-grade PT.

PMID- 28595515
TI  - Trans-sialidase overcomes many antigens to be used as a vaccine candidate against
      Trypanosoma cruzi.
AB  - AIM: The development of vaccines against Trypanosoma cruzi remains in an
      exploratory stage. Despite several antigen candidates have been evaluated, a
      comparison among the performance of the immunogens cannot be carried out because
      the available reports differ in formulations and infection model. In this work,
      we compared the protective capacity of seven T. cruzi antigens in the same model
      of five new antigens and two well-established candidates. Materials & methods: We
      evaluated highly immunogenic proteins that contain tandem repeats (FRA [flagelar
      repetitive protein], Tc3, Tc6); enzymes involved in metabolic pathways critical
      for parasite survival (cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase and tryparedoxin
      peroxidase); and enzymes involved in parasite invasion (trans-sialidase [TS] and
      cruzipain). All these antigens were formulated with Freund's adjuvant and
      protection against the parasite infection was assessed in BALB/c mice. RESULTS:
      Tc3, cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase, cruzipain and TS showed the best outcome
      after infection in survival level and parasitemia. According to these data, these
      groups were also assessed using the ISCOMATRIXTM adjuvant which is being used in
      clinical trials. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results showed that the TS
      overcomes the performance of other antigens when the same model is employed,
      confirming that TS is a promising antigen that could be used as a vaccine against
      T. cruzi.

PMID- 28595517
TI  - Immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer: present and future.
AB  - Despite the identification of some efficient drugs for the treatment of
      metastatic pancreatic cancer, this tumor remains one of the most lethal cancers
      and is characterized by a strong resistance to therapies. Pancreatic cancer has
      some unique features including the presence of a microenvironment filled with
      immunosuppressive mediators and a dense stroma, which is both a physical barrier
      to drug penetration and a dynamic entity involved in immune system control.
      Therefore, the immune system has been hypothesized to play an important role in
      pancreatic cancer. Thus, therapies acting on innate or adaptive immunity are
      being investigated. Here, we review the literature, report the most interesting
      results and hypothesize future treatment directions.

PMID- 28595516
TI  - Cellular immunotherapy of cancer: an overview and future directions.
AB  - The clinical success of checkpoint inhibitors has led to a renaissance of
      interest in cancer immunotherapies. In particular, the possibility of ex vivo
      expanding autologous lymphocytes that specifically recognize tumor cells has
      attracted much research and clinical trial interest. In this review, we discuss
      the historical background of tumor immunotherapy using cell-based approaches, and
      provide some rationale for overcoming current barriers to success of autologous
      immunotherapy. An overview of adoptive transfer of lymphocytes, tumor
      infiltrating lymphocytes and dendritic cell therapies is provided. We conclude
      with discussing the possibility of gene-manipulating immune cells in order to
      augment therapeutic activity, including silencing of the immune-suppressive zinc
      finger orphan nuclear receptor, NR2F6, as an attractive means of overcoming tumor
      associated immune suppression.

PMID- 28595518
TI  - Humanization of chimeric anti-CD20 antibody by logical and bioinformatics
      approach with retention of biological activity.
AB  - AIM: To develop a fully bioactive humanized antibody from the chimeric rituximab
      for potential clinical applications using a relatively simpler and faster logical
      and bioinformatics approach. METHODS: From bioinformatics data, mismatched mouse
      amino acids in variable light and heavy chain amphipathic regions were identified
      and substituted with those common to human antibody framework. Appropriate
      synthetic DNA sequences inserted into vectors were transfected into HEK293 cells
      to produce the humanized antibody. RESULTS: Humanized antibodies showed specific
      binding to CD20 and greater cytotoxicity to cancer WIL2-NS cell proliferation
      than rituximab in vitro. CONCLUSION: A humanized version of rituximab with
      potential to be developed into a biobetter for treatment of B-cell disorders has
      been successfully generated using a logical and bioinformatics approach.

PMID- 28595519
TI  - T-cell-associated immunotherapy: a promising strategy for the treatment of
      hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28595520
TI  - A case of fulminant Type 1 diabetes following anti-PD1 immunotherapy in a
      genetically susceptible patient.
AB  - Programmed cell death-1 protein (PD-1) is an immune checkpoint that has gained
      popularity in the treatment of several advanced cancers. Inhibiting this
      checkpoint is known to enhance immune response, but is also known to diminish
      immune tolerance and to increase autoimmune toxicity. We discuss a case of rapid
      onset fulminant Type 1 diabetes induced by treatment with anti-programmed cell
      death-1 monoclonal antibody, nivolumab, in a patient with late-stage non-small
      cell lung adenocarcinoma. The patient had no history of previous diabetes but did
      reveal a high-risk genotype for Type 1 diabetes development (DR3-DQ2; DR4-DQ8).
      This finding supports that acute Type 1 diabetes can be an important adverse
      effect of immunotherapies targeting T-cell activation regulation. Because of the
      severity of this adverse effect, physicians should be aware of it, and studies
      directed to the detection of new biomarkers for early risk stratification (e.g.,
      HLA) should be sought.

PMID- 28595521
TI  - A Comparative Study on Selective PPAR Modulators through Quantitative Structure
      activity Relationship, Pharmacophore and Docking Analyses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome is a matrix of different metabolic disorders which
      are the leading cause of death in human beings. Peroxysome proliferated activated
      receptor (PPAR) is a nuclear receptor involved in metabolism of fats and glucose.
      OBJECTIVE: In order to explore structural requirements for selective PPAR
      modulators to control lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, the multi
      cheminformatics studies have been performed. METHODS: In silico modeling studies
      have been performed on a diverse set of PPAR modulators through quantitative
      structure-activity relationship (QSAR), pharmacophore mapping and docking
      studies. RESULTS: It is observed that the presence of an amide fragment (
      CONHRPh) has a detrimental effect while an aliphatic ether linkage has a
      beneficial effect on PPARalpha modulation. On the other hand, the presence of an
      amide fragment has a positive effect on PPARdelta modulation, but the aliphatic
      ether linkage and substituted aromatic ring in the molecular scaffold are very
      much essential for imparting potent and selective PPARgamma modulation. Negative
      ionizable features (i.e. polar fragments) must be present in PPARdelta and alpha
      modulators, but a hydrophobic feature is the prime requirement for PPARgamma
      modulation. CONCLUSION: Here, the essential structural features have been
      explored for selective modulation of each subtype of PPAR in order to design new
      modulators with improved activity/selectivity.

PMID- 28595524
TI  - EPC dysfunction and immune networks: translating opportunities for the clinical
      setting in personalized medicine.
AB  - Cardiovascular (CV) risk stratification is suboptimal if solely based on
      traditional CV risk factors, since individuals with similar risk profiles could
      exhibit diverging CV outcomes. Thus, there is a need for new risk factors to be
      identified and implemented. Recent studies emphasize the relevance of the
      endothelial homeostasis in the control of CV risk burden, but the clinical
      relevance of these findings is starting to be appreciated. However, gaining
      insight into the actual players involved in this phenomenon would lead to the
      identification of novel biomarkers. Due to their central role in vascular repair,
      Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPC) are promising candidates for this issue. Since
      excessive inflammation or imbalanced immune responses are known to underlie
      numerical or functional alterations of EPC, it can be speculated that these
      mediators may be considered as biomarkers for risk stratification. Actually, a
      mounting body of evidence seems to point to an inflammation-driven traditional CV
      risk factors-related EPC dysfunction. Therefore, in the present review we
      summarized the evidence highlighting a link between inflammation and immune
      pathways with a compromised EPC functionality, aiming to identify feasible
      biomarkers for risk stratification in personalized medicine schemes.

PMID- 28595522
TI  - Implementation of Dynamic Lighting in a Nursing Home: Impact on Agitation but not
      on Rest-Activity Patterns.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Disturbances of circadian rest-activity rhythms in demented patients
      often culminate in the clinical problem of evening and nighttime agitation. The
      aim of the current study was to test the impact of a dynamic lighting system on
      agitation and rest-activity cycles in patients with dementia. METHODS: From
      midwinter on, a ceiling mounted dynamic lighting system was installed in the
      common room of a nursing home and programmed to produce high illuminance with
      higher blue light proportions during the day and lower illuminance without blue
      light in the evening. Fifteen residents with dementia were regularly assessed
      with the Cohen Mansfield Agitation Index (CMAI) before and after the lighting
      intervention. Additionally rest-activity cycles were continuously monitored for 6
      months by a wrist worn activity watch. Analysis of CMAI data was performed by
      using the Wilcoxon-Test for matched pairs (before vs. after the lighting
      installation). Rest-activity data was compared with t-tests for dependent
      samples. The dynamic lighting significantly reduced the CMAI sum-scores from
      30.2+/-5.1 to 27.9+/-2.6 (mean +/- SD; N = 12; p<0.05). Analysis of the CMAI
      subscores revealed that under the dynamic lighting mainly non-physically
      aggressive behaviors were reduced. RESULTS: Results from the rest-activity
      analysis did not show differences of circadian amplitude and other circadian
      variables before and after the lighting installation. The dynamic lighting in the
      living room significantly reduced agitated behavior in demented patients,
      indicating short-term benefits from higher daily light exposures. Whether such
      lighting also impacts long-term (circadian) rest-activity cycles needs to be
      further investigated.

PMID- 28595523
TI  - Blue-Enriched Lighting for Older People Living in Care Homes: Effect on Activity,
      Actigraphic Sleep, Mood and Alertness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Environmental (little outdoor light; low indoor lighting) and age
      related physiological factors (reduced light transmission through the ocular
      lens, reduced mobility) contribute to a light-deprived environment for older
      people living in care homes. METHODS: This study investigates the effect of
      increasing indoor light levels with blue-enriched white lighting on objective
      (rest-activity rhythms, performance) and self-reported (mood, sleep, alertness)
      measures in older people. Eighty residents (69 female), aged 86 +/- 8 yrs (mean
      +/- SD), participated (MMSE 19 +/- 6). Overhead fluorescent lighting was
      installed in communal rooms (n=20) of seven care homes. Four weeks of blue
      enriched white lighting (17000 K ? 900 lux) were compared with four weeks of
      control white lighting (4000 K ? 200 lux), separated by three weeks wash-out.
      Participants completed validated mood and sleep questionnaires, psychomotor
      vigilance task (PVT) and wore activity and light monitors (AWL). Rest-activity
      rhythms were assessed by cosinor, non-parametric circadian rhythm (NPCRA) and
      actigraphic sleep analysis. Blue-enriched (17000 K) light increased wake time and
      activity during sleep decreasing actual sleep time, sleep percentage and sleep
      efficiency (p < 0.05) (actigraphic sleep). Compared to 4000 K lighting, blue
      enriched 17000 K lighting significantly (p < 0.05) advanced the timing of
      participants' rest-activity rhythm (cosinor), increased daytime and night-time
      activity (NPCRA), reduced subjective anxiety (HADA) and sleep quality (PSQI).
      There was no difference between the two light conditions in daytime alertness and
      performance (PVT). CONCLUSION: Blue-enriched lighting produced some positive
      (increased daytime activity, reduced anxiety) and negative (increased night-time
      activity, reduced sleep efficiency and quality) effects in older people.

PMID- 28595525
TI  - Obesity-Induced Hypertension: New Insights.
AB  - BACKGROUND: New insights on the relationship between weight loss and hypertension
      and the role of the newly approved anti-obesity drugs on hypertension will be
      discussed Methods: Weight loss is a major factor to reduce blood pressure when a
      patient with excess weight is advised from the health care provider to change his
      lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle with reduction in body weight, reduction in
      caloric intake, increased fruit and vegetables consumption and reduced salt
      intake concomitant with an increase in physical exercise can reduce body weight
      and hypertension in overweight and obese patients, but not all obese are able to
      reduce their blood pressure and lose weight without treatment and special dietary
      care. Moreover, most obese people lose weight for a small period and then they
      regain all the weight that they have lost or even worse, they increase their
      weight more than before starting a diet. Newly-approved weight loss drugs have
      variable actions on high blood pressure. Liraglutide and phentermine/topiramate
      seem to reduce hypertension, while after the bupropion/naltrexone or lorcaserin
      use trials reported a rise in blood pressure. CONCLUSION: Reduction in body
      weight with treatment is not always associated with reduction in obesity induced
      hypertension. Weight loss treatments that exhibit sympathomimetic or adrenergic
      actions should be used with care and for short periods of time.

PMID- 28595526
TI  - Sarcopenia: An Overview on Current Definitions, Diagnosis and Treatment.
AB  - Sarcopenia, the progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and
      strength/function associated with aging, increases the risk of a vast array of
      adverse health outcomes, including falls, morbidity, loss of independence,
      disability, and mortality. As such, sarcopenia poses a huge socioeconomic burden
      in developed countries. The development and implementation of effective
      interventions against sarcopenia are therefore a public health priority. A
      preliminary, fundamental step in such a process entails the agreement of
      researchers, healthcare professionals and policymakers around a unique
      operational definition of sarcopenia. This will facilitate the framing of a clear
      clinical entity to be incorporated in standard practice, the understanding of the
      underlying pathophysiology, and the identification of biological targets for drug
      development.

PMID- 28595527
TI  - Creatine Supplementation and Skeletal Muscle Metabolism for Building Muscle Mass-
      Review of the Potential Mechanisms of Action.
AB  - Creatine, a very popular supplement among athletic populations, is of growing
      interest for clinical applications. Since over 90% of creatine is stored in
      skeletal muscle, the effect of creatine supplementation on muscle metabolism is a
      widely studied area. While numerous studies over the past few decades have shown
      that creatine supplementation has many favorable effects on skeletal muscle
      physiology and metabolism, including enhancing muscle mass (growth/hypertrophy);
      the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This report reviews studies
      addressing the mechanisms of action of creatine supplementation on skeletal
      muscle growth/hypertrophy. Early research proposed that the osmotic effect of
      creatine supplementation serves as a cellular stressor (osmosensing) that acts as
      an anabolic stimulus for protein synthesis signal pathways. Other reports
      indicated that creatine directly affects muscle protein synthesis via modulations
      of components in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Creatine may
      also directly affect the myogenic process (formation of muscle tissue), by
      altering secretions of myokines, such as myostatin and insulin-like growth factor
      1, and expressions of myogenic regulatory factors, resulting in enhanced
      satellite cells mitotic activities and differentiation into myofiber. Overall,
      there is still no clear understanding of the mechanisms of action regarding how
      creatine affects muscle mass/growth, but current evidence suggests it may exert
      its effects through multiple approaches, with converging impacts on protein
      synthesis and myogenesis.

PMID- 28595528
TI  - Type 1 Diabetes Treatments Based on Stem Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More than a decade ago, a new research field named Stem Cell Therapy
      emerged in Health Science. Initially, it was considered that cells owned a
      differentiation capability; however, this dogma has changed when new results have
      been published regarding the ability of the cells to differentiate into different
      cell tissue mainly due to the novel reprogramming strategies. Accordingly, cells
      from an adult tissue source may be potentially capable of originating cells of a
      very different cell type. The possibility of transplanting these cells into
      damaged organs has triggered many studies to understand the plasticity of stem
      cells. Today, we have a deeper knowledge about stem cells, however still many
      questions, especially about the mechanism of action, that needs to be answered.
      The benefit of stem cells after transplantation has been demonstrated
      experimentally and also in some cases clinically; however, the extent of stem
      cell contribution in transplanted tissue has been found to be low and a large
      number of evidence indicates that a trophic effect should play an important role
      in such benefit. A better understanding of the paracrine mechanisms involved in
      this process could be of great relevance in order to focus studies on endogenous
      cells to direct their function towards the regeneration of damaged tissue. In
      addition, even more sophisticated methods of reprogramming and cell
      transplantation have been initiated in combination with bioengineering techniques
      in order to enhance the potential of these cells. CONCLUSION: In the present
      review, we will overview the studies on stem cell and their effects in the
      treatment of diabetes in order to discuss the questions generated about their
      origin and the mechanisms that are involved in their reparative properties.

PMID- 28595529
TI  - Development and Optimization by Quality by Design Strategies of Frovatriptan
      Orally Disintegrating Tablets for Migraine Management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frovatriptan is a potent anti-migraine agent with unfavourable slow
      onset of action, available on the market as film-coated tablets. OBJECTIVE:
      Optimization, by Quality by Designs strategies, of an orally disintegrating
      tablet (ODT) formulation of frovatriptan aimed to make its oral administration
      easier and its dissolution faster than the commercial tablets, thus improving its
      effectiveness in migraine management. METHOD: A screening D-optimal design was
      applied to investigate the effects of different levels of kind and amount of ODT
      special excipient and disintegrant agents (identified as the critical variables)
      on disintegration time (DT) and % drug dissolved at 30 s (%Diss), selected as the
      responses to optimize. The best excipients combination, emerged by the screening
      step, was in-depth investigated by a Response Surface Methodology. RESULTS: A
      design space was defined where every combination of the selected variables
      fulfilled the required values for the responses with P >= 95%. In particular, the
      optimized formulation (Pharmaburst(r) 60% and Na alginate 15%), showed DT =
      1.62+/-0.08 s and %Diss= 9.02+/-0.47%, with good agreement between measured and
      calculated values. Moreover, the developed ODT complied with the USP uniformity
      weight and drug content requirements, exhibited proper hardness and low
      friability, and provided 100 % dissolved drug within 5 min. CONCLUSION: A
      frovatriptan ODT formulation was successfully developed by Quality by Design. It
      represents an effective alternative to conventional tablets, allowing easier oral
      administration (also to paediatric and geriatric people) and very faster drug
      dissolution, enhancing patient compliance and facilitating an earlier treatment
      of migraine attacks.

PMID- 28595530
TI  - Encapsulation of Solid Dispersion in Solid Lipid Particles for Dissolution
      Enhancement of Poorly Water-Soluble Drug.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this research was to engineer solid dispersion lipid
      particles (SDSLs) in which a solid dispersion (SD) was encapsulated to form the
      core of solid lipid particles (SLs), thereby achieving an efficient enhancement
      in the dissolution of a poorly water-soluble drug. METHODS: Ultrasonication was
      introduced into the process to obtain micro/nanoscale SLs. The mechanism of
      dissolution enhancement was investigated by analysing the crystalline structure,
      molecular interactions, and particle size of the formulations. RESULTS: The drug
      release from the SD-SLs was significantly greater than that from the SD or SLs
      alone. This enhancement in drug release was dependent on the preparation method
      and the drug-topolymer ratio of the SD. With an appropriate amount of polymer in
      the SD, the solidification method had the potential to alter the drug
      crystallinity to an amorphous state, resulting in particle uniformity and
      molecular interactions in the SD-SLs. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed system provides a
      new strategy for enhancing the dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble drugs and
      further improving their bioavailability.

PMID- 28595531
TI  - Repurposed Drugs as Potential Therapeutic Candidates for the Management of
      Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drug repurposing is an innovative approach as it provides new
      indications for already approved and established drugs. Due to high failure rates
      and cost involved in traditional drug development procedures, many pharmaceutical
      companies are primarily focusing on drug repurposing strategy. In Alzheimer
      disease (AD), existing therapeutic agents only provide symptomatic benefits and
      does not play a role in disease modification, therefore, an alternative strategy
      of repurposing can be used to inhibit neurodegeneracy process and other
      pathological complications. This review discusses the beneficial effects of
      available licensed drug compounds which can be used as repurposed drugs for the
      treatment of AD. Moreover, it includes a brief overview of current treatment
      strategies, including therapies based on nanotechnology and their limitations.
      METHODS: We attempted an organized scan of peer-reviewed research articles
      pertinent to licensed drugs that showed beneficial effects in Alzheimer's
      pathology. Our search includes in vitro studies, epidemiological data and
      clinical trials. In fact, we have collected, scrutinized, analyzed and discussed
      all the data that suggested the plausible application of repurposed drugs for the
      treatment of AD. RESULTS: Cholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl-D-Aspartate
      receptor antagonist are available options to improve the cognitive functions of
      Alzheimer's patients. These drugs only help in balancing disturbed level of
      neurotransmitters and are not helpful in disease modification. On the other hand,
      the nanotechnological based approach has promised to solve some challenges, but
      has certain limitations such as biocompatibility issues, therefore, it requires
      an extensive amount of research work. As our main emphasis was on repurposed
      drugs, we have performed an extensive review of articles to identify compounds
      that have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the
      treatment of diseases other than Alzheimer's but might have an impact on AD
      modification based on clinical evidences. Amyloid clearance, tau pathology and
      anti-inflammatory mechanisms are potential factors that are taken into
      consideration for disease modification. In addition, the role of bioinformatics
      and in silico drug repurposing strategy is crucial in the field of drug research,
      and plays a significant role in the identification of potential repurposed drugs.
      Thus, we have also mentioned several drug repurposing computational tools that
      are robust and can predict reliable results based on available gene expression
      data. DISCUSSION: The major advantage of repurposing strategy is the
      identification of drug compounds with known mechanism of action, toxicology
      information and pharmacodynamics profiles; hence, less time is required for
      devising AD modification treatment. There are some issues as well with this
      method, which can be resolved by extending our research in this domain.
      CONCLUSION: AD is incurable, and there is an urgent need to find new treatments,
      as it is affecting the number of families and society overall. The drug
      repurposing approach is gaining attention in the pharmaceutical world, as it can
      substantially reduce the time and cost required to advance any treatment to the
      stage of clinical trials..

PMID- 28595532
TI  - Pharmacological and Toxicological Profile of Harmane-beta-Carboline Alkaloid:
      Friend or Foe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The plant secondary metabolites have an outstanding therapeutic
      potential and success over the years. In fact, it is the foundation of numerous
      clinically used drugs. Similarly, these is a general perception that these
      products are inherent safety. However, such products might have toxic/unwanted
      lethal effects therefore, along with biological relevance, toxicological
      evaluation is equally important for clinical applications. Therefore, harmane-
      beta-carboline alkaloid was investigated for both therapeutic and toxicological
      potential. METHODS: The literature related to the therapeutic/toxicological
      effects of the alkaloid was searched using various scientific data bases
      including Google, ScienceDirect, PubMed, SpringerLink, ASC. The peer reviewed
      articles were only selected. RESULTS: The harmane-beta-carboline alkaloid has
      shown several pharmacological activities such as antianxiety, antidepressant,
      antiplatelet, antidiabetic, acetylcholinesterase and myeloperoxidase inhibition,
      antioxidant, antiparasitic, hypotensive, morphine withdrawal syndrome
      alleviation, and antinociceptive effects. On the other hand, it exhibited
      tremorogenic effect, for a symptom of Parkinson's disease. Adverse effect of the
      alkaloid on learning and memory have also been observed. CONCLUSIONS: All
      together, it is, concluded in this review that harmane elicited marked
      pharmacological effects but simultaneously, it possessed some serious side
      effects that could be the primary hurdle in the way of its clinical testing.

PMID- 28595533
TI  - Recent Advances of Computational Modeling for Predicting Drug Metabolism: A
      Perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion (ADME) properties
      along with drug induced adverse effects are the major reasons for the late stage
      failure of drug candidates as well as the cause for the expensive withdrawal of
      many approved drugs from the market. Considering the adverse effects of drugs,
      metabolism factor has great importance in medicinal chemistry and clinical
      pharmacology because it influences the deactivation, activation, detoxification
      and toxification of drugs. METHODS: Computational methods are effective
      approaches to reduce the number of safety issues by analyzing possible links
      between chemical structures and metabolism followed by adverse effects, as they
      serve the integration of information on several levels to enhance the reliability
      of outcomes. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In silico profiling of drug metabolism can
      help progress only those molecules along the discovery chain that is less likely
      to fail later in the drug discovery process. This positively impacts the very
      high costs of drug discovery and development. Understanding the science behind
      computational tools, their opportunities, and limitations is essential to make a
      true influence on drug discovery at different levels. If applied in a
      scientifically consequential way, computational tools may improve the capability
      to identify and evaluate potential drug molecules considering pharmacokinetic
      properties of drugs. CONCLUSION: Herein, current trends in computational modeling
      for predicting drug metabolism are reviewed highlighting new computational tools
      for drug metabolism prediction followed by reporting large and integrated
      databases of approved drugs associated with diverse metabolism issues.

PMID- 28595534
TI  - A Review on Pharmacokinetics of Levetiracetam in Neonates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal seizures are the most common clinical manifestation of
      Central Nervous System (CNS) dysfunction and are associated with various
      neurological sequelae. There are currently no evidence-based guidelines for the
      management of neonatal seizures and currently used drugs such as phenobarbital,
      and phenytoin have limited efficacy and potential toxicities. Newer second line
      anticonvulsant, levetiracetam, has been used in refractory neonatal seizures
      despite limited data and off-label use. OBJECTIVE: In this review, we will
      discuss various pharmacological properties of levetiracetam when used in neonatal
      population. METHODS: A PubMed search for MEDLINE was undertaken to look for
      studies using the terms "Levetiracetam", AND "Neonates" as key words from year
      1995 to January 2017. Relevant articles were selected and information was
      extracted about pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and clinical uses of
      levetiracetam in neonates. RESULTS: Levetiracetam is an active, water-soluble S
      enantiomer of racemic pyrrolidine acetamide which exerts its antiepileptic action
      by binding to the synaptic vesicle protein within the brain. Metabolism of
      levetiracetam does not include the CYP P450 system and it is mainly eliminated
      through kidneys after rapid absorption. Also, no significant interactions with
      other drugs have been identified. Unlike other commonly used antiepileptic drugs,
      levetiracetam is not bound to plasma proteins, thereby, reducing the chances of
      toxicity and severe, life threatening side effects have not been reported. In
      fact, it has been shown to prevent neuro-degeneration after hypoxia/ischemia in
      rodent models of epilepsy. CONCLUSION: Levetiracetam has been emerging as a
      potential therapeutic option for refractory neonatal convulsions owing to its non
      hepatic elimination, linear pharmacokinetics, low protein binding and better
      safety profile.

PMID- 28595535
TI  - Current Evidence and Future Perspectives on Anti-platelet and Statin
      Pharmacotherapy for Patients with Symptomatic Peripheral Arterial Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pharmacotherapy is of increasing interest in peripheral arterial
      disease (PAD), with novel therapies aiming at different factors contributing to
      the disease. For antiplatelet therapy, there is no unanimous agreement regarding
      the nature or duration of optimal antiplatelet therapy so as to reduce major
      adverse cardiovascular and limb-related events (e.g. repeat interventions and
      amputations). However, evidence on novel more potent antithrombotic agents, drug
      combinations and personalized antiplatelet therapy for PAD patients is
      accumulating. Similarly, statins are now considered as a standard of care in PAD
      patients, due to their multiple actions which include plaque stabilization,
      antiinflammatory properties and regression of atheroma. CONCLUSION: This review
      focuses on current evidence available for various antiplatelet regimens and
      statin therapy for PAD and discusses future perspectives. We consider randomized
      controlled trials, together with the most important reviews and meta-analyses.
      Treatment algorithms based on currently available data.

PMID- 28595537
TI  - Capillaroscopic Findings in Primary Fibromyalgia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP) is observed in a significant
      proportion of patients with primary fibromyalgia, the available data on
      capillaroscopic findings in primary fibromyalgia are scarce. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of the study was to assess the capillaroscopic pattern in patients with
      primary fibromyalgia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 26 patients with primary fibromyalgia
      (25 women and 1 man) were included in the study. Mean age was 55+/-10 years. As
      control groups were examined 31 patients with primary RP and 35 healthy
      volunteers. Capillaroscopic examination was performed with a videocapillaroscope
      Videocap 3.0 (DS Medica), magnification 200x with analysis of the main
      capillaroscopic parameters as follows: capillary distribution, shape, mean
      capillary diameters and length, mean capillary density, visibility of the
      subpapillary plexus; presence of avascular areas, microhaemorrhages and
      neoangiogenic capillaries. RESULTS: Symptoms of RP were observed in 65% (17/26)
      of the cases with primary fibromyalgia. At capillaroscopic examination, the most
      frequent finding in patients with primary fibromyalgia was the presence of
      capillary dilation in 85% (22/26) of the patients - both in cases with and
      without RP. However, the mean arterial and venous capillary diameters were
      significantly higher in the subgroup of fibromyalgia patients with clinical
      symptoms of RP. Of note, microvascular abnormalities characteristic of connective
      tissue diseases could not be observed in primary fibromyalgia patients. Analogous
      changes - presence of dilated capillaries - were found in 96.6% (29/30) of
      patients with primary RP. CONCLUSION: In our study, the most frequent
      capillaroscopic finding in patients with primary fibromyalgia was the presence of
      dilated capillary loops analogous to primary RP. Capillaroscopic signs suggestive
      of connective tissue disease could not be found in primary fibromyalgia patients.

PMID- 28595536
TI  - Neuroprotective Effects of Drug-Induced Therapeutic Hypothermia in Central
      Nervous System Diseases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This review article focuses on the neuroprotective effect of drug
      induced hypothermia in cerebrovascular diseases and discusses its related side
      effects. METHOD: A systematic literature search was performed using Pubmed and
      Embase electronic databases for a retrospective analysis. RESULTS: Experimental
      studies have shown that drug-induced hypothermia alleviates brain damage and
      plays a neuroprotective role, thereby reducing mortality and ameliorating
      neurological deficits. Therefore, drug-induced hypothermia has an important
      research value and is worth further consideration in the clinical setting.
      However, drug-induced hypothermia is also associated with side effects, such as
      ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, suppressed immune function,
      infection, electrolyte imbalance, glucose metabolism disorders, and skeletal
      muscle tremor. Existing drugs with cooling effects belong to the following
      categories: (1) dopamine receptor agonists; (2) cannabis; (3) opioid receptors;
      (4) vanilloid receptors; (5) vasopressins (potent neurotensin receptor agonists);
      (6) thyroid drugs; (7) adenosine drugs; and (8) purine drugs.

PMID- 28595538
TI  - Immune Cells Act as Promising Targets for the Treatment of Bone Metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bone metastasis is a common complication of certain types of cancer,
      and unfortunately, it is still incurable to date. Immune system is a major
      defence against tumor cells and bone metastasis. However, the immunodeficient
      mouse models are widely used in most researches of bone metastasis, thereby
      excluding the regulatory roles of the immune system in bone metastasis.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim was to provide a comprehensive overview on the cellular and
      molecular mechanisms by which immune cells interact with tumor cells and bone
      cells, as well as recent related patents. METHOD: We performed a literature
      search of PubMed database for the current knowledge on the interaction between
      bone metastasis and immune system. Recent related patents were obtained from
      World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website. RESULTS: Immune cells in
      the bone-tumor microenvironment include dentritic cells, monocytes/ macrophages,
      myeloid-derived suppressor cells, regulatory T cells, T helper cells, neutrophil,
      CD4+ T lymphocytes, CD8+cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells, et al.
      In addition to their well-known immunomodulatory function, recent studies
      revealed that immune cells could cooperate with tumor cells and bone cells to
      enhance bone metastasis and tumor progression. There are some patents targeting
      immune system to inhibit bone metastasis. CONCLUSION: Immune cells are instigated
      by tumor cells to enhance the occurrence and the development of bone metastasis.
      Taking full advantage of anti-tumor roles of immune cells may bring the promise
      of a possible cure for bone metastasis.

PMID- 28595539
TI  - Targeted Drug Delivery Systems and Their Therapeutic Applications in Cancer and
      Immune Pathological Conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More than a century ago, Paul Ehrlich proposed the idea of a drug
      working as a "magic bullet" that selectively eliminates diseased cells without
      harming the surrounding normal cells. Since then, much progress has been made in
      this field to broaden the scope for targeted delivery of drugs. A major problem
      remain the toxic effects of targeted drugs on healthy cells. In order to reduce
      the adverse effects of chemotherapy on healthy tissues, we survey the use of
      recent drug delivery systems for targeted therapy. OBJECTIVE: The selective
      delivery of the drugs to specific diseased cells or tissues still is a daunting
      task. Ideally, for target drug delivery systems, the system should be made up of
      carriers and drugs, where carriers precisely target the desired drug. This issue
      covers the recent advancements in modern techniques for such purposes. RESULT AND
      CONCLUSION: It encompasses advances, benefits and limitations in state of art
      work of targeted drug delivery through hydrogels, microfluidics, nanoparticles,
      carbon nanotubes, polymeric micelles, liposomes, lipoprotein based drug carriers
      and dendrites.

PMID- 28595540
TI  - Apicoplast Import Protein Tic20 A Promising Therapeutic Molecular Target for
      Plasmodium falciparum: An In Silico Approach for Therapeutic Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria is a lethal disease causing mortality to over millions each
      year. Drug resistance in the malarial parasite spurred effects to discover
      effective antimalarial drug targets and drugs. An objective of this current study
      is to identify drug targets for malarial parasite. Genes unique, non-homologous
      to humans and essential for parasite are identified using BLASTn by comparing
      genomes between parasite and host. OBJECTIVE: Further open BLASTp was used to
      filter the targets specific to Plasmodium species and later were subjected to
      gene property analysis to identify 65 potential targets. Screening of potential
      drug targets for the drug target properties like virulence and enzyme identified
      three drug targets with virulence property and eleven with enzymatic nature.
      METHOD: Thirteen knockouts related to potential drug targets were already tested
      in Plasmodium species, non-Plasmodium species and rodent malaria, lending
      credence to our approach. 3-D structures of 27 drug targets were predicted using
      I-tasser server and apicoplast import protein Tic20 is the best modeled protein.
      Gene ontology studies and analysis for motifs on nuclear localization signal
      (NLS) established apicoplast import protein Tic20 as an import protein. In silico
      docking studies were used to establish the druggability of apicoplast import
      protein Tic20. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: In silico docking studies on 3-D structure
      generated using I-tasser with quinine, chloroquine, artesunate into the active
      site of apicoplast import protein Tic20 established apicoplast import protein
      Tic20 as a promising therapeutic molecular target.

PMID- 28595541
TI  - Association of IL-12 B Gene Polymorphism with Staging of Liver Disease in Chronic
      HCV Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Cell-mediated immunity plays a critical role in viral
      clearance and disease progression during Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
      Interleukin (IL)-12 is a cytokine that has been shown to be a potent antiviral
      cytokine. The aim of this work is to investigate the association of IL-12 B gene
      polymorphism with staging of liver disease in chronic HCV patients. METHODS: This
      cross sectional study was carried out in tropical medicine department, Tanta
      university hospital, Egypt, on 120 chronic HCV patients with various stages of
      liver disease and 30 healthy subjects served as control. All the participants
      were tested for IL- 12 B (p40) gene polymorphism. RESULTS: the frequency of AA
      genotype was higher in HCV patients with decompensated cirrhosis and in HCV
      patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the CC genotype was less
      detected in all groups, with the lowest percentage (6.6%) detected in
      decompensated cirrhosis and HCC patients. CONCLUSIONS: AA genotype presented more
      frequently in late stages of HCV chronically ill patients, while, CC genotype had
      no significant association with staging of liver disease and had low frequency
      especially in late stages of liver disease.

PMID- 28595542
TI  - Synthesis of 99mTc-Rifabutin: A Potential Tuberculosis Radiodiagnostic Agent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rifabutin (RFN) is bactericidal antibiotic with a very broad spectrum
      of activity against gram positive & gram negative organisms including Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa and specifically Mycobacterium tuberculosis. RFN inhibits DNA
      dependent RNA polymerase activity in susceptible cells. In the instant work, the
      therapeutic characteristics of RFN were intended for diagnostic rationale by
      labeling it with 99mTc (Technetium-99m). OBJECTIVE: The 99mTc labeled RFN (99mTc
      RFN) was investigated for labeling capacity, steadiness in saline & serum, in
      vitro Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) uptake & distribution in MBT stained
      animal model rats. METHOD: It was found that 99mTc-RFN prepared by mixing 2 mg of
      RFN, 2.5 mCi sodium pertechnetate, 150 MUg stannous chloride at pH 5.4 gave
      highest yield after 30 minutes and was intact above 90 % after 240 min at room
      temperature in saline. RESULT: The 99mTc-RFN showed a stable profile in serum at
      37  degrees C and impurities appeared up 16 h was 15.20 %. The maximum in vitro
      MBT uptake observed in live strain was 71.75 +/- 0.75 %. The premier uptake
      observed in the MBT infected site (target site) was 14.15 +/- 0.00 %, in animal
      model rat. CONCLUSION: Higher labeling capacity, steadiness in saline & serum,
      higher MBT uptake, maximum uptake in the MBT infected sites and precise imaging
      posed 99mTc- RFN as an alternate radio-drug for tuberculosis scintigraphy.

PMID- 28595543
TI  - Alkaloids and Leishmania donovani UDP-Galactopyarnosemutase: A Novel Approach in
      Drug Designing Against Visceral Leishmaniasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The unsatisfactory treatment options for Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL),
      need identification of new drug targets. Among natural products, Alkaloids have
      been proved to be highly effective against number of diseases. In Leishmania, UDP
      galactopyranosemutase (UGM) is a critical enzyme required for cell wall synthesis
      and thus a drug target for structure based drug designing against L. donovani.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim was to build the homology model of UDP galactopyransemutase
      and investigate the interaction of selected alkaloids with this modeled UDP
      galactopyranosemutase by molecular docking. METHODOLOGY: Since no crystal
      structure record has been found with this protein, a homology modeling was
      performed and a three dimensional structure of L. donovani UGM was created using
      MODELLER v9.9, structure quality was validated using PROCHECK and QMEAN programs
      which confirms that the structure is reliable. Further Molecular docking was
      performed with previously reported15 alkaloids. RESULTS: It was found that
      Protopine with a binding energy of -12.39Kcal/mole, binds at Flavin adenine
      dinucleotide (FAD) biding site. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that Protopine, an
      alkaloid could interrupt the functional aspect of L. donovani UGM and thus may be
      useful for drug designing studies. These finding would contribute to the
      understanding of the effect of drug on the parasite.

PMID- 28595544
TI  - Nano-carriers for the Treatment of Tuberculosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nano size based drug delivery systems are an emerging technique with
      the potential to develop new strategies involving handling of drugs at the
      nanometer scale. There are many nano-based drug delivery systems that have been
      extensively reported as drug carriers for the treatment of tuberculosis. METHODS:
      There are numerous nano sized drug delivery systems like lipid nanoparticles,
      polymeric micelle, carbon nanotubes and polymeric nanoparticles that have been
      reported for a long time to treat diseases. There are a number of drawbacks in
      conventional TB dosage forms such as the development of multiple drug resistance,
      resulting in intolerable toxicity and high drug dose required. So, to overcome
      the drawbacks of conventional therapy, there is a need for a new drug delivery
      system with an aim to reduce the side effects of drug treatment. Nano-sized based
      drug delivery systems have considerable potential for the treatment of
      tuberculosis. These delivery systems have several advantages like high stability,
      high loading capacity, the feasibility of incorporation of both hydrophilic and
      hydrophobic drugs, and feasibility of variable routes of administration, and
      prolonged drug release from the matrix. These advantages enable enhanced drug
      solubility, bioavailability, reduced dosing frequency, high targeting, and may
      resolve the problem of non adherence to prescribed therapy, which is one of the
      major obstacles in the control of tuberculosis epidemics. CONCLUSION: This
      article gives an exhaustive review of patents and research papers published over
      the years on the challenges, the current treatment therapy of the disease faces,
      and potential advantages of nano sized formulations to offer more effective
      treatment and prevention for tuberculosis.

PMID- 28595545
TI  - Anticancer Polyphenols from Cultured Plant Cells: Production and New
      Bioengineering Strategies.
AB  - For many years, anticancer polyphenols have attracted significant attention as
      substances that prevent tumor growth and progression. These compounds are simple
      phenolic acids; complex phenolic acids, such as caffeoylquinic acids, rosmarinic
      acid and its derivatives; stilbenes (resveratrol and piceatannol); flavones;
      isoflavones (genistein and tectorigenin); and anthocyanins. Some compounds, such
      as tea and coffee polyphenols, can be produced in large quantities by traditional
      methods, while many others cannot. Here, we focus on the biotechnological aspects
      of polyphenol production by cultured plant cells and describe approaches that
      have been used to obtain high levels of anticancer polyphenols (resveratrol,
      podophyllotoxin, genistein, rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid B,
      dicaffeoylquinic acids, daidzin, and others). Additionally, we provide our view
      on bioengineering strategies that could be important for the further improvement
      of cell biosynthetic characteristics. The main trend is the activation of entire
      biosynthetic pathways based on a comprehensive knowledge of protein-protein
      interaction networks involved in the regulation of polyphenol biosynthesis. As an
      example, we consider the jasmonate subnetwork, which will be increasingly used by
      plant biotechnologists. The next-generation technologies to sustained polyphenol
      production are likely to involve manipulations with microRNAs and reproduction of
      rol-gene effects.

PMID- 28595546
TI  - Therapeutic Proteins for Treatment of Corneal Epithelial Defects.
AB  - Corneal epithelial disorders take pride of place in modern ophthalmology. Defects
      of corneal epithelium are commonly accompanied by blurry vision, photophobia and
      tearing. Since cornea is the most densely innervated tissue of organisms, its
      disruption leads to development of a severe pain syndrome. Mild corneal erosions
      commonly undergo quick spontaneous recovery. Suppression of corneal wound healing
      due to various pathological causes results in development of severe recurrent
      erosions and persistent corneal defects. These pathological events can in turn
      lead to corneal scarring, opacification, and ulceration of cornea, and ultimately
      to the permanent vision impairment. The etiology of the underlying corneal
      diseases that commonly involves inflammatory, neurotrophic and systemic factors,
      should be considered for treating such defects. Therefore, the research focuse
      has been shifted to establish therapeutics based on proteins and peptides. Due to
      varied mechanisms of action, protein-based pharmaceuticals can be involved in the
      protection of corneal surface, mimicking tear components, stimulation of corneal
      wound healing, regeneration of corneal innervation, suppressing oxidative stress,
      inflammation and neovascularization. The active components can be naturally
      occurring (blood- or tear-derived) or be created de novo and optimized in order
      to achieve the level of activity required. Such pharmaceuticals are characterized
      by low toxicity and absence of systemic side-effects due to their low absorption
      into the bloodstream, if administrated topically. This review summarizes existing
      data on protein-based drugs for treatment of corneal epithelial defects that are
      currently under preclinical development or testing in clinical trials, or
      approved for medical use.

PMID- 28595547
TI  - Beneficial Effects of N-acetylcysteine and N-mercaptopropionylglycine on Ischemia
      Reperfusion Injury in the Heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of the heart as a consequence of
      myocardial infarction or cardiac surgery represents a serious clinical problem.
      One of the most prominent mechanisms of I/R injury is the development of
      oxidative stress in the heart. In this regard, I/R has been shown to enhance the
      production of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species in the heart which lead to the
      imbalance between the pro-oxidants and antioxidant capacities of the endogenous
      radical-scavenging systems. OBJECTIVES: Increasing the antioxidant capacity of
      the heart by the administration of exogenous antioxidants is considered
      beneficial for the heart exposed to I/R. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and
      Nmercaptopropionylglycine (MPG) are two sulphur containing amino acid substances,
      which belong to the broad category of exogenous antioxidants that have been
      tested for their protective potential in cardiac I/R injury. OBSERVATIONS:
      Pretreatment of hearts with both NAC and MPG has demonstrated that these agents
      attenuate the I/R-induced alterations in sarcolemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum,
      mitochondria and myofibrils in addition to improving cardiac function. While
      experimental studies have revealed promising data suggesting beneficial effects
      of NAC and MPG in cardiac I/R injury, the results of clinical trials are not
      conclusive because both positive and no effects of these substances have been
      reported on the post-ischemic recovery of heart following cardiac surgery or
      myocardial infarction. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that both NAC and MPG exert
      beneficial effects in preventing the I/Rinduced injury; however, further studies
      are needed to establish their effectiveness in reversing the I/R-induced
      abnormalities in the heart.

PMID- 28595548
TI  - Electrochemical Detectors in Liquid Chromatography: Recent Trends in
      Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis.
AB  - Liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to an electrochemical (EC) detector is a
      complementary analytical tool compared to LC coupled with optical or mass
      spectrometry detectors (LC-MS). LC-EC can be applied to the determination of
      molecules difficult to be analyzed by other commercially available detectors. New
      EC detector design and new working electrode material have extended the scope of
      application in the field of pharmaceutical compounds analysis. Combining EC with
      LC-MS offers additional advantages compared to optical detectors in terms of drug
      stability and drug metabolism mimicry studies. Selected literature devoted to
      pharmacologically active compounds in their dosage forms, herbal drugs in natural
      products, drug residues in feed and/or in biological samples are reported in this
      review.

PMID- 28595549
TI  - APOC-III Antisense Oligonucleotides: A New Option for the Treatment of
      Hypertriglyceridemia.
AB  - Elevated triglyceride levels (higher than ~1000 mg/dL) are associated with an
      increased risk for pancreatitis. Apolipoprotein-CIII (apoC-III) plays a key role
      in the metabolism of triglycerides and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. Loss of
      function mutations in the gene encoding apoC-III (APOC3) is associated with low
      triglyceride levels and a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) while
      overexpression of APOC3 is associated with hypertriglyceridemia. Although many
      drugs such as fibrates, statins and omega-3 fatty acids modestly decrease
      triglyceride levels (and apoC-III concentrations), there are many patients who
      still have severe hypertriglyceridemia and are at increased risk for pancreatitis
      and potentially for CVD. The antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) against APOC3 mRNA
      volanesorsen (previously called ISIS 304801, ISIS-ApoCIIIRx and IONIS-ApoCIIIRx)
      robustly decreases both, apoC-III production and triglyceride concentrations and
      is being currently evaluated in phase 3 trials. In this narrative review, we
      present the currently available clinical evidence on the efficacy and safety of
      volanesorsen for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia.

PMID- 28595550
TI  - New Tracers and New Perspectives for Molecular Imaging in Lewy Body Diseases.
AB  - The term Lewy body diseases (LBDs) refers to a subset of neurodegenerative
      disorders that share the accumulation of the so-called Lewy bodies (LB)
      including: Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and PD
      later characterized by the occurrence of dementia (PDD). Moreover, multiple
      system atrophy (MSA) and idiopatic Rem Sleeping behaviour disorders (RBD)
      complete the group of synucleinopathies and have also common symptoms with
      respect to LBDs. The clinical diagnosis of LBDs can be challenging for
      physicians, particularly in the early stages of disease. Given the growing number
      of individuals affected by these neurodegenerative disorders, early and accurate
      diagnosis can lead to improved clinical management of patients. For this reason,
      information obtained from molecular imaging biomarkers is playing an increasingly
      important role in this framework. The present narrative review discusses both
      established milestones and new evidence on the use of molecular imaging tracers
      already part of the clinical practice as well as available evidence on new
      molecular imaging approaches in PD, PDD and DLB.

PMID- 28595552
TI  - Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor: A Novel Therapeutic Target for Cardiometabolic
      Diseases and Related Complications.
AB  - Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is a glycoprotein that belongs to the
      superfamily of serine protease inhibitors, serpins. It was first identified as a
      neuronal differentiating factor secreted by human retinal pigment epithelial
      cells, and then found to be the most potent inhibitor of pathological
      angiogenesis in mammalian eyes. Recently, PEDF has been shown not only to
      suppress oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions in vascular wall cells, T
      cells and macrophages, and adipocytes, but also to exert antithrombotic and anti
      fibrotic properties, thereby protecting against the development and progression
      of various cardiometabolic diseases and related complications. Furthermore,
      accumulating evidence has suggested that circulating PEDF levels may be a
      biomarker of severity and prognosis of these devastating disorders. Number of
      subjects with visceral obesity and insulin resistance is increasing, and the
      metabolic syndrome and its related complications, such as diabetes, nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatits, and atherosclerotic
      cardiovascular disease are a growing health challenge. Therefore, in this study,
      we review the pathophysiological role of PEDF in obesity and metabolic disorders,
      cardiovascular disease, diabetic eye and kidney complications, liver diseases,
      and reproductive system disorders, and discuss the potential clinical utility of
      modulating the expression and actions of PEDF for preventing these
      cardiometabolic disorders. We also refer to the clinical value of PEDF as a
      biomarker in cardiometabolic complications.

PMID- 28595551
TI  - NMR-based Drug Development and Improvement Against Malignant Melanoma -
      Implications for the MIA Protein Family.
AB  - The Melanoma Inhibitory Activity (MIA) protein is strongly expressed and secreted
      by malignant melanoma cells and was shown to promote melanoma development and
      invasion. The MIA protein was the first extracellular protein shown to adopt an
      Src homology 3 (SH3) domain-like fold in solution that can bind to fibronectin
      type III domains. Together with MIA, the homologous proteins OTOR (or FDP), MIA
      2, and TANGO (or MIA-3) constitute a protein family of non-cytosolic and - except
      for fulllength TANGO and TANGO1-like (TALI) - extracellular SH3-domain containing
      proteins. Members of this protein family modulate collagen maturation and export,
      cartilage development, cell attachment in the extracellular matrix, and melanoma
      metastasis. These proteins may thus serve as promising targets for drug
      development against malignant melanoma. For the last twenty years, NMR
      spectroscopy has become a powerful technique in medicinal chemistry. While
      traditional high throughput screenings only report on the activity or affinity of
      low molecular weight compounds, NMR spectroscopy does not only relate to the
      structure of those compounds with their activity, but it can also unravel
      structural information on the ligand binding site on the protein at atomic
      resolution. Based on the molecular details of the interaction between the ligand
      and its target protein, the binding affinities of initial fragment hits can be
      further improved more efficiently in order to generate lead structures that
      exhibit significant therapeutic effects. The NMR-based approach promises to
      greatly contribute to the quest for low molecular weight compounds that
      ultimately could yield drugs to treat skin-related diseases such as malignant
      melanoma more effectively.

PMID- 28595553
TI  - Sulfur - Containing Amino Acids in Seizures: Current State of the Art.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Homocysteine and taurine are non-proteinogenic sulfur-containing
      amino acids with numerous important physiological roles. Homocysteine and taurine
      are considered to be neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, the first showing
      clear hyperexcitability role, while the second is known by its inhibitory and
      neuroprotective properties. OBJECTIVE: In this article we addressed the role of
      homocysteine and its related metabolite homocysteine thiolactone in the
      development of seizures, focusing on its experimental models in vivo, potential
      mechanisms of proepileptogenic activity via interactions with glutamatergic
      neurotransmission, sodium pump activity, oxidative stress, cholinergic system and
      NO-mediated neuronal signaling, as well as the pharmacological and non
      pharmacological approaches to modulate its proconvulsive activity. Additionally,
      herein we will focus on taurine neuroprotective effects linked with its
      anticonvulsive properties and mediated by taurine interactions with GABA-ergic
      and glutamatergic system and oxidative stress.

PMID- 28595554
TI  - Sulphur-containing Amino Acids: Protective Role Against Free Radicals and Heavy
      Metals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sulphur is an abundant element in biological systems, which plays an
      important role in processes essential for life as a constituent of proteins,
      vitamins and other crucial biomolecules. The major source of sulphur for humans
      is plants being able to use inorganic sulphur in the purpose of sulphur
      containing amino acids synthesis. Sulphur-containing amino acids include
      methionine, cysteine, homocysteine, and taurine. Methionine and cysteine are
      classified as proteinogenic, canonic amino acids incorporated in protein
      structure. Sulphur amino acids are involved in the synthesis of intracellular
      antioxidants such as glutathione and N-acetyl cysteine. Moreover, naturally
      occurring sulphur-containing ligands are effective and safe detoxifying agents,
      often used in order to prevent toxic metal ions effects and their accumulation in
      human body. METHODS: Literature search for peer-reviewed articles was performed
      using PubMed and Scopus databases, and utilizing appropriate keywords. RESULTS:
      This review is focused on sulphur-containing amino acids - methionine, cysteine,
      taurine, and their derivatives - glutathione and N-acetylcysteine, and their
      defense effects as antioxidant agents against free radicals. Additionally, the
      protective effects of sulphur-containing ligands against the toxic effects of
      heavy and transition metal ions, and their reactivation role towards the enzyme
      inhibition are described. CONCLUSION: Sulphur-containing amino acids represent a
      powerful part of cell antioxidant system. Thus, they are essential in the
      maintenance of normal cellular functions and health. In addition to their worthy
      antioxidant action, sulphur-containing amino acids may offer a chelating site for
      heavy metals. Accordingly, they may be supplemented during chelating therapy,
      providing beneficial effects in eliminating toxic metals.

PMID- 28595556
TI  - Iodine Prophylaxis in the Lights of the Last Recommendation of WHO on Reduction
      of Daily Salt Intake.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1994, International Organizations: WHO, UNICEF and ICCIDD indicat
      ed salt Natrium Chloride as the main carrier of iodine in the prophilaxis systems
      in the iodine deficient areas over the world. Following this recommendation, 24
      European countries introduced the model of iodine p rop hylaxis based on the salt
      iodization. However in 7 European countries only - among tchem in Poland - salt
      iodization is mandatory as the most effective mode lon the population level.
      OBJECTIVE: Presenting the method for the reduction of the consumption of iodized
      salt and supplement ation of iodine by other iodine carriers. METHODS:
      Concentration of iodine in the salt has been calculated according to the daily
      salt consumption and WHO recommendation on the daily dose of iodine that should
      be supplied in different groups of age and in pregnant and breast feeding women.
      No relevant recent patents were available for this WHO report. RESULTS:
      Consumption of salt in European countries is from 8 to 11g/day/person. In Poland,
      it is very high 11.5g/day/person. WHO in 1996 introduced recommendation on
      reducing daily salt intake to 5g/day/person as Natrium is a risk factor of
      hypertension and some neoplastic processes. CONCLUSION: When iodized salt is the
      main carrier of iodine in the prophylaxis systems, additional carriers of iodine
      should be introduced in the food market for instant -iodized mineral water. A
      very important factor is the proper information and education on the population
      level. This action is under control of the Polish Council for Control of Iodine
      Deficiency Disorders [PCCIDD] established in 1991 following the example of the
      International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders [ICCIDD].

PMID- 28595555
TI  - Microdialysis-Assessed Adipose Tissue Metabolism in Critically Ill Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microdialysis is a minimally invasive technique that allows direct in
      situ and in vivo sampling, studies and manipulations of the
      interstitial/extracellular fluid/space. It has been shown to be of use mainly in
      acute brain injury/neurocritical care. METHODS: Microdialysis has been used to
      study obesity, diabetes mellitus, inflammation and pharmacokinetics at the
      adipose tissue level. In critically ill patients (and particularly in those with
      sepsis or septic shock), within days to weeks, adipose tissue shows profound
      alterations; under such conditions, the implementation of microdialysis can
      provide researchers with interesting findings. RESULTS: The well-known
      association between lipolysis and cortisol has been verified at the tissue level
      with microdialysis. Specific metabolic aberrations in critically ill patients
      with septic shock have been noted in adipose tissue - assessed with microdialysis
      before becoming evident in the systemic circulation. Measurement of the lactate
      to pyruvate ratio in adipose tissue - also assessed with microdialysis - in
      patients with septic shock has prognostic value equal to that of universally
      accepted clinical severity scores. CONCLUSION: Microneedle arrays have been
      already used to assess interstitial fluid glucose. Possibly, the implementation
      of microneedle and lab-on-a-chip technology, might complement the current use of
      microdialysis in the study of the interstitial space/adipose tissue metabolism in
      health and disease.

PMID- 28595557
TI  - Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Abnormalities and Proteins Deposition:
      Multitarget Approaches in Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer Diseases (AD) is a multifactorial pathology characterized by a complex
      etiology. The hallmarks of AD, such as Abeta deposits in senile plaque and
      Neurofibrillary Tangles (NFT), are strongly intertwined with Reactive Oxygen
      Species (ROS) production and oxidative stress (OS), which are considered the
      common effectors of the cascade of degenerative events. An increasing body of
      evidence reveals that both mitochondrial abnormalities and metal accumulations
      synergistically act as major producers of ROS, thus contributing to neuronal
      toxicity. Consequently, the detrimental role of ROS production together with the
      neurodegenerative events involved in AD has been widely investigated as new
      potential therapeutic strategies. This review will concisely summarize the link
      between OS and the hallmarks of AD, emphasizing on their strong correlation with
      neurodegenerative events and elucidating the pivotal role of ROS in AD pathology.
      Furthermore, through this review, we will provide a short account of some of the
      efforts, challenges and opportunities in developing multitarget drugs by
      addressing ROS production, metal accumulation and protein depositions.

PMID- 28595558
TI  - The Role of Placental Carbonyl Reducing Enzymes in Biotransformation of Bupropion
      and 4-methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bupropion (BUP) has a potential to be an effective pharmacotherapy
      for smoking cessation during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy stimulates
      placental carbonyl reductases that catalyze the biotransformation of BUP. 4
      methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a potent carcinogen of
      cigarette smoke. Carbonyl reduction of NNK into 4- methylnitrosamino-1-(3
      pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) constitutes a major step in NNK detoxification. Thus,
      placentas of pregnant smokers on BUP therapy can become a site of drug-drug
      interaction. Therefore, we investigated the effect of continuous exposure to BUP
      and cigarette smoke on the activity of placental carbonyl reductases in the
      formation of NNAL from NNK. METHODS: The reductive metabolism of NNK was
      determined using microsomal and cytosolic subcellular fractions of placentas
      obtained from non-smoking women treated with BUP for depression, and women not
      exposed to BUP: non-smokers (control) and smokers. The effect of BUP and its
      metabolites on the reductive metabolism of NNK was investigated using subcellular
      fractions of control placentas. RESULTS: The formation of NNAL from NNK by
      placental cytosolic fractions of heavy smokers (>=20 cigarettes per day) was
      lower than that of control (12.1+/-3.5 nmol.mgP-1 vs 16.5+/-6.0 nmol.mgP-1,
      P<0.05). While being exposed to BUP, the activity of placental carbonyl
      reductases remained unaffected, the formation of NNAL in the placental cytosolic
      fraction decreased only in the presence of high concentrations of BUP
      metabolites. CONCLUSION: Smoking during pregnancy decreases the detoxifying
      capacity of soluble carbonyl reductases towards NNK. Given the experimental
      conditions, exposure to BUP and its metabolites should not impede the reductive
      metabolism of NNK by placenta in vivo.

PMID- 28595559
TI  - 25-hydroxyvitamin D Correlation with Prolactin Levels and Adenoma Size in Female
      Patients with Newly Diagnosed Prolactin Secreting Adenoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present research explored the relationship of vitamin D status
      with prolactin levels and adenoma size in female patients with newly diagnosed
      prolactinoma and determination of hypovitaminosis D prevalence among female
      patients with prolactinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 67 female patients
      with newly diagnosed prolactinoma (41 with micro adenoma and 26 with macro
      adenoma) in this case-control study at the time of presentation. We selected 45
      female subjects as a control group who were matched according to age, weight,
      height, body mass index and waist circumference. We investigated 25
      hydroxyvitamin D, the major circulating form of vitamin D. RESULTS: Prolactinoma
      patients had significantly lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in comparison with
      control subjects. Also, macroadenoma patients showed significantly lower 25
      hydroxyvitamin D levels as compared to microadenomoa patients. By contrast,
      microadenoma patients had nonsignificant lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in
      comparison with control subjects. Furthermore, we found prolactinoma patients
      with 25-hydroxyvitamin D >20.00 ng/ml showing significant differences in the
      prolactin levels and adenoma size when compared with those who had 25-
      hydroxyvitamin D <20.00 ng/ml. In regression analysis, 25-hydroxyvitamin D level
      was a significant predictor of adenoma size in patients diagnosed with
      prolactinoma. CONCLUSION: Female patients with prolactinoma have lower vitamin D
      levels and have higher prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency among
      prolactinoma patients when compared with normal subjects. Also vitamin D
      deficiency in prolactinoma patients associated with larger adenoma size and
      higher prolactin level. Finally, 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was a statistically
      significant predictor of prolactinoma size but not prolactin levels.

PMID- 28595560
TI  - Vitamin D is Related to Markers of Vulnerable Plaque in Acute Myocardial
      Infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin involved in calcium and bone
      metabolism; recently its deficiency has been related to cardiovascular disease.
      In cardiac tissue, vitamin D suppresses metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression,
      enzymes directly associated with vulnerable plaque. OBJECTIVE: To investigate
      whether the association between vitamin D and leptin is related to markers of
      vulnerable plaque, such as MMPs in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
      METHODS: We studied 66 male patients with acute myocardial infarction, undergoing
      primary angioplasty. Blood samples were obtained at admission and 24hs after the
      surgery. Leptin and vitamin D concentrations in serum and MMP-2 and -9 activities
      in plasma were determined. RESULTS: MMP-2 activity was increased in Vitamin D
      deficient/insufficient patients at admission (p=0.04) and 24 hs later (p=0.05).
      In a linear regression model, vitamin D explained 24% of the variance of MMP-2
      activity (F=2.839 p=0.04). At admission, vitamin D correlated with serum leptin
      (r=-0.302 p=0.033), and explained 39.5% of its variation (F=4.432 p=0.003).
      CONCLUSION: In the studied population, vitamin D was inversely related to MMP-2
      and leptin which are involved in coronary artery disease and acute myocardial
      infarction. The decrease in this hormone levels would be associated with a worse
      metabolic profile in acute coronary syndrome patients.

PMID- 28595561
TI  - Sexual Dysfunction, Cardiovascular Risk and Effects of Pharmacotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexual dysfunction affects millions of people with an increasing
      prevalence, worldwide. The pathophysiology of the disease shares several
      similarities with cardiovascular disease (CVD), including atherosclerosis,
      endothelial dysfunction, structural vascular damage and subclinical inflammation.
      Erectile dysfunction (ED) and female sexual dysfunction are common among patients
      with CVD and risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and metabolic
      syndrome. Given the common pathogenesis of the diseases, ED is an independent
      prognostic factor of future ED events. Patients with overt ED or risk factors are
      usually treated with several drugs for the management of these conditions.
      Several of these drugs have been evaluated for their effect on sexual activity.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Among the antihypertensive drugs, diuretics and beta
      blockers seem to exert a detrimental impact on sexual function, with nebivolol
      being the only beta-blocker with favorable properties through an increase in
      nitric oxide bioavailability. In contrast, renin-angiotensin system inhibitors
      and calcium-channel blockers have a neutral effect on sexual activity.
      Hypoglycemic drugs have been less evaluated in the ED setting, with metformin,
      pioglitazone and liraglutide presenting favorable results. Statins on the other
      hand have not provided consistent results with observational studies suggesting a
      detrimental role in sexual activity and a few randomized studies indicating a
      neutral or even beneficial effect on erectile function.

PMID- 28595562
TI  - Non-viral Delivery Systems for Breast Cancer Gene Therapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The ever-evolving field of gene therapy promises several innovative
      treatments for cancer. Advances in genetic modification of tumor cells and micro
      environment have led to the development of more effective therapeutic strategies
      with fewer side effects. MATERIALS & METHODS: The development of effective
      delivery system challenges, remains. Non-viral vectors are interesting due to
      their bio-safety and their ability to transfer different types of nucleic acids.
      Examples of these techniques are the use of oligonucleoides, liposomes,
      nanoparticles, inorganic material, and engineered stem cells. CONCLUSION: In this
      review, we focus on recent advances in the intracellular delivery of DNA and
      siRNA to the cancer cells with emphasis on breast cancer.

PMID- 28595563
TI  - Strategies on Technology Transfer and Patents Commercialization for
      Nanotechnology at the Spanish National Research Council.
AB  - : Nanoscience and nanotechnology made their appearance in the scientific scene at
      a time when both the economy of Spain and the Spanish Research and Innovation
      System were experiencing strong growth. This circumstance resulted in a
      remarkable development of nanoscience and nanotechnology especially in
      universities and public research institutions such as the Spanish National
      Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas-CSIC). However,
      this development in academia has not been reflected in a similar increment in the
      transfer of knowledge to the productive sector despite several efforts and
      initiatives were launched. The CSIC, the main generator of scientific knowledge
      in Spain, has designed and implemented a series of actions in order to take
      advantage of the knowledge generated in nanotechnology by its research groups by
      mean of an appropriate transfer to both the Spanish and the international
      industry. METHOD: Internal methodologies used in CSIC in order to protect and
      commercialize nanotechnology based intellectual property as well as their effects
      are reviewed. The evolution of CSIC nanotechnology patents portfolio is also
      analyzed. RESULTS: There has been a clear increase in the patent license
      agreements of CSIC in the period 2002- 2015 in the field of nanotechnology. This
      increase is correlated to these facts: (i) Highly qualified team managing
      Intellectual Property issues, (ii) The presence of CSIC in international fairs,
      and (iii) Proactive search of companies and investors. CONCLUSION: Successful
      results can be achieved in technology transfer when the appropriate resources are
      available and properly organized with an adequate combination of efforts in
      knowledge protection, promotion and commercialization of technologies and support
      to the scientific entrepreneurs of the institution.

PMID- 28595564
TI  - Electric-Field-Oriented Growth of Long Hair-Like Silica Microfibrils and Derived
      Functional Monolithic Solids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Controlled self-assembly using molecules/nanoparticles as building
      block materials represents an important approach for nanofabrication. METHOD: We
      present a "bottom-up" fabrication approach to first grow a new class of inorganic
      (silica) long hair-like microfibrils or microwires and then to form monolithic
      solid pellet that contains parallel arrays of bundled microfibrils with a
      controlled orientation. During the sol-gel solution processing, reactive
      precursor species are utilized as molecular "building blocks" for the field
      directed assembly growth of microfibrils driven by an electric field of pulsed
      direct current (dc) with controlled frequency. RESULTS: We have demonstrated a
      novel reactive electrofibrilation process that combines an external field with a
      solid-phase nucleation and growth process which in principle has no limitation on
      the type of reactions (such as the one here that involves sol-gel reaction
      chemistry) and on materials compositions (such as the example silica oxide), thus
      will enable bulk production of long microfibrils of wide variety of inorganic
      materials (other oxides or metals). Furthermore, we have fabricated uniquely
      architectured monolithic solid materials containing aligned microfibrils by "wet
      press" of the in-situ grown microfibril structure in the electric field. The
      consolidated monolithic slabs (1 cm * 1 cm * 3 mm) have shown anisotropic
      properties and desirable retention of DNA molecule fragments, thus, could serve
      as a platform stationary-phase materials for future development of capillary
      electrochromatography for biomolecule separations. CONCLUSION: Electrical field
      guided self-assembly is an effective approach in producing long (hair-like)
      ceramic microfibrils, which can be further used in consolidation fabrication of
      oriented structured ceramic monoliths with potential for capillary
      electrophoretic chromatography and other separations applications. This original
      work was recorded through a patent application to understand the fibril formation
      mechanism and its process.

PMID- 28595565
TI  - Gold Nanoparticles by Laser Ablation for X-Ray Imaging and Protontherapy
      Improvements.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gold nanoparticles, 5-20 nm in diameter, were generated with a pulsed
      Nd: YAG laser at 1010 W/cm2 at solution concentrations ranging between 1-100
      mg/ml. The incremental X-ray contrast imaging using gold nanoparticles was
      investigated and measured. The study was performed with the aim to enhance the
      massive absorption coefficient of X-ray radiation in the tumor for medical image
      quality and to improve traditional X-ray radiotherapy or proton therapy. A
      simulation of proton therapy improvement was conducted using a human ocular
      melanoma model, placed 3 cm behind the eye lens, and testing 60 MeV protons.
      Calculations suggest that the local injection of a solution containing Au-NPs may
      increase the proton energy released in the tumor above 50%, with the dose in the
      surrounding tissues leading to an increased probability of tissue healing. A
      discussion on recent patents in the ambit of the preparation and use of Au
      nanoparticles in medical imaging and therapy is presented. METHODS: Au
      nanoparticles were characterized using optical absorbance, X-ray fluorescence,
      SEM, and TEM microscopies. Biocompatible nanoparticle solutions were injected
      intravenously into tail veins of mice followed by X-ray imaging using 20-45 keV
      photons to evaluate the uptake and the clearance by different organs of the
      nanoparticles. RESULTS: Diagnostic X-ray images of mice in which the Au-NPs were
      injected showed high spatial resolution contrast of different organs having high
      up-take. A calculation of the dose released by X-rays, electrons and protons to
      the tumor site demonstrates that an increment of the order of 50% can be obtained
      using adapt solution concentration. CONCLUSION: The use of Au-NPs in
      biocompatible solutions injected in living organism permits their blood transport
      up to different organs. The NPs can be employed as contrast medium to enhance the
      medical image resolution and to prepare the cancer tissues to be exposed to
      ionization radiations in order to enhance the dose released to the tumor cells.
      This effect permits to reduce the total dose given to the patient and to increase
      the dose released to the tumor cells with respect to healthy ones.

PMID- 28595566
TI  - A Systemic Review of Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sources and their Multilineage
      Differentiation Potential Relevant to Musculoskeletal Tissue Repair and
      Regeneration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were first isolated from bone
      marrow by Friedenstein in 1976. These cells were clonogenic, non-haematopoietic,
      and able to replicate extensively in vitro. The fields of regenerative medicine
      and tissue engineering have grown dramatically since their inception. In the
      decades since, MSCs have been identified from mesoderm-, endoderm- and ectoderm
      derived tissues. In light of our ageing population, the need for effective cell
      based therapies for tissue repair and regeneration is ever-expanding. OBJECTIVES:
      The purpose of this systematic review was to summarise evidence from the most
      recent studies outlining different sources of adult MSCs and their suitability in
      musculoskeletal applications. METHODS: Online published articles were searched
      for using the PubMed/MEDLINE and Ovid databases, and relevant articles fulfilling
      the pre-defined eligibility criteria were analysed. RESULTS: To date, MSCs have
      been isolated from a number of adult tissues, including trabecular bone, adipose
      tissue, bone marrow, synovium, dermis, periodontal ligament, dental pulp, bursa
      and the umbilical cord. Bone marrow MSCs are currently considered the gold
      standard, with which newly discovered sources are compared on the basis of their
      renewal capabilities and multipotency. Furthermore, MSCs have been successful in
      the regeneration of osteonecrosis, osteoarthritis, bony defects, fracture
      remodeling and so on. CONCLUSION: Unfortunately, significant hurdles remain and
      will need to be overcome before tissue engineering using MSCs becomes routine in
      clinical practice. Thus, further research and understanding are required into the
      safe and effective sourcing and application of mesenchymal stem cells in
      musculoskeletal applications.

PMID- 28595567
TI  - Cartilage Tissue Regeneration: The Roles of Cells, Stimulating Factors and
      Scaffolds.
AB  - Cartilage tissue engineering is an emerging technique for the regeneration of
      cartilage tissue damaged as a result of trauma or disease. As the propensity for
      healing and regenerative capabilities of articular cartilage are limited, its
      repair remains one of the most challenging issues of musculoskeletal medicine.
      Clinical treatments intended to promote the success and complete repair of
      partial- and fullthickness articular cartilage defects are still unpredictable.
      However, one of the most exciting theories is that treatment of damaged articular
      cartilage can be realized with cartilage tissue engineering. This notion has
      prompted tissue engineering research involving cells, stimulating factors and
      scaffolds, either alone or in combination. With these perspectives, this review
      aims to present a summary of cartilage tissue engineering including development,
      recent progress, and major steps taken toward the regeneration of functional
      cartilage tissue. In addition, we discussed the role of stimulating factors,
      including growth factors, gene therapies, biophysical stimuli, and bioreactors,
      as well as scaffolds, including natural, synthetic, and nanostructured scaffolds,
      in cartilage tissue regeneration. Special emphasis was placed on cell source,
      including chondrocytes, fibroblasts, and stem cells, as an important component of
      cartilage tissue engineering techniques. In conclusion, continued development of
      cartilage tissue engineering will support future applications for patients
      suffering from diseased cartilage tissue problems and osteoarthritis.

PMID- 28595568
TI  - Differences in responses of grass carp to different types of grass carp reovirus
      (GCRV) and the mechanism of hemorrhage revealed by transcriptome sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Grass carp is an important farmed fish in China that is affected by
      serious disease, especially hemorrhagic disease caused by grass carp reovirus
      (GCRV). The mechanism underlying the hemorrhagic symptoms in infected fish
      remains to be elucidated. Although GCRV can be divided into three distinct
      subtypes, differences in the pathogenesis and host immune responses to the
      different subtypes are still unclear. The aim of this study was to provide a
      comprehensive insight into the grass carp response to different GCRV subtypes and
      to elucidate the mechanism underlying the hemorrhagic symptoms. RESULTS:
      Following infection of grass carp, GCRV-I was associated with a long latent
      period and low mortality (42.5%), while GCRV-II was associated with a short
      latent period and high mortality (81.4%). The relative copy number of GCRV-I
      remained consistent or decreased slightly throughout the first 7 days post
      infection, whereas a marked increase in GCRV-II high copy number was detected at
      5 days post-infection. Transcriptome sequencing revealed 211 differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) in Group I (66 up-regulated, 145 down-regulated) and 670
      (386 up-regulated, 284 down-regulated) in Group II. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto
      Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed significant
      enrichment in the terms or pathways involved in immune responses and correlating
      with blood or platelets. Most of the DEGs in Group I were also present in Group
      II, although the expression profiles differed, with most DEGs showing mild
      changes in Group I, while marked changes were observed in Group II, especially
      the interferon-related genes. Many of the genes involved in the complement
      pathway and coagulation cascades were significantly up-regulated at 7 days post
      infection in Group II, suggesting activation of these pathways. CONCLUSION: GCRV
      I is associated with low virulence and a long latent period prior to the
      induction of a mild host immune response, whereas GCRV-II is associated with high
      virulence, a short latent period and stimulates a strong and extensive host
      immune response. The complement and coagulation pathways are significantly
      activated at 7 days post-infection, leading to the endothelial cell and blood
      cell damage that result in hemorrhagic symptoms.

PMID- 28595569
TI  - Genome-wide comparative transcriptome analysis of CMS-D2 and its maintainer and
      restorer lines in upland cotton.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) conferred by the cytoplasm from
      Gossypium harknessii (D2) is an important system for hybrid seed production in
      Upland cotton (G. hirsutum). The male sterility of CMS-D2 (i.e., A line) can be
      restored to fertility by a restorer (i.e., R line) carrying the restorer gene Rf1
      transferred from the D2 nuclear genome. However, the molecular mechanisms of CMS
      D2 and its restoration are poorly understood. RESULTS: In this study, a genome
      wide comparative transcriptome analysis was performed to identify differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) in flower buds among the isogenic fertile R line and
      sterile A line derived from a backcross population (BC8F1) and the recurrent
      parent, i.e., the maintainer (B line). A total of 1464 DEGs were identified among
      the three isogenic lines, and the Rf1-carrying Chr_D05 and its homeologous
      Chr_A05 had more DEGs than other chromosomes. The results of GO and KEGG
      enrichment analysis showed differences in circadian rhythm between the fertile
      and sterile lines. Eleven DEGs were selected for validation using qRT-PCR,
      confirming the accuracy of the RNA-seq results. CONCLUSIONS: Through genome-wide
      comparative transcriptome analysis, the differential expression profiles of CMS
      D2 and its maintainer and restorer lines in Upland cotton were identified. Our
      results provide an important foundation for further studies into the molecular
      mechanisms of the interactions between the restorer gene Rf1 and the CMS-D2
      cytoplasm.

PMID- 28595570
TI  - Plant pectin acetylesterase structure and function: new insights from
      bioinformatic analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pectins are plant cell wall polysaccharides that can be acetylated on
      C2 and/or C3 of galacturonic acid residues. The degree of acetylation of pectin
      can be modulated by pectin acetylesterase (EC 3.1.1.6, PAE). The function and
      structure of plant PAEs remain poorly understood and the role of the fine-tuning
      of pectin acetylation on cell wall properties has not yet been elucidated.
      RESULTS: In the present study, a bioinformatic approach was used on 72 plant PAEs
      from 16 species among 611 plant PAEs available in plant genomic databases. An
      overview of plant PAE proteins, particularly Arabidopsis thaliana PAEs, based on
      phylogeny analysis, protein motif identification and modeled 3D structure is
      presented. A phylogenetic tree analysis using protein sequences clustered the
      plant PAEs into five clades. AtPAEs clustered in four clades in the plant kingdom
      PAE tree while they formed three clades when a phylogenetic tree was performed
      only on Arabidopsis proteins, due to isoform AtPAE9. Primitive plants that
      display a smaller number of PAEs clustered into two clades, while in higher
      plants, the presence of multiple members of PAE genes indicated a diversification
      of AtPAEs. 3D homology modeling of AtPAE8 from clade 2 with a human Notum protein
      showed an alpha/beta hydrolase structure with the hallmark Ser-His-Asp of the
      active site. A 3D model of AtPAE4 from clade 1 and AtPAE10 from clade 3 showed a
      similar shape suggesting that the diversification of AtPAEs is unlikely to arise
      from the shape of the protein. Primary structure prediction analysis of AtPAEs
      showed a specific motif characteristic of each clade and identified one major
      group of AtPAEs with a signal peptide and one group without a signal peptide. A
      multiple sequence alignment of the putative plant PAEs revealed consensus
      sequences with important putative catalytic residues: Ser, Asp, His and a pectin
      binding site. Data mining of gene expression profiles of AtPAE revealed that
      genes from clade 2 including AtPAE7, AtPAE8 and AtPAE11, which are duplicated
      genes, are highly expressed during plant growth and development while AtPAEs
      without a signal peptide, including AtPAE2 and AtPAE4, are more regulated in
      response to plant environmental conditions. CONCLUSION: Bioinformatic analysis of
      plant, and particularly Arabidopsis, AtPAEs provides novel insights, including
      new motifs that could play a role in pectin binding and catalytic sites. The
      diversification of AtPAEs is likely to be related to neofunctionalization of some
      AtPAE genes.

PMID- 28595571
TI  - CottonFGD: an integrated functional genomics database for cotton.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important fiber and oil crop in
      the world. With the emergence of huge -omics data sets, it is essential to have
      an integrated functional genomics database that allows worldwide users to quickly
      and easily fetch and visualize genomic information. Currently available cotton
      related databases have some weakness in integrating multiple kinds of -omics data
      from multiple Gossypium species. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an
      integrated functional genomics database for cotton. DESCRIPTION: We developed
      CottonFGD (Cotton Functional Genomic Database, https://cottonfgd.org ), an
      integrated database that includes genomic sequences, gene structural and
      functional annotations, genetic marker data, transcriptome data, and population
      genome resequencing data for all four of the sequenced Gossypium species. It
      consists of three interconnected modules: search, profile, and analysis. These
      modules make CottonFGD enable both single gene review and batch analysis with
      multiple kinds of -omics data and multiple species. CottonFGD also includes
      additional pages for data statistics, bulk data download, and a detailed user
      manual. CONCLUSION: Equipped with specialized functional modules and modernized
      visualization tools, and populated with multiple kinds of -omics data, CottonFGD
      provides a quick and easy-to-use data analysis platform for cotton researchers
      worldwide.

PMID- 28595572
TI  - White matter damage and systemic inflammation in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation and white matter (WM) alterations have been
      noted as effects of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study sought to evaluate WM
      integrity in PD patients using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and to assess its
      relationship with systemic inflammation. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with PD (23
      men and 43 women) and 67 healthy volunteers (29 men and 38 women) underwent blood
      sampling to quantify inflammatory markers and DTI scans to determine fiber
      integrity. The inflammatory markers included leukocyte apoptosis, as well as
      cellular and serum adhesion molecules, in each peripheral blood sample. DTI
      related indices [including fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD),
      radial diffusivity (RD), and mean diffusivity (MD)] were derived from DTI scans.
      The resulting FA maps were compared using voxel-based statistics to determine
      differences between the PD and control groups. The differences in the DTI
      indices, clinical severity, and inflammatory markers were correlated. RESULTS:
      Exploratory group-wise comparison between the two groups revealed that the PD
      patients exhibited extensive DTI index differences. Low FA accompanied by high RD
      and MD, without significant differences in AD, suggesting a demyelination
      process, were found in the parietal, occipital, cerebellar, and insular WM of the
      PD patients. The declined DTI indices were significantly correlated with
      increased clinical disease severity, adhesion molecules, and leukocyte apoptosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PD experience WM integrity damage in vulnerable
      regions, and these impairments are associated with increased disease severity and
      systemic inflammation. The possible interactions among them may represent variant
      neuronal injuries and their consequent processes in PD.

PMID- 28595573
TI  - A novel KCNQ1 nonsense variant in the isoform-specific first exon causes both
      jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome 1 and long QT syndrome 1: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: According to previous KCNQ1 (potassium channel, voltage gated, KQT
      like subfamily, member 1) gene screening studies, missense variants, but not
      nonsense or frame-shift variants, cause the majority of long QT syndrome (LQTS;
      Romano-Ward syndrome [RWS]) 1 cases. Several missense variants are reported to
      cause RWS by a dominant-negative mechanism, and some KCNQ1 variants can cause
      both Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome (JLNS; in an autosomal recessive manner)
      and LQTS1 (in an autosomal dominant manner), while other KCNQ1 variants cause
      only JLNS. The human KCNQ1 gene is known to have two transcript isoforms (kidney
      isoform and pancreas isoform), and both isoforms can form a functional cardiac
      potassium channel. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we report a novel nonsense KCNQ1
      variant causing not only JLNS, but also significant QTc prolongation identical to
      RWS in an autosomal dominant manner. Our case study supports that
      haploinsufficiency in the KCNQ1 gene is causative of significant QTc prolongation
      identical to RWS. Interestingly, the nonsense variant (NM_000218.2:c.115G > T
      [p.Glu39X]) locates in exon 1a of KCNQ1, which is a kidney-isoform specific exon.
      The variant is located closer to the N-terminus than previously identified
      nonsense or frame-shift variants. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this
      is the first report showing that a nonsense variant in exon 1a of KCNQ1, which is
      the kidney-isoform specific exon, causes JLNS. Our findings may be informative to
      the genetic pathogenesis of RWS and JLNS caused by KCNQ1 variants.

PMID- 28595574
TI  - Limitations of pulmonary embolism ICD-10 codes in emergency department
      administrative data: let the buyer beware.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Administrative data is a useful tool for research and quality
      improvement; however, validity of research findings based on these data depends
      on their reliability. Diagnoses assigned by physicians are subsequently converted
      by nosologists to ICD-10 codes (International Statistical Classification of
      Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision). Several groups have
      reported ICD-9 coding errors in inpatient data that have implications for
      research, quality improvement, and policymaking, but few have assessed ICD-10
      code validity in ambulatory care databases. Our objective was to evaluate
      pulmonary embolism (PE) ICD-10 code accuracy in our large, integrated hospital
      system, and the validity of using these codes for operational and health services
      research using ED ambulatory care databases. METHODS: Ambulatory care data for
      patients (age >= 18 years) with a PE ICD-10 code (I26.0 and I26.9) were obtained
      from the records of four urban EDs between July 2013 to January 2015. PE
      diagnoses were confirmed by reviewing medical records and imaging reports. In
      cases where chart diagnosis and ICD-10 code were discrepant, chart review was
      considered correct. Physicians' written discharge diagnoses were also searched
      using 'pulmonary embolism' and 'PE', and patients who were diagnosed with PE but
      not coded as PE were identified. Coding discrepancies were quantified and
      described. RESULTS: One thousand, four hundred and fifty-three ED patients had a
      PE ICD-10 code. Of these, 257 (17.7%) were false positive, with an incorrectly
      assigned PE code. Among the 257 false positives, 193 cases had ambiguous ED
      diagnoses such as 'rule out PE' or 'query PE', while 64 cases should have had non
      PE codes. An additional 117 patients (8.90%) with a PE discharge diagnosis were
      incorrectly assigned a non-PE ICD-10 code (false negative group). The sensitivity
      of PE ICD-10 codes in this dataset was 91.1% (95%CI, 89.4-92.6) with a
      specificity of 99.9% (95%CI, 99.9-99.9). The positive and negative predictive
      values were 82.3% (95%CI, 80.3-84.2) and 99.9% (95%CI, 99.9-99.9), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Ambulatory care data, like inpatient data, are subject to coding
      errors. This confirms the importance of ICD-10 code validation prior to use. The
      largest proportion of coding errors arises from ambiguous physician
      documentation; therefore, physicians and data custodians must ensure that quality
      improvement processes are in place to promote ICD-10 coding accuracy.

PMID- 28595575
TI  - Towards diagnostic metagenomics of Campylobacter in fecal samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The development of diagnostic metagenomics is driven by the need for
      universal, culture-independent methods for detection and characterization of
      pathogens to substitute the time-consuming, organism-specific, and often culture
      based laboratory procedures for epidemiological source-tracing. Some of the
      challenges in diagnostic metagenomics are, that it requires a great next
      generation sequencing depth and unautomated data analysis. RESULTS: DNA from
      human fecal samples spiked with 7.75 * 101-7.75 * 107 colony forming unit
      (CFU)/ml Campylobacter jejuni and chicken fecal samples spiked with 1 * 102-1 *
      106 CFU/g Campylobacter jejuni was sequenced and data analysis was done by the
      metagenomic tools Kraken and CLARK. More hits were obtained at higher spiking
      levels, however with no significant linear correlations (human samples p = 0.12,
      chicken samples p = 0.10). Therefore, no definite detection limit could be
      determined, but the lowest spiking levels found positive were 7.75 * 104 CFU/ml
      in human feces and 103 CFU/g in chicken feces. Eight human clinical fecal samples
      with estimated Campylobacter infection loads from 9.2 * 104-1.0 * 109 CFU/ml were
      analyzed using the same methods. It was possible to detect Campylobacter in all
      the clinical samples. CONCLUSIONS: Sensitivity in diagnostic metagenomics is
      improving and has reached a clinically relevant level. There are still challenges
      to overcome before real-time diagnostic metagenomics can replace quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) or culture-based surveillance and diagnostics,
      but it is a promising new technology.

PMID- 28595576
TI  - Perceptions of quality across the maternal care continuum in the context of a
      health financing intervention: Evidence from a mixed methods study in rural
      Malawi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2013, Malawi with its development partners introduced a Results
      Based Financing for Maternal and Newborn Health (RBF4MNH) intervention to improve
      the quality of maternal and newborn health-care services. Financial incentives
      are awarded to health facilities conditional on their performance and to women
      for delivering in the health facility. We assessed the effect of the RBF4MNH on
      quality of care from women's perspectives. METHODS: We used a mixed-method
      prospective sequential controlled pre- and post-test design. We conducted 3060
      structured client exit interviews, 36 in-depth interviews and 29 focus group
      discussions (FGDs) with women and 24 in-depth interviews with health service
      providers between 2013 and 2015. We used difference-in-differences regression
      models to measure the effect of the RBF4MNH on experiences and perceived quality
      of care. We used qualitative data to explore the matter more in depth. RESULTS:
      We did not observe a statistically significant effect of the intervention on
      women's perceptions of technical care, quality of amenities and interpersonal
      relations. However, in the qualitative interviews, most women reported improved
      health service provision as a result of the intervention. RBF4MNH increased the
      proportion of women reporting to have received medications/treatment during
      childbirth. Participants in interviews expressed that drugs, equipment and
      supplies were readily available due to the RBF4MNH. However, women also reported
      instances of neglect, disrespect and verbal abuse during the process of care.
      Providers attributed these negative instances to an increased workload resulting
      from an increased number of women seeking services at RBF4MNH facilities.
      CONCLUSION: Our qualitative findings suggest improvements in the availability of
      drugs and supplies due to RBF4MNH. Despite the intervention, challenges in the
      provision of quality care persisted, especially with regard to interpersonal
      relations. RBF interventions may need to consider including indicators that
      specifically target the provision of respectful maternity care as a means to
      foster providers' positive attitudes towards women in labour. In parallel,
      governments should consider enhancing staff and infrastructural capacity before
      implementing RBF.

PMID- 28595578
TI  - Open questions: completing the parts list and finding the integrating signals.
AB  - One of the great revelations of post-genomic biology has been the extent to which
      essential functions and mechanisms are conserved across vast phylogenetic
      distances. Because of this, we can look to the fruit fly for answers to pressing
      open questions on the unknown functions of genes and the mechanisms of their
      physiological integration.

PMID- 28595577
TI  - Complementary and conventional providers in cancer care: experience of
      communication with patients and steps to improve communication with other
      providers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective interdisciplinary communication is important to achieve
      better quality in health care. The aims of this study were to compare
      conventional and complementary providers' experience of communication about
      complementary therapies and conventional medicine with their cancer patients, and
      to investigate how they experience interdisciplinary communication and
      cooperation. METHOD: This study analyzed data from a self-administrated
      questionnaire. A total of 606 different health care providers, from four counties
      in Norway, completed the questionnaire. The survey was developed to describe
      aspects of the communication pattern among oncology doctors, nurses, family
      physicians and complementary therapists (acupuncturists, massage therapists and
      reflexologists/zone-therapists). Between-group differences were analyzed using
      chi-square, ANOVA and Fisher's exact tests. Significance level was defined as p <
      0.05 without adjustment for multiple comparisons. RESULT: Conventional providers
      and complementary therapists had different patterns of communication with their
      cancer patients regarding complementary therapies. While complementary therapists
      advised their patients to apply both complementary and conventional modalities,
      medical doctors were less supportive of their patients' use of complementary
      therapies. Of conventional providers, nurses expressed more positive attitudes
      toward complementary therapies. Opportunities to improve communication between
      conventional and complementary providers were most strongly supported by
      complementary providers and nurses; medical doctors were less supportive of such
      attempts. A number of doctors showed lack of respect for complementary
      therapists, but asked for more research, guidelines for complementary modalities
      and training in conventional medicine for complementary therapists. CONCLUSION:
      For better quality of care, greater communication about complementary therapy use
      is needed between cancer patients and their conventional and complementary
      providers. In addition, more communication between conventional and complementary
      providers is needed. Nurses may have a crucial role in facilitating
      communication, as they are positive toward complementary therapies and they have
      more direct communication with patients about their treatment preferences.

PMID- 28595580
TI  - Planned home compared with planned hospital births: mode of delivery and
      Perinatal mortality rates, an observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To compare the mode of delivery between planned home versus planned
      hospital births and to determine if differences in intervention rates could be
      interpreted as over- or undertreatment. METHODS: Intervention and perinatal
      mortality rates were obtained for 679,952 low-risk women from the Dutch Perinatal
      Registry (2000-2007). Intervention was defined as operative vaginal delivery
      and/or caesarean section. Perinatal mortality was defined as the intrapartum and
      early neonatal mortality rate up to 7 days postpartum. Besides adjustment for
      maternal and care factors, we included for additional casemix adjustment:
      presence of congenital abnormality, small for gestational age, preterm birth, or
      low Apgar score. The techniques used were nested multiple stepwise logistic
      regression, and stratified analysis for separate risk groups. An intention-to
      treat like analysis was performed. RESULTS: The intervention rate was lower in
      planned home compared to planned hospital births (10.9% 95% CI 10.8-11.0 vs.
      13.8% 95% CI 13.6-13.9). Intended place of birth had significant impact on the
      likelihood to intervene after adjustment (planned homebirth (OR 0.77 95% CI. 0.75
      0.78)). The mortality rate was lower in planned home births (0.15% vs. 0.18%).
      After adjustment, the interaction term home- intervention was significant (OR1.51
      95% CI 1.25-1.84). In risk groups, a higher perinatal mortality rate was observed
      in planned home births. CONCLUSIONS: The potential presence of over- or under
      treatment as expressed by adjusted perinatal mortality differs per risk group. In
      planned home births especially multiparous women showed universally lower
      intervention rates. However, the benefit of substantially fewer interventions in
      the planned home group seems to be counterbalanced by substantially increased
      mortality if intervention occurs.

PMID- 28595579
TI  - Omental adipose tissue is a more suitable source of canine Mesenchymal stem
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are a promising therapeutic tool in
      veterinary medicine. Currently the subcutaneous adipose tissue is the leading
      source of MSCs in dogs. MSCs derived from distinct fat depots have shown
      dissimilarities in their accessibility and therapeutic potential. The aims of our
      work were to determine the suitability of omental adipose tissue as a source of
      MSCs, according to sampling success, cell yield and paracrine properties of
      isolated cells, and compared to subcutaneous adipose tissue. RESULTS: While
      sampling success of omental adipose tissue was 100% (14 collections from14
      donors) for subcutaneous adipose tissue it was 71% (10 collections from 14
      donors). MSCs could be isolated from both sources. Cell yield was significantly
      higher for omental than for subcutaneous adipose tissue (38 +/- 1 vs. 30 +/- 1
      CFU-F/g tissue, p < 0.0001). No differences were observed between sources
      regarding cell proliferation potential (73 +/- 1 vs. 74 +/- 1 CDPL) and cell
      senescence (at passage 10, both cultures presented enlarged cells with
      cytoplasmic vacuoles and cellular debris). Omental- and subcutaneous-derived MSCs
      expressed at the same level bFGF, PDGF, HGF, VEGF, ANG1 and IL-10. Irrespective
      of the source, isolated MSCs induced proliferation, migration and vascularization
      of target cells, and inhibited the activation of T lymphocytes. CONCLUSION:
      Compared to subcutaneous adipose tissue, omental adipose tissue is a more
      suitable source of MSCs in dogs. Since it can be procured from donors with any
      body condition, its collection procedure is always feasible, its cell yield is
      high and the MSCs isolated from it have desirable differentiation and paracrine
      potentials.

PMID- 28595581
TI  - A strategy to estimate the rate of recruitment of inflammatory cells during
      bovine intramammary infection under field management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In most infectious diseases, among which bovine mastitis, promptness
      of the recruitment of inflammatory cells (mainly neutrophils) in inflamed tissues
      has been shown to be of prime importance in the resolution of the infection.
      Although this information should aid in designing efficient control strategies,
      it has never been quantified in field studies. METHODS: Here, a system of
      ordinary differential equations is proposed that describes the dynamic process of
      the inflammatory response to mammary pathogens. The system was tested, by
      principal differential analysis, on 1947 test-day somatic cell counts collected
      on 756 infected cows, from 50 days before to 50 days after the diagnosis of
      clinical mastitis. Cell counts were log-transformed before estimating recruitment
      rates. RESULTS: Daily rates of cellular recruitment was estimated at 0.052 (st.
      err. = 0.005) during health. During disease, an additional cellular rate of
      recruitment was estimated at 0.004 (st. err. = 0.001) per day and per bacteria.
      These estimates are in agreement with analogous measurements of in vitro
      neutrophil functions. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the method is adequate to
      estimate one of the components of innate resistance to mammary pathogens at the
      individual level and in field studies. Extension of the method to estimate
      components of innate tolerance and limits of the study are discussed.

PMID- 28595582
TI  - Enhancing the quality and lipid stability of chicken nuggets using natural
      antioxidants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current day consumers prefer natural antioxidants to synthetic
      antioxidants because they are more active. However, the activity generally
      depends on the specific condition and composition of food. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the effect of wheat germ oil and alpha-lipoic acid on the
      quality characteristics, antioxidant status, fatty acid profile, and sensory
      attributes of chicken nuggets. METHODS: Six types of diets were prepared for
      feeding the chickens to evaluate the quality of nuggets made from the leg meat of
      these experimental animals. These included control, diet enriched with wheat germ
      oil (WGO), which is a rich natural source of alpha-tocopherol (AT), diet with
      added AT or alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), diet with a combination of either ALA and
      WGO (ALA + WGO) or ALA and synthetic AT (ALA + AT). ALA has great synergism with
      synthetic as well as natural AT (WGO). RESULTS: The diet with WGO and ALA showed
      the best potential with respect to both antioxidant activity and total phenolic
      content. HPLC results revealed that the chicken nuggets made from WGO + ALA group
      showed maximum deposition of AT and ALA. The stability of the nuggets from
      control group was found to be significantly lower than that of nuggets from the
      WGO + ALA group. Total fatty acid content too was higher in the nuggets from this
      group. The poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were found to be higher in the
      nuggets from the groups fed with a combination of natural and synthetic
      antioxidants. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the combination of natural and
      synthetic antioxidants in the animal feed exerts a synergistic effect in
      enhancing the stability and quality of chicken nuggets.

PMID- 28595583
TI  - The association between number of doctors per bed and readmission of elderly
      patients with pneumonia in South Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need to reduce readmission of patients with
      pneumonia and improve quality of care. To assess the association between hospital
      resources and quality of care, we examined the effect of number of doctors per
      bed on 30-day readmission and investigated the combined effect of number of
      doctors per bed and number of beds. METHODS: We used nationwide cohort sample
      data of health insurance claims by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)
      from 2002 to 2013. Pneumonia admissions to acute care hospitals among 7446
      inpatients older than 65 were examined. We conducted a multivariate Cox
      proportional hazard model to analyze the association between the number of
      doctors per bed and 30-day readmission, as well as that of pneumonia-specific 30
      day readmission with the combined effects of number of doctors per bed and number
      of beds. RESULTS: Overall, 1421 (19.1%) patients were readmitted within 30 days
      and 756 (11.2%) patients were readmitted for pneumonia within 30 days. Patients
      with pneumonia treated by very low or low number of doctors per bed showed higher
      readmission (pneumonia-specific readmission: hazard ratio [HR] = 1. 406, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] = 1.072-1.843 for low number of doctors per bed; all
      cause readmissions: HR = 1.276, 95% CI = 1.026-1.587 for very low number of
      doctors per bed, and HR = 1.280, 95% CI = 1.064-1.540 for low number of doctors
      per bed). CONCLUSIONS: This empirical study showed that patients with pneumonia
      cared for in hospitals with more doctors were less likely to be readmitted.
      Pneumonia-specific 30-day readmission was also significantly associated with the
      combined effect of the number of doctors and the number of hospital beds.

PMID- 28595585
TI  - T cells bearing anti-CD19 and/or anti-CD38 chimeric antigen receptors effectively
      abrogate primary double-hit lymphoma cells.
AB  - Patients with B cell lymphomas bearing MYC translocation combined with
      translocation involving other genes, such as BCL2, BCL3, or BCL6, defined as
      double-hit lymphoma (DHL), have a poor prognosis. Recent studies expanded the
      concept to include double-expressing lymphoma (DEL) that co-overexpresses MYC
      protein with either of those proteins. Accordingly, we defined cytogenetic DHL
      and DEL as primary DHL. An adoptive T cell immunotherapy with a chimeric antigen
      receptor (CAR) has been clinically shown to exhibit cytotoxicity in refractory
      neoplasias. We revealed the marked cytotoxicity of anti-CD19- and/or anti-CD38
      CAR T cells against primary DHL cells from patients. CD19- and/or CD38-specific T
      cells were co-cultured with cytogenetic DHL (n = 3) or DEL (n = 2) cells from
      five patients for 3 days. We examined whether T cells retrovirally transduced
      with each vector showed cytotoxicity against DHL cells. Anti-CD19- and/or anti
      CD38-CAR T cells were co-cultured with primary DHL cells at an E:T ratio of 1:2
      for 3 days. Anti-CD19- and anti-CD38-CAR T cells completely abrogated these DHL
      cells, respectively. Anti-CD19-CAR T cells synergistically exerted collaborative
      cytotoxicity against these primary DHL cells with anti-CD38-CAR T cells.
      Therefore, refractory DHL cells can be efficiently abrogated by the clinical use
      of T cells with anti-CD19- and/or anti-CD38-CAR.

PMID- 28595584
TI  - The impact of hyperhidrosis on patients' daily life and quality of life: a
      qualitative investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An understanding of the daily life impacts of hyperhidrosis and how
      patients deal with them, based on qualitative research, is lacking. This study
      investigated the impact of hyperhidrosis on the daily life of patients using a
      mix of qualitative research methods. METHODS: Participants were recruited through
      hyperhidrosis patient support groups such as the Hyperhidrosis Support Group UK.
      Data were collected using focus groups, interviews and online surveys. A grounded
      theory approach was used in the analysis of data transcripts. Data were collected
      from 71 participants, out of an initial 100 individuals recruited. RESULTS:
      Seventeen major themes capturing the impacts of hyperhidrosis were identified;
      these covered all areas of life including daily life, psychological well-being,
      social life, professional /school life, dealing with hyperhidrosis, unmet health
      care needs and physical impact. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial impacts are central to
      the overall impacts of hyperhidrosis, cutting across and underlying the
      limitations experienced in other areas of life.

PMID- 28595586
TI  - Between chromatin and SNPs: genetic variability and the susceptibility to acute
      kidney injury.

PMID- 28595587
TI  - Multiple gene movements into and out of haploid sex chromosomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term evolution of sex chromosomes is a dynamic process shaped by
      gene gain and gene loss. Sex chromosome gene traffic has been studied in XY and
      ZW systems but no detailed analyses have been carried out for haploid phase UV
      sex chromosomes. Here, we explore sex-specific sequences of seven brown algal
      species to understand the dynamics of the sex-determining region (SDR) gene
      content across 100 million years of evolution. RESULTS: A core set of sex-linked
      genes is conserved across all the species investigated, but we also identify
      modifications of both the U and the V SDRs that occurred in a lineage-specific
      fashion. These modifications involve gene loss, gene gain and relocation of genes
      from the SDR to autosomes. Evolutionary analyses suggest that the SDR genes are
      evolving rapidly and that this is due to relaxed purifying selection. Expression
      analysis indicates that genes that were acquired from the autosomes have been
      retained in the SDR because they confer a sex-specific role in reproduction. By
      examining retroposed genes in Saccharina japonica, we demonstrate that UV sex
      chromosomes have generated a disproportionate number of functional orphan
      retrogenes compared with autosomes. Movement of genes out of the UV sex
      chromosome could be a means to compensate for gene loss from the non-recombining
      region, as has been suggested for Y-derived retrogenes in XY sexual systems.
      CONCLUSION: This study provides the first analysis of gene traffic in a haploid
      UV system and identifies several features of general relevance to the evolution
      of sex chromosomes.

PMID- 28595588
TI  - Erratum to Benefit of dual-chamber pacing with Closed Loop Stimulation in tilt
      induced cardio-inhibitory reflex syncope (BIOSync trial): study protocol for a
      randomized controlled trial.

PMID- 28595589
TI  - A comparison of approaches for adjudicating outcomes in clinical trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incorrect classification of outcomes in clinical trials can lead to
      biased estimates of treatment effect and reduced power. Ensuring appropriate
      adjudication methods to minimize outcome misclassification is therefore
      essential. While there are many reported adjudication approaches, there is little
      consensus over which approach is best. METHODS: Under the assumption of non
      differential assessment (i.e. that misclassification rates are the same in each
      treatment arm, as would typically be the case when outcome assessors are
      blinded), we use simulation and theoretical results to address four different
      questions about outcome adjudication: (a) How many assessors should be used? (b)
      When is it better to use onsite or central assessment? (c) Should central
      assessors adjudicate all outcomes, or only suspected events? (d) Should central
      assessment with multiple assessors be done independently or through group
      consensus? RESULTS: No one adjudication approach performs optimally in all
      settings. The optimal approach depends on the misclassification rates of site and
      central assessors, and the correlation between assessors. We found: (a) there
      will generally be little incremental benefit to using more than three assessors
      and, for outcomes with very high correlation between assessors, using one
      assessor is sufficient; (b) when choosing between site and central assessors, the
      assessor with the smallest misclassification rate should be chosen; when these
      rates are unknown, a combination of one site assessor and two central assessors
      will provide good results across a range of scenarios; (c) having central
      assessors adjudicate only suspected events will typically increase bias, and
      should be avoided, unless the threshold for sending outcomes for central
      assessment is extremely low; (d) central assessors can adjudicate either
      independently or in a group, and the preferred option should be dictated by
      whichever is expected to have the lowest misclassification rate. CONCLUSIONS:
      Outcome adjudication is of critical importance to ensure validity of trial
      results, although no one approach is optimal across all settings. Investigators
      should choose the best strategy based on the specific characteristics of their
      trial. Regardless of the adjudication strategy chosen, assessors should be
      qualified and receive appropriate training.

PMID- 28595590
TI  - Shortcomings in snake bite management in rural Cameroon: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Snake bites are an important public health problem in developing
      countries with most bites occurring in rural areas. Severe envenomation often
      occurs in children and following bites to the face. Prompt administration of
      potent anti-venom remains the mainstay of management. However in Cameroon, the
      use of anti-venoms is limited by non-availability, high cost (where available)
      and poor mastery of treatment guidelines. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a 10-year
      old muslim Cameroonian child from an enclaved rural area, brought to the hospital
      12 h after a snake bite to the face, with signs of severe envenomation. Despite
      the suboptimal anti-venom dose administered to this patient due to a stock out of
      this medication, supportive therapy was beneficial in ensuring a positive outcome
      and satisfactory recovery. CONCLUSION: This highlights snake bites as a public
      health problem due to the lack of snake anti-venoms in peripheral health
      facilities, rendering them unable to appropriately manage these cases. National
      health policies should encourage constant peripheral availability of anti-venoms
      and the institution of an intervention package for snake bite management,
      comprising: treatment protocol, staff training, monitoring of compliance and
      community education to help reduce the mortality and morbidity from snake bites.

PMID- 28595591
TI  - Effect of race and ethnicity on utilization and outcomes of assisted reproductive
      technology in the USA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the utilization and live
      birth rates of assisted reproductive technology (ART) modalities among various
      racial and ethnic groups in recent years. METHODS: We reviewed ART data reported
      to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies Clinic Outcome Reporting
      System (SART CORS) for autologous ART and third-party ART (3ART) cycles which
      involved donor oocytes, sperm, embryos and gestational carrier, performed in the
      U.S. between 2004 and 2013. To gauge demand by various racial/ethnic groups for
      ART services, we examined fertility rates and demographics of the entire U.S.
      birth cohort over the same time interval. RESULTS: Of 1,132,844 autologous ART
      cycles 335,462 resulted in a live birth (29.6%). An additional, 217,030 3ART
      cycles resulted in 86,063 live births (39.7%). Hispanic and Black women
      demonstrated high fertility and lower utilization rates of autologous ART and
      3ART. Caucasian and Asian women exhibited lower fertility rates and higher
      autologous ART and 3ART utilization. Autologous ART resulted in higher live birth
      rates among Caucasian and Hispanic women and lower rates among Asian and
      especially Black women. 3ART improved live birth rates in all races/ethnicities,
      though Black women experienced lower live birth rates with most modalities.
      Spontaneous abortion rates were higher among Black women following autologous ART
      and some 3ART modalities than those among Caucasian women. CONCLUSION:
      Utilization of ART is inversely related to fertility rates. Autologous ART
      produces lower live birth rates among Asian and Black women. 3ART results in
      relatively low live birth rates among Black women. TRIAL REGISTRATION: SART CORS
      #57 , Registered 5/14/2015.

PMID- 28595592
TI  - Computational prediction of lncRNA-mRNA interactionsby integrating tissue
      specificity in human transcriptome.
AB  - : Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a key role in normal tissue differentiation
      and cancer development through their tissue-specific expression in the human
      transcriptome. Recent investigations of macromolecular interactions have shown
      that tissue-specific lncRNAs form base-pairing interactions with various mRNAs
      associated with tissue-differentiation, suggesting that tissue specificity is an
      important factor controlling human lncRNA-mRNA interactions.Here, we report
      investigations of the tissue specificities of lncRNAs and mRNAs by using RNA-seq
      data across various human tissues as well as computational predictions of tissue
      specific lncRNA-mRNA interactions inferred by integrating the tissue specificity
      of lncRNAs and mRNAs into our comprehensive prediction of human lncRNA-RNA
      interactions. Our predicted lncRNA-mRNA interactions were evaluated by
      comparisons with experimentally validated lncRNA-mRNA interactions (between the
      TINCR lncRNA and mRNAs), showing the improvement of prediction accuracy over
      previous prediction methods that did not account for tissue specificities of
      lncRNAs and mRNAs. In addition, our predictions suggest that the potential
      functions of TINCR lncRNA not only for epidermal differentiation but also for
      esophageal development through lncRNA-mRNA interactions. REVIEWERS: This article
      was reviewed by Dr. Weixiong Zhang and Dr. Bojan Zagrovic.

PMID- 28595593
TI  - Specialty preferences among medical students in Botswana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the establishment of a new medical college in Botswana to train
      generalist-doctors and specialists, we set out to explore the career preferences
      of medical students, factors that influence their choices and attitude to local
      postgraduate training. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based
      study was conducted among medical students in their third to fifth year, at the
      Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana. The structured, self-administered
      questionnaires which were hand-delivered covered demographic characteristics of
      responders, career choices, preferred location of specialisation and factors that
      influenced the choices. RESULTS: Of the 143 medical students approached, 116
      (81.0%) returned completed questionnaires. Of the responders, 102 (87.9%) intend
      to pursue postgraduate specialisation against 2 (1.7%) who declined; 12 (10.3%)
      were undecided. The four most preferred specialties which constituted 68.1% were
      surgery (28.4%), paediatrics (19.0%), internal medicine (12.9%), obstetrics and
      gynaecology (7.2%). There was male preference for surgery (p = 0.04), while women
      were drawn more towards paediatrics and psychiatry (p = 0.04 and p = 0.01,
      respectively). Personal interest and aptitude was considered the most important
      factor among most responders (46.2%), followed by enjoyment of the posting
      (19.8%). A high proportion of responders 80 (69.0%) preferred to specialise
      abroad for better exposure/opportunities (48.3%), while for 15.5%, their
      preferred courses are not currently available locally. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      indicated that while four major specialties are preferred, significant gender
      differences exist with female students leaning towards non-surgical disciplines.
      Students prefer specialising abroad on the pretext that foreign centres offer
      better training opportunities, and many specialist programmes are unavailable
      locally.

PMID- 28595594
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare
      workers in Nampula Central Hospital, Mozambique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers in high tuberculosis burdened countries are
      occupationally exposed to the tuberculosis disease with uncomplicated and
      complicated tuberculosis on the increase among them. Most of them acquire
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis but do not progress to the active disease - latent
      tuberculosis infection. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence
      and risk factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare
      workers in Nampula Central Hospital, Mozambique. METHODS: This cross-sectional
      study of healthcare workers was conducted between 2014 and 2015. Participants (n
      = 209) were administered a questionnaire on demographics and occupational
      tuberculosis exposure and had a tuberculin skin test administered. Multivariate
      linear and logistic regression tested for associations between independent
      variables and dependent outcomes (tuberculin skin test induration and latent
      tuberculosis infection status). RESULTS: The prevalence of latent tuberculosis
      infection was 34.4%. Latent tuberculosis infection was highest in those working
      for more than eight years (39.3%), those who had no BCG vaccination (39.6%) and
      were immunocompromised (78.1%). Being immunocompromised was significantly
      associated with latent tuberculosis infection (OR 5.97 [95% CI 1.89; 18.87]).
      Positive but non-significant associations occurred with working in the medical
      domain (OR 1.02 [95% CI 0.17; 6.37]), length of employment > eight years (OR 1.97
      [95% CI 0.70; 5.53]) and occupational contact with tuberculosis patients (OR 1.24
      [95% CI 0.47; 3.27]). CONCLUSIONS: Personal and occupational factors were
      positively associated with latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers
      in Mozambique.

PMID- 28595595
TI  - Multiplex detection in tonsillar tissue of all known human polyomaviruses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the past few years, eleven new human viruses have joined the two
      previously known members JCPyV and BKPyV of the Polyomaviridae family, by virtue
      of molecular methods. Serology data suggest that infections with human
      polyomaviruses (HPyVs) occur since childhood and the viruses are widespread in
      the general population. However, the viral persistence sites and transmission
      routes are by and large unknown. Our previous studies demonstrated that the four
      new HPyVs - KIPyV, WUPyV, MCPyV and TSPyV - were present in the tonsils, and
      suggested lymphoid tissue as a persistent site of these emerging human viruses.
      We developed a Luminex-based multiplex assay for simultaneous detection of all 13
      HPyVs known, and explored their occurrence in tonsillar tissues of children and
      adults mostly with tonsillitis or tonsillar hypertrophy. METHODS: We set up and
      validated a new Luminex-based multiplex assay by using primer pairs and probes
      targeting the respective HPyV viral protein 1 (VP1) genes. With this assay we
      tested 78 tonsillar tissues for DNAs of 13 HPyVs. RESULTS: The multiplex assay
      allowed for simultaneous detection of 13 HPyVs with high analytical sensitivity
      and specificity, with detection limits of 100-102 copies per microliter, and
      identified correctly all 13 target sequences with no cross reactions. HPyV DNA
      altogether was found in 14 (17.9%) of 78 tonsils. The most prevalent HPyVs were
      HPyV6 (7.7%), TSPyV (3.8%) and WUPyV (3.8%). Mixed infection of two HPyVs
      occurred in one sample. CONCLUSIONS: The Luminex-based HPyV multiplex assay
      appears highly suitable for clinical diagnostic purposes and large-scale
      epidemiological studies. Additional evidence was acquired that the lymphoid
      system plays a role in HPyV infection and persistence. Thereby, shedding from
      this site during reactivation might take part in transmission of the newly found
      HPyVs.

PMID- 28595596
TI  - The influence of dog ownership on objective measures of free-living physical
      activity and sedentary behaviour in community-dwelling older adults: a
      longitudinal case-controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is some evidence to suggest that dog ownership may improve
      physical activity (PA) among older adults, but to date, studies examining this,
      have either depended on self-report or incomplete datasets due to the type of
      activity monitor used to record physical activity. Additionally, the effect of
      dog ownership on sedentary behaviour (SB) has not been explored. The aim of the
      current study was to address these issues by using activPAL monitors to evaluate
      the influence of dog ownership on health enhancing PA and SB in a longitudinal
      study of independently-mobile, community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: Study
      participants (43 pairs of dog owners and non-dog owners, matched on a range of
      demographic variables) wore an activPAL monitor continuously for three, one-week
      data collection periods over the course of a year. Participants also reported
      information about their own and their dog demographics, caring responsibilities,
      and completed a diary of wake times. Diary data was used to isolate waking times,
      and outcome measures of time spent walking, time spent walking at a moderate
      cadence (>100 steps/min), time spent standing, time spent sitting, number of
      sitting events (continuous periods of sitting), and the number of and of time
      spent sitting in prolonged events (>30 min). For each measure, a linear mixed
      effects model with dog ownership as a fixed effect, and a random effects
      structure of measurement point nested in participant nested in pair was used to
      assess the effect of dog ownership. RESULTS: Owning a dog indicated a large,
      potentially health improving, average effect of 22 min additional time spent
      walking, 95%CI (12, 34), and 2760 additional steps per day, 95%CI (1667, 3991),
      with this additional walking undertaken at a moderate intensity cadence. Dog
      owners had significantly fewer sitting events. However, there were no significant
      differences between the groups for either the total time spent sitting, or the
      number or duration of prolonged sedentary events. CONCLUSIONS: The scale of the
      influence of dog ownership on PA found in this study, indicates that future
      research regarding PA in older adults should assess and report dog ownership
      and/or dog walking status.

PMID- 28595597
TI  - Label-free quantitative proteomics of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis isolates
      reveals differences between Biovars ovis and equi strains.

PMID- 28595598
TI  - Isolation, biochemical and molecular identification of Nocardia species among TB
      suspects in northeastern, Tanzania; a forgotten or neglected threat?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary nocardiosis mimic pulmonary tuberculosis in most clinical
      and radiological manifestations. In Tanzania, where tuberculosis is one of the
      major public health threat clinical impact of nocardiosis as the cause of the
      human disease remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to isolate
      and identify Nocardia isolates recovered from TB suspects in Northeastern,
      Tanzania by using biochemical and molecular methods. METHODS: The study involved
      744 sputum samples collected from 372 TB suspects from four periphery diagnostic
      centers  in  Northeastern, Tanzania. Twenty patients were diagnosed as having
      presumptively Nocardia infections based on microscopic, cultural characteristics
      and biomerieux ID 32C Yeast Identification system and confirmed using 16S rRNA
      and hsp65 gene specific primers for Nocardia species and sequencing. RESULTS:
      Biochemically, the majority of the isolates were N. asteroides (n = 8/20, 40%),
      N. brasiliensis (n = 4/20, 20%), N. farcinica (n = 3/20, 15%), N. nova (n = 1/20,
      5%). Other aerobic actinomycetales included Streptomyces cyanescens (n = 2/20,
      10%), Streptomyces griseus, Actinomadura madurae each (n = 1/20, 5%). Results of
      16S rRNA and hsp65 sequencing were concordant in 15/17 (88. 2%) isolates and
      discordant in 2/17 (11.8%) isolates. Majority of the isolates belonged to N.
      cyriacigeorgica and N. farcinica, four (23.5%) each. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      suggest that Nocardia species may be an important cause of pulmonary nocardiosis
      that is underdiagnosed or ignored. This underscores needs to consider pulmonary
      nocardiosis as a differential diagnosis when there is a failure of anti-TB
      therapy and as a possible cause of human infections.

PMID- 28595599
TI  - Designing persuasive health materials using processing fluency: a literature
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health materials to promote health behaviors should be readable and
      generate favorable evaluations of the message. Processing fluency (the subjective
      experience of ease with which people process information) has been increasingly
      studied over the past decade. In this review, we explore effects and
      instantiations of processing fluency and discuss the implications for designing
      effective health materials. We searched seven online databases using "processing
      fluency" as the key word. In addition, we gathered relevant publications using
      reference snowballing. We included published records that were written in English
      and applicable to the design of health materials. RESULTS: We found 40 articles
      that were appropriate for inclusion. Various instantiations of fluency have a
      uniform effect on human judgment: fluently processed stimuli generate positive
      judgments (e.g., liking, confidence). Processing fluency is used to predict the
      effort needed for a given task; accordingly, it has an impact on willingness to
      undertake the task. Physical perceptual, lexical, syntactic, phonological,
      retrieval, and imagery fluency were found to be particularly relevant to the
      design of health materials. CONCLUSIONS: Health-care professionals should
      consider the use of a perceptually fluent design, plain language, numeracy with
      an appropriate degree of precision, a limited number of key points, and concrete
      descriptions that make recipients imagine healthy behavior. Such fluently
      processed materials that are easy to read and understand have enhanced
      perspicuity and persuasiveness.

PMID- 28595600
TI  - Extremely low Plasmodium prevalence in wild plovers and coursers from Cape Verde
      and Madagascar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relatively little is known about the prevalence of blood parasites in
      shorebirds, especially those breeding in the tropics. The prevalence of blood
      parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon was assessed
      in blood samples from Kentish plovers and cream-coloured coursers in Cape Verde,
      and samples of Kittlitz's plovers, Madagascar plovers and white-fronted plovers
      in Madagascar. RESULTS: Only two of these samples were positive for Plasmodium: a
      Kittlitz's plover was infected by a generalist lineage of Plasmodium that has
      already been reported in Europe and Africa, while in a white-fronted plover
      direct sequencing revealed a previously un-described Plasmodium lineage.
      CONCLUSION: Potential explanations for the low prevalence of blood parasites
      include the scarcity of vectors in habitats used by these bird species and their
      resistance to parasitic infections.

PMID- 28595601
TI  - Multicopy plasmid integration in Komagataella phaffii mediated by a defective
      auxotrophic marker.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A commonly used approach to improve recombinant protein production is
      to increase the levels of expression by providing extra-copies of a heterologous
      gene. In Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris) this is usually accomplished by
      transforming cells with an expression vector carrying a drug-resistance marker
      following a screening for multicopy clones on plates with increasingly higher
      concentrations of an antibiotic. Alternatively, defective auxotrophic markers can
      be used for the same purpose. These markers are generally transcriptionally
      impaired genes lacking most of the promoter region. Among the defective markers
      commonly used in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is leu2-d, an allele of LEU2 which is
      involved in leucine metabolism. Cells transformed with this marker can recover
      prototrophy when they carry multiple copies of leu2-d in order to compensate the
      poor transcription from this defective allele. RESULTS: A K. phaffii strain
      auxotrophic for leucine (M12) was constructed by disrupting endogenous LEU2. The
      resulting strain was successfully transformed with a vector carrying leu2-d and
      an EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) reporter gene. Vector copy numbers
      were determined from selected clones which grew to different colony sizes on
      transformation plates. A direct correlation was observed between colony size,
      number of integrated vectors and EGFP production. By using this approach we were
      able to isolate genetically stable clones bearing as many as 20 integrated copies
      of the vector and with no significant effects on cell growth. CONCLUSIONS: In
      this work we have successfully developed a genetic system based on a defective
      auxotrophic which can be applied to improve heterologous protein production in K.
      phaffii. The system comprises a K. phaffii leu2 strain and an expression vector
      carrying the defective leu2-d marker which allowed the isolation of multicopy
      clones after a single transformation step. Because a linear correlation was
      observed between copy number and heterologous protein production, this system may
      provide a simple approach to improve recombinant protein productivity in K.
      phaffii.

PMID- 28595602
TI  - Assembly and use of high-density recombinant peptide chips for large-scale ligand
      screening is a practical alternative to synthetic peptide libraries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recombinant peptide chips could constitute a versatile
      complementation to state-of-the-art in situ (chemical on-chip) synthesis,
      particle-based printing, or pre-manufactured peptide spotting. Bottlenecks still
      impeding a routine implementation - from restricted peptide lengths, low
      diversity and low array densities to high costs - could so be overcome. METHODS:
      To assess overall performance, we assembled recombinant chips composed of 38,400
      individual peptide spots on the area of a standard 96-well microtiter plate from
      comprehensive, highly diverse (>107 single clones) short random peptide
      libraries. RESULTS: Screening of altogether 476,160 clones against Streptavidin
      uncovered 2 discrete new binders: a characteristic HPQ-motif containing VSHPQAPF
      and a cyclic CSGSYGSC peptide. Interactions were technically confirmed by
      fluorescence polarization as well as biolayer-interferometry, and their potential
      suitability as novel detection tags evaluated by detection of a peptide-fused
      exemplary test protein. CONCLUSION: From our data we conclude that the presented
      technical pipeline can reliably identify novel hits, useful as first-generation
      binders or templates for subsequent ligand design plus engineering.

PMID- 28595603
TI  - Current and cumulative malaria infections in a setting embarking on elimination:
      Amhara, Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since 2005, Ethiopia has aggressively scaled up malaria prevention
      and case management. As a result, the number of malaria cases and deaths has
      significantly declined. In order to track progress towards the elimination of
      malaria in Amhara Region, coverage of malaria control tools and current malaria
      transmission need to be documented. METHODS: A cross-sectional household survey
      oversampling children under 5 years of age was conducted during the dry season in
      2013. A bivalent rapid diagnostic test (RDT) detecting both Plasmodium falciparum
      and Plasmodium vivax and serology assays using merozoite antigens from both these
      species were used to assess the prevalence of malaria infections and exposure to
      malaria parasites in 16 woredas (districts) in Amhara Region. RESULTS: 7878
      participants were included, with a mean age of 16.8 years (range 0.5-102.8 years)
      and 42.0% being children under 5 years of age. The age-adjusted RDT-positivity
      for P. falciparum and P. vivax infection was 1.5 and 0.4%, respectively, of which
      0.05% presented as co-infections. Overall age-adjusted seroprevalence was 30.0%
      for P. falciparum, 21.8% for P. vivax, and seroprevalence for any malaria species
      was 39.4%. The prevalence of RDT-positive infections varied by woreda, ranging
      from 0.0 to 8.3% and by altitude with rates of 3.2, 0.7, and 0.4% at under 2000,
      2000-2500, and >2500 m, respectively. Serological analysis showed heterogeneity
      in transmission intensity by area and altitude and evidence for a change in the
      force of infection in the mid-2000s. CONCLUSIONS: Current and historic malaria
      transmission across Amhara Region show substantial variation by age and altitude
      with some settings showing very low or near-zero transmission. Plasmodium vivax
      infections appear to be lower but relatively more stable across geography and
      altitude, while P. falciparum is the dominant infection in the higher
      transmission, low-altitude areas. Age-dependent seroprevalence analyses indicates
      a drop in transmission occurred in the mid-2000s, coinciding with malaria control
      scale-up efforts. As malaria parasitaemia rates get very low with elimination
      efforts, serological evaluation may help track progress to elimination.

PMID- 28595604
TI  - Functionality and acceptability of a wireless fetal heart rate monitoring device
      in term pregnant women in rural Southwestern Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over 3 million stillbirths occur annually in sub Saharan Africa; most
      occur intrapartum and are largely preventable. The standard of care for fetal
      heart rate (FHR) assessment in most sub-Saharan African settings is a Pinard
      Stethoscope, limiting observation to one person, at one point in time. We aimed
      to test the functionality and acceptability of a wireless FHR monitor that could
      allow for expanded monitoring capacity in rural Southwestern Uganda. METHODS: In
      a mixed method prospective study, we enrolled 1) non-laboring healthy term
      pregnant women to wear the device for 30 min and 2) non-study clinicians to
      observe its use. The battery-powered prototype uses Doppler technology to measure
      fetal cardiotocographs (CTG), which are displayed via an android device and
      wirelessly transmit to cloud storage where they are accessible via a password
      protected website. Prototype functionality was assessed by the ability to obtain
      and transmit a 30-min CTG. Three obstetricians independently rated CTGs for
      readability and agreement between raters was calculated. All participants
      completed interviews on acceptability. RESULTS: Fifty pregnant women and 7
      clinicians were enrolled. 46 (92.0%) CTGs were successfully recorded and stored.
      Mean scores for readability were 4.71, 4.71 and 4.83 (out of 5) with high
      agreement (intra class correlation 0.84; 95% CI 0.74 to 0.91). All pregnant women
      reported liking or really liking the device, as well as high levels of comfort,
      flexibility and usefulness of the prototype; all would recommend it to others.
      Clinicians described the prototype as portable, flexible, easy-to-use and a time
      saver. Adequate education for clinicians and women also seemed to improve correct
      usage and minimise concerns on safety of the device. CONCLUSIONS: This prototype
      wireless FHR monitor functioned well in a low-resource setting and was found to
      be acceptable and useful to both pregnant women and clinicians. The device also
      seemed to have potential to improve the experience of the users compared with
      standard of care and expand monitoring capacity in settings where bulky, wired or
      traditional equipment are unreliable. Further research needs to investigate the
      potential impact and cost of such innovations to improve perinatal outcomes.

PMID- 28595605
TI  - Integrating transcriptomics and metabolomics for the analysis of the aroma
      profiles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains from diverse origins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During must fermentation thousands of volatile aroma compounds are
      formed, with higher alcohols, acetate esters and ethyl esters being the main
      aromatic compounds contributing to floral and fruity aromas. The action of yeast,
      in particular Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on the must components will build the
      architecture of the wine flavour and its fermentation bouquet. The objective of
      the present work was to better understand the molecular and metabolic bases of
      aroma production during a fermentation process. For such, comparative
      transcriptomic and metabolic analysis was performed at two time points (5 and 50
      g/L of CO2 released) in fermentations conducted by four yeast strains from
      different origins and/or technological applications (cachaca, sake, wine, and
      laboratory), and multivariate factorial analyses were used to rationally identify
      new targets for improving aroma production. RESULTS: Results showed that strains
      from cachaca, sake and wine produced higher amounts of acetate esters, ethyl
      esters, acids and higher alcohols, in comparison with the laboratory strain. At
      fermentation time T1 (5 g/L CO2 released), comparative transcriptomics of the
      three S. cerevisiae strains from different fermentative environments in
      comparison with the laboratory yeast S288c, showed an increased expression of
      genes related with tetracyclic and pentacyclic triterpenes metabolism, involved
      in sterol synthesis. Sake strain also showed upregulation of genes ADH7 and AAD6,
      involved in the formation of higher alcohols in the Ehrlich pathway. For
      fermentation time point T2 (50 g/L CO2 released), again sake strain, but also VL1
      strain, showed an increased expression of genes involved in formation of higher
      alcohols in the Ehrlich pathway, namely ADH7, ADH6 and AAD6, which is in
      accordance with the higher levels of methionol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol and
      phenylethanol observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our approach revealed successful to
      integrate data from several technologies (HPLC, GC-MS, microarrays) and using
      different data analysis methods (PCA, MFA). The results obtained increased our
      knowledge on the production of wine aroma and flavour, identifying new gene in
      association to the formation of flavour active compounds, mainly in the
      production of fatty acids, and ethyl and acetate esters.

PMID- 28595607
TI  - A composite visualization method for electrophysiology-morphous merging of human
      heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electrophysiological behavior is of great importance for analyzing
      the cardiac functional mechanism under cardiac physiological and pathological
      condition. Due to the complexity of cardiac structure and biophysiological
      function, visualization of a cardiac electrophysiological model compositively is
      still a challenge. The lack of either modality of the whole organ structure or
      cardiac electrophysiological behaviors makes analysis of the intricate mechanisms
      of cardiac dynamic function a difficult task. This study aims at exploring 3D
      conduction of stimulus and electrical excitation reactivity on the level of organ
      with the authentic fine cardiac anatomy structure. METHODS: In this paper, a
      cardiac electrical excitation propagation model is established based on the human
      cardiac cross-sectional data to explore detailed cardiac electrical activities. A
      novel biophysical merging visualization method is then presented for biophysical
      integration of cardiac anatomy and electrophysiological properties in the form of
      the merging optical model, which provides the corresponding position, spatial
      relationship and the whole process in 3D space with the context of anatomical
      structure for representing the biophysical detailed electrophysiological
      activity. RESULTS: The visualization result present the action potential
      propagation of the left ventricle within the excitation cycle with the authentic
      fine cardiac organ anatomy. In the visualized images, all vital organs are
      identified and distinguished without ambiguity. The three dimensional spatial
      position, relation and the process of cardiac excitation conduction and re-entry
      propagation in the anatomical structure during the phase of depolarization and
      repolarization is also shown in the result images, which exhibits the performance
      of a more detailed biophysical understanding of the electrophysiological kinetics
      of human heart in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the proposed merging
      optical model can merge cardiac electrophysiological activity with the anatomy
      structure. By specifying the respective opacity for the cardiac anatomy structure
      and the electrophysiological model in the merging attenuation function, the
      visualized images can provide an in-depth insight into the biophysical detailed
      cardiac functioning phenomena and the corresponding electrophysiological behavior
      mechanism, which is helpful for further speculating cardiac physiological and
      pathological responses and is fundamental to the cardiac research and clinical
      diagnoses.

PMID- 28595606
TI  - Detection of a genetic footprint of the sofosbuvir resistance-associated
      substitution S282T after HCV treatment failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The major resistance-associated substitution for sofosbuvir (S282T)
      in HCV NS5B causes severe viral fitness costs and rapidly reverts back to
      prototype in the absence of selection pressure. Accordingly, resistance against
      sofosbuvir is rarely detected even in patients after treatment failure. CASE
      PRESENTATION: We report a case of a GT3a infected patient with viral breakthrough
      under SOF/DCV therapy. At the time of breakthrough the RAS S282T was predominant
      in NS5B and then rapidly disappeared during follow-up by week 12 after treatment.
      Interestingly, despite only serine was encoded in position 282 during follow-up,
      two distinct genetic pathways for reversion were detectable. In 31% of the
      quasispecies the original codon for serine was present whereas in the majority of
      the quasispecies an alternative codon was selected. This alternative codon usage
      was unique for all GT3a isolates from the HCV database and remained detectable as
      a genetic footprint for prior resistance selection at the RNA level for at least
      6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative analyses of viral sequences at the codon level
      before and after DAA treatment may help to elucidate the patient's history of
      resistance selection, which is particularly valuable for highly unfit
      substitutions that are detectable only for a short period of time. If such codon
      changes increase the risk of re-selection of resistance upon a second exposure to
      SOF remains to be addressed.

PMID- 28595609
TI  - Erratum to: High incidence of periprosthetic joint infection with
      propionibacterium acnes after the use of a stemless shoulder prosthesis with
      metaphyseal screw fixation - a retrospective cohort study of 241 patients
      propionibacter infections after eclipse TSA.

PMID- 28595608
TI  - Antimicrobial activity, toxicity and anti-inflammatory potential of methanolic
      extracts of four ethnomedicinal plant species from Punjab, Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The plant species Aristolochia indica (AI), Melilotus indicus (MI),
      Tribulus terrestris (TT) and Cuscuta pedicellata (CP) are widely used in folk
      medicine in the villages around Chowk Azam, South Punjab, Pakistan. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity, phytochemical composition,
      and the antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory potential of
      the four medicinal plants listed above. For CP stem, this study represents (to
      the best of our knowledge) the first time phytochemicals have been identified and
      the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential determined. METHODS:
      Phytochemicals were analyzed through chemical tests, thin layer chromatography
      (TLC) and spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant activities (DPPH and H2O2) were
      also determined through spectrophotometric methods. Extracts were evaluated for
      antibacterial potential via the agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus
      aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia and Acinetobacter baumannii.
      The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration
      (MBC) were determined by the microdilution method. Antifungal activities were
      tested using the agar tube dilution method against three species: Aspergillus
      fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae. The cytotoxic potential of the
      plant extracts was checked using the brine shrimp assay. In vitro anti
      inflammatory activity of the selected plant extracts was evaluated using albumin
      denaturation, membrane stabilization and proteinase inhibitory assays. RESULTS:
      Of all the methanolic extracts tested, those from CP (stem) and TTF (T.
      terrestris fruit) had the highest phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol contents
      (497+/-4 mg GAE/g, 385+/-8 mg QE/g and 139+/-4 mg QE/g; 426+/-5 mg GAE/g, 371+/-8
      mg QE/g and 138+/-6 mg QE/g, respectively) and also exhibited strong antioxidant
      potential in scavenging DPPH and hydrogen peroxide (IC50 values; 20+/-1 and 18+/
      0.7 MUg/mL; 92+/-2 and 26+/-2 MUg/mL, respectively). CP, TTF and TTL (T.
      terrestris leaf) extracts substantially inhibited the growth of the bacteria A.
      baumannii, S. aureus, and K. pneumonia and also exhibited the highest antifungal
      potential. The ranking of the plant extracts for cytotoxicity was TTF > TTL > AI
      > CP > MI, while the ranking for in vitro anti-inflammatory potential at a
      concentration of 200 MUg/mL of the selected plant extracts was CP > TTL, TTF > AI
      > MI. The lowest IC50 (28 MUg/mL) observed in the albumin denaturation assay was
      for CP. Positive correlations were observed between total phenolics,
      antioxidants, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory potential of the
      selected plant extracts, indicating a significant contribution of phenolic
      compounds in the plant extracts to these activities. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      revealed the strong antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory
      potential of the plant species CP and TT used in folk medicine.

PMID- 28595610
TI  - The efficacy and safety of Danggui-Sayuk-Ga-Osuyu-Saenggang-tang on Korean
      patients with cold hypersensitivity in the hands: study protocol for a pilot,
      double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, cold hypersensitivity in the hands (CHH) has become
      a common ailment of women in Korea. It can lead to gynecological problems such as
      irregular menstruation, miscarriage, and infertility. Traditionally, Korean
      herbal medicine has been the primary treatment method used to balance
      thermoregulation in the human body; however, its effectiveness has not been
      confirmed through systematic study. Thus, in this trial, we will investigate the
      feasibility of a full randomized clinical trial, Danggui-Sayuk-Ga-Osuyu-Saenggang
      tang (DSGOST) in Korean women with CHH. METHODS: This study will be a pilot,
      multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, two-arm, placebo
      controlled clinical trial. A total of 66 participants will be randomly divided
      into two groups, a DSGOST treatment group and a placebo control group, in a 1:1
      ratio using a web-based randomization system. Each group will take DSGOST or
      placebo three times daily for 6 weeks. The primary outcome will be measured using
      Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores of CHH. Secondary outcomes will include
      changes in skin temperature of the hands, Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale
      scores, recovery rate of skin temperature of the hands after the cold stress
      test, and the Korean version of the WHO Quality of Life Scale, abbreviated
      version (WHOQOL-BREF). DISCUSSION: This trial will be the first trial to reflect
      the newly defined disease range of CHH which was compiled by Korean medicine
      expert consensus. This study will provide considerable evidence for further large
      scale trials and general clinical guidelines for CHH in the Korean medical field.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, ID:
      NCT02645916 . Registered on 30 December 2015.

PMID- 28595612
TI  - Responsiveness and minimal important change of the Norwegian version of the
      Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire (DASH) in patients with
      subacromial pain syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire (DASH)
      is a valid and reliable patient-reported outcome measure (PROM). It was designed
      to measure physical disability and symptoms in patients with musculoskeletal
      disorders of the upper extremity, and is one of the most commonly used PROMs for
      patients with shoulder pain. The aim of this study was to examine responsiveness,
      the smallest detectable change (SDC) and the minimal important change (MIC) of
      the DASH, in line with international (COSMIN) recommendations. METHODS: The study
      sample consisted of 50 patients with subacromial pain syndrome, undergoing
      physical therapy for 3-4 months. Responsiveness to change was examined by
      calculating area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) and
      testing a priori-formulated hypothesis regarding correlations with changes in
      other instruments that measuring the same construct. The SDC was calculated using
      a test re-test protocol, and the MIC was calculated by the anchor-based MIC
      distribution. MIC values for patients with low and high baseline scores were also
      calculated. RESULTS: DASH appeared to be responsive, as it was able to
      distinguish patients who reported to be improved from those unchanged (AUC 0.77).
      All of the hypotheses were accepted. The SDC was 11.8, and the MIC was 4.4.
      CONCLUSION: This study shows that the Norwegian version of the DASH has good
      responsiveness to change and may thus be recommended to measure outcome in
      patients with shoulder pain in Norway.

PMID- 28595611
TI  - Video Game Rehabilitation for Outpatient Stroke (VIGoROUS): protocol for a multi
      center comparative effectiveness trial of in-home gamified constraint-induced
      movement therapy for rehabilitation of chronic upper extremity hemiparesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constraint-Induced Movement therapy (CI therapy) is shown to reduce
      disability, increase use of the more affected arm/hand, and promote brain
      plasticity for individuals with upper extremity hemiparesis post-stroke.
      Randomized controlled trials consistently demonstrate that CI therapy is superior
      to other rehabilitation paradigms, yet it is available to only a small minority
      of the estimated 1.2 million chronic stroke survivors with upper extremity
      disability. The current study aims to establish the comparative effectiveness of
      a novel, patient-centered approach to rehabilitation utilizing newly developed,
      inexpensive, and commercially available gaming technology to disseminate CI
      therapy to underserved individuals. Video game delivery of CI therapy will be
      compared against traditional clinic-based CI therapy and standard upper extremity
      rehabilitation. Additionally, individual factors that differentially influence
      response to one treatment versus another will be examined. METHODS: This protocol
      outlines a multi-site, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design.
      Two hundred twenty four adults with chronic hemiparesis post-stroke will be
      recruited at four sites. Participants are randomized to one of four study groups:
      (1) traditional clinic-based CI therapy, (2) therapist-as-consultant video game
      CI therapy, (3) therapist-as-consultant video game CI therapy with additional
      therapist contact via telerehabilitation/video consultation, and (4) standard
      upper extremity rehabilitation. After 6-month follow-up, individuals assigned to
      the standard upper extremity rehabilitation condition crossover to stand-alone
      video game CI therapy preceded by a therapist consultation. All interventions are
      delivered over a period of three weeks. Primary outcome measures include motor
      improvement as measured by the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT), quality of arm
      use for daily activities as measured by Motor Activity Log (MAL), and quality of
      life as measured by the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (NeuroQOL).
      DISCUSSION: This multi-site RCT is designed to determine comparative
      effectiveness of in-home technology-based delivery of CI therapy versus standard
      upper extremity rehabilitation and in-clinic CI therapy. The study design also
      enables evaluation of the effect of therapist contact time on treatment outcomes
      within a therapist-as-consultant model of gaming and technology-based
      rehabilitation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02631850 .

PMID- 28595614
TI  - A multicentre, randomised intervention study of the Paediatric Early Warning
      Score: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients' evolving critical illness can be predicted and prevented.
      However, failure to identify the signs of critical illness and subsequent lack of
      appropriate action for patients developing acute and critical illness remain a
      problem. Challenges in assessing whether a child is critically ill may be due to
      children's often uncharacteristic symptoms of serious illness. Children may seem
      relatively unaffected until shortly before circulatory and respiratory failure
      and cardiac arrest. The Bedside Paediatric Early Warning Score has been validated
      in a large multinational study and is used in two regions in Denmark. However,
      healthcare professionals experience difficulties in relation to measuring blood
      pressure and to the lack of assessment of children's level of consciousness. In
      addition, is it noteworthy that in 23,288-hour studies, all seven items of the
      Bedside Paediatric Early Warning Score were recorded in only 5.1% of patients.
      This trial aims to compare two Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) models to
      identify the better model for identifying acutely and critically ill children.
      The hypothesis is that the Central Denmark Region PEWS model is superior to the
      Bedside PEWS in terms of reducing unplanned transfers to intensive care or
      transfers from regional hospitals to the university hospital among already
      hospitalised children. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a multicentre, randomised,
      controlled clinical trial where children are allocated to one of two different
      PEWS models. The study involves all paediatric departments and one emergency
      department in the Central Denmark Region. The primary outcome is unplanned
      transfer to the paediatric intensive care unit or transfer from regional
      hospitals to the university hospital. Based on preliminary data, 14,000 children
      should be included to gain a power of 80% (with a 5% significance level) and to
      detect a clinically significant difference of 30% of unplanned transfers to
      intensive care or from regional hospitals to the paediatric department at the
      university department. A safety interim analysis will be performed after
      inclusion of 7000 patients. DISCUSSION: This is the first randomised trial to
      investigate two different PEWS models. This study demonstrates the safety and
      effectiveness of a new PEWS model and contributes to knowledge of hospitalised
      children's clinical deterioration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov,
      NCT02433327 . Registered on 27 April 2015.

PMID- 28595613
TI  - Developing and evaluating multimedia information resources to improve engagement
      of children, adolescents, and their parents with trials (TRECA study): Study
      protocol for a series of linked randomised controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomised controlled trials are widely established as the best
      method for testing health interventions whilst minimising bias. However,
      recruitment and subsequent retention of children and adolescents in healthcare
      trials is challenging. Participant information sheets are often lengthy and
      difficult to read and understand. Presenting key information using multimedia may
      help to overcome these limitations and better support young people and their
      parents in deciding whether to participate in a clinical trial. METHODS: The
      TRECA (TRials Engagement in Children and Adolescents) study has two phases. The
      first phase involves a qualitative study with children and adolescents and their
      parents to inform the development of multimedia information resources and
      iterative user testing to refine the resources. The second phase will embed the
      use of the multimedia information resources into six host trials in the United
      Kingdom. Patients and parents approached to participate in the host trials will
      be randomly allocated to either use the multimedia information resource in
      conjunction with standard participant information sheets, the multimedia
      information resource alone, or the standard participant information sheets alone.
      The primary outcome will be the effect of the multimedia information resources on
      recruitment into trials. Other outcomes measured include the effect of multimedia
      information resources on retention of participants into the host trials and the
      impact on family members' decision-making processes, when compared to standard
      participant information sheets alone. DISCUSSION: This study will inform whether
      multimedia information resources, when developed using participatory design
      principles, are able to increase recruitment and retention of children and
      adolescents into trials. There is also the potential for patients to make better
      informed decisions through the use of multimedia information resources. The
      multimedia information resources also have the potential to assist with providing
      information on other healthcare decisions outside of clinical trials. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN73136092 (doi: 10.1186/ISRCTN73136092 ).
      Registered on 24 August 2016.

PMID- 28595615
TI  - Eph/Ephrin Signaling Controls Progenitor Identities In The Ventral Spinal Cord.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the vertebrate spinal cord, motor neurons (MN) are generated in
      stereotypical numbers from a pool of dedicated progenitors (pMN) whose number
      depends on signals that control their specification but also their proliferation
      and differentiation rates. Although the initial steps of pMN specification have
      been extensively studied, how pMN numbers are regulated over time is less well
      characterized. RESULTS: Here, we show that ephrinB2 and ephrinB3 are
      differentially expressed in progenitor domains in the ventral spinal cord with
      several Eph receptors more broadly expressed. Genetic loss-of-function analyses
      show that ephrinB2 and ephrinB3 inversely control pMN numbers and that these
      changes in progenitor numbers correlate with changes in motor neuron numbers.
      Detailed phenotypic analyses by immunostaining and genetic interaction studies
      between ephrinB2 and Shh indicate that changes in pMN numbers in ephrin mutants
      are due to alteration in progenitor identity at late stages of development.
      CONCLUSIONS: Altogether our data reveal that Eph:ephrin signaling is required to
      control progenitor identities in the ventral spinal cord.

PMID- 28595616
TI  - Phase I study of oral ridaforolimus in combination with paclitaxel and
      carboplatin in patients with solid tumor cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ridaforolimus is a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor that has
      activity in solid tumors. Paclitaxel and carboplatin have broad antineoplastic
      activity in many cancers. This phase I trial was conducted to determine the
      safety profile, maximal tolerated dose, and recommended phase II dose and
      schedule of oral ridaforolimus combined with paclitaxel and carboplatin in
      patients with solid tumor cancers. METHODS: Eligible patients with advanced solid
      tumor cancers received oral 10 to 30 mg ridaforolimus daily for 5 consecutive
      days per week combined with intravenous paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) and carboplatin
      (area under the curve [AUC] 5-6 mg/mL/min) in 3-week cycles. A standard 3 + 3
      design was used to escalate doses, with predefined changes to an alternate dosing
      schedule and/or changes in carboplatin AUC doses based on dose-limiting toxicity
      (DLT). Secondary information was collected regarding response and time to
      progression. Patients were continued on treatment if therapy was tolerated and if
      stable disease or better was demonstrated. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were
      consented, 28 patients were screened, and 24 patients met eligibility
      requirements and received treatment. Two patients were replaced for events
      unrelated to drug-related toxicity, resulting in 22 DLT-evaluable patients. Two
      grade 4 DLTs due to neutropenia were observed at dose level 1. The next cohort
      was changed to a predefined alternate dosing schedule (days 1-5 and 8-12). DLTs
      were neutropenia, sepsis, mucositis, and thrombocytopenia. The most common
      adverse events were neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, fatigue, alopecia,
      nausea, pain, and leukopenia. Twenty-four patients received a median of 4 cycles
      (range, 1-12). Evaluable patients for response (n = 18) demonstrated a median
      tumor measurement decrease of 25%. The best response in these 18 patients
      included 9 patients with partial response (50%), 6 with stable disease (33%), and
      3 with progressive disease (17%). Thirteen of these patients received treatment
      for 4 or more cycles. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with ridaforolimus combined with
      paclitaxel and carboplatin had no unanticipated toxicities and showed
      antineoplastic activity. The recommended phase II dose and schedule is
      ridaforolimus 30 mg (days 1-5 and 8-12) plus day 1 paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) and
      carboplatin (AUC 5 mg/mL/min) on a 21-day cycle. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01256268 (trial registration date: December 1,
      2010).

PMID- 28595618
TI  - The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Portugal: the PORMETS study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The PORMETS study was designed to estimate the prevalence of
      metabolic syndrome and its determinants in the overall and administrative regions
      of the Portuguese mainland. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of a representative
      sample of non-institutionalized Portuguese adults selected from primary health
      care centres lists including 1695 men and 2309 women was conducted from February
      2007 to July 2009. A structured questionnaire was administered, collecting
      information on personal medical history and socio-demographic and behavioural
      characteristics. Anthropometrics, blood pressure, and venous blood samples were
      obtained. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to three operational
      definitions. The prevalence ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals
      were calculated using binomial generalized linear regression, with the log link
      function. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of metabolic syndrome in this sample of
      Portuguese adults were 36.5%, 49.6%, and 43.1%, using the Adult Treatment Panel
      III, International Diabetes Federation and Joint Interim Statement definitions,
      respectively. The most prevalent feature of metabolic syndrome in this sample was
      high blood pressure (64.3%) and the lowest was high fasting glucose (24.9%).
      After adjustment for age and gender, significant differences were observed for
      the 18 districts of the Portugal mainland. Additionally, metabolic syndrome was
      significantly more frequent in non-urban areas than in urban ones (p = 0.001).
      The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in women (p?0.001)
      and older participants (p?0.001), as well as in those who reported being
      housewives (p = 0.010), retired (p = 0.046) or unemployed (p = 0.024).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in the
      Portuguese adult population. Regional differences in the prevalence of this
      syndrome were observed, and this condition was more common in non-urban areas and
      less favoured socio-economic categories.

PMID- 28595617
TI  - Quality measure and weight loss assessment in patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus treated with canagliflozin or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Achieving control of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure
      (BP), and body weight (BW) remains a challenge for most patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In clinical trials, canagliflozin (CANA), an inhibitor
      of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2, has shown significant improvement compared to
      some dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors in the achievement of such quality
      measures. This study used recent electronic medical records (EMR) data to assess
      quality measure achievement of HbA1C, BP, and BW loss in patients treated with
      CANA versus DPP-4 inhibitors. METHODS: Adult patients with >=1 T2DM diagnosis and
      >=12 months of clinical activity (baseline) before first CANA or DPP-4
      prescription (index) were identified in the QuintilesIMS Health Real-World Data
      EMRs-US database (03/29/2012-10/30/2015). Patients were observed from the index
      to last encounter. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to
      adjust for observed baseline confounders between groups. Kaplan-Meier (KM) rates
      and Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare achievement of HbA1c < 7%
      (among patients <65 years old), HbA1c < 8%, systolic BP < 140 mmHg, diastolic BP
      < 90 mmHg, and BW loss >= 5% among patients not meeting these respective targets
      at baseline. RESULTS: A total of 10,702 CANA and 17,679 DPP-4 patients were
      selected. IPTW resulted in balanced baseline demographic, comorbidity, and
      disease characteristics (CANA: N = 13,793, mean age: 59.0 years; DPP-4: N =
      14,588, mean age: 58.9 years). Up until 24 months post-index, CANA patients were
      more likely to reach an HbA1c < 7% (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.10, P = 0.007, KM
      rates: 42.8% vs. 40.3%), an HbA1c < 8% (HR = 1.16, P < 0.001, KM rates: 63.7% vs.
      60.0%), and a BW loss >= 5% (HR = 1.46, P < 0.001, KM rates: 55.2% vs. 46.2%),
      compared to DPP-4 patients. Up until 12 months post-index, CANA patients were
      more likely to reach a systolic BP < 140 mmHg (HR = 1.07, P = 0.04, KM rates:
      87.8% vs. 83.9%). but not a diastolic BP < 90 mmHg (HR = 0.95, P = 0.361),
      compared to DPP-4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study of EMR data
      covering up to 30 months after CANA approval (March 2013) suggests that patients
      initiated on CANA were more likely to reach HbA1c, systolic BP, and weight loss
      objectives specified by general diabetes care guidelines than patients initiated
      on DPP-4 inhibitors.

PMID- 28595619
TI  - Cytokine treatment optimises the immunotherapeutic effects of umbilical cord
      derived MSC for treatment of inflammatory liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) possess immunomodulatory properties
      and low immunogenicity, both crucial properties for their development into an
      effective cellular immunotherapy. They have shown benefit in clinical trials
      targeting liver diseases; however the efficacy of MSC therapy will benefit from
      improvement of the immunomodulatory and immunogenic properties of MSC. METHODS:
      MSC derived from human umbilical cords (ucMSC) were treated for 3 days in vitro
      with various inflammatory factors, interleukins, vitamins and serum deprivation.
      Their immunogenicity and immunomodulatory capacity were examined by gene
      expression analysis, surface-marker expressions, IDO activity, PGE2 secretion and
      inhibition of T cell proliferation and IFNgamma production. Furthermore, their
      activation of NK cell cytotoxicity was investigated via CD107a expression on NK
      cells. The immunomodulatory capacity, biodistribution and survival of pre-treated
      ucMSC were investigated in a CCl4-induced liver disease mouse model. In addition,
      capacity of pre-treated MSC to ameliorate liver inflammation was examined in an
      ex vivo liver inflammation co-culture model. RESULTS: IFN-gamma and a multiple
      cytokine cocktail (MC) consisting of IFN-gamma, TGFbeta and retinoic acid
      upregulated the expression of immunomodulatory factor PD-L1 and IDO activity.
      Subsequently, both treatments enhanced the capacity of ucMSC to inhibit CD4 and
      CD8 T cell proliferation and IFN-gamma production. The susceptibility of ucMSC
      for NK cell lysis was decreased by IFN-beta, TGFbeta and MC treatment. In vivo,
      no immunomodulation was observed by the ucMSC. Four hours after intravenous
      infusion in mice with CCl4-induced inflammatory liver injury, the majority of
      ucMSC were trapped in the lungs. Rapid clearance of ucMSC(VitB6), ucMSC(Starv +
      VitB6) and ucMSC(MC) and altered bio-distribution of ucMSC(TGFbeta) compared to
      untreated ucMSC was observed. In the ex vivo co-culture system with inflammatory
      liver slices ucMSC(MC) showed significantly enhanced modulatory capacity compared
      to untreated ucMSC. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates the
      responsiveness of ucMSC to in vitro optimisation treatment. The observed
      improvements in immunomodulatory capacity as well as immunogenicity after MC
      treatment may improve the efficacy of ucMSC as immunotherapy targeted towards
      liver inflammation.

PMID- 28595620
TI  - Transcranial pulsed ultrasound facilitates brain uptake of laronidase in enzyme
      replacement therapy for Mucopolysaccharidosis type I disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is a debilitating hereditary
      disease characterized by alpha-L-iduronidase (IDUA) deficiency and consequent
      inability to degrade glycosaminoglycans. The pathological accumulation of
      glycosaminoglycans systemically results in severe mental retardation and multiple
      organ dysfunction. Enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant human alpha-L
      iduronidase (rhIDU) improves the function of some organs but not neurological
      deficits owing to its exclusion from the brain by the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
      METHODS: We divided MPS I mice into control group, enzyme replacement group with
      rhIDU 2.9 mg/kg injection, enzyme replacement with one-spot ultrasound treatment
      group, and enzyme replacement with two-spot ultrasound treatment group, and
      compare treatment effectiveness between groups. All ultrasound treatments were
      applied on left side brain. Evans blue was used to simulate the distribution of
      rhIDU in the brain. RESULTS: Transcranial pulsed weakly focused ultrasound
      combined with microbubbles facilitates brain rhIDU delivery in MPS I mice
      receiving systemic enzyme replacement therapy. With intravenously injected rhIDU
      2.9 mg/kg, the IDUA enzyme activity on the ultrasound treated side of the
      cerebral hemisphere raised to 7.81-fold that on the untreated side and to 75.84%
      of its normal value. Evans blue simulation showed the distribution of the
      delivered drug was extensive, involving a large volume of the treated cerebral
      hemisphere. Two-spot ultrasound treatment scheme is more efficient for brain
      rhIDU delivery than one-spot ultrasound treatment scheme. CONCLUSIONS:
      Transcranial pulsed weakly focused ultrasound can open BBB extensively and
      facilitates brain rhIDU delivery. This novel technology may provide a new MPS I
      treatment strategy.

PMID- 28595621
TI  - Transthoracic echocardiography: an accurate and precise method for estimating
      cardiac output in the critically ill patient.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac output (CO) monitoring is a valuable tool for the diagnosis
      and management of critically ill patients. In the critical care setting, few
      studies have evaluated the level of agreement between CO estimated by
      transthoracic echocardiography (CO-TTE) and that measured by the reference
      method, pulmonary artery catheter (CO-PAC). The objective of the present study
      was to evaluate the precision and accuracy of CO-TTE relative to CO-PAC and the
      ability of transthoracic echocardiography to track variations in CO, in
      critically ill mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS: Thirty-eight
      mechanically ventilated patients fitted with a PAC were included in a prospective
      observational study performed in a 16-bed university hospital ICU. CO-PAC was
      measured via intermittent thermodilution. Simultaneously, a second investigator
      used standard-view TTE to estimate CO-TTE as the product of stroke volume and the
      heart rate obtained during the measurement of the subaortic velocity time
      integral. RESULTS: Sixty-four pairs of CO-PAC and CO-TTE measurements were
      compared. The two measurements were significantly correlated (r = 0.95; p <
      0.0001). The median bias was 0.2 L/min, the limits of agreement (LOAs) were -1.3
      and 1.8 L/min, and the percentage error was 25%. The precision was 8% for CO-PAC
      and 9% for CO-TTE. Twenty-six pairs of DeltaCO measurements were compared. There
      was a significant correlation between DeltaCO-PAC and DeltaCO-TTE (r = 0.92; p <
      0.0001). The median bias was -0.1 L/min and the LOAs were -1.3 and +1.2 L/min.
      With a 15% exclusion zone, the four-quadrant plot had a concordance rate of 94%.
      With a 0.5 L/min exclusion zone, the polar plot had a mean polar angle of 1.0
      degrees  and a percentage error LOAs of -26.8 to 28.8 degrees . The concordance
      rate was 100% between 30 and -30 degrees . When using CO-TTE to detect an
      increase in DeltaCO-PAC of more than 10%, the area under the receiving operating
      characteristic curve (95% CI) was 0.82 (0.62-0.94) (p < 0.001). A DeltaCO-TTE of
      more than 8% yielded a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 66% for detecting a
      DeltaCO-PAC of more than 10%. CONCLUSION: In critically ill mechanically
      ventilated patients, CO-TTE is an accurate and precise method for estimating CO.
      Furthermore, CO-TTE can accurately track variations in CO.

PMID- 28595623
TI  - Effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on pathological changes in rats with diabetic
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (vitamin D) in the apoptosis of
      diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is unclear. This study is to investigate the
      effects of vitamin D on the pathological changes in rats with DCM. METHODS: Rats
      were randomly divided into the control, model, and treatment groups. DCM model
      was established by the high-fat and -sugar diet. Plasma glucose, body weight,
      heart weight, heart weight index, and serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
      and creatine kinase (CK) were determined. Heart tissue morphology was detected
      with histochemical staining. Expression levels of Fas and FasL were detected with
      RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the
      body weights and heart weights were significantly declined, while the plasma
      glucose levels and heart weight indexes were significantly elevated, in the model
      group (P < 0.05). However, vitamin D significantly reversed the pathological
      changes in DCM rats (P < 0.05). Moreover, the serum levels of LDH and CK were
      significantly increased in the models, which were significantly decreased by
      vitamin D (P < 0.05). HE staining showed that, vitamin D significantly alleviated
      the histological changes of myocardial cells in DCM rats. In addition, the mRNA
      and protein expression levels of Fas and FasL were significantly elevated in the
      models (P < 0.05), which were significantly declined by vitamin D (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Vitamin D could alleviate pathological changes, reduce Fas/FasL
      expression, and attenuate myocardial cell apoptosis in DCM rats, which might be
      used as a potential effective therapy for the disease.

PMID- 28595622
TI  - The evolution of trypanosomatid taxonomy.
AB  - Trypanosomatids are protozoan parasites of the class Kinetoplastida predominately
      restricted to invertebrate hosts (i.e. possess a monoxenous life-cycle). However,
      several genera are pathogenic to humans, animals and plants, and have an
      invertebrate vector that facilitates their transmission (i.e. possess a dixenous
      life-cycle). Phytomonas is one dixenous genus that includes several plant
      pathogens transmitted by phytophagous insects. Trypanosoma and Leishmania are
      dixenous genera that infect vertebrates, including humans, and are transmitted by
      hematophagous invertebrates. Traditionally, monoxenous trypanosomatids such as
      Leptomonas were distinguished from morphologically similar dixenous species based
      on their restriction to an invertebrate host. Nonetheless, this criterion is
      somewhat flawed as exemplified by Leptomonas seymouri which reportedly infects
      vertebrates opportunistically. Similarly, Novymonas and Zelonia are presumably
      monoxenous genera yet sit comfortably in the dixenous clade occupied by
      Leishmania. The isolation of Leishmania macropodum from a biting midge
      (Forcipomyia spp.) rather than a phlebotomine sand fly calls into question the
      exclusivity of the Leishmania-sand fly relationship, and its suitability for
      defining the Leishmania genus. It is now accepted that classic genus-defining
      characteristics based on parasite morphology and host range are insufficient to
      form the sole basis of trypanosomatid taxonomy as this has led to several
      instances of paraphyly. While improvements have been made, resolution of
      evolutionary relationships within the Trypanosomatidae is confounded by our
      incomplete knowledge of its true diversity. The known trypanosomatids probably
      represent a fraction of those that exist and isolation of new species will help
      resolve relationships in this group with greater accuracy. This review incites a
      dialogue on how our understanding of the relationships between certain
      trypanosomatids has shifted, and discusses new knowledge that informs the present
      taxonomy of these important parasites.

PMID- 28595625
TI  - Blood flow velocity and thickness of the choroid in a patient with
      chorioretinopathy associated with ocular blunt trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Choroidal circulation hemodynamics in eyes with ocular blunt trauma
      has not been quantitatively examined yet. We quantitatively examined changes in
      choroidal blood flow velocity and thickness at the lesion site using laser
      speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) and enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography
      (EDI-OCT) in a patient with chorioretinopathy associated with ocular blunt
      trauma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 13-year-old boy developed a chorioretinal lesion
      with pigmentation extending from the optic disc to the superotemporal side in the
      right eye after ocular blunt trauma. The patient's best-corrected visual acuity
      (BCVA) was 0.2 in the right eye. Indocyanine green angiography showed
      hypofluorescence from the initial phase, with a decrease of mean blur rate (MBR)
      on LSFG color map, which corresponded to the chorioretinal lesion. The BCVA and
      foveal outer retinal morphologic abnormality spontaneously improved during follow
      up. MBR and choroidal thickness increased by 23-31% and 13-17 MUm at the lesion
      site and by 11-22% and 33-42 MUm at the fovea, respectively, during the 6-month
      follow-up period after baseline measurements in the affected eye. In contrast,
      these parameters showed little or no changes at the normal retinal site in the
      affected eye and the fovea in the fellow eye. CONCLUSIONS: Current data revealed
      that both blood flow velocity and thickness in the choroid at the lesion site
      decreased in the acute stage and subsequently increased together with
      improvements in visual function and outer retinal morphology. These results
      suggest that LSFG and EDI-OCT may be useful indices that can noninvasively
      evaluate activity of choroidal involvement in ocular blunt trauma-associated
      chorioretinopathy.

PMID- 28595624
TI  - Immunization, urbanization and slums - a systematic review of factors and
      interventions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2014, over half (54%) of the world's population lived in urban
      areas and this proportion will increase to 66% by 2050. This urbanizing trend has
      been accompanied by an increasing number of people living in urban poor
      communities and slums. Lower immunization coverage is found in poorer urban
      dwellers in many contexts. This study aims to identify factors associated with
      immunization coverage in poor urban areas and slums, and to identify
      interventions to improve coverage. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review,
      searching Medline, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL, Web of Science and The Cochrane
      Database with broad search terms for studies published between 2000 and 2016.
      RESULTS: Of 4872 unique articles, 327 abstracts were screened, leading to 63
      included studies: 44 considering factors and 20 evaluating interventions (one in
      both categories) in 16 low or middle-income countries. A wide range of socio
      economic characteristics were associated with coverage in different contexts.
      Recent rural-urban migration had a universally negative effect. Parents commonly
      reported lack of awareness of immunization importance and difficulty accessing
      services as reasons for under-immunization of their children. Physical distance
      to clinics and aspects of service quality also impacted uptake. We found evidence
      of effectiveness for interventions involving multiple components, especially if
      they have been designed with community involvement. Outreach programmes were
      effective where physical distance was identified as a barrier. Some evidence was
      found for the effective use of SMS (text) messaging services, community-based
      education programmes and financial incentives, which warrant further evaluation.
      No interventions were identified that provided services to migrants from rural
      areas. CONCLUSION: Different factors affect immunization coverage in different
      urban poor and slum contexts. Immunization services should be designed in
      collaboration with slum-dwelling communities, considering the local context.
      Interventions should be designed and tested to increase immunization in migrants
      from rural areas.

PMID- 28595627
TI  - Trends in use of and complications from intrauterine contraceptive devices and
      tubal ligation or occlusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-acting reversible contraceptives such as intrauterine devices
      (IUDs) are highly effective in preventing pregnancy, cost effective, and
      increasing in popularity. It is unclear whether changes in IUD use are associated
      with changes in rates of irreversible tubal sterilization. In this analysis, we
      evaluate changes in rates of tubal sterilization, insertion of copper or
      levonorgestrel (LNG) IUDs, and related complications over time. METHODS: Data
      were obtained from a retrospective claims database (OptumTM ClinformaticsTM Data
      Mart) of women aged 15 to 45 years who underwent insertion of copper or LNG IUD
      or tubal sterilization between 1/1/2006 and 12/31/2011. Outcomes of interest
      included annual rates of insertion or sterilization and annual rates of potential
      complications and side effects. RESULTS: The number of women included in the
      analysis each year ranged from 1,870,675 to 2,016,916. Between 2006 and 2011,
      copper IUD insertion claim rates increased from 0.18 to 0.25% and LNG IUD
      insertion claim rates increased from 0.63 to 1.15%, while sterilization claims
      decreased from 0.78 to 0.66% (P < 0.0001 for all comparisons). Increases in IUD
      insertion were apparent in all age groups; decreases in tubal sterilization
      occurred in women aged 20 to 34 years. The most common side effects and
      complications were amenorrhea (7.36-11.59%), heavy menstrual bleeding (4.85
      15.69%), and pelvic pain (11.12-14.27%). Significant increases in claims of
      certain complications associated with IUD insertion or sterilization were also
      observed. CONCLUSION: Between 2006 and 2011, a decrease in sterilization rates
      accompanied an increase in IUD insertion rates, suggesting that increasing
      numbers of women opted for reversible methods of long-term contraception over
      permanent sterilization.

PMID- 28595626
TI  - Osteopontin enhances multi-walled carbon nanotube-triggered lung fibrosis by
      promoting TGF-beta1 activation and myofibroblast differentiation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used in a variety of applications
      because of their unique properties and functions. However, many CNTs have been
      shown to induce lung fibrosis in experimental animals with some at a potency
      greater than that of silica, raising concern over possible toxic effects of CNT
      exposure in humans. Research into the mechanisms by which CNTs induce pulmonary
      fibrosis is warranted in order to facilitate the understanding, monitoring, and
      treatment of CNT-induced lung lesions that might occur in exposed populations.
      The current study focuses on investigating the role of osteopontin (OPN) in the
      development of lung fibrosis upon exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes
      (MWCNTs). METHODS: C57BL/6J (WT) and Opn knockout (KO) mice were exposed to
      MWCNTs by pharyngeal aspiration to examine the acute and chronic effects of MWCNT
      exposure. The role of OPN and its mode of action in lung fibrosis development
      were analyzed at the cellular and molecular levels in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS:
      OPN was highly and persistently induced in both the acute and chronic phases of
      the response to MWCNT exposure in mouse lungs. Comparison between WT and Opn KO
      mice revealed that OPN critically regulated MWCNT-induced lung fibrosis as
      indicated by reduced fibrotic focus formation and myofibroblast accumulation in
      Opn KO lungs. At the molecular level, OPN promotes the expression and activation
      of TGF-beta1, stimulates the differentiation of myofibroblasts from fibroblasts,
      and increases the production of fibrous matrix proteins in lungs and cultured
      lung cells exposed to MWCNTs. CONCLUSION: OPN is highly induced in CNT-exposed
      lungs and plays critical roles in TGF-beta1 signaling activation and
      myofibroblast differentiation to promote fibrosis development from MWCNT
      exposure. This study reveals an OPN-dependent mechanism to promote MWCNT-induced
      lung fibrosis. The findings raise the possibility of using OPN as a biomarker to
      monitor CNT exposure and as a drug target to halt fibrosis development.

PMID- 28595629
TI  - Identification and description of three families with familial Alzheimer disease
      that segregate variants in the SORL1 gene.
AB  - Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most
      common form of dementia. The majority of AD cases are sporadic, while up to 5%
      are families with an early onset AD (EOAD). Mutations in one of the three genes:
      amyloid beta precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1) or presenilin 2
      (PSEN2) can be disease causing. However, most EOAD families do not carry
      mutations in any of these three genes, and candidate genes, such as the sortilin
      related receptor 1 (SORL1), have been suggested to be potentially causative. To
      identify AD causative variants, we performed whole-exome sequencing on five
      individuals from a family with EOAD and a missense variant, p.Arg1303Cys (c.3907C
      > T) was identified in SORL1 which segregated with disease and was further
      characterized with immunohistochemistry on two post mortem autopsy cases from the
      same family. In a targeted re-sequencing effort on independent index patients
      from 35 EOAD-families, a second SORL1 variant, c.3050-2A > G, was found which
      segregated with the disease in 3 affected and was absent in one unaffected family
      member. The c.3050-2A > G variant is located two nucleotides upstream of exon 22
      and was shown to cause exon 22 skipping, resulting in a deletion of amino acids
      Gly1017- Glu1074 of SORL1. Furthermore, a third SORL1 variant, c.5195G > C,
      recently identified in a Swedish case control cohort included in the European
      Early-Onset Dementia (EU EOD) consortium study, was detected in two affected
      siblings in a third family with familial EOAD. The finding of three SORL1
      variants that segregate with disease in three separate families with EOAD
      supports the involvement of SORL1 in AD pathology. The cause of these rare
      monogenic forms of EOAD has proven difficult to find and the use of exome and
      genome sequencing may be a successful route to target them.

PMID- 28595630
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors of poor immune recovery among adult HIV patients
      attending care and treatment centre in northwestern Tanzania following the use of
      highly active antiretroviral therapy: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Highly Active Antiretroviral therapy (HAART) reverses the effect of
      Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) by
      durably suppressing viral replication. This allows CD4 gain to levels that are
      adequate enough to restore the body's capability to fight against opportunistic
      infections (OIs). Patients with poor immune recovery have been shown to have
      higher risk of developing both AIDS and non AIDS related clinical events. This
      study aimed at assessing the proportions and risk factors of poor immune recovery
      in adult HIV-infected patients on 48 months of HAART attending care and treatment
      center (CTC) in northwestern Tanzania. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of adult
      HIV patients' data attending CTC at Sekou Toure hospital and who initiated HAART
      between February 2004 and January 2008 was done. Poor immune recovery was defined
      as a CD4 count less than 350 cells/ul on follow up as used in other studies.
      RESULTS: A total of 734 patients were included in the study. In this study 50.25%
      of patients attending CTC at Sekou Toure hospital were found to have poor immune
      recovery. The risk of developing inadequate immune recovery was independently
      associated with male gender, age older than 50 years, low baseline CD4 counts,
      and advanced World Health Organization (WHO) clinical stage. CONCLUSIONS: Poor
      immune recovery is prevalent among adult HIV patients attending CTC at Sekou
      Toure hospital in Northwestern part of Tanzania and opportunistic infections are
      common in this sub group of patients. Clinicians in resource limited countries
      need to identify these patients timely and plan them for targeted viral
      assessment and close clinical follow up to improve their long term clinical
      outcome.

PMID- 28595631
TI  - Isolation of Tibet orbivirus from Culicoides and associated infections in
      livestock in Yunnan, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Culicoides-borne orbiviruses, such as bluetongue virus (BTV) and
      African horse sickness virus (AHSV), are important pathogens that cause animal
      epidemic diseases leading to significant loss of domestic animals. This study was
      conducted to identify Culicoides-borne arboviruses and to investigate the
      associated infections in local livestock in Yunnan, China. METHODS: Culicoides
      were collected overnight in Mangshi City using light traps during August 2013. A
      virus was isolated from the collected Culicoides and grown using baby hamster
      kidney (BHK-21), Vero, Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) and Aedes albopictus
      (C6/36) cells. Preliminary identification of the virus was performed by
      polyacrylamide gel (PAGE) analysis. A full-length cDNA copy of the genome was
      amplified and sequenced. Serological investigations were conducted in local
      cattle, buffalo and goat using plaque-reduction neutralization tests. RESULTS: We
      isolated a viral strain (DH13C120) that caused cytopathogenic effects in BHK-21,
      Vero, MDBK and C6/36 cells. Suckling mice inoculated intracerebrally with
      DH13C120 showed signs of fatal neurovirulence. PAGE analysis indicated a genome
      consisting of 10 segments of double-stranded RNA that demonstrated a 3-3-3-1
      pattern, similar to the migrating bands of Tibet orbivirus (TIBOV). Phylogenetic
      analysis of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (Pol), sub-core-shell (T2, and
      outer core (T13) proteins revealed that DH13C120 clustered with TIBOV, and the
      amino acid sequences of DH13C120 virus shared more than 98% identity with TIBOV
      XZ0906. However, outer capsid protein VP2 and outer capsid protein VP5 shared
      only 43.1 and 79.3% identity, respectively, indicating that the DH13C120 virus
      belongs to TIBOV, and it may represent different serotypes with XZ0906. A
      serosurvey revealed the presence of neutralizing antibodies with 90% plaque
      reduction neutralization against TIBOV DH13C120 in local cattle (44%), buffalo
      (20%), and goat (4%). Four-fold or higher levels of TIBOV-2-neutralizing antibody
      titers were detected between the convalescent and acute phases of infection in
      local livestock. CONCLUSIONS: A new strain of TIBOV was isolated from Culicoides.
      This study provides the first evidence of TIBOV infection in livestock in Yunnan,
      China, and suggests that TIBOV could be a potential pathogen in livestock.

PMID- 28595628
TI  - SIX3, a tumor suppressor, inhibits astrocytoma tumorigenesis by transcriptional
      repression of AURKA/B.
AB  - BACKGROUND: SIX homeobox 3 (SIX3) is a member of the sine oculis homeobox
      transcription factor family. It plays a vital role in the nervous system
      development. Our previous study showed that the SIX3 gene is hypermethylated, and
      its expression is decreased in astrocytoma, but the role of SIX3 remains unknown.
      METHODS: Chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and luciferase reporter assay were
      used to confirm the binding of SIX3 to the promoter regions of aurora kinase A
      (AURKA) and aurora kinase B (AURKB). Confocal imaging and co-immunoprecipitation
      (Co-IP) were used to detect the interaction between AURKA and AURKB. Flow
      cytometry was performed to assess the effect of SIX3 on cell cycle distribution.
      Colony formation, EdU incorporation, transwell, and intracranial xenograft assays
      were performed to demonstrate the effect of SIX3 on the malignant phenotype of
      astrocytoma cells. RESULTS: SIX3 is identified as a novel negative
      transcriptional regulator of AURKA and AURKB, and it decreases the expression of
      AURKA and AURKB in a dose-dependent manner in astrocytoma cells. Importantly,
      interactions between AURKA and AURKB stabilize and protect AURKA/B from
      degradation, and overexpression of SIX3 does not affect these interactions; SIX3
      also acts as a tumor suppressor, and it increases p53 activity and expression at
      the post-translational level by the negative regulation of AURKA or AURKB,
      reduces the events of numerical centrosomal aberrations and misaligned
      chromosomes, and significantly inhibits the proliferation, invasion, and
      tumorigenesis of astrocytoma in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, experiments using
      primary cultured astrocytoma cells indicate that astrocytoma patients with a low
      expression of SIX3 and mutant p53 are more sensitive to treatment with aurora
      kinase inhibitors. CONCLUSION: SIX3 is a novel negative transcriptional regulator
      and acts as a tumor suppressor that directly represses the transcription of AURKA
      and AURKB in astrocytoma. For the first time, the functional interaction of AURKA
      and AURKB has been found, which aids in the protection of their stability, and
      partially explains their constant high expression and activity in cancers. SIX3
      is a potential biomarker that could be used to predict the response of
      astrocytoma patients to aurora kinase inhibitors.

PMID- 28595632
TI  - A comparison of gene expression profiles in patients with coronary artery
      disease, type 2 diabetes, and their coexisting conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To support a hypothesis that there is an intrinsic interplay between
      coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), we used RNA-seq to
      identify unique gene expression signatures of CAD, T2D, and coexisting
      conditions. METHODS: After transcriptome sequencing, differential expression
      analysis was performed between each disordered state and normal control group. By
      comparing gene expression profiles of CAD, T2D, and coexisting conditions, common
      and specific patterns of each disordered state were displayed. To verify the
      specific gene expression patterns of CAD or T2D, the gene expression data of
      GSE23561 was extracted. RESULTS: A strong overlap of 191 genes across CAD, T2D
      and coexisting conditions, were mainly involved in a viral infectious cycle, anti
      apoptosis, endocrine pancreas development, innate immune response, and blood
      coagulation. In T2D-specific PPI networks involving 64 genes, TCF7L2 (Degree =
      169) was identified as a key gene in T2D development, while in CAD-specific PPI
      networks involving 64 genes, HIF1A (Degree = 124), SMAD1 (Degree = 112) and SKIL
      (Degree = 94) were identified as key genes in the CAD development. Interestingly,
      with the provided expression data from GSE23561, the three genes were all up
      regulated in CAD, and SMAD1 and SKIL were specifically differentially expressed
      in CAD, while HIF1A was differentially expressed in both CAD and T2D, but with
      opposite trends. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some evidences in transcript
      level to uncover the association of T2D, CAD and coexisting conditions, and may
      provide novel drug targets and biomarkers for these diseases.

PMID- 28595633
TI  - Effects of mechanical stimulation on the reprogramming of somatic cells into
      human-induced pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mechanical stimuli play important roles in the proliferation and
      differentiation of adult stem cells. However, few studies on their effects on
      induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have been published. METHODS: Human dermal
      fibroblasts were seeded onto flexible membrane-bottom plates, and infected with
      retrovirus expressing the four reprogramming factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF, and c-MYC
      (OSKM). The cells were subjected to equiaxial stretching (3% or 8% for 2, 4, or 7
      days) and seeded on feeder cells (STO). The reprogramming into iPSCs was
      evaluated by the expression of pluripotent markers, in vitro differentiation into
      three germ layers, and teratoma formation. RESULTS: Equiaxial stretching enhanced
      reprogramming efficiency without affecting the viral transduction rate. iPSCs
      induced by transduction of four reprogramming factors and application of
      equiaxial stretching had characteristics typical of iPSCs in terms of
      pluripotency and differentiation potentials. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study
      to show that mechanical stimuli can increase reprogramming efficiency. However,
      it did not enhance the infection rate, indicating that mechanical stimuli,
      defined as stretching in this study, have positive effects on reprogramming
      rather than on infection. Additional studies should evaluate the mechanism
      underlying the modulation of reprogramming of somatic cells into iPSCs.

PMID- 28595634
TI  - Generation of tooth-periodontium complex structures using high-odontogenic
      potential dental epithelium derived from mouse embryonic stem cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of studies have shown that tooth-like structures can be
      regenerated using induced pluripotent stem cells and mouse embryonic stem (mES)
      cells. However, few studies have reported the regeneration of tooth-periodontium
      complex structures, which are more suitable for clinical tooth transplantation.
      We established an optimized approach to induce high-odontogenic potential dental
      epithelium derived from mES cells by temporally controlling bone morphogenic
      protein 4 (BMP4) function and regenerated tooth-periodontium complex structures
      in vivo. METHODS: First, immunofluorescence and quantitative reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction were used to identify the watershed of
      skin and the oral ectoderm. LDN193189 was then used to inhibit the BMP4 receptor
      around the watershed, followed by the addition of exogenous BMP4 to promote BMP4
      function. The generated dental epithelium was confirmed by western blot analysis
      and immunofluorescence. The generated epithelium was ultimately combined with
      embryonic day 14.5 mouse mesenchyme and transplanted into the renal capsules of
      nude mice. After 4 weeks, the tooth-periodontium complex structure was examined
      by micro-computed tomography (CT) and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining.
      RESULTS: Our study found that the turning point of oral ectoderm differentiation
      occurred around day 3 after the embryoid body was transferred to a common culture
      plate. Ameloblastin-positive dental epithelial cells were detected following the
      temporal regulation of BMP4. Tooth-periodontium complex structures, which
      included teeth, a periodontal membrane, and alveolar bone, were formed when this
      epithelium was combined with mouse dental mesenchyme and transplanted into the
      renal capsules of nude mice. Micro-CT and H&E staining revealed that the
      generated tooth-periodontium complex structures shared a similar histological
      structure with normal mouse teeth. CONCLUSIONS: An optimized induction method was
      established to promote the differentiation of mES cells into dental epithelium by
      temporally controlling the function of BMP4. A novel tooth-periodontium complex
      structure was generated using the epithelium.

PMID- 28595635
TI  - The pepper virome: natural co-infection of diverse viruses and their
      quasispecies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The co-infection of diverse viruses in a host plant is common;
      however, little is known about viral populations and their quasispecies in the
      host. RESULTS: Here, we report the first pepper viromes that were co-infected by
      different types of viral genomes. The pepper viromes are dominated by geminivirus
      DNA-A followed by a novel carlavirus referred to as Pepper virus A. The two
      pepper cultivars share similar viral populations and replications. However, the
      quasispecies for double-stranded RNA virus and two satellite DNAs were
      heterogeneous and homogenous in susceptible and resistant cultivars,
      respectively, indicating the quasispecies of an individual virus depends on the
      host. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, we provide the first evidence that the host
      plant resistant to viruses has an unrevealed antiviral system, affecting viral
      quasispecies, not replication.

PMID- 28595636
TI  - Two novel C-terminal frameshift mutations in the beta-globin gene lead to rapid
      mRNA decay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The thalassemia syndromes are classified according to the globin
      chain or chains whose production is affected. beta-thalassemias are caused by
      point mutations or, more rarely, deletions or insertions of a few nucleotides in
      the beta-globin gene or its immediate flanking sequences. These mutations
      interfere with the gene function either at the transcriptional, translational or
      posttranslational level. METHODS: Two cases of Polish patients with hereditary
      hemolytic anemia suspected of thalassemia were studied. DNA sequencing and mRNA
      quantification were performed. Stable human cell lines which express wild-type
      HBB and mutated versions were used to verify that detected mutation are
      responsible for mRNA degradation. RESULTS: We identified two different frameshift
      mutations positioned in the third exon of HBB. Both patients harboring these
      mutations present the clinical phenotype of thalassemia intermedia and showed
      dominant pattern of inheritance. In both cases the mutations do not generate
      premature stop codon. Instead, slightly longer protein with unnatural C-terminus
      could be produced. Interestingly, although detected mutations are not expected to
      induce NMD, the mutant version of mRNA is not detectable. Restoring of the open
      reading frame brought back the RNA to that of the wild-type level. CONCLUSION:
      Our results show that a lack of natural stop codon due to the frameshift in exon
      3 of beta-globin gene causes rapid degradation of its mRNA and indicate existence
      of novel surveillance pathway.

PMID- 28595638
TI  - Evaluating privacy-preserving record linkage using cryptographic long-term keys
      and multibit trees on large medical datasets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Integrating medical data using databases from different sources by
      record linkage is a powerful technique increasingly used in medical research.
      Under many jurisdictions, unique personal identifiers needed for linking the
      records are unavailable. Since sensitive attributes, such as names, have to be
      used instead, privacy regulations usually demand encrypting these identifiers.
      The corresponding set of techniques for privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL)
      has received widespread attention. One recent method is based on Bloom filters.
      Due to superior resilience against cryptographic attacks, composite Bloom filters
      (cryptographic long-term keys, CLKs) are considered best practice for privacy in
      PPRL. Real-world performance of these techniques using large-scale data is
      unknown up to now. METHODS: Using a large subset of Australian hospital admission
      data, we tested the performance of an innovative PPRL technique (CLKs using
      multibit trees) against a gold-standard derived from clear-text probabilistic
      record linkage. Linkage time and linkage quality (recall, precision and F
      measure) were evaluated. RESULTS: Clear text probabilistic linkage resulted in
      marginally higher precision and recall than CLKs. PPRL required more computing
      time but 5 million records could still be de-duplicated within one day. However,
      the PPRL approach required fine tuning of parameters. CONCLUSIONS: We argue that
      increased privacy of PPRL comes with the price of small losses in precision and
      recall and a large increase in computational burden and setup time. These costs
      seem to be acceptable in most applied settings, but they have to be considered in
      the decision to apply PPRL. Further research on the optimal automatic choice of
      parameters is needed.

PMID- 28595637
TI  - Exosome miR-371b-5p promotes proliferation of lung alveolar progenitor type II
      cells by using PTEN to orchestrate the PI3K/Akt signaling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathways directing endogenous stem/progenitor cells to restore normal
      architecture and function of damaged/diseased lungs remain underexplored.
      Published data have revealed that alveolar progenitor type II cell (ATIIC)
      derived signaling promotes re-epithelialization of injured alveoli, yet the
      underlying mechanism is unknown. Here we aim to define the role of ATIIC-derived
      exosome miRNA signaling in controlling ATIIC-specific proliferation or
      differentiation in response to injury. METHODS: Pluripotent stem cell-derived
      cultures, which contain early lung stem/progenitor populations that can
      subsequently differentiate into ATIICs, were used as a model for unbiased
      screening and identification of ATIIC phenotype-specific exosome miRNA signaling,
      and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived ATIICs (hiPSC-ATIICs) were
      employed to examine the molecular basis of key exosome miRNA signaling in
      promoting ATIIC-specific proliferation. QRT-PCR was performed to examine
      expression pattern of ATIIC-derived key exosome miRNA in an alveolar injury model
      and in injured human lungs. RESULTS: We show that human ATIIC line (A549)-derived
      exosome miR-371b-5p promotes ATIIC-specific proliferation, but not
      differentiation, in differentiating cultures of pluripotent stem cells. Using
      3'UTR-driven luciferase reporters, we identified PTEN as a direct target of miR
      371b-5p. Transfection of miR-371b-5p mimic into hiPSC-ATIICs leads to
      significantly decreased expression of endogenous PTEN, which stimulates
      phosphorylation of Akt and its downstream substrates, GSK3beta and FOXOs,
      promoting cell proliferation. While not expressed in normal ATIIC phenotypes, the
      exosome miR-371b-5p expression is significantly induced after hiPSC-ATIICs or
      hATIICs (human primary ATIICs) are subjected to bleomycin-induced injury. To rule
      out that the ATIIC-derived exosome-miRNAs are merely a cell culture phenomenon,
      we transplanted hiPSC-ATIICs into bleomycin-challenged lungs of mice, and found
      that the transplanted hiPSC-ATIICs engraft and express exosome miR-371b-5p, along
      with additional survival of numerous mouse ATIICs in bleomycin-injured lungs.
      Consistent with these findings, significant levels of exosome miR-371b-5p were
      also detected in lavage samples of patients with acute pneumonia, but not in
      those from patients without pulmonary disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our
      data strongly suggest that ATIIC-derived exosome miR-371b-5p may serve as a niche
      signaling to augment ATIIC survival/proliferation, promoting re-epithelialization
      of injured alveoli, and thus provide a promising novel target to develop
      treatment for currently incurable lung diseases.

PMID- 28595640
TI  - Exploring the intergenerational persistence of health behaviour: an empirical
      study of smoking from China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is of significance to look into the intergenerational transmission
      of risk behaviour to explain the disparity of health. Our paper contributes to
      the literature by providing evidence in the context of China, focusing on smoking
      behaviour. METHODS: This paper studies the intergenerational transmission of
      smoking in the context of China using a nationally representative dataset - the
      China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). The two-part model, the Tobit model,
      and the fixed effects model are utilized for the empirical analysis,
      respectively. RESULTS: We found a strong intergenerational persistence of health
      behaviour. That is, parents' smoking behaviour is positively correlated with
      their children's smoking initiation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence of
      the intergenerational persistence of health behaviour in the case of smoking, in
      the world's most populous country. This has policy implications for the issue of
      intergenerational mobility and health education, as well as for tobacco control
      in China.

PMID- 28595641
TI  - The role of autonomy and social support in the relation between psychosocial
      safety climate and stress in health care workers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health care workers are exposed to psychosocial work factors.
      Autonomy and social support are psychosocial work factors that are related to
      stress, and are argued to largely result from the psychosocial safety climate
      within organisations. This study aimed to assess to what extent the relation
      between psychosocial safety climate and stress in health care workers can be
      explained by autonomy and social support. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study,
      psychosocial safety climate, stress, autonomy, co-worker support, and supervisor
      support were assessed using questionnaires, in a sample of health care workers (N
      = 277). Linear mixed models analyses were performed to assess to what extent
      social support and autonomy explained the relation between psychosocial safety
      climate and stress. RESULTS: A lower psychosocial safety climate score was
      associated with significantly higher stress (B = -0.21, 95% CI = -0.27 - -0.14).
      Neither co-worker support, supervisor support, nor autonomy explained the
      relation between psychosocial safety climate and stress. Taken together, autonomy
      and both social support measures diminished the relation between psychosocial
      safety climate and stress by 12% (full model: B = -0.18, 95% CI = -0.25 - -0.11).
      CONCLUSIONS: Autonomy and social support together seemed to bring about a small
      decrease in the relation between psychosocial safety climate and stress in health
      care workers. Future research should discern whether other psychosocial work
      factors explain a larger portion of this relation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study
      was registered in the Netherlands National Trial Register, trial code: NTR5527 .

PMID- 28595639
TI  - Diet shifts provoke complex and variable changes in the metabolic networks of the
      ruminal microbiome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Grazing mammals rely on their ruminal microbial symbionts to convert
      plant structural biomass into metabolites they can assimilate. To explore how
      this complex metabolic system adapts to the host animal's diet, we inferred a
      microbiome-level metabolic network from shotgun metagenomic data. RESULTS: Using
      comparative genomics, we then linked this microbial network to that of the host
      animal using a set of interface metabolites likely to be transferred to the host.
      When the host sheep were fed a grain-based diet, the induced microbial metabolic
      network showed several critical differences from those seen on the evolved forage
      based diet. Grain-based (e.g., concentrate) diets tend to be dominated by a
      smaller set of reactions that employ metabolites that are nearer in network space
      to the host's metabolism. In addition, these reactions are more central in the
      network and employ substrates with shorter carbon backbones. Despite this
      apparent lower complexity, the concentrate-associated metabolic networks are
      actually more dissimilar from each other than are those of forage-fed animals.
      Because both groups of animals were initially fed on a forage diet, we propose
      that the diet switch drove the appearance of a number of different microbial
      networks, including a degenerate network characterized by an inefficient use of
      dietary nutrients. We used network simulations to show that such disparate
      networks are not an unexpected result of a diet shift. CONCLUSION: We argue that
      network approaches, particularly those that link the microbial network with that
      of the host, illuminate aspects of the structure of the microbiome not seen from
      a strictly taxonomic perspective. In particular, different diets induce
      predictable and significant differences in the enzymes used by the microbiome.
      Nonetheless, there are clearly a number of microbiomes of differing structure
      that show similar functional properties. Changes such as a diet shift uncover
      more of this type of diversity.

PMID- 28595642
TI  - Adherence to methadone maintenance treatment and associated factors among
      patients in Vietnamese mountainside areas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medication adherence is essential to achieve successful methadone
      maintenance treatment (MMT). However, treatment adherence among MMT patients in
      the mountainous setting in Vietnam has not been yet investigated. This study
      aimed to explore the medication adherence and associated factors in MMT patients
      in Tuyen Quang, a mountainous province. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was
      conducted in two MMT clinics namely Tuyen Quang and Son Duong. Convenience
      sampling method was used to recruit patients. Adherence to MMT was assessed by
      using three questions: 1) number of days that they missed doses in the last 4
      days; 2) whether they missed doses during the last weekend and 3) when they
      missed a dose within the last 3 months. Adherence was considered optimal if
      patients reported 'no' to three questions. Socioeconomic status, health status
      (measured by EuroQol-5 Dimensions - 5 Levels - EQ5D5L and Visual analogue scale -
      VAS), substance use and abuse and methods to support adherence were also
      collected. RESULTS: Among 241 patients, 34.4% reported optimal adherence. Self
      help was the most popular (89.2%) method used to support adherence. Risk factors
      of missing doses and suboptimal adherence included higher education and economic
      status; being a worker/farmer; longer duration of treatment; and suffering
      pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. Protective factors were older age, having
      problems in usual activities/self-care, higher EQ-VAS and EQ-5D index; and
      reminded by mobile phone and family members. CONCLUSIONS: This study found a high
      sub-optimal adherence rate among MMT patients in a mountainous setting in
      Vietnam. Measuring adherence by using several simple items could be used
      periodically to monitor the treatment adherence in the clinical setting. Family
      and mobile phone support would have a potential role in supporting patients to
      adhere treatment.

PMID- 28595643
TI  - Planning strategies for inter-fractional robustness in pancreatic patients
      treated with scanned carbon therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Managing inter-fractional anatomy changes is a challenging task in
      radiotherapy of pancreatic tumors, especially in scanned carbon-ion delivery.
      This treatment planning study aims to focus on clinically feasible solutions,
      such as the beam angle selection and margin design to increase the robustness
      against inter-fractional uncertainties. METHODS: This study included 10 patients
      with weekly 3D-CT imaging and physician-approved Clinical Target Volume (CTV).
      The study was directed to keep the CTV-coverage using six beam angle
      configurations in combination with different Internal Target Volume (ITV)
      concepts. These were: geometric-margin (symmetric 3 and 5 mm margin); range
      equivalent margins with an isotropic HU replacement; and to evaluate the need of
      asymmetric margins the water-equivalent range path (WEPL) was determined per
      patient from the set of CTs. Plan optimization and forward dose calculation in
      each week-CT were performed with the research treatment planning system TRiP98
      and the plan quality evaluated in terms of CTV coverage (V95CTV) and homogeneity
      dose (HCTV = D5-D95). RESULTS: The beam geometry had a substantial impact on the
      target irradiation over the treatment course, with the single posterior or two
      beams showing the best average coverage of the CTV. The use of geometric margins
      for the more robust beam geometries showed acceptable results, with a V95CTV of
      (99.2 +/- 1.2)% for the 5 mm-margin. For the non-robust configurations, due to
      substantial changes in the radiological depth, the use of this margin results in
      a V95CTV that might be below 80%, only showing improvement when the range changes
      are included. CONCLUSIONS: Selection of adequate beam configurations and
      treatment margins in ion-beam therapy of pancreatic tumors is of great
      importance. For a single posterior beam or two beam configurations, application
      of geometrical margins compensate for dose degradation induced by inter
      fractional anatomy changes for the majority of the analyzed treatment fractions.

PMID- 28595644
TI  - Development of an objective gene expression panel as an alternative to self
      reported symptom scores in human influenza challenge trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Influenza challenge trials are important for vaccine efficacy
      testing. Currently, disease severity is determined by self-reported scores to a
      list of symptoms which can be highly subjective. A more objective measure would
      allow for improved data analysis. METHODS: Twenty-one volunteers participated in
      an influenza challenge trial. We calculated the daily sum of scores (DSS) for a
      list of 16 influenza symptoms. Whole blood collected at baseline and 24, 48, 72
      and 96 h post challenge was profiled on Illumina HT12v4 microarrays. Changes in
      gene expression most strongly correlated with DSS were selected to train a Random
      Forest model and tested on two independent test sets consisting of 41 individuals
      profiled on a different microarray platform and 33 volunteers assayed by qRT-PCR.
      RESULTS: 1456 probes are significantly associated with DSS at 1% false discovery
      rate. We selected 19 genes with the largest fold change to train a random forest
      model. We observed good concordance between predicted and actual scores in the
      first test set (r = 0.57; RMSE = -16.1%) with the greatest agreement achieved on
      samples collected approximately 72 h post challenge. Therefore, we assayed
      samples collected at baseline and 72 h post challenge in the second test set by
      qRT-PCR and observed good concordance (r = 0.81; RMSE = -36.1%). CONCLUSIONS: We
      developed a 19-gene qRT-PCR panel to predict DSS, validated on two independent
      datasets. A transcriptomics based panel could provide a more objective measure of
      symptom scoring in future influenza challenge studies. Trial registration Samples
      were obtained from a clinical trial with the ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT02014870, first registered on December 5, 2013.

PMID- 28595645
TI  - Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used as insects repellents in six
      malaria endemic localities of Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The combined efforts to combat outdoor/indoor transmission of malaria
      parasites are hampered by the emerging vector resistance in a wide variety of
      malaria-endemic settings of Africa and the rest of the world, stressing the need
      for alternative control measures. This study aimed at documenting insect's
      repellent plant species used by indigenous populations of 6 localities of East,
      South, West and Centre regions of Cameroon. METHODS: Information was gathered
      through face-to-face interviews guided by a semi-structured questionnaire on the
      knowledge of medicinal plants with insect repellent properties. RESULTS: A total
      of 182 informants aged from 25 to 75 years were recruited by convenience from May
      to June 2015. The informants had general knowledge about insects' repellent
      plants (78.6%). A total of 16 plant species were recorded as insects' repellents
      with 50% being trees. The most cited plants were Canarium schweinfurthii
      (Burseraceae) (in four localities, 58/182), Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) (in
      three localities, 38/182), Chromolaena odorata (Compositae) (16/182) and Citrus
      limon (Rutaceae) (11/182) in two localities each. Among the repellent plant
      species recorded, 50% were reported to be burnt to produce in-house smokes, 31.2%
      were mashed and applied on the body, and 18.8% were hung in the houses. The leaf
      was the most commonly used plant part (52.9%), followed by the bark (17.6%).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that rural populations of the 6 targeted
      localities possess indigenous knowledge on repellent plants that are otherwise
      cost-effective and better choice for repelling insects including malaria
      transmitting mosquitoes. Meanwhile, such practices should be validated
      experimentally and promoted as sustainable malaria transmission control tools in
      the remotely located communities.

PMID- 28595646
TI  - Evaluation of obstetricians' surgical decision making in the management of
      uterine rupture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Uterine rupture is an obstetric calamity with surgery as its
      management mainstay. Uterine repair without tubal ligation leaves a uterus that
      is more prone to repeat rupture while uterine repair with bilateral tubal
      ligation (BTL) or (sub)total hysterectomy predispose survivors to psychosocial
      problems like marital disharmony. This study aims to evaluate obstetricians'
      perspectives on surgical decision making in managing uterine rupture. METHODS: A
      questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of obstetricians at the 46th annual
      scientific conference of Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria in
      2012. Data was analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS:
      Seventy-nine out of 110 obstetricians (71.8%) responded to the survey, of which
      42 (53.2%) were consultants, 60 (75.9%) practised in government hospitals and 67
      (84.8%) in urban hospitals, and all respondents managed women with uterine
      rupture. Previous cesarean scars and injudicious use of oxytocic are the
      commonest predisposing causes, and uterine rupture carries very high incidences
      of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Uterine repair only was
      commonly performed by 38 (48.1%) and uterine repair with BTL or (sub) total
      hysterectomy by 41 (51.9%) respondents. Surgical management is guided mainly by
      patients' conditions and obstetricians' surgical skills. CONCLUSION:
      Obstetricians' distribution in Nigeria leaves rural settings starved of
      specialist for obstetric emergencies. Caesarean scars are now a rising cause of
      ruptures. The surgical management of uterine rupture and obstetricians' surgical
      preferences vary and are case scenario-dependent. Equitable redistribution of
      obstetricians and deployment of medical doctors to secondary hospitals in rural
      settings will make obstetric care more readily available and may reduce the
      prevalence and improve the outcome of uterine rupture. Obstetrician's surgical
      decision-making should be guided by the prevailing case scenario and the ultimate
      aim should be to avert fatality and reduce morbidity.

PMID- 28595647
TI  - Pubertal development in girls by breast cancer family history: the LEGACY girls
      cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pubertal milestones, such as onset of breast development and
      menstruation, play an important role in breast cancer etiology. It is unclear if
      these milestones are different in girls with a first- or second-degree breast
      cancer family history (BCFH). METHODS: In the LEGACY Girls Study (n = 1040), we
      examined whether three mother/guardian-reported pubertal milestones (having
      reached Tanner Stage 2 or higher (T2+) for breast and pubic hair development, and
      having started menstruation) differed by BCFH. We also examined whether
      associations between body size and race/ethnicity and pubertal milestones were
      modified by BCFH. We used mother/guardian reports as the primary measure of
      pubertal milestones, but also conducted sensitivity analyses using clinical
      Tanner measurements available for a subcohort (n = 204). We analyzed cross
      sectional baseline data with logistic regression models for the entire cohort,
      and longitudinal data with Weibull survival models for the subcohort of girls
      that were aged 5-7 years at baseline (n = 258). RESULTS: BCFH was modestly, but
      not statistically significantly, associated with Breast T2+ (odds ratio (OR) =
      1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.88-2.10), with a stronger association seen
      in the subcohort of girls with clinical breast Tanner staging (OR = 2.20, 95% CI
      = 0.91-5.32). In a longitudinal analysis of girls who were aged 5-7 years at
      baseline, BCFH was associated with a 50% increased rate of having early breast
      development (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.0-2.21). This association
      increased to twofold in girls who were not overweight at baseline (HR = 2.04, 95%
      CI = 1.29-3.21). BCFH was not associated with pubic hair development and post
      menarche status. The median interval between onset of breast development and
      menarche was longer for BCFH+ than BCFH- girls (2.3 versus 1.7 years), suggesting
      a slower developmental tempo for BCFH+ girls. Associations between pubertal
      milestones and body size and race/ethnicity were similar in girls with or without
      a BCFH. For example, weight was positively associated with Breast T2+ in both
      girls with (OR = 1.06 per 1 kg, 95% CI = 1.03-1.10) and without (OR = 1.14 per 1
      kg, 95% CI = 1.04-1.24) a BCFH. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that BCFH may
      be related to earlier breast development and slower pubertal tempo independent of
      body size and race/ethnicity.

PMID- 28595648
TI  - Investigation and management of osteoporosis in aged trauma patients: a treatment
      algorithm adapted to the German guidelines for osteoporosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis-associated fractures are of increasing importance in
      trauma surgery. Systematic diagnostics and treatment of osteoporosis during a
      hospital stay, however, remain inadequate. Therefore, a specific algorithm for
      diagnosing and treating osteoporosis in trauma surgery patients was developed
      based on the DVO (German Osteology Society) guideline for osteoporosis from 2014.
      METHODS: In a first step, the individuals' age and risk profile for osteoporosis
      is identified considering specific fractures indicating osteoporosis and risk
      factors assessed by a specific questionnaire. In addition, physical activity,
      risk of falls, dietary habits and the individuals' medication are considered.
      Basic osteoporosis laboratory tests, a bone densitometry by dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA) and, if needed, X-rays of the spine are carried out to
      identify prevalent vertebral body fractures. RESULTS: Based on the treatment
      algorithm adapted to the new guidelines for osteoporosis in the majority of
      proximal femoral fractures, treatment of osteoporosis could already be indicated
      without prior DXA. In case of preexisting glucocorticoid therapy, a history of
      previous fractures or other risk factors according to the risk questionnaire, the
      threshold of treatment has to be adjusted given the table of T-scores.
      CONCLUSIONS: The treatment algorithm for diagnosing and treating osteoporosis in
      in-patient trauma surgery patients can help identify high-risk patients
      systematically and efficiently. As a result, osteoporosis-associated fractures or
      failure of osteosynthesis could be reduced, yet a prospective validation of the
      algorithm has to be completed.

PMID- 28595649
TI  - Data-driven prediction of adverse drug reactions induced by drug-drug
      interactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The expanded use of multiple drugs has increased the occurrence of
      adverse drug reactions (ADRs) induced by drug-drug interactions (DDIs). However,
      such reactions are typically not observed in clinical drug-development studies
      because most of them focus on single-drug therapies. ADR reporting systems
      collect information on adverse health effects caused by both single drugs and
      DDIs. A major challenge is to unambiguously identify the effects caused by DDIs
      and to attribute them to specific drug interactions. A computational method that
      provides prospective predictions of potential DDI-induced ADRs will help to
      identify and mitigate these adverse health effects. METHOD: We hypothesize that
      drug-protein interactions can be used as independent variables in predicting
      ADRs. We constructed drug pair-protein interaction profiles for ~800 drugs using
      drug-protein interaction information in the public domain. We then constructed
      statistical models to score drug pairs for their potential to induce ADRs based
      on drug pair-protein interaction profiles. RESULTS: We used extensive clinical
      database information to construct categorical prediction models for drug pairs
      that are likely to induce ADRs via synergistic DDIs and showed that model
      performance deteriorated only slightly, with a moderate amount of false positives
      and false negatives in the training samples, as evaluated by our cross-validation
      analysis. The cross validation calculations showed an average prediction accuracy
      of 89% across 1,096 ADR models that captured the deleterious effects of
      synergistic DDIs. Because the models rely on drug-protein interactions, we made
      predictions for pairwise combinations of 764 drugs that are currently on the
      market and for which drug-protein interaction information is available. These
      predictions are publicly accessible at http://avoid-db.bhsai.org . We used the
      predictive models to analyze broader aspects of DDI-induced ADRs, showing that
      ~10% of all combinations have the potential to induce ADRs via DDIs. This allowed
      us to identify potential DDI-induced ADRs not yet clinically reported. The
      ability of the models to quantify adverse effects between drug classes also
      suggests that we may be able to select drug combinations that minimize the risk
      of ADRs. CONCLUSION: Almost all information on DDI-induced ADRs is generated
      after drug approval. This situation poses significant health risks for vulnerable
      patient populations with comorbidities. To help mitigate the risks, we developed
      a robust probabilistic approach to prospectively predict DDI-induced ADRs. Based
      on this approach, we developed prediction models for 1,096 ADRs and used them to
      predict the propensity of all pairwise combinations of nearly 800 drugs to be
      associated with these ADRs via DDIs. We made the predictions publicly available
      via internet access.

PMID- 28595651
TI  - Psychometric limitations of the 13-item Sense of Coherence Scale assessed by
      Rasch analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A person's sense of coherence (SOC) reflects their perception that
      the world is meaningful and predictable, and impacts their ability to deal with
      stressors in a health-promoting manner. A valid, reliable, and sensitive measure
      of SOC is needed to advance health promotion research based on this concept. The
      13-item Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13) is widely used, but we reported in a
      previous evaluation its psychometric limitations when used with adults with
      morbid obesity. To determine whether the identified limitations were specific to
      that population or also generalize to other populations, we have replicated our
      prior study design and analysis in a new sample of adults with inflammatory bowel
      disease (IBD). METHODS: A sample of 428 adults with IBD completed the SOC-13 at a
      routine clinic visit in Norway between October 1, 2009 and May 31, 2011. Using a
      Rasch analysis approach, the SOC-13 and its three subscales were evaluated in
      terms of rating scale functioning, internal scale validity, person-response
      validity, person-separation reliability and differential item functioning.
      RESULTS: Collapsing categories at the low end of the 7-category rating scale
      improved its overall functioning. Two items demonstrated poor fit to the Rasch
      model, and once they were deleted from the scale, the remaining 11-item scale
      (SOC-11) demonstrated acceptable item fit. However, neither the SOC-13 nor the
      SOC-11 met the criteria for unidimensionality or person-response validity. While
      both the SOC-13 and SOC-11 were able to distinguish three groups of SOC, none of
      the subscales could distinguish any such groups. Minimal differential item
      functioning related to demographic characteristics was also observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: An 11-item version of the sense of coherence scale has better
      psychometric properties than the original 13-item scale among adults with IBD.
      These findings are similar to those of our previous evaluation among adults with
      morbid obesity and suggest that the identified limitations may exist across
      populations. Further refinement of the SOC scale is therefore warranted.

PMID- 28595650
TI  - Acute neuroinflammation induces AIS structural plasticity in a NOX2-dependent
      manner.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic microglia-mediated inflammation and oxidative stress are well
      characterized underlying factors in neurodegenerative disease, whereby reactive
      inflammatory microglia enhance ROS production and impact neuronal integrity.
      Recently, it has been shown that during chronic inflammation, neuronal integrity
      is compromised through targeted disruption of the axon initial segment (AIS), the
      axonal domain critical for action potential initiation. AIS disruption was
      associated with contact by reactive inflammatory microglia which wrap around the
      AIS, increasing association with disease progression. While it is clear that
      chronic microglial inflammation and enhanced ROS production impact neuronal
      integrity, little is known about how acute microglial inflammation influences AIS
      stability. Here, we demonstrate that acute neuroinflammation induces AIS
      structural plasticity in a ROS-mediated and calpain-dependent manner. METHODS:
      C57BL/6J and NOX2-/- mice were given a single injection of lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS; 5 mg/kg) or vehicle (0.9% saline, 10 mL/kg) and analyzed at 6 h-2 weeks
      post-injection. Anti-inflammatory Didox (250 mg/kg) or vehicle (0.9% saline, 10
      mL/kg) was administered beginning 24 h post-LPS injection and continued for 5
      days; animals were analyzed 1 week post-injection. Microglial inflammation was
      assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-qPCR, and AIS integrity was
      quantitatively analyzed using ankyrinG immunolabeling. Data were statistically
      compared by one-way or two-way ANOVA where mean differences were significant as
      assessed using Tukey's post hoc analysis. RESULTS: LPS-induced neuroinflammation,
      characterized by enhanced microglial inflammation and increased expression of ROS
      producing enzymes, altered AIS protein clustering. Importantly, inflammation
      induced AIS changes were reversed following resolution of microglial
      inflammation. Modulation of the inflammatory response using anti-inflammatory
      Didox, even after significant AIS disruption occurred, increased the rate of AIS
      recovery. qPCR and IHC analysis revealed that expression of microglial NOX2, a
      ROS-producing enzyme, was significantly increased correlating with AIS
      disruption. Furthermore, ablation of NOX2 prevented inflammation-induced AIS
      plasticity, suggesting that ROS drive AIS structural plasticity. CONCLUSIONS: In
      the presence of acute microglial inflammation, the AIS undergoes an adaptive
      change that is capable of spontaneous recovery. Moreover, recovery can be
      therapeutically accelerated. Together, these findings underscore the dynamic
      capabilities of this domain in the presence of a pathological insult and provide
      evidence that the AIS is a viable therapeutic target.

PMID- 28595652
TI  - Effect of cochlear implant surgery on vestibular function: meta-analysis study.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Vestibular disorders have been reported following cochlear implant
      (CI) surgery, but the literature shows a wide discrepancy in the reported
      clinical impact. The aim of this meta-analysis is to quantify the effect of CI
      before and after surgery on the outcomes of vestibular tests, postural stability,
      and subjective perception of dizziness. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of CI
      surgery on vestibular function in adult patients (>=18 years) with sensorineural
      hearing loss who underwent unilateral or bilateral implantation. DATA SOURCES:
      MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library from January 1, 1995,
      through July 12, 2016. STUDY SELECTION: Published studies of adult patients who
      received unilateral or bilateral CIs and whose vestibular function or postural
      stability was assessed before and after surgery. DATA EXTRACTION: From each
      study, test results before and after surgery were compared, for the following
      five tests: clinical head impulse test (HIT); bi-thermal caloric irrigation of
      the horizontal semicircular canal; vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP);
      dizziness handicap inventory (DHI); and computerized dynamic posturography (CDP).
      RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies met all inclusion criteria. Most studies performed
      either bi-thermal caloric irrigation and/or VEMP, with fewer studies
      investigating changes in HIT, posturography or DHI. CI surgery significantly
      affected the results of caloric and VEMP testing. However, HIT results,
      posturography, and DHI, scores were not significantly affected after CI surgery.
      CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: CI surgery has a significant negative effect on the
      results of caloric as well as VEMP tests. No significant effect of CI surgery was
      detected in HIT, posturography, or DHI scores. Overall, the clinical effect of CI
      surgery on the vestibular function was found to be insignificant. Nonetheless,
      the potential effects of surgery on the vestibular system should be discussed
      with CI candidates before surgery.

PMID- 28595654
TI  - Dog rabies data reported to multinational organizations from Southern and Eastern
      African countries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Rabies is one of the viral diseases with the highest case fatality
      rate in humans. The main transmission route to humans is through bites,
      especially of infected dogs. Decisions on the allocation of resources to control
      and reduce the socio-economic impacts of rabies require reliable data. Several
      national, regional and international organizations have been gathering rabies
      data for more than a decade. The objective of this paper was to examine the
      consistencies in the number of dog rabies cases reported to different
      multinational organizations by Southern and Eastern African countries and to
      explore the presence of any time trend among the reported rabies data. RESULTS:
      Data was systematically extracted from the databases of the Southern and Eastern
      African Rabies Group-SEARG and the World Organization for Animal Health/World
      animal health information-OIE/WAHID. Despite differences in entities by which
      data have been reported to the two organisations, reported numbers were
      significantly correlated (Spearman's rho = 0.52, P < 0.001). The reported data
      did not indicate the presence of any trend in the number of reported dog rabies
      outbreaks. Inconsistencies in the reported numbers were observed between the
      databases, possibly due to the fact that human and animal health authorities
      report separately to the organisations involved in addition to the use of
      indefinite definitions of report categories set by report receiving
      organizations.

PMID- 28595653
TI  - Habitat productivity and pyrethroid susceptibility status of Aedes aegypti
      mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) is the main vector of the dengue
      virus globally. Dengue vector control is mainly based on reducing the vector
      population through interventions, which target potential breeding sites. However,
      in Tanzania, little is known about this vector's habitat productivity and
      insecticide susceptibility status to support evidence-based implementation of
      control measures. The present study aimed at assessing the productivity and
      susceptibility status of A. aegypti mosquitoes to pyrethroid-based insecticides
      in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: An entomological assessment was conducted
      between January and July 2015 in six randomly selected wards in Dar es Salaam,
      Tanzania. Habitat productivity was determined by the number of female adult A.
      aegypti mosquitoes emerged per square metre. The susceptibility status of adult
      A. aegypti females after exposure to 0.05% deltamethrin, 0.75% permethrin and
      0.05% lambda-cyhalothrin was evaluated using the standard WHO protocols.
      Mortality rates were recorded after 24 h exposure and the knockdown effect was
      recorded at the time points of 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min to calculate the
      median knockdown times (KDT50 and KDT95). RESULTS: The results suggest that
      disposed tyres had the highest productivity, while water storage tanks had the
      lowest productivity among the breeding habitats Of A. aegypti mosquitoes. All
      sites demonstrated reduced susceptibility to deltamethrin (0.05%) within 24 h
      post exposure, with mortalities ranging from 86.3 +/- 1.9 (mean +/- SD) to 96.8
      +/- 0.9 (mean +/- SD). The lowest and highest susceptibilities were recorded in
      Mikocheni and Sinza wards, respectively. Similarly, all sites demonstrated
      reduced susceptibility permethrin (0.75%) ranging from 83.1 +/- 2.1% (mean +/-
      SD) to 96.2 +/- 0.9% (mean +/- SD), in Kipawa and Sinza, respectively. Relatively
      low mortality rates were observed in relation to lambda-cyhalothrin (0.05%) at
      all sites, ranging from 83.1 +/- 0.7 (mean +/- SD) to 86.3 +/- 1.4 (mean +/- SD).
      The median KDT50 for deltamethrin, permethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin were 24.9
      30.3 min, 24.3-34.4 min and 26.7-32.8 min, respectively. The KDT95 were 55.2-90.9
      min for deltamethrin, 54.3-94.6 min for permethrin and 64.5-69.2 min for lambda
      cyhalothrin. CONCLUSIONS: The productive habitats for A. aegypti mosquitoes found
      in Dar es Salaam were water storage containers, discarded tins and tyres. There
      was a reduced susceptibility of A. aegypti to and emergence of resistance against
      pyrethroid-based insecticides. The documented differences in the resistance
      profiles of A. aegypti mosquitoes warrants regular monitoring the pattern
      concerning resistance against pyrethroid-based insecticides and define dengue
      vector control strategies.

PMID- 28595655
TI  - Nuclear protein in testis carcinoma of the mediastinum: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nuclear protein in testis carcinoma is a rare and very aggressive
      undifferentiated cancer which characteristically arises in the midline of the
      head, neck, and mediastinum. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a 46-year
      old white woman admitted for superior vena cava syndrome revealing a mediastinal
      tumor. Pathological examination of specimens obtained by mediastinoscopy revealed
      an undifferentiated tumor with solid growth and positive immunoreactivity for p40
      and negative immunoreactivity for cytokeratin markers. Immunohistochemical
      staining was positive for nuclear protein in testis, allowing the diagnosis of
      nuclear protein in testis midline carcinoma of the mediastinum. CONCLUSIONS: We
      present a rare case of mediastinal nuclear protein in testis carcinoma with
      diagnosis based on nuclear protein in testis protein positivity and atypical
      immunohistochemical features including p40 positivity and anti-cytokeratin
      negativity. Physicians must remain aware of the possibility of nuclear protein in
      testis carcinoma especially in young patients with thoracic symptoms and
      suspicion of neoplasm.

PMID- 28595657
TI  - brain-coX: investigating and visualising gene co-expression in seven human brain
      transcriptomic datasets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of neurological and mental health disorders often
      involves multiple genes, complex interactions, as well as brain- and development
      specific biological mechanisms. These characteristics make identification of
      disease genes for such disorders challenging, as conventional prioritisation
      tools are not specifically tailored to deal with the complexity of the human
      brain. Thus, we developed a novel web-application-brain-coX-that offers gene
      prioritisation with accompanying visualisations based on seven gene expression
      datasets in the post-mortem human brain, the largest such resource ever
      assembled. RESULTS: We tested whether our tool can correctly prioritise known
      genes from 37 brain-specific KEGG pathways and 17 psychiatric conditions. We
      achieved average sensitivity of nearly 50%, at the same time reaching a
      specificity of approximately 75%. We also compared brain-coX's performance to
      that of its main competitors, Endeavour and ToppGene, focusing on the ability to
      discover novel associations. Using a subset of the curated SFARI autism gene
      collection we show that brain-coX's prioritisations are most similar to SFARI's
      own curated gene classifications. CONCLUSIONS: brain-coX is the first
      prioritisation and visualisation web-tool targeted to the human brain and can be
      freely accessed via http://shiny.bioinf.wehi.edu.au/freytag.s/ .

PMID- 28595656
TI  - ROS production induced by BRAF inhibitor treatment rewires metabolic processes
      affecting cell growth of melanoma cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most melanoma patients with BRAFV600E positive tumors respond well to
      a combination of BRAF kinase and MEK inhibitors. However, some patients are
      intrinsically resistant while the majority of patients eventually develop drug
      resistance to the treatment. For patients insufficiently responding to BRAF and
      MEK inhibitors, there is an ongoing need for new treatment targets. Cellular
      metabolism is such a promising new target line: mutant BRAFV600E has been shown
      to affect the metabolism. METHODS: Time course experiments and a series of
      western blots were performed in a panel of BRAFV600E and BRAFWT/NRASmut human
      melanoma cells, which were incubated with BRAF and MEK1 kinase inhibitors. siRNA
      approaches were used to investigate the metabolic players involved. Reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) were measured by confocal microscopy and AZD7545, an
      inhibitor targeting PDKs (pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase) was tested. RESULTS: We
      show that inhibition of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway induces phosphorylation of
      the pyruvate dehydrogenase PDH-E1alpha subunit in BRAFV600E and in BRAFWT/NRASmut
      harboring cells. Inhibition of BRAF, MEK1 and siRNA knock-down of ERK1/2 mediated
      phosphorylation of PDH. siRNA-mediated knock-down of all PDKs or the use of DCA
      (a pan-PDK inhibitor) abolished PDH-E1alpha phosphorylation. BRAF inhibitor
      treatment also induced the upregulation of ROS, concomitantly with the induction
      of PDH phosphorylation. Suppression of ROS by MitoQ suppressed PDH-E1alpha
      phosphorylation, strongly suggesting that ROS mediate the activation of PDKs.
      Interestingly, the inhibition of PDK1 with AZD7545 specifically suppressed growth
      of BRAF-mutant and BRAF inhibitor resistant melanoma cells. CONCLUSIONS: In
      BRAFV600E and BRAFWT/NRASmut melanoma cells, the increased production of ROS upon
      inhibition of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, is responsible for activating PDKs,
      which in turn phosphorylate and inactivate PDH. As part of a possible salvage
      pathway, the tricarboxylic acid cycle is inhibited leading to reduced oxidative
      metabolism and reduced ROS levels. We show that inhibition of PDKs by AZD7545
      leads to growth suppression of BRAF-mutated and -inhibitor resistant melanoma
      cells. Thus small molecule PDK inhibitors such as AZD7545, might be promising
      drugs for combination treatment in melanoma patients with activating
      RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway mutations (50% BRAF, 25% NRASmut, 11.9% NF1mut).

PMID- 28595658
TI  - Nutrient profiling for regulatory purposes.
AB  - In this paper, I first provide definitions of nutrient profiling and of a
      nutrient profile model. I set out the purposes of nutrient profiling: both
      general and specific. I give two examples of nutrient profile models that have
      been developed for regulatory purposes by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the
      UK and the WHO for its European Region - the UK FSA/Ofcom and the WHO-Euro models
      - and compare the way the models are constructed and function, how they have been
      developed, the extent to which they have been tested and validated and their use
      in regulation. Finally I draw some conclusions about the future use of nutrient
      profiling for regulatory purposes. I argue that its full potential has yet to be
      realised and give some reasons why. I pose some urgent research questions with
      respect to nutrient profiling.

PMID- 28595659
TI  - Uses of nutrient profiling to address public health needs: from regulation to
      reformulation.
AB  - Nutrient profiling (NP) models rate the nutritional quality of individual foods,
      based on their nutrient composition. Their goal is to identify nutrient-rich
      foods, generally defined as those that contain more nutrients than calories and
      are low in fat, sugar and salt. NP models have provided the scientific basis for
      evaluating nutrition and health claims and regulating marketing and advertising
      to children. The food industry has used NP methods to reformulate product
      portfolios. To help define what we mean by healthy foods, NP models need to be
      based on published nutrition standards, mandated serving sizes and open-source
      nutrient composition databases. Specifically, the development and testing of NP
      models for public health should follow the seven decision steps outlined by the
      European Food Safety Authority. Consistent with this scheme, the nutrient-rich
      food (NRF) family of indices was based on a variable number of qualifying
      nutrients (from six to fifteen) and on three disqualifying nutrients (saturated
      fat, added sugar, sodium). The selection of nutrients and daily reference amounts
      followed nutrient standards for the USA. The base of calculation was 418.4 kJ
      (100 kcal), in preference to 100 g, or serving sizes. The NRF algorithms, based
      on unweighted sums of percent daily values, subtracted negative (LIM) from
      positive (NRn) subscores (NRn - LIM). NRF model performance was tested with
      respect to energy density and independent measures of a healthy diet. Whereas
      past uses of NP modelling have been regulatory or educational, voluntary product
      reformulation by the food industry may have most impact on public health.

PMID- 28595660
TI  - HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN TURKEY.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The healthcare transformation program in Turkey has shown its success
      with improvements in important health indicators, increased access to healthcare
      services and expansion of coverage to all citizens. Turkey has been relatively
      able to bear the burdens associated with this due to rapid economic growth. The
      need for health technology assessment (HTA) was believed as a result of the
      expansion of coverage, pressure of new technologies, and increased expenditures.
      This study outlines the background and current formalization of HTA and shares
      the current use of HTA in decision making, while summarizing the transformation
      of the Turkish healthcare system for developing a high-quality, equal, and
      accessible care system. METHODS: We reviewed and analyzed policy changes in the
      Turkish healthcare system, universal health coverage, healthcare expenditures,
      and pricing and reimbursement policies to identify the changes leading to HTA. We
      reviewed existing HTA functions in Turkey and outlined their activities. Finally,
      we outlined a set of major challenges for HTA in Turkey over the next decade.
      RESULTS: HTA was formalized in Turkey in 2012-2013 with three national HTA
      structures and one hospital-based HTA unit. These functions currently run
      independent from each other. There are three major challenges in this country for
      HTA in the next decade: clarification of the assessment scope and methods,
      building a strong supporting system for HTA, and defining the role of HTA in the
      future vision of Turkish healthcare policy. CONCLUSION: HTA, despite challenges,
      has a good opportunity to develop further with clear action plans and strong
      political will.

PMID- 28595661
TI  - The antifungal Aureobasidin A and an analogue are active against the protozoan
      parasite Toxoplasma gondii but do not inhibit sphingolipid biosynthesis -
      Corrigendum.

PMID- 28595662
TI  - Behavior and Evolution of Young ONset Dementia part 2 (BEYOND-II) study: an
      intervention study aimed at improvement in the management of neuropsychiatric
      symptoms in institutionalized people with young onset dementia.
AB  - : ABSTRACTBackground:Both neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and psychotropic drug
      use (PDU) are common in institutionalized People with Young Onset Dementia
      (PwYOD) and can produce negative outcomes such as reduced quality of life and
      high workload. In community-dwelling PwYOD, NPS are found to be associated with
      unmet care needs. This emphasizes the importance of a care program for the
      management of NPS in institutionalized PwYOD that also addresses unmet care needs
      and PDU. The objectives of the Behavior and Evolution of Young ONset Dementia
      part 2 (BEYOND-II) study are to develop a care program for the management of NPS
      in institutionalized PwYOD and to evaluate its effectiveness. METHODS: The care
      program consists of an educational program combined with an intervention to
      manage NPS with the following five steps: the evaluation of psychotropic drug
      prescription, detection, analysis (including the detection of unmet needs),
      treatment and the evaluation of NPS. A stepped wedge design will be used to
      evaluate its effectiveness. The primary outcomes are agitation and aggression and
      other NPS. The secondary outcomes are PDU, quality of life, the workload of
      nursing staff and job satisfaction. Additionally, a process analysis and a cost
      consequence analysis will be conducted. CONCLUSIONS: The study protocol of the
      Beyond-II study describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a
      care program for the management of NPS in institutionalized PwYOD. This care
      program provides a structured method for the management of NPS, in which unmet
      needs and PDU are also addressed.

PMID- 28595663
TI  - VISIONS OF STAKEHOLDERS ABOUT INSTUTIONALIZATION OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
      IN CHILE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore and describe the viewpoints and
      beliefs with respect to a health technology assessment (HTA) process and its
      institutionalization in a sample of stakeholder representatives in Chile.
      METHODS: A qualitative study with a descriptive design, based on the model of
      discourse analysis, was performed. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were
      conducted on nineteen Chilean representatives of stakeholders in HTA. The data
      analysis was based on a process of open coding that allows the contrasting of the
      interviewees' visions. RESULTS: From what the interviewees mentioned, a proposal
      to institutionalize the process of HTA is presented for Chile. The focus is on
      three main areas: (i) Principles to guide the HTA, (ii) Institutional Framework
      for Chile, and (iii) Impacts associated with their implementation process.
      Transparency and participation were the main principles identified. The idea of
      an autonomous body for HTA, independent and publicly funded, was widely
      supported. However, this implementation could face potential resistance from
      technicians and politicians, who might impose barriers to avoid their loss of
      decision power. CONCLUSIONS: There is a broad agreement about the importance of
      creating a national institution for HTA, independent and publicly funded. This
      study supplies relevant information for other countries that are currently
      undertaking a similar process.

PMID- 28595665
TI  - Genetic Influences on Hormonal Markers of Chronic HPA Function in Human Hair -
      CORRIGENDUM.

PMID- 28595664
TI  - Spanish-Language Adaptation of Morgeson and Humphrey's Work Design Questionnaire
      (WDQ).
AB  - Since work organizations became the subject of scientific research, how to
      operationalize and measure dimensions of work design has been an issue, mainly
      due to concerns about internal consistency and factor structure. In response,
      Morgeson and Humphrey (2006) built the Work Design Questionnaire -WDQ-, an
      instrument that identifies and measures these dimensions in different work and
      organizational contexts. This paper presents the instruent's adaptation into
      Spanish using reliability and validity analysis and drawing on a sample of 1035
      Spanish workers who hold various jobs in an array of occupational categories. The
      total instrument's internal consistency was Cronbach's alpha of .92 and the
      various scales' reliability ranged from .70 to .96, except for three dimensions.
      There was initially a difference in the comparative fit of the two versions'
      factor structures, but the model with 21 work characteristics (motivational -task
      and knowledge-, social, and work context) showed the highest goodness of fit of
      the various models tested, confirming previous results from the U.S. version as
      well as adaptations into other languages and contexts. CFA results indicated
      goodness of fit of factor configurations corresponding to each of the four major
      categories of work characteristics, with CFI and TLI around .90, as well as SRMR
      and RMSEA below .08. Thus it brings to the table a reliable, valid measure of
      work design with clear potential applications in research as well as professional
      practice, applications that could improve working conditions, boost productivity,
      and generate more personal and professional development opportunities for
      workers.

PMID- 28595666
TI  - A Brief Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for Maladaptive Perfectionism in
      Students: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Researchers focused on developing therapeutic strategies for
      perfectionism given its well-established link to the onset and maintenance of
      several mental disorders. Meta-analytical findings provided support for the
      efficacy of cognitive behavioural (CB) approaches. However, most studies have
      focused on the efficacy of interventions, without analysing their efficiency.
      AIMS: To explore the feasibility of a brief (five weekly sessions) CB group
      intervention focused on reducing perfectionistic concerns in Argentine students.
      We also aimed to identify participants who benefited from the intervention and to
      explore their differences with non-respondents. A third aim was to explore the
      potential merits of the intervention in a different cultural context as this is
      the first attempt to adapt an English-spoken protocol to the Spanish language.
      METHOD: A quasi-experimental design with two time points was used. Twenty-four
      out of 84 participants (mean age = 27.75 years, SD = 8.3) were classified as
      maladaptive perfectionists. RESULTS: Paired t-tests and reliable change index
      comparisons revealed that most students (75%) statistically and clinically
      reduced their levels of perfectionistic concerns as well as their perfectionistic
      strivings. General distress, operationalized as anxious and depressive symptoms,
      was also decreased. Students who completed and responded to the intervention were
      more dysfunctional in academic and psychological measures at baseline than non
      completers and non-improvers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the feasibility,
      preliminary efficacy and efficiency of this five weekly session intervention when
      applied to a sample of Argentine university students.

PMID- 28595667
TI  - EXPERIENCES IN ADAPTING EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT RAPID
      REVIEWS TO INFORM LOCAL DECISION MAKING.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) produces rapid reviews
      on nonmedicine technologies to inform advice for decision making in the National
      Health Service in Scotland (NHSScotland). This study describes our experiences
      and lessons learned in adapting for NHSScotland two rapid Relative Effectiveness
      Assessments (REAs) produced as part of the European Network for Health Technology
      Assessment (EUnetHTA) project to test collaborative preparation and then local
      adaptation. METHODS: The REAs were examined for their relevance to NHSScotland
      and the feasibility of their adaptation evaluated using a screening toolkit. Some
      supplementary literature searches were conducted and additional background
      information on epidemiology and the specific technologies was sought. To inform
      decision making within Scotland, it was also necessary to identify and review
      cost-effective analyses. RESULTS: Robust evidence reviews were delivered for
      NHSScotland. Time saved was less than anticipated, partly due to the need to add
      in health economic information, and partly because of attempts to supplement and
      update the EUnetHTA material. The preparation of an accompanying advice statement
      for NHSScotland enabled the inclusion of local contextual information.
      CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative production and adaptation of HTAs is feasible and
      would be aided by the inclusion of cost-effectiveness analyses in the original
      work. Agencies should develop clear processes for adapting such reviews for their
      context with the focus on selecting appropriate topics for adaptation, avoiding
      unnecessary supplementation of the original work, and ensuring local ownership of
      final advice.

PMID- 28595668
TI  - Spatiotemporal analysis of tuberculosis incidence and its associated factors in
      mainland China.
AB  - Spatiotemporal analysis is an important tool to monitor changes of tuberculosis
      (TB) epidemiology, identify high-risk regions and guide resource allocation.
      However, there are limited data on the contributing factors of TB incidence. This
      study aimed to investigate the spatiotemporal pattern of TB incidence and its
      associated factors in mainland China during 2005-2013. Global Moran's I test,
      Getis-Ord Gi index and heat maps were used to examine the spatial clustering and
      seasonal patterns. Generalized Linear Mixed Model was applied to identify factors
      associated with TB incidence. TB incidence presented high geographical variations
      with two main hot spots, while a generally consistent seasonal pattern was
      observed with a peak in late winter. Furthermore, we found province-level TB
      incidence increased with the proportion of the elderly but decreased with Gross
      Demographic Product per capita and the male:female ratio. Meteorological factors
      also influenced TB incidence. TB showed obvious spatial clustering in mainland
      China and both the demographic and socio-economic factors and meteorological
      measures were associated with TB incidence. These results provide the related
      information to identify the high-risk districts and the evidence for the
      government to develop corresponding control measures.

PMID- 28595669
TI  - Surges of advanced medical support associated with influenza outbreaks.
AB  - We utilized de-identified data to evaluate increases in four outcomes during
      influenza outbreak periods (IOPs) including: hospitalization, intensive care unit
      admission, mechanical ventilation or death for adults aged 18 years or older with
      medically attended acute respiratory illnesses (MAARI) admitted to any of
      Maryland's 50 acute-care hospitals over 12 years. Weekly numbers of positive
      influenza tests in the Maryland area were obtained from the US Center for Disease
      Control and Prevention interactive website. The fewest consecutive weeks around
      the peak week containing at least 85% of the positive tests defined the IOP.
      Weekly counts of individual study outcomes were positively correlated with
      regional weekly counts of positive influenza tests during all the IOPs over 12
      years. Also, rate ratios comparing daily occurrences of each study outcome
      between the IOP and non-IOP were significantly elevated. These results confirm
      conclusions of previous studies that influenza outbreaks are clearly associated
      with deaths and increased use of advanced medical resources by patients with
      MAARI. These data analyses suggest that increased efforts to develop more
      effective influenza vaccines and therapeutics should be a priority.

PMID- 28595670
TI  - Healthy cognitive ageing in the Lothian Birth Cohort studies: marginal gains not
      magic bullet.
AB  - In the face of shifting demographics and an increase in human longevity, it is
      important to examine carefully what is known about cognitive ageing, and to
      identify and promote possibly malleable lifestyle and health-related factors that
      might mitigate age-associated cognitive decline. The Lothian Birth Cohorts of
      1921 (LBC1921, n = 550) and 1936 (LBC1936, n = 1091) are longitudinal studies of
      cognitive and brain ageing based in Scotland. Childhood IQ data are available for
      these participants, who were recruited in later life and then followed up
      regularly. This overview summarises some of the main LBC findings to date,
      illustrating the possible genetic and environmental contributions to cognitive
      function (level and change) and brain imaging biomarkers in later life. Key
      associations include genetic variation, health and fitness, psychosocial and
      lifestyle factors, and aspects of the brain's structure. It addresses some key
      methodological issues such as confounding by early-life intelligence and social
      factors and emphasises areas requiring further investigation. Overall, the
      findings that have emerged from the LBC studies highlight that there are multiple
      correlates of cognitive ability level in later life, many of which have small
      effects, that there are as yet few reliable predictors of cognitive change, and
      that not all of the correlates have independent additive associations. The
      concept of marginal gains, whereby there might be a cumulative effect of small
      incremental improvements across a wide range of lifestyle and health-related
      factors, may offer a useful way to think about and promote a multivariate recipe
      for healthy cognitive and brain ageing.

PMID- 28595671
TI  - From the SAIN,LIM system to the SENS algorithm: a review of a French approach of
      nutrient profiling.
AB  - Nutrient profiling aims to classify or rank foods according to their nutritional
      composition to assist policies aimed at improving the nutritional quality of
      foods and diets. The present paper reviews a French approach of nutrient
      profiling by describing the SAIN,LIM system and its evolution from its early
      draft to the simplified nutrition labelling system (SENS) algorithm. Considered
      in 2010 by WHO as the 'French model' of nutrient profiling, SAIN,LIM classifies
      foods into four classes based on two scores: a nutrient density score (NDS)
      called SAIN and a score of nutrients to limit called LIM, and one threshold on
      each score. The system was first developed by the French Food Standard Agency in
      2008 in response to the European regulation on nutrition and health claims
      (European Commission (EC) 1924/2006) to determine foods that may be eligible for
      bearing claims. Recently, the European regulation (EC 1169/2011) on the provision
      of food information to consumers allowed simplified nutrition labelling to
      facilitate consumer information and help them make fully informed choices. In
      that context, the SAIN,LIM was adapted to obtain the SENS algorithm, a system
      able to rank foods for simplified nutrition labelling. The implementation of the
      algorithm followed a step-by-step, systematic, transparent and logical process
      where shortcomings of the SAIN,LIM were addressed by integrating specificities of
      food categories in the SENS, reducing the number of nutrients, ordering the four
      classes and introducing European reference intakes. Through the French example,
      this review shows how an existing nutrient profiling system can be specifically
      adapted to support public health nutrition policies.

PMID- 28595672
TI  - In vitro larvicidal and in vivo anthelmintic effects of Oxalis tetraphylla
      (Oxalidaceae) hydroalcoholic extract against Haemonchus contortus in lambs.
AB  - The in vitro larvicidal and in vivo anthelmintic effects of Oxalis tetraphylla
      hydroalcoholic extract (HE), against Haemonchus contortus in experimentally
      infected lambs, were assessed. We used a microtitration plate method, comprising
      the following two stages. Stage 1: 20 MUl of water containing 200 sheathed H.
      contortus infective larvae (ShHcl) were deposited in every well of three series;
      then, the series 2 and 3 wells were treated with 80 MUl 1% ivermectin and O.
      tetraphylla HE at 20 mg/ml, respectively. Stage 2: the same procedure was
      performed replacing the ShHcl with exsheathed larvae (ExShHcl). Evaluations were
      performed after 24 and 48 h. The total numbers of dead and live larvae were
      counted. A second experiment evaluated the reduction in nematode egg populations
      in the faeces of lambs treated orally with the O. tetraphylla HE. The 27 lambs
      used were divided into Groups 1, 2 and 3 (n = 9), which were administered water
      (positive control), levamisole 1 m (7.5 mg/kg body weight (BW), as a unique dose)
      and O. tetraphylla HE (20 mg/kg BW), respectively. The plant HE was administered
      daily for 8 days. The in vitro assay showed 80.9% and 86.5% larval mortality of
      ShHcl after 24 and 48 h, respectively, while the corresponding mortality values
      for ExShHcl were 97 and 99%, respectively. The in vivo assay showed variability
      in the eggs/gram of faeces (epg) values; however, at the end of the trial, the
      average reduction in the epg values of the O. tetraphylla HE group was 45.6% (P <
      0.05). Oxalis tetraphylla HE contains compounds that belong to the flavonol group
      with anthelmintic activity.

PMID- 28595673
TI  - Neonatal DNA methylation and early-onset conduct problems: A genome-wide,
      prospective study.
AB  - Early-onset conduct problems (CP) are a key predictor of adult criminality and
      poor mental health. While previous studies suggest that both genetic and
      environmental risks play an important role in the development of early-onset CP,
      little is known about potential biological processes underlying these
      associations. In this study, we examined prospective associations between DNA
      methylation (cord blood at birth) and trajectories of CP (4-13 years), using data
      drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Methylomic
      variation at seven loci across the genome (false discovery rate < 0.05)
      differentiated children who go on to develop early-onset (n = 174) versus low (n
      = 86) CP, including sites in the vicinity of the monoglyceride lipase (MGLL) gene
      (involved in endocannabinoid signaling and pain perception). Subthreshold
      associations in the vicinity of three candidate genes for CP (monoamine oxidase A
      [MAOA], brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF], and FK506 binding protein 5
      [FKBP5]) were also identified. Within the early-onset CP group, methylation
      levels of the identified sites did not distinguish children who will go on to
      persist versus desist in CP behavior over time. Overall, we found that several of
      the identified sites correlated with prenatal exposures, and none were linked to
      known genetic methylation quantitative trait loci. Findings contribute to a
      better understanding of epigenetic patterns associated with early-onset CP.

PMID- 28595674
TI  - Blunt laryngeal trauma secondary to sporting injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laryngeal injury after blunt trauma is uncommon, but can cause
      catastrophic airway obstruction and significant morbidity in voice and airway
      function. This paper aims to discuss a case series of sports-related blunt
      laryngeal trauma patients and describe the results of a thorough literature
      review. METHOD: Retrospective case-based analysis of laryngeal trauma referrals
      over six years to a tertiary laryngology centre. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients
      were identified; 13 (46 per cent) sustained sports-related trauma. Most were
      young males, presenting with dysphonia, some with airway compromise (62 per
      cent). Nine patients were diagnosed with a laryngeal fracture. Four patients were
      managed conservatively and nine underwent surgery. Post-treatment, the majority
      of patients achieved good voice outcomes (83 per cent) and all had normal airway
      function. CONCLUSION: Sports-related neck trauma can cause significant injury to
      the laryngeal framework and endolaryngeal soft tissues, and most cases require
      surgical intervention. Clinical presentation may be subtle; a systematic approach
      along with a high index of suspicion is essential, as early diagnosis and
      treatment have been reported to improve airway and voice outcome.

PMID- 28595675
TI  - Is the medical treatment for arterial hypertension after primary aortic
      coarctation repair related to age at surgery? A retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension following primary coarctation repair affects up to a
      third of subjects. A number of studies suggest that future hypertension risk is
      reduced if primary repair is performed at a younger age. OBJECTIVES: The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of future medical treatment for
      hypertension depending on age of primary coarctation repair. METHODS: This study
      was carried out at a tertiary paediatric cardiology referral centre.
      Retrospective database evaluation of children aged 28 days and ?12 months), and
      children (>12 months). Main outcome measure is the need for long-term anti
      hypertensive medication. The risk for re-coarctation was also evaluated. RESULTS:
      A total of 87 patients were analysed: 60 neonates, 17 infants, 10 children. Among
      them, 6.7% neonates, 29.4% infants, and 40% children required long-term anti
      hypertensive medications. Group differences were statistically significant
      (p=0.004). After adjustment for type of repair, the risk of long-term anti
      hypertensive therapy was 4.5 (95% confidence interval 1.2-16.9, p=0.025) and 10.5
      times (95% confidence interval 2.6-42.3, p=0.001) higher if primary repair was
      carried out in infancy and childhood, respectively, compared with neonates. Among
      all, 13 patients developed re-coarctation: 21.7% in the neonatal group, 5.9% in
      the infant group, and 20% in the child group. We could not demonstrate a
      significant difference between these proportions or calculate a reliable risk for
      developing re-coarctation. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of medical treatment for
      hypertension was lowest when primary repair was carried out during the neonatal
      period, rising 10-fold if first operated on as a child. Knowing the likelihood of
      hypertension development depending on age of primary repair is useful for long
      term surveillance and counselling.

PMID- 28595676
TI  - Evaluation of the impact of 2 years of a dosing intervention on canine
      echinococcosis in the Alay Valley, Kyrgyzstan.
AB  - Echinococcosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease in Kyrgyzstan. In 2012, an
      echinococcosis control scheme was started that included dosing owned dogs in the
      Alay Valley, Kyrgyzstan with praziquantel. Control programmes require large
      investments of money and resources; as such it is important to evaluate how well
      these are meeting their targets. However, problems associated with echinococcosis
      control schemes include remoteness and semi-nomadic customs of affected
      communities, and lack of resources. These same problems apply to control scheme
      evaluations, and quick and easy assessment tools are highly desirable. Lot
      quality assurance sampling was used to assess the impact of approximately 2 years
      of echinococcosis control in the Alay valley. A pre-intervention coproELISA
      prevalence was established, and a 75% threshold for dosing compliance was set
      based on previous studies. Ten communities were visited in 2013 and 2014, with 18
      21 dogs sampled per community, and questionnaires administered to dog owners.
      After 21 months of control efforts, 8/10 communities showed evidence of reaching
      the 75% praziquantel dosing target, although only 3/10 showed evidence of a
      reduction in coproELISA prevalence. This is understandable, since years of
      sustained control are required to effectively control echinococcosis, and efforts
      in the Alay valley should be and are being continued.

PMID- 28595677
TI  - Intensive blood-pressure lowering in patients with acute cerebral hemorrhage.
AB  - : Clinical question Is intensive blood pressure (BP) treatment (systolic BP
      target 110-139 mm Hg) better than standard antihypertensive treatment (systolic
      BP target 140-179 mm Hg) in reducing mortality and disability in patients with
      acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)? Article chosen Qureshi AI, Palesch YY,
      Barsan WG, et al. Intensive blood-pressure lowering in patients with acute
      cerebral hemorrhage. N Engl J Med 2016;375(11):1033-43. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      the therapeutic benefit of intensive BP treatment compared to standard BP
      treatment in reducing death and disability after 3 months of follow-up among
      patients with ICH treated within 4.5 hours from onset of symptoms.

PMID- 28595678
TI  - A tight squeeze.

PMID- 28595679
TI  - Performance-based everyday functional competence measures across the adult
      lifespan: the role of cognitive abilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of age on the ability to manage everyday functioning,
      crucial to ensure a healthy aging process, have been rarely examined and when,
      self-report measures have been used. The aim of the present study was to examine
      age effects across the adult lifespan in everyday functioning with two
      performance-based measures: the Everyday Problems Test (EPT), and the Timed
      Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (TIADL) tasks. The role of some crucial
      cognitive abilities, i.e. working memory (WM), processing speed, reasoning,
      vocabulary, and text comprehension in the EPT and the TIADL were also assessed to
      see whether or not they have a similar influence (and to what extent) in
      accounting for age-related effects in these two performance-based measures.
      METHOD: Two hundred and seventy-six healthy participants, from 40 to 89 years of
      age were presented with the EPT, the TIADL, as well as WM, processing speed,
      reasoning, text comprehension, and vocabulary tasks. RESULTS: Path models
      indicated an indirect effect of age and education on the EPT, which was mediated
      by all the cognitive variables considered, with WM and reasoning being the
      strongest predictors of performance. An indirect quadratic effect of age, but not
      of education, was found on the TIADL score, and an accelerated decline in
      processing speed mediated the relationship between age and the TIADL score.
      CONCLUSION: This study revealed age-related effects in performance-based
      measures, which are mediated by different cognitive abilities depending on the
      measure considered. The findings highlight the importance of assessing everyday
      functioning even in healthy older adults.

PMID- 28595680
TI  - Moving the Needle Just a Bit More.

PMID- 28595681
TI  - Donna Bartlett: Reaching Out Into the Community.

PMID- 28595682
TI  - Wandering: Unearthing New Tracking Devices.
AB  - Wandering away from home or facilities is dangerous for patients with dementia
      and stressful for families and caregivers when those who go missing cannot be
      located. Up to 60% of Alzheimer's disease patients wander, and up to 50% of those
      who are not found within 24 hours face serious injury or death. Currently, no
      effective drug therapies exist to abate wandering, which has multiple causes, but
      emerging technologies offer a promise of comfort in being able to easily locate a
      missing loved one. As of 2012, 41 states had enacted Silver Alert programs that
      broadcast information about missing, vulnerable adults. Numerous technologies,
      such as wearable global positioning system trackers and temporary barcodes worn
      on fingernails, exist to ease the fears of families and caregivers, locate
      residents, and hasten their return. While these strategies offer promise, issues
      of expense, effectiveness, privacy, and ethics remain.

PMID- 28595683
TI  - Cholecalciferol (D3) Versus Ergocalciferol (D2) in Older Adults.
AB  - Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally found in very few food
      sources. It is produced endogenously from ultraviolet light from the sun striking
      the skin and then triggering vitamin D synthesis and activation. Vitamin D helps
      promote calcium absorption in the gut, maintains adequate serum calcium and
      phosphate levels, promotes bone growth, modulates cell growth, and has many other
      roles. There have been an increasing number of people, especially in older
      adults, with vitamin D deficiency. This is in part a result of a reduction of sun
      exposure as people age, increase in use of sunscreen, and other factors. This
      article highlights the roles of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) versus
      ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) supplementation for practicing pharmacists.

PMID- 28595684
TI  - Marijuana Use in the Elderly: Implications and Considerations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article reviews the literature on the use of marijuana in the
      elderly. Pharmacists play an important role in the management of medications
      including drug use of potentially illegal drugs, including marijuana. The use of
      both recreational and medical marijuana has grown exponentially in the general
      population, including in older adults. As of 2017, marijuana for medical use is
      legal in 26 states and the District of Columbia. DATA SOURCES: PubMed and
      Internet search using the following terms: marijuana, cannabis, delta-9
      tetrhydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol, cannabinoid, elderly, geriatric, and
      pharmacology. Findings are based on data collected from older adults (65 years of
      age and older) through August 2016. STUDY SELECTION: Because of the lack of
      research and funding, reputable literature on the impact of marijuana on older
      adults is scarce. The available evidence suggests that elderly individuals should
      be cautious when consuming marijuana, especially those who have certain comorbid
      conditions. DATA EXTRACTION: The geriatric population has a higher likelihood of
      having multiple comorbidities and is subject to polypharmacy. Marijuana use,
      medicinal or recreational, complicates the picture with additive central nervous
      system side effects. DATA SYNTHESIS: This article reviews the growing information
      on marijuana use and discusses issues to consider and cautions in usage that can
      apply to day-to-day clinical practice and geriatric care. The role of the
      pharmacist in educating patients, caregivers, and health care providers is
      expanding with the growing number of states that have legalized medical marijuana
      (26 states and the District of Columbia, as of 2017). Important education points
      including drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions, and signs and
      symptoms of acute overdose should be considered. CONCLUSION: With this review,
      pharmacists will be informed on recommendations on the use of marijuana in the
      older adult. Monitoring of therapy, as well as adverse effects, will be reviewed,
      including some legal issues and challenges.

PMID- 28595685
TI  - Implementing Psychopharmacology Rounds in a Nursing Facility to Improve
      Antipsychotic Usage.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluate whether implementing of pharmacy-led psychopharmacology
      rounds in a nursing facility will improve the rate of antipsychotic use. DESIGN:
      Single-center, prospective; medication use evaluation (MUE). SETTING: Rutland
      Nursing Home, Brooklyn, New York. PARTICIPANTS: Nursing facility residents,
      excluding the pediatric unit. INTERVENTIONS: Weekly interdisciplinary
      psychopharmacology rounds that include: clinical pharmacists, nurse managers,
      medical director, social workers, and administration. Antipsychotics were
      analyzed for all residents for appropriateness of use, proper documentation, and
      adequate monitoring. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Assess the overall rate of reduction
      of antipsychotic use after implementation of psychopharmacology rounds. Secondary
      outcomes assessed improvements in monitoring and documentation for residents on
      antipsychotics. RESULTS: A total of 81 residents were evaluated over the six
      month MUE. Of those residents, 20 had their antipsychotics discontinued, and 11
      had their antipsychotics tapered. The overall use of antipsychotics decreased
      from 14.6% (62/422) to 12.2% (50/411) (P = 0.285). Compliance with indications
      generally approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services improved from
      65% (37/57) to 85% (46/54) (P = 0.008). Matching indications on the psychiatry
      consult and the medication order improved from 58% (33/57) to 80% (43/54) (P =
      0.015). Metabolic laboratory monitoring improved from 58% (33/57) to 83% (45/54)
      (P = 0.003). Improvements in timeliness of psychiatry and ophthalmology consults
      were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Implementing interdisciplinary
      psycho-pharmacology rounds in a nursing facility resulted in a reduction of
      inappropriate antipsychotic use and improved monitoring and documentation.

PMID- 28595686
TI  - Attitudes of Nursing Facilities' Staff Toward Pharmacy Students' Interaction with
      its Residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: All Appalachian College of Pharmacy second-year students undertake the
      longitudinal geriatric early pharmacy practice experiences (EPPE) 2 course, which
      involves interacting with geriatric residents in two nursing facilities over two
      semesters. The study investigated the nursing staff's perceptions about the
      rotation and the pharmacy students' interaction with nursing facility residents.
      STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Academic setting. PARTICIPANTS: 63
      nursing facility staff. INTERVENTIONS: A 10-item attitude survey administered to
      nursing staff. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Nursing staff attitude toward pharmacy
      students' interaction with geriatric residents during the course. RESULTS: Sixty
      three responses were received (84% response rate). Most respondents were female
      (95.2%), who occasionally interacted with pharmacy students (54.8%) and had
      worked at the facilities for an average of 6.8 years (standard deviation [SD] =
      6.7) years. Staff reported that pharmacy students practiced interacting with
      geriatric residents and nursing facility staff, learned about different
      medications taken by residents as well as their life as a nursing facility
      resident. In addition, the student visits improved the mood of residents and
      staff's understanding of medicines, among others. Staff suggested that students
      spend more time with their residents in the facility as well as ask more
      questions of staff. CONCLUSION: The nursing facility staff generally had
      favorable attitudes about pharmacy students' visits in their nursing facility.
      Nursing facility staff noted that the geriatric rotation was a great learning
      experience for the pharmacy students.

PMID- 28595687
TI  - Solving Long-Term Care: Mission Impossible?

PMID- 28595688
TI  - The Efficacy of Dextran-40 as a Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Strategy in
      Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy.

PMID- 28595689
TI  - High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation (HFOV) as Primary Ventilator Strategy in
      the Management of Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) with
      Pneumothorax in the Setting of Trauma.

PMID- 28595690
TI  - Understanding health talk in an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
      primary healthcare service: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - Health literacy is an important determinant of health status. This cross
      sectional study aimed to describe the prevalence of adequate health literacy
      among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients or their carers including
      parents of sick children attending an urban primary healthcare clinic in
      Australia, and their experiences of communication with General Practitioners
      (GPs). A questionnaire, including questions from the Brief Health Literacy Screen
      (BHLS) and questions from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and
      Systems (CAHPS): Communication with Provider, was administered to 427
      participants. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-Square test and logistic
      regression analysis were used to describe the prevalence and risk factors
      associated with health literacy and any associations between the CAHPS questions
      and health literacy. In total, 72% of participants had adequate health literacy.
      An age of >=50 years was independently associated with inadequate health
      literacy, and completion of secondary or post-secondary schooling was protective.
      Communication questions that identified areas for improvement included less use
      of incomprehensible medical words and more frequent use of visual aids. The study
      provides useful information on health literacy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait
      Islander patients, or their carers, and their experiences of communication with
      GPs. Further population-based research is required to investigate the effect of
      health literacy on health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
      patients.

PMID- 28595691
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 28595693
TI  - When Less Is Not More.

PMID- 28595692
TI  - Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulant Dosing in Patients With Atrial
      Fibrillation and Renal Dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dose reduction of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants
      (NOACs) is indicated in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with renal
      impairment. Failure to reduce the dose in patients with severe kidney disease may
      increase bleeding risk, whereas dose reductions without a firm indication may
      decrease the effectiveness of stroke prevention. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this
      study was to investigate NOAC dosing patterns and associated outcomes, i.e.,
      stroke (ischemic stroke and systemic embolism) and major bleeding in patients
      treated in routine clinical practice. METHODS: Using a large U.S. administrative
      database, 14,865 patients with AF were identified who initiated apixaban,
      dabigatran, or rivaroxaban between October 1, 2010, and September 30, 2015. We
      examined use of a standard dose in patients with a renal indication for dose
      reduction (potential overdosing) and use of a reduced dose when the renal
      indication is not present (potential underdosing). Cox proportional hazards
      regression was performed in propensity score-matched cohorts to investigate the
      outcomes. RESULTS: Among the 1,473 patients with a renal indication for dose
      reduction, 43.0% were potentially overdosed, which was associated with a higher
      risk of major bleeding (hazard ratio: 2.19; 95% confidence interval: 1.07 to
      4.46) but no statistically significant difference in stroke (3 NOACs pooled).
      Among the 13,392 patients with no renal indication for dose reduction, 13.3% were
      potentially underdosed. This underdosing was associated with a higher risk of
      stroke (hazard ratio: 4.87; 95% confidence interval: 1.30 to 18.26) but no
      statistically significant difference in major bleeding in apixaban-treated
      patients. There were no statistically significant relationships in dabigatran- or
      rivaroxaban-treated patients without a renal indication. CONCLUSIONS: In routine
      clinical practice, prescribed NOAC doses are often inconsistent with drug
      labeling. These prescribing patterns may be associated with worse safety with no
      benefit in effectiveness in patients with severe kidney disease and worse
      effectiveness with no benefit in safety in apixaban-treated patients with normal
      or mildly impaired renal function.

PMID- 28595694
TI  - Myocardial Damage in Patients With Deferred Stenting After STEMI: A DANAMI-3
      DEFER Substudy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although some studies found improved coronary flow and myocardial
      salvage when stent implantation was deferred, the DANAMI-3-DEFER (Third DANish
      Study of Optimal Acute Treatment of Patients With ST-elevation Myocardial
      Infarction) did not show any improvement in clinical outcome in patients with ST
      segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI) and deferred stenting. OBJECTIVES: This study sought
      to evaluate the effect of deferred stent implantation on infarct size, myocardial
      salvage, and microvascular obstruction (MVO) in patients with STEMI. METHODS: In
      the present DANAMI-3 substudy, a total of 510 patients with STEMI were randomized
      to PCI with deferred versus immediate stent implantation. The patients underwent
      a cardiac magnetic resonance examination before discharge after the index
      procedure and again 3 months later. The primary endpoint was final infarct size.
      RESULTS: Deferred stenting did not reduce final infarct size (9% left ventricle
      [LV]; interquartile range [IQR]: 3% to 18% vs. 10% LV; IQR: 3% to 18%; p = 0.67).
      Similarly, deferred stenting was not associated with myocardial salvage index
      (66%; IQR: 50% to 89% vs. 67%; IQR: 49% to 88%; p = 0.80) or presence of MVO (43%
      vs. 42%; p = 0.78). In a post hoc analysis, stent length was the only subgroup of
      7 that had an effect on outcome. In patients with a stent length >=24 mm,
      deferred stenting reduced the final infarct size (6% LV; IQR: 2% to 18% vs. 13%
      LV; IQR: 7% to 23%; p = 0.006; and p for interaction = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: In
      the DANAMI-3-DEFER cardiac magnetic resonance substudy, routine deferred stenting
      did not reduce infarct size or MVO and did not increase myocardial salvage. These
      results do not support the use of routine deferred stenting in STEMI patients
      treated with primary PCI. (DANish Study of Optimal Acute Treatment of Patients
      With ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction [DANAMI-3]; NCT01435408).

PMID- 28595695
TI  - Is Delayed Stenting of the Culprit Artery in Patients With STEMI Ever Worth the
      Wait?

PMID- 28595696
TI  - Left Main Coronary Artery Compression in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial
      Hypertension and Angina.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left main coronary artery (LMCA) compression is increasingly
      recognized as a cause of angina in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
      OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of LMCA extrinsic
      compression from a dilated pulmonary artery (PA) in patients with PAH and angina
      or angina-like symptoms, determine the usefulness of screening with computed
      tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), and assess the safety and efficacy of
      percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). METHODS: All patients with PAH and
      angina or angina-like symptoms attending the center between May 1, 2008, and
      December 31, 2013, underwent CTCA. Patients with confirmed LMCA stenosis on
      selective coronary angiography had PCI. RESULTS: Of 765 patients with PAH, 121
      had angina or angina-like symptoms. Ninety-four patients had abnormal CTCA based
      on the relationship between the PA and the LMCA and underwent selective coronary
      angiography. LMCA stenosis >=50% was detected in 48 of the 94 patients. Forty
      five patients underwent PCI with stenting, of whom 41 had sustained angina
      symptom relief. The 3 other patients had surgical PA reduction plasty. Nine
      months after PCI, 5 patients had LMCA restenosis and PCI was successfully
      repeated. The best predictor of LMCA stenosis >=50% was a PA diameter >=40 mm.
      Rates for death or double-lung transplant and the composite rates for death,
      double-lung transplant, or restenosis at 36 months were 5% and 30%, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of LMCA compression in patients with PAH and angina
      is high. These results suggest that CTCA is indicated in patients with PAH and
      angina or angina-like symptoms. PCI was well tolerated, improved symptoms, and
      resulted in favorable long-term outcomes.

PMID- 28595697
TI  - Left Main Coronary Artery Compression in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial
      Hypertension.

PMID- 28595699
TI  - Better Understanding Quality of Life for Those Living With Marfan.

PMID- 28595698
TI  - Marfan Syndrome and Quality of Life in the GenTAC Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous small studies suggested reduced quality of life (QOL) for
      people with Marfan syndrome (MFS) compared with those without MFS. The national
      registry of GenTAC (Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and
      Cardiovascular Conditions) is a longitudinal observational cohort study of
      patients with conditions that predispose to thoracic aortic aneurysms and
      dissections, including MFS. At the time of registry enrollment, GenTAC study
      participants are asked to complete questionnaires about demographics, medical
      history, health habits, and QOL. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed QOL in GenTAC
      participants with MFS and identify associated factors using self-reported data.
      METHODS: QOL was assessed using the 4 subscales of the Physical Component Summary
      (PCS) of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36):
      physical functioning; role limitations due to physical health; bodily pain; and
      general health. We studied the association of QOL with self-reported
      demographics, health behaviors, physical impairments, surgeries, comorbid medical
      conditions, medications, and MFS severity. RESULTS: In the GenTAC registry, 389
      adults with MFS completed the SF-36. Mean age was 41 years, 51% were men, 92%
      were white, and 65% were college graduates. The mean PCS composite score was
      42.3. In bivariate analysis, predictors of better QOL included college education,
      marital status, higher household income, private health insurance, full-time
      employment, moderate alcohol use, fewer prior surgeries, fewer comorbid
      conditions, absence of depression, and less severe MFS manifestations. In a
      multivariable analysis, insurance status and employment remained significant
      predictors of QOL. CONCLUSIONS: In a large cohort of patients with MFS in the
      GenTAC registry, health-related QOL was below the population norm. Better QOL was
      independently associated with socioeconomic factors, not factors related to
      general health or MFS severity.

PMID- 28595701
TI  - Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors for Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy After
      Heart Transplantation.

PMID- 28595700
TI  - Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibition Early After Heart Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) remains a leading cause of
      mortality after heart transplantation (HT). Angiotensin-converting enzyme
      inhibitors (ACEIs) may retard the development of CAV but have not been well
      studied after HT. OBJECTIVES: This study tested the safety and efficacy of the
      ACEI ramipril on the development of CAV early after HT. METHODS: In this
      prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 96
      HT recipients were randomized to undergo ramipril or placebo therapy. They
      underwent coronary angiography, endothelial function testing; measurements of
      fractional flow reserve (FFR) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) and the index of
      microcirculatory resistance (IMR); and intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) of
      the left anterior descending coronary artery, within 8 weeks of HT. At 1 year,
      the invasive assessment was repeated. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells
      (EPCs) were quantified at baseline and 1 year. RESULTS: Plaque volumes at 1 year
      were similar between the ramipril and placebo groups (162.1 +/- 70.5 mm3 vs.
      177.3 +/- 94.3 mm3, respectively; p = 0.73). Patients receiving ramipril had
      improvement in microvascular function as shown by a significant decrease in IMR
      (21.4 +/- 14.7 to 14.4 +/- 6.3; p = 0.001) and increase in CFR (3.8 +/- 1.7 to
      4.8 +/- 1.5; p = 0.017), from baseline to 1 year. This did not occur with IMR
      (17.4 +/- 8.4 to 21.5 +/- 20.0; p = 0.72) or CFR (4.1 +/- 1.8 to 4.1 +/- 2.2; p =
      0.60) in the placebo-treated patients. EPCs decreased significantly at 1 year in
      the placebo group but not in the ramipril group. CONCLUSIONS: Ramipril does not
      slow development of epicardial plaque volume but does stabilize levels of
      endothelial progenitor cells and improve microvascular function, which have been
      associated with improved long-term survival after HT. (Angiotensin Converting
      Enzyme [ACE] Inhibition and Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy; NCT01078363).

PMID- 28595702
TI  - Left Ventricular Assist Devices for Lifelong Support.
AB  - Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have revolutionized
      advanced heart failure care. These compact, fully implantable heart pumps are
      capable of providing meaningful increases in survival, functional capacity, and
      quality of life. Implantation volumes continue to grow, but several challenges
      remain to be overcome before LVADs will be considered as the therapy of choice
      for all patients with advanced heart failure. They must be able to consistently
      extend survival for the long term (7 to 10 years), rather than the midterm (3 to
      5 years) more typical of contemporary devices; they must incorporate design
      elements that reduce shear stress and avoid stasis to reduce the frequent adverse
      events of bleeding, stroke, and pump thrombosis; and they must become more cost
      effective. The advancements in engineering, implantation technique, and medical
      management detailed in this review will highlight the progress made toward
      achieving lifelong LVAD support and the challenges that remain.

PMID- 28595704
TI  - What's in a Name?

PMID- 28595703
TI  - Performance on the Cardiovascular In-Training Examination in Relation to the ABIM
      Cardiovascular Disease Certification Examination.
AB  - The American College of Cardiology In-Training Exam (ACC-ITE) is incorporated
      into most U.S. training programs, but its relationship to performance on the
      American Board of Internal Medicine Cardiovascular Disease (ABIM CVD)
      Certification Examination is unknown. ACC-ITE scores from third-year fellows from
      2011 to 2014 (n = 1,918) were examined. Covariates for regression analyses
      included sex, age, medical school country, U.S. Medical Licensing Examination
      Step, and ABIM Internal Medicine Certification Examination scores. A secondary
      analysis examined fellows (n = 511) who took the ACC-ITE in the first and third
      years. ACC-ITE scores were the strongest predictor of ABIM CVD scores (p <
      0.0001), and the most significant predictor of passing (p < 0.0001). The change
      in ACC-ITE scores from first to third year was a strong predictor of the ABIM CVD
      score (p < 0.001). The ACC-ITE is strongly associated with performance on the
      ABIM CVD Certification Examination.

PMID- 28595705
TI  - A Cardiology Fellow's Guide to Patient-Centered Care.

PMID- 28595706
TI  - Percutaneous Mitral Valve Repair: Refining Selection Criteria.

PMID- 28595708
TI  - Collapse of the Aspirin Empire: Is it Diabetic Gastroparesis or Cardioprotective
      Paresis?

PMID- 28595707
TI  - Obesity-Related Changes in Cardiac Structure and Function Among Asian Men and
      Women.

PMID- 28595709
TI  - Reply: Collapse of the Aspirin Empire: Is it Diabetic Gastroparesis or
      Cardioprotective Paresis?

PMID- 28595710
TI  - Reply: Is White-Coat Hypertension Associated With Risk of Cardiovascular
      Diseases?

PMID- 28595711
TI  - Is White-Coat Hypertension Associated With Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases?

PMID- 28595712
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28595713
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28595714
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 28595717
TI  - From the Editor.

PMID- 28595716
TI  - Combat casualty care and lessons learned from the past 100 years of war.

PMID- 28595718
TI  - Echocardiographic characteristics of hypertensive patients affected by transient
      ischemic attack: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA), common finding in normal echocardiographies, has
      been described in association with transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)/strokes, as
      well as hypertensive end-organ damage such as left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy.
      Aim of this study was to assess if a cluster of echocardiographic aspects could
      characterize TIA hypertensive patients. A cross-sectional study on patients with
      history of TIA, referring to a Hypertension Center echolab, has been performed. A
      total of 5223 patients received transthoracic echocardiography. TIA patients were
      292 (5.6%). A total of 102 age/sex-matched patients without TIA have been
      collected as controls. The main characteristic of TIA patients resulted
      ASA/bulging (B) (TIA 61%, controls 6%, P = .0001). Other aspect was LV concentric
      remodeling (TIA 32.3%, controls 20.8%, P = .029) and mitral flow aspects of
      diastolic dysfunction. After adjustment for age and hypertension, ASA/B (odds
      ratio [OR] = 62.4, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 13.6-73.9, P < .001), followed
      by LV concentric hypertrophy (OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-4.3, P = .043), was
      associated with a positive TIA history. A binary logistic regression performed in
      ASA/B patients, identified relative wall thickness as the strongest TIA
      associated aspect (OR = 53.4, 95% CI: 11.9-74.18, P = .001). ASA/B, common finds
      in general population, could carry a significant incremental possibility of
      association with TIA when concentric geometry, frequent hypertensive aspect, is
      present as well.

PMID- 28595720
TI  - Lessons learned from the recent history of technologies for noninvasive
      estimation of aortic blood pressure using transfer functions and pulse wave
      analysis.

PMID- 28595719
TI  - Effects of carvedilol or amlodipine on target organ damage in L-NAME hypertensive
      rats: their relationship with blood pressure variability.
AB  - The aim of the study was to compare the effects of chronic oral treatment with
      carvedilol or amlodipine on blood pressure, blood pressure variability and target
      organ damage in N-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) hypertensive rats.
      Wistar rats were treated with L-NAME administered in the drinking water for 8
      weeks together with oral administration of carvedilol 30 mg/kg (n = 6),
      amlodipine 10 mg/kg (n = 6), or vehicle (n = 6). At the end of the treatment,
      echocardiographic evaluation, blood pressure, and short-term variability
      measurements were performed. Left ventricular and thoracic aortas were removed to
      assess activity of metalloproteinase 2 and 9 and expression levels of
      transforming growth factor beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interleukin 6.
      Histological samples were prepared from both tissues. Carvedilol and amlodipine
      induced a comparable reduction of systolic and mean arterial pressure and its
      short-term variability in L-NAME rats. The expression of transforming growth
      factor beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interleukin 6 decreased in both
      organs after carvedilol or amlodipine treatment and the activity of
      metalloproteinase was reduced in aortic tissue. Treatment with carvedilol or
      amlodipine completely prevented left ventricular collagen deposition and
      morphometric alterations in aorta. Oral chronic treatment with carvedilol or
      amlodipine significantly attenuates blood pressure variability and reduces target
      organ damage and biomarkers of tissue fibrosis and inflammation in L-NAME
      hypertensive rats.

PMID- 28595721
TI  - Study of antioxidant effects on malignant glioma cells by constructing a tumor
      microvascular structure on microchip.
AB  - In this work, a three-dimensional tumor-microvascular structure was simulated on
      a microfluidic chip for study of antioxidants effects on malignant glioma cells
      in vitro. The 3D hydrogel containing lumen was constructed to co-culture
      endothelial cells and glioma cells to mimic tumor microvascular environment.
      Macroporous gelatin transglutaminase (TG) hydrogel was prepared with biological
      and mechanical properties suitable for cells culture and nutrient refresh. To
      reform a vessel structure, U87 cells were dispersed in the TG-gelatin hydrogel
      and HUVEC cells were seeded in the lumen of hydrogel. Three typical antioxidants
      (alpha-lipoic acid, catechins and ascorbic acid) have been selected to research
      the antioxidant effects of glioma cells in the simulative tumor microenvironment.
      The results showed that the HUVEC cells formed vessel presented the
      transportation and penetrable functions for antioxidants from lumen to glioma
      cells. The antioxidants displayed higher selectivity to U87 cells than HUVEC
      cells and alpha-lipoic acid has a strong antioxidant capacity.

PMID- 28595722
TI  - Knowledge integration strategies for untargeted metabolomics based on MCR-ALS
      analysis of CE-MS and LC-MS data.
AB  - In this work, two knowledge integration strategies based on multivariate curve
      resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) were used for the simultaneous
      analysis of data from two metabolomic platforms. The benefits and the suitability
      of these integration strategies were demonstrated in a comparative study of the
      metabolite profiles from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) samples grown in non
      fermentable (acetate) and fermentable (glucose) carbon source. Untargeted
      metabolomics data acquired by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS)
      and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were jointly analysed. On the
      one hand, features obtained by independent MCR-ALS analysis of each dataset were
      joined to obtain a biological interpretation based on the combined metabolic
      network visualization. On the other hand, taking advantage of the common spectral
      mode, a low-level data fusion strategy was proposed merging CE-MS and LC-MS data
      before the MCR-ALS analysis to extract the most relevant features for further
      biological interpretation. Then, results obtained by the two presented methods
      were compared. Overall, the study highlights the ability of MCR-ALS to be used in
      any of both knowledge integration strategies for untargeted metabolomics.
      Furthermore, enhanced metabolite identification and differential carbon source
      response detection were achieved when considering a combination of LC-MS and CE
      MS based platforms.

PMID- 28595723
TI  - Stable isotope N-phosphoryl amino acids labeling for quantitative profiling of
      amine-containing metabolites using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.
AB  - Stable isotope chemical labeling liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
      is a powerful strategy for comprehensive metabolomics profiling, which can
      improve metabolites coverage and quantitative information for exploration of
      metabolic regulation in complex biological systems. In the current work, a novel
      stable isotope N-phosphoryl amino acids labeling strategy (SIPAL) has been
      successful developed for quantitative profiling of amine-containing metabolites
      in urine based on organic phosphorus chemistry. Two isotopic reagents, 16O2- and
      18O2-N-diisopropyl phosphoryl l-alanine N-hydroxysuccinimide esters (16O/18O-DIPP
      L-Ala-NHS), were firstly synthesized in high yields for labeling the amine
      containing metabolites. The performance of SIPAL strategy was tested by analyzing
      standard samples including 20 l-amino acids, 10 d-amino acids and small peptides
      by using LC-MS. We observed highly efficient and selective labeling for SIPAL
      strategy within 15 min in a one-pot derivatization reaction under aqueous
      reaction conditions. The introduction of a neutral phosphate group at N-terminus
      can increase the proton affinity and overall hydrophobicity of targeted
      metabolites, leading to the better ionization efficiency in electrospray
      ionization processes and chromatographic separations of hydrophilic metabolites
      on reversed-phase column. Furthermore, the chiral metabolites, such as d-amino
      acids, could be converted to diastereomers after SIPAL and successfully separated
      on regular reversed-phase column. The chirality of labeled enantiomers can be
      determined by using different detection methods such as 31P NMR, UV, and MS,
      demonstrating the potential application of SIPAL strategy. In addition, absolute
      quantification of chiral metabolites in biological samples can be easily achieved
      by using SIPAL strategy. For this purpose, urine samples collected from a healthy
      volunteer were analyzed by using LC-ESI-Orbitrap MS. Over 300 pairs of different
      amine-containing metabolites have been manually identified with high relative
      abundance (signal-to-noise ratios greater than 10). Finally, a standard peptide
      could be relatively quantified by using SIPAL strategy in combination with MALDI
      TOF MS, suggesting the potential application of this strategy for quantitative
      proteomics.

PMID- 28595724
TI  - Sol-gel coated ion sources for liquid chromatography-direct electron ionization
      mass spectrometry.
AB  - Advances in interfacing liquid chromatography and electron ionization mass
      spectrometry are presented. New ion source coatings synthesized by sol-gel
      technology were developed and tested as vaporization surfaces in terms of peak
      intensity, peak width and peak delay for the liquid chromatography-direct
      electron ionization mass spectrometry (Direct-EI) determination of environmental
      pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and steroids. Silica-, titania-,
      and zirconia-based coatings were sprayed inside the stainless steel ion source
      and characterized in terms of thermal stability, film thickness and morphology.
      Negligible weight losses until 350-400  degrees C were observed for all the
      materials, with coating thicknesses in the 6 (+/-1)-11 (+/-2) MUm range for
      optimal ionization process. The best performances in terms of both peak intensity
      and peak width were obtained by using the silica-based coating: the detection of
      the investigated compounds was feasible at low ng MUl-1 levels with a good
      precision (RSD < 9% for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and <11% for hormones).

PMID- 28595725
TI  - Ultrasensitive detection of nucleic acids and proteins using quartz crystal
      microbalance and surface plasmon resonance sensors based on target-triggering
      multiple signal amplification strategy.
AB  - In this study, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and surface plasmon resonance
      (SPR) sensors were combined with template enhanced hybridization processes
      (TEHP), rolling circle amplification (RCA) and biocatalytic precipitation (BCP)
      for ultrasensitive detection of DNA and protein. The DNA complementary to the
      aptamer was released by the specific binding of the aptamer to the target protein
      and then hybridized with the capture probe and the assistant DNA to form a
      ternary "Y" junction structure. The initiation chain was generated by the
      template-enhanced hybridization process which leaded to the rolling circle
      amplification reaction, and a large number of repeating unit sequences were
      formed. Hybridized with the enzyme-labeled probes, the biocatalytic precipitation
      reaction was further carried out, resulting in a large amount of insoluble
      precipitates and amplifying the detection signal. Under the optimum conditions,
      detection limits as low as 43 aM for target DNA and 53 aM for lysozyme were
      achieved. In addition, this method also showed good selectivity and sensitivity
      in human serum.

PMID- 28595726
TI  - FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for Cu2+ with a new indolizine
      fluorophore.
AB  - A new fluorophore indolizine was synthesized and used as a donor to construct
      FRET system. The chemodosimeter shows a large Stokes shifts (193 nm), high
      sensitivity, and high selectivity. The probe can quickly (10 min) detect Cu2+
      effectively in a wide pH range from 5 to 12 and with a detection limit as low as
      9.1 * 10-9 M. Furthermore, it could be used for imaging Cu2+ in living Glioma
      cells which demonstrated its value of practical applications in biological
      systems.

PMID- 28595727
TI  - Alternate injections coupled with flow-gated capillary electrophoresis for rapid
      and accurate quantitative analysis of urine samples.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a powerful separation technique with advantages
      over HPLC in terms of separation efficiency, speed, and cost. However, CE suffers
      in poor reproducibility in quantitative chemical analysis, which is one of major
      drawbacks preventing its widespread use in routine analytical laboratories. Here
      we report a novel strategy to enhance the quantitative capability of flow-gated
      CE. The platform integrated dual flow branches to respectively supply a sample
      and its standard additions that were then alternately injected into a single
      capillary for rapid separations (typically 20-90 s). A micro-fabricated switch
      was used to enable the alternate injections. It was assumed that the analytical
      system maintained constant conditions during neighboring injections that served
      as external self-standards for quantitation. This strategy was expected to reduce
      uncertainties caused by the fluctuation in capillary conditions and the drift of
      detection systems. Experimental results demonstrated that the dual-branch flow
      gated CE coupled with alternate injections significantly improved the
      reproducibility with respect to peak height ratios under deliberate variations in
      injection volumes, separation voltages, optical focusing, and laser power; and
      thus the interday precision was ensured. To demonstrate its applicability,
      cyanide and amino acids in human urine were quantified rapidly with the one-point
      standard addition method after fluorogenic derivatization with naphthalene-2,3
      dicarboxaldehyde (NDA), and the measurement accuracy was validated by determining
      the recovery of standard cyanide added to a urinary matrix. This strategy would
      be valuable to enable the quantitative capability of flow-gated CE in the
      measurements of a broad range of analytes, especially those lacking suited
      internal standards.

PMID- 28595728
TI  - On-line double focusing of atenolol and metoprolol in human urine using capillary
      electrophoresis with the aid of beta-cyclodextrin.
AB  - A maneuverable and sensitive on-line double focusing technique combined field
      amplified sample stacking (FASS) with micelle to solvent stacking (MSS) with the
      aid of beta-cyelodextrin (beta-CD) is developed to detect the contents of AT and
      ME in human urine by capillary electrophoresis (CE) with UV detector. Small
      amount of beta-CD not only increase the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of
      SDS, but also strengthen the interaction between SDS and the aimed compound by
      forming inclusion complexes. The result indicates that the addition of beta-CD
      affords 5.5- and 3.5-fold improvements for atenolol (AT) and metoprolol (ME) in
      sensitivity than that of in the absence of beta-CD in the double focusing system,
      respectively. Under the optimal conditions, about 200-fold improvement in
      sensitivity for analytes is achieved compared with conventional CE method. The
      limits of detection (LODs) at a signal-to-noise of 3 (S/N = 3) of the two beta
      blockers can be reached 3.3 and 3.7 ng mL-1 respectively, which are lower than
      minimum required performance levels (MRPLs) set by the World Anti Doping Agency.
      The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of peak areas of intra-day and inter-day
      are 3.51-3.38% and 2.34-4.28% (n = 6), respectively. AT and ME in urine without
      special pretreatment and additional instrument are analyzed. The recoveries are
      82-98% with RSDs less than 2.0%.

PMID- 28595729
TI  - Diagnostic value of a simplified Pfeiffer questionnaire for polypathological
      patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyse the correlation, sensitivity, specificity and positive
      predictive (PPV) and negative predictive (NPV) values of each question on the
      Pfeiffer questionnaire (SPMSQ) compared with the full questionnaire for
      polypathological patients (PPPs). METHODS: Multicentre cross-sectional study. An
      SPMSQ score is considered pathological if 3 or more errors are recorded. For each
      question and combination of 2 questions, we calculated the correlation (kappa
      index), sensitivity, specificity and predictive values compared with the full
      SPMSQ. RESULTS: Of the 1632 PPPs included (mean age, 77.9+/-9.8 years, 53% men),
      1434 performed the SPMSQ (the remaining presented delirium); 39% of the PPPs were
      pathological. The question "What day is it today?" and the command "Count
      backwards by 3s from 20" obtained good correlation and NPV (85 and 89%,
      respectively); the combination of both increased the NPV to 97%. The question
      "When were you born?' achieved good correlation and greater PPV (93%).
      CONCLUSIONS: The combination of the question "What day is it today?" and the
      command "Count backwards by 3s from 20" achieved a high NPV. The question related
      to the date of birth achieved the highest PPV.

PMID- 28595731
TI  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms in an Indian cohort and association of CNTN4,
      MMP2 and SNTB1 variants with oral cancer.
AB  - Oral cancer is a high incidence cancer in India primarily due to the prevalent
      tobacco/areca nut chewing habits and hence a major health concern. India
      constitutes 26% of the global oral cancer burden. Besides the well-established
      risk factors, the genomic constitution of an individual plays a role in oral
      cancer. The aim of the current study was to analyse genomic variants represented
      as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), analyse their prevalence and
      investigate risk association of allelotypes/genotypes to oral cancers. Eleven
      SNPs in genes associated with biological functions were analysed in an Indian
      cohort (n = 1000) comprising 500 oral cancer patients and 500 long term tobacco
      habitues as controls, using Allelic discrimination Real-Time PCR assay with SYBR
      Green dye. Fisher's exact test and Odds Ratio were used for statistical analysis.
      Increased risk was observed for rs9849237 CC [P = 0.008; OR 1.412 (1.09-1.82)]
      and rs243865 CT [P = 0.004; OR 1.469 (1.13-1.90)] genotypes, whereas rs9849237 CT
      [P = 0.034; OR 0.755 (0.58-0.97)], rs243865 CC [P = 0.002; OR 0.669 (0.51-0.86)]
      and rs10090787 CC [P = 0.049; OR 0.774 (0.60-0.99)] genotypes indicated decreased
      risk to oral cancer. The other SNPs showed equidistribution in both groups. Our
      data indicated genotypes and alleles in specific SNPs rs9849237, rs243865 and
      rs10090787 with increased/decreased risk to oral cancer.

PMID- 28595730
TI  - Recurrent large genomic rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in an Irish case
      series.
AB  - Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 confer a highly increased risk of cancers, mainly of
      the breast and ovary. Most variants are point mutations or small
      insertions/deletions detectable by Sanger sequencing. Large genomic
      rearrangements, including deletions/duplications of multiple exons, are not
      routinely detectable by Sanger sequencing, but can be reliably identified by
      Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA), and account for 5-17%
      mutations in different populations. Comprehensive mutation testing using these
      two methods has been facilitated via our centre since 2005. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the incidence of and phenotype associated with large genomic
      rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in an Irish cohort. An observational cohort
      study was undertaken. Patients with large genomic rearrangements in BRCA1/BRCA2
      were identified from a prospectively maintained database of MLPA test results.
      Phenotypic and genotypic data were retrieved by chart review. Large genomic
      rearrangements in BRCA1 were identified in 49 families; and in BRCA2 in 7
      families, representing ~11% of mutations in BRCA1/BRCA2 in Ireland. The most
      common large genomic rearrangement in BRCA1 was deletion of exons 1-23 (11
      families, 7 from Co. Galway). Other common mutations included deletions of exon 3
      (8 families) and exons 1-2 (6 families). Deletion of exons 19-20 in BRCA2
      represented the familial mutation in five families, all from East Ireland
      (Wexford/Wicklow/Dublin). It is evident that a significant proportion of highly
      penetrant pathogenic variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2 will be missed if testing is
      limited to PCR-based Sanger sequencing alone. Screening for large genomic
      rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the routine diagnostic workflow is critical
      to avoid false negative results.

PMID- 28595732
TI  - The novel double-hit, t(8;22)(q24;q11)/MYC-IGL and t(14;15)(q32;q24)/IGH-BCL2A1,
      in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
AB  - An 82-year-old woman presented with generalized lymphadenopathy and skin
      involvement. Lymph node biopsy revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with a high
      proliferation index. G-banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization showed a
      hypertetraploid karyotype with two copies of t(8;22)(q24;q11), generating the
      fusion of MYC and the immunoglobulin lambda chain gene (IGL), and two copies of
      the novel immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IGH) translocation, t(14;15)(q32;q24).
      A long-distance inverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using nested primer
      combinations designed for each constant gene of IGH showed that Cgamma4 was
      juxtaposed to the downstream sequence of the BCL2A1 (BCL2-related protein A1)
      gene through the Sgamma4 switch region. As a result of t(14;15)(q32;q24), BCL2A1
      and IGH Sgamma4-Cgamma4 were aligned in the same transcriptional orientation at a
      distance of 64 kb. Reverse transcriptase-mediated PCR showed high BCL2A1 mRNA
      levels in a lymphoma specimen. Since BCL2A1, mapped at 15q24.3 or 15q25.1,
      encodes a protein that is an anti-apoptotic member of the BCL2 protein family, we
      herein described the novel double-hit, t(8;22)(q24;q11)/MYC-IGL and
      t(14;15)(q32;q24)/IGH-BCL2A1, in which BCL2A1 is considered to play a role
      equivalent to that of BCL2 in the most frequent double-hit, MYC/BCL2.

PMID- 28595733
TI  - A novel cytogenetic and molecular characterization of renal metanephric adenoma:
      Identification of partner genes involved in translocation t(9;15)(p24;q24).
AB  - Renal metanephric adenoma (MA) is a rare benign tumor frequently misclassified
      when microscopic features alone are applied. The correct classification of a
      renal tumor is critical for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes.
      Despite the advancements in cancer genomics, up until recently relatively few
      genetic alterations critical to MA development have been recognized. Recent data
      suggest that 90% of MA have BRAFV600E mutations; the genetics of the remaining
      10% are unclear. To date, only one case of a chromosomal translocation,
      t(9;15)(p24;q24) associated with MA has been reported. However, the potential
      role of the KANK1 gene, which lies near the breakpoint of the short arm of
      chromosome 9p24, in the etiology of MA was not examined. We identified the same
      cytogenetic aberration utilizing molecular cytogenetic techniques in a 22-year
      old female patient, and further investigated the genes involved in the
      translocation that might have contributed to tumorigenesis. A series of
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes identified the rearranged genes
      to be KANK1 on chromosome 9 (9p24.3) and NTRK3 on chromosome 15 (15q25.3). Mate
      Pair genome sequencing validated the balanced translocation between 9p24.3 and
      15q25.3, involving genes KANK1 and NTRK3, respectively. BRAFV600E mutational
      analysis was normal. Our findings indicate that gene fusions may be one mechanism
      by which functionally relevant genes are altered in the development of MA.
      Molecular and cytogenetic analyses have elucidated a novel genetic aberration,
      which helps to provide a better understanding of this genomic change and assist
      in diagnosis and classification of new subgroups/entities in metanephric
      adenomas.

PMID- 28595734
TI  - Ethics, big data and computing in epidemiology and public health.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article reflects on the activities of the Ethics Committee of the
      American College of Epidemiology (ACE). Members of the Ethics Committee
      identified an opportunity to elaborate on knowledge gained since the inception of
      the original Ethics Guidelines published by the ACE Ethics and Standards of
      Practice Committee in 2000. METHODS: The ACE Ethics Committee presented a
      symposium session at the 2016 Epidemiology Congress of the Americas in Miami on
      the evolving complexities of ethics and epidemiology as it pertains to "big
      data." This article presents a summary and further discussion of that symposium
      session. RESULTS: Three topic areas were presented: the policy implications of
      big data and computing, the fallacy of "secondary" data sources, and the duty of
      citizens to contribute to big data. A balanced perspective is needed that
      provides safeguards for individuals but also furthers research to improve
      population health. Our in-depth review offers next steps for teaching of ethics
      and epidemiology, as well as for epidemiological research, public health
      practice, and health policy. CONCLUSIONS: To address contemporary topics in the
      area of ethics and epidemiology, the Ethics Committee hosted a symposium session
      on the timely topic of big data. Technological advancements in clinical medicine
      and genetic epidemiology research coupled with rapid advancements in data
      networks, storage, and computation at a lower cost are resulting in the growth of
      huge data repositories. Big data increases concerns about data integrity;
      informed consent; protection of individual privacy, confidentiality, and harm;
      data reidentification; and the reporting of faulty inferences.

PMID- 28595735
TI  - Sex-specific associations of maternal birthweight with offspring birthweight in
      the Omega study.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated nonlinear and offspring sex-specific associations of
      maternal birthweight (BW) with offspring BW among participants of the Omega
      study, a pregnancy cohort. METHODS: Maternal BW was modeled as a continuous
      variable, linear spline and binary variable indicating low birthweight (LBW;
      <2500 vs. >=2500 grams). Offspring BW was modeled as a continuous and binary
      variable in regression models. Nonlinearity was assessed using likelihood ratio
      tests (LRTs) in marginal linear spline models. RESULTS: For every 100-gram
      increase of maternal BW, offspring BW increased by 22.29 (95% CI: 17.57, 27.02)
      or 23.41 (95% CI: 6.87, 39.96) grams among mothers with normal BW or born
      macrosomic, respectively, but not among LBW mothers (beta = -8.61 grams; 95% CI: 
      22.88, 5.65; LRT P-value = .0005). For every 100-gram increase in maternal BW, BW
      of male offspring increased 23.47 (95% CI: 16.75, 30.19) or 25.21 (95% CI: 4.35,
      46.07) grams among mothers with normal BW or born macrosomic, respectively,
      whereas it decreased 31.39 grams (95% CI: -51.63, -11.15) among LBW mothers (LRT
      P-value < .0001). Corresponding increases in BW of female offspring (16-22 grams)
      did not differ among mothers with LBW, normal BW or macrosomia (LRT P-value =
      .9163). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal and offspring BW associations are evident among
      normal BW and macrosomic mothers. These associations differ by offspring sex.

PMID- 28595736
TI  - Age, gender, and socioeconomic gradients in metabolic syndrome: biomarker
      evidence from a large sample in Taiwan, 2005-2013.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the age and gender heterogeneities in the association between
      socioeconomic status (SES) and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) with
      biomarker data from Taiwan. METHODS: Subjects included 102,201 men and 112,015
      women aged 25 and above, from the 2005-2013 MJ Health Survey in Taiwan. SES was
      measured by education and family income. MetS was defined by the Adult Treatment
      Panel III criteria for Asian population. Logistic regression analyses were
      performed by age and gender groups. RESULTS: (1) Higher education level was
      associated with significantly lower risk of MetS. (2) Higher income was
      associated with lower MetS risk among women aged under 65, but no association
      among men of all ages. (3) SES gradients were generally much stronger among women
      than among men of the same age group. (4) SES gradients reduced over the life
      course with the exception that income gradient remains flat among men of all
      ages. CONCLUSIONS: Among Chinese in Taiwan, the gender and age heterogeneities in
      the SES gradients in MetS are similar to those reported for Western societies.
      This cross-cultural convergence is broadly consistent with the general hypothesis
      that social conditions are fundamental causes of diseases and health disparities.

PMID- 28595739
TI  - From the Editor.

PMID- 28595738
TI  - Role of alcohol and marijuana use in the initiation of fatal two-vehicle crashes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess individual and joint effects of alcohol and marijuana on the
      initiation of fatal two-vehicle crashes. METHODS: Data on 14,742 culpable drivers
      (initiators) and 14,742 nonculpable drivers (noninitiators) involved in the same
      fatal two-vehicle crashes between 1993 and 2014 were obtained from the Fatality
      Analysis Reporting System. Multivariable conditional logistic regression models
      were used to assess the association of driver use of alcohol, marijuana, or both
      with fatal crash initiation with adjustment for demographic variables. RESULTS:
      Initiators were significantly more likely than non-initiators to test positive
      for alcohol (28.3% vs. 9.6%, P < .0001), marijuana (10.4% vs. 6.0%, P < .0001),
      and both substances (4.4% vs. 1.1%, P < .0001). Relative to drivers testing
      negative for both alcohol and marijuana, the adjusted odds ratios of fatal crash
      initiation were 5.37 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.88 to 5.92) for those
      testing positive for alcohol and negative for marijuana, 1.62 (95% CI: 1.43 to
      1.84) for those testing positive for marijuana and negative for alcohol, and 6.39
      (95% CI: 5.19 to 7.88) for those testing positive for both alcohol and marijuana.
      CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol and marijuana each play a significant role in fatal crash
      initiation. When used in combination, alcohol and marijuana appear to have a
      positive interaction effect on the risk of fatal crash initiation on the additive
      scale.

PMID- 28595737
TI  - Weight gain during pregnancy and the black-white disparity in preterm birth.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify the relationship between pregnancy weight gain with early
      and late preterm birth and evaluate whether associations differed between non
      Hispanic (NH) black and NH white women. METHODS: We analyzed a retrospective
      cohort of all live births to NH black and NH white women in the United States
      2011-2015 (n = 10,714,983). We used weight gain z-scores in multiple logistic
      regression models stratified by prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and race to
      calculate population attributable risk (PAR) percentages for the contribution of
      high and low pregnancy weight gain to early and late preterm birth. RESULTS:
      Pregnancy weight gain was related to early and late preterm birth, but
      associations varied by BMI and race. For early preterm birth, the PAR percentage
      for high pregnancy weight gain ranged from 8 to 10% in NH black women and from 6
      to 8% in NH white women. There was little evidence of racial differences in late
      preterm birth: PAR percentages ranged from 2 to 7% in NH black women and from 3
      to 7% in NH white women. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate gestational weight gain is
      associated with lower rate of preterm birth, with greatest reductions for early
      preterm birth in NH black women.

PMID- 28595740
TI  - Response to letter to Editor "Lessons learned from the recent history of
      technologies for non-invasive estimation of aortic blood pressure using transfer
      functions and pulse wave analysis" by Papaioannou et al.

PMID- 28595741
TI  - Corrigendum to position statement: Political interference in sexual and
      reproductive health research and health professional education [Nursing Outlook
      65/2 (2017) 242-245].

PMID- 28595743
TI  - The role of the complement system in hereditary angioedema.
AB  - Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, but potentially life-threatening disorder,
      characterized by acute, recurring, and self-limiting edematous episodes of the
      face, extremities, trunk, genitals, upper airways, or the gastrointestinal tract.
      HAE may be caused by the deficiency of C1-inhibitor (C1-INH-HAE) but another type
      of the disease, hereditary angioedema with normal C1-INH function (nC1-INH-HAE)
      was also described. The patient population is quite heterogeneous as regards the
      location, frequency, and severity of edematous attacks, presenting large intra-
      and inter-individual variation. Here, we review the role of the complement system
      in the pathomechanism of HAE and also present an overview on the complement
      parameters having an importance in the diagnosis or in predicting the severity of
      HAE.

PMID- 28595742
TI  - [Internal quality control on HER2 status determination in breast cancers:
      Experience of a cancer center].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The implementation of an internal quality control is mandatory to
      guarantee the accuracy of HER2 status in invasive breast cancers. OBJECTIVES: To
      evaluate the impact of our quality control assurance on HER2 status results in
      invasive breast carcinomas from 2008 to 2014. METHODS: HER2 status was determined
      by immunohistochemistry as the first-line indication, completed by fluorescence
      in situ hybridization (FISH) for scores 2+ by immunohistochemistry. Internal
      quality control of HER2 status relied on the standardization of pre-analytical
      phases, the use of external controls with a known number of HER2 gene copies
      determined by FISH and continued monitoring of concordance between
      immunohistochemistry and FISH. RESULTS: The proportion of HER2-positive cases
      corresponding to scores 3+ by immunohistochemistry and 2+ amplified by FISH
      varied from 10.6% to 13.8% (median of 11.3%). The proportion of scores 2+
      amplified by FISH varied from 13.3% to 32.7% during period of study. The rate of
      concordance between FISH and immunohistochemistry for score 0/1+ and 3+ cases
      were>=97%. Eight among 12 discordant cases were false positive resulting from
      errors in interpretation of immunohistochemistry (score 2+ instead of 3+).
      DISCUSSION: Calibration of immunohistochemistry on FISH for HER2 status
      contributes to limit variability of immunohistochemistry results due to technical
      issues or interpretation. The implementation of an external control of score 3+
      on each slide enables accurate interpretation of score 2+ and 3+ by
      immunohistochemistry.

PMID- 28595745
TI  - Antithrombotic regimens in patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary artery
      disease after percutaneous coronary intervention: A focused review.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease are common comorbidities with
      increasing incidences worldwide. About 5-15% of atrial fibrillation patients will
      require coronary stenting at some point in their lives, which necessitates dual
      antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and a P2Y12 antagonist. Triple therapy refers
      to the clinical scenario in which a patient is prescribed aspirin, P2Y12
      antagonist, and oral anticoagulant, usually in the setting of atrial
      fibrillation. Current guidelines on atrial fibrillation do not offer strong
      recommendations on triple therapy management. Furthermore, the optimal duration
      of dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention is evolving
      based on contemporary research and development of newer generation drug eluting
      stents, changing the necessary duration of triple therapy in patients with atrial
      fibrillation. This review will offer an in-depth survey of current guidelines,
      current evidence, and future studies regarding triple therapy in atrial
      fibrillation patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

PMID- 28595744
TI  - Functional electrical stimulation improves quality of life by reducing
      intermittent claudication.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) would improve
      ischemic pain, walking distance, and quality of life of patients with
      intermittent claudication. DESIGN: Single blind, randomized block, two factorial
      design. PATIENTS: Patients diagnosed with Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) and
      intermittent claudication (IC). Ankle Brachial Index ranged 0.4-0.9 on at least
      one leg. Patients were randomly assigned to experimental (FES+Walk, N=13) or
      control (WALK, N=14) groups. INTERVENTION: Experimental group patients received
      FES to the dorsiflexor and plantarflexor muscles while walking for 1h/day, six
      days/week for eight weeks. Control group patients received similar intervention
      without FES. A Follow-up period of both groups lasted eight weeks. OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Outcome measures were taken at baseline (T0), after intervention (T1),
      and after follow-up (T2). Primary measures included Perceived Pain Intensity
      (PPI), Six minute walk (6MW), and Peripheral Arterial Disease Quality of Life
      (PADQOL). Secondary measures included Intermittent Claudication Questionnaire
      (ICQ) and Timed Up and Go (TUG). RESULTS: Group by time interactions in PPI were
      significant (P<0.001) with differences of 27.9 points at T1 and 36.9 points at T2
      favoring the FES+Walk group. Groups difference in Symptoms and Limitations in
      Physical Function of the PADQOL reached significance (T1=8.9, and T2=8.3
      improvements; P=0.007). ICQ was significant (T1=9.3 and T2=13.1 improvements;
      P=0.003). Improvement in 6MW and TUG tests were similar between groups.
      CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Walking with FES markedly reduced ischemic pain and
      enhanced QOL compared to just walking. FES while walking may offer an effective
      treatment option for the elderly with PAD and Intermittent Claudication. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: NIH-NIA 1R21AG048001
      https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=8748641&icde=306
      5377&ddparam=&ddvalue=&ddsub=&cr=1&csb=default&cs=ASC.
      https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02384980?term=David+Embrey&rank=1.

PMID- 28595746
TI  - Ratio of high-sensitivity troponin to creatine kinase-MB in takotsubo syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Takotsubo syndrome (TT) and myocardial infarction (MI) share numerous
      similarities in clinical presentation, ECG modifications and biomarker elevation.
      We sought to determine whether the ratio of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T
      (hs-TnT) to the myocardial fraction of creatine kinase (CKMB) could be a potent
      discriminator between TT and MI patients. METHODS: We separately present analysis
      of data from retrospective files and prospectively recruited patients presenting
      with TT (35 retrospective and 42 prospective), NSTEMI (48 retrospective and 75
      prospective) and STEMI (20 retrospective and 39 prospective). We compared ratios
      of hs-TnT to CKMB on admission to the hospital between TT, NSTEMI and STEMI
      patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analysed to
      determine optimal cut-off values. RESULTS: On admission, hs-TnT/CKMB ratio was
      significantly higher in TT patients than in NSTEMI and STEMI patients in both the
      retrospective phase (median and interquartile range, TT 0.024 [0.018-0.047] vs
      NSTEMI 0.009 [0.006-0.022], p<0.0001; TT vs STEMI 0.011 [0.006-0.016], p=0.0002)
      and the prospective cohort (median and interquartile range, TT 0.032 [0.018
      0.040] vs NSTEMI 0.009 [0.006-0.015], p<0.0001; TT vs STEMI 0.009 [0.005-0.017],
      p<0.0001). A cut-off hs-TnT/CKMB ratio of 0.015 distinguished TT from MI with a
      sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 67.6% (AUC 0.796; 95%CI: 0.71-0.89) in
      the retrospective phase. In the prospective phase, a ratio of 0.017 distinguished
      TT from MI with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 78.1% (AUC 0.88;
      95%CI: 0.83-0.94). CONCLUSION: hs-TnT/CKMB ratio is a novel, readily available
      parameter that could be used alongside clinical risk scores, other biomarkers and
      ECG findings to discriminate between TT and MI.

PMID- 28595747
TI  - Transcathether aortic valve implantation with the new repositionable self
      expandable Evolut R versus CoreValve system: A case-matched comparison.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite promising results following transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation (TAVI), several relevant challenges still remain. To overcome these
      issues, new generation devices have been developed. The purpose of the present
      study was to determine whether TAVI with the new self-expanding repositionable
      Evolut R offers potential benefits compared to the preceding CoreValve, using
      propensity matching. METHODS: Between June 2007 and November 2015, 2148
      consecutive patients undergoing TAVI either CoreValve (n=1846) or Evolut R
      (n=302) were prospectively included in the Italian TAVI ClinicalService(r)
      project. For the purpose of our analysis 211 patients treated with the Evolut R
      were matched to 211 patients treated with the CoreValve. An independent core
      laboratory reviewed all angiographic procedural data and an independent clinical
      events committee adjudicated all events. RESULTS: Patients treated with Evolut R
      experienced higher 1-year overall survival (log rank test p=0.045) and a
      significantly lower incidence of major vascular access complications, bleeding
      events and acute kidney injury compared to patients treated with the CoreValve.
      Recapture manoeuvres to optimize valve deployment were performed 44 times,
      allowing a less implantation depth for the Evolut R. As a consequence, the rate
      of more than mild paravalvular leak and new permanent pacemaker was lower in
      patients receiving the Evolut R. CONCLUSION: In this matched comparison of high
      surgical risk patients undergoing TAVI, the use of Evolut R was associated with a
      significant survival benefit at 1year compared with the CoreValve. This was
      driven by lower incidence of periprocedural complications and higher rates of
      correct anatomic positioning.

PMID- 28595748
TI  - The Thrill of Discovery: A Personal Scientific Autobiography.

PMID- 28595749
TI  - Negative Emotional Verbal Memory Biases in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Late
      Onset Depression.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Early and preferential targeting of limbic structures by Alzheimer
      disease (AD)-related pathology suggests emotion dysregulation may serve as a
      marker of AD risk. We studied emotional verbal memory in two groups at risk for
      AD, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and late-onset depression (LOD), to
      test the hypothesis that aMCI and LOD would be characterized by a negative bias
      in emotional memory, whereas cognitively normal (CN) adults would show the
      "positivity effect" associated with healthy aging. METHODS: Participants
      completed a novel test of emotional verbal memory, the Emotional Verbal Learning
      Test (EVeLT), consisting of a 15-item list of words with positive, negative, or
      neutral valence. Recall as a function of group and valence was analyzed using
      mixed analysis of variance. Spearman's rho was used to examine associations
      between EVeLT, mood, and executive function. MCI and CN participants had no
      current or past history of mood or anxiety disorders. aMCI participants met
      neuropsychological criteria for single-domain aMCI (sd-aMCI). LOD developed their
      first episode of depression at >=60 years of age. RESULTS: CN adults recalled
      more positive words, whereas sd-aMCI and LOD adults recalled more negative,
      relative to neutral, words on the EVeLT. Positive emotional memory and negative
      attitudes regarding self were inversely correlated in CN adults. CONCLUSION: sd
      aMCI and LOD groups show negative emotional memory biases, consistent with our
      hypothesis that emotion dysregulation is a signature of AD risk.

PMID- 28595750
TI  - The TNF-alpha of mast cells induces pro-inflammatory responses during infection
      with Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - Mast cells serve important roles as sentinels against bacterial infection by
      secreting mediators stored in granules. Much of their effectiveness depends upon
      recruiting and/or modulating other immune cells. The location of mast cells
      implies that they recognize pathogens invading tissues or mucosal tissues.
      Acinetobacter baumannii is a gram-negative bacterium that is considered an
      emerging nosocomial pathogen and causes a wide range of infections associated
      with high morbidity and mortality. To date, the interaction of A. baumannii with
      mast cells remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated an interaction between
      human LAD2 mast cells and A. baumannii in vitro. When LAD2 cells were co-cultured
      with live A. baumannii or Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 in vitro for 4h, TNF-alpha
      and IL-8 were produced in the culture supernatant. These inflammatory cytokines
      were not detected in the supernatant after the cells were treated with live
      bacteria without serum. Gene expression analysis showed that TNF-alpha and IL-8
      mRNA expression increased in A. baumannii- and P. aeruginosa-infected LAD2 cells.
      Scanning electron microscopy showed that A. baumannii was tightly attached to the
      surface of LAD2 cells and suggested that A. baumannii may bind to FcgammaRII
      (CD32) on LAD2 cells. TNF-alpha in the culture supernatant from A. baumannii
      infected LAD2 cells, showed that PMN activation and migration increased in Boyden
      chamber assays. These results suggest that mast cells recognize and initiate
      immune responses toward A. baumannii by releasing the preformed mediator TNF
      alpha to activate effector neutrophils.

PMID- 28595751
TI  - Pancreas transplantation: 50 years of experience.
AB  - In December 1966, the first pancreas transplant ever was performed at the
      University of Minnesota. R. Lillehei and W. Kelly, transplanted a kidney and a
      pancreas in a diabetic patient on dialysis, getting function of both organs.
      Since then, the technical and immunological advances in this transplant have
      resulted in graft and patient survival results as the rest of the abdominal solid
      organ transplants. The balance of these 50 years is that more than 50,000
      diabetic patients have been transplanted in more than 200 centers around the
      world. In our country the first transplant was performed 34 years ago in
      Barcelona and now 12 centers perform about 100 transplants per year. Although
      advances in diabetes control have been very important, pancreas transplantation
      continues to be the only method that allows normalization of the carbohydrates
      metabolism to improve the quality of life and, above all, to increase the
      survival of these patients.

PMID- 28595753
TI  - Screening of obstructive sleep apnea by STOP-BANG questionnaire in patients with
      epilepsy.

PMID- 28595754
TI  - The STOP-BANG questionnaire improves the detection of epilepsy patients at risk
      for obstructive sleep apnea.

PMID- 28595752
TI  - Improved outcome of 131I-mIBG treatment through combination with external beam
      radiotherapy in the SK-N-SH mouse model of neuroblastoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of different schedules for combining external
      beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with molecular radiotherapy (MRT) using 131I-mIBG in the
      management of neuroblastoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BALB/c nu/nu mice bearing SK
      N-SH neuroblastoma xenografts were assigned to five treatment groups: 131I-mIBG
      24h after EBRT, EBRT 6days after 131I-mIBG, EBRT alone, 131I-mIBG alone and
      control (untreated). A total of 56 mice were assigned to 3 studies. Study 1:
      Vessel permeability was evaluated using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI
      (n=3). Study 2: Tumour uptake of 131I-mIBG in excised lesions was evaluated by
      gamma-counting and autoradiography (n=28). Study 3: Tumour volume was assessed by
      longitudinal MR imaging and survival was analysed (n=25). Tumour dosimetry was
      performed using Monte Carlo simulations of absorbed fractions with the radiation
      transport code PENELOPE. RESULTS: Given alone, both 131I-mIBG and EBRT resulted
      in a seven-day delay in tumour regrowth. Following EBRT, vessel permeability was
      evaluated by DCE-MRI and showed an increase at 24h post irradiation that
      correlated with an increase in 131I-mIBG tumour uptake, absorbed dose and overall
      survival in the case of combined treatment. Similarly, EBRT administered seven
      days after MRT to coincide with tumour regrowth, significantly decreased the
      tumour volume and increased overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrates that combining EBRT and MRT has an enhanced therapeutic effect and
      emphasizes the importance of treatment scheduling according to pathophysiological
      criteria such as tumour vessel permeability and tumour growth kinetics.

PMID- 28595755
TI  - Generic antiepileptic drug equivalence: The journey from anecdotes to evidence.

PMID- 28595757
TI  - Commentary: Forced thinking about hypercognitive seizures.

PMID- 28595756
TI  - Impact of generic substitution on levetiracetam serum concentration-A prospective
      study in an outpatient setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Switching patients from a branded antiepileptic drug (AED) to a
      generic is often challenging. Several studies have shown that considerable
      proportions of patients report deteriorated seizure control or increased adverse
      effects, enforcing a switchback to the original drug. Since tolerability and
      seizure control usually correlate with AED serum concentrations, we examined the
      fluctuation of levetiracetam (LEV) serum concentrations in patients with epilepsy
      before and after generic substitution. METHODS: This was an 18-week,
      naturalistic, open, prospective, two-center study. After a baseline period of 10
      weeks, 33 outpatients on stable treatment with branded LEV (Keppra(r)) either
      continued with this product or were switched overnight to a generic LEV
      preparation (1A Pharma) for an eight-week study period. Throughout the study,
      patients were monitored with bi-weekly LEV serum concentration measurements and
      seizure diaries. RESULTS: 16 out of 33 patients were switched to a generic LEV
      product. No switchbacks were seen. LEV dose, LEV serum concentrations,
      fluctuation index and concentration/dose-ratio (C/D-ratio) were not significantly
      different within-group (baseline vs. study period) or between-group. Large within
      subject variability in serum concentrations was seen in both groups. None of the
      patients that were seizure-free before inclusion experienced seizures while on
      the generic LEV product. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show equal fluctuation of LEV
      serum concentrations with branded LEV and the generic LEV. Most importantly,
      within-subject variability was much larger than the small, non-significant
      differences between brands.

PMID- 28595759
TI  - What is "Healing"?: Reflections on Diagnostic Criteria, Nosology, and Etiology.
AB  - This article examines the conceptual history and contemporary usages of the term
      "healing." In response to longstanding definitional ambiguity, reflections are
      offered on what are termed the diagnostic criteria, nosology, and etiology of
      healing. First, a summary is provided of how healing has been defined within
      medicine. Second, the dimensionality of healing is discussed. Third, healing's
      putative determinants are outlined. For biomedicine, healing mainly concerns
      repair of wounds or lesions and is unidimensional. For complementary medicine, by
      contrast, healing has been defined alternatively as an intervention, an outcome,
      and a process-or all of these at once-and is multidimensional, impacting multiple
      systems from the cellular to the psychosocial and beyond. Notwithstanding these
      usages, a review of medical texts reveals that healing is rarely defined, nor is
      its dimensionality or determinants described. Persistent lack of critical
      attention to the meaning of "healing" has implications for medical research and
      practice.

PMID- 28595758
TI  - Hypercognitive seizures - Proposal of a new term for the phenomenon forced
      thinking in epilepsy.
AB  - Here we propose the term hypercognitive seizures as a descriptor for seizures
      that manifest as a transient mental experience of intrusive thoughts or words
      that do not consist mainly of reminiscence. Currently, the term forced thinking
      is used to describe this uncommon seizure semiology, which has also been elicited
      by electrical brain stimulation. The available literature on forced thinking
      shows discordant interpretations of its meaning, justifying the suggestion of a
      new descriptor. In this paper, we would like to suggest and explain the term
      hypercognitive seizure and argue that this type of seizure lateralizes to the
      dominant hemisphere.

PMID- 28595760
TI  - Reflections on Healing from a Nursing Perspective.

PMID- 28595761
TI  - Occurrence of malignant neoplasia in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.

PMID- 28595762
TI  - The use of nutritional risk screening 2002 to predict prognosis in hospitalized
      patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with respiratory failure.

PMID- 28595763
TI  - Checklist-Based Assessment of Procedural Skills: A Missing Piece in the Link
      between Medical Education Interventions and Patient Outcomes.

PMID- 28595765
TI  - Muehrcke Lines in an Infant.

PMID- 28595764
TI  - Food Allergy and Anxiety and Depression among Ethnic Minority Children and Their
      Caregivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between food allergy and symptoms of
      anxiety and depression among ethnic minority, low socioeconomic status (SES)
      children and their caregivers. STUDY DESIGN: Pediatric patients ages 4-12 years
      with and without food allergy and their caregivers were recruited from urban
      pediatric outpatient clinics. Statistical analyses were used to examine the
      prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression among patients and their
      caregivers with and without food allergy, adjusting for asthma. RESULTS: Eighty
      patients ranging from ages 4 to 12 years, with a mean age of 8.1 years, and their
      caregivers participated in the study. Food allergy was associated with
      significantly higher t scores on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children
      (MASC) Total (P = .007), MASC Humiliation Rejection, (P = .02) and MASC Social
      Anxiety (P = .02) among pediatric patients, adjusting for asthma. Food allergy
      was not associated with child depression symptoms, nor was there a significant
      difference in anxiety or depression symptoms among caregivers of patients with
      and without food allergy. CONCLUSIONS: Food allergy appears to be associated with
      increased symptoms of social anxiety and higher levels of anxiety overall, but
      not depression, in ethnic minority children of lower socioeconomic status. This
      finding was not due to confounding by asthma. Food allergy was not associated
      with higher levels of depression or anxiety symptoms among caregivers of
      pediatric patients with food allergy. Future studies should investigate potential
      pathways between food allergy and anxiety that may be unique to children in
      underserved populations, and develop interventions to reduce anxiety in children
      with food allergy.

PMID- 28595767
TI  - Learning from Others: Child Health and the European Observatory on Health Systems
      and Policies.

PMID- 28595766
TI  - Improving Universal Pediatric Lipid Screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the release of national guidelines, electronic
      health record (EHR) modifications, and educational initiatives correlated with
      changes in pediatricians' universal lipid screening practices. STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective review of EHRs in an academic general pediatric practice was
      performed to measure the prevalence of order placement. A child was "screened" if
      an order was placed during a well-visit between 9 and 21 years of age. The
      prevalence of order placement for lipid screens on 22 374 patients from January
      2010 to December 2015 was analyzed for date of order and patient age, then
      compared with timing of guidelines, local educational initiatives, and EHR
      modifications. Primary study outcome was lipid screening order placement over
      time. RESULTS: Order placement increased from 8.9% (95% CI 8.3%-9.5%) before any
      intervention to 50.0% (95% CI 48.8%-51.2%) over the last 12 months of the study
      period (P < .001). All age groups showed significant increases in order
      placement. Changes in screening were seen following guideline publications,
      educational initiatives, and EHR modifications (for all, P < .0001). Order
      completion was 69.6% (95% CI 68.9%-70.3%). The composite prevalence of screening
      (order placement multiplied by order completion) was 46.8% over the 6-year study
      period. CONCLUSIONS: Improved adherence to recommendations for universal lipid
      screening is possible through educational initiatives and EHR modifications.
      Inclusion of 12- to 16-year-old adolescents/teenagers as a targeted group for
      universal screening in addition to recommended age groups improved screening
      prevalence. Similar efforts could be applicable for implementation of other
      guidelines.

PMID- 28595768
TI  - The Pediatric Primary Care-Specialist Interface: A Call For Action.

PMID- 28595769
TI  - Loiasis, a Subconjunctival Manifestation.

PMID- 28595770
TI  - Influence of breastfeeding and iron status on mental and psychomotor development
      during the first year of life.
AB  - Breastfeeding (BF) confers numerous benefits on the developing infant in both the
      short and the long term including psychological development, but there are
      multiple other factors that must be taken into account when these relationships
      are studied. To analyse how breastfeeding during the first 4 months of life
      affects infant mental and psychomotor development (MPD) at 6 and 12 months in a
      group of healthy infants from a Mediterranean Spanish city considering many
      important potential confounds. This is a longitudinal study conducted on infants
      from birth until the age of 12 months. A total of 154 healthy infants were
      evaluated by Paediatric Unit of Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus, Spain.
      Type of feeding, clinical history, anthropometry, iron status and mental and
      psychomotor development were assessed and analysed. At 4 months, 24% of infants
      received BF and 26% received mixed feeding (MF). Multiple Linear Regression
      models were applied adjusting for potential prenatal, perinatal and postnatal
      confounds showing that infants who received BF for at least four months presented
      higher psychomotor development index (PDI) at 6 and at 12 months of age. Also,
      gestational age and BMI at 6m were associated positively with PDI at 6 m, and
      haemoglobin levels at 12m and birth height were associated with PDI and MDI at
      12m (respectively). In conclusion, after the adjustment of important potential
      confounds, BF during at least four months and adequate infant iron status are
      related to better psychomotor development during the first year. No associations
      were found between BF and mental development.

PMID- 28595771
TI  - Patient Participation, Engagement and Activation: Increased emphasis on the role
      of patients in healthcare.

PMID- 28595772
TI  - Prevention of early complications and late consequences after acute pulmonary
      embolism: Focus on reperfusion techniques.
AB  - Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a major cause of acute cardiovascular mortality and
      long-term morbidity. Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is the key determinant of
      prognosis in the acute phase of PE, and residual RV dysfunction is associated
      with the development of post-PE functional impairment, chronic thromboembolic
      disease, and higher costs of treatment over the long term. Patients with
      clinically overt RV failure, i.e. hemodynamic collapse at presentation (high-risk
      PE), necessitate immediate thrombolytic treatment to relieve the obstruction in
      the pulmonary circulation; surgical or catheter-directed removal of the thrombus
      can be an alternative option. For patients with a high risk of bleeding or active
      hemorrhage, or for normotensive patients with intermediate-risk PE, systemic
      (intravenous) standard-dose thrombolysis is not recommended since the risks of
      treatment outweigh its benefits. In such cases, rescue thrombolysis should be
      considered only if hemodynamic decompensation develops while on heparin
      anticoagulation. For survivors of acute PE, little is known on the possible
      effects of thrombolytic treatment on the risk of chronic functional and
      hemodynamic impairment. Catheter-directed, ultrasound-assisted, low-dose
      thrombolysis leads to recovery of RV dysfunction, and its safety profile appears
      promising. However, adequately powered prospective trials focusing on both short-
      and long-term clinical outcomes are needed to establish novel interventional
      techniques in the treatment of PE.

PMID- 28595774
TI  - Feasibility of using single photon counting X-ray for lung tumor position
      estimation based on 4D-CT.
AB  - PURPOSE: In stereotactic body radiation therapy of lung tumors, reliable position
      estimation of the tumor is necessary in order to minimize normal tissue
      complication rate. While kV X-ray imaging is frequently used, continuous
      application during radiotherapy sessions is often not possible due to concerns
      about the additional dose. Thus, ultra low-dose (ULD) kV X-ray imaging based on a
      single photon counting detector is suggested. This paper addresses the lower
      limit of photons to locate the tumor reliably with an accuracy in the range of
      state-of-the-art methods, i.e. a few millimeters. METHOD: 18 patient cases with
      four dimensional CT (4D-CT), which serves as a-priori information, are included
      in the study. ULD cone beam projections are simulated from the 4D-CTs including
      Poisson noise. The projections from the breathing phases which correspond to
      different tumor positions are compared to the ULD projection by means of Poisson
      log-likelihood (PML) and correlation coefficient (CC), and template matching
      under these metrics. RESULTS: The results indicate that in full thorax imaging
      five photons per pixel suffice for a standard deviation in tumor positions of
      less than half a breathing phase. Around 50 photons per pixel are needed to
      achieve this accuracy with the field of view restricted to the tumor region.
      Compared to CC, PML tends to perform better for low photon counts and shifts in
      patient setup. Template matching only improves the position estimation in high
      photon counts. The quality of the reconstruction is independent of the projection
      angle. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of the proposed ULD single photon counting
      system is in the range of a few millimeters and therefore comparable to state-of
      the-art tumor tracking methods. At the same time, a reduction in photons per
      pixel by three to four orders of magnitude relative to commercial systems with
      flatpanel detectors can be achieved. This enables continuous kV image-based
      position estimation during all fractions since the additional dose to the patient
      is negligible.

PMID- 28595773
TI  - Endoscopic endonasal management of esthesioneuroblastoma: A retrospective
      multicenter study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to illustrate the safety and utility
      of the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) for the treatment of
      esthesioneuroblastomas (ENB). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients with
      a diagnosis of ENB between March 2008 and February 2016 at 10 tertiary referral
      hospitals in Japan, and assessed demographic data, stage of disease, surgical
      approach, outcomes and postoperative complications. RESULTS: A total of 22
      patients (10 males and 12 females; mean age at presentation, 49.0 years)
      underwent endoscopic endonasal resection of newly diagnosed ENBs. Dulguerov
      staging at presentation was T1, 6 patients; T2, 9 patients; T3, 5 patients; and
      T4, 2 patients. As surgical procedures, unilateral resection via EEA was
      performed in 12 patients aiming preservation of the contralateral olfactory
      system, and bilateral resection via EEA was done in 10 patients. Post-operative
      radiotherapy was done in 20 patients. Pathological margin studies revealed margin
      free resections in 21 patients (95.5%). The mean period of follow-up was 44
      months. Local recurrence was observed in one T2 patient 12 months after bilateral
      resection. All patients were alive at the last follow-up, and 21 patients showed
      no evidence of disease. No post-operative complications including bleeding, CSF
      leak and meningitis were identified. Preservation of olfactory function was
      achieved in 11 patients (91.7%). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study
      indicate the safety and utility of multilayer resection using EEA for treatment
      of ENBs.

PMID- 28595775
TI  - Surface dose measurements in and out of field: Implications for breast
      radiotherapy with megavoltage photon beams.
AB  - This study examines the difference in surface dose between flat and flattening
      filter free (FFF) photon beams in the context of breast radiotherapy. The surface
      dose was measured for 6MV, 6MV FFF, 10MV, 10MV FFF and 18MV photon beams using a
      thin window ionisation chamber for various field sizes. Profiles were acquired to
      ascertain the change in surface dose off-axis. Out-of-field measurements were
      included in a clinically representative half beam block tangential breast field.
      In the field centres of FFF beams the surface dose was found to be increased for
      small fields and decreased for large fields compared to flat beams. For FFF
      beams, surface dose was found to decrease off-axis and resulted in lower surface
      dose out-of-field compared to flat beams.

PMID- 28595776
TI  - Filamin A promotes efficient migration and phagocytosis of neutrophil-like HL-60
      cells.
AB  - The primary defense machinery to combat inflammation involves neutrophil
      granulocytes which in order to execute their functions rely on the efficiency of
      different cellular mechanisms including adhesion, spreading, migration in
      different environments, and phagocytosis. These functions require an accurately
      regulated actin network as well as the activation and adjustment of various
      signaling pathways. Mammalian filamins (FLNs) comprise three highly homologous
      large actin-binding proteins that are obvious candidates to control these
      processes as FLNs have been described to play a role in migration, spreading and
      adhesion in a variety of different cell types. The present study analyzed the
      role of filamin A (FLNa) in human neutrophil-like HL-60 cells. We found a strong
      enrichment of FLNa at the uropod of migrating neutrophils, and show that
      deficiency of FLNa caused a decrease in speed of migration both in 2D and 3D that
      is accompanied by a reduced activation of myosin-II. In addition, we show that
      FLNa plays a role in neutrophil phagocytosis. We also identified a hitherto
      unknown interaction of FLNa with coronin 1A that is mediated by FLNa repeats 9
      18. FLNa deficiency had no or only minor effects on cell adhesion and spreading.
      In summary, deficiency of FLNa in human neutrophil-like HL-60 cells resulted in a
      surprisingly subtle phenotype. Our data indicate that FLNa is not essential for
      the regulation of mechanical properties during migration, but contributes to
      motility in a modulatory manner probably through its action at the uropod.

PMID- 28595777
TI  - Disseminated Cryptococcus deuterogattii (AFLP6/VGII) infection in an Arabian
      horse from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During the past decades there has been an increase in cryptococcal
      infections caused by the basidiomycetous yeast species Cryptococcus gattii sensu
      lato, among humans and animals that live in endemic regions in Australia, Europe
      and the Americas. Unlike human cryptococcosis, little epidemiological data are
      available about C. gattii sensu lato infections in horses. CASE REPORT: A fatal
      case of a disseminated C. gattii sensu lato infection in an 11-year-old Arabian
      gelding imported from South Africa into the United Arab Emitares is reported.
      Tissue samples were studied by conventional mycology procedures and the obtained
      cryptococcal isolate was molecularly characterized by mating-type determination,
      amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting, and multi-locus
      sequence typing (MLST). Phylogenetic analysis was performed to investigate the
      geographic origin of the cryptococcal isolate. The isolate was identified as
      Cryptococcus deuterogattii (AFLP6/VGII), mating-type alpha. Phylogenetic analysis
      showed that it was closely related to another C. deuterogattii isolate from the
      Middle East. CONCLUSIONS: A second case of a C. deuterogattii infection in the
      Middle East is described. It is likely that the horse acquired the infection in
      the Middle East, as the isolate is closely related to that of a recent human case
      from that region.

PMID- 28595779
TI  - Commentary on "Multi-Centre Study on Cardiovascular Risk Management in Patients
      Undergoing AAA Surveillance".

PMID- 28595778
TI  - An Unusual Cause of Recurrent Vomiting.

PMID- 28595780
TI  - The beneficial effects of zinc on diabetes-induced kidney damage in murine rodent
      model of type 1 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is a chronic multi-factorial metabolic disorder resulting from
      impaired glucose homeostasis. Zinc is a key co-factor for the correct functioning
      of anti-oxidant enzymes. Zinc deficiency therefore, impairs their synthesis,
      leading to increased oxidative stress within cells. Zinc deficiency occurs
      commonly in diabetic patients. The aim of this study is to investigate the
      effects of varying concentrations of zinc on diabetic nephropathy (DN) and the
      underlying mechanisms involved. FVB male mice aged 8 weeks were injected
      intraperitoneally with multiple low-dose streptozotocin at a concentration of
      50mg/kg body weight daily for 5 days. Diabetic and age-matched control mice were
      treated with special diets supplemented with zinc at varying concentrations
      (0.85mg/kg, 30mg/kg, 150mg/kg) for 3 months. The mice were fed with zinc diets to
      mimic the process of oral administration of zinc in human. Zinc deficiency to
      some extent aggravated the damage of diabetic kidney. Feeding with normal
      (30mg/kg zinc/kg diet) and especially high (150mg/kg zinc/kg diet) concentration
      zinc could protect the kidney against diabetes-induced damage. The beneficial
      effects of zinc on DN are achieved most likely due to the upregulation of Nrf2
      and its downstream factors NQO1, SOD1, SOD2. Zinc upregulated the expression of
      Akt phosphorylation and GSK-3beta phosphorylation, resulting in a reduction in
      Fyn nuclear translocation and export of Nrf2 to the cytosol. Thus, regular
      monitoring and maintaining of adequate levels of zinc are recommended in diabetic
      individuals in order to delay the development of DN.

PMID- 28595781
TI  - Comparison of the effect of dietary copper nanoparticles with copper (II) salt on
      bone geometric and structural parameters as well as material characteristics in a
      rat model.
AB  - Copper is required for normal functioning of all basic biochemical and
      physiological processes in the body. The objective of this study was to compare
      the effect of two different chemical forms (carbonate and nanoparticles) of Cu
      administered in feed mixtures to growing rats on bone geometric and structural
      parameters as well as material characteristics in a rat model. For this purpose,
      five experimental treatments were used to evaluate the effects of different
      levels of Cu applied in the diet as a mineral mixture (the standard dose of
      6.5mg/kg diet, half the standard dose, and no Cu in mineral mixture as a negative
      control) and two Cu sources (CuCO3 - commonly used in rodent laboratory diets and
      a Cu-NP nanoparticle preparation, 40nm). There were no changes in body weight and
      bone morphology, but significant alteration was noted in the geometry and
      mechanical parameters, which was Cu-NP-dose dependent. Our study showed an
      increase in the ultimate load and toughness in Cu-NP-treated rats at the standard
      concentration. The higher values of the studied parameters prove that there was a
      change in bone mineralization. Although bone mineral density and content were not
      changed, bone tissue density and ash increased. The XRD analysis revealed that
      some peaks did not originate from hydroxyapatite, and they indicated existence of
      other mineral phases. No studies conducted so far have provided a detailed
      mechanical X-ray diffraction analysis of bone tissue of growing rats administered
      with diet containing Cu nanoparticles. This study showed that Cu-NP given in low
      dose increased mechanical endurance of bone, without the changes in strain and
      stress compared to low dose of Cu given in traditional form.

PMID- 28595782
TI  - Hair for a long-term biological indicator tissue for assessing the strontium
      nutritional status of men and women.
AB  - Strontium (Sr) is a trace element that closely resembles calcium metabolism. At
      the present time there is no available long-term biological indicator tissue for
      assessing the human Sr nutritional status. Here we have presented a novel concept
      on how to assess the Sr nutritional status by studying the frequency distribution
      properties of hair Sr (SrH) concentration. In this prospective, observational,
      cross-sectional, and exploratory epidemiological study, we analyzed SrH in 311
      apparently healthy adult Croatians (123 men, 188 women). Hair strontium was
      analyzed by the ICP-MS. The natural frequency distribution of SrH followed the
      Power law, so that the data were analyzed by fitting the logistic bioassay
      sigmoid curve (ogive) of median derivatives. Women tend to accumulate three and a
      half time more SrH than men (median men 867ngg-1 vs. median women 3120ngg-1). The
      normal (adequate) linear physiological response range of the sigmoid curve was
      351-3489ngg-1 for men and 846-8457ngg-1 for women. Values below that linear range
      are considered to indicate deficient Sr nutritional status, whereas values above
      that linear range indicate excessive strontium exposure. Hair, as a long-term,
      and whole blood as a short-term biological indicator tissues were not
      commensurable entities. Similarly, SrH accumulation was not age dependent in
      either men or women. Hair strontium is a reliable long-term biological indicator
      tissue for assessing the strontium nutritional status.

PMID- 28595783
TI  - Subcellular distribution of hepatic copper in beef cattle receiving high copper
      supplementation.
AB  - Previous studies of intensively reared cattle in NW Spain have reported
      significantly higher copper (Cu) accumulation in the liver in Holstein-Friesian
      (HF) animals than in Galician Blonde (GB) or GBxHF crosses when receiving a diet
      supplemented at the maximum Cu concentrations allowed in the EU legislation
      (35mg/kg). The present study aimed to evaluate whether this difference is due to
      the pattern of subcellular accumulation of Cu in the liver. For this purpose,
      liver samples from 10 GB, 9 HF and 10 GBxHF young bulls were analysed to
      determine the content of metallothionein (MT) and Cu and zinc (Zn) (in the liver
      (Cu-liver and Zn-liver) and bound to metallothionein (Cu-MT and Zn-MT)). The Cu
      distribution within the main subcellular compartments (nuclei, large granule,
      microsomes and cytosol) was also determined. Even though HF animals showed
      significantly higher (P<0.05) Cu concentrations in the liver (161+/-10mg/kg wet
      weight) compared with GB (132+/-8mg/kg), no breed-related differences were
      observed for any of the parameters considered in this study. Overall, the pattern
      of hepatic subcellular accumulation was similar to that previously described in
      cattle: (i) MT concentrations were lower than in other animal species but
      strongly related to hepatic Zn; (ii) a low proportion of Cu (6.61%) was bound to
      MT but this was strongly and negatively related to the Cu:Zn ratio in the liver
      cell; and (iii) the highest proportion of Cu (57.3%) was found in the large
      granule (lysosome containing) fraction. All these results indicate a low capacity
      of cattle to excrete Cu by the bile resulting in a high Cu accumulation in the
      liver cell.

PMID- 28595784
TI  - Cadmium triggers mitochondrial oxidative stress in human peripheral blood
      lymphocytes and monocytes: Analysis using in vitro and system toxicology
      approaches.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) is a well-known heavy metal that causes environmental pollution and
      human health problems. Several studies attempted to assess Cd toxicity in vitro
      and in vivo. However, the systemic profile of cadmium toxicity has not been
      studied well. In the present study, we assessed the toxicity of Cd on human
      peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes and gene expression, using a system
      toxicological approach. Cd effect on cell viability and morphology were analyzed
      by MTT assay and AO/EB staining respectively. Mitochondrial membrane potential
      depletion and reactive oxygen singlet generation were assessed by flow cytometry.
      Effects of Cd treatment on gene expression were also studied. Significant
      reduction in cell viability and disintegration of nuclear morphology were
      observed in Cd-treated cells. Cd exposure enhanced the loss of mitochondrial
      membrane potential through oxidative stress. Dose-dependent upregulation of GSTM3
      and downregulation of GSR gene expression were observed. TNF gene expression
      decreased as the level of Cd exposure increased. We analyzed the toxicological
      effects of Cd on more than 45 proteins for biological target identification.
      These system toxicological studies suggested that Cd induced toxicity through
      various biological processes such as oxidative stress, oxidation-reduction, and
      ROS and hydrogen peroxide generation. Additionally, Cd affects the cellular
      component network and modulates the expression level of oxidative stress-related
      genes.

PMID- 28595785
TI  - Comparative study of cardio-protective effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles and
      zinc sulfate in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - The cardio-protective effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (Zn NPs) against
      diabetes-induced cardiopathy were evaluated and compared with zinc sulfate
      (ZnSO4). A total of 120 Wistar rats were randomly categorized as healthy and
      diabetic groups. Then, the 2 groups were classified in 5 subgroups. The animals
      received oral supplementations containing different Zn NP (ie, doses of 1, 3, and
      10mg/kg) and ZnSO4 (30mg/kg) concentrations over 8 weeks. Blood and cardiac
      tissue samples were collected in the different time intervals and subjected to
      biochemical and histopathological analysis. Zn NPs showed dual effects, as its
      middle dose played protective role and recovered cardiac damages evidenced by
      significant reduction of serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, lipoprotein (a),
      atherogenic index, TNF-alpha, cardiac MDA, B-type natriuretic peptide and caspase
      3 activity. Apoptosis indices and histopathological features also were improved.
      However, the highest dose was found to be toxic and resulted in aggravation of
      the injuries. Another interesting finding is the ability of the higher doses of
      Zn-NPs (3 and 10mg/kg) to elevate cardiac zinc levels above the normal range in
      healthy animal. ZnSO4 also helped to recuperation of the damages, but the middle
      dose of Zn NPs was more efficient as compared to ZnSO4. Conclusively, Zn NPs have
      the potential for Zn delivery in diabetic patients.

PMID- 28595786
TI  - Increased risk for an atypical autism diagnosis following Thimerosal-containing
      vaccine exposure in the United States: A prospective longitudinal case-control
      study in the Vaccine Safety Datalink.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thimerosal is an organic-mercury (Hg)-containing compound (49.55% Hg
      by weight) historically added to many multi-dose vials of vaccine as a
      preservative and still added to some vaccines today. Concerns about the toxic
      effects from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and the risk of an atypical
      autism diagnosis were evaluated in this study. METHODS: A hypothesis-testing,
      prospective longitudinal, case-control study assessed exposure to Hg from
      Thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccines (TM-HepB) among cases diagnosed with
      atypical autism (n=164) and controls (n=15,216). Automated medical records for
      subjects born from 1991 to 2000 and continuously enrolled in the Vaccine Safety
      Datalink (VSD) database were examined. RESULTS: Cases diagnosed with atypical
      autism were statistically significantly more likely to have received greater
      overall and dose-dependent exposures to Hg from TM-HepB vaccines administered
      within the first month of life, first two months of life, and first six months of
      life than the controls. Similar phenomena were observed when cases and controls
      were separated by gender. CONCLUSIONS: Routine childhood vaccination is an
      important public health tool to reduce infectious diseases. The present study
      provides important epidemiological evidence significantly associating increasing
      Hg exposure from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and the subsequent risk
      of atypical autism diagnosis, and suggests that Thimerosal should be eliminated
      from vaccines.

PMID- 28595787
TI  - Effects of dietary chromium supplementation on muscle and bone mineral
      interaction in broiler chicken.
AB  - The study was conducted to ascertain the effects of dietary chromium chloride
      (CrCl3.6H2O) supplementation on mineral interaction in blood serum, leg muscles
      and bones of broilers at 35th day of age. For this purpose, ninety male broiler
      chicks were divided into three groups. One served as control (group I) while, the
      other two groups were supplemented with CrCl3 (group II-12.5mg/Kg feed; group III
      25mg/Kg feed) from 12 to 28days of age. In serum, Cr concentration remained non
      significant however, Zn, and K concentrations decreased (P<0.05) with both levels
      of Cr-supplementation. Furthermore, in muscles Cr, Cu, Ca and Na levels remained
      non-significant but concentrations of Zn and K decreased (P<0.05) with feed Cr
      enrichment. Chromium had a substantial effect on femur and fibula Zn retention
      with 25mg/Kg feed supplementation while, Cr deposition decreased (P<0.05) in
      fibula. Femur Ca (P<0.002), Na (P<0.001) and K (P<0.05) retention was inversely
      proportional to both Cr concentrations in feed. In tibia, Cu and Na concentration
      decreased (P<0.002) with high dietary Cr supplementation. Fibular Ca and Na
      concentrations remained significantly (P<0.001) lower in Cr supplemented groups.
      Bone robusticity index was non-significant but ash to weight ratio of femur,
      tibia and fibula decreased (P<0.05) in group III. Chromium supplementation has a
      major effect on serum or muscle Zn and K deposition while bone mineral
      interaction shows a major thrust on Zn, Ca and Na levels.

PMID- 28595788
TI  - Nutritional recommendations for copper intakes should be resuscitated,
      reevaluated and revised.

PMID- 28595789
TI  - A critical review on iodine presence in drinking water access at the Saharawi
      refugee camps (Tindouf, Algeria).
AB  - Iodine content in drinking water at the Saharawi refugee camps was analysed to
      assess the controversy in the origin of the prevalence of goitre among this
      population. A review on the iodine presence in drinking water reported in the
      literature was conducted, along with international standards and guidelines for
      iodine intake and iodine concentration in drinking water were also consulted.
      Chinese legislation was taken as the reference standard to evaluate the iodine
      concentration in water as adequate (10-150MUg/L) or not (high iodine >150MUg/L
      and iodine excess goitre >300MUg/L). Water sampling was conducted in 2015 and
      2016 at the Saharawi camps (El Aiun, Awserd, Smara, Boujador and Dakhla) and at
      the institutional capital of Rabouni. The water supply in the camps is organized
      in three zones: El Aiun and Awserd where each 'wilaya' receives treated water
      20days and raw water another 20days; Smara, Rabouni and Boujador receiving
      treated water continuously and Dakhla receiving raw water continuously. Results
      show that Smara, Rabouni and Boujador have access to drinking water with adequate
      iodine levels, as it occurs in Dakhla where raw water meets the Chinese standard,
      however in El Aiun and Awserd all population should have access to treated water
      given the current quality of the raw water supply. External supplies of water and
      animal milk could be also contributing to the high iodine intake. In conclusion,
      the contribution of drinking water as the main source of iodine to the urinary
      iodine concentration (UIC) and goitre prevalence among the Saharawi refugee
      population is not clear. Further studies should be conducted to assess the iodine
      content among all the nutritional sources of the population with a detailed study
      on the daily intake of these foods and drinks, including UIC and goitre
      prevalence studies.

PMID- 28595790
TI  - Trace metals in fluids lining the respiratory system of patients with idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis and diffuse lung diseases.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease with a poor
      prognosis and an undefined etiopathogenesis. Oxidative stress contributes to
      alveolar injury and fibrosis development and, because transition metals are
      essential to the functioning of most proteins involved in redox reactions, a
      better knowledge of metal concentrations and metabolism in the respiratory system
      of IPF patients may provide a valuable complementary approach to prevent and
      manage a disease which is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed in later stages. The
      present review summarizes and discusses literature data on the elemental
      composition of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), induced sputum and exhaled breath
      condensate (EBC) from patients affected by IPF and healthy subjects. Available
      data are scanty and the lack of consistent methods for the collection and
      analysis of lung and airways lining fluids makes it difficult to compare the
      results of different studies. However, the elemental composition of BAL samples
      from IPF patients seems to have a specific profile that can be distinguished from
      that of patients with other interstitial lung diseases (ILD) or control subjects.
      Suggestions are given towards standard sampling and analytical procedures of BAL
      samples, in the aim to assess typical element concentration patterns and their
      potential role as biomarkers of IPF.

PMID- 28595792
TI  - Various ketogenic diets can differently support brain resistance against
      experimentally evoked seizures and seizure-induced elemental anomalies of
      hippocampal formation.
AB  - In this paper the influence of two different ketogenic diets (KDs) on the seizure
      evoked elemental anomalies of hippocampal formation was examined. To achieve this
      purpose normal and pilocarpine treated rats previously fed with one of the two
      high fat and carbohydrate restricted diets were compared with animals on standard
      laboratory diet. The ketogenic ratios of the examined KDs were equal to 5:1 (KD1)
      and 9:1 (KD2). KD1 and standard diet fed animals presented similar patterns of
      seizure-evoked elemental changes in hippocampal formation. Also the analysis of
      behavioral data recorded after pilocarpine injection did not show any significant
      differences in intensity and duration of seizures between KD1 and standard diet
      fed animals. Higher ketogenic ratio KD2 introduced in the normal hippocampal
      formation prolonged changes in the accumulation of P, K, Zn and Ca. Despite this,
      both the intensity and duration of seizures were significantly reduced in rats
      fed with KD2 which suggests that its saving action on the nerve tissue may
      protect brain from seizure propagation. Also seizure-evoked elemental anomalies
      in KD2 animals were different than those observed for rats both on KD1 and
      standard diets. The comparison of seizure experiencing and normal rats on KD2,
      did not show any statistically significant differences in elemental composition
      of CA1 and H hippocampal areas whilst in CA3 area only Zn level changed as a
      result of seizures. DG was the area mostly affected by seizures in KD2 fed rats
      but areal densities of all examined elements increased in this hippocampal
      region.

PMID- 28595791
TI  - Association between trace elements in the environment and stroke risk: The
      reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke (REGARDS) study.
AB  - The disparities in stroke mortality between blacks and whites, as well as the
      increased stroke mortality in the "stroke belt" have long been noted. The reasons
      for these disparities have yet to be fully explained. The association between
      trace element status and cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, has been
      suggested as a possible contributor to the disparities in stroke mortality but
      has not been fully explored. The purpose of this study is to investigate
      distributions of four trace elements (arsenic, mercury, magnesium, and selenium)
      in the environment in relation to stroke risk. The study population (N=27,770) is
      drawn from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Disparities in Stroke (REGARDS)
      cohort. Environmental distribution of each trace element was determined using
      data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and was categorized in
      quartiles. A proportional hazards model, adjusted for demographic data and stroke
      risk factors, was used to examine the association of interest. The results showed
      that higher selenium levels in the environment were associated with increased
      stroke risk, and the hazard ratio for the 4th quartile compared to the 1st
      quartile was 1.33 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.62). However, there was no statistically
      significant relationship between environmental arsenic, mercury or magnesium and
      the risk of stroke. Because of dietary and non-dietary exposure as well as
      bioavailability, further research using biomarkers is warranted to examine the
      association between these trace elements and the risk of stroke.

PMID- 28595793
TI  - Selenium modulates MMP2 expression through the TGFbeta1/Smad signalling pathway
      in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and rabbits following lipid
      disturbance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A high-fat diet is a major risk factor for coronary heart diseases.
      Matrix metalloprotease (MMP) expression is changed in many cardiovascular
      diseases. Selenium, which is an important trace element in animals, has a close
      relationship with cardiovascular diseases. The TGFbeta1/Smad signalling pathway
      is ubiquitous in diverse tissues and cells, and it is also associated with the
      occurrence and development of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, in this study,
      we aimed to determine selenium's effect on lipid metabolism, atherosclerotic
      plaque formation, and MMP2 expression, as well as the underlying functional
      mechanism. METHODS AND RESULTS: In vivo tests: 24 male New Zealand white rabbits
      were randomly divided into 4 groups: regular diet, high-fat diet, high-fat
      diet+selenium and regular diet+selenium groups. The high-fat diet induced the
      lipid disturbances of rabbits at week 12. Selenium supplementation lowered total
      cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride
      (TG) levels (p<0.01). Selenium supplementation also suppressed MMP2 over
      expression in thoracic aortas. In vitro tests: Human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells (HUVECs) were treated with different concentrations of selenium or ox-LDL.
      Ox-LDL promoted MMP2 expression by increasing TGFbeta1, pSmad2, pSmad3 and Smad3
      expression (p<0.01). Selenium attenuated MMP2 over-expression by regulating the
      TGFbeta1/Smad signalling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Selenium suppressed high-fat diet
      induced MMP2 over-expression in vivo by improving lipid metabolism. In vitro,
      selenium attenuated MMP2 over-expression through the TGFbeta1/Smad signalling
      pathway.

PMID- 28595794
TI  - A systematic review and meta-analysis of the circulatory, erythrocellular and CSF
      selenium levels in Alzheimer's disease: A metal meta-analysis (AMMA study-I).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Available studies in the literature on the selenium levels in
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) are inconsistent with some studies reporting its
      decrease in the circulation, while others reported an increase or no change as
      compared to controls. AIM: The objective of this study was to perform a meta
      analysis of circulatory (plasma/serum and blood), erythrocyte and cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) selenium levels in AD compared controls. We also performed a meta
      analysis of the correlation coefficients (r) to demonstrate the associations
      between selenium and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in AD patients. METHODS: All
      major databases were searched for eligible studies. We included 12 case
      control/observational studies reporting selenium concentrations in AD and
      controls. Pooled-overall effect size as standardized mean difference (SMD) and
      pooled r-values were generated using Review Manager 5.3 and MedCalc 15.8
      software. RESULTS: Random-effects meta-analysis indicated a decrease in
      circulatory (SMD=-0.44), erythrocellular (SMD=-0.52) and CSF (SMD=-0.14) selenium
      levels in AD patients compared to controls. Stratified meta-analysis demonstrated
      that the selenium levels were decreased in both the subgroups with (SMD=-0.55)
      and without (SMD=-0.37) age matching between AD and controls. Our results also
      demonstrated a direct association between decreased selenium levels and GPx in
      AD. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that circulatory selenium
      concentration is significantly lower in AD patients compared to controls and this
      decrease in selenium is directly correlated with an important antioxidant enzyme,
      the GPx, in AD.

PMID- 28595795
TI  - Relationship between arsenic and selenium in workers occupationally exposed to
      inorganic arsenic.
AB  - The interaction between arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) has been one of the most
      extensively studied. The antagonism between As and Se suggests that low Se status
      plays an important role in aggravating arsenic toxicity in diseases development.
      The objective of this study was to assess the Se contents in biological samples
      of inorganic As exposed workers (n=61) and in non-exposed subjects (n=52). Median
      (Me) total arsenic concentration in urine of exposed workers was 21.83MUg/g
      creat. (interquartile range (IQR) 15.49-39.77) and was significantly higher than
      in the control group - (Me 3.75MUg/g creat. (IQR 2.52-9.26), p<0.0001). The
      median serum Se concentrations in the study group and the control were:
      54.20MUg/l (IQR 44.2-73.10MUg/l) and 55.45MUg/l (IQR 38.5-69.60MUg/l)
      respectively and did not differ significantly between the groups. In the exposed
      group we observed significantly higher urine concentrations of selenosugar 1
      (SeSug 1) and selenosugar 3 (SeSug3) than in the control group Me: 1.68MUg/g
      creat. (IQR 1.25-2.97 vs Me: 1.07MUg/g creat. (IQR 0.86-1.29MUg/g), p<0.0001 for
      SeSug1; Me: 0.45MUg/g creat. (IQR 0.26-0.69) vs Me: 0.28MUg/g creat. (IQR 0.17
      0.45MUg/g), p=0.0021). In the multivariate model, after adjusting to cofounders
      (age, BMI, job seniority time, consumption of fish and seafood and smoking
      habits) the high rate of arsenic urine wash out (measured as a sum of
      iAs+MMA+DMA) was significantly associated with the high total selenium urine
      excretion (B=0.14 (95%CI (confidence interval) 0.05-0.23)). Combination of both
      arsenic and selenium status to assess the risk of arsenic-induced diseases
      requires more studies with regard to both the analysis of speciation, genetics
      and the influence of factors such as nutritional status.

PMID- 28595796
TI  - The metal and metalloprotein profile of human plasma as biomarkers for stroke
      diagnosis.
AB  - Stroke, a major cause of disability and mortality, affects someone in the United
      States every 40s. Stroke biomarkers, including those that could be used as a
      blood test for diagnosis of stroke, have been particularly elusive. We performed
      a double blind study to identify human plasma biomarkers for the diagnosis of
      stroke, including acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).
      We utilized a three-track approach based on the total metal profile, the metal
      cofactor levels among metalloproteins, and the identification of stroke-related
      metalloproteins. The study included 14 case-control pairs of AIS and 23 case
      control pairs of ICH. Controls were matched to cases based on gender, ethnicity,
      and age (+/-5 years). AIS cases were statistically higher from their respective
      controls for protein bound co-factors Se and Cd, while unique correlations of
      metal cofactor concentrations among metalloproteins were identified between Pb-W,
      Sr-W, Pb-V, and Cu-V. ICH cases were statistically higher from their respective
      controls for Se and Co cofactors, whereas Cd and Pb were statistically lower.
      Unique correlations between metal cofactors for ICH cases were identified between
      Pb-W, Sr-W, Pb-V, and Cu-V. Stroke-related metalloproteins were identified,
      including calpain-15, protein-activated inward rectifier potassium channel 1, tau
      tubulin kinase 1, and voltage-dependent L-type calcium channel subunit beta-3.
      Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was able to classify patients between stroke
      cases or controls with 93% accuracy as well as classify patients with one of the
      four stroke groups with 85% accuracy. Additionally, this study found utmost
      importance in vanadium (V) and tungsten (W) correlations for both bound and total
      metal concentrations, suggestive of binding to transferrin or inhibition of
      oxidoreductases. Future work in stroke patients will seek to quantify varying
      selenoproteins, including selenoprotein P and glutathione peroxidase and
      identified zinc finger tissue leakage proteins, and further explore the role of
      trace metal fluctuations with transferrin.

PMID- 28595798
TI  - Mineral content of smooth scallop (Flexopecten glaber) caught Canakkale, Turkey
      and evaluation in terms of food safety.
AB  - In this research, one of the most promising scallop species, smooth scallop
      (Flexopecten glaber) was studied. According to our findings, smooth scallop has
      beneficial micro and macro minerals, fat and carbohydrate just before the
      spawning. While the ratios protein, ash and water decreased from autumn to
      summer, ratio of crude fat increased till reproduction season in late spring and
      decreased in summer (P<0.05). In digestive glands, aluminum, bromine, cadmium,
      calcium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, and zinc were detected more
      compared to adductor muscles (P<0.05). However; boron, magnesium and potassium
      were found more in adductor muscles (P<0.05) and there were no significant
      statistically differences in cobalt and lead (P>0.05). Most of the elements in
      the both tissues except K and Mg increased till summer. On the other hand, two of
      the most toxic metals, cadmium and aluminum were mostly accumulated in the
      digestive gland of smooth scallop. It is recommended that; digestive gland of
      scallops should be removed before consuming in terms of food safety. Besides,
      scallops are convenient to be processed, because of easy removal muscle tissue
      from internal organs.

PMID- 28595797
TI  - Chromium supplementation and polycystic ovary syndrome: A systematic review and
      meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine
      disorder in women. Some vitamins and mineral can play role in improvement of
      PCOS. Chromium (Cr) is an essential element in glucose and insulin homeostasis.
      However, findings are not consistent regarding PCOS improvement. Therefore, the
      purpose of this paper was to assess the effect of Cr supplementation in PCOS that
      have not yet fully been elucidated. METHODS: We searched ISI Web of Science,
      MEDLINE (1966 to June 2016), Google Scholar databases and Proquest and identified
      eligible papers and extracted the following terms: total testosterone, DHEAS,
      insulin sensitivity, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, OGTT 1h glucose, OGTT 2h
      glucose (mg/dL), LH (mIU/mL), FSH, DHEAS, ferriman-Galwey score (FG score). We
      calculated overall effect size with random effects model, between-study
      heterogeneity with I square (I2) statistic. Publication bias was assessed using
      Begg's test regression. RESULT: Totally, 7 RCTs were selected. Results indicated
      that Cr supplementation had a beneficial effect on BMI with effect size: -2.37
      (kg/m2), 95% CI: -2.99, -1.76, p=0.001 and free testosterone concentration with
      effect size=-0.52 (pg/mL), 95% CI: -0.83, -0.23, p=0.001. Cr reduced fasting
      insulin in subgroup of studies with >10 participants with effect size: 
      0.86mIU/ml, 95% CI: -0.67, -0.17; p=0.001. Cr supplementation had no beneficial
      effects on reducing total testosterone, FG score, DHEA, FSH and LH. CONCLUSION:
      This systematic review and meta-analysis shows that using Cr picolinate
      supplementation has beneficial effects on decreasing BMI, fasting insulin and
      free testosterone in PCOS patients.

PMID- 28595799
TI  - Revision total hip arthroplasty - Salvage procedures using bone allografts in
      Japan.
AB  - Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and hemiarthroplasty have improved hip joint
      function of patients suffering from hip disease or trauma with excellent clinical
      results and long-term survivorship. Conversely, there has been an increase in the
      number of revision surgeries after THA and hemiarthroplasty due to bone
      deficiency. The reconstruction of deficient bone remains a challenging problem
      following THA. While performing revision surgery, we have previously classified
      the preoperative bone deficiency using X-ray, CT and three-dimensional CT imaging
      according to location and severity of the deficiencies. We then predicted the
      shape and amount of the required bone allograft and the type of implant. Due to
      the accepted reconstruction methods of bone deficiency following revision
      surgeries, it is important to pre-operatively assess the site and size of the
      bone deficiency to be repaired in the revision THA (re-THA). Bone allograft makes
      it possible to repair massive bone deficiency, recover bone stock, and improve
      long-term implant stability. Performing bone allograft will require a bone bank
      for harvesting, treating, and storing bone in Japan.

PMID- 28595800
TI  - Treatment strategy for amyloid hip arthropathy in long-term hemodialysis
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of hemodialysis patients has been progressively increasing
      in our country. On the other hand, chronic hip arthropathy associated with long
      term hemodialysis is a devastating problems affecting patients' quality of life.
      In our previous study, we proposed a classification system for radiological
      abnormalities seen in hemodialysis-related hip lesions. The purpose of the study
      was to propose the surgical strategy for hip disorders caused by long-term
      hemodialysis. METHODS: Patients with a history of hemodialysis for more than 10
      years, 191 hip lesions in 165 consecutive patients who visited our institute due
      to hip symptoms. Various abnormalities were identified in 116 out of 191 hips. A
      retrospective assessment of the patient record and radiographs was performed for
      the included subjects examining the natural course of the disease process as well
      as the results of surgical treatment. RESULTS: Seventy-six hip lesions (69.0%)
      were conservatively managed at the time of the initial visit. Surgeries were
      performed for 75 hips (64.7%) during the study period. Among those, surgical
      treatment was indicated for 40 hips at the time of the initial visit. On the
      other hand, surgeries were performed for 35 hips during the subsequent follow-up
      period due to progression of the disease process. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the
      analysis of our surgical experiences by the retrospective chart review, we have
      established a flowchart of the treatment strategy for chronic hip arthropathy in
      long-term hemodialysis patients. STUDY DESIGN: This study is retrospective
      clinical study.

PMID- 28595801
TI  - Deregulation of hsa-miR-20b expression in TNF-alpha-induced premature senescence
      of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.
AB  - miRNAs are important regulators of cellular senescence yet the extent of their
      involvement remains to be investigated. We sought to identify miRNAs that are
      involved in cytokine-induced premature senescence (CIPS) in endothelial cells.
      CIPS was established in young human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells
      (HMVEC-Ls) following treatment with a sublethal dose (20ng/ml) of tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) for 15days. In parallel, HMVEC-Ls were grown and
      routinely passaged until the onset of replicative senescence (RS). Differential
      expression analysis following miRNA microarray profiling revealed an overlapped
      of eight deregulated miRNAs in both the miRNA profiles of RS and TNF-alpha
      induced premature senescence cells. Amongst the deregulated miRNAs were members
      of the miR 17-92 cluster which are known regulators of angiogenesis. The role of
      hsa-miR-20b in TNF-alpha-induced premature senescence, a paralog member of the
      miR 17-92 cluster, was further investigated. Biotin-labeled hsa-miR-20b captured
      the enriched transcripts of retinoblastoma-like 1 (RBL1), indicating that RBL1 is
      a target of hsa-miR-20b. Knockdown of hsa-miR-20b attenuated premature senescence
      in the TNF-alpha-treated HMVEC-Ls as evidenced by increased cell proliferation,
      increased RBL1 mRNA expression level but decreased protein expression of
      p16INK4a, a cellular senescence marker. These findings provide an early insight
      into the role of hsa-miR-20b in endothelial senescence.

PMID- 28595802
TI  - Can Angiomyolipomas be classified fully into three types?

PMID- 28595803
TI  - Enhanced bending failure strain in biological glass fibers due to internal
      lamellar architecture.
AB  - The remarkable mechanical properties of biological structures, like tooth and
      bone, are often a consequence of their architecture. The tree ring-like layers
      that comprise the skeletal elements of the marine sponge Euplectella aspergillum
      are a quintessential example of the intricate architectures prevalent in
      biological structures. These skeletal elements, known as spicules, are hair-like
      fibers that consist of a concentric array of silica cylinders separated by thin,
      organic layers. Thousands of spicules act like roots to anchor the sponge to the
      sea floor. While spicules have been the subject of several structure-property
      investigations, those studies have mostly focused on the relationship between the
      spicule's layered architecture and toughness properties. In contrast, we
      hypothesize that the spicule's layered architecture enhances its bending failure
      strain, thereby allowing it to provide a better anchorage to the sea floor. We
      test our hypothesis by performing three-point bending tests on E. aspergillum
      spicules, measuring their bending failure strains, and comparing them to those of
      spicules from a related sponge, Tethya aurantia. The T. aurantia spicules have a
      similar chemical composition to E. aspergillum spicules but have no architecture.
      Thus, any difference between the bending failure strains of the two types of
      spicules can be attributed to the E. aspergillum spicules' layered architecture.
      We found that the bending failure strains of the E. aspergillum spicules were
      roughly 2.4 times larger than those of the T. aurantia spicules.

PMID- 28595804
TI  - Techno-economic feasibility of waste biorefinery: Using slaughtering waste
      streams as starting material for biopolyester production.
AB  - The utilization of industrial waste streams as input materials for bio-mediated
      production processes constitutes a current R&D objective not only to reduce
      process costs at the input side but in parallel, to minimize hazardous
      environmental emissions. In this context, the EU-funded project ANIMPOL
      elaborated a process for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymers
      starting from diverse waste streams of the animal processing industry. This
      article provides a detailed economic analysis of PHA production from this waste
      biorefinery concept, encompassing the utilization of low-quality biodiesel, offal
      material and meat and bone meal (MBM). Techno-economic analysis reveals that PHA
      production cost varies from 1.41 ?/kg to 1.64 ?/kg when considering offal on the
      one hand as waste, or, on the other hand, accounting its market price, while
      calculating with fixed costs for the co-products biodiesel (0.97 ?/L) and MBM
      (350 ?/t), respectively. The effect of fluctuating market prices for offal
      materials, biodiesel, and MBM on the final PHA production cost as well as the
      investment payback time have been evaluated. Depending on the current market
      situation, the calculated investment payback time varies from 3.25 to 4.5years.

PMID- 28595805
TI  - Composting municipal biosolids in polyethylene sleeves with forced aeration:
      Process control, air emissions, sanitary and agronomic aspects.
AB  - Composting in polyethylene sleeves with forced aeration may minimize odor
      emissions, vectors attraction and leachates associated with open windrows. A
      disadvantage of this technology is the lack of mixing during composting,
      potentially leading to non-uniform products. In two pilot experiments using
      biosolids and green waste (1:1; v:v), thermophilic conditions (>45 degrees C)
      were maintained for two months, with successful control of oxygen levels and
      sufficient moisture. Emitted odors declined from 1.5-3.8*105 to 5.9*103-2.3*104
      odor units m-3-air in the first 3weeks of the process, emphasizing the need of
      odor control primarily during this period. Therefore, composting might be managed
      in two phases: (i) a closed sleeve for 6-8weeks during which the odor is treated;
      (ii) an open pile (odor control is not necessary). Reduction of salmonella, E.
      coli and coliforms was effective initially, meeting the standards of "Class A"
      biosolids; however, total and fecal coliforms density increased after opening the
      second sleeve and exceeded the standard of 1000 most probable number (MPN) per g
      dry matter. Compost maturity was achieved in the open piles following the two
      sleeves and the final compost was non-phytotoxic and beneficial as a soil
      additive.

PMID- 28595806
TI  - Conversion of biowastes to biomaterial: An innovative waste management approach.
AB  - The study suggests that biowastes (eggshells and urine) can be potentially used
      as precursors to produce hydroxyapatite (HAp) biomaterial in a simple chemical
      process. A batch reactor was used in this work to produce HAp powder from
      eggshells and synthetic urine (SU). Fine powder of calcined eggshells was
      dissolved in water to produce aqueous calcium hydroxide. The solution was then
      mixed with concentrated SU in stoichiometric amounts corresponding to HAp (Ca/P
      molar ratio~1.67). The initial pH of the solution was alkaline (pH~8.5) and
      particles formed rapidly with slight mixing. Stirring the turbid solution for a
      longer period (72h) did not show any visual change, but the particle size
      decreased slightly. When the pH of the solution was adjusted to 5, the solution
      was initially clear, but particle formation was apparent after 48h stirring. It
      was noticed that at a slow stirring speed (100rpm), film formation occurred on
      the solution, whereas at a higher stirring speed (500rpm) no such film formation
      was observed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that the particles
      (formed at 500rpm) were an amorphous calcium phosphate (CaP). Alkaline treatment
      at 80 degrees C for 2h converted the amorphous CaP into HAp. Inductively coupled
      plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of the particles (formed at 500rpm)
      suggested that they are calcium-deficient HAp (Ca/P molar ratio 1.58).

PMID- 28595807
TI  - First report of immunogenic vasculitis with Wunderlich's syndrome following
      influenza B infection in a previously immunocompetent woman.

PMID- 28595808
TI  - Regulating seclusion and restraint in health care settings: The promise of the
      Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

PMID- 28595809
TI  - Neuroticism in child sex offenders and its association with sexual dysfunctions,
      cognitive distortions, and psychological complaints.
AB  - Studies in child sex offenders (CSO) often report deviant personality
      characteristics. In our study, we investigated neuroticism in CSO and tested the
      hypothesis that CSO with high neuroticism show more serious abuse behavior and
      are more likely to exhibit sexual dysfunction and cognitive distortions, as
      compared to CSO with low neuroticism. A sample of 40 CSO (both child sexual
      abusers and child sexual material users) was split into two subsamples based on
      their neuroticism scores, obtained by the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO
      PI-R) questionnaire. Subsequently, we compared their scores in the Multiphasic
      Sex Inventory (MSI) questionnaire and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R).
      Our results show that CSO exhibited higher levels of neuroticism than controls,
      but were still in the normal range. In CSO, neuroticism was associated with
      sexual dysfunction and cognitive distortions, rather than with more severe abuse
      behavior. Moreover, neuroticism in this group was linked to a broad range of
      psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms, such as somatization or
      anxiety. Our findings suggest that neuroticism even below the level of
      personality disorder is associated with a broader range of psychological problems
      in CSO, which should be addressed in therapy.

PMID- 28595810
TI  - Successful percutaneous retrieval of embolized transcatheter left atrial
      appendage closure device (Watchman) using a modified vascular retrieval forceps.
AB  - Transcatheter closure of the left atrial appendage (LAA) is increasingly
      considered as an alternative to oral anticoagulation in patients with previous
      major bleeding or at high-risk of bleeding. Device embolization with
      transcatheter LAA closure is a rare complication. Most cases are asymptomatic,
      but it can be life threatening. Depending on the location of embolization,
      percutaneous retrieval is feasible. Snares are usually used for retrieval, but
      other devices may be used. We report the case of a 63-year gentleman who
      underwent an uneventful LAA closure with Watchman device and routine testing next
      day showed embolization to the abdominal aorta. Retrieval was performed using a
      modified Cook vascular retrieval forceps.

PMID- 28595811
TI  - Acute distal migration of a flow diverting stent.
AB  - The introduction of flow diverting stents, particularly for treatment of petrous
      to supraclinoid internal carotid artery aneurysms, has greatly impacted
      endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Despite their high efficacy,
      complications, such as ischemic events, distal hemorrhage, or problems with stent
      deployment, remain a significant concern. We present the first reported case of
      acute distal migration of a Pipeline Embolization Device (PED). A 24-year old
      female underwent elective placement of a PED for treatment of a left paraclinoid
      internal carotid artery aneurysm. Despite an uneventful intra-operative course,
      adequate stent placement and a normal neurologic examination immediately after
      placement, she demonstrated right hemiparesis shortly thereafter. Repeat
      angiography revealed acute distal migration of the PED and an occlusive thrombus.
      Thought to be secondary to chronic in-stent thrombosis, distal migration has been
      previously described in a delayed fashion over weeks to months. However, to our
      knowledge, this is the first reported case of distal flow diverter migration in
      an acute setting immediately following the procedure.

PMID- 28595812
TI  - Beyond imaging: The promise of radiomics.
AB  - The domain of investigation of radiomics consists of large-scale radiological
      image analysis and association with biological or clinical endpoints. The purpose
      of the present study is to provide a recent update on the status of this rapidly
      emerging field by performing a systematic review of the literature on radiomics,
      with a primary focus on oncologic applications. The systematic literature search,
      performed in Pubmed using the keywords: "radiomics OR radiomic" provided 97
      research papers. Based on the results of this search, we describe the methods
      used for building a model of prognostic value from quantitative analysis of
      patient images. Then, we provide an up-to-date overview of the results achieved
      in this field, and discuss the current challenges and future developments of
      radiomics for oncology.

PMID- 28595813
TI  - Reinforcement of the colon anastomosis with cyanoacrylate glue: a porcine model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous experimental studies on cyanoacrylate (CA) glue for the
      prevention of colorectal anastomotic leakage (AL) have shown promising results.
      The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of CA in prevention of
      leakage in a porcine model of ischemic colorectal AL. METHODS: Twenty-four
      animals were divided into four groups of six: (1)ischemic anastomosis with
      sufficient suture (ISCH), (2)ischemic anastomosis with sufficient suture and CA
      reinforcement (CA-ISCH), (3)ischemic anastomosis with insufficient suture (ISCH
      AI), and (4)ischemic anastomosis with insufficient suture and CA reinforcement
      (CA-ISCH-AI). In CA groups, N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate was applied between the colon
      ends. Anastomotic bursting pressure, abscess formation, and adhesion formation
      were evaluated on postoperative day 7. Tissue samples were obtained for
      histologic evaluation of foreign body reaction. RESULTS: The AL rate was 4 of 6
      (67%) in the ISCH-AI group compared with none in the other three groups. The ISCH
      and ISCH-AI groups had significantly higher AL scores compared with the CA
      groups. The mean anastomotic bursting pressure was 167 +/- 54 mm Hg in the ISCH
      group versus 213 +/- 43 mm Hg in the CA-ISCH-group (P = nonsignificant) and 145
      +/- 102 mm Hg in the ISCH-AI group versus 187 +/- 19 mm Hg in the CA-ISCH-AI
      group (P = nonsignificant). The average adhesion score was significantly higher
      in the ISCH group than in the CA-ISCH group (4.2 +/- 1.3 versus 1.7 +/- 0.82; P =
      0.019). Stricture of the anastomosis occurred only in the non-CA groups (3/12,
      25%). CONCLUSIONS: Anastomotic reinforcement with CA is effective and safe to
      prevent leakage in a high-risk colorectal anastomosis in a porcine model.

PMID- 28595814
TI  - Extremity compartment syndrome following blunt trauma: a level I trauma center's
      5-year experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extremity compartment syndrome is a recognized complication of
      trauma. We evaluated its prevalence and outcomes at a suburban level 1 trauma
      center. METHODS: The trauma registry was reviewed for all blunt trauma patients
      aged >=18 years, admitted between 2010 and 2014. Chart review of patients with
      extremity compartment syndrome was performed. RESULTS: Of 6180 adult blunt trauma
      admissions, 83 patients developed 86 extremity compartment syndromes; two
      patients had compartment syndromes on multiple locations. Their (n = 83) median
      age was 44 years (interquartile range: 31.5-55.5). The most common mechanism of
      injury was motor vehicle/motor cycle accident (45.8%) followed by a fall (21.7%).
      The median injury severity score was 9 (interquartile range: 5-17); 65.1% had
      extremity abbreviate injury score >=3. Notably, 15 compartment syndromes did not
      have an underlying fracture. Among patients with fractures, the most commonly
      injured bone was the tibia, with tibial plateau followed by tibial diaphyseal
      fractures being the most frequent locations. Fasciotomies were performed, in
      order of frequency, in the leg (n = 53), forearm (n = 15), thigh (n = 9), foot (n
      = 5), followed by multiple or other locations. CONCLUSIONS: Extremity compartment
      syndrome was a relatively uncommon finding. It occurred in all extremity
      locations, with or without an associated underlying fracture, and from a variety
      of mechanisms. Vigilance is warranted in evaluating the compartments of patients
      with extremity injuries following blunt trauma.

PMID- 28595815
TI  - Adipose-derived stem cells seeded in Pluronic F-127 hydrogel promotes diabetic
      wound healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic nonhealing wound is a multifactorial complication of diabetes
      that results specifically as a consequence of impaired angiogenesis and currently
      lacks in effective treatments. Although a stem cell-based therapy may provide a
      novel treatment to augment diabetic wound healing, inferior cell survival at the
      diabetic skin wound is one of the key causes that are responsible for the low
      efficacy of the stem cell therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this work, we used
      an injectable, biocompatible, and thermosensitive hydrogel Pluronic F-127 to
      encapsulate allogeneic nondiabetic adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and
      topically applied the cells to a full-thickness cutaneous wound in the
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic model in rats. RESULTS: The cells seeded in the
      hydrogel enhanced angiogenesis (CD31 marker) and promoted the cell proliferation
      (Ki67 marker) at the wound site and significantly accelerated wound closure,
      which was accompanied by facilitated regeneration of granulation tissue.
      Consistently, levels of the messenger RNA expression of key angiogenesis growth
      factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and key wound healing growth factor,
      transforming growth factor beta 1, were also upregulated in the cell-treated
      wounds when compared with untreated wounds. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated
      that the transplantation of allogeneic ADSCs via the hydrogel improves the
      efficiency of cell delivery and optimizes the performance of ADSCs for augmenting
      diabetic wound healing. In conclusion, this ADSC-based therapy may provide a
      novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of nonhealing diabetic foot ulcers.

PMID- 28595816
TI  - Impact of body mass index on the short-term outcomes of resected gastrointestinal
      stromal tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Potentially curative treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumors
      (GIST) involves resection with selective utilization of tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors. A potential association between obesity and GIST has been postulated
      as GIST is among the most common incidental findings during gastric resection for
      bariatric procedures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the
      relationship and impact of obesity on the pathologic and short-term outcomes in
      patients with GIST. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients with
      resected GIST. The impact of obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) >=30
      kg/m2, on pathologic results and short-term outcomes was evaluated. RESULTS:
      Sixty-one patients underwent resection with a median follow-up of 26 mo (1-129
      mo). Disease involved the stomach (74%), small intestine (18%), or colon/rectum
      (5%). Median tumor size was 6 cm, and 13 patients (21%) underwent multivisceral
      resection. Median BMI for the cohort was 27.2 kg/m2, and 24 patients (39%) were
      classified as obese based on BMI. Nonobese patients were noted to have larger
      primary tumors (median: 7 cm versus 5 cm, P = 0.02) and undergo multivisceral
      resection more frequently (32.4% versus 4.2%, P < 0.01). Short-term outcomes were
      similar between the groups, with a slight trend toward more postoperative
      complications among the obese patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, obese
      patients tended to have more favorable pathologic features. GISTs may represent
      another example of the "obesity paradox" in which obesity seemingly provides a
      protective effect. Larger studies are warranted to verify the impact of obesity
      on outcomes and to elucidate any underlying clinicopathologic/biologic factors.

PMID- 28595817
TI  - Relationships between study habits, burnout, and general surgery resident
      performance on the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) is
      used by programs to evaluate the knowledge and readiness of trainees to sit for
      the general surgery qualifying examination. It is often used as a tool for
      resident promotion and may be used by fellowship programs to evaluate candidates.
      Burnout has been associated with job performance and satisfaction; however, its
      presence and effects on surgical trainees' performance are not well studied. We
      sought to understand factors including burnout and study habits that may
      contribute to performance on the ABSITE examination. METHODS: Anonymous
      electronic surveys were distributed to all residents at 10 surgical residency
      programs (n = 326). Questions included demographics as well as study habits,
      career interests, residency characteristics, and burnout scores using the
      Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, which assesses burnout because of both exhaustion
      and disengagement. These surveys were then linked to the individual's 2016 ABSITE
      and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) step 1 and 2 scores
      provided by the programs to determine factors associated with successful ABSITE
      performance. RESULTS: In total, 48% (n = 157) of the residents completed the
      survey. Of those completing the survey, 48 (31%) scored in the highest ABSITE
      quartile (>=75th percentile) and 109 (69%) scored less than the 75th percentile.
      In univariate analyses, those in the highest ABSITE quartile had significantly
      higher USMLE step 1 and step 2 scores (P < 0.001), significantly lower burnout
      scores (disengagement, P < 0.01; exhaustion, P < 0.04), and held opinions that
      the ABSITE was important for improving their surgical knowledge (P < 0.01). They
      also read more frequently to prepare for the ABSITE (P < 0.001), had more
      disciplined study habits (P < 0.001), were more likely to study at the hospital
      or other public settings (e.g., library, coffee shop compared with at home; P <
      0.04), and used active rather than passive study strategies (P < 0.04). Gender,
      marital status, having children, and debt burden had no correlation with
      examination success. Backward stepwise multiple regression analysis identified
      the following independent predictors of ABSITE scores: study location (P <
      0.0001), frequency of reading (P = 0.0001), Oldenburg Burnout Inventory
      exhaustion (P = 0.02), and USMLE step 1 and 2 scores (P = 0.007 and 0.0001,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Residents who perform higher on the ABSITE have a
      regular study schedule throughout the year, report less burnout because of
      exhaustion, study away from home, and have shown success in prior standardized
      tests. Further study is needed to determine the effects of burnout on clinical
      duties, career advancement, and satisfaction.

PMID- 28595819
TI  - Risk factors and prediction model for inpatient surgical site infection after
      major abdominal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a common source of postoperative
      morbidity and a marker of surgical quality. The ability to predict the incidence
      of SSIs is limited and most models have poor predictive value. We sought to
      identify risk factors associated with SSIs and develop a prediction model for
      SSIs after major abdominal surgery. METHODS: A total of 1744 patients undergoing
      pancreatic, hepatobiliary, and colorectal resections between January 1, 2010 and
      August 31, 2013 at Johns Hopkins Hospital were identified. Risk factors for any
      inpatient SSI (superficial and deep) were evaluated using multivariable logistic
      regression. RESULTS: Median patient age was 58 y (interquartile range 47, 68);
      surgical procedures included colorectal (59.0%), liver (26.2%), and pancreas
      (14.8%) resections. SSI occurred in 7.6% (n = 132) of patients. Factors
      associated with SSI included preoperative weight loss >4.5 kg (odds ratio [OR],
      2.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-4.25), emergency operations (OR, 2.05;
      95% CI, 1.32-3.17), and colorectal resections (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.13-2.43) (all
      P <= 0.003). Intraoperative and postoperative risk factors included estimated
      blood loss (EBL) >600 mL (OR, 2.23; 95% CI, 1.54-3.25), maximum respiratory rate
      (tachypnea) >20 breaths/min (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.19-2.54), and perioperative
      transfusion (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.33-3.04) (all P = 0.001). Intraoperative
      hypothermia, hyperthermia, bradycardia, tachycardia, hypotension, and
      hypertension were not associated with SSIs (all P > 0.05). After controlling
      competing risk factors, transfusion, EBL >600 mL, tachypnea, and colorectal
      resection were independently associated with SSIs (all P < 0.003). On the basis
      of the beta-coefficients in the multivariable model, an SSI scoring system was
      created by assigning 2 points for EBL >600 mL, 2 points for a colorectal
      resection, 3 points for tachypnea, and 3 points for a transfusion. The model
      showed good discriminatory ability to predict SSI (c-statistic = 0.7232; Akaike
      information criterion 875.37). CONCLUSIONS: A novel, simple 10-point SSI scoring
      system that incorporated perioperative risk factors such as blood transfusion,
      EBL, tachypnea, and the type of surgical procedure accurately stratifies patients
      according to SSI risk.

PMID- 28595818
TI  - Do-not-resuscitate orders and high-risk pediatric surgery: professional nuisance
      or medical necessity?
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data in the literature regarding end-of-life
      care and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status of the pediatric surgical patient,
      although invasive procedures are frequently performed in very high risk and
      critically ill children. Despite significant efforts in adult medicine to enhance
      discussions around end-of-life care, little is known about similar endeavors in
      the pediatric population. METHODS: A retrospective review of the National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric database was performed. Patients
      aged <18 y with American Society of Anesthesiologists class 3 or greater who
      underwent elective surgical procedure in 2012-2013 were included. Demographic
      factors, principal diagnosis, associated conditions, DNR status, and mortality
      were extracted. Descriptive analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 20,164
      patients met the inclusion criteria. Only 36 (0.2%) patients had a signed DNR
      order before surgical procedure. Of severely ill American Society of
      Anesthesiologists four patients, only 1% had DNR status. There were no
      differences in gender, race, ethnicity, or surgical specialty by the presence of
      a DNR order. Notably, 17.1% of children who died within this period had multiple
      surgical procedures performed before expiring. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of
      documented DNR status is extremely low in the high-risk pediatric surgical
      population undergoing elective surgery, even among severely ill children. Well
      informed end-of-life care discussions in a patient-focused approach are essential
      in the surgical care of children with complex medical conditions and critical
      illness. Better documentation of DNR discussion will also allow better tracking
      and benchmarking.

PMID- 28595820
TI  - Quality management, a directive approach to patient safety.
AB  - Nowadays the implementation of effective quality management systems and external
      evaluation in healthcare is a necessity to ensure not only transparency in
      activities related to health but also access to health and patient safety. The
      key to correctly implementing a quality management system is support from the
      managers of health facilities, since it is managers who design and communicate to
      health professionals the strategies of action involved in quality management
      systems. This article focuses on nursing managers' approach to quality management
      through the implementation of cycles of continuous improvement, participation of
      improvement groups, monitoring systems and external evaluation quality models
      (EFQM, ISO). The implementation of a quality management system will enable
      preventable adverse effects to be minimized or eliminated, and promote patient
      safety and safe practice by health professionals.

PMID- 28595821
TI  - Modified Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Reservoir Placement Into Space of Retzius:
      Comparing Outcomes in Men With or Without Prior Pelvic Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) reservoir placement
      has rare but potentially serious complications including damage to local
      structures, and Levine and Hoeh (J Sex Med 2012;9:2759-2769) described a modified
      technique designed to avoid these complications. AIM: To determine whether the
      modified Jorgenson scissors technique is safe and effective in patients who have
      had prior pelvic surgery. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on
      all patients who had a three-piece IPP placed by a single urologist from 2011 to
      2015. Complication rates between the prior pelvic surgery group and the virgin
      pelvis group were compared using chi2 test. Differences between the two groups
      were considered statistically significant at a P value less than .05. OUTCOMES:
      Reservoir-related complication rate and rate of converting to ectopic placement.
      RESULTS: A total of 246 procedures were included, with 174 having no prior pelvic
      surgery and 72 with prior pelvic surgery. The reservoir-related complication
      rates were 2.8% (2 of 72) in the prior pelvic surgery group and 3.4% (6 of 174)
      in the virgin pelvis group. This difference was not statistically significant (P
      = .79). The two complications from the prior pelvic surgery cohort were inguinal
      hernias requiring surgical repair, which occurred in the same patient. In the
      virgin pelvis cohort, there were five inguinal hernias and one autoinflation.
      There were 16 patients who required ectopic placement of the reservoir owing to
      difficulty in entering the space of Retzius (SOR), 14 of whom had prior pelvic
      surgery. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: We believe this modified technique for IPP
      reservoir placement into the SOR is a safe alternative because the Jorgenson
      scissors allow perforation into the SOR away from vital structures. STRENGTHS AND
      LIMITATIONS: The study is limited by the fact that it is a retrospective, single
      center, chart review of a non-randomized surgical procedure with variable follow
      up in a limited number of patients. Its strength is its applicability to provide
      surgeons a modified technique that can be used routinely for IPP reservoir
      placement that appears to be safe and effective, even in men who have had prior
      pelvic surgery. CONCLUSION: In our experience, the modified Jorgenson scissors
      technique allows for safe entry into the SOR through a transverse scrotal
      incision and is a viable alternative to the standard SOR placement and the
      ectopic approach. Capoccia EM, Phelps JN, Levine LA. Modified Inflatable Penile
      Prosthesis Reservoir Placement Into Space of Retzius: Comparing Outcomes in Men
      With or Without Prior Pelvic Surgery. J Sex Med 2017;14:968-973.

PMID- 28595822
TI  - A multiplex restriction enzyme-PCR for unequivocal identification and
      differentiation of Trichostrongylus species in human samples.
AB  - Trichostrongylus species remain one of the major health challenges in the
      tropical and summer rainfall regions worldwide. Identification of strongylid
      species diagnostic methods is vital for obtaining a deep understanding of the
      epidemiology, population biology, anthelmintic treatment efficacy, and drug
      resistance in order to design effective parasite control strategies. We evaluated
      a multiplex RE-PCR for the diagnosis of key Trichostrongylus spp. Genomic DNA
      amplification of Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Trichostrongylus axei and
      Trichostrongylus vitrinus was achieved as standard sample using specific primers
      located in the second internal transcribed spacer (ITSII) of nuclear ribosomal
      DNA (rDNA). The mentioned method was based on isolation of Trichostrongylus ova
      from human fecal samples using Willis method, the extraction of ova genomic DNA
      samples, followed by rDNA ITSII PCR and one-step multiplex RE-PCR using three
      restriction enzymes of HinfI, DraI, and MseI. The multiplex RE-PCR technique
      provides a useful tool for discriminating all Trichostrongylus spp., being useful
      for diagnostic, epidemiological, ecological studies, and control programs. This
      method is rapid, especially when numerous restriction enzymes are required for
      species differentiation or identification.

PMID- 28595823
TI  - [Role of indocyanine green angiography in the management of branch retinal vein
      occlusions refractory to intravitreal injections: Case report].

PMID- 28595825
TI  - Nursing staff's experiences of working in an evidence-based designed ICU patient
      room-An interview study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It has been known for centuries that environment in healthcare has
      an impact, but despite this, environment has been overshadowed by technological
      and medical progress, especially in intensive care. Evidence-based design is a
      concept concerning integrating knowledge from various research disciplines and
      its application to healing environments. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to explore the
      experiences of nursing staff of working in an evidence-based designed ICU patient
      room. METHOD: Interviews were carried out with eight critical care nurses and
      five assistant nurses and then subjected to qualitative content analysis.
      FINDINGS: The experience of working in an evidence-based designed intensive care
      unit patient room was that the room stimulates alertness and promotes wellbeing
      in the nursing staff, fostering their caring activities but also that the
      interior design of the medical and technical equipment challenges nursing
      actions. CONCLUSIONS: The room explored in this study had been rebuilt in order
      to create and evaluate a healing environment. This study showed that the new
      environment had a great impact on the caring staffs' wellbeing and their caring
      behaviour. At a time when turnover in nurses is high and sick leave is
      increasing, these findings show the importance of interior design ofintensive
      care units.

PMID- 28595826
TI  - "What happens behind the curtains?" An exploration of ICU nurses' experiences of
      post mortem care on patients who have died in intensive care.
AB  - THE AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of
      intensive care nurses performing post mortem care on patients who had died in an
      intensive care unit at a private hospital in Cape Town. The study further sets
      out to identify educational needs and to offer recommendations that may address
      these needs for this sample of nurses. METHODOLOGY AND SETTING: A qualitative
      research design using a descriptive method was used to explore the experiences of
      a purposive heterogeneous sample of six nurses who were working in an intensive
      care unit in a private hospital in Cape Town. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: A
      semi-structured interview which was audio-taped and transcribed verbatim was
      employed to collect data. Colaizzi's (1978) seven step inductive method was used
      to formulate naive themes. Following participant feedback, three main themes
      emerged: care of the dead body, detachment and thanatophobia. FINDINGS:
      Safeguarding the integrity and physical appearance of the dead body was the major
      finding and of the utmost priority for the participants in this study. Regardless
      of how the nurses felt about death, providing professional and quality care to
      the dead body and the family was seen as significantly important. The nurses,
      whilst performing post mortem care, experienced detachment from various
      relationships. This comprised of the nurse detaching him/herself professionally
      and emotionally from the dead patient, the family and him/herself from the death
      experience. This 'unspoken' experience of thanatophobia became apparent when the
      nurses were confronted by the reality of their own deaths. CONCLUSION AND
      RECOMMENDATIONS: In a technological society, where answers to many questions can
      be pursued through science, understanding the experience of death, as opposed to
      dying, may be logically incomprehensible. Death remains one of the most traumatic
      events experienced by the patient and their family, and in some instances nurses
      themselves. The study has drawn attention to the nurses' experiences and in doing
      so; the emotional and educational needs have been identified, and in part,
      pedagogical offerings are recommended.

PMID- 28595828
TI  - [Answer to Lemoine et al. "And if it happened to children? Adapting medical care
      during terrorist attacks with multiple pediatric victims"].

PMID- 28595827
TI  - The ovine motor cortex: A review of functional mapping and cytoarchitecture.
AB  - In recent years, sheep (Ovis aries) have emerged as a useful animal model for
      neurological research due to their relatively large brain and blood vessel size,
      their cortical architecture, and their docile temperament. However, the
      functional anatomy of sheep brain is not as well studied as that of non-human
      primates, rodents, and felines. For example, while the location of the sheep
      motor cortex has been known for many years, there have been few studies of the
      somatotopy of the motor cortex and there were a range of discrepancies across
      them. The motivation for this review is to provide a definitive resource for
      studies of the sheep motor cortex. This work critically reviews the literature
      examining the organization of the motor cortex in sheep, utilizing studies that
      have applied direct electrical stimulation and histological methods A clearer
      understanding of the sheep brain will facilitate and progress the use of this
      species as a scientific animal model for neurological research.

PMID- 28595829
TI  - [A new treatment for vascular anomalies: Six cases treated with rapamycin].
AB  - Vascular anomalies (VAs) result from the defective development of the embryonic
      vascular system and feature dysplastic malformed vessels, which are not always
      apparent at birth. They do not regress over the patient's lifetime; they usually
      have commensurate growth during childhood and may worsen over time if not
      treated. VAs may cause chronic painful swelling, bleeding, functional deficits or
      vital structure obstruction. These patients' quality of life is usually impaired
      because of the chronicity and recurrence of the disease. We report on six cases
      of complicated VAs, refractory to current treatments, treated with rapamycin, an
      mTor inhibitor recently used in VAs.

PMID- 28595830
TI  - [Negative perceptions of the risks associated with gaming in young adolescents:
      An exploratory study to help thinking about a prevention program].
AB  - Given the growing use of video games and the growing number of adolescents with
      Internet gaming disorder (IGD), prevention in this area is necessary. The
      objective of this study was to investigate the use and most particularly the
      representations of the risks associated with the use of video games in young
      adolescents by comparing problematic (PGs) and nonproblematic gamers (NPGs).
      Gender differences were also explored. Five Parisian middle schools participated
      in this study and 434 adolescents (231 boys, mage=13.2 years; 203 girls,
      mage=13.1 years) answered several questions concerning videogames (including the
      Game Addiction Scale). Among all participants (n=434), 37 students (n=8.8%) could
      be considered PGs. Of these, 29 (n=78.4%) were boys. Generally, sample students'
      surf and play a great deal during the week: they spend an average of 2h per day
      playing video games and 4h per day on the Internet. The number of screens at home
      is significantly higher in PGs compared to NPGs, the remaining set at a high
      level (n>10). Most middle school students believe that time spent on video games
      can have an impact on physical and mental health but they have no impact on
      academic performance. The two types of video games responsible for problematic
      use were role-play games and first-person shooter games. Most negative
      consequences are reported more by girls than boys: eating problems (P=.037),
      sleep problems (P=.040), vision problems (P=.002), conflicts with parents
      (P<001), loss of time (P=.003), and lack of school investment (P<.001). For all
      participants, the main reasons for IGD were poor academic performance, lack of
      friends, lack of self-confidence and family problems. In NPGs, girls reported
      more than boys that family problems (P=.003), lack of self-confidence (P=.005)
      and negative self-image (P=.007) led to IGD. The three main features of the
      individual with IGD reported by PGs and NPGs is the failure to stop playing,
      playing instead of fulfilling one's obligations and doing nothing but play. Most
      of the respondents believed that one can be addicted to video games and that they
      can have an impact on physical and mental health. Adolescents are more aware of
      the impact gaming generates on themselves than on their relationship with the
      environment (school and family). These preliminary exploratory findings indicate
      that preventive action could be promoted for adolescents. To promote life skills,
      and given that girls often report more negative consequences than boys, it seems
      important to include these skills in prevention programs.

PMID- 28595831
TI  - [Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease associated with hip dysplasia in an adolescent].
AB  - Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is classified into hereditary motor and sensory
      neuropathy and can induce severe neuro-orthopaedics deformities, disabling at an
      early age. Hip dysplasia is present in 6% of CMT patients affecting
      preferentially CMT1 patients and can appear from the age of 8 years. The
      pathophysiological is paradoxical because we are confronted with proximal
      osteoarthritis deformations but genetics research brings use new trail. The main
      functional complaint is a hip joint pain during walking. Four orthopaedics
      abnormalities can be revealed by physical and radiological exam: acetabular
      dysplasia, femoral dysplasia, high femoral antetorsion and excentric head of
      femur. The natural evolution, in the absence of treatment, is an early secondary
      osteoarthritis. The therapeutic management should be as early as possible with
      preventive measures and joint health. During the symptomatic phase, the only
      treatment is a surgical correction. A systematic clinical examination of the hip
      all CMT children and a radiograph of the pelvis at the slightest clinical
      suspicion is recommended.

PMID- 28595832
TI  - Cycling around Lysine Modifications.
AB  - Recent studies have revealed the existence of a plethora of previously unknown
      protein acyl-lysine modifications, affecting the functions of targets involved in
      diverse cellular processes. A recent study from the Hirschey laboratory has
      provided new chemical insights into the mechanisms of protein acylation.

PMID- 28595833
TI  - A history of calcium orthophosphates (CaPO4) and their biomedical applications.
AB  - The historical development of a scientific knowledge on calcium orthophosphates
      (CaPO4) from 1770-s till 1950 is described. Many forgotten and poorly known
      historical facts and approaches have been extracted from old publications and
      then they have been analyzed, systematized and reconsidered from the modern point
      of view. The chosen time scale starts with the earliest available studies of 1770
      s (to the best of my findings, CaPO4 had been unknown before), passes through the
      entire 19th century and finishes in 1950, because since then the amount of
      publications on CaPO4 rapidly increases and the subject becomes too broad.
      Furthermore, since publications of the second half of the 20th century are easily
      accessible, the substantial amount of them has been already reviewed by other
      researchers. The reported historical findings clearly demonstrate that the
      substantial amount of the scientific facts and experimental approaches has been
      known for very many decades and, in fact, the considerable quantity of relatively
      recent investigations on CaPO4 is just either a further development of the
      earlier studies or a rediscovery of the already forgotten knowledge.

PMID- 28595824
TI  - Zika in the Americas, year 2: What have we learned? What gaps remain? A report
      from the Global Virus Network.
AB  - In response to the outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in the Western
      Hemisphere and the recognition of a causal association with fetal malformations,
      the Global Virus Network (GVN) assembled an international taskforce of
      virologists to promote basic research, recommend public health measures and
      encourage the rapid development of vaccines, antiviral therapies and new
      diagnostic tests. In this article, taskforce members and other experts review
      what has been learned about ZIKV-induced disease in humans, its modes of
      transmission and the cause and nature of associated congenital manifestations.
      After describing the make-up of the taskforce, we summarize the emergence of ZIKV
      in the Americas, Africa and Asia, its spread by mosquitoes, and current control
      measures. We then review the spectrum of primary ZIKV-induced disease in adults
      and children, sites of persistent infection and sexual transmission, then examine
      what has been learned about maternal-fetal transmission and the congenital Zika
      syndrome, including knowledge obtained from studies in laboratory animals.
      Subsequent sections focus on vaccine development, antiviral therapeutics and new
      diagnostic tests. After reviewing current understanding of the mechanisms of
      emergence of Zika virus, we consider the likely future of the pandemic.

PMID- 28595834
TI  - The completely annotated genome and comparative genomics of the Peptoniphilaceae
      bacterium str. ING2-D1G, a novel acidogenic bacterium isolated from a mesophilic
      biogas reactor.
AB  - The strictly anaerobic Peptoniphilaceae bacterium str. ING2-D1G (=DSM 28672=LMG
      28300) was isolated from a mesophilic laboratory-scale completely stirred tank
      biogas reactor (CSTR) continuously co-digesting maize silage, pig and cattle
      manure. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison, the closest described
      relative to this strain is Peptoniphilus obesi ph1 showing 91.2% gene sequence
      identity. The most closely related species with a validly published name is
      Peptoniphilus indolicus DSM 20464T whose 16S rRNA gene sequence is 90.6% similar
      to the one of strain ING2-D1G. The genome of the novel strain was completely
      sequenced and manually annotated to reconstruct its metabolic potential regarding
      anaerobic digestion of biomass. The strain harbors a circular chromosome with a
      size of 1.6 Mb that contains 1466 coding sequences, 53 tRNA genes and 4 ribosomal
      RNA (rrn) operons. The genome carries a 28,261bp prophage insertion comprising 47
      phage-related coding sequences. Reconstruction of fermentation pathways revealed
      that strain ING2-D1G encodes all enzymes for hydrogen, lactate and acetate
      production, corroborating that it is involved in the acido- and acetogenic phase
      of the biogas process. Comparative genome analyses of Peptoniphilaceae bacterium
      str. ING2-D1G and its closest relative Peptoniphilus obesi ph1 uncovered
      rearrangements, deletions and insertions within the chromosomes of both strains
      substantiating a divergent evolution. In addition to genomic analyses, a
      physiological and phenotypic characterization of the novel isolate was performed.
      Grown in Brain Heart Infusion Broth with added yeast extract, cells were
      spherical to ovoid, catalase- and oxidase-negative and stained Gram-positive.
      Optimal growth occurred between 35 and 37 degrees C and at a pH value of 7.6.
      Fermentation products were acetate, butanoate and carbon dioxide.

PMID- 28595835
TI  - The effect of resveratrol, its naturally occurring derivatives and tannic acid on
      the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in rat C6 and human T98G glioma
      cell lines.
AB  - Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a potent chemopreventive and
      potentially cancer therapeutic agent. Since rapid metabolism limits resveratrol
      bioavailability, derivatives less prone to metabolic transformation are being
      sought and tested. We evaluated the effect of resveratrol, and its analogs
      (pterostilbene and 3,5,4'-trimethoxystilbene) along with tannic acid, on cell
      cycle and apoptosis in rat C6 and human T98G glioma cells. At concentration
      ranges both lower and higher than IC50 calculated based on MTT assay, all these
      polyphenols affected the cell cycle distribution. However, resveratrol and
      pterostilbene increased the percentage of the cells in S phase, while
      trimethoxystilbene (TMS) caused a massive accumulation of cells at the G2/M phase
      of the cell cycle. Tannic acid had no effect on cell cycle distribution in C6
      cells, but increased the number of dead cells in both glioma cell lines. The
      ability to induce apoptosis by tannic acid and stilbenes was confirmed by
      phosphatidylserine externalization, the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential
      and the level of cleaved caspase-3. The apoptosis rate was most significantly
      increased by TMS and this was related to p53 induction. These results indicate
      that methoxylated stilbenes are efficient inhibitors of glioma cell proliferation
      and apoptosis inducers and might be considered adjuvants in glioma therapy.

PMID- 28595836
TI  - CON4EI: Selection of the reference chemicals for hazard identification and
      labelling of eye irritating chemicals.
AB  - Assessment of the acute eye irritation potential is part of the international
      regulatory requirements for testing of chemicals. In the past, several
      prospective and retrospective validation studies have taken place in the area of
      serious eye damage/eye irritation testing. Success in terms of complete
      replacement of the regulatory in vivo Draize rabbit eye test has not yet been
      achieved. A very important aspect to ensure development of successful alternative
      test methods and/or strategies for serious eye damage/eye irritation testing is
      the selection of appropriate reference chemicals. A set of 80 reference chemicals
      was selected for the CEFIC-LRI-AIMT6-VITO CON4EI (CONsortium for in vitro Eye
      Irritation testing strategy) project, in collaboration with Cosmetics Europe,
      from the Draize Reference Database published by Cosmetics Europe based on key
      criteria that were set in their paper (e.g. balanced by important driver of
      classification and physical state). The most important goals of the CON4EI
      project were to identify the performance of eight in vitro alternative tests in
      terms of driver of classification and to identify similarities/differences
      between the methods in order the build a successful testing strategy that can
      discriminate between all UN GHS categories. This paper provides background on
      selection of the test chemicals.

PMID- 28595837
TI  - Application of Caenorhabditis elegans (nematode) and Danio rerio embryo
      (zebrafish) as model systems to screen for developmental and reproductive
      toxicity of Piperazine compounds.
AB  - To enable selection of novel chemicals for new processes, there is a recognized
      need for alternative toxicity screening assays to assess potential risks to man
      and the environment. For human health hazard assessment these screening assays
      need to be translational to humans, have high throughput capability, and from an
      animal welfare perspective be harmonized with the principles of the 3Rs
      (Reduction, Refinement, Replacement). In the area of toxicology a number of cell
      culture systems are available but while these have some predictive value, they
      are not ideally suited for the prediction of developmental and reproductive
      toxicology (DART). This is because they often lack biotransformation capacity,
      multicellular or multi- organ complexity, for example, the hypothalamus pituitary
      gonad (HPG) axis and the complete life cycle of whole organisms. To try to
      overcome some of these limitations in this study, we have used Caenorhabditis
      elegans (nematode) and Danio rerio embryos (zebrafish) as alternative assays for
      DART hazard assessment of some candidate chemicals being considered for a new
      commercial application. Nematodes exposed to Piperazine and one of the analogs
      tested showed a slight delay in development compared to untreated animals but
      only at high concentrations and with Piperazine as the most sensitive compound.
      Total brood size of the nematodes was also reduced primarily by Piperazine and
      one of the analogs. In zebrafish Piperazine and analogs showed developmental
      delays. Malformations and mortality in individual fish were also scored.
      Significant malformations were most sensitively identified with Piperazine,
      significant mortality was only observed in Piperazine and only at the higest
      dose. Thus, Piperazine seemed the most toxic compound for both nematodes and
      zebrafish. The results of the nematode and zebrafish studies were in alignment
      with data obtained from conventional mammalian toxicity studies indicating that
      these have potential as developmental toxicity screening systems. The results of
      these studies also provided reassurance that none of the Piperazines tested are
      likely to have any significant developmental and/or reproductive toxicity issues
      to humans when used in their commercial applications.

PMID- 28595838
TI  - Deciphering the loop of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, inflammatory cytokines
      and cancer immunoediting.
AB  - Tumorigenesis and tumor progression relies on the dialectics between tumor cells,
      the extracellular matrix and its remodelling enzymes, neighbouring cells and
      soluble cues. The host immune response is crucial in eliminating or promoting
      tumor growth and the reciprocal coevolution of tumor and immune cells, during
      disease progression and in response to therapy, shapes tumor fate by activating
      innate and adaptive mechanisms. The phenotypic plasticity is a common feature of
      epithelial and immune cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a
      dynamic process, governed by microenvironmental stimuli, critical in tumor cell
      shaping, increased tumor cell heterogeneity and stemness. In this review we will
      outline how the dysregulation of microenvironmental signaling is crucial in
      determining tumor plasticity and EMT, arguing how therapy resistance hinges on
      these dynamics.

PMID- 28595840
TI  - Burned Out or Bummed Out.

PMID- 28595839
TI  - Piezosurgery for Sagittal Split Osteotomy: Procedure Duration and Postoperative
      Sensory Perturbation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate piezosurgery for bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO)
      for its duration and inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) perturbation. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: In this prospective randomized study, the authors evaluated 100 BSSO
      procedures in 50 patients. Piezoelectric (group I) and conventional (group II)
      osteotomies were carried out on each side of the mandible of a patient by 2
      specialists. The surgeons had at least 1 year of experience using piezosurgery.
      The period from incision to complete splitting of the mandibular bone was
      recorded (ie, procedure duration). The intraoperative status (visibility and
      relocation) of the IAN also was recorded. The neurosensory function of the IAN
      was measured by the 2-point discrimination threshold and static light touch
      methods before surgery and postoperatively (1, 3, and 6 weeks and 6 and 12
      months). Parameters were compared between the test groups by the paired t,
      nonparametric Wilcoxon, or chi2 test. RESULTS: Intergroup comparison showed the
      mean duration of osteotomy was significantly shorter for group I (17 +/- 6 vs 25
      +/- 9 minutes; P < .001). The rate of intraoperative exposures of the IAN was
      slightly lower for group I (68%) compared with group II (81%). However, the
      difference was not relevant. Neurosensory disturbance and recovery of the IAN did
      not differ between groups. CONCLUSION: Piezoelectric osteotomy requires
      considerably less time than conventional mechanical approaches, but shows no
      advantage in preventing neurosensory perturbation.

PMID- 28595841
TI  - An Atypical Variant of Superolateral Dislocation of the Mandibular Condyle: A
      Case Report.
AB  - Dislocation of the mandibular condyle from the glenoid fossa can occur in
      anterior, posterior, lateral, and superior directions. Posterior, lateral, and
      superior dislocations are rare. Superolateral dislocation is seldom encountered
      in clinical practice. It is generally associated with fracture of the anterior or
      contralateral side of the mandible. The occurrence of superolateral dislocation
      of the condyle hooked above the zygomatic arch with an associated fracture of the
      medial pole of the condyle is rare and has been reported only once in the
      literature. This report describes another case in which the patient had
      superolateral dislocation of the mandibular condyle with a fractured medial pole
      without any associated fracture of the anterior or contralateral side of the
      mandible. The condyle was hooked laterally above the zygomatic arch. Open
      reduction of the dislocated condyle was performed and a good outcome was
      obtained.

PMID- 28595842
TI  - Preoperative implant selection for unilateral breast reconstruction using 3D
      imaging with the Microsoft Kinect sensor.
AB  - AIMS: This study aimed to investigate whether breast volume measured
      preoperatively using a Kinect 3D sensor could be used to determine the most
      appropriate implant size for reconstruction. METHODS: Ten patients underwent 3D
      imaging before and after unilateral implant-based reconstruction. Imaging used
      seven configurations, varying patient pose and Kinect location, which were
      compared regarding suitability for volume measurement. Four methods of defining
      the breast boundary for automated volume calculation were compared, and
      repeatability assessed over five repetitions. RESULTS: The most repeatable breast
      boundary annotation used an ellipse to track the inframammary fold and a plane
      describing the chest wall (coefficient of repeatability: 70 ml). The most
      reproducible imaging position comparing pre- and postoperative volume measurement
      of the healthy breast was achieved for the sitting patient with elevated arms and
      Kinect centrally positioned (coefficient of repeatability: 141 ml). Optimal
      implant volume was calculated by correcting used implant volume by the observed
      postoperative asymmetry. It was possible to predict implant size using a linear
      model derived from preoperative volume measurement of the healthy breast
      (coefficient of determination R2 = 0.78, standard error of prediction 120 ml).
      Mastectomy specimen weight and experienced surgeons' choice showed similar
      predictive ability (both: R2 = 0.74, standard error: 141/142 ml). A leave one-out
      validation showed that in 61% of cases, 3D imaging could predict implant volume
      to within 10%; however for 17% of cases it was >30%. CONCLUSION: This technology
      has the potential to facilitate reconstruction surgery planning and implant
      procurement to maximise symmetry after unilateral reconstruction.

PMID- 28595845
TI  - To Be or Not to Be a Multimodality Imager!

PMID- 28595844
TI  - Subclinical Myocardial Impairment in Metabolic Diseases.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity are important contributors to
      nonischemic heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation. There is a 2- to 5-fold
      increase in HF associated with T2DM, and there is a 5% in HF risk in men and 7%
      increment in women for every unit increment in body mass index, after adjustment
      for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Likewise, the risk of atrial
      fibrillation increases by about 6% per unit increase in body mass index.
      Metabolic cardiomyopathy leads to a number of changes in cardiac structure and
      function that can be recognized by imaging in the asymptomatic phase, and these
      parameters can be used for monitoring the progression of disease or the response
      to therapy. The purpose of this review is to familiarize clinicians with the
      potential benefits of early detection of preclinical myocardial abnormalities, as
      well as the mechanisms that might inform interventions to prevent disease
      progression in patients with T2DM and obesity.

PMID- 28595846
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28595843
TI  - Analysis of risk factors associated with unplanned reoperations following
      pediatric plastic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Unplanned reoperation (UR) is an outcome measure with
      multiple advantages that can be used as a standardized tool to assess an
      institution's quality and safety of medical care. This study aimed to identify
      parameters associated with an increased likelihood of UR following plastic
      surgery in patients less than 18 years of age by using a large validated national
      multicenter database. METHODS/DESCRIPTION: We performed a retrospective analysis
      of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      (ACS-NSQIP) Pediatric database between 2012 and 2014 to identify pediatric
      patients undergoing primary plastic surgery procedures. Two cohorts were
      compared: patients who experienced UR and those who did not. Multiple logistic
      regression analysis was utilized to identify independent risk factors associated
      with UR. RESULTS: A total of 18,106 patients were identified in this analysis,
      with an overall UR rate of 0.8% (n = 137) within 30 days after surgery. Patients
      were on average 5.59 +/- 5.27 years of age with 9522 boys (52.6%) and 8584 girls
      (47.4%). The procedures most commonly associated with UR were excision of skin
      and subcutaneous tissue for hidradenitis (UR = 10.3%), forehead, and/or
      supraorbital rim reconstruction with grafts (allograft or prosthetic material, UR
      = 6.1%), use of multiplane external fixators (UR = 5.6%), mastectomy for
      gynecomastia (UR = 4.4%), and forehead and/or supraorbital rim reconstruction
      with autograft (3.3%). The average number of relative value units per case was
      10.01 +/- 7.91. Independent risk factors for UR include inpatient procedure (p <
      0.001), ASA class 3 or higher (p = 0.03), prolonged operative time (p < 0.001),
      and prior open wound or wound infection (p = 0.05). The most significant
      predictors of UR were postoperative medical and surgical complications (OR, 18.92
      and 39.98, respectively, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: With increasing focus on
      outcomes-driven healthcare, unplanned reoperation may be useful for monitoring
      quality across hospitals and identifying opportunities for quality improvement.
      This study provides the first analysis of risk factors associated with 30-day
      unplanned reoperations in pediatric plastic surgery. These results may aid in the
      informed consent process, improve patient risk assessment, counseling, and
      surgical planning.

PMID- 28595847
TI  - Interprofessional communication supporting clinical handover in emergency
      departments: An observation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor interprofessional communication poses a risk to patient safety
      at change-of-shift in emergency departments (EDs). The purpose of this study was
      to identify and describe patterns and processes of interprofessional
      communication impacting quality of ED change-of-shift handovers. METHODS:
      Observation of 66 change-of-shift handovers at two acute hospital EDs in
      Victoria, Australia. Focus groups with 34 nurse participants complemented the
      observations. Qualitative data analysis involved content and thematic methods.
      RESULTS: Four structural components of ED handover processes emerged represented
      by (ABCD): (1) Antecedents; (2) Behaviours and interactions; (3) Content; and (4)
      Delegation of ongoing care. Infrequent and ad hoc interprofessional communication
      and discipline-specific handover content and processes emerged as specific risks
      to patient safety at change-of-shift handovers. Three themes related to risky and
      effective practices to support interprofessional communications across the four
      stages of ED handovers emerged: 1) standard processes and practices, 2) teamwork
      and interactions and 3) communication activities and practices. CONCLUSIONS:
      Unreliable interprofessional communication can impact the quality of change-of
      shift handovers in EDs and poses risk to patient safety. Structured reflective
      analysis of existing practices can identify opportunities for standardisation,
      enhanced team practices and effective communication across four stages of the
      handover process to support clinicians to enhance local handover practices.
      Future research should test and refine models to support analysis of practice,
      and identify and test strategies to enhance ED interprofessional communication to
      support clinical handovers.

PMID- 28595848
TI  - From phase transitions to the topological renaissance: Comment on "Topodynamics
      of metastable brains" by Arturo Tozzi et al.

PMID- 28595849
TI  - On the relation between dependency distance, crossing dependencies, and parsing:
      Comment on "Dependency distance: a new perspective on syntactic patterns in
      natural languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

PMID- 28595850
TI  - Learning dynamics by theoretical tools of game theory: Comment on "Move me,
      astonish me...delight my eyes and brain: The Vienna Integrated Model of top-down
      and bottom-up processes in Art Perception (VIMAP) and corresponding affective,
      evaluative, and neurophysiological correlates" by M. Pelowski et al.

PMID- 28595852
TI  - Three-Dimensional Model-Based Segmentation in Echocardiography Using High
      Temporal Tissue and Blood Flow Information.
AB  - Accurate 3-D surface segmentation is a challenging task in echocardiography
      because of the relatively low image quality. We introduce a new method for 3-D
      segmentation of the endocardium involving temporal decorrelation of echo signals
      originating from tissue and blood using radiofrequency (RF) signals acquired in 3
      D Doppler mode. Temporal features were extracted in 3-D Doppler mode, where a
      sequence of RF lines is recorded for each image line. Each set of RF lines is
      highly correlated because of the high pulse repetition frequency. However, for
      high blood flow, the RF signals will decorrelate over time in contrast to the
      endocardium, which will remain relatively highly correlated over time. These
      decorrelation features permit differentiation between myocardial tissue and blood
      flow. We describe an implementation of a 3-D segmentation model in which temporal
      information is used as external constraint. The model was validated in a phantom
      and in vivo in healthy volunteers (n = 5). The phantom study revealed that the
      model successfully segmented the artificial blood lumen even for low flow
      velocity and illustrated the sensitivity of the segmentations to flow rate. In
      healthy volunteers, high Dice similarity indices indicate that 3-D segmentation
      of the endocardial border in vivo is feasible.

PMID- 28595851
TI  - Delineation of Post-Procedure Ablation Regions with Electrode Displacement
      Elastography with a Comparison to Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging.
AB  - We compared a quasi-static ultrasound elastography technique, referred to as
      electrode displacement elastography (EDE), with acoustic radiation force impulse
      imaging (ARFI) for monitoring microwave ablation (MWA) procedures on patients
      diagnosed with liver neoplasms. Forty-nine patients recruited to this study
      underwent EDE and ARFI with a Siemens Acuson S2000 system after an MWA procedure.
      On the basis of visualization results from two observers, the ablated region in
      ARFI images was recognizable on 20 patients on average in conjunction with B-mode
      imaging, whereas delineable ablation boundaries could be generated on 4 patients
      on average. With EDE, the ablated region was delineable on 40 patients on
      average, with less imaging depth dependence. Study of tissue-mimicking phantoms
      revealed that the ablation region dimensions measured on EDE and ARFI images were
      within 8%, whereas the image contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio with EDE was
      two to three times higher than that obtained with ARFI. This study indicated that
      EDE provided improved monitoring results for minimally invasive MWA in clinical
      procedures for liver cancer and metastases.

PMID- 28595853
TI  - Acoustically Active Catheter for Intracardiac Navigation by Color Doppler
      Ultrasonography.
AB  - Navigation of intracardiac catheters by echocardiography is challenging because
      of the fundamental limitations of B-mode ultrasonography. We describe a catheter
      fitted with a piezoelectric crystal, which vibrates and produces an instantaneous
      marker in color flow Doppler scans. The navigation learning curve was explored
      first in six pigs. Accuracy and precision of targeting with the navigation marker
      "off" (i.e., B-mode imaging) and "on" were assessed in another six pigs. Paired
      comparisons confirmed significantly (p = 0.04) shorter mean distances achieved in
      each pig with the color Doppler marker. Pooled (mean +/- standard deviation)
      distance of the catheter tip from the target crystal was 5.27 +/- 1.62 mm by B
      mode guidance and 3.66 +/- 1.45 mm by color Doppler marker navigation. Dye
      injection targeted into the ischemic border zone was successful in 8 of 10 pigs.
      Intracardiac catheter navigation with color Doppler ultrasonography is more
      accurate compared with conventional guidance by B-mode imaging.

PMID- 28595854
TI  - Erratum to 'Intestinal colonisation with extended-spectrum cephalosporin- and
      colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in HIV-positive individuals in Switzerland:
      molecular features and risk factors' [International Journal of Antimicrobial
      Agents 49/4 (2017) 519-521].

PMID- 28595855
TI  - Dissociated time course between peak torque and total work recovery following
      bench press training in resistance trained men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the time course of peak torque and total work recovery
      after a resistance training session involving the bench press exercise. DESIGN:
      Repeated measures with a within subject design. METHODS: Twenty-six resistance
      trained men (age: 23.7+/-3.7years; height: 176.0+/-5.7cm; mass: 79.65+/-7.61kg)
      performed one session involving eight sets of the bench press exercise performed
      to momentary muscle failure with 2-min rest between sets. Shoulder horizontal
      adductors peak torque (PT), total work (TW), delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
      and subjective physical fitness were measured pre, immediately post, 24, 48, 72
      and 96h following exercise. RESULTS: The exercise protocol resulted in
      significant pectoralis major DOMS that lasted for 72h. Immediately after
      exercise, the reduction in shoulder horizontal adductors TW (25%) was greater
      than PT (17%). TW, as a percentage of baseline values, was also less than PT at
      24, 48 and 96h after exercise. Additionally, PT returned to baseline at 96h,
      while TW did not. CONCLUSIONS: Resistance trained men presented dissimilar PT and
      TW recovery following free weight bench press exercise. This indicates that
      recovery of maximal voluntary contraction does not reflect the capability to
      perform multiple contractions. Strength and conditioning professionals should be
      cautious when evaluating muscle recovery by peak torque, since it can lead to the
      repetition of a training session sooner than recommended.

PMID- 28595856
TI  - Component separation in the management of abdominal wall defect after
      laparostomy: Clinical and anatomical videos (with video).

PMID- 28595857
TI  - Direct control of B cells by Tregs: An opportunity for long-term modulation of
      the humoral response.
AB  - Tregs are believed to be important for maintaining self-tolerance and immune
      homeostasis. It is well established that Tregs maintain self-tolerance and immune
      homeostasis by directly suppressing and modulating the effector function of T
      cells. However, there are a small number of studies that suggest Tregs also
      directly suppress and modulate B cells. Herein we review the literature that has
      investigated direct action of Tregs on B cell effector function. This area of
      study is intriguing because it suggests Tregs may influence long-lived humoral
      immunity.

PMID- 28595858
TI  - Risk of Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism Among Pregnant Women.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a critical complication after surgery. Although
      pregnancy is a known risk factor of VTE, available data on the risk of
      postoperative VTE are scarce. Using the American College of Surgeons National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program database between 2006 and 2012, we matched
      2,582 pregnant women to 103,640 nonpregnant women based on age, race, body mass
      index, and modified Rogers score. Pregnant women, compared with matched
      nonpregnant women, experienced higher incidence of VTE (0.5% vs 0.3%; odds ratio
      1.93, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 3.37, p = 0.02). Pregnant women also showed
      higher risk of pneumonia, ventilator dependence >=48 hours, bleeding, and sepsis
      than did the counterparts. In conclusion, pregnancy was associated with higher
      risk of VTE after surgery as well as other postoperative complications. The
      absolute risk difference was small, and careful evaluation against the potential
      risk and benefit should be given when surgical treatment is considered among
      pregnant women.

PMID- 28595859
TI  - Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Previous
      Major Gastrointestinal Bleeding (from the Amplatzer Cardiac Plug Multicenter
      Registry).
AB  - History of major gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding may represent a frequent clinical
      indication for left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in patients with non
      valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). This study aims to investigate the procedural
      safety and long-term outcome of patients with previous major GI bleeding (MGIB)
      who underwent LAAO. Data from the Amplatzer Cardiac Plug multicenter registry on
      1,047 patients were analyzed. Patients with previous MGIB as indication for LAAO
      were compared with patients without previous MGIB. A total of 151 patients
      (14.4%) with previous MGIB were identified. Periprocedural major bleeding events
      were more frequent in patients with previous MGIB (4.0% vs 0.8%, p = 0.001). With
      an average follow-up of 1.3 years, the observed annual rate of stroke/transient
      ischemic attack and major bleeding for patients with previous MGIB were 2.1%
      (61.4% relative reduction according to the Congestive Heart failure,
      Hypertension, Age >=75 (doubled), Diabetes, Stroke (doubled), Vascular disease,
      Age 65-74, and Sex (female) [CHA2DS2-VASc] score) and 4.6% (20.1% relative
      reduction according to the expected rate based on the Hypertension, Abnormal
      renal/liver function (1 point each), Stroke, Bleeding history or predisposition,
      Labile INR, Elderly (>65 years), Drugs/alcohol concomitantly (1 point each) [HAS
      BLED] score), respectively. In conclusion, in patients with non-valvular atrial
      fibrillation and previous MGIB, LAAO was associated with a low annual rate of
      stroke/transient ischemic attack. Periprocedural major bleeding events were more
      frequent in this specific population although the annual major bleeding rate
      showed a 20.1% relative risk reduction according to the HAS-BLED score.

PMID- 28595860
TI  - Diagnostic Performance of a Novel Method for Fractional Flow Reserve Computed
      from Noninvasive Computed Tomography Angiography (NOVEL-FLOW Study).
AB  - Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-derived fractional flow reserve
      from computed tomography (CT-FFR) may provide better diagnostic performance over
      CCTA alone, but the complexity of its method limits the use in clinical
      environment. The aim of the present study is to validate a newly developed vessel
      length based computational fluid dynamics scheme for the computation of FFR based
      on CCTA data, compare them with invasively measured FFR, and evaluate its
      diagnostic performance with that of CCTA. One hundred seventeen patients from 4
      medical institutions who had clinically indicated invasive coronary angiography
      for suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled. Invasive FFR
      measurement was performed in 218 vessels and these measurements were regarded as
      the reference standard. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value, and negative predictive value of CT-FFR on a per-vessel basis
      were 85.8%, 86.2%, 85.5%, 79.8%, and 90.3%, respectively, for CT-FFR <=0.80, and
      66.1%, 75.9%, 59.5%, 55.5%, and 78.8%, respectively, for CCTA >=50%. A higher
      area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for CT-FFR was observed
      compared with CCTA (0.93 vs 0.74, p <0.0001). The CT-FFR and FFR correlated well
      (r = 0.76, p <0.001) with slight underestimation by CT-FFR (0.014 +/- 0.077, p =
      0.007). With a novel method of vessel-length based computational fluid dynamics
      scheme, CT-FFR can be performed at a personal computer enhancing its
      applicability in clinical situation. The diagnostic accuracy of CT-FFR for the
      detection of functionally significant CAD was good and was superior to that of
      CCTA within a population of suspected CAD.

PMID- 28595863
TI  - Reflection, Change, and Opportunities.

PMID- 28595862
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Uninterrupted Apixaban Therapy Versus Warfarin During
      Atrial Fibrillation Ablation.
AB  - Thromboembolic cerebrovascular accident remains a rare but potentially
      devastating complication of catheter-based atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation.
      Uninterrupted oral anticoagulant therapy with warfarin has become the standard of
      care when performing catheter-based AF ablation. Compared with warfarin,
      apixaban, a factor Xa inhibitor, has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke and
      major bleeding in nonvalvular AF. With an increase in apixaban use for stroke
      prophylaxis in patients with AF, there is an increased interest in the safety and
      efficacy of uninterrupted apixaban therapy during AF ablation. We compared the
      safety and efficacy of uninterrupted OA therapy with either warfarin or apixaban
      in all patients who underwent catheter-based AF ablation at the University of
      Alabama at Birmingham and at Augusta University Medical Center from January 7,
      2013, to February 25, 2016. All patients underwent a transesophageal
      echocardiogram on the day of their ablation to assess for the presence of
      intracardiac thrombi. All complications were identified and classified as
      bleeding, thromboembolic events, or other. A total of 627 patients were analyzed
      as described earlier. There were 310 patients in the warfarin group and 317
      patients in the apixaban group. There were 8 complications in the warfarin group
      and 5 complications in the apixaban group (p = 0.38). There were no
      thromboembolic complications in either group. In conclusion, the use of apixaban
      is as safe and effective as warfarin for uninterrupted OA therapy during catheter
      based ablation of AF.

PMID- 28595861
TI  - Comparison of Outcome of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Versus Drug-Eluting
      Stent Implantation for Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome.
AB  - There is limited data comparing effectiveness of coronary artery bypass grafting
      (CABG) versus percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents
      in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS). We
      compared the long-term outcomes of the 2 revascularization strategies in 1,246
      patients presented with NSTE-ACS for left main or multivessel coronary artery
      disease. Data were pooled from the Randomized Comparison of Coronary Artery
      Bypass Surgery and Everolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation in the Treatment of
      Patients with Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease (BEST) trial, the Premier of
      Randomized Comparison of Bypass Surgery versus Angioplasty Using Sirolimus
      Eluting Stent in Patients with Left Main Coronary Artery Disease (PRECOMBAT)
      trial, and the Synergy between PCI with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) trial.
      The primary outcome was a composite of death from any causes, myocardial
      infarction, or stroke. The baseline characteristics were similar between the 2
      study groups. During the median follow-up of 60 months, the rate of the primary
      outcome was significantly lower with CABG than with PCI (hazard ratio [HR] 0.74;
      95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56 to 0.98; p = 0.036). This difference was mainly
      attributed to a significant reduction in the rate of myocardial infarction (HR
      0.50; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.82, p = 0.006). The superiority of CABG over PCI was
      consistent across the major subgroups. The individual risks of death from any
      causes or stroke were not different between the 2 groups. In contrast, the rate
      of repeat revascularization was significantly lower in the CABG group than in the
      PCI group (HR 0.56; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.75, p <0.001). In this study, among patients
      with NSTE-ACS for left main or multivessel coronary artery disease, CABG
      significantly reduces the risk of death from any causes, myocardial infarction,
      or stroke compared with PCI with drug-eluting stents.

PMID- 28595864
TI  - Hip strength and star excursion balance test deficits of patients with chronic
      ankle instability.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine isometric hip strength in those with and without CAI, and
      determine the degree of Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) variance explained by
      isometric hip strength. DESIGN: Single-blinded, cross-sectional, case-control
      study. METHODS: Thirty individuals with CAI, 29 lateral ankle sprain (LAS)
      copers, and 26 healthy controls participated. We assessed dynamic postural
      control with the SEBT anterior (SEBT-ANT), posteromedial (SEBT-PM), and
      posterolateral (SEBT-PL) reaches, and isometric hip extension (EXT), abduction
      (ABD) and external rotation (ER) strength with hand-held dynamometry. The CAI and
      LAS coper groups' involved limbs and randomly selected limbs in controls were
      tested. Separate Kruskal-Wallis tests compared SEBT scores and isometric hip
      strength between groups. Backwards linear regression models determined the degree
      of SEBT variance explained by isometric hip strength. Statistical significance
      was set a priori at P<0.05. RESULTS: The CAI group had lower SEBT-ANT scores
      compared to LAS copers (P=0.03) and controls (P=0.03). The CAI group had lower
      ABD compared to LAS copers (P=0.03) and controls (P=0.02). The CAI group had
      lower ER compared to LAS copers (P=0.01) and controls (P=0.01). ER (R2=0.25,
      P=0.01) and ABD (R2=0.25, P=0.01) explained 25% of the CAI group's SEBT-PM and
      SEBT-PL variances, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The CAI group had deficient dynamic
      postural control and isometric hip strength compared to LAS copers and controls.
      Additionally, the CAI group's isometric hip strength significantly influenced
      dynamic postural control performance. Future CAI rehabilitation strategies should
      consider hip muscular strengthening to facilitate improvements in dynamic
      postural control.

PMID- 28595865
TI  - Profiling of translational and rotational head accelerations in youth BMX with
      and without neck brace.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the influence of BMX helmets and neck braces on
      translational and rotational accelerations in youth riders. DESIGN: Mixed model,
      repeated measure and correlation. METHODS: Twenty three competitive youth BMX
      riders classified by age group (6-9 years, 10-13 years and 14-18 years) completed
      6 laps of an indoor BMX track at race pace, 3 laps without a neck brace (NB) and
      3 without brace (WB). A triaxial accelerometer with gyroscope was placed behind
      the right ear to determine the mean number of accelerations, translational and
      rotational, of the head between conditions and by age group. RESULTS: Significant
      reductions by condition (p=0.02) and by age (p=0.04) were found for the number of
      accelerations, though no interactions (condition*age) were revealed. Significant
      increases by age (p=0.01) were revealed for translational accelerations, whilst
      significant increases by condition (p=0.02) were found for rotational
      accelerations. In addition, significant correlations were revealed between
      relative helmet mass and age (r=0.83; p=0.001) and relative helmet mass and
      number of accelerations (r=0.46; p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Accelerations at the head
      decreased with increased age, possibly due to the influence of greater
      stabilising musculature. Additionally, neck braces also significantly reduced the
      number of accelerations. However, the magnitude of accelerations may be
      influenced by riding dynamics. Therefore, the use of neck braces combined with
      strength work to develop neck strength, could aid in the reduction of head
      accelerations in youth BMX riders.

PMID- 28595866
TI  - Physical activity levels in Portuguese adolescents: A 10-year trend analysis
      (2006-2016).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have indicated that only a small proportion of
      Portuguese adolescents attain sufficient levels of physical activity for health.
      However, it is unknown whether the levels of moderate to vigorous physical
      activity (MVPA) have changed over a considerable time period in this country.
      Therefore, the aims of the present study were to examine the 10-year trend
      changes in self-reported MVPA among adolescents and also investigate differences
      by sex and age. DESIGN AND METHOD: This study compared two cross-sectional
      cohorts of youngsters aged 12-18 years, recruited in 2006 (N=1010; 461 boys and
      549 girls) and in 2016 (N=1096; 461 boys and 635 girls), using identical
      procedures and instruments. The outcome variable, MVPA, was assessed by using the
      PACE+ screening measure. RESULTS: Main results showed a considerable decline in
      the overall levels of physical activity between 2006 and 2016 (-10.8%), as well
      as a small and declining proportion of adolescents achieving the international
      physical activity recommendations (2006: 10.7%; 2016: 8.1%). Age and sex-specific
      comparisons by time periods indicated that the 13- and 14-year-old male
      adolescents reported lower levels of MVPA in 2016 than their counterparts in
      2006, and that the MVPA decline between the subgroups of 12- and 18-year-olds was
      higher in girls, in both 2006 and 2016. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence
      of a secular decrease in self-reported MVPA levels among Portuguese adolescents.
      These results reinforce the need for interventions and policies aimed at
      promoting a more active lifestyle throughout adolescence.

PMID- 28595867
TI  - The match-to-match variation of match-running in elite female soccer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the match-to-match variation
      of match-running in elite female soccer players utilising GPS, using full-match
      and rolling period analyses. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. METHODS: Elite female
      soccer players (n=45) from the same national team were observed during 55
      international fixtures across 5 years (2012-2016). Data was analysed using a
      custom built MS Excel spreadsheet as full-matches and using a rolling 5-min
      analysis period, for all players who played 90-min matches (files=172). Variation
      was examined using co-efficient of variation and 90% confidence limits,
      calculated following log transformation. RESULTS: Total distance per minute
      exhibited the smallest variation when both the full-match and peak 5-min running
      periods were examined (CV=6.8-7.2%). Sprint-efforts were the most variable during
      a full-match (CV=53%), whilst high-speed running per minute exhibited the
      greatest variation in the post-peak 5-min period (CV=143%). Peak running periods
      were observed as slightly more variable than full-match analyses, with the post
      peak period very-highly variable. Variability of accelerations (CV=17%) and
      Player Load (CV=14%) was lower than that of high-speed actions. Positional
      differences were also present, with centre backs exhibiting the greatest
      variation in high-speed movements (CV=41-65%). CONCLUSIONS: Practitioners and
      researchers should account for within player variability when examining match
      performances. Identification of peak running periods should be used to assist
      worst case scenarios. Whilst micro-sensor technology should be further examined
      as to its viable use within match-analyses.

PMID- 28595868
TI  - Impaired hip muscle strength in patients with femoroacetabular impingement
      syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) experience hip pain
      as well as decreased function and lowered quality of life. The aim was to compare
      maximal isometric and isokinetic muscle strength (MVC) during hip flexion and
      extension and rate of force development (RFD) during extension between patients
      with FAI and a matched reference group. Secondary, the aim was to compare patient
      hips and subgroups defined by gender and age as well as to investigate
      associations between hip muscle strength and self-reported outcomes. Design Cross
      sectional, comparative study Methods Sixty patients (36+/-9 years, 63% females)
      and 30 age and gender matched reference persons underwent MVC tests in an
      isokinetic dynamometer. RESULTS: During hip flexion and extension, patients'
      affected hip showed a strength deficit of 15-21% (p<0.001) and 10-25% (p<0.03)
      compared with reference MVC, respectively. The affected hip of the patients was
      significantly weaker than their contralateral hip. RFD was significantly
      decreased for both patient hips compared to the reference group (p<0.05). While
      age had less effect on MVC, female patients were more affected than male
      patients. Self-reported measures were associated with isometric hip muscle
      strength. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with FAI demonstrate decreased hip flexion and
      extension strength when compared to (1) reference persons and (2) their
      contralateral hip. There seems to be a gender specific affection which should be
      investigated further and addressed when planning training protocols. Furthermore,
      self-reported measures were associated with isometric muscle strength, which
      underlines the clinical importance of the reduced muscle strength.

PMID- 28595869
TI  - Multivariate modelling of subjective and objective monitoring data improve the
      detection of non-contact injury risk in elite Australian footballers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between workload, subjective wellness,
      musculoskeletal screening measures and non-contact injury risk in elite
      Australian footballers. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Across 4
      seasons in 70 players from one club, cumulative weekly workloads (acute; 1 week,
      chronic; 2-, 3-, 4-week) and acute:chronic workload ratio's (ACWR: 1-week
      load/average 4-weekly load) for session-Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) and
      GPS-derived distance and sprint distance were calculated. Wellness, screening and
      non-contact injury data were also documented. Univariate and multivariate
      regression models determined injury incidence rate ratios (IRR) while accounting
      for interaction/moderating effects. Receiver operating characteristics determined
      model predictive accuracy (area under curve: AUC). RESULTS: Very low cumulative
      chronic (2-, 3-, 4- week) workloads were associated with the greatest injury risk
      (univariate IRR=1.71-2.16, 95% CI=1.10-4.52) in the subsequent week. In
      multivariate analysis, the interaction between a low chronic load and a very high
      distance (adj-IRR=2.60, 95% CI=1.07-6.34) or low sRPE ACWR (adj-IRR=2.52, 95%
      CI=1.01-6.29) was associated with increased injury risk. Subjectively reporting
      "yes" (vs. "no") for old lower limb pain and heavy non-football activity in the
      previous 7 days (multivariate adj-IRR=2.01-2.25, 95% CI=1.02-4.95) and playing
      experience (>9 years) (multivariate adj-IRR=2.05, 95% CI=1.03-4.06) was also
      associated with increased injury risk, but screening data were not. Predictive
      capacity of multivariate models was significantly better than univariate
      (AUCmultivariate=0.70, 95% CI 0.64-0.75; AUCunivariate range=0.51-0.60).
      CONCLUSIONS: Chronic load is an important moderating factor in the workload
      injury relationship. Low chronic loads coupled with low or very high ACWR are
      associated with increased injury risk.

PMID- 28595870
TI  - High-speed running and sprinting as an injury risk factor in soccer: Can well
      developed physical qualities reduce the risk?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the association between high-speed running
      (HSR) and sprint running (SR) and injuries within elite soccer players. The
      impact of intermittent aerobic fitness as measured by the end speed of the 30-15
      intermittent fitness test (30-15VIFT) and high chronic workloads (average 21-day)
      as potential mediators of injury risk were also investigated. DESIGN:
      Observational Cohort Study. METHODS: 37 elite soccer players from one elite squad
      were involved in a one-season study. Training and game workloads (session
      RPE*duration) were recorded in conjunction with external training loads (using
      global positioning system technology) to measure the HSR (>14.4kmh-1) and SR
      (>19.8kmh-1) distance covered across weekly periods during the season. Lower limb
      injuries were also recorded. Training load and GPS data were modelled against
      injury data using logistic regression. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated with 90%
      confidence intervals based on 21-day chronic training load status (sRPE), aerobic
      fitness, HSR and SR distance with these reported against a reference group.
      RESULTS: Players who completed moderate HSR (701-750-m: OR: 0.12, 90%CI: 0.08
      0.94) and SR distances (201-350-m: OR: 0.54, 90%CI: 0.41-0.85) were at reduced
      injury risk compared to low HSR (<=674-m) and SR (<=165-m) reference groups.
      Injury risk was higher for players who experienced large weekly changes in HSR
      (351-455-m; OR: 3.02; 90%CI: 2.03-5.18) and SR distances (between 75-105-m; OR:
      6.12, 90%CI: 4.66-8.29). Players who exerted higher chronic training loads
      (>=2584 AU) were at significantly reduced risk of injury when they covered 1
      weekly HSR distances of 701-750m compared to the reference group of <674m
      (OR=0.65, 90% CI 0.27-0.89). When intermittent aerobic fitness was considered
      based on 30-15VIFT performance, players with poor aerobic fitness had a greater
      risk of injury than players with better-developed aerobic fitness. CONCLUSIONS:
      Exposing players to large and rapid increases in HSR and SR distances increased
      the odds of injury. However, higher chronic training loads (>=2584 AU) and better
      intermittent aerobic fitness off-set lower limb injury risk associated with these
      running distances in elite soccer players.

PMID- 28595871
TI  - Identifying a motor proficiency barrier for meeting physical activity guidelines
      in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined the existence of a threshold level (proficiency
      barrier) of actual motor competence (MC) below which a child is not likely to
      attain 60min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. DESIGN: A
      cross-sectional study. METHODS: Actual MC was assessed in 326 children (48.5%
      boys; age=9.50+/-1.24years) using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2; MVPA was
      measured with ActiGraph GT3X+accelerometers. Perceived MC, included as a
      potential mediating variable, was assessed with the Self-Perception Profile for
      Children. Binary logistic (mediation) regression analyses controlling for sex and
      a chi-squared test were used to gain insight into the relationship between (the
      levels of) actual MC and the percentage of children meeting the MVPA guideline.
      RESULTS: Actual MC significantly predicted the percentage of children meeting the
      guideline (B=.03, SE=.01, p<.001), even when controlling for sex. Perceived MC
      did not mediate this relationship. Children with high actual MC (65-100
      percentile) were 2.46 (p=.003) times more likely to meet the guideline than
      children with low actual MC (0-27 percentile). CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      demonstrates the potential impact of low MC on children's MVPA levels and
      suggests evidence for the existence of a proficiency barrier for meeting MVPA
      guidelines. Almost 90% of the children whose actual MC is below the 'average'
      threshold do not meet the MVPA guideline. As more children with higher levels of
      actual MC meet the guideline than their less competent peers, it is crucial to
      provide opportunities to sufficiently develop children's actual MC.

PMID- 28595872
TI  - Distribution and diversity of marine picocyanobacteria community: Targeting of
      Prochlorococcus ecotypes in winter conditions (southern Adriatic Sea).
AB  - Adriatic, the northernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, due its oligotrophy,
      topography, and hydrology dynamics, and complex circulation patterns, was
      suggested as an important study site for rapid climatology impacts. Its southern
      part is mainly oligotrophic and dominated by picophytoplankton, with
      cyanobacteria as main representatives. Diversity and distribution patterns of
      different Prochlorococcus ecotypes were investigated by molecular tools and flow
      cytometry during the winter convection event in the southern Adriatic (BIOTA
      winter cruise; February/March 2015). Phylogenetic diversity based on clone
      libraries of the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA ITS region, as well as flow cytometry
      (histograms of red fluorescence), indicated presence of 2 different
      Prochlorococcus in the Adriatic. HLI, as a typical clade for Mediterranean Sea,
      was likewise found to be dominant Prochlorococcus in the Adriatic, followed by
      less abundant LLI clade. In addition, Prochlorococcus were found to co-occur with
      diverse Synechococcus population (53% and 47% of obtained ITS sequences,
      respectively). Different Prochlorococcus ecotypes had similar patterns of
      vertical distribution, predominantly occupying upper 100m depth layer, but their
      distribution was clearly affected by the heterogeneity of hydrological
      conditions, nitrogen concentration and temperature along vertical and horizontal
      sampling points. Different studies pointed out that, as a consequence of climate
      changes, serious alteration of biological and ecological patterns are already
      taking place Therefore, understanding of the distribution and abundance of
      picophytoplankton in Adriatic, being still limited, is much needed baseline for
      predicting possible biogeochemical impact of future environmental changes.

PMID- 28595873
TI  - Borderline Sarcomas and Smooth Muscle Tumours of Uncertain Malignant Potential.
AB  - Borderline sarcomas and smooth muscle tumours of uncertain malignant potential
      (STUMP) have an unpredictable clinical behaviour with frequent local recurrences
      and rarely, metastases. We review the current management of common subtypes of
      borderline sarcomas and STUMP.

PMID- 28595874
TI  - Evaluation of anti-diabetic activity of glycyrrhizin-loaded nanoparticles in
      nicotinamide-streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - Glycyrrhizin is an active constituent of the roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza
      glabra and has anti-hyperglycemic effects. In this study, nanoparticles (NPs)
      loaded with glycyrrhizin or metformin were evaluated in vivo for their anti
      hyperglycemic potency towards type-II diabetes in rats. The NPs were produced via
      the ionotropic gelation method using the biocompatible polymers chitosan and gum
      arabic. The polymer concentration was optimized using the 32 factorial method to
      acquire both minimum particle size and maximum encapsulation efficiency. The NPs
      were then characterized with respect to particle size, encapsulation efficiency,
      stability, chemical interactions, and in vitro drug dissolution profiles using
      spectroscopic and microscopic analysis. Furthermore, glycyrrhizin and metformin
      and their nanoformulations were administered for 21 successive days to diabetic
      rats. Glycyrrhizin-loaded NPs had significant anti-diabetic effects even though
      they contained approximately one quarter of the dosage relative to the pure form.

PMID- 28595875
TI  - Development of IgY antibodies against anti-snake toxins endowed with highly
      lethal neutralizing activity.
AB  - Snakebite envenoming is a major neglected disease related to poverty in
      developing countries. Treatment involves the administration of a specific
      antivenom serum and auxiliary therapies, if necessary. The improvement of
      antibodies is of great importance for the technological advancement of antivenom
      therapy and to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this medical
      burden. In the present study, adult hens were immunized nine times with 20MUg of
      B. arietans or C. d. terrificus venoms at three-week intervals between
      immunizations. Developing antibodies presented increasing avidity and affinity to
      antigenic toxin epitopes along immunization, attaining a plateau after the
      seventh immunization. Pooled egg yolk-purified IgY antivenom antibodies,
      subjected to in vitro-in vivo lethality assay using Swiss adult mice, exhibited
      potent venom lethal neutralizing activity. Taken together, chickens under the
      described immunization schedule were considered alternative candidates for
      antivenom production. Lower maintenance costs, a simple antibody manufacturing
      process and immunization suffering restrictions are additional advantages.

PMID- 28595876
TI  - A Diagnostic Accuracy Meta-analysis of CT and MRI for the Evaluation of Small
      Bowel Crohn Disease.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in assessing small
      bowel (SB) Crohn disease (CD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically searched
      PubMed, Elsevier, ScienceDirect, Karger, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library,
      and Springer for studies in which CT or MRI were evaluated to assess SB CD.
      Bivariate random effect meta-analytic methods were used to estimate pooled
      sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristic curves.
      Diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) in a per-patient-based analysis were estimated. The
      area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was also calculated to
      measure the diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies involving 913
      patients were included in this meta-analysis. There was no significant difference
      observed between modalities. The diagnostic performances (lnDOR) for CT and MRI
      also showed no significant difference. Subgroup analysis was performed for MR
      imaging (MR enteroclysis, MR enterography, and CT enterography). The diagnostic
      performances (lnDOR) for MR enteroclysis, MR enterography, and CT enterography
      did not show a significant difference among them. No significant difference was
      found between these techniques. Deeks funnel plot asymmetry test for publication
      bias showed that no significant publication bias was observed in this analysis.
      CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that both MRI and CT have high
      diagnostic accuracy in detecting SB CD. MRI has the potential to be the first
      line radiation-free modality for SB CD imaging.

PMID- 28595878
TI  - A Northern European perspective on creating more activity friendly cities.

PMID- 28595877
TI  - Lipoxygenase inhibitors protect acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells from
      ferroptotic cell death.
AB  - Ferroptosis has recently been identified as a mode of programmed cell death.
      However, little is yet known about the signaling mechanism. Here, we report that
      lipoxygenases (LOX) contribute to the regulation of RSL3-induced ferroptosis in
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells. We show that the glutathione (GSH)
      peroxidase 4 (GPX4) inhibitor RSL3 triggers lipid peroxidation, production of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death in ALL cells. All these events are
      impeded in the presence of Ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1), a small-molecule inhibitor of
      lipid peroxidation. Also, lipid peroxidation and ROS production precede the
      induction of cell death, underscoring their contribution to cell death upon
      exposure to RSL3. Importantly, LOX inhibitors, including the selective 12/15-LOX
      inhibitor Baicalein and the pan-LOX inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA),
      protect ALL cells from RSL3-stimulated lipid peroxidation, ROS generation and
      cell death, indicating that LOX contribute to ferroptosis. RSL3 triggers lipid
      peroxidation and cell death also in FAS-associated Death Domain (FADD)-deficient
      cells which are resistant to death receptor-induced apoptosis indicating that the
      induction of ferroptosis may bypass apoptosis resistance. By providing new
      insights into the molecular regulation of ferroptosis, our study contributes to
      the development of novel treatment strategies to reactivate programmed cell death
      in ALL.

PMID- 28595879
TI  - Predictors of Successful Hybrid-Approach Chronic Total Coronary Artery Occlusion
      Stenting: An Improved Model With Novel Correlates.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop a hybrid approach-specific model
      to predict chronic total coronary artery occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary
      intervention success, useful for experienced but not ultra-high-volume operators.
      BACKGROUND: CTO percutaneous coronary intervention success rates vary widely and
      have improved with the "hybrid approach," but current predictive models for
      success have major limitations. METHODS: Data were obtained from consecutively
      attempted patients from 7 clinical sites (9 operators, mean annual CTO volume 61
      +/- 17 cases). Angiographic analysis of 21 lesion variables was performed
      centrally. Statistical modeling was performed on a randomly designated training
      group and tested in a separate validation cohort. The primary outcome of interest
      was technical success. RESULTS: A total of 436 patients (456 lesions) met entry
      criteria. Twenty-five percent of lesions had prior failed percutaneous coronary
      interventions at the site. The right coronary artery was the most common location
      (56.4%), and mean occlusion length was 24 +/- 20 mm. The initial approach was
      most often antegrade wire escalation (70%), followed by retrograde (22%). Success
      was achieved in 79.4%. Failure was most closely correlated with presence of an
      ambiguous proximal cap, and in the presence of an ambiguous proximal cap,
      specifically defined collateral score (combination of Werner and tortuosity
      scores) and retrograde tortuosity. Without an ambiguous proximal cap, poor distal
      target, occlusion length >10 mm, ostial location, and 1 operator variable
      contributed. Prior failure, and Werner and tortuosity scores alone, were only
      weakly correlated with outcomes. The basic 7-item model predicted success, with C
      statistics of 0.753 in the training cohort and 0.738 in the validation cohort,
      the later superior (p < 0.05) to that of the J-CTO (Multicenter CTO Registry of
      Japan) (0.55) and PROGRESS CTO (Prospective Global Registry for the Study of
      Chronic Total Occlusion Intervention) (0.61) scores. CONCLUSIONS: Success can be
      reasonably well predicted, but that prediction requires modification and
      combination of angiographic variables. Differences in operator skill sets may
      make it challenging to create a powerful, generalizable, predictive tool.

PMID- 28595880
TI  - Predictive Scores of Success in CTO PCI: There Is No Substitute for Operator
      Experience and Skill.

PMID- 28595882
TI  - Septal Ablation in Younger Patients: Is It Time to Update the Guidelines?

PMID- 28595881
TI  - Outcomes of Alcohol Septal Ablation in Younger Patients With Obstructive
      Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the safety and outcomes of
      alcohol septal ablation (ASA) in younger patients with obstructive hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy. BACKGROUND: The American College of Cardiology
      Foundation/American Heart Association guidelines reserve ASA for older patients
      and patients with serious comorbidities. Data on long-term age-specific outcomes
      after ASA are scarce. METHODS: A total of 1,197 patients (mean age 58 +/- 14
      years) underwent ASA for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Patients were
      divided into young (<=50 years), middle-age (51 to 64 years), and older (>=65
      years) groups. RESULTS: Thirty-day mortality and pacemaker implantation rates
      were lower in young compared with older patients (0.3% vs. 2% [p = 0.03] and 8%
      vs. 16% [p < 0.001], respectively). Ninety-five percent of young patients were in
      New York Heart Association functional class I or II at last follow-up. During a
      mean follow-up period of 5.4 +/- 4.2 years, 165 patients (14%) died. Annual
      mortality rates of young, middle-age, and older patients were 1%, 2%, and 5%,
      respectively (p < 0.01). Annual adverse arrhythmic event rates were similar in
      the 3 age groups at about 1% (p = 0.90). Independent predictors of mortality in
      young patients were age, female sex, and residual left ventricular outflow tract
      gradient. Additionally, young patients treated with >=2.5 ml alcohol had a higher
      all-cause mortality rate (0.6% vs. 1.4% per year in patients treated with <2.5
      ml, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: ASA in younger patients with obstructive hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy was safe and effective for relief of symptoms at long-term follow
      up. The authors propose that the indication for ASA can be broadened to younger
      patients.

PMID- 28595883
TI  - Prognostic Impact of Revascularization in Poor-Risk Patients With Critical Limb
      Ischemia: The PRIORITY Registry (Poor-Risk Patients With and Without
      Revascularization Therapy for Critical Limb Ischemia).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to investigate the prognostic impact of
      revascularization for poor-risk CLI patients in real-world settings. BACKGROUND:
      Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is often accompanied with various comorbidities, and
      frailty is not rare in the population. Although previous studies suggested
      favorable outcomes of revascularization for CLI patients, those studies commonly
      included the healthier, that is, less frail patients. METHODS: This was a
      multicenter prospective observational study, registering patients who presented
      with CLI and who required assistance for their daily lives because of their
      disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and/or impairment of cognitive
      function. Revascularization was either planned (revascularization group) or not
      planned (non-revascularization group). The primary endpoint was 1-year survival,
      and was compared between the revascularization and non-revascularization groups,
      using the propensity score-matching method. RESULTS: Between January 2014 and
      April 2015, a total of 662 patients were registered, of those 100 non
      revascularization patients were included. A total of 625 patients (94.4%)
      completed the 1-year follow-up. Death was observed in 223 patients (33.7%). After
      propensity score matching, the 1-year survival rate was 55.9% in the
      revascularization group versus 51.0% in the non-revascularization group, with no
      significant difference (p = 0.120). In the subgroups alive at 1 year after
      revascularization, health-related quality of life was significantly improved
      compared with baseline, whereas ADL scores were unchanged from baseline and still
      remained significantly worse than before CLI onset. CONCLUSIONS: The 1-year
      overall survival rate was not significantly different between the
      revascularization and non-revascularization groups in poor-risk CLI patients.
      (Poor-Risk Patients With and Without Revascularization Therapy for Critical Limb
      Ischemia; [PRIORITY Registry]; UMIN000012871).

PMID- 28595884
TI  - Chronic Limb Ischemia: Ischemia in the Extreme.

PMID- 28595886
TI  - Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences?

PMID- 28595885
TI  - The Effect of Clinical Care Location on Clinical Outcomes After Peripheral
      Vascular Intervention in Medicare Beneficiaries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Modifications in reimbursement rates by Medicare in 2008 have led to
      peripheral vascular interventions (PVI) being performed more commonly in
      outpatient and office-based clinics. The objective of this study was to determine
      the effects of this shift in clinical care setting on clinical outcomes after
      PVI. BACKGROUND: Modifications in reimbursement have led to peripheral vascular
      intervention (PVI) being more commonly performed in outpatient hospital settings
      and office-based clinics. METHODS: Using a 100% national sample of Medicare
      beneficiaries from 2010 to 2012, we examined 30-day and 1-year rates of all-cause
      mortality, major lower extremity amputation, repeat revascularization, and all
      cause hospitalization by clinical care location of index PVI. RESULTS: A total of
      218,858 Medicare beneficiaries underwent an index PVI between 2010 and 2012.
      Index PVIs performed in inpatient settings were associated with higher 1-year
      rates of all-cause mortality (23.6% vs. 10.4% and 11.7%; p < 0.001), major lower
      extremity amputation (10.1% vs. 3.7% and 3.5%; p < 0.001), and all-cause repeat
      hospitalization (63.3% vs. 48.5% and 48.0%; p < 0.001), but lower rates of repeat
      revascularization (25.1% vs. 26.9% vs. 38.6%; p < 0.001) when compared with
      outpatient hospital settings and office-based clinics, respectively. After
      adjustment for potential confounders, patients treated in office-based clinics
      remained more likely than patients in inpatient hospital settings to require
      repeat revascularization within 1 year across all specialties. There was also a
      statistically significant interaction effect between location of index
      revascularization and geographic region on the occurrence of all-cause
      hospitalization, repeat revascularization, and lower extremity amputation.
      CONCLUSIONS: Index PVI performed in office-based settings was associated with a
      higher hazard of repeat revascularization when compared with other settings.
      Differences in clinical outcomes across treatment settings and geographic regions
      suggest that inconsistent application of PVI may exist and highlights the need
      for studies to determine optimal delivery of PVI in clinical practice.

PMID- 28595887
TI  - Meta-Analysis of Strategies for Patients With Multivessel Disease Undergoing
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Does the Timing of Staged Procedures Matter?

PMID- 28595888
TI  - Reply: Meta-Analysis of Strategies for Patients With Multivessel Disease
      Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Does the Timing of Staged
      Procedures Matter?

PMID- 28595889
TI  - Combined Criterion Algorithm for Computed Tomography.

PMID- 28595890
TI  - Reply: Combined Criterion Algorithm for Computed Tomography.

PMID- 28595891
TI  - Interventional Cardiology's Golden Age of Publishing.

PMID- 28595892
TI  - Localization of optic disc and fovea in retinal images using intensity based line
      scanning analysis.
AB  - Accurate detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR) mainly depends on identification
      of retinal landmarks such as optic disc and fovea. Present methods suffer from
      challenges like less accuracy and high computational complexity. To address this
      issue, this paper presents a novel approach for fast and accurate localization of
      optic disc (OD) and fovea using one-dimensional scanned intensity profile
      analysis. The proposed method utilizes both time and frequency domain information
      effectively for localization of OD. The final OD center is located using signal
      peak-valley detection in time domain and discontinuity detection in frequency
      domain analysis. However, with the help of detected OD location, the fovea center
      is located using signal valley analysis. Experiments were conducted on MESSIDOR
      dataset, where OD was successfully located in 1197 out of 1200 images (99.75%)
      and fovea in 1196 out of 1200 images (99.66%) with an average computation time of
      0.52s. The large scale evaluation has been carried out extensively on nine
      publicly available databases. The proposed method is highly efficient in terms of
      quickly and accurately localizing OD and fovea structure together compared with
      the other state-of-the-art methods.

PMID- 28595893
TI  - Altered morphology of the nucleus accumbens in persistent developmental
      stuttering.
AB  - PURPOSE: Neuroimaging studies in persistent developmental stuttering repeatedly
      report altered basal ganglia functions. Together with thalamus and cerebellum,
      these structures mediate sensorimotor functions and thus represent a plausible
      link between stuttering and neuroanatomy. However, stuttering is a complex,
      multifactorial disorder. Besides sensorimotor functions, emotional and social
      motivational factors constitute major aspects of the disorder. Here, we
      investigated cortical and subcortical gray matter regions to study whether
      persistent developmental stuttering is also linked to alterations of limbic
      structures. METHODS: The study included 33 right-handed participants who stutter
      and 34 right-handed control participants matched for sex, age, and education.
      Structural images were acquired using magnetic resonance imaging to estimate
      volumetric characteristics of the nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, amygdala,
      pallidum, putamen, caudate nucleus, and thalamus. RESULTS: Volumetric comparisons
      and vertex-based shape comparisons revealed structural differences. The right
      nucleus accumbens was larger in participants who stutter compared to controls.
      CONCLUSION: Recent theories of basal ganglia functions suggest that the nucleus
      accumbens is a motivation-to-movement interface. A speaker intends to reach
      communicative goals, but stuttering can derail these efforts. It is therefore
      highly plausible to find alterations in the motivation-to-movement interface in
      stuttering. While behavioral studies of stuttering sought to find links between
      the limbic and sensorimotor system, we provide the first neuroimaging evidence of
      alterations in the limbic system. Thus, our findings might initialize a unified
      neurobiological framework of persistent developmental stuttering that integrates
      sensorimotor and social-motivational neuroanatomical circuitries.

PMID- 28595894
TI  - Arterial function parameters in patients with metabolic syndrome and severe
      hypertriglyceridemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertriglyceridemia (hTG) is 1 of the dyslipidemia manifestations in
      patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, for several decades, the role
      of hTG in cardiovascular risk was not well established. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this study was to assess the parameters of the vascular structure and function in
      patients with MetS and different degree of hTG. METHODS: Patients (aged 40-65
      years) with MetS were divided into 3 groups by triglyceride (TG) levels according
      to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Guidelines:
      severe hTG (TG >= 500 mg/dL), moderate hTG (TG 200-499 mg/dL), and a control (TG
      < 150 mg/dL) groups. Noninvasive assessment of vascular parameters (aortic
      augmentation index adjusted for heart rate 75 bpm [AixHR75], pulse wave velocity
      [PWV], flow-mediated dilatation, and common carotid artery intima-media thickness
      (IMT)) were performed. RESULTS: Among the 1938 patients analyzed, 1041 had hTG.
      Moderate hTG was observed in 90.40% (n = 941), whereas severe TG was observed in
      9.6% (n = 100) of patients. Overall TG concentration was 231.17 +/- 184.23 mg/dL;
      in severe hTG group, TG concentration was 795.36 +/- 368.45 mg/dL, in moderate
      hTG group 285.20 +/- 70.86 mg/dL, and 112.48 +/- 24.80 mg/dL in control group.
      AIxHR75 and IMT were the lowest in the severe hTG group (P < .001 for both). Mean
      arterial pressure, carotid-radial PWV (9.25 +/- 1.13 vs 9.24 +/- 1.28 vs 8.91 +/-
      1.28; P < .001) as well as carotid-femoral PWV (8.63 +/- 1.65 vs 8.75 +/- 1.58 vs
      8.51 +/- 1.6; P = .006) were the higher in hTG groups compared with control.
      There were no significant differences between groups in flow-mediated dilatation
      (3.39 +/- 2.01 vs 3.26 +/- 2.43 vs 3.45 +/- 2.61, P = .283). CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with MetS and severe hTG have lower IMT and AIxHR75 and higher PWV and
      mean arterial pressure. Many factors could affect arterial parameters, and more
      research are needed to investigate arterial parameters and hTG connection.

PMID- 28595895
TI  - Understanding the dissemination of appointment-based synchronization models using
      the CFIR framework.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The appointment based model (ABM) is a innovative model of pharmacy
      practice that combines medication synchronization with scheduled monthly
      appointments to improve patient medication adherence and convenience. It is being
      implemented in many pharmacies across the United States. OBJECTIVE: The purpose
      of this article is to use the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research
      (CFIR) to discuss the barriers and facilitators of ABM implementation in
      community pharmacies while identifying priorities for additional implementation
      research. METHODS: A review of current evidence of ABM was examined using the
      five domains within the CFIR taxonomy. Interactions between these domains (the
      intervention, the individuals involved, the process used to implement the
      intervention, the inner setting, and the outer setting) and their sub domains
      were used to explain the current success of ABM and future barriers. RESULTS: The
      CFIR is an effective theoretical framework for assessing ABM. It helps identify
      key constructs in ABM implementation and their relationships. It also suggests
      future research to facilitate its adoption as a standard of pharmacy practice.
      CONCLUSIONS: The adoption of ABM by pharmacies will be facilitated by better
      evidence of its clinical and economic impact on patient health outcomes,
      standardization of ABM, and integrating it into current workflows.

PMID- 28595897
TI  - System influences on work disability due to low back pain: An international
      evidence synthesis.
AB  - Work disability due to low back pain is a significant global health concern.
      Current policy and practice aimed at tackling this problem is largely informed by
      the biopsychosocial model. Resultant interventions have demonstrated some small
      scale success, but they have not created a widespread decrease in work
      disability. This may be explained by the under-representation of the less
      measurable aspects in the biopsychosocial evidence base; namely the influence of
      relevant systems. Thus, a 'best-evidence' synthesis was conducted to collate the
      evidence on how compensatory (worker's compensation and disability benefits),
      healthcare and family systems (spouse/partner/close others) can act as obstacles
      to work participation for those with low back pain. Systematic searches of
      several scientific and grey literature sources were conducted, resulting in 1762
      records. Following a systematic exclusion process, 57 articles were selected and
      the evidence was assessed using a system adapted from previous large-scale policy
      reviews conducted in this field. Results indicated how specific features of
      relevant systems could act as obstacles to individual efforts/interventions aimed
      at tackling work disability due to LBP. These findings reinforce the need for a
      'whole-systems' approach, with all key players onside and have implications for
      the revision of current biopsychosocial-informed policy and practice.

PMID- 28595896
TI  - Structural Basis for the Altered PAM Recognition by Engineered CRISPR-Cpf1.
AB  - The RNA-guided Cpf1 nuclease cleaves double-stranded DNA targets complementary to
      the CRISPR RNA (crRNA), and it has been harnessed for genome editing
      technologies. Recently, Acidaminococcus sp. BV3L6 (AsCpf1) was engineered to
      recognize altered DNA sequences as the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), thereby
      expanding the target range of Cpf1-mediated genome editing. Whereas wild-type
      AsCpf1 recognizes the TTTV PAM, the RVR (S542R/K548V/N552R) and RR (S542R/K607R)
      variants can efficiently recognize the TATV and TYCV PAMs, respectively. However,
      their PAM recognition mechanisms remained unknown. Here we present the 2.0 A
      resolution crystal structures of the RVR and RR variants bound to a crRNA and its
      target DNA. The structures revealed that the RVR and RR variants primarily
      recognize the PAM-complementary nucleotides via the substituted residues. Our
      high-resolution structures delineated the altered PAM recognition mechanisms of
      the AsCpf1 variants, providing a basis for the further engineering of CRISPR
      Cpf1.

PMID- 28595898
TI  - Transcriptional signatures of parasitization and markers of colony decline in
      Varroa-infested honey bees (Apis mellifera).
AB  - Extensive annual losses of honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) reported in the
      northern hemisphere represent a global problem for agriculture and biodiversity.
      The parasitic mite Varroa destructor, in association with deformed wing virus
      (DWV), plays a key role in this phenomenon, but the underlying mechanisms are
      still unclear. To elucidate these mechanisms, we analyzed the gene expression
      profile of uninfested and mite infested bees, under laboratory and field
      conditions, highlighting the effects of parasitization on the bee's transcriptome
      under a variety of conditions and scenarios. Parasitization was significantly
      correlated with higher viral loads. Honey bees exposed to mite infestation
      exhibited an altered expression of genes related to stress response, immunity,
      nervous system function, metabolism and behavioural maturation. Additionally,
      mite infested young bees showed a gene expression profile resembling that of
      forager bees. To identify potential molecular markers of colony decline, the
      expression of genes that were commonly regulated across the experiments were
      subsequently assessed in colonies experiencing increasing mite infestation
      levels. These studies suggest that PGRP-2, hymenoptaecin, a glucan recognition
      protein, UNC93 and a p450 cytocrome maybe suitable general biomarkers of Varroa
      induced colony decline. Furthermore, the reliability of vitellogenin, a yolk
      protein previously identified as a good marker of colony survival, was confirmed
      here.

PMID- 28595899
TI  - [Who decides what data should be recorded in the medical history in relation to
      the biological origin?]
AB  - There is an increasing request by patients or their representatives not to have
      some data registered in their clinical history or if such data exists to be
      deleted. Without doubt, this is so because such clinical data is accessed by
      various professionals who in most cases are not directly involved in caring for
      such patients. On the other hand, such data is copied and iteratively and
      unnecessary reproduced in various discharge reports and others forms. The problem
      arises when such controversial data refer to particularly sensitive clinical
      aspects such as assisted reproduction techniques, which invades personal and
      family privacy. Therefore, the question is who determines what data should be
      recorded in the medical records and according to what criteria should be taken
      that decision?

PMID- 28595900
TI  - [Study of the nutritional status of patients over 65 years included in the home
      care program in an urban population].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse the nutritional status of patients older than 65 years
      included in the home care program (PAD). DESIGN: Croos-sectional study.
      EMPLACEMENT: 3 urban health centers. PARTICIPANTS: 218 patients in the PAD.
      METHOD: Mini Nutritional Assessment questionnaire (MNA) was applied.
      Sociodemographic, anthropometric, dependency, emotional and cognitive status and
      analytical parameters: 57 variables were collected. Possible associations were
      analysed by applying the chi square and variance analysis. The level of
      significance was considered to be P<.05 was considered. RESULTS: The mean age was
      83.9 years (SD=7.4); 34.9% were institutionalized and 80.7% were women; 21.2% of
      patients were malnourished and 40.1% were at risk of it. A significant
      association was established between poorer nutritional status and older age,
      lower BMI, greater dependence on basic and instrumental activities of daily
      living and greater cognitive impairment. The lowest mean hemoglobin, albumin, and
      iron levels were also associated with malnutrition and risk of malnutrition.
      CONCLUSIONS: More than half of PAD patients are malnourished or at risk for it,
      and a high proportion of them some laboratory abnormality susceptible to be
      corrected. Most cognitive impairment and functional dependence are closely
      related to malnutrition; so patients with these characteristics should receive
      more attention from the nutritional point of view.

PMID- 28595902
TI  - July 2012 (vol. 207, no. 1, page 14).

PMID- 28595901
TI  - Purification process for MUFA- and PUFA-based monoacylglycerols from edible oils.
AB  - Important health benefits have been attributed to monoacylglycerols (MAGs) due to
      their various physiological functions, owing to which they become candidates for
      use as functional foods in order to prevent the onset of certain diseases such as
      colon cancer. In this work, six edible oils, namely: olive, linseed, sunflower,
      evening primrose, DHASCO(r) and ARASCO(r) have been processed to obtain different
      MUFA- and PUFA- based MAGs. First, the oils were hydrolyzed by means of an
      enzymatic process using porcine pancreatic lipase and then the reaction products
      were fractionated by using a liquid chromatography column containing silica gel
      as stationary phase in order to purify the MAGs-enriched fraction. A second
      chromatography process was performed using silver nitrate coated silica gel as
      stationary phase, in order to obtain the different MUFA- and PUFA-based MAGs from
      the corresponding oils. Overall, MAGs based on oleic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic,
      gamma-linolenic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids have been isolated in high
      yields and purities (92.6, 97.4, 95.3, 90.9, 100 and 95.3% purity, respectively).
      Positional distribution was determined by means of 1H NMR, which revealed a mix
      of 1(3) and 2-MAGs in variable proportions in the different MAGs.

PMID- 28595903
TI  - SHC004-221A1, a novel tyrosine kinase, potently inhibits T315I mutant BCR-ABL in
      chronic myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Although judicious use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors that target BCR-ABL
      constitutes an effective strategy for the control of chronic myeloid leukemia
      (CML), drug resistance is observed due to kinase domain mutations, among which a
      major one is BCR-ABLT315I. In this study, we identified SHC004-221A1 as a potent
      inhibitor of T315I and other BCR-ABL mutants. Biochemical assays demonstrated
      that SHC004-221A1 has an inhibitory effect on all selected BCR-ABL mutants. In
      vitro studies showed that SHC004-221A1 inhibited the proliferation of tumor cell
      lines carrying native and T315I mutant BCR-ABL. Signaling pathway analysis
      revealed that SHC004-221A1 inhibited the phosphorylation of STAT5 and CrkL, which
      contributed to the apoptosis of CML cells. In vivo studies indicated that SHC004
      221A1 suppressed BCR-ALBT315I-driven tumor growth in mice. Taken together, the
      results of this study suggested that SHC004-221A1 may be a promising BCR-ABLT315I
      inhibitor for the treatment of CML.

PMID- 28595904
TI  - Characterization of Armitage and Yb containing granules and their relationship to
      nuage in ovary-derived cultured silkworm cell.
AB  - PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs,
      which are mostly 24-32 nucleotides in length and interact specifically with PIWI
      subfamily of argonaute proteins. Despite the significant research progress in
      germ line piRNA pathway, its role in somatic cell is not well known. In
      Drosophila ovarian somatic cell, maturation of primary piRNA and its loading onto
      Piwi occurs at perinuclear Yb body. The Armitage (Armi) and Yb proteins are the
      major components of Yb body and specially expressed in ovarian somatic cell.
      Based on the reports, here we studied the BmArmi and BmYb in Bombyx mori ovary
      derived BmN4 cells expressing BmVasa. In this study, we show that BmArmi and BmYb
      co-localized with BmVasa at nuage. The helicase domains of BmArmi and BmYb are
      important for nuage localization. Moreover, RNAi of piRNA components reveal that
      BmArmi depend on BmAgo3 for nuage localization, and BmArmi and BmYb form
      cytoplasmic granules independently in the absence of BmVasa. Our results provide
      evidence that the BmArmi and BmYb coexist with BmVasa and play an important role
      in perinuclear nuage granules formation in ovary-derived BmN4 cell.

PMID- 28595905
TI  - Adiponectin regulates AQP3 via PPARalpha in human hepatic stellate cells.
AB  - Aquaporins (AQPs) are trans-membrane proteins which allow the movement of water
      and glycerol required by hepatic stellate cells (HSC) for triglyceride formation
      and lipid storage. Adiponectin (ADPQ) is a hormone produced by the adipose
      tissue, which is known to increase AQP3 expression. Since ADPQ receptor signals
      via the nuclear receptor PPAR we aimed to explore the role of this pathway in
      AQP3 regulation by ADPQ in HSC. AQP3 and CPT1alpha expression increased only
      after ADPQ but not rosiglitazone stimulation. In LX2 cells co-transfected with
      plasmids expressing PPARalpha or PPARgamma coupled to a luciferase reporter gene,
      only PPARalpha increased luciferase activity after ADPQ stimulation.
      Collectively, our findings demonstrate that ADPQ increases AQP3 expression
      through PPARalpha-mediated signaling in HSC.

PMID- 28595906
TI  - Construction of EGFR peptide gefitinib/quantum dots long circulating polymeric
      liposomes for treatment and detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - Gefitinib/Quantum dots (QDs) loaded peptide long circulating liposomes (G/QDs-P
      LCPL) were successfully prepared for treatment and detection by fluorescence
      labeling for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Gefitinib was found to have marked
      inhibition which is dose- and time-dependent. Hoechst 33258 florescence staining
      and wound-healing assay indicated that as G/QDs-P-LCPL concentration increased,
      HONE1 staining cells decreased, while the amount of nucleus pyknosis and
      karyorrhexis grew. Florescence tracing result shows that the drug mainly
      distributed through tumors. G-P-LCPL target the HONE1 cells and significantly
      increase the drug uptake efficiency so as to improve the cells inhibit rate
      compared with the non-targeting group. The EGFR peptide LCPL are potentially
      useful for drug and fluorescence labeled delivery applications.

PMID- 28595907
TI  - miR-141-3p functions as a tumor suppressor modulating activating transcription
      factor 5 in glioma.
AB  - Glioma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor which arises from the
      central nervous system. Our studies reported that an anti-apoptotic factor,
      activating transcription factor 5 (ATF5), is highly expressed in malignant glioma
      specimens and cell lines. Downregulation by dominant-negetive ATF5 could repress
      glioma cell proliferation and accelerate apoptosis. Here, we further investigate
      the upstream factor which regulates ATF5 expression. Bioinformatic analysis
      showed that ATF5 was a potential target of miR-141-3p. Luciferase reporter assay
      verified that miR-141-3p specifically targeted the ATF5 3'-UTR in glioma cells.
      Functional studied suggested that miR-141-3p overexpression inhibited
      proliferation and promoted apoptosis of glioma cells (U87MG and U251). Xenograft
      experiments proved the inhibition of miR-141-3p on glioma growth in vivo.
      Moreover, exogenous ATF5 without 3'-UTR restored the cell proliferation
      inhibition triggered by miR-141-3p. Taken together, we put forward that miR-141
      3p is a new upstream target towards ATF5. It can serve as a crucial tumor
      suppressor in regulating the ATF5-regulated growth of malignant glioma.

PMID- 28595908
TI  - Association of angiotensin II receptor 1 and lectin-like oxidized low-density
      lipoprotein receptor-1 mediates the cardiac hypertrophy induced by oxidized low
      density lipoprotein.
AB  - To date the molecular mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy has not been completely
      elucidated. Since oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is considered a risk
      marker for early ventricular remodeling, we speculated that ox-LDL may be related
      to cardiac hypertrophy. We observed the significantly upregulation of plasma ox
      LDL and hypertrophic responses, such as cardiomyocyte size and specific gene
      expressions in Apo E-/- mice fed with high fat diet, accompanied by the
      upregulation of AT1-R and lectin-like oxidized low-density protein receptor 1
      (LOX-1). Ox-LDL treatment with neonatal rat cardiomyocyte for 24 h significantly
      induced similar hypertrophic responses and also upregulation of AT1-R and LOX-1.
      The analysis of co-immunoprecipitation and the bimolecular fluorescence
      complementation assay proved that LOX-1 and AT1-R could directly bind together in
      the presence of ox-LDL, suggesting a critical role of the association between LOX
      1 and AT1-R in ox-LDL-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Furthermore, we found that the
      AT1-R blocker Losartan and LOX-1 neutralizing antibody through inhibiting AT1-R
      or LOX-1 could both decline ox-LDL-induced hypertrophic responses whereas
      angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor Enalapril only partially inhibited the
      responses stimulated by ox-LDL. These findings suggested that ox-LDL could induce
      cardiac hypertrophy through the direct association of AT1-R and LOX-1.

PMID- 28595909
TI  - Strategies to reduce disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality: Patient and
      provider education.
AB  - A reduction in racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality requires
      effective education of both patients and providers. Although providers seem to
      recognize that disparities exist, there is a widespread need for improving our
      understanding differences in health care and outcomes and the factors that
      contribute to them. There are increasingly more educational materials available
      for the purpose of augmenting disparities education among patients and providers.
      However, it is important to incorporate contemporary learning methodologies and
      technologies to address our current knowledge deficit. Collaborative educational
      models with a multi-disciplinary approach to patient education will be essential.
      Ultimately, the comprehensive education of providers and patients will require
      efforts on the part of numerous stakeholders within patient care delivery models.
      Further investigation will be necessary to determine how best to disseminate this
      information to maximize the impact of patient and provider educations with the
      goal of eliminating disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28595910
TI  - Not all boronic acids with a five-membered cycle induce tremor, neuronal damage
      and decreased dopamine.
AB  - Several striatal toxins can be used to induce motor disruption. One example is
      MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine), whose toxicity is accepted
      as a murine model of parkinsonism. Recently, 3-Thienylboronic acid (3TB) was
      found to produce motor disruption and biased neuronal damage to basal ganglia in
      mice. The aim of this study was to examine the toxic effects of four boronic
      acids with a close structural relationship to 3TB (all having a five-membered
      cycle), as well as boric acid and 3TB. These boron-containing compounds were
      compared to MPTP regarding brain access, morphological disruption of the CNS, and
      behavioral manifestations of such disruption. Data was collected through acute
      toxicity evaluations, motor behavior tests, necropsies, determination of neuronal
      survival by immunohistochemistry, Raman spectroscopic analysis of brain tissue,
      and HPLC measurement of dopamine in substantia nigra and striatum tissue. Each
      compound showed a distinct profile for motor disruption. For example, motor
      activity was not disrupted by boric acid, but was decreased by two boronic acids
      (caused by a sedative effect). 3TB, 2-Thienyl and 2-furanyl boronic acid gave
      rise to shaking behavior. The various manifestations generated by these compounds
      can be linked, in part, to different levels of dopamine (measured by HPLC) and
      degrees of neuronal damage in the basal ganglia and cerebellum. Clearly, motor
      disruption is not induced by all boronic acids with a five-membered cycle as
      substituent. Possible explanations are given for the diverse chemico
      morphological changes and degrees of disruption of the motor system, considering
      the role of boron and the structure-toxicity relationship.

PMID- 28595912
TI  - The effect of manganese exposure in Atp13a2-deficient mice.
AB  - Loss of function mutations in the P5-ATPase ATP13A2 are associated with Kufor
      Rakeb Syndrome and Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis. While the function of ATP13A2
      is unclear, in vitro studies suggest it is a lysosomal protein that interacts
      with the metals manganese (Mn) and zinc and the presynaptic protein alpha
      synuclein. Loss of ATP13A2 function in mice causes sensorimotor deficits,
      enhanced autofluorescent storage material, and accumulation of alpha-synuclein.
      The present study sought to determine the effect of Mn administration on these
      same outcomes in ATP13A2-deficient mice. Wildtype and ATP13A2-deficient mice
      received saline or Mn at 5-9 or 12-19 months for 45days. Sensorimotor function
      was assessed starting at day 30. Autofluorescence was quantified in multiple
      brain regions and alpha-synuclein protein levels were determined in the ventral
      midbrain. Brain Mn, iron, zinc, and copper concentrations were measured in 5-9
      month old mice. The results show Mn enhanced sensorimotor function, increased
      autofluorescence in the substantia nigra, and increased insoluble alpha-synuclein
      in the ventral midbrain in older ATP13A2-deficient mice. In addition, the Mn
      regimen used increased Mn concentration in the brain and levels were higher in Mn
      treated mutants than controls. These results indicate loss of ATP13A2 function
      leads to increased sensitivity to Mn in vivo.

PMID- 28595911
TI  - Manganese exposure exacerbates progressive motor deficits and neurodegeneration
      in the MitoPark mouse model of Parkinson's disease: Relevance to gene and
      environment interactions in metal neurotoxicity.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is now recognized as a neurodegenerative condition
      caused by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental influences. Chronic
      manganese (Mn) exposure has been implicated in the development of PD. Since
      mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with PD pathology as well as Mn
      neurotoxicity, we investigated whether Mn exposure augments mitochondrial
      dysfunction and neurodegeneration in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system using
      a newly available mitochondrially defective transgenic mouse model of PD, the
      MitoPark mouse. This unique PD model recapitulates key features of the disease
      including progressive neurobehavioral changes and neuronal degeneration. We
      exposed MitoPark mice to a low dose of Mn (10mg/kg, p.o.) daily for 4 weeks
      starting at age 8 wks and then determined the behavioral, neurochemical and
      histological changes. Mn exposure accelerated the rate of progression of motor
      deficits in MitoPark mice when compared to the untreated MitoPark group. Mn also
      worsened olfactory function in this model. Most importantly, Mn exposure
      intensified the depletion of striatal dopamine and nigral TH neuronal loss in
      MitoPark mice. The neurodegenerative changes were accompanied by enhanced
      oxidative damage in the striatum and substantia nigra (SN) of MitoPark mice
      treated with Mn. Furthermore, Mn-treated MitoPark mice had significantly more
      oligomeric protein and IBA-1-immunoreactive microglia cells, suggesting Mn
      augments neuroinflammatory processes in the nigrostriatal pathway. To further
      confirm the direct effect of Mn on impaired mitochondrial function, we also
      generated a mitochondrially defective dopaminergic cell model by knocking out the
      TFAM transcription factor by using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing method. Seahorse
      mitochondrial bioenergetic analysis revealed that Mn decreases mitochondrial
      basal and ATP-linked respiration in the TFAM KO cells. Collectively, our results
      reveal that Mn can augment mitochondrial dysfunction to exacerbate nigrostriatal
      neurodegeneration and PD-related behavioral symptoms. Our study also demonstrates
      that the MitoPark mouse is an excellent model to study the gene-environment
      interactions associated with mitochondrial defects in the nigral dopaminergic
      system as well as to evaluate the contribution of potential environmental
      toxicant interactions in a slowly progressive model of Parkinsonism.

PMID- 28595913
TI  - Performance and design considerations for an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor
      treating brewery wastewater: Impact of surface area loading rate and temperature.
AB  - Three 4 L anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactors (AMBBR) treated brewery
      wastewater with AC920 media providing 680 m2 protected surface area per m3 of
      media. Different hydraulic retention times (HRT; 24, 18, 12, 10, 8 and 6 h) at
      40% media fill and 35  degrees C, as well as different temperatures (15, 25 and
      35  degrees C) at 50% media fill and 18 h HRT were examined. Best performance at
      35  degrees C and 40% media fill was observed when HRT was 18 h, which
      corresponded with 92% removal of soluble COD (sCOD). Organic loading rates (OLR)
      above 24 kg-COD m-3d-1 decreased performance below 80% sCOD removal at 35 
      degrees C and 40% media fill. The reason was confirmed to be that surface area
      loading rates (SALR) above 50 g-sCOD m-2d-1 caused excessive biofilm thickness
      that filled up internal channels of the media, leading to mass transfer
      limitations. Temperature had a very significant impact on process performance
      with 50% media fill and 18 h HRT. Biomass concentrations were significantly
      higher at lower temperatures. At 15  degrees C the mass of volatile solids (VS)
      was more than three times higher than at 35  degrees C for the same OLR. Biofilms
      acclimated to 25  degrees C and 15  degrees C achieved removal of 80% sCOD at
      SALR of 10 g-sCOD m-2d-1 and 1.0 g-sCOD m-2d-1, respectively. Even though biomass
      concentrations were higher at lower temperature, biofilm acclimated to 25 
      degrees C and 15  degrees C performed significantly slower than that acclimated
      to 35  degrees C.

PMID- 28595914
TI  - Ischemia-induced glomerular parietal epithelial cells hyperplasia: Commonly
      misdiagnosed cellular crescent in renal biopsy.
AB  - Ischemic pseudo-cellular crescent (IPCC) that is induced by ischemia and composed
      of hyperplastic glomerular parietal epithelial cells resembles cellular crescent.
      In this study, we aimed to assess the clinical and pathological features of IPCC
      in renal biopsy to avoid over-diagnosis and to determine the diagnostic basis. 4
      IPCC cases diagnosed over a 4-year period (2012-2015) were evaluated for the
      study. Meanwhile, 5 cases of ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis and 5 cases of
      lupus nephritis (LN) were selected as control. Appropriate clinical data,
      morphology, and immunohistochemical features of all cases were retrieved. Results
      showed that the basement membrane of glomerulus with IPCC appeared as a
      concentric twisted ball, and glomerular cells of the lesion were reduced even
      entirely absent, and the adjacent afferent arterioles showed sclerosis or luminal
      stenosis. Furthermore, immune globulin deposition, vasculitis, and fibrinous
      exudate have not been observed in IPCC. While the cellular crescents showed
      diverse characteristics in both morphology and immunostaining in the control
      group. Therefore, these results indicated that IPCC is a sort of ischemic
      reactive hyperplasia and associated with sclerosis, stenosis, or obstruction of
      adjacent afferent arterioles, which is clearly different from cellular crescents
      result from glomerulonephritis.

PMID- 28595915
TI  - Predictive value for lymph node metastasis of epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      and cancer stem cell marker expression in early gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive therapies, including endoscopic mucosal resection
      or sentinel node navigation surgery, have been widely applied in early gastric
      cancer because of their benefits in promoting patient quality of life. However,
      lymph node dissection is beyond the capability of endoscopic therapy, and in
      sentinel node navigation surgery, the potential for skip metastasis is not
      negligible. Therefore, the possibility of lymph node metastasis is the most
      important factor to consider when deciding whether to apply the minimally
      invasive therapies. In the present study, the significance of epithelial
      mesenchymal transition and stem cell marker expression in lymph node metastasis
      in early gastric cancer was investigated. METHODS: We evaluated the significance
      of the expression of 5 epithelial mesenchymal transition-related markers (E
      cadherin, MMP7, S100A, Snail-1, and HGF) and 6 stem cell markers (ALDH1, SOX2,
      CD24, CD44, CD54, and CD133) in 119 early gastric cancer specimens using
      immunohistochemistry. Because protein expression is heterogeneous in gastric
      cancer, we analyzed the expression of these markers in two selected regions (one
      each at the superficial zone and the deep invasive front). RESULTS: Expression of
      E-cadherin, MMP7, HGF, and CD133 at the deep invasive front was associated with
      the absence of lymph node metastasis (P=0.013, 0.018, <0.001, and 0.026,
      respectively). Presence of diffuse-type component, lymphatic invasion, and lack
      of expression of HGF and CD133 at the deep invasive front were independent
      predictive markers of lymph node metastasis (P=0.019, <0.001, 0.015, and 0.047,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Lymph node metastasis is strongly associated with
      expression status of HGF and CD133 at the deep invasive front, suggesting the
      usefulness of these proteins as independent predictive markers of lymph node
      metastasis in early gastric cancer.

PMID- 28595916
TI  - Combination of restriction endonuclease digestion with the DeltaDeltaCt method in
      real-time PCR to monitor etoxazole resistance allele frequency in the two-spotted
      spider mite.
AB  - Monitoring resistance allele frequency at the early stage of resistance
      development is important for the successful acaricide resistance management.
      Etoxazole is a mite growth inhibitor to which resistance is conferred by an amino
      acid substitution in the chitin synthase 1 (CHS1; I1017F) in T. urticae. If the
      susceptible allele can be specifically digested by restriction endonuclease, the
      DeltaDeltaCt method using real-time PCR for genomic DNA (RED-DeltaDeltaCt method)
      may be available for monitoring the resistance allele frequency. We tested
      whether the etoxazole resistance allele frequency in a pooled sample was
      accurately measured by the RED-DeltaDeltaCt method and validated whether the
      resistance variant frequency was correlated with etoxazole resistance phenotype
      in a bioassay. Finally, we performed a pilot test using field populations. Strong
      linearity of the measures by the RED-DeltaDeltaCt method with practical
      resistance allele frequencies; resistance allele frequency in the range between
      0.5% to at least 0.75% was strictly represented. The strong linear relationship
      between hatchability of haploid male eggs after the etoxazole treatments
      (phenotype) and resistance allele frequencies in their mothers provided direct
      evidence that I1017F is a primary resistance factor to etoxazole in the strains
      used for experiments. The pilot test revealed a significant correlation between
      egg hatchability (including both diploid female eggs and haploid male eggs) and
      estimators in field populations. Consequently, we concluded that the RED
      DeltaDeltaCt method is a powerful tool for monitoring a resistance allele in a
      pooled sample.

PMID- 28595918
TI  - Studies on bromadiolone resistance in Rattus rattus populations from Punjab,
      India.
AB  - There are several reports on development of resistance to bromadiolone in
      different species of rodents around the globe, however, there is no such report
      involving systematic study from India. Hence, present study was carried out to
      investigate current status of bromadiolone resistance in house rat (Rattus
      rattus; n=154) collected from different poultry farms (n=8) based on feeding
      test, blood clotting response (BCR) test and molecular characterization of VKORC1
      gene. Based on feeding test and BCR test, 28% rats were suspected to be
      resistant. Molecular analysis of VKORC1 gene of four suspected to be resistant
      rats having Prothrombin Time (PT) <70s, International Normalized Ratio (INR) <4.0
      and died between 26 and 73days after treatment revealed no single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) in nucleotide sequences. None of the sample under study showed
      complete nucleotide homology with previously reported nucleotide sequences of R.
      rattus. The sequences of VKORC1 gene under study can thus be considered as the
      novel sequences. Present investigation on molecular characterization of VKORC1
      gene did not reveal any genetic resistance in Rattus rattus population against
      bromadiolone though rats could be considered resistant based on BCR and feeding
      tests.

PMID- 28595917
TI  - Assessment of toxicity and biochemical mechanisms underlying the insecticidal
      activity of chemically characterized Boswellia carterii essential oil against
      insect pest of legume seeds.
AB  - The present study was undertaken to investigate the insecticidal activity of
      chemically characterized Boswellia carterii essential oil (EO) and its mode of
      action against the pulse beetle Callosobruchus chinensis and C. maculatus. GC-MS
      analysis depicted alpha-thujene (69.16%), alpha-Pinene (7.20) and alpha
      Phellandrene (6.78%) as the major components of test EO. EO exhibited absolute
      toxicity at 0.10MUl/ml air against both C. chinensis and C. maculatus following
      24h exposure. EO caused a significant reduction in oviposition and further
      reproductive development at LC50 doses (0.050MUl/ml to 0.066MUl/ml in air).
      Compared to control, a significant elevation in ROS level accompanied with
      impairment in enzymatic (SOD and CAT) and non-enzymatic (GSH/GSSH) antioxidant
      defense system has been observed in EO exposed insect pest. However, EO has no
      significant effect on in vivo AChE activity. An absolute protection of Vigna
      radiata seeds samples exposed to EO at LC90 doses was observed without affecting
      seed germination. The findings revealed that the B. carterii EO has strong
      insecticidal potential, hence, it could be recommended as a biorational
      alternative to synthetic insecticides.

PMID- 28595919
TI  - Resistance risk assessment for fludioxonil in Bipolaris maydis.
AB  - Bipolaris maydis (anamorph: Cochliobolus heterostrophus) is the causal agent of
      Southern Corn Leaf Blight (SCLB), leading to huge annually losses worldwide.
      Although fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide with a broad spectrum of
      activity, was introduced in the 1990s, no baseline sensitivity has been
      established for B. maydis. One hundred field isolates were used to establish a
      baseline sensitivity of B. maydis against fludioxonil during 2015-2016. The
      results showed that the baseline sensitivity was distributed as a unimodal curve
      with a mean EC50 value of 0.044+/-0.022MUgmL-1. With repeated exposure to
      fludioxonil, a total of five fludioxonil-resistant mutants (RF>100, RF=Resistance
      factor) were obtained in the laboratory. Compared with the parental isolates, the
      five fludioxonil-resistant mutants showed decreased fitness in sporulation and
      virulence, and exhibited different features of sensitivity to various stresses
      (oxidation and osmotic pressure, cell membrane and cell wall inhibitors), but not
      in mycelial growth on PDA without stress amendation. The five fludioxonil
      resistant mutants showed a positive cross-resistance between fludioxonil and the
      dicarboximide fungicide procymidone, but not between fludioxonil and boscalid or
      fluazinam. All mutants exhibited stable resistance to fludioxonil after 10
      transfers, as indicated by resistance factor values that ranged from 116.82 to
      445.59. When treated with 1.0 M NaCl, all the fludioxonil-resistant mutants
      showed greater mycelial glycerol content than corresponding parental isolates.
      Sequencing alignment results of Bmos1 indicated that mutant R27-5 had a single
      point mutation (Z1125K), while the mutant R104 had a 34-bp deletion fragment
      between the codons of amino acid residues 1125 to 1236 and encodes a putative
      attenuated 1133-AA protein. The 34-bp deletion fragment led to not only a 11-AA
      deletion(DNAVNQKLAVR), but also the resulting frameshift mutation and early stop.
      The mutations of R27-5 and R104 were located in the Rec domain of the Bmos1 gene.
      No mutations at the Bmos1 were detected in the other three resistant mutants R27
      1, R27-2 and R32.

PMID- 28595920
TI  - Tetrahydrophthalimidobenzoates as protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase inhibiting
      herbicides.
AB  - Tetrahydrophthalimidobenzoates are a class of protoporphyrinogen oxidase
      herbicides acting on the protoporphyrinogen oxidase enzyme. After the discovery
      of compound 1, a series of novel tetrahydrophthalimidobenzoate derivatives were
      designed and synthesized, and some synthesized compounds exhibited good
      herbicidal activity in controlling broadleaf weeds. The structure activity
      relationship of the synthesized compounds was also determined. Substitution of a
      fluorine atom at the 4-position of benzene ring resulted in better herbicidal
      activity than that with non-substitution. Among the conjunctional groups,
      methylene group with more methyl substitutions was the best. Consequently,
      compound 9 was found as the best of all in the synthesized compounds, and it is
      worthy of being developed not only because of its good herbicidal activity
      against broadleaf weeds with selectivity for maize, but also for its low toxicity
      to mammals.

PMID- 28595921
TI  - Synthesis, insecticidal activity and inhibition on topoisomerase I of 20(S)-t-Boc
      amino acid derivatives of camptothecin.
AB  - Camptothecin (CPT), a quinolone alkaloid extracted from Camptotheca acuminata
      Decne, exhibits potential insecticidal activities against various insect species.
      Our previous studies have showed that CPT induced apoptosis in Spodoptera exigua
      Hubner cell line and inhibited the relaxation activity of topoisomerase I (Topo
      I). In this study, total seven 20(S)-t-butoxy carbonyl-amino acid derivatives of
      CPT were synthesized and evaluated for insecticidal activities, cytotoxicity and
      Topo I inhibitory activities. Results showed that introduction of t-Boc amino
      acids to 20-position on CPT improves contact assay and cytotoxicity of most
      derivatives toward S. exigua but reduces inhibitory effect on relaxation activity
      of S. exigua Topo I. Furthermore, compounds 1d and 1g demonstrated higher level
      of contact activities and cytotoxicity than CPT and hydroxyl-camptothecin (HCPT),
      which are potential to be developed as potential insecticides targeted at more
      than Topo I.

PMID- 28595922
TI  - Fitness and inheritance of metaflumizone resistance in Plutella xylostella.
AB  - The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) has developed resistance to many
      types of insecticides in the field. To study inheritance and fitness cost of
      metaflumizone resistance, a susceptible strain of diamondback moth was
      continuously selected with metaflumizone during 37 generations under laboratory
      conditions. The resistance to metaflumizone was at a high level (resistance
      ratios from 250.37 to 1450.47-fold). We investigated a metaflumizone resistance
      strain (G27) and a susceptible strain of P. xylostella, using the age-stage, two
      sex life table approach. Compared to the susceptible strain, egg duration, the
      developmental time of the first and second instar larvae, pupae duration, adult
      preoviposition period (APOP), total preoviposition period (TPOP), egg
      hatchability, the survival rate of second instar larva and the mean generation
      time (T) were significantly differences in the resistant strain. The resistant
      strain had a relative fitness of 0.78. The inheritance of metaflumizone
      resistance was also studied by crossing the metaflumizone resistant and
      susceptible populations. Results revealed an autosomal and incompletely recessive
      mode of inheritance for metaflumizone resistance in the resistant population of
      P. xylostella. The present study provided useful information for planning
      potential management strategies to delay development of metaflumizone resistance
      in P. xylostella.

PMID- 28595923
TI  - Microstructural and ultrastructural changes in the muscle cells of the oriental
      armyworm Mythimna separata Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on treatment with
      wilforine.
AB  - This study investigated the mode of action of wilforine, an alkaloid with
      insecticidal properties, extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f., on the
      microstructure and ultrastructure of the muscle cells of larvae and adults of the
      oriental armyworm Mythimna separata Walker. The bioassay results showed that
      wilforine had oral toxicity against both M. separata larvae (LC50=63MUg/mL) and
      adults (LC50=36MUg/mL). The typical toxicity sign was paralysis leading to death.
      Both light and electron microscope observations revealed that damage to the
      muscle cells increased with poisoning time in larvae and adults treated with the
      LC80 dose of wilforine. Histopathological examinations in the muscle cells of M.
      separata adults showed that there were large cytoplasmic spaces, disrupted Z
      lines and swollen mitochondria in the muscle cells. Further, the sarcoplasmic
      reticulum was excessively dilated and fragmented; the nuclear membrane was
      ruptured; nuclear material was overflowing; and the myolemma was damaged. The
      similar pathological changes in the muscle cells of oriental armyworm larvae were
      observed, as above. In addition, a medullary sheath structure appeared and
      crystalline inclusion was also observed in the muscle cells of M. separata
      larvae. In conclusion, wilforine could induce pathological changes in the muscle
      cells of oriental armyworm larvae and adults, leading to their death; thus, the
      active site of action of wilforine maybe located in the muscle tissue of insects.

PMID- 28595924
TI  - Mechanisms of acaricide resistance in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus)
      microplus in Sri Lanka.
AB  - High tolerance of ticks to acaricides is increasingly becoming a problem to
      cattle farmers. Resistance status of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari:
      Ixodidae)from two cattle farms of Sri Lanka were determined against different
      concentrations of pyrethroid permethrin, organophosphate malathion,
      organochlorine DDT and carbamate propoxur using Larval Packet Test (LPT) as
      recommended by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Mechanisms of acaricide
      resistance were studied by conducting biochemical and PCR assays. Tick larvae
      were tested for the activity levels of acaricide metabolizing enzymes
      i.e.esterases, glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and monooxygenases, and for
      altered target sites i.e.acetylcholinesterase (target site of organophosphates
      and carbamates) and sodium channel regulatory proteins (target site of
      pyrethroids and DDT). According to discriminating dosages specified by FAO for
      ticks both populations were 24-56% resistant to DDT. LC values showed that the
      both populations were susceptible to permethrin and resistant to malathion.
      Moderate insensitivity of AChEs and knock-down resistance (kdr) mutations were
      found as resistance mechanisms. GSTs and monooxygenases were not elevated. The
      kdr type mutation G72V (G215T in the gene) found in the sodium channel regulatory
      protein of R. (B.) microplus samples may be responsible for DDT resistance.
      Systematic and sophisticated insecticide resistance monitoring programmes and a
      better understanding on the mechanisms which govern resistance development are
      vital for future tick control programmes.

PMID- 28595925
TI  - Jinggangmycin-suppressed reproduction in the small brown planthopper (SBPH),
      Laodelphax striatellus (Fallen), is mediated by glucose dehydrogenase (GDH).
AB  - The small brown planthopper (SBPH), Laodelphax striatellus (Fallen), is a serious
      pest insect of rice, wheat, and maize in China. SBPH not only sucks plant sap but
      also transmits plant disease viruses, causing serious damage. These viruses
      include rice striped virus disease (RSV disease), black streaked dwarf, and maize
      rough disease virus. SBPH outbreaks are related to the overuse of pesticides in
      China. Some pesticides, such as triazophos, stimulate the reproduction of SBPH,
      but an antibiotic fungicide jinggangmycin (JGM) suppresses its reproduction.
      However, mechanisms of decreased reproduction of SBPH induced by JGM remain
      unclear. The present findings show that JGM suppressed reproduction of SBPH
      (?approximately 35.7%) and resulted in the down-regulated expression of glucose
      dehydrogenase (GDH). GDH-silenced control females (control+dsGDH) show that the
      number of eggs laid was reduced by 48.6% compared to control females. Biochemical
      tests show that the total lipid and fatty acid contents in JGM-treated and
      control+dsGDH females decreased significantly. Thus, we propose that the
      suppression of reproduction in SBPH induced by JGM is mediated by GDH via
      metabolic pathways.

PMID- 28595926
TI  - Curcumin induces autophagic cell death in Spodoptera frugiperda cells.
AB  - The increasing interest in the role of autophagy (type II cell death) in the
      regulation of insect toxicology has propelled study of investigating autophagic
      cell death pathways. Turmeric, the rhizome of the herb Curcuma longa (Manjal in
      Tamil, India and Jianghuang in Chinese) have been traditionally used for the pest
      control either alone or combination with other botanical pesticides. However, the
      mechanisms by which Curcuma longa or curcumin exerts cytotoxicity in pests are
      not well understood. In this study, we investigated the potency of Curcuma longa
      (curcumin) as a natural pesticide employing Sf9 insect line. Autophagy induction
      effect of curcumin on Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells was investigated using
      various techniques including cell proliferation assay, morphology analysis with
      inverted phase contrast microscope and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)
      analysis. Autophagy was evaluated using the fluorescent dye monodansylcadaverine
      (MDC). Cell death measurement was examined using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5
      Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) within the concentrations of 5-15MUg/mL.
      Curcumin inhibited the growth of the Sf9 cells and induced autophagic cell death
      in a time and dose dependent manner. Staining the cells with MDC showed the
      presence of autophagic vacuoles while increased in a dose and time dependent
      manner. At the ultrastructural level transmission electron microscopy, cells
      revealed massive autophagy vacuole accumulation and absence of chromatin
      condensation. Protein expression levels of ATG8-I and ATG8-II, well-established
      markers of autophagy related protein were elevated in a time dependent manner
      after curcumin treatment. The present study proves that curcumin induces
      autophagic cell death in Sf9 insect cell line and this is the first report of
      cytotoxic effect of curcumin in insect cells and that will be utilized as natural
      pesticides in future.

PMID- 28595927
TI  - Application of fatty acids as antiviral agents against tobacco mosaic virus.
AB  - Numerous studies reported fatty acids (FAs) affecting basal resistance to
      bacterial and fungal pathogens in plants, but limited reports focused on
      antiviral agents. In this study, oleic acid was separated from cottonseed oil
      sludge by antiviral bioassay-guided methods. Antiviral activity of FAs was
      compared with that of Ningnanmycin. Subsequently, effects of FAs on defense
      related enzymes (PAL, POD) and defense-related genes (PR-1a, PR-5) were studied.
      FAs presented moderate antiviral activity, which is close to that of
      Ningnanmycin, and activities of PAL and POD were higher in oleic-acid-treated
      tobacco leaves than those inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and water
      treated tobacco. In oleic-acid-treated tobacco, expression levels of PR-1a and PR
      5 genes rapidly increased from days 1-3. All results showed that FAs can increase
      resistance against TMV, and related mechanism can be attributed to activated
      expressions of a number of defense-related genes, suggesting that FAs can
      potentially act as pesticides for integrated control of plant viruses in the
      future.

PMID- 28595928
TI  - Histopathological effects of cypermethrin and Bacillus thuringiensis var.
      israelensis on midgut of Chironomus calligraphus larvae (Diptera: Chironomidae).
AB  - Pesticides are extensively used for the control of agricultural pests and disease
      vectors, but they also affect non-target organisms. Cypermethrin (CYP) is a
      synthetic pyrethroid used worldwide. Otherwise, bioinsecticides like Bacillus
      thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) have received great attention as an
      environmentally benign and desirable alternative. In order to evaluate the
      toxicity of those pesticides, Chironomus calligraphus was selected due to its
      high sensitivity to some toxicants. Third and fourth instars larvae were exposed
      to serial dilutions of CYP and Bti to determine LC50 values. In order to evaluate
      the potentially histopathological alterations as biomarkers, after 96-h of
      exposure, live larvae were fixed for histological analysis of the mid region of
      digestive tract. The 96-h LC50 values were 0.52 and 1.506MUg/L for CYP and Bti,
      respectively. Midgut histological structure of the control group showed a single
      layer of cubical cells with microvilli in their apical surface and a big central
      nucleus. The midgut epithelium of larvae exposed to a low concentration of CYP
      (0.037MUg/L) showed secretion activity and vacuolization while at high
      concentration (0.3MUg/L) cells showed a greater disorganization and a more
      developed fat body. On the other hand, Bti caused progressive histological damage
      in this tissue. Chironomus calligraphus is sensitive to Bti and CYP toxicity like
      other Chironomus species. The histopathological alterations could be a valuable
      tool to assess toxicity mechanism of different pesticides.

PMID- 28595929
TI  - Solvent-dependent binding interactions of the organophosphate pesticide,
      chlorpyrifos (CPF), and its metabolite, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), with
      Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA): A comparative fluorescence quenching analysis.
AB  - Analysis of the interaction of pesticides and their metabolites with the cellular
      proteins has drawn considerable attention in past several years to understand the
      effect of pesticides on environment and mankind. In this study, we have
      investigated the binding interaction of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) with a widely
      used organophosphorous insecticide chlorpyrifos (CPF), and its stable metabolite,
      3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy) to provide a comparative analysis of the two
      molecules by employing various spectroscopic techniques viz., UV-vis absorption,
      Circular Dichroism (CD), and Fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence
      quenching studies of BSA emission in two different solvents viz., water and
      methanol in presence of CPF and TCPy have led to the revelation of several
      interesting facts about the pesticide-protein interaction. It has been found that
      both the molecules cause static quenching of BSA emission as seen from the Stern
      Volmer constant (Ksv) irrespective of the solvent used for the analysis. While
      TCPy is a stronger quencher in water, it exhibits comparable quenching capacity
      with CPF in methanol. The solvent dependent differential binding interaction of
      the two molecules finally indicates possibility of diverse bio-distribution of
      the pesticides within human body. The UV-vis and CD spectra of BSA in presence of
      the test molecules have unravelled that the molecules formed ground state complex
      that are highly reversible in nature and have minimal effect on the protein
      secondary structure. Furthermore it is also understood that structural changes of
      BSA in presence of CPF is significantly higher compared to that in presence of
      TCPY.

PMID- 28595930
TI  - A novel hybrid tobacco product that delivers a tobacco flavour note with vapour
      aerosol (Part 2): In vitro biological assessment and comparison with different
      tobacco-heating products.
AB  - This study assessed the toxicological and biological responses of aerosols from a
      novel hybrid tobacco product. Toxicological responses from the hybrid tobacco
      product were compared to those from a commercially available Tobacco Heating
      Product (c-THP), a prototype THP (p-THP) and a 3R4F reference cigarette, using in
      vitro test methods which were outlined as part of a framework to substantiate the
      risk reduction potential of novel tobacco and nicotine products. Exposure
      matrices used included total particulate matter (TPM), whole aerosol (WA), and
      aqueous aerosol extracts (AqE) obtained after machine-puffing the test products
      under the Health Canada Intense smoking regime. Levels of carbonyls and nicotine
      in these matrices were measured to understand the aerosol dosimetry of the
      products. The hybrid tobacco product tested negative across the in vitro assays
      including mutagenicity, genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, tumour promotion, oxidative
      stress and endothelial dysfunction. All the THPs tested demonstrated
      significantly reduced responses in these in vitro assays when compared to 3R4F.
      The findings suggest these products have the potential for reduced health risks.
      Further pre-clinical and clinical assessments are required to substantiate the
      risk reduction of these novel products at individual and population levels.

PMID- 28595931
TI  - Aripiprazole-induced adverse metabolic alterations in polyI:C neurodevelopmental
      model of schizophrenia in rats.
AB  - Schizophrenia appears to be linked to higher incidence of metabolic syndrome even
      in the absence of antipsychotic treatment. Atypical antipsychotics substantially
      differ in their propensity to induce metabolic alterations. Aripiprazole is
      considered to represent an antipsychotic drug with low risk of metabolic syndrome
      development. The aim of this study was to evaluate metabolic phenotype of
      neurodevelopmental polyI:C rat model and assess metabolic effects of chronic
      aripiprazole treatment with regard to complex neuroendocrine regulations of
      energy homeostasis. Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (polyI:C) was administered
      subcutaneously at a dose of 8 mg/kg in 10 ml on gestational day 15 to female
      Wistar rats. For this study 20 polyI:C and 20 control adult male offspring were
      used, randomly divided into 2 groups per 10 animals for chronic aripiprazole
      treatment and vehicle. Aripiprazole (5 mg/kg, dissolved tablets, ABILIFY(r)) was
      administered once daily via oral gavage for a month. Altered lipid profile in
      polyI:C model was observed and a trend towards different dynamics of weight gain
      in polyI:C rats was noted in the absence of significant antipsychotic treatment
      effect. PolyI:C model was not associated with changes in other parameters i.e.
      adipokines, gastrointestinal hormones and cytokines levels. Aripiprazole did not
      influence body weight but it induced alterations in neurohumoral regulations.
      Leptin and GLP-1 serum levels were significantly reduced, while ghrelin level was
      elevated. Furthermore aripiprazole decreased serum levels of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines. Our data indicate dysregulation of adipokines and gastrointestinal
      hormones present after chronic treatment with aripiprazole which is considered
      metabolically neutral in the polyI:C model of schizophrenia.

PMID- 28595932
TI  - Characterization of ciliate diversity in bromeliad tank waters from the Brazilian
      Atlantic Forest.
AB  - Bromeliads are a diverse group of plants that includes many species whose
      individuals are capable of retaining water, forming habitats called phytotelmata.
      These habitats harbor a diversity of organisms including prokaryotes, unicellular
      eukaryotes, metazoans, and fungi. Among single-celled eukaryotic organisms,
      ciliates are generally the most abundant. In the present study, we used Illumina
      DNA sequencing to survey the eukaryotic communities, especially ciliates,
      inhabiting the tanks of the bromeliads Aechmea gamosepala and Vriesea platynema
      in the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil. Filtered sequences were clustered into
      distinct OTUs using a 99% identity threshold, and then assigned to phylum and
      genus using a BLAST-based approach (implemented in QIIME) and the SILVA reference
      database. Both bromeliad species harbored very diverse eukaryotic communities,
      with Arthropoda and Ciliophora showing the highest abundance (as estimated by the
      number of sequence reads). The ciliate genus Tetrahymena was the most abundant
      among single-celled organisms, followed by apicomplexan gregarines and the
      ciliate genus Glaucoma. Another interesting finding was the presence and high
      abundance of Trypanosoma in these bromeliad tanks, demonstrating their occurrence
      in this type of environment. The results presented here demonstrate a hidden
      diversity of eukaryotes in bromeliad tank waters, opening up new avenues for
      their in-depth characterization.

PMID- 28595933
TI  - Morphologic and phylogenetic studies of two hypotrichous ciliates, with notes on
      morphogenesis in Gastrostyla steinii Engelmann, 1862 (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia).
AB  - Two oxytrichid ciliates, Stylonychia (Metastylonychia) nodulinucleata Shi and Li,
      1993 and Gastrostyla steinii Engelmann, 1862; collected from Huguangyan Maar Lake
      and Shenzhen Mangrove Nature Protection Area, southern China, respectively, were
      investigated using standard methods. The uncommon species Stylonychia
      (Metastylonychia) nodulinucleata can be recognized by its large body size, the
      conspicuous caudal cirri in vivo, and a moniliform macronucleus. We provide the
      first record of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequence for the
      species. The division of Stylonychia into two subgenera based on morphological
      and morphogenetic data is supported by the phylogenetic analyses, in which
      Stylonychia (Metastylonychia) nodulinucleata is placed as a sister branch to the
      clade including all the sequences of Stylonychia (Stylonychia) mytilus complex.
      The first brackish water population of Gastrostyla steinii is described in
      detail, with emphasis on its morphogenesis, which corresponds well with previous
      populations. In the phylogenetic trees, all the available Gastrostyla sequences,
      except for Gastrostyla sp. Y2 (KT780432) (probably a misidentification), nest
      together in the big group of the subfamily Stylonychinae with moderate to high
      support (ML/BI, 91%/0.95), very likely revealing the monophyly of the genus
      Gastrostyla.

PMID- 28595934
TI  - Secular Trends in Prostate Biopsy Criteria and Outcomes: The Dartmouth
      Experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate trends in prostate biopsy and cancer diagnosis at a center
      with conservative screening practices in the pre- and post-2012 era. More
      restrictive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening guidelines have led to
      lower rates of screening, biopsy, and diagnosis of prostate cancer. It is not
      clear, however, how regions with low baseline screening rates (the Lebanon, New
      Hampshire hospital referral region centered on Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
      had the lowest rate of screening among Medicare patients in 2012) have responded
      to these guidelines. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent
      prostate biopsy from January 2011 to March 2016. Demographic and clinical
      characteristics were analyzed by time. Multivariable analysis assessed for
      factors associated with higher grade cancer. RESULTS: There were 614 prostate
      biopsies were performed. PSA at biopsy increased with time (7.2 in 2011 vs 10.1
      in 2015, P = .0085); age did not. There was a stable proportion of benign
      findings; proportions of low-grade disease decreased, whereas intermediate- and
      high-grade disease increased (2011 vs 2015: 21.1% vs 10.8% Gleason 3 + 3, 32.9%
      vs 43.3% >= Gleason 3 + 4, P = .0454). Factors predictive of higher grade disease
      included abnormal digital examination (odds ratio [OR] 2.19, P = .0076), higher
      PSA (OR 1.09, P = .0040), and later biopsy date (OR 1.01, P = .0469). CONCLUSION:
      In an environment of conservative baseline screening practices, there has been a
      shift in prostate biopsy criteria and outcomes, namely a rising PSA threshold for
      biopsy and a 50% decrease in the diagnosis of low-grade disease. Additional study
      is needed to ensure these trends are favorably impacting the quality of care.

PMID- 28595935
TI  - Predictors of Renal Functional Improvement After Pyeloplasty in Ureteropelvic
      Junction Obstruction: Clinical Value of Visually Assessed Renal Tissue Tracer
      Transit in 99mTc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine Renography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical value of visually assessed renal tissue
      transit time (TTT) in 99mTc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine (99mTc-MAG3) renography for
      patients undergoing pyeloplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of 164
      patients who underwent dismembered pyeloplasty were retrospectively reviewed.
      Baseline and postoperative renal ultrasonography and 99mTc-MAG3 renography were
      performed. Two urologists blinded to clinical data evaluated the renography and
      classified TTT as timely or delayed based on visualization of the tracer in the
      kidney pelvis between 2 and 10 minutes. Renal functional change after pyeloplasty
      was compared between patients in the timely and delayed groups. RESULTS: A total
      of 126 patients (median age, 9 months) were evaluated after excluding patients
      with bilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction, a single functioning kidney,
      duplicated ureter, or <3 months of follow-up. There were no differences between
      89 patients with timely TTT and 37 patients with delayed TTT in mean preoperative
      hydronephrosis grade (3.7 vs 3.8) and pelvic diameter (3.1 cm vs 3.4 cm).
      Although the pre- and postoperative mean values of differential renal function
      (DRF) were significantly higher in the timely group than in the delayed group
      (47.2% vs 38.3% and 47.9% vs 44.6%), DRF change was greater in the delayed group
      (6.3% vs 0.6%). In multivariate analysis, delayed TTT was the only significant
      predictor of >5% improvement in renal function after pyeloplasty. CONCLUSION:
      Delayed TTT in 99mTc-MAG3 renography was a significant predictor of renal
      functional improvement after pyeloplasty in ureteropelvic junction obstruction.
      Because substantial improvement of renal function is anticipated, we recommend
      immediate pyeloplasty in patients with delayed TTT and decreased DRF.

PMID- 28595936
TI  - The Peak Site of Stone Distribution in the Upper Ureter is Unlikely the
      Ureteropelvic Junction: Computed Tomography Analysis of Stone Lodging Site With
      Respect to a Newly Identified Area of Constriction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the upper urinary stone
      distribution and the "crossing point," an area of relative fixation within the
      upper ureter at approximately the level where the ureter crosses the gonadal
      vein. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 298 consecutive patients presenting with
      acute renal colic, identified upper ureteral stones in computed tomography. For
      stones located at the "renal pelvis and upper ureter," we measured the vertebral
      level of each renal pelvis, crossing point, and stone. The distance between the
      crossing point and the stones (designated as positive if the stone was located
      above it) and the distance between the renal pelvis and the crossing point were
      measured. RESULTS: The average stone size at the "renal pelvis and upper ureter"
      was 6.0 +/- 3.2 mm, at "middle ureter" 5.2 +/- 1.9 mm, and at "lower ureter" 3.7
      +/- 1.8 mm. Lower location was significantly correlated with smaller size (P
      <.001). The level of the crossing point and stone location were significantly
      lower on the right (P = .019, P = .033, respectively), whereas the vertebral
      level of the renal pelvis was not significantly different on both sides (P =
      .225). The mean distance between the crossing point and the stones was -5.6 +/-
      18.4 mm (median: 0 mm) on the right and -4.7 +/- 19.3 mm (median: 0 mm) on the
      left. The mean distance between the renal pelvis and the stones was significantly
      longer on the right (57.2 +/- 18.5 mm and 48.2 +/- 19.1 mm) (P = .038).
      CONCLUSION: The crossing point is the peak site of stone distribution in the
      upper ureter and likely different from the traditionally identified obstruction
      site at the ureteropelvic junction.

PMID- 28595937
TI  - Application of mass transfer theory to biomarker capture by surface
      functionalized magnetic beads in microcentrifuge tubes.
AB  - In many diagnostic assays, specific biomarker extraction and purification from a
      patient sample is performed in microcentrifuge tubes using surface-functionalized
      magnetic beads. Although assay binding times are known to be highly dependent on
      sample viscosity, sample volume, capture reagent, and fluid mixing, the
      theoretical mass transport framework that has been developed and validated in
      engineering has yet to be applied in this context. In this work, we adapt this
      existing framework for simultaneous mass transfer and surface reaction and apply
      it to the binding of biomarkers in clinical samples to surface-functionalized
      magnetic beads. We discuss the fundamental fluid dynamics of vortex mixing within
      microcentrifuge tubes as well as describe how particles and biomolecules interact
      with the fluid. The model is solved over a wide range of parameters, and we
      present scenarios when a simplified analytical expression would be most accurate.
      Next, we review of some relevant techniques for model parameter estimation.
      Finally, we apply the mass transfer theory to practical use-case scenarios of
      immediate use to clinicians and assay developers. Throughout, we highlight where
      further characterization is necessary to bridge the gap between theory and
      practical application.

PMID- 28595938
TI  - Bifidobacteria-derived lipoproteins inhibit infection with coxsackievirus B4 in
      vitro.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of bifidobacteria
      in protecting cells from coxsackievirus B4 (CV-B4) infection. Bifidobacterial
      screening identified two of five strains that protected human epithelial type 2
      (HEp-2) cell viability when bifidobacteria were incubated with viral particles
      prior to inoculation. In contrast, no effect was shown by incubating HEp-2 cells
      with bifidobacteria prior to CV-B4 inoculation. Cell wall lipoprotein aggregates
      (LpAs) secreted by the selected strains were assayed for their antiviral
      activity. The two LpAs exhibited antiviral activity when they were incubated with
      viral particles prior to inoculation of HEp-2 cells. Recombinant LpA-derived
      protein exhibited identical antiviral activity. To identify the peptide sequences
      interacting with the virus particles, LpA proteins were aligned with the peptide
      sequences of the north canyon rim and puff footprint onto coxsackievirus and
      adenovirus receptor (CAR). The in silico molecular docking study using CV-B3 as
      template showed low-energy binding, indicating a stable system for the selected
      peptides and consequently a likely binding interaction with CV-B. Bifidobacterium
      longum and Bifidobacterium breve peptides homologous to the viral north rim
      footprint onto CAR sequence formed hydrogen bonds with several viral residues in
      the north rim of the canyon, which were already predicted as interacting with
      CAR. In conclusion, proteins from bifidobacterial LpAs can inhibit infection with
      CV-B4, likely through binding to the capsid amino acids that interact with CAR.

PMID- 28595939
TI  - Role of second-line injectable antituberculosis drugs in the treatment of MDR/XDR
      tuberculosis.
AB  - Second-line injectable antituberculosis drugs (aminoglycosides and capreomycin)
      are the main drugs used in the management of resistant tuberculosis. Their
      preserved efficacy in the case of multi-drug-resistant bacillus is
      counterbalanced by frequent adverse events. Adverse events are linked to the
      drugs themselves and to the recommended 8-month period of parenteral
      administration. In numerous countries facing a high incidence of multi-drug
      resistant tuberculosis, treatment is administered by intramuscular injection.
      This procedure is painful and restrictive, and therefore treatment adherence is
      limited. This study reports the follow-up of 11 patients diagnosed with multi
      drug- and extensively-resistant tuberculosis and treated with parenteral
      amikacin, and discusses the role of amikacin in the treatment of resistant
      tuberculosis.

PMID- 28595940
TI  - Glabridin triggers over-expression of MCA1 and NUC1 genes in Candida glabrata: Is
      it an apoptosis inducer?
AB  - The growing trends of emergence of antifungal-resistant Candida strains has
      recently been inspired the researchers to design new antifungal agents with novel
      mechanisms of action. Glabridin is an originally natural substrate with multiple
      biological activities which propose it as a novel anticancer, antimicrobial and
      antifungal agent. In the present study, the antifungal effect of glabridin
      against Candida glabrata isolates and its possible mechanism of action were
      investigated. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for glabridin against
      fluconazole-resistant and fluconazole-SDD strains of C. glabrata were
      investigated using the Clinical and laboratory standards institute document M27
      A3 and M27-S4 as a guideline. Possible alternations in the expression of two
      critical genes involved in yeast apoptosis, MCA1 and NUC1, were assayed by real
      time PCR. DNA damage and chromatin condensation was investigated using DAPI
      staining. Although glabridin led to a significant decrease in MICs against
      fluconazole-resistant C. glabrata (MIC50: 8MUg/mL), no significant decreased was
      shown for fluconazole-SDD strains. Therefore, a distinct azole-independent
      mechanism could be responsible for the inhibitory activity of glabridin.
      Overexpression of MCA1 and NUC1 genes in addition to DNA damage and chromatin
      condensation suggesting the involvement of apoptosis signaling in C. glabrata
      stains exposed to glabridin. This study suggests that glabridin might be
      considered as a novel naturally originated agent to fight against fluconazole
      resistance C. glabrata strains.

PMID- 28595942
TI  - Multicomponent access to androstano-arylpyrimidines under microwave conditions
      and evaluation of their anti-cancer activity in vitro.
AB  - Novel ring D- and A-fused pyrimidines in the androstane series were efficiently
      synthesized within 10-15min in polar protic solvents under microwave irradiation
      via two kinds of multicomponent heterocyclization reactions followed by
      spontaneous or promoted oxidation. The rates of the one-pot catalyst-free
      transformations of steroidal beta-ketoaldehydes, ammonium acetate and substituted
      benzaldehydes in EtOH were found to be affected slightly by the steric and
      electronic feature of the substituents on the aromatic ring of the arylaldehyde
      component and the different reactivities of rings D and A of the sterane core. At
      the same time, the acid-catalyzed Biginelli-type reaction of dihydrotestosterone
      acetate, urea and arylaldehydes, and subsequent Jones oxidation of the primarily
      formed dihydropyrimidinones led to the corresponding ring A-fused 1H-pyrimidin-2
      ones in moderate yields independently of the substituents on the aromatic moiety.
      The synthesized compounds were tested in vitro on human cancer cell lines as well
      as on non-cancerous fibroblast cells by the MTT assay in order to investigate
      their biological effects. As a result of the pharmacological screen, a remarkable
      structure-function relationship has been observed as the acetylated Biginelli
      products exhibited higher toxicity compared to the deacetylated version of each
      compound. Furthermore, in case of three 2'-arylpyrimidine derivatives a strong
      prostate cancer cell specific activity has been identified.

PMID- 28595943
TI  - A role for G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) in estrogen-induced
      carcinogenesis: Dysregulated glandular homeostasis, survival and metastasis.
AB  - Mechanisms of carcinogenesis by estrogen center on its mitogenic and genotoxic
      potential on tumor target cells. These models suggest that estrogen receptor (ER)
      signaling promotes expansion of the transformed population and that subsequent
      accumulation of somatic mutations that drive cancer progression occur via
      metabolic activation of cathecol estrogens or by epigenetic mechanisms. Recent
      findings that GPER is linked to obesity, vascular pathology and
      immunosuppression, key events in the development of metabolic syndrome and intra
      tissular estrogen synthesis, provides an alternate view of estrogen-induced
      carcinogenesis. Consistent with this concept, GPER is directly associated with
      clinicopathological indices that predict cancer progression and poor survival in
      breast and gynecological cancers. Moreover, GPER manifests cell biological
      responses and a microenvironment conducive for tumor development and cancer
      progression, regulating cellular responses associated with glandular homeostasis
      and survival, invading surrounding tissue and attracting a vascular supply. Thus,
      the cellular actions attributed to GPER fit well with the known molecular
      mechanisms of G-protein coupled receptors, GPCRs, namely, their ability to
      transactivate integrins and EGF receptors and alter the interaction between
      glandular epithelia and their extracellular environment, affecting epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) and allowing for tumor cell survival and
      dissemination. This perspective reviews the molecular and cellular responses
      manifested by GPER and evaluates its contribution to female reproductive cancers
      as diseases that progress as a result of dysregulated glandular homeostasis
      resulting in chronic inflammation and metastasis. This review is organized in
      sections as follows: I) a brief synopsis of the current state of knowledge
      regarding estrogen-induced carcinogenesis, II) a review of evidence from clinical
      and animal-based studies that support a role for GPER in cancer progression, and
      III) a mechanistic framework describing how GPER-mediated estrogen action may
      influence the tumor and its microenvironment.

PMID- 28595941
TI  - Epidemiology of mucopolysaccharidoses.
AB  - The aim of this study was to obtain data about the epidemiology of the different
      types of mucopolysaccharidoses in Japan and Switzerland and to compare with
      similar data from other countries. Data for Japan was collected between 1982 and
      2009, and 467 cases with MPS were identified. The combined birth prevalence was
      1.53 per 100,000 live births. The highest birth prevalence was 0.84 for MPS II,
      accounting for 55% of all MPS. MPS I, III, and IV accounted for 15, 16, and 10%,
      respectively. MPS VI and VII were more rare and accounted for 1.7 and 1.3%,
      respectively. A retrospective epidemiological data collection was performed in
      Switzerland between 1975 and 2008 (34years), and 41 living MPS patients were
      identified. The combined birth prevalence was 1.56 per 100,000 live births. The
      highest birth prevalence was 0.46 for MPS II, accounting for 29% of all MPS. MPS
      I, III, and IV accounted for 12, 24, and 24%, respectively. As seen in the
      Japanese population, MPS VI and VII were more rare and accounted for 7.3 and
      2.4%, respectively. The high birth prevalence of MPS II in Japan was comparable
      to that seen in other East Asian countries where this MPS accounted for
      approximately 50% of all forms of MPS. Birth prevalence was also similar in some
      European countries (Germany, Northern Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands)
      although the prevalence of other forms of MPS is also reported to be higher in
      these countries. Birth prevalence of MPS II in Switzerland and other European
      countries is comparatively lower. The birth prevalence of MPS III and IV in
      Switzerland is higher than in Japan but comparable to that in most other European
      countries. Moreover, the birth prevalence of MPS VI and VII was very low in both,
      Switzerland and Japan. Overall, the frequency of MPS varies for each population
      due to differences in ethnic backgrounds and/or founder effects that affect the
      birth prevalence of each type of MPS, as seen for other rare genetic diseases.
      Methods for identification of MPS patients are not uniform across all countries,
      and consequently, if patients are not identified, recorded prevalence rates will
      be aberrantly low.

PMID- 28595944
TI  - IDO chronic immune activation and tryptophan metabolic pathway: A potential
      pathophysiological link between depression and obesity.
AB  - Obesity and depression are among the most pressing health problems in the
      contemporary world. Obesity and depression share a bidirectional relationship,
      whereby each condition increases the risk of the other. By inference, shared
      pathways may underpin the comorbidity between obesity and depression. Activation
      of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is a key factor in the pathophysiology of
      depression. CMI cytokines, including IFN-gamma, TNFalpha and IL-1beta, induce the
      catabolism of tryptophan (TRY) by stimulating indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO)
      resulting in the synthesis of kynurenine (KYN) and other tryptophan catabolites
      (TRYCATs). In the CNS, TRYCATs have been related to oxidative damage,
      inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, cytotoxicity, excitotoxicity,
      neurotoxicity and lowered neuroplasticity. The pathophysiology of obesity is also
      associated with a state of aberrant inflammation that activates aryl hydrocarbon
      receptor (AHR), a pathway involved in the detection of intracellular or
      environmental changes as well as with increases in the production of TRYCATs,
      being KYN an agonists of AHR. Both AHR and TRYCATS are involved in obesity and
      related metabolic disorders. These changes in the TRYCAT pathway may contribute
      to the onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms in obesity. This paper reviews the role
      of immune activation, IDO stimulation and increased TRYCAT production in the
      pathophysiology of depression and obesity. Here we suggest that increased
      synthesis of detrimental TRYCATs is implicated in comorbid obesity and depression
      and is a new drug target to treat both diseases.

PMID- 28595947
TI  - Comparison of Temporal Artery Versus Rectal Temperature in Emergency Department
      Patients Who Are Unable to Participate in Oral Temperature Assessment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the emergency department, pediatric and geriatric patients who
      present with illnesses and are unable to participate in oral evaluation of
      temperature must undergo a rectal temperature (RT) assessment. This study asks if
      a temporal artery temperature (TAT) measure can supplant the RT measure. METHODS:
      A convenience sample, using a within-subject design, was used to evaluate the
      efficacy of TAT compared with RT in patients <= 3 and >= 65 years of age, who
      were unable to participate in oral temperature assessments. RESULTS: Instrument
      reliability of the TAT is adequate for both the pediatric and geriatric
      populations. An unadjusted TAT did not provide acceptable temperature
      measurements. We also found that adjusting a TAT reading by adding -17.22 degrees
      C (1 degrees  F) rendered the TAT average (either mean or median) adequately
      similar to RT averages for research purposes for both pediatric and geriatric
      groups. DISCUSSION: No influence was detected on the differences between RT and
      TAT due to age, sex, or emergency severity index (ESI) score in patients or due
      to profession, years of education, or years of experience in caregivers for
      either the pediatric or geriatric groups. Furthermore, the adjusted TAT reading
      could detect fever in individual patients adequately in both the pediatric and
      geriatric groups. However, the adjusted TAT readings were too frequently
      divergent from RT readings to be used to measure temperature in individual
      patients for both pediatric and geriatric groups.

PMID- 28595945
TI  - Role of placebo effects in pain and neuropsychiatric disorders.
AB  - The placebo (and the nocebo) effect is a powerful determinant of health outcomes
      in clinical disease treatment and management. Efforts to completely eradicate
      placebo effects have shifted dynamically, as increasingly more researchers are
      tuned to the potentially beneficial effects of incorporating those uncontrollable
      placebo effects into clinical therapeutic strategies. In this review, we
      highlight the major findings from placebo research, elucidating the main
      neurobiological systems and candidate determinants of the placebo phenomenon, and
      illustrate a perspective that can effectively frame future research on the topic.
      Finally, we issue a call for increased research on the efficacy of therapeutic
      strategies that incorporate placebo "tools," and argue that clinical trials of
      the placebo response in neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders has important and
      far-reaching translational and clinical relevance.

PMID- 28595946
TI  - The effects of pessimism on cell-mediated immunity in rats.
AB  - We used a recently developed ambiguous-cue interpretation (ACI) paradigm to
      investigate whether 'optimism' and 'pessimism' as behavioural traits may be
      interrelated with immune functions in rodents. To this aim, in a series of ACI
      tests (cognitive bias screening, CBS), we identified rats that displayed
      'pessimistic' and 'optimistic' traits. We found significant differences in immune
      biomarkers between 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' animals. Moreover 'pessimism'
      was associated with significantly lower relative weight of the spleen and thymus,
      significantly decreased proliferative activity of splenocytes. Pessimism was
      associated with an increased production of interleukin-(IL)1beta and IL-4,
      activin A, l-selectin, interferon (IFN)-gamma and some chemokines and receptors
      for advanced glycation endproducts. The findings indicate an inflammatory profile
      in "pessimistic" animals.

PMID- 28595948
TI  - Healing and functional outcome of a subscapularis peel repair with a stem-based
      repair after total shoulder arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate functional outcome and
      healing of a subscapularis peel with a stem-based repair after total shoulder
      arthroplasty (TSA). The hypothesis was that the repair would lead to
      subscapularis healing in the majority of cases. METHODS: A prospective analysis
      was performed on a consecutive series of TSAs. Range of motion and functional
      outcome were assessed according to American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, Single
      Assessment Numeric Evaluation, Simple Shoulder Test, and visual analog scale
      scores at a minimum follow-up of 1 year. Belly-press and lift-off tests were also
      performed. An ultrasound evaluation assessed subscapularis healing at final
      follow-up. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 15 months, 60 patients (mean age, 64
      years) were examined. Mean forward flexion improved from 115 degrees  to 137
      degrees . External rotation at the side improved from 27 degrees  to 52 degrees ,
      and internal rotation improved from L4 to L2 (P < .05). American Shoulder and
      Elbow Surgeons score improved from 34.3 to 79.8 (P < .001). Likewise, the Single
      Assessment Numeric Evaluation and Simple Shoulder Test scores showed significant
      improvement from 33.1 to 85.3 and 4.3 to 10.2, respectively (P < .001). The
      visual analog scale score for pain decreased from 5.8 to 0.7 (P < .001). On
      ultrasound examination, the subscapularis was healed intact in 55 cases (91.7%),
      attenuated in 3 cases (5%), and torn in 2 cases (3.3%). CONCLUSION: A stem-based
      repair of a subscapularis peel after TSA leads to functional improvement in the
      majority of cases with >90% postoperative healing of the subscapularis.

PMID- 28595949
TI  - Patient and physician views on the quality of care for inflammatory bowel disease
      after one-year follow-up: Results from SOLUTION-2, a prospective IG-IBD study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Perception of quality of care is important in the management
      of patients with chronic diseases, particularly inflammatory bowel disease. AIMS
      AND METHODS: This longitudinal study aimed to investigate variations of the
      Quality of Care through the Patients' Eyes (QUOTE-IBD) questionnaire scores one
      year after the basal evaluation in the Studio Osservazionale quaLita cUre
      malatTIe crOniche intestiNali (SOLUTION-1) study. RESULTS: Of the cohort of 992
      patients, 936 were evaluable. The QUOTE-IBD score overcame satisfactory levels of
      more than the 80%, overall and in all subdomains except for the "Continuity of
      Care" sub-dimension (mean, 8.3; standard deviation, 1.49), scored satisfactory
      only by 34% of the patients. No significant changes in satisfaction were recorded
      overall, or considering patients subgroups. Significant differences were found at
      the end of the follow-up between physicians' and patients' perceptions of quality
      of care, with the former over-rating their performance in "Continuity of Cares"
      and under-rating "Costs", "Competence", and "Accessibility" sub-domains of the
      score (p<0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: Perceived quality of care in a large cohort
      of Italian patients with inflammatory bowel disease remains unchanged after one
      year follow-up and was not significantly affected by disease activity or
      therapeutic interventions. Differences between physicians' and patients'
      perceptions of quality of care should be taken into account.

PMID- 28595951
TI  - Sumoylation regulates the transcriptional activity of different human NFAT
      isoforms in neurons.
AB  - In the nervous system, four calcium/calcineurin-regulated members of the nuclear
      factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) family of transcription factors, NFATc1-c4,
      are involved in many developmental and functional processes, such as
      corticogenesis, synaptogenesis, synaptic plasticity and neurotransmission, that
      all need precise gene regulation. Therefore it is important to understand
      molecular events that contribute to the regulation of the transcriptional
      activity of specific NFAT isoforms. Previously, we have shown that there are a
      number of alternative splice variants of NFAT genes expressed in the brain and
      that neuronal activity leads to isoform-specific transactivation capacities of
      different human NFAT proteins. Here we looked at the effect of sumoylation as a
      possible regulator of the transcriptional activity of different human NFAT
      isoforms in rat primary cortical and hippocampal neurons in response to membrane
      depolarization and compared the results to those obtained from non-neuronal
      HEK293-FT and BHK-21 cells in response to calcium signaling. Our results show
      that in primary hippocampal neurons, sumoylation represses the transcriptional
      activity of NFATc1, NFATc2, and NFATc3 isoforms, whereas in cortical neurons,
      transactivation capacity of only NFATc1 and NFATc2 is repressed by sumoylation.
      In non-neuronal cells, however, transcriptional activity of all four NFAT
      isoforms is repressed by sumoylation in HEK293-FT cells, while only NFATc1 and
      NFATc2 isoforms are affected by sumoylation in BHK-21 cells. Altogether, our
      results show that sumoylation represses the transcription activation capacities
      of NFAT isoforms and that the effect is cell type-specific.

PMID- 28595950
TI  - Luteolin attenuates interleukin-6-mediated astrogliosis in human iPSC-derived
      neural aggregates: A candidate preventive substance for maternal immune
      activation-induced abnormalities.
AB  - Maternal infection during pregnancy increases the risk of neurodevelopmental
      conditions such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia in offspring.
      Several previous animal studies have indicated that maternal immune activation
      (MIA), rather than a specific pathogen, alters fetal brain development. Among
      them, prenatal exposure to interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been associated with
      behavioral and neuropathological abnormalities, though such findings remain to be
      elucidated in humans. We developed a human cell-based model of MIA by exposing
      human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)-derived neural aggregates to IL-6
      and investigated whether luteolin-a naturally occurring flavonoid found in edible
      plants-could prevent MIA-induced abnormalities. We generated neural aggregates
      from hiPSCs using the serum-free floating culture of embryoid body-like
      aggregates with quick reaggregation (SFEBq) method, following which aggregates
      were cultured in suspension. We then exposed the aggregates to IL-6 (100ng/ml)
      for 24h at day 51. Transient IL-6 exposure significantly increased the area ratio
      of astrocytes (GFAP-positive area ratio) and decreased the area ratio of early
      born neurons (TBR1-positive or CTIP2-positive area ratio) relative to controls.
      In addition, western blot analysis revealed that levels of phosphorylated STAT3
      were significantly elevated in IL-6-exposed neural aggregates. Luteolin treatment
      inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation and counteracted IL-6-mediated increases of GFAP
      positive cells and reductions of TBR1-positive and CTIP2-positive cells. Our
      observations suggest that the flavonoid luteolin may attenuate or prevent MIA
      induced neural abnormalities. As we observed increased apoptosis at high
      concentrations of luteolin, further studies are required to determine the optimal
      intake dosage and duration for pregnant women.

PMID- 28595952
TI  - Trans-resveratrol enriched maternal diet protects the immature hippocampus from
      perinatal asphyxia in rats.
AB  - Trans-resveratrol (tRESV), a polyphenol with antioxidant properties, is common in
      many food sources, hence easily accessible for study as a maternal dietary
      supplement in perinatal asphyxia (PA). Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy secondary
      to PA affects especially vulnerable brain areas such as hippocampus and is a
      leading cause of neonatal morbidity. The purpose of this study is to identify new
      epigenetic mechanisms of brain inflammation and injury related to PA and to
      explore the benefit of tRESV enriched maternal diet. The hippocampal interleukin
      1 beta (IL-1b), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and S-100B protein, at 24
      48h after 90min of asphyxia were assessed in postnatal day 6 rats whose mothers
      received either standard or tRESV enriched diet. The expression of non-coding
      microRNAs miR124, miR132, miR134, miR146 and miR15a as epigenetic markers of
      hippocampus response to PA was determined 24h post-asphyxia. Our results indicate
      that neural response to PA could be epigenetically controlled and that tRESV
      reduces asphyxia-related neuroinflammation and neural injury. Moreover, tRESV
      could increase, through epigenetic mechanisms, the tolerance to asphyxia, with
      possible impact on the neuronal maturation. Our data support the neuroprotective
      quality of tRESV when used as a supplement in the maternal diet on the
      offspring's outcome in PA.

PMID- 28595953
TI  - Inhalation of a racemic mixture (R,S)-linalool by rats experiencing restraint
      stress alters neuropeptide and MHC class I gene expression in the hypothalamus.
AB  - Some odorants have physiological and psychological effects on organisms. However,
      little is known about the effects of inhaling them, particularly on the central
      nervous system. Using DNA microarray analysis, we obtained gene expression
      profiles of the hypothalamus from restraint stressed rats exposed to racemic
      (R,S)-linalool. Hierarchical clustering across all probe sets showed that this
      inhalation of (R,S)-linalool influenced the expression levels of a wide range of
      genes in the hypothalamus. A comparison of transcription levels revealed that the
      inhalation of (R,S)-linalool restored the expression of 560 stress-induced probe
      sets to a normal status. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that these genes were
      associated with synaptic transmission via neurotransmitters including anxiolytic
      neuropeptides such as oxytocin and neuropeptide Y. These genes also included
      several major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules necessary for
      neural development and plasticity. Moreover, Upstream Regulator Analysis
      predicted that the hormone prolactin would be activated by the inhalation of
      (R,S)-linalool under stress. Our results reveal some of the molecular mechanisms
      associated with odor inhalation in the hypothalamus in organisms under stress.

PMID- 28595954
TI  - A protocol for a systematic review to identify allergenic tree nuts and the
      molecules responsible for their allergenic properties.
AB  - Food regulations require that tree nuts and derived ingredients are included on
      food labels in order to help individuals with IgE-mediated allergies to avoid
      them. However, there is no consensus regarding which tree nut species should be
      included in this definition and specified on food labels. Allergen detection
      methods used for monitoring foods target allergen molecules, but it not clear
      which are the most relevant molecules to choose. A modified population-exposure
      comparators-outcome (PECO) approach has been developed to systematically review
      the evidence regarding (1) which allergenic tree nuts should be included in food
      allergen labelling lists and (2) which are the clinically relevant allergens
      which should be used as analytical targets. A search strategy and criteria
      against which the evidence will be evaluated have been developed. The resulting
      evidence will be used to rank tree nuts with regards their ability to cause IgE
      mediated allergies, and allergen molecules regarding their capacity to elicit an
      allergic reaction. The results of the systematic review will enable risk
      assessors and managers to identify tree nut species that should be included in
      food allergen labelling lists and ensure analytical methods for determination of
      allergens in foods are targeting appropriate molecules.

PMID- 28595955
TI  - RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, 2-methyl-4(2,2,3-trimethyl-3
      cyclopentenyl)butanol, CAS Registry Number 72089-08-8.

PMID- 28595956
TI  - Our unrequited love for natural ingredients.
AB  - Naturally sourced food ingredients have been the beneficiary of legal, regulatory
      and consumer preference as the result of a widely shared assumption of safety.
      However, the natural substances consumed in modernity may have little to do with
      the historically consumed part of the plant or even the plant itself. Further,
      our initial impression of a safe plant derivative may well be false as the result
      of the use of different growth conditions or, changes in harvesting and
      processing conditions that may have brought about a higher level of toxic
      constituents. Despite the variability of plant constituents, manufacturers'
      standards are set according to the content of commercially desirable properties,
      rather than presence of potentially toxic constituents. Why then, after all the
      potential reservations regarding naturals, is there such an enmity toward
      synthetic chemicals (including single chemical fermentation products), which have
      been tested in a systematic manner for potential toxic effects and whose
      composition is well known as the result of consistent manufacturing techniques
      and analytical controls? The authors will describe the paradigms used for natural
      products safety review and compare them with the safety criteria required for an
      "artificial" food ingredient.

PMID- 28595958
TI  - Olive phenolic compounds attenuate deltamethrin-induced liver and kidney toxicity
      through regulating oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of ethanolic
      olive fruit extract (OFE) and its phenolic compound, oleuropein (OLE), against
      hepato-renal toxicity induced by deltamethrin (DEM), a synthetic pyrethroid, in
      Wistar rats. The kidney and liver tissues were collected after 30 days of
      treatment for subsequent investigation. Rats that were given DEM had a highly
      significant elevation in the serum biomarkers as well as hepatic and renal levels
      of lipid peroxidation (MDA). Additionally, a significant reduction in the total
      antioxidant capacity (ABTS+), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)
      activities was noted. This toxic effect was confirmed by histological studies and
      the expression levels of inflammatory (cox-2) and apoptotic genes (bcl-2 and
      p53). The findings for the OFE and OLEtreated groups highlighted the efficacy of
      olive fruit phenolic compounds as hepatic and renal-protectant in DEM-induced
      hepato-renal toxicity through improving the oxidative status as well as
      suppressing inflammation and apoptosis. Therefore, they may be used as protective
      natural compounds against DEM-induced hepato-renal toxicity.

PMID- 28595957
TI  - RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, methyl anthranilate, CAS Registry
      Number 134-20-3.

PMID- 28595959
TI  - Cudratricusxanthone A attenuates renal injury in septic mice.
AB  - As a natural compound extracted from the roots of Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau,
      Cudratricusxanthone A (CTXA) is known to possess hepatoprotective, anti
      inflammatory, and anti-proliferative activities. This study was aimed to clarify
      the role of CTXA in modulating renal functional damage in a mouse model of sepsis
      and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms. We examined the renal protective
      effects of CTXA on cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced renal damage by
      assessment of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), lipid peroxidation,
      total glutathione, glutathione peroxidase activity, catalase activity, and
      superoxide dismutase activity. Post-treatment with CTXA resulted in a significant
      reduction in the deleterious renal functions by CLP, such as elevated BUN,
      creatinine, and urine protein. Induction of nitric oxide synthase and excessive
      production of nitric acid by CLP surgery were significantly reduced by post
      treatment with CTXA via inhibiting nuclear factor-kappaB activation. Furthermore,
      the plasma levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were
      suppressed by CTXA post-treatment. Concurrently, CTXA treatment potently
      suppressed the CLP-induced septic lethality, rise of lipid peroxidation and
      markedly enhanced the antioxidant defense system by restoring the levels of
      superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase in kidney. The present
      results suggested that CTXA could protect against sepsis-triggered renal injury
      in mice.

PMID- 28595960
TI  - RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, benzoic acid, 2-[(1-oxopropyl)amino]
      , methyl ester, CAS Registry Number 25628-84-6.

PMID- 28595961
TI  - [Flexible bronchoscopy in octogenarians].

PMID- 28595962
TI  - [Use of health-related applications on mobile devices and their association with
      comorbidities in older adults].

PMID- 28595963
TI  - Frailty, what are we talking about? Implications for the daily clinical practice.

PMID- 28595964
TI  - [How to transform the concept of frailty into efficient interventions:
      Transversality and leadership of geriatrics].

PMID- 28595965
TI  - Low Expression of Estrogen Receptor-alpha and Progesterone Receptor in Human
      Breast Cancer Tissues Is Associated With High-Grade Human Cytomegalovirus Protein
      Expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The underlying mechanisms for breast cancer (BC) are largely unknown.
      We investigated possible correlations between the expression levels of human
      cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins and established histopathological markers of BC,
      including expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha, the progesterone receptor
      (PgR), and HER2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively examined paraffin
      embedded biopsy specimens of BC (n = 62), ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 19), and
      adjacent normal breast tissue (n = 42) for HCMV immediate-early protein (IE),
      HCMV late antigen, HCMV DNA and RNA, and investigated possible correlations
      between them and expression of ER-alpha, PgR, and HER2. RESULTS: HCMV DNA and RNA
      were detected in all examined infiltrating BCs. High-grade positivity for HCMV-IE
      was detected in 77% of infiltrating BCs, 39% of ductal carcinomas in situ, and 7%
      of tumor-free breast tissue samples. HCMV expression correlated inversely with ER
      alpha (P = .02) and PgR (P = .003) expression. HER2 expression was also reduced
      in HCMV-positive samples without reaching a level of statistical significance (P
      = .09). CONCLUSION: The negative correlation between high-grade expression HCMV
      IE and hormone receptor expression suggests a role for HCMV in hormone receptor
      negative BC tumors, possibly by forcing BC cells into a more aggressive
      phenotype.

PMID- 28595966
TI  - Characterization of PKACalpha enzyme kinetics and inhibition in an HPLC assay
      with a chromophoric substrate.
AB  - Here we describe a convenient, inexpensive, and non-hazardous method for the
      measurement of the kinase activity of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent
      protein kinase (PKACalpha). The assay is based on the separation of a substrate
      peptide labeled with a strong chromophore from the phosphorylated product peptide
      by high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) and quantification of the product
      ratiometrically at a wavelength in the visual spectrum (Vis). The utility and
      reliability of the HPLC-Vis assay were demonstrated by characterizing the kinetic
      parameters (KM, Vmax) of the new Rh-MAB-Kemptide substrate, a commercially
      prepared TAMRA-Kemptide substrate, and ATP as well as the potency (IC50, Ki) of
      the known PKACalpha inhibitors H89 and PKI(5-24). The advantages of this assay
      are that it is convenient and inexpensive, uses readily synthesized or
      commercially available substrates that are shelf-stable, uses a common piece of
      laboratory equipment, and does not require any hazardous materials such as
      radioactive gamma-32P-ATP. The assay format is also highly flexible and could be
      adapted for the testing of many different kinases by changing the peptide
      substrate sequence.

PMID- 28595967
TI  - Does the NRS Capture Changes in Communication during Inpatient Stroke
      Rehabilitation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Ontario, the National Rehabilitation Reporting System (NRS) is
      mandated for use as a measurement of change for stroke patients after admission
      to and discharge from rehabilitation. The NRS includes the functional
      independence measure (FIM) and supplementary measurement items developed by the
      Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Uncertainty exists regarding
      the efficacy of the NRS as the sole measure of outcome for communication in
      stroke rehabilitation patients. The use of additional speech-language pathology
      outcome measurement tools for this population has therefore been suggested.
      OBJECTIVES: This study sought to establish whether the FIM and CIHI communication
      items capture quantifiable gains during stroke rehabilitation and therefore
      whether additional measures are needed to assess outcomes. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was completed of 1252 complete data records of stroke
      patients discharged from inpatient rehabilitation at Hamilton Health Sciences
      between 2006 and 2011. RESULTS AND IMPACT: Statistically significant improvements
      were observed in all total matched FIM scores (M = 72.68 to M = 96.39, P < .001)
      and for each expression (M = 4.61 to M = 5.35, P < .001) and comprehension (M =
      4.69 to M = 5.33, P < .001) subscale. The most severely affected group
      demonstrated the greatest gains. These findings were independent of stroke
      severity. Additional outcome measurement tools for communication are therefore
      not required to assess outcomes in rehabilitation of stroke patients, although
      additional research is necessary to evaluate the clinical significance of the
      improvements that are observed using existing measurements of change.

PMID- 28595970
TI  - Response to "Commentary re. Utilization of medical expulsive therapy in children:
      An assessment of nationwide practice patterns and outcomes".

PMID- 28595969
TI  - Emergence and epidemiology of Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus in the
      American Desert Southwest, and development of host plant resistance in melon.
AB  - Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV), emerged in the Sonoran Desert
      region of the southwestern USA in 2006 and has become well established. Symptoms
      induced by CYSDV infection include a striking interveinal chlorosis or yellowing
      and reduced yield and quality. The virus is transmitted by Bemisia tabaci, and
      the cryptic species MEAM1 has been present in the region since the early 1990s.
      CYSDV has now become the most economically important of the viruses affecting
      cucurbit production in the southwestern US. Here, we present a review of recent
      studies on CYSDV in the southwestern US, with implications for management of this
      virus throughout the world. Field surveys have established that CYSDV results in
      late-season infection of spring melon crops with limited economic impact;
      however, all summer and fall cucurbits become infected shortly after emergence
      due to high B. tabaci populations and abundant sources of inoculum. Studies have
      also demonstrated that CYSDV has an extensive host range among crops and weeds
      prevalent in the region. Recent studies demonstrated considerable variation in
      virus accumulation and transmission rates among the host plants evaluated as
      potential reservoirs. Cucurbit hosts had the highest CYSDV titers, were efficient
      sources for virus acquisition, and showed a positive correlation between titer in
      source plants and transmission to cucurbit plants. Non-cucurbit hosts had
      significantly lower CYSDV titers and varied in their capacity to serve as sources
      for transmission. Experiments demonstrated that multiple factors influence the
      efficiency with which a host plant species will be a reservoir for vector
      transmission of CYSDV to crops. Melon PI 313970 was identified as a new source of
      host plant resistance to CYSDV, in addition to the previously identified TGR 1551
      (=PI 482420) and TGR 1937 (=PI 482431). Potential new sources of CYSDV resistance
      were identified by field screening of ca. 500 melon accessions with naturally
      occurring inoculum from 2007 through 2012. Host plant resistance to B. tabaci has
      also been identified in melon germplasm resistant to CYSDV and could be an
      important factor in reducing losses to CYSDV. Resistance to CYSDV is being
      transferred to US western shipping type cantaloupe and honeydew.

PMID- 28595971
TI  - Bladder debris on renal and bladder ultrasound: A significant predictor of
      positive urine culture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Renal and bladder ultrasound (RBUS) is recommended in evaluation of
      children after an initial, febrile urinary tract infection. Although it is not
      uncommon to observe debris within the bladder lumen on sonography, the
      significance of this finding is uncertain. Debris may be interpreted as an
      indication of ongoing infection, but there have been no studies to date
      investigating the association of bladder debris with a positive culture.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of bladder
      debris noted at the time of RBUS with positive urine culture results obtained
      from a catheterized specimen, among patients undergoing RBUS and voiding
      cystourethrogram (VCUG) on the same day. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a
      retrospective cross-sectional study of 3995 patients who presented for same-day
      RBUS and VCUG. RBUS reports were reviewed for the presence of bladder debris, and
      analysis was limited to patients under 60 months of age with a catheterized urine
      specimen sent for culture at the time of the studies. Those with prior postnatal
      imaging or a diagnosis of prenatal hydronephrosis or other GU abnormalities were
      excluded. Thirty-four subjects with bladder debris on RBUS were identified and
      matched to 155 controls based on age, gender, circumcision status, and presence
      of vesicoureteral reflux. A positive urine culture was defined as >=50,000 colony
      forming units per mL of at least one organism. A conditional logistic regression
      model was used to evaluate the association between debris on RBUS and positive
      urine culture results. RESULTS: In conditional logistic regression stratifying by
      matching age, gender, circumcision status, and presence of vesicoureteral reflux,
      there was a statistically significant association between bladder debris on RBUS
      and positive urine culture result collected on the same day during VCUG (OR 7.88,
      95% CI 1.88-33.04, p = 0.0048). This corresponds to a 688% increase in odds of
      positive urine culture for patients with debris (Table). DISCUSSION: This is the
      first study to evaluate the association between bladder debris on RBUS and
      positive urine culture, and it should serve as a starting point for future
      investigations. The study is limited in its generalizability to the sampled
      population; further work should evaluate the predictive value of RBUS debris
      among children without UTI history, with prior imaging or known genitourinary
      anomalies, or older children. CONCLUSION: Among children younger than 60 months
      old undergoing initial imaging for history of UTI, there is a significant
      association between bladder debris and a positive urine culture.

PMID- 28595973
TI  - Crash probability estimation via quantifying driver hazard perception.
AB  - Crash probability estimation is an important method to predict the potential
      reduction of crash probability contributed by forward collision avoidance
      technologies (FCATs). In this study, we propose a practical approach to estimate
      crash probability, which combines a field operational test and numerical
      simulations of a typical rear-end crash model. To consider driver hazard
      perception characteristics, we define a novel hazard perception measure, called
      as driver risk response time, by considering both time-to-collision (TTC) and
      driver braking response to impending collision risk in a near-crash scenario.
      Also, we establish a driving database under mixed Chinese traffic conditions
      based on a CMBS (Collision Mitigation Braking Systems)-equipped vehicle. Applying
      the crash probability estimation in this database, we estimate the potential
      decrease in crash probability owing to use of CMBS. A comparison of the results
      with CMBS on and off shows a 13.7% reduction of crash probability in a typical
      rear-end near-crash scenario with a one-second delay of driver's braking
      response. These results indicate that CMBS is positive in collision prevention,
      especially in the case of inattentive drivers or ole drivers. The proposed crash
      probability estimation offers a practical way for evaluating the safety benefits
      in the design and testing of FCATs.

PMID- 28595972
TI  - 17alpha-Ethynylestradiol alters the peritoneal immune response of gilthead
      seabream.
AB  - 17alpha-Ethynylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic estrogen used in most oral
      contraceptives pills and hormone replacement therapies, is found in many water
      bodies, where it can modulate the fish immune response. EE2 acts as an endocrine
      disruptor in gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata L., a marine teleost fish of great
      economic value in Mediterranean aquaculture, as it induces hepatic vitellogenin
      gene (vtg) expression. Moreover, EE2 also alters the capacity of gilthead
      seabream to appropriately respond to infection although it does not behave as an
      immunosuppressor. Nevertheless, these previous studies have mainly focused on the
      head kidney leukocytes and no information exists on peritoneal leukocytes,
      including mast cells. In the present work, juvenile gilthead seabream fish were
      fed a pellet diet supplemented with EE2 for 76 days and intraperitoneally
      injected with hemocyanin plus imject alum adjuvant at the end of EE2 treatment
      and 92 days later, and the peritoneal immune response was analyzed. EE2
      supplementation induced vtg expression but returned to basal levels by 3 months
      post-treatment. Interestingly, gilthead seabream peritoneal leukocytes express
      the genes encoding for the nuclear estrogen receptor alpha and the G protein
      coupled estrogen receptor 1 and the dietary intake of EE2 induced these
      expression. Moreover, EE2 induced an inflammatory response in the peritoneal
      cavity in unvaccinated fish, which was largely maintained for several months
      after the cessation of the treatment. However, the impact of EE2 in vaccinated
      fish was rather minor and transient. Taken together, the study provides fresh
      information about endocrine immune disruption, focusing on peritoneal leukocytes.

PMID- 28595974
TI  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Huntington disease gene carrier.

PMID- 28595976
TI  - Hemorrhagic stroke after cannabis use in a young man.

PMID- 28595975
TI  - Brain molecular imaging in pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy: Current practice and
      perspectives.
AB  - This review aims to synthesize all the available data on brain molecular imaging,
      such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and interictal
      fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), in focal epilepsies.
      SPECT imaging is able to measure regional cerebral blood flow and its major
      innovation remains its ictal imaging value. On the other hand, FDG-PET, which has
      higher spatial resolution and lower background activity than SPECT, enables
      glycolytic metabolism to be identified in interictal states. Therefore,
      interictal FDG-PET has greater sensitivity than interictal SPECT, especially in
      temporal lobe epilepsies (TLEs). Thus, 18F-FDG-PET is a necessary step in the
      presurgical evaluation of TLEs, but also of extratemporal epilepsies (ETEs),
      contributing to >30% of the decision to undertake surgery. In addition, FDG-PET
      has particular diagnostic value in focal epilepsies showing normal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI). PET also has good prognostic value for post-surgical
      outcomes as well as cognitive impairment, especially in cases where the
      hypometabolism extent is limited. Moreover, the notion of an epileptic network is
      well highlighted by functional PET imaging, allowing better understanding of the
      pathological substrates of these disorders. Future development of quantitative
      analysis software and of novel radiotracers and cameras will certainly enhance
      its clinical usefulness.

PMID- 28595977
TI  - Factors influencing time between onset of signs/symptoms and referral for
      dementia in elderly outpatients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The few studies that have focused on Time between Onset of Signs and
      Symptoms and Referral (TOSR) for dementia to a memory center suggest a
      substantial delay of 1-3 years. This delay has a negative impact on both
      patients' and their caregivers' quality of life. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to
      evaluate this delay and the factors associated with it in a cohort of community
      dwelling elderly people attending a memory clinic, as well as assess the impact
      of the Third French National Alzheimer Plan (2008-2012). METHODS: All patients
      referred to the Bretonneau Memory Clinic for the first time between January 2006
      (the clinic has maintained a specific database since then) and March 2016 were
      included in the study. RESULTS: Of the 8543 patients attending our Memory Clinic
      during the study period, 3353 attending for the first time and with complete data
      were included. Briefly, their ages were 82+/-7 years, and 67.2% were female; MMSE
      score was 21.2+/-6.6, IADL was 4.06+/-0.78 and the social-needs category of the
      Groupes Iso Ressources (GIR); Iso-Resource Group (IRG) scale was 4.04+/-0.37. The
      TOSR was, on average, 35.4+/-30.24 months, and increased after implementation of
      the Third French National Alzheimer Plan, from 26.68+/-26.28 months before 2009
      to 40.08+/-31.2 months after 2009. Age and MMSE were associated with TOSR, but
      not the type of dementia, household composition and social characteristics. Also,
      there was a shorter TOSR for mild cognitive impairment than for dementia
      patients. CONCLUSION: Our results emphasize the need for more education and
      information among the general public about the early signs of cognitive
      impairment, especially in elderly people.

PMID- 28595978
TI  - Pseudolymphomatous nodular lymphoid hyperplasia of small bowel.

PMID- 28595981
TI  - Response to "More surprises in the global greenhouse: Human health impacts form
      recent toxic marine aerosol formulations, due to centennial alterations or world
      wide coastal food webs".

PMID- 28595980
TI  - Significance of beach geomorphology on fecal indicator bacteria levels.
AB  - Large databases of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) measurements are available for
      coastal waters. With the assistance of satellite imagery, we illustrated the
      power of assessing data for many sites by evaluating beach features such as
      geomorphology, distance from rivers and canals, presence of piers and causeways,
      and degree of urbanization coupled with the enterococci FIB database for the
      state of Florida. We found that beach geomorphology was the primary
      characteristic associated with enterococci levels that exceeded regulatory
      guidelines. Beaches in close proximity to marshes or within bays had higher
      enterococci exceedances in comparison to open coast beaches. For open coast
      beaches, greater enterococci exceedances were associated with nearby rivers and
      higher levels of urbanization. Piers and causeways had a minimal contribution, as
      their effect was often overwhelmed by beach geomorphology. Results can be used to
      understand the potential causes of elevated enterococci levels and to promote
      public health.

PMID- 28595982
TI  - Trophic transference of microplastics under a low exposure scenario: Insights on
      the likelihood of particle cascading along marine food-webs.
AB  - Microplastics are emergent pollutants in marine environments, whose risks along
      food-web still need to be understood. Within this knowledge gap, MPs transference
      and persistence along trophic levels are key processes. We assessed the potential
      occurrence of these processes considering a less extreme scenario of exposure
      than used previously, with microplastics present only in the hemolymph of prey
      (the mussel Perna perna) and absent in the gut cavity. Predators were the crab
      Callinectes ornatus and the puffer fish Spheoeroides greeleyi. Transference of
      microplastics occurred from prey to predators but without evidences of particle
      persistence in their tissues after 10days of exposure. This suggests a reduced
      likelihood of trophic cascading of particles and, consequently, a reduced risk of
      direct impacts of microplastics on higher trophic levels. However, the contact
      with microplastics along food-webs is still concerning, modulated by the
      concentration of particles in prey and predators' depuration capacity and rate.

PMID- 28595983
TI  - The effects of structure on pre-mRNA processing and stability.
AB  - Pre-mRNA molecules can form a variety of structures, and both secondary and
      tertiary structures have important effects on processing, function and stability
      of these molecules. The prediction of RNA secondary structure is a challenging
      problem and various algorithms that use minimum free energy, maximum expected
      accuracy and comparative evolutionary based methods have been developed to
      predict secondary structures. However, these tools are not perfect, and this
      remains an active area of research. The secondary structure of pre-mRNA molecules
      can have an enhancing or inhibitory effect on pre-mRNA splicing. An example of
      enhancing structure can be found in a novel class of introns in zebrafish. About
      10% of zebrafish genes contain a structured intron that forms a bridging hairpin
      that enforces correct splice site pairing. Negative examples of splicing include
      local structures around splice sites that decrease splicing efficiency and
      potentially cause mis-splicing leading to disease. Splicing mutations are a
      frequent cause of hereditary disease. The transcripts of disease genes are
      significantly more structured around the splice sites, and point mutations that
      increase the local structure often cause splicing disruptions. Post-splicing, RNA
      secondary structure can also affect the stability of the spliced intron and
      regulatory RNA interference pathway intermediates, such as pre-microRNAs.
      Additionally, RNA secondary structure has important roles in the innate immune
      defense against viruses. Finally, tertiary structure can also play a large role
      in pre-mRNA splicing. One example is the G-quadruplex structure, which, similar
      to secondary structure, can either enhance or inhibit splicing through mechanisms
      such as creating or obscuring RNA binding protein sites.

PMID- 28595984
TI  - Cell cycle pathway dysregulation in human keratinocytes during chronic exposure
      to low arsenite.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arsenic is naturally prevalent in the earth's crust and widely
      distributed in air and water. Chronic low arsenic exposure is associated with
      several cancers in vivo, including skin cancer, and with transformation in vitro
      of cell lines including immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT). Arsenic also is
      associated with cell cycle dysregulation at different exposure levels in multiple
      cell lines. In this work, we analyzed gene expression in HaCaT cells to gain an
      understanding of gene expression changes contributing to transformation at an
      early time point. METHODS: HaCaT cells were exposed to 0 or 100nM NaAsO2 for
      7weeks. Total RNA was purified and analyzed by microarray hybridization.
      Differential expression with fold change>=|1.5| and p-value<=0.05 was determined
      using Partek Genomic SuiteTM and pathway and network analyses using MetaCoreTM
      software (FDR<=0.05). Cell cycle analysis was performed using flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: 644 mRNAs were differentially expressed. Cell cycle/cell cycle
      regulation pathways predominated in the list of dysregulated pathways. Genes
      involved in replication origin licensing were enriched in the network. Cell cycle
      assay analysis showed an increase in G2/M compartment in arsenite-exposed cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: Arsenite exposure induced differential gene expression indicating
      dysregulation of cell cycle control, which was confirmed by cell cycle analysis.
      The results suggest that cell cycle dysregulation is an early event in
      transformation manifested in cells unable to transit G2/M efficiently. Further
      study at later time points will reveal additional changes in gene expression
      related to transformation processes.

PMID- 28595985
TI  - Curcumin inhibits adipogenesis induced by benzyl butyl phthalate in 3T3-L1 cells.
AB  - Phthalates are a group of endocrine disrupting chemicals and may have contributed
      to the recent global obesity health crisis. Increased adipogenesis via the
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma)-CCAAT-enhancer
      binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) pathway could be one critical mechanism
      responsible for phthalate-induced weight gain. On the other hand, curcumin has
      been shown to inhibit adipogenesis in cells and animal models. The present study
      was undertaken to evaluate, for the first time, whether curcumin could reduce
      adipogenesis induced by benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) via downregulation of the
      PPARgamma-C/EBPalpha pathway. 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were differentiated by
      treating them with insulin, dexamethasone, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine in the
      presence of BBP, with or without curcumin. Cells that were grown in the presence
      of BBP alone showed a significant increase in triacylglycerol (TG) levels. In
      addition, the number of Oil Red O-stained cells and the mRNA expression levels of
      PPARgamma, C/EBPalpha, adiponectin, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha)
      were significantly increased. However, treatment with BBP in combination with
      curcumin resulted in major reductions in TG levels, the numbers of Oil Red O
      stained cells, and the mRNA expression levels of the four proteins. These results
      suggest that curcumin might be an inhibitor of BBP-induced weight gain and
      inflammation via stimulation of adipocyte differentiation and TNFalpha
      generation. Curcumin may, therefore, be a potential medication for preventing the
      harmful effects of phthalates.

PMID- 28595986
TI  - Oral foregut duplication cysts: A rare and fascinating congenital lesion. Case
      report and review of the literature.
AB  - Oral foregut duplication cysts are extremely rare lesions with approximately 57
      cases reported. They are congenital cysts, located in the anterior or ventral
      tongue, and occur predominantly in males. They are lined by one or more types of
      epithelia which is limited to gastric, intestinal or respiratory epithelium. The
      differential diagnosis includes lymphangioma, hemangioma, ranula, epidermoid
      cyst, teratoma and less likely a malignant process.

PMID- 28595987
TI  - New data on the combined treatment of solifenacin and mirabegron in patients with
      overactive bladder: SYNERGY study.

PMID- 28595988
TI  - Updates on Corynebacterium urealyticum infection.

PMID- 28595989
TI  - Volume reduction outweighs biogeochemical processes in controlling phosphorus
      treatment in aged detention systems.
AB  - Stormwater detention areas (SDAs) play an important role in treating end-of-the
      farm runoff in phosphorous (P) limited agroecosystems. Phosphorus transport from
      the SDAs, including those through subsurface pathways, are not well understood.
      The prevailing understanding of these systems assumes that biogeochemical
      processes play the primary treatment role and that subsurface losses can be
      neglected. Water and P fluxes from a SDA located in a row-crop farm were measured
      for two years (2009-2011) to assess the SDA's role in reducing downstream P
      loads. The SDA treated 55% (497kg) and 95% (205kg) of the incoming load during
      Year 1 (Y1, 09-10) and Year 2 (Y2, 10-11), respectively. These treatment
      efficiencies were similar to surface water volumetric retention (49% in Y1 and
      84% in Y2) and varied primarily with rainfall. Similar water volume and P
      retentions indicate that volume retention is the main process controlling P
      loads. A limited role of biogeochemical processes was supported by low to no
      remaining soil P adsorption capacity due to long-term drainage P input. The fact
      that outflow P concentrations (Y1=368.3MUg L-1, Y2=230.4MUg L-1) could be
      approximated by using a simple mixing of rainfall and drainage P input further
      confirmed the near inert biogeochemical processes. Subsurface P losses through
      groundwater were 304kg (27% of inflow P) indicating that they are an important
      source for downstream P. Including subsurface P losses reduces the treatment
      efficiency to 35% (from 61%). The aboveground biomass in the SDA contained 42%
      (240kg) of the average incoming P load suggesting that biomass harvesting could
      be a cost-effective alternative for reviving the role of biogeochemical processes
      to enhance P treatment in aged, P-saturated SDAs. The 20-year present economic
      value of P removal through harvesting was estimated to be $341,000, which if
      covered through a cost share or a payment for P treatment services program could
      be a positive outcome for both agriculture and public interests.

PMID- 28595990
TI  - [Using consumer panels in public health observational studies].
AB  - Consumer panels are a market research method useful for gathering information
      about low-frequency or difficult-access customers. The objective of this field
      note is to explain our experience using this method in a cross-sectional public
      health study on the use of electronic cigarettes. After taking into account other
      non-probabilistic sampling techniques to obtain a huge sample of electronic
      cigarette users (n=600), in the end we decided to use consumer panels
      (recruiters) because of the relative short duration of the field work and the
      high representativeness of the sample.

PMID- 28595991
TI  - [Asbestos, an epidemic that still needs to be controlled].

PMID- 28595993
TI  - Endoscopic rescue treatment in a pregnant ulcerative colitis patient with a
      severe colonic stricture: a conservative approach to bring the pregnancy to term.

PMID- 28595992
TI  - [Food industry funding and epidemiologic research in public health nutrition].
AB  - The interests of the food industry to fund nutrition and health research are not
      limited to promoting scientific advances. Recently, several systematic reviews
      conducted about the effect of sugar-sweetened beverages and health outcomes have
      shown some biased conclusions in studies that acknowledge industry sponsorship.
      In this context, the Nutrition Working Group of the Spanish Epidemiology Society
      presented a scientific session entitled Food industry and epidemiologic research
      at its annual meeting. In a round table, four experts in nutrition research
      presented their points of view about whether the food industry should fund
      nutrition-related research and the related potential conflicts of interest of the
      food industry. All the experts agreed not only on defending independence in
      nutritional epidemiology regarding the design, interpretation and conclusion of
      their studies but also on the crucial need for guaranteed scientific rigor,
      scientific quality of the results and measures to protect studies against
      potential biases related to the conflicts of interest of funding by the food
      industry. Drs Perez-Farinos and Romaguera believe that the most effective way to
      prevent conflicts of interest would be not to allow the food industry to fund
      nutrition research; Drs Marcos and Martinez-Gonzalez suggested the need to
      establish mechanisms and strategies to prevent the potential influences of the
      food industry in selecting researchers or institutional sponsorship and in the
      analysis and results of the studies, to ensure maximum independence for
      researchers, as well as their professional ethics.

PMID- 28595994
TI  - [News techniques of pacing in congenital heart diseases].
AB  - The number of children and adult with congenital heart disease requiring
      implantation of cardiac pacemaker or cardioverter defibrillator is constantly
      increasing. The lead between stimulation/defibrillation site and the generator
      constitutes the main weakpoint of those devices despite the numerous recent
      technological advances: use of bipolar probes, corticoid elution electrodes,
      insulation improvement, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatibility. Risk of
      device failure remains high in this population. Long term adverse events with
      endovascular devices remain high. That point leads us to review our implantation
      strategies. We try to favour an extravascular solution whenever possible.
      Subcutaneous defibrillators may be proposed to patients at high risk for severe
      ventricular arrhythmia without cardiac pacing indication. Patients should have a
      rigorous pre-implantation screening procedure to minimize the increased risk of
      inappropriate shock. New single chamber, VVIR-type, leadless pacemakers can be
      implanted directly into the right ventricle. Miniaturized implantable loop
      recorders help in management of palpitations and syncopes: it increases diagnosis
      yield and helps arrhythmias burden assessment. Development of remote monitoring
      (implantable loop recorder, pacemaker and defibrillator) helps to reduce the
      incidence of adverse clinical events by providing an early detection of
      clinically relevant events such as arrhythmias and device failure.

PMID- 28595996
TI  - Tapinarof Is a Natural AhR Agonist that Resolves Skin Inflammation in Mice and
      Humans.
AB  - Tapinarof (GSK2894512) is a naturally derived topical treatment with demonstrated
      efficacy for patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, although the biologic
      target and mechanism of action had been unknown. We demonstrate that the anti
      inflammatory properties of tapinarof are mediated through activation of the aryl
      hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). We show that tapinarof binds and activates AhR in
      multiple cell types, including cells of the target tissue-human skin. In
      addition, tapinarof moderates proinflammatory cytokine expression in stimulated
      peripheral blood CD4+ T cells and ex vivo human skin, and impacts barrier gene
      expression in primary human keratinocytes; both of these processes are likely to
      be downstream of AhR activation based on current evidence. That the anti
      inflammatory properties of tapinarof derive from AhR agonism is conclusively
      demonstrated using the mouse model of imiquimod-induced psoriasiform skin
      lesions. Topical treatment of AhR-sufficient mice with tapinarof leads to
      compound-driven reductions in erythema, epidermal thickening, and tissue cytokine
      levels. In contrast, tapinarof has no impact on imiquimod-induced skin
      inflammation in AhR-deficient mice. In summary, these studies identify tapinarof
      as an AhR agonist and confirm that its efficacy is dependent on AhR.

PMID- 28595995
TI  - miR-146b Probably Assists miRNA-146a in the Suppression of Keratinocyte
      Proliferation and Inflammatory Responses in Psoriasis.
AB  - miR-146a inhibits inflammatory responses in human keratinocytes and in different
      mouse models of skin inflammation. Little is known about the role of miR-146b in
      the skin. In this study, we confirmed the increased expression of miR-146a and
      miR-146b (miR-146a/b) in the lesional skin of patients with psoriasis. The
      expression of miR-146a was approximately twofold higher than that of miR-146b in
      healthy human skin, and it was more strongly induced by stimulation of
      proinflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes and fibroblasts. miR-146a/b target
      genes regulating inflammatory responses or proliferation were altered in the skin
      of patients with psoriasis, among which FERMT1 was verified as a direct target of
      miR-146a. In silico analysis of genome-wide data from >4,000 psoriasis cases and
      >8,000 controls confirmed a moderate association between psoriasis and genetic
      variants in the miR-146a encoding gene. Transfection of miR-146a/b suppressed and
      inhibition enhanced keratinocyte proliferation and the expression of psoriasis
      related target genes. Enhanced expression of miR-146a/b-influenced genes was
      detected in cultured keratinocytes from miR-146a-/- and skin fibroblasts from miR
      146a-/- and miR-146b-/- mice stimulated with psoriasis-associated cytokines as
      compared with wild-type mice. Our results indicate that besides miR-146a, miR
      146b is expressed and might be capable of modulation of inflammatory responses
      and keratinocyte proliferation in psoriatic skin.

PMID- 28595997
TI  - HPV8 Field Cancerization in a Transgenic Mouse Model Is due to Lrig1+
      Keratinocyte Stem Cell Expansion.
AB  - beta-Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) cause near ubiquitous latent skin infection
      within long-lived hair follicle (HF) keratinocyte stem cells. In patients with
      epidermodysplasia verruciformis, beta-HPV viral replication is associated with
      skin keratosis and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. To determine the role of HF
      keratinocyte stem cells in beta-HPV-induced skin carcinogenesis, we utilized a
      transgenic mouse model in which the keratin 14 promoter drives expression of the
      entire HPV8 early region (HPV8tg). HPV8tg mice developed thicker skin in
      comparison with wild-type littermates consistent with a hyperproliferative
      epidermis. HF keratinocyte proliferation was evident within the Lrig1+
      keratinocyte stem cell population (69 vs. 55%, P < 0.01, n = 7), and not in the
      CD34+, LGR5+, and LGR6+ keratinocyte stem cell populations. This was associated
      with a 2.8-fold expansion in Lrig1+ keratinocytes and 3.8-fold increased colony
      forming efficiency. Consistent with this, we observed nuclear p63 expression
      throughout this population and the HF infundibulum and adjoining interfollicular
      epidermis, associated with a switch from p63 transcriptional activation isoforms
      to DeltaNp63 isoforms in HPV8tg skin. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis keratosis
      and in some cases actinic keratoses demonstrated similar histology associated
      with beta-HPV reactivation and nuclear p63 expression within the HF infundibulum
      and perifollicular epidermis. These findings would suggest that beta-HPV field
      cancerization arises from the HF junctional zone and predispose to squamous cell
      carcinoma.

PMID- 28595998
TI  - Targeting of CXXC5 by a Competing Peptide Stimulates Hair Regrowth and Wound
      Induced Hair Neogenesis.
AB  - The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway has been implicated in hair follicle development and
      hair regeneration in adults. We discovered that CXXC-type zinc finger protein 5
      (CXXC5) is a negative regulator of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway involved in hair
      regrowth and wound-induced hair follicle neogenesis via an interaction with
      Dishevelled. CXXC5 was upregulated in miniaturized hair follicles and arrector
      pili muscles in human balding scalps. The inhibitory effects of CXXC5 on alkaline
      phosphatase activity and cell proliferation were demonstrated using human hair
      follicle dermal papilla cells. Moreover, CXXC5-/- mice displayed accelerated hair
      regrowth, and treatment with valproic acid, a glycogen synthase kinase 3beta
      inhibitor that activates the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, further induced hair
      regrowth in the CXXC5-/- mice. Disrupting the CXXC5-Dishevelled interaction with
      a competitor peptide activated the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and accelerated hair
      regrowth and wound-induced hair follicle neogenesis. Overall, these findings
      suggest that the CXXC5-Dishevelled interaction is a potential target for the
      treatment of hair loss.

PMID- 28596000
TI  - The Nrf2/GCH1/BH4 Axis Ameliorates Radiation-Induced Skin Injury by Modulating
      the ROS Cascade.
AB  - Radiation-induced skin injury is a common side effect of radiotherapy and can
      limit the duration and dose of radiotherapy. Most early work focused on
      elimination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after radiation; however, less is
      known about the mechanisms underlying amplification of ROS and consequent skin
      injury by radiation. 5,6,7,8-Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is an essential cofactor
      for all nitric oxide synthases. Inadequate availability of BH4 leads to
      uncoupling of nitric oxide synthases and production of highly oxidative radicals.
      In this study, we demonstrated that radiation disrupted BH4, which resulted in
      nitric oxide synthases uncoupling and augmented radiation-induced ROS.
      Overexpression of GTP cyclohydrolase I (GCH1), the rate-limiting enzyme for BH4
      synthesis, restored cellular BH4 levels and nitric oxide production and decreased
      radiation-induced ROS. GCH1 also protected skin cells and rat skins against
      radiation-induced damage. We found that GCH1 was regulated by NF-E2-related
      factor 2, a key mediator of the cellular antioxidant response. Importantly, we
      identified GCH1 as a key effector for NF-E2-related factor 2-mediated protection
      against radiation-induced skin injury by inhibiting ROS production. Taken
      together, the findings of this study illustrate the key role of the NF-E2-related
      factor 2/GCH1/BH4 axis during radiation-induced skin damage.

PMID- 28596001
TI  - Establishing and Validating an Ichthyosis Severity Index.
AB  - We designed and validated a Visual Index for Ichthyosis Severity for scale and
      erythema that provides (1) written descriptions of the features characteristic of
      each level of severity, (2) visual standards for four body sites, and (3) two
      distinct standards to account for different types of scale. We tested the Visual
      Index for Ichthyosis Severity for reliability and reproducibility using two
      different settings: one that utilized scoring of 60 test photographs by 10
      dermatologists, and one with in-person evaluations on 85 subjects by 12
      dermatologists at the Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types
      conference. The validation process revealed high reliability and reproducibility
      for both scale and erythema. The interrater and intrarater intraclass correlation
      coefficients for scale were consistently near or greater than 0.7 in both
      settings. By contrast, the interrater reliability for erythema was higher during
      in-person validation compared with validation on test photographs. Our analysis
      indicates that the Visual Index for Ichthyosis Severity performs better in person
      than with photographs, an important consideration in the design of clinical
      trials. Power analysis predicts that a 1-point difference on this 5-step scale
      would be detectable with 12 subjects in each of two defined groups. This index
      provides a tool for clinical phenotyping and assessment of therapeutic response
      for many disorders of keratinization.

PMID- 28595999
TI  - p63 Transcription Factor Regulates Nuclear Shape and Expression of Nuclear
      Envelope-Associated Genes in Epidermal Keratinocytes.
AB  - The maintenance of a proper nuclear architecture and three-dimensional
      organization of the genes, enhancer elements, and transcription machinery plays
      an essential role in tissue development and regeneration. Here we show that in
      the developing skin, epidermal progenitor cells of mice lacking p63 transcription
      factor display alterations in the nuclear shape accompanied by a marked decrease
      in expression of several nuclear envelope-associated components (Lamin B1, Lamin
      A/C, Sun1, Nesprin-3, Plectin) compared with controls. Furthermore, chromatin
      immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR assay showed enrichment of p63 on Sun1,
      Syne3, and Plec promoters, suggesting them as p63 targets. Alterations in the
      nuclei shape and expression of nuclear envelope-associated proteins were
      accompanied by altered distribution patterns of the repressive histone marks
      trimethylation on lysine 27 of histone H3, trimethylation on lysine 9 of histone
      H3, and heterochromatin protein 1-alpha in p63-null keratinocytes. These changes
      were also accompanied by downregulation of the transcriptional activity and
      relocation of the keratinocyte-specific gene loci away from the sites of active
      transcription toward the heterochromatin-enriched repressive nuclear compartments
      in p63-null cells. These data demonstrate functional links between the nuclear
      envelope organization, chromatin architecture, and gene expression in
      keratinocytes and suggest nuclear envelope-associated genes as important targets
      mediating p63-regulated gene expression program in the epidermis.

PMID- 28596002
TI  - Spontaneous pregnancy rates after reproductive surgery.
AB  - With the development of IVF procedures, the role of reproductive surgery in the
      management of infertile couples has been questioned. Pregnancy rates (PR) after
      IVF procedures are well known, but recent data on spontaneous PR after
      reproductive surgery are scarce. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate how
      often fertility is restored by reproductive surgery and to identify which
      independent factors influence spontaneous pregnancy after reproductive surgery.
      Eight hundred eighty-eight infertile women who underwent surgery for infertility
      were prospectively included. Women who were referred to IVF after surgery, ceased
      to plan pregnancy and were lost to follow-up were excluded. Spontaneous PR was
      analysed for 519 women. A total of 252 (48.6%) women, including 30 treated with
      clomiphene citrate, conceived spontaneously in the 12-18 months observation
      period following surgery. Multivariate logistic regression showed that woman's
      age (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90-0.99) and duration of infertility (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74
      0.99) significantly influence spontaneous PR. Each year of infertility lowers
      spontaneous PR following surgery by 14% and each year of woman's age by 5%. The
      study shows a relatively high percentage of women conceived spontaneously after
      reproductive surgery. The role of reproductive surgery in the management of
      infertility should be re-evaluated.

PMID- 28596003
TI  - Empty follicle syndrome revisited: definition, incidence, aetiology, early
      diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - In this review, the definition, incidence and possible causes of empty follicle
      syndrome (EFS), including molecular mechanisms that may underlie the syndrome,
      are discussed, along with prevention and treatment options. EFS is the complete
      failure to retrieve oocytes after ovarian stimulation, despite apparently normal
      follicle development and adequate follicular steroidogenesis. Two variants of EFS
      have been described: the 'genuine' form (gEFS), which occurs in the presence of
      adequate circulating HCG levels at the time of oocyte aspiration, and the 'false'
      form (f-EFS), which is associated with circulating HCG below a critical
      threshold. Heterogeneous HCG concentration thresholds, however, have been used to
      define gEFS, and to date no standardization exist. The situation is unclear when
      GnRH-analogues are used for ovulation trigger, as the threshold circulating LH
      and progesterone levels used to define EFS as 'genuine' are not established. The
      cause of fEFS has been clearly identified as an error in HCG administration at
      the time of ovulation trigger; in contrast, the cause of gEFS is still unclear,
      although some pathogenetic hypotheses have been proposed. Optimal treatment and
      prognosis of these patients are still poorly understood. Large, systematic multi
      centre studies are needed to increase the understanding of EFS.

PMID- 28596004
TI  - Synthesis of dextrin-stabilized colloidal silver nanoparticles and their
      application as modifiers of cement mortar.
AB  - Various commercial dextrins were used as reducing and stabilizing agents for a
      novel one-step synthesis of silver nanoparticles from ammonia complexes of silver
      ions. As a result, stable colloids of silver were formed during the reaction with
      the particle size being the function of the dextrin type. The obtained colloids
      were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry, size distribution (using Non
      Invasive Backscatter optics) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The
      achieved results clearly indicate the possibility of low-cost production of large
      quantities of colloidal silver nanoparticles using materials derived from
      renewable sources. The resulting silver colloids can be used for different
      purposes, e.g. as bactericidal agents. Combination of the aforementioned
      properties of nanosilver particles with plasticizing properties of dextrin
      enables to obtain cement mortars with increased workability and enhanced
      compressive strength. Moreover, the obtained material is also characterized by
      increased immunity to adverse impact of microorganisms.

PMID- 28596005
TI  - Characterization of keratin microparticles from feather biomass with potent
      antioxidant and anticancer activities.
AB  - In the present study chicken feathers were hydrolyzed by chemical treatment in
      alkaline conditions. The pH value of feather hydrolyzed solution was amended
      accordingly the iso-electric precipitation. Two types of keratin microparticles
      KM1, KM2 were synthesized under acidic conditions at 3.5 and 5.5pH respectively.
      The synthesized keratin microparticles possessed uniform and round surface by
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal degradation of microparticles
      were examined by thermogravimetry (TGA). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      (FTIR) revealed that the extracted keratin retained the most of protein backbone.
      The microparticles were screened for their in vitro anticancer activities by SRB
      bioassay towards HeLa, SK-OV-3 and A549 cancer cell lines. Futhermore, their
      cytotoxicity towards healthy cell lines was analyzed having Malin Darby canine
      kidney (MDCK) cell lines along with in vitro antioxidant activity using DPPH and
      ABTS methods KM1 and KM2 showed 200.31+/-1.01 and 139.73+/-0.94, 214.16+/-0.29
      and 153.92+/-0.61, 328.92+/-3.46 and 200.33+/-2.48MUg/mL of IC50 levels against
      HeLa, SK-OV-3, and A549 cell lines, respectively. Moreover, KM1 and KM2
      demonstrated significant antioxidant potency with IC50 levels 13.15 and
      9.02MUg/mL as well as 8.96 and 5.60MUg/mL in DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging
      bioassay, respectively.

PMID- 28596007
TI  - Structural profiling of wax biopolymer from Pinus roxburghii Sarg. needles using
      spectroscopic methods.
AB  - Pinus roxburghii Sarg. is the most abundant species in Himalayan region. The
      needles of the species largely contribute to the forest biomass and remain the
      major cause of forest fires leading to climate change, biodiversity loss, etc.
      Intriguingly, the layer of needles contains wax, a biomacromolecule with
      potential chemical functionalities for value addition. In the present study, a
      distinctive approach towards complete structural analysis of the isolated wax in
      its native state has been done using 1H, 13C, HSQC, HMBC, COSY, TOCSY along with
      GC-MS of the methyl esters of constituent fatty acids. The wax was isolated in a
      quantitative yield of 1.64% and analyses suggest that it is a polymer of linearly
      attached fatty acid esters which on hydrolysis yielded three types of omega
      hydroxy fatty acids viz. 12-hydroxydodecanoic acid, 14-hydroxytetradecanoic acid
      and 16-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid in a ratio of 1:1:2 respectively. Complete
      assignments for a carbonyl group, alpha-, beta- and other methylenes present in
      wax were achieved; corroborating the presence of polyester. In particular,
      identification of wax structure was accomplished through NMR; thereby providing a
      lead towards future structural analysis of waxes in their native form. The study
      would also be helpful to generate commercially important compounds derived from
      pine needle wax. This will offer an opportunity for utilisation of pine needle
      biomass: a root cause of Himalayan forest fires.

PMID- 28596006
TI  - Fabrication of single and bundled filament-like tissues using biodegradable
      hyaluronic acid-based hollow hydrogel fibers.
AB  - Hydrogel fibers with biodegradable and biocompatible features are useful for the
      fabrication of filament-like tissues. We developed cell-laden hyaluronic acid
      (HA)-based hollow hydrogel fibers to create single and bundled filament-like
      tissues. The cell-laden fibers were fabricated by crosslinking phenolic
      substituted hyaluronic acid (HA-Ph) in an aqueous solution containing cells
      through a horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed reaction in the presence of
      catalase by extruding the solution in ambient flow of an aqueous solution
      containing H2O2. The encapsulated cells proliferated and grew within the hollow
      core, and the cells formed filament-like constructs in both single and bundled
      fibers, which were obtained by collection on a rotating cylindrical tube. Single
      and bundled filament-like tissues covered with an additional heterogeneous cell
      layer were obtained by degrading the fiber membrane using hyaluronidase after
      covering the fiber surface with heterogeneous cells. Cellular viability was
      preserved during HA-Ph hydrogel fiber fabrication and filament-like tissue
      formation. These results demonstrate the feasibility of HA-based hollow hydrogel
      fibers obtained through HRP- and catalase-mediated reactions to engineer filament
      like tissues.

PMID- 28596008
TI  - Macrophage-stimulating activities of newly isolated complex polysaccharides from
      Parachlorella kessleri strain KNK-A001.
AB  - Our previous studies demonstrated that the microalga Parachlorella kessleri (KNK
      A001) has immunostimulatory activities, which were observed as an increase in
      natural killer (NK) cell activity in mice after intraperitoneal injection or as a
      protective effect on a virus-infected model shrimp after oral administration. In
      this study, we attempted to gain insight into the constituent substances of KNK
      A001 that are responsible for the immunostimulatory activity. First, we obtained
      five polysaccharide fractions from KNK-A001 by DEAE anion exchange
      chromatography. Among the fractions, F5 showed the most potent induction of
      nitric oxide (NO) secretion in RAW264.7 cells, and both mRNA and protein
      expression levels of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) were increased in F5-treated
      RAW264.7 cells. A significant increase in the nuclear translocation of the p65
      subunit of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) was observed in F5-treated RAW264.7
      cells. F5 also induced the secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in
      RAW264.7 cells. Analysis using mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase inhibitors
      suggested that c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAP kinase were mainly
      involved in F5-induced NO and TNF-alpha productions. The compositional analysis
      of F5 identified the main constituents as galactose, glucose, galacturonic acid,
      and mannose. Gel-filtration analysis suggested that molecular mass of F5 was
      approximately 400kDa.

PMID- 28596010
TI  - Silica hydride based phases for small molecule separations using automated liquid
      chromatography-mass spectrometry method development.
AB  - Silica hydride, or Type C silica, has been developed as an alternative
      chromatographic support material for liquid chromatography. There are various
      bonded phases available with this new support. For four such phases (Cholesterol,
      Bidentate C18, Diamond Hydride, and Diol), retention and selectivity behavior
      were investigated using liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass
      spectrometry. A set of small molecules from several chemical classes of interest,
      and varying in their physicochemical properties, were chromatographed under both
      reversed-phase and aqueous normal phase modes. To screen the columns, column
      switching was performed using an automated platform controlled by associated
      software and an additional valve. A typical scouting gradient was implemented.
      The separation conditions were not further optimized since the goal was simply to
      evaluate the variable retention behavior of the phases and selectivity under
      generic conditions. Further, retention of the analytes were evaluated under
      isocratic conditions with varying percentages of organic phase to visualize the
      potential for dual retention modes on the same column for certain analytes. Four
      analytes (fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and matrine) showed dual mode
      retention behavior with all four phases. Especially, fentanyl exhibited dramatic
      "U-shaped" retention profiles on Cholesterol and Bidentate C18 phases. Overall,
      changes in the retention order between reversed phase and aqueous normal phases
      emphasized the potential for altered selectivity. Results showed that the
      Cholesterol phase provided the highest retention for most analytes compared to
      the other phases. The more polar Diol phase still provided good retention in
      reversed phase mode. Retention and selectivity were all highly reproducible.

PMID- 28596009
TI  - Subzero Celsius separations in three-zone temperature controlled hydrogen
      deuterium exchange mass spectrometry.
AB  - Hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX MS) reports on the
      conformational landscape of proteins by monitoring the exchange between backbone
      amide hydrogen atoms and deuterium in the solvent. To maintain the label for
      analysis, quench conditions of low temperature and pH are required during the
      chromatography step performed after protease digestion but before mass
      spectrometry. Separation at 0 degrees C is often chosen as this is the
      temperature where the most deuterium can be recovered without freezing of the
      typical water and acetonitrile mobile phases. Several recent reports of
      separations at subzero Celsius emphasize the promise for retaining more deuterium
      and using a much longer chromatographic gradient or direct infusion time. Here we
      present the construction and validation of a modified Waters nanoACQUITY HDX
      manager with a third temperature-controlled zone for peptide separations at
      subzero temperatures. A new Peltier-cooled door replaces the door of a
      traditional main cooling chamber and the separations and trapping column are
      routed through the door housing. To prevent freezing, 35% methanol is introduced
      post online digestion. No new pumps are required and online digestion is
      performed as in the past. Subzero separations, using conventional HPLC column
      geometry of 3MU m particles in a 1*50mm column, did not result in major changes
      to chromatographic efficiency when lowering the temperature from 0 to -20 degrees
      C. There were significant increases in deuterium recovery for both model peptides
      and biologically relevant protein systems. Given the higher levels of deuterium
      recovery, expanded gradient programs can be used to allow for higher
      chromatographic peak capacity and therefore the analysis of larger and more
      complex proteins and systems.

PMID- 28596011
TI  - Emmenagogue properties of Milicia excelsa (Welw.) C.C. Berg (Moraceae) based, at
      least in part, on its ability to correlate the activity of the hypothalamic
      pituitary axis to that of the ovaries.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Milicia excelsa (Welw.) C.C. Berg (Moraceae) is a
      medicinal plant recommended over tropical Africa as a cure for several ailments
      including amenorrhea. This is the hallmark of an ovarian lesion or a dysfunction
      of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis which may lead to infertility,
      osteoporosis or endometrial cancer. However, regardless these traditional claims,
      no scientific report dealing with emmenagogue properties has been reported yet.
      AIM OF THE STUDY: To bring scientific evidence to the curative action of the
      plant, we proposed evaluating the effects of a root aqueous extract of Milicia
      excelsa on female Wistar rat sexual maturation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study
      was performed in immature (45 days old) female Wistar rats orally treated with
      the root aqueous extract of Milicia excelsa at doses of 14, 77 and 140mg/kg
      BW/day for 7 and 15 consecutive days. Genistein (10mg/kg BW) served as the
      reference substance. Negative control animals, treated with the vehicle, were
      followed up for 7, 15, 30 and 45 days and rats were aged 52, 60, 75 and 90 days
      at these respective days. This allowed setting the nubile age of experimental
      animals and to determine the impact of treatments with genistein or the aqueous
      extract of Milicia excelsa on the age of rat sexual maturation. Since female rats
      do not have menstruation and that the normal menstrual cycle occurs because of
      changing levels of hormones made and secreted by the ovaries in response to
      hormonal signals from the pituitary gland, the effects of treatments were
      evaluated on the pituitary production of gonadotropins, the ovarian production of
      estradiol and progesterone, and uterine and vaginal growths. RESULTS: The sexual
      maturation of untreated rats was set at 90 days old. This sexual maturation was
      indicated by the simultaneous elevation of gonadotropins (FSH and LH (p<0.01))
      and ovarian hormones (estradiol (p<0.001) and progesterone (p<0.05)) in animals
      aged 90 days. Uterine and vaginal growths (p < 0.001) observed in these animals
      appear as the result of elevated level of estradiol. The root aqueous extract of
      Milicia excelsa displayed genistein-like effects and increased FSH and estradiol
      serum levels following both treatment periods (7 and 15 days). Estradiol serum
      concentration significantly increased following a 7-day treatment at the dose of
      14mg/kg BW (p<0.001). This resulted in an increase in the uterine wet weight,
      uterine and vaginal epithelial heights (p<0.05). These results suggest that the
      root aqueous extract of Milicia excelsa reduced rats' sexual maturation from 90
      to 52 days. Moreover, animals' body weight was not affected following treatment
      with Milicia excelsa. CONCLUSION: The root aqueous extract of Milicia excelsa may
      solve the problem of amenorrhea by synchronizing the activity of the hypothalamic
      pituitary axis to the ovarian production of estradiol and progesterone. The
      unaltered body weight following treatments justifies at least in part, the
      traditional use of Milicia excelsa for primary and secondary amenorrhea.

PMID- 28596012
TI  - Effects of positive airway pressure therapy on cardiovascular and metabolic
      markers in males with obstructive sleep apnea.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with
      cardiovascular/metabolic complications. Some analytical parameters (homocysteine,
      glycemic and lipidic profiles) are recognized markers of these consequences.
      Limited data is available on the association of these markers and OSAS's
      severity/response to positive airway pressure therapy (PAP). MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: In this prospective study we analyzed polysomnographic and analytical
      data of male patients admitted to sleep laboratory. The aim was to evaluate
      metabolic/cardiovascular markers in snorers and OSAS patients, to relate with
      sleep parameters and PAP response. One-hundred and three patients were included,
      and 73 (71%) were OSAS patients. OSAS patients were similar to snorers except for
      higher body mass index (BMI) and dyslipidemia. Severe OSAS patients showed higher
      glycemia, HbA1c, insulin, and insulin resistance, and lower HDL cholesterol in
      comparison to mild-moderate (p<0.05, p<0.05, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.05,
      respectively). Glycemic profile and triglycerides were slightly correlated with
      OSAS severity. 46 OSAS patients were submitted to 6 months of PAP, with a
      statistical decrease in mean values of homocysteine, glycemia, total and LDL
      cholesterol (p<0.05, p<0.05, p<0.05, respectively), and in glycemia and LDL
      cholesterol in severe group only (p<0.05, p<0.05, respectively). RESULTS: This
      study demonstrated an association between glucose metabolism parameters and
      triglycerides with OSAS severity underlying the complexity of the process leading
      to cardiovascular/metabolic complications in this disorder. Moreover,
      homocysteine, glycemic and lipidic profiles changed significantly after 6 months
      of PAP therapy in OSAS, supporting its cardiovascular and metabolic protective
      effect. CONCLUSION: Our study has reinforced the importance of analytical
      cardiovascular/metabolic evaluation as complementary tool of diagnosis/treatment
      response in OSAS.

PMID- 28596013
TI  - Two likely targets for the anti-cancer effect of indole derivatives from
      cruciferous vegetables: PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway and the aryl hydrocarbon
      receptor.
AB  - Diets containing high quantities of plant foods are linked with a decreased
      likelihood of incidence of cancer. Several common plant-based dietary components
      exert effects on DNA methylation levels, and can positively influence genome
      stability and the transcription of tumor suppressors and oncogenes. Indole-3
      carbinol (I3C) is a substance present in vegetables of the Brassicaeae family,
      especially broccoli, white cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. The in vivo
      biological effects of I3C are ascribed to a series of oligomeric products
      (including 3,3'-diindolylmethane), developed under acidic conditions. I3C is one
      of the many natural products and bioactive compounds found in foods which have
      recently received much attention for its potential effects in cancer prevention
      and treatment. In vitro studies report that I3C suppresses the proliferation of
      different tumor cells, including those isolated from breast, prostate,
      endometrium, and colon cancers. I3C resulted to be a potent in vivo
      chemopreventive agent for certain hormone-dependent cancers, including breast and
      cervical cancer. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are not well
      defined. In this review, we have analysed recent literature on the use of indole
      derivatives against various forms of cancer, and have identified the main
      signalling pathways involved in their anti-cancer effect as PI3K/Akt/mTOR and the
      aryl hydrocarbon receptor.

PMID- 28596014
TI  - Designing food structure and composition to enhance nutraceutical bioactivity to
      support cancer inhibition.
AB  - Many types of bioactive molecules found in foods ("nutraceuticals") have been
      shown to exert anticancer activities, including curcumin, resveratrol,
      polyphenols, sulforaphane, anthocyanins, genistein, quercetin and lycopene. The
      potential health benefits of nutraceuticals are often not realized because of
      their poor water solubility, chemical instability, adverse taste profile, and low
      oral bioavailability. Carefully designed food matrices are being developed to
      overcome these problems. Nutraceuticals can be isolated from their natural
      environment, and then incorporated into functional foods, often with the help of
      delivery systems (such as emulsions, nanoemulsions, liposomes, biopolymer
      nanoparticles, and microgels). Alternatively, the stability and bioavailability
      of nutraceuticals can be improved by leaving them in their natural environment,
      but ingesting them with a specially designed "excipient food". The structure and
      composition of an excipient food is controlled so as to enhance the
      bioaccessibilty, stability, and absorption of the nutraceuticals in the
      gastrointestinal tract. This review article provides an overview of some of the
      most important anticancer nutraceuticals found in foods, then highlights the main
      factors impacting their bioaccessibility, absorption and transformation. Finally,
      it describes different types of delivery systems and excipient systems that can
      be used to improve the overall bioavailability of anticancer nutraceuticals.

PMID- 28596015
TI  - Low-grade and high-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma: A National Cancer Database
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide refined prognostic information from large cohorts of women
      with low-grade or high-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS). METHODS: We
      performed an observational retrospective cohort analysis of women diagnosed with
      low-grade or high-grade ESS from the 1998-2013 National Cancer Database. Kaplan
      Meier and multivariable accelerated failure time survival analyses were performed
      to identify prognostic factors after multiple imputation of missing data.
      Recursive partitioning methods were used to rank prognostic factors in high-grade
      ESS. Matched cohort analyses were performed to hypothesis-test effects of
      adjuvant treatments. RESULTS: We identified 2414 and 1383 women with low-grade or
      high-grade ESS, respectively. Women with high-grade ESS had markedly decreased
      survival compared to women with low-grade ESS (five-year survival (95% CI): 32.6
      (30.1-35.3%) versus 90.5% (89.3-91.8%), P<0.001). Among women with high-grade
      ESS, median survival (95% CI) was only 19.9 (17.1-22.1) months. Increased age and
      tumor size were associated with decreased survival in low-grade ESS. In high
      grade ESS, additional negative prognostic factors were distant or nodal
      metastasis, omission of lymphadenectomy, and pathologically-positive surgical
      margins (all P<0.001). Use of adjuvant chemotherapy (time ratio (TR) (95% CI):
      1.36 (1.17-1.58), P<0.001) and radiotherapy (TR (95% CI): 1.57 (1.32-1.87),
      P<0.001) were associated with increased survival for high-grade ESS. CONCLUSION:
      The contrasting excellent versus poor prognosis of low-grade versus high-grade
      ESS, respectively, was confirmed. The best treatment of high-grade ESS is early
      and complete surgical resection including lymphadenectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy
      and radiotherapy may increase survival of women with high-grade ESS.

PMID- 28596016
TI  - Multi-disciplinary summit on genetics services for women with gynecologic
      cancers: A Society of Gynecologic Oncology White Paper.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess current practice, advise minimum standards, and identify
      educational gaps relevant to genetic screening, counseling, and testing of women
      affected by gynecologic cancers. METHODS: The Society of Gynecologic Oncology
      (SGO) organized a multidisciplinary summit that included representatives from the
      American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American Society
      Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), and
      patient advocacy groups, BrightPink and Facing our Risk of Cancer Empowered
      (FORCE). Three subject areas were discussed: care delivery models for genetic
      testing, barriers to genetic testing, and educational opportunities for providers
      of genetic testing. RESULTS: The group endorsed current SGO, National
      Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and NSGC genetic testing guidelines for
      women affected with ovarian, tubal, peritoneal cancers, or DNA mismatch repair
      deficient endometrial cancer. Three main areas of unmet need were identified:
      timely and universal genetic testing for women with ovarian, fallopian tube, and
      peritoneal cancers; education regarding minimum standards for genetic counseling
      and testing; and barriers to implementation of testing of both affected
      individuals as well as cascade testing of family members. Consensus building
      among all stakeholders resulted in an action plan to address gaps in education of
      gynecologic oncology providers and delivery of cancer genetics care.

PMID- 28596017
TI  - Statin treatment is associated with survival in a nationally representative
      population of elderly women with epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Observational studies suggest that statin therapy for cardio
      protection is associated with improved survival in cancer patients. We sought to
      evaluate the impact of statin treatment on ovarian cancer survival in a
      nationally representative elderly population. METHODS: The linked Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries and Medicare claims data on
      patients diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer in 2007-2009 were used to
      extract data on statin prescription fills, population characteristics, primary
      treatment, comorbidity and survival. Cox regression models were used to examine
      the association between statin treatment and overall survival. RESULTS: Among the
      1431 ovarian cancer patients who underwent surgical resection, 609 (42.6%) filled
      prescriptions for statin. The majority of statin-users (89%) were prescribed a
      lipophilic formulation. Mean overall survival among statin-users was 32.3months
      compared to 28.8months for non-users (p<0.0001). A 34% reduction in death was
      associated with statin therapy, independent of age, race, neighborhood median
      household income, stage, platinum therapy and comorbid conditions (HR=0.66, 95%
      CI 0.55-0.81). Improved overall survival with statin use was observed for both
      serous (HR=0.69, 95% CI 0.54-0.87) and non-serous (HR=0.63, 95% CI 0.44-0.90)
      histologies. When statin treatment was categorized by lipophilicity and
      intensity, a significant survival benefit was limited to lipophilic statin users
      and those who took statins of moderate intensity. CONCLUSIONS: This SEER-Medicare
      analysis demonstrates improvement in overall survival with lipophilic statin use
      after surgery in elderly patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. A clinical
      trial to evaluate the impact of statin treatment in ovarian cancer survival is
      warranted.

PMID- 28596018
TI  - Considering a new domain for antimicrobial stewardship: Topical antibiotics in
      the open surgical wound.
AB  - The global push to combat the problem of antimicrobial resistance has led to the
      development of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs), which were recently
      mandated by The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
      Services. However, the use of topical antibiotics in the open surgical wound is
      often not monitored by these programs nor is it subject to any evidence-based
      standardization of care. Survey results indicate that the practice of using
      topical antibiotics intraoperatively, in both irrigation fluids and powders, is
      widespread. Given the risks inherent in their use and the lack of evidence
      supporting it, the practice should be monitored as a core part of ASPs, and
      alternative agents, such as antiseptics, should be considered.

PMID- 28596019
TI  - Risk factors of catheter-related bloodstream infection caused by Bacillus cereus:
      Case-control study in 8 teaching hospitals in Japan.
AB  - In this multicenter, matched case-control study, patients diagnosed with catheter
      related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) caused by Bacillus cereus (n = 108) were
      matched to controls (n = 269). In the multivariable analysis, administration of
      an amino acid preparation and an indwelling peripheral catheter were significant
      variables for B cereus-related CRBSI.

PMID- 28596020
TI  - Challenges to sustainability of hand hygiene at a rural hospital in Rwanda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many hand hygiene (HH) programs have been implemented across Sub
      Saharan Africa (SSA); however, most of these have been in large, referral
      hospitals. Our objective was to assess the impact of HH programs aimed at
      improving compliance at a rural hospital, and to identify unique challenges to HH
      sustainability. METHODS: Interventions to improve HH through providing
      handwashing stations, health care worker (HCW) training, and alcohol handrub were
      completed in 2014 and 2015. HH infrastructure, compliance, and glove use were
      assessed among HCWs after the intervention in 2015 and 2016. HCWs were
      interviewed about challenges to sustainability of HH compliance. RESULTS: Total
      HH compliance decreased 32.1% between 2015 and 2016 (P < .001). HH for patient
      protection was completed significantly less than HH for HCW protection in 2016,
      and HCWs appeared to substitute HH for patient protection with glove use. A high
      rate of physician turnover was associated with a larger decrease in HH compliance
      compared with nurses, and interviews suggested recruiting and retention of key
      personnel might play a role in HH sustainability. Availability of alcohol-based
      handrub in patient rooms decreased from 100% in 2015 to 79.5% in 2016 (P < .01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Many challenges exist to sustaining HH compliance in SSA. In rural
      settings, difficulty recruiting and retaining trained personnel, inconsistent
      availability in HH infrastructure, and variability in HCW HH training may be
      contributing factors.

PMID- 28596021
TI  - Pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship in intensive care units in East
      China: A multicenter prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial stewardship programs, particularly pharmacist-driven
      programs, help reduce the unnecessary use of antimicrobial agents. The objective
      of this study was to assess the influence of pharmacist-driven antimicrobial
      stewardship on antimicrobial use, multidrug resistance, and patient outcomes in
      adult intensive care units in China. METHOD: We conducted a multicenter
      prospective cohort study with a sample of 577 patients. A total of 353 patients
      were included under a pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship program,
      whereas the remaining 224 patients served as controls. The primary outcome was
      all-cause hospital mortality. RESULTS: The pharmacist-driven antimicrobial
      stewardship program had a lower hospital mortality rate compared with the
      nonpharmacist program (19.3% vs 29.0%; P = .007). Furthermore, logistic
      regression analysis indicated that the pharmacist-driven program independently
      predicted hospital mortality (odds ratio, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.36
      0.91; P = .017) after adjustment. Meanwhile, this strategy had a lower rate of
      multidrug resistance (23.8% vs 31.7%; P = .037). Moreover, the strategy optimized
      antimicrobial use, such as having a shorter duration of empirical antimicrobial
      therapy (2.7 days; interquartile range [IQR], 1.7-4.6 vs 3.0; IQR, 1.9-6.2; P =
      .002) and accumulated duration of antimicrobial treatment (4.0; IQR, 2.0-7.0 vs
      5.0; IQR, 3.0-9.5; P = .030). CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacist-driven antimicrobial
      stewardship in an intensive care unit decreased patient mortality and the
      emergence of multidrug resistance, and optimized antimicrobial agent use.

PMID- 28596022
TI  - Dipping into the Clostridium difficile pool: Are alcohol-based dispensers fomites
      for C difficile?
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate alcohol-based dispensers as potential
      fomites for Clostridium difficile. A convenience sample of 120 alcohol-based
      dispensers was evaluated for the presence of C difficile either by culture or
      polymerase chain reaction for C difficile toxin. The results demonstrated that C
      difficile was not cultured, and C difficile toxin was not detected using
      polymerase chain reaction; however, gram-positive rods, Clostridium perfringens,
      Pantoea agglomerans, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Peptostreptococcus,
      Bacillus spp, and microaerophilic Streptococcus were present within the overflow
      basins of the alcohol-based dispensers.

PMID- 28596024
TI  - Child with leukemia and symptomatic pulmonary pseudoaneurysm subjected to
      catheterization.

PMID- 28596023
TI  - Prebiotics Reduce Body Fat and Alter Intestinal Microbiota in Children Who Are
      Overweight or With Obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: It might be possible to manipulate the intestinal microbiota
      with prebiotics or other agents to prevent or treat obesity. However, little is
      known about the ability of prebiotics to specifically modify gut microbiota in
      children with overweight/obesity or reduce body weight. We performed a randomized
      controlled trial to study the effects of prebiotics on body composition, markers
      of inflammation, bile acids in fecal samples, and composition of the intestinal
      microbiota in children with overweight or obesity. METHODS: We performed a single
      center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 2 separate cohorts (March 2014
      and August 2014) at the University of Calgary in Canada. Participants included
      children, 7-12 years old, with overweight or obesity (>85th percentile of body
      mass index) but otherwise healthy. Participants were randomly assigned to groups
      given either oligofructose-enriched inulin (OI; 8 g/day; n=22) or maltodextrin
      placebo (isocaloric dose, controls; n=20) once daily for 16 weeks. Fat mass and
      lean mass were measured using dual-energy-x-ray absorptiometry. Height, weight,
      and waist circumference were measured at baseline and every 4 weeks thereafter.
      Blood samples were collected at baseline and 16 weeks, and analyzed for lipids,
      cytokines, lipopolysaccharide, and insulin. Fecal samples were collected at
      baseline and 16 weeks; bile acids were profiled using high-performance liquid
      chromatography and the composition of the microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA
      sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The primary outcome was
      change in percent body fat from baseline to 16 weeks. RESULTS: After 16 weeks,
      children who consumed OI had significant decreases in body weight z-score
      (decrease of 3.1%), percent body fat (decrease of 2.4%), and percent trunk fat
      (decrease of 3.8%) compared with children given placebo (increase of 0.5%,
      increase of 0.05%, and decrease of 0.3%, respectively). Children who consumed OI
      also had a significant reduction in level of interleukin 6 from baseline
      (decrease of 15%) compared with the placebo group (increase of 25%). There was a
      significant decrease in serum triglycerides (decrease of 19%) in the OI group.
      Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed a significant increase in
      Bifidobacterium spp. in the OI group compared with controls. 16S rRNA sequencing
      revealed significant increases in species of the genus Bifidobacterium and
      decreases in Bacteroides vulgatus within the group who consumed OI. In fecal
      samples, levels of primary bile acids increased in the placebo group but not in
      the OI group over the 16-week study period. CONCLUSIONS: In a placebo-controlled,
      randomized trial, we found a prebiotic (OI) to selectively alter the intestinal
      microbiota and significantly reduce body weight z-score, percent body fat,
      percent trunk fat, and serum level of interleukin 6 in children with overweight
      or obesity (Clinicaltrials.gov no: NCT02125955).

PMID- 28596025
TI  - Conjunctival air after neurosurgery.

PMID- 28596026
TI  - Four new iridoid glucosides containing the furan ring from the fruit of Cornus
      officinalis.
AB  - Four new and rare iridoid glucosides, cornusfuroside A-D (1-4), containing the
      furan ring were identified from water extract of the fruit of Cornus officinalis.
      These new chemical structures were determined through extensive spectroscopic
      analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, IR, HRESIMS, experimental and calculated
      electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Notably, this study is the first report on
      the isolation of four iridoid glucoside structures with acetal functions in the
      sugar moiety. The neuroprotective effects of these compounds were also evaluated
      in vitro.

PMID- 28596027
TI  - Gelsedine-type oxindole alkaloids from Gelsemium elegans and the evaluation of
      their cytotoxic activity.
AB  - Phytochemical investigation on the 70% EtOH extract of the leaves and branches of
      Gelsemium elegans resulted into the isolation of five new gelsedine-type oxindole
      alkaloids, gelseleganins A-E (1-5). The structures of the isolated compounds were
      established based on 1D and 2D (1H-1H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, in
      addition to high resolution mass spectrometry. The isolated alkaloids were tested
      in vitro for cytotoxic potential against seven tumor cell lines. As a result,
      alkaloids 3 exhibited significant cytotoxic activities against all the tested
      tumor cell lines with IC50 values <10MUM.

PMID- 28596028
TI  - Furofuran lignans from the Simpson Desert species Eremophila macdonnellii.
AB  - The Eremophila plant family, which occurs in the arid zones of Australia, have
      witnessed extensive investigation, mostly inspired by Aboriginal traditional
      medicine. A wide and varied biological and phytochemical profile has been
      reported for over 18 individual species of Australian Eremophila, although E.
      macdonnellii from the Simpson Desert has not yet been investigated. Isolation and
      elucidation of one new and six known furofuran lignans are reported. The new
      lignan, epimethoxypiperitol, displayed moderate anti-cancer activity against the
      breast cancer cell line (MCF-7).

PMID- 28596029
TI  - 2-Phenylnaphthalenes and a polyoxygenated cyclohexene from the stem and root
      extracts of Uvaria cherrevensis (Annonaceae).
AB  - Three new 2-phenylnaphthalene derivatives, cherrevenaphthalenes A-C (1-3), and a
      new polyoxygenated cyclohexene derivative, (-)-uvaribonol F (4) together with six
      known compounds, 5-10, were isolated from the stem and root extracts of Uvaria
      cherrevensis (Annonaceae). The structures of all isolated compounds were
      elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. The structures of 3 and 4 were further
      confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Compound 2 exhibited
      modest antiplasmodial activity against the P. falciparum stains TM4/8.2 and K1CB1
      with IC50 values of 18.8+/-3.63 and 23.4+/-4.08MUM, respectively, and weak
      cytotoxicity to a Vero cell line. Furthermore, compound 4 displayed cytotoxic
      activity against a KB cell line with an IC50 value of 22.1+/-0.42MUM but was non
      cytotoxic to the Vero cell line. Compound 5 revealed stronger cytotoxicity
      towards the KB cell line, with an IC50 value of 5.05+/-0.86MUM and was nearly
      equally cytotoxic to the Vero cell line.

PMID- 28596030
TI  - Two, three, and four-drug regimens for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis in a North
      American sexual assault victim population.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Due to perceived increased tolerability and compliance,
      and decreased cost, recent trends in practice are moving towards using fewer
      drugs for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis. However, there is limited literature to
      assess this is in the North American sexual assault victim population. METHODS:
      This retrospective before-and-after cohort study compared patients seen at a
      sexual assault care facility before and after the introduction of two and three
      drug post-exposure prophylaxis regimens. Our primary outcome was completion of
      the 28-day regimen. Secondary objectives included HIV seroconversion rates and
      patient reported side effects. RESULTS: Six-hundred-thirty charts from a 2-year
      period were reviewed, and 429 met inclusion criteria. There was no difference in
      completion rates of post-exposure prophylaxis between the two cohorts (50.5% vs.
      51.6%). However, there were fewer reported side effects (72.2% vs. 17.6%) in the
      later cohort. We subsequently compared all patients in either cohort who received
      four-drug therapy (N=128) versus those who received two or three-drug regimens
      (N=47). The two or three-drug regimen group had a higher completion rate (66.0%
      vs. 42.2%; p=0.03), and a lower rate of reported side effects (19.1% vs. 53.9%),
      specifically for nausea (12.8% vs. 36.7%), constipation (0% vs. 7.9%), diarrhea
      (2.1% vs. 21.1%), mood changes (0% vs. 10.9%), headache (2.1% vs. 16.4%), and
      fatigue (6.4% vs. 26.6%). There were no HIV seroconversions in either group.
      CONCLUSION: Two and three-drug HIV post-exposure prophylaxis regimens are better
      tolerated by patients and associated with greater compliance than four-drug
      therapy, and could be considered in the sexual assault victim population.

PMID- 28596031
TI  - The current emergency medicine residency curriculum: Missing psychiatry.

PMID- 28596032
TI  - Clinical characteristics of external iliac artery branch injury in pelvic trauma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The clinical characteristics of an injury of external iliac artery
      branches in blunt pelvic trauma have not yet been sufficiently studied. We
      evaluated the relationship between injury characteristics and the presence of an
      injury to external iliac artery branches in blunt pelvic trauma. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective review of patients admitted with blunt pelvic trauma was
      conducted over an 11-year period. Charts were reviewed for age, gender, injury
      characteristics, injury severity score, length of stay in the intensive care
      unit, transfusion requirements, and fracture pattern. RESULTS: Of 286 blunt
      pelvic trauma patients, 90 patients (31%) underwent pelvic angiography. Of those
      patients, 10 (11%) had the injuries of the branches of external iliac artery and
      88 (97%) had the injuries of the branches of internal iliac artery. Those
      patients with external iliac artery branch injuries were significantly associated
      with hemodynamic instability, when compared to those without external iliac
      artery branch injuries. There were no significant differences between the
      patients with and without external iliac artery branch injury with regard to the
      anatomical characteristics of pelvic trauma. CONCLUSION: Blunt pelvic trauma with
      hemodynamic instability may be associated with concomitant external iliac artery
      branch injury.

PMID- 28596033
TI  - Could B-type natriuretic peptides be a biomarker for trauma brain injury? A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.

PMID- 28596034
TI  - Breast implant associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma: The UK experience.
      Recommendations on its management and implications for informed consent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL)
      is a rare, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma arising in the capsule of breast implants. BIA
      ALCL presents as a recurrent effusion and/or mass. Tumours exhibit CD30
      expression and are negative for Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK). We report the
      multi-disciplinary management of the UK series and how the stage of disease may
      be used to stratify treatment. METHODS: Between 2012 and 2016, 23 cases of BIA
      ALCL were diagnosed in 15 regional centres throughout the UK. Data on breast
      implant surgeries, clinical features, treatment and follow-up were available for
      18 patients. RESULTS: The mean lead-time from initial implant insertion to
      diagnosis was 10 years (range: 3-16). All cases were observed in patients with
      textured breast implants or expanders. Fifteen patients with breast implants
      presented with stage I disease (capsule confined), and were treated with implant
      removal and capsulectomy. One patient received adjuvant chest-wall radiotherapy.
      Three patients presented with extra-capsular masses (stage IIA). In addition to
      explantation, capsulectomy and excision of the mass, all patients received neo
      /adjuvant chemotherapy with CHOP as first line. One patient progressed on CHOP
      but achieved pathological complete response (pCR) with Brentuximab Vedotin. After
      a mean follow-up of 23 months (range: 1-56) all patients reported here remain
      disease-free. DISCUSSION: BIA-ALCL is a rare neoplasm with a good prognosis. Our
      data support the recommendation that stage I disease be managed with surgery
      alone. Adjuvant chemotherapy may be required for more invasive disease and our
      experience has shown the efficacy of Brentuximab as a second line treatment.

PMID- 28596035
TI  - The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of site-specific pegylated
      genetically modified recombinant human interleukin-11 in normal and
      thrombocytopenic monkeys.
AB  - In order to improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of
      recombinant human interleukin-11 mutein (mIL-11) and to reduce the frequency of
      administration, we examined the feasibility of chemical modification of mIL-11 by
      methoxy polyethylene glycol succinimidyl carbonate (mPEG-SC). PEG-mIL-11 was
      prepared by a pH controlled amine specific method. Bioactivity of the protein was
      determined in a IL-11-dependent in vitro bioassay, its pharmacodynamic and
      pharmacokinetic properties were investigated by using normal and thrombocytopenic
      monkey models. N-terminus sequencing and peptide mapping analysis revealed that
      Lys33 is the PEGylated position for PEG-mIL-11. Bioactivity of PEG-mIL-11
      assessed by B9-11 cell proliferation assay was comparable to that of mIL-11. More
      than 79-fold increase in area-under-the curve (AUC) and 26-fold increase in
      maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was observed in pharmacokinetic analysis.
      Single dose administration of the PEG-mIL-11 induced blood platelets number
      increase and the effect duration were comparable to that of 7 to 10 consecutive
      daily administration of mIL-11 to the normal and thrombocytopenic monkey models.
      PEG-mIL-11 is a promising therapeutic for thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 28596036
TI  - The oriented processes for extraction and recovery of paracetamol compound across
      different affinity polymer membranes. Parameters and mechanisms.
AB  - Membrane processes represent one of the most promising technologies for
      separation and extraction in modern industries, because they have several
      advantages. Today these processes are an important research topic, including
      affinity polymer membranes that are highly efficient for oriented processes.
      Three affinity polymer membrane types containing lipophilic compounds, methyl
      cholate (MC) and cholic acid (CA) as extractive agents were prepared and
      characterized. They have been used to extract active ingredient paracetamol
      (acetaminophen), from concentrated solutions (0.08-0.01M). Substrate
      acetaminophen is an important active ingredient and its recovery as a pure
      compound, is very useful for the pharmaceutical industry. These affinity polymer
      membranes were adopted to perform experiments on a facilitated extraction process
      of this substrate at different medium acidities and temperatures. Macroscopic
      parameters, permeabilities (P) and initial fluxes (J0) for a facilitated
      extraction of this substrate through each membrane were determined. The results
      indicate that values of initial fluxes (J0) of the extracted substrate are
      related to its initial concentration C0 by a saturation law, which allowed to
      determine microscopic parameters, apparent diffusion coefficients (D*) and
      association constants (Kass) of formed entity (substrate - extractive agent)
      (ST). The results show a clear influence of temperature and acidity factors on
      the evolution of these parameters and membrane performances in this studied
      process. Activation parameters (Ea, DeltaH?, and DeltaS?) were determined and the
      values indicate that high performances of these membrane types are certainly
      related to the movement nature of the substrate across the organic phase, and the
      structures of the substrate and the extractive agent.

PMID- 28596038
TI  - Predictors of 30-day postoperative major adverse clinical events after carotid
      artery stenting: An analysis of the procedure-targeted American College of
      Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information about carotid artery stenting (CAS) is largely derived
      from clinical trials, consensus statements, and outcomes comparisons between CAS
      and carotid endarterectomy. Given these limitations, the goal of this study was
      to identify risk factors for adverse outcomes after CAS among hospitals
      participating in the CAS-targeted American College of Surgeons National Surgical
      Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). METHODS: Our study sample consisted of
      patients from the 2012 to 2015 CAS-targeted ACS NSQIP data set. The primary
      outcome variable was 30-day postoperative incidence of major adverse clinical
      events (MACEs; death, myocardial infarction/arrhythmia, ipsilateral
      stroke/transient ischemic attack). Univariable and multivariable analyses were
      performed to identify patient and procedural characteristics associated with
      MACEs. RESULTS: A total of 448 patients undergoing CAS for carotid artery
      stenosis were identified in the 2012 to 2015 CAS-targeted ACS NSQIP data set as
      eligible for analysis. The incidence of postoperative MACEs was 8.4% for
      symptomatic patients and 5.4% for asymptomatic patients. On multivariable
      analysis, independent predictors of MACEs included age >=80 years, female sex,
      black race, presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, active tobacco use
      (protective), and use of more than one stent. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of major
      postoperative events in preoperatively asymptomatic patients is higher than the
      threshold recommended by the American Heart Association guidelines. Elderly
      patients (>=80 years), female patients, and black patients as well as those
      receiving more than one stent are at increased risk of negative outcome after
      CAS.

PMID- 28596037
TI  - Development and evaluation of an oral fast disintegrating anti-allergic film
      using hot-melt extrusion technology.
AB  - The main objective of this novel study was to develop chlorpheniramine maleate
      orally disintegrating films (ODF) using hot-melt extrusion technology and
      evaluate the characteristics of the formulation using in vitro and in vivo
      methods. Modified starch with glycerol was used as a polymer matrix for melt
      extrusion. Sweetening and saliva-simulating agents were incorporated to improve
      palatability and lower the disintegration time of film formulations. A standard
      screw configuration was applied, and the last zone of the barrel was opened to
      discharge water vapors, which helped to manufacture non-sticky, clear, and
      uniform films. The film formulations demonstrated rapid disintegration times (6
      11s) and more than 95% dissolution in 5min. In addition, the films had
      characteristic mechanical properties that were helpful in handling and storage.
      An animal model was employed to determine the taste masking of melt-extruded
      films. The lead film formulation was subjected to a human panel for evaluation of
      extent of taste masking and disintegration.

PMID- 28596039
TI  - Assessment of aortic wall thrombus predicts outcomes of endovascular repair of
      complex aortic aneurysms using fenestrated and branched endografts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate the correlation between
      atherothrombotic aortic wall thrombus (AWT) and clinical outcomes in patients
      treated by fenestrated-branched endovascular aortic repair (F-BEVAR) and present
      a new classification system for assessment of AWT burden. METHODS: The clinical
      data of 301 patients treated for pararenal and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms
      (TAAAs) by F-BEVAR was reviewed. The study excluded 89 patients with extent I to
      III TAAA because of extensive laminated thrombus within the aneurysm sac.
      Computed tomography angiograms were analyzed in all patients to determine the
      location, extent, and severity of atherothrombotic AWT. The aorta was divided
      into three segments: ascending and arch (A), thoracic (B) and renal-mesenteric
      (C). Volumetric measurements (cm3) of AWT were performed using TeraRecon software
      (TeraRecon Inc, Foster City, Calif). These volumes were used to create an AWT
      index by dividing the AWT volume from the total aortic volume. A classification
      system was proposed using objective assessment of the number of affected
      segments, thrombus type, thickness, area, and circumference. Clinical outcomes
      included 30-day mortality, neurologic and gastrointestinal complications, renal
      events (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of kidney function, End-stage renal disease
      [RIFLE]), and solid organ infarction. RESULTS: The study included 212 patients,
      169 men (80%) and 43 women (20%), with a mean age of 76 +/- 7 years. A total of
      700 renal-mesenteric arteries were incorporated (3.1 +/- 1 vessels/patient). AWT
      was classified as mild in 98 patients (46%) and was considered moderate or severe
      in 114 (54%). There was one death (0.5%) at 30 days. Solid organ infarction was
      present in 50 patients (24%), and acute kidney injury occurred in 45 patients
      (21%) by RIFLE criteria. An association with higher AWT indices was found for
      time to resume enteral diet (P = .0004) and decline in renal function (P =
      .0003). Patients with acute kidney injury 2 by RIFLE criterion had significantly
      higher (P = .002) AWT index scores in segment B. Spinal cord injury occurred in
      three patients (1.4%) and stroke in four (1.9%), but were not associated with the
      AWT index. Severity of AWT using the new proposed classification system
      correlated with the AWT index in all three segments (P < .001). Any of the end
      points occurred in 35% of the patients with mild and in 53% of those with
      moderate or severe AWT (P = .016). CONCLUSIONS: AWT predicts solid organ
      infarction, renal function deterioration, and longer time to resume enteral diet
      after F-BEVAR of pararenal and type IV TAAAs. Evaluation of AWT should be part of
      preoperative planning and decision making for selection of the ideal method of
      treatment in these patients.

PMID- 28596040
TI  - Low level exposure to crude oil impacts avian flight performance: The Deepwater
      Horizon oil spill effect on migratory birds.
AB  - In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released 134 million gallons of crude
      oil into the Gulf of Mexico making it the largest oil spill in US history. The
      three month oil spill left tens of thousands of birds dead; however, the fate of
      tens of thousands of other migratory birds that were affected but did not
      immediately die is unknown. We used the homing pigeon as a surrogate species for
      migratory birds to investigate the effects of a single external oiling event on
      the flight performance of birds. Data from GPS data loggers revealed that lightly
      oiled pigeons took significantly longer to return home and spent more time
      stopped en route than unoiled birds. This suggests that migratory birds affected
      by the oil spill could have experienced long term flight impairment and delayed
      arrival to breeding, wintering, or crucial stopover sites and subsequently
      suffered reductions in survival and reproductive success.

PMID- 28596041
TI  - Data sharing statements for clinical trials: a requirement of the International
      Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

PMID- 28596042
TI  - Interleukin 23 inhibitors for psoriasis: not just another number.

PMID- 28596044
TI  - Incidence, recurrence and risk factors of hernias following stoma reversal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the incidence and risk factors for stoma site (SSH) and
      incisional (IH) hernias following stoma reversal as well as their recurrence
      following repair. METHODS: A cohort of VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      patients undergoing stoma reversal from 2002 to 2014 were evaluated at a single
      institution. Variables were selected a priori and evaluated by univariate
      analyses. RESULTS: Of 114 stoma reversals, 63 utilized a midline approach. The
      incidence of SSH and IH was 9.6% and 31.7% over a median follow-up of 5.7 (0.5
      14) and 4.0 (0.1-14) years, respectively. Five SSH and 10 IH were repaired with
      no recurrences. Myofascial release and superficial surgical site infections (SSI)
      were associated with SSH while body mass index, preoperative radiotherapy,
      American Society of Anesthesiologists classification >=3, operative duration
      >=2.5 h and deep SSIs were associated with IH. CONCLUSIONS: Incisional hernia
      incidence after stoma reversal is high for both the stoma site and midline. Risk
      factors differ for each hernia type. A low recurrence rate exists in short term
      follow-up following repair of a hernia occurrence.

PMID- 28596045
TI  - Comorbidity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Nationwide
      Population-Based Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown evidence of comorbid conditions in
      chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). OBJECTIVE: To
      estimate the prevalence of comorbidities and assess their associations using a
      nationwide population-based database of a Spanish CFS/ME cohort. METHOD: A
      nationally representative, retrospective, cross-sectional cohort study (2008
      2015) assessed 1757 Spanish subjects who met both the 1994 Centers for Disease
      Control and Prevention/Fukuda definition and 2003 Canadian Criteria for CFS/ME.
      Sociodemographic and clinical data, comorbidities, and patient-reported outcome
      measures at baseline were recorded. A cluster analysis based on baseline clinical
      variables was performed to classify patients with CFS/ME into 5 categories
      according to comorbidities. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was
      conducted adjusting for potential confounding effects such as age and sex;
      response and categorical predictor variables were also assessed. RESULTS: A total
      of 1757 CFS/ME patients completed surveys were collected. We identified 5 CFS/ME
      clusters: group 1-fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, multiple chemical
      hypersensitivity, sicca syndrome, epicondylitis, and thyroiditis; group 2
      alterations of ligaments and subcutaneous tissue, hypovitaminosis D,
      psychopathology, ligamentous hyperlaxity, and endometriosis. These 2 subgroups
      comprised mainly older women, with low educational level, unemployment, high
      levels of fatigue, and poor quality of life; group 3-with hardly any
      comorbidities, comprising mainly younger women, university students or those
      already employed, with lower levels of fatigue, and better quality of life; group
      4-poorly defined comorbidities; and group 5-hypercholesterolemia. CONCLUSION:
      Over 80% of a large population-based cohort of Spanish patients with CFS/ME
      presented comorbidities. Among the 5 subgroups created, the most interesting were
      groups 1-3. Future research should consider multidisciplinary approaches for the
      management and treatment of CFS/ME with comorbid conditions.

PMID- 28596043
TI  - Tildrakizumab versus placebo or etanercept for chronic plaque psoriasis
      (reSURFACE 1 and reSURFACE 2): results from two randomised controlled, phase 3
      trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tildrakizumab is a high-affinity, humanised, IgG1 kappa antibody
      targeting interleukin 23 p19 that represents an evolving treatment strategy in
      chronic plaque psoriasis. Previous research suggested clinical improvement with
      inhibition of interleukin 23 p19. We did two phase 3 trials to investigate
      whether tildrakizumab is superior to placebo and etanercept in the treatment of
      chronic plaque psoriasis. METHODS: We did two three-part, parallel group, double
      blind, randomised controlled studies, reSURFACE 1 (at 118 sites in Australia,
      Canada, Japan, the UK, and the USA) and reSURFACE 2 (at 132 sites in Europe,
      Israel, and the USA). Participants aged 18 years or older with moderate-to-severe
      chronic plaque psoriasis (body surface area involvement >=10%, Physician's Global
      Assessment [PGA] score >=3, and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI] score
      >=12) were randomised (via interactive voice and web response system) to
      tildrakizumab 200 mg, tildrakizumab 100 mg, or placebo in reSURFACE 1 (2:2:1), or
      to tildrakizumab 200 mg, tildrakizumab 100 mg, placebo, or etanercept 50 mg
      (2:2:1:2). Randomisation was done by region and stratified for bodyweight (<=90
      kg or >90 kg) and previous exposure to biologics therapy for psoriasis.
      Investigators, participants, and study personnel were blinded to group allocation
      and remained blinded until completion of the studies. Assigned medication was
      identical in appearance and packaging. Tildrakizumab was administered
      subcutaneously at weeks 0 and 4 during part 1 and at week 16 during part 2 (weeks
      12 and 16 for participants re-randomised from placebo to tildrakizumab;
      etanercept was given twice weekly in part 1 of reSURFACE 2 and once weekly during
      part 2). The co-primary endpoints were the proportion of patients achieving PASI
      75 and PGA response (score of 0 or 1 with >=2 grade score reduction from
      baseline) at week 12. Safety was assessed in the all-participants-as-treated
      population, and efficacy in the full-analysis set. These trials are registered
      with ClinicalTrials.gov, numbers NCT01722331 (reSURFACE 1) and NCT01729754
      (reSURFACE 2). These studies are completed, but extension studies are ongoing.
      FINDINGS: reSURFACE 1 ran from Dec 10, 2012, to Oct 28, 2015. reSURFACE 2 ran
      from Feb 12, 2013, to Sept 28, 2015. In reSURFACE 1, 772 patients were randomly
      assigned, 308 to tildrakizumab 200 mg, 309 to tildrakizumab 100 mg, and 155 to
      placebo. At week 12, 192 patients (62%) in the 200 mg group and 197 patients
      (64%) in the 100 mg group achieved PASI 75, compared with 9 patients (6%) in the
      placebo group (p<0.0001 for comparisons of both tildrakizumab groups vs placebo).
      182 patients (59%) in the 200 mg group and 179 patients (58%) in the 100 mg group
      achieved PGA responses, compared with 11 patients (7%) in the placebo group
      (p<0.0001 for comparisons of both tildrakizumab groups vs placebo). In reSURFACE
      2, 1090 patients were randomly assigned, 314 to tildrakizumab 200 mg, 307 to
      tildrakizumab 100 mg, 156 to placebo, and 313 to etanercept. At week 12, 206
      patients (66%) in the 200 mg group, and 188 patients (61%) in the 100 mg group
      achieved PASI 75, compared with 9 patients (6%) in the placebo group and 151
      patients (48%) in the etanercept group (p<0.0001 for comparisons of both
      tildrakizumab groups vs placebo; p<0.0001 for 200 mg vs etanercept and p=0.0010
      for 100 mg vs etanercept). 186 patients (59%) in the 200 mg group, and 168
      patients (59%) [corrected] in the 100 mg group achieved a PGA response, compared
      with 7 patients (4%) in the placebo group and 149 patients (48%) in the
      etanercept group (p<0.0001 for comparisons of both tildrakizumab groups vs
      placebo; p=0.0031 for 200 mg vs etanercept and p=0.0663 for 100 mg vs
      etanercept). Serious adverse events were similar and low in all groups in both
      trials. One patient died in reSURFACE 2, in the tildrakizumab 100 mg group; the
      patient had alcoholic cardiomyopathy and steatohepatitis, and adjudication was
      unable to determine the cause of death. INTERPRETATION: In two phase 3 trials,
      tildrakizumab 200 mg and 100 mg were efficacious compared with placebo and
      etanercept and were well tolerated in the treatment of patients with moderate-to
      severe chronic plaque psoriasis. FUNDING: Merck & Co.

PMID- 28596046
TI  - Capacity Evaluation Requests in the Medical Setting: A Retrospective Analysis of
      Underlying Psychosocial and Ethical Factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychosocial and ethical variables influence physicians in requesting
      decision-making capacity (DMC) evaluations. Previous authors have classified
      certain DMC evaluation requests as "unwarranted" when there is no explicit
      suspicion or evidence that the patient might lack DMC. OBJECTIVE: To explore
      psychosocial and ethical reasons motivating both "warranted" and "unwarranted"
      DMC evaluation requests by physicians in the medical setting. METHODS: A
      retrospective electronic health record review was approved by the institutional
      review board. All psychiatric consultation requests identified as DMC evaluation
      requests between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 were assessed
      independently by 2 reviewers. Each reviewer identified each DMC evaluation
      request as "warranted" vs "unwarranted." Unwarranted DMC evaluation requests were
      defined as those lacking explicit suspicion that the patient might lack DMC or
      those with explicit evidence of a patient with blatantly impaired DMC. We
      hypothesized that most (over half) DMC evaluation requests would be deemed
      unwarranted. Descriptive statistics, chi-square/Fisher exact tests, and t
      test/ANOVA were used. RESULTS: A total of 146 DMC evaluations were reviewed, and
      83 (56.8%) of these were deemed unwarranted. Of these, most were likely driven by
      a previous neuropsychiatric disturbance (p < 0.001). Various other psychosocial
      and ethical patterns were identified (i.e., the practice of defensive medicine
      and guardianship concerns). CONCLUSION: Over half of DMC evaluation requests in a
      general medical setting were unwarranted. Many such requests were motivated by
      unarticulated psychosocial and ethical factors. DMC evaluation requests appear to
      serve as a means for indirectly resolving various psychosocial and ethical
      dilemmas beyond assessing DMC itself. Implications and future directions are
      discussed.

PMID- 28596047
TI  - Successful percutaneous closure of a residual atrial septal defect due to device
      failure.
AB  - A 39-year-old woman underwent uneventful percutaneous occlusion of an ostium
      secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) with a 22 mm Ultrasept ASD Occluder(r).
      Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) performed two years after implantation
      revealed a de novo residual left-to-right shunt through the correctly implanted
      device. Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D TEE) further
      clarified this finding by showing a perforation of the device membrane coating.
      The patient underwent transcatheter closure of the residual shunt with a 20 mm
      Ultrasept PFO(r) device. The procedure was guided by fluoroscopy and real-time 3D
      TEE. At the end of the procedure 3D TEE documented correct device deployment with
      complete defect coverage and absence of residual shunt.

PMID- 28596048
TI  - Impact of antigens, adjuvants and strains on sexually dimorphic antibody response
      to vaccines in mice.
AB  - Sexually dimorphic antibody response to vaccines has long been noticed. In
      addition to sex hormones, other factors such as antigens, adjuvants and strains
      of mice, as shown by indirect evidence, could also impact the sexual dimorphism.
      To clarify this, we immunized both gender mice of distinct strains with
      inactivated FMDV or HBsAg with or without adjuvants, and detected the specific
      antibody response of the mice. We found that in absence of adjuvants, the
      recombinant HBsAg but not the inactivated FMDV induced enhanced IgG antibody
      response in the female BALB/c mice. The o/w emulsion could facilitate the HBsAg
      to induce the comparable level of IgG antibodies in the male BALB/c mice as that
      in the females. The o/w emulsion rather than ISA206, a w/o/w emulsion, could
      assist the inactivated FMDV to induce higher levels of IgM antibodies in the
      female BALB/c mice. Moreover, the sexually dimorphic antibody response varied
      among the ICR, BALB/c and the F1 (BALB/c * C57BL/6) mice. Thus the data suggest
      that antigens, adjuvants and strains all impact the sexually dimorphic antibody
      response to vaccines and may provide insights for developing gender-based
      vaccines.

PMID- 28596049
TI  - Modern science for better quality control of medicinal products "Towards global
      harmonization of 3Rs in biologicals": The report of an EPAA workshop.
AB  - This article summarizes the outcome of an international workshop organized by the
      European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) on
      Modern science for better quality control of medicinal products: Towards global
      harmonization of 3Rs in biologicals. As regards the safety testing of
      biologicals, the workshop participants agreed to actively encourage the deletion
      of abnormal toxicity tests and target animal batch safety tests from all relevant
      legal requirements and guidance documents (country-specific guidelines,
      pharmacopoeia monographs, WHO recommendations). To facilitate the global
      regulatory acceptance of non-animal methods for the potency testing of, e.g.,
      human diphtheria and tetanus vaccines and veterinary swine erysipelas vaccines,
      international convergence on the scientific principles of the use of
      appropriately validated in vitro assays for replacing in vivo methods was
      identified as an overarching goal. The establishment of scientific requirements
      for new assays was recognized as a further means to unify regulatory approaches
      in different jurisdictions. It was recommended to include key regulators and
      manufacturers early in the corresponding discussions. Manufacturers and
      responsible expert groups, e.g. at the European Directorate for the Quality of
      Medicines and Health Care of the Council of Europe or the European Medicines
      Agency, were invited to consider leadership for international collaboration.

PMID- 28596050
TI  - Histological evaluation of effectiveness of platelet-rich fibrin on healing of
      sinus membrane perforations: A preclinical animal study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of platelet-rich fibrin
      (PRF) in repairing of Schneiderian membrane perforations in rabbit maxillary
      sinus. A total of 42 female New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into two
      groups. Symmetrical bony defects were created 1 cm in diameter and the sinus
      membranes were exposed. The Schneiderian membranes were elevated in both sinuses
      and each membrane was perforated with a 1 cm incision. No treatment was applied
      to the right perforations in both groups. Left-sided perforations were closed
      with collagen membrane in the first group and PRF membrane in the other group.
      Seven animals randomly selected from each group were sacrificed at weeks 1, 2 and
      4 in order to be able to examine the amounts of lymphocytes, fibroblasts, veins,
      and collagen fibers in the area where the membranes were applied. Histological
      analyses showed that there were no statistically significant differences between
      the collagen membrane and the PRF membrane in the healing of sinus perforation
      area. PRF may be considered as an alternative application to collagen membrane in
      sinus membrane perforations.

PMID- 28596051
TI  - Functions of AT1 and AT2 angiotensin receptors in the paraventricular nucleus of
      the rat, correlating single-unit and cardiovascular responses.
AB  - The paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) is a complex structure with both
      neuroendocrine and autonomic functions including cardiovascular control. The PVN
      contains angiotensin II (AngII) immunoreactive cells, fibers, as well as AT1 and
      AT2 receptors of AngII. We microinjected AngII into the PVN of normotensive
      anesthetized rats and simultaneously recorded blood pressure, heart rate (HR) and
      single-unit responses. The roles of AT1 and AT2 receptors in these responses were
      also evaluated. Microinjection of AngII into the PVN produced a short excitatory
      single-unit response and two types of pressor responses: short duration with a
      decrease in HR and long with an increase in HR. Microinjection of losartan, an
      AT1 antagonist, into the PVN produced two response types, attenuation and
      augmentation of the pressor and firing rate responses to AngII. Microinjection of
      PD123319, an AT2 antagonist, into the PVN greatly attenuated pressor and single
      unit response to AngII, indicating that the pressor response was mediated through
      AT2 receptors too. In conclusion, microinjection of AngII into the PVN stimulates
      neurons resulting in an increase in firing rate and consequently produces a short
      or long pressor response. These responses were mediated through AT1 and AT2
      receptors; however, AT1 receptor may produce inhibition too. The results suggest
      that AngII of the PVN may be a neurotransmitter playing a role in arterial
      pressure regulation.

PMID- 28596052
TI  - A Solitary Pulmonary Nodule of Unexpected Etiology.

PMID- 28596053
TI  - The assessment of portal-tract healing after knee arthroscopy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyse the pattern of portal-tract
      healing, to compare the healing time of anteromedial and anterolateral portal
      tracts and to assess the impact of portal-tract delayed healing on the post
      operative sub-acute and chronic anterior knee tenderness. METHODS: The study
      included 104 patients (68 males and 36 females; mean age: 49 +/- 3.16 years
      (range; 17-66)) who have undergone knee arthroscopy. Puncture wounds were divided
      into two groups, (1) anteromedial and (2) anterolateral groups. Each group
      contained 104 portal-tracts. Healing of portal tracts was evaluated using
      sequential superficial ultrasonographic examinaitons. Visual analogue scale (VAS)
      was used to measure pain related to delayed tract healing and its association
      with the post-operative sub-acute and chronic anterior knee tenderness. RESULTS:
      Anteromedial and anterolateral tracts total healing time average values were 47
      days and 28 days respectively. The VAS average values of anteromedial tracts
      after 2 weeks, one month, three months, six months and one year were 8.2, 6.3, 4,
      1.9 and 0.6 respectively, and for the anterolateral tracts 7.4, 5.5, 2.8, 1.2 and
      0.2 respectively. A statistical significance was detected between the two groups
      at the first and third months with P values 0.042 and 0.0035 respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Anteromedial tracts closed later than anterolateral tracts. Both
      portal-tracts delayed closure is a potential for post-operative sub-acute and
      chronic anterior knee tenderness after arthroscopic surgery. Four grades of tract
      healing were recognized. Portal-tract ultrasonography is advised in persistent
      post-operative sub-acute and chronic anterior knee tenderness. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level III, Therapeutic study.

PMID- 28596054
TI  - A potent and selective natriuretic peptide receptor-3 blocker 11-mer peptide
      created by hybridization of musclin and atrial natriuretic peptide.
AB  - The natriuretic peptide (NP) system is a critical endocrine, autocrine, and
      paracrine system and has been investigated for potential use against
      cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The clearance of NPs is regulated by the
      proteolysis of neutral endopeptidase (NEP) and by endocytosis via natriuretic
      peptide receptor-3 (NPR3). A linear NPR3-selective peptide, [Cha8]-ANP(7-16)-NH2
      (1), showed potent binding affinity for NPR3 but poor predicted chemical
      stability due to its free thiol group. A 12-mer peptide (9) without a thiol group
      was designed by the hybridization of two NPR3-binding peptides: a linear ANP
      fragment peptide analog and musclin, a murine member of the bHLH family of
      transcription factors, possessed high binding affinity and strict selectivity for
      NPR3. To increase the proteolytic resistance of 9, amino acid substitutions at
      the cleavage sites led to hydroxyacetyl-[d-Phe5,d-Hyp7,Cha8,d
      Ser9,Hyp11,Arg(Me)14]-ANP(5-15)-NHCH3 (23), showing high and selective binding
      affinity for NPR3 over NPR1 and excellent stability in mouse serum. Compound 23
      increased intracellular cGMP concentrations in primary cultured adipocytes, and
      continuous administration induced substantial plasma cGMP elevation in mice,
      suggesting its potential to clarify the physiological role of NPR3 and its
      therapeutic application.

PMID- 28596055
TI  - Posterior Aortic Root Enlargement During Aortic Valve Replacement: Role of
      Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography.

PMID- 28596056
TI  - Development and initial validation of a sensory threshold examination protocol
      (STEP) for phenotyping canine pain syndromes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility and test-retest repeatability of a sensory
      threshold examination protocol (STEP) and report the quantitative sensory
      threshold distributions in healthy dogs. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective,
      observational, cohort study. ANIMALS: Twenty-five healthy client-owned dogs.
      METHODS: Tactile sensitivity test (TST) (von Frey filaments), mechanical
      thresholds (MT with 2, 4 and 8 mm probes), heat thresholds (HT) and
      responsiveness to cold stimulus (CT at 0  degrees C) were quantitatively assessed
      for five body areas (BAs; tibias, humeri, neck, thoracolumbar region and abdomen)
      in a randomized order on three different occasions. Linear mixed model and
      generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate the effects of body weight
      category, age, sex, BA, occasion, feasibility score and investigator experience.
      Test-retest repeatability was evaluated with the intra-class correlation
      coefficient. RESULTS: The STEP lasted 90 minutes without side effects. The BA
      affected most tests (p <= 0.001). Higher thresholds and longer cold latencies
      were scored in the neck (p <= 0.024) compared to other BAs. Weight category
      affected all thresholds (p <= 0.037). Small dogs had lower MT (~1.4 N mean
      difference) and HT (1.1  degrees C mean difference) than other dogs (p <= 0.029).
      Young dogs had higher HT than adults (2.2  degrees C mean difference) (p =
      0.035). Gender also affected TST, MT and HT (p < 0.05) (females versus males: TST
      odds ratio = 0.5, MT = 1.3 N mean difference, HT = 2.2  degrees C mean
      difference). Repeatability was substantial to moderate for all tests, but poor
      for TST. There was no difference in thresholds between occasions, except for CT.
      Test-retest repeatability was slightly better with the 2 mm MT probe compared to
      other diameters and improved with operator experience. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: The STEP was feasible, was well tolerated and showed substantial test
      retest repeatability in healthy dogs. Further validation is needed in dogs
      suffering pain.

PMID- 28596057
TI  - Erratum to "Feasibility of automatic evaluation of clinical rules in general
      practice" [Int. J. Med. Inform. 100 (2017) 90-94].

PMID- 28596058
TI  - Adolescents' unhealthy eating habits are associated with meal skipping.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Meal consumption and diet quality are important for healthy
      development during adolescence. The aim of this study was to determine the
      association between meal habits and diet quality in Brazilian adolescents.
      METHODS: A school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2008 with a
      probabilistic sample of adolescents ages 14 to 19 y (N = 1139) from high schools
      in central-western Brazil. Consumption of breakfast, morning snack, lunch,
      afternoon snack, and dinner was assessed to evaluate adolescents' meal profile.
      The Brazilian Healthy Eating Index-Revised (BHEI-R) was calculated to evaluate
      diet quality. The association between meal profile and BHEI-R (global estimates
      and components) was assessed using multivariate linear regression models.
      RESULTS: Diet was characterized by unhealthy eating: a low consumption of fruits,
      vegetables, and milk/dairy, and a high consumption of fats and sodium. An
      unsatisfactory meal profile was observed in 14% of adolescents, whereas daily
      consumption of breakfast, lunch, and dinner was reported by 47%, 78%, and 52% of
      adolescents, respectively. Meal profile was positively associated with diet
      quality. Daily consumption of breakfast was associated with higher BHEI-R scores,
      lower sodium intake, and greater consumption of fruits and milk/dairy. Daily
      consumption of lunch was associated with greater consumption of vegetables and
      "meats, eggs, and legumes," whereas consumption of dinner was associated with an
      increased consumption of "whole fruits." CONCLUSION: This study showed a
      parallelism between daily consumption of meals with healthier eating and greater
      adherence to traditional Brazilian food habits. Skipping meals was associated
      with a low-quality diet, especially concerning to the low consumption of fruits
      and vegetables and a high intake of sodium and calories from solid fats, added
      sugars, and alcoholic beverages. Therefore, the adoption of regular meal habits
      may help adolescents improve their diet quality.

PMID- 28596059
TI  - Development and validation of a pancreatic injury mortality score (PIMS) based on
      473 consecutive patients treated at a level 1 trauma center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study sought to develop a pancreatic injury mortality score
      (PIMS) to identify patients at greatest risk of in-hospital mortality after a
      major pancreatic injury. METHODS: The study used data from a prospective database
      of 473 patients treated for pancreatic injuries between January 1990 and December
      2015. Two thirds of the patients were assigned to the derivation cohort and one
      third to the validation cohort. Clinical correlates of in-hospital death were
      identified and considered in stepwise logistic regression analyses that
      identified the factors included in the risk index. RESULTS: Five variables, age
      >55, shock on admission, a vascular injury, number of associated injuries and
      American Association for the Study of Trauma (AAST) pancreatic injury scale
      correlated with in-hospital death and were used to calculate PIMS. The final
      score ROC in the derivation dataset was 0.84 (95% CI 0.79-0.89) and in the
      validation dataset was 0.91 (95% CI 0.84-0.97), which were comparable (p = 0.1).
      Finally, cut-off scores were used to generate three risk groups and the rate of
      mortality within the low (PIMS 0-4), medium (PIMS 5-9), and high risk (PIMS 10
      20) groups were not significantly different. The scoring system was tested in a
      validation cohort and showed good calibration and discrimination for in-hospital
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: We have derived and validated the PIMS, a novel organ
      specific risk prediction score calculated from five variables for in-hospital
      mortality following major pancreatic trauma. PIMS is simple, quick and easily
      understandable, increases clinical risk prediction for patients with complex
      pancreatic and can be used as a benchmark for survival.

PMID- 28596060
TI  - [Medical prevention and treatment of radiation-induced pulmonary complications].
AB  - Radiation-induced lung injuries mainly include the (acute or sub-acute) radiation
      pneumonitis, the lung fibrosis and the bronchiolitis obliterans organizing
      pneumonia (BOOP). The present review aims at describing the diagnostic process,
      the current physiopathological knowledge, and the available (non dosimetric)
      preventive and curative treatments. Radiation-induced lung injury is a diagnosis
      of exclusion, since clinical, radiological, or biological pathognomonic evidences
      do not exist. Investigations should necessarily include a thoracic high
      resolution CT-scan and lung function tests with a diffusing capacity of the lung
      for carbon monoxide. No treatment ever really showed efficacy to prevent acute
      radiation-induced lung injury, or to treat radiation-induced lung fibrosis. The
      most promising drugs in order to prevent radiation-induced lung injury are
      amifostine, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and pentoxifylline.
      Inhibitors of collagen synthesis are currently tested at a pre-clinical stage to
      limit the radiation-induced lung fibrosis. Regarding available treatments of
      radiation-induced pneumonitis, corticoids can be considered the cornerstone.
      However, no standardized program or guidelines concerning the initial dose and
      the gradual tapering have been scientifically established. Alternative treatments
      can be prescribed, based on clinical cases reporting on the efficacy of
      immunosuppressive drugs. Such data highlight the major role of the lung
      dosimetric protection in order to efficiently prevent radiation-induced lung
      injury.

PMID- 28596061
TI  - Ecological assessment of an algaecidal naphthoquinone derivate for the mitigation
      of Stephanodiscus within a mesocosm.
AB  - The novel eco-friendly algaecidal naphthoquinone derivate was used to control
      harmful algal bloom causing species Stephanodiscus and, its effect was assessed
      on other undesired and non-targeted microbial communities. We conducted a
      mesocosm experiment to investigate the effects of this novel algaecide on native
      microbial communities rearing in water collected from Nakdonggang River. Upon
      treatment of the mesocosm with the naphthoquinone derivate the concentration of
      Chl-a decreased from 20.4 MUg L-1 to 9.5 MUg L-1 after 2 days. The turbidity has
      also shown decrement (exhibited 15.5 NTU on the 7th day). The concentrations of
      DOC and phosphate in the treatment were slightly higher than those in the control
      due to the decomposition of dead Stephanodiscus, whereas the DO and pH in the
      treated condition were slightly lower than those in the control; which was due to
      increment of organic acids and higher degradation activity. Results showed that
      bacterial abundance were not significantly different but community composition
      were slightly different as revealed by NGS (Next generation sequencing). The
      variation in HNF (Heterotrophic nanoflagellates) revealed that the bacterial
      community composition changed following the change in bacterial abundance. During
      the treatment, the abundance of Stephanodiscus was significantly reduced by more
      than 80% after 6 days, and the abundance of ciliates and the dominant species,
      Halteria grandinella, had shown marked decline. The abundance of zooplankton
      sharply decreased to 5 ind. L-1on the 8th day but increased again by the end of
      the study period. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index of phytoplankton, ciliates
      and zooplankton in the treated mesocosm increased significantly after 4, 7 and 8
      days, respectively. The marked changes in the ecosystem structure were observed
      in treatment compare to control. However, the beneficial microalgal populations
      were not affected which indicated possibility of restoration of treated ecosystem
      and regain of healthy community structure after certain period.

PMID- 28596062
TI  - Inflammation in tendinopathy.
AB  - Pain and functional limitation are frequent in symptomatic tendinopathy. The
      essential lesion of tendinopathy is a failed healing response. Understanding the
      cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in a failed healing response during
      the early stages of pathogenesis of tendinopathy would help to develop new and
      effective treatments. The role of inflammation in the development of tendon
      pathologies has been revived during the last few years, in particular during the
      first phases of tendinopathies, when "early tendinopathy" may not be clinically
      evident. This review outlines the possible molecular events that occur in the
      first phases of tendinopathy onset, stressing the role of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines, proteolytic enzymes, growth factors and healing genes in the
      development of tendon disorders.

PMID- 28596063
TI  - Closing the Loop between Nodding Syndrome and Onchocerca Infection.

PMID- 28596064
TI  - Nodding Syndrome in the Spotlight - Placing Recent Findings in Perspective.
AB  - Nodding syndrome (NS) is a debated scientific topic. A recently published study
      suggests that NS is an autoimmune disorder based on findings of cross-reacting
      antibodies between neuronal structures and a protein present in Onchocerca
      volvulus (OV). In our opinion, the proposed causal relationship between OV
      infection and NS has yet to be demonstrated and, instead, OV infection in NS may
      be opportunistic.

PMID- 28596065
TI  - Patterns of Inpatient Care and Readmission Rates (30-day, 3-month and 1-year) in
      Myocardial Infarction in Spain. Differences Between STEMI and NSTEMI.

PMID- 28596066
TI  - Tools or Toys? The 20-Year Anniversary of the Nonfluoroscopic Mapping System
      Dilemma.

PMID- 28596067
TI  - Architecture and functioning of child and adolescent mental health services: a 28
      country survey in Europe.
AB  - The WHO Child and Adolescent Mental Health Atlas, published in 2005, reported
      that child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Europe differed
      substantially in their architecture and functioning. We assessed the
      characteristics of national CAMHS across the European Union (EU), including legal
      aspects of adolescent care. Using an online mapping survey aimed at expert(s) in
      each country, we obtained data for all 28 countries in the EU. The
      characteristics and activities of CAMHS (ie, availability of services, inpatient
      beds, and clinicians and organisations, and delivery of specific CAMHS services
      and treatments) varied considerably between countries, as did funding sources and
      user access. Neurodevelopmental disorders were the most frequent diagnostic group
      (up to 81%) for people seen at CAMHS (data available from only 13 [46%]
      countries). 20 (70%) countries reported having an official national child and
      adolescent mental health policy, covering young people until their official age
      of transition to adulthood. The heterogeneity in resource allocation did not seem
      to match epidemiological burden. Substantial improvements in the planning,
      monitoring, and delivery of mental health services for children and adolescents
      are needed.

PMID- 28596068
TI  - Meaning of activation energy in phospholipid multibilayers phase transitions.
AB  - The question of the activation energy of phase transitions in lyotropic liquid
      crystal phases of model phospholipid membranes was considered. In our
      experiments, we obtained DSC thermograms of hydrated DPPC and DMPC at different
      scanning rates, and activation energy values were determined by a modification of
      Kissinger non-isothermal kinetics method. Using this approach the equivalent
      order of reaction corresponding to the phase transition can be determined
      alongside the activation energy. The cooperativity of both main transition and
      pre-transition was shown to be strongly dependent on scanning rate,
      asymptotically tending to a certain value at high rates, which corresponds to the
      number of lipid molecules in two concentric layers of hexagonal tiling. Changes
      in pretransition activation energy are shown to be proportional to changes in the
      system volume during the pretransition process, while the tail-length dependent
      part of the main transition activation energy is proportional to the jump in the
      number of gauche isomers.

PMID- 28596069
TI  - Validation of the EFFECT questionnaire for competence-based clinical teaching in
      residency training in Lithuania.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: In 2013, all residency programs at the Lithuanian University
      of Health Sciences were renewed into a competency-based medical education
      curriculum. To assess the quality of clinical teaching in residency training, we
      chose the EFFECT (evaluation and feedback for effective clinical teaching)
      questionnaire designed and validated at the Radboud University Medical Centre in
      the Netherlands. The aim of this study was to validate the EFFECT questionnaire
      for quality assessment of clinical teaching in residency training. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The research was conducted as an online survey using the questionnaire
      containing 58 items in 7 domains. The questionnaire was double-translated into
      Lithuanian. It was sent to 182 residents of 7 residency programs (anesthesiology
      reanimathology, cardiology, dermatovenerology, emergency medicine, neurology,
      obstetrics and gynecology, physical medicine and rehabilitation). Overall, 333
      questionnaires about 146 clinical teachers were filled in. To determine the item
      characteristics and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), the item and
      reliability analyses were performed. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis
      (CFI) was performed using a model for maximum-likelihood estimation. RESULTS:
      Cronbach's alpha within different domains ranged between 0.91 and 0.97 and was
      comparable with the original version of the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor
      analysis demonstrated satisfactory model-fit with CFI of 0.841 and absolute model
      fit RMSEA of 0.098. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the Lithuanian version
      of the EFFECT maintains its original validity and may serve as a valid instrument
      for quality assessment of clinical teaching in competency-based residency
      training in Lithuania.

PMID- 28596070
TI  - SM = SM: The Interface of Systems Medicine and Sexual Medicine for Facing Non
      Communicable Diseases in a Gender-Dependent Manner.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Complex non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer,
      cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disorders, are
      major causes of morbidity and mortality globally. The complexity of NCDs requires
      innovative, integrated, and interdisciplinary approaches for diagnosis,
      treatment, and prevention by adopting the new paradigm called systems medicine. A
      growing body of evidence suggests that sexual dysfunction in general and erectile
      and lubrication dysfunctions in particular are, in a sex-dependent manner,
      efficient predictors of overall systemic well-being. However, the relation
      between systems medicine and sexual medicine is not well defined. AIM: To
      demonstrate that in combating the major NCDs, sexual health can be used as a
      surrogate marker of systemic health and can facilitate the diagnosis, treatment,
      and prevention of NCDs. METHODS: A comprehensive review of peer-reviewed
      publications on the topic was performed through a PubMed search. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Because there is a strong biological basis for the developmental
      origins of health and disease not only in the early phases of development but
      also later in life, the identification of appropriate biomarkers is essential for
      monitoring these timelines and trajectories for better understanding NCD
      processes, risk stratification for NCD intervention, and prevention. RESULTS: In
      this review, I propose a novel approach in which sexual medicine can be used as a
      new tool to understand and manage NCDs and as a marker of systemic health.
      Moreover, the multipronged application of systems medicine to pathophysiologic
      changes leading to sexual dysfunction might sustain the growth of a young science
      such as sexual medicine. CONCLUSION: This multilevel approach has the potential
      to suggest novel avenues for the comprehensive management of NCDs and sexual
      dysfunction in a sex-dependent manner. Jannini EA. SM = SM: The Interface of
      Systems Medicine and Sexual Medicine for Facing Non-Communicable Diseases in a
      Gender-Dependent Manner. Sex Med Rev 2017;5:349-364.

PMID- 28596071
TI  - Genetic and metabolic engineering approaches for the production and delivery of L
      asparaginases: An overview.
AB  - L-asparaginase is one of the protein drugs for countering leukemia and lymphoma.
      A major challenge in the therapeutic potential of the enzyme is its
      immunogenicity, low-plasma half-life and glutaminase activity that are found to
      be the reasons for toxicities attributed to asparaginase therapy. For addressing
      these challenges, several research and developmental activities are going on
      throughout the world for an effective drug delivery for treatment of cancer.
      Hence there is an urgent need for the development of asparaginase with improved
      properties for efficient drug delivery. The strategies selected should be
      economically viable to ensure the availability of the drug at low cost. The
      current review addresses various strategies adopted for the production of
      asparaginase from different sources, approaches for increasing the therapeutic
      efficiency of the protein and new drug delivery systems for L-asparaginase.

PMID- 28596072
TI  - Surface display of synthetic phytochelatins on Saccharomyces cerevisiae for
      enhanced ethanol production in heavy metal-contaminated substrates.
AB  - The aim of this work was to study the feasibility of surface displaying synthetic
      phytochelatin (EC) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae to overcome the inhibitory effect
      of heavy metals on ethanol production. Via the fusion of a gene encoding EC to an
      alpha-agglutinin gene, the engineered S. cerevisiae was able to successfully
      display EC on its surface. This surface engineered yeast strain exhibited an
      efficient cadmium adsorption capability and a remarkably enhanced cadmium
      tolerance. Moreover, its ethanol production efficiency was significantly improved
      as compared to a control strain in the presence of cadmium. Similar results could
      also be observed in the presence of other metals, such as nickel, lead and
      copper. Overall, this method allows simultaneous biorefinery and heavy metal
      removal when using heavy metal-contaminated biomass as raw materials.

PMID- 28596073
TI  - Metabolic engineering of Enterobacter aerogenes for 2,3-butanediol production
      from sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate.
AB  - The pathway engineering of Enterobacter aerogenes was attempted to improve its
      production capability of 2,3-butanediol from lignocellulosic biomass. In the
      medium containing glucose and xylose mixture as carbon sources, the gene deletion
      of pflB improved 2,3-butanediol carbon yield by 40%, while the deletion of ptsG
      increased xylose consumption rate significantly, improving the productivity at 12
      hr by 70%. The constructed strain, EMY-22-galP, overexpressing glucose
      transporter (galP) in the triple gene knockout E. aerogenes, ldhA, pflB, and
      ptsG, provided the highest 2,3-butanediol titer and yield at 12 hr flask
      cultivation. Sugarcane bagasse was pretreated with green liquor, a solution
      containing Na2CO3 and Na2SO3 and was hydrolyzed by enzymes. The resulting
      hydrolysate was used as a carbon source for 2,3-butanediol production. After 72
      hr in fermentation, the yield of 0.395g/g sugar was achieved, suggesting an
      economic production of 2,3-butanediol was possible from lignocellulosic biomass
      with the metabolically engineered strain.

PMID- 28596074
TI  - Introduction of an acetyl-CoA carboxylation bypass into Escherichia coli for
      enhanced free fatty acid production.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of the methylmalonyl-CoA carboxyltransferase
      (MMC) of Propionibacterium freudenreichii on production of free fatty acid (FFA)
      in Escherichia coli. Overexpression of the MMC exhibited a 44% increase in FFA
      titer. Co-overexpression of MMC and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PPC), which
      supplies the MMC precursor, further improved the titer by 40%. Expression of
      malic enzyme (MaeB) led to a 23% increase in FFA titer in the acetyl-CoA
      carboxylase (ACC)-overexpressing cells, but no increase in the MMC-overexpressing
      cells. The highest FFA production in the MMC-overexpressing strain was achieved
      through the addition of aspartic acid, which can be converted into oxaloacetate
      (OAA), resulting in a 120% increased titer compared with that in the ACC
      overexpressing strain. These findings demonstrate that MMC provides an
      alternative pathway for malonyl-CoA synthesis and increases fatty acid
      production.

PMID- 28596075
TI  - Nitrogen removal and nitrogen functional gene abundances in three subsurface
      wastewater infiltration systems under different modes of aeration and influent
      C/N ratios.
AB  - Matrix DO, nitrogen removal and nitrogen functional gene abundances in non
      aerated (NA), continuously aerated (CA) and intermittently aerated (IA)
      subsurface wastewater infiltration systems (SWISs) under different influent C/N
      ratios were studied. Aeration created aerobic condition in 50cm depth and did not
      change anoxic or anaerobic condition in 80 and 110cm depths, which enhanced NH4+
      N and TN removal and the enrichment of nitrogen removal functional genes (amoA,
      nxrA, narG, napA, nirK, nirS, qnorB and nosZ) compared to NA SWIS, especially
      under high influent C/N ratio. High TN removal rate (89.6%) was obtained in IA
      SWIS under the influent C/N ratio of 12, which was higher than that in CA SWIS
      (87.1%). The results suggested that intermittent aeration was a reliable option
      to achieve high TN removal in SWISs, especially under high influent C/N ratio.

PMID- 28596076
TI  - Genetic modification: A tool for enhancing beta-glucosidase production for
      biofuel application.
AB  - Beta-glucosidase (BGL) is a rate-limiting enzyme for cellulose hydrolysis as it
      acts in the final step of lignocellulosic biomass conversion to convert
      cellobiose into glucose, the final end product. Most of the fungal strains used
      for cellulase production are deficient in BGL hence BGL is supplemented into
      cellulases to have an efficient biomass conversion. Genetic engineering has
      enabled strain modification to produce BGL optimally with desired properties to
      be employed for biofuel applications. It has been cloned either directly into the
      host strains lacking BGL or into another expression system, to be overexpressed
      so as to be blended into BGL deficient cellulases. In this article, role of
      genetic engineering to overcome BGL limitations in the cellulase cocktail and its
      significance for biofuel applications has been critically reviewed.

PMID- 28596077
TI  - Long-term bio-H2 and bio-CH4 production from food waste in a continuous two-stage
      system: Energy efficiency and conversion pathways.
AB  - Anaerobic digestion is a well-established technology for treating organic waste,
      but it is still under challenge for food waste due to process stability problems.
      In this work, continuous H2 and CH4 production from canteen food waste (FW) in a
      two-stage system were successfully established by optimizing process parameters.
      The optimal hydraulic retention time was 5d for H2 and 15d for CH4. Overall,
      around 59% of the total COD in FW was converted into H2 (4%) and into CH4 (55%).
      The fluctuations of FW characteristics did not significantly affect process
      performance. From the energy point view, the H2 reactor contributed much less
      than the methane reactor to total energy balance, but it played a key role in
      maintaining the stability of anaerobic treatment of food waste. Microbial
      characterization indicated that methane formation was through syntrophic acetate
      oxidation combined with hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis pathway.

PMID- 28596078
TI  - Identification of an oxytocinase/vasopressinase-like leucyl-cystinyl
      aminopeptidase (LNPEP) in teleost fish and evidence for hypothalamic mRNA
      expression linked to behavioral social status.
AB  - The vasotocin/vasopressin and isotocin/mesotocin/oxytocin family of nonapeptides
      regulate social behaviors and physiological functions associated with
      reproductive physiology and osmotic balance. While experimental and correlative
      studies provide evidence for these nonapeptides as modulators of behavior across
      all classes of vertebrates, mechanisms for nonapeptide inactivation in regulating
      these functions have been largely overlooked. Leucyl-cystinyl aminopeptidase
      (LNPEP) - also known as vasopressinase, oxytocinase, placental leucine
      aminopeptidase (P-LAP), and insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) - is a
      membrane-bound zinc-dependent metalloexopeptidase enzyme that inactivates
      vasopressin, oxytocin, and select other cyclic polypeptides. In humans, LNPEP
      plays a key role in the clearance of oxytocin during pregnancy. However, the
      evolutionary diversity, expression distribution, and functional roles of LNPEP
      remain unresolved for other vertebrates. Here, we isolated and sequenced a full
      length cDNA encoding a LNPEP-like polypeptide of 1033 amino acids from the
      ovarian tissue of Amargosa pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis. This deduced
      polypeptide exhibited high amino acid identity to human LNPEP both in the
      protein's active domain that includes the peptide binding site and zinc cofactor
      binding motif (53.1% identity), and in an intracellular region that distinguishes
      LNPEP from other aminopeptidases (70.3% identity). Transcripts encoding this
      LNPEP enzyme (lnpep) were detected at highest relative abundance in the gonads,
      hypothalamus, forebrain, optic tectum, gill and skeletal muscle of adult pupfish.
      Further evaluation of lnpep transcript abundance in the brain of sexually-mature
      pupfish revealed that lnpep mRNAs were elevated in the hypothalamus of socially
      subordinate females and males, and at lower abundance in the telencephalon of
      socially dominant males compared to dominant females. These findings provide
      evidence of an association between behavioral social status and hypothalamic
      lnpep transcript abundance and suggest that variation in the rate of VT/IT
      peptide inactivation by LNPEP may be a contributing component in the mechanism
      whereby nonapeptides regulate social behavior.

PMID- 28596080
TI  - Physical Strain: A New Perspective on Walking in Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe (1) physical strain of walking, (2) the proportion of
      participants walking above the anaerobic threshold, and (3) 4 phenotypes of
      physical strain of walking on the basis of deviations in aerobic capacity and
      walking energy cost (EC) in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).
      DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: A sample
      (N=57) of participants (n=37; mean age, 13.5+/-4.0y) with CP (Gross Motor
      Function Classification System [GMFCS] levels I [n=13], II [n=17], and III [n=7])
      and typically developing (TD) participants (n=20; mean age, 11.8+/-3.5y).
      INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Oxygen consumption
      (Vo2walk), speed, and EC were determined during walking at a comfortable speed.
      Peak oxygen consumption (Vo2peak) and anaerobic threshold were measured during a
      maximal cycling exercise test. Aerobic capacity was reduced if lower than the
      10th percentile, and EC was increased if higher than 3SD. Physical strain was
      defined as follows: (Vo2walk/Vo2peak)*100. RESULTS: Participants with CP had a
      higher physical strain (GMFCS level I, 55%+/-12% GMFCS level II, 62%+/-17%; GMFCS
      level III, 78%+/-14%) than did TD participants (40%+/-11%) (P<.001). Forty-three
      percent of participants with CP showed a Vo2walk at or above their anaerobic
      threshold as compared with 10% of TD participants (P=.007). Phenotypes showed
      that a reduced Vo2peak (n=9) or an increased EC (n=9) lead to an 18% to 20%
      higher physical strain, whereas a combination (n=12) leads to a 40% increase.
      CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents with CP walk at a high physical strain,
      approximating intense exercise and a considerable proportion walks close to or
      above their anaerobic threshold, probably explaining fatigue and reduced walking
      distance. Both an increased EC and a reduced Vo2peak contribute to high physical
      strain in children or adolescents with CP. The different causes of high physical
      strain in individuals with CP require different intervention strategies.

PMID- 28596081
TI  - Vitamin K2 improves developmental competency and cryo-tolerance of in vitro
      derived ovine blastocyst.
AB  - Vitamin K2 (VK2), acts as an electron carrier in mitochondria and thereby effects
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ATP production. This study evaluates role of
      VK2 on in vitro developmental competency and cryo-survival of pre-implantation
      ovine embryos. Initially the optimal and beneficial concentration of VK2 on
      compaction and blastocyst formation rates was defined (0.1 MUM). Subsequently, it
      was shown that 0.1 MUM VK2, at blastocyst stage, reduces H2O2 production,
      increase the expression of mitochondrial related gene and improved embryos
      quality. We further assessed presence VK2 supplementation before and/or after
      vitrification of in vitro derived blastocysts. Our results reveal that presence
      of VK2 before and after vitrification improves rates of blastocysts re-expansion
      (88.19+/- 3.37% vs 73.68+/- 1.86%, P < 0.05) and hatching (49.55+/- 4.37% vs
      32.7+/- 3.32%) compared to control group. These observation were consistent with
      reduction in H2O2 production and improved in expression of mitochondrial related
      genes. However, VK2 before or after vitrification, not only had no positive
      effect on these two parameters, but also significantly reduced these parameters.
      Therefore, in concordance with pervious report in bovine, we show that VK2
      supplementation post genomic activation (Day 3-7) improved developmental
      competency of ovine in vitro derived embryos. We also showed that presence of VK2
      after vitrification improves the cryo-survival of ovine embryos.

PMID- 28596082
TI  - Restless legs syndrome and cardiovascular disease: a research roadmap: A
      response.

PMID- 28596079
TI  - Avian genomics lends insights into endocrine function in birds.
AB  - The genomics era has brought along the completed sequencing of a large number of
      bird genomes that cover a broad range of the avian phylogenetic tree (>30
      orders), leading to major novel insights into avian biology and evolution. Among
      recent findings, the discovery that birds lack a large number of protein coding
      genes that are organized in highly conserved syntenic clusters in other
      vertebrates is very intriguing, given the physiological importance of many of
      these genes. A considerable number of them play prominent endocrine roles,
      suggesting that birds evolved compensatory genetic or physiological mechanisms
      that allowed them to survive and thrive in spite of these losses. While further
      studies are needed to establish the exact extent of avian gene losses, these
      findings point to birds as potentially highly relevant model organisms for
      exploring the genetic basis and possible therapeutic approaches for a wide range
      of endocrine functions and disorders.

PMID- 28596083
TI  - Organ donation in cardiac arrest patients treated with extracorporeal CPR: A
      single centre observational study.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: In a consecutive cohort of cardiac arrest (CA) treated with
      extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (eCPR), we describe the incidence of
      brain death (BD), the eligibility for organ donation and the short-term follow-up
      of the transplanted organs. METHODS: All refractory in- and out-of-hospital CA
      admitted to our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit between January 2011 and September
      2016 treated with eCPR were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: 112 CA patients
      received eCPR. 82 (73.2%) died in hospital, 25 BD (22.3%) and 57 for other causes
      (50.9%). At the time of first neurological evaluation after rewarming, variables
      related to evolution to BD were a lower GCS (3 [3-3] vs. 8 [3-11], p<0.001), a
      higher level of neuron specific enolase (269.3+/-49.4 vs. 55.2+/-37.2ng/ml,
      p<0.001), a higher presence of EEG indices of poor outcome (84% vs. 15%,
      p<0.001), absence of brainstem reflexes (p<0.001), absence of bilateral N20 SSEPS
      waves (66.7% vs. 3.7%, p<0.001). None of BD patients present a normal CT scan (at
      2.5+/-2days), with 85% prevalence of diffuse hypoxic injury and a mean grey/white
      matter ratio of 1.1+/-0.1. Rate of donation in BD patients was 56%, with 39
      donated organs: 23 kidneys, 12 livers, and 4 lungs. 89.74% of the transplanted
      organs reached an early good functional recovery. CONCLUSION: In refractory CA
      patients treated with eCPR, the prevalence of BD is high. This population has a
      high potential for considering organ donation. Donated organs have a good
      outcome.

PMID- 28596084
TI  - Stem cell evolutionary paradigm and cell engineering.
AB  - Studying hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells for almost three decades
      revealed some similarities between the stem cell entity and the single-celled
      eukaryotes exhibiting the anaerobic/facultative aerobic metabolic features. A
      careful analysis of nowadays knowledge concerning the early eukaryotic evolution
      allowed us to reveal some analogies between stem cells in the metazoan tissues
      and the single-celled eukaryotes which existed during the first phase of
      eukaryotes evolution in mid-Proterozoic era. In fact, it is possible to trace the
      principle of the self-renewal back to the first eukaryotic common ancestor, the
      first undifferentiated nucleated cell possessing the primitive, mostly
      anaerobically-respiring mitochondria and a capacity to reproduction by a simple
      cell division "a l'identique". Similarly, the diversification of these single
      cell eukaryotes and acquiring of complex life cycle allowed/conditioned by the
      increase of O2 in atmosphere (and consequently in the water environment)
      represents a prototype for the phenomenon of commitment/differentiation. This
      point of view allowed to predict the ex-vivo behavior of stem cells with respect
      to the O2 availability and metabolic profile which enabled to conceive the
      successful protocols of stem cell expansion and ex vivo conditioning based on
      "respecting" this relationship between the anaerobiosis and stemness. In this
      review, the basic elements of this paradigm and a possible application in cell
      engineering were discussed.

PMID- 28596085
TI  - Brief hyperopic defocus or form deprivation have varying effects on eye growth
      and ocular rhythms depending on the time-of-day of exposure.
AB  - It is generally accepted that myopic defocus is a more potent signal to the
      emmetropization system than hyperopic defocus: one hour per day of myopic defocus
      cancels out 11 h of hyperopic defocus. However, we have recently shown that the
      potency of brief episodes of myopic defocus at inhibiting eye growth depends on
      the time of day of exposure. We here ask if this will also be true of the
      responses to brief periods of hyperopic defocus: may integration of the signal
      depend on time of day? If so, are the rhythms in axial length and choroidal
      thickness altered? Hyperopic defocus: Birds had one eye exposed to hyperopic
      defocus by the wearing of -10D lenses for 2 or 6 h at one of 3 times of day for 5
      days: Morning (7 am - 9 am: n = 13; 7 am - 1 pm: n = 6), Mid-day (12 pm - 2 pm: n
      = 20; 10 am - 4 pm: n = 8), or Evening (7 pm - 9 pm: n = 12; 2 pm - 8 pm: n =
      11). A separate group wore monocular lenses continually as a control (n = 12).
      Form deprivation: Birds wore a diffuser over one eye for 2 h at one of 3 times of
      day for 5 days: Morning (n = 12); Mid-day (n = 19) or Evening (n = 6). For all
      groups, ocular dimensions were measured using high-frequency A-scan
      ultrasonography at noon on the first day, under inhalation anesthesia. On day 5,
      eye dimensions were re-measured at 12 pm, and refractive errors were measured
      using a Hartinger's refractometer. A subset of birds in the 2-h lens group
      (morning, n = 8; mid-day, n = 8; evening, n = 6), and the deprivation group (n =
      6 per time point), were also measured at 6 pm, 12 am, 6 am and 12 pm on the last
      day of exposure, to obtain the parameters of the diurnal rhythms in axial length
      and choroidal thickness. The effects of 2 h of defocus depended on time of day of
      exposure: it stimulated eye growth when exposure was in the morning and inhibited
      it when it was at mid-day (change in vitreous chamber, X-C; ANOVA p < 0.0005; 120
      MUm vs -77 MUm/5d, respectively; t-tests: p = 0.001; p = 0.01; post-hoc tests: p
      = 0.002). For mid-day, experimental eyes were more hyperopic (1.4 D; p < 0.0001).
      Similar to 2 h defocus, 6 h exposures at mid-day inhibited growth and produced
      hyperopia (X-C: -167 MUm; t-test p = 0.005; RE: 1.8 D; p = 0.03). The effects of
      2 h of FD were similar to those of hyperopic defocus in inhibiting growth for mid
      day exposures, but FD inhibited growth for the morning exposures as well (Axial
      length: X-C: Morning: -122 MUm; mid-day: -92 MUm; ttests p = 0.006 and p = 0.016
      respectively). Experimental eyes were more hyperopic (1.8 D; 1.0 D; p < 0.05).
      The rhythms in axial length were altered for the morning exposures in both
      conditions. Form deprivation in the morning, which caused inhibition, caused the
      phases of the two rhythms to shift toward one another (peaks at 6:00 am and 10:45
      am for choroid and axial length respectively). Our findings imply that the
      retinal "integrator", and/or scleral growth regulator exhibit diurnal rhythms.
      Furthermore, they suggest that reading activities early in the day may be
      contraindicated in school children at risk of becoming myopic.

PMID- 28596087
TI  - Enabling the sustainable Faecal Sludge Management service delivery chain-A case
      study of dense settlements in Kigali, Rwanda.
AB  - The lack of access to basic sanitation is a global concern and alarmingly
      prevalent in low- and middle- income countries. In the densely populated
      settlements of these countries, on-site sanitation systems are usually the only
      feasible option because dwellers there have no sewers in place to connect to.
      Using on-site sanitation facilities results in an accumulation of faecal sludge
      which needs to be properly managed to ensure the well-being of the users as well
      as the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, often the conditions for faecal
      sludge management (FSM) within dense settlements are adverse and thus hamper
      sustainable FSM. We use the normative framework of the FSM enabling environment
      to gather empirical evidence from densely populated settlements of Kigali city in
      Rwanda to examine current FSM practices and the extent to which these are being
      influenced and affected by the setting within which they are taking place. The
      analysis of the study findings confirms that the existing conditions for FSM in
      these settlements are inadequate. The specific constraints that hinder the
      achievement of sustainable FSM include limited government focus on the sanitation
      sector, high turnover of staff in relevant government institutions, pit sludge
      management is not placed on the sanitation projects agenda, the existing relevant
      bylaws are not pro-poor oriented, a lack of clear responsibilities, a lack of
      relevant local professional training opportunities, unaffordability of FSM
      services and an inhibition to discuss FSM. Drawing on the involved stakeholders'
      own perceptions and suggestions, we identify possible approaches to overcome the
      identified constraints and to allow all actors in the FSM chain to contribute
      effectively to the management of faecal sludge in densely populated low-income
      urban settlements. Finally, our study also presents a contribution to the
      theoretical conceptualisation of the enabling environment for sustainable FSM.

PMID- 28596086
TI  - Use, microbiological effectiveness and health impact of a household water filter
      intervention in rural Rwanda-A matched cohort study.
AB  - Unsafe drinking water is a substantial health risk contributing to child
      diarrhoea. We investigated impacts of a program that provided a water filter to
      households in rural Rwandan villages. We assessed drinking water quality and
      reported diarrhoea 12-24 months after intervention delivery among 269 households
      in the poorest tertile with a child under 5 from 9 intervention villages and 9
      matched control villages. We also documented filter coverage and use. In Round 1
      (12-18 months after delivery), 97.4% of intervention households reported
      receiving the filter, 84.5% were working, and 86.0% of working filters contained
      water. Sensors confirmed half of households with working filters filled them at
      least once every other day on average. Coverage and usage was similar in Round 2
      (19-24 months after delivery). The odds of detecting faecal indicator bacteria in
      drinking water were 78% lower in the intervention arm than the control arm (odds
      ratio (OR) 0.22, 95% credible interval (CrI) 0.10-0.39, p<0.001). The
      intervention arm also had 50% lower odds of reported diarrhoea among children <5
      than the control arm (OR=0.50, 95% CrI 0.23-0.90, p=0.03). The protective effect
      of the filter is also suggested by reduced odds of reported diarrhoea-related
      visits to community health workers or clinics, although these did not reach
      statistical significance.

PMID- 28596088
TI  - Interleukin 6 may be related to indoleamine 2,3-dioxygense function in M2
      macrophages treated with small dense LDL particles.
AB  - Macrophages are known as important immune cells involved in the improvement of
      atherosclerosis plaques. The M2 macrophages are beneficial because scavenging the
      non-functional components in vessel sub-endothelial space. In this study, we
      investigated the effects of small dense LDL (sdLDL) on the changes of indoleamine
      2,3-dioxygense (IDO) and interleukin (IL6) in the differentiated M2 macrophages.
      The patients were selected from who underwent coronary artery angiography. The
      monocytes were isolated from the whole blood samples of healthy (<5% stenosis)
      and patient (>70% stenosis; SVD, 2VD and 3VD) subjects and, were differentiated
      into M2 macrophages. The IDO gene expression, activity and IL6 values were
      measured by RT-qPCR, colorimetry and ELISA techniques, respectively. In contrast
      with healthy group, the IDO gene expression and activity were significantly
      reduced in SVD and 2VD groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, they were conversely
      associated to secretion of IL6. In conclusion, the data suggested that
      inflammatory responses in M2 macrophages differentiated from monocytes of
      patients after treatment of sdLDL may be related to the reduced IDO function.

PMID- 28596089
TI  - PRKCH regulates hematopoietic stem cell function and predicts poor prognosis in
      acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells often co-opt normal hematopoietic stem cell
      (HSC) programs to drive neoplastic proliferation, and HSC-related gene expression
      signatures have been identified as biomarkers for poor prognosis in AML patients.
      We sought to identify new regulators of HSCs and AML cells from previously
      published HSC and leukemia stem cell (LSC) gene expression signatures. We
      identified PRKCH (protein kinase C eta) as a gene that is highly expressed in
      both mouse and human HSCs, as well as in LSCs from independent cohorts of AML
      patients. Prkch deletion in mice resulted in impaired HSC function. PRKCH was
      most highly expressed in undifferentiated (FAB M0) subtype AML, and high
      expression correlated with TP53 and RUNX1 mutations, high-risk cytogenetic
      features, and poor overall survival. Prkch deletion in an Flt3-ITD/Runx1 mutant
      mouse AML model did not extend survival. Thus, PRKCH is necessary for normal HSC
      function; its expression predicts poor survival in AML patients, but it is not
      required for AML to develop.

PMID- 28596091
TI  - Human papillomavirus vaccines: WHO position paper, May 2017-Recommendations.
AB  - This article presents the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations on
      the use of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines excerpted from the WHO position
      paper on Human papillomavirus vaccines: WHO position paper, May 2017, published
      in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1]. This position paper replaces the 2014
      WHO position paper on HPV vaccines [2]. The position paper focuses primarily on
      the prevention of cervical cancer, but also considers the broader spectrum of
      cancers and other diseases preventable by HPV vaccination. It incorporates recent
      developments concerning HPV vaccines, including the licensure of a nonavalent (9
      valent) vaccine and recent data on vaccine effectiveness, and provides guidance
      on the choice of vaccine. New recommendations are proposed regarding vaccination
      strategies targeting girls only or both girls and boys, and vaccination of
      multiple birth cohorts [3]. Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core
      references including references to grading tables that assess the quality of the
      scientific evidence, and to the evidence-to-recommendation table. In accordance
      with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters,
      WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and
      combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public
      health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in
      large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background
      information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on
      the use of vaccines in the global context. Recommendations on the use of HPV
      vaccines were discussed by SAGE in October 2016; evidence presented at these
      meetings can be accessed at:
      www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2016/october/presentations_background_docs
      en/.

PMID- 28596090
TI  - Liposomes containing monophosphoryl lipid A and QS-21 serve as an effective
      adjuvant for soluble circumsporozoite protein malaria vaccine FMP013.
AB  - Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum continues to threaten millions of people
      living in the tropical parts of the world. A vaccine that confers sterile and
      life-long protection remains elusive despite more than 30years of effort and
      resources invested in solving this problem. Antibodies to a malaria vaccine
      candidate circumsporozoite protein (CSP) can block invasion and can protect
      humans against malaria. We have manufactured the Falciparum Malaria Protein-013
      (FMP013) vaccine based on the nearly full-length P. falciparum CSP 3D7 strain
      sequence. We report here immunogenicity and challenge data on FMP013 antigen in
      C57BL/6 mice formulated with two novel adjuvants of the Army Liposome Formulation
      (ALF) series and a commercially available adjuvant Montanide ISA 720 (Montanide)
      as a control. ALF is a liposomal adjuvant containing a synthetic monophosphoryl
      lipid A (3D-PHAD(r)). In our study, FMP013 was adjuvanted with ALF alone, ALF
      containing aluminum hydroxide (ALFA) or ALF containing QS-21 (ALFQ). Adjuvants
      ALF and ALFA induced similar antibody titers and protection against transgenic
      parasite challenge that were comparable to Montanide. ALFQ was superior to the
      other three adjuvants as it induced higher antibody titers with improved boosting
      after the third immunization, higher serum IgG2c titers, and enhanced protection.
      FMP013+ALFQ also augmented the numbers of splenic germinal center-derived
      activated B-cells and antibody secreting cells compared to Montanide. Further,
      FMP013+ALFQ induced antigen-specific IFN-gamma ELISPOT activity, CD4+ T-cells and
      a TH1-biased cytokine profile. These results demonstrate that soluble CSP can
      induce a potent and sterile protective immune response when formulated with the
      QS-21 containing adjuvant ALFQ. Comparative mouse immunogenicity data presented
      here were used as the progression criteria for an ongoing non-human primate study
      and a regulatory toxicology study in preparation for a controlled human malaria
      infection (CHMI) trial.

PMID- 28596093
TI  - A pilot study evaluating the association between physical activity and cognition
      among individuals with Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the association between daily physical
      activity and cognitive function among older adults with Parkinson's disease (PD).
      OBJECTIVE: Here we evaluate the association between accelerometer-assessed
      physical activity and cognition among older patients with PD. METHODS: Cognition
      assessed via the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Moderate-to-vigorous
      physical activity (MVPA) was assessed via accelerometry over a 1-2 week
      monitoring period. RESULTS: After adjusting for motor impairment severity, for
      every 1 min/day increase in MVPA, participants had a 0.09 unit increase in MoCA
      determined cognitive function (beta = 0.09; 95% CI: -0.003-0.19; P = 0.05). When
      further adjusting for motor impairment, age and gender, results were unchanged
      (beta = 0.09; 95% CI: 0.004-0.19; P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The present study
      provides suggestive evidence of a favorable association between daily physical
      activity behavior and cognitive function among adults with PD.

PMID- 28596092
TI  - Stereotactic body radiation therapy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer:
      Executive Summary of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline.
AB  - PURPOSE: This guideline presents evidence-based recommendations for stereotactic
      body radiation therapy (SBRT) in challenging clinical scenarios in early-stage
      non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS AND MATERIALS: The American Society
      for Radiation Oncology convened a task force to perform a systematic literature
      review on 4 key questions addressing: (1) application of SBRT to operable
      patients; (2) appropriate use of SBRT in tumors that are centrally located,
      large, multifocal, or unbiopsied; (3) individual tailoring of SBRT in "high-risk"
      clinical scenarios; and (4) SBRT as salvage therapy after recurrence. Guideline
      recommendations were created using a predefined consensus-building methodology
      supported by American Society for Radiation Oncology-approved tools for grading
      evidence quality and recommendation strength. RESULTS: Although few randomized
      trials have been completed for SBRT, strong consensus recommendations based on
      extensive, consistent publications were generated for several questions,
      including recommendations for fractionation for central tumors and surgery versus
      SBRT in standard-risk medically operable patients with early-stage NSCLC. Lower
      quality evidence led to conditional recommendations on use of SBRT for tumors >5
      cm, patients with prior pneumonectomy, T3 tumors with chest wall invasion,
      synchronous multiple primary lung cancer, and as a salvage therapy after prior
      radiation therapy. These areas of moderate- and low-quality evidence highlight
      the importance of clinical trial enrollment as well as the role of prospective
      data registries. CONCLUSIONS: SBRT has an important role to play in treating
      early-stage NSCLC, particularly for medically inoperable patients with limited
      other treatment options. Shared decision-making with patients should be performed
      in all cases to ensure the patient understands the risks related to SBRT, the
      side effects, and the alternative treatments available.

PMID- 28596094
TI  - Physical activity of rurally residing children with a disability: A survey of
      parents and carers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children residing in rural areas face unique barriers to physical
      activity participation. Further, while children with a disability who reside in
      metropolitan areas face barriers hindering physical activity, rurally residing
      children with a disability may face the augmented combination of these barriers
      that could have negative health implications. Parents are often the key advocates
      for children with disabilities and are likely to have valuable insight into the
      opportunities and barriers to physical activity for their child. OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of this study was to investigate parents' perceptions of physical activity
      opportunities for their child with a disability in a rural area. METHODS: A mixed
      method survey examining parent's perceptions of their child's physical activity
      and possible barriers to participation was mailed to rurally residing parents of
      children with a disability. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using
      frequencies and proportions. Qualitative data were analyzed using qualitative
      content analysis. RESULTS: There were 34 completed surveys, a response rate of
      37%. Participants' responses indicated 74% of children were not meeting daily
      recommendations of physical activity. Participation barriers including emotional,
      physical and environmental issues. Three main themes emerged from qualitative
      data; segregation, access to facilities and resources and barriers specific to
      the child. CONCLUSION: The children in this study were from rural areas and face
      similar barriers to children in metropolitan areas. However, they are also
      confronted with the same barriers children without a disability in rural areas
      face, participating in physical activity. This may have detrimental effects on
      their health and development.

PMID- 28596095
TI  - Framing childhood mental disorders within the context of disability.

PMID- 28596096
TI  - Hearing loss and associated medical conditions among individuals 65 years and
      older.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hearing loss is prevalent, but few studies have investigated its
      associations with common medical conditions. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to
      assess the prevalence of medical conditions among individuals with hearing loss,
      compared to those without hearing loss, in people aged 65 years and older.
      METHODS: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) collects data on a variety
      of health-related topics, including disability. Three years of NHIS data (2011
      2013; unweighted n = 53,111) were pooled to examine subpopulations of individuals
      with hearing loss. Comparisons were made between adults aged 65 and older with,
      and without, self-reported hearing loss. Statistical analysis included
      descriptive frequencies, Chi-square tests, and multiple logistic regressions. The
      outcomes of interest included self-reported diagnosis of arthritis,
      cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, emphysema, stroke, cancer,
      asthma, multiple chronic conditions, health status, and obesity. RESULTS: Hearing
      loss prevalence was nearly 37%. After adjusting for sociodemographics, smoking
      status, and disability, hearing loss was independently associated with the
      following conditions: arthritis (OR 1.41; 1.27-1.57), cancer (OR 1.35; 1.21-1.5),
      cardiovascular disease (OR 1.48; 1.33-1.66), diabetes (OR 1.16; 1.03-1.31),
      emphysema (OR 1.41; 1.14-1.74), high blood pressure (OR 1.29; 1.17-1.43), and
      stroke (OR 1.39; 1.12-1.66). There was an association with worse health status
      over the past year (OR 1.5 (1.3-1.73). CONCLUSIONS: Hearing loss among older
      individuals is independently associated with increased disease burden and poorer
      self-reported health. Future studies are needed to investigate the mechanistic
      nature of these associations, and whether improved access to hearing healthcare
      surveillance can reduce the overall health burden among these individuals.

PMID- 28596098
TI  - Acoustic Analysis of Voice and Electroglottography in Patients With
      Laryngopharyngeal Reflux.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) refers to the flow of gastric acid
      content into the laryngopharynx. It has been reported that 10% of the patients
      consulting an otolaryngologist present with this condition. Signs of LPR can be
      identified during flexible or rigid laryngoscopy. The Voice Handicap Index (VHI)
      is a reliable tool for detecting the impact of voice disorders, and acoustic
      assessment of voice including acoustic analysis of voice (AAV) and
      electroglottography (EGG) provide objective data of voice production and voice
      disorders. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe changes in AAV, EGG, and VHI
      in patients who present with LPR compared with a matched control group of healthy
      subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with LPR were studied. A
      group of healthy subjects matched by age and gender without any history of voice
      disorder, LPR, or gastroesophageal reflux disease was assembled. Both groups of
      patients were studied by VHI, flexible laryngoscopy, AAV, and EGG. RESULTS: All
      patients with LPR demonstrated abnormal VHI values. Shimmer, jitter, open
      quotient, and irregularity were significantly increased in the patients with LPR.
      Nonsignificant correlations were found between VHI scores and abnormal acoustic
      parameters in patients with LPR. CONCLUSIONS: Although abnormal acoustic
      parameters of patients with LPR were not predictive of the overall VHI score, the
      abnormal acoustic parameters of patients with LPR suggest a decrease in adequate
      laryngeal control during phonation.

PMID- 28596099
TI  - "Cold-Steel" Phonosurgery of Reinke Edema Evaluated by the Multidimensional Voice
      Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: "Cold-steel" phonosurgery (PS) of Reinke edema is challenging, as the
      delicate structures of the vocal folds are difficult to preserve. This study
      aimed to evaluate the results of PS using the Multidimensional Voice Program
      (MDVP) . MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2003 to 2007, 76 consecutive patients with
      Reinke edema were treated with PS for the first time. Reliable MDVP data were
      available in 37 female patients with both pre- and postoperative values in 14
      patients. Voice quality and outcome after PS were evaluated by jitter, shimmer,
      soft phonation index, and fundamental frequency (f0) using MDVP,
      videostroboscopy, and a five-step voice outcome score. RESULTS: In the 14
      patients, the mean f0 increased from 172 to 222 (P = 0.01), and jitter decreased
      from 2.03 to 1.17 (P = 0.04) 3 months postoperatively. Vocal fold grading based
      on videostroboscopy correlated significantly with jitter (P = 0.01). Patients
      with high preoperative values of jitter, shimmer, or soft phonation index had
      larger reductions than those with normal values. All had a postoperative
      reduction of the edemas. The mean voice outcome score increased postoperatively.
      None of the 37 patients reported complications, but seven patients were
      reoperated. Preoperatively, 95% of the 37 patients were smokers and only 9 (24%)
      changed smoking habits. Pre- or postoperative voice therapy was used in 23 (62%)
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: f0 and jitter by MDVP adequately reflected the
      postoperative voice improvement and reduction of the edema. Removal of large
      amounts of edematous tissue, many years of vocal abuse, and unchanged smoking
      habits may prevent optimal results.

PMID- 28596097
TI  - Menstrual Cycle, Vocal Performance, and Laryngeal Vascular Appearance: An
      Observational Study on 17 Subjects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the anatomical and functional features of the vocal folds
      during different phases of the female menstrual cycle. METHODS: An observational
      study of 17 healthy fertile female volunteers not using hormonal contraception
      was carried out. Each volunteer underwent two examinations: first, during the
      early days of the menstrual cycle when progesterone levels are low (p-depletion),
      and second, during premenstruation when progesterone levels are high (p-peak).
      The workup included blood hormone levels, Voice Handicap Index, acoustic
      analysis, rigid telescopy, stroboscopy, and narrow band imaging. The videos were
      evaluated by blinded observers. RESULTS: The participants' mean age was 31.7 +/-
      5.6 (range 23-43). Progesterone levels were 13- to 45-fold higher in p-peak
      relative to p-depletion. No significant differences were detected in Voice
      Handicap Index scores, stroboscopic reports, or acoustic analysis between p-peak
      and p-depletion examinations. Analyzing the rigid telescopy and narrow band
      imaging videos, the observers tended to estimate the different laryngeal subsites
      more vascularized during the p-peak examination. Moreover, this tendency was
      significantly correlated with blood progesterone levels during the p-depletion
      examinations; the lower the blood progesterone levels were during p-depletion,
      the higher the probability for the observers to estimate the p-peak examinations
      more vascularized (P value = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Alterations in laryngeal
      vascular characteristics are evident throughout the menstrual cycle and may
      suggest increased congestion during premenstrual days. Variations in progesterone
      levels during the menstrual cycle correlate with laryngeal vascular changes.
      Hormone-related alterations in vocal folds' vascularity may have a role in the
      variability of vocal performance in certain women.

PMID- 28596100
TI  - Aerodynamic Patterns in Patients With Voice Disorders: A Retrospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A recently published retrospective chart review of aerodynamic
      profiles of women with primary muscle tension dysphonia by Gillespie et al (2013)
      identified various relationships between mean airflow rate (MFR) and estimated
      subglottal pressure (est-Psub). The current retrospective study expanded the
      diagnostic categories to include all voice disorders referred for voice therapy.
      Three research questions were proposed: (1) Are there differences in the MFR and
      the est-Psub compared with the normal control group? (2) Within the disordered
      population, are there different variations in the pairing of MFR and est-Psub?
      (3) If these variations exist, are they diagnosis specific? METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review of patients seen for acoustic and aerodynamic voice
      assessment at the Emory Voice Center between January 1, 2013 and December 31,
      2014, were examined for aerodynamic measures of est-Psub and MFR; of these, 192
      met the inclusion criteria. Simple t test, two-step cluster analysis, and
      analysis of variance, as well as Tukey multiple comparisons, were performed using
      R and SPSS. RESULTS: Mean est-Psub was significantly greater in the group with
      voice disorder than in the control group (P value < 0.001). However, no
      statistical significance was found when comparing the MFR with the control group
      (P value <0.59). Nine possible pairings of MFR and est-Psub were found.
      Sufficient evidence was not found to detect significant differences in these
      pairings across diagnostic groups. CONCLUSION: With regard to the rate and
      interrelationships of MFR and est-Psub, the findings of this study are similar to
      those of Gillespie et al, that is, MFR and est-Psub are not determinate of
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28596101
TI  - Utility of Laryngeal High-speed Videoendoscopy in Clinical Voice Assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the utility of laryngeal high-speed
      videoendoscopy (HSV) as a clinical tool. DESIGN: This is a prospective study of
      151 patients. METHODS: A total of 151 adult patients (52 male, 99 female)
      underwent both videoendoscopy with stroboscopy (videostroboscopy) and HSV
      examination as part of a routine clinical voice assessment. At the time of the
      examination, ratings for videostroboscopy were reported in the clinical report.
      Next, the clinicians reviewed the HSV examination and indicated the changes in
      ratings of HSV relative to videostroboscopy. Finally, the clinical reports were
      reviewed by a clinician not involved in data collection or clinical care of the
      patients and noted differences between videostroboscopy and HSV clinical ratings,
      and resulting diagnoses were identified and grouped. RESULTS: Ratings of all
      vibratory features showed change between videostroboscopy and HSV. Mucosal wave
      and amplitude of vibration showed the largest percentage change, respectively, in
      74% and 53% of the reports. They were followed by the features of glottal closure
      (36%), phase closure (32%), glottal edge (25%), and phase symmetry (21%). Ratings
      of supraglottic compression and vocal fold vertical level showed the least change
      between videostroboscopy and HSV. Changes in initial diagnosis owing to the
      inclusion of HSV were indicated in 7% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: HSV may be an
      important laryngeal imaging technique for functional assessment of the
      pathophysiology of certain voice disorders. HSV could enable important
      refinements in the diagnosis and management of vocal fold pathology.

PMID- 28596102
TI  - Evolution of the fusogenic activity of the receptor FGFRL1.
AB  - FGFRL1 is a transmembrane receptor that can induce the fusion of CHO cells to
      multinucleated syncytia. This cell fusion activity has been attributed to the
      extracellular Ig3 domain of the receptor. We investigated how the fusogenic
      activity evolved during the evolution of animals. We found that the Ig3 domain
      from humans, mice, chicken and fish stimulates fusion of CHO cells, while the Ig3
      domain from lancelet and sea urchin does not. It is therefore conceivable that
      the fusogenic activity of FGFRL1 developed during the evolution of vertebrates.
      Bony fish contain two copies of the FGFRL1 gene because they have undergone a
      whole-genome duplication. One of the corresponding proteins (FGFRL1a) induces
      cell-cell fusion, while the other (FGFRL1b) does not. Analysis of chimeric
      constructs and in vitro mutagenesis suggested that FGFRL1b has lost its fusogenic
      activity after duplication. A rescue experiment supported this conclusion. When
      four amino acids were changed, the Ig3 domain of FGFRL1b was converted into an
      active, fusogenic protein comparable to FGFRL1a. The four amino acids are located
      in a hydrophobic pocket of the Ig3 domain. It is likely that this hydrophobic
      pocket interacts with a target molecule on the membrane of adjacent cells to
      induce cell-cell fusion.

PMID- 28596103
TI  - Training General Practitioners to Detect Probable Mental Disorders in Young
      People During Health Risk Screening.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether a training
      intervention increases general practitioners' (GPs) detection sensitivity for
      probable mental disorders in young people. METHODS: Forty general practices were
      randomized to an intervention (29 GPs) or comparison arm (49 GPs). Intervention
      GPs participated in 9 hours of interactive training on youth-friendly care,
      psychosocial health risk screening, and responding to risk-taking behavior with
      motivational interviewing approaches, followed by practice visits assisting with
      integration of screening processes and tools. Youth aged 14-24 years attending
      GPs underwent a computer-assisted telephone interview about their consultation
      and psychosocial health risks. Having a "probable mental disorder" was defined as
      either scoring high on Kessler's scale of psychological distress (K10) or self
      perceived mental illness. Other definitions tested were high K10; self-perceived
      mental illness; and high K10 and self-perceived mental illness. Psychosocial
      health risk screening rates, detection sensitivity, and other accuracy parameters
      (specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value) were
      estimated. RESULTS: GPs' detection sensitivity improved after the intervention if
      having probable mental disorder was defined as high K10 score and self-perceived
      mental illness (odds ratio: 2.81; 95% confidence interval: 1.23-6.42). There was
      no significant difference in sensitivity of GPs' detection for our preferred
      definition, high K10 or self-perceived mental illness (.37 in both; odds ratio:
      .93; 95% confidence interval: .47-1.83), and detection accuracy was comparable
      (specificity: .84 vs. .87, positive predictive values: .54 vs. .60, and negative
      predictive values: .72 vs. .72). CONCLUSIONS: Improving recognition of mental
      disorder among young people attending primary care is likely to require a
      multifaceted approach targeting young people and GPs.

PMID- 28596104
TI  - Effect of stratum corneum heterogeneity, anisotropy, asymmetry and follicular
      pathway on transdermal penetration.
AB  - The impact of the complex structure of the stratum corneum on transdermal
      penetration is not yet fully described by existing models. A quantitative and
      thorough study of skin permeation is essential for chemical exposure assessment
      and transdermal delivery of drugs. The objective of this study is to analyze the
      effects of heterogeneity, anisotropy, asymmetry, follicular diffusion, and
      location of the main barrier of diffusion on percutaneous permeation. In the
      current study, the solution of the transient diffusion through a two-dimensional
      anisotropic brick-and-mortar geometry of the stratum corneum is obtained using
      the commercial finite element program COMSOL Multiphysics. First, analytical
      solutions of an equivalent multilayer geometry are used to determine whether the
      lipids or corneocytes constitute the main permeation barrier. Also these
      analytical solutions are applied for validations of the finite element solutions.
      Three illustrative compounds are analyzed in these sections: diethyl phthalate,
      caffeine and nicotine. Then, asymmetry with depth and follicular diffusion are
      studied using caffeine as an illustrative compound. The following findings are
      drawn from this study: the main permeation barrier is located in the lipid
      layers; the flux and lag time of diffusion through a brick-and-mortar geometry
      are almost identical to the values corresponding to a multilayer geometry; the
      flux and lag time are affected when the lipid transbilayer diffusivity or the
      partition coefficients vary with depth, but are not affected by depth-dependent
      corneocyte diffusivity; and the follicular contribution has significance for low
      transbilayer lipid diffusivity, especially when flux between the follicle and the
      surrounding stratum corneum is involved. This study demonstrates that the
      diffusion is primarily transcellular and the main barrier is located in the lipid
      layers.

PMID- 28596106
TI  - Mechanisms of axon regeneration: The significance of proteoglycans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Therapeutics specific to neural injury have long been anticipated but
      remain unavailable. Axons in the central nervous system do not readily regenerate
      after injury, leading to dysfunction of the nervous system. This failure of
      regeneration is due to both the low intrinsic capacity of axons for regeneration
      and the various inhibitors emerging upon injury. After many years of concerted
      efforts, however, these hurdles to axon regeneration have been partially
      overcome. SCOPE OF REVIEW: This review summarizes the mechanisms regulating axon
      regeneration. We highlight proteoglycans, particularly because it has become
      increasingly clear that these proteins serve as critical regulators for axon
      regeneration. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Studies on proteoglycans have revealed that
      glycans not only assist in the modulation of protein functions but also act as
      main players-e.g., as functional ligands mediating intracellular signaling
      through specific receptors on the cell surface. By regulating clustering of the
      receptors, glycans in the proteoglycan moiety, i.e., glycosaminoglycans, promote
      or inhibit axon regeneration. In addition, proteoglycans are involved in various
      types of neural plasticity, ranging from synaptic plasticity to experience
      dependent plasticity. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Although studies on proteins have
      progressively facilitated our understanding of the nervous system, glycans
      constitute a new frontier for further research and development in this field.
      This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Neuro-glycoscience, edited by
      Kenji Kadomatsu and Hiroshi Kitagawa.

PMID- 28596105
TI  - Multifunctional nanodiamonds in regenerative medicine: Recent advances and future
      directions.
AB  - With recent advances in the field of nanomedicine, many new strategies have
      emerged for diagnosing and treating diseases. At the forefront of this
      multidisciplinary research, carbon nanomaterials have demonstrated unprecedented
      potential for a variety of regenerative medicine applications including novel
      drug delivery platforms that facilitate the localized and sustained release of
      therapeutics. Nanodiamonds (NDs) are a unique class of carbon nanoparticles that
      are gaining increasing attention for their biocompatibility, highly functional
      surfaces, optical properties, and robust physical properties. Their remarkable
      features have established NDs as an invaluable regenerative medicine platform,
      with a broad range of clinically relevant applications ranging from targeted
      delivery systems for insoluble drugs, bioactive substrates for stem cells, and
      fluorescent probes for long-term tracking of cells and biomolecules in vitro and
      in vivo. This review introduces the synthesis techniques and the various routes
      of surface functionalization that allow for precise control over the properties
      of NDs. It also provides an in-depth overview of the current progress made toward
      the use of NDs in the fields of drug delivery, tissue engineering, and
      bioimaging. Their future outlook in regenerative medicine including the current
      clinical significance of NDs, as well as the challenges that must be overcome to
      successfully translate the reviewed technologies from research platforms to
      clinical therapies will also be discussed.

PMID- 28596107
TI  - A novel function for glucocerebrosidase as a regulator of sterylglucoside
      metabolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sterols are major cell membrane lipids, and in many organisms they
      are modified with glucose to generate sterylglucosides. Glucosylation
      dramatically changes the functional properties of sterols. The formation of
      sterylglucosides from sterols in plants, fungi, and bacteria uses UDP-glucose as
      a glucose donor. By contrast, sterylglucoside biosynthesis in mammals is
      catalyzed by the transglucosylation activity of glucocerebrosidases, with
      glucosylceramide acting as the glucose donor. Recent success in isolation and
      structural determination of sterylglucosides in the vertebrate central nervous
      system shows that transglucosylation also occurs in vivo. These analyses also
      revealed that sterylglucoside aglycons are composed of several cholesterol
      related metabolites, including a plant-type sitosteryl. SCOPE OF REVIEW: In this
      review, we discuss the biological functions and metabolism of sterylglucosides.
      We also summarize new findings from studies on the metabolism of vertebrate
      sterylglucosides and review the circumstances underlying the recent discovery of
      sterylglucosides in vertebrate brain. Finally, we discuss the role of
      sterylglucosides in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders such as Gaucher
      disease and Parkinson's disease. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: The biological significance
      of UDP-glucose-independent sterol glucosylation is still unknown, but it is
      plausible that glucosylation may provide sterols with novel biological functions.
      Even though sterol glucosylation is a simple reaction, it can dramatically change
      the physical properties of sterols. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Sterylglucosides may
      play roles in various physiological processes and in the pathogenesis of
      different diseases. Arriving at a better understanding of them at the organ and
      cellular level may open up new approaches to developing therapeutics for a
      variety of diseases. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Neuro
      glycoscience, edited by Kenji Kadomatsu and Hiroshi Kitagawa.

PMID- 28596108
TI  - Association Between EGFR T790M Status and Progression Patterns During Initial
      EGFR-TKI Treatment in Patients Harboring EGFR Mutation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emergence of the T790M point mutation in exon 20 of the epidermal
      growth factor receptor (EGFR) is the most common mechanism of resistance to EGFR
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). The aim of this study was to investigate
      the association between T790M mutation status and the progression patterns during
      EGFR-TKI treatment. METHODS: We reviewed 181 patients with advanced non-small
      cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutation, who were evaluated for T790M mutation
      status after initial EGFR-TKI failure (gefitinib, erlotinib, or afatinib). We
      retrospectively investigated the patient characteristics, initial EGFR-TKI
      response, T790M mutation status, subsequent treatment after initial EGFR-TKIs,
      timing of re-biopsy, and progression patterns during the EGFR-TKI treatment.
      RESULTS: After the resistance to the EGFR-TKIs, the T790M mutation was identified
      in 87 (48%) of 181 patients. Seventy-three (40%) patients had solitary lesion
      progression, and 108 (60%) had multiple lesion progression during the initial
      EGFR-TKI treatment. The prevalence of the T790M mutation was significantly
      greater in patients with solitary lesion progression than those with multiple
      lesion progression (58% vs. 24%; P < .0001). The overall response rate and
      progression-free survival on initial EGFR-TKIs were significantly better in
      patients who acquired T790M after failure of EGFR-TKIs than those without T790M
      (overall response rate, 80% vs. 60%; P = .0033 and progression-free survival,
      11.4 vs. 9.3 months; P = .0050). The multivariate analysis showed that gender,
      initial EGFR-TKI response, and progression patterns were significantly associated
      with T790M mutation status. DISCUSSION: The progression patterns during initial
      EGFR-TKIs and initial EGFR-TKI response are associated with the T790M mutation.

PMID- 28596109
TI  - Cytotherapy with M1-polarized macrophages ameliorates liver fibrosis by
      modulating immune microenvironment in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Macrophages play vital roles in chronic liver injury, and have
      been tested as a tool for cytotherapy in liver fibrosis. However, macrophages
      possess ontogenic and functional heterogeneities. Some subsets are pro-fibrotic,
      whereas others are anti-fibrotic. This study aimed to clarify which macrophage
      subset is efficient for cytotherapy in liver fibrosis and to elucidate the
      underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Liver fibrosis was induced in mice by carbon
      tetrachloride injection or bile duct ligation. Bone-marrow-derived macrophages
      (BMDMs) were polarized into M0, M1, or M2 macrophages, respectively. BMDMs were
      infused into mice through the tail vein at different stages of fibrogenesis.
      Fibrosis progression, hepatic cell populations, and related molecular changes
      were evaluated. RESULTS: Both M0 and M1 BMDMs significantly ameliorated liver
      fibrosis, but M1 exhibited stronger therapeutic effects than M0. M2 macrophages
      were not effective on liver fibrosis. M1 macrophages reduced the number and
      activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which could be attributed at least
      partly to increased HSC apoptosis. M1 macrophages enhanced the recruitment of
      endogenous macrophages into fibrotic liver, which displayed the phenotype of
      Ly6Clo restorative macrophages and produced matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and
      hepatic growth factor (HGF) to enhance collagen degradation and hepatocyte
      proliferation, respectively. M1 macrophages also increased the number of total
      and activated natural killer (NK) cells in the fibrotic liver, which released TNF
      related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), inducing HSC apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS:
      M1 macrophages, which modulate the immune microenvironment to recruit and modify
      the activation of endogenous macrophages and NK cells, are effective for
      cytotherapy in experimental liver fibrosis. Lay summary: M1 Bone marrow-derived
      macrophages (BMDMs) exhibit a stronger therapeutic effect by modulating the
      hepatic microenvironment to recruit and modify the activation of endogenous
      macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells, which likely lead to hepatic stellate
      cells (HSCs) apoptosis and hampered fibrogenesis.

PMID- 28596112
TI  - Aggregation of biological particles under radial directional guidance.
AB  - Many biological environments display an almost radially-symmetric structure,
      allowing proteins, cells or animals to move in an oriented fashion. Motivated by
      specific examples of cell movement in tissues, pigment protein movement in
      pigment cells and animal movement near watering holes, we consider a class of
      radially-symmetric anisotropic diffusion problems, which we call the star
      problem. The corresponding diffusion tensor D(x) is radially symmetric with
      isotropic diffusion at the origin. We show that the anisotropic geometry of the
      environment can lead to strong aggregations and blow-up at the origin. We
      classify the nature of aggregation and blow-up solutions and provide
      corresponding numerical simulations. A surprising element of this strong
      aggregation mechanism is that it is entirely based on geometry and does not
      derive from chemotaxis, adhesion or other well known aggregating mechanisms. We
      use these aggregate solutions to discuss the process of pigmentation changes in
      animals, cancer invasion in an oriented fibrous habitat (such as collagen
      fibres), and sheep distributions around watering holes.

PMID- 28596110
TI  - Crosstalk between type II NKT cells and T cells leads to spontaneous chronic
      inflammatory liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIM: Natural killer T (NKT) cells are CD1d-restricted innate-like T
      cells that modulate innate and adaptive immune responses. Unlike the well
      characterized invariant/type I NKT cells, type II NKT cells with a diverse T cell
      receptor repertoire are poorly understood. This study defines the pathogenic role
      of type II NKT cells in the etiology of chronic liver inflammation. METHODS:
      Transgenic mice with the Lck promoter directing CD1d overexpression on T cells in
      Jalpha18 wild-type (Lck-CD1dTgJalpha18+; type I NKT cell sufficient) and Jalpha18
      deficient (Lck-CD1dTgJalpha18o, type I NKT cell deficient) mice were analyzed for
      liver pathology and crosstalk between type II NKT cells and conventional T cells.
      CD1d expression on T cells in peripheral blood samples and liver sections from
      autoimmune hepatitis patients and healthy individuals were also examined.
      RESULTS: Lck-CD1dTgJalpha18o and Lck-CD1dTgJalpha18+ mice developed similar
      degrees of liver pathology resembling chronic autoimmune hepatitis in humans.
      Increased CD1d expression on T cells promoted the activation of type II NKT cells
      and other T cells. This resulted in Th1-skewing and impaired Th2 cytokine
      production in type II NKT cells. Dysfunction of type II NKT cells was accompanied
      by conventional T cell activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production,
      leading to a hepatic T/B lymphocyte infiltration, elevated autoantibodies and
      hepatic injury in Lck-CD1dTg mice. A similar mechanism could be extended to
      humans as CD1d expression is upregulated on activated human T cells and increased
      presence of CD1d-expressing T cells was observed in autoimmune hepatitis
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our data reveals enhanced crosstalk between type II NKT
      cells and conventional T cells, leading to a Th1-skewed inflammatory milieu, and
      consequently, to the development of chronic autoimmune liver disease. Lay
      summary: CD1d overexpression on T cells enhances crosstalk between type II NKT
      cells and T cells, resulting in their aberrant activation and leading to the
      development of chronic autoimmune liver disease.

PMID- 28596111
TI  - High fat diet disrupts endoplasmic reticulum calcium homeostasis in the rat
      liver.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Disruption to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium homeostasis
      has been implicated in obesity, however, the ability to longitudinally monitor ER
      calcium fluctuations has been challenging with prior methodologies. We recently
      described the development of a Gaussia luciferase (GLuc)-based reporter protein
      responsive to ER calcium depletion (GLuc-SERCaMP) and investigated the effect of
      a high fat diet on ER calcium homeostasis. METHODS: A GLuc-based reporter cell
      line was treated with palmitate, a free fatty acid. Rats intrahepatically
      injected with GLuc-SERCaMP reporter were fed a cafeteria diet or high fat diet.
      The liver and plasma were examined for established markers of steatosis and
      compared to plasma levels of SERCaMP activity. RESULTS: Palmitate induced GLuc
      SERCaMP release in vitro, indicating ER calcium depletion. Consumption of a
      cafeteria diet or high fat pellets correlated with alterations to hepatic ER
      calcium homeostasis in rats, shown by increased GLuc-SERCaMP release. Access to
      ad lib high fat pellets also led to a corresponding decrease in microsomal
      calcium ATPase activity and an increase in markers of hepatic steatosis. In
      addition to GLuc-SERCaMP, we have also identified endogenous proteins (endogenous
      SERCaMPs) with a similar response to ER calcium depletion. We demonstrated the
      release of an endogenous SERCaMP, thought to be a liver esterase, during access
      to a high fat diet. Attenuation of both GLuc-SERCaMP and endogenous SERCaMP was
      observed during dantrolene administration. CONCLUSIONS: Here we describe the use
      of a reporter for in vitro and in vivo models of high fat diet. Our results
      support the theory that dietary fat intake correlates with a decrease in ER
      calcium levels in the liver and suggest a high fat diet alters the ER proteome.
      Lay summary: ER calcium dysregulation was observed in rats fed a cafeteria diet
      or high fat pellets, with fluctuations in sensor release correlating with fat
      intake. Attenuation of sensor release, as well as food intake was observed during
      administration of dantrolene, a drug that stabilizes ER calcium. The study
      describes a novel technique for liver research and provides insight into cellular
      processes that may contribute to the pathogenesis of obesity and fatty liver
      disease.

PMID- 28596113
TI  - Evolution of delayed dispersal and subsequent emergence of helping, with
      implications for cooperative breeding.
AB  - Cooperative breeding occurs when individuals help raise the offspring of others.
      It is widely accepted that help displayed by cooperative breeders emerged only
      after individuals' tendency to delay dispersal had become established. We use
      this idea as a basis for two inclusive-fitness models: one for the evolution of
      delayed dispersal, and a second for the subsequent emergence of helpful behavior
      exhibited by non-breeding individuals. We focus on a territorial species in a
      saturated environment, and allow territories to be inherited by non-breeding
      individuals who have delayed dispersal. Our first model predicts that increased
      survivorship and increased fecundity both provide an incentive to non-breeding
      individuals to delay dispersal, and stay near their natal territory for some
      period of time. Predictions from the first model can be well understood by
      ignoring complications arising from competition among relatives. Our second model
      shows that effects on relatives play a primary role in the advantage of helping.
      In addition, the second model predicts that increased survivorship and fecundity
      promote the emergence of help. Together, our models lead us to conclude that the
      emergence of cooperative-breeding systems is made easier by life-history features
      associated with high survivorship and fecundity. We discuss the implications of
      our conclusions for life-history-based hypotheses of cooperative breeding and
      social evolution.

PMID- 28596114
TI  - Successful Repeated Hepatic Gene Delivery in Mice and Non-human Primates Achieved
      by Sequential Administration of AAV5ch and AAV1.
AB  - In the gene therapy field, re-administration of adeno-associated virus (AAV) is
      an important topic because a decrease in therapeutic protein expression might
      occur over time. However, an efficient re-administration with the same AAV
      serotype is impossible due to serotype-specific, anti-AAV neutralizing antibodies
      (NABs) that are produced after initial AAV treatment. To address this issue, we
      explored the feasibility of using chimeric AAV serotype 5 (AAV5ch) and AAV1 for
      repeated liver-targeted gene delivery. To develop a relevant model, we immunized
      animals with a high dose of AAV5ch-human secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase
      (hSEAP) that generates high levels of anti-AAV5ch NAB. Secondary liver
      transduction with the same dose of AAV1-human factor IX (hFIX) in the presence of
      high levels of anti-AAV5ch NAB proved to be successful because
      expression/activity of both reporter transgenes was observed. This is the first
      time that two different transgenes are shown to be produced by non-human primate
      (NHP) liver after sequential administration of clinically relevant doses of both
      AAV5ch and AAV1. The levels of transgene proteins achieved after delivery with
      AAV5ch and AAV1 illustrate the possibility of both serotypes for liver targeting.
      Furthermore, transgene DNA and RNA biodistribution patterns provided insight into
      the potential cause of decrease or loss of transgene protein expression over time
      in NHPs.

PMID- 28596116
TI  - Mechanisms of Neurofeedback: A Computation-theoretic Approach.
AB  - Neurofeedback training is a form of brain training in which information about a
      neural measure is fed back to the trainee who is instructed to increase or
      decrease the value of that particular measure. This paper focuses on
      electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback in which the neural measures of
      interest are the brain oscillations. To date, the neural mechanisms that underlie
      successful neurofeedback training are still unexplained. Such an understanding
      would benefit researchers, funding agencies, clinicians, regulatory bodies, and
      insurance firms. Based on recent empirical work, an emerging theory couched
      firmly within computational neuroscience is proposed that advocates a critical
      role of the striatum in modulating EEG frequencies. The theory is implemented as
      a computer simulation of peak alpha upregulation, but in principle any frequency
      band at one or more electrode sites could be addressed. The simulation
      successfully learns to increase its peak alpha frequency and demonstrates the
      influence of threshold setting - the threshold that determines whether positive
      or negative feedback is provided. Analyses of the model suggest that
      neurofeedback can be likened to a search process that uses importance sampling to
      estimate the posterior probability distribution over striatal representational
      space, with each representation being associated with a distribution of values of
      the target EEG band. The model provides an important proof of concept to address
      pertinent methodological questions about how to understand and improve EEG
      neurofeedback success.

PMID- 28596115
TI  - Differential dendritic remodeling in prelimbic cortex of male and female rats
      during recovery from chronic stress.
AB  - Chronic stress produces differential dendritic remodeling of pyramidal neurons in
      medial prefrontal cortex of male and female rats. In males, this dendritic
      remodeling is reversible. However, the timeline of recovery, as well as the
      potential for reversibility in females, is unknown. Here, we examined dendritic
      recovery of pyramidal neurons in layer II-II of prelimbic cortex in male and
      female rats following chronic restraint stress (3h/day for 10days). Dendritic
      morphology and spine density were analyzed immediately following the cessation of
      stress, or following a 7- or 10-day recovery period. Chronic stress produced
      apical dendritic retraction in males, which was coupled with a decrease in the
      density of stubby spine on apical dendrites. Further, following a 10-day recovery
      period, the morphology of neurons from stressed rats resembled that of unstressed
      rats. Male rats given a 7-day recovery period had apical dendritic outgrowth
      compared to unstressed rats. Immediately after cessation of stress, females
      showed only minimal dendritic remodeling. The morphology of neurons in stressed
      females resembled those of unstressed rats following only 7days of recovery, at
      which time there was also a significant increase in stubby spine density. Males
      and females also showed different changes in baseline corticosterone
      concentrations during recovery. These findings not only indicate that dendritic
      remodeling in prelimbic cortex following chronic stress is different between
      males and females, but also suggest chronic stress induces differential
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation in males and females. These
      differences may have important implications for responses to subsequent
      stressors.

PMID- 28596117
TI  - Disrupted white matter structural networks in healthy older adult APOE epsilon4
      carriers - An international multicenter DTI study.
AB  - The epsilon4 allelic variant of the Apolipoprotein E gene (APOE epsilon4) is the
      best-established genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      White matter (WM) microstructural damages measured with Diffusion Tensor Imaging
      (DTI) represent an early sign of fiber tract disconnection in AD. We examined the
      impact of APOE epsilon4 on WM microstructure in elderly individuals from the
      multicenter European DTI Study on Dementia. Voxelwise statistical analysis of
      fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity, radial and axial diffusivity (MD,
      radD and axD respectively) was carried out using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics.
      Seventy-four healthy elderly individuals - 31 APOE epsilon4 carriers (APOE
      epsilon4+) and 43 APOE epsilon4 non-carriers (APOE epsilon4-) -were considered
      for data analysis. All the results were corrected for scanner acquisition
      protocols, age, gender and for multiple comparisons. APOE epsilon4+ and APOE
      epsilon4- subjects were comparable regarding sociodemographic features and global
      cognition. A significant reduction of FA and increased radD was found in the APOE
      epsilon4+ compared to the APOE epsilon4- in the cingulum, in the corpus callosum,
      in the inferior fronto-occipital and in the inferior longitudinal fasciculi,
      internal and external capsule. APOE epsilon4+, compared to APOE epsilon4- showed
      higher MD in the genu, right internal capsule, superior longitudinal fasciculus
      and corona radiate. Comparisons stratified by center supported the results
      obtained on the whole sample. These findings support previous evidence in
      monocentric studies indicating a modulatory role of APOE E4 allele on WM
      microstructure in elderly individuals at risk for AD suggesting early
      vulnerability and/or reduced resilience of WM tracts involved in AD.

PMID- 28596118
TI  - Neuroprotective role of GABAB receptor modulation against streptozotocin-induced
      behavioral and biochemical abnormalities in rats.
AB  - Stimulation as well as inhibition of GABAB (Gamma amino butyric acid) receptors
      has been reported to show beneficial effects in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      Experimental evidences suggest that the use of GABAergic agents could influence
      learning and memory. The present study was designed to investigate the possible
      role of GABAB receptors in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced behavioral and
      biochemical abnormalities in rats. Herein STZ was infused (3mg/kg) bilaterally on
      alternate days (day 1 and day 3) to produce experimental dementia in rats. STZ
      infused rats were then treated with baclofen (GABABR agonist) 5 and 10mg/kg i.p.
      and CGP35348 (GABABR antagonist) 25 and 50mg/kg i.p. one week following STZ
      infusion for 15days. Cognitive functions were assessed by using Morris water maze
      (MWM) and object recognition task (ORT). Levels of malondialdehyde (MDA.),
      reduced glutathione (GSH), andacetylcholinesterase (AChE) were determined to
      evaluate oxidative stress and cholinergic function. STZ-infused rats showed
      decreased memory retention, elevated levels of MDA, increased AChE activity,
      reduced GSH levels. The combination of STZ with increasing doses of Baclofen
      further induced a higher decrease in memory retention and increase in oxidative
      stress. CGP35348 restored cognitive functions and AChE activity in STZ-infused
      rats. The cognitive enhancement following CGP35348 may be due to its ability to
      restore cholinergic, serotonergic and dopaminergic function, and its antioxidant
      activity. Therefore, it would be safe to conclude that the pharmacological
      blockade of GABAB receptors would be therapeutic in the management of cognitive
      disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 28596119
TI  - Alterations of M1 and M4 acetylcholine receptors in the genetically dystonic
      (dtsz) hamster and moderate antidystonic efficacy of M1 and M4 anticholinergics.
AB  - Striatal cholinergic dysfunction has been suggested to play a critical role in
      the pathophysiology of dystonia. In the dtsz hamster, a phenotypic model of
      paroxysmal dystonia, M1 antagonists exerted moderate antidystonic efficacy after
      acute systemic administration. In the present study, we examined the effects of
      the M4 preferring antagonist tropicamid and whether long-term systemic or acute
      intrastriatal injections of the M1 preferring antagonist trihexyphenidyl are more
      effective in mutant hamsters. Furthermore, M1 and M4 receptors were analyzed by
      autoradiography and immunohistochemistry. Tropicamide retarded the onset of
      dystonic attacks, as previously observed after acute systemic administration of
      trihexyphenidyl. Combined systemic administration of trihexyphenidyl (30mg/kg)
      and tropicamide (15mg/kg) reduced the severity in acute trials and delayed the
      onset of dystonia during long-term treatment. In contrast, acute striatal
      microinjections of trihexyphenidyl, tropicamid or the positive allosteric M4
      receptor modulator VU0152100 did not exert significant effects. Receptor analyses
      revealed changes of M1 receptors in the dorsomedial striatum, suggesting that the
      cholinergic system is involved in abnormal striatal plasticity in dtsz hamsters,
      but the pharmacological data argue against a crucial role on the phenotype in
      this animal model. However, antidystonic effects of tropicamide after systemic
      administration point to a novel therapeutic potential of M4 preferring
      anticholinergics for the treatment of dystonia.

PMID- 28596122
TI  - Trends and regional variations in provision of contraception methods in a
      commercially insured population in the United States based on nationally proposed
      measures.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Three measures to assess the provision of effective contraception
      methods among reproductive-aged women have recently been endorsed for national
      public reporting. Based on these measures, this study examined real-world trends
      and regional variations of contraceptive provision in a commercially insured
      population in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: Women 15-44years old with
      continuous enrollment in each year from 2005 to 2014 were identified from a
      commercial claims database. In accordance with the proposed measures, percentages
      of women (a) provided most effective or moderately effective (MEME) methods of
      contraception and (b) provided a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC)
      method were calculated in two populations: women at risk for unintended pregnancy
      and women who had a live birth within 3 and 60days of delivery. RESULTS: During
      the 10-year period, the percentages of women at risk for unintended pregnancy
      provided MEME contraceptive methods increased among 15-20-year-olds (24.5%-35.9%)
      and 21-44-year-olds (26.2%-31.5%), and those provided a LARC method also
      increased among 15-20-year-olds (0.1%-2.4%) and 21-44-year-olds (0.8%-3.9%).
      Provision of LARC methods increased most in the North Central and West among both
      age groups of women. Provision of MEME contraceptives and LARC methods to women
      who had a live birth within 60days postpartum also increased across age groups
      and regions. CONCLUSIONS: This assessment indicates an overall trend of
      increasing provision of MEME contraceptive methods in the commercial sector,
      albeit with age group and regional variations. If implemented, these proposed
      measures may have impacts on health plan contraceptive access policy.

PMID- 28596120
TI  - Myelin-induced inhibition in a spiral ganglion organ culture - Approaching a
      natural environment in vitro.
AB  - The performance of a cochlear implant depends on the defined interaction between
      afferent neurons of the spiral ganglion and the inserted electrode. Neurite
      outgrowth can be induced by neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic
      factor (BDNF) via tropomyosin kinase receptor B (TrkB). However, neurotrophin
      signaling through the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75) inhibits neurite outgrowth
      in the presence of myelin. Organotypic cultures derived from postnatal (P3-5)
      mice were used to study myelin-induced inhibition in the cochlear spiral
      ganglion. Neurite outgrowth was analyzed and quantified utilizing an adapted
      Sholl analysis. Stimulation of neurite outgrowth was quantified after application
      of BDNF, the selective TrkB agonist 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) and a
      selective inhibitor of the Rho-associated kinase (Y27632), which inhibits the p75
      pathway. Myelin-induced inhibition was assessed by application of myelin
      associated glycoprotein (MAG-Fc) to stimulate the inhibitory p75 pathway.
      Inhibition of neurite outgrowth was achieved by the selective TrkB inhibitor
      K252a. Stimulation of neurite outgrowth was observed after treatment with BDNF,
      7,8 DHF and a combination of BDNF and Y27632. The 7,8-DHF-induced growth effects
      could be inhibited by K252a. Furthermore, inhibition of neurite outgrowth was
      observed after supplementation with MAG-Fc. Myelin-induced inhibition could be
      overcome by 7,8-DHF and the combination of BDNF and Y27632. In this study, myelin
      induced inhibition of neurite outgrowth was established in a spiral ganglion
      model. We reveal that 7,8-DHF is a viable novel compound for the stimulation of
      neurite outgrowth in a myelin-induced inhibitory environment. The combination of
      TrkB stimulation and ROCK inhibition can be used to overcome myelin inhibition.

PMID- 28596123
TI  - New clinical performance measures for contraceptive care: their importance to
      healthcare quality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The National Quality Forum (NQF) recently endorsed the first clinical
      performance measures for contraceptive care. We present data demonstrating that
      the measures meet the NQF's criterion "importance to measure and report." STUDY
      DESIGN: We summarized national contraceptive care initiatives, epidemiologic data
      documenting the reproductive health burden and the scientific literature
      examining the association between contraceptive use and unintended pregnancy. In
      addition, we analyzed contraceptive use data from the National Survey of Family
      Growth (2013-2015) and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (2012
      2013). RESULTS: Five Federal agencies lead national initiatives, and two
      Institute of Medicine reports highlight the centrality of reproductive health
      outcomes for the health of women and infants. Two literature reviews demonstrate
      that the type of contraception used is associated with risk of unintended
      pregnancy. Fifty-three percent of adolescents (15-19years) and 40% of adult women
      (20-44years) at risk of unintended pregnancy are not using a most or moderately
      effective contraceptive method; in the postpartum period, one third of
      adolescents (<=19years) and 44% of adult women (>=20years) are not using these
      methods. CONCLUSIONS: The new contraceptive care measures meet the NQF criterion
      for "importance to measure and report." The measures are based on evidence that
      contraceptive use is associated with reproductive health outcomes, and there is a
      substantial performance gap in the use of most and moderately effective methods.
      IMPLICATIONS: Using the new contraceptive care measures may motivate providers to
      increase access to contraceptive care, thereby improving health outcomes.

PMID- 28596121
TI  - One-year continuation of copper or levonorgestrel intrauterine devices initiated
      at the time of emergency contraception.
AB  - OBJECTIVE(S): This study compares 1-year intrauterine device (IUD) continuation
      among women presenting for emergency contraception (EC) and initiating the copper
      (Cu T380A) IUD or the levonorgestrel (LNG) 52 mg IUD plus 1.5 mg oral LNG. STUDY
      DESIGN: This cohort study enrolled 188 women who presented at a single family
      planning clinic in Utah between June 2013 and September 2014 and selected either
      the Cu T380A IUD or LNG 52 mg IUD plus oral LNG for EC. Trained personnel
      followed participants by phone, text or e-mail for 12 months or until
      discontinuation occurred. We assessed reasons for discontinuation and used Cox
      proportional hazard models, Kaplan-Meier estimates and log-rank tests to assess
      differences in continuation rates between IUDs. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-six
      women received IUDs; 66 (37%) chose the Cu T380A IUD and 110 (63%) chose the LNG
      52 mg IUD plus oral LNG. At 1 year, we accounted for 147 (84%) participants, 33
      (22%) had requested removals, 13 (9%) had an expulsion and declined reinsertion,
      3 (2%) had a pregnancy with their IUD in place and 98 (67%) were still using
      their device. Continuation rates did not differ by IUD type; 60% of Cu T380A IUD
      users and 70% of LNG 52 mg IUD plus oral LNG users were still using their device
      at 12 months (adjusted hazard ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.40-1.3).
      CONCLUSION(S): Two-thirds of women who chose IUD placement at the EC clinical
      encounter continued use at 1 year. Women initiating Cu T380A IUD and LNG 52 mg
      IUD had similar 1-year continuation rates. These findings support same-day
      insertion of IUDs for women who are seeking EC and would like to use a highly
      effective reversible method going forward. IMPLICATIONS: Providing IUD options
      for EC users presents an opportunity to increase availability of highly effective
      contraception.

PMID- 28596124
TI  - Detection of Aichi virus genotype B in two lines of wastewater treatment
      processes.
AB  - Enteric viruses are released in important quantities into the environment where
      they can persist for a very long time. At very low doses, they can cause human
      gastroenteritis, and are responsible for a substantial number of waterborne
      diseases. The aims of this study were multiple: firstly, to study the circulation
      of Aichi viruses (AiV) in wastewater sampled at the scale of a pilot wastewater
      treatment plant; secondly, to evaluate the performance of two wastewater
      treatment procedures, as natural oxidizing lagoons and rotating Biodisks,
      concerning the AiV removal; and finally, to determine the different type of AiV
      genotype found during this study. Hence, the pilot wastewater treatment plant is
      principally irrigated by the wastewater of three neighbouring clinics. Wastewater
      samples were collected during 2011 from the two lines of biological treatment
      procedures. AiV detection in wastewater were achieved using the Reverse
      Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) technique, and the
      identification of AiV genotype was realized by the direct sequencing of PCR
      products. The result revealed that AiV strains were identified in 50% (n = 51) of
      the wastewater samples. A significant increase of the AiV detection frequency was
      registered from upstream to downstream of the five ponds constituting the natural
      oxidizing lagoon process, and at the exit of the rotating Biodisks procedure. All
      detected AiV strains showed the highest nucleotide sequence identity to genotype
      B that has been recently observed in patients in Asia. This finding represented
      the first Tunisian survey that revealed and mentioned the first detection of AiV
      genotype B in sewage and by the same argued for a noticeable resistance or
      survival of this type of virus in the two lines of treatment considered.

PMID- 28596125
TI  - Biomarkers in Psychiatry: Between myth and clinical reality.

PMID- 28596126
TI  - Reaction time, processing speed and sustained attention in schizophrenia: impact
      on social functioning.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have linked processing speed with social cognition
      and functioning of patients with schizophrenia. A discriminant analysis is needed
      to determine the different components of this neuropsychological construct. This
      paper analyzes the impact of processing speed, reaction time and sustained
      attention on social functioning. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 98 outpatients between 18
      and 65 with DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia, with a period of 3 months of
      clinical stability, were recruited. Sociodemographic and clinical data were
      collected, and the following variables were measured: processing speed (Trail
      Making Test [TMT], symbol coding [BACS], verbal fluency), simple and elective
      reaction time, sustained attention, recognition of facial emotions and global
      functioning. RESULTS: Processing speed (measured only through the BACS),
      sustained attention (CPT) and elective reaction time (but not simple) were
      associated with functioning. Recognizing facial emotions (FEIT) correlated
      significantly with scores on measures of processing speed (BACS, Animals, TMT),
      sustained attention (CPT) and reaction time. The linear regression model showed a
      significant relationship between functioning, emotion recognition (P=.015) and
      processing speed (P=.029). CONCLUSIONS: A deficit in processing speed and facial
      emotion recognition are associated with worse global functioning in patients with
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 28596127
TI  - Does the environment affect suicide rates in Spain? A spatiotemporal analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Suicide is an important public health problem, it represents one of
      the major causes of unnatural death, and there are many factors that affect the
      risk of suicidal behaviour. The present study analyzes the temporal and spatial
      variations of mortality by suicide in Spain and its relationship with gross
      domestic product (GDP) per capita. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study
      was performed, in which deaths by suicide, sex and age group in 50 Spanish
      provinces between 2000 and 2012 were analyzed. The annual trend of suicide
      mortality was assessed using Kendall's tau-b correlation coefficient. Seasonality
      and monthly and weekly behaviour were evaluated by performing the ANOVA test and
      the Bonferroni adjustment. Finally, the relationship between GDP per capita and
      suicide was studied. RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2012, 42,905adult people died by
      suicide in Spain. The annual average incidence rate was 95 suicides per million
      population. The regions located in the south and in the northwest of the country
      registered the highest per capita mortality rates. There is a decreasing trend in
      mortality by suicide over the period studied (CC=-.744; P=.0004) in adults over
      the age of 64, and a seasonal behaviour was identified with summer maximum and
      autumn minimum values (f=.504; P<.0001). The regions with the highest GDP per
      capita showed the lowest mortality by suicide (r=-.645; P<.0001) and the
      relationship is stronger among older age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality by
      suicide does not follow a homogenous geographical distribution in Spain.
      Mortality in men was higher than in women. Over the period of study, there has
      been a decrease in mortality by suicide in Spain in adults over the age of 64.
      The seasonal cycle of suicides and the inverse relationship with GDP per capita
      found in this study, provide information which may be used as a tool for
      developing prevention and intervention strategies.

PMID- 28596128
TI  - Sweetpotato weevil, Cylas formicarius (Fab.) (Coleoptera: Brentidae) avoids its
      host plant when a virulent Metarhizium anisopliae isolate is present.
AB  - Metarhizium anisopliae has a wide range of coleopteran hosts, including weevils.
      Some susceptible insects are known to modify their behavior to prevent infection,
      typically detecting virulent strains by olfaction, and avoiding physical contact
      with sources of infection. Laboratory olfactometer assays were conducted on the
      sweetpotato weevil Cylas formicarius to test the hypothesis that insects would
      avoid a more virulent strain of M. anisopliae when presented with a strain of low
      virulence or an untreated control. When adult weevils were allowed to choose
      between paired test arenas containing sweetpotato roots and M. anisopliae
      isolates on agar cores, weevils avoided arenas with the highly virulent isolate
      QS155, showing a preference for either roots with uninoculated agar cores or
      cores with the low virulence isolate QS002-3. When roots or whole sweetpotato
      plants were inoculated with M. anisopliae, the preferences of weevils remained
      broadly similar; weevils were repelled by the highly virulent isolate QS155 when
      tested against either QS002-3 or uninoculated roots and plants, however weevils
      were not repelled by the low virulence isolate QS002-3 tested against
      uninoculated controls. When single-sex groups of weevils were tested separately
      in the olfactometer using uninoculated whole plants and plants treated with
      isolate QS155, males and females responded similarly and statistically identical
      preferences were found for the untreated plants. When weevils were released
      singly at different times of the day the response time for males was
      significantly shorter in the afternoon compared to the morning. Males were always
      significantly faster to respond to olfactory stimuli than females. Understanding
      factors that may lead to avoidance of virulent M. anisopliae strains by C.
      formicarius will be an essential part of developing an 'attract-and-infect'
      strategy for the management of C. formicarius.

PMID- 28596129
TI  - Sync to link: Endorphin-mediated synchrony effects on cooperation.
AB  - Behavioural synchronization has been shown to facilitate social bonding and
      cooperation but the mechanisms through which such effects are attained are poorly
      understood. In the current study, participants interacted with a pre-recorded
      confederate who exhibited different rates of synchrony, and we investigated three
      mechanisms for the effects of synchrony on likeability and trusting behaviour:
      self-other overlap, perceived cooperation, and opioid system activation measured
      via pain threshold. We show that engaging in highly synchronous behaviour
      activates all three mechanisms, and that these mechanisms mediate the effects of
      synchrony on liking and investment in a Trust Game. Specifically, self-other
      overlap and perceived cooperation mediated the effects of synchrony on
      interpersonal liking, while behavioural trust was mediated only by change in pain
      threshold. These results suggest that there are multiple compatible pathways
      through which synchrony influences social attitudes, but endogenous opioid system
      activation, such as beta-endorphin release, might be important in facilitating
      economic cooperation.

PMID- 28596130
TI  - Celebrating 100 years of Developmental Biology at the Hubrecht Institute.

PMID- 28596131
TI  - Control of anterior pituitary cell excitability by calcium-activated potassium
      channels.
AB  - In anterior pituitary endocrine cells, large (BK), small (SK) and intermediate
      (IK) conductance calcium activated potassium channels are key determinants in
      shaping cellular excitability in a cell type- and context-specific manner.
      Indeed, these channels are targeted by multiple signaling pathways that stimulate
      or inhibit cellular excitability. BK channels can, paradoxically, both promote
      electrical bursting as well as terminate bursting and spiking dependent upon
      intrinsic BK channel properties and proximity to voltage gated calcium channels
      in somatotrophs, lactotrophs and corticotrophs. In contrast, SK channels are
      predominantly activated by calcium released from intracellular IP3-sensitive
      calcium stores and mediate membrane hyperpolarization in cells including
      gonadotrophs and corticotrophs. IK channels are predominantly expressed in
      corticotrophs where they limit membrane excitability. A major challenge for the
      future is to determine the cell-type specific molecular composition of calcium
      activated potassium channels and how they control anterior pituitary hormone
      secretion as well as other calcium-dependent processes.

PMID- 28596132
TI  - CRUSADE Score is Superior to Platelet Function Testing for Prediction of Bleeding
      in Patients Following Coronary Interventions.
AB  - Hypothetically, diminished platelet reactivity (PR) during dual antiplatelet
      therapy (DAPT) should cause extra major bleeding events (MBE), although definite
      evidence is lacking. Multiple scores have been proposed to stratify bleeding
      risk, but their predictive value during DAPT is unclear. We compared the
      performance of the Can Rapid Risk Stratification of Unstable Angina Patients
      Suppress Adverse Outcomes with Early Implementation of the ACC/AHA Guidelines
      (CRUSADE) with PR testing to predict MBE in Korean patients with acute coronary
      syndrome. We screened 1105, and included 903 consecutive patients who underwent
      coronary interventions. All patients received DAPT, while MBE were assessed by
      BARC scale. Admission platelet reactivity was assessed with VerifyNow Analyzer
      simultaneously with CRUSADE score, and MBE were collected at 1month and at 1year
      post stenting. There were a total of 113 (11%) MBE at 1month, and extra 41(5%)
      MBE at 1year. At 1month MBE prediction was superior by CRUSADE score (AUC: 0.816,
      95% CI: 0.79 0.84, p<0.0001), compared to PR (AUC: 0.605, 95% CI: 0.572-0.637,
      p=0.0007). Moreover, CRUSADE score remains the independent predictor of MBE by
      multivariate analyses (OR=2.94, 95% CI: 2.18-3.96, p<0.0001). At 1year MBE also
      correlated, but were not significantly different between admission CRUSADE score
      (AUC: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.58 0.66, p=0.0183) and PR (AUC: 0.674, 95% CI: 0.63-0.71,
      p=0.002). We conclude that MBE are more common in real life than reported in
      clinical trials. CRUSADE score was superior to PR testing for predicting short
      term, but not 1year MBE in Korean patients undergoing percutaneous coronary
      intervention and treated with DAPT.

PMID- 28596133
TI  - Nuclear Factor I/B: A Master Regulator of Cell Differentiation with Paradoxical
      Roles in Cancer.
AB  - Emerging evidence indicates that nuclear factor I/B (NFIB), a transcription
      factor required for proper development and regulation of cellular differentiation
      in several tissues, also plays critical roles in cancer. Despite being a
      metastatic driver in small cell lung cancer and melanoma, it has become apparent
      that NFIB also exhibits tumour suppressive functions in many malignancies. The
      contradictory contributions of NFIB to both the inhibition and promotion of
      tumour development and progression, corroborates its diverse and context
      dependent roles in many tissues and cell types. Considering the frequent
      involvement of NFIB in cancer, a better understanding of its multifaceted nature
      may ultimately benefit the development of novel strategies for the management of
      a broad spectrum of malignancies. Here we discuss recent findings which bring to
      light NFIB as a crucial and paradoxical player in cancer.

PMID- 28596135
TI  - Administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist attenuates sexual motivation in
      male rats.
AB  - In male rats, oxytocin impacts both sexual arousal and certain types of
      consummatory sexual behaviors. However, the role of oxytocin in the motivational
      aspects of sexual behavior has received limited attention. Given the role that
      oxytocin signaling plays in consummatory sexual behaviors, it was hypothesized
      that pharmacological attenuation of oxytocin signaling would reduce sexual
      motivation in male rats. Sexually experienced Long-Evans male rats were
      administered either an oxytocin receptor antagonist (L368,899 hydrochloride;
      1mg/kg) or vehicle control into the intraperitoneal cavity 40min prior to
      placement into the center chamber of a three-chambered arena designed to assess
      sexual motivation. During the 20-minute test, a sexually experienced stimulus
      male rat and a sexually receptive stimulus female rat were separately confined to
      smaller chambers that were attached to the larger end chambers of the arena.
      However, physical contact between test and stimulus rats was prevented by
      perforated dividers. Immediately following the sexual motivation test, test male
      rats were placed with a sexually receptive female to examine consummatory sexual
      behaviors. Although both drug and vehicle treated rats exhibited a preference for
      the female, treatment with an oxytocin receptor antagonist decreased the amount
      of time spent with the female. There were no differences between drug and vehicle
      treated rats in either general activity, exploratory behaviors, the amount of
      time spent near the stimulus male rat, or consummatory sexual behaviors.
      Extending previous findings, these results indicate that oxytocin receptors are
      involved in sexual motivation in male rats.

PMID- 28596134
TI  - A Critical Role of Zinc Importer AdcABC in Group A Streptococcus-Host
      Interactions During Infection and Its Implications for Vaccine Development.
AB  - Bacterial pathogens must overcome host immune mechanisms to acquire
      micronutrients for successful replication and infection. Streptococcus pyogenes,
      also known as group A streptococcus (GAS), is a human pathogen that causes a
      variety of clinical manifestations, and disease prevention is hampered by lack of
      a human GAS vaccine. Herein, we report that the mammalian host recruits
      calprotectin (CP) to GAS infection sites and retards bacterial growth by zinc
      limitation. However, a GAS-encoded zinc importer and a nuanced zinc sensor aid
      bacterial defense against CP-mediated growth inhibition and contribute to GAS
      virulence. Immunization of mice with the extracellular component of the zinc
      importer confers protection against systemic GAS challenge. Together, we
      identified a key early stage host-GAS interaction and translated that knowledge
      into a novel vaccine strategy against GAS infection. Furthermore, we provided
      evidence that a similar struggle for zinc may occur during other streptococcal
      infections, which raises the possibility of a broad-spectrum prophylactic
      strategy against multiple streptococcal pathogens.

PMID- 28596136
TI  - Paclitaxel loaded phospholipid-based gel as a drug delivery system for local
      treatment of glioma.
AB  - Paclitaxel (PTX) is a chemotherapeutic agent and has been widely used in clinic
      against human cancer. However, it has limited application in brain tumor
      treatment due to the poor penetration of blood brain barrier. Local delivery
      system is a promising carrier of PTX in the treatment of glioma. A biodegradable
      phospholipid-based gel (PG) system was developed for intratumoral injection and
      evaluated in brain glioma-bearing mice model. PTX loaded PG was composed of
      phospholipid, ethanol, medium chain triglyceride, triacetin and PTX. It was
      prepared by a very simple method. The system was a transparent solution with good
      fluidity, while turned into a gel after phase-transition when ethanol diffused.
      Both in vitro dissolution and in vivo imaging study proved the sustained release
      effect of PG system. In vivo tolerability study showed a better tolerability
      after mice treated with PTX PG compared with free PTX. The survival time of brain
      glioma-bearing mice after treatment with PTX PG was significantly prolonged
      compared with mice treated by free PTX (P<0.05). In conclusion, this study
      developed a novel PG based local PTX delivery system with simple preparation
      method, good tolerability and high therapeutic efficacy. It has a great potential
      to improve the clinical management of glioma.

PMID- 28596137
TI  - Reshaping antibiotics through hydrophobic drug-bile acid ionic complexation
      enhances activity against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.
AB  - The antibiotic era is on the verge of a profound change and facing a ground
      shaking crisis. The frequent failures of antibiotic treatments are often
      associated with biofilm formation, which is responsible for chronic infections,
      exacerbation as well as reinfection. So far, albeit the large number of valuable
      strategies employed to combat biofilm formation, little success has been
      recorded. In this work, we propose a simple approach, based on hydrophobic ionic
      complexation with the bile acids, deoxycholic acid (DCA) and ursodeoxycholic acid
      (UDCA), to enhance anti-biofilm activity of well-known antibiotics, namely
      kanamycin (K), amikacin (A) and vancomycin (V). Activity was evaluated against
      Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and six methicillin-resistant clinical isolates.
      The formation of a 1:4 ADCA and KDCA and 1:1 VUDCA complexes was confirmed by
      1HNMR, in silico molecular dynamics simulations, as well as thermal,
      spectrophotometric and HPLC analyses. The complexes showed higher inhibition of
      S. aureus growth compared to parent drugs and a concentration-independent biofilm
      inhibition and dispersion capacity in the order KDCA > ADCA >>VUDCA, even at
      concentrations ten-fold below the MIC. S. aureus growth inhibition evaluated upon
      treatment with bile acid-drug sequential addition and the complexes as well as
      the measured complex stability in solution suggest a bile acid carrier role. The
      complexes showed in vivo toxicity only at 10*MIC concentration on the chicken
      embryo chorioallantoic membrane model in the order KDCA < ADCA < VUDCA. KDCA was
      safe at all concentrations. Although several aspects to be addressed, this
      approach is promising due to its simplicity, the proved in vitro anti-biofilm
      activity enhancement and tolerability. A potential pulmonary drug delivery
      application is envisaged.

PMID- 28596138
TI  - Preparation, characterization, and cytotoxicity studies of niclosamide loaded
      mesoporous drug delivery systems.
AB  - Recent reports on the anticancer potential of niclosamide have opened new avenues
      for anticancer treatment. Niclosamide belongs to the BCS class II, which is
      indicative of poor solubility and dissolution rate limited absorption. The aim of
      this study was to improve the dissolution rate of the drug by mesoporous drug
      delivery system. Porous silica grades (ordered and nonordered) with different
      pore size, pore volume and surface area were used in the study. The drug was
      loaded on silica carriers by the solvent evaporation method and characterized by
      BET surface area analysis, SEM, P-XRD, DSC, and FTIR. A discriminatory
      dissolution medium was developed for performing the in vitro dissolution of
      niclosamide. In comparison to the plain drug, all silica based formulations
      showed improvement in the dissolution rate. Maximum enhancement in the
      dissolution rate was observed in 1:2 drug:carrier loading ratio when compared to
      1:1 ratio. Different properties of mesoporous silica like structural geometry,
      pore size and microenvironment pH demonstrated a significant impact on drug
      release from the formulations. Cytotoxicity of the optimized mesoporous
      formulations of niclosamide was explored in HCT-116, HCT-15, NCI, MDA-MB-231 and
      A549 cancer cell lines. Nearly 3 fold and 2 fold increase in% cytotoxicity of
      drug loaded Syloid-244 and Sylysia 350 at 1:2 ratio respectively, were observed
      when compared to the plain drug.

PMID- 28596139
TI  - Effects of cyclodextrins on the chemical stability of drugs.
AB  - Cyclodextrins (CDs) are enabling pharmaceutical excipients that can enhance both
      solubility and stability of wide variety of drugs in aqueous solutions through
      formation of drug/CD inclusion complexes where apolar moieties of the drug
      molecules are located inside the CD cavity. In properly designed pharmaceutical
      formulations CDs will improve physiochemical properties of lipophilic drugs
      without affecting their intrinsic ability to permeate biological membranes. Here
      the effect of CD complexes on the chemical stability of drugs is reviewed.
      Numerous studies shown that in aqueous solutions CD complexation can hamper
      hydrolysis, oxidation, photodegradation, isomerization and enzyme catalyzed
      degradation of dissolved drugs. However, some drugs, such as beta-lactam
      antibiotics, can under certain conditions undergo CD catalyzed degradation in
      aqueous solutions. Also, some drugs that are stabilized by CDs in aqueous
      solutions are destabilized by the same CDs in solid dosage forms. Thus, the
      effects of CDs on drug stability have to be tested and verified in the final drug
      formulation and under the recommended storage conditions.

PMID- 28596140
TI  - Formation, characterization and pH dependence of rifampicin: heptakis(2,6-di-O
      methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin complexes.
AB  - Rifampicin (Rif) is a broad spectrum antibiotic used as a first line agent in the
      treatment of mycobacterial infections. However, its low solubility and reduced
      stability in water limit its bioavailability, thus requiring the use of complex
      formulations. Here, we present a systematic study of Rif in complex with a
      methylated cyclodextrin, heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin (DIMEB), in
      phosphate buffer using a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and
      steady-state UV-vis spectroscopic methods. An increase in the stability and
      solubility of Rif in complex with DIMEB was observed in buffered solutions
      (phosphate, PBS). At neutral pH the presence of three distinguishable binding
      sites was revealed, demonstrating that DIMEB forms predominantly a stable 1:1
      (K~3000M-1) complex at the piperazine site of Rif, while at acidic pH the binding
      constant decreases significantly (K~400M-1) due to protonation of the piperazine,
      thus inducing a release of Rif. The reported results provide new and relevant
      information for the stability and solubility of Rif in aqueous solution when
      forming a complex with DIMEB. Furthermore they contribute to clarify Rif
      interactions with cyclodextrin carriers, thus providing the basis for the
      development of new methylated cyclodextrin that can efficiently encapsulate and
      deliver Rif and derivatives of its family.

PMID- 28596141
TI  - Delivery of cyclodextrin polymers to bacterial biofilms - An exploratory study
      using rhodamine labelled cyclodextrins and multiphoton microscopy.
AB  - Cyclodextrin (CD) polymers are interesting nanoparticulate systems for
      pharmaceutical delivery; however, knowledge regarding their applications towards
      delivery into complex microbial biofilm structures is so far limited. The
      challenge is to demonstrate penetration and transport through the biofilm and its
      exopolysaccharide matrix. The ideal functionalization for penetration into mature
      biofilms is unexplored. In this paper, we present a novel set of rhodamine
      labelled betaCD-polymers, with different charge moieties, i.e., neutral, anionic,
      and cationic, and explore their potential delivery into mature Staphylococcus
      epidermidis biofilms using multiphoton laser scanning microscopy (MPM). The S.
      epidermidis biofilms, being a medically relevant model organism, were stained
      with SYTO9. By using MPM, three-dimensional imaging and spectral investigation of
      the distribution of the betaCD-polymers could be obtained. It was found that the
      cationic betaCD-polymers showed significantly higher integration into the
      biofilms, compared to neutral and anionic functionalized betaCDs. None of the
      carriers presented any inherent toxicity to the biofilms, meaning that the
      addition of rhodamine moiety does not affect the inertness of the delivery
      system. Taken together, this study demonstrates a novel approach by which
      delivery of fluorescently labelled CD nanoparticles to bacterial biofilms can be
      explored using MPM. Future studies should be undertaken investigating the
      potential in using cationic functionalization of CD based delivery systems for
      targeting anti-microbial effects in biofilms.

PMID- 28596142
TI  - Amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoparticles.
AB  - Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides obtained by enzymatic digestion of
      starch. The alpha-, beta- and gamma- cyclodextrins contain respectively 6, 7 and
      8 glucopyranose units, with primary and secondary hydroxyl groups located on the
      narrow and wider rims of a truncated cone shape structure. Such structure is that
      of a hydrophobic inner cavity with a hydrophilic outer surface allowing to
      interact with a wide range of molecules like ions, protein and oligonucleotides
      to form inclusion complexes. Many cyclodextrin applications in the pharmaceutical
      area have been widely described in the literature due to their low toxicity and
      low immunogenicity. The most important is to increase the solubility of
      hydrophobic drugs in water. Chemically modified cyclodextrin derivatives have
      been synthesized to enhance their properties and more specifically their
      pharmacological activity. Among these, amphiphilic derivatives were designed to
      build organized molecular structures, through selfassembling systems or by
      incorporation in lipid membranes, expected to improve the vectorization in the
      organism of the drug-containing cyclodextrin cavities. These derivatives can form
      a variety of supramolecular structures such as micelles, vesicles and
      nanoparticles. The purpose of this review is to summarize applications of
      amphiphilic cyclodextrins in different areas of drug delivery, particularly in
      protein and peptide drug delivery and gene delivery. The article highlights
      important amphiphilic cyclodextrin applications in the design of novel delivery
      systems like nanoparticles.

PMID- 28596143
TI  - Towards quality assessed characterization of nanomaterial: Transfer of validated
      protocols for size measurement by dynamic light scattering and evaluation of zeta
      potential by electrophoretic light scattering.
AB  - Quality control analysis of nanomaterials has been identified as a major issue to
      pursue their development in different industrial fields including nanomedicine.
      One difficulty is the lack of standardized and validated protocols suitable to
      achieve their characterization. In a previous work, we have developed
      standardized protocols for the evaluation of the size and zeta potential of
      nanomaterials based on methods described in the ISO standard and have performed
      validation of each one. The present work was aimed to transfer these protocols in
      three independent receiving laboratories. No official guideline was described in
      the literature to achieve such a transfer. A comparative study for receiving
      laboratories equipped with the same instrument as the sending laboratory was
      designed based on the Code of Federal Regulation edited by the Food and Drug
      Administration. For the receiving laboratory equipped with an instrument working
      at a different wavelength, a new validation was designed and applied.
      Corresponding statistical methods were used for the analysis of the results. A
      successful transfer of the protocols in all receiving laboratories was achieved.
      All laboratories recorded consistent results applying in blind the protocol of
      size measurements on two samples of nanomaterials from which included one
      reference.

PMID- 28596144
TI  - Serum protein expression profiling and bioinformatics analysis in workers
      occupationally exposed to chromium (VI).
AB  - Cr(VI) is widely-recognized as occupational and environmental contaminant, but
      the precise underlying mechanisms of Cr(VI) induced carcinogenic toxicity remain
      to be elucidated. Among kinds of toxic mechanisms, alteration of protein
      profiling usually elaborate a key mechanism of Cr(VI) induced toxicity and
      carcinogenesis. Large-scale proteins changes can reflect the onset or progression
      of carcinogenic toxicity, and potential serum protein biomarkers of Cr(VI)
      exposure. To gain an insight into the serum proteins expression profiling in
      chromate workers and find potential novel serum proteins biomarkers of Cr(VI)
      exposure, 107 male participants from a chromate production plant were recruited
      into the study. Questionnaire was applied to collect personal information and
      occupational history. Chromium concentration in blood (CrB) was measured to
      evaluate the participants' internal exposure. Serum proteins profiling and
      bioinformatics analysis were performed to explore differentially expressed
      proteins, proteins-chemical interaction network, critical proteins nodes related
      to the signaling pathways among 16 controls and 25 exposure workers in the first
      stage. ELISA tests were applied to verify the critical interested proteins nodes
      in the remaining 41 exposure workers and 25 controls. The results showed that the
      CrB levels in the control group were significantly lower than that in the
      exposure group (P<0.05). 44 significantly differentially expressed serum proteins
      formed 16 significant signaling pathways and a complex proteins-chemical
      interaction network, which associated with the immune system and extracellular
      matrix organization. C reactive protein (CRP), sonic hedgehog protein (SHH) and
      calcium located at critical nodes in proteins-chemical interaction network. There
      was a significant negative correlation between serum CRP level and CrB (P<0.05),
      and a significant positive correlation between SHH concentrations and CrB
      (P<0.05), which indicated that CRP and SHH might be as the potential novel
      biomarkers of Cr(VI) exposure. Also, the current study preliminarily paved the
      way to further functional studies to understand the underlying mechanisms and
      novel serum biomarkers of Cr(VI) exposure.

PMID- 28596145
TI  - Supporting Homework Compliance in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Essential
      Features of Mobile Apps.
AB  - Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective psychotherapy
      modalities used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. Homework is an
      integral component of CBT, but homework compliance in CBT remains problematic in
      real-life practice. The popularization of the mobile phone with app capabilities
      (smartphone) presents a unique opportunity to enhance CBT homework compliance;
      however, there are no guidelines for designing mobile phone apps created for this
      purpose. Existing literature suggests 6 essential features of an optimal mobile
      app for maximizing CBT homework compliance: (1) therapy congruency, (2) fostering
      learning, (3) guiding therapy, (4) connection building, (5) emphasis on
      completion, and (6) population specificity. We expect that a well-designed mobile
      app incorporating these features should result in improved homework compliance
      and better outcomes for its users.

PMID- 28596146
TI  - The Role of Web-Based Health Information in Help-Seeking Behavior Prior to a
      Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: A Mixed-Methods Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delays to diagnosis in lung cancer can lead to reduced chance of
      survival, and patients often wait for several months before presenting symptoms.
      The time between first symptom recognition until diagnosis has been theorized
      into three intervals: symptom appraisal, help-seeking, and diagnostic interval
      (here: "pathway to diagnosis"). Interventions are needed to reduce delays to
      diagnosis in lung cancer. The Web has become an important lay health information
      source and could potentially play a role in this pathway to diagnosis. OBJECTIVE:
      Our overall aim was to gain a preliminary insight into whether Web-based
      information plays a role in the pathway to diagnosis in lung cancer in order to
      assess whether it may be possible to leverage this information source to reduce
      delays to diagnosis. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with lung cancer in the 6 months
      before study entry completed a survey about whether (and how, if yes) they had
      used the Web to appraise their condition prior to diagnosis. Based on survey
      responses, we purposively sampled patients and their next-of-kin for
      semistructured interviews (24 interviews; 33 participants). Interview data were
      analyzed qualitatively using Framework Analysis in the context of the pathway to
      diagnosis model. RESULTS: A total of 113 patients completed the survey (age: mean
      67.0, SD 8.8 years). In all, 20.4% (23/113) reported they or next-of-kin had
      researched their condition online before the diagnosis. The majority of searches
      (20/23, 87.0%) were conducted by or with the help of next-of-kin. Interview
      results suggest that patients and next-of-kin perceived an impact of the
      information found online on all three intervals in the time to diagnosis. In the
      appraisal interval, participants used online information to evaluate symptoms and
      possible causes. In the help-seeking interval, the Web was used to inform the
      decision of whether to present to health services. In the diagnostic interval, it
      was used to evaluate health care professionals' advice, to support requests for
      further investigation of symptoms, and to understand medical jargon. Within this
      interval, we identified two distinct subintervals (before/after relevant
      diagnostic tests were initiated), in which the Web reportedly played different
      roles. CONCLUSIONS: Because only 20.4% of the sample reported prediagnosis Web
      searches, it seems the role of the Web before diagnosis of lung cancer is at
      present still limited, but this proportion is likely to increase in the future,
      when barriers such as unfamiliarity with technology and unwillingness to be
      informed about one's own health are likely to decrease. Participants' perceptions
      suggest that the Web can have an impact on all three intervals in the pathway to
      diagnosis. Thus, the Web may hold the potential to reduce delays in the
      diagnostic process, and this should be explored in future research and
      interventions. Our results also suggest a division of the diagnostic interval
      into two subintervals may be useful.

PMID- 28596147
TI  - A Mobile Phone-Based Health Coaching Intervention for Weight Loss and Blood
      Pressure Reduction in a National Payer Population: A Retrospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity and associated metabolic conditions
      continue to be challenging and costly to address for health care systems; 71% of
      American adults were overweight, with 35% of men and 40% of women diagnosed with
      obesity in 2014. Digital health coaching is an innovative approach to decreasing
      the barriers of cost and accessibility of receiving health coaching for the
      prevention and management of chronic disease in overweight or obese individuals.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the early impact of a mobile phone-based health coaching
      service on weight loss and blood pressure management in a commercially insured
      population. METHODS: This was a retrospective study using existing registry data
      from a pilot commercial collaboration between Vida Health and a large national
      insurance provider, which enrolled adult members who were overweight (body mass
      index >25 kg/m2) and able to engage in a mobile phone-based coaching
      intervention. Participants received 4 months of intensive health coaching via
      live video, phone, and text message through the Vida Health app. Participants
      were also provided with a wireless scale, pedometer, and blood pressure cuff. Of
      the 1012 enrolled, 763 (75.40%) participants had an initial weight upon
      enrollment and final weight between 3 and 5 months from enrollment; they served
      as our intervention group. There were 73 participants out of the 1012 (7.21%) who
      had weight data 4 months prior to and after Vida coaching, who served as the
      matched-pair control group. RESULTS: Participants in the intervention group lost
      an average of 3.23% total body weight (TBW) at 4 months of coaching and 28.6%
      (218/763) intervention participants achieved a clinically significant weight loss
      of 5% or more of TBW, with an average of 9.46% weight loss in this cohort. In the
      matched-pair control group, participants gained on average 1.81% TBW in 4 months
      without Vida coaching and lost, on average, 2.47% TBW after 4 months of Vida
      coaching, demonstrating a statistically significant difference of 4.28% in mean
      percentage weight change (P<.001). Among 151 intervention participants with blood
      pressure data, 112 (74.2%) had a baseline blood pressure that was above the goal
      (systolic blood pressure >120 mmHg); 55 out of 112 (49.1%) participants improved
      their blood pressure at 4 months by an entire hypertensive stage-as defined by
      the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection,
      Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Mobile phone app
      based health coaching interventions can be an acceptable and effective means to
      promote weight loss and improve blood pressure management in overweight or obese
      individuals. Given the ubiquity of mobile phones, digital health coaching may be
      an innovative solution to decreasing barriers of access to much-needed weight
      management interventions for obesity.

PMID- 28596148
TI  - The Second Victim Phenomenon After a Clinical Error: The Design and Evaluation of
      a Website to Reduce Caregivers' Emotional Responses After a Clinical Error.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adverse events (incidents that harm a patient) can also produce
      emotional hardship for the professionals involved (second victims). Although a
      few international pioneering programs exist that aim to facilitate the recovery
      of the second victim, there are no known initiatives that aim to raise awareness
      in the professional community about this issue and prevent the situation from
      worsening. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to design and evaluate an online
      program directed at frontline hospital and primary care health professionals that
      raises awareness and provides information about the second victim phenomenon.
      METHODS: The design of the Mitigating Impact in Second Victims (MISE) online
      program was based on a literature review, and its contents were selected by a
      group of 15 experts on patient safety with experience in both clinical and
      academic settings. The website hosting MISE was subjected to an accreditation
      process by an external quality agency that specializes in evaluating health
      websites. The MISE structure and content were evaluated by 26 patient safety
      managers at hospitals and within primary care in addition to 266 frontline health
      care professionals who followed the program, taking into account its
      comprehension, usefulness of the information, and general adequacy. Finally, the
      amount of knowledge gained from the program was assessed with three objective
      measures (pre- and posttest design). RESULTS: The website earned Advanced
      Accreditation for health websites after fulfilling required standards. The
      comprehension and practical value of the MISE content were positively assessed by
      88% (23/26) and 92% (24/26) of patient safety managers, respectively. MISE was
      positively evaluated by health care professionals, who awarded it 8.8 points out
      of a maximum 10. Users who finished MISE improved their knowledge on patient
      safety terminology, prevalence and impact of adverse events and clinical errors,
      second victim support models, and recommended actions following a severe adverse
      event (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The MISE program differs from existing intervention
      initiatives by its preventive nature in relation to the second victim phenomenon.
      Its online nature makes it an easily accessible tool for the professional
      community. This program has shown to increase user's knowledge on this issue and
      it helps them correct their approach. Furthermore, it is one of the first
      initiatives to attempt to bring the second victim phenomenon closer to primary
      care.

PMID- 28596149
TI  - Measuring Audience Engagement for Public Health Twitter Chats: Insights From
      #LiveFitNOLA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of using
      Twitter as a two-way communication tool for public health practice, such as
      Twitter chats. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed whether Twitter chats facilitate engagement
      in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. We
      also describe how to measure two-way communications, incoming and outgoing
      mentions, between users in a protocol using free and publicly available tools
      (Symplur, OpenRefine, and Gephi). METHODS: We used a mixed-methods approach,
      social network analysis, and content analysis. The study population comprised
      individuals and organizations participating or who were mentioned in the first
      #LiveFitNOLA chat, during a 75-min period on March 5, 2015, from 12:00 PM to 1:15
      PM Central Time. We assessed audience engagement in two-way communications with
      two metrics: engagement ratio and return on engagement (ROE). RESULTS: The
      #LiveFitNOLA chat had 744 tweets and 66 participants with an average of 11 tweets
      per participant. The resulting network had 134 network members and 474
      engagements. The engagement ratios and ROEs for the #LiveFitNOLA organizers were
      1:1, 40% (13/32) (@TulanePRC) and 2:1, -40% (-25/63) (@FitNOLA). Content analysis
      showed information sharing (63.9%, 314/491) and health information (27.9%,
      137/491) as the most salient theme and sub-theme, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest Twitter chats facilitate audience engagement in two-way
      communications between public health entities and their audience. The
      #LiveFitNOLA organizers' engagement ratios and ROEs indicated a moderate level of
      engagement with their audience. The practical significance of the engagement
      ratio and ROE depends on the audience, context, scope, scale, and goal of a
      Twitter chat or other organized hashtag-based communications on Twitter.

PMID- 28596150
TI  - Pain Improvement With Novel Combination Analgesic Regimens (PAIN-CARE):
      Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain (NP) (including painful diabetic neuropathy,
      postherpetic neuralgia, etc) affects approximately 7% to 8% of the population and
      is associated with a devastating symptom burden as well as a profound economic
      impact for patients, their families, and the health care system. Current
      therapies have limited efficacy and dose-limiting adverse effects (AEs). Rational
      combination therapy with carefully selected NP drugs has shown potential for
      measurable improvements in pain relief, quality of life, and health care use.
      Today, over half of NP patients concurrently receive 2 or more analgesics but
      combination use is based on little evidence. Research is urgently needed to
      identify safer, more effective combinations. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesize that
      analgesic combinations containing at least 1 nonsedating agent would be as safe
      but more effective than either monotherapy without increasing overall AEs because
      of additive pain relief. Pregabalin (PGB), a sedating anticonvulsant, is proven
      effective for NP; the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is one of the only
      nonsedating systemic agents proven effective for NP. Thus, we will conduct a
      clinical trial to compare a PGB+ALA combination to each monotherapy for NP.
      METHODS: Using a double-blind, double-dummy, crossover design, 54 adults with NP
      will be randomly allocated to 1 of 6 sequences of treatment with PGB, ALA and
      PGB+ALA combination. During each of 3 different treatment periods, participants
      will take 2 sets of capsules containing (1) ALA or placebo and (2) PGB or placebo
      for 31 days, followed by an 11-day taper/washout period. The primary outcome will
      be mean daily pain intensity (0-10) at maximally tolerated dose (MTD) during each
      period. Secondary outcomes, assessed at MTD, will include global improvement,
      adverse events, mood, and quality of life. RESULTS: Participant recruitment is
      expected to begin September 1, 2017. The proposed trial was awarded external peer
      reviewed funding by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Canada) on July
      15, 2016. CONCLUSIONS: This trial will provide rigorous evidence comparing the
      efficacy of a PGB+ALA combination to PGB alone and ALA alone in the treatment of
      NP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number
      ISRCTN14577546;
      http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14577546?q=&filters=conditionCategory:Signs%20and%20S
      mptoms,trialStatus:
      Ongoing,recruitmentCountry:Canada&sort=&offset=1&totalResults=2&page=1&pageSize=1
      &searchType=basic-search (Archived by WebCite at
      http://www.webcitation.org/6qvHFDc6m).

PMID- 28596151
TI  - Survey on advance care planning of Italian outpatients on chronic haemodialysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The clinical practice guidelines published by the Renal Physicians
      Association (USA) recommend instituting advance care planning (ACP) for patients
      with end-stage renal disease. Studies on this issue are lacking in Italy. Our aim
      was to determine the attitudes of patients on ACP in our dialysis centre.
      METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional survey. We recruited patients on
      maintenance haemodialysis (HD) at Hemodialysis Center of Universita Cattolica del
      Sacro Cuore, from 1 March 2014 to 31 March 2015. The only exclusion criterion was
      inability to give an informed consent. Patients completed a questionnaire
      concerning their treatment preferences in three hypothetical disease scenarios:
      persistent vegetative state, advanced dementia, severe terminal illness; for each
      patients, we also collected clinical, functional and socioeconomic data. RESULTS:
      Thirty-four HD outpatients completed the study questionnaire. The majority of
      respondents (85%) considered information about prognosis, health conditions and
      treatment options, including withdrawing dialysis, as very important and 94% of
      respondents considered treatment of uraemic/dialytic symptoms the most important
      issue. In the health scenarios provided, dialysis was the treatment least
      withheld. Dependence on instrumental activities of daily living (0.048) and
      higher Charlson Comorbidity Index scores (p=0.035) were associated with
      continuing dialysis in at least one scenario. CONCLUSIONS: ACP should be tailored
      to patients' value, culture and preferences. A significant proportion of
      patients, however, do not want to be involved in end of life decisions. Frail
      elderly patients, in particular, are not inclined to interrupt dialysis, despite
      poor quality of life or a poor prognosis.

PMID- 28596152
TI  - Bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris.

PMID- 28596153
TI  - Immunohistochemistry on old archival paraffin blocks: is there an expiry date?
AB  - Few studies have focused on antigen preservation in formalin-fixed and paraffin
      embedded (FFPE) tissue in old archival material and additional studies are
      required, especially considering that these samples are an irreplaceable resource
      for scientific and clinical research. The purpose of this study is to verify
      antigen preservation in FFPE tissue samples stored for several decades. From the
      pathology archives, FFPE blocks were selected dating back to the 1960s, 1970s,
      1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010. A panel of 12 antibodies was applied and
      immunoreactivities were compared. While cytoplasmic antigens showed no reduction
      in immunostaining intensity over time, membrane and nuclear antigens presented
      reduced staining intensity in older blocks. In particular, the nuclear antigen,
      Ki67 and CD31 showed the most pronounced antigen decay in the oldest archival
      blocks. In order to test possible antigen recovery, deep sectioning and
      lengthening of heat pretreatment were applied. Both strategies partially recover
      antigenicity, but their simultaneous application shows the best results.

PMID- 28596154
TI  - 3D printed pathological sectioning boxes to facilitate radiological-pathological
      correlation in hepatectomy cases.
AB  - Radiogenomics promises to identify tumour imaging features indicative of genomic
      or proteomic aberrations that can be therapeutically targeted allowing precision
      personalised therapy. An accurate radiological-pathological correlation is
      critical to the process of radiogenomic characterisation of tumours. An accurate
      correlation, however, is difficult to achieve with current pathological
      sectioning techniques which result in sectioning in non-standard planes. The
      purpose of this work is to present a technique to standardise hepatic sectioning
      to facilitateradiological-pathological correlation. We describe a process in
      which three-dimensional (3D)-printed specimen boxes based on preoperative cross
      sectional imaging (CT and MRI) can be used to facilitate pathological sectioning
      in standard planes immediately on hepatic resection enabling improved tumour
      mapping. We have applied this process in 13 patients undergoing hepatectomy and
      have observed close correlation between imaging and gross pathology in patients
      with both unifocal and multifocal tumours.

PMID- 28596155
TI  - Better research flattens the J shaped curve.

PMID- 28596156
TI  - Noninvasive Interrogation of Cancer Metabolism with Hyperpolarized 13C MRI.
AB  - This review will highlight recent advances in hyperpolarized 13C MR spectroscopic
      imaging, which can be used to noninvasively interrogate tumor metabolism. After
      providing an overview of MR and hyperpolarization, we will discuss the latest
      advances in data acquisition techniques. Next, we will shift our focus to
      hyperpolarized probe design and provide an overview of the latest hyperpolarized
      13C MR spectroscopic imaging probes developed in the last several years.

PMID- 28596157
TI  - 18F-FDG PET and CT Scans Detect New Imaging Patterns of Response and Progression
      in Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma Treated by Anti-Programmed Death 1 Immune
      Checkpoint Inhibitor.
AB  - The response evaluation criteria in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) were
      designed for the assessment of chemotherapy and targeted molecular agents. We
      investigated the accuracy of 3-mo 18F-FDG PET/CT for the identification of HL
      patients responding to immune-checkpoint blockade by anti-programmed death 1
      antibodies (anti-PD1). We also reported the frequency of new immune patterns of
      response and progression. Methods: Retrospectively, we recruited consecutive HL
      patients treated by anti-PD1 (pembrolizumab or nivolumab) at Gustave Roussy from
      2013 to 2015. 18F-FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced CT scans were acquired every 3
      mo. We recorded the best overall response according to the International
      Harmonization Project Cheson 2014 criteria and LYmphoma Response to
      Immunomodulatory therapy Criteria (LYRIC) (2016 revised criteria). Patients
      achieving an objective response at any time during the anti-PD1 treatment were
      classified as responders. Results: Sixteen relapsed or refractory classic HL
      patients were included. The median age was 39 y (age range, 19-69 y). The median
      previous lines of therapy was 6 (range, 3-13). The mean follow-up was 22.6 mo.
      Nine of 16 patients (56%) achieved an objective response. Two deaths occurred due
      to progressive disease at 7 mo. 18F-FDG PET/CT detected all responders at 3 mo
      and reclassified best overall response in 5 patients compared with CT alone. A
      decrease in tumor metabolism and volume (SUVmean, metabolic tumor volume) and
      increase in healthy splenic metabolism at 3 mo were observed in responders (area
      under the curve > 0.85, P < 0.04). Five of 16 patients (31%) displayed new
      imaging patterns related to anti-PD1; we observed 2 transient progressions
      consistent with indeterminate response according to the LYRIC (2016) (IR2b at 14
      mo and IR3 at 18 mo) and 3 patients with new lesions associated with immune
      related adverse events. Conclusion: Three-month 18F-FDG PET/CT scans detected HL
      patients responding to anti-PD1. New patterns were encountered in 31% of
      patients, emphasizing the need for further evaluation in larger series and close
      collaboration between imaging and oncology specialists on a per-patient basis.

PMID- 28596158
TI  - Molecular Imaging of Human Embryonic Stem Cells Stably Expressing Human PET
      Reporter Genes After Zinc Finger Nuclease-Mediated Genome Editing.
AB  - Molecular imaging is indispensable for determining the fate and persistence of
      engrafted stem cells. Standard strategies for transgene induction involve the use
      of viral vectors prone to silencing and insertional mutagenesis or the use of
      nonhuman genes. Methods: We used zinc finger nucleases to induce stable
      expression of human imaging reporter genes into the safe-harbor locus adeno
      associated virus integration site 1 in human embryonic stem cells. Plasmids were
      generated carrying reporter genes for fluorescence, bioluminescence imaging, and
      human PET reporter genes. Results: In vitro assays confirmed their functionality,
      and embryonic stem cells retained differentiation capacity. Teratoma formation
      assays were performed, and tumors were imaged over time with PET and
      bioluminescence imaging. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the application of
      genome editing for targeted integration of human imaging reporter genes in human
      embryonic stem cells for long-term molecular imaging.

PMID- 28596159
TI  - In Vivo Relationship Between Hypoxia and Angiogenesis in Human Glioblastoma: A
      Multimodal Imaging Study.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary brain
      tumor. This aggressiveness is in part attributed to the closely interrelated
      phenomena tumor hypoxia and angiogenesis, although few in vivo data exist in
      human brain tumors. This work aimed to study hypoxia and angiogenesis, in vivo
      and in situ, in patients admitted with GBM using multimodal imaging. Methods:
      Twenty-three GBM patients were assessed by 18F-fluoromisonidazole (18F-FMISO) PET
      and conventional and perfusion MRI before surgery. The level and location of
      hypoxia (18F-FMISO uptake, evaluated by tumor-to-blood [T/B] ratio),
      vascularization (cerebral blood volume [CBV]), and vascular permeability
      (contrast enhancement after gadolinium injection) were analyzed. The spatial
      relationship between tumor hypoxia and angiogenesis was assessed by an overlap
      analysis of the volume of 18F-FMISO uptake and the volumes of the high CBV
      regions and the contrast-enhancement regions. Results: A significant correlation
      was found between hypoxia and hypervascularization, especially for their maximum
      values (volume of maximal tumor hypoxia vs. relative CBV: r = 0.61, P = 0.002)
      and their volumes (hypoxia vs. hypervascularization: r = 0.91, P < 0.001). A
      large proportion of the high CBVs collocated with hypoxia (81.3%) and with
      contrast enhancement (46.5%). Conclusion: These results support the hypothesis of
      a tight association between hypoxia and angiogenesis. Our results suggest that
      there is insufficient tumor oxygenation in human GBM, despite increased tumor
      vascularization.

PMID- 28596161
TI  - Five minutes with . . . Lynne Jones.

PMID- 28596163
TI  - Meet the First Authors.

PMID- 28596160
TI  - Effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors on urinary excretion of
      intact and total angiotensinogen in patients with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - We conducted a descriptive case study to examine the effects of sodium-glucose
      cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on urinary angiotensinogen excretion, which
      represents the function of the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system, in patients
      with type 2 diabetes. An SGLT2 inhibitor (canagliflozin 100 mg/day, ipragliflozin
      25 mg/day, dapagliflozin 5 mg/day, luseogliflozin 2.5 mg/day or tofogliflozin 20
      mg/day) was administered for 1 month (n=9). ELISA kits were used to measure both
      urinary intact and total angiotensinogen levels. Treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors
      significantly decreased hemoglobin A1c, body weight, systolic blood pressure and
      diastolic blood pressure (8.5+/-1.3 to 7.5%+/-1.0%, 82.5+/-20.2 to 80.6+/-20.9
      kg, 143+/-8 to 128+/-14 mm Hg, 78+/-10 to 67+/-9 mm Hg, p<0.05, respectively),
      while urinary albumin/creatinine ratio was not significantly changed (58.6+/-58.9
      to 29.2+/-60.7 mg/g, p=0.16). Both total urinary angiotensinogen/creatinine ratio
      and intact urinary angiotensinogen/creatinine ratio tended to decrease after
      administration of SGLT2 inhibitors. However, these changes were not significant
      (p=0.19 and p=0.08, respectively). These data suggest that treatment with SGLT2
      inhibitors does not activate the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system in patients
      with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28596164
TI  - CASAAV Technology to Examine Regulators of Heart Failure: Cause or Effect.

PMID- 28596165
TI  - Aging, Smooth Muscle Vitality, and Aortic Integrity.

PMID- 28596166
TI  - I'll Have the Rigor, but Hold the Mortis.

PMID- 28596168
TI  - Myocardial Injury as a New Target for Cell Therapy in Patients With Chronic Heart
      Failure: When Something Bad Is Actually Good?

PMID- 28596167
TI  - Psychosocial Factors and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: An Opportunity in Women's
      Health.

PMID- 28596169
TI  - I'll Take My Science Spicy, Please.

PMID- 28596170
TI  - John Canty Jr: A Full Life, Both at Home and in the Lab.

PMID- 28596171
TI  - Amyloid Cardiomyopathy: Disease on the Rise.

PMID- 28596172
TI  - Stem Cell Therapy: Healing or Hype? Why Stem Cell Delivery Doesn't Work.

PMID- 28596173
TI  - Forging the Fate of Cellular Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease.

PMID- 28596174
TI  - Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells 10 Years Later: For Cardiac Applications.
AB  - Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are reprogrammed cells that have features
      similar to embryonic stem cells, such as the capacity of self-renewal and
      differentiation into many types of cells, including cardiac myocytes. Although
      initially the reprogramming efficiency was low, several improvements in
      reprogramming methods have achieved robust and efficient generation of iPSCs
      without genomic insertion of transgenes. iPSCs display clonal variations in
      epigenetic and genomic profiles and cellular behavior in differentiation. iPSC
      derived cardiac myocytes (iPSC cardiac myocytes) recapitulate phenotypic
      differences caused by genetic variations, making them attractive human disease
      models, and are useful for drug discovery and toxicology testing. In addition,
      iPSC cardiac myocytes can help with patient stratification in regard to drug
      responsiveness. Furthermore, they can be used as source cells for cardiac
      regeneration in animal models. Here, we review recent progress in iPSC technology
      and its applications to cardiac diseases.

PMID- 28596176
TI  - Letter by Balligand and Michel Regarding Article, "Adrenergic Receptors in
      Individual Ventricular Myocytes: the Beta-1 and Alpha-1B Are in All Cells, the
      Alpha-1A Is in a Subpopulation, and the Beta-2 and Beta-3 Are Mostly Absent".

PMID- 28596177
TI  - Response by Simpson et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Adrenergic Receptors in
      Individual Ventricular Myocytes: the Beta-1 and Alpha-1B Are in All Cells, the
      Alpha-1A Is in a Subpopulation, and the Beta-2 and Beta-3 Are Mostly Absent".

PMID- 28596178
TI  - Circulation Research "In This Issue" Anthology.

PMID- 28596179
TI  - A young goalkeeper with buttock pain and fever.

PMID- 28596180
TI  - The non-combatant status: importance and implications for medical personnel.
AB  - Under the laws of armed conflict military medics are deemed non-combatants, and
      as such are subject to certain protections and limitations. The non-combatant
      status is defined in the famous Geneva Conventions, which form the basis of the
      international law of armed conflict. The protections afforded to medical
      personnel in armed conflict are a result of the need to protect and treat the
      sick and injured during times of hostility. This paper describes the history and
      legal development of the non-combatant status, and summarises the importance and
      implications of the contents of the Geneva Conventions that are relevant to
      medical personnel as non-combatants. We conclude that, despite scope for
      criticism of its relevance in contemporary operations, the non-combatant status
      for medical personnel highlights our commitment to alleviating suffering in armed
      conflict, and provides a vital legal basis to protect those who serve to treat
      the sick and injured. The ultimate beneficiaries of this protected status for
      medical personnel are our patients themselves. This paper also aims to stimulate
      debate and discussion of the importance of the non-status amongst military
      medical personnel.

PMID- 28596181
TI  - Evolution of poor reporting and inadequate methods over time in 20 920 randomised
      controlled trials included in Cochrane reviews: research on research study.
AB  - Objective To examine how poor reporting and inadequate methods for key
      methodological features in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have changed over
      the past three decades.Design Mapping of trials included in Cochrane reviews.Data
      sources Data from RCTs included in all Cochrane reviews published between March
      2011 and September 2014 reporting an evaluation of the Cochrane risk of bias
      items: sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, and incomplete
      outcome data.Data extraction For each RCT, we extracted consensus on risk of bias
      made by the review authors and identified the primary reference to extract
      publication year and journal. We matched journal names with Journal Citation
      Reports to get 2014 impact factors.Main outcomes measures We considered the
      proportions of trials rated by review authors at unclear and high risk of bias as
      surrogates for poor reporting and inadequate methods, respectively.Results We
      analysed 20 920 RCTs (from 2001 reviews) published in 3136 journals. The
      proportion of trials with unclear risk of bias was 48.7% for sequence generation
      and 57.5% for allocation concealment; the proportion of those with high risk of
      bias was 4.0% and 7.2%, respectively. For blinding and incomplete outcome data,
      30.6% and 24.7% of trials were at unclear risk and 33.1% and 17.1% were at high
      risk, respectively. Higher journal impact factor was associated with a lower
      proportion of trials at unclear or high risk of bias. The proportion of trials at
      unclear risk of bias decreased over time, especially for sequence generation,
      which fell from 69.1% in 1986-1990 to 31.2% in 2011-14 and for allocation
      concealment (70.1% to 44.6%). After excluding trials at unclear risk of bias, use
      of inadequate methods also decreased over time: from 14.8% to 4.6% for sequence
      generation and from 32.7% to 11.6% for allocation concealment.Conclusions Poor
      reporting and inadequate methods have decreased over time, especially for
      sequence generation and allocation concealment. But more could be done,
      especially in lower impact factor journals.

PMID- 28596182
TI  - Toward uniform standards for pharmacy technicians: Summary of the 2017 Pharmacy
      Technician Stakeholder Consensus Conference.

PMID- 28596184
TI  - Quantifying the hepatotoxic risk of alcohol consumption in patients with
      rheumatoid arthritis taking methotrexate.

PMID- 28596185
TI  - Response to: Quantifying the hepatotoxic risk of alcohol consumption in patients
      with rheumatoid arthritis by Kremer and Weinblatt.

PMID- 28596183
TI  - Leptogenic effects of NAPE require activity of NAPE-hydrolyzing phospholipase D.
AB  - Food intake induces synthesis of N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines (NAPEs) in the
      intestinal tract. While NAPEs exert leptin-like (leptogenic) effects, including
      reduced weight gain and food intake, the mechanisms by which NAPEs induce these
      leptogenic effects remain unclear. One key question is whether intestinal NAPEs
      act directly on cognate receptors or first require conversion to N
      acylethanolamides (NAEs) by NAPE-hydrolyzing phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD). Previous
      studies using Nape-pld-/- mice were equivocal because intraperitoneal injection
      of NAPEs led to nonspecific aversive effects. To avoid the aversive effects of
      injection, we delivered NAPEs and NAEs intestinally using gut bacteria
      synthesizing these compounds. Unlike in wild-type mice, increasing intestinal
      levels of NAPE using NAPE-synthesizing bacteria in Nape-pld-/- mice failed to
      reduce food intake and weight gain or alter gene expression. In contrast,
      increasing intestinal NAE levels in Nape-pld-/- mice using NAE-synthesizing
      bacteria induced all of these effects. These NAE-synthesizing bacteria also
      markedly increased NAE levels and decreased inflammatory gene expression in
      omental adipose tissue. These results demonstrate that intestinal NAPEs require
      conversion to NAEs by the action of NAPE-PLD to exert their various leptogenic
      effects, so that the reduced intestinal NAPE-PLD activity found in obese subjects
      may directly contribute to excess food intake and obesity.

PMID- 28596175
TI  - Calcium Signaling and Cardiac Arrhythmias.
AB  - There has been a significant progress in our understanding of the molecular
      mechanisms by which calcium (Ca2+) ions mediate various types of cardiac
      arrhythmias. A growing list of inherited gene defects can cause potentially
      lethal cardiac arrhythmia syndromes, including catecholaminergic polymorphic
      ventricular tachycardia, congenital long QT syndrome, and hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy. In addition, acquired deficits of multiple Ca2+-handling proteins
      can contribute to the pathogenesis of arrhythmias in patients with various types
      of heart disease. In this review article, we will first review the key role of
      Ca2+ in normal cardiac function-in particular, excitation-contraction coupling
      and normal electric rhythms. The functional involvement of Ca2+ in distinct
      arrhythmia mechanisms will be discussed, followed by various inherited arrhythmia
      syndromes caused by mutations in Ca2+-handling proteins. Finally, we will discuss
      how changes in the expression of regulation of Ca2+ channels and transporters can
      cause acquired arrhythmias, and how these mechanisms might be targeted for
      therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 28596186
TI  - Hepatitis B virus testing and linkage to care in a Canadian urban tertiary
      referral centre: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite universal vaccination, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      infection remains a public health concern in North America owing to immigration.
      We aimed to characterize the number of people with a positive result of testing
      for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) in Calgary, a large urban Canadian health care
      region, and to assess whether recommended laboratory tests and specialist
      consultation were done for those identified as HBsAg-positive. METHODS: Based on
      laboratory and Alberta Health Services administrative data, we identified all
      adults (age > 18 yr) with a positive HBsAg test result from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,
      2014 within the Calgary Zone. Demographic and relevant laboratory data were
      extracted within 6 months of a positive HBsAg test result, and referral to
      hepatology (2011-2014) was identified from data on referral to a centralized
      clinic. Parametric and nonparametric statistical methods were used for analyses.
      RESULTS: We identified 1214 HBsAg-positive people (584 women [48.1%]; median age
      44 [interquartile range (IQR) 36-55] yr). A total of 1192 people (98.2%) had
      alanine aminotransferase testing (median level 23 [IQR 16-34] U/L; 117 [9.8%]
      with elevated levels), 682 (56.2%) had testing for HBV DNA (median level 2.8 [IQR
      2.1-3.8] logIU/mL), 630 (51.9%) had HBV e antigen testing (negative result in 548
      [87.0%]), and 145 (11.9%) had HBV e antibody testing (positive result in 111
      [76.6%]). Overall, 144 people (11.9%) received anti-HBV treatment, and 390
      (32.1%) were referred to a hepatologist. INTERPRETATION: Many HBsAg-positive
      people in Calgary did not receive the recommended laboratory assessments. The
      results highlight the necessity of continual public health efforts to screen for
      chronic HBV infection in Canada and to ensure adequate follow-up in order to
      reach the World Health Organization's goal of viral hepatitis elimination by
      2030.

PMID- 28596187
TI  - Functional Connectivity in Virally Suppressed Patients with HIV-Associated
      Neurocognitive Disorder: A Resting-State Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder still occurs
      despite virally suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy. In the pre
      combination antiretroviral era and in patients without HIV suppression, HIV
      associated neurocognitive disorder was caused by synaptodendritic injury
      resulting in impairment of neural networks, characterized by decreased attention,
      psychomotor slowing, and working memory deficits. Whether similar pathogenesis is
      true for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder in the context of viral
      suppression is not clear. Resting-state fMRI has been shown to be efficient in
      detecting impaired neural networks in various neurologic illnesses. This pilot
      study aimed to assess resting-state functional connectivity of the brain in
      patients with active HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder in the context of HIV
      viral suppression in both blood and CSF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients
      with active HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (recent diagnosis with
      progressing symptoms) on combination antiretroviral therapy with viral
      suppression in both blood and CSF and 9 demographically matched control subjects
      underwent resting-state functional MR imaging. The connectivity in the 6 known
      neural networks was assessed. To localize significant ROIs within the HIV and
      control group, we performed a seed-based correlation for each known resting-state
      network. RESULTS: There were significant group differences between the control
      and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder groups in the salience (0.26 versus
      0.14, t = 2.6978, df = 25, P = .0123) and executive networks (0.52 versus 0.32, t
      = 2.2372, df = 25, P = .034). The covariate analysis with neuropsychological
      scores yielded statistically significant correlations in all 6 studied functional
      networks, with the most conspicuous correlation in salience networks.
      CONCLUSIONS: Active HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder in virally suppressed
      patients is associated with significantly decreased connectivity in the salience
      and executive networks, thereby making it potentially useful as a biomarker.

PMID- 28596188
TI  - Retrospective Validation of a Computer-Assisted Quantification Model of
      Intracerebral Hemorrhage Volume on Accuracy, Precision, and Acquisition Time,
      Compared with Standard ABC/2 Manual Volume Calculation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intracerebral hemorrhage accounts for 6.5%-19.6% of all
      acute strokes. Initial intracerebral hemorrhage volume and expansion are both
      independent predictors of clinical outcomes and mortality. Therefore, a rapid,
      unbiased, and precise measurement of intracerebral hemorrhage volume is a key
      component of clinical management. The most commonly used method, ABC/2, results
      in overestimation. We developed an interactive segmentation program, SegTool,
      using a novel graphic processing unit, level set algorithm. Until now, the speed,
      bias, and precision of SegTool had not been validated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      a single stroke academic center, 2 vascular neurologists and 2 neuroradiologists
      independently performed a test-retest experiment that involved repeat
      measurements of static, unchanging intracerebral hemorrhage volumes on CT from 76
      intracerebral hemorrhage cases. Measurements were made with SegTool and ABC/2.
      True intracerebral hemorrhage volumes were estimated from a consensus of repeat
      manual tracings by 2 operators. These data allowed us to estimate measurement
      bias, precision, and speed. RESULTS: The measurements with SegTool were not
      significantly different from the true intracerebral hemorrhage volumes, while
      ABC/2 overestimated volume by 45%. The interrater measurement variability with
      SegTool was 50% less than that with ABC/2. The average measurement times for
      ABC/2 and SegTool were 35.7 and 44.6 seconds, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SegTool
      appears to have attributes superior to ABC/2 in terms of accuracy and interrater
      reliability with a 9-second delay in measurement time (on average); hence, it
      could be useful in clinical trials and practice.

PMID- 28596190
TI  - To tPA or Not to tPA, That Is the Question.

PMID- 28596189
TI  - Reliability of White Matter Microstructural Changes in HIV Infection: Meta
      Analysis and Confirmation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diffusion tensor imaging has been widely used to measure HIV effects
      on white matter microarchitecture. While many authors have reported reduced
      fractional anisotropy and increased mean diffusivity in HIV, quantitative
      inconsistencies across studies are numerous. PURPOSE: Our aim was to evaluate the
      consistency across studies of HIV effects on DTI measures and then examine the
      DTI reliability in a longitudinal seropositive cohort. DATA SOURCES: Published
      studies and investigators. STUDY SELECTION: The meta-analysis included 16 cross
      sectional studies reporting fractional anisotropy and 12 studies reporting mean
      diffusivity in the corpus callosum. DATA ANALYSIS: Random-effects meta-analysis
      was used to estimate study standardized mean differences and heterogeneity. DTI
      longitudinal reliability was estimated in seropositive participants studied
      before and 3 and 6 months after beginning treatment. DATA SYNTHESIS: Meta
      analysis revealed lower fractional anisotropy (standardized mean difference, 
      0.43; P < .001) and higher mean diffusivity (standardized mean difference, 0.44;
      P < .003) in seropositive participants. Nevertheless, between-study heterogeneity
      accounted for 58% and 66% of the observed variance (P < .01). In contrast, the
      longitudinal cohort fractional anisotropy was higher and mean diffusivity was
      lower in seropositive participants (both, P < .001), and fractional anisotropy
      and mean diffusivity measures were very stable during 6 months, with intraclass
      correlation coefficients all >0.96. LIMITATIONS: Many studies pooled participants
      with varying treatments, ages, and disease durations. CONCLUSIONS: HIV effects on
      WM microstructure had substantial variations that could result from acquisition,
      processing, or cohort-selection differences. When acquisition parameters and
      processing were carefully controlled, the resulting DTI measures did not show
      high temporal variation. HIV effects on WM microstructure may be age-dependent.
      The high longitudinal reliability of DTI WM microstructure measures makes them
      promising disease-activity markers.

PMID- 28596191
TI  - Perfusion MR Imaging Using a 3D Pulsed Continuous Arterial Spin-Labeling Method
      for Acute Cerebral Infarction Classified as Branch Atheromatous Disease Involving
      the Lenticulostriate Artery Territory.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Branch atheromatous disease is a stroke subtype
      considered a risk factor for early neurologic deterioration. Meanwhile, crossed
      cerebellar diaschisis is thought to be influenced by the degree and location of
      supratentorial perfusion abnormalities and is associated with the clinical
      outcome in the case of an ischemic stroke. In this article, our aim was to
      clarify the utility of using a whole-brain 3D pulsed continuous arterial spin
      labeling method as an imaging biomarker for predicting neurologic severity in
      branch atheromatous disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with
      branch atheromatous disease in the lenticulostriate artery territory were
      enrolled. All patients underwent MR imaging, including DWI, 3D-TOF-MRA, and 3D
      arterial spin-labeling. We measured the asymmetry index of CBF in the affected
      area (branch atheromatous disease), the asymmetry index of the contralateral
      cerebellar hemisphere (crossed cerebellar diaschisis), and the DWI infarct volume
      in the lenticulostriate artery territory. We also compared each parameter with
      the initial NIHSS score with the Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Among
      the 23 patients, we found no correlation between NIHSS score and the asymmetry
      index of CBF in the affected area (branch atheromatous disease) (r = -0.027, P =
      .724), whereas the asymmetry index of the contralateral cerebellar hemisphere
      (crossed cerebellar diaschisis) and DWI infarct volumes were significantly
      correlated with NIHSS score (r = 0.515, P = .012; r = 0.664, P = .001,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with branch atheromatous disease, 3D
      arterial spin-labeling can detect crossed cerebellar diaschisis, which is
      correlated with the degree of neurologic severity.

PMID- 28596192
TI  - The Impact of Conscious Sedation versus General Anesthesia for Stroke
      Thrombectomy on the Predictive Value of Collateral Status: A Post Hoc Analysis of
      the SIESTA Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiologic selection criteria to identify patients likely
      to benefit from endovascular stroke treatment are still controversial. In this
      post hoc analysis of the recent randomized Sedation versus Intubation for
      Endovascular Stroke TreAtment (SIESTA) trial, we aimed to investigate the impact
      of sedation mode (conscious sedation versus general anesthesia) on the predictive
      value of collateral status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using imaging data from
      SIESTA, we assessed collateral status with the collateral score of Tan et al and
      graded it from absent to good collaterals (0-3). We examined the association of
      collateral status with 24-hour improvement of the NIHSS score, infarct volume,
      and mRS at 3 months according to the sedation regimen. RESULTS: In a cohort of
      104 patients, the NIHSS score improved significantly in patients with moderate or
      good collaterals (2-3) compared with patients with no or poor collaterals (0-1)
      (P = .011; mean, -5.8 +/- 7.6 versus -1.1 +/- 10.7). Tan 2-3 was also associated
      with significantly higher ASPECTS before endovascular stroke treatment (median, 9
      versus 7; P < .001) and smaller mean infarct size after endovascular stroke
      treatment (median, 35.0 versus 107.4; P < .001). When we differentiated the
      population according to collateral status (0.1 versus 2.3), the sedation modes
      conscious sedation and general anesthesia were not associated with significant
      differences in the predictive value of collateral status regarding infarction
      size or functional outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The sedation mode, conscious sedation or
      general anesthesia, did not influence the predictive value of collaterals in
      patients with large-vessel occlusion anterior circulation stroke undergoing
      thrombectomy in the SIESTA trial.

PMID- 28596193
TI  - MR Imaging Diagnosis of Diencephalic-Mesencephalic Junction Dysplasia in Fetuses
      with Developmental Ventriculomegaly.
AB  - Diencephalic-mesencephalic junction dysplasia is a rare malformation
      characterized by a poorly defined junction between the diencephalon and the
      mesencephalon, associated with a characteristic butterfly-like contour of the
      midbrain (butterfly sign). This condition may be variably associated with other
      brain malformations, including callosal abnormalities and supratentorial
      ventricular dilation, and is a potential cause of developmental hydrocephalus.
      Here, we have reported 13 fetuses with second-trimester obstructive
      ventriculomegaly and MR features of diencephalic-mesencephalic junction
      dysplasia, correlating the fetal imaging with available pathology and/or
      postnatal data. The butterfly sign can be clearly detected on axial images on
      fetal MR imaging, thus allowing for the prenatal diagnosis of diencephalic
      mesencephalic junction dysplasia, with possible implications for the surgical
      management of hydrocephalus and parental counseling.

PMID- 28596194
TI  - Influence of Ultra-Low-Dose and Iterative Reconstructions on the Visualization of
      Orbital Soft Tissues on Maxillofacial CT.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Dose reduction on CT scans for surgical planning and
      postoperative evaluation of midface and orbital fractures is an important
      concern. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variability of various low
      dose and iterative reconstruction techniques on the visualization of orbital soft
      tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Contrast-to-noise ratios of the optic nerve and
      inferior rectus muscle and subjective scores of a human cadaver were calculated
      from CT with a reference dose protocol (CT dose index volume = 36.69 mGy) and a
      subsequent series of low-dose protocols (LDPs I-4: CT dose index volume = 4.18,
      2.64, 0.99, and 0.53 mGy) with filtered back-projection (FBP) and adaptive
      statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR)-50, ASIR-100, and model-based
      iterative reconstruction. The Dunn Multiple Comparison Test was used to compare
      each combination of protocols (alpha = .05). RESULTS: Compared with the reference
      dose protocol with FBP, the following statistically significant differences in
      contrast-to-noise ratios were shown (all, P <= .012) for the following: 1) optic
      nerve: LDP-I with FBP; LDP-II with FBP and ASIR-50; LDP-III with FBP, ASIR-50,
      and ASIR-100; and LDP-IV with FBP, ASIR-50, and ASIR-100; and 2) inferior rectus
      muscle: LDP-II with FBP, LDP-III with FBP and ASIR-50, and LDP-IV with FBP, ASIR
      50, and ASIR-100. Model-based iterative reconstruction showed the best contrast
      to-noise ratio in all images and provided similar subjective scores for LDP-II.
      ASIR-50 had no remarkable effect, and ASIR-100, a small effect on subjective
      scores. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with a reference dose protocol with FBP, model
      based iterative reconstruction may show similar diagnostic visibility of orbital
      soft tissues at a CT dose index volume of 2.64 mGy. Low-dose technology and
      iterative reconstruction technology may redefine current reference dose levels in
      maxillofacial CT.

PMID- 28596195
TI  - e-ASPECTS Correlates with and Is Predictive of Outcome after Mechanical
      Thrombectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The e-ASPECTS software is a tool for the automated use of
      ASPECTS. Our aim was to analyze whether baseline e-ASPECT scores correlate with
      outcome after mechanical thrombectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with
      ischemic strokes in the anterior circulation who were admitted between 2010 and
      2015, diagnosed by CT, and received mechanical thrombectomy were included. The
      ASPECTS on baseline CT was scored by e-ASPECTS and 3 expert raters, and
      interclass correlation coefficients were calculated. The e-ASPECTS was correlated
      with functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale) at 3 months by using the Spearman
      rank correlation coefficient. Unfavorable outcome was defined as mRS 4-6 at 3
      months, and a poor scan was defined as e-ASPECTS 0-5. RESULTS: Two hundred twenty
      patients were included, and 147 (67%) were treated with bridging protocols. The
      median e-ASPECTS was 9 (interquartile range, 8-10). Intraclass correlation
      coefficients between e-ASPECTS and raters were 0.72, 0.74, and 0.76 (all, P <
      .001). e-ASPECTS (Spearman rank correlation coefficient = -0.15, P = .027)
      correlated with mRS at 3 months. Patients with unfavorable outcome had lower e
      ASPECTS (median, 8; interquartile range, 7-10 versus median, 9; interquartile
      range, 8-10; P = .014). Sixteen patients (7.4%) had a poor scan, which was
      associated with unfavorable outcome (OR, 13.6; 95% CI, 1.8-104). Independent
      predictors of unfavorable outcome were e-ASPECTS (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.63-0.99),
      blood sugar (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.004-1.02), atrial fibrillation (OR, 2.64; 95%
      CI, 1.22-5.69), premorbid mRS (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.21-2.58), NIHSS (OR, 1.11; 95%
      CI, 1.04-1.19), general anesthesia (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07-0.84), failed
      recanalization (OR, 8.47; 95% CI, 3.5-20.2), and symptomatic intracerebral
      hemorrhage (OR, 25.8; 95% CI, 2.5-268). CONCLUSIONS: The e-ASPECTS correlated
      with mRS at 3 months and was predictive of unfavorable outcome after mechanical
      thrombectomy, but further studies in patients with poor scan are needed.

PMID- 28596196
TI  - Effect of Retrievable Stent Size on Endovascular Treatment of Acute Ischemic
      Stroke: A Multicenter Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In clinical practice, stent diameter is one of the
      variable properties important for endovascular treatment. A consensus guideline
      for stent retriever size selection has yet to be established. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the effects of different diameters of Solitaire
      retrievers on outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 628 patients enrolled from the
      Endovascular Treatment for Acute Anterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke Registry,
      256 were treated with the Solitaire 4-mm device and 372, with the 6-mm device. We
      matched patients treated with the 2 stent sizes using propensity score analysis.
      The successful outcome was reperfusion as measured by the modified Thrombolysis
      in Cerebral Infarction score immediately postprocedure and the dichotomized
      modified Rankin Scale score at 90 days. Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage and
      in-hospital mortality were also recorded. RESULTS: After propensity score
      analysis, group outcomes did not differ. In addition, in patients with
      atherosclerosis-related occlusion, a higher reperfusion rate (P = .021) was
      observed in the Solitaire 4 group, as well as a shorter time interval (P = .002)
      and fewer passes (P = .025). Independent predictors of successful reperfusion in
      patients with atherosclerotic disease on logistic analysis were the small stent
      (OR, 3.217; 95% CI, 1.129-9.162; P = .029) and the propensity score acting as a
      covariate (OR, 52.84; 95% CI, 3.468-805.018; P = .004). CONCLUSIONS: We found no
      evidence of a differential effect of intra-arterial therapy based on the size of
      Solitaire retrievers. In patients with atherosclerotic disease, favorable
      reperfusion was associated with deployment of a small stent.

PMID- 28596197
TI  - First evidence of genotype-phenotype correlations in Gorlin syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gorlin syndrome (GS) is an autosomal dominant syndrome characterised
      by multiple basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and an increased risk of jaw cysts and
      early childhood medulloblastoma. Heterozygous germline variants in PTCH1 and SUFU
      encoding components of the Sonic hedgehog pathway explain the majority of cases.
      Here, we aimed to delineate genotype-phenotype correlations in GS. METHODS: We
      assessed genetic and phenotypic data for 182 individuals meeting the diagnostic
      criteria for GS (median age: 47.1; IQR: 31.1-61.1). A total of 126 patients had a
      heterozygous pathogenic variant, 9 had SUFU pathogenic variants and 46 had no
      identified mutation. RESULTS: Patients with variants were more likely to be
      diagnosed earlier (p=0.02), have jaw cysts (p=0.002) and have bifid ribs
      (p=0.003) or any skeletal abnormality (p=0.003) than patients with no identified
      mutation. Patients with a missense variant in PTCH1 were diagnosed later (p=0.03)
      and were less likely to develop at least 10 BCCs and jaw cysts than those with
      other pathogenic PTCH1 variants (p=0.03). Patients with SUFU pathogenic variants
      were significantly more likely than those with PTCH1 pathogenic variants to
      develop a medulloblastoma (p=0.009), a meningioma (p=0.02) or an ovarian fibroma
      (p=0.015), but were less likely to develop a jaw cyst (p=0.0004). CONCLUSION: We
      propose that the clinical heterogeneity of GS can in part be explained by the
      underlying or SUFU variant.

PMID- 28596198
TI  - Pituitary abscess.
AB  - Pituitary abscess is an uncommon pituitary lesion. Its clinical diagnosis can be
      difficult to distinguish from other pituitary lesions. This pathology is
      characterised by vague symptoms of headaches, generalised tiredness and
      hypopituitarism manifestations. A history of recent meningitis, paranasal
      sinusitis or head surgery can be a suggestive of the source of infection.A 20
      year-old man was admitted to neurosurgery department with complain of headache,
      fatigue, polyuria, polydipsia, blurred vision and sexual dysfunction. MRI of the
      head revealed a suprasellar mass that was centrally hyperintense lesion on T2
      weighted images with peripheral hypointensity and isointense centrally on T1
      images with peripheral hyperintensity images. Treatment of this lesion pituitary
      abscess was surgical drainage of the pituitary area through a trans-sphenoidal
      approach and broad spectrum antibiotic therapy with ceftriaxone, metronidazole
      and vancomycin for 6 weeks. The patient continues to have pituitary insufficiency
      and treated with oral hydrocortisone.Although pituitary abscess is a rare
      condition, it should always be kept in mind when evaluating a patient with
      hypopituitarism. After the diagnosis, the surgery and antibiotics should be
      commenced rapidly. The outcome is usually good with proper treatment.

PMID- 28596199
TI  - Mediastinal seminoma presenting with superior vena cava syndrome.
AB  - We present a rare cause of superior vena cava syndrome (SVC) in a previously
      healthy male aged 31 years. Malignancy was suspected due to unintentional weight
      loss and childhood exposure to radioactive fallout from a nuclear facility
      accident. A very large anterior mediastinal mass was identified and demonstrated
      to be an extragonadal seminoma. Extragonadal germ cell tumours are rare tumours
      with a high potential for cardiovascular, pulmonary and vascular sequelae.
      Studies have documented an increased risk of developing seminoma in patients with
      radioactive exposure. Chemotherapy was initiated, during which the patient
      experienced progressive and new symptoms, found to be due to extensive
      thromboembolic disease, which responded well to anticoagulation. Seventy-two
      months after completing chemotherapy, without need for surgical management, he
      remains free of the disease.

PMID- 28596200
TI  - A case of a chronic salmonella infection following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
      surgery, treated successfully by a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
AB  - We report a case of chronic infection caused by Salmonella and cured by a
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery for
      obesity. This patient presented with a 2-year history of chronic abdominal pain,
      loose stools and excessive weight loss. Her stool and urine cultures were
      positive for Salmonella Despite multiple courses of antibiotics, she remained
      positive.After undergoing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the patient became
      asymptomatic and stools remained negative. In chronic carriers for Salmonella,
      the gall bladder is the common reservoir for the bacteria and removing it is
      usually curative.The possibility that the source of the may be in the biliary
      limb of her bariatric procedure and not in the gall bladder remained a concern.In
      patients who have had a RYGB, cholecystectomy is an effective treatment.All
      patients presenting with abdominal symptoms following RYGB should have stool and
      urine cultures taken as part of their work up.

PMID- 28596201
TI  - Isolated gastric sarcoidosis: a rare entity.
AB  - We present a case of isolated granulomatous gastritis in a 21-year-old woman.
      Initial symptoms included nausea, vomiting and inability to tolerate oral intake.
      An upper oesophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed nodular and thickened mucosa with
      histological findings of granulomatous gastritis. Infectious, inflammatory and
      malignant causes were excluded prior to making a diagnosis of gastric
      sarcoidosis.

PMID- 28596202
TI  - Persistent lesion hyperintensity on brain diffusion-weighted MRI is an early sign
      of intravascular lymphoma.
AB  - A 63-year-old man presented with right-sided hemianopia and unsteady gait. Brain
      MRI revealed multiple hyperintense infarct-like lesions on diffusion-weighted
      images (DWI). Hyperintensity persisted in some of these lesions even after 6
      weeks, although his symptoms were ameliorated then. The patient developed
      episodic dizziness and a transient event of apraxia at 18 weeks after the first
      episode. Brain MRI revealed additional hyperintense lesions on DWI, which
      persisted even after 7 weeks. Eventually, the patient manifested cauda equina
      syndrome 39 weeks after the first episode. Brain MRI showed the presence of new
      lesions in addition to the persistent hyperintense lesions on DWI over 21 weeks
      in the right frontal lobe. Based on laboratory findings and the pathological
      assessment of bone marrow and random skin biopsies, the patient was diagnosed
      with intravascular lymphoma (IVL). Persistent hyperintense lesions on DWI of
      brain MRI may precede the clinical exacerbation of IVL.

PMID- 28596203
TI  - Surgical management of isolated mesenteric autoimmune disease: addressing the
      spectrum of IgG4-related disease and sclerosing mesenteritis.
AB  - IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare form of autoimmune sclerosing disease,
      characterised by elevated serum IgG4 and tissue IgG4 levels, specific
      histopathological findings, multiorgan involvement and adequate response to
      glucocorticoid treatment. The low incidence and the heterogeneous nature of the
      disease has made consensus on diagnostic criteria for IgG4-RD difficult. Whether
      sclerosing mesenteritis (SM) is considered a manifestation of IgG4-RD is strongly
      debated. We present the case of a patient with a history of rheumatoid arthritis
      who presented with a calcified abdominal mass. She was found to have an isolated,
      pedunculated mesenteric mass positive for IgG4 and concurrently elevated serum
      IgG4 levels. Clinical features did not classify her disease as either SM or IgG4
      RD as currently described in consensus statements. Concurrent diagnoses of IgG4
      RD, SM and other autoimmune disorders, as well as postoperative recommendations
      for resected isolated IgG4-positive masses, are discussed.

PMID- 28596204
TI  - Malignant hypertension as a rare cause of thrombotic microangiopathy.
AB  - Malignant hypertension can occasionally be associated with microangiopathic
      haemolytic anaemia. A 38-year-old male presented with nausea, vomiting, loss of
      appetite and oliguria for 2 weeks. He was diagnosed with hypertensive emergency
      with cardiac and renal dysfunction. Interestingly, further workup was diagnostic
      for the presence of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA): haemoglobin =12.7 g/dL,
      indirect bilirubin =2.0 mg/dL, haptoglobin <=6 mg/dL, platelet count =121 000/MUL
      and schistocytes on peripheral smear. At the outset, the cause of TMA was
      unclear. Patient denied having diarrhoea, making haemolytic uremic syndrome less
      likely. A normal ADAMTS13 activity test ruled out thrombotic thrombocytopaenic
      purpura. Malignant hypertension induced TMA was highest on the differential and
      plasma exchange was deferred. Renal biopsy revealed features of TMA and malignant
      nephrosclerosis. Patient eventually became dialysis dependent. Aggressive blood
      pressure control was obtained with multiple medications.

PMID- 28596205
TI  - Congenital prepubic sinus (an epispadiac variant of dorsal urethral duplication)
      with dorsal penile curvature in an adult man: a rare association.
AB  - Urethral duplication is among a very rare congenital disorder with multiple
      anatomical variants reported. Urethral duplication of complete type is usually
      diagnosed during childhood with urinary incontinence or double urinary stream as
      common presentation. However, patients with incomplete urethral duplication
      usually present with intermittent mucous discharge from the accessory urethral
      opening. A 20-year-old man presented to us with intermittent mucous discharge
      from the accessory opening along with dorsal penile curvature making sexual
      intercourse very difficult. The epispadiac urethral tract with proximal fibrous
      tract was excised, and the dorsal penile curvature was corrected by ventral
      plication, implicating that the fibrous cord may be the causative factor for the
      development of dorsal curvature.

PMID- 28596206
TI  - Primary myeloid sarcoma of small bowel.

PMID- 28596207
TI  - Delayed progression of bull's eye maculopathy.
AB  - Chloroquine-induced maculopathy may progress years after drug cessation and an
      apparent period of visual stability. Both doctor and patients should be fully
      aware of the risks of retinal toxicity, including delayed onset and progression.
      It is therefore crucial that regular monitoring continues in affected patients,
      long after the initial diagnosis of maculopathy.

PMID- 28596208
TI  - Intrahepatic fetus: unusual image of an intratumoural haemorrhage.

PMID- 28596209
TI  - Intake of dairy foods and risk of Parkinson disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To prospectively examine the association between commonly consumed
      dairy products and the risk of Parkinson disease (PD) in women and men. METHODS:
      Analyses were based on data from 2 large prospective cohort studies, the Nurses'
      Health Study (n = 80,736) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (n =
      48,610), with a total of 26 and 24 years of follow-up, respectively. Both US
      based studies were conducted via mailed biennial questionnaires. Dietary intake
      was assessed with food frequency questionnaires administered repeatedly over the
      follow-up period. Incident cases of PD (n = 1,036) were identified via
      questionnaires and subsequently confirmed by reviewing medical records. We also
      conducted a meta-analysis to combine our study with 3 previously published
      prospective studies on total milk intake and PD risk and 1 study on total dairy
      intake and PD risk. RESULTS: While total dairy intake was not significantly
      associated with PD risk in our cohorts, intake of low-fat dairy foods was
      associated with PD risk. The pooled, multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR)
      comparing people who consumed at least 3 servings of low-fat dairy per day to
      those who consumed none was 1.34 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.79, p trend
      = 0.04). This association appeared to be driven by an increased risk of PD
      associated with skim and low-fat milk (HR 1.39, 95% CI 1.12-1.73, p trend <0.01).
      Results were similar in women and men (p for heterogeneity >0.05). In the meta
      analysis, the pooled relative risk comparing extreme categories of total milk
      intake was 1.56 (95% CI 1.30-1.88), and the association between total dairy and
      PD became significant (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.04-1.55). CONCLUSIONS: Frequent
      consumption of dairy products appears to be associated with a modest increased
      risk of PD in women and men.

PMID- 28596210
TI  - Patients With Diabetes Without Significant Angiographic Coronary Artery Disease
      Have the Same Risk of Myocardial Infarction as Patients Without Diabetes in a
      Real-World Population Receiving Appropriate Prophylactic Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with diabetes is
      greater than for patients without diabetes. Consequently, prophylactic treatment
      is recommended for patients with diabetes and risk factors for ischemic heart
      disease. We aimed to estimate the risk of adverse cardiac events in patients with
      and without diabetes with and without coronary artery disease (CAD) after
      coronary angiography (CAG). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A population-based
      cohort of patients registered in the Western Denmark Heart Registry who underwent
      CAG between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2012 was stratified according to the
      presence or absence of obstructive CAD and diabetes. End points were death,
      cardiac death, and MI. Unadjusted and adjusted rate ratios (RRs) were calculated
      by using patients without diabetes and without CAD as the reference group.
      RESULTS: We included 93,866 patients of whom 12,544 (13.4%) had diabetes at the
      time of CAG. Median follow-up was 4.1 years. Patients with and without diabetes
      without obstructive CAD had the same adjusted risk of death (RR 1.03 [95% CI 0.92
      1.15]), cardiac death (RR 1.21 [95% CI 0.90-1.64]), and MI (RR 0.88 [95% CI 0.65
      1.17]). Patients with diabetes without CAD were more often treated with statins
      (75.3% vs. 46.0%) and aspirin (65.7% vs. 52.7%) than patients without diabetes
      and CAD. CONCLUSIONS: In a real-world population, patients with diabetes with
      high rates of statin and aspirin treatment had the same risk of cardiovascular
      events as patients without diabetes in the absence of angiographically
      significant CAD.

PMID- 28596212
TI  - Rapid growth causes abnormal vaterite formation in farmed fish otoliths.
AB  - Sagittal otoliths are essential components of the sensory organs that enable all
      teleost fish to hear and maintain balance, and are primarily composed of calcium
      carbonate. A deformity, where aragonite (the normal crystal form) is replaced
      with vaterite, was first noted over 50 years ago but its underlying cause is
      unresolved. We evaluated the prevalence of vateritic otoliths from two captive
      rearing studies which suggested that fast growth, due to environmental rather
      than genetic control, led to vaterite development. We then tested this by varying
      light and temperature to create phenotypes with different growth rates, which
      resulted in fast growers (5 times larger) having 3 times more vaterite than slow
      growers. A decrease in either the ratio of otolith matrix proteins (otolin-1/OMM
      64) or [Ca2+]/[CO32-] may explain why fast growth causes vaterite deposition. As
      vaterite decreases hearing sensitivity, reducing growth rates in hatcheries may
      improve the welfare of farmed fish and increase the success of conservation
      efforts.

PMID- 28596211
TI  - Low levels of extracellular glucose limit cardiac anaerobic metabolism in some
      species of fish.
AB  - There is a wide interspecific range in plasma glucose levels in teleosts from
      less than 0.5 to greater than 10 mmol l-1 Here we assessed how glucose
      availability influences glucose metabolism in hearts of Atlantic cod (Gadus
      morhua), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) and
      short-horned sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) under normoxic and hypoxic
      conditions. These species had plasma glucose levels of 5.1, 4.8, 0.9 and 0.5 mmol
      l-1, respectively. Rates of glucose metabolism and lactate production were
      determined in isolated hearts perfused with medium containing physiological
      levels of glucose. Under normoxic conditions there was no significant difference
      in rates of either glucose metabolism (average 15 nmol g-1 min-1) or lactate
      production (average 30 nmol g-1 min-1) across species. Under hypoxia (12% of air
      saturation) there were significant increases in rates of glucose metabolism and
      lactate production in hearts from Atlantic cod (glucose-130; lactate-663 nmol g-1
      min-1) and rainbow trout (glucose-103; lactate-774 nmol g-1 min-1); however,
      there was no change in rate of glucose metabolism in hearts from either lumpfish
      or short-horned sculpin and only increases in lactate production to rates much
      lower than the other species. Furthermore, Atlantic cod hearts perfused with
      medium containing low non-physiological levels of glucose (0.5 mmol l-1) had the
      same rates of glucose metabolism under normoxic and hypoxic treatments. Anaerobic
      metabolism supported by extracellular glucose is compromised in fish with low
      levels of plasma glucose, which in turn may decrease performance under oxygen
      limiting conditions at the whole-animal level.

PMID- 28596213
TI  - Chamber music: an unusual Helmholtz resonator for song amplification in a
      Neotropical bush-cricket (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae).
AB  - Animals use sound for communication, with high-amplitude signals being selected
      for attracting mates or deterring rivals. High amplitudes are attained by
      employing primary resonators in sound-producing structures to amplify the signal
      (e.g. avian syrinx). Some species actively exploit acoustic properties of natural
      structures to enhance signal transmission by using these as secondary resonators
      (e.g. tree-hole frogs). Male bush-crickets produce sound by tegminal stridulation
      and often use specialised wing areas as primary resonators. Interestingly,
      Acanthacara acuta, a Neotropical bush-cricket, exhibits an unusual pronotal
      inflation, forming a chamber covering the wings. It has been suggested that such
      pronotal chambers enhance amplitude and tuning of the signal by constituting a
      (secondary) Helmholtz resonator. If true, the intact system - when stimulated
      sympathetically with broadband sound - should show clear resonance around the
      song carrier frequency which should be largely independent of pronotum material,
      and change when the system is destroyed. Using laser Doppler vibrometry on living
      and preserved specimens, microcomputed tomography, 3D-printed models and finite
      element modelling, we show that the pronotal chamber not only functions as a
      Helmholtz resonator owing to its intact morphology but also resonates at
      frequencies of the calling song on itself, making song production a three
      resonator system.

PMID- 28596215
TI  - Reproductive and metabolic state differences in olfactory responses to amino
      acids in a mouth brooding African cichlid fish.
AB  - Olfaction mediates many crucial life-history behaviors such as prey detection,
      predator avoidance, migration and reproduction. Olfactory function can also be
      modulated by an animal's internal physiological and metabolic states. While this
      is relatively well studied in mammals, little is known about how internal state
      impacts olfaction in fishes, the largest and most diverse group of vertebrates.
      Here we apply electro-olfactograms (EOGs) in the African cichlid fish
      Astatotilapia burtoni to test the hypothesis that olfactory responses to food
      related cues (i.e. l-amino acids; alanine and arginine) vary with metabolic,
      social and reproductive state. Dominant males (reproductively active, reduced
      feeding) had greater EOG magnitudes in response to amino acids at the same tested
      concentration than subordinate males (reproductively suppressed, greater feeding
      and growth rates). Mouth brooding females, which are in a period of starvation
      while they brood fry in their mouths, had greater EOG magnitudes in response to
      amino acids at the same tested concentration than both recovering and gravid
      females that are feeding. Discriminant function analysis on EOG magnitudes also
      grouped the male (subordinate) and female (recovering, gravid) phenotypes with
      higher food intake together and distinguished them from brooding females and
      dominant males. The slope of the initial negative phase of the EOG also showed
      intra-sexual differences in both sexes. Our results demonstrate that the
      relationship between olfaction and metabolic state observed in other taxa is
      conserved to fishes. For the first time, we provide evidence for intra-sexual
      plasticity in the olfactory response to amino acids that is influenced by fish
      reproductive, social and metabolic state.

PMID- 28596214
TI  - Changes in mechanical work during neural adaptation to asymmetric locomotion.
AB  - Minimizing whole-body metabolic cost has been suggested to drive the neural
      processes of locomotor adaptation. Mechanical work performed by the legs should
      dictate the major changes in whole-body metabolic cost of walking while providing
      greater insight into temporal and spatial mechanisms of adaptation. We
      hypothesized that changes in mechanical work by the legs during an asymmetric
      split-belt walking adaptation task could explain previously observed changes in
      whole-body metabolic cost. We predicted that subjects would immediately increase
      mechanical work performed by the legs when first exposed to split-belt walking,
      followed by a gradual decrease throughout adaptation. Fourteen subjects walked on
      a dual-belt instrumented treadmill. Baseline trials were followed by a 10-min
      split-belt adaptation condition with one belt running three times faster than the
      other. A post-adaptation trial with both belts moving at 0.5 m s-1 demonstrated
      neural adaptation. As predicted, summed mechanical work from both legs initially
      increased abruptly and gradually decreased over the adaptation period. The
      initial increase in work was primarily due to increased positive work by the leg
      on the fast belt during the pendular phase of the gait cycle. Neural adaptation
      in asymmetric split-belt walking reflected the reduction of pendular phase work
      in favor of more economical step-to-step transition work. This may represent a
      generalizable framework for how humans initially and chronically learn new
      walking patterns.

PMID- 28596217
TI  - General practitioners' views of clinically led commissioning: cross-sectional
      survey in England.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Involving general practitioners (GPs) in the commissioning/purchasing
      of services has been an important element in English health policy for many
      years. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 handed responsibility for
      commissioning of the majority of care for local populations to GP-led Clinical
      Commissioning Groups (CCGs). In this paper, we explore GP attitudes to
      involvement in commissioning and future intentions for engagement. DESIGN AND
      SETTING: Survey of a random sample of GPs across England in 2015. METHOD: The
      Eighth National GP Worklife Survey was distributed to GPs in spring 2015.
      Responses were received from 2611 respondents (response rate = 46%). We compared
      responses across different GP characteristics and conducted two sample tests of
      proportions to identify statistically significant differences in responses across
      groups. We also used multivariate logistic regression to identify the
      characteristics associated with wanting a formal CCG role in the future. RESULTS:
      While GPs generally agree that they can add value to aspects of commissioning,
      only a minority feel that this is an important part of their role. Many current
      leaders intend to quit in the next 5 years, and there is limited appetite among
      those not currently in a formal role to take up such a role in the future. CCGs
      were set up as 'membership organisations' but only a minority of respondents
      reported feeling that they had 'ownership' of their local CCG and these were
      often GPs with formal CCG roles. However, respondents generally agree that the
      CCG has a legitimate role in influencing the work that they do. CONCLUSION: CCGs
      need to engage in active succession planning to find the next generation of GP
      leaders. GPs believe that CCGs have a legitimate role in influencing their work,
      suggesting that there may be scope for CCGs to involve GPs more fully in roles
      short of formal leadership.

PMID- 28596216
TI  - Effect of Ischemia Duration and Protective Interventions on the Temporal Dynamics
      of Tissue Composition After Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - RATIONALE: The impact of cardioprotective strategies and ischemia duration on
      postischemia/reperfusion (I/R) myocardial tissue composition (edema, myocardium
      at risk, infarct size, salvage, intramyocardial hemorrhage, and microvascular
      obstruction) is not well understood. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of ischemia
      duration and protective interventions on the temporal dynamics of myocardial
      tissue composition in a translational animal model of I/R by the use of state-of
      the-art imaging technology. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four 5-pig groups underwent
      different I/R protocols: 40-minute I/R (prolonged ischemia, controls), 20-minute
      I/R (short-duration ischemia), prolonged ischemia preceded by preconditioning, or
      prolonged ischemia followed by postconditioning. Serial cardiac magnetic
      resonance (CMR)-based tissue characterization was done in all pigs at baseline
      and at 120 minutes, day 1, day 4, and day 7 after I/R. Reference myocardium at
      risk was assessed by multidetector computed tomography during the index coronary
      occlusion. After the final CMR, hearts were excised and processed for water
      content quantification and histology. Five additional healthy pigs were
      euthanized after baseline CMR as reference. Edema formation followed a bimodal
      pattern in all 40-minute I/R pigs, regardless of cardioprotective strategy and
      the degree of intramyocardial hemorrhage or microvascular obstruction. The
      hyperacute edematous wave was ameliorated only in pigs showing cardioprotection
      (ie, those undergoing short-duration ischemia or preconditioning). In all groups,
      CMR-measured edema was barely detectable at 24 hours postreperfusion. The
      deferred healing-related edematous wave was blunted or absent in pigs undergoing
      preconditioning or short-duration ischemia, respectively. CMR-measured infarct
      size declined progressively after reperfusion in all groups. CMR-measured
      myocardial salvage, and the extent of intramyocardial hemorrhage and
      microvascular obstruction varied dramatically according to CMR timing, ischemia
      duration, and cardioprotective strategy. CONCLUSIONS: Cardioprotective therapies,
      duration of index ischemia, and the interplay between these greatly influence
      temporal dynamics and extent of tissue composition changes after I/R.
      Consequently, imaging techniques and protocols for assessing edema, myocardium at
      risk, infarct size, salvage, intramyocardial hemorrhage, and microvascular
      obstruction should be standardized accordingly.

PMID- 28596219
TI  - Diabetes prevention model spurs new Medicare billing opportunity.

PMID- 28596220
TI  - New drugs and dosage forms.

PMID- 28596218
TI  - Health-related shame: an affective determinant of health?
AB  - Despite shame being recognised as a powerful force in the clinical encounter, it
      is underacknowledged, under-researched and undertheorised in the contexts of
      health and medicine. In this paper we make two claims. The first is that
      emotional or affective states, in particular shame, can have a significant impact
      on health, illness and health-related behaviours. We outline four possible
      processes through which this might occur: (1) acute shame avoidance behaviour;
      (2) chronic shame health-related behaviours; (3) stigma and social status threat
      and (4) biological mechanisms. Second, we postulate that shame's influence is so
      insidious, pervasive and pernicious, and so critical to clinical and political
      discourse around health, that it is imperative that its vital role in health,
      health-related behaviours and illness be recognised and assimilated into medical,
      social and political consciousness and practice. In essence, we argue that its
      impact is sufficiently powerful for it to be considered an affective determinant
      of health, and provide three justifications for this. We conclude with a proposal
      for a research agenda that aims to extend the state of knowledge of health
      related shame.

PMID- 28596221
TI  - FDA approves edaravone for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PMID- 28596223
TI  - Need for specific-gravity values in adopting gravimetric measurement in sterile
      compounding.

PMID- 28596224
TI  - Medication mismanagement using the rivaroxaban demonstration pack.

PMID- 28596225
TI  - Increased warfarin requirements in a patient with chronic hepatitis C infection
      receiving sofosbuvir and ribavirin.
AB  - PURPOSE: A case of increased warfarin requirements during treatment with
      sofosbuvir and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is
      reported. SUMMARY: A 63-year-old white man receiving long-term anticoagulation
      with warfarin for atrial fibrillation and a history of cardioembolic stroke was
      initiated in September 2014 on a 12-week course of sofosbuvir 400 mg orally daily
      and weight-based ribavirin 600 mg orally twice daily for HCV genotype 2
      infection. Before starting this treatment regimen, the patient had been stable on
      warfarin 52.5 mg weekly, with therapeutic International Normalized Ratio (INR)
      values. During the 12-week course of sofosbuvir and ribavirin, the patient's dose
      of warfarin progressively increased from 52.5 to 77.5 mg weekly due to
      subtherapeutic INRs, with the first adjustment in the warfarin dose occurring 9
      days after initiation of HCV treatment. Three weeks after completion of the
      sofosbuvir and ribavirin regimen, the patient's INR was 3.06, and his warfarin
      dose was then decreased to 70 mg weekly. The patient continued with this warfarin
      dosage until 18 weeks after completion of his HCV regimen. The dosage was then
      decreased to 65 mg weekly after an INR of 3.86. Three weeks later, his INR was
      2.19, and warfarin 65 mg weekly was continued. As of June 2016, the patient has
      continued to require warfarin 62.5-65 mg weekly to maintain a therapeutic INR.
      CONCLUSION: A 63-year-old man on a stable dose of warfarin experienced a decrease
      in INR values after the initiation of a 12-week course of sofosbuvir and
      ribavirin for the treatment of chronic HCV infection.

PMID- 28596226
TI  - Autoimmune hemolytic anemia associated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole use.
AB  - PURPOSE: A case report of drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia (DIIHA) triggered
      by exposure to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is presented along with a brief
      review of the pathophysiology of DIIHA and diagnostic considerations. SUMMARY: A
      58-year-old woman recently initiated on trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for
      treatment of a urinary tract infection presented to the emergency department with
      generalized weakness and fatigue. Initial laboratory studies were significant for
      the following values: hemoglobin concentration, 5.6 g/dL (reference range, 12-15
      g/dL); mean corpuscular volume, 116.9 MUm3 (reference range, 80-100 MUm3); and
      reticulocyte count, 16% (reference range, 0.5-1.5%). An elevated serum lactate
      dehydrogenase concentration (646 U/L [reference range, 50-150 U/L]) and a low
      haptoglobin concentration (<10 mg/dL [reference range, 30-200 mg/dL]) indicated a
      hemolytic process. A peripheral blood smear revealed spherocytosis. Serologic
      testing showed antibodies to both immunoglobulin G (IgG) and complement component
      C3b. An antibody identification panel was nonspecifically positive for a warm
      reacting autoantibody (IgG). The combination of clinically evident hemolytic
      anemia, recent exposure to a newly initiated drug, and serologic evidence
      strongly suggested DIIHA. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was promptly
      discontinued, a total of 6 units of packed red blood cells were transfused, and
      the patient was treated with methylprednisolone sodium succinate. Clinical and
      hematologic improvements were observed within a few days. Results of follow-up
      antibody screening and direct antiglobulin testing 4 weeks after discharge were
      negative. CONCLUSION: A 58-year-old woman developed warm autoimmune hemolytic
      anemia after receiving trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for 5 days.

PMID- 28596227
TI  - Outcomes with perioperative fat emulsions containing omega-3 fatty acid: A meta
      analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: Results of a meta-analysis of data from clinical studies comparing
      patient outcomes and hospital length of stay (LOS) in surgical patients receiving
      fish oil (FO)-containing i.v. fat emulsions (IVFEs) versus non-FO-containing
      IVFEs are presented. METHODS: Computerized searches of the MEDLINE, Embase, and
      Coch rane CENTRAL databases were performed in August 2014 to identify English
      language articles on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing FO-containing
      and non-FO-containing IVFEs in adult surgical patients receiving parenteral
      nutrition. Selected articles were analyzed for methodological and publication
      bias and study heterogeneity (I2 statistic). RESULTS: Data from 19 RCTs (total n
      = 1,167) were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with use of non-FO
      containing IVFEs (products based in soybean oil [SO], medium-chain triglycerides,
      or olive oil), use of FO-containing IVFEs was associated with reduced infectious
      morbidity (odds ratio [OR], 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.30-0.65; p <
      0.0001; I2 = 0%); the effect size was greatest for FO-containing versus SO-based
      IVFEs. Relative to use of SO-based IVFEs, use of FO-containing IVFEs was
      associated with a significant reduction in hospital LOS (weighted mean
      difference, -2.70 days; 95% CI, -3.60 to -1.79 days; p < 0.00001; I2 = 0%).
      CONCLUSION: The results of the meta-analysis indicated that FO-containing IVFEs
      could improve infectious morbidity and LOS. The overall effect of reducing
      infectious morbidity and LOS was found to be the greatest in comparison with the
      SO-based IVFEs.

PMID- 28596229
TI  - Implementation of a proton pump inhibitor stewardship program.
AB  - PURPOSE: The development and implementation of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI)
      stewardship program at a single institution are described. SUMMARY: Due to the
      overuse of PPIs and the increasing awareness of the adverse drug events
      associated with long-term PPI therapy, the pharmacy and internal medicine
      services of a medical center implemented a PPI stewardship program. All patients
      admitted to the internal medicine service were evaluated by the PPI stewardship
      team to determine if they had an appropriate indication for PPI continuation in
      the hospital as well as after discharge. If patients did not meet specified
      criteria for continuation of PPI use during hospitalization, PPI therapy was
      suspended and replaced by as-needed acid suppressive therapy, and the patients
      received discharge counseling regarding the implemented medication regimen
      changes. Challenges encountered during program development included establishing
      appropriate criteria for PPI continuation and determining the best method for
      discontinuing PPIs in order to reduce the risk of rebound hyperacidity.
      CONCLUSION: In an effort to reduce unnecessary PPI use, a PPI stewardship program
      was developed and implemented to ensure appropriate continuation of PPIs for
      patients admitted and discharged from an internal medicine service.

PMID- 28596228
TI  - Development and implementation of a residency project advisory board.
AB  - PURPOSE: The development and implementation of a residency project advisory board
      (RPAB) to manage multiple pharmacy residents' yearlong projects across several
      residency programs are described. SUMMARY: Preceptor and resident feedback during
      our annual residency program review and strategic planning sessions suggested the
      implementation of a more-coordinated approach to the identification, selection,
      and oversight of all components of the residency project process. A panel of 7
      department leaders actively engaged in residency training and performance
      improvement was formed to evaluate the residency project process and provide
      recommendations for change. These 7 individuals would eventually constitute the
      RPAB. The primary objective of the RPAB at Aurora Health Care is to provide
      oversight and a structured framework for the selection and execution of multiple
      residents' yearlong projects across all residency programs within our
      organization. Key roles of the RPAB include developing expectations, coordinating
      residency project ideas, and providing oversight and feedback. The development
      and implementation of the RPAB resulted in a significant overhaul of our entire
      yearlong resident project process. Trends toward success were realized after the
      first year of implementation, including consistent expectations, increased
      clarity and engagement in resident project ideas, and more projects meeting
      anticipated endpoints. CONCLUSION: The development and implementation of an RPAB
      have provided a framework to optimize the organization, progression, and outcomes
      of multiple pharmacy resident yearlong projects in all residency programs across
      our pharmacy enterprise.

PMID- 28596230
TI  - A life undefined by cancer.

PMID- 28596232
TI  - Professional Policies Approved by the 2017 ASHP March Virtual House of Delegates.

PMID- 28596233
TI  - Adaptable interaction between aquaporin-1 and band 3 reveals a potential role of
      water channel in blood CO2 transport.
AB  - Human CO2 respiration requires rapid conversion between CO2 and HCO3- Carbonic
      anhydrase II facilitates this reversible reaction inside red blood cells, and
      band 3 [anion exchanger 1 (AE1)] provides a passage for HCO3- flux across the
      cell membrane. These 2 proteins are core components of the CO2 transport
      metabolon. Intracellular H2O is necessary for CO2/HCO3- conversion. However,
      abundantly expressed aquaporin 1 (AQP1) in erythrocytes is thought not to be part
      of band 3 complexes or the CO2 transport metabolon. To solve this conundrum, we
      used Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) measured by fluorescence lifetime
      imaging (FLIM-FRET) and identified interaction between aquaporin-1 and band 3 at
      a distance of 8 nm, within the range of dipole-dipole interaction. Notably, their
      interaction was adaptable to membrane tonicity changes. This suggests that the
      function of AQP1 in tonicity response could be coupled or correlated to its
      function in band 3-mediated CO2/HCO3- exchange. By demonstrating AQP1 as a mobile
      component of the CO2 transport metabolon, our results uncover a potential role of
      water channel in blood CO2 transport and respiration.-Hsu, K., Lee, T.-Y.,
      Periasamy, A., Kao, F.-J., Li, L.-T., Lin, C.-Y., Lin, H.-J., Lin, M. Adaptable
      interaction between aquaporin-1 and band 3 reveals a potential role of water
      channel in blood CO2 transport.

PMID- 28596235
TI  - Epidermal growth factor-induced pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 expression
      enhances head and neck squamous cell carcinoma metastasis via up-regulation of
      fibronectin.
AB  - Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation is a major cause of metastasis
      in such cancers as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); however,
      whether the metabolic enzyme, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), mediates
      EGF-enhanced HNSCC metastasis remains unclear. Of interest, we found that EGF
      induced PDK1 expression in HNSCC. Tumor cell transformation induced by EGF was
      repressed by PDK1 knockdown, and the down-regulation of PDK1 expression or
      inhibition of its activity significantly blocked EGF-enhanced cell migration and
      invasion. In addition, depletion of PDK1 impeded EGF-enhanced binding of HNSCC
      cells to endothelial cells as well as the metastatic seeding of tumor cells in
      lungs. PDK1 depletion inhibited EGF-induced matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1),
      MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, and fibronectin expression and Rac1/cdc42 activation.
      Furthermore, PDK1 overexpression induced MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, and
      fibronectin expression and Rac1/cdc42 activation. Of interest, depletion of
      fibronectin inhibited PDK1-enhanced MMP-1-3 and MMP-9 expression as well as
      Rac1/cdc42 activation and tumor invasion. These results demonstrate that EGF
      induced PDK1 expression enhances HNSCC metastasis via activation of the
      fibronectin signaling pathway. Inhibition of PDK1 may be a potential strategy for
      the treatment of EGFR-mediated HNSCC metastasis.-Hsu, J.-Y., Chang, J.-Y., Chang,
      K.-Y., Chang, W.-C., Chen B.-K. Epidermal growth factor-induced pyruvate
      dehydrogenase kinase 1 expression enhances head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      metastasis via up-regulation of fibronectin.

PMID- 28596234
TI  - Cathepsin B as a potential cystatin M/E target in the mouse hair follicle.
AB  - Deficiency of the cysteine protease inhibitor cystatin M/E (Cst6) in mice leads
      to disturbed epidermal cornification, impaired barrier function, and neonatal
      lethality. We report the rescue of the lethal skin phenotype of ichq (Cst6
      deficient; Cst6-/-) mice by transgenic, epidermis-specific, reexpression of Cst6
      under control of the human involucrin (INV) promoter. Rescued Tg(INV
      Cst6)Cst6ichq/ichq mice survive the neonatal phase, but display severe eye
      pathology and alopecia after 4 mo. We observed keratitis and squamous metaplasia
      of the corneal epithelium, comparable to Cst6-/-Ctsl+/- mice, as we have reported
      in other studies. We found the INV promoter to be active in the hair follicle
      infundibulum; however, we did not observe Cst6 protein expression in the lower
      regions of the hair follicle in Tg(INV-Cst6)Cst6ichq/ichq mice. This result
      suggests that unrestricted activity of proteases is involved in disturbance of
      hair follicle biology, eventually leading to baldness. Using quenched activity
      based probes, we identified mouse cathepsin B (CtsB), which is expressed in the
      lower regions of the hair follicle, as an additional target of mouse Cst6. These
      data suggest that Cst6 is necessary to control CtsB activity in hair follicle
      morphogenesis and highlight Cst6-controlled proteolytic pathways as targets for
      preventing hair loss.-Oortveld, M. A. W., van Vlijmen-Willems, I. M. J. J.,
      Kersten, F. F. J., Cheng, T., Verdoes, M., van Erp, P. E. J., Verbeek, S.,
      Reinheckel, T., Hendriks, W. J. A. J., Schalkwijk, J., Zeeuwen, P. L. J. M.
      Cathepsin B as a potential cystatin M/E target in the mouse hair follicle.

PMID- 28596236
TI  - Acute Hypoglycemia in Healthy Humans Impairs Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake
      and Glycogen Synthase in Skeletal Muscle: A Randomized Clinical Study.
AB  - Hypoglycemia is the leading limiting factor in glycemic management of insulin
      treated diabetes. Skeletal muscle is the predominant site of insulin-mediated
      glucose disposal. Our study used a crossover design to test to what extent
      insulin-induced hypoglycemia affects glucose uptake in skeletal muscle and
      whether hypoglycemia counterregulation modulates insulin and catecholamine
      signaling and glycogen synthase activity in skeletal muscle. Nine healthy
      volunteers were examined on three randomized study days: 1) hyperinsulinemic
      hypoglycemia (bolus insulin), 2) hyperinsulinemic euglycemia (bolus insulin and
      glucose infusion), and 3) saline control with skeletal muscle biopsies taken just
      before, 30 min after, and 75 min after insulin/saline injection. During
      hypoglycemia, glucose levels reached a nadir of ~2.0 mmol/L, and epinephrine rose
      to ~900 pg/mL. Hypoglycemia impaired insulin-stimulated glucose disposal and
      glucose clearance in skeletal muscle, whereas insulin signaling in glucose
      transport was unaffected by hypoglycemia. Insulin-stimulated glycogen synthase
      activity was completely ablated during hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, and
      catecholamine signaling via cAMP-dependent protein kinase and phosphorylation of
      inhibiting sites on glycogen synthase all increased.

PMID- 28596238
TI  - Loss of beta-PIX inhibits focal adhesion disassembly and promotes keratinocyte
      motility via myosin light chain activation.
AB  - During healing of the skin, the cytoskeleton of keratinocytes and their matrix
      adhesions, including focal adhesions (FAs), undergo reorganization. These changes
      are coordinated by small GTPases and their regulators, including the guanine
      nucleotide exchange factor beta-PIX (also known as ARHGEF7). In fibroblasts, beta
      PIX activates small GTPases, thereby enhancing migration. In keratinocytes in
      vitro, beta-PIX localizes to FAs. To study beta-PIX functions, we generated beta
      PIX knockdown keratinocytes. During wound closure of beta-PIX knockdown cell
      monolayers, disassembly of FAs is impaired, and their number and size are
      increased. In addition, in the beta-PIX knockdown cells, phosphorylated myosin
      light chain (MLC; also known as MYL2) is present not only in the leading edge of
      cells at the wound front, but also in the cells following the front, while p21
      activated kinase 2 (PAK2), a regulator of MLC kinase (MYLK), is mislocalized.
      Inhibition or depletion of MYLK restores FA distribution in beta-PIX knockdown
      cells. Traction forces generated by beta-PIX knockdown cells are increased
      relative to those in control cells, a result consistent with an unexpected
      enhancement in the migration of single beta-PIX knockdown cells and monolayers of
      such cells. We propose that targeting beta-PIX might be a means of promoting
      epithelialization of wounds in vivo.

PMID- 28596237
TI  - The SNARE Protein Syntaxin-1a Plays an Essential Role in Biphasic Exocytosis of
      the Incretin Hormone Glucagon-Like Peptide 1.
AB  - Exocytosis of the hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) by the intestinal L
      cell is essential for the incretin effect after nutrient ingestion and is
      critical for the actions of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors that enhance GLP-1
      levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. Two-photon microscopy revealed that
      exocytosis of GLP-1 is biphasic, with a first peak at 1-6 min and a second peak
      at 7-12 min after stimulation with forskolin. Approximately 75% of the exocytotic
      events were represented by compound granule fusion, and the remainder were
      accounted for by full fusion of single granules under basal and stimulated
      conditions. The core SNARE protein syntaxin-1a (syn1a) was expressed by murine
      ileal L cells. At the single L-cell level, first-phase forskolin-induced
      exocytosis was reduced to basal (P < 0.05) and second-phase exocytosis abolished
      (P < 0.05) by syn1a knockout. L cells from intestinal-epithelial syn1a-deficient
      mice demonstrated a 63% reduction in forskolin-induced GLP-1 release in vitro (P
      < 0.001) and a 23% reduction in oral glucose-stimulated GLP-1 secretion (P <
      0.05) in association with impairments in glucose-stimulated insulin release (by
      60%; P < 0.01) and glucose tolerance (by 20%; P < 0.01). The findings identify an
      exquisite mechanism of metered secretory output that precisely regulates release
      of the incretin hormone GLP-1 and hence insulin secretion after a meal.

PMID- 28596239
TI  - Electrophoresis of cell membrane heparan sulfate regulates galvanotaxis in glial
      cells.
AB  - Endogenous electric fields modulate many physiological processes by promoting
      directional migration, a process known as galvanotaxis. Despite the importance of
      galvanotaxis in development and disease, the mechanism by which cells sense and
      migrate directionally in an electric field remains unknown. Here, we show that
      electrophoresis of cell surface heparan sulfate (HS) critically regulates this
      process. HS was found to be localized at the anode-facing side in fetal neural
      progenitor cells (fNPCs), fNPC-derived astrocytes and brain tumor-initiating
      cells (BTICs), regardless of their direction of galvanotaxis. Enzymatic removal
      of HS and other sulfated glycosaminoglycans significantly abolished or reversed
      the cathodic response seen in fNPCs and BTICs. Furthermore, Slit2, a
      chemorepulsive ligand, was identified to be colocalized with HS in forming a
      ligand gradient across cellular membranes. Using both imaging and genetic
      modification, we propose a novel mechanism for galvanotaxis in which
      electrophoretic localization of HS establishes cell polarity by functioning as a
      co-receptor and provides repulsive guidance through Slit-Robo signaling.

PMID- 28596240
TI  - Control of mitochondrial homeostasis by endocytic regulatory proteins.
AB  - Mitochondria play essential roles in cellular energy processes, including ATP
      production, control of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis. While
      mitochondrial function is regulated by the dynamics of fusion and fission,
      mitochondrial homeostasis remains incompletely understood. Recent studies
      implicate dynamin-2 and dynamin-related protein-1 (Drp1, also known as DNM1L), as
      GTPases involved in mitochondrial fission. Here, we identify the ATPase and
      endocytic protein EHD1 as a novel regulator of mitochondrial fission. EHD1
      depletion induces a static and elongated network of mitochondria in the cell.
      However, unlike dynamin-2 and Drp1, whose depletion protects cells from
      staurosporine-induced mitochondrial fragmentation, EHD1-depleted cells remain
      sensitive to staurosporine, suggesting a different mechanism for EHD1 function.
      Recent studies have demonstrated that VPS35 and the retromer complex influence
      mitochondrial homeostasis either by Mul1-mediated ubiquitylation and degradation
      of the fusion protein Mfn2, or by removal of inactive Drp1 from the mitochondrial
      membrane. We demonstrate that EHD1 and its interaction partner rabankyrin-5
      interact with the retromer complex to influence mitochondrial dynamics, likely by
      inducing VPS35-mediated removal of inactive Drp1 from mitochondrial membranes.
      Our study sheds light on mitochondrial dynamics, expanding a new paradigm of
      endocytic protein regulation of mitochondrial homeostasis.

PMID- 28596242
TI  - Smooth muscle function and myosin polymerization.
AB  - Smooth muscle is able to function over a much broader length range than striated
      muscle. The ability to maintain contractility after a large length change is
      thought to be due to an adaptive process involving restructuring of the
      contractile apparatus to maximize overlap between the contractile filaments. The
      molecular mechanism for the length-adaptive behavior is largely unknown. In
      smooth muscle adapted to different lengths we quantified myosin monomers, basal
      and activation-induced myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation, shortening
      velocity, power output and active force. The muscle was able to generate a
      constant maximal force over a two fold length range when it was allowed to go
      through isometric contraction/relaxation cycles after each length change (length
      adaptation). In the relaxed state, myosin monomer concentration and basal MLC
      phosphorylation decreased linearly, while in the activated state activation
      induced MLC phosphorylation and shortening velocity/power output increased
      linearly with muscle length. The results suggest that recruitment of myosin
      monomers and oligomers into the actin filament lattice (where they form force
      generating filaments) occurs during muscle adaptation to longer length, with the
      opposite occurring during adaptation to shorter length.

PMID- 28596241
TI  - Disruption of Rab8a and Rab11a causes formation of basolateral microvilli in
      neonatal enteropathy.
AB  - Misplaced formation of microvilli to basolateral domains and intracellular
      inclusions in enterocytes are pathognomonic features in congenital enteropathy
      associated with mutation of the apical plasma membrane receptor syntaxin 3
      (STX3). Although the demonstrated binding of Myo5b to the Rab8a and Rab11a small
      GTPases in vitro implicates cytoskeleton-dependent membrane sorting, the
      mechanisms underlying the microvillar location defect remain unclear. By
      selective or combinatory disruption of Rab8a and Rab11a membrane traffic in vivo,
      we demonstrate that transport of distinct cargo to the apical brush border rely
      on either individual or both Rab regulators, whereas certain basolateral cargos
      are redundantly transported by both factors. Enterocyte-specific Rab8a and Rab11a
      double-knockout mouse neonates showed immediate postnatal lethality and more
      severe enteropathy than single knockouts, with extensive formation of microvilli
      along basolateral surfaces. Notably, following an inducible Rab11a deletion from
      neonatal enterocytes, basolateral microvilli were induced within 3 days. These
      data identify a potentially important and distinct mechanism for a characteristic
      microvillus defect exhibited by enterocytes of patients with neonatal
      enteropathy.

PMID- 28596245
TI  - Computerised cognitive-behavioural therapy for adults with intellectual
      disability: randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BackgroundDespite the evidence base for computer-assisted cognitive-behavioural
      therapy (CBT) in the general population, it has not yet been adapted for use with
      adults who have an intellectual disability.AimsTo evaluate the utility of a CBT
      computer game for adults who have an intellectual disability.MethodA 2 * 3 (group
      * time) randomised controlled trial design was used. Fifty-two adults with mild
      to moderate intellectual disability and anxiety or depression were randomly
      allocated to two groups: computerised CBT (cCBT) or psychiatric treatment as
      usual (TAU), and assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up.
      Forty-nine participants were included in the final analysis.ResultsA significant
      group * time interaction was observed on the primary outcome measure of anxiety
      (Glasgow Anxiety Scale for people with an Intellectual Disability), favouring
      cCBT over TAU, but not on the primary outcome measure of depression (Glasgow
      Depression Scale for people with a Learning Disability). A medium effect size for
      anxiety symptoms was observed at post-treatment and a large effect size was
      observed after follow-up. Reliability of Change Indices indicated that the
      intervention produced clinically significant change in the cCBT group in
      comparison with TAU.ConclusionsAs the first application of cCBT for adults with
      intellectual disability, this intervention appears to be a useful treatment
      option to reduce anxiety symptoms in this population.

PMID- 28596244
TI  - Weight cycling and the subsequent onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus: 10-year
      cohort studies in urban and rural Japan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate how weight cycling (gaining and losing weight) affects
      the risk of diabetes. DESIGN: Cohort studies. SETTING: Primary healthcare in
      urban and rural Japan. PARTICIPANTS: 20 708 urban and 9670 rural residents.
      PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: ORs for diabetes in those with weight loss, weight loss
      gain, stable weight, weight gain-loss and weight gain over 10 years. Weight gain
      and loss were defined as a change of more than +/-4% from baseline weight.
      RESULTS: In the urban region, the ORs relative to the stable group for the loss
      gain and gain-loss groups were 0.63 (95% CI 0.45 to 0.89) and 0.51 (95% CI 0.32
      to 0.82) for men and 0.72 (95% CI 0.39 to 1.34) and 1.05 (95% CI 0.57 to 1.95)
      for women. In the rural region, they were 1.58 (95% CI 0.78 to 3.17) and 0.44
      (95% CI 0.15 to 1.29) in men and 0.41 (95% CI 0.12 to 1.44) and 0.77 (95% CI 0.28
      to 2.14) in women. The ORs for an increase in weight between 5 and 10 kg from the
      age of 20 years were 1.54 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.30) in men and 0.96 (95% CI 0.55 to
      1.65) in women. CONCLUSIONS: In Japan, weight cycling was associated with a
      significant reduction in the risk of diabetes for men from urban regions. The
      associations were unclear for women from urban regions and both men and women
      from rural regions. These results differ from those in Western studies, probably
      because of differences in diet, insulin secretion and sensitivity and weight
      consciousness.

PMID- 28596246
TI  - Cancer mortality in patients with schizophrenia: systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BackgroundPrevious studies have reported conflicting results on the association
      between schizophrenia and cancer mortality.AimsTo summarise available evidence
      and quantify the association between schizophrenia and cancer mortality using
      meta-analysis.MethodWe systematically searched literature in the PubMed and
      Embase databases. Risk estimates and 95% confidence intervals reported in
      individual studies were pooled using the DerSimonian-Laird random-effects
      model.ResultsWe included 19 studies in the meta-analysis. Among them, 15 studies
      reported standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) comparing patients with
      schizophrenia with the general population, and the pooled SMR was 1.40 (95% CI
      1.29-1.52, P < 0.001). The other four studies reported hazard ratios (HRs)
      comparing individuals with schizophrenia with those without schizophrenia; the
      pooled HR was 1.51 (95% CI 1.13-2.03, P = 0.006).ConclusionsPatients with
      schizophrenia are at a significantly increased risk of cancer mortality compared
      with the general population or individuals without schizophrenia.

PMID- 28596250
TI  - The risks of folic acid to the nervous system in vitamin B12 deficiency:
      rediscovered in the era of folic acid fortification policies.

PMID- 28596249
TI  - Maternal autoimmunity: risk of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric outcomes.

PMID- 28596247
TI  - Incretin based treatments and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes:
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Objective To assess the impact of incretin based treatment on all cause mortality
      in patients with type 2 diabetes.Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of
      randomised trials.Data sources Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and ClinicalTrials.gov.Eligibility criteria
      Randomised controlled trials that compared glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)
      receptor agonists or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors with placebo or
      active anti-diabetic drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes.Data collection and
      analysis Paired reviewers independently screened citations, assessed risk of bias
      of included studies, and extracted data. Peto's method was used as the primary
      approach to pool effect estimates from trials, sensitivity analyses were carried
      out with other statistical approaches, and meta-regression was applied for six
      prespecified hypotheses to explore heterogeneity. The GRADE approach was used to
      rate the quality of evidence.Results 189 randomised controlled trials (n=155 145)
      were included, all of which were at low to moderate risk of bias; 77 reported no
      events of death and 112 reported 3888 deaths among 151 614 patients. Meta
      analysis of 189 trials showed no difference in all cause mortality between
      incretin drugs versus control (1925/84 136 v 1963/67 478; odds ratio 0.96, 95%
      confidence interval 0.90 to 1.02, I2=0%; risk difference 3 fewer events (95%
      confidence interval 7 fewer to 1 more) per 1000 patients over five years;
      moderate quality evidence). Results suggested the possibility of a mortality
      benefit with GLP-1 agonists but not DPP-4 inhibitors, but the subgroup hypothesis
      had low credibility. Sensitivity analyses showed no important differences in the
      estimates of effects.Conclusions Current evidence does not support the suggestion
      that incretin based treatment increases all cause mortality in patients with type
      2 diabetes. Further studies are warranted to examine if the effect differs
      between GLP-1 agonists versus DPP-4 inhibitors.

PMID- 28596248
TI  - Examining the language and behavioural profile in FTD and ALS-FTD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A proportion of patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal
      dementia (bvFTD) develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is currently
      unknown whether the behavioural and cognitive syndrome in bvFTD with ALS (ALS
      FTD) is indistinguishable from that of bvFTD alone. METHODS: A retrospective
      cohort of 241 patients with clinical diagnoses of bvFTD (n=185) or ALS-FTD (n=56)
      was examined with respect to behavioural, cognitive and neuropsychiatric
      symptoms. Features were rated as present or absent based on information recorded
      from clinical interviews and detailed neuropsychological assessment. RESULTS: A
      number of behavioural and affective changes were reported more frequently in
      bvFTD than ALS-FTD: social disinhibition (p<0.001), inertia (p<0.001), loss of
      sympathy and empathy (p=0.008), repetitive behaviours (p<0.001) and dietary
      changes (p<0.001). Warmth of affect demonstrated in the clinic setting was
      reported more often in ALS-FTD than bvFTD (p<0.001). Executive impairments
      occurred equally in both groups. Language impairments were more common in ALS-FTD
      than bvFTD: agrammatism (p<0.017) and impaired sentence comprehension (p<0.036).
      Psychotic features were relatively rare and did not distinguish the groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest differences between bvFTD and ALS-FTD. In
      particular, while changes in social behaviour are prominent in bvFTD alone, there
      may be a comparatively greater degree of language impairment in ALS-FTD.
      Prospective exploration of the pattern of differences between these groups will
      be essential. Identification of a distinct neuropsychological phenotype in ALS
      FTD may have clinical implications for early diagnosis, disease management and
      care planning and theoretical implications for our understanding of the
      relationship between ALS and FTD.

PMID- 28596251
TI  - Hypothalamic atrophy is related to body mass index and age at onset in
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to study the hypothalamic volume in a cohort of
      patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) including symptomatic and
      presymptomatic ALS mutation carriers. METHODS: High-resolution three-dimensional
      T1-weighted MRI datasets from 251 patients with sporadic ALS, 19 symptomatic and
      32 presymptomatic ALS mutation carriers and 112 healthy controls (HC) were
      retrospectivally registered for manual delineation of the hypothalamus. The
      volume of the hypothalamus, in total or subdivided, was normalised to the
      intracranial volume and adjusted to age. Correlation analyses were performed with
      clinical and metabolic outcomes. Pathologically defined ALS stages were
      determined in vivo by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). RESULTS: We observed a
      severe atrophy of the hypothalamus both in patients with sporadic ALS (-21.8%,
      p<0.0001) and symptomatic ALS mutation carriers (-13.4%, p<0.001). The atrophy in
      patients with sporadic ALS was observed in both the anterior (-27.6% p<0.0001)
      and the posterior parts of the hypothalamus (-17.7%, p<0.0001). Notably, this
      atrophy was also observed in presymptomatic ALS mutation carriers (-15.5%,
      p<0.001) and was unrelated to whole brain volume atrophy or disease stage as
      assessed using DTI or functional status. Hypothalamic volume was correlated with
      body mass index (BMI) in patients with sporadic ALS (p=0.0434, rho=+0.1579), and
      this correlation was much stronger in patients with familial ALS (fALS)
      (p=0.0060, rho=+0.6053). Anterior hypothalamic volume was correlated with age at
      onset, but not with survival after MRI. CONCLUSIONS: Hypothalamus is atrophied in
      ALS, even in premorbid stages, and correlates with BMI, especially in fALS.
      Decreased anterior hypothalamic volume is associated with earlier onset of
      disease.

PMID- 28596252
TI  - Success in bone marrow failure? Novel therapeutic directions based on the immune
      environment of myelodysplastic syndromes.
AB  - Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are clonal neoplasms of aging that are associated
      with BM failure, related cytopenias, fatigue, susceptibility to infections,
      bruising, bleeding, a shortened lifespan, and a propensity for leukemic
      transformation. Most frail, elderly patients are not candidates for curative
      allogeneic BM transplantations and instead receive expectant management,
      supportive blood transfusions, or empirical, nontargeted therapy. It has been
      known for some time that MDS arises in an abnormal BM immune environment;
      however, connections have only recently been established with recurring MDS
      associated mutations. Understanding how mutant clones alter and thrive in the
      immune environment of marrow failure at the expense of normal hematopoiesis opens
      the door to novel therapeutic strategies that are aimed at restoring immune and
      hematopoietic balance. Several examples are highlighted in this review.
      Haploinsufficiency of microRNAs 145 and 146a in MDS with chromosome 5q deletions
      leads to derepression of TLR4 signaling, dysplasia, and suppression of normal
      hematopoiesis. Moreover, mutations of TET2 or DNMT3A-regulators of cytosine
      methylation-are among the earliest in myeloid cancers and are even found in
      healthy adults with cryptic clonal hematopoiesis. In innate immune cells, TET2
      and DNMT3A mutations impair the resolution of inflammation and production of type
      I IFNs, respectively. Finally, a common result of MDS-associated mutations is the
      inappropriate activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, with resultant pyroptotic
      cell death, which favors mutant clone expansion. In summary, MDS-associated
      mutations alter the BM immune environment, which provides a milieu that is
      conducive to clonal expansion and leukemic progression. Restoring this balance
      may offer new therapeutic avenues for patients with MDS.

PMID- 28596253
TI  - Getting Practical About Recertification.

PMID- 28596254
TI  - Keeping Up in the Community.

PMID- 28596255
TI  - Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Associated With Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2a
      Use in a Patient With Polycythemia Vera.
AB  - Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (pegIFNa) is being increasingly used for treatment
      of myeloproliferative neoplasms; however, its side effects, including autoimmune
      complications, are not unusual. We report on a 47-year-old woman with
      polycythemia vera (PV) treated with pegIFNa and in complete hematologic remission
      who developed thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). To our knowledge,
      thrombotic microangiopathy has been reported as a side effect of interferon (IFN)
      use in patients with hepatitis and chronic myeloid leukemia, but not in those
      with PV. Our patient had a low ADAMTS13 level due to an inhibitor, which
      normalized after withholding pegIFNa and initiating treatment for TTP with
      therapeutic plasma exchange and corticosteroids. She experienced refractory TTP,
      necessitating treatment with rituximab and splenectomy. Postsplenectomy, she
      developed a high platelet count, warranting the need to restart treatment for PV.
      However, JAK2V617F allelic burden by real-time PCR was 0.7%, indicating that the
      increased platelet count was likely secondary to splenectomy. Therefore, we
      elected to monitor her counts and JAK2V617F allelic burden closely. With this
      case report, we hope to alert treating physicians that TTP should be considered
      as a complication of pegIFNa therapy in PV and that prompt discontinuation of the
      drug with necessary treatment should be instituted to prevent fatal
      complications.

PMID- 28596257
TI  - Developments in Molecular Testing and Biosimilars.
AB  - Molecular testing and biosimilars offer the potential for increased access to
      targeted treatment options and reduction in healthcare costs, but come with
      significant challenges in ensuring patient access to innovation in cancer care
      while maintaining safe, effective, ethical, and affordable treatment options. As
      providers, payers, patients, and the larger healthcare systems become inundated
      with a wide variety of molecular diagnostics and an increased number of
      biosimilars coming to market, it will be important to understand regulatory
      guidance and policy implications relating to the appropriateness of molecular
      testing and the clinical use of biosimilars in cancer care. In September 2016,
      NCCN hosted the Molecular Testing and Biosimilars Policy Summit to address the
      challenges, issues, and opportunities in both the molecular testing and
      biosimilar landscapes. Keynote presentations and panelists further discussed the
      status and future of molecular testing and biosimilars within the oncology space,
      as well as patient access and education needs moving forward.

PMID- 28596256
TI  - NCCN Guidelines Insights: Head and Neck Cancers, Version 2.2017.
AB  - The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Head and
      Neck Cancers provide treatment recommendations for cancers of the lip, oral
      cavity, pharynx, larynx, ethmoid and maxillary sinuses, and salivary glands.
      Recommendations are also provided for occult primary of the head and neck (H&N),
      and separate algorithms have been developed by the panel for very advanced H&N
      cancers. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the panel's discussion and most
      recent recommendations regarding the increase in human papillomavirus-associated
      oropharyngeal cancer and the availability of immunotherapy agents for treatment
      of patients with recurrent or metastatic H&N cancer.

PMID- 28596258
TI  - Overuse of Chest CT in Patients With Stage I and II Breast Cancer: An Opportunity
      to Increase Guidelines Compliance at an NCCN Member Institution.
AB  - Background: The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines)
      recommend that patients with clinical stage I/II breast cancer undergo advanced
      imaging for staging only when symptomatic. Regardless, many asymptomatic patients
      undergo chest CT. The goal of this study was to assess the use and results of
      chest CT in these patients at an NCCN Member Institution. Methods: Patients with
      breast cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2012 were identified in a prospectively
      maintained database. All patients with clinical stage I/II disease who did not
      receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy were included. Data collected included
      demographics, tumor size, node status, chest CT within 6 months of diagnosis,
      imaging findings, need for additional workup, and identification of metastatic
      disease. Appropriate statistical tests were used for analysis. Results: From 1998
      to 2012, 3,321 patients were diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Of these,
      2,062 (62.1%) had clinical stage I breast cancer at diagnosis and 1,259 (37.9%)
      had stage II; 227 patients (11%) with stage I and 456 (36.2%) with stage II
      breast cancer received staging chest CT. Of patients undergoing CT, 184 (26.9%)
      were found to have pulmonary nodules, which measured <=5 mm for 128 patients
      (69.6%), 5 to 10 mm for 46 patients (25.0%), 11 to 20 mm for 6 patients (3.2%),
      and >=20 mm for 4 patients (2.2%). Patients undergoing chest CT for staging
      subsequently underwent a mean of 2.34 (range, 0-16) additional CTs in follow-up.
      Of all patients undergoing chest CT for staging, only 9 (1.3%) were ultimately
      diagnosed with pulmonary metastases at an average of 25 months (range, 0-97)
      after initial staging chest CT. Conclusions: A significant percentage of patients
      with stage I/II breast cancer underwent unnecessary chest CT as part of their
      initial workup. Nearly one-third of these patients were found to have pulmonary
      nodules, but only 1.3% were ever diagnosed with pulmonary metastases. Adherence
      to NCCN Guidelines will reduce the excessive use of CT chest imaging.

PMID- 28596259
TI  - Morphologic and Molecular Characteristics of De Novo AML With JAK2 V617F
      Mutation.
AB  - Background:JAK2 V617F mutation (mut) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is rare. We
      describe the clinicopathologic findings of a single-institution series of 11 de
      novo AML cases with JAK2 V617. Methods: We identified cases of de novo AML with
      JAK2 V617F over a 10-year period. We reviewed diagnostic peripheral blood and
      bone marrow (BM) morphologic, cytogenetic, and molecular studies, including next
      generation sequencing. The control group consisted of 12 patients with JAK2 wild
      type (wt) AML matched for age, sex, and diagnosis. Results: We identified 11
      patients (0.5%) with JAK2 V617F, with a median age at diagnosis of 72.5 years
      (range, 36-90 years). Ten neoplasms were classified as AML with myelodysplasia
      related changes and 1 as AML with t(8;21)(q22;q22). All JAK2mut AML cases showed
      at least bilineage dysplasia, 7 of 11 showed fibrosis, 8 of 11 had an abnormal
      karyotype, and 5 had deletions or monosomy of chromosomes 5 and 7. Using the
      European LeukemiaNet (ELN) classification, 9 patients (82%) with JAK2mut AML were
      intermediate-2 and adverse risk. Cases of JAK2mut AML did not have mutations in
      other activating signaling pathways (P=.013); 7 (64%) showed additional mutations
      in at least one gene involving DNA methylation and/or epigenetic modification.
      Patients with JAK2mut AML had a significantly higher median BM granulocyte
      percentage (12% vs 3.5%; P=.006) and a higher frequency of ELN intermediate-2 and
      adverse risk cytogenetics (P=.04) compared with those with JAK2wt AML. JAK2mut
      AML showed higher circulating blasts, but this difference was not significant
      (17% vs 5.5%; P=not significant). No difference was seen in the median overall
      survival rate of patients with JAK2mut AML versus those with JAK2wt AML (14 vs
      13.5 months, respectively). Conclusions: De novo JAK2mut AML is rare and
      frequently found in patients with dysplasia, BM fibrosis, and abnormal karyotype
      with intermediate- or high-risk features; gene mutations in DNA methylation and
      epigenetic-modifying pathways; and absence of gene mutations in activating
      signaling pathways.

PMID- 28596260
TI  - Evaluating the NCCN Clinical Criteria for Recommending BRCA1 and BRCA2 Genetic
      Testing in Patients With Breast Cancer.
AB  - Background: Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes predispose individuals to a
      significantly elevated risk for breast and ovarian cancers. Identification of
      these individuals allows for proper screening, management, and testing of at-risk
      relatives. NCCN has established clinical criteria for recommending BRCA1/2
      testing. Patients and Methods: A retrospective chart review of 1,123 patients
      with breast cancer was performed to evaluate the positive predictive values
      (PPVs) of 14 individual criteria for predicting BRCA1/2 mutations. Results: Two
      criteria had PPVs significantly below 10%. Only 2 of 115 patients who were
      recommended for testing based solely on the criterion of "diagnosed with breast
      cancer at <=45 years of age" had pathogenic mutations at a PPV of 1.6% (95% CI,
      0.2%-6.0%). Additionally, 0 of 37 individuals who underwent testing based on the
      criterion, "diagnosed with breast cancer at any age with >=2 close blood
      relatives with breast cancer at any age" tested positive (95% CI, 0%-9%).
      Overall, meeting >1 criterion has a PPV of 12%, whereas meeting only 1 criterion
      has a PPV of 3.2% (95% CI, 1.6%-5.7%), significantly below 10% (P<.0001) for
      predicting BRCA1/2 positivity. Conclusions: Patients with breast cancer meeting
      >1 criterion constitute a population significantly enriched for BRCA1/2
      mutations, whereas those meeting only 1 criterion test positive at a rate similar
      to unselected patients with breast cancer. These data will inform ongoing
      discussions regarding how to best implement BRCA1/2 genetic testing.

PMID- 28596261
TI  - Kidney Cancer, Version 2.2017, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.
AB  - The NCCN Guidelines for Kidney Cancer provide multidisciplinary recommendations
      for the clinical management of patients with clear cell and non-clear cell renal
      carcinoma. These guidelines are developed by a multidisciplinary panel of leading
      experts from NCCN Member Institutions consisting of medical oncologists,
      hematologists and hematologic oncologists, radiation oncologists, urologists, and
      pathologists. The NCCN Guidelines are in continuous evolution and are updated
      annually or sometimes more often, if new high-quality clinical data become
      available in the interim.

PMID- 28596262
TI  - Optimal Surveillance Strategies After Surgery for Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - One in 5 patients who undergo surgical resection for clinically localized renal
      cell carcinoma (RCC) develop local and/or distant recurrences which, when
      detected early, may be amenable to salvage local and systemic therapies. When
      considering that approximately half of these recurrences will occur during the
      first 2 years, a clear rationale exists for optimizing surveillance strategies
      after surgery. Although there is a notable dearth of high-quality data on this
      subject, clinical principles can guide clinicians as they attempt to balance the
      burden of surveillance strategies with potential clinical benefit. The objective
      of this review is to summarize the evidence regarding optimal surveillance
      protocols after surgery for RCC. We provide an overview of the rationale
      supporting surveillance after surgery, a summary of the American Urological
      Association and NCCN guidelines, reasons against routine long-term surveillance,
      surveillance costs, and ancillary issues, such as the utility of bone scan,
      PET/CT scan, and surveillance after thermoablation.

PMID- 28596263
TI  - Integrating Immunotherapy Into the Management of Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Before 2005, systemic treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) was
      limited to a few minimally effective options. Since then, new agents have emerged
      targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor and mTOR pathways, which has
      improved outcomes for patients. Options increased even further beginning in 2015
      with 3 new agents, including the addition of nivolumab, the first immune
      checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate improved survival in RCC. RCC has long been
      considered a malignancy with immunogenic potential, and nivolumab offers the
      potential for durable responses in some patients with a generally tolerable
      toxicity profile. With so many drugs available to clinicians and patients,
      properly integrating immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) into the treatment paradigm
      is challenging. Additionally, emerging research with other ICB agents, as well as
      ongoing trials of combination strategies, is likely to further impact clinical
      decision-making. This article attempts to provide some context to inform systemic
      treatment decisions in the current landscape, with a particular emphasis on the
      role of immunotherapy, outlines the ongoing immunotherapy research in RCC, and
      discusses how treatment may evolve.

PMID- 28596264
TI  - Evidence-Based Guidelines: Optimizing Imaging in Cancer Care.

PMID- 28596266
TI  - NCCN News.

PMID- 28596267
TI  - Adaptations of motoneuron properties after weight-lifting training in rats.
AB  - Resistance training, with repeated short-term and high-intensity exercises, is
      responsible for an increase in muscle mass and force. The aim of this study was
      to determine whether such training induces adaptations in the
      electrophysiological properties of motoneurons innervating the trained muscles
      and to relate these adaptive changes to previous observations made on motor unit
      contractile properties. The study was performed on adult male Wistar rats.
      Animals from the training group were subjected to a 5-wk voluntary progressive
      weight-lifting program, whereas control rats were restricted to standard cage
      activity. Intracellular recordings from lumbar spinal motoneurons were made under
      pentobarbital anesthesia. Membrane properties were measured, and rhythmic firing
      of motoneurons was analyzed. Strength training evoked adaptive changes in both
      slow- and fast-type motoneurons, indicating their increased excitability. A
      shorter spike duration, a higher input resistance, a lower rheobase, a decrease
      in the minimum current required to evoke rhythmic firing, an increase in the
      maximum frequencies of the early-state firing (ESF) and the steady-state firing
      (SSF), and an increase in the respective slopes of the frequency-current (f/I)
      relationship were observed in fast motoneurons of the trained group. The increase
      in the maximum ESF and SSF frequencies and an increase in the SSF f/I slope were
      also present in slow motoneurons. Higher maximum firing rates of motoneurons as
      well as higher discharge frequencies evoked at the same level of intracellular
      depolarization current imply higher levels of tetanic forces developed by motor
      units over the operating range of force production after strength training.NEW &
      NOTEWORTHY Neuronal responses to weight-lifting training can be observed in
      altered properties of both slow and fast motoneurons. Motoneurons of trained
      animals are more excitable, require lower intracellular currents to evoke
      rhythmic firing, and have the ability to evoke higher maximum discharge
      frequencies during repetitive firing.

PMID- 28596268
TI  - Application of Euclidean distance mapping for assessment of basement membrane
      thickness distribution in asthma.
AB  - Abnormal thickening of the airway basement membrane is one of the hallmarks of
      airway remodeling in asthma. The present protocols for measuring the basement
      membrane involve the use of stained tissue sections and measurements of the
      basement membrane thickness at certain intervals, followed by the calculation of
      the geometric mean thickness for each airway. This report describes an automated,
      unbiased approach which uses color segmentation to identify structures of
      interest on stained sections and Euclidean distance mapping to measure the
      thickness distribution of airway structures. This method was applied to study the
      thickness distribution of the basement membrane and airway epithelium in lungs
      donated for research from seven nonasthmatic and eight asthmatic age- and sex
      matched donors. A total of 60 airways were assessed. We report that the thickness
      and thickness distribution of the basement membrane and airway epithelium are
      increased in large and small airways of asthmatics compared with nonasthmatics.
      Using this method we were able to demonstrate the heterogeneity in the thickness
      of the basement membrane and airway epithelium within individual airways of
      asthmatic subjects. This new computational method enables comprehensive and
      objective quantification of airway structures, which can be used to quantify
      heterogeneity of airway remodeling in obstructive lung diseases such as asthma
      and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The described
      application of Euclidean distance mapping provides an unbiased approach to study
      the extent and thickness distribution of changes in tissue structures. This
      approach will enable researchers to use computer-aided analysis of structural
      changes within lung tissue to understand the heterogeneity of airway remodeling
      in lung diseases.

PMID- 28596270
TI  - Timing of postexercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation: roles of
      gastrointestinal blood flow and mucosal cell damage on gastric emptying in
      humans.
AB  - It is well known that protein ingestion immediately after exercise greatly
      stimulates muscle protein synthesis during the postexercise recovery phase.
      However, immediately after strenuous exercise, the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa
      is frequently injured by hypoperfusion in the organ/tissue, possibly resulting in
      impaired GI function (e.g., gastric emptying; GE). The aim of this study was to
      examine the effect of GI blood flow on the GE rate. Eight healthy young subjects
      performed an intermittent supramaximal cycling exercise for 30 min, which
      consisted of a 120% Vo2peak for 20 s, followed by 20 W for 40 s. The subjects
      ingested 300 ml of a nutrient drink containing carbohydrate-protein at either 5
      min postexercise in one trial (PE-5) or 30 min postexercise in another trial (PE
      30). In the control trial (Con), the subjects ingested the same drink without
      exercise. The celiac artery blood flow (CABF) and superior mesenteric artery
      blood flow (SMABF) and GE rate were assessed by ultrasonography. Before drink
      ingestion in PE-5, CABF significantly decreased from baseline, whereas in PE-30,
      it returned to baseline. Following drink ingestion in PE-5, CABF did not change
      from baseline, but it significantly increased in PE-30 and Con. SMABF increased
      significantly later in PE-5 than in PE-30 and Con. The GE rate was consistently
      slower in PE-5 than in PE-30 and Con. In conclusion, the CABF response after
      exercise seems to modulate the subsequent GE rate and SMABF response.NEW &
      NOTEWORTHY A carbohydrate-protein drink was ingested at either 5 min (i.e.,
      profoundly decreased celiac artery blood flow; CABF) or 30 min (i.e., already
      recovered CABF) postexercise. In the 5-min postexercise trial, the gastric
      emptying (GE) rate and superior mesenteric artery blood flow (SMABF) response
      were slower than those in the 30-min postexercise trial. The GE rate and SMABF
      response may be altered depending on the postexercise CABF response.

PMID- 28596271
TI  - Extracting aerobic system dynamics during unsupervised activities of daily living
      using wearable sensor machine learning models.
AB  - Physical activity levels are related through algorithms to the energetic demand,
      with no information regarding the integrity of the multiple physiological systems
      involved in the energetic supply. Longitudinal analysis of the oxygen uptake
      (Vo2) by wearable sensors in realistic settings might permit development of a
      practical tool for the study of the longitudinal aerobic system dynamics (i.e.,
      Vo2 kinetics). This study evaluated aerobic system dynamics based on predicted
      Vo2 data obtained from wearable sensors during unsupervised activities of daily
      living (MUADL). Thirteen healthy men performed a laboratory-controlled moderate
      exercise protocol and were monitored for ~6 h/day for 4 days (MUADL data).
      Variables derived from hip accelerometer (ACCHIP), heart rate monitor, and
      respiratory bands during MUADL were extracted and processed by a validated random
      forest regression model to predict Vo2. The aerobic system analysis was based on
      the frequency-domain analysis of ACCHIP and predicted Vo2 data obtained during
      MUADL. Optimal samples for frequency domain analysis (constrained to <=0.01 Hz)
      were selected when ACCHIP was higher than 0.05 g at a given frequency (i.e.,
      participants were active). The temporal characteristics of predicted Vo2 data
      during MUADL correlated with the temporal characteristics of measured Vo2 data
      during laboratory-controlled protocol ([Formula: see text] = 0.82, P < 0.001, n =
      13). In conclusion, aerobic system dynamics can be investigated during
      unsupervised activities of daily living by wearable sensors. Although
      speculative, these algorithms have the potential to be incorporated into wearable
      systems for early detection of changes in health status in realistic environments
      by detecting changes in aerobic response dynamics. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The early
      detection of subclinical aerobic system impairments might be indicative of
      impaired physiological reserves that impact the capacity for physical activity.
      This study is the first to use wearable sensors in unsupervised activities of
      daily living in combination with novel machine learning algorithms to investigate
      the aerobic system dynamics with the potential to contribute to models of
      functional health status and guide future individualized health care in the
      normal population.

PMID- 28596272
TI  - Exercise training in heart failure: which training modality works best?

PMID- 28596269
TI  - Pretreatment with indomethacin results in increased heat stroke severity during
      recovery in a rodent model of heat stroke.
AB  - It has been suggested that medications can increase heat stroke (HS)
      susceptibility/severity. We investigated whether the nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drug (NSAID) indomethacin (INDO) increases HS severity in a rodent
      model. Core temperature (Tc) of male, C57BL/6J mice (n = 45) was monitored
      continuously, and mice were given a dose of INDO [low dose (LO) 1 mg/kg or high
      dose (HI) 5 mg/kg in flavored treat] or vehicle (flavored treat) before heating.
      HS animals were heated to 42.4 degrees C and euthanized at three time points for
      histological, molecular, and metabolic analysis: onset of HS [maximal core
      temperature (Tc,Max)], 3 h of recovery [minimal core temperature or hypothermia
      depth (HYPO)], and 24 h of recovery (24 h). Nonheated (control) animals underwent
      identical treatment in the absence of heat. INDO (LO or HI) had no effect on
      physiological indicators of performance (e.g., time to Tc,Max, thermal area, or
      cooling time) during heating or recovery. HI INDO resulted in 45% mortality rate
      by 24 h (HI INDO + HS group). The gut showed dramatic increases in gross
      morphological hemorrhage in HI INDO + HS in both survivors and nonsurvivors. HI
      INDO + HS survivors had significantly lower red blood cell counts and hematocrit
      suggesting significant hemorrhage. In the liver, HS induced cell death at HYPO
      and increased inflammation at Tc,Max, HYPO, and 24 h; however, there was
      additional effect with INDO + HS group. Furthermore, the metabolic profile of the
      liver was disturbed by heat, but there was no additive effect of INDO + HS. This
      suggests that there is an increase in morbidity risk with INDO + HS, likely
      resulting from significant gut injury.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This paper suggests that
      in a translational mouse model, NSAIDs may be counterindicated in situations that
      put an individual at risk of heat injury. We show here that a small, single dose
      of the NSAID indomethacin before heat stroke has a dramatic and highly damaging
      effect on the gut, which ultimately leads to increased systemic morbidity.

PMID- 28596273
TI  - Novel analysis of 4DCT imaging quantifies progressive increases in anatomic dead
      space during mechanical ventilation in mice.
AB  - Increased dead space is an important prognostic marker in early acute respiratory
      distress syndrome (ARDS) that correlates with mortality. The cause of increased
      dead space in ARDS has largely been attributed to increased alveolar dead space
      due to ventilation/perfusion mismatching and shunt. We sought to determine
      whether anatomic dead space also increases in response to mechanical ventilation.
      Mice received intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or saline and mechanical
      ventilation (MV). Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) scans were
      performed at onset of MV and after 5 h of MV. Detailed measurements of airway
      volumes and lung tidal volumes were performed using image analysis software. The
      forced oscillation technique was used to obtain measures of airway resistance,
      tissue damping, and tissue elastance. The ratio of airway volumes to total tidal
      volume increased significantly in response to 5 h of mechanical ventilation,
      regardless of LPS exposure, and airways demonstrated significant variation in
      volumes over the respiratory cycle. These findings were associated with an
      increase in tissue elastance (decreased lung compliance) but without changes in
      tidal volumes. Airway volumes increased over time with exposure to mechanical
      ventilation without a concomitant increase in tidal volumes. These findings
      suggest that anatomic dead space fraction increases progressively with exposure
      to positive pressure ventilation and may represent a pathological process.NEW &
      NOTEWORTHY We demonstrate that anatomic dead space ventilation increases
      significantly over time in mice in response to mechanical ventilation. The novel
      functional lung-imaging techniques applied here yield sensitive measures of
      airway volumes that may have wide applications.

PMID- 28596275
TI  - Skeletal muscle morphology, protein synthesis, and gene expression in Ehlers
      Danlos syndrome.
AB  - Patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) are known to have genetically impaired
      connective tissue and skeletal muscle symptoms in form of pain, fatigue, and
      cramps; however earlier studies have not been able to link these symptoms to
      morphological muscle changes. We obtained skeletal muscle biopsies in patients
      with classic EDS [cEDS; n = 5 (Denmark)+ 8 (The Netherlands)] and vascular EDS
      (vEDS; n = 3) and analyzed muscle fiber morphology and content (Western blotting
      and muscle fiber type/area distributions) and muscle mRNA expression and protein
      synthesis rate (RT-PCR and stable isotope technique). The cEDS patients did not
      differ from healthy controls (n = 7-11) with regard to muscle fiber type/area,
      myosin/alpha-actin ratio, muscle protein synthesis rate, or mRNA expression. In
      contrast, the vEDS patients demonstrated higher expression of matrix proteins
      compared with cEDS patients (fibronectin and MMP-2). The cEDS patients had
      surprisingly normal muscle morphology and protein synthesis, whereas vEDS
      patients demonstrated higher mRNA expression for extracellular matrix remodeling
      in skeletal musculature compared with cEDS patients.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study
      is the first of its kind to systematically investigate muscle biopsies from
      Ehlers-Danlos patients, focusing on muscle structure and function. These patients
      suffer from severe muscle symptoms, but in our study they show surprisingly
      normal muscle findings, which points toward indirect muscle symptoms originating
      from the surrounding connective tissue. These findings have basal physiological
      importance and implications for future physiotherapeutic treatment options for
      these patients.

PMID- 28596276
TI  - Comparing the cytotoxicity of electronic cigarette fluids, aerosols and solvents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As thousands of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) refill fluids
      continue to be formulated and distributed, there is a growing need to understand
      the cytotoxicity of the flavouring chemicals and solvents used in these products
      to ensure they are safe. The purpose of this study was to compare the
      cytotoxicity of e-cigarette refill fluids/solvents and their corresponding
      aerosols using in vitro cultured cells. METHODS: E-cigarette refill fluids and do
      it-yourself products were screened in liquid and aerosol form for cytotoxicity
      using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)
      assay. The sensitivity of human pulmonary fibroblasts, lung epithelial cells
      (A549) and human embryonic stem cells to liquids and aerosols was compared.
      Aerosols were produced using Johnson Creek's Vea cartomizer style e-cigarette.
      RESULTS: A hierarchy of potency was established for the aerosolised products. Our
      data show that (1) e-cigarette aerosols can produce cytotoxic effects in cultured
      cells, (2) four patterns of cytotoxicity were found when comparing refill fluids
      and their corresponding aerosols, (3) fluids accurately predicted aerosol
      cytotoxicity 74% of the time, (4) stem cells were often more sensitive to
      aerosols than differentiated cells and (5) 91% of the aerosols made from refill
      fluids containing only glycerin were cytotoxic, even when produced at a low
      voltage. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that various flavours/brands of e-cigarette
      refill fluids and their aerosols are cytotoxic and demonstrate the need for
      further evaluation of e-cigarette products to better understand their potential
      health effects.

PMID- 28596274
TI  - Dietary nitrate restores compensatory vasodilation and exercise capacity in
      response to a compromise in oxygen delivery in the noncompensator phenotype.
AB  - Recently, dietary nitrate supplementation has been shown to improve exercise
      capacity in healthy individuals through a potential nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide
      pathway. Nitric oxide has been shown to play an important role in compensatory
      vasodilation during exercise under hypoperfusion. Previously, we established that
      certain individuals lack a vasodilation response when perfusion pressure
      reductions compromise exercising muscle blood flow. Whether this lack of
      compensatory vasodilation in healthy, young individuals can be restored with
      dietary nitrate supplementation is unknown. Six healthy (21 +/- 2 yr),
      recreationally active men completed a rhythmic forearm exercise. During steady
      state exercise, the exercising arm was rapidly transitioned from an uncompromised
      (below heart) to a compromised (above heart) position, resulting in a reduction
      in local pressure of -31 +/- 1 mmHg. Exercise was completed following 5 days of
      nitrate-rich (70 ml, 0.4 g nitrate) and nitrate-depleted (70 ml, ~0 g nitrate)
      beetroot juice consumption. Forearm blood flow (in milliliters per minute;
      brachial artery Doppler and echo ultrasound), mean arterial blood pressure (in
      millimeters of mercury; finger photoplethysmography), exercising forearm venous
      effluent (ante-cubital vein catheter), and plasma nitrite concentrations
      (chemiluminescence) revealed two distinct vasodilatory responses: nitrate
      supplementation increased (plasma nitrite) compared with placebo (245 +/- 60 vs.
      39 +/- 9 nmol/l; P < 0.001), and compensatory vasodilation was present following
      nitrate supplementation (568 +/- 117 vs. 714 +/- 139 ml ? min-1 ? 100 mmHg-1; P =
      0.005) but not in placebo (687 +/- 166 vs. 697 +/- 171 min-1 ? 100 mmHg-1; P =
      0.42). As such, peak exercise capacity was reduced to a lesser degree (-4 +/- 39
      vs. -39 +/- 27 N; P = 0.01). In conclusion, dietary nitrate supplementation
      during a perfusion pressure challenge is an effective means of restoring exercise
      capacity and enabling compensatory vasodilation.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Previously, we
      identified young, healthy persons who suffer compromised exercise tolerance when
      exercising muscle perfusion pressure is reduced as a result of a lack of
      compensatory vasodilation. The ability of nitrate supplementation to restore
      compensatory vasodilation in such noncompensators is unknown. We demonstrated
      that beetroot juice supplementation led to compensatory vasodilation and restored
      perfusion and exercise capacity. Elevated plasma nitrite is an effective
      intervention for correcting the absence of compensatory vasodilation in the
      noncompensator phenotype.

PMID- 28596277
TI  - The liver in regulation of iron homeostasis.
AB  - The liver is one of the largest and most functionally diverse organs in the human
      body. In addition to roles in detoxification of xenobiotics, digestion, synthesis
      of important plasma proteins, gluconeogenesis, lipid metabolism, and storage, the
      liver also plays a significant role in iron homeostasis. Apart from being the
      storage site for excess body iron, it also plays a vital role in regulating the
      amount of iron released into the blood by enterocytes and macrophages. Since iron
      is essential for many important physiological and molecular processes, it
      increases the importance of liver in the proper functioning of the body's
      metabolism. This hepatic iron-regulatory function can be attributed to the
      expression of many liver-specific or liver-enriched proteins, all of which play
      an important role in the regulation of iron homeostasis. This review focuses on
      these proteins and their known roles in the regulation of body iron metabolism.

PMID- 28596278
TI  - HLA-DRB1*07:01-HLA-DQA1*02:01-HLA-DQB1*02:02 haplotype is associated with a high
      risk of asparaginase hypersensitivity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Hypersensitivity reactions are the most frequent dose-limiting adverse reactions
      to Escherichia coli-derived asparaginase in pediatric acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia (ALL) patients. The aim of the present study was to identify
      associations between sequence-based Human Leukocyte Antigen Class II region
      alleles and asparaginase hypersensitivity in a Hungarian ALL population. Four
      digit typing of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 loci was performed in 359 pediatric ALL
      patients by using next-generation sequencing method. Based on genotypic data of
      the two loci, haplotype reconstruction was carried out. In order to investigate
      the possible role of the HLA-DQ complex, the HLA-DQA1 alleles were also inferred.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis and a Bayesian network-based approach
      were applied to identify relevant genetic risk factors of asparaginase
      hypersensitivity. Patients with HLA-DRB1*07:01 and HLA-DQB1*02:02 alleles had
      significantly higher risk of developing asparaginase hypersensitivity compared to
      non-carriers [P=4.56*10-5; OR=2.86 (1.73-4.75) and P=1.85*10-4; OR=2.99 (1.68
      5.31); n=359, respectively]. After haplotype reconstruction, the HLA-DRB1*07:01
      HLA-DQB1*02:02 haplotype was associated with an increased risk. After inferring
      the HLA-DQA1 alleles the HLA-DRB1*07:01-HLA-DQA1*02:01-HLA-DQB1*02:02 haplotype
      was associated with the highest risk of asparaginase hypersensitivity [P=1.22*10
      5; OR=5.00 (2.43-10.29); n=257]. Significantly fewer T-cell ALL patients carried
      the HLA-DQB1*02:02 allele and the associated haplotype than did pre-B-cell ALL
      patients (6.5%; vs. 19.2%, respectively; P=0.047). In conclusion, we identified a
      haplotype in the Human Leukocyte Antigen Class II region associated with a higher
      risk of asparaginase hypersensitivity. Our results confirm that variations in HLA
      D region might influence the development of asparaginase hypersensitivity.

PMID- 28596279
TI  - Feasibility study of online yoga for symptom management in patients with
      myeloproliferative neoplasms.

PMID- 28596280
TI  - Extracellular vesicles of bone marrow stromal cells rescue chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia B cells from apoptosis, enhance their migration and induce gene
      expression modifications.
AB  - Interactions between chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells and the bone
      marrow (BM) microenvironment play a major function in the physiopathology of CLL.
      Extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are composed of exosomes and microparticles,
      play an important role in cell communication. However, little is known about
      their role in CLL / microenvironment interactions. In the present study, EVs
      purified by ultracentrifugation from BM mesenchymal stromal cell (BM-MSC)
      cultures were added to CLL B cells. After their integration into CLL B cells, we
      observed a decrease of leukemic cell spontaneous apoptosis and an increase in
      their chemoresistance to several drugs, including fludarabine, ibrutinib,
      idelalisib and venetoclax after 24 hours. Spontaneous (P=0.0078) and stromal cell
      derived factor 1alpha -induced migration capacities of CLL B cells were also
      enhanced (P=0.0020). A microarray study highlighted 805 differentially expressed
      genes between leukemic cells cultured with or without EVs. Of these, genes
      involved in the B-cell receptor pathway such as CCL3/4, EGR1/2/3, and MYC were
      increased. Interestingly, this signature presents important overlaps with other
      microenvironment stimuli such as B-cell receptor stimulation, CLL/nurse-like
      cells co-culture or those provided by a lymph node microenvironment. Finally, we
      showed that EVs from MSCs of leukemic patients also rescue leukemic cells from
      spontaneous or drug-induced apoptosis. However, they induce a higher migration
      and also a stronger gene modification compared to EVs of healthy MSCs. In
      conclusion, we show that EVs play a crucial role in CLL B cells/BM
      microenvironment communication.

PMID- 28596281
TI  - Hemoglobin concentration, total hemoglobin mass and plasma volume in patients:
      implications for anemia.
AB  - In practice, clinicians generally consider anemia (circulating hemoglobin
      concentration < 120 g.l-1 in non-pregnant females and < 130 g.l-1 in males) as
      due to impaired hemoglobin synthesis or increased erythrocyte loss or
      destruction. Rarely is a rise in plasma volume relative to circulating total
      hemoglobin mass considered as a cause. But does this matter? We explored this
      issue in patients, measuring hemoglobin concentration, total hemoglobin mass
      (optimized carbon monoxide rebreathing method) and thereby calculating plasma
      volume in healthy volunteers, surgical patients, and those with inflammatory
      bowel disease, chronic liver disease or heart failure. We studied 109
      participants. Hemoglobin mass correlated well with its concentration in the
      healthy, surgical and inflammatory bowel disease groups (r=0.687-0.871, P<0.001).
      However, they were poorly related in liver disease (r=0.410, P=0.11) and heart
      failure patients (r=0.312, P=0.16). Here, hemoglobin mass explained little of the
      variance in its concentration (adjusted R2=0.109 and 0.052; P=0.11 and 0.16),
      whilst plasma volume did (R2 change 0.724 and 0.805 in heart and liver disease
      respectively, P<0.0001). Exemplar patients with identical (normal or raised)
      total hemoglobin masses were diagnosed as profoundly anemic (or not) depending on
      differences in plasma volume that had not been measured or even considered as a
      cause. The traditional inference that anemia generally reflects hemoglobin
      deficiency may be misleading, potentially resulting in inappropriate tests and
      therapeutic interventions to address 'hemoglobin deficiency' not 'plasma volume
      excess'. Measurement of total hemoglobin mass and plasma volume is now simple,
      cheap and safe, and its more routine use is advocated.

PMID- 28596282
TI  - Chlorambucil plus rituximab as front-line therapy for elderly and/or unfit
      chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients: correlation with biologically-based risk
      stratification.

PMID- 28596284
TI  - Prognostic biopsy of choroidal melanoma: an optimised surgical and laboratory
      approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate survival prognostication for patients with uveal melanoma
      (UM) enables effective patient counselling and permits personalised systemic
      surveillance for the early detection of metastases and, in high-risk patients,
      enrolment in any trials of systemic adjuvant therapy. The aim of this work is to
      determine the success of prognostic UM tumour biopsy using an improved surgical
      approach and optimised sample handling workflow. METHODS: Patients with UM
      treated by primary radiotherapy between 2011 and 2013 and who underwent a
      prognostic biopsy with cytology, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification
      and/or microsatellite analysis were included. The main outcomes and measures were
      success of cytology and genetic studies, and surgical complications. RESULTS: The
      cohort comprised 232 patients with UM having a median age of 59 years (range, 25
      82) at treatment. The median largest basal diameter was 11.4 mm (range, 4.1-20.8)
      and tumour height was 3.4 mm (range, 0.7-10.3). Ciliary body involvement was
      noted in 42 cases. Treatment consisted of Ru-106 brachytherapy in 151 cases (65%)
      and proton beam radiotherapy in 81 cases (35%). With improvements in surgical
      techniques and laboratory methods over time, cytology success increased from 92%
      (131/142) to 99% (89/90) and the numbers of samples with sufficient DNA for
      genetic testing increased from 79% (104/131) to 93% (83/89). Overall, chromosome
      3 loss was noted in 64/187 (34%) cases. Surgical complications, including
      transient localised bleeding, vitreous haemorrhage and retinal perforation,
      decreased over time. Eight patients required additional surgery. CONCLUSIONS:
      Improved surgical techniques and laboratory methods yielded successful cytology
      and genetic information in the majority of cases. PRECIS: Analysis of data from
      232 patients with uveal melanoma undergoing prognostic tumour biopsy demonstrated
      that improved surgical techniques and laboratory methods yielded successful
      cytology and genetic information in 99% and 89% of cases, respectively.

PMID- 28596283
TI  - Combined targeting of STAT3 and STAT5: a novel approach to overcome drug
      resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia.
AB  - In chronic myeloid leukemia, resistance against BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors can develop because of BCR-ABL1 mutations, activation of additional
      pro-oncogenic pathways, and stem cell resistance. Drug combinations covering a
      broad range of targets may overcome resistance. CDDO-Me (bardoxolone methyl) is a
      drug that inhibits the survival of leukemic cells by targeting different pro
      survival molecules, including STAT3. We found that CDDO-Me inhibits proliferation
      and survival of tyrosine kinase inhibitor-resistant BCR-ABL1+ cell lines and
      primary leukemic cells, including cells harboring BCR-ABL1T315I or T315I+
      compound mutations. Furthermore, CDDO-Me was found to block growth and survival
      of CD34+/CD38- leukemic stem cells (LSC). Moreover, CDDO-Me was found to produce
      synergistic growth-inhibitory effects when combined with BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors. These drug-combinations were found to block multiple signaling
      cascades and molecules, including STAT3 and STAT5. Furthermore, combined
      targeting of STAT3 and STAT5 by shRNA and STAT5-targeting drugs also resulted in
      synergistic growth-inhibition, pointing to a new efficient concept of
      combinatorial STAT3 and STAT5 inhibition. However, CDDO-Me was also found to
      increase the expression of heme-oxygenase-1, a heat-shock-protein that triggers
      drug resistance and cell survival. We therefore combined CDDO-Me with the heme
      oxygenase-1 inhibitor SMA-ZnPP, which also resulted in synergistic growth
      inhibitory effects. Moreover, SMA-ZnPP was found to sensitize BCR-ABL1+ cells
      against the combination 'CDDO-Me+ tyrosine kinase inhibitor'. Together, combined
      targeting of STAT3, STAT5, and heme-oxygenase-1 overcomes resistance in BCR-ABL1+
      cells, including stem cells and highly resistant sub-clones expressing BCR
      ABL1T315I or T315I-compound mutations. Whether such drug-combinations are
      effective in tyrosine kinase inhibitor-resistant patients with chronic myeloid
      leukemia remains to be elucidated.

PMID- 28596285
TI  - Vitreomacular adhesion or vitreomacular traction may affect antivascular
      endothelium growth factor treatment for neovascular age-related macular
      degeneration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to determine whether vitreomacular adhesion
      (VMA) or vitreomacular traction (VMT) has an influence on the outcomes of
      antivascular endothelium growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment neovascular age
      related macular degeneration (nAMD). METHODS: A systematic literature search was
      performed in Pubmed.gov, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National
      Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, SinoMed and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 30 June
      2016 to identify eligible studies. RESULTS: Nine studies and 2212 participants
      were finally identified. At month 6, the mean improvement in best-corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) and mean decline in central retinal thickness (CRT) of the
      VMA/VMT(+) group was less than that of the VMA/VMT(-) group (95% CI -3.05 to 
      0.96 letters, p=0.0002; 15.53 to 32.98 MUm, p<0.00001; respectively); at month
      12, there was a small or only marginally significant difference (-0.01 to 2.00
      letters, p=0.05; 0.17 to 23.7 MUm, p=0.05; respectively) between the groups.
      During the 12 months, however, the VMA/VMT(+) group required more injections
      ((0.25 to 0.95), p=0.0008). CONCLUSIONS: In using anti-VEGF drugs to treat nAMD,
      clinicians should take into account the fact that concurrent VMA or VMT might
      antagonise the efficacy of anti-VEGF drugs during the early stage of treatment.

PMID- 28596286
TI  - One-year outcome of intravitreal ziv-aflibercept therapy for non-responsive
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate 12-month outcome of intravitreal ziv-aflibercept (IVZ) therapy
      in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) that are non
      responsive to bevacizumab and ranibizumab. METHODS: This retrospective study
      included 16 eyes (14 patients) with nAMD who were on prior treatment with
      bevacizumab and ranibizumab and were treated with as-needed IVZ (1.25 mg/0.05 mL)
      for 12 months. The primary outcome measure was the mean change in best corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) and secondary outcome measures included mean change in
      central macular thickness (CMT), retinal pigment epithelial detachment (RPED)
      heights, longest treatment free interval, presence of subretinal fluid (SRF) and
      intraretinal fluid (IRF) and adverse events. RESULTS: There was no change in the
      mean logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) BCVA at baseline and
      following treatment with IVZ therapy (p=0.978). The mean number of IVZ injections
      during 12 months was 5.9+/-3.3, and the mean number of antivascular endothelial
      growth factors (VEGFs) injections prior to switching to IVZ was 8.4+/-4.7. The
      mean treatment free interval was longer during IVZ therapy (114.4+/-67.1 days)
      compared with 76.3+/-54.6 days before IVZ therapy (p=0.03). Five (31.25%) eyes
      had visual gains of at least 0.1 logMAR, 3 (18.75%) eyes had stable BCVA (within
      0.1 logMAR) and 8 (50%) eyes had BCVA decline of at least 0.1 logMAR. There was
      no significant difference in the mean CMT, RPED heights and presence of IRF and
      SRF at 12 months compared with baseline. No adverse events were noted.
      CONCLUSION: IVZ increased the treatment free interval in non-responders but no
      significant change in visual and anatomic outcomes.

PMID- 28596287
TI  - Incidence and prevalence of uveitis in South Korea: a nationwide cohort study.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the incidence and prevalence of uveitis and associated risk
      factors in South Korea. METHODS: For this retrospective national cohort study,
      approximately 1 000 000 Korean residents were randomly selected from the Korean
      National Health Insurance Service database. Uveitis was defined according to the
      Korean Classification of Diseases. The uveitis incidence and prevalence were
      calculated. Sociodemographic factors and comorbidities associated with uveitis
      were evaluated via Cox proportional regression models. RESULTS: A total of 1 094
      440 subjects were evaluated over 7 051 346 person-years (mean follow-up: 6.44
      years). Overall, 7447 newly developed uveitis cases were identified during the
      period of 2007-2013; the average incidence of uveitis was 10.6 per 10 000 person
      years (95% CI 10.3 to 10.8). The average incidences of anterior and non-anterior
      uveitis were 9.0 and 1.5 per 10 000 person-years, respectively. The prevalence
      rates of uveitis, anterior uveitis and non-anterior uveitis were 17.3, 15.0 and
      2.3 per 10 000 persons, respectively, during the period of 2007-2013. Increasing
      age, male sex, residing in a relatively rural area and high income were
      associated with uveitis, along with Behcet's disease, juvenile idiopathic
      arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematous, ulcerative
      colitis and tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of uveitis in Korea
      was similar to those reported in Taiwan and the USA. Despite a potentially
      inaccurate disease definition, claims data may be useful for monitoring the
      substantial uveitis burden in South Korea.

PMID- 28596289
TI  - Paediatric sepsis, the under-recognised killer: quality improvement initiative of
      outreach teaching in paediatric sepsis.
AB  - Sepsis is the leading cause of child's death, yet it is well known that the rapid
      initiation of simple, timely interventions reduces morbidity and mortality. This
      paper shares our findings on the barriers doctors in training have identified to
      delivering such care. We also share the results of a pilot paediatric intensive
      care unit outreach teaching programme designed to directly address these
      highlighted concerns.

PMID- 28596288
TI  - Should exercises be painful in the management of chronic musculoskeletal pain? A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic musculoskeletal disorders are a prevalent and costly global
      health issue. A new form of exercise therapy focused on loading and resistance
      programmes that temporarily aggravates a patient's pain has been proposed. The
      object of this review was to compare the effect of exercises where pain is
      allowed/encouraged compared with non-painful exercises on pain, function or
      disability in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain within randomised
      controlled trials. METHODS: Two authors independently selected studies and
      appraised risk of bias. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Cochrane
      risk of bias tool, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment system was used
      to evaluate the quality of evidence. RESULTS: The literature search identified
      9081 potentially eligible studies. Nine papers (from seven trials) with 385
      participants met the inclusion criteria. There was short- term significant
      difference in pain, with moderate quality evidence for a small effect size of 
      0.27 (-0.54 to -0.05) in favour of painful exercises. For pain in the medium and
      long term, and function and disability in the short, medium and long term, there
      was no significant difference. CONCLUSION: Protocols using painful exercises
      offer a small but significant benefit over pain-free exercises in the short term,
      with moderate quality of evidence. In the medium and long term there is no clear
      superiority of one treatment over another. Pain during therapeutic exercise for
      chronic musculoskeletal pain need not be a barrier to successful outcomes.
      Further research is warranted to fully evaluate the effectiveness of loading and
      resistance programmes into pain for chronic musculoskeletal disorders. PROSPERO
      REGISTRATION: CRD42016038882.

PMID- 28596290
TI  - Yeast genetic interaction screen of human genes associated with amyotrophic
      lateral sclerosis: identification of MAP2K5 kinase as a potential drug target.
AB  - To understand disease mechanisms, a large-scale analysis of human-yeast genetic
      interactions was performed. Of 1305 human disease genes assayed, 20 genes
      exhibited strong toxicity in yeast. Human-yeast genetic interactions were
      identified by en masse transformation of the human disease genes into a pool of
      4653 homozygous diploid yeast deletion mutants with unique barcode sequences,
      followed by multiplexed barcode sequencing to identify yeast toxicity modifiers.
      Subsequent network analyses focusing on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
      associated genes, such as optineurin (OPTN) and angiogenin (ANG), showed that the
      human orthologs of the yeast toxicity modifiers of these ALS genes are enriched
      for several biological processes, such as cell death, lipid metabolism, and
      molecular transport. When yeast genetic interaction partners held in common
      between human OPTN and ANG were validated in mammalian cells and zebrafish,
      MAP2K5 kinase emerged as a potential drug target for ALS therapy. The toxicity
      modifiers identified in this study may deepen our understanding of the pathogenic
      mechanisms of ALS and other devastating diseases.

PMID- 28596292
TI  - The PDE4 inhibitor CHF-6001 and LAMAs inhibit bronchoconstriction-induced
      remodeling in lung slices.
AB  - Combination therapy of PDE4 inhibitors and anticholinergics induces
      bronchoprotection in COPD. Mechanical forces that arise during
      bronchoconstriction may contribute to airway remodeling. Therefore, we
      investigated the impact of PDE4 inhibitors and anticholinergics on
      bronchoconstriction-induced remodeling. Because of the different mechanism of
      action of PDE4 inhibitors and anticholinergics, we hypothesized functional
      interactions of these two drug classes. Guinea pig precision-cut lung slices were
      preincubated with the PDE4 inhibitors CHF-6001 or roflumilast and/or the
      anticholinergics tiotropium or glycopyorrolate, followed by stimulation with
      methacholine (10 MUM) or TGF-beta1 (2 ng/ml) for 48 h. The inhibitory effects on
      airway smooth muscle remodeling, airway contraction, and TGF-beta release were
      investigated. Methacholine-induced protein expression of smooth muscle-myosin was
      fully inhibited by CHF-6001 (0.3-100 nM), whereas roflumilast (1 uM) had smaller
      effects. Tiotropium and glycopyrrolate fully inhibited methacholine-induced
      airway remodeling (0.1-30 nM). The combination of CHF-6001 and tiotropium or
      glycopyrrolate, in concentrations partially effective by themselves, fully
      inhibited methacholine-induced remodeling in combination. CHF-6001 did not affect
      airway closure and had limited effects on TGF-beta1-induced remodeling, but
      rather, it inhibited methacholine-induced TGF-beta release. The PDE4 inhibitor
      CHF-6001, and to a lesser extent roflumilast, and the LAMAs tiotropium and
      glycopyrrolate inhibit bronchoconstriction-induced remodeling. The combination of
      CHF-6001 and anticholinergics was more effective than the individual compounds.
      This cooperativity might be explained by the distinct mechanisms of action
      inhibiting TGF-beta release and bronchoconstriction.

PMID- 28596293
TI  - The uncoupling of autophagy and zinc homeostasis in airway epithelial cells as a
      fundamental contributor to COPD.
AB  - The proper regulation of zinc (Zn) trafficking proteins and the cellular
      distribution of Zn are critical for the maintenance of autophagic processes.
      However, there have been no studies that have examined Zn dyshomeostasis and the
      disease-related modulation of autophagy observed in the airways afflicted with
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We hypothesized that dysregulated
      autophagy in airway epithelial cells (AECs) is related to Zn dysregulation in
      cigarette smoke (CS)-induced COPD. We applied a human ex vivo air-liquid
      interface model, a murine model of smoke exposure, and human lung tissues and
      investigated Zn, ZIP1, and ZIP2 Zn-influx proteins, autophagy [microtubule
      associated 1A/1B-light chain-3 (LC3), Beclin-1], autophagic flux (Sequestosome),
      apoptosis [Bcl2; X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), poly (ADP)-ribose
      polymerase (PARP)], and inflammation [thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP),
      regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), and IL
      1beta]. Lung tissues from CS-exposed mice exhibit reduced free-Zn in AECs, with
      elevated ZIP1 and diminished ZIP2 expression. Interestingly, increased LC3
      colocalized with ZIP1, suggesting an autophagic requirement for free-Zn to
      support its catabolic function. In human AECs, autophagy was initiated but was
      unable to efficiently degrade cellular debris, as evidenced by stable Beclin-1
      and increased LC3-II, but with a concomitant elevation in Sequestosome.
      Autophagic dysfunction due to CS exposure coupled with Zn depletion also induced
      apoptosis, with the reduction of antiapoptotic and antiautophagic proteins Bcl2
      and XIAP and PARP cleavage. This was accompanied by an increase in RANTES and
      TSLP, an activator of adaptive immunity. We conclude that the uncoupling of Zn
      trafficking and autophagy in AECs constitutes a fundamental disease-related
      mechanism for COPD pathogenesis and could provide a new therapeutic target.

PMID- 28596294
TI  - The metalloproteinase ADAM8 promotes leukocyte recruitment in vitro and in acute
      lung inflammation.
AB  - Alveolar leukocyte recruitment is a hallmark of acute lung inflammation and
      involves transmigration of leukocytes through endothelial and epithelial layers.
      The disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) 8 is expressed on human isolated
      leukocytic cells and can be further upregulated on cultured endothelial and
      epithelial cells by proinflammatory cytokines. By shRNA-mediated knockdown we
      show that leukocytic ADAM8 is required on monocytic THP-1 cells for chemokine
      induced chemotaxis as well as transendothelial and transepithelial migration.
      Furthermore, ADAM8 promotes alphaL-integrin upregulation and THP-1 cell adhesion
      to endothelial cells. On endothelial cells ADAM8 enhances transendothelial
      migration and increases cytokine-induced permeability. On epithelial cells the
      protease facilitates migration in a wound closure assay but does not affect
      transepithelial leukocyte migration. Blood leukocytes and bone marrow-derived
      macrophages (BMDM) from ADAM8-deficient mice show suppressed chemotactic
      response. Intranasal application of LPS to mice is accompanied with ADAM8
      upregulation in the lung. In this model of acute lung inflammation ADAM8
      deficient mice are protected against leukocyte infiltration. Finally, transfer
      experiments of BMDM in mice indicate that ADAM8 exerts a promigratory function
      predominantly on leukocytes. Our study provides in vitro and in vivo evidence
      that ADAM8 on leukocytes holds a proinflammatory function in acute lung
      inflammation by promoting alveolar leukocyte recruitment.

PMID- 28596291
TI  - DDX54 regulates transcriptome dynamics during DNA damage response.
AB  - The cellular response to genotoxic stress is mediated by a well-characterized
      network of DNA surveillance pathways. The contribution of post-transcriptional
      gene regulatory networks to the DNA damage response (DDR) has not been
      extensively studied. Here, we systematically identified RNA-binding proteins
      differentially interacting with polyadenylated transcripts upon exposure of human
      breast carcinoma cells to ionizing radiation (IR). Interestingly, more than 260
      proteins, including many nucleolar proteins, showed increased binding to poly(A)+
      RNA in IR-exposed cells. The functional analysis of DDX54, a candidate genotoxic
      stress responsive RNA helicase, revealed that this protein is an immediate-to
      early DDR regulator required for the splicing efficacy of its target IR-induced
      pre-mRNAs. Upon IR exposure, DDX54 acts by increased interaction with a well
      defined class of pre-mRNAs that harbor introns with weak acceptor splice sites,
      as well as by protein-protein contacts within components of U2 snRNP and
      spliceosomal B complex, resulting in lower intron retention and higher processing
      rates of its target transcripts. Because DDX54 promotes survival after exposure
      to IR, its expression and/or mutation rate may impact DDR-related pathologies.
      Our work indicates the relevance of many uncharacterized RBPs potentially
      involved in the DDR.

PMID- 28596295
TI  - Genetic variance is associated with susceptibility for cigarette smoke-induced
      DAMP release in mice.
AB  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by unresolved
      neutrophilic airway inflammation and is caused by chronic exposure to toxic
      gases, such as cigarette smoke (CS), in genetically susceptible individuals.
      Recent data indicate a role for damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in
      COPD. Here, we investigated the genetics of CS-induced DAMP release in 28 inbred
      mouse strains. Subsequently, in lung tissue from a subset of strains, the
      expression of the identified candidate genes was analyzed. We tested whether
      small interfering RNA-dependent knockdown of candidate genes altered the
      susceptibility of the human A549 cell line to CS-induced cell death and DAMP
      release. Furthermore, we tested whether these genes were differentially regulated
      by CS exposure in bronchial brushings obtained from individuals with a family
      history indicative of either the presence or absence of susceptibility for COPD.
      We observed that, of the four DAMPs tested, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) showed
      the highest correlation with neutrophilic airway inflammation. Genetic analyses
      identified 11 candidate genes governing either CS-induced or basal dsDNA release
      in mice. Two candidate genes (Elac2 and Ppt1) showed differential expression in
      lung tissue on CS exposure between susceptible and nonsusceptible mouse strains.
      Knockdown of ELAC2 and PPT1 in A549 cells altered susceptibility to CS extract
      induced cell death and DAMP release. In bronchial brushings, CS-induced
      expression of ENOX1 and ARGHGEF11 was significantly different between individuals
      susceptible or nonsusceptible for COPD. Our study shows that genetic variance in
      a mouse model is associated with CS-induced DAMP release, and that this might
      contribute to susceptibility for COPD.

PMID- 28596296
TI  - Dietary saccharides and sweet tastants have differential effects on colonization
      of Drosophila oocytes by Wolbachia endosymbionts.
AB  - Wolbachia bacteria are widespread, maternally transmitted endosymbionts of
      insects. Maintenance of sufficient Wolbachia titer in maternal germline cells is
      required for transmission efficacy. The mechanisms that regulate Wolbachia titer
      are not well understood; however, dietary sucrose was reported to elevate oocyte
      Wolbachia titer in Drosophila melanogaster whereas dietary yeast decreased oocyte
      titer. To further investigate how oocyte Wolbachia titer is controlled, this
      study analyzed the response of wMel Wolbachia to diets enriched in an array of
      natural sugars and other sweet tastants. Confocal imaging of D. melanogaster
      oocytes showed that food enriched in dietary galactose, lactose, maltose and
      trehalose elevated Wolbachia titer. However, oocyte Wolbachia titers were
      unaffected by exposure to the sweet tastants lactulose, erythritol, xylitol,
      aspartame and saccharin as compared to the control. Oocyte size was generally non
      responsive to the nutrient-altered diets. Ovary size, however, was consistently
      smaller in response to all sugar- and sweetener-enriched diets. Furthermore, most
      dietary sugars administered in tandem with dietary yeast conferred complete
      rescue of oocyte titer suppression by yeast. All diets dually enriched in yeast
      and sugar also rescued yeast-associated ovary volume changes. This indicates
      oocyte colonization by Wolbachia to be a nutritionally sensitive process
      regulated by multiple mechanistic inputs.

PMID- 28596298
TI  - Sex differences in pulmonary vascular control: focus on the nitric oxide pathway.
AB  - Although the incidence of pulmonary hypertension is higher in females, the
      severity and prognosis of pulmonary vascular disease in both neonates and adults
      have been shown to be worse in male subjects. Studies of sex differences in
      pulmonary hypertension have mainly focused on the role of sex hormones. However,
      the contribution of sex differences in terms of vascular signaling pathways
      regulating pulmonary vascular function remains incompletely understood.
      Consequently, we investigated pulmonary vascular function of male and female
      swine in vivo, both at rest and during exercise, and in isolated small pulmonary
      arteries in vitro, with a particular focus on the NO-cGMP-PDE5 pathway. Pulmonary
      hemodynamics at rest and during exercise were virtually identical in male and
      female swine. Moreover, NO synthase inhibition resulted in a similar degree of
      pulmonary vasoconstriction in male and female swine. However, NO synthase
      inhibition blunted bradykinin-induced vasodilation in pulmonary small arteries to
      a greater extent in male than in female swine. PDE5 inhibition resulted in a
      similar degree of vasodilation in male and female swine at rest, while during
      exercise there was a trend towards a larger effect in male swine. In small
      pulmonary arteries, PDE5 inhibition failed to augment bradykinin-induced
      vasodilation in either sex. Finally, in the presence of NO synthase inhibition,
      the pulmonary vasodilator effect of PDE5 inhibition was significantly larger in
      female swine both in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, the present study
      demonstrated significant sex differences in the regulation of pulmonary vascular
      tone, which may contribute to understanding sex differences in incidence,
      treatment response, and prognosis of pulmonary vascular disease.

PMID- 28596299
TI  - Postexercise essential amino acid supplementation amplifies skeletal muscle
      satellite cell proliferation in older men 24 hours postexercise.
AB  - Aged skeletal muscle has an attenuated and delayed ability to proliferate
      satellite cells in response to resistance exercise. The mechanistic target of
      rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway is a focal point for cell growth,
      however, the effect of postexercise mTORC1 activation on human skeletal muscle
      satellite cell (SC) proliferation is unknown. To test the proliferative capacity
      of skeletal muscle SC in aging muscle to a potent mTORC1 activator (i.e., EAA;
      essential amino acids) we recruited older (~72y) men to conduct leg resistance
      exercise (8setsx10reps) without (-EAA; n = 8) and with (+EAA: n = 11) ingestion
      of 10 g of EAA 1 h postexercise. Muscle biopsies were taken before exercise (Pre)
      and 24 h postexercise (Post) for assessment of expression and fiber type-specific
      Pax7+ SC, Ki67+Pax7+ SC and MyoD+ SC -EAA did not show an increase in Pax7+
      satellite cells at Post(P > 0.82). Although statistical significance for an
      increase in Pax7 +  SC at 24 h post-RE was not observed in +EAA versus -EAA, we
      observed trends for a treatment difference (P < 0.1). When examining the change
      from Pre to Post trends were demonstrated (#/myofiber: P = 0.076; and
      %/myonuclei: P = 0.065) for a greater increase in +EAA versus -EAA Notably, we
      found an increase SC proliferation in +EAA, but not -EAA with increase in Ki67+
      SC and MyoD+ cells (P < 0.05). Ki67+ SC also exhibited a significant group
      difference Post (P < 0.010). Pax7+ SC in fast twitch myofibers did not change and
      were not different between groups (P > 0.10). CDK2, MEF2C, RB1 mRNA only
      increased in +EAA (P < 0.05). Acute muscle satellite cell proliferative capacity
      may be partially rescued with postexercise EAA ingestion in older men.

PMID- 28596301
TI  - Modeling elucidates how refractory period can provide profound nonlinear gain
      control to graded potential neurons.
AB  - Refractory period (RP) plays a central role in neural signaling. Because it
      limits an excitable membrane's recovery time from a previous excitation, it can
      restrict information transmission. Classically, RP means the recovery time from
      an action potential (spike), and its impact to encoding has been mostly studied
      in spiking neurons. However, many sensory neurons do not communicate with spikes
      but convey information by graded potential changes. In these systems, RP can
      arise as an intrinsic property of their quantal micro/nanodomain sampling events,
      as recently revealed for quantum bumps (single photon responses) in microvillar
      photoreceptors. Whilst RP is directly unobservable and hard to measure, masked by
      the graded macroscopic response that integrates numerous quantal events, modeling
      can uncover its role in encoding. Here, we investigate computationally how RP can
      affect encoding of graded neural responses. Simulations in a simple stochastic
      process model for a fly photoreceptor elucidate how RP can profoundly contribute
      to nonlinear gain control to achieve a large dynamic range.

PMID- 28596302
TI  - Carcinoid heart disease.
AB  - Rare neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) that most commonly arise in the
      gastrointestinal tract can lead to carcinoid syndrome and carcinoid heart
      disease. Patients with carcinoid syndrome present with vasomotor changes,
      hypermotility of the gastrointestinal system, hypotension and bronchospasm.
      Medical therapy for carcinoid syndrome, typically with somatostatin analogues,
      can help control symptoms, inhibit tumour progression and prolong survival.
      Carcinoid heart disease occurs in more than 50% of these patients and is the
      initial presentation of carcinoid syndrome in up to 20% of patients. Carcinoid
      heart disease has characteristic findings of plaque-like deposits composed of
      smooth muscle cells, myofibroblasts, extracellular matrix and an overlying
      endothelial layer which can lead to valve dysfunction. Valvular dysfunction can
      lead to oedema, ascites and right-sided heart failure. Medical therapy of
      carcinoid heart disease is limited to symptom control and palliation. Valve
      surgery for carcinoid heart disease should be considered for symptomatic patients
      with controlled metastatic carcinoid syndrome. A multidisciplinary approach is
      needed to guide optimal management.

PMID- 28596300
TI  - Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma is linked to Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
      and to Fibrosis.
AB  - Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) represents the most common type of kidney
      cancer with high mortality in its advanced stages. Our study aim was to explore
      the correlation between tumor epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and
      patient survival. Renal biopsies of tumorous and adjacent nontumorous tissue were
      taken with a 16 g needle from our patients (n = 26) undergoing partial or radical
      nephrectomy due to ccRCC RNA sequencing libraries were generated using Illumina
      TruSeq(r) Access library preparation protocol and TruSeq Small RNA library
      preparation kit. Next generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on Illumina
      HiSeq2500. Comparative analysis of matched sample pairs was done using the
      Bioconductor Limma/voom R-package. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
      and immunohistochemistry were applied to measure and visualize protein abundance.
      We detected an increased generic EMT transcript score in ccRCC Gene expression
      analysis showed augmented abundance of AXL and MMP14, as well as down-regulated
      expression of KL (klotho). Moreover, microRNA analyses demonstrated a positive
      expression correlation of miR-34a and its targets MMP14 and AXL Survival analysis
      based on a subset of genes from our list EMT-related genes in a publicly
      available dataset showed that the EMT genes correlated with ccRCC patient
      survival. Several of these genes also play a known role in fibrosis. Accordingly,
      recently published classifiers of solid organ fibrosis correctly identified EMT
      affected tumor samples and were correlated with patient survival. EMT in ccRCC
      linked to fibrosis is associated with worse survival and may represent a target
      for novel therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28596303
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of intracranial aneurysms in patients with bicuspid
      aortic valve.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and outcomes of intracranial aneurysm (IA)
      in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). METHODS: Retrospective review of
      patients with BAV who underwent brain MR angiography at the Mayo Clinic from 1994
      to 2013. RESULTS: There were 678 patients included in this study-mean age 57+/-13
      years, men 480 (71%), mean follow-up 10+/-3 years (5913 patient-years).
      Coarctation of aorta (COA) was present in 154 (23%) patients.There were 59 IAs
      identified in 52 of 678 patients (7.7%). IA was present in 20/154 patients
      (12.9%) with COA and 32/524 patients (5.7%) without COA (p<0.001). For the
      patients without COA, female gender and right-left cusp fusion were risks factors
      for IA in women after adjustment for all potential variables (HR 1.76, CI 1.31 to
      2.68, p=0.03). There was no significant trend in the risk for IA across age
      tertiles: age <=40 years versus 41-60 years (HR 1.19, p=0.34), and age 41-60
      years versus 61-80 years (HR 1.06, p=0.56).Among the 52 patients with IA,
      enlargement occurred in three patients (6%), rupture in two patients (4%) and
      four patients (8%) underwent coil embolisation. For the 626 patients without IA
      at baseline, no patient developed IA over 7+/-2 years of imaging follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: BAV is associated with a higher prevalence of IA compared to the
      general population, and this risk is higher in patients with COA, right-left cusp
      fusion and female gender.

PMID- 28596304
TI  - PCSK9 inhibition and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease prevention: does
      reality match the hype?
AB  - Within this review we look at whether the potential provided by proprotein
      convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibition for prevention of
      atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease matches the excitement generated. Two
      fully human monoclonal antibodies to PCSK9 are currently licenced for clinical
      use both in the USA and the European Union: evolocumab and alirocumab. These
      reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by over 50% across a range of
      populations and were generally found to have a safety profile comparable with
      placebo. The development programme for a third humanised monoclonal antibody,
      bococizumab, was terminated early due to the presence of neutralising antibodies
      reducing its efficacy over time. Results from the first cardiovascular outcomes
      trial, FOURIER, have demonstrated significant reductions in cardiovascular events
      in a population with stable cardiovascular disease over a 2-year period. The
      ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial comparing alirocumab to placebo is expected to report in
      2018 and provide cardiovascular outcome data in a post acute coronary syndrome
      population. Monoclonal antibodies have an injection burden of 12-26 injections
      per year. An alternative approach to reducing PCSK9 is to inhibit translation of
      the messenger RNA for PCSK9. The phase II ORION-1 study using inclisiran, a small
      interference RNA to PCSK9, suggested that two doses of inclisiran produced time
      averaged reductions in LDL cholesterol of 50% over 9 months. The ORION-4
      cardiovascular outcome trial will assess the cardiovascular benefits of two
      injections per year using inclisiran. With further outcome trials expected,
      appropriate patient selection will be key considering the higher drug costs of
      these therapies.

PMID- 28596305
TI  - Genotype-phenotype correlations in Marfan syndrome.

PMID- 28596306
TI  - Mendelian randomisation in cardiovascular research: an introduction for
      clinicians.
AB  - Understanding the causal role of biomarkers in cardiovascular and other diseases
      is crucial in order to find effective approaches (including pharmacological
      therapies) for disease treatment and prevention. Classical observational studies
      provide naive estimates of the likely role of biomarkers in disease development;
      however, such studies are prone to bias. This has direct relevance for drug
      development as if drug targets track to non-causal biomarkers, this can lead to
      expensive failure of these drugs in phase III randomised controlled trials. In an
      effort to provide a more reliable indication of the likely causal role of a
      biomarker in the development of disease, Mendelian randomisation studies are
      increasingly used, and this is facilitated by the availability of large-scale
      genetic data. We conducted a narrative review in order to provide a description
      of the utility of Mendelian randomisation for clinicians engaged in
      cardiovascular research. We describe the rationale and provide a basic
      description of the methods and potential limitations of Mendelian randomisation.
      We give examples from the literature where Mendelian randomisation has provided
      pivotal information for drug discovery including predicting efficacy, informing
      on target-mediated adverse effects and providing potential new evidence for drug
      repurposing. The variety of the examples presented illustrates the importance of
      Mendelian randomisation in order to prioritise drug targets for cardiovascular
      research.

PMID- 28596307
TI  - Plants transfer lipids to sustain colonization by mutualistic mycorrhizal and
      parasitic fungi.
AB  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi facilitate plant uptake of mineral nutrients
      and draw organic nutrients from the plant. Organic nutrients are thought to be
      supplied primarily in the form of sugars. Here we show that the AM fungus
      Rhizophagus irregularis is a fatty acid auxotroph and that fatty acids
      synthesized in the host plants are transferred to the fungus to sustain
      mycorrhizal colonization. The transfer is dependent on RAM2 (REQUIRED FOR
      ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZATION 2) and the ATP binding cassette transporter-mediated
      plant lipid export pathway. We further show that plant fatty acids can be
      transferred to the pathogenic fungus Golovinomyces cichoracerum and are required
      for colonization by pathogens. We suggest that the mutualistic mycorrhizal and
      pathogenic fungi similarly recruit the fatty acid biosynthesis program to
      facilitate host invasion.

PMID- 28596310
TI  - Pittsburgh myth, Paris reality.

PMID- 28596309
TI  - Guanine glycation repair by DJ-1/Park7 and its bacterial homologs.
AB  - DNA damage induced by reactive carbonyls (mainly methylglyoxal and glyoxal),
      called DNA glycation, is quantitatively as important as oxidative damage. DNA
      glycation is associated with increased mutation frequency, DNA strand breaks, and
      cytotoxicity. However, in contrast to guanine oxidation repair, how glycated DNA
      is repaired remains undetermined. Here, we found that the parkinsonism-associated
      protein DJ-1 and its bacterial homologs Hsp31, YhbO, and YajL could repair
      methylglyoxal- and glyoxal-glycated nucleotides and nucleic acids. DJ-1-depleted
      cells displayed increased levels of glycated DNA, DNA strand breaks, and
      phosphorylated p53. Deglycase-deficient bacterial mutants displayed increased
      levels of glycated DNA and RNA and exhibited strong mutator phenotypes. Thus, DJ
      1 and its prokaryotic homologs constitute a major nucleotide repair system that
      we name guanine glycation repair.

PMID- 28596311
TI  - Fatty acids in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are synthesized by the host plant.
AB  - Plants form beneficial associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which
      facilitate nutrient acquisition from the soil. In return, the fungi receive
      organic carbon from the plants. The transcription factor RAM1 (REQUIRED FOR
      ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZATION 1) is crucial for this symbiosis, and we demonstrate
      that it is required and sufficient for the induction of a lipid biosynthetic
      pathway that is expressed in plant cells accommodating fungal arbuscules. Lipids
      are transferred from the plant to mycorrhizal fungi, which are fatty acid
      auxotrophs, and this lipid export requires the glycerol-3-phosphate
      acyltransferase RAM2, a direct target of RAM1. Our work shows that in addition to
      sugars, lipids are a major source of organic carbon delivered to the fungus, and
      this is necessary for the production of fungal lipids.

PMID- 28596313
TI  - Erratum for the Report "A nontoxic pain killer designed by modeling of
      pathological receptor conformations" by V. Spahn, G. Del Vecchio, D. Labuz, A.
      Rodriguez-Gaztelumendi, N. Massaly, J. Temp, V. Durmaz, P. Sabri, M. Reidelbach,
      H. Machelska, M. Weber, C. Stein.

PMID- 28596312
TI  - Tuning quantum nonlocal effects in graphene plasmonics.
AB  - The response of electron systems to electrodynamic fields that change rapidly in
      space is endowed by unique features, including an exquisite spatial nonlocality.
      This can reveal much about the materials' electronic structure that is invisible
      in standard probes that use gradually varying fields. Here, we use graphene
      plasmons, propagating at extremely slow velocities close to the electron Fermi
      velocity, to probe the nonlocal response of the graphene electron liquid. The
      near-field imaging experiments reveal a parameter-free match with the full
      quantum description of the massless Dirac electron gas, which involves three
      types of nonlocal quantum effects: single-particle velocity matching, interaction
      enhanced Fermi velocity, and interaction-reduced compressibility. Our
      experimental approach can determine the full spatiotemporal response of an
      electron system.

PMID- 28596308
TI  - Mismatch repair deficiency predicts response of solid tumors to PD-1 blockade.
AB  - The genomes of cancers deficient in mismatch repair contain exceptionally high
      numbers of somatic mutations. In a proof-of-concept study, we previously showed
      that colorectal cancers with mismatch repair deficiency were sensitive to immune
      checkpoint blockade with antibodies to programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1). We
      have now expanded this study to evaluate the efficacy of PD-1 blockade in
      patients with advanced mismatch repair-deficient cancers across 12 different
      tumor types. Objective radiographic responses were observed in 53% of patients,
      and complete responses were achieved in 21% of patients. Responses were durable,
      with median progression-free survival and overall survival still not reached.
      Functional analysis in a responding patient demonstrated rapid in vivo expansion
      of neoantigen-specific T cell clones that were reactive to mutant neopeptides
      found in the tumor. These data support the hypothesis that the large proportion
      of mutant neoantigens in mismatch repair-deficient cancers make them sensitive to
      immune checkpoint blockade, regardless of the cancers' tissue of origin.

PMID- 28596315
TI  - News at a glance.

PMID- 28596314
TI  - The dishonest HONEST Act.

PMID- 28596316
TI  - Oldest members of our species discovered in Morocco.

PMID- 28596317
TI  - Romanian researchers decry sudden power grab.

PMID- 28596319
TI  - Data Check: Critics challenge NIH finding that bigger labs aren't necessarily
      better.

PMID- 28596318
TI  - Circular DNA throws biologists for a loop.

PMID- 28596320
TI  - Rethinking the dreaded r-word.

PMID- 28596321
TI  - India resurrects forgotten leprosy vaccine.

PMID- 28596323
TI  - Saving the 'God of ugly things'.

PMID- 28596322
TI  - Can U.S. states and cities overcome Paris exit?

PMID- 28596324
TI  - Science reads for the summer of '17.

PMID- 28596325
TI  - Nanomaterials for stimulating nerve growth.

PMID- 28596326
TI  - From sequence to color.

PMID- 28596327
TI  - Poisons, antidotes, and selfish genes.

PMID- 28596328
TI  - Specific repair by discerning macrophages.

PMID- 28596329
TI  - De-extinction, nomenclature, and the law.

PMID- 28596330
TI  - Fund global health: Save lives and money.

PMID- 28596331
TI  - Minority investigators lack NIH funding.

PMID- 28596332
TI  - The limits of carbon reduction roadmaps.

PMID- 28596333
TI  - Repair and Regeneration.

PMID- 28596334
TI  - Self-repairing cells: How single cells heal membrane ruptures and restore lost
      structures.
AB  - Many organisms and tissues display the ability to heal and regenerate as needed
      for normal physiology and as a result of pathogenesis. However, these repair
      activities can also be observed at the single-cell level. The physical and
      molecular mechanisms by which a cell can heal membrane ruptures and rebuild
      damaged or missing cellular structures remain poorly understood. This Review
      presents current understanding in wound healing and regeneration as two distinct
      aspects of cellular self-repair by examining a few model organisms that have
      displayed robust repair capacity, including Xenopus oocytes, Chlamydomonas, and
      Stentor coeruleus Although many open questions remain, elucidating how cells
      repair themselves is important for our mechanistic understanding of cell biology.
      It also holds the potential for new applications and therapeutic approaches for
      treating human disease.

PMID- 28596335
TI  - Inflammation and metabolism in tissue repair and regeneration.
AB  - Tissue repair after injury is a complex, metabolically demanding process.
      Depending on the tissue's regenerative capacity and the quality of the
      inflammatory response, the outcome is generally imperfect, with some degree of
      fibrosis, which is defined by aberrant accumulation of collagenous connective
      tissue. Inflammatory cells multitask at the wound site by facilitating wound
      debridement and producing chemokines, metabolites, and growth factors. If this
      well-orchestrated response becomes dysregulated, the wound can become chronic or
      progressively fibrotic, with both outcomes impairing tissue function, which can
      ultimately lead to organ failure and death. Here we review the current
      understanding of the role of inflammation and cell metabolism in tissue
      regenerative responses, highlight emerging concepts that may expand therapeutic
      perspectives, and briefly discuss where important knowledge gaps remain.

PMID- 28596336
TI  - Regenerating optic pathways from the eye to the brain.
AB  - Humans are highly visual. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that connect
      the eyes to the brain, fail to regenerate after damage, eventually leading to
      blindness. Here, we review research on regeneration and repair of the optic
      system. Intrinsic developmental growth programs can be reactivated in RGCs,
      neural activity can enhance RGC regeneration, and functional reformation of eye
      to-brain connections is possible, even in the adult brain. Transplantation and
      gene therapy may serve to replace or resurrect dead or injured retinal neurons.
      Retinal prosthetics that can restore vision in animal models may too have
      practical power in the clinical setting. Functional restoration of sight in
      certain forms of blindness is likely to occur in human patients in the near
      future.

PMID- 28596338
TI  - Why radiation causes dry mouth.

PMID- 28596339
TI  - Sighting of magnetic Majorana fermions?

PMID- 28596340
TI  - Designing molecular disorder.

PMID- 28596337
TI  - Cardiac regeneration strategies: Staying young at heart.
AB  - The human heart is continually operating as a muscular pump, contracting, on
      average, 80 times per minute to propel 8000 liters of blood through body tissues
      each day. Whereas damaged skeletal muscle has a profound capacity to regenerate,
      heart muscle, at least in mammals, has poor regenerative potential. This
      deficiency is attributable to the lack of resident cardiac stem cells, combined
      with roadblocks that limit adult cardiomyocytes from entering the cell cycle and
      completing division. Insights for regeneration have recently emerged from studies
      of animals with an elevated innate capacity for regeneration, the innovation of
      stem cell and reprogramming technologies, and a clearer understanding of the
      cardiomyocyte genetic program and key extrinsic signals. Methods to augment heart
      regeneration now have potential to counteract the high morbidity and mortality of
      cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28596341
TI  - Teaching sulfur and phosphorus to share.

PMID- 28596343
TI  - Local macrophage clean-up.

PMID- 28596342
TI  - Comets contributed to Earth's atmosphere.

PMID- 28596344
TI  - Polycomb steps to inactivate X.

PMID- 28596346
TI  - Plasmodium leftovers cause bone loss.

PMID- 28596345
TI  - A clue to a drug's neurotoxicity?

PMID- 28596348
TI  - Tracing development of the dendritic cell lineage.

PMID- 28596347
TI  - Bacterial sensing mechanism revealed.

PMID- 28596349
TI  - Swapping boron acids for carbon acids.

PMID- 28596350
TI  - Selfish genetic interactions in nematodes.

PMID- 28596351
TI  - General relativity weighs a white dwarf.

PMID- 28596352
TI  - Moving beyond mice for vaccine studies.

PMID- 28596353
TI  - From glassy carbon to mixed carbon.

PMID- 28596354
TI  - DNA damage linked to fitness loss in aging.

PMID- 28596355
TI  - HIV reprograms progenitor cells.

PMID- 28596356
TI  - Down to the guts of climate change.

PMID- 28596357
TI  - A learning environment designed for experts.

PMID- 28596358
TI  - Wheels do more than go round and round.

PMID- 28596359
TI  - Old cancer drugs with a modern mechanism.

PMID- 28596360
TI  - A checkup on density functional theory.

PMID- 28596361
TI  - Neutron scattering in the proximate quantum spin liquid alpha-RuCl3.
AB  - The Kitaev quantum spin liquid (KQSL) is an exotic emergent state of matter
      exhibiting Majorana fermion and gauge flux excitations. The magnetic insulator
      alpha-RuCl3 is thought to realize a proximate KQSL. We used neutron scattering on
      single crystals of alpha-RuCl3 to reconstruct dynamical correlations in energy
      momentum space. We discovered highly unusual signals, including a column of
      scattering over a large energy interval around the Brillouin zone center, which
      is very stable with temperature. This finding is consistent with scattering from
      the Majorana excitations of a KQSL. Other, more delicate experimental features
      can be transparently associated with perturbations to an ideal model. Our results
      encourage further study of this prototypical material and may open a window into
      investigating emergent magnetic Majorana fermions in correlated materials.

PMID- 28596362
TI  - Palladium-catalyzed carbon-sulfur or carbon-phosphorus bond metathesis by
      reversible arylation.
AB  - Compounds bearing aryl-sulfur and aryl-phosphorus bonds have found numerous
      applications in drug development, organic materials, polymer science, and
      homogeneous catalysis. We describe palladium-catalyzed metathesis reactions of
      both compound classes, each of which proceeds through a reversible arylation
      manifold. The synthetic power and immediate utility of this approach are
      demonstrated in several applications that would be challenging to achieve by
      means of traditional cross-coupling methods. The C(sp2)-S bond metathesis
      protocol was used in the depolymerization of a commercial thermoplastic polymer
      and in the late-stage derivatization of a drug. The C(sp2)-P variant led to the
      convenient preparation of a variety of phosphorus heterocycles, including a
      potential chiral ligand and fluorescent organic materials, via a ring-closing
      transformation.

PMID- 28596363
TI  - Polymeric peptide pigments with sequence-encoded properties.
AB  - Melanins are a family of heterogeneous polymeric pigments that provide
      ultraviolet (UV) light protection, structural support, coloration, and free
      radical scavenging. Formed by oxidative oligomerization of catecholic small
      molecules, the physical properties of melanins are influenced by covalent and
      noncovalent disorder. We report the use of tyrosine-containing tripeptides as
      tunable precursors for polymeric pigments. In these structures, phenols are
      presented in a (supra-)molecular context dictated by the positions of the amino
      acids in the peptide sequence. Oxidative polymerization can be tuned in a
      sequence-dependent manner, resulting in peptide sequence-encoded properties such
      as UV absorbance, morphology, coloration, and electrochemical properties over a
      considerable range. Short peptides have low barriers to application and can be
      easily scaled, suggesting near-term applications in cosmetics and biomedicine.

PMID- 28596364
TI  - Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to
      Earth's atmosphere.
AB  - The origin of cometary matter and the potential contribution of comets to inner
      planet atmospheres are long-standing problems. During a series of dedicated low
      altitude orbits, the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis
      (ROSINA) on the Rosetta spacecraft analyzed the isotopes of xenon in the coma of
      comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The xenon isotopic composition shows deficits in
      heavy xenon isotopes and matches that of a primordial atmospheric component. The
      present-day Earth atmosphere contains 22 +/- 5% cometary xenon, in addition to
      chondritic (or solar) xenon.

PMID- 28596365
TI  - PCGF3/5-PRC1 initiates Polycomb recruitment in X chromosome inactivation.
AB  - Recruitment of the Polycomb repressive complexes PRC1 and PRC2 by Xist RNA is an
      important paradigm for chromatin regulation by long noncoding RNAs. Here, we show
      that the noncanonical Polycomb group RING finger 3/5 (PCGF3/5)-PRC1 complex
      initiates recruitment of both PRC1 and PRC2 in response to Xist RNA expression.
      PCGF3/5-PRC1-mediated ubiquitylation of histone H2A signals recruitment of other
      noncanonical PRC1 complexes and of PRC2, the latter leading to deposition of
      histone H3 lysine 27 methylation chromosome-wide. Pcgf3/5 gene knockout results
      in female-specific embryo lethality and abrogates Xist-mediated gene repression,
      highlighting a key role for Polycomb in Xist-dependent chromosome silencing. Our
      findings overturn existing models for Polycomb recruitment by Xist RNA and
      establish precedence for H2AK119u1 in initiating Polycomb domain formation in a
      physiological context.

PMID- 28596368
TI  - Research on a razor's edge.

PMID- 28596366
TI  - Activity-based protein profiling reveals off-target proteins of the FAAH
      inhibitor BIA 10-2474.
AB  - A recent phase 1 trial of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor BIA 10
      2474 led to the death of one volunteer and produced mild-to-severe neurological
      symptoms in four others. Although the cause of the clinical neurotoxicity is
      unknown, it has been postulated, given the clinical safety profile of other
      tested FAAH inhibitors, that off-target activities of BIA 10-2474 may have played
      a role. Here we use activity-based proteomic methods to determine the protein
      interaction landscape of BIA 10-2474 in human cells and tissues. This analysis
      revealed that the drug inhibits several lipases that are not targeted by
      PF04457845, a highly selective and clinically tested FAAH inhibitor. BIA 10-2474,
      but not PF04457845, produced substantial alterations in lipid networks in human
      cortical neurons, suggesting that promiscuous lipase inhibitors have the
      potential to cause metabolic dysregulation in the nervous system.

PMID- 28596369
TI  - HIV prevalence and related risk behaviours in female seasonal farm workers in
      Souss Massa Draa, Morocco: results from a cross-sectional survey using cluster
      based sampling.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine prevalence of HIV and HIV-related behaviours in female
      seasonal farm workers (FSFWs) in two provinces of Souss Massa Draa (SMD) region
      in Morocco. SMD has a higher burden of HIV compared with other parts of Morocco
      and is characterised by a substantial aggregation of FSFW. METHODS: We carried
      out a cross-sectional HIV biobehavioural survey using cluster-based sampling of
      farms in the provinces Chtouka Ait Baha and Taroudant Ouled Teima in 2014. HIV
      testing was done using the Determine HIV-1/2 rapid test and reactive specimens
      were tested using ELISA and western blot. Collected data were post hoc weighted
      for region-based stratification and adjusted for clustering effects using complex
      survey functions of SPSS (V.21). RESULTS: Among those eligible to participate,
      the response rate was 92.8%. HIV prevalence was 0.9% (95% CI 0.4% to 2.4%) among
      520 recruited participants. A high proportion of respondents (67.7%) had no
      education. Ever having sex was reported by 79.8% and among these, 12.7% ever
      exchanged sex for money or goods. Sixty-one per cent reported condom use at most
      recent commercial vaginal sex in the past 12 months. STI symptom recognition was
      found to be low because 62.4% and 46.8% of FSFW could not report any STI symptoms
      in men and women, respectively. Twenty-seven per cent of respondents had an HIV
      test in the past 12 months. In multivariable analysis, those with primary or
      higher education (adjusted OR (aOR)=2.38, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.27) and those who
      participated in an HIV educational session at their workplace (aOR=11.00, 95% CI
      3.99 to 30.31) had higher odds of ever been tested for HIV. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      we found a relatively low HIV prevalence among FSFW in SMD, HIV interventions
      should be intensified, in particular, in a subgroup of women who are involved in
      sex work.

PMID- 28596372
TI  - Human Blood Monocyte Subsets: A New Gating Strategy Defined Using Cell Surface
      Markers Identified by Mass Cytometry.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Human monocyte subsets are defined as classical (CD14++CD16-),
      intermediate (CD14++CD16+), and nonclassical (CD14+CD16+). Alterations in
      monocyte subset frequencies are associated with clinical outcomes, including
      cardiovascular disease, in which circulating intermediate monocytes independently
      predict cardiovascular events. However, delineating mechanisms of monocyte
      function is hampered by inconsistent results among studies. APPROACH AND RESULTS:
      We use cytometry by time-of-flight mass cytometry to profile human monocytes
      using a panel of 36 cell surface markers. Using the dimensionality reduction
      approach visual interactive stochastic neighbor embedding (viSNE), we define
      monocytes by incorporating all cell surface markers simultaneously. Using viSNE,
      we find that although classical monocytes are defined with high purity using CD14
      and CD16, intermediate and nonclassical monocytes defined using CD14 and CD16
      alone are frequently contaminated, with average intermediate and nonclassical
      monocyte purity of ~86.0% and 87.2%, respectively. To improve the monocyte
      purity, we devised a new gating scheme that takes advantage of the shared
      coexpression of cell surface markers on each subset. In addition to CD14 and
      CD16, CCR2, CD36, HLA-DR, and CD11c are the most informative markers that
      discriminate among the 3 monocyte populations. Using these additional markers as
      filters, our revised gating scheme increases the purity of both intermediate and
      nonclassical monocyte subsets to 98.8% and 99.1%, respectively. We demonstrate
      the use of this new gating scheme using conventional flow cytometry of peripheral
      blood mononuclear cells from subjects with cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      Using cytometry by time-of-flight mass cytometry, we have identified a small
      panel of surface markers that can significantly improve monocyte subset
      identification and purity in flow cytometry. Such a revised gating scheme will be
      useful for clinical studies of monocyte function in human cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28596373
TI  - Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress Promotes Atherosclerosis and Neutrophil
      Extracellular Traps in Aged Mice.
AB  - RATIONALE: Mitochondrial oxidative stress (mitoOS) has been shown to be increased
      in various cell types in human atherosclerosis and with aging. However, the role
      of cell type-specific mitoOS in atherosclerosis in the setting of advanced age
      and the molecular mechanisms remains to be determined in vivo. OBJECTIVE: The aim
      of this study was to examine the role of myeloid cell mitoOS in atherosclerosis
      in aged mice. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Lethally irradiated low-density lipoprotein
      receptor-deficient mice (Ldlr-/-) were reconstituted with bone marrow from either
      wild-type or mitochondrial catalase (mCAT) mice. mCAT transgenic mice contain
      ectopically expressed human catalase gene in mitochondria, which reduces mitoOS.
      Starting at the age of 36 weeks, mice were fed the Western-type diet for 16
      weeks. We found that mitoOS in lesional myeloid cells was suppressed in aged mCAT
      >Ldlr-/- chimeric mice compared with aged controls, and this led to a significant
      reduction in aortic root atherosclerotic lesion area despite higher plasma
      cholesterol levels. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a proinflammatory
      extracellular structure that contributes to atherosclerosis progression, were
      significantly increased in the lesions of aged mice compared with lesions of
      younger mice. Aged mCAT->Ldlr-/- mice had less lesional neutrophils and decreased
      NETs compared with age-matched wild-type->Ldlr-/- mice, whereas young mCAT-> and
      wild-type->Ldlr-/- mice had comparable numbers of neutrophils and similar low
      levels of lesional NETs. Using cultured neutrophils, we showed that suppression
      of mitoOS reduced 7-ketocholesterol-induced NET release from neutrophils of aged
      but not younger mice. CONCLUSIONS: MitoOS in lesional myeloid cells enhanced
      atherosclerosis development in aged mice, and this enhancement was associated
      with increased lesional NETs. Thus, mitoOS-induced NET formation is a potentially
      new therapeutic target to prevent atherosclerosis progression during aging.

PMID- 28596374
TI  - LRP1-Dependent BMPER Signaling Regulates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Vascular
      Inflammation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide)-mediated sepsis involves
      dysregulated systemic inflammation, which injures the lung and other organs,
      often fatally. Vascular endothelial cells act as both targets and mediators of
      lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses. Dysfunction of endothelium
      results in increases of proinflammatory cytokine production and permeability
      leakage. BMPER (bone morphogenetic protein-binding endothelial regulator), an
      extracellular modulator of bone morphogenetic protein signaling, has been
      identified as a vital component in chronic endothelial inflammatory responses and
      atherosclerosis. However, it is unclear whether BMPER also regulates inflammatory
      response in an acute setting such as sepsis. To address this question, we
      investigated the role of BMPER during lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung
      injury. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Mice missing 1 allele of BMPER (BMPER+/- mice used
      in the place of BMPER-/- mice that die at birth) were used for lipopolysaccharide
      challenge. Lipopolysaccharide-induced pulmonary inflammation and injury was
      reduced in BMPER+/- mice as shown by several measures, including survival rate,
      infiltration of inflammatory cells, edema, and production of proinflammatory
      cytokines. Mechanistically, we have demonstrated that BMPER is required and
      sufficient for the activation of nuclear factor of activated T cells c1. This
      BMPER-induced nuclear factor of activated T cells activation is coordinated by
      multiple signaling pathways, including bone morphogenetic protein-independent low
      density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1-extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase activation, calcineurin signaling, and low-density lipoprotein receptor
      related protein 1beta-mediated nuclear factor 45 nuclear export in response to
      BMPER treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that BMPER plays a pivotal role in
      pulmonary inflammatory response, which provides new therapeutic options against
      sepsis shock. The new signaling pathway initiated by BMPER/low-density
      lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 axis broadens our understanding about
      BMPER's role in vascular homeostasis.

PMID- 28596375
TI  - NLRP3 Inflammasome Inhibition by MCC950 Reduces Atherosclerotic Lesion
      Development in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice-Brief Report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes, and their activation has
      been associated with cardiovascular disease. Inflammasome activation leads to
      secretion of caspase-1 by innate immune cells, resulting in the activation of
      interleukin-1beta. Recently, a potent and selective inhibitor of the NLRP3
      inflammasome, MCC950, was described. In this study, we investigated the effect of
      MCC950 on atherosclerotic lesion development in apoE-/- mice. APPROACH AND
      RESULTS: First, we determined the efficacy of MCC950 in vitro. Bone marrow
      derived macrophages and dendritic cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide
      and cholesterol crystals resulting in high levels of interleukin-1beta release,
      which was inhibited by MCC950. In vivo MCC950 treatment reduced
      lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-1beta secretion, without affecting the
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha response. Subsequently, atherosclerotic plaques were
      induced in Western-type diet fed apoE-/- mice by semiconstrictive perivascular
      collar placement at the carotid arteries, after which the mice received MCC950
      (10 mg/kg) or vehicle control 3* per week intraperitoneally for 4 weeks. After
      euthanize, atherosclerotic plaque size and volume were quantified in hematoxylin
      eosin-stained 10-um cryosections throughout the artery. MCC950 treatment
      significantly reduced the development of atherosclerotic lesions as determined by
      maximal stenosis, average plaque size, and plaque volume. Although the amount of
      collagen and the necrotic core size were not affected, the number of macrophages
      in the plaque was significantly reduced on treatment. In addition, VCAM-1
      (vascular cell adhesion molecule 1) and ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule
      1) mRNA expression was significantly reduced in the carotids of MCC950-treated
      mice. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that specific inhibition of the NLRP3
      inflammasome using MCC950 can be a promising therapeutic approach to inhibit
      atherosclerotic lesion development.

PMID- 28596376
TI  - Cre/lox Studies Identify Resident Macrophages as the Major Source of Circulating
      Coagulation Factor XIII-A.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish the cellular source of plasma factor (F)XIII-A. APPROACH
      AND RESULTS: A novel mouse floxed for the F13a1 gene, FXIII-Aflox/flox (Flox),
      was crossed with myeloid- and platelet-cre-expressing mice, and cellular FXIII-A
      mRNA expression and plasma and platelet FXIII-A levels were measured. The
      platelet factor 4-cre.Flox cross abolished platelet FXIII-A and reduced plasma
      FXIII-A to 23+/-3% (P<0.001). However, the effect of platelet factor 4-cre on
      plasma FXIII-A was exerted outside of the megakaryocyte lineage because plasma
      FXIII-A was not reduced in the Mpl-/- mouse, despite marked thrombocytopenia. In
      support of this, platelet factor 4-cre depleted FXIII-A mRNA in brain, aorta, and
      heart of floxed mice, where FXIII-Apos cells were identified as macrophages as
      they costained with CD163. In the integrin alphaM-cre.Flox and the double copy
      lysozyme 2-cre.cre.Flox crosses, plasma FXIII-A was reduced to, respectively,
      75+/-5% (P=0.003) and 30+/-7% (P<0.001), with no change in FXIII-A content per
      platelet, further consistent with a macrophage origin of plasma FXIII-A. The
      change in plasma FXIII-A levels across the various mouse genotypes mirrored the
      change in FXIII-A mRNA expression in aorta. Bone marrow transplantation of FXIII
      A+/+ bone marrow into FXIII-A-/- mice both restored plasma FXIII-A to normal
      levels and replaced aortic and cardiac FXIII-A mRNA, while its transplantation
      into FXIII-A+/+ mice did not increase plasma FXIII-A levels, suggesting that a
      limited population of niches exists that support FXIII-A-releasing cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: This work suggests that resident macrophages maintain plasma FXIII-A
      and exclude the platelet lineage as a major contributor.

PMID- 28596377
TI  - Trowaglerix Venom Polypeptides As a Novel Antithrombotic Agent by Targeting
      Immunoglobulin-Like Domains of Glycoprotein VI in Platelet.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Currently prescribed antiplatelet drugs have 1 common side effect-an
      increased risk of hemorrhage and thrombocytopenia. On the contrary, bleeding
      defects associated with glycoprotein VI (GPVI) expression deficiency are usually
      slightly prolonged bleeding times. However, GPVI antagonists are lacking in
      clinic. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Using reverse-phase high-performance liquid
      chromatography and sequencing, we revealed the partial sequence of trowaglerix
      alpha subunit, a potent specific GPVI-targeting snaclec (snake venom C-type
      lectin protein). Hexapeptide (Troalpha6 [trowaglerix a chain hexapeptide,
      CKWMNV]) and decapeptide (Troalpha10) derived from trowaglerix specifically
      inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation through blocking platelet GPVI
      receptor. Computational peptide design helped to design a series of
      Troalpha6/Troalpha10 peptides. Protein docking studies on these decapeptides and
      GPVI suggest that Troalpha10 was bound at the lower surface of D1 domain and
      outer surface of D2 domain, which was at the different place of the collagen
      binding site and the scFv (single-chain variable fragment) D2-binding site. The
      newly discovered site was confirmed by inhibitory effects of polyclonal
      antibodies on collagen-induced platelet aggregation. This indicates that D2
      domain of GPVI is a novel and important binding epitope on GPVI-mediated platelet
      aggregation. Troalpha6/Troalpha10 displayed prominent inhibitory effect of
      thrombus formation in fluorescein sodium-induced platelet thrombus formation of
      mesenteric venules and ferric chloride-induced carotid artery injury thrombosis
      model without prolonging the in vivo bleeding time. CONCLUSIONS: We develop a
      novel antithrombotic peptides derived from trowaglerix that acts through GPVI
      antagonism with greater safety-no severe bleeding. The binding epitope of
      polypeptides on GPVI is novel and important. These hexa/decapeptides have
      therapeutic potential for developing ideal small-mass GPVI antagonists for
      arterial thrombogenic diseases.

PMID- 28596379
TI  - Using exhaled CO2 to guide initial respiratory support at birth: a randomised
      controlled trial.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: A sustained inflation (SI) provided at birth might reduce
      bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine whether
      an SI-guided exhaled carbon dioxide (ECO2) compared with positive pressure
      ventilation (PPV) alone at birth decreases BPD. DESIGN: Randomised controlled
      trial. Infants were randomly allocated to either SI (SI group) or PPV (PPV
      group). PARTICIPANTS: Participants of this study include infants between 23+0 and
      32+6 weeks gestation with a need for PPV at birth. INTERVENTION: Infants
      randomised into the SI group received an initial SI with a peak inflation
      pressure (PIP) of 24 cmH2O over 20 s. The second SI was guided by the amount of
      ECO2. If ECO2 was <=20 mm Hg, a further SI of 20 s was delivered. If ECO2 was >20
      mm Hg the second SI was 10 s. Infants randomised into the PPV group received mask
      PPV with an initial PIP of 24 cmH2O. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: Reduction in BPD defined
      as the need for respiratory support or supplemental oxygen at corrected
      gestational age of 36 weeks. RESULTS: SI (n=76) and PPV (n=86) group had similar
      rates of BPD (23% vs 33%, p=0.090, not statistically significant). The duration
      of mechanical ventilation was significantly reduced with SI versus PPV (63 (10
      246) hours versus 204 (17-562) hours, respectively (p=0.045)). No short-term
      harmful effects were identified from two SI lasting up to 40 s (eg, pneumothorax,
      intraventricular haemorrhage or patent ductus arteriosus). CONCLUSION: Preterm
      infants <33 weeks gestation receiving SI at birth had lower duration of
      mechanical ventilation and similar incidence of BPD compared with PPV. Using ECO2
      to guide length of SI is feasible. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01739114;
      Results.

PMID- 28596380
TI  - Identification of oxidative modifications of hemopexin and their predicted
      physiological relevance.
AB  - Hemopexin protects against heme toxicity in hemolytic diseases and conditions,
      sepsis, and sickle cell disease. This protection is sustained by heme-hemopexin
      complexes in biological fluids that resist oxidative damage during heme-driven
      inflammation. However, apo-hemopexin is vulnerable to inactivation by reactive
      nitrogen (RNS) and oxygen species (ROS) that covalently modify amino acids. The
      resultant nitration of amino acids is considered a specific effect reflecting
      biological events. Using LC-MS, we discovered low endogenous levels of tyrosine
      nitration in the peptide YYCFQGNQFLR in the heme-binding site of human hemopexin,
      which was similarly nitrated in rabbit and rat hemopexins. Immunoblotting and
      selective reaction monitoring were used to quantify tyrosine nitration of in vivo
      samples and when hemopexin was incubated in vitro with nitrating
      nitrite/myeloperoxidase/glucose oxidase. Significantly, heme binding by hemopexin
      declined as tyrosine nitration proceeded in vitro Three nitrated tyrosines reside
      in the heme-binding site of hemopexin, and we found that one, Tyr-199, interacts
      directly with the heme ring D propionate. Investigating the oxidative
      modifications of amino acids after incubation with tert-butyl hydroperoxide and
      hypochlorous acid in vitro, we identified additional covalent oxidative
      modifications on four tyrosine residues and one tryptophan residue of hemopexin.
      Importantly, three of the four modified tyrosines, some of which have more than
      one modification, cluster in the heme-binding site, supporting a hierarchy of
      vulnerable amino acids. We propose that during inflammation, apo-hemopexin is
      nitrated and oxidated in niches of the body containing activated RNS- and ROS
      generating immune and endothelial cells, potentially impairing hemopexin's
      protective extracellular antioxidant function.

PMID- 28596381
TI  - A dual agonist of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and the G protein-coupled receptor
      TGR5, INT-767, reverses age-related kidney disease in mice.
AB  - Even in healthy individuals, renal function gradually declines during aging.
      However, an observed variation in the rate of this decline has raised the
      possibility of slowing or delaying age-related kidney disease. One of the most
      successful interventional measures that slows down and delays age-related kidney
      disease is caloric restriction. We undertook the present studies to search for
      potential factors that are regulated by caloric restriction and act as caloric
      restriction mimetics. Based on our prior studies with the bile acid-activated
      nuclear hormone receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and G protein-coupled
      membrane receptor TGR5 that demonstrated beneficial effects of FXR and TGR5
      activation in the kidney, we reasoned that FXR and TGR5 could be excellent
      candidates. We therefore determined the effects of aging and caloric restriction
      on the expression of FXR and TGR5 in the kidney. We found that FXR and TGR5
      expression levels are decreased in the aging kidney and that caloric restriction
      prevents these age-related decreases. Interestingly, in long-lived Ames dwarf
      mice, renal FXR and TGR5 expression levels were also increased. A 2-month
      treatment of 22-month-old C57BL/6J mice with the FXR-TGR5 dual agonist INT-767
      induced caloric restriction-like effects and reversed age-related increases in
      proteinuria, podocyte injury, fibronectin accumulation, TGF-beta expression, and,
      most notably, age-related impairments in mitochondrial biogenesis and
      mitochondrial function. Furthermore, in podocytes cultured in serum obtained from
      old mice, INT-767 prevented the increases in the proinflammatory markers TNF
      alpha, toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), and TLR4. In summary, our results indicate
      that FXR and TGR5 may play an important role in modulation of age-related kidney
      disease.

PMID- 28596384
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of an Aquaculture-Associated Phage, FL-1, Infecting
      Flavobacterium spp.
AB  - FL-1, a myophage of Flavobacterium, was found to have a 53-kb genome with 87
      putative coding sequences.

PMID- 28596382
TI  - A new long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is induced in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
      and down-regulates several anticancer and cell differentiation genes in mouse.
AB  - Keratinocyte-derived cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the most common
      metastatic skin cancer. Although some of the early events involved in this
      pathology have been identified, the subsequent steps leading to tumor development
      are poorly defined. We demonstrate here that the development of mouse tumors
      induced by the concomitant application of a carcinogen and a tumor promoter (7,12
      dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA),
      respectively) is associated with the up-regulation of a previously
      uncharacterized long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), termed AK144841. We found that
      AK144841 expression was absent from normal skin and was specifically stimulated
      in tumors and highly tumorigenic cells. We also found that AK144841 exists in two
      variants, one consisting of a large 2-kb transcript composed of four exons and
      one consisting of a 1.8-kb transcript lacking the second exon. Gain- and loss-of
      function studies indicated that AK144841 mainly inhibited gene expression,
      specifically down-regulating the expression of genes of the late cornified
      envelope-1 (Lce1) family involved in epidermal terminal differentiation and of
      anticancer genes such as Cgref1, Brsk1, Basp1, Dusp5, Btg2, Anpep, Dhrs9, Stfa2,
      Tpm1, SerpinB2, Cpa4, Crct1, Cryab, Il24, Csf2, and Rgs16 Interestingly, the lack
      of the second exon significantly decreased AK144841's inhibitory effect on gene
      expression. We also noted that high AK144841 expression correlated with a low
      expression of the aforementioned genes and with the tumorigenic potential of cell
      lines. These findings suggest that AK144841 could contribute to the
      dedifferentiation program of tumor-forming keratinocytes and to molecular
      cascades leading to tumor development.

PMID- 28596385
TI  - Complete Genome of Avian coronavirus Vaccine Strains Ma5 and BR-I.
AB  - Avian coronavirus (AvCoV) is a ubiquitous multiple-serotype pathogen of poultry,
      and its control is mainly based on the use of vaccines. We report here the
      previously unknown full genomes of the Ma5 (27,652 nucleotides [nt]) and BR-I
      (27,618 nt) AvCoV vaccine strains of the GI-1 (Massachusetts) and GI-11 (Brazil)
      types.

PMID- 28596383
TI  - Reinvestigation of the biological activity of d-allo-ShK protein.
AB  - ShK toxin from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus is a 35-residue protein
      that binds to the Kv1.3 ion channel with high affinity. Recently we determined
      the X-ray structure of ShK toxin by racemic crystallography, in the course of
      which we discovered that d-ShK has a near-background IC50 value ~50,000 times
      lower than that of the l-ShK toxin. This lack of activity was at odds with
      previously reported results for an ShK diastereomer designated d-allo-ShK, for
      which significant biological activity had been observed in a similar receptor
      blocking assay. As reported, d-allo-ShK was made up of d-amino acids, but with
      retention of the natural stereochemistry of the chiral side chains of the Ile and
      Thr residues, i.e. containing d-allo-Ile and d-allo-Thr along with d-amino acids
      and glycine. To understand its apparent biological activity, we set out to
      chemically synthesize d-allo-ShK and determine its X-ray structure by racemic
      crystallography. Using validated allo-Thr and allo-Ile, both l-allo-ShK and d
      allo-ShK polypeptide chains were prepared by total chemical synthesis. Neither
      the l-allo-ShK nor the d-allo-ShK polypeptides folded, whereas both l-ShK and d
      ShK folded smoothly under the same conditions. Re-examination of NMR spectra of
      the previously reported d-allo-ShK protein revealed that diagnostic Thr and Ile
      signals were the same as for authentic d-ShK. On the basis of these results, we
      conclude that the previously reported d-allo-ShK was in fact d-ShK, the true
      enantiomer of natural l-ShK toxin, and that the apparent biological activity may
      have arisen from inadvertent contamination with trace amounts of l-ShK toxin.

PMID- 28596386
TI  - Genome Sequence of Serratia marcescens Phage BF.
AB  - Phages infecting Serratia marcescens, a common causative agent of nosocomial
      infections, have potential therapeutic applications. Here, we report the complete
      genome of the novel S. marcescens phage BF, representing the third-largest phage
      genome sequenced to date.

PMID- 28596387
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Eight Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Strains.
AB  - Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a geographically widespread RNA
      virus with a high degree of genomic diversity that complicates sequence-based
      diagnostics. Here, we sequenced eight CCHFV strains for improved assay design and
      deposition into FDA-ARGOS, the FDA's pathogen database for development and
      verification of next generation sequencing assays.

PMID- 28596388
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Two Staphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated in
      Succession from a Case of Bacteremia.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus strains MEH1 and MEH7 were successively isolated from the
      blood of a patient with recurrent bacteremia. The submitted draft genomes of
      strains MEH1 and MEH7 are 2,914,972 and 2,911,704 bp, respectively.

PMID- 28596389
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus subtilis J-5, a Potential Biocontrol Agent.
AB  - Bacillus subtilis J-5 was isolated from tomato rhizosphere soil and exhibited
      strong inhibitory activity against Botrytis cinerea To shed light on the
      molecular mechanism underlying the biological control on phytopathogens, the
      whole genome of this strain was sequenced. Genes encoding antimicrobial compounds
      and the regulatory systems were identified in the genome.

PMID- 28596390
TI  - Draft Genome of Halomonas lionensis RHS90T, a Stress-Tolerant
      Gammaproteobacterium Isolated from Mediterranean Sea Sediments.
AB  - Members of the genus Halomonas are physiologically versatile and harbor
      ecological adaptations enabling the colonization of contrasted environments. We
      present here the draft genome of Halomonas lionensis RHS90T, isolated from
      Mediterranean Sea sediments. Numerous genes related to stress tolerance, DNA
      repair, or external signal-sensing systems were predicted, which could represent
      selective advantages of this marine bacterium.

PMID- 28596391
TI  - Draft Genome Report of Bacillus altitudinis SORB11, Isolated from the Indian
      Sector of the Southern Ocean.
AB  - Here, we present the draft genome sequence of Bacillus altitudinis SORB11, which
      is tolerant to UV radiation. The strain was isolated from the Indian sector of
      the Southern Ocean at a depth of 3.8 km. The genome sequence information reported
      here for B. altitudinis SORB11 gives the basis of its UV resistance mechanism and
      provides data for further comparative studies with other bacteria resistant to UV
      radiation.

PMID- 28596392
TI  - Fourteen Draft Genome Sequences for the First Reported Cases of Azithromycin
      Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Ireland.
AB  - Here, we report the draft genome assemblies of 14 azithromycin-resistant
      Neisseria gonorrhoeae clinical isolates, representing the first such strains
      identified in Ireland. Among these isolates are the first reported highly
      resistant strains (MIC >256 mg/liter), which both belonged to the ST1580 sequence
      type.

PMID- 28596393
TI  - Genome Sequence of Geothermobacter sp. Strain EPR-M, a Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent
      Iron Reducer.
AB  - Geothermobacter sp. strain EPR-M was isolated from a hydrothermal vent on the
      East Pacific Rise and has been shown to participate in the reduction of Fe(III)
      oxides. Here, we report its 3.73-Mb draft genome sequence.

PMID- 28596394
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Goose Parvovirus Isolated in Sichuan
      Province, China, in 2016.
AB  - Here, we report the complete genome sequence of the novel goose parvovirus (NGPV)
      strain SC16 (NGPV-SC16), which was isolated from Sichuan Province, China, in 2016
      and is a cause of the newly emerging beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome in
      ducklings and a moderately pathogenic GPV-related parvovirus. The whole genome of
      strain NGPV-SC16 was 5,109 nucleotides long.

PMID- 28596378
TI  - Molecular definitions of autophagy and related processes.
AB  - Over the past two decades, the molecular machinery that underlies autophagic
      responses has been characterized with ever increasing precision in multiple model
      organisms. Moreover, it has become clear that autophagy and autophagy-related
      processes have profound implications for human pathophysiology. However,
      considerable confusion persists about the use of appropriate terms to indicate
      specific types of autophagy and some components of the autophagy machinery, which
      may have detrimental effects on the expansion of the field. Driven by the overt
      recognition of such a potential obstacle, a panel of leading experts in the field
      attempts here to define several autophagy-related terms based on specific
      biochemical features. The ultimate objective of this collaborative exchange is to
      formulate recommendations that facilitate the dissemination of knowledge within
      and outside the field of autophagy research.

PMID- 28596396
TI  - Genome Sequence of a Novel Human Gammapapillomavirus Isolated from Skin.
AB  - A new human gammapapillomavirus (HPV_MTS2) genome was isolated and fully cloned
      from a skin swab. The L1 open reading frame of HPV_MTS2 was 79% and 80% identical
      to those of its closest relatives, HPV type 149 (species Gamma-7 of the genus
      Gammapapillomavirus) and HPV isolate Dysk2 (GenBank accession no. KX781281),
      respectively, thus qualifying it as a new HPV type.

PMID- 28596395
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Vibrio coralliilyticus 58, Isolated from Pacific
      Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) Larvae.
AB  - We report here the complete genome of Vibrio coralliilyticus strain 58, which was
      originally isolated from inactive Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae in
      Japan. The assembled genome consisted of two chromosomes and one plasmid. These
      data will provide valuable information and important insights into the
      biodiversity of this organism.

PMID- 28596397
TI  - First Detection of Avian Lineage H7N2 in Felis catus.
AB  - In December 2016, influenza A (H7N2) was first detected among cats in the New
      York City shelter system with subsequent widespread transmission. The sequence of
      the first clinical isolate, A/feline/New York/16-040082-1/2016(H7N2), and its
      genetic similarity to the live bird market lineage of H7N2 low-pathogenicity
      avian influenza are described.

PMID- 28596398
TI  - Metagenomic 16S rRNA Sequencing Analysis of Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas)
      Microbiota from the Puget Sound Region in the United States.
AB  - This is the first study analyzing Pacific oyster microbiota in the Puget Sound
      estuarine system using a next-generation sequencing method. Taxonomic analysis
      indicated that Tenericutes, Chlamydiae, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes were the
      most abundant phyla. Small numbers of operational taxonomic units (OTUs)
      belonging to the Vibrio genus were detected in all the oyster microbiome samples.

PMID- 28596400
TI  - Complete Genome Sequences of Five Representative Staphylococcus aureus ST398
      Strains from Five Major Sequence Heterogeneity Groups of a Diverse Isolate
      Collection.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 398 (ST398) is a rapidly emerging livestock
      associated strain causing zoonotic disease in humans. The course of pathogen
      evolution remains unclear, prompting whole-genome comparative studies in attempts
      to elucidate this issue. We present the full, annotated genomes of five newly
      isolated representative ST398 strains from five major sequence heterogeneity
      groups of our diverse isolate collection.

PMID- 28596399
TI  - Whole-Genome Sequence of Coxiella burnetii Nine Mile RSA439 (Phase II, Clone 4),
      a Laboratory Workhorse Strain.
AB  - Here, we report the whole-genome sequence of Coxiella burnetii Nine Mile RSA439
      (phase II, clone 4), a laboratory strain used extensively to investigate the
      biology of this intracellular bacterial pathogen. The genome consists of a 1.97
      Mb chromosome and a 37.32-kb plasmid.

PMID- 28596401
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas chlororaphis ATCC 9446, a Nonpathogenic
      Bacterium with Bioremediation and Industrial Potential.
AB  - Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain ATCC 9446 is a biocontrol-related organism. We
      report here its draft genome sequence assembled into 35 contigs consisting of
      6,783,030 bp. Genome annotation predicted a total of 6,200 genes, 6,128 coding
      sequences, 81 pseudogenes, 58 tRNAs, 4 noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), and 41
      frameshifted genes.

PMID- 28596402
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      Colonizing Strain M92.
AB  - M92 is a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonizing strain
      belonging to ST239-MRSA-III. It frequently shows local nasal colonization in our
      hospital staff, but has never been associated with infection. We sequenced the
      complete genome of M92, in order to compare it to highly virulent MRSA strains to
      gain insight into MRSA virulence factors.

PMID- 28596403
TI  - Three Draft Genome Sequences of the Bacterial Plant Pathogen Ralstonia
      solanacearum, Isolated in Georgia.
AB  - Ralstonia solanacearum, the causative agent of bacterial wilt, is a devastating
      bacterial plant pathogen with a wide range of hosts. We report here the first
      draft genome sequences for three strains of Ralstonia solanacearum isolated from
      infected potato, tomato, and pepper plants in Georgia.

PMID- 28596404
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Human Echovirus 20 Strain 812/YN/CHN/2010, Associated
      with Severe Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease.
AB  - Human echovirus 20 (E-20) belongs to the Human enterovirus B (HEV-B) species and
      is often detected in nonpolio enterovirus cases of acute flaccid paralysis. We
      determined the complete genome of strain 812/YN/CHN/2010, isolated from a child
      with severe hand-foot-and-mouth disease in Yunnan, China, in 2010.

PMID- 28596405
TI  - Genome Sequence of Paracoccus contaminans LMG 29738T, Isolated from a Water
      Microcosm.
AB  - We announce here the complete genome sequence of Paracoccus contaminans LMG
      29738T, which we recently isolated from a contaminated water microcosm. The
      genome consists of a 2.94-Mb chromosome and a 94-kb plasmid. To our knowledge, we
      provide the first DNA methylation analysis of a Paracoccus species.

PMID- 28596406
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Enterobacter cloacae Strains CAPREx E7 and CAPREx E2-2.
AB  - Enterobacter cloacae strains CAPREx E7 and CAPREx E2-2 were isolated from
      Ghanaian yams at a London market. The draft genome sequences indicate that the
      two strains are similar, with genomes of 5,042,838 and 5,039,930 bp and 56.19%
      and 55.05% G+C content, respectively. Both strains encoded three different beta
      lactamases, including one of the AmpC family.

PMID- 28596407
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Burkholderia cenocepacia CR318, a Phosphate
      Solubilizing Bacterium Isolated from Corn Root.
AB  - Here, we report the complete genome sequence of the phosphate-solubilizing
      bacterium Burkholderia cenocepacia CR318, consisting of three circular
      chromosomes of 3,511,146 bp, 3,097,552 bp, and 1,056,069 bp. The data presented
      will facilitate further insight into the mechanisms of phosphate solubilization
      and its application for agricultural and ecological sustainability.

PMID- 28596408
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Serratia proteamaculans MFPA44A14-05, a Model Organism
      for the Study of Meat and Seafood Spoilage.
AB  - In this study, we present a draft genome sequence of Serratia proteamaculans
      MFPA44A14-05. This strain was isolated from a spoiled organic modified-atmosphere
      packed beef carpaccio. The draft genome sequence will contribute to the
      understanding of the role of the S. proteamaculans species in meat and seafood
      spoilage.

PMID- 28596409
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of a Sequence Type 398 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus Isolate from a Danish Dairy Cow with Mastitis.
AB  - Livestock-associated (LA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
      strains of sequence type 398 (ST398) colonize both humans and various livestock
      species. In 2016, an ST398 LA-MRSA isolate (Sa52) was collected from a Danish
      dairy cow with mastitis, and here, we report the draft genome sequence of strain
      Sa52.

PMID- 28596410
TI  - Genome Sequences for Streptomyces spp. Isolated from Disease-Suppressive Soils
      and Long-Term Ecological Research Sites.
AB  - We report here the high-quality genome sequences of three Streptomyces spp.
      isolated as part of a long-term study of microbial soil ecology. Streptomyces sp.
      strain GS93-23 was isolated from naturally disease-suppressive soil (DSS) in
      Grand Rapids, MN, and Streptomyces sp. strains S3-4 and 3211-3 were isolated from
      experimental plots in the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR).

PMID- 28596411
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Salmonella Lysozyme Gene Knockout Mutants.
AB  - Lysozyme enzymes hydrolyze the beta-1,4-glycosidic bond in oligosaccharides.
      These enzymes are part of a broad group of glucoside hydrolases that are poorly
      characterized; however, they are important for growth and are being recognized as
      emerging virulence factors. This is the release of four lysozyme-encoding-gene
      deletion mutants in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2.

PMID- 28596412
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Leifsonia sp. Strain NCR5, a Rhizobacterium Isolated
      from Cadmium-Contaminated Soil.
AB  - We report here the draft genome sequence of Leifsonia sp. strain NCR5, a Gram
      positive actinomycete isolated from Carpobrotus rossii (Haw.) Schwantes
      rhizosphere. The de novo genome of Leifsonia sp. strain NCR5 was assembled with
      69 scaffolds and a G+C content of 69%, was 4.2 Mb in length, and contained 3,952
      coding sequences.

PMID- 28596413
TI  - Correction for Compant et al., "Draft Genome Sequence of the Root-Colonizing
      Fungus Trichoderma harzianum B97".

PMID- 28596414
TI  - Letter to the editor: Treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with statins. Are
      all statins equal?

PMID- 28596415
TI  - Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in Pregnancy and Postpartum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is associated with various forms of thrombotic
      microangiopathy, including hemolytic uremic syndrome. A previous small French
      study suggested that pregnancy-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome was to be
      included in the spectrum of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome linked to
      complement alternative pathway dysregulation. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, &
      MEASUREMENTS: We sought to retrospectively analyze the presentation, outcome, and
      frequency of complement alternative pathway gene variants in a larger
      international (France, United Kingdom, Italy) cohort of patients with pregnancy
      associated hemolytic uremic syndrome. RESULTS: Eighty-seven patients with
      pregnancy-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome were included. Hemolytic uremic
      syndrome occurred mainly during the first pregnancy (58%) and in the postpartum
      period (76%). At diagnosis, 56 (71%) patients required dialysis. Fifty-six (78%)
      patients underwent plasma exchanges, 21 (41%) received plasma infusions, and four
      (5%) received eculizumab. During follow-up (mean duration of 7.2 years), 41 (53%)
      patients reached ESRD, 15 (19%) had CKD, and 18 (28%) patients experienced
      hemolytic uremic syndrome relapse. Twenty-four patients (27%) received a kidney
      transplant and a recurrence of hemolytic uremic syndrome occurred in 13 (54%)
      patients. Variants in complement genes were detected in 49 (56%) patients, mainly
      in the CFH (30%) and CFI genes (9%). CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy-associated hemolytic
      uremic syndrome and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome nonrelated to pregnancy
      have the same severity at onset and during follow-up and the same frequency of
      complement gene variants.

PMID- 28596417
TI  - Nephrotic Syndrome Post-Kidney Transplant.

PMID- 28596416
TI  - A Kidney Graft Survival Calculator that Accounts for Mismatches in Age, Sex, HLA,
      and Body Size.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Outcomes for transplants from living unrelated donors
      are of particular interest in kidney paired donation (KPD) programs where
      exchanges can be arranged between incompatible donor-recipient pairs or chains
      created from nondirected/altruistic donors. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, &
      MEASUREMENTS: Using Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data, we
      analyzed 232,705 recipients of kidney-alone transplants from 1998 to 2012. Graft
      failure rates were estimated using Cox models for recipients of kidney
      transplants from living unrelated, living related, and deceased donors. Models
      were adjusted for year of transplant and donor and recipient characteristics,
      with particular attention to mismatches in age, sex, human leukocyte antigens
      (HLA), body size, and weight. RESULTS: The dependence of graft failure on
      increasing donor age was less pronounced for living-donor than for deceased-donor
      transplants. Male donor-to-male recipient transplants had lower graft failure,
      particularly better than female to male (5%-13% lower risk). HLA mismatch was
      important in all donor types. Obesity of both the recipient (8%-18% higher risk)
      and donor (5%-11% higher risk) was associated with higher graft loss, as were
      donor-recipient weight ratios of <75%, compared with transplants where both
      parties were of similar weight (9%-12% higher risk). These models are used to
      create a calculator of estimated graft survival for living donors. CONCLUSIONS:
      This calculator provides useful information to donors, candidates, and physicians
      of estimated outcomes and potentially in allowing candidates to choose among
      several living donors. It may also help inform candidates with compatible donors
      on the advisability of joining a KPD program.

PMID- 28596419
TI  - Intratumor Heterogeneity: Novel Approaches for Resolving Genomic Architecture and
      Clonal Evolution.
AB  - High-throughput genomic technologies have revealed a remarkably complex portrait
      of intratumor heterogeneity in cancer and have shown that tumors evolve through a
      reiterative process of genetic diversification and clonal selection. This
      discovery has challenged the classical paradigm of clonal dominance and brought
      attention to subclonal tumor cell populations that contribute to the cancer
      phenotype. Dynamic evolutionary models may explain how these populations grow
      within the ecosystem of tissues, including linear, branching, neutral, and
      punctuated patterns. Recent evidence in breast cancer favors branching and
      punctuated evolution driven by genome instability as well as nongenetic sources
      of heterogeneity, such as epigenetic variation, hierarchal tumor cell
      organization, and subclonal cell-cell interactions. Resolution of the full
      mutational landscape of tumors could help reconstruct their phylogenetic trees
      and trace the subclonal origins of therapeutic resistance, relapsed disease, and
      distant metastases, the major causes of cancer-related mortality. Real-time
      assessment of the tumor subclonal architecture, however, remains limited by the
      high rate of errors produced by most genome-wide sequencing methods as well as
      the practical difficulties associated with serial tumor genotyping in patients.
      This review focuses on novel approaches to mitigate these challenges using bulk
      tumor, liquid biopsies, single-cell analysis, and deep sequencing techniques. The
      origins of intratumor heterogeneity and the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic
      consequences in breast cancer are also explored. Mol Cancer Res; 15(9); 1127-37.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28596418
TI  - ERRalpha Maintains Mitochondrial Oxidative Metabolism and Constitutes an
      Actionable Target in PGC1alpha-Elevated Melanomas.
AB  - The uncontrolled growth of tumors provides metabolic dependencies that can be
      harnessed for therapeutic benefit. Although tumor cells exhibit these increased
      metabolic demands due to their rapid proliferation, these metabolic processes are
      general to all cells, and furthermore, targeted therapeutic intervention can
      provoke compensatory adaptation that alters tumors' characteristics. As an
      example, a subset of melanomas depends on the transcriptional coactivator
      PGC1alpha function to sustain their mitochondrial energy-dependent survival.
      However, selective outgrowth of resistant PGC1alpha-independent tumor cells
      becomes endowed with an augmented metastatic phenotype. To find PGC1alpha
      dependent components that would not affect metastasis in melanomas, an unbiased
      proteomic analyses was performed and uncovered the orphan nuclear receptor
      ERRalpha, which supports PGC1alpha's control of mitochondrial energetic
      metabolism, but does not affect the antioxidant nor antimetastatic regulatory
      roles. Specifically, genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of ERRalpha reduces the
      inherent bioenergetic capacity and decreases melanoma cell growth, but without
      altering the invasive characteristics. Thus, within this particularly aggressive
      subset of melanomas, which is characterized by heighted expression of PGC1alpha,
      ERRalpha specifically mediates prosurvival functions and represents a tangible
      therapeutic target.Implications: ERRalpha, a druggable protein, mediates the
      bioenergetic effects in melanomas defined by high PGC1alpha expression,
      suggesting a rational means for therapeutic targeting of this particularly
      aggressive melanoma subtype. Mol Cancer Res; 15(10); 1366-75. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28596422
TI  - Interruptions in medication administration: are we asking the right questions?

PMID- 28596421
TI  - Higher glucocorticoid replacement doses are associated with increased mortality
      in patients with pituitary adenoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with secondary adrenal insufficiency (AI) have an excess
      mortality. The objective was to investigate the impact of the daily
      glucocorticoid replacement dose on mortality in patients with hypopituitarism due
      to non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA). METHODS: Patients with NFPA were
      followed between years 1997 and 2014 and cross-referenced with the National
      Swedish Death Register. Standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was calculated with
      the general population as reference and Cox-regression was used to analyse the
      mortality. RESULTS: The analysis included 392 patients (140 women) with NFPA.
      Mean +/- s.d. age at diagnosis was 58.7 +/- 14.6 years and mean follow-up was
      12.7 +/- 7.2 years. AI was present in 193 patients, receiving a mean daily
      hydrocortisone equivalent (HCeq) dose of 20 +/- 6 mg. SMR (95% confidence
      interval (CI)) for patients with AI was similar to that for patients without,
      0.88 (0.68-1.12) and 0.87 (0.63-1.18) respectively. SMR was higher for patients
      with a daily HCeq dose of >20 mg (1.42 (0.88-2.17)) than that in patients with a
      daily HCeq dose of 20 mg (0.71 (0.49-0.99)), P = 0.017. In a Cox-regression
      analysis, a daily HCeq dose of >20 mg was independently associated with a higher
      mortality (HR: 1.88 (1.06-3.33)). Patients with daily HCeq doses of <=20 mg had a
      mortality risk comparable to patients without glucocorticoid replacement and to
      the general population. CONCLUSION: Patients with NFPA and AI receiving more than
      20 mg HCeq per day have an increased mortality. Our data also show that mortality
      in patients substituted with 20 mg HCeq per day or less is not increased.

PMID- 28596420
TI  - Analysis of Posttranslational Activation of Alternative Oxidase Isoforms.
AB  - Mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX) in plants is a non-proton-motive
      ubiquinol oxidase that is activated by redox mechanisms and 2-oxo acids. A
      comparative analysis of the AOX isoenzymes AOX1A, AOX1C, and AOX1D from
      Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) revealed that cysteine residues, CysI and
      CysII, are both involved in 2-oxo acid activation, with AOX1A activity being more
      increased by 2-oxo acids than that of AOX1C and AOX1D. Substitution of cysteine
      in AOX1A by glutamate mimicked its activation by pyruvate or glyoxylate, but not
      in AOX1C and AOX1D. CysIII, only present in AOX1A, is not involved in activation
      by reduction or metabolites, but substitutions at this position affected
      activity. AOX1A carrying a serine residue at position CysI was activated by
      succinate, while correspondingly substituted variants of AOX1C and AOX1D were
      insensitive. Activation by glutamate at CysI and CysII is consistent with the
      formation of the thiohemiacetal, while succinate activation after changing CysI
      to serine suggests hemiacetal formation. Surprisingly, in AOX1A, replacement of
      CysI by alanine, which cannot form a (thio)hemiacetal, led to even higher
      activities, pointing to an alternative mechanism of activation. Taken together,
      our results demonstrate that AOX isoforms are differentially activated and that
      activation at CysI and CysII is additive.

PMID- 28596424
TI  - S100-A9 protein in exosomes from chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells promotes NF
      kappaB activity during disease progression.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an incurable disease characterized by
      accumulation of clonal B lymphocytes, resulting from a complex balance between
      cell proliferation and apoptotic death. Continuous crosstalk between cancer cells
      and local/distant host environment is required for effective tumor growth. Among
      the main actors of this dynamic interplay between tumoral cells and their
      microenvironment are the nano-sized vesicles called exosomes. Emerging evidence
      indicates that secretion, composition, and functional capacity of exosomes are
      altered as tumors progress to an aggressive phenotype. In CLL, no data exist
      exploring the specific changes in the proteomic profile of plasma-derived
      exosomes from patients during disease evolution. We hereby report for the first
      time different proteomic profiles of plasma exosomes, both between indolent and
      progressive CLLs as well as within the individual patients at the onset of
      disease and during its progression. Next, we focus on the changes of the exosome
      protein cargoes, which are found exclusively in patients with progressive CLL
      after disease progression. The alterations in the proteomic cargoes underline
      different networks specific for leukemia progression related to inflammation,
      oxidative stress, and NF-kappaB and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT pathway
      activation. Finally, our results suggest a preponderant role for the protein S100
      A9 as an activator of the NFkappaB pathway during CLL progression and suggest
      that the leukemic clone can generate an autoactivation loop through S100-A9
      expression, NF-kappaB activation, and exosome secretion. Collectively, our data
      propose a new pathway for NF-kappaB activation in CLL and highlight the
      importance of exosomes as extracellular mediators promoting tumor progression in
      CLL.

PMID- 28596423
TI  - Integration of over 9,000 mass spectrometry experiments builds a global map of
      human protein complexes.
AB  - Macromolecular protein complexes carry out many of the essential functions of
      cells, and many genetic diseases arise from disrupting the functions of such
      complexes. Currently, there is great interest in defining the complete set of
      human protein complexes, but recent published maps lack comprehensive coverage.
      Here, through the synthesis of over 9,000 published mass spectrometry
      experiments, we present hu.MAP, the most comprehensive and accurate human protein
      complex map to date, containing > 4,600 total complexes, > 7,700 proteins, and >
      56,000 unique interactions, including thousands of confident protein interactions
      not identified by the original publications. hu.MAP accurately recapitulates
      known complexes withheld from the learning procedure, which was optimized with
      the aid of a new quantitative metric (k-cliques) for comparing sets of sets. The
      vast majority of complexes in our map are significantly enriched with literature
      annotations, and the map overall shows improved coverage of many disease
      associated proteins, as we describe in detail for ciliopathies. Using hu.MAP, we
      predicted and experimentally validated candidate ciliopathy disease genes in vivo
      in a model vertebrate, discovering CCDC138, WDR90, and KIAA1328 to be new cilia
      basal body/centriolar satellite proteins, and identifying ANKRD55 as a novel
      member of the intraflagellar transport machinery. By offering significant
      improvements to the accuracy and coverage of human protein complexes, hu.MAP
      (http://proteincomplexes.org) serves as a valuable resource for better
      understanding the core cellular functions of human proteins and helping to
      determine mechanistic foundations of human disease.

PMID- 28596427
TI  - The time is right for an international PCD disease registry: insight and ongoing
      research activities.

PMID- 28596425
TI  - Outcomes of hematopoietic cell transplantation using donors or recipients with
      inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6.
AB  - Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) species have a unique ability to integrate into
      chromosomal telomeres. Mendelian inheritance via gametocyte integration results
      in HHV-6 in every nucleated cell. The epidemiology and clinical effect of
      inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6 (iciHHV-6) in hematopoietic cell
      transplant (HCT) recipients is unclear. We identified 4319 HCT donor-recipient
      pairs (8638 subjects) who received an allogeneic HCT and had archived pre-HCT
      peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples. We screened these samples for iciHHV-6
      and compared characteristics of HCT recipients and donors with iciHHV-6 with
      those of recipients and donors without iciHHV-6, respectively. We calculated
      Kaplan-Meier probability estimates and Cox proportional hazards models for post
      HCT outcomes based on recipient and donor iciHHV-6 status. We identified 60 HCT
      recipients (1.4%) and 40 donors (0.9%) with iciHHV-6; both recipient and donor
      harbored iciHHV-6 in 13 HCTs. Thus, there were 87 HCTs (2%) in which the
      recipient, donor, or both harbored iciHHV-6. Acute graft-versus-host disease
      (GVHD) grades 2-4 was more frequent when recipients or donors had iciHHV-6
      (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.7-1.9; P = .004-.001). Cytomegalovirus viremia (any
      and high-level) was more frequent among recipients with iciHHV-6 (adjusted HRs,
      1.7-3.1; P = .001-.040). Inherited ciHHV-6 status did not significantly affect
      risk for chronic GVHD, hematopoietic cell engraftment, overall mortality, or
      nonrelapse mortality. Screening for iciHHV-6 could guide donor selection and post
      HCT risk stratification and treatment. Further study is needed to replicate these
      findings and identify potential mechanisms.

PMID- 28596426
TI  - Pulmonary exacerbation in adults with bronchiectasis: a consensus definition for
      clinical research.
AB  - There is a need for a clear definition of exacerbations used in clinical trials
      in patients with bronchiectasis. An expert conference was convened to develop a
      consensus definition of an exacerbation for use in clinical research.A systematic
      review of exacerbation definitions used in clinical trials from January 2000
      until December 2015 and involving adults with bronchiectasis was conducted. A
      Delphi process followed by a round-table meeting involving bronchiectasis experts
      was organised to reach a consensus definition. These experts came from Europe
      (representing the European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Research Collaboration),
      North America (representing the US Bronchiectasis Research Registry/COPD
      Foundation), Australasia and South Africa.The definition was unanimously approved
      by the working group as: a person with bronchiectasis with a deterioration in
      three or more of the following key symptoms for at least 48 h: cough; sputum
      volume and/or consistency; sputum purulence; breathlessness and/or exercise
      tolerance; fatigue and/or malaise; haemoptysis AND a clinician determines that a
      change in bronchiectasis treatment is required.The working group proposes the use
      of this consensus-based definition for bronchiectasis exacerbation in future
      clinical research involving adults with bronchiectasis.

PMID- 28596428
TI  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and COPD: is it time to cross the diaphragm?

PMID- 28596429
TI  - The challenge of defining exacerbation in bronchiectasis.

PMID- 28596430
TI  - A long way to go after the initial experience with balloon pulmonary angioplasty.

PMID- 28596431
TI  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is independently linked to
      cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality. Low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress
      and ectopic fat, common features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
      might contribute to the development of NAFLD.We aimed to investigate the
      prevalence of NAFLD and to evaluate the relationship between various types of
      liver damage and COPD severity, comorbidities and circulating inflammatory
      cytokines. Validated noninvasive tests (FibroMax: SteatoTest, NashTest and
      FibroTest) were used to assess steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and
      liver fibrosis. Patients underwent an objective assessment of COPD comorbidities,
      including sleep studies. Biological parameters included a complete lipid profile
      and inflammatory markers.In COPD patients the prevalence of steatosis, NASH and
      fibrosis were 41.4%, 36.9% and 61.3%, respectively. In multivariate analysis,
      SteatoTest and FibroTest were significantly associated with sex, body mass index
      (BMI), untreated sleep apnoea and insulin resistance, and, in addition, COPD
      Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage for SteatoTest.
      Patients with steatosis had higher tumour necrosis factor-alpha levels and those
      with NASH or a combination of liver damage types had raised leptin levels after
      adjustment for age, sex and BMI.We concluded that NAFLD is highly prevalent in
      COPD and might contribute to cardiometabolic comorbidities.

PMID- 28596432
TI  - Obstructive sleep apnoea and related comorbidities in incident idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - The objectives of this prospective study were: 1) to determine the prevalence and
      determinants of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in patients with newly diagnosed
      idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); 2) to determine whether OSA was associated
      with cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well as increased oxidative stress and
      levels of IPF biomarkers in the blood.A group of 45 patients with newly diagnosed
      IPF attended polysomnography. The prevalence of CVD and the severity of coronary
      artery calcification were investigated by high-resolution computed tomography.
      The levels of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-DG) and various IPF biomarkers in the
      blood were compared between patients with no or mild OSA (apnoea-hypopnoea index
      (AHI) <15 events.h-1), with moderate OSA (15 <=AHI <30 events.h-1) and with
      severe OSA (AHI >=30 events.h-1).The prevalence of moderate-to-severe OSA and
      severe OSA was 62% and 40%, respectively. AHI did not correlate with demographic
      or physiological data. All patients with severe OSA had a medical history of CVD,
      versus 41.2% and 40% of those with no or mild OSA, or with moderate OSA,
      respectively (p<0.0001). Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and moderate-to-severe
      coronary artery calcifications were strongly associated with severe OSA. The 8-OH
      DG and matrix metalloproteinase-7 serum levels were significantly increased in
      the severe OSA group.Moderate-to-severe OSA is highly prevalent in incident IPF
      and severe OSA is strongly associated with the presence of CVD, particularly IHD.

PMID- 28596433
TI  - Childhood factors associated with complete and clinical asthma remission at 25
      and 49 years.

PMID- 28596434
TI  - Treatment outcomes of MDR-TB and HIV co-infection in Europe.

PMID- 28596436
TI  - Checkpoint inhibition in CNS lymphoma.

PMID- 28596435
TI  - Balloon pulmonary angioplasty for inoperable patients with chronic thromboembolic
      pulmonary hypertension: the initial German experience.
AB  - Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an emerging treatment for patients with
      inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).We report on a
      prospective series of 56 consecutive patients who underwent 266 BPA interventions
      (median, five per patient) at two German institutions. All patients underwent a
      comprehensive diagnostic work-up including right heart catheterisation at
      baseline and 24 weeks after their last intervention.BPA resulted in improvements
      in WHO functional class, 6 min walk distance (mean change, +33 m), right
      ventricular function and haemodynamics, including a decline in mean pulmonary
      artery pressure by 18% and in pulmonary vascular resistance by 26%. Procedure
      related adverse events occurred in 9.4% of the interventions. The most common
      complications were related to pulmonary vascular injury and consecutive pulmonary
      bleeding. Most of these events were asymptomatic and self-limiting, but one
      patient died from pulmonary bleeding, resulting in a mortality rate of 1.8%.BPA
      resulted in haemodynamic and clinical improvements but was also associated with a
      considerable number of complications, including one fatal pulmonary bleeding. As
      the effects of BPA on survival are unknown, randomised controlled outcome trials
      comparing BPA with approved medical therapies in patients with inoperable CTEPH
      are required to allow for appropriate risk-benefit assessments.

PMID- 28596437
TI  - Rusty neutrophils in beta-thalassemia: no traction!

PMID- 28596438
TI  - Lost in translation: RP and GATA1 mutations in DBA.

PMID- 28596440
TI  - Villada G, Vega F. Clusters of paracortical plasmacytoid dendritic cells in lupus
      lymphadenitis. Blood. 2017;129(13):1884.

PMID- 28596439
TI  - Double-heart sign.

PMID- 28596441
TI  - Brivaracetam and levetiracetam dose adjustments leading to behavioural adverse
      effects.

PMID- 28596442
TI  - An unusual but classic cause of hand numbness: Pancoast tumour.

PMID- 28596443
TI  - Mounier-Kuhn syndrome.

PMID- 28596444
TI  - Pattern of medication errors among inpatients in a resource-limited hospital
      setting.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: There are limited studies on medication errors in South
      Asian and South East Asian regions. To bridge this gap, we assessed prescribing
      errors and selected medicine administration errors among inpatients, and the
      level of acknowledgement of prescribing errors by specialist physicians in a
      resource-limited hospital setting. STUDY DESIGN: The study was conducted in two
      medical wards of a hospital in Sri Lanka. Prescribing errors were identified
      among medicines prescribed in the latest prescription of randomly selected
      inpatients. Medical notes, medication histories and clinic notes were information
      sources. Consistency of medicine administration according to prescribing
      instructions was assessed by matching prescriptions with medicine charts. The
      level of acknowledgement of prescribing errors by specialist physicians of study
      wards was assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS: Prescriptions of 400 inpatients
      (2182 medicines) were analysed. There were 115 patients with at least one
      medication error. Among the 400 patients, 32.5% (n=130) were prescribing errors.
      The most frequent types of prescribing errors were 'wrong frequency' (10.3%,
      n=41), 'prescribing duplications' (10%, n=40), 'prescribing unacceptable medicine
      combinations' (6%, n=24) and 'medicine omissions' (4.3%, n=17). Medicine charts
      of 10 patients were inconsistent with prescribing instructions. Wrong medicine
      administration frequencies were common. The levels of acknowledgment of
      prescribing errors by the two specialist physicians were 75.5% and 90.9%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Prescribing and medicine administration errors happen
      in resource-limited hospitals. Errors related to dosing regimen and failing to
      document medicines prescribed or administered to patients in their records were
      particularly high.

PMID- 28596445
TI  - Development of a New Care Model for Hospitalized Children With Medical
      Complexity.
AB  - Children with medical complexity are a rapidly growing inpatient population with
      frequent, lengthy, and costly hospitalizations. During hospitalization, these
      patients require care coordination among multiple subspecialties and their
      outpatient medical homes. At a large freestanding children's hospital, a new
      inpatient model of care was developed in an effort to consistently provide
      coordinated, family-centered, and efficient care. In addition to expanding the
      multidisciplinary team to include a pharmacist, dietician, and social worker, the
      team redesign included: (1) medication reconciliation rounds, (2) care
      coordination rounds, and (3) multidisciplinary weekly handoff with outpatient
      providers. During weekly medication reconciliation rounds, the team pharmacist
      reviews each patient's current medications with the team. In care coordination
      rounds, the team collaborates with unit care managers to identify discharge needs
      and complete discharge tasks. Finally, at the end of the week, the outgoing
      hospital medicine attending physician hands off patient care to the incoming
      attending with input from the team's pharmacist, dietician, and social worker.
      Families and providers noted improvements in care coordination with the new care
      model. Remaining challenges include balancing resident autonomy and attending
      supervision, as well as supporting providers in delivering care that can be
      emotionally challenging. Aspects of this care model could be tested and adapted
      at other hospitals that care for children with medical complexity. Additionally,
      future work should study the impact of inpatient complex care models on patient
      health outcomes and experience.

PMID- 28596446
TI  - Reducing Uncertainty: Predictors of Stopping Chemotherapy Early and Shortened
      Survival Time in Platinum Resistant/Refractory Ovarian Cancer-The GCIG Symptom
      Benefit Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinicians and patients often overestimate the benefits of
      chemotherapy, and overall survival (OS), in platinum resistant/refractory ovarian
      cancer (PRROC). This study sought to determine aspects of health-related quality
      of life and clinicopathological characteristics before starting chemotherapy that
      were associated with stopping chemotherapy early, shortened survival, and death
      within 30 days of chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study enrolled women
      with PRROC before starting palliative chemotherapy. Health-related quality of
      life was measured with EORTC QLQ-C30/QLQ-OV28. Chemotherapy stopped within 8
      weeks of starting was defined as stopping early. Logistic regression was used to
      assess univariable and multivariable associations with stopping chemotherapy
      early and death within 30 days of chemotherapy; Cox proportional hazards
      regression was used to assess associations with progression-free and OS. RESULTS:
      Low baseline global health status (GHS), role function (RF), physical function
      (PF), and high abdominal/gastrointestinal symptom (AGIS) were associated with
      stopping chemotherapy early (all p < .007); low PF and RF remained significant
      after adjusting for clinicopathological factors (both p < .0401). Most who
      stopped chemotherapy early had Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance
      Score 0-1 at baseline (79%); PF, RF, and GHS remained independently significant
      predictors of stopping chemotherapy early in this subgroup. Death within 30 days
      of chemotherapy occurred in 14%. Low GHS, RF, and PF remained significantly
      associated with death within 30 days of chemotherapy after adjusting for
      clinicopathological factors (all p < .012). CONCLUSION: Women with low GHS, RF,
      or PF before starting chemotherapy were more likely to stop chemotherapy early,
      with short OS. Self-ratings of GHS, RF, and PF could improve patient-clinician
      communication regarding prognosis and help decision-making in women considering
      chemotherapy for PRROC. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Measuring aspects of health
      related quality of life when considering further chemotherapy in platinum
      resistant/refractory ovarian cancer (PRROC) could help identify women with a
      particularly poor prognosis who are unlikely to benefit from chemotherapy and
      could therefore be spared unnecessary treatment and toxicity in their last months
      of life. Self-ratings of global health status, role function, and physical
      function could improve patient-clinician communication regarding prognosis and
      help decision-making in women considering chemotherapy for PRROC.

PMID- 28596447
TI  - Impact of Thrombus Length on Outcomes After Intra-Arterial Aspiration
      Thrombectomy in the THERAPY Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Increasing thrombus length (TL) impedes recanalization
      after intravenous (IV) thrombolysis. We sought to determine whether the clinical
      benefit of aspiration thrombectomy relative to IV r-tPA (recombinant tissue-type
      plasminogen activator) may be greater at longer TL. METHODS: THERAPY was a
      randomized trial of aspiration thrombectomy plus IV r-tPA versus IV r-tPA alone
      in large-vessel stroke patients with prospective TL measurement >=8 mm. In this
      post hoc study, we evaluated the association of TL with trial end points and
      potential endovascular treatment effect, using univariate, multivariable, and
      multiplicative interaction analyses. RESULTS: TL data were available for all 108
      patients (28% internal carotid artery, 62% M1, and 10% M2). Median TL was 14.0 mm
      (interquartile range, 9.7-19.5 mm). Longer TL was associated with worse outcome
      (90-day modified Rankin Scale score: odds ratio, 1.24 per 5-mm TL increment; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.04-1.52; P=0.02), even after adjusting for key outcome
      predictors (adjusted P=0.004). Longer TL was also associated with more serious
      adverse events (adjusted P=0.01), more symptomatic hemorrhages (adjusted P=0.03),
      and increased mortality (adjusted P=0.01). No significant relationship was
      observed between TL and angiographic reperfusion (modified thrombolysis in
      cerebral ischemia 2b-3), but greater TL was associated with longer endovascular
      procedural times (rho=0.36; P=0.045). Increasing TL was associated with greater
      aspiration thrombectomy treatment effect (interaction term P=0.03). This might be
      related to a potentially stronger adverse effect of increasing TL on 90-day
      modified Rankin Scale for patients treated with IV r-tPA (rho=0.39; P=0.01)
      compared with intra-arterial therapy (rho=0.20; P=0.165). CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic
      stroke patients with longer symptomatic thrombi have worse 90-day clinical
      outcomes but may have a greater relative benefit of aspiration thrombectomy over
      IV r-tPA alone. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.
      Unique identifier: NCT01429350.

PMID- 28596448
TI  - Association of Vegetable Nitrate Intake With Carotid Atherosclerosis and Ischemic
      Cerebrovascular Disease in Older Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A short-term increase in dietary nitrate (NO3-) improves
      markers of vascular health via formation of nitric oxide and other bioactive
      nitrogen oxides. Whether this translates into long-term vascular disease risk
      reduction has yet to be examined. We investigated the association of vegetable
      derived nitrate intake with common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA
      IMT), plaque severity, and ischemic cerebrovascular disease events in elderly
      women (n=1226). METHODS: Vegetable nitrate intake, lifestyle factors, and
      cardiovascular disease risk factors were determined at baseline (1998). CCA-IMT
      and plaque severity were measured using B-mode carotid ultrasound (2001).
      Complete ischemic cerebrovascular disease hospitalizations or deaths (events)
      over 14.5 years (15 032 person-years of follow-up) were obtained from the West
      Australian Data Linkage System. RESULTS: Higher vegetable nitrate intake was
      associated with a lower maximum CCA-IMT (B=-0.015, P=0.002) and lower mean CCA
      IMT (B=-0.012, P=0.006). This relationship remained significant after adjustment
      for lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors (P<=0.01). Vegetable nitrate intake
      was not a predictor of plaque severity. In total 186 (15%) women experienced an
      ischemic cerebrovascular disease event. For every 1 SD (29 mg/d) higher intake of
      vegetable nitrate, there was an associated 17% lower risk of 14.5-year ischemic
      cerebrovascular disease events in both unadjusted and fully adjusted models
      (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Independent of other risk factors, higher vegetable
      nitrate was associated with a lower CCA-IMT and a lower risk of an ischemic
      cerebrovascular disease event.

PMID- 28596449
TI  - Noninvasive Ventilatory Correction in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Even though current guidelines suggest that noninvasive
      ventilatory correction (NIVC) could be considered for acute ischemic stroke
      patients with obstructive sleep apnea, available evidence is conflicting, with no
      adequately powered randomized clinical trial being available to date. METHODS: We
      conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all available literature data
      evaluating the effect of NIVC on neurological improvement (based on decrease in
      National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score), vascular events (recurrent
      stroke, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction and unstable angina),
      and mortality during the follow-up period. RESULTS: We identified 4 randomized
      clinical trials and 1 prospectively matched observational cohort, comprising a
      total of 389 patients (59.8% males, mean age: 64.4 years). The risk of both
      performance and detection bias was considered high in most of the included
      randomized clinical trials because of the lack of blinding in participants,
      personnel and/or outcome assessors. The mean decrease in National Institutes of
      Health Stroke Scale scores during the first (<=30) days of acute ischemic stroke
      was found to be greater in NIVC-treated patients in comparison to controls
      (standardized mean difference, 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.66;
      P=0.007). However, no significant differences were detected between NIVC-treated
      acute ischemic stroke patients and controls on both the risk of vascular events
      (risk ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.25-1.14; P=0.11) and mortality
      (risk ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.37-1.36; P=0.30). No evidence of
      heterogeneity (I2=0%; P for Cochran Q>0.50) or publication bias were detected in
      all analyses. CONCLUSIONS: NIVC seems to be associated with greater short-term
      neurological improvement in acute ischemic stroke patients with obstructive sleep
      apnea. This finding deserves further investigation within the settings of an
      adequately powered, sham-control, randomized clinical trial.

PMID- 28596450
TI  - Endovascular Therapies for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Children.

PMID- 28596453
TI  - Response by de Ridder et al to Letter Regarding Article, "PAIS 2 (Paracetamol
      [Acetaminophen] in Stroke 2) Results of a Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo
      Controlled Clinical Trial".

PMID- 28596452
TI  - Effect of Long-Term Vascular Care on Progression of Cerebrovascular Lesions:
      Magnetic Resonance Imaging Substudy of the PreDIVA Trial (Prevention of Dementia
      by Intensive Vascular Care).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a nurse-led
      multidomain cardiovascular intervention on white matter hyperintensity (WMH)
      progression and incident lacunar infarcts in community-dwelling elderly with
      hypertension. METHODS: The preDIVA trial (Prevention of Dementia by Intensive
      Vascular Care) was an open-label, cluster-randomized controlled trial in
      community-dwelling individuals aged 70 to 78 years. General practices were
      assigned by computer-generated randomization to 6-year nurse-led, multidomain
      intensive vascular care or standard care. Of 3526 preDIVA participants, 195
      nondemented participants with a systolic blood pressure >=140 mm Hg were
      consecutively recruited to undergo magnetic resonance imaging at 2 to 3 and 5 to
      6 years after baseline. WMH volumes were measured automatically, lacunar infarcts
      assessed visually, blinded to treatment allocation. RESULTS: One hundred and
      twenty-six participants were available for longitudinal analysis (64 intervention
      and 62 control). Annual WMH volume increase in milliliter was similar for
      intervention (mean=0.73, SD=0.84) and control (mean=0.70, SD=0.59) participants
      (adjusted mean difference, -0.08 mL; 95% confidence interval, -0.30 to 0.15;
      P=0.50). Analyses suggested greater intervention effects with increasing baseline
      WMH volumes (P for interaction=0.03). New lacunar infarcts developed in 6 (9%)
      intervention and 2 (3%) control participants (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.4-12.1; P=0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Nurse-led vascular care in hypertensive
      community-dwelling older persons did not diminish WMH accumulation over 3 years.
      However, our results do suggest this type of intervention could be effective in
      persons with high WMH volumes. There was no effect on lacunar infarcts incidence
      but numbers were low. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION: URL:
      http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN29711771. Unique identifier: ISRCTN29711771.

PMID- 28596451
TI  - Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke: The
      Framingham Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Low insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) has been
      associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis and atrial fibrillation in
      cross-sectional studies. Yet, prospective data linking IGF-1 levels to the
      development of ischemic stroke remain inconclusive. We examined prospectively the
      association between serum IGF-1 levels and incident ischemic stroke. METHODS: We
      measured serum IGF-1 levels in 757 elderly individuals (mean age 79+/-5, 62%
      women), free of prevalent stroke, from the Framingham original cohort
      participants at the 22nd examination cycle (1990-1994) and were followed up for
      the development of ischemic stroke. Cox models were used to relate IGF-1 levels
      to the risk for incident ischemic stroke, adjusted for potential confounders.
      RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 10.2 years, 99 individuals developed ischemic
      stroke. After adjustment for age, sex, and potential confounders, higher IGF-1
      levels were associated with a lower risk of incident ischemic stroke, with
      subjects in the lowest quintile of IGF-1 levels having a 2.3-fold higher risk of
      incident ischemic stroke (95% confidence interval, 1.09-5.06; P=0.03) as compared
      with those in the top quintile. We observed an effect modification by diabetes
      mellitus and waist-hip ratio for the association between IGF-1 and ischemic
      stroke (P<0.1). In subgroup analyses, the effects were restricted to subjects
      with diabetics and those in top waist-hip ratio quartile, in whom each standard
      deviation increase in IGF-1 was associated with a 61% (hazard ratio, 0.39; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.20-0.78; P=0.007) and 41% (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.37-0.95; P=0.031) lower risk of incident ischemic stroke,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: IGF-1 levels were inversely associated with ischemic
      stroke, especially among persons with insulin resistance.

PMID- 28596454
TI  - Association Between Previous Use of Antiplatelet Therapy and Intracerebral
      Hemorrhage Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although the use of antiplatelet therapy (APT) is
      associated with the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), there are limited
      data on prestroke APT and outcomes, particularly among patients on combination
      APT (CAPT). We hypothesized that the previous use of antiplatelet agents is
      associated with increased mortality in ICH. METHODS: We analyzed data of 82 576
      patients with ICH who were not on oral anticoagulant therapy from 1574 Get with
      the Guidelines-Stroke hospitals between October 2012 and March 2016. Patients
      were categorized as not on APT, on single-APT (SAPT), and CAPT before hospital
      presentation with ICH. We described baseline characteristics, comorbidities,
      hospital characteristics and outcomes, overall and stratified by APT use.
      RESULTS: Before the diagnosis of ICH, 65.8% patients were not on APT, 29.5%
      patients were on SAPT, and 4.8% patients were on CAPT. There was an overall
      modest increased in-hospital mortality in the APT group versus no APT group (24%
      versus 23%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.10).
      Although patients on SAPT and CAPT were older and had higher risk profiles in
      terms of comorbidities, there was no significant difference in the in-hospital
      mortality among patients on SAPT versus those not on any APT (23% versus 23%;
      adjusted odds ratio, 1.01; 95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.05). However, in
      hospital mortality was higher among those on CAPT versus those not on APT (30%
      versus 23%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.39-1.63).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that among patients with ICH, previous use of
      CAPT, but not SAPT, was associated with higher risk for in-hospital mortality.

PMID- 28596455
TI  - Letter by Poppe et al Regarding Article, "Emergent Carotid Stenting After
      Thrombectomy in Patients With Tandem Lesions".

PMID- 28596456
TI  - Response by Behme to Letter Regarding Article, "Emergent Carotid Stenting After
      Thrombectomy in Patients With Tandem Lesions".

PMID- 28596457
TI  - Statin Adherence Is Associated With Reduced Recurrent Stroke Risk in Patients
      With or Without Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Outpatient statin use reduces the risk of recurrent
      ischemic stroke among patients with stroke of atherothrombotic cause. It is not
      known whether statins have similar effects in ischemic stroke caused by atrial
      fibrillation (AFib). METHODS: We studied outpatient statin adherence, measured by
      percentage of days covered, and the risk of recurrent ischemic stroke in patients
      with or without AFib in a 21-hospital integrated healthcare delivery system.
      RESULTS: Among 6116 patients with ischemic stroke discharged on a statin over a 5
      year period, 1446 (23.6%) had a diagnosis of AFib at discharge. The mean statin
      adherence rate (percentage of days covered) was 85, and higher levels of
      percentage of days covered correlated with greater degrees of low-density
      lipoprotein suppression. In multivariable survival models of recurrent ischemic
      stroke over 3 years, after controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, medical
      comorbidities, and hospital center, higher statin adherence predicted reduced
      stroke risk both in patients without AFib (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.63-0.97) and in patients with AFib (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.43-0.81). This association was robust to adjustment for
      the time in the therapeutic range for international normalized ratio among AFib
      subjects taking warfarin (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.41
      0.89). CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between statin adherence and reduced
      recurrent stroke risk is as strong among patients with AFib as it is among
      patients without AFib, suggesting that AFib status should not be a reason to
      exclude patients from secondary stroke prevention with a statin.

PMID- 28596459
TI  - Letter by Noubiap and Kamtchum-Tatuene Regarding Article, "PAIS 2 (Paracetamol
      [Acetaminophen] in Stroke 2): Results of a Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo
      Controlled Clinical Trial".

PMID- 28596458
TI  - Prevalence of Fabry Disease and Outcomes in Young Canadian Patients With
      Cryptogenic Ischemic Cerebrovascular Events.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies reported Fabry disease in 0% to 4% of
      young patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke (IS). We sought to determine the
      prevalence of Fabry and outcomes among young Canadians with cryptogenic IS or
      transient ischemic attack (TIA). METHODS: We prospectively enrolled individuals
      aged 18 to 55 with IS or speech or motor TIA, and no cause identified despite
      predetermined investigation. alpha-galactosidase-A gene was sequenced for Fabry
      diagnosis. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was measured at
      presentation to quantify stroke severity. Modified Rankin Scale determined
      functional outcomes <=7 days after presentation and 6 months later. RESULTS: We
      enrolled 365 patients with IS and 32 with TIA. alpha-galactosidase-A sequencing
      identified a single carrier of a genetic variant of unknown significance
      (p.R118C) and no well-recognized pathogenic variants. Mean National Institutes of
      Health Stroke Scale score was 3.1. Proportion of patients with modified Rankin
      Scale of 0 to 2 was 70.7% at <=7 days and 87.4% at 6 months. National Institutes
      of Health Stroke Scale score at presentation and diabetes mellitus predicted 6
      month modified Rankin Scale. Thirteen patients experienced 5 recurrent IS and 9
      TIA during follow-up. No patient died. Most patients (98.7%) returned home. Among
      previous workers, 43% had residual working limitations. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      Canadian cohort of patients with cryptogenic IS or TIA, the prevalence of Fabry
      was 0.3% if p.R118C variant is considered as pathogenic. This suggests that more
      cost-effective methods should be applied for diagnosis of Fabry rather than
      systematic genetic screening in this population. Overall, cryptogenic IS in young
      adults is associated with favorable outcomes.

PMID- 28596461
TI  - Classification of pulmonary pathology from breath sounds using the wavelet packet
      transform and an extreme learning machine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Auscultation is a medical procedure used for the initial diagnosis
      and assessment of lung and heart diseases. From this perspective, we propose
      assessing the performance of the extreme learning machine (ELM) classifiers for
      the diagnosis of pulmonary pathology using breath sounds. METHODS: Energy and
      entropy features were extracted from the breath sound using the wavelet packet
      transform. The statistical significance of the extracted features was evaluated
      by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The extracted features were inputted
      into the ELM classifier. RESULTS: The maximum classification accuracies obtained
      for the conventional validation (CV) of the energy and entropy features were
      97.36% and 98.37%, respectively, whereas the accuracies obtained for the cross
      validation (CRV) of the energy and entropy features were 96.80% and 97.91%,
      respectively. In addition, maximum classification accuracies of 98.25% and 99.25%
      were obtained for the CV and CRV of the ensemble features, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the classification accuracy obtained with
      the ensemble features was higher than those obtained with the energy and entropy
      features.

PMID- 28596462
TI  - [Pure Amnesia].
AB  - Pure amnesia (amnesic syndrome) is an organic brain syndrome characterized by
      impairment in episodic memory, with either an anterograde or sometimes retrograde
      loss of memories. Although episodic memory is impaired, semantic memory,
      immediate memory, and procedural memory are preserved. The Papez circuit is a
      network of nerve fibers and nerve centers that starts and ends in the hippocampus
      travelling by way of the fornix, mammillary bodies, anterior thalamic nuclei,
      cingulate gyrus, and parahippocampal gyrus. A lesion restricted to this circuit
      often produces pure amnesia. Regions concerned with the Yakovlev circuit also
      have an important role in memory. Clinical cases of pure amnesia caused by
      cerebrovascular disease presented following brain imaging and resulted from
      various different lesions. The cases identified were predominantly thalamic
      amnesia and hippocampal amnesia. Thalamic amnesia often resulted from an
      infarction in the territory of the thalamotuberal artery and paramedian thalamic
      artery although thalamic hemorrhage in medial portion of thalamus also produced
      pure amnesia. Hippocampal amnesia usually occurred following an infarction in the
      temporal branches of posterior cerebral artery. Cases of retrosplenial amnesia
      caused by subcortical hematoma and infarction in the retrosplenial region are
      also described. In addition, cases of pure amnesia resulting from an infarction
      in the fornix, mammillary body hemorrhage, and caudate hemorrhage are also shown.

PMID- 28596463
TI  - [Prosopometamorphopsia].
AB  - Facial perception relies on both configural processing and analytical processing.
      Seventeen years ago, Haxby and colleagues proposed an influential neural model in
      which a core system and an extended system were involved in facial processing.
      Herein, first analyze configural processing on the basis of the Haxby model. We
      review previous findings from published electrophysiological and neuroimaging
      studies, and describe previously reported clinical cases, and finally we discuss
      our own clinical cases an findings. Based on this work we have sketched out a new
      framework for facial perception suggesting that suggests that the extended system
      includes more widely distributed regions than originally expected.

PMID- 28596460
TI  - Role of Improved Vascular Health in the Declining Incidence of Dementia.

PMID- 28596464
TI  - [Music Processing in the Brain: Neuropsychological Approach Through Findings of
      Patients with Amusia].
AB  - Less than 100 cases of amusia have been reported. The sites of lesion in these
      patients have been located in the right, left, and bilateral cerebral
      hemisphere(s); therefore the lateralization of amusia is not as clear as that of
      aphasia. Among them, pure amusia, the selective loss of musical ability due to
      acquired brain damage, was observed only in nine cases. The cases of pure amusia
      included right superior and middle temporal gyrus lesion involvement. By
      comparing the lesion sites and symptoms of pure amusia, it might be assumed that
      the right superior/middle temporal gyrus participates in the perception and
      expression of melody. In 2011, the selective loss of the experience of musical
      emotion was termed musical anhedonia by the presenting author. Only four cases of
      musical anhedonia have been reported, and in those the cortical and subcortical
      regions of the right temporoparietal area were commonly damaged. It was supposed
      that musical anhedonia was caused by the disconnection between the right auditory
      association cortices and the insula. Based on the results of the assessment of
      healthy young participants, there have been many reports of congenital amusia or
      musical anhedonia by musical psychologists. Further studies are needed in order
      to determine whether these diseases actually exist.

PMID- 28596465
TI  - [Somatoparaphrenia].
AB  - Somatoparaphrenia (SP) typically occurs after a right-hemisphere stroke, where
      the patient refers to his/her hemiplegic left hand as belonging to someone else.
      In this report, we review the literature for the brain structures affected in SP.
      We also report three cases with varying degrees of SP: a typical case, one case
      where SP affected the visceral sensations, and one case where a concurring
      psychiatric condition lead to a very complex, bizarre delusion.

PMID- 28596466
TI  - [Clocks, Behavior, and Cognition].
AB  - The nerve center responsible for controlling our circadian rhythm is located in a
      cluster of cells known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus.
      Various physiological functions such as sleep, arousal, blood pressure, body
      temperature, and hormone secretion are regulated in a 24-hour rhythm by this
      circuit. Somatic cells of other organs have a peripheral clock gene and by
      synchronizing the rhythm of the central and peripheral clocks, it is possible to
      live a healthy life. Due to aging and degenerative disease, circadian rhythm
      gradually collapses. Factors that can contribute to this include reduced
      expression of the time gene associated with photo stimulation, a reduction in
      neurotransmitter levels, and reduced melatonin production. Biological clocks play
      an important role in our emotions, cognitive function, and behavior. Sleep
      disorders and metabolic disease related to the circadian rhythm affect metabolic
      and endocrine activities via the autonomic nervous system and the intestinal
      bacterial flora. Shift work disorder is associated with insomnia and excessive
      drowsiness as individuals often work during their sleeping hours. Now time
      management is placed at the center of our society, and it is important to
      evaluate the medical risk of engaging in shift work. In frontotemporal dementia
      (FTD), the stereotypical behaviors may be associated with time. In some patients,
      multiple timed behaviors occupy a considerable part of the patient's daily life.
      Stereotypical behaviors in FTD are often considered in contrast to obsessive
      compulsive disease (OCD). Studies of OCD have found a close correlation between
      clinical symptoms, cognitive function, and brain function.

PMID- 28596467
TI  - [Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source].
AB  - A new clinical construct, embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) was
      established as a therapeutically relevant entity, which are defined as a non
      lacunar infarction without proximal arterial stenosis or cardioembolic sources,
      with a clear indication for anticoagulation, especially with direct oral
      anticoagulant (DOAC). The possible embolic sources include covert atrial
      fibrillation, arterial stenosis with <50%, low-risk emboligenic cardiac sources,
      aortic plaque, cancer-associated, and paradoxical embolism. As its diagnosis is
      based on exclusive process, ESUS comprises heterogeneous pathologies. Though
      current Japanese guideline recommends antiplatelets for non-cardioembolic stroke,
      ESUS may benefits from anticoagulants. Randomized trials testing DOAC for the
      secondary prevention of ESUS are currently ongoing.

PMID- 28596468
TI  - [The Unitary Psychosis Theory].
AB  - Since E. Kraepelin isolated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as heterogeneous
      diseases, attempts to categorize mental illnesses have continued to the DSM-5.
      Meanwhile, cases of psychosis occurring as a result of neurosyphilis have been
      reported. Whilst in some cases it is useful to divide mental illnesses, in others
      imposing such classifications may be not be feasible. Since 2008 numerous papers
      have been published showing that the same genes are related to an increased
      incidence of several psychiatric diseases including intellectual disorder,
      autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. This suggests that
      the theory that these are separate and heterogeneous diseases should be rejected.
      Aside from the categorical classification in the DSM, it is desirable to create
      new diagnostic criteria that capture mental illness as a spectrum.

PMID- 28596469
TI  - [A Case of Takayasu Arteritis with Acute Bilateral Occlusion of the Internal
      Carotid Arteries].
AB  - A 38-year-old woman developed disturbance of consciousness and quadriplegia.
      Magnetic resonance images showed scattered acute infarcts in both hemispheres and
      bilateral occlusion of the intracranial artery (ICA). Immediate mechanical
      thrombectomy restored the patency of the ICA. Contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography revealed bilateral wall thickening of the abdominal aorta and the
      iliac arteries. This finding and an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate
      supported the diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis. Here, we thus report a rare case
      of Takayasu arteritis with acute bilateral occlusion of the internal carotid
      arteries.

PMID- 28596470
TI  - [Epidural Emphysema Associated with Diabetic Nonketotic Hyperosmolar Coma].

PMID- 28596481
TI  - Mislocalization of centromeric histone H3 variant CENP-A contributes to
      chromosomal instability (CIN) in human cells.
AB  - Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of many cancers and a major
      contributor to tumorigenesis. Centromere and kinetochore associated proteins such
      as the evolutionarily conserved centromeric histone H3 variant CENP-A, associate
      with centromeric DNA for centromere function and chromosomal stability. Stringent
      regulation of cellular CENP-A levels prevents its mislocalization in yeast and
      flies to maintain genome stability. CENP-A overexpression and mislocalization are
      observed in several cancers and reported to be associated with increased
      invasiveness and poor prognosis. We examined whether there is a direct
      relationship between mislocalization of overexpressed CENP-A and CIN using HeLa
      and chromosomally stable diploid RPE1 cell lines as model systems. Our results
      show that mislocalization of overexpressed CENP-A to chromosome arms leads to
      chromosome congression defects, lagging chromosomes, micronuclei formation and a
      delay in mitotic exit. CENP-A overexpressing cells showed altered localization of
      centromere and kinetochore associated proteins such as CENP-C, CENP-T and Nuf2
      leading to weakened native kinetochores as shown by reduced interkinetochore
      distance and CIN. Importantly, our results show that mislocalization of CENP-A to
      chromosome arms is one of the major contributors for CIN as depletion of histone
      chaperone DAXX prevents CENP-A mislocalization and rescues the reduced
      interkinetochore distance and CIN phenotype in CENP-A overexpressing cells. In
      summary, our results establish that CENP-A overexpression and mislocalization
      result in a CIN phenotype in human cells. This study provides insights into how
      overexpression of CENP-A may contribute to CIN in cancers and underscore the
      importance of understanding the pathways that prevent CENP-A mislocalization for
      genome stability.

PMID- 28596482
TI  - Aging-dependent DNA hypermethylation and gene expression of GSTM1 involved in T
      cell differentiation.
AB  - This study investigated whether aging was associated with epigenetic changes of
      DNA hypermethylation on immune gene expression and lymphocyte differentiation. We
      screened CG sites of methylation in blood leukocytes from different age
      populations, picked up genes with age-related increase of CG methylation content
      more than 15%, and validated immune related genes with CG hypermethylation
      involved in lymphocyte differentiation in the aged population. We found that 12
      genes (EXHX1a?? IL-10a?? TSP50a??
      GSTM1a??SLC5A5a??SPI1a??F2Ra??LMO2a??PTPN6a??FGFR2a??MMP9a??MET) were associated
      with promoter or exon one DNA hypermethylation in the aged group. Two immune
      related genes, GSTM1 and LMO2, were chosen to validate its aging-related CG
      hypermethylation in different leukocytes. We are the first to validate that
      GSTM1_P266 and LMO2_E128 CG methylation contents in T lymphocytes but not
      polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) or mononuclear cells (MNCs) were significantly
      increased in the aged population. The GSTM1 mRNA expression in T lymphocytes but
      not PMNs or MNCs was inversely associated with the GSTM1 CG hypermethylation
      levels in the aged population studied. Further studies showed that lower GSTM1 CG
      methylation content led to the higher GSTM1 mRNA expression in T cells and
      knockdown of GSTM1 mRNA expression decreased type 1 T helper cell (Th1)
      differentiation in Jurkat T cells and normal adult CD4 T cells. The GSTM1_P266
      hypermethylation in the aged population associated with lower GSTM1 mRNA
      expression was involved in Th1 differentiation, highlighting that modulation of
      aging-associated GSTM1 methylation may be able to enhance T helper cell immunity
      in the elders.

PMID- 28596485
TI  - Rumen-derived lipopolysaccharide provoked inflammatory injury in the liver of
      dairy cows fed a high-concentrate diet.
AB  - Rumen-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is translocated from the rumen into the
      bloodstream when subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) occurs following long-term
      feeding with a high-concentrate (HC) diet in dairy cows. The objective of this
      study was to investigate the mechanism of inflammatory responses in the liver
      caused by HC diet feeding. We found that SARA was induced in dairy cows when
      rumen pH below 5.6 lasted for at least 3 h/d with HC diet feeding. Also, the LPS
      levels in the portal and hepatic veins were increased significantly and
      hepatocytes were impaired as well as the liver function was inhibited during SARA
      condition. Meanwhile, the mRNA expression of immune genes including TNF receptor
      associated factor 6 (TRAF6), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), p38 mitogen
      activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK)
      MAPK, Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and serum amyloid A (SAA) in the liver were
      significantly increased in SARA cows. Moreover, the phosphorylation level of NF
      kappaB p65 and p38 MAPK proteins in the liver and the concentration of Tumor
      Necrosis Factor (TNF-alpha), Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and Interleukin-6 (IL
      6) in peripheral blood were obviously increased under SARA condition. In
      conclusion, the inflammatory injury in the liver caused by LPS that traveled from
      the digestive tract to the liver through the portal vein after feeding with a HC
      diet.

PMID- 28596511
TI  - Effect of Alprazolam on Redox Status in Renal Transplantation Donors and
      Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND Benzodiazepines are the most popular premedication drugs thought to
      act through the GABA/benzodiazepine receptor complex and alprazolam is one of the
      most potent benzodiazepines that have a quick onset. While there is a growing
      body of evidence supporting alprazolam in the amelioration of redox status in
      animals, no study has been performed concerning its antioxidant activity in
      humans. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of
      alprazolam on redox status. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study was a four-group
      randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from Acibadem University
      Acibadem International Hospital and included a convenience sample of 82 donors
      and recipients undergoing renal transplantation. Patients were randomly divided
      into four groups. While donors and recipients in experimental groups (G1 and G3)
      were administered alprazolam 0.5 mg orally one hour before the operation, those
      in control groups (G2 and G4) were not. Serum advanced oxidative protein
      products, total thiol, free hemoglobin, ischemic modified albumin, and sialic
      acid levels at different time points were measured to evaluate the redox status.
      RESULTS All oxidative stress parameters were higher in the alprazolam
      premedication groups (G1, G3) at all time points than in the control groups (G2,
      G4). Basal values of oxidative parameters (at time point T1) in patients with CKD
      (G3, G4) were lower than in healthy donors (G1, G2). CONCLUSIONS Alprazolam
      premedication in donors and end-stage renal failure patients undergoing renal
      transplantation does not improve redox homeostasis but further experimental
      studies are needed.

PMID- 28596487
TI  - ZNF131 suppresses centrosome fragmentation in glioblastoma stem-like cells
      through regulation of HAUS5.
AB  - Zinc finger domain genes comprise ~3% of the human genome, yet many of their
      functions remain unknown. Here we investigated roles for the vertebrate-specific
      BTB domain zinc finger gene ZNF131 in the context of human brain tumors. We
      report that ZNF131 is broadly required for Glioblastoma stem-like cell (GSC)
      viability, but dispensable for neural progenitor cell (NPC) viability.
      Examination of gene expression changes after ZNF131 knockdown (kd) revealed that
      ZNF131 activity notably promotes expression of Joubert Syndrome ciliopathy genes,
      including KIF7, NPHP1, and TMEM237, as well as HAUS5, a component of Augmin/HAUS
      complex that facilitates microtubule nucleation along the mitotic spindle. Of
      these genes only kd of HAUS5 displayed GSC-specific viability loss. Critically,
      HAUS5 ectopic expression was sufficient to suppress viability defects of ZNF131
      kd cells. Moreover, ZNF131 and HAUS5 kd phenocopied each other in GSCs, each
      causing: mitotic arrest, centrosome fragmentation, loss of Augmin/HAUS complex on
      the mitotic spindle, and loss of GSC self-renewal and tumor formation capacity.
      In control NPCs, we observed centrosome fragmentation and lethality only when
      HAUS5 kd was combined with kd of HAUS2 or HAUS4, demonstrating that the complex
      is essential in NPCs, but that GSCs have heightened requirement. Our results
      suggest that GSCs differentially rely on ZNF131-dependent expression of HAUS5 as
      well as the Augmin/HAUS complex activity to maintain the integrity of centrosome
      function and viability.

PMID- 28596512
TI  - Paricalcitol as an Antiproteinuric Agent Can Result in the Deterioration of Renal
      and Heart Function in a Patient with Fabry Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND Fabry disease is a rare and progressive X-linked inherited disorder of
      glycosphingolipid metabolism that is due to deficient or absent lysosomal a
      galactosidase A activity. Among its other associated signs and symptoms, patients
      present with renal failure and proteinuria, which are markers of disease
      progression. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers can slow the
      progression of chronic renal failure and proteinuria. In fact, some studies have
      shown the beneficial effects of paricalcitol on proteinuria. CASE REPORT We
      present a case of a female patient with the classic variant of Fabry disease. She
      was treated with a high dose of paricalcitol as an antiproteinuric agent due to
      unsatisfactory double-RAAS blockage, which resulted in transient worsening of
      cardiac and renal function. CONCLUSIONS Despite the positive effects of
      paricalcitol as an antiproteinuric agent, as previously shown by some authors,
      our case highlights the possible serious adverse effects associated with the use
      of high doses of this drug.

PMID- 28596513
TI  - Bidirectional Pull-Back Technique for Retrieval of Strut-Embedded Cylinder-Shaped
      Filters in Inferior Vena Cava.
AB  - BACKGROUND IVC filters have been widely accepted as an effective method to
      prevent pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT).
      However, the placement of IVC filters is associated with significant
      complications and filter retrieval can be challenging when the filter struts are
      embedded into the caval wall. MATERIAL AND METHODS Over 26 months, we reviewed
      the safety and efficacy of the bidirectional pull-back technique for removing
      strut-embedded IVC filters in 15 consecutive patients. Retrieval procedural data
      such as in-dwell time, retrieval time, and fluoroscopy time were recorded.
      Clinical outcomes and procedure-related complications were evaluated by
      venography or enhanced computed tomography. Histologic tissue was analyzed to
      reveal the pathologic effects of chronic filter implantation. All patients
      underwent routine clinical follow-up at a mean time of 12 months (range, 8-14
      months). RESULTS Technical success of filter retrieval was achieved in 100%, with
      mean implantation of 46.6 days (range, 27-66 days). Filter types were as follows:
      OptEase (n=11) and Aegisy (n=4). The mean retrieval time and fluoroscopy time
      were 21.43+/-5.42 min and 7.63+/-2.67 min, respectively. Immediate postprocedure
      venography showed no procedure-related complications. Thirteen patients
      discontinued previously prescribed lifelong anticoagulation. There were no long
      term complications during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS The bidirectional pull-back
      technique is safe and efficient for filter retrieval. This complex technique can
      be particularly useful in selected patients to remove strut-embedded cylindrical
      shaped IVC filters previously considered irretrievable.

PMID- 28596490
TI  - A genetic polymorphism repurposes the G-protein coupled and membrane-associated
      estrogen receptor GPER to a transcription factor-like molecule promoting
      paracrine signaling between stroma and breast carcinoma cells.
AB  - GPER is a membrane-associated estrogen receptor of the family of G-protein
      coupled receptors. For breast cancer, the contribution of GPER to promoting the
      proliferation and migration of both carcinoma cells and cancer-associated
      fibroblasts (CAFs) in response to estrogen and other agonists has extensively
      been investigated. Intriguingly, GPER was previously found to be localized to the
      nucleus in one isolate of breast CAFs. Moreover, this nuclear GPER was shown to
      bind regulatory sequences of cancer-relevant target genes and to induce their
      expression. We decided to find out what induces the nuclear localization of GPER,
      how general this phenomenon is, and what its functional significance is. We
      discovered that interfering with N-linked glycosylation of GPER, either by
      mutation of the predicted glycosylation sites or pharmacologically with
      tunicamycin, drives GPER into the nucleus. Surveying a small set of CAFs from
      breast cancer biopsies, we found that a relatively common single nucleotide
      polymorphism, which results in the expression of a GPER variant with the amino
      acid substitution P16L, is associated with the nuclear localization of GPER. GPER
      with P16L fails to be glycosylated, presumably because of a conformational effect
      on the nearby glycosylation sites. GPER P16L is defective for membrane-associated
      signaling, but instead acts like an estrogen-stimulated transcription factor. In
      CAFs, it induces the secretion of paracrine factors that promote the migration of
      carcinoma cells. This raises the possibility that the GPER P16L polymorphism
      could be a risk factor for breast cancer.

PMID- 28596514
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterization of phased small interfering RNA
      genes in response to Botrytis cinerea infection in Solanum lycopersicum.
AB  - Phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) are encoded by a novel class of genes
      known as phasiRNA producing (PHAS) genes. These genes play important regulatory
      roles by targeting protein coding transcripts in plant species. In this study, 91
      regions were identified as potential PHAS loci in tomato, with additional
      evidence that seven of them can be triggered by five miRNAs. Among the identified
      loci, 51 were located in genic regions, and the remaining 40 were located in
      intergenic regions. The transient overexpression of PHAS15 and PHAS26
      demonstrated that phasiRNAs predicted by PhaseTank were indeed generated from
      their respective PHAS loci. Using sRNA-seq data from B. cinerea-infected tomato
      leaves, we identified 50 B. cinerea-responsive phasiRNAs with increased abundance
      and five with decreased abundance. Moreover, 164 targets of these differentially
      expressed phasiRNAs were predicted, and 94 of them were confirmed experimentally
      using degradome data. Gene ontology analysis of the targets revealed an
      enrichment of genes with functions related to defense responses and signaling
      regulation. These results suggest that a large number of endogenous siRNAs, such
      as phasiRNAs, have not yet been identified in tomato and underscore the urgent
      need to systematically identify and functionally analyze siRNAs in tomato.

PMID- 28596515
TI  - Characterization of a new murine cell line of sarcomatoid hepatocellular
      carcinoma and its application for biomarker/therapy development.
AB  - Sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (SHC) is a rare type of HCC with
      significantly poorer survival than ordinary HCC. Little is known about the
      mechanism associated with SHC and its biomarkers and therapy. Here, we
      established a mouse liver cancer cell line and designated as Ymac-1. A
      sarcomatous appearance was observed in the allograft tumor arose from Ymac-1.
      Liver-secreted plasma proteins were found in Ymac-1 cultured supernatant by
      proteomics analysis. The positive staining of CK7, CK8, Vimentin and the
      suppressed expression of AFP indicated that Ymac-1 is a SHC cell line. Compared
      to its original tumor, an elevated level of EMT markers, N-cadherin and Vimentin,
      was found in Ymac-1. Ymac-1 displayed a higher migration rate and side population
      percentage than a mouse ordinary HCC cell line-Hepa1-6. Microarray analysis was
      performed to identify potential biomarkers/therapeutic targets for SHC. G6pd, a
      vital enzyme in pentose phosphate pathway, is highly expressed in Ymac-1.
      Depletion of G6pd in Ymac-1 reduced CD133 expression and sphere formation.
      Positive correlations between G6PD and CD133 were observed in human specimen.
      Higher expression of both G6PD and CD133 in tumor were associated with poor
      survival. In summary Ymac-1 can be a useful SHC cell model for novel biomarker
      and therapy development.

PMID- 28596516
TI  - mTFkb: a knowledgebase for fundamental annotation of mouse transcription factors.
AB  - Transcription factors (TFs) are well-known important regulators in cell biology
      and tissue development. However, in mouse, one of the most widely-used model
      species, currently the vast majority of the known TFs have not been functionally
      studied due to the lack of sufficient annotations. To this end, we collected and
      analyzed the whole transcriptome sequencing data from more than 30 major mouse
      tissues and used the expression profiles to annotate the TFs. We found that the
      expression patterns of the TFs are highly correlated with the histology of the
      tissue types thus can be used to infer the potential functions of the TFs.
      Furthermore, we found that as many as 30% TFs display tissue-specific expression
      pattern, and these tissue-specific TFs are among the key TFs in their
      corresponding tissues. We also observed signals of divergent transcription
      associated with many TFs with unique expression pattern. Lastly, we have
      integrated all the data, our analysis results as well as various annotation
      resources to build a web-based database named mTFkb freely accessible at htt
      p://www.m yogenesisdb.org/mTFkb/ . We believe that mTFkb could serve as a useful
      and valuable resource for TF studies in mouse.

PMID- 28596517
TI  - Prenatal chromium exposure and risk of preterm birth: a cohort study in Hubei,
      China.
AB  - Few studies have investigated the association of environmental chromium exposure
      and preterm birth in general population. This study was designed to investigate
      whether maternal chromium exposure during pregnancy is associated with reduced
      gestational age or risk of preterm birth using the data from Healthy Baby Cohort
      study conducted in Hubei, China between 2012 and 2014 (n = 7290). Chromium
      concentrations in maternal urine samples collected at delivery were measured with
      inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Tertiles of chromium concentrations
      was negatively associated with gestational age in multivariable linear regression
      analyses [beta (95% CI): low = reference; middle = -0.67 days (-1.14, -0.20);
      high = -2.30 days (-2.93, -1.67); p trend <0.01]. Logistic regression analyses
      also indicated that higher maternal chromium [adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% CI):
      1.55(0.99, 2.42) for the medium tertile; 1.89(1.13, 3.18) for the highest
      tertile; p trend <0.01] was associated with increased risk of preterm birth. The
      associations appeared to be more pronounced in male infants (adjusted OR (95%
      CI): 2.54 (1.29, 4.95) for the medium tertile; 2.92 (1.37, 6.19) for the highest
      tertile; p trend <0.01). Our findings suggest maternal exposure to higher
      chromium levels during pregnancy may potentially increase the risk of delivering
      preterm infants, particularly for male infants.

PMID- 28596520
TI  - A Comprehensive Prediction Model of Hydraulic Extended-Reach Limit Considering
      the Allowable Range of Drilling Fluid Flow Rate in Horizontal Drilling.
AB  - Hydraulic extended-reach limit (HERL) model of horizontal extended-reach well
      (ERW) can predict the maximum measured depth (MMD) of the horizontal ERW. The
      HERL refers to the well's MMD when drilling fluid cannot be normally circulated
      by drilling pump. Previous model analyzed the following two constraint
      conditions, drilling pump rated pressure and rated power. However, effects of the
      allowable range of drilling fluid flow rate (Q min  <= Q <= Q max ) were not
      considered. In this study, three cases of HERL model are proposed according to
      the relationship between allowable range of drilling fluid flow rate and rated
      flow rate of drilling pump (Q r ). A horizontal ERW is analyzed to predict its
      HERL, especially its horizontal-section limit (L h ). Results show that when Q
      min  <= Q r  <= Q max (Case I), L h depends both on horizontal-section limit
      based on rated pump pressure (L h1 ) and horizontal-section limit based on rated
      pump power (L h2 ); when Q min  < Q max  < Q r (Case II), L h is exclusively
      controlled by L h1 ; while L h is only determined by L h2 when Q r  < Q min  < Q
      max (Case III). Furthermore, L h1 first increases and then decreases with the
      increase in drilling fluid flow rate, while L h2 keeps decreasing as the drilling
      fluid flow rate increases. The comprehensive model provides a more accurate
      prediction on HERL.

PMID- 28596518
TI  - Recombinant human plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) to prevent
      bacterial growth and to treat sepsis.
AB  - Although plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) has been mainly studied in
      the context of atherosclerosis, it shares homology with proteins involved in
      innate immunity. Here, we produced active recombinant human PLTP (rhPLTP) in the
      milk of new lines of transgenic rabbits. We successfully used rhPLTP as an
      exogenous therapeutic protein to treat endotoxemia and sepsis. In mouse models
      with injections of purified lipopolysaccharides or with polymicrobial infection,
      we demonstrated that rhPLTP prevented bacterial growth and detoxified LPS. In
      further support of the antimicrobial effect of PLTP, PLTP-knocked out mice were
      found to be less able than wild-type mice to fight against sepsis. To our
      knowledge, the production of rhPLTP to counter infection and to reduce
      endotoxemia and its harmful consequences is reported here for the first time.
      This paves the way for a novel strategy to satisfy long-felt, but unmet needs to
      prevent and treat sepsis.

PMID- 28596519
TI  - The Connection of the Genetic, Cultural and Geographic Landscapes of Transoxiana.
AB  - We have analyzed Y-chromosomal variation in populations from Transoxiana, a
      historical region covering the southwestern part of Central Asia. We studied 780
      samples from 10 regional populations of Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Dungans, and
      Karakalpaks using 35 SNP and 17 STR markers. Analysis of haplogroup frequencies
      using multidimensional scaling and principal component plots, supported by an
      analysis of molecular variance, showed that the geographic landscape of
      Transoxiana, despite its distinctiveness and diversity (deserts, fertile river
      basins, foothills and plains) had no strong influence on the genetic landscape.
      The main factor structuring the gene pool was the mode of subsistence: settled
      agriculture or nomadic pastoralism. Investigation of STR-based clusters of
      haplotypes and their ages revealed that cultural and demic expansions of
      Transoxiana were not closely connected with each other. The Arab cultural
      expansion introduced Islam to the region but did not leave a significant mark on
      the pool of paternal lineages. The Mongol expansion, in contrast, had enormous
      demic success, but did not impact cultural elements like language and religion.
      The genealogy of Muslim missionaries within the settled agricultural communities
      of Transoxiana was based on spiritual succession passed from teacher to disciple.
      However, among Transoxianan nomads, spiritual and biological succession became
      merged.

PMID- 28596521
TI  - Soil nematodes show a mid-elevation diversity maximum and elevational zonation on
      Mt. Norikura, Japan.
AB  - Little is known about how nematode ecology differs across elevational gradients.
      We investigated the soil nematode community along a ~2,200 m elevational range on
      Mt. Norikura, Japan, by sequencing the 18S rRNA gene. As with many other groups
      of organisms, nematode diversity showed a high correlation with elevation, and a
      maximum in mid-elevations. While elevation itself, in the context of the mid
      domain effect, could predict the observed unimodal pattern of soil nematode
      communities along the elevational gradient, mean annual temperature and soil
      total nitrogen concentration were the best predictors of diversity. We also found
      nematode community composition showed strong elevational zonation, indicating
      that a high degree of ecological specialization that may exist in nematodes in
      relation to elevation-related environmental gradients and certain nematode OTUs
      had ranges extending across all elevations, and these generalized OTUs made up a
      greater proportion of the community at high elevations - such that high elevation
      nematode OTUs had broader elevational ranges on average, providing an example
      consistent to Rapoport's elevational hypothesis. This study reveals the potential
      for using sequencing methods to investigate elevational gradients of small soil
      organisms, providing a method for rapid investigation of patterns without
      specialized knowledge in taxonomic identification.

PMID- 28596522
TI  - Enhancing Optical Forces in InP-Based Waveguides.
AB  - Cantilever sensors are among the most important microelectromechanical systems
      (MEMS), which are usually actuated by electrostatic forces or piezoelectric
      elements. Although well-developed microfabrication technology has made silicon
      the prevailing material for MEMS, unique properties of other materials are
      overlooked in this context. Here we investigate optically induced forces exerted
      upon a semi-insulating InP waveguide suspended above a highly doped InP:Si
      substrate, in three different regimes: the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ), with
      excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and phonons excitation. An order
      of magnitude amplification of the force is observed when light is coupled to
      SPPs, and three orders of magnitude amplification is achieved in the phonon
      excitation regime. In the ENZ regime, the force is found to be repulsive and
      higher than that in a waveguide suspended above a dielectric substrate. Low
      losses in InP:Si result in a big propagation length. The induced deflection can
      be detected by measuring the phase change of the light when passing through the
      waveguide, which enables all-optical functioning, and paves the way towards
      integration and miniaturization of micro-cantilevers. In addition, tunability of
      the ENZ and the SPP excitation wavelength ranges, via adjusting the carrier
      concentration, provides an extra degree of freedom for designing MEMS devices.

PMID- 28596523
TI  - Extrasynaptic NMDA receptor dependent long-term potentiation of hippocampal CA1
      pyramidal neurons.
AB  - In the adult mouse hippocampus, NMDA receptors (NMDARs) of CA1 neurons play an
      important role in the synaptic plasticity. The location of NMDARs can determine
      their roles in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). However, the
      extrasynaptic NMDARs (ES-NMDARs) dependent LTP haven't been reported. Here,
      through the use of a 5-Hz stimulation and MK-801 (an irreversible antagonist of
      NMDARs) in the CA1 neurons of adult mice hippocampal slices, synaptic NMDARs were
      selectively inhibited and NMDAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents were
      not recovered. We found that a robust LTP was induced by 3-train 100-Hz
      stimulation when the synaptic NMDARs and extrasynaptic NR2B containing NMDARs
      were blocked, but not in the any of the following conditions: blocking of all
      NMDARs (synaptic and extrasynaptic), blocking of the synaptic NMDARs, and
      blocking of the synaptic NMDARs and extrasynaptic NR2A-containing NMDARs. The
      results indicate that this LTP is ES-NMDARs dependent, and NR2B-containing ES
      NMDARs modulates the threshold of LTP induction.

PMID- 28596525
TI  - Mathematical modeling and stability analysis of Pine Wilt Disease with optimal
      control.
AB  - This paper presents and examine a mathematical system of equations which
      describes the dynamics of pine wilt disease (PWD). Firstly, we examine the model
      with constant controls. Here, we investigate the disease equilibria and calculate
      the basic reproduction number of the disease. Secondly, we incorporate time
      dependent controls into the model and then analyze the conditions that are
      necessary for the disease to be controlled optimally. Finally, the numerical
      results for the model are presented.

PMID- 28596524
TI  - Association between Carotid Plaque and Cognitive Impairment in Chinese Stroke
      Population: The SOS-Stroke Study.
AB  - We aimed to investigate the association between carotid plaques and cognitive
      impairment among patients with acute ischemic stroke, and to assess key clinical
      implications. In the Acute Ischemic Stroke Study, patients who received a
      cognitive testing and underwent complete carotid artery ultrasound scans were
      included. Cognitive function was measured by the mini-mental state examination.
      The cross-sectional relationships between cognitive impairment and carotid
      plaques were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Of the
      3116 patients included in this study, 826 (26.51%) patients were diagnosed with
      cognitive impairment. After adjusting for potential confounders, patients with
      >=2 carotid plaques (odds ratio [OR] = 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19
      1.82), patients with >=2 number of carotid arteries with plaque (OR = 1.48; 95%
      CI: 1.19-1.84) and patients with hypoechoic plaque (OR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.24-3.38)
      are more likely to have cognitive impairment. In this acute ischemic stroke
      population, the number of carotid plaques, the number of carotid arteries with
      plaque and plaque stability are all associated with cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28596526
TI  - Mechanistic roles of microRNAs in hepatocarcinogenesis: A study of thioacetamide
      with multiple doses and time-points of rats.
AB  - Environmental chemicals exposure is one of the primary factors for liver toxicity
      and hepatocarcinoma. Thioacetamide (TAA) is a well-known hepatotoxicant and could
      be a liver carcinogen in humans. The discovery of early and sensitive microRNA
      (miRNA) biomarkers in liver injury and tumor progression could improve cancer
      diagnosis, prognosis, and management. To study this, we performed next generation
      sequencing of the livers of Sprague-Dawley rats treated with TAA at three doses
      (4.5, 15 and 45 mg/kg) and four time points (3-, 7-, 14- and 28-days). Overall,
      330 unique differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified in the entire
      TAA-treatment course. Of these, 129 DEMs were found significantly enriched for
      the "liver cancer" annotation. These results were further complemented by pathway
      analysis (Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer, p53-, TGF-beta-, MAPK- and Wnt
      signaling). Two miRNAs (rno-miR-34a-5p and rno-miR-455-3p) out of 48 overlapping
      DEMs were identified to be early and sensitive biomarkers for TAA-induced
      hepatocarcinogenicity. We have shown significant regulatory associations between
      DEMs and TAA-induced liver carcinogenesis at an earlier stage than
      histopathological features. Most importantly, miR-34a-5p is the most suitable
      early and sensitive biomarker for TAA-induced hepatocarcinogenesis due to its
      consistent elevation during the entire treatment course.

PMID- 28596527
TI  - Identification of commonly altered genes between in major depressive disorder and
      a mouse model of depression.
AB  - The heterogeneity of depression (due to factors such as varying age of onset) may
      explain why biological markers of major depressive disorder (MDD) remain
      uncertain. We aimed to identify gene expression markers of MDD in leukocytes
      using microarray analysis. We analyzed gene expression profiles of patients with
      MDD (age >=50, age of depression onset <50) (N = 10, depressed state; N = 13,
      remitted state). Seven-hundred and ninety-seven genes (558 upregulated, 239
      downregulated when compared to those of 30 healthy subjects) were identified as
      potential markers for MDD. These genes were then cross-matched to microarray data
      obtained from a mouse model of depression (676 genes, 148 upregulated, 528
      downregulated). Of the six common genes identified between patients and mice,
      five genes (SLC35A3, HIST1H2AL, YEATS4, ERLIN2, and PLPP5) were confirmed to be
      downregulated in patients with MDD by quantitative real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. Of these genes, HIST1H2AL was significantly decreased in a second set
      of independent subjects (age >=20, age of onset <50) (N = 18, subjects with MDD
      in a depressed state; N = 19, healthy control participants). Taken together, our
      findings suggest that HIST1H2AL may be a biological marker of MDD.

PMID- 28596529
TI  - Physical mechanism for biopolymers to aggregate and maintain in non-equilibrium
      states.
AB  - Many human or animal diseases are related to aggregation of proteins. A viable
      biological organism should maintain in non-equilibrium states. How protein
      aggregate and why biological organisms can maintain in non-equilibrium states are
      not well understood. As a first step to understand such complex systems problems,
      we consider simple model systems containing polymer chains and solvent particles.
      The strength of the spring to connect two neighboring monomers in a polymer chain
      is controlled by a parameter s with s -> infinity for rigid-bond. The strengths
      of bending and torsion angle dependent interactions are controlled by a parameter
      s A with s A  -> -infinity corresponding to no bending and torsion angle
      dependent interactions. We find that for very small s A , polymer chains tend to
      aggregate spontaneously and the trend is independent of the strength of spring.
      For strong springs, the speed distribution of monomers in the parallel (along the
      direction of the spring to connect two neighboring monomers) and perpendicular
      directions have different effective temperatures and such systems are in non
      equilibrium states.

PMID- 28596528
TI  - Lapatinib potentiates cytotoxicity of  YM155 in neuroblastoma via inhibition of
      the ABCB1 efflux transporter.
AB  - Adverse side effects of cancer agents are of great concern in the context of
      childhood tumors where they can reduce the quality of life in young patients and
      cause life-long adverse effects. Synergistic drug combinations can lessen
      potential toxic side effects through lower dosing and simultaneously help to
      overcome drug resistance. Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infancy and
      extremely heterogeneous in clinical presentation and features. Applying a
      systematic pairwise drug combination screen we observed a highly potent synergy
      in neuroblastoma cells between the EGFR kinase inhibitor lapatinib and the
      anticancer compound YM155 that is preserved across several neuroblastoma
      variants. Mechanistically, the synergy was based on a lapatinib induced
      inhibition of the multidrug-resistance efflux transporter ABCB1, which is
      frequently expressed in resistant neuroblastoma cells, which allowed prolonged
      and elevated cytotoxicity of YM155. In addition, the drug combination (i.e.
      lapatinib plus YM155) decreased neuroblastoma tumor size in an in vivo model.

PMID- 28596530
TI  - Axin2-expressing cells differentiate into reparative odontoblasts via autocrine
      Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in response to tooth damage.
AB  - In non-growing teeth, such as mouse and human molars, primary odontoblasts are
      long-lived post-mitotic cells that secrete dentine throughout the life of the
      tooth. New odontoblast-like cells are only produced in response to a damage or
      trauma. Little is known about the molecular events that initiate mesenchymal stem
      cells to proliferate and differentiate into odontoblast-like cells in response to
      dentine damage. The reparative and regenerative capacity of multiple mammalian
      tissues depends on the activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. In this
      study, we investigated the molecular role of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway
      in reparative dentinogenesis using an in vivo mouse tooth damage model. We found
      that Axin2 is rapidly upregulated in response to tooth damage and that these
      Axin2-expressing cells differentiate into new odontoblast-like cells that secrete
      reparative dentine. In addition, the Axin2-expressing cells produce a source of
      Wnt that acts in an autocrine manner to modulate reparative dentinogenesis.

PMID- 28596531
TI  - RF1 attenuation enables efficient non-natural amino acid incorporation for
      production of homogeneous antibody drug conjugates.
AB  - Amber codon suppression for the insertion of non-natural amino acids (nnAAs) is
      limited by competition with release factor 1 (RF1). Here we describe the genome
      engineering of a RF1 mutant strain that enhances suppression efficiency during
      cell-free protein synthesis, without significantly impacting cell growth during
      biomass production. Specifically, an out membrane protease (OmpT) cleavage site
      was engineered into the switch loop of RF1, which enables its conditional
      inactivation during cell lysis. This facilitates extract production without
      additional processing steps, resulting in a scaleable extract production process.
      The RF1 mutant extract allows nnAA incorporation at previously intractable sites
      of an IgG1 and at multiple sites in the same polypeptide chain. Conjugation of
      cytotoxic agents to these nnAAs, yields homogeneous antibody drug conjugates
      (ADCs) that can be optimized for conjugation site, drug to antibody ratio (DAR)
      and linker-warheads designed for efficient tumor killing. This platform provides
      the means to generate therapeutic ADCs inaccessible by other methods that are
      efficient in their cytotoxin delivery to tumor with reduced dose-limiting
      toxicities and thus have the potential for better clinical impact.

PMID- 28596532
TI  - High-Throughput Analysis of in-vitro LFP Electrophysiological Signals: A
      validated workflow/software package.
AB  - Synchronized brain activity in the form of alternating epochs of massive
      persistent network activity and periods of generalized neural silence, has been
      extensively studied as a fundamental form of circuit dynamics, important for many
      cognitive functions including short-term memory, memory consolidation, or
      attentional modulation. A key element in such studies is the accurate
      determination of the timing and duration of those network events. The local field
      potential (LFP) is a particularly attractive method for recording network
      activity, because it allows for long and stable recordings from multiple sites,
      allowing researchers to estimate the functional connectivity of local networks.
      Here, we present a computational method for the automatic detection and
      quantification of in-vitro LFP events, aiming to overcome the limitations of
      current approaches (e.g. slow analysis speed, arbitrary threshold-based detection
      and lack of reproducibility across and within experiments). The developed method
      is based on the implementation of established signal processing and machine
      learning approaches, is fully automated and depends solely on the data. In
      addition, it is fast, highly efficient and reproducible. The performance of the
      software is compared against semi-manual analysis and validated by verification
      of prior biological knowledge.

PMID- 28596534
TI  - Circulating 3-carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropanoic acid (CMPF) levels are
      associated with hyperglycemia and beta cell dysfunction in a Chinese population.
AB  - Several recent clinical studies have suggested that the levels of circulating 3
      carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropanoic acid (CMPF) are significantly higher
      in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), impaired glucose tolerance
      (IGT), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study recruited a total of 516
      participants. The following patient populations were enrolled: 99 newly diagnosed
      cases with T2DM, 219 cases with prediabetes [82 with isolated impaired glucose
      tolerance (I - IGT), 66 with isolated impaired fasting glucose (I - IFG) and 71
      with impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose (IGT + IFG)], and
      198 cases with normal glucose tolerance [NGT, including 99 first-degree relatives
      of type 2 diabetes patients (FDRs) and 99 non-FDRs]. We investigated the
      circulating CMPF levels in subjects with different glucose metabolism statuses
      and examined the potential link between CMPF and beta cell function. Our results
      indicate that the serum CMPF levels were elevated in the prediabetes, T2DM, and
      FDRs groups compared to the NGT group. Additionally, the serum CMPF
      concentrations were independently and negatively associated with the triglyceride
      levels and Stumvoll first-phase insulin secretion index. Cumulatively, our
      findings suggest that the circulating CMPF levels can predict glycolipid
      metabolism disorders. Furthermore, elevated serum CMPF concentrations may
      determine hyperglycemia and beta cell dysfunction.

PMID- 28596535
TI  - Identification and characterization of roles for Puf1 and Puf2 proteins in the
      yeast response to high calcium.
AB  - Members of the yeast family of PUF proteins bind unique subsets of mRNA targets
      that encode proteins with common functions. They therefore became a paradigm for
      post-transcriptional gene control. To provide new insights into the roles of the
      seemingly redundant Puf1 and Puf2 members, we monitored the growth rates of their
      deletions under many different stress conditions. A differential effect was
      observed at high CaCl2 concentrations, whereby puf1Delta growth was affected much
      more than puf2Delta, and inhibition was exacerbated in puf1Deltapuf2Delta double
      knockout. Transcriptome analyses upon CaCl2 application for short and long terms
      defined the transcriptional response to CaCl2 and revealed distinct expression
      changes for the deletions. Intriguingly, mRNAs known to be bound by Puf1 or Puf2
      were affected mainly in the double knockout. We focused on the cell wall
      regulator Zeo1 and observed that puf1Deltapuf2Delta fails to maintain low levels
      of its mRNA. Complementarily, puf1Deltapuf2Delta growth defect in CaCl2 was
      repaired upon further deletion of the Zeo1 gene. Thus, these proteins probably
      regulate the cell-wall integrity pathway by regulating Zeo1 post
      transcriptionally. This work sheds new light on the roles of Puf proteins during
      the cellular response to environmental stress.

PMID- 28596536
TI  - Enhanced Thermal Conductivity and Dielectric Properties of Iron
      Oxide/Polyethylene Nanocomposites Induced by a Magnetic Field.
AB  - Iron Oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of low density
      polyethylene (LDPE) particles by solvothermal method. A magnetic field was
      introduced to the preparation of Fe3O4/LDPE composites, and the influences of the
      magnetic field on thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of composites
      were investigated systematically. The Fe3O4/LDPE composites treated by a vertical
      direction magnetic field exhibited a high thermal conductivity and a large
      dielectric constant at low filler loading. The enhancement of thermal
      conductivity and dielectric constant is attributed to the formation of  the
      conductive chains of Fe3O4 in LDPE matrix under the action of the magnetic field,
      which can effectively enhance the heat flux and interfacial polarization of the
      Fe3O4/LDPE composites. Moreover, the relatively low dielectric loss and low
      conductivity achieved are attributed to the low volume fraction of fillers and
      excellent compatibility between Fe3O4 and LDPE. Of particular note is the
      dielectric properties of Fe3O4/LDPE composites induced by the magnetic field also
      retain good stability across a wide temperature range, and this contributes to
      the stability and lifespan of polymer capacitors. All the above-mentioned
      properties along with the simplicity and scalability of the preparation for the
      polymer nanocomposites make them promising for the electronics industry.

PMID- 28596537
TI  - Transcriptome sequencing of Tessaratoma papillosa antennae to identify and
      analyze expression patterns of putative olfaction genes.
AB  - Studies on insect olfaction have increased our understanding of insect's
      chemosensory system and chemical ecology, and have improved pest control
      strategies based on insect behavior. In this study, we assembled the antennal
      transcriptomes of the lychee giant stink bug, Tessaratoma papillosa, by using
      next generation sequencing to identify the major olfaction gene families in this
      species. In total, 59 odorant receptors, 14 ionotropic receptors (8 antennal
      IRs), and 33 odorant binding proteins (28 classic OBPs and 5 plus-C OBPs) were
      identified from the male and female antennal transcriptomes. Analyses of tissue
      expression profiles revealed that all 59 OR transcripts, 2 of the 8 antennal IRs,
      and 6 of the 33 OBPs were primarily expressed in the antennae, suggesting their
      putative role in olfaction. The sex-biased expression patterns of these antenna
      predominant genes suggested that they may have important functions in the
      reproductive behavior of these insects. This is the first report that provides a
      comprehensive resource to future studies on olfaction in the lychee giant stink
      bug.

PMID- 28596538
TI  - Stable synthesis of few-layered boron nitride nanotubes by anodic arc discharge.
AB  - Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) were successfully synthesized by a dc arc
      discharge using a boron-rich anode as synthesis feedstock in a nitrogen gas
      environment at near atmospheric pressure. The synthesis was achieved independent
      of the cathode material suggesting that under such conditions the arc operates in
      so-called anodic mode with the anode material being consumed by evaporation due
      to the arc heating. To sustain the arc current by thermionic electron emission,
      the cathode has to be at sufficiently high temperature, which for a typical arc
      current density of ~100 A/cm2, is above the boron melting point (2350 K). With
      both electrodes made from the same boron-rich alloy, we found that the arc
      operation unstable due to frequent sticking between two molten electrodes and
      formation of molten droplets. Stable and reliable arc operation and arc synthesis
      were achieved with the boron-rich anode and the cathode made from a refractory
      metal which has a melting temperature above the melting point of boron. Ex-situ
      characterization of synthesized BNNTs with electron microscopy and Raman
      spectroscopy revealed that independent of the cathode material, the tubes are
      primarily single and double walled. The results also show evidence of root-growth
      of BNNTs produced in the arc discharge.

PMID- 28596533
TI  - Breaking barriers to novel analgesic drug development.
AB  - Acute and chronic pain complaints, although common, are generally poorly served
      by existing therapies. This unmet clinical need reflects a failure to develop
      novel classes of analgesics with superior efficacy, diminished adverse effects
      and a lower abuse liability than those currently available. Reasons for this
      include the heterogeneity of clinical pain conditions, the complexity and
      diversity of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, and the unreliability of
      some preclinical pain models. However, recent advances in our understanding of
      the neurobiology of pain are beginning to offer opportunities for developing
      novel therapeutic strategies and revisiting existing targets, including
      modulating ion channels, enzymes and G-protein-coupled receptors.

PMID- 28596539
TI  - Zebrafish as an animal model in epilepsy studies with multichannel EEG
      recordings.
AB  - Despite recent interest in using zebrafish in human disease studies, sparked by
      their economics, fecundity, easy handling, and homologies to humans, the
      electrophysiological tools or methods for zebrafish are still inaccessible.
      Although zebrafish exhibit more significant larval-adult duality than any other
      animal, most electrophysiological studies using zebrafish are biased by using
      larvae these days. The results of larval studies not only differ from those
      conducted with adults but also are unable to delicately manage
      electroencephalographic montages due to their small size. Hence, we enabled non
      invasive long-term multichannel electroencephalographic recording on adult
      zebrafish using custom-designed electrodes and perfusion system. First, we
      exploited demonstration of long-term recording on pentylenetetrazole-induced
      seizure models, and the results were quantified. Second, we studied skin
      electrode impedance, which is crucial to the quality of signals. Then, seizure
      propagations and gender differences in adult zebrafish were exhibited for the
      first time. Our results provide a new pathway for future neuroscience research
      using zebrafish by overcoming the challenges for aquatic organisms such as
      precision, serviceability, and continuous water seepage.

PMID- 28596540
TI  - Preparation and in vivo characterization of 51MnCl2 as PET tracer of Ca2+ channel
      mediated transport.
AB  - Manganese has long been employed as a T1-shortening agent in magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) applications, but these techniques are limited by the biotoxicity
      of bulk-manganese. Positron emission tomography (PET) offers superior contrast
      sensitivity compared with MRI, and recent preclinical PET studies employing 52gMn
      (t1/2: 5.6 d, beta+: 29%) show promise for a variety of applications including
      cell tracking, neural tract tracing, immunoPET, and functional beta-cell mass
      quantification. The half-life and confounding gamma emissions of 52gMn are
      prohibitive to clinical translation, but the short-lived 51Mn (t1/2: 46 min,
      beta+: 97%) represents a viable alternative. This work develops methods to
      produce 51Mn on low-energy medical cyclotrons, characterizes the in vivo behavior
      of 51MnCl2 in mice, and performs preliminary human dosimetry predictions. 51Mn
      was produced by proton irradiation of electrodeposited isotopically-enriched 54Fe
      targets. Radiochemically isolated 51MnCl2 was intravenously administered to ICR
      mice which were scanned by dynamic and static PET, followed by ex vivo gamma
      counting. Rapid blood clearance was observed with stable uptake in the pancreas,
      kidneys, liver, heart, and salivary gland. Dosimetry calculations predict that
      370 MBq of 51Mn in an adult human male would yield an effective dose equivalent
      of approximately 13.5 mSv, roughly equivalent to a clinical [18F]-FDG procedure.

PMID- 28596542
TI  - Leukocyte Bim deficiency does not impact atherogenesis in ldlr -/- mice, despite
      a pronounced induction of autoimmune inflammation.
AB  - Proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bim is particularly relevant for deletion of
      autoreactive and activated T and B cells, implicating Bim in autoimmunity. As
      atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory process with features of autoimmune
      disease, we investigated the impact of hematopoietic Bim deficiency on plaque
      formation and parameters of plaque stability. Bim -/- or wild type bone marrow
      transplanted ldlr -/- mice were fed a Western type diet (WTD) for 5 or 10 weeks,
      after which they were immunophenotyped and atherosclerotic lesions were analyzed.
      Bim -/- transplanted mice displayed splenomegaly and overt lymphocytosis. CD4+
      and CD8+ T cells were more activated (increased CD69 and CD71 expression,
      increased interferon gamma production). B cells were elevated by 147%, with a
      shift towards the pro-atherogenic IgG-producing B2 cell phenotype, resulting in a
      doubling of anti-oxLDL IgG1 antibody titers in serum of bim -/- mice. Bim -/-
      mice displayed massive intraplaque accumulation of Ig complexes and of lesional T
      cells, although this did not translate in changes in plaque size or stability
      features (apoptotic cell and macrophage content). The surprising lack in plaque
      phenotype despite the profound pro-atherogenic immune effects may be attributable
      to the sharp reduction of serum cholesterol levels in WTD fed bim -/- mice.

PMID- 28596543
TI  - The electromigration effect revisited: non-uniform local tensile stress-driven
      diffusion.
AB  - The electromigration (EM) effect involves atomic diffusion of metals under
      current stressing. Recent theories of EM are based on the unbalanced
      electrostatic and electron-wind forces exerted on metal ions. However, none of
      these models have coupled the EM effect and lattice stability. Here, we performed
      in situ current-stressing experiments for pure Cu strips using synchrotron X-ray
      diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy and ab initio calculations based
      on density functional theory. An intrinsic and non-uniform lattice expansion -
      larger at the cathode and smaller at the anode, is identified induced by the flow
      of electrons. If this electron flow-induced strain is small, it causes an elastic
      deformation; while if it is larger than the yield point, diffusion as local
      stress relaxation will cause the formation of hillocks and voids as well as EM
      induced failure. The fundamental driving force for the electromigration effect is
      elucidated and validated with experiments.

PMID- 28596541
TI  - Association of maternal and fetal LEPR common variants with maternal glycemic
      traits during pregnancy.
AB  - Recent studies suggested that maternal and placental leptin receptor (LEPR) may
      be involved in maternal glucose metabolism in pregnancy. To identify maternal and
      fetal LEPR common variants influencing gestational glycemic traits, we performed
      association study of 24-28-week maternal fasting glucose, glucose 1 hour after
      the consumption of a 50-g oral glucose load, fasting insulin and indices of beta
      cell function (HOMA-beta) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in 1,112 unrelated
      women and their children. Follow-up of 36 LEPR loci identified 3 maternal loci
      (rs10889567, rs1137101 and rs3762274) associated with fasting glucose, these 3
      fetal loci associated with fasting insulin and HOMA1-IR, as well as these 3
      maternal-fetal loci combinations associated with HOMA2-beta. We also demonstrated
      association of maternal locus rs7554485 with HOMA2-beta and HOMA2-IR, maternal
      locus rs10749754 with fasting glucose, fetal locus rs10749754 with HOMA2-IR.
      However, these associations were no longer statistically significant after
      Bonferroni correction. In conclusion, our results first revealed multiple
      associations between maternal and fetal LEPR common variants and gestational
      glycemic traits. These associations did not survive Bonferroni correction. These
      corrections are overly conservative for association studies. We therefore believe
      the influence of these nominally significant variants on gestational
      glycometabolism will be confirmed by additional studies.

PMID- 28596544
TI  - Robust tribo-mechanical and hot corrosion resistance of ultra-refractory Ta-Hf-C
      ternary alloy films.
AB  - In this work we report the hot corrosion properties of binary and ternary films
      of the Ta-Hf-C system in V2O5-Na2SO4 (50%wt.-50%wt.) molten salts at 700  degrees
      C deposited on AISI D3 steel substrates. Additionally, the mechanical and
      nanowear properties of the films were studied. The results show that the ternary
      alloys consist of solid solutions of the TaC and HfC binary carbides. The ternary
      alloy films have higher hardness and elastic recoveries, reaching 26.2 GPa and
      87%, respectively, and lower nanowear when compared to the binary films. The
      corrosion rates of the ternary alloys have a superior behavior compared to the
      binary films, with corrosion rates as low as 0.058 MUm/year. The combination and
      tunability of high hardness, elastic recovery, low nanowear and an excellent
      resistance to high temperature corrosion demonstrates the potential of the
      ternary Ta-Hf-C alloy films for applications in extreme conditions.

PMID- 28596545
TI  - Rapid on-site monitoring of Legionella pneumophila in cooling tower water using a
      portable microfluidic system.
AB  - Legionnaires' disease, predominantly caused by the bacterium Legionella
      pneumophila, has increased in prevalence worldwide. The most common mode of
      transmission of Legionella is inhalation of contaminated aerosols, such as those
      generated by cooling towers. Simple, rapid and accurate methods to enumerate L.
      pneumophila are required to prevent the spread of this organism. Here, we applied
      a microfluidic device for on-chip fluorescent staining and semi-automated
      counting of L. pneumophila in cooling tower water. We also constructed a portable
      system for rapid on-site monitoring and used it to enumerate target bacterial
      cells rapidly flowing in the microchannel. A fluorescently-labelled polyclonal
      antibody was used for the selective detection of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 in
      the samples. The counts of L. pneumophila in cooling tower water obtained using
      the system and fluorescence microscopy were similar. The detection limit of the
      system was 104 cells/ml, but lower numbers of L. pneumophila cells (101 to 103
      cells/ml) could be detected following concentration of 0.5-3 L of the water
      sample by filtration. Our technique is rapid to perform (1.5 h), semi-automated
      (on-chip staining and counting), and portable for on-site measurement, and it may
      therefore be effective in the initial screening of Legionella contamination in
      freshwater.

PMID- 28596546
TI  - Electro-Forming and Electro-Breaking of Nanoscale Ag Filaments for Conductive
      Bridging Random-Access Memory Cell using Ag-Doped Polymer-Electrolyte between Pt
      Electrodes.
AB  - Ag-doped polymer (polyethylene oxide: PEO) conductive-bridging-random-access
      memory (CBRAM) cell using inert Pt electrodes is a potential electro-forming free
      CBRAM cells in which electro-forming and electro-breaking of nanoscale (16~22-nm
      in diameter) conical or cylindrical Ag filaments occurs after a set or reset bias
      is applied. The dependency of the morphologies of the Ag filaments in the PEO
      polymer electrolyte indicates that the electro-formed Ag filaments bridging the
      Pt cathode and anode are generated by Ag+ ions drifting in the PEO polymer
      electrolyte toward the Pt anode and that Ag dendrites grow via a reduction
      process from the Pt anode, whereas electro-breaking of Ag filaments occurs
      through the oxidation of Ag atoms in the secondary dendrites and the drift of Ag+
      ions toward the Pt cathode. The Ag doping concentration in the PEO polymer
      electrolyte determines the bipolar switching characteristics; i.e., the set
      voltage slightly decreases, while the reset voltage and memory margin greatly
      increases with the Ag doping concentration.

PMID- 28596547
TI  - Echo-Planar J-resolved Spectroscopic Imaging using Dual Read-outs: Implementation
      and Quantitation of Human Brain Metabolites.
AB  - Attempts have been made to reduce the total scan time in multi-dimensional J
      resolved spectroscopic imaging (JRESI) using an echo-planar (EP) readout
      gradient, but acquisition duration remains a limitation for routine clinical use
      in the brain. We present here a significant acceleration achieved with a 4D EP
      JRESI sequence that collects dual phase encoded lines within a single repetition
      time (TR) using two bipolar read-out trains. The performance and reliability of
      this novel 4D sequence, called Multi-Echo based Echo-Planar J-resolved
      Spectroscopic Imaging (ME-EP-JRESI), was evaluated in 10 healthy controls and a
      brain phantom using a 3 T MRI/MRS scanner. The prior knowledge fitting (ProFit)
      algorithm, with a new simulated basis set consisting of macromolecules and lipids
      apart from metabolites of interest, was used for quantitation. Both phantom and
      in-vivo data demonstrated that localization and spatial/spectral profiles of
      metabolites from the ME-EP-JRESI sequence were in good agreement with that of the
      EP-JRESI sequence. Both in the occipital and temporal lobe, metabolites with
      higher physiological concentrations including Glx (Glu+Gln), tNAA (NAA+NAAG), mI
      all had coefficient of variations between 9-25%. In summary, we have implemented,
      validated and tested the ME-EP-JRESI sequence, demonstrating that multi-echo
      acquisition can successfully reduce the total scan duration for EP-JRESI
      sequences.

PMID- 28596548
TI  - Sortase A-mediated crosslinked short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases as novel
      biocatalysts with improved thermostability and catalytic efficiency.
AB  - (S)-carbonyl reductase II (SCRII) from Candida parapsilosis is a short-chain
      alcohol dehydrogenase/reductase. It catalyses the conversion of 2
      hydroxyacetophenone to (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol with low efficiency. Sortase
      was reported as a molecular "stapler" for site-specific protein conjugation to
      strengthen or add protein functionality. Here, we describe Staphylococcus aureus
      sortase A-mediated crosslinking of SCRII to produce stable catalysts for
      efficient biotransformation. Via a native N-terminal glycine and an added
      GGGGSLPETGG peptide at C-terminus of SCRII, SCRII subunits were conjugated by
      sortase A to form crosslinked SCRII, mainly dimers and trimers. The crosslinked
      SCRII showed over 6-fold and 4-fold increases, respectively, in activity and k
      cat/K m values toward 2-hydroxyacetophenone compared with wild-type SCRII.
      Moreover, crosslinked SCRII was much more thermostable with its denaturation
      temperature (Tm) increased to 60  degrees C. Biotransformation result showed that
      crosslinked SCRII gave a product optical purity of 100% and a yield of >99.9%
      within 3 h, a 16-fold decrease in transformation duration with respect to
      Escherichia coli/pET-SCRII. Sortase A-catalysed ligation also obviously improved
      Tms and product yields of eight other short-chain alcohol
      dehydrogenases/reductases. This work demonstrates a generic technology to improve
      enzyme function and thermostability through sortase A-mediated crosslinking of
      oxidoreductases.

PMID- 28596549
TI  - Synthesis of porous polymer/tissue paper hybrid membranes for switchable
      oil/water separation.
AB  - The unusually broad physical and chemical property window of ionic liquids allows
      for a wide range of applications, which gives rise to the recent spring-up of
      ionic liquid-based functional materials. Via solvothermal copolymerization of a
      monomeric ionic liquid and divinylbenzene in the presence of a tissue paper in
      autoclave, we fabricated a flexible porous polymer/paper hybrid membrane. The
      surface areas of the hybrid membranes depend on the weight fraction of the
      copolymer impregnated inside the tissue paper. The as-prepared hybrid membrane
      shows controlled surface wettability in terms of ethanol wetting and ethanol
      removal by harsh drying condition. This unique property provides the hybrid
      membrane with switchable oil/water separation function, thus of practical values
      for real life application.

PMID- 28596550
TI  - Booster immunizations with DNA plasmids encoding HER-2/neu prevent spontaneous
      mammary cancer in HER-2/neu transgenic mice over life span.
AB  - Cancer vaccines are less effective at old than at young age because of
      immunosenescence. Besides, in preliminary observations we showed that the
      immunization with HER-2/neu DNA plasmid in transgenic young mice (standard
      immunization, SI) delays but not abrogate spontaneous mammary tumours
      progressively appearing during aging. In this study we evaluated whether booster
      immunizations (BI) of HER-2/neu transgenic mice with HER-2/neu DNA plasmids every
      6 (ECD6), 3 (ECD3), or 1.5 (ECD1.5) months after SI induce a protective immunity
      that could be maintained over life span. The long term BI significantly improved
      the effect of SI increasing the number of tumour free mice at 110 weeks of age
      from 13% (SI) to 58% (BI). Both the number and the volume of tumour masses were
      reduced in BI than in SI groups. The protective effect of BI was associated with
      increased antibody production with isotype switching to IgG2a, augmented CD4 T
      cells, and increased in vivo cytotoxicity of HER-2/neu specific cytotoxic T
      lymphocytes, mainly in ECD1.5 and ECD3 groups. The transfer of sera from ECD1.5
      mice to untreated HER-2/neu mice highly protected against tumour development than
      sera from SI mice. We conclude that BI induce a protective immunity effective
      over life span.

PMID- 28596551
TI  - Automated segmentation of human cervical-supraclavicular adipose tissue in
      magnetic resonance images.
AB  - Human brown adipose tissue (BAT), with a major site in the cervical
      supraclavicular depot, is a promising anti-obesity target. This work presents an
      automated method for segmenting cervical-supraclavicular adipose tissue for
      enabling time-efficient and objective measurements in large cohort research
      studies of BAT. Fat fraction (FF) and R2* maps were reconstructed from water-fat
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 25 subjects. A multi-atlas approach, based on
      atlases from nine subjects, was chosen as automated segmentation strategy. A semi
      automated reference method was used to validate the automated method in the
      remaining subjects. Automated segmentations were obtained from a pipeline of
      preprocessing, affine registration, elastic registration and postprocessing. The
      automated method was validated with respect to segmentation overlap (Dice
      similarity coefficient, Dice) and estimations of FF, R2* and segmented volume.
      Bias in measurement results was also evaluated. Segmentation overlaps of Dice =
      0.93 +/- 0.03 (mean +/- standard deviation) and correlation coefficients of r >
      0.99 (P < 0.0001) in FF, R2* and volume estimates, between the methods, were
      observed. Dice and BMI were positively correlated (r = 0.54, P = 0.03) but no
      other significant bias was obtained (P >= 0.07). The automated method compared
      well with the reference method and can therefore be suitable for time-efficient
      and objective measurements in large cohort research studies of BAT.

PMID- 28596553
TI  - Hematopoietic Id Deletion Triggers Endomyocardial Fibrotic and Vascular Defects
      in the Adult Heart.
AB  - Inhibitor of DNA binding (Id) proteins play important roles in regulating cardiac
      development via paracrine signaling. Id1/Id3 knockout mice die at mid-gestation
      with multiple cardiac defects. Single Id knockout studies have not reported
      cardiomyopathies. To bypass embryonic lethality we used Tie2CRE-mediated
      recombination to conditionally delete Id1 against global Id3 ablation (Id cDKOs),
      which develops adult-onset dilated cardiomyopathy. We confirm upregulation of
      thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) in Id cDKO hearts. Colocalization studies reveal
      increased TSP1 expression in the vicinity of endothelial cells and near regions
      of endocardial fibrosis/disruption. Downstream fibrotic molecules were
      upregulated. Endocardial capillary density was reduced with evidence of vascular
      distention. Treatment of Id cDKO cardiac explants with LSKL, a peptide antagonist
      of TSP1 activation of TGFbeta, reversed the increased expression of fibrotic
      molecules. We conducted bone marrow transplant experiments in which we
      transferred bone marrow cells from Id cDKO mice into lethally irradiated WT mice.
      The majority of WT recipients of Id cDKO bone marrow cells phenocopied Id cDKO
      cardiac fibrosis 4 months post-transplantation. Injection of LSKL into adult Id
      cDKO mice led to downregulation of fibrotic molecules. The results prompt caution
      when bone marrow transfers from individuals potentially carrying mutations in the
      Id axis are applied in clinical settings.

PMID- 28596552
TI  - Genome-wide survey of switchgrass NACs family provides new insights into motif
      and structure arrangements and reveals stress-related and tissue-specific NACs.
AB  - NAC proteins comprise of a plant-specific transcription factor (TF) family and
      play important roles in plant development and stress responses. Switchgrass
      (Panicum virgatum) is the prime candidate and model bioenergy grass across the
      world. Excavating agronomically valuable genes is important for switchgrass
      molecular breeding. In this study, a total of 251 switchgrass NAC (PvNACs) family
      genes clustered into 19 subgroups were analyzed, and those potentially involved
      in stress response or tissue-specific expression patterns were pinpointed.
      Specifically, 27 PvNACs were considered as abiotic stress-related including four
      membrane-associated ones. Among 40 tissue-specific PvNACs expression patterns
      eight factors were identified that might be relevant for lignin biosynthesis
      and/or secondary cell wall formation. Conserved functional domains and motifs
      were also identified among the PvNACs and potential association between these
      motifs and their predicted functions were proposed, that might encourage
      experimental studies to use PvNACs as possible targets to improve biomass
      production and abiotic stress tolerance.

PMID- 28596554
TI  - Salt intake, blood pressure, and socioeconomic disparities among government
      employees in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - Our study estimated salt intake, examined the association between blood pressure
      (BP) and salt intake, and explored the socioeconomic variations in salt intake
      among administrators (government employees). This is a cross-sectional study. We
      studied 168 randomly selected administrators aged 30-60 years attached to
      government offices in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Self-administered questionnaire
      gathered information on socio-demographic, work-related information, lifestyle
      practices, and medical history. BP, 24-hour urine collection, and anthropometric
      indices were measured. Mean salt intake levels measured by 24-hour Sodium (Na)
      excretion in hypertensives and non-hypertensives were 202.56 (SD +/- 85.45)
      mmol/day and 176.79 (SD +/- 82.02) mmol/day, respectively. A 100-mmol increase in
      sodium was associated with an average increase of 3.1 (95 per cent CI 2-4.2) mmHg
      in systolic BP and 1.8 (95 per cent CI 0.89-2.6) mmHg in diastolic BP. Higher
      salt intake was found in managerial assistants (12.38 +/- 5.0 g) compared with
      senior officers (10.84 +/- 4.9 g). Salt intake among these administrators was
      alarmingly high. High salt intake was positively associated with hypertension and
      more prevalent in lower socioeconomic strata.

PMID- 28596555
TI  - Controlled functional expression of the bacteriocins pediocin PA-1 and
      bactofencin A in Escherichia coli.
AB  - The bacteriocins bactofencin A (class IId) and pediocin PA-1 (class IIa) are
      encoded by operons with a similarly clustered gene organization including a
      structural peptide, an immunity protein, an ABC transporter and accessory
      bacteriocin transporter protein. Cloning of these operons in E. coli TunerTM
      (DE3) on a pETcoco-2 derived vector resulted in successful secretion of both
      bacteriocins. A corresponding approach, involving the construction of vectors
      containing different combinations of these genes, revealed that the structural
      and the transporter genes alone are sufficient to permit heterologous production
      and secretion in this host. Even though the accessory protein, usually associated
      with optimal disulfide bond formation, was not required for bacteriocin
      synthesis, its presence did result in greater pediocin PA-1 production. The
      simplicity of the system and the fact that the associated bacteriocins could be
      recovered from the extracellular medium provides an opportunity to facilitate
      protein engineering and the overproduction of biologically-active bacteriocins at
      industrial scale. Additionally, this system could enable the characterization of
      new bacteriocin operons where genetic tools are not available for the native
      producers.

PMID- 28596556
TI  - Indoxyl sulfate (IS)-mediated immune dysfunction provokes endothelial damage in
      patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
AB  - Progressive renal failure causes uremia-related immune dysfunction, which
      features a chronic inflammatory milieu. Given the central role of end-stage renal
      disease (ESRD)-related immune dysfunction in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular
      diseases (CVDs), much attention has been focused on how uremic toxins affect
      cellular immunity and the mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of atherosclerosis
      in ESRD patients. Here, we investigated the characteristics of monocytes and CD4+
      T cells in ESRD patients and the immune responses induced by indoxyl sulfate
      (IS), a key uremic toxin, in order to explore the pathogenic effects of these
      cells on vascular endothelial cells. In ESRD patients, monocytes respond to IS
      through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and consequently produce increased
      levels of TNF-alpha. Upon stimulation with TNF-alpha, human vascular endothelial
      cells produce copious amounts of CX3CL1, a chemokine ligand of CX3CR1 that is
      highly expressed on CD4+CD28-T cells, the predominantly expanded cell type in
      ESRD patients. A migration assay showed that CD4+CD28- T cells were
      preferentially recruited by CX3CL1. Moreover, activated CD4+CD28- T cells
      exhibited cytotoxic capability allowing for the induction of apoptosis in HUVECs.
      Our findings suggest that in ESRD, IS-mediated immune dysfunction may cause
      vascular endothelial cell damage and thus, this toxin plays a pivotal role in the
      pathogenesis of CVD.

PMID- 28596557
TI  - Burkholderia pseudomallei in a lowland rice paddy: seasonal changes and influence
      of soil depth and physico-chemical properties.
AB  - Melioidosis, a severe infection with the environmental bacterium Burkholderia
      pseudomallei, is being recognised increasingly frequently. What determines its
      uneven distribution within endemic areas is poorly understood. We cultured soil
      from a rice field in Laos for B. pseudomallei at different depths on 4 occasions
      over a 13-month period. We also measured physical and chemical parameters in
      order to identify associated characteristics. Overall, 195 of 653 samples (29.7%)
      yielded B. pseudomallei. A higher prevalence of B. pseudomallei was found at soil
      depths greater than the 30 cm currently recommended for B. pseudomallei
      environmental sampling. B. pseudomallei was associated with a high soil water
      content and low total nitrogen, carbon and organic matter content. Our results
      suggested that a sampling grid of 25 five metre square quadrats (i.e. 25 * 25 m)
      should be sufficient to detect B. pseudomallei at a given location if samples are
      taken at a soil depth of at least 60 cm. However, culture of B. pseudomallei in
      environmental samples is difficult and liable to variation. Future studies should
      both rely on molecular approaches and address the micro-heterogeneity of soil
      when investigating physico-chemical associations with the presence of B.
      pseudomallei.

PMID- 28596560
TI  - Decision and coordination of low-carbon supply chain considering technological
      spillover and environmental awareness.
AB  - We focus on the impacts of technological spillovers and environmental awareness
      in a two-echelon supply chain with one-single supplier and one-single
      manufacturer to reduce carbon emission. In this supply chain, carbon abatement
      investment becomes one of key factors of cutting costs and improving profits,
      which is reducing production costs in the components and products-the investment
      from players in supply chain. On the basis of optimality theory, the centralized
      and decentralized models are respectively established to investigate the optimal
      decisions and profits. Further, setting the players' profits of the decentralized
      scenario as the disagreement points, we propose a bargaining-coordination
      contract through revenue-cost sharing to enhance the performance. Finally, by
      theoretical comparison and numerical analysis, the results show that: (i) The
      optimal profits of players and supply chain improve as technological spillovers
      and environmental awareness increase, and the profits of them in the bargaining
      coordination contract are higher than that in the decentralized scenario; (ii)
      Technological spillovers between the players amplify the impact of "free-ride"
      behavior, in which the supplier always incentives the manufacturer to improve
      carbon emission intensity, but the cooperation will achieves and the profits will
      improve only when technological spillovers and environmental awareness are great;
      (iii) The contract can effectively achieve coordinated supply chain, and improve
      carbon abatement investment.

PMID- 28596559
TI  - Facile Synthesis ZnS/ZnO/Ni(OH)2 Composites Grown on Ni Foam: A Bifunctional
      Materials for Photocatalysts and Supercapacitors.
AB  - A facile one-step hydrothermal reaction was employed to synthesis an integrated
      bifunctional composite composed by a network structure of ZnS/ZnO/Ni(OH)2
      nanosheets with ZnS/ZnO nanospheres in situ growing on Ni foam. The synergistic
      effect of these three substances make the composite having both improved
      electrochemical performances and photocatalytic activity. The ZnS/ZnO/Ni(OH)2
      4mmol shows a high specific capacitance of 1173.8 F g-1 at 1 A g-1, as well as
      good rate capability and relatively stable cyclability. Using as photocatalyst,
      the methyl orange dye in solution can be completely decomposed under ultraviolet
      visible radiation in about 80 min. And the composite is easy to be repeatedly
      used because bulk Ni foam was used as a carrier. Such a bifunctional composite
      material provides a new insight for energy storage and utilization as well as the
      water pollution treatment.

PMID- 28596558
TI  - Association of increased Treg and Th17 with pathogenesis of moyamoya disease.
AB  - Immuno-inflammation has been shown to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of
      moyamoya disease (MMD). However, how did circulating Treg/Th17 cells involve in
      MMD patients remains unclear. 26 MMD, 21 atherothrombotic stroke, and 32 healthy
      controls were enrolled in this study. MMD patients have a significantly higher
      percentage of circulating Treg and Th17 cells as well as their dominantly
      secreting cytokines than other groups (P < 0.0001), whereas no difference was
      found in the ratio of Treg/Th17 between patients in MMD and atherothrombotic
      stroke group or control subjects (P = 0.244). However, the increased Treg in MMD
      patients which were enriched with FrIII Treg cells had deficient suppressive
      functions (P = 0.0017) compared to healthy volunteers. There was a positive
      correlation between Treg or TGF-beta and MMD Suzuki's stage. And the level of
      circulating Treg was as an independent factor associated with MMD stage. Besides,
      TGF-beta was also correlated with the increased expression of VEGF in MMD
      patients. Our findings indicated an important involvement of circulating Treg in
      the pathogenic development of MMD and TGF-beta in Treg induced VEGF.

PMID- 28596561
TI  - A Risk Model based on Ultrasound, Ultrasound Elastography, and Histologic
      Parameters for Predicting Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis in Breast Invasive
      Ductal Carcinoma.
AB  - To develop a risk model for predicting axillary lymph node metastasis (LNM) in
      patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDCs) using ultrasound (US), US
      elastography of virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI) and virtual touch tissue
      imaging & quantification (VTIQ), and histologic parameters. This study included
      162 breast IDCs in 162 patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used
      to identify the risk factors and a risk model was created. The results found that
      64 (39.5%) of 162 patients had axillary LNMs. The risk score (RS) for axillary
      LNM was defined as following: RS = 1.3 * (if lesion size >=20 mm) + 2.6 * (if
      taller than wide shape) + 2.2 * (if VTI score >=5) + 3.9 * (if histological grade
      III) + 1.9 * (if positive C-erbB-2). The rating system was divided into 6 stages
      (i.e. Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, Stage IV, Stage V, and Stage VI) and the
      associated risk rates in terms of axillary LNM were 0% (0/19), 6.1% (2/33), 7.7%
      (3/39), 65.5% (19/29), 92.3% (24/26), and 100% (16/16), respectively. The risk
      model for axillary LNM established in the study may facilitate subsequent
      treatment planning and management in patients with breast IDCs.

PMID- 28596562
TI  - Characterizing haploinsufficiency of SHELL gene to improve fruit form prediction
      in introgressive hybrids of oil palm.
AB  - The fundamental trait in selective breeding of oil palm (Eleais guineensis Jacq.)
      is the shell thickness surrounding the kernel. The monogenic shell thickness is
      inversely correlated to mesocarp thickness, where the crude palm oil accumulates.
      Commercial thin-shelled tenera derived from thick-shelled dura * shell-less
      pisifera generally contain 30% higher oil per bunch. Two mutations, sh MPOB (M1)
      and sh AVROS (M2) in the SHELL gene - a type II MADS-box transcription factor
      mainly present in AVROS and Nigerian origins, were reported to be responsible for
      different fruit forms. In this study, we have tested 1,339 samples maintained in
      Sime Darby Plantation using both mutations. Five genotype-phenotype discrepancies
      and eight controls were then re-tested with all five reported mutations (sh AVROS
      , sh MPOB , sh MPOB2 , sh MPOB3 and sh MPOB4 ) within the same gene. The
      integration of genotypic data, pedigree records and shell formation model further
      explained the haploinsufficiency effect on the SHELL gene with different number
      of functional copies. Some rare mutations were also identified, suggesting a need
      to further confirm the existence of cis-compound mutations in the gene. With
      this, the prediction accuracy of fruit forms can be further improved, especially
      in introgressive hybrids of oil palm. Understanding causative variant segregation
      is extremely important, even for monogenic traits such as shell thickness in oil
      palm.

PMID- 28596563
TI  - The performance of the SEPT9 gene methylation assay and a comparison with other
      CRC screening tests: A meta-analysis.
AB  - The SEPT9 gene methylation assay is the first FDA-approved blood assay for
      colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Fecal immunochemical test (FIT), FIT-DNA test
      and CEA assay are also in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests used in CRC screening.
      This meta-analysis aims to review the SEPT9 assay performance and compare it with
      other IVD CRC screening tests. By searching the Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CBMdisc and
      CJFD database, 25 out of 180 studies were identified to report the SEPT9 assay
      performance. 2613 CRC cases and 6030 controls were included, and sensitivity and
      specificity were used to evaluate its performance at various algorithms. 1/3
      algorithm exhibited the best sensitivity while 2/3 and 1/1 algorithm exhibited
      the best balance between sensitivity and specificity. The performance of the
      blood SEPT9 assay is superior to that of the serum protein markers and the FIT
      test in symptomatic population, while appeared to be less potent than FIT and FIT
      DNA tests in asymptomatic population. In conclusion, 1/3 algorithm is recommended
      for CRC screening, and 2/3 or 1/1 algorithms are suitable for early detection for
      diagnostic purpose. The SEPT9 assay exhibited better performance in symptomatic
      population than in asymptomatic population.

PMID- 28596564
TI  - Rainbow trapping in a chirped three-dimensional photonic crystal.
AB  - Light localization and intensity enhancement in a woodpile layer-by-layer
      photonic crystal, whose interlayer distance along the light propagation direction
      is gradually varied, has been theoretically predicted and experimentally
      demonstrated. The phenomenon is shown to be related to the progressive slowing
      down and stopping of the incident wave, as a result of the gradual variation of
      the local dispersion. The light localization is chromatically resolved, since
      every frequency component is stopped and reflected back at different positions
      along the crystal. It has been further discussed that the peculiar relation
      between the stopping position and the wave vector distribution can substantially
      increase the enhancement factor to more than two orders of magnitude. Compared to
      previously reported one- and two-dimensional photonic crystal configurations, the
      proposed scheme has the advantage of reducing the propagation losses by providing
      a three-dimensional photonic bandgap confinement in all directions. The slowing
      down and localization of waves inside photonic media can be exploited in optics
      and generally in wave dynamics, in many applications that require enhanced
      interaction of light and matter.

PMID- 28596565
TI  - Inhibiting STAT3 signaling is involved in the anti-melanoma effects of a herbal
      formula comprising Sophorae Flos and Lonicerae Japonicae Flos.
AB  - A herbal formula (SL) comprising Sophorae Flos and Lonicerae Japonicae Flos was
      traditionally used to treat melanoma. Constitutively active signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) has been proposed as a therapeutic target in
      melanoma. Here we investigated whether an ethanolic extract of SL (SLE) exerted
      anti-melanoma activities by inhibiting STAT3 signaling. B16F10 allograft model,
      A375 and B16F10 cells were employed to assess the in vivo and in vitro anti
      melanoma activities of SLE. A375 cells stably expressing STAT3C, a constitutively
      active STAT3 mutant, were used to determine the role of STAT3 signaling in SLE's
      anti-melanoma effects. Intragastric administration of SLE (1.2 g/kg) potently
      inhibited melanoma growth in mice and inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation in the
      tumors. In cultured cells, SLE dramatically reduced cell viability, induced
      apoptosis, suppressed migration and invasion, and restrained STAT3 activation and
      nuclear localization. STAT3C overexpression in A375 cells diminished SLE's
      effects on cell viability, apoptosis and invasion. Collectively, SLE exerted
      potent anti-melanoma effects partially by inhibiting STAT3 signaling. This study
      provides pharmacological justification for the traditional use of this formula in
      treating melanoma, and suggests that SLE has the potential to be developed as a
      modern alternative and/or complimentary agent for melanoma treatment and
      prevention.

PMID- 28596566
TI  - High-dose maternal folic acid supplementation before conception impairs reversal
      learning in offspring mice.
AB  - Maternal folic acid (FA) supplementation prior to and during gestation is
      recommended for the prevention of neural tube closure defects in the developing
      embryo. Prior studies, however, suggested that excessive FA supplementation
      during gestation can be associated with toxic effects on the developing organism.
      Here, we address whether maternal dietary folic acid supplementation at 40 mg/kg
      chow (FD), restricted to a period prior to conception, affects neurobehavioural
      development in the offspring generation. Detailed behavioural analyses showed
      reversal learning impairments in the Morris water maze in offspring derived from
      dams exposed to FD prior to conceiving. Furthermore, offspring of FD dams showed
      minor and transient gene expression differences relative to controls. Our data
      suggest that temporary exposure of female germ cells to FD is sufficient to cause
      impaired cognitive flexibility in the subsequent generation.

PMID- 28596568
TI  - Influence of rovibrational excitation on the non-diabatic state-to-state dynamics
      for the Li(2p) + H2 -> LiH + H reaction.
AB  - The non-adiabatic state-to-state dynamics of the Li(2p) + H2 -> LiH + H reaction
      has been studied using the time-dependent wave packet method, based on a set of
      diabatic potential energy surfaces recently developed by our group. Integral
      cross sections (ICSs) can be increase more than an order of magnitude by the
      vibrational excitation of H2, whereas the ICSs are barely affected by the
      rotational excitation of H2. Moreover, ICSs of the title reaction with
      vibrationally excited H2 decrease rapidly with increasing collision energy, which
      is a typical feature of non-threshold reaction. This phenomenon implies that the
      title reaction can transformed from an endothermic to an exothermic reaction by
      vibrational excitation of H2. With the increase of the collision energy, the
      sideways and backward scattered tendencies of LiH for the Li(2p) + H2(v = 0, j =
      0, 1) -> LiH + H reactions are enhanced slightly, while the backward scattering
      tendency of LiH for the Li(2p) + H2(v = 1, j = 0) -> LiH + H reaction becomes
      remarkably weakened. For the reaction with vibrationally excited H2 molecule,
      both direct and indirect reaction mechanism exist simultaneously.

PMID- 28596567
TI  - The Methylation Capacity of Arsenic and Insulin Resistance are Associated with
      Psychological Characteristics in Children and Adolescents.
AB  - The goal of the present study was to compare the influence of the methylation
      capacity of arsenic, as well as insulin resistance on psychological
      characteristics of school students from elementary and junior high school. 296
      elementary and 318 junior high school students participated in health
      examinations, completed questionnaires and determined their concentrations of
      urinary arsenic species and psychological characteristics. Insulin resistance was
      determined by means of the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance
      (HOMA-IR). We found that HOMA-IR values were significantly related to increased
      score of the depression and anger after adjusted for age, gender, schools,
      father's educational levels, mother's educational levels, BMI, body fat, and
      urinary creatinine in all students. Anxiety scores and depression scores of
      junior high school children were significantly higher compared to elementary
      school children, but lower in disruptive behavior scores. HOMA-IR levels were
      significantly inversely related to self-concept scores in junior high school
      students. A greater urinary inorganic arsenic percentage (iAs%) was marginally
      significantly related to a higher depression score in junior high school
      students. This is the first study to show a relationship between HOMA-IR levels
      or urinary arsenic profiles and psychological distress in school students from
      elementary and junior high school.

PMID- 28596569
TI  - Targeting Bacillus anthracis toxicity with a genetically selected inhibitor of
      the PA/CMG2 protein-protein interaction.
AB  - The protein-protein interaction between the human CMG2 receptor and the Bacillus
      anthracis protective antigen (PA) is essential for the transport of anthrax
      lethal and edema toxins into human cells. We used a genetically encoded high
      throughput screening platform to screen a SICLOPPS library of 3.2 million cyclic
      hexapeptides for inhibitors of this protein-protein interaction. Unusually, the
      top 3 hits all contained stop codons in the randomized region of the library,
      resulting in linear rather than cyclic peptides. These peptides disrupted the
      targeted interaction in vitro; two act by binding to CMG2 while one binds PA. The
      efficacy of the most potent CMG2-binding inhibitor was improved through the
      incorporation of non-natural phenylalanine analogues. Cell based assays
      demonstrated that the optimized inhibitor protects macrophages from the toxicity
      of lethal factor.

PMID- 28596570
TI  - An Alcaligenes strain emulates Bacillus thuringiensis producing a binary protein
      that kills corn rootworm through a mechanism similar to Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1.
AB  - Crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-derived insecticidal protein genes
      have been commercially available for over 15 years and are providing significant
      value to growers. However, there remains the need for alternative insecticidal
      actives due to emerging insect resistance to certain Bt proteins. A screen of
      bacterial strains led to the discovery of a two-component insecticidal protein
      named AfIP-1A/1B from an Alcaligenes faecalis strain. This protein shows
      selectivity against coleopteran insects including western corn rootworm (WCR).
      Transgenic maize plants expressing AfIP-1A/1B demonstrate strong protection from
      rootworm injury. Surprisingly, although little sequence similarity exists to
      known insecticidal proteins, efficacy tests using WCR populations resistant to
      two different Cry proteins show that AfIP-1A/1B and mCry3A differ in their mode
      of action while AfIP-1A/1B and the binary Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 protein share a
      similar mode. These findings are supported by results of competitive binding
      assays and the similarity of the x-ray structure of AfIP-1A to Cry34Ab1. Our work
      indicates that insecticidal proteins obtained from a non-Bt bacterial source can
      be useful for developing genetically modified crops and can function similarly to
      familiar proteins from Bt.

PMID- 28596571
TI  - The Role of TRPC6 in the Neuroprotection of Calycosin Against Cerebral Ischemic
      Injury.
AB  - Our previous studies have provided evidences that calycosin can protect the brain
      from ischemia/reperfusion injury, but its mechanisms is not fully understand.
      Transient receptor potential canonical 6 (TRPC6) has a critical role in promoting
      neuronal survival against cerebral ischemic injury. The aim of the present study
      is to test whether calycosin protects against cerebral ischemic injury through
      TRPC6-CREB pathway. In vivo, rats were subjected to transient middle cerebral
      artery occlusion (MCAO) for 2 h and then treated with different doses of
      calycosin at the onset of reperfusion. In vitro, primary cultured neurons were
      treated by calycosin, then exposed to 2 h oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)
      followed by 24 h reoxygenation. Our results showed that treatment with calycosin
      protected against ischemia-induced damages by increasing TRPC6 and P-CREB
      expression and inhibiting calpain activation. The neuroprotection effect of
      calycosin was diminished by inhibition or knockdown of TRPC6 and CREB. These
      findings indicated that the potential neuroprotection mechanism of calycosin was
      involved with TRPC6-CREB pathway.

PMID- 28596572
TI  - Inhibition of androgen receptor promotes CXC-chemokine receptor 7-mediated
      prostate cancer cell survival.
AB  - The atypical C-X-C chemokine receptor 7 (CXCR7) has been implicated in supporting
      aggressive cancer phenotypes in several cancers including prostate cancer.
      However, the mechanisms driving overexpression of this receptor in cancer are
      poorly understood. This study investigates the role of androgen receptor (AR) in
      regulating CXCR7. Androgen deprivation or AR inhibition significantly increased
      CXCR7 expression in androgen-responsive prostate cancer cell lines, which was
      accompanied by enhanced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated
      mitogenic signaling, promoting tumor cell survival through an androgen
      independent signaling program. Using multiple approaches we demonstrate that AR
      directly binds to the CXCR7 promoter, suppressing transcription. Clustered
      regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) directed Cas9 nuclease
      mediated gene editing of CXCR7 revealed that prostate cancer cells depend on
      CXCR7 for proliferation, survival and clonogenic potential. Loss of CXCR7
      expression by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing resulted in a halt of cell proliferation,
      severely impaired EGFR signaling and the onset of cellular senescence.
      Characterization of a mutated CXCR7-expressing LNCaP cell clone showed altered
      intracellular signaling and reduced spheroid formation potential. Our results
      demonstrate that CXCR7 is a potential target for adjuvant therapy in combination
      with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to prevent androgen-independent tumor
      cell survival.

PMID- 28596573
TI  - Fibroblast growth factor 23 weakens chemotaxis of human blood neutrophils in
      microfluidic devices.
AB  - Neutrophil trafficking in tissues critically regulates the body's immune
      response. Neutrophil migration can either play a protective role in host defense
      or cause health problems. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a known
      biomarker for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and was recently shown to impair
      neutrophil arrest on endothelium and transendothelial migration. In the present
      study, we further examined the effect of FGF23 on human blood neutrophil
      chemotaxis using two new microfluidic devices. Our results showed that chemotaxis
      of FGF23 pre-treated neutrophils to a fMLP gradient, in the presence or absence
      of a uniform FGF23 background, is quantitatively lower compared to the control
      cells. This effect is accompanied with a stronger drifting of FGF23 pre-treated
      cells along the flow. However, without the FGF23 pre-treatment, the FGF23
      background only reduces chemotaxis of transmigrated cells through the thin
      barrier channel to the fMLP gradient. The effect of FGF23 on neutrophil migration
      and the correlation between multiple cell migration parameters are further
      revealed by chemotactic entropy and principle component analysis. Collectively,
      these results revealed the effect of FGF23 on weakening neutrophil chemotaxis,
      which shed light on FGF23 mediated neutrophil migration with direct disease
      relevance such as CKD.

PMID- 28596574
TI  - Estimation of the thermocapillary force and its applications to precise droplet
      control on a microfluidic chip.
AB  - Droplet control through the use of light-induced thermocapillary effects has
      recently garnered attention due to its non-intrusive and multifunctional nature.
      An important issue in droplet control is the estimation of the thermocapillary
      force. The purpose of the present study is to estimate the thermocapillary force
      and propose empirical equations between the force and simply measurable key
      parameters such as droplet diameter and power of heat source. In addition, we aim
      to shift the droplet trajectory and develop an on-demand droplet routing system
      based on the estimation of the thermocapillary force. We illuminated a continuous
      phase with a 532 nm laser beam to minimize possible damage or property changes to
      target molecules contained within droplets. A mixture of light-absorbing material
      and oleic acid was used for the continuous phase fluid, while deionized water (DI
      water) was used for the dispersed phase fluid. We proposed empirical equations to
      estimate the thermocapillary force, which was then applied to precise droplet
      shifting and routing. We found that the shifting distance was linearly
      proportional to the thermocapillary force, and that an on-demand droplet routing
      system resulted in a success rate greater than 95%.

PMID- 28596575
TI  - Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus enters CHSE-214 cells via macropinocytosis.
AB  - Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is a non-enveloped virus belonging to
      the Birnaviridae family. IPNV produces an acute disease in salmon fingerlings,
      with high mortality rates and persistent infection in survivors. Although there
      are reports of IPNV binding to various cells, the viral receptor and entry
      pathways remain unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the endocytic
      pathway that allows for IPNV entry. We observed that IPNV stimulated fluid uptake
      and virus particles co-localysed with the uptake marker dextran in intracellular
      compartments, suggesting a role for macropinocytosis in viral entry. Consistent
      with this idea, viral infection was significantly reduced when the Na+/H+
      exchanger NHE1 was inhibited with 5-(N-Ethyl-N-isopropyl) amiloride (EIPA).
      Neither chlorpromazine nor filipin complex I affected IPNV infection. To examine
      the role of macropinocytosis regulators, additional inhibitors were tested.
      Inhibitors of the EGFR pathway and the effectors Pak1, Rac1 and PKC reduced viral
      infection. Together, our results indicate that IPNV is mainly internalized into
      CHSE-214 cells by macropinocytosis.

PMID- 28596576
TI  - Knee subchondral bone perfusion and its relationship to marrow fat and
      trabeculation on multi-parametric MRI and micro-CT in experimental CKD.
AB  - The pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is multifactorial. In the
      progression of CKD arthropathy, arteriosclerosis may alter the knee subchondral
      bone marrow by altering blood flow through the bone vasculature. Herein, multi
      parametric MRI assessment, including dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance
      imaging (DCE-MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), MRI T2*, contrast
      enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA), and micro-CT were applied in a rodent
      nephrectomy model to: 1) investigate the blood perfusion of subchondral bone
      marrow and its relationship to fat water content and trabeculation pattern in CKD
      and 2) demonstrate the feasibility of using multi-parametric MRI parameters as
      imaging biomarkers to evaluate the disease's progression. Two groups of rats in
      our study underwent either 1) no intervention or 2) 5/6 nephrectomy. We found
      that in the CKD group, perfusion amplitude A and elimination constant k el values
      were significantly decreased, and vascular permeability k ep was significantly
      increased. MRS showed that fat fraction (FF) was significantly lower, water
      fraction (WF) was significantly higher in the CKD group. Micro-CT showed a
      significant loss of trabecular bone. Knee subchondral bone marrow perfusion
      deficiency in experimental CKD may be associated with decreased fat content,
      increased water content, and sparse trabeculation.

PMID- 28596577
TI  - Development of an efficient vector system for gene knock-out and near in-cis gene
      complementation in the sugarcane smut fungus.
AB  - Sporisorium scitamineum is the causative agent responsible for smut disease of
      sugarcane worldwide. However, lack of efficient gene manipulation system makes
      this fungus much behind the type model of the smut fungi in molecular biology.
      Here, we report the development of a CRISPR/Cas9 and T-DNA based dual vector
      system that allowed efficient knock-out or knock-in of a gene of interest in the
      S. scitamineum in a site-specific manner. By using Mfa2, a key player in the
      mating event in S. scitamineum as a tester gene, site-specific insertions of the
      introduced fragments were achieved both for Mfa2 knockout and complementation. Of
      particular advantage of this system is the simplicity of selection and
      identification for the desired transformants by using drug resistance coupled
      with PCR. This system greatly facilitates the gene function study in S.
      scitamineum, and could potentially be used for other basidiomycete fungi.

PMID- 28596579
TI  - Preparing local strain patterns in graphene by atomic force microscope based
      indentation.
AB  - Patterning graphene into various mesoscopic devices such as nanoribbons, quantum
      dots, etc. by lithographic techniques has enabled the guiding and manipulation of
      graphene's Dirac-type charge carriers. Graphene, with well-defined strain
      patterns, holds promise of similarly rich physics while avoiding the problems
      created by the hard to control edge configuration of lithographically prepared
      devices. To engineer the properties of graphene via mechanical deformation,
      versatile new techniques are needed to pattern strain profiles in a controlled
      manner. Here we present a process by which strain can be created in substrate
      supported graphene layers. Our atomic force microscope-based technique opens up
      new possibilities in tailoring the properties of graphene using mechanical
      strain.

PMID- 28596580
TI  - Flower induction, microscope-aided cross-pollination, and seed production in the
      duckweed Lemna gibba with discovery of a male-sterile clone.
AB  - Duckweed species have a great potential to develop into fast-growing crops for
      water remediation and bioenergy production. Seed production and utilization of
      hybrid vigour are essential steps in this process. However, even in the
      extensively-studied duckweed species, Lemna gibba, flower primordia were often
      aborted prior to maturation. Salicylic acid (SA) and agar solidification of the
      medium promoted flower maturation and resulted in high flowering rates in L.
      gibba 7741 and 5504. Artificial cross-pollination between individuals of L. gibba
      7741 yielded seeds at high frequencies unlike that in L. gibba 5504. In contrast
      to clone 7741, the anthers of 5504 did not dehisce upon maturation, its
      artificially released pollen grains had pineapple-like exine with tilted spines.
      These pollens were not stained by 2,5-diphenylmonotetrazoliumbromide (MTT) and
      failed to germinate. Therefore, clone 5504 is male sterile and has potential
      application with respect to hybrid vigour. Moreover, pollination of flowers of
      5504 with 7741 pollen grains resulted in intraspecific hybrid seeds, which was
      confirmed by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. These hybrid seeds
      germinated at a high frequency, forming new clones.

PMID- 28596578
TI  - Transgenic overexpression of GTP cyclohydrolase 1 in cardiomyocytes ameliorates
      post-infarction cardiac remodeling.
AB  - GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) and its product tetrahydrobiopterin play crucial
      roles in cardiovascular health and disease, yet the exact regulation and role of
      GCH1 in adverse cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction are still
      enigmatic. Here we report that cardiac GCH1 is degraded in remodeled hearts after
      myocardial infarction, concomitant with increases in the thickness of
      interventricular septum, interstitial fibrosis, and phosphorylated p38 mitogen
      activated protein kinase and decreases in left ventricular anterior wall
      thickness, cardiac contractility, tetrahydrobiopterin, the dimers of nitric oxide
      synthase, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release, and the expression of sarcoplasmic
      reticulum Ca2+ handling proteins. Intriguingly, transgenic overexpression of GCH1
      in cardiomyocytes reduces the thickness of interventricular septum and
      interstitial fibrosis and increases anterior wall thickness and cardiac
      contractility after infarction. Moreover, we show that GCH1 overexpression
      decreases phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and elevates
      tetrahydrobiopterin levels, the dimerization and phosphorylation of neuronal
      nitric oxide synthase, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release, and sarcoplasmic
      reticulum Ca2+ handling proteins in post-infarction remodeled hearts. Our results
      indicate that the pivotal role of GCH1 overexpression in post-infarction cardiac
      remodeling is attributable to preservation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ handling proteins, and identify a new therapeutic
      target for cardiac remodeling after infarction.

PMID- 28596581
TI  - The homology gene BtDnmt1 is Essential for Temperature Tolerance in Invasive
      Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean Cryptic Species.
AB  - The Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean (MED) cryptic species has been rapidly invading
      most parts of the world owing to its strong ecological adaptability, particularly
      its strong resistance to temperature stress. Epigenetic mechanisms play important
      roles in mediating ecological plasticity. In particular, DNA methylation has been
      the focus of attempts to understand the mechanism of phenotypic plasticity. The
      relationship between temperature and DNA methylation and how it affects the
      adaptability of invasive insects remain unknown. To investigate the temperature
      resistance role of DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) in MED, we cloned and
      sequenced BtDnmt1 homology and identified its functions under various temperature
      conditions. The full-length cDNA of MED BtDnmt1 homology was 5,958 bp and has a
      4,287 bp open reading frame that encodes a 1,428-amino-acid protein. BtDnmt1 mRNA
      expression levels were significantly down-regulated after feeding with dsRNA.
      Furthermore, after feeding with dsBtDnmt1, the MED adults exhibited significantly
      higher mortality under temperature stress conditions than the controls,
      suggesting that MED BtDnmt1 homology plays an essential role in the temperature
      tolerance capacity of MED. Our data improve our understanding of the temperature
      resistance and temperature adaptability mechanisms that have allowed the
      successful invasion and colonization of various environments by this alien
      species.

PMID- 28596582
TI  - Cell Sheets of Co-cultured Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Mesenchymal Stromal
      Cells Promote Osseointegration in Irradiated Rat Bone.
AB  - Irradiated bone has a greater risk of implant failure than nonirradiated bone.
      The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of cell sheets
      composed of co-cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) and
      endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) on implant osseointegration in irradiated
      bone. Cell sheets (EPCs, BMSCs or co-cultured EPCs and BMSCs) were wrapped around
      titanium implants to make cell sheet-implant complexes. The co-cultured group
      showed the highest osteogenic differentiation potential in vitro, as indicated by
      the extracellular matrix mineralization and the expression of osteogenesis
      related genes at both mRNA and protein levels. The co-cultured cells promoted
      ectopic bone formation as indicated by micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) and
      histological analysis. In the irradiated tibias of rats, implants of the co
      cultured group showed enhanced osseointegration by Micro-CT evaluation and
      histological observation. Co-cultured EPCs and BMSCs also up-regulated the
      expression of osteogenesis related genes in bone fragments in close contact with
      implants. In conclusion, cell sheets of co-cultured EPCs and BMSCs could promote
      osseous healing around implants and are potentially useful to improve
      osseointegration process for patients after radiotherapy.

PMID- 28596583
TI  - Dynamic Contrast-enhanced MRI in Renal Tumors: Common Subtype Differentiation
      using Pharmacokinetics.
AB  - Preoperative renal tumor subtype differentiation is important for radiology and
      urology in clinical practice. Pharmacokinetic data (K trans & V e, etc.) derived
      from dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) have been used to investigate tumor
      vessel permeability. In this prospective study on DCE-MRI pharmacokinetic
      studies, we enrolled patients with five common renal tumor subtypes: clear cell
      renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC; n = 65), papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC; n =
      12), chromophobic renal cell carcinoma (cRCC; n = 9), uroepithelial carcinoma
      (UEC; n = 14), and fat-poor angiomyolipoma (fpAML; n = 10). The results show that
      K trans of ccRCC, pRCC, cRCC, UEC and fpAML (0.459 +/- 0.190 min-1, 0.206 +/-
      0.127 min-1, 0.311 +/- 0.111 min-1, 0.235 +/- 0.116 min-1, 0.511 +/- 0.159 min-1,
      respectively) were different, but V e was not. K trans could distinguish ccRCC
      from non-ccRCC (pRCC & cRCC) with a sensitivity of 76.9% and a specificity of
      71.4%, respectively, as well as to differentiate fpAML from non-ccRCC with a
      sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 76.2%, respectively. Our findings
      suggest that DCE-MRI pharmacokinetics are promising for differential diagnosis of
      renal tumors, especially for RCC subtype characterization and differentiation
      between fpAML and non-ccRCC, which may facilitate the treatment of renal tumors.

PMID- 28596584
TI  - RCAN-11R peptide provides immunosuppression for fully mismatched islet allografts
      in mice.
AB  - Calcineurin inhibitors have been used for transplant therapy. However, the
      inhibition of calcineurin outside the immune system has a number of side effects.
      We previously developed a cell-permeable inhibitor of NFAT (nuclear factor of
      activated T cells) using the polyarginine peptide delivery system. This peptide
      (11R-VIVIT) selectively interferes with calcineurin-NFAT interaction without
      affecting the activity of calcineurin phosphatase and provides immunosuppression
      for fully mismatched islet allografts in mice. However, our recent study showed
      that 11R-VIVIT affected cell viability in vitro when it was used at higher
      concentration because of the VIVIT sequence. The aim of this study is to develop
      a safer NFAT inhibitor (RCAN-11R) that does not affect cell viability, and which
      is less toxic than calcineurin inhibitors. The minimal sequence of the protein
      family of regulators of calcineurin (RCAN) that is responsible for the inhibition
      of calcineurin-NFAT signaling was recently characterized. The peptide could
      selectively interfere with the calcineurin-NFAT interaction without affecting the
      activity of calcineurin phosphatase, similar to 11R-VIVIT. RCAN-11R did not
      affect cell viability when it was used at a higher concentration than the toxic
      concentration of 11R-VIVIT. RCAN-11R could therefore be useful as a therapeutic
      agent that is less toxic than current drugs or 11R-VIVIT.

PMID- 28596585
TI  - Tetraploid embryonic stem cells can contribute to the development of chimeric
      fetuses and chimeric extraembryonic tissues.
AB  - Our study examined the in vivo chimeric and survival capacities of chimeras
      created by injecting tetraploid embryonic stem cells (ESCs) expressing green
      fluorescent protein (GFP) into diploid embryos. At 3.5 days post-coitum (dpc) and
      4.5 dpc, the tetraploid ESCs were able to contribute to the inner cell mass (ICM)
      just as diploid ESCs tagged with GFP. At 6.5 dpc, 8.0 dpc and 10.5 dpc, the
      tetraploid ESCs manifested in the same location as the diploid ESCs. The GFP
      cells in the extraembryonic tissues and fetuses of tetraploid ESC chimeras were
      tetraploid as determined by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS).
      Furthermore, tetraploid ESCs contributed to the development of the placenta,
      embryolemma and umbilical cord at 13.5 dpc and 16.5 dpc; however, very less GFP
      cells were found in the fetuses of tetraploid ESC chimeras. We further found that
      the proliferation of tetraploid ESCs was slower than that of diploid ESCs. In
      addition, the relative mRNA expression in the three germ layers and the
      trophoblast was abnormal in the EBs of tetraploid ESCs compared with diploid
      ESCs. In short, slower proliferation and abnormal differentiation potential of
      tetraploid ESCs might be two of the reasons for their poor survival and chimeric
      capacities.

PMID- 28596586
TI  - Storage of neural histamine and histaminergic neurotransmission is VMAT2
      dependent in the zebrafish.
AB  - Monoaminergic neurotransmission is greatly dependent on the function of the
      vesicular monoamine transporter VMAT2, which is responsible for loading
      monoamines into secretory vesicles. The role of VMAT2 in histaminergic
      neurotransmission is poorly understood. We studied the structure and function of
      the histaminergic system in larval zebrafish following inhibition of VMAT2
      function by reserpine. We found that reserpine treatment greatly reduced
      histamine immunoreactivity in neurons and an almost total disappearance of
      histamine-containing nerve fibers in the dorsal telencephalon and habenula, the
      most densely innervated targets of the hypothalamic histamine neurons. The
      reserpine treated larvae had an impaired histamine-dependent dark-induced flash
      response seen during the first second after onset of darkness, implying that
      function of the histaminergic network is VMAT2 dependent. Levels of histamine and
      other monoamines were decreased in reserpine treated animals. This study provides
      conclusive evidence of the relevance of VMAT2 in histaminergic neurotransmission,
      further implying that the storage and release mechanism of neural histamine is
      comparable to that of other monoamines. Our results also reveal potential new
      insights about the roles of monoaminergic neurotransmitters in the regulation of
      locomotion increase during adaptation to darkness.

PMID- 28596587
TI  - Histones H3 and H4 require their relevant amino-tails for efficient nuclear
      import and replication-coupled chromatin assembly in vivo.
AB  - Concomitant chromatin assembly and DNA duplication is essential for cell survival
      and genome integrity, and requires newly synthesized histones. Although the N
      terminal domains of newly synthesized H3 and H4 present critical functions, their
      requirement for replication-coupled chromatin assembly is controversial. Using
      the unique capability of the spontaneous internalization of exogenous proteins in
      Physarum, we showed that H3 and H4 N-tails present critical functions in nuclear
      import during the S-phase, but are dispensable for assembly into nucleosomes.
      However, our data revealed that chromatin assembly in the S-phase of complexes
      presenting ectopic N-terminal domains occurs by a replication-independent
      mechanism. We found that replication-dependent chromatin assembly requires an
      H3/H4 complex with the relevant N-tail domains, suggesting a concomitant
      recognition of the two histone domains by histone chaperones.

PMID- 28596588
TI  - Optimization of a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Knock-in Strategy at the Porcine Rosa26
      Locus in Porcine Foetal Fibroblasts.
AB  - Genetically modified pigs have important roles in agriculture and biomedicine.
      However, genome-specific knock-in techniques in pigs are still in their infancy
      and optimal strategies have not been extensively investigated. In this study, we
      performed electroporation to introduce a targeting donor vector (a non-linearized
      vector that did not contain a promoter or selectable marker) into Porcine Foetal
      Fibroblasts (PFFs) along with a CRISPR/Cas9 vector. After optimization, the
      efficiency of the EGFP site-specific knock-in could reach up to 29.6% at the
      pRosa26 locus in PFFs. Next, we used the EGFP reporter PFFs to address two key
      conditions in the process of achieving transgenic pigs, the limiting dilution
      method and the strategy to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the knock-in
      locus. This study demonstrates that we establish an efficient procedures for the
      exogenous gene knock-in technique and creates a platform to efficiently generate
      promoter-less and selectable marker-free transgenic PFFs through the CRISPR/Cas9
      system. This study should contribute to the generation of promoter-less and
      selectable marker-free transgenic pigs and it may provide insights into
      sophisticated site-specific genome engineering techniques for additional species.

PMID- 28596589
TI  - Fusaric Acid immunotoxicity and MAPK activation in normal peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells and Thp-1 cells.
AB  - Fusaric acid (FA), a food-borne mycotoxin, is a potent divalent metal chelator.
      The human immune system is complex and susceptible to environmental insult
      however, the immunotoxity of FA remains unknown. We investigated the
      immunotoxicity of FA on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and Thp
      1 cells. FA was cytotoxic to PBMCs (IC50-240.8 MUg/ml) and Thp-1 (IC50-107.7
      MUg/ml) cells at 24 h. FA induced early apoptosis but significantly decreased
      caspase activity in PBMCs, a characteristic of paraptosis. In Thp-1 cells, FA
      induced apoptosis and increased caspase -9 and -3/7 activities. In PBMCs, FA
      maintained mitochondrial membrane potential and decreased protein expression of
      Bax whilst increasing expression of p-Bcl-2; FA induced oxidative stress and
      depleted ATP levels in both cell types. In Thp-1 cells, FA increased
      mitochondrial membrane depolarization and decreased p-Bcl-2 expression. In PBMCs,
      FA significantly up-regulated the MAPK protein expression of p-ERK and p-JNK but
      down-regulated p-p38 expression. In Thp-1 cells, FA up-regulated MAPK protein
      expression of p-ERK whilst p-JNK and p-p38 expression were down-regulated. In
      conclusion FA induced programmed cell death and altered MAPK signaling in healthy
      PBMCs and Thp-1 cells strongly suggesting a possible mechanism of FA induced
      immunotoxicity in vitro.

PMID- 28596591
TI  - Widom Lines in Binary Mixtures of Supercritical Fluids.
AB  - Recent experiments on pure fluids have identified distinct liquid-like and gas
      like regimes even under supercritical conditions. The supercritical liquid-gas
      transition is marked by maxima in response functions that define a line emanating
      from the critical point, referred to as Widom line. However, the structure of
      analogous state transitions in mixtures of supercritical fluids has not been
      determined, and it is not clear whether a Widom line can be identified for binary
      mixtures. Here, we present first evidence for the existence of multiple Widom
      lines in binary mixtures from molecular dynamics simulations. By considering
      mixtures of noble gases, we show that, depending on the phase behavior, mixtures
      transition from a liquid-like to a gas-like regime via distinctly different
      pathways, leading to phase relationships of surprising complexity and variety.
      Specifically, we show that miscible binary mixtures have behavior analogous to a
      pure fluid and the supercritical state space is characterized by a single liquid
      gas transition. In contrast, immiscible binary mixture undergo a phase separation
      in which the clusters transition separately at different temperatures, resulting
      in multiple distinct Widom lines. The presence of this unique transition behavior
      emphasizes the complexity of the supercritical state to be expected in high-order
      mixtures of practical relevance.

PMID- 28596590
TI  - A comprehensive analysis and annotation of human normal urinary proteome.
AB  - Biomarkers are measurable changes associated with the disease. Urine can reflect
      the changes of the body while blood is under control of the homeostatic
      mechanisms; thus, urine is considered an important source for early and sensitive
      disease biomarker discovery. A comprehensive profile of the urinary proteome will
      provide a basic understanding of urinary proteins. In this paper, we present an
      in-depth analysis of the urinary proteome based on different separation
      strategies, including direct one dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), two dimensional LC/MS/MS, and gel-eluted liquid fraction
      entrapment electrophoresis/liquid-phase isoelectric focusing followed by two
      dimensional LC/MS/MS. A total of 6085 proteins were identified in healthy urine,
      of which 2001 were not reported in previous studies and the concentrations of
      2571 proteins were estimated (spanning a magnitude of 106) with an intensity
      based absolute quantification algorithm. The urinary proteins were annotated by
      their tissue distribution. Detailed information can be accessed at the "Human
      Urine Proteome Database" (www.urimarker.com/urine).

PMID- 28596593
TI  - Improving randomness characterization through Bayesian model selection.
AB  - Random number generation plays an essential role in technology with important
      applications in areas ranging from cryptography to Monte Carlo methods, and other
      probabilistic algorithms. All such applications require high-quality sources of
      random numbers, yet effective methods for assessing whether a source produce
      truly random sequences are still missing. Current methods either do not rely on a
      formal description of randomness (NIST test suite) on the one hand, or are
      inapplicable in principle (the characterization derived from the Algorithmic
      Theory of Information), on the other, for they require testing all the possible
      computer programs that could produce the sequence to be analysed. Here we present
      a rigorous method that overcomes these problems based on Bayesian model
      selection. We derive analytic expressions for a model's likelihood which is then
      used to compute its posterior distribution. Our method proves to be more rigorous
      than NIST's suite and Borel-Normality criterion and its implementation is
      straightforward. We applied our method to an experimental device based on the
      process of spontaneous parametric downconversion to confirm it behaves as a
      genuine quantum random number generator. As our approach relies on Bayesian
      inference our scheme transcends individual sequence analysis, leading to a
      characterization of the source itself.

PMID- 28596592
TI  - Sequence variant at 4q25 near PITX2 associates with appendicitis.
AB  - Appendicitis is one of the most common conditions requiring acute surgery and can
      pose a threat to the lives of affected individuals. We performed a genome-wide
      association study of appendicitis in 7,276 Icelandic and 1,139 Dutch cases and
      large groups of controls. In a combined analysis of the Icelandic and Dutch data,
      we detected a single signal represented by an intergenic variant rs2129979 [G]
      close to the gene PITX2 associating with increased risk of appendicitis (OR =
      1.15, P = 1.8 * 10-11). We only observe the association in patients diagnosed in
      adulthood. The marker is close to, but distinct from, a set of markers reported
      to associate with atrial fibrillation, which have been linked to PITX2. PITX2 has
      been implicated in determination of right-left symmetry during development.
      Anomalies in organ arrangement have been linked to increased prevalence of
      gastrointestinal and intra-abdominal complications, which may explain the effect
      of rs2129979 on appendicitis risk.

PMID- 28596594
TI  - Magnifying narrow-band imaging of gastric mucosal morphology predicts the H.
      pylori-related epigenetic field defect.
AB  - DNA methylation is associated with "field defect" in the gastric mucosa. To
      characterize "field defect" morphologically, we examined DNA methylation of non
      neoplastic gastric mucosa in relation to their morphology seen by narrow-band
      imaging (NBI) with magnifying endoscopy. Magnifying NBI of non-neoplastic gastric
      body was classified as follows: normal-small and round pits with uniform
      subepithelial capillary networks; type 1-a little enlarged round pits with
      indistinct subepithelial capillary networks; type 2-remarkably enlarged pits with
      irregular vessels; and type 3-clearly demarcated oval or tubulovillous pits with
      bulky coiled or wavy vessels. Methylation of nine candidate genes (MYOD1,
      SLC16A12, GDNF, IGF2, MIR 124A1, CDH1, PRDM5, RORA and MLF1) were determined by
      bisulfite pyrosequencing. Infinium HumanMethylation450 array was used to
      characterize the methylation of >450,000 CpG sites. Mean Z score methylation of
      nine genes positively correlated with the changes of mucosal patterns from normal
      to types 1, 2, and 3 (P < 0.0001). Genome-wide analysis showed that development
      of mucosal patterns correlated with methylation accumulation especially at CpG
      islands. Genes with promoter CpG islands that were gradually methylated with the
      development of mucosal patterns significantly enriched the genes involved in zinc
      related pathways. The results indicates that gastric mucosal morphology predicts
      a "field defect" in this tissue type. Accumulation of DNA methylation is
      associated with "field defect" in the non-neoplastic gastric mucosa. Endoscopic
      identification of "field defect" has important implications for preventing
      gastric cancer. Our results suggest that magnifying NBI of gastric mucosal
      morphology predicts a "field defect" in the gastric mucosa.

PMID- 28596595
TI  - Mitochondrial biogenesis dysfunction and metabolic dysfunction from a novel
      mitochondrial tRNAMet 4467 C>A mutation in a Han Chinese family with maternally
      inherited hypertension.
AB  - To investigate the relationship between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and
      hypertension as well as the mechanism involved in mitochondrial metabolic
      dysfunction. We identified a novel tRNAMet C4467A mutation in a Han Chinese
      family with hypertension. The maternal members presented with increased glucose,
      total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and serum sodium as well as decreased
      potassium compared with non-maternal members (P < 0.05). Segregation analysis
      showed this mutation was maternally inherited. We analyzed lymphocyte cell lines
      derived from three maternal and three non-maternal family members. Reactive
      oxygen species production in the mutant cell lines was 114.5% higher compared
      with that in controls (P < 0.05) while ATP was 26.4% lower. The mitochondrial
      membrane potential of the mutated cell lines was 26.2% lower than that in
      controls (P < 0.05). Oxygen consumption rates were decreased in the mutant cell
      lines (P < 0.05). The activation of caspase-3/7 was 104.1% higher in the mutant
      cell lines compared with controls (P < 0.05). The expression of voltage-dependent
      anion channel (VDAC), Bax and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) in the mutant cell
      lines was higher compared with that in controls, with the increased
      colocalization of VDAC and Bax. Therefore, this mutation contributes to oxidative
      stress and mitochondrial biogenesis dysfunction, which may be involved in the
      pathogenesis of hypertension.

PMID- 28596596
TI  - Optical mapping of neuronal activity during seizures in zebrafish.
AB  - Mapping neuronal activity during the onset and propagation of epileptic seizures
      can provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this pathology
      and improve our approaches to the development of new drugs. Recently, zebrafish
      has become an important model for studying epilepsy both in basic research and in
      drug discovery. Here, we employed a transgenic line with pan-neuronal expression
      of the genetically-encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6s to measure neuronal activity
      in zebrafish larvae during seizures induced by pentylenetretrazole (PTZ). With
      this approach, we mapped neuronal activity in different areas of the larval
      brain, demonstrating the high sensitivity of this method to different levels of
      alteration, as induced by increasing PTZ concentrations, and the rescuing effect
      of an anti-epileptic drug. We also present simultaneous measurements of brain and
      locomotor activity, as well as a high-throughput assay, demonstrating that GCaMP
      measurements can complement behavioural assays for the detection of subclinical
      epileptic seizures, thus enabling future investigations on human hypomorphic
      mutations and more effective drug screening methods. Notably, the methodology
      described here can be easily applied to the study of many human neuropathologies
      modelled in zebrafish, allowing a simple and yet detailed investigation of brain
      activity alterations associated with the pathological phenotype.

PMID- 28596598
TI  - Application of high rate integrated anaerobic-aerobic/biogranular activated
      carbon sequencing batch reactor (IAnA-BioGACSBR) for treating strong municipal
      landfill leachate.
AB  - The aim of the present study is to evaluate the application of high rate
      integrated anaerobic-aerobic/biogranular activated carbon sequencing batch
      reactor (IAnA-BioGACSBR) to treat raw strong leachate from open dumping of
      municipal solid waste. The influence of two important and effective independent
      variables, COD concentrations and volumetric filling rate with GAC, onto the
      leachate treatment were investigated. Three responses such as TKN, BOD and COD
      were considered for evaluating the interaction of parameters. The results showed
      that maximum BOD5 removal of 98.9% in anaerobic zone and 99% in aerobic zone was
      obtained at the highest values of COD (~30000 mg/L) and filling ratio (~50%). The
      highest values of COD removal efficiency were found to be 98.54% and 98%, at COD
      rate of 10000 mg/L and GAC of 35%, respectively. The highest removal values of
      TKN was 77.2% and 78.9% in anaerobic and aerobic zone, respectively. Under
      optimal conditions, compared with the SBR and the GAC-SBR performances, results
      reveal that the application of the GAC-SBR has shown better effluent
      characteristics. Based on the results, it can be asserted that the application of
      the high rate IAnA-BioGACSBR for the treatment of biodegradable landfill leachate
      was more effective.

PMID- 28596597
TI  - Smart Microparticles with a pH-responsive Macropore for Targeted Oral Drug
      Delivery.
AB  - The development of a smart microencapsulation system programmed to actively
      respond to environmental pH change has long been recognized a key technology in
      pharmaceutical and food sciences. To this end, we developed hollow microparticles
      (MPs) with self-controlled macropores that respond to environmental pH change,
      using an Oil-in-Water emulsion technique, for oral drug delivery. We observed
      that freeze-drying of MPs induced closure of macropores. The closing/opening
      behavior of macropores was confirmed by exposing MPs encapsulating different
      ingredients (sulforhodamine b, fluorescent nanoparticles, and lactase) to
      simulated gastrointestinal (GI) fluids. MPs maintained their intact, closed pore
      structure in gastric pH, and subsequent exposure to intestinal pH resulted in
      pore opening and ingredients release. Further, MPs displayed higher protection
      (>15 times) than commercial lactase formulation, indicating the protective
      ability of the system against harsh GI conditions. This study showed development
      of a hybrid MP system combining the advantages of solid particles and hollow
      capsules, exhibiting easy solvent-free loading mechanism and smart
      protection/release of encapsulates through controllable macropores. Ultimately,
      our MPs system strives to usher a new research area in smart drug delivery
      systems and advance the current oral drug delivery technology by solving major
      challenges in targeted delivery of pH-sensitive therapeutics.

PMID- 28596599
TI  - The miR-125a/HK2 axis regulates cancer cell energy metabolism reprogramming in
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The Warburg effect is a metabolic hallmark of cancer. Tumor cells rapidly adjust
      their energy source to glycolysis in order to efficiently proliferate in a
      hypoxic environment, but the mechanism underlying this switch remains
      incompletely understood. Here, we show that hypoxia potently induces the down
      regulation of miR-125a expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and
      tumors. Furthermore, we demonstrate that miR-125a could decrease the production
      of lactate, the uptake of glucose, and the levels of ATP and reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) in HCC cells. We investigated the molecular mechanism through which
      miR-125a inhibits HCC glycolysis and identified hexokinase II (HK2) as a direct
      target gene of miR-125a. Finally, we revealed that the miR-125a/HK2 axis is
      functionally important for regulating glycolysis of HCC cell and progression of
      cancer in vitro and in vivo. In summary, our findings demonstrate for the first
      time that hypoxia-down-regulated miR-125a regulated HCC glycolysis and
      carcinogenesis by targeting hexokinase HK2, a key glycolytic enzyme for the
      Warburg effect, and add a new dimension to hypoxia-mediated regulation of cancer
      metabolism.

PMID- 28596600
TI  - Detection of DNA Amplicons of Polymerase Chain Reaction Using Litmus Test.
AB  - We report on a new colorimetric DNA detection method that takes advantage of the
      power of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the simplicity of the classic litmus
      test. The strategy makes use of a modified set of primers for PCR to facilitate
      ensuing manipulations of resultant DNA amplicons: their tagging with urease and
      immobilization onto magnetic beads. The amplicon/urease-laden beads are then used
      to hydrolyze urea, resulting in the increase of pH that can be conveniently
      reported by a pH-sensitive dye. We have successfully applied this strategy for
      the detection of two hypervirulent strains of the bacterium Clostridium difficile
      that are responsible for the recent increase in the global incidence and severity
      of C. difficile infections. Furthermore, the viability of this test for
      diagnostic applications is demonstrated using clinically validated stool samples
      from C. difficile infected patients.

PMID- 28596601
TI  - Ebbinghaus figures that deceive the eye do not necessarily deceive the hand.
AB  - In support of the visual stream dissociation hypothesis, which states that
      distinct visual streams serve vision-for-perception and vision-for-action, visual
      size illusions were reported over 20 years ago to 'deceive the eye but not the
      hand'. Ever since, inconclusive results and contradictory interpretations have
      accumulated. Therefore, we investigated the effects of the Ebbinghaus figure on
      repetitive aiming movements with distinct dynamics. Participants performed a
      Fitts' task in which Ebbinghaus figures served as targets. We systematically
      varied the three parameters which have been shown to influence the perceived size
      of the Ebbinghaus figure's target circle, namely the size of the target, its
      distance to the context circles and the size of the context circles. This paper
      shows that movement is significantly affected by the context size, but, in
      contrast to perception, not by the other two parameters. This is especially
      prominent in the approach phase of the movement towards the target, regardless of
      the dynamics. To reconcile the findings, we argue that different informational
      variables are used for size perception and the visual control of movements
      irrespective of whether certain variables induce (perceptual) illusions.

PMID- 28596602
TI  - Measuring multisensory integration: from reaction times to spike counts.
AB  - A neuron is categorized as "multisensory" if there is a statistically significant
      difference between the response evoked, e.g., by a crossmodal stimulus
      combination and that evoked by the most effective of its components separately.
      Being responsive to multiple sensory modalities does not guarantee that a neuron
      has actually engaged in integrating its multiple sensory inputs: it could simply
      respond to the stimulus component eliciting the strongest response in a given
      trial. Crossmodal enhancement is commonly expressed as a proportion of the
      strongest mean unisensory response. This traditional index does not take into
      account any statistical dependency between the sensory channels under crossmodal
      stimulation. We propose an alternative index measuring by how much the
      multisensory response surpasses the level obtainable by optimally combining the
      unisensory responses, with optimality defined as probability summation under
      maximal negative stochastic dependence. The new index is analogous to measuring
      crossmodal enhancement in reaction time studies by the strength of violation of
      the "race model inequality', a numerical measure of multisensory integration.
      Since the new index tends to be smaller than the traditional one, neurons
      previously labeled as "multisensory' may lose that property. The index is easy to
      compute and it is sensitive to variability in data.

PMID- 28596603
TI  - Nanorobotic System iTRo for Controllable 1D Micro/nano Material Twisting Test.
AB  - In-situ micro/nano characterization is an indispensable methodology for material
      research. However, the precise in-situ SEM twisting of 1D material with large
      range is still challenge for current techniques, mainly due to the testing
      device's large size and the misalignment between specimen and the rotation axis.
      Herein, we propose an in-situ twist test robot (iTRo) to address the above
      challenges and realize the precise in-situ SEM twisting test for the first time.
      Firstly, we developed the iTRo and designed a series of control strategies,
      including assembly error initialization, triple-image alignment (TIA) method for
      rotation axis alignment, deformation-based contact detection (DCD) method for
      sample assembly, and switch control for robots cooperation. After that, we chose
      three typical 1D material, i.e., magnetic microwire Fe74B13Si11C2, glass fiber,
      and human hair, for twisting test and characterized their properties. The results
      showed that our approach is able to align the sample to the twisting axis
      accurately, and it can provide large twisting range, heavy load and high
      controllability. This work fills the blank of current in-situ mechanical
      characterization methodologies, which is expected to give significant impact in
      the fundamental nanomaterial research and practical micro/nano characterization.

PMID- 28596604
TI  - miR-143 and miR-145 disrupt the cervical epithelial barrier through dysregulation
      of cell adhesion, apoptosis and proliferation.
AB  - Molecular mechanisms regulating preterm birth (PTB)-associated cervical
      remodeling remain unclear. Prior work demonstrated an altered miRNA profile, with
      significant increases in miR-143 and miR-145, in cervical cells of women destined
      to have a PTB. The study objective was to determine the effect of miR-143 and miR
      145 on the cervical epithelial barrier and to elucidate the mechanisms by which
      these miRNAs modify cervical epithelial cell function. Ectocervical and
      endocervical cells transfected with miR-negative control, miR-143 or miR-145 were
      used in cell permeability and flow cytometry assays for apoptosis and
      proliferation. miR-143 and miR-145 target genes associated with cell adhesion,
      apoptosis and proliferation were measured. Epithelial cell permeability was
      increased in miR-143 and miR-145 transfected cervical epithelial cells. Cell
      adhesion genes, JAM-A and FSCN1, were downregulated with overexpression of miR
      143 and miR-145. miR-143 and miR-145 transfection decreased cervical cell number
      by increasing apoptosis and decreasing cell proliferation through initiation of
      cell cycle arrest. Apoptosis genes, BCL2 and BIRC5, and proliferation genes, CDK1
      and CCND2, were repressed by miR-143 and miR-145. These findings suggest that miR
      143 and miR-145 play a significant role in cervical epithelial barrier breakdown
      through diverse mechanisms and could contribute to premature cervical remodeling
      associated with PTB.

PMID- 28596606
TI  - Yolk removal generates hatching asynchrony in snake eggs.
AB  - Hatching synchrony is wide-spread amongst egg-laying species and is thought to
      enhance offspring survival, notably by diluting predation risks. Turtle and snake
      eggs were shown to achieve synchronous hatching by altering development rates
      (where less advanced eggs may accelerate development) or by hatching prematurely
      (where underdeveloped embryos hatch concurrently with full-term embryos). In
      Natricine snakes, smaller eggs tend to slow down metabolism throughout incubation
      in order to hatch synchronously with larger eggs. To explore the underlying
      mechanism of this phenomenon we experimentally manipulated six clutches, where
      half of the eggs were reduced in mass by removing 7.2% of yolk, and half were
      used as the control. The former experienced higher heart rates throughout the
      incubation period, hatched earlier and produced smaller hatchlings than the
      latter. This study supports the idea that developmental rates are related to egg
      mass in snake eggs and demonstrates that the relationship can be influenced by
      removing yolk after egg-laying. The shift in heart rates however occurred in the
      opposite direction to expected, with higher heart rates in yolk-removed eggs
      resulting in earlier hatching rather than lower heart rates resulting in
      synchronous hatching, warranting further research on the topic.

PMID- 28596605
TI  - Microenvironmental cooperation promotes early spread and bistability of a Warburg
      like phenotype.
AB  - We introduce an in silico model for the initial spread of an aberrant phenotype
      with Warburg-like overflow metabolism within a healthy homeostatic tissue in
      contact with a nutrient reservoir (the blood), aimed at characterizing the role
      of the microenvironment for aberrant growth. Accounting for cellular metabolic
      activity, competition for nutrients, spatial diffusion and their feedbacks on
      aberrant replication and death rates, we obtain a phase portrait where distinct
      asymptotic whole-tissue states are found upon varying the tissue-blood turnover
      rate and the level of blood-borne primary nutrient. Over a broad range of
      parameters, the spreading dynamics is bistable as random fluctuations can impact
      the final state of the tissue. Such a behaviour turns out to be linked to the re
      cycling of overflow products by non-aberrant cells. Quantitative insight on the
      overall emerging picture is provided by a spatially homogeneous version of the
      model.

PMID- 28596607
TI  - A loose endosperm structure of wheat seed produced under low nitrogen level
      promotes early germination by accelerating water uptake.
AB  - Water uptake is the fundamental requirement for the initiation and completion of
      seed germination that is a vital phase in the life cycle of seed plants. We found
      that seeds produced under four nitrogen levels showed significantly different
      germination speed. The objective of this study was to study the mechanism of
      rapid seed germination and explore which pathways and genes play critical roles
      in radicle protrusion. Anatomical data revealed that seed protein content
      affected endosperm structure of seeds. Moreover, scanning electron microscope
      maps showed that faster germinated seeds had a looser endosperm structure
      compared with other seeds. Subsequently, high throughout RNA-seq data were used
      to compare the transcriptomes of imbibed seeds with different germination speed.
      Gene ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis revealed that cell wall metabolism
      related genes significantly up-regulated in faster germinated seeds. In these
      genes, the top four were chitinase that had about fourfold higher expression in
      faster germinated seeds. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)
      enrichment analysis showed that faster germinated seeds had enhanced expression
      in glutathione metabolism. By combining these results, we propose a model for
      nitrogen fertilizer affects germination speed of wheat seed, which provide new
      insights into seed germination.

PMID- 28596608
TI  - The dynamics of resting fluctuations in the brain: metastability and its
      dynamical cortical core.
AB  - In the human brain, spontaneous activity during resting state consists of rapid
      transitions between functional network states over time but the underlying
      mechanisms are not understood. We use connectome based computational brain
      network modeling to reveal fundamental principles of how the human brain
      generates large-scale activity observable by noninvasive neuroimaging. We used
      structural and functional neuroimaging data to construct whole- brain models.
      With this novel approach, we reveal that the human brain during resting state
      operates at maximum metastability, i.e. in a state of maximum network switching.
      In addition, we investigate cortical heterogeneity across areas. Optimization of
      the spectral characteristics of each local brain region revealed the dynamical
      cortical core of the human brain, which is driving the activity of the rest of
      the whole brain. Brain network modelling goes beyond correlational neuroimaging
      analysis and reveals non-trivial network mechanisms underlying non-invasive
      observations. Our novel findings significantly pertain to the important role of
      computational connectomics in understanding principles of brain function.

PMID- 28596609
TI  - Land use alters arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities and their potential
      role in carbon sequestration on the Tibetan Plateau.
AB  - Loss of belowground biodiversity by land-use change can have a great impact on
      ecosystem functions, yet appropriate investigations remain rare in high-elevation
      Tibetan ecosystems. We compared arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities in
      arable soils with those in native forest and grassland in southeast Tibet and
      investigated their potential contribution to carbon sequestration. The AM fungi
      were abundant and diverse. AM fungal diversity was significantly higher in
      grassland than in forest or arable land. Significant differences in AM fungal
      community composition were found among different land use types. The relative
      abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in forest and grassland were
      positively related to glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), soil organic carbon,
      macroaggregates, and the unprotected and physically protected carbon, while the
      AM fungal community in arable soils was dominated by a few OTUs which were
      positively linked to soil pH. Changes in GRSP content were closely related to
      water-stable macroaggregates and carbon storage in grassland and forest soils but
      not in arable soil. Given the inevitable trend toward agricultural management
      this study emphasizes the need to implement effective agricultural practices that
      can enhance AM fungal activity to maintain soil quality and carbon sequestration
      for the sustainable development of this fragile ecosystem.

PMID- 28596610
TI  - Comprehensive study of excess phosphate response reveals ethylene mediated
      signaling that negatively regulates plant growth and development.
AB  - Excess Phosphorus (P) in agriculture is causing serious environmental problems
      like eutrophication of lakes and rivers. Unlike the enormous information
      available for phosphate starvation response (P0), very few information is
      available for the effect of excess phosphate Pi on plants. Characterization of
      Excess Phosphate Response (EPiR) is essential for designing strategies to
      increase phosphate accumulation and tolerance. We show a significant modulation
      in the root developmental plasticity under the increasing supply of excess Pi. An
      excess supply of 20 mM Pi (P20) produces a shallow root system architecture
      (RSA), reduces primary root growth, root apical meristem size, and meristematic
      activity in Arabidopsis. The inhibition of primary root growth and development is
      indeterminate in nature and caused by the decrease in number of meristematic
      cortical cells due to EPiR. Significant changes occurred in metal nutrients level
      due to excess Pi supply. A comparative microarray investigation of the EPiR
      response reveals a modulation in ethylene biosynthesis and signaling, metal ions
      deficiency response, and root development related genes. We used ethylene
      insensitive or sensitive mutants to provide more evidence for ethylene-mediated
      signaling. A new role of EPiR in regulating the developmental responses of plants
      mediated by ethylene has been demonstrated.

PMID- 28596611
TI  - Design and deposition of a metal-like and admittance-matching metamaterial as an
      ultra-thin perfect absorber.
AB  - A stratiform metamaterial, comprising metal and dielectric thin films, exhibits
      both near-perfect antireflection and strong light extinction to function as a
      perfect and ultra-thin light absorber. The equivalent admittance and extinction
      coefficient of the metamaterial are tailored using a visual method that is based
      on an admittance diagram. A five-layered metamaterial was designed and deposited
      with a total thickness of 260 nm on a mirror to exhibit strong and wide angle
      absorption over wavelengths from 400 nm to 2000 nm. A seven-layered metamaterial
      with a total thickness of less than 200 nm was designed and deposited to have
      equivalent admittance around unity and an extinction coefficient that is
      comparable to that of metal. Such a metal-like metamaterial exhibits low
      reflectivity so couples most visible light energy into the films and dissipates
      energy with an equivalent skin depth of less than 55 nm over visible wavelengths.

PMID- 28596612
TI  - Alignment of liquid crystals by polymers with residual amounts of solvents.
AB  - The homogeneous nematic layers in liquid crystal cells with treated surfaces are
      affected by orientational transitions in the electric, magnetic, or temperature
      fields. The liquid crystal structures formed on solid or liquid surfaces find
      limited application in identifying the liquid-crystal states by the textures
      observed in polarized light. The use of surfaces prepared from polymer solutions
      makes it possible to significantly broaden the range of application of the liquid
      crystal structures. We investigate the structures with the continuous
      transformation of the nematic director orientation from radial to planar, which
      were formed by the polycarbonate surface in the presence of different residual
      solvents. The structures contained the disclination lines that aligned either by
      a plate rubbed to provide the homogeneous planar orientation in the LC layer or
      by a magnetic field applied along the polycarbonate film during the structure
      formation. The orientational transitions caused by surface treatment,
      temperature, and electric or magnetic fields in these structures are observed.
      The comparison of temperature critical distance as well as electric and magnetic
      coherence lengths with equilibrium length calculated from the expression for the
      free energy of the nematic is performed. The electro-optical characteristics of
      the nematic structures are obtained.

PMID- 28596613
TI  - Effect of climate warming on the annual terrestrial net ecosystem CO2 exchange
      globally in the boreal and temperate regions.
AB  - The net ecosystem CO2 exchange is the result of the imbalance between the
      assimilation process (gross primary production, GPP) and ecosystem respiration
      (RE). The aim of this study was to investigate temperature sensitivities of these
      processes and the effect of climate warming on the annual terrestrial net
      ecosystem CO2 exchange globally in the boreal and temperate regions. A database
      of 403 site-years of ecosystem flux data at 101 sites in the world was collected
      and analyzed. Temperature sensitivities of rates of RE and GPP were quantified
      with Q 10, defined as the increase of RE (or GPP) rates with a temperature rise
      of 10  degrees C. Results showed that on the annual time scale, the intrinsic
      temperature sensitivity of GPP (Q 10sG ) was higher than or equivalent to the
      intrinsic temperature sensitivity of RE (Q 10sR ). Q 10sG was negatively
      correlated to the mean annual temperature (MAT), whereas Q 10sR was independent
      of MAT. The analysis of the current temperature sensitivities and net ecosystem
      production suggested that temperature rise might enhance the CO2 sink of
      terrestrial ecosystems both in the boreal and temperate regions. In addition,
      ecosystems in these regions with different plant functional types should
      sequester more CO2 with climate warming.

PMID- 28596614
TI  - The Arctic in the Twenty-First Century: Changing Biogeochemical Linkages across a
      Paraglacial Landscape of Greenland.
AB  - The Kangerlussuaq area of southwest Greenland encompasses diverse ecological,
      geomorphic, and climate gradients that function over a range of spatial and
      temporal scales. Ecosystems range from the microbial communities on the ice sheet
      and moisture-stressed terrestrial vegetation (and their associated herbivores) to
      freshwater and oligosaline lakes. These ecosystems are linked by a dynamic glacio
      fluvial-aeolian geomorphic system that transports water, geological material,
      organic carbon and nutrients from the glacier surface to adjacent terrestrial and
      aquatic systems. This paraglacial system is now subject to substantial change
      because of rapid regional warming since 2000. Here, we describe changes in the
      eco- and geomorphic systems at a range of timescales and explore rapid future
      change in the links that integrate these systems. We highlight the importance of
      cross-system subsidies at the landscape scale and, importantly, how these might
      change in the near future as the Arctic is expected to continue to warm.

PMID- 28596616
TI  - Using Social Network Measures in Wildlife Disease Ecology, Epidemiology, and
      Management.
AB  - Contact networks, behavioral interactions, and shared use of space can all have
      important implications for the spread of disease in animals. Social networks
      enable the quantification of complex patterns of interactions; therefore, network
      analysis is becoming increasingly widespread in the study of infectious disease
      in animals, including wildlife. We present an introductory guide to using social
      network-analytical approaches in wildlife disease ecology, epidemiology, and
      management. We focus on providing detailed practical guidance for the use of
      basic descriptive network measures by suggesting the research questions to which
      each technique is best suited and detailing the software available for each. We
      also discuss how using network approaches can be used beyond the study of social
      contacts and across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Finally, we integrate
      these approaches to examine how network analysis can be used to inform the
      implementation and monitoring of effective disease management strategies.

PMID- 28596615
TI  - Assessing National Biodiversity Trends for Rocky and Coral Reefs through the
      Integration of Citizen Science and Scientific Monitoring Programs.
AB  - Reporting progress against targets for international biodiversity agreements is
      hindered by a shortage of suitable biodiversity data. We describe a cost
      effective system involving Reef Life Survey citizen scientists in the systematic
      collection of quantitative data covering multiple phyla that can underpin
      numerous marine biodiversity indicators at high spatial and temporal resolution.
      We then summarize the findings of a continental- and decadal-scale State of the
      Environment assessment for rocky and coral reefs based on indicators of ecosystem
      state relating to fishing, ocean warming, and invasive species and describing the
      distribution of threatened species. Fishing impacts are widespread, whereas
      substantial warming-related change affected some regions between 2005 and 2015.
      Invasive species are concentrated near harbors in southeastern Australia, and the
      threatened-species index is highest for the Great Australian Bight and Tasman
      Sea. Our approach can be applied globally to improve reporting against
      biodiversity targets and enhance public and policymakers' understanding of marine
      biodiversity trends.

PMID- 28596617
TI  - Metaresearch for Evaluating Reproducibility in Ecology and Evolution.
AB  - Recent replication projects in other disciplines have uncovered disturbingly low
      levels of reproducibility, suggesting that those research literatures may contain
      unverifiable claims. The conditions contributing to irreproducibility in other
      disciplines are also present in ecology. These include a large discrepancy
      between the proportion of "positive" or "significant" results and the average
      statistical power of empirical research, incomplete reporting of sampling
      stopping rules and results, journal policies that discourage replication studies,
      and a prevailing publish-or-perish research culture that encourages questionable
      research practices. We argue that these conditions constitute sufficient reason
      to systematically evaluate the reproducibility of the evidence base in ecology
      and evolution. In some cases, the direct replication of ecological research is
      difficult because of strong temporal and spatial dependencies, so here, we
      propose metaresearch projects that will provide proxy measures of
      reproducibility.

PMID- 28596618
TI  - Development of a cross-cultural HPV community engagement model within Scotland.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine cultural barriers and participant solutions regarding
      acceptance and uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine from the
      perspective of Black African, White-Caribbean, Arab, Indian, Bangladeshi and
      Pakistani young people. METHODS: In total, 40 young people from minority ethnic
      communities in Scotland took part in a qualitative study, involving seven focus
      groups and four paired interviews, to explore their views and experiences of the
      HPV vaccine. Using critical discursive psychology, the analysis focused on young
      people's accounts of barriers and enablers to information, access and uptake of
      the HPV vaccination programme. RESULTS: Participants suggested innovative
      strategies to tackle intergenerational concerns, information design and
      accessibility, and public health communications across diverse contexts. A cross
      cultural community engagement model was developed, embracing diversity and
      contradiction across different ethnic groups. This included four inter-related
      strategies: providing targeted and flexible information for young people, vaccine
      provision across the life-course, intergenerational information and specific
      cross-cultural communications. CONCLUSION: This is the first HPV cross-cultural
      model inductively derived from accounts of young people from different ethnic
      communities. We recommend public health practitioners and policymakers consider
      using the processes and strategies within this model to increase dialogue around
      public engagement, awareness and receptivity towards HPV vaccination.

PMID- 28596619
TI  - Signs of Change? At-Home and Breadwinner Parents' Housework and Child-Care Time.
AB  - We analyze American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data to examine patterns in domestic
      work among at-home and breadwinner parents to further gauge how time
      availability, relative earnings, and gender shape time use in couples with
      extreme differences in earnings and work hours. We find that involvement in
      female-typed housework is an important driver of overall housework time. It is
      counter-normative housework behavior by at-home fathers that shapes conclusions
      about how time availability, relative resources, and gender influence parents'
      housework. While time availability appears to shape child care in comparable ways
      across parents, mothers are more engaged in child care than similarly-situated
      fathers. Overall, our comparisons point to the importance of distinguishing among
      gender-normative housework tasks and accounting for differences in engagement on
      work and non-work days. Our results also provide a basis for assessing the social
      significance of growing numbers of parents in work-family roles that are not
      gender-normative.

PMID- 28596621
TI  - Brachiopods from the Silberberg Formation (Late Eocene to Early Oligocene) of
      Atzendorf, Central Germany.
AB  - Six brachiopod species, i.e., Discradisca sp., Cryptopora sp., Pliothyrina sp.
      cf. P. grandis (Blumenbach, 1803), Terebratulina tenuistriata (Leymerie, 1846),
      Rhynchonellopsis nysti (Bosquet, 1862), and Orthothyris pectinoides (von Koenen,
      1894), have been identified in the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene Silberberg
      Formation of Atzendorf, Central Germany. The species R. nysti and O. pectinoides
      dominate the studied assemblage. Rhynchonellopsis is here transferred from the
      family Cancellothyrididae to Chlidonophoridae because it has a loop without
      united crural processes. Orthothyris pectinoides has a brachial skeleton of
      chlidonophorid type, but its transverse band is incomplete. In species
      composition, the assemblage from Atzendorf differs from other Paleogene and
      Neogene European assemblages by the absence of megathyridids and dominance of
      chlidonophorids, indicating a relatively deep environment.

PMID- 28596620
TI  - Respiratory oxygen consumption in the seagrass Zostera marina varies on a diel
      basis and is partly affected by light.
AB  - The seagrass Zostera marina is an important marine ecosystem engineer, greatly
      influencing oxygen and carbon fluctuations in temperate coastal areas. Although
      photosynthetically driven gas fluxes are well studied, the impact of the plant's
      mitochondrial respiration on overall CO2 and O2 fluxes in marine vegetated areas
      is not yet understood. Likewise, the gene expression in relation to the
      respiratory pathway has not been well analyzed in seagrasses. This study uses a
      combined approach, studying respiratory oxygen consumption rates in darkness
      simultaneously with changes in gene expression, with the aim of examining how
      respiratory oxygen consumption fluctuates on a diel basis. Measurements were
      first made in a field study where samples were taken directly from the ocean to
      the laboratory for estimations of respiratory rates. This was followed by a
      laboratory study where measurements of respiration and expression of genes known
      to be involved in mitochondrial respiration were conducted for 5 days under light
      conditions mimicking natural summer light (i.e., 15 h of light and 9 h of
      darkness), followed by 3 days of constant darkness to detect the presence of a
      potential circadian clock. In the field study, there was a clear diel variation
      in respiratory oxygen consumption with the highest rates in the late evening and
      at night (0.766 and 0.869 umol O2 m-2 s-1, respectively). These repetitive diel
      patterns were not seen in the laboratory, where water conditions (temperature,
      pH, and oxygen) showed minor fluctuations and only light varied. The gene
      expression analysis did not give clear evidence on drivers behind the respiratory
      fluxes; however, expression levels of the selected genes generally increased when
      the seagrass was kept in constant darkness. While light may influence
      mitochondrial respiratory fluxes, it appears that other environmental factors
      (e.g., temperature, pH, or oxygen) could be of significance too. As seagrasses
      substantially alter the proportions of both oxygen and inorganic carbon in the
      water column and respiration is a great driver of these alterations, we propose
      that acknowledging the presence of respiratory fluctuations in nature should be
      considered when estimating coastal carbon budgets. As dark respiration in field
      at midnight was approximately doubled from that of midday, great over-, or
      underestimations of the respiratory carbon dioxide release from seagrasses could
      be made if values are just obtained at one specific time point and considered
      constant.

PMID- 28596622
TI  - The trace fossil Lepidenteron lewesiensis: a taphonomic window on diversity of
      Late Cretaceous fishes.
AB  - The trace fossil Lepidenteron lewesiensis (Mantell 1822) provides an exceptional
      taphonomic window to diversity of fishes as shown for the Upper Cretaceous of
      Poland, in the Middle Turonian-Lower Maastrichtian deposits of the Opole Trough,
      Miechow Trough, Mazury-Podlasie Homocline, and SE part of the Border
      Synclinorium. Lepidenteron lewesiensis is an unbranched burrow lined with small
      fish scales and bones, without a constructed wall. It contains scales, vertebrae,
      and bones of the head belonging to ten taxa of teleostean fishes: two
      undetermined teleosteans, six undetermined Clupeocephala, one Dercetidae, and one
      undetermined euteleostean. The preservation of fish remains suggests that fishes
      were pulled down into the burrow by an animal, probably by eunicid polychaetes.

PMID- 28596623
TI  - Fish-otoliths from the marine-brackish water transition from the Middle Miocene
      of the Belgrade area, Serbia.
AB  - We describe here the first fossil otoliths from the Middle Miocene (Badenian and
      Sarmatian) of Belgrade, Serbia. They were obtained from Lower Badenian outcrops
      at Slanci and from upper Badenian and Sarmatian sediments recovered from four
      shallow wells near the village of Barajevo. The otoliths from the Lower Badenian
      of Slanci represent fishes typical for an open marine environment, characterized
      primarily by the mesopelagic families Myctophidae and Bregmacerotidae, a faunal
      composition that is also well known from other time equivalent locations in the
      Central Paratethys. The upper Badenian and Sarmatian composition of the fish
      fauna, in contrast, is dominated by otoliths of the family Gobiidae, indicating a
      sharp environmental shift from open marine to shallow water, probably slightly
      brackish environments, which is also confirmed by the faunal composition of
      mollusks, foraminifera, and ostracods. Most of the gobiid genera identified in
      the samples from Barajevo represent small fishes of the so-called sand gobies
      with Ponto-Caspian affinities, such as Economidichthys, Knipowitschia, or
      Pomatoschistus, or are entirely endemic to the Ponto-Caspian Basin, such as
      Hyrcanogobius. Another group of endemic Ponto-Caspian gobies is the first fossil
      record interpreted to represent the genus Proterorhinus. These and other finds
      currently being investigated indicate that the origin of the extant, rich,
      endemic gobiid fauna of the Ponto-Caspian Basin dates back to a crucial time in
      the development of Paratethys during the Middle Miocene when it segregated from
      the Mediterranean with the onset of phases of low salinity in the basin. In
      addition, we briefly discuss the distribution of certain gobiid species during
      Late Badenian and Sarmatian as it begins to emerge. The following new taxa are
      described based on fossil otoliths: Hyrcanogobius hesperis n.sp. and
      Proterorhinus vasilievae n.sp.

PMID- 28596624
TI  - Late Cretaceous crinoids (Echinodermata) from the southwestern margin of the Holy
      Cross Mts. (southern Poland) and phylogenetic relationships among
      bourgueticrinids.
AB  - A systematic account of crinoids from the Upper Coniacian-Lower Campanian of the
      southwestern margin of the Holy Cross Mountains in southern Poland is presented.
      Seven crinoid taxa [Marsupites testudinarius (von Schlotheim), Bourgueticrinus
      ellipticus (Miller), Bourgueticrinus sp., I.? granosus Valette, Isocrinus? sp.,
      Nielsenicrinus carinatus Roemer and Austinocrinus bicoronatus (von Hagenow)] are
      described and illustrated. The new material from Poland extends down the
      stratigraphic range of Austinocrinus bicoronatus to the Lower Campanian.
      Morphometric data support that Bourgueticrinus ellipicus and B.? suedicus are
      conspecific. Taphonomy and paleoecology of recorded crinoid assemblages are
      discussed. Phylogeny of Cretaceous bourgueticrinids is also revisited.

PMID- 28596625
TI  - Antecedents and near-term consequences for interdisciplinary dissertators.
AB  - Given the complexity of questions studied by academicians, institutions are
      increasingly encouraging interdisciplinary research to tackle these problems;
      however, neither the individual-level pathways leading to the pursuit of
      interdisciplinary research nor the resulting market outcomes have been closely
      examined. In this study, we focus attention on the individuals who complete
      interdisciplinary dissertations to ask "who are they and how do they fare after
      earning the PhD?" Since interdisciplinary research is known to be relatively
      risky among academics, we examine demographic variables that are known to be
      associated in other contexts with risk-taking before considering whether
      interdisciplinarians' outcomes are different upon graduating. First among our
      three main findings, students whose fathers earned a college degree demonstrated
      a 1.3% higher probability of pursuing interdisciplinary research. Second, the
      probability that non-citizens pursue interdisciplinary dissertation work is 4.6%
      higher when compared with US citizens. Third, individuals who complete an
      interdisciplinary dissertation tend to earn approximately 2% less in the year
      after graduation; however, mediation analyses show that the decision to become a
      postdoctoral researcher accounts for the apparent salary penalty. Our findings
      shed light on the antecedents and near-term consequences for individuals who
      complete interdisciplinary dissertations and contribute to broader policy debates
      concerning supports for academic career paths.

PMID- 28596626
TI  - A theoretical model of the relationship between the h-index and other simple
      citation indicators.
AB  - Of the existing theoretical formulas for the h-index, those recently suggested by
      Burrell (J Informetr 7:774-783, 2013b) and by Bertoli-Barsotti and Lando (J
      Informetr 9(4):762-776, 2015) have proved very effective in estimating the actual
      value of the h-index Hirsch (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:16569-16572, 2005), at
      least at the level of the individual scientist. These approaches lead (or may
      lead) to two slightly different formulas, being based, respectively, on a
      "standard" and a "shifted" version of the geometric distribution. In this paper,
      we review the genesis of these two formulas-which we shall call the "basic" and
      "improved" Lambert-W formula for the h-index-and compare their effectiveness with
      that of a number of instances taken from the well-known Glanzel-Schubert class of
      models for the h-index (based, instead, on a Paretian model) by means of an
      empirical study. All the formulas considered in the comparison are "ready-to
      use", i.e., functions of simple citation indicators such as: the total number of
      publications; the total number of citations; the total number of cited paper; the
      number of citations of the most cited paper. The empirical study is based on
      citation data obtained from two different sets of journals belonging to two
      different scientific fields: more specifically, 231 journals from the area of
      "Statistics and Mathematical Methods" and 100 journals from the area of
      "Economics, Econometrics and Finance", totaling almost 100,000 and 20,000
      publications, respectively. The citation data refer to different
      publication/citation time windows, different types of "citable" documents, and
      alternative approaches to the analysis of the citation process ("prospective" and
      "retrospective"). We conclude that, especially in its improved version, the
      Lambert-W formula for the h-index provides a quite robust and effective ready-to
      use rule that should be preferred to other known formulas if one's goal is
      (simply) to derive a reliable estimate of the h-index.

PMID- 28596627
TI  - Data sets for author name disambiguation: an empirical analysis and a new
      resource.
AB  - Data sets of publication meta data with manually disambiguated author names play
      an important role in current author name disambiguation (AND) research. We review
      the most important data sets used so far, and compare their respective advantages
      and shortcomings. From the results of this review, we derive a set of general
      requirements to future AND data sets. These include both trivial requirements,
      like absence of errors and preservation of author order, and more substantial
      ones, like full disambiguation and adequate representation of publications with a
      small number of authors and highly variable author names. On the basis of these
      requirements, we create and make publicly available a new AND data set, SCAD
      zbMATH. Both the quantitative analysis of this data set and the results of our
      initial AND experiments with a naive baseline algorithm show the SCAD-zbMATH data
      set to be considerably different from existing ones. We consider it a useful new
      resource that will challenge the state of the art in AND and benefit the AND
      research community.

PMID- 28596628
TI  - Identification of successful mentoring communities using network-based analysis
      of mentor-mentee relationships across Nobel laureates.
AB  - Skills underlying scientific innovation and discovery generally develop within an
      academic community, often beginning with a graduate mentor's laboratory. In this
      paper, a network analysis of doctoral student-dissertation advisor relationships
      in The Academic Family Tree indicates the pattern of Nobel laureate mentoring
      relationships is non-random. Nobel laureates had a greater number of Nobel
      laureate ancestors, descendants, mentees/grandmentees, and local academic family,
      supporting the notion that assortative processes occur in the selection of
      mentors and mentees. Subnetworks composed entirely of Nobel laureates extended
      across as many as four generations. Several successful mentoring communities in
      high-level science were identified, as measured by number of Nobel laureates
      within the community. These communities centered on Cambridge University in the
      latter nineteenth century and Columbia University in the early twentieth century.
      The current practice of building web-based academic networks, extended to include
      a wider variety of measures of academic success, would allow for the
      identification of modern successful scientific communities and should be
      promoted.

PMID- 28596629
TI  - Letter to the Editor: About the quality and impact of scientific articles.
AB  - It is argued that counting the total number of times a scientific article is
      cited by others, does neither result in a proxy for its cognitive impact nor for
      its quality. One would have to distinguish at least substitutable and fundamental
      references. A supposed correlation between peer review assessments and citation
      counts is conceptually problematic, because peer review includes objective as
      well as subjective considerations (convictions). With refined methods, however, a
      differential citation analysis might be able in the future to answer if a given
      article did or did not have positive cognitive impact on subsequent research.

PMID- 28596630
TI  - How to allocate limited healthcare resources: Lessons from the introduction of
      antiretroviral therapy in rural Mozambique.
AB  - Proper allocation of limited healthcare resources is a challenging task for
      policymakers in developing countries. Allocation of and access to these resources
      typically varies based on how need is defined, thus determining how individuals
      access and acquire healthcare. Using the introduction of antiretroviral therapy
      in southern Mozambique as an example, we examine alternative definitions of need
      for rural populations and how they might impact the allocation of this vital
      health service. Our results show that how need is defined matters when allocating
      limited healthcare resources and the use of need-based metrics can help ensure
      more optimal distribution of services.

PMID- 28596631
TI  - Identification of uranium signatures relevant for nuclear safeguards and
      forensics.
AB  - The paper describes the applicability of different characteristics (signatures)
      in nuclear safeguards and forensics for assessment of uranium material provenance
      in terms of production process. The study follows a uranium ore concentrate
      production from an ore to a U3O8 product. It turned out that rare-earth elemental
      pattern, radiochronometry (age of ore body and material production date), sulphur
      and organic impurities are useful to find out the origin or history of the
      material, while certain trace-elements and isotopics of Pb or Sr were found to be
      inconclusive. The results will be important to understand the signatures in
      nuclear safeguards and forensics.

PMID- 28596632
TI  - 'Of course we are on Facebook': Use and non-use of social media among Swedish and
      Norwegian politicians.
AB  - While plenty of research has provided important insights into the uses of the
      Internet by politicians during elections, a relatively scarce amount of work has
      looked into these uses outside of such parliamentary events. This article seeks
      to remedy this lack of research by presenting a study on the 'routine' uses of
      two of the currently most popular social media services - Facebook and Twitter.
      Focusing on politicians elected to the national parliaments of Norway and Sweden,
      the article employs novel methodologies for data collection and statistical
      analyses in order to provide an overarching, structural view of the day-to-day
      social media practices of Scandinavian politicians. Findings indicate that use
      levels are rather low for both services - the median amount of tweets sent and
      messages posted on Facebook is close to one per day. Further analyses reveal that
      the most active politicians could be labelled as 'underdogs', as they are more
      likely to be younger, in opposition and out of the political limelight.

PMID- 28596633
TI  - Beyond Hybrid Licenses-Strategies for Post Patent Expiration Payments in the
      United States1.

PMID- 28596634
TI  - A three-step reconstruction method for fluorescence molecular tomography based on
      compressive sensing.
AB  - Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is a promising tool for real time in vivo
      quantification of neurotransmission (NT) as we pursue in our BRAIN initiative
      effort. However, the acquired image data are noisy and the reconstruction problem
      is ill-posed. Further, while spatial sparsity of the NT effects could be
      exploited, traditional compressive-sensing methods cannot be directly applied as
      the system matrix in FMT is highly coherent. To overcome these issues, we propose
      and assess a three-step reconstruction method. First, truncated singular value
      decomposition is applied on the data to reduce matrix coherence. The resultant
      image data are input to a homotopy-based reconstruction strategy that exploits
      sparsity via l1 regularization. The reconstructed image is then input to a
      maximum-likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) algorithm that retains the
      sparseness of the input estimate and improves upon the quantitation by accurate
      Poisson noise modeling. The proposed reconstruction method was evaluated in a
      three-dimensional simulated setup with fluorescent sources in a cuboidal
      scattering medium with optical properties simulating human brain cortex (reduced
      scattering coefficient: 9.2 cm-1, absorption coefficient: 0.1 cm-1) and
      tomographic measurements made using pixelated detectors. In different
      experiments, fluorescent sources of varying size and intensity were simulated.
      The proposed reconstruction method provided accurate estimates of the fluorescent
      source intensity, with a 20% lower root mean square error on average compared to
      the pure-homotopy method for all considered source intensities and sizes.
      Further, compared with conventional l2 regularized algorithm, overall, the
      proposed method reconstructed substantially more accurate fluorescence
      distribution. The proposed method shows considerable promise and will be tested
      using more realistic simulations and experimental setups.

PMID- 28596635
TI  - An Investigation of Low-Dose 3D Scout Scans for Computed Tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: Commonly 2D scouts or topograms are used prior to CT scan acquisition.
      However, low-dose 3D scouts could potentially provide additional information for
      more effective patient positioning and selection of acquisition protocols. We
      propose using model-based iterative reconstruction to reconstruct low exposure
      tomographic data to maintain image quality in both low-dose 3D scouts and
      reprojected topograms based on those 3D scouts. METHODS: We performed tomographic
      acquisitions on a CBCT test-bench using a range of exposure settings from 16.6 to
      231.9 total mAs. Both an anthropomorphic phantom and a 32 cm CTDI phantom were
      scanned. The penalized-likelihood reconstructions were made using Matlab and CUDA
      libraries and reconstruction parameters were tuned to determine the best
      regularization strength and delta parameter. RMS error between reconstructions
      and the highest exposure reconstruction were computed, and CTDIW values were
      reported for each exposure setting. RMS error for reprojected topograms were also
      computed. RESULTS: We find that we are able to produce low-dose (0.417 mGy) 3D
      scouts that show high-contrast and large anatomical features while maintaining
      the ability to produce traditional topograms. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that
      iterative reconstruction can mitigate noise in very low exposure CT acquisitions
      to enable 3D CT scout. Such additional 3D information may lead to improved
      protocols for patient positioning and acquisition refinements as well as a number
      of advanced dose reduction strategies that require localization of anatomical
      features and quantities that are not provided by simple 2D topograms.

PMID- 28596636
TI  - No-gold-standard evaluation of image-acquisition methods using patient data.
AB  - Several new and improved modalities, scanners, and protocols, together referred
      to as image-acquisition methods (IAMs), are being developed to provide reliable
      quantitative imaging. Objective evaluation of these IAMs on the clinically
      relevant quantitative tasks is highly desirable. Such evaluation is most reliable
      and clinically decisive when performed with patient data, but that requires the
      availability of a gold standard, which is often rare. While no-gold-standard
      (NGS) techniques have been developed to clinically evaluate quantitative imaging
      methods, these techniques require that each of the patients be scanned using all
      the IAMs, which is expensive, time consuming, and could lead to increased
      radiation dose. A more clinically practical scenario is where different set of
      patients are scanned using different IAMs. We have developed an NGS technique
      that uses patient data where different patient sets are imaged using different
      IAMs to compare the different IAMs. The technique posits a linear relationship,
      characterized by a slope, bias, and noise standard-deviation term, between the
      true and measured quantitative values. Under the assumption that the true
      quantitative values have been sampled from a unimodal distribution, a maximum
      likelihood procedure was developed that estimates these linear relationship
      parameters for the different IAMs. Figures of merit can be estimated using these
      linear relationship parameters to evaluate the IAMs on the basis of accuracy,
      precision, and overall reliability. The proposed technique has several potential
      applications such as in protocol optimization, quantifying difference in system
      performance, and system harmonization using patient data.

PMID- 28596638
TI  - Policy entrepreneurship in UK central government: The behavioural insights team
      and the use of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - What factors explain the success of the UK Cabinet Office's Behavioural Insights
      Team? To answer this question, this article applies insights from organizational
      theory, particularly accounts of change agents. Change agents are able-with
      senior sponsorship-to foster innovation by determination and skill: they win
      allies and circumvent more traditional bureaucratic procedures. Although
      Behavioural Insights Team is a change agent-maybe even a skunkworks unit-not all
      the facilitating factors identified in the literature apply in this central
      government context. Key factors are its willingness to work in a non-hierarchical
      way, skills at forming alliances, and the ability to form good relationships with
      expert audiences. It has been able to promote a more entrepreneurial approach to
      government by using randomized controlled trials as a robust method of policy
      evaluation.

PMID- 28596637
TI  - Wild chimpanzees' use of single and combined vocal and gestural signals.
AB  - ABSTRACT: We describe the individual and combined use of vocalizations and
      gestures in wild chimpanzees. The rate of gesturing peaked in infancy and, with
      the exception of the alpha male, decreased again in older age groups, while vocal
      signals showed the opposite pattern. Although gesture-vocal combinations were
      relatively rare, they were consistently found in all age groups, especially
      during affiliative and agonistic interactions. Within behavioural contexts rank
      (excluding alpha-rank) had no effect on the rate of male chimpanzees' use of
      vocal or gestural signals and only a small effect on their use of combination
      signals. The alpha male was an outlier, however, both as a prolific user of
      gestures and recipient of high levels of vocal and gesture-vocal signals.
      Persistence in signal use varied with signal type: chimpanzees persisted in use
      of gestures and gesture-vocal combinations after failure, but where their vocal
      signals failed they tended to add gestural signals to produce gesture-vocal
      combinations. Overall, chimpanzees employed signals with a sensitivity to the
      public/private nature of information, by adjusting their use of signal types
      according to social context and by taking into account potential out-of-sight
      audiences. We discuss these findings in relation to the various socio-ecological
      challenges that chimpanzees are exposed to in their natural forest habitats and
      the current discussion of multimodal communication in great apes. SIGNIFICANCE
      STATEMENT: All animal communication combines different types of signals,
      including vocalizations, facial expressions, and gestures. However, the study of
      primate communication has typically focused on the use of signal types in
      isolation. As a result, we know little on how primates use the full repertoire of
      signals available to them. Here we present a systematic study on the individual
      and combined use of gestures and vocalizations in wild chimpanzees. We find that
      gesturing peaks in infancy and decreases in older age, while vocal signals show
      the opposite distribution, and patterns of persistence after failure suggest that
      gestural and vocal signals may encode different types of information. Overall,
      chimpanzees employed signals with a sensitivity to the public/private nature of
      information, by adjusting their use of signal types according to social context
      and by taking into account potential out-of-sight audiences.

PMID- 28596639
TI  - How does single party dominance influence civil society organisations' engagement
      strategies? Exploratory analysis of participative mainstreaming in a 'regional'
      European polity.
AB  - A raft of United Nations Treaties, European Union Directives and domestic laws
      oblige governments in 180 + countries to apply the Participative Democratic Model
      of mainstreaming equalities to public administration by involving those targeted
      by equality initiatives at all stages in their design and delivery.
      Notwithstanding Participative Democratic Model's deeply political nature, extant
      work has overlooked how governing party turnover influences civil society
      organisations' (CSOs) strategies. Here, this lacuna is addressed using a negative
      'extreme case study' research design involving qualitative accounts from civil
      society organisations in Wales, a 'regional' European polity characterised by one
      party dominance. The findings reveal how the absence of turnover distorts the
      Participative Democratic Model in relation to diverse factors including:
      strategic bridging, extraparliamentary politics, cognitive locks and party
      institutionalisation. Inter alia, the wider contribution of this analysis lies in
      showing the importance of turnover to effective engagement, the 'pathologies'
      associated with one-party dominance and the need for adaptive civil society
      strategies tailored to prevailing electoral politics and governing party turnover
      in liberal democracies.

PMID- 28596640
TI  - Working with layers: The governance and regulation of healthcare quality in an
      institutionally layered system.
AB  - Institutional arrangements used to steer public policies have increasingly become
      layered. Inspired by the literature on institutional layering and institutional
      work, this paper aims to make a contribution to our understanding of
      institutional layering. We do so by studying an interesting case of layering: the
      Dutch hospital sector. We focus on the actors responsible for the internal
      governance (Board of Directors and Supervisory Boards) and the external
      regulation (the Healthcare Inspectorate) of hospitals. In the paper, we explore
      the institutional work of these actors, more specifically how institutional work
      results from and is influenced by institutional layering and how this in turn
      influences the institutional makeup of both healthcare organizations and their
      institutional context. Our approach allowed us to see that layering changes the
      activities of actors in the public sector, can be used to strengthen one's
      position but also presents actors with new struggles, which they in turn can try
      to overcome by relating and using the institutionally layered context. Layering
      and institutional work are therefore in continuous interaction. Combining
      institutional layering with a focus on the lived experiences of actors and their
      institutional work makes it possible to move into the layered arrangement and
      better understand its consequences.

PMID- 28596643
TI  - Platelets: Pathophysiological Relevance and Therapeutic Potential.

PMID- 28596641
TI  - Gene Electrotransfer of Plasmid-Encoding IL-12 Recruits the M1 Macrophages and
      Antigen-Presenting Cells Inducing the Eradication of Aggressive B16F10 Murine
      Melanoma.
AB  - Cancer immunotherapy is currently one of the leading approaches in cancer
      treatment. Gene electrotransfer of plasmids encoding interleukin 12 (IL-12) into
      the cells leads to the production of IL-12, which drives immune cell polarization
      to an antitumoral response. One of the cell types that shows great promise in
      targeting tumor cells under the influence of IL-12 cytokine milieu is that of
      macrophages. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate gene
      electrotransfer of antibiotic resistance-free plasmid DNA-encoding murine IL-12
      (mIL-12) in mice bearing aggressive B16F10 murine melanoma. IL-12 electrotransfer
      resulted in the complete long-term eradication of the tumors. Serum mIL-12 and
      murine interferon gamma (mIFNgamma) were increased after IL-12 gene
      electrotransfer. Further on, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining showed increased
      infiltration of immune cells that lasted from day 4 until day 14.
      Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of F4/80, MHCII, and CD11c showed higher
      positive staining in the IL-12 gene electrotransfer group than in the control
      groups. Immune cell infiltration into the tumors and the high density of MHCII-
      and CD11c-positive cells suggest an antitumor polarization of macrophages and the
      presence of antigen-presenting cells that contributes to the important antitumor
      effectiveness of IL-12.

PMID- 28596642
TI  - A Double-Blinded Randomized Study Investigating a Possible Anti-Inflammatory
      Effect of Saxagliptin versus Placebo as Add-On Therapy in Patients with Both Type
      2 Diabetes And Stable Coronary Artery Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Promising results regarding potential anti-inflammatory and
      antiatherosclerotic effects of gliptins have been reported. Our aim was to
      investigate whether saxagliptin treatment modifies expression of inflammatory
      markers, primarily in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in
      circulating leukocytes in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and
      T2DM. METHODS: Patients (n = 12) were randomized to saxagliptin 5 mg daily or
      placebo for 3 months. Samples were taken at baseline and end of study in fasting
      state prior to intake of medications. PBMCs were isolated and cryopreserved at 
      150 degrees C until ex vivo exposed to 1 ng/mL of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 4
      hours. Gene expression was performed with custom-designed TaqMan(r) Arrays and
      relative quantification by real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: HbA1c was reduced in
      the saxagliptin-treated group compared to that in the change with placebo (p =
      0.042). In unstimulated PBMCs and in circulating leukocytes, we observed a
      significant increase in IL-10 expression in the saxagliptin group (p = 0.043,
      both), significantly different from that in the placebo (p = 0.009 and p = 0.032,
      resp.). No between group differences in changes were observed in any of the
      selected proinflammatory markers. CONCLUSION: In our small cohort of patients
      with combined T2DM and CAD, a possible anti-inflammatory effect of saxagliptin,
      observed in the present study by upregulation of IL-10 in leukocytes, needs to be
      confirmed in larger studies.

PMID- 28596644
TI  - Highlights of Multiple Myeloma at the Annual Meeting of American Society of
      Hematology, 2016.
AB  - This review discusses the landmark studies in the field of multiple myeloma (MM)
      which were presented at American society of hematology annual meeting, 2016.
      There were contrary results from two large phase III trials (one from US and one
      from Europe) that evaluated the role of additional interventions like tandem
      autologous transplant (ASCT) and consolidation after induction therapy followed
      by ASCT in newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) patients, but there were critical
      differences between the two studies. Novel agents like carfilzomib and ixazomib
      proved to be of benefit when used as induction and post ASCT consolidation and
      maintenance in NDMM. The early data on subcutaneous administration of daratumumab
      (DARA) looked promising. The high rate of minimal residual disease negativity
      after using DARA even in relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM) setting reinforces the
      benefit of targeting CD38. The responses seen with venetoclax in RRMM with
      t(11;14)(high BCL-2, low BCL-XL and MCL-1) and selinexor in penta-refractory
      myeloma which fulfills the FDA category of unmet need, opens up newer options for
      these patients. BCMA CAR-T infusion shows encouraging results in advanced
      refractory myeloma patients.

PMID- 28596645
TI  - Platelet Derived Biomaterials for Therapeutic Use: Review of Technical Aspects.
AB  - Whole blood is composed of both cellular and plasma components, providing a rich
      source of therapeutic products. Of late, platelet derived biomaterial (platelet
      rich plasma) consisting of plasma proteins and platelets are increasingly being
      used for various indications. Protocols for preparation and nomenclature of this
      biomaterial vary widely amongst authors and are often not well defined.
      Additionally, they are not uniformly documented in the literature, making results
      difficult to compare or replicate. In this paper we review the evolution and type
      of these products available for clinical use. Further we will discuss the
      scientific rational and technical aspects in preparation of these platelet
      biomaterials in order to administer them in various fields of medicine.

PMID- 28596646
TI  - Evaluation of Bone Marrow Microvessel Density in Patients with Aplastic Anemia.
AB  - Bone marrow microenvironment plays a crucial role in the growth of hemopoietic
      cells and bone marrow function, which in turn depends on an intact
      microvasculature. Our study assesses the microvessel density (MVD) in the bone
      marrow of aplastic anemia (AA) patients, compares with MVD of controls and MVD
      among the different types of AA. Bone marrow specimens from 60 patients with AA
      and 17 controls were studied. There were 33 patients with non severe AA (NSAA),
      12 patients with severe AA (SAA) and 15 patients with very severe AA (VSAA). MVD
      was calculated on sections stained immunohistochemically for CD34. The mean bone
      marrow MVD in AA group was 1.28 +/- 0.36, being significantly lower than that in
      control group (6.80 +/- 1.59, p < 0.001). MVD of SAA and NSAA patients were 1.16
      +/- 0.35 and 1.49 +/- 0.27, respectively, being significantly different (p =
      0.003). MVD of VSAA was 0.93 +/- 0.25 and the difference with NSAA is
      significant, however there was no significant difference between SAA and VSAA.
      Bone marrow MVD is low in AA patients and is likely to have a role in
      pathophysiology of bone marrow failure. Proangiogenic agents together with
      specific therapy might accelerate the recovery of hematopoiesis in AA patients.

PMID- 28596647
TI  - Audio Vestibular Status in CML Patients on Imatinib Mesylate with Review of
      Literature.
AB  - Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm occasionally
      presenting with features of leukostasis as primary symptoms. Hearing loss is
      occasionally reported in CML patients. Further whether Imatinib mesylate has any
      effect on vestibular functions is not known. We conducted a preliminary study to
      assess hearing pattern in patients with CML on long term TKI therapy. This is a
      single center, cross sectional study from northern-India. Patients of CML who
      were on regular Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) therapy for at least 6 months
      underwent audiovestibular evaluation . A total of 44 CML patients on TKI therapy
      were assessed over a period of 6 months. The median age of the patients was 41
      years, the mean duration of TKI therapy was 36 months. Four patients were found
      to have otological disorder clinically. On pure tone audiometry of 88 ears normal
      hearing pattern were found with at low and mid frequencies. There was a down
      sloping type of curve at higher frequencies in PTA in most of the patients. Cold
      caloric tests in 42 patients were found as equal response in both ears. We
      conclude from this preliminary study that there are no audio vestibular
      dysfunctions amongst patients of CML on TKI. It's a negative study wherein we
      have ruled out any auditory deficits secondary to Imatinib therapy. Further
      studies are required to evaluate the audiometric profile in CML patients before
      Imatinib therapy and to be compared with the patients already on Imatinib in a
      large cohort.

PMID- 28596648
TI  - The Impact of Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and JAK-2 Mutation on Thrombosis in
      Chronic Myeloproliferative Diseases.
AB  - Thrombosis and bleeding are the main complications of chronic myeloproliferative
      diseases. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an important indicator of the platelet
      activation. The aim of the present study was to assess the interrelationships
      between MPV, JAK-2 gene mutation and thromboembolic events in patients with ET
      and PV. Patients with ET (n = 60) and PV (n = 46) were compared to the secondary
      erythrocytosis group (n = 19); and a control group of age and sex matched healthy
      volunteers (n = 52). Besides demographic, clinical and laboratory data;
      thrombotic and hemorrhagic events were recorded for each patient. Platelet
      counts, MPV and JAK2 mutations were studied; and their relation with
      thromboembolic events were investigated using SPSS program for statistical
      analysis. There was no significant difference between groups regarding age (p =
      0.188). Mean platelet count was significantly higher in ET group than other
      groups (p < 0.0001). Mean platelet count in PV group was significantly higher
      than control (p < 0.0001) and secondary erythrocytosis groups (p < 0.0001). In
      the ET group, MPV values were significantly lower than the control group and PV
      group. In the ET group, those with thromboembolia had lower platelet counts.
      There was no relation between MPV and thromboembolic event rate in PV, ET and
      secondary erithrocytosis groups; while no event was recorded in the control
      group. There was no relation between thromboembolic event rate and JAK 2
      mutation. The association of JAK-2 mutation and high MPV especially in ET and PV
      groups does not contribute to the thromboembolic events.

PMID- 28596649
TI  - Use of Surrogate Samples to Monitor pH During High dose Methotrexate Therapy.
AB  - High dose methotrexate (Mtx) therapy is commonly used in hemato-oncological
      practice. Alkalization of urine is a part of high dose methotrexate therapy for
      preventing crystallization in urine to avert renal insufficiency. Alkalization is
      monitored by urine pH at regular intervals. Oral pH has occasionally been used as
      a surrogate for oral mucositis. To compare and correlate pH of various body
      secretions (venous blood, oral salivary, lacrimal and urine) among patients
      undergoing alkalization with intravenous sodium bicarbonate during high dose
      methotrexate therapy. A prospective single center study in patients with
      hematological malignancies receiving Mtx > 1.5 g/m2 over 4-24 h. Patients were
      assessed for pH (from all 4 body fluids) at regular time intervals (q8 h)
      starting 6 h-prior and 48 h-post initiation of Mtx therapy. Mean pH of urine/oral
      was compared to surrogate samples. The mean oral pH was 6.9 (SD 0.65), the mean
      urinary pH was 7.59 (SD 0.773) the mean pH by venous blood gas analysis (venous
      pH) was 7.388 (SD 0.059), the mean lacrimal pH was 7.4536 (SD 0.527). Repeated
      measures ANOVA suggests that pH of different body fluids differ and cannot be
      used interchangeably [F (2.417, 309.361) = 54.89, p < 0.0005]. There was no
      statistically significant correlation between any other pair of assessed body
      fluids. On paired t test only the means of venous pH and urinary pH did not
      differ statistically (p 0.056). Venous pH significantly correlated with urinary
      pH but the strength of correlation was weak (r 0.184; p 0.037). pH of different
      body fluids is statistically different even when sampled simultaneously thus the
      pH of one fluid cannot be substituted for other. Based on this study we cannot
      substitute urinary pH with any other body fluids presently in patients undergoing
      high dose methotrexate and alkalization except in rare circumstances when venous
      pH can be used as a poor surrogate for urinary pH in situations where urinary pH
      cannot be monitored due to any reason. There was no surrogate for oral pH among
      the studied body fluids.

PMID- 28596650
TI  - Role of Plasma Fibrinogen in Diagnosis and Prediction of Short Term Outcome in
      Neonatal Sepsis.
AB  - The study was carried out to determine the role of plasma fibrinogen in diagnosis
      of neonatal sepsis and to evaluate its role in predicting short term outcome.
      Sixty five neonates with clinical features suggestive of neonatal sepsis were
      included in this study. Seventy five neonates served as the control group. Plasma
      fibrinogen, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time and platelet
      counts were performed in all the neonates. Cut-off value of plasma fibrinogen for
      diagnosis of neonatal sepsis was determined with the help of receiver operating
      characteristic curve. Plasma fibrinogen level was found to be significantly
      higher among neonates with sepsis when compared to neonates in control group (p <
      0.0001). It had sensitivity of 70.8 %, specificity of 82.7 %, positive predictive
      value (PPV) of 72.3 % and negative predictive value (NPV) of 81.6 % for diagnosis
      of neonatal sepsis at cut-off value of 301.90 mg/dL. When neonates with septic
      shock and/or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) were excluded from
      study population, sensitivity and NPV rose to 91.9 % and 95.4 % at the same cut
      off value while specificity and PPV remained the same. Lower level of plasma
      fibrinogen was detected in neonates with septic shock and/or DIC (p < 0.0001) and
      in neonates who died (p < 0.0001). Hence plasma fibrinogen can serve as an
      effective tool in diagnostic work up of neonatal sepsis as well as in assessing
      development of complications and outcome.

PMID- 28596651
TI  - Bacteremia During Early Post-allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
      Period: A Single Center Experience.
AB  - Bacteremia is a significant complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT). We aimed to study bacteremia occurring during early post
      transplant period at Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit of Ain Shams University
      regarding its risk factors and impact on survival. Patients performing allogeneic
      HSCT were followed up for occurrence of bacteremia. Survival status was assessed
      at 180 days post-transplant. Bacteremia occurred in 53.3 % of patients. On
      univariate analysis, CD34 +ve cell dose (P = 0.004), duration of neutropenia (P =
      0.018), time interval between day of stem cell infusion and day of neutrophil
      engraftment (P = 0.043) and > 1 apheresis days (P = 0.040) were associated with
      higher rates of bacteremia. On multivariate analysis, CD34 +ve cell dose (P =
      0.002) and apheresis day number (P = 0.038) remained significant. There was
      significant difference between patients who developed bacteremia and those who
      did not regarding overall survival (OS) (P = 0.042). Patients developing
      bacteremia caused by Gram negative bacteria (GNB) had lower OS than Gram positive
      bacteria (GPB) (P < 0.001). In conclusion, stem cell dose and apheresis day
      number influence bacteremia risk. Also, Gram negative bacteremia has negative
      impact on allogeneic transplant recipient survival rates.

PMID- 28596652
TI  - Changing Trends in the Use of Granulocyte Transfusions in Neutropenic Children
      with Sepsis in India.
AB  - We present our data on granulocyte transfusions in children undergoing treatment
      for cancer and HSCT at our centre and their changing indications. In this
      retrospective observational analysis of children who received granulocytes from
      2007 to 2015, we divided children receiving granulocytes into two groups-the
      first from January 2007 till December 2013 and the second from January 2014 till
      December 2015. This division is based on the change in our policy to use
      granulocytes within 48 h of septicemia as the incidence of drug resistant
      bacterial strains had increased at our centre. Data on 72 children with febrile
      neutropenia treated with 230 granulocyte infusions was analyzed. From 2007 to
      2013 (n = 48/72), 27/48 (56 %) had culture proven sepsis of which 14 (51 %) were
      carbapenem resistant gram negative bacilli. 11 of the 27 children survived the
      crisis (41 %). We then changed our policy to transfuse granulocytes early during
      sepsis. From 2014 to 2015 (n = 24/72) 22 patients had culture proven sepsis (91
      %) of which 20 had carbapenem resistant gram negative bacilli. 12/22 (54 %) with
      culture proven sepsis survived the episode. The survival rate improved from 41 %
      in first group to 54 % after early intervention with granulocytes (P value
      0.0347). Despite the increased incidence of resistant bacteria during the period
      of 2014-2015, early use of granulocytes improved survival rate from 41 to 54 %.
      This intervention cannot be taken in isolation and needs to be offered early in
      parallel with appropriate antibiotics.

PMID- 28596653
TI  - Neonatal Outcomes of Pregnancy with Immune Thrombocytopenia.
AB  - Neonates born to mothers with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) have an increased
      risk for neonatal thrombocytopenia and hemorrhagic complications. The aim of this
      study was to determine the maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnancies with ITP
      and also to identify risk factors that predicts neonatal thrombocytopenia. We
      performed a retrospective analysis of 40 pregnancies with ITP and their 40
      neonates. Among the 40 neonates, thrombocytopenia (platelet count of less than
      150 * 109/L) was detected in 15 neonates (37.5 %) whom 8 of them had severe
      thrombocytopenia (platelet count of less than 50 * 109/L). Ten of the 15 neonates
      with thrombocytopenia required treatment to increase the platelet counts. There
      was statistically significant association between neonatal thrombocytopenia and
      maternal splenectomy history and maternal duration of thrombocytopenia. There was
      no statistically significant correlation between maternal platelet count and
      neonatal platelet count. Clinicians should pay special attention in these
      neonates because of risk for development of neonatal thrombocytopenia. Maternal
      and neonatal outcomes in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura is
      generally good.

PMID- 28596654
TI  - Is There a Relationship Between CXCR4 Gene Expression and Prognosis of Immune
      Thrombocytopenia in Children?
AB  - Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a common autoimmune disorder characterized by
      decreased platelet count (thrombocytopenia) and bleeding symptoms due to
      production of autoantibodies against platelets. Chemokines are molecules inducing
      chemotaxis and play an important role in megakaryopoiesis, including CXCR4
      chemokine receptor. CXCR4 is expressed on cells of megakaryocytic series,
      especially platelets, and triggers several mechanisms in these cells. The purpose
      of this study was to evaluate the pattern of CXCR4 gene changes upon diagnosis
      and after treatment and its comparison with laboratory findings in peripheral
      blood samples from newly diagnosed ITP patients. 35 newly diagnosed patients with
      ITP and 35 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. CXCR4 gene expression
      was investigated before and after treatment using real-time PCR. HPRT gene was
      used as the reference gene to calculate the expression rate of CXCR4 as
      CXCR4/HPRT ratio. CXCR4 gene expression upon diagnosis and after treatment in
      peripheral blood plasma of ITP patients showed a significant decrease in
      comparison with the control group while its expression did not change before and
      after treatment. No significant correlation was found between the expression of
      this gene and laboratory parameters. Due to unpredictable course of ITP in
      patients and the possibility of its progress to refractory form, accurate choice
      of a biomarker is essential for evaluating prognosis and detection of resistant
      forms.

PMID- 28596655
TI  - A Correlation of the Platelet Count with D-Dimer Levels as an Indicator for
      Component Therapy in Children with Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever.
AB  - Dengue Fever (DF) may evolve into two life threatening forms-Dengue Hemorrhagic
      Fever (DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). DHF is associated with increased
      vascular permeability and plasma leakage causing thrombocytopenia and loss of
      clotting factors into the third space and may result in bleeding initially due to
      thrombocytopenia and later due to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC),
      often as a terminal event. Prompt recognition and treatment of minor bleeds in DF
      children with incipient DIC with component therapy may be associated with
      improved survival while failure to do so is usually catastrophic. A sensitive
      marker for early DIC is the presence of D-dimer (DD) in the blood. To determine
      the correlation between the severity of thrombocytopenia and early DIC in
      children with DHF. The impact of additional factors like age and shock will also
      be evaluated. Case control prospective study of 60 DHF sero -positive children (1
      15 years) with thrombocytopenia. After clinical evaluation they were divided into
      two equal groups based on the degree of thrombocytopenia (more than/less than
      30,000/mm3). PT/APTT and DD levels were estimated in all children of both groups
      and statistical correlation was done. There was no significant difference in the
      DD levels between the two groups. However, children in either group, presenting
      with clinical features of shock and thrombocytopenia had significantly higher DD
      levels. Empirical component therapy in children with DHF based purely on their
      low platelet counts may not be justified. However, in DHF children with
      thrombocytopenia and features of shock, aggressive component therapy may prevent
      subsequent bleeding and may be justified.

PMID- 28596656
TI  - Assessment of Heart and Liver Iron Overload in Thalassemia Major Patients Using
      T2* Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
AB  - Accumulation of excess iron in heart can lead to cardiac dysfunction, which is
      the most common cause of death in thalassemia major patients. Biopsy is an
      invasive procedure and therefore not an ideal option to assess iron load.
      However, standard/usual non-invasive methods, such as ferritin measurement, have
      some limitations and the results show poor correlations with iron load. Magnetic
      Response Imaging (MRI-T2*), as a non-invasive and reliable method for iron load
      assessment in organs such as liver and heart, can be suggested as a favorable
      alternative. This cross-sectional study was implemented in Thalassemia and
      Hemophilia Clinic Center (Sarvar) affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical
      Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, from 2012 to 2013. After the approval of the research
      protocol by the local ethic committee, laboratory tests, including CBC and serum
      ferritin, were carried out, and echocardiography and heart and liver MRI-T2* were
      performed. All statistical analysis was done through SPSS software (version
      11.5), using independent sample t test and Pearson's correlation coefficient
      test. A P value <=0.05 was considered to be significant. 88 patients with the
      mean (+/-SD) age of 21.2 (+/-5.6) years, (range 11-37 years) were observed. Iron
      load was assessed using MRI-T2* with the following results: Out of 88 patients,
      48.9 % had mild to severe cardiac siderosis, and 75.2 % had mild to severe liver
      siderosis. We demonstrated a correlation between liver MRI-T2* and serum
      ferritin, and heart MRI-T2* and ejection fraction. However, no correlation
      between liver and heart MRI-T2* was observed. Heart and liver siderosis is a
      common and serious problem in thalassemia major patients, and MRI-T2* as a
      sensitive and non-invasive technique can be used for early/timely detection of
      siderosis and good therapeutic monitoring in these patients.

PMID- 28596657
TI  - Increased Level of Factor VIII and Physiological Inhibitors of Coagulation in
      Patients with Sickle Cell Disease.
AB  - Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hemoglobinopathy characterized by hemolysis,
      oxidative stress, and vaso-occlusive crises. Thromboembolism also remains a
      serious complication and probably underestimated in the SCD. Our objective was to
      seek the existence of hemostasis abnormalities that predispose to thrombosis such
      as elevation of FVIII and Physiological inhibitors of coagulation deficiency. We
      studied 81 patients with SCD, including 32 homozygous S/S, 20 double heterozygous
      S/beta thalassemia and 29 heterozygous S/A. Controls AA were in number 60. For
      each patient and control we assayed the physiological coagulation inhibitors
      (Protein C, Protein S and Antithrombin) and the clotting FVIII. We found a
      significant increase in FVIII in all phenotypes of SCD compared to controls.
      Also, a significant decrease in levels of protein C and S was observed in
      patients with sickle cell homozygous or double heterozygous S beta Thalassemia
      compared to controls. As against, for antithrombin no difference was observed
      between patients and controls. These hemostasis abnormalities therefore reflect
      the existence of a pro thrombotic state in sickle cell disease that can explain
      the increase of incidence of thrombosis in this pathology. Factor VIII clotting
      consistently high in SCD may well be a prime therapeutic target in the treatment
      of thrombotic manifestations of this disease.

PMID- 28596658
TI  - Usefulness of Reticulocyte Parameters for Diagnosis of Hereditary Spherocytosis
      in Children.
AB  - Innovations in laboratory equipment have enabled a widening of the spectrum of
      hematological parameters obtained from single measurements of peripheral blood
      samples, including reticulocyte parameters. The usefulness of reticulocytes
      indices to confirm the diagnosis of pediatric anemia was analyzed in this study.
      The study group consisted of 163 children, aged 1 month-17 years, with anemia.
      Complete blood count extended with an analysis of reticulocyte parameters were
      measured using a Beckman Coulter LH 750. The mean sphered corpuscular volume
      (MSCV) in the group of children with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) was 66.71 +/-
      8.45 fL, whereas in other anemic patients MSCV was 87.76 +/- 11.22 fL, p <
      0.0001. In HS children the average mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells was
      higher than the MSCV value, while an inverse correlation was observed in the
      group of children with other anemias, p < 0.0001. A significant difference was
      found between the ratio of absolute reticulocyte count and IRF fraction
      (Ret#/IRF)-0.6 +/- 0.28 in the HS group and 0.23 +/- 0.16 in the non-HS group,
      respectively. Our results suggest that analysis of reticulocyte parameters is
      useful in the diagnosis of anemia and should be included in the routine CBC
      analysis in anemic children.

PMID- 28596660
TI  - Facts and Fallacies of Kidd Antibodies: Experience in a Tertiary Care Hospital in
      North India.
AB  - We have analyzed the method used in our laboratory to detect the most elusive,
      clinically significant alloantibody: the Kidd alloantibodies and find the most
      convenient procedure. A retrospective analysis of the method used in our
      laboratory for determining Kidd alloantibodies from January 2013 to May 2015 was
      conducted. The details of the event that sensitized the patient for red cell
      antibody formation and procedure used to detect the alloantibody were retrieved
      from the departmental records. Of 405 red cell antibody identification cases, 24
      (5.9 %) had Kidd antibody (anti-Jka in 12: 50 % cases; anti-Jkb in 4: 16.7 %
      cases; multiple antibodies in 8: 32 % cases). Thirteen of 24 patients (54.2 %)
      had autocontrol positive of which 6 cases needed adsorption procedures whereas
      antibody/ies could be identified without adsorption procedure in the remaining 7
      cases. All the 7 cases had autocontrol of 1+ strength. Of the 11 patients (45.8
      %) with autocontrol negative, the antibody was identified using solid phase in 7
      cases whereas tube panels were also used in the remaining 4 cases. Kidd
      alloantibodies though deceptive can be identified by sensitive techniques like
      the solid phase and simple but laborious techniques using the tube cell panels.
      Depending upon the reaction strength of the autocontrol, the routine
      autoadsorption process may be skipped and tube cell enzyme treated cells or solid
      phase techniques be used to get the results.

PMID- 28596659
TI  - Patterns of Adverse Transfusion Reactions in a Tertiary Care Centre of North
      India: A Step Towards Hemovigilance.
AB  - Transfusion of blood and blood products is a double edged sword, so it should be
      used judiciously. The primary aim of the centralized Haemovigilance Program is to
      improve transfusion safety. To determine the incidence of adverse transfusion
      reactions (ATRs) in recipients of blood and blood components. Prospective study
      from January 2014 till April 2015 was done. ATRs reported to the Department of
      Transfusion Medicine were recorded and analyzed on the basis of their clinical
      features and lab tests. During the study period 25,099 units of blood and blood
      components were transfused and 100 ATRs (0.40 %) were reported. The incidence of
      febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTR) was maximum (73 %) followed by
      allergic reactions (24 %), bacterial sepsis (1 %), hypotension due to ACE
      inhibitors (1 %) and acute hemolytic transfusion reaction (AHTR) (1 %). Of all
      the reported ATRs, 76 % occurred with packed red cells, 15 % occurred with whole
      blood, while platelets and Fresh Frozen Plasma transfusions were responsible for
      8 % and 1 %, respectively. The majority of the reactions were FNHTRs followed by
      allergic reactions. Reporting of all adverse events and continuous medical
      education to medical and paramedical staff will help in strengthening
      hemovigilance system.

PMID- 28596661
TI  - What is it really? Anti-G or Anti-D plus Anti-C: Clinical Significance in
      Antenatal Mothers.
AB  - G antigen of Rh blood group system is present either along with D and/or C
      positive red cells. Hence, [serologically anti-G presents with the similar
      picture as that of multiple antibodies (anti-D + anti-C). Differentiating them is
      important as anti-D + anti-C causes severe hemolytic disease of the fetus and
      newborn than anti-G. In pregnancies with anti-G alone, alloimmunization due to D
      antigen could be prevented by prophylactic administration of RhIg.
      Differentiating between anti-D + C from anti-G in alloimmunized pregnant mothers
      becomes essential. Sera from antenatal mothers, whose antibody identification by
      11-cell panel gave a pattern for anti-D and anti-C were selected. Extended
      phenotyping for Rh system was performed for these antenatal cases. Differential
      adsorption and elution testing using R2R2 cells initially and r'r cells
      subsequently were performed to distinguish anit-G from anti-D + anti-C. Antibody
      titers of these antibodies were determined and their clinical outcome in the
      newborn was followed. A pattern suggestive of anti D and anti C on antibody
      identification were observed in six antenatal cases. On further workup 50 % of
      them confirmed to have anti G. Antibody titers of anti-G and anti-C were lower
      than that of Anti-D. All newborns were sensitized in vivo and the antibody
      specificity in them were confirmed with elution studies. The mothers who had only
      anti-G were subsequently administered with an appropriate dose of
      RhIg.Differential adsorption and elution studies help in identifying anti-G and
      distinguishing it from anti-D plus anti-C, thus helping in better patient
      management.

PMID- 28596663
TI  - Novel e8a2 BCR/ABL Fusion Transcript in Case of a Myeloproliferative Neoplasm.
AB  - Main objective of this work was to confirm the occurrence of rare BCR-ABL fusion
      variant involving the a2 region of the ABL gene and e8 of BCR gene in a patient
      of Myeloproliferative neoplasm positive for t(9;22) translocation but negative
      for common major and minor breakpoint cluster regions. A patient with elevated
      white blood cell count was subjected to classical cytogenetics, FISH as well as
      RT-PCR testing using commercial kits as well as published primers and in house
      testing protocol. The translocation event in chromosome 9 and 22 could be
      successfully detected. BCR/ABL dual color, dual fusion probe generated a
      classical balanced translocation scenario within the nucleus. In RT-PCR we found
      an unexpectedly large amplification band around 1700 bp, which is consistent with
      e8a2 transcript. Nine metaphases showed 46,XY,t(9;22)(q34;q11.2)[9] by
      cytogenetic. A rare e8a2 break point in the BCR-ABL gene in myeloproliferative
      neoplasm disease detected in India. It also emphasizes the utility of cytogenetic
      and FISH for primary diagnosis of any neoplasm in blood. Our Patient detected
      rare BCR-ABL fusion variant e8a2 was on imatinib 400 mg since last 3 months.
      After 3 months fluorescent in situ analysis and reverse transcriptase pcr
      analysis showed negative results.

PMID- 28596662
TI  - Rh and Kell Phenotype Matched Blood Versus Randomly Selected and Conventionally
      Cross Matched Blood on Incidence of Alloimmunization.
AB  - There is paucity of literature regarding efficacy of transfusion of Rh and Kell
      matched blood in reducing alloimmunization risk among non-chronically transfused
      patients. A prospective study to compare efficacy of Rh and Kell phenotype
      matched blood over randomly selected and conventionally cross-matched blood on
      the incidence of alloimmunization in patients undergoing cardiac surgery was
      carried out in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at Indraprastha Apollo
      Hospitals, New Delhi, from 1st September, 2013 to 31st December, 2014. Two
      groups, A and B of 250 each were studied. Group A received ABO, Rh and Kell
      phenotype matched units. Group B received units matched only for ABO and Rh D.
      Retrospective analysis for antigenic exposures was done. Alloimmunization rate
      was evaluated for both groups after 72 h and 4 weeks and compared. A p value
      <=0.05 was considered statistically significant. None of the patients in Group A
      were alloimmunized. In Group B, 119 patients received antigenic stimulus (single
      antigen stimuli- 93; multiple- 26). The probability of a patient being exposed
      was 52.4 %. At 6 weeks post transfusion, one patient developed 'Anti-E' and had
      received 'E' stimulus once. The rate of alloimmunization was 0.4 % in group B,
      0.8 % overall and the risk of alloimmunization per unit transfused was 0.17 %.
      Non responders were 99.16 %. The study did not reach statistical significance (p
      = 0.238). Majority of our population are non-responders therefore, the resources
      and time can be reserved for providing Rh and Kell matched units for multiply
      transfused patients.

PMID- 28596664
TI  - Bullous Pyoderma Gangrenosum Associated with Hairy Cell Leukemia and Its Complete
      Response to Cladribine Therapy.
AB  - Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare neutrophilic dermatosis seen in association
      with systemic disorders including hematologic malignancies. Hairy cell leukemia
      (HCL) however, is an unusual association of PG. We describe a 49-year old lady
      who presented to our hematology clinic with easy fatiguability and ulcerative
      skin lesions of 6 months duration. Examination revealed pallor and massive
      splenomegaly. Indurated, ulcerated lesion with undermined edges and necrotic base
      was observed on left thigh. Investigations revealed pancytopenia and bone marrow
      examination identified typical hairy cells. Flow cytometry of marrow aspirate was
      suggestive of classical HCL. BRAF V600E mutation was detected in peripheral blood
      by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Skin biopsy revealed
      neutrophilic dermatosis and findings classical of bullous PG. Cladribine therapy
      (0.09 mg/kg/day by continuous intravenous infusion for 7 days) led to remission
      of both HCL and PG after a duration of 4 weeks. Cladribine monotherapy in a case
      of PG with HCL may avoid the additional immunosuppresion risk imposed by treating
      PG separately with corticosteroids. Immunosuppressive role of cladribine might be
      helpful in treating PG concurrent with HCL.

PMID- 28596665
TI  - Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) of the Tonsil in Adult Patient: An Uncommon
      Disease at an Uncommon Site.
AB  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease characterized by clonal
      neoplastic proliferation of normal antigen presenting cell (APC), the Langerhans
      cell. Most cases occur in childhood and the disease is rare in adults. LCH can
      involve solitary organ or can present as a multi-system disease in children. In
      adults, isolated pulmonary LCH is the commonest presentation. Tonsillar
      infiltration as a sole manifestation is extremely rare. We herewith report a case
      with isolated tonsillar involvement by LCH in an adult patient.

PMID- 28596666
TI  - Enoxaparin Induced Skin Lesions in Pregnancy: A Rare But Clinically Recognizable
      Association.
AB  - We report the case of a 29 year old pregnant female who experienced itching with
      erythematous plaques on prophylactic enoxaparin for recurrent fetal losses. These
      lesions generalized on rechallenge but erythema and itching gradually resolved
      after 4 weeks of discontinuation. Cutaneous adverse events with heparin have been
      reported (Villanueva et al. in Actas Dermosifiliogr 103:816-819, 2012; Neloska et
      al. in Acta Dermatovenerol Croat 23:223-224, 2015; Maldonado et al. in Clin Exp
      Dermatol 37:707-711, 2012; Schindewolf et al. in Lancet 380:1867-1879, 2012;
      Tassava and Warkentin in Am J Hematol 90:747-750, 2015), some specifically with
      enoxaparin (Villanueva et al. 2012; Neloska et al. 2015).

PMID- 28596667
TI  - Air Bubbles Produced During Rapid Blood Warming with Inline Blood Warmer Leading
      to Panic of Air Embolism.

PMID- 28596668
TI  - Venous Thrombosis in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

PMID- 28596669
TI  - Horner's Syndrome in a Case of Granulocytic Sarcoma.

PMID- 28596670
TI  - Growth Factor Variation in Two Types of Autologous Platelet Biomaterials: PRP
      Versus PRF.
AB  - Autologous platelet biomaterials represent a key source of cytokines and growth
      factors extensively used for clinical and surgical applications involving tissue
      regeneration; wound healing and tissue repair. In this communication we discuss
      the growth factors released by activated platelet rich plasma (PRP) and platelet
      rich fibrin (PRF) releasate. Our study highlights that significantly higher
      growth factors (TGF-beta1) are released by activated PRP as compared to releasate
      of PRF. The various growth factors released by both platelet products are
      significantly higher than the baseline concentration in the whole blood and have
      different bio-mechanism hence should be individualized as per the clinical
      indication.

PMID- 28596671
TI  - Autologous Blood Transfusion as a Life Saving Measure for a Trauma Patient with
      Fracture Femur and Drug Induced Hemolytic Anemia: A Case Report.
AB  - A positive direct antiglobulin test has been reported in 1:1000 to 1:14,000 blood
      donors and 1-15 % of hospital patients. Drugs may cause a positive direct
      antiglobulin test result and/or immune-mediated haemolysis with an incidence of
      approximately 1 in a 1 million population. Our aim is to highlight the importance
      of following strict transfusion protocols and management insight in a direct
      antiglobulin test positive patient showing incompatibility with multiple units
      possibly due to drug induced immune haemolytic anaemia (DIIHA). We also aim to
      highlight importance of autologous blood transfusion in an orthopaedic procedure
      in which homologous transfusion may be needed. We are presenting case of a 36
      year old male with alleged h/o of road traffic accident with comminuted intra
      articular fracture of the distal femur. He had h/o of ankylosing spondylitis
      since last 20 years on medication with indomethacin and methotrexate. A review of
      the literature was performed which showed use of drug methotrexate as an uncommon
      clinical entity for DIIHA; sporadic reports exist in the medical literature to
      support this view. The review of the literature in combination with our own data
      showed methotrexate can be a cause of DIIHA. We therefore advocate proper
      immunohaematological work up and use of autologous blood for management of at
      risk-patients of DIIHA.

PMID- 28596672
TI  - Clinically Significant IgM Anti-Cw: A Rare Report.

PMID- 28596673
TI  - Power Spectral Density Analysis of Electrocorticogram Recordings during Cerebral
      Hypothermia in Neonatal Seizures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal seizures (NS) are the most common form of neurological
      dysfunction observed in newborns. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study in newborn
      piglets was to determine the effect of cerebral hypothermia (CH) on neural
      activity during pharmacologically induced NS. We hypothesized that the
      neuroprotective effects of CH would preserve higher frequencies observed in
      electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings. METHODS: Power spectral density was
      employed to determine the levels of brain activity in ECoGs to quantitatively
      assess the power of each frequency observed in neurological brain states of
      delta, theta, alpha, and beta-gamma frequencies. RESULT: The most significant
      reduction of power occurs in the lower frequency band of delta-theta-alpha of CH
      cohorts, while t score probabilities imply that high-frequency brain activity in
      the beta-gamma range is preserved in the CH population. CONCLUSION: While the
      overall power density decreases over time in both groups, the decrease is to a
      lesser degree in the CH population.

PMID- 28596675
TI  - Cautiously using natural medicine to treat liver problems.
AB  - Natural medicine is a system of therapy that administrates natural agents and
      their derivatives to treat human diseases. This medicine has been used to treat
      many kinds of human diseases for thousands of years. The treatment protocols of
      natural medicine are integrative in nature, and are required to utilize the most
      appropriate therapies to address the needs of the individual patient. Because of
      the relative convenience, safety and efficacy, natural medicine is now increasing
      worldwide. Naturopathic doctors are licensed in many areas of the world and
      regulated partly by law in these areas, which is quite different from various
      other forms of complementary and alternative medicine. Liver diseases, such as
      hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and liver carcinoma, are serious health problems
      worldwide. Nearly half of the natural agents used in treatment of liver diseases
      today are natural products and their derivatives. Although natural medicine is
      beneficial and safe, physicians should pay close attention to the potential side
      effects of the naturopathic agents, which lead to liver injury, interstitial
      pneumonia and acute respiratory failure. Therefore, when administrating
      naturopathic protocols to patients for the treatment of liver diseases, we should
      try our best to prevent and avoid as much as possible the negative impact of
      these medicines. This article highlights the current practice and recommended
      improvement of natural medicines in the treatment of liver diseases and gives
      some specific examples to emphasize the prevention and management of adverse
      reactions of the natural agents and suggests that natural medicine should be
      cautiously used to treat liver problems.

PMID- 28596674
TI  - Follow-up after curative resection for gastric cancer: Is it time to tailor it?
AB  - There is still no consensus on the follow-up frequency and regimen after curative
      resection for gastric cancer. Moreover, controversy exists regarding the utility
      of follow-up in improving survival, and the recommendations of experts and
      societies vary considerably. The main reason to establish surveillance programs
      is to diagnose tumor recurrence or metachronous cancers early and to thereby
      provide prompt treatment and prolong survival. In the setting of gastric
      malignancies, other reasons have been put forth: (1) the detection of adverse
      effects of a previous surgery, such as malnutrition or digestive sequelae; (2)
      the collection of data; and (3) the identification of psychological and/or social
      problems and provision of appropriate support to the patients. No randomized
      controlled trials on the role of follow-up after curative resection of gastric
      carcinoma have been published. Herein, the primary retrospective series and
      systematic reviews on this subject are analyzed and discussed. Furthermore, the
      guidelines from international and national scientific societies are discussed.
      Follow-up is recommended by the majority of institutions; however, there is no
      real evidence that follow-up can improve long-term survival rates. Several
      studies have demonstrated that it is possible to stratify patients submitted to
      curative gastrectomy into different classes according to the risk of recurrence.
      Furthermore, promising studies have identified several molecular markers that are
      related to the risk of relapse and to prognosis. Based on these premises, a
      promising strategy will be to tailor follow-up in relation to the patient and
      tumor characteristics, molecular marker status, and individual risk of
      recurrence.

PMID- 28596676
TI  - Renin angiotensin system in liver diseases: Friend or foe?
AB  - In the last three decades, the understanding of the renin angiotensin system
      (RAS) has been changed by the discoveries of functional local systems, novel
      biologically active peptides, additional specific receptors, alternative pathways
      of angiotensin (Ang) II generation, and new roles for enzymes and precursor
      components other than those in Ang II synthesis. In this regard, the discovery
      that Ang-(1-7) opposes the pressor, proliferative, pro-fibrotic, and pro
      inflammatory effects mediated by Ang II has contributed to the realization that
      the RAS is composed of two axes. The first axis consists of the angiotensin
      converting enzyme (ACE), with Ang II as the end product, and the angiotensin type
      1 (AT1) receptor as the main effector mediating the biological actions of Ang II.
      The second axis results from ACE2-mediated hydrolysis of Ang II, leading to the
      production of Ang-(1-7), with the Mas receptor as the main effector conveying the
      vasodilatory, anti-proliferative, anti-fibrotic, and anti-inflammatory effects of
      Ang-(1-7). Experimental and clinical studies have shown that both axes of the RAS
      may take part in the pathogenesis of liver diseases. In this manuscript, we
      summarize the current evidence regarding the role of RAS in hepatic cirrhosis and
      its complications, including hemodynamic changes and hepatorenal syndrome. The
      therapeutic potential of the modulation of RAS molecules in liver diseases is
      also discussed.

PMID- 28596679
TI  - Oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in a normal colon epithelial
      cell line.
AB  - AIM: To determine how a normal human colon cell line reacts to microbial
      challenge as a way to study oxidative stress-induced responses associated with
      inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: Normal human colon epithelial cells (ATCC(r)
      CRL.1790TM) were stimulated with either heat killed E. coli or heat killed murine
      cecal contents (HKC) and examined for several relevant biomarkers associated with
      inflammation and oxidative stress including cytokine production, mitochondrial
      autophagy and oxidant status. TNFalpha, IL-1beta and IL-8 protein concentrations
      were measured within the supernatants. Fluorescent microscopy was performed to
      quantify the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) using an oxidation
      responsive fluorogenic probe. Mitochondrial morphology and mitochondrial membrane
      potential was assessed by dual staining using COXIV antibody and a dye
      concentrating in active mitochondria. Mitochondrial ROS scavenger was used to
      determine the source of ROS in stimulated cells. Autophagy was detected by
      staining for the presence of autophagic vesicles. Positive controls for autophagy
      and ROS/RNS experiments were treated with rapamycin and chloroquine.
      Mitochondrial morphology, ROS production and autophagy microscopy experiments
      were analyzed using a custom acquisition and analysis microscopy software
      (ImageJ). RESULTS: Exposing CRL.1790 cells to microbial challenge stimulated
      cells to produce several relevant biomarkers associated with inflammation and
      oxidative stress. Heat killed cecal contents treatment induced a 10-12 fold
      increase in IL-8 production by CRL.1790 cells compared to unstimulated controls
      at 6 and 12 h (P < 0.001). Heat killed E. coli stimulation resulted in a 4-5 fold
      increase in IL-8 compared to the unstimulated control cells at each time point (P
      < 0.001). Both heat killed E. coli and HKC stimulated robust ROS production at 6
      (P < 0.001), and 12 h (P < 0.01). Mitochondrial morphologic abnormalities were
      detected at 6 and 12 h based on reduced mitochondrial circularity and decreased
      mitochondrial membrane potential, P < 0.01. Microbial stimulation also induced
      significant autophagy at 6 and 12 h, P < 0.01. Lastly, blocking mitochondrial ROS
      generation using mitochondrial specific ROS scavenger reversed microbial
      challenge induced mitochondrial morphologic abnormalities and autophagy.
      CONCLUSION: The findings from this study suggest that CRL.1790 cells may be a
      useful alternative to other colon cancer cell lines in studying the mechanisms of
      oxidative stress events associated with intestinal inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 28596677
TI  - Relationship between adipose tissue dysfunction, vitamin D deficiency and the
      pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver
      disease worldwide. Its pathogenesis is complex and not yet fully understood. Over
      the years many studies have proposed various pathophysiological hypotheses, among
      which the currently most widely accepted is the "multiple parallel hits" theory.
      According to this model, lipid accumulation in the hepatocytes and insulin
      resistance increase the vulnerability of the liver to many factors that act in a
      coordinated and cooperative manner to promote hepatic injury, inflammation and
      fibrosis. Among these factors, adipose tissue dysfunction and subsequent chronic
      low grade inflammation play a crucial role. Recent studies have shown that
      vitamin D exerts an immune-regulating action on adipose tissue, and the growing
      wealth of epidemiological data is demonstrating that hypovitaminosis D is
      associated with both obesity and NAFLD. Furthermore, given the strong association
      between these conditions, current findings suggest that vitamin D may be involved
      in the relationship between adipose tissue dysfunction and NAFLD. The purpose of
      this review is to provide an overview of recent advances in the pathogenesis of
      NAFLD in relation to adipose tissue dysfunction, and in the pathophysiology
      linking vitamin D deficiency with NAFLD and adiposity, together with an overview
      of the evidence available on the clinical utility of vitamin D supplementation in
      cases of NAFLD.

PMID- 28596680
TI  - Role of AXL in invasion and drug resistance of colon and breast cancer cells and
      its association with p53 alterations.
AB  - AIM: To characterize AXL receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL) expression in
      relationship to tumor protein P53 (TP53 gene, p53 protein) and its role in tumor
      invasion and response to therapy. METHODS: We used 14 cell lines, including 3
      isogenic pairs carrying mutant/knockout p53, to gain insight into the
      relationship between AXL and TP53. These included HCT116, HCT116.p53 mutant, RKO,
      and RKO.p53-/- lines (all from colon cancers) as well as breast cancer cell lines
      MCF7 and 1001 (MCF7-p53 mutant clone). HeLa cell line was used as a positive
      control for epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). AXL expression was
      determined by Western blotting using rabbit monoclonal antibody clone C89E7. AXL
      siRNA silencing was performed and followed by collagen invasion assay. Cell
      viability analysis using the sulforhodamine B assay and the invasion assay were
      performed after exposure to chemotherapeutic agents (doxorubicin for breast
      cancer cells; 5FU or irinotecan for colon cancer cells). RESULTS: We showed that
      the introduction of p53 mutations or knockout increased expression levels of AXL
      in isogenic cells compared to the matching p53 wild-type parental cells. Overall,
      we found a trend for correlation between the potential EMT candidate AXL, p53
      alterations, and EMT markers in colorectal and breast cancers. The expression of
      AXL in RKO cells, a rare colon cancer cell line with inactive Wnt signaling,
      suggests that the AXL oncogene might provide an alternative genetic pathway for
      colorectal carcinogenesis in the absence of Wnt signaling activation and TP53
      mutation. AXL silencing in the TP53 mutant isogenic cell lines 1001, HCT116.p53
      mutant and RKO.P53-/- was > 95% efficient and the silenced cells were less
      invasive compared to the parental TP53 wild-type cells. AXL silencing showed a
      subtle trend to restore colon cancer cell sensitivity to 5FU or irinotecan.
      Importantly, AXL expressing cells developed more invasive potential after
      exposure to chemotherapy compared to the AXL-silenced cells. CONCLUSION: AXL is
      influenced by p53 status and could cause the emergence of aggressive clones after
      exposure to chemotherapy. These findings could have applications in cancer
      management.

PMID- 28596678
TI  - Recent advances in the management of pruritus in chronic liver diseases.
AB  - Pruritus is a symptom found in patients with chronic liver diseases, especially
      cholestatic liver diseases such as primary biliary cholangitis. This symptom
      impairs patient quality of life by disturbing sleep and may lead to consideration
      of liver transplantation. Mechanisms implicated in pruritus have been associated
      with the peripheral and central nervous systems, leading to the development of
      various therapeutic options. Little evidence for the efficacy of most of these
      treatments is currently available, indicating a need for further investigations.

PMID- 28596681
TI  - Effects of heme oxygenase-1-modified bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on
      microcirculation and energy metabolism following liver transplantation.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the effects of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)-modified bone marrow
      mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) on the microcirculation and energy metabolism of
      hepatic sinusoids following reduced-size liver transplantation (RLT) in a rat
      model. METHODS: BMMSCs were isolated and cultured in vitro using an adherent
      method, and then transduced with HO-1-bearing recombinant adenovirus to construct
      HO-1/BMMSCs. A rat acute rejection model following 50% RLT was established using
      a two-cuff technique. Recipients were divided into three groups based on the
      treatment received: normal saline (NS), BMMSCs and HO-1/BMMSCs. Liver function
      was examined at six time points. The levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1), endothelial
      nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS), inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS), nitric
      oxide (NO), and hyaluronic acid (HA) were detected using an enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. The portal vein pressure (PVP) was detected by Power Lab
      ML880. The expressions of ET-1, iNOS, eNOS, and von Willebrand factor (vWF)
      protein in the transplanted liver were detected using immunohistochemistry and
      Western blotting. ATPase in the transplanted liver was detected by chemical
      colorimetry, and the ultrastructural changes were observed under a transmission
      electron microscope. RESULTS: HO-1/BMMSCs could alleviate the pathological
      changes and rejection activity index of the transplanted liver, and improve the
      liver function of rats following 50% RLT, with statistically significant
      differences compared with those of the NS group and BMMSCs group (P < 0.05). In
      term of the microcirculation of hepatic sinusoids: The PVP on POD7 decreased
      significantly in the HO-1/BMMSCs and BMMSCs groups compared with that of the NS
      group (P < 0.01); HO-1/BMMSCs could inhibit the expressions of ET-1 and iNOS,
      increase the expressions of eNOS and inhibit amounts of NO production, and
      maintain the equilibrium of ET-1/NO (P < 0.05); and HO-1/BMMSCs increased the
      expression of vWF in hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs), and promoted
      the degradation of HA, compared with those of the NS group and BMMSCs group (P <
      0.05). In term of the energy metabolism of the transplanted liver, HO-1/BMMSCs
      repaired the damaged mitochondria, and improved the activity of mitochondrial
      aspartate aminotransferase (ASTm) and ATPase, compared with the other two groups
      (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: HO-1/BMMSCs can improve the microcirculation of hepatic
      sinusoids significantly, and recover the energy metabolism of damaged hepatocytes
      in rats following RLT, thus protecting the transplanted liver.

PMID- 28596682
TI  - Diabetes recurrence after metabolic surgeries correlates with re-impaired insulin
      sensitivity rather than beta-cell function.
AB  - AIM: To investigate factors causing diabetes recurrence after sleeve gastrectomy
      (SG) and duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB). METHODS: SG and DJB were performed on
      rats with diabetes induced by high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ). HFD
      was used to induce diabetes recurrence at 4 wk postoperatively. Body weight, oral
      glucose tolerance test, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA
      IR), insulin signaling [IR, insulin receptor substrate (IRS)1, IRS2,
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and AKT in liver and skeletal muscle], oral glucose
      stimulated insulin secretion, beta-cell morphology (mass, apoptosis and insulin
      secretion), glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1, PYY and ghrelin were compared among SG
      rats with common low-fat diet (SG-LFD), SG with HFD (SG-HFD), DJB rats with LFD
      (DJB-LFD), DJB with HFD (DJB-HFD) and sham-operation with LFD (Sham) at targeted
      postoperative times. RESULTS: SG and DJB resulted in significant improvement in
      glucose tolerance, lower HOMA-IR, up-regulated hepatic and muscular insulin
      signaling, higher levels of oral glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, bigger
      beta-cell mass, higher immunofluorescence intensity of insulin, fewer transferase
      mediated dUTP-biotin 3' nick end-labeling (TUNEL)-positive beta cells and higher
      postprandial GLP-1 and PYY levels than in the Sham group. The improvement in
      glucose tolerance was reversed at 12 wk postoperatively. Compared with the SG-LFD
      and DJB-LFD groups, the SG-HFD and DJB-HFD groups showed higher HOMA-IR, down
      regulated hepatic and muscular insulin signaling, and more TUNEL-positive beta
      cells. No significant difference was detected between HFD and LFD groups for body
      weight, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, beta-cell mass, immunofluorescence
      intensity of insulin, and postprandial GLP-1 and PYY levels. Fasting serum
      ghrelin decreased in SG groups, and there was no difference between HFD-SG and
      LFD-SG groups. CONCLUSION: HFD reverses the improvement in glucose homeostasis
      after SG and DJB. Diabetes recurrence may correlate with re-impaired insulin
      sensitivity, but not with alterations of beta-cell function and body weight.

PMID- 28596683
TI  - Polymorphisms of microRNA target genes IL12B, INSR, CCND1 and IL10 in gastric
      cancer.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate associations between miRNA target genes IL12B, INSR, CCND1 and
      IL10 polymorphisms and gastric cancer (GC) in European population. METHODS: Gene
      polymorphisms were analyzed in 508 controls and 474 GC patients from 3 tertiary
      centers in Germany, Lithuania and Latvia. Controls were patients from the out
      patient departments, who were referred for upper endoscopy because of dyspeptic
      symptoms and had no history of previous malignancy. Gastric cancer (GC) patients
      had histopathological verification of gastric adenocarcinoma. Genomic DNA was
      extracted using salting out method from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. IL12B
      T>G (rs1368439), INSR T>C (rs1051690), CCND1 A>C (rs7177) and IL10 T>C
      (rs3024498) SNPs were genotyped by the real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      Associations between gene polymorphism and GC were evaluated using multiple
      logistic regression analysis with adjustment for sex, age and country of birth.
      RESULTS: We observed similar distribution of genotypes and allelic frequencies of
      all polymorphisms between GC patients and controls except of INSR rs1051690. The
      frequency of the T allele of INSR gene was significantly higher in GC patients
      than in controls (23.26% and 19.19% respectively, P = 0.028). CT genotype was
      also more prevalent in patients compared to control group (38.48% and 30.12%
      respectively, P < 0.021). Logistic regression analysis revealed that only one
      polymorphism (rs1051690 in INSR gene) was associated with increased risk of GC.
      Carriers of CT genotype had higher odds of GC when compared to CC genotype (OR =
      1.45, 95%PI: 1.08-1.95, P = 0.01). Similar association was observed in a dominant
      model for INSR gene, where comparison of TT+CT vs CC genotypes showed an
      increased risk of GC (OR = 1.44, 95%PI: 1.08-1.90, P = 0.01). Other analyzed SNPs
      were not associated with the presence of GC. CONCLUSION: INSR rs1051690 SNP is
      associated with increased risk of GC, while polymorphisms in IL12B, CCND1 and
      IL10 genes are not linked with the presence of GC.

PMID- 28596684
TI  - Insulin-like growth factor-1, IGF binding protein-3, and the risk of esophageal
      cancer in a nested case-control study.
AB  - AIM: To assess the relationship between serum levels of insulin-like growth
      factor-1 (IGF1)/IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) and the risk of esophageal
      carcinoma. METHODS: We assessed the relationship between the serum levels of
      these molecules and the risk of esophageal cancer in a prospective, nested case
      control study of participants from the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study. A
      baseline survey was conducted from 1988 to 1990. Of the 110585 enrolled
      participants, 35% donated blood samples. Those who had been diagnosed with
      esophageal cancer were considered cases for nested case-control studies. A
      conditional logistic model was used to estimate odds ratios for the incidence of
      esophageal cancer associated with serum IGF1 and IGFBP3 levels. RESULTS: Thirty
      one cases and 86 controls were eligible for the present assessment. The molar
      ratio of IGF1/IGFBP3, which represents the free and active form of IGF1, was not
      correlated with the risk of esophageal carcinoma. A higher molar difference
      between IGFBP3 and IGF1, which estimates the free form of IGFBP3, was associated
      with a decreased risk of esophageal carcinoma (P = 0.0146), and people in the
      highest tertile had the lowest risk (OR = 0.107, 95%CI: 0.017-0.669). After
      adjustment for body mass index, tobacco use, and alcohol intake, the molar
      difference of IGFBP3-IGF1 was inversely correlated with the risk of esophageal
      carcinoma (P = 0.0150). CONCLUSION: The free form of IGFBP3, which is estimated
      by this molar difference, may be inversely associated with esophageal cancer
      incidence.

PMID- 28596685
TI  - Tumor-associated autoantibodies are useful biomarkers in immunodiagnosis of alpha
      fetoprotein-negative hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To determine the prevalence and diagnostic value of autoantibodies in alpha
      fetoprotein (AFP)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Fifty-six
      serum samples from AFP-negative HCC cases, 86 from AFP-positive HCC cases, 168
      from chronic liver disease cases, and 59 from normal human controls were included
      in this study. Autoantibodies to nucleophosmin (NPM)1, 14-3-3zeta and mouse
      double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) proteins in AFP-negative HCC serum were evaluated
      by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Partially positive sera were further
      evaluated by western blotting. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the
      expression of three tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) in AFP-negative HCC and
      normal control tissues. RESULTS: The frequency of autoantibodies to the three
      TAAs in AFP-negative HCC sera was 21.4%, 19.6% and 19.6%, which was significantly
      higher than in the chronic liver disease cases and normal human controls (P <
      0.01) as well as AFP-positive HCC cases. The sensitivity of the three
      autoantibodies for diagnosis of AFP-negative HCC ranged from 19.6% to 21.4%, and
      the specificity was approximately 95%. When the three autoantibodies were
      combined, the sensitivity reached 30.4% and the specificity reached 91.6%.
      CONCLUSION: Autoantibodies to NPM1, 14-3-3zeta and MDM2 may be useful biomarkers
      for immunodiagnosis of AFP-negative HCC.

PMID- 28596687
TI  - Relationship between use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and irritable
      bowel syndrome: A population-based cohort study.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the relationship between selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibitor (SSRI) use and the subsequent development of irritable bowel syndrome
      (IBS). METHODS: This retrospective, observational, population-based cohort study
      collected data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. A total
      of 19653 patients newly using SSRIs and 78612 patients not using SSRIs, matched
      by age and sex at a ratio of 1:4, were enrolled in the study from January 1, 2000
      to December 31, 2010. The patients were followed until IBS diagnosis, withdrawal
      from the National Health Insurance system, or the end of 2011. We analyzed the
      effects of SSRIs on the risk of subsequent IBS using Cox proportional hazards
      regression models. RESULTS: A total of 236 patients in the SSRI cohort
      (incidence, 2.17/1000 person-years) and 478 patients in the comparison cohort
      (incidence, 1.04/1000 person-years) received a new diagnosis of IBS. The mean
      follow-up period from SSRI exposure to IBS diagnosis was 2.05 years. The
      incidence of IBS increased with advancing age. Patients with anxiety disorders
      had a significantly increased adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of IBS (aHR = 1.33,
      95%CI: 1.11-1.59, P = 0.002). After adjusting for sex, age, urbanization, family
      income, area of residence, occupation, the use of anti-psychotics and other
      comorbidities, the overall aHR in the SSRI cohort compared with that in the
      comparison cohort was 1.74 (95%CI: 1.44-2.10; P < 0.001). The cumulative
      incidence of IBS was higher in the SSRI cohort than in the non-SSRI cohort (log
      rank test, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: SSRI users show an increased risk of
      subsequent diagnosis of IBS in Taiwan.

PMID- 28596686
TI  - Clinical course of ulcerative colitis patients who develop acute pancreatitis.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the clinical course of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients who
      develop acute pancreatitis. METHODS: We analyzed 3307 UC patients from the
      inflammatory bowel disease registry at Asan Medical Center from June 1989 to May
      2015. The clinical course of UC patients who developed acute pancreatitis was
      compared with that of non-pancreatitis UC patients. RESULTS: Among 51 patients
      who developed acute pancreatitis, 13 (0.40%) had autoimmune, 10 (0.30%) had
      aminosalicylate-induced, and 13 (1.73%) had thiopurine-induced pancreatitis. All
      13 patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) had type 2 AIP. Two (15.4%)
      patients had pre-existing AIP, and three (23.1%) patients developed AIP and UC
      simultaneously. Compared to non-pancreatitis patients, AIP patients had UC
      diagnosed at a significantly younger age (median, 22.9 years vs 36.4 years; P =
      0.001). AIP and aminosalicylate-induced pancreatitis patients had more extensive
      UC compared to non-pancreatitis patients. All patients with pancreatitis
      recovered uneventfully, and there were no recurrences. Biologics were used more
      frequently in aminosalicylate- and thiopurine-induced pancreatitis patients
      compared to non-pancreatitis patients [adjusted OR (95%CI), 5.16 (1.42-18.67) and
      6.90 (1.83-25.98), respectively]. Biologic utilization rate was similar among AIP
      and non-pancreatitis patients [OR (95%CI), 0.84 (0.11-6.66)]. Colectomy rates for
      autoimmune, aminosalicylate-induced, and thiopurine-induced pancreatitis, and for
      non-pancreatitis patients were 15.4% (2/13), 20% (2/10), 15.4% (2/13), and 7.3%
      (239/3256), respectively; the rates were not significantly different after
      adjusting for baseline disease extent. CONCLUSION: Pancreatitis patients show a
      non-significant increase in colectomy, after adjusting for baseline disease
      extent.

PMID- 28596688
TI  - Laparoscopic management of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors: A
      retrospective 10-year single-center experience.
AB  - AIM: To determine the feasibility, safety, and oncological outcome of
      laparoscopic resection of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) based
      on favorable or unfavorable location. METHODS: Our hospital database included 207
      patients who underwent laparoscopic removal of gastric GISTs from January 2004 to
      September 2015. Patient demographics, clinical presentation, surgery,
      histopathology, postoperative course, and oncological outcomes were reviewed and
      analyzed. RESULTS: Gastric GIST in favorable locations was present in 81/207
      (39.1%) cases, and in unfavorable locations in 126/207 (60.9%) cases. Overall
      mean tumor size was 3.28 +/- 1.82 cm. No conversions occurred, and complete R0
      resection was achieved in 207 (100%) cases. There were three incidences of
      iatrogenic tumor rupture. The feasibility and safety of laparoscopic surgery were
      comparable in both groups with no statistical difference between unfavorable and
      favorable location groups, respectively: for operative time: 83.86 +/- 44.41 vs
      80.77 +/- 36.46 min, P = 0.627; conversion rate: 0% vs 0%; estimated blood loss:
      27.74 +/- 45.2 vs 29.59 +/- 41.18 mL, P = 0.780; tumor rupture during surgery:
      0.90% vs 2.82%, P = 0.322; or postoperative complications: 3.74% vs 7.04%, P =
      0.325. The follow-up period recurrence rate was 1.89% with no significant
      differences between the two groups (3.03% vs 0%, P = 0.447). Overall 5-year
      survival rate was 98.76% and survival rates were similar between the two groups:
      98.99% vs 98.39%, P = 0.623 (unfavorable vs favorable, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      The laparoscopic approach for gastric GISTs is safe and feasible with well
      accepted oncological surgical outcomes. Strategies for laparoscopic resection
      should be selected according to the location and size of the tumor. Laparoscopic
      treatment of gastric GISTs in unfavorable locations should not be restricted in
      gastrointestinal centers.

PMID- 28596689
TI  - Short health scale: A valid measure of health-related quality of life in Korean
      speaking patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the short health scale (SHS), a new, simple, four-part visual
      analogue scale questionnaire that is designed to assess the impact of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), in
      Korean-speaking patients with IBD. METHODS: The SHS was completed by 256 patients
      with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Individual SHS items were
      correlated with inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (IBDQ) dimensions and
      with disease activity to assess validity. Test-retest reliability, responsiveness
      and patient or disease characteristics with probable association with high SHS
      scores were analyzed. RESULTS: Of 256 patients with IBD, 139 (54.3%) had UC and
      117 (45.7%) had CD. The correlation coefficients between SHS questions about
      "symptom burden", "activities of daily living", and "disease-related worry" and
      their corresponding dimensions in the IBDQ ranged from 0.62 to 0.71, compared
      with correlation coefficients ranging from -0.45 to -0.61 for their non
      corresponding dimensions. There was a stepwise increase in SHS scores, with
      increasing disease activity in both CD and UC (all P values < 0.001). Reliability
      was confirmed with test-retest correlations ranging from 0.68 to 0.90 (all P
      values < 0.001). Responsiveness was confirmed with the patients who remained in
      remission. Their SHS scores remained unchanged, except for the SHS dimension
      "disease-related worry". In the multivariate analysis, female sex was associated
      with worse "general well-being" (OR = 2.28, 95%CI: 1.02-5.08) along with worse
      disease activity. CONCLUSION: The SHS is a valid and reliable measure of HRQOL in
      Korean-speaking patients with IBD.

PMID- 28596690
TI  - Continuing episodes of pain in recurrent acute pancreatitis: Prospective follow
      up on a standardised protocol with drugs and pancreatic endotherapy.
AB  - AIM: To assess the outcomes of drug therapy (DT) followed by pancreatic
      endotherapy for continuing painful episodes in recurrent acute pancreatitis.
      METHODS: DT comprised of pancreatic enzymes and anti-oxidants failing which,
      endotherapy (ET; pancreatic sphincterotomy and stent placement) was done. The
      frequency of pain, its visual analogue score (VAS), quality of life (QoL), serum
      C peptide and faecal elastase were compared between baseline and after 1 year of
      follow up in all patients and in the two subgroups on DT and ET. Response was
      defined as at least 50% reduction in the severity of pain to below a score of 5.
      RESULTS: Of the thirty nine patients analysed, 21 (53.9%) responded to DT and 18
      (46.1%) underwent ET. The VAS for pain (7.0 +/- 2.0 vs 1.3 +/- 2.5, P < 0.001)
      and the number of days with pain per month decreased [1.0 (1.0, 2.0) vs 1.0 (0.0,
      1.0), P < 0.001], and the QoL scores [55.0 (44.0, 66.0) vs 38.0 (32.00, 51.00), P
      < 0.01] improved significantly during follow up. Similar significant improvements
      were seen in patients in the subgroups of DT and ET except for QoL in ET. The
      serum C-peptide (P = 0.001) and FE (P < 0.001) levels improved significantly in
      the entire group and in the two subgroups of patients except for the C peptide
      levels in patients on DT. CONCLUSION: A standardised protocol of DT, followed by
      ET decreased the intensity and frequency of pain in recurrent acute pancreatitis,
      enhanced QoL and improved pancreatic function.

PMID- 28596691
TI  - Nissen fundoplication vs proton pump inhibitors for laryngopharyngeal reflux
      based on pH-monitoring and symptom-scale.
AB  - AIM: To compare the outcomes between laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication (LNF) and
      proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) therapy in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux
      (LPR) and type I hiatal hernia diagnosed by oropharyngeal pH-monitoring and
      symptom-scale assessment. METHODS: From February 2014 to January 2015, 70
      patients who were diagnosed with LPR and type I hiatal hernia and referred for
      symptomatic assessment, oropharyngeal pH-monitoring, manometry, and
      gastrointestinal endoscopy were enrolled in this study. All of the patients met
      the inclusion criteria. All of the patients underwent LNF or PPIs administration,
      and completed a 2-year follow-up. Patients' baseline characteristics and primary
      outcome measures, including comprehensive and single symptoms of LPR, PPIs
      independence, and satisfaction, and postoperative complications were assessed.
      The outcomes of LNF and PPIs therapy were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: There
      were 31 patients in the LNF group and 39 patients in the PPI group. Fifty-three
      patients (25 in the LNF group and 28 in the PPI group) completed reviews and
      follow-up. Oropharyngeal pH-monitoring parameters were all abnormal with high
      acid exposure, a large amount of reflux, and a high Ryan score, associated reflux
      symptom index (RSI) score. There was a significant improvement in the RSI and LPR
      symptom scores after the 2-year follow-up in both groups (P < 0.05), as well as
      typical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Improvement in the RSI (P <
      0.005) and symptom scores of cough (P = 0.032), mucus (P = 0.011), and throat
      clearing (P = 0.022) was significantly superior in the LNF group to that in the
      PPI group. After LNF and PPIs therapy, 13 and 53 patients achieved independence
      from PPIs therapy (LNF: 44.0% vs PPI: 7.14%, P < 0.001) during follow-up,
      respectively. Patients in the LNF group were more satisfied with their quality of
      life than those in the PPI group (LNF: 62.49 +/- 28.68 vs PPI: 44.36 +/- 32.77, P
      = 0.004). Body mass index was significantly lower in the LNF group than in the
      PPI group (LNF: 22.2 +/- 3.1 kg/m2vs PPI: 25.1 +/- 2.9 kg/m2, P = 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of LPR should be assessed with oropharyngeal pH-monitoring,
      manometry, and the symptom-scale. LNF achieves better improvement than PPIs for
      LPR with type I hiatal hernia.

PMID- 28596692
TI  - Diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis is easily missed.
AB  - AIM: To analyze the clinical characteristics of eosinophilic gastroenteritis
      (EGE) and to investigate the situations of missed diagnosis of EGE. METHODS:
      First, the clinical characteristics of 20 EGE patients who were treated at our
      hospital were retrospectively summarized. Second, 159 patients who underwent
      gastroscopy and 211 patients who underwent colonoscopy were enrolled. The
      pathological diagnosis showed only chronic inflammation in their medical records.
      The biopsy slides of these patients were reevaluated to determine the number of
      infiltrating eosinophils in order to assess the probability of a missed diagnosis
      of EGE. Finally, 122 patients who experienced refractory upper gastrointestinal
      symptoms for at least one month were recruited. At least 6 biopsy specimens were
      obtained by gastroscopy, and the number of eosinophils that had infiltrated was
      evaluated. Those who met the pathological diagnostic criteria of EGE underwent
      further examination to confirm the diagnosis of EGE. The probability of a missed
      diagnosis of EGE was prospectively investigated. RESULTS: Among the 20 patients
      with EGE, mucosal EGE was found in 15 patients, muscular EGE was found in 3
      patients and serosal EGE was found in 2 patients. Abdominal pain was the most
      common symptom. The number of peripheral blood eosinophils was elevated in all 20
      patients, all of whom were sensitive to corticosteroids. Second, among the 159
      patients who underwent gastroscopy, 7 (4.40%) patients met the criteria for
      pathological EGE (eosinophil count >= 25/HPF). Among the 211 patients who
      underwent colonoscopy, 9 (4.27%) patients met the criteria for pathological EGE
      (eosinophil count >= 30/HPF). No patients with eosinophil infiltration were
      diagnosed with EGE in clinical practice before or after endoscopy. Although these
      patients did not undergo further examination to exclude other diseases that can
      also lead to gastrointestinal eosinophil infiltration, these might be the cases
      where the diagnosis of EGE was missed. Finally, among the 122 patients with
      refractory upper gastrointestinal symptoms, eosinophil infiltration was seen in 7
      patients (5.74%). The diagnosis of EGE was confirmed in all 7 patients after the
      exclusion of other diseases that can also lead to gastrointestinal eosinophil
      infiltration. A positive correlation was observed between the duration of the
      symptoms and the risk of EGE (r = 0.18, P < 0.01). The patients whose symptoms
      persisted longer than 6 mo more readily developed EGE. None of the patients were
      considered to have EGE by their physicians before endoscopy. CONCLUSION: Although
      EGE is a rare inflammatory disorder, it is easily misdiagnosed. When a long
      history of abdominal symptoms fails to improve after conventional therapy, EGE
      should be considered.

PMID- 28596693
TI  - Fecal microbiota transplantation cured epilepsy in a case with Crohn's disease:
      The first report.
AB  - Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a promising strategy that involves
      reconstruction of gut microbiota. Recently, it has been considered as a treatment
      of Crohn's disease (CD) and certain neurological diseases. Here, to the best of
      our knowledge, we report the first case that used FMT to achieve remission of
      intestinal and neurological symptoms in a girl with CD and a 17-year history of
      epilepsy. During the 20 mo of follow-up, FMT has proved its efficacy in
      preventing relapse of seizures after withdrawing the antiepileptic drugs.
      Furthermore, this finding highlights the role of microbiota-gut-brain axis and
      inspires a novel treatment for epilepsy through remodeling gut microbiota.

PMID- 28596694
TI  - The natural algorithmic approach of mixed trigonometric-polynomial problems.
AB  - The aim of this paper is to present a new algorithm for proving mixed
      trigonometric-polynomial inequalities of the form [Formula: see text] by reducing
      them to polynomial inequalities. Finally, we show the great applicability of this
      algorithm and, as an example, we use it to analyze some new rational (Pade)
      approximations of the function cos2x and to improve a class of inequalities by
      Yang. The results of our analysis could be implemented by means of an automated
      proof assistant, so our work is a contribution to the library of automatic
      support tools for proving various analytic inequalities.

PMID- 28596695
TI  - Skew log-concavity of the Boros-Moll sequences.
AB  - Let [Formula: see text] be a triangular array of numbers. We say that [Formula:
      see text] is skew log-concave if for any fixed n, the sequence [Formula: see
      text] is log-concave. In this paper, we show that the Boros-Moll sequences are
      almost skew log-concave.

PMID- 28596696
TI  - On bounds involving k-Appell's hypergeometric functions.
AB  - In this paper, we derive a new extension of Hermite-Hadamard's inequality via k
      Riemann-Liouville fractional integrals. Two new k-fractional integral identities
      are also derived. Then, using these identities as an auxiliary result, we obtain
      some new k-fractional bounds which involve k-Appell's hypergeometric functions.
      These bounds can be viewed as new k-fractional estimations of trapezoidal and mid
      point type inequalities. These results are obtained for the functions which have
      the harmonic convexity property. We also discuss some special cases which can be
      deduced from the main results of the paper.

PMID- 28596697
TI  - Wavelet transforms on Gelfand-Shilov spaces and concrete examples.
AB  - In this paper, we study the continuity properties of wavelet transforms in the
      Gelfand-Shilov spaces with the use of a vanishing moment condition. Moreover, we
      also compute the Fourier transforms and the wavelet transforms of concrete
      functions in the Gelfand-Shilov spaces.

PMID- 28596698
TI  - Child Behavior Problems, Teacher Executive Functions, and Teacher Stress in Head
      Start Classrooms.
AB  - RESEARCH FINDINGS: The current article explores the relationship between
      teachers' perceptions of child behavior problems and preschool teacher job
      stress, as well as the possibility that teachers' executive functions moderate
      this relationship. Data came from 69 preschool teachers in 31 early childhood
      classrooms in 4 Head Start centers and were collected using Web-based surveys and
      Web-based direct assessment tasks. Multilevel models revealed that higher levels
      of teachers' perceptions of child behavior problems were associated with higher
      levels of teacher job stress and that higher teacher executive function skills
      were related to lower job stress. However, findings did not yield evidence for
      teacher executive functions as a statistical moderator. PRACTICE OR POLICY: Many
      early childhood teachers do not receive sufficient training for handling
      children's challenging behaviors. Child behavior problems increase a teacher's
      workload and consequently may contribute to feelings of stress. However,
      teachers' executive function abilities may enable them to use effective,
      cognitive-based behavior management and instructional strategies during
      interactions with students, which may reduce stress. Providing teachers with
      training on managing challenging behaviors and enhancing executive functions may
      reduce their stress and facilitate their use of effective classroom practices,
      which is important for children's school readiness skills and teachers' health.

PMID- 28596699
TI  - Examination of a newly developed mobile dry scrubber (DS) for coal mine dust
      control applications.
AB  - The Office of Mine Safety and Health Research of the U.S. National Institute for
      Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH OMSHR) conducted laboratory testing of a
      self-tramming, remotely controlled mobile Dry Scrubber (DS) that J.H. Fletcher
      and Co. developed under a contract with NIOSH OMSHR to reduce the exposure of
      miners to airborne dust. The scrubber was found to average greater than 95
      percent dust removal efficiency with disposable filters, and 88 and 90 percent,
      respectively, with optional washable filters in their prewash and post-wash test
      conditions. Although the washable filters can be reused, washing them generated
      personal and downstream respirable dust concentrations of 1.2 and 8.3 mg/m3,
      respectively, for a 10-min washing period. The scrubber's velocity-pressure
      regulated variable-frequency-drive fan maintained relatively consistent airflow
      near the targeted 1.42 and 4.25 m3/s (3,000 and 9,000 ft3/min) airflow rates
      during most of the laboratory dust testing until reaching its maximum 60-Hz fan
      motor frequency or horsepower rating at 2,610 Pa (10.5 in. w.g.) of filter
      differential pressure and 3.97 m3/s (8,420 ft3/min) of scrubber airflow quantity.
      Laboratory sound level measurements of the scrubber showed that the outlet side
      of the scrubber was noisier, and the loaded filters increased sound levels
      compared with clean filters at the same airflow quantities. With loaded filters,
      the scrubber reached a 90 dB(A) sound level at 2.83 m3/s (6,000 ft3/min) of
      scrubber airflow, indicating that miners should not be overexposed in relation to
      MSHA's permissible exposure level - under Title 30 Code of Federal Regulations
      Part 62.101- of 90 dB(A) at or below this airflow quantity. The scrubber's
      washable filters were not used during field-testing because of their lower
      respirable dust removal efficiency and the airborne dust generated by filter
      washing. Field-testing the scrubber with disposable filters at two underground
      coal mine sections showed that it could clean a portion of the section return air
      and provide dust reduction of about 50 percent at the face area downstream of the
      continuous-miner operation.

PMID- 28596700
TI  - Using software to predict occupational hearing loss in the mining industry.
AB  - Powerful mining systems typically generate high-level noise that can damage the
      hearing ability of miners. Engineering noise controls are the most desirable and
      effective control for overexposure to noise. However, the effects of these noise
      controls on the actual hearing status of workers are not easily measured. A tool
      that can provide guidance in assigning workers to jobs based on the noise levels
      to which they will be exposed is highly desirable. Therefore, the Pittsburgh
      Mining Research Division (PMRD) of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational
      Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a tool to estimate in a systematic way the
      hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure and to evaluate the effectiveness
      of developed engineering controls. This computer program is based on the ISO 1999
      standard and can be used to estimate the loss of hearing ability caused by
      occupational noise exposures. In this paper, the functionalities of this software
      are discussed and several case studies related to mining machinery are presented
      to demonstrate the functionalities of this software.

PMID- 28596701
TI  - Exploring Differential Effects Across Two Decoding Treatments on Item-Level
      Transfer in Children with Significant Word Reading Difficulties: A New Approach
      for Testing Intervention Elements.
AB  - In English, gains in decoding skill do not map directly onto increases in word
      reading. However, beyond the Self-Teaching Hypothesis (Share, 1995), little is
      known about the transfer of decoding skills to word reading. In this study, we
      offer a new approach to testing specific decoding elements on transfer to word
      reading. To illustrate, we modeled word-reading gains among children with reading
      disability (RD) enrolled in Phonological and Strategy Training (PHAST) or Phonics
      for Reading (PFR). Conditions differed in sublexical training with PHAST
      stressing multi-level connections and PFR emphasizing simple grapheme-phoneme
      correspondences. Thirty-seven children with RD, 3rd - 6th grade, were randomly
      assigned 60 lessons of PHAST or PFR. Crossed random-effects models allowed us to
      identify specific intervention elements that differentially impacted word-reading
      performance at posttest, with children in PHAST better able to read words with
      variant vowel pronunciations. Results suggest that sublexical emphasis influences
      transfer gains to word reading.

PMID- 28596702
TI  - Document retrieval on repetitive string collections.
AB  - Most of the fastest-growing string collections today are repetitive, that is,
      most of the constituent documents are similar to many others. As these
      collections keep growing, a key approach to handling them is to exploit their
      repetitiveness, which can reduce their space usage by orders of magnitude. We
      study the problem of indexing repetitive string collections in order to perform
      efficient document retrieval operations on them. Document retrieval problems are
      routinely solved by search engines on large natural language collections, but the
      techniques are less developed on generic string collections. The case of
      repetitive string collections is even less understood, and there are very few
      existing solutions. We develop two novel ideas, interleaved LCPs and precomputed
      document lists, that yield highly compressed indexes solving the problem of
      document listing (find all the documents where a string appears), top-k document
      retrieval (find the k documents where a string appears most often), and document
      counting (count the number of documents where a string appears). We also show
      that a classical data structure supporting the latter query becomes highly
      compressible on repetitive data. Finally, we show how the tools we developed can
      be combined to solve ranked conjunctive and disjunctive multi-term queries under
      the simple [Formula: see text] model of relevance. We thoroughly evaluate the
      resulting techniques in various real-life repetitiveness scenarios, and recommend
      the best choices for each case.

PMID- 28596703
TI  - Black holes in multi-fractional and Lorentz-violating models.
AB  - We study static and radially symmetric black holes in the multi-fractional
      theories of gravity with q-derivatives and with weighted derivatives, frameworks
      where the spacetime dimension varies with the probed scale and geometry is
      characterized by at least one fundamental length [Formula: see text]. In the q
      derivatives scenario, one finds a tiny shift of the event horizon. Schwarzschild
      black holes can present an additional ring singularity, not present in general
      relativity, whose radius is proportional to [Formula: see text]. In the multi
      fractional theory with weighted derivatives, there is no such deformation, but
      non-trivial geometric features generate a cosmological-constant term, leading to
      a de Sitter-Schwarzschild black hole. For both scenarios, we compute the Hawking
      temperature and comment on the resulting black-hole thermodynamics. In the case
      with q-derivatives, black holes can be hotter than usual and possess an
      additional ring singularity, while in the case with weighted derivatives they
      have a de Sitter hair of purely geometric origin, which may lead to a solution of
      the cosmological constant problem similar to that in unimodular gravity. Finally,
      we compare our findings with other Lorentz-violating models.

PMID- 28596704
TI  - Learning while (re)configuring: Business model innovation processes in
      established firms.
AB  - This study addresses the question of how established organizations develop new
      business models over time, using a process research approach to trace how four
      business model innovation trajectories unfold. With organizational learning as
      analytical lens, we discern two process patterns: "drifting" starts with an
      emphasis on experiential learning and shifts later to cognitive search;
      "leaping," in contrast, starts with an emphasis on cognitive search and shifts
      later to experiential learning. Both drifting and leaping can result in radical
      business model innovations, while their occurrence depends on whether a new
      business model takes off from an existing model and when it goes into operation.
      We discuss the implications of these findings for theory on business models and
      organizational learning.

PMID- 28596705
TI  - Evolving user needs and late-mover advantage.
AB  - We propose a generalized NK-model of late-mover advantage where late-mover firms
      leapfrog first-mover firms as user needs evolve over time. First movers face
      severe trade-offs between the provision of functionalities in which their
      products already excel and the additional functionalities requested by users
      later on. Late movers, by contrast, start searching when more functionalities are
      already known and typically come up with superior product designs. We also show
      that late-mover advantage is more probable for more complex technologies.
      Managerial implications follow.

PMID- 28596708
TI  - Riots of the Other: An analysis of societal reactions to contemporary riots in
      disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the Netherlands.
AB  - In this article I argue that there has been a change in the dynamics of riots in
      the Netherlands from the escalated political protests of the 1960s, 1970s and
      1980s to public disturbances in disadvantaged neighbourhoods that lack a clearly
      articulated political component in the last two decades. This article examines
      the societal reactions such recent 'riots' evoke and the means by which the
      demarcated autonomous and exogenous groups are designated as 'the rioters'
      through a process of 'Othering'. It examines the 2007 'Slotervaart riot' as an
      exemplary case of such recent 'riots' in the Netherlands. It concludes that
      placing the focus on demarcated groups of Others during recent 'riots' in the
      Netherlands allowed broader social problems to be placed outside the 'normal' or
      'pure' societal body.

PMID- 28596709
TI  - Crimmigration in Europe.

PMID- 28596707
TI  - Red cell distribution width (RDW) as a biomarker for respiratory failure in a
      pediatric ICU.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The red cell distribution width (RDW) is a widely available,
      inexpensive, and highly reproducible test that reflects the range of the red cell
      sizes. Any process that releases reticulocytes in the circulation will result in
      an increase in RDW. Elevated RDW values are linked to worsened pulmonary function
      in the adult population. We performed a retrospective cohort study to describe
      the association between RDW and respiratory failure in critically ill children in
      a in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in a tertiary university hospital.
      SUBJECTS: All patients admitted between January 2009 and June 2015 were
      considered eligible for inclusion. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study. RESULTS:
      In total, 960 patients were included in the cohort analysis. Of those patients,
      149 (15.5%) had elevated RDW values. RDW on admission was associated with lower
      28 day ventilator-free days. The highest quintile of RDW was associated with the
      need for mechanical ventilation, even when correcting for anaemia, age and
      Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) scores. In the subgroup of ventilated
      patients, RDW was associated with nadir PaO2/FiO2(P/F) ratios. CONCLUSION: The
      RDW value on admission of our PICU patients is associated with a greater need for
      invasive mechanical ventilation, lower 28 day ventilator-free days and lower
      nadir P/F ratios in the patients with highest RDW values on admission. RDW may be
      a valuable, cheap and universally available, prognostic parameter for respiratory
      dysfunction in the PICU.

PMID- 28596710
TI  - Crimmigration checks in the internal border areas of the EU: Finding the
      discretion that matters.
AB  - Internal borders are a major but understudied site of crimmigration as most
      scholarship has focused on external borders (Van der Woude and Van Berlo, 2015).
      Internal borders were supposed to disappear under the principle of free movement
      within the European Union. But today we see EU member states policing the borders
      inside Schengen, checking identification, verifying passage, and regulating
      mobility in so-called 'gray zones'. This article investigates this type of
      policing within the EU, focusing on the case of the Netherlands. It argues that
      the policing of internal borders is highly dependent upon discretionary power, a
      significant factor in the crimmigration process that we do not know enough about.
      Following Hawkins (1992, 2003), Schneider (1992), and Bushway and Forst (2013) on
      discretion and discretionary decision-making, we examine the interaction between
      decisions by law-makers and policy-makers that create discretionary space for law
      enforcement officials on the ground, and the way in which these street-level
      bureaucrats perceive the discretionary space attributed to them. By zeroing in on
      the interaction between these two actors, we aim to find the discretionary
      decision that matters the most in terms of explaining the crimmigration
      practices, offering a more holistic and interdisciplinary approach to border
      control. We discuss the implications of this power and the consequences for the
      European Project as such.

PMID- 28596711
TI  - Framing migration and the process of crimmigration: A systematic analysis of the
      media representation of unauthorized immigrants in the Netherlands.
AB  - In this article we examine whether the proposal to criminalize illegal stay in
      the Netherlands was preceded by increased negative media attention for
      unauthorized immigrants. Using a corpus linguistics approach, we carried out a
      quantitative discourse analysis of all newspaper articles on unauthorized
      migrants over a period of 15 years. Our results show that the amount of media
      coverage actually strongly decreased in the years before the proposal, and this
      coverage was moreover increasingly less negative. This study thus nuances the
      somewhat popular belief that unauthorized migrants are increasingly portrayed in
      negative ways and shows that the framing of migrants as criminals is a more
      diffuse process in which the media seem to follow rather than fuel politics and
      policy.

PMID- 28596712
TI  - Child sexual exploitation and youth offending: A research note.
AB  - Links between child sexual exploitation (CSE) and youth offending should be
      better recognised, according to these preliminary research findings from the UK.
      Data from a leading CSE service provider and Youth Offending Team were analysed
      for the period 2001-2010 inclusive. Of CSE victims, 40 percent had offending
      records and recidivism rates were high. Together they committed 1586 offences - 5
      percent of all local youth crime. Male and female offending behaviour differed
      significantly. The types of offences identified were potentially symptomatic of
      CSE. Referral to CSE services typically post-dated arrest, indicating that
      children were recognised first as offenders. Challenges in researching the
      interactions between these two complex issues are discussed. This study has
      important implications for youth justice policy and practice, both nationally and
      internationally.

PMID- 28596706
TI  - Regulating STING in health and disease.
AB  - The presence of cytosolic double-stranded DNA molecules can trigger multiple
      innate immune signalling pathways which converge on the activation of an ER
      resident innate immune adaptor named "STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING)".
      STING has been found to mediate type I interferon response downstream of cyclic
      dinucleotides and a number of DNA and RNA inducing signalling pathway. In
      addition to its physiological function, a rapidly increasing body of literature
      highlights the role for STING in human disease where variants of the STING
      proteins, as well as dysregulated STING signalling, have been implicated in a
      number of inflammatory diseases. This review will summarise the recent structural
      and functional findings of STING, and discuss how STING research has promoted the
      development of novel therapeutic approaches and experimental tools to improve
      treatment of tumour and autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 28596715
TI  - 2015 TMS William Hume-Rothery Award and Symposium.

PMID- 28596713
TI  - Performances of Different Fragment Sizes for Reduced Representation Bisulfite
      Sequencing in Pigs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) has been widely
      used to profile genome-scale DNA methylation in mammalian genomes. However, the
      applications and technical performances of RRBS with different fragment sizes
      have not been systematically reported in pigs, which serve as one of the
      important biomedical models for humans. The aims of this study were to evaluate
      capacities of RRBS libraries with different fragment sizes to characterize the
      porcine genome. RESULTS: We found that the MspI-digested segments between 40 and
      220 bp harbored a high distribution peak at 74 bp, which were highly overlapped
      with the repetitive elements and might reduce the unique mapping alignment. The
      RRBS library of 110-220 bp fragment size had the highest unique mapping alignment
      and the lowest multiple alignment. The cost-effectiveness of the 40-110 bp, 110
      220 bp and 40-220 bp fragment sizes might decrease when the dataset size was more
      than 70, 50 and 110 million reads for these three fragment sizes, respectively.
      Given a 50-million dataset size, the average sequencing depth of the detected CpG
      sites in the 110-220 bp fragment size appeared to be deeper than in the 40-110 bp
      and 40-220 bp fragment sizes, and these detected CpG sties differently located in
      gene- and CpG island-related regions. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, our results
      demonstrated that selections of fragment sizes could affect the numbers and
      sequencing depth of detected CpG sites as well as the cost-efficiency. No single
      solution of RRBS is optimal in all circumstances for investigating genome-scale
      DNA methylation. This work provides the useful knowledge on designing and
      executing RRBS for investigating the genome-wide DNA methylation in tissues from
      pigs.

PMID- 28596714
TI  - Response to "The Use of Meta-Analysis to Compare and Select Offender Risk
      Instruments".

PMID- 28596716
TI  - Cognitive Reactivity: Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Testing of the Persian
      Version of the Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity Revised (LEIDS-R) in an
      Iranian Sample.
AB  - Cognitive reactivity (CR) to the experimental induction of sad mood has been
      found to predict relapse in recovered depressed patients. The Leiden Index of
      Depression Sensitivity Revised (LEIDS-R) is a self-report measure of CR. The aim
      of the present study was to establish the validity and reliability of the Persian
      version of the LEIDS-R. The participants were recovered depressed and non
      depressed Iranian individuals (n = 833). The analyses included content
      validation, factor analysis, construct validity, and reliability testing.
      Preliminary construct validation analysis confirmed that factor analysis was
      appropriate for the Persian version of the LEIDS-R. Factor analysis displayed
      similar factor loadings to the original English version. The total internal
      consistency of the translated version, which was assessed using Cronbach's alpha
      coefficient, was equal to 0.90. The test-retest reliability of the total score
      was equal to that of the test-retest conducted after a two-week interval at 0.94.
      Content validity, face validity, and construct validity, as well as reliability
      analysis were all found to be satisfactory for the Persian version of the LEIDS
      R. The Persian version of the LEIDS-R appears to be valid and reliable for use in
      future studies, and has properties comparable to the original version and to that
      obtained in previous studies.

PMID- 28596718
TI  - Mass spectrometry based metabolomics for in vitro systems pharmacology: pitfalls,
      challenges, and computational solutions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mass spectrometry based metabolomics has become a promising
      complement and alternative to transcriptomics and proteomics in many fields
      including in vitro systems pharmacology. Despite several merits, metabolomics
      based on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a developing area
      that is yet attached to several pitfalls and challenges. To reach a level of high
      reliability and robustness, these issues need to be tackled by implementation of
      refined experimental and computational protocols. OBJECTIVES: This study
      illustrates some key pitfalls in LC-MS based metabolomics and introduces an
      automated computational procedure to compensate for them. METHOD: Non-cancerous
      mammary gland derived cells were exposed to 27 chemicals from four
      pharmacological classes plus a set of six pesticides. Changes in the metabolome
      of cell lysates were assessed after 24 h using LC-MS. A data processing pipeline
      was established and evaluated to handle issues including contaminants, carry over
      effects, intensity decay and inherent methodology variability and biases. A key
      component in this pipeline is a latent variable method called OOS-DA (optimal
      orthonormal system for discriminant analysis), being theoretically more easily
      motivated than PLS-DA in this context, as it is rooted in pattern classification
      rather than regression modeling. RESULT: The pipeline is shown to reduce
      experimental variability/biases and is used to confirm that LC-MS spectra hold
      drug class specific information. CONCLUSION: LC-MS based metabolomics is a
      promising methodology, but comes with pitfalls and challenges. Key difficulties
      can be largely overcome by means of a computational procedure of the kind
      introduced and demonstrated here. The pipeline is freely available on
      www.github.com/stephanieherman/MS-data-processing.

PMID- 28596717
TI  - Integration of metabolomic and transcriptomic networks in pregnant women reveals
      biological pathways and predictive signatures associated with preeclampsia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality
      worldwide, yet its exact pathogenesis remains elusive. OBJECTIVES: This study,
      nested within the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial (VDAART), aimed to
      develop integrated omics models of preeclampsia that have utility in both
      prediction and in the elucidation of underlying biological mechanisms. METHODS:
      Metabolomic profiling was performed on first trimester plasma samples of 47
      pregnant women from VDAART who subsequently developed preeclampsia and 62
      controls with healthy pregnancies, using liquid-chromatography tandem mass
      spectrometry. Metabolomic profiles were generated based on logistic regression
      models and assessed using Received Operator Characteristic Curve analysis. These
      profiles were compared to profiles from generated using third trimester samples.
      The first trimester metabolite profile was then integrated with a pre-existing
      transcriptomic profile using network methods. RESULTS: In total, 72 (0.9%)
      metabolite features were associated (p<0.01) with preeclampsia after adjustment
      for maternal age, race, and gestational age. These features had moderate to good
      discriminatory ability; in ROC curve analyses a summary score based on these
      features displayed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.794 (95%CI 0.700, 0.888).
      This profile retained the ability to distinguish preeclamptic from healthy
      pregnancies in the third trimester (AUC:0.762 (95% CI 0.663, 0.860)).
      Additionally, metabolite set enrichment analysis identified common pathways,
      including glycerophospholipid metabolism, at the two time-points. Integration
      with the transcriptomic signature refined these results suggesting a particular
      role for lipid imbalance, immune function and the circulatory system.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest it is possible to develop a predictive
      metabolomic profile of preeclampsia. This profile is characterized by changes in
      lipid and amino acid metabolism and dysregulation of immune response and can be
      refined through interaction with transcriptomic data. However validation in
      larger and more diverse populations is required.

PMID- 28596719
TI  - A methodology for elucidating regulatory mechanisms leading to changes in lipid
      profiles.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is difficult to elucidate the metabolic and regulatory factors
      causing lipidome perturbations. OBJECTIVES: This work simplifies this process.
      METHODS: A method has been developed to query an online holistic lipid metabolic
      network (of 7923 metabolites) to extract the pathways that connect the input list
      of lipids. RESULTS: The output enables pathway visualisation and the querying of
      other databases to identify potential regulators. When used to a study a plasma
      lipidome dataset of polycystic ovary syndrome, 14 enzymes were identified, of
      which 3 are linked to ELAVL1-an mRNA stabiliser. CONCLUSION: This method provides
      a simplified approach to identifying potential regulators causing lipid-profile
      perturbations.

PMID- 28596720
TI  - AAV-Mediated Gene Supplementation Therapy in Achromatopsia Type 2: Preclinical
      Data on Therapeutic Time Window and Long-Term Effects.
AB  - Achromatopsia type 2 (ACHM2) is a severe, inherited eye disease caused by
      mutations in the CNGA3 gene encoding the alpha subunit of the cone photoreceptor
      cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channel. Patients suffer from strongly impaired
      daylight vision, photophobia, nystagmus, and lack of color discrimination. We
      have previously shown in the Cnga3 knockout (KO) mouse model of ACHM2 that gene
      supplementation therapy is effective in rescuing cone function and morphology and
      delaying cone degeneration. In our preclinical approach, we use recombinant adeno
      associated virus (AAV) vector-mediated gene transfer to express the murine Cnga3
      gene under control of the mouse blue opsin promoter. Here, we provide novel data
      on the efficiency and permanence of such gene supplementation therapy in Cnga3 KO
      mice. Specifically, we compare the influence of two different AAV vector capsids,
      AAV2/5 (Y719F) and AAV2/8 (Y733F), on restoration of cone function, and assess
      the effect of age at time of treatment on the long-term outcome. The evaluation
      included in vivo analysis of retinal function using electroretinography (ERG) and
      immunohistochemical analysis of vector-driven Cnga3 transgene expression. We
      found that both vector capsid serotypes led to a comparable rescue of cone
      function over the observation period between 4 weeks and 3 months post treatment.
      In addition, a clear therapeutic effect was present in mice treated at 2 weeks of
      age as well as in mice treated at 3 months of age at the first assessment at 4
      weeks after treatment. Importantly, the effect extended in both cases over the
      entire observation period of 12 months post treatment. However, the average ERG
      amplitude levels differed between the two groups, suggesting a role of the
      absolute age, or possibly, the associated state of the degeneration, on the
      achievable outcome. In summary, we found that the therapeutic time window of
      opportunity for AAV-mediated Cnga3 gene supplementation therapy in the Cnga3 KO
      mouse model extends at least to an age of 3 months, but is presumably limited by
      the condition, number and topographical distribution of remaining cones at the
      time of treatment. No impact of the choice of capsid on the therapeutic success
      was detected.

PMID- 28596721
TI  - Cannabinoid Receptor Signaling in Central Regulation of Feeding Behavior: A Mini
      Review.
AB  - Cannabinoids are lipid messengers that modulate a variety of physiological
      processes and modify the generation of specific behaviors. In this regard, the
      cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) represents the most relevant target molecule of
      cannabinoids so far. One main function of central CB1 signaling is to maintain
      whole body energy homeostasis. Thus, cannabinoids functionally interact with
      classical neurotransmitters in neural networks that control energy metabolism and
      feeding behavior. The promotion of CB1 signaling can increase appetite and
      stimulate feeding, while blockade of CB1 suppresses hunger and induces
      hypophagia. However, in order to treat overeating, pharmacological blockade of
      CB1 by the inverse agonist rimonabant not only suppressed feeding but also
      resulted in psychiatric side effects. Therefore, research within the last decade
      focused on deciphering the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of
      central cannabinoid signaling that control feeding and other behaviors, with the
      overall aim still being the identification of specific targets to develop safe
      pharmacological interventions for the treatment of obesity. Today, many studies
      unraveled the subcellular localization of CB1 and the function of cannabinoids in
      neurons and glial cells within circumscribed brain regions that represent
      integral parts of neural circuitries controlling feeding behavior. Here, these
      novel experimental findings will be summarized and recent advances in
      understanding the mechanisms of CB1-dependent cannabinoid signaling being
      relevant for central regulation of feeding behavior will be highlighted. Finally,
      presumed alternative pathways of cannabinoids that are not driven by CB1
      activation but also contributing to control of feeding behavior will be
      introduced.

PMID- 28596723
TI  - The 11S Proteasomal Activator REGgamma Impacts Polyglutamine-Expanded Androgen
      Receptor Aggregation and Motor Neuron Viability through Distinct Mechanisms.
AB  - Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is caused by expression of a
      polyglutamine (polyQ)-expanded androgen receptor (AR). The inefficient nuclear
      proteasomal degradation of the mutant AR results in the formation of nuclear
      inclusions containing amino-terminal fragments of the mutant AR. PA28gamma (also
      referred to as REGgamma) is a nuclear 11S-proteasomal activator with limited
      proteasome activation capabilities compared to its cytoplasmic 11S (PA28alpha,
      PA28beta) counterparts. To clarify the role of REGgamma in polyQ-expanded AR
      metabolism, we carried out genetic and biochemical studies in cell models of
      SBMA. Overexpression of REGgamma in a PC12 cell model of SBMA increased polyQ
      expanded AR aggregation and contributed to polyQ-expanded AR toxicity in the
      presence of dihydrotestosterone (DHT). These effects of REGgamma were independent
      of its association with the proteasome and may be due, in part, to the decreased
      binding of polyQ-expanded AR by the E3 ubiquitin-ligase MDM2. Unlike its effects
      in PC12 cells, REGgamma overexpression rescued transgenic SBMA motor neurons from
      DHT-induced toxicity in a proteasome binding-dependent manner, suggesting that
      the degradation of a specific 11S proteasome substrate or substrates promotes
      motor neuron viability. One potential substrate that we found to play a role in
      mutant AR toxicity is the splicing factor SC35. These studies reveal that,
      depending on the cellular context, two biological roles for REGgamma impact cell
      viability in the face of polyQ-expanded AR; a proteasome binding-independent
      mechanism directly promotes mutant AR aggregation while a proteasome binding
      dependent mechanism promotes cell viability. The balance between these functions
      likely determines REGgamma effects on polyQ-expanded AR-expressing cells.

PMID- 28596722
TI  - Unique Structural Features of Membrane-Bound C-Terminal Domain Motifs Modulate
      Complexin Inhibitory Function.
AB  - Complexin is a small soluble presynaptic protein that interacts with neuronal
      SNARE proteins in order to regulate synaptic vesicle exocytosis. While the SNARE
      binding central helix of complexin is required for both the inhibition of
      spontaneous fusion and the facilitation of synchronous fusion, the disordered C
      terminal domain (CTD) of complexin is specifically required for its inhibitory
      function. The CTD of worm complexin binds to membranes via two distinct motifs,
      one of which undergoes a membrane curvature dependent structural transition that
      is required for efficient inhibition of neurotransmitter release, but the
      conformations of the membrane-bound motifs remain poorly characterized.
      Visualizing these conformations is required to clarify the mechanisms by which
      complexin membrane interactions regulate its function. Here, we employ optical
      and magnetic resonance spectroscopy to precisely define the boundaries of the two
      CTD membrane-binding motifs and to characterize their conformations. We show that
      the curvature dependent amphipathic helical motif features an irregular element
      of helical structure, likely a pi-bulge, and that this feature is important for
      complexin inhibitory function in vivo.

PMID- 28596725
TI  - A Ternary Brain-Computer Interface Based on Single-Trial Readiness Potentials of
      Self-initiated Fine Movements: A Diversified Classification Scheme.
AB  - In recent years, the readiness potential (RP), a type of pre-movement neural
      activity, has been investigated for asynchronous electroencephalogram (EEG)-based
      brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Since the RP is attenuated for involuntary
      movements, a BCI driven by RP alone could facilitate intentional control amid a
      plethora of unintentional movements. Previous studies have mainly attempted
      binary single-trial classification of RP. An RP-based BCI with three or more
      states would expand the options for functional control. Here, we propose a
      ternary BCI based on single-trial RPs. This BCI classifies amongst an idle state,
      a left hand and a right hand self-initiated fine movement. A pipeline of spatio
      temporal filtering with per participant parameter optimization was used for
      feature extraction. The ternary classification was decomposed into binary
      classifications using a decision-directed acyclic graph (DDAG). For each class
      pair in the DDAG structure, an ordered diversified classifier system (ODCS-DDAG)
      was used to select the best among various classification algorithms or to combine
      the results of different classification algorithms. Using EEG data from 14
      participants performing self-initiated left or right key presses, punctuated with
      rest periods, we compared the performance of ODCS-DDAG to a ternary classifier
      and four popular multiclass decomposition methods using only a single
      classification algorithm. ODCS-DDAG had the highest performance (0.769 Cohen's
      Kappa score) and was significantly better than the ternary classifier and two of
      the four multiclass decomposition methods. Our work supports further study of RP
      based BCI for intuitive asynchronous environmental control or augmentative
      communication.

PMID- 28596726
TI  - Ability to Gain Control Over One's Own Brain Activity and its Relation to
      Spiritual Practice: A Multimodal Imaging Study.
AB  - Spiritual practice, such as prayer or meditation, is associated with focusing
      attention on internal states and self-awareness processes. As these cognitive
      control mechanisms presumably are also important for neurofeedback (NF), we
      investigated whether people who pray frequently (N = 20) show a higher ability of
      self-control over their own brain activity compared to a control group of
      individuals who rarely pray (N = 20). All participants underwent structural
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and one session of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR, 12
      15 Hz) based NF training. Individuals who reported a high frequency of prayer
      showed improved NF performance compared to individuals who reported a low
      frequency of prayer. The individual ability to control one's own brain activity
      was related to volumetric aspects of the brain. In the low frequency of prayer
      group, gray matter volumes in the right insula and inferior frontal gyrus were
      positively associated with NF performance, supporting prior findings that more
      general self-control networks are involved in successful NF learning. In
      contrast, participants who prayed regularly showed a negative association between
      gray matter volume in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (Brodmann's area (BA)
      10) and NF performance. Due to their regular spiritual practice, they might have
      been more skillful in gating incoming information provided by the NF system and
      avoiding task-irrelevant thoughts.

PMID- 28596727
TI  - Executive Mechanisms for Thinking about Negative Situations in Both Cooperative
      and Non-Cooperative Contexts.
AB  - Mentalizing is a fundamental aspect of social cognition that includes
      understanding the mental states of others. This process involves the
      participation of a well-defined set of brain regions. However, it is still
      unknown how different contextual situations, such as previous cooperative or non
      cooperative interactions, can modulate the brain activity related to the
      inference of others' mental states. Hence, this study investigated whether a
      previous social interaction can modulate the neural mechanisms involved in a way
      to response to inferred mental states of cooperators and non-cooperators in
      positive vs. negative emotional situations. Participants first engaged in a
      Dictator game with cooperator and non-cooperator confederates. Then, in an fMRI
      setup, participants had to infer the mental states of the cooperator and non
      cooperator confederates under positive and negative situations. Results showed
      that in addition to the mentalizing network, inferring mental states recruited
      occipital and cerebellar areas in the cooperative context. A differential pattern
      of activity that depended on the emotional valence of the situation was also
      detected, i.e., negative situations recruited prefrontal cortex (PFC) in both
      contexts, while temporal regions were recruited only for the non-cooperative
      context. Overall, these results suggest that our previous experiences with others
      modulate the brain activity related to the inferences we make about their mental
      states in specific emotional situations.

PMID- 28596724
TI  - Recent Advances in Translational Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Animal Models of
      Stress and Depression.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a valuable translational tool that can be
      used to investigate alterations in brain structure and function in both patients
      and animal models of disease. Regional changes in brain structure, functional
      connectivity, and metabolite concentrations have been reported in depressed
      patients, giving insight into the networks and brain regions involved, however
      preclinical models are less well characterized. The development of more effective
      treatments depends upon animal models that best translate to the human condition
      and animal models may be exploited to assess the molecular and cellular
      alterations that accompany neuroimaging changes. Recent advances in preclinical
      imaging have facilitated significant developments within the field, particularly
      relating to high resolution structural imaging and resting-state functional
      imaging which are emerging techniques in clinical research. This review aims to
      bring together the current literature on preclinical neuroimaging in animal
      models of stress and depression, highlighting promising avenues of research
      toward understanding the pathological basis of this hugely prevalent disorder.

PMID- 28596728
TI  - Have Standard Tests of Cognitive Function Been Misappropriated in the Study of
      Cognitive Enhancement?
AB  - In the past decade, there has emerged a vast research literature dealing with
      attempts to harness brain plasticity in older adults, with a view to improving
      cognitive function. Since cognitive training (CT) has shown restricted utility in
      this regard, attention has increasingly turned to interventions that use adjunct
      procedures such as motor training or physical activity (PA). As evidence builds
      that these have some efficacy, it becomes necessary to ensure that the outcome
      measures being used to infer causal influence upon cognitive function are
      subjected to appropriate critical appraisal. It has been highlighted previously
      that the choice of specific tasks used to demonstrate transfer to the cognitive
      domain is of critical importance. In the context of most intervention studies,
      standardized tests and batteries of cognitive function are de rigueur. The
      argument presented here is that the latent constructs to which these tests relate
      are not usually subject to a sufficient level of analytic scrutiny. We present
      the historical origins of some exemplar tests, and give particular consideration
      to the limits on explanatory scope that are implied by their composition and the
      nature of their deployment. In addition to surveying the validity of these tests
      when used to appraise intervention-related changes in cognitive function, we also
      consider their neurophysiological correlates. In particular, we argue that the
      broadly distributed brain activity associated with the performance of many tests
      of cognitive function, extending to the classical motor networks, permits the
      impact of interventions based on motor training or PA to be better understood.

PMID- 28596729
TI  - Detection and Evaluation of Spatio-Temporal Spike Patterns in Massively Parallel
      Spike Train Data with SPADE.
AB  - Repeated, precise sequences of spikes are largely considered a signature of
      activation of cell assemblies. These repeated sequences are commonly known under
      the name of spatio-temporal patterns (STPs). STPs are hypothesized to play a role
      in the communication of information in the computational process operated by the
      cerebral cortex. A variety of statistical methods for the detection of STPs have
      been developed and applied to electrophysiological recordings, but such methods
      scale poorly with the current size of available parallel spike train recordings
      (more than 100 neurons). In this work, we introduce a novel method capable of
      overcoming the computational and statistical limits of existing analysis
      techniques in detecting repeating STPs within massively parallel spike trains
      (MPST). We employ advanced data mining techniques to efficiently extract
      repeating sequences of spikes from the data. Then, we introduce and compare two
      alternative approaches to distinguish statistically significant patterns from
      chance sequences. The first approach uses a measure known as conceptual
      stability, of which we investigate a computationally cheap approximation for
      applications to such large data sets. The second approach is based on the
      evaluation of pattern statistical significance. In particular, we provide an
      extension to STPs of a method we recently introduced for the evaluation of
      statistical significance of synchronous spike patterns. The performance of the
      two approaches is evaluated in terms of computational load and statistical power
      on a variety of artificial data sets that replicate specific features of
      experimental data. Both methods provide an effective and robust procedure for
      detection of STPs in MPST data. The method based on significance evaluation shows
      the best overall performance, although at a higher computational cost. We name
      the novel procedure the spatio-temporal Spike PAttern Detection and Evaluation
      (SPADE) analysis.

PMID- 28596730
TI  - Integration of Continuous-Time Dynamics in a Spiking Neural Network Simulator.
AB  - Contemporary modeling approaches to the dynamics of neural networks include two
      important classes of models: biologically grounded spiking neuron models and
      functionally inspired rate-based units. We present a unified simulation framework
      that supports the combination of the two for multi-scale modeling, enables the
      quantitative validation of mean-field approaches by spiking network simulations,
      and provides an increase in reliability by usage of the same simulation code and
      the same network model specifications for both model classes. While most spiking
      simulations rely on the communication of discrete events, rate models require
      time-continuous interactions between neurons. Exploiting the conceptual
      similarity to the inclusion of gap junctions in spiking network simulations, we
      arrive at a reference implementation of instantaneous and delayed interactions
      between rate-based models in a spiking network simulator. The separation of rate
      dynamics from the general connection and communication infrastructure ensures
      flexibility of the framework. In addition to the standard implementation we
      present an iterative approach based on waveform-relaxation techniques to reduce
      communication and increase performance for large-scale simulations of rate-based
      models with instantaneous interactions. Finally we demonstrate the broad
      applicability of the framework by considering various examples from the
      literature, ranging from random networks to neural-field models. The study
      provides the prerequisite for interactions between rate-based and spiking models
      in a joint simulation.

PMID- 28596731
TI  - Gait Is Associated with Cognitive Flexibility: A Dual-Tasking Study in Healthy
      Older People.
AB  - Objectives: To analyze which gait parameters are primarily influenced by
      cognitive flexibility, and whether such an effect depends on the walking
      condition used. Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Setting: Tubingen evaluation of
      Risk factors for Early detection of Neurodegenerative Disorders. Participants: A
      total of 661 non-demented individuals (49-80 years). Measurements: A gait
      assessment with four conditions was performed: a 20 m walk at convenient speed
      (C), at fast speed (F), at fast speed while checking boxes (FB), and while
      subtracting serial 7s (FS). Seven gait parameters from a wearable sensor-unit
      (McRoberts, Netherlands) were compared with delta Trail-Making-Test (dTMT)
      values, which is a measure of cognitive flexibility. Walking strategies of good
      and poor dTMT performers were compared by evaluating the patterns of gait
      parameters across conditions. Results: Five parameters correlated significantly
      with the dTMT in the FS condition, two parameters in the F and FB condition, and
      none in the C condition. Overall correlations were relatively weak. Gait speed
      was the gait parameter that most strongly correlated with the dTMT (r2 = 7.4%).
      In good, but not poor, dTMT performers differences between FB and FS were
      significantly different in variability-associated gait parameters. Conclusion:
      Older individuals need cognitive flexibility to perform difficult walking
      conditions. This association is best seen in gait speed. New and particularly
      relevant for recognition and training of deficits is that older individuals with
      poor cognitive flexibility have obviously fewer resources to adapt to challenging
      walking conditions. Our findings partially explain gait deficits in older adults
      with poor cognitive flexibility.

PMID- 28596732
TI  - Moderating Effects of Cortisol on Neural-Cognitive Association in Cognitively
      Normal Elderly Subjects.
AB  - Cortisol homeostasis is important for healthy brain and cognitive aging. The aim
      of the current study is to investigate the role of serum cortisol levels in the
      relationship between regional brain volumes and cognitive processing speed in a
      group of cognitively normal elderly subjects. Forty-one healthy elderly
      participants were from a parallel longitudinal study. The reported data in this
      study reflects baseline measurements. Whole-brain anatomical scanning was
      performed using a 3.0 Tesla Philips Medical Systems Achieva scanner. Cognitive
      processing speed was assessed by the digit-symbol and symbol search tests, from
      the Chinese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-third edition (WAIS
      III). Serum cortisol levels (sampled in the late morning) were measured by ELISA
      kits. Whole-brain regression analysis revealed that serum cortisol levels
      positively predicted the white matter volumes (WMV) of the right thalamus, the
      gray matter volumes (GMV) of the left thalamus and right cerebellar tonsil, and
      negatively predicted the WMV and GMV of the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) in
      41 healthy elderly participants. Furthermore, serum cortisol significantly
      moderated the relationship between the GMV of the left MTG and processing speed,
      as well as the GMV of the left thalamus and processing speed. This study provided
      the first piece of evidence supporting serum cortisol levels in moderating the
      relationship between regional brain volumes and processing speed in healthy
      elderly subjects. This observation enriches our understanding of the role of
      cortisol in brain morphology and cognitive functioning.

PMID- 28596733
TI  - Melatonin Supplementation, a Strategy to Prevent Neurological Diseases through
      Maintaining Integrity of Blood Brain Barrier in Old People.
AB  - Blood brain barrier (BBB) plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis of
      microenvironment that is essential to neural function of the central nervous
      system (CNS). When facing various extrinsic or intrinsic stimuli, BBB is damaged
      which is an early event in pathogenesis of a variety of neurological diseases in
      old patients including acute and chronic cerebral ischemia, Alzheimer's disease
      and etc. Treatments that could maintain the integrity of BBB may prevent
      neurological diseases following various stimuli. Old people often face a common
      stress of sepsis, during which lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is released into
      circulation and the integrity of BBB is damaged. Of note, there is a significant
      decrease of melatonin level in old people and animal. Melatonin has been shown to
      preserves BBB integrity and permeability via a variety of pathways: inhibition of
      matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), inhibition of NADPH oxidase-2, and impact on
      silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) and nucleotide-binding oligomerization
      domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. More
      important, a recent study showed that melatonin supplementation alleviates LPS
      induced BBB damage in old mice through activating AMP-activated protein kinase
      (AMPK) and inhibiting gp91phox, suggesting that melatonin supplementation may
      help prevent neurological diseases through maintaining the integrity of BBB in
      old people.

PMID- 28596734
TI  - Characterization and Expression of Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptors in Human and
      Rat Heart.
AB  - Aim: Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), sphingolipid derivatives are known anti
      inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-oxidant agent. S1P have been demonstrated
      to have a role in the cardiovascular system. The purpose of this study was to
      understand the precise expression and distribution of S1P receptors (S1PRs) in
      human and rat cardiovascular tissues to know the significance and possible
      implementation of our experimental studies in rat models. Methods and Results: In
      this study, we investigated the localization of S1PRs in human heart samples from
      cardiac surgery department, University of Verona Hospital and rat samples.
      Immunohistochemical investigation of paraffin-embedded sections illustrated
      diffused staining of the myocardial samples from human and rat. The signals of
      the human heart were similar to those of the rat heart in all chambers of the
      heart. The immunohistochemical expression levels correlated well with the results
      of RT-PCR-based analysis and western blotting. We confirmed by all techniques
      that S1PR1 expressed strongly as compared to S1PR3, and are uniformly distributed
      in all chambers of the heart with no significant difference in human and rat
      myocardial tissue. S1PR2 expression was significantly weak while S1PR4 and S1PR5
      were not detectable in RT-PCR results in both human and rat heart. Conclusion:
      These results indicate that experimental studies using S1PR agonists on rat
      models are more likely to have a potential for translation into clinical studies,
      and second important information revealed by this study is, S1P receptor agonist
      can be used for cardioprotection in global ischemia-reperfusion injury.

PMID- 28596735
TI  - Diet Composition and Variability of Wild Octopus vulgaris and Alloteuthis media
      (Cephalopoda) Paralarvae: a Metagenomic Approach.
AB  - The high mortality of cephalopod early stages is the main bottleneck to grow them
      from paralarvae to adults in culture conditions, probably because the inadequacy
      of the diet that results in malnutrition. Since visual analysis of digestive
      tract contents of paralarvae provides little evidence of diet composition, the
      use of molecular tools, particularly next generation sequencing (NGS) platforms,
      offers an alternative to understand prey preferences and nutrient requirements of
      wild paralarvae. In this work, we aimed to determine the diet of paralarvae of
      the loliginid squid Alloteuthis media and to enhance the knowledge of the diet of
      recently hatched Octopus vulgaris paralarvae collected in different areas and
      seasons in an upwelling area (NW Spain). DNA from the dissected digestive glands
      of 32 A. media and 64 O. vulgaris paralarvae was amplified with universal primers
      for the mitochondrial gene COI, and specific primers targeting the mitochondrial
      gene 16S gene of arthropods and the mitochondrial gene 16S of Chordata. Following
      high-throughput DNA sequencing with the MiSeq run (Illumina), up to 4,124,464
      reads were obtained and 234,090 reads of prey were successfully identified in
      96.87 and 81.25% of octopus and squid paralarvae, respectively. Overall, we
      identified 122 Molecular Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) belonging to several taxa of
      decapods, copepods, euphausiids, amphipods, echinoderms, molluscs, and hydroids.
      Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed seasonal and spatial variability in the diet of
      O. vulgaris and spatial variability in A. media diet. General Additive Models
      (GAM) of the most frequently detected prey families of O. vulgaris revealed
      seasonal variability of the presence of copepods (family Paracalanidae) and
      ophiuroids (family Euryalidae), spatial variability in presence of crabs (family
      Pilumnidae) and preference in small individual octopus paralarvae for cladocerans
      (family Sididae) and ophiuroids. No statistically significant variation in the
      occurrences of the most frequently identified families was revealed in A. media.
      Overall, these results provide new clues about dietary preferences of wild
      cephalopod paralarvae, thus opening up new scenarios for research on trophic
      ecology and digestive physiology under controlled conditions.

PMID- 28596736
TI  - Claudin Loss-of-Function Disrupts Tight Junctions and Impairs Amelogenesis.
AB  - Claudins are a family of proteins that forms paracellular barriers and pores
      determining tight junctions (TJ) permeability. Claudin-16 and -19 are pore
      forming TJ proteins allowing calcium and magnesium reabsorption in the thick
      ascending limb of Henle's loop (TAL). Loss-of-function mutations in the encoding
      genes, initially identified to cause Familial Hypomagnesemia with Hypercalciuria
      and Nephrocalcinosis (FHHNC), were recently shown to be also involved in
      Amelogenesis Imperfecta (AI). In addition, both claudins were expressed in the
      murine tooth germ and Claudin-16 knockout (KO) mice displayed abnormal enamel
      formation. Claudin-3, an ubiquitous claudin expressed in epithelia including
      kidney, acts as a barrier-forming tight junction protein. We determined that,
      similarly to claudin-16 and claudin-19, claudin-3 was expressed in the tooth
      germ, more precisely in the TJ located at the apical end of secretory
      ameloblasts. The observation of Claudin-3 KO teeth revealed enamel defects
      associated to impaired TJ structure at the secretory ends of ameloblasts and
      accumulation of matrix proteins in the forming enamel. Thus, claudin-3 protein
      loss-of-function disturbs amelogenesis similarly to claudin-16 loss-of-function,
      highlighting the importance of claudin proteins for the TJ structure. These
      findings unravel that loss-of-function of either pore or barrier-forming TJ
      proteins leads to enamel defects. Hence, the major structural function of claudin
      proteins appears essential for amelogenesis.

PMID- 28596737
TI  - Commentary: Validation of a Ramp Running Protocol for Determination of the True
      VO2max in Mice.

PMID- 28596738
TI  - Intensity- and Duration-Based Options to Regulate Endurance Training.
AB  - The regulation of endurance training is usually based on the prescription of
      exercise intensity. Exercise duration, another important variable of training
      load, is rarely prescribed by individual measures and mostly set from experience.
      As the specific exercise duration for any intensity plays a substantial role
      regarding the different kind of cellular stressors, degree, and kind of fatigue
      as well as training effects, concepts integrating the prescription of both
      intensity and duration within one model are needed. An according recent approach
      was the critical power concept which seems to have a physiological basis;
      however, the mathematical approach of this concept does not allow applying the
      three zones/two threshold model of metabolism and its different physiological
      consequences. Here we show the combination of exercise intensity and duration
      prescription on an individual basis applying the power/speed to distance/time
      relationship. The concept is based on both the differentiation of intensities by
      two lactate or gas exchange variables derived turn points, and on the
      relationship between power (or velocity) and duration (or distance). The turn
      points define three zones of intensities with distinct acute metabolic, hormonal,
      and cardio-respiratory responses for endurance exercise. A maximal duration
      exists for any single power or velocity such as described in the power-duration
      relationship. Using percentages of the maximal duration allows regulating
      fatigue, recovery time, and adaptation for any single endurance training session.
      Four domains of duration with respect to induced fatigue can be derived from
      maximal duration obtained by the power-duration curve. For any micro-cycle,
      target intensities and durations may be chosen on an individual basis. The model
      described here is the first conceptual framework of integrating physiologically
      defined intensities and fatigue related durations to optimize high-performance
      exercise training.

PMID- 28596740
TI  - Ultrasound Imaging of Mouse Fetal Intracranial Hemorrhage Due to
      Ischemia/Reperfusion.
AB  - Despite vast improvement in perinatal care during the 30 years, the incidence
      rate of neonatal encephalopathy remains unchanged without any further Progress
      towards preventive strategies for the clinical impasse. Antenatal brain injury
      including fetal intracranial hemorrhage caused by ischemia/reperfusion is known
      as one of the primary triggers of neonatal injury. However, the mechanisms of
      antenatal brain injury are poorly understood unless better predictive models of
      the disease are developed. Here we show a mouse model for fetal intracranial
      hemorrhage in vivo developed to investigate the actual timing of hypoxia-ischemic
      events and their related mechanisms of injury. Intrauterine growth restriction
      mouse fetuses were exposed to ischemia/reperfusion cycles by occluding and
      opening the uterine and ovarian arteries in the mother. The presence and timing
      of fetal intracranial hemorrhage caused by the ischemia/reperfusion were measured
      with histological observation and ultrasound imaging. Protein-restricted diet
      increased the risk of fetal intracranial hemorrhage. The monitoring of fetal
      brains by ultrasound B-mode imaging clarified that cerebral hemorrhage in the
      fetal brain occurred after the second ischemic period. Three-dimensional
      ultrasound power Doppler imaging visualized the disappearance of main blood flows
      in the fetal brain. These indicate a breakdown of cerebrovascular autoregulation
      which causes the fetal intracranial hemorrhage. This study supports the fact that
      the ischemia/reperfusion triggers cerebral hemorrhage in the fetal brain. The
      present method enables us to noninvasively create the cerebral hemorrhage in a
      fetus without directly touching the body but with repeated occlusion and opening
      of the uterine and ovarian arteries in the mother.

PMID- 28596739
TI  - RANK/RANKL/OPG Signalization Implication in Periodontitis: New Evidence from a
      RANK Transgenic Mouse Model.
AB  - Periodontitis is based on a complex inflammatory over-response combined with
      possible genetic predisposition factors. The RANKL/RANK/OPG signaling pathway is
      implicated in bone resorption through its key function in osteoclast
      differentiation and activation, as well as in the inflammatory response. This
      central element of osteo-immunology has been suggested to be perturbed in several
      diseases, including periodontitis, as it is a predisposing factor for this
      disease. The aim of the present study was to validate this hypothesis using a
      transgenic mouse line, which over-expresses RANK (RTg) and develops a
      periodontitis-like phenotype at 5 months of age. RTg mice exhibited severe
      alveolar bone loss, an increased number of TRAP positive cells, and
      disorganization of periodontal ligaments. This phenotype was more pronounced in
      females. We also observed dental root resorption lacunas. Hyperplasia of the
      gingival epithelium, including Malassez epithelial rests, was visible as early as
      25 days, preceding any other symptoms. These results demonstrate that
      perturbations of the RANKL/RANK/OPG system constitute a core element of
      periodontitis, and more globally, osteo-immune diseases.

PMID- 28596741
TI  - Commentary: A Neural Basis for the Acquired Capacity for Suicide.

PMID- 28596742
TI  - Assessing the Growth of Ethical Banking: Some Evidence from Spanish Customers.
AB  - Aristotle, who, having predated Adam Smith by 2000 years, deserves to be
      recognized as the world's first economist (Solomon, 1995), distinguished between
      two different senses of what we call economics: oikonomikos, or household
      trading, which he approved of and considered essential to the working of any even
      slightly complex society, and chrematisike, or trade for profit, which he
      considered selfish and utterly devoid of virtue, calling those who engaged in
      such practices "parasites". Of course, consumers do not purchase and invest for
      solely economic reasons (Polanyi, 1944). Interest in ethics in economics has been
      the subject of continuous study. In this regard, the recent financial crisis has
      had not only economic, but also social, psychological, political, and ethical
      consequences, which have impacted the financial and banking system. Consumers are
      no longer drawn only by the economic return but also by ethical factors. Ethical
      banking is on the rise. This paper aims to explain the reasons for the growth in
      ethical banking and to answer the following questions: can banking consumers
      investors change the characterization of the banking system? Can ethical banking
      gain ground on traditional banking? And is ethical banking really effective? To
      this end, it will examine the Spanish case, using econometric causal regression
      models to identify the reasons why consumers decide to invest in ethical banking
      and determine its role in the Spanish economy.

PMID- 28596743
TI  - General and Food-Specific Inhibitory Control As Moderators of the Effects of the
      Impulsive Systems on Food Choices.
AB  - The present study aimed to extend the application of the reflective-impulsive
      model to restrained eating and explore the effect of automatic attention
      (impulsive system) on food choices. Furthermore, we examined the moderating
      effects of general inhibitory control (G-IC) and food-specific inhibitory control
      (F-IC) on successful and unsuccessful restrained eaters (US-REs). Automatic
      attention was measured using "the EyeLink 1000," which tracked eye movements
      during the process of making food choices, and G-IC and F-IC were measured using
      the Stop-Signal Task. The results showed that food choices were related to
      automatic attention and that G-IC and F-IC moderated the predictive relationship
      between automatic attention and food choices. Furthermore, among successful
      restrained eaters (S-REs), automatic attention to high caloric foods did not
      predict food choices, regardless of whether G-IC or F-IC was high or low. Whereas
      food choice was positively correlated with automatic attention among US-REs with
      poor F-IC, this pattern was not observed in those with poor G-IC. In conclusion,
      the S-REs had more effective self-management skills and their food choices were
      affected less by automatic attention and inhibitory control. Unsuccessful
      restrained eating was associated with poor F-IC (not G-IC) and greater automatic
      attention to high caloric foods. Thus, clinical interventions should focus on
      enhancing F-IC, not G-IC, and on reducing automatic attention to high caloric
      foods.

PMID- 28596744
TI  - Commentary: The Social Dilemma of Autonomous Vehicles.

PMID- 28596745
TI  - Negative Affectivity Predicts Lower Quality of Life and Metabolic Control in Type
      2 Diabetes Patients: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.
AB  - Introduction: It is essential to consider the clinical assessment of
      psychological aspects in patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM), in order to
      prevent potentially adverse self-management care behaviors leading to diabetes
      related complications, including declining levels of Quality of Life (QoL) and
      negative metabolic control. Purpose: In the framework of Structural Equation
      Modeling (SEM), the specific aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of
      distressed personality factors as Negative Affectivity (NA) and Social Inhibition
      (SI) on diabetes-related clinical variables (i.e., QoL and glycemic control).
      Methods: The total sample consists of a clinical sample, including 159
      outpatients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), and a control group composed of
      102 healthy respondents. All participants completed the following self- rating
      scales: The Type D Scale (DS14) and the World Health Organization QoL Scale
      (WHOQOLBREF). Furthermore, the participants of the clinical group were assessed
      for HbA1c, disease duration, and BMI. The observed covariates were BMI, gender,
      and disease duration, while HbA1c was considered an observed variable. Results:
      SEM analysis revealed significant differences between groups in regards to the
      latent construct of NA and the Environmental dimension of QoL. For the clinical
      sample, SEM showed that NA had a negative impact on both QoL dimensions and
      metabolic control. Conclusions: Clinical interventions aiming to improve
      medication adherence in patients with T2DM should include the psychological
      evaluation of Type D Personality traits, by focusing especially on its component
      of NA as a significant risk factor leading to negative health outcomes.

PMID- 28596746
TI  - A Systematic Review of Psychosocial Interventions to Cancer Caregivers.
AB  - Objective: To systematically review the effect of psychosocial interventions on
      improving QoL, depression and anxiety of cancer caregivers. Methods: We conducted
      a systematic review of psychosocial interventions among adult cancer caregivers
      published from 2011 to 2016. PsycINFO, PubMed, Proquest, Cochrane Library,
      Embase, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Cumulative Index to
      Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and
      EBSCO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and WANFANG were searched.
      Inclusion criteria were: randomized controlled trails (RCTs); psychosocial
      intervention to cancer caregivers; psychosocial health indicators including
      quality of life, depression or anxiety. Results: 21 studies out of 4,666
      identified abstracts met inclusion criteria, including 19 RCTs. The intervention
      modes fell into the following nine categories: family connect intervention, self
      determination theory-based intervention (SDT), cognitive behavioral therapy
      (CBT), emotion-focused therapy (EFT), comprehensive health enhancement support
      system (CHESS), FOCUS programme, existential behavioral therapy (EBT), telephone
      interpersonal counseling (TIP-C), problem-solving intervention (COPE).
      Conclusion: paired-intervention targeting self-care and interpersonal connections
      of caregivers and symptom management of patients is effective in improving
      quality of life and alleviating depression of cancer caregivers while music
      therapy is helpful for reducing anxiety of cancer caregivers.

PMID- 28596747
TI  - Personality Styles of German-Speaking Psychotherapists Differ from a Norm, and
      Male Psychotherapists Differ from Their Female Colleagues.
AB  - Variables pertaining to the person of the psychotherapist have been neglected in
      psychotherapy research for some time. Concerning personality in particular,
      however, research has mostly focused on its relation with the psychotherapist's
      choice of method, or differences between the various major therapy approaches.
      That is, psychotherapists were compared to each other without specifying how
      exactly psychotherapists are in comparison to "ordinary people." We wanted to
      know: Are there specific personality styles that distinguish psychotherapists
      from the norm? A sample of 1,027 psychotherapists from Germany, Austria, and
      Switzerland filled out the short version of the Personality Style and Disorder
      Inventory (PSDI-S) via online survey. The PSDI-S is a self-report questionnaire
      that assesses 14 personality styles, partly related to the non-pathological
      equivalents of classifiable personality disorders. The psychotherapists were
      compared to a normative sample of 3,392 people of different professions. The
      results could be divided into three groups: (1) Large differences in four
      personality styles that might contribute to relationship skills and may enable
      psychotherapists to put their own personal opinion aside, show empathy and
      appreciation, open themselves to the emotional experience of the patient, and
      provide a trusting relationship. (2) Moderate differences in seven personality
      styles that are equally indicative of the professional social skills of the
      psychotherapists, i.e., they were neither submissive nor passive, not excessively
      helpful, but also not too self-assertive. (3) Hardly any or no differences
      regarding a charming (histrionic) style, optimism, and conscientiousness. Gender
      specific results revealed that male psychotherapists differed from their female
      colleagues, but they did so differently than men and women in the normative
      sample do. The main limitations were that we relied on self-report and did not
      statistically control for gender, age, and education, when comparing to the norm.
      As a conclusion, German-speaking psychotherapists show personality styles that we
      interpret as functional for psychotherapeutic practice but this needs
      corroboration from studies that use different methods and measures.

PMID- 28596748
TI  - The Infant Version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB):
      Measurement Properties and Implications for Concepts of Temperament.
AB  - We describe large-sample research using the Infant Laboratory Temperament
      Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB; Goldsmith and Rothbart, 1996) in 1,076 infants at 6
      and 12 months of age. The Lab-TAB was designed to assess temperament dimensions
      through a series of episodes that mimic everyday situations. Our goal is to
      provide guidelines for scoring Lab-TAB episodes to derive temperament composites.
      We also present a set of analyses examining mean differences and stability of
      temperament in early infancy, gender differences in infant temperament, as well
      as a validation of Lab-TAB episodes and composites with parent reported Infant
      Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart, 1981) scales. In general, laboratory
      observed temperament was only modestly related to parent reported temperament.
      However, temperament measures were significantly stable across time and several
      gender differences that align with previous research emerged. In sum, the Lab-TAB
      usefully assesses individual differences in infant emotionality.

PMID- 28596749
TI  - Measures of Dogs' Inhibitory Control Abilities Do Not Correlate across Tasks.
AB  - Inhibitory control, the ability to overcome prepotent but ineffective behaviors,
      has been studied extensively across species, revealing the involvement of this
      ability in many different aspects of life. While various different paradigms have
      been created in order to measure inhibitory control, only a limited number of
      studies have investigated whether such measurements indeed evaluate the same
      underlying mechanism, especially in non-human animals. In humans, inhibitory
      control is a complex construct composed of distinct behavioral processes rather
      than of a single unified measure. In the current study, we aimed to investigate
      the validity of inhibitory control paradigms in dogs. Sixty-seven dogs were
      tested in a battery consisting of frequently used inhibitory control tests.
      Additionally, dog owners were asked to complete an impulsivity questionnaire
      about their dog. No correlation of dogs' performance across tasks was found. In
      order to understand whether there are some underlying behavioral aspects
      explaining dogs' performance across tests, we performed principle component
      analyses. Results revealed that three components (persistency, compulsivity and
      decision speed) explained the variation across tasks. The questionnaire and dogs'
      individual characteristics (i.e., age and sex) provided only limited information
      for the derived components. Overall, results suggest that no unique measurement
      for inhibitory control exists in dogs, but tests rather measure different aspects
      of this ability. Considering the context-specificity of inhibitory control in
      dogs and most probably also in other non-human animals, extreme caution is needed
      when making conclusions about inhibitory control abilities based on a single
      test.

PMID- 28596750
TI  - Self-Concept in Childhood: The Role of Body Image and Sport Practice.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in satisfaction with
      body image depending on whether the subject practices organized sport or not, as
      well as the gender of the children. In addition, the study aims to examine the
      role of body image and the practice of organized sport on the process of building
      the academic, social, emotional, family and physical dimensions of self-concept
      in childhood. To do so, a sample of 944 pupils was used. These children were
      attending primary school in different centers of the Autonomous Community of
      Extremadura (Spain) and were between 9 and 12 years of age. The main results of
      the study show that three out of every four children participating in this study
      were not satisfied with their figure and one out of every five was very
      dissatisfied. The satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the figure was similar in
      boys and girls, although it could be appreciated that the ideal body image is
      partly conditioned by gender stereotypes. The children most satisfied with their
      body image had a greater academic and physical self-concept. The children that
      practiced organized sports had a greater physical and emotional self-concept. The
      children most dissatisfied with their body image and practiced organized sports
      had a lower family self-concept. All these findings are discussed with reference
      to previous research literature.

PMID- 28596751
TI  - How Do Discrepancies between Victimization and Rejection Expectations in Gay and
      Bisexual Men Relate to Mental Health Problems?
AB  - Introduction: Victimization and rejection expectations predict mental health
      problems in gay and bisexual men. Furthermore, it was shown that victimization
      predicts rejection expectations. Nevertheless, the levels of these two variables
      do not necessarily correspond as indicated by low inter-correlations, resulting
      in the question "How do discrepancies in the two variables relate to mental
      health problems?" This study tests if non-corresponding levels of victimization
      and rejection expectations in gay and bisexual men relate to mental health
      problems differently than corresponding levels of victimization and rejection
      expectations. It furthermore tests for linear and curvilinear relationships
      between victimization, rejection expectations, and mental health problems.
      Methods: Data from N = 1423 gay and bisexual men were obtained online.
      Victimization and rejection expectations were tested for discrepant values
      (differing 0.5 SD or more) and those that were in agreement (differing less than
      0.5): 33.7% of participants were in agreement, 33.0% reported higher rejection
      expectations than victimization, and 33.3% v.v. Then, a polynomial regression and
      a surface analysis were conducted. Results: Discrepant values in victimization
      and rejection expectations or the direction of the discrepancy did not relevantly
      predict mental health problems. Findings indicate that victimization and
      rejection expectations predict mental health problems linearly as well as
      convexly (upward curving) in gay and bisexual men. Discussion: This study
      replicates findings that gay and bisexual men with more experiences of
      victimization and rejection expectations demonstrated more mental health
      problems. Furthermore, this study is the first one to find a convex relationship
      between these predictors and mental health problems, implicating that
      disproportionally high mental health problems exist in those gay and bisexual men
      with high levels of victimization and rejection expectations. On the other hand,
      discrepancies between these two variables do not predict mental health problems.
      Future studies are needed to test for replication of our findings.

PMID- 28596753
TI  - Auditory Processing after Early Left Hemisphere Injury: A Case Report.
AB  - Few studies have addressed the long-term outcomes of early brain injury,
      especially after hemorrhagic stroke. This is the first study to report a case of
      acquired auditory processing disorder in a 10-year-old child who had a severe
      left hemorrhagic cerebral infarction at 13 months of age, compromising nearly all
      of the left temporal lobe. This case, therefore, is an excellent and rare
      opportunity to investigate the presence of neural plasticity of central auditory
      system in a developing brain followed severe brain damage. After assuring normal
      functioning of the peripheral auditory system, a series of behavioral auditory
      processing tests was applied in dichotic and monaural listening conditions and
      with verbal and non-verbal stimuli. For all verbal dichotic tasks (dichotic
      digits, competing words, and sentences tests), good performance on the left ear,
      especially for Dichotic digits test (100%), and zero performance on the right ear
      were observed. For monaural low-redundancy tests, the patient also exhibited good
      performance for auditory figure-ground and time-compressed sentences tests in the
      left ear. In the right ear, a very poor performance was observed, but slightly
      better than the same in Dichotic tasks. Impaired performance was also observed in
      the LiSN test in terms of spatial advantage and, for the Pitch Pattern Sequence
      test, the only non-verbal test applied, the patient had performance within the
      normal range in both ears. These results are interpreted taking into
      consideration the anatomical location of stroke lesion and also the influence of
      hemispheric specialization for language on auditory processing performance.

PMID- 28596752
TI  - The Retina in Multiple System Atrophy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare, adult-onset, rapidly
      progressive fatal synucleinopathy that primarily affects oligodendroglial cells
      in the brain. Patients with MSA only rarely have visual complaints, but recent
      studies of the retina using optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed atrophy of
      the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and to a lesser extent the
      macular ganglion cell layer (GCL) complex. METHODS: We performed a literature
      review and meta-analysis according to the preferred reporting items for
      systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines for studies published before
      January 2017, identified through PubMed and Google Scholar databases, which
      reported OCT-related outcomes in patients with MSA and controls. A random-effects
      model was constructed. RESULTS: The meta-analysis search strategy yielded 15
      articles of which 7 met the inclusion criteria. The pooled difference in the
      average thickness of the RNFL was -5.48 MUm (95% CI, -6.23 to -4.73; p < 0.0001),
      indicating significant thinning in patients with MSA. The pooled results showed
      significant thinning in all the specific RNFL quadrants, except in the temporal
      RNFL quadrant, where the thickness in MSA and controls was similar [pooled
      difference of 1.11 um (95% CI, -4.03 to 6.26; p = 0.67)]. This pattern of retinal
      damage suggests that MSA patients have preferential loss of retinal ganglion
      cells projecting to the magnocellular pathway (M-cells), which are mainly located
      in the peripheral retina and are not essential for visual acuity. Visual acuity,
      on the other hand, relies mostly on macular ganglion cells projecting to the
      parvocellular pathway (P-cells) through the temporal portion of the RNFL, which
      are relatively spared in MSA patients. CONCLUSION: The retinal damage in patients
      with MSA differs from that observed in patients with Parkinson disease (PD).
      Patients with MSA have more relative preservation of temporal sector of the RNFL
      and less severe atrophy of the macular GCL complex. We hypothesize that in
      patients with MSA there is predominant damage of large myelinated optic nerve
      axons like those originating from the M-cells. These large axons may require
      higher support from oligodendrocytes. Conversely, in patients with PD, P-cells
      might be more affected.

PMID- 28596754
TI  - Angiotensins and Huntington's Disease: A Study on Immortalized Progenitor
      Striatal Cell Lines.
AB  - Neurons from mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD) exhibit altered
      electrophysiological properties, potentially contributing to neuronal dysfunction
      and neurodegeneration. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a potential
      contributor to the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the
      role of angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensin (1-7) has not been characterized
      in HD. We investigated the influence of Ang II and angiotensin (1-7) on total
      potassium current using immortalized progenitor mutant huntingtin-expressing
      (Q111) and wild-type (Q7) cell lines. Measurements of potassium current were
      performed using the whole cell configuration of pCLAMP. The results showed that
      (1) the effect of Ang II administered to the bath caused a negligible effect on
      potassium current in mutant Q111 cells compared with wild-type Q7 cells and that
      intracellular administration of Ang II reduced the potassium current in wild type
      but not in mutant cells; (2) the small effect of Ang II was abolished by
      losartan; (3) intracellular administration of Ang II performed in mutant
      huntingtin-expressing Q111 cells revealed a negligible effect of the peptide on
      potassium current; (4) flow cytometer analysis indicated a low expression of Ang
      II AT1 receptors in mutant Q111 cells; (5) mutant huntingtin-expressing striatal
      cells are highly sensitive to Ang (1-7) and that the effect of Ang (1-7) is
      related to the activation of Mas receptors. In conclusion, mutant huntingtin
      expressing cells showed a negligible effect of Ang II on potassium current, a
      result probably due to the reduced expression of AT1 receptors at the surface
      cell membrane. In contrast, administration of Ang (1-7) to the bath showed a
      significant decline of the potassium current in mutant cells, an effect dependent
      on the activation of Mas receptors. Ang II had an intracrine effect in wild-type
      cells and Ang (1-7) exerted a significant effect in mutant huntingtin-expressing
      striatal cells.

PMID- 28596755
TI  - Genetic Diversity and Virulence Determinants of Escherichia coli Strains Isolated
      from Patients with Crohn's Disease in Spain and Chile.
AB  - Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) strains are genetically variable and
      virulence factors for AIEC are non-specific. FimH is the most studied
      pathogenicity-related protein, and there have been few studies on other proteins,
      such as Serine Protease Autotransporters of Enterobacteriacea (SPATEs). The goal
      of this study is to characterize E. coli strains isolated from patients with
      Crohn's disease (CD) in Chile and Spain, and identify genetic differences between
      strains associated with virulence markers and clonality. We characterized
      virulence factors and genetic variability by pulse field electrophoresis (PFGE)
      in 50 E. coli strains isolated from Chilean and Spanish patients with CD, and
      also determined which of these strains presented an AIEC phenotype. Twenty-six E.
      coli strains from control patients were also included. PFGE patterns were
      heterogeneous and we also observed a highly diverse profile of virulence genes
      among all E. coli strains obtained from patients with CD, including those strains
      defined as AIEC. Two iron transporter genes chuA, and irp2, were detected in
      various combinations in 68-84% of CD strains. We found that the most significant
      individual E. coli genetic marker associated with CD E. coli strains was chuA. In
      addition, patho-adaptative fimH mutations were absent in some of the highly
      adherent and invasive strains. The fimH adhesin, the iron transporter irp2, and
      Class-2 SPATEs did not show a significant association with CD strains. The V27A
      fimH mutation was detected in the most CD strains. This study highlights the
      genetic variability of E. coli CD strains from two distinct geographic origins,
      most of them affiliated with the B2 or D E. coli phylogroups and also reveals
      that nearly 40% of Chilean and Spanish CD patients are colonized with E.coli with
      a characteristic AIEC phenotype.

PMID- 28596756
TI  - Grand Challenge in Plant Virology: Understanding the Impact of Plant Viruses in
      Model Plants, in Agricultural Crops, and in Complex Ecosystems.

PMID- 28596757
TI  - Time-Resolved Tracking of Mutations Reveals Diverse Allele Dynamics during
      Escherichia coli Antimicrobial Adaptive Evolution to Single Drugs and Drug Pairs.
AB  - Understanding the evolutionary processes that lead to antibiotic resistance can
      help to achieve better treatment strategies. Yet, little is known about the
      dynamics of the resistance alleles during adaptation. Here, we use population
      sequencing to monitor genetic changes in putative resistance loci at several time
      points during adaptive evolution experiments involving five different antibiotic
      conditions. We monitor the mutational spectra in lineages evolved to be resistant
      to single antibiotics [amikacin (AMK), chloramphenicol (CHL), and ciprofloxacin
      (CIP)], as well as antibiotic combinations (AMK + CHL and CHL + CIP). We find
      that lineages evolved to antibiotic combinations exhibit different resistance
      allele dynamics compared with those of single-drug evolved lineages, especially
      for a drug pair with reciprocal collateral sensitivity. During adaptation, we
      observed interfering, superimposing and fixation allele dynamics. To further
      understand the selective forces driving specific allele dynamics, a subset of
      mutations were introduced into the ancestral wild type enabling differentiation
      between clonal interference and negative epistasis.

PMID- 28596759
TI  - BSocial: Deciphering Social Behaviors within Mixed Microbial Populations.
AB  - Ecosystem functionality depends on interactions among populations, of the same or
      different taxa, and these are not just the sum of pairwise interactions. Thus,
      know-how of the social interactions occurring in mixed-populations are of high
      interest, however they are commonly unknown due to the limitations posed in
      tagging each population. The limitations include costs/time in tediously
      fluorescent tagging, and the number of different fluorescent tags. Tag-free
      strategies exist, such as high-throughput sequencing, but ultimately both
      strategies require the use of expensive machinery. Our work appoints social
      behaviors on individual strains in mixed-populations, offering a web-tool
      (BSocial http://m4m.ugr.es/BSocial.html) for analyzing the community framework.
      Our quick and cheap approach includes the periodic monitoring of optical density
      (OD) from a full combinatorial testing of individual strains, where number of
      generations and growth rate are determined. The BSocial analyses then enable us
      to determine how the addition/absence of a particular species affects the net
      productivity of a microbial community and use this to select productive
      combinations, i.e., designate their social effect on a general community.
      Positive, neutral, or negative assignations are applied to describe the social
      behavior within the community by comparing fitness effects of the community
      against the individual strain. The usefulness of this tool for selection of
      optimal inoculum in biofilm-based methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) bioremediation
      was demonstrated. The studied model uses seven bacterial strains with diverse
      MTBE degradation/growth capacities. Full combinatorial testing of seven
      individual strains (triplicate tests of 127 combinations) were implemented, along
      with MTBE degradation as the desired function. Sole observation of highest
      species fitness did not render the best functional outcome, and only when strains
      with positive and neutral social assignations were mixed (Rhodococcus ruber EE6,
      Agrobacterium sp. MS2 and Paenibacillus etheri SH7), was this obtained.
      Furthermore, the use of positive and neutral strains in all its combinations had
      a significant higher degradation mean (x1.75) than exclusive negative strain
      combinations. Thus, social microbial processes benefit bioremediation more than
      negative social microbial combinations. The BSocial webtool is a great
      contributor to the study of social interactions in bioremediation processes, and
      may be used in other natural or synthetic habitat studies.

PMID- 28596758
TI  - A Functional Metagenomic Analysis of Tetracycline Resistance in Cheese Bacteria.
AB  - Metagenomic techniques have been successfully used to monitor antibiotic
      resistance genes in environmental, animal and human ecosystems. However, despite
      the claim that the food chain plays a key role in the spread of antibiotic
      resistance, metagenomic analysis has scarcely been used to investigate food
      systems. The present work reports a functional metagenomic analysis of the
      prevalence and evolution of tetracycline resistance determinants in a raw-milk,
      blue-veined cheese during manufacturing and ripening. For this, the same cheese
      batch was sampled and analyzed on days 3 and 60 of manufacture. Samples were
      diluted and grown in the presence of tetracycline on plate count milk agar (PCMA)
      (non-selective) and de Man Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar (selective for lactic
      acid bacteria, LAB). DNA from the cultured bacteria was then isolated and used to
      construct four fosmid libraries, named after the medium and sampling time: PCMA
      3D, PCMA-60D, MRS-3D, and MRS-60D. Clones in the libraries were subjected to
      restriction enzyme analysis, PCR amplification, and sequencing. Among the 300
      fosmid clones analyzed, 268 different EcoRI restriction profiles were
      encountered. Sequence homology of their extremes clustered the clones into 47
      groups. Representative clones of all groups were then screened for the presence
      of tetracycline resistance genes by PCR, targeting well-recognized genes coding
      for ribosomal protection proteins and efflux pumps. A single tetracycline
      resistance gene was detected in each of the clones, with four such resistance
      genes identified in total: tet(A), tet(L), tet(M), and tet(S). tet(A) was the
      only gene identified in the PCMA-3D library, and tet(L) the only one identified
      in the PCMA-60D and MRS-60D libraries. tet(M) and tet(S) were both detected in
      the MRS-3D library and in similar numbers. Six representative clones of the
      libraries were sequenced and analyzed. Long segments of all clones but one showed
      extensive homology to plasmids from Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
      tet(A) was found within a sequence showing strong similarity to plasmids pMAK2
      and pO26-Vir from Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli, respectively. All
      other genes were embedded in, or near to, sequences homologous to those of LAB
      species. These findings strongly suggest an evolution of tetracycline resistance
      gene types during cheese ripening, which might reflect the succession of the
      microbial populations. The location of the tetracycline resistance genes in
      plasmids, surrounded or directly flanked by open reading frames encoding
      transposases, invertases or mobilization proteins, suggests they might have a
      strong capacity for transference. Raw-milk cheeses should therefore be considered
      reservoirs of tetracycline resistance genes that might be horizontally
      transferred.

PMID- 28596760
TI  - In-depth Profiling of MvfR-Regulated Small Molecules in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      after Quorum Sensing Inhibitor Treatment.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium, which causes opportunistic
      infections in immuno-compromised individuals. Due to its multiple resistances
      toward antibiotics, the development of new drugs is required. Interfering with
      Quorum Sensing (QS), a cell-to-cell communication system, has shown to be highly
      efficient in reducing P. aeruginosa pathogenicity. One of its QS systems employs
      Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS) and 4-hydroxy-2-heptylquinoline (HHQ) as
      signal molecules. Both activate the transcriptional regulator MvfR (Multiple
      Virulence Factor Regulator), also called PqsR, driving the production of QS
      molecules as well as toxins and biofilm formation. The aim of this work was to
      elucidate the effects of QS inhibitors (QSIs), such as MvfR antagonists and PqsBC
      inhibitors, on the biosynthesis of the MvfR-regulated small molecules 2'
      aminoacetophenone (2-AA), dihydroxyquinoline (DHQ), HHQ, PQS, and 4-hydroxy-2
      heptylquinoline-N-oxide (HQNO). The employed synthetic MvfR antagonist fully
      inhibited pqs small molecule formation showing expected sigmoidal dose-response
      curves for 2-AA, HQNO, HHQ and PQS. Surprisingly, DHQ levels were enhanced at
      lower antagonist concentrations followed by a full suppression at higher QSI
      amounts. This particular bi-phasic profile hinted at the accumulation of a
      biosynthetic intermediate resulting in the observed overproduction of the shunt
      product DHQ. Additionally, investigations on PqsBC inhibitors showed a reduction
      of MvfR natural ligands, while increased 2-AA, DHQ and HQNO levels compared to
      the untreated cells were detected. Moreover, PqsBC inhibitors did not show any
      significant effect in PA14 pqsC mutant demonstrating their target selectivity. As
      2-AA is important for antibacterial tolerance, the QSIs were evaluated in their
      capability to attenuate persistence. Indeed, persister cells were reduced along
      with 2-AA inhibition resulting from MvfR antagonism, but not from PqsBC
      inhibition. In conclusion, antagonizing MvfR using a dosage capable of fully
      suppressing this QS system will lead to a favorable therapeutic outcome as DHQ
      overproduction is avoided and bacterial persistence is reduced.

PMID- 28596761
TI  - A Highlight for Non-Escherichia coli and Non-Salmonella sp. Enterobacteriaceae in
      Dairy Foods Contamination.

PMID- 28596762
TI  - Species Distribution and Prevalence of Putative Virulence Factors in Mesophilic
      Aeromonas spp. Isolated from Fresh Retail Sushi.
AB  - Aeromonas spp. are ubiquitous bacteria that have received increasing attention as
      human pathogens because of their widespread occurrence in food, especially
      seafood and vegetables. The aim of this work was to assess the species identity
      and phylogenetic relationship of 118 Aeromonas strains isolated from fresh retail
      sushi from three producers, and to characterize the isolates with respect to
      genetic and phenotypic virulence factors. We also evaluate the potential hazard
      associated with their presence in ready-to-eat seafood not subjected to heat
      treatment. Mesophilic Aeromonas salmonicida was most prevalent (74%), followed by
      A. bestiarum (9%), A. dhakensis (5%), A. caviae (5%), A. media (4%), A.
      hydrophila (2%), and A. piscicola (1%). All isolates were considered potentially
      pathogenic due to the high prevalence of genes encoding hemolysin (hlyA) (99%),
      aerolysin (aerA) (98%), cytotoxic enterotoxin (act) (86%), heat-labile cytotonic
      enterotoxin (alt) (99%), and heat-stable cytotonic enterotoxin (ast) (31%). The
      shiga-like toxins 1 and 2 (stx-1 and stx-2) were not detected. Moreover, there
      was heterogeneity in toxin gene distribution among the isolates, and the
      combination of act/alt/hlyA/aerA was most commonly detected (63%). beta-hemolysis
      was species-dependent and observed in 91% of the isolates. All A. media and A.
      caviae strains were non-hemolytic. For isolates belonging to this group, lack of
      hemolysis was possibly related to the absence of the act gene. Swimming motility,
      linked to adhesion and host invasion, occurred in 65% of the isolates. Partial
      sequencing of the gyrB gene demonstrated its suitability as a genetic marker for
      Aeromonas species identification and for assessment of the phylogenetic
      relationship between the isolates. The gyrB sequence divergence within a given
      species ranged from 1.3 to 2.9%. A. bestiarum, A. salmonicida, and A. piscicola
      were the most closely related species; their sequences differed by 2.7-3.4%. The
      average gyrB sequence similarity between all species was 93%, demonstrating its
      acceptable taxonomic resolution. The presence of multiple species of potential
      pathogenic Aeromonas in fresh retail sushi raises new food safety issues related
      to the increased consumption of ready-to-eat food composed of raw ingredients.

PMID- 28596763
TI  - Methanogenic Community Was Stable in Two Contrasting Freshwater Marshes Exposed
      to Elevated Atmospheric CO2.
AB  - The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on soil microbial
      communities have been previously recorded. However, limited information is
      available regarding the response of methanogenic communities to elevated CO2 in
      freshwater marshes. Using high-throughput sequencing and real-time quantitative
      PCR, we compared the abundance and community structure of methanogens in
      different compartments (bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and roots) of Calamagrostis
      angustifolia and Carex lasiocarpa growing marshes under ambient (380 ppm) and
      elevated CO2 (700 ppm) atmospheres. C. lasiocarpa rhizosphere was a hotspot for
      potential methane production, based on the 10-fold higher abundance of the mcrA
      genes per dry weight. The two marshes and their compartments were occupied by
      different methanogenic communities. In the C. lasiocarpa marsh, archaeal family
      Methanobacteriaceae, Rice Cluster II, and Methanosaetaceae co-dominated in the
      bulk soil, while Methanobacteriaceae was the exclusively dominant methanogen in
      the rhizosphere soil and roots. Families Methanosarcinaceae and Methanocellaceae
      dominated in the bulk soil of C. angustifolia marsh. Conversely,
      Methanosarcinaceae and Methanocellaceae together with Methanobacteriaceae
      dominated in the rhizosphere soil and roots, respectively, in the C. angustifolia
      marsh. Elevated atmospheric CO2 increased plant photosynthesis and belowground
      biomass of C. lasiocarpa and C. angustifolia marshes. However, it did not
      significantly change the abundance (based on mcrA qPCR), diversity, or community
      structure (based on high-throughput sequencing) of methanogens in any of the
      compartments, irrespective of plant type. Our findings suggest that the
      population and species of the dominant methanogens had weak responses to elevated
      atmospheric CO2. However, minor changes in specific methanogenic taxa occurred
      under elevated atmospheric CO2. Despite minor changes, methanogenic communities
      in different compartments of two contrasting freshwater marshes were rather
      stable under elevated atmospheric CO2.

PMID- 28596764
TI  - The Structural and Functional Capacity of Ruminal and Cecal Microbiota in Growing
      Cattle Was Unaffected by Dietary Supplementation of Linseed Oil and Nitrate.
AB  - Microorganisms in the digestive tract of ruminants differ in their functionality
      and ability to use feed constituents. While cecal microbiota play an important
      role in post-rumen fermentation of residual substrates undigested in the rumen,
      limited knowledge exists regarding its structure and function. In this trial we
      investigated the effect of dietary supplementation with linseed oil and nitrate
      on methane emissions and on the structure of ruminal and cecal microbiota of
      growing bulls. Animals were allocated to either a CTL (control) or LINNIT (CTL
      supplemented with 1.9% linseed and 1.0% nitrates) diet. Methane emissions were
      measured using the GreenFeed system. Microbial diversity was assessed using
      amplicon sequencing of microbial genomic DNA. Additionally, total RNA was
      extracted from ruminal contents and functional mcrA and mtt genes were targeted
      in amplicon sequencing approach to explore the diversity of functional gene
      expression in methanogens. LINNIT had no effect on methane yield (g/kg DMI) even
      though it decreased methane production by 9% (g/day; P < 0.05).
      Methanobrevibacter- and Methanomassiliicoccaceae-related OTUs were more abundant
      in cecum (72 and 24%) compared to rumen (60 and 11%) irrespective of the diet (P
      < 0.05). Feeding LINNIT reduced the relative abundance of
      Methanomassiliicoccaceae mcrA cDNA reads in the rumen. Principal component
      analysis revealed significant differences in taxonomic composition and abundance
      of bacterial communities between rumen and cecum. Treatment decreased the
      relative abundance of a few Ruminococcaceae genera, without affecting global
      bacterial community structure. Our research confirms a high level of
      heterogeneity in species composition of microbial consortia in the main
      gastrointestinal compartments where feed is fermented in ruminants. There was a
      parallel between the lack of effect of LINNIT on ruminal and cecal microbial
      community structure and functions on one side and methane emission changes on the
      other. These results suggest that the sequencing strategy used here to study
      microbial diversity and function accurately reflected the absence of effect on
      methane phenotypes in bulls treated with linseed plus nitrate.

PMID- 28596765
TI  - Enzymatic Degradation of Aromatic and Aliphatic Polyesters by P. pastoris
      Expressed Cutinase 1 from Thermobifida cellulosilytica.
AB  - To study hydrolysis of aromatic and aliphatic polyesters cutinase 1 from
      Thermobifida cellulosilytica (Thc_Cut1) was expressed in P. pastoris. No
      significant differences between the expression of native Thc_Cut1 and of two
      glycosylation site knock out mutants (Thc_Cut1_koAsn and Thc_Cut1_koST)
      concerning the total extracellular protein concentration and volumetric activity
      were observed. Hydrolysis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was shown for all
      three enzymes based on quantification of released products by HPLC and similar
      concentrations of released terephthalic acid (TPA) and mono(2-hydroxyethyl)
      terephthalate (MHET) were detected for all enzymes. Both tested aliphatic
      polyesters poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3
      hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) were hydrolyzed by Thc_Cut1 and Thc_Cut1_koST, although
      PBS was hydrolyzed to significantly higher extent than PHBV. These findings were
      also confirmed via quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) analysis; for PHBV only a
      small mass change was observed while the mass of PBS thin films decreased by 93%
      upon enzymatic hydrolysis with Thc_Cut1. Although both enzymes led to similar
      concentrations of released products upon hydrolysis of PET and PHBV,
      Thc_Cut1_koST was found to be significantly more active on PBS than the native
      Thc_Cut1. Hydrolysis of PBS films by Thc_Cut1 and Thc_Cut1_koST was followed by
      weight loss and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Within 96 h of hydrolysis up
      to 92 and 41% of weight loss were detected with Thc_Cut1_koST and Thc_Cut1,
      respectively. Furthermore, SEM characterization of PBS films clearly showed that
      enzyme tretment resulted in morphological changes of the film surface.

PMID- 28596766
TI  - T Lymphocytes Influence the Mineralization Process of Bone.
AB  - Bone is a unique organ able to regenerate itself after injuries. This
      regeneration requires the local interplay between different biological systems
      such as inflammation and matrix formation. Structural reconstitution is initiated
      by an inflammatory response orchestrated by the host immune system. However, the
      individual role of T cells and B cells in regeneration and their relationship to
      bone tissue reconstitution remain unknown. Comparing bone and fracture healing in
      animals with and without mature T and B cells revealed the essential role of
      these immune cells in determining the tissue mineralization and thus the bone
      quality. Bone without mature T and B cells is stiffer when compared to wild-type
      bone thus lacking the elasticity that helps to absorb forces, thus preventing
      fractures. In-depth analysis showed dysregulations in collagen deposition and
      osteoblast distribution upon lack of mature T and B cells. These changes in
      matrix deposition have been correlated with T cells rather than B cells within
      this study. This work presents, for the first time, a direct link between immune
      cells and matrix formation during bone healing after fracture. It illustrates
      specifically the role of T cells in the collagen organization process and the
      lack thereof in the absence of T cells.

PMID- 28596767
TI  - Reciprocal Crosstalk between Dendritic Cells and Natural Killer T Cells:
      Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential.
AB  - Natural killer T cells carrying a highly conserved, semi-invariant T cell
      receptor (TCR) [invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells] are a subset of
      unconventional T lymphocytes that recognize glycolipids presented by CD1d
      molecules. Although CD1d is expressed on a variety of hematopoietic and non
      hematopoietic cells, dendritic cells (DCs) are key presenters of glycolipid
      antigen in vivo. When stimulated through their TCR, iNKT cells rapidly secrete
      copious amounts of cytokines and induce maturation of DCs, thereby facilitating
      coordinated stimulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. The
      bidirectional crosstalk between DCs and iNKT cells determines the functional
      outcome of iNKT cell-targeted responses and iNKT cell agonists are used and
      currently being evaluated as adjuvants to enhance the efficacy of antitumor
      immunotherapy. This review illustrates mechanistic underpinnings of reciprocal
      DCs and iNKT cell interactions and discusses how those can be harnessed for
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 28596768
TI  - African Trypanosomes Undermine Humoral Responses and Vaccine Development: Link
      with Inflammatory Responses?
AB  - African trypanosomosis is a debilitating disease of great medical and
      socioeconomical importance. It is caused by strictly extracellular protozoan
      parasites capable of infecting all vertebrate classes including human, livestock,
      and game animals. To survive within their mammalian host, trypanosomes have
      evolved efficient immune escape mechanisms and manipulate the entire host immune
      response, including the humoral response. This report provides an overview of how
      trypanosomes initially trigger and subsequently undermine the development of an
      effective host antibody response. Indeed, results available to date obtained in
      both natural and experimental infection models show that trypanosomes impair
      homeostatic B-cell lymphopoiesis, B-cell maturation and survival and B-cell
      memory development. Data on B-cell dysfunctioning in correlation with parasite
      virulence and trypanosome-mediated inflammation will be discussed, as well as the
      impact of trypanosomosis on heterologous vaccine efficacy and diagnosis.
      Therefore, new strategies aiming at enhancing vaccination efficacy could benefit
      from a combination of (i) early parasite diagnosis, (ii) anti-trypanosome (drugs)
      treatment, and (iii) anti-inflammatory treatment that collectively might allow B
      cell recovery and improve vaccination.

PMID- 28596769
TI  - C1 Complex: An Adaptable Proteolytic Module for Complement and Non-Complement
      Functions.
AB  - Complement C1 is the defining component of the classical pathway. Within the
      C1qC1r2C1s2 complex, C1q functions as a molecular scaffold for C1r2C1s2 and C1q
      binding to its ligands activates these two serine proteases. The classic C1q
      ligands are antigen-bound antibodies and activated C1s cleaves C4 and C2 to
      initiate the complement cascade. Recent studies suggest broad C1 functions beyond
      the complement system. C1q binds to the Frizzled receptors to activate C1s, which
      cleaves lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 to trigger aging-associated Wnt
      receptor signaling. C1q binds to apoptotic cells and the activated C1 proteases
      cleave nuclear antigens. C1s also cleaves MHC class I molecule and potentially
      numerous other proteins. The diversity of C1q ligands and C1 protease substrates
      renders C1 complex versatile and modular so that it can adapt to multiple
      molecular and cellular processes besides the complement system.

PMID- 28596770
TI  - A Phase 1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus Vaccine Trial for Cross-Profiling the
      Kinetics of Serum and Mucosal Antibody Responses to CN54gp140 Modulated by Two
      Homologous Prime-Boost Vaccine Regimens.
AB  - A key aspect to finding an efficacious human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine
      is the optimization of vaccine schedules that can mediate the efficient
      maturation of protective immune responses. In the present study, we investigated
      the effect of alternate booster regimens on the immune responses to a candidate
      HIV-1 clade C CN54gp140 envelope protein, which was coadministered with the TLR4
      agonist glucopyranosyl lipid A-aqueous formulation. Twelve study participants
      received a common three-dose intramuscular priming series followed by a final
      booster at either 6 or 12 months. The two homologous prime-boost regimens were
      well tolerated and induced CN54gp140-specific responses that were observed in
      both the systemic and mucosal compartments. Levels of vaccine-induced IgG
      subclass antibodies correlated significantly with FcgammaR engagement, and both
      vaccine regimens were associated with strikingly similar patterns in antibody
      titer and FcgammaR-binding profiles. In both groups, identical changes in the
      antigen (Ag)-specific IgG-subclass fingerprint, leading to a decrease in IgG1 and
      an increase in IgG4 levels, were modulated by booster injections. Here, the
      dissection of immune profiles further supports the notion that prime-boost
      strategies are essential for the induction of diverse Ag-specific HIV-1
      responses. The results reported here clearly demonstrate that identical responses
      were effectively and safely induced by both vaccine regimens, indicating that an
      accelerated 6-month regimen could be employed for the rapid induction of immune
      responses against CN54gp140 with no apparent impact on the overall quality of the
      induced immune response. (This study has been registered at
      http://ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT01966900.).

PMID- 28596772
TI  - Epigenetic Regulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 and -3 Expression in
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection.
AB  - In pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), the inflammatory immune response against
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is associated with tissue destruction and
      cavitation, which drives disease transmission, chronic lung disease, and
      mortality. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 is a host enzyme critical for the
      development of cavitation. MMP expression has been shown to be epigenetically
      regulated in other inflammatory diseases, but the importance of such mechanisms
      in Mtb-associated induction of MMP-1 is unknown. We investigated the role of
      changes in histone acetylation in Mtb-induced MMP expression using inhibitors of
      histone deacetylases (HDACs) and histone acetyltransferases (HAT), HDAC siRNA,
      promoter-reporter constructs, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Mtb
      infection decreased Class I HDAC gene expression by over 50% in primary human
      monocyte-derived macrophages but not in normal human bronchial epithelial cells
      (NHBEs). Non-selective inhibition of HDAC activity decreased MMP-1/-3 expression
      by Mtb-stimulated macrophages and NHBEs, while class I HDAC inhibition increased
      MMP-1 secretion by Mtb-stimulated NHBEs. MMP-3 expression, but not MMP-1, was
      downregulated by siRNA silencing of HDAC1. Inhibition of HAT activity also
      significantly decreased MMP-1/-3 secretion by Mtb-infected macrophages. The MMP-1
      promoter region between -2,001 and -2,942 base pairs from the transcriptional
      start site was key in control of Mtb-driven MMP-1 gene expression. Histone H3 and
      H4 acetylation and RNA Pol II binding in the MMP-1 promoter region were increased
      in stimulated NHBEs. In summary, epigenetic modification of histone acetylation
      via HDAC and HAT activity has a key regulatory role in Mtb-dependent gene
      expression and secretion of MMP-1 and -3, enzymes which drive human
      immunopathology. Manipulation of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms may have
      potential as a host-directed therapy to improve outcomes in the era of rising TB
      drug resistance.

PMID- 28596771
TI  - Regulation of T Cell Trafficking by Enzymatic Synthesis of O-Glycans.
AB  - Selectins constitute a family of oligosaccharide binding proteins that play
      critical roles in regulating the trafficking of leukocytes. In T cells, L
      selectin (CD62L) controls the capacity for naive and memory T cells to actively
      survey peripheral lymph nodes, whereas P- and E-selectin capture activated T
      cells on inflamed vascular endothelium to initiate extravasation into non
      lymphoid tissues. The capacity for T cells to interact with all of these
      selectins is dependent on the enzymatic synthesis of complex O-glycans, and thus,
      this protein modification plays an indispensable role in regulating the
      distribution and homing of both naive and previously activated T cells in vivo.
      In contrast to neutrophils, O-glycan synthesis is highly dynamic in T cell
      populations and is largely controlled by extracellular stimuli such as antigen
      recognition or signaling though cytokine receptors. Herein, we review the basic
      principles of enzymatic synthesis of complex O-glycans, discuss tools and
      reagents for studying this type of protein modification and highlight our current
      understanding of how O-glycan synthesis is regulated and subsequently impacts the
      trafficking potential of diverse T cell populations.

PMID- 28596773
TI  - Molecular Link between Leaf Coloration and Gene Expression of Flavonoid and
      Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Camellia sinensis Cultivar 'Huangjinya'.
AB  - 'Huangjinya' is an excellent albino tea germplasm cultivated in China because of
      its bright color and high amino acid content. It is light sensitive, with yellow
      leaves under intense light while green leaves under weak light. As well, the
      flavonoid and carotenoid levels increased after moderate shading treatment.
      However, the mechanism underlying this interesting phenomenon remains unclear. In
      this study, the transcriptome of 'Huangjinya' plants exposed to sunlight and
      shade were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing followed by de novo assembly.
      Shading 'Huangjinya' made its leaf color turn green. De novo assembly showed that
      the transcriptome of 'Huangjinya' leaves comprises of 127,253 unigenes, with an
      average length of 914 nt. Among the 81,128 functionally annotated unigenes, 207
      differentially expressed genes were identified, including 110 up-regulated and 97
      down-regulated genes under moderate shading compared to full light. Gene ontology
      (GO) indicated that the differentially expressed genes are mainly involved in
      protein and ion binding and oxidoreductase activity. Antioxidation-related
      pathways, including flavonoid and carotenoid biosynthesis, were highly enriched
      in these functions. Shading inhibited the expression of flavonoid biosynthesis
      associated genes and induced carotenoid biosynthesis-related genes. This would
      suggest that decreased flavonoid biosynthetic gene expression coincides with
      increased flavonoids (e.g., catechin) content upon moderate shading, while
      carotenoid levels and biosynthetic gene expression are positively correlated in
      'Huangjinya.' In conclusion, the leaf color changes in 'Huangjinya' are largely
      determined by the combined effects of flavonoid and carotenoid biosynthesis.

PMID- 28596774
TI  - Tube-Wise Diagnostic Microarray for the Multiplex Characterization of the Complex
      Plant Pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum.
AB  - Ralstonia solanacearum is a well-known agricultural and ecological threat
      worldwide. The complexity of the R. solanacearum species complex (Rssc)
      represents a challenge for the accurate characterization of epidemiological
      strains by official services and research laboratories. The majority of protocols
      only focus on a narrow range of strains; however, this species complex includes
      strains that represent major constraints and are under strict regulation. The
      main drawback associated with the current methods of detecting and characterizing
      Rssc strains is their reliance on combining different protocols to properly
      characterize the strains at the ecotype level, which require time and money.
      Therefore, we used microarray technology (ArrayTube) to develop a standard
      protocol, which characterizes 17 major groups of interest in the Rssc, in a
      single multiplex reaction. These 17 majors groups are linked with a phylogenetic
      assignation (phylotypes, sequevars), but also with an ecotype assignation
      associated with a range of hosts (e.g., brown rot, Moko). Probes were designed
      with a 50-mer length constraint and thoroughly evaluated for any flaws or
      secondary structures. The strains are characterized based on a DNA extraction
      from pure culture. Validation data showed strong intra-repeatability, inter
      repeatability, and reproducibility as well as good specificity. A hierarchical
      analysis of the probe groups is suitable for an accurate characterization.
      Compared with single marker detection tests, the method described in this paper
      addresses efficiently the issue of combining several tests by testing a large
      number of phylogenetic markers in a single reaction assay. This custom microarray
      (RsscAT) represents a significant improvement in the epidemiological monitoring
      of Rssc strains worldwide, and it has the potential to provide insights for
      phylogenetic incongruence of Rssc strains based on the host of isolation and may
      be used to indicate potentially emergent strains.

PMID- 28596776
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Loci Associated with Plant Growth and Forage
      Production under Salt Stress in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).
AB  - Salinity tolerance is highly desirable to sustain alfalfa production in marginal
      lands that have been rendered saline. In this study, we used a diverse panel of
      198 alfalfa accessions for mapping loci associated with plant growth and forage
      production under salt stress using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The
      plants were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). A greenhouse
      procedure was used for phenotyping four agronomic and physiological traits
      affected by salt stress, including dry weight (DW), plant height (PH), leaf
      chlorophyll content (LCC), and stomatal conductance (SC). For each trait, a
      stress susceptibility index (SSI) was used to evaluate plant performance under
      stressed and non-stressed conditions. Marker-trait association identified a total
      of 42 markers significantly associated with salt tolerance. They were located on
      all chromosomes except chromosome 2 based on the alignment of their flanking
      sequences to the reference genome (Medicago truncatula). Of those identified, 13
      were associated with multiple traits. Several loci identified in the present
      study were also identified in previous reports. BLAST search revealed that 19
      putative candidate genes linked to 24 significant markers. Among them, B3 DNA
      binding protein, Thiaminepyrophosphokinase and IQ calmodulin-binding motif
      protein were identified among multiple traits in the present and previous
      studies. With further investigation, these markers and candidates would be useful
      for developing markers for marker-assisted selection in breeding programs to
      improve alfalfa cultivars with enhanced tolerance to salt stress.

PMID- 28596777
TI  - Physiological Responses and Yield of Wheat Plants in Zinc-Mediated Alleviation of
      Drought Stress.
AB  - To evaluate the physiological responses of wheat to zinc (Zn) fertilizer
      application under drought stress, pot, and field experiments were conducted on
      wheat plants grown under different soil moistures and treated with soil and
      foliar Zn applications. Photosynthetic characteristics, antioxidant content, Zn
      element concentration, and the transcription level of genes involved in
      antioxidant biosynthesis were analyzed. Zn application increased SPAD and Fv/Fm
      of wheat flag leaves, while decreased lipid peroxidation levels and H2O2 content.
      Zn application increased the antioxidant content (ascorbate, reduced glutathione,
      total phenolic, and total flavonoid) of wheat flag leaves, and enhanced the
      relative expression levels of two antioxidant enzyme genes, four ascorbate
      glutathione cycle genes, and two flavonoid biosynthesis pathway genes under
      drought stress. Soil Zn application increased grain yield and Zn concentration by
      10.5 and 15.8%, 22.6 and 9.7%, and 28.2 and 32.8% under adequate water supply,
      moderate drought, and severe drought, respectively. Furthermore, foliar
      application of Zn in the field increased grain yield and grain Zn concentration
      under both adequate water supply and rain-fed conditions. Zn plays a role in
      alleviating wheat plant drought stress by Zn-mediated increase in photosynthesis
      pigment and active oxygen scavenging substances, and reduction in lipid
      peroxidation. Furthermore, Zn fertilizer could regulate multiple antioxidant
      defense systems at the transcriptional level in response to drought.

PMID- 28596775
TI  - Abnormal Endogenous Repression of GA Signaling in a Seedless Table Grape Cultivar
      with High Berry Growth Response to GA Application.
AB  - Gibberellin (GA) application is routinely used in the table grape industry to
      increase berry size and cluster length. Although grapevine cultivars show a wide
      range of growth responsiveness to GA3 application, the reasons for these
      differences is unclear. To shed light on this issue, two commercial grapevine
      cultivars with contrasting berry response to GA were selected for comparative
      analysis, in which we tested if the differences in response: (1) is organ
      specific or cultivar-related; (2) will be reflected in qualitative/quantitative
      differences in transcripts/proteins of central components of GA metabolism and
      signaling and levels of GA metabolites. Our results showed that in addition to
      the high response of its berries to GA, internodes and rachis of cv. Black finger
      (BF) presented a greater growth response compared to that of cv. Spring blush
      (SB). In agreement, the results exposed significant quantitative differences in
      GA signaling components in several organs of both cultivars. Exceptionally higher
      level of all three functional VvDELLA proteins was recorded in young BF organs,
      accompanied by elevated VvGID1 expression and lower VvSLY1b transcripts. Absence
      of seed traces, low endogenous GA quantities and lower expression of VvGA20ox4
      and VvGA3ox3 were also recorded in berries of BF. Our results raise the
      hypothesis that, in young organs of BF, low expression of VvSLY1b may be
      responsible for the massive accumulation of VvDELLA proteins, which then leads to
      elevated VvGID1 levels. This integrated analysis suggests causal relationship
      between endogenous mechanisms leading to anomalous GA signaling repression in BF,
      manifested by high quantities of VvDELLA proteins, and greater growth response to
      GA application.

PMID- 28596778
TI  - Glycolysis Is Dynamic and Relates Closely to Respiration Rate in Stored Sugarbeet
      Roots.
AB  - Although respiration is the principal cause of the loss of sucrose in postharvest
      sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.), the internal mechanisms that control root
      respiration rate are unknown. Available evidence, however, indicates that
      respiration rate is likely to be controlled by the availability of respiratory
      substrates, and glycolysis has a central role in generating these substrates. To
      determine glycolytic changes that occur in sugarbeet roots after harvest and to
      elucidate relationships between glycolysis and respiration, sugarbeet roots were
      stored for up to 60 days, during which activities of glycolytic enzymes and
      concentrations of glycolytic substrates, intermediates, cofactors, and products
      were determined. Respiration rate was also determined, and relationships between
      respiration rate and glycolytic enzymes and metabolites were evaluated.
      Glycolysis was highly variable during storage, with 10 of 14 glycolytic
      activities and 14 of 17 glycolytic metabolites significantly altered during
      storage. Changes in glycolytic enzyme activities and metabolites occurred
      throughout the 60 day storage period, but were greatest in the first 4 days after
      harvest. Positive relationships between changes in glycolytic enzyme activities
      and root respiration rate were abundant, with 10 of 14 enzyme activities elevated
      when root respiration was elevated and 9 glycolytic activities static during
      periods of unchanging respiration rate. Major roles for pyruvate kinase and
      phosphofructokinase in the regulation of postharvest sugarbeet root glycolysis
      were indicated based on changes in enzymatic activities and concentrations of
      their substrates and products. Additionally, a strong positive relationship
      between respiration rate and pyruvate kinase activity was found indicating that
      downstream TCA cycle enzymes were unlikely to regulate or restrict root
      respiration in a major way. Overall, these results establish that glycolysis is
      not static during sugarbeet root storage and that changes in glycolysis are
      closely related to changes in sugarbeet root respiration.

PMID- 28596779
TI  - Characterization of Aldehyde Oxidase (AO) Genes Involved in the Accumulation of
      Carotenoid Pigments in Wheat Grain.
AB  - Aldehyde Oxidase (AO) enzyme (EC 1.2.3.1) catalyzes the final steps of carotenoid
      catabolism and it is a key enzyme in the abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. AO
      isoforms are located in the cytosolic compartment of tissues in many plants,
      where induce the oxidation of aldehydes into carboxylic acid, and in addition,
      catalyze the hydroxylation of some heterocycles. The goal of the present study
      was to characterize the AO genes involved in the accumulation of carotenoid
      pigments in wheat grain, an important quantitative trait controlled by multiple
      genes. The cDNAs corresponding to the four AO isoforms from Arabidopsis thaliana
      and five AO isoforms from Brachypodium distachyon were used as query in 454
      sequence assemblies data for Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring
      (https://urgi.versailles.inra.fr/blast/blast.php) to obtain the partial or whole
      orthologous wheat AO sequences. Three wheat isoforms, designated AO1, AO2, and
      AO3 were located on the chromosome groups 2, 5, and 7, respectively, and mapped
      on two consensus wheat maps by SNP markers located within the AO gene sequences.
      To validate the possible relationships between AO3 genes and carotenoid
      accumulation in wheat, the expression levels of AO-A3 and AO-B3 gene were
      determined during the kernel maturation stage of two durum wheat cultivars,
      Ciccio and Svevo, characterized by a low and high carotenoid content,
      respectively. Different AO-A3 gene expression values were observed between the
      two cultivars indicating that the AO-A3 allele present in Ciccio was more active
      in carotenoid degradation. A gene marker was developed and can be used for marker
      assisted selection in wheat breeding programs.

PMID- 28596780
TI  - Katanin Effects on Dynamics of Cortical Microtubules and Mitotic Arrays in
      Arabidopsis thaliana Revealed by Advanced Live-Cell Imaging.
AB  - Katanin is the only microtubule severing protein identified in plants so far.
      Previous studies have documented its role in regulating cortical microtubule
      organization during cell growth and morphogenesis. Although, some cell division
      defects are reported in KATANIN mutants, it is not clear whether or how katanin
      activity may affect microtubule dynamics in interphase cells, as well as the
      progression of mitosis and cytokinesis and the orientation of cell division plane
      (CDP). For this reason, we characterized microtubule organization and dynamics in
      growing and dividing cotyledon cells of Arabidopsis ktn1-2 mutant devoid of
      KATANIN 1 activity. In interphase epidermal cells of ktn1-2 cortical microtubules
      exhibited aberrant and largely isotropic organization, reduced bundling and
      showed excessive branched microtubule formation. End-wise microtubule dynamics
      were not much affected, although a significantly slower rate of microtubule
      growth was measured in the ktn1-2 mutant where microtubule severing was
      completely abolished. KATANIN 1 depletion also brought about significant changes
      in preprophase microtubule band (PPB) organization and dynamics. In this case,
      many PPBs exhibited unisided organization and splayed appearance while in most
      cases they were broader than those of wild type cells. By recording PPB
      maturation, it was observed that PPBs in the mutant narrowed at a much slower
      pace compared to those in Col-0. The form of the mitotic spindle and the
      phragmoplast was not much affected in ktn1-2, however, the dynamics of both
      processes showed significant differences compared to wild type. In general, both
      mitosis and cytokinesis were considerably delayed in the mutant. Additionally,
      the mitotic spindle and the phragmoplast exhibited extensive rotational motions
      with the equatorial plane of the spindle being essentially uncoupled from the
      division plane set by the PPB. However, at the onset of its formation the
      phragmoplast undergoes rotational motion rectifying the expansion of the cell
      plate to match the original cell division plane. Conclusively, KATANIN 1
      contributes to microtubule dynamics during interphase, regulates PPB formation
      and maturation and is involved in the positioning of the mitotic spindle and the
      phragmoplast.

PMID- 28596781
TI  - Polycomb Group Proteins RING1A and RING1B Regulate the Vegetative Phase
      Transition in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Polycomb group (PcG) protein-mediated gene silencing is a major regulatory
      mechanism in higher eukaryotes that affects gene expression at the
      transcriptional level. Here, we report that two conserved homologous PcG
      proteins, RING1A and RING1B (RING1A/B), are required for global H2A
      monoubiquitination (H2Aub) in Arabidopsis. The mutation of RING1A/B increased the
      expression of members of the SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) gene
      family and caused an early vegetative phase transition. The early vegetative
      phase transition observed in ring1a ring1b double mutant plants was dependent on
      an SPL family gene, and the H2Aub status of the chromatin at SPL locus was
      dependent on RING1A/B. Moreover, mutation in RING1A/B affected the miRNA156a
      mediated vegetative phase transition, and RING1A/B and the AGO7-miR390-TAS3
      pathway were found to additively regulate this transition in Arabidopsis.
      Together, our results demonstrate that RING1A/B regulates the vegetative phase
      transition in Arabidopsis through the repression of SPL family genes.

PMID- 28596782
TI  - Chloroplast- or Mitochondria-Targeted DEAD-Box RNA Helicases Play Essential Roles
      in Organellar RNA Metabolism and Abiotic Stress Responses.
AB  - The yields and productivity of crops are greatly diminished by various abiotic
      stresses, including drought, cold, heat, and high salinity. Chloroplasts and
      mitochondria are cellular organelles that can sense diverse environmental stimuli
      and alter gene expression to cope with adverse environmental stresses. Organellar
      gene expression is mainly regulated at posttranscriptional levels, including RNA
      processing, intron splicing, RNA editing, RNA turnover, and translational
      control, during which a variety of nucleus-encoded RNA-binding proteins (RBPs)
      are targeted to chloroplasts or mitochondria where they play essential roles in
      organellar RNA metabolism. DEAD-box RNA helicases (RHs) are enzymes that can
      alter RNA structures and affect RNA metabolism in all living organisms. Although
      a number of DEAD-box RHs have been found to play important roles in RNA
      metabolism in the nucleus and cytoplasm, our understanding on the roles of DEAD
      box RHs in the regulation of RNA metabolism in chloroplasts and mitochondria is
      only at the beginning. Considering that organellar RNA metabolism and gene
      expression are tightly regulated by anterograde signaling from the nucleus, it is
      imperative to determine the functions of nucleus-encoded organellar RBPs. In this
      review, we summarize the emerging roles of nucleus-encoded chloroplast- or
      mitochondria-targeted DEAD-box RHs in organellar RNA metabolism and plant
      response to diverse abiotic stresses.

PMID- 28596784
TI  - INDY-A New Link to Metabolic Regulation in Animals and Humans.
AB  - The Indy (I'm Not Dead Yet) gene encodes the fly homolog of the mammalian SLC13A5
      citrate transporter. Reduced expression of the Indy gene in flies and worms
      extends their longevity. INDY is expressed in the plasma membrane of
      metabolically active tissues. Decreased expression of Indy in worms, flies, mice,
      and rats alters metabolism in a manner similar to calorie restriction. Reducing
      INDY activity prevents weight gain in flies, worms, and mice, and counteracts the
      negative effects of age or a high fat diet on metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
      The metabolic effects of reducing INDY activity are the result of reduced
      cytoplasmic citrate. Citrate is a key metabolite and has a central role in energy
      status of the cell by effecting lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and energy
      production. Thereby newly described drugs that reduce INDY transporting activity
      increase insulin sensitivity and reduce hepatic lipid levels via its effect on
      hepatic citrate uptake. A recent report presented the first direct link between
      increased hepatic levels of human INDY, insulin resistance, and non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease in obese humans. Similarly increased hepatic mIndy levels
      were observed in non-human primates fed on a high fat diet for 2 years. This
      effect is mediated via the stimulatory effect of the interleukin-6/Stat3 pathway
      on mINDY hepatic expression. These findings make INDY a potential and very
      promising target for the treatment of metabolic disorders in humans.

PMID- 28596783
TI  - Analysis of EF-Hand Proteins in Soybean Genome Suggests Their Potential Roles in
      Environmental and Nutritional Stress Signaling.
AB  - Calcium ion (Ca2+) is a universal second messenger that plays a critical role in
      plant responses to diverse physiological and environmental stimuli. The stimulus
      specific signals are perceived and decoded by a series of Ca2+ binding proteins
      serving as Ca2+ sensors. The majority of Ca2+ sensors possess the EF-hand motif,
      a helix-loop-helix structure which forms a turn-loop structure. Although EF-hand
      proteins in model plant such as Arabidopsis have been well described, the
      identification, classification, and the physiological functions of EF-hand
      containing proteins from soybean are not systemically reported. In this study, a
      total of at least 262 genes possibly encoding proteins containing one to six EF
      hand motifs were identified in soybean genome. These genes include 6 calmodulins
      (CaMs), 144 calmodulin-like proteins (CMLs), 15 calcineurin B-like proteins, 50
      calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs), 13 CDPK-related protein kinases, 2
      Ca2+- and CaM-dependent protein kinases, 17 respiratory burst oxidase homologs,
      and 15 unclassified EF-hand proteins. Most of these genes (87.8%) contain at
      least one kind of hormonal signaling- and/or stress response-related cis-elements
      in their -1500 bp promoter regions. Expression analyses by exploring the
      published microarray and Illumina transcriptome sequencing data revealed that the
      expression of these EF-hand genes were widely detected in different organs of
      soybean, and nearly half of the total EF-hand genes were responsive to various
      environmental or nutritional stresses. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to confirm
      their responsiveness to several stress treatments. To confirm the Ca2+-binding
      ability of these EF-hand proteins, four CMLs (CML1, CML13, CML39, and CML95) were
      randomly selected for SDS-PAGE mobility-shift assay in the presence and absence
      of Ca2+. Results showed that all of them have the ability to bind Ca2+. This
      study provided the first comprehensive analyses of genes encoding for EF-hand
      proteins in soybean. Information on the classification, phylogenetic
      relationships and expression profiles of soybean EF-hand genes in different
      tissues and under various environmental and nutritional stresses will be helpful
      for identifying candidates with potential roles in Ca2+ signal-mediated
      physiological processes including growth and development, plant-microbe
      interactions and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.

PMID- 28596786
TI  - Impact of ultrasound examination shortly after kidney transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasound is routinely performed at our transplant unit within the
      first 48 h of kidney transplantation (KTX). The objective of this study was to
      evaluate the association of ultrasound results and, in particular, elevated
      resistance indices (RIs) with the occurrence of surgical complications and
      allograft outcomes. METHODS: The study included all kidney allograft recipients
      undergoing transplantation at our center between January 2010 and December 2011
      (N = 329). Ultrasound examination was performed on 315 recipients (95.7%).
      RESULTS: Delayed graft function was more common in subjects with a high RI
      (>=0.7) than in patients with an RI < 0.7 (47.2 vs. 28.2%; p = 0.032). A lack of
      arterial signal was detected in eight patients (2.5%), of whom five had a
      vascular complication that required surgical therapy. In 12 patients (3.8%), RI
      was 1 without any other signs of vascular impairment. Even though such values can
      be a sign of venous thrombosis, no case was observed in any of these patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that ultrasound evaluation of the
      transplanted kidney shortly after transplantation is a valuable tool not only for
      detecting vascular complications but also as a predictor of graft outcome
      regarding delayed graft function.

PMID- 28596787
TI  - Clinical Usefulness of the VS Classification System Using Magnifying Endoscopy
      with Blue Laser Imaging for Early Gastric Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blue laser imaging (BLI) enables the acquisition of more information
      from tumors' surfaces compared with white light imaging. Few reports confirm the
      validity of magnifying endoscopy (ME) with BLI (ME-BLI) for early gastric cancer
      (EGC). We aimed to assess the detailed endoscopic findings from EGCs using ME
      BLI. METHODS: We enrolled 386 consecutive patients with 417 EGCs that were
      diagnosed using ME-BLI and resected by endoscopic submucosal dissection. Using
      the VS classification system, three highly experienced endoscopists (HEEs) and
      three less experienced endoscopists (LEEs) evaluated the demarcation line (DL),
      microsurface pattern (MSP), and microvascular pattern (MVP) within the endoscopic
      images of EGCs obtained using ME-BLI, assigning high-confidence (HC) or low
      confidence (LC) levels. We investigated the clinicopathological features
      associated with each confidence level. RESULTS: The HEEs' evaluations determined
      the presence of DL in 99%, irregular MSP in 96%, and irregular MVP in 96%, and
      the LEEs' evaluations determined the presence of DL in 98%, irregular MSP in 95%,
      and irregular MVP in 95% of the EGCs. When DL was present, HC levels in the
      Helicobacter pylori- (H. pylori-) eradicated group and noneradicated group were
      evident in 65% and 89%, a difference that was significant (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: In the diagnosis of EGC with ME-BLI, the VS classification system
      with ME-NBI can be applied, but identifying the DL after H. pylori was difficult.

PMID- 28596788
TI  - Factors Requiring Adjustment in the Interpretation of Serum Carcinoembryonic
      Antigen: A Cross-Sectional Study of 18,131 Healthy Nonsmokers.
AB  - Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a well-known tumor marker for colorectal
      adenocarcinoma. However, CEA levels can be influenced by various nonmalignant
      conditions. A retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed including 18,131
      healthy nonsmokers who underwent health check-ups with evaluation of the serum
      CEA level. In the training set, multivariate analysis revealed that the log
      transformed CEA level had positive relationships with age (regression coefficient
      (r) = 0.005, P < 0.001), white blood cell (WBC) count (r = 0.007, P = 0.016),
      hemoglobin (HB, r = 0.016, P < 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, r =
      0.002, P = 0.005), creatinine (r = 0.076, P = 0.038), and glycosylated hemoglobin
      (HbA1c, r = 0.052, P < 0.001); body mass index (BMI, r = -0.007, P < 0.001)
      showed a negative correlation. The results for age, BMI, WBC count, HB, AST, and
      HbA1c were validated in the test set. We were able to construct the following
      model to predict the log-transformed CEA level: log (CEA + 0.51) = -0.204 - 0.051
      (gender) + 0.005 (age) - 0.006 (BMI) + 0.008 (WBC count) + 0.016 (HB) + 0.002
      (AST) + 0.062 (creatinine) + 0.054 (HbA1c). For colorectal cancer prediction, the
      model with the observed CEA and adjusted CEA levels had significantly high
      predictive power (AUC 0.756, P < 0.001) than the model only including the
      observed CEA level (AUC 0.693, P < 0.001). Factors influencing serum CEA levels
      should be adjusted before clinical interpretation to increase the predictive
      value of CEA.

PMID- 28596785
TI  - Oxidative stress and angiogenesis in primary hyperparathyroidism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The inappropriate elevation of parathormone (PTH), which regulates
      the process of angiogenesis in parathyroid tissue, causes the changes of activity
      of enzymes responsible for the removal of free radicals. Parathyroidectomy (PTX)
      in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) lowers the level of PTH and
      leads to the reduction of risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality by
      normalization of the antioxidant status. Therefore, the aims of the study were to
      assess the activity of antioxidant enzymes and free radical reaction products in
      patients after parathyroidectomy, and to evaluate the correlation between the
      systemic oxidative stress and angiogenic parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Patients with PHPT treated surgically were enrolled into the study. Total
      antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidative status (TOS), oxidative stress index
      (OSI), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ceruloplasmin (CER), lipid hydroperoxides
      (LHP) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured before and after parathyroidectomy.
      The immunohistological expression of angiogenic factors in parathyroid specimens
      was assessed by the BrightVision method from ImmunoLogic using murine monoclonal
      anti-human: anti-VEGF, anti-CD31 and anti-CD106 antibodies. RESULTS: The
      significant increase of TAC, CER, reduction of TOS, MDA, SOD, especially for
      cytoplasmic form, and significant decrease of OSI, LHP were observed after PTX.
      There was no significant correlation between changes of oxidative stress markers
      and angiogenic parameters: VEGF, CD-31, CD-106 in parathyroid tissue. The
      correlation level was low and medium. CONCLUSIONS: Parathyroidectomy causes down
      regulation of lipid peroxidation processes and leads to reduction of oxidative
      stress in patients with PHPT. The decrease in the OSI is the results of down
      regulation of oxidative stress in the postoperative period. The change of the
      antioxidant status has no impact on angiogenesis processes in parathyroid tissue.

PMID- 28596789
TI  - Relationship between IGF-I Concentration and Metabolic Profile in Children with
      Growth Hormone Deficiency: The Influence of Children's Nutritional State as well
      as the Ghrelin, Leptin, Adiponectin, and Resistin Serum Concentrations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some, however not all, children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD)
      reveal a tendency towards metabolic disorders. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF
      I) is the main mediator of GH anabolic effects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study
      was to compare ghrelin, adiponectin, leptin, resistin, lipid, glucose, and
      insulin concentrations in GHD children, depending on the IGF-I bioavailability.
      METHODS: The analysis comprised 26 children with GHD, aged 5.7-15.3 yrs. Fasting
      serum concentrations of IGF-I, IGFBP-3, ghrelin, leptin, adiponectin, resistin,
      lipids, glucose, and insulin were measured. The GHD children were divided into
      two subgroups: (1) with lower IGF-I/IGFBP-3 molar ratio and (2) with higher IGF
      I/IGFBP-3 molar ratio. The control group consisted of 39 healthy children, aged
      5.1-16.6 yrs, of normal height and body mass. RESULTS: GHD children with lower
      IGF-I/IGFBP-3 molar ratio were found to have a significantly lower body mass and
      insulin and triglyceride concentrations, as well as significantly higher ghrelin
      and adiponectin concentrations than GHD children with higher IGF-I/IGFBP-3.
      CONCLUSIONS: A better metabolic profile characterised GHD children with low IGF-I
      bioavailability. This phenomenon may be the result of high adiponectin and
      ghrelin concentrations in those children and their influence on adipose tissue,
      glucose uptake, and orexigenic axis.

PMID- 28596790
TI  - High Doses of Halotolerant Gut-Indigenous Lactobacillus plantarum Reduce
      Cultivable Lactobacilli in Newborn Calves without Increasing Its Species
      Abundance.
AB  - To elucidate the ecological effect of high oral doses of halotolerant (resistant
      to table salt) indigenous-gut bacteria on other commensals early in life, we
      conducted a culture-based study to quantify the effect of intestinal
      Lactobacillus plantarum strain of bovine origin (with remarkable aerobic growth
      capabilities and inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and F5) on
      clinical health and gut lactobacilli/coliforms in newborn calves. In a double
      blind placebo-randomized trial twelve colostrum-fed calves, consecutively born at
      a farm, were fed L. plantarum within 12 hours from birth at low (107-8 CFU/day)
      or high concentrations (1010-11) or placebo (q24 h, 5 d; 10 d follow-up). We
      developed a 2.5% NaCl-selective culture strategy to facilitate the enumeration of
      L. plantarum-strain-B80, and tested 384 samples (>1,152 cultures). L. plantarum
      B80-like colonies were detected in a large proportion of calves (58%) even before
      their first 24 hours of life indicating endemic presence of the strain in the
      farm. In contrast to studies where human-derived Lactobacillus LGG or rhamnosus
      had notoriously high, but short-lived, colonization, we found that L. plantarum
      colonized stably with fecal shedding of 6 +/- 1 log10.g-1 (irrespective of dose,
      P > 0.2). High doses significantly reduced other fecal lactic acid bacteria
      (e.g., lactobacilli, P < 0.01) and slightly reduced body weight gain in calves
      after treatment. For the first time, a halotolerant strain of L. plantarum with
      inhibitory activity against a human pathogen has the ability to inhibit other
      lactobacilli in vivo without changing its species abundance, causing
      transintestinal translocation, or inducing clinical disease. The future selection
      of probiotics based on halotolerance may expand therapeutic product
      applicability.

PMID- 28596792
TI  - A case series evaluating the serological response of adult asthma patients to the
      23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma is an independent risk factor for invasive pneumococcal
      disease; however, the immune response of adult asthma patients to pneumococcal
      vaccination is unknown. We explore the serologic response of patients with
      moderate to severe asthma to the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine
      (PPSV23). METHODS: Seventeen moderate to severe adult asthma patients that had
      not been vaccinated against pneumococcus over the 5 previous years were
      prospectively recruited from a tertiary care asthma clinic. Serum was analyzed
      for the presence of antibodies to five capsular polysaccharide (CP) antigens (6B,
      9V, 19A, 19F, 23F) before and 4 weeks after PPSV23 vaccination. RESULTS: There
      was a wide variability in baseline anti-CP antibody concentrations. Other than
      for serotype 19A, our patients frequently have baseline anti-CP antibody
      concentrations below 1 ug/mL (35% for serotype 19F, 41% for serotypes 9V and 23F,
      and 59% for serotype 6B). All post-vaccination geometric mean antibody
      concentrations were significantly higher than baseline. In the 31 tests where the
      baseline antibody concentration was <1 ug/mL, 77.4% had at least a twofold
      increase post-vaccination. Despite this, a large proportion of post-vaccination
      anti-CP antibody concentrations remained <1 ug/mL (51.6% of tests). Nine patients
      had at least one anti-CP antibody concentration <1 ug/mL post-vaccination. There
      was no difference between these patients and the remaining eight patients in
      demographic or clinical variables. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with moderate to severe
      asthma have variable baseline and low post-vaccination antibody concentrations to
      common CP antigens included in the PPSV23 vaccine. The clinical relevance of
      these observations remains to be determined since the threshold concentration in
      adults required for clinical protection from invasive pneumococcal disease is
      uncertain.

PMID- 28596793
TI  - Comparative Analysis of Tongue Indices between Patients with and without a Self
      Reported Yin Deficiency: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - We investigated the hypothesis that Yin-deficient patients have a reddened tongue
      with less coating. We screened 189 participants aged 20 to 49 years, complaining
      of headache. To classify patients in terms of Yin deficiency, we used two self
      reporting Yin-deficiency questionnaires (Yin-Deficiency Questionnaire and Yin
      Deficiency Scale) and diagnosis by a doctor. Based on the tests, a total of 33
      subjects were assigned to a Yin-deficient group and 33 subjects were assigned to
      a nondeficient control group. Tongue images were acquired using a computerized
      tongue diagnostic system, for evaluating tongue indices. The tongue coating
      percentage and tongue redness were calculated as the mean a* value of both the
      whole tongue area (WT a*) and the tongue body area (TB a*). The tongue coating
      percentage of the Yin-deficient group (34.79 +/- 10.76) was lower than that of
      the nondeficient group (44.13 +/- 14.08). The WT a* value of the Yin-deficient
      group (19.39 +/- 1.52) was significantly higher than that of the nondeficient
      group (18.21 +/- 2.06). However, the difference in the TB a* value between the
      two groups was not significant. In conclusion, we verified that Yin-deficient
      patients had less tongue coating and tended to have a more reddish tongue than
      nondeficient patients.

PMID- 28596794
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of an Herbal Therapy in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive
      Impairment: A 24-Week Randomized Phase III Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the 24-week randomized, double-blind, double-placebo, parallel
      controlled trial, we aimed to test the effects of herbal therapy with amnestic
      mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). METHODS: A total of 324 patients with aMCI
      entered a 2-week placebo run-in period followed by 24 weeks' treatment of either
      (a) herbal capsule (5 shenwu capsules/administration, 3 times/day) and placebo
      identical to donepezil tablets (n = 216) or (b) donepezil (5 mg/day) and placebo
      identical to herbal capsule (n = 108). RESULTS: Herbal therapy showed a
      significant improvement on the primary efficacy measure, measured by Alzheimer
      Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), and showed a mean
      decrease from baseline of 4.23 points at the endpoint, without a significant
      difference from the donepezil group. Secondary efficacy measurement of the
      Logical Memory II Delayed Story Recall subtest (DSR) showed modest improvement in
      those taking herbal capsule compared to baseline, and there was no significant
      difference from donepezil group. The frequency of adverse events was much less in
      the herbal therapy group than the donepezil. CONCLUSION: Herbal therapy
      demonstrated a significant improvement in cognition and memory, which were
      similar to the donepezil in patients with aMCI. Herbal therapy was safe and well
      tolerated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered with clinicaltrials.gov
      NCT01451749.

PMID- 28596791
TI  - In Utero Stem Cell Transplantation: Potential Therapeutic Application for Muscle
      Diseases.
AB  - Muscular dystrophies, myopathies, and traumatic muscle injury and loss encompass
      a large group of conditions that currently have no cure. Myoblast
      transplantations have been investigated as potential cures for these conditions
      for decades. However, current techniques lack the ability to generate cell
      numbers required to produce any therapeutic benefit. In utero stem cell
      transplantation into embryos has been studied for many years mainly in the
      context of hematopoietic cells and has shown to have experimental advantages and
      therapeutic applications. Moreover, patient-derived cells can be used for
      experimental transplantation into nonhuman animal embryos via in utero injection
      as the immune response is absent at such early stages of development. We
      therefore propose in utero transplantation as a potential method to generate
      patient-derived humanized skeletal muscle as well as muscle stem cells in animals
      for therapeutic purposes as well as patient-specific drug screening.

PMID- 28596795
TI  - Optimization of Extraction Process for Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activities of
      Kursi Wufarikun Ziyabit Using Response Surface Methodology and Quantitative
      Analysis of Main Components.
AB  - By using extraction yield, total polyphenolic content, antidiabetic activities
      (PTP-1B and alpha-glycosidase), and antioxidant activity (ABTS and DPPH) as
      indicated markers, the extraction conditions of the prescription Kursi Wufarikun
      Ziyabit (KWZ) were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). Independent
      variables were ethanol concentration, extraction temperature, solid-to-solvent
      ratio, and extraction time. The result of RSM analysis showed that the four
      variables investigated have a significant effect (p < 0.05) for Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4,
      and Y5 with R2 value of 0.9120, 0.9793, 0.9076, 0.9125, and 0.9709, respectively.
      Optimal conditions for the highest extraction yield of 39.28%, PTP-1B inhibition
      rate of 86.21%, alpha-glycosidase enzymes inhibition rate of 96.56%, and ABTS
      inhibition rate of 77.38% were derived at ethanol concentration 50.11%,
      extraction temperature 72.06 degrees C, solid-to-solvent ratio 1 : 22.73 g/mL,
      and extraction time 2.93 h. On the basis of total polyphenol content of 48.44% in
      this optimal condition, the quantitative analysis of effective part of KWZ was
      characterized via UPLC method, 12 main components were identified by standard
      compounds, and all of them have shown good regression within the test ranges and
      the total content of them was 11.18%.

PMID- 28596796
TI  - Hesperidin Protects against Acute Alcoholic Injury through Improving Lipid
      Metabolism and Cell Damage in Zebrafish Larvae.
AB  - Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a series of abnormalities of liver function,
      including alcoholic steatosis, steatohepatitis, and cirrhosis. Hesperidin, the
      major constituent of flavanone in grapefruit, is proved to play a role in
      antioxidation, anti-inflammation, and reducing multiple organs damage in various
      animal experiments. However, the underlying mechanism of resistance to alcoholic
      liver injury is still unclear. Thus, we aimed to investigate the protective
      effects of hesperidin against ALD and its molecular mechanism in this study. We
      established an ALD zebrafish larvae model induced by 350 mM ethanol for 32 hours,
      using wild-type and transgenic line with liver-specific eGFP expression Tg
      (lfabp10alpha:eGFP) zebrafish larvae (4 dpf). The results revealed that
      hesperidin dramatically reduced the hepatic morphological damage and the
      expressions of alcohol and lipid metabolism related genes, including cyp2y3,
      cyp3a65, hmgcra, hmgcrb, fasn, and fads2 compared with ALD model. Moreover, the
      findings demonstrated that hesperidin alleviated hepatic damage as well, which is
      reflected by the expressions of endoplasmic reticulum stress and DNA damage
      related genes (chop, gadd45alphaa, and edem1). In conclusion, this study revealed
      that hesperidin can inhibit alcoholic damage to liver of zebrafish larvae by
      reducing endoplasmic reticulum stress and DNA damage, regulating alcohol and
      lipid metabolism.

PMID- 28596797
TI  - Causality in cancer research: a journey through models in molecular epidemiology
      and their philosophical interpretation.
AB  - In the last decades, Systems Biology (including cancer research) has been driven
      by technology, statistical modelling and bioinformatics. In this paper we try to
      bring biological and philosophical thinking back. We thus aim at making different
      traditions of thought compatible: (a) causality in epidemiology and in
      philosophical theorizing-notably, the "sufficient-component-cause framework" and
      the "mark transmission" approach; (b) new acquisitions about disease
      pathogenesis, e.g. the "branched model" in cancer, and the role of biomarkers in
      this process; (c) the burgeoning of omics research, with a large number of
      "signals" and of associations that need to be interpreted. In the paper we
      summarize first the current views on carcinogenesis, and then explore the
      relevance of current philosophical interpretations of "cancer causes". We try to
      offer a unifying framework to incorporate biomarkers and omic data into causal
      models, referring to a position called "evidential pluralism". According to this
      view, causal reasoning is based on both "evidence of difference-making" (e.g.
      associations) and on "evidence of underlying biological mechanisms". We
      conceptualize the way scientists detect and trace signals in terms of information
      transmission, which is a generalization of the mark transmission theory developed
      by philosopher Wesley Salmon. Our approach is capable of helping us conceptualize
      how heterogeneous factors such as micro and macro-biological and psycho-social
      are causally linked. This is important not only to understand cancer etiology,
      but also to design public health policies that target the right causal factors at
      the macro-level.

PMID- 28596798
TI  - Work-related floors as injury hazards - a nationwide pilot project analyzing
      floors in theatres and education establishments in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An adequate dance floor is said to prevent injuries. On the basis of
      scientific research, numerous recommendations regarding an adequate dance floor
      have been developed. Up to the present, however, studies have still been lacking
      into how far these recommendations have already been implemented in theatres with
      regular dance productions and/or in-house dance ensembles. The aim of this study
      is to analyze a nationwide survey on dance floors of theatres and education
      establishments in Germany. METHODS: A questionnaire-based survey on existence and
      type of floors in the various dance-related working areas was carried out at
      theatres and education establishments institutions (n = 86 institutions (n = 76
      theatres, n = 10 education establishments). References as to region, size of
      dance ensembles and dance styles performed were created. RESULTS: Of all
      education establishments, 75.3% were equipped with a sprung sub-floor in the
      ballet studios. In contrast, sprung sub-floors were only found in 29.7% of the
      working areas, the stage AND ballet studios in theatres. The percentage of
      theatres providing sprung sub-floors in all rooms used by dancers is even lower.
      Considering all dance-related work areas, larger ensembles (>30 dancers) were
      offered better conditions regarding floors than smaller ensembles (p > 0.001). No
      significant tendencies were found regarding regions or dance styles. CONCLUSION:
      Recommendations concerning an appropriate dance floor have only partly been
      realized. Besides secured finances for reinstallation, further education of
      responsible officials and artists is essential. However, accrediting dance as own
      genre in theatres is the indispensable prerequisite.

PMID- 28596800
TI  - A comparative study of the prevalence and correlates of psychiatric disorders in
      Almajiris and public primary school pupils in Zaria, Northwest Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 'Almajiris' are children and adolescents sent far away from their
      homes to study in Islamic schools under the care of Muslim scholars. Over the
      years, there has been a decline in the capacity of the scholars to cater to these
      pupils. Consequently, Almajiris spend significant periods of time on the streets
      begging and carrying out menial jobs to earn a living thereby increasing their
      risk for physical and mental disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the
      prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Almajiris and public primary school
      pupils in Zaria. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional design was utilized to
      compare 213 Almajiris and 200 public primary school children and adolescents aged
      between 5 and 19 years. All participants were administered a Socio-demographic
      questionnaire and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for
      School-aged Children Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). Data were analyzed
      using Chi square tests and logistic regression. RESULTS: The current prevalence
      of psychiatric disorders among Almajiris and public school pupils was 57.7 and
      37.0% respectively. After adjusting for age and family characteristics, Almajiris
      were significantly more likely to have any psychiatric diagnosis, depression,
      enuresis, substance use, and post traumatic stress disorder but less likely to
      have separation anxiety disorder than the public school pupils. CONCLUSION:
      Psychiatric disorders are more prevalent among Almajiris and public primary
      school pupils in Northwest Nigeria than found in other prevalence studies with a
      significantly higher rate among the Almajiris. Joint efforts need to be made by
      the Government and Civil Society organizations including religious groups towards
      reforming the Almajiri education system and the provision of programmes aimed at
      reducing the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in both Almajiris and the school
      pupils.

PMID- 28596801
TI  - Tobacco in post-conflict settings: the case of Iraq.
AB  - Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world, claiming six
      million lives each year. Although smoking prevalence is decreasing in high-income
      countries, many low- and middle-income countries, particularly fragile and post
      conflict nations such as Iraq, are still seeing prevalence rates rising. With the
      evidence of higher rates of nicotine dependence in conflict and post-conflict
      areas, the tobacco problem only becomes more difficult for Iraq, which finds
      itself involved in conflicts lasting years, if not decades. Terrorism and
      unstable governments, as well as Big Tobacco, create large roadblocks on the
      route to adequate tobacco control. However, some tobacco control efforts have
      been successful in other post-conflict settings, demonstrating that with good
      governance, many of these roadblocks can be overcome. This review explores the
      context of tobacco control strategies in Iraq, identifies problems/issues, and
      discusses possible resolutions using some examples from other post-conflict
      countries.

PMID- 28596799
TI  - The rate of success of the conservative management of liver trauma in a
      developing country.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The conservative treatment of liver trauma has made important
      progress over the last 10 years at the Trauma University Hospital in Tirana,
      Albania. The percentage of success was 58.7%. The aims of this study were to
      analyze the conservative treatment of liver trauma and to compare the results
      with those in the literature. METHODS: This study was conducted prospectively
      from January 2009 to December 2012. We analyzed 173 patients admitted to our
      hospital with liver trauma. Liver injuries were evaluated according to the
      American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the World Society of Emergency
      Surgery classification, while the anatomic gravity of the associated injuries was
      defined using the Injury Severity Score system. The potential mortality was
      estimated with the Revised Trauma Score. RESULTS: Out of the 173 patients with
      liver trauma, 83.2% were male. The main cause of liver trauma was motor vehicle
      crashes (50.9%). Blunt trauma was the cause of liver injury in 129 cases (74.6%),
      and penetrating trauma occurred in 44 cases (25.4%). Initially, the decision was
      to manage 88 cases (50.9%) via the conservative approach. Of these, 73 cases
      (42.2%) were successfully treated with conservative treatment, while in 15 cases
      (17.2%), this approach failed. The success rate of conservative treatment by
      grade of injuries was as follows: grade I (38.4%), grade II (30.1%), grade III
      (28.8%), and grade IV (2.7%). The likelihood of the success of conservative
      treatment had a significant correlation with the grade of the liver injury (p <
      0.00001), associated intra-abdominal injuries (p = 0.00051), and complications (z
      = 2.3169, p = 0.02051). The overall mortality rate of liver trauma was 13.2%.
      CONCLUSIONS: The likelihood of success in using conservative treatment had a
      significant correlation with the grade of liver injury and associated intra
      abdominal injuries. The limited hospital resources and low level of consensus on
      conservative treatment had a negative impact on the level of success.

PMID- 28596802
TI  - Nursing diagnoses in adult/elderly patients undergoing outpatient antineoplastic
      chemotherapy: a review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To search in the scientific literature for nursing diagnoses
      identified in adult/elderly patients undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy in an
      outpatient setting. METHODS: Review of studies published in Portuguese, English,
      or Spanish which were searched in five electronic databases in March 2016, using
      the descriptors nursing process, nursing diagnosis, neoplasms, drug therapy and
      hospital outpatient clinic. RESULTS: In the four studies selected for review, 40
      nursing diagnoses were identified, namely unbalanced nutrition, less than body
      requirements, risk of deficient fluid volume, diarrhoea, fatigue, impaired home
      maintenance, deficient knowledge, disturbed body image, interrupted family
      processes, ineffective sexuality pattern, anxiety, powerlessness, fear, readiness
      for enhanced religiosity, risk of infection, impaired dentition, risk of impaired
      skin integrity, acute pain, and nausea. CONCLUSIONS: The nursing diagnoses
      identified can support the selection of interventions and the creation of nursing
      guidelines in outpatient oncology services.

PMID- 28596803
TI  - Volumetric arc therapy for total scalp irradiation: case report for a recurrent
      basal cell carcinoma of the scalp.
AB  - Total scalp irradiation may be used to treat numerous conditions including
      squamous and basal cell carcinomas. These conditions are relatively uncommon and
      patients are frequently treated with palliative intent. In this report, we
      describe a volumetric arc therapy technique using photon beams for curative
      intent in an 84 years old patient with recurrent basal cell carcinoma of the
      scalp. Dose was 50Gy (2Gy per session) to the planning target volume (PTV)
      followed by a 10 Gy boost to the macroscopic disease on the forehead. A custom
      made 1 cm superflab bolus helmet was used. Toxicities only consisted of Grade-1
      transient radiation dermatitis and alopecia. A sustained clinical response was
      observed at 6 months follow-up. Volumetric arc therapy (VMAT) may offer an
      effective alternative modality to treat patients with very extensive scalp
      lesions as described in this case report.

PMID- 28596804
TI  - Bringing a humanistic approach to cancer clinical trials.
AB  - In this article, we describe some practical aspects that promote the humanisation
      of clinical research. Actions are not limited to improving the communication
      skills of medical staff but also include maintenance of care continuity,
      accessible written information, and application of theoretic models such as
      shared decision-making and management of stress in decision-making under
      uncertainty. We believe that a comprehensive strategy will increase patients'
      motivation to participate in and adhere to clinical research.

PMID- 28596805
TI  - Ataxia-Telangiectasia patients get a rare chance to meet the experts at a
      dedicated workshop in IFOM (the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology).
AB  - Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a genetic syndrome characterized by cerebellar
      degeneration, telangiectasia, immunodeficiency and cancer predisposition. A-T
      occurs in between 1 in 40,000 and 1 in 100,000 live births. The first symptoms
      normally occur in early childhood when the infant begins to walk. Affected
      children have immunodeficiency and an increased predisposition for cancers. A-T
      is caused by mutations in the ATM (Ataxia Telangiectasia, Mutated) gene which
      encodes a protein of the same name.

PMID- 28596807
TI  - Aqueous SARA ATRP using Inorganic Sulfites.
AB  - Aqueous supplemental activator and reducing agent atom transfer radical
      polymerization (SARA ATRP) using inorganic sulfites was successfully carried out
      for the first time. Under optimized conditions, a well-controlled
      poly[oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether acrylate] (POEOA) was obtained with <30
      ppm of soluble copper catalyst using tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPMA) ligand in
      the presence of an excess of halide salts (e.g. NaCl). Inorganic sulfites (e.g.
      Na2S2O4) were continuously fed into the reaction mixture. The mechanistic studies
      proved that these salts can activate alkyl halides directly and regenerate the
      activator complex. The effects of the feeding rate of the SARA agent (inorganic
      sulfites), ligand and its concentration, halide salt and its concentration,
      sulfite used, and copper concentration, were systematically studied to afford
      fast polymerizations rates while maintaining the control over polymerization. The
      kinetic data showed linear first-order kinetics, linear evolution of molecular
      weights with conversion, and polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions
      (D ~1.2) during polymerization even at relatively high monomer conversions
      (~80%). "One-pot" chain extension and "one-pot" block copolymerization
      experiments proved the high chain-end functionality. The polymerization could be
      directly regulated by starting or stopping the continuous feeding of the SARA
      agent. Under biologically relevant conditions, the aqueous SARA ATRP using
      inorganic sulfites was used to synthesize a well-defined protein-polymer hybrid
      by grafting of P(OEOA480) from BSA-O-[iBBr]30.

PMID- 28596806
TI  - Custom-made foot orthoses: an analysis of prescription characteristics from an
      Australian commercial orthotic laboratory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Foot orthoses are widely used in the prevention and treatment of foot
      disorders. The aim of this study was to describe characteristics of custom-made
      foot orthosis prescriptions from a Australian podiatric orthotic laboratory.
      METHODS: One thousand consecutive foot orthosis prescription forms were obtained
      from a commercial prescription foot orthosis laboratory located in Melbourne,
      Victoria, Australia (Footwork Podiatric Laboratory). Each item from the
      prescription form was documented in relation to orthosis type, cast correction,
      arch fill technique, cast modifications, shell material, shell modifications and
      cover material. Cluster analysis and discriminant function analysis were applied
      to identify patterns in the prescription data. RESULTS: Prescriptions were
      obtained from 178 clinical practices across Australia and Hong Kong, with
      patients ranging in age from 5 to 92 years. Three broad categories ('clusters')
      were observed that were indicative of increasing 'control' of rearfoot pronation.
      A combination of five variables (rearfoot cast correction, cover shape, orthosis
      type, forefoot cast correction and plantar fascial accommodation) was able to
      identify these clusters with an accuracy of 70%. Significant differences between
      clusters were observed in relation to age and sex of the patient and the
      geographic location of the prescribing clinician. CONCLUSION: Foot orthosis
      prescriptions are complex, but can be broadly classified into three categories.
      Selection of these prescription subtypes appears to be influenced by both patient
      factors (age and sex) and clinician factors (clinic location).

PMID- 28596808
TI  - Saturated hydrogen saline ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung
      injury by reducing excessive autophagy.
AB  - The pathogenesis of acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      involves excessive pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress. In turn,
      autophagy is associated with inflammatory diseases and organ dysfunction, and
      studies have demonstrated that LPS treatment may trigger autophagy. Thus,
      excessive autophagy may stimulate the strong inflammatory response observed in
      the development of LPS-induced ALI. Saturated hydrogen saline may alleviate LPS
      induced ALI by inhibiting autophagy, however its underlying mechanisms of action
      remain unknown. It has been suggested that saturated hydrogen saline may
      downregulate expression of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, leading to a decrease in
      Beclin-1 transcription and inhibition of autophagy. Inhibition of autophagy also
      occurs via the phosphorylation of Unc-51-like autophagy activating kinase 1 and
      autophagy-related protein-13 by mechanistic target of rapamycin, which in turn
      may be upregulated by saturated hydrogen saline. In addition, signaling pathways
      involving heme oxygenase-1 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase are
      associated with the alleviative effects of saturated hydrogen saline on LPS
      induced autophagy. The present review focuses on potential molecular mechanisms
      regarding the effects of saturated hydrogen saline in the reduction of autophagy
      during LPS-induced ALI.

PMID- 28596811
TI  - Genetic Engineering and Human Mental Ecology: Interlocking Effects and
      Educational Considerations.
AB  - This paper describes some likely semiotic consequences of genetic engineering on
      what Gregory Bateson has called "the mental ecology" (1979) of future humans,
      consequences that are less often raised in discussions surrounding the safety of
      GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The effects are as follows: an increased
      1) habituation to the presence of GMOs in the environment, 2) normalization of
      empirically false assumptions grounding genetic reductionism, 3) acceptance that
      humans are capable and entitled to decide what constitutes an evolutionary
      improvement for a species, 4) perception that the main source of creativity and
      problem solving in the biosphere is anthropogenic. Though there are some tensions
      between them, these effects tend to produce self-validating webs of ideas,
      actions, and environments, which may reinforce destructive habits of thought.
      Humans are unlikely to safely develop genetic technologies without confronting
      these escalating processes directly. Intervening in this mental ecology presents
      distinct challenges for educators, as will be discussed.

PMID- 28596810
TI  - Simulation of shear bands with Soft PARticle Code (SPARC) and FE.
AB  - The aim of this paper is to numerically investigate the development, thickness
      and orientation of shear bands, in biaxial test with two approaches towards
      solving problems of continuum mechanics, namely the meshless "Soft PARticle"
      method and the mesh based Finite Element method. Soft PArticle Code (SPARC) is a
      straightforward collocation numerical method based on strong formulation, in
      which a first order polynomial basis is adopted for the evaluation of spatial
      derivatives in partial differential equations. A novel nonlinear constitutive
      model- barodesy for clay, is adopted in this study. The biaxial test, which
      involves homogeneous, and later inhomogeneous localized deformation is simulated
      using the Soft PArticle Code and the Finite Element method. The inclination and
      thickness of the shear bands are evaluated and analysed with the earlier
      experimental, theoretical and numerical investigations. Furthermore, simulation
      results are compared and presented to demonstrate the advantages and limitations
      of SPARC in comparison to FE method.

PMID- 28596809
TI  - Viscum album (L.) in experimental animal tumors: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) has been used as complementary anticancer treatment
      for ~100 years. Although the clinical efficacy of mistletoe in cancer and
      associated survival benefits remain contested, several studies point to its
      effectiveness and others have reported antitumor and immunomodulatory properties.
      In the present review, a search was conducted for original articles reporting the
      outcomes of treatments for experimental animal tumors with mistletoe. The
      inclusion criteria were: Publication in English, from 1996 onwards and in peer
      reviewed journals included in the database PubMed. The parameters analyzed were:
      Provenance and time of publication, rationale, methods (animal species used,
      mistletoe preparation, treatment protocol, tumor lineage, blinding,
      randomization, controls and concomitant treatments), outcomes and investigated
      mechanisms of action. A total of 37 studies met the inclusion criteria. The
      quality of the studies was adequate in the terms of sample size and use of
      controls, and the only animal species employed were mice and rats. However, few
      studies reported having performed random allocation and none reported blinding.
      There was wide variation in the type and preparation of mistletoe used, route of
      administration, regimen, tumor type and the mechanism of action assessed. A
      temporal trend was identified; earlier studies sought to establish the antitumor
      effect of mistletoe and its possible mechanisms, cytotoxicity and
      immunomodulation in particular, whereas the later ones tended to focus more on
      biologically active principles, genomics and oxidative stress. A total of 32/37
      studies reported an antitumor effect, 3 of which had mixed results. A total of 2
      studies did not detect any antitumor effect and a further 2 found stimulation of
      tumor growth in the treated groups. One study did not assess antitumor effects,
      investigating immunomodulation action instead. The quality of the studies was
      satisfactory and the majority reported positive outcomes. Nevertheless, there is
      a great deal of methodological heterogeneity among the studies, which precludes
      conclusive comparisons. Based on these results, the present authors strongly
      suggest developing guidelines for reporting in vivo mistletoe cancer treatment
      experiments.

PMID- 28596812
TI  - Hydrogen Chemical Configuration and Thermal Stability in Tungsten Disulfide
      Nanoparticles Exposed to Hydrogen Plasma.
AB  - The chemical configuration and interaction mechanism of hydrogen adsorbed in
      inorganic nanoparticles of WS2 are investigated. Our recent approaches of using
      hydrogen activated by either microwave or radiofrequency plasma dramatically
      increased the efficiency of its adsorption on the nanoparticles surface. In the
      current work we make an emphasis on elucidation of the chemical configuration of
      the adsorbed hydrogen. This configuration is of primary importance as it affects
      its adsorption stability and possibility of release. To get insight on the
      chemical configuration, we combined the experimental analysis methods with
      theoretical modeling based on the density functional theory (DFT). Micro-Raman
      spectroscopy was used as a primary tool to elucidate chemical bonding of hydrogen
      and to distinguish between chemi- and physisorption. Hydrogen adsorbed in
      molecular form (H2) was clearly identified in all the plasma-hydrogenated WS2
      nanoparticles samples. It was shown that the adsorbed hydrogen is generally
      stable under high vacuum conditions at room temperature, which implies its
      stability at the ambient atmosphere. A DFT model was developed to simulate the
      adsorption of hydrogen in the WS2 nanoparticles. This model considers various
      adsorption sites and identifies the preferential locations of the adsorbed
      hydrogen in several WS2 structures, demonstrating good concordance between theory
      and experiment and providing tools for optimizing of hydrogen exposure conditions
      and the type of substrate materials.

PMID- 28596813
TI  - Three Eras in Global Tobacco Control: How Global Governance Processes Influenced
      Online Tobacco Control Networking.
AB  - Online networks can serve as a platform to diffuse policy innovations and enhance
      global health governance. This study focuses on how shifts in global health
      governance may influence related online networks. We compare social network
      metrics (average degree centrality [AVGD], density [D] and clustering coefficient
      [CC]) of Globalink, an online network of tobacco control advocates, across three
      eras in global tobacco control governance; pre-Framework Convention on Tobacco
      Control (FCTC) policy transfer (1992-1998), global regime formation through the
      FCTC negotiations (1999-2005), and philanthropic funding through the Bloomberg
      Initiative (2006-2012). Prior to 1999, Globalink was driven by a handful of high
      income countries (AVGD=1.908 D=0.030, CC=0.215). The FCTC negotiations (1999
      2005) corresponded with a rapid uptick in the number of countries represented
      within Globalink and new members were most often brought into the network through
      relationships with regional neighbors (AVGD=2.824, D=0.021, CC=0.253). Between
      2006 and 2012, the centrality of the US in the network increases significantly
      (AVGD=3.414, D=0.023, CC=0.310). The findings suggest that global
      institutionalization through WHO, as with the FCTC, can lead to the rapid growth
      of decentralized online networks. Alternatively, private initiatives, such as the
      Bloomberg Initiative, can lead to clustering in which a single source of
      information gains increasing influence over an online network.

PMID- 28596814
TI  - Enhancement of Mitochondrial Transfer by Antioxidants in Human Mesenchymal Stem
      Cells.
AB  - Excessive reactive oxygen species is the major component of a harsh
      microenvironment after ischemia/reperfusion injury in human tissues. Combined
      treatment of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AAP)
      promoted the growth of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and suppressed
      oxidative stress-induced cell death by enhancing mitochondrial integrity and
      function in vitro. In this study, we aimed to determine whether NAC and AAP
      (termed MCA) could enhance the therapeutic potential of hMSCs. We established a
      coculture system consisting of MCA-treated and H2O2-treated hMSCs and
      investigated the role of tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) in the exchange of
      mitochondria between the 2 cell populations. The consequences of mitochondria
      exchange were assessed by fluorescence confocal microscopy and flow cytometry.
      The results showed that MCA could increase the mitochondrial mass, respiratory
      capacity, and numbers of TNTs in hMSCs. The "energized" mitochondria were
      transferred to the injured hMSCs via TNTs, the oxidative stress was decreased,
      and the mitochondrial membrane potential of the H2O2-treated hMSCs was
      stabilized. The transfer of mitochondria decreased the expression of S616
      phosphorylated dynamin-related protein 1, a protein that dictates the
      fragmentation/fission of mitochondria. Concurrently, MCA also enhanced mitophagy
      in the coculture system, implicating that damaged mitochondria were eliminated in
      order to maintain cell physiology.

PMID- 28596815
TI  - Next-generation sequencing traces human induced pluripotent stem cell lines
      clonally generated from heterogeneous cancer tissue.
AB  - AIM: To investigate genotype variation among induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)
      lines that were clonally generated from heterogeneous colon cancer tissues using
      next-generation sequencing. METHODS: Human iPSC lines were clonally established
      by selecting independent single colonies expanded from heterogeneous primary
      cells of S-shaped colon cancer tissues by retroviral gene transfer (OCT3/4, SOX2,
      and KLF4). The ten iPSC lines, their starting cancer tissues, and the matched
      adjacent non-cancerous tissues were analyzed using next-generation sequencing and
      bioinformatics analysis using the human reference genome hg19. Non-synonymous
      single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) (missense, nonsense, and read-through) were
      identified within the target region of 612 genes related to cancer and the human
      kinome. All SNVs were annotated using dbSNP135, CCDS, RefSeq, GENCODE, and 1000
      Genomes. The SNVs of the iPSC lines were compared with the genotypes of the
      cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. The putative genotypes were validated using
      allelic depth and genotype quality. For final confirmation, mutated genotypes
      were manually curated using the Integrative Genomics Viewer. RESULTS: In eight of
      the ten iPSC lines, one or two non-synonymous SNVs in EIF2AK2, TTN, ULK4, TSSK1B,
      FLT4, STK19, STK31, TRRAP, WNK1, PLK1 or PIK3R5 were identified as novel SNVs and
      were not identical to the genotypes found in the cancer and non-cancerous
      tissues. This result suggests that the SNVs were de novo or pre-existing
      mutations that originated from minor populations, such as multifocal pre-cancer
      (stem) cells or pre-metastatic cancer cells from multiple, different clonal
      evolutions, present within the heterogeneous cancer tissue. The genotypes of all
      ten iPSC lines were different from the mutated ERBB2 and MKNK2 genotypes of the
      cancer tissues and were identical to those of the non-cancerous tissues and that
      found in the human reference genome hg19. Furthermore, two of the ten iPSC lines
      did not have any confirmed mutated genotypes, despite being derived from
      cancerous tissue. These results suggest that the traceability and preference of
      the starting single cells being derived from pre-cancer (stem) cells, stroma
      cells such as cancer-associated fibroblasts, and immune cells that co-existed in
      the tissues along with the mature cancer cells. CONCLUSION: The genotypes of iPSC
      lines derived from heterogeneous cancer tissues can provide information on the
      type of starting cell that the iPSC line was generated from.

PMID- 28596816
TI  - Coffee: The magical bean for liver diseases.
AB  - Coffee has long been recognized as having hepatoprotective properties, however,
      the extent of any beneficial effect is still being elucidated. Coffee appears to
      reduce risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, reduce advancement of fibrotic disease
      in a variety of chronic liver diseases, and perhaps reduce ability of hepatitis C
      virus to replicate. This review aims to catalog the evidence for coffee as
      universally beneficial across a spectrum of chronic liver diseases, as well as
      spotlight opportunities for future investigation into coffee and liver disease.

PMID- 28596817
TI  - Cardiovascular assessment in liver transplant for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
      patients: What we do, what we should do.
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing considerably due to the
      current lifestyle, which means that it is becoming one of the main indications
      for liver transplantation. On the other hand, there is a strong association
      between NAFLD and cardiovascular disease. This has been evidenced in many studies
      revealing a higher presence of carotid plaques or carotid intima-media thickness,
      leading to cardiovascular events and, ultimately, mortality. According to the
      liver transplant guidelines, screening for heart disease in transplant candidates
      should be performed by electrocardiogram and transthoracic echocardiography while
      a stress echocardiogram should be reserved for those with more than two
      cardiovascular risk factors or greater than 50 years old. However, there are no
      specific recommendations in NAFLD patients requiring a liver transplantation,
      despite its well-known cardiovascular risk association. Many studies have shown
      that these patients probably require a more exhaustive assessment and a global
      approach including other specialists such as cardiologists or nutritionists.
      Also, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is also increased in NAFLD patients
      in the post-transplantation period in comparison with other etiologies, because
      of the pre-existent risk factors together with the immunosuppressive therapy.
      Therefore, an early intervention on the lifestyle and the individualized
      selection of the immunosuppressive regimen could lead to a modification of the
      cardiovascular risk factors in NAFLD patients requiring a liver transplantation.

PMID- 28596818
TI  - Trend of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence after Bayesian correction for
      misclassified data in Iranian provinces.
AB  - AIM: To study the trend of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence after correcting
      the misclassification in registering cancer incidence across Iranian provinces in
      cancer registry data. METHODS: Incidence data of hepatocellular carcinoma were
      extracted from Iranian annual of national cancer registration reports 2004 to
      2008. A Bayesian method was implemented to estimate the rate of misclassification
      in registering cancer incidence in neighboring province. A beta prior is
      considered for misclassification parameter. Each time two neighboring provinces
      were selected to be entered in the Bayesian model based on their expected
      coverage of cancer cases which is reported by medical university of the province.
      It is assumed that some cancer cases from a province that has an expected
      coverage of cancer cases lower than 100% are registered in their neighboring
      facilitate province with more than 100% expected coverage. RESULTS: There is an
      increase in the rate of hepatocellular carcinoma in Iran. Among total of 30
      provinces of Iran, 21 provinces were selected to be entered to the Bayesian model
      for correcting the existed misclassification. Provinces with more medical
      facilities of Iran are Tehran (capital of the country), Razavi Khorasan in north
      east of Iran, East Azerbaijan in north-west of the country, Isfahan in central
      part and near to Tehran, Khozestan and Fars in south and Mazandaran in north of
      the Iran, had an expected coverage more than their expectation. Those provinces
      had significantly higher rates of hepatocellular carcinoma than their neighboring
      provinces. In years 2004 to 2008, it was estimated to be on average 34%
      misclassification between North Khorasan province and Razavi Khorasan, 43%
      between South Khorasan province and Razavi Khorasan, 47% between Sistan and
      balochestan province and Razavi Khorasan, 23% between West Azerbaijan province
      and East Azerbaijan province, 25% between Ardebil province and East Azerbaijan
      province, 41% between Hormozgan province and Fars province, 22%
      betweenChaharmahal and bakhtyari province and Isfahan province, 22% between
      Kogiloye and boyerahmad province and Isfahan, 22% between Golestan province and
      Mazandaran province, 43% between Bushehr province and Khozestan province, 41%
      between Ilam province and Khuzestan province, 42% between Qazvin province and
      Tehran province, 44% between Markazi province and Tehran, and 30% between Qom
      province and Tehran. CONCLUSION: Accounting and correcting the regional
      misclassification is necessary for identifying high risk areas and planning for
      reducing the cancer incidence.

PMID- 28596819
TI  - Usefulness of the MESH score in a European hepatocellular carcinoma cohort.
AB  - The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification is the most widely - used
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) staging system because it is simple, precise and
      linked to a treatment algorithm based on randomized studies. But each group
      includes a broad spectrum of tumors, with limited therapeutic options,
      particularly for intermediate and advanced stages. Consequently, different
      additional scoring systems have been proposed to refine the prognosis and/or to
      improve the management. But until now, there is no consensus. Liu et al proposes
      a new scoring system, based on a large HCC cohort, with patients at different
      stages, treated using diverse modalities. This score includes six parameters used
      in current practice. It is simple to calculate, reliable, with an ability to
      predict survival superior to other systems, which also works with our European
      HCC cohort. The MESH score may be especially useful to differentiate subgroups
      with different prognosis for each treatment modality.

PMID- 28596821
TI  - Turbine Blade Illusion.
AB  - In January 2017, a large wind turbine blade was installed temporarily in a city
      square as a public artwork. At first sight, media photographs of the installation
      appeared to be fakes - the blade looks like it could not really be part of the
      scene. Close inspection of the object shows that its paradoxical visual
      appearance can be attributed to unconscious assumptions about object shape and
      light source direction.

PMID- 28596823
TI  - Atypical presentation of sigmoid carcinoma.
AB  - Colorectal carcinoma is common worldwide and its metastasis represents the main
      cause of mortality related to the disease. Inguinal metastization of this tumor
      has been considered almost impossible, owing to colon anatomy and its cranial
      lymphatic drainage. We report the case of a 63-year-old man submitted to
      laparoscopical sigmoid colectomy, due a sigmoid adenocarcinoma. During follow-up,
      a right inguinal lymphadenopathy with 25 mm was detected. Fine needle aspiration
      biopsy revealed that it was a colon adenocarcinoma metastasis, and thus the
      patient underwent an inguinal lymphadenectomy. The histological study confirmed
      metastatic adenocarcinoma of the colon and the patient was submitted to 5
      fluouracil and oxaliplatin chemotherapy. This case coursed with metastasis to the
      right inguinal region; although, the pathophysiological mechanism involved is
      difficult to understand. There are no solid data for the management of these
      patients. Inguinal lymphadenectomy and chemotherapy, proved to be effective.

PMID- 28596822
TI  - Ethmoid malformation associated with pediatric nasal polyposis and allergic
      fungal sinusitis.
AB  - A 17-year-old female with allergic fungal sinusitis and nasal polyposis presented
      with epistaxis in the emergency room. On examination, right-sided proptosis and
      irregular nasal obstruction were observed in the right nasal cavity. CT imaging
      revealed massive right-sided polyposis and significant ipsilateral malformation
      with boney architecture preservation of the ethmoidal labyrinth and lamina
      papyracea. The patient was treated surgically with symptomatic improvement. These
      findings indicate a unique malformation of the ethmoid while the patient was in
      development. To the authors' knowledge, this anatomical malformation has not been
      previously described in the literature. Physicians should implement diagnostic
      procedures early if nasal polyposis and allergic fungal sinusitis is suspected in
      pediatric patients, especially with periocular involvement, to mitigate the risk
      of boney malformations of the sinuses.

PMID- 28596824
TI  - Primary extrahepatic bile duct neuroendocrine tumor with obstructive jaundice
      masquerading as a Klatskin tumor.
AB  - Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the extrahepatic bile duct are extremely rare and
      reported infrequently in the literature. These tumors are difficult to diagnose
      preoperatively, and the prognosis is variable, often determined by extent of
      disease, tumor grade and resectability. This case report presents a 45-year-old
      male with history of biliary obstruction relieved by endobiliary stents with
      common hepatic duct stricture just above the cystic duct, thought to be a
      Klatskin's cholangiocarcinoma. Final pathological examination was consistent with
      primary extrahepatic NET.

PMID- 28596820
TI  - Neural synchronization deficits linked to cortical hyper-excitability and
      auditory hypersensitivity in fragile X syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies in the fmr1 KO mouse demonstrate hyper-excitability and
      increased high-frequency neuronal activity in sensory cortex. These abnormalities
      may contribute to prominent and distressing sensory hypersensitivities in
      patients with fragile X syndrome (FXS). The current study investigated functional
      properties of auditory cortex using a sensory entrainment task in FXS. METHODS:
      EEG recordings were obtained from 17 adolescents and adults with FXS and 17 age-
      and sex-matched healthy controls. Participants heard an auditory chirp stimulus
      generated using a 1000-Hz tone that was amplitude modulated by a sinusoid
      linearly increasing in frequency from 0-100 Hz over 2 s. RESULTS: Single trial
      time-frequency analyses revealed decreased gamma band phase-locking to the chirp
      stimulus in FXS, which was strongly coupled with broadband increases in gamma
      power. Abnormalities in gamma phase-locking and power were also associated with
      theta-gamma amplitude-amplitude coupling during the pre-stimulus period and with
      parent reports of heightened sensory sensitivities and social communication
      deficits. CONCLUSIONS: This represents the first demonstration of neural
      entrainment alterations in FXS patients and suggests that fast-spiking
      interneurons regulating synchronous high-frequency neural activity have reduced
      functionality. This reduced ability to synchronize high-frequency neural activity
      was related to the total power of background gamma band activity. These
      observations extend findings from fmr1 KO models of FXS, characterize a core
      pathophysiological aspect of FXS, and may provide a translational biomarker
      strategy for evaluating promising therapeutics.

PMID- 28596827
TI  - Erratum to: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy secondary to adipose
      infiltration as a cause of episodic collapse in a horse.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13620-015-0052-3.].

PMID- 28596826
TI  - Field evaluation of the efficacy of common anthelmintics used in the control of
      gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep in Dabat district, Northwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections are the main impediments
      that restrict the welfare and productivity of small ruminant in the world.
      Effective management of GINs in grazing sheep relies heavily on the use of highly
      efficacious anthelmintic drugs. However, anthelmintic resistance is becoming a
      significant concern in the world, and this phenomenon severely threatens the
      potential utilisation of this control strategy. Therefore, this study was
      conducted 1) to evaluate the efficacy of commonly used anthelmintic on GINs in
      naturally infected sheep and 2) to assess the farmers' perception on
      anthelmintics utilisation practices in Dabat district, Northwest Ethiopia.
      METHODS: One hundred twenty nematode infected sheep were used in this study.
      Sheep were selected based on the egg count (>=150 eggs per gram of faeces). The
      animals were allocated randomly into four groups (30 animals per group). Group-I,
      II and III were treated with Albendazole, Tetramisole, and Ivermectin,
      respectively. The 4th group was left untreated (as control). Faecal samples were
      collected on day 0 (before treatment), on day 3, 7, 10 and 14 (post-treatment).
      The modified McMaster technique was used for quantifying the eggs. Faecal egg
      count reduction test (FECRT) was applied to determine the efficacy of
      anthelmintic at day 14 (post-treatment). In addition, a questionnaire survey was
      conducted on 100 randomly selected sheep owners. RESULTS: All anthelmintics
      tested revealed significant (P < 0.05) reduction in nematode egg excretion in the
      sheep post-treatment. Faecal egg count reduction (FECR) levels for Albendazole,
      Tetramisole, and Ivermectin were 97.2, 98.9 and 97.7%, respectively. Post
      treatment egg counts and percentage reduction of egg counts were not
      significantly different (P > 0.05) among the treatment groups. The nematode
      genera identified before treatment were Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Cooperia,
      Trichuris, Teladorsagia, Bunostomum, and Strongyloides. Haemonchus and
      Trichostrongylus were detected after treatment with Albendazole and Ivermectin.
      The questionnaire survey revealed that Albendazole was the most commonly (90%)
      used anthelmintic to treat nematodes in sheep, followed by Tetramisole (36%) and
      Tetraclozan (Tetramisole-Oxyclozanide combination) (20%). Respondents expressed
      that anthelmintic selection was made based on veterinarian prescription (84%),
      colour (27%), efficacy (4%), price affordability (1%) and availability (1%).
      CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the tested anthelmintics had an
      acceptable level of efficacy against GINs of sheep.

PMID- 28596825
TI  - Kv1.3 channel blocker (ImKTx88) maintains blood-brain barrier in experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disruption of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and subsequent infiltration
      of auto-reactive T lymphocytes are major characteristics of multiple sclerosis
      (MS) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Kv1.3 channel blockers
      are demonstrated potential therapeutic effects on MS patients and EAE models,
      maybe via reducing activation of T cells. However, it remains to be explored
      whether Kv1.3 channel blockers maintain integrity of BBB in MS model. RESULTS: In
      this study, ImKTx88, a highly selective Kv1.3 channel blocker, was used to
      determine the role of Kv1.3 channel in the pathogenesis of EAE, particularly in
      the maintenance of BBB. ImKTx88 ameliorated pathological severity in the EAE
      rats, and reduced extravasation into CNS. ImKTx88 also ameliorated the severity
      of loss or redistribution of tight junction proteins, and inhibited over
      expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in the brain from EAE rats. Furthermore ImKTx88
      protection was associated with activation of Ang-1/Tie-2 axis, and might be due
      to decreased IL-17 production. CONCLUSIONS: ImKTx88 may be a novel therapeutic
      agent for MS treatment by stabilizing the BBB.

PMID- 28596830
TI  - The effect of switching from oral low-dose aripiprazole to aripiprazole once
      monthly 300 mg on the quality of life in three patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that requires long-term management
      with antipsychotics; however, an important barrier to the success of long-term
      treatment is drug noncompliance, which increases the risk of recurrence and
      hospitalization. Second-generation long-acting injectable antipsychotics have
      improved drug adherence, and the pharmacological effects of the drugs, and
      therefore, have become useful treatment options. METHODS: We report on three
      schizophrenia patients who switched from oral low-dose aripiprazole to
      aripiprazole once-monthly 300 mg. We examined the efficacy and safety of
      aripiprazole once-monthly 300 mg, as well as its influence on quality of life,
      from baseline to 20 weeks after aripiprazole once-monthly 300 mg treatment.
      RESULTS: Aripiprazole once-monthly 300 mg did not exacerbate the depressive and
      negative symptoms, and extrapyramidal symptoms were improved, which may have
      helped improve the quality of life. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the efficacy
      of aripiprazole once-monthly 300 mg in maintenance treatment for schizophrenia
      when mental symptoms are stable.

PMID- 28596829
TI  - An unusual case of primary hepatic lymphoma with dramatic but unsustained
      response to bendamustine plus rituximab and literature review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Primary hepatic lymphoma is an uncommon cause of hepatic space
      occupying lesions. METHODS: We describe the case of a 73-year-old man with
      primary hepatic lymphoma, who presented with a low-grade fever and lower limb
      weakness which had progressed in the past 2 months. RESULTS: Abdominal ultrasound
      and computed tomography showed multiple small hepatic tumors. Echo-guided biopsy
      of the hepatic tumor demonstrated primary hepatic diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
      Moreover, bone marrow was uninvolved, but the bone marrow smear disclosed
      hemophagocytosis, which is uncommon in diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
      Chemotherapy with bendamustine and rituximab treatment was initiated with a
      dramatic response: hepatic tumors markedly shrank in size shown by follow-up
      computed tomography and the patient returned to his normal life. Nevertheless,
      the response was sustained for only 8 months. Finally, the disease resisted
      further chemotherapy and this patient died of a severe Klebsiella pneumoniae
      infection. CONCLUSION: Chemotherapy with bendamustine and rituximab has shown a
      dramatic, but not durable, response in the present case with old age and multiple
      comorbidities.

PMID- 28596831
TI  - Ofatumumab-associated acute pneumonitis: Not new but still the first case.
AB  - Ofatumumab is an anti-CD20 humanized monoclonal antibody utilized in the
      treatment of several clinical conditions resistant to other treatments. In spite
      there was a general expectation that ofatumumab was less toxic compared to
      rituximab, side effects have been reported that resemble those of its anti-CD20
      chimeric precursor. Here, we describe the first case of Ofatumumab associate lung
      injury occurring in a 14-year-old boy affected by nephrotic syndrome dependent to
      prednisone plus cyclosporine A who had been treated with the dose of drug
      utilized in nephrotic syndrome (1500 mg/173 m2). The patient developed the full
      blown picture of rituximab associated lung injury (RALI) after 45 days from
      ofatumumab infusion at the end of the steroid tapering: severe exertional
      dyspnea, mild fever and cyanosis, with CT scan showing diffuse ground glass areas
      in both lungs and DLCO (diffusing capacity of transfer factor of the lung for
      carbon monoxide) test suggestive for reduction of CO diffusion. Clinical outcome
      was good with rapid improvement and normalization of all parameters without any
      specific therapy. After 60 days, chest CT and CO diffusion tests were normal. In
      conclusion, we describe here the first case of acute pneumonitis associated with
      ofatumumab that presents the same clinical, laboratory, and radiology features of
      the lung injury reported for rituximab. Like RALI occurring in patients treated
      for nephrotic syndrome, this case had a mild clinical expression and recovered in
      a few months.

PMID- 28596832
TI  - Mechanical and vasomotor properties of piglet isolated middle cerebral artery.
AB  - Piglets are often used as experimental models for studying cerebrovascular
      responses in newborn infants. However, the mechanical characteristics of piglets'
      middle cerebral arteries (MCA) are not well characterized. Additionally, the
      vessels' response to dopamine, the most commonly used vasopressor in newborns, is
      not characterized in piglets' MCA. Finally, the influence of preterm birth on the
      dopamine response is not known. The aim of this current was to compare by wire
      myography the active and passive mechanical characteristics and dopamine
      concentration-response relations of MCAs isolated from preterm and term newborn
      piglets. Second-order branches of the MCA with a diameter <400 MUm were chosen
      for study. The active and passive mechanical properties were comparable between
      vessels from six preterm (90% gestation, nsegments = 11) and nine term (nsegments
      = 22) newborn piglets. The response to increasing concentrations of dopamine was
      biphasic, starting with vasodilation in the 1 nmol/L-0.3 MUmol/L concentration
      range followed by vasoconstriction at higher concentrations. The response was
      very similar between the two groups. In conclusion, the mechanical properties of
      the MCA as well as the response to dopamine were comparable between term and 90%
      gestation preterm piglets.

PMID- 28596833
TI  - Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of [14C]-dasotraline in
      humans.
AB  - Dasotraline is a dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, and the early
      clinical trials show a slow absorption and long elimination half-life. To
      investigate the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of
      dasotraline in humans, a single dose of [14C]-dasotraline was administered to
      eight healthy male adult volunteers. At 35 days, 90.7% of the dosed radioactivity
      was recovered in the urine (68.3%) and feces (22.4%). The major metabolic
      pathways involved were: (1) amine oxidation to form oxime M41 and sequential
      sulfation to form M42 or glucuronidation to form M43; (2) N-hydroxylation and
      sequential glucuronidation to form M35; (3) oxidative deamination to form (S)
      tetralone; (4) mono-oxidation of (S)-tetralone and sequential glucuronidation to
      form M31A and M32; and (5) N-acetylation to form (1R,4S)-acetamide M102. A total
      of 8 metabolites were detected and structurally elucidated with 4 in plasma (M41,
      M42, M43, and M35), 7 in urine (M41, M42, M43, M31A, M32, M35, and (S)
      tetralone), and 3 in feces (M41, (S)-tetralone, and (1R,4S)-acetamide). The 2
      most abundant circulating metabolites were sulfate (M42) and glucuronide (M43)
      conjugates of the oxime of dasotraline, accounting for 60.1% and 15.0% of the
      total plasma radioactivity, respectively; unchanged dasotraline accounted for
      8.59%. The oxime M41 accounted for only 0.62% of the total plasma radioactivity
      and was detected only at early time points. M35 was a minor glucuronide
      metabolite, undetectable by radioactivity but identified by mass spectrometry.
      The results demonstrate that dasotraline was slowly absorbed, and extensively
      metabolized by oxidation and subsequent phase II conjugations. The findings from
      this study also demonstrated that metabolism of dasotraline by humans did not
      produce metabolites that may cause a safety concern.

PMID- 28596836
TI  - Characterizing QT interval prolongation in early clinical development: a case
      study with methadone.
AB  - Recently, we have shown how pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modeling can
      be used to assess the probability of QT interval prolongation both in dogs and
      humans. A correlation between species has been identified for a drug-specific
      parameter, making it possible to prospectively evaluate nonclinical signals.
      Here, we illustrate how nonclinical data on methadone can be used to support the
      evaluation of dromotropic drug effects in humans. ECG and drug concentration data
      from a safety pharmacology study in dogs were analyzed using nonlinear mixed
      effects modeling. The slope of the PKPD model describing the probability of QT
      interval prolongation was extrapolated from dogs to humans and subsequently
      combined with methadone pharmacokinetic data as input for clinical trial
      simulations. Concentration versus time profiles were simulated for doses between
      5 and 500 mg. Predicted peak concentrations in humans were then used as reference
      value to assess the probability of an increase in QT interval of >=5 and >=10 ms.
      Point estimates for the slope in dogs suggested low probability of >=10 ms
      prolongation in humans, whereas an effect of approximately 5 ms increase is
      predicted when accounting for the 90% credible intervals of the drug-specific
      parameter in dogs. Interspecies differences in drug disposition appear to explain
      the discrepancies between predicted and observed QT prolonging effects in humans.
      Extrapolation of the effects of racemic compound may not be sufficient to
      describe the increase in QT interval observed after administration of methadone
      to patients. Assessment of the contribution of enantioselective metabolism and
      active metabolites is critical.

PMID- 28596837
TI  - Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of CpG islands in a morpholino
      anthracycline derivative-resistant leukemia cell line: p38alpha as a novel
      candidate for resistance.
AB  - Effective leukemia treatment is seriously hampered by drug resistance. We
      previously showed that aberrant methylation of the topoisomerase II alpha gene
      causes altered gene expression and acquired drug resistance in etoposide
      resistant leukemia cells. In this study, we analyzed the genome-wide methylation
      status in resistant leukemia cells. We used MX2, which is a morpholino
      anthracycline derivative that functions as a topoisomerase II alpha inhibitor. We
      established a human myelogenous leukemia cell line (K562/P) and a related cell
      line with resistance to MX2 (K562/MX2). Using these cell lines, we investigated
      the genome-wide methylation status, compared expression profiles with a
      microarray, and analyzed the data using Gene Ontology and key node analysis. We
      demonstrate that the MX2-resistant cell line was globally hypermethylated. Gene
      Ontology analysis identified genes involved in the immunological response and
      gene silencing that were responsible for methylation-related altered gene
      expression in drug-resistant cells. Key node analysis showed that p38alpha
      mitogen-activated protein kinase was a novel enzyme involved in MX2-related
      resistance. p38 kinase activity in resistant cells was increased compared to MX2
      sensitive parent cells. Blocking p38alpha activity using inhibitors and p38alpha
      knock down with small interfering RNA restored the sensitivity to MX2 in
      resistant cells with a decrease in p38 kinase activity as well as decreased
      expression of p38alpha mRNA and phosphorylated p38alpha protein. These findings
      may lead to a new strategy for treatment of drug-resistant leukemia cells.

PMID- 28596834
TI  - Acute cocaine exposure elicits rises in calcium in arousal-related laterodorsal
      tegmental neurons.
AB  - Cocaine has strong reinforcing properties, which underlie its high addiction
      potential. Reinforcement of use of addictive drugs is associated with rises in
      dopamine (DA) in mesoaccumbal circuitry. Excitatory afferent input to
      mesoaccumbal circuitry sources from the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT).
      Chronic, systemic cocaine exposure has been shown to have cellular effects on LDT
      cells, but acute actions of local application have never been demonstrated. Using
      calcium imaging, we show that acute application of cocaine to mouse brain slices
      induces calcium spiking in cells of the LDT. Spiking was attenuated by
      tetrodotoxin (TTX) and low calcium solutions, and abolished by prior exhaustion
      of intracellular calcium stores. Further, DA receptor antagonists reduced these
      transients, whereas DA induced rises with similar spiking kinetics. Amphetamine,
      which also results in elevated levels of synaptic DA, but via a different
      pharmacological action than cocaine, induced calcium spiking with similar
      profiles. Although large differences in spiking were not noted in an animal model
      associated with a heightened proclivity of acquiring addiction-related behavior,
      the prenatal nicotine exposed mouse (PNE), subtle differences in cocaine's effect
      on calcium spiking were noted, indicative of a reduction in action of cocaine in
      the LDT associated with exposure to nicotine during gestation. When taken
      together, our data indicate that acute actions of cocaine do include effects on
      LDT cells. Considering the role of intracellular calcium in cellular
      excitability, and of the LDT in addiction circuitry, our data suggest that
      cocaine effects in this nucleus may contribute to the high addiction potential of
      this drug.

PMID- 28596835
TI  - Chronic diazepam administration increases the expression of Lcn2 in the CNS.
AB  - Benzodiazepines (BZDs), which bind with high affinity to gamma-aminobutyric acid
      type A receptors (GABAA-Rs) and potentiate the effects of GABA, are widely
      prescribed for anxiety, insomnia, epileptic discharge, and as anticonvulsants.
      The long-term use of BZDs is limited due to adverse effects such as tolerance,
      dependence, withdrawal effects, and impairments in cognition and learning.
      Additionally, clinical reports have shown that chronic BZD treatment increases
      the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Unusual GABAA-R subunit expression and GABAA-R
      phosphorylation are induced by chronic BZD use. However, the gene expression and
      signaling pathways related to these effects are not completely understood. In
      this study, we performed a microarray analysis to investigate the mechanisms
      underlying the effect of chronic BZD administration on gene expression. Diazepam
      (DZP, a BZD) was chronically administered, and whole transcripts in the brain
      were analyzed. We found that the mRNA expression levels were significantly
      affected by chronic DZP administration and that lipocalin 2 (Lcn2) mRNA was the
      most upregulated gene in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Lcn2 is
      known as an iron homeostasis-associated protein. Immunostained signals of Lcn2
      were detected in neuron, astrocyte, microglia, and Lcn2 protein expression levels
      were consistently upregulated. This upregulation was observed without
      proinflammatory genes upregulation, and was attenuated by chronic treatment of
      deferoxamine mesylate (DFO), iron chelator. Our results suggest that chronic DZP
      administration regulates transcription and upregulates Lcn2 expression levels
      without an inflammatory response in the mouse brain. Furthermore, the DZP-induced
      upregulation of Lcn2 expression was influenced by ambient iron.

PMID- 28596838
TI  - Botulinum Neurotoxins Serotypes A and B induce paralysis of mouse striated and
      smooth muscles with different potencies.
AB  - To address the scarcity of direct comparison of botulinum neurotoxin serotypes
      activity on smooth versus striatal muscle, we have studied the action of BoNT/A1
      and BoNT/B1 on ex vivo preparations of both muscle types. We have set up and
      characterized a model of neurogenic contractions in the isolated mouse bladder,
      and used this model to explore the effects of the two serotypes on contractions
      evoked by electrical field stimulation. Both toxins were also tested in the mouse
      phrenic nerve hemidiaphragm assay, to compare their potency in smooth versus
      striated muscle. The characterization of the model of neurogenic contractions in
      the isolated mouse bladder indicates that about half of the activity is driven by
      purinergic signaling, and about half by cholinergic signaling. Furthermore, we
      find that BoNT/B1 is more potent than BoNT/A1 in inhibiting activity in the mouse
      detrusor smooth muscle preparation, but that both toxins have comparable potency
      on the striated muscle activity of the phrenic nerve hemidiaphragm model. We also
      show that these findings are mouse strain independent. In conclusion, the
      established mouse bladder detrusor smooth muscle model is able to discriminate
      between different botulinum neurotoxin serotypes and could be a useful
      preclinical tool to explore the pathophysiology of bladder overactivity, as well
      as the effects of new therapeutic candidates. It is interesting to note that the
      high proportion of purinergic transmission driving detrusor contractions in this
      model is similar to that seen in neurodetrusor overactivity disease, making this
      model relevant with regard to pathophysiological interest.

PMID- 28596839
TI  - Structure-specific effects of lipidated oxytocin analogs on intracellular calcium
      levels, parental behavior, and oxytocin concentrations in the plasma and
      cerebrospinal fluid in mice.
AB  - Oxytocin (OT) is a neuroendocrine nonapeptide that plays an important role in
      social memory and behavior. Nasal administration of OT has been shown to improve
      trust in healthy humans and social interaction in autistic subjects in some
      clinical trials. As a central nervous system (CNS) drug, however, OT has two
      unfavorable characteristics: OT is short-acting and shows poor permeability
      across the blood-brain barrier, because it exists in charged form in the plasma
      and has short half-life. To overcome these drawbacks, an analog with long-lasting
      effects is required. We previously synthesized the analog, lipo-oxytocin-1 (LOT
      1), in which two palmitoyl groups are conjugated to the cysteine and tyrosine
      residues. In this study, we synthesized and evaluated the analogs lipo-oxytocin-2
      (LOT-2) and lipo-oxytocin-3 (LOT-3), which feature the conjugation of one
      palmitoyl group at the cysteine and tyrosine residues, respectively. In human
      embryonic kidney-293 cells overexpressing human OT receptors, these three LOTs
      demonstrated comparably weak effects on the elevation of intracellular free
      calcium concentrations after OT receptor activation, compared to the effects of
      OT. The three LOTs and OT exhibited different time-dependent effects on recovery
      from impaired pup retrieval behavior in sires of CD38-knockout mice. Sires
      treated with LOT-1 showed the strongest effect, whereas others had no or little
      effects at 24 h after injection. These results indicated that LOTs have structure
      specific agonistic effects, and suggest that lipidation of OT might have
      therapeutic benefits for social impairment.

PMID- 28596840
TI  - Novel SGLT2 inhibitor: first-in-man studies of antisense compound is associated
      with unexpected renal effects.
AB  - The antisense compound ISIS 388626 selectively inhibits renal glucose
      reabsorption by inhibiting the sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) mRNA
      expression. It is developed as an insulin-independent treatment approach for type
      2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and
      pharmacodynamics after subcutaneous administration of the drug were planned to be
      evaluated in healthy volunteers in a single-ascending-dose study (50-400 mg) and
      a multiple-ascending-dose study (6 weeks; weekly doses of 50-400 mg with loading
      dose regimen of three doses during the first week). The study was halted early
      because increases in serum creatinine occurred in the subjects participating in
      the 100 mg multiple-dose cohort. The pronounced changes in serum creatinine were
      accompanied by increased urinary excretion of beta-2-microglobulin and KIM1. The
      possible mechanisms for these findings remain elusive and are in contrast to
      preclinical findings as comparable treatment with ISIS 388626 of animals did not
      reveal similar changes. Although exposure was limited, there was an indication
      that glucosuria increased upon active treatment. Before the concept of antisense
      mediated blocking of SGLT2 with ISIS 388626 can be explored further, more
      preclinical data are needed to justify further investigations.

PMID- 28596841
TI  - Targeting endosomal acidification by chloroquine analogs as a promising strategy
      for the treatment of emerging viral diseases.
AB  - Emerging viruses such as HIV, dengue, influenza A, SARS coronavirus, Ebola, and
      other viruses pose a significant threat to human health. Majority of these
      viruses are responsible for the outbreaks of pathogenic lethal infections. To
      date, there are no effective therapeutic strategies available for the prophylaxis
      and treatment of these infections. Chloroquine analogs have been used for decades
      as the primary and most successful drugs against malaria. Concomitant with the
      emergence of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium strains and a subsequent decrease
      in the use as antimalarial drugs, other applications of the analogs have been
      investigated. Since the analogs have interesting biochemical properties, these
      drugs are found to be effective against a wide variety of viral infections. As
      antiviral action, the analogs have been shown to inhibit acidification of
      endosome during the events of replication and infection. Moreover,
      immunomodulatory effects of analogs have been beneficial to patients with severe
      inflammatory complications of several viral diseases. Interestingly, one of the
      successful targeting strategies is the inhibition of HIV replication by the
      analogs in vitro which are being tested in several clinical trials. This review
      focuses on the potentialities of chloroquine analogs for the treatment of
      endosomal low pH dependent emerging viral diseases.

PMID- 28596843
TI  - Magnitude and predictors of antiretroviral treatment failure among HIV-infected
      children in Fiche and Kuyu hospitals, Oromia region, Ethiopia: a retrospective
      cohort study.
AB  - The objective of the study was to assess the magnitude and predictors of first
      line antiretroviral treatment failure among HIV-infected children. A
      retrospective cohort study was conducted between January 2006 and December 2015.
      All pediatric patients of <15 years old and who took at least 6 months of ART in
      Fiche and Kuyu hospitals of Oromia region, Ethiopia were included in the study.
      Collected data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Multivariable
      logistic regression was employed to identify predictors of treatment failure.
      Data of 269 children were analyzed and majority (53.9%) of the children were
      males with a mean age of 9.8 +/- 3.64 years. Based on the two WHO criteria,
      overall ART failure was found to be 51 (18.8%), of which 33 (12.26%) had clinical
      and 18 (6.69%) had immunologic failures. The mean time to the detection of
      treatment failure was 41 +/- 24.96 months. Children's age between 6 and 9 years
      (AOR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.72) was protective toward treatment failure, while
      lost to follow-up (AOR = 7.54, 95% CI: 2.35, 24.16), died (AOR = 22.22, 95% CI:
      3.75, 131.54), transferred out (AOR = 3.34, 95% CI: 1.41, 7.87), suboptimal
      adherence to ART (AOR = 4.85, 95% CI: 1.82, 12.93), baseline CD4 count of <50
      cells/mm3 (AOR = 4.28, 95% CI: 3.49, 5.9), and WHO advanced clinical stage (AOR =
      2.46, 95% CI: 1.14, 5.31) were found to be predictors of treatment failure. The
      study revealed that the treatment failure is high and the mean time to develop
      treatment failure is short. The predictors for treatment failure were suboptimal
      adherence, lost to follow-up, transferred out, initial CD4 count <50 cells/mm3,
      initial WHO stages 3 and 4. On the other hand, being in the age of 6-9 years is
      protective from developing treatment failure as compared to the other age
      category.

PMID- 28596844
TI  - Let's get to work.

PMID- 28596845
TI  - Global Mental Health: how do we make it 'global'?

PMID- 28596846
TI  - Promise of Systems Research in reducing burden of Mental Health.

PMID- 28596842
TI  - Effects of resveratrol on drug- and carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes, implications
      for cancer prevention.
AB  - Resveratrol is a polyphenol found in grape skins and peanuts that has
      demonstrated many health benefits including protection against aging,
      cardiovascular and metabolic disease, neurological decline, and cancer. The
      anticancer properties of resveratrol have been attributed to a variety of
      mechanisms, including its general inhibition of phase I metabolism and induction
      of phase II metabolism. The effects of resveratrol on these enzymes, however, are
      still unclear, as in vitro evidence often contrasts with animal studies and
      clinical trials. Reasons for these variances could include the low
      bioavailability of resveratrol and the effects of resveratrol metabolites. Due to
      resveratrol's interactions with drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters,
      individuals concurrently taking pharmacological doses of resveratrol with other
      supplements or medications could potentially experience nutrient-drug
      interactions. This review summarizes the known effects of resveratrol and its
      main metabolites on drug metabolism in order to help characterize which
      populations might benefit from resveratrol for the prevention of cancer, as well
      as those that may need to avoid supplementation due to potential drug
      interactions.

PMID- 28596847
TI  - What can be done to reduce the burden of mental health problems globally?

PMID- 28596848
TI  - Pulling at the Roots: Broadening Our Perspective on Mental Disorder Aetiology.

PMID- 28596849
TI  - Learners without borders.

PMID- 28596850
TI  - Improving Malawian teachers' mental health knowledge and attitudes: an integrated
      school mental health literacy approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental health literacy is foundational for mental health promotion,
      prevention, stigma reduction and care. Integrated school mental health literacy
      interventions may offer an effective and sustainable approach to enhancing mental
      health literacy for educators and students globally. METHODS: Through a Grand
      Challenges Canada funded initiative called 'An Integrated Approach to Addressing
      the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania', we culturally adapted a
      previously demonstrated effective Canadian school mental health curriculum
      resource (the Guide) for use in Malawi, the African Guide: Malawi version (AGMv),
      and evaluated its impact on enhancing mental health literacy for educators
      (teachers and youth club leaders) in 35 schools and 15 out-of-school youth clubs
      in the central region of Malawi. The pre- and post-test study designs were used
      to assess mental health literacy - knowledge and attitudes - of 218 educators
      before and immediately following completion of a 3-day training programme on the
      use of the AGMv. RESULTS: Results demonstrated a highly significant and
      substantial improvement in knowledge (p < 0.0001, d = 1.16) and attitudes (p <
      0.0001, d = 0.79) pertaining to mental health literacy in study participants.
      There were no significant differences in outcomes related to sex or location.
      CONCLUSIONS: These positive results suggest that an approach that integrates
      mental health literacy into the existing school curriculum may be an effective,
      significant and sustainable method of enhancing mental health literacy for
      educators in Malawi. If these results are further found to be sustained over
      time, and demonstrated to be effective when extended to students, then this model
      may be a useful and widely applicable method for improving mental health literacy
      among both educators and students across Africa.

PMID- 28596851
TI  - Autism: a (key) piece of the global mental health puzzle.

PMID- 28596852
TI  - Executive function and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Ugandan
      children with perinatal HIV exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most
      commonly diagnosed mental disorders in childhood and is associated with
      substantial deficits in executive functioning and lost academic and occupational
      attainment. This study evaluates symptoms of ADHD and their association with
      neurocognitive deficits in a cohort of rural Ugandan children who were born to
      HIV-infected mothers. METHODS: We assessed ADHD symptoms and executive function
      (including memory and attention) in a non-clinical sample of children born to HIV
      infected mothers in rural eastern Uganda. Analyses included assessments of the
      psychometric properties, factor structure, and convergent and discriminant
      validity of the ADHD measure (ADHD-Rating Scale-IV); and executive function
      deficits in children meeting symptom criteria for ADHD. RESULTS: 232 children
      [54% female; mean age 7.8 years (s.d. 2.0)] were assessed for ADHD and executive
      function deficits. The ADHD measure showed good internal consistency (alpha =
      0.85.) Confirmatory factor analysis showed an acceptable fit for the diagnostic
      and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) two-factor model. Subjects
      meeting DSM-5 symptom criteria for ADHD had worse parent-rated executive function
      on six out of seven subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate structural
      validity of the ADHD measure with this population, strong associations between
      ADHD symptom severity and poorer executive function, and higher levels of
      executive function problems in perinatally HIV-exposed Ugandan children with
      ADHD. These findings suggest that ADHD may be an important neurocognitive
      disorder associated with executive function problems among children in sub
      Saharan African settings where perinatal HIV exposure is common.

PMID- 28596853
TI  - Cross-cultural child and adolescent psychiatry research in developing countries.
AB  - Mental disorders are currently a major source of morbidity among children and
      youth globally. The bulk of the epidemiological data about childhood mental
      health morbidity currently comes from the industrialized countries which
      paradoxically host a small (about 20%) proportion of global children and youth
      population. As the world seek to generate more data on the mental health of the
      teeming children and youth population in low- and middle-income countries
      (LMICs), cross-cultural issues need be considered. This consideration is
      imperative for reasons which include the high level of ethno-diversity in LMICs;
      the contextual issues in the conceptualization of normal (and abnormal) childhood
      across cultures, the cross-cultural nuances in risk and protective factors, and
      the plurality of nature and expression of childhood psychopathology. As much as
      it is imperative to do so, advancing cross-cultural child and adolescent research
      in LMICs will need to overcome challenges such as inclusive sampling and cultural
      validation of instruments developed in the industrialized countries of the West.
      Funding, technical resources, and publication bias are other potential
      challenges. These issues are appraised in this narrative review and some ways
      forward are proffered.

PMID- 28596854
TI  - Designing and evaluating Brain Powered Games for cognitive training and
      rehabilitation in at-risk African children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Valid, reliable, accessible, and cost-effective computer-training
      approaches can be important components in scaling up educational support across
      resource-poor settings, such as sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of the current study
      was to develop a computer-based training platform, the Michigan State University
      Games for Entertainment and Learning laboratory's Brain Powered Games (BPG)
      package that would be suitable for use with at-risk children within a rural
      Ugandan context and then complete an initial field trial of that package.
      METHODS: After game development was completed with the use of local stimuli and
      sounds to match the context of the games as closely as possible to the rural
      Ugandan setting, an initial field study was completed with 33 children (mean age
      = 8.55 +/- 2.29 years, range 6-12 years of age) with HIV in rural Uganda. The
      Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), CogState computer battery, and the Non
      Verbal Index from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd edition (KABC
      II) were chosen as the outcome measures for pre- and post-intervention testing.
      The children received approximately 45 min of BPG training several days per week
      for 2 months (24 sessions). RESULTS: Although some improvements in test scores
      were evident prior to BPG training, following training, children demonstrated
      clinically significant changes (significant repeated-measures outcomes with
      moderate to large effect sizes) on specific TOVA and CogState measures reflecting
      processing speed, attention, visual-motor coordination, maze learning, and
      problem solving. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide preliminary support for the
      acceptability, feasibility, and neurocognitive benefit of BPG and its utility as
      a model platform for computerized cognitive training in cross-cultural low
      resource settings.

PMID- 28596855
TI  - Infant Mental Health Research in Africa: a call for action for research in the
      next 10 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Less than 3% of articles published in the peer reviewed literature
      include data from low- and middle-income countries - where 90% of the world's
      infants live. METHODS: In this paper, we discuss the context of infancy in Africa
      and the conditions of adversity obtaining in Africa. RESULTS: We discuss the
      implications of poverty on parenting, and linked to this outline the impact of
      maternal depression on infant development. CONCLUSIONS: We outline three features
      of the field of infant mental health research in Africa, and issue a call for
      action about what we believe is needed in order to develop the field in the next
      decade.

PMID- 28596856
TI  - Establishing the feasibility of assessing the mental health of children displaced
      by the Syrian conflict.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the humanitarian crisis context of conflict zones, collecting data
      is essential for identifying and addressing the mental health needs of refugee
      children to avoid mass suffering. This study tested the feasibility of recruiting
      refugees caring for children and using established and brief parent-report
      questionnaires in a challenging context to collect mental health data on refugee
      children displaced by Syria's conflict. METHODS: Caregivers of 4-10-year olds
      attending primary schools run by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Generation
      Freedom in and near refugee camps on the Syrian-Turkish border were invited to
      complete the Pediatric Emotional Distress Scale (PEDS) and Strengths and
      Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). RESULTS: It was possible to reach 144 adult
      refugees caring for children with research participation information and use
      informed consent procedures. A total of 106 caregivers completed the
      questionnaires yielding a good return rate (74%). Eighty-two (77.4%) caregivers
      had complete data on the PEDS and 61 (57.5%) on the SDQ. Almost half (49%) of the
      children met the clinical cut-off for being anxious/withdrawn and 62% for being
      fearful rated using the PEDS and 45% for SDQ rated emotional symptoms. More than
      a third had clinical levels of behavioural problems on both scales. CONCLUSIONS:
      It proved feasible to collect child mental health data in challenging conditions
      in the context of the Syrian crisis with support from a local NGO providing
      humanitarian assistance. The PEDS performed better than the SDQ in this context.
      High levels of emotional distress and behavioural problems in children reiterate
      the urgent need for evidence-based psychosocial support.

PMID- 28596857
TI  - Immunological correlates of behavioral problems in school-aged children living
      with HIV in Kayunga, Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV can affect the neuropsychological function of children, including
      their behavior. We aim to identify immunological correlates of behavioral
      problems among children living with HIV in Uganda. METHODS: Children
      participating in a parent randomized control trial in Kayunga, Uganda were
      assessed with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the
      Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We constructed simple and multiple linear
      regression models to identify immunological correlates of behavioral problems.
      RESULTS: A total of 144 children living with HIV (50% male) with a mean age of
      8.9 years [Standard Deviation (s.d.) = 1.9] were included in the analysis. Eighty
      two children were on antiretroviral therapy. Mean CD4 cell count % was 35.1
      cells/MUl (s.d. = 15.0), mean CD4 cell activation 5.7% (s.d. = 5.1), mean CD8
      cell activation was 17.5% (s.d. = 11.2) and 60 children (41.7%) had a viral load
      of <4000 copies/ml. In the adjusted models for the BRIEF, higher scores were
      associated with higher viral loads (abeta = 16.7 * 10-6, 95% CI -5.00 * 10-6 to
      28.4 * 10-6), specifically on the behavioral regulation index. Higher mean CD8
      activation % was associated with higher scores on the Externalizing Problems  and
      Total Problems  scales of the CBCL (abeta = 0.17, 95% CI 0.04-0.31 and abeta =
      0.15, 95% CI 0.00-0.28, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Poorer behavioral outcomes
      were associated with higher viral loads while higher CD8 activation was
      associated with poorer emotional and behavioral outcomes. Complete immunological
      assessments for children living with HIV could include commonly used viral and
      immunological parameters to identify those at higher risk of having negative
      behavior outcomes and who would benefit the most from behavioral interventions.

PMID- 28596858
TI  - Exploring women's fear of childbirth in a high maternal mortality setting on the
      Arabian Peninsula.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies from low-income countries have addressed women's fear of
      childbirth (FOC) although likely to affect women during both pregnancy and
      childbirth. The aim of this study was to explore FOC in a high maternal mortality
      setting in the Arab region, Yemen. METHODS: A multi-stage (stratified-purposive
      random) sampling process was used. We interviewed 220 women with childbirth
      experience in urban/rural Yemen. Answers to the question 'Were you afraid of
      giving birth?' were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Women
      perceived childbirth as a place of danger. Fear of death and childbirth
      complications stemming from previous traumatic childbirth and traumatic
      experience in the community was rampant. Husbands' and in-laws' disappointment in
      a girl infant constituted a strong sociocultural component of FOC. Women's
      perception of living in tension 'between worlds' of tradition and modernity
      reinforced fear of institutional childbirth. Women without FOC gave reasons of
      faith, social belonging and trust in either traditional or modern childbirth
      practice, past positive experience of childbirth and the desire for social status
      associated with children. CONCLUSIONS: The numerous maternal and infant deaths
      have a strong impact on women's FOC. Antenatal care has an important role in
      reducing fear including that of institutional childbirth and in strengthening a
      couple in welcoming a female infant. Staff should be sensitized to the fears of
      both husband and wife and women be allowed support during childbirth. Within the
      scope of the Millennium Development Goals and strengthening of reproductive
      mental health programs, FOC urgently needs to be addressed.

PMID- 28596859
TI  - Stemming the tide: promoting mental health and preventing mental disorders in low
      and middle-income countries.
AB  - The first World Health Organization's global action plan for mental health
      recognizes the importance of mental health promotion and prevention of mental
      disorders, through the inclusion of one of four objectives focused on this
      crucial area of research and practice. This paper aims to provide an 'aerial
      view' of the field of mental health promotion and prevention of mental disorders
      with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. Starting with reasons why
      promotion and prevention need to take center stage in global mental health
      efforts, the paper provides a framework and four general principles to guide such
      efforts: a socio-ecological perspective (place); an inter-sectoral and
      interdisciplinary approach (collaboration), a developmental perspective (timing),
      and a participatory and empowerment approach (strengths), or PaCTS. Evidence
      based examples of mental health promotion, universal, selective, and indicated
      prevention are described.

PMID- 28596860
TI  - A systematic review of online interventions for mental health in low and middle
      income countries: a neglected field.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low and middle income countries (LMICs) are facing an increase of the
      impact of mental health problems while confronted with limited resources and
      limited access to mental health care, known as the 'mental health gap'. One
      strategy to reduce the mental health gap would be to utilize the internet to
      provide more widely-distributed and low cost mental health care. We undertook
      this systematic review to investigate the effectiveness and efficacy of online
      interventions in LMICs. METHODS: We systematically searched the data-bases
      PubMed, PsycINFO, JMIR, and additional sources. MeSH terms, Thesaurus, and free
      text keywords were used. We included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of
      online interventions in LMICs. RESULTS: We found only three articles reported
      results of RCTs on online interventions for mental health conditions in LMICs,
      but none of these interventions was compared with an active control condition.
      Also, the mental health conditions were diverse across the three studies.
      CONCLUSIONS: There is a dearth of studies examining the effect of online
      interventions in LMICs, so we cannot draw a firm conclusion on its effectiveness.
      However, given the effectiveness of online interventions in high income countries
      and sharp increase of internet access in LMICs, online interventions may offer a
      potential to help reduce the 'mental health gap'. More studies are urgently
      needed in LMICs.

PMID- 28596861
TI  - Systematic Medical Appraisal, Referral and Treatment (SMART) Mental Health
      Programme for providing innovative mental health care in rural communities in
      India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: India has few mental health professionals to treat the large number
      of people suffering from mental disorders. Rural areas are particularly
      disadvantaged due to lack of trained health workers. Ways to improve care could
      be by training village health workers in basic mental health care, and by using
      innovative methods of service delivery. The ongoing Systematic Medical Appraisal,
      Referral and Treatment Mental Health Programme will assess the acceptability,
      feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a task-shifting mobile-based
      intervention using mixed methods, in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. METHOD: The key
      components of the study are an anti-stigma campaign followed by a mobile-based
      mental health services intervention. The study will be done across two sites in
      rural areas, with intervention periods of 1 year and 3 months, respectively. The
      programme uses a mobile-based clinical decision support tool to be used by non
      physician health workers and primary care physicians to screen, diagnose and
      manage individuals suffering from depression, suicidal risk and emotional stress.
      The key aim of the study will be to assess any changes in mental health services
      use among those screened positive following the intervention. A number of other
      outcomes will also be assessed using mixed methods, specifically focussed on
      reduction of stigma, increase in mental health awareness and other process
      indicators. CONCLUSIONS: This project addresses a number of objectives as
      outlined in the Mental Health Action Plan of World Health Organization and
      India's National Mental Health Programme and Policy. If successful, the next
      phase will involve design and conduct of a cluster randomised controlled trial.

PMID- 28596862
TI  - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptom self-report in adults in Kenya
      and its associated risk factors, an analysis from a household survey in a
      demographic surveillance site.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There have been no household surveys of adult attention deficit and
      hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Kenya, and only one in sub-Saharan Africa.
      METHODS: Data on ADHD was used from a household survey of mental disorders and
      their associated risk factors conducted in Maseno area (population 70 805), near
      Lake Victoria in Kenya, using a demographic surveillance site as the sample
      frame, as part of a wider survey of mental health, malaria and immunity A total
      of 1190 households were selected, and 1158 adult participants consented to the
      study while 32 refused to participate in the study interviews, giving a response
      rate of 97.3%. ADHD symptoms were assessed with the WHO Adult ADHD Self-Report
      Scale (ASRS) Screener. RESULTS: This survey found that the overall prevalence of
      ADHD using the ASRS was 13.1%. This suggests a high level of ADHD in the Kenyan
      population which needs to be further investigated for its impact on adult mental
      health. In the adjusted analysis, increased odds ratios (ORs) were found in those
      with higher assets (OR 1.7, p = 0.023), those with life events (OR 2.4, p = 0.001
      for those with 2-3 life events and OR 2.6, p < 0.001 for those with 4 or more
      life events), and those with common mental disorders (OR 2.3, p = 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates the magnitude of ADHD symptoms as a public
      health issue, relevant for health worker training, and the importance of further
      research into its prevalence in adults and associated risk factors.

PMID- 28596863
TI  - Parents make the difference: a randomized-controlled trial of a parenting
      intervention in Liberia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a brief
      parenting intervention, 'Parents Make the Difference'(PMD), on parenting
      behaviors, quality of parent-child interactions, children's cognitive, emotional,
      and behavioral wellbeing, and malaria prevention behaviors in rural, post
      conflict Liberia. METHODS: A sample of 270 caregivers of children ages 3-7 were
      randomized into an immediate treatment group that received a 10-session parent
      training intervention or a wait-list control condition (1:1 allocation).
      Interviewers administered baseline and 1-month post-intervention surveys and
      conducted child-caregiver observations. Intent-to-treat estimates of the average
      treatment effects were calculated using ordinary least squares regression. This
      study was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01829815). RESULTS: The
      program led to a 55.5% reduction in caregiver-reported use of harsh punishment
      practices (p < 0.001). The program also increased the use of positive behavior
      management strategies and improved caregiver-child interactions. The average
      caregiver in the treatment group reported a 4.4% increase in positive
      interactions (p < 0.05), while the average child of a caregiver assigned to the
      treatment group reported a 17.5% increase (p < 0.01). The program did not have a
      measurable impact on child wellbeing, cognitive skills, or household adoption of
      malaria prevention behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: PMD is a promising approach for
      preventing child abuse and promoting positive parent-child relationships in low
      resource settings.

PMID- 28596864
TI  - Alternative approaches for studying humanitarian interventions: propensity score
      methods to evaluate reintegration packages impact on depression, PTSD, and
      function impairment among child soldiers in Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ethical, logistical, and funding approaches preclude conducting
      randomized control trials (RCTs) in some humanitarian crises. A lack of RCTs and
      other intervention research has contributed to a limited evidence-base for mental
      health and psychosocial support (MHPS) programs after disasters, war, and disease
      outbreaks. Propensity score methods (PSMs) are an alternative analysis technique
      with potential application for evaluating MHPS programs in humanitarian
      emergencies. METHODS: PSMs were used to evaluate impacts of education
      reintegration packages (ERPs) and other (vocational or economic) reintegration
      packages (ORPs) v. no reintegration programs on mental health of child soldiers.
      Propensity scores were used to determine weighting of child soldiers in each of
      the three treatment arms. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate
      adjusted changes in symptom score severity on culturally validated measures of
      depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and functional impairment from
      baseline to 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Among 258 Nepali child soldiers
      participating in reintegration programs, 54.7% completed ERP and 22.9% completed
      ORP. There was a non-significant reduction in depression by 0.59 (95% CI -1.97 to
      0.70) for ERP and by 0.60 (95% CI -2.16 to 0.96) for ORP compared with no
      treatment. There were non-significant increases in PTSD (1.15, 95% CI -1.55 to
      3.86) and functional impairment (0.91, 95% CI -0.31 to 2.14) associated with ERP
      and similar findings for ORP (PTSD: 0.66, 95% CI -2.24 to 3.57; functional
      impairment (1.05, 95% CI -0.71 to 2.80). CONCLUSION: In a humanitarian crisis in
      which a non-randomized intervention assignment protocol was employed, the
      statistical technique of PSMs addressed differences in covariate distribution
      between child soldiers who received different integration packages. Our analysis
      did not demonstrate significant changes in psychosocial outcomes for ERPs and
      ORPs. We suggest the use of PSMs in evaluating non-randomized interventions in
      humanitarian crises when non-randomized conditions are not utilized.

PMID- 28596865
TI  - Information for global mental health.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information is needed for development of mental health (MH) services;
      and particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs), where the MH
      systems are relatively weak. World Health Organization (WHO) has worked
      intensively during the last 15 years for developing a strategy in the field of MH
      information. METHODS: The paper analyzes WHO instruments developed in this area
      [MH Atlas series and WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO
      AIMS)]. RESULTS: Data from Atlas series and WHO-AIMS demonstrated that the role
      of information is often neglected at all the steps: from data collection and
      processing to analysis, dissemination and utilization, particularly in LAMIC. By
      implementing several sets of feasible MH indicators WHO has technically supported
      the improvement of the MH information systems in LAMICs. CONCLUSIONS: In the last
      few years the importance of information in MH has increased and has been
      successfully highlighted; but a lot of work still needs to be done for achieving
      a minimum set of MH indicators and reliable data that can be used by both high
      income countries and LAMIC.

PMID- 28596866
TI  - Intersectoral policy for severe and persistent mental illness: review of
      approaches in a sample of high-income countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is increasingly recognised that intersectoral linkages between
      mental health and other health and support sectors are essential for providing
      effective care for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. The
      extent to which intersectoral collaboration and approaches to achieve it are
      detailed in mental health policy has not yet been systematically examined.
      METHODS: Thirty-eight mental health policy documents from 22 jurisdictions in
      Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada were identified
      via a web search. Information was extracted and synthesised on: the extent to
      which intersectoral collaboration was an objective or guiding principle of
      policy; the sectors acknowledged as targets for collaboration; and the
      characteristics of detailed intersectoral collaboration efforts. RESULTS:
      Recurring themes in objectives/guiding principles included a whole of government
      approach, coordination and integration of services, and increased social and
      economic participation. All jurisdictions acknowledged the importance of
      intersectoral collaboration, particularly with employment, education, housing,
      community, criminal justice, drug and alcohol, physical health, Indigenous,
      disability, emergency and aged care services. However, the level of detail
      provided varied widely. Where detailed strategies were described, the most common
      linkage mechanisms were joint service planning through intersectoral coordinating
      committees or liaison workers, interagency agreements, staff training and joint
      service provision. CONCLUSIONS: Sectors and mechanisms identified for
      collaboration were largely consistent across jurisdictions. Little information
      was provided about strategies for accountability, resourcing, monitoring and
      evaluation of intersectoral collaboration initiatives, highlighting an area for
      further improvement. Examples of collaboration detailed in the policies provide a
      useful resource for other countries.

PMID- 28596867
TI  - Mental health disabilities and human rights protections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Around the world, reports regularly expose persistent and systemic
      human rights violations of patients in mental health services and facilities, and
      of those who are unable to access needed supports. A number of factors contribute
      - political will; the range and quality of services available; public and
      professional attitudes to mental health; stigma; health professionals' training
      and expertise; and available resources. METHODS: This paper examines one of the
      main determinants, the legal framework. This sets the parameters for mental
      health policies and services and for applicable human rights norms and standards
      that can be realized in practice. RESULTS: We provide an overview of
      international human rights instruments in relation to mental health disabilities,
      and of the major human rights violations in this area. Key implications for
      mental health law reform are drawn with a particular focus on discrimination and
      coercive interventions. The major challenges posed by the UN Convention on the
      Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) are examined. Current mental health
      laws, to greater or lesser degrees, fail to meet the newly required standards. We
      discuss reforms based on 'generic law' and 'legal capacity' principles that seek
      to meet those standards. CONCLUSIONS: We outline some emergent and promising
      examples of reform. The role of civil society and the importance of the standing
      of those with mental health disabilities in this process is noted.

PMID- 28596868
TI  - Patterns of individual coping, engagement with social supports and use of formal
      services among a five-country sample of resilient youth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although resilience among victims of child abuse is commonly
      understood as a process of interaction between individuals and their
      environments, there have been very few studies of how children's individual
      coping strategies, social supports and formal services combine to promote well
      being. METHOD: For this study, we conducted a multi-phase analysis of a
      qualitative dataset of 608 interviews with young people from five countries using
      grounded theory strategies to build a substantive theory of young people's
      service and support use patterns. We started with an analysis of ten interviews
      (two from each country) and then compared these findings to patterns found in
      each country's full dataset. RESULTS: The substantive theory that emerged
      explains young people's transience between individual coping strategies
      (cognitive and behavioral), reliance on social supports (family members, peers
      and teachers), and engagement with formal service providers whose roles are to
      provide interventions and case management. Young people's patterns of navigation
      were shown to be contingent upon the individual's risk exposure, his or her
      individual capacity to cope, and the quality of the formal and informal supports
      and services that are available and accessible. CONCLUSION: Differing amounts of
      formal resources in low-, middle- and high-income countries influence patterns of
      service use. Implications for better coordination between formal mental health
      services and social supports are discussed.

PMID- 28596870
TI  - Strengths-based community action as a source of resilience for children affected
      by armed conflict.
AB  - Psychosocial and mental health supports for war-affected children frequently are
      limited by a deficits focus. Current research and practice indicate the value of
      a strengths-based approach that supports children's resilience and supports a
      positive environment for children and builds on existing strengths. This paper
      analyzes how community-based child protection mechanisms are a cornerstone of
      prevention efforts, and views community-based action as a particularly valuable
      source for strengths-based support for war-affected children. It shows how
      collective planning and action on behalf of vulnerable children create high
      levels of community ownership and effective, sustainable supports for children.
      It suggests that significant work lies ahead in strengthening the evidence base
      regarding the effectiveness of strengths-based approaches and in transforming
      practice away from expert-driven approaches toward community-driven action.

PMID- 28596869
TI  - 'It is not the State's fault that we have a person like this': relations,
      institutions and the meaning of 'rights' to carers of People with Psychosocial
      Disabilities in Chile.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
      has been adopted by national governments to advance the interests and wellbeing
      of people with psychosocial disabilities (PPSD). It is often assumed that the
      adoption of a 'rights' framework will advance the dignity and autonomy of PPSD.
      However, little is known about how families and communities understand 'rights'.
      The present paper, based on research conducted in Santiago, Chile, takes a
      contextual approach to rights, asking: How do family carers of PPSD understand
      and use the idea of 'rights'? How does the context of caregiving shape families'
      understanding of rights? METHODS: Four focus groups were conducted with a total
      of 25 family carers (predominantly mothers) of people diagnosed with
      schizophrenia and other severe neuropsychiatric conditions. Thematic analysis was
      conducted. RESULTS: Carers' experience of caregiving was marked by isolation,
      stigmatization, a lack of support and mistreatment by public services. Their
      family networks did not provide sustained help and support, and the public
      services they had used were characterized by scarce resources and inadequate
      support. Carers did not refer to rights of dignity or autonomy. Given an
      unsupportive context, and worries about who would care for their child after the
      carer's death, their primary interest in 'rights' was a right to guaranteed, long
      term care. While carers endorsed the idea of universal, state-supported rights,
      appeals to compassion and the exchange of favours were spoken of as the most
      effective strategies for gaining a minimum level of services and support.
      CONCLUSIONS: Carers' understandings, framed against a background of unmet needs
      and shaped by a history of unsatisfactory interactions with services and
      institutions, do not resonate with the principles of the CRPD. We suggest an
      expanded, relational struggle for rights that acknowledges the role of families
      and the tensions surrounding the distribution of rights within the family.

PMID- 28596871
TI  - PEPFAR support of alcohol-HIV prevention activities in Namibia and Botswana: a
      framework for investigation, implementation and evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association between harmful use of alcohol and HIV infection is
      well documented. To address this dual epidemic, the US President's Emergency Plan
      for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) developed and implemented a multi-pronged approach
      primarily in Namibia and Botswana. We present the approach and preliminary
      results of the public health investigative and programmatic activities designed,
      initiated and supported by PEPFAR to combat the harmful use of alcohol and its
      association as a driver of HIV morbidity and mortality from 2008 to 2013.
      APPROACH: PEPFAR supported comprehensive alcohol programming using a matrix model
      approach that combined the socio-ecological framework and the Alcohol Misuse
      Prevention and Intervention Continuum. This structure enabled seven component
      objectives: (1) to quantify harmful use of alcohol through rapid assessments; (2)
      to develop and evaluate alcohol-based interventions; (3) to promote screening
      programs and alcohol abuse resource services; (4) to support stakeholder
      networks; (5) to support policy interventions and (6) structural interventions;
      and (7) to institutionalize universal prevention messages. DISCUSSION: Targeted
      PEPFAR support for alcohol activities resulted in several projects to address
      harmful alcohol use and HIV. Components are graphically conceptualized within the
      matrix model, demonstrating the intersections between primary, secondary and
      tertiary prevention activities and individual, interpersonal, community, and
      societal factors. Key initiative successes included leveraging alcohol harm
      prevention activities that enabled projects to be piloted in healthcare settings,
      schools, communities, and alcohol outlets. Primary challenges included the
      complexity of multi-sectorial programming, varying degrees of political will, and
      difficulties monitoring outcomes over the short duration of the program.

PMID- 28596872
TI  - At the intersection of lay and professional social networks: how community ties
      shape perceptions of mental health treatment providers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The therapeutic alliance is a critical determinant of individuals'
      persistence and outcomes in mental health treatment. Simultaneously, individuals'
      community networks shape decisions about whether, when, and what kind of
      treatment are used. Despite the similar focus on social relationship influence
      for individuals with serious mental illness, each line of research has maintained
      an almost exclusive focus on either 'inside' (i.e. treatment) networks or
      'outside' (i.e. community) networks, respectively. METHOD: For this study, we
      integrate these important insights by employing a network-embedded approach to
      understand the therapeutic alliance. Using data from the Indianapolis Network
      Mental Health Study (INMHS, n = 169, obs = 2206), we target patients experiencing
      their first major contact with the mental health treatment system. We compare
      patients' perceptions of support resources available through treatment providers
      and lay people, and ask whether evaluations of interpersonal dimensions of the
      therapeutic alliance are contingent on characteristics of community networks.
      RESULTS: Analyses reveal that providers make up only 9% of the whole social
      network, but are generally perceived positively. However, when community networks
      are characterized by close relationships and frequent contact, patients are
      significantly more likely to report that treatment providers offer useful advice
      and information. Conversely, when community networks are in conflict, perceptions
      of treatment providers are more negative. CONCLUSION: Community-based social
      networks are critical for understanding facilitators of and barriers to effective
      networks inside treatment, including the therapeutic alliance. Implications for
      community-based systems of care are discussed in the context of the USA and
      global patterns of deinstitutionalization and community reintegration.

PMID- 28596873
TI  - Post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression in conflict-affected
      populations: an epidemiological model and predictor analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite significant research examining mental health in conflict
      affected populations we do not yet have a comprehensive epidemiological model of
      how mental disorders are distributed, or which factors influence the epidemiology
      in these populations. We aim to derive prevalence estimates specific for region,
      age and sex of major depression, and PTSD in the general populations of areas
      exposed to conflict, whilst controlling for an extensive range of covariates.
      METHODS: A systematic review was conducted to identify epidemiological estimates
      of depression and PTSD in conflict-affected populations and potential predictors.
      We analyse data using Bayesian meta-regression techniques. RESULTS: We identified
      83 studies and a list of 34 potential predictors. The age-standardised pooled
      prevalence of PTSD was 12.9% (95% UI 6.9-22.9), and major depression 7.6% (95% UI
      5.1-10.9) - markedly lower than estimated in previous research but over two-times
      higher than the mean prevalence estimated by the Global Burden of Disease Study
      [3.7% (95% UI 3.0-4.5) and 3.5% (95% UI 2.9-4.2) for anxiety disorders and MDD,
      respectively]. The age-patterns reveal sharp prevalence inclines in the childhood
      years. A number of ecological variables demonstrated associations with prevalence
      of both disorders. Symptom scales were shown to significantly overestimate
      prevalence of both disorders. Finding suggests higher prevalence of both
      disorders in females. CONCLUSION: This study provides, for the first time, age
      specific estimates of PTSD and depression prevalence adjusted for an extensive
      range of covariates and is a significant advancement on our current understanding
      of the epidemiology in conflict-affected populations.

PMID- 28596875
TI  - How useful are randomized controlled trials in a rapidly changing world?

PMID- 28596874
TI  - Overview evidence on interventions for population suicide with an eye to
      identifying best-supported strategies for LMICs.
AB  - Globally, over 800 000 people died by suicide in 2012 and there are indications
      that for each adult who died of suicide there were likely to be many more
      attempting suicide. There are many millions of people every year who are affected
      by suicide and suicide attempts, taking into consideration the family members,
      friends, work colleagues and communities, who are bereaved by suicide. In the WHO
      Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, Member States committed themselves to work
      towards the global target of reducing the suicide rate in countries by 10% by
      2020. Hence, the first-ever WHO report on suicide prevention, Preventing suicide:
      a global imperative, published in September 2014, is a timely call to take action
      using effective evidence-based interventions. Their relevance for low- and middle
      income countries is discussed in this paper, highlighting restricting access to
      means, responsible media reporting, introducing mental health and alcohol
      policies, early identification and treatment, training of health workers, and
      follow-up care and community support following a suicide attempt.

PMID- 28596876
TI  - Does poverty alleviation decrease depression symptoms in post-conflict settings?
      A cluster-randomized trial of microenterprise assistance in Northern Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: By 2009, two decades of war and widespread displacement left the
      majority of the population of Northern Uganda impoverished. METHODS: This study
      used a cluster-randomized design to test the hypothesis that a poverty
      alleviation program would improve economic security and reduce symptoms of
      depression in a sample of mostly young women. Roughly 120 villages in Northern
      Uganda were invited to participate. Community committees were asked to identify
      the most vulnerable women (and some men) to participate. The implementing agency
      screened all proposed participants, and a total of 1800 were enrolled. Following
      a baseline survey, villages were randomized to a treatment or wait-list control
      group. Participants in treatment villages received training, start-up capital,
      and follow-up support. Participants, implementers, and data collectors were not
      blinded to treatment status. RESULTS: Villages were randomized to the treatment
      group (60 villages with 896 participants) or the wait-list control group (60
      villages with 904 participants) with an allocation ration of 1:1. All clusters
      participated in the intervention and were included in the analysis. The intent-to
      treat analysis included 860 treatment participants and 866 control participants
      (4.1% attrition). Sixteen months after the program, monthly cash earnings doubled
      from UGX 22 523 to 51 124, non-household and non-farm businesses doubled, and
      cash savings roughly quadrupled. There was no measurable effect on a locally
      derived measure of symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Despite finding large
      increases in business, income, and savings among the treatment group, we do not
      find support for an indirect effect of poverty alleviation on symptoms of
      depression.

PMID- 28596877
TI  - Applications of the epidemiological modelling outputs for targeted mental health
      planning in conflict-affected populations: the Syria case-study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiological models are frequently utilised to ascertain disease
      prevalence in a population; however, these estimates can have wider practical
      applications for informing targeted scale-up and optimisation of mental health
      services. We explore potential applications for a conflict-affected population,
      Syria. METHODS: We use prevalence estimates of major depression and post
      traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in conflict-affected populations as inputs for
      subsequent estimations. We use Global Burden of Disease (GBD) methodology to
      estimate years lived with a disability (YLDs) for depression and PTSD in Syrian
      populations. Human resource (HR) requirements to scale-up recommended packages of
      care for PTSD and depression in Syria over a 15-year period were modelled using
      the World Health Organisation mhGAP costing tool. Associated avertable burden was
      estimated using health benefit analyses. RESULTS: The total number of cases of
      PTSD in Syria was estimated at approximately 2.2 million, and approximately 1.1
      million for depression. An age-standardised major depression rate of 13.4 (95% UI
      9.8-17.5) YLDs per 1000 Syrian population is estimated compared with the GBD 2010
      global age-standardised YLD rate of 9.2 (95% UI 7.0-11.8). HR requirements to
      support a linear scale-up of services in Syria using the mhGAP costing tool
      demonstrates a steady increase from 0.3 FTE in at baseline to 7.6 FTE per 100 000
      population after scale-up. Linear scale-up over 15 years could see 7-9% of
      disease burden being averted. CONCLUSION: Epidemiological estimates of mental
      disorders are key inputs into determining disease burden and guiding optimal
      mental health service delivery and can be used in target populations such as
      conflict-affected populations.

PMID- 28596878
TI  - Mental health system governance in Nigeria: challenges, opportunities and
      strategies for improvement.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A health systems approach to understanding efforts for improving
      health care services is gaining traction globally. A component of this approach
      focuses on health system governance (HSG), which can make or mar the successful
      implementation of health care interventions. Very few studies have explored HSG
      in low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. Studies focusing on
      mental health system governance, are even more of a rarity. This study evaluates
      the mental HSG of Nigeria with a view to understanding the challenges,
      opportunities and strategies for strengthening it. METHODOLOGY: This study was
      conducted as part of the project, Emerging Mental Health Systems in Low and
      Middle Income Countries (Emerald). A multi-method study design was utilized to
      evaluate the mental HSG status of Nigeria. A situational analysis of the health
      policy and legal environment in the country was performed. Subsequently, 30 key
      informant interviews were conducted at national, state and district levels to
      explore the country's mental HSG. RESULTS: The existing policy, legislative and
      institutional framework for HSG in Nigeria reveals a complete exclusion of mental
      health in key health sector documents. The revised mental health policy is
      however promising. Using the Siddiqi framework categories, we identified
      pragmatic strategies for mental health system strengthening that include a
      consideration of existing challenges and opportunities within the system.
      CONCLUSION: The identified strategies provide a template for the subsequent
      activities of the Emerald Programme (and other interventions), towards
      strengthening the mental health system of Nigeria.

PMID- 28596879
TI  - Human rights principles in developing and updating policies and laws on mental
      health.
AB  - The World Health Organization's Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 stipulates
      human rights as a cross-cutting principle (WHO, 2013) and foresees global targets
      to update policies as well as mental health laws in line with international and
      regional human rights instruments. The international human rights agreements
      repeatedly refer to health, including mental health. The most pertinent
      provisions related to mental health are enshrined in the 2006 Convention on the
      Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which sets out human rights in an
      accessible and inclusive fashion to ensure the equal participation of persons
      with disabilities. The inconclusive description of disability in the treaty
      overtly refers to 'mental impairment' as part of an explicitly evolving
      understanding of disability. This text sketches some of the underlying concepts
      as they apply to the realm of mental health: non-discrimination of persons with
      disabilities and measures that should be taken to ensure accessibility in a
      holistic understanding; removal of social and attitudinal barriers as much as
      communication and intellectual barriers but also institutional hurdles. The
      CRPD's paradigm shift away from framing disability mainly through deficits
      towards a social understanding of disability as the result of interaction and
      focusing on capacity is the core on which the provision of mental health services
      at community level to enable participation in society shall be ensured. Questions
      of capacity, also to make decisions and the possible need for support in so
      doing, are sketched out.

PMID- 28596880
TI  - Key influences in the design and implementation of mental health information
      systems in Ghana and South Africa.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Strengthening of mental health information systems (MHIS) is
      essential to monitor and evaluate mental health services in low and middle-income
      countries. While research exists assessing wider health management information
      systems, there is limited published evidence exploring the design and
      implementation of MHIS in these settings. This paper aims to identify and assess
      the key factors affecting the design and implementation of MHIS, as perceived by
      the key stakeholders in Ghana and South Africa. METHODS: We report findings from
      the Mental Health and Poverty Project, a 5-year research programme implemented
      within four African countries. The MHIS strengthening in South Africa and Ghana
      included two related components: intervention and research. The intervention
      component aimed to strengthen MHIS in the two countries, and the research
      component aimed to document interventions in each country, including the key
      influences. Data were collected using semi structured interviews with key
      stakeholders and reviews of key documents and secondary data from the improved
      MHIS. We analyzed the qualitative data using a framework approach. RESULTS: Key
      components of the MHIS intervention involved the introduction of a redesigned
      patient registration form, entry into computers for analysis every 2 months by
      clinical managerial staff, and utilization of data in hospital management
      meetings in three psychiatric hospitals in Ghana; and the introduction of a new
      set of mental health indicators and related forms and tally sheets at primary
      care clinics and district hospitals in five districts in the KwaZulu-Natal and
      Northern Cape provinces in South Africa. Overall, the key stakeholders perceived
      the MHIS strengthening as an effective intervention in both countries with an
      enhanced set of indicators in South Africa and introduction of a computerized
      system in Ghana. DISCUSSION: Influences on the design and implementation of MHIS
      interventions in Ghana and South Africa relate to resources, working approaches
      (including degree of consultations during the design stage and communication
      during implementation stage) and the low priority of mental health. Although the
      influencing factors represent similar categories, more influences were identified
      on MHIS implementation, compared with the design stage. Different influences
      appear to be related within, and across, the MHIS design and implementation and
      may reinforce or negate each other thus leading to the multiplier or minimization
      effects. The wider context, similar to other studies, is important in ensuring
      the success of such interventions. CONCLUSION: Future MHIS strengthening
      interventions can consider three policy implications which emerged from our
      analysis and experience: enhancing consultations during the intervention design,
      better consideration of implementation challenges during design, and better
      recognition of relations between different influences.

PMID- 28596881
TI  - The ethics of mental health survey research in low- and middle- income countries.

PMID- 28596882
TI  - Scaling up interventions for depression in sub-Saharan Africa: lessons from
      Zimbabwe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a dearth of information on how to scale-up evidence-based
      psychological interventions, particularly within the context of existing HIV
      programs. This paper describes a strategy for the scale-up of an intervention
      delivered by lay health workers (LHWs) to 60 primary health care facilities in
      Zimbabwe. METHODS: A mixed methods approach was utilized as follows: (1) needs
      assessment using a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from
      nurses (n = 48) and focus group discussions with District Health Promoters (n =
      12) to identify key priority areas; (2) skills assessment to identify core
      competencies and current gaps of LHWs (n = 300) employed in the 60 clinics; (3)
      consultation workshops (n = 2) with key stakeholders to determine referral
      pathways; and (4) in-depth interviews and consultations to determine funding
      mechanisms for the scale-up. RESULTS: Five cross-cutting issues were identified
      as critical and needing to be addressed for a successful scale-up. These
      included: the lack of training in mental health, unavailability of psychiatric
      drugs, depleted clinical staff levels, unavailability of time for counseling, and
      poor and unreliable referral systems for people suffering with depression.
      Consensus was reached by stakeholders on supervision and support structure to
      address the cross-cutting issues described above and funding was successfully
      secured for the scale-up. CONCLUSION: Key requirements for success included early
      buy-in from key stakeholders, extensive consultation at each point of the scale
      up journey, financial support both locally and externally, and a coherent
      sustainability plan endorsed by both government and private sectors.

PMID- 28596883
TI  - The 12-item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule II as an outcome measure for
      treatment of common mental disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Common mental disorders (CMD) are among the most significant
      contributors to disability worldwide. Patient-reported disability outcomes should
      be included as a key metric in the comparative assessment of value across global
      mental health interventions. This study aims to evaluate the validity of a widely
      used, cross-cultural tool - the 12-item World Health Organization Disability
      Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS) - as a functional outcome measure for CMD
      treatment. METHODS: The study population includes 1024 participants with CMD
      enrolled in the MANAS trial in India. CMD was assessed using the Revised Clinical
      Interview Schedule (CIS-R). Disability was assessed using the 12-item WHODAS II
      plus a measure of disability days. This analysis presents the correlations
      between these disability items and CMD symptom severity at 2 months after
      enrollment (convergent validity) and the items' associations with CMD recovery 4
      months later (external responsiveness). RESULTS: All items showed a positive
      correlation of disability with CMD symptom severity (p < 0.001). The WHODAS items
      of 'standing,' 'household responsibilities,' and 'emotional disturbance'
      explained the most variance in CMD symptom severity. Improvements in 'disability
      days,' 'emotional disturbance,' 'standing,' 'household responsibilities,' 'day-to
      day work,' and 'concentrating' were significantly associated with CMD recovery
      over follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is recommended on a CMD-specific
      WHODAS subscale comprised of the six WHODAS items found to be most strongly
      associated with CMD severity and recovery. This shorter, CMD-specific disability
      subscale would critically serve as a common metric to compare intervention impact
      on patient-centered outcomes and, in turn, to allocate global mental health
      resources efficiently.

PMID- 28596884
TI  - Daily bread: a novel vehicle for dissemination and evaluation of psychological
      first aid for families exposed to armed conflict in Syria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risks to the mental health of children and families exposed to
      conflict in Syria are of such magnitude that research identifying how best to
      deliver psychological first aid is urgently required. This study tested the
      feasibility of a novel approach to large-scale distribution of information and
      data collection. METHODS: Routine humanitarian deliveries of bread by a bakery
      run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) were used to distribute parenting
      information leaflets and questionnaires to adults looking after children in
      conflict zones inside Syria. Study materials were emailed to a project worker in
      Turkey. Leaflets and questionnaires requesting feedback were transported
      alongside supplies to a bakery in Syria, and then packed with flatbreads. Three
      thousand bread-packs were distributed, from three distribution points to which
      questionnaires were returned, and then taken to Turkey and dispatched to the UK.
      FINDINGS: Notwithstanding delays, 3000 leaflets and questionnaires were
      successfully distributed over 2 days. Questionnaire return yielded 1783
      responses, a 59.5% return rate. Overall ratings of the usefulness of the leaflet
      were 1060 (59.5%) 'quite a lot' and 339 (19.0%) 'a great deal'. Content analysis
      was used to code 400 respondent comments. Four themes emerged; positive comments
      about the leaflet, suggestions for modifications, descriptions of children's
      needs and the value respondents placed on faith. INTERPRETATION: Findings
      indicate the willingness of NGO staff and volunteers to assist in research, the
      remarkable willingness of caregivers to respond and the value of brief advice. It
      demonstrates the scope for using existing humanitarian routes to distribute
      information and receive feedback even in high-risk settings.

PMID- 28596885
TI  - Overcrowding as a risk factor for domestic violence and antisocial behaviour
      among adolescents in Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective was to investigate the relationships between
      overcrowding, domestic violence, and antisocial behaviour in a sample of
      adolescents in Lagos metropolitan area, Nigeria. Possible gender differences and
      differences due to religious affiliation concerning domestic violence and
      antisocial behaviour were also investigated. METHOD: A questionnaire was filled
      in by 238 Nigerian adolescents, 12-20 years of age; the sample included 122
      females (m = 15.1 years, s.d. = 2.0) and 116 males (m = 15.8 years, s.d. = 2.0).
      The respondents were from junior and senior secondary schools in Ejigbo and
      surrounding cities (Isolo, Egbe and Ago-Palace Lagos). Six scales were included:
      adolescents as victims of adult and sibling aggression, respectively, witnessing
      of domestic violence, parental negativity towards adolescents, antisocial
      behaviour among adolescents and poverty in the home. Overcrowding, gender and
      religious affiliation served as independent variables. RESULTS: According to a
      multivariate analysis of variance with level of poverty as covariate,
      overcrowding showed significant associations with four of five scales measuring
      aggressive and antisocial behaviours. Gender and religion were associated with
      three variables each. However, multiple regression analyses revealed that
      overcrowding tended to partial out the effects of both gender and religion
      showing that overcrowding was the most important factor determining negative
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The results have implications for housing policies in
      Nigeria. Moreover, these results may also have implications for research and
      policy making in other nations and parts of the world.

PMID- 28596886
TI  - Reducing the stigma of mental illness.
AB  - This paper presents a narrative review of anti-stigma programming using examples
      from different countries to understand and describe current best practices in the
      field. Results highlight the importance of targeting the behavioural outcomes of
      the stigmatization process (discrimination and social inequity), which is
      consistent with rights-based or social justice models that emphasize social and
      economic equity for people with disabilities (such as equitable access to
      services, education, work, etc.). They also call into question large public
      education approaches in favour of more targeted contact-based interventions.
      Finally, to add to the research base on best practices, anti-stigma programs are
      encouraged to create alliances with university researchers in order to critically
      evaluate their activities and build better, evidence informed practices.

PMID- 28596887
TI  - Economic, social and mental health impacts of an economic intervention for female
      sexual violence survivors in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conflict-affected communities face poverty and mental health
      problems, with sexual violence survivors at high risk for both given their trauma
      history and potential for exclusion from economic opportunity. To address these
      problems, we conducted a randomized controlled trial of a group-based economic
      intervention, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), for female sexual
      violence survivors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. METHODS: In March 2011,
      66 VSLA groups, with 301 study participants, were randomized to the VSLA program
      or a wait-control condition. Data were collected prior to randomization, at 2
      months post-program in June 2012, and 8-months later for VSLA participants only.
      Outcome data included measures of economic and social functioning and mental
      health severity. VSLA program effect was derived by comparing intervention and
      control participants' mean changes from baseline to 2-month follow-up. RESULTS:
      At follow-up, VSLA study women reported significantly greater per capita food
      consumption and significantly greater reductions in stigma experiences compared
      with controls. No other study outcomes were statistically different. At 8-month
      follow-up, VSLA participants reported a continued increase in per capita food
      consumption, an increase in economic hours worked in the prior 7 days, and an
      increase in access to social resources. CONCLUSIONS: While female sexual violence
      survivors with elevated mental symptoms were successfully integrated into a
      community-based economic program, the immediate program impact was only seen for
      food consumption and experience of stigma. Impacts on mental health severity were
      not realized, suggesting that targeted mental health interventions may be needed
      to improve psychological well-being.

PMID- 28596888
TI  - Validity and diagnostic accuracy of the Luganda version of the 9-item and 2-item
      Patient Health Questionnaire for detecting major depressive disorder in rural
      Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of depression in rural Ugandan communities is high and
      yet detection and treatment of depression in the primary care setting is
      suboptimal. Short valid depression screening measures may improve detection of
      depression. We describe the validation of the Luganda translated nine- and two
      item Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-9 and PHQ-2) as screening tools for
      depression in two rural primary care facilities in Eastern Uganda. METHODS: A
      total of 1407 adult respondents were screened consecutively using the nine-item
      Luganda PHQ. Of these 212 were randomly selected to respond to the Mini
      International Neuropsychiatric Interview diagnostic questionnaire. Descriptive
      statistics for respondents' demographic characteristics and PHQ scores were
      generated. The sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive values (PPVs),
      and area under the ROC curve were determined for both the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2.
      RESULTS: The optimum trade-off between sensitivity and PPV was at a cut-off of
      ?5. The weighted area under the receiver Operating Characteristic curve was 0.74
      (95% CI 0.60-0.89) and 0.68 (95% CI 0.54-0.82) for PHQ-9 and PHQ-2, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: The Luganda translation of the PHQ-9 was found to be modestly useful
      in detecting depression. The PHQ-9 performed only slightly better than the PHQ-2
      in this rural Ugandan Primary care setting. Future research could improve on
      diagnostic accuracy by considering the idioms of distress among Luganda speakers,
      and revising the PHQ-9 accordingly. The usefulness of the PHQ-2 in this rural
      population should be viewed with caution.

PMID- 28596889
TI  - Challenges and opportunities to improve autism services in low-income countries:
      lessons from a situational analysis in Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little has been reported about service provision for children with
      autism in low-income countries. This study explored the current service provision
      for children with autism and their families in Ethiopia, the existing challenges
      and urgent needs, and stakeholders' views on the best approaches to further
      develop services. METHODS: A situational analysis was conducted based on (i)
      qualitative interviews with existing service providers; (ii) consultation with a
      wider group of stakeholders through two stakeholder workshops; and (iii)
      information available in the public domain. Findings were triangulated where
      possible. RESULTS: Existing diagnostic and educational services for children with
      autism are scarce and largely confined to Ethiopia's capital city, with little
      provision in rural areas. Families of children with autism experience practical
      and psychosocial challenges, including severe stigma. Informants further raised
      the lack of culturally and contextually appropriate autism instruments as an
      important problem to be addressed. The study informants and local stakeholders
      provided several approaches for future service provision expansion, including
      service decentralisation, mental health training and awareness raising
      initiatives. CONCLUSIONS: Services for children with autism in Ethiopia are
      extremely limited; appropriate care for these children is further impeded by
      stigma and lack of awareness. Ethiopia's plans to scale up mental healthcare
      integrated into primary care provide an opportunity to expand services for
      children with autism and other developmental disorders. These plans, together
      with the additional strategies outlined in this paper can help to address the
      current service provision gaps and may also inform service enhancement approaches
      in other low-income countries.

PMID- 28596890
TI  - Acceptability of internet interventions for youth mental health in Vietnam.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite high levels of mental illness, Vietnamese youth have limited
      access to mental health care. Internet interventions, evidence-based
      psychotherapy treatments delivered through the internet, have the potential to
      increase access to mental health for youth in Vietnam. This study explored the
      perceptions of youths and parents toward internet interventions for youth mental
      health. METHODS: Four focus groups were conducted with youths (n = 20) and
      parents (n = 20) in Danang, Vietnam. The Technology Acceptance Model was used a
      framework for focus group questions. The data were analyzed using direct content
      analysis. RESULTS: Most youths and parents agreed that the internet serves well
      as a care delivery model. Participants expressed that the web would be useful for
      psychoeducation and sharing and receiving information with others. Both groups
      reported lack of awareness of web-based interventions and logistical concerns
      regarding access as main barriers. In addition, many parents were concerned about
      internet addiction. Specific adaptations in Vietnam such as standalone internet
      service centers and partnering with local organizations may benefit uptake of
      internet interventions. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that internet-based
      programs for youth mental health, particularly interventions incorporating
      psychoeducation and social networking components, will be well received in
      Vietnam. Barriers need to be addressed to successfully implement internet-based
      treatment. Future initiatives should incorporate acceptance models to improve
      development of internet interventions for youth.

PMID- 28596891
TI  - Local perceptions of the impact of group interpersonal psychotherapy in rural
      Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study investigated local perceptions of changes stemming from a
      long-standing Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT-G) program for the treatment
      of depression in rural Uganda. The study was conducted in a low-income, severely
      HIV/AIDS-affected area where in 2001 the prevalence of depression was estimated
      at 21% among adults. METHOD: Data were collected using free-listing and key
      informant qualitative interviews. A convenience sample of 60 free-list
      respondents was selected from among IPT-G participants, their families, and other
      community members from 10 Ugandan villages. Twenty-two key informants and six IPT
      G facilitators were also interviewed. RESULTS: Content analysis yielded five
      primary categories of change in the community related to the IPT-G program: (1)
      improved school attendance for children; (2) improved productivity; (3) improved
      sanitation in communities; (4) greater cohesion among community members; and (5)
      reduced conflict in families. Community members and IPT-G facilitators suggested
      that as depression remitted, IPT-G participants became more hopeful, motivated
      and productive. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that providing treatment for
      depression in communities with high depression prevalence rates may lead to
      positive changes in a range of non-mental health outcomes.

PMID- 28596892
TI  - Process and implementation of Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI)
      assessments in low resource settings: a case example from Zambia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) indicate that
      the use of audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) is associated with
      more accurate reporting of sensitive behaviors (e.g. substance use and sexual
      risk behaviors) compared with interviewer-administered questionnaires. There is a
      lack of published information on the process of designing, developing, and
      implementing ACASI in LMIC. In this paper we describe our experience implementing
      an ACASI system for use with a population of orphans and vulnerable children in
      Zambia. METHODS: A questionnaire of mental health, substance use, and HIV risk
      behaviors was converted into an ACASI system, tested in pilot and validity
      studies, and implemented for use in a randomized controlled trial. Successes,
      barriers, and challenges associated with each stage in the development and
      implementation of ACASI are described. RESULTS: We were able to convert a lengthy
      and complex survey into an ACASI system that was feasible for use in Zambia.
      Lessons learned include the importance of: (1) piloting the written and
      electronic versions; (2) proper and extensive training for study assessors to use
      ACASI and for those doing voice recordings; and (3) attention to logistics such
      as appropriate space, internet, and power. CONCLUSIONS: We found that ACASI was
      feasible and acceptable in Zambia with proper planning, training, and
      supervision. Given mounting evidence indicating that ACASI provides more accurate
      self-report data and immediate data download compared with interview-administered
      measures, it may be an effective and economical alternative for behavioral health
      research studies in LMIC.

PMID- 28596894
TI  - Sustainable development goals and mental health: learnings from the contribution
      of the FundaMentalSDG global initiative.

PMID- 28596895
TI  - Global Mental Health: sharing and synthesizing knowledge for sustainable
      development.
AB  - Global mental health (GMH) is a growing domain with an increasing capacity to
      positively impact the world community's efforts for sustainable development and
      wellbeing. Sharing and synthesizing GMH and multi-sectoral knowledge, the focus
      of this paper, is an important way to support these global efforts. This paper
      consolidates some of the most recent and relevant 'context resources' [global
      multi-sector (GMS) materials, emphasizing world reports on major issues] and
      'core resources' (GMH materials, including newsletters, texts, conferences,
      training, etc.). In addition to offering a guided index of materials, it presents
      an orientation framework (global integration) to help make important information
      as accessible and useful as possible. Mental health colleagues are encouraged to
      stay current in GMH and global issues, to engage in the emerging agendas for
      sustainable development and wellbeing, and to intentionally connect and
      contribute across sectors. Colleagues in all sectors are encouraged to do
      likewise, and to take advantage of the wealth of shared and synthesized knowledge
      in the GMH domain, such as the materials featured in this paper.

PMID- 28596893
TI  - The potential of low-intensity and online interventions for depression in low-
      and middle-income countries.
AB  - The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that low- and middle-income countries
      (LMICs) are confronted with a serious 'mental health gap', indicating an enormous
      disparity between the number of individuals in need of mental health care and the
      availability of professionals to provide such care (WHO in 2010). Traditional
      forms of mental health services (i.e. face-to-face, individualised assessments
      and interventions) are therefore not feasible. We propose three strategies for
      addressing this mental health gap: delivery of evidence-based, low-intensity
      interventions by non-specialists, the use of transdiagnostic treatment protocols,
      and strategic deployment of technology to facilitate access and uptake. We urge
      researchers from all over the world to conduct feasibility studies and randomised
      controlled studies on the effect of low-intensity interventions and technology
      supported (e.g. online) interventions in LMICs, preferably using an active
      control condition as comparison, to ensure we disseminate effective treatments in
      LMICs.

PMID- 28596896
TI  - Head injury in asylum seekers and refugees referred with psychological trauma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Individuals who seek asylum are frequently fleeing violent persecution
      and may experience head injury (HI). However, little is known about the
      prevalence of HI in asylum seekers and refugees (ASR) despite the potential for
      HI to significantly affect cognitive and emotional functioning and to compromise
      asylum outcomes. This preliminary study investigates the prevalence of HI in ASR
      referred to a complex psychological trauma service. METHOD: Participants were 115
      adult ASR referred to a community psychological trauma service with moderate to
      severe mental health problems associated with psychological trauma. They were
      screened for a history of HI using a questionnaire developed for the study.
      Interpreters were used when required. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of HI was
      51%. At least 38% of those with HI had a moderate-severe HI that could cause
      persisting disability. In 53% of those with HI, the cause was torture, human
      trafficking or domestic violence. Repeat HI can have cumulative effects on
      function; it was common, and was reported in 68% of those with HI. An injury to
      the head was not known to mental health clinicians prior to screening in 64% of
      cases. CONCLUSION: The emotional and cognitive consequences of HI in ASR may
      increase the vulnerability of this disadvantaged group, and can be associated
      with neurobehavioural problems affecting daily life and may compromise asylum
      outcomes. Routine screening for HI in ASR is needed, as are links to
      neuropsychology and brain injury services for advice, assessment and
      intervention.

PMID- 28596897
TI  - Monitoring and evaluating capacity building activities in low and middle income
      countries: challenges and opportunities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lower and middle income countries (LMICs) are home to >80% of the
      global population, but mental health researchers and LMIC investigator led
      publications are concentrated in 10% of LMICs. Increasing research and research
      outputs, such as in the form of peer reviewed publications, require increased
      capacity building (CB) opportunities in LMICs. The National Institute of Mental
      Health (NIMH) initiative, Collaborative Hubs for International Research on Mental
      Health reaches across five regional 'hubs' established in LMICs, to provide
      training and support for emerging researchers through hub-specific CB activities.
      This paper describes the range of CB activities, the process of monitoring, and
      the early outcomes of CB activities conducted by the five research hubs. METHODS:
      The indicators used to describe the nature, the monitoring, and the early
      outcomes of CB activities were developed collectively by the members of an inter
      hub CB workgroup representing all five hubs. These indicators included but were
      not limited to courses, publications, and grants. RESULTS: Results for all
      indicators demonstrate a wide range of feasible CB activities. The five hubs were
      successful in providing at least one and the majority several courses; 13 CB
      recipient-led articles were accepted for publication; and nine grant applications
      were successful. CONCLUSIONS: The hubs were successful in providing CB recipients
      with a wide range of CB activities. The challenge remains to ensure ongoing CB of
      mental health researchers in LMICs, and in particular, to sustain the CB efforts
      of the five hubs after the termination of NIMH funding.

PMID- 28596898
TI  - Service and Policy implication of substance use disorders among adolescents in
      juvenile correctional facilities in Lagos, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lack of relevant data has continued to militate against the
      development of policy and practice toward identification and treatment of
      alcohol/substance abuse among adolescents coming in contact with the juvenile
      justice system in Nigeria. This study aims to provide such data, including its
      policy/practice implications. METHODS: One hundred and seventy eight (178)
      adolescents, who are representative of adolescents within the youth correctional
      services of Lagos jurisdiction, were interviewed using the alcohol and substance
      abuse section of the Kiddies' Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.
      RESULTS: The lifetime prevalence rate of abuse of/dependence on any of alcohol or
      other substances was 22.5% (alcohol, 12.3%; illicit substance, 17.9%). Males were
      overrepresented among those with any substance use disorder, with gendered
      prevalence rate as high as 35%. Having had a lived-experience of being a street
      child was the single most significant independent factor (Odds ratio (OR), 8.4; p
      = 0.007) associated with lifetime alcohol substance use disorder. CONCLUSIONS:
      Substance use disorder is highly prevalent among adolescents within the juvenile
      justice systems in Lagos Nigeria. There is need for deliberate incorporation of
      alcohol and substance abuse screening and intervention as part of individual care
      plan in youth correctional facilities in Nigeria. Practical steps toward
      achieving this were drawn from local reality and international best practices.

PMID- 28596899
TI  - Mental disorders in pregnancy and 5-8 years after delivery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Even though mental disorders represent a major public health problem
      for women and respective children, there remains a lack of epidemiological
      longitudinal studies to assess the psychological status of women throughout
      pregnancy and later in life. This epidemiological cohort study assessed the
      relationship between mental disorders of 409 Brazilian women in pregnancy and 5-8
      years after delivery. METHODS: The women were followed from 1997 to 2000 at 17
      health services, and subsequently from 2004 to 2006 at their homes. Mental
      disorders were investigated by the Perceived Stress Scale-PSS, General Health
      Questionnaire-GHQ and State-Trait Anxiety Inventories-STAI. The relationship
      between scores of the PSS, GHQ and STAI 5-8 years after delivery and in pregnancy
      was assessed by multivariate linear regression analysis, controlling for the
      following confounders: maternal age, education, per capita income, family size,
      work, marital status and body mass index. RESULTS: Scores of the PSS, GHQ and
      STAI 5-8 years after delivery were positively associated with scores of the PSS,
      GHQ and STAI in the three trimesters of pregnancy, and inversely associated with
      maternal age and per capita income (adj. R2 varied from 0.15 to 0.37). PSS, GHQ
      and STAI scores in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy were positively associated with
      scores of the PSS, GHQ and STAI in the 1st and 2nd trimesters of pregnancy (adj.
      R2 varied from 0.31 to 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study reinforce
      the urgency to integrate mental health screening into routine primary care for
      pregnant and postpartum women.

PMID- 28596901
TI  - Developing mental health research in sub-Saharan Africa: capacity building in the
      AFFIRM project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There remains a large disparity in the quantity, quality and impact
      of mental health research carried out in sub-Saharan Africa, relative to both the
      burden and the amount of research carried out in other regions. We lack evidence
      on the capacity-building activities that are effective in achieving desired aims
      and appropriate methodologies for evaluating success. METHODS: AFFIRM was an NIMH
      funded hub project including a capacity-building program with three components
      open to participants across six countries: (a) fellowships for an M.Phil.
      program; (b) funding for Ph.D. students conducting research nested within AFFIRM
      trials; (c) short courses in specialist research skills. We present findings on
      progression and outputs from the M.Phil. and Ph.D. programs, self-perceived
      impact of short courses, qualitative data on student experience, and reflections
      on experiences and lessons learnt from AFFIRM consortium members. RESULTS: AFFIRM
      delivered funded research training opportunities to 25 mental health
      professionals, 90 researchers and five Ph.D. students across 6 countries over a
      period of 5 years. A number of challenges were identified and suggestions for
      improving the capacity-building activities explored. CONCLUSIONS: Having
      protected time for research is a barrier to carrying out research activities for
      busy clinicians. Funders could support sustainability of capacity-building
      initiatives through funds for travel and study leave. Adoption of a train-the
      trainers model for specialist skills training and strategies for improving the
      rigor of evaluation of capacity-building activities should be considered.

PMID- 28596900
TI  - Poverty and suicide research in low- and middle-income countries: systematic
      mapping of literature published in English and a proposed research agenda.
AB  - Approximately 75% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
      where rates of poverty are high. Evidence suggests a relationship between
      economic variables and suicidal behaviour. To plan effective suicide prevention
      interventions in LMICs we need to understand the relationship between poverty and
      suicidal behaviour and how contextual factors may mediate this relationship. We
      conducted a systematic mapping of the English literature on poverty and suicidal
      behaviour in LMICs, to provide an overview of what is known about this topic,
      highlight gaps in literature, and consider the implications of current knowledge
      for research and policy. Eleven databases were searched using a combination of
      key words for suicidal ideation and behaviours, poverty and LMICs to identify
      articles published in English between January 2004 and April 2014. Narrative
      analysis was performed for the 84 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Most
      English studies in this area come from South Asia and Middle, East and North
      Africa, with a relative dearth of studies from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
      Most of the available evidence comes from upper middle-income countries; only 6%
      of studies come from low-income countries. Most studies focused on poverty
      measures such as unemployment and economic status, while neglecting dimensions
      such as debt, relative and absolute poverty, and support from welfare systems.
      Most studies are conducted within a risk-factor paradigm and employ descriptive
      statistics thus providing little insight into the nature of the relationship.
      More robust evidence is needed in this area, with theory-driven studies focussing
      on a wider range of poverty dimensions, and employing more sophisticated
      statistical methods.

PMID- 28596902
TI  - The effect of gender norms on the association between violence and hope among
      girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Girls at early stages of adolescence are vulnerable to violence
      victimization in humanitarian contexts, but few studies examine factors that
      affect girls' hope in these settings. We assessed attitudes toward traditional
      gender norms as an effect modifier of the relationship between violence exposure
      and future orientation in displaced girls. METHODS: Secondary analysis, using
      multivariable regression of cross-sectional data from girls ages 10-14 in South
      Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Key variables of interest were attitudes
      toward intimate partner violence (IPV), Children's Hope Scale (CHS) score, and
      exposure to physical, emotional, and sexual violence within the last 12 months.
      Additional covariates included age, educational status, and territory. RESULTS:
      The interaction of exposure to violence and attitudes toward IPV magnified the
      association between violence exposure and lower CHS score for physical violence
      (beta = -0.09, p = 0.040) and unwanted sexual touching (beta = -0.20, p = 0.003)
      among girls age 10-14, when adjusting for other covariates. The interaction of
      exposure to violence and attitudes toward IPV magnified the association between
      violence exposure and lower CHS score for forced sex (beta = -0.22, p = 0.016)
      among girls age 13-14, when adjusting for covariates. Findings for emotional
      violence, any form of sexual violence, and coerced sex trended toward lower CHS
      scores for girls who reported higher acceptance of IPV, but did not reach
      significance. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the utility of gender norms
      transformative programming in increasing resilience of girls who have experienced
      sexual violence in humanitarian contexts.

PMID- 28596903
TI  - LATIN-MH: a model for building research capacity within Latin America.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Latin America Treatment and Innovation Network in Mental Health
      (LATIN-MH) is a research hub located in Brazil and Peru that conducts a research
      project to help reduce the treatment gap in mental health in Latin America (LA).
      Besides its research core, LATIN-MH has a Capacity Building (CB) component that
      aims to help young researchers receive the specific training to contribute to the
      growing scientific production in mental health in LA. METHODS: LATIN-MH proposal
      in CB includes a series of actions to prepare professionals in the research area.
      The main proposals are described here, which include online study groups,
      promotion of scientific meetings, hands-on training in different levels and
      sharing of information. RESULTS: LATIN-MH CB activities are at its initial stages
      but the proposed activities were well evaluated by the participants. The first
      participating fellows who finished their fellowships are contributing elsewhere
      in the mental treatment and human resources formation area. CONCLUSION: The
      repercussion of LATIN-MH actions in CB and its evaluation, particularly on the
      formation of human resources and dissemination of information, show that the hub
      is contributing to the critic formation of young researchers and the circulation
      of important information.

PMID- 28596904
TI  - RedeAmericas: building research capacity in young leaders for sustainable growth
      in community mental health services in Latin America.
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and initial
      accomplishments of a training program of young leaders in community mental health
      research as part of a Latin American initiative known as RedeAmericas.
      RedeAmericas was one of five regional 'Hubs' funded by the National Institute of
      Mental Health (NIMH) to improve community mental health care and build mental
      health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. It included
      investigators in six Latin American cities - Santiago, Chile; Medellin, Colombia;
      Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Cordoba, Neuquen, and Buenos Aires in Argentina -
      working together with a team affiliated with the Global Mental Health program at
      Columbia University in New York City. One component of RedeAmericas was a
      capacity-building effort that included an Awardee program for early career
      researchers in the mental health field. We review the aims of this component, how
      it developed, and what was learned that would be useful for future capacity
      building efforts, and also comment on future prospects for maintaining this type
      of effort.

PMID- 28596906
TI  - Pattern of impairments and late diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder among a sub
      Saharan African clinical population of children in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex group of
      neurodevelopmental disorders. Studies conducted among Africans living outside the
      continent indicate that African children are more likely than Caucasian children
      to have a late diagnosis of ASD. There is a dearth of information on this topic
      among children with ASD living in Africa. METHODS: To determine the pattern of
      impairments and age at diagnosis in ASD, sixty Nigerian children with a diagnosis
      of ASD were recruited from a neurodevelopmental clinic. DSM-V criteria were used
      to make a diagnosis of ASD, while a symptom checklist for ASD was used to
      determine the pattern of impairments in ASD. RESULTS: Ages of the children ranged
      from 2 to 17 years with a mean age of 9.45 +/- 4.33 years with the majority of
      them (75%) being 12 years or younger. All the children (100%) with ASD exhibited
      poor eye contact, difficulty in mixing with other children and inability to
      consistently respond to his/her name. More than a half of them (55%) lack verbal
      communication. Impairments that were uncommon are in the areas of object
      attachment (20.0%), odd postures (26.7%) and inappropriate facial expression
      (30.0%). Mean age at the observation of ASD features was 17.0 +/- 6.7 months.
      Mean age at diagnosis of ASD was 9.00 +/- 4.30 years. The mean time lag from a
      parental concern of ASD features to seeking specialist care was 85 months and to
      diagnosis was 91 months. CONCLUSIONS: Core symptoms/impairments of ASD are
      present in Nigerian children but a late diagnosis is common.

PMID- 28596905
TI  - Mental health training for secondary school teachers in Haiti: a mixed methods,
      prospective, formative research study of feasibility, acceptability, and
      effectiveness in knowledge acquisition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Engagement and training of educators in student mental health holds
      promise for promoting access to care as a task sharing strategy but has not been
      well-studied in low-income regions. METHODS: We used a prospective and convergent
      mixed methods design to evaluate a customized school mental health 21/2 day
      training for teachers in rural Haiti (n = 22) as the initial component of
      formative research developing a school-based intervention to promote student
      mental health. Training prepared teachers to respond to student mental health
      needs by providing psychoeducational and practical support to facilitate access
      to care. We examined level of participation and evaluated feasibility,
      acceptability, and perceived effectiveness by calculating mean scores on self
      report Likert-style items eliciting participant experience. We examined
      effectiveness of the training on improving mental health knowledge and attitudes
      by comparing mean scores on an assessment administered pre- and post-training.
      Finally, we examined self-report written open-ended responses and focus group
      discussion (FGD) interview data bearing on perceived feasibility, acceptability,
      and effectiveness to contextualize participant ratings of training and to
      identify recommendations for enhancing the utility of mental health training
      locally for educators. RESULTS: Mean scores of knowledge and attitudes
      significantly improved between the pre-test and post-tests; e.g., knowledge
      improved from 58% correct at baseline to 68% correct on the second post-test (p =
      0.039). Mean ratings of the training were favorable across all categories and FGD
      data demonstrated widespread participant endorsement of training acceptability
      and effectiveness; participants recommended extending the duration and number of
      training sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support feasibility, acceptability, and
      a limited scope of effectiveness of brief mental health training for secondary
      school teachers in Haiti. Further development of approaches to engage teachers in
      promoting school mental health through training is warranted.

PMID- 28596907
TI  - Implementing mhGAP training to strengthen existing services for an internally
      displaced population in Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2014, over a million people were internally displaced after the
      launch of a military operation in North Waziristan, a tribal region on Pakistan's
      side of the Durand Line. Despite security concerns and restrictions, a
      collaborative mental health and psychosocial support initiative was undertaken in
      the district of Bannu. Monthly mental health camps were conducted for a period of
      6 months by a multidisciplinary mental health team. The initiative also helped to
      assess mental health needs and plan training for primary care staff to strengthen
      existing resources. METHODS: As part of this initiative, Mental Health Gap Action
      Programme (mhGAP) training was conducted for physicians and psychosocial staff in
      the affected district. This marked the first instance of implementing these
      guidelines in Pakistan following a humanitarian crisis. This paper describes the
      training process including the adaptation of the mhGAP curriculum, training of
      trainers, training workshops for primary care staff and an analysis of results of
      pre- and post-testing of their knowledge about common mental disorders using a 25
      item questionnaire. RESULTS: The gaps in knowledge of primary care physicians in
      recognizing and managing common mental disorders were clearly identified. The
      mean pre- and post-test scores of the participants were 15.43, 62% (p value
      0.000, s.d. 4.05) and 19.48, 78% (p value 0.000, s.d. 3.13) respectively, which
      showed significant improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the challenges of a
      humanitarian crisis, mhGAP guidelines can be successfully implemented to train
      primary care physicians in in low- and middle-income countries such as Pakistan.
      However, the dearth of primary care resources can hinder the complete integration
      of mental health services into primary healthcare.

PMID- 28596908
TI  - Integrating mental health care into primary care systems in low- and middle
      income countries: lessons from PRIME and AFFIRM.

PMID- 28596910
TI  - Research capacity strengthening in South Asia: based on the experience of South
      Asian Hub for Advocacy, Research and Education on Mental Health (SHARE).
AB  - The South Asian Hub for Advocacy, Research and Education (SHARE) was a five-year
      National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded program that aimed to stimulate
      the research base for task-shifting mental health interventions to address the
      mental health treatment gap in low and middle-income countries. During its 5
      years (2011-2016) SHARE made notable accomplishments, including providing 20
      studentships for short courses and ten fellowships to conduct mentored study,
      developing a new humanitarian research training course, implementing distance
      learning courses, creating an online repository of training materials, creation
      of a network of public health researchers at different career stages in South
      Asia, strengthening of partnerships amongst institutions of SHARE network and
      supporting its member's to produce peer reviewed publications. Furthermore,
      additional research capacity building and research grants leveraged on SHARE
      network were secured. The salient lessons learned in the 5-year program were that
      research capacity-building opportunities need to be tailored to the local
      context, as SHARE sought to develop and support courses that can build the
      capacities in specific areas identified as weak in the South Asian region.
      Mentoring was recognized as a critical component for which innovative and
      effective models of mentoring in the region need to be developed. Diverse
      platforms and mediums ought to be utilized to deliver the research training
      programs. Finally, research capacity-building program requires collaborative
      efforts of multiple stakeholders working locally, nationally and globally to
      attain the maximum impact in a region.

PMID- 28596909
TI  - Developing a scalable training model in global mental health: pilot study of a
      video-assisted training Program for Generalist Clinicians in Rural Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In low- and middle-income countries, mental health training often
      includes sending few generalist clinicians to specialist-led programs for several
      weeks. Our objective is to develop and test a video-assisted training model
      addressing the shortcomings of traditional programs that affect scalability:
      failing to train all clinicians, disrupting clinical services, and depending on
      specialists. METHODS: We implemented the program -video lectures and on-site
      skills training- for all clinicians at a rural Nepali hospital. We used Wilcoxon
      signed-rank tests to evaluate pre- and post-test change in knowledge (diagnostic
      criteria, differential diagnosis, and appropriate treatment). We used a series of
      'Yes' or 'No' questions to assess attitudes about mental illness, and utilized
      exact McNemar's test to analyze the proportions of participants who held a
      specific belief before and after the training. We assessed acceptability and
      feasibility through key informant interviews and structured feedback. RESULTS:
      For each topic except depression, there was a statistically significant increase
      (Delta) in median scores on knowledge questionnaires: Acute Stress Reaction
      (Delta = 20, p = 0.03), Depression (Delta = 11, p = 0.12), Grief (Delta = 40, p <
      0.01), Psychosis (Delta = 22, p = 0.01), and post-traumatic stress disorder
      (Delta = 20, p = 0.01). The training received high ratings; key informants shared
      examples and views about the training's positive impact and complementary nature
      of the program's components. CONCLUSION: Video lectures and on-site skills
      training can address the limitations of a conventional training model while being
      acceptable, feasible, and impactful toward improving knowledge and attitudes of
      the participants.

PMID- 28596911
TI  - Mental health provision in schools: approaches and interventions in 10 European
      countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of schools in providing community-based support for
      children's mental health and well-being is widely accepted and encouraged.
      Research has mainly focused on designing and evaluating specific interventions
      and there is little data available regarding what provision is available, the
      focus and priorities of schools and the professionals involved in providing this
      support. The current study presents these data from schools in 10 European
      countries. METHODS: Online survey of 1466 schools in France, Germany, Ireland,
      Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, UK and Ukraine. The participating
      countries were chosen based on their geographical spread, diversity of political
      and economic systems, and convenience in terms of access to the research group
      and presence of collaborators. RESULTS: Schools reported having more universal
      provision than targeted provision and there was greater reported focus on
      children who already have difficulties compared with prevention of problems and
      promotion of student well-being. The most common interventions implemented
      related to social and emotional skills development and anti-bullying programmes.
      Learning and educational support professionals were present in many schools with
      fewer schools reporting involvement of a clinical specialist. Responses varied by
      country with 7.4-33.5% between-country variation across study outcomes. Secondary
      schools reported less support for parents and more for staff compared with
      primary schools, with private schools also indicating more staff support. Schools
      in rural locations reported less student support and professionals involved than
      schools in urban locations. CONCLUSION: The current study provides up-to-date and
      cross-country insight into the approaches, priorities and provision available for
      mental health support in schools; highlighting what schools prioritise in
      providing mental health support and where coverage of provision is lacking.

PMID- 28596912
TI  - Induced migration of endothelial cells into 3D scaffolds by chemoattractants
      secreted by pro-inflammatory macrophages in situ.
AB  - Cell migration in scaffolds plays a crucial role in tissue regeneration, which
      can better mimic cell behaviors in vivo. In this study, a novel model has been
      proposed on controlling 3D cell migration in porous collagen-chitosan scaffolds
      with various pore structures under the stimulation of inflammatory cells to mimic
      the angiogenesis process. Endothelial cells (ECs) cultured atop the scaffolds in
      the Transwell molds which were placed into a well of a 24-well culture plate were
      promoted to migrate into the scaffolds by chemoattractants such as vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)
      secreted by the pro-inflammatory macrophages incubated in the well culture plate.
      The phenotype of macrophages was mediated by 50 ng/ml interferon-gamma (IFN
      gamma) and different concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 150-300 ng/ml).
      The cell migration depth had a positive correlation with LPS concentration, and
      thereby the TNF-alpha concentration. The ECs migrated easier to a deeper zone of
      the scaffolds prepared at - 10oC (187 MUm in pore diameter) than that at - 20oC
      (108 MUm in pore diameter) as well. The method provides a useful strategy to
      study the 3D cell migration, and is helpful to reveal the vascularization process
      during wound healing in the long run.

PMID- 28596913
TI  - Polyanhydride micelles with diverse morphologies for shape-regulated cellular
      internalization and blood circulation.
AB  - Biodegradable amphiphilic poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) based ether-anhydride
      terpolymer, consisting of PEG, 1, 3-bis (p-carboxyphenoxy) propane (CPP) and
      sebacic acid (SA), namely PEG-CPP-SA terpolymer, was employed to self-assemble
      into micelles by adding water into a solution of the terpolymer in
      tetrahydrofuran (THF). The shape of polyanhydride micelles can be regulated by
      simply adjusting the water addition rate, where spherical, rod-like and comb-like
      micelles can obtained under water addition rate of 20, 3 and 1 ml/h,
      respectively. The effect of micellar morphologies on the cellular internalization
      and intracellular distribution were characterized qualitatively with cervical
      cancer cells (HeLa cells) and hepatoma cells (HepG2 cells) by fluorescence
      microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), flow cytometry (FCM) and
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results reveal that the cellular
      uptake of micelles are micelle-shape-dependent (rod-like micelles may possess the
      highest cellular internalization rate) and cell-type-specific. Each endocytic
      pathway can make a contribution to this process in different degree. Moreover,
      blood circulation experiments of these micelles were carried out, demonstrating
      that comb-like micelles have a relatively longer blood circulating feature, which
      may due to its irregular shape help to increase the sensitivity to fluid forces
      and allows them to tumble and align with the blood flow.

PMID- 28596914
TI  - Cytotoxic effects of docetaxel as a candidate drug of drug-eluting stent on human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells and the signaling pathway of cell migration
      inhibition, adhesion delay and shape change.
AB  - Docetaxel (DTX), a paclitaxel analogue, can efficiently inhibit proliferation of
      vascular smooth muscle cells and has broadly been used as an antiangiogenesis
      drug. However, as a candidate drug of drug-eluting stent, the effects of DTX on
      human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) are still not well understood.
      Herein, we investigated the effects of DTX on proliferation, apoptosis, adhesion,
      migration and morphology of HUVECs in vitro. We found that DTX had the cytostatic
      and cytotoxic effects at low and high concentrations, respectively. DTX could
      inhibit the proliferation and migration of HUVECs, induce HUVECs apoptosis, delay
      HUVECs adhesion and decrease spreading area and aspect ratio of individual cells.
      The signaling pathway that DTX led to the migration inhibition, adhesion delay
      and shape change of HUVECs is the VE-cadherin mediated integrin beta1/FAK/ROCK
      signaling pathway. The study will provide a theoretical basis for the clinical
      application of DTX.

PMID- 28596917
TI  - Assessment of Vascular Change Using Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography
      Angiography: A New Theory Explains Central Visual Loss in Behcet's Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate retinal vascular structural change in ocular Behcet's
      using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and fluorescein angiography
      (FA). METHODS: An analytic cross-sectional study of 37 eyes of 21 Behcet's
      uveitic patients was performed. Foveal retinal thickness (FRT), perifoveal
      hypoperfusion areas in superficial capillary plexus (SCP), and deep capillary
      plexus (DCP) were measured with swept-source optical coherence tomography and
      OCTA. FA images were used for assessing the vascular features and correlation.
      RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were enrolled (52.4% males). The average age at
      onset was 36.7 +/- 12.93 years. The median of disease duration was 5 years (1
      25). FRT was 118.1 +/- 52.35 MUm, which correlated with visual acuity (95% CI 
      60.47, -13.92). Using OCTA, the area of hypoperfusion in SCP (0.47 +/- 0.17 mm2)
      was smaller than that in DCP (1.94 +/- 3.87 mm2) (p < 0.001). Superficial to deep
      capillary plexus nonperfusion (SCP : DCP) ratio was 0.57 +/- 0.27 which had the
      positive coefficient correlation with visual acuity (95% CI -0.644, -0.015).
      CONCLUSIONS: OCTA is an alternative noninvasive method to monitor macular
      ischemia in Behcet. Behcet's uveitis affects DCP more than SCP. Decreasing SCP :
      DCP ratio and decrease FRT correlates with poor visual acuity. Macular ischemia
      and DCP loss can be found early and can explain vision loss in Behcet.

PMID- 28596915
TI  - The effect of mechanical loads on the degradation of aliphatic biodegradable
      polyesters.
AB  - Aliphatic biodegradable polyesters have been the most widely used synthetic
      polymers for developing biodegradable devices as alternatives for the currently
      used permanent medical devices. The performances during biodegradation process
      play crucial roles for final realization of their functions. Because
      physiological and biochemical environment in vivo significantly affects
      biodegradation process, large numbers of studies on effects of mechanical loads
      on the degradation of aliphatic biodegradable polyesters have been launched
      during last decades. In this review article, we discussed the mechanism of
      biodegradation and several different mechanical loads that have been reported to
      affect the biodegradation process. Other physiological and biochemical factors
      related to mechanical loads were also discussed. The mechanical load could change
      the conformational strain energy and morphology to weaken the stability of the
      polymer. Besides, the load and pattern could accelerate the loss of intrinsic
      mechanical properties of polymers. This indicated that investigations into
      effects of mechanical loads on the degradation should be indispensable. More
      combination condition of mechanical loads and multiple factors should be
      considered in order to keep the degradation rate controllable and evaluate the
      degradation process in vivo accurately. Only then can the degradable devise
      achieve the desired effects and further expand the special applications of
      aliphatic biodegradable polyesters.

PMID- 28596918
TI  - Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Retinitis Pigmentosa.
AB  - PURPOSE: Aerobic exercise has been found to be neuroprotective in animal models
      of retinal degeneration. This study aims to report physical activity levels in
      patients with RP and investigate the relationship between physical activity and
      vision-related quality-of-life (QOL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      study of adult patients with RP examined in 2005-2014. Physical activity levels
      were assessed using the Godin Exercise Questionnaire. The NEI-Visual Function
      Questionaire-25 (VFQ-25), SF-36 General Health survey, and Pepper Assessment Tool
      for Disability (PAT-D) were administered. RESULTS: 143 patients participated. 81
      (56.6%) patients were classified as "active" and 62 (43.4%) as "insufficiently
      active" by Godin score. VFQ-25 revealed statistically significant differences
      between the active and insufficiently active patients, including overall visual
      function (53.3 versus 45.1, p = 0.010), color vision (73.8 versus 52.9, p <
      0.001), and peripheral vision (34.3 versus 23.8, p = 0.021). The physical
      component of the SF-36 and the PAT-D survey also demonstrated statistically
      significant differences (47.2 versus 52.9, p = 0.002; 24.3 versus 30.0, p =
      0.010). Active patients had a higher initial Goldmann visual field (GVF) score
      (74.8 versus 60.1 degrees, p = 0.255) and final GVF score (78.7 versus 47.1
      degrees, p = 0.069) but did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: In
      RP, increased physical activity is associated with greater self-reported visual
      function and QOL.

PMID- 28596916
TI  - The use of bioactive peptides to modify materials for bone tissue repair.
AB  - It has been well recognized that the modification of biomaterials with
      appropriate bioactive peptides could further enhance their functions. Especially,
      it has been shown that peptide-modified bone repair materials could promote new
      bone formation more efficiently compared with conventional ones. The purpose of
      this article is to give a general review of recent studies on bioactive peptide
      modified materials for bone tissue repair. Firstly, the main peptides for
      inducing bone regeneration and commonly used methods to prepare peptide-modified
      bone repair materials are introduced. Then, current in vitro and in vivo research
      progress of peptide-modified composites used as potential bone repair materials
      are reviewed and discussed. Generally speaking, the recent related studies have
      fully suggested that the modification of bone repair materials with osteogenic
      related peptides provide promising strategies for the development of bioactive
      materials and substrates for enhanced bone regeneration and the therapy of bone
      tissue diseases. Furthermore, we have proposed some research trends in the
      conclusion and perspectives part.

PMID- 28596920
TI  - Patient Factors Predicting Weight Loss after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify preoperative factors
      predicting weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: 281 patients subjected to RYGB between January 2006 and
      June 2012 were included. Demographic, physical, and socioeconomic factors were
      assessed with regression analysis. Dependent variable was percent of excess
      weight loss (% EWL) at follow-up. RESULTS: Follow-up data at one year was
      available in 96%, at two years in 88%, and at three years in 65% of the patients.
      Mean EWL was 72.5%. The success rate (defined as >=60% EWL) at 1 year was 73% and
      at 2 years 74% and was 71% after 3 years. An earlier onset of obesity and high
      preoperative BMI were independently associated with unsuccessful weight loss at 1
      year follow-up. At 2-year follow-up, an association between unsuccessful weight
      loss and psychiatric disorder, diabetes, hypertension, and preoperative BMI was
      seen. At 3-year follow-up no statistically significant associations were
      detected. CONCLUSIONS: RYGB provides successful weight loss for most patients.
      The results from this study indicate that an earlier age of onset of obesity,
      high preoperative BMI, psychiatric disorder, diabetes, and hypertension are
      associated with unsuccessful weight loss.

PMID- 28596919
TI  - Rho-Kinase/ROCK as a Potential Drug Target for Vitreoretinal Diseases.
AB  - Rho-associated kinase (Rho-kinase/ROCK) was originally identified as an effector
      protein of the G protein Rho. Its involvement in various diseases, particularly
      cancer and cardiovascular disease, has been elucidated, and ROCK inhibitors have
      already been applied clinically for cerebral vasospasm and glaucoma.
      Vitreoretinal diseases including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular
      degeneration, and proliferative vitreoretinoapthy are still a major cause of
      blindness. While anti-VEGF therapy has recently been widely used for
      vitreoretinal disorders due to its efficacy, attention has been drawn to new
      unmet needs. The importance of ROCK in pathological vitreoretinal conditions has
      also been elucidated and is attracting attention as a potential therapeutic
      target. ROCK is involved in angiogenesis and hyperpermeability and also in the
      pathogenesis of various pathologies such as inflammation and fibrosis. It has
      been expected that ROCK inhibitors will become new molecular target drugs for
      vitreoretinal diseases. This review summarizes the recent progress on the
      mechanisms of action of ROCK and their applications in disease treatment.

PMID- 28596921
TI  - Practices of Breast Self-Examination and Associated Factors among Female Debre
      Berhan University Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in Ethiopia of all
      female cancers. It is considered to be a progressive disease with a poor
      prognosis if detected late. Breast self-examination is an important prevention
      method of breast cancer. This study was aimed at assessing practice and
      associated factors of breast self-examination (BSE) among female Debre Berhan
      University students in Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted
      in 2015 among 420 using self-administrated questionnaire. Multistage sampling
      technique was used to select the study participants. Bivariate and multivariate
      logistic regression analysis were done. RESULTS: Majority of the study
      participants, 338 (84.5%), were between 20 and 24 years old with the mean age of
      21.1 +/- 1.65. Only 14 (3.5%) had family history of breast cancer. Two hundred
      fifty-six (64%) of the participants had heard about BSE and 30.25% had good
      knowledge about BSE. Mass media were the most common source of information about
      breast cancer. Few of the participants (28.3%) had performed BSE. Lack of
      knowledge on how to perform BSE was cited as the main reason for not practicing
      BSE. Knowing how to perform, when to perform, and position to perform BSE and
      having a perception that BSE is important and useful to detect breast cancer were
      significant predictors of practices of BSE. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that
      most of the participants had low knowledge and practice of BSE. Therefore, it
      important to develop health educational programs in the university to raise
      awareness about BSE and breast cancer so as to practice self-breast examination.

PMID- 28596923
TI  - Unilateral Dilated Pupil and Spontaneous Cardiac Arrest with Successful Bystander
      Resuscitation.
AB  - A 75-year-old man collapsed on a golf course and received cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation from a bystander, including the use of a public automated external
      defibrillator (AED). The AED was discharged once, with return of spontaneous
      circulation. An air ambulance crew found the patient haemodynamically stable,
      with no acute abnormalities on a 12-lead ECG. He had reduced consciousness and a
      dilated left pupil. On contacting the patient's wife by telephone, she said that
      he had fallen and hit his head earlier that day. The crew decided to convey the
      patient to a Major Trauma Centre that had both neurosurgical and cardiology
      specialist services (rather than the nearest hospital) so that both traumatic
      brain injury and cardiac pathologies could be addressed if required. A head CT
      was normal, but coronary angiography demonstrated occlusion of two coronary
      arteries. These were successfully treated with stenting, and the patient went
      home two weeks later. He informed medical staff that his left pupil has been
      permanently dilated since he was a boy following a traumatic ocular injury. This
      case illustrates the utility of early deployment of an AED as well as the
      importance of an accurate history and emergency decision-making by prehospital
      personnel.

PMID- 28596924
TI  - An Unusual Case of Pancreatic Metastasis from Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung
      Diagnosed by EUS-Guided Fine Needle Biopsy.
AB  - We report a case of a 70-year-old man who presented with abdominal pain and
      weight loss, with initial imaging showing simultaneous mass lesions in the
      pancreas and lungs along with extensive lymphadenopathy in the thorax up to the
      left supraclavicular region. Core biopsies of the left supraclavicular lymph node
      showed squamous cell carcinoma, which required differentiation between secondary
      and primary pancreatic neoplasms. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided sampling using a
      novel fine needle biopsy system was key to making a definite histological
      diagnosis and determining the best treatment plan.

PMID- 28596925
TI  - Foreign Body Moves Retrograde through Ileocecal Valve during Colonoscopy.
AB  - Ingestion of foreign bodies and particularly of button or/and cylindrical
      batteries is frequent in children and adults with underlying psychiatric
      diseases. We present a case of a 30-year-old woman with unstable borderline
      disorder, where overall 4 button and 2 cylindrical batteries were endoscopically
      removed from her digestive system. During the last session of colonoscopy a
      peculiar incident was observed, as a cylindrical battery of 15 mm diameter and 43
      mm length moved retrograde through ileocecal valve into the small bowel. The
      foreign body removal from terminal ileum was effective and safe using an
      endoscopic loop. This report suggests that endoscopic insertion in terminal ileum
      should be attempted in every colonoscopy session conducted under the indication
      of foreign body removal, as the possibility of retrograde movement of even large
      foreign bodies in the colon and through ileocecal valve is given.

PMID- 28596926
TI  - Invasive Mucormycosis Induced Pneumopericardium: A Rare Cause of
      Pneumopericardium in an Immunocompromised Patient.
AB  - Mucor and Rhizopus cause life-threatening infections primarily involving the
      lungs and sinuses, which disseminate very rapidly by necrosis and infarction of
      the contiguous tissues. We present a case of a 64-year-old African American
      posttransplant patient who presented with a productive cough and weight loss. He
      had a past surgical history of renal transplant for renal cell carcinoma and was
      on dual immunosuppressive therapy, that is, mycophenolate and tacrolimus. During
      his hospital stay, he developed a pneumopericardium due to the direct extension
      of a lung lesion. The diagnosis was made by radiological imaging and PCR result
      which was consistent with Mucor species. He was treated with antifungal therapy.
      The purpose of this report is to highlight the unusual association of
      mucormycosis with pneumopericardium.

PMID- 28596928
TI  - Pulmonary Embolism due to Inferior Vena Cava Compression by a Retroperitoneal
      Hematoma after Endovascular Repair of a Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.
AB  - We report a case of a patient with a residual hematoma compressing the inferior
      vena cava after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), which led to a pulmonary
      embolism (PE). A 65-year-old man underwent emergent EVAR for a ruptured aortic
      aneurysm in the right retroperitoneal region. He developed sudden chest pain at
      midnight of the fifth day after EVAR, and computed tomography demonstrated a
      massive PE. He subsequently went into cardiopulmonary arrest. This case suggested
      that abdominal complications due to a residual hematoma, including deep vein
      thrombosis and PE, should be considered in addition to compartment syndrome.

PMID- 28596922
TI  - Noradrenergic Modulation of Cognition in Health and Disease.
AB  - Norepinephrine released by the locus coeruleus modulates cellular processes and
      synaptic transmission in the central nervous system through its actions at a
      number of pre- and postsynaptic receptors. This transmitter system facilitates
      sensory signal detection and promotes waking and arousal, processes which are
      necessary for navigating a complex and dynamic sensory environment. In addition
      to its effects on sensory processing and waking behavior, norepinephrine is now
      recognized as a contributor to various aspects of cognition, including attention,
      behavioral flexibility, working memory, and long-term mnemonic processes. Two
      areas of dense noradrenergic innervation, the prefrontal cortex and the
      hippocampus, are particularly important with regard to these functions. Due to
      its role in mediating normal cognitive function, it is reasonable to expect that
      noradrenergic transmission becomes dysfunctional in a number of neuropsychiatric
      and neurodegenerative diseases characterized by cognitive deficits. In this
      review, we summarize the unique role that norepinephrine plays in prefrontal
      cortical and hippocampal function and how its interaction with its various
      receptors contribute to cognitive behaviors. We further assess the changes that
      occur in the noradrenergic system in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease,
      attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia and how these changes
      contribute to cognitive decline in these pathologies.

PMID- 28596927
TI  - Necrotizing Pseudomonas aeruginosa Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Case Report
      and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Lung cavities are not typically associated with community-acquired pneumonia
      (CAP). CAP due to P. aeruginosa is rare and even less commonly causes necrotizing
      pneumonia. We report a case of P. aeruginosa CAP that progressed to necrotizing
      pneumonia and was eventually fatal. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been well
      investigated in guiding antibiotic therapy (especially CAP) in adults. In this
      case, PCT at presentation and sequentially was negative. We discuss this caveat
      and present hypotheses as to the sensitivity and specificity of PCT and C
      reactive protein (CRP) in these patients. To better characterize P. aeruginosa
      CAP, we undertook a review of cases indexed in PubMed from 2001 to 2016 (n = 9).
      The data reveal that risk factors for P. aeruginosa CAP include smoking, alcohol
      use, obstructive lung disease, sinusitis, and hot tub use. The route of infection
      for P. aeruginosa CAP remains unknown. One of the most interesting findings on
      reviewing cases was that P. aeruginosa CAP involves the right upper lobe in the
      vast majority. We suggest that when physicians in the community see patients with
      distinctly upper lobe necrotizing or cavitary pneumonia, they should consider P.
      aeruginosa in their differential diagnosis. Further studies are needed to clarify
      route of infection, role of PCT and CRP, and optimal therapy including drug and
      duration.

PMID- 28596929
TI  - Influence of Resistance Training on Neuromuscular Function and Physical Capacity
      in ALS Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to explore the effect of resistance training
      in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease characterized by
      progressive motor neuron loss and muscle weakness. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Following a 12-week "lead-in" control period, a population of ALS patients from
      Funen, Denmark, completed a 12-week resistance training program consisting of 2-3
      sessions/week. Neuromuscular function (strength and power) and voluntary muscle
      activation (superimposed twitch technique) were evaluated before and after both
      control and training periods. Physical capacity tests (chair rise and timed up
      and go), the revised ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS-R) scores, and muscle
      cross sectional area (histology) were also assessed. RESULTS: Of twelve ALS
      patients assessed for eligibility, six were included and five completed the
      study. Training did not significantly affect the ALSFRS-R score, and loss of
      neuromuscular function (strength and power) increased following the training
      period. However, an improved functionality (chair rise) and an increase in
      greatly hypertrophied type II fibres combined with an increase in atrophied
      fibres following the training period compared to the control period were
      observed. CONCLUSION: In this small study, the present form of resistance
      training was unable to attenuate progressive loss of neuromuscular function in
      ALS, despite some changes in physical capacity and morphology.

PMID- 28596930
TI  - Baby-Led Weaning: The Evidence to Date.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Infants are traditionally introduced to solid foods using
      spoon-feeding of specially prepared infant foods. RECENT FINDINGS: However, over
      the last 10-15 years, an alternative approach termed 'baby-led weaning' has grown
      in popularity. This approach involves allowing infants to self-feed family foods,
      encouraging the infant to set the pace and intake of the meal. Proponents of the
      approach believe it promotes healthy eating behaviour and weight gain
      trajectories, and evidence is starting to build surrounding the method. This
      review brings together all empirical evidence to date examining behaviours
      associated with the approach, its outcomes and confounding factors. SUMMARY:
      Overall, although there is limited evidence suggesting that a baby-led approach
      may encourage positive outcomes, limitations of the data leave these conclusions
      weak. Further research is needed, particularly to explore pathways to impact and
      understand the approach in different contexts and populations.

PMID- 28596931
TI  - A Systematic Review of Methods for Increasing Vegetable Consumption in Early
      Childhood.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This study aims to synthesise the body of research
      investigating methods for increasing vegetable consumption in 2- to 5-year-old
      children, while offering advice for practitioners. RECENT FINDINGS: Repeated
      exposure is a well-supported method for increasing vegetable consumption in early
      childhood and may be enhanced with the inclusion of non-food rewards to
      incentivise tasting. Peer models appear particularly effective for increasing 2-5
      year-olds' vegetable consumption. There is little evidence for the effectiveness
      of food adaptations (e.g. flavour-nutrient learning) for increasing general
      vegetable intake among this age group, although they show some promise with
      bitter vegetables. SUMMARY: This review suggests that practitioners may want to
      focus their advice to parents around strategies such as repeated exposure, as
      well as the potential benefits of modelling and incentivising tasting with non
      food rewards. Intervention duration varies greatly, and considerations need to be
      made for how this impacts on success.

PMID- 28596932
TI  - Are There Sensitive Periods for Food Acceptance in Infancy?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A sensitive period in development is one in which it is easier
      for learning to take place; the behaviour can however still be learned at a later
      stage, but with more difficulty. This is in contrast to a critical period, a time
      at which a behaviour must be learned, and if this window of opportunity is
      missed, then the behaviour can never be acquired. Both might determine food
      acceptance in childhood. RECENT FINDINGS: There is evidence to support the idea
      of a sensitive period for the introduction of tastes, a critical period for the
      introduction of textures and for the development of oral motor function, and a
      possible critical period for the introduction of new foods but only in children
      where there is an innate disposition to develop early and extreme disgust
      responses. SUMMARY: There are both sensitive and critical periods in the
      acquisition of food preferences.

PMID- 28596934
TI  - Gel performance in rheology and profile control under low-frequency vibration:
      coupling application of physical and chemical EOR techniques.
AB  - Flowing gel plugging and low-frequency vibration oil extraction technology have
      been widely applied in low-permeability formation. High probability of
      overlapping in action spheres of two technologies might lead to poor operating
      efficiency during gel injection. Study on flowing gel rheological properties
      under low-frequency vibration was essential, which was carried out indoor with
      viscosity measurement. Potential dynamic mechanisms were analyzed for the
      rheological variation. Under low-frequency vibration, gel rheological properties
      were found to be obviously influenced, with vibration delaying gel cross-linking
      in induction period, causing a two-stage gel viscosity change in acceleration
      period, and decreasing gel strength in stable period. Surface of gel system under
      vibration presented different fluctuating phenomenon from initial harmonic
      vibrating to heterogeneous fluctuating (droplet separation might appear) to final
      harmonic vibrating again. Dynamic displacement in unconsolidated sand pack
      revealed that low-frequency vibration during gel injection might be a measure to
      achieve deep profile control, with the gel injection depth increased by 65.8 %
      compared with the vibration-free sample. At last, suggestions for field test were
      given in the paper to achieve lower injection friction and better gel plugging
      efficiency.

PMID- 28596933
TI  - Lung Organoids and Their Use To Study Cell-Cell Interaction.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The lung research field has pioneered the use of organoids for
      the study of cell-cell interactions. RECENT FINDINGS: The use of organoids for
      airway basal cells is routine. However, the development of organoids for the
      other regions of the lung is still in its infancy. Such cultures usually rely on
      cell-cell interactions between the stem cells and a putative niche cell for their
      growth and differentiation. SUMMARY: The use of co-culture organoid systems has
      facilitated the in vitro cultivation of previously inaccessible stem cell
      populations, providing a novel method for dissecting the molecular requirements
      of these cell-cell interactions. Future technology development will allow the
      growth of epithelial-only organoids in more defined media and also the
      introduction of specific non-epithelial cells for the study of cell interactions.
      These developments will require an improved understanding of the epithelial and
      non-epithelial cell types present in the lung and their lineage relationships.

PMID- 28596935
TI  - Green synthesis of enzyme/metal-organic framework composites with high stability
      in protein denaturing solvents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Enzyme/metal-organic framework composites with high stability in
      protein denaturing solvents were reported in this study. RESULTS: Encapsulation
      of enzyme in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) via co-precipitation process was
      realized, and the generality of the synthesis was validated by using cytochrome
      c, horseradish peroxidase, and Candida antarctica lipase B as model enzymes. The
      stability of encapsulated enzyme was greatly increased after immobilization on
      MOFs. Remarkably, when exposed to protein denaturing solvents including dimethyl
      sulfoxide, dimethyl formamide, methanol, and ethanol, the enzyme/MOF composites
      still preserved almost 100% of activity. In contrast, free enzymes retained no
      more than 20% of their original activities at the same condition. This study
      shows the extraordinary protecting effect of MOF shell on increasing enzyme
      stability at extremely harsh conditions. CONCLUSION: The enzyme immobilized in
      MOF exhibited enhanced thermal stability and high tolerance towards protein
      denaturing organic solvents.

PMID- 28596936
TI  - New Bioengineering Breakthroughs and Enabling Tools in Regenerative Medicine.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In this review, we provide a general overview of recent
      bioengineering breakthroughs and enabling tools that are transforming the field
      of regenerative medicine (RM). We focus on five key areas that are evolving and
      increasingly interacting including mechanobiology, biomaterials and scaffolds,
      intracellular delivery strategies, imaging techniques, and computational and
      mathematical modeling. RECENT FINDINGS: Mechanobiology plays an increasingly
      important role in tissue regeneration and design of therapies. This knowledge is
      aiding the design of more precise and effective biomaterials and scaffolds.
      Likewise, this enhanced precision is enabling ways to communicate with and
      stimulate cells down to their genome. Novel imaging technologies are permitting
      visualization and monitoring of all these events with increasing resolution from
      the research stages up to the clinic. Finally, algorithmic mining of data and
      soft matter physics and engineering are creating growing opportunities to predict
      biological scenarios, device performance, and therapeutic outcomes. SUMMARY: We
      have found that the development of these areas is not only leading to
      revolutionary technological advances but also enabling a conceptual leap focused
      on targeting regenerative strategies in a holistic manner. This approach is
      bringing us ever more closer to the reality of personalized and precise RM.

PMID- 28596939
TI  - Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma and the Importance of Considering the
      Oncogenic and Immune-Suppressant Role of the Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type
      1: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Soft-tissue sarcomas account for 0.7% of all malignant tumors, with
      an incidence rate of 3 per 100,000 persons/year. The undifferentiated pleomorphic
      sarcoma (UPS) with giant cells, a high grade tumor of soft tissue, is very
      unusual, especially in young adults before the age of 40. Human T-cell
      lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a human retrovirus, classified as group 1
      human carcinogens by The International Agency for Research on Cancer, that causes
      an aggressive malignancy known as adult T-cell lymphoma/leukemia and a
      progressive chronic inflammatory neurological disease named HTLV-1-associated
      myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). HTLV-1 causes accumulation of
      genetic mutations in the host genome that could contribute to cellular
      transformation, one of the oncogenic features of HTLV-1. CASE REPORT: We describe
      a case of a young woman with UPS who suffered from HAM/TSP with 3 years of
      evolution. In 2013, the patient started with neurological symptoms: weakness in
      the legs and bladder dysfunction. One year later, the patient developed a mild
      paraparesis in both extremities, anti-HTLV-1 antibodies were detected in plasma
      and in cerebrospinal fluid, and HAM/TSP was confirmed. In November 2015, a benign
      ganglion cyst was first suspected without intervention and by March 2016 a
      sarcoma was diagnosed. Three weeks after surgical resection, the tumor aroused in
      deep tissue and behaved aggressively, implicating a curative wide resection of
      the fibula, joint reconstruction, and soft-tissue graft. Histopathological
      examination confirmed UPS with giant cells. CONCLUDING REMARKS: The unapparent
      subclinical immunodeficiency state due to HTLV-1 infection deserves to be
      considered in order to carefully monitor the possibility of developing any type
      of cancer. Besides, reaching an accurate and timely diagnosis of UPS can be
      challenging due to the difficulty in diagnosis/classification and delayed
      consultation. In this particular case, considering the high grade of UPS and the
      progressive invalidating myelopathy caused by HTLV-1, treatment should be
      carefully evaluated to positively impact on the patient's life expectancy.

PMID- 28596937
TI  - Harnessing the Potential of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells and Gene Editing for the
      Treatment of Retinal Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A major cause of visual disorders is dysfunction and/or loss
      of the light-sensitive cells of the retina, the photoreceptors. To develop better
      treatments for patients, we need to understand how inherited retinal disease
      mutations result in the dysfunction of photoreceptors. New advances in the field
      of stem cell and gene editing research offer novel ways to model retinal
      dystrophies in vitro and present opportunities to translate basic biological
      insights into therapies. This brief review will discuss some of the issues that
      should be taken into account when carrying out disease modelling and gene editing
      of retinal cells. We will discuss (i) the use of human induced pluripotent stem
      cells (iPSCs) for disease modelling and cell therapy; (ii) the importance of
      using isogenic iPSC lines as controls; (iii) CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of iPSCs;
      and (iv) in vivo gene editing using AAV vectors. RECENT FINDINGS: Ground-breaking
      advances in differentiation of iPSCs into retinal organoids and methods to derive
      mature light sensitive photoreceptors from iPSCs. Furthermore, single AAV systems
      for in vivo gene editing have been developed which makes retinal in vivo gene
      editing therapy a real prospect. SUMMARY: Genome editing is becoming a valuable
      tool for disease modelling and in vivo gene editing in the retina.

PMID- 28596940
TI  - Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Treatment Increases the Expression of the Plasma
      Membrane Ca2+ Pump PMCA4b and Inhibits the Migration of Melanoma Cells
      Independent of ERK.
AB  - Several new therapeutic options emerged recently to treat metastatic melanoma;
      however, the high frequency of intrinsic and acquired resistance among patients
      shows a need for new therapeutic options. Previously, we identified the plasma
      membrane Ca2+ ATPase 4b (PMCA4b) as a metastasis suppressor in BRAF-mutant
      melanomas and found that mutant BRAF inhibition increased the expression of the
      pump, which then inhibited the migratory and metastatic capability of the cells.
      Earlier it was also demonstrated that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis)
      upregulated PMCA4b expression in gastric, colon, and breast cancer cells. In this
      study, we treated one BRAF wild-type and two BRAF-mutant melanoma cell lines with
      the HDACis, SAHA and valproic acid, either alone, or in combination with the BRAF
      inhibitor, vemurafenib. We found that HDACi treatment strongly increased the
      expression of PMCA4b in all cell lines irrespective of their BRAF mutational
      status, and this effect was independent of ERK activity. Furthermore, HDAC
      inhibition also enhanced the abundance of the housekeeping isoform PMCA1.
      Combination of HDACis with vemurafenib, however, did not have any additive
      effects on either PMCA isoform. We demonstrated that the HDACi-induced increase
      in PMCA abundance was coupled to an enhanced [Ca2+]i clearance rate and also
      strongly inhibited both the random and directional movements of A375 cells. The
      primary role of PMCA4b in these characteristic changes was demonstrated by
      treatment with the PMCA4-specific inhibitor, caloxin 1c2, which was able to
      restore the slower Ca2+ clearance rate and higher motility of the cells. While
      HDAC treatment inhibited cell motility, it decreased only modestly the ratio of
      proliferative cells and cell viability. Our results show that in melanoma cells
      the expression of both PMCA4b and PMCA1 is under epigenetic control and the
      elevation of PMCA4b expression either by HDACi treatment or by the decreased
      activation of the BRAF-MEK-ERK pathway can inhibit the migratory capacity of the
      highly motile A375 cells.

PMID- 28596938
TI  - Genome-Edited T Cell Therapies.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Alternative approaches to conventional drug-based cancer
      treatments have seen T cell therapies deployed more widely over the last decade.
      This is largely due to their ability to target and kill specific cell types based
      on receptor recognition. Introduction of recombinant T cell receptors (TCRs)
      using viral vectors and HLA-independent T cell therapies using chimeric antigen
      receptors (CARs) are discussed. This article reviews the tools used for genome
      editing, with particular emphasis on the applications of site-specific DNA
      nuclease mediated editing for T cell therapies. RECENT FINDINGS: Genetic
      engineering of T cells using TCRs and CARs with redirected antigen-targeting
      specificity has resulted in clinical success of several immunotherapies. In
      conjunction, the application of genome editing technologies has resulted in the
      generation of HLA-independent universal T cells for allogeneic transplantation,
      improved T cell sustainability through knockout of the checkpoint inhibitor,
      programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1), and has shown efficacy as an antiviral
      therapy through direct targeting of viral genomic sequences and entry receptors.
      SUMMARY: The combined use of engineered antigen-targeting moieties and innovative
      genome editing technologies have recently shown success in a small number of
      clinical trials targeting HIV and hematological malignancies and are now being
      incorporated into existing strategies for other immunotherapies.

PMID- 28596941
TI  - Highly Specific and Effective Targeting of EGFRvIII-Positive Tumors with TandAb
      Antibodies.
AB  - To harness the cytotoxic capacity of immune cells for the treatment of solid
      tumors, we developed tetravalent, bispecific tandem diabody (TandAb) antibodies
      that recognize EGFRvIII, the deletion variant III of the epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR), and CD3 on T-cells, thereby directing immune cells to eliminate
      EGFRvIII-positive tumor cells. Using phage display, we identified scFv antibodies
      selectively binding to EGFRvIII. These highly EGFRvIII-specific, fully human scFv
      were substantially improved by affinity maturation, achieving KDs in the
      picomolar range, and were used to construct a set of bispecific EGFRvIII
      targeting TandAbs with a broad range of binding and cytotoxic properties. These
      antibodies exhibited an exquisite specificity for a distinguished epitope in the
      N-terminal portion of EGFRvIII, as shown on recombinant antigen in Western Blot,
      SPR, and ELISA, as well as on antigen-expressing cells in FACS assays, and did
      not bind to the wild-type EGFR. High-affinity EGFRvIII/CD3 TandAbs were most
      potent in killing assays, displaying cytotoxicity toward EGFRvIII-expressing CHO,
      F98 glioma, or human DK-MG cells with EC50 values in the range of 1-10 pM in
      vitro. They also demonstrated dose-dependent growth control in vivo in an
      EGFRvIII-positive subcutaneous xenograft tumor model. Together with the tumor
      exclusive expression of EGFRvIII, the EGFRvIII/CD3 TandAbs' high specificity and
      strictly target-dependent activation with no off-target activity provide an
      opportunity to target tumor cells and spare normal tissues, thereby reducing the
      side effects associated with other anti-EGFR therapies. In summary, EGFRvIII/CD3
      TandAbs are highly attractive therapeutic antibody candidates for selective
      immunotherapy of EGFRvIII-positive tumors.

PMID- 28596942
TI  - Phenol-Soluble Modulin Toxins of Staphylococcus haemolyticus.
AB  - Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are important nosocomial pathogens and
      the leading cause of sepsis. The second most frequently implicated species, after
      Staphylococcus epidermidis, is Staphylococcus haemolyticus. However, we have a
      significant lack of knowledge about what causes virulence of S. haemolyticus, as
      virulence factors of this pathogen have remained virtually unexplored. In
      contrast to the aggressive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, toxin production has
      traditionally not been associated with CoNS. Recent findings have suggested that
      phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), amphipathic peptide toxins with broad cytolytic
      activity, are widespread in staphylococci, but there has been no systematic
      assessment of PSM production in CoNS other than S. epidermidis. Here, we
      identified, purified, and characterized PSMs of S. haemolyticus. We found three
      PSMs of the beta-type, which correspond to peptides that before were described to
      have anti-gonococcal activity. We also detected an alpha-type PSM that has not
      previously been described. Furthermore, we confirmed that S. haemolyticus does
      not produce a delta-toxin, as results from genome sequencing had indicated. All
      four S. haemolyticus PSMs had strong pro-inflammatory activity, promoting
      neutrophil chemotaxis. Notably, we identified in particular the novel alpha-type
      PSM, S. haemolyticus PSMalpha, as a potent hemolysin and leukocidin. For the
      first time, our study describes toxins of this important staphylococcal pathogen
      with the potential to have a significant impact on virulence during blood
      infection and sepsis.

PMID- 28596943
TI  - In vitro Evaluation of the Colistin-Carbapenem Combination in Clinical Isolates
      of A. baumannii Using the Checkerboard, Etest, and Time-Kill Curve Techniques.
AB  - The worldwide increase in the emergence of carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii (CRAB) calls for the investigation into alternative approaches for
      treatment. This study aims to evaluate colistin-carbapenem combinations against
      Acinetobacter spp., in order to potentially reduce the need for high
      concentrations of antibiotics in therapy. This study was conducted on 100 non
      duplicate Acinetobacter isolates that were collected from different patients
      admitted at Saint George Hospital-University Medical Center in Beirut. The
      isolates were identified using API 20NE strips, which contain the necessary
      agents to cover a panel of biochemical tests, and confirmed by PCR amplification
      of blaOXA-51-like. Activities of colistin, meropenem and imipenem against
      Acinetobacter isolates were determined by ETEST and microdilution methods, and
      interpreted according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards
      Institute. In addition, PCR amplifications of the most common beta lactamases
      contributing to carbapenem resistance were performed. Tri locus PCR-typing was
      also performed to determine the international clonality of the isolates.
      Checkerboard, ETEST and time kill curves were then performed to determine the
      effect of the colistin-carbapenem combinations. The synergistic potential of the
      combination was then determined by calculating the Fractional Inhibitory
      Concentration Index (FICI), which is an index that indicates additivity,
      synergism, or antagonism between the antimicrobial agents. In this study, 84% of
      the isolates were resistant to meropenem, 78% to imipenem, and only one strain
      was resistant to colistin. 79% of the isolates harbored blaOXA-23-like and
      pertained to the International Clone II. An additive effect for the colistin
      carbapenem combination was observed using all three methods. The combination of
      colistin-meropenem showed better effects as compared to colistin-imipenem (p <
      0.05). The colistin-meropenem and colistin-imipenem combinations also showed a
      decrease of 2.6 and 2.8-fold, respectively in the MIC of colistin (p < 0.001).
      Time kill assays additionally showed synergistic effects for a few isolates, and
      no bacterial re-growth was detected following a 24 h incubation. Our study showed
      that the combination of colistin with carbapenems could be a promising
      antimicrobial strategy in treating CRAB infections and potentially lowering
      colistin toxicity related to higher doses used in colistin monotherapy.

PMID- 28596944
TI  - CodY Regulates Thiol Peroxidase Expression as Part of the Pneumococcal Defense
      Mechanism against H2O2 Stress.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae is a facultative anaerobic pathogen. Although it
      maintains fermentative metabolism, during aerobic growth pneumococci produce high
      levels of H2O2, which can have adverse effects on cell viability and DNA, and
      influence pneumococcal interaction with its host. The pneumococcus is unusual in
      its dealing with toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) in that it neither has
      catalase nor the global regulators of peroxide stress resistance. Previously, we
      identified pneumococcal thiol peroxidase (TpxD) as the key enzyme for enzymatic
      removal of H2O2, and showed that TpxD synthesis is up-regulated upon exposure to
      H2O2. This study aimed to reveal the mechanism controlling TpxD expression under
      H2O2 stress. We hypothesize that H2O2 activates a transcription factor which in
      turn up-regulates tpxD expression. Microarray analysis revealed a pneumococcal
      global transcriptional response to H2O2. Mutation of tpxD abolished H2O2-mediated
      response to high H2O2 levels, signifying the need for an active TpxD under
      oxidative stress conditions. Bioinformatic tools, applied to search for a
      transcription factor modulating tpxD expression, pointed toward CodY as a
      potential candidate. Indeed, a putative 15-bp consensus CodY binding site was
      found in the proximal region of tpxD-coding sequence. Binding of CodY to this
      site was confirmed by EMSA, and genetic engineering techniques demonstrated that
      this site is essential for TpxD up-regulation under H2O2 stress. Furthermore,
      tpxD expression was reduced in a DeltacodY mutant. These data indicate that CodY
      is an activator of tpxD expression, triggering its up-regulation under H2O2
      stress. In addition we show that H2O2 specifically oxidizes the 2 CodY cysteines.
      This oxidation may trigger a conformational change in CodY, resulting in enhanced
      binding to DNA. A schematic model illustrating the contribution of TpxD and CodY
      to pneumococcal global transcriptional response to H2O2 is proposed.

PMID- 28596945
TI  - Treatment with pCramoll Alone and in Combination with Fluconazole Provides
      Therapeutic Benefits in C. gattii Infected Mice.
AB  - Cryptococcus gattii is one of the main causative agents of cryptococcosis in
      immunocompetent individuals. Treatment of the infection is based on the use of
      antimycotics, however, the toxicity of these drugs and the increase of drug
      resistant strains have driven the search for more effective and less toxic
      therapies for cryptococcosis. pCramoll are isolectins purified from seeds of
      Cratylia mollis, a native forage plant from Brazil, which has become a versatile
      tool for biomedical application. We evaluated the effect of pCramoll alone and in
      combination with fluconazole for the treatment of mice infected with C. gatti.
      pCramoll alone or in combination with fluconazole increased the survival, reduced
      the morbidity and improved mice behavior i.e., neuropsychiatric state, motor
      behavior, autonomic function, muscle tone and strength and reflex/sensory
      function. These results were associated with (i) decreased pulmonary and cerebral
      fungal burden and (ii) increased inflammatory infiltrate and modulatory of
      IFNgamma, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-17A cytokines in mice treated with pCramoll.
      Indeed, bone marrow-derived macrophages pulsed with pCramoll had increased
      ability to engulf C. gattii, with an enhanced production of reactive oxygen
      species and decrease of intracellular fungal proliferation. These findings point
      toward the use of pCramoll in combination with fluconazole as a viable,
      alternative therapy for cryptococcosis management.

PMID- 28596946
TI  - Non-high-density lipoprotein fractions are strongly associated with the presence
      of metabolic syndrome independent of obesity and diabetes: a population-based
      study among Iranian adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-HDL-C as a valuable predictor of premature atherosclerosis,
      coronary events like first Myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality has
      a high accuracy of measurement both in fasting and non-fasting individuals.
      Metabolic syndrome (MetS) can promote the development of diabetes mellitus,
      endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. A common pathway for cross linking
      of metabolic abnormalities and non-HDL-C has been suggested. In this study we
      aimed to describe the potential association between non-HDL cholesterol fractions
      and metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Data of third national surveillance of the risk
      factors of non-communicable diseases (SuRFNCD-2007) were analyzed. We defined
      metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII) and
      International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria for 2125 subjects aging 25-64
      years. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine
      the optimal cut-points for the diagnosis of MetS. The curves were depicted for
      non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and difference of total non
      HDL-C and LDL-C (Differential cholesterol or Diff-C) as predictors of MetS.
      Logistic regression was also performed in a complex sample analysis scheme.
      RESULTS: The area under the curve (AUC) with 95% Confidence intervals of total
      non-HDL-C was computed. Values were 0.693 (0.670-0.715) for IDF-defined MetS and
      0.719 (0.697-0.740) for ATPIII criteria. The optimal non-HDL-C cut-point we
      recommend for both criteria is 153.50 mg/dl (sensitivity: 75.7%, specificity:
      57.2%, with ATPIII; sensitivity: 73.2%, specificity: 57.1%, with IDF). Using IDF
      criteria, the accuracy of predictors were greater in non-diabetic subjects. AUC
      of Diff-C in DM (-) vs. DM (+) were 0.786 (0.765-0.807) vs. 0.627(0.549-0.705).
      Adults with high non-HDL-C were 4.42 times more likely to have ATPIII-defined
      MetS (>=190 vs. < 190 mg/dL). Elevated Diff-C corresponded to increased risk of
      the MetS (ORs: 10.71 and 26.29 for IDF and ATP III criteria, respectively. All P
      values <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A significant robust association exists between non
      HDL-C and MetS whether applying conventional or new thresholds.

PMID- 28596948
TI  - Standardization of 123I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine myocardial sympathetic activity
      imaging: phantom calibration and clinical applications.
AB  - PURPOSE: Myocardial sympathetic imaging with 123I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (123I
      mIBG) has gained clinical momentum. Although the need for standardization of 123I
      mIBG myocardial uptake has been recognized, the availability of practical
      clinical standardization approaches is limited. The need for standardization
      includes the heart-to-mediastinum ratio (HMR) and washout rate with planar
      imaging, and myocardial defect scoring with single-photon emission computed
      tomography (SPECT). METHODS: The planar HMR shows considerable variation due to
      differences in collimator design. These camera-collimator differences can be
      overcome by cross-calibration phantom experiments. The principles of these cross
      calibration phantom experiments are summarized in this article. 123I-mIBG SPECT
      databases were compiled by Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine working group.
      Literature was searched based on the words "123I-mIBG quantification method",
      "standardization", "heart-to-mediastinum ratio", and its application to "risk
      model". RESULTS: Calibration phantom experiments have been successfully performed
      in Japan and Europe. The benefit of these cross-calibration phantom experiments
      is that variation in the HMR between institutions is minimized including low
      energy, low-medium-energy and medium-energy collimators. The use of myocardial
      123I-mIBG SPECT can be standardized using 123I-mIBG normal databases as a basis
      for quantitative evaluation. This standardization method can be applied in
      cardiac event prediction models. CONCLUSION: Standardization of myocardial 123I
      mIBG outcome parameters may facilitate a universal implementation of myocardial
      123I-mIBG scintigraphy.

PMID- 28596950
TI  - Review: Quality of Life in Children with Non-cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis.
AB  - Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) has gained renewed interest, due to its
      increasing health-care burden. Annual mortality statistics in England and Wales
      showed that under 1,000 people die from bronchiectasis each year, and this number
      is increasing by 3% yearly. Unfortunately, there is a severe lack of well
      powered, randomized controlled trials to guide clinicians how to manage NCFB
      effectively. Quality-of-life (QOL) measures in NCFB are an important aspect of
      clinical care that has not been studied well. Commonly used disease-specific
      questionnaires in children with NCFB are the St George's Respiratory
      Questionnaire, Short Form-36, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire, and the Parent
      Cough-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire (PC-QOL). Of these, only the PC-QOL
      can be used in young children, as it is a parent-proxy questionnaire. We reviewed
      pediatric studies looking at QOL in children with NCFB and cystic fibrosis. All
      types of airway clearance techniques appear to be safe and have no significant
      benefit over each other. Number of exacerbations and hospitalizations correlated
      with QOL scores, while symptom subscales correlated with lung function, worse
      QOL, frequent antibiotic requirements, and duration of regular follow-up in only
      one study. There was a correlation between QOL and age of diagnosis in children
      with primary ciliary dyskinesia. Other studies have shown no relationship between
      QOL scores and etiology of NCFB as well as CT changes. As for treatments, oral
      azithromycin and yoga have demonstrated some improvement in QOL scores. In
      conclusion, more studies are required to accurately determine important factors
      contributing to QOL.

PMID- 28596949
TI  - New methodologies for the preparation of carbon-11 labeled radiopharmaceuticals.
AB  - PURPOSE: This short review aims to cover the more recent and promising
      developments of carbon-11 (11C) labeling radiochemistry and its utility in the
      production of novel radiopharmaceuticals, with special emphasis on methods that
      have the greatest potential to be translated for clinical positron emission
      tomography (PET) imaging. METHODS: A survey of the literature was undertaken to
      identify articles focusing on methodological development in 11C chemistry and
      their use within novel radiopharmaceutical preparation. However, since 11C
      labeling chemistry is such a narrow field of research, no systematic literature
      search was therefore feasible. The survey was further restricted to a specific
      timeframe (2000-2016) and articles in English. RESULTS: From the literature, it
      is clear that the majority of 11C-labeled radiopharmaceuticals prepared for
      clinical PET studies have been radiolabeled using the standard heteroatom
      methylation reaction. However, a number of methodologies have been developed in
      recent years, both from a technical and chemical point of view. Amongst these,
      two protocols may have the greatest potential to be widely adapted for the
      preparation of 11C-radiopharmaceuticals in a clinical setting. First, a novel
      method for the direct formation of 11C-labeled carbonyl groups, where organic
      bases are utilized as [11C]carbon dioxide-fixation agents. The second method of
      clinical importance is a low-pressure 11C-carbonylation technique that utilizes
      solvable xenon gas to effectively transfer and react [11C]carbon monoxide in a
      sealed reaction vessel. Both methods appear to be general and provide simple
      paths to 11C-labeled products. CONCLUSION: Radiochemistry is the foundation of
      PET imaging which relies on the administration of a radiopharmaceutical. The
      demand for new radiopharmaceuticals for clinical PET imaging is increasing, and
      11C-radiopharmaceuticals are especially important within clinical research and
      drug development. This review gives a comprehensive overview of the most
      noteworthy 11C-labeling methods with clinical relevance to the field of PET
      radiochemistry.

PMID- 28596953
TI  - Tuberculosis Treatment Completion in a United States/Mexico Binational Context.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a salient public health issue along the
      U.S./Mexico border. This study seeks to identify the social and structural
      factors, which are associated with TB disease burden in the binational geographic
      region. Identification of barriers of treatment completion provides the necessary
      framework for developing evidence-based interventions that are culturally
      relevant and context specific for the U.S./Mexico border region. METHODS:
      Retrospective study of data extracted from medical charts (n = 439) from Yuma
      County Health Department (YCHD) (n = 160) and Centro de Salud San Luis Rio
      Colorado (n = 279). Patients currently accessing TB treatment at either facility
      were excluded from the study. Chi-square, unadjusted odds ratios, and logistic
      regression were utilized to identify characteristics associated with successful
      TB treatment in this population. FINDINGS: The study population was predominantly
      male (n = 327). Females were more likely to complete TB treatment (OR = 3.71).
      The absence of drug use and/or the absence of an HIV positive diagnosis were
      found to be predictors of TB treatment completion across both clinical sites.
      Forty-four percent (43.59%) (n = 85) TB patients treated at CDS San Luis did not
      complete treatment versus 40.35% (n = 49) of TB patients who did not complete
      treatment at YCHD. Moving from the area or being deported was the highest
      category (20.78%) for incomplete TB treatment in the population (n = 64) across
      both clinical sites.

PMID- 28596952
TI  - Neurodevelopmental Delay Diagnosis Rates Are Increased in a Region with Aerial
      Pesticide Application.
AB  - A number of studies have implicated pesticides in childhood developmental delay
      (DD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The influence of the route of pesticide
      exposure on neurodevelopmental delay is not well defined. To study this factor,
      we examined ASD/DD diagnoses rates in an area near our regional medical center
      that employs yearly aerial pyrethroid pesticide applications to combat mosquito
      borne encephalitis. The aim of this study was to determine if areas with aerial
      pesticide exposure had higher rates of ASD/DD diagnoses. This regional study
      identified higher rates of ASD/DD diagnoses in an area with aerial pesticides
      application. Zip codes with aerial pyrethroid exposure were 37% more likely to
      have higher rates of ASD/DD (adjusted RR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.06-1.78, p = 0.02). A
      Poisson regression model controlling for regional characteristics (poverty,
      pesticide use, population density, and distance to medical center), subject
      characteristics (race and sex), and local birth characteristics (prematurity, low
      birthweight, and birth rates) identified a significant relationship between
      aerial pesticide use and ASD/DD rates. The relationship between pesticide
      application and human neurodevelopment deserves additional study to develop safe
      and effective methods of mosquito prevention, particularly as communities develop
      plans for Zika virus control.

PMID- 28596951
TI  - Early-Life Host-Microbiome Interphase: The Key Frontier for Immune Development.
AB  - Human existence can be viewed as an "animal in a microbial world." A healthy
      interaction of the human host with the microbes in and around us heavily relies
      on a well-functioning immune system. As development of both the microbiota and
      the host immune system undergo rapid changes in early life, it is not surprising
      that even minor alterations during this co-development can have profound
      consequences. Scrutiny of existing data regarding pre-, peri-, as well as early
      postnatal modulators of newborn microbiota indeed suggest strong associations
      with several immune-mediated diseases with onset far beyond the newborn period.
      We here summarize these data and extract overarching themes. This same effort in
      turn sets the stage to guide effective countermeasures, such as probiotic
      administration. The objective of our review is to highlight the interaction of
      host immune ontogeny with the developing microbiome in early life as a critical
      window of susceptibility for lifelong disease, as well as to identify the
      enormous potential to protect and promote lifelong health by specifically
      targeting this window of opportunity.

PMID- 28596954
TI  - Assessment of Health Needs in Children with Congenital Upper Limb Differences in
      Nicaragua: Community Case Study.
AB  - Congenital anomalies are prevalent in Nicaragua, and disability is estimated to
      be 10% in the general population. We studied children with congenital upper limb
      differences, as they are vulnerable to disability. This case study documents a
      collaborative effort between American and Nicaraguan orthopedic surgeons to
      determine unmet health needs of children with congenital upper limb differences
      at Hospital Manuel de Jesus Rivera ("La Mascota" Hospital) in Nicaragua, with the
      goal of developing programs that successfully address these needs within the
      context of the priorities of the community. Participants were recruited during
      one of the biannual pediatric hand specialty clinics held by a partnership of
      pediatric hand surgeons and occupational therapists under the auspices of Health
      Volunteers Overseas (La Brigada de las Manos, or "La Brigada") and Nicaraguan
      orthopedic surgeons. Structured interviews were performed with 34 parents or
      caregivers of patients with the diagnosis of a congenital upper limb difference.
      Parents were asked to rank the social, economic, environmental, and biological
      factors that determine health according to priority. Using the Hanlon Method for
      prioritizing health problems, in consultation with local providers and the
      program director of La Brigada, five needs were identified: (1) improvements in
      access to specialized care from hand surgeons and (2) rehabilitation specialists;
      (3) improvements in upper extremity function; (4) access to transportation; and
      (5) improvement in physical activity and sports participation. Based on the
      results of this needs assessment, we learned that some of the needs were already
      part of the ongoing work of the partnership, but in addition, more needs became
      evident; for that reason, local health care providers and members of La Brigada
      identified potential solutions to these needs and are currently working to
      translate these in future interventions.

PMID- 28596947
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of hypoxia in cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hypoxia is a condition of insufficient oxygen to support metabolism
      which occurs when the vascular supply is interrupted, or when a tumour outgrows
      its vascular supply. It is a negative prognostic factor due to its association
      with an aggressive tumour phenotype and therapeutic resistance. This review
      provides an overview of hypoxia imaging with Positron emission tomography (PET),
      with an emphasis on the biological relevance, mechanism of action, highlighting
      advantages, and limitations of the currently available hypoxia radiotracers.
      METHODS: A comprehensive PubMed literature search was performed, identifying
      articles relating to biological significance and measurement of hypoxia, MRI
      methods, and PET imaging of hypoxia in preclinical and clinical settings, up to
      December 2016. RESULTS: A variety of approaches have been explored over the years
      for detecting and monitoring changes in tumour hypoxia, including regional
      measurements with oxygen electrodes placed under CT guidance, MRI methods that
      measure either oxygenation or lactate production consequent to hypoxia, different
      nuclear medicine approaches that utilise imaging agents the accumulation of which
      is inversely related to oxygen tension, and optical methods. The advantages and
      disadvantages of these approaches are reviewed, along with individual strategies
      for validating different imaging methods. PET is the preferred method for imaging
      tumour hypoxia due to its high specificity and sensitivity to probe physiological
      processes in vivo, as well as the ability to provide information about
      intracellular oxygenation levels. CONCLUSION: Even though hypoxia could have
      significant prognostic and predictive value in the clinic, the best method for
      hypoxia assessment has in our opinion not been realised.

PMID- 28596956
TI  - Commentary: PET/MR Versus PET/CT Imaging: Impact on the Clinical Management of
      Small-Bowel Crohn's Disease.

PMID- 28596955
TI  - Flux-Enabled Exploration of the Role of Sip1 in Galactose Yeast Metabolism.
AB  - 13C metabolic flux analysis (13C MFA) is an important systems biology technique
      that has been used to investigate microbial metabolism for decades. The
      heterotrimer Snf1 kinase complex plays a key role in the preference Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae exhibits for glucose over galactose, a phenomenon known as glucose
      repression or carbon catabolite repression. The SIP1 gene, encoding a part of
      this complex, has received little attention, presumably, because its knockout
      lacks a growth phenotype. We present a fluxomic investigation of the relative
      effects of the presence of galactose in classically glucose-repressing media
      and/or knockout of SIP1 using a multi-scale variant of 13C MFA known as 2-Scale
      13C metabolic flux analysis (2S-13C MFA). In this study, all strains have the
      galactose metabolism deactivated (gal1Delta background) so as to be able to
      separate the metabolic effects purely related to glucose repression from those
      arising from galactose metabolism. The resulting flux profiles reveal that the
      presence of galactose in classically glucose-repressing conditions, for a
      CEN.PK113-7D gal1Delta background, results in a substantial decrease in pentose
      phosphate pathway (PPP) flux and increased flow from cytosolic pyruvate and
      malate through the mitochondria toward cytosolic branched-chain amino acid
      biosynthesis. These fluxomic redistributions are accompanied by a higher maximum
      specific growth rate, both seemingly in violation of glucose repression. Deletion
      of SIP1 in the CEN.PK113-7D gal1Delta cells grown in mixed glucose/galactose
      medium results in a further increase. Knockout of this gene in cells grown in
      glucose-only medium results in no change in growth rate and a corresponding
      decrease in glucose and ethanol exchange fluxes and flux through pathways
      involved in aspartate/threonine biosynthesis. Glucose repression appears to be
      violated at a 1/10 ratio of galactose-to-glucose. Based on the scientific
      literature, we may have conducted our experiments near a critical sugar ratio
      that is known to allow galactose to enter the cell. Additionally, we report a
      number of fluxomic changes associated with these growth rate increases and
      unexpected flux profile redistributions resulting from deletion of SIP1 in
      glucose-only medium.

PMID- 28596957
TI  - Heterogeneous Vascular Bed Responses to Pulmonary Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle
      Exposure.
AB  - A growing body of research links engineered nanomaterial (ENM) exposure to
      adverse cardiovascular endpoints. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
      impact of ENM exposure on vascular reactivity in discrete segments so that we may
      determine the most sensitive levels of the vasculature where these negative
      cardiovascular effects are manifest. We hypothesized that acute nano-TiO2
      exposure differentially affects reactivity with a more robust impairment in the
      microcirculation. Sprague-Dawley rats (8-10 weeks) were exposed to nano-TiO2via
      intratracheal instillation (20, 100, or 200 ug suspended per 250 uL of vehicle)
      24 h prior to vascular assessments. A serial assessment across distinct
      compartments of the vascular tree was then conducted. Wire myography was used to
      evaluate macrovascular active tension generation specifically in the thoracic
      aorta, the femoral artery, and third-order mesenteric arterioles. Pressure
      myography was used to determine vascular reactivity in fourth- and fifth-order
      mesenteric arterioles. Vessels were treated with phenylephrine, acetylcholine
      (ACh), and sodium nitroprusside. Nano-TiO2 exposure decreased endothelium
      dependent relaxation in the thoracic aorta and femoral arteries assessed via ACh
      by 53.96 +/- 11.6 and 25.08 +/- 6.36%, respectively. Relaxation of third-order
      mesenteric arterioles was impaired by 100 and 20 ug nano-TiO2 exposures with mean
      reductions of 50.12 +/- 8.7 and 68.28 +/- 8.7%. Cholinergic reactivity of fourth-
      and fifth-order mesenteric arterioles was negatively affected by nano-TiO2 with
      diminished dilations of 82.86 +/- 12.6% after exposure to 200 ug nano-TiO2, 42.6
      +/- 12.6% after 100 ug nano-TiO2, and 49.4 +/- 12.6% after 20 ug nano-TiO2.
      Endothelium-independent relaxation was impaired in the thoracic aorta by 34.05 +/
      25% induced by exposure to 200 ug nano-TiO2 and a reduction in response of 49.31
      +/- 25% caused by 100 ug nano-TiO2. Femoral artery response was reduced by 18 +/-
      5%, while third-order mesenteric arterioles were negatively affected by 20 ug
      nano-TiO2 with a mean decrease in response of 38.37 +/- 10%. This is the first
      study to directly compare the differential effect of ENM exposure on discrete
      anatomical segments of the vascular tree. Pulmonary ENM exposure produced
      macrovascular and microvascular dysfunction resulting in impaired responses to
      endothelium-dependent, endothelium-independent, and adrenergic agonists with a
      more robust dysfunction at the microvascular level. These results provide
      additional evidence of an endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent
      impairment in vascular reactivity.

PMID- 28596958
TI  - Circulating Cellular Adhesion Molecules and Cognitive Function: The Coronary
      Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Higher circulating concentrations of cellular adhesion molecules
      (CAMs) can be used as markers of endothelial dysfunction. Given that the brain is
      highly vascularized, we assessed whether endothelial function is associated with
      cognitive performance. METHOD: Within the Coronary Artery Risk Development in
      Young Adults (CARDIA) Study, excluding N = 54 with stroke before year 25, we
      studied CAMs among N = 2,690 black and white men and women in CARDIA year 7 (1992
      1993, ages 25-37) and N = 2,848 in CARDIA year 15 (2000-2001, ages 33-45). We
      included subjects with levels of circulating soluble CAMs measured in year 7 or
      15 and cognitive function testing in year 25 (2010-2011, ages 43-55). Using
      multiple regression analysis, we evaluated the association between CAMs and year
      25 cognitive test scores: Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT, memory),
      Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST, speed of processing), and the Stroop Test
      (executive function). RESULT: All CAM concentrations were greater in year 15 vs.
      year 7. Adjusting for age, race, sex, education, smoking, alcohol, diet, physical
      activity, participants in the fourth vs. the first quartile of CARDIA year 7 of
      circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) scored worse on RAVLT,
      DSST, and Stroop Test (p <= 0.05) in CARDIA year 25. Other CAMs showed little
      association with cognitive test scores. Findings were similar for ICAM-1 assessed
      at year 15. Adjustment for possibly mediating physical factors attenuated the
      findings. CONCLUSION: Higher circulating ICAM-1 at average ages 32 and 40 was
      associated with lower cognitive skills at average age 50. The study is consistent
      with the hypothesis that endothelial dysfunction is associated with worse short
      term memory, speed of processing, and executive function.

PMID- 28596959
TI  - Oral Bioavailability and Plasma Disposition of Pefloxacin in Healthy Broiler
      Chickens.
AB  - The pharmacokinetics of pefloxacin after single 10 mg/kg BW intravenous (IV) and
      oral doses were studied in healthy broiler chickens. For 24 h, serial blood
      samples were obtained after IV and oral administration. Concentrations of
      pefloxacin and its major metabolite N-demethyl pefloxacin (norfloxacin) were
      measured by use of high-performance liquid chromatography. The plasma
      concentrations-time data were found to fit a two-compartment open model. For
      pefloxacin, the elimination half-life (t1/2beta) was 8.44 +/- 0.48 and 13.18 +/-
      0.82 h after IV and oral administration, respectively. After single oral dose,
      pefloxacin was rapidly absorbed with an absorption half-life (t1/2a) and TMAX of
      0.87 +/- 0.07 and 2.01 +/- 0.12 h, respectively. Maximum plasma concentration
      (CMAX) was 4.02 +/- 0.31 ug/mL. Oral bioavailability of pefloxacin was found to
      be 70 +/- 2%. Pefloxacin was converted to N-demethyl pefloxacin (norfloxacin).
      This metabolite represented 5% of the parent drug plasma concentrations. The
      maximal plasma concentration (CMAX) of N-demethyl pefloxacin (norfloxacin) was
      calculated as 0.19 +/- 0.01 mg/mL. The t1/2beta of N-demethyl pefloxacin after
      oral pefloxacin administration was 10.93 +/- 0.80 h. The results indicate that an
      oral dose of 10 mg pefloxacin/kg BW, every 24 h, should be effective in treatment
      of the most systemic infections in poultry.

PMID- 28596960
TI  - Acinetobacter baumannii Infection in Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia Patients
      with Sepsis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the Acinetobacter baumannii infection among transfusion
      dependent thalassemia patients. METHODS: A quantitative approach was employed to
      assess Acinetobacter baumannii infection in transfusion dependent thalassemia
      patients. Samples were collected from 916 patients, which have shown bacterial
      growth on MacConkey and blood agar culture media. A. baumannii strains were
      identified by microbiological methods and Gram's staining. API 20 E kit
      (Biomerieux, USA) was used for final identification. RESULTS: From 916 cultured
      blood specimens, 107 (11.6%) showed growth of A. baumannii. Serum ferritin in
      thalassemic patients without bacterial infections was 3849.5 +/- 1513.5 ug/L
      versus 6413.5 +/- 2103.9 ug/L in those with bacterial infections (p = 0.0001).
      Acinetobacter baumannii infected patients have shown higher serum ferritin levels
      (p = 0.0001). Serum ferritin in thalassemic patients was 3849.5 +/- 1513.5 ug/L
      versus 6413.5 +/- 2103.9 ug/L in those with bacterial infections (p = 0.0001).
      Acinetobacter baumannii infected patients showed high serum ferritin levels (p =
      0.0001). The clinical symptoms have been found with A. baumannii +ve with a mean
      and standard deviation of 47 (5.1%) and A. baumannii -ve with mean and standard
      deviation of 60 (6.5%). CONCLUSION: Isolation of asymptomatic A. baumannii from
      the thalassemia patients shows an alarming situation of bacterial infections. A
      continuous surveillance of transfusion dependent thalassemia patients is
      recommended for bacterial sepsis.

PMID- 28596961
TI  - First Insight into the Molecular Epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      Isolates from the Minority Enclaves of Southwestern China.
AB  - Yunnan is a province located in southwestern China. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains
      circulating in Yunnan Province. We used spoligotyping and a 12-locus high
      resolution VNTR set to identify a total of 271 MTB isolates collected from six
      prefectures' Yunnan. All the 271 patients were classified as 11 different ethnic
      groups, including 133 Han patients (49.1%) and 138 minority patients (50.9%).
      Spoligotyping analyses revealed that the largest two spoligotypes were SIT1
      (Beijing family, n = 136) and SIT53 (T family, n = 35). Statistical analysis
      indicated that the proportion of Beijing genotype in Qujing was significantly
      higher than that in the ethnic enclaves (P <= 0.01). Compared with the percentage
      of Beijing-family isolates from patients under 25 years of age (72.7%), those
      from patients aged 45~64 years (44.6%, P < 0.01) and older than 64 years (48.1%)
      (P = 0.04) were significantly lower. Beijing genotype strains (23.8%, 36/151)
      showed higher clustering rate than non-Beijing genotype strains (16/120, 13.3%, P
      = 0.029). In conclusion, our data demonstrated that the Beijing genotype was the
      predominant genotype in Yunnan Province. The distribution of Beijing genotype
      strains showed geographic diversity. In addition, Beijing genotype was associated
      with recent transmission rather than drug resistance.

PMID- 28596962
TI  - A Novel ECG Eigenvalue Detection Algorithm Based on Wavelet Transform.
AB  - This study investigated an electrocardiogram (ECG) eigenvalue automatic analysis
      and detection method; ECG eigenvalues were used to reverse the myocardial action
      potential in order to achieve automatic detection and diagnosis of heart disease.
      Firstly, the frequency component of the feature signal was extracted based on the
      wavelet transform, which could be used to locate the signal feature after the
      energy integral processing. Secondly, this study established a simultaneous
      equations model of action potentials of the myocardial membrane, using ECG
      eigenvalues for regression fitting, in order to accurately obtain the eigenvalue
      vector of myocardial membrane potential. The experimental results show that the
      accuracy of ECG eigenvalue recognition is more than 99.27%, and the accuracy rate
      of detection of heart disease such as myocardial ischemia and heart failure is
      more than 86.7%.

PMID- 28596964
TI  - Oxidative Stress-Induced DNA Damage by Manganese Dioxide Nanoparticles in Human
      Neuronal Cells.
AB  - Metal nanoparticles have been extensively used in industry as well as in
      biomedical application. In this work, we have evaluated the toxic potential of
      manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoparticles (MNPs) on human neuronal (SH-SY5Y) cells.
      Cellular toxicity due to MNPs (0, 10, 30, and 60 MUg/ml) on the SH-SY5Y cell was
      observed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)
      and neutral red uptake (NRU) tests. MNPs produced reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      and declined in mitochondrial membrane potential in the SH-SY5Y cell in dose and
      duration dependent manner. Moreover, lipid peroxide (LPO), superoxide dismutase
      (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities were increased and glutathione was reduced
      in dose and time dependent manner. A significant upgrade in Hoechst 33342
      fluorescence intensity (chromosome condensation) and phosphatidylserine
      translocation (apoptotic cell) was visualized in cells treated with MNPs for 48
      h. On the other hand, caspase-3 activity was increased due to MNPs in SH-SY5Y
      cells. DNA strand breaks were determined by alkaline single cell gel
      electrophoresis assay (Comet Assay) and maximum fragmentation of DNA produced due
      to MNPs (60 MUg/ml) for 48 hours. This result provides a basic mechanism of
      induction of apoptosis and toxicity by MNPs in SH-SY5Y cells.

PMID- 28596963
TI  - Prion Diagnosis: Application of Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion.
AB  - Prions composed of pathogenic scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) are infectious
      pathogens that cause progressive neurological conditions known as prion diseases
      or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Although these diseases pose
      considerable risk to public health, procedures for early diagnosis have not been
      established. One of the most recent attempts at sensitive and specific detection
      of prions is the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) method, which
      measures the activity of PrPSc aggregates or amyloid formation triggered by PrPSc
      seeds in the presence of recombinant PrP. In this review, we summarize prions,
      prion diseases, and current approaches to diagnosis, including the principle,
      conditions for assay performance, and current diagnostic applications of RT-QuIC.

PMID- 28596965
TI  - The Fibularis (Peroneus) Tertius Muscle in Humans: A Meta-Analysis of Anatomical
      Studies with Clinical and Evolutionary Implications.
AB  - Being considered an exclusive human structure for a long time, fibularis tertius
      (FT) is believed to have a secondary function of foot dorsiflexion and eversion.
      This study is an attempt to approach the issue from an anatomical perspective. A
      systematic literature search identified 35 studies (7601 legs) which met the
      inclusion criteria. The weighted results of FT presence were as follows: an
      "adult cadaveric" frequency of 93.2% and a clinical frequency of 80%. The most
      common FT origin and insertion sites were the distal half of fibula and the base
      of the 5th metatarsal, respectively. In 95% of cases, an accessory fibular muscle
      was detected when FT was lacking. We demonstrated that the discrepancy found
      between the adult cadaveric and clinical frequency values would point out a
      probable bias in interpreting previous kinesiological results. On an evolutionary
      level, comparative anatomy demonstrated a very low FT prevalence among monkeys
      while reaching a frequency of 30% in gorillas, the only non-human apes having an
      almost exclusive terrestrial locomotion. The consistent prevalence among humans
      and the presence of similar functional muscles when it is missing would support
      an essential role of FT during the phylogenetic development of the erect bipedal
      posture and probably during gait.

PMID- 28596966
TI  - Prevalence of Malnutrition and Associated Factors among Children in Rural
      Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Child malnutrition continues to be the leading public health problem
      in developing countries. In Ethiopia, malnutrition is a leading cause of child
      illness and death. Recently the composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF)
      has been implemented to measure the prevalence of malnutrition. This index
      presents a more complete picture compared with the previous conventional indices.
      In this study, CIAF was used to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among
      children aged 0-59 months in rural Ethiopia. METHODS: Data was extracted from the
      2014 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS) for this study. A total
      of 3095 children were included in the analysis. The composite index of
      anthropometric failure (CIAF) was used to measure the nutritional status of the
      children. Logistic regression was fitted, to identify factors associated with
      malnutrition among children in rural Ethiopia, using STATA 13. RESULT: The
      prevalence of malnutrition among rural children in Ethiopia was 48.5%. Age of the
      children, preceding birth interval, educated status of mother, wealth status, and
      region were factors independently associated with nutritional status of children
      in rural Ethiopia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of malnutrition among children in
      rural Ethiopia was high. A child older than 12 months, having uneducated mother,
      living in a household with poor wealth status, born with short birth interval,
      and living in some region of the country are associated with increased odds of
      being malnourished.

PMID- 28596968
TI  - Piper betle L. Modulates Senescence-Associated Genes Expression in Replicative
      Senescent Human Diploid Fibroblasts.
AB  - Piper betle (PB) is a traditional medicine that is widely used to treat different
      diseases around Asian region. The leaf extracts contain various bioactive
      compounds, which were reported to have antidiabetic, antibacterial, anti
      inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. In this study, the effect of
      PB aqueous extracts on replicative senescent human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs) was
      investigated by determining the expressions of senescence-associated genes using
      quantitative PCR. Our results showed that PB extracts at 0.4 mg/ml can improve
      cell proliferation of young (143%), presenescent (127.3%), and senescent (157.3%)
      HDFs. Increased expressions of PRDX6, TP53, CDKN2A, PAK2, and MAPK14 were
      observed in senescent HDFs compared to young and/or presenescent HDFs. Treatment
      with PB extracts modulates the transcriptional profile changes in senescent HDFs.
      By contrast, expressions of SOD1 increased, whereas GPX1, PRDX6, TP53, CDKN2A,
      PAK2, and MAPK14 were decreased in PB-treated senescent HDFs compared to
      untreated senescent HDFs. In conclusion, this study indicates the modulation of
      PB extracts on senescence-associated genes expression of replicative senescent
      HDFs. Further studies warrant determining the mechanism of PB in modulating
      replicative senescence of HDFs through these signaling pathways.

PMID- 28596967
TI  - Prdx6 Upregulation by Curcumin Attenuates Ischemic Oxidative Damage via SP1 in
      Rats after Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of Peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) in brain ischemia remains
      unclear. Curcumin (Cur) treatment elicits neuroprotective effects against
      cerebral ischemic injury, and the associated mechanisms may involve Prdx6. In
      this study, we investigated whether Prdx6 and the transcription factor specific
      protein 1 (SP1) were involved in the antioxidant effect of Cur after stoke.
      METHODS: Focal cerebral ischemic injury was induced by transient middle cerebral
      artery occlusion for 2 hours in male Sprague-Dawley rats treated with or without
      Prdx6 siRNA. Expression of Prdx6 in the penumbra was assessed by Real-Time PCR
      (RT-PCR), Western blot analysis, and immunoflourescent staining. In addition,
      infarct volume, neurological deficit score, and oxidative stress were evaluated.
      Prdx6 levels were also determined in the presence and absence of SP1 antagonist
      mithramycin A (MTM-A). RESULTS: Cur treatment upregulated Prdx6 protein
      expression and the number of Prdx6-positive neuronal cells 24 hours after
      reperfusion. Cur treatment also attenuated oxidative stress and induced
      neuroprotective effects against ischemic damage, whereas the beneficial effects
      of Cur treatment were lost in animals treated with Prdx6-siRNA. Prdx6
      upregulation by Cur treatment was abolished by SP1 antagonists MTM. CONCLUSIONS:
      Prdx6 upregulation by Cur treatment attenuates ischemic oxidative damage through
      SP1 induction in rats after stroke. This represents a novel mechanism of Cur
      induced neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia.

PMID- 28596969
TI  - Twelve-Year Follow-Up of Laser In Situ Keratomileusis for Moderate to High
      Myopia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the long-term clinical outcomes of conventional laser in situ
      keratomileusis (LASIK) for moderate to high myopia. METHODS: We retrospectively
      examined sixty-eight eyes of 37 consecutive patients who underwent conventional
      LASIK for the correction of myopia (-3.00 to -12.75 diopters (D)). At 3 months
      and 1, 4, 8, and 12 years postoperatively, we assessed the safety, efficacy,
      predictability, stability, mean keratometry, central corneal thickness, and
      adverse events. RESULTS: The safety and efficacy indices were 0.82 +/- 0.29 and
      0.67 +/- 0.37, respectively, 12 years postoperatively. At 12 years, 53% and 75%
      of the eyes were within 0.5 and 1.0 D, respectively, of the targeted correction.
      Manifest refraction changes of -0.74 +/- 0.99 D occurred from 3 months to 12
      years after LASIK (p < 0.001). We found a significant correlation of refractive
      regression with the changes in keratometric readings from 3 months to 12 years
      postoperatively (Pearson correlation coefficient, r = -0.28, p = 0.02), but not
      with the changes in central corneal thickness (r = -0.08, p = 0.63). No vision
      threatening complications occurred in any case. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional LASIK
      offered good safety outcomes during the 12-year observation period. However, the
      efficacy and the predictability gradually decreased with time owing to myopic
      regression in relation to corneal steepening.

PMID- 28596970
TI  - Type 2 Diabetes in Young Females Results in Increased Serum Amyloid A and Changes
      to Features of High Density Lipoproteins in Both HDL2 and HDL3.
AB  - Persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have an elevated risk of
      atherosclerosis. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) normally protect against
      cardiovascular disease (CVD), but this may be attenuated by serum amyloid A
      (SAA). In a case-control study of young females, blood samples were compared
      between subjects with T2DM (n = 42) and individuals without T2DM (n = 42). SAA
      and apolipoprotein AI (apoAI) concentrations, paraoxonase-1 (PON-1), cholesteryl
      ester transfer protein (CETP), and lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT)
      activities were measured in the serum and/or HDL2 and HDL3 subfractions. SAA
      concentrations were higher in T2DM compared to controls: serum (30 mg/L (17, 68)
      versus 15 mg/L (7, 36); p = 0.002), HDL2 (1.0 mg/L (0.6, 2.2) versus 0.4 mg/L
      (0.2, 0.7); p < 0.001), and HDL3, (13 mg/L (8, 29) versus 6 mg/L (3, 13); p <
      0.001). Serum-PON-1 activity was lower in T2DM compared to that in controls
      (38,245 U/L (7025) versus 41,109 U/L (5690); p = 0.043). CETP activity was higher
      in T2DM versus controls in HDL2 (232.6 MUmol/L (14.1) versus 217.1 MUmol/L
      (25.1); p = 0.001) and HDL3 (279.5 MUmol/L (17.7) versus 245.2 MUmol/L (41.2); p
      < 0.001). These results suggest that individuals with T2DM have increased SAA
      related inflammation and dysfunctional HDL features. SAA may prove to be a useful
      biomarker in T2DM given its association with elevated CVD risk.

PMID- 28596971
TI  - Soluble Urokinase Receptor and the Kidney Response in Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
      worldwide. DN typically manifests by glomerular hyperfiltration and
      microalbuminuria; then, the disease progresses to impaired glomerular filtration
      rate, which leads to ESRD. Treatment options for DN include the strict control of
      blood glucose levels and pressure (e.g., intraglomerular hypertension). However,
      the search for novel therapeutic strategies is ongoing. These include seeking
      specific molecules that contribute to the development and progression of DN to
      potentially interfere with these "molecular targets" as well as with the cellular
      targets within the kidney such as podocytes, which play a major role in the
      pathogenesis of DN. Recently, podocyte membrane protein urokinase receptor (uPAR)
      and its circulating form (suPAR) are found to be significantly induced in
      glomeruli and sera of DN patients, respectively, and elevated suPAR levels
      predicted diabetic kidney disease years before the occurrence of
      microalbuminuria. The intent of this review is to summarize the emerging evidence
      of uPAR and suPAR in the clinical manifestations of DN. The identification of
      specific pathways that govern DN will help us build a more comprehensive
      molecular model for the pathogenesis of the disease that can inform new
      opportunities for treatment.

PMID- 28596973
TI  - Quadriceps Strength in Patients With Isolated Cartilage Defects of the Knee:
      Results of Isokinetic Strength Measurements and Their Correlation With Clinical
      and Functional Results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies have found a significant deficit of maximum quadriceps
      strength after autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) of the knee. However, it
      is unclear whether muscular strength deficits in patients with cartilage damage
      exist prior to operative treatment. PURPOSE: To isokinetically test maximum
      quadriceps muscle strength and quantify the impact of possible strength deficits
      on functional and clinical test results. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study;
      Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: To identify clinically relevant muscular strength
      deficits, 24 patients (5 females, 19 males; mean age, 34.5 years; body mass
      index, 25.9 kg/m2) with isolated cartilage defects (mean onset, 5.05 years; SD,
      7.8 years) in the knee joint underwent isokinetic strength measurements. Maximal
      quadriceps strength was recorded in 3 different testing modes: pure concentric
      contraction (flexors and extensors alternating work; con1), concentric-eccentric
      (only the extensors work concentrically and eccentrically; con2), and eccentric
      contraction in the alternating mode (ecc). Results were compared for functional
      performance (single-leg hop test), pain scales (visual analog scale [VAS],
      numeric rating scale [NRS]), self-reported questionnaires (International Knee
      Documentation Committee [IKDC], Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Scale
      [KOOS]), and defect size (cm2). RESULTS: Compared with the uninjured leg,
      significantly lower quadriceps strength was detected in the injured leg in all
      isokinetic working modes (con1 difference, 27.76 N.m [SD 17.47; P = .003]; con2
      difference, 21.45 N.m [SD, 18.45; P =.025]; ecc difference, 29.48 N.m [SD, 21.51;
      P = .001]), with the largest deficits found for eccentric muscle performance.
      Moderate negative correlations were observed for the subjective pain scales NRS
      and VAS. The results of the IKDC and KOOS questionnaires showed low,
      nonsignificant correlations with findings in the isokinetic measurement.
      Moreover, defect sizes (mean, 3.13 cm2) were of no importance regarding the
      prediction of the strength deficit. The quadriceps strength deficit between the
      injured and the uninjured leg was best predicted by the results of the single-leg
      hop test. CONCLUSION: Patients with isolated cartilage defects of the knee joint
      have significant deficits in quadriceps muscle strength of the injured leg
      compared with the uninjured leg. The single-leg hop test may be used to predict
      quadriceps strength deficits. Future research should address whether preoperative
      strength training in patients with cartilage defects of the knee could be
      effective and should be taken into consideration in addition to surgical
      treatment.

PMID- 28596974
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Appearance of the Hip Musculature After Arthroscopic
      Labral-Level Iliopsoas Tenotomies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iliopsoas (IP) muscle atrophy is a known consequence of open IP
      tenotomy, but the severity of IP muscle atrophy that occurs after arthroscopic
      labral-level IP tenotomies has not been documented. PURPOSE: To document the
      severity of muscle atrophy that occurs in the iliacus, psoas, and adjacent hip
      musculature after arthroscopic labral-level IP tenotomy. STUDY DESIGN: Case
      series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients who had magnetic
      resonance arthrograms (MRAs) obtained prior to and 3 months to 5 years after
      arthroscopic labral-level IP tenotomies are the basis of this report. The pre-
      and postoperative MRAs of each patient were examined in consensus by 2
      musculoskeletal radiologists who graded the postoperative muscle atrophy from 0
      (no fatty infiltration) to 4 (>75% fatty infiltration) and noted any compensatory
      muscle hypertrophy or abnormal IP tendon morphology. Patients also were assessed
      with the Byrd 100-point modified Harris Hip Scoring system (MHHS) preoperatively
      and at the time of their postoperative MRA. RESULTS: Postoperative MRAs were
      obtained on average 1.7 years (range, 3 months to 5 years) after hip arthroscopy.
      None of the patients had muscle atrophy on their preoperative MRAs. In contrast,
      89% of patients had iliacus and psoas muscle atrophy on their postoperative MRAs,
      but only 2 (7%) developed grade 4 atrophy, and the majority (64%) had either
      grade 1 (n = 15) or no atrophy (n = 3). In addition, there were no significant
      differences in the MHHS of the patients with mild (grades 0-1), moderate (grades
      2-3), or severe (grade 4) postoperative atrophy. Postoperative MRAs also
      demonstrated low-grade atrophy (grades 1-2) in the quadratus femoris (n = 5) and
      rectus femoris (n = 1) muscles, and 16 patients (57%) had distortion of the
      tendon, but none had a gap in their tendon. CONCLUSION: A majority of patients
      (89%) developed IP muscle atrophy after arthroscopic labral-level IP tenotomies,
      and although this percentage was similar (89% vs 90%) to that reported with
      lesser trochanteric IP tenotomies, the patients did not (1) develop atrophy of
      the gluteus maximus and vastus lateralis muscles, (2) have chronic IP tendon
      disruption, or (3) develop the severity of IP atrophy (55% grade 4 vs 7% grade 4)
      that has been reported after arthroscopic lesser trochanteric IP tenotomies.

PMID- 28596972
TI  - Targets of Neutrophil Influx and Weaponry: Therapeutic Opportunities for Chronic
      Obstructive Airway Disease.
AB  - Neutrophils are important effector cells of antimicrobial immunity in an acute
      inflammatory response, with a primary role in the clearance of extracellular
      pathogens. However, in respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), there is excessive infiltration and
      activation of neutrophils, subsequent production of reactive oxygen species, and
      release of serine proteases, matrix metalloproteinases, and myeloperoxidase
      resulting in collateral damage as the cells infiltrate into the tissue. Increased
      neutrophil survival through dysregulated apoptosis facilitates continued release
      of neutrophil-derived mediators to perpetuate airway inflammation and tissue
      injury. Several target mechanisms have been investigated to address pathologic
      neutrophil biology and thereby provide a novel therapy for respiratory disease.
      These include neutrophil influx through inhibition of chemokine receptors CXCR2,
      CXCR1, and PI3Kgamma signaling and neutrophil weaponry by protease inhibitors,
      targeting matrix metalloproteinases and neutrophil serine proteases. In addition,
      neutrophil function can be modulated using selective PI3Kdelta inhibitors. This
      review highlights the latest advances in targeting neutrophils and their
      function, discusses the opportunities and risks of neutrophil inhibition, and
      explores how we might better develop future strategies to regulate neutrophil
      influx and function for respiratory diseases in dire need of novel effective
      therapies.

PMID- 28596975
TI  - Patient Satisfaction After Biceps Tenotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biceps tenotomy and tenodesis are frequently performed for proximal
      biceps lesions; however, there continues to be debate as to which method is
      superior. This study examined patient-reported outcomes after biceps tenotomy.
      HYPOTHESIS: Biceps tenotomy in the setting of concomitant shoulder pathology is a
      reasonable option with high satisfaction rates and a low incidence of pain and
      cramping in middle-aged to older individuals. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of
      evidence, 4. METHODS: A total of 104 patients (mean age, 63.5 years; range, 40-81
      years) were evaluated at the time of surgery and at a mean follow-up of 38.4
      months (range, 22-57 months). Biceps tenotomy was performed as a component of
      more extensive shoulder surgery in all patients. Patient satisfaction, frequency
      of cramping and spasms, biceps pain, weakness, and cosmetic deformity were
      evaluated at over 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Ninety-one percent of patients were
      satisfied or very satisfied with their surgical outcome, and 95% would have their
      surgery again. Three patients who reported being unsatisfied or very unsatisfied
      had either advanced glenohumeral arthritis or an irreparable rotator cuff tear.
      Cosmetic deformity occurred in 13% of patients. Twenty percent reported spasms
      and cramping in their biceps, and 19% reported some biceps pain; however,
      frequency of spasms and cramping was typically once weekly, and biceps pain was
      reported as severe or very severe in only 2 patients. Subjective biceps weakness
      was reported in 17% of patients. Age had no effect on outcome measures, and
      female sex was associated with less limitation and greater satisfaction after
      tenotomy compared with men. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that patient
      reported downsides to biceps tenotomy were usually mild and/or infrequent and did
      not affect patient satisfaction. We conclude that biceps tenotomy is a viable
      option that can lead to a high rate of patient satisfaction and outcomes in
      middle-aged to older individuals undergoing shoulder surgery with biceps
      pathology.

PMID- 28596976
TI  - Endogenous Brain Repair: Overriding intrinsic lineage determinates through injury
      induced micro-environmental signals.
AB  - Adult human neurogenesis has generated excitement over the last 2 decades with
      the idea that endogenous adult stem cells could act as a potential cell source
      for brain repair after injury. Indeed, many forms of experimentally induced brain
      injury including stroke and excitotoxic lesioning can promote proliferation from
      the subventricular zone and mobilise neuroblasts and oligodendrocyte progenitor
      cells to migrate through brain parenchyma to damaged regions. However the failure
      of neuroblasts to mature into appropriate neuronal subtypes for cell replacement
      has been an issue. Recent work by our group and others has indicated that micro
      environmental signals released from areas of cell loss may be able to override
      intrinsic gene expression lineages and covert neuroblasts into oligodendrocyte
      progenitor cells. This commentary will discuss the enhanced fate plasticity of
      both adult neural progenitors and parenchymal NG2 cells after injury, and the
      importance of understanding brain-injury induced micro-environmental signals in
      the quest toward promoting endogenous regeneration after injury.

PMID- 28596977
TI  - Different forms of structural plasticity in the adult olfactory bulb.
AB  - The adult olfactory bulb (OB) continuously receives new interneurons that
      integrate into the functional neuronal network and that play an important role in
      odor information processing and olfactory behavior. Adult neuronal progenitors
      are derived from neural stem cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) bordering the
      lateral ventricle. They migrate long distances along the rostral migratory stream
      (RMS) toward the OB where they differentiate into interneurons, mature, and
      establish synapses with tufted or mitral cells (MC), the principal neurons in the
      OB. The plasticity provided by both adult-born and pre-existing early-born
      neurons depends on the formation and pruning of new synaptic contacts that adapt
      the functioning of the bulbar network to changing environmental conditions.
      However, the formation of new synapses occurs over a long time scale (hours
      days), whereas some changes in environmental conditions can occur more rapidly,
      requiring a much faster adjustment of neuronal networks. A new form of structural
      remodeling of adult-born, but not early-born, neurons was recently brought to
      light. This plasticity, which is based on the activity-dependent relocation of
      mature spines of GCs toward the dendrites of active principal cells, may allow a
      more rapid adjustment of the neuronal network in response to quick and persistent
      changes in sensory inputs. In this mini-review we discuss the different forms of
      structural plasticity displayed by adult-born and early-born neurons and the
      possibility that these different forms of structural remodeling may fulfill
      distinct roles in odor information processing.

PMID- 28596978
TI  - Multiple roles of Ulk4 in neurogenesis and brain function.
AB  - Neurogenesis is essential for proper brain formation and function, and abnormal
      neural proliferation is an underlying neuropathology of many brain disorders.
      Recent advances on adult neurogenesis demonstrate that neural stem cells (NSCs)
      at the subventricular zone (SVZ) are largely derived during mid-embryonic
      neurogenesis from a subset of cells, which slow down in their pace of cell
      division,1 become quiescent cells and can be reactivated in need.2 The NSCs at
      birth constitute the stem cell pool for both postnatal oligodendrogenesis3 and
      adult neurogenesis.1,2 However, little is known about factors that control the
      size of NSC pool. The article published in Stem Cells on Jun 14, 2016 by Liu and
      colleagues described a member of the Unc-51-like serine/threonine kinase family,
      Ulk4, which plays a critical role in regulating the NSC pool size.4 Authors
      presented evidence of cell cycle-dependent Ulk4 expression in vitro and in vivo,
      and reduced NSC pool in targetedly disrupted Ulk4 newborn mice, with disturbed
      pathways of cell cycle regulation and WNT signaling (Fig. 1), suggesting that
      ULK4 may be associated with neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric as well as
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28596980
TI  - Prediabetes: The Variation between HbA1c and Fasting Plasma Glucose.
AB  - PURPOSE: The prevalence of Diabetes Type 2 is on the rise internationally.
      Currently, Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) and HbA1c are both used to determine if
      an individual is diabetic or prediabetic. We aimed to describe the prevalence of
      diabetes, prediabetes, and glycemic control in a population-based sample of
      elderly Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants in New Mexico. METHODS: To
      do this, we compared HbA1c with FPG using Chi-Square analysis across gender and
      ethnicity to provide information for future health care policy. We also performed
      non-parametric regression using a locally weighted smoothing technique to
      investigate the relationship between FPG and HbA1c levels. RESULTS: Our analysis
      identifies a large variation between the sensitivity of HbA1c and FPG in the
      identification of both prediabetes and diabetes. Interestingly, 95% of diabetics
      defined by FPG are also defined by HbA1c, representing overlap between the two
      measures. When comparing the prevalence of prediabetes between the two measures,
      the overlap of FPG with HbA1c was only 30% and HbA1c identifies more individuals
      as prediabetic than FPG. Prevalence of diabetes was also higher when defined by
      HbA1c compared to FPG and the overall agreement between HbA1c and FPG appears to
      be poor particularly by sex and ethnicity (K=0.22-0.34). Glycemic control was
      poor overall with Hispanics displaying a larger amount of uncontrolled diabetes.
      CONCLUSION: We compared HbA1c and FPG by gender and ethnicity and showed both
      measures of diabetes differ in their sensitivity across ethnic groups. Our
      results suggest that using HbA1c, rather than FPG, results in higher rates of
      prediabetes and diabetes, a finding with numerous implications for health care
      practice.

PMID- 28596979
TI  - The expanding role of the Ehmt2/G9a complex in neurodevelopment.
AB  - Epigenetic regulators play a crucial role in neurodevelopment. One such
      epigenetic complex, Ehmt1/2 (G9a/GLP), is essential for repressing gene
      transcription by methylating H3K9 in a highly tissue- and temporal-specific
      manner. Recently, data has emerged suggesting that this complex plays additional
      roles in regulating the activity of numerous other non-histone proteins. While
      much is known about the downstream effects of Ehmt1/2 function, evidence is only
      beginning to come to light suggesting the control of Ehmt1/2 function may be, at
      least in part, due to context-dependent binding partners. Here we review emerging
      roles for the Ehmt1/2 complex suggesting that it may play a much larger role than
      previously recognized, and discuss binding partners that we and others have
      recently characterized which act to coordinate its activity during early
      neurodevelopment.

PMID- 28596981
TI  - Differentiating Nonoccupational Postexposure Prophylaxis Seroconverters and Non
      Seroconverters in a Community-Based Clinic in Los Angeles, California.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonoccupational postexposure prophylaxis (nPEP) is a 28-day regimen
      of antiretroviral medications taken within 72 hours of human immunodeficiency
      virus (HIV) exposure to prevent HIV acquisition. Although nPEP has been
      recommended since 1998, few studies have analyzed the characteristics that
      distinguish nPEP failures (seroconverters) and successes (non-seroconverters).
      METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed all nPEP courses prompted by sexual
      exposure that were prescribed at the Los Angeles LGBT Center between March 2010
      and July 2014. Fisher exact tests and logistic regressions were used to determine
      characteristics that distinguished nPEP seroconverters from non-seroconverters.
      RESULTS: Of the nPEP courses administered, 1744 had a follow-up visit for HIV
      testing within 24 weeks of exposure and 17 individuals seroconverted. Seven
      reported a known re-exposure, 8 self-reported only condom-protected sex
      subsequent to the initial exposure, and 2 reported abstinence since the exposure.
      In multivariable analyses, seroconverters were more likely than non
      seroconverters to report methamphetamine use, incomplete medication adherence,
      and nPEP initiation later in the 72-hour window. CONCLUSIONS: Nonoccupational
      postexposure prophylaxis is an important emergency tool for HIV prevention. Our
      findings corroborate that timing of the initial nPEP dose is an important
      predictor of seroconversion. Although the current study did not offer the initial
      nPEP dose at the beginning of the visit, use of this fast-track dosing schedule
      will ensure that the first dose is taken as early as possible postexposure and
      may lower the likelihood for seroconversion. Furthermore, we recommend systematic
      screening for substance use because these individuals may be well suited for pre
      exposure prophylaxis given their sustained risk.

PMID- 28596982
TI  - Evidence of the Effectiveness of Primary Brachial Plexus Surgery in Infants With
      Obstetric Brachial Plexus Palsy-Revisited.
AB  - A recent systematic review questioned the effectiveness of primary surgery in
      infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy. At our center, the indication for
      primary surgery in infants with upper Erb's obstetric palsy is the lack of active
      elbow flexion at age 4 months. The current study compares the outcome of motor
      recovery in 2 groups of infants with upper Erb's palsy: one group (n = 9) treated
      surgically between age 4 and 5 months, and another group (n = 9) treated
      conservatively despite the lack of active elbow flexion at age 4 months. The only
      reason for not doing the surgery in the latter group was refusal by the parents.
      The scores of motor recovery were collected at the 2-year follow-up visit, and
      they were significantly better in the surgical group. The study demonstrates the
      effectiveness of primary surgery in infants with upper Erb's obstetric palsy
      compared to conservative management.

PMID- 28596983
TI  - Prospective randomized comparison of a 22G core needle using standard versus
      capillary suction for EUS-guided sampling of solid pancreatic masses.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS:  The optimal technique for sampling pancreatic lesions
      with a 22 G Procore needle (pc) is unknown. The aims of this study were to
      evaluate the 22 Gpc using standard suction technique (SST) and capillary suction
      technique (CST) and compare diagnostic adequacy of 22 Gpc with the standard 25 G
      needle. PATIENTS AND METHODS:  Sixty consecutive patients referred for EUS-FNA of
      a solid pancreatic mass were prospectively evaluated. All patients underwent 2
      passes with a standard 25 G needle for cytologic analysis. The first group of 30
      patients underwent a single pass with the 22 Gpc needle using SST for cytology
      and histology. The second group underwent a single pass with the 22 Gpc needle
      using CST. The sequence of passes was randomized. The diagnostic adequacy of each
      pass was graded by 2 cytopathologists blinded to technique and needle type for
      comparison. RESULTS:  For a cytologic diagnosis with 22 Gpc, an adequate sample
      was obtained in 82.8 % SST vs. 80.0 % CST ( P  = 0.79). For a histologic
      diagnosis with 22 Gpc, an adequate sample was obtained in 70.4 % SST vs. 69.0 %
      CST ( P  = 0.91). A single pass with 22 Gpc provided comparable results to a
      single pass with the 25 G needle for a cytologic diagnosis; both were superior to
      a single 22 Gpc pass for a histologic diagnosis. Two passes with the 25 G needle
      provided a diagnostic specimen in 95.0 % vs 81.4 % with one pass using 22 Gpc ( P
      = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:  No significant difference in diagnostic adequacy was
      observed between techniques for the 22 Gpc. Two passes with a 25 G needle
      performed better than 1 pass with 22 Gpc. (NCT01598194).

PMID- 28596984
TI  - Use of a novel shorter minimum caliber needle for creating endoscopic tattoos for
      preoperative localization: a comparative ex vivo study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS : In colorectal cancer surgery, inadvertent deep
      injections during endoscopic tattooing can cause India ink leakage into the
      peritoneum, leading to complications or to poor visualization of the surgical
      plane. This ex vivo animal study compared the use of novel shorter, minimum
      caliber needles versus conventional injection needles for endoscopic tattooing.
      ANIMALS AND METHODS : Four endoscopists used the novel needles and conventional
      needles to make ten endoscopic tattoos (five tattoos/needle type/endoscopist) in
      harvested porcine rectum using a saline test-injection method. India ink leakage
      and the success of the tattoo (i. e. visible, < 40 mm, plus no India ink leakage)
      were compared. RESULTS : India ink leakage was observed for 30 % (6/20) of the
      conventional needle tattoos but for none of the novel needle tattoos ( P  =
      0.02). Tattoos created using the novel needles were more successful than those
      made with the conventional needles: 18/20 (90 %) vs. 11/20 (55 %); P  = 0.01.
      CONCLUSIONS : The use of novel shorter minimum caliber needles may be safe and
      effective for endoscopic tattooing for preoperative localization prior to
      colorectal cancer surgery.

PMID- 28596985
TI  - Linked color imaging improves the visibility of colorectal polyps: a video study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/STUDY AIM:  Linked color imaging (LCI) by a laser endoscope (Fujifilm
      Co, Tokyo, Japan) is a novel narrow band light observation. In this study, we
      aimed to investigate whether LCI could improve the visibility of colorectal
      polyps using endoscopic videos. PATIENTS AND METHODS:  We prospectively recorded
      videos of consecutive polyps 2 - 20 mm in size diagnosed as neoplastic polyps.
      Three videos, white light (WL), blue laser imaging (BLI)-bright, and LCI, were
      recorded for each polyp by one expert. After excluding inappropriate videos, all
      videos were evaluated in random order by two experts and two non-experts
      according to a published polyp visibility score from four (excellent visibility)
      to one (poor visibility). Additionally, the relationship between polyp visibility
      scores in LCI and various clinical characteristics including location, size,
      histology, morphology, and preparation were analyzed compared to WL and BLI
      bright. RESULTS:  We analyzed 101 colorectal polyps (94 neoplastic) in 66
      patients (303 videos). The mean polyp size was 9.0 +/- 8.1 mm and 54 polyps were
      non-polypoid. The mean polyp visibility scores for LCI (2.86 +/- 1.08) were
      significantly higher than for WL and BLI-bright (2.53 +/- 1.15, P  < 0.001; 2.73
      +/- 1.47, P  < 0.041). The ratio of poor visibility (score 1 and 2) was
      significantly lower in LCI for experts and non-experts (35.6 %, 33.6 %) compared
      with WL (49.6 %, P  = 0.015, 50.5 %, P  = 0.046). The polyp visibility scores for
      LCI were significantly higher than those for WL for all of the factors. With
      respect to the comparison between BLI-bright and WL, the polyp visibility scores
      for BLI-bright were not higher than WL for right-sided location, < 10 mm size,
      sessile serrated adenoma and polyp histology, and poor preparation. For those
      characteristics, LCI improved the lesions with right-sided location, SSA/P
      histology, and poor preparation significantly better than BLI. CONCLUSIONS:  LCI
      improved polyp visibility compared to WL for both expert and non-expert
      endoscopists. It is useful for improving polyp visibility in any location, any
      size, any morphology, any histology, and any preparation level.

PMID- 28596986
TI  - International core curriculum for capsule endoscopy training courses.
AB  - Capsule endoscopy (CE) has become a first-line noninvasive tool for visualisation
      of the small bowel (SB) and is being increasingly used for investigation of the
      colon. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guidelines have
      specified requirements for the clinical applications of CE. However, there are no
      standardized recommendations yet for CE training courses in Europe. The following
      suggestions in this curriculum are based on the experience of European CE
      training courses directors. It is suggested that 12 hours be dedicated for either
      a small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) or a colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) course
      with 4 hours for an introductory CCE course delivered in conjunction with SBCE
      courses. SBCE courses should include state-of-the-art lectures on indications,
      contraindications, complications, patient management and hardware and software
      use. Procedural issues require approximately 2 hours. For CCE courses 2.5 hours
      for theoretical lessons and 3.5 hours for procedural issued are considered
      appropriate. Hands-on training on reading and interpretation of CE cases using a
      personal computer (PC) for 1 or 2 delegates is recommended for both SBCE and CCE
      courses. A total of 6 hours hands-on session- time should be allocated. Cases in
      a SBCE course should cover SB bleeding, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), tumors
      and variants of normal and cases with various types of polyps covered in CCE
      courses. Standardization of the description of findings and generation of high
      quality reports should be essential parts of the training. Courses should be
      followed by an assessment of trainees' skills in order to certify readers'
      competency.

PMID- 28596987
TI  - Biodegradable Polyphosphazene-Based Blends for Regenerative Engineering.
AB  - : The occurrence of musculoskeletal tissue injury or disease and the subsequent
      functional impairment is at an alarming rate. It continues to be one of the most
      challenging problems in the human health care. Regenerative engineering offers a
      promising transdisciplinary strategy for tissues regeneration based on the
      convergence of tissue engineering, advanced materials science, stem cell science,
      developmental biology and clinical translation. Biomaterials are emerging as
      extracellular-mimicking matrices designed to provide instructive cues to control
      cell behavior and ultimately, be applied as therapies to regenerate damaged
      tissues. Biodegradable polymers constitute an attractive class of biomaterials
      for the development of scaffolds due to their flexibility in chemistry and the
      ability to be excreted or resorbed by the body. Herein, the focus will be on
      biodegradable polyphosphazene-based blend systems. The synthetic flexibility of
      polyphosphazene, combined with the unique inorganic backbone, has provided a
      springboard for more research and subsequent development of numerous novel
      materials that are capable of forming miscible blends with poly (lactide-co
      glycolide) (PLAGA). Laurencin and co-workers has demonstrated the exploitation of
      the synthetic flexibility of Polyphosphazene that will allow the design of novel
      polymers, which can form miscible blends with PLAGA for biomedical applications.
      These novel blends, due to their well-tuned biodegradability, and mechanical and
      biological properties coupled with the buffering capacity of the degradation
      products, constitute ideal materials for regeneration of various musculoskeletal
      tissues. LAY SUMMARY: Regenerative engineering aims to regenerate complex tissues
      to address the clinical challenge of organ damage. Tissue engineering has largely
      focused on the restoration and repair of individual tissues and organs, but over
      the past 25 years, scientific, engineering, and medical advances have led to the
      introduction of this new approach which involves the regeneration of complex
      tissues and biological systems such as a knee or a whole limb. While a number of
      excellent advanced biomaterials have been developed, the choice of biomaterials,
      however, has increased over the past years to include polymers that can be
      designed with a range of mechanical properties, degradation rates, and chemical
      functionality. The polyphosphazenes are one good example. Their chemical
      versatility and hydrogen bonding capability encourages blending with other
      biologically relevant polymers. The further development of Polyphosphazene-based
      blends will present a wide spectrum of advanced biomaterials that can be used as
      scaffolds for regenerative engineering and as well as other biomedical
      applications.

PMID- 28596988
TI  - NAFLD Susceptibility Genes and their Association with Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity
      in a New Mexico Population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Genome-wide association studies have identified single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) that increase the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD). One purpose of this study was to determine the frequencies
      of NAFLD susceptibility SNPs in a non-Hispanic white and Hispanic population who
      attended a clinic in northeast Albuquerque, NM. Another goal was to determine
      associations with selected indicators in this New Mexican population. METHODS:
      This cohort study involving 168 volunteer subjects in the NM population (88 non
      Hispanic whites, 63 Hispanics, 4 Native Americans, 11 Asian Americans, 2
      unreported ethnicity). Eight SNPs within 6 NAFLD susceptibility genes including
      PNPLA3 (rs738409), LYPLAL1 (rs12137855), APOC3 (rs2854116, rs2854117), GCKR
      (rs780094, rs741038), FABP2 (rs1799883), PEMT (rs7946) were analyzed by
      genotyping using the TaqMan genotyping assay (Applied Biosystems, Foster City,
      CA). Statistical analyses were carried out using statistical package SAS 9.3.
      RESULTS: The NAFLD allele frequencies were similar in non-Hispanic whites and
      Hispanics except for PNPLA3 (rs738409), FABP2 (rs1799883), and PEMT (rs7946).
      Eight SNPs in 5 NAFLD susceptibility genes were significantly associated OR
      marginally associated with selected indicators for NAFLD, metabolic syndrome,
      overweight, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension,
      dyslipidemia. No SNPs were significantly associated with the same indicator in
      both the non-Hispanic white and Hispanic groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this population
      of non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics, there were only heterozygotes for the APOC3
      derived alle le whereas for all other genes tested, both heterozygotes and
      homozygotes were found. Associations of alleles with indicators of chronic
      disease were different in non-Hispanic whites compared to Hispanics.

PMID- 28596989
TI  - Both RAD5-dependent and independent pathways are involved in DNA damage
      associated sister chromatid exchange in budding yeast.
AB  - Sister chromatids are preferred substrates for recombinational repair after cells
      are exposed to DNA damage. While some agents directly cause double-strand breaks
      (DSBs), others form DNA base adducts which stall or impede the DNA replication
      fork. We asked which types of DNA damage can stimulate SCE in budding yeast
      mutants defective in template switch mechanisms and whether PCNA
      polyubiquitination functions are required for DNA damage-associated SCE after
      exposure to potent recombinagens. We measured spontaneous and DNA damage
      associated unequal sister chromatid exchange (uSCE) in yeast strains containing
      two fragments of his3 after exposure to MMS, 4-NQO, UV, X rays, and HO
      endonuclease-induced DSBs. We determined whether other genes in the pathway for
      template switching, including UBC13, MMS2, SGS1, and SRS2 were required for DNA
      damage-associated SCE. RAD5 was required for DNA damage-associated SCE after
      exposure to UV, MMS, and 4-NQO, but not for spontaneous, X-ray-associated, or HO
      endonuclease-induced SCE. While UBC13, MMS2, and SGS1 were required for MMS and
      4NQO-associated SCE, they were not required for UV-associated SCE. DNA damage
      associated recombination between his3 recombination substrates on non-homologous
      recombination was enhanced in rad5 mutants. These results demonstrate that DNA
      damaging agents that cause DSBs stimulate SCE by RAD5-independent mechanisms,
      while several potent agents that generate bulky DNA adducts stimulate SCE by
      multiple RAD5-dependent mechanisms. We suggest that DSB-associated recombination
      that occurs in G2 is RAD5-independent.

PMID- 28596990
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cerebral Malaria Patients Reveals Distinct
      Pathogenetic Processes in Different Parts of the Brain.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying the rapidly reversible brain swelling described in
      patients with cerebral malaria (CM) are unknown. Using a 1.5-Tesla (T) magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, we undertook an observational study in Rourkela,
      India, of 11 Indian patients hospitalized with CM and increased brain volume.
      Among the 11 cases, there were 5 adults and 6 children. All patients had reduced
      consciousness and various degrees of cortical swelling at baseline. The latter
      was predominately posterior in distribution. The findings on diffusion-weighted
      imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were consistent with
      vasogenic edema in all cases. Reversibility after 48 to 72 h was observed in >90%
      of cases. DWI/ADC mismatch suggested the additional presence of cytotoxic edema
      in the basal nuclei of 5 patients; all of these had perfusion parameters
      consistent with vascular engorgement and not with ischemic infarcts. Our results
      suggest that an impairment of the blood-brain barrier is responsible for the
      brain swelling in CM. In 5 cases, vasogenic edema occurred in conjunction with
      changes in the basal nuclei consistent with venous congestion, likely to be
      caused by the sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. While
      both mechanisms have been individually postulated to play an important role in
      the development of CM, this is the first demonstration of their concurrent
      involvement in different parts of the brain. The clinical and radiological
      characteristics observed in the majority of our patients are consistent with
      posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), and we show for the first
      time a high frequency of PRES in the context of CM. IMPORTANCE The
      pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms underlying cerebral malaria (CM) are
      still poorly understood. Recent neuroimaging studies demonstrated that brain
      swelling is a common feature in CM and a major contributor to death in pediatric
      patients. Consequently, determining the precise mechanisms responsible for this
      swelling could open new adjunct therapeutic avenues in CM patients. Using an MRI
      scanner with a higher resolution than the ones used in previous reports, we
      identified two distinct origins of brain swelling in both adult and pediatric
      patients from India, occurring in distinct parts of the brain. Our results
      support the hypothesis that both endothelial dysfunction and microvascular
      obstruction by Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes make independent
      contributions to the pathogenesis of CM, providing opportunities for novel
      therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28596992
TI  - Lip prints- A study of its uniqueness among students of MediCiti Medical College.
AB  - BACKGROUND: "Cheiloscopy" is a technique that deals with lip prints. The pattern
      of fine creases on the lips are unique to the individual. They are similar to
      finger prints and useful in crime investigation. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study
      the uniqueness, prevalence, and gender significance of lip print patterns in
      human subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 100 randomly
      selected male and female undergraduate medical students. The lip print of each
      subject was obtained and its pattern was analyzed according to Suzuki and
      Tsuchihashi classification. RESULTS: The study showed that Type I lip pattern was
      the commonest. CONCLUSION: Our study has added to confirmation of the
      distinctiveness of cheiloscopy, which can be used as an additional tool for
      identification. Studies on lip prints being very scanty, our findings add
      significantly to the meager literature on this subject. Further in-depth studies
      to establish prevalence of patterns in lip prints will certainly help as useful
      evidence in forensic investigations.

PMID- 28596991
TI  - Long Persistence of a Streptococcus pneumoniae 23F Clone in a Cystic Fibrosis
      Patient.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates of serotype 23F with intermediate penicillin
      resistance were recovered on seven occasions over a period of 37 months from a
      cystic fibrosis patient in Berlin. All isolates expressed the same multilocus
      sequence type (ST), ST10523. The genome sequences of the first and last isolates,
      D122 and D141, revealed the absence of two phage-related gene clusters compared
      to the genome of another ST10523 strain, D219, isolated earlier at a different
      place in Germany. Genomes of all three strains carried the same novel mosaic
      penicillin-binding protein (PBP) genes, pbp2x, pbp2b, and pbp1a; these genes were
      distinct from those of other penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae strains except
      for pbp1a of a Romanian S. pneumoniae isolate. All PBPs contained mutations that
      have been associated with the penicillin resistance phenotype. Most
      interestingly, a mosaic block identical to an internal pbp2x sequence of ST10523
      was present in pbp2x of Streptococcus mitis strain B93-4, which was isolated from
      the same patient. This suggests interspecies gene transfer from S. pneumoniae to
      S. mitis within the host. Nearly all genes expressing surface proteins, which
      represent major virulence factors of S. pneumoniae and are typical for this
      species, were present in the genome of ST10523. One exception was the
      hyaluronidase gene hlyA, which contained a 12-nucleotide deletion within the
      promoter region and an internal stop codon. The lack of a functional
      hyaluronidase might contribute to the ability to persist in the host for an
      unusually long period of time. IMPORTANCEStreptococcus pneumoniae is a common
      resident in the human nasopharynx. However, carriage can result in severe
      diseases due to a unique repertoire of pathogenicity factors that are rare in
      closely related commensal streptococci. We investigated a penicillin-resistant S.
      pneumoniae clone of serotype 23F isolated from a cystic fibrosis patient on
      multiple occasions over an unusually long period of over 3 years that was present
      without causing disease. Genome comparisons revealed an apparent nonfunctional
      pneumococcus-specific gene encoding a hyaluronidase, supporting the view that
      this enzyme adds to the virulence potential of the bacterium. The 23F clone
      harbored unique mosaic genes encoding penicillin resistance determinants, the
      product of horizontal gene transfer involving the commensal S. mitis as donor
      species. Sequences identical to one such mosaic gene were identified in an S.
      mitis strain from the same patient, suggesting that in this case S. pneumoniae
      played the role of donor.

PMID- 28596993
TI  - Segmenting subregions of the human hippocampus on structural magnetic resonance
      image scans: An illustrated tutorial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hippocampus plays a central role in cognition, and understanding
      the specific contributions of its subregions will likely be key to explaining its
      wide-ranging functions. However, delineating substructures within the human
      hippocampus in vivo from magnetic resonance image scans is fraught with
      difficulties. To our knowledge, the extant literature contains only brief
      descriptions of segmentation procedures used to delineate hippocampal subregions
      in magnetic resonance imaging/functional magnetic resonance imaging studies.
      METHODS: Consequently, here we provide a clear, step-by-step and fully
      illustrated guide to segmenting hippocampal subregions along the entire length of
      the human hippocampus on 3T magnetic resonance images. RESULTS: We give a
      detailed description of how to segment the hippocampus into the following six
      subregions: dentate gyrus/Cornu Ammonis 4, CA3/2, CA1, subiculum,
      pre/parasubiculum and the uncus. Importantly, this in-depth protocol incorporates
      the most recent cyto- and chemo-architectural evidence and includes a series of
      comprehensive figures which compare slices of histologically stained tissue with
      equivalent 3T images. CONCLUSION: As hippocampal subregion segmentation is an
      evolving field of research, we do not suggest this protocol is definitive or
      final. Rather, we present a fully explained and expedient method of manual
      segmentation which remains faithful to our current understanding of human
      hippocampal neuroanatomy. We hope that this 'tutorial'-style guide, which can be
      followed by experts and non-experts alike, will be a practical resource for
      clinical and research scientists with an interest in the human hippocampus.

PMID- 28596994
TI  - Recurrent Post-Ablation Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation Shares Substrates With
      Persistent Atrial Fibrillation : An 11-Center Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The role of atrial fibrillation (AF) substrates is unclear in
      patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF) that recurs after pulmonary vein isolation
      (PVI). We hypothesized that patients with recurrent post-ablation (redo) PAF
      despite PVI have electrical substrates marked by rotors and focal sources, and
      structural substrates that resemble persistent AF more than patients with (de
      novo) PAF at first ablation. METHODS: In 175 patients at 11 centers, we compared
      AF substrates in both atria using 64 pole-basket catheters and phase mapping, and
      indices of anatomical remodeling between patients with de novo or redo PAF and
      first ablation for persistent AF. RESULTS: Sources were seen in all patients.
      More patients with de novo PAF (78.0%) had sources near PVs than patients with
      redo PAF (47.4%, p=0.005) or persistent AF (46.9%, p=0.001). The total number of
      sources per patient (p=0.444), and number of non-PV sources (p=0.701) were
      similar between groups, indicating that redo PAF patients had residual non-PV
      sources after elimination of PV sources by prior PVI. Structurally, left atrial
      size did not separate de novo from redo PAF (49.5+/-9.5 vs. 49.0+/-7.1mm,
      p=0.956) but was larger in patients with persistent AF (55.2+/-8.4mm, p=0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with paroxysmal AF despite prior PVI show electrical
      substrates that resemble persistent AF more closely than patients with paroxysmal
      AF at first ablation. Notably, these subgroups of paroxysmal AF are
      indistinguishable by structural indices. These data motivate studies of trigger
      versus substrate mechanisms for patients with recurrent paroxysmal AF after PVI.

PMID- 28596995
TI  - Cardiac Myosin Binding Protein-C Autoantibodies are Potential Early Indicators of
      Cardiac Dysfunction and Patient Outcome in Acute Coronary Syndrome.
AB  - The degradation and release of cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) upon
      cardiac damage may stimulate an inflammatory response and autoantibody (AAb)
      production. We determined whether the presence of cMyBP-C-AAbs associated with
      adverse cardiac function in CVD patients. Importantly, cMyBP-C-AAbs were
      significantly detected in ACS patient sera upon arrival to the emergency
      department, particularly in STEMI patients. Patients positive for cMyBP-C-AAbs
      had a reduced LVEF and elevated levels of clinical biomarkers of MI. We conclude
      that cMyBP-C-AAbs may serve as early predictive indicators of deteriorating
      cardiac function and patient outcome in ACS patients prior to the infarction.

PMID- 28596996
TI  - Global variation in gene expression and the value of diverse sampling.
AB  - The genomics era has accelerated our understanding of how genetic and epigenetic
      factors influence both normal variable traits and disease risk in humans.
      However, the majority of "omics" studies have focused on individuals living in
      urban centers, primarily from Europe and Asia, neglecting much of the genetic and
      environmental variation that exists across worldwide populations. Comparative
      studies of gene regulation in ethnically diverse populations are informing our
      understanding of how evolutionary forces have shaped the genetic and molecular
      mechanisms underlying complex traits, and studying gene expression in different
      environmental contexts is enabling the dissection of disease-related pathways
      such as immune response. Such approaches are vital to the equitable application
      of genomics and medicine.

PMID- 28596997
TI  - The Charles Schepens Lecture: Management Options for Vitreomacular Traction: Use
      an Individualized Approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present the management options for vitreomacular traction (VMT) and
      to recommend an individualized approach to treatment selection. DESIGN: Presented
      at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, 2016, Chicago, October
      15, 2016 (The Charles Schepens Lecture). PARTICIPANTS: None. METHODS: Review of
      published literature and clinical trials. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual and
      anatomic outcomes of various treatment options for VMT were reviewed. RESULTS:
      The management options for VMT include pars plana vitrectomy, pneumatic
      vitreolysis, enzymatic vitreolysis, and observation. The surgical management
      using pars plana vitrectomy offers the most effective approach for VMT, but there
      are inherent risks and cost issues. Pneumatic vitreolysis is reported to be cost
      effective and may be an anatomically successful nonsurgical option for
      management. Enzymatic vitreolysis with intravitreal ocriplasmin is another
      nonsurgical option, but both short- and long-term side effects may occur.
      Observation in selected patients can be associated with stable visual outcomes
      during long-term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The final management decision should be
      individualized for specific patients depending on the patient's clinical
      findings, potential risks, probable benefits, and costs of each option.

PMID- 28596998
TI  - Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of two-dimensional Rashba ferromagnets.
AB  - We compute the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy within two-dimensional Rashba
      models. For a ferromagnetic free-electron Rashba model, the magnetic anisotropy
      is exactly zero regardless of the strength of the Rashba coupling, unless only
      the lowest band is occupied. For this latter case, the model predicts in-plane
      anisotropy. For a more realistic Rashba model with finite band width, the
      magnetic anisotropy evolves from in-plane to perpendicular and back to in-plane
      as bands are progressively filled. This evolution agrees with first-principles
      calculations on the interfacial anisotropy, suggesting that the Rashba model
      captures energetics leading to anisotropy originating from the interface provided
      that the model takes account of the finite Brillouin zone. The results show that
      the electron density modulation by doping or an external voltage is more
      important for voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy than the modulation of the
      Rashba parameter.

PMID- 28596999
TI  - Opportunities and Challenges in Realizing Universal Access to Obstetric
      Ultrasound in Sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - The potential benefits of obstetric ultrasound have yet to be fully realized in
      sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), despite the region bearing the greatest burden of poor
      perinatal outcomes. We reviewed the literature for challenges and opportunities
      of universal access to obstetric ultrasound and explored what is needed to make
      such access an integral component of maternity care in order to address the
      massive burden of perinatal morbidity and mortality in SSA. Original peer
      reviewed literature was searched in various electronic databases using a
      'realist' approach. While the available data were inconclusive, they identify
      many opportunities for potential future research on the subject within the region
      that can help build a strong case to justify the provision of universal access to
      ultrasound as an integral component of comprehensive antenatal care.

PMID- 28597001
TI  - Calcified Liver Metastases from a Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Lung (Atypical
      Carcinoid) - A Case Report.
AB  - Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare tumors with an incidence rate of
      0.2-2/100 000 population/year in Western countries (M. E. Caplin et al. Ann Oncol
      2015; 26:1604-20). They account for 1-2% of all neoplasms of the lung and
      constitute one-fourth to one-third of all NETs. Atypical carcinoids are far less
      common than typical carcinoids and predominantly occur in male smokers aged 50 
      70 years. Most pulmonary NETs are asymptomatic due to their peripheral location.
      Surgical resection is the treatment of choice. Medical management should take
      hormone-related symptoms into account.

PMID- 28597000
TI  - Intraoperative Ultrasound as a Screening Modality for the Detection of Liver
      Metastases during Resection of Primary Colorectal Cancer - A Systematic Review.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer diseases worldwide. One
      in 4 patients with CRC will have a disseminated disease at the time of diagnosis
      and often in the form of synchronous liver metastases. Studies suggest that up to
      30% of patients have non-recognized hepatic metastases during primary surgery for
      CRC. Intraoperative ultrasonography examination (IOUS) of the liver to detect
      liver metastases was considered the gold standard during open CRC surgery. Today
      laparoscopic surgery is the standard procedure, but laparoscopic ultrasound
      examination (LUS) is not performed routinely. Aim To perform a systematic review
      of the test performance of IOUS and LUS regarding the detection of synchronous
      liver metastases in patients undergoing surgery for primary CRC. Method The
      literature was systematically reviewed using the search engines: PubMed,
      Cochrane, Embase and Google. 21 studies were included in the review and the key
      words: intraoperative ultrasound, laparoscopic ultrasound, staging colon and
      rectum cancer. Results Intraoperative ultrasound showed a higher sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value and overall accuracy for the detection
      liver metastases during surgery for primary CRC, compared to preoperative imaging
      modalities (ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography (CE-CT)). LUS showed a higher detection rate for liver metastases
      compared to CT, CE-CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Conclusion This
      systematic review found that both IOUS and LUS had a higher detection rate
      regarding liver metastases during primary CRC surgery, especially liver
      metastases<10 mm in diameter, when compared to US, CT, CE-CT and MRI.

PMID- 28597002
TI  - Littre Hernia: A Rare Case of an Incarcerated Meckel's Diverticulum.
AB  - A Meckel's diverticulum is a remnant of the vitelline duct, which leads to the
      formation of a true diverticulum containing all layers of the small intestine.
      The diverticulum can contain ectopic gastric, duodenal or pancreatic tissue and
      is the most common congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal tract with
      estimates of prevalence ranging from 0.3% to 3%. The condition is usually
      clinically silent. In children the most common complication is gastrointestinal
      bleeding caused by ulceration due to the acid secretion by ectopic gastric
      mucosa.

PMID- 28597003
TI  - Endothelin: Ominous Player in Breast Cancer.

PMID- 28597005
TI  - Acid Etching with Modified Phosphoric Acid to Increase the Longevity of the
      Bonded Interface.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of three phosphoric acids modified with
      chlorhexidine (CHX), benzalkonium chloride (BAC), or proanthocyanidins (PRO) and
      one conventional phosphoric acid (CON) on the immediate (24 h; IM) and 1-year
      composite-dentin microtensile bond strength (MUTBS) and nanoleakage (NL), using
      an etch-and-rinse adhesive. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A flat dentin surface was
      exposed on 28 caries-free extracted molars, which were then randomly assigned to
      four groups (n = 7). After etching and rinsing with one phosphoric acid per
      group, the adhesive (Adper Single Bond 2) was applied on a moist dentin surface.
      Composite buildups (Filtek Z350) were constructed incrementally and bonded stick
      specimens (0.8 mm2) were prepared and submitted to the microtensile test (0.5
      mm/min) immediately (24 h) or after 1 year of water storage. For nanoleakage, 2
      bonded sticks from each tooth at each storage period were immersed in 50 wt%
      ammoniacal silver nitrate, polished, and analyzed by SEM in backscattered mode.
      Data were submitted to a two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS:
      After 1 year, stable MUTBS values were observed only for the modified phosphoric
      acids (CHX, BAC, and PRO). Also, NL was more evident in the CON group than in the
      CHX, BAC and PRO groups (p < 0.05) after 1-year water storage. CONCLUSIONS:
      Compared to the control, the phosphoric acid etchants which contained protease
      inhibitors (CHX, BAC and PA) promoted the stability of composite-dentin
      microtensile bond strength and showed less nanoleakage after 1 year of water
      storage. They represent an effective way of prolonging the stability of the
      composite-dentin bonds without creating an additional bonding step.

PMID- 28597004
TI  - Increased Binding of Apolipoproteins A-I and E4 to Triglyceride-Rich Lipoproteins
      is linked to Induction of Hypertriglyceridemia.
AB  - Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is an independent factor of atherosclerotic
      cardiovascular disease and a hallmark of many metabolic disorders. However, the
      molecular etiology of HTG is still largely unknown. In mice, severe HTG may be
      induced by expression of specific mutants of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I or wild
      type (WT) apoE4. Expression of a certain apoE4 mutant results in mild HTG, while
      expression of another apoE4 mutant or WT apoA-I results in normal plasma
      triglyceride (TG) levels. Biophysical studies of the apoA-I and apoE4 forms
      associated with HTG help better understand the molecular mechanisms of induction
      of HTG by these proteins. The studies show that the apoA-I and apoE4 forms that
      induce HTG have a destabilized and more loosely folded conformation in solution
      than their counterparts not associated with HTG. Disruption of the protein salt
      bridge networks by the mutations is likely responsible for the observed
      structural changes. Each apoA-I and apoE4 form that induced HTG show enhanced
      binding to model TG-rich particles. HTG appeared to positively correlate with the
      apolipoprotein ability to bind to TG-rich particles. This implies that in vivo,
      the conformational changes in the apolipoproteins that induce HTG facilitate
      their binding to plasma TG-rich lipoproteins. We discuss metabolic pathways
      leading to the development of HTG that may result from enhanced binding of the
      apolipoproteins to TG-rich lipoproteins in circulation. While various factors may
      be involved in the development of HTG in humans, it is possible that structural
      alterations that increase affinity of apolipoproteins to TG-rich lipoproteins may
      contribute to some cases of this disorder.

PMID- 28597006
TI  - Effect of Final Irrigation Protocol and Etching Mode on Bond Strength of a
      Multimode Adhesive in the Root Canal.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the effects of ethanol for final post space irrigation and
      etching mode on the bond strength of fiber posts luted with a mild multimode
      adhesive (pH 2.3) as compared with a reference group using a self-adhesive resin
      cement (SAR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human anterior teeth were endodontically
      treated. After post space preparation, the root canals were irrigated using 1%
      sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) applied with passive ultrasonic irrigation, followed
      by either distilled water (control) or distilled water and ethanol 99% as final
      post space irrigation. Fiber posts were luted using Futurabond U in self-etch
      mode (FU-SE), Futurabond U in etch-and-rinse mode (FU-ER), or Futurabond DC (SE)
      in combination with a dual-curing core buildup material (Grandio Core, all VOCO);
      alternatively, posts were inserted using a self-adhesive composite cement (RelyX
      Unicem 2, 3M ESPE). Bond strengths were evaluated using push-out tests following
      thermocycling (TC) and storage in 0.9% NaCl for 3 months. RESULTS: Mean push-out
      bond strengths (MPa) were significantly affected by the luting system (p <
      0.0005) but not by the irrigation protocol (p = 0.068; ANOVA), although a
      significant interaction between the factors "luting agent" and "pre-treatment"
      was observed. FU E&R (21.28 [4.34]) and RX (20.12 [7.32]) revealed significantly
      higher bond strengths compared to FU SE (15.9 [6.02]), whereas F DC (18.8 [6.9])
      did not differ significantly from all other groups. Ethanol pre-treatment
      increased bond strength in the apical part of the root canal for all materials,
      with the exception of FU E&R. CONCLUSION: Mild multimode adhesives exhibit
      comparable mean bond strengths to a SAR cement within the root canal for luting
      fiber posts if applied in an etch-and-rinse mode. Using this approach, ethanol
      application has no positive effects on bond strength.

PMID- 28597007
TI  - Tensile Bond Strength of So-called Universal Primers and Universal Multimode
      Adhesives to Zirconia and Lithium Disilicate Ceramics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To test the bond strength and durability after artificial aging of so
      called universal primers and universal multimode adhesives to lithium disilicate
      or zirconia ceramics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 240 ceramic plates,
      divided into two groups, were produced and conditioned: 120 acid-etched lithium
      disilicate plates (IPS e.max CAD) and 120 air-abraded zirconia plates (Zenostar
      T). Each group was divided into five subgroups (n = 24), and a universal
      restorative primer or multimode universal adhesive was used for each subgroup to
      bond plexiglas tubes filled with a composite resin to the ceramic plate. The
      specimens were stored in water at 37 degrees C for 3 days without thermal
      cycling, or for 30 or 150 days with 7500 or 37,500 thermal cycles between 5
      degrees C and 55 degrees C, respectively. All specimens then underwent tensile
      bond strength testing. RESULTS: Initially, all bonding systems exhibited high
      TBS, but some showed a significant reduction after 30 and 150 days of storage.
      After 3, 30, and 150 days, Monobond Plus, which contains silane and phosphate
      monomer, showed significantly higher bond strengths than the other universal
      primer and adhesive systems. CONCLUSIONS: The bond strength to lithium disilicate
      and zirconia ceramic is significantly affected by the bonding system used. Using
      a separate primer containg silane and phosphate monomer provides more durable
      bonding than do silanes incorporated in universal multimode adhesives. Only one
      of five so-called universal primers and adhesives provided durable bonding to
      lithium disilicate and zirconia ceramic.

PMID- 28597008
TI  - Effect of Reduced Phosphoric Acid Pre-etching Times ?on Enamel Surface
      Characteristics and Shear Fatigue Strength Using Universal Adhesives.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the effect of reduced phosphoric acid pre-etching times on
      enamel fatigue bond strength of universal adhesives and surface characteristics
      by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three universal
      adhesives were used in this study (Clearfil Universal Bond [C], G-Premio Bond
      [GP], Scotchbond Universal Adhesive [SU]). Four pre-etching groups were employed:
      enamel pre-etched with phosphoric acid and immediately rinsed with an air-water
      spray, and enamel pre-etched with phosphoric acid for 5, 10, or 15 s. Ground
      enamel was used as the control group. For the initial bond strength test, 15
      specimens per etching group for each adhesive were used. For the shear fatigue
      test, 20 specimens per etching group for each adhesive were loaded using a sine
      wave at a frequency of 20 Hz for 50,000 cycles or until failure occurred. Initial
      shear bond strengths and fatigue shear strengths of composite adhesively bonded
      to ground and pre-etched enamel were determined. AFM observations of ground and
      pre-etched enamel were also conducted, and surface roughness as well as surface
      area were evaluated. RESULTS: The initial shear bond strengths and fatigue shear
      strengths of the universal adhesives in the pre-etched groups were significantly
      higher than those of the control group, and were not influenced by the pre
      etching time. Significantly higher surface roughness and surface area of enamel
      surfaces in pre-etched groups were observed compared with those in the control
      group. While the surface area was not significantly influenced by etching time,
      surface roughness of the enamel surfaces in the pre-etched groups significantly
      increased with pre-etching time. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this in vitro study
      suggest that reduced phosphoric acid pre-etching times do not impair the fatigue
      bond strength of universal adhesives. Although fatigue bond strength and surface
      area were not influenced by phosphoric-acid etching times, surface roughness
      increased with increasing etching time.

PMID- 28597009
TI  - Dimethyl Sulfoxide Wet-bonding Technique May Improve the Quality of Dentin
      Bonding.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of the dimethyl-sulfoxide wet-bonding
      technique on composite-dentin bonds and to explore its potential mechanism.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty human third molars were segmented, ground, etched,
      and randomly divided into three groups according to the following pretreatments:
      1. water; 2. ethanol; 3. 50% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Then, Single Bond 2
      was applied and composite buildups were constructed. After 24 h of water storage
      or 10,000 cycles of thermocycling, the microtensile bond strength (MTBS) and
      nanoleakage were measured. Contact angle measurement, Masson's trichrome
      staining, and in situ zymography were used to explore the possible action
      mechanism of DMSO on adhesive-dentin interfaces. RESULTS: DMSO pretreatment
      prevented the decline of thermocycled MTBS (p < 0.05) without affecting the
      immediate MTBS (p > 0.05) compared to the water wet-bonded group. Nanoleakage
      expression in the thermocycled DMSO wet-bonded group was also less than that in
      the thermocycled water-wet group (p < 0.05). Moreover, DMSO decreased the contact
      angle of the dentin surfaces (p < 0.05), reduced the amount of collagen exposure
      (p < 0.05), and decreased the collagenolytic activity in the hybrid layer (p <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The 50% DMSO pretreatment was effective in increasing the
      wettability of the etched dentin surface, promoting the penetration of the
      adhesive monomer, and enhancing the stability of the dentin collagen at the
      adhesive- dentin interface. All these changes may lead to higher quality dentin
      bonds, suggesting that DMSO wet bonding is a viable alternative to improve the
      durability of dentin bonding.

PMID- 28597010
TI  - Smartphone-based colorimetric detection via machine learning.
AB  - We report the application of machine learning to smartphone-based colorimetric
      detection of pH values. The strip images were used as the training set for Least
      Squares-Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) classifier algorithms that were able to
      successfully classify the distinct pH values. The difference in the obtained
      image formats was found not to significantly affect the performance of the
      proposed machine learning approach. Moreover, the influence of the illumination
      conditions on the perceived color of pH strips was investigated and further
      experiments were conducted to study the effect of color change on the learning
      model. Non-integer pH levels are identified as their nearest integer pH values,
      whereas the test results for integer pH levels using JPEG, RAW and RAW-corrected
      image formats captured under different lighting conditions lead to perfect
      classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity, which proves that
      colorimetric detection using machine learning based systems is able to adapt to
      various experimental conditions and is a great candidate for smartphone-based
      sensing in paper-based colorimetric assays.

PMID- 28597011
TI  - ChemComm trials double-blind peer review option.

PMID- 28597012
TI  - A high-performance enzyme entrapment platform facilitated by a cationic polymer
      for the efficient electrochemical sensing of ethanol.
AB  - Entrapment is one of the major approaches for enzyme immobilization; however, it
      suffers a few critical drawbacks including leakage and high mass transfer
      resistance to substrates. To address these challenges, herein we report on a new
      facile and effective enzyme entrapment platform using a special cationic polymer,
      poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (MADQUAT) on a single-wall carbon
      nanotube and reduced graphene oxide (SWCNT-rGO) nanohybrid thin film. To
      demonstrate this new approach, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is employed as a model
      enzyme for the entrapment toward the design of an efficient electrochemical
      biosensor for the detection of ethanol. MADQUAT possesses strong electrostatic
      affinity with various negatively charged biomolecules; and our FTIR study has
      shown that there are no structural changes in the enzyme following the
      entrapment, with an excellent secondary structure association (r = 0.92). Our
      electrochemical measurements have shown that the entrapped ADH exhibits high
      ability to exchange electrons in the presence of the NAD+/NADH cofactor and that
      the SWCNT-rGO nanohybrid significantly enhances the biocatalytic activity of the
      immobilized ADH and the electrochemical oxidation of NADH in comparison with
      either SWCNTs or rGO. The ethanol biosensor developed in this study exhibits a
      fast response, wide linearity range, high sensitivity (26.27 MUA mM-1 cm-2),
      remarkable low limit of detection (0.16 MUM), high selectivity and high
      stability. The optimized biosensor has been further tested with real samples
      including wine, beer and blood alcohol, showing promising analytical and
      biomedical applications.

PMID- 28597017
TI  - Folliculotropic Mycosis Fungoides with Skewed T-cell Receptor CDR3 Motif:
      Suggestive of Lipid-antigen Selection?
AB  - Folliculotropic mycosis fungoides (FMF), a variant of mycosis fungoides (MF) with
      distinct clinical features, is characterized by infiltration of malignant T cells
      in hair follicles. This raises the hypothesis that antigens in the hair follicle
      may contribute to the pathogenesis of FMF. T-cell receptor beta gene (TRB)
      sequences as well as dendritic cell subsets in patients with FMF (n = 21) and
      control patients with MF (n = 20) were studied to explore this hypothesis. A
      recurrent usage of the TRB junctional genes TRBJ2-1 and TRBJ2-7 was found in
      patients with FMF compared with those with MF. These genes contribute to an amino
      acid motif in the complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) of the T-cell
      receptor. This motif was previously found in T cells stimulated by lipids bound
      to CD1 on antigen-presenting cells. Additional immunohistochemical analysis
      revealed abundant CD1c- and CD1a- expressing dendritic cells in FMF. The combined
      findings support a role for lipid-antigen stimulation in FMF.

PMID- 28597018
TI  - Robotic devices and brain-machine interfaces for hand rehabilitation post-stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review the state of the art of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy for
      post-stroke rehabilitation, including the use of brain-machine interfaces. Each
      patient has a unique clinical history and, in response to personalized treatment
      needs, research into individualized and at-home treatment options has expanded
      rapidly in recent years. This has resulted in the development of many devices and
      design strategies for use in stroke rehabilitation. METHODS: The development
      progression of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy devices and brain-machine
      interface systems is outlined, focussing on those with mechanisms and control
      strategies designed to improve recovery outcomes of the hand post-stroke. A total
      of 110 commercial and non-commercial hand and wrist devices, spanning the 2 major
      core designs: end-effector and exoskeleton are reviewed. RESULTS: The growing
      body of evidence on the efficacy and relevance of incorporating brain-machine
      interfaces in stroke rehabilitation is summarized. The challenges involved in
      integrating robotic rehabilitation into the healthcare system are discussed.
      CONCLUSION: This review provides novel insights into the use of robotics in
      physiotherapy practice, and may help system designers to develop new devices.

PMID- 28597019
TI  - A Large Skin-colored Nodule on the Plantar Foot: A Quiz. Melanoma associated with
      germline BAP1 mutation.

PMID- 28597020
TI  - Pemphigus Vulgaris Persistently Localized to the Nose with Local and Systemic
      Response to Topical Steroids.
AB  - is missing (Short communication).

PMID- 28597021
TI  - Bortezomib Does Not Prevent the Occurrence of Kaposi's Sarcoma in Patients with
      Haematological Malignancies: Two Case Reports.
AB  - is missing (Short communication).

PMID- 28597022
TI  - Increased Interleukin-19 Expression in Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma and Atopic
      Dermatitis.
AB  - Interleukin-19 (IL-19), a pro-inflammatory cytokine known to stimulate the
      production of T helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines, is induced by IL-17A and highly
      expressed in the lesional skin of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD). This aim
      of this study was to investigate whether IL-19 is involved in cutaneous T-cell
      lym-phoma (CTCL) and AD. IL-19 levels were significantly higher in the sera of
      patients with AD and those with advanced-stage CTCL than in normal controls,
      correlating significantly with clinical disease markers. IL-19 mRNA levels in
      lesional skin of both diseases were significantly elevated. Immunohistochemical
      staining revealed that IL-19 was expressed in the epidermis of AD skin and CTCL
      skin. In vitro, IL-17A and IL-4 increased IL-19 mRNA expression in human
      keratinocytes. Thus, IL-19 was increased in the sera and skin of AD and CTCL.
      These results suggest that IL-19 is important for bridging Th17 to Th2 in these
      diseases.

PMID- 28597023
TI  - Rare Ingestive Food Allergy to Mushroom Boletus badius.
AB  - is missing (Short communication).

PMID- 28597025
TI  - Abscopal Effect of Local Irradiation Treatment for Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma.
AB  - is missing (Short communication).

PMID- 28597024
TI  - Blocking mTOR Signalling with Rapamycin Ameliorates Imiquimod-induced Psoriasis
      in Mice.
AB  - The mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) inhibitor rapamycin has long been
      known for its immune suppressive properties, but it has shown limited therapeutic
      success when given systemically to patients with psoriasis. Recent data have
      shown that the mTOR pathway is hyperactivated in lesional psoriatic skin, which
      probably contributes to the disease by interfering with maturation of
      keratinocytes. This study investigated the effect of topical rapamycin treatment
      in an imiquimod-induced psoriatic mouse model. The disease was less severe if the
      mice had received rapamycin treatment. Immunohistological analysis revealed that
      rapamycin not only prevented the activation of mTOR signalling (P-mTOR and P-S6
      levels), but almost normalized the expression of epidermal differentiation
      markers. In addition, the influx of innate immune cells into the draining lymph
      nodes was partially reduced by rapamycin treatment. These data emphasize the role
      of mTOR signalling in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, and support the
      investigation of topical mTOR inhibition as a novel anti-psoriatic strategy.

PMID- 28597026
TI  - Primary Cutaneous Aggressive Epidermotropic CD8+ T-cell Lymphoma with Brain
      Involvement and Mimicking Dermatomyositis.

PMID- 28597027
TI  - [Low-flow low-gradient aortic valve stenosis : Current evidence].
AB  - Many patients with severe aortic stenosis have a "low-flow, low-gradient" aortic
      stenosis. The management of these patients can be quite difficult, as these
      patients often show impairment of the left ventricle, which can lead to false
      measurements of the severity of stenosis and also leads to a higher risk during
      aortic valve replacement. More diagnostic tools than only standard
      echocardiography are needed to correctly differentiate true severe aortic
      stenosis from pseudo severe aortic stenosis.

PMID- 28597028
TI  - [Aphasia: a neuronal network disorder].
AB  - Language processing requires the coordinated interaction of local and distant
      neural populations within distributed networks of the temporal, frontal and
      parietal brain regions. Poststroke aphasia is the consequence of both local as
      well as remote dysfunction within language-specific and domain-general networks.
      Language recovery, in turn, rests on reorganization processes within these
      networks. These comprise the resolution of an acute network failure (i. e.
      diaschisis), the subacute activation of right hemisphere homologous regions and
      the gradual reintegration of left hemisphere remote and perilesional areas. The
      application of unifocal noninvasive brain stimulation over these regions provides
      a means of modulating neural plasticity in order to enhance the reorganization
      processes underlying language recovery. The lack of knowledge as to the optimal
      stimulation site, the appropriate stimulation protocol and the proper timing of
      interventions might explain the only marginal effects of brain stimulation
      adjunct to speech and language therapy. In addition, individually different
      contributions of left and right hemisphere regions to recovery due to
      heterogeneous lesion sites among patients limit the possibility to identify
      general principles for brain stimulation. The assumption that aphasia is not only
      the consequence of the focal effect of a brain lesion but arises from remote
      dysfunctions within associated functional networks ignites the concept for
      individualized, potentially multifocal therapeutic network modulation.

PMID- 28597029
TI  - [Shared decision-making in acute psychiatric medicine : Contraindication or a
      challenge?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: The concept of shared decision-making (SDM) has existed since the
      1990s in multiple fields of somatic medicine but has only been poorly applied in
      psychiatric clinical routine despite broad acceptance and promising outcomes in
      clinical studies on its positive effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The concept
      itself and its practicability in mental health are carefully assessed and
      strategies for its future implementation in psychiatric medicine are presented in
      this article. Ongoing clinical studies probing some of those strategies are
      further outlined. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: On top of the ubiquitous shortage of
      time in clinical routine, psychiatrists report their concern about patients'
      limited abilities in sharing decisions and their own fear of potentially harmful
      decisions resulting from a shared process. Misinterpretation of shared decision
      making restricting the health care professional to rather an informed choice
      scenario and their own adhesion to the traditional paternalistic decision-making
      approach further add to SDM's underutilization. Those hurdles could be overcome
      by communication skill workshops for all mental health care professionals,
      including nursing personnels, psychologists, social workers and physicians, as
      well as the use of decision aids and training courses for patients to motivate
      and empower them in sharing decisions with the medical staff. By this, the
      patient-centered treatment approach demanded by guidelines, carers and users
      could be further facilitated in psychiatric clinical routine.

PMID- 28597030
TI  - [Genetic risk factors for neuropsychiatric disorders].

PMID- 28597031
TI  - The prevalence of incidental findings on computed tomography of the
      abdomen/pelvis in pediatric trauma patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Computed tomography scans of the abdomen/pelvis (CTAP) in the adult
      population may reveal findings unrelated to the injury, such as a mass; the
      occurrence of incidental findings in pediatric patients remains unknown. This
      study aims to determine the percentage of pediatric trauma patients with
      incidental findings. METHODS: Data regarding consecutive 250 patients who
      underwent CTAP during their evaluation were retrieved from our level 1 pediatric
      trauma center trauma registry. Interpretations were reviewed for mention of
      incidental findings. Records for patients with incidental findings were examined
      to determine what further evaluation occurred. RESULTS: Nine patients were
      excluded due to incomplete records. Of the remaining 241 patients, 114 incidental
      findings were identified among 86 (35.7%) patients. There were 47 clinically
      significant incidental findings, occurring in 41 (17%) patients. Seven patients
      (8.1%) had further workup of their findings; Three (3.5%) went on to have an
      operation (two patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and one with high
      riding testicle). No potential tumors were found in this population. Incidental
      findings were mentioned in 25.5% of discharge summaries. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric
      trauma CTAP reveals incidental findings at a lower rate than in their adult
      counterparts. Documentation of findings should be improved for optimal care of
      the injured child.

PMID- 28597032
TI  - [Leishmaniasis : Diagnosis and therapy].
AB  - The delayed appearance of a papule after returning from travelling hints towards
      the diagnosis cutaneous leishmaniasis. Histologically, a granulomatous
      inflammatory response is seen, and using Giemsa staining, intracellular parasites
      can be visualized within histiocytes. Polymer chain reaction (PCR) from the
      tissue or subsequent cultures not only aids in excluding other differential
      diagnoses, but also in the identification of the causing Leishmania subspecies.
      The latter is important for the choice of the optimal therapeutic regimen.

PMID- 28597033
TI  - Topography of neurovascular structures in relation to round window and how it
      relates to cochlear implantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the distances and
      angles on basal turn of cochlea in relation to round window at which the jugular
      bulb, internal carotid artery and facial nerve are at maximal risk and their
      implications in cochlear implantation (CI). METHODS: Fifty-four cadaveric
      temporal bones were microdissected to expose the basal turn of cochlea, the
      carotid canal, the facial canal and the jugular fossa. The points were marked on
      the basal turn of cochlea, where there was minimum distance of basal turn of
      cochlea from the roof of the jugular fossa (point a), carotid canal (point b) and
      facial canal (point c). The distances and angles of these points from the round
      window were measured. RESULTS: The points a, b and c were at mean (range)
      distances of 2.8 mm (1.3-4.1 mm), 8.4 mm (6.5-10.4 mm) and 16.4 mm (12.5-20.5 mm)
      and at mean angles of 30 degrees  (15 degrees -45 degrees ), 111 degrees  (71
      degrees -136 degrees ) and 284 degrees  (255 degrees -315 degrees ),
      respectively, from the round window. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that 2.8
      +/- 0.5 mm (30 +/- 5.40), 8.4 +/- 1 mm (111 +/- 12.70) and 16.4 +/- 1.7 mm (284
      +/- 13.5) from the round window are the high-risk points on the basal turn of the
      cochlea for the jugular bulb, internal carotid artery and facial nerve,
      respectively. A wide range found for each parameter indicates that it is
      mandatory to evaluate these distances in each CI patient on preoperative
      radiographs to avoid intraoperative injury to these vital structures.

PMID- 28597034
TI  - Ultrasound visualization of an underestimated structure: the bicipital
      aponeurosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: We established a detailed sonographic approach to the bicipital
      aponeurosis (BA), because different pathologies of this, sometimes
      underestimated, structure are associated with vascular, neural and muscular
      lesions; emphasizing its further implementation in routine clinical examinations.
      METHODS: The BA of 100 volunteers, in sitting position with the elbow lying on a
      suitable table, was investigated. Patients were aged between 18 and 28 with no
      history of distal biceps injury. Examination was performed using an 18-6 MHz
      linear transducer (LA435; system MyLab25 by Esaote, Genoa, Italy) utilizing the
      highest frequency, scanned in two planes (longitudinal and transverse view). In
      each proband, scanning was done with and without isometric contraction of the
      biceps brachii muscle. RESULTS: The BA was characterized by two clearly
      distinguishable white lines enveloping a hypoechoic band. In all longitudinal
      images (plane 1), the lacertus fibrosus was clearly seen arising from the biceps
      muscle belly, the biceps tendon or the myotendinous junction, respectively. In
      transverse images (plane 2) the BA spanned the brachial artery and the median
      nerve in all subjects. In almost all probands (97/100), the BA was best
      distinguishable during isometric contraction of the biceps muscle. CONCLUSION:
      With the described sonographic approach, it should be feasible to detect
      alterations and unusual ruptures of the BA. Therefore, we suggest additional BA
      scanning during clinical examinations of several pathologies, not only for BA
      augmentation procedures in distal biceps tendon tears.

PMID- 28597035
TI  - Focus on immunocompromised patients.

PMID- 28597037
TI  - Erratum to: Population pharmacokinetic modelling of doxorubicin and doxorubicinol
      in children with cancer: is there a relationship with cardiac troponin profiles?

PMID- 28597036
TI  - Outpatient Drainmanagement of patients with clinically relevant Postoperative
      Pancreatic Fistula (POPF).
AB  - PURPOSE: Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a common complication after
      pancreatic surgery associated with extended hospitalization, increased medical
      costs, and reduced quality of life. The aim of the present study was to analyze
      the feasibility of ambulatory drainage and develop an ambulatory management
      algorithm. METHODS: Patients with POPF grade B or C (according to the ISGPF
      classification) between Jan. 2005 and Dec. 2014 that required persistent drainage
      were identified from a prospectively collected database. Postoperative events and
      clinical outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 132 out of
      887 patients (14.8%) developed a POPF (grade B or C), and 45 (34.1%) were
      discharged from the hospital with percutaneous drainage. For patients with grade
      B fistulas, the mean hospital stay was significantly shorter compared to patients
      with grade C fistulas (mean 27.7 vs. 40 days; p = 0.0285). About 40% of patients
      with ambulatory drainage developed a complication, but only 28.9% required
      readmission. Of those, 52.9% did not require specific treatment and 26.3% were
      treated with a new drain placement. None of the patients developed major
      complications, and there was no difference in the frequency of complications
      between the two groups (p = 0.872). The duration of drain persistence was
      significantly shorter for patients with grade B fistulas than for those with
      grade C fistulas (52.2 vs. 85.9 days; p = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: Ambulatory
      drainage management is feasible in selected patients. No severe complications
      occurred during ambulatory drainage management. A management algorithm is
      recommended as this could possibly reduce medical costs and improve quality of
      life.

PMID- 28597038
TI  - The cardiac glycoside oleandrin induces apoptosis in human colon cancer cells via
      the mitochondrial pathway.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evidence indicates that the cardiac glycoside oleandrin exhibits
      cytotoxic activity against several different types of cancer. However, the
      specific mechanisms underlying oleandrin-induced anti-tumor effects remain
      largely unknown. The present study examined the anti-cancer effect and underlying
      mechanism of oleandrin on human colon cancer cells. METHODS: The cytotoxicity and
      IC50 of five small molecule compounds (oleandrin, neriifolin, strophanthidin,
      gitoxigenin, and convallatoxin) in human colon cancer cell line SW480 cells and
      normal human colon cell line NCM460 cells were determined by cell counting and
      MTT assays, respectively. Apoptosis was determined by staining cells with annexin
      V-FITC and propidium iodide, followed by flow cytometry. Intracellular Ca2+ was
      determined using Fluo-3 AM,glutathione (GSH) levels were measured using a GSH
      detection kit,and the activity of caspase-3, -9 was measured using a peptide
      substrate. BAX, pro-caspase-3, -9, cytochrome C and BCL-2 expression were
      determined by Western blotting. RESULTS: Oleandrin significantly decreased cell
      viabilities in SW480, HCT116 and RKO cells. The IC50 for SW480 cells was 0.02 uM,
      whereas for NCM460 cells 0.56 uM. More interestingly, the results of flow
      cytometry showed that oleandrin potently induced apoptosis in SW480 and RKO
      cells. Oleandrin downregulated protein expression of pro-caspase-3, -9, but
      enhanced caspase-3, -9 activities. These effects were accompanied by upregulation
      of protein expression of cytochrome C and BAX, and downregulation of BCL-2
      protein expression in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, oleandrin
      increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration, but decreased GSH concentration in
      the cells. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that oleandrin induces
      apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells via the mitochondrial pathway. Our
      findings provide new insight into the mechanism of anti-cancer property of
      oleandrin.

PMID- 28597040
TI  - Phase II study of induction gemcitabine and S-1 followed by chemoradiotherapy and
      systemic chemotherapy using S-1 for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: S-1 has systemic activity for locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).
      Here, the efficacy and safety of induction gemcitabine (GEM) and S-1 (GS)
      followed by chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and systemic chemotherapy using S-1 for LAPC
      were assessed. METHODS: The treatment consisted of four cycles of induction GS (S
      1 60, 80, or 100 mg/day based on body surface area for 14 days every 3 weeks plus
      GEM 1000 mg/m2 on days 8 and 15), followed by S-1 (80, 100, or 120 mg/day based
      on body surface area on days 1-14 and 22-35) and concurrent radiotherapy (50.4 Gy
      in 28 fractions). Maintenance chemotherapy with S-1 was started 1-4 weeks after
      CRT until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity was observed. The primary
      endpoint was 1-year survival. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients with LAPC were
      enrolled. The median survival and progression-free survival were 21.3 and 12.7
      months, respectively. Overall survival rates at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years were 73.3,
      36.7, 23.3, and 16.7%, respectively. The median survival of 23 patients who
      received CRT was 22.9 months, with a 3-year survival rate of 30.4%. The two most
      common grade 3 or 4 adverse events during induction GS were neutropenia (63.3%)
      and biliary tract infection (20%). Toxicities during CRT or maintenance
      chemotherapy were generally mild. CONCLUSIONS: This regimen was feasible and
      highly active resulting in encouraging survival in patients with LAPC. Further
      investigations are warranted to elucidate the effectiveness of this treatment
      strategy in future studies. Clinical trials information: UMIN000006332.

PMID- 28597039
TI  - Clinical significance of systemic chemotherapy after curative resection of
      metachronous pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of systemic chemotherapy after resection remains controversial
      in patients with resectable metachronous pulmonary metastases from colorectal
      cancer (CRC). This retrospective study compared systemic chemotherapy with
      observation alone after resection of pulmonary metastases from CRC. METHODS:
      Between 2001 and 2015, 91 patients with metachronous pulmonary metastases
      underwent curative surgical resection at five centers. Patients with stage IV at
      diagnosis were excluded. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the time from
      pulmonary resection until death. The disease-free interval (DFI) was defined as
      the time from pulmonary resection until recurrence or death. RESULTS: Among the
      91 patients, 63 were in the chemotherapy group, while 28 were in the observation
      alone group. The characteristics were similar between the two groups, except for
      the carcinoembryonic antigen level after pulmonary metastases and the use of
      adjuvant treatment after resection of the primary tumor. With a median follow-up
      duration of 46 months (11-126), the estimated 5-year DFI and OS rates were 32.8
      and 61.4%, respectively. The chemotherapy following pulmonary resection was not
      significantly associated with the DFI (p = 0.416) and OS (p = 0.119). CONCLUSION:
      Systemic chemotherapy after pulmonary resection was not found to have a
      significant effect on survival.

PMID- 28597041
TI  - Efficacy and safety of postoperative bio-chemoradiotherapy using cetuximab and
      docetaxel for high-risk head and neck cancer patients in Japan.
AB  - PURPOSE: To confirm the efficacy and safety of cetuximab and docetaxel in
      postoperative radiotherapy for high-risk head and neck cancer patients who cannot
      to be administered high-dose cisplatin. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The eligibility
      criteria required stage III-IVB head and neck cancer patients who had undergone
      total resection, and for whom pathological evaluation revealed positive or close
      margins in the primary site and/or extracapsular nodal extension and/or two or
      more nodal metastases. In each case, the patients general condition prevented the
      use of high-dose cisplatin. Instead, they received cetuximab and docetaxel every
      week during a 66.6 Gy course of postoperative radiotherapy. RESULTS: Eleven
      patients were enrolled; the median follow-up period was 22 months, and the 1- and
      2-year disease free survival rates were 91 and 55%, respectively. Grade 3 adverse
      events included oral mucositis, radiation dermatitis, reduced white blood cell
      and neutrophil counts, lung infection, aspiration, and hyponatremia; however, no
      grade 4 adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: Administration of cetuximab and
      docetaxel during postoperative radiotherapy for high-risk poor condition head and
      neck cancer patients in poor general condition was both feasible and tolerable.
      With the safety of this treatment confirmed, we propose a phase trail to further
      clarify the efficacy of cetuximab and docetaxel use for high-risk cisplatin
      intolerant patients.

PMID- 28597042
TI  - Cisplatin induces expression of drug resistance-related genes through c-jun N
      terminal kinase pathway in human lung cancer cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: Change of multidrug resistance-related genes (e.g., lung resistance
      protein, LRP) and overexpression of anti-apoptotic genes (Bcl-2, Bcl-Xl, XIAP,
      Survivin) are responsible for cisplatin resistance. In our study, we investigated
      the mechanism by which cisplatin induces LRP, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, XIAP, and Survivin
      expression in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and human H446 small cell lung
      cancer cells at mRNA and protein levels. METHODS: In our study, cell
      proliferation was assessed with CCK-8 assays, and cell apoptosis was assessed
      with flow cytometric analysis and Annexin-V/PI staining. qPCR was used to
      complete RNA experiments. Protein expression was assessed with Western blotting.
      RESULTS: Cisplatin increased Bcl-2, LRP, and Survivin expression, but decreased
      Bcl-xL and XIAP expression in a dose-dependent manner. Preincubation with JNK
      specific inhibitor, SP600125, significantly inhibited these genes' expression at
      mRNA and protein levels, enhanced chemosensitivity of lung cancer cells to
      cisplatin, and promoted cisplatin-induced apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest
      that the JNK signaling pathway plays an important role in cisplatin resistance.
      Lung resistance protein (LRP) and anti-apoptotic genes (Bcl-2, Bcl-Xl, XIAP,
      Survivin) are involved in the process. The results reminded us of a novel therapy
      target for lung cancer treatment.

PMID- 28597043
TI  - Prognostic factors in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer treated with
      first-line gemcitabine plus cisplatin: retrospective analysis of 740 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a heterogeneous group of diseases
      comprising intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder
      cancer. Although gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GEMCIS) was established as the
      standard first-line chemotherapy based on the ABC-02 trial, more data are needed
      to define the clinical course of BTC and its prognostic factors with the standard
      GEMCIS treatment. METHODS: Between April 2010 and June 2016, 740 patients with
      histologically documented cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer were treated
      with first-line GEMCIS in Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. RESULTS: In 389
      patients with measurable disease (53%), the objective response rate was 13% (n =
      50) and there was no significant difference between primary tumor sites (p =
      0.45). With a median follow-up duration of 27.3 months (95% CI 24.2-30.5), the
      median PFS and OS were 5.2 months (95% CI 4.7-5.6) and 10.4 months (95% CI 9.6
      11.2), respectively. In multivariate analysis, male gender (female versus male,
      hazard ratio [HR] 0.83), baseline CA 19-9 level (elevated versus normal, HR
      1.31), initially metastatic disease (versus locally advanced disease, HR 1.92),
      poor performance status (2 versus 0-1, HR 1.45), and measurable disease by RECIST
      criteria (versus non-measurable, HR 1.40) were significantly associated with a
      poorer OS (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our retrospective analysis of a large
      number of patients in a real-world setting found comparable efficacy outcomes to
      the ABC-02 trial. The prognostic factors identified here may help to predict
      clinical outcomes and design future clinical trials for advanced BTC.

PMID- 28597044
TI  - Indocyanine green visualization "during" craniotomy for moyamoya disease.

PMID- 28597045
TI  - Biocontrol activity of a cold-adapted yeast from Tibet against gray mold in
      cherry tomato and its action mechanism.
AB  - Cold-adapted biocontrol yeast was selected from four yeast isolates from Tibet
      against gray mold of cherry tomato in cold storage. The strain numbered LB2
      showed the best biocontrol activity and identified as Cryptococcus laurentii.
      Competition for nutrient, space, and induced fruit resistance was also its
      antagonistic mechanism. Compared with C. laurentii from sea-level place, the
      reason why LB2 had a better biocontrol activity was studied. More trehalose and
      proline in cell of LB2 made it exhibit a better cellular activity at low
      temperature, such as higher population dynamics in the wounds of cherry tomato
      and more biocontrol-related enzyme secretion, chitinase and beta-glucanase. The
      better oxidative stress tolerance was another characteristic of LB2. Maybe
      because of the ideal culture condition, there was no obvious difference between
      these two yeasts in the growth in vitro test at low temperature. Although the
      same phenomenon existed in the low pH stress test, LB2 still had higher cell
      concentration under this stress. Comparative transcriptomics method was also
      applied to analyze the cell activity of LB2 and C. laurentii at different
      temperatures. The results showed that more active response in the intracellular
      structure and intracellular metabolic process to cold temperature made LB2 had a
      better activity. The present study indicated a possibility to select cold-adapted
      biocontrol yeast from Tibet and also showed its primary action mechanism.

PMID- 28597050
TI  - Is there a role for sentinel node biopsy in the pre-operative ultrasound positive
      axilla?
AB  - Axillary management in breast cancer is becoming increasingly conservative. This
      approach is based on the identification of low axillary burden on sentinel node
      biopsy (SNB). The modern practice of routine pre-operative axillary ultrasound
      has meant that patients are 'fast tracked' to axillary node clearance (ANC) in
      the presence of a histologically confirmed positive axilla. This practice reduces
      the number of patients undergoing SNB compared to the original trials, which
      evaluated the role of SNB, and those assessing safety of omission of ANC in low
      axillary burden. The risk of depriving patients with low axillary burden the
      opportunity to avoid ANC as a consequence of pre-operative ultrasound is
      discussed.

PMID- 28597046
TI  - Molecular cloning and expression analysis of major intrinsic protein gene in
      Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L from Antarctica.
AB  - Major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) form channels facilitating the passive transport
      of water and other small polar molecules across membranes. In this study, the
      complete open reading frame (ORF) of CiMIP1 (GenBank ID KY316061) encoding one
      kind of MIPs in the Antarctic ice microalga Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L is
      successfully cloned using RACE. In addition, the expression patterns of CiMIP1
      gene under different conditions of temperature and salinity are determined by qRT
      PCR. The ORF of CiMIP1 gene encodes 308 amino acids, and the deduced amino acid
      sequence shows 74% homology with Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CrMIP1 (GenBank number
      159471952). Phylogenetic analysis reveals that algal MIPs are divided into seven
      groups, and it is speculated that CiMIP1 most likely belongs to the MIPD
      subfamily. In addition, we are surprised to find that a third NPA motif exists at
      the carboxy terminus of the target protein except for two highly conserved ones.
      Expression analysis shows that the transcriptional levels of CiMIP1 gene are
      upregulated under either lower temperature or higher temperature and high
      salinity. In summary, the results together have provide new insights into the
      newly discovered gene in green algae and lay the foundation for further studies
      on the adaptation mechanism of Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L to abiotic stresses.

PMID- 28597051
TI  - Effects of Backpacker Use, Pack Stock Trail Use, and Pack Stock Grazing on Water
      Quality Indicators, Including Nutrients, E. coli, Hormones, and Pharmaceuticals,
      in Yosemite National Park, USA.
AB  - We investigated how visitor-use affects water quality in wilderness in Yosemite
      National Park. During the summers of 2012-2014, we collected and analyzed surface
      water samples for water-quality indicators, including fecal indicator bacteria
      Escherichia coli, nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon), suspended sediment
      concentration, pharmaceuticals, and hormones. Samples were collected upstream and
      downstream from different types of visitor use at weekly to biweekly intervals
      and during summer storms. We conducted a park-wide synoptic sampling campaign
      during summer 2014, and sampled upstream and downstream from meadows to evaluate
      the mitigating effect of meadows on water quality. At pack stock stream
      crossings, Escherichia coli concentrations were greater downstream from crossings
      than upstream (median downstream increase in Escherichia coli of three colony
      forming units 100 mL-1), with the greatest increases occurring during storms
      (median downstream increase in Escherichia coli of 32 CFU 100 mL-1). At
      backpacker use sites, hormones, and pharmaceuticals (e.g., insect repellent) were
      detected at downstream sites, and Escherichia coli concentrations were greater at
      downstream sites (median downstream increase in Escherichia coli of 1 CFU 100 mL
      1). Differences in water quality downstream vs. upstream from meadows grazed by
      pack stock were not detectable for most water-quality indicators, however,
      Escherichia coli concentrations decreased downstream, suggesting entrapment and
      die-off of fecal indicator bacteria in meadows. Our results indicate that under
      current-use levels pack stock trail use and backpacker use are associated with
      detectable, but relatively minor, effects on water quality, which are most
      pronounced during storms.

PMID- 28597052
TI  - On the Ground or in the Air? A Methodological Experiment on Crop Residue Cover
      Measurement in Ethiopia.
AB  - Maintaining permanent coverage of the soil using crop residues is an important
      and commonly recommended practice in conservation agriculture. Measuring this
      practice is an essential step in improving knowledge about the adoption and
      impact of conservation agriculture. Different data collection methods can be
      implemented to capture the field level crop residue coverage for a given plot,
      each with its own implication on survey budget, implementation speed and
      respondent and interviewer burden. In this paper, six alternative methods of crop
      residue coverage measurement are tested among the same sample of rural households
      in Ethiopia. The relative accuracy of these methods are compared against a
      benchmark, the line-transect method. The alternative methods compared against the
      benchmark include: (i) interviewee (respondent) estimation; (ii) enumerator
      estimation visiting the field; (iii) interviewee with visual-aid without visiting
      the field; (iv) enumerator with visual-aid visiting the field; (v) field picture
      collected with a drone and analyzed with image-processing methods and (vi)
      satellite picture of the field analyzed with remote sensing methods. Results of
      the methodological experiment show that survey-based methods tend to
      underestimate field residue cover. When quantitative data on cover are needed,
      the best estimates are provided by visual-aid protocols. For categorical analysis
      (i.e., >30% cover or not), visual-aid protocols and remote sensing methods
      perform equally well. Among survey-based methods, the strongest correlates of
      measurement errors are total farm size, field size, distance, and slope. Results
      deliver a ranking of measurement options that can inform survey practitioners and
      researchers.

PMID- 28597054
TI  - [Benign tumours of the musculoskeletal system].

PMID- 28597055
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597053
TI  - Community exposure and vulnerability to water quality and availability: a case
      study in the mining-affected Pazna Municipality, Lake Poopo Basin, Bolivian
      Altiplano.
AB  - Assessing water sources for drinking and irrigation along with community
      vulnerability, especially in developing and rural regions, is important for
      reducing risk posed by poor water quality and limited water availability and
      accessibility. We present a case study of rural mining-agricultural communities
      in the Lake Poopo Basin, one of the poorest regions on the Bolivian Altiplano.
      Here, relatively low rainfall, high evaporation, salinization and unregulated
      mining activity have contributed to environmental degradation and water issues,
      which is a situation facing many Altiplano communities. Social data from 72
      households and chemical water quality data from 27 surface water and groundwater
      sites obtained between August 2013 and July 2014 were used to develop locally
      relevant vulnerability assessment methodologies and ratings with respect to water
      availability and quality, and Chemical Water Quality Hazard Ratings to assess
      water quality status. Levels of natural and mining-related contamination in many
      waters (CWQHR >= 6; 78% of assessed sites) mean that effective remediation would
      be challenging and require substantial investment. Although waters of fair to
      good chemical quality (CWQHR <= 5; 22% of assessed sites) do exist, treatment may
      still be required depending on use, and access issues remain problematic. There
      is a need to comply with water quality legislation, improve and maintain basic
      water supply and storage infrastructure, build and operate water and wastewater
      treatment plants, and adequately and safely contain and treat mine waste. This
      study serves as a framework that could be used elsewhere for assessing and
      mitigating water contamination and availability affecting vulnerable populations.

PMID- 28597056
TI  - A space-jump derivation for non-local models of cell-cell adhesion and non-local
      chemotaxis.
AB  - Cellular adhesion provides one of the fundamental forms of biological interaction
      between cells and their surroundings, yet the continuum modelling of cellular
      adhesion has remained mathematically challenging. In 2006, Armstrong et al.
      proposed a mathematical model in the form of an integro-partial differential
      equation. Although successful in applications, a derivation from an underlying
      stochastic random walk has remained elusive. In this work we develop a framework
      by which non-local models can be derived from a space-jump process. We show how
      the notions of motility and a cell polarization vector can be naturally included.
      With this derivation we are able to include microscopic biological properties
      into the model. We show that particular choices yield the original Armstrong
      model, while others lead to more general models, including a doubly non-local
      adhesion model and non-local chemotaxis models. Finally, we use random walk
      simulations to confirm that the corresponding continuum model represents the mean
      field behaviour of the stochastic random walk.

PMID- 28597058
TI  - [Flexion and extension osteotomy of the knee].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Flexion and extension osteotomy of the knee for symptomatic
      malalignment in the sagittal plane. INDICATIONS: Congenital/posttraumatic bony
      deficiencies in flexion/pathologic hyperextension in the knee. Additional
      treatment for ligament reconstruction. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Absolute: Infection,
      critical soft tissue situation, circulatory disorders. Relative: Osteoporosis,
      heavy smoker, obesity, reduced patient compliance. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Diagnostic
      arthroscopy of the knee. If the malposition is located at the proximal tibia, an
      extending or flexing high tibial osteotomy with correction of the tibial slope is
      carried out. If the malalignment is referred to the distal femur, the adjustment
      is performed by a distal femoral osteotomy. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: Partial
      weight bearing with 20 kg for the first 6 postoperative weeks. Due to the
      tuberositas tibiae osteotomy, it is necessary to restrict the movement of the
      knee for the first 6 weeks. RESULTS: Between 2015 and 2016, 11 patients (2
      female, 9 male) were treated with a flexion or extension osteotomy of the knee.
      Of these patients, 2 had symptomatic hyperflexion, 7 had restriction of movement
      with an exaggerated tibial slope, and 2 patients had an extension deficiency
      according to a malalignment of the distal femur. After surgery, the symptomatic
      pathologic movement of the knee was improved in every patient. One patient had
      pseudarthrosis during the healing process, which required a second operation with
      reosteosynthesis and bony grafting. These results are also reflected in an
      improvement of the preoperative IKDC score from 52.7 (range 37-82) to 1 year
      postoperative 75.8 (range 67-84). The Lysholm score increased from preoperative
      40.2 (range 15-73) to postoperative 84.3 (range 68-91).

PMID- 28597059
TI  - [Malignant melanoma of the urinary bladder].
AB  - Primary malignant melanoma of the genitourinary tract is a rare lesion. We report
      the case of a 52-year-old man with primary manifestation of metastatic melanoma
      in the bladder. Multimodal therapy with transurethral tumor resection and
      systemic interferon/dacarbazine was not successful and the patient died 18 months
      later. Currently immune checkpoint inhibitors, CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte
      antigen-4) and PD-L1 are currently being tested in phase III studies and show
      long-lasting response in the case of classical melanoma manifestations.

PMID- 28597057
TI  - An L-Glutamine Transporter Isoform for Neurogenesis Facilitated by L-Theanine.
AB  - L-Theanine (=gamma-glutamylethylamide) is an amino acid ingredient in green tea
      with a structural analogy to L-glutamine (L-GLN) rather than L-glutamic acid (L
      GLU), with regards to the absence of a free carboxylic acid moiety from the gamma
      carbon position. L-theanine markedly inhibits [3H]L-GLN uptake without affecting
      [3H]L-GLU uptake in cultured neurons and astroglia. In neural progenitor cells
      with sustained exposure to L-theanine, upregulation of the L-GLN transporter
      isoform Slc38a1 expression and promotion of both proliferation and neuronal
      commitment are seen along with marked acceleration of the phosphorylation of
      mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and relevant downstream proteins. Stable
      overexpression of Slc38a1 leads to promotion of cellular growth with facilitated
      neuronal commitment in pluripotent embryonic carcinoma P19 cells. In P19 cells
      stably overexpressing Slc38a1, marked phosphorylation is seen with mTOR and
      downstream proteins in a fashion insensitive to the additional stimulation by L
      theanine. The green tea amino acid L-theanine could thus elicit pharmacological
      actions to up-regulate Slc38a1 expression for activation of the mTOR signaling
      pathway required for cell growth together with accelerated neurogenesis after
      sustained exposure in undifferentiated neural progenitor cells. In this review, I
      summarize a novel pharmacological property of the green tea amino acid L-theanine
      for embryonic and adult neurogenesis with a focus on the endogenous amino acid
      analog L-GLN. A possible translational strategy is also discussed on the
      development of dietary supplements and nutraceuticals enriched of L-theanine for
      the prophylaxis of a variety of untoward impairments and malfunctions seen in
      patients with different neurodegenerative and/or neuropsychiatric disorders.

PMID- 28597060
TI  - [Early bilateral nephrectomy in neonatal autosomal recessive polycystic kidney
      disease : Improved prognosis or unnecessary effort?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is
      associated with giant kidneys, lung hypoplasia, pulmonal hypertension, and end
      stage renal failure. Depending on the study, mortality is reported to range
      between 20 and 80%. OBJECTIVES: Does bilateral nephrectomy improve survival?
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 2010 and 2016, we treated 7 children with
      prenatally diagnosed ARPKD. All had a planned delivery by cesarean section. After
      birth, oscillated ventilation with nitrogen enrichment was initiated to achieve
      maximum oxygenation and to decrease pumonary hypertension. All children had
      bilateral massive kidney hyperplasia (length 13-16 cm). RESULTS: Nephrectomy on
      one side was performed within 72 h together with placement of a peritoneal
      dialysis catheter in the intensive care unit. Contralateral nephrectomy was
      performed after 1-2 weeks when the child was stabilized by dialysis. In 2
      children, kidney transplantation has already been performed and they are doing
      fine. One child died after 10 months due to infection. The other children are
      stable on home peritoneal dialysis awaiting transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Early
      bilateral nephrectomy in neonatal ARPKD is feasible, but requires distinctive
      care at a pediatric intensive care unit and a high amount of organizational
      efforts to treat these children adequately in the first few days. In our
      experience, the procedure is a promising approach to improve ventilation and
      enable dialysis. However, kidney transplantation, best from a living donor, is
      required within the first years of life.

PMID- 28597061
TI  - Progressive accumulation of autofluorescent granules in macrophages in rat
      striatum after systemic 3-nitropropionic acid: a correlative light- and electron
      microscopic study.
AB  - A variety of tissue biomolecules and intracellular structures are known to be
      autofluorescent. However, autofluorescent signals in brain tissues often confound
      analysis of the fluorescent markers used for immunohistochemistry. While
      investigating tissue and cellular pathologies induced by 3-nitropropionic acid, a
      mitochondrial toxin selective for striatal neurons, we encountered many
      autofluorescent signals confined to the lesion core. These structures were
      excited by blue (wavelength = 488 nm) and yellow-orange (555 nm), but not by red
      (639 nm) or violet (405 nm) lasers, indicating that this autofluorescence
      overlaps with the emission spectra of commonly used fluorophores. Almost all of
      the autofluorescence was localized in activated microglia/macrophages, while
      reactive astrocytes emitted no detectable autofluorescence. Amoeboid brain
      macrophages filled with autofluorescent granules revealed very weak expression of
      the microglial marker, ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1), while
      activated microglia with evident processes and intense Iba1 immunoreactivity
      contained scant autofluorescent granules. In addition, immunolabeling with two
      lysosomal markers, ED1/CD68 and lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1, showed a
      pattern complementary with autofluorescent signals in activated
      microglia/macrophages, implying that the autofluorescent structures reside within
      cytoplasm free of intact lysosomes. A correlative light- and electron-microscopic
      approach finally revealed the ultrastructural identity of the fluorescent
      granules, most of which matched to clusters of lipofuscin-like inclusions with
      varying morphology. Thus, autofluorescence in the damaged brain may reflect the
      presence of lipofuscin-laden brain macrophages, which should be taken into
      account when verifying any fluorescent signals that are likely to be correlated
      with activated microglia/macrophages after brain insults.

PMID- 28597063
TI  - Limited Post-observation Period in Pediatric Outpatient Ultrasound-Guided Liver
      Biopsies.
AB  - PURPOSE: We retrospectively studied whether a limited 2 h post-biopsy observation
      period after a percutaneous outpatient ultrasound-guided liver biopsy is a
      sufficient monitoring period for children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is
      an IRB-approved retrospective cohort review of consecutive outpatient
      percutaneous ultrasound-guided liver biopsies from June 01, 2014, to June 30,
      2016. A total of 198 biopsies in 192 patients (85 females and 113 males)
      underwent an outpatient ultrasound-guided liver biopsy between June 01, 2014, and
      June 30, 2016 (age range 3 weeks-18 years, mean 11.6 years). Outpatient biopsies
      were performed with a limited patient observation time [median (IQR) observation
      2.25 (0.83) h]. RESULTS: Adequate histopathology was obtained in 99% (197/198) of
      cases. Only one case was determined by a pathologist as not sufficient to render
      a diagnosis. 84% (166/198) of the biopsies were performed with a 16G needle, and
      16% (32/198) were performed with an 18G needle. Overall, seven complications were
      detected (3.5% of all biopsies, 7/198) in seven patients. All complications
      detected were minor, 1.5% (3/198) were categorized as SIR A and 2% (4/198) as SIR
      B. The most common complication included pain after biopsy (4/198), followed by
      rash at the biopsy site (3/198). No major complications were detected in our
      sample. CONCLUSION: In a consecutive cohort of children, the use of a limited 2 h
      observation period after an ultrasound-guided percutaneous biopsy was a
      sufficient monitoring period for complications. Additionally, we did not observe
      a high proportion of patients returning for follow-up medical care after
      discharge due to complications.

PMID- 28597064
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Signal Intensity Ratio Measurement Before Uterine Artery
      Embolization: Ability to Predict Fibroid Size Reduction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal
      intensity (SI) ratio between the dominant fibroid and the periphery striated
      muscle can predict fibroid volume reduction >50% after uterine fibroid
      embolization (UFE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From October 2013 until May 2016, 52
      patients were included in this prospective study. The SI ratio before UFE was
      calculated using circular region of interests placed on the dominant fibroid and
      the iliac muscle. The SI fibroid-to-iliac muscle ratio was calculated as SI of
      the dominant fibroid/SI of the iliac muscle on T1-, T2-, and T1 post-contrast
      weighted sequences. The dominant fibroid volume was measured and analyzed before
      and after UFE. RESULTS: In all, 46 patients who completed the three-month follow
      up MRI were available for analysis. The correlation between SI fibroid-to-muscle
      ratio at the T2-weighted sequence and imaging volume reduction outcome was
      statistically significant (p < 0.002). All other parameters showed no
      statistically significant reduction in fibroid volume: (p < 0.68) for SI ratio at
      T1-weighted, (p < 0.13) for SI ratio at T1 post-contrast, and (p < 0.58) for
      fibroid volume. Spearman's rank showed positive correlation (r = 0.439, p <
      0.003) between the fibroid-to-muscle SI ratio on T2-weighted sequence. The area
      under curve (AUC) for SI fibroid-to-muscle ratio on T2-weighted sequence was
      0.776. For the other parameters, the AUC values were 0.512, 0.671, and 0.578,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: SI dominant fibroid-to-muscle ratio at T2-weighted
      sequence before UFE was significantly related to dominant fibroid volume
      reduction after UFE and may be used for better patient selection.

PMID- 28597062
TI  - An anther-specific gene PhGRP is regulated by PhMYC2 and causes male sterility
      when overexpressed in petunia anthers.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: An anther-specific GRP gene, regulated by PhMYC2 , causes a
      significant reduction of male fertility when overexpressed in petunia, and its
      promoter is efficient in genetic engineering of male-sterile lines. Glycine-rich
      proteins (GRPs) play important roles in plant anther development; however, the
      underlying mechanisms and related regulatory networks are poorly understood. In
      this study, a novel glycine-rich family gene designated as PhGRP was isolated
      from Petunia hybrida 'Fantasy Red'. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that it expressed
      specifically in anthers, and its expression peaked earlier than those well-known
      tapetum-specific genes, such as TA29, and several genes with the classic cis
      regulatory element 'anther-box' in petunia during its anther development. The
      male fertility was significantly reduced in PhGRP overexpression lines, due to
      the abnormal formation of pollen wall. The PhGRP promoter (pPhGRP) could drive
      the GUS genes expressing specifically in the anthers of the transgenic
      Arabidopsis plants, indicating that the anther-specific characteristic of this
      promoter was conserved. In addition, when pPhGRP was used to drive the expression
      of BARNASE, complete male-sterile petunia lines were created without changes in
      vegetative organs and floral parts other than anthers. Finally, when pPhGRP was
      used as the bait to screen a yeast-one-hybrid (Y1H) library, a transcription
      factor (PhMYC2) belonging to the bHLH family was successfully selected, and the
      binding between pPhGRP and PhMYC2 was validated both by Y1H and dual-luciferase
      reporter assay. Overall, these results suggest that PhGRP, which is a male
      fertility-related gene that expresses specifically in anthers, is regulated by
      PhMYC2 and whose promoter can be used as an effective tool in the creation of
      male-sterile lines.

PMID- 28597066
TI  - Effects of Fat Grafting Containing Stem Cells in Microstomia and Microcheilia
      Derived from Systemic Sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease with multisystem
      involvement, dominated by a general fibrosis. The early stage of the disease is
      associated with progressive damage to microcirculation, particularly in the
      respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract and skin. The face assumes a
      typical appearance characterized by microstomia (reduction of mouth opening) and
      microcheilia (thinning of the lips). These conditions cause a considerable
      reduction in performance status of patients. We treated them by fat grafting,
      rich in adipose stem cells, and we evaluated through time clinical, functional
      and aesthetic evaluation of oral pathology associated with SSc. MATERIALS AND
      METHOD: From September 2014 to May 2016, we enrolled and treated seven patients
      in the plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery clinic. Through time, we
      evaluated the following parameters: evaluation of mouth opening (maximum opening
      in superior-inferior and lateral directions) and lip thicknesses, both measured
      by doctors of the aforementioned operating unit; variation in the quality of life
      as perceived by patients according to the MHISS scale (Mouth Handicap Systemic
      Sclerosis); variation in severity of labial fibrosis assessed by microscopic
      analysis of pre- and post-fat transfer samples in the pathology clinic; safety of
      the protocol, according to the management of side effects resulting from the
      procedure; aesthetic evaluation, made by external observers and non-experts in
      the field, on pre- and post-operative photographs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We
      reported satisfying results, both functionally and aesthetically, for all
      parameters except one, for which the sample size might have proven critical.
      These data should be a starting point for further experimental research and
      clinical trials. 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- 28597067
TI  - Old Drugs May Be Good Friends but Always Under Prerequisites.

PMID- 28597065
TI  - Cellular and molecular pathways of structural damage in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Structural damage of cartilage and bone tissue is a hallmark of rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). The resulting joint destruction constitutes one of the major
      disease consequences for patients and creates a significant burden for the
      society. The main cells executing bone and cartilage degradation are osteoclasts
      and fibroblast-like synoviocytes, respectively. The function of both cell types
      is heavily influenced by the immune system. In the last decades, research has
      identified several mediators of structural damage, ranging from infiltrating
      immune cells and inflammatory cytokines to autoantibodies. These factors result
      in an inflammatory milieu in the affected joints which leads to an increased
      development and function of osteoclasts and the transformation of fibroblast-like
      synoviocytes towards a highly migratory and destructive phenotype. In addition,
      repair mechanisms mediated by osteoblasts and chondrocytes are strongly impaired
      by the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This article will review the
      current knowledge on the mechanisms of joint inflammation and the destruction of
      bone and cartilage.

PMID- 28597068
TI  - Genetic diversity of human papillomavirus types 35, 45 and 58 in cervical cancer
      in Brazil.
AB  - In Brazil, most studies of intra-type variants of human papillomavirus (HPV) have
      focused on HPV16 and HPV18, but other high-risk HPV types have not been studied.
      Here, we report the prevalence of lineages and variants of HPV35, HPV45 and HPV58
      in cervical cancers from the Amazonian and Southeast Brazilian regions. The most
      frequent sublineages were A1 for HPV35, B2 for HPV45, and A2 for HPV58. The
      Southeast region had a higher frequency of the B2 sublineage of HPV45, and for
      HPV35, the genetic and nucleotide sequence diversity were higher in the Southeast
      region, suggesting that regional factors are influencing the diversity and
      lineage prevalence.

PMID- 28597069
TI  - An updated proposal for classification of infectious salmon anemia virus strains.
AB  - Biological databases contain a wealth of valuable information that can contribute
      to the enrichment of virtually any area. However, the exponential growth of
      information together with its dissemination through virtual networks has become a
      double-edged sword, promoting synonymy that leads to confusion and chaos.
      Organization of data is a big effort that must be accompanied by clarity, both in
      the deposited data and in the publications arising from them. In this report, an
      effort is made to organize the information related to infectious salmon anemia
      virus and its classification based on the variability of genomic segment 6.

PMID- 28597070
TI  - The KISS1 metastasis suppressor appears to reverse the Warburg effect by shifting
      from glycolysis to mitochondrial beta-oxidation.
AB  - : The shift by cancer cells toward aerobic glycolysis (Warburg effect) confers
      selective advantages by utilizing nutrients (e.g., lipids, amino acids, and
      nucleotides) to build biomass. Lipogenesis is generally enhanced, and its
      inhibition diminishes proliferation and survival. Re-expression of the metastasis
      suppressor KISS1 in human melanoma cells results in greater mitochondrial
      biogenesis, inhibition of glycolysis, utilization of beta-oxidation to provide
      energy, elevated oxidation of exogenous fatty acids, and increased expression of
      early-phase lipogenesis genes at both mRNA and protein levels. Correspondingly,
      the energy sensor AMPKbeta is phosphorylated, resulting in inhibitory
      phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), which is linked to enhanced beta
      oxidation. Furthermore, PGC1alpha is required for KISS1-mediated phosphorylation
      of ACC and metastasis suppression. Collectively, these data further support the
      linkages between macromolecular metabolism and metastasis. KEY MESSAGES: * KISS1
      alters fatty acid metabolism. * There may be connections between metastasis and
      metabolism. * PGC1alpha appears to be downstream mediator of KISS1 metastasis
      suppression.

PMID- 28597071
TI  - The novel tool of cell reprogramming for applications in molecular medicine.
AB  - Recent discoveries in the field of stem cell biology have enabled scientists to
      "reprogram" cells from one type to another. For example, it is now possible to
      place adult skin or blood cells in a dish and convert them into neurons, liver,
      or heart cells. It is also possible to literally "rejuvenate" adult cells by
      reprogramming them into embryonic-like stem cells, which in turn can be
      differentiated into every tissue and cell type of the human body. Our ability to
      reprogram cell types has four main implications for medicine: (1) scientists can
      now take skin or blood cells from patients and convert them to other cells to
      study disease processes. This disease modeling approach has the advantage over
      animal models because it is directly based on human patient cells. (2)
      Reprogramming could also be used as a "clinical trial in a dish" to evaluate the
      general efficacy and safety of newly developed drugs on human patient cells
      before they would be tested in animal models or people. (3) In addition, many
      drugs have deleterious side effects like heart arrhythmias in only a small and
      unpredictable subpopulation of patients. Reprogramming could facilitate precision
      medicine by testing the safety of already approved drugs first on reprogrammed
      patient cells in a personalized manner prior to administration. For example,
      drugs known to sometimes cause arrhythmias could be first tested on reprogrammed
      heart cells from individual patients. (4) Finally, reprogramming allows the
      generation of new tissues that could be grafted therapeutically to regenerate
      lost or damaged cells.

PMID- 28597073
TI  - Beta cell heterogeneity: an evolving concept.
AB  - Beta cells are primarily defined by their ability to produce insulin and secrete
      it in response to appropriate stimuli. It has been known for some time, however,
      that beta cells are not functionally identical to each other and that the rates
      of insulin synthesis and release differ from cell to cell, although the
      functional significance of this variability remains unclear. Recent studies have
      used heterogeneous gene expression to isolate and evaluate different
      subpopulations of beta cells and to demonstrate alterations in these
      subpopulations in diabetes. In the last few years, novel technologies have
      emerged that permit the detailed evaluation of the proteome (e.g. time-of-flight
      mass spectroscopy, [CyTOF]) and transcriptome (e.g. massively parallel RNA
      sequencing) at the single-cell level, and tools for single beta cell metabolomics
      and epigenomics are quickly maturing. The first wave of single beta cell proteome
      and transcriptome studies were published in 2016, giving a glimpse into the
      power, but also the limitations, of these approaches. Despite this progress, it
      remains unclear if the observed heterogeneity of beta cells represents stable,
      distinct beta cell types or, alternatively, highly dynamic beta cell states. Here
      we provide a concise overview of recent developments in the emerging field of
      beta cell heterogeneity and the implications for our understanding of beta cell
      biology and pathology.

PMID- 28597074
TI  - Early metabolic markers identify potential targets for the prevention of type 2
      diabetes.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aims of this study were to evaluate systematically the
      predictive power of comprehensive metabolomics profiles in predicting the future
      risk of type 2 diabetes, and to identify a panel of the most predictive metabolic
      markers. METHODS: We applied an unbiased systems medicine approach to mine
      metabolite combinations that provide added value in predicting the future
      incidence of type 2 diabetes beyond known risk factors. We performed mass
      spectrometry-based targeted, as well as global untargeted, metabolomics,
      measuring a total of 568 metabolites, in a Finnish cohort of 543 non-diabetic
      individuals from the Botnia Prospective Study, which included 146 individuals who
      progressed to type 2 diabetes by the end of a 10 year follow-up period.
      Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess statistical associations, and
      regularised least-squares modelling was used to perform machine learning-based
      risk classification and marker selection. The predictive performance of the
      machine learning models and marker panels was evaluated using repeated nested
      cross-validation, and replicated in an independent French cohort of 1044
      individuals including 231 participants who progressed to type 2 diabetes during a
      9 year follow-up period in the DESIR (Data from an Epidemiological Study on the
      Insulin Resistance Syndrome) study. RESULTS: Nine metabolites were negatively
      associated (potentially protective) and 25 were positively associated with
      progression to type 2 diabetes. Machine learning models based on the entire
      metabolome predicted progression to type 2 diabetes (area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve, AUC = 0.77) significantly better than the
      reference model based on clinical risk factors alone (AUC = 0.68; DeLong's p =
      0.0009). The panel of metabolic markers selected by the machine learning-based
      feature selection also significantly improved the predictive performance over the
      reference model (AUC = 0.78; p = 0.00019; integrated discrimination improvement,
      IDI = 66.7%). This approach identified novel predictive biomarkers, such as alpha
      tocopherol, bradykinin hydroxyproline, X-12063 and X-13435, which showed added
      value in predicting progression to type 2 diabetes when combined with known
      biomarkers such as glucose, mannose and alpha-hydroxybutyrate and routinely used
      clinical risk factors. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: This study provides a panel of
      novel metabolic markers for future efforts aimed at the prevention of type 2
      diabetes.

PMID- 28597075
TI  - Improved pregnancy outcomes in women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes but
      substantial clinic-to-clinic variations: a prospective nationwide study.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this prospective nationwide study was to examine
      antenatal pregnancy care and pregnancy outcomes in women with type 1 and type 2
      diabetes, and to describe changes since 2002/2003. METHODS: This national
      population-based cohort included 3036 pregnant women with diabetes from 155
      maternity clinics in England and Wales who delivered during 2015. The main
      outcome measures were maternal glycaemic control, preterm delivery (before 37
      weeks), infant large for gestational age (LGA), and rates of congenital anomaly,
      stillbirth and neonatal death. RESULTS: Of 3036 women, 1563 (51%) had type 1,
      1386 (46%) had type 2 and 87 (3%) had other types of diabetes. The percentage of
      women achieving HbA1c < 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) in early pregnancy varied greatly
      between clinics (median [interquartile range] 14.3% [7.7-22.2] for type 1, 37.0%
      [27.3-46.2] for type 2). The number of infants born preterm (21.7% vs 39.7%) and
      LGA (23.9% vs 46.4%) were lower for women with type 2 compared with type 1
      diabetes (both p < 0.001). The prevalence rates for congenital anomaly (46.2/1000
      births for type 1, 34.6/1000 births for type 2) and neonatal death (8.1/1000
      births for type 1, 11.4/1000 births for type 2) were unchanged since 2002/2003.
      Stillbirth rates are almost 2.5 times lower than in 2002/2003 (10.7 vs 25.8/1000
      births for type 1, p = 0.0012; 10.5 vs 29.2/1000 births for type 2, p = 0.0091).
      CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Stillbirth rates among women with type 1 and type 2
      diabetes have decreased since 2002/2003. Rates of preterm delivery and LGA
      infants are lower in women with type 2 compared with type 1 diabetes. In women
      with type 1 diabetes, suboptimal glucose control and high rates of perinatal
      morbidity persist with substantial variations between clinics. DATA AVAILABILITY:
      Further details of the data collection methodology, individual clinic data and
      the full audit reports for healthcare professionals and service users are
      available from http://content.digital.nhs.uk/npid .

PMID- 28597072
TI  - Normal and altered pre-mRNA processing in the DMD gene.
AB  - Splicing of pre-mRNA is a crucial regulatory stage in the pathway of gene
      expression controlled by multiple post- and co-transcriptional mechanisms. The
      large Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene encoding the protein dystrophin provides a
      striking example of the complexity of human pre-mRNAs. In this review, we
      summarize the current state of knowledge about canonical and non-canonical
      splicing in the DMD pre-mRNA, with a focus on mechanisms that take place in the
      full-length transcript isoform expressed in human skeletal muscle. In particular,
      we highlight recent work demonstrating that multi-step events are required for
      long DMD intron removal. The role of temporary intron retention in the occurrence
      of alternative splicing events is also discussed. Even though the proportion of
      splicing mutations is lower than reported in other genes, a great diversity of
      splicing defects linked to point mutations, but also large genomic rearrangements
      are observed in the DMD gene. We provide an overview of the molecular mechanisms
      underlying aberrant splicing in patients with Duchenne or Becker muscular
      dystrophy, and we also detail how alternative splicing can serve as a disease
      modifier in patients by changing the outcome of the primary defect.

PMID- 28597077
TI  - Is Rosai-Dorfman disease a reactve process? Detection of a MAP2K1 L115V mutation
      in a case of Rosai-Dorfman disease.

PMID- 28597076
TI  - Juxtapapillary and circumpapillary choroidal melanoma: globe-sparing treatment
      outcomes with iodine-125 notched plaque brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Managing juxtapapillary and circumpapillary choroidal melanoma with
      brachytherapy is challenging because of technical complications with accurate
      plaque placement and high radiation toxicity given tumor proximity to the optic
      nerve. We evaluated our center's experience using ultrasound-guided, Iodine (I)
      125 notched plaque brachytherapy for treating choroidal melanoma contiguous with
      (juxtapapillary) and at least partially surrounding the optic disc
      (circumpapillary). METHODS: All cases of choroidal melanoma treated with I-125
      notched plaque brachytherapy at our center from September 2003-December 2013 were
      retrospectively reviewed. Only patients with >=18 months of follow-up who had
      lesions contiguous with the optic disc (0 mm of separation) were included. The
      tumor apex prescription dose was 85 Gy. Outcomes evaluated included local
      control, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS),
      overall survival (OS), visual acuity, and radiation toxicity. RESULTS: Thirty
      four patients were included with a median follow-up of 44.1 months (range 18.2
      129.0). AJCC T-category was T1 in 58.8%, T2 in 26.5%, and T3 in 14.7%. Median
      circumferential optic disc involvement was 50% (range 10%-100%). Eye retention
      was achieved in 94.1%. Actuarial 2- and 4-year rates of local recurrence were
      3.1% and 7.6%, DMFS were 97.0% and 88.5%, CSS were 97.0% and 92.8%, and OS were
      97.0% and 88.9%, respectively. In addition, 23.5% had visual acuity >=20/200 at
      last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: I-125 notched plaque brachytherapy provides high eye
      preservation rates with acceptable longer-term post-treatment visual outcomes.
      Based on our experience, choroidal melanoma directly contiguous with and
      partially encasing the optic disc may be effectively treated with this technique.

PMID- 28597078
TI  - Spectrum of genetic mutations in de novo PUNLMP of the urinary bladder.
AB  - Our group and others have previously demonstrated the presence of TERT promoter
      mutations (TERT-mut) in 60-80% of urothelial carcinomas and some of their
      histologic variants. Five other genes have been frequently implicated in bladder
      cancer: FGRF3, TP53, PIK3CA, HRAS, and CDKN2A. In the current study, we sought to
      determine the prevalence of mutations in TERT and these five other genes in de
      novo papillary urothelial neoplasms of low malignant potential (PUNLMP) of the
      urinary bladder. A retrospective search of our archives for PUNLMP was performed
      and 30 de novo cases were identified and included in the study. We found
      mutations in TERT (TERT-mut) and FGFR3 (FGFR3-mut) to be the most common
      alterations in the cohort (63 and 60%, respectively). The majority of the TERT
      mut-positive tumors (84%) had a g.1295228C > T alteration with the remaining
      tumors demonstrating g.1295250C > T. Approximately one fourth of tumors had TP53
      mutations. These findings support the potential utility of a uniform genetic
      mutation panel to detect bladder cancers of various subtypes.

PMID- 28597079
TI  - MEN1 mutations and potentially MEN1-targeting miRNAs are responsible for menin
      deficiency in sporadic and MEN1 syndrome-associated primary hyperparathyroidism.
AB  - Inherited, germline mutations of menin-coding MEN1 gene cause multiple endocrine
      neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), while somatic MEN1 mutations are the sole main driver
      mutations in sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), suggesting that menin
      deficiency has a central role in the pathogenesis of PHPT. MiRNAs are small,
      noncoding RNAs posttranscriptionally regulating gene expression. Our aim was to
      investigate both the role of MEN1 mutations and potentially MEN1-targeting miRNAs
      as the underlying cause of menin deficiency in MEN1-associated and sporadic PHPT
      tissues. Fifty six PHPT tissues, including 16 MEN1-associated tissues, were
      evaluated. Diagnosis of MEN1 syndrome was based on identification of germline
      MEN1 mutations. In silico target prediction was used to identify miRNAs
      potentially targeting MEN1. Menin expression was determined by
      immunohistochemistry while expression of miRNAs was analyzed by quantitative real
      time PCR. Sporadic PHPT tissues were subjected to somatic MEN1 mutation analysis
      as well. Lack of nuclear menin was identified in all MEN1-associated and in 28%
      of sporadic PHPT tissues. Somatic MEN1 mutations were found in 25% of sporadic
      PHPTs. The sensitivity and specificity of menin immunohistochemistry to detect a
      MEN1 mutation were 86 and 87%, respectively. Expression levels of hsa-miR-24 and
      hsa-miR-28 were higher in sporadic compared to MEN1-associated PHPT tissues;
      however, no difference in miRNA levels occurred between menin-positive and menin
      negative PHPT tissues. Menin deficiency is the consequence of a MEN1 mutation in
      most menin-negative PHPT tissues. Elevated expression of hsa-miR-24 and hsa-miR
      28 mark the first epigenetic changes observed between sporadic and MEN1
      associated PHPT.

PMID- 28597080
TI  - Intratumoral Fusobacterium nucleatum abundance correlates with macrophage
      infiltration and CDKN2A methylation in microsatellite-unstable colorectal
      carcinoma.
AB  - Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), a specific species of gut microbiota, has been
      suggested to be enriched in the microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) molecular
      subtype of colorectal carcinomas (CRCs). However, the clinicopathologic and
      molecular factors that interact with Fn in MSI-H CRCs are poorly understood. In
      this study, 16S ribosomal RNA gene DNA sequence of Fn was quantitatively measured
      by real-time polymerase chain reaction in tumor DNA samples from a total of 160
      surgically resected MSI-H CRC tissues. Each case was classified into one of the
      three categories based on the Fn DNA amount: Fn-high, Fn-low, and Fn-negative.
      The clinicopathologic and molecular associations of Fn in MSI-H CRCs were
      statistically analyzed. Among the 160 MSI-H CRC samples, 15 (9%), 92 (58%), and
      53 (33%) cases were Fn-high, Fn-low, and Fn-negative, respectively. Compared with
      Fn-low/negative tumors, Fn-high MSI-H CRCs were significantly associated with a
      high density of CD68+ tumor-infiltrating macrophages (P = 0.019) and promoter CpG
      island hypermethylation of the CDKN2A (p16) gene (P = 0.008). There were also
      tendencies toward associations of Fn-high with the BRAF V600E mutation (P =
      0.047) and active Crohn-like lymphoid reactions (P = 0.052) in MSI-H CRCs.
      However, Fn-high was not significantly associated with CD3+ T cell density,
      CD163+ M2 macrophage density or PD-L1 expression status. In conclusion, high
      amounts of intratumoral Fn are correlated with increased macrophage infiltration
      and CDKN2A promoter methylation in MSI-H CRCs.

PMID- 28597081
TI  - Effects of bright and blue light on acoustic reaction time and maximum handgrip
      strength in male athletes: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess which type of evening light exposure has the greatest effect
      on reaction time and maximum handgrip strength. These were pre-specified
      secondary outcomes in a trial which primarily investigated the influence of light
      on cycling performance. METHODS: Seventy-four male athletes were allocated at
      random to either bright light (BRIGHT), monochromatic blue light (BLUE), or a
      control condition (CONTROL). Light exposure lasted for 60 min and started 17 h
      after the individual midpoint of sleep. Reaction time, handgrip strength, and
      melatonin levels were measured before and after the light exposure. We used
      analysis of covariance to compare the groups with respect to the investigated
      outcomes. RESULTS: Two participants had to be excluded retrospectively. The
      remaining 72 participants had a median age of 23 years. The adjusted difference
      in reaction time was -1 ms [95% confidence interval (CI) -8, 6] for participants
      in BRIGHT and 2 ms (95% CI -5, 9) for participants in BLUE, both relative to
      participants in CONTROL. The adjusted difference in handgrip strength was 0.9 kg
      (95% CI -1.5, 3.3) for participants in BRIGHT and -0.3 kg (95% CI -2.7, 2.0) for
      participants in BLUE, both relative to participants in CONTROL. After the light
      exposure, 17% of participants in BRIGHT, 22% in BLUE, and 29% in CONTROL showed
      melatonin concentrations of 2 pg/ml or higher. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest
      that bright light might reduce melatonin levels but neither bright nor blue light
      exposure in the evening seem to improve reaction time or handgrip strength in
      athletes.

PMID- 28597082
TI  - [Difficulties with children of abnormal weight].

PMID- 28597084
TI  - [Current state and perspectives in university pathology].

PMID- 28597083
TI  - Anal fistula surgery: what are the patients expecting from the surgeon?

PMID- 28597085
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597086
TI  - Influence of a Former Mining Area in the Heavy Metals Concentrations in Blood of
      Free-Living Mediterranean Pond Turtles (Mauremys leprosa).
AB  - The objective of this study was to assess metal exposure in the Mediterranean
      Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa) inhabiting a watercourse in an ancient mining
      district polluted by different metals ("Rambla de Las Moreras", southeastern
      Spain) and included in the Ramsar Convention. For this purpose, mercury (Hg),
      lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) were analysed in blood samples
      from 42 M. leprosa healthy adults (27 males and 13 females). The highest median
      concentrations were found for Zn, followed by Cu, Pb, Hg and Cd (366, 33, 9, 0.83
      and 0.14 ug/dL, respectively). Although the literature regarding toxic metals in
      freshwater turtles is relatively scarce, Pb may cause deleterious effects in our
      population. In general, males presented higher levels than females, which could
      be due to maternal transfer during egg formation. The significant correlations
      between Cu-Cd and Cu-Hg suggest the implication of an efficient mechanism of
      detoxification involving metallothioneins.

PMID- 28597087
TI  - Phylogenetic and pathogenic characterization of a pigeon paramyxovirus type 1
      isolate reveals cross-species transmission and potential outbreak risks in the
      northwest region of China.
AB  - Pigeon paramyxovirus type-1 (PPMV-1) is enzootic in pigeons, causing severe
      economic loss in the poultry industry in many countries. However, the exact
      epidemic process of PPMV-1 transmission is still unclear. In this study, we
      analyzed the complete genome of the PPMV-1/SX-01/15 isolate. Sequence results
      show that the virus genome contains 15,192 nucleotides, with the gene order 3'-NP
      P-M-F-HN-L-5'. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this genome belongs to
      subgenotype VIc in class II. The mean death time (MDT) and intracerebral
      pathogenicity index (ICPI) were 62.4 h and 1.13, respectively, indicating that
      this isolate is a mesogenic PPMV-1 strain. To our knowledge, this is the first
      report of a subgenotype VIc mesogenic PPMV-1 strain circulating in commercial
      pigeon flocks in the northwest region of China. In a comparative infection
      experiment, the morbidity and mortality rates were 100% and 80%, respectively, in
      4-week-old pigeons, whereas they were 50% and 30%, respectively, in 5-week-old
      chickens. Furthermore, this virus caused severe neurological symptoms in a 4-week
      old pigeon and mild neurological symptoms in a 5-week-old chicken. A
      histopathological examination of the brain showed a classical nonsuppurative
      encephalitis lesion. The pattern of viral shedding, and viral load, and virus
      distribution differed between infected chickens and pigeons. Genomic
      characteristics suggest that there was cross-species transmission of PPMV-1
      subgenotype VIc in this region at least from the years 2006 to 2015.

PMID- 28597088
TI  - Viral polymerase inhibitors T-705 and T-1105 are potential inhibitors of Zika
      virus replication.
AB  - Since 2015, 69 countries and territories have reported evidence of vector-borne
      Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission. Currently, there are no effective licensed
      vaccines or drugs available for the treatment or prevention of ZIKV infection. We
      tested a series of compounds for their ability to inhibit ZIKV replication in
      cell culture. The compounds in T-705 (favipiravir) and T-1105 were found to have
      antiviral activity, suggesting that these compounds are promising candidates for
      further development as specific antiviral drugs against ZIKV.

PMID- 28597089
TI  - VOSalophen: a vanadium complex with a stilbene derivative-induction of apoptosis,
      autophagy, and efficiency in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis.
AB  - In our previous work, we demonstrated the promising in vitro effect of
      VOSalophen, a vanadium complex with a stilbene derivative, against Leishmania
      amazonensis. Its antileishmanial activity has been associated with oxidative
      stress in L. amazonensis promastigotes and L. amazonensis-infected macrophages.
      In the present study, the mechanism involved in the death of parasites after
      treatment with VOSalophen, as well as in vivo effect in the murine model
      cutaneous leishmaniasis, has been investigated. Promastigotes of L. amazonensis
      treated with VOSalophen presented apoptotic cells features, such as cell volume
      decrease, phosphatidylserine externalization, and DNA fragmentation. An increase
      in autophagic vacuoles formation in treated promastigotes was also observed,
      showing that autophagy also may be involved in the death of these parasites. In
      intracellular amastigotes, DNA fragmentation was observed after treatment with
      VOSalophen, but this effect was not observed in host cells, highlighting the
      selective effect of this vanadium complex. In addition, VOSalophen showed
      activity in the murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis, without hepatic and
      renal damages. The outcome described here points out that VOSalophen had
      promising antileishmanial properties and these data also contribute to the
      understanding of the mechanisms involved in the death of protozoa induced by
      metal complexes.

PMID- 28597090
TI  - Ethnic and Gender Differences in Preferred Activities among Maori and non-Maori
      of Advanced age in New Zealand.
AB  - This study explored active aging for older Maori and non-Maori by examining their
      self-nominated important everyday activities. The project formed part of the
      first wave of a longitudinal cohort study of aging well in New Zealand. Maori
      aged 80 to 90 and non-Maori aged 85 were recruited. Of the 937 participants
      enrolled, 649 answered an open question about their three most important
      activities. Responses were coded under the World Health Organization's
      International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF),
      Activities and Participation domains. Data were analyzed by ethnicity and gender
      for first in importance, and all important activities. Activity preferences for
      Maori featured gardening, reading, walking, cleaning the home, organized
      religious activities, sports, extended family relationships, and watching
      television. Gendered differences were evident with walking and fitness being of
      primary importance for Maori men, and gardening for Maori women. Somewhat
      similar, activity preferences for non-Maori featured gardening, reading, and
      sports. Again, gendered differences showed for non-Maori, with sports being of
      first importance to men, and reading to women. Factor analysis was used to
      examine the latent structural fit with the ICF and whether it differed for Maori
      and non-Maori. For Maori, leisure and household activities, spiritual activities
      and interpersonal interactions, and communicating with others and doing domestic
      activities were revealed as underlying structure; compared to self-care, sleep
      and singing, leisure and work, and domestic activities and learning for non
      Maori. These findings reveal fundamental ethnic divergences in preferences for
      active aging with implications for enabling participation, support provision and
      community design.

PMID- 28597091
TI  - Prognosis After Sublobar Resection of Small-sized Non-small Cell Lung Cancer with
      Visceral Pleural or Lymphovascular Invasion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although standard surgical treatment of stage I non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC) is lobectomy, sublobar resection may be elected for small-sized
      (<=2 cm) peripheral tumors. Our aim was examine the need for completion lobectomy
      in the event of confirmed pleural or lymphovascular invasion after sublobar
      resection of NSCLC. METHODS: A total of 271 consecutive patients undergoing
      curative resection of stage I NSCLC <=2 cm were reviewed retrospectively,
      analyzing clinicopathologic findings and survival times of those with invasion
      positive (visceral pleural or lymphovascular invasion) or invasion-negative
      (neither visceral pleural nor lymphovascular invasion) tumors by surgical
      approach (sublobar resection vs lobectomy). RESULTS: Aside from age and pulmonary
      function, clinicopathologic characteristics of the patient subsets did not differ
      significantly, nor did 5-year recurrence-free survival rates of surgical subsets
      (sublobar resection vs lobectomy) in respective tumor groups (invasion-positive
      78.9 vs 79.8%, p = 0.928; invasion-negative 80.2 vs 85.4%, p = 0.505). In
      multivariate analysis, dissected lymph node count was the sole parameter
      significantly impacting recurrence of stage I invasion-positive NSCLC (hazard
      ratio = 0.914, 95% confidence interval 0.845-0.988; p = 0.023). Sublobar
      resection was not a risk factor for recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Survival rates for
      patients with small-sized (<=2 cm) NSCLC and visceral pleural or lymphovascular
      invasion did not differ significantly, whether sublobar resection or lobectomy
      was done. Hence, completion lobectomy is unnecessary in this setting.

PMID- 28597094
TI  - [Autopsy in oncology : Treatment validation in cancer centers and clinical cancer
      registries].
AB  - The legal recognition of autopsy as a tool of quality assurance will strengthen
      its importance especially in the care of cancer patients. However, this
      confidence is relativized by the consideration of the assessment of the autopsy
      in various effective nonlegislative regulations. This consideration shows that in
      contrast to earlier years autopsy does not play a major role in the most
      important programs for the certification of cancer centers or for clinical cancer
      registration. If clinical autopsy is to play a more important role in the future,
      then in addition to improving and standardizing its quality the implementation
      into these systems of quality management is indispensable.

PMID- 28597092
TI  - Factors associated with changes in health-related quality of life in children
      with cystic fibrosis during 1-year follow-up.
AB  - : There are limited data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) changes over
      time in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). We investigated associations between
      clinical and treatment variables with changes in HRQoL during 1 year. Forty-nine
      children with CF aged 6-18 years were followed in this multicentre, observational
      cohort study during 1 year. HRQoL was measured by the validated disease specific
      cystic fibrosis questionnaire-revised (CFQ-R). The CFQ-R total score as well as
      most domain scores improved significantly (8.0 points and [3.3-31.7] points
      respectively) during the one-year follow-up. Age at baseline demonstrated a
      strong longitudinal association with the change of CFQ-R total score (2.853
      points decrease of CFQ-R total score per year increase in age) and several domain
      scores. Below 12 years of age, CFQ-R total score improved in most children,
      whereas a deterioration was observed in most children above 12 years. The number
      of PEx was associated with an increase of treatment burden score (4.466 points
      decrease per extra PEx). CONCLUSION: In the group as a whole, HRQoL improved
      significantly over time. However, changes over time were significantly influenced
      by age: below 12 years of age, HRQoL improved in most patients whereas a
      deterioration was observed in most children >12 years. Strategies how to preserve
      or ideally to improve HRQoL in adolescence should be developed. What is known: *
      Quality of life in patient with CF is diminished * Although CF is a chronic
      disease, longitudinal data on QoL in children with CF are scarce. What is new: *
      Below 12 years of age, quality of life improved in most children during the 1
      year follow-up whereas a deterioration in quality of life was observed in most
      children above 12 years. * the treatment burden score of QoL correlated with the
      exacerbation rate.

PMID- 28597093
TI  - [Pediatric salivary gland tumors and tumor-like lesions].
AB  - Salivary gland tumors and tumor-like lesions in the pediatric population are
      uncommon. They comprise a heterogeneous group of infectious/inflammatory and
      neoplastic conditions. Pediatric salivary neoplasms include benign tumors of
      mesenchymal or epithelial origin as well as malignancies of epithelial
      (carcinomas), mesenchymal (sarcoma) or hematolymphoid (lymphoma) derivation.
      Infectious/inflammatory conditions and hematolymphoid malignancies may represent
      either genuine parenchymal pathology or conditions involving intraglandular lymph
      nodes of the parotid glands (intraglandular lymphadenopathy and intraglandular
      nodal lymphomas). Pediatric sialadenitis may be of diverse etiologies including
      viral (mumps, CMV, HIV, etc.), bacterial, autoimmune (juvenile Sjogren syndrome)
      or idiopathic (chronic recurrent juvenile sialectatic sialadenitis). Angiomatous
      lesions (juvenile capillary hemangioma, lymphangioma and vascular malformation)
      and pleomorphic adenomas represent the most common pediatric benign mesenchymal
      and benign epithelial tumors, respectively. The vast majority of salivary gland
      carcinomas in children and adolescents represent low-grade mucoepidermoid
      carcinomas followed by acinic cell and adenoid cystic carcinomas (together >80%
      of carcinomas). Other malignant neoplasms include (rhabdomyo-) sarcomas,
      malignant lymphomas and very rarely sialoblastomas. This long differential
      diagnosis list of etiologically and biologically highly heterogeneous entities,
      their shared clinical presentation as "salivary gland enlargement" and the
      significant differences in their therapeutic strategies and prognosis underline
      the need for careful assessment to identify the correct diagnosis. Diagnosis is
      mainly based on a set of typical clinical and imaging features,
      serological/microbiological findings and, in selected cases, histomorphological
      characteristics in biopsy specimens.

PMID- 28597095
TI  - Natural and anthropic effects on hydrochemistry and major and trace elements in
      the water mass of a Spanish Pyrenean glacial lake set.
AB  - This study presents the key hydrochemical characteristics and concentration
      levels of major (Ca, Mg, Na, Si, K, Sr, Fe) and trace (Ba, Sc, Cr, Mn, Al, As,
      Li, Co, Cu, U, Pb, Hg, Au, Sn, Zn, Cd, Ag, Ni) elements in the water mass of four
      selected Pyrenean cirque glacial lakes (Sabocos, Banos, Truchas and Escalar
      tarns) with different catchment features, between 2010 and 2013. Resulting data
      set is statistically analyzed to discriminate between the natural or anthropic
      origin of the elements. Analyses indicate that in all cases, the main source of
      most major and trace elements is geological weathering, being thus individual
      bedrock composition the main driver of differences between lakes. Several
      anthropogenic sources of airborne Cu, Sc, Co, and Cr must be also considered. The
      shallowness of the lake is also a factor that may influence element cycling and
      concentration levels in its water mass. Concentrations of anthropogenic elements
      were low, comparable to those reported in other glacial lakes, way below the WHO,
      US EPA, EC, and Spanish legal limits for drinking water quality, indicating the
      absence of serious pollution. Toxic heavy metals Cd, Pb, Hg, and Zn were not
      detected in any of the tarns.

PMID- 28597096
TI  - A social choice-based methodology for treated wastewater reuse in urban and
      suburban areas.
AB  - Reusing treated wastewater for supplying water demands such as landscape and
      agricultural irrigation in urban and suburban areas has become a major water
      supply approach especially in regions struggling with water shortage. Due to
      limited available treated wastewater to satisfy all water demands, conflicts may
      arise in allocating treated wastewater to water users. Since there is usually
      more than one decision maker and more than one criterion to measure the impact of
      each water allocation scenario, effective tools are needed to combine individual
      preferences to reach a collective decision. In this paper, a new social choice
      (SC) method, which can consider some indifference thresholds for decision makers,
      is proposed for evaluating and ranking treated wastewater and urban runoff
      allocation scenarios to water users in urban and suburban areas. Some SC methods,
      namely plurality voting, Borda count, pairwise comparisons, Hare system,
      dictatorship, and approval voting, are applied for comparing and evaluating the
      results. Different scenarios are proposed for allocating treated wastewater and
      urban runoff to landscape irrigation, agricultural lands as well as artificial
      recharge of aquifer in the Tehran metropolitan Area, Iran. The main stakeholders
      rank the proposed scenarios based on their utilities using two different
      approaches. The proposed method suggests ranking of the scenarios based on the
      stakeholders' utilities and considering the scores they assigned to each
      scenario. Comparing the results of the proposed method with those of six
      different SC methods shows that the obtained ranks are mostly in compliance with
      the social welfare.

PMID- 28597097
TI  - Does trade openness affect CO2 emissions: evidence from ten newly industrialized
      countries?
AB  - This paper examines whether the hypothetical environmental Kuznet curve (EKC)
      exists or not and investigates how trade openness affects CO2 emissions, together
      with real GDP and total primary energy consumption. The study sample comprises
      ten newly industrialized countries (NICs-10) from 1971 to 2013. The results
      support the existence of hypothetical EKC and indicate that trade openness
      negatively and significantly affects emissions, while real GDP and energy do
      positive effects of emissions. Moreover, the empirical results of short-run
      causalities indicate feedback hypothetical linkage of real GDP and trade,
      unidirectional linkages from energy to emissions, and from trade to energy. The
      error correction terms (ECTs) reveal in the long run, feedback linkages of
      emissions, real GDP, and trade openness, while energy Granger causes emissions,
      real GDP, and trade, respectively. The study recommendations are that our
      policymakers should encourage and expand the trade openness in these countries,
      not only to restrain CO2 emissions but also to boost their growth.

PMID- 28597099
TI  - Commentary on: Men and women show similar survival rates after breast cancer.

PMID- 28597098
TI  - Maximized complexity in miniaturized brains: morphology and distribution of
      octopaminergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons in the parasitic wasp,
      Trichogramma evanescens.
AB  - The parasitic wasp, Trichogramma evanescens, is an extremely small insect, with a
      body length as small as 0.3 mm. To facilitate this miniaturization, their brains
      may have evolved to contain smaller neural components and/or reduced neural
      complexity than larger insects. Here, we study whether the size and number of
      neurons are reduced in the miniaturized brain of T. evanescens, focusing on
      neurons that express serotonin (5HT), octopamine (OA) and dopamine (DA). We
      provide the first description of the distribution, projection patterns and number
      of 5HT-, OA- and DA-like immunoreactive cell bodies in T. evanescens and compare
      our observations with descriptions of much larger insects. The brains of T.
      evanescens contain comparable numbers of monoaminergic neurons to those of larger
      insects. Serotonergic neurons appear to be especially conserved; most of the
      clusters contain a similar number of neurons to those described in Apis mellifera
      and Drosophila melanogaster. This maintained complexity may have been facilitated
      by miniaturization of neuron size. However, many dopaminergic and some
      octopaminergic neuron clusters in T. evanescens contain fewer neurons than in
      larger insects. Modification of the complexity of these monoaminergic systems may
      have been necessary to maintain neuron functionality during brain miniaturization
      in T. evanescens. Our results reveal some of the evolutionary adaptations that
      may enable behavioural and cognitive complexity with respect to miniaturized
      brains.

PMID- 28597101
TI  - Erratum to: GABA content within medial prefrontal cortex predicts the variability
      of fronto-limbic effective connectivity.

PMID- 28597100
TI  - Sucrose-induced plasticity in the basolateral amygdala in a 'comfort' feeding
      paradigm.
AB  - A history of intermittent, limited sucrose intake (LSI) attenuates the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis stress response, and neuronal
      activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is necessary for this HPA-dampening.
      LSI increases the expression of plasticity-associated genes in the BLA; however,
      the nature of this plasticity is unknown. As BLA principal neuron activity
      normally promotes HPA responses, the present study tests the hypothesis that LSI
      decreases stress-excitatory BLA output by decreasing glutamatergic and/or
      increasing GABAergic inputs to BLA principal neurons. Male rats with unlimited
      access to chow and water were given additional access to 4 ml of sucrose (30%) or
      water twice daily for 14 days, and BLA structural and functional plasticity was
      assessed by quantitative dual immunolabeling and whole-cell recordings in brain
      slices. LSI increased vesicular glutamate transporter 1-positive (glutamatergic)
      appositions onto parvalbumin-positive inhibitory interneurons, and this was
      accompanied by increased expression of pCREB, a marker of neuronal activation
      that is mechanistically linked with plasticity, within parvalbumin interneurons.
      LSI also increased the paired-pulse facilitation of excitatory, but not
      inhibitory synaptic inputs to BLA principal neurons, without affecting
      postsynaptic excitatory or miniature excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic
      currents, suggesting a targeted decrease in the probability of evoked synaptic
      excitation onto these neurons. Collectively, these results suggest that LSI
      decreases BLA principal neuron output by increasing the excitatory drive to
      parvalbumin inhibitory interneurons, and decreasing the probability of evoked
      presynaptic glutamate release onto principal neurons. Our data further imply that
      palatable food consumption blunts HPA stress responses by decreasing the
      excitation-inhibition balance and attenuating BLA output.

PMID- 28597102
TI  - Effects of progressive resistance training and weight loss versus weight loss
      alone on inflammatory and endothelial biomarkers in older adults with type 2
      diabetes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Type 2 diabetes has been associated with an increase in inflammatory and
      endothelial biomarkers, which are associated with an increased risk of
      cardiovascular disease and diabetes-related complications. This study examined
      the effects of high-intensity progressive resistance training (PRT) with moderate
      weight loss (WL) versus WL alone on inflammatory and endothelial biomarkers in
      older overweight adults with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This was a 12-month
      randomized controlled trial in which 36 inactive, overweight adults aged 60-80
      years with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes were randomized to 6 months of
      supervised PRT + WL or stretching (sham) exercise plus WL followed by 6 months of
      home-training without dietary modification. Fasted blood samples were collected
      at baseline and subsequent 3-month intervals with the following inflammatory
      [interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, adiponectin] and
      endothelial markers [resistin and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1)]
      assessed. RESULTS: No significant within-group changes or between-group
      differences were detected for any inflammatory or endothelial biomarker following
      the 6-month supervised exercise and WL phase. There was a greater reduction in IL
      10 at 9 months in the PRT + WL relative to WL group (P = 0.033). There was also a
      greater reduction in TNF-alpha at 9 and 12 months in the PRT + WL relative to WL
      group (P = 0.026 and P = 0.024, respectively). Serum adiponectin increased in the
      PRT + WL relative to WL group after 12 months (P = 0.036). All results were
      adjusted for baseline values, age, weight, sex, diabetes duration, medication use
      and any change in medication. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term participation in PRT,
      independent of change in weight, can result in some improvements in certain
      inflammatory markers in older overweight adults with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28597103
TI  - The effects of strength training versus ski-ergometer training on double-poling
      capacity of elite junior cross-country skiers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the effects of strength training versus ski-ergometer
      training on double-poling gross efficiency (GE), maximal speed (V max), peak
      oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]) for elite male and female junior cross
      country skiers. METHODS: Thirty-three elite junior cross-country skiers completed
      a 6-week training-intervention period with two additional 40-min training
      sessions per week. The participants were matched in pairs and within each pair
      randomly assigned to either a strength-training group (STR) or a ski-ergometer
      training group (ERG). Before and after the intervention, the participants
      completed three treadmill roller-skiing tests to determine GE, V max, and
      [Formula: see text]. Mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA)
      was conducted to evaluate differences between and within groups. Paired samples t
      tests were used as post hoc tests to investigate within-group differences.
      RESULTS: Both groups improved their V max and [Formula: see text] expressed
      absolutely (all P < 0.01). For the gender-specific sub-groups, it was found that
      the female skiers in both groups improved both V max and [Formula: see text]
      expressed absolutely (all P < 0.05), whereas the only within-group differences
      found for the men were improvements of V max in the STR group. No between-group
      differences were found for any of the investigated variables. CONCLUSIONS:
      Physiological and performance-related variables of importance for skiers were
      improved for both training regimes. The results demonstrate that the female
      skiers' physiological adaptations to training, in general, were greater than
      those of the men. The magnitude of the physiological adaptations was similar for
      both training regimes.

PMID- 28597104
TI  - [Upper abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting in a 63-year-old woman].
AB  - We present a case of myotonic dystrophy type I and its complications including
      cholangitis and cardiac arrhythmias. The therapy options focus on the
      consequences of the disease and result in an endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiography (ERC) and implantation of an implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator (ICD). Myotonic dystrophy is a disease which results in a loss of
      smooth and skeletal muscle cells leading to multiple consequences such as
      gastrointestinal symptoms and cardiac manifestations.

PMID- 28597105
TI  - Role of Aspirin in Breast Cancer Survival.
AB  - Chemotherapy and hormonal therapy have significantly decreased breast cancer
      mortality, although with considerable side effects and financial costs. In the
      USA, over three million women are living after a breast cancer diagnosis and are
      eager for new treatments that are low in toxicity and cost. Multiple
      observational studies have reported improved breast cancer survival with regular
      aspirin use. Furthermore, pooled data from five large randomized trials of
      aspirin for cardiovascular disease showed that subjects on aspirin had decreased
      risk of cancer mortality and decreased risk of metastatic cancer. Although the
      potential mechanism for aspirin preventing breast cancer is not known, possible
      pathways may involve platelets, inflammation, cyclooxygenase (COX) 2, hormones,
      or PI3 kinase. This review article summarizes the current epidemiologic and
      clinical trial evidence as well as possible underlying mechanisms that justify
      current phase III randomized trials of aspirin to improve breast cancer survival.

PMID- 28597106
TI  - Relative Ascites Polymorphonuclear Cell Count Indicates Bacterascites and Risk of
      Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Absolute polymorphonuclear (PMN) counts in ascites define
      spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), a severe form of bacterial infection in
      liver cirrhosis. Bacterascites, another form of ascites infection, can progress
      to SBP or may resolve spontaneously but is not reflected by absolute PMN counts.
      We investigated whether the relative ascites PMN count (the absolute PMN count
      divided by the absolute leukocyte count) provides additional information to
      detect bacterascites or predict SBP. METHODS: Hospitalized patients with liver
      cirrhosis requiring paracentesis were stratified with respect to a diagnosis of
      bacterascites and SBP with a prospective follow-up for 1 year. Diagnostic power
      of relative PMN counts in ascites was evaluated by receiver operating
      characteristics curves. RESULTS: At inclusion, we observed 28/269 (10%) and
      43/269 (16%) episodes of BA and SBP, respectively. Unlike absolute PMN counts,
      relative PMN counts in ascites were significantly elevated in bacterascites (p =
      0.001). During follow-up, 16 and 30 further episodes of BA and SBP were detected,
      respectively. Relative PMN counts increased significantly once patients developed
      BA (p = 0.001). At a threshold of 0.20 for the relative PMN count, sensitivity,
      specificity, positive and negative predictive values for bacterascites which
      required antibiotic treatment were 83, 75, 26 and 98%, respectively (p < 0.001).
      Furthermore, a relative PMN count in ascites >=0.13 and MELD score >17 was
      independent factors associated with occurrence of SBP during follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: The relative PMN count is a cheap immunological marker linked to
      bacterascites and future SBP, which may help to stratify patients according to
      their risk of infection.

PMID- 28597108
TI  - Prevalence of histological features of idiopathic noncirrhotic portal
      hypertension in general population: a retrospective study of incidental liver
      biopsies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic noncirrhotic portal hypertension (INCPH) is associated
      with histologic changes secondary to obliterative portal venopathy without
      cirrhosis. We studied the prevalence of individual histological features of INCPH
      in liver biopsies obtained incidentally during unrelated elective procedures and
      in elective liver biopsies with the diagnosis of fatty liver disease. METHODS: A
      total of 53 incidental liver biopsies obtained intraoperatively during unrelated
      elective procedures and an additional 28 elective biopsies with the diagnosis of
      fatty liver disease without portal hypertension and cirrhosis were studied.
      Various histologic features of INCPH were evaluated. RESULTS: Shunt vessel (30%),
      phlebosclerosis (27%), increased number of portal vessels (19%) and incomplete
      septa (17%) were common in these liver biopsies after confounding factors such as
      co-existing fatty liver disease or fibrosis were excluded. At least one feature
      of INCPH was noted in 90% of the biopsies. Eight (10%) biopsies showed 5-6
      features of INCPH. In total, 11 (14%) of 81 patients had risk factors associated
      with INCPH, including hypercoagulability, autoimmune disease, exposure to drugs,
      and infections. No patient had portal hypertension at the end of the follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: The histologic features of INCPH are seen in incidental liver
      biopsies and fatty liver disease without portal hypertension. Ten percent of the
      biopsies show 5-6 features of INCPH without portal hypertension. Interpreting
      histologic features in the right clinical context is important for proper patient
      care.

PMID- 28597107
TI  - Microscopic Colitis Evolved Into Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Is Characterized by
      Increased Th1/Tc1 Cells in Colonic Mucosal Lamina Propria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An association between microscopic colitis (MC), i.e., lymphocytic
      colitis (LC) and collagenous colitis (CC), and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)
      has been noticed. A subset of MC cases may evolve into IBD, and IBD in remission
      may present as MC in a histologic pattern. Moreover, MC and IBD may coexist in
      different regions of the bowel. A link between MC and IBD in their pathogenesis
      is, therefore, suggested. Abnormal mucosal immunity is likely the key. METHODS:
      We reviewed 2324 MC cases in Calgary over 14 years and identified 20 cases
      evolved into IBD (IBD transformers). 13 of them were further investigated for
      colonic mucosal lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMNCs), as opposed to 22 cases
      whose MC resolved. On their index colonic biopsy immunohistochemistry was
      performed to detect major T cell subsets characterized by key cytokines and
      master transcription factors (IFNgamma and T-bet for Th1/Tc1, GATA-3 for Th2/Tc2,
      IL-17 and RORc for Th17/Tc17, FoxP3 for Treg/Tcreg) as well as TNFalpha+ cells
      (partly representing Th1). LPMNCs positive for each marker were counted (average
      number per high-power field). RESULTS: IBD transformers had increased IFNgamma+,
      T-bet+, TNF-alpha+, and GATA-3+ LPMNCs compared to the MC-resolved cases. The LC
      to-IBD subgroup had increased IFNgamma+ and GATA-3+ cells compared to the LC
      resolved subgroup. The CC-to-IBD subgroup had increased T-bet+, TNF-alpha+, and
      GATA-3+ cells compared to the CC-resolved subgroup. Among MC-resolved patients,
      more TNF-alpha+ and RORc+ cells were seen in LC than in CC. CONCLUSION: Th1/Tc1-
      and TNFalpha-producing cells, and likely a subset of Th2/Tc2 cells as well, may
      be involved in the MC-to-IBD transformation.

PMID- 28597110
TI  - Acculturation matters in the relation between ambivalence over emotional
      expressions and well-being among Chinese American breast cancer survivors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) is the inner conflict of
      desiring emotion expression and fearing consequence of emotion expression. Few
      studies to date have examined the effects of AEE within an ethnic group that
      prioritizes emotional self-control. The present study examined the associations
      between AEE and well-being (viz., quality of life and depressive symptoms) as a
      function of acculturation among a sample of Chinese American breast cancer
      survivors. METHODS: Ninety-six Chinese breast cancer survivors (M age = 54.64
      years old, SD = 7.98) were recruited from Southern California. Participants
      filled out a paper-pen questionnaire containing the Ambivalence over Emotional
      Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy
      Breast (FACT-B), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Short
      Form (CESD-10). RESULTS: Acculturation was a statistically significant moderator
      of the relations between AEE and depressive symptoms, and a statistically
      marginally significant moderator of the relations between AEE and quality of
      life. Simple slopes revealed that AEE was negatively associated with quality of
      life (B = -.45, p < .001) and depressive symptoms (B = .20, p < .001) for women
      with high acculturation, but not associated for women with low acculturation (Bs
      = -.15 and .04, ps > .05, for quality of life and depressive symptoms,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that less acculturated Chinese
      breast cancer survivors are protected by Chinese cultural values of emotional
      self-control and restraint, and thus do not experience the detrimental effects of
      AEE on their depressive symptoms and quality of life. Implications are discussed.

PMID- 28597111
TI  - Equilibrium mappings in polar-isotropic confined active particles.
AB  - Despite their fundamentally nonequilibrium nature, the individual and collective
      behavior of active systems with polar propulsion and isotropic interactions
      (polar-isotropic active systems) are remarkably well captured by equilibrium
      mapping techniques. Here we examine two signatures of equilibrium systems --the
      existence of a local free energy function and the independence of the coarse
      grained behavior on the details of the microscopic dynamics-- in polar-isotropic
      active particles confined by hard walls of arbitrary geometry at the one-particle
      level. We find that boundaries that possess concave regions make the density
      profile strongly dynamics-dependent and give it a nonlocal dependence on the
      geometry of the confining box. This in turn constrains the scope of equilibrium
      mapping techniques in polar-isotropic active systems.

PMID- 28597109
TI  - Race-specific associations between health-related quality of life and cellular
      aging among adults in the United States: evidence from the National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: Poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) could lead to higher
      morbidity and mortality through telomere attrition or accelerated cellular aging.
      We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to examine the relationship between four
      dimensions of HRQOL and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) among a nationally
      representative sample of 3547 US adults (>=20 years) using the data from the 2001
      2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. METHOD: We used HRQOL
      survey information collected on individuals' self-rated general health, recent
      physical health, recent mental health, and recent activity limitation. Telomere
      length was assessed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Multiple linear
      regressions were used to estimate the relationship between each dimension of
      HRQOL and log-transformed values of LTL with adjustment for sample weights and
      design effects. RESULTS: HRQOL-race interactions were significant, and the
      results were stratified by race. After controlling for demographic factors,
      disease conditions, and lifestyle variables, worse general health was
      significantly associated with shorter LTL for Blacks (coefficient, beta: -0.022,
      95% Confidence Interval, 95% CI: -0.03 to -0.01), but not for Whites or Mexican
      Americans. Unwell physical health was associated with shorter telomere length for
      Whites (beta: -0.005, 95% CI: -0.01 to -0.001) only. Unwell mental health showed
      no significant association with LTL in any race. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      longitudinal studies are needed to prove causality, our findings suggest that
      HRQOL could be associated with LTL shortening. We also found a possible racial
      difference in this association and recommend additional multiethnic studies to
      confirm this and to understand the reasons and consequences of this difference.

PMID- 28597112
TI  - Serial magnetic resonance study in super refractory status epilepticus:
      progressive involvement of striatum and pallidus is a possible predictive marker
      of negative outcome.
AB  - Super refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) is a life-threatening condition in
      which seizures do not respond to third-line anticonvulsant drug therapy. SRSE is
      associated with high mortality. How often SRSE occurs, what are the risk factors
      leading to this condition, and what is the effect on clinical outcome of failure
      to control seizures are poorly defined. Several studies have evaluated magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) findings in status epilepticus (SE), confirming that SE
      may directly cause selective neuronal necrosis due to excitotoxic mechanisms, as
      described in clinical case reports and experimental models. The aim of our study
      is to illustrate, in a case of SRSE, MRI signal changes during time and to
      describe which cerebral structures are early involved in this difficult clinical
      condition. We investigated with serial MRI study a patient affected by childhood
      generalized epilepsy who developed SRSE of unknown etiology during adulthood. MRI
      scans showed brain signal changes according to progressive electro-clinical
      worsening, particularly an early involvement of striatum/pallidus. An extended
      literature exists about transient MRI changes in SE, but not enough about SRSE,
      because of the difficulties in executing serial MRI studies in patients with such
      risky condition. MRI findings in SRSE must be investigated with particular care
      in order to detect early changes in basal ganglia that could suggest severe
      prognosis.

PMID- 28597114
TI  - A visual timeline tool for tracking mood and medication perinatally in affective
      disorders.

PMID- 28597113
TI  - Headache in children and dynamic thiol/disulfide balance evaluation with a new
      method.
AB  - Headache is one of the most common causes of presentation to the physician in
      children. We aimed to evaluate the dynamic thiol/disulfide homeostasis with a new
      method in children with headache and also to investigate the relationship between
      the headache type, pain severity and duration in our study. We included 40
      patients diagnosed with migraine, 40 patients diagnosed with tension-type
      headache (TTH) and 40 healthy children in the study. No significant difference
      was found between the total thiol, native thiol, and disulfide levels of the
      patient and control groups. However, the disulfide/native thiol and
      disulfide/total thiol ratios were higher in the migraine group than in the TTH
      and control groups. No correlation was found between the Pediatric Migraine
      Disability Assessment (PedMIDAS) score and the headache duration and any of the
      thiol/disulfide parameters. A negative correlation was found between the total
      thiol and native thiol levels and the PedMIDAS score in the TTH group. Migraine
      and TTH patients have different effect to thiol/disulfide homeostasis.

PMID- 28597115
TI  - Psychiatric outcomes after hysterectomy in women with uterine myoma: a population
      based retrospective cohort study.
AB  - Controversy regarding psychological or psychiatric outcomes following
      hysterectomy still exists. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk
      of postoperative psychiatric disorders in women with hysterectomy compared to
      that in women with uterus-conserving surgery for myomas by using population-based
      data from South Korea. This study was designed as a retrospective cohort study.
      We analyzed the National Health Insurance Service National Sample Cohort data
      including all administrative medical claims from 2002 to 2013. The study
      population, consisting of 9581 women, was defined as those diagnosed with uterine
      myoma who underwent medical procedures. The association between psychiatric and
      mood disorders and hysterectomy was assessed using Cox proportional hazard
      regression. During the study period, 1381 (14.4%) women experienced psychiatric
      disorders and 374 (3.9%) experienced mood disorders. The hazard ratio (HR) for
      psychiatric disorder was higher in women after hysterectomy than in women after
      uterus-conserving procedures (adjusted HR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.27-1.64, p <
      0.0001). In addition, the HR for mood disorders in women after hysterectomy was
      significantly higher than in women after uterus-conserving procedures (adjusted
      HR = 1.62; 95% CI = 1.26-2.08, p = 0.0002). Our study suggests that hysterectomy
      increased the risk of psychiatric disorders compared to uterus-conserving
      procedures in women with uterine myoma. Considering these findings, more focus on
      psychological responses in women following hysterectomy is needed, and
      appropriate psychosocial support or provisioning of information before or after
      procedures could reduce psychological distress.

PMID- 28597117
TI  - Oral dexamethasone decreases postoperative pain, swelling, and trismus more than
      diclofenac following third molar removal: a randomized controlled clinical trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the anti-inflammatory potential of
      two pharmacotherapy protocols based on the parameters of pain, trismus, and
      swelling, after extraction of third molars. METHODS: Thirty patients selected
      with symmetrical impaction of third molars were submitted to surgical procedures
      in both sides in different times. For one group, dexamethasone was used for 3
      days, and for another group diclofenac sodium was also used for the same period.
      The main variables analyzed were the visual analogue pain scale (VAS), but others
      were also analyzed such as swelling and trismus, which were submitted to
      statistical analysis. RESULTS: The results had no difference regarding the length
      of procedures (p = 0.986) and the pain in the immediate and 4-h postoperative
      period (p = 0.723 and 0.541). The rescue analgesic consumption was higher (p <
      0.05) when using the protocol with diclofenac sodium. The variables mouth opening
      (p < 0.05) and swelling (p < 0.05) were significantly better when using the
      protocol with dexamethasone in the postoperative period. CONCLUSIONS: Medical
      protocol with the use of dexamethasone in the postoperative period was more
      effective in controlling pain, trismus, and swelling, after the extraction of
      third molars, when compared to diclofenac sodium.

PMID- 28597116
TI  - Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor regulates human periodontal ligament cell
      production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Regulation of immune-like cell properties of periodontal ligament
      (PDL) cells is not understood. We investigate the importance of secretory
      leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) for production of pro-inflammatory cytokines
      in human PDL cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PDL cells were isolated from teeth
      extracted for orthodontic reasons. Cellular location of SLPI was investigated by
      immunocytochemistry. Cytokine transcript and protein expression were assessed by
      quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting. SLPI gene activity was
      knocked-down by siRNA. NF-kappaB signaling was assessed by measuring
      IkappaBalpha, and phosphorylated p65 and p105 protein expression. RESULTS: PDL
      cells showed cytoplasmic expression of SLPI. Cellular expression level of SLPI
      negatively correlated to LPS-induced stimulation of IL-6 and MCP-1. Both SLPI
      gene activity and protein were reduced by about 70% in PDL cells treated with
      SLPI siRNA compared to cells treated with non-coding construct. Treatment with
      SLPI siRNA was associated with up-regulation of both basal and LPS-stimulated IL
      6, MCP-1 and TLRs mRNA expression. The up-regulation of MCP-1 transcript in SLPI
      siRNA-treated cells was confirmed on protein level. SLPI siRNA-treatment enhanced
      the phosphorylated NF-kappaB p105 protein expression. CONCLUSIONS: SLPI regulates
      PDL cell pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and modulates NF-kappaB signaling,
      suggesting that SLPI governs the immune cell-like properties of PDL cells.

PMID- 28597118
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Prolotherapy Induces an Inflammatory Response in Human
      Tenocytes In Vitro.

PMID- 28597119
TI  - Highlights lecture EANM 2016: "Embracing molecular imaging and multi-modal
      imaging: a smart move for nuclear medicine towards personalized medicine".
AB  - The 2016 EANM Congress took place in Barcelona, Spain, from 15 to 19 October
      under the leadership of Prof. Wim Oyen, chair of the EANM Scientific Committee.
      With more than 6,000 participants, this congress was the most important European
      event in nuclear medicine, bringing together a multidisciplinary community
      involved in the different fields of nuclear medicine. There were over 600 oral
      and 1,200 poster or e-Poster presentations with an overwhelming focus on
      development and application of imaging for personalized care, which is timely for
      the community. Beyond FDG PET, major highlights included progress in the use of
      PSMA and SSTR receptor-targeted radiopharmaceuticals and associated theranostics
      in oncology. Innovations in radiopharmaceuticals for imaging pathologies of the
      brain and cardiovascular system, as well as infection and inflammation, were also
      highlighted. In the areas of physics and instrumentation, multimodality imaging
      and radiomics were highlighted as promising areas of research.

PMID- 28597120
TI  - Long-term prognostic implications of myocardial perfusion imaging in
      octogenarians: an all-comer, cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evaluation of the long-term prognostic value of myocardial perfusion
      imaging (MPI) in octogenarians. METHODS: Six hundred and twenty-nine
      octogenarians [51% previous myocardial infarction (MI) or revascularization] who
      underwent single-isotope MPI (78% 201Tl, 22% 99mTc-tetrofosmin) with exercise
      (38% Bruce, 2% leg ergometry) or pharmacologic (58% adenosine, 2% dobutamine)
      stress were studied. All patients had LVEF determined by echocardiography within
      1 month from MPI. Myocardial perfusion scoring was performed on a 17-segment LV
      model with a 5-point grading system and three summed stress score (SSS)-based
      risk categories were formed [high-(SSS > 12), low-(SSS < 4), medium]. Prospective
      follow-up was performed to document all-cause (ACD), cardiac death (CD), MI, and
      revascularization. Revascularization was used to censor follow-up in survival
      analysis regarding ACD, CD, and CD/MI. For analysis of the CD, MI, or late
      revascularization (LR) composite, only revascularizations within 3 months from
      MPI (early revascularizations) were used for censoring. RESULTS: After 9.3 years
      there were 187 ACDs, 86 CDs, 28 MIs, and 77 revascularizations, including 28
      early revascularizations. Adjusting for LVEF and stress-modality type, SSS was
      identified as an independent predictor of ACD [HR 1.03 (1.01-1.05)], CD [HR 1.05
      (1.03-1.08)], CD,MI [HR 1.05 (1.02-1.07)], and CD,MI or LR [HR 1.05 (1.03-1.07)]
      (p <= 0.001 in all cases). Increased lung uptake had independent prognostic value
      only for the CD, MI, or LR end-point [HR 3 (1.2-7.7), p = 0.02]. Survival
      modeling demonstrated that LVEF and SSS, but not non-perfusion scintigraphic data
      provided incremental prognostic value over pre-test available clinical and
      historical information for all end-points. Differences between Kaplan-Meier
      survival curves of SSS-based risk groups were significant for all end-points (p <
      0.001 in all cases). CONCLUSIONS: In octogenarians, MPI provides effective long
      term risk stratification, regardless of stress type used or underlying cardiac
      function.

PMID- 28597122
TI  - Nanoparticle-in-gel system for delivery of vitamin C for topical application.
AB  - Hyperpigmentation is a dermal condition of melanocyte proliferation, induced by
      various factors like ultraviolet radiation producing reactive oxygen species, DNA
      damage, and apoptosis. The application of topical antioxidants through the
      different type of formulations can help to prevent oxidative damage to the skin.
      L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is a water-soluble compound and the most abundant
      antioxidant in human skin, but this vitamin is unstable and loses its potency
      with poor formulation strategies. Nanotechnology has been effectively used to
      promote stability and therapeutic activity of various drug molecules. With this
      context, the objective of the work was set to formulate a topical delivery system
      of vitamin C nanoparticles incorporated into the polymeric gel. Vitamin C (50 mg)
      was loaded into ethyl cellulose nanoparticles, of varying concentrations (50-250
      mg), by the solvent evaporation method and subsequently incorporated into
      hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose gels (3, 5, and 7%). The formulations were
      characterized for various physico-chemical properties such as particle size, drug
      content, entrapment efficiency, and drug-polymer interactions. In vitro, drug
      release studies were conducted by using dialysis bag method and Franz diffusion
      cell for the nanoparticles and gel formulations, respectively. The optimized
      formulation exhibited sustained release over 8 h. The ex vivo skin permeation
      studies were performed and the amount of drug retained and released through the
      skin were determined. The results obtained from the study proved the potentiality
      and suitability of this novel system to treat hyperpigmentation.

PMID- 28597121
TI  - Current research priorities in perioperative intensive care medicine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Surgical treatments are offered to more patients than ever before,
      and increasingly to older patients with chronic disease. High-risk patients
      frequently require critical care either in the immediate postoperative period or
      after developing complications. The purpose of this review was to identify and
      prioritise themes for future research in perioperative intensive care medicine.
      METHODS: We undertook a priority setting process (PSP). A panel was convened,
      drawn from experts representing a wide geographical area, plus a patient
      representative. The panel was asked to suggest and prioritise key uncertainties
      and future research questions in the field of perioperative intensive care
      through a modified Delphi process. Clinical trial registries were searched for on
      going research. A proposed "Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome" (PICO)
      structure for each question was provided. RESULTS: Ten key uncertainties and
      future areas of research were identified as priorities and ranked. Appropriate
      intravenous fluid and blood component therapy, use of critical care resources,
      prevention of delirium and respiratory management featured prominently.
      CONCLUSION: Admissions following surgery contribute a substantial proportion of
      critical care workload. Studies aimed at improving care in this group could have
      a large impact on patient-centred outcomes and optimum use of healthcare
      resources. In particular, the optimum use of critical care resources in this
      group is an area that requires urgent research.

PMID- 28597124
TI  - Relative atherosclerotic plaque volume by CT coronary angiography trumps
      conventional stenosis assessment for identifying flow-limiting lesions.
AB  - The new methods for diagnosing the ischemia with coronary computed tomographic
      angiography (CTA) as a noninvasive test have been investigated. To compare the
      relative plaque volume to quantitative CTA and quantitative coronary angiography
      (QCA) for detecting flow-limiting coronary artery stenoses. We studied 49
      patients with 55 intermediate lesions (30-69% diameter stenosis) who underwent
      CTA, coronary angiography (CAG), and FFR. CTA and QCA measures included lesion
      length, percent diameter stenosis (%DS), minimal lumen diameter (MLD), target
      main vessel percent plaque volume (%PV), lesion %PV, target main vessel percent
      lumen volume (%LV), and lesion %LV. FFR <=0.80 was considered diagnostic of a
      flow-limiting lesion. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve
      (AUC) was used to determine the accuracy of detecting flow-limiting lesions. We
      also investigated the AUC of discrimination of flow-limiting lesion according to
      calcium score. Eighteen of 55 lesions (32.7%) had an FFR <=0.80. Only vessel %PV
      differentiated between lesions with and without flow obstruction (67.6 vs. 62.7%,
      p = 0.018). The AUC for vessel %PV was greatest (0.76; 95% CI 0.61-0.87). The AUC
      for the discrimination of the flow-limiting lesions according to low calcium
      score (<=400) improved to 0.82 (95% CI 0.57-0.94). In intermediate coronary
      artery stenoses, vessel %PV is more accurate than conventional stenosis
      assessment for detecting flow-limiting lesions. In low calcium score, vessel %PV
      is more useful for diagnosis of ischemic heart disease compared with conventional
      quantitative measures.

PMID- 28597123
TI  - Vaginal drug delivery for the localised treatment of cervical cancer.
AB  - Cervical cancer is usually treated by surgery, with the more advanced cancers
      requiring adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The location of the cervix makes
      it easily accessible through the vagina for the localised delivery of
      chemotherapeutic drugs. Localised delivery has the advantage of direct delivery
      to the site of action resulting in a lower dose having to be required and a
      reduction in systemic side effects. This approach would be advantageous for
      fertility sparing surgery, whereby localised delivery could be used to reduce
      tumour size allowing for a much smaller tumour to be removed, reducing the risk
      of preterm birth. Furthermore, localised delivery could be used after surgery to
      reduce the risk of recurrence, which is significantly higher in fertility sparing
      surgery compared to standard surgery. In this paper, we discuss the number of
      vaginal dosage forms that have investigated for this purpose, including tablets,
      rings, bioadhesive and cervical caps. APIs under investigation have ranged from
      well-established chemotherapeutic drugs to more experimental compounds.

PMID- 28597125
TI  - New insight to estimate under-expansion after stent implantation on bifurcation
      lesions using optical coherence tomography.
AB  - Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows full volumetric segmentation of the
      lumen. However, for the estimation of stent under-expansion we still rely on the
      conventional method (CM) of single cross-sectional narrowing compared with
      reference vessel, likely masking true lesion significance, especially for
      bifurcations and tapered vessels. We, therefore, suggest a novel concept of
      volumetric metrics that take into account vessel tapering and major side branches
      and is capable of obtaining ideal lumen area for every frame of the stent by OCT.
      Forty-four patients with bifurcation lesions were enrolled. In volumetric
      metrics, expansion index was calculated as [(actual lumen area/ideal lumen area)
      * 100] in all frames. While minimum expansion index (MEI) was often located in
      the proximal segment to the major side branch, minimum stent area (MSA) by CM was
      frequently located in the distal segment (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the frequency
      of the under-expansion was significantly greater in newly metrics compared with
      CM [21 (47.7%) and 11 (25.0%), p = 0.045]. New metrics changed the presence of
      the under-expansion in 40.9% (18/44) of patients and the locations of MEI and MSA
      were different in 72.7% (32/44) of cases. Volumetric assessment enables to more
      accurately assess stent under-expansion.

PMID- 28597126
TI  - Healthcare and disease burden among refugees in long-stay refugee camps at
      Lesbos, Greece.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess current medical problems at two Greek refugee sites at
      Lesbos island (Camp Moria and Caritas hotel), to explore which care is needed and
      to assess how the provided healthcare can be improved. DESIGN: In this dynamic
      cohort study all consecutive patients who visited doctors from the Boat Refugee
      Foundation were included. OUTCOME: Treatment Rates (TR) with 95% Confidence
      Intervals (95% CI) were calculated for all major health issues. Additionally, the
      provided health care was evaluated using the SPHERE project standards. RESULTS:
      During the observation period of 30 March 2016 to 15 May 2016, 2291 persons were
      followed for a total of 289 person years (py). The median age of patients was
      23.0 (IQR 8-38) years, 30.0% was aged <18. The healthcare demand was high with
      3.6 patient visits per py. Upper respiratory tract infections were most commonly
      diagnosed with a TR of 89.6/100py (95% CI 78.7-10.1) followed by dental problems
      (TR 18.0/100py, 95% CI 13.1-22.9). The rate of suicide attempts was high at TR
      1.4/100py (95% CI 0.03-2.8), and many psychological problems were diagnosed, TR
      19.4/100py (95% CI 14.3-24.4). Major health care threats are the lack of a
      vaccination program, inadequate sanitation and hygiene, and severe overcrowding.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study can help policy makers and Non-Governmental Organizations
      decide which health care is needed most in the current European refugee crisis.
      There is an urgent need for mental and dental healthcare. Furthermore, it is
      crucial that vaccination programs are initiated and "hotspot" camps should
      transform in camps designed for long-stay situations.

PMID- 28597128
TI  - The MO-meatocanalplasty: a modification of the M-meatoplasty to address the
      superior quadrants and the bony canal.
AB  - The meatoplasty of the external auditory canal is a frequently performed otologic
      procedure in recurrent otitis externa, eczema or frequent accumulation of cerumen
      due to a narrow meatus of the external ear canal. Numerous surgical techniques
      have been described. The M-meatoplasty described by Mirck for addressing the
      external meatus is widely used. However, this technique does not sufficiently
      enlarge the external ear canal in all cases. Specifically in patients where the
      ear canal narrowing is most prominent in the postero- and/or anterosuperior
      quadrants of the lateral meatus the technique needs some modifications. In these
      cases, an oblique conversion of the M-meatoplasty, the MO-meatocanalplasty, is
      useful. In cases where the bony canal is also narrow this modification allows for
      a bony canalplasty while avoiding a retro-auricular approach. The MO
      meatocanalplasty can be used in combination with myringoplasty and tympanoplasty.

PMID- 28597130
TI  - Erratum to: The Differential Contributions of Conceptual Representation Format
      and Language Structure to Levels of Semantic Abstraction Capacity.

PMID- 28597129
TI  - Transcanal surgery for vestibular schwannomas: a pictorial review of radiological
      findings, surgical anatomy and comparison to the traditional translabyrinthine
      approach.
AB  - : The most popular approaches for vestibular schwannoma (VS) removal are
      retrosigmoid, middle cranial fossa and translabyrinthine (TL). All require a
      certain degree of invasivity, bone removal, or brain manipulation. Recently, the
      authors described the transcanal transpromontorial approaches (TTA), which allow
      the inner ear to be accessed directly through the external auditory canal (EAC),
      either with a microscopic (Expanded TTA, or ExpTTA) or even an exclusive
      endoscopic technique (Endoscopic TTA, or EndoTTA). The advantages compared to
      traditional approaches are a direct view of the internal auditory canal (IAC)
      from lateral to medial, very little or no superficial tissue dissection and very
      little petrous bone drilling. In summary, from an anatomical point of view, they
      could be considered to be minimally invasive approaches. The radiologic outcome
      and the anatomical correspondence of these new approaches are described so as to
      share with the readers the possible radiologic findings and to compare and
      differentiate them from classic transpetrous approaches such as the TL approach.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28597127
TI  - The interaction between smoking and HLA genes in multiple sclerosis: replication
      and refinement.
AB  - Interactions between environment and genetics may contribute to multiple
      sclerosis (MS) development. We investigated whether the previously observed
      interaction between smoking and HLA genotype in the Swedish population could be
      replicated, refined and extended to include other populations. We used six
      independent case-control studies from five different countries (Sweden, Denmark,
      Norway, Serbia, United States). A pooled analysis was performed for replication
      of previous observations (7190 cases, 8876 controls). Refined detailed analyses
      were carried out by combining the genetically similar populations from the Nordic
      studies (6265 cases, 8401 controls). In both the pooled analyses and in the
      combined Nordic material, interactions were observed between HLA-DRB*15 and
      absence of HLA-A*02 and between smoking and each of the genetic risk factors. Two
      way interactions were observed between each combination of the three variables,
      invariant over categories of the third. Further, there was also a three way
      interaction between the risk factors. The difference in MS risk between the
      extremes was considerable; smokers carrying HLA-DRB1*15 and lacking HLA-A*02 had
      a 13-fold increased risk compared with never smokers without these genetic risk
      factors (OR 12.7, 95% CI 10.8-14.9). The risk of MS associated with HLA genotypes
      is strongly influenced by smoking status and vice versa. Since the function of
      HLA molecules is to present peptide antigens to T cells, the demonstrated
      interactions strongly suggest that smoking alters MS risk through actions on
      adaptive immunity.

PMID- 28597131
TI  - Applied Problem Solving in Children with ADHD: The Mediating Roles of Working
      Memory and Mathematical Calculation.
AB  - The difficulties children with ADHD experience solving applied math problems are
      well documented; however, the independent and/or interactive contributions of
      cognitive processes underlying these difficulties are not fully understood and
      warrant scrutiny. The current study examines two primary cognitive processes
      integral to children's ability to solve applied math problems: working memory
      (WM) and math calculation skills (i.e., the ability to utilize specific facts,
      skills, or processes related to basic math operations stored in long-term
      memory). Thirty-six boys with ADHD-combined presentation and 33 typically
      developing (TD) boys aged 8-12 years old were administered multiple
      counterbalanced tasks to assess upper (central executive [CE]) and lower level
      (phonological [PH STM] and visuospatial [VS STM] short-term memory) WM processes,
      and standardized measures of mathematical abilities. Bias-corrected, bootstrapped
      mediation analyses revealed that CE ability fully mediated between-group
      differences in applied problem solving whereas math calculation ability partially
      mediated the relation. Neither PH STM nor VS STM was a significant mediator. When
      modeled together via serial mediation analysis, CE in tandem with math
      calculation ability fully mediated the relation, explained 79% of the variance,
      and provided a more parsimonious explication of applied mathematical problem
      solving differences among children with ADHD. Results suggest that interventions
      designed to address applied math difficulties in children with ADHD will likely
      benefit from targeting basic knowledge of math facts and skills while
      simultaneously promoting the active interplay of these skills with CE processes.

PMID- 28597132
TI  - Lung involvement in "stable" undifferentiated connective tissue diseases: a
      rheumatology perspective.
AB  - Previous studies of the occurrence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in
      undifferentiated connective tissue diseases (UCTD) were conducted in patients
      admitted to Respiratory Medicine Units. The aim of the present prospective study
      was to investigate lung involvement in UCTD patients admitted to a Rheumatology
      Unit. Eighty-one consecutive UCTD patients were enrolled in the study. Each
      patient underwent history and physical examination, routine laboratory
      investigations, antinuclear antibody (ANA) profiling, B-mode echocardiography,
      and lung function study according to previously reported methods. Lung high
      resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was performed in patients who provided
      informed consent. Six patients (7.4%) had a history of grade II dyspnea. Three of
      them had a DLCO ranging from 42 to 55% of the predicted value; and a HRCT
      documented ILD with a non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) pattern.
      Symptoms in the other three patients were due to cardiac disease. None of the 75
      asymptomatic patients, had relevant findings at physical examination, 26/75 had a
      DLCO <80% (<70% in 10 cases). Of these, 3 of the 30 patients who underwent lung
      HRCT were affected by NSIP-ILD. Six of the 81 enrolled were affected by ILD,
      which was symptomatic in three patients. A higher percentage of patients had a
      reduced DLCO. The latter finding may reflect a preradiographic ILD or a
      preechocardiographic pulmonary vascular disease.

PMID- 28597134
TI  - Digital tomosynthesis as a new diagnostic tool for assessing of chronic gout
      arthritic feet and ankles: comparison of plain radiography and computed
      tomography.
AB  - This aimed to compare the three radiographic methods of digital tomosynthesis
      (DT), plain radiography, and computed tomography (CT) for evaluating changes in
      feet of patients with chronic gouty arthritis. Two independent radiologists read
      the plain radiography, DT, and CT images of 30 male patients with gout. The
      degrees of erosion and joint space narrowing were scored using the Sharp-van der
      Heijde scoring method in 18 foot joints, which consisted of four proximal
      interphalangeal and one interphalangeal joint of the first toe, five
      metatarsophalangeal, five tarsometatarsal, and three naviculo-cuneiform joints of
      the foot. DT showed high reproducibility [0.929 for intraobserver intraclass
      correlation coefficient (ICC) and 0.838 for interobserver ICC]. DT showed similar
      results to those of CT and superior results to those of plain radiography for
      evaluating radiographic damage [mean total score, 8.5 +/- 14.6 (+/-standard
      deviation) for plain radiography, 12.9 +/- 12.4 for DT, and 12.6 +/- 11.2 for
      CT]. This study showed that DT is a good method for evaluating radiographic
      changes in patients with gout. Further research is needed to apply DT to actual
      clinical settings.

PMID- 28597133
TI  - Real-life 10-year retention rate of first-line anti-TNF drugs for inflammatory
      arthritides in adult- and juvenile-onset populations: similarities and
      differences.
AB  - The aim of this study is to retrospectively analyze 10-year drug survival of
      first-line TNF inhibitor (TNFi) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing
      spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and juvenile idiopathic arthritis
      (JIA) patients, comparing withdrawal rates and discontinuation pattern between
      adult- and juvenile-onset populations. RA, AS, PsA, and JIA patients treated with
      infliximab, etanercept, or adalimumab as first TNFi between 1999 and 2015 were
      extracted from a local registry. Drug survival up to 10-year follow-up was
      evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared according to age (adult vs
      juvenile onset), TNFi agent, and discontinuation reason by a stratified log-rank
      test. Three hundred sixty JIA (205 etanercept, 66 adalimumab, and 89 infliximab)
      and 951 (607 RA, 188 AS, and 156 PsA) adult patients (464 infliximab, 262
      adalimumab, and 225 etanercept) were included. After exclusion of systemic-onset
      JIA (18.5%), overall 10-year retention rate was 31.8%, with no difference between
      adult- and juvenile-onset patients (32.1 and 30.2%, respectively; HR 0.938 [95%
      CI 0.782-1.125]). Etanercept showed the highest drug survival in adult-onset
      population (p < 0.0001 vs both monoclonal antibodies) and infliximab the lowest
      in juvenile-onset population (p = 0.005 vs adalimumab and p < 0.0001 vs
      etanercept). Inefficacy was the most frequent reason for TNFi withdrawal in adult
      population (29.75%) with a significantly higher risk of discontinuation than in
      juvenile-onset subgroup (HR 1.390 [95% CI 1.060-1.824]). Serious infections and
      malignancies caused TNFi withdrawal only in adult whereas gastrointestinal,
      neuropsychiatric, and ocular complications quite only in juvenile patients.
      Despite a similar 10-year drug survival, adult- and juvenile-onset subpopulations
      showed a significantly different pattern of TNFi reasons for discontinuation.

PMID- 28597135
TI  - GLIS3 rs7020673 and rs10758593 polymorphisms interact in the susceptibility for
      type 1 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - AIMS: The transcription factor Gli-similar 3 (GLIS3) plays a key role in the
      development and maintenance of pancreatic beta cells as well as in the regulation
      of Insulin gene expression in adults. Accordingly, genome-wide association
      studies identified GLIS3 as a susceptibility locus for type 1 diabetes mellitus
      (T1DM) and glucose metabolism traits. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
      replicate the association of the rs10758593 and rs7020673 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in the GLIS3 gene with T1DM in a Brazilian population.
      METHODS: Frequencies of the rs7020673 (G/C) and rs10758593 (A/G) SNPs were
      analyzed in 503 T1DM patients (cases) and in 442 non-diabetic subjects
      (controls). Haplotypes constructed from the combination of these SNPs were
      inferred using a Bayesian statistical method. RESULTS: Genotype and allele
      frequencies of rs7020673 and rs10758593 SNPs did not differ significantly between
      case and control groups. However, the frequency of >=3 minor alleles of the
      analyzed SNPs in haplotypes was higher in T1DM patients compared to non-diabetic
      subjects (6.2 vs. 1.6%; P = 0.001). The presence of >=3 minor alleles remained
      independently associated with risk of T1DM after adjustment for T1DM high-risk
      HLA DR/DQ haplotypes, age and ethnicity (OR = 3.684 95% CI 1.220-11.124).
      Moreover, levels of glycated hemoglobin seem to be higher in T1DM patients with
      rs10758593 A/A genotype than patients carrying the G allele of this SNP (P =
      0.038), although this association was not kept after Bonferroni correction.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that individually the rs7020673 and rs10758593
      SNPs are not significantly associated with T1DM but seem to interact in the
      predisposition for this disease.

PMID- 28597136
TI  - Tactile motion lacks momentum.
AB  - The displacement of the final position of a moving object in the direction of the
      observed motion path, i.e. an overestimation, is known as representational
      momentum. It has been described both in the visual and the auditory domain, and
      is suggested to be modality-independent. Here, we tested whether a
      representational momentum can also be demonstrated in the somatosensory domain.
      While the cognitive literature on representational momentum suggests that it can,
      previous work on the psychophysics of tactile motion perception would rather
      predict an underestimation of the perceived endpoint of a tactile stimulus.
      Tactile motion stimuli were applied on the left and the right dorsal forearms of
      32 healthy participants, who were asked to indicate the subjectively perceived
      endpoint of the stimulation. Velocity, length and direction of the trajectory
      were varied. Contrary to the prediction based on the representational momentum
      literature, participants in our experiment significantly displaced the endpoint
      against the direction of movement (underestimation). The results are thus
      compatible with previous psychophysical findings on the perception of tactile
      motion. Further studies combining paradigms from classical psychophysics and
      cognitive psychology will be needed to resolve the apparently paradoxical
      predictions by the two literatures.

PMID- 28597137
TI  - Investigation of the Potential Health Benefits as Lipase Inhibitor and
      Antioxidant of Leopoldia comosa (L.) Parl.: Variability of Chemical Composition
      of Wild and Cultivated Bulbs.
AB  - There is a great interest in the nutritional value of vegetables and fruits and
      how the habitat affects nutritive and biological properties. In vitro studies
      here reported were performed to evaluate the inhibitory activity of formulations
      from edible plant on pancreatic lipase. The aim of this study was also to
      evaluate the biovariability of L. comosa (L.) Parl. bulbs from Italy. The wild
      bulbs were compared with the same cultivated species that are commonly
      commercialized to identify samples with the best quality for a potential
      therapeutic application. Hydroalcoholic extract and polar fraction of wild bulbs
      showed a very important pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity, with IC50 values
      of 0.166 +/- 0.005 and 0.153 +/- 0.005 mg/mL, respectively. In order to
      characterize the extracts, gas chromatography associated with mass spectrometry
      (GC/MS) analysis was performed, revealing the predominance of palmitic acid.
      Phenolic and flavonoid composition was also evaluated. L. comosa extract obtained
      from wild bulbs demonstrated both antioxidant and anti-obesity activities that
      might be attributed to a wide range of present phenolic compounds.

PMID- 28597138
TI  - Advances in renal genetic diagnosis.
AB  - Most genetic disorders are clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Next
      generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized the field and is providing rapidly
      growing insights into the pathomechanism of hereditary nephropathies. Current
      best-practice guidelines for most hereditary nephropathies include genetic
      diagnostics. The increasing number of genes that have to be considered in
      patients with hereditary nephropathies is often challenging when addressed by
      conventional techniques and largely benefits from NGS-based approaches that allow
      the parallel analysis of all disease genes in a single test at relatively low
      cost, e.g., by the use of multi-gene panels. Knowledge of the underlying genotype
      is of advantage in discussions with regard to transplantation and therapeutic
      options. Further, genetics may aid the early detection and treatment of renal and
      extrarenal complications and the reduction of invasive procedures. An accurate
      genetic diagnosis is crucial for genetic counselling, provides information about
      the recurrence risk and may help to improve the clinical management of patients
      and their families. The bottleneck in genetics is no longer the primary wet lab
      process but the interpretation of the obtained genetic data, which is by far the
      most challenging and work-intensive part of the analysis. This can only be
      managed in a multidisciplinary setting that brings together expert knowledge in
      genetics and the respective medical field. In the future, bench and bedside
      benefits can be expected from this kind of digitized medicine.

PMID- 28597140
TI  - Erratum to: Peri-interventional neurological complication rates in patients
      undergoing carotid artery stenting depend on the side of the stenosis treated.

PMID- 28597139
TI  - Hypoxia and Bone Metastatic Disease.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review highlights our current knowledge of oxygen
      tensions in the bone marrow, and how low oxygen tensions (hypoxia) regulate tumor
      metastasis to and colonization of the bone marrow. RECENT FINDINGS: The bone
      marrow is a relatively hypoxic microenvironment, but oxygen tensions fluctuate
      throughout the marrow cavity and across the endosteal and periosteal surfaces.
      Recent advances in imaging have made it possible to better characterize these
      fluctuations in bone oxygenation, but technical challenges remain. We have
      compiled evidence from multiple groups that suggests that hypoxia or hypoxia
      inducible factor (HIF) signaling may induce spontaneous metastasis to the bone
      and promote tumor colonization of bone, particularly in the case of breast cancer
      dissemination to the bone marrow. We are beginning to understand oxygenation
      patterns within the bone compartment and the role for hypoxia and HIF signaling
      in tumor cell dissemination to the bone marrow, but further studies are
      warranted.

PMID- 28597141
TI  - Apparent metabolizable energy value of whole date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)
      and its possible use as a feedstuff for aged laying hens.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of whole date palm (WDP)
      with and without enzyme supplementation on aged laying hen's performance.
      Apparent metabolizable energy value of WDP was determined by the total collection
      method using ten adult leghorn cockerels. WDP was substituted with a corn-soybean
      meal basal diet at 40% level, and then the metabolizable energy of this
      experimental diet and basal diet was determined. After that, a total number of
      256 Bovanz 95-week-old hens were randomly allocated into eight groups consisting
      of four replicates of eight birds each, based on a 4 * 2 factorial arrangement of
      the treatments. Eight iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets
      including one corn-soybean meal-based control diet and two, three, and four corn
      soybean meal-based diets included 70, 140, and 210 g/kg ground WDP, respectively.
      Each of the diets supplemented with two levels of an enzyme (0.0 and 0.07 g/kg
      Natozim Plus). There was no significant difference in feed intake, feed
      conversion ratio, egg production, egg mass, eggshell thickness, and Haugh unit
      among the treatments (P > 0.05). However, yolk color score significantly
      decreased as dietary WDP level increased. The serum biochemical metabolites were
      not significantly affected by WDP and enzyme supplementation (P > 0.05). There
      were no significant differences in the relative weight of different organs except
      for abdominal fat. Our findings show that using WDP up to 21% of the diet was
      more economic and had no adverse effect on productive performance and serum
      metabolites of laying hens. However, WDP had an adverse effect on yolk color
      which can be ameliorated by carotenoid supplementation.

PMID- 28597142
TI  - Simple Mindreading Abilities Predict Complex Theory of Mind: Developmental Delay
      in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
AB  - Theory of mind (ToM) is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders
      (ASD). The aims of this study were to: (i) examine the developmental trajectories
      of ToM abilities in two different mentalizing tasks in children with ASD compared
      to TD children; and (ii) to assess if a ToM simple test known as eyes-test could
      predict performance on the more advanced ToM task, i.e. comic strip test. Based
      on a sample of 37 children with ASD and 55 TD children, our results revealed
      slower development at varying rates in all ToM measures in children with ASD,
      with delayed onset compared to TD children. These results could stimulate new
      treatments for social abilities, which would lessen the social deficit in ASD.

PMID- 28597143
TI  - Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Romantic Relationships in Adolescents
      and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - This study compared sexual orientation and romantic relationship experience in a
      large sample of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n =
      675) and general population peers (n = 8064). Gender identity was explored in the
      ASD group in relation to assigned gender at birth. Compared to general population
      peers, more people with ASD, especially women, reported sexual attraction to both
      same- and opposite-sex partners. About half of the participants with ASD was in a
      relationship (heterosexual in most cases) and most of them lived with their
      partner. A notable number of autistic participants, again more women than men,
      reported gender non-conforming feelings. Attention to gender identity and sexual
      diversity in education and clinical work with people with ASD is advised.

PMID- 28597144
TI  - Multicolor Flow Cytometry for the Diagnosis of Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases.
AB  - PURPOSE: Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDDs) are rare inherited diseases
      that impair the human immune system. We established a multicolor flow cytometric
      assay to comprehensively evaluate the immune status and immunological
      characteristics of patients with PIDDs. METHODS: Fifty-nine normal controls and
      75 patients with PIDDs, including X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X
      SCID), X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA), X-linked hyper IgM syndrome (X-HIGM),
      ataxia telangiectasia (AT), Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), hyper IgE syndrome
      (HIES), and chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis disease (CMCD), were enrolled in
      this study. Immunophenotyes were evaluated by multicolor flow cytometry using
      seven different panels that allowed the detection of major leukocyte populations
      in peripheral blood. RESULTS: Multicolor flow cytometry revealed distinct
      leukocyte populations and immunological features of patients with X-SCID, XLA, X
      HIGM, AT, WAS, HIES, and CMCD. CONCLUSIONS: Immunophenotyping by multicolor flow
      cytometry is useful to evaluate immune status and contributes to the diagnosis
      and management of patients with PIDDs.

PMID- 28597145
TI  - Quality of Life, Treatment Beliefs, and Treatment Satisfaction in Children
      Treated for Primary Immunodeficiency with SCIg.
AB  - Despite the development of subcutaneous treatment, children and adolescents with
      primary immunodeficiency (PID) are vulnerable to a lower quality of life (QoL)
      than non-clinical participants. Comparisons have been offered in rare reports
      with limited sample sizes. No description is available of treatment beliefs and
      treatment satisfaction with standard tools. The objective of this study was to
      describe a large sample of patients with pediatric PID on QoL, treatment beliefs
      and satisfaction, and identify perceived benefits and issues of treatment both in
      children and parents. A mail-back survey was conducted in 60 patients with PID
      treated with subcutaneous Ig and their parents from a clinic in Montreal (QC,
      Canada). We used the standardized tools to assess for QoL levels, beliefs of
      necessity and concerns with treatment, and dimensions of satisfaction. We
      collected and coded perceived benefits and issues through open-ended questions.
      We found lower QoL in children with PID than in healthy non-clinical participants
      (median d = 0.40) and similar QoL levels to children with cancer (median d =
      0.12). Participants considered their treatment as less necessary and able to
      control the illness and less convenient than patients with other conditions.
      Children were more prone to consider the treatment as convenient (69 vs. 47% p =
      .028) but reported more discomfort (24 vs. 10% p = .043) than parents. Results
      suggest a lower-than-expected QoL in pediatric PID. Aspects of the illness and
      treatment are probably unclear to patients and their families, as necessity
      beliefs were lower than expected. Educational strategies should be developed and
      assessed to address this issue.

PMID- 28597147
TI  - MiR-338-3p inhibits TNF-alpha-induced lipogenesis in human sebocytes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To suppress TNF-alpha-induced lipogenesis in sebocytes (associated
      with acne development) with microRNA-338-3p (miR-338-3p) and to explore the
      underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: TNF-alpha increased lipid droplet formation in
      sebocytes which were used as in vitro model of inflammation-induced acne. Flow
      cytometry and TLC assays validated that miR-338-3p could suppress TNF-alpha
      induced lipid droplet formation, down-regulate the expression of PREX2a, and
      inactivate AKT signaling in sebocytes. In addition, suppression of AKT activity
      by the PI3 K and AKT inhibitors diminished TNF-alpha-induced lipogenesis. PREX2a
      siRNA mimics the effects of miR-338-3p on AKT phosphorylation and lipogenesis.
      PREX2a overexpression consistently restored lipogenesis and AKT phosphorylation
      attenuated by miR-338-3p. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-338-3p suppresses the TNF-alpha
      induced lipogenesis in sebocytes by targeting PREX2a and down-regulating PI3K/AKT
      signaling.

PMID- 28597148
TI  - Medicolegal Sidebar: Resident Physician Liability.

PMID- 28597146
TI  - Human IkappaBalpha Gain of Function: a Severe and Syndromic Immunodeficiency.
AB  - Germline heterozygous gain-of-function (GOF) mutations of NFKBIA, encoding
      IkappaBalpha, cause an autosomal dominant (AD) form of anhidrotic ectodermal
      dysplasia with immunodeficiency (EDA-ID). Fourteen unrelated patients have been
      reported since the identification of the first case in 2003. All mutations
      enhanced the inhibitory activity of IkappaBalpha, by preventing its
      phosphorylation on serine 32 or 36 and its subsequent degradation. The mutation
      certainly or probably occurred de novo in 13 patients, whereas it was inherited
      from a parent with somatic mosaicism in one patient. Eleven mutations, belonging
      to two groups, were identified: (i) missense mutations affecting S32, S36, or
      neighboring residues (8 mutations, 11 patients) and (ii) nonsense mutations
      upstream from S32 associated with the reinitiation of translation downstream from
      S36 (3 mutations, 3 patients). Thirteen patients had developmental features of
      EDA, the severity and nature of which differed between cases. All patient cells
      tested displayed impaired NF-kappaB-mediated responses to the stimulation of
      various surface receptors involved in cell-intrinsic (fibroblasts), innate
      (monocytes), and adaptive (B and T cells) immunity, including TLRs, IL-1Rs,
      TNFRs, TCR, and BCR. All patients had profound B-cell deficiency. Specific
      immunological features, found in some, but not all patients, included a lack of
      peripheral lymph nodes, lymphocytosis, dysfunctional alpha/beta T cells, and a
      lack of circulating gamma/delta T cells. The patients had various pyogenic,
      mycobacterial, fungal, and viral severe infections. Patients with a missense
      mutation tended to display more severe phenotypes, probably due to higher levels
      of GOF proteins. In the absence of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      (HSCT), this condition cause death before the age of 1 year (one child). Two
      survivors have been on prophylaxis (at 9 and 22 years). Six children died after
      HSCT. Five survived, four of whom have been on prophylaxis (3 to 21 years post
      HSCT), whereas one has been well with no prophylaxis. Heterozygous GOF mutations
      in IkappaBalpha underlie a severe and syndromic immunodeficiency, the
      interindividual variability of which might partly be ascribed to the dichotomy of
      missense and nonsense mutations, and the hematopoietic component of which can be
      rescued by HSCT.

PMID- 28597149
TI  - The renal pathological findings in Japanese HIV-infected individuals with CKD: a
      clinical case series from a single center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney diseases (CKD) have emerged as a significant cause of
      morbidity and mortality in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV). However, the detailed study of renal pathological findings currently
      remains unclear in these Japanese patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study
      was undertaken to investigate renal pathological findings between January 1996
      and July 2016. Our study included 20 Japanese HIV-infected patients with CKD; 10
      cases had undergone renal biopsies, and 10 cases had undergone autopsies,
      respectively. Moreover, in the 10 biopsied patients, their clinical courses as
      well as renal outcomes after renal biopsy were also reviewed. RESULTS: All of the
      patients had received combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). The 10 biopsy
      cases (mean age, 54 +/- 14 years and duration of cART, 8 +/- 5 years) included
      three cases of diabetic nephropathy (DMN), two of IgA nephropathy, two of cART
      induced tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN), one of minimal change disease, one
      case of only finding intrarenal arterioles, and one case without abnormal
      findings. Among those patients, their clinical courses were preferable except for
      in the DMN cases. In the autopsy cases (mean age, 52 +/- 10 years and duration of
      cART, 5 +/- 5 years), no distinct mesangial or membranous abnormalities were
      detected. Mild to moderate tubulointerstitial atrophies were observed in six
      cases. Intrarenal arteriosclerosis was identified in nine cases, and the
      proportion of global glomerulosclerosis seen was 8.4 +/- 12.5%/100 glomeruli.
      CONCLUSION: DMN and cART-induced TIN was noted in the biopsy cases. In the
      autopsy cases, renal arteriosclerosis, global glomerulosclerosis, and
      tubulointerstitial atrophy were remarkable. Early diagnosis of kidney diseases
      should be crucial to introduce optimal management, including controlling rigorous
      comorbidities and appropriate use of cART, to prevent further progression of CKD.

PMID- 28597150
TI  - Erratum to: Sarcopenic overweight is associated with early acute limiting
      toxicity of anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma patients.

PMID- 28597151
TI  - Outcomes and prognostic factors for relapsed or refractory lymphoma patients in
      phase I clinical trials.
AB  - Background Although safety and prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) have
      been extensively studied in Phase I clinical trials on patients with solid
      tumours, data on lymphoma trials are scarce. Here, we investigated safety,
      outcomes and prognostic factors in relapsed or refractory lymphoma patients
      included in a series of Phase I trials. Method and patients All consecutive adult
      patients with recurrent/refractory lymphoma enrolled in 26 Phase I trials at a
      single cancer centre in France between January 2008 and June 2016 were
      retrospectively assessed. Results 133 patients (males: 65%) were included in the
      analysis. The median (range) age was 65 (23-86). Aggressive non-Hodgkin, indolent
      non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin types accounted for 64%, 25% and 11% of the patients,
      respectively. The patients had received a median (range) of 3 (1-13) lines of
      treatment prior to trial entry. The median [95% confidence interval] progression
      free survival and OS times were 3.0 [1.8-3.6] and 17.8 [12.7-30.4] months,
      respectively. High-grade toxicity (grade 3 or higher, according to the National
      Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events classification)
      was experienced by 56 of the 133 patients (42%) and was related to the
      investigational drug in 44 of these cases (79%). No toxicity-related deaths
      occurred. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was encountered in 11 (9%) of the 116
      evaluable patients. High-grade toxicity occurred during the DLT period for 34 of
      the 56 patients (61%) and after the DLT period in the remaining 22 (39%). The
      main prognostic factors for poor OS were the histological type (i.e. tumour
      aggressiveness), an elevated serum LDH level, and a low serum albumin level.
      Early withdrawal from a trial was correlated with the performance status score,
      the histological type and the serum LDH level. The overall objective response and
      disease control rates were 24% and 57%, respectively. Conclusion Performance
      status, LDH, albumin and histological type (tumour aggressiveness) appear to be
      the most relevant prognostic factors for enrolling Phase I participants with
      relapsed or refractory lymphoma. 39% of the patients experienced a first high
      grade toxic event after the dose-limiting toxicity period, suggesting that the
      conventional concept of dose-limiting toxicity (designed for chemotherapy) should
      be redefined in the era of modern cancer therapies.

PMID- 28597153
TI  - Erratum to: A molecular phylogenetic framework for Bacillus subtilis using genome
      sequences and its application to Bacillus subtilis subspecies stecoris strain
      D7XPN1, an isolate from a commercial food-waste degrading bioreactor.

PMID- 28597154
TI  - COD reduction of textile effluent in three-phase fluidized bed bioreactor using
      Pseudomonas aureofaciens and Escherichia coli.
AB  - This paper investigated the effect of mixed cultures of Pseudomonas aureofaciens
      and Escherichia coli and air as gas on degradation of chemical oxygen demand
      (COD) in three-phase inverse fluidized beds (TPIFBs) for textile effluents with
      initial COD of 1200 ppm (effluent 1) and 640 ppm (effluent 2). Investigators
      focused on the importance of different design of gas spargers of the TPIFB for
      checking its effect on COD reduction performance. For this purpose, four
      different gas spargers were fabricated for gas flow entry into bioreactor with
      different  % open area: Gas sparger 1 (18% open area), sparger 2 (10.42% open
      area), sparger 3 (8.077% open area) and sparger 4 (1.53% open area). These
      percentage open area decided the amount of gas flow in a unit time in batch
      studies, which in turn rely mainly on superficial gas velocity. The reduction in
      COD was measured at two different superficial gas velocity (0.00343 and 0.004068
      m/s) and at two ratio of static bed height to diameter (H/D) of 0.5 and 0.25 in
      an aerobic mode. Textile effluent 1 resulted in 98.07% COD reduction with sparger
      3 and discharged at 23.14 ppm in 28 h. Textile effluent 2 resulted in 96.5% COD
      reduction with sparger 2 and discharged at 22.4 ppm in 22 h. The resulting COD
      values of Effluent 1 and effluent 2 were in range of discharge limit and resulted
      at a low gas velocity of 0.00343 m/s and low H/D ratio of 0.25. The gas holdup
      correlation was found to be epsilon g = 0.0064 U g0.98 .

PMID- 28597155
TI  - Discriminatory power of rbcL barcode locus for authentication of some of United
      Arab Emirates (UAE) native plants.
AB  - DNA barcoding of United Arab Emirates (UAE) native plants is of high practical
      and scientific value as the plants adapt to very harsh environmental conditions
      that challenge their identification. Fifty-one plant species belonged to 22
      families, 2 monocots, and 20 eudicots; a maximum number of species being legumes
      and grasses were collected. To authenticate the morphological identification of
      the wild plant taxa, rbcL and matK regions were used in the study. The primer
      universality and discriminatory power of rbcL is 100%, while it is 35% for matK
      locus for these plant species. The sequences were submitted to GenBank; accession
      numbers were obtained for all the rbcL sequences and for 6 of matK sequences. We
      suggest rbcL as a promising barcode locus for the tested group of 51 plants. In
      the present study, an inexpensive, simple method of identification of rare desert
      plant taxa through rbcL barcode is being reported.

PMID- 28597152
TI  - Glycosylation engineering of therapeutic IgG antibodies: challenges for the
      safety, functionality and efficacy.
AB  - Glycosylation of the Fc region of IgG has a profound impact on the safety and
      clinical efficacy of therapeutic antibodies. While the biantennary complex-type
      oligosaccharide attached to Asn297 of the Fc is essential for antibody effector
      functions, fucose and outer-arm sugars attached to the core heptasaccharide that
      generate structural heterogeneity (glycoforms) exhibit unique biological
      activities. Hence, efficient and quantitative glycan analysis techniques have
      been increasingly important for the development and quality control of
      therapeutic antibodies, and glycan profiles of the Fc are recognized as critical
      quality attributes. In the past decade our understanding of the influence of
      glycosylation on the structure/function of IgG-Fc has grown rapidly through X-ray
      crystallographic and nuclear magnetic resonance studies, which provides
      possibilities for the design of novel antibody therapeutics. Furthermore, the
      chemoenzymatic glycoengineering approach using endoglycosidase-based
      glycosynthases may facilitate the development of homogeneous IgG glycoforms with
      desirable functionality as next-generation therapeutic antibodies. Thus, the Fc
      glycans are fertile ground for the improvement of the safety, functionality, and
      efficacy of therapeutic IgG antibodies in the era of precision medicine.

PMID- 28597156
TI  - Molecular characterization of indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis strains isolated
      from Kashmir valley.
AB  - Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) being an eco-friendly bioinsecticide is effectively
      used in pest management strategies and, therefore, isolation and identification
      of new strains effective against a broad range of target pests is important. In
      the present study, new indigenous B. thuringiensis strains were isolated and
      investigated so that these could be used as an alternative and/or support the
      current commercial strains/cry proteins in use. For this, 159 samples including
      soil, leaf and spider webs were collected from ten districts of Kashmir valley
      (India). Of 1447 bacterial strains screened, 68 Bt strains were identified with 4
      types of crystalline inclusions. Crystal morphology ranking among the Bt strains
      was spherical (69.11%) > spore attached (8.82%) > rod (5.88%) = bipyramidal
      (5.88%) > spherical plus rod (4.41%) > spherical plus bipyramidal (2.94%) =
      cuboidal (2.94%). SDS-PAGE investigation of the spore-crystal mixture
      demonstrated Bt strains contained proteins of various molecular weights ranging
      from 150 to 28 kDa. Insecticidal activity of the 68 indigenous Bt strains against
      Spodoptera litura neonates showed that Bt strain SWK1 strain had the highest
      mortality. Lepidopteron active genes (cry1, cry2Ab, cry2Ab) were present in six
      Bt strains. Further, analysis of a full-length cry2A gene (~1.9 kb) by PCR-RFLP
      in strain SWK1 revealed that it was a new cry2A gene in Bt strain SWK1 and was
      named as cry2Al1 (GenBank Accession No. KJ149819.1) using the Bt toxin
      nomenclature ( http://www.btnomenclature.info ). Insect bioassays with neonate
      larvae of S. litura and H. armigera showed that the purified Cry2Al1 is toxic to
      S. litura with LC50 2.448 ug/ml and H. armigera with LC50 3.374 ug/ml,
      respectively. However, it did not produce any mortality in third instar larvae of
      Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles stephensi larvae/pupae
      insects (100 ug/ml) at 28 +/- 2  degrees C and 75 to 85% relative humidity under
      a photoperiod of 14L:10D.

PMID- 28597157
TI  - Optimization of cultivation conditions for biotechnological production of lipid
      by Rhodotorula kratochvilovae (syn, Rhodosporidium kratochvilovae) SY89 for
      biodiesel preparation.
AB  - Rhodotorula kratochvilovae (syn, Rhodosporidium kratochvilovae) SY89, an
      oleaginous yeast, isolated from Ethiopian soil, was grown under nitrogen-limited
      media. The capacity this with respect to biomass production, lipid yield and
      lipid content was evaluated. The influence of inoculum size, carbon sources,
      variations in glucose concentration, nitrogen sources, C/N ratio, pH,
      temperature, agitation, and aeration rate and incubation period were
      investigated. Inoculum size of 10% v/v, glucose as a carbon source at 50 g/L
      glucose, 0.50 g/L yeast extract and 0.31 g/L (NH4)2SO4, C/N ratio of 120, pH 5.5,
      incubation temperature of 30  degrees C, 225 rpm, 0.2 as aeration ratio and 144 h
      of incubation were found to be optimum conditions for lipid production. Then the
      yeast was grown in a batch bioreactor by combining the different optimized
      parameters together. Under the optimized conditions, the yeast gave maximum
      biomass (15.34 +/- 1.47 g/L), lipid yield (8.60 +/- 0.81 g/L) and lipid content
      (56.06 +/- 1.70%). The dominant fatty acids exhibited in order of their relative
      abundance (%w/w), were oleic, palmitic, linoleic, stearic, linolenic and
      palmitoleic acids. The concentration of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids
      adds up 78.63 +/- 2.19%. This suggests that this strain could be used as a good
      feedstock for biodiesel production.

PMID- 28597159
TI  - Metabolite analysis of endophytic fungi from cultivars of Zingiber officinale
      Rosc. identifies myriad of bioactive compounds including tyrosol.
AB  - Endophytic fungi associated with rhizomes of four cultivars of Zingiber
      officinale were identified by molecular and morphological methods and evaluated
      for their activity against soft rot pathogen Pythium myriotylum and clinical
      pathogens. The volatile bioactive metabolites produced by these isolates were
      identified by GC-MS analysis of the fungal crude extracts. Understanding of the
      metabolites produced by endophytes is also important in the context of raw
      consumption of ginger as medicine and spice. A total of fifteen isolates were
      identified from the four varieties studied. The various genera identified were
      Acremonium sp., Gliocladiopsis sp., Fusarium sp., Colletotrichum sp., Aspergillus
      sp., Phlebia sp., Earliella sp., and Pseudolagarobasidium sp. The endophytic
      community was unique to each variety, which could be due to the varying host
      genotype. Fungi from phylum Basidiomycota were identified for the first time from
      ginger. Seven isolates showed activity against Pythium, while only two showed
      antibacterial activity. The bioactive metabolites identified in the fungal crude
      extracts include tyrosol, benzene acetic acid, ergone, dehydromevalonic lactone,
      N-aminopyrrolidine, and many bioactive fatty acids and their derivatives which
      included linoleic acid, oleic acid, myristic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid, palmitic
      acid methyl ester, and methyl linoleate. The presence of these varying bioactive
      endophytic fungi may be one of the reasons for the differences in the performance
      of the different ginger varieties.

PMID- 28597158
TI  - Fabrication, optimization, and characterization of noble silver nanoparticles
      from sugarcane leaf (Saccharum officinarum) extract for antifungal application.
AB  - Metal nanoparticles obtained from green route are gaining significant prominence
      as a result of their potential applications in nanomedicine and material
      engineering. Overall metal nanoparticles studied, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)
      clutch prominent place in nanoparticles research field. Herein, we have reported
      the green synthesis of Saccharum officinarum leaf biomass extract-mediated
      synthesis of AgNPs. Initial nanoparticle production was confirmed by visual
      observation as color change from light yellow to bright brown color with yellow
      shade and spectrophotometrically at 450 nm and the various reaction conditions
      were optimized. The FTIR spectra of the biomass extract and synthesized AgNPs
      authorized the presence of phyto constituents as capping agent. The High
      Resolution-Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) analyses confirm the
      morphology and the average particle size of AgNPs as ~28.2 nm. The crystalline
      nature oxide state and mean particle diameter of AgNPs were confirmed by X-ray
      diffraction (XRD) analysis, Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) pattern and
      face-centered cubic (FCC). The obtained AgNPs show moderate to good antifungal
      activity against Phytophthora capsici, Colletotrichum acutatum and Cladosporium
      fulvum as 10, 12 and 14 mm zones of inhibition against synthesized AgNPs at 250
      MUg/well, respectively.

PMID- 28597160
TI  - Purification and characterization of a newly serine protease inhibitor from
      Rhamnus frangula with potential for use as therapeutic drug.
AB  - Protease inhibitors from plants are well known to be potent inhibitors of the
      growth of bacteria, fungi, and even certain viruses which make them excellent
      candidates for use as the lead compounds for the development of novel
      antimicrobial agents for applications in medicine. In this study, Rhamnus
      frangula was selected as a protease inhibitor source. The maximum recovery of the
      protease inhibitor against trypsin was recorded in the crude extract made in 0.1
      M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and isolated from the mature leaves. Then, the
      protease inhibitor designated as RfIP1 was purified to homogeneity by Sephadex
      G50 with an apparent molecular mass of 22.5 kDa and its N-terminal sequence
      exhibited a high degree of homology with known serine protease inhibitor
      sequences. The RfIP1 displayed maximal activity at pH 7 and 37  degrees C. It
      maintained almost 80% of its maximal activity through a large pH range. The
      thermo-stability of RfIP1 was markedly enhanced by BSA, CaCl2, and sorbitol,
      whereas the addition of Mg2+, Zn2+, NaTDC, SDS, DTT, and beta-ME significantly
      promoted inhibitory activity. The protease inhibitor displayed high inhibitory
      activity toward some known proteases (cathepsin B, chymotrypsin, collagenase,
      thrombin, and trypsin) that have more importance in pharmaceutical industry and
      it acted as potent inhibitor of some commercially proteases from Aspergillus
      oryzae, Bacillus sp, and Bacillus licheniformis. The protease inhibitor also
      possessed an appreciable antibacterial effect against both Gram-positive and Gram
      negative bacteria.

PMID- 28597161
TI  - Improved activity of beta-cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Bacillus sp. N
      227 via mutagenesis of the conserved residues.
AB  - beta-Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (beta-CGTase) belongs to the alpha-amylase
      family of enzymes and converts starch to cyclic oligosaccharides called beta
      cyclodextrins (beta-CD). The beta-CGTase from alkalophilic Bacillus sp. N-227 was
      separately mutagenized to give three site-directed beta-CGTase mutants, Y127F,
      R254F and D355R, that showed enhanced cyclization activity towards a starch
      substrate from 1.64 to 2.1-folds. Kinetic studies indicate that the mutants had
      higher affinity towards the substrate than the wild type beta-CGTase. The Y127F
      mutant had the highest affinity which was indicated by the lowest K m of 15.30 mM
      and the highest catalytic activity. Increasing hydrophobicity around the
      catalytic center appeared to favor the cyclization activity of the mutants. The
      beta-CGTase and the three mutants showed optimal enzyme activity at 60  degrees C
      and pH 6.0. All the enzymes were stable for at least 60 min across a wide pH
      range (5.0-7.0).

PMID- 28597162
TI  - A modified protocol yields high-quality RNA from highly mucilaginous Dioscorea
      tubers.
AB  - Extraction of RNA from Dioscorea is difficult because of rich mucilage and
      secondary metabolite content. High-quality RNA is required for RT-PCR and
      transcriptome analysis. Different protocols and common extraction kits were used
      for RNA extraction in Dioscorea, but the results were not satisfactory. A CTAB
      based protocol with lithium chloride precipitation yielded good quality RNA. The
      RNA isolated using this protocol was successfully used for RT-PCR and
      transcriptome sequencing experiments. Mucilage content varies at different
      developmental stages of Dioscorea and the present protocol was effective in
      isolating RNA from such samples. Although the protocol was originally modified
      for tuber tissues, it can be used also for extraction of RNA from rhizome, root,
      shoot and leaf.

PMID- 28597163
TI  - Shift in microbial group during remediation by enhanced natural attenuation
      (RENA) of a crude oil-impacted soil: a case study of Ikarama Community, Bayelsa,
      Nigeria.
AB  - Acute and chronic pollution of environments with crude oil does not bode well for
      biota living within the vicinity of polluted environments. This is due to
      environmental and public health concerns on the negative impact of crude oil
      pollution on living organisms. Enhancing microbial activities by adding nutrients
      and other amendments had proved effective in pollutant removal during
      bioremediation. This study was carried out to determine how microbial group
      respond during remediation by enhanced natural attenuation (RENA) during a field
      scale bioremediation. Crude oil-polluted soil samples were collected (before,
      during, and after remediation) from a site undergoing remediation by enhanced
      natural attenuation (RENA) at Ikarama Community, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, and were
      analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH),
      and a shift in microbial community. The gas chromatography-flame ionization
      detector (GC-FID) results showed that the pollutant concentrations (TPH and PAH)
      reduced by 98 and 85%, respectively, after the remediation. Culturable
      hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (CHUB) was highest (8.3 * 104 cfu/g) for sample
      collected during the remediation studies, whilst sample collected after
      remediation had low CHUB (6.1 * 104 cfu/g) compared to that collected before
      remediation (7.7 * 104 cfu/g). Analysis of 16S rRNA of the isolated CHUB showed
      they belonged to eight bacterial genera namely: Achromobacter, Alcaligenes,
      Azospirillus, Bacillus, Lysinibacillus, Ochrobactrum, Proteus, and Pusillimonas,
      with Alcaligenes as the dominant genus. In this study, it was observed that the
      bacterial community shifted from mixed group (Gram-positive and -negative) before
      and during the remediation, to only the latter group after the remediation
      studies. The betaproteobacteria groups were the dominant isolated bacterial
      phylotype. This study showed that RENA is an effective method of reducing
      pollutant concentration in crude oil-polluted sites, and could be applied to
      other polluted sites in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to mitigate the
      devastating effects of crude oil pollution.

PMID- 28597164
TI  - Recombinant expression, characterization and application of a dihydrolipoamide
      dehydrogenase with diaphorase activity from Bacillus sphaericus.
AB  - Diaphorases are flavin-containing enzymes with potential applications in
      biotransfomation reactions, biosensor design and in vitro diagnostic tests. In
      this communication, we describe recombinant expression, characterization and
      application of a lipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD) with diaphorase activity from a
      strain of Bacillus sphaericus. The DLD gene consisting of 1413 bp encoding a
      protein of 470 amino acids was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and the
      recombinant enzyme was characterized. B. sphaericus DLD catalyzed the reduction
      of NAD+ by dihydrolipoamide and exhibited NADH-dependent diaphorase activity. The
      molecular weight of purified enzyme was about 50 kDa, and determined to be a
      monomeric protein. Diaphorase was active and stable from pH 7.0 to 9.0 with an
      optimal activity at pH 8.5. It showed its maximal activity at temperature of 30 
      degrees C and was almost stable at temperatures between 25 and 30  degrees C.
      Different metal ions and inhibitors showed no influence on the activity of target
      enzyme. The K m and V max values for NADH were estimated to be 0.33 mM and 200.0
      U/ml, respectively. Moreover, recombinant B. sphaericus diaphorase exhibited
      considerable potential to be used as a component of diagnostic tests for the
      quantification of metabolites. In conclusion, considering the properties of
      diaphorase from B. sphaericus PAD-91, it can have potential application as a
      diagnostic enzyme.

PMID- 28597165
TI  - Proteomic characterization and bio-informatic analysis of differentially
      expressed E. coli Nissle 1917 proteins with response to cocoti wine stress.
AB  - The present study emphases the comparative proteomic analysis of Escherichia coli
      Nissle 1917 under cocoti palm wine stress and identified differentially expressed
      proteins. Protein samples were analyzed by 2-D, MALDI-TOF combined with MS
      access. In 2-D electrophoresis, eight differentially expressed proteins were
      identified: five up-regulated, two down-regulated and one newly expressed
      protein. Protein spots were digested with trypsin for MALDI-TOF-MS analysis;
      protein sequences were obtained from MASCOT search. Sequences were aligned with
      template using Swiss Model server. Phyre-2 was used to predict homology modeling,
      RasMol was used to analyze the modeling structures, PSVS server was utilized to
      validate the protein structure by Ramachandran's plot analysis, physical and
      chemical properties were analyzed using ProtParam server, Phylogenetic tree was
      constructed by Mega4. UniProt search helps to find protein functional information
      of differentially expressed proteins, involved in catalytic activities,
      regulation mechanisms, DNA damage stimulus, anti-termination and termination
      process, protein binding, electron transport mechanism, and cell signaling
      process functions. A detailed exploration of the proteins under cocoti palm wine
      stress have provided the composition, structure and functions of the expressed
      proteins for further investigation.

PMID- 28597166
TI  - Sex allocation in gynodioecious Cyananthus delavayi differs between gender morphs
      and soil quality.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Sex allocation in Cyananthus delavayi. Gynodioecy, where females and
      hermaphrodites coexist in the same natural population, is particularly suitable
      for predicting the ecological pressures that drive the stability of gender
      polymorphism. Since females have a disadvantage in that they only contribute to
      the next generation via ovules, they should gain an advantage via other means, of
      which resource allocation is an important component. Thus, to study their sex
      allocation is very helpful to understand how the dimorphic sexual system is
      maintained in natural systems. We studied the sex allocation patterns and
      reproductive output of the gynodioecious Cyananthus delavayi in three populations
      with different soil qualities (organic matter, N, P and K). The hermaphroditic
      flowers and pistils were much larger than those of female individuals. Although
      both gender morphs invested similar biomass in the pistils, females allocated
      more of their resource pool to the seed production, while hermaphrodites
      allocated more to pollinator advertisement. The pollen production of
      hermaphrodites did not differ between populations, suggesting that pollen
      production by hermaphrodites was not limited by soil nutrients. Fruit set of
      females, but not hermaphrodites, decreased with declining soil quality, whereas
      seeds per fruit of both females and hermaphrodites were highest in poor soils.
      Overall, this study shows that females achieve greater reproductive success by
      allocating more of their resource pool to enhancing seed production, which should
      favor their presence in gynodioecious populations. The hermaphrodites achieve
      reproductive success from both pollen and seed production, and unnecessarily
      reduce their allocation to pollen production. Soil quality should explain, at
      least partially, the sexual allocation patterns. Furthermore, some of our
      findings contradict previous hypotheses, thus adding a new example to the body of
      research on plant sex allocation and the development of future theories.

PMID- 28597167
TI  - Predictors of thrombohemorrhagic early death in children and adolescents with
      t(15;17)-positive acute promyelocytic leukemia treated with ATRA and
      chemotherapy.
AB  - Clinical trials on childhood acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) report early
      death (ED) rates of 3-8%, but predictors of thrombohemorrhagic (TH)-ED are not
      well understood. In a retrospective study, we aimed to determine the incidence
      and predictors of TH-ED in childhood APL. Data were analyzed from children and
      adolescents with t(15;17)-positive APL (n = 683) who started treatment with all
      trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and chemotherapy in different international studies.
      Demographic data; initial white blood cell (WBC), peripheral blood (PB) blast,
      and platelet counts; hemoglobin value; coagulation parameters; morphologic
      variant (M3 or M3v); and induction details were analyzed. Early death was defined
      as death occurring within 30 days of presentation. The incidence of ED was 4.7%
      (32 of 683 patients). Predictors of TH-ED were identified by univariable and
      multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analyses (n = 25). In
      univariable analysis, high WBC (>10 * 109/L) (P < 0.001) and high PB blast (>30 *
      109/L) (P < 0.001), M3v (P < 0.01), and black ethnicity (P < 0.001) were
      independent predictors of TH-ED. In multivariable analysis, high WBC count (P <
      0.01) and obesity (i.e., body mass index >=95th percentile for age) (P = 0.03)
      were predictors of TH-ED. Initial high WBC counts and obesity are likely
      predictors of TH-ED in childhood APL. The efficacy of novel drugs for APL
      associated coagulopathy or of frontline arsenic trioxide and ATRA combination
      regimens in reducing ED rates in childhood APL remains to be established.

PMID- 28597169
TI  - Erratum to: Good adherence to imatinib therapy among patients with chronic
      myeloid leukemia-a single-center observational study.

PMID- 28597170
TI  - Mathematical Model of Interaction Between Bacteriocin-Producing Lactic Acid
      Bacteria and Listeria. Part 1: Steady States and Thresholds.
AB  - Mathematical modeling is an important tool to assessing quantitative conjectures
      and to answer specific questions. In the modeling, we assume that a competitor
      represented by a lactic acid bacterium produces antimicrobial compounds
      (substances that kill microorganisms or inhibit their growth), such as lactic
      acid and bacteriocins, with some cost to its own growth. Bacteriocins are protein
      compounds with antimicrobial effect against related species and bacteria such as
      Listeria monocytogenes, which is foodborne pathogen that cause listeriosis. From
      the analysis of the model, we found the thresholds which determine the existence
      of multiple equilibria and we studied their stability, in order to evaluate the
      interaction between lactic acid bacteria and L. monocytogenes.

PMID- 28597168
TI  - Treatment of refractory autoimmune hemolytic anemia with venetoclax in relapsed
      chronic lymphocytic leukemia with del(17p).

PMID- 28597171
TI  - Hypopituitarism is associated with lower oxytocin concentrations and reduced
      empathic ability.
AB  - PURPOSE: Central diabetes insipidus is characterised by arginine vasopressin
      deficiency. Oxytocin is structurally related to vasopressin and is synthesised in
      the same hypothalamic nuclei, thus we hypothesised that patients with acquired
      central diabetes insipidus and anterior hypopituitarism would display an oxytocin
      deficiency. Moreover, psychological research has demonstrated that oxytocin
      influences social and emotional behaviours, particularly empathic behaviour. We
      therefore further hypothesised that central diabetes insipidus patients would
      perform worse on empathy-related tasks, compared to age-matched and gender
      matched clinical control (clinical control-isolated anterior hypopituitarism) and
      healthy control groups. METHOD: Fifty-six participants (age 46.54 +/- 16.30 yrs;
      central diabetes insipidus: n = 20, 8 males; clinical control: n = 15, 6 males;
      healthy control: n = 20, 7 males) provided two saliva samples which were analysed
      for oxytocin and completed two empathy tasks. RESULTS: Hypopituitary patients
      (both central diabetes insipidus and clinical control groups) had significantly
      lower oxytocin concentrations compared to healthy control participants.
      Hypopituitary patients also performed significantly worse on both the reading the
      mind in the eyes task and the facial expression recognition task compared to
      healthy control participants. Regression analyses further revealed that central
      diabetes insipidus patients' oxytocin concentrations significantly predicted
      their performance on easy items of the reading the mind in the eyes task.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hypopituitarism may therefore be associated with reduced oxytocin
      concentrations and impaired empathic ability. While further studies are needed to
      replicate these findings, our data suggest that oxytocin replacement may offer a
      therapeutic approach to improve psychological well-being in patients with
      hypopituitarism.

PMID- 28597172
TI  - The P2X7 receptor is not essential for development of imiquimod-induced psoriasis
      like inflammation in mice.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder, characterised by epidermal
      hyperplasia (acanthosis) and leukocyte infiltration of the skin. Current
      therapies are inadequate, highlighting the need for new therapeutic targets. The
      P2X7 receptor is implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. This study
      investigated the role of P2X7 in imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like
      inflammation. Topically applied IMQ caused twofold greater ear swelling in BALB/c
      mice compared to C57BL/6 mice, which encode a partial loss-of-function missense
      mutation in the P2RX7 gene. However, there was no difference in histological skin
      pathology (acanthosis and leukocyte infiltration) between the two strains. IMQ
      treatment up-regulated P2X7 expression in skin from both mouse strains.
      Additionally, IMQ induced ATP release from cultured human keratinocytes, a
      process independent of cell death. Injection of the P2X7 antagonist Brilliant
      Blue G (BBG) but not A-804598 partly reduced ear swelling compared to vehicle
      injected control mice. Neither antagonist altered skin pathology. Moreover, no
      difference in ear swelling or skin pathology was observed between C57BL/6 and
      P2X7 knock-out (KO) mice. Flow cytometric analysis of IMQ-treated skin from
      C57BL/6 and P2X7 KO mice demonstrated similar leukocyte infiltration, including
      neutrophils, macrophages and T cells. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that
      P2X7 is not essential for development of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like inflammation
      but does not exclude a role for this receptor in psoriasis development in humans
      or other mouse models of this disease.

PMID- 28597174
TI  - Unlicensed and off-label use of drugs in pediatric surgical units at tertiary
      care hospitals of Pakistan.
AB  - Background Unlicensed and off-label prescribing practice is global dilemma around
      the world. This pioneering study was designed to determine unlicensed and off
      label use of drug in surgical wards of tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan.
      Objective To assess unlicensed and off-label use of drugs in pediatric surgical
      unit at three tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar, Pakistan. Setting Two
      government and one private tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan. Method Drug
      profiles of 895 patients from three different clinical settings were evaluated
      for unlicensed and off-label use of drugs using Micromedex DRUGDEX. Main outcome
      measure Characteristics of the unlicensed and off-label drug prescriptions.
      Result Total of 3168 prescribed drugs were analyzed in this study. Indication
      (38.7%) and dose (34.8%) were the most frequent off-label categories. In
      comparison with the corresponding reference categories, infants and children,
      male patients and having less than five prescribed drugs were significant
      predictors of unlicensed prescriptions. In comparison with the corresponding
      reference categories, significant predictors of off-label drug prescribing were
      children younger than two year, children between 2-12 years, patient staying at
      hospital less than 5 days and patients having less than five prescribed drugs.
      Conclusion The prevalence of unlicensed and off-label drug prescriptions are high
      at pediatric surgical ward of tertiary care hospitals. More awareness of the
      efficacy and safety of drugs are required in pediatrics. In addition, new
      formulations with advanced dosing for children are also required to minimize the
      risk of adverse outcomes.

PMID- 28597175
TI  - Distribution of CYP2C19 polymorphisms in Mongolian and Han nationals and the
      choice of specific antiplatelet drugs.
AB  - Background Individualized medication reviews may improve our understanding of the
      distribution of CYP2C19 polymorphisms in ethnic populations. Objective To
      evaluate differences in CYP2C19 gene polymorphisms between Mongolian and Han
      nationals and determine the effect of adjustments of antiplatelet treatments
      according to the genetic profile in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI). Setting Prospective, observational, single-center study.
      Methods 397 patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome were enrolled.
      Additionally, 186 patients undergoing PCI were given different treatments
      according to their CYP2C19 genotypes. Patients with the genotype of an extensive
      metabolizers (EMs; *1/*1) were co-administered aspirin 100 mg/day and clopidogrel
      75 mg/day, following a loading dose of 300 mg; intermediate metabolizers (IMs;
      e.g., *1/*2 and *1/*3) and poor metabolizers (PMs; e.g., *2/*2 and *2/*3) were
      administered a loading dose of 180 mg ticagrelor, followed by a maintenance dose
      of 90 mg twice a day. Results In Mongolians, 60.79% of patients were EMs, which
      was significantly higher than that in Han nationals (P = 0.002). In Han
      individuals, 62.14% of patients were IMs and PMs, which was significantly higher
      than that in Mongolians (P < 0.05). Three patients died, and the frequency of
      adverse events during follow-up was significantly higher in patients given
      conventional treatment than in patients given tailored treatment (P = 0.039).
      However, differences in metabolism subtypes did not affect the incidence of
      adverse reactions. Conclusions There were differences in CYP2C19 polymorphisms
      between Mongolians and Hans. Effective, safe therapy was achieved by tailoring
      antiplatelet drug therapy based on genotype.

PMID- 28597173
TI  - Problems, interventions, and their outcomes during the routine work of hospital
      pharmacists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
AB  - Background In the last 30 years, activities of hospital pharmacists have gone
      through significant changes. Pharmacists are increasingly involved in patient
      care. Objectives To explore drug-related and logistic problems, interventions,
      and their outcomes during routine everyday work of hospital pharmacists. Setting
      Institute for physical medicine and rehabilitation, Banja Luka, Bosnia and
      Herzegovina. Methods In the period of January 2013-October 2015 a prospective
      observational study was performed. Medical doctors, nurses, therapists, and
      patients addressed pharmacists, face-to-face or by telephone, with drug-related
      problems (DRPs) and/or logistic issues. Main outcome measure Type of DRP or
      logistic issue, intervention, outcome, initiator and time spent for solving the
      problem were documented for each consultation. Results Out of 1515 interventions,
      48.8% were aimed at solving DRPs. The most common DRPs were the recommendation of
      a drug or dose and need for additional information about drugs. Drug price and
      supply were the most prevalent logistic issues. DRPs were more frequently
      initiated by medical doctors and required more time to solve the problem compared
      to logistic issues (Mann-Whitney U test, p <= 0.001, respectively). The
      acceptance rate of interventions to solve DRPs (83.7%) was lower compared to
      logistic issues (95.2%; p <= 0.001). Conclusions Hospital pharmacists were faced
      with an approximately equal number of DRPs and logistic issues during their
      routine everyday work. The overall acceptance rate of pharmacists' interventions
      was high, and the results of our study indicate that there is a need for more
      involvement of hospital pharmacists in Bosnia and Herzegovina in clinical
      activities. Impact on practice.

PMID- 28597176
TI  - Self-management research of asthma and good drug use (SMARAGD study): a pilot
      trial.
AB  - Background Community pharmacists play an important role in supporting patients
      for optimal drug use. Objective To assess the effectiveness of monitoring in
      asthma patients with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on disease control. Setting
      Asthma patients using ICS were invited from two intervention (IG) and two control
      pharmacies (CG). Method Participating patients completed questionnaires at the
      study start and at 6-month follow-up, including the Control of Allergic Rhinitis
      and Asthma Test (CARAT) questionnaire. IG patients completed the CARAT
      questionnaire every 2 weeks and received counselling on disease management, ICS
      adherence, and inhalation technique when scores were suboptimal, deteriorating,
      or absent. For Turbuhaler users, additional electronic monitoring (EMI) was
      available, with daily alerts for ICS intake. Main outcome measure As the primary
      outcome, CARAT scores at follow-up were compared between IG and CG using linear
      regression. As secondary outcome, refill adherence was compared using logistic
      regression. Results From March to July 2015, we enrolled 39 IG and 41 CG
      patients. At follow-up, CARAT scores did not differ between IG and CG (-0.19; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], -2.57 to 2.20), neither did patient numbers with ICS
      adherence >80% (0.82; 95% CI, 0.28-2.37). Among EMI users, CARAT scores did not
      differ, but ICS adherence >80% showed a 4.52-fold increase (95% CI, 1.56-13.1)
      compared with EMI nonusers. Conclusion Among community-dwelling asthma patients,
      pharmacist monitoring did not affect CARAT scores, but EMI use showed improved
      ICS refill adherence.

PMID- 28597177
TI  - Dynamical Systems Modeling of Couple Interaction: a New Method for Assessing
      Intervention Impact Across the Transition to Parenthood.
AB  - This study explored the use of dynamical systems modeling techniques to evaluate
      self- and co-regulation of affect in couples' interactions before and after the
      transition to parenthood, and the impact of the Family Foundations program on
      these processes. Thirty-four heterosexual couples, randomized to intervention and
      control conditions, participated in videotaped dyadic interaction tasks at
      pretest (during pregnancy) and posttest (1 year after birth). Husbands' and
      wives' positivity and negativity were micro-coded throughout interactions.
      Individual negativity set-points, self-regulation, and partner co-regulatory
      processes during interactions were examined using a coupled oscillators model.
      Regarding self-regulatory processes, men exhibited amplification of negativity at
      the prenatal assessment that did not change at the postnatal assessment; women
      demonstrated no significant damping or amplification at pretest and a marginally
      significant change towards greater amplification at the postnatal assessment. In
      terms of partner-influenced regulatory dynamics, men's positive behaviors changed
      from damping to amplifying women's negative behaviors in the control group
      following the transition to parenthood, but exerted an even stronger damping
      effect on women's negative behaviors in the intervention group. The study
      highlights the advantages of dynamic modeling approaches in testing specific
      hypotheses in the study of self- and co-regulatory couple dynamics and
      demonstrates the potential of studying dynamic processes to further understanding
      of developmental and intervention-related change mechanisms.

PMID- 28597178
TI  - Comment on: "Assessing Pruritus in Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Cross-Sectional
      Study".

PMID- 28597179
TI  - Comment on: Facial Hyperpigmentation in Skin of Color: Special Considerations and
      Treatment.

PMID- 28597180
TI  - Author's Reply to Cohen: Facial Hyperpigmentation in Skin of Color: Special
      Considerations and Treatment.

PMID- 28597181
TI  - Clinical Signs, Pathophysiology and Management of Cutaneous Side Effects of Anti
      Tumor Necrosis Factor Agents.
AB  - Approximately one in four patients treated with anti-TNF agents (infliximab,
      etanercept, adalimumab, certolizumab, and golimumab) develops cutaneous adverse
      events, typically months to years after the initiation of treatment, with xerosis
      cutis, eczema (often psoriasiform), psoriasis, palmoplantar pustulosis, cutaneous
      infections, alopecia, and skin cancer being the most frequently encountered. The
      typical skin lesion of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-treated patients is
      orange-red psoriasiform eczema affecting the flexures, genitalia, scalp, or face,
      with high susceptibility to bacterial superinfection with Staphylococcus aureus.
      When adequate dermatological treatment is administered to patients with skin
      lesions receiving anti-TNF treatment, the discontinuation of anti-TNF agents is
      only rarely required. Smoking, female sex, and Crohn's disease are most
      frequently observed as risk factors for anti-TNF-induced cutaneous adverse
      events. The underlying pathophysiology is still poorly understood, but epidermal
      permeability barrier dysfunction, increased susceptibility to bacterial
      superinfection, and cytokines derived from T helper (Th) 1 (interferon-gamma),
      Th17 cells (interleukin [IL]-17A and IL-22), plasmocytic dendritic cells
      (interferon-alpha), and keratinocytes (IL-36gamma and IL-17C) appear to play a
      role. In this review, we describe the clinical characteristics, risk factors,
      pathophysiology, and management of cutaneous adverse events of patients treated
      with anti-TNF agents. In addition, we try to give some practical guidance on how
      to prevent and manage the skin changes in anti-TNF-treated patients, based on our
      own experience with dermatological care in a large cohort of inflammatory bowel
      disease patients receiving anti-TNF therapy.

PMID- 28597182
TI  - Apremilast: A Novel Oral Treatment for Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disease associated with several co
      morbidities and negative impacts on a patient's quality of life. Despite the
      advances in biologic therapy, there are still unmet needs in the treatment of
      psoriasis, as current treatments are limited in terms of long-term efficacy,
      tolerability, safety, route of administration, and cost. Apremilast is an oral,
      small-molecule phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor that works intracellularly by
      blocking the degradation of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate, resulting in
      increased intracellular cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate levels in
      phosphodiesterase 4-expressing cells. This inhibition results in the reduced
      expression of proinflammatory mediators, and an increased expression of anti
      inflammatory mediators, providing apremilast with an anti-inflammatory rather
      than immunosuppressive mode of action. Apremilast offers a novel therapeutic
      option for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and may fulfill some
      of the unmet needs in patients with psoriasis. Potential advantages of apremilast
      include moderate activity for both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and efficacy
      in difficult-to-treat forms of psoriasis, a good safety profile, no need of
      laboratory prescreening or ongoing monitoring for laboratory parameters, owing to
      the absence of organ toxicity, a potentially advantageous weight loss effect, and
      a convenient oral administration and dosing. Cost effectiveness and health
      economics considerations will be decisive in determining the ultimate place of
      apremilast in the therapeutic armamentarium for psoriasis.

PMID- 28597183
TI  - Discrepancies between NCCN and ESMO guidelines in the management of anal cancer:
      a qualitative review.
AB  - There is an ever-growing need, with the ongoing developments in research and the
      progress towards patient centered care, to delineate standardized protocols of
      management of anal cancer. However, guidelines from different societies show some
      degree of disagreement. This is a systematic review of the literature to identify
      similarities and discrepancies between the guidelines for the management of anal
      cancer drafted by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and by the
      National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). We found essentially similar
      management for investigation, diagnosis, chemotherapy regimens, and radiotherapy
      doses in both ESMO and NCCN recommendations in the management of anal cancer.
      There were few differences, which included the levels of evidence and grades of
      recommendations, the delineation of radiotherapy fields, and the treatment of the
      elderly and personalized medicine based on genetics. The follow-up regime is also
      marginally different in the first 2 years. Even if the observed differences may
      be justified by a different implementation of evidence-based medicine among
      different countries for particular management modalities of anal cancer, we
      identified the grey areas which need further study. In addition, these facets
      should be assessed more carefully when planning future guidelines.

PMID- 28597184
TI  - Epithelial membrane protein-2 (EMP2) promotes angiogenesis in glioblastoma
      multiforme.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive malignant brain tumor and is
      associated with an extremely poor clinical prognosis. One pathologic hallmark of
      GBM is excessive vascularization with abnormal blood vessels. Extensive
      investigation of anti-angiogenic therapy as a treatment for recurrent GBM has
      been performed. Bevacizumab, a monoclonal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor
      A (VEGF-A), suggests a progression-free survival benefit but no overall survival
      benefit. Developing novel anti-angiogenic therapies are urgently needed in
      controlling GBM growth. In this study, we demonstrate tumor expression of
      epithelial membrane protein-2 (EMP2) promotes angiogenesis both in vitro and in
      vivo using cell lines from human GBM. Mechanistically, this pro-angiogenic effect
      of EMP2 was partially through upregulating tumor VEGF-A levels. A potential
      therapeutic effect of a systemic administration of anti-EMP2 IgG1 on intracranial
      xenografts was observed resulting in both significant reduction of tumor load and
      decreased tumor vasculature. These results suggest the potential for anti-EMP2
      IgG1 as a promising novel anti-angiogenic therapy for GBM. Further investigation
      is needed to fully understand the molecular mechanisms how EMP2 modulates GBM
      pathogenesis and progression and to further characterize anti-EMP2 therapy in
      GBM.

PMID- 28597185
TI  - Neural Correlates of Sensory Hyporesponsiveness in Toddlers at High Risk for
      Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Altered patterns of sensory responsiveness are a frequently reported feature of
      Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Younger siblings of individuals with ASD are at a
      greatly elevated risk of a future diagnosis of ASD, but little is known about the
      neural basis of sensory responsiveness patterns in this population. Younger
      siblings (n = 20) of children diagnosed with ASD participated in resting
      electroencephalography (EEG) at an age of 18 months. Data on toddlers' sensory
      responsiveness were obtained using the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire.
      Correlations were present between hyporesponsiveness and patterns of oscillatory
      power, functional connectivity, and signal complexity. Our findings suggest that
      neural signal features hold promise for facilitating early identification and
      targeted remediation in young children at risk for ASD.

PMID- 28597186
TI  - Problem Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Association with Verbal Ability
      and Adapting/Coping Skills.
AB  - Data from the Autism Inpatient Collection was used to examine the relationship
      between problem behaviors and verbal ability, which have generally, though not
      universally, been highly associated. In a comparison of 169 minimally-verbal and
      177 fluently-verbal 4 to 20-year-old psychiatric inpatients with ASD, the
      severity of self-injurious behavior, stereotyped behavior, and irritability
      (including aggression and tantrums) did not significantly differ, when
      controlling for age and NVIQ. Verbal ability was not strongly related to the
      severity of problem behaviors. However, lower adapting/coping scores were
      significantly associated with increasing severity of each type of problem
      behavior, even when accounting for verbal ability. Interventions to develop
      adapting/coping mechanisms may be important for mitigation of problem behaviors
      across the spectrum of individuals with ASD.

PMID- 28597187
TI  - Examining the Role of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender on Social and Behavioral
      Ratings Within the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule.
AB  - The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is widely used to assess
      symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Given well-documented differences in
      social behaviors across cultures, this study examined whether item-level biases
      exist in ADOS scores across sociodemographic groups (race, ethnicity, and
      gender). We examined a subset of ten ADOS items among participants (N = 2458).
      Holding level of overall ADOS behavioral symptoms constant, we found significant
      item level bias (measurement noninvariance) for race and ethnicity on three ADOS
      items. Item-level bias was not apparent across gender. Although the magnitude of
      bias was small, our findings highlight the need to reevaluate norms and
      operational definitions used in assessments to increase ASD diagnostic accuracy
      among culturally-diverse groups.

PMID- 28597188
TI  - Modulation of Global and Local Processing Biases in Adults with Autistic-like
      Traits.
AB  - Previous work shows that doing a continuous performance task (CPT) shifts
      attentional biases in neurotypical individuals towards global aspects of
      hierarchical Navon figures by selectively activating right hemisphere regions
      associated with global processing. The present study examines whether CPT can
      induce similar modulations of attention in individuals with high levels of
      autistic traits who typically show global processing impairments. Participants
      categorized global or local aspects of Navon figures in pre- and post-CPT blocks.
      Post-CPT, high trait individuals showed increased global interference during
      local categorization. This result suggests that CPT may be useful for temporarily
      enhancing global processing in individuals with high levels of autistic traits
      and possibly those diagnosed with autism.

PMID- 28597190
TI  - The prevalence of REM-related obstructive sleep apnoea is reduced by the AASM
      2012 hypopnoea criteria.
AB  - PURPOSE: The variations in reported prevalence of rapid eye movement-related
      obstructive sleep apnoea (REM-OSA) have been attributed to different definitions,
      although the effect of hypopnoea criteria has not been previously investigated.
      METHODS: Within this retrospective study, 134 of 382 consecutive patients
      undertaking polysomnography (PSG) for the suspicion of OSA met the inclusion
      criteria. PSGs were scored using both the 2007 AASM recommended hypopnoea
      criteria (AASM2007Rec) and the 2012 AASM recommended hypopnoea criteria
      (AASM2012Rec). For each hypopnoea criteria, REM-OSA patients were grouped as REM
      related [either as REM-predominant OSA (rpOSA) or REM-isolated OSA (riOSA)] or
      non-stage-specific OSA (nssOSA). Outcome measures (SF-36, FOSQ and DASS-21) were
      also compared between groups. RESULTS: Incorporation of the AASM2012Rec criteria
      compared to the AASM2007Rec criteria increased the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI)
      for NREM and REM sleep but decreased the AHIREM/AHINREM ratio from 1.9 to 1.3 (p
      < 0.001). It also decreased the prevalence of riOSA [15.7 vs 2.2% (p < 0.001) for
      AASM2007Rec and AASM2012Rec, respectively]. The prevalence of rpOSA remained the
      same for each hypopnoea criteria although the prevalence of nssOSA increased with
      the AASM2012Rec hypopnoea criteria [53.0 vs 66.4% (p < 0.006) for AASM2007Rec and
      AASM2012Rec, respectively]. There were no differences in clinical symptoms
      between the groups, irrespective of hypopnoea criteria used. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study demonstrates that in comparison with AASM2007Rec, the AASM2012Rec hypopnoea
      criteria reduce the prevalence of riOSA but not rpOSA by reducing the ratio of
      REM respiratory events and NREM respiratory events.

PMID- 28597189
TI  - A podocyte view of membranous nephropathy: from Heymann nephritis to the
      childhood human disease.
AB  - Membranous nephropathy (MN) is characterized by an accumulation of immune
      deposits on the subepithelial side of the glomerular basement membrane, which
      results in complement activation and proteinuria. Since 2002, several major
      antigens of the podocyte have been identified in human MN, the first one being
      neutral endopeptidase (NEP), the alloantigen involved in neonatal cases of MN
      that occur in newborns from NEP-deficient mothers. This discovery opened the
      field to the major advances that have occurred since then in the pathophysiology
      and treatment of MN. It is remarkable that experimental models such as Heymann
      nephritis and cationic bovine serum albumin-induced MN in the rabbit predicted
      the pathomechanisms of the human glomerulopathy. The podocyte is at the center of
      the pathogenesis of MN either by providing a source of endogenous antigens or by
      creating an environment favorable to deposition and accumulation of immune
      complexes containing exogenous (non-podocyte) antigens. The podocyte is also a
      victim of complement activation and antibody blocking activity against enzymes or
      receptors. A search for innovative drugs aimed at protecting this cell against
      complement activation and the effects of prolonged ER stress has become a
      priority.

PMID- 28597191
TI  - Theoretical analysis of the binding of iron(III) protoporphyrin IX to 4
      methoxyacetophenone thiosemicarbazone via DFT-D3, MEP, QTAIM, NCI, ELF, and LOL
      studies.
AB  - Thiosemicarbazones display diverse pharmacological properties, including
      antimalarial activities. Their pharmacological activities have been studied in
      depth, but little of this research has focused on their antimalarial mode of
      action. To elucidate this antimalarial mechanism, we investigated the nature of
      the interactions between iron(III) protoporphyrin IX (Fe(III)PPIX) and the thione
      thiol tautomers of 4-methoxyacetophenone thiosemicarbazone (MAPTSC). Dispersion
      corrected density functional theory (DFT-D3), the quantum theory of atoms in
      molecules (QTAIM), the noncovalent interaction (NCI) index, the electron
      localization function (ELF), the localized orbital locator (LOL), and
      thermodynamic calculations were employed in this work. Fe(III)PPIX-MAPTSC binding
      is expected to inhibit hemozoin formation, thereby preventing Fe(III)PPIX
      detoxification in plasmodia. Preliminary studies geared toward the identification
      of atomic binding sites in the thione-thiol tautomers of MAPTSC were carried out
      using molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps and conceptual DFT-based local
      reactivity indices. The thionic sulfur and the 2 N-azomethine nitrogen/thiol
      sulfur of, respectively, the thione and thiol tautomers of MAPTSC were identified
      as the most favorable nucleophilic sites for electrophilic attack. The negative
      values of the computed Fe(III)PPIX-MAPTSC binding energies, enthalpies, and Gibbs
      free energies are indicative of the existence and stability of Fe(III)PPIX-MAPTSC
      complexes. MAPTSC-Fe(III) coordinate bonds and strong hydrogen bonds (N-H...O)
      between the NH2 group in MAPTSC and the C=O group in one propionate side chain of
      Fe(III)PPIX are crucial to Fe(III)PPIX-MAPTSC binding. QTAIM, NCI, ELF, and LOL
      analyses revealed a subtle interplay of weak noncovalent interactions dominated
      by dispersive-like van der Waals interactions between Fe(III)PPIX and MAPTSC that
      stabilize the Fe(III)PPIX-MAPTSC complexes.

PMID- 28597193
TI  - Concentrate supplementations of grazing pregnant Kalahari Red goats: Effects on
      pregnancy variables, reproductive performance, birth types and weight of kids.
AB  - A study was conducted for 22 weeks to determine the effects of concentrate
      supplementations at three crude protein (CP) levels, i.e. low protein diet-LPD
      12.42% CP (124.93 g day-1); medium protein diet-MPD 14.18% CP (145.87 g day-1)
      and high protein diet-HPD 16.35% CP (168.19 g day-1) on some pregnancy variables,
      reproductive performance, birth types and weight of kids kidded by pregnant
      Kalahari Red goats grazed on Chloris gayana. Thirty-three matured Kalahari Red
      goats of first parity within age range of 2 to 21/2 years with an average body
      weight of 38.10 +/- 1.13 kg were randomly allotted to the diets with 11 goats per
      treatment. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a completely
      randomised design. It was observed that goats fed HPD had the highest (p < 0.05)
      values for products of pregnancy (10.35 kg) taken within 24hour before kidding
      and foetal growth rate (88.37 g day-1) during pregnancy. Goats fed MPD had the
      lowest values (p < 0.05) of 9.28 kg and 80.07 g day-1 for each of the respective
      parameters. Afterbirth weight was also the highest and lowest (p < 0.05) for
      goats supplemented with HPD (3.38 kg) and MPD (3.04 kg), respectively. On the
      other hand, MPD-supplemented goats had the highest values (p < 0.05) for litter
      size (2.14) and litter weight (6.80 kg) at birth, the value which was the least
      for HPD supplementation. From the results obtained from this study, it could be
      concluded that concentrate diet supplementation with 14.18% CP improved litter
      size and weight at birth with resultant reduction in weights of pregnancy
      variables of pregnant Kalahari Red goats grazed on Rhodes grass.

PMID- 28597194
TI  - A social Bouba/Kiki effect: A bias for people whose names match their faces.
AB  - The "bouba/kiki effect" is the robust tendency to associate rounded objects (vs.
      angular objects) with names that require rounding of the mouth to pronounce, and
      may reflect synesthesia-like mapping across perceptual modalities. Here we show
      for the first time a "social" bouba/kiki effect, such that experimental
      participants associate round names ("Bob," "Lou") with round-faced (vs. angular
      faced) individuals. Moreover, consistent with a bias for expectancy-consistent
      information, we find that participants like targets with "matching" names, both
      when name-face fit is measured and when it is experimentally manipulated.
      Finally, we show that such bias could have important practical consequences: An
      analysis of voting data reveals that Senatorial candidates earn 10% more votes
      when their names fit their faces very well, versus very poorly. These and similar
      cross-modal congruencies suggest that social judgment involves not only amodal
      application of stored information (e.g., stereotypes) to new stimuli, but also
      integration of perceptual and bodily input.

PMID- 28597192
TI  - Pre-banking microbial contamination of donor conjunctiva and storage medium for
      penetrating keratoplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to investigate the incidence of positive
      donor tissue cultures before transfer to preservation medium (OptisolTM-GS) for
      penetrating keratoplasty, to verify the efficacy of antibiotics contained in
      OptisolTM-GS by examining the drug susceptibility and to assess the relationship
      between the results of our microbial assessments as well as donor factors and the
      incidence of contamination. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, cross
      sectional study using Juntendo Eye Bank records for all corneal transplantations.
      Two hundred donor conjunctiva harvestings and storage medium (EP-II(r)) cultures
      were performed between July 2008 and June 2011. We analyzed the associations
      between donor factors (age, gender, history of cataract surgery, death-to
      preservation interval, cause of death) and contamination rates using multivariate
      analysis by the generalized estimating equation model. RESULTS: We obtained
      positive bacterial cultures from 154 of the 200 eyes (77.0%). The isolated
      bacteria were indigenous, such as coagulase-negative Staphylococci,
      Corynebacterium sp., and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
      There was significant resistance to levofloxacin (18 eyes, 9.0%) and gentamicin
      (12 eyes, 6.0%), and no vancomycin-resistant bacteria were detected. The donor
      factors did not correlate with the prevalence of bacterial contamination in our
      criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-banking microbial assessment allows for microbial
      detection, bacterial susceptibility and resistance testing. This is useful for
      developing preservation mediums containing effective spectrum antibiotic agents
      for high quality control of corneal banking.

PMID- 28597195
TI  - Identification of epitopes on nonstructural protein 7 of porcine reproductive and
      respiratory syndrome virus recognized by monoclonal antibodies using phage
      display technology.
AB  - Nonstructural protein 7 (nsp7) of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome
      virus (PRRSV) is considered to be a suitable reagent for the development of
      serological diagnostic assays. It can be expressed as a soluble recombinant
      protein in Escherichia coli, and its antibody response may continue up to 202
      days post-infection. Furthermore, the region encoded by nsp7 is highly homologous
      among various strains within the genotype, and the results of nsp7-based enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed high agreement with previous Idexx
      ELISA results. All these evidences suggest the existence of important epitopes on
      nsp7, though the characteristics of these epitopes remain unclear. In the present
      study, we prepared three monoclonal antibodies against nsp7 protein and used them
      to screen the epitope-distribution characteristics of PRRSV nsp7 protein by phage
      display technology. We identified a linear epitope NAWGDEDRLN at amino acids 153
      162 type II PRRSV nsp7beta subunit. This newly defined epitope showed excellent
      reactivity with PRSSV-positive serum samples. These results further our
      understanding of the antigenic structure of nsp7 protein, and provide efficient
      reagents for PRRSV serological tests.

PMID- 28597196
TI  - Draft genome sequence of the potato pathogen Rhizoctonia solani AG3-PT isolate
      Ben3.
AB  - The basidiomycetes fungus Rhizoctonia solani AG3 is responsible for black scurf
      disease on potato and occurs in each potato growing area world-wide. In this
      study, the draft genome sequence of the black scurf pathogen R. solani AG3-PT
      isolate Ben3 is presented. The genome sequence of R. solani AG3-PT isolate Ben3
      consists of 1385 scaffolds. These scaffolds amount to a size of approx. 51 Mb.
      Considering coverage analyses of contigs, the size of the diploid genome was
      estimated to correspond to 116 Mb. Gene prediction by applying AUGUSTUS (3.2.1.)
      resulted in 12,567 identified genes. Based on automatic annotation using GenDBE,
      genes potentially encoding cellulases and enzymes involved in secondary
      metabolite synthesis were identified in the R. solani AG3-PT isolate Ben3 genome.
      Comparative analyses including the R. solani AG3 isolate Rhs1AP, also originating
      from potato, revealed first insights into core genes shared by both isolates and
      unique determinants of each isolate.

PMID- 28597197
TI  - Effect of environmental stress on cell surface and membrane fatty acids of
      Lactobacillus plantarum.
AB  - Adhesion has been regarded as one of the basic features of probiotics. We
      undertake this study in the aim to give new insight about the change in cellular
      physiological state under heat and acid treatments of Lactobacillus plantarum.
      Different cell properties have been investigated such as adhesive ability to
      abiotic surfaces, the cell surface hydrophobicity and the fatty acids profiles.
      The results of cell surface properties and Gas chromatography analysis
      demonstrated a modification in term adhesive ability and fatty acid (FA)
      composition of the tested strain under stressful conditions. In fact, after the
      exposure of the strain to heat and acid treatments, an increase in the
      hydrophobicity level and the adhesion capacity on HeLa cells was shown. Our
      findings revealed that high temperature and low pH change the fatty acids
      profiles of the treated cells, especially the proportions of unsaturated and
      saturated fatty acid. In this context, our data revealed that the unsaturated FA
      to-saturated FA ratio was increased significantly (P < 0.05) for stressed strains
      compared with control cells. The results of the present finding suggest that the
      tested strain have suffered changes like the modifications on bacterial membrane
      as a cellular response to survive the hard environmental conditions, allowing
      them to withstand harsh conditions and sudden environmental changes to survive
      under.

PMID- 28597198
TI  - Long-term treatment of Cushing's disease with pasireotide: 5-year results from an
      open-label extension study of a Phase III trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treating hypercortisolism in patients with Cushing's disease after
      failed surgery often requires chronic medication, underlining the need for
      therapies with favourable long-term efficacy and safety profiles. METHODS: In a
      randomised, double-blind study, 162 adult patients with persistent/recurrent or
      de novo Cushing's disease received pasireotide. Patients with mean urinary free
      cortisol at/below the upper limit of normal or clinical benefit at month 12 could
      continue receiving pasireotide during an open-ended, open-label phase, the
      outcomes of which are described herein. RESULTS: Sixteen patients received 5
      years of pasireotide treatment. Among these, median (95% confidence interval)
      percentage change from baseline in mean urinary free cortisol was -82.6% (-89.0, 
      41.9) and -81.8% (-89.8, -67.4) at months 12 and 60. Eleven patients had mean
      urinary free cortisol <= upper limit of normal at month 60. Improvements in
      clinical signs were sustained during long-term treatment. The safety profile of
      pasireotide at 5 years was similar to that reported after 12 months. Fifteen of
      16 patients experienced a hyperglycaemia-related adverse event; glycated
      haemoglobin levels were stable between months 6 and 60. Adverse events related to
      hyperglycaemia, bradycardia, gallbladder/biliary tract, and liver safety were
      most likely to first occur by month 6; adverse event severity did not tend to
      worsen over time. CONCLUSIONS: This represents the longest prospective trial of a
      medical therapy for Cushing's disease to date. A subset of patients treated with
      pasireotide maintained biochemical and clinical improvements for 5 years, with no
      new safety signals emerging. These data support the use of pasireotide as an
      effective long-term therapy for some patients with Cushing's disease.

PMID- 28597199
TI  - Predictors of Diabetes Fatalism Among Arabs: A Cross-Sectional Study of Lebanese
      Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - Fatalism is a grounded cultural belief that is common among Arabs and is known to
      hinder self-care in chronic diseases including diabetes (Nabolsi and Carson in
      Scand J Caring Sci 25(4):716-724, 2011). The purpose of this study is to identify
      predictors of diabetes fatalism in this population. Data on 280 Lebanese patients
      with type 2 diabetes (mean age 58.24 +/- 13.48 years; mean HbA1c 7.90 +/- 1.90%;
      53.76% females) recruited from one hospital in greater Beirut, Lebanon, and from
      the community using snowballing technique were examined. Multiple linear
      regression was used to assess the independent association between diabetes
      fatalism and demographic and patient characteristics. Age (beta = -.14, 95% CI 
      .27, -.002), BMI (beta = .35, 95% CI .15; .54), level of education (beta = -3.98,
      95% CI -7.64; -.32) and number of diabetes problems (beta = -5.03, 95% CI -9.89; 
      .18) were significantly associated with diabetes fatalism in the regression
      model. The combination of demographic and patient characteristics accounted for
      14.5% of the variance in diabetes fatalism scores' change. Patients with type 2
      diabetes who exhibited more fatalistic attitudes were younger, of lower education
      levels, had higher BMI and had fewer diabetes comorbidities. Such findings are
      crucial for healthcare practitioners to identify fatalistic patients and to
      tailor culturally appropriate strategies in diabetes management. Further studies
      are warranted to explore other potential determinants of diabetes fatalism with
      larger sample and non-Lebanese Arabic population.

PMID- 28597200
TI  - The Lesion Analysis of Cholinergic Neurons in 5XFAD Mouse Model in the Three
      Dimensional Level of Whole Brain.
AB  - Cholinergic system is very important for many higher brain functions, including
      learning and memory. Cholinergic neurons, especially those in the basal
      forebrain, are specifically susceptible in some neurodegenerative diseases, such
      as in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we studied the cholinergic system lesion
      effects of five familial AD mutations in 5XFAD mice, a transgenic mouse model of
      AD. Although the cholinergic system has been studied in this mouse model, the
      cholinergic deficits in AD mice have never been systematically mapped in a whole
      brain three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. Using the 3D reconstruction
      technology combined with immunohistochemistry (3D-IHC) and design-based
      stereology, we comprehensively compared the differences of the cholinergic
      neurons and fibers between the 5XFAD mice and C57BL/6 control mice at different
      age. Here, we found that the lesion of cholinergic fibers occurred earlier than
      the cholinergic neuron loss in 5XFAD mice. The cholinergic fiber lesions in the
      AD mice started sequentially in amygdala, cortex, hippocampus, and then basal
      forebrain. However, the basal forebrain was the first brain region observed with
      cholinergic neuron loss at the age of 9 months in 5XFAD mice, whereas such
      phenomenon first occurred at the age of 15 months in C57BL/6 control mice.
      Moreover, using 3D reconstruction to compare the lesion of cholinergic system of
      aged 5XFAD and C57BL/6 control mice, it is intuitive to notice the pathologic
      regions and severity of lesion. Therefore, the 3D-IHC provides detailed overview
      of the cholinergic neurons in the whole mouse brain, which will contribute to the
      study of the developing and pathologic mouse brain.

PMID- 28597202
TI  - Erratum to: Design of a Lentiviral Vector for the Inducible Expression of MYC: A
      New Strategy for Construction Approach.

PMID- 28597201
TI  - Methane alleviates carbon tetrachloride induced liver injury in mice: anti
      inflammatory action demonstrated by increased PI3K/Akt/GSK-3beta-mediated IL-10
      expression.
AB  - The inflammatory response plays an important role in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)
      induced acute liver injury and methane has been shown to exert beneficial effects
      on inflammation-associated diseases. Thus, we investigated the potential
      protective effects of methane-rich saline (MS) on CCl4-induced acute liver injury
      and explored the underlying mechanism. A CCl4-induced acute liver injury model
      was established by injection of CCl4 (0.6 ml/kg, ip) in mice followed by
      treatment with MS (16 ml/kg, ip), 24 h later. All groups of mice were sacrificed
      and blood and liver tissues were collected. Serum aminotransferase, necrotic
      areas, and inflammatory cell infiltration in liver slices were enhanced after
      CCl4 treatment but decreased with MS treatment. IL-6, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IFN
      gamma, ICAM-1, CXCL1, MPO, NF-kappaB p65, ERK, JNK, and MAPK P38, expression in
      serum or liver homogenate were greater after CCl4 treatment but comparatively
      less after MS treatment. Only IL-10 increased after MS treatment. Anti-IL10
      blockade (1.5 mg/kg) restored MS-mediated attenuated phosphorylation of NF
      KbB/MAPK and the protective effect of MS was abolished for all indices examined.
      The PI3K inhibitor, wortmannin had the same effects on MS as anti-IL-10 antibody.
      MS also induced phosphorylation of GSK-3beta and AKT in CCl4-treated mice. After
      pre-treatment with wortmannin (0.7 mg/kg), phosphorylation of GSK-3beta and AKT
      proteins were reduced compared to its solvent control group-DMSO-treated animals.
      Thus, the data provide evidence that MS may activate the PI3K-AKT-GSK-3beta
      pathway to induce IL-10 expression and produce anti-inflammatory effects via the
      NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways. The findings provide a new pharmacological strategy
      for management of inflammatory response after acute liver injury.

PMID- 28597203
TI  - Assessing Patient Activation among High-Need, High-Cost Patients in Urban Safety
      Net Care Settings.
AB  - We sought to examine the literature using the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) or
      the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) with high-need, high-cost (HNHC) patients
      receiving care in urban safety net settings. Urban safety net care management
      programs serve low-income, racially/ethnically diverse patients living with
      multiple chronic conditions. Although many care management programs track patient
      progress with the PAM or the PEI, it is not clear whether the PAM or the PEI is
      an effective and appropriate tool for HNHC patients receiving care in urban
      safety net settings in the United States. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of
      Science, and PsycINFO for articles published between 2004 and 2015 that used the
      PAM and between 1998 and 2015 that used the PEI. The search was limited to
      English-language articles conducted in the United States and published in peer
      reviewed journals. To assess the utility of the PAM and the PEI in urban safety
      net care settings, we defined a HNHC patient sample as racially/ethnically
      diverse, low socioeconomic status (SES), and multimorbid. One hundred fourteen
      articles used the PAM. All articles using the PEI were conducted outside the U.S.
      and therefore were excluded. Nine PAM studies (8%) included participants similar
      to those receiving care in urban safety net settings, three of which were
      longitudinal. Two of the three longitudinal studies reported positive changes
      following interventions. Our results indicate that research on patient activation
      is not commonly conducted on racially and ethnically diverse, low SES, and
      multimorbid patients; therefore, there are few opportunities to assess the
      appropriateness of the PAM in such populations. Investigators expressed concerns
      with the potential unreliability and inappropriate nature of the PAM on
      multimorbid, older, and low-literacy patients. Thus, the PAM may not be able to
      accurately assess patient progress among HNHC patients receiving care in urban
      safety net settings. Assessing progress in the urban safety net care setting
      requires measures that account for the social and structural challenges and
      competing demands of HNHC patients.

PMID- 28597204
TI  - [Descemetectomy : An alternative to transplantation?]
AB  - Due to rising demand worldwide it is becoming increasingly more difficult to
      satisfy the needs for human corneal transplants. At this point transplantation is
      the only possible cure for endothelial diseases, such as Fuchs endothelial
      dystrophy. In this article we present descemetectomy, a circumscribed removal of
      Descemet's membrane (DMx) without subsequent transplantation, as new possible
      treatment option on the basis of a clinical case.

PMID- 28597205
TI  - [Spontaneous intraocular hemorrhage under oral anticoagulation : Apixaban in
      comparison to phenprocoumon].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine and compare the frequency of intraocular hemorrhage in
      patients who underwent oral anticoagulation with apixaban or phenprocoumon.
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients under oral anticoagulant medication
      (apixaban or phenprocoumon) seen between January 2015 and June 2015 at the
      department of ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Center was performed.
      Vitreal or retinal hemorrhage in addition to clinical information including age,
      gender, best corrected visual acuity, concomitant diseases, concomitant
      medication and therapy were obtained. Bleeding frequency in both groups was
      compared using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: A total of 172 patients were
      included with a mean age = 74.0 +/- 10.6 years, 57.0% (n = 98) male and 43.0% (n
      = 74) female. In the phenprocoumon group 147 patients (3.4%, n = 5) developed a
      retinal or vitreal hemorrhage. In the apxiban group 25 patients (36%, n = 9)
      developed a retinal or vitreal hemorrhage. There was a significant correlation
      between the group and bleeding risk (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a
      significant correlation between medication (apixaban vs. phenprocoumon) and
      bleeding risk in this study population. Further studies with more patients
      especially in patients with a high risk of hemorhage, age-related macular
      degeneration (AMD) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy are needed.

PMID- 28597207
TI  - In memory of Marco Leonardi.

PMID- 28597206
TI  - Effect of strut distribution on neointimal coverage of everolimus-eluting
      bioresorbable scaffolds: an optical coherence tomography study.
AB  - The thick struts of bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BRS) are associated with
      changes in wall shear stress and contribute to neointimal proliferation. We aimed
      to evaluate the relationship between the BRS strut distribution and the
      neointimal proliferation. 50 lesions underwent optical coherence tomography, 12
      months after BRS implantation. Scaffold area and neointimal thickness were
      evaluated in each cross-sectional area (CSA). Scaffold eccentricity was defined
      as follows: (maximum diameter - minimum diameter) * 100/maximum diameter. CSAs of
      BRS were divided into four quadrants. The maximal neointimal thickness (Maximal
      NIT), Minimal-NIT and the number of struts in each quadrant were measured. The
      number of struts were classified as 1, 2, 3 and >= 4. Furthermore, the mean-NIT
      acquired in each quadrant was divided by the average-NIT of all struts in the
      same CSA, which was defined as the unevenness score. In addition, Maximal-NIT
      minus Minimal-NIT was divided by the average-NIT of all struts in the same CSA,
      which was defined as heterogenicity of neointimal proliferation. There was a
      significant difference in the association between the number of struts and not
      only the unevenness score (no. of strut = 1 (N = 440), unevenness score 1.04 +/-
      0.34; 2 (N = 696), 0.98 +/- 0.27; 3 (N = 994), 0.96 +/- 0.23; >=4 (N = 1202),
      1.04 +/- 0.22, P < 0.01) but also Maximal-NIT and Minimal-NIT. Furthermore, a
      significant correlation was observed between scaffold eccentricity in each CSA
      and the heterogeneity of neointimal proliferation in the same CSA (N = 892, R =
      0.38, p = 0.01). Crowding of struts is associated with increased neointimal
      proliferation after BRS implantation. The scaffold eccentricity causes
      heterogeneity of neointimal proliferation.

PMID- 28597208
TI  - Subject-specific regional measures of water diffusion are associated with
      impairment in chronic spinal cord injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aimed to identify non-invasive imaging parameters that can serve as
      biomarkers for the integrity of the spinal cord, which is paramount to
      neurological function. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indices are sensitive to
      axonal and myelin damage, and have strong potential to serve as such biomarkers.
      However, averaging DTI indices over large regions of interest (ROIs), a common
      approach to analyzing the images of injured spinal cord, leads to loss of subject
      specific information. We investigated if DTI-tractography-driven, subject
      specific demarcation approach can yield measures that are more specific to
      impairment. METHODS: In 18 individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI),
      subject-specific demarcation of the injury region was performed using DTI
      tractography, which yielded three regions relative to injury (RRI; regions
      superior to, at, and below injury epicenter). DTI indices averaged over each RRI
      were correlated with measures of residual motor and sensory function, obtained
      using the International Standard of Neurological Classification for Spinal Cord
      Injury (ISNCSCI). RESULTS: Total ISNCSCI score (ISNCSCI-tot; sum of ISNCSCI motor
      and sensory scores) was significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with fractional
      anisotropy and axial and radial diffusivities. ISNCSCI-tot showed strongest
      correlation with indices measured from the region inferior to the injury
      epicenter (IRRI), the degree of which exceeded that of those measured from the
      entire cervical cord-suggesting contribution from Wallerian degeneration.
      CONCLUSION: DTI tractography-driven, subject-specific injury demarcation approach
      provided measures that were more specific to impairment. Notably, DTI indices
      obtained from the IRRI region showed the highest specificity to impairment,
      demonstrating their strong potential as biomarkers for the SCI severity.

PMID- 28597209
TI  - Molecular Dynamics Simulation Reveals Unique Interplays Between a Tarantula Toxin
      and Lipid Membranes.
AB  - Tarantula toxins compose an important class of spider toxins that target ion
      channels, and some are known to interact with lipid membranes. In this study, we
      focus on a tarantula toxin, Jingzhaotoxin-III (JZTx-III) that specifically
      targets the cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel Na[Formula: see text]1.5 and is
      suspected to be able to interact with lipid membranes. Here, we use an all-atom
      model and long-term molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the
      interactions between JZTx-III and lipid membranes of different compositions.
      Trajectory analyses show that JZTx-III has no substantial interaction with the
      neutral 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) lipids, but binds
      to membranes containing negatively charged 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3
      [phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)] (POPG). The most intriguing observations in our
      simulation are the different interactions between the toxin and the membrane in
      the mixed and pure POPG membrane systems. The POPC/POPG mixed membrane undergoes
      a phase transition to a rippled phase upon binding of the toxin, while the pure
      POPG membrane has no apparent change. Moreover, the binding of JZTx-III to both
      of the mixture and the pure POPG membrane systems induce small conformational
      changes. The sequence alignment shows that JZTx-III may not partition into the
      lipid bilayer due to the mutations of a C-terminal hydrophobic residue and some
      charged residues that affect toxin orientation. Taken together, JZTx-III and
      lipid membranes have unique effects on each other that may facilitate the
      specific binding of JZTx-III to Na[Formula: see text]1.5. This computational
      study also enriches our understanding of the potential complex interactions
      between spider toxins and lipid membranes.

PMID- 28597210
TI  - Multiple Desmoplastic Cellular Neurothekeomas in Child: Report of the First Oral
      Case and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Cellular neurothekeomas (CNs) are distinctive benign tumors of uncertain
      histogenesis, with predilection for the skin of the head and neck region. We
      describe the first case of multiple desmoplastic CNs (DCNs) affecting the oral
      cavity in a 9-year-old girl. Histopathologic evaluation showed a proliferation of
      spindle and epithelioid cells, forming nests and bundles, supported by exuberant
      fibrous stroma, as well as scattered multinucleated floret-like giant cells. The
      tumor cells were immunopositive for vimentin, CD63, CD56, whereas AE1/AE3, S100,
      CD34, alpha-SMA, GFAP, EMA, CD57 and NSE were negative. Ki-67 was <2%. Multiple
      DCNs should be considered in the differential diagnosis of oral nodular lesions.

PMID- 28597212
TI  - A purely green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Carica papaya, Manihot
      esculenta, and Morinda citrifolia: synthesis and antibacterial evaluations.
AB  - Green procedure for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is currently
      considered due to its economy and toxic-free effects. Several existing works on
      synthesizing AgNPs using leaves extract still involve the use of physical or
      mechanical treatment such as heating or stirring, which consume a lot of energy.
      To extend and explore the green extraction philosophy, we report here the
      synthesis and antibacterial evaluations of a purely green procedure to synthesize
      AgNPs using Carica papaya, Manihot esculenta, and Morinda citrifolia leaves
      extract without the aforementioned additional treatment. The produced AgNPs were
      characterized using the ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning
      electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform
      infrared spectroscopy, and antibacterial investigations. For antibacterial tests,
      two bacteria namely Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus were selected. The
      presently employed method has successfully produced spherical AgNPs having sizes
      ranging from 9 to 69 nm, with plasmonic characteristics ranging from 356 to 485
      nm, and energy-dispersive X-ray peak at approximately 3 keV. In addition, the
      smallest particles can be produced when Manihot esculenta leaves extract was
      applied. Moreover, this study also confirmed that both the leaves and synthesized
      AgNPs exhibit the antibacterial capability, depending on their concentration and
      the bacteria type.

PMID- 28597211
TI  - Characterization and use of Equine Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Equine
      Cartilage Engineering. Study of their Hyaline Cartilage Forming Potential when
      Cultured under Hypoxia within a Biomaterial in the Presence of BMP-2 and TGF
      beta1.
AB  - Articular cartilage presents a poor capacity for self-repair. Its structure
      function are frequently disrupted or damaged upon physical trauma or
      osteoarthritis in humans. Similar musculoskeletal disorders also affect horses
      and are the leading cause of poor performance or early retirement of sport- and
      racehorses. To develop a therapeutic solution for horses, we tested the
      autologous chondrocyte implantation technique developed on human bone marrow (BM)
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on horse BM-MSCs. This technique involves BM-MSC
      chondrogenesis using a combinatory approach based on the association of 3D
      culture in collagen sponges, under hypoxia in the presence of chondrogenic
      factors (BMP-2 + TGF-beta1) and siRNA to knockdown collagen I and HtrA1. Horse BM
      MSCs were characterized before being cultured in chondrogenic conditions to find
      the best combination to enhance, stabilize, the chondrocyte phenotype. Our
      results show a very high proliferation of MSCs and these cells satisfy the
      criteria defining stem cells (pluripotency-surface markers expression). The
      combination of BMP-2 + TGF-beta1 strongly induces the chondrogenic
      differentiation of MSCs and prevents HtrA1 expression. siRNAs targeting Col1a1
      and Htra1 were functionally validated. Ultimately, the combined use of specific
      culture conditions defined here with specific growth factors and a Col1a1 siRNAs
      (50 nM) association leads to the in vitro synthesis of a hyaline-type
      neocartilage whose chondrocytes present an optimal phenotypic index similar to
      that of healthy, differentiated chondrocytes. Our results lead the way to setting
      up pre-clinical trials in horses to better understand the reaction of
      neocartilage substitute and to carry out a proof-of-concept of this therapeutic
      strategy on a large animal model.

PMID- 28597213
TI  - [3-D mapping of ventricular tachycardia in patients with dilative
      cardiomyopathy].
AB  - Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) is gaining in importance. The
      current guidelines suggest considering catheter ablation for VT even in patients
      with a single sustained and documented episode. This is also underlined by recent
      data indicating that absence of VT predicts lower mortality and longer transplant
      free survival. The majority of patients with VTs have a history of prior
      myocardial infarction; in a smaller proportion, patients present with dilated
      cardiomyopathy. The latter has a less structured scar pattern which makes it more
      complicated to apply efficient ablation strategies. Data have shown that the
      probability of VT recurrence after catheter ablation is higher and an epicardial
      access more frequently required. Algorithms and strategies to improve catheter
      ablation results have been developed and evaluated especially on patients with
      dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) to further improve outcomes. The present article
      will strive to acquaint the reader with the current strategies and state of
      knowledge.

PMID- 28597214
TI  - [Diagnosis of ischemia and revascularization in patients with ventricular
      tachyarrhythmia].
AB  - Sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia usually occurs on the basis of structural
      heart disease, particularly coronary heart disease (CAD). Although monomorphic
      ventricular tachycardia (VT) appears mainly in patients with CAD, it is typically
      not triggered by acute ischemia, in contrast to polymorphic VT or ventricular
      fibrillation (VF). To judge if VT is caused by acute ischemia is even more
      difficult in context with an elevated highly sensitive troponin T which is
      generally elevated in sustained VT because tachycardia in chronic stable coronary
      artery sclerosis causes a mismatch between increased oxygen demand and limited
      oxygen supply. Therefore, acute coronary angiography and revascularization may
      frequently not be necessary in monomorphic VT, will usually not improve rhythm
      stabilization, and may lead to misinterpretation of monomorphic VT being caused
      by a coronary stenosis. This can lead to withholding antiarrhythmic therapy after
      revascularization since it is assumed that the cause of VT has been treated. On
      the other hand, acute coronary angiography and revascularization are useful in
      polymorphic VT/VF, ECG signs of ischemia, or typical chest pain before occurrence
      of VT/VF. Coronary angiography should also be performed in patients with VT with
      newly diagnosed reduced left ventricular function and before catheter ablation.

PMID- 28597215
TI  - Pharmacodynamics of Insulin Preparations Administered in Different Subcutaneous
      Injection Sites: Are There Differences Between Healthy Subjects Versus Diabetic
      Patients?

PMID- 28597216
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Properties of Fast-acting Insulin Aspart Administered in
      Different Subcutaneous Injection Regions: Response to the commentary by
      Nuggehally R. Srinivas.

PMID- 28597217
TI  - Context modulation of learned attention deployment.
AB  - In three experiments, we investigated the contextual control of attention in
      human discrimination learning. In each experiment, participants initially
      received discrimination training in which the cues from Dimension A were relevant
      in Context 1 but irrelevant in Context 2, whereas the cues from Dimension B were
      irrelevant in Context 1 but relevant in Context 2. In Experiment 1, the same cues
      from each dimension were used in Contexts 1 and 2, whereas in Experiments 2 and
      3, the cues from each dimension were changed across contexts. In each experiment,
      participants were subsequently shifted to a transfer discrimination involving
      novel cues from either dimension, to assess the contextual control of attention.
      In Experiment 1, measures of eye gaze during the transfer discrimination revealed
      that Dimension A received more attention than Dimension B in Context 1, whereas
      the reverse occurred in Context 2. Corresponding results indicating the
      contextual control of attention were found in Experiments 2 and 3, in which we
      used the speed of learning (associability) as an indirect marker of learned
      attentional changes. Implications of our results for current theories of learning
      and attention are discussed.

PMID- 28597218
TI  - Uncovering a New Moral Dilemma of Economic Optimization in Biotechnological
      Processing.
AB  - The trend of emerging biorefineries is to process the harvest as efficiently as
      possible and without any waste. From the most valuable phytomass, refined
      medicines, enzymes, dyes and other special reactants are created. Functional
      foods, food ingredients, oils, alcohol, solvents, plastics, fillers and a wide
      variety of other chemical products follow. After being treated with nutrient
      recovery techniques (for fertilizer production), biofuels or soil improvers are
      produced from the leftovers. Economic optimization algorithms have confirmed that
      such complex biorefineries can be financially viable only when a high degree of
      feedstock concentration is included. Because the plant material is extremely
      voluminous before processing, the farming intensity of special plants increases
      in the nearest vicinity of agglomerations where the biorefineries are built for
      logistical reasons. Interdisciplinary analyses revealed that these optimization
      measures lead to significantly increased pollen levels in neighbouring urban
      areas and subsequently an increased risk of allergies, respectively costs to the
      national health system. A new moral dilemma between the shareholder's profit and
      public interest was uncovered and subjected to disputation.

PMID- 28597219
TI  - Advocacy Science: Explaining the Term with Case Studies from Biotechnology.
AB  - The paper discusses the use of term 'advocacy science' which is communication of
      science which goes beyond simple reporting of scientific findings, using the case
      study of biotechnology. It argues that advocacy science should be used to
      distinguish the engagement of modern civil society organizations to interpret
      scientific knowledge for their lobbying. It illustrates how this new
      communicative process has changed political discourse in science and general
      perception of the role of science in contemporary society.

PMID- 28597220
TI  - The Value of Darkness: A Moral Framework for Urban Nighttime Lighting.
AB  - The adverse effects of artificial nighttime lighting, known as light pollution,
      are emerging as an important environmental issue. To address these effects,
      current scientific research focuses mainly on identifying what is bad or
      undesirable about certain types and uses of lighting at night. This paper adopts
      a value-sensitive approach, focusing instead on what is good about darkness at
      night. In doing so, it offers a first comprehensive analysis of the environmental
      value of darkness at night from within applied ethics. A design for values
      orientation is utilized to conceptualize, define, and categorize the ways in
      which value is derived from darkness. Nine values are identified and categorized
      via their type of good, temporal outlook, and spatial characteristics.
      Furthermore, these nine values are translated into prima facie moral obligations
      that should be incorporated into future design choices, policy-making, and
      innovations to nighttime lighting. Thus, the value of darkness is analyzed with
      the practical goal of informing future decision-making about urban nighttime
      lighting.

PMID- 28597221
TI  - Editorial Board Self-Publishing Rates in Czech Economic Journals.
AB  - This article investigates whether editorial board members of selected economic
      journals publish their research papers in their 'own' journal. Journals were
      selected from the Journal Citation Report(r) from the categories Business;
      Business, Finance; and Economics. Only research articles published between 2012
      and 2015 were included in the analysis. We recorded ratios concerning the share
      of articles authored by editorial board members, the share of editorial board
      members publishing in their own journals and ratios representing their
      publication output. The average share of articles authored by editorial board
      members ranges from 0.6 to 17.5%. The average share of editorial board members
      publishing in their own journals ranges from 5.6 to 24.4%. Considering only
      editorial board members publishing in their own journals, the share of their
      articles in their journals ranges from 8.2 to 71.4%. While the share of board
      members publishing only in their own journals, to the number of board members
      publishing in their own journals, the ratio in a quarter of journals is equal to
      zero, with a maximum reach of 85.7%. All observed ratios are significantly
      positively correlated with the gap between impact factor and impact factor
      without Journal Self Cites; and negatively correlated with the Article Influence
      Score. A cluster of journals in which a high proportion of editorial board
      members publish and simultaneously these members publish in their own journal at
      a high rate was identified.

PMID- 28597222
TI  - Development and Preliminary Validation of a New Measure of Values in Scientific
      Work.
AB  - In this paper we describe the development and initial psychometric evaluation of
      a new measure, the values in scientific work (VSW). This scale assesses the level
      of importance that investigators attach to different VSW. It taps a broad range
      of intrinsic, extrinsic, and social values that motivate the work of scientists,
      including values specific to scientific work (e.g., truth and integrity) and more
      classic work values (e.g., security and prestige) in the context of science.
      Notably, the values represented in this scale are relevant to scientists
      regardless of their career stage and research focus. We administered the VSW and
      a measure of global values to 203 NIH-funded investigators. Exploratory factor
      analyses suggest the delineation of eight VSW, including autonomy, research
      ethics, social impact, income, collaboration, innovation and growth, conserving
      relationships, and job security. These VSW showed predictable and distinct
      associations with global values. Implications of these findings for work on
      research integrity and scientific misconduct are discussed.

PMID- 28597223
TI  - The Irrelevance of the Risk-Uncertainty Distinction.
AB  - Precautionary Principles are often said to be appropriate for decision-making in
      contexts of uncertainty such as climate policy. Contexts of uncertainty are
      contrasted to contexts of risk depending on whether we have probabilities or not.
      Against this view, I argue that the risk-uncertainty distinction is practically
      irrelevant. I start by noting that the history of the distinction between risk
      and uncertainty is more varied than is sometimes assumed. In order to examine the
      distinction, I unpack the idea of having probabilities, in particular by
      distinguishing three interpretations of probability: objective, epistemic, and
      subjective probability. I then claim that if we are concerned with whether we
      have probabilities at all-regardless of how low their epistemic credentials are
      then we almost always have probabilities for policy-making. The reason is that
      subjective and epistemic probability are the relevant interpretations of
      probability and we almost always have subjective and epistemic probabilities. In
      contrast, if we are only concerned with probabilities that have sufficiently high
      epistemic credentials, then we obviously do not always have probabilities.
      Climate policy, for example, would then be a case of decision-making under
      uncertainty. But, so I argue, we should not dismiss probabilities with low
      epistemic credentials. Rather, when they are the best available probabilities our
      decision principles should make use of them. And, since they are almost always
      available, the risk-uncertainty distinction remains irrelevant.

PMID- 28597224
TI  - High-speed broadband monitoring of cell viscoelasticity in real time shows myosin
      dependent oscillations.
AB  - Study of the dynamic evolutions of cell viscoelasticity is important as during
      cell activities such as cell metastasis and invasion, the rheological behaviors
      of the cells also change dynamically, reflecting the biophysical and biochemical
      connections between the outer cortex and the intracellular structures. Although
      the time variations of the static modulus of cells have been investigated, few
      studies have been reported on the dynamic variations of the frequency-dependent
      viscoelasticity of cells. Measuring and monitoring such dynamic evolutions of
      cells at nanoscale can be challenging as the measurement needs to meet two
      objectives inherently contradictory to each other-the measurement must be
      broadband (to cover a large frequency spectrum) but also rapid (to capture the
      time-elapsed changes). In this study, we exploited a recently developed control
      based nanomechanical protocol of atomic force microscope to monitor in real time
      the dynamic evolutions of the viscoelasticity of live human prostate cancer cells
      (PC-3 cells) and study its dependence on myosin activities. We found that the
      viscoelasticity of PC-3 cells, followed the power law, and oscillated at a period
      of about 200 s. Both the amplitude and the frequency of the oscillation strongly
      depended on the intracellular calcium and blebbistatin-sensitive motor proteins.

PMID- 28597225
TI  - A multicenter, retrospective, observational study of the clinical outcomes and
      risk factors for relapse of ulcerative colitis at 1 year after leukocytapheresis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal leukocytapheresis (LCAP) is effective for inducing
      remission of ulcerative colitis (UC). This retrospective observational study
      aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome at 1 year and identify risk factors for
      relapse of UC after LCAP. METHODS: Patients with active UC treated with LCAP
      between 2010 and 2012 were enrolled from 54 medical facilities in Japan. Clinical
      data evaluated at 1 year after the last LCAP session included the incidence of
      relapse, 1-year cumulative relapse-free rate, risk factors for relapse, and
      history of re-induction treatment following relapse. Relapse was defined by the
      addition of treatment to induce remission. The primary endpoint was the 1-year
      cumulative relapse-free rate. Secondary endpoints were risk factors for relapse
      and outcomes of re-induction treatment after relapse. RESULTS: For 314 patients,
      the 1-year cumulative relapse-free rate was 63.6%. Following LCAP, a Lichtiger
      clinical activity index (CAI) of 3 or 4 and high leukocyte count (cut-off value:
      7790/mm3) were associated with a greater risk of relapse. Intensive LCAP (>=4
      sessions within the first 2 weeks) was associated with favorable long-term
      outcomes in corticosteroid-refractory patients. The response rate was 85.1% among
      30 patients who required re-treatment with LCAP. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of
      patients (>60%) with UC treated with LCAP achieved clinical remission within 1
      year and remained relapse-free. A higher Lichtiger CAI and leukocyte count
      following LCAP were risk factors for relapse. Re-induction therapy with LCAP was
      effective for relapse of UC.

PMID- 28597226
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Profile of a 2-Month Dose Regimen of Aripiprazole Lauroxil: A
      Phase I Study and a Population Pharmacokinetic Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aripiprazole lauroxil (AL) is a long-acting injectable medication
      approved for the treatment of schizophrenia. Current AL regimens are 441 mg, 662
      mg, and 882 mg administered monthly (every 4 weeks [q4wk]), or 882 mg
      administered every 6 weeks (q6wk). OBJECTIVE: We examined the feasibility of a 2
      month (every 8 weeks [q8wk]) dosing interval of AL in a phase I open-label
      pharmacokinetic study investigating AL 1064 mg administered q8wk for 24 weeks,
      followed by 20 weeks of safety and pharmacokinetic measurements
      (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02320032). Second, a population pharmacokinetic model
      (referred to as the 2MPopPK model) was generated using data collected from the
      present trial, as well as data obtained from earlier studies. METHODS: The phase
      I study included patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
      maintained on an oral antipsychotic (n = 140) who were assigned to one of three
      groups: AL 441 mg q4wk, AL 882 mg q6wk, or AL 1064 mg q8wk, with a total of
      seven, five, or four injections administered, respectively. No oral aripiprazole
      lead-in supplementation was administered and patients continued on maintenance
      oral antipsychotics. Pharmacokinetic samples were collected at various time
      points during the 24-week study period and the 20-week follow-up period. Plasma
      concentrations obtained from the phase I study were analyzed using non
      compartmental methods. Additionally, the data were combined with data collected
      from prior studies to develop the 2MPopPK model. RESULTS: Following the final
      injection of AL in the phase I study, maximum aripiprazole concentrations were
      achieved 24.4-35.2 days after the last dose and persisted for the duration of the
      study. The mean C avg,ss values were 125.8 ng/ml, 131.1 ng/ml, and 140.7 ng/ml
      for the 441 mg q4wk, 882 mg q6wk, and 1064 mg q8wk doses, respectively. The mean
      elimination half-life of aripiprazole following the last dose was 53.9 days for
      the 1064 mg dose, 55.1 days for the 882 mg dose, and 57.2 days for the 441 mg
      dose. The 2MPopPK dataset included 14,524 aripiprazole concentrations from 700
      patients with schizophrenia. The duration of absorption of aripiprazole was
      estimated as 43 days (95% confidence interval [CI] 42-45 days), which was
      preceded by a 3.2-day lag time (95% CI 3.0-3.5 days) for a total duration of
      input into the systemic circulation of 46 days following intramuscular
      administration of AL. Multiple-dose simulations showed that the 1064 mg q8wk
      regimen provides aripiprazole concentrations within the concentration range
      associated with 441 mg and 882 mg q4wk doses previously demonstrated to be
      efficacious in a phase III study. CONCLUSION: These data from the phase I study
      and the 2MPopPK model support the suitability of using the AL 1064 mg dose as a 2
      month (q8wk) dose interval option for the treatment of schizophrenia.

PMID- 28597227
TI  - A hemoglobin adduct as a biomarker for the internal exposure to the rodent
      carcinogen furfuryl alcohol.
AB  - Furfuryl alcohol is a common food contaminant, which is formed by acid- and heat
      catalyzed degradation of fructose and glucose. Its carcinogenic effect in rodents
      originates most likely from sulfotransferase (SULT)-catalyzed conversion into the
      mutagenic sulfate ester 2-sulfoxymethylfuran. In this study, a protein adduct
      biomarker was sought for the medium-term internal exposure to furfuryl alcohol. A
      UPLC-MS/MS screening showed that the adduct N-((furan-2-yl)methyl)-Val (FFA-Val)
      at the N-terminus of hemoglobin is a valid target analyte. The Val cleavage by
      fluorescein isothiocyanate-mediated Edman degradation yielded 3-fluorescein-1
      (furan-2-ylmethyl)-5-(propan-2-yl)-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-one (FFA-Val-FTH),
      which was characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. An isotope-dilution
      method for the quantification of FFA-Val-FTH by UPLC-MS/MS was developed. It was
      used to study the adduct formation in furfuryl alcohol-treated FVB/N mice and the
      influence of ethanol and the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) inhibitor 4
      methylpyrazole on the adduct levels. The administration of 400 mg/kg body weight
      furfuryl alcohol alone led to 12.5 and 36.7 pmol FFA-Val/g Hb in blood samples of
      male and female animals, respectively. The co-administration of 1.6 g ethanol/kg
      body weight increased FFA-Val levels by 1.4-fold in males and by 1.5-fold in
      females. The co-administration of 100 mg 4-methylpyrazole/kg body weight had a
      similar effect on the adduct levels. A high correlation was observed between
      adduct levels in hemoglobin and in hepatic DNA samples determined in the same
      animal experiment. This indicated that FFA-Val is a valid biomarker for the
      internal exposure to 2-sulfoxymethylfuran, which may be suitable to monitor
      furfuryl alcohol exposure also in humans.

PMID- 28597229
TI  - Couch modelling for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).
AB  - The aim of this work was to investigate the impact of the accuracy of a certain
      couch model on the overall accuracy of the dose calculation. For this purpose two
      models of the Varian Exact Couch (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA, USA) for
      use in the planning of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) were created in
      Monaco 5.1 (Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden). The first was a simplistic model, with
      the relative electron densities (ED) of structures based entirely on CT
      Hounsfield units (HU). The second couch model was obtained by assigning the
      appropriate EDs to the relevant couch structures. Instead of getting EDs from the
      CT scan using the Hounsfield units to ED conversion, the second approach was to
      determine the optimal ED iteratively. The values accepted for the second couch
      model were the EDs that produced the best agreement between Monaco calculations
      and the measured couch attenuation. Finally, the performance of the two couch
      models in clinical prostate VMAT plans was compared.

PMID- 28597230
TI  - Both sides now: diagnostic imaging medical physics in two hemispheres.

PMID- 28597228
TI  - SGLT2-I in the Hospital Setting: Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Other Benefits and
      Concerns.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are the
      newest class of antihyperglycemic agents. They are increasingly being prescribed
      in the outpatient diabetic population. In this review, we examine the risks and
      benefits of continuation and initiation of SGLT2 inhibitors in the inpatient
      setting. RECENT FINDINGS: There are currently no published data regarding safety
      and efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitor use in the hospital. Outpatient data suggests
      that SGLT2 inhibitors have low hypoglycemic risk. They also decrease systolic
      blood pressure and can prevent cardiovascular death. The EMPA-REG study also
      showed a decrease in admissions for acute decompensated heart failure. There have
      been increasing cases of diabetic ketoacidosis, and specifically the euglycemic
      manifestation, associated with SGLT2 inhibitors use. We present two cases of
      inpatient SGLT2 inhibitor use, one of continuation of outpatient therapy and one
      of new initiation of therapy. We then discuss potential risks and methods to
      mitigate these as well as benefits of these medications in the inpatient setting.
      We cautiously suggest the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in the hospital. However, these
      must be used judiciously and the practitioner must be aware of euglycemic
      diabetic ketoacidosis and its risk factors in this population.

PMID- 28597231
TI  - Development of an In Vitro PIV Setup for Preliminary Investigation of the Effects
      of Aortic Compliance on Flow Patterns and Hemodynamics.
AB  - The aorta with its compliance plays a major role in hemodynamics as it saves a
      portion of ejected blood during systole which is then released in diastole. The
      aortic compliance decreases with increasing age, which is related to several
      cardiovascular imparities and diseases. Changes in flow patterns and pressure
      curves, due to varying aortic compliance, are difficult to investigate in vivo.
      As a result, the aim of the present work was to develop an in vitro setup
      enabling standardized investigations on the effect of compliance changes on flow
      patterns and pressure curves. Therefore an experimental setup with an
      anatomically correct silicone phantom of the aortic arch was developed, suitable
      for optical flow measurements under pulsatile inflow conditions. The setup was
      developed for precise adjustments of different compliances and optical flow
      measurements. Particle image velocimetry measurements were carried out downstream
      of the aortic valve in the center plane perpendicular to the valve with
      compliance adjusted between 0.62 * 10-3 to 1.82 * 10-3 mmHg-1. Preliminary
      results of the in vitro investigations showed that decreases in compliance
      results in significant increases in pressure changes with respect to time (dp/dt)
      and altered pressure curves in the aortic arch. In terms of flow, an increased
      aortic stiffness lead to higher mean velocities and decreased vortex development
      in the aortic sinuses. As in vivo validation and translation remains difficult,
      the results have to be considered as preliminary in vitro insights into the
      mechanisms of (age-related) compliance changes.

PMID- 28597232
TI  - Factors Associated to Medication Consumption Among the Immigrant Population
      Residing in Spain.
AB  - We aimed to determine the prevalence of medication use by the immigrant
      population residing in Spain, and to identify the factors associated with this
      consumption. Descriptive cross-sectional study was performed using secondary data
      retrieved from the 2012 Spanish National Health Survey (SNHS). Using logistic
      multivariate regression analysis, three models were generated: one for immigrants
      from high income countries (HIC), another for immigrants from low income
      countries (LIC), and a third one for the native population. The prevalence of
      total consumption of medicinal products is greater in the native population
      (61.75%) than in the immigrant population (HIC: 56.22%; LIC: 48.55%). Analgesics
      are the most consumed drugs in all the groups. Greater medication consumption is
      associated with being female, being of an advanced age (immigrants from HIC: AOR
      9.75, for older than 75 years), the presence of chronic disease, a perception of
      bad health (HIC: AOR 3.48) and the use of emergency services (LIC immigrants: AOR
      1.68). Medicine consumption in the immigrant population living in Spain is lower
      than in the native population. The factors associated with this consumption are
      similar; however, LIC immigrants who needed healthcare services and did not
      receive them presented a greater probability of consuming medicinal products.

PMID- 28597234
TI  - An automated approach to measuring child movement and location in the early
      childhood classroom.
AB  - Children's movement is an important issue in child development and outcome in
      early childhood research, intervention, and practice. Digital sensor technologies
      offer improvements in naturalistic movement measurement and analysis. We
      conducted validity and feasibility testing of a real-time, indoor mapping and
      location system (Ubisense, Inc.) within a preschool classroom. Real-time indoor
      mapping has several implications with respect to efficiently and conveniently:
      (a) determining the activity areas where children are spending the most and least
      time per day (e.g., music); and (b) mapping a focal child's atypical real-time
      movements (e.g., lapping behavior). We calibrated the accuracy of Ubisense point
      by-point location estimates (i.e., X and Y coordinates) against laser rangefinder
      measurements using several stationary points and atypical movement patterns as
      reference standards. Our results indicate that activity areas occupied and
      atypical movement patterns could be plotted with an accuracy of 30.48 cm (1 ft)
      using a Ubisense transponder tag attached to the participating child's shirt. The
      accuracy parallels findings of other researchers employing Ubisense to study
      atypical movement patterns in individuals at risk for dementia in an assisted
      living facility. The feasibility of Ubisense was tested in an approximately 90
      min assessment of two children, one typically developing and one with Down
      syndrome, during natural classroom activities, and the results proved positive.
      Implications for employing Ubisense in early childhood classrooms as a data-based
      decision-making tool to support children's development and its potential
      integration with other wearable sensor technologies are discussed.

PMID- 28597235
TI  - AGSuite: Software to conduct feature analysis of artificial grammar learning
      performance.
AB  - To simplify the problem of studying how people learn natural language,
      researchers use the artificial grammar learning (AGL) task. In this task,
      participants study letter strings constructed according to the rules of an
      artificial grammar and subsequently attempt to discriminate grammatical from
      ungrammatical test strings. Although the data from these experiments are usually
      analyzed by comparing the mean discrimination performance between experimental
      conditions, this practice discards information about the individual items and
      participants that could otherwise help uncover the particular features of strings
      associated with grammaticality judgments. However, feature analysis is tedious to
      compute, often complicated, and ill-defined in the literature. Moreover, the data
      violate the assumption of independence underlying standard linear regression
      models, leading to Type I error inflation. To solve these problems, we present
      AGSuite, a free Shiny application for researchers studying AGL. The suite's
      intuitive Web-based user interface allows researchers to generate strings from a
      database of published grammars, compute feature measures (e.g., Levenshtein
      distance) for each letter string, and conduct a feature analysis on the strings
      using linear mixed effects (LME) analyses. The LME analysis solves the inflation
      of Type I errors that afflicts more common methods of repeated measures
      regression analysis. Finally, the software can generate a number of graphical
      representations of the data to support an accurate interpretation of results. We
      hope the ease and availability of these tools will encourage researchers to take
      full advantage of item-level variance in their datasets in the study of AGL. We
      moreover discuss the broader applicability of the tools for researchers looking
      to conduct feature analysis in any field.

PMID- 28597233
TI  - How Have You Been? or ?Como estas?: Does Language of Interview Influences Self
      Rated Health Among Hispanic Subgroups?
AB  - This paper reports language differences in poor/fair self-rated health (SRH)
      among adults from six Hispanic groups in the United States. Data are from the
      cross-sectional 1997-2013 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The total
      sample of Hispanic adults with valid information for the variables considered in
      the study (n = 156,374) included Mexican-Americans (Mex-Am; n = 43,628), Mexicans
      (n = 55,057), Puerto Ricans (n = 14,631), Cubans (n = 8,041), Dominicans (from
      Dominican Republican, n = 4,359) and Other Hispanics (n = 30,658). We compared
      percentage of the population that reported poor/fair SRH among Hispanic
      individuals by language of interview and across origins using bivariate tests of
      association. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to study the
      odds of reporting poor/fair SRH based on language among the overall population
      and each group. Among the six Hispanic origins Puerto Ricans (15.92%), Cubans
      (16.36%) and Dominicans (15.32%) reported poor/fair SRH at higher levels than the
      overall sample (12.32%). In the logistic regression model adjusting potential
      covariates, those interviewed in Spanish were at higher odds of reporting
      poor/fair SRH than those interviewed in English (OR = 1.47, p < 0.0001). In the
      stratified analysis, Mexican-Americans were the only group where language of
      interview did not affect the odds of reporting poor/fair SRH. There are
      differences by Hispanic origin for reporting poor/fair SRH, and also by language
      of interview. Achieving accurate measurement of health status among Hispanics is
      a concern for all researchers, in particular those who study differences in
      health status by race/ethnicity in the United States. Future, research should
      account for Hispanic background and language of interviews.

PMID- 28597236
TI  - Bayesian analysis of the piecewise diffusion decision model.
AB  - Most past research on sequential sampling models of decision-making have assumed
      a time homogeneous process (i.e., parameters such as drift rates and boundaries
      are constant and do not change during the deliberation process). This has largely
      been due to the theoretical difficulty in testing and fitting more complex
      models. In recent years, the development of simulation-based modeling approaches
      matched with Bayesian fitting methodologies has opened the possibility of
      developing more complex models such as those with time-varying properties. In the
      present work, we discuss a piecewise variant of the well-studied diffusion
      decision model (termed pDDM) that allows evidence accumulation rates to change
      during the deliberation process. Given the complex, time-varying nature of this
      model, standard Bayesian parameter estimation methodologies cannot be used to fit
      the model. To overcome this, we apply a recently developed simulation-based,
      hierarchal Bayesian methodology called the probability density approximation
      (PDA) method. We provide an analysis of this methodology and present results of
      parameter recovery experiments to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of
      this approach. With those established, we fit pDDM to data from a perceptual
      experiment where information changes during the course of trials. This extensible
      modeling platform opens the possibility of applying sequential sampling models to
      a range of complex non-stationary decision tasks.

PMID- 28597237
TI  - Energy conserving thermoregulatory patterns and lower disease severity in a bat
      resistant to the impacts of white-nose syndrome.
AB  - The devastating bat fungal disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS), does not appear to
      affect all species equally. To experimentally determine susceptibility
      differences between species, we exposed hibernating naive little brown myotis
      (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to the fungus that
      causes WNS, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). After hibernating under identical
      conditions, Pd lesions were significantly more prevalent and more severe in
      little brown myotis. This species difference in pathology correlates with
      susceptibility to WNS in the wild and suggests that survival is related to
      different host physiological responses. We observed another fungal infection,
      associated with neutrophilic inflammation, that was equally present in all bats.
      This suggests that both species are capable of generating a response to cold
      tolerant fungi and that Pd may have evolved mechanisms for evading host responses
      that are effective in at least some bat species. These host-pathogen interactions
      are likely mediated not just by host physiological responses, but also by host
      behavior. Pd-exposed big brown bats, the less affected species, spent more time
      in torpor than did control animals, while little brown myotis did not exhibit
      this change. This differential thermoregulatory response to Pd infection by big
      brown bat hosts may allow for a more effective (or less pathological) immune
      response to tissue invasion.

PMID- 28597238
TI  - Context Matters: Team and Organizational Factors Associated with Reach of
      Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for PTSD in the Veterans Health Administration.
AB  - Evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD are often underused. The objective of
      this mixed-method study was to identify organizational and clinic factors that
      promote high levels of reach of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD 10 years
      into their dissemination throughout the Veterans Health Administration. We
      conducted 96 individual interviews with staff from ten outpatient PTSD teams at
      nine sites that differed in reach of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD.
      Major themes associated with reach included clinic mission, clinic leader and
      staff engagement, clinic operations, staff perceptions, and the practice
      environment. Strategies to improve reach of evidence-based psychotherapies should
      attend to organizational and team-level factors.

PMID- 28597239
TI  - Relationship between reticuloendothelial systems' FDG uptake level and
      clinicopathological features in patient with invasive ductal breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The reticuloendothelial system (RES) is a part of the immune system and
      plays a major role in the protection of against diseases. We thought that FDG
      PET/CT may show the degree of systemic immune response induced with malignancy in
      the organs with the high RES activity. Our objective is to investigate FDG uptake
      levels of high RES activity organs (liver, spleen, bone marrow) in invasive
      ductal breast cancer and to evaluate the association with the clinicopathological
      features. METHODS: In the present study, 193 patients with invasive ductal breast
      cancer who performed FDG-PET/CT were categorized according to the
      clinicopathological features including age, tumor size, axillary nodal status,
      histological grade, the presence of lymphavascular invasion, receptor status, Ki
      67 proliferation index and biological subgroup. Also, a control group of 100
      subjects were identified for comparison with breast cancer patients. We analyzed
      the relation of FDG uptake levels in high RES activity organs and
      clinicopathological features in patients. RESULTS: There was a statistically
      significant difference of SUVmax of the liver, spleen, and bone marrow between
      cancer and control groups (P < 0.0001). We found that high SUVmax in liver,
      spleen and bone marrow were significantly correlated with worse prognostic
      clinicopathological features in patient with invasive ductal breast cancer.
      CONCLUSIONS: FDG uptake level in high RES activity organs is associated with the
      presence of tumor, and also directly relating clinicopathological features for
      patients with invasive ductal breast cancer.

PMID- 28597242
TI  - [The basics of knee osteotomy : Clinical examination, analysis of the deformity
      and correction planning].
AB  - Clinical results of knee osteotomies are good. A precise preoperative analysis of
      the deformity in three dimensions and accurate planning of the correction
      osteotomy is essential. All pathologies of the knee and the surrounding joints
      must be considered. The opening wedge technique and locking plate systems have
      improved accuracy and reliability. An analysis of deformities and the planning of
      their correction is presented in this article. Access to the extent of the
      correction according to the level of degeneration has proven useful in clinical
      praxis. Digital storage of the planning is recommended for legal reasons.

PMID- 28597240
TI  - MR arthrography of the hip: evaluation of isotropic 3D intermediate-weighted FSE
      and hybrid GRE T1-weighted sequences.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic performance of three-dimensional (3D)
      intermediate-weighted FSE (IW-3D) and 3D hybrid T1-weighted sequences (Hy-3D) and
      2D fast-spin-echo sequences (FSE) in diagnosing chondral and labral lesions at
      1.5 Tesla hip MR arthrography (MRA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review
      board approval was obtained and informed consent was waived. Ninety-two
      consecutive patients were evaluated. Chondral and labral lesions were
      retrospectively and independently evaluated by two radiologists. Intra-operative
      findings were used as the reference standard (arthroscopy = 73, open surgery =
      19). Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), and accuracy (Acc) values that obtained
      were compared using McNemar test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered
      statistically significant. Inter-observer agreement was calculated using kappa
      statistics. RESULTS: Surgeons revealed 81 labrum and 44 chondral lesions,
      respectively. The highest Se, Sp, and Acc for Reader 1 were 96.3, 90.9, and
      95.6%, respectively, in evaluating labral lesions (by reading 2D data set) and
      90.9, 100, and 95.7% in evaluating chondral lesions (by reading IW-3D images).
      The highest Se, Sp, and Acc for Reader 2 were 93.8, 81.8, and 92.4% in evaluating
      labral lesions (using 2D images) and 88.6, 97.9, and 93.5%, respectively, in
      evaluating chondral lesions (using Hy-3D). The difference of diagnostic accuracy
      achieved was not significant (p > 0.05). A near-perfect inter-observer agreement
      was achieved by reading 2D data set (k = 0.88) and Hy-3D (k = 0.83) and IW-3D (k
      = 0.85). CONCLUSIONS: At 1.5 Tesla hip MRA, the accuracy of IW-3D and Hy-3D
      images was not significantly higher than the 2D sequences in evaluating
      acetabular labrum and chondral lesions.

PMID- 28597241
TI  - Biocontrol of the toxigenic plant pathogen Fusarium culmorum by soil fauna in an
      agroecosystem.
AB  - In 2011 and 2013, a field experiment was conducted in a winter wheat field at
      Adenstedt (northern Germany) to investigate biocontrol and interaction effects of
      important members of the soil food web (Lumbricus terrestris, Annelida; Folsomia
      candida, Collembola and Aphelenchoides saprophilus, Nematoda) on the
      phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium culmorum in wheat straw. Therefore, soil fauna
      was introduced in mesocosms in defined numbers and combinations and exposed to
      either Fusarium-infected or non-infected wheat straw. L. terrestris was
      introduced in all faunal treatments and combined either with F. candida or A.
      saprophilus or both. Mesocosms filled with a Luvisol soil, a cover of different
      types of wheat straw and respective combinations of faunal species were
      established outdoors in the topsoil of a winter wheat field after harvest of the
      crop. After a time span of 4 and 8 weeks, the degree of wheat straw coverage of
      mesocosms was quantified to assess its attractiveness for the soil fauna. The
      content of Fusarium biomass in residual wheat straw and soil was determined using
      a double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA method. In both experimental years, the
      infected wheat straw was incorporated more efficiently into the soil than the non
      infected control straw due to the presence of L. terrestris in all faunal
      treatments than the non-infected control straw. In addition, Fusarium biomass was
      reduced significantly in all treatments after 4 weeks (2011: 95-99%; 2013:15
      54%), whereupon the decline of fungal biomass was higher in faunal treatments
      than in non-faunal treatments and differed significantly from them. In 2011,
      Fusarium biomass of the faunal treatments was below the quantification limit
      after 8 weeks. In 2013, a decline of Fusarium biomass was observed, but the
      highest content of Fusarium biomass was still found in the non-faunal treatments
      after 8 weeks. In the soil of all treatments, Fusarium biomass was below the
      quantification limit. The earthworm species L. terrestris revealed a considerable
      potential as an effective biocontrol agent contributing to a sustainable control
      of a Fusarium plant pathogen in wheat straw, thus reducing the infection risk for
      specific plant diseases in arable fields.

PMID- 28597243
TI  - Probing the catalytic site of rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase using a series
      of specifically modified maltohexaose derivatives.
AB  - Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is an allosteric enzyme whose catalytic site
      comprises six subsites (SG1, SG-1, SG-2, SG-3, SG-4, and SP) that are
      complementary to tandem five glucose residues and one inorganic phosphate
      molecule, respectively. In the catalysis of GP, the nonreducing-end glucose (Glc)
      of the maltooligosaccharide substrate binds to SG1 and is then phosphorolyzed to
      yield glucose 1-phosphate. In this study, we probed the catalytic site of rabbit
      muscle GP using pyridylaminated-maltohexaose (Glcalpha1-4Glcalpha1-4Glcalpha1
      4Glcalpha1-4Glcalpha1-4GlcPA, where GlcPA = 1-deoxy-1-[(2-pyridyl)amino]-D
      glucitol]; abbreviated as PA-0) and a series of specifically modified PA-0
      derivatives (Glc m -AltNAc-Glc n -GlcPA, where m + n = 4 and AltNAc is 3
      acetoamido-3-deoxy-D-altrose). PA-0 served as an efficient substrate for GP,
      whereas the other PA-0 derivatives were not as good as the PA-0, indicating that
      substrate recognition by all the SG1 -SG-4 subsites was important for the
      catalysis of GP. By comparing the initial reaction rate toward the PA-0
      derivatives (V derivative) with that toward PA-0 (V PA-0), we found that the
      value of V derivative/V PA-0 decreased significantly as the level of allosteric
      activation of GP increased. These results suggest that some conformational
      changes have taken place in the maltooligosaccharide-binding region of the GP
      catalytic site during allosteric regulation.

PMID- 28597244
TI  - Seasonal and flight-related variation of galectin expression in heart, liver and
      flight muscles of yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata).
AB  - Galectins, a family of multifunctional glycan-binding proteins, are proposed as
      biomarkers of cellular stress responses. Avian migration is an energetically
      challenging physical stress, which represents a physiological model of muscular
      endurance exercises. This study assesses change in galectin gene expression
      profiles associated with seasonal variation in migratory state and endurance
      flight in yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata). Bioinformatics analysis
      and real-time qPCR were used to analyse the expression of galectins in flight
      muscle, heart and liver tissues of 15 warblers separated into three groups of
      winter unflown, and fall migratory flown/unflown birds. Five transcripts similar
      to chicken and human galectins -1, -2, -3, -4, and -8 were identified in warbler
      tissues. The expression of these galectins showed no seasonal changes between two
      experimental groups of birds maintained under unflown winter and fall conditions
      indicating a minor role of galectins in preparation for migration. However,
      endurance flight led to a significant elevation of galectin-1 and galectin-3
      mRNAs in flight muscles and galectin-3 mRNA in heart tissue while no changes were
      observed in liver. Different changes were observed for the level of O
      GlcNAcylated proteins, which were elevated in flight muscles under winter
      conditions. These results suggest that secreted galectin-1 and galectin-3 may be
      active in repair of bird muscles during and following migratory flight and serve
      as molecular biomarkers of recent arrival from migratory flights in field
      studies.

PMID- 28597245
TI  - Protein kinase CK2 regulates redox homeostasis through NF-kappaB and Bcl-xL in
      cardiomyoblasts.
AB  - Oxygen consumption is particularly elevated in cardiac cells as they are equipped
      with a large number of mitochondria and high levels of respiratory chain
      components. Consequently, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is tightly
      controlled as an imbalance in redox reactions can lead to irreversible cellular
      damage. siRNA-mediated down-regulation of protein kinase CK2 has been implicated
      in the accumulation of ROS in cells. The present study was undertaken in order to
      investigate the role of CK2 in redox homeostasis in cardiomyoblasts. We found
      that inhibition or silencing of CK2 causes elevated levels of ROS, notably
      superoxide radical, and this is accompanied by suppression of NF-kappaB
      transcriptional activity and mitochondrial dysfunction. We show that CK2
      regulates the expression of manganese superoxide dismutase, the enzyme catalyzing
      the dismutation of superoxide, in cancer cells but not in cardiomyoblasts.
      Furthermore, we report evidence that impaired expression of CK2 results in
      destabilization of the Bcl-2 mammalian homolog Bcl-xL, which is known to
      stabilize the mitochondrial membrane potential, through a mechanism involving
      disruption of the chaperone function of heat shock protein 90. Analysis of
      differential mRNA expression related to oxidative stress revealed that CK2
      silencing caused a statistically significant deregulation of four genes
      associated with the oxidative damage, i.e., Fmo2, Ptgs1, Dhcr24, and Ptgs2.
      Overall, the results reported here are consistent with the notion that CK2 plays
      a role in conferring protection against oxidative stress by positively regulating
      pro-survival signaling molecules and the protein folding machinery in
      cardiomyoblasts.

PMID- 28597246
TI  - Criminal Justice Contact, Stressors, and Obesity-Related Health Problems Among
      Black Adults in the USA.
AB  - Criminal justice contact-defined as lifetime arrest, parole, or incarceration,
      seems to exacerbate chronic conditions, and those who are most likely to have had
      contact with the criminal justice system, such as Black adults, often already
      have pre-existing disproportionately high rates of stress and chronic conditions
      due to the social determinants of health that affect underrepresented minorities.
      Findings from this study suggest that there is a mechanism that links the
      stressors among Black adults manifested by such factors as family, financial,
      neighborhood, and personal problems with criminal justice contact to obesity
      related health status. Using the National Survey of American Life (NSAL),
      modified Poisson regression analyses were used to determine the association
      between criminal justice contact, stressors, and obesity-related health problems
      among a national sample of Black adults (n = 5008). In the full model, the odds
      of experiencing obesity-related health problems for Black adults who had criminal
      justice contact was reduced (PR, 1.23 to 1.14) and not statistically significant.
      Black adults who reported experiencing family stressors (PR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.08,
      1.36), financial stressors (PR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.16, 1.47), and personal stressors
      (PR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.02, 1.31) were statistically significant and higher than
      those who reported not experiencing any of these stressors; neighborhood
      stressors was not statistically significant. The evidence suggests a relationship
      between the stressors associated with criminal justice contact and obesity
      related health status. These findings emphasize the need to further explore the
      family, financial, and personal stressors for Black adults with criminal justice
      contact in order to further our understanding of their obesity-related health
      problems.?.

PMID- 28597247
TI  - Pre-operative predictors of post-operative falls in people undergoing total hip
      and knee replacement surgery: a prospective study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pain and disability often persist following hip (THR) and knee
      replacement (TKR) surgery predisposing patients to increased risk of falling.
      This study identified pre-operative predictors for post-operative falls in TKR
      and THR patients, and the incidence and circumstances of falls in the 12 months
      post-surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was undertaken of patients before
      THR and TKR, and was repeated 12 months post-operation. The survey included (1)
      medical history and medications usage, (2) pain and function, (3) health-related
      and physical activity and (4) fear of falls and history of falls questionnaires.
      Patients were classified as 'fallers' (>=1 fall) or 'non-fallers' based on
      prospectively documented falls in the 12 months post-surgery. Binary logistic
      regression was conducted to identify independent pre-operative predictors of
      incident falls status. RESULTS: Eighty-two of the 243 participants (33.7%)
      reported >=1 fall in the 12 months post-operatively [60 (34.1%) patients
      following TKR and 22 (32.8%) following THR]. The logistic regression model was
      statistically significant, chi 2 = 24.731, p < 0.001, the model explaining 22% of
      the variance in falls, and correctly classifying 73.7% of cases as fallers or non
      fallers. Reduced SF-36v2 general health sub-scale, increased planned physical
      activity and previous falls in the preceding year were predictors of falls. Those
      reporting >=1 fall pre-operatively were three times more likely to fall post
      operatively. CONCLUSION: People awaiting hip or knee joint replacement surgery
      might present with complex conditions that predispose them to greater risk of
      falling post-operation. Review of general health and history of falling is
      recommended pre-operatively to identify patients at risk.

PMID- 28597248
TI  - The Soul, as an Uninhibited Mental Activity, is Reduced into Consciousness by
      Rules of Quantum Physics.
AB  - This paper is an effort to describe, in neuroscientific terms, one of the most
      ambiguous concepts of the universe-the soul. Previous efforts to understand what
      the soul is and where it may exist have accepted the soul as a subjective and
      individual entity. We will make two additions to this view: (1) The soul is a
      result of uninhibited mental activity and lacks spatial and temporal information;
      (2) The soul is an undivided whole and, to become divided, the soul has to be
      reduced into unconscious and conscious mental events. This reduction process
      parallels the maturation of the frontal cortex and GABA becoming the main
      inhibitory neurotransmitter. As examples of uninhibited mental activity, we will
      discuss the perceptual differences of a newborn, individuals undergoing
      dissociation, and individuals induced by psychedelic drugs. Then, we will explain
      the similarities between the structure of the universe and the structure of the
      brain, and we propose that consideration of the rules of quantum physics is
      necessary to understand how the soul is reduced into consciousness.

PMID- 28597250
TI  - Peer teaching as a means of enhancing communication skills in anaesthesia
      training: trainee perspectives.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to introduce peer teaching of communication
      skills to first-year anaesthesia trainees in Ireland and to evaluate their
      perception of this teaching modality. METHODS: Seventy-nine first-year
      anaesthesia trainees participated in a novel peer-led communication skills
      programme over a 2-year period (Y1, Y2). A Likert scaling questionnaire was
      developed to explore trainee perception of the peer teaching programme. RESULTS:
      Of the 79 respondents (36 in Y1 and 43 in Y2), 99% either agreed or strongly
      agreed that the peer teachers were successful in their role. Ninety-two percent
      requested formal peer teaching in other areas of training. The trainees regarded
      a peer teacher as an appropriate information provider (92%), role model (88%),
      planner (88%) and facilitator (94%), but less so as an assessor (70%). The most
      consistently stated strength of peer teaching was the relatability of peer
      teachers with their lack of experience cited as the main weakness. Eighty percent
      of participants preferred peer teaching to regular expert teaching. CONCLUSION:
      This study highlights the positive attitudes of first-year anaesthesia trainees
      towards a novel peer teaching programme in communication skills. This author
      recommends that peer teaching is further developed within postgraduate medical
      programmes to maximise learning for trainees in the student and teacher roles and
      to redistribute the teaching burden within clinical departments.

PMID- 28597249
TI  - Differential regulation of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) isoforms in human heart
      failure and atrial fibrillation.
AB  - Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) is a key regulator of important cardiac signaling
      pathways. Dysregulation of PP1 has been heavily implicated in cardiac
      dysfunctions. Accordingly, pharmacological targeting of PP1 activity is
      considered for therapeutic intervention in human cardiomyopathies. Recent
      evidence from animal models implicated previously unrecognized, isoform-specific
      activities of PP1 in the healthy and diseased heart. Therefore, this study
      examined the expression of the distinct PP1 isoforms PP1alpha, beta, and gamma in
      human heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) and addressed the
      consequences of beta-adrenoceptor blocker (beta-blocker) therapy for HF patients
      with reduced ejection fraction on PP1 isoform expression. Using western blot
      analysis, we found greater abundance of PP1 isoforms alpha and gamma but
      unaltered PP1beta levels in left ventricular myocardial tissues from HF patients
      as compared to non-failing controls. However, expression of all three PP1
      isoforms was higher in atrial appendages from patients with AF compared to
      patients with sinus rhythm. Moreover, we found that in human failing ventricles,
      beta-blocker therapy was associated with lower PP1alpha abundance and activity,
      as indicated by higher phosphorylation of the PP1alpha-specific substrate
      eIF2alpha. Greater eIF2alpha phosphorylation is a known repressor of protein
      translation, and accordingly, we found lower levels of the endoplasmic reticulum
      (ER) stress marker Grp78 in the very same samples. We propose that isoform
      specific targeting of PP1alpha activity may be a novel and innovative therapeutic
      strategy for the treatment of human cardiac diseases by reducing ER stress
      conditions.

PMID- 28597252
TI  - Clinical practice guidelines of the French Association for Supportive Care in
      Cancer and the French Society for Psycho-oncology: refusal of treatment by adults
      afflicted with cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study's purpose was to develop practical guidelines for assessment
      and management of refusal of treatment by adults afflicted with cancer. METHODS:
      The French Association for Supportive Care in Cancer and the French Society for
      Psycho-oncology gathered a task force that applied a consensus methodology to
      draft guidelines studied predisposing situations, the diagnosis, regulatory
      aspects, and the management of refusal of treatment by adults afflicted with
      cancer. RESULTS: We propose five guidelines: (1) be aware of the
      conditions/profiles of patients most often associated with refusal of treatment
      so as to adequately underpin the care and support measures; (2) understand the
      complexity of the process of refusal and knowing how to accurately identify the
      type and the modalities of the refused treatments; (3) apply a way to
      systematically analyze refusal, thereby promoting progression from a situation of
      disaccord toward a consensual decision; (4) devise procedures, according to the
      legal context, to address refusal of treatment that safeguards the stakeholders
      in situations of sustained disaccord; and (5) know the indications for ethical
      collective decision-making. CONCLUSION: The quality of the relationship between
      patients and health professionals, and the communication between them are
      essential components involved in reaching a point of consent or refusal of
      treatment. A process of systematic analysis of refusal is recommended as the only
      way to ensure that all of the physiological, psychological, and contextual
      elements that are potentially involved are taken into account.

PMID- 28597251
TI  - Occurrence of Multiple Sclerosis After Drug Exposure: Insights From Evidence
      Mapping.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The role of drugs in the occurrence of multiple sclerosis (MS) is
      perceived to be insufficiently investigated. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was
      to map and assess the evidence on MS occurrence after drug exposure, in order to
      identify possible signals of causal association. METHODS: A search strategy was
      performed in MEDLINE and Embase as of July 2016; references consistent with the
      aim of the study were analysed to extract relevant measures of causal association
      between drugs and MS. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and appropriate guidelines from
      the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and the International
      Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP) were used to assess the quality of included
      studies. RESULTS: After screening 832 articles, 58 were selected (of which 14
      were found by checking the reference lists of reviews): 30 case reports and case
      series, 24 longitudinal studies and four randomized controlled trials. Seven
      longitudinal studies had good (at least 7 out of 9) quality scores, whereas case
      reports/case series presented several limitations. Half of included articles
      focused on immunomodulatory drugs (etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab),
      especially in case reports/series, suggesting an association with MS occurrence.
      Contraceptives and antibacterials were investigated in some population-based
      studies, without definite results. CONCLUSION: A heterogeneous pharmacological
      profile of identified classes emerged. Low strength of evidence and conflicting
      results highlighted the difficulties in addressing the possible contribution of
      drugs in MS occurrence. Methodological advances are needed, especially to control
      the confounding role of underlying disease for specific drug classes.

PMID- 28597255
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597253
TI  - Effectiveness of a standardized patient education program on therapy-related side
      effects and unplanned therapy interruptions in oral cancer therapy: a cluster
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Oral agents for cancer treatment are increasingly prescribed due to
      their benefits. However, oral cancer medications are difficult to handle and have
      a considerable potential for side effects. This type of therapy requires a high
      level of self-management competence by the patient. A standardized patient
      education program provided by physicians and oncology nurses may positively
      influence the handling of oral agents. The aim of the study was to evaluate the
      impact of a standardized patient education program provided by specially trained
      oncology nurses on therapy management regarding side effects and unplanned
      therapy interruptions. METHODS: One hundred sixty-five patients from 28 office
      based oncology practices from all over Germany participated in this cluster
      randomized controlled study. Patients of both intervention (n = 111) and standard
      care groups (n = 54) received the usual oncologist counseling; in addition, the
      patients from the intervention group (k = 17 practices) received an education
      from specially trained oncology nurses. The time of observation was 3 months per
      patient. RESULTS: The patients of the intervention group reported fewer side
      effects (skin rash, pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting). Patients in the standard
      care group interrupted the therapy more frequently without informing their
      oncologist, compared to the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients benefit
      from a standardized patient education program provided by specially trained
      oncology nurses. They tend to handle side effects and critical situations better.

PMID- 28597254
TI  - Changes in structure and function of bacterial communities during coconut leaf
      vermicomposting.
AB  - To understand bacterial community dynamics during the vermicomposting of lignin
      rich coconut leaves using an indigenous isolate of an epigeic earthworm, Eudrilus
      sp., we employed amplicon-based pyrosequencing of the V1 to V3 region of the 16S
      rRNA genes. Total community DNA was isolated from two separate vermicomposting
      tanks in triplicate at four different stages of the process: pre-decomposition
      (15th day), initial vermicomposting (45th day), 50-70% vermicomposting (75th day)
      and mature vermicompost (105th day). Alpha diversity measurements revealed an
      increase in bacterial diversity till the 75th day, which then declined in the
      mature vermicompost. Beta diversity comparisons showed formation of distinct,
      stage-specific communities. In terms of relative abundance, the Acidobacteria,
      Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, TM7
      and WS3 groups increased until the 50-70% vermicomposting stage (p = 0.05).
      During the same time, the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria
      decreased. In contrast, the levels of Firmicutes increased throughout the 105-day
      vermicomposting process. The distribution of the most abundant OTUs revealed that
      each stage of the vermicomposting process possessed its own unique microbiome.
      Predictions based on the OTUs present by PICRUSt suggested a functional shift in
      the microbiome during vermicomposting. Enzymes and pathways of lipid and lignin
      metabolism were predicted to be initially abundant, but by the end of the
      process, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and plant beneficial properties
      were enriched. The study revealed that bacterial communities undergo a continuous
      change throughout the vermicomposting process and that certain OTUs associated
      with specific stages could be targets for further improvements in the process.

PMID- 28597256
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597257
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597258
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597259
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597260
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597261
TI  - [HCV healing also in HIV infected patients].

PMID- 28597262
TI  - [On stage with HIV].

PMID- 28597263
TI  - [Prophylaxis on sexually transmittable diseases in people living with HIV:
      advice, testing, treatment].

PMID- 28597264
TI  - [HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in women].

PMID- 28597265
TI  - [HIV Pre-Exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in men].

PMID- 28597266
TI  - [Long-acting shot against HIV].

PMID- 28597267
TI  - [What can new substances offer?]

PMID- 28597268
TI  - [Finally the therapy worked].

PMID- 28597269
TI  - [New therapy preservers the kidney].

PMID- 28597271
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597270
TI  - [Vaccines for people living with HIV/AIDS].

PMID- 28597274
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597272
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597273
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597275
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597276
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597277
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597279
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597280
TI  - [Treatment of HIV-infected patients: metabolism, bone, cardiovascular - what is
      part of routine care?]

PMID- 28597281
TI  - Gangrenous cholecystitis: innovative laparoscopic techniques to facilitate
      subtotal fenestrating cholecystectomy when a critical view of safety cannot be
      achieved.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gangrenous cholecystitis is associated with a higher conversion rate
      of conversion from laparoscopic to open than acute non-gangrenous cholecystitis.
      New strategies and techniques are needed to decrease conversion rates and improve
      outcomes. METHODS: In this article, we provide a richly detailed, illustrated
      description of a modified fundus-first technique that we have developed over the
      last 15 years and now use routinely with rare conversions. We also compared
      outcomes of laparoscopic (LC) and open (OC) approaches for pathologically
      confirmed gangrenous cholecystitis in 146 patients during 1995-2005, the first 10
      years during which these two approaches were performed contemporaneously at our
      institution on comparable patients. RESULTS: Among the 142 patients that met the
      inclusion criteria, laparoscopic procedures were started in 112 (79%) of these
      patients, with successful completion in 72 resulting in an overall conversion
      rate of 36%. During the last 5 years, however, in cases where the described
      laparoscopic technique was used, no patient has required conversion. The
      laparoscopic LC group had shorter average ICU stay (p < 0.05) and overall length
      of stay (2 vs 6 days, p < 0.001). Intraoperative cholangiography was completed in
      37 of 72 LC patients (52%) versus 6 of 30 OC (20%). In five of the LC patients, a
      filling defect was seen on the cholangiogram and laparoscopic transcystic common
      bile duct stones, thereby avoiding a second anesthetic and endoscopic procedure.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the setting of severe inflammation, a number of procedural
      modifications can be incorporated to allow the surgeon to approach dissection of
      the gangrenous gallbladder using a flexible operative plan designed to optimize
      safe completion of this challenging procedure, with the expected improvement in
      surgical outcomes.

PMID- 28597282
TI  - The general surgeon's perspective of rectus diastasis. A systematic review of
      treatment options.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscles (DRAM) is characterised by
      thinning and widening of the linea alba, combined with laxity of the ventral
      abdominal musculature. This causes the midline to "bulge" when intra-abdominal
      pressure is increased. Plastic surgery treatment for DRAM has been thoroughly
      evaluated, though general surgical treatments and the efficacy of physiotherapy
      remain elusive. The aim of this systematic literature review is to evaluate both
      general surgical and physiotherapeutic treatment options for restoring DRAM in
      terms of postoperative complications, patient satisfaction, and recurrence rates.
      METHOD: MEDLINE(r), Embase, PubMed, PubMed Central(r), The cochrane central
      registry of controlled trials (CENTRAL), Google Scholar, and the Physiotherapy
      Evidence Database (PEDro) were searched using the following terms: 'rectus
      diastasis', 'diastasis recti', 'midline', and 'abdominal wall'. All clinical
      studies concerning general surgical or physiotherapeutic treatment of DRAM were
      eligible for inclusion. RESULT: Twenty articles describing 1.691 patients (1.591
      surgery/100 physiotherapy) were included. Surgical interventions were classified
      as plication techniques (313 patients; 254 open/59 laparoscopic), modified hernia
      repair techniques (68 patients, all open), and combined hernia & DRAM techniques
      (1.210 patients; 1.149 open/40 hybrid). The overall methodological quality was
      low. Plication techniques with interrupted sutures and mesh reinforcement were
      applied most frequently for DRAM repair. Open repairs were performed in 85% of
      patients. There was no difference in postoperative complications or recurrence
      rate after laparoscopic or open procedures, or between plication and modified
      hernia repair techniques. Physiotherapy programmes were unable to reduce IRD in a
      relaxed state. Though reduction of IRD during muscle contraction was described.
      CONCLUSION: Both plication-based methods and hernia repair methods are used for
      DRAM repair. Based on the current literature, no clear distinction in recurrence
      rate, postoperative complications, or patient reported outcomes can be made.
      Complete resolution of DRAM, measured in a relaxed state, following a
      physiotherapy training programme is not described in current literature.
      Physiotherapy can achieve a limited reduction in IRD during muscle contraction,
      though the impact of this finding on patient satisfaction, cosmesis, or function
      outcome is unclear.

PMID- 28597283
TI  - Transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy in children: is it worth it?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy (TULAA) is the
      technique of choice for all types of appendicitis in our Department. It combines
      the advantages of laparoscopy (global vision and minimally invasion) and open
      surgery (lower cost). The objective was to assess the results of our TULAA series
      and compare them to the results of standard laparoscopic appendectomies (SLA)
      performed during the same period. METHODS: Retrospective review of total
      appendectomies performed since TULAA introduction (September 2003 to December
      2015) with statistic analysis of the results. RESULTS: A total of 1309 patients
      underwent TULAA approach, but 126 (9.6%) needed reconversion to open
      appendectomy, 1 (0.08%) to SLA, and 9 (0.7%) introduction of a second port. Mean
      age and weight of patients was 121.5 +/- 36 months and 37.6 +/- 14 kg,
      respectively. Mean operative time was 40.9 +/- 15.5 min, ranging from 11 to 110.
      All types of appendicitis were present, with 394 being complicated (29.9%).
      Postoperative complications were seen in 168 patients (14.3%), 37 being
      readmitted (3.2%), and only five needing reintervention (Two intestinal
      occlusions and three abscess debridement). When comparing TULAA and SLA, there
      were no significant differences in the length of hospitalization, time to
      tolerate soft diet, analgesic requirements, and complications depending on the
      type of appendicitis, but TULAA was significantly faster and cheaper (average
      900?). CONCLUSIONS: In our hands, TULAA has shown to be effective, easy to learn,
      and fast to perform. Low surgical cost is probably its principal advantage, which
      might be encouraging in times of crisis.

PMID- 28597284
TI  - Comparison of single-incision laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure
      (SILPEC) and open repair for pediatric inguinal hernia: a single-center
      retrospective cohort study of 2028 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUD: Recently, laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure (LPEC) has
      gained increased popularity for pediatric inguinal hernia repair. To improve
      cosmesis, we developed single incision LPEC (SILPEC). The aim of this study was
      to assess the safety and feasibility of SILPEC compared with traditional open
      repair (OR). METHODS: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of 2028
      children who underwent inguinal hernia repair between April 2005 and August 2014.
      Nine hundred and ninety-five patients underwent OR and 1033 patients underwent
      SILPEC. Medical records were reviewed with respect to operative time, recurrence,
      incidence of contralateral metachronous inguinal hernia (CMIH), and
      complications. Patient satisfaction with cosmetic result was also investigated
      using questionnaires sent by mail. RESULTS: All SILPEC procedures were completed
      without conversion. Operative time was longer in the SILPEC group than in the OR
      group for both unilateral and bilateral surgery regardless of sex (unilateral
      male: p = 0.0006, unilateral female: p < 0.0001, bilateral male: p < 0.0001,
      bilateral female: p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference
      in recurrence rate (p = 0.43). The incidence of CMIH was significantly higher in
      the OR than in the SILPEC group (p < 0.0001). No postoperative testicular atrophy
      was found in either group. There was no statistically significant difference in
      ascending testis (p = 0.09), but the frequency of surgical site infection was
      higher in the SILPEC than in the OR group (p = 0.0013). According to the
      questionnaire, operative scar was more invisible in the SILPEC than in the OR
      group (p < 0.0001), but both procedures had equally high levels of satisfaction
      for cosmetic results (p = 0.58). CONCLUSION: SILPEC proved to be a safe and
      feasible procedure compared with OR with an equally low recurrence rate, more
      effectiveness for preventing CMIH, and more invisible scar.

PMID- 28597285
TI  - Impaired laparoscopic performance of novice surgeons due to phone call
      distraction: a single-centre, prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Distractions such as phone calls during laparoscopic surgery play an
      important role in many operating rooms. The aim of this single-centre,
      prospective study was to assess if laparoscopic performance is impaired by
      intraoperative phone calls in novice surgeons. METHODS: From October 2015 to June
      2016, 30 novice surgeons (medical students) underwent a laparoscopic surgery
      training curriculum including two validated tasks (peg transfer, precision
      cutting) until achieving a defined level of proficiency. For testing,
      participants were required to perform these tasks under three conditions: no
      distraction (control) and two standardised distractions in terms of phone calls
      requiring response (mild and strong distraction). Task performance was evaluated
      by analysing time and accuracy of the tasks and response of the phone call.
      RESULTS: In peg transfer (easy task), mild distraction did not worsen the
      performance significantly, while strong distraction was linked to error and
      inefficiency with significantly deteriorated performance (P < 0.05). Precision
      cutting (difficult task) was not slowed down by mild distraction, but surgical
      and cognitive errors were significantly increased when participants were
      distracted (P < 0.05). Compared to mild distraction, participants reported a more
      severe subjective disturbance when they were diverted by strong distraction (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: Our data reveals that phone call distractions result in
      impaired laparoscopic performance under certain circumstances. To ensure patient
      safety, phone calls should be avoided as far as possible in operating rooms.

PMID- 28597286
TI  - What are the differences in the outcome of laparoscopic axial (I) versus
      paraesophageal (II-IV) hiatal hernia repair?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Comparison of elective laparoscopic repair of axial vs
      paraesophageal hiatal hernias reveals relevant differences in both the patient
      collectives and the complexity of the procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      present uni- and multivariable analysis of data from the Herniamed Registry
      compares the outcome for 2047 (67.3%) (type I) axial with 996 (32.7%) (types II
      IV) paraesophageal primary hiatal hernias following laparoscopic repair. RESULTS:
      Compared with the patients with axial hiatal hernias, patients with
      paraesophageal hiatal hernia were nine years older, had a higher ASA score (ASA
      III/IV: 34.8 vs 13.7%; p < 0.001), and more often at least one risk factor (38.8
      vs 21.4%; p < 0.001). This led in the univariable analysis to significantly more
      general postoperative complications (6.0 vs 3.0%; p < 0.001). Reflecting the
      greater complexity of the procedures used for laparoscopic repair of
      paraesophageal hiatal hernias, significantly higher intraoperative organ injury
      rates (3.7 vs 2.3%; p = 0.033) and higher postoperative complication-related
      reoperation rates (2.1 vs 1.1%; p = 0.032) were identified. Univariable analysis
      did not reveal any significant differences in the recurrence and pain rates on
      one-year follow-up. Multivariable analysis did not find any evidence that the use
      of a mesh had a significant influence on the recurrence rate. CONCLUSION:
      Surgical repair of paraesophageal hiatal hernia calls for an experienced surgeon
      as well as for corresponding intensive medicine competence because of the higher
      risks of general and surgical postoperative complications.

PMID- 28597287
TI  - Comparison of endoscopic sphincterotomy techniques after Billroth II gastrectomy
      using a novel mechanical simulator.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A postsurgical anatomy renders endoscopic sphincterotomy
      (EST) more challenging. Although different EST techniques for such a situation
      exist, comparative studies are lacking. The aim of the study was to compare the
      efficacy of different EST techniques using a novel mechanical simulator. METHODS:
      Ten expert endoscopists performed 6 different EST techniques on a novel
      mechanical Billroth II (BII) simulator in a random sequence. The EST techniques
      were (1) standard sphincterotome used with a side-viewing endoscope, (2) BII
      sphincterotome used with a side-viewing endoscope, (3) needle-knife EST guided by
      biliary endoprosthesis used with a side-viewing endoscope, (4) standard
      sphincterotome used with a forward-viewing endoscope, (5) BII sphincterotome used
      with a forward-viewing endoscope, and (6) needle-knife EST guided by biliary
      endoprosthesis used with a forward-viewing endoscope. The results of videotaped
      ESTs were evaluated by a blinded expert and duration for each EST modality was
      calculated. RESULTS: Needle-knife EST guided by endoprosthesis was rated superior
      to EST using a BII sphincterotome (p = 0.017) or a standard sphincterotome (p <
      0.001). EST using the BII sphincterotome was significantly faster than EST with
      the needle knife (p = 0.004) and the standard sphincterotome (p = 0.005). There
      were no differences between the use of a forward-viewing endoscope and a side
      viewing endoscope. CONCLUSION: In an ex vivo model for EST in B II gastrectomy
      needle-knife EST guided by endoprosthesis achieved superior ratings in comparison
      to the use of a BII sphincterotome, although it was more time-consuming. A
      standard sphincterotome should not be used for such a procedure.

PMID- 28597289
TI  - Erratum to: Colorimetric Detection of Acetyl Xylan Esterase Activities.

PMID- 28597288
TI  - Safety and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection of large (>=3 cm)
      subepithelial tumors located in the cardia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal subepithelial tumors (SETs) may harbor
      potential malignancy. Although it is well recognized that large SETs should be
      resected, the treatment strategy remains controversial. Compared to surgical
      resection, endoscopic resection has many advantages such as less invasive,
      shorter hospital stay, lower costs, and better quality of life. However,
      Endoscopic resection of large SETs in the cardia is challenging. The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal
      dissection (ESD) in the treatment of such SETs. METHODS: A total of 41 patients
      with large SETs (>=3 cm in diameter) located in the cardia were involved in the
      study. All patients underwent ESD. Data on therapeutic outcomes and follow-up
      were collected, for analysis of risk factors of complication rates. RESULTS: The
      average tumor size was 4.7 +/- 1.7 cm. The average procedure time was 69.3 +/-
      32.7 min and the average postoperative hospital stay was 3.5 +/- 1.1 days. A
      total of 41 tumors were removed successfully, in which 35 were leiomyomas, three
      were gastrointestinal stromal tumors, two were lipomas, and one was gastritis
      cystica profunda. The en bloc resection rate was 90.2%, and was significantly
      higher for tumors with a round or oval shape (100%) than for those with an
      irregular shape (75.0%) (P < 0.05). Five patients experienced complications
      (12.2%), all of which were managed conservatively. The complication rates were
      significantly higher in patients with a tumor originating from the deep
      muscularis propria layer and demonstrating a trans-cardia growth pattern. No
      residual or tumor recurrence was observed and no stricture occurred during the
      follow-up period (average, 26.7 +/- 18.4 months). CONCLUSIONS: ESD is safe and
      effective to curatively remove most large SETs in the cardia, and may serve as an
      accurate histopathology measurement to direct future therapy.

PMID- 28597290
TI  - Erratum to: Identification and Characterisation of a Novel Pathogenic Mutation in
      the Human Lipodystrophy Gene AGPAT2 : C48R: A Novel Mutation in AGPAT2.

PMID- 28597292
TI  - [Osteotomy around the knee].

PMID- 28597291
TI  - Multiple drug transporters mediate the placental transport of sulpiride.
AB  - Sulpiride is a typical antipsychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia,
      depression and other psychological disorders. It has been proven that a small
      amount of sulpiride could cross the human placenta using an ex vivo placental
      perfusion model. However, the placental transfer mechanism has not been
      elucidated. Considering the structure of sulpiride, we speculated that the
      transporters expressed in placenta might be involved in sulpiride uptake across
      the blood-placenta barrier. The aim of our study was to determine which
      transporters contributed to the placental transfer of sulpiride. Our results
      revealed that sulpiride was a substrate of human organic cation transporter
      (hOCT) 3, human multidrug resistance protein (hMDR) 1 and human breast cancer
      resistance protein (hBCRP) using transfected cells expressing respective
      transporters. In addition, the accumulation of sulpiride in BeWo cells (a human
      choriocarcinoma cell line) was obviously affected by inhibitors of
      carnitine/organic cation transporter (OCTN) 2, MDR1 and BCRP. The accumulation of
      sulpiride in primary human trophoblast cells was obviously affected by inhibitors
      of OCT3, OCTN1 and OCTN2. The above results indicate that hOCTN1 and hOCTN2
      likely contribute to the sulpiride uptake from maternal circulation to
      trophoblast cells, while hMDR1 and hBCRP mediate the efflux from trophoblast
      cells to maternal circulation, and hOCT3 probably is involved in the
      bidirectional transport of sulpiride between the placenta and fetal blood.

PMID- 28597293
TI  - Reducing uncertainty in sustainable interpersonal service relationships: the role
      of aesthetics.
AB  - Sustainable interpersonal service relationships (SISRs) are the outcome of a
      design process that supports situated meaningful interactions between those being
      served and those in service. Service design is not just directed to simply
      satisfy the ability to perceive the psychological state of others, but more
      importantly, it should aim at preserving these relationships in relation to the
      contextual requirements that they functionally need, in order to be or remain
      sustainable. However, SISRs are uncertain since they have many possibilities to
      be in error in the sense that the constructed, situated meanings may finally be
      proven unsuccessful for the anticipations and the goals of those people engaged
      in a SISR. The endeavor of this paper is to show that aesthetic behavior plays a
      crucial role in the reduction of the uncertainty that characterizes such
      relationships. Aesthetic behavior, as an organized network of affective and
      cognitive processes, has an anticipatory evaluative function with a strong
      influence on perception by providing significance and value for those aspects in
      SISRs that exhibit many possibilities to serve goals that correspond to
      sustainable challenges. Thus, aesthetic behavior plays an important role in the
      construction of meanings that are related to both empathic and contextual aspects
      that constitute the entire situation in which a SISR takes place. Aesthetic
      behavior has a strong influence in meaning-making, motivating the selection of
      actions that contribute to our initial goal of interacting with uncertainty, to
      make the world a bit less puzzling and, thus, to improve our lives, or in other
      words, to design.

PMID- 28597294
TI  - Grasping occluded targets: investigating the influence of target visibility,
      allocentric cue presence, and direction of motion on gaze and grasp accuracy.
AB  - Participants executed right-handed reach-to-grasp movements toward horizontally
      translating targets. Visual feedback of the target when reaching, as well as the
      presence of additional cues placed above and below the target's path, was
      manipulated. Comparison of average fixations at reach onset and at the time of
      the grasp suggested that participants accurately extrapolated the occluded
      target's motion prior to reach onset, but not after the reach had been initiated,
      resulting in inaccurate grasp placements. Final gaze and grasp positions were
      more accurate when reaching for leftward moving targets, suggesting individuals
      use different grasp strategies when reaching for targets traveling away from the
      reaching hand. Additional cue presence appeared to impair participants' ability
      to extrapolate the disappeared target's motion, and caused grasps for occluded
      targets to be less accurate. Novel information is provided about the eye-hand
      strategies used when reaching for moving targets in unpredictable visual
      conditions.

PMID- 28597295
TI  - Evolution of intrinsic disorder in eukaryotic proteins.
AB  - Conformational flexibility conferred though regions of intrinsic structural
      disorder allows proteins to behave as dynamic molecules. While it is well-known
      that intrinsically disordered regions can undergo disorder-to-order transitions
      in real-time as part of their function, we also are beginning to learn more about
      the dynamics of disorder-to-order transitions along evolutionary time-scales.
      Intrinsically disordered regions endow proteins with functional promiscuity,
      which is further enhanced by the ability of some of these regions to undergo real
      time disorder-to-order transitions. Disorder content affects gene retention after
      whole genome duplication, but it is not necessarily conserved. Altered patterns
      of disorder resulting from evolutionary disorder-to-order transitions indicate
      that disorder evolves to modify function through refining stability, regulation,
      and interactions. Here, we review the evolution of intrinsically disordered
      regions in eukaryotic proteins. We discuss the interplay between secondary
      structure and disorder on evolutionary time-scales, the importance of disorder
      for eukaryotic proteome expansion and functional divergence, and the evolutionary
      dynamics of disorder.

PMID- 28597296
TI  - Behaviour of intrinsically disordered proteins in protein-protein complexes with
      an emphasis on fuzziness.
AB  - Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) do not, by themselves, fold into a
      compact globular structure. They are extremely dynamic and flexible, and are
      typically involved in signalling and transduction of information through binding
      to other macromolecules. The reason for their existence may lie in their
      malleability, which enables them to bind several different partners with high
      specificity. In addition, their interactions with other macromolecules can be
      regulated by a variable amount of chemically diverse post-translational
      modifications. Four kinetically and energetically different types of complexes
      between an IDP and another macromolecule are reviewed: (1) simple two-state
      binding involving a single binding site, (2) avidity, (3) allovalency and (4)
      fuzzy binding; the last three involving more than one site. Finally, a
      qualitative definition of fuzzy binding is suggested, examples are provided, and
      its distinction to allovalency and avidity is highlighted and discussed.

PMID- 28597299
TI  - Letter to the Editor concerning "The surgical algorithm for the AOSpine
      thoracolumbar spine injury classification system" by A. R. Vaccaro et al. Eur
      Spine J (2016);25(4):1087-1094.

PMID- 28597300
TI  - Proximal junctional kyphosis in adult scoliosis: comparison of four radiological
      predictor models.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this retrospective study is to identify the best
      immediate postoperative radiological predictors for the occurrence of proximal
      junctional kyphosis (PJK). Four proposed methods will be explored. METHODS: A
      homogeneous database of adult scoliosis from multiple centers was used. Patients
      with whole spine X-rays at the required follow-up (FU) periods were included.
      Spinal and pelvic parameters were measured and calculated to compare four
      predictive methods: Method 1: assessment of the global sagittal alignment (GSA);
      Method 2: restoration of the theoretical values of lumbar lordosis (LL) and
      thoracic kyphosis (TK) according to pelvic incidence (PI); Method 3: evaluation
      of TK + LL, and Method 4: restoration of the apex of sagittal LL to its
      theoretical values according to various spine shapes in Roussouly Classification.
      PJK occurrence was assessed at the last FU radiograph. RESULTS: 250 patients were
      included; mean age was 56.67 years and mean FU was 2.5 years. PJK occurred in
      25.6% of cases. PJK occurred in 19.9% in patients with a GSA <45 degrees  and in
      29.9% where GSA >45 degrees  (p = 0.04, OR = 1.71). Restoring the sagittal apex
      of the LL to its theoretical values according to PI deceased PJK to 13.5%
      compared to 38.9% in the other cases (p = 0.01, OR = 4.6). The two other
      described methods (2 and 3) were not significant predictors. DISCUSSION: The
      comparison between the four predictive methods showed that a GSA >45 degrees  and
      restoration of sagittal apex of lordosis according to PI, were the most
      predictive methods for PJK in ASD. The latter had a higher predictive value. Our
      findings could prove useful in effective preoperative planning in ASD surgery to
      reduce PJK rates. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

PMID- 28597301
TI  - Osteoarthritis and spontaneous fusion of facet joints after percutaneous
      instrumentation in thoracolumbar fractures.
AB  - PURPOSE: This retrospective study determined the rate of osteoarthritis and
      spontaneous facet joint fusion and analyzed risk factors related to patient
      characteristics, fracture type or surgical technique on pre- and postoperative CT
      after percutaneous instrumentation in thoracolumbar fractures. METHODS: 1050
      facet joints adjacent to screws in 148 patients (15-85 years) with thoracolumbar
      fractures were analyzed with an average time between CTs of 12.3 months. Screw
      diameters, lengths and cement augmentation were recorded. Facet joint violation
      by screw trajectory and by insertion depth was classified in three grades. Pre-
      and postoperative osteoarthritis was graded as absent, minor or severe and
      postoperative facet joint fusion as absent, partial or complete. RESULTS: The
      facet violation rate was moderate in 15.4% and severe in 0.6% according to screw
      trajectory, and 11.0 and 0.6%, respectively, according to insertion depth.
      Osteoarthritis was preoperatively rated moderate in 9.6% and severe in 1.2%. A
      progression was evidenced in 79 facet joints (7.5%). Screw cement augmentation
      was the main predictive factor (p < 0.0001). Partial fusion was evidenced in 2.6%
      and complete fusion in 1% of facet joints. Risk factors were: BMI (p = 0.0002),
      age (p = 0.0013), preoperative osteoarthritis (p = 0.0005), time between 2 CTs (p
      = 0.0001), B-type fractures (p = 0.0005), concomitant anterior fusion (p =
      0.0034). CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence or worsening of osteoarthritis was mainly
      observed in elderly patients with cement-augmented screws and spontaneous facet
      fusion in elderly patients with high BMI and preoperative osteoarthritis, or in
      anteriorly fused B-type injuries. Thus, percutaneous instrumentation can safely
      be removed after fracture consolidation in younger patients while preserving
      facet joints.

PMID- 28597298
TI  - Conditionally disordered proteins: bringing the environment back into the fold.
AB  - For many proteins, biological function requires the folding of the polypeptide
      chain into a unique and persistent tertiary structure. This review concerns
      proteins that adopt a specific tertiary structure to function, but are otherwise
      partially or completely disordered. The biological cue for protein folding is
      environmental perturbation or minor post-translational modification. Hence, we
      term these proteins conditionally disordered. Many of these proteins recognize
      and bind other molecules, and conditional disorder has been hypothesized to allow
      for more nuanced control and regulation of binding processes. However, this
      remains largely unproven. The sequences of conditionally disordered proteins
      suggest their propensity to fold; yet, under the standard laboratory conditions,
      they do not do so, which may appear surprising. We argue that the surprise
      results from the failure to consider the role of the environment in protein
      structure formation and that conditional disorder arises as a natural consequence
      of the marginal stability of the folded state.

PMID- 28597297
TI  - Intrinsic protein disorder in oncogenic KRAS signaling.
AB  - How Ras, and in particular its most abundant oncogenic isoform K-Ras4B, is
      activated and signals in proliferating cells, poses some of the most challenging
      questions in cancer cell biology. In this paper, we ask how intrinsically
      disordered regions in K-Ras4B and its effectors help promote proliferative
      signaling. Conformational disorder allows spanning long distances, supports hinge
      motions, promotes anchoring in membranes, permits segments to fulfil multiple
      roles, and broadly is crucial for activation mechanisms and intensified oncogenic
      signaling. Here, we provide an overview illustrating some of the key mechanisms
      through which conformational disorder can promote oncogenesis, with K-Ras4B
      signaling serving as an example. We discuss (1) GTP-bound KRas4B activation
      through membrane attachment; (2) how farnesylation and palmitoylation can promote
      isoform functional specificity; (3) calmodulin binding and PI3K activation; (4)
      how Ras activates its RASSF5 cofactor, thereby stimulating signaling of the Hippo
      pathway and repressing proliferation; and (5) how intrinsically disordered
      segments in Raf help its attachment to the membrane and activation. Collectively,
      we provide the first inclusive review of the roles of intrinsic protein disorder
      in oncogenic Ras-driven signaling. We believe that a broad picture helps to grasp
      and formulate key mechanisms in Ras cancer biology and assists in therapeutic
      intervention.

PMID- 28597302
TI  - The impact of hypertension on the occurrence of postoperative spinal epidural
      hematoma following single level microscopic posterior lumbar decompression
      surgery in a single institute.
AB  - PURPOSE: Postoperative spinal epidural hematoma (PSEH) is one of the most
      hazardous complications after spine surgery. A recent study has reported that a
      >=50 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure after extubation was a significant
      risk factor for symptomatic PSEH. In this paper, the impact of hypertension on
      PSEH occurrence was investigated. METHODS: Among a total of 2468 patients who
      underwent single level microscopic posterior decompression surgery for lumbar
      spinal stenosis in a single institute, 15 (0.6%) received evacuation surgery for
      PSEH. Those 15 patients were investigated statistically compared with a randomly
      selected control group (n = 46) using the Mann-Whitney U test and multiple
      logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The univariate analysis showed that there
      were no significant differences in age, gender, BMI, pre-operative anti-coagulant
      usage, intraoperative blood loss, operation time, and the rate of patients who
      received pre-operative hypertension treatment. However, there were significant
      differences in the rate of patients who showed high blood pressure at admission
      (66.7 vs 6.5%) and >50 mmHg increases in blood pressure after extubation (53.3 vs
      17.4%) in the univariate analysis. Moreover, postoperatively, there was a
      statistical difference in the amount of post-operative drainage. Multiple
      logistic regression analysis showed that high blood pressures at admission and
      poor postoperative drainage were the essential risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results demonstrate that the pre-operative high blood pressure value was the most
      essential risk factor for PSEH, although there was no difference in the
      preoperative hypertension treatment. Consequently, management of pre-operative
      blood pressure and post-operative drainage will be crucial for preventing PSEH.

PMID- 28597303
TI  - Current pathogenic Escherichia coli foodborne outbreak cases and therapy
      development.
AB  - Food contamination by pathogenic microorganisms has been a serious public health
      problem and a cause of huge economic losses worldwide. Foodborne pathogenic
      Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination, such as that with E. coli O157 and
      O104, is very common, even in developed countries. Bacterial contamination may
      occur during any of the steps in the farm-to-table continuum from environmental,
      animal, or human sources and cause foodborne illness. To understand the causes of
      the foodborne outbreaks by E. coli and food-contamination prevention measures, we
      collected and investigated the past 10 years' worldwide reports of foodborne E.
      coli contamination cases. In the first half of this review article, we introduce
      the infection and symptoms of five major foodborne diarrheagenic E. coli
      pathotypes: enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Shiga toxin-producing E.
      coli/enterohemorrhagic E. coli (STEC/EHEC), Shigella/enteroinvasive E. coli
      (EIEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). In
      the second half of this review article, we introduce the foodborne outbreak cases
      caused by E. coli in natural foods and food products. Finally, we discuss current
      developments that can be applied to control and prevent bacterial food
      contamination.

PMID- 28597304
TI  - Improved Tet-On and Tet-Off systems for tetracycline-regulated expression of
      genes in Candida.
AB  - Tetracycline-regulated expression of genes is often used for functional analysis
      of Candida albicans genes. However, the widely used Tet-On system has certain
      limitations such as prolonged lag time (up to 8 h) for induction and non-uniform
      expression among the cells. We speculated that poor expression of tetracycline
      controlled transactivator (Tet-transactivator) from CaADH1 promoter could be
      responsible for this, and thus compared the effect of expressing this protein
      under the control of CaADH1, CaTDH3 and CaRP10 promoters on the expression of GFP
      from the TET promoter. Only CaRP10 promoter facilitated a more uniform and rapid
      induction of GFP. However, a high concentration of doxycycline was needed for
      induction, which is not desirable for assessing certain phenotypes. Tet-Off
      systems are known to require a low concentration of doxycycline, but a limitation
      of the widely used Tet-Off system for C. albicans is the use of CaENO1 promoter,
      which is known to be repressed in the presence of gluconeogenic carbon source,
      for expression of transactivator. Thus, we have converted the above-mentioned Tet
      On systems to Tet-Off systems by site-directed mutagenesis of the Tet
      transactivator. Compared to the Tet-On systems, the Tet-Off systems required
      about 200-fold less concentration of doxycycline for modulation of gene
      expression. Only the Tet-Off system with CaRP10 promoter driving the expression
      of transactivator allowed rapid and high level expression of GFP compared to
      those with CaADH1 or CaTDH3 promoters. The utility of CaRP10 based Tet-On and Tet
      Off systems was further validated by the conditional expression of the CaTUP1
      gene. We have also adapted these systems for use with Candida tropicalis and find
      that the Tet-Off system is functional in this species. The Tet systems reported
      here will be useful for conditional expression of genes in C. albicans as well as
      C. tropicalis.

PMID- 28597305
TI  - The 2 micron plasmid: a selfish genetic element with an optimized survival
      strategy within Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Since its discovery in the early 70s, the 2 micron plasmid of Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae continues to intrigue researchers with its high protein-coding
      capacity and a selfish nature yet high stability, earning it the title of a
      'miniaturized selfish genetic element'. It codes for four proteins (Rep1, Rep2,
      Raf1, and Flp) vital for its own survival and recruits several host factors
      (RSC2, Cohesin, Cse4, Kip1, Bik1, Bim1, and microtubules) for its faithful
      segregation during cell division. The plasmid maintains a high-copy number with
      the help of Flp-mediated recombination. The plasmids organize in the form of
      clusters that hitch-hike the host chromosomes presumably with the help of the
      plasmid-encoded Rep proteins and host factors such as microtubules, Kip1 motor,
      and microtubule-associated proteins Bik1 and Bim1. Although there is no known
      yeast cell phenotype associated with the 2 micron plasmid, excessive copies of
      the plasmid are lethal for the cells, warranting a tight control over the plasmid
      copy number. This control is achieved through a combination of feedback loops
      involving the 2 micron encoded proteins. Thus, faithful segregation and a
      concomitant tightly controlled plasmid copy number ensure an optimized benign
      parasitism of the 2 micron plasmid within budding yeast.

PMID- 28597306
TI  - Maintenance of remission with combination etanercept-DMARD therapy versus DMARDs
      alone in active rheumatoid arthritis: results of an international treat-to-target
      study conducted in regions with limited biologic access.
AB  - In this transglobal, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, treat-to
      target study, the maintenance of efficacy was compared between biologic-and
      biologic-free-disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) combination regimens
      after low disease activity (LDA) was achieved with biologic DMARD induction
      therapy. Patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis despite
      methotrexate therapy received open-label etanercept 50 mg subcutaneously once
      weekly plus methotrexate with or without other conventional synthetic (cs) DMARDs
      for 24 weeks. Patients achieving LDA [disease activity score in 28 joints based
      on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) <3.2] at week 24 were randomized to
      receive etanercept-methotrexate combination therapy or placebo-methotrexate
      combination therapy, with or without other csDMARDs, for 28 weeks. In the open
      label period, 72% of patients achieved DAS28-ESR LDA at week 24. Patients
      enrolled in the double-blind period had long-standing rheumatoid arthritis and
      high disease activity at baseline (mean duration, 8.1 years; DAS28-ESR, 6.4). In
      the etanercept and placebo combination groups, 44% versus 17% achieved DAS28-ESR
      LDA and 34 versus 13% achieved DAS28-ESR remission at week 52 (p < 0.001).
      Adverse events were reported in 37 and 43%, serious adverse events in 0 and 4%,
      and serious infections in 0 and 2% in these groups, respectively, in the double
      blind period. After induction of response with etanercept combination therapy
      following a treat-to-target approach in patients with long-standing rheumatoid
      arthritis and high disease activity at baseline, the etanercept combination
      regimen was significantly more effective in maintaining LDA and remission than a
      biologic-free regimen. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier. NCT01578850.

PMID- 28597308
TI  - Randomized Controlled Trial of Adding Telephone Follow-Up to an Occupational
      Rehabilitation Program to Increase Work Participation.
AB  - Purpose Transfer from on-site rehabilitation to the participant's daily
      environment is considered a weak link in the rehabilitation chain. The main
      objective of this study is to see if adding boosted telephone follow-up directly
      after completing an occupational rehabilitation program effects work
      participation. Methods A randomized controlled study included participants with
      chronic pain, chronic fatigue or common mental disorders on long-term sick leave.
      After completing 31/2 weeks of acceptance and commitment therapy based
      occupational rehabilitation, participants were randomized to boosted follow-up or
      a control group before returning to their daily environment. The intervention was
      delivered over 6 months by on-site RTW coordinators mainly via telephone. Primary
      outcome was RTW categorized as participation in competitive work >=1 day per week
      on average over 8 weeks. Results There were 213 participants of mean age 42 years
      old. Main diagnoses of sick leave certification were mental disorders (38%) and
      musculoskeletal disorders (30%). One year after discharge the intervention group
      had 87% increased odds (OR 1.87, 95% confidence interval 1.06-3.31, p = 0.031),
      of (re)entry to competitive work >=1 day per week compared with the controls,
      with similar positive results for sensitivity analysis of participation half time
      (>=2.5 days per week). The cost of boosted follow-up was 390.5 EUR per
      participant. Conclusion Participants receiving boosted RTW follow-up had higher
      (re)entry to competitive work >=1 day per week at 1 year when compared to the
      control group. Adding low-cost boosted follow-up by telephone after completing an
      occupational rehabilitation program augmented the effect on return-to-work.

PMID- 28597310
TI  - Scientific Paper Abstracts Presented at the Society of Abdominal Radiology 2017
      Annual Scientific Meeting and Educational Course (March 26-31, 2017, Hollywood,
      Florida).

PMID- 28597307
TI  - Optimization of biological therapy in rheumatoid arthritis patients: outcomes
      from the CREATE registry after 2 years of follow-up.
AB  - : The current strategy for managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) focuses on
      achieving clinical remission. Once remission is achieved and sustained over time,
      the most efficient strategy is dose optimization. This work describes the results
      of dose optimization after 2 years of follow-up in patients with RA treated with
      biological therapy and identifies predictive variables of response. Cohort:
      patients from the CREATE registry who, as of 1 November 2013, had been in
      clinical remission (DAS28 <=2.6) for at least 6 months. INTERVENTION: Dose
      optimization was 20-50% of the standard dose. Outcome measurement were
      effectiveness (percentage of patients who continued to meet criteria for clinical
      remission) and efficiency (dose reduction and mean savings). Sixty-eight patients
      with RA were optimized, with initial mean DAS28 of 2.2 +/- 0.7. After 2 years of
      follow-up, the mean DAS28 was 2.4 +/- 0.7, a non-statistically significant
      difference. Twenty-eight patients (41.2%) continued in clinical remission with
      dose optimization after 2 years. Mean survival time was 14.2 months (95% CI 12.0
      16.5). Of the 40 patients who needed to return to a standard dose, 57.5% managed
      to achieve remission again at 2 years. Mean dose reduction at 2 years was 21.17%,
      reaching a mean saving of ?5576 +/- 5099 per patient. In actual clinical
      practice, over 40% of patients with established RA who had been in sustained
      clinical remission managed to continue in remission 2 years after receiving
      optimized doses. The savings achieved was about 21% of the actual direct health
      costs for patients in the CREATE registry.

PMID- 28597309
TI  - Choroid plexus cauterization on treatment of hydranencephaly and maximal
      hydrocephalus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The standard treatment for hydranencephaly and maximal
      hydrocephalus consists of inserting shunts, although complications frequently
      occur. Choroid plexus cauterization (CPC) is an alternative, but its long-term
      efficacy and the factors associated with the success and failure of controlling
      head circumference (HC) are not well defined. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to
      evaluate the long-term efficacy and factors related to the success rate of CPC in
      the treatment of hydranencephaly and maximal hydrocephalus. METHOD: Forty-two
      children with maximal hydrocephalus and hydranencephaly underwent CPC from 2006
      to 2014 and were retrospectively evaluated. Children with less than 3 months of
      follow-up were excluded. The long-term efficacy and success rate of possible
      variables (i.e., sex, type of malformation, type of surgery performed, treatment
      hospital, age, and HC at the time of surgery and birth) were evaluated. RESULTS:
      Thirty-four children were considered for the effectiveness analysis. Treatment
      was successful in 24 children (70.6%), and failure occurred in 10 children
      (29.4%). Failure was detected soon after the endoscopic procedure (average 116
      days). There was no difference in effectiveness when comparing the age at the
      moment of surgery (p = 0.473), type of malformation (p = 1), HC at birth (0.699),
      and HC at the time of surgery (p = 0.648). The surgical death rate was 7.14%.
      CONCLUSION: Endoscopic CPC was a valid procedure used to treat hydranencephaly
      and maximal hydrocephaly, and it was effective in 70.6% of cases, with an average
      follow-up period of 32 months. When failures occurred, they occurred early. None
      of the analyzed variables interfered with the success of the treatment.

PMID- 28597311
TI  - Integrated Process for Ethanol, Biogas, and Edible Filamentous Fungi-Based Animal
      Feed Production from Dilute Phosphoric Acid-Pretreated Wheat Straw.
AB  - Integration of wheat straw for a biorefinery-based energy generation process by
      producing ethanol and biogas together with the production of high-protein fungal
      biomass (suitable for feed application) was the main focus of the present study.
      An edible ascomycete fungal strain Neurospora intermedia was used for the ethanol
      fermentation and subsequent biomass production from dilute phosphoric acid (0.7
      to 1.2% w/v) pretreated wheat straw. At optimum pretreatment conditions, an
      ethanol yield of 84 to 90% of the theoretical maximum, based on glucan content of
      substrate straw, was observed from fungal fermentation post the enzymatic
      hydrolysis process. The biogas production from the pretreated straw slurry showed
      an improved methane yield potential up to 162% increase, as compared to that of
      the untreated straw. Additional biogas production, using the syrup, a waste
      stream obtained post the ethanol fermentation, resulted in a combined total
      energy output of 15.8 MJ/kg wheat straw. Moreover, using thin stillage (a waste
      stream from the first-generation wheat-based ethanol process) as a co-substrate
      to the biogas process resulted in an additional increase by about 14 to 27% in
      the total energy output as compared to using only wheat straw-based substrates.
      ?.

PMID- 28597313
TI  - Cellular response in the tick feeding site in crossbred cattle artificially
      infested by Rhipicephalus microplus.
AB  - Ticks and tick-borne diseases are of global importance and can cause serious
      economic losses to cattle-raising businesses. However, only few attempts have
      been made to describe the relationships between various cellular immune
      components and tick counts of, and therefore resistance to, Rhipicephalus
      microplus. The present study evaluated the late inflammatory cellular response
      and dermal dendritic cells at the attachment site in naturally presensitized
      bovines, artificially infested by R. microplus ticks. Twenty-two crossbred
      (Holstein * Gir) male experimental cattle were artificially infested with
      approximately 10,000 larvae of R. microplus. Parasitic infestation was determined
      by counting the engorged female ticks (4.5-8.0 mm in diameter) at the 21st day
      after artificial infestation. Biopsies (6 mm) were taken prior to the infestation
      and along with the tick count from the right pinna of each animal, and examined
      with histological techniques and immunohistochemistry using S100 protein.
      Inflammatory cell counts were conducted in the sections stained with the May
      Grunwald Giemsa technique, and immunostained dermal dendritic cells were
      evaluated and classified in scores ranging from 0 to 4. An average of 39.2 ticks
      per animal was found. Eosinophils (47.8%) constituted the major portion of the
      cellular infiltrate, followed by mononuclear cells (28.3%), neutrophils (14.4%),
      and basophils (0% to approximately 2%). The dendritic cell count shows a
      considerable population in the dermis, with pre- and post-infestation mean scores
      of 1.54 and 1.89, respectively; these scores were not significantly different.
      Our results pointed out the importance of the cellular response in the cattle
      resistance to ticks.

PMID- 28597312
TI  - [Management of chronic pain using extended release tilidine : Quality of life and
      implication of comedication on tilidine metabolism].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The synthetic opioid tilidine is often used in chronic
      pain treatment. However, the activation via metabolism in patients with
      concomitant medication and reduced liver or kidney function is not thoroughly
      investigated. We therefore studied pain treatment efficacy, health-related
      quality of live and the metabolism of tilidine in patients with chronic pain.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: In all, 48 patients, who were on a stable dose of oral
      prolonged release tilidine for at least 7 days, were included in this
      observational multicenter study. Liver and kidney function were assessed in
      routine blood samples, concentrations of tilidine, nortilidine and bisnortilidine
      were determined using a validated LC/MS/MS method. Comedication was registered
      and patients experience with regard to quality of life, pain, gastrointestinal
      symptoms and adverse events was assessed in standardised questionnaires. RESULTS:
      On average a daily dose of 180 mg tilidine was taken. Dose normalized plasma
      concentrations of the active metabolite nortilidine ranged between 1.6 ng/ml and
      76.5 ng/ml (mean 29.2 +/- 25.1 ng/ml). Ratios between tilidine and nortilidine
      were on average 0.28 (median = 0.13, standard deviation = 0.67). Patients were on
      1 to 14 different concomitant medications. About 66% of the patients had
      sufficient pain treatment. Almost no opioid-induced constipation was observed.
      Only few patients had decreased kidney or liver function which did not result in
      elevated nortilidine concentrations. CONCLUSION: Pain treatment using tilidine
      resulted in variable nortilidine concentrations which are obviously not strongly
      influenced by comedication or reduced liver or kidney function. Only a few side
      effects were observed with almost no opioid-induced constipation.

PMID- 28597314
TI  - Deltamethrin as inductor agent of precocious ovarian degeneration in
      Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks.
AB  - The cosmopolitan species Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. is one of the most widely
      distributed ticks all over the world. These ectoparasites are vectors of several
      pathogens and cause significant direct damage to their hosts. The biological
      success of these ectoparasites has been attributed to their ovaries and salivary
      glands, organs that ensure their survival in various environmental conditions.
      The importance of the ovaries in ticks is that, after mating, the individuals are
      able to lay approximately three thousand eggs. The present study had the
      objective to demonstrate the effects of deltamethrin obtained from the product
      Butox P CE 25(r) (MSD Saude Animal, Sao Paulo, Brazil) on the ovarian development
      of R. sanguineus s.l. females. The chemical was tested in the concentrations of
      25, 50, 100 and 200 ppm (respectively 80, 40, 20 and 10 times lower than the
      recommended by the manufacturer). Through the application of histological
      techniques and HE staining, the results showed that the deltamethrin was
      potentially able to modify the morphophysiology of the oocytes in all
      developmental stages, interfering in the vitellogenesis, causing intense
      vacuolation, cytoplasmic disorganization, and alterations in the chorion
      secretion. In addition, the chemical affected the germ vesicle of some oocytes,
      causing damages and hypertrophy, fragmenting the chromatin and forming bodies
      strongly stained by hematoxylin. Therefore, this study confirmed that the
      deltamethrin had an important action on the reproductive system of the R.
      sanguineus s.l. females, causing the precocious structural disorganization of the
      germ cells, consequently preventing the generation of new individuals.

PMID- 28597315
TI  - Fiber-type distribution in insect leg muscles parallels similarities and
      differences in the functional role of insect walking legs.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that myofibrillar ATPase (mATPase) enzyme
      activity in muscle fibers determines their contraction properties. We analyzed
      mATPase activities in muscles of the front, middle and hind legs of the
      orthopteran stick insect (Carausius morosus) to test the hypothesis that
      differences in muscle fiber types and distributions reflected differences in
      their behavioral functions. Our data show that all muscles are composed of at
      least three fiber types, fast, intermediate and slow, and demonstrate that: (1)
      in the femoral muscles (extensor and flexor tibiae) of all legs, the number of
      fast fibers decreases from proximal to distal, with a concomitant increase in the
      number of slow fibers. (2) The swing phase muscles protractor coxae and levator
      trochanteris, have smaller percentages of slow fibers compared to the antagonist
      stance muscles retractor coxae and depressor trochanteris. (3) The percentage of
      slow fibers in the retractor coxae and depressor trochanteris increases
      significantly from front to hind legs. These results suggest that fiber-type
      distribution in leg muscles of insects is not identical across leg muscles but
      tuned towards the specific function of a given muscle in the locomotor system.

PMID- 28597317
TI  - Erratum to: Plasma exchange response in 34 patients with severe optic neuritis.

PMID- 28597316
TI  - Substrate translocation involves specific lysine residues of the central channel
      of the conjugative coupling protein TrwB.
AB  - Conjugative transfer of plasmid R388 requires the coupling protein TrwB for
      protein and DNA transport, but their molecular role in transport has not been
      deciphered. We investigated the role of residues protruding into the central
      channel of the TrwB hexamer by a mutational analysis. Mutations affecting lysine
      residues K275, K398, and K421, and residue S441, all facing the internal channel,
      affected transport of both DNA and the relaxase protein in vivo. The ATPase
      activity of the purified soluble variants was affected significantly in the
      presence of accessory protein TrwA or DNA, correlating with their behaviour in
      vivo. Alteration of residues located at the cytoplasmic or the inner membrane
      interface resulted in lower activity in vivo and in vitro, while variants
      affecting residues in the central region of the channel showed increased DNA and
      protein transfer efficiency and higher ATPase activity, especially in the absence
      of TrwA. In fact, these variants could catalyze DNA transfer in the absence of
      TrwA under conditions in which the wild-type system was transfer deficient. Our
      results suggest that protein and DNA molecules have the same molecular
      requirements for translocation by Type IV secretion systems, with residues at
      both ends of the TrwB channel controlling the opening-closing mechanism, while
      residues embedded in the channel would set the pace for substrate translocation
      (both protein and DNA) in concert with TrwA.

PMID- 28597318
TI  - The relationship between progressive motor deficits and lesion location in
      patients with single infarction in the lenticulostriate artery territory.
AB  - As the corticospinal tracts cross the lenticulostriate artery (LSA) territory at
      the posterior segment, we hypothesized that posteriorly located infarctions of
      the LSA may be associated with progressive motor deficits. We prospectively
      studied 519 consecutive patients with LSA infarctions who entered our hospital
      within 24 h after onset. We categorized patients into two groups in terms of
      progress: no progress and progress. Progress was defined as worsening by 1 point
      or more in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), some of which
      recovered afterward or thoroughly progressed. LSA infarctions on the first DWI
      were divided into proximal type and distal (group 1) type. The proximal type was
      further divided into anterior (group 2), intermediate (group 3) and posterior
      (group 4) type according to the middle point of antero-posterior diameter of the
      lateral ventricle. There were 109 patients who showed progress that accounted for
      21.0% of all patients. The number of patients who progressed is as follows:
      distal type 65 (23.8%), anterior type 31 (36.0%), intermediate type 26 (56.5%)
      and posterior type 97 (85.0%). The Cochran-Armitage test showed a significant
      increase through group 1 to group 4 (p < 0.0001). Independent predictive factors
      for progress were male (OR 0.57, p = 0.0107), higher NIHSS on admission (>=4) (OR
      3.02, p < 0.0001), intermediate proximal type (OR 3.3, p = 0.0007) and posterior
      proximal type (OR 16.4, p < 0.0001). The more posterior the infarct location, the
      more frequent was the progress that occurred, probably due to the anatomical fact
      that corticospinal tracts crossed the LSA territory at the posterosuperior
      quadrant.

PMID- 28597319
TI  - Erratum to: Biliary Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm: the "Thread Sign".

PMID- 28597322
TI  - Sustained attention to a predictable, unengaging Go/No-Go task shows ongoing
      development between 6 and 11 years.
AB  - Response time variability (RTV) is a useful measure of sustained attention;
      however, little is known about developmental changes in RTV at different temporal
      frequencies. Thirty-five 6-year-olds, 31 8-year-olds, and 37 10-year-olds
      completed the fixed-sequence Sustained Attention to Response Task on three
      occasions, six months apart. Fast Fourier Transform and ex-Gaussian analyses of
      response time (RT) data assessed momentary fluctuations in RT, gradual changes in
      RT, and very long responses, thought to reflect attentional control fluctuations,
      slow-shifting arousal, and infrequent lapses in attention, respectively. A half
      by-half analysis measured within-occasion time-on-task effects. The 10-to 11-year
      olds performed with less momentary fluctuations in RT, fewer long responses, and
      fewer commission and omission errors than the younger groups. This group
      performed well in the first half of the task but showed time-on-task effects on
      measures of momentary fluctuations in RT, very long responses, target sensitivity
      (d'), and commission errors. The 6- to 7-year-olds performed less well than the
      older groups, and showed time-on-task effects, on almost all measures. The 8- to-
      9-year-olds mostly performed at an intermediate level compared with the other
      groups; however, this group performed with a similar level of momentary
      fluctuations in RT and very long responses as the 6- to 7-year-olds. These
      findings indicate that there is ongoing maturation of various aspects of
      sustained attention on a predictable task, with a period of relative stability in
      performance between 8 and 9 years of age.

PMID- 28597320
TI  - Diagnostic Laparoscopy Prior to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer Is High
      Yield: an Analysis of Outcomes and Costs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is currently no standardized regimen for management of
      borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC), and treatment includes varying
      sequences of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. This study examines the
      diagnostic yield and cost of performing staging diagnostic laparoscopy (SDL)
      prior to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in BRPC. METHODS: Sequential patients treated
      for BRPC between January 2010 and October 2013 were included. SDL was adopted in
      a staged fashion due to surgeon preference, and included biopsy of visible
      lesions and washings for cytology. Cost ratios (CRs) were calculated to compare
      the direct cost of the SDL versus no-SDL groups and to compare patients with
      positive versus negative SDL. RESULTS: Of 116 patients evaluated for BRPC, 75
      patients underwent SDL and 19 (25%) revealed occult metastatic disease. Sixteen
      patients had a positive biopsy and three had positive cytology alone. There was
      no difference in overall treatment cost (CR 0.95, 95% CI 0.62-1.37), oncologic
      treatment (CR 0.66, 95% CI 0.32-1.23), or remaining surgical treatment (CR 1.14,
      95% CI 0.77-1.71) for patients who underwent SDL compared to those who did not.
      Patients with a positive SDL incurred lower overall cost compared to those with a
      negative SDL (CR 0.23, 95% CI 0.16-0.32) due to lack of further surgery or
      radiation, and less intensive chemotherapy regimens. CONCLUSIONS: SDL prior to
      NAT is a useful adjunct to CT to diagnose occult metastatic disease in BRPC.

PMID- 28597323
TI  - Stent-induced flow disturbances in the ipsilateral external carotid artery
      following internal carotid artery stenting: a temporary cause of jaw
      claudication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We hypothesize that stenting of the internal carotid artery can
      immediately impede blood flow to the external carotid artery by either plaque
      shift or stent coverage of the ostium, and thereby cause ischemic symptoms like
      ipsilateral jaw claudication. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with high-grade
      asymptomatic stenosis of the internal carotid artery who underwent endovascular
      treatment were examined by ultrasound of the external carotid artery and
      performed an exercise test by chewing chewing gum synchronously to an electronic
      metronome for 3 min. Tests were performed before, the day after, and 1 week after
      the stenting procedure. Claudication time was defined as the timespan until
      occurrence of pain of the masseter muscle and/or chewing dyssynchrony to the
      metronome for more than 15 s. Ten patients with an isolated, atherosclerotic
      stenosis of the external carotid artery served as controls. RESULTS: A
      significantly reduced claudication time (in seconds) was recorded in patients who
      underwent carotid artery stenting compared to baseline values; median 89
      (interquartile range, IQR, 57 to 124) vs. median 180 (IQR 153 to 180; p < 0.001).
      By categorization of the flow velocity at the external carotid artery into faster
      or slower as 200 cm/sec, the effect was even accentuated. Stenting values showed
      improvement 1 week after but did not return to baseline levels. No respective
      changes were found in controls. CONCLUSION: Stenting of the internal carotid
      artery lead to ipsilateral flow deterioration at the external carotid artery
      resulting in temporary jaw claudication. This impairment attenuated over the time
      and was significantly reduced after 1 week.

PMID- 28597324
TI  - Gender differences in moral judgment and the evaluation of gender-specified moral
      agents.
AB  - Whether, and if so, how exactly gender differences are manifested in moral
      judgment has recently been at the center of much research on moral decision
      making. Previous research suggests that women are more deontological than men in
      personal, but not impersonal, moral dilemmas. However, typical personal and
      impersonal moral dilemmas differ along two dimensions: Personal dilemmas are more
      emotionally salient than impersonal ones and involve a violation of Kant's
      practical imperative that humans must never be used as a mere means, but only as
      ends. Thus, it remains unclear whether the reported gender difference is due to
      emotional salience or to the violation of the practical imperative. To answer
      this question, we explore gender differences in three moral dilemmas: a typical
      personal dilemma, a typical impersonal dilemma, and an intermediate dilemma,
      which is not as emotionally salient as typical personal moral dilemmas, but
      contains an equally strong violation of Kant's practical imperative. While we
      replicate the result that women tend to embrace deontological ethics more than
      men in personal, but not impersonal, dilemmas, we find no gender differences in
      the intermediate situation. This suggests that gender differences in these type
      of dilemmas are driven by emotional salience, and not by the violation of the
      practical imperative. Additionally, we also explore whether people think that
      women should behave differently than men in these dilemmas. Across all three
      dilemmas, we find no statistically significant differences about how people think
      men and women should behave.

PMID- 28597325
TI  - The impossibility of reliably determining the authenticity of desires:
      implications for informed consent.
AB  - It is sometimes argued that autonomous decision-making requires that the decision
      maker's desires are authentic, i.e., "genuine," "truly her own," "not out of
      character," or similar. In this article, it is argued that a method to reliably
      determine the authenticity (or inauthenticity) of a desire cannot be developed. A
      taxonomy of characteristics displayed by different theories of authenticity is
      introduced and applied to evaluate such theories categorically, in contrast to
      the prior approach of treating them individually. The conclusion is drawn that,
      in practice, the authenticity of desires cannot be reliably determined. It is
      suggested that authenticity should therefore not be employed in informed consent
      practices in healthcare.

PMID- 28597326
TI  - Identification of bakanae disease resistance loci in japonica rice through genome
      wide association study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bakanae disease, caused by seed-borne Fusarium species, mainly F.
      fujikuroi, is a rice disease whose importance is considerably increasing in
      several rice growing countries, leading to incremental production losses.
      RESULTS: A germplasm collection of japonica rice was screened for F. fujikuroi
      resistance, allowing the identification of accessions with high-to-moderate
      levels of resistance to bakanae. A GWAS approach uncovered two genomic regions
      highly associated with the observed phenotypic variation for response to bakanae
      infection on the short arm of chromosome 1 (named as qBK1_628091) and on the long
      arm of chromosome 4 (named as qBK4_31750955). High levels of phenotypic
      resistance to bakanae were associated to the cumulated presence of the resistant
      alleles at the two resistance loci, suggesting that they can provide useful
      levels of disease protection in resistance breeding. A fine comparison with the
      genomic positions of qBK1_628091 and qBK4_31750955 with respect to the QTLs for
      bakanae resistance reported in the literature suggests that the resistant loci
      here described represent new genomic regions associated to F. fujikuroi
      resistance. A search for candidate genes with a putative role in bakanae
      resistance was conducted considering all the annotated genes and F. fujikuroi
      related DEGs included in the two genomic regions highlighting several gene
      functions that could be involved in resistance, thus paving the way to the
      functional characterization of the resistance loci. CONCLUSIONS: New effective
      sources for bakanae resistance were identified on rice chromosomes 1 and 4 and
      tools for resistance breeding are provided.

PMID- 28597327
TI  - The Role of the Corpus Callosum in Pediatric Dysphagia: Preliminary Findings from
      a Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study in Children with Unilateral Spastic Cerebral
      Palsy.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the structural
      integrity of the corpus callosum (CC) and clinical feeding/swallowing performance
      in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP). Twenty children with
      USCP, (11 males, 5.11-17.6 yoa) were assessed via the Dysphagia Disorder Survey
      (DDS) and diffusion tensor imaging. Children were grouped into left hemisphere
      lesion (LHL; n = 13) and right hemisphere lesion (RHL; n = 7) groups. DTI
      variables analyzed for three CC regions (anterior, middle, posterior) were:
      fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD), and
      fibers count. Children with RHL presented with higher clinical dysphagia severity
      (p = 0.03). Six of seven children with RHL had lesions affecting
      periventricular/subcortical areas, and 8/13 children with LHL had lesions
      affecting the sensorimotor cortex. In the LHL group, as FA and fiber count of the
      anterior CC decreased and RD increased (all indicating reduced CC structural
      integrity), signs of dysphagia increased (r = -0.667, p = 0.013; r = -0.829, p <=
      0.001; r = 0.594, p = 0.032, respectively). Reduced fiber count in the middle and
      posterior CC was also significantly associated with increased DDS scores (r = 
      0.762, p = 0.002; r = -0.739, p = 0.004, respectively). For the RHL group no
      significant correlations were observed. We provide preliminary evidence that
      corpus callosum integrity correlates with feeding/swallowing performance in
      children with USCP, especially when cortical sensorimotor areas of the left
      hemisphere are impacted. In this sample, CC integrity appeared to enable
      interhemispheric cortical plasticity for swallowing, but was not as critical when
      intrahemispheric connections were disrupted, as seen in the RHL group.

PMID- 28597329
TI  - Safety and efficacy of mogamulizumab in patients with adult T-cell leukemia
      lymphoma in Japan: interim results of postmarketing all-case surveillance.
AB  - We present the interim results of a postmarketing all-case surveillance study in
      patients with C-C chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4)-positive, relapsed or refractory
      adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATL) treated with the anti-CCR4 monoclonal
      antibody mogamulizumab since its 2012 launch in Japan. The safety and efficacy
      analysis populations comprised 484 and 442 patients, respectively. The ATL
      subtype was acute in 58.9% and lymphoma in 34.2% of patients. All patients were
      scheduled to receive intravenous infusions of mogamulizumab (1.0 mg/kg) once
      weekly for eight weeks, alone or in combination with other modalities. Adverse
      drug reactions (ADRs) were reported in 74.0% of patients, of which 35.7% were
      serious and 6.2% were fatal. The priority survey items of infusion-related
      reaction, skin disorder, infection, immune disorder, and tumor lysis syndrome
      were reported in 29.3, 34.3, 22.1, 3.5, and 2.5% of patients, respectively. Graft
      versus-host disease was reported in 25/42 patients who received mogamulizumab
      before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The best overall
      response rate was 57.7% overall, 57.5% in patients treated with mogamulizumab
      alone, and 58.2% in patients treated with combination therapy. This surveillance
      indicates that mogamulizumab shows acceptable tolerability in practice; however,
      because of the risk of serious/fatal ADRs, patients administered mogamulizumab
      should be carefully monitored.

PMID- 28597328
TI  - The comprehensive complication index (CCI) is a more sensitive complication index
      than the conventional Clavien-Dindo classification in radical gastric cancer
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The comprehensive complication index (CCI) integrates all
      complications of the Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC) and offers a metric
      approach to measure morbidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the CCI at a
      high-volume center for gastric cancer surgery and to compare the CCI to the
      conventional CDC. METHODS: Clinical factors were collected from the prospective
      complication data of gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy at
      Seoul National University Hospital from 2013 to 2014. CDC and CCI were
      calculated, and risk factors were investigated. Correlations and generalized
      linear models of hospital stay were compared between the CCI and CDC. The
      complication monitoring model with cumulative sum control-CCI (CUSUM-CCI) was
      displayed for individual surgeons, for comparisons between surgeons, and for the
      institution. RESULTS: From 1660 patients, 583 complications in 424 patients
      (25.5%) were identified. The rate of CDC grade IIIa or greater was 9.7%, and the
      overall CCI was 5.8 +/- 11.7. Age, gender, Charlson score, combined resection,
      open method, and total gastrectomy were associated with increased CCI (p < 0.05).
      The CCI demonstrated a stronger relationship with hospital stay (rho = 0.721, p <
      0.001) than did the CDC (rho = 0.634, p < 0.001). For prolonged hospital stays
      (>=30 days), only the CCI showed a moderate correlation (rho = 0.544, p = 0.024),
      although the CDC did not. The CUSUM-CCI model displayed dynamic time-event
      differences in individual and comparison monitoring models. In the institution
      monitoring model, a gradual decrease in the CCI was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The
      CCI is more strongly correlated with postoperative hospital stay than is the
      conventional CDC. The CUSUM-CCI model can be used for the continuous monitoring
      of surgical quality.

PMID- 28597330
TI  - The utility of superb microvascular imaging for monitoring low-velocity venous
      flow following pancreas transplantation: report of a case.
AB  - Vascular thrombosis is a major complication after pancreas transplantation.
      Because delays in detecting thrombosis often result in graft failure, monitoring
      blood flow is crucial. Periodic evaluation using color Doppler ultrasonography is
      mostly performed for monitoring blood flow in the grafted pancreas. However,
      conventional color Doppler imaging has limited capability to visualize low
      velocity blood flow. Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) is a novel ultrasound
      Doppler technique that is especially sensitive in detecting low-velocity flow.
      Herein, the authors describe the utility of SMI for monitoring splenic venous
      blood flow not detected by conventional color Doppler ultrasonography after
      pancreas transplantation. Ultrasonographic evaluation was performed every 4-6 h
      for 2 weeks after pancreas transplantation. SMI was used for detecting venous
      blood flow that was not clearly visible by conventional color Doppler imaging.
      The greater part of venous blood flow was undetectable by conventional color
      Doppler imaging, especially in the horizontal regions of the splenic vein.
      However, SMI clearly described venous flow at all points, even immediately after
      transplantation and when the patient developed hypotension due to massive
      bleeding complications. SMI is an extremely useful tool for monitoring venous
      flow after pancreas transplantation and does not require contrast agents.

PMID- 28597332
TI  - Comparing the use of live trees and deadwood for larval foraging by aye-ayes
      (Daubentonia madagascariensis) at Kianjavato and Torotorofotsy, Madagascar.
AB  - Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) feeding behavior has become synonymous
      with deadwood foraging. However, deadwood is not always the most frequently used
      substrate, as some aye-ayes use live trees more often to access invertebrates. We
      sought to compare the frequency of aye-aye invertebrate foraging in deadwood and
      live trees to better understand their feeding behaviors. We followed two male aye
      ayes at Kianjavato, a heavily disturbed habitat in southeastern Madagascar, from
      October 2013 to October 2014, and one male and one female aye-aye at
      Torotorofotsy, a continuous forest in eastern Madagascar, from July 2014 to
      December 2015. We collected feeding data by recording the behavior of a focal aye
      aye every 5 min for a total of 373 h at Kianjavato and 383 h at Torotorofotsy.
      Our results showed no difference in the amount of deadwood used between the
      individuals. However, there was a significant difference in the amount of live
      tree feeding between the female at Torotorofotsy and one of the males at
      Kianjavato. We conclude that feeding on invertebrates in live trees is more
      important to aye-ayes than previously realized and that aye-ayes are exceedingly
      flexible in their invertebrate feeding behaviors, adjusting to their habitat by
      using various substrates.

PMID- 28597331
TI  - Inhibition Efficiency in Highly Proficient Bilinguals and Simultaneous
      Interpreters: Evidence from Language Switching and Stroop Tasks.
AB  - The present behavioral study aimed to examine the impact of language control
      expertise on two domain-general control processes, i.e. active inhibition of
      competing representations and overcoming of inhibition. We compared how
      Simultaneous Interpreters (SI) and Highly Proficient Bilinguals-two groups
      assumed to differ in language control capacity-performed executive tasks
      involving specific inhibition processes. In Experiment 1 (language decision
      task), both active and overcoming of inhibition processes are involved, while in
      Experiment 2 (bilingual Stroop task) only interference suppression is supposed to
      be required. The results of Experiment 1 showed a language switching effect only
      for the highly proficient bilinguals, potentially because overcoming of
      inhibition requires more cognitive resources than in SI. Nevertheless, both
      groups performed similarly on the Stroop task in Experiment 2, which suggests
      that active inhibition may work similarly in both groups. These contrasting
      results suggest that overcoming of inhibition may be harder to master than active
      inhibition. Taken together, these data indicate that some executive control
      processes may be less sensitive to the degree of expertise in bilingual language
      control than others. Our findings lend support to psycholinguistic models of
      bilingualism postulating a higher-order mechanism regulating language activation.

PMID- 28597333
TI  - The Role of Leadership Support in a Church-Based Cancer Education Implementation
      Study.
AB  - Leadership plays a role in the success of an organization's initiatives. We
      examined church leaders' support-as perceived by lay community health advisor
      (CHA) interventionists-and implementation outcomes in a cancer early detection
      trial. CHAs perceived that their pastors: helped promote the intervention (M =
      3.1/4, SD 1.2) and attended about half (M = 1.6/3, SD 1.3) the workshops. CHAs
      used marginally more techniques to recruit members when they perceived pastors
      were engaged in promoting the program (r s = .44, p = .08). Pastor attendance was
      positively associated with member enrollment (r s = .50, p < .05). Pastor support
      may be related to receptivity of both CHAs and congregants to engage in church
      health promotion.

PMID- 28597335
TI  - Effect of endoskeleton stent graft design on pulse wave velocity in patients
      undergoing endovascular repair of the aortic arch.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pulse wave velocity (PWV), which measures vascular stiffness, is a
      powerful predictor of cardiovascular event. Treatment of aneurysms with
      endovascular prosthesis has been reported to increase PWV. The purpose of this
      study was to evaluate whether an endoskeleton stent graft design has less effect
      on PWV than the exoskeleton stent graft design. METHODS: Between July 2008 and
      September 2016, 74 patients underwent endovascular treatment of aortic arch
      aneurysm in our institution. PWV before and after surgery were compared between
      those who underwent treatment with Najuta, an endoskeleton stent graft (n = 51),
      and those treated with other commercially available exoskeleton stent grafts (n =
      23). RESULTS: Preoperative PWV (endoskeleton: 2004 +/- 379.2 cm/s vs.
      exoskeleton: 2083 +/- 454.5 cm/s, p = 0.47) was similar between the two groups.
      Factors that were associated with preoperative PWV were age (r = 0.37, 95% CI
      0.15-0.56, p = 0.002) and mean arterial pressure (r = 0.53, 95% CI 0.34-0.68, p <
      0.001). There was a significant increase in PWV in patients treated by
      exoskeleton stent grafts (before: 2083 +/- 454.5 cm/s vs. after: 2305 +/- 479.7
      cm/s, p = 0.023) while endoskeleton stent graft showed no change in PWV (before:
      2003 +/- 379.2 vs. after: 2010 +/- 521.1, p = 0.56). In a multivariate analysis,
      mean arterial pressure (coef 17.5, 95% CI 6.48-28.59, p = 0.002) and exoskeleton
      stent graft (coef 359.4, 95% CI 89.36-629.43, p = 0.010) were independently
      associated with PWV after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Physiological changes after
      endovascular treatment should be considered including effect on vascular
      stiffness. Endoskeleton stent graft may provide aneurysm repair with minimum
      effect in PWV after surgery.

PMID- 28597336
TI  - Design features of offshore oil production platforms influence their
      susceptibility to biocorrosion.
AB  - Offshore oil-producing platforms are designed for efficient and cost-effective
      separation of oil from water. However, design features and operating practices
      may create conditions that promote the proliferation and spread of biocorrosive
      microorganisms. The microbial communities and their potential for metal corrosion
      were characterized for three oil production platforms that varied in their oil
      water separation processes, fluid recycling practices, and history of microbially
      influenced corrosion (MIC). Microbial diversity was evaluated by 16S rRNA gene
      sequencing, and numbers of total bacteria, archaea, and sulfate-reducing bacteria
      (SRB) were estimated by qPCR. The rates of 35S sulfate reduction assay (SRA) were
      measured as a proxy for metal biocorrosion potential. A variety of microorganisms
      common to oil production facilities were found, but distinct communities were
      associated with the design of the platform and varied with different locations in
      the processing stream. Stagnant, lower temperature (<37  degrees C) sites in all
      platforms had more SRB and higher SRA compared to samples from sites with higher
      temperatures and flow rates. However, high (5 mmol L-1) levels of hydrogen
      sulfide and high numbers (107 mL-1) of SRB were found in only one platform. This
      platform alone contained large separation tanks with long retention times and
      recycled fluids from stagnant sites to the beginning of the oil separation train,
      thus promoting distribution of biocorrosive microorganisms. These findings tell
      us that tracking microbial sulfate-reducing activity and community composition on
      off-shore oil production platforms can be used to identify operational practices
      that inadvertently promote the proliferation, distribution, and activity of
      biocorrosive microorganisms.

PMID- 28597334
TI  - JAK-STAT signaling regulation of chicken embryonic stem cell differentiation into
      male germ cells.
AB  - The Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT)
      signaling is crucial in chicken germ stem cell differentiation, but its role in
      the regulation of germ cell differentiation is unknown. To address this,
      cucurbitacin I or interleukin 6 was used to inhibit or activate JAK-STAT
      signaling during embryonic stem cells (ESCs) differentiation. The expression of
      downstream JAK-STAT signaling molecules was assessed by Western blotting and
      quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). PAS, and
      immunohistochemical staining of frozen sections was used to determine the
      appearance of primordial germ cells (PGCs) and, later, spermatogonial stem cells
      (SSCs) during gonadal development. Inhibition of the JAK-STAT signaling resulted
      in decreased expression of JAK2 and STAT3 as well as of PGCs markers; moreover,
      the proportion of CVH and C-KIT positive cells as well as the yield of PGCs were
      remarkably decreased, and the gonad was smaller than that of control samples.
      Conversely, activation of JAK-STAT resulted in increased expression of JAK2 and
      STAT3 as well as that of PGC marker CVH. In addition, the proportion of CVH and C
      KIT-positive cells as well as the PGC yield was increased, and the gonad was
      significantly larger than that from control samples. Collectively, our results
      suggested that JAK-STAT effectively promoted the formation of PGCs in the genital
      ridge during early embryogenesis in vivo and played a positive role in the
      regulation of ESC to SSC differentiation in vitro, with JAK2 and STAT3
      functioning as pivotal factors for intracellular signal transduction.

PMID- 28597337
TI  - Brain reward responses to food stimuli among female monozygotic twins discordant
      for BMI.
AB  - : Obese individuals are characterized by altered brain reward responses to food.
      Despite the latest discovery of obesity-associated genes, the contribution of
      environmental and genetic factors to brain reward responsiveness to food remains
      largely unclear. Sixteen female monozygotic twin pairs with a mean BMI
      discordance of 3.96 +/- 2.1 kg/m2 were selected from the Netherlands Twin
      Register to undergo functional MRI scanning while watching high- and low-calorie
      food and non-food pictures and during the anticipation and receipt of chocolate
      milk. In addition, appetite ratings, eating behavior and food intake were
      assessed using visual analog scales, validated questionnaires and an ad libitum
      lunch. In the overall group, visual and taste stimuli elicited significant
      activation in regions of interest (ROIs) implicated in reward, i.e. amygdala,
      insula, striatum and orbitofrontal cortex. However, when comparing leaner and
      heavier co-twins no statistically significant differences in ROI-activations were
      observed after family wise error correction. Heavier versus leaner co-twins
      reported higher feelings of hunger (P = 0.02), cravings for sweet food (P =
      0.04), body dissatisfaction (P < 0.05) and a trend towards more emotional eating
      (P = 0.1), whereas caloric intake was not significantly different between groups
      (P = 0.3). Our results suggest that inherited rather than environmental factors
      are largely responsible for the obesity-related altered brain responsiveness to
      food. Future studies should elucidate the genetic variants underlying the
      susceptibility to reward dysfunction and obesity. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
      NUMBER: NCT02025595.

PMID- 28597338
TI  - Joint representation of consistent structural and functional profiles for
      identification of common cortical landmarks.
AB  - In the brain mapping field, there have been significant interests in
      representation of structural/functional profiles to establish
      structural/functional landmark correspondences across individuals and
      populations. For example, from the structural perspective, our previous studies
      have identified hundreds of consistent DICCCOL (dense individualized and common
      connectivity-based cortical landmarks) landmarks across individuals and
      populations, each of which possess consistent DTI-derived fiber connection
      patterns. From the functional perspective, a large collection of well
      characterized HAFNI (holistic atlases of functional networks and interactions)
      networks based on sparse representation of whole-brain fMRI signals have been
      identified in our prior studies. However, due to the remarkable variability of
      structural and functional architectures in the human brain, it is challenging for
      earlier studies to jointly represent the connectome-scale structural and
      functional profiles for establishing a common cortical architecture which can
      comprehensively encode both structural and functional characteristics across
      individuals. To address this challenge, we propose an effective computational
      framework to jointly represent the structural and functional profiles for
      identification of consistent and common cortical landmarks with both structural
      and functional correspondences across different brains based on DTI and fMRI
      data. Experimental results demonstrate that 55 structurally and functionally
      common cortical landmarks can be successfully identified.

PMID- 28597339
TI  - The clinical behavior of sinonasal inverted papilloma with cellular dysplasia:
      case series and review of the literature.
AB  - The prognosis and recurrence rate of inverted papilloma (IP) with concomitant
      cellular dysplasia are not well-delineated. Demographic, clinical and imaging
      data of all patients who were surgically treated for sinonasal inverted papilloma
      (SNIP) in our center between 1996 and 2013 were reviewed. Data regarding the
      coexistence of dysplastic changes or malignancy within the resected tissues were
      also retrieved. After the exclusion of malignant cases and patients who were lost
      for follow-up, 92 patients were included in the study. Five patients had
      coexisting cellular dysplasia (4.7%), four of them had severe dysplasia and one
      had mild-to-moderate dysplasia. All four cases with severe dysplasia recurred,
      three were primarily treated endoscopically and one by external approach. Only
      the case with mild to moderate dysplasia which had been treated by subcranial
      approach did not recur. Patients with dysplasia had significantly higher
      recurrence rate than patients without dysplasia (80 vs. 14%, p = 0.019). This
      significant relation between histology and recurrence remained even after
      adjustment to tumor extent. The adjusted odd ratio of dysplasia (dysplasia vs. no
      dysplasia) is 9.7, p = 0.043. SNIP with dysplasia should be treated aggressively
      and followed closely. The histopathologic investigation of SNIP specimens should
      always note the presence of dysplasia and its severity. Further investigation on
      the clinical behavior of SNIP with dysplasia is needed. Multicenter studies are
      warranted due to the rarity of dysplastic SNIP.

PMID- 28597340
TI  - Upregulation of heat-shock proteins in larvae, but not adults, of the flesh fly
      during hot summer days.
AB  - Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) are highly expressed when organisms are exposed to
      thermal stresses. The HSPs are considered to play significant roles in thermal
      adaptation because they function as molecular chaperones facilitating proper
      protein synthesis. The expression of HSPs under field conditions, however, has
      not been evaluated much, and their importance, based on the ecological contexts
      in nature, is still unclear. We investigated this aspect in the larvae and adults
      of the flesh fly, Sarcophaga similis. These larvae spend their larval life in the
      carrion or faeces of vertebrates; therefore, they are less mobile and are
      occasionally exposed to high temperature. In contrast, the adults of this species
      can fly and, therefore, they are highly mobile. Massive transcription of Hsps was
      detected both in the larvae and adults in a laboratory heat-shock experiment. The
      larvae in the field showed no or less Hsp production on thermally mild days,
      whereas considerable upregulation of Hsp expression was detected on days with
      high temperature. The adults can also be exposed to thermal stress as high as 40 
      degrees C or higher in the field. However, most of the flies showed no or less
      Hsp expression. The observations in the experimental cage under field conditions
      revealed behavioural thermoregulation of adults through microhabitat selection.
      The present study demonstrates ontogenetic alteration of the strategy to overcome
      thermal stress in an insect; in the field, less mobile larvae use physiological
      protection against heat (HSP production), whereas highly mobile adults avoid the
      stress behaviourally (through microhabitat selection).

PMID- 28597342
TI  - Enhancing Adherence to Care in the HIV Care Continuum: The Barrier Elimination
      and Care Navigation (BEACON) Project Evaluation.
AB  - Interventions are needed to address each phase of the HIV care continuum in order
      to improve health outcomes and reduce likelihood of HIV transmission. The purpose
      of this study was to assess the impact of a community- and clinic-based
      intervention designed and implemented to reengage individuals who were lost to
      HIV care. Eligible participants had either never engaged in HIV care or had not
      had a medical visit for at least 12 months. Participants enrolled in a community-
      and clinic-based intervention that included intensive case management, access to
      a community nurse and peer navigator, as well as emergency stabilization funds.
      Data were collected at baseline and 6-month time points by the case managers;
      which included sociodemographics, general health, abstracted HIV viral loads and
      CD4 cell counts from their medical records. Descriptive and GEE analyses were
      conducted to assess changes from baseline to 6 months. A total of 322
      participants enrolled over a 5-year period, of whom the majority were male (n =
      250) and African American with a mean age of 42.0 years. After 6 months of the
      intervention, there was a significant increase of individuals who had
      undetectable HIV viral loads and their median CD4 cell counts increased (p < 0.01
      for both). General health improved as well (p < 0.01). It is clear that this
      method of engagement, while staff intensive, is successful at engaging and
      retaining individuals in HIV care at least through 6 months.

PMID- 28597341
TI  - In Silico Prediction and Validation of Gfap as an miR-3099 Target in Mouse Brain.
AB  - MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that play crucial roles in the regulation of
      gene expression and protein synthesis during brain development. MiR-3099 is
      highly expressed throughout embryogenesis, especially in the developing central
      nervous system. Moreover, miR-3099 is also expressed at a higher level in
      differentiating neurons in vitro, suggesting that it is a potential regulator
      during neuronal cell development. This study aimed to predict the target genes of
      miR-3099 via in-silico analysis using four independent prediction algorithms
      (miRDB, miRanda, TargetScan, and DIANA-micro-T-CDS) with emphasis on target genes
      related to brain development and function. Based on the analysis, a total of
      3,174 miR-3099 target genes were predicted. Those predicted by at least three
      algorithms (324 genes) were subjected to DAVID bioinformatics analysis to
      understand their overall functional themes and representation. The analysis
      revealed that nearly 70% of the target genes were expressed in the nervous system
      and a significant proportion were associated with transcriptional regulation and
      protein ubiquitination mechanisms. Comparison of in situ hybridization (ISH)
      expression patterns of miR-3099 in both published and in-house-generated ISH
      sections with the ISH sections of target genes from the Allen Brain Atlas
      identified 7 target genes (Dnmt3a, Gabpa, Gfap, Itga4, Lxn, Smad7, and Tbx18)
      having expression patterns complementary to miR-3099 in the developing and adult
      mouse brain samples. Of these, we validated Gfap as a direct downstream target of
      miR-3099 using the luciferase reporter gene system. In conclusion, we report the
      successful prediction and validation of Gfap as an miR-3099 target gene using a
      combination of bioinformatics resources with enrichment of annotations based on
      functional ontologies and a spatio-temporal expression dataset.

PMID- 28597343
TI  - Safer Conception for Couples Affected by HIV: Structural and Cultural
      Considerations in the Delivery of Safer Conception Care in Uganda.
AB  - In countries with high HIV prevalence and high fertility desires, the rights of
      HIV-affected couples to have children are a pressing issue. Conception among
      people living with HIV carries risks for both horizontal and vertical HIV
      transmission. In Uganda ~100,000 HIV-infected women become pregnant annually.
      Providers face a number of challenges to preventing HIV transmission, reducing
      unplanned pregnancies, and ensuring safer conception. We report findings from
      interviews with 27 HIV-affected couples (54 individuals) in Uganda. We explored
      key cultural and structural factors shaping couples' childbearing decisions. Our
      data reveal a complex intersection of gender norms, familial expectations,
      relationship dynamics, and HIV stigma influencing their decisions. Participants
      provided insights regarding provider bias, stigma, and the gendering of
      reproductive healthcare. To reduce horizontal transmission HIV and family
      planning clinics must address men's and women's concerns regarding childbearing
      with specific attention to cultural and structural challenges.

PMID- 28597344
TI  - Implementation of Evidence-Based HIV Interventions for Gay, Bisexual, and Other
      Men Who Have Sex with Men.
AB  - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides trainings to support
      implementation of five evidence-based HIV prevention interventions (EBIs) for men
      who have sex with men (MSM): d-up: Defend Yourself!; Many Men, Many Voices;
      Mpowerment; Personalized Cognitive Counseling; and Popular Opinion Leader. We
      evaluated trainees' implementation of these EBIs and, using multivariable
      logistic regression, examined factors associated with implementation.
      Approximately 43% of trainees had implemented the EBIs for which they received
      training. Implementation was associated with working in community-based
      organizations (vs. health departments or other settings); acquiring training for
      Mpowerment or Popular Opinion Leader (vs. Personalized Cognitive Counseling);
      having >=3 funding sources (vs. one); and having (vs. not having) sufficient time
      and necessary EBI resources. Findings suggest that implementation may vary by
      trainee characteristics, especially those related to employment setting, EBI
      training, funding, and perceived implementation barriers. Efforts that address
      these factors may help to improve EBI implementation among trainees.

PMID- 28597345
TI  - Antimicrobial effect of OKCEL(r) H-D prepared from oxidized cellulose.
AB  - The antimicrobial effect of OKCEL(r) H-D, a topical, absorbable hemostatic
      textile prepared from oxidized cellulose, was tested. Testing by dilution and
      diffusion methods was conducted on a spectrum of 27 select microorganisms,
      including also antibiotic-resistant strains. OKCEL(r) H-D showed inhibitory
      effects on nearly all tested bacteria. In testing using the dilution suspension
      method, the majority of bacteria showed decrease in cell density by 7-8 orders of
      magnitude after just 6 h of exposure. For clinical isolates of antibiotic
      resistant strains, a reduction occurred after 24 h of exposure. In testing the
      antimicrobial effects of OKCEL(r) H-D by the dilution method was least effective
      on spore-forming Bacillus subtilis, for which no antimicrobial effect was
      detected after 48 h, and on Mycobacterium smegmatis, for which the number of
      cells decreased by four orders of magnitude only after 24 h. By the diffusion
      method, inhibition zones were recorded for nearly all test microorganisms except
      for Staphylococcus aureus, M. smegmatis, and Listeria monocytogenes. No growth
      beneath the tested OKCEL(r) H-D material was recorded, however, even for the
      latter-named bacteria strains, which attests to its good inhibitory effect.

PMID- 28597346
TI  - The rate of facial nerve dysfunction and time to recovery after intraparotid and
      extraparotid facial nerve exposure and protection in head and neck cutaneous
      tumor surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most patients with head and neck skin tumors present with normal
      facial nerve function. A common treatment strategy for these patients is facial
      nerve preservation surgery, although the degree to which the nerve is
      successfully preserved is still unclear. Data on the incidence and recovery of
      facial nerve dysfunction are woefully lacking in the field of dermato-oncology.
      METHODS: In 23 patients with normal preoperative facial nerve function, we
      retrospectively reviewed twenty-six head and neck surgical interventions that
      included facial nerve exposure and protection, focusing particularly on the
      differences in outcome between intraparotid and extraparotid exposure of the
      facial nerve branches. RESULTS: Eleven of the 26 cases (42.4%) developed
      transient paresis, but only one (3.8%) developed permanent paresis. Of 41
      dissected facial nerve branches, 14 developed transient paresis (34.1%) and one,
      a marginal mandibular branch, developed permanent paresis (2.4%). The branches
      most susceptible to developing paresis were the temporal (4/6 branches, 66.7%)
      and marginal mandibular branches (8/17 branches, 47.1%). Although the rate of
      paresis was higher, and ensuing recovery period slightly longer in the
      extraparotid dissection group compared to the intraparotid dissection group,
      there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. The
      extraparotid and intraparotid rates of paresis were 48% (11/23 branches) and
      21.1% (4/19 branches), respectively, P = 0.139; and the average recovery periods
      were 10.3 and 9.3 weeks, respectively, P = 0.64. CONCLUSIONS: The functional
      outcome, regardless of the different sites of facial nerve exposure, was almost
      always either complete facial nerve sparing or transient dysfunction that
      resolved within 6 months.

PMID- 28597347
TI  - Contribution of Molecular Allergen Analysis in Diagnosis of Milk Allergy.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We sought to describe the available evidence supporting the
      utilization of the molecular allergen analysis (MAA) for diagnosis and management
      of cow milk protein allergy (CMPA). RECENT FINDINGS: Cow milk proteins are among
      the most common food allergens in IgE- and non-IgE-mediated food allergic
      disorders in children. Most individuals with CMPA are sensitized to both caseins
      and whey proteins. Caseins are more resistant to high temperatures compared to
      whey proteins. MAA is not superior to the conventional diagnostic tests based on
      the whole allergen extracts for diagnosis of CMPA. However, MAA can be useful in
      diagnosing tolerance to extensively heated milk proteins in baked foods. Children
      with CMPA and high levels of casein IgE are less likely to tolerate baked milk
      compared to children with low levels of casein IgE. Specific IgE-binding patterns
      to casein and betalactoglobulin peptides may predict the natural course of CMPA
      and differentiate subjects who are more likely to develop CMPA at a younger age
      versus those with a more persistent CMPA. Specific IgE-binding patterns to casein
      and beta-lactoglobulin peptides may also predict response to milk OITand identify
      patientsmost likely to benefit fromOIT.

PMID- 28597348
TI  - Pelvic inlet shape measured by three-dimensional pelvimetry is a predictor of the
      operative time in the anterior resection of rectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated pelvic shape as a predictor of the surgical outcome of
      anterior resection in patients with rectal cancer. METHODS: In total, 228
      patients who had undergone anterior resection (R0 resection and double-stapling
      anastomosis) for rectal cancer from 2005 to 2014 were included in this study. The
      anteroposterior (AP) and transverse (T) diameters of the pelvic inlet and outlet
      and pelvic depth were analyzed on three-dimensional volume-rendered images, and
      the AP/T ratio was calculated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were
      performed to determine the predictive significance of the operative time and
      intraoperative blood loss as surgical outcomes. RESULTS: No difference was
      observed between the inlet AP/T and patient sex ratios, but the other pelvic
      dimensions were significantly shorter in males than in females. The univariate
      analysis revealed that the operative time was significantly correlated with the
      inlet T diameter and that it tended to be correlated with the outlet T diameter
      and the inlet AP/T ratio. A multivariate analysis adjusted for operation-related
      factors revealed that the inlet AP/T ratio was the only independent risk factor
      for an extended operative time (p = 0.036). None of the pelvic dimensions were
      independent risk factors for increased blood loss. CONCLUSION: The shape of the
      pelvic inlet may be useful for predicting the operative time.

PMID- 28597349
TI  - Perioperative allogenic blood transfusion is a poor prognostic factor after
      hepatocellular carcinoma surgery: a multi-center analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The influence of allogenic blood transfusion on the postoperative
      outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surgery remains controversial. This
      study aims to clarify the clinical impacts of perioperative allogenic blood
      transfusion on liver resection outcome in HCC patients. METHODS: We analyzed data
      collected over 5 years for 642 patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC at one
      of the five university hospitals. We investigated the impact of allogenic blood
      transfusion on postoperative outcome after surgery in all patients and in 74
      matched pairs, using a propensity score. RESULTS: Of the 642 patients, 198
      (30.8%) received perioperative allogenic blood transfusion (AT group) and 444
      (69.2%) did not (non-AT group). Overall survival was lower in the AT group than
      in the non-AT group in univariate (P < 0.001) and multivariate analyses (risk
      ratio 1.521, P = 0.011). After matching the different distributions using
      propensity scores, perioperative blood transfusion was found to be a poor
      prognostic factor for HCC patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this multi-center study,
      perioperative blood transfusion was an independent factor for poor prognosis
      after curative surgery for primary HCC in the patient group and in pairs matched
      by propensity scores.

PMID- 28597351
TI  - Psychological outcomes of injection port therapy in children and adolescents with
      type 1 diabetes and their primary caregivers.

PMID- 28597350
TI  - Short- and long-term outcomes of the Frey procedure for chronic pancreatitis: a
      single-center experience and summary of outcomes in Japan.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of the Frey procedure for
      chronic pancreatitis (CP). METHODS: The subjects of this study were 12 patients
      who underwent the Frey procedure for CP between January, 2000 and December, 2016.
      We assessed pain relief, weight gain, and exocrine/endocrine insufficiency during
      follow-up. RESULTS: The study population comprised 11 men and 1 woman (91.7% vs.
      8.3%; mean age, 50.3 +/- 6.8 years; range 39-61 years). Pancreatitis was caused
      by alcohol in 9 (75%) patients and was idiopathic in 3 (25%) patients. The mean
      follow-up period was 82.5 +/- 46.5 months (range 16.9-152.1 months). There was no
      operative mortality, but three patients (25%) suffered postoperative morbidity.
      All patients were pain-free at the time of discharge. There was no case of new
      onset diabetes mellitus after surgery, although one patient (8.3%) suffered
      exocrine insufficiency. The body weight and body mass index of all patients
      improved during follow-up. Only one patient continued to suffer pain in the long
      term. CONCLUSION: The findings of this long-term follow-up of patients who
      underwent the Frey procedure suggest that it offers effective pain relief and is
      a safe technique for the management of CP.

PMID- 28597353
TI  - Bringing the Family in through the Back Door: the Stealthy Expansion of Family
      Care in Asian and European Long-Term Care Policy.
AB  - In the era of global ageing, amid political concerns about increasing care needs
      and long-term sustainability of current care regimes, most high-income economies
      are seeking to minimise the use of institutional care and to expand formal home
      care for their older populations. In long-term care reforms, concerns about
      public funding, formal providers and the paid care workforce are foremost.
      However, an integral yet hidden part of all these reforms is the stealthily
      growing role of family carers. This article aims to identify and spell out how
      developments in formal home care bring about different modes of increasing,
      encouraging and necessitating family care inputs, across welfare states. Using
      secondary sources, three different modes were identified, and the article
      outlines the logic of each mechanism, drawing on illustrative examples of policy
      dynamics in both European and Asian countries. Family care inputs have increased
      through policy changes that are not explicitly or primarily about family care,
      but rather about expansion or changes in formal care. In some cases, this is
      explicit, in other cases something that happens 'through the back door'.
      Nonetheless, in all cases there are implications for the family caregivers' time,
      health and employment options. Future studies are needed to examine longitudinal
      trends from a comparative perspective to confirm our findings and elucidate how
      government commitments to formal home care provision and financing interact with
      the changing nature and volume of family caregiving.

PMID- 28597352
TI  - Role of Inflammatory Diseases in Hypertension.
AB  - Chronic inflammatory diseases (CID) are characterized by an increased risk of
      cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. Several mechanisms, including early
      acceleration of subclinical atherosclerotic damage, inflammatory markers and
      immune system deregulation factors, have been demonstrated to strictly interplay
      for development and progression of atherosclerosis. Moreover, traditional CV risk
      factors are likely to explain at least some of the excess of CV risk in these
      patients. Among traditional CV risk factors, compelling evidence suggests a
      higher incidence and prevalence of hypertension in patients with CID in
      comparison to the general population. Moreover, hypertension represents an
      important predictor of CV events in these patients. Pathogenic mechanisms
      underlying the rise of blood pressure in CID are multifactorial and still poorly
      investigated. Indeed, multiple disease-related factors may affect blood pressure
      control in these patients and hypertension may affect disease prognosis and
      increase CV risk. Better knowledge of the complex interplay between hypertension
      and CID will be important to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms and to improve CV
      outcome in these patients. Aim of this review is to highlight available evidence
      on the relationship between hypertension and CID and to elucidate the multiple
      factors that may affect blood pressure control in these disorders.

PMID- 28597355
TI  - Minimal Device Encrustation on Vesair Intravesical Balloons in the Treatment of
      Stress Urinary Incontinence: Analysis of Balloons Removed from Women in the
      SOLECT Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Encrustation of urinary biomaterials is common; however, the
      incidence of surface deposition on the Vesair(r) intravesical pressure
      attenuation balloon has not been previously reported. The purpose of this
      analysis is to determine the incidence and potential risk factors for
      encrustation of the Vesair intravesical balloon. METHODS: The SOLECT trial is a
      prospective randomized controlled trial conducted at several European centers to
      evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Vesair balloon for the treatment of
      female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Women included in the study
      demonstrated SUI symptoms for more than 12 months without complicating factors,
      such as history of recurrent urinary tract infections or nephrolithiasis. All
      balloons removed from women enrolled in the SOLECT trial were analyzed for
      surface characteristics and encrustation. Surface deposition severity was
      quantified and composition analyzed with infrared spectroscopy and scanning
      electron microscopy. Incidence of surface deposition was tabulated and risk
      factors analyzed. RESULTS: One hundred and five balloons removed from 75 women
      were included in this analysis. Measurable stone deposition of less than 1.5 mm
      was found on four balloons (3.8%), surface granules were noted on 42 (40.0%),
      surface film on 11 (10.5%), and both granules and film on two (1.9%). Analysis
      identified calcium oxalate both in measurable encrustation deposits as well as
      those with surface granulation. Pooled analysis found that dwell time was a risk
      factor for calcium deposition. CONCLUSION: The rate of encrustation on the Vesair
      intravesical balloon is low and does not appear to increase the rate of adverse
      outcomes or reduce clinical efficacy. FUNDING: Solace Therapeutics, Inc.

PMID- 28597354
TI  - Pharmacologic Considerations for Pediatric Sedation and Anesthesia Outside the
      Operating Room: A Review for Anesthesia and Non-Anesthesia Providers.
AB  - Understanding the pharmacologic options for pediatric sedation outside the
      operating room will allow practitioners to formulate an ideal anesthetic plan,
      allaying anxiety and achieving optimal immobilization while ensuring rapid and
      efficient recovery. The authors identified relevant medical literature by
      searching PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar
      databases for English language publications covering a period from 1984 to 2017.
      Search terms included pediatric anesthesia, pediatric sedation, non-operating
      room sedation, sedation safety, and pharmacology. As a narrative review of common
      sedation/anesthesia options, the authors elected to focus on studies, reviews,
      and case reports that show clinical relevance to modern day sedation/anesthesia
      practice. A variety of pharmacologic agents are available for sedation/anesthesia
      in pediatrics, including midazolam, fentanyl, ketamine, dexmedetomidine,
      etomidate, and propofol. Dosing ranges reported are a combination of what is
      discussed in the reviewed literature and text books along with personal
      recommendations based on our own practice. Several reports reveal that ketofol (a
      combination of ketamine and propofol) is quite popular for short, painful
      procedures. Fospropofol is a newer-generation propofol that may confer advantages
      over regular propofol. Remimazolam combines the pharmacologic effects of
      remifentanil and midazolam. A variety of etomidate derivatives such as
      methoxycarbonyl-etomidate, carboetomidate, methoxycarbonyl-carboetomidate, and
      cyclopropyl-methoxycarbonyl metomidate are in development stages. The use of
      nitrous oxide as a mild sedative, analgesic, and amnestic agent is gaining
      popularity, especially in the ambulatory setting. Utilizing a dedicated and
      experienced team to provide sedation enhances safety. Furthermore, limiting
      sedation plans to single-agent pharmacy appears to be safer than using multi
      agent plans.

PMID- 28597357
TI  - Health care needs and service use among male prison inmates in the United States:
      A multi-level behavioral model of prison health service utilization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to apply Andersen's Behavioral Model of
      Health Service Use to men's prisons to assess the direct and indirect effects of
      inmate predisposing characteristics through multiple types of need. Also examined
      are the effects of prison-specific enabling factors and the variation in use of
      health services across prisons. This study uses a nationally representative U.S.
      sample of men incarcerated in state prisons (n = 8816) and generalized structural
      equation and multilevel modeling. Five types of need-medical condition, illness,
      dental problem, unintentional injury, and intentional injury-are assessed for
      their association with use of health services. RESULTS: Findings indicate that a
      number of inmate predisposing (age, race, education) and vulnerability
      (mood/anxiety disorder,) characteristics are associated with use of health
      services but are partially mediated by enabling and need factors. Each type of
      medical need has strong direct effects with mood/anxiety disorder emerging as the
      strongest total effect (including both direct effects and indirect effects
      through need). There is significant variation in rates of health service
      utilization across prisons that is not accounted for by the prison-level factors
      included in the multilevel model. CONCLUSIONS: The varying patterns of health
      service use across prisons suggest that incarceration may be an important
      circumstance that shapes health. In other words, where someone is incarcerated
      may influence their ability to access and use services in response to medical
      need. It is important that prisons provide integrated services for inmates with
      mood/anxiety disorder given high comorbidity with other health conditions.

PMID- 28597356
TI  - Structural insight into the role of Gln293Met mutation on the Peloruside
      A/Laulimalide association with alphabeta-tubulin from molecular dynamics
      simulations, binding free energy calculations and weak interactions analysis.
AB  - Peloruside A (PLA) and Laulimalide (LAU) are novel microtubule-stabilizing agents
      with promising properties against different cancer types. These ligands share a
      non-taxoid binding site at the outer surface of beta-tubulin and promote
      microtubule stabilization by bridging two adjacent alphabeta-tubulin dimers from
      parallel protofilaments. Recent site-directed mutagenesis experiments confirmed
      the existence of a unique beta-tubulin site mutation (Gln293Met) that
      specifically increased the activity of PLA and caused resistance to LAU, without
      affecting the stability of microtubules in the absence of the ligands. In this
      work, fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to examine
      the PLA and LAU association with native and mutated alphabeta-tubulin in the
      search for structural and energetic evidence to explain the role of Gln293Met
      mutation on determining the activity of these ligands. Our results revealed that
      Gln293Met mutation induced the loss of relevant LAU-tubulin contacts but exerted
      negligible changes in the interaction networks responsible for PLA-tubulin
      association. Binding free energy calculations (MM/GBSA and MM/PBSA), and weak
      interaction analysis (aNCI) predicted an increased affinity for PLA, and a
      weakened association for LAU after mutation, thus suggesting that Gln293Met
      mutation exerts its action by a modulation of drug-tubulin interactions. These
      results are valuable to increase understanding about PLA and LAU activity and to
      assist the future design of novel agents targeting the PLA/LAU binding pocket.

PMID- 28597359
TI  - Trends in prescribing rate of statins at discharge and modifiable factors in
      patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
AB  - Tremendous effort has been invested in reducing the prevalence of atherosclerotic
      cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in China. Meanwhile, accumulating evidence has
      emerged to show the benefits of statins in the prevention of cardiovascular
      disease. The present study investigated the change trends of statins prescription
      at discharge among patients with ASCVD in recent years, differences across
      subtypes of ASCVD, and associated factors. The study included 51,972 patients
      with a discharge diagnosis of ASCVD who were hospitalized in West China Hospital
      from 2008 to 2014. Trends of statins prescription rates between subtypes of ASCVD
      were compared and potential influential factors were explored. The overall
      statins prescription rate in patients with ASCVD was 58.8%. Adjusted odds ratios
      (ORs) of increase in prescription rate per year were 1.15 (95% CI 1.13-1.17, p <
      0.001), 1.14 (95% CI 1.10-1.17, p < 0.001), 1.19 (95% CI 1.16-1.23; p < 0.001),
      1.14 (95% CI 1.09-1.19; p < 0.001), and 1.13 (95% CI 1.09-1.17; p < 0.001) for
      ASCVD, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial
      disease (PAD), and polyvascular disease, respectively; no significant differences
      in trends were detected among ASCVD subtypes. However, statins prescription rates
      were persistently lower in cerebrovascular disease and PAD than the other two
      subtypes. Discharge departments, together with other physician-related and
      patient-related characteristics were associated with statins utilization. In
      conclusion, between 2008 and 2014, statins prescription rate in patients with
      ASCVD was not optimal. The increasing trends in statins prescription among
      patients with ASCVD subtypes were similar but the differences did not decrease.
      Consciousness of integrated and successive medical care should be strengthened in
      China.

PMID- 28597360
TI  - Diabetes, eating disorders and body image in young adults: an exploratory study
      about "diabulimia".
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare disordered eating (DE) and body
      image dissatisfaction (BID) among young adults with type 1 diabetes and their
      peers without diabetes, to investigate the consequences of diabetes for food,
      body image and weight in individuals with diabetes and to identify the behavior
      of insulin omission as a weight loss strategy. METHODS: Fifty-five young adults
      with diabetes and 73 without diabetes (ages 18-30) completed self-report
      questionnaires to evaluate their behaviors, attitudes and feelings related to
      eating disorders and their perceptions about body image. The participants with
      diabetes were asked to answer a questionnaire with open and closed questions
      developed specifically for this study. RESULTS: No significant differences
      between participants with and without diabetes in relation to BID and DE were
      found. The results demonstrated several changes resulting from diabetes in terms
      of food, body image and weight that interfere with the day-to-day life of
      individuals with diabetes; 7.3% of these participants reported insulin omission
      as a weight loss strategy. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the importance of
      research on DE in the population with diabetes and their prevention, screening
      and treatment. In particular, it is essential to give more attention to insulin
      omission as a compensatory behavior that is inappropriate and harmful to health.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, case-control analytic study.

PMID- 28597361
TI  - Modified Distribution-Free Goodness-of-Fit Test Statistic.
AB  - Covariance structure analysis and its structural equation modeling extensions
      have become one of the most widely used methodologies in social sciences such as
      psychology, education, and economics. An important issue in such analysis is to
      assess the goodness of fit of a model under analysis. One of the most popular
      test statistics used in covariance structure analysis is the asymptotically
      distribution-free (ADF) test statistic introduced by Browne (Br J Math Stat
      Psychol 37:62-83, 1984). The ADF statistic can be used to test models without any
      specific distribution assumption (e.g., multivariate normal distribution) of the
      observed data. Despite its advantage, it has been shown in various empirical
      studies that unless sample sizes are extremely large, this ADF statistic could
      perform very poorly in practice. In this paper, we provide a theoretical
      explanation for this phenomenon and further propose a modified test statistic
      that improves the performance in samples of realistic size. The proposed
      statistic deals with the possible ill-conditioning of the involved large-scale
      covariance matrices.

PMID- 28597358
TI  - Working Towards an Appropriate Use of Ibuprofen in Children: An Evidence-Based
      Appraisal.
AB  - Ibuprofen is the most widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)
      for the treatment of inflammation, mild-to-moderate pain and fever in children,
      and is the only NSAID approved for use in children aged >=3 months. Its efficacy
      and safety profile have led to its increasing use in paediatric care, even
      without medical prescription. However, an increase of suspected adverse reactions
      to ibuprofen has been noted in concomitance with the raised, often medically
      unsupervised, consumption of the drug. The purpose of this work was a critical
      review of the paediatric literature over the last 15 years on side effects and
      adverse events associated with ibuprofen, in order to highlight circumstances
      associated with higher risks and to promote safe and appropriate use of this
      drug. The literature from 2000 to date demonstrates that gastrointestinal events
      are rare, but (when they occur) include both upper and lower digestive tract
      lesions. Dehydration plays an important role in triggering renal damage, so
      ibuprofen should not be given to patients with diarrhoea and vomiting, with or
      without fever. Likewise, ibuprofen should never be administered to patients who
      are sensitive to it or to other NSAIDs. It is contraindicated in neonates and in
      children with wheezing and persistent asthma and/or during varicella. Most of the
      analysed studies reported adverse events when ibuprofen was being used for fever
      symptoms or flu-like syndrome. Ibuprofen should not be used as an antipyretic,
      except in rare cases. Ibuprofen remains the drug of first choice in the treatment
      of inflammatory pain in children.

PMID- 28597362
TI  - A System-Wide Approach to Physician Efficiency and Utilization Rates for Non
      Operating Room Anesthesia Sites.
AB  - There has been little in the development or application of operating room (OR)
      management metrics to non-operating room anesthesia (NORA) sites. This is in
      contrast to the well-developed management framework for the OR management. We
      hypothesized that by adopting the concept of physician efficiency, we could
      determine the applicability of this clinical productivity benchmark for
      physicians providing services for NORA cases at a tertiary care center. We
      conducted a retrospective data analysis of NORA sites at an academic, rural
      hospital, including both adult and pediatric patients. Using the time stamps from
      WiseOR(r) (Palo Alto, CA), we calculated site utilization and physician
      efficiency for each day. We defined scheduling efficiency (SE) as the number of
      staffed anesthesiologists divided by the number of staffed sites and stratified
      the data into three categories (SE < 1, SE = 1, and SE >1). The mean physician
      efficiency was 0.293 (95% CI, [0.281, 0.305]), and the mean site utilization was
      0.328 (95% CI, [0.314, 0.343]). When days were stratified by scheduling
      efficiency (SE < 1, =1, or >1), we found differences between physician efficiency
      and site utilization. On days where scheduling efficiency was less than 1, that
      is, there are more sites than physicians, mean physician efficiency (95% CI,
      [0.326, 0.402]) was higher than mean site utilization (95% CI, [0.250, 0.296]).
      We demonstrate that scheduling efficiency vis-a-vis physician efficiency as an OR
      management metric diverge when anesthesiologists travel between NORA sites. When
      the opportunity to scale operational efficiencies is limited, increasing
      scheduling efficiency by incorporating different NORA sites into a "block"
      allocation on any given day may be the only suitable tactical alternative.

PMID- 28597363
TI  - A Portable Optical Recording Device Simulating CO2 Angiography for Training
      Purposes.

PMID- 28597364
TI  - Potential Application of Nanoemulsions for Skin Delivery of Pomegranate Peel
      Polyphenols.
AB  - Pomegranate peel and seeds have demonstrated to possess antioxidant compounds
      with potential application to protect the skin against the ultraviolet radiation
      damage. However, the photoprotection activity is dependent on the amount of these
      compounds that reach the viable skin layers. In this paper, we describe the in
      vitro skin permeation and retention of the major pomegranate peel polyphenols
      using Franz diffusion cells, after entrapping a ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) from
      Punica granatum peel extract into nanoemulsions (NEs) prepared with pomegranate
      seed oil (PSO) or medium chain triglyceride oil (MCT). The in vitro skin
      permeation of gallic acid (GA), ellagic acid (EA), and punicalagin (PC) was
      evaluated using a HPLC-DAD validated method. After 8 h of skin permeation, all
      polyphenol compounds were mostly retained in the skin and did not reach the
      receptor compartment. However, a 2.2-fold enhancement of the retained amount of
      gallic acid in the stratum corneum was verified after EAF-loaded NEs are applied,
      when compared with the free EAF. GA and EA were delivered to the viable epidermis
      and dermis only when nanoemulsions were applied onto the skin. The mean retained
      amounts of GA and EA in the EP and DE after applying the EAF-loaded PSO-NE were
      1.78 and 1.36 MUg cm-2 and 1.10 and 0.97 MUg cm-2, respectively. Similar values
      were obtained after applying the EAF-loaded MCT-NE. The skin permeation results
      were supported by the confocal microscopy images. These results evidenced the
      promising application of nanoemulsions to deliver the pomegranate polyphenols
      into the deeper skin layers.

PMID- 28597367
TI  - Erratum to: Moclobemide: An update of its pharmacological properties and
      therapeutic use.

PMID- 28597365
TI  - A novel pathogenic frameshift variant of CD3E gene in two T-B+ NK+ SCID patients
      from Turkey.
AB  - Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is the most severe form of primary
      immunodeficiency, which is characterized by the dysfunction and/or absence of T
      lymphocytes. Early diagnosis of SCID is crucial for overall survival, and if it
      remains untreated, SCID is often fatal. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has
      become a rapid, high-throughput technology, and has already been proven to be
      beneficial in medical diagnostics. In this study, a targeted NGS panel was
      developed to identify the genetic variations of SCID by using SmartChip-TE
      technology, and a novel pathogenic frameshift variant was found in the CD3E gene.
      Sanger sequencing has confirmed the segregation of the variant among patients. We
      found a novel deletion in the CD3E gene (NM000733.3:p.L58Hfs*9) in two T-B+ NK+
      patients. The variant was not found in the databases of dbSNP, ExAC, and 1000G.
      One sibling in family I was homozygous and the rest of the family members were
      heterozygous for this variant. T cell receptor excision circle (TREC) and kappa
      deleting recombination excision circle (KREC) analyses were performed for T and B
      cell maturation. TRECs were not detected in both patients and the KREC copy
      numbers were similar to the other family members. In addition, heterozygous
      family members showed decreased TREC levels when compared with the wild-type
      sibling, indicating that carrying this variant in one allele does not cause
      immunodeficiency, but does effect T cell proliferation. Here, we report a novel
      pathogenic frameshift variant in CD3E gene by using targeted NGS panel.

PMID- 28597366
TI  - Finite element model predicts the biomechanical performance of cervical disc
      replacement and fusion hybrid surgery with various geometry of ball-and-socket
      artificial disc.
AB  - PURPOSE: Few finite element studies have investigated changes in cervical
      biomechanics with various prosthesis design parameters using hybrid surgery (HS),
      and none have investigated those combined different HS strategies. The aim of our
      study was to investigate the effect of ball-and-socket prosthesis geometry on the
      biomechanical performance of the cervical spine combined with two HS constructs.
      METHODS: Two HS strategies were conducted: (1) ACDF at C4-C5 and anterior
      cervical disc replacement (ACDR) at C5-C6 (ACDF/ACDR), and (2) ACDR/ACDF. Three
      different prostheses were used for each HS strategy: prosthesis with the core
      located at the center of the inferior endplate with a radius of 5 mm (BS-5) or 6
      mm (BS-6), or with a 5 mm radius core located 1 mm posterior to the center of the
      inferior endplate (PBS-5). Flexion and extension motions were simulated under
      displacement control. RESULTS: The flexion motions in supra- and infra-adjacent
      levels increased in all cases. The corresponding extension motions increased with
      all prostheses in ACDR/ACDF group. The stiffness in flexion and extension
      increased with all HS models, except for the extension stiffness with ACDF/ACDR.
      The facet stresses between the index and infra-adjacent level in ACDR/ACDF were
      significantly greater than those in the intact model . The stresses on the BS-5
      UHMWPE core were greater than the yield stress. CONCLUSION: The core radii and
      position did not significantly affect the moments, ROM, and facet stress in
      extension. However, the moments and ROM in flexion were easily affected by the
      position. The results implied that the large core radii and posterior core
      position in ACDR designs may reduce the risk of subsidence and wear in the long
      term as they showed relative low stress . The ACDF/ACDR surgery at C4-C6 level
      may be an optimal treatment for avoiding accelerating the degeneration of
      adjacent segments.

PMID- 28597368
TI  - Health-Related Resource-Use Measurement Instruments for Intersectoral Costs and
      Benefits in the Education and Criminal Justice Sectors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intersectoral costs and benefits (ICBs), i.e. costs and benefits of
      healthcare interventions outside the healthcare sector, can be a crucial
      component in economic evaluations from the societal perspective. Pivotal to their
      estimation is the existence of sound resource-use measurement (RUM) instruments;
      however, RUM instruments for ICBs in the education or criminal justice sectors
      have not yet been systematically collated or their psychometric quality assessed.
      This review aims to fill this gap. METHODS: To identify relevant instruments, the
      Database of Instruments for Resource Use Measurement (DIRUM) was searched.
      Additionally, a systematic literature review was conducted in seven electronic
      databases to detect instruments containing ICB items used in economic
      evaluations. Finally, studies evaluating the psychometric quality of these
      instruments were searched. RESULTS: Twenty-six unique instruments were included.
      Most frequently, ICB items measured school absenteeism, tutoring, classroom
      assistance or contacts with legal representatives, police custody/prison
      detainment and court appearances, with the highest number of items listed in the
      Client Service Receipt Inventory/Client Sociodemographic and Service Receipt
      Inventory/Client Service Receipt Inventory-Children's Version (CSRI/CSSRI/CSRI
      C), Studying the Scope of Parental Expenditures (SCOPE) and Self-Harm
      Intervention, Family Therapy (SHIFT) instruments. ICBs in the education sector
      were especially relevant for age-related developmental disorders and chronic
      diseases, while criminal justice resource use seems more important in mental
      health, including alcohol-related disorders or substance abuse. Evidence on the
      validity or reliability of ICB items was published for two instruments only.
      CONCLUSION: With a heterogeneous variety of ICBs found to be relevant for several
      disease areas but many ICB instruments applied in one study only (21/26
      instruments), setting-up an international task force to, for example, develop an
      internationally adaptable instrument is recommended.

PMID- 28597369
TI  - First report of real-time monitoring of coagulation function potential and IgG
      subtype of anti-FVIII autoantibodies in a child with acquired hemophilia A
      associated with streptococcal infection and amoxicillin.
AB  - We describe an 8-year-old boy with acquired hemophilia A (AHA) associated with
      streptococcal infection and amoxicillin. Laboratory data revealed low factor VIII
      activity (FVIII:C, 1.5 IU/dl), and FVIII inhibitor (15.9 BU/ml). Comprehensive
      coagulation function assays, including rotation thromboelastometry (ROTEM(r)),
      revealed a markedly prolonged clotting time. Thrombin and plasmin generation
      (TG/PG) appeared to be moderately impaired. The inhibitor epitope of his anti
      FVIII autoantibody recognized light and heavy chains. He was treated with
      Novoseven(r) and prednisolone, resulting in rapid improvement. ROTEM showed the
      return of coagulation time to normal level on day 20, and TG gradually improved.
      PG was moderately reduced in the clinical early phase, but improved at day 20.
      The patient's IgG subtype was IgG4 at onset. IgG1 was transiently positive on day
      20, but negative on day 46. FVIII inhibitor gradually decreased and was
      completely absent after day 46, along with the elevated FVIII:C. IgG4 was again
      elevated on day 83, followed by a rapid decrease, indicative of the presence of
      non-neutralizing antibody, which remains currently undetected. We for the first
      time report changes in comprehensive coagulation function and IgG subtype of anti
      FVIII antibody in a rare pediatric case of AHA.

PMID- 28597370
TI  - Micropropagation of Ajuga species: a mini review.
AB  - The genus Ajuga L., belonging to Lamiaceae family, is widespread. The demand for
      Ajuga species has risen sharply because of their medicinal, ornamental, and
      pharmacological properties. These wide-ranging plants are being rapidly depleted
      due to over-collection for ornamental and medicinal purposes, as well as by
      habitat destruction and deforestation. Ajuga boninsimae, A. bracteosa, A.
      ciliate, A. genevensis, A. incisa, A. makinoi, A. multiflora, A. pyramidalis, A.
      shikotanensis, A. reptans, and A. vestita are categorized and protected as
      endangered plants. In vitro plant culture has therefore emerged for the
      conservation and mass clonal propagation of rare plants. This mini-review covers
      the current in vitro scenario in the propagation of Ajuga species. Adventitious
      or axillary shoots are initiated on the leaf, petiole and internodes, as well as
      roots, nodes, and shoot tip explants. Shoot induction is predominantly dependent
      on plant growth regulators added to the culture medium. Full- or half-strength
      Murashige and Skoog medium with or without auxin is used for in vitro rooting.
      Rooted shoots need to be acclimatized in the greenhouse with an estimated 82-100%
      survival rate.

PMID- 28597371
TI  - Uptake and biotransformation of pure commercial microcystin-LR versus microcystin
      LR from a natural cyanobacterial bloom extract in the aquatic fungus Mucor
      hiemalis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the remediation efficiency of Mucor hiemalis by comparing
      media elimination, uptake, and biotransformation of microcystin-LR with exposure
      to pure toxin versus a crude bloom extract. RESULTS: With exposure to the
      extract, the elimination rate of microcystin-LR from the media, which was 0.28 ng
      MC-LR l-1 h-1, was significantly higher compared to that achieved with exposure
      to the pure toxin (0.16 ng MC-LR l-1 h-1) after 24 h. However, intracellular
      breakdown of microcystin-LR was significantly lower in the extract exposed
      pellets compared to the pure toxin treated fungal pellets over time. This
      coincided with reduced intracellular glutathione S-transferase activity with
      crude extract exposure which could be responsible for the detection of only the
      glutathione conjugate of microcystin-LR. CONCLUSION: This paper signifies the
      importance of using laboratory exposure scenarios which resemble conditions in
      nature to fully understand and evaluate remediation efficiency. There is merit in
      using M. hiemalis for mycoremediation of cyanotoxins in surface waters.

PMID- 28597372
TI  - miR-599 inhibits proliferation and invasion of glioma by targeting periostin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the molecular mechanism of microRNA-599(miR-599) in the
      migration and invasion of glioma. RESULT: Clinicopathological characteristics of
      33 patients were analyzed. Based on reverse transcription-PCR, miR-599 was down
      regulated in glioma tissues compared with adjacent normal brain tissues (P <
      0.001). Moreover, negative correlations between miR-599 and periostin protein
      expression in glioma tissues (P < 0.01) and necrosis by magnetic resonance
      imaging (P < 0.05) were observed. Transwell and wound healing assays showed that
      overexpression of miR-599 inhibited glioma cell migration and invasion. miR-599
      down-regulated periostin expression by targeting the 3'-untranslated region.
      Additionally, re-expression of periostin partial reversed the suppressive effect
      of miR-599 on migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: microRNA
      599 inhibits proliferation and invasion by down-regulating periostin expression
      in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 28597373
TI  - Giving Patients a Meaningful Voice in European Health Technology Assessments: The
      Role of Health Preference Research.

PMID- 28597374
TI  - Giving Patients a Meaningful Voice in United States Regulatory Decision Making:
      The Role for Health Preference Research.

PMID- 28597375
TI  - Preferences for Health Interventions: Improving Uptake, Adherence, and
      Efficiency.

PMID- 28597376
TI  - Health Valuation: Demonstrating the Value of Health and Lifespan.

PMID- 28597377
TI  - Health Preference Research: An Overview.

PMID- 28597378
TI  - Assessment of Individual Patient Preferences to Inform Clinical Practice.

PMID- 28597379
TI  - Valuing health risk in agriculture: a choice experiment approach to pesticide use
      in China.
AB  - This paper presents a choice experiment approach to investigate farmers'
      valuations for health risk changes associated with pesticide use in Anqiu County,
      China. An empirical comparison on the disparity between farmers' willingness to
      pay (WTP) for a health risk reduction and willingness to accept (WTA) for the
      same risk increase is also conducted. Respondents were randomly assigned into the
      WTP group or the WTA group. Four attributes (health consequence, baseline risk,
      risk change size, and price) were identified and included. The results show that
      cancer consequence due to pesticide use decreases the utility of the farmer. A
      higher baseline risk has a higher WTP to reduce the risk and a higher probability
      of receiving compensation. If the health risk change size is bigger, it will
      result in a higher WTP and higher compensation. Household income, education, and
      age have significant and positive impacts on farmers' WTP. Farmers who are more
      educated or female are more likely to accept the compensation scheme if health
      risks increase. The marginal WTA for the same risk change is about two times
      higher than the marginal WTP. The findings of this study can contribute to the
      literature comparing people's WTP and WTA in a discrete choice experiment on
      valuing health risk changes associated with pesticide use.

PMID- 28597381
TI  - The removal efficiency of constructed wetlands filled with the zeolite-slag
      hybrid substrate for the rural landfill leachate treatment.
AB  - The removal efficiencies of two horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands
      (HSSF CWs, down-flow (F1) and up-flow (F2)) filled with the zeolite-slag hybrid
      substrate for the rural landfill leachate treatment were investigated. The
      adsorption experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of zeolite and slag
      as the wetland substrate. The effects of distance variations along the
      longitudinal profile of wetland bed on pollutant removal were assessed by
      sampling at four locations (inlet, outlet, 0.55 m, and 1.10 m from the inlet).
      During the operation time, the influent and effluent concentrations of chemical
      oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), total nitrogen (TN), heavy metals,
      and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) were measured. The results showed that
      the constructed wetlands were capable of removing COD, 20.5-48.2% (F1) and 18.6
      61.2% (F2); NH3-N, 84.0-99.9% (F1) and 93.5-99.2% (F2); TN, 80.3-92.1% (F1) and
      80.3-91.2% (F2); and heavy metals, about 90% (F1 and F2). The zeolite-slag hybrid
      substrate performed excellent removal efficiency for the nitrogen and heavy
      metals. The inlet area was the most active region of leachate removal. The up
      flow constructed wetland (F2) has a higher removal efficiency for the PAH
      compounds. The significant removal efficiency illustrated that the rural landfill
      leachate can be treated using the horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland
      filled with the zeolite-slag hybrid substrate.

PMID- 28597380
TI  - Maternal-embryonic metabolic and antioxidant response of Chapalichthys pardalis
      (Teleostei: Goodeidae) induced by exposure to 3,4-dichloroaniline.
AB  - Chapalichthys pardalis is a viviparous fish, microendemic to the Tocumbo Region
      in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Despite the peculiar type of reproduction of
      goodeid fish and their mother-embryo interaction, the effects on embryos induced
      by maternal exposure to aquatic xenobiotics are still unknown. The objective of
      the present work was to determine the maternal-embryonic metabolic and
      antioxidant response of C. pardalis exposed to 3,4-dichloroaniline (3,4-DCA), a
      compound considered highly noxious to the environment because of its high
      toxicity and persistence, which has been used as reference toxicant in
      toxicological bioassays. We determined the median lethal concentration (LC50, 96
      h) and then exposed pregnant females to 3.3, 2.5, and 0.5 mg L-1 of 3,4-DCA
      (equivalent to LC1, LC0.01, and LC50/10, respectively) during 21 days. We
      assessed the activity of antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), macromolecules content (proteins,
      lipids, carbohydrates), glucose, and lactate concentration, as well as the
      oxidative damage, by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and
      protein oxidation. To interpret results, we used the integrated biomarker
      response (IBRv2). The average LC50 was of 5.18 mg L-1 (4.8-5.5 mg L-1; p = 0.05).
      All females exposed to concentrations of 3.3 and 2.5 mg L-1 lost 100% of the
      embryos during the bioassay, whereas those exposed to 0.5 mg L-1 showed
      alterations in the antioxidant activity and oxidative damage, being the embryos
      and the maternal liver the most affected, with IBRv2 values of 10.09 and 9.21,
      respectively. Damage to macromolecules was greater in embryos and the maternal
      liver, with IBRv2 of 16.14 and 8.40, respectively. We conclude that exposure to
      xenobiotics, like 3,4-DCA, in species with a marked maternal-embryonic
      interaction represents a potential risk for the development and survival of the
      descendants, thereby, potentially affecting the future of the population.

PMID- 28597382
TI  - Performance and microbial community dynamics of electricity-assisted sequencing
      batch reactor (SBR) for treatment of saline petrochemical wastewater.
AB  - High-salinity wastewater is often difficult to treat by common biological
      technologies due to salinity stress on the bacterial community. Electricity
      assisted anaerobic technologies have significantly enhanced the treatment
      performance by alleviating the impact of salinity stress on the bacterial
      community, but electricity-assisted aerobic technologies have less been reported.
      Herein, a novel bio-electrochemistry system has been designed and operated in
      which a pair of stainless iron mesh-graphite plate electrodes were installed into
      a sequencing batch reactor (SBR, designated as S1) to strengthen the performance
      of saline petrochemical wastewater under aerobic conditions. The removal
      efficiency of phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in S1 were 94.1 and 91.2%,
      respectively, on day 45, which was clearly higher than the removal efficiency of
      a single SBR (S2) and an electrochemical reactor (S3), indicating that a coupling
      effect existed between the electrochemical process and biodegradation. A certain
      amount of salinity (<=8000 mg/L) could enhance the treatment performance in S1
      but weaken that in S2. Illumina sequencing revealed that microbial communities in
      S1 on days 45 and 91 were richer and more diverse than in S2, which suggests that
      electrical stimulation could enhance the diversity and richness of the microbial
      community, and reduce the negative effect of salinity on the microorganisms and
      enrich some salt-adapted microorganisms, thus improve the ability of S1 to
      respond to salinity stress. This novel bio-electrochemistry system was shown to
      be an alternative technology for the high saline petrochemical wastewater.

PMID- 28597383
TI  - Green biotransformations catalysed by enzyme-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers in
      environmentally friendly ionic solvents.
AB  - Environmentally friendly ionic solvents such as (a) ionic liquids (ILs)
      formulated with hydroxyl ammonium cations and various carboxylic acid anions and
      (b) choline chloride or ethyl ammonium chloride-based deep eutectic solvents
      (DES) were tested as media for hydrolytic and synthetic reactions catalysed by
      lipase-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers. The nature of ionic solvents used has a
      significant effect on the hydrolytic and synthetic activity of the immobilized
      lipase, as well as on its stability and reusability. In choline chloride-based
      DES, the activity and especially the operational stability of the biocatalyst are
      significantly increased compared to those observed in buffer, indicating the
      potential application of these solvents as green media for various biocatalytic
      processes of industrial interest.

PMID- 28597384
TI  - Toxicity against Drosophila melanogaster and antiedematogenic and antimicrobial
      activities of Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) Kuntze (Amaranthaceae).
AB  - Bioactive phytocompounds are studied by several bioactivities demonstrated, as
      their cytotoxic effects. The aim of this work was to evaluate the phytochemical
      profile, the toxic effect using the Drosophila melanogaster animal model and the
      anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effect of the Alternanthera brasiliana (EEAB)
      ethanol extract. The phytochemical profile was performed using HPLC. The
      cytotoxic effect was evaluated in vivo using D. melanogaster. The anti
      inflammatory effect was determined by neurogenic and antiedematogenic assays, and
      the antimicrobial activity was assayed using a microdilution method to determine
      the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the EEAB alone and in association
      with antibiotics. The main compound identified on the EEAB was luteolin (1.93%).
      Its cytotoxic effect was demonstrated after 24 h in the concentrations of 10, 20
      and 40 mg/mL. The extract demonstrated an antiedematogenic effect, with a
      reduction of the edema between 35.57 and 64.17%. The MIC of the extract was
      >=1.024 MUg/mL, thus being considered clinically irrelevant. However, when the
      EEAB was associated with gentamicin, a synergism against all bacterial strains
      assayed was observed: Staphylococcus aureus (SA10), Escherichia coli (EC06) and
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA24). Due to these results, the EEAB demonstrated a low
      toxicity in vivo and anti-inflammatory and synergistic activities. These are
      promising results, mainly against microbial pathogens, and the compounds
      identified can be a source of carbon backbones for the discovery and creation of
      new drugs.

PMID- 28597385
TI  - Cadmium accumulation characteristics of low-cadmium rice (Oryza sativa L.) line
      and F1 hybrids grown in cadmium-contaminated soils.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) pollution has threatened severely to food safety and human health. A
      pot experiment and a field experiment were conducted to investigate the
      difference of Cd accumulation between rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines and F1 hybrids
      in Cd-contaminated soils. The adverse effect on biomass of rice lines was greater
      than that of F1 hybrids under Cd treatments in the pot experiment. The variations
      of Cd concentration among rice cultivars in different organs were smaller in stem
      and leaf, but larger in root and ear. Average proportion of Cd in root of F1
      hybrids was 1.39, 1.39, and 1.16 times higher than those of rice lines at the
      treatment of 1, 2, and 4 mg Cd kg-1 soil, respectively. Cd concentrations in ear
      of F1 hybrids were significantly lower than rice lines with the reduction from
      29.24 to 50.59%. Cd concentrations in brown rice of all F1 hybrids were less than
      0.2 mg kg-1 at 1 mg Cd kg-1 soil, in which Lu98A/YaHui2816, 5406A/YaHui2816, and
      C268A/YaHui2816 could be screened out as cadmium-safe cultivars (CSCs) for being
      safe even at 2 mg Cd kg-1 soil. C268A/YaHui2816 showed the lowest Cd
      concentration in root among F1 hybrids, while Lu98A/YaHui2816 and 5406A/YaHui2816
      showed lower capability of Cd translocation from root to shoot under Cd exposure,
      which eventually caused the lower Cd accumulation in brown rice. The lower level
      of Cd translocation contributed to reducing the accumulation of Cd in brown rice
      had been validated by the field experiment. Thus, Lu98A/YaHui2816,
      5406A/YaHui2816, and C268A/YaHui2816 could be considered as potential CSCs to
      cultivate in Cd-contaminated soils (<2 mg Cd kg-1 soil).

PMID- 28597386
TI  - Ozone alters the feeding behavior of the leaf beetle Agelastica coerulea
      (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) into leaves of Japanese white birch (Betula
      platyphylla var. japonica).
AB  - High mixing ratios of ground-level O3 threaten trophic interactions. In the
      present study, we conducted laboratory assays, where insect larvae and adults
      were not directly exposed to O3, to test the feeding behavior and attraction of
      the coleopteran leaf beetle Agelastica coerulea to early and late leaves of
      Japanese white birch (Betula platyphylla var. japonica) treated with ambient or
      elevated O3 levels. We found that overwintered adults were not deterred from
      grazing elevated O3-treated leaves, but rather preferred them than ambient O3
      treated ones. We also found that the feeding behavior of 2nd instar larvae fed on
      early or late leaves was not influenced by the O3 treatment of the leaves when
      larvae could choose leaves. These observations of the adults and larvae feeding
      preferences contradict prior observations in the field conditions where the
      insects avoided leaves in O3-enriched atmosphere. Since adults preferred elevated
      O3-exposed leaves in the present laboratory assays, it is worthy of further
      investigations whether adults change their grazing preference so as to ensure the
      leaf palatability as a feeding source for their larvae. Hence, new direction
      towards detailed ovipositional behavior surveys under field conditions is
      encouraged.

PMID- 28597387
TI  - Ozone-UV-catalysis based advanced oxidation process for wastewater treatment.
AB  - A bench-scale advanced oxidation (AO) reactor was investigated for the
      degradation of six pollutants (2-naphthol, phenol, oxalic acid, phthalate,
      methylene blue, and D-glucose) in a model wastewater at with the aim to test
      opportunities for the further upscale to industrial applications. Six
      experimental conditions were designed to completely examine the experimental
      reactor, including photolysis, photocatalysis, ozonation, photolytic ozonation,
      catalytic ozonation, and photocatalytic ozonation. The stationary catalyst
      construction was made from commercially available TiO2 nanopowder by mounting it
      on a glass support and subsequently characterized for morphology (X-ray
      diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy) as well as durability. The
      ozone was generated in a dielectrical barrier discharge reactor using air as a
      source of oxygen. The degradation efficiency was estimated by the decrease in
      total organic carbon (TOC) concentration as well as toxicity using Daphnia magna,
      and degradation by-products by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry. The photocatalytic ozonation was the most effective for the
      treatment of all model wastewater. The photocatalytic ozonation was most
      effective against ozonation and photolytic ozonation at tested pH values. A
      complete toxicity loss was obtained after the treatment using photocatalytic
      ozonation. The possible degradation pathway of the phthalate by oxidation was
      suggested based on aromatic ring opening reactions. The catalyst used at this
      experiment confirmed as a durable for continuous use with almost no loss of
      activity over time. The design of the reactor was found to be very effective for
      water treatment using photocatalytic ozonation. Such design has a high potential
      and can be further upscaled to industrial applications due to the simplicity and
      versatility of manufacturing and maintenance.

PMID- 28597388
TI  - Treatment of tannery effluent by passive uptake-parametric studies and kinetic
      modeling.
AB  - Galactomyces geotrichum was utilized as a potential biosorbent for the treatment
      of tannery effluent under controlled environmental conditions. Tannery effluent
      treatment was studied through parametric experiments to study the effect of
      effluent pH (3.0-10.0), initial COD (1100-4400 mg/L), and biosorbent dosage (0.3
      3.0 g/L).The zeta potential of the biosorbent was determined and found to
      influence the optimal pH. Increase in effluent COD values resulted in decreased
      COD removal percentages which attributed to limited availability of surface
      active sites. The equation relating the COD removal efficiency and biosorbent
      dose was proposed. Two popular kinetic models, namely pseudo-second order and
      power function models, were employed to the experimental data. Pseudo-second
      order model proved to be a good fit with high values of regression coefficient (R
      2 > 0.960). Potential application of a fungal biosorption process was explored
      and the optimal process parameters were identified.

PMID- 28597389
TI  - Enhanced Fenton-like degradation of TCE in sand suspensions with magnetite by
      NTA/EDTA at circumneutral pH.
AB  - The present study investigated the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in sand
      suspensions by Fenton-like reaction with magnetite (Fe3O4) in the presence of
      various chelators at circumneutral pH. The results showed that
      ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) greatly
      improved the rate of TCE degradation, while [S,S]-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid
      (s,s-EDDS), malonate, citrate, and phytic acid (IP6) have minimal effects on TCE
      degradation. Quenching tests suggested that TCE was mainly degraded by hydroxyl
      radical (HO.) attack, with about 90% inhibition on TCE degradation by the
      addition of HO. scavenger 2-propanol. The presence of 0.1-0.5% Fe3O4/sand (w/w)
      contributed to 40% increase in TCE degradation rates. In particular, the use of
      chelators can avoid high concentrations of H2O2 required for the Fenton-like
      reaction with Fe3O4, and moreover improve the stoichiometric efficiencies of TCE
      degradation to H2O2 consumption. The suitable concentrations of chelators (EDTA
      and NTA) and H2O2 were suggested to be 0.5 and 20 mM, respectively. Under the
      given conditions, degradation rate constants of TCE were obtained at 0.360 h-1
      with EDTA and 0.526 h-1 with NTA, respectively. Enhanced degradation of TCE and
      decreased usage of H2O2 in this investigation suggested that Fenton-like reaction
      of Fe3O4 together with NTA (or EDTA) may be a promising process for remediation
      of TCE-contaminated groundwater.

PMID- 28597391
TI  - Desorption of micropollutant from spent carbon filters used for water purifier.
AB  - In this study, to examine the accumulated micropollutants in the spent carbon
      filter used in the water purifier, first, the method to desorb micropollutant
      from the activated carbon was developed and optimized. Then, using this optimized
      desorption conditions, we examined which micropollutants exist in spent carbon
      filters collected from houses in different regions in Korea where water purifiers
      were used. A total of 11 micropollutants (caffeine (CFF), acetaminophen (ACT),
      sulfamethazine (SMA), sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), metoprolol (MTP), carbamazepine
      (CBM), naproxen (NPX), bisphenol-A (BPA), ibuprofen (IBU), diclofenac (DCF), and
      triclocarban (TCB)) were analyzed using LC/MS-MS from the spent carbon filters.
      CFF, NPX, and DCF had the highest detection frequencies (>60%) in the carbon
      filters (n = 100), whereas SMA, SMZ, and MTP were only detected in the carbon
      filters, but not in the tap waters (n = 25), indicating that these
      micropollutants, which exist less than the detection limit in tap water, were
      accumulated in the carbon filters. The regional micropollutant detection patterns
      in the carbon filters showed higher levels of micropollutants, especially NPX,
      BPA, IBU, and DCF, in carbon filters collected in the Han River and Nakdong River
      basins where large cities exist. The levels of micropollutants in the carbon
      filter were generally lower in the regions where advanced oxidation processes
      (AOPs) were employed at nearby water treatment plants (WTPs), indicating that AOP
      process in WTP is quite effective in removing micropollutant. Our results suggest
      that desorption of micropollutant from the carbon filter used can be a tool to
      identify micropollutants present in tap water with trace amounts or below the
      detection limit.

PMID- 28597392
TI  - Packaging of implantable accelerometers to monitor epicardial and endocardial
      wall motion.
AB  - Acceleration signals, collected from the inner and the outer heart wall, offer a
      mean of assessing cardiac function during surgery. Accelerometric measurements
      can also provide detailed insights into myocardial motion during exploratory
      investigations. Two different implantable accelerometers to respectively record
      endocardial and epicardial vibrations, have been developed by packaging a
      commercially available capacitive transducer. The same coating materials have
      been deposited on the two devices to ensure biocompatibility of the implants:
      Parylene-C, medical epoxy and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The different position
      specific requirements resulted in two very dissimilar sensor assemblies. The
      endocardial accelerometer, that measures accelerations from the inner surface of
      the heart during acute animal tests, is a 2 mm-radius hemisphere fixed on a
      polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) rod to be inserted through the heart wall. The
      epicardial accelerometer, that monitors the motion of the outer surface of the
      heart, is a three-legged structure with a stretchable polytetrafluoroethylene
      (PTFE) reinforcement. This device can follow the continuous motion of the
      myocardium (the muscular tissue of the heart) during the cardiac cycle, without
      hindering its natural movement. Leakage currents lower than 1 MUA have been
      measured during two weeks of continuous operation in saline. Both transducers
      have been used, during animal tests, to simultaneously record and compare
      acceleration signals from corresponding locations on the inner and the outer
      heart wall of a female sheep.

PMID- 28597393
TI  - Brigatinib: First Global Approval.
AB  - Brigatinib (ALUNBRIGTM) is a small molecule antineoplastic anaplastic lymphoma
      kinase (ALK) inhibitor being developed by ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (a wholly-owned
      subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company). In April 2017 brigatinib received
      accelerated approval in the USA for the treatment of patients with ALK-positive
      metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or are
      intolerant to crizotinib. The development of resistance to crizotinib is a
      therapeutic challenge that has led to the development of second-generation ALK
      inhibitors such as brigatinib, which have activity against treatment-resistant
      ALK mutants. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of
      brigatinib leading to this first global approval for the treatment of patients
      with ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC who have progressed on or are intolerant to
      crizotinib.

PMID- 28597390
TI  - Effects of nanoparticles in species of aquaculture interest.
AB  - Recently, it was observed that there is an increasing application of
      nanoparticles (NPs) in aquaculture. Manufacturers are trying to use nano-based
      tools to remove the barriers about waterborne food, growth, reproduction, and
      culturing of species, their health, and water treatment in order to increase
      aquaculture production rates, being the safe-by-design approach still unapplied.
      We reviewed the applications of NPs in aquaculture evidencing that the way NPs
      are applied can be very different: some are direclty added to feed, other to
      water media or in aquaculture facilities. Traditional toxicity data cannot be
      easily used to infer on aquaculture mainly considering short-term exposure
      scenarios, underestimating the potential exposure of aquacultured species. The
      main outputs are (i) biological models are not recurrent, and in the case,
      testing protocols are frequently different; (ii) most data derived from toxicity
      studies are not specifically designed on aquaculture needs, thus contact time,
      exposure concentrations, and other ancillary conditions do not meet the required
      standard for aquaculture; (iii) short-term exposure periods are investigated
      mainly on species of indirect aquaculture interest, while shrimp and fish as
      final consumers in aquaculture plants are underinvestigated (scarce or unknown
      data on trophic chain transfer of NPs): little information is available about the
      amount of NPs accumulated within marketed organisms; (iv) how NPs present in the
      packaging of aquacultured products can affect their quality remained
      substantially unexplored. NPs in aquaculture are a challenging topic that must be
      developed in the near future to assure human health and environmental safety.
      Graphical abstract ?.

PMID- 28597394
TI  - Invasive Candidiasis in Brescia, Italy: Analysis of Species Distribution and
      Antifungal Susceptibilities During Seven Years.
AB  - The aims of this study were to evaluate the epidemiology of nosocomial candidemia
      in a large teaching hospital in Brescia, Italy, and the in vitro antifungal
      susceptibility of isolates. We analyzed 196 isolates causing fungemia in patients
      admitted in our hospital, between January 2009 and December 2015. Strains were
      identified by VITEK 2 and MALDI-TOF MS. MICs were determined by Sensititre Yeast
      OneTM. The resistance was defined by using the revised CLSI
      breakpoints/epidemiological cutoff values to assign susceptibility or wild type
      to systemic antifungal agents. Most infections were caused by Candida albicans
      (60%), Candida parapsilosis (15%), Candida glabrata (12%) and Candida tropicalis
      (6%). The susceptibility rate for fluconazole was 96.5%. Non-Candida species
      isolates exhibited full susceptibilities to echinocandins according to CLSI
      breakpoints. Amphotericin B demonstrated excellent activity against all Candida
      species. Local epidemiological and antifungal susceptibility studies are
      necessary in order to improve empirical treatment guidelines.

PMID- 28597395
TI  - Correlates and catalysts of hominin evolution in Africa.
AB  - Hominin evolution in the African Pliocene and Pleistocene was accompanied and
      mediated by changes in the abiotic and biotic spheres. It has been hypothesized
      that such environmental changes were catalysts of hominin morphological evolution
      and speciations. Whereas there is little doubt that ecological changes were
      relevant to shaping the trajectories of mammalian evolution, testing specific
      hypotheses with data from the fossil record has yielded ambiguous results
      regarding environmental disruption as a primary catalyst. Proposed mechanisms for
      abiotic and biotic causes of evolution are not always consistent with the timing
      and trends exhibited by the African fossil record of hominins and other mammals.
      Analyses of fossil and genetic data suggest that much of hominin evolution, and
      by extension mammalian evolution, was autocatalytic, driven by feedback loops
      within a species or lineage, irrespective of changes in the external environment.

PMID- 28597396
TI  - TRPV4 Activation Contributes Functional Recovery from Ischemic Stroke via
      Angiogenesis and Neurogenesis.
AB  - The endothelial transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 4
      (TRPV4) plays a crucial role in vascular remodeling; however, TRPV4-mediated
      angiogenesis after ischemic neuronal death as a neurorestorative strategy has not
      yet been thoroughly examined. In this study, we first tested whether TRPV4
      activation can improve functional recovery in rats subjected to transient brain
      ischemia. The possible mechanisms for TRPV4 activation-promoted functional
      recovery were explored. A TRPV4 agonist, 4alpha-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (4alpha
      PDD), was intravenously injected via the tail vein at 6 h and 1, 2, 3, 4 days
      after ischemic stroke. The treatment reduced infarct volume by almost 50% (14.7
      +/- 3.7 vs. 29.2 +/- 6.2%; p < 0.0001) and improved functional outcomes (p =
      0.03) on day 5. To explore the therapeutic mechanism, we measured endothelial
      nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression and phosphorylation, vascular endothelial
      growth factor A (VEGFA) signaling, and neural stem/progenitor cells (NPCs). TRPV4
      activation significantly increased eNOS expression and phosphorylation (serine
      1177) by more than 2-fold in the ischemic region. The expressions of VEGFA and
      VEGF receptor-2 were significantly higher in the treated animals, especially an
      increase of the proangiogenic VEGFA164a isoform while a decrease of the
      antiangiogenic VEGFA165b isoform. We evaluated angiogenesis by detecting
      microvessel density in ischemic region. Using the immunohistochemistry staining,
      we found that 4alpha-PDD treatment caused a 3.4-fold increase of microvessel
      density (p < 0.0001). In addition, NPC proliferation and migration in the
      ischemic hemisphere were increased by 3-fold and 5-fold, respectively. In
      conclusion, our data suggest that TRPV4 activation by 4alpha-PDD may improve
      poststroke functional improvement through angiogenesis and neurogenesis.

PMID- 28597397
TI  - Protein Kinase Cdelta Gene Depletion Protects Against Methamphetamine-Induced
      Impairments in Recognition Memory and ERK1/2 Signaling via Upregulation of
      Glutathione Peroxidase-1 Gene.
AB  - Accumulating evidence has suggested that repeated treatment with methamphetamine
      (MA) resulted in cognitive impairments. Importantly, we show that selective
      upregulation of protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC)
      of wild-type mice persisted for 28 days post withdrawal of MA. On day 28, the MA
      induced increase in phospho-PKCdelta expression and decrease in phospho-ERK1/2
      expression were significantly attenuated by both the Src inhibitor PP2 and the
      dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390. However, neither protein kinase A
      inhibitor H89 nor calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitor KN93
      attenuated MA-induced alterations in phospho-PKCdelta expression and phospho
      ERK1/2 expression. Since PKCdelta knockout (KO) significantly increased the
      expression of glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-1, we also utilized GPx-1 KO and GPx-1
      overexpressing transgenic (GPx-1 TG) mice. Repeated MA treatment induced
      cognitive impairment, as assessed by the novel object recognition test. Moreover,
      the extent of cognitive impairment correlated with the extent of increased
      phospho-PKCdelta expression and decreased GPx1 expression. In the absence of MA,
      exposure to novel objects increased phospho-ERK1/2 and GPx-1 expression in the
      PFC; however, these expression levels were decreased in the presence of MA.
      PKCdelta KO and GPx-1 TG mice each exhibited significantly attenuated MA-induced
      decreases in phospho-ERK1/2 and GPx-1 expression. Consistently, PKCdelta
      inhibition induces GPx/GSH-dependent antioxidant systems. More importantly, the
      antipsychotic drug clozapine significantly protected against cognitive impairment
      and was associated with alterations in phospho-ERK1/2 and phospho-PKCdelta
      expression. However, GPx-1 KO potentiated MA-induced cognitive deficits and
      alterations in phospho-ERK1/2 and phospho-PKCdelta expression. These results
      suggest that MA induces cognitive impairment by inhibiting ERK1/2 signaling,
      activating PKCdelta, and inactivating GPx-1 by upregulating Src kinase or the D1
      receptor. They also suggest that clozapine requires activation of ERK1/2
      signaling via positive modulation between the phospho-PKCdelta and GPx-1 genes to
      restore cognitive function.

PMID- 28597398
TI  - Determination of Brain-Regional Blood Perfusion and Endogenous cPKCgamma Impact
      on Ischemic Vulnerability of Mice with Global Ischemia.
AB  - Conventional protein kinase C (cPKC)gamma participated in cerebral hypoxic
      preconditioning-induced neuroprotection and affected the neurological outcome of
      ischemic stroked mice. As an independent predictor of ischemic stroke, the
      internal carotid artery occlusion (ICAO)-caused brain-regional ischemic injury
      may worsen the neurological outcome of patients. However, the brain-regional
      ischemic vulnerability and its underlying mechanism remain unclear. In this
      study, the bilateral ICAO (BICAO) model was applied in cPKCgamma wild type (WT)
      and knockout (KO) mice to determine the cPKCgamma impact on brain-regional
      ischemic vulnerability. The arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging results showed
      that 7 days BICAO-induced global ischemia could cause significant blood perfusion
      loss in prefrontal cortex (69.13%), striatum (61.69%), hypothalamus (67.36%),
      hippocampus (69.82%) and midbrain (40.53%) of WT mice, along with neurological
      deficits. Nissl staining and Western blot results indicated that hypothalamus and
      midbrain had more severe neural cell loss than prefrontal cortex, striatum and
      hippocampus, which negatively coincided with endogenous cPKCgamma protein levels
      but not blood perfusion loss and cPKCgamma membrane translocation levels.
      Furthermore, we found that cPKCgamma KO significantly aggravated the neuron loss
      in prefrontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus and abolish the regional ischemic
      vulnerability by using immunofluorescent staining with neuron-specific marker
      NeuN. Similarly, cPKCgamma KO also significantly increased Caspase-3, -8 and -9
      cleavage levels in prefrontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus, hypothalamus and
      midbrain of mice with 24 h BICAO. These results suggested that hypothalamus and
      midbrain are more vulnerable to ischemia, and endogenous cPKCgamma affects the
      regional ischemic vulnerability through modulating Caspase-8 and -9 dependent
      cell apoptosis.

PMID- 28597399
TI  - Effects of Levosimendan on Patients with Heart Failure Complicating Acute
      Coronary Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognosis for patients with heart failure (HF), including
      cardiogenic shock (CS), complicating acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains poor.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to review the relevant literature and evaluate
      whether levosimendan was associated with better clinical outcomes in these
      patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library databases
      for randomized controlled trials that investigated levosimendan compared with any
      control in patients with HF/CS complicating ACS. RESULTS: A total of 1065
      patients from nine trials were included in this study. Analysis showed that
      levosimendan significantly reduced total mortality and the incidence of worsening
      HF. In patients with HF-ACS, levosimendan was associated with reduced mortality.
      In patients with CS-ACS, no significant difference was observed between the two
      groups. Levosimendan contributed to significantly reduced mortality when compared
      with placebo, but no significant reduction was seen compared with dobutamine.
      Compared with controls, levosimendan decreased pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
      and systemic vascular resistance and increased cardiac index, with no significant
      difference observed between the groups in terms of heart rate. Levosimendan non
      significantly increased the risk of hypotension but did not increase the risk of
      ischemic episodes, sinus tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, or ventricular
      arrhythmias. CONCLUSION: Levosimendan appears to be a promising drug to reduce
      mortality and worsening HF in patients with HF/CS-ACS. It appears to provide
      hemodynamic benefit and was associated with an increased risk of hypotension.

PMID- 28597400
TI  - Gynecologic oncologists' attitudes and practices relating to integrative
      medicine: results of a nationwide AGO survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: The growing popularity and acceptance of integrative medicine is evident
      both among patients and among the oncologists treating them. As little data are
      available regarding health-care professionals' knowledge, attitudes, and
      practices relating to the topic, a nationwide online survey was designed.
      METHODS: Over a period of 11 weeks (from July 15 to September 30, 2014) a self
      administered, 17-item online survey was sent to all 676 members of the Research
      Group on Gynecological Oncology (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynakologische Onkologie) in
      the German Cancer Society. The questionnaire items addressed the use of
      integrative therapy methods, fields of indications for them, advice services
      provided, level of specific qualifications, and other topics. RESULTS: Of the 104
      respondents (15.4%) using integrative medicine, 93% reported that integrative
      therapy was offered to breast cancer patients. The second most frequent type of
      tumor in connection with which integrative therapy methods were recommended was
      ovarian cancer, at 80% of the participants using integrative medicine. Exercise,
      nutritional therapy, dietary supplements, herbal medicines, and acupuncture were
      the methods the patients were most commonly advised to use. CONCLUSION: There is
      considerable interest in integrative medicine among gynecological oncologists,
      but integrative therapy approaches are at present poorly implemented in routine
      clinical work. Furthermore there is a lack of specific training. Whether future
      efforts should focus on extending counseling services on integrative medicine
      approaches in gynecologic oncology or not, have to be discussed. Evidence-based
      training on integrative medicine should be implemented in order to safely guide
      patients in their wish to do something by themselves.

PMID- 28597401
TI  - Biomechanical evaluation of the risk of secondary fracture around short versus
      long cephalomedullary nails.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: For proximal femur fractures, long cephalomedullary nails (CMNs)
      are often selected to avoid a diaphyseal stress riser at the tip of a shorter
      nail. Secondary peri-implant fracture rates for long and short CMN have not been
      shown to differ clinically. This study biomechanically compares both CMN in a
      cadaveric model. METHODS: Ten matched pairs of cadaveric femora with short or
      long CMN were axially loaded and internally rotated to failure. RESULTS:
      Resulting fractures involved distal interlocking screws of the short and long
      CMN. Energy and rotation to failure were significantly greater for short CMN.
      Torque at failure trended higher for short CMN but not significantly. No
      statistical difference was detected in stiffness of the short and long CMN.
      DISCUSSION: A greater risk of secondary fracture is not indicated for short
      versus long CMN under torsional stress. Short CMN may be suitable in the younger
      patient.

PMID- 28597402
TI  - Metastatic bone disease from breast cancer: a review of minimally invasive
      techniques for diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - Skeletal-related events in patients with metastatic bone disease include
      intractable severe pain, pathologic fracture, spinal cord and nerve compression,
      hypercalcemia and bone marrow aplasia. In patients with breast cancer, the
      skeleton is the most frequent site for metastases. Treatment options for
      metastatic bone disease in these patients include bisphosphonates,
      chemotherapeutic agents, opioids, hormonal therapy, minimally
      invasive/interventional and surgical techniques. Interventional oncology
      techniques for breast cancer patients with bone metastases include diagnostic
      (biopsy) and therapeutic (palliative and curative) approaches. In the latter,
      percutaneous ablation, augmentation and stabilization are included. The purpose
      of this article is to describe the basic concepts of biopsy, ablation,
      embolization and peripheral skeleton augmentation techniques in patients with
      metastatic bone disease from breast carcinoma. The necessity for a tailored
      approach applying different techniques for different cases and locations will be
      addressed.

PMID- 28597404
TI  - Relevance of microRNA 21 in Different Types of Hypertension.
AB  - Hypertension (HTN) is a chronic medical condition that commonly affects the aging
      population worldwide. The prevalence of HTN is increasing in developing countries
      and is one of the leading causes of death in older individuals. HTN results from
      a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Besides, HTN can result
      in various other health complications such as stroke and chronic kidney diseases,
      if not treated. Although various studies have explained the underlying mechanisms
      in the pathogenesis of HTN, limited information is available on their biomarkers.
      MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are RNA molecules that have been recognized as key regulators
      for HTN. miR-21 is a common microRNA that is has been reported to be
      significantly upregulated in HTN individuals. Hence, miR-21 can be a potential
      therapeutic target for HTN. The number of studies related to miR-21 on
      hypertension is limited. Therefore, the main thrust of this paper is to provide
      an overview of the current clinical evidence and significance of miR-21 in HTN.

PMID- 28597403
TI  - Resistant Hypertension: Mechanisms and Treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Emerging evidence suggests that multiple mechanisms may be
      responsible for the development of treatment-resistant hypertension (TRH). This
      review aims to summarize recent data on potential mechanisms of resistance and
      discuss current pharmacotherapeutic options available in the management of TRH.
      RECENT FINDINGS: Excess sodium and fluid retention, increased activation of the
      renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and heightened activity of the sympathetic
      nervous system appear to play an important role in development of TRH. Emerging
      evidence also suggests a role for arterial stiffness and, potentially, gut
      dysbiosis. Therapeutic approaches for TRH should include diuretic optimization
      and the addition of aldosterone antagonists as the preferred fourth agent in most
      patients. Further therapeutic approaches may be guided by the suspected
      underlying mechanism of TRH in conjunction with other patient-specific factors.
      The pathophysiology of TRH is multifaceted; however, increasing evidence supports
      several mechanisms that may be targeted to improve blood pressure control among
      patients with TRH. Further studies are needed to determine whether such
      approaches may be more effective than usual care.

PMID- 28597406
TI  - Clinical significance of extra-coronary arterial calcifications.

PMID- 28597405
TI  - Hyperbilirubinemia, Hypertension, and CKD: the Links.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review aims to highlight recent advances on the role of
      hyperbilirubinemia in hypertension and chronic kidney disease, with a focus on
      the pathophysiological mechanisms explaining the protective effects of bilirubin.
      An overview of pharmacologic induction of hyperbilirubinemia will also be
      discussed. RECENT FINDINGS: The findings depict a protective role of bilirubin in
      the development of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Hyperbilirubinemia
      is also negatively correlated with the development and progression of chronic
      kidney disease. Commonly used drugs play a role in pharmacologic induction of
      hyperbilirubinemia. Bilirubin is therefore an exciting target for new therapeutic
      interventions for its antioxidant properties can be pivotal in the management of
      hypertension and in preventing and halting the progression of chronic kidney
      disease. Longitudinal studies are warranted to evaluate the prospective
      association between bilirubin levels and incident hypertension and chronic kidney
      disease in the general population. Interventions to induce hyperbilirubinemia
      need to be explored as a novel therapeutic approach in fighting disease burden.

PMID- 28597407
TI  - Resistance wheel exercise from mid-life has minimal effect on sciatic nerves from
      old mice in which sarcopenia was prevented.
AB  - The ability of resistance exercise, initiated from mid-life, to prevent age
      related changes in old sciatic nerves, was investigated in male and female
      C57BL/6J mice. Aging is associated with cellular changes in old sciatic nerves
      and also loss of skeletal muscle mass and function (sarcopenia). Mature adult
      mice aged 15 months (M) were subjected to increasing voluntary resistance wheel
      exercise (RWE) over a period of 8 M until 23 M of age. This prevented sarcopenia
      in the old 23 M aged male and female mice. Nerves of control sedentary (SED)
      males at 3, 15 and 23 M of age, showed a decrease in the myelinated axon numbers
      at 15 and 23 M, a decreased g-ratio and a significantly increased proportion of
      myelinated nerves containing electron-dense aggregates at 23 M. Myelinated axon
      and nerve diameter, and axonal area, were increased at 15 M compared with 3 and
      23 M. Exercise increased myelinated nerve profiles containing aggregates at 23 M.
      S100 protein, detected with immunoblotting was increased in sciatic nerves of 23
      M old SED females, but not males, compared with 15 M, with no effect of exercise.
      Other neuronal proteins showed no significant alterations with age, gender or
      exercise. Overall the RWE had no cellular impact on the aging nerves, apart from
      an increased number of old nerves containing aggregates. Thus the relationship
      between cellular changes in aging nerves, and their sustained capacity for
      stimulation of old skeletal muscles to help maintain healthy muscle mass in
      response to exercise remains unclear.

PMID- 28597410
TI  - Teaching Trauma and Narrative: Using Salinger's For Esme-with Love and Squalor.

PMID- 28597408
TI  - Single-cell RNA-sequencing of the brain.
AB  - Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) is revolutionizing our understanding of
      the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic landscapes of cells within organs. The
      mammalian brain is composed of a complex network of millions to billions of
      diverse cells with either highly specialized functions or support functions. With
      scRNA-seq it is possible to comprehensively dissect the cellular heterogeneity of
      brain cells, and elucidate their specific functions and state. In this review, we
      describe the current experimental methods used for scRNA-seq. We also review
      bioinformatic tools and algorithms for data analyses and discuss critical
      challenges. Additionally, we summarized recent mouse brain scRNA-seq studies and
      systematically compared their main experimental approaches, computational tools
      implemented, and important findings. scRNA-seq has allowed researchers to
      identify diverse cell subpopulations within many brain regions, pinpointing gene
      signatures and novel cell markers, as well as addressing functional differences.
      Due to the complexity of the brain, a great deal of work remains to be
      accomplished. Defining specific brain cell types and functions is critical for
      understanding brain function as a whole in development, health, and diseases.

PMID- 28597409
TI  - Progression and Persistence of Neurotoxicity Induced by MDMA in Dopaminergic
      Regions of the Mouse Brain and Association with Noradrenergic, GABAergic, and
      Serotonergic Damage.
AB  - The amphetamine-related drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is known to
      induce neurotoxic damage in dopaminergic regions of the mouse brain. In order to
      characterize how the number of administrations influenced the severity of MDMA
      induced dopaminergic damage and to describe the localization and persistence of
      this damage, we evaluated the changes in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine
      transporter (DAT) in different regions of the mouse brain. Moreover, we
      investigated whether dopaminergic damage was associated with noradrenergic,
      GABAergic, and serotonergic damage, by evaluating the changes in noradrenaline
      transporter (NET), glutamic acid decarboxylase-67 (GAD-67), and serotonin
      transporter (SERT). Mice received 14, 28, or 36 MDMA administrations (10 mg/kg
      twice a week) and were sacrificed at different time points (postnatal days 85,
      110, 138, or 214) for immunohistochemical evaluation. Mice receiving 28
      administrations showed reduced levels of DAT-positive fibers in caudate-putamen
      (CPu) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and reduced levels of TH-positive
      nigral neurons. These mice also displayed increased NET-positive hippocampal
      fibers, reduced GAD-67-positive neurons in CPu and hippocampus, and reduced GAD
      67-positive fibers in mPFC. Similar effects of MDMA on DAT, TH, and GAD-67 were
      found in mice receiving 36 administrations, which also displayed reduced levels
      of striatal, cortical, and hippocampal TH-immunoreactive fibers. The reductions
      in dopaminergic markers and GAD-67 persisted at 3 months after MDMA
      discontinuation. Finally, MDMA never modified the levels of SERT. These results
      provide further insight into the localization and persistence of MDMA-induced
      dopaminergic damage and show that this effect may associate with GABAergic but
      not noradrenergic or serotonergic damage.

PMID- 28597411
TI  - Comparative proteomic analysis of alfalfa revealed new salt and drought stress
      related factors involved in seed germination.
AB  - Salinity and drought are two major environmental factors that limit the growth
      and yield of many forage crops in semi-arid and arid regions. Alfalfa (Medicago
      sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops in many countries. We aim to
      investigate the molecular mechanisms of alfalfa in response to salt and drought
      stresses in this study. Physiological and proteomic analyses were applied to
      examine the Zhongmu NO.3 alfalfa seed germination stage with 200 mM NaCl and 180
      g.L-1 polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatments. The germination ability of the seed
      and the accumulation of osmotic solutes were quite different between the NaCl and
      PEG treatments. More than 800 protein spots were detected by proteomics
      technology on two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gels. The abundance of
      twenty-eight proteins were decreased or increased after salt and drought stress.
      Seventeen of these proteins were identified and classified into six functional
      categories through mass spectrometry (MS). The six groups involved in salt- and
      PEG-mediated stress included defense response, energy metabolism, protein
      synthesis and degradation, oxidative stress, carbohydrate metabolism-associated
      proteins, and unknown proteins. We discovered that some proteins related to
      carbohydrate metabolism and energy production increased in abundance under salt-
      and PEG-mediated drought stress. This demonstrates a common mechanism of energy
      consumption during abiotic stresses. Further study of these proteins with unknown
      function will provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress
      and the discovery of new candidate markers.

PMID- 28597412
TI  - Association of A-604G ghrelin gene polymorphism and serum ghrelin levels with the
      risk of obesity in a mexican population.
AB  - Obesity is a metabolic disorder that has a multifactorial etiology and affects
      millions of people worldwide. Ghrelin, a hormone coded by the GHRL gene, plays a
      role in human body composition and appetite. Single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) of the GHRL gene have been associated with obesity and metabolic
      disorders. To evaluate the association of A-604G SNP of GHRL promoter region with
      serum ghrelin levels and the risk of obesity in a Mexican population. Two hundred
      and fifty individuals were enrolled and classified as obese or control subjects
      (CS) according to BMI. DNA samples, anthropometric measurements and biochemical
      parameters were obtained from all subjects. The A-604G SNP was genotyped using
      PCR-RFLPs technique. Ghrelin levels were measured using a commercial enzyme
      immunoassay. The G/G genotype was more frequent among obese individuals (p <
      0.0001) when compared to CS. The G/A genotype and A allele were associated with
      protection against obesity (OR 0.29, p < 0.0001; OR 0.39, p < 0.0001
      respectively), the A allele remained significant after adjusting for age and
      gender (OR: 0.25, p < 0.0001). Serum ghrelin levels were higher in obese patients
      (p = 0.004) than in CS, however, significance was lost after adjustment for age
      (p = 0.088). The G/G genotype was associated with higher levels of serum ghrelin
      (p = 0.02) independently of the effect of age. The G/G genotype of the A-604G SNP
      in the GHRL gene is associated with altered serum ghrelin levels and obesity. The
      A allele was also associated with protection against obesity in this study.

PMID- 28597414
TI  - Effects of light-emitting diode supplementary lighting on the winter growth of
      greenhouse plants in the Yangtze River Delta of China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The winter in the Yangtze River Delta area of China involves more
      than 1 month of continuous low temperature and poor light (CLTL) weather
      conditions, which impacts horticultural production in an unheated greenhouse;
      however, few greenhouses in this area are currently equipped with a heating
      device. The low-cost and long-living light-emitting diode (LED) was used as an
      artificial light source to explore the effects of supplementary lighting during
      the dark period in CLTL winter on the vegetative characteristics, early yield,
      and physiology of flowering for pepper plants grown in a greenhouse without
      heating. Two LED lighting sets were employed with different light source to
      provide 65 MUmol m-2 s-1 at night: (1) LED-A: red LEDs (R, peak wavelength 660
      nm) and blue LEDs (B, peak wavelength 460 nm) with an R:B ratio of 6:3; and (2)
      LED-B: R and B LEDs at an R:B ratio of 8:1. Plants growth parameters and
      chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics were compared between lighting
      treatments and the control group. RESULTS: Plants' yield and photosynthesis
      ability were improved by LED-A. Pepper grown under the LED-A1 strategy showed a
      303.3 % greater fresh weight of fruits and a 501.3 % greater dry mass compared
      with the control group. Plant leaves under LED-A1 showed maximum efficiency of
      the light quantum yield of PSII, electron transfer rate, and the proportion of
      the open fraction of PSII centers, with values 113.70, 114.34, and 211.65 %
      higher than those of the control group, respectively, and showed the lowest rate
      constant of thermal energy dissipation of all groups. LED-B was beneficial to the
      plant height and stems diameter of the pepper plants more than LED-A.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results can serve as a guide for environment control and for
      realizing low energy consumption for products grown in a greenhouse in the winter
      in Southern China.

PMID- 28597413
TI  - Late-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency associated with hyperammonemia.
AB  - The urea cycle converts ammonia and produces urea. One form of urea cycle
      abnormality is ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency. This hereditary
      disorder is associated with hyperammonemia. OTC deficiency commonly appears
      during neonatal and early childhood life and is rare in adults. We report a 69
      year-old man who presented at the local hospital with 3-day loss of appetite,
      early morning vomiting, and state of confusion. Blood ammonia was 293 MUg/dl. At
      2-3 h after admission, the patient went into a deep coma. He was intubated and
      admitted immediately to the intensive care unit. Treatment, including sustained
      hemodialysis, failed to lower blood ammonia level. His grandchild died of OTC
      deficiency at 6 year of age. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed no abnormalities. On admission to our hospital,
      he complained of vomiting and disturbance of consciousness, hyperammonemia, and
      normal anion gap. Genetic analysis showed A208T mutation. The deceased grandchild
      with OTC deficiency also had the same mutation. Long-term hemodialysis coupled
      with administration of L-arginine and lactulose resulted in improvement of blood
      ammonia level. Early diagnosis and treatment of adult-onset OTC deficiency are
      essential to avoid serious complications.

PMID- 28597416
TI  - Phytochemical studies for quantitative estimation of iridoid glycosides in
      Picrorhiza kurroa Royle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Picrorhiza kurroa Royle commonly known as 'Kutki or Kutaki' is an
      important medicinal plant in Ayurvedic system of medicine and has traditionally
      been used to treat disorders of the liver and upper respiratory tract. The plant
      is the principle source of iridoid glycosides, picrosides I, II and kutkoside
      used in various herbal drug formulations mainly as strong hepatoprotective and
      immune-modulatory compound. The species has become endangered to near extinction
      due to the unregulated collection from the wild, slower plant growth and
      ecological destruction of natural habitats. There is a severe shortage of plant
      material, while the market demand is ever increasing. Hence, it is very important
      to apply a simple and precise analytical method to determine and validate the
      concentration of the major bioactive constituents in different populations of
      this plant species for development of a high yielding chemotype for large scale
      production and its commercial exploitation on scientific lines. RESULTS: This
      study assessed and validated a fast and reliable chromatography method for the
      determination of picroside-I and picroside-II in different populations of this
      priortized medicinal plant species. Separation and resolution of picrosides was
      carried out on a reversed phase (C-18) column by using a mobile phase of methanol
      and water (40:60 v/v). The detection of picrosides was carried out at 270 nm. The
      average levels of these two major marker compounds in all the seven accessions
      showed significant quantitative variation (ANOVA, p < 0.05) between mean levels
      of marker compounds and their accumulation in different parts of the plant viz.
      roots, rhizomes and leaves. The highest content of pk-I was found in the
      accession from Gurez altitude (3750 masl) while the highest content of pk-II was
      found in accession from Keller (Shopian) altitude (3300 masl) demonstrate that
      picroside accusation is directly correlated with altitudinal variation. The
      method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy and precision (within- and
      between-assay variation). CONCLUSION: A simple chromatographic method with the
      ability to separate both the major chemical constituents effectively in different
      herbal extracts of P. kurroa and other related species has been standardized and
      validated, which is more suitable for regular and normal analysis of picrosides
      in different herbal formulations. The paper accomplish that picroside
      concentration in different samples showed significant variation based on altitude
      and other agroclimatic factors, which can be useful in the selection and
      collection of superior genotypes with higher concentration of these marker
      compounds.

PMID- 28597415
TI  - Effects of CuO nanoparticles on Lemna minor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Copper dioxide nanoparticles (NPs), which is a kind of important and
      widely used metal oxide NP, eventually reaches a water body through wastewater
      and urban runoff. Ecotoxicological studies of this kind of NPs effects on
      hydrophyte are very limited at present. Lemna minor was exposed to media with
      different concentrations of CuO NPs, bulk CuO, and two times concentration of
      Cu2+ released from CuO NPs in culture media. The changes in plant growth,
      chlorophyll content, antioxidant defense enzyme activities [i.e., peroxidase
      (POD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities], and
      malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured in the present study. The particle
      size of CuO NPs and the zeta potential of CuO NPs and bulk CuO in the culture
      media were also analyzed to complementally evaluate their toxicity on duckweed.
      RESULT: Results showed that CuO NPs inhibited the plant growth at lower
      concentration than bulk CuO. L. minor roots were easily broken in CuO NPs media
      under the experimental condition, and the inhibition occurred only partly because
      CuO NPs released Cu2+ in the culture media. The POD, SOD, and CAT activities of
      L. minor increased when the plants were exposed to CuO NPs, bulk CuO NPs and two
      times the concentration of Cu2+ released from CuO NPs in culture media, but the
      increase of these enzymes were the highest in CuO NPs media among the three kinds
      of materials. The MDA content was significantly increased compared with that of
      the control from 50 mg L-1 CuO NP concentration in culture media. CONCLUSION: CuO
      NPs has more toxicity on L. minor compared with that of bulk CuO, and the
      inhibition occurred only partly because released Cu2+ in the culture media. The
      plant accumulated more reactive oxygen species in the CuO NP media than in the
      same concentration of bulk CuO. The plant cell encountered serious damage when
      the CuO NP concentration reached 50 mg L-1 in culture media. The toxicology of
      CuO NP on hydrophytes must be considered because that hydrophytes are the basic
      of aquatic ecosystem.

PMID- 28597417
TI  - Elevation gradient of soil bacterial communities in bamboo plantations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Elevation trends of macro organisms have long been well studied.
      However, whether microbes also exhibit such patterns of elevation change is
      unknown. Here, we investigated the changes in bamboo forest soil bacterial
      communities along six elevation gradients, from 600 to 1800 m a.s.l. in Mt. Da
      an, a subtropical montane area in Nantou county at central Taiwan. RESULTS: Data
      from 16S rRNA gene clone libraries revealed that more than 70 % of the six
      communities contained Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria, although the relative
      abundance differed. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis of the
      distribution of operational taxonomic units showed differences in bamboo soil
      bacterial communities across gradients. The bacterial communities at 1000 and
      1200 m showed greater diversity than the communities at both lower (600 and 800
      m) and higher (1400 and 1800 m) elevations. In contrast to the bacterial
      community trend, soil C and N and microbial biomass properties increased linearly
      with elevation. CONCLUSION: The bamboo soil bacterial community could interact
      with multiple factors such as soil organic matter content and temperature, for
      differences in composition and diversity with change in elevation.

PMID- 28597418
TI  - Influence of LED light spectra on in vitro somatic embryogenesis and LC-MS
      analysis of chlorogenic acid and rutin in Peucedanum japonicum Thunb.: a
      medicinal herb.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peucedanum japonicum Thunb, an important medicinal herb is reported
      to possess pharmacological properties such as anti-obesity, anti-oxidant, anti
      inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic and anti-platelet aggregation. The
      present study aimed to develop an in vitro plant regeneration system of P.
      japonicum via somatic embryogenesis and to analyse chlorogenic acid and rutin
      contents in a few commercially available plant products of P. japonicum in Japan
      and Taiwan markets, and tissue culture plants derived from somatic embryos.
      RESULTS: Induction of somatic embryogenesis could be achieved when root derived
      calli after three subcultures were transferred from Murashige Skoog's salts and
      vitamins (MS basal) medium with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (0.1-5
      mg/L) to a medium with abscisic acid (ABA) (0.5-4 mg/L), or exposed to eight
      different light spectra provided by light-emitting diode (LED) sources.
      Concentrations of ABA and LED light spectra had an influence on number of somatic
      embryos induced and proliferation of callus. Development of secondary somatic
      embryos and conversion of embryos to plantlets was achieved on a medium with ABA,
      or their exposure to red or blue lights in a special incubation chamber. Four
      months old tissue culture plants derived from somatic embryos showed
      significantly higher levels of chlorogenic acid (10.5 mg/g dw) compared to
      commercial product sold in Japanese market (0.55 mg/g dw). However, rutin was
      absent in tissue culture plants in contrast to commercial sample (0.33 mg/g dw).
      CONCLUSION: In this report, we describe in vitro plant regeneration system in P.
      japonicum via somatic embryogenesis and production of chlorogenic acid in tissue
      culture plants. The present study has application in further tissue culture
      propagation of elite plant material with high chlorogenic acid content, and
      identification of high yielding plants with the LC-MS method.

PMID- 28597419
TI  - Culm height development, biomass accumulation and carbon storage in an initial
      growth stage for a fast-growing moso bamboo (Phyllostachy pubescens).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to predict culm height development and
      to evaluate biomass accumulation and carbon storage in the initial growth stage
      of moso bamboos (Phyllostachys pubescens). A total of 30 bamboos were sampled
      based on their diameter at breast height (DBH). I predicted the culm heights
      daily based on the Richards growth function for these bamboo samples. After they
      reached their maximum heights, the biomass and carbon storage were determined.
      RESULTS: The results showed that the Richards function accurately simulated the
      height growth of bamboos and that the growth potential of culm heights increased
      with increasing DBH classes. In contrast, the time when the maximum growth rate
      occurred (t max ) appeared to not be influenced by DBH classes and was close to
      20 days for all DBH classes. The culms arrived at their maximum heights in about
      40 days regardless of DBH class. In addition, astonishing biomass accumulation
      and carbon storage was found during this period, and the aboveground biomass and
      carbon storage were predicted to be 3.44-17.33 and 1.58-8.04 kg culm-1 for moso
      bamboos, respectively. The allometric model was used to predict the relationships
      between DBH and aboveground biomass in this stage. CONCLUSIONS: I compared the
      biomass accumulation between this stage and the entire yield period (5 years) and
      found that the bamboos accumulated three-fourths of their biomass for the entire
      yield period in only 40 days. This revealed that biomass accumulation and carbon
      storage mainly occurs in the initial growth stage for individual moso bamboos.

PMID- 28597420
TI  - Lead heavy metal toxicity induced changes on growth and antioxidative enzymes
      level in water hyacinths [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.)].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lead (Pb) heavy metal pollution in water bodies is one of the serious
      problems across the world. This study was designed to find out the effect of Pb
      toxicity on physiological and biochemical changes in Eichhornia crassipes (water
      hyacinth) seedlings. RESULTS: The plant growth was significantly inhibited (50%)
      at 1000 mg/L Pb concentration. Accumulation of Pb was higher in root than in
      shoot tissues. The maximum level of Pb accumulation was noticed in roots (5.45%)
      followed by petiole (2.72%) and leaf tissues (0.66%). Increasing the Pb
      concentration gradually decreased the chlorophyll content. Intracellular
      distribution of Pb was also studied using SEM-EDX, where the Pb deposition was
      observed in both root and leaf tissues. MDA content increased in both the leaf
      and root tissues up to the 400 mg/L Pb treatment and slightly decreased at higher
      concentrations. The activity of antioxidative enzymes, such as APX and POX,
      positively correlated with Pb treatment, while in the case of SOD and CAT enzymes
      increased up to 800 mg/L treatment and then slightly decreased at higher
      concentration in both leaf and root tissues. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest
      that water hyacinth plants have efficient mechanism to tolerate Pb toxicity, as
      evidenced by an increased level of antioxidative enzymes. Results clearly
      indicate that water hyacinth is a feasible plant for hyperaccumulation of heavy
      metals from polluted wetlands.

PMID- 28597421
TI  - Nitrogen deficiency impacts on leaf cell and tissue structure with consequences
      for senescence associated processes in Brassica napus.
AB  - Improvement of nutrient use efficiency is a major goal for several crop plants,
      especially Brassica napus. Indeed, the low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in this
      crop results in negative economic and ecological consequences. The low NUE of
      oilseed rape is mainly due to low remobilization of nitrogen from vegetative
      parts to growing organs. Remobilization of leaf nitrogen takes place during
      senescence, a process known to strongly modify cell and tissue structure. This
      study focused on the impact of moderate N depletion, expected to induce 30 %
      reduction of seed yield, on these structural modifications. Two genotypes (Aviso
      and Express) were studied, with different tolerance of nitrogen depletion,
      evaluated through seed yield and dry mass production. Structural modifications of
      leaf cells and tissues were investigated through NMR relaxometry and light
      microscopy. Lower tolerance of N depletion was associated with higher impact on
      senescence associated structural modification pattern. The link between leaf
      structure modifications and nutrient remobilization is discussed. It is proposed
      that leaf structure monitoring during senescence through NMR device could be
      developed to select genotypes with high NUE.

PMID- 28597422
TI  - BnaABF2, a bZIP transcription factor from rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), enhances
      drought and salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abiotic stresses such as drought and salt stresses have a negative
      effect on the growth and productivity of plants. Improvement of stress tolerance
      through genetic engineering in plants has been reported in intense studies.
      Transcription factors play vital roles in plant adaptation to stresses by
      regulating expression of a great deal of target genes. A family of Arabidopsis
      basic region leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors that can recognize and
      bind to the abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive elements (ABREs) in promoter is named
      as ABRE binding factors (ABFs)/ABRE binding proteins (AREBs). They play a key
      role in the regulation of expression of downstream stress-responsive genes in ABA
      signalling. Genetic transformation of ABF/ABRE transcription factors has been
      suggested to be an effective approach for engineering stress-tolerant plants.
      However, whether the ABF/ABRE transcription factors are able to be used for
      generating stress-tolerant rapeseed plants has not yet been studied. RESULTS:
      BnaABF2, encoding a bZIP transcription factor, was cloned from rapeseed in this
      study. Subcellular localization and transactivation analyses showed that BnaABF2
      was localized to the nucleus with transactivation activity in plant cells.
      BnaABF2 gene expression was induced by drought and salt stresses and BnaABF2
      positively functions in ABA signalling during the vegetative stage.
      Overexpression of BnaABF2 was found to render drought and salt tolerance to
      Arabidopsis plants. The resistance of the BnaABF2-expressing transgenic plants to
      drought and salt stresses is due to reduced water-loss rate and expression of
      stress-responsive genes such as RD29B, RAB18 and KIN2. The expression of RD29B,
      RAB18 and KIN2 regulated by BnaABF2 is involved in an ABA-dependent stress
      signalling. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of the positive role of rapeseed BnaABF2
      in plant tolerance to drought and salt provides evidence for ability of
      engineering stress-tolerant rapeseed plants by genetic transformation of BnaABF2.

PMID- 28597423
TI  - Illumina-based transcriptomic profiling of Panax notoginseng in response to
      arsenic stress.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Panax notoginseng, a famous herbal medicine, has recently attracted
      great attention on its safety and quality since P. notoginseng can accumulate and
      tolerate As from growing environment. For the purpose of understanding As damage
      to the quality of P. notoginseng as well as corresponding tolerance mechanisms,
      genes involved in As stress response were identified using Illumina sequencing.
      RESULTS: Totally 91,979,946 clean reads were generated and were de novo assembled
      into 172,355 unigenes. A total of 81,575 unigenes were annotated in at least one
      database for their functions, accounting for 47.34 %. By comparative analysis,
      1725 differentially expressed genes (DEGs, 763 up-regulated/962 down-regulated)
      were identified between As stressed plant (HAs) and control plant (CK), among
      which 20 DEGs were further validated by real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). In
      the upstream and downstream steps of biosynthesis pathways of ginsenosides and
      flavonoids, 7 genes encoding key enzymes were down-regulated in HAs. Such down
      regulations were also revealed in pathway enrichment analysis. Genes encoding
      transporters (transporters of ABC, MATE, sugar, oligopeptide, nitrate), genes
      related to hormone metabolism (ethylene, ABA, cytokinin) and genes related to
      arsenic accumulation (HXT, NRAMP, MT and GRX) were differentially expressed. The
      up-regulated genes included those of oxidative stress-related protein (GSTs,
      thioredoxin), transcription factors (HSFs, MYBs) and molecular chaperones (HSP).
      CONCLUSIONS: The down-regulation of biosynthesis of ginsenoside and flavonoid
      indicated that As accumulation in P. notoginseng can cause not only safety
      hazard, but also qualitative losses. Aside from the results of arsenic content of
      seedling roots, the ability of P. notoginseng to over-accumulate arsenic can also
      be explained by the differential expression of genes of HXT, NRAMP, MT and GRX.
      To illustrate the detoxification mechanism of P. notoginseng, differential
      expression of genes encoding oxidative-related proteins, transcription factors,
      molecular chaperones, transporters and hormone were revealed in our study, which
      agreed with those reported in Arabidopsis to a certain extent, indicating P.
      notoginseng and Arabidopsis shared some common detoxification mechanisms in
      response to As stress. The longer As treatment in our study may account for the
      smaller quantity of related DEGs and smaller degree of expression differences of
      certain DEGs compared with those of Arabidopsis.

PMID- 28597424
TI  - Endocarps of menispermaceous plants in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fruits of the family Menispermaceae are drupes, and because the
      drupe endocarps are morphologically diverse, they are generally used to classify
      members of this family. There is a lack of detailed knowledge of Menispermaceae
      endocarps in Taiwan. Therefore, in this study, the endocarps of seven genera and
      14 species were dissected, and their morphological characters were photographed
      and described. Furthermore, a key for the 14 species based on the endocarps
      features, as well as a key of the studied genera, is proposed. RESULTS: The
      endocarp types comprise a straight shape in Tinospora dentata Diels and a
      horseshoe shape in the other 13 species. In general, the genus Cyclea bears two
      dorsal crests with 16 small spines, although there are about 25 spines in Cyclea
      insularis (Makino) Hatusima. The genus Cocculus has a dorsal convex endocarp with
      a subannular. In Taiwan, the endocarp of Sinomenium acutum (Thunb.) Rehder & E.
      H. Wilson has up to 26 transverse ridges, without spines on the crest and might
      be categorized under the genus Menispermum. Transverse endocarp ridges are found
      in Stephania cephalantha Hayata and Stephania tetrandra S. Moore, whereas
      transverse endocarp strips are found in Stephania japonica (Thunb.) Miers,
      Stephania longa Lour. and Stephania merrillii Diels. CONCLUSION: We believe that
      the descriptions and photographs of the endocarp traits of T. dentata, which is
      endemic to Taiwan, will provide more evidence for further studies on extant and
      fossil species.

PMID- 28597425
TI  - Virus-induced plasma membrane aquaporin PsPIP2;1 silencing inhibits plant water
      transport of Pisum sativum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aquaporins (AQPs) are known to facilitate water transport across cell
      membranes, but the role of a single AQP in regulating plant water transport,
      particularly in plants other than Arabidopsis remains largely unexplored. In the
      present study, a virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique was employed to
      suppress the expression of a specific plasma membrane aquaporin PsPIP2;1 of Pea
      plants (Pisum sativum), and subsequent effects of the gene suppression on root
      hydraulic conductivity (Lpr), leaf hydraulic conductivity (K leaf ), root cell
      hydraulic conductivity (Lprc), and leaf cell hydraulic conductivity (Lplc) were
      investigated, using hydroponically grown Pea plants. RESULTS: Compared with
      control plants, VIGS-PsPIP2;1 plants displayed a significant suppression of
      PsPIP2;1 in both roots and leaves, while the expression of other four PIP
      isoforms (PsPIP1;1, PsPIP1;2, PsPIP2;2, and PsPIP2;3) that were simultaneously
      monitored were not altered. As a consequence, significant declines in water
      transport of VIGS-PsPIP2;1 plants were observed at both organ and cell levels,
      i.e., as compared to control plants, Lpr and K leaf were reduced by 29 %, and
      Lprc and Lplc were reduced by 20 and 29 %, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results
      demonstrate that PsPIP2;1 alone contributes substantially to root and leaf water
      transport in Pea plants, and highlight VIGS a useful tool for investigating the
      role of a single AQP in regulating plant water transport.

PMID- 28597426
TI  - Anti-hepatitis, antioxidant activities and bioactive compounds of Dracocephalum
      heterophyllum extracts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dracocephalum heterophyllum was a traditional Tibetan medicine
      possesses various pharmacological effects involved in anti-inflammatory,
      antibacterial activities. However, its anti-hepatitis, antioxidant activity and
      bioactive compounds have not been reported, the objective of this research work
      was to investigate the pharmacological activity and bioactive compounds of D.
      heterophyllum extracts. RESULTS: In the present study, the anti-hepatics and
      antioxidant activities of four D. heterophyllum extracts (i.e. petroleum ether
      extracts, ethyl acetate extracts, n-BuOH extracts, and water extracts) were
      conducted. The main chemical constituent of petroleum ether and ethyl acetate
      extracts were also isolated using chromatographic techniques and identified by
      NMR spectroscopic methods. The anti-hepatitis assay showed that the petroleum
      ether and ethyl acetate extracts of D. heterophyllum significantly prolonged the
      mean survival times and reduced the mortality of mouse hepatitis model induced by
      concanavalin A (ConA). The levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase
      in blood serum could be decreased obviously by ethyl acetate extracts compared
      with ConA group (P < 0.01). The histological analysis demonstrated that the ethyl
      acetate extracts could inhibit apoptosis and necrosis caused by ConA. In
      addition, the antioxidant activities of the four extracts of D. heterophyllum
      were measured by DPPH assay, ABTS assay, anti-lipidperoxidation assay, ferric
      reducing antioxidant power assay, ferrous metal ions chelating assay and
      determination of total phenolic contents. The results showed that the ethyl
      acetate extract had the highest antioxidant activities, followed by petroleum
      ether extract. Finally, nine mainly compounds were isolated from the Petroleum
      ether and ethyl acetate extracts, including four triterpenes: oleanolic acid (1),
      ursolic acid (2), pomolic acid (3), 2alpha- hydroxyl ursolic acid (4), three
      flavonoids: apigenin-7-O-rutinoside (5), luteolin (8), diosmetin (9) and two
      phenolic acids: rosmarinic acid (6), methyl rosmarinate (7). CONCLUSION: The
      Ethyl acetate extract of D. heterophyllum had the highest anti-hepatitis and
      antioxidants activities, followed by petroleum ether extract. The bioactive
      substances may be triterpenes, flavonoids and phenolic acids, the ethyl acetate
      extracts of D. heterophyllum may be possible candidates in developing anti
      hepatitis medicine.

PMID- 28597427
TI  - Morphological and physiological responses of Heteropogon contortus to drought
      stress in a dry-hot valley.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heteropogon contortus is a valuable pasture species that is widely
      used for vegetation restoration in dry-hot valleys of China. However, to date,
      its morphological and physiological responses to drought, and the underlying
      mechanisms are not well understood. This study was aimed to investigate the
      morphological and physiological changes of H. contortus under drought stress
      during the dry-hot season. Heteropogon contortus was planted in pots and
      subjected to four levels of soil water treatments: above 85 % (control), 70-75 %
      (light stress), 55-60 % (moderate stress) or 35-40 % (severe stress) of field
      capacity. RESULTS: Within the total stress period (0-29 days), H. contortus grew
      rapidly in the light stress, whereas severe stress had a negative impact on
      growth. Aboveground biomass decreased together with increasing drought stress,
      whereas root biomass increased. Consequently, the root/shoot ratio of the severe
      stress treatment increased by 80 % compared to that of the control treatment. The
      ratio of bound water/free water (BW/FW) was the most sensitive parameter to
      drought and showed a value under severe stress that was 152.83 % more than that
      in the control treatment. Although leaf water potential (LWP) and leaf relative
      water content (RWC) decreased with progressive water stress, H. contortus managed
      to maintain a relatively high RWC (nearly 70 %) in the severe stress condition.
      We also detected a significant reduction (below 0.6) in the ratio of variable
      fluorescence/maximum fluorescence (Fv/Fm) in the severe stress treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that H. contortus adapts to drought mainly by
      avoidance mechanisms, and its morphological and physiological characteristics are
      inhibited under severe stress, but can recover at a certain time after re
      watering. These findings might help limited water resources to be fully used for
      vegetation management in the studied region.

PMID- 28597428
TI  - Mapping quantitative trait loci for fruit traits and powdery mildew resistance in
      melon (Cucumis melo).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fruit characters affect consumer preferences and the market value of
      melons is determined by fruit quality. Most fruit quality-related traits are
      controlled by multiple genes, and are influenced by environmental factors.
      Furthermore, powdery mildew is another limiting factor in melon production. To
      develop new melon cultivars with disease resistance and high quality fruits using
      the molecular marker-assisted breeding strategy, identification of quantitative
      trait loci for fruit quality and disease resistance is required. RESULTS: The F2
      populations from the cross of TARI-08874 (Cucumis melo ssp. melo) and 'Bai-li
      gua' (C. melo ssp. agrestis) were used to map the quantitative trait loci (QTLs)
      for fruit-related traits and powdery mildew resistance in two trials. All traits
      were significantly different (P < 0.05) between parents. The generated linkage
      map consisted of twelve major linkage groups (LGs), spanning 626.1 cM in total,
      with an average distance of 8.3 cM between flanking markers. Nineteen QTLs were
      detected for seven melon traits, among which ten QTLs were localized to the same
      positions as the corresponding QTLs described in other studies. Four of these
      QTLs were detected in both trials. The results of identified QTLs in this study
      suggested that fruit size in the tested populations were mainly determined by
      fruit diameter and flesh thickness. All of the major QTLs for fruit diameter and
      flesh thickness were identified on LG5 and LG11. Four QTLs identified responsible
      for netting width of fruit rind were co-localized with the QTLs for netting
      density, suggesting similar genetic mechanisms affecting these two traits.
      Additionally, only one major QTL for powdery mildew resistance was detected on
      LG2, and it was closely linked to a simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker CMBR120
      which was identified in a previous study. CONCLUSION: Because the netting feature
      is a crucial factor for external appearance of fruits in Asia market, we focus on
      mining the genetic information of fruit netting. This is the first report of QTL
      mapping to netting width. Furthermore, new QTLs were identified for netting
      density (qND4, qND6, and qND7) and netting width (qNW2, qNW4, qNW6, and qNW7)
      successfully. In addition, novel QTLs for fruit diameter (qFD5), flesh thickness
      (qFT11) were also detected.

PMID- 28597429
TI  - Embryology of two mycoheterotrophic orchid species, Gastrodia elata and Gastrodia
      nantoensis: ovule and embryo development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrodia elata, a famous herbal medicine, has been received great
      attention on its treatments of headache, vertigo and epilepsy. Gastrodia
      nantoensis is a newly described species from central Taiwan with potential
      medicinal value. Gastrodia species are fully mycoheterotrophic orchids, and the
      courses of their seed development are more rapid as compared to the
      chlorophyllous orchids. A better understanding of their reproductive biology
      would provide insights into the propagation and conservation of the
      mycoheterotrophic orchid species. RESULTS: Based on the histological and
      histochemical investigations, we observed some notable features in ovule and
      embryo development. First, only the archesporial cell and/or megasporocyte are
      present within their ovaries at the time of anthesis. Second, their suspensors
      consist of a single cell and their mature embryos consist of a gradient of small
      to large cells. Nile red staining of a globular embryo reveals the presence of
      cuticular material in the surface wall of embryo proper and the lateral walls of
      suspensor cell, indicating that the basal wall of suspensor cell is the major
      route for nutrient supply from maternal tissues to embryo proper. Third, their
      seed coats are derived from a single integument, and lignin but not cuticular
      material is present in the outer most layer of seed coat and persists through
      seed maturation. CONCLUSIONS: The faster seed development of Gastrodia species is
      due to the speedy courses of ovule and embryo development. In the mature seeds,
      the presence of a differentiated apical zone in embryo proper suggests the easy
      to-germinate character. This study provides basic knowledge for further molecular
      studies on embryo development and symbiotic germination of Gastrodia species.

PMID- 28597430
TI  - Identification of drought stress related proteins from 1Sl(1B) chromosome
      substitution line of wheat variety Chinese Spring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wheat, one of the most important crops, has a detrimental effect on
      both yield and quality under drought stress. As our preliminary experiment showed
      that the Chinese Spring wheat-Aegilops longissima chromosome substitution line CS
      1Sl (1B) had a better drought tolerance than CS, the substitution line CS-1Sl(1B)
      was used to identify drought stress related proteins by means of a comparative
      proteome approach in this work. Our present study aimed to explore the gene
      resources for drought resistance in 1Sl genome. RESULT: Our results showed that
      drought stress induced downregulation of relative water and chlorophyll contents
      and the upregulation of proline content, and further influencing grain filling
      shortening and significant decrease of plant height, B-type starch granule
      numbers, grain number and weight. In total, 25 grain albumin and globulin protein
      spots were found to be specifically encoded by the 1Sl chromosome. In addition,
      17 protein spots respected 13 unique proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF
      MS, which were mainly involved in adverse defense and gluten quality. Among them,
      ascorbate peroxidase, serpin-Z2B and alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor were
      upregulated under drought stress. These proteins play important roles in plant
      drought defenses through various metabolic pathways. CONCLUSION: Our results
      indicate that the 1Sl chromosome of Aegilops longissima has potential gene
      resources that could be useful for improving wheat drought resistance.

PMID- 28597431
TI  - Antioxidant responses and photosynthetic behaviors of Kappaphycus alvarezii and
      Kappaphycus striatum (Rhodophyta, Solieriaceae) during low temperature stress.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kappaphycus are farmed in tropical countries as raw material for
      carrageenan, which is widely used in food industry. The sea area available for
      farming is one limiting factor in the production of seaweeds. Though cultivation
      is spreading into subtropical regions, the lower seawater temperature is an
      important problem encountered in subtropical regions for the farming of
      Kappaphycus. This research of physiological response to low temperature stress
      will be helpful for screening Kappaphycus strains for growth in a lower
      temperature environment. RESULTS: Responses of antioxidant systems and
      photosystem II (PSII) behaviors in Kappaphycus alvarezii and Kappaphycus striatum
      were evaluated during low temperature treatments (23, 20, 17  degrees C).
      Compared with the controls at 26  degrees C, the H2O2 concentrations increased in
      both species when the thalli were exposed to low temperatures (23, 20, 17 
      degrees C), but these increases were much greater in K. striatum than in K.
      alvarezii thalli, suggesting that K. striatum suffered more oxidative stress. The
      activities of some important antioxidant enzymes (e.g. superoxide dismutase and
      ascorbate peroxidase) and the hydroxyl free radical scavenging capacity were
      substantially higher at 23, 20 and 17  degrees C than at the control 26  degrees
      C in K. alvarezii, indicating that the antioxidant system of K. alvarezii
      enhanced its resistance to low temperature. However, no significant increases of
      antioxidant enzymes activities were observed at 20 and 17  degrees C in K.
      striatum. In addition, both the maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry (FV/Fm)
      and the performance index (PIABS) decreased significantly in K. striatum at 23 
      degrees C, indicating that the photosynthetic apparatus was damaged at 23 
      degrees C. In contrast, no significant decreases of either FV/Fm or PIABS were
      observed in K. alvarezii at 23  degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that K.
      alvarezii has greater tolerance to low temperature than K. striatum.

PMID- 28597432
TI  - Harpin Hpa1 promotes flower development in Impatiens and Parochetus plants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The harpin protein Hpa1 has multiple beneficial effects in plants,
      promoting plant growth and development, increasing crop yield, and inducing plant
      resistance to pathogens and insect pests. In these effects, the 10-40 residue
      fragment (Hpa110-42) isolated from the Hpa1 sequence is 1.3 to 7.5-fold more
      effective than the full length. RESULTS: This study extends the beneficial
      effects of Hpa1 and Hpa110-42 to flower development in three species of the
      garden balsam Impatiens and the garden scoparius Parochetus communis plant. The
      external application of Hpa1 or Hpa110-42 to the four ornamental plants had three
      effects, i.e., promoting flower growth, retarding senescence of fully expanded
      flowers, and increasing anthocyanin concentrations in those flowers and therefore
      improving their ornamental visages. Based on quantitative comparisons, Hpa110-42
      was at least 17 and 42 % more effective than Hpa1 to increase anthocyanin
      concentrations and to promote the growth of flowers or delay their senescence.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that Hpa1 and especially Hpa110-42 have a great
      potential of horticultural application to increase ornamental merits of the
      different garden plants.

PMID- 28597433
TI  - Interspecific associations of dominant tree populations in a virgin old-growth
      oak forest in the Qinling Mountains, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Understanding interspecific associations in old-growth forests will
      help to reveal mechanisms of interspecific replacement in the process of forest
      development and provide a theoretical basis for vegetation restoration and
      reestablishment. In this study, we analyzed interspecific associations of eleven
      dominant tree populations of varying development stages in an old-growth oak
      forest stand in the Qinling Mountains, China. We examined overall interspecific
      associations (multiple species) and pairwise interspecific associations (two
      species). RESULTS: Interspecific competition was intense during forest
      development and was the main factor driving succession. Community structure
      appears to become more stable over time which supports the harsh-benign
      hypothesis that interspecific competition is more common in stable sites.
      CONCLUSION: Old growth oak (Quercus spp.) forests are distributed widely around
      the world in part due to oak being a typical K-selected species. K-selected
      species produce fewer, high-quality offspring with higher survival rates, strong
      competitive ability, and longevity. The resulting distribution shifted from
      clumped to random, likely as a result of intense interspecific competition
      creating ecological niche differentiation.

PMID- 28597434
TI  - Ectopic expression of Lc differentially regulated anthocyanin biosynthesis in the
      floral parts of tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum L.) plants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anthocyanins are the conspicuous pigments of flowering plants and
      participate in several aspects of plant development and defense, such as seeds
      and pollens dispersal. Leaf colour (Lc) is the first basic/helix-loop-helix
      (bHLH) transcription factor controlling anthocyanin biosynthesis isolated from
      maize (Zea mays L.). Ectopic expression of maize Lc enhanced anthocyanin
      biosynthesis in many plants including tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum L.). However,
      the molecular regulatory mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis in the different
      floral parts of tobacco remains largely unknown. Therefore, the molecular and
      biochemical characterization of anthocyanin biosynthesis were investigated in the
      flowers of both wild type and Lc-transgenic tobacco plants. RESULTS: At the
      reproductive stage, with respect to the different parts of the flowers in wild
      type SR1, the calyxes and the pistils were green, and the petals and the
      filaments showed light pink pigmentation; the Lc-transgenic tobacco exhibited
      light red in calyxes and crimson in petals and in filaments respectively.
      Correspondingly, the total anthocyanin contents (TAC) in calyxes, petals and
      filaments of Lc-transgenic plants were much higher than that of the counterparts
      in SR1. Though the TAC in anthers of Lc-transgenic plants was low, it was still
      significantly higher than that of SR1. SR1 has almost the same TAC in the pistils
      as Lc-transgenic plants. Consistent with the intense phenotype and the increased
      TAC, Lc was weakly expressed in the calyxes and strongly expressed in petals and
      filaments of Lc-transgenic plants, while Lc was not detected in SR1. The
      expression level of NtAN2 in petals was similar between SR1 and Lc-transgenic
      lines. In agreement with the expression profile of Lc, both early (NtCHS) and
      late anthocyanin-biosynthetic genes (NtDFR, NtF3'H, and NtANS) were coordinately
      up-regulated in the counterparts of flowers. HPLC analysis demonstrated that the
      cyanidin (Cya) deposition was mainly responsible for the intense pigmentation of
      Lc-transgenic tobacco. CONCLUSIONS: Ectopic expression of Lc greatly enhanced
      both early- and late- anthocyanin-biosynthetic gene expression, and therefore
      resulted in the Cya-based TAC increase in the calyxes, the filaments and the
      petals in tobacco plants.

PMID- 28597435
TI  - Micro-morphological study of Evolvulus spp. (Convolvulaceae): the old world
      medicinal plants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several medicinal properties have been reported for plants in the
      genus Evolvulus, such as a brain tonic and antifungal from Evolvulus alsinoides,
      and a sedative and an anthelmintic from Evolvulus nummularius. Therefore, the
      correct identification of the source plants is critically important. The aim of
      this research was to investigate the micromorphology of two Evolvulus taxa used
      for herbal medicines compared with one worldwide ornamental species by using
      peeling, paraffin embedding, acetolysis, and SEM methods in order to support
      species identification. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that all taxa share
      several common features, such as a single layer of epidermis on both sides of
      leaf surfaces, sinuous anticlinal epidermal cell walls, anomocytic, paracytic or
      laterocytic stomata, and capitate glandular trichomes. Y-shaped hairs were found
      in two species but not in E. nummularius. Similarly, isobilateral mesophyll
      occurs in both E. alsinoides and Evolvulus glomeratus, but a dorsiventral
      mesophyll is present in E. nummularius. Stems consist of a single layer of
      epidermis, one to four chlorenchyma layers, one to seven layers of cortical cells
      and a bicollateral bundle with pith in the center. The seed coat epidermal cell
      shapes were irregular or polygonal with raised and undulated anticlinal
      boundaries, and folded or flattened to concave periclinal walls. Pollens of all
      taxa are monads, spheroidally shaped with 28-47 um diameter, and 15-pantocolpate
      apertures type with microechinate ornamentation. CONCLUSIONS: An identification
      key to species is constructed based on leaf anatomy and seed coat characters.
      This data can be used in other subjects such as pharmaceutical botany, organic
      chemistry, taxonomy and horticulture, in terms of species identification.

PMID- 28597436
TI  - Activity and expression of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase during rhizome formation
      in lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lotus root is a traditional and popular aquatic vegetable in China.
      Starch is an important component of the rhizome and directly affects the quality
      of processed products. ADP -glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) is a rate-limiting
      enzyme associated with starch biosynthesis in plants. Therefore, in the present
      study, AGPase activity and NnAGP expression during rhizome development of lotus
      were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 15 cultivars analyzed, the contents of amylose and
      total starch in the rhizome were highest in 'Mei Ren Hong'. 'Su Zhou' and 'Zhen
      Zhu' showed the lowest amylose, amylopectin and total starch contents. In the
      rhizome, activity of AGPase was highest at the middle swelling stage of
      development, and higher activity was observed in the 'Hou ba' leaf and
      terminational leaf at the same stage. Three AGPase genes, comprising two large
      subunit genes (NnAGPL1 and NnAGPL2) and one small subunit gene (NnAGPS), were
      isolated and identified. The deduced amino acid sequences showed 40.5 %
      similarity among the three genes. Full-length genomic DNA sequences of NnAGPL1,
      NnAGPL2, and NnAGPS were 4841, 11,346 and 4169 bp, respectively. Analysis of the
      temporal and spatial expression patterns revealed that the transcription levels
      of NnAGPL1 and NnAGPS were higher in the rhizome, followed by the 'Hou ba' leaf,
      whereas NnAGPL2 was significantly detected in the 'Hou ba' leaf and terminational
      leaf. The initial swelling stage of rhizome development was accompanied by the
      highest accumulation of mRNAs of NnAGPL1, whereas expression of NnAGPL2 was not
      detected during rhizome development. The transcript level of NnAGPS was highest
      at the initial swelling stage compared with the other rhizome developmental
      stages. Transcription of NnAGPL1, NnAGPL2, and NnAGPS was induced within 24 h
      after treatment with exogenous sucrose. The mRNA level of NnAGPL1 and NnAGPS was
      increased by exogenous ABA, whereas transcription of NnAGPL2 was not affected by
      ABA. CONCLUSIONS: The three AGPase genes display marked differences in spatial
      and temporal expression patterns. Regulation of AGPase in relation to starch
      synthesis in lotus is indicated to be complex.

PMID- 28597437
TI  - Salt tolerance of a wild ecotype of vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) in
      southern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) is widely used in more than
      120 countries for land management (e.g. rehabilitation of saline lands). A wild
      ecotype of vetiver grass was found in southern China in the 1950s, but little is
      known about its adaptability to saline stress. For the purpose of understanding
      its tolerance to salinity as well as corresponding tolerance mechanisms, in a
      greenhouse with natural lighting, seedlings were grown in culture solutions and
      subjected to a range of NaCl concentrations for 18 days. RESULTS: Compared to no
      NaCl treatment, 200 mM NaCl significantly reduced leaf water potential, leaf
      water content, leaf elongation rate, leaf photosynthetic rate and plant relative
      growth rate and increased leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content, but the parameters
      showed only slight reduction at 150 mM NaCl. In addition, salinity caused an
      increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes in leaves. Moreover, increasing
      NaCl levels significantly increased Na+ but decreased K+ concentrations in both
      roots and leaves. The leaves had higher K+ concentrations at all NaCl levels, but
      lower Na+ concentrations compared to the roots, thereby maintaining higher K+/Na+
      ratio in leaves. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the salinity threshold of
      this wild vetiver grass is about 100 mM NaCl, i.e. highly tolerant to salt
      stress. This wild vetiver grass has a high ability to exclude Na+ and retain K+
      in its leaves, which is a critical strategy for salt tolerance.

PMID- 28597439
TI  - Erratum to: Micro-morphological study of Evolvulus spp. (Convolvulaceae): the old
      world medicinal plants.

PMID- 28597438
TI  - Effect of light regime and provenance on leaf characteristics, growth and
      flavonoid accumulation in Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja coppices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As a highly valued and multiple function tree species, Cyclocarya
      paliurus is planted and managed for timber production and medical use. However,
      limited information is available on its genotype selection and cultivation for
      growth and phytochemicals. Responses of growth and secondary metabolites to light
      regimes and genotypes are useful information to determine suitable habitat
      conditions for the cultivation of medicinal plants. RESULTS: Both light regime
      and provenance significantly affected the leaf characteristics, leaf flavonoid
      contents, biomass production and flavonoid accumulation per plant. Leaf
      thickness, length of palisade cells and chlorophyll a/b decreased significantly
      under shading conditions, while leaf areas and total chlorophyll content
      increased obviously. In the full light condition, leaf flavonoid contents showed
      a bimodal temporal variation pattern with the maximum observed in August and the
      second peak in October, while shading treatment not only reduced the leaf content
      of flavonoids but also delayed the peak appearing of the flavonoid contents in
      the leaves of C. paliurus. Strong correlations were found between leaf thickness,
      palisade length, monthly light intensity and measured flavonoid contents in the
      leaves of C. paliurus. Muchuan provenance with full light achieved the highest
      leaf biomass and flavonoid accumulation per plant. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclocarya
      paliurus genotypes show diverse responses to different light regimes in leaf
      characteristics, biomass production and flavonoid accumulation, highlighting the
      opportunity for extensive selection in the leaf flavonoid production.

PMID- 28597440
TI  - Efficient and heritable transformation of Phalaenopsis orchids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phalaenopsis orchid (Phal. orchid) is visually attractive and it is
      important economic floriculture species. Phal. orchids have many unique
      biological features. However, investigation of these features and validation on
      their biological functions are limited due to the lack of an efficient
      transformation method. RESULTS: We developed a heritable and efficient
      Agrobacterium- mediated transformation using protocorms derived from tetraploid
      or diploid Phal. orchids. A T-DNA vector construct containing eGFP driven by
      ubiquitin promoter was subjected to transformation. An approximate 1.2-5.2 %
      transformation rate was achieved. Genomic PCR confirmed that hygromycin selection
      marker, HptII gene and target gene eGFP were integrated into the orchid genome.
      Southern blotting indicated a low T-DNA insertion number in the orchid genome of
      the transformants. Western blot confirmed the expression of eGFP protein in the
      transgenic orchids. Furthermore, the GFP signal was detected in the transgenic
      orchids under microscopy. After backcrossing the pollinia of the transgenic
      plants to four different Phal. orchid varieties, the BC1 progenies showed
      hygromycin resistance and all surviving BC1 seedlings were HptII positive in PCR
      and expressed GFP protein as shown by western blot. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated a stable transformation system was generated for Phal. orchids. This
      useful transformation protocol enables functional genomics studies and molecular
      breeding.

PMID- 28597441
TI  - Accumulation of catechins and expression of catechin synthetic genes in Camellia
      sinensis at different developmental stages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catechins are the main polyphenol compounds in tea (Camellia
      sinensis). To understand the relationship between gene expression and product
      accumulation, the levels of catechins and relative expressions of key genes in
      tea leaves of different developmental stages were analyzed. RESULTS: The amounts
      of catechins differed significantly in leaves of different stages, except for
      gallocatechin gallate. Close correlations between the expression of synthesis
      genes and the accumulation of catechins were identified. Correlation analysis
      showed that the expressions of chalcone synthase 1, chalcone synthase 3,
      anthocyanidin reductase 1, anthocyanidin reductase 2 and leucoanthocyanidin
      reductase genes were significantly and positively correlated with total catechin
      contents, suggesting their expression may largely affect total catechin
      accumulation. Anthocyanidin synthase was significantly correlated with catechin.
      While both ANRs and LAR were significantly and positively correlated with the
      contents of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate and (-)-epicatechin gallate. CONCLUSION:
      Our results suggest synergistic changes between the expression of synthetic genes
      and the accumulation of catechins. Based on our findings, anthocyanidin synthase
      may regulate earlier steps in the conversion of catechin, while the anthocyanidin
      reductase and leucoanthocyanidin reductase genes may both play important roles in
      the biosynthesis of galloylated catechins.

PMID- 28597442
TI  - Effects of adjacent land-use types on the distribution of soil organic carbon
      stocks in the montane area of central Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks can be altered through reforestation
      and cropping. We estimated the effects of land use on SOC stocks after natural
      deciduous forests replaced by crops and coniferous plantations by examining the
      vertical distribution of SOC stocks at different depth intervals in an adjacent
      Oolong tea (Camellia sinensis L.) plantation, Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys
      pubescens) forest, Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) forest, and Taiwania
      (Taiwania cryptomerioides) forest in central Taiwan. The main soil
      characteristics, soil nitrogen (N) content, and soil carbon to nitrogen (C/N)
      ratio were also determined. RESULTS: Different land uses resulted in
      significantly higher bulk density, lower cation exchange capacity, SOC, soil N,
      soil C/N ratio, and SOC stocks in croplands compared to forestlands. Due to the
      long-term application of chemical fertilizers, a significantly lower soil pH was
      found in the tea plantation. Croplands had a lower soil C/N ratio because of less
      C input into the soil and a higher mineralization rate of organic carbon during
      cultivation. Similar SOC stocks were found in Taiwania and Japanese cedar forests
      (148.5 and 151.8 Mg C ha-1, respectively), while the tea plantation had
      comparable SOC stocks to the bamboo forest (101.8 and 100.5 Mg C ha-1,
      respectively). Over 40% of SOC stocks was stored in croplands and over 56% was
      stored in forestland within the upper 10 cm of soil. CONCLUSIONS: Coniferous
      plantations can contribute to a higher SOC stock than croplands, and a
      significant difference can be found in the top 0-5 cm of soil.

PMID- 28597443
TI  - Phenologic variation of major triterpenoids in regular and white Antrodia
      cinnamomea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antrodia cinnamomea and its host Cinnamomum kanehirae are both
      endemic species unique to Taiwan. Many studies have confirmed that A. cinnamomea
      is rich in polysaccharides and triterpenoids that may carry medicinal effects in
      anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, anti-hypertension, and anti-oxidation. Therefore
      it is of interest to study the chemical variation of regular orange-red strains
      and white strains, which included naturally occurring and blue-light induced
      white A. cinnamomea. RESULTS: The chemical profiles of A. cinnamomea extracts at
      different growth stages were compared using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and
      high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The TLC and HPLC profiles
      indicated that specific triterpenoids varied between white and regular strains.
      Moreover, the compounds of blue-light induced white strain were similar to those
      of naturally occurring white strain but retained specific chemical
      characteristics in more polar region of the HPLC chromatogram of regular strain.
      CONCLUSIONS: Blue-light radiation could change color of the regular A. cinnamomea
      from orange-red to white by changing its secondary metabolism and growth
      condition. Naturally occurring white strain did not show a significantly
      different composition of triterpenoid profiles up to eight weeks old when
      compared with the triterpenoid profiles of the regular strain at the same age.
      The ergostane-type triterpenoids were found existing in both young mycelia and
      old mycelia with fruiting body in artificial agar-plate medium culture,
      suggesting a more diversified biosynthetic pathway in artificial agar-plate
      culture rather than wild or submerged culture.

PMID- 28597444
TI  - Endoreduplication as a part of flower ontogeny in Trifolium pratense cultivars.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoreduplication appears in numerous plant species and plays a vital
      role during ontogeny. The presence of polyploid cells in an otherwise diploid
      organism is tied specifically to the taxonomy, ecology and physiology of the
      studied specimen. Little is known about the changes in endopolyploidy levels of
      floral organs during their development. In order to uncover the workings of
      endoreduplication in polysomatic species, our study examines flowers of T.
      pratense in three ontogenetic stages by means of flow cytometry. RESULTS:
      Cultivar 'Manuela' is characterized by the presence of 2C-8C and 'Dajana' 2C-16C
      nuclei. In general, the frequencies of nuclei only slightly changed during
      development. Endopolyploidy levels represented by endoreduplication index (EI) in
      the 'Manuela' sepals and stamens showed statistical differences between young and
      old stages, other organs of both cultivars between stages are not statistically
      different. Significant differences between 'Manuela' and 'Dajana' cultivars were
      found only in sepals of I. stage, and in petals and carpels of III. stage.
      Cultivars showed a similar pattern of endopolyploidy. However, a considerable
      decrease in EI 'Manuela' petals and carpels at III. stage was detected as opposed
      to 'Dajana'. Overall, a higher endoreduplication index is distinctive for organs
      of the 'Dajana' cultivar. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we prove the permanent
      presence of endopolyploid cells in the floral organs of T. pratense throughout
      their development.

PMID- 28597445
TI  - Developmental program impacts phenological plasticity of spring wheat under
      drought.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developing drought-tolerant crops critically depends on the efficient
      response of a genotype to the limited water availability, a trait known as
      phenological plasticity. Our understanding of the phenological plasticity remains
      limited, in particular, about its relationships with plant developmental program.
      Here, we examined the plastic response of spring wheat at tillering, booting,
      heading, and anthesis stages to constant or periodic drought stress. The response
      was assessed by morphological and physiological parameters including symptoms.
      RESULTS: The dynamics of morphological symptoms were indicators of the plasticity
      identification of drought. We found that spring wheat exhibits higher
      phenological plasticity during tillering stage followed by the heading stage,
      while booting and anthesis stages are the most sensitive. Also, the adaptive
      response is thought to be influenced with the plant height genes. Furthermore,
      periodic stress caused more pronounced inhibition of yield than the constant
      stress, with limited resistance resolution under long period. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study shows the importance of considering the phenological plasticity in
      designing screens for drought tolerance in spring wheat and proposes tillering as
      the most informative stage for capturing genotypes with tolerance to limit water
      availability.

PMID- 28597446
TI  - Ontogenetic characterization of sporangium and spore of Huperzia serrata: an anti
      aging disease fern.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Huperzia serrata is a medicinal plant used in Traditional Chinese
      Medicine, which has been used to prevent against aging diseases. It is mainly
      propagated by spores and grows extremely slowly. Due to severe harvest, it is a
      highly endangered species. In this report, we characterize ontogenesis of
      sporangia and spores that are associated with propagation. A wild population of
      H. serrata plants is localized in western Hunan province, China and protected by
      Chinese Government to study its development (e.g. sporangia and spores) and
      ecology. Both field and microscopic observations were conducted for a few of
      years. RESULTS: The development of sporangia from their initiation to maturation
      took nearly 1 year. Microscopic observations showed that the sporangial walls
      were developed from epidermal cells via initiation, cell division, and
      maturation. The structure of the mature sporangial wall is composed of one layer
      of epidermis, two middle layers of cells, and one layer of tapetum. Therefore,
      the sporangium is the eusporangium type. Spore development is characterized into
      six stages, initiation from epidermal cell and formation of sporogenous cells,
      primary sporogenous cell, secondary sporogenous cell, spore mother cell, tetrad,
      and maturation. CONCLUSION: The sporangial development of H. serrata belongs to
      the eusporangium type. The development takes approximately 1 year period from the
      initiation to the maturation. These data are useful for improving propagation of
      this medicinal plant in the future.

PMID- 28597447
TI  - Carbon dioxide assimilation and photosynthetic electron transport of tea leaves
      under nitrogen deficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tea plant is famed in humid and sub-humid of tropical regions, sub
      tropical regions, and is a leaf-harvested crop. Nitrogen is the most important
      nutrient for increasing quality of tea leaves. Therefore, large amounts of
      nitrogen fertilizer are increasingly applied by tea farmers. Appropriate
      application of nitrogen fertilizer aroused people's concern. This research of
      physiological response to N deficiency stress will be helpful for appropriate
      application of nitrogen fertilizer for tea farmers and elucidate a mechanistic
      basis for the reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) assimilation. RESULTS: To
      elucidate a mechanistic basis for the reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2)
      assimilation under nitrogen (N) deficiency tea leaves, changes in chlorophyll
      (Chl), carbohydrates, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco)
      and chlorophyll fluorescence transient were examined together with six N
      treatment (0, 50, 100, 300, 1200 or 6000 MUM N). Root, stem and leaves dry weight
      (DW) increased as N supply increased from 0 to 300 MUM, then remained unchanged.
      The reductions in CO2 assimilation of N-deficient leaves paralleled with high
      intercellular CO2 concentration. Rubisco activity, protein and Chl content
      increased linearly or curvilinearly over the range of leaf N content examined
      except unchanged as leaf N from 2.15 to 2.79 g m-2. Chlorophyll fluorescence
      transient from N-deficient leaves displayed a depression at the P-step,
      accompanied by a new step at about 150 MUs (L-step). Fv/Fm, REo/ETo, ETo/ABS, Sm,
      ETo/CSo, PIabs, PItot, abs, were decreased in N-deficient leaves but increased
      DIo/CSo, DIo/RC and DIo/ABS. Regressive analysis showed that CO2 assimilation
      decreased linearly or curvilinearly with decreasing initial rubisco, PIabs and
      Leaf Chl, respectively. Therefore, we concluded the decreased photosynthetic
      electron transport capacity, leaf chl content and initial rubisco activity are
      probably the main factors contributing to decreased CO2 assimilation under N
      deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: The decreased photosynthetic electron transport
      capacity, leaf Chl content and initial rubisco activity are probably the main
      factors contributing to decreased CO2 assimilation under N deficiency.

PMID- 28597448
TI  - Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic effects of the aqueous extracts
      from Glycine species and its bioactive compounds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the possible antioxidant, anti
      inflammatory, and antidiabetic effects of the aqueous extracts from three Glycine
      species. In HPLC analysis, the chromatograms of three Glycine species were
      established. Flavonoid-related compounds might be important bioactive compounds
      in Glycine species. RESULTS: The results showed that the aqueous extract of
      Glycine tabacina (AGTa) had the strongest antioxidant activity compared with the
      other Glycine species extracts. We also found that AGTa had higher contents of
      total polyphenol compounds and flavonoids than the other extracts. We also have
      investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of the three Glycine species using
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophage (RAW264.7) ex vivo. When
      RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with different concentrations of three Glycine
      species together with LPS, a significant concentration-dependent inhibition of NO
      production was detected. The aqueous extract of Glycine max (AGM) had the
      strongest anti-inflammatory activity in comparison with the other Glycine species
      extracts. Western blotting revealed that three Glycine species blocked protein
      expression of iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7
      macrophages, significantly. The antidiabetic activities of the three Glycine
      species were studied in vitro using alpha-glucosidase and aldose reductase (AR)
      inhibitory methods. AGTa had the highest inhibitory activities on alpha
      glucosidase and aldose reductase, with IC50 of 188.1 and 126.42 MUg/mL,
      respectively. The bioactive compounds, genistein and daidzein, had high
      inhibitory activities on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, alpha-glucosidase and
      aldose reductase. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that Glycine species might
      be a good resource for future development of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and
      antidiabetic heath foods.

PMID- 28597449
TI  - Physiological targets of salicylic acid on Artemisia aucheri BOISS as a medicinal
      and aromatic plant grown under in vitro drought stress.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Artemisia aucheri BOISS is a medicinal and aromatic plant, which is
      endemic to mountainous areas of Iran and surroundings. In this study, we
      investigated the alleviating effects of salicylic acid (SA) pretreatment (0.01
      and 0.1 mM) on A. aucheri under in vitro drought stress induced by 2 and 4%
      polyethylene glycol (PEG/6000). RESULTS: Plants exposed to PEG stress showed
      higher levels of H2O2, MDA and electrolyte leakage compared with control. While
      SA pretreatment decreased these parameters under PEG stress significantly. The
      activity of CAT, POD, APX, SOD and GR positively changed with PEG and more
      induction in activity of antioxidant enzymes was observed in SA-pretreated plants
      under PEG stress. Furthermore, ASA, GSH and their redox ratios (ASC/DHA and
      GSH/GSSG) enhanced with SA pretreatments. Analysis of our data revealed that MDA,
      DHA and H2O2 were the best targets for SA under in vitro PEG treatment for A.
      aucheri plants. CONCLUSIONS: Salicylic acid as a signal molecule mitigated
      adverse effects of PEG-simulated drought stress on A. aucheri under in vitro
      condition by improving the activity of antioxidant enzymes. In addition,
      protective role of SA was also related to promotion of ascorbate-glutathione
      cycle.

PMID- 28597451
TI  - [Outcomes vs. Attributable Outcomes: Rational Choice Theory Must Take a Stance
      Towards Action Theory].
AB  - The reply concentrates on advancing again my third thesis, which has not directly
      been taken up by Breyer and Kliemt. The thesis says that both criticisms against
      the Rule of Rescue - the irrationality objection, which Breyer and Kliemt try to
      defend, and the objection that the Rule is discriminatory, which they do not
      defend - are the results of insufficient action-theoretical reflection. I argue
      that Breyer's and Kliemt's objection to the Rule, unstable as it is in their
      comment, is not even clearly identifiable if they do not take a stance towards
      the central question: Do they want to - and, if so, can they consistently -
      incorporate people's interest in taking account of the attributability of an
      outcome to a decision maker into their utility concept?

PMID- 28597450
TI  - Effect of Visible Light on Vasospasticity of Post-Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
      Cerebrospinal Fluid.
AB  - Background and Objective Cerebral vasospasm (CV) is a serious complication of
      subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with high morbidity and mortality rates. The
      mechanism of CV has not been determined. There are many theories related to this
      unsolved issue, one of which supports CV as a two-stage phenomenon from a
      pathophysiologic perspective. The first stage consists of inhibition of neuronal
      nitric oxide synthase by oxyhemoglobin, which results in a decrease of nitric
      oxide (NO) production. The second stage consists of an increase in the levels of
      asymmetric dimethylarginine through bilirubin oxidation products (BOXes), which
      are oxidized by-products of hemoglobin metabolism. These in turn inhibit
      endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which results in the blockage of the
      second NO production mechanism. BOXes are sensitive to visible light, as is their
      precursor bilirubin. The hypothesis of CV prevention using the photosensitivity
      of BOXes was tested in this study. Material and Methods Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
      obtained from two patients with SAH was divided in half and either exposed to a
      standard dose of visible light or not exposed to any light. The CSF was
      spectrophotometrically investigated and the concentration of BOXes was measured.
      A comparison between CSF samples exposed to light and not exposed to light was
      made. Using two groups of 16 rats each, the vasospastic effect of the CSF exposed
      and not exposed to light on arteries of the cortical surface was measured. The
      cortex was exposed using the cranial window. Results Spectrophotometric analysis
      revealed that the concentration of BOXes in the CSF decreased significantly after
      being exposed to visible light (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference of
      the vasospastic effect of CSF on exposed cortical arteries (p < 0.001).
      Conclusion The concentration of BOXes and the vasospastic effect of CSF taken
      from patients with SAH were significantly reduced after being exposed to visible
      light if compared with CSF not exposed to light.

PMID- 28597452
TI  - Impact of the Triglyceride/High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio and the
      Hypertriglyceremic-Waist Phenotype to Predict the Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin
      Resistance.
AB  - Insulin resistance is the underlying mechanism for the metabolic syndrome and
      associated dyslipidaemia that theoretically implies a practical tool for
      identifying individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease and type-2-diabetes.
      Another screening tool is the hypertriglyceremic-waist phenotype (HTW). There is
      important impact of the ethnic background but a lack of studied European
      populations for the association of the triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio and insulin resistance. This observational,
      retrospective study evaluated lipid ratios and the HTW for predicting the
      metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance in 1932 non-diabetic individuals from
      Germany in the fasting state and during a glucose tolerance test. The relations
      of triglyceride/HDL-C, total-cholesterol/HDL-C, and low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol/HDL-C with 5 surrogate estimates of insulin resistance/sensitivity
      and metabolic syndrome were analysed by linear regression analysis and receiver
      operating characteristics (ROC) in participants with normal (n=1 333) or impaired
      fasting glucose (n=599), also for the impact of gender. Within the lipid ratios,
      triglyceride/HDL-C had the strongest associations with insulin
      resistance/sensitivity markers. In the prediction of metabolic syndrome,
      diagnostic accuracy was good for triglyceride/HDL-C (area under the ROC curve
      0.817) with optimal cut-off points (in mg/dl units) of 2.8 for men (80%
      sensitivity, 71% specificity) and 1.9 for women (80% sensitivity, 75%
      specificity) and fair for HTW and HOMA-IR (area under the curve 0.773 and 0.761).
      These data suggest the triglyceride/HDL-C ratio as a physiologically relevant and
      practical index for predicting the concomitant presence of metabolic syndrome,
      insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia for therapeutic and preventive care in
      apparently healthy European populations.

PMID- 28597453
TI  - The Association Between Normal Range TSH and Lipid Profile.
AB  - Dyslipidemia in thyroid dysfunction is mostly attributed to thyrotropin (TSH)
      levels, especially in subclinical disorders, but the exact role of TSH in
      dyslipidemia has not been explained. A total of 3 020 subjects who remained
      euthyroid in 3 phases of the Tehran Thyroid study were enrolled and divided
      according to quartiles of TSH as: Q1 (0.32-1.02), Q2 (1.02-1.53), Q3 (1.53-2.27),
      and Q4 (2.27-5.06). General Linear model was used to determine whether there was
      a significant correlation between subjects' lipid profile and quartiles of TSH
      from 1st to 2nd and from 1st to 3rd phase. Mean TC, LDL-C level and median TG
      were significantly higher for Q1 in all study phases. All lipid parameters of
      participants after 6 years (3rd phase study) except LDL-C were significantly
      varied in different TSH groups. Highest levels of TC, TG and HDL-C were observed
      in Q4. Thus, irrespective of TC and LDL-C in Q1 and Q4 (participants with the
      lowest and highest limit of TSH within the normal range), the difference in lipid
      parameters in middle of normal TSH range was not significant. Normal range TSH
      levels have a statistically significant effect on lipid profile, but the effect
      size is not clinically significant.

PMID- 28597454
TI  - Inhibition of Human Cancer Cell Growth by Analogues of Antimycin A.
AB  - In a recent study, several new derivatives of antimycin A (AMA) were produced by
      means of a novel transacylation reaction, and these were shown to mediate
      selective toxicity toward cultured A549 human lung epithelial adenocarcinoma
      cells, as compared with WI-38 normal human lung fibroblasts. The purpose of our
      study was to investigate whether the analogues all expressed their cytotoxicity
      by the same mechanism. This was done by studying the effects of the compounds in
      several types of cell lines. In comparison with 2-O-methylantimycin, which acts
      at the locus of Bcl-2, none of the new derivatives exhibited a difference in
      cytotoxicity toward cells expressing different levels of Bcl-2. In cell lines
      that over- or underexpress estrogen or Her2 receptors, AMA analogue 2 exhibited
      Her2 receptor dependency at low concentration. Three compounds (1, 4, and 6)
      exhibited concentration-dependent increases in reactive oxygen species, with 6
      being especially potent. Compounds 5 and 6 diminished mitochondrial membrane
      potential more potently than AMA, and 1 also displayed enhanced activity relative
      to 2-4. Interestingly, only 1 and AMA displayed strong inhibition of the
      respiratory chain, as measured by monitoring NADH (reduced nicotinamide adenine
      dinucleotide) oxidase. Because four of the analogues have positively charged
      substituents, two of these (4 and 6) were studied to see whether the observed
      effects were due to much higher level of accumulation within the mitochondria.
      Their presence in the mitochondria was not dramatically enhanced. Neither of the
      two presently characterized mechanisms of cell killing by AMA can fully account
      for the observed results.

PMID- 28597455
TI  - Hereditary Neuropathies: Update 2017.

PMID- 28597456
TI  - [Hypothyreosis after Hemithyroidectomy - surprisingly frequent complication in
      aftercare].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemithyroidectomy is a frequent treatment for thyroid nodules.
      Postoperative hypothyroidism is an often underestimated complication. We studied
      the incidence, time, symptoms and risk factors of postoperative hypothyroidism.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: 127 Patients were analyzed in a retrospective chart review
      and with a structured assessment of the general practitioners and
      endocrinologists. Patients were classified according to the postoperative TSH as
      hypothyroid (>4.0 mU/L) or euthyroid (0.4-4.0 mU/L). Thyroid hormone was assessed
      at 4-6 Weeks, 6 months and 1 year. RESULTS: 55 patients (43 %) had postoperative
      hypothyroidism and 72 (57%) stayed euthyroid during follow up. The hypothyroidism
      occured during the first 2 months in 39 patients (71 %), between 2-6 months in 13
      patients (24 %) and between 6-12 months in 3 patients (5 %). 33 patients (60 %)
      with hypothyroidism were asymptomatic and 16 patients (29 %) had symptoms.
      Preoperative TSH level was significantly higher in the hypothyroid group (1.64)
      compared to the euthyroid group (1.13, P = 0.0017). The other variables as age,
      gender, preoperative levels of T3, T4, Calcium and PTH showed no significant
      difference. CONCLUSION: Postoperative hypothyroidism is an important complication
      after hemithyroidectomy which should not be missed. Preoperative elevated TSH
      level is a riskfactor for postoperative hypothyroidism. All Patients after
      hemithyroidectomy should have postoperative TSH assessment after 4-6 weeks, 6
      months and 12 months.

PMID- 28597457
TI  - Safeguarding Infant Brains: A Multidisciplinary Challenge-Results of a Survey,
      Update on Current Scientific Evidence, and Recommendations on How to Deal with
      Possible Anesthetic Drug Neurotoxicity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION:  Potential neurotoxicity of anesthetic drugs has been among the
      most intensively discussed issue in pediatric anesthesia for more than 10 years.
      It remains unclear how far this discussion has reached the European pediatric
      surgical community. Our aim was to investigate the thoughts of pediatric surgeons
      regarding this topic. In addition, we provide an update on the current scientific
      evidence regarding neurotoxicity together with recommendations for clinical
      practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS:  A web-based survey to assess the thoughts of
      practicing European pediatric surgeons regarding neurotoxicity and how it may
      have influenced their daily practice of pediatric surgery was launched via the
      European Pediatric Surgeons' Association Web site. RESULTS:  A total of 72
      responses could be analyzed. A majority of the respondents were interested in the
      topic but felt a need to further explore it. Thirty-one respondents have changed
      their daily practice of pediatric surgery due to potential anesthetic drug
      toxicity. Eighteen respondents reported to be concerned about neurotoxicity, 29
      held a neutral position, and 8 were not concerned. Twenty-seven respondents found
      it a shared responsibility of the surgeon and the anesthesiologist to deal with
      the neurotoxicity issue. The majority of respondents found a necessity for
      further research on anesthetic drug neurotoxicity, assigning the highest priority
      to prospective longitudinal human studies and the lowest to animal studies.
      CONCLUSION:  The neurotoxicity question has reached the pediatric surgical
      community. Currently available scientific data do not support the theory of
      anesthetic drug-induced neurotoxicity in young children. Recent interdisciplinary
      clinical research focuses on neurodevelopmental outcome after surgery in neonates
      and infants. The European Safe Anesthesia For Every Tot initiative suggests
      focusing on proper conduct of anesthesia in children rather than on possible
      anesthetic drug neurotoxicity.

PMID- 28597458
TI  - Clinical Scoring Systems in Thrombotic Microangiopathies.

PMID- 28597460
TI  - Thromboprophylaxis in Cancer Patients Undergoing Surgery.

PMID- 28597459
TI  - Novel (Oral) Anticoagulant Challenges in Surgery.

PMID- 28597461
TI  - Serum Concentration of Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Is Independently
      Associated with Global Platelet Function and Higher Fibrinogen Values in Adult
      Healthy Subjects.

PMID- 28597463
TI  - Hemostasis in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.

PMID- 28597464
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597462
TI  - Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia in Cardiac Surgery Patients.

PMID- 28597465
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597466
TI  - Suppression of the vacuolar invertase gene delays senescent sweetening in
      chipping potatoes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Potato chip processors require potato tubers that meet quality
      specifications for fried chip color, and color depends largely upon tuber sugar
      contents. At later times in storage, potatoes accumulate sucrose, glucose, and
      fructose. This developmental process, senescent sweetening, manifests as a blush
      of color near the center of the fried chip, becomes more severe with time, and
      limits the storage period. Vacuolar invertase (VInv) converts sucrose to glucose
      and fructose and is hypothesized to play a role in senescent sweetening. To test
      this hypothesis, senescent sweetening was quantified in multiple lines of potato
      with reduced VInv expression. RESULTS: Chip darkening from senescent sweetening
      was delayed by about 4 weeks for tubers with reduced VInv expression. A strong
      positive correlation between frequency of dark chips and tuber hexose content was
      observed. Tubers with reduced VInv expression had lower hexose to sucrose ratios
      than controls. CONCLUSION: VInv activity contributes to reducing sugar
      accumulation during senescent sweetening. Sucrose breakdown during frying may
      contribute to chip darkening. Suppressing VInv expression increases the storage
      period of the chipping potato crop, which is an important consideration, as
      potatoes with reduced VInv expression are entering commercial production in the
      USA. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28597468
TI  - Interaction of anorexia and cultural beliefs in infant malnutrition in Mali.
AB  - Anorexia, the lack of a normal appetite or refusal to eat, has been reported
      among infants and young children worldwide. Many factors can contribute to
      anorexia, including a monotonous diet, chronic malnutrition, zinc deficiency,
      disease, anxiety, intestinal parasites, and sores in the mouth. At the same time,
      ethnographic research reveals wide variation in how, and to what extent,
      caretakers control food consumption (both quality and quantity) in infants
      generally, and how they deal with anorexia specifically. In some cultures,
      children are given considerable autonomy in deciding what and how much food to
      eat, even when anorectic. In other groups, Children's diets are closely monitored
      by adult caretakers and anorectic children are urged, or even forced, to eat.
      Theoretically, the potential for wildespread malnutrition and accompanying growth
      failure, even in the presence of adequate dietary resources, will be highest in
      populations which exhibit an interaction of (1) multiple conditions leading to
      anorexia and (2) cultural beliefs which allow children autonomy in food
      consumption decisions. Research in Mali provides examples of the potential
      consequences of the combination for child growth.

PMID- 28597469
TI  - Brief Reviews.

PMID- 28597467
TI  - Development of indicators for evaluating the appropriate use of triazoles for
      invasive fungal disease: A Delphi panel survey.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVES: Triazoles including fluconazole, itraconazole,
      voriconazole and posaconazole are now widely used, whereas in some countries,
      they are reportedly used in inappropriate way frequently; thus, it is clearly a
      matter of urgency to regulate the use of triazole drugs. Several studies have
      made good attempts to evaluate antifungal use, but they did not cover the entire
      medication process. This study aimed to establish indicators for the appropriate
      use of triazoles for invasive fungal disease, so as to produce a reference for
      evaluating and standardizing the rational application of triazole antifungals.
      METHODS: A comprehensive analysis and literature review were conducted to
      construct an evaluation system for indications, therapeutic timing, duration of
      drug usage, drug dosage, administration method, drug interactions, medication in
      specific populations and pharmaceutical care. A Delphi questionnaire was designed
      based on the preliminary evaluation of an indicator system that comprised eight
      primary indicators, 29 secondary indicators and 54 tertiary indicators. A Delphi
      panel survey was completed by 28 and 26 experts in the first and second rounds,
      respectively, via e-mail. Agreement was considered to be reached when the median
      score was in the top tertile (4 or 5), and 80% of panel scores were in the top
      tertile. The experts mainly comprised physicians and clinical pharmacists from
      different regions. Based on expert opinions, the evaluation indicator system was
      modified and the final version was established. RESULTS: The response rate was
      high in the first and second rounds, at 100% and 93%, respectively, as was the
      dependability coefficient (0.83). The expert opinions resulted in four secondary
      indicators and nine tertiary indicators being deleted, and 10 tertiary indicators
      being modified. After the two rounds of the Delphi survey, the final established
      system of indicators comprised eight primary indicators, 25 secondary indicators
      and 45 tertiary indicators. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSIONS: Contrasted with previous
      studies that have only focused on a subset of indicators, this research
      establishes comprehensive indicators for evaluating the use of triazoles for
      invasive fungal disease and which cover most of the medication process:
      indications, therapeutic timing, duration of drug usage, drug dosage,
      administration method, drug interactions, medication in specific populations and
      pharmaceutical care. The indicators can reflect the characteristic of triazoles
      throughout the process of clinical administration for an invasive fungal disease,
      and it will be helpful as references when hospital administrators are regulating
      the use of antifungals.

PMID- 28597470
TI  - Breast conservation for male breast cancer: Case report of intraoperative
      radiation.
AB  - Male breast cancer (MBC) comprises <1% of all breast cancers in the United
      States. MBC is typically treated with total mastectomy while the majority of
      female breast cancer is treated with breast conservation therapy combined with
      various forms of radiation. One method that has developed over the last two
      decades is the use of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) as a type of
      accelerated partial breast irradiation to direct the treatment field to the tumor
      bed. Since overall prognosis and systemic therapy recommendations for MBC are
      similar to breast cancer in women, we describe the first case of MBC treated with
      BCS and IORT. Our patient is a 62-year-old male who was found to have a right
      breast 1.6 cm palpable mass at the 10:00 position 1 cm radially from the nipple.
      Core biopsy demonstrated invasive ductal carcinoma, moderately differentiated,
      estrogen and progesterone receptor positive, and Her 2 Negative. The patient had
      a strong desire for breast conservation, and needed to minimize daily radiation
      treatments due to his work schedule. After discussion among our multidisciplinary
      tumor board, we felt this patient to be suitable for BCS and IORT given his age,
      favorable tumor subtype, size, and clinically early stage breast cancer. A right
      axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy and central lumpectomy was performed. The
      INTRABEAM device (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Oberkochen, Germany) was utilized for
      radiation delivery. The patient had negative margins on his final pathology. The
      postoperative course was uneventful and at the 6 month follow-up visit there were
      no issues and he had an excellent cosmetic outcome. BCS and IORT is an option in
      appropriately selected male patients with favorable subtype early stage breast
      cancer.

PMID- 28597471
TI  - Gabapentin for chronic neuropathic pain in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gabapentin is commonly used to treat neuropathic pain (pain due to
      nerve damage). This review updates a review published in 2014, and previous
      reviews published in 2011, 2005 and 2000. OBJECTIVES: To assess the analgesic
      efficacy and adverse effects of gabapentin in chronic neuropathic pain in adults.
      SEARCH METHODS: For this update we searched CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and Embase for
      randomised controlled trials from January 2014 to January 2017. We also searched
      the reference lists of retrieved studies and reviews, and online clinical trials
      registries. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised, double-blind trials of
      two weeks' duration or longer, comparing gabapentin (any route of administration)
      with placebo or another active treatment for neuropathic pain, with participant
      reported pain assessment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors
      independently extracted data and assessed trial quality and potential bias.
      Primary outcomes were participants with substantial pain relief (at least 50%
      pain relief over baseline or very much improved on Patient Global Impression of
      Change scale (PGIC)), or moderate pain relief (at least 30% pain relief over
      baseline or much or very much improved on PGIC). We performed a pooled analysis
      for any substantial or moderate benefit. Where pooled analysis was possible, we
      used dichotomous data to calculate risk ratio (RR) and number needed to treat for
      an additional beneficial outcome (NNT) or harmful outcome (NNH). We assessed the
      quality of the evidence using GRADE and created 'Summary of findings' tables.
      MAIN RESULTS: We included four new studies (530 participants), and excluded three
      previously included studies (126 participants). In all, 37 studies provided
      information on 5914 participants. Most studies used oral gabapentin or gabapentin
      encarbil at doses of 1200 mg or more daily in different neuropathic pain
      conditions, predominantly postherpetic neuralgia and painful diabetic neuropathy.
      Study duration was typically four to 12 weeks. Not all studies reported important
      outcomes of interest. High risk of bias occurred mainly due to small size
      (especially in cross-over studies), and handling of data after study
      withdrawal.In postherpetic neuralgia, more participants (32%) had substantial
      benefit (at least 50% pain relief or PGIC very much improved) with gabapentin at
      1200 mg daily or greater than with placebo (17%) (RR 1.8 (95% CI 1.5 to 2.1); NNT
      6.7 (5.4 to 8.7); 8 studies, 2260 participants, moderate-quality evidence). More
      participants (46%) had moderate benefit (at least 30% pain relief or PGIC much or
      very much improved) with gabapentin at 1200 mg daily or greater than with placebo
      (25%) (RR 1.8 (95% CI 1.6 to 2.0); NNT 4.8 (4.1 to 6.0); 8 studies, 2260
      participants, moderate-quality evidence).In painful diabetic neuropathy, more
      participants (38%) had substantial benefit (at least 50% pain relief or PGIC very
      much improved) with gabapentin at 1200 mg daily or greater than with placebo
      (21%) (RR 1.9 (95% CI 1.5 to 2.3); NNT 5.9 (4.6 to 8.3); 6 studies, 1277
      participants, moderate-quality evidence). More participants (52%) had moderate
      benefit (at least 30% pain relief or PGIC much or very much improved) with
      gabapentin at 1200 mg daily or greater than with placebo (37%) (RR 1.4 (95% CI
      1.3 to 1.6); NNT 6.6 (4.9 to 9.9); 7 studies, 1439 participants, moderate-quality
      evidence).For all conditions combined, adverse event withdrawals were more common
      with gabapentin (11%) than with placebo (8.2%) (RR 1.4 (95% CI 1.1 to 1.7); NNH
      30 (20 to 65); 22 studies, 4346 participants, high-quality evidence). Serious
      adverse events were no more common with gabapentin (3.2%) than with placebo
      (2.8%) (RR 1.2 (95% CI 0.8 to 1.7); 19 studies, 3948 participants, moderate
      quality evidence); there were eight deaths (very low-quality evidence).
      Participants experiencing at least one adverse event were more common with
      gabapentin (63%) than with placebo (49%) (RR 1.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.4); NNH 7.5
      (6.1 to 9.6); 18 studies, 4279 participants, moderate-quality evidence).
      Individual adverse events occurred significantly more often with gabapentin.
      Participants taking gabapentin experienced dizziness (19%), somnolence (14%),
      peripheral oedema (7%), and gait disturbance (14%). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Gabapentin at doses of 1800 mg to 3600 mg daily (1200 mg to 3600 mg gabapentin
      encarbil) can provide good levels of pain relief to some people with postherpetic
      neuralgia and peripheral diabetic neuropathy. Evidence for other types of
      neuropathic pain is very limited. The outcome of at least 50% pain intensity
      reduction is regarded as a useful outcome of treatment by patients, and the
      achievement of this degree of pain relief is associated with important beneficial
      effects on sleep interference, fatigue, and depression, as well as quality of
      life, function, and work. Around 3 or 4 out of 10 participants achieved this
      degree of pain relief with gabapentin, compared with 1 or 2 out of 10 for
      placebo. Over half of those treated with gabapentin will not have worthwhile pain
      relief but may experience adverse events. Conclusions have not changed since the
      previous update of this review.

PMID- 28597472
TI  - Aroma-volatile profile of black morel (Morchella importuna) grown in Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A headspace solid-phase microextraction method with gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to profile the aroma volatiles of
      mature fruiting bodies of Morchella importuna grown in Israel. RESULTS: We
      tentatively identified 40 aroma compounds and seven unknown volatiles. The M.
      importuna aroma profile consisted of 14 aldehydes, six alcohols, 10 methyl
      esters, four heterocyclic/sulfur compounds, 10 carbohydrates and three other
      compounds (i.e. one acid, one ketone and one butyl ester). The most abundant
      volatiles were carbohydrates, with a total relative peak area of 29.3%, followed
      by alcohols (27.7%), aldehydes (21.6%), methyl esters (10.8%),
      heterocyclic/sulfur compounds (3.1%) and other compounds (5.8%). The 8-carbon
      (C8) compounds imparting typical mushroom-like aroma were very abundant in M.
      importuna, accounting for 27.9% of the total peak area and including, amongst
      others, 1-octen-3-ol (80% of total C8), octanal and 2-octenal (Z- and E-).
      CONCLUSION: The aroma volatile profile of morels has much in common with that of
      other mushrooms, with a few unique characteristics. To our knowledge, this is the
      first detailed report of the aroma profile of M. importuna. (c) 2017 Society of
      Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28597473
TI  - Body fat distribution: Associations with socioeconomic status in the Hispanic
      health and nutrition examination survey.
AB  - Three indices derived from principal components analysis of four skinfold
      measurements were studied in relation to socioeconomic status (SES; income and
      education) in men and women of the U.S. Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey (HHANES). The three indices were fatness (PC1), central body fat
      distribution (PC2), and "centralized obesity" (PC1 + PC2). The well-known inverse
      relation of fatness (PC1) with SES was demonstrated in women. This relationship
      tended to be positive in men, but not consistently so within the three Hispanic
      groups (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican-Americans) studied. A negative association
      of central body fat distribution (PC2) was also evident in both sexes and in all
      three groups except in Puerto Rican men, in whom the relationship was no longer
      significant after age adjustments. The third index combined information on both
      fatness level and central distribution. It was strongly related to SES in women
      but not in men.

PMID- 28597474
TI  - ZEB1 expression is a potential indicator of invasive endometriosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although endometriosis is a benign disease, it shares some features
      with cancers, such as invasiveness and the potential to metastasize. This study
      sought to investigate the epithelial-mesenchymal transition status in human
      endometriotic lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirteen endometriosis patients and
      10 control women without endometriosis undergoing surgery for benign indications
      were recruited. We examined the expression of E-cadherin, vimentin, and
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition-induced transcriptional factors, such as Snail
      and ZEB1, by immunohistochemistry. We evaluated the expression of each marker in
      epithelial cells of both endometriotic lesions (ovarian endometrioma, deep
      infiltrating endometriosis, adenomyosis) and normal endometria. The correlation
      between ZEB1 expression and serum level of CA125 was also investigated. RESULTS:
      Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that although E-cadherin, vimentin, and
      Snail were expressed in epithelia of normal endometria and endometriotic lesions,
      ZEB1 expression was only expressed in epithelia of endometriotic lesions.
      Additionally, ZEB1 was most frequently observed in epithelial cells of invasive
      endometriosis. The endometriosis patients with high serum CA125 level were more
      likely to have ZEB1-positive lesions. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first observation
      of ZEB1 expression in epithelial cells of benign disease. The preferential
      expression of ZEB1 in epithelial cells of endometriotic lesions suggests that
      these cells may have, at least in part, a higher level of mesenchymal features
      possibly via ZEB1-driven epithelial-mesenchymal transition than normal endometria
      and that ZEB1 can be a potential indicator of invasiveness or severity of
      endometriosis.

PMID- 28597475
TI  - Program considerations for integration of nutrition and family planning: Beliefs
      around maternal diet and breastfeeding within the context of the nutrition
      transition in Egypt.
AB  - In Egypt, rising maternal overweight and obesity is consistent with the
      transition to westernized diets and a growing reliance on energy-dense, low
      nutrient foods. Although the first 1,000 days of life are the focus of many
      programmes designed to prevent many forms of malnutrition, little attention has
      been paid to maternal dietary practices and weight gain during pregnancy. This
      study used in-depth interviews with pregnant women (N = 40), lactating women (N =
      40), and nonlactating women (N = 40) to gain an understanding of behaviours,
      perceptions, and cultural beliefs in relation to maternal dietary intake during
      pregnancy, lactation, and nonlactation; weight gain during pregnancy; birth
      spacing; and family planning. Study findings reveal that food choice was driven
      by affordability, favoured foods, or foods considered appropriate for a specific
      life stage (pregnant, lactating, and nonlactating). Knowledge of weight gain
      during pregnancy is limited, especially with regards to excessive weight gain
      during pregnancy. Diet is often modified during lactation to support breast milk
      production, and a normal diet resumed when breastfeeding ceases. Within the
      context of breastfeeding, the lactational amenorrhea method provides an
      opportunity to improve exclusive breastfeeding practices, maternal diet during
      lactation, and the transition to other family planning methods by 6 months
      postpartum. Health care providers should discuss limiting maternal consumption of
      low nutrient foods such as junk foods, soda, and teas during pregnancy and
      postpartum. Dietary counselling should accompany information on appropriate
      weight gain during pregnancy and exercise to prevent excessive weight gain, in
      the context of the nutrition transition.

PMID- 28597476
TI  - Safe fluoroquinolones prophylaxis in blood cancer patients with chemotherapy
      induced neutropenia and Glucose-6-Phosphate-Dehydrogenase deficiency.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Bacterial infections are the leading causes of
      morbidity and mortality in haematologic patients with chemotherapy-induced
      neutropenia. The only strategy shown to be effective in reducing febrile
      neutropenia incidence is fluoroquinolone prophylaxis, but the safety of this
      class of drugs in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
      (G6PD-), the most common human enzyme defect, is still controversial because of
      the claimed association with acute haemolytic anaemia. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analysed 242 patients treated with 628 intensive chemotherapy
      courses. Of these, 59 patients were with G6PD-. All patients underwent
      fluoroquinolone prophylaxis and were transfused according to our single-unit
      transfusion policy. The principal endpoint was the incidence of acute haemolytic
      anaemia. Secondary endpoints included the incidence of febrile neutropenia,
      microbiologically and clinically documented infection (MDI and CDI) and the
      incidence of Gram-positive or Gram-negative infections. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:
      No episode of acute haemolytic anaemia was observed in the entire cohort. The
      incidence of MDI and CDI was similar, but the incidence of invasive fungal
      disease (IFD; P<.0001, HR 11.4, 95%CI 3.5-37.05) and Candida sepsis (P=.008, HR
      37, 95%CI 2.01-680.9) was higher in patients with G6PD-. Interestingly, we
      observed a reduced incidence of febrile neutropenia in patients with G6PD-
      (P=.01, HR 0.46, 95%CI 0.25-0.8). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest
      that fluoroquinolone prophylaxis in patients with G6PD-, treated with intensive
      chemotherapy, is feasible and safe. Our findings on the incidence of IFD and
      febrile neutropenia suggest that G6PD may be important in susceptibility to
      opportunistic pathogens and host response in neutropenic patients.

PMID- 28597477
TI  - Effective expression of Drebrin in hippocampus improves cognitive function and
      alleviates lesions of Alzheimer's disease in APP (swe)/PS1 (DeltaE9) mice.
AB  - AIMS: Alzheimer's disease (AD), a progressive development dementia, is
      increasingly impacting patients' living conditions worldwide. Despite medical
      care and funding support, there are still no highly individualized drugs and
      practical strategies for clinical prevention and treatment. Developmentally
      regulated brain protein (abbreviated as Drebrin or Dbn, also known as Dbn1 in
      mouse) exists in neurons, especially in dendrites, and is an actin-binding
      protein that modulates synaptic morphology and long-term memory. However, the
      majority of previous studies have focused on its upstream proteins and neglected
      the impact Drebrin has on behavior and AD in vivo. METHODS: Here, we tracked the
      behavioral performances of 4-, 8-, 12-, and 16-month-old AD mice and investigated
      the expression level of Drebrin in their hippocampi. A Pearson correlation
      analysis between Drebrin levels and behavioral data was performed. Subsequently,
      2-month-old AD mice were injected with rAAV-zsGreen-Dbn1 vector, composing the
      APP/PS1-Dbn1 group, and sex- and age-matched AD mice were injected with rAAV
      tdTomato vector to serve as the control group. All mice were conducted behavioral
      tests and molecular detection 6 months later. RESULTS: (i) The expression of
      Drebrin is decreased in the hippocampus of aged AD mice compared with that of age
      matched WT and young adult AD mice; (ii) cognitive ability of APP/PS1 mice
      decreases with age; (iii) Drebrin protein expression in the hippocampus
      correlates with behavioral performance in different aged AD mice; (iv) cognitive
      ability improved significantly in APP/PS1-Dbn1 mice; (v) the expression level of
      Drebrin in APP/PS1-Dbn1 mouse hippocampus was significantly increased; (vi) the
      pathological lesion of AD was alleviated in APP/PS1-Dbn1 mice; (vii) the
      filamentous actin (F-actin) and microtubule-associated protein 2(MAP-2) in
      APP/PS1-Dbn1 mice were notably more than control mice. CONCLUSION: In this study,
      an effective expression of Drebrin improves cognitive abilities and alleviates
      lesions in an AD mouse model. These results may provide some valid resources for
      therapy and research of AD.

PMID- 28597479
TI  - Tuning the Reactivity of Functionalized Diallylic Alcohols: Bronsted versus Lewis
      Acid Catalysis.
AB  - The chemodivergent reactivity of bifunctional, enol thioether-containing
      diallylic alcohols in acidic medium is disclosed, highlighting the difference
      between strong Lewis acid and mild Bronsted acid catalysis. In the presence of
      bismuth(III) triflate, allylic alcohol activation affords diversely substituted
      cyclopentenones in a Nazarov-type electrocyclization, whereas activation of the
      thioenol ether by p-toluenesulfonic acid provides an entry to alpha-sulfenylated
      beta,gamma-unsaturated ketones. Both methods represent a facile access to the
      corresponding products under mild conditions, using inexpensive and non-toxic
      catalytic systems.

PMID- 28597478
TI  - Safety of the use of group A plasma in trauma: the STAT study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of universally ABO-compatible group AB plasma for trauma
      resuscitation can be challenging due to supply limitations. Many centers are now
      using group A plasma during the initial resuscitation of traumatically injured
      patients. This study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of this practice on
      mortality and hospital length of stay (LOS). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Seventeen
      trauma centers using group A plasma in trauma patients of unknown ABO group
      participated in this study. Eligible patients were group A, B, and AB trauma
      patients who received at least 1 unit of group A plasma. Data collected included
      patient sex, age, mechanism of injury, Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS)
      probability of survival, and number of blood products transfused. The main
      outcome of this study was in-hospital mortality differences between group B and
      AB patients compared to group A patients. Data on early mortality (<=24 hr) and
      hospital LOS were also collected. RESULTS: There were 354 B and AB patients and
      809 A patients. The two study groups were comparable in terms of age, sex, TRISS
      probability of survival, and total number of blood products transfused. The use
      of group A plasma during the initial resuscitation of traumatically injured
      patients of unknown ABO group was not associated with increased in-hospital
      mortality, early mortality, or hospital LOS for group B and AB patients compared
      to group A patients. CONCLUSION: These results support the practice of issuing
      thawed group A plasma for the initial resuscitation of trauma patients of unknown
      ABO group.

PMID- 28597480
TI  - Public Understanding of Ebola Risks: Mastering an Unfamiliar Threat.
AB  - Ebola was the most widely followed news story in the United States in October
      2014. Here, we ask what members of the U.S. public learned about the disease,
      given the often chaotic media environment. Early in 2015, we surveyed a
      representative sample of 3,447 U.S. residents about their Ebola-related beliefs,
      attitudes, and behaviors. Where possible, we elicited judgments in terms
      sufficiently precise to allow comparing them to scientific estimates (e.g., the
      death toll to date and the probability of dying once ill). Respondents' judgments
      were generally consistent with one another, with scientific knowledge, and with
      their self-reported behavioral responses and policy preferences. Thus, by the
      time the threat appeared to have subsided in the United States, members of the
      public, as a whole, had seemingly mastered its basic contours. Moreover, they
      could express their beliefs in quantitative terms. Judgments of personal risk
      were weakly and inconsistently related to reported gender, age, education,
      income, or political ideology. Better educated and wealthier respondents saw
      population risks as lower; females saw them as higher. More politically
      conservative respondents saw Ebola as more transmissible and expressed less
      support for public health policies. In general, respondents supported providing
      "honest, accurate information, even if that information worried people." These
      results suggest the value of proactive communications designed to inform the lay
      public's decisions, thoughts, and emotions, and informed by concurrent surveys of
      their responses and needs.

PMID- 28597482
TI  - Physical growth of Ecuadorian Chachi Amerindians.
AB  - Measurments of height, weight, arm circumference, and triceps and subscapular
      skinfolds were collected on 457 Ecuadorian Chachi Amerindians between the ages of
      4 and 64 years. Compared to US reference values, the Chachi are very small in
      terms of height-for-age, but have normal or above normal weight-for-height. The
      Chachi are also in the lower part of the distribution of body size among South
      American Indians. In terms of body composition, Chachi arm circumferences and
      triceps skinfolds are below the US 50th percentile. The estimated upper arm
      muscle area of Chachi males is below the US median, but Chachi females older than
      the age of 15 have arm muscle areas exceeding the US median. One reason for the
      greater arm muscle area of adult Chachi females may be that they perform much
      more physical activity involving the upper body than do US women. Problems in the
      interpretation of anthropometric indicators of nutritional status among South
      American Indian populations limit the conclusions about Chachi nutritional status
      that can be drawn from these results.

PMID- 28597481
TI  - Peripartum cardiomyopathy in Denmark: a retrospective, population-based study of
      incidence, management and outcome.
AB  - AIM: Population-based European studies of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are
      few. We aimed to estimate the nationwide incidence and outcome of PPCM in Denmark
      during 2005-2014. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Danish National Birth Register and the
      Danish National Patient Register were linked and searched for cardiomyopathy and
      heart failure ICD-10 diagnoses in a period of nine months before to 12 months
      after a delivery from 1 January 2005 through 31 December 2014. Diagnoses were
      validated and additional data were extracted from patient charts. A total of 61
      women met the inclusion criteria equalling 1 in 10 149 deliveries. The majority
      recovered left ventricular systolic function within one year, but 14.8% suffered
      a major adverse event with 3.3% mortality, 8.2% mechanical circulatory support
      requirement and/or heart transplantation and 4.9% persistent severe heart
      failure. Half of the women had a concomitant hypertensive disorder of pregnancy,
      and this subgroup had a milder course of the disease. Baseline left ventricular
      ejection fraction (LVEF) was the only significant predictor of LVEF 10-14 months
      after diagnosis, and cabergoline therapy to inhibit lactation predicted the
      dichotomous outcome of complete recovery (LVEF >=55%). CONCLUSION: The first
      validated, population-based European estimate of PPCM incidence is 1 in 10 149
      deliveries, which places Denmark between American and Japanese estimates.
      Clinical outcome in the cohort was similar to those reported in recent cohorts.
      Women with concomitant hypertensive disorder of pregnancy had a milder course of
      PPCM. Baseline LVEF predicted LVEF 10-14 months after diagnosis and cabergoline
      predicted complete recovery.

PMID- 28597484
TI  - Body composition estimates using different measurement techniques in a sample of
      highland subsistence farmers in Guatemala.
AB  - This study aims at assessing the accuracy of estimates of body composition
      provided by bioimpedance (BIA) equations developed for U.S. populations when
      applied to a sample of Guatemalan farmers. If these equations were shown to have
      low validity, the second objective was to develop more accurate estimates of fat
      free mass (FFM). One hundred males and females 19 to 45 years of age were
      randomly selected from four rural communities in the Western Highlands of
      Guatemala. Bioimpedance equations explained 59 and 33% of the variation in FFM,
      with a RMSE of 2.7 and 2.8 kg in males and females, respectively. Body fat (BF)
      predictions had a lower R2 . Using the "all possible regressions" procedure, the
      best subset for prediction of FFM used anthropometric and BIA variables as
      predictors. The best model for men and women included only anthropometric
      variables: 75% of the variance in FFM for men and 70% of the variance in women
      was explained by this model. The RMSE was 2.1 and 1.9 kg for both groups,
      respectively. It is concluded that FFM can be estimated from anthropometric
      dimensions with a high degree of accuracy and use of BIA does not provide more
      valid estimates.

PMID- 28597483
TI  - International patent applications for non-injectable naloxone for opioid overdose
      reversal: Exploratory search and retrieve analysis of the PatentScope database.
AB  - ISSUES: Non-injectable naloxone formulations are being developed for opioid
      overdose reversal, but only limited data have been published in the peer-reviewed
      domain. Through examination of a hitherto-unsearched database, we expand public
      knowledge of non-injectable formulations, tracing their development and novelty,
      with the aim to describe and compare their pharmacokinetic properties. APPROACH:
      (i) The PatentScope database of the World Intellectual Property Organization was
      searched for relevant English-language patent applications; (ii) Pharmacokinetic
      data were extracted, collated and analysed; (iii) PubMed was searched using
      Boolean search query '(nasal OR intranasal OR nose OR buccal OR sublingual) AND
      naloxone AND pharmacokinetics'. KEY FINDINGS: Five hundred and twenty-two
      PatentScope and 56 PubMed records were identified: three published international
      patent applications and five peer-reviewed papers were eligible. Pharmacokinetic
      data were available for intranasal, sublingual, and reference routes. Highly
      concentrated formulations (10-40 mg mL-1 ) had been developed and tested.
      Sublingual bioavailability was very low (1%; relative to intravenous). Non
      concentrated intranasal spray (1 mg mL-1 ; 1 mL per nostril) had low
      bioavailability (11%). Concentrated intranasal formulations (>=10 mg mL-1 ) had
      bioavailability of 21-42% (relative to intravenous) and 26-57% (relative to
      intramuscular), with peak concentrations (dose-adjusted Cmax  = 0.8-1.7 ng mL-1 )
      reached in 19-30 min (tmax ). IMPLICATIONS: Exploratory analysis identified
      intranasal bioavailability as associated positively with dose and negatively with
      volume. CONCLUSION: We find consistent direction of development of intranasal
      sprays to high-concentration, low-volume formulations with bioavailability in the
      20-60% range. These have potential to deliver a therapeutic dose in 0.1 mL
      volume. [McDonald R, Danielsson Glende O, Dale O, Strang J. International patent
      applications for non-injectable naloxone for opioid overdose reversal:
      Exploratory search and retrieve analysis of the PatentScope database. Drug
      Alcohol Rev 2017;00:000-000].

PMID- 28597486
TI  - Recent Progress on Localized Field Enhanced Two-dimensional Material
      Photodetectors from Ultraviolet-Visible to Infrared.
AB  - Two-dimensional (2D) materials have drawn tremendous attention in recent years.
      Being atomically thin, stacked with van der Waals force and free of surface
      chemical dangling bonds, 2D materials exhibit several distinct physical
      properties. To date, 2D materials include graphene, transition metal
      dichalcogenides (TMDS), black phosphorus, black P(1-x) Asx , boron nitride (BN)
      and so forth. Owing to their various bandgaps, 2D materials have been utilized
      for photonics and optoelectronics. Photodetectors based on 2D materials with
      different structures and detection mechanisms have been established and present
      excellent performance. In this Review, localized field enhanced 2D material
      photodetectors (2DPDs) are introduced with sensitivity over the spectrum from
      ultraviolet, visible to infrared in the sight of the influence of device
      structure on photodetector performance instead of directly illustrating the
      detection mechanisms. Six types of localized fields are summarized. They are:
      ferroelectric field, photogating electric field, floating gate induced
      electrostatic field, interlayer built-in field, localized optical field, and
      photo-induced temperature gradient field, respectively. These localized fields
      are proved to effectively promote the detection ability of 2DPDs by suppressing
      background noise, enhancing optical absorption, improving electron-hole
      separation efficiency, amplifying photoelectric gain and/or extending the
      detection range.

PMID- 28597485
TI  - Comparison of haemostatic function of PAS-C-platelets vs. plasma-platelets in
      reconstituted whole blood using impedance aggregometry and thromboelastography.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There are concerns about the haemostatic function of
      platelets stored in platelet additive solution (PAS). Aim of this study was to
      compare the haemostatic function of PAS-C-platelets to plasma-platelets in
      reconstituted whole blood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our experiment, whole blood
      was reconstituted with red blood cells, solvent-detergent (SD) plasma and either
      PAS-C-platelets or plasma-platelets (n = 7) in a physiological ratio. On storage
      days 2, 5, 8 and 13, the agonist-induced aggregation (multiple electrode
      aggregometry), clot formation (thromboelastography) and agonist-induced CD62P
      responsiveness (flow cytometry) were measured. RESULTS: Samples with PAS-C
      platelets showed significantly lower aggregation than plasma-platelets when
      induced with adenosine diphosphate, -6 U (95% confidence interval: -8; -4) or
      thrombin receptor-activating protein, -15 U (-19; -10). Also when activated with
      collagen and ristocetin, the PAS-C-platelets showed less aggregation, although
      not statistically significant. All samples with PAS-C-platelets showed
      significantly lower agonist-induced CD62P responsiveness than samples with plasma
      platelets. However, there was no difference regarding all TEG parameters.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that the function - aggregation and CD62P
      responsiveness - of PAS-C-platelets in reconstituted whole blood is inferior to
      that of plasma-platelets, which may have implications in the setting of massive
      transfusions.

PMID- 28597487
TI  - Dietary change and adolescent growth among the Bundi (Gende-speaking) people of
      Papua New Guinea.
AB  - In the 1960's, the Bundi had a pattern of slow growth, delayed maturation, and
      small adult body size due to malnutrition. Since then, improved transportation,
      wage income, cash cropping, and migration have changed dietary patterns for the
      Bundi. The purpose of our study was to assess the effects of this general
      increase in protein and energy intakes on adolescent growth. The data were
      collected in 1984. Subscapular skinfold thicknesses among rural Bundi children
      measured in 1984 and 1967 confirm that nutritional status has improved, although
      current means for height and weight are still below the NCHS 5th percentile.
      Rural Bundi measure in 1984 were compared to the 1967 data for differences in
      height and weight. For both sexes, there were increases in growth status and/or
      the tempo of growth in height and weight. Urban- rural comparisons further
      contrast the effects of improved nutrition. For males and females, significant
      differences between urban and rural groups are found mainly in the age range of
      the adolescent growth spurt. These findings suggest earlier maturation of urban
      adolescents. Although interpretation of cross-sectional growth data cannot be
      conclusive, these results suggest that the tempo of growth is the best indicator
      of nutritional status during adolescenc.

PMID- 28597488
TI  - Primary breast angiosarcoma in young women from the same geographic region in a
      short period of time: Only a coincidence or an increased risk?

PMID- 28597489
TI  - Development of a web-based application and multicountry analysis framework for
      assessing interdicted infections and cost-utility of screening donated blood for
      HIV, HCV and HBV.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Most countries test donations for HIV, HCV and HBV
      using serology with or without nucleic acid testing (NAT). Cost-utility analyses
      provide information on the relative value of different screening options. The aim
      of this project was to develop an open access risk assessment and cost-utility
      analysis web-tool for assessing HIV, HCV and HBV screening options
      (http://www.isbtweb.org/working-parties/transfusion-transmitted-infectious
      diseases/). An analysis for six countries (Brazil, Ghana, the Netherlands, South
      Africa, Thailand and USA) was conducted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four strategies;
      (1) antibody assays (Abs) for HIV and HCV + HBsAg, (2) antibody assays that
      include antigens for HIV and HCV (Combo) + HBsAg, (3) NAT in minipools of
      variable size (MP NAT) and (4) individual donation (ID) NAT can be evaluated
      using the tool. Country-specific data on donors, donation testing results,
      recipient outcomes and costs are entered using the online interface. Results
      obtained include the number infections interdicted using each screening options,
      and the (incremental and average) cost-utility of the options. RESULTS: In each
      of the six countries evaluated, the use of antibody assays is cost effective or
      even cost saving. NAT has varying cost-utility depending on the setting, and
      where adopted, the incremental cost-utility exceeds any previously defined or
      proposed threshold in each country. CONCLUSION: The web-tool allows an assessment
      of infectious units interdicted and value for money of different testing
      strategies. Regardless of gross national income (GNI) per capita, countries
      appear willing to dedicate healthcare resources to blood supply safety in excess
      of that for other sectors of health care.

PMID- 28597491
TI  - Hippocampal neurogenesis and pattern separation: A meta-analysis of behavioral
      data.
AB  - The generation of new neurons in the hippocampus of adult mammals has become a
      widely accepted phenomenon, but the functional significance of the adult
      neurogenesis in the hippocampus is not fully understood. One of the main
      hypotheses currently investigated suggests that neurogenesis contributes to
      pattern separation in the dentate gyrus. Many behavioral studies were conducted
      aiming to test this hypothesis using rodents as animal model. In those studies,
      researches ablated neurogenesis in the animals and subsequently evaluate them in
      tests of behavioral pattern separation, that is, behaviors that are thought to
      rely on the computational process of pattern separation. The results of these
      studies are varied, with most supporting a role for neurogenesis in pattern
      separation, but some others not. To address this controversy we performed a
      systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the effect of
      neurogenesis ablation on behavioral pattern separation. Analysis results
      indicated that most of the literature in the topic is surprisingly consistent
      and, although there are two studies with divergent results, the bulk of the
      literature supports an effect of hippocampal neurogenesis on behavioral pattern
      separation. We discuss those findings in light of other behavioral effects of
      hippocampal neurogenesis ablation, limitations of behavioral data and other lines
      of evidence about the effect of hippocampal neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus.

PMID- 28597490
TI  - Downregulation of USP32 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in
      human small cell lung cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ubiquitin specific protease 32 (USP32) is a highly conserved but
      uncharacterized gene, which has been reported to be associated with growth of
      breast cancer cells. However, the role of USP32 in human small cell lung cancer
      (SCLC) has not been uncovered. The aim of this study was to investigate and
      evaluate the clinical significance of USP32 in patients with SCLC. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Expression of USP32 was firstly investigated using public online data
      sets and then determined in SCLC tissues and cell lines using quantitative real
      time PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. SCLC cells were
      transfected with a small-interfering RNA targeting USP32 mRNA and analysed for
      cell viability, proliferation ability, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis and
      invasion. RESULTS: USP32 was found to be overexpressed in SCLC tissues compared
      with normal tissues. High USP32 expression was significantly correlated with
      disease stage and invasion. In vitro experiments demonstrated that silencing of
      USP32 caused a significant decrease in the proliferation and migration rate of
      cells. Furthermore, USP32 silencing arrested cell cycle progression at G0/G1
      phase via decreasing CDK4/Cyclin D1 complex and elevating p21. In addition,
      downregulation of USP32 significantly induced cell apoptosis by activating
      cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP, as well as inhibiting cell invasiveness via
      altering epithelial mesenchymal transition expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      suggest for the first time that USP32 is important for SCLC progression and might
      be a potential target for molecular therapy of SCLC.

PMID- 28597492
TI  - Dependability and precision of anthropometric measures in a longitudinal field
      study in an Egyptian village.
AB  - Reliability and its components, precision and dependability, are analyzed for a
      complex dataset involving longitudinal anthropometric measurements on subjects of
      varying ages in an Egyptian village setting. Results are compared with other
      published datasets. Technical error of measurement is similar to or compares
      favorably with other datasets for both adults and children. Overall reliability
      is strongly influenced by dependability coefficients, which are calculated in
      this analysis over relatively longer time periods (2 weeks for young children and
      longer for older individuals) than in other comparable datasets. It is evident
      that some components of the theoretical construct of imprecision, i.e.,
      measurement error derived from variation over longer periods of time in factors
      contributing to accuracy, are actually captured in the analytical component of
      variance called undependability.

PMID- 28597493
TI  - Seeking, accepting and declining help for emotional distress in cancer: A
      systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative evidence.
AB  - Many individuals affected by cancer who experience emotional distress report not
      wanting help. This review aims to understand why individuals affected by cancer
      seek, accept or decline help for emotional distress and what influences these
      actions. A systematic review and thematic synthesis of the qualitative literature
      was conducted. Using pre-defined search terms, four electronic databases were
      searched from January 2000 to May 2016. Pre-determined inclusion and exclusion
      criteria were then applied. Identified papers were quality appraised. In total,
      32 papers were included in the synthesis. Four themes emerged from data
      synthesis: attaining normality-the normality paradox; being emotionally literate;
      perceptions of help; needs-support gap. Attaining normality is ideographic,
      context dependent and temporally situated; some individuals maintain normality by
      not seeking/declining help whereas others seek/accept help to achieve a new
      normality. Thus, attaining normality paradoxically functions to explain both why
      individuals sought/accepted help or did not seek/declined help. Data indicate
      that a context dependent, systems thinking approach is merited to enhance
      psychosocial care. In particular, clinicians must actively explore the personal
      context of an individual's distress to ensure that help desired and help offered
      are mutually understood. Further research must address the limitations of the
      current evidence base to advance theoretical understanding.

PMID- 28597494
TI  - Unexpectedly low frequency of BRCA1/2 deleterious mutations in Japanese patients
      with breast cancer.

PMID- 28597495
TI  - Ageing and memory medication: social rationales and consumption practices.
AB  - This article focuses on the social rationales underlying the consumption or
      rejection of medication for memory by the elderly. Our analysis is set within the
      wider frame of the current use of psychopharmaceuticals for the enhancement of
      everyday performance, discussing its relationship to new cultures of ageing. Our
      results, from a recently concluded study, point to different patterns of
      investment in memory in old age. On the one hand, we found a willingness to
      consume medication for memory - a heterogeneous disposition split between the
      imaginary of disease and that of performance enhancement. On the other hand, we
      found a cultural resistance and scepticism towards the use of
      psychopharmaceuticals for performance purposes. This suggests that a new frame of
      psychopharmaceuticalization of old age - represented by memory medication - is
      prompting different rationales, ranging from consumption to resistance.

PMID- 28597496
TI  - Elevated anti-Mullerian hormone in lean women may not indicate polycystic ovarian
      syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous disorder with
      clinical features shared with functional hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (FHH).
      AIM: To investigate the usefulness of an elevated (>40 pmol/L) anti-Mullerian
      hormone (AMH) in identifying PCOS and distinguishing PCOS from FHH. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: 141 patients with an elevated AMH and body mass index either <20 kg/m2
      (lean) or >30 kg/m2 (obese) were selected and three subgroups analysed - obese,
      lean, lean with suspected FHH. FHH was diagnosed clinically, incorporating diet,
      weight and exercise history; confirmatory tests included pituitary MRIs,
      progestin challenges and endometrial thickness measurements. PCOS features of
      oligo/anovulation, polycystic ovarian morphology (PCOm) and hyperandrogenism were
      determined by clinical history, pelvic ultrasound, free androgen index and
      physical examination, respectively. Features of PCOS and blood levels of AMH,
      follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, sex hormone binding globulin
      (SHBG) and testosterone were compared between subgroups. RESULTS: Of 141 patients
      with elevated AMH, 76 were obese and 65 lean. Greater than one-third of lean
      women had the clinical picture of FHH. Elevated AMH predicted PCOm and menstrual
      irregularity across all subgroups but uniquely associated with hyperandrogenism
      in the obese. Median AMH levels were similar among FHH and non-FHH women. Median
      SHBG levels were significantly higher (111 +/- 73 vs 56 +/- 31, P < 0.001) in
      lean women with FHH compared to those without FHH. CONCLUSIONS: PCOS and FHH
      share common features of elevated AMH levels, oligo-anovulation and polycystic
      ovarian morphology. AMH did not assist in differentiating FHH from PCOS. A higher
      SHBG level shows promise as a discriminatory finding in FHH.

PMID- 28597499
TI  - Lupus in the far east: a modern epidemic.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a diverse and heterogeneous disease with
      much variation between different ethnicities. Although more severe and prevalent
      in non-Caucasian populations, the bulk of evidence regarding 'Asian lupus' had
      traditionally been extrapolated from studies on patient minorities in the West.
      Lupus research in Asia has since grown exponentially and now takes a leading role
      in improving the care for SLE patients worldwide. With recent advances,
      particularly from studies in population-specific phenotyping, genome-wide
      association studies, lupus nephritis and innovative treatment modalities, we now
      have an expanding understanding of both the basic science and clinical management
      of SLE. Upcoming breakthroughs from growing multi-ethnic cohorts and
      international collaborations will likely bring further important ramifications
      for SLE management in the near future.

PMID- 28597498
TI  - Different implications of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus on contextual memory
      retrieval after stress.
AB  - This study assessed the relative contributions of dorsal (dHPC) and ventral
      (vHPC) hippocampus regions in mediating the rapid effects of an acute stress on
      contextual memory retrieval. Indeed, we previously showed that an acute stress (3
      electric footschocks; 0.9 mA each) delivered 15 min before the 24 h-test inversed
      the memory retrieval pattern in a contextual discrimination task. Specifically,
      mice learned in a four-hole board two successive discriminations (D1 and D2)
      varying by the color and texture of the floor. Twenty-four hours later,
      nonstressed animals remembered accurately D1 but not D2 whereas stressed mice
      showed an opposite memory retrieval pattern, D2 being more accurately remembered
      than D1. We showed here that, at the time of memory testing in that task,
      stressed animals exhibited no significant changes neither in pCREB activity nor
      in the time-course evolution of corticosterone into the vHPC; in contrast, a
      significant decrease in pCREB activity and a significant increase in
      corticosterone were observed in the dHPC as compared to nonstressed mice.
      Moreover, local infusion of the anesthetic lidocaine into the vHPC 15 min before
      the onset of the stressor did not modify the memory retrieval pattern in
      nonstress and stress conditions whereas lidocaine infusion into the dHPC induced
      in nonstressed mice an memory retrieval pattern similar to that observed in
      stressed animals. The overall set of data shows that memory retrieval in
      nonstress condition involved primarily the dHPC and that the inversion of memory
      retrieval pattern after stress is linked to a dHPC but not vHPC dysfunction.

PMID- 28597497
TI  - Right ventricular dysfunction in left-sided heart failure with preserved versus
      reduced ejection fraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is recognized as a major
      prognostic factor in left-sided heart failure (HF). However, the relative
      contribution of RV dysfunction in HF with preserved (HFpEF) vs. reduced ejection
      fraction (HFrEF) is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: Right ventricular longitudinal
      strain (RVLS), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and pulmonary
      artery systolic pressure (PASP) were determined by echocardiography in 657 age-
      and gender-matched groups of patients with HFpEF [left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF) >=50%; n=219] and HFrEF (LVEF <50%; n=219) and in controls
      without HF (n=219) from an Asian population-based cohort study. Across control to
      HFpEF and HFrEF groups, RV function deteriorated as measured by RVLS (-26.7 +/-
      5%, -22.7+/-6.6% and -18.2 +/- 6.7%, respectively) and TAPSE (21.0 +/- 3.9, 17.5
      +/- 5.1 and 14.7 +/- 4.7 mm, respectively), whereas PASP increased (26.8 +/- 7.1,
      34.5 +/- 11.9 and 39.3 +/- 16.2 mmHg, respectively) (all P<0.001). Controlling
      for PASP in control, HFpEF and HFrEF subjects, the magnitude of RVLS/PASP (-1.06
      +/- 0.32, -0.75 +/- 0.32 and -0.56 +/- 0.36, respectively) and TAPSE/PASP ratios
      (0.83 +/- 0.23, 0.54 +/- 0.24 and 0.55 +/- 0.29, respectively) similarly
      decreased across groups. Right ventricular dysfunction (by both TAPSE and RVLS)
      was independently associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and
      atrial fibrillation, but not with PASP. Among patients with HF, both TAPSE/PASP
      and RVLS/PASP ratios were related to the composite endpoint of all-cause death
      and HF hospitalization, even after multivariable adjustment [hazard ratio (HR)
      0.33; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.14-0.74 and HR 3.09; 95% CI 1.52-6.26,
      respectively], with no difference between HFrEF and HFpEF. CONCLUSIONS: Right
      ventricular dysfunction is present in HFpEF and is even more pronounced in HFrEF
      for any given degree of pulmonary hypertension. It is independently predicted by
      left ventricular dysfunction but not by PASP. Right ventricular-arterial coupling
      is prognostically important in HF regardless of LVEF.

PMID- 28597500
TI  - Heroin abuse during pregnancy: Effects on perinatal outcome and early childhood
      growth.
AB  - Heroin abuse during pregnancy is associated with 1) fetal growth retardation and
      neonatal withdrawal syndrome in infants and 2) an increased frequency of abruptio
      placentae, sexually transmitted diseases, and other complications in mothers.
      Based on the findings of several small cohort studies, postnatal growth and
      development of infants whose mothers were addicted to heroin during pregnancy
      appears to fall within normal variation. In the present study, information about
      use of heroin and other substances during pregnancy in relation to neonatal
      outcome was analyzed in 47 heroin-abusing mothers and 80 control women and their
      respective infants. In addition medical record information was available for
      postnatal growth follow-up of 28 (58%) of heroin-exposed children and 22 (27.5%)
      of control infants. Infants born to heroin addicts in this study were
      significantly (P<.01) smaller at birth but exhibited no increase in the frequency
      of congenital anomalies compared with controls. Similar to findings of previous
      investigators, postnatal development of infants born to addicts was not delayed.

PMID- 28597501
TI  - Influence of prepregnant body mass and weight gain for gestation on spontaneous
      preterm delivery and duration of gestation during adolescent pregnancy.
AB  - We examined the influence of two measures of maternal nutritional status:
      prepregnant body mass (kilograms/meter2 ) and Weight gain during pregnancy
      (adjusted for duration of gestation) on spontaneous preterm delivery (<37
      completed Weeks' gestation) and duration of gestation, as well as on low
      birthweight (<2,500 grams) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) in pregnant
      adolescents. Inadequate Weight gain for gestation increased the risk of
      spontaneous preterm delivery when prematurity was reckoned by the obstetric
      estimate (Adjusted Odds Ratio, AOR = 1.75 95% CI 1.22-2.50) or from the mother's
      LMP (AOR = 1.49 95% CI 1.10-2.02). In linear models, gestation duration was
      significantly reduced, by more than half a week, when reckoned from eiter
      estimate of gestation. However, the association between preterm birth or
      gestation duration and prepregnancy body mass was not consistent and depended on
      the method of estimating gestation. Low birthweight and SGA were each
      significantly associated with inadequate weight gain during pregnancy as well as
      with prepregnant body mass. These results suggest that current maternal
      nutritional status, as measured by weight gain during pregnancy, may influence
      preterm delivery and gestation duration. The inconsistent results obtained with
      prepregnancy body mass may reflect a size bias inherent in the obstetric estimate
      of gestation, rather than effects of prepregnant maternal nutritional status on
      gestation.

PMID- 28597502
TI  - Synergistic Impacts of Electrolyte Adsorption on the Thermoelectric Properties of
      Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.
AB  - Single-walled carbon nanotubes are promising candidates for light-weight and
      flexible energy materials. Recently, the thermoelectric properties of single
      walled carbon nanotubes have been dramatically improved by ionic liquid addition;
      however, controlling factors remain unsolved. Here the thermoelectric properties
      of single-walled carbon nanotubes enhanced by electrolytes are investigated.
      Complementary characterization with absorption, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy reveals that shallow hole doping plays a partial role in the
      enhanced electrical conductivity. The molecular factors controlling the
      thermoelectric properties of carbon nanotubes are systematically investigated in
      terms of the ionic functionalities of ionic liquids. It is revealed that
      appropriate ionic liquids show a synergistic enhancement in conductivity and the
      Seebeck coefficient. The discovery of significantly precise doping enables the
      generation of thermoelectric power factor exceeding 460 uW m-1 K-2 .

PMID- 28597504
TI  - Gold(Core)-Lead(Shell) Nanoparticle-Loaded Titanium(IV) Oxide Prepared by
      Underpotential Photodeposition: Plasmonic Water Oxidation.
AB  - Underpotential photodeposition of Pb yields an ultrathin shell layer on the
      Au(111) surface of Au nanoparticle(NP)-loaded TiO2 (Au/TiO2 ) with
      heteroepitaxial nanojunctions. The localized surface plasmon resonance of Au/TiO2
      undergoes no damping with the Pb-shell formation, and the Pb shell offers
      resistance to aerobic oxidation. Mesoporous films comprising the Au(core)
      Pb(shell) NP-loaded TiO2 and unmodified Au/TiO2 were formed on fluorine-doped tin
      oxide (FTO) electrode. Using them as the photoanode, photoelectrochemical cells
      were fabricated, and the photocurrent was measured under illumination of
      simulated sunlight. The photocurrent for water splitting is dramatically enhanced
      by the Pb-shell formation. The photoelectrochemical measurements of the hot
      electron lifetime and density functional theory calculations for model clusters
      indicate that the Pb-shell effect originates from the charge separation
      enhancement.

PMID- 28597503
TI  - Prognostic model for brain metastases from lung adenocarcinoma identified with
      epidermal growth factor receptor mutation status.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several indices have been developed to predict survival of brain
      metastases (BM) based on prognostic factors. However, such models were designed
      for general brain metastases from different kinds of cancers, and prognostic
      factors vary between cancers and histological subtypes. Recently, studies have
      indicated that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status may be a
      potential prognostic biological factor in BM from lung adenocarcinoma. Thus, we
      sought to define the role of EGFR mutation in prognoses and introduce a
      prognostic model specific for BM from lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Data of 256
      patients with BM from lung adenocarcinoma identified with EGFR mutations were
      collected. Independent prognostic factors were confirmed using a Cox regression
      model. The new prognostic model was developed based on the results of
      multivariable analyses. The score of each factor was calculated by six-month
      survival. Prognostic groups were divided into low, medium, and high risk based on
      the total scores. The prediction ability of the new model was compared to the
      three existing models. RESULTS: EGFR mutation and Karnofsky performance status
      were independent prognostic factors and were thus integrated into the new
      prognostic model. The new model was superior to the three other scoring systems
      regarding the prediction of three, six, and 12-month survival by pairwise
      comparison of the area under the curve. CONCLUSION: Our proposed prognostic model
      specific for BM from lung adenocarcinoma incorporating EGFR mutation status was
      valid in predicting patient survival. Further verification is warranted, with
      prospective testing using large sample sizes.

PMID- 28597505
TI  - Renal effects of an emergency department chloride-restrictive intravenous fluid
      strategy in patients admitted to hospital for more than 48 hours.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients commonly receive i.v. fluids in the ED. It is still unclear
      whether the choice of i.v. fluids in this setting influences renal or patient
      outcomes. We aimed to assess the effects of restricting i.v. chloride
      administration in the ED on the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI). METHODS:
      We conducted a before-and-after trial with 5008 consecutive ED-treated hospital
      admissions in the control period and 5146 consecutive admissions in the
      intervention period. During the control period (18 February 2008 to 17 August
      2008), patients received standard i.v. fluids. During the intervention period (18
      February 2009 to 17 August 2009), we restricted all chloride-rich fluids. We used
      the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) staging to define AKI.
      RESULTS: Stage 3 of KDIGO-defined AKI decreased from 54 (1.1%; 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 0.8-1.4) to 30 (0.6%; 95% CI 0.4-0.8) (P = 0.006). The rate of
      renal replacement therapy did not change, from 13 (0.3%; 95% CI 0.2-0.4) to 8
      (0.2%; 95% CI 0.1-0.3) (P = 0.25). After adjustment for relevant covariates,
      liberal chloride therapy remained associated with a greater risk of KDIGO stage 3
      (hazard ratio 1.82; 95% CI 1.13-2.95; P = 0.01). On sensitivity assessment after
      removing repeat admissions, KDIGO stage 3 remained significantly lower in the
      intervention period compared with the control period (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: In a
      before-and-after trial, a chloride-restrictive strategy in an ED was associated
      with a significant decrease in the incidence of stage 3 of KDIGO-defined AKI.

PMID- 28597507
TI  - Percutaneous ultrasound-guided cholecystocentesis: complications and association
      of ultrasonographic findings with bile culture results.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively evaluate cases presented for percutaneous
      ultrasound-guided cholecystocentesis for associated complications, identify risk
      factors associated with complications and to assess ultrasonographic findings and
      relate these to bacterial culture results. METHODS: Data on 300 patients
      presented for percutaneous ultrasound-guided cholecystocentesis were
      retrospectively collected and ultrasonographic images were assessed for defined
      structural changes. The incidence of major complications was determined. Multi
      variable multi-level logistic regression was used to investigate the association
      of ultrasonographic findings with positive bile culture. RESULTS: Three hundred
      percutaneous ultrasound-guided cholecystocentesis procedures performed in 201
      dogs and 51 cats were included; 35 patients had the procedure performed more than
      once. The overall incidence of major complications was 8 of 300 procedures
      (2.7%). Bile peritonitis occurred in 2 of 300 procedures (0.7%). An
      ultrasonographically abnormal gall bladder was found in 52% of cases and had a
      sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 82, 55.7 and 61.5% respectively, to
      predict a positive bile culture. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Percutaneous ultrasound
      guided cholecystocentesis is overall a safe technique when carried out in
      selected patients. Abnormal ultrasonographic findings are only a fair predictor
      of a positive bile culture.

PMID- 28597506
TI  - Skeletal myofiber vascular endothelial growth factor is required for the exercise
      training-induced increase in dentate gyrus neuronal precursor cells.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Peripheral vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is necessary for
      exercise to stimulate hippocampal neurogenesis. Here we report that skeletal
      myofiber VEGF directly or indirectly regulates exercise-signalled proliferation
      of neuronal precursor cells. Our results found skeletal myofiber VEGF to be
      necessary for maintaining blood flow through hippocampal regions independent of
      exercise training state. This study demonstrates that skeletal myofiber VEGF is
      required for the hippocampal VEGF response to acute exercise. These results help
      to establish the mechanisms by which exercise, through skeletal myofiber VEGF,
      affects the hippocampus. ABSTRACT: Exercise signals neurogenesis in the dentate
      gyrus of the hippocampus. This phenomenon requires vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) originating from outside the blood-brain barrier, but no cellular
      source has been identified. Thus, we hypothesized that VEGF produced by skeletal
      myofibers plays a role in regulating hippocampal neuronal precursor cell
      proliferation following exercise training. This was tested in adult conditional
      skeletal myofiber-specific VEGF gene-ablated mice (VEGFHSA-/- ) by providing
      VEGFHSA-/- and non-ablated (VEGFf/f ) littermates with running wheels for 14
      days. Following this training period, hippocampal cerebral blood flow (CBF) was
      measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and neuronal precursor
      cells (BrdU+/Nestin+) were detected by immunofluorescence. The VEGFf/f trained
      group showed improvements in both speed and endurance capacity in acute treadmill
      running tests (P < 0.05). The VEGFHSA-/- group did not. The number of
      proliferating neuronal precursor cells was increased with training in VEGFf/f (P
      < 0.05) but not in VEGFHSA-/- mice. Endothelial cell (CD31+) number did not
      change in this region with exercise training or skeletal myofiber VEGF gene
      deletion. However, resting blood flow through the hippocampal region was lower in
      VEGFHSA-/- mice, both untrained and trained, than untrained VEGFf/f mice (P <
      0.05). An acute hypoxic challenge decreased CBF (P < 0.05) in untrained VEGFf/f ,
      untrained VEGFHSA-/- and trained VEGFHSA-/- mice, but not trained VEGFf/f mice.
      VEGFf/f , but not VEGFHSA-/- , mice were able to acutely run on a treadmill at an
      intensity sufficient to increase hippocampus VEGF levels. These data suggest that
      VEGF expressed by skeletal myofibers may directly or indirectly regulate both
      hippocampal blood flow and neurogenesis.

PMID- 28597508
TI  - A Graphene Quantum Dots-Hypochlorite Hybrid System for the Quantitative
      Fluorescent Determination of Total Antioxidant Capacity.
AB  - Antioxidants play a major part in the prevention and impairment of oxidative
      stress-induced damages and diseases. Evaluating the antioxidants
      activity/capacity in food and biological fluid is proved to be useful for the
      diagnosis and treatment of these oxidative stress-induced diseases. Herein, a
      graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-hypochlorite system to detect the antioxidants
      including nonenzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants in the biological fluid is
      proposed. The detection principle is based on the fact that antioxidants can
      protect the fluorescence of GQDs from hypochlorite-caused quenching by acting as
      the scavengers of hypochlorite. The GQDs-hypochlorite system allows the accurate
      quantification of the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of commercial drinks as
      well as the extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD) secretion upon stimulation
      of cytokines or hyperglycemia. This system shows the excellent analytical
      recoveries for commercial drinks (>89.9%) and good consistency with ELISA testing
      for SOD secretion in cell-conditioned medium. These results demonstrate the
      ability and reliability of the GQD-hypochlorite system for detecting and
      quantifying TAC in real drinks and complex biological fluids.

PMID- 28597509
TI  - Child and adolescent risk factors that differentially predict violent versus
      nonviolent crime.
AB  - While most research on the development of antisocial and criminal behavior has
      considered nonviolent and violent crime together, some evidence points to
      differential risk factors for these separate types of crime. The present study
      explored differential risk for nonviolent and violent crime by investigating the
      longitudinal associations between three key child risk factors (aggression,
      emotion dysregulation, and social isolation) and two key adolescent risk factors
      (parent detachment and deviant peer affiliation) predicting violent and
      nonviolent crime outcomes in early adulthood. Data on 754 participants (46%
      African American, 50% European American, 4% other; 58% male) oversampled for
      aggressive-disruptive behavior were collected across three time points. Parents
      and teachers rated aggression, emotion dysregulation, and social isolation in
      fifth grade (middle childhood, age 10-11); parents and youth rated parent
      detachment and deviant peer affiliation in seventh and eighth grade (early
      adolescence, age 12-14) and arrest data were collected when participants were 22
      23 years old (early adulthood). Different pathways to violent and nonviolent
      crime emerged. The severity of child dysfunction in late childhood, including
      aggression, emotion dysregulation, and social isolation, was a powerful and
      direct predictor of violent crime. Although child dysfunction also predicted
      nonviolent crime, the direct pathway accounted for half as much variance as the
      direct pathway to violent crime. Significant indirect pathways through adolescent
      socialization experiences (peer deviancy) emerged for nonviolent crime, but not
      for violent crime, suggesting adolescent socialization plays a more distinctive
      role in predicting nonviolent than violent crime. The clinical implications of
      these findings are discussed.

PMID- 28597510
TI  - Urinary tract washing specimens containing atypical urothelial tissue fragments
      are significantly associated with urothelial neoplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously found that the presence of atypical urothelial tissue
      fragments (AUTF) was associated with an increased risk of high-grade urothelial
      carcinoma (HGUC) but not low-grade urothelial neoplasia (LGUN) in voided urine
      (VU) specimens. However, we subsequently found that patients with LGUN were more
      likely to have cytologic atypia in urinary washing (UW) specimens, suggesting
      that cytologic atypia found in UW specimens might be associated with both LGUN
      and HGUC. In this study, we retrospectively examined UW specimens containing AUTF
      to determine whether they were associated with HGUC, LGUN, or both HGUC and LGUN.
      METHODS: 1173 UW specimens and any follow up biopsies were identified over a 10
      year period and the presence of AUTF was recorded based on the original clinical
      diagnosis. RESULTS: The presence of AUTF in UW specimens was significantly
      associated with high-risk indeterminate diagnosis or definitive diagnosis of HGUC
      (P < .001). In addition, AUTF specimens were significantly associated with a
      neoplastic diagnosis of low-grade urothelial carcinoma (LGUC) or HGUC on
      subsequent biopsies when compared to specimens lacking AUTF (P = .047). The
      overall rate of CIS/HGUC in specimens with AUTF was 33.0 vs. 13.5% for specimens
      without AUTF (P = .051). CONCLUSIONS: Urothelial tissue fragments (UTF) found in
      UW specimens should be examined for the presence of cytomorphological atypia, as
      the presence of AUTF almost triples the risk of HGUC. As opposed to what has been
      found in VU specimens, AUTF in UW specimens is also associated with an increased
      risk of LGUN.

PMID- 28597511
TI  - Successful Treatment of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli-Induced Acute
      Encephalopathy and Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome With Polymyxin-B Direct
      Hemoperfusion.

PMID- 28597512
TI  - Vortex Fluidic Chemical Transformations.
AB  - Driving chemical transformations in dynamic thin films represents a rapidly
      thriving and diversifying research area. Dynamic thin films provide a number of
      benefits including large surface areas, high shearing rates, rapid heat and mass
      transfer, micromixing and fluidic pressure waves. Combinations of these effects
      provide an avant-garde style of conducting chemical reactions with surprising and
      unusual outcomes. The vortex fluidic device (VFD) has proved its capabilities in
      accelerating and increasing the efficiencies of numerous organic, materials and
      biochemical reactions. This Minireview surveys transformations that have
      benefited from VFD-mediated processing, and identifies concepts driving the
      effectiveness of vortex-based dynamic thin films.

PMID- 28597513
TI  - Complexity in Acid-Base Titrations: Multimer Formation Between Phosphoric Acids
      and Imines.
AB  - Solutions of Bronsted acids with bases in aprotic solvents are not only common
      model systems to study the fundamentals of proton transfer pathways but are also
      highly relevant to Bronsted acid catalysis. Despite their importance the light
      nature of the proton makes characterization of acid-base aggregates challenging.
      Here, we track such acid-base interactions over a broad range of relative
      compositions between diphenyl phosphoric acid and the base quinaldine in
      dichloromethane, by using a combination of dielectric relaxation and NMR
      spectroscopy. In contrast to what one would expect for an acid-base titration, we
      find strong deviations from quantitative proton transfer from the acid to the
      base. Even for an excess of the base, multimers consisting of one base and at
      least two acid molecules are formed, in addition to the occurrence of proton
      transfer from the acid to the base and simultaneous formation of ion pairs. For
      equimolar mixtures such multimers constitute about one third of all
      intermolecular aggregates. Quantitative analysis of our results shows that the
      acid-base association constant is only around six times larger than that for the
      acid binding to an acid-base dimer, that is, to an already protonated base. Our
      findings have implications for the interpretation of previous studies of reactive
      intermediates in organocatalysis and provide a rationale for previously observed
      nonlinear effects in phosphoric acid catalysis.

PMID- 28597515
TI  - Activation-Dependent Breathing in a Flexible Metal-Organic Framework and the
      Effects of Repeated Sorption/Desorption Cycling.
AB  - A non-interpenetrated metal-organic framework with a paddle-wheel secondary
      building unit has been activated by direct thermal evacuation, guest exchange
      with a volatile solvent, and supercritical CO2 drying. Conventional thermal
      activation yields a mixture of crystalline phases and some amorphous content.
      Exchange with a volatile solvent prior to vacuum activation produces a pure
      breathing phase with high sorption capacity, selectivity for CO2 over N2 and CH4
      , and substantial hysteresis. Supercritical drying can be used to access a guest
      free open phase. Pressure-resolved differential scanning calorimetry was used to
      confirm and investigate a systematic loss of sorption capacity by the breathing
      phase as a function of successive cycles of sorption and desorption. A
      corresponding loss of sample integrity was not detectable by powder X-ray
      diffraction analysis. This may be an important factor to consider in cases where
      flexible MOFs are earmarked for industrial applications.

PMID- 28597514
TI  - Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Induces Inflammation and Predicts Spinal
      Progression in Ankylosing Spondylitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor
      (MIF) in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS: Patients who
      met the modified New York criteria for AS were recruited for the study. Healthy
      volunteers, rheumatoid arthritis patients, and osteoarthritis patients were
      included as controls. Based on the annual rate of increase in modified Stoke AS
      Spine Score (mSASSS), AS patients were classified as progressors or
      nonprogressors. MIF levels in serum and synovial fluid were quantitated by enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. Predictors of AS progression were evaluated using
      logistic regression analysis. Immunohistochemical analysis of ileal tissue was
      performed to identify MIF-producing cells. Flow cytometry was used to identify
      MIF-producing subsets, expression patterns of the MIF receptor (CD74), and MIF
      induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production in the peripheral blood. MIF
      induced mineralization of osteoblast cells (SaOS-2) was analyzed by alizarin red
      S staining, and Western blotting was used to quantify active beta-catenin levels.
      RESULTS: Baseline serum MIF levels were significantly elevated in AS patients
      compared to healthy controls and were found to independently predict AS
      progression. MIF levels were higher in the synovial fluid of AS patients, and MIF
      producing macrophages and Paneth cells were enriched in their gut. MIF induced
      TNF production in monocytes, activated beta-catenin in osteoblasts, and promoted
      the mineralization of osteoblasts. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate an
      unexplored pathogenic role of MIF in AS and a link between inflammation and new
      bone formation.

PMID- 28597516
TI  - Introductory remarks: Influence of nutritional status on growth-perspectives from
      field and clinic.

PMID- 28597517
TI  - Sociogeographic variation in the physical fitness of a cross-sectional sample of
      Flemish girls 13 to 18 years of age.
AB  - Three aspects of physical fitness-somatic characteristics, motor fitness, and
      sport participation-of girls from different sociogeographic origins of Belgium
      were contrasted. The sample consisted of a cross-sectional sample of 4,528
      Flemish girls 13 to 18 years of age, who were classified by dwelling area as
      rural, semi-urban, and urban. Somatic characteristics included 16 anthropometric
      dimensions, skeletal maturity, and somatotype. Motor fitness was assessed by 10
      tests. Sociocultural background information and the level of sport participation
      were investigated by questionnaire and interview. Data were analysed via one-way
      analyses of variance and growth curves were plotted to compare the
      sociogeographic differentiation patterns in physical fitness variables. The
      results show small motor and somatic differences between rural and urban
      youngsters, which is explained by the process of conurbation. However, urban
      girls were significantly more involved in sports than their rural counterparts.
      This is most probably due to greater sport involvement of parents from urban
      girls and/or the differences in available sport facilities.

PMID- 28597518
TI  - Heterogeneity among populations for familial aggregation of blood pressure.
AB  - A simple model of familial aggregation was applied to age-sex corrected systolic
      (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure data from two separate studies: The
      Quebec Family Study and the Tecumseh Community Health Study. Examination of the
      familial correlations suggested heterogeneity across studies in all DBP
      correlations, but for SBP only spouse correlations were higher in Quebec. Fitting
      the path model to the data revealed that the only source of heterogeneity for SBP
      was in spouse resemblance (u), which was significant in Quebec but could be
      dropped from the model in Tecumseh. For SBP, no further heterogeneity was
      detected, with the vertical transmission being compatible with (but not evidence
      for) purely polygenic inheritance (i.e., tauf = taum = 1/2). Familiality
      estimates (t2 ) for SBP were quite high (nearly 40%), and extra sibling
      resemblance was significant. For DBP, heterogeneity was detected in all
      parameters of the model except for spouse resemblance. Common sibship
      environmental effects (b) were of little importance in Tecumseh but were highly
      significant in Quebec. Vertical transmission from mothers (taum ) could be fixed
      at 1/2 in Tecumseh but was only about half as large in Quebec, and familiality
      estimates were higher in Quebec (nearly 60%) than in Tecumseh (about 25%). One
      source of the heterogeneity for SBP was due to cohabitation, which positively
      impacted on sibling correlations. The source of the sample heterogeneity in DBP
      may be through environmental factors which have a smaller impact in Tecumseh than
      in Quebec, although genetic heterogeneity could not be ruled out. Differences in
      the study designs, as well as differences in the two populations, could account
      for the heterogeneity detected.

PMID- 28597519
TI  - Feasibility study on robot-assisted retinal vascular bypass surgery in an ex vivo
      porcine model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a new robot-assisted surgical system for retinal vascular
      bypass surgery (RVBS) and to compare the success rate with freehand RVBS.
      METHODS: A robot-assisted system for retinal microsurgery was constructed to
      include two independent robotic arms. A 23-gauge light probe and an intraocular
      forceps were affixed to the arm end effectors to perform the intraocular
      manipulation. Harvested porcine eyes were introduced to be established animal
      models of closed-sky eyeballs after that pars plana vitrectomy using temporary
      keratoprosthesis was performed by a skilful surgeon. Retinal vascular bypass
      surgery (RVBS) was performed by an inexperienced ophthalmologist to test the ease
      of use. A stainless steel wire (45-MUm pipe diameter) was used as an artificial
      vessel. Before RVBS, the wires were prepositioned at the retinal surface of the
      eyes. The Control group (n = 20) underwent freehand RVBS, and the Experimental
      group (n = 20) underwent robot-assisted RVBS. To create the simulated bypass, the
      distal end of the wire was inserted into the selected vessel and advanced ~4 mm
      away from the optic disc. If successful, then the proximal wire end was inserted
      and advanced ~2 mm towards the optic disc. The difference in the success rate for
      the freehand and robot-assisted procedures was analysed by the chi-square test.
      RESULTS: The success rate for the freehand RVBS was 5% (1/20 eyes). In contrast,
      the robot-assisted success rate was 35% (7/20) of eyes (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      This study demonstrated the feasibility of robot-assisted RVBS in ex vivo porcine
      eyes. The robotic system increased the accuracy and stability of manipulation by
      eliminating freehand tremor, leading to a higher surgical success rate.

PMID- 28597520
TI  - The impact of vaccination on RBC alloimmunization in a murine model.
AB  - Emerging data in animal models and humans suggest that pathogen-associated and
      damage-associated molecular patterns variably impact RBC alloantibody formation.
      In this study, we tested the hypothesis that vaccinations may enhance immune
      responses to transfused RBCs. The Pneumovax23 vaccine decreased the magnitude of
      anti-KEL alloimmunization in a murine model, whereas the hepB vaccine did not
      impact the response; RBC transfusion did not alter immune responses to either
      vaccine. These data highlight the complexities of the intersection of innate and
      adaptive immunity and suggest that future studies investigating the pathways
      through which inflammation impacts alloimmunization are warranted.

PMID- 28597521
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28597523
TI  - Corrigendum: Formation Mechanism of the First Carbon-Carbon Bond and the First
      Olefin in the Methanol Conversion into Hydrocarbons.

PMID- 28597524
TI  - Loosening of Lipid Packing Promotes Oligoarginine Entry into Cells.
AB  - Despite extensive use of arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs)-including
      octaarginine (R8)-as intracellular delivery vectors, mechanisms for their
      internalization are still under debate. Lipid packing in live cell membranes was
      characterized using a polarity-sensitive dye (di-4-ANEPPDHQ), and evaluated in
      terms of generalized polarization. Treatment with membrane curvature-inducing
      peptides led to significant loosening of the lipid packing, resulting in an
      enhanced R8 penetration. Pyrenebutyrate (PyB) is known to facilitate R8 membrane
      translocation by working as a hydrophobic counteranion. Interestingly, PyB also
      actively induced membrane curvature and perturbed lipid packing. R8 is known to
      directly cross cell membranes at elevated concentrations. The sites of R8 influx
      were found to have looser lipid packing than surrounding areas. Lipid packing
      loosening is proposed as a key factor that governs the membrane translocation of
      CPPs.

PMID- 28597525
TI  - Spotlights on our sister journals: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 26/2017.

PMID- 28597526
TI  - Primum non nocere: the dangers of deferring heart failure therapy.

PMID- 28597527
TI  - Nanoscale Chemical Imaging of Interfacial Monolayers by Tip-Enhanced Raman
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - We report an investigation of interfacial fluorinated hydrocarbon (carboxylic
      fantrip) monolayers by nanoscale imaging using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
      (TERS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. By comparing TERS images
      of a sub-monolayer prepared by spin-coating and a pi-pi-stacked monolayer on
      Au(111) in which the molecular orientation is confined, specific Raman peaks
      shift and line widths narrow in the transferred LB monolayer. Based on DFT
      calculations that take into account dispersion corrections and surface selection
      rules, these specific effects are proposed to originate from pi-pi stacking and
      molecular orientation restriction. TERS shows the possibility to distinguish
      between a random and locked orientation with a spatial resolution of less than 10
      nm. This work combines experimental TERS imaging with theoretical DFT
      calculations and opens up the possibility of studying molecular orientations and
      intermolecular interaction at the nanoscale and molecular level.

PMID- 28597528
TI  - Enhancement of recovery from mental illness with l-methylfolate supplementation.
AB  - People suffering from depression, schizophrenia, and dementia often have
      measurably lower levels of serum folate compared to people not experiencing
      psychiatric disorders. Augmentation of SSRI and SNRI antidepressant medications
      with l-methylfolate has been demonstrated to increase their effectiveness and
      onset of action. Even the use of l-methylfolate as a stand-alone monotherapy has
      been observed to exert antidepressant properties. The role of folate in mental
      illness has been known for many decades, but the strategic use of l-methylfolate
      supplementation has not yet been accepted as a standard regimen. It is the
      proposal of this paper that advanced nurse practitioners should consider the use
      of l-methylfolate as an adjunct to antidepressant medications at the initiation
      of therapy as part of a standard regimen in their clinical practice.

PMID- 28597529
TI  - Potassium-Based Dual Ion Battery with Dual-Graphite Electrode.
AB  - A potassium ion battery has potential applications for large scale electric
      energy storage systems due to the abundance and low cost of potassium resources.
      Dual graphite batteries, with graphite as both anode and cathode, eliminate the
      use of transition metal compounds and greatly lower the overall cost. Herein,
      combining the merits of the potassium ion battery and dual graphite battery, a
      potassium-based dual ion battery with dual-graphite electrode is developed. It
      delivers a reversible capacity of 62 mA h g-1 and medium discharge voltage of
      ~3.96 V. The intercalation/deintercalation mechanism of K+ and PF6- into/from
      graphite is proposed and discussed in detail, with various characterizations to
      support.

PMID- 28597530
TI  - Relationship between clinical parameters and linear growth in children with
      cystic fibrosis.
AB  - Mixed longitudinal height data from 1,170 cystic fibrosis patients seen at
      Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital in Cleveland form the basis for this
      analysis. As a group, the patients experience growth retardation throughout the
      growth cycle, with median height values below the 25th percentile of NCHS
      standards until late adolescence. Median height increments are also below normal
      standards until age 16 years in boys and 14 years in girls. Based on these
      results, it appears that some CF patients have very delayed adolescent growth
      spurts, and continue to grow into early adulthood. Pancreataic-enzyme-sufficient
      patients have greater height-for-age percentiles than enzyme-deficient patients
      after 9 years of age. The overall difference between enzyme-sufficient and enzyme
      deficient patients is not statistically significant (P=0.058), perhaps because of
      small sample size for the enzyme-sufficient group (n=19). The correlation between
      pulmonary status assessed from lung X-rays and height increment peaks at age 10
      years in girls and age 15 years in boys, with significant negative correlation
      occurring after age 16 years in both sexes. Although both pancreatic enzyme
      deficiency and lung disease appear to have some effect on linear growth in CF,
      especially during adolescence, these two factors explain a relatively small
      portion of the variation in growth percentiles.

PMID- 28597531
TI  - Attitudes in Australia on the upscheduling of over-the-counter codeine to a
      prescription-only medication.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: In December 2016, the Australian Therapeutic Goods
      Administration announced that over-the-counter (OTC) codeine would be available
      by prescription-only in February 2018. Prior to this announcement, the authors
      aimed to evaluate attitudes among Australian codeine consumers, pharmacists and
      general medical practitioners (GP) towards the proposed upscheduling of OTC
      codeine. DESIGN AND METHODS: Public Therapeutic Goods Administration submissions
      on codeine upscheduling were assessed, and a brief questionnaire was developed to
      assess the common issues raised. Participants (354 codeine consumers; 220
      pharmacists; 120 GPs) completed a web-based questionnaire. Comparisons of
      attitudes on specific statements related to codeine upscheduling were made
      between consumers who were in support and those who opposed the proposal and
      between pharmacists and GPs. Regression models were conducted to examine
      correlates of attitudes towards codeine restriction. RESULTS: Most consumer,
      pharmacist and a third of GP respondents opposed the upscheduling of codeine.
      Consumers, on average, questioned whether the proposed intervention would address
      the intended targets of minimising codeine-related side effects and risk of
      codeine dependence. Like consumers, pharmacists indicated concern around whether
      codeine restriction would address concerns of associated harm and dependence, as
      well as the burden regular GP appointments would create in terms of finances for
      consumers and time for GPs. GPs themselves, did not support these views.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Consumer responses identify key targets for
      educational campaigns when codeine is rescheduled, particularly around effective
      alternatives to OTC codeine. Additionally, contrasting views of pharmacists and
      GPs reinforce the importance of pharmacovigilance in evaluating the effectiveness
      of codeine restriction, once implemented. [McCoy J, Bruno R, Nielsen S. Attitudes
      in Australia on the upscheduling of over-the-counter codeine to a prescription
      only medication. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;00:000-000].

PMID- 28597533
TI  - ERRATUM.

PMID- 28597532
TI  - Substrate characterization and catheter ablation in patients with scar-related
      ventricular tachycardia using ultra high-density 3-D mapping.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ablation of scar-related ventricular tachycardia (VT), especially in
      noninducible VT or hemodynamically unstable patients, can be challenging. Thus,
      we evaluated feasibility of an ultra high-density 3-D mapping approach to
      characterize the ventricular substrate and, if possible, to map VT. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Twenty-two patients (67 +/- 2 years, mean LV-EF 36 +/- 3%) with both
      ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy and documented VT underwent mapping and
      catheter ablation using a 64-electrode mini-basket catheter. Substrate
      characterization included ultra high-density voltage maps, identification of
      areas of slow conduction and late potentials. Whenever VT was inducible
      activation mapping was performed. In 13 of 22 patients, the presumed clinical VT
      (in 16 of 22 any VT) was inducible. A total of 50 maps were generated (22
      substrate maps, 28 during VT), mapping time was 33 +/- 4 minutes, number of
      points was 10,937 +/- 1,923. Low voltage areas were related with the site of
      origin in all mapped VT. Isochronal maps indicated areas of slow conduction in 14
      of 22 patients, all in border zone scar. In 95% of patients, late potentials were
      found. Mapping time during VT was 9 +/- 2 minutes, number of points 6,740 +/-
      1,140. Covered cycle length was 82 +/- 5% (16 re-entry, 10 focal, and two
      undetermined). During 4 months follow-up, 90% remained free from VT recurrence.
      CONCLUSION: Ultra high-density mapping in patients with scar-related VT is
      feasible, safe and enables detailed insight into tachycardia mechanisms. Critical
      sites can be identified (1) by precise substrate characterization when VT is not
      inducible or hemodynamically not tolerated and (2) during short lasting episodes
      of VT in order to guide catheter ablation.

PMID- 28597534
TI  - Whole-genome patterns of linkage disequilibrium across flycatcher populations
      clarify the causes and consequences of fine-scale recombination rate variation in
      birds.
AB  - Recombination rate is heterogeneous across the genome of various species and so
      are genetic diversity and differentiation as a consequence of linked selection.
      However, we still lack a clear picture of the underlying mechanisms for
      regulating recombination. Here we estimated fine-scale population recombination
      rate based on the patterns of linkage disequilibrium across the genomes of
      multiple populations of two closely related flycatcher species (Ficedula
      albicollis and F. hypoleuca). This revealed an overall conservation of the
      recombination landscape between these species at the scale of 200 kb, but we also
      identified differences in the local rate of recombination despite their recent
      divergence (<1 million years). Genetic diversity and differentiation were
      associated with recombination rate in a lineage-specific manner, indicating
      differences in the extent of linked selection between species. We detected 400
      3,085 recombination hotspots per population. Location of hotspots was conserved
      between species, but the intensity of hotspot activity varied between species.
      Recombination hotspots were primarily associated with CpG islands (CGIs),
      regardless of whether CGIs were at promoter regions or away from genes.
      Recombination hotspots were also associated with specific transposable elements
      (TEs), but this association appears indirect due to shared preferences of the
      transposition machinery and the recombination machinery for accessible open
      chromatin regions. Our results suggest that CGIs are a major determinant of the
      localization of recombination hotspots, and we propose that both the distribution
      of TEs and fine-scale variation in recombination rate may be associated with the
      evolution of the epigenetic landscape.

PMID- 28597535
TI  - Epidemiology of campylobacteriosis in Denmark 2000-2015.
AB  - Campylobacter is the most frequently occurring cause of bacterial gastroenteritis
      in Europe. Unlike other zoonotic diseases, European-wide incidences of
      Campylobacter infections have increased during the past decade, resulting in a
      significant disease burden. In Denmark, campylobacteriosis is notifiable by
      laboratory and a unique registration system of electronic transfer and storage of
      notified Campylobacter cases linked to the national person register of age,
      gender and geographical location allows collection of comprehensive case data.
      Using national surveillance data, we describe Campylobacter infections in Denmark
      from 2000 to 2015, focusing on age-specific incidences, geography, seasonality
      and outbreaks. During the observed period, a total of 60,725 Campylobacter
      infections were registered with a mean annual incidence of 69.3 cases/100,000
      population. From 2000 to 2014, the incidence of campylobacteriosis decreased by
      20%, followed by an apparent increase of 20% from 2014 to 2015. Approximately one
      third of cases were travel-related. Incidences were highest in males, young
      adults aged 20-29 years and children under 5 years of age. Generally, children
      under 10 years of age living in rural areas were at higher risk of infection.
      Infection patterns were seasonal with an increase from May to October, peaking in
      August. Outbreaks were identified each year, including four large waterborne
      outbreaks which all occurred following heavy rainfall events. For the most part,
      patterns of Campylobacter infection in Denmark during 2000 to 2015 remained
      remarkably constant and followed what is known about the disease with respect to
      demographic, temporal and spatial characteristics. To establish better targeted
      prevention and control measures, the current knowledge gaps regarding both
      Campylobacter microbiology (degree of clonal diversity and clustering) and the
      importance of different risk factors (food versus environment/climate) need to be
      filled.

PMID- 28597536
TI  - Timing of solid food introduction and association with later childhood overweight
      and obesity: The IDEFICS study.
AB  - This study investigated associations between timing of solid food introduction
      and childhood obesity and explored maternal characteristics influencing early
      feeding practices. Cross-sectional data from children 2-9 years (n = 10,808;
      50.5% boys) residing in 8 European countries of the IDEFICS study (2007-2008)
      were included. Late solid food introduction (>=7 months of age) was associated
      with an increased prevalence of later childhood overweight/obesity among
      exclusively breastfed children (OR [odds ratio]: 1.38, 95% CI [confidence
      interval] [1.01, 1.88]). In contrast, early solid food introduction (<4 months of
      age) was associated with lower prevalence of overweight/obesity among children
      that ceased exclusive breastfeeding earlier than 4 months (OR: 0.63, 95% CI
      [0.47, 0.84]). Children that were introduced to solids right after 6 months
      exclusive breastfeeding and continued to receive breastmilk (>=12 months) were
      less likely to become overweight/obese (OR: 0.67, 95% CI [0.51, 0.88]) compared
      to children that discontinued to receive breastmilk. Analyses were adjusted for
      age, sex, country, birth weight, parental education level, parental body mass
      index, tobacco use in pregnancy, gestational weight gain, and gestational
      diabetes. Underweight mothers, overweight mothers, mothers who reported daily
      smoking during pregnancy, and low-educated mothers were less likely to follow
      recommendations on breastfeeding and timely solids introduction. Future studies
      should examine whether guidelines for solid food introduction timing have to
      distinguish between exclusively breastfed, formula fed, and too early exclusive
      breastfeeding-ceased infants. There is also need for more prospective studies;
      recall bias was an important current limitation. In conclusion, health
      professionals should emphasize benefits of breastfeeding and appropriate solid
      food introduction, especially to mothers that are less likely to follow
      recommendations.

PMID- 28597538
TI  - Bone cortical area in the evaluation of nutrition and activity levels.
AB  - This study compares the differing impacts of nutrition and habitual activities on
      cortical area. While nutrition should have a systemic effect on cortical area,
      activities are more likely to result to localized changes in either cortical
      area, its distribution, or both. Two groups from the Southeastern United States
      were examined here: Archaic hunter-gatherers and Mississippian agriculturalists.
      Cross-sectional area and strength were greater in the femora alone of
      agricultural males. Agricultural females showed no increases in cortical area,
      but nonetheless had greater strength in both the arms and legs. In addition, in
      spite of significantly lower cortical area at one site-the proximal humerus
      agricultural females maintained bone strength at this level. These findings
      suggest that most of the differences seen in cross-sectional area and structure
      are due to changing activities associated with the introduction of agriculture,
      although nutrition probably had a constraining effect on cortical area in
      agricultural females. Finally, in order to distinguish between the effects of
      diet and activities, it is best to examine more than a single bone and to
      consider both cortical area and its distribution, rather than area alone.

PMID- 28597537
TI  - The challenge of complex drug use: Associated use of codeine-containing medicines
      and new psychoactive substances in a European cross-sectional online population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Misuse of codeine-containing medicines in combination with new
      psychoactive substances (NPS) is inadequately described. This study characterises
      codeine consumption amongst NPS users and non-NPS users to provide warning of
      health issues. METHODS: Online survey conducted between July 2015 and March 2016.
      RESULTS: Out of 340 respondents, residing in a country in Europe and using
      codeine recently, 63.8% were female. Mean age: 34.9 years (SD = 12.4). Substance
      use included NPS (18.5%) and illicit controlled drugs (55.9%). Factors relating
      to codeine use found to significantly predict NPS use were consuming codeine
      extracted from combination tablets (OR = 16.79, 95% CI [8.67, 32.51]), obtaining
      codeine from friends, family, and acquaintances (OR = 3.98, 95% CI [1.82, 8.7]),
      use of illicit controlled drugs (OR = 34.99, 95% CI [8.39, 145.94]) and use of
      codeine to experience euphoria (OR = 6.41, 95% CI [3.42, 12.04]). CONCLUSIONS:
      Amongst NPS users, codeine is less likely to be used daily but more likely to be
      used for recreational purposes. Smaller populations engaging in high-risk use
      exist who take multiple drugs in high doses. Combinations of misused codeine and
      NPS highlight the need for policy to respond to a more complex drug situation.

PMID- 28597539
TI  - Developmental effects of antipsychotic drugs on serotonin receptor subtypes.
AB  - Antipsychotic medications are increasingly prescribed to pediatric and adolescent
      patients with psychotic diseases in spite of limited knowledge on the long-term
      effects of dissimilar antipsychotic drugs on developing brain. In this study, we
      quantified the levels of two major serotonin 5-HT1A , and 5-HT2A receptors in
      brain regions of developing rats after 3 weeks of treatment with typical
      (fluphenazine) and atypical (clozapine and olanzapine) antipsychotics, and
      compared to similarly treated adult rats treated with olanzapine, risperidone,
      and quetiapine examined in previous studies. Fluphenazine, clozapine, and
      olanzapine all increased 5-HT1A receptors in medial prefrontal cortex (MPC) and
      dorsolateral frontal cortex (DFC) of juvenile and adult rats. Clozapine and
      olanzapine also increased 5-HT1A labeling in hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions of
      juvenile but not adult animals. Repeated treatments with clozapine and
      olanzapine, but not fluphenazine, decreased 5-HT2A receptors in MPC and DFC in
      developing and mature animals. In addition, both clozapine and olanzapine
      selectively reduced 5-HT2A labeling in hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions of
      juvenile animals. These findings suggest that forebrain 5-HT receptor subtypes in
      juvenile animals are more sensitive than adults to the long-term effects of
      antipsychotic drugs, which may account for differences in clinical effects of
      antipsychotic drugs between young vs. adult psychiatric patients.

PMID- 28597540
TI  - Urbanization-dependent gradients in stature among polish conscripts in 1976 and
      1986.
AB  - On the basis of two successive surveys of 19-year-old Polish conscripts, one in
      1976 and another in 1986, secular trends in stature and the relationship between
      stature and population size of locality of habitation were examined. In spite of
      the serious economic crisis in the early 1980s and a rather abrupt cessation of
      the trend towards earlier menarche in Poland between 1977 and 1987, the trend
      towards taller stature continued unabated and was intense (2.0 cm in the general
      population). In 1976, stature decreased systematically with decreasing population
      size in the following order: (1) cities over 500,000, (2) cities between 100,000
      and 500,000, (3) towns between 25,000 and 100,000, (4) towns below 25,000, and
      (5) villages. A similar gradient persisted in the 1986 survey. In 1986, about one
      half of the total statural gradient was accounted for by the gap between rural
      conscripts and those next on the urbanization scale, i.e., conscripts from the
      smallest towns, and the magnitude of this gap was unaltered during the decade.
      However, the rural-large city gap has declined from 3.6 cm in 1976 to 2.8 cm in
      1986. The relative shortness of rural conscripts and the tallness of their large
      city age peers are consistent with the pattern of social variation in stature and
      maturation rate observed among Polish school children and with the country's
      postwar economic and social history.

PMID- 28597541
TI  - Restless roosts: Light pollution affects behavior, sleep, and physiology in a
      free-living songbird.
AB  - The natural nighttime environment is increasingly polluted by artificial light.
      Several studies have linked artificial light at night to negative impacts on
      human health. In free-living animals, light pollution is associated with changes
      in circadian, reproductive, and social behavior, but whether these animals also
      suffer from physiologic costs remains unknown. To fill this gap, we made use of a
      unique network of field sites which are either completely unlit (control), or are
      artificially illuminated with white, green, or red light. We monitored nighttime
      activity of adult great tits, Parus major, and related this activity to within
      individual changes in physiologic indices. Because altered nighttime activity as
      a result of light pollution may affect health and well-being, we measured oxalic
      acid concentrations as a biomarker for sleep restriction, acute phase protein
      concentrations and malaria infection as indices of immune function, and telomere
      lengths as an overall measure of metabolic costs. Compared to other treatments,
      individuals roosting in the white light were much more active at night. In these
      individuals, oxalic acid decreased over the course of the study. We also found
      that individuals roosting in the white light treatment had a higher probability
      of malaria infection. Our results indicate that white light at night increases
      nighttime activity levels and sleep debt and affects disease dynamics in a free
      living songbird. Our study offers the first evidence of detrimental effects of
      light pollution on the health of free-ranging wild animals.

PMID- 28597543
TI  - Epidemiological differences among birth weight and gestational age subgroups of
      newborns.
AB  - For a sample of 16,113 women who received prenatal care from the Guatemalan
      Social Security Institute Hospital, we described the distribution of birth weight
      and gestational age subgroups and the association between known epidemiologic
      risk factors and the odds for 1) an appropriate-weight-for-gestational-age
      preterm vs. a small-for-gestational-age term infant, 2) a small-for-gestational
      age preterm vs. a small-for-gestational-age term infant, and 3) a normal ponderal
      index vs. a low ponderal index term small-for-gestational-age infant. We found
      that low maternal income, education, height (3147 cm), prepregnancy weight (347.8
      kg), and weight gain during pregnancy (30.72 kg) were associated with a greater
      odds for birth of a term small-for-gestational-age infant (particularly those
      with a normal ponderal index) than for the birth of a preterm appropriate-weight
      for-gestational-age infant. Conversely, medical and pregnancy-related
      complications were associated with greater odds for a preterm birth of an
      appropriate- or a small-for-gestational-age infant. Implications of these
      findings for interventions and research are discussed.

PMID- 28597542
TI  - The efficacy and safety of gemcitabine, cisplatin, prednisone, thalidomide versus
      CHOP in patients with newly diagnosed peripheral T-cell lymphoma with analysis of
      biomarkers.
AB  - We compared the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine, cisplatin, prednisone and
      thalidomide (GDPT) with standard CHOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin,
      vincristine, prednisone) for patients with newly diagnosed peripheral T-cell
      lymphoma (PTCL) in a prospective randomized controlled and open-label clinical
      trial. Between July 2010 and June 2016, 103 patients were randomly allocated into
      two groups, of whom 52 were treated with GDPT therapy and 51 with CHOP therapy.
      The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were
      better in the GDPT group than in the CHOP group (57% vs. 35% for 2-year PFS, P =
      0.0035; 71% vs 50% for 2-year OS, P = 0.0001). The complete remission rate (CRR)
      and the overall response rate (ORR) in the GDPT group were higher than in the
      CHOP group (52% vs. 33%, P = 0.044 for CRR; 67% vs. 49%, P = 0.046 for ORR).
      Haemocytopenia was the predominant adverse effect, and acute toxicity was
      moderate, tolerable and well managed in both arms. mRNA expression of ERCC1,
      RRM1, TUBB3 and TOP2A genes varied among patients but the difference did not
      reach statistical significance, mainly due to the relatively small sample size.
      The precise characters of these biomarkers remain to be identified. In
      conclusion, GDPT is a promising new regimen as potential first-line therapy
      against PTCL. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as
      #NCT01664975.

PMID- 28597544
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum proteins SDF2 and SDF2L1 act as components of the BiP
      chaperone cycle to prevent protein aggregation.
AB  - The folding of newly synthesized proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is
      assisted by ER-resident chaperone proteins. BiP (immunoglobulin heavy-chain
      binding protein), a member of the HSP70 family, plays a central role in protein
      quality control. The chaperone function of BiP is regulated by its intrinsic
      ATPase activity, which is stimulated by ER-resident proteins of the HSP40/DnaJ
      family, including ERdj3. Here, we report that two closely related proteins, SDF2
      and SDF2L1, regulate the BiP chaperone cycle. Both are ER-resident, but SDF2 is
      constitutively expressed, whereas SDF2L1 expression is induced by ER stress. Both
      luminal proteins formed a stable complex with ERdj3 and potently inhibited the
      aggregation of different types of misfolded ER cargo. These proteins associated
      with non-native proteins, thus promoting the BiP-substrate interaction cycle. A
      dominant-negative ERdj3 mutant that inhibits the interaction between ERdj3 and
      BiP prevented the dissociation of misfolded cargo from the ERdj3-SDF2L1 complex.
      Our findings indicate that SDF2 and SDF2L1 associate with ERdj3 and act as
      components in the BiP chaperone cycle to prevent the aggregation of misfolded
      proteins, partly explaining the broad folding capabilities of the ER under
      various physiological conditions.

PMID- 28597545
TI  - Cimifugin suppresses allergic inflammation by reducing epithelial derived
      initiative key factors via regulating tight junctions.
AB  - Cimifugin is a bioactive component of Saposhnikovia divaricata, a Chinese herb
      for treating allergy. Our previous studies demonstrated that cimifugin inhibited
      allergic inflammation efficiently. This study aims to determine the mechanism of
      cimifugin on epithelial cells in allergic inflammation. Mice were sensitized and
      challenged with FITC to establish type 2 atopic dermatitis (AD) model. The
      initial stage of AD model, in which mice were just sensitized with FITC, was
      established in vivo and immortalized human epidermal (HaCaT) cells were utilized
      in vitro. Initiative key cytokines, TSLP and IL-33, were measured by ELISA, the
      junctions in ECs were observed by electron microscopy and TJs (CLDN-1, occludin
      and CLDND1) were assessed by Western blot, immunohistochemistry and
      immunofluorescence. The results showed that TSLP and IL-33 were inhibited
      significantly by cimifugin in the initial stage of AD model. Simultaneously,
      cimifugin reduced the separated gap among the epithelial cells and increased the
      expression of TJs. Similar effects on TSLP/IL-33 and TJs were obtained in vitro.
      The effect of cimifugin on TSLP decreased significantly when expression of CLDN1
      was interfered with siRNA and this implied cimifugin inhibits initiative
      cytokines through restoring TJs. Furthermore, cimifugin administered only in the
      initial stage obviously attenuated the ultimate allergic inflammation, which
      indicate that impacts of cimifugin in the initial stage on TSLP/IL-33 and TJs are
      sufficient for suppressing allergic inflammation. This study not only revealed
      the mechanisms of cimifugin, but also indicated the possibility of initiative key
      cytokines and TJs as therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28597547
TI  - Controlled Growth of Monocrystalline Organo-Lead Halide Perovskite and Its
      Application in Photonic Devices.
AB  - Organo-lead halide perovskites (OHPs) have recently emerged as a new class of
      exceptional optoelectronic materials, which may find use in many applications,
      including solar cells, light emitting diodes, and photodetectors. More complex
      applications, such as lasers and electro-optic modulators, require the use of
      monocrystalline perovskite materials to reach their ultimate performance levels.
      Conventional methods for forming single crystals of OHPs like methylammonium lead
      bromide (MAPbBr3 ) afford limited control over the product morphology, rendering
      the assembly of defined microcavity nanostructures difficult. We overcame this by
      synthesizing for the first time (MA)[PbBr3 ]?DMF (1), and demonstrating its
      facile transformation into monocrystalline MAPbBr3 microplatelets. The MAPbBr3
      microplatelets were tailored into waveguide based photonic devices, of which an
      ultra-low propagation loss of 0.04 dB MUm-1 for a propagation distance of 100 MUm
      was demonstrated. An efficient active electro-optical modulator (AEOM) consisting
      of a MAPbBr3 non-linear arc waveguide was demonstrated, exhibiting a 98.4 % PL
      intensity modulation with an external voltage of 45 V. This novel synthetic
      approach, as well as the demonstration of effective waveguiding, will pave the
      way for developing a wide range of photonic devices based on organo-lead halide
      perovskites.

PMID- 28597548
TI  - Equitable Access Is Not a Secondary Goal of Organ Allocation.

PMID- 28597549
TI  - Lexical-processing efficiency leverages novel word learning in infants and
      toddlers.
AB  - Children who rapidly recognize and interpret familiar words typically have
      accelerated lexical growth, providing indirect evidence that lexical processing
      efficiency (LPE) is related to word-learning ability. Here we directly tested
      whether children with better LPE are better able to learn novel words. In
      Experiment 1, 17- and 30-month-olds were tested on an LPE task and on a simple
      word-learning task. The 17-month-olds' LPE scores predicted word learning in a
      regression model, and only those with relatively good LPE showed evidence of
      learning. The 30-month-olds learned novel words quite well regardless of LPE, but
      in a more difficult word-learning task (Experiment 2), their LPE predicted word
      learning ability. These findings suggest that LPE supports word-learning
      processes, especially when learning is difficult.

PMID- 28597546
TI  - Endothelin-1 receptor blockade as new possible therapeutic approach in multiple
      myeloma.
AB  - New effective treatments are needed to improve outcomes for multiple myeloma (MM)
      patients. Receptors with restricted expression on plasma cells (PCs) represent
      attractive new therapeutic targets. The endothelin-1 (EDN1) axis, consisting of
      EDN1 acting through EDN-receptor A (EDNRA) and B (EDNRB), was previously shown to
      be overexpressed in several tumours, including MM. However, there is incomplete
      understanding of how EDN1 axis regulates MM growth and response to therapy.
      Besides EDNRA, the majority of MM cell lines and primary malignant PCs express
      high levels of EDNRB and release EDN1. Similarly, bone-marrow microenvironment
      cells also secrete EDN1. Investigating the extent of epigenetic dysregulation of
      EDNRB gene in MM, we found that hypermethylation of EDNRB promoter and subsequent
      down-regulation of EDNRB gene was observed in PCs or B lymphocytes from healthy
      donors compared to EDNRB-expressing malignant PCs. Pharmacological blockade with
      the dual EDN1 receptor antagonist bosentan decreased cell viability and MAPK
      activation of U266 and RPMI-8226 cells. Interestingly, the combination of
      bosentan and the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, currently approved for MM
      treatment, resulted in synergistic cytotoxic effects. Overall, our data has
      uncovered EDN1-mediated autocrine and paracrine mechanisms that regulate
      malignant PCs growth and drug response, and support EDN1 receptors as new
      therapeutic targets in MM.

PMID- 28597550
TI  - Technical error of mesiodistal diameters for the permanent and deciduous
      dentition.
AB  - Method errors and reliabilities are given for mesiodistal measurements of the
      permanent and deciduous dentitions. Method errors, describing random measurement
      error, range between 0.04 and 0.12 mm. Reliabilities, describing the proportion
      of true variance to true plus error variance, are lowest for measurements taken
      on the canines. Mesiodistal measurements of the incisors are more reliable than
      those taken on the (pre)molars. The different reliability estimates reflect
      disparities in true rather than error variance. The method error and reliability
      statistics serve different purposes and lead to different interpretations.

PMID- 28597551
TI  - Testis-specific isoform of Na/K-ATPase (ATP1A4) regulates sperm function and
      fertility in dairy bulls through potential mechanisms involving reactive oxygen
      species, calcium and actin polymerization.
AB  - Traditional bull breeding soundness evaluation (BBSE) eliminates bulls that are
      grossly abnormal; however, bulls classified as satisfactory potential breeders
      still vary in field fertility, implying submicroscopic differences in sperm
      characteristics. The testis-specific isoform of Na/K-ATPase (ATP1A4) is involved
      in regulation of sperm motility and capacitation in bulls through well
      established enzyme activity and signaling functions. The objective was to
      determine ATP1A4 content, activity and their relationship to post-thaw sperm
      function and field fertility, using semen samples from low-fertility (LF) and
      high-fertility (HF) Holstein bulls (n = 20 each) with known FERTSOL rates
      (measure of field fertility, based on non-return rate). Frozen-thawed sperm from
      HF bulls had increased ATP1A4 content and activity compared to LF bulls.
      Furthermore, post-thaw sperm from HF bulls had increased tyrosine
      phosphorylation, ROS, F-actin content, and low intracellular calcium compared to
      LF bulls. Subsequent incubation of HF bull sperm with ouabain (a specific ligand
      of Na/K-ATPase) further augmented the post-thaw increase in tyrosine
      phosphorylation, ROS production, and F-actin content, whereas the increase in
      intracellular calcium was still low compared to LF bull sperm. ATP1A4 content and
      activity, ROS, F-actin and calcium were significantly correlated with fertility.
      In conclusion, we inferred that ATP1A4 content and activity differed among dairy
      bulls with satisfactory semen characteristics and that ATP1A4 may regulate sperm
      function through mechanisms involving ROS, F-actin and calcium in frozen-thawed
      sperm of HF and LF dairy bulls.

PMID- 28597552
TI  - Branched chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase 111-130, a T cell epitope that
      induces both autoimmune myocarditis and hepatitis in A/J mice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Organ-specific autoimmune diseases are believed to result from
      immune responses generated against self-antigens specific to each organ. However,
      when such responses target antigens expressed promiscuously in multiple tissues,
      then the immune-mediated damage may be wide spread. METHODS: In this report, we
      describe a mitochondrial protein, branched chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase
      kinase (BCKDk ) that can act as a target autoantigen in the development of
      autoimmune inflammatory reactions in both heart and liver. RESULTS: We
      demonstrate that BCKDk protein contains at least nine immunodominant epitopes,
      three of which, BCKDk 71-90, BCKDk 111-130 and BCKDk 141-160, were found to
      induce varying degrees of myocarditis in immunized mice. One of these, BCKDk 111
      130, could also induce hepatitis without affecting lungs, kidneys, skeletal
      muscles, and brain. In immunogenicity testing, all three peptides induced antigen
      specific T cell responses, as verified by proliferation assay and/or major
      histocompatibility complex class II/IAk dextramer staining. Finally, the disease
      inducing abilities of BCKDk peptides were correlated with the production of
      interferon-gamma, and the activated T cells could transfer disease to naive
      recipients. CONCLUSIONS: The disease induced by BCKDk peptides could serve as a
      useful model to study the autoimmune events of inflammatory heart and liver
      diseases.

PMID- 28597553
TI  - Attenuated positive psychotic symptoms and the experience of anhedonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deficits in anticipatory pleasure have been consistently shown among
      chronic, first-episode, and clinical high risk for psychosis populations, but
      much less attention has been given to non-clinical individuals experiencing
      attenuated positive psychotic symptoms (APPS). METHODS: Young adults (N = 1839)
      were administered the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale, which measures
      anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, and the Prodromal Questionnaire, which
      measures APPS. Analyses examined (1) total APPS endorsed and (2) comparisons of
      groups experiencing APPS that were endorsed as distressing (distressing APPS = D
      APPS; experiencing more D-APPS = high-D-APPS, a potentially more clinically
      meaningful group; experiencing fewer D-APPS = low-D-APPS). RESULTS: Results
      indicated that anticipatory, but not consummatory, pleasure deficits were
      associated with elevated APPS. Additionally, the high-D-APPS group exhibited
      significantly less anticipatory pleasure compared with the low-D-APPS group, but
      did not differ in consummatory pleasure. CONCLUSION: Our results mirror findings
      in schizophrenia samples and suggest that anticipatory pleasure deficits occur
      along the entire continuum of psychotic experiences.

PMID- 28597554
TI  - Clinical outcomes in a specialist male genital skin clinic: prospective follow-up
      of 600 patients.
AB  - It is important to assess outcomes for medical interventions in order to focus
      scarce resources on outcomes with a known positive benefit. An open,
      observational study was performed to assess the clinical outcomes of 600 male
      patients with a genital skin problem attending a specialist secondary care
      dermatology facility. Patients were mainly referred by general practitioners and
      genitourinary medicine physicians. Outcome was measured at 3 and 6 months, and
      was determined by clinical examination and assessment of patient symptoms. The
      mean age of the group was 45.3 years. The commonest diagnoses were lichen
      sclerosus (30.5%), balanitis (17.3%), eczema (12.8%), lichen planus (7.3%),
      psoriasis (7.2%) and benign lesions (5.5%). The commonest presenting symptoms
      were genital rash (43%), genital soreness, pain or burning (17.5%), and penile
      lesions (15.7%). Lichen sclerosus and all forms of balanitis were more common in
      uncircumcised patients, whereas lichen planus was more common in circumcised
      males. Short-term outcome was excellent, with 11.5% of patients being reassured
      and discharged on their first visit, and after 6 months 58% of all patients were
      clear and 12% had improved. Only 4.5% reported no improvement in symptoms.
      Diagnostic biopsy demonstrated malignant or premalignant lesions in nearly a
      fifth of those having a procedure. Close working with urological and
      genitourinary medicine colleagues is important to manage the various aspects of
      male health.

PMID- 28597555
TI  - Harnessing Scientific and Technological Advances to Improve Equity in Kidney
      Allocation Policies.
AB  - We reported that current assignment of HLA-DQ is a barrier to organ allocation.
      Here we simulated the impact of incorporating HLA-DQ antigens and antibodies as
      A/B and alphabeta allelic variants, respectively, on calculated panel reactive
      antibody (cPRA) and probability of finding potential compatible donors (PCD). A
      cohort of 1224 donors and 2075 sensitized candidates was analyzed using HLA
      DQalphabeta allelic (study) versus serologic (current practice) nomenclature. A
      significant (p < 10-4 ) decrease in cPRA was observed with higher impact for male
      versus female, and first transplant versus retransplant (p < 10-4 ), affecting
      mostly patients with moderate cPRA (30-80%). Consequently, the number of patients
      qualifying for 100% cPRA points according to the United Network for Organ Sharing
      Kidney Allocation System decreased by 37%. More critically, by using allelic
      versus serologic nomenclature for HLA-DQ, the number of PCDs for all patients was
      increased, with male and first-transplant patients showing a higher expansion
      compared with female and retransplants. Patients of blood group O showed the
      highest benefit. The goal of reporting unacceptable antigens is to improve
      accuracy of virtual crossmatching and increase the likelihood of finding
      immunologically compatible donors. Our simulation provides strong support for the
      need to re-evaluate the use of allele typing and how HLA-DQ antigens and
      antibodies are incorporated into allocation policies to ensure equity.

PMID- 28597556
TI  - Seasonality and weight gain during the first year of life.
AB  - A comparison is made between weight increments at 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12 months
      of life between infants born in the fall, winter, spring, and summer seasons in
      Sui Lin, Taiwan. The focus of the study is on (1) whether in a tropical region
      the effects of seasonality on weight gain interact with the developmental stage
      of the infant and (2) whether these interactions are partly regulated by the
      growth history of the infant. The main hypothesis is that the highest growth
      velocities will occur in the dry, cold months of the year (fall and winter) and
      the lowest velocities will occur in the hot, rainy months (spring and summer).
      The highest and lowest mean birth weights were recorded in the spring and summer
      seasons, respectively. Season had no effect on weight gain during 0-3 months; on
      the other hand, birth weight and length were significantly related to weight gain
      during this 0-3 month period. In the last two seasons of the first year, the
      highest weight increments occurred in the fall and the lowest occurred in the
      spring and summer. At the end of the 12 months of life there were no weight
      differences between cohorts.

PMID- 28597558
TI  - "Miro" in Parkinson's disease: Here, there, everywhere!

PMID- 28597559
TI  - What Would Dr. James Parkinson Think Today? Tau and Other Imaging Possibilities
      in Parkinson's Disease.

PMID- 28597557
TI  - Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders: The Long Road to Clinical
      Therapy.
AB  - Continuous high-frequency DBS is an established treatment for essential tremor
      and Parkinson's disease. Current developments focus on trying to widen the
      therapeutic window of DBS. Adaptive DBS (aDBS), where stimulation is dynamically
      controlled by feedback from biomarkers of pathological brain circuit activity, is
      one such development. Relevant biomarkers may be central, such as local field
      potential activity, or peripheral, such as inertial tremor data. Moreover,
      stimulation may be directed by the amplitude or the phase (timing) of the
      biomarker signal. In this review, we evaluate existing aDBS studies as proof-of
      principle, discuss their limitations, most of which stem from their acute nature,
      and propose what is needed to take aDBS into a chronic setting. (c) 2017 The
      Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of
      International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 28597561
TI  - Relationship of disease characteristics and nutritional status to patterns of
      growth in children with Crohn disease.
AB  - Crohn disease is one type of inflammatory bowel disease with frequent occurrence
      before maturity. Many children with Crohn disease experience linear growth
      retardation. However, the prevalence and contribution of various factors to
      growth failure have not been adequately investigated. The purpose of the present
      study was to estimate the prevalence of growth deficiency by using multiple
      criteria based on longitudinal data and to simulatneously evaluate the
      contribution of disease, demographic, and treatment characteristics to the growth
      failure in this group of children. A sample of 78 patients assessed
      retrospectively and 41 patients followed prospectively were drawn from the
      Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition.
      Data on growth, nutritional status (hematocrit and albumin levels), disease
      characteristics (severity, site, duration, and age of onset), and steroid dosage
      were collected for both groups. For the prospective sample, measurements of
      height, weight, and four skinfold thicknesses were taken. A 24 hour recall and 3
      day food record estimated kcal intake. Parental size was taken by report from the
      accompanying caregiver. When three criteria were used, prevalence of growth
      retardation was 67% in the retrospective group, higher than most available
      figures. In the prospective sample, reductions in height adjusted for midparental
      size were greater than those for weight, and depletion of lower body fat was
      greater than that of upper body fat. Multiple regression analyses showed that
      degree of growth retardation as measured by the parent adjusted z score for
      height was associated with higher steroid dosage and later age of disease onset,
      but not disease severity or the anatomical site of the disease. Of the
      nutritional status variables, degree of growth retardation was most closely
      associated with degree of reduction in lower body fat stores.

PMID- 28597560
TI  - l-Dopa responsiveness is associated with distinctive connectivity patterns in
      advanced Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuronal loss and dopamine depletion alter motor signal processing
      between cortical motor areas, basal ganglia, and the thalamus, resulting in the
      motor manifestations of Parkinson's disease. Dopamine replacement therapy can
      reverse these manifestations with varying degrees of improvement. METHODS: To
      evaluate functional connectivity in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease
      and changes in functional connectivity in relation to the degree of response to l
      dopa, 19 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease underwent resting-state
      functional magnetic resonance imaging in the on-medication state. Scans were
      obtained on a 3-Tesla scanner in 3 * 3 * 2.5 mm3 voxels. Seed-based bivariate
      regression analyses were carried out with atlas-defined basal ganglia regions as
      seeds, to explore relationships between functional connectivity and improvement
      in the motor section of the UPDRS-III following an l-dopa challenge. False
      discovery rate-corrected P was set at < 0.05 for a 2-tailed t test. RESULTS: A
      greater improvement in UPDRS-III scores following l-dopa administration was
      characterized by higher resting-state functional connectivity between the
      prefrontal cortex and the striatum (P = 0.001) and lower resting-state functional
      connectivity between the pallidum (P = 0.001), subthalamic nucleus (P = 0.003),
      and the paracentral lobule (supplementary motor area, mesial primary motor, and
      primary sensory areas). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show characteristic basal
      ganglia resting-state functional connectivity patterns associated with different
      degrees of l-dopa responsiveness in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. l
      Dopa exerts a graduated influence on remapping connectivity in distinct motor
      control networks, potentially explaining some of the variance in treatment
      response. (c) 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 28597565
TI  - BTN3A1-antibodies and phosphoantigens: TCRVgamma9Vdelta2 "see" the difference.
AB  - Human blood gammadelta T lymphocytes express TCRVgamma9Vdelta2 and respond to
      nonpeptide phosphoantigens (PAgs) by a mysterious mechanism involving the BTN3A1
      (CD277) molecule . BTN3A1 is a butyrophilin-like protein related to CD80, PD-L1,
      and MHC, and is either a presenting or a co-stimulatory molecule for PAgs.
      Although the precise roles and molecular interactions with the TCRVgamma9Vdelta2
      are currently not determined, it is commonly thought that all TCRVgamma9Vdelta2
      lymphocytes 'see' PAg and BTN3A1 together, presumably in a single molecular
      recognition event. But whether this recognition event could be reproduced in a
      simplified model was not addressed in previous studies. In this issue, Starick et
      al. (Eur. J. Immunol. 2017. 47: 982-992) compared the response of three
      TCRVgamma9Vdelta2 pairs of murine and human cell transfectants to PAg and anti
      BTN3A1 antibodies using IL-2 release as a readout. The authors found that
      although the two murine transfectants responded similarly to either stimuli, one
      murine TCRVgamma9Vdelta2 transfectant reacted to PAgs but not to anti-BTN3A1 (mAb
      20.1). Human transductants behave in a similar fashion, demonstrating that
      TCRVgamma9Vdelta2 lymphocytes differentiate PAg and BTN3A1 signals, while species
      of the transductants unmask this differential sensitivity. Indeed, understanding
      the puzzling mode of antigen recognition by gammadelta T lymphocytes will be
      essential for developing gammadelta T-cell-based immunotherapies, and the authors
      of this study now demonstrate that TCRVgamma9Vdelta2 lymphocytes are able to
      differentiate the PAg and BTN3A1 stimuli.

PMID- 28597567
TI  - Longitudinal principal component analysis of somatic and motor characteristics.
AB  - Longitudinal principal component analysis was applied to the study of growth
      patterns of several somatic and motor characteristics. The data are from the
      "Leuven Growth Study of Belgian Boys," in which six annual observations were
      made. Peak growth velocity and age at peak growth velocity for each variable were
      estimated. The results for height show three components sufficient to provide an
      adequate representation of the original information. The first component can be
      interpreted as a growth distance component, which characterizes the general
      position of an individual growth curve relative to the average growth curve
      during the period analyzed. Components 2 and 3 reflect fluctuations in percentile
      level during the age period studied and can be conceived as indices of stability.
      Component 2 provides additional information about the age at peak height
      velocity; component 3 characterizes variation in peak height velocity. These
      interpretations can, in general, be assumed for the other characteristics
      analyzed.

PMID- 28597566
TI  - Navigating air travel and cardiovascular concerns: Is the sky the limit?
AB  - As the population ages and our ability to care for patients with cardiac disease
      improves, an increasing number of passengers with cardiovascular conditions will
      be traveling long distances. Many have had cardiac symptoms, recent
      interventions, devices, or surgery. Air travel is safe for most individuals with
      stable cardiovascular disease. However, a thorough understanding of the
      physiologic changes during air travel is essential given the potential impact on
      cardiovascular health and the risk of complications in passengers with
      preexisting cardiac conditions. It is important for clinicians to be aware of the
      current recommendations and precautions that need to be taken before and during
      air travel for passengers with cardiovascular concerns.

PMID- 28597562
TI  - Reprogramming progeria fibroblasts re-establishes a normal epigenetic landscape.
AB  - Ideally, disease modeling using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells
      (iPSCs) enables analysis of disease initiation and progression. This requires any
      pathological features of the patient cells used for reprogramming to be
      eliminated during iPSC generation. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is
      a segmental premature aging disorder caused by the accumulation of the truncated
      form of Lamin A known as Progerin within the nuclear lamina. Cellular hallmarks
      of HGPS include nuclear blebbing, loss of peripheral heterochromatin, defective
      epigenetic inheritance, altered gene expression, and senescence. To model HGPS
      using iPSCs, detailed genome-wide and structural analysis of the epigenetic
      landscape is required to assess the initiation and progression of the disease. We
      generated a library of iPSC lines from fibroblasts of patients with HGPS and
      controls, including one family trio. HGPS patient-derived iPSCs are nearly
      indistinguishable from controls in terms of pluripotency, nuclear membrane
      integrity, as well as transcriptional and epigenetic profiles, and can
      differentiate into affected cell lineages recapitulating disease progression,
      despite the nuclear aberrations, altered gene expression, and epigenetic
      landscape inherent to the donor fibroblasts. These analyses demonstrate the power
      of iPSC reprogramming to reset the epigenetic landscape to a revitalized
      pluripotent state in the face of widespread epigenetic defects, validating their
      use to model the initiation and progression of disease in affected cell lineages.

PMID- 28597568
TI  - Influence of nutritional status on growth.

PMID- 28597582
TI  - YGA 2017 poster presentations.

PMID- 28597571
TI  - Growth of Filipino infants who differ in body proportions at birth.
AB  - Growth of infants who differ in body proportions at birth was followed during the
      first 12 months of life. The sample of 2,695 infants from Metropolitan Cebu, in
      the Central Philippines, was divided into five groups based on a cross tabulation
      of low-birth-weight(LBW) status (2,500 g or less) with low (<10th percentile),
      adequate (10th-90th percentile) or high (>90th percentile)Rohre's Index (RI). The
      groups exhibited significant differences in growth patterns. The importance of
      these groups, which reflect weight and body proportions of the infant at birth as
      a determinant of attained size at 2, 6, and 12 months of age, was evaluated by
      using multivariate techniques which took into consideration other factors known
      to affect growth. Results show that intergroup differences in growth patterns and
      attained size occur because of (1) differences in postnatal growth potential
      represented by weight and body proportions at birth, (2) differences in the
      important biological inputs that affect postnatal growth (such as feeding
      practices and morbidity), and (3) differences in the effects of inputs on growth.
      Infants who are LBW but well proportioned are most likely to remain small during
      the first year of life, while those with a low RI at birth are more capable of
      catch-up growth.

PMID- 28597569
TI  - Cross-sectional relations of whole-blood miRNA expression levels and hand grip
      strength in a community sample.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression with emerging data suggesting miRNAs
      play a role in skeletal muscle biology. We sought to examine the association of
      miRNAs with grip strength in a community-based sample. Framingham Heart Study
      Offspring and Generation 3 participants (n = 5668 54% women, mean age 55 years,
      range 24, 90 years) underwent grip strength measurement and miRNA profiling using
      whole blood from fasting morning samples. Linear mixed-effects regression
      modeling of grip strength (kg) versus continuous miRNA 'Cq' values and versus
      binary miRNA expression was performed. We conducted an integrative miRNA-mRNA
      coexpression analysis and examined the enrichment of biologic pathways for the
      top miRNAs associated with grip strength. Grip strength was lower in women than
      in men and declined with age with a mean 44.7 (10.0) kg in men and 26.5 (6.3) kg
      in women. Among 299 miRNAs interrogated for association with grip strength, 93
      (31%) had FDR q value < 0.05, 54 (18%) had an FDR q value < 0.01, and 15 (5%) had
      FDR q value < 0.001. For almost all miRNA-grip strength associations, increasing
      miRNA concentration is associated with increasing grip strength. miR-20a-5p (FDR
      q 1.8 * 10-6 ) had the most significant association and several among the top 15
      miRNAs had links to skeletal muscle including miR-126-3p, miR-30a-5p, and miR-30d
      5p. The top associated biologic pathways included metabolism, chemokine
      signaling, and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Our comprehensive assessment in a
      community-based sample of miRNAs in blood associated with grip strength provides
      a framework to further our understanding of the biology of muscle strength.

PMID- 28597570
TI  - Pharmaco-toxicological effects of the novel third-generation fluorinate synthetic
      cannabinoids, 5F-ADBINACA, AB-FUBINACA, and STS-135 in mice. In vitro and in vivo
      studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: 5F-ADBINACA, AB-FUBINACA, and STS-135 are 3 novel third-generation
      fluorinate synthetic cannabinoids that are illegally marketed as incense, herbal
      preparations, or research chemicals for their psychoactive cannabis-like effects.
      METHODS: The present study aims at investigating the in vitro and in vivo
      pharmacological activity of 5F-ADBINACA, AB-FUBINACA, and STS-135 in male CD-1
      mice, comparing their in vivo effects with those caused by the administration of
      Delta9 -THC and JWH-018. In vitro competition binding experiments revealed a
      nanomolar affinity and potency of the 5F-ADBINACA, AB-FUBINACA, and STS-135 on
      mouse and human CB1 and CB2 receptors. Moreover, these synthetic cannabinoids
      induced neurotoxicity in murine neuro-2a cells. RESULTS: In vivo studies showed
      that 5F-ADBINACA, AB-FUBINACA, and STS-135 induced hypothermia; increased pain
      threshold to both noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli; caused catalepsy;
      reduced motor activity; impaired sensorimotor responses (visual, acoustic, and
      tactile); caused seizures, myoclonia, and hyperreflexia; and promoted
      aggressiveness in mice. Behavioral and neurological effects were fully prevented
      by the selective CB1 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist AM 251. Differently, the
      visual sensory response induced by STS-135 was only partly prevented by the AM
      251, suggesting a CB1 -independent mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time,
      the present study demonstrates the pharmaco-toxicological effects induced by the
      administration of 5F-ADBINACA, AB-FUBINACA, and STS-135 in mice and suggests
      their possible detrimental effects on human health.

PMID- 28597585
TI  - Psychosocial functioning in adolescents with and without borderline personality
      disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the psychosocial functioning of adolescents with
      borderline personality disorder (BPD). The main objective of this paper is to
      compare the psychosocial functioning of a group of adolescents with BPD to a
      group of psychiatrically healthy adolescents. METHODS: The present cross
      sectional study included 104 adolescent inpatients with BPD, compared with 60 age
      matched psychiatrically healthy comparison subjects. All participants were
      rigorously diagnosed using three semi-structured interviews: the Structured
      Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Childhood Diagnoses, the Revised Diagnostic
      Interview for Borderlines and the Childhood Interview for DSM-IV Borderline
      Personality. All subjects were also interviewed using the adolescent version of
      the Background Information Schedule to assess multiple facets of psychosocial
      functioning. RESULTS: Adolescents with BPD rated their relationships with their
      parents as significantly less positive, were more likely to date, but spent more
      time alone than their healthy counterparts. In addition, adolescents with BPD
      reported significantly more problems at work and school (i.e. lower frequency of
      having a good work or school history, higher frequency of being suspended or
      expelled from school) and significantly lower rates of participation in extra
      curricular activities than their healthy counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Taken
      together, the results of this study suggest that adolescents with BPD are more
      impaired in both the social and vocational areas of functioning than
      psychiatrically healthy comparison subjects. They might also suggest that an
      overlooked area of strength concerns their relationships with peers. Copyright
      (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28597586
TI  - Association of lung cancer death rates by parish with migration rate by age
      group.
AB  - Geographic distribution of cancer incidence, as judged from death certificates in
      Louisiana, shows evidence of strong epidemiological forces. Inspection of data on
      migration and lung cancer frequency shows them to be associated. Inmigrants
      account for a majority of the lung cancer deaths. Under assumptions of phenotypic
      complexity stemming from both genetic and environmental components, we used a
      multiple regression technique to test the significance of this association. Given
      the nature of the data and the assumptions of the analysis, there was a
      reasonable level of significance, suggesting that inmigration of older persons
      may be largely responsible for higher cancer rates in some parishes (counties) in
      Louisiana.

PMID- 28597587
TI  - The role of skin ulceration in breast carcinoma staging and outcome.
AB  - Breast carcinoma with skin ulceration (SU) is considered a locally advanced
      disease. The purpose of the study is to investigate if SU is an independent
      adverse factor. Breast carcinoma patients with SU (n=111) were included in the
      study. A subset (n=38, study cohort) was matched with cases that had no SU (n=38,
      matched cohort); the survival analyses were compared between these groups. Then,
      cases (n=80) were staged independent from SU into stage I, II or III. Disease
      free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Patients with larger
      tumors tended to present with distant metastases more often than patients with
      smaller tumors (P=.004). In the matched cases, the 5-year DFS probability was 53%
      for the study cohort and 58% for the matched cohort; and for OS 75% for the study
      cohort and 84% for the matched cohort with no statistical significant difference.
      However, there was a trend towards worse DFS for the patients whose tumors had
      SU. When the cases were staged based on tumor size and node status (I, II or
      III), the OS was statistically significant (P=.047) but not the DFS (P=.195).
      Relatively small tumors with SU had an extent of disease similar to that observed
      in patients with early stages disease. The survival analysis suggests that SU may
      not be an adverse factor. However, more cases are needed to further examine this
      finding.

PMID- 28597588
TI  - Prevention of cardiovascular disease through reduction of glycaemic exposure in
      type 2 diabetes: A perspective on glucose-lowering interventions.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Observational
      studies have consistently shown an association between glycaemic level and risk
      of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE); however, intervention studies have
      provided limited evidence supporting a reduction in the cardiovascular burden of
      diabetes through intensive glucose control. In the present review, we aimed to
      examine the concept of cumulative glycaemic exposure with regard to protection
      against CVD in diabetes. We address how we can move from a binary approach in
      trials, to a more quantitative approach based on differences in cumulative
      glycaemic exposure. We plotted the association between differing glycaemic
      exposures between study arms and the hazard ratio for MACE in randomized controls
      trials comparing intensive with conventional glycaemic control in type 2
      diabetes. We found a strikingly strong correlation between differential exposure
      and cardiovascular risk reduction. Similar results were obtained for trials
      comparing antidiabetes drugs with placebo. The results suggest that a minimum
      study duration and a minimum gain in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction are
      necessary to drive a relevant risk reduction in CVD risk, and we provide a
      quantitative perspective in that respect. The present analysis underlines that
      the duration of the intensification of glycemic control, and the amplitude of the
      resulting reduction in HbA1c, are important notions for clinical decision-making.

PMID- 28597589
TI  - Enhanced decomposition of stable soil organic carbon and microbial catabolic
      potentials by long-term field warming.
AB  - Quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition under warming is critical to
      predict carbon-climate feedbacks. According to the substrate regulating
      principle, SOC decomposition would decrease as labile SOC declines under field
      warming, but observations of SOC decomposition under warming do not always
      support this prediction. This discrepancy could result from varying changes in
      SOC components and soil microbial communities under warming. This study aimed to
      determine the decomposition of SOC components with different turnover times after
      subjected to long-term field warming and/or root exclusion to limit C input, and
      to test whether SOC decomposition is driven by substrate lability under warming.
      Taking advantage of a 12-year field warming experiment in a prairie, we assessed
      the decomposition of SOC components by incubating soils from control and warmed
      plots, with and without root exclusion for 3 years. We assayed SOC decomposition
      from these incubations by combining inverse modeling and microbial functional
      genes during decomposition with a metagenomic technique (GeoChip). The
      decomposition of SOC components with turnover times of years and decades, which
      contributed to 95% of total cumulative CO2 respiration, was greater in soils from
      warmed plots. But the decomposition of labile SOC was similar in warmed plots
      compared to the control. The diversity of C-degradation microbial genes generally
      declined with time during the incubation in all treatments, suggesting shifts of
      microbial functional groups as substrate composition was changing. Compared to
      the control, soils from warmed plots showed significant increase in the signal
      intensities of microbial genes involved in degrading complex organic compounds,
      implying enhanced potential abilities of microbial catabolism. These are likely
      responsible for accelerated decomposition of SOC components with slow turnover
      rates. Overall, the shifted microbial community induced by long-term warming
      accelerates the decomposition of SOC components with slow turnover rates and thus
      amplify the positive feedback to climate change.

PMID- 28597590
TI  - In Vitro Evaluation of Pediatric Hollow-Fiber Membrane Oxygenators on Hemodynamic
      Performance and Gaseous Microemboli Handling: An International
      Multicenter/Multidisciplinary Approach.
AB  - The objective of this study was to compare the hemodynamic performances and
      gaseous microemboli (GME) handling ability of two pediatric oxygenators in a
      simulated pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) model and the importance of
      adding an arterial filter in the circuit. The circuit consisted of a Braile
      Infant oxygenator or a Maquet Quadrox-I Pediatric oxygenator without integrated
      arterial filter (parallel arrangement), 1/4 in. ID tubing A-V loop, and a 12-Fr
      arterial cannula, primed with lactated Ringer's solution and packed red blood
      cells. Trials were conducted at flow rates ranging from 500 to 2000 mL/min (500
      mL/min increment) at 35 degrees C and 28 degrees C. Real-time pressure and flow
      data were recorded using a custom-based data acquisition system. For GME testing,
      5 cc of air was manually injected into the venous line. GME were recorded using
      the Emboli Detection and Classification Quantifier (EDAC) System. An additional
      experiment using a separate arterial filter was conducted. There was no
      difference in the mean circuit pressure, pressure drop, total hemodynamic energy
      level, and energy loss between the two oxygenators. The venous line pressures
      were higher in the Braile than in the Quadrox group during all trials (P <0.01).
      GME count and volume at pre-/post oxygenator and pre-cannula sites in the Quadrox
      were lower than the Braile group at high flow rates (P < 0.05). In the additional
      experiment, an arterial filter captured a significant number of microemboli at
      all flow rates. The Braile Infant oxygenator has a matched hemodynamic
      characteristic with the Quadrox-i Pediatric oxygenator. The Quadrox-i has a
      better GME handling ability compared with the Braile Infant oxygenator.
      Regardless of type of oxygenator an additional arterial filter decreases the
      number of GME.

PMID- 28597591
TI  - Morphological Variation in Anuran Limbs: Constraints and Novelties.
AB  - Anurans have three primary types of locomotion: walking, jumping, and swimming.
      Additionally, they may dig, climb, grasp, etc. All adult anurans have four limbs,
      with four fingers on the hands and five toes on the feet. We summarized and
      updated knowledge on the interspecific variation within anuran limbs, then
      discuss how developmental constraints (e.g., in size) and novelties may have
      influenced anuran diversification through the locomotion. We analyze
      morphological variation from limb bud stages up to the final limb form resulting
      from certain skeletal organization and growth. We find limited morphometric
      variations in the skeleton of different developmental modules (i.e., skull,
      trunk, urostyle, limbs) indicate that the anuran body shape is largely
      constrained. We identify specializations of the stylopodium, zeugopodium, and
      proximal carpals/tarsals that have evolved to facilitiate saltatorial locomotion.
      We show that the anuran prepollex and prehallux are not vestigial digits and that
      they have come to serve specialized function. Medial rotation of the manus in
      anurans appears to have evolved to help distribute the force of impact upon
      landing at the end of a jump. Additional skeletal elements in anuran limbs are
      intercalary elements and sesamoids. The intercalary elements appear within
      neobatrachians and are integrated with digital pads in lineages capable of
      locomotion on smooth vertical surfaces. They have allowed arboreal anurans to
      occupy a wide range of arboreal habitats.

PMID- 28597593
TI  - From the ADAA President.

PMID- 28597592
TI  - Refractive outcome after pars plana vitrectomy for macular hole in pseudophakic
      eyes.

PMID- 28597594
TI  - Technology and mental health.

PMID- 28597595
TI  - Early weight gain in pregnant adolescents and fetal outcome.
AB  - While the contribution of total maternal gain to birthweight is well described,
      less is known about whether there are specific effects of early weight gain.
      Early weight gain adequacy may be a particular problem among teenage gravidas who
      are more likely to have low prepregnant weight and in developing countries where
      chronic undernutrition is endemic. We studied the effects of early weight gain
      adequacy on infant birthweight in a geographical cohort of 1,790 adolescents from
      Camden County, New Jersey. Weight gain was calculated for prepregnant weight to
      24 weeks' gestation and 24 weeks to delivery. Inadequate early weight gain was
      defined as gains less than 4.3 kg and inadequate late gains as averaging less
      than 400 gm/week from 24 weeks' gestation to delivery. In regressions predicting
      birthweight outcome, we found significant independent effects of timing of weight
      gain inadequacy. Early inadequate gains were associated with a -186.6 +/- 31.6 gm
      decrement in birthweight that was not diminished even when later weight gains
      were compensatory. Late inadequate (-154.4 +/- 29.3 gm) and inadequate gains both
      early and later (-298.6 +/- 49.1 gm) were also associated with birthweight
      decrements. However, overweight (body mass index >24.5) appeared to buffer some
      of the effects of inadequate weight gains, reducing the decrement to about -100
      gm. Protocols that seek to improve infant outcomes should focus on early weight
      gain during pregnancy. Affecting weight gain only late in pregnancy may not be
      able to substantially reduce the risk of fetal growth retardation.

PMID- 28597596
TI  - New roles for neuronal estrogen receptors.
AB  - Estrogens encompass steroid hormones which display physiological roles not only
      in the female reproductive system but also in other organ systems of non
      reproductive controls, including the peripheral and central nervous systems.
      Traditionally, estrogen signals in neurons through a "genomic pathway": binding
      to estrogen receptors (ERs) which then interact with nuclear estrogen response
      elements to initiate transcription. This effect is usually delayed at onset
      (within several hours to days) and prolonged in duration. In addition to these
      classical ERs, recent data suggest that other ERs function through pregenomic
      signaling pathways. Estrogen's pregenomic pathways cause intracellular changes
      within seconds to minutes and go through a novel, 7-transmembrane spanning G
      protein-coupled receptor (GPER, formerly known as GPR30). In this review, we will
      briefly cover the cellular and molecular mechanisms of GPER and then discuss
      newly discovered roles of GPER in cognition, depression, homeostasis, pain
      processing, and other associated neuronal functions.

PMID- 28597599
TI  - Growth status of children in rural Mali: Implications for nutrition education
      programs.
AB  - In conjunction with a rural development project, a cross-sectional anthropometric
      survey and ethnographic research were conducted in six rural villages in southern
      Mali where food is generally sufficient. A total of 1,132 individuals were
      measured, and individual and group interviews concerning dietary habits and intra
      familial food distribution patterns were conducted. In this paper, data on the
      growth status of children under 12 years of age (N=575) are reported and
      analyzed. As defined by inadequate growth, rates of malnutrition are extremely
      high in this population. Deficits in growth peak among the 2 year olds, with 67%
      falling more than 2 SD below the NCHS/WHO standard for weight-for-age, and 53%
      falling more than 2SD below the standard for height-for-age. Deficits in weight
      for-height are highest among the 1 year olds, with 32% falling more than 2 SD
      below the NCHS/WHO standards. From birth to 23 months, the correlation between
      age (in months) and weight-for-age z-scores is -.63 (P=.0001). Between 24 and 47
      months, the correlation improves, to +.36 (P=.0004), indicating that children
      experience some catch-up growth. By the age of 11 years, they still have not
      recovered fully from the combination of poor nutrition and infections in early
      childhood, however, and malnutrition continues to be a problem throughout
      childhood. Iodine deficiency is also a problem in two of the six villages.
      Interview data confirm earlier findings in Mali regarding child feeding
      practices, specifically, that infants and young children are expected to feed
      themselves, and that the best foods are reserved for adults. These findings have
      important implications for the design and implementation of nutrition education
      programs in southern Mali.

PMID- 28597597
TI  - Sinus hypoplasia in the cystic fibrosis rat resolves in the absence of chronic
      infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sinus hypoplasia is a hallmark characteristic in cystic fibrosis
      (CF). Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is nearly universal from a young age, impaired
      sinus development could be secondary to loss of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane
      conductance regulator (CFTR) or consequences of chronic infection during
      maturation. The objective of this study was to assess sinus development relative
      to overall growth in a novel CF animal model. METHODS: Sinus development was
      evaluated in CFTR-/- and CFTR+/+ rats at 3 stages of development: newborn; 3
      weeks; and 16 weeks. Microcomputed tomography (microCT) scanning, cultures, and
      histology were performed. Three-dimensional sinus and skull volumes were
      quantified. RESULTS: At birth, sinus volumes were decreased in CFTR-/- rats
      compared with wild-type rats (mean +/- SEM: 11.3 +/- 0.85 mm3 vs 14.5 +/- 0.73
      mm3 ; p < 0.05), despite similar weights (8.4 +/- 0.46 gm vs 8.3 +/- 0.51 gm; p =
      0.86). CF rat weights declined by 16 weeks (378.4 +/- 10.6 gm vs 447.4 +/- 15.9
      gm; p < 0.05), sinus volume increased similar to wild-type rats (201.1 +/- 3.77
      gm vs 203.4 +/- 7.13 gm; p = 0.8). The ratio of sinus volume to body weight
      indicates hypoplasia present at birth (1.37 +/- 0.12 vs 1.78 +/- 0.11; p < 0.05)
      and showed an increase compared with CFTR+/+ animals by 16 weeks (0.53 +/- 0.02
      vs 0.46 +/- 0.02; p < 0.05). Rats did not develop histologic evidence of chronic
      infection. CONCLUSION: CF rat sinuses are smaller at birth, but develop volumes
      similar to wild-type rats with maturation. This suggests that loss of CFTR may
      confer sinus hypoplasia at birth, but normal development ensues without chronic
      sinus infection.

PMID- 28597598
TI  - Rosa rugosa flavonoids alleviate myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury in mice
      by suppressing JNK and p38 MAPK.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although Rosa rugosa has been applied for preventing coronary artery
      disease, the pharmacological mechanism is little explored. In this study, the
      effects and mechanisms of Rosa rugosa flavonoids (RRF) on myocardial ischemia
      reperfusion injury (MIRI) were investigated. METHODS: Mice were pretreated by
      intragastric administration of 600 mg/kg RRF for 7 days. Then MIRI was induced by
      45 minutes coronary artery ligation and 3 hours reperfusion. Myocardial infarct
      size (MIS) and histopathology, activities of myocardial enzymes, and effects of
      RRF on inflammation and apoptosis were evaluated. RESULTS: Pretreating the mice
      with RRF significantly reduced MIS and inhibited activity of plasma myocardial
      enzymes. Activity of the enzymes associated with anti-oxidation, SOD, and TEAC,
      and mRNA expression of NOX2 were significantly elevated. RRF pretreatment
      significantly decreased the translocation of p65 from the cytoplasm into the
      nucleus and reduced the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and IL
      1beta. RRF pretreatment also significantly prevented the expression of caspase-3
      and Bax, and increased the expression of Bcl-2. And RRF inhibited the
      phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPK. CONCLUSIONS: RRF significantly inhibited
      MIRI through anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptosis effects, and
      mechanisms were associated with its inhibition on phosphorylation of JNK and p38
      MAPK.

PMID- 28597600
TI  - Iridium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Allylic Substitution of Aliphatic Esters with
      Silyl Ketene Acetals as the Ester Enolates.
AB  - Enantioselective allylic substitution with enolates derived from aliphatic esters
      under mild conditions remains challenging. Herein we report iridium-catalyzed
      enantioselective allylation reactions of silyl ketene acetals, the silicon
      enolates of esters, to form products containing a quaternary carbon atom at the
      nucleophile moiety and a tertiary carbon atom at the electrophile moiety. Under
      relatively neutral conditions, the allylated aliphatic esters were obtained with
      excellent regioselectivity and enantioselectivity. These products were readily
      converted into primary alcohols, carboxylic acids, amides, isocyanates, and
      carbamates, as well as tetrahydrofuran and gamma-butyrolactone derivatives,
      without erosion of enantiomeric purity.

PMID- 28597601
TI  - Endothelial alterations in 712 keratoconus patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of the severity of keratoconus on the corneal
      endothelium using specular microscopy. METHODS: Seven hundred and twelve eyes
      from the Homburg Keratoconus Center (HKC) database were included in this
      retrospective study. Corneal endothelium was evaluated using the Tomey EM-3000
      specular microscope. Keratoconus-related topographic and tomographic data were
      obtained from Scheimpflug-based tomography (Oculus Pentacam(r) HR). Eyes were
      classified into stages 0 (healthy) to 4 (severe keratoconus) according to the
      Topographic Keratoconus Classification (TKC). Subgroups were analysed based on
      contact lens (CL) type (none/rigid/soft). RESULTS: The frequencies of keratoconus
      stages 0/1/2/3/4 according to TKC were 169/94/206/166/77. The endothelial cell
      density (ECD) for the endothelial cell area for TKC 0/1/2/3/4 was
      2611/2624/2557/2487/2401 cells per mm2 and the coefficient of variation (CV) was
      40.9/40.0/41.6/46.2/49.0%, respectively. The more severe the keratoconus stage,
      the lower the endothelial cell count (p < 0.001) and the higher the CV (p <
      0.001). No contact lens wearing was noted in 207 eyes (NoCL), rigid CL in 200
      (RCL) and soft CL in 54 (SCL). CD for NoCL/RCL/SCL was 2523/2533/2644 per mm2 and
      CV was 41.8/54.1/43.1%, respectively. A significant difference in CV was found
      between NoCL and RCL (p = 0.02), and no significant difference in CV was found
      between NoCL and SCL (p = 0.07). Endothelial cell density (ECD) did not differ
      significantly between NoCL and RCL or SCL. CONCLUSION: Endothelial cell density
      (ECD) decreases and CV increases significantly with increasing tomographic
      severity of keratoconus. In patients with RCL compared to eyes without CL wear,
      we found a statistically significantly higher CV in the endothelial cell size.

PMID- 28597602
TI  - Multifunctional Hyperbolic Nanogroove Metasurface for Submolecular Detection.
AB  - Metasurface serves as a promising plasmonic sensing platform for engineering the
      enhanced light-matter interactions. Here, a hyperbolic metasurface with the
      nanogroove structure in the subwavelength scale is designed. This metasurface is
      able to modify the wavefront and wavelength of surface plasmon wave with the
      variation of the nanogroove width or periodicity. At the specific optical
      frequency, surface plasmon polaritons are tightly confined and propagated with a
      diffraction-free feature due to the epsilon-near-zero effect. Most importantly,
      the groove hyperbolic metasurface can enhance the plasmonic sensing with an
      ultrahigh phase sensitivity of 30 373 deg RIU-1 and Goos-Hanchen shift
      sensitivity of 10.134 mm RIU-1 . The detection resolution for refractive index
      change of glycerol solution is achieved as 10-8 RIU based on the phase
      measurement. The detection limit of bovine serum albumin (BSA) molecule is
      measured as low as 0.1 * 10-18 m (1 * 10-19 mol L-1 ), which corresponds to a
      submolecular detection level (0.13 BSA mm-2 ). As for low-weight biotin molecule,
      the detection limit is estimated below 1 * 10-15 m (1 * 10-15 mol L-1 , 1300
      biotin mm-2 ). This enhanced plasmonic sensing performance is two orders of
      magnitude higher than those with current state-of-art plasmonic metamaterials and
      metasurfaces.

PMID- 28597603
TI  - Nematodes, exotic earthworms and nitrogen addition: interactions between global
      change factors lead to cancellation effects.
AB  - Photos from the experiment described in Shao et al. (): (a) the endogeic (i.e.
      earthworms that typically live in the soil, burrowing horizontally to acquire
      nutrients) earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus that was added to the plots; (b) P.
      corethrurus in a quiescence state in response to drought; (c) set-up of the
      control plots (i.e. no earthworms, ambient nitrogen) used in this experiment.
      [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] In Focus: Shao, Y.,
      Zhang, W., Eisenhauer, N., Liu, T., Xiong, Y., Liang, C. & Fu, S. (2017) Nitrogen
      deposition cancels out exotic earthworm effects on plant-feeding nematode
      communities. Journal of Animal Ecology, 86, 708-717. In this issue of Journal of
      Animal Ecology, Shao et al. () explored how N addition and exotic earthworms
      interacted to impact on the plant-feeding nematode community. They demonstrate
      that exotic earthworm presence alone increased the abundance of less harmful
      plant-feeding nematodes and decreased the abundance of the more harmful plant
      feeding nematodes. However, in plots receiving both exotic earthworms and N
      addition, such earthworm effects on the nematode community were negated. These
      findings pull focus on the need to simultaneously consider multiple global change
      factors (e.g. exotic species invasions and N deposition) when making predictions
      about how such factors might affect above- and below-ground interactions and
      thereby alter ecosystem function.

PMID- 28597604
TI  - Lesinurad, a Selective Uric Acid Reabsorption Inhibitor, in Combination With
      Febuxostat in Patients With Tophaceous Gout: Findings of a Phase III Clinical
      Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of lesinurad in combination
      with febuxostat in a 12-month phase III trial in patients with tophaceous gout.
      METHODS: Patients with serum urate (UA) >=8.0 mg/dl (>=6.0 mg/dl with urate
      lowering therapy) and >=1 measurable target tophus were given febuxostat 80
      mg/day for 3 weeks before randomization to receive lesinurad (200 or 400 mg
      daily) or placebo in addition to the febuxostat. The primary end point was the
      proportion of patients achieving a serum UA level of <5.0 mg/dl (month 6). The
      key secondary end point was the proportion of patients with complete resolution
      of >=1 target tophus (month 12). Other end points included the percentage change
      in total target tophi area. Safety assessments included adverse events and
      laboratory data. RESULTS: Patients (n = 324) were predominantly male, with a mean
      age of 54.1 years. Significantly more patients achieved the serum UA target by
      month 6 with the addition of lesinurad 400 mg (76.1%; P < 0.0001), but not 200 mg
      (56.6%; P = 0.13), to the febuxostat therapy as compared with febuxostat alone
      (46.8%). At all other time points, significantly more patients in the lesinurad
      200 mg group achieved the serum UA target. The number of patients with complete
      tophus resolution was not different between groups. Treatment with lesinurad (200
      mg and 400 mg) plus febuxostat reduced the total target tophi area as compared
      with febuxostat alone (50.1% and 52.9% versus 28.3%, respectively; P < 0.05).
      Safety was generally comparable with that of febuxostat alone, except for higher
      rates of predominantly reversible elevations in the serum creatinine level,
      particularly with lesinurad 400 mg. CONCLUSION: Treatment with lesinurad in
      combination with febuxostat demonstrated superior lowering of serum UA levels as
      compared with febuxostat alone, with clinically relevant added effects on tophi
      and an acceptable safety profile with lesinurad 200 mg in patients with
      tophaceous gout warranting additional therapy.

PMID- 28597605
TI  - Skinfold thicknesses, body circumferences and their relationship to age, sex, and
      socioeconomic status in adults from Northwest India.
AB  - Subcutaneous fatness, measured anthropometrically, was analyzed in a sample of
      651 males and females, 18-49 years of age, of high and low socioeconomic status
      (SES) from the Chandigarh zone of Northwest India. There were significant
      differences between lower and upper SES males and females. In general, all groups
      tend to show increases in indicators of fatness between the 18-29 and the 30-39
      year age groups. However, there was less consistency across groups between 30-39
      and 40-49 years. There is no difference in sexual dimorphism between SES groups.
      Means of lower SES subjects are approximately 1 S.D. below those of U.S.
      reference data. Using the body mass index as a criterion, no lower SES
      individuals were classified as overweight or obese. In the upper SES sample,
      12.1% were classified as overweight.

PMID- 28597606
TI  - The mortality risk of deferring optimal medical therapy in heart failure: a
      systematic comparison against norms for surgical consent and patient information
      leaflets.
AB  - AIMS: The prescription of optimal medical therapy for heart failure is often
      delayed despite compelling evidence of a reduction in mortality. We calculated
      the absolute risk resulting from delayed prescription of therapy. For comparison,
      we established the threshold applied by clinicians when discussing the risk for
      death associated with an intervention, and the threshold used in official patient
      information leaflets. METHODS AND RESULTS: We undertook a meta-analysis of
      randomized controlled trials to calculate the excess mortality caused by deferral
      of medical therapy for 1 year. Risk ratios for angiotensin-converting enzyme
      inhibitors, beta-blockers and aldosterone antagonists were 0.80, 0.73 and 0.77,
      respectively. In patients who might achieve a 1-year survival rate of 90% if
      treated, a 1-year deferral of treatment reduced survival to 78% (i.e. an annual
      absolute increase in mortality of 12 in 100 patients). This corresponds to an
      additional absolute mortality risk per month of 1%. A survey of clinicians
      carried out to establish the risk threshold at which they would obtain written
      consent showed the majority (85%) sought written consent for interventions
      associated with a 12-fold lower mortality risk: one in 100 patients. A systematic
      review of UK patient information leaflets to establish the magnitude of risk
      considered sufficient to be stated explicitly showed that leaflets begin to
      mention death at a ~18 000-fold lower mortality risk of just 0.0007 in 100
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: Deferring heart failure treatment for 1 year carries far
      greater risk than the level at which most doctors seek written consent, and 18
      000 times more risk than the level at which patient information leaflets begin to
      mention death.

PMID- 28597608
TI  - Advanced Photoacoustic Imaging Applications of Near-Infrared Absorbing Organic
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - Progress of nanotechnology in recent years has stimulated fast development of
      nanoparticles in biomedical research. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging as an emerging
      non-invasive technique in molecular imaging has improved imaging depth relative
      to conventional optical imaging, demonstrating great potential in clinical
      applications. The convergence of nanotechnology and PA imaging has enabled a
      broad spectrum of new opportunities in fundamental biology and translation
      medicine. This review focuses on the recent advances of organic nanoparticles in
      PA imaging applications. Near-infrared absorbing organic nanoparticles are
      classified and discussed according to their different imaging applications, which
      include tumor imaging, gastrointestinal imaging, sentinel lymph node imaging,
      disease microenvironment imaging and real-time drug imaging. The chemistry and PA
      properties of organic nanoparticles are discussed in details to highlight their
      own merits, and their challenges and perspectives in PA imaging are also
      discussed.

PMID- 28597607
TI  - Immaturity of insulin secretion by pancreatic islets isolated from one human
      neonate.
AB  - Human beta-cells are functionally mature by the age of 1 year. The timeline and
      mechanisms of this maturation are unknown owing to the exceptional availability
      of testable tissue. Here, we report the first in vitro study of insulin secretion
      by islets from a 5-day-old newborn. Glucose was inefficient alone, but induced
      insulin secretion, which was concentration-dependent, showed a biphasic time
      course and was of similar magnitude as in infant islets when beta-cell cyclic
      adenosine monophosphate was raised by forskolin. Tolbutamide alone was effective
      in low glucose, but its effect was not augmented by high glucose. Metabolic
      amplification by glucose was thus inoperative, in contrast to amplification by
      cyclic adenosine monophosphate. Newborn islets showed high basal insulin
      secretion that could be inhibited by diazoxide or omission of CaCl2 . Postnatal
      acquisition of functional maturity by human beta-cells implicates control of
      basal secretion and production of metabolic signals able to activate both
      triggering and amplifying pathways of insulin secretion.

PMID- 28597610
TI  - A commingling analysis of obesity in the Tecumseh community health study.
AB  - A commingling analysis of the distributions of obesity as quantified by
      Quetelet's index, triceps skinfold, suprailiac skinfold, umbilical skinfold,
      subscapular skinfold, a trunk-extremity ratio of skinfold measurements and
      Quetelet-adjusted trunk-extremity ratio was performed in a population of 9,226
      individuals living in Tecumseh, Michigan, during 1962-1965. For all but the (non
      Quetelet-adjusted) trunk-extremity ratio, two or three distributions were needed
      to fit the data adequately even after performing a power transformation to
      eliminate skewness. Although this evidence is compatible with a major gene
      effect, segregation analyses of these data using the unified, mixed model are
      necessary to resolve whether the commingling is due to a major gene.

PMID- 28597609
TI  - Transaminase Levels and Hepatic Events During Tocilizumab Treatment: Pooled
      Analysis of Long-Term Clinical Trial Safety Data in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate liver enzyme abnormalities and hepatic adverse events
      (AEs) during long-term tocilizumab treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in clinical
      trials. METHODS: Data were pooled from patients who received intravenous
      tocilizumab (4, 8, or 10 mg/kg with or without disease-modifying antirheumatic
      drugs [DMARDs]) in phase III or IV clinical trials, long-term extensions, and a
      pharmacology study. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase
      (AST) levels were measured routinely in these trials. AE rates were measured per
      100 patient-years of tocilizumab exposure for this pooled analysis. RESULTS:
      Overall, 16,204.8 patient-years of tocilizumab exposure (mean +/- SD duration of
      exposure 3.9 +/- 2.0 years) were evaluated for 4,171 patients. ALT and AST
      elevations greater than the upper limit of normal (ULN) occurred in 70.6% and
      59.4% of patients, respectively. ALT/AST elevations were >1-3* ULN in 59%/55% of
      patients, >3-5* ULN in 8.9%/3.3% of patients, and >5* ULN in 2.9%/0.9% of
      patients. Most elevations occurred during the first year of treatment. Single
      ALT/AST elevations >3* ULN occurred in 7.7%/3.6% of patients, and >=2 consecutive
      elevations >3* ULN occurred in 1.9%/0.4% of patients. Elevations >3* ULN returned
      to normal in 80% of patients (median of 5.6 weeks to normalization). A total of
      2.5% of patients withdrew from tocilizumab treatment following ALT/AST
      elevations. A total of 7 hepatic serious AEs (SAEs) (0.04 per 100 patient-years
      [95% confidence interval 0.02-0.09]) occurred in the tocilizumab studies.
      CONCLUSION: Transaminase elevations with tocilizumab were frequent, but rates of
      hepatic SAEs were low in this clinical trial data set. Regular monitoring, with
      dose adjustment of tocilizumab/DMARDs for persistent elevations, is recommended.

PMID- 28597611
TI  - Recordings and Analysis of Atomic Ledge and Dislocation Movements in InGaAs to
      Nickelide Nanowire Phase Transformation.
AB  - The formation of low resistance and self-aligned contacts with thermally stable
      alloyed phases is a prerequisite for realizing reliable functionality in
      ultrascaled semiconductor transistors. Detailed structural analysis of the phase
      transformation accompanying contact alloying can facilitate contact engineering
      as transistor channels approach a few atoms across. Original in situ heating
      transmission electron microscopy studies are carried out to record and analyze
      the atomic scale dynamics of contact alloy formation between Ni and In0.53 Ga0.47
      As nanowire channels. It is observed that the nickelide reacts on the In0.53
      Ga0.47 As (111) || Ni2 In0.53 Ga0.47 As (0001) interface with atomic ledge
      propagation along the Ni2 In0.53 Ga0.47 As [101-0] direction. Ledges nucleate as
      a train of strained single-bilayers and propagate in-plane as double-bilayers
      that are associated with a misfit dislocation of b->=2c3[0001]. The atomic
      structure is reconstructed to explain this phase transformation that involves
      collective gliding of three Shockley partials in In0.53 Ga0.47 As lattice to
      cancel out shear stress and the formation of misfit dislocations to compensate
      the large lattice mismatch in the newly formed nickelide phase and the In0.53
      Ga0.47 As layers. This work demonstrates the applicability of interfacial
      disconnection (ledge + dislocation) theory in a nanowire channel during thermally
      induced phase transformation that is typical in metal/III-V semiconductor
      reactions.

PMID- 28597613
TI  - The use of steroids by gym athletes: an attempt to diagnose the problem scale and
      possible causes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are said to be frequently used by
      both professional and amateur athletes. In addition to having a negative impact
      on health, steroids defy the concept of fair play. The aim of the study was to
      evaluate the scale of the problem related to using anabolic-androgenic steroids
      (AAS) by gym athletes and to analyze possible causes. METHODS: The study involved
      435 participants aged between 18-66 (mean age 27.49+/-7.48). Out of them, 61.4%
      were male and 38.6% were female. The subjects were divided into two groups: Group
      A included 154 (35.4%) amateur and recreational athletes and group B included 281
      (64.6%) professional athletes concerned with fitness, bodybuilding and
      powerlifting. A survey prepared by the authors was conducted in the study, and it
      consisted of 23 closed questions about AAS use, body confidence, and exercise
      dependence. In addition, a stadiometer and a body composition analyzer were
      utilized to take necessary measurements. RESULTS: Between 1-23% of group A
      participants admitted to using AAS. For group B, it was between 7-30%. Males were
      reported to use AAS more frequently than females in both groups. With regard to
      group A, differences in body confidence and exercise dependence were found
      between males using and not using AAS. Exercise dependence was reported to be
      different between group A and group B participants. This was true for both males
      and females. Also, it was shown that group A and group B females differed in
      terms of metabolic age, body mass and body composition (fat mass, fat-free mass,
      muscle mass, and total body water). CONCLUSIONS: Most gym athletes do not use
      AAS. Amateur athletes tend to use AAS more frequently than professional athletes.
      Factors that contribute to AAS use are: male gender, low body confidence, young
      age, and long training.

PMID- 28597614
TI  - The effects of two different explosive strength training programs on vertical
      jump performance in basketball.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different
      training programs oriented to improve vertical jump performance and leg stiffness
      in basketball players. METHODS: Fifty-eight male basketball players were
      involved, divided into three age groups (senior, U19 and U17). Subsequently,
      within any age group, the players were randomLy divided into two training groups,
      respectively performing a 16-week "hang-clean" training program (HCL), and a
      "half-squat" training program (HSQ), lasting for the same duration. HCL was based
      on the hang clean exercise and included also jump rope training; HSQ was based on
      the half squat exercise and included also speed ladder training. The squat jump
      (SJ), the countermovement jump without and with arm swing, and with one step
      approach (respectively, CMJ, CMJS, and TCMJS) and explosive strength indices
      obtained with a leg stiffness test were assessed pre- and post-training. RESULTS:
      In senior and U19 athletes both training programs involved an improvement of
      Vertical Jump performance, with some differences between different age groups.
      Instead, for the U17 players, only the HSQ led to an enhancement of SJ and TCMJS.
      Significant enhancement of leg stiffness was observed only in U19 and U17 groups
      after training. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the programs based on
      the hang-clean and half squat allowed to improve explosive strength in basketball
      training. However, only HSQ was effective for the U17 group. Thus, the present
      findings demonstrate that specific training programs should be designed according
      to the age of the players.

PMID- 28597612
TI  - Age-dependent changes in physical performance and body composition in community
      dwelling Japanese older adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe the age-dependent changes in
      the parameters of physical performance and body composition in Japanese older
      adults who are independently dwelling in the community. We also examined whether
      the age-dependent changes differ among physical performance and body composition
      parameters. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from 10 092 community-dwelling older
      adults (mean age 73.6 years; 5296 women) were analyzed. The measures of physical
      performance included hand-grip strength, the five-times-sit-to-stand test, and
      walking speed. Body composition parameters (body weight, fat mass, and
      appendicular skeletal muscle mass) were measured with a bioelectrical impedance
      analyser. Correlations between age and the physical performance and body
      composition parameters were tested. The T-scores of physical performance and body
      composition measurements were calculated and presented according to 5-year age
      groups to examine the differences in age-dependent changes in physical
      performance and body composition parameters. RESULTS: All physical performance
      measures significantly decreased with aging. The cumulative mean T-scores
      according to age group showed different age-dependent changes between body mass
      index (BMI) and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI) (cumulative mean T
      score change of BMI and ASMI of -5.7 to -2.9 and -12.7 to -12.1, respectively).
      The slope declines in age-associated changes were greater in grip strength (beta
      = -0.77, 95% confidence interval = -0.82 to -0.76) for men and in walking speed
      (beta = -0.95, 95% confidence interval = -0.99 to -0.90) for women. CONCLUSIONS:
      The patterns of age-dependent decreases in physical performance measures differed
      among parameters and between sexes. There is a possibility of a difference in the
      age-related slope patterns among parameters; decreases in grip strength in men
      and walking speed in women may be more prominent with advancing age. Furthermore,
      the decrease in ASMI with age is more striking than that of BMI.

PMID- 28597615
TI  - Aerobic physical exercise and negative compensation of non-exercise physical
      activity in post-menopause: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sedentarism is a risk factor for mortality that is independent of
      physical exercise. As indicated in the literature, there is negative compensation
      of non-exercise physical activity due to exercise training. The aim was to
      investigate potential predictor variables of physical activity compensation in
      post-menopausal women beginning aerobic physical exercise training. METHODS: One
      hundred and three post-menopausal women (mean age, 58.31+/-5.33 years) were
      eligible for the study. Metabolic markers were measured (plasma leptin, insulin,
      glucose), together with cardiovascular parameters and body composition. Daily
      physical activity was recorded objectively. Following baseline measurements,
      participants walked at moderate intensity on 4 days/week, for 13 weeks. RESULTS:
      Baseline mean intensity of daily physical activity and leptin-to-fat mass ratio
      (L/FMkg) were independently and negatively correlated with variations in non
      exercise physical activity. High L/FMkg was associated with negative compensation
      of non-exercise physical activity due to aerobic physical exercise. The same was
      shown for participants starting their exercise training who showed high daily
      physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of both L/FMkg and baseline spontaneous
      physical activity of participants in exercise training are important to programme
      physical exercise interventions and to prevent negative non-exercise physical
      activity compensation due to exercise training.

PMID- 28597616
TI  - Comparison of the movement patterns between small- and large-sided game training
      and competition in professional soccer players.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this investigation was to compare the movement
      patterns of professional soccer players during a small-sided game (SSG), a large
      sided game (LSG), and a competitive friendly match (FM). METHODS: Fourteen
      professional players participated in three training routines with a similar
      relative pitch area per player. The SSG and LSG consisted of 8 repetitions of 4
      min game play, interspersed by 2 minutes of active recovery, and their data were
      compared to the first 32 minutes of a FM. All movement patterns from walking to
      sprint running were recorded using 10-Hz GPS devices while player perception of
      exertion was recorded via visual analogue scale, post-trial. RESULTS: Total
      running distance (3852+/-405 vs. 3359+/-429 and 3088+/-414 m), running distance
      at 5-6.9 m/s (222+/-98 vs. 75+/-53 and 49+/-35 m) and maximal running speed
      (7.0+/-0.7 vs. 6.1+/-0.4 and 6.0+/-0.7 m/s) were significantly greater during FM
      than for SSG and LSG. However, the number of accelerations (462+/-16 vs. 458+/-12
      vs. 422+/-15) and decelerations (733+/-31 vs. 692+/-24 vs. 609+/-27), and the
      rating of perceived exertion (8+/-1 vs. 7+/-1 vs. 5+/-1) were significantly
      greater during SSG compared to LSG and FM. CONCLUSIONS: Although smaller game
      based training routines do not replicate exactly the movement patterns of a
      competitive match, they can increase the execution of short-term and high
      intensity movements for specialized training in professional soccer players.

PMID- 28597617
TI  - Iron monitoring of male and female rugby sevens players over an international
      season.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the likely influence that high training loads, contact-induced
      hemolysis and female-specific requirements have on the incidence of iron
      deficiency, characterizing the direction and magnitude of fluctuations in iron
      status over an international season is important for managing player health and
      physical performance in rugby sevens. METHODS: Australian national male (N.=27)
      and female (N.=23) rugby sevens players undertook blood tests at pre-season, mid
      season, and end-season. Hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), ferritin, transferrin
      and transferrin saturation were quantified. Female athletes also reported oral
      contraceptive use and a subset (N.=7) provided 7-day food diaries to quantify
      iron intake. RESULTS: Male players typically had a three-fold higher ferritin
      concentration than females. Pre-season ferritin concentrations in male (151+/-66
      ug/L) and female (51+/-24 ug/L) players declined substantially (~20%) by mid
      season but recovered by end-season. Over the season 23% of female players were
      classified as iron deficient (ferritin <30 ug/L) and prescribed supplementation.
      The greatest incidence of iron deficiency in female players occurred mid-season
      (30%). Oral contraception and dietary iron intake had an unclear influence on
      female players' ferritin concentration, while age was largely positively
      correlated (r=0.66+/-~0.33). CONCLUSIONS: Given the relatively low ferritin
      concentrations evident in female rugby sevens players, and the potential for a
      further decline midway through a season when physical load may be at its highest,
      6-monthly hematological reviews are suggested in combination with dietary
      management. Annual screening may be beneficial for male players, with further
      monitoring only when clinically indicated.

PMID- 28597618
TI  - The effects of resistance training, overtraining, and early specialization on
      youth athlete injury and development.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 2014, 60 million youth ages 6-18 participated in some form of
      generalized athletics. Around 3.5 million children are injured annually
      participating in organized sport or recreational activities. While sound physical
      education can decrease the burden of youth sports injuries, the median annual
      physical education budget of $ 764 for USA elementary, middle, and high schools
      may not allow enough flexibility to apply evidenced-based guidelines. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: The topics were selected after a careful review of the 2016 National
      Strength and Conditioning Association Position Statement on Long-Term Athletic
      Development. Articles used to summarize the topics were located by using and
      cross-referencing sources from this statement. PubMed searches were also
      conducted using the key words "youth sports injuries," "early sports
      specialization," "training and maturation," "training versus developmental
      stage," and "long-term athletic development." EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Youth
      resistance training has been shown to decrease not only the risk of injury, but
      also of the development of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Adequate recovery
      time also decreases injury risk, and resources such as the RESTQ-Sport are
      available to help coaches identify stress-recovery imbalances, which can be
      detected two months before an athlete becomes overreached. Through early
      detection of overtraining, a significant proportion of overuse injuries can be
      prevented. Early specialization causes fewer muscle groups to be worked and
      increased repetition, theoretically increasing the risk of injury and early sport
      dropout. Prior to puberty, increased neuronal activation and adaptation can be
      achieved through focusing on agility, balance and coordination, thus taking
      advantage of increased synaptoplasticity. In these early years, neuronal
      stimulation is more important than muscle hypertrophy, which plays a greater role
      in athletic development after puberty. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of
      youth injuries are preventable. Coaches and physical educators who correctly
      understand and apply the principles outlined in this review can help youth under
      their supervision engage in healthy training for sport.

PMID- 28597619
TI  - Gender-related cardiac dimension differences between female and male professional
      soccer players.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine if cardiac hypertrophy differs
      between professional female and male soccer players. METHODS: Twenty-two female
      and 20 male professional soccer players, and their respective non-athlete
      controls (22 females and 19 males) were submitted to an echocardiogram. RESULTS:
      Females had a shorter left ventricular intracavitary diameter and wall
      thicknesses than males in both groups. However, these differences disappeared
      when cardiac dimensions were expressed relative to body mass area (P>0.05).
      Compared to their respective controls, female and male soccer players had a
      longer (P<0.05) left ventricular end-systolic diameter (female: 1.87+/-0.16 vs.
      1.77+/-0.15 cm/m2 and male: 1.83+/-0.21 vs. 1.73+/-0.16 cm/m2), left ventricular
      end-diastolic diameter (female: 2.86+/-0.25 vs. 2.74+/-0.22 cm/m2 and male:
      2.81+/-0.26 vs. 2.55+/-0.66 cm/m2), left ventricular posterior wall thickness
      (female: 0.44+/-0.06 vs. 0.39+/-0.04 cm/m2 and male: 0.43+/-0.04 vs. 0.39+/-0.10
      cm/m2), left ventricular septal wall thickness (female: 0.47+/-0.06 vs. 0.41+/
      0.04 cm/m2 and male: 0.45+/-0.04 vs. 0.40+/-0.11 cm/m2), and left ventricular
      mass index (female: 91.8+/-22.1 vs. 72.3+/-10.5 g/m2 and male: 121.7+/-20.3 vs.
      99.8+/-13.8 g/m2 ). CONCLUSIONS: Part of the gender differences in cardiac
      dimensions might be attributed to differences in body dimension. Soccer training
      increases cardiac dimensions even with BSA correction and females seem to have
      similar left ventricle remodeling compared to males.

PMID- 28597620
TI  - Critical velocity in swimmers of different ages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In swimming one of the most employed training speed among coaches is
      the non-invasive theoretical critical velocity (TCV) defined as the velocity that
      can be maintained continuously without exhaustion. METHODS: We calculated the 4
      mmol/L lactate critical velocity (MCV) in a group of swimmers of different ages
      (young, elite and master), and compared results to the predicted TCV defined
      starting from the 200 and 400 m freestyle best seasonal performances. A steady
      state test consisted in 20 repetitions of 100 m each was performed to study the
      effect of the imposed MCV in the three athletes' categories. RESULTS: TCV mean
      values resulted slightly higher than MCV mean values. A strong correlation
      between TCV and MCV was found considering the whole sample (r=0.96, P<0.001), the
      Masters (r=0.97, P<0.001) and the Elite (r=0.93, P<0.01). Lactate concentration
      of the three groups after the steady-state test was 4.2 mmol/L, 3.3 mmol/L and
      4.9 mmol/L respectively for young, elite and master groups. CONCLUSIONS: TCV is a
      reliable, practical and quick parameter that well approximate the anaerobic
      threshold pace. MCV underestimated the fixed 4 mmol/L lactate threshold pace in
      the elite swimmers and overestimate it in the master swimmers. Further
      investigation is needed to understand more in detail TCV applicability for
      athletes of different ages.

PMID- 28597621
TI  - Hemodynamic adaptation to training in visually-impaired professional tandem
      cyclists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cycling is one of the disciplines with the greatest training-induced
      volumetric changes in cardiovascular systems. The aim of the study was to
      evaluate the hemodynamic adaptation to 7-month routine training in athletes with
      and without severe visual impairment. METHODS: The study involved 26 men:
      visually-impaired (VI) (N.=13; 37+/-12.2 years) and properly-sighted (PS) (N.=13;
      41+/-12.8 years) elite tandem-cycling athletes. They underwent hemodynamic
      variables monitoring at rest and during exercise test by impedance cardiography
      (ICG), before (in the middle of the transition period) and after 7-month cycling
      training (at the beginning of the competitive period). RESULTS: At baseline,
      there were no statistically significant differences in hemodynamic variables
      between studied groups (P>0.05) apart from ejection fraction (EF) (P=0.010).
      After training, there was an increase in SVpeak (for PS: 146.46+/-7.10 mL vs.
      169.69+/-5.19 mL; for VI: 147.53+/-9.55 mL vs. 160.07+/-12.27 mL), COpeak (for
      PS: 26.21+/-1.32 L/min vs. 30.65+/-0.94 L/min; for VI: 25.08+/-1.72 L/min vs.
      27.95+/-2.17 L/min) and EFpeak (for PS: 65.46+/-2.04% vs. 71.92+/-2.36%; for VI:
      61.46+/-2.19% vs. 65.538+/-2.895%). The decrease in HRrest (for PS: 74.91+/-2.8
      bpm vs. 69.61+/-3.3 bpm; for VI: 76.7+/-3.8 bpm vs. 72.22+/-3.2 bpm) and SVRpeak
      (for PS: 311.92+/-20.48 PRU vs. 263.00+/-11.69 PRU; for VI: 365.46+/-24.26 PRU
      vs. 315.38+/-19.07 PRU) was also noted. CONCLUSIONS: VI and PS tandem cyclists
      showed similar improvement in majority of hemodynamic variables (mainly
      volumetric changes). Severe visual impairment does not limit health benefits of
      regular physical activity. This could be the starting point to motivate inactive
      VI people to physical activity.

PMID- 28597622
TI  - The effect of training load on neuromuscular performance, muscle soreness and
      wellness during an in-season non-competitive week in elite rugby athletes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the elite rugby setting, it is critical to understand the effects
      of training load on the levels of fatigue, soreness and readiness of the
      athletes. METHODS: The training load, wellness, neuromuscular markers of fatigue
      and various perceptual measures of soreness of 16 elite rugby athletes were
      monitored during a training week. Training load was obtained for field training
      sessions, extra conditioning and gym-based sessions. Perceptual fatigue was
      obtained every morning from a 5-item wellness questionnaire and a questionnaire
      on the muscle soreness of 9 different muscle sites from each side of the body.
      Neuromuscular performance was obtained from a countermovement jump. RESULTS:
      Although the training performed on day 4 had a significantly (P<0.05) greater
      load in comparison to training days 1 and 2, muscle soreness and neuromuscular
      performance were more adversely effected after the cumulative workloads of days 1
      and 2. Moreover, the effect of training load on muscle soreness was only evident
      in the lower body muscles. Data from the present study also suggest that two days
      off training are adequate for complete recovery from a high load training week in
      elite rugby athletes. There were no significant differences in soreness ratings
      between left and right sides for any of the 9 muscles sites. CONCLUSIONS: There
      was a clear effect of training load on soreness and neuromuscular fatigue, with
      greater fatigue following two training days in a row when compared to a single
      training day. Monitoring soreness from different lower body muscle sites may
      provide important information that relates to the fatigue levels of rugby
      athletes and therefore it is recommended to be included as part of the training
      load monitoring protocol.

PMID- 28597623
TI  - Impact of a stewardship program on bacteraemia in adult inpatients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are associated with considerable
      morbidity and mortality among inpatients. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the impact of a stewardship program on clinical and antimicrobial therapy-related
      outcomes in patients with bacteraemia. METHODS: Single-centre, before-and-after
      quasi-experimental study in adult inpatients. Over 1 January 2013 to 31 June 2013
      all patients aged 18 years or older with a bacteraemia (interven-tion group,
      N=200) were compared to a historical cohort (1 Janu-ary 2012 to 31 December 2012)
      (control group, N=200). RESULTS: Following blood culture results and adjusting
      for potential confounders, the stewardship program was associated with more
      changes to antibiotic regimens (adjusted odds ratio [ORa]: 4.6, 95% CI 2.9, 7.4),
      more adjustments to antimicrobial therapy (ORa: 2.4, 95% CI 1.5, 3.8), and better
      source control in the first five days (ORa 1.6, 95% CI: 1.0, 2.7). In the
      subgroup that initially received inappropriate empiric treatment (n=138), the
      intervention was associated with more antibiotic changes (OR: 3.9, 95% CI: 1.8,
      8.5) and a better choice of definitive antimicrobial therapy (OR 2.3 95% CI: 1.2,
      4.6). There were also more antibiotic changes in the subgroups with both Gram
      negative (OR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.6, 4.9; n=217) and Gram-positive (OR: 4.6, 95% CI:
      1.8, 9.9; n=135) bacteraemia among those receiving the intervention, while the
      Gram-positive subgroup also received more appropriate definitive antimicrobial
      therapy (OR: 3.9, 95% CI: 1.8, 8.8). CONCLUSIONS: The stewardship program
      improved treatment of patients with bacteraemia and appropriateness of therapy.

PMID- 28597624
TI  - That blasted research.

PMID- 28597625
TI  - Treatment of stroke.

PMID- 28597626
TI  - People we meet.

PMID- 28597628
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597627
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597629
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597630
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597631
TI  - [Physical activity and weight reduction].

PMID- 28597632
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597633
TI  - Spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhages in Vestfold county.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited information is available on the incidence and progress of
      spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhages in Norway. The objective of this article
      is to describe the frequency of and the prognosis for such haemorrhages in a
      geographically well-defined population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: All patients
      admitted to Vestfold Hospital with a first-time spontaneous intracerebral
      haemorrhage during the period from 1 September 2010 to 31 May 2014 were included.
      Age, gender, risk factors, haemorrhaged volume, treatment and mortality were
      registered. For survivors, the use of nursing and rehabilitation resources was
      identified, as were neurological function and the ability to cope with daily
      activities after three months. RESULTS: A total of 182 patients (102 men) were
      included. The incidence of first-time intracerebral haemorrhages amounted to
      20.5/100 000/year. Altogether 25.8 % used anticoagulants prior to the
      haemorrhage, and 38.5 % used a platelet inhibitor. After two days 23.0 % had
      died, while the 30-day mortality amounted to 39.6 %. Warfarin use was associated
      with a significantly increased 90-day mortality when compared to no
      anticoagulation treatment (p = 0.002). Of those patients who were alive 90 days
      after their intracerebral haemorrhage, 50.0 % functioned very well according to
      their Barthel score, and 67.6 % had returned to their own homes. INTERPRETATION:
      First-time spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage is a serious event with high
      mortality.

PMID- 28597634
TI  - Prehospital path in acute stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Too few patients with acute stroke receive thrombolytic therapy owing
      to the limited time window for treatment and prehospital delay. The purpose of
      this study is to describe the prehospital path for patients with acute stroke
      and, in particular, what distinguishes patients who contact the Emergency Medical
      Communication Centre (EMCC) from those who contact their general practitioner
      (GP) or Out-of-hours (OOH) services. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Patients with acute
      cerebral infarction and intracerebral haemorrhage admitted to the Stroke Unit,
      Department of Neurology, Akershus University Hospital, were included. Data on the
      prehospital path (prehospital delay, medical contacts) were collected over the
      period 15 April 2009 - 1 April 2010. RESULTS: A total of 299 patients were
      included in the study. The median age was 75 years and 48.5 % were women. In all,
      63.9 % of patients with acute stroke called the EMCC, and 93.7 % of these were
      taken directly to hospital by ambulance. Of those who called the GP's office or
      OOH services, 60.7 % were asked to go to the GP's office or OOH services in
      person. Patients who called and attended the GP's office or OOH services had
      milder neurological deficits (p < 0.001) and longer patient delay (p = 0.018)
      than those who called the EMCC. INTERPRETATION: Six out of ten patients who
      contacted the primary health care services were asked to go to the GP's
      office/OOH services in person, which resulted in unnecessary delay. The findings
      from this study may indicate a need for specific training of this group of health
      care professionals in the prompt handling of patients with possible stroke.

PMID- 28597635
TI  - Modern treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.
AB  - The treatment of prostate cancer with remote metastases has advanced greatly in
      recent years. Treatment options are dependent on the extent of the metastases,
      the patient's general condition and wishes, and the treatment response. We
      present an overview of the latest options for systemic treatment of patients with
      metastatic prostate cancer, based on availability in Norway.

PMID- 28597636
TI  - A woman in her thirties with breast cancer and bilateral goitre.

PMID- 28597637
TI  - How can we support the parents of children with a life-shortening disease?

PMID- 28597638
TI  - [#thatfeeling].

PMID- 28597639
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597640
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597641
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597642
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597643
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597644
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597645
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597646
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597649
TI  - Single center experience with extracranial carotid aneurysm open repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our aim is to report our single center experience with extracranial
      carotid artery aneurysms (ECAA) open repair. METHODS: A retrospective review was
      performed including the perioperative and postoperative data of all patients who
      underwent ECAA repair between 2008 and 2015. The operative technique was based on
      aneurysm size, anatomical features and operative risk. RESULTS: Fourteen patients
      (6 men and 8 women, mean age +/- 60.5 years) were admitted for ECAA. Thirteen
      patients (92.8%) were submitted to ECCA open repair while in one patient (7.2%)
      conservative treatment was realized. Bilateral lesions and concomitant internal
      carotid artery (ICA) kinking was observed in 2 cases (13%). Seven patients (54%)
      were asymptomatic at diagnosis and ECCA localization involved ICA in 9 cases
      (69.2%). Aneurysmectomy with end-to-end anastomosis was perfomed in 2 cases
      (15.3%), patch arterioplasty in 2 cases (15.3%), prosthetic graft interposition
      in 3 cases (23.0%), autologous vein graft bypass in 2 cases (15.3%) and artery
      ligation with distal ICA arteriorraphy in one case (7.6%). No perioperative
      deaths, major neurological complications and surgical reinterventions were
      recorded. Overall survival at a mean follow-up of 19.6 months (range, 0-52
      months) was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: ECAA open repair represents a safe surgical
      option, with lower prevalence of complications and no need for reintervention in
      high volume centers.

PMID- 28597647
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597648
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597650
TI  - Foolproof Method for Fast and Reversible Switching of Water-Droplet Adhesion by
      Magnetic Gradients.
AB  - Reversible switching of water-droplet adhesion on solid surfaces is of great
      significance for smart devices, such as microfluidics. In this work, we designed
      a foolproof method for fast and reversible magnet-controlled switching of water
      droplet adhesion surfaces by doping iron powders in soft poly(dimethylsiloxane).
      The water adhesion is adjusted by magnetic field-induced structure changes,
      avoiding complex chemical or physical surface design. The regulation process is
      so convenient that only tens of milliseconds are needed. The on-site responsive
      mechanism extends its use to unusual curved surfaces. Moreover, the excellent
      reversibility and stability make the film an ideal candidate for real-time
      applications.

PMID- 28597651
TI  - In Operando Investigation of Electrical Coupling of Photosystem 1 and Photosystem
      2 by Means of Bipolar Electrochemistry.
AB  - Electrochemical communication between two photobioelectrochemical half-cells
      based on photosystem 1 and photosystem 2 is investigated in operando. The driving
      force for the electron-transfer reactions is applied in a wireless mode using
      bipolar electrochemistry with the actual electrode potentials being self
      regulated by the redox processes. Four parameters are assessed to understand the
      overall performance and elucidate the limiting reactions of the
      photobioelectrochemical cell. In addition to the potential differences for
      oxidation and reduction reactions, the current flowing between the half-cells as
      well as in situ collection of locally evolved O2 by photosystem 2 using a
      positioned scanning electrochemical microscopy tip are evaluated. In this way,
      changes in the enzymatic performances as a result of inactivation of either of
      the protein complexes or variations in the external conditions are monitored.

PMID- 28597652
TI  - Comment on "Impact of Adsorption on Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy
      Voltammetry and Implications for Nanogap Measurements": Assessment of
      Heterogeneous Self-Exchange Reaction at Conductor and Insulator.

PMID- 28597653
TI  - Overexpression of ATP-Binding Cassette Subfamily G Member 2 Confers Resistance to
      Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Inhibitor PF-4989216 in Cancer Cells.
AB  - Deregulated activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target
      of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is frequently found in human cancers, which plays a
      key role in promoting cancer proliferation and resistance to anticancer
      therapies. Therefore, developing inhibitors targeting key components of the
      PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway has great clinical significance. PF-4989216 is a
      novel, orally available small-molecule drug that was developed to selectively
      inhibit the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and subsequent cancer cell
      proliferation. PF-4989216 exhibited potent and selective inhibition against PI3K
      kinase activity in preclinical small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) models, and was
      especially effective against the proliferation of SCLCs harboring PIK3CA
      mutation. Unfortunately, in addition to innate resistance mechanisms, drug
      extrusion by the efflux pumps may also contribute to the development of acquired
      resistance to PI3K inhibitors in cancer cells. The overexpression of ATP-binding
      cassette (ABC) drug transporters ABCB1 and ABCG2 is one of the most common
      mechanisms for reducing intracellular drug concentration and developing multidrug
      resistance, which remains a substantial challenge to the effective treatment of
      cancer. In this study, we report the discovery of ABCG2 overexpression as a
      mechanism of resistance to PI3K inhibitor PF-4989216 in human cancer cells. We
      demonstrated that the inhibition of Akt and downstream S6RP phosphorylation by PF
      4989216 were significantly reduced in ABCG2-overexpressing human cancer cells.
      Moreover, overexpression of ABCG2 in various cancer cell lines confers
      significant resistance to PF-4989216, which can be reversed by an inhibitor or
      competitive substrate of ABCG2, indicating that ABCG2-mediated transport alone
      can sufficiently reduce the intracellular concentration of PF-4989216.

PMID- 28597654
TI  - OMS-2-Supported Cu Hydroxide-Catalyzed Benzoxazoles Synthesis from Catechols and
      Amines via Domino Oxidation Process at Room Temperature.
AB  - In the presence of manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) supported
      copper hydroxide Cu(OH)x/OMS-2, aerobic synthesis of benzoxazoles from catechols
      and amines via domino oxidation/cyclization at room temperature is achieved. This
      heterogeneous benzoxazoles synthesis initiated by the efficient oxidation of
      catechols over Cu(OH)x/OMS-2 tolerates a variety of substrates, especially amines
      containing sensitive groups (hydroxyl, cyano, amino, vinyl, ethynyl, ester, and
      even acetyl groups) and heterocycles, which affords functionalized benzoxazoles
      in good to excellent yields by employing low catalyst loading (2 mol % Cu). The
      characterization and plausible catalytic mechanism of Cu(OH)x/OMS-2 are
      described. The notable features of our catalytic protocol such as the use of air
      as the benign oxidant and EtOH as the solvent, mild conditions, ease of product
      separation, being scalable up to the gram level, and superior reusability of
      catalyst (up to 10 cycles) make it more practical and environmentally friendly
      for organic synthesis.

PMID- 28597655
TI  - Identification and Characterization of 3-epi-Rotundone, a Novel Stereoisomer of
      Rotundone, in Several Kinds of Fruits.
AB  - A novel stereoisomer of rotundone, 3-epi-rotundone, was identified in the aroma
      of grapefruit, orange, apple, and mango. 3-epi-Rotundone was prepared by the
      isomerization of rotundone, and its structural elucidation was confirmed by
      comparing the 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance and nuclear Overhauser effect
      spectroscopy spectra with those of rotundone. The odor thresholds of rotundone
      and 3-epi-rotundone in water were determined by a triangle test as 5 and 19100
      ng/kg, respectively. The odor of 3-epi-rotundone was evaluated as woody, spicy,
      peppery, citrus, grapefruit-like, powdery, and celery-like, which was a greater
      range of odor characteristics than that for rotundone. Results of odor evaluation
      of 3-epi-rotundone revealed that its unique organoleptic properties, which were
      odor description (woody, spicy, and peppery), anosmic properties in neat form,
      and strong adaptation, were similar to those of rotundone. 3-epi-Rotundone might
      be a valuable substance to apply new types of woody, peppery, and spicy notes.

PMID- 28597656
TI  - Enhancing Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites via Alignment
      of Magnetized SiC Whiskers.
AB  - This research is focused on the fabrication and properties of epoxy
      nanocomposites containing magnetized SiC whiskers (MSiCWs). To this end, we
      report an original strategy for fabrication of magnetically active SiCWs by
      decorating the whiskers with magnetic (iron oxide) nanoparticles via polymer
      polymer (poly(acrylic acid)/poly(2-vinyl pyridine)) complexation. The obtained
      whiskers demonstrated a substantial magnetic response in the polymerizing epoxy
      resin, with application of only a 20 mT (200 G) magnetic field. We also found
      that the whiskers chemically reacted with the epoxy resin, causing formation of
      an extended interphase near the boundary of the whiskers. The SiC whiskers
      oriented with the magnetic field demonstrated positive effects on the behavior of
      epoxy-based nanocomposites. Namely, the aligned MSiCWs enhanced the
      thermomechanical properties of the materials significantly above that of the neat
      epoxy and epoxy nanocomposite, with randomly oriented whiskers.

PMID- 28597657
TI  - Coupled Lattice Polarization and Ferromagnetism in Multiferroic NiTiO3 Thin
      Films.
AB  - Polarization-induced weak ferromagnetism (WFM) was demonstrated a few years back
      in LiNbO3-type compounds, MTiO3 (M = Fe, Mn, Ni). Although the coexistence of
      ferroelectric polarization and ferromagnetism has been demonstrated in this rare
      multiferroic family before, first in bulk FeTiO3, then in thin-film NiTiO3, the
      coupling of the two order parameters has not been confirmed. Here, we report the
      stabilization of polar, ferromagnetic NiTiO3 by oxide epitaxy on a LiNbO3
      substrate utilizing tensile strain and demonstrate the theoretically predicted
      coupling between its polarization and ferromagnetism by X-ray magnetic circular
      dichroism under applied fields. The experimentally observed direction of ferroic
      ordering in the film is supported by simulations using the phase-field approach.
      Our work validates symmetry-based criteria and first-principles calculations of
      the coexistence of ferroelectricity and WFM in MTiO3 transition metal titanates
      crystallizing in the LiNbO3 structure. It also demonstrates the applicability of
      epitaxial strain as a viable alternative to high-pressure crystal growth to
      stabilize metastable materials and a valuable tuning parameter to simultaneously
      control two ferroic order parameters to create a multiferroic. Multiferroic
      NiTiO3 has potential applications in spintronics where ferroic switching is used,
      such as new four-stage memories and electromagnetic switches.

PMID- 28597658
TI  - Layer Control of Tubular Graphene for Corrosion Inhibition of Nickel Wires.
AB  - Corrosion protection of complex surface is an active area of research due to its
      importance to commercial applications such as electrochemical fabrication.
      However, conventional coatings exhibit limited conductivity, thermal stability,
      and durability and are thus not suitable. Recent work has shown the potential of
      graphene, a two-dimensional carbon allotrope, for corrosion protection. The
      studies, however, limited themselves to simple planar geometries that provide
      limited insight in the applicability to relevant morphologies such as mesh
      electrodes and roughened surfaces. We here study the corrosion protection ability
      of tubular graphene (TG) on Ni-wires as a model system for such complex
      geometries. TG-covered Ni wires of approximately 50 MUm diameters were produced
      by the annealing of cellulose acetate (CA) on Ni. The high quality of the TG
      coating was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and
      electrical measurements. We show that the graphene layer number could be
      controlled by adjusting the CA membrane quantity. We found a direct relation
      between the degree of corrosion inhibition with the variation of graphene layer
      number. The increase of graphene layers on a Ni surface could enhance its
      corrosion inhibition in acidic, basic, and marine environments, which shows the
      potential of our approach for future applications.

PMID- 28597659
TI  - Vibrational Spectroscopy and Proton Transfer Dynamics in Protonated Oxalate.
AB  - The dynamics and infrared spectroscopic signatures of proton transfer in
      protonated oxalate (p-Oxa) are studied using classical and quantum dynamics. The
      intermolecular interactions are described by a force field suitable to follow
      proton transfer. This allows to carry out multiple extended classical molecular
      dynamics (MD) and ring polymer MD simulations from which the infrared spectrum is
      determined. Simulations at 600 K sample the quantum mechanical ground state
      probability distribution and best reproduce the experimentally observed maximum
      absorption wavelength and part of the line shape. Comparison with the
      experimentally measured spectrum provides an estimate for the barrier height for
      proton transfer which can not be determined directly from experiment. A barrier
      of 4.2 kcal/mol is found to best reproduce the position and width of the infrared
      absorption of the transferring proton in p-Oxa and also leads to an infrared (IR)
      spectrum in good agreement with experiment for the deuterated species d-Oxa. A
      novel means to capture the two resonance forms of oxalate depending on the
      localization of the excess proton on either CO moiety is found to yield improved
      results for the spectroscopy in the framework region between 1000 and 2000 cm-1.

PMID- 28597660
TI  - Monolayer Bismuthene-Metal Contacts: A Theoretical Study.
AB  - Bismuthene, a bismuth analogue of graphene, has a moderate band gap, has a high
      carrier mobility, has a topological nontriviality, has a high stability at room
      temperature, has an easy transferability, and is very attractive for electronics,
      optronics, and spintronics. The electrical contact plays a critical role in an
      actual device. The interfacial properties of monolayer (ML) bismuthene in contact
      with the metal electrodes spanning a wide work function range in a field-effect
      transistor configuration are systematically studied for the first time by using
      both first-principles electronic structure calculations and quantum transport
      simulations. The ML bismuthene always undergoes metallization upon contact with
      the six metal electrodes owing to a strong interaction. According to the quantum
      transport simulations, apparent metal-induced gap states (MIGSs) formed in the
      semiconductor-metal interface give rise to a strong Fermi-level pinning. As a
      result, the ML bismuthene forms an n-type Schottky contact with Ir/Ag/Ti
      electrodes with electron Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) of 0.17, 0.22, and 0.25
      eV, respectively, and a p-type Schottky contact with Pt/Al/Au electrodes with
      hole SBHs of 0.09, 0.16, and 0.38 eV, respectively. The effective channel length
      of the ML bismuthene transistors is also significantly reduced by the MIGSs.
      However, the MIGSs are eliminated and the effective channel length is increased
      when ML graphene is used as an electrode, accompanied by a small hole SBH of 0.06
      eV (quasi-Ohmic contact). Hence, an insight is provided into the interfacial
      properties of the ML bismuthene-metal composite systems and a guidance is
      provided for the choice of metal electrodes in ML bismuthene devices.

PMID- 28597661
TI  - Metal-free Oxidative Coupling of Aromatic Alkenes with Thiols Leading to (E)
      Vinyl Sulfones.
AB  - A facile I2O5-mediated direct oxidative coupling of aromatic alkenes with thiols
      toward vinyl sulfones has been developed under metal-free conditions. This
      methodology provides a convenient and efficient approach to various (E)-vinyl
      sulfones from readily available starting materials with excellent
      regioselectivity. The present oxidative coupling reaction, not only expands the
      scope of functionalization of alkenes with thiols, but also makes it a practical
      and powerful complement to traditional methods for the synthesis of (E)-vinyl
      sulfones.

PMID- 28597663
TI  - Enhancement of Light Absorption in Photovoltaic Devices using Textured
      Polydimethylsiloxane Stickers.
AB  - We designed and fabricated a random-size inverted-pyramid-structured
      polydimethylsiloxane (RSIPS-PDMS) sticker to enhance the light absorption of
      solar cells and thus increase their efficiency. The fabricated sticker was
      laminated onto bare glass and crystalline silicon (c-Si) surfaces; consequently,
      low solar-weighted reflectance values were obtained for these surfaces (6.88 and
      17.2%, respectively). In addition, we found that incident light was refracted at
      the PDMS-air interface of each RSIPS, which redirected the incident power and
      significantly increased the optical path length in the RSIPS-PDMS sticker which
      was 14.7% greater than that in a flat-PDMS sticker. Moreover, we investigated
      power reflection and propagation through the RSIPS-PDMS sticker using a finite
      difference time-domain method. By attaching an RSIPS-PDMS sticker onto both an
      organic solar cell (OSC) based on a glass substrate and a c-Si solar cell, the
      power conversion efficiency of the OSC and the c-Si solar cell were increased
      from 8.57 to 8.94% and from 16.2 to 17.9%, respectively. Thus, the RSIPS-PDMS
      sticker is expected to be universally applicable to the surfaces of solar cells
      to enhance their light absorption.

PMID- 28597664
TI  - [Addictive substances in fatal cases of fall/jump from height].
AB  - The aim of the study is to analyse causes of fatal cases of falls from height
      focusing on the occurrence of addictive substances. The authors performed a
      retrospective analysis of cases dealing with falls/jumps autopsied at the
      Institutes of Forensic Medicine in Bratislava in the years 2005-2014 accounting
      for a catchment area with approximately 1.2 m population. Selection criteria were
      met in 360 cases, i.e. approximately 4 % of all cases autopsied. There were 68 %
      of men and 32 % of women involved. The age interval ranged from 10 up to 93 years
      (mean age 50 years). Addictive substances were found in a total of 32 % of cases,
      ethanol alone in 22 % of cases. The cases were divided into groups according to
      the cause as follows: accidental falls (24%) also involving occupational
      accidents (11 %), jumps in suicidal ideation (63 %) and cases with the
      unspecified cause of falling (13 %). Most of the cases with detected addictive
      substances were in the group of suicidal jumps (35 %). In this group, 32 % of
      patients were treated for psychiatric disorders. The most common diagnosis was a
      depressive disorder and schizophrenia. In the group of occupational accidents,
      ethanol was found in 25 % of cases. The results of the study show that it is
      essential to pay more attention to psychiatric patients as not even regular
      psychiatric care and treatment can always prevent suicide. Accordingly, there is
      a need to strictly monitor the ban on alcohol consumption at work and the
      observance of safety regulations for working at heights, and thus to minimise the
      occurrence of falls with fatal outcomes.

PMID- 28597662
TI  - Chitosan/Hyaluronic Acid Nanoparticles: Rational Design Revisited for RNA
      Delivery.
AB  - Chitosan/hyaluronic acid (HA) nanoparticles can be used to deliver an RNA/DNA
      cargo to cells overexpressing HA receptors such as CD44. For these systems,
      unequivocal links have not been established yet between chitosan macromolecular
      (molecular weight; degree of deacetylation, i.e., charge density) and
      nanoparticle variables (complexation strength, i.e., stability; nucleic acid
      protection; internalization rate) on one hand, and transfection efficiency on the
      other hand. Here, we have focused on the role of avidity on transfection
      efficiency in the CD44-expressing HCT-116 as a cellular model; we have employed
      two differently sized payloads (a large luciferase-encoding mRNA and a much
      smaller anti-Luc siRNA), and a small library of chitosans (variable molecular
      weight and degree of deactylation). The RNA avidity for chitosan showed-as
      expected-an inverse relationship: higher avidity-higher polyplex stability-lower
      transfection efficiency. The avidity of chitosan for RNA appears to lead to
      opposite effects: higher avidity-higher polyplex stability but also higher
      transfection efficiency. Surprisingly, the best transfecting particles were those
      with the lowest propensity for RNA release, although this might be a misleading
      relationship: for example, the same macromolecular parameters that increase
      avidity can also boost chitosan's endosomolytic activity, with a strong
      enhancement in transfection. The performance of these nonviral vectors appears
      therefore difficult to predict simply on the basis of carrier- or payload-related
      variables, and a more holistic consideration of the journey of the nanoparticle,
      from cell uptake to cytosolic bioavailability of payload, is needed. It is also
      noteworthy that the nanoparticles used in this study showed optimal performance
      under slightly acidic conditions (pH 6.4), which is promising for applications in
      a tumoral extracellular environment. It is also worth pointing out that under
      these conditions we have for the first time successfully delivered mRNA with
      chitosan/HA nanoparticles.

PMID- 28597665
TI  - [Injuries associated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation in non-survivors after
      out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (autopsy study)].
AB  - The aim of the present study is to investigate incidence and seriousness of CPR
      associated injuries on a cohort of CPR non-survivors after out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest in the Moravian-Silesian region. In total, 80 persons were
      included in the study within the study period (2012 - 2015). CPR-associated
      injuries were identified in 75 (93.7 %) persons, multiple injuries were found in
      73 persons. Spectrum of identified injuries covered skin injuries of the upper
      half of the body, head and neck injuries, rare abdominal injuries and very
      frequent thorax injuries. Sternal fractures were found in 53 (63.3 %) persons.
      Rib fractures were identified in 59 (73.0 %) persons; rib fractures were usually
      multiple (mean number of broken ribs was 7.6 per person). Intra-thoracic injuries
      were diagnosed in 33 (41.2 %) persons - findings of lung contusions and
      lacerations, transmural heart contusions, hemothorax and hemopericard. The vast
      majority of identified intra-thoracic injuries were considered clinically
      relevant (provided the fact that return of spontaneous circulation had been
      achieved). Intraabdominal injuries (liver and spleen injuries) were identified in
      15 (18.7 %) of persons. Vast majority of these injuries was clinically
      irrelevant. We have found clinically serious injuries (spleen rupture and liver
      dilacerations) in 3 (3.7 %) persons. Outcomes of our study suggest that CPR
      associated injuries are very common, usually multiple, and in some cases they
      might be even potentially lethal (if return of spontaneous circulation is
      achieved).Key words: cardiopulmonary resuscitation - cardiac arrest - injuries -
      autopsy study - sternal and rib fractures.

PMID- 28597667
TI  - [Giant cell-rich lesions of bone and their differential diagnosis].
AB  - Giant cell-rich lesions form a heterogeneous group of reactive and truly
      neoplastic processes with diverse clinical presentation and biological behavior.
      Common to all of them are variably numerous multinucleated osteoclast-like giant
      cells and the presence of mononuclear stroma. Based on the histological picture
      alone it is sometimes impossible to reliably distinguish certain tumors from each
      other. The pathologist has to know the patient's age, the exact localization,
      tumor growth dynamics and its radiographic characteristics. Secondary reactive
      changes occur frequently and these can completely alter the morphology of the
      lesion and thus overshadow the underlying neoplasm. Reparative changes in a
      pathological fracture may histologically mimic primary bone malignancy.
      Immunohistochemistry helps only in select cases and molecular genetic methods
      still have very limited utility for the diagnosis of giant cell-rich tumors. It
      is necessary to correlate the microscopic features of the lesion with clinical
      and radiological findings. A correct diagnosis is of paramount importance for
      proper treatment and prognosis.

PMID- 28597666
TI  - [Methodology of injury compensation and Government Regulation of injury
      compensation in reflection in the Constitutional Court decision].
AB  - After the new Civil Code had come into force, the Compensation Statute lost the
      efficiency. The injury compensation should not have been provided according
      medical report with respect to the Compensation Statute but according decency
      basis. So the Highest Court has accepted the Methodology of compensation. The
      article deals with the first reflection of the Methodology in the judicature of
      the Constitutional Court as well as the opinion of the Constitutional Court of
      the Government Statute which regulates the injury compensation in labour law. The
      Metodology of compensation is based on the ICF (International Classification of
      Functioning, Disability and Health), while the Compensation Statute was based on
      the etiology principe. ICF is a classification of health and health-related
      domains. As the functioning and disability of an individual occurs in a context,
      ICF also includes a list of environmental factors. ICF is the WHO framework for
      measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels.

PMID- 28597668
TI  - Hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumors: A review.
AB  - Hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumors (HPNST) are relatively recently described
      tumors. With ongoing research, a considerable amount of important findings have
      been made, much of which has substantial clinical implications. However, a
      comprehensive review of the whole topic has not been published in the literature
      so far. In the presented manuscript, the various hybrid tumors are discussed
      separately with a special emphasis on the morphological and immunohistochemical
      findings as well as on their association with tumor syndromes.

PMID- 28597669
TI  - [Myxoid tumors of soft tissues].
AB  - Myxoid tumours of soft tissue represent a heterogeneous spectrum of lesions with
      variable biological behaviour, from completely benign to highly aggressive
      malignancies. Myxoid tumours share abundant myxoid extracellular matrix,
      overlapping histopathologic features and immunohistochemical findings, with
      resulting diagnostic problems. This review article attempts to give the most
      complete list possible, with the characterization of gross and microscopic
      features, relevant immunohistochemical and molecular biology findings and to
      outline differential diagnosis.

PMID- 28597670
TI  - [Identification of an optimal algorithm for effective diagnostics of non-small
      cell lung cancer with ALK gene rearrangement - implementation of the method and
      practical experiences with routine diagnostics].
AB  - The aim of the retrospective part of the study was a) to select an optimal clone
      of immunohistochemical (IHC) antibody against the ALK protein with specificity
      and sensitivity high enough to use this antibody as a screening method for
      selecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases for fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) testing of ALK gene rearrangement and b) to determine the
      diagnostic yield of "small" biopsies i.e. endobronchial, transbronchial and
      transthoracic biopsies and cytoblocks for ALK gene rearrangement testing. The
      best IHC method of ALK protein detection (clone D5F3, dilution 1:100, Cell
      Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA) was then verified in prospective routine
      testing of patients with NSCLC. ALK status was correlated with tumor morphology
      and clinical data. In the retrospective part of the study, 170 EGFR-nonmutated
      cases of NSCLC were IHC and FISH tested. In the prospective part, 557 cases of
      NSCLC were tested by IHC and 76 by FISH. There were 8/154 (5.2%) cases with ALK
      gene rearrangement detected in the retrospective part and 24/557(4.3 %) in the
      prospective part. Sensitivity and specificity of the best IHC method were 100 %
      and 99 % in the retrospective part and 100 % and 80 % in the prospective part.
      The diagnostic yield of "small" biopsies was between 74 - 80 % retrospectively,
      depending on IHC variant, and 88 % prospectively. No case with ALK gene
      rearrangement detected prospectively had EGFR mutation. A high diagnostic yield
      confirms that ALK status testing can be used in this type of specimen. A
      prevalence of 5.2 % in the retrospective part (EGFR-nonmutated cases) and 4.3 %
      in the prospective part (without known EGFR mutation status), tumor morphology
      (solid and acinar type, mucinous type or at least partial mucin production (extra
      and/or intracellular) as well as lower average age and male/female ratio of
      patients with ALK positive tumors in the prospective part (57.5 y vs. 65.2 y, 8
      men and 16 women vs. 336 men and 197 women) are consistent with global data.

PMID- 28597671
TI  - Mature teratoma of the uterine corpus: A case report.
AB  - We report a case of a 37-year old female with a mature teratoma of the uterine
      corpus presented by metrorrhagia. Grossly, the tumor was polypoid without
      apparent invasion into the myometrium. Microscopically, the tumor consisted of
      disorganized mature neural tissue intermingled with nodular foci of cartilaginous
      tissue, groups of seromucionous glands and ciliated columnar respiratory
      epithelium. Fifteen months after the diagnosis, the patient showed no signs of
      tumor relapse. Then she was lost for a follow-up. Teratoma of the uterine corpus
      is rare; to the best of our knowledge only about 20 cases have been reported to
      date.

PMID- 28597672
TI  - Pancreas Burkitt primary lymphoma in pediatric age.
AB  - We present an the case of an eight-year-old Portuguese boy with no history of
      traveling, admitted with non-specific abdominal pain. An analytic study revealed
      high levels of lipase and amylase. Ultrasound, abdominal computerized tomography
      (CT), and an abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were performed. The
      imaging findings are suggestive of a pancreatic tumor which is an extremely rare
      entity in children. A biopsy was performed by opened surgery and identified a
      Burkitt lymphoma.

PMID- 28597673
TI  - Portal air embolism after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - The authors present an uncommon case of portal venous gas and contrast
      opacification that occured during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
      This report demonstrates that portal vein cannulation may be a source of
      confusion because the guided wire trajectory inside the portal vein may be
      similar to that of the biliary, and a contrast washout/opacified portal vein may
      be misinterpreted as an incompletely filled bile duct.

PMID- 28597674
TI  - Diverticulitis of the cecal appendix: a case report.
AB  - Appendicular diverticulosis is a rare condition. It is important to know its
      insidious form of presentation for its early diagnosis and treatment, thus
      diminishing morbimortality. In case of incidental findings, an appendicectomy
      will be performed to prevent complications and the development of malignancy.

PMID- 28597675
TI  - Artifacts of the common bile duct caused by duodenal metallic hemoclip on
      magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - Magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRCP) is a non-invasive and highly sensitive
      diagnostic modality for pancreatobiliay lesions, which can replace the role of
      Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). However metallic
      components can lead to misinterpretation of the images of MRCP. Here we present a
      case of a duodenal metal hemoclip, producing a susceptibility artifact of
      pathologic lesion in the common bile duct on MRCP.

PMID- 28597676
TI  - Dorsal inflammatory mass secondary to lost stones after laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy.
AB  - The most frequent intraabdominal complication after lost stones are abscesses,
      which account for 65% of complications. The main risk factors are: old age, male
      gender, surgical difficulty, leakage of lithiasis of more than 1.5 cm or more
      than 15 stones, perihepatic location and pigmented gallstones. We report the case
      of a 73-year-old man with a medical history of hypertension, diabetes, chronic
      kidney failure and laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PMID- 28597677
TI  - Endoscopic management of afferent loop syndrome caused by enteroliths and
      anastomotic stricture. A case report.
AB  - Afferent loop syndrome (ALS) is a rare complication of Billroth-II
      gastrojejunostomy. Causes of afferent loop obstruction include adhesions,
      internal hernias, intestinal strictures or malignancy. Obstruction caused by
      enteroliths is rare and usually requires surgery. We present the case of a 90
      year-old man with a Billroth-II performed 50 years earlier and three acute
      pancreatitis. He presented with acute abdominal pain, without signs of
      pancreatitis. Upper digestive endoscopy revealed a punctiform anastomotic
      stricture of the afferent loop. Fluoroscopy-guided contrast injection showed a
      dilated loop with multiple filling defects. After through-the-scope balloon
      dilation, multiple calculi similar to gallstones were observed in the afferent
      loop and were removed with a basket. There were no signs of choledochoduodenal
      fistula or abnormalities in the ampulla of Vater, leading us to assume the
      formation of intestinal calculi. This case represents a rare cause of ALS,
      emphasizing the possibility of solely endoscopic treatment. The stone was removed
      and the anastomotic stricture which was the underlying cause of the enterolith
      formation was treated by endoscopy. Endoscopic management of enterolith-related
      ALS is technically difficult and rarely reported. To our knowledge, there are two
      cases in which electrohydraulic lithotripsy was used to fragment a large
      enterolith in the afferent loop. This includes one report of failed endoscopic
      retrieval of an enterolith and in another case a perforation after an attempt to
      grasp the stone with a basket. ALS has multiple causes and non-specific clinical
      manifestations. We highlight the importance of high clinical suspicion and
      individualized treatment according to the patient's condition, severity, ALS
      etiology and locally available treatment possibilities.

PMID- 28597678
TI  - A giant hiatal hernia and intrathoracic pancreas.
AB  - Transhiatal herniation of the pancreas is an extremely rare condition, with only
      a few more than ten cases reported. Most patients are symptomatic at initial
      presentation and multi-detector computed tomography allows a detailed
      visualization of the anatomy and size of the diaphragmatic defect. Surgical
      repair is recommended for symptomatic cases.

PMID- 28597679
TI  - Successful extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) treatment of a
      symptomatic massive biliary stone proximal to an anastomotic biliary stricture.
AB  - Postoperative benign biliary stricture in the anastomotic site is one of the most
      common complications of biliary-enteric anastomosis, with a rate of 6.87% after 2
      13 years of follow-up. If untreated, biliary strictures can induce other
      complications such as recurrent cholangitis, intrahepatic stones, pancreatitis
      and secondary biliary cirrhosis. We report our experience with extracorporeal
      shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in a patient with a massive symptomatic stone
      proximal to an anastomotic biliary stricture.

PMID- 28597680
TI  - Fishbone impaction in the colon.
AB  - Postoperative benign biliary stricture in the anastomotic site is one of the most
      common complications of biliary-enteric anastomosis, with a rate of 6.87% after 2
      13 years of follow-up. If untreated, biliary strictures can induce other
      complications such as recurrent cholangitis, intrahepatic stones, pancreatitis
      and secondary biliary cirrhosis. We report our experience with extracorporeal
      shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in a patient with a massive symptomatic stone
      proximal to an anastomotic biliary stricture.

PMID- 28597681
TI  - Mesenteric-portal axis thrombosis and deep venous thrombosis in a patient with
      inferior vena cava agenesis.
AB  - Splenoportal axis thrombosis not associated with cirrhosis or neoplasms has a
      prevalence lower than 5 per 10,000 people. An etiologic factor responsible for
      portal thrombosis is finally identified in most cases, usually systemic
      thrombogenic factors or predisposing local factors. However, despite a detailed
      study of all etiologic factors, up to 30% of cases are eventually considered as
      idiopathic in origin. We report the case of a 41-year-old patient who presented
      with abdominal pain and lower extremity edema. The patient was diagnosed with
      portal and mesenteric-portal confluence thrombosis, bilateral deep venous
      thrombosis and right lumbar vein thrombosis based on an abdominal CT scan. This
      was associated with a likely congenital inferior vena cava agenesis. This
      malformation is present in approximately 5% of patients with deep vein thrombosis
      even though it represents a rare cause of portal thrombosis. The fact that
      several thromboses developed simultaneously makes this a unique and isolated case
      in the current literature as no similar cases have been reported thus far.

PMID- 28597682
TI  - A bronchobiliary fistula due to giant hydatid cyst.
AB  - Intrathoracic rupture of hydatid cyst of the liver is a rare but severe
      complication of echinococcal disease. It represent a serious condition
      responsible for lesions at 3 levels: hepatic, diaphragmatic, and pulmonary. Early
      diagnosis and management of septic associated complications are essential. We
      present the case of a 55 year old female patient with a giant hydatid cyst type
      CE 2 based on WHO Classification, communicating with the biliary tree and with a
      massive extension to the right hemithorax.

PMID- 28597683
TI  - Recurrent hyperammonemic encephalopathy. Embolization of the portosystemic shunt.
AB  - We present the case of a recurrent hyperammonaemic encephalopathy due to a
      portosystemic shunt that was successfully treated by embolization.

PMID- 28597684
TI  - Protection against shigellosis caused by Shigella dysenteriae serotype 4 in
      guinea pigs using Escherichia albertii DM104 as a live vaccine candidate strain.
AB  - Recently, we reported the induction of protective immunity by environmental
      Escherichia albertii strain DM104 against Shigella dysenteriae in guinea pig
      model. In this study, we assessed three different immunization routes, such as
      intranasal, oral, and intrarectal routes, and revealed differences in immune
      responses by measuring both the serum IgG and mucosal IgA antibody titers.
      Protective efficacy of different routes of immunization was also determined by
      challenging immunized guinea pigs against live S. dysenteriae. It was found that
      intranasal immunization showed promising results in terms of antibody response
      and protective efficacy. All these results reconfirm our previous findings and
      additionally point out that the intranasal immunization of the environmental E.
      albertii strain DM104 in guinea pig model can be a better live vaccine candidate
      against shigellosis.

PMID- 28597685
TI  - A gain-of-function mutation of STAT1: A novel genetic factor contributing to
      chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis.
AB  - Heterozygous gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in the signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) have increasingly been identified as a
      genetic cause of autosomal-dominant (AD) chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC).
      In this article, we describe a 33-year-old man who experienced chronic refractory
      candidiasis, recurrent otitis media, and pneumonia resulting in bronchiectasis,
      severe oral and esophageal candidiases with strictures associated with
      hypothyroidism and immune hemolytic anemia. His son also suffered from persistent
      candidiasis, chronic diarrhea, poor weight gain, and pneumonia that resulted in
      his demise because of sepsis. The immunological workup showed that an inverse
      CD4/CD8 ratio and serum immunoglobulins were all within normal ranges. The
      laboratory data revealed failure in response to Candida lymphocyte transformation
      test. In addition, by Sanger sequencing method, we found a heterozygous mutation,
      Thr385Met (T385M), located in the DNA-binding domain of STAT1, which was
      previously shown to be GOF. These findings illustrate the broad and variable
      clinical phenotype of heterozygous STAT1 GOF mutations. However, more clinical
      information and phenotype-genotype studies are required to define the clinical
      phenotype caused by AD STAT1 GOF.

PMID- 28597686
TI  - Three new flavanoids from artificially induced dragon's blood of Dracaena
      cambodiana.
AB  - Three new flavanoids, (2R)-7,4'-dihydroxy-8-methylflavan (1), (2R)-7,4'-dihydroxy
      6-methylflavan (2), and (3R)-7,3',4'-trihydroxyhomoisoflavan (3), together with
      seven known compounds (4-10), were isolated from artificially induced dragon's
      blood of Dracaena cambodiana, and their structures were determined based on HR
      ESI-MS and extensive spectroscopic techniques (UV, IR, 1D-, and 2D-NMR). Compound
      2 exhibited weak cytotoxicity against BEL-7402 cells line with the IC50 value of
      39.2 MUM. In addition, compound 3 showed significant acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
      inhibitory activity.

PMID- 28597688
TI  - The availability and accessibility of basic concept vocabulary in AAC software: a
      preliminary study.
AB  - Core vocabulary lists obtained through the analyses of children's utterances
      include a variety of basic concept words. Supporting young children who use
      augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to develop their understanding
      and use of basic concepts is an area of practice that has important ramifications
      for successful communication in a classroom environment. This study examined the
      availability of basic concept words across eight frequently used, commercially
      available AAC language systems, iPad(c) applications, and symbol libraries used
      to create communication boards. The accessibility of basic concept words was
      subsequently examined using two AAC language page sets and two iPad applications.
      Results reveal that the availability of basic concept words represented within
      the different AAC language programs, iPad applications, and symbol libraries
      varied but was limited across programs. However, there is no significant
      difference in the accessibility of basic concept words across the language
      program page sets or iPad applications, generally because all of them require
      sophisticated motor and cognitive plans for access. These results suggest that
      educators who teach or program vocabulary in AAC systems need to be mindful of
      the importance of basic concept words in classroom settings and, when possible,
      enhance the availability and accessibility of these words to users of AAC.

PMID- 28597687
TI  - Comparison of Calcaneal Exposure Through the Extensile Lateral and Sinus Tarsi
      Approaches.
AB  - : The purpose of this study was to compare the exposure of the posterior facet
      with the extensile lateral (EL) approach compared with the sinus tarsi (ST)
      approach. We hypothesized that the ST approach will provide a similar exposure of
      the posterior calcaneal facet. A total of 8 sequential ST then EL approaches were
      performed on cadavers. Calcaneal landmarks were identified by visualization or
      palpation. Calibrated digital photographs of the posterior facet and lateral
      calcaneal body were obtained from standardized positions and used to calculate
      the exposed surface area. No significant difference was found in the average
      square area of the posterior facet exposed with the 2 approaches. Significantly
      more of the lateral calcaneal body was seen with the EL approach. Excluding the
      posterior facet superomedial quadrant, all the landmarks were visualized in 100%
      of approaches. The superomedial corner was visualized in significantly more of
      the cadavers with the EL approach and was palpable in 12.5% of the remaining
      cadavers in both approaches. Whereas the ST approach exposes less of the lateral
      wall of the calcaneus, it exposes similar amounts of the posterior facet when
      compared with the EL approach. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, Level V.

PMID- 28597689
TI  - Circulating endothelial cells and their subsets: novel biomarkers for cancer.
AB  - Angiogenesis contributes to the growth of solid tumors. Antiangiogenic agents are
      widely used in various cancers and considerable efforts have been made in the
      development of novel biomarkers that can predict the outcome of an anticancer
      treatment. Of those, circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and their subsets
      constitute a surrogate tool for monitoring disease activity. However, owing to
      the lack of standardization on the phenotypes and detection of CECs and their
      subsets, results have always been inconsistent and uninterpretable. In this
      review, we focus on the biological characteristics in terms of physiology,
      phenotypes and detection of CECs along with their subsets; review the current
      scenario of CEC enumeration as a surrogate biomarker in clinical oncology; and
      explore their future potential applications.

PMID- 28597690
TI  - DNA methylation and copy number variation analyses of human embryonic stem cell
      derived neuroprogenitors after low-dose decabromodiphenyl ether and/or bisphenol
      A exposure.
AB  - The polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE
      209) and bisphenol A (BPA) are environmental contaminants that can cross the
      placenta and exert toxicity in the developing fetal nervous system. Copy number
      variants (CNVs) play a role in a number of genetic disorders and may be
      implicated in BDE-209/BPA teratogenicity. In this study, we found that BDE-209
      and/or BPA exposure decreased neural differentiation efficiency of human
      embryonic stem cells (hESCs), although there was a >90% induction of neuronal
      progenitor cells (NPCs) from exposed hESCs. However, the mean of CNV numbers in
      the NPCs with BDE-209 + BPA treatment was significantly higher compared to the
      other groups, whereas DNA methylation was lower and DNA methyltransferase(DNMT1
      and DNMT3A) expression were significantly decreased in all of the BDE-209 and/or
      BPA treatment groups compared with the control groups. The number of CNVs in
      chromosomes 3, 4, 11, 22, and X in NPCs with BDE-209 and/or BPA exposure was
      higher compared to the control group. In addition, CNVs in chromosomes 7, 8, 14,
      and 16 were stable in hESCs and hESCs-derived NPCs irrespective of BDE-209/BPA
      exposure, and CNVs in chromosomes 20 q11.21 and 16 p13.11 might be induced by
      neural differentiation. Thus, BDE-209/BPA exposure emerges as a potential source
      of CNVs distinct from neural differentiation by itself. BDE-209 and/or BPA
      exposure may cause genomic instability in cultured stem cells via reduced
      activity of DNA methyltransferase, suggesting a new mechanism of human embryonic
      neurodevelopmental toxicity caused by this class of environmental toxins.

PMID- 28597691
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Pegfilgrastim When Given Less Than 14 Days Before the Next
      Chemotherapy Cycle: Review of Every 14-Day Chemotherapy Regimen Containing 5-FU
      Continuous Infusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pegfilgrastim should not be given <14 days from the next chemotherapy
      because of concerns for cytopenias. Some clinicians are prescribing pegfilgrastim
      to be given <14 days in patients receiving 5-fluorouracil continuous infusion (5
      FUCI) regimens. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness and safety of
      pegfilgrastim administered <14 days from the next chemotherapy in patients
      receiving 5-FUCI administered >46 hours. METHODS: Single-institution
      retrospective cohort study of patients who received 5-FUCI administered >46 hours
      from June 2013 to December 2015. The unit of measurement was chemotherapy cycles.
      End points included the safety and efficacy of giving pegfilgrastim <14 days from
      the next chemotherapy (Pegfilgrastim-Less-Than-14-Days-Group) and comparing that
      to pegfilgrastim given >=14 days (Pegfilgrastim-More-Than-14-Days-Group),
      filgrastim only (Filgrastim-Group), and no colony stimulating factors (No-CSF
      Group). Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to compare mean
      absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and white blood cell count (WBC). Poisson
      regression models with GEE were used to estimate relative risk (RR) for
      neutropenia. RESULTS: There were no incidences of neutropenia, febrile
      neutropenia (FN), or hospitalizations for FN with the Pegfilgrastim-Less-Than-14
      Days-Group. There was also a high mean ANC of 9.9 (5.7) * 109/L. Mean ANC and WBC
      were statistically significantly less with the Filgrastim-Group, No-CSF-Group,
      and Pegfilgrastim-More-Than-14-Days-Group compared with the Pegfilgrastim-Less
      Than-14-Days-Group. The Filgrastim-Group and the No-CSF-Group had a 32% (1.10
      1.56, P = 0.002) and 8% (1.04-1.12, P < 0.001) increased risk of incidence of
      neutropenia, respectively, compared with the Pegfilgrastim-Less-Than-14-Days
      Group. The risk of incidence of neutropenia was the same with the Pegfilgrastim
      More-Than-14-Days-Group and Pegfilgrastim-Less-Than-14-Days-Group (0.95-1.04, P =
      0.821). CONCLUSION: This study shows a promising possibility that administering
      pegfilgrastim <14 days from the next chemotherapy cycle could be a safe and
      effective practice. However, better controlled clinical trials are needed.

PMID- 28597692
TI  - Are Traditional Remedies Useful in Management of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
      Syndrome? A Review Study.
AB  - Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are disorders that often occur
      simultaneously and are characterized by widespread pain and persistent fatigue.
      The patients are associated with disability and impairment social and physical
      functions. There are many remedies in traditional Persian medicine suggested for
      management of the disease complaints. The aim of this study was to investigate
      the clinical presentations and pathophysiology of disorders with the basic and
      principal textbook of traditional Persian medicine written by Avicenna ( Canon of
      Medicine). According to Persian medicine, the term E'aya can be matched by
      mentioned disorders. Avicenna believed that strenuous activities play an
      important role in the beginning of some types of fatigue. He classified fatigue
      into 4 groups, and in each type the clinical symptoms varied. The multifaceted
      entity of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome in Persian medicine and
      conventional medicine suggests multidisciplinary therapies in management of these
      disabling disorders.

PMID- 28597694
TI  - Everyday functioning of people with Parkinson's disease and impairments in
      executive function: a qualitative investigation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Executive function is the key area of cognitive impairment in
      Parkinson's disease. This study investigated how cognitive difficulties impact on
      everyday life of people with Parkinson's disease and their carers, and whether
      they explicitly mention executive-type difficulties. METHODS: Semistructured
      interviews with 11 people with Parkinson's disease and six carers were analyzed
      thematically. People with Parkinson's disease performed within the normal range
      on cognitive screening tests, but all had abnormal scores on tests of executive
      function. RESULTS: Despite relatively mild executive deficits and no global
      cognitive impairment, participants described executive-type difficulties as well
      as a range of problems in other cognitive domains, such as memory, processing
      speed and apathy. Cognitive difficulties had a far-reaching impact on everyday
      life and their significance depended on personal circumstances, such as the level
      of responsibilities of the person with Parkinson's disease and the extent of
      available support. CONCLUSIONS: By presenting subjective accounts of living with
      Parkinson's disease and cognitive difficulties, this study improves our
      understanding of how the observed level of cognitive impairment translates into
      everyday functioning. The study results have implications for recognizing
      cognitive difficulties and for planning support for people with Parkinson's
      disease and their families, and can help identify ways of promoting effective
      self-management. Implications for rehabilitation Treatment of Parkinson's disease
      tends to focus on the movement disorder, meaning that cognitive difficulties and
      their impact can be overlooked. Participants in this study had only relatively
      mild executive deficits but described a range of cognitive problems, including
      executive-type difficulties. Cognitive difficulties have an emotional impact and
      can cause a range of challenges in everyday life, adding to the burden of
      physical symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Results of this study provide insights
      into how executive functions impairments translate into everyday difficulties in
      Parkinson's disease and have implications for planning support for people with
      Parkinson's disease and their families.

PMID- 28597693
TI  - The effects of mental practice combined with modified constraint-induced therapy
      on corticospinal excitability, movement quality, function, and activities of
      daily living in persons with stroke.
AB  - PURPOSE: Studies on to what extent the combined therapy of modified constraint
      induced movement therapy and mental practice is more effective than modified
      constraint-induced movement therapy alone are lacking. This study aims to compare
      the effects of the combined therapy with modified constraint-induced movement
      therapy alone on corticospinal excitability, quality of the movement of the
      affected upper extremity, upper motor functions, and performance of the affected
      arm in daily life of hemiplegic stroke patients. METHODS: The participants
      comprised 14 people who had suffered stroke and were randomly divided into two
      groups. All participants participated in modified constraint-induced movement
      therapy, while only the experimental group partook in additional mental practice.
      Both groups were tested for corticospinal excitability, quality of movement, hand
      function, and activities of daily living. RESULTS: Both groups showed significant
      improvement in the movement quality of reaching and performance of activities of
      daily living. In the experimental group, functional improvement of the upper limb
      was also observed. The improvements in corticospinal excitability, upper
      extremity function, and performance in daily activities were significantly
      greater in the experimental group compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study confirmed that the combined therapy produces more effective
      improvement in corticospinal excitability, upper limb function, and performance
      in daily activities. The combined therapy of mental practice and modified
      constraint-induced movement therapy could be used as a clinically useful
      intervention. Implications for rehabilitation Modified constraint-induced
      movement therapy could be used as an intervention method for people with stroke
      to make improvements in the quality of movement and performance in activities of
      daily livings with the affected side. With additional mental practice, upper
      extremity functions improve, and changes in neurological, functional and
      performance in daily lives are greater compared to modified constraint-induced
      movement therapy without mental practice. Impact of mental practice has on
      rehabilitation should not be underestimated.

PMID- 28597695
TI  - MicroRNAs in HPV associated cancers: small players with big consequences.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: MicroRNAs (miRs) are short (~20 nucleotides) non-coding
      ribonuecleic acids (ncRNAs) known to be involved in cellular processes such as
      proliferation, differentiation, immune response, pathogenicity and
      tumourigenesis, among many others. The regulatory mechanisms exerted by miRs have
      been implicated in many cancers, including Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-associated
      cancers. Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss the involvement of
      miRs (-143, -375, -21, -200, -296 etc.) that have been shown to be dysregulated
      in HPV-associated cancers. This review also encompasses both intracellular and
      exosomal miRs, and their potential as diagnostic biomarkers in saliva and blood.
      The authors have also attempted to dissect the functional impact of miRs on
      cellular processes such as changes in cellular polarity, loss of apoptosis and
      tumour suppression, and unchecked and uncontrolled cell cycle regulation, all of
      which ultimately lead to aberrant cellular proliferation. Expert commentary:
      Identification of dysregulated miRs in HPV-associated cancers opens up new
      opportunities to develop diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic biomarkers.
      Studies on global expression patterns of miRs dysregulated in HPV-associated
      cancers can be instrumental in developing broader therapeutic strategies.
      Therapies like anti-miR, miR-replacement and those based on alternative natural
      products targeting miRs, need to be improved and better synchronized to be cost
      effective and have better treatment outcomes.

PMID- 28597696
TI  - "Not always a straight path": patients' perspectives following anterior cruciate
      ligament rupture and reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore patients' perspectives following anterior cruciate ligament
      rupture and subsequent reconstructive surgery. METHODS: A qualitative study
      design was employed, using validated questionnaires, interviews and general
      inductive methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five men
      and four women who had undergone an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in
      the past 6-36 months. Participants completed the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome
      Score and the Tegner Activity Score. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze
      quantitative data. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the
      general inductive approach to develop key themes. RESULTS: Participants had not
      returned to pre-injury knee-related activity levels (Tegner score: 7 pre-injury;
      4 current). The theme of a disruptive "journey" emerged with two sub-themes of
      "loss of identity" and "life at the present," influenced positively and
      negatively by "support systems" and experience with the "care pathway." This
      unequivocally negative experience resulted in irrevocable changes to their lives,
      reflected by current lower knee-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior
      cruciate ligament injury and rehabilitation thereof have a profound influence in
      the individual's identity. The results imply that a broader approach is needed
      within the rehabilitation process to address psychosocial factors, in addition to
      physical impairments and function. Implications for rehabilitation Anterior
      cruciate ligament rupture has a profound influence on patients' understanding of
      their individual identity. Support systems the patients have in place influence
      the patients' experience of the care pathway. Understanding psychosocial
      responses and implementing appropriate strategies and interventions for these may
      be critical for rehabilitation of these patients.

PMID- 28597698
TI  - Cavernous sinus fungal infection: a rare case.
AB  - Intracranial fungal infection of the cavernous sinus is a condition that usually
      affects immunocompromised individuals and is rarely seen in immunocompetent
      individuals. It is a potentially life threatening condition which requires prompt
      treatment. Here we present a case of an immunocompetent patient with a fungal
      infection of the cavernous sinus.

PMID- 28597697
TI  - Effectiveness of assisted and unassisted cough capacity in amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis patients.
AB  - : Decreased cough capacity during a respiratory infection is one of the main
      causes of acute respiratory failure and hospitalisation in amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis (ALS). OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a respiratory measurement could
      identify the effectiveness of cough capacity in ALS during a respiratory
      infection. METHODS: This was a prospective study of all ALS patients who were
      treated at a respiratory care unit due to a respiratory infection from 2012 to
      2016. The effectiveness of unassisted and assisted coughing was evaluated and
      respiratory function tests were performed during the acute episode. RESULTS:
      Forty-eight ALS patients were enrolled, with only four having an effective
      unassisted cough. The variable which predicted unassisted cough effectiveness was
      peak cough flow (PCF) (OR 4499.27; 95%CI 3.60-3219086.19; p = 0.022) with a cut
      off point of 2.77 L/s (166 L/min). For manually assisted coughing, the predictor
      of cough effectiveness was manually assisted PCF (cut-off point of 2.82-169
      L/min) (OR 2198.602; 95% CI 3.750-1351691.42; p = 0.019). Mechanically assisted
      PCF (cut-off point of 2.95-177 L/min) was found to be the predictor of
      mechanically assisted coughing effectiveness (OR 23.40; 95% CI 2.11-258.96; p =
      0.010). CONCLUSIONS: During a respiratory infection in ALS patients, the
      effectiveness of assisted and unassisted cough capacity depends on the PCF
      generated.

PMID- 28597700
TI  - Engineering of a novel optimized platform for sublingual delivery with novel
      characterization tools: in vitro evaluation and in vivo pharmacokinetics study in
      human.
AB  - The aim of this work was to develop a novel and more efficient platform for
      sublingual drug delivery using mosapride citrate (MSP) as a model drug. The
      engineering of this delivery system had two stages, the first stage was tuning of
      MSP physicochemical properties by complexation with pure phosphatidylcholine or
      phosphatidylinositol enriched soybean lecithin to form MSP-phospholipid complex
      (MSP-PLCP). Changes in physicochemical properties were assessed and the optimum
      MSP-PLCP formula was then used for formulation into a flushing resistant platform
      using two mucoadhesive polymers; sodium alginates and sodium
      carboxymethylcellulose at different concentrations. Design of experiment approach
      was used to characterize and optimize the formulated flushing resistant platform.
      The optimized formulation was then used in a comparative pharmacokinetics study
      with the market formulation in human volunteers. Results showed a marked change
      in MSP physicochemical properties of MSP-PLCP compared to MSP. Addition of
      mucoadhesive polymers to flushing resistant platform at an optimum concentration
      balanced between desired mucoadhesive properties and a reasonable drug release
      rate. The optimized formulation showed significantly a superior bioavailability
      in humans when compared to the market sublingual product. Finally, the novel
      developed sublingual flushing resistant platform offers a very promising and
      efficient tool to extend the use of sublingual route and widen its applications.

PMID- 28597699
TI  - Chelation therapy in cardiovascular disease: an update.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The off-label use of chelation therapy (disodium edetate or EDTA)
      for prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is widespread, despite the lack of
      convincing evidence for efficacy or approval from the Food and Drug
      Administration. After the publication of results from the National Institute of
      Health-sponsored Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), a randomized
      controlled trial (RCT) in patients after myocardial infarction (MI), there is a
      renewed interest in clarifying the role of this treatment modality for patients
      with coronary artery disease. Areas covered: This narrative review highlights the
      evidence from observational studies and RCT in assessing the effect of chelation
      therapy on cardiovascular outcomes and potential for adverse effects or harm.
      Expert commentary: Although encouraging results were reported in TACT, the
      evidence is insufficient to recommend the routine use of chelation therapy even
      in the post-MI diabetic subgroup, which appeared to benefit. The ongoing TACT2
      trial may clarify its use in post-MI diabetic patients. Unsubstantiated claims of
      chelation therapy as an effective treatment of atherosclerosis should be avoided
      and patients made aware of the inadequate evidence for efficacy and potential
      adverse effects, especially the harm that can occur if used as a substitute for
      proven therapies.

PMID- 28597701
TI  - Upper limb and eye movement coordination during reaching tasks in people with
      stroke.
AB  - PURPOSE: To enhance understanding of the relationship between upper limb and eye
      movements during reaching tasks in people with stroke. METHODS: Eye movements
      were recorded from 10 control participants and 8 chronic stroke participants
      during a visual orienting task (Experiment 1) and a series of reaching tasks
      (Experiment 2). Stroke participants completed the reaching tasks using (i) their
      less impaired upper limb, (ii) their more impaired upper limb without support,
      and (iii) their more impaired upper limb, with support (SaeboMAS gravitational
      support and/or electrical stimulation). Participants were tested individually and
      completed both experiments in the same session. RESULTS: Oculomotor control and
      the coordination between the upper limb and the oculomotor system were found to
      be intact in stroke participants when no limb movements were required, or when
      the less impaired upper limb was used. However, when the more impaired upper limb
      was used, success and accuracy in reaching decreased and patterns of eye
      movements changed, with an observed increase in eye movements to the limb itself.
      With upper limb support, patterns of hand-eye coordination were found to more
      closely resemble those of the control group. CONCLUSION: Deficits in upper limb
      motor systems result in changes in patterns of eye movement behavior during
      reaching tasks. These changes in eye movement behavior can be modulated by
      providing upper limb support. Implications for Rehabilitation Deficits in upper
      limb motor systems can result in changes in patterns of eye movement behavior
      during reaching tasks. Upper limb support can reduce deficits in hand-eye
      coordination. Stroke rehabilitation outcomes should consider motor and oculomotor
      performance.

PMID- 28597702
TI  - Recent progress on curcumin-based therapeutics: a patent review (2012-2016). Part
      II: curcumin derivatives in cancer and neurodegeneration.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Curcumin, the main bioactive compound found in the rhizome of
      Curcuma longa L., is considered a 'privileged structure', due to its ability to
      modulate different signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of several
      diseases. Unfortunately, its poor pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties,
      mainly related to chemical instability, low solubility and rapid metabolism,
      greatly reduce its therapeutic potential. In the last years a number of
      derivatives were developed and patented, aimed both at improving its multifaceted
      biological profile and overcoming its undesired effects. Areas covered: This
      review summarizes the patent literature of the last five years dealing with
      synthetic curcumin-related compounds in cancer and neurodegeneration, properly
      designed in order to avoid the so-called 'dark side of curcumin', and to take
      advantage of the beneficial properties of this molecule, worth to be further
      exploited to obtain effective therapeutics. Expert opinion: Due to the
      synergistic binding to several networked targets, curcumin turned out to be
      suitable for polypharmacological approaches, and its 'privileged structure' could
      also provide the key scaffold to develop novel multipotent drugs useful for
      treating multifactiorial pathologic conditions such as cancer and
      neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28597704
TI  - Foundation year one training in neurosurgery: achieving competency a 5-year
      review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: F1 doctors are a rare breed in Neurosurgery, featuring in only 4
      out of 40 UK centres. It is widely perceived that Neurosurgery would only provide
      a highly specialised experience for F1s, limiting the opportunity to achieve the
      core practical and clinical competencies as highlighted by the United Kingdom
      Foundation Programme (UKFPO). Additionally, Health Education England have
      increased the number of community placements such as General Practice and
      Psychiatry further limiting F1 placements offered in specialities like
      Neurosurgery. AIMS: We sought to acquire the views, experiences and true
      perspectives of training from F1 doctors in our neurosurgery centre. Importantly,
      we wanted to determine whether Neurosurgery provides sufficient opportunities to
      achieve mandatory core foundation competencies. METHODS: We invited all F1s (27)
      to complete a secure-web based online questionnaire comprising nine domains of
      training. Responses: We had an overall response rate of 96%. Ninety-six per cent
      of our F1s valued this placement, gaining skills that could be transferred to
      other specialities. Eighty-eight per cent found the post to be of similar or
      greater value in comparison to their other F1 posts and 66% would recommend this
      post to others. Ninety-two per cent of F1s felt they were adequately supervised
      and regular informal feedback was offered in order to ensure acquisition of core
      competences. Fourty-four per cent of F1s were involved in post-graduate academia.
      All trainees attended their mandatory F1 teaching although attendance to
      additional departmental teaching was limited. DISCUSSION: Trainees found that
      Neurosurgery provided a generalised exposure not a specialised one. Ninety-two
      per cent felt Neurosurgery had provided sufficient educational opportunities to
      achieve their required competencies. Importantly, all trainees managed to achieve
      their core generic competencies. F1 placements in Neurosurgery are highly
      beneficial to both trainee and service. The placement provides more than
      sufficient educational opportunities to help meet mandatory training
      requirements. F1 doctors also augment the number of junior doctors supporting the
      neurosurgical service.

PMID- 28597703
TI  - Scoring model to predict outcome in critically ill cirrhotic patients with acute
      respiratory failure: comparison with MELD scoring models and CLIF-SOFA score.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Critically ill cirrhotic patients have a high mortality, particularly
      with concomitant respiratory failure on admission. There are no specific models
      in use for mortality risk assessment in critically ill cirrhotic patients with
      acute respiratory failure (CICRF). The aim is to develop a risk prediction model
      specific to CICRF in order to quantify the severity of illness. METHODS: We
      analyzed 949 CICRF patients extracted from the MIMIC-III database. The novel
      model (ARF-CLIF-SOFA) was developed from the CLIF-SOFA score. Cox regression
      analysis and AUROC were implemented to test the predictive accuracy, compared
      with existing scores including the CLIF-SOFA score and MELD-related scores.
      RESULTS: ARF-CLIF-SOFA contains PaO2/FiO2 ratio, lactate, MAP, vasopressor
      therapy, bilirubin and creatinine (1 point each; score range: 0-6). Based on our
      patient cohort, the ARF-CLIF-SOFA score had good predictive accuracy for
      predicting the 30-, 90-day and 1-year mortality (AUROC = 0.767 at 30-day, 0.768
      at 90-day, 0.765 at 1-year, respectively). Additionally, the performance of the
      ARF-CLIF-SOFA is superior to existing scores (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The ARF
      CLIF-SOFA score can be considered a CICRF specific score with a better predictive
      accuracy compared to the existing scores.

PMID- 28597705
TI  - Evaluation of Applying a Combination of Red Cell Indexes and Formulas to
      Differentiate beta-Thalassemia Trait from Iron Deficiency Anemia in the Thai
      Population.
AB  - Red cell indexes and formulas have been established as simple, fast, and
      inexpensive tools to differentiate beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) trait from iron
      deficiency anemia. However, none of them showed 100.0% sensitivity and
      specificity. Moreover, one index may show greater sensitivity and specificity in
      one population but is ineffective in another population. This study evaluated the
      diagnostic reliability of a combination of two red cell indexes [red blood cell
      (RBC) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW)] and nine formulas called '11T
      score' for differentiation of beta-thal trait and iron deficiency anemia in the
      Thai population. A total of 103 cases, 67 beta-thal trait and 36 iron deficiency
      anemia, Thai subjects with microcytic hypochromic anemia [mean corpuscular volume
      (MCV) <80.0 fL and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (Hb) (MCH) <27.0 pg] were involved
      in this retrospective study. The results showed that the 11T score with a cutoff
      value of 7 was able to discriminate between beta-thal trait and iron deficiency
      anemia with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative
      predictive value (NPV), and efficiency (EFF) higher than 70.0%. It also had 85.4%
      of correctly identified cases and the highest value of Youden's Index (YI)
      (73.8%) when compared to the 11T score with other cutoff values (5, 6, 8 and 9)
      and other indexes. Thus, the 11T score with the cutoff value of 7 could be used
      to differentiate beta-thal trait from iron deficiency anemia in the Thai
      population.

PMID- 28597706
TI  - Outcomes following rescue cerclage in twin pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to compare perinatal outcomes in twin pregnancies
      complicated by premature asymptomatic cervical dilatation treated with rescue
      cerclage and expectant management. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was
      conducted at a single tertiary referral center between 2003 and 2014 and included
      all women with twins found to have a dilated cervix with intact membranes before
      25-week gestation. Pregnancy outcomes were compared between women with rescue
      cerclage and those managed expectantly. A total of 36 women were eligible for the
      study, 27 (75.0%) of whom had a rescue cerclage compared to 9 (25.0%) women
      managed expectantly. Student's t-test was used to compare continuous variables
      between the groups and the chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used for
      categorical variables as appropriate. Statistical analysis was performed with the
      SPSS v21.0 software (IBM Corp; Armonk, NY). Differences were considered
      significant when the p value was less than .05. RESULTS: Among the 27 women with
      a rescue cerclage, the mean gestational age at time of cerclage insertion was
      21.5 +/- 2.6 weeks. The intervention and control groups were similar with respect
      to the degree of cervical dilatation at presentation (2.6 +/- 1.3 versus 3.0 +/-
      1.5 cm, p = .5). Women in the cerclage group gave birth at a more advanced
      gestation (28.9 +/- 6.1 versus 24.2 +/- 2.6 weeks, respectively, p = .03) and
      were less likely to give birth at <34 and  <28 weeks (66.7 versus 100.0%, p =
      .046, and 59.3 versus 100.0%, p = .02, respectively). The mean latency from the
      placement of cerclage to delivery was 7.3 +/- 5.5 weeks. Similar findings were
      observed when analysis was limited to women with cervical dilatation of <=3 cm at
      presentation. CONCLUSIONS: In asymptomatic women with twin pregnancies and
      cervical dilatation before 25 weeks of gestation, rescue cerclage can prolong
      pregnancy and improve perinatal outcomes when compared to expectant management.

PMID- 28597707
TI  - CT-guided radiofrequency ablation of spinal osteoblastoma: treatment and long
      term follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Osteoblastoma (OB) is a painful, rare, benign bone tumour usually
      observed in young populations, and this condition involves the spine in up to one
      third of cases. We sought to focus on the minimally invasive treatment of spinal
      OB with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) under computed tomography (CT) guidance.
      When performed near the spinal cord, surgery can lead to instability of the
      spine, sometimes requiring additional interventions to stabilise the segments
      involved, and can cause the precocious onset of arthrosis or other degenerative
      diseases. The results were evaluated both clinically and with the aid of
      diagnostic imaging techniques during a 5-year follow-up study. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Eleven patients affected by spinal OB were treated in a single session
      with biopsy and CT-guided RFA. Pre- and post-evaluations of the patients were
      performed both clinically and with CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
      RESULTS: Complete success in terms of pain relief was achieved in all patients.
      Additional treatments were not required in any patients. There were no
      complications. During follow-up, neither complications nor pathological findings
      related to the treatment were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience demonstrates
      that RFA for spinal OB is safe and effective. One of the main advantages of this
      technique is represented by its lower grade of invasiveness compared with that
      for potentially hazardous surgical manoeuvres.

PMID- 28597708
TI  - Balance and walking performance are improved after resistance and aerobic
      training in persons with chronic stroke.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of different types of physical training on
      balance performance and whether improved balance correlates with improved walking
      performance. METHODS: Forty eight participants with chronic stroke were randomly
      assigned to aerobic training on cycle ergometer (AT-group), resistance training
      of the lower extremities (RT-group), or sham training of upper extremities (ST
      group). Participants exercised 3 d/week for 12 weeks. Balance (Berg Balance
      Scale), peak oxygen uptake rate, isometric knee extensor strength, maximal gait
      speed, and 6 minute walk test were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks.
      RESULTS: Training specific effects were observed; the AT-group improved peak
      oxygen uptake rate by 15.5 (6.0-25.0)%, the RT-group improved non-paretic knee
      extensor strength by 35.1 (18.3-51.9)% and the ST-group improved non-paretic knee
      extensor strength by 8.9 (0.7-17.1)%. All groups improved balance (6.0 (95% CI:
      3.2-8.8)%), maximal gait speed (10.2 (6.5-14.0)%), and 6 minute walk distance
      (12.4 (8.8-15.9)%) but balance improvements did not correlate with improvements
      in muscle strength, peak oxygen uptake rate, or walking. CONCLUSIONS: Physical
      exercise improves balance and walking performance, but improved balance is not a
      prerequisite for functional improvements in chronic stroke. Implications for
      Rehabilitation Aerobic training and progressive resistance training show small
      significant improvements in balance and walking, indicating a possible clinical
      relevance of these training modalities. Improvements in balance may not be a
      prerequisite for improvements in walking distance when assistive devices are
      allowed during walking tests.

PMID- 28597709
TI  - Philippine Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine emergency basic relief and medical
      aid mission project (November 2013-February 2014): the role of physiatrists in
      Super Typhoon Haiyan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physiatrists have provided humanitarian assistance in recent large
      scale global natural disasters. Super Typhoon Haiyan, the deadliest and most
      costly typhoon in modern Philippine history, made landfall on 8 November 2013
      resulting in significant humanitarian needs. METHODS: Philippine Academy of
      Rehabilitation Medicine physiatrists conducted a project of 23 emergency basic
      relief and medical aid missions in response to Super Typhoon Haiyan from November
      2013 to February 2014. The final mission was a medical aid mission to the inland
      rural community of Burauen, Leyte. Summary data were collected, collated, and
      tabulated; project and mission evaluation was performed. RESULTS: During the
      humanitarian assistance project, 31,254 basic relief kits containing a variety of
      food and non-food items were distributed and medical services including
      consultation, treatment, and medicines were provided to 7255 patients. Of the 344
      conditions evaluated in the medical aid mission to Burauen, Leyte 85 (59%) were
      physical and rehabilitation medicine conditions comprised of musculoskeletal (62
      [73%]), neurological (17 [20%]), and dermatological (6 [7%]) diagnoses. Post
      mission and project analysis resulted in recommendations and programmatic changes
      to strengthen response in future disasters. Physiatrists functioned as medical
      providers, mission team leaders, community advocates, and in other roles.
      CONCLUSIONS: This physiatrist-led humanitarian assistance project met critical
      basic relief and medical aid needs of persons impacted by Super Typhoon Haiyan,
      demonstrating significant roles performed by physiatrists in response to a large
      scale natural disaster. Resulting disaster programing changes and recommendations
      may inform a more effective response by PARM mission teams in the Philippines as
      well as by other South-Eastern Asia teams comprising rehabilitation professionals
      to large-scale, regional natural disasters. Implications for rehabilitation Large
      scale natural disasters including tropical cyclones can have a catastrophic
      impact on the affected population. In response to Super Typhoon Haiyan,
      physiatrists representing the Philippine Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine
      conducted a project of 23 emergency basic relief and medical aid missions from
      November 2013 to February 2014. Project analysis indicates that medical mission
      teams responding in similar settings may expect to evaluate a significant number
      of physical medicine and rehabilitation conditions. Medical rehabilitation with
      participation by rehabilitation professionals including rehabilitation doctors is
      essential to the emergency medical response in large-scale natural disasters.

PMID- 28597710
TI  - Comparing treatment options for chronic inflammatory neuropathies and choosing
      the right treatment plan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammatory neuropathies are disorders caused by an immune
      response to peripheral nerve. They include chronic inflammatory demyelinating
      polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and neuropathy
      associated with anti-MAG IgM monoclonal gammopathy and other less frequent
      neuropathies. Several immune therapies have been proven to be effective in these
      neuropathies even if the best therapeutic option is still unsettled. Areas
      covered: The authors reviewed the literature to compare the efficacy and safety
      of currently used immune therapies in these neuropathies. The authors also
      analyzed the effect of other immune suppressive agents and of biological agents
      including rituximab, eculizumab, natalizumab, alemtuzumab and fingolimod that
      were found effective in other autoimmune diseases. Expert commentary: Despite the
      reported efficacy of a number of new immune therapies in some patients with
      immune mediated neuropathies, their efficacy has not been so far confirmed in
      randomized controlled studies. High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) (and
      subcutaneous immunoglobulin [SCIg] for maintenance treatment), steroids and
      plasma exchange remain the only therapy of proven efficacy in CIDP, IVIg in MMN
      and, with certain limits, rituximab and, occasionally plasma exchange in
      neuropathy associated with anti-MAG antibodies. New biological agents are also on
      the horizon but their efficacy needs to be proved in controlled studies.

PMID- 28597711
TI  - Embryo culture using a time-lapse monitoring system improves live birth rates
      compared with a conventional culture system: a prospective cohort study.
AB  - In this prospective cohort study, the effects of a time-lapse monitoring system
      on embryo quality and clinical pregnancy outcomes were assessed. A total of 608
      patients undergoing in vitro fertilization between April 2013 and June 2014 at
      our institution were recruited for this study and group-matched into a time-lapse
      monitoring (TLM) (N = 304) or a standard incubator (SI) (N = 304). The patients'
      characteristics in the TLM and SI groups were not significantly different. The
      TLM group showed a significantly higher transferable embryo ratio at Day 3
      (61.65% vs. 52.87%; p < 0.0010, RR =1.10 [1.02, 1.19]), a higher number of
      transferable embryos (4.71 +/- 2.38 vs. 4.09 +/- 2.35; p = 0.0053, SMD =0.26
      [0.06, 0.46]) and number of good-quality embryos cryopreserved at Day 3 (2.72 +/-
      2.35 vs. 2.11 +/- 2.33; p = 0.0056, SMD =0.26 [0.06, 0.46]). In addition, the
      implantation and clinical pregnancy rates were not statistically significant
      between the TLM and SI groups. However, the TLM group had a higher ongoing
      pregnancy rate (67.32% vs. 57.22%; p = 0.0410) and live birth rate (65.37% vs.
      55%; p = 0.0380) compared with the SI group. The observed beneficial effects
      could be the result of a more stable environment provided by the TLM system.

PMID- 28597712
TI  - Blockade and knock-out of CALHM1 channels attenuate ischemic brain damage.
AB  - Overactivation of purinergic receptors during cerebral ischemia results in a
      massive release of neurotransmitters, including adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to
      the extracellular space which leads to cell death. Some hypothetical pathways of
      ATP release are large ion channels, such as calcium homeostasis modulator 1
      (CALHM1), a membrane ion channel that can permeate ATP. Since this transmitter
      contributes to postischemic brain damage, we hypothesized that CALHM1 activation
      may be a relevant target to attenuate stroke injury. Here, we analyzed the
      contribution of CALHM1 to postanoxic depolarization after ischemia in cultured
      neurons and in cortical slices. We observed that the onset of postanoxic currents
      in neurons in those preparations was delayed after its blockade with ruthenium
      red or silencing of Calhm1 gene by short hairpin RNA, as well as in slices from
      CALHM1 knockout mice. Subsequently, we used transient middle cerebral artery
      occlusion and found that ruthenium red, a blocker of CALHM1, or the lack of
      CALHM1, substantially attenuated the motor symptoms and reduced significantly the
      infarct volume. These results show that CALHM1 channels mediate postanoxic
      depolarization in neurons and brain damage after ischemia. Therefore, targeting
      CALHM1 may have a high therapeutic potential for treating brain damage after
      ischemia.

PMID- 28597713
TI  - Back to life with checkpoint inhibitors in Hodgkin lymphoma.
AB  - Cancer can escape the immune system through different mechanisms. One of which is
      the expression of program death ligand-1 (PD-L1). This ligand binds to programmed
      cell death 1 receptor on activated T cells, subsequently leading to inhibition of
      the immune response. Nivolumab is a novel antibody that binds to programmed cell
      death 1 and prevents such immune tolerance. Several recently published clinical
      trials confirmed the clinical efficacy of single agent nivolumab in pretreated
      patients with different cancer types. Publications on nivolumab in Hodgkin
      lymphoma are very scarce. We report on a 30-year-old man with stage IVB Hodgkin
      lymphoma, who failed nine lines of treatments including high-dose chemotherapy
      and autologous stem cell transplantation and brentuximab vedotin. He reached a
      major response after four cycles of nivolumab and got married. The available
      literature is being reviewed. Pre-treated Hodgkin lymphoma is amenable to novel
      immunotherapy. Nivolumab induces clinically meaningful responses with excellent
      tolerance. The drug enriches our treatment options by reviving the immune system
      response against cancer. Further clinical studies are needed to determine the
      effectiveness on a large patients' cohort.

PMID- 28597714
TI  - A case report: Urolithiasis, hydronephrosis, and acute kidney injury in
      pregnancy.

PMID- 28597715
TI  - Effect of menstrual phase on the surgical treatment of ovarian cysts.
AB  - This study aimed to determine whether the menstrual cycle affects operative
      bleeding and postoperative ovarian reserve in patients undergoing laparoscopic
      ovarian cystectomy. A total of 155 patients who had undergone laparoscopic
      ovarian cystectomy were classified into the follicular phase (n = 84) and luteal
      phase (n = 71) of the menstrual cycle. The primary outcome measures were
      operative blood loss and the rate of decline in ovarian reserve, as calculated by
      measuring serial serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels preoperatively and 3
      months postoperatively. No significant difference in the baseline demographics,
      operative blood loss (p = .984), the rate of decline in ovarian reserve (p =
      .945), and other surgical outcomes were observed between both the groups. These
      results demonstrate that the menstrual cycle had no influence on the operative
      blood loss and ovarian reserve during laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy. Therefore,
      the menstrual cycle is not an important factor to determine the optimal timing of
      ovarian cystectomy. Impact statement What is already known on this subject?: The
      menstrual cycle results in periodic changes in haemostasis and blood flow in the
      reproductive organs. What do the results of this study add?: These results
      demonstrate that the menstrual cycle had no influence on the operative blood loss
      and ovarian reserve during laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy. What are the
      implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research?:
      The menstrual cycle is not an important factor to determine the optimal timing of
      ovarian cystectomy.

PMID- 28597716
TI  - Postmortem Whole Exome Sequencing Identifies Novel EIF2B3 Mutation With Prenatal
      Phenotype in 2 Siblings.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We describe 2 male siblings with a severe, prenatal phenotype of
      vanishing white matter disease and the impact of whole exome sequencing on their
      diagnosis and clinical care. METHODS: The 2 children underwent detailed clinical
      characterization, through clinical and laboratory testing, as well as prenatal
      and postnatal imaging. Biobanked blood from the 2 siblings was submitted for
      whole exome sequencing at Baylor Laboratories. RESULTS: Both male children had
      abnormal prenatal neuroimaging and suffered precipitous, fatal neurologic
      decline. Neuropathologic findings included subependymal pseudocysts,
      microcalcifications, and profound lack of brain myelin and sparing of peripheral
      nerve myelin. A novel homozygous mutation in the EIF2B3 gene (c.97A>G
      [p.Lys33Glu]) was found in both children; both parents were heterozygous
      carriers. The family subsequently conceived a healthy child via in vitro
      fertilization with preimplantation mutation screening. CONCLUSION: These
      histories expand the prenatal phenotype of eIF2b-related disorders and poignantly
      illustrate the impact that unbiased genomic sequencing can have on the diagnosis
      and medical decision making for families affected by childhood neurodegenerative
      disorders.

PMID- 28597717
TI  - Physician-Modified Thoracic Stent-Grafts for the Treatment of Aortic Arch
      Lesions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate outcomes of physician-modified thoracic stent-grafts for the
      treatment of aortic arch aneurysms. METHODS: A retrospective dual-center analysis
      was performed involving 36 patients (mean age 74.7+/-9 years, range 58-91; 27
      men) with an aortic arch lesion who were treated between November 2013 and June
      2016 using physician-modified thoracic stent-grafts. Half of the patients had a
      degenerative aneurysm; the remainder had type B dissection (n=9), traumatic
      transection (n=3), type Ia endoleak after previous endografting (n=5), or
      aortoesophageal fistula (n=1). All patients were considered to be at high
      surgical risk. Patients were treated using an aortic arch stent-graft with a
      single fenestration (n=24) or a proximal scallop (n=12); zone 0 was involved in
      16 patients, zone 1 in 9, and zone 2 in 11. The modified thoracic stent-graft was
      deployed after supra-aortic branch revascularization in 24 (67%) patients.
      RESULTS: Mean time required for stent-graft modifications was 18 minutes (range
      14-21). Technical success was obtained in all cases with no type I endoleak. One
      (3%) patient had a stroke without permanent sequelae. The 30-day mortality was
      6%. During a mean follow-up of 11.4+/-6 months (range 2-36), there were no
      conversions to open repair. The overall mortality was 14%; aorta-related
      mortality was 6%. CONCLUSION: Our experience suggests that physician-modified
      thoracic stent-grafts are feasible for aortic arch lesions and provide
      encouraging results in the short term. Durability concerns will need to be
      assessed.

PMID- 28597718
TI  - Effect of Working Memory Updating Training on Retrieving Symptoms of Children
      With Learning Disabilities.
AB  - Working memory (WM) deficiency is a primary reason for the poor academic
      performance of children with learning disabilities (LDs). Studies have shown that
      the WM of typical children could be improved through training, and WM training
      contributes to improving their fluid intelligence and academic achievement.
      However, few studies have investigated WM training for children with LDs, and
      results have been inconsistent. The present study examined the long-term effects
      of WM updating training and whether it can mitigate LD symptoms. Fifty-four
      children with LDs were recruited and divided randomly into a training or control
      group. The training group underwent adaptive running WM training for 20 days.
      Before and after training, the 2 groups completed a 2-back task, a digit span
      task (forward and backward), Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices test, and a
      scholastic attainment test (Chinese and math). The tests were repeated 6 months
      later. The results showed that, as compared with the controls, the training group
      exhibited significant improvements in the digit backward span task, 2-back task,
      and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. The math scores of the training group
      improved significantly by 6 months after the training. The results of this study
      suggest that WM updating training could mitigate the cognitive deficits of LDs
      and improve the WM capacity, fluid intelligence, and math scores of children with
      LDs. Moreover, the training effects could be maintained for at least 6 months.

PMID- 28597719
TI  - Sentinel lymph node biopsy to exclude lymphatic spread in placental site
      trophoblastic tumour.

PMID- 28597720
TI  - The Predictive Validity of the Static-99, Static-99R, and Static-2002/R: Which
      One to Use?
AB  - The use of Static tools (Static-99, Static-99R, Static-2002, and Static-2002R) in
      risk decision making involving sexual offenders is widespread internationally.
      This study compared the predictive accuracy and incremental validity of four
      Static risk measures in a sample of 621 Australian sexual offenders. Results
      indicated that approximately 45% of the sample recidivated (with 18.8% committing
      sexual offenses). All of the Static measures investigated yielded moderate
      predictive validity for sexual recidivism, which was comparable with other
      Australian and overseas studies. Area under the curve (AUC) values for the four
      measures across the 5-, 10-, and 15-year intervals ranged from .67 to .69. All of
      the Static measures discriminated quite well between low-risk and high-risk
      sexual offenders but less well for the moderate risk categories. When pitted
      together, none of the tools accounted for additional variance in sexual
      recidivism, above and beyond what the other measures accounted for. The overall
      results provide support for the use of Static measures as a component of risk
      assessment and decision making with Australian sexual offending populations. The
      limitations of this study and recommendations for further research are also
      discussed.

PMID- 28597721
TI  - Dynamics of problem setting and framing in citizen discussions on synthetic
      biology.
AB  - Synthetic biology is an emerging scientific field where engineers and biologists
      design and build biological systems for various applications. Developing
      synthetic biology responsibly in the public interest necessitates a meaningful
      societal dialogue. In this article, we argue that facilitating such a dialogue
      requires an understanding of how people make sense of synthetic biology. We
      performed qualitative research to unravel the underlying dynamics of problem
      setting and framing in citizen discussions on synthetic biology. We found that
      most people are not inherently for or against synthetic biology as a technology
      or development in itself, but that their perspectives are framed by core values
      about our relationships with science and technology and that sensemaking is much
      dependent on the context and general feelings of (dis)content. Given that there
      are many assumptions focused on a more binary idea of the public's view, we
      emphasize the need for frame awareness and understanding in a meaningful
      dialogue.

PMID- 28597722
TI  - Foodborne botulism in the Faroe Islands in a two-decade period.

PMID- 28597723
TI  - Minimal activity of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab) paclitaxel in relapsed or
      refractory lymphomas: results of a phase-I study.
AB  - Compared with solvent-based taxanes, nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab(r))
      paclitaxel has demonstrated improved efficacy and tolerability in several solid
      tumor malignancies. Studies evaluating nab paclitaxel in patients with lymphoma
      are lacking. In this planned phase-I/phase-II study, we sought to determine the
      safety and efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R)
      lymphoma. Eligible patients (R/R to >=2 prior systemic therapies) received weekly
      nab-paclitaxel on days 1, 8 and 15 every 28 days. Dosing was initiated at 100
      mg/m2 with dose escalations in 25 mg/m2 increments up to 150 mg/m2 in a classic 3
      + 3 design. Twenty heavily pretreated patients (median 5 prior regimens),
      including 65% with refractory disease, enrolled. The maximum dose tested was well
      tolerated and grade 3/4 hematologic adverse events (neutropenia 25%,
      thrombocytopenia 20% and anemia 15%) were modest. The overall response rate was
      10% with two partial responses, leading to a decision to close the study
      prematurely.

PMID- 28597724
TI  - Motivations and Features of Co-Parenting an Infant With Complex Congenital Heart
      Disease.
AB  - This study described co-parenting motivations and quality of co-parenting
      features for parents of infants with complex congenital heart disease (CCHD),
      including differences over time by illness severity. Existing transcripts of
      parenting experience at infant age 1 and 12 months for 23 parent couples were
      analyzed using directed content analysis. Data were quantitized for additional
      description. Six co-parenting motivations and five co-parenting features were
      identified. Two co-parenting motivations had not been previously described:
      Developing the Co-Parenting Relationship and Maintaining the Couple Relationship.
      Variability in quality of co-parenting features was evident. However, the
      majority of parents showed high ratings. Motivations and quality of co-parenting
      features changed over time and were related to illness severity. Our findings
      increase the understanding of what parents are working on as a couple to parent
      an infant with CCHD and the quality of this co-parenting. Several questions for
      further study are presented.

PMID- 28597725
TI  - Physicians' Voices: What Skills and Supports Are Needed for Effective Practice in
      an Integrated Delivery System? A Case Study of Kaiser Permanente.
AB  - Payers are demanding that US health care become more accountable and integrated,
      posing new demands for physicians and the organizations that partner with them.
      We conducted focus groups with 30 physicians in a large integrated delivery
      system who had previous experience practicing in less integrated settings and
      asked about skills they need to succeed in this environment. Physicians
      identified 3 primary skills: orienting to teams and systems, engaging patients as
      individuals and as a panel, and integrating cost awareness into practice.
      Physicians also expressed a high level of trust that the system was designed to
      help them provide better care. This belief appeared to make the new demands and
      mental shifts tolerable, even welcome, standing in contrast to research showing
      widespread physician distrust of their institutional settings. Physicians' new
      skills and the system features that promote trust are described in the article
      and should be a focus for systems transitioning to a more integrated, accountable
      model.

PMID- 28597726
TI  - Migration kinetics of four photo-initiators from paper food packaging to solid
      food simulants.
AB  - The migration behaviour of four photo-initiators (BP, EHA, MBP and Irgacure 907)
      was studied by 'printing' onto four different food-packaging materials (Kraft
      paper, white cardboard, Polyethylene (PE)-coated paper and composite paper) and
      tracking movement into the food simulant: Tenax-TA (porous polymer 2,6-diphenyl
      furan resin). The results indicated that the migration of the photo-initiators
      was related to the molecular weight and log Ko/w of each photo-initiator. At
      different temperatures, the migration rates of the photo-initiators were
      different in papers with different thicknesses. The amount of each photo
      initiator found in the food was closely related to the food matrix. The Weibull
      model was used to predict the migration load into the food simulants by
      calculating the parameters tau and beta and determining the relationship of the
      two parameters with temperature and paper thickness. The established Weibull
      model was then used to predict the migration of each photo-initiator with respect
      to different foods. A two-parameter Weibull model fitted the actual situation,
      with some deviation from the actual migration amount.

PMID- 28597727
TI  - Influence of Groundnut bud necrosis virus on the Life History Traits and Feeding
      Preference of Its Vector, Thrips palmi.
AB  - The effect of Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) infection on the life history
      traits of its vector, Thrips palmi, and its feeding preference on GBNV-infected
      plants were studied. A significant difference was observed in the developmental
      period (first instar to adult) between the GBNV-infected and healthy thrips,
      wherein the developmental period of GBNV-infected thrips was decreased. However,
      there was no effect on the other parameters such as preadult mortality, adult
      longevity, and fecundity. Further investigation on a settling and feeding choice
      assay of T. palmi to GBNV-infected and healthy plants showed that T. palmi
      preferred GBNV-infected cowpea plants more than the healthy cowpea plants. This
      preference was also noticed for leaf disks from GBNV-infected cowpea, groundnut,
      and tomato plants.

PMID- 28597728
TI  - Theorization and an Empirical Investigation of the Component-Based and
      Developmental Text Writing Fluency Construct.
AB  - We discuss a component-based, developmental view of text writing fluency, which
      we tested using data from children in Grades 2 and 3. Text writing fluency was
      defined as efficiency and automaticity in writing connected texts, which acts as
      a mediator between text generation (oral language), transcription skills, and
      writing quality. We hypothesized that in the beginning phase, text writing
      fluency would be largely constrained by transcription skills (spelling and
      handwriting), while at a later phase, oral language would make an independent
      contribution to text writing fluency. Furthermore, we hypothesized that text
      writing fluency would have a stronger relationship with writing quality at a
      later phase than at an earlier phase. We operationalized text writing fluency
      using two curriculum-based measurement writing scores: percentage correct word
      sequences and correct minus incorrect word sequences. Results revealed that in
      Grade 2, only transcription skills were uniquely related to text writing fluency,
      whereas in Grade 3, oral language was also related to text writing fluency. Text
      writing fluency was weakly related to writing quality in Grade 2 but strongly
      related to writing quality in Grade 3, over and above oral language and
      transcription skills. In both grades, oral language and handwriting fluency were
      independently related to writing quality. Theoretical and practical implications
      are discussed.

PMID- 28597729
TI  - Effects of high- and low-energy radial shock waves therapy combined with
      physiotherapy in the treatment of rotator cuff tendinopathy: a retrospective
      study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of high- and low
      energy radial shock waves combined with physiotherapy for rotator cuff
      tendinopathy patients. METHODS: Data from rotator cuff tendinopathy patients
      received high- or low-energy radial shock waves combined with physiotherapy or
      physiotherapy alone were collected. The Constant and Murley score and visual
      analog scale score were collected to assess the effectiveness of treatment in
      three groups at 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks. RESULTS: In total, 94 patients were
      involved for our retrospective study. All groups showed remarkable improvement in
      the visual analog scale and Constant and Murley score compared to baseline at 24
      weeks. The high-energy radial shock waves group had more marked improvement in
      the Constant and Murley score compared to the physiotherapy group at 4 and 8
      weeks and at 4 weeks when compared with low-energy group. Furthermore, high
      energy radial shock waves group had superior results on the visual analog scale
      at 4, 8, and 12 weeks compared to low-energy and physiotherapy groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study supported the usage of high-energy radial
      shock waves as a supplementary therapy over physiotherapy alone for rotator cuff
      tendinopathy by relieving the symptoms rapidly and maintaining symptoms at a
      satisfactory level for 24 weeks. Implications for Rehabilitation High-energy
      radial shock waves can be a supplemental therapy to physiotherapy for rotator
      cuff tendinopathy. We recommend the usage of high-energy radial shock waves
      during the first 5 weeks, at an interval of 7 days, of physiotherapy treatment.
      High-energy radial shock waves treatment combined with physiotherapy can benefit
      rotator cuff tendinopathy by relieving symptoms rapidly and maintain these
      improvements at a satisfactory level for quite a long time.

PMID- 28597730
TI  - Early Results of the Bolton Treovance Endograft in the Treatment of Abdominal
      Aortic Aneurysms.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present early results with the Treovance aortic stent-graft in the
      treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). METHODS: Between October 2013 and
      January 2016, 35 consecutive AAA patients (mean age 74+/-7.7 years; 32 men) were
      treated with Treovance. The maximum diameter of the treated AAA was 60+/-9 cm.
      Nine (25%) patients presented with concomitant iliac aneurysms. Seven (20%) AAAs
      had infrarenal neck angulation >60 degrees . The infrarenal neck length and
      diameter were 21.6+/-12.6 mm and 25.7+/-4.6 mm, respectively. Sixteen (45%) AAAs
      had a reversed tapered neck contour. Six (17%) and 9 (25%) patients showed severe
      or moderate iliac tortuosity, respectively. Primary endpoints were endoleak,
      reintervention, and aneurysm-related death. RESULTS: Primary technical success
      was 94% due to 2 intraoperative type Ia endoleaks, which were successfully
      treated with a proximal aortic extension (100% assisted primary technical
      success). Local dissection was encountered in 5 (7%) of 70 femoral artery access
      sites in 4 patients. During a mean 12-month follow-up (range 6-24), clinical
      success was 97%. No type I or III endoleak, death, AAA rupture, open conversion,
      or device-related serious adverse events were documented. Four type II endoleaks
      were detected; one resolved spontaneously at 12 months and 2 remained stable,
      while one associated with AAA sac enlargement was treated successfully with
      embolization of the lumbar arteries (3% reintervention rate). CONCLUSION:
      Treovance shows accurate deployment even through angulated and tortuous iliac
      vessels and presents satisfactory conformability in highly angulated necks with
      acceptable clinical results. Future development to lower the profile and increase
      the flexibility of its delivery system will enhance its applicability in cases of
      narrow access vessels.

PMID- 28597731
TI  - New perspectives for chronic pain treatment: a patent review (2010-2016).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic pain is a major problem of public health worldwide and is
      responsible for the increase in health costs. The therapeutic options available
      in the market for the treatment of chronic pain are often rather ineffective due
      to; the high number of adverse reactions, tolerance and dependence, reducing the
      quality of life, pharmacotherapy adherence and functional capacity. Hence,
      several studies have been conducted in the search for new treatment alternatives
      for chronic pain syndromes. Areas covered: This review brings together the
      therapeutic patents published over the past six years reporting the discovery of
      new drugs for the treatment of chronic pain, based on the perspective that these
      compounds are candidates for the management of chronic pain conditions. Expert
      opinion: Over the past 6 years, several pharmaceutical companies, as well as
      universities and researchers, have synthesized a series of compounds, which have
      been shown to be effective in controlling chronic pain in preclinical studies.
      These findings nurture the hope of discovering new therapeutic options for
      chronic pain. However, such studies are in early stages and there is a long and
      hard path to be followed until these compounds can become chemical entities
      available to the public.

PMID- 28597732
TI  - Severe aortic regurgitation of quadricuspid aortic valve.

PMID- 28597733
TI  - Interrupted aortic arch in a 58-year-old patient.

PMID- 28597734
TI  - Platelets and cardiovascular risk.
AB  - Atherosclerosis and its late sequels are still the number one cause of death in
      Western societies. Platelets are a driving force not only during the genesis of
      atherosclerosis, but especially in its late stages, as evidenced by complications
      such as arterial thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and ischaemic stroke.
      Platelets are small, anucleate blood elements of critical importance in
      cardiovascular disease, a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Numerous risk
      scores exist to identify healthy individuals at increased risk of developing
      atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. However, markers of cardiovascular
      risk not routinely assessed (i.e. platelet activity, mean platelet volume and P
      selectin) may also contribute to be useful in calculating cardiovascular risk.
      The present review and meta-analysis summarizes the evidence for measuring
      platelet function indices to identify patients at risk of developing
      cardiovascular events.

PMID- 28597735
TI  - Early changes of left atrial function in chronic asymptomatic alcoholics by two
      dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography.
AB  - Background Chronic excessive alcohol intake has been reported as a possible cause
      of dilated cardiomyopathy. Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D
      STE) is a novel method for the angle-independent and objective quantification of
      myocardial deformation. This study sought to assess left atrial function changes
      among alcoholics related to the duration of heavy drinking by 2D-STE. Methods We
      classified 92 asymptomatic alcoholics into mild, moderate and severe groups.
      Thirty age-matched controls were also recruited. We measured left atrial (LA)
      phasic volumes (max, min and pre-atrial contraction volume) using Simpson's
      method in apical four-chamber view. Passive emptying (LAPEF) and active emptying
      (LAAEF) indices were calculated. Global longitudinal strain rate (SRs) during
      left ventricular (LV) ejection, early diastolic strain rate (SRe) during LV early
      diastole and peak negative strain rate (SRa) after the P-wave were also obtained
      by averaging all atrial segments. Results The alcoholics had larger LA volumes
      (max, min and pre-atrial contraction volume) since moderate stage (P < 0.01).
      LAPEF, SRs SRe, and E/A ratio showed progressive decrease according to the grades
      of alcoholism. The differences between the groups were significant, beginning
      from the moderate group (P < 0.01). During LAAEF, SRa values increased with the
      disease severity up to moderate alcoholics and then deteriorated significantly in
      severe alcoholics (P < 0.01). Conclusions These data suggest that 2D-STE may be
      considered a promising tool for the early detection of impairment of LA function
      in alcoholics.

PMID- 28597736
TI  - Venous stenosis and occlusion in the presence of endocardial leads in patients
      referred for transvenous lead extraction.
AB  - Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of venous stenosis
      and occlusion (VSO) in patients referred for transvenous lead extraction (TLE)
      with regard to the indications for this treatment and to analyse the influence of
      VSO on efficacy, complications and technical challenges of TLE procedures.
      Methods The material consists of 133 consecutive TLE procedure records. The
      contrast venography examination of the ipsilateral access vein was performed
      prior to the operation. The whole study population was divided into two
      subgroups, based on the presence (subgroup I) or absence (subgroup II) of VSO.
      Results Phlebography was performed in 133 patients with age ranging from 25.7 to
      86.1 years, 44 female (33.1%). The VSO was confirmed in 48 (36.1%) patients -
      subgroup I. Most of the patients were referred to TLE due to non-infectious
      reasons (100 pts-75.2%). The absence of VSO was observed substantially more
      frequently in patients with diabetes (P = 0.02). Procedural success rate reached
      93.3% in subgroup I and 98.8% in subgroup II (P = 0.1). There was no significant
      difference in the use of advanced tools and alternative access sites. Conclusion
      The presence of VSO can be expected in one third of patients referred for lead
      extraction. There is no association between indication for TLE (infected or
      noninfected lead extraction) and the incidence of VSO. Diabetes proved to have a
      protective effect on venous patency in the previously mentioned group. VSO does
      not influence the effectiveness, safety, and the use of additional tools during
      TLE procedures.

PMID- 28597737
TI  - Extension of catheter ablation and outcome for ventricular tachycardia or
      premature ventricular contractions from the right ventricular outflow tract.
AB  - Objective We aimed to determine whether the extension of ablation could influence
      the ablation outcome for ventricular tachycardia (VT)/premature ventricular
      contractions (PVCs) from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). Methods and
      results The radiofrequency catheter ablation results of 33 VT/6 frequent PVCs
      from the RVOT were analysed. The ablation extension was divided into 3 categories
      from the final successful ablation point with the earliest activation: (I) focal
      ablation (15 cases); ablation at 1 or 2 points; (II) focal with extended ablation
      (12 cases); focal and surrounding area ablation (maximum <=1 cm) after
      elimination of clinical VT/PVCs; and (III) broad ablation (12 cases); continued
      broad ablation (maximum >1 cm) after elimination of clinical VT/PVCs. Acute
      termination was defined as the complete elimination and non-inducibility of
      clinical VT/PVCs during the procedure. For the mean follow-up of 12.8 months, the
      recurrence rate was not significantly different among the groups (P = 0.49). The
      mean procedure time was longer in group II, but ablation times and complication
      rates were not different among the groups. When acute termination was achieved,
      the overall recurrence rate was 7.6%. However, when confirming absence of the
      clinical VT/PVCs using 24-hour Holter monitoring immediately after the procedure,
      the recurrence rate was 2.7%. Conclusions Ablation extension did not affect
      ablation outcome of VT/PVCs from the RVOT. Confirmation of absence of clinical
      VT/PVCs using 24-hour Holter monitoring immediately after the procedure could
      guarantee long-term success.

PMID- 28597738
TI  - Improved diagnostic accuracy when combining computed tomography angiography and
      corrected coronary opacification in patients with coronary stents.
AB  - Background The accuracy of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is sub
      optimal in patients with coronary stents. Methods that can increase its
      diagnostic accuracy are desirable. Objective A proof-of-concept study was
      undertaken to determine if corrected coronary opacification (CCO) differences can
      improve the accuracy of CCTA in stented coronary arteries. Methods PCI patients
      who underwent both CCTA and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) within 3 months
      were analyzed. Coronary luminal attenuation values (normalized to the aorta) were
      measured proximally and distally to coronary stents. CCO differences were
      evaluated for ability to predict (i) stenosis on invasive angiography, (ii)
      abnormal resting coronary flow as measured by the corrected thrombolysis in
      myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count (cTFC), and (iii) the combination of
      abnormal resting flow and significant stenosis on invasive angiography. Results
      Twenty-nine stented coronary arteries (n = 25, mean age =61.4 years, men =80.0%)
      were assessed. In stented coronary vessels, CCO identified stenosis (>= 70%) with
      an area under the curve of 0.767 (P = 0.021). CCO predicted abnormal resting
      coronary flow with high accuracy (AUC =0.867, P = 0.002). Combined CCTA/CCO
      identified both abnormal cTFC and stenosis >=70% on ICA (functionally significant
      stenosis) with diagnostic accuracy of 92.3%. In contrast, CCTA visual assessment
      alone had lower diagnostic accuracy of 66.7% for identifying functionally
      significant stenosis. Conclusion CCO differences are predictive of abnormal
      resting flow and consequently, in-stent restenosis. Incorporation of this
      technique may improve the specificity of CCTA in PCI patients.

PMID- 28597739
TI  - One-year and longer dual antiplatelet therapy after an acute coronary syndrome: a
      Belgian position paper.
AB  - Acute coronary syndrome patients receive DAPT up to one year after their initial
      event. Exceptions to the guideline-recommended one-year rule, however, are not
      uncommon. The reasoning behind shorter treatments, such as unacceptable bleeding
      risk or urgent surgery, should be well documented in the patient's charts and
      discharge letter. Based on recent evidence, patients at high risk for repetitive
      events should continue on low-dose ticagrelor without a significant interruption
      at one year and indefinitely in the absence of excess bleeding risk. As there is
      currently no reimbursement, policy makers and insurers should be made aware of
      the continuing risk and unmet clinical need in this patient population.
      Nevertheless, many unsolved questions need to be answered, both through
      additional analyses from recent trials such as PEGASUS-TIMI 54 or DAPT, as well
      as new carefully designed clinical studies.

PMID- 28597741
TI  - Belgian Society of Cardiology 36th Annual Congress.

PMID- 28597740
TI  - Pocket haematoma after cardiac electronic device implantation in patients
      receiving antiplatelet and anticoagulant treatment: a single-centre experience.
AB  - Objective In modern cardiology practice, implantation of cardiac electronic
      devices in patients taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy is a common
      clinical scenario. Bleeding complications are of particular concern in this
      patient population and pocket haematoma is one of the most frequent
      complications. We sought to determine the relationship between periprocedural
      antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy and pocket haematoma formation in patients
      undergoing cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation. Methods We
      conducted a retrospective study including 232 consecutive patients undergoing
      CIED implantation in the department of cardiology of the Medipol University
      Hospital. Patients were divided into six groups: clopidogrel group (n = 12),
      acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) group (n = 73), ASA + clopidogrel group (n = 29),
      warfarin group (n = 34), warfarin + ASA group (n = 21) and no antiplatelet
      anticoagulant therapy group as the control group (n = 63). CIED implantations
      were stratified under four subtitles including implantable
      cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD), cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT),
      permanent pacemaker and the last group as either device upgrade or generator
      replacement. Results The mean age of the patients was 63 +/- 14 years and 140
      patients were male (60.3%). A pocket haematoma was documented in 6 of 232
      patients (2.6%). None of the patients with pocket haematoma needed pocket
      exploration or blood transfusion. The type of the device did not have a
      significant effect on pocket haematoma incidence (P = 0.250). Univariate logistic
      regression showed that platelet level and ASA plus clopidogrel use were
      significantly associated with haematoma frequency after CIED implantations,
      respectively (OR: 0.977, CI 95% [0.958-0.996]; OR: 16.080, CI 95% [2.801
      92.306]). Multivariate analysis revealed that dual antiplatelet treatment (beta =
      3.016, P = 0.002, OR: 2.410, 95% CI [3.042-136.943]) and baseline platelet level
      (beta = -0.027, p:0.025, OR: 0.974, 95% CI [0.951-0.997]) were independent risk
      factors for pocket haematoma formation. Conclusion Dual antiplatelet therapy and
      low platelet levels significantly increased the risk of pocket haematoma
      formation in patients undergoing CIED implantations.

PMID- 28597742
TI  - Left ventricular hypertrophy and papillary fibroelastoma in a patient with a
      MYBPC3 gene mutation.

PMID- 28597743
TI  - One-year results of primary stenting for TASC II D lesions of the superficial
      femoral and popliteal arteries.
AB  - Objective This study aimed to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of primary
      stenting to treat Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II (TASC) D
      femoropopliteal lesions. Background Advances in wire, balloon and stent design
      have been reported to improve the durability of stenting of longer
      femoropopliteal lesions. Methods A total of 57 limbs of 53 patients with
      Rutherford stage 3 to 6 due to TASC D femoropopliteal lesions were treated with a
      self-expanding nitinol stent in a prospective, single-centre, observational
      study. End points of interest included primary and secondary patency, target
      lesion revascularization, in-stent restenosis, major adverse cardiovascular
      events, Rutherford class improvement and change in walking capacity at 1 year.
      Results A total of 53 patients (57 lesions) were treated with a self-expanding
      nitinol stent and final procedural success was 91.2%. The median length of the
      treated segment was 330 +/- 96 mm. The median stented segment was 366 +/- 71 mm
      and the mean number of the stents was 2.1 +/- 0.9. At 1 year, primary and
      secondary patency rates were 63.9% and 82.1%, respectively. Major adverse
      cardiovascular events occurred in 11 patients (22.9%), and[[strike_start]]
      [[strike_end]]significant benefits were observed in Rutherford class and walking
      distance (both P < 0.001). Conclusions Primary implantation of self-expanding
      nitinol stents for the treatment of TASC D femoropopliteal lesions appears to be
      safe and effective, especially in patients who have multiple co-morbidities and a
      high risk for surgical bypass. The risk of restenosis was higher when long
      stenting was extended to the popliteal artery.

PMID- 28597744
TI  - Noninvasive techniques for the diagnosis of anomalous origin of the left coronary
      artery from the pulmonary artery in adult patients.
AB  - Background Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery
      (ALCAPA) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly which requires surgical treatment,
      which improves left ventricular function and clinical outcomes. The definitive
      diagnosis of ALCAPA is based on coronary angiography, however, noninvasive
      visualization of the origin of the coronary artery is often helpful in the
      diagnosis of ALCAPA. Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate
      noninvasive techniques for the diagnosis of ALCAPA, and present the clinical
      outcomes in adults after surgical correction of ALCAPA. Methods Medical charts of
      five patients with ALCAPA treated at the John Paul II Hospital in Cracow between
      2004 and 2012 were analyzed retrospectively. Noninvasive imaging techniques were
      used to visualize coronary vessels preoperatively. Patients were followed one
      year after the operation with echocardiograms and assessment of the New York
      Heart Association functional class. Results Computed tomography showed ALCAPA in
      four patients. Magnetic resonance imaging showed abnormal left ventricle
      remodeling suggestive of ischemia of the anterior cardiac wall. Myocardial
      perfusion imaging revealed ischemia of the middle and periapical segments of the
      anterior and anterolateral wall of the left ventricle in two patients.
      Postoperatively, patients had symptomatic improvement, but there was no
      statistically significant difference in mean ejection fraction. Conclusions
      Noninvasive techniques can be used to visualize the origin of the coronary
      arteries and characterize their morphology. Long-term follow-up of adult patients
      after surgical correction of ALCAPA is not well documented in the literature, but
      surgical treatment revealed beneficial short-term effects and symptoms relief.

PMID- 28597745
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28597746
TI  - Incomplete Shone's complex: adult age diagnosis.

PMID- 28597747
TI  - "Uneven-sized eyes" sign on echocardiography in a young girl with pulmonary
      artery sling and tracheal bronchus.

PMID- 28597748
TI  - Hypereosinophilic cardiac disease.
AB  - Hypereosinophilia may be due to several aetiologies. Cardiac complications are
      not uncommon, whatever the causes. Clinical presentations of hypereosinophilic
      cardiac diseases may vary widely from asymptomatic form to fatal necrotic
      myocarditis or irreversible restrictive cardiomyopathy. As a major cause of
      morbidity and mortality, diagnosis of cardiac involvement is crucial. Until
      recently the diagnosis was exclusively based on cardiac biopsy. Nowadays,
      multimodal cardiac imaging, including echocardiography and cardiac magnetic
      resonance imaging, is the cornerstone of the diagnosis. Cardiac magnetic
      resonance imaging has emerged as a very useful tool for the diagnosis allowing
      precise tissue characterization. It has even been proposed as a surrogate to
      cardiac biopsy. It should be systematically performed in case of
      hypereosinophilia. Early and appropriate treatment is crucial to avoid the
      evolution toward irreversible cardiac lesions. These treatments are symptomatic
      but should also be adapted to the underlying diseases.

PMID- 28597749
TI  - A stalactite in the aorta. Abnormal calcification in a patient with
      pseudoxanthoma elasticum.

PMID- 28597750
TI  - MUC1 induces tamoxifen resistance in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tamoxifen, as an essential therapeutic tool in the treatment of
      estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, has been available for the past three
      decades and is currently being utilized as a chemo-preventive agent for patients
      at high risk for breast carcinoma. However, the induction of chemo-resistance
      during therapy has indicated a significant challenge with regards to this agent.
      Areas covered: This review enumerates the role of MUC1-C proto-oncogene in
      tamoxifen resistance and describes a number of signaling pathways by which MUC1-C
      would mediate the development of resistance. Finally, recent clinical studies
      conducted on the magnitude of MUC1 in inducing tamoxifen resistance are
      described. Expert commentary: Mucin 1, or MUC1, is aberrantly overexpressed on
      the entire tumor cell surface of most human cancers. Thus, it may result in the
      upregulation of several signaling pathways, such as growth cascades related to
      receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK), beta-catenin and E-cadherin, as well as
      promoting gene transcription of Ras-related protein Rab-31 in order to mediate
      tumor growth control in response to tamoxifen. On the contrary, MUC1 suppresses
      apoptotic events, which in turn impresses upon cell fate. Also, it has been
      demonstrated that silencing MUC1-C proto-oncogene is associated with increased
      sensitivity to tamoxifen-induced growth inhibitors.

PMID- 28597751
TI  - The Modified Borg Dyspnea Scale does not predict hospitalization in pulmonary
      arterial hypertension.
AB  - Background Breathlessness is the most common symptom reported by patients with
      pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The Modified Borg Dyspnea Scale (MBS) is
      routinely obtained during the six-minute walk test in the assessment of PAH
      patients, but it is not known whether the MBS predicts clinical outcomes such as
      hospitalizations in PAH. Methods We performed a retrospective study of World
      Health Organization (WHO) Group 1 PAH patients followed at our center. The dates
      of the first three MBS and hospitalizations that occurred within three months of
      a documented MBS were collected. Marginal Cox hazard regression modeling was used
      to assess for a relationship between MBS and all-cause as well as PAH-related
      hospitalization. Results A total of 50 patients were included; most (92%) were
      functional class III/IV, 44% and 65% were treatment-naive prior to their first
      MBS and hospitalization, respectively. The first recorded MBS was inversely
      correlated with the first recorded six-minute walk distance (6MWD) (r = -0.41, P
      < 0.01) but did not track with WHO functional class (r = 0.07, P = 0.63). MBS did
      not predict all-cause (hazard ratio [HR], 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      0.76-1.08; P = 0.28) or PAH-related hospitalization (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.89-1.23;
      P = 0.61), though there was a strong relationship between 6MWD and PAH-related
      hospitalization ( P = 0.01). These findings persisted after multivariable
      adjustment. Conclusions Breathlessness as assessed by MBS does not predict all
      cause or PAH-related hospitalization. Robust and validated patient-reported
      outcomes are needed in pulmonary vascular disease.

PMID- 28597752
TI  - Withdrawal of long-term epoprostenol therapy in pulmonary arterial hypertension
      (PAH).
AB  - Once initiated for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), epoprostenol treatment
      usually needs to be delivered for an indefinite duration. It is possible that
      some participants could be transitioned from epoprostenol to oral therapies. We
      retrospectively evaluated eight PAH participants transitioned from epoprostenol
      to PAH oral drugs. The criteria for epoprostenol withdrawal were: (1) persistent
      improvement of clinic and hemodynamic status; (2) stable dose of epoprostenol for
      the last three months; and (3) the participant's preference for oral therapy
      after evaluation of risk-benefit. We evaluated the clinical, functional, and
      hemodynamic status at baseline, at withdrawal, and after the transition to oral
      PAH therapy. The transition was completed in all eight participants. Four
      participants had a complete successful transition (CT) with a stable clinical and
      hemodynamic course and four participants had a partial successful transition (PT)
      remaining stable clinically, with a mild hemodynamic worsening, but without need
      to re-initiate epoprostenol therapy. The four CT participants were treated with
      epoprostenol for a shorter period of time (CT group: 35 +/- 30 versus PT group:
      79 +/- 49 months, P = 0.08). Mean epoprostenol dosage was lower in the CT group
      (CT group: 15 +/- 1.5 ng/kg/min versus PT group: 24 +/- 11 ng/kg/min, P = 0.09).
      Safe withdrawal of epoprostenol treatment and transition to oral PAH therapy was
      possible in a small and highly selected group of participants. The majority of
      these participants had a porto-pulmonary PAH or PAH associated to HIV infection.

PMID- 28597753
TI  - Circulatory power and ventilatory power over time under goal-oriented sequential
      combination therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Many therapeutic options are available for patients with pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH). However, little is known about the effects of sequential
      combination therapy on exercise capacity. Here we monitored exercise capacity by
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) and observed the benefit of using a peak
      VO2 cutoff of 15 mL/kg/min to guide combination therapy. Thirty patients newly
      diagnosed with PAH were treated with goal-oriented sequential combination
      therapy. Endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA) were the first-line treatment,
      with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) as the preferred combination
      partner. The patients underwent cardiac catheterization at baseline and after 12
      months and CPX at baseline and after three, six, and 12 months. Circulatory power
      (CP) was defined as the product of peak O2 uptake and peak systolic blood
      pressure (SBP); ventilatory power (VP) was defined as peak SBP divided by the
      minute ventilation-CO2 production slope. After 12 months, ERA had been
      administered to 100% of the study patients and PDE-5i to 82%. Mean CP at baseline
      and after three, six, and 12 months was 1807, 2063, 2248, and 2245
      mmHg.min/mL/kg, respectively, and mean VP was 2.93, 3.53, 4.16, and 3.68 mmHg,
      respectively. CP was greater after 6 months than at baseline ( P = 0.047); VP was
      greater after three months than at baseline ( P = 0.019) and further improved at
      six months compared with three months ( P = 0.040). Therefore, repeated CPX
      assessment, including measurement of CP and VP, can provide useful information
      regarding the efficacy of goal-oriented treatment for PAH.

PMID- 28597754
TI  - Characteristics of pediatric pulmonary hypertension trials registered on
      ClinicalTrials.gov.
AB  - The investigation of pediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH) drugs has been
      identified as a high priority by the United States National Institutes of Health
      (NIH). Studying pediatric PH is challenging due to the rare and heterogeneous
      nature of the disease. We sought to define the pediatric PH clinical trials
      landscape, to evaluate areas of trial success or failure, and to identify
      potential obstacles to the study of pediatric PH drugs. Interventional pediatric
      (ages 0-17 years) PH trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov from June 2005
      through December 2014 were analyzed. There were 45 pediatric PH trials registered
      during the study period. Median (IQR) projected trial enrollment was 40 (24-63),
      with seven trials (16%) targeting > 100 participants. Industry was the most
      common trial sponsor (n = 23, 50%), with only two (4.4%) NIH-sponsored trials.
      Phosphodiesterase inhibitors were the most frequently studied drug (n = 18, 39%).
      Single group study designs were used in 44% (n = 20) with an active comparator
      (parallel, factorial, or cross-over designs) in 25 trials, including 22 with
      randomization and ten that were double-blinded. Study outcomes varied markedly
      with inconsistent use of known surrogate and composite endpoints. One-third of
      trials (n = 15, 33%) were terminated, predominantly due to poor participant
      enrollment. Of the 17 completed trials, 11 had published results and only three
      efficacy trials met their primary endpoint. There are unique challenges to drug
      development in pediatric PH, including enrolling patients, identifying
      appropriate study endpoints, and conducting randomized, controlled, double-blind
      trials where the likelihood of meeting the study endpoint is optimized.

PMID- 28597755
TI  - Assessment of microRNA and gene dysregulation in pulmonary hypertension by
      endoarterial biopsy.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) may regulate a number of genes, each of which may have a
      variety of functions. We utilized an endoarterial biopsy catheter to assess the
      dysregulation of miRNAs in a porcine shunt model of pulmonary hypertension (PH).
      Two Yucatan micropigs underwent surgical anastomosis of the left pulmonary artery
      to the descending aorta. Endoarterial biopsy samples were obtained at baseline,
      and at regular intervals during the progression of PH. RNA, isolated from biopsy
      samples, was analyzed by Illumina miRNA expression microarrays (containing ~1200
      human miRNAs), Affymetrix Porcine GeneChips, Bioconductor, and GeneSpring. We
      examined a total of 925 genes in a PH whole genome microarray. Biopsy samples
      showed that 39 miRNAs were downregulated and 34 miRNAs were upregulated compared
      to baseline. The number of PH-associated genes reported to be controlled by each
      of the dysregulated miRNAs was in the range of 1-113. The five miRNAs that had
      the largest number of PH-associated genes were: miR-548c-3p, miR-520d-3p, miR
      130a-5p, miR-30a-3p, and miR-let-7g-3p. Several of the dysregulated miRNAs have
      been associated with molecular pathways and biologic processes involved in PH.
      Among 29 miRNAs, which were predicted to be dysregulated by a systems biology
      approach, we found four that were dysregulated in our porcine shunt model. An
      endoarterial biopsy technique was successful in showing that a large number of
      miRNAs are dysregulated in a porcine shunt model of PH. Many of these miRNAs
      control multiple PH-associated genes, molecular pathways, and biologic processes.
      Endoarterial biopsy offers potential experimental and clinical diagnostic value.

PMID- 28597756
TI  - Lack of elevation in plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in common rodent
      models of pulmonary arterial hypertension: questions of construct validity for
      human patients.
AB  - Translational research depends on the relevance of animal models and how well
      they replicate human disease. Here, we investigated plasma levels of three
      important pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-6, and MCP-1), known to be
      elevated in human pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and systematically
      assessed their levels in PAH patients compared to five different rodent models of
      pulmonary hypertension (PH). A consistent immunoassay platform (Luminex xMAP) and
      source (Millipore) was used to measure all specimens. PAH patients (n = 29)
      exhibited significant elevations in all three cytokines (median [IQR] pg/mL;
      TNFalpha, 7.0 [4.8-11.7]; IL-6, 9.2 [3.8-17.2]; MCP-1, 109 [65-142]) versus
      healthy participants (n = 20) (median [IQR] pg/mL; TNFalpha, 3.0 [2.0-3.6]; IL-6,
      1.7 [0.5-7.2]; MCP-1, 79 [49-93]. In contrast, mice with PH established after
      three weeks of hypoxia (n = 18) or SU5416 plus hypoxia (n = 20) showed no
      significant change in their plasma cytokine levels versus controls (n = 16),
      based on three to four independent experiments per group. Similarly, plasma
      cytokine levels were not elevated in rats with PH established three weeks after
      monocrotaline (n = 23), eight weeks after SU5416 alone (n = 10) or six to eight
      weeks after SU5416 plus hypoxia (n = 21) versus controls (n = 36 rats), based on
      three to eight independent experiments per group. Positive biologic control
      specimens from sepsis patients (n = 9), cecal-ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced
      septic mice (n = 6), and lipopolysaccharide-induced septic rats (n = 4) showed
      robust elevations in all three cytokines. This study suggests that animal models
      commonly used for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches
      for PAH may have limited construct validity with respect to markers of systemic
      immune activation seen in human patients.

PMID- 28597758
TI  - Longitudinal change in pulmonary arterial capacitance as an indicator of
      prognosis and response to therapy and in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic progressive disease that leads
      to right heart failure and death. Pulmonary arterial capacitance (PAC), defined
      as stroke volume divided by the pulmonary pulse pressure, has been identified as
      a prognostic factor in PAH. The impact of changes in PAC over time, however, is
      unclear. We evaluated changes in PAC over time to determine if such changes
      predicted transplant-free survival. A single-center retrospective study of
      consecutive group 1 PAH patients who had two or more right heart catheterizations
      (RHC) between January 2007 and June 2016 was undertaken. Hemodynamic data,
      clinical data, and outcomes were collected. Univariate and multivariate Cox
      proportional-hazards modelling to identify the contribution of risk factors for a
      composite outcome of death or lung transplantation was done. Mixed-effects
      logistic regression was performed to investigate the association between the
      change in PAC value over time and the composite outcome. A P value < 0.05 was
      considered significant. In total, 109 consecutive patients with a total of 300
      RHC data were identified. PAC correlated inversely with functional status ( P <
      0.001) and inversely with pulmonary vascular resistance ( P < 0.001). PAC values
      increased with the addition of new PAH-specific medications. Mixed effects
      logistic regression modeling using longitudinal data showed that a decrease in
      PAC over the study period was associated with increased mortality and
      transplantation (adjusted P = 0.039) over the study period. Change in PAC was a
      better predictor of outcome over the study period than baseline PAC or changes in
      other hemodynamic or clinical parameters. Decreases in PAC were predictive of
      increased mortality or transplantation in patients with group 1 PAH. There was a
      trend towards increased PAC in response to the addition of a PAH-specific
      medication. Our data support the use of PAC as a therapeutic target in PAH.

PMID- 28597759
TI  - Follow-up tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion predicts survival in
      pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Few studies have examined the utility of serial echocardiography in the
      evaluation, management, and prognosis of patients with pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH). Therefore, we sought to evaluate the prognostic significance
      of follow-up tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) in PAH. We
      prospectively studied 70 consecutive patients with PAH who underwent baseline
      right heart catheterization (RHC) and transthoracic echocardiogram, who survived
      to follow-up echocardiogram after initiation of PAH therapy. Baseline TAPSE was
      1.6 +/- 0.5 cm which increased to 2.0 +/- 0.4 cm on follow-up ( P < 0.0001). The
      cohort was dichotomized by TAPSE at one-year follow-up: Group 1 (n = 37): follow
      up TAPSE >= 2 cm; Group 2 (n = 33): follow-up TAPSE < 2 cm. Group 1 participants
      were significantly more likely to reach WHO functional class I-II status and
      achieve a higher six-minute walk distance on follow-up. Of the 68 patients who
      survived more than one year, 18 died (26.5%) over a median follow-up of 941 days
      (range, 3-2311 days), with significantly higher mortality in Group 2 versus Group
      1 (41.9% vs. 13.5%; P = 0.003). While baseline TAPSE stratified at 2 cm did not
      predict survival in this cohort, TAPSE >= 2 cm at follow-up strongly predicted
      survival in bivariable models (hazard ratio, 0.21; 95% confidence interval, 0.08
      0.60). In conclusion, follow-up TAPSE >= 2 cm is a prognostic marker and
      potential treatment target in a PAH population.

PMID- 28597757
TI  - The cancer theory of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains a mysterious killer that, like
      cancer, is characterized by tremendous complexity. PAH development occurs under
      sustained and persistent environmental stress, such as inflammation, shear
      stress, pseudo-hypoxia, and more. After inducing an initial death of the
      endothelial cells, these environmental stresses contribute with time to the
      development of hyper-proliferative and apoptotic resistant clone of cells
      including pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and even pulmonary
      artery endothelial cells allowing vascular remodeling and PAH development.
      Molecularly, these cells exhibit many features common to cancer cells offering
      the opportunity to exploit therapeutic strategies used in cancer to treat PAH. In
      this review, we outline the signaling pathways and mechanisms described in cancer
      that drive PAH cells' survival and proliferation and discuss the therapeutic
      potential of antineoplastic drugs in PAH.

PMID- 28597760
TI  - Late-onset pulmonary arterial hypertension in repaired D-transposition of great
      arteries: an uncommon complication.
AB  - Late-onset pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare but fatal complication
      in patients with childhood surgical repair of dextro-transposition of great
      arteries (D-TGA), especially with the Mustard and Senning procedures. The
      pathogenic mechanisms of PAH in patients with repaired D-TGA are not well
      understood and treatment is not standardized. In this manuscript, we present a
      case of late-onset PAH in an adult D-TGA patient after Mustard repair and discuss
      the pathogenic mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of pulmonary hypertension in
      repaired D-TGA.

PMID- 28597761
TI  - Metabolic and Functional Evaluation of the Heart and Lungs in Pulmonary
      Hypertension by Gated 2-[18F]-Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose Positron Emission
      Tomography.
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with a metabolic shift towards
      glycolysis in both the right ventricle and lung. This results in increased
      glucose uptake to compensate for the lower energy yield of glycolysis, which
      creates a potential for 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission
      tomography (PET) to be a useful tool in the evaluation of participants with PH.
      We investigated the utility of PET for PH by comparing FDG-PET uptake in the
      right ventricle and lungs in 30 participants with PH and eight healthy controls
      and correlating these measurements with echocardiographic (ECHO) measurements and
      other traditional assessments commonly used in PH. All participants underwent
      gated FDG-PET scanning in the fasting state, ECHO, six-minute walk test (6MWT),
      and blood draw for NT-proBNP. Participants also completed the CAMPHOR
      questionnaire. Right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes, RV
      ejection fraction, and FDG uptake by PET were significantly different between PH
      and healthy controls and strongly correlated with plasma NT-proBNP levels and RV
      ECHO parameters including TAPSE, RV systolic pressure, Tei index, and global peak
      systolic strain. In addition, lung standardized uptake value (SUV) was also found
      to be significantly higher in participants with PH than healthy controls.
      However, lung SUV did not show any significant correlations with NT-proBNP
      levels, 6MWT, or functional and pressure measurements by ECHO. In this study, we
      demonstrated the ability to evaluate both lung and right heart metabolism and
      function in PH by using a single gated FDG-PET scan.

PMID- 28597762
TI  - The safety and pharmacokinetics of rapid iloprost aerosol delivery via the
      BREELIB nebulizer in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - The BREELIB nebulizer was developed for iloprost to reduce inhalation times for
      patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This multicenter,
      randomized, unblinded, four-part study compared inhalation time,
      pharmacokinetics, and acute tolerability of iloprost 5 ug at mouthpiece delivered
      via BREELIB versus the standard I-Neb nebulizer in 27 patients with PAH. The
      primary safety outcome was the proportion of patients with a maximum increase in
      heart rate (HR) >= 25% and/or a maximum decrease in systolic blood pressure >=
      20% within 30 min after inhalation. Other safety outcomes included systolic,
      diastolic, and mean blood pressure, HR, oxygen saturation, and adverse events
      (AEs). Median inhalation times were considerably shorter with BREELIB versus I
      Neb (2.6 versus 10.9 min; n = 24). Maximum iloprost plasma concentration and
      systemic exposure (area under the plasma concentration-time curve) were 77% and
      42% higher, respectively, with BREELIB versus I-Neb. Five patients experienced a
      maximum systolic blood pressure decrease >= 20%, four with BREELIB (one mildly
      and transiently symptomatic), and one with I-Neb; none required medical
      intervention. AEs reported during the study were consistent with the known safety
      profile of iloprost. The BREELIB nebulizer offers reduced inhalation time, good
      tolerability, and may improve iloprost aerosol therapy convenience and thus
      compliance for patients with PAH.

PMID- 28597763
TI  - Open label study of ambrisentan in patients with exercise pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - A growing body of evidence suggests that exercise pulmonary hypertension (ePH) is
      an early form of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Identifying the disease
      at an early, potentially more responsive phase, and initiating treatment may
      improve functional status and prevent progression to severe forms of PAH. This
      was a single-center, open-label six-month treatment trial to evaluate the effect
      of ambrisentan on pulmonary hemodynamics and exercise capacity in ePH utilizing
      invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing (iCPET). After six months of treatment
      with ambrisentan, patients repeated iCPET; exercise capacity, symptoms, and
      pulmonary hemodynamics were reassessed. Twenty-two of 30 patients completed the
      treatment phase and repeat iCPET. After six months of treatment there was a
      significant decline in peak exercise mPAP (-5.2 +/- 5.6 mmHg, P = 0.001), TPG (
      7.1 +/- 8.0 mmHg, P = 0.001), PVR (-0.9 +/- 0.7 Woods units, P = 0.0002), and Ca
      vO2 (-1.8 +/- 2.3 mL/dL, P = 0.0002), with significant increases in peak PCWP
      (+2.9 +/- 5.6 mmHg, P = 0.02), PVC (+0.8 +/- 1.4 mL/mmHg, P = 0.03), and CO (+2.3
      +/- 1.4 L/min, P = 0.0001). A trend toward increased VO2max (+4.4 +/- 2.6%
      predicted, P = 0.07) was observed. In addition, there were improvements in 6MWD
      and WHO FC after 24 weeks. Our findings suggest that treatment of ePH with
      ambrisentan results in improved pulmonary hemodynamics and functional status over
      a six-month period. Treatment of ePH may prevent the progression of vascular
      remodeling and development of established PAH.

PMID- 28597764
TI  - MicroCT analysis of vascular morphometry: a comparison of right lung lobes in the
      SUGEN/hypoxic rat model of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease characterized by
      significant vascular remodeling within the lung. Clinical computed tomography
      (CT) scans are routinely used to aid in PAH diagnosis. Animal models, including
      the Sugen-hypoxic rat model (SU/hyp), of PAH closely mimic human PAH development.
      We have previously used micro-computed tomography (microCT) to find extensive
      right lung vascular remodeling in the SU/hyp. We hypothesized that the individual
      right lung lobes may not contribute equally to overall lung vascular remodeling.
      Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a subcutaneous injection of vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptor blocker (Sugen 5416) and subsequently exposed
      to chronic hypoxic conditions (10% O2) for three weeks. Following perfusion of
      the lung vasculature with an opaque resin (Microfil), the right lung lobes were
      microCT-imaged with a 10-um voxel resolution and 3D morphometry analysis was
      performed separately on each lobe. As expected, we found a significantly lower
      ratio of vascular volume to total lobe volume in the SU/hyp compared with the
      control, but only in the distal lobes (inferior: 0.23 [0.21-0.30] versus 0.35
      [0.27-0.43], P = 0.02; accessory: 0.27 [0.25-0.33] versus 0.37 [0.29-0.43], P =
      0.06). Overall, we observed significantly fewer continuous blood vessels and
      reduced vascular density while having greater vascular lumen diameters in the
      distal lobes of both groups ( P < 0.05). In addition, the vascular separation
      within the SU/hyp lobes and the vascular surface area to volume ratio were
      significantly greater in the SU/hyp lobes compared with controls ( P < 0.03).
      Results for the examined parameters support the overall extensive vascular
      remodeling in the SU/hyp model and suggest this may be lobe-dependent.

PMID- 28597765
TI  - Poor survival in patients with scleroderma and pulmonary hypertension due to
      heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension due to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (PH
      HFpEF) has been poorly studied in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). We
      sought to compare clinical characteristics and survival of SSc patients with PH
      HFpEF (SSc-PH-HFpEF) versus pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH). We
      hypothesized that patients with SSc-PH-HFpEF have a similar poor overall
      prognosis compared with patients with SSc-PAH when matched for total right
      ventricular load. The analysis included 117 patients with SSc-PH (93 with SSc-PAH
      versus 24 with SSc-PH-HFpEF) enrolled prospectively in the Johns Hopkins PH
      Registry. We examined baseline demographics and hemodynamics at diagnostic right
      heart catheterization (RHC), two-dimensional echocardiographic characteristics,
      six-minute walking distance (6MWD), treatment modalities, and laboratory values
      (serum NT-proBNP, creatinine, uric acid, and sodium), and assessed survival.
      Demographics and clinical features were similar between the two groups. Baseline
      RHC showed significantly higher pulmonary and right heart pressures in the SSc-PH
      HFpEF compared with the SSc-PAH group. Trans-pulmonary gradient (TPG), however,
      was equally elevated without significant difference between the groups. SSc-PH
      HFpEF patients had left atrial enlargement on echocardiography compared with SSc
      PAH patients. No significant differences were found between groups for 6MWD, NT
      proBNP, and other laboratory values. Although overall median survival time was
      4.6 years with no difference in mortality rate between the two groups (SSc-PH
      HFpEF versus SSc-PAH: 75% versus 59%; P = 0.26), patients with SSc-PH-HFpEF had a
      twofold increased risk of death compared with SSc-PAH patients after adjusting
      for hemodynamics. Concomitant intrinsic pulmonary vascular disease and HFpEF
      likely contribute to very poor survival in patients with SSc-PH-HFpEF.

PMID- 28597768
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28597766
TI  - Identifying "super responders" in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Pharmacotherapeutic options for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have
      increased dramatically in the last two decades and along with this have been
      substantial improvements in survival. Despite these advances, however, PAH
      remains a progressive and ultimately fatal disease for most patients and only
      epoprostenol has been shown to improve survival in a randomized control trial.
      Clinical observations of the heterogeneity of treatment response to different
      classes of medications across the phenotypically diverse PAH population has led
      to the identification of patients who derive significantly more benefit from
      certain medications than the population mean, the so-called "super responders."
      This was first recognized among PAH patients with acute vasodilator response
      during invasive hemodynamic testing, a subset of whom have dramatically improved
      survival when treated with calcium channel blocker (CCB) therapy. Retrospective
      studies have now suggested a sex discrepancy in response to endothelin receptor
      antagonists (ERA) and phosphodiesterase inhibitors, and more recently a few
      studies have found genomic associations with response to CCBs and ERAs. With
      increasing availability of "omics" technologies, recognition of these "super
      responders," combined with careful clinical and molecular phenotyping, will lead
      to advances in pharmacogenomics, precision medicine, and continued improvements
      in survival among PAH patients.

PMID- 28597767
TI  - Increased mortality from complications of pulmonary hypertension in patients
      undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
AB  - Aortic stenosis (AS) leads to pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right ventricle
      (RV) failure. Our goal was to describe mortality related to postoperative
      complications in PH patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement
      (TAVR). Ninety-three TAVR patients were analyzed (controls, sPAP < 50 mmHg;
      cases, sPAP >= 50 mmHg). Significant findings in cases included increased
      mortality (365 days), post-TAVR atrioventricular block (AVB) and acute kidney
      injury (AKI), and increased mean length of stay (LOS). This novel study
      highlights complications of PH as independent risk factors for death and
      significant morbidity post TAVR. Optimization of preoperative volume status and
      RV afterload reduction, while addressing AVB and AKI, may play a vital role in
      reducing mortality and LOS.

PMID- 28597769
TI  - A systematic review of transition studies of pulmonary arterial hypertension
      specific medications.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive potentially fatal disease.
      Multiple pharmacologic options are now available, which facilitated transitions
      between different therapeutic options, although the evidence for such transitions
      has not been well described. We sought to review the evidence supporting the
      safety and/or efficacy of transitioning between PAH-specific medications. We
      performed a systematic review of all published studies in the Medline database
      between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2016 reporting on any transition between the
      currently Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved PAH-specific medications.
      Studies reporting on three or more adult patients published in the English
      language reporting on transitions between FDA-approved PAH medications were
      extracted and tabulated. Forty-one studies met the selection criteria, nine of
      which included less than eight patients (and thus were reported separately in the
      supplement), for a total of 32 studies. Transitioning from parenteral
      epoprostenol to parenteral treprostinil appears to be safe and efficacious in
      patients who have less severe disease and more favorable hemodynamics.
      Transitioning from a prostacyclin analogue to an oral medication may be
      successful in patients who have favorable hemodynamics and stable disease. There
      is conflicting evidence supporting the transition from a parenteral to an inhaled
      prostacyclin analogue, even in patients who are on background oral therapy.
      Currently, the only evidence in support of transitioning between oral PDE5
      inhibitors is from sildenafil to tadalafil. Patients on higher doses of
      sildenafil are more likely to fail. In patients with liver abnormalities due to
      bosentan or sitaxentan, the transition to ambrisentan appears to be safe and can
      result in clinical improvement. Studies regarding PAH medication transitions are
      limited. Patients who have less severe disease, better functional status, and are
      on lower medications doses may be more successful at transitioning.

PMID- 28597770
TI  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension: Specialists' knowledge, practices, and attitudes
      of genetic counseling and genetic testing in the USA.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by obstruction of pre
      capillary pulmonary arteries, which leads to sustained elevation of pulmonary
      arterial pressure. Identifying those at risk through early interventions, such as
      genetic testing, may mitigate disease course. Current practice guidelines
      recommend genetic counseling and offering genetic testing to individuals with
      heritable PAH, idiopathic PAH, and their family members. However, it is unclear
      if PAH specialists follow these recommendations. Thus, our research objective was
      to determine PAH specialists' knowledge, utilization, and perceptions about
      genetic counseling and genetic testing. A survey was designed and distributed to
      PAH specialists who primarily work in the USA to assess their knowledge,
      practices, and attitudes about the genetics of PAH. Participants' responses were
      analyzed using parametric and non-parametric statistics and groups were compared
      using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. PAH specialists had low perceived and actual
      knowledge of the genetics of PAH, with 13.2% perceiving themselves as
      knowledgeable and 27% actually being knowledgeable. Although these specialists
      had positive or ambivalent attitudes about genetic testing and genetic
      counseling, they had poor utilization of these genetic services, with almost 80%
      of participants never or rarely ordering genetic testing or referring their
      patients with PAH for genetic counseling. Physicians were more knowledgeable, but
      had lower perceptions of the value of genetic testing and genetic counseling
      compared to non-physicians ( P < 0.05). The results suggest that increased
      education and awareness is needed about the genetics of PAH as well as the
      benefits of genetic testing and genetic counseling for individuals who treat
      patients with PAH.

PMID- 28597771
TI  - First-in-child use of the oral selective prostacyclin IP receptor agonist
      selexipag in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a complex disease with a poor prognosis.
      Selexipag is a selective prostacyclin receptor agonist with vasodilatory, anti
      proliferative, anti-inflammatory, and pro-angiogenic properties. However, no
      clinical data on its therapeutic use in children with PAH are currently
      available. Here, we report the case of a 12-year-old girl who presented in World
      Health Organization (WHO) functional class III and right ventricular (RV) failure
      with recurrent syncope, dizziness, and progressive fatigue for two years. Cardiac
      catheterization revealed severe precapillary PAH: mean right atrial pressure
      (RAP) = 10-13 mmHg, right ventricular end-diastolic pressure (RVEDP) = 13 mmHg,
      left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) = 7 mmHg, mean pulmonary arterial
      pressure (PAP) = 81 mmHg, and mean aorta ascendens pressure = 89 mmHg. The
      pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRi) was 25.2 WU * m2. An oral combination
      therapy was started with a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (sildenafil 3 * 20
      mg) and an endothelin-1 receptor antagonist (bosentan 2 * 62.5 mg). No
      significant clinical/hemodynamic improvement was seen after nine months of dual
      therapy, so that the patient was transferred to our institution. We agreed upon
      the off-label add-on use of oral selexipag. Within ten days, we up-titrated
      selexipag to a final (max. adult) dose of 1600 mcg twice daily. After six months,
      the patient had: (1) decrease in PVR index, pulmonary artery acceleration time,
      RAP, RVEDP, right atrial/RV size; (2) re-gain of vasoreactivity; and (3)
      improvement of cardiac index, 6-minute walking distance, functional class, body
      weight, and CAMPHOR score. Our encouraging results suggest the consideration of
      off-label use of oral selexipag in children with severe PAH, preferably in a
      protocol-driven prospective study.

PMID- 28597772
TI  - Right ventricular ST-elevation myocardial infarction as a cause of death in
      idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - A 32-year-old woman with advanced idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
      (PAH), treated with oral tadalafil and intravenous epoprostenol, presented with
      typical angina pectoris of one day's duration. Her electrocardiogram, previously
      typical of pulmonary hypertension, revealed an acute ST-elevation myocardial
      infarction in the anterior precordial leads. She had a prior coronary angiogram,
      in preparation for lung transplantation, that revealed normal coronary arteries.
      Urgent coronary angiography showed acute occlusion of several acute marginal
      coronary branches that feed the right ventricle (RV). Coronary angioplasty and
      stenting was unable to adequately restore coronary perfusion. Despite support,
      she developed progressive cardiogenic shock and died three days later. This is an
      unusual complication of PAH.

PMID- 28597773
TI  - Prostacyclins have no direct inotropic effect on isolated atrial strips from the
      normal and pressure-overloaded human right heart.
AB  - Prostacyclins are vasodilatory agents used in the treatment of pulmonary arterial
      hypertension. The direct effects of prostacyclins on right heart function are
      still not clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible direct
      inotropic properties of clinical available prostacyclin mimetics in the normal
      and the pressure-overloaded human right atrium. Trabeculae from the right atrium
      were collected during surgery from chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension
      (CTEPH) patients with pressure-overloaded right hearts, undergoing pulmonary
      thromboendarterectomy (n = 10) and from patients with normal right hearts
      operated by valve replacement or coronary bypass surgery (n = 9). The trabeculae
      were placed in an organ bath, continuously paced at 1 Hz. They were subjected to
      increasing concentrations of iloprost, treprostinil, epoprostenol, or MRE-269,
      followed by isoprenaline to elicit a reference inotropic response. The force of
      contraction was measured continuously. The expression of prostanoid receptors was
      explored through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Iloprost,
      treprostinil, epoprostenol, or MRE-269 did not alter force of contraction in any
      of the trabeculae. Isoprenaline showed a direct inotropic response in both
      trabeculae from the pressure-overloaded right atrium and from the normal right
      atrium. Control experiments on ventricular trabeculae from the pig failed to show
      an inotropic response to the prostacyclin mimetics. qPCR demonstrated varying
      expression of the different prostanoid receptors in the human atrium. In
      conclusion, prostacyclin mimetics did not increase the force of contraction of
      human atrial trabeculae from the normal or the pressure-overloaded right heart.
      These data suggest that prostacyclin mimetics have no direct inotropic effects in
      the human right atrium.

PMID- 28597775
TI  - Dobutamine stress MRI in pulmonary hypertension: relationships between stress
      pulmonary artery relative area change, RV performance, and 10-year survival.
AB  - In pulmonary hypertension (PH), right ventricular (RV) performance determines
      survival. Pulmonary artery (PA) stiffening is an important biomechanical event in
      PH and also predicts survival based on the PA relative area change (RAC) measured
      at rest using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this exploratory study, we
      sought to generate novel hypotheses regarding the influence of stress RAC on PH
      prognosis and the interaction between PA stiffening, RV performance and survival.
      Fifteen PH patients underwent dobutamine stress-MRI (ds-MRI) and right heart
      catheterization. RACREST, RACSTRESS, and DeltaRAC (RAC STRESS - RAC REST) were
      correlated against resting invasive hemodynamics and ds-MRI data regarding RV
      performance and RV-PA coupling efficiency (n'vv [RV stroke volume/RV end-systolic
      volume]). The impact of RAC, RV data, and n'vv on ten-year survival were
      determined using Kaplan-Meier analysis. PH patients with a low DeltaRAC (<-2.6%)
      had a worse long-term survival (log-rank P = 0.045, HR for death = 4.46 [95% CI =
      1.08-24.5]) than those with DeltaRAC >= -2.6%. Given the small sample, these data
      should be interpreted with caution; however, low DeltaRAC was associated with an
      increase in stress diastolic PA area indicating proximal PA stiffening.
      Associations of borderline significance were observed between low RACSTRESS and
      low n'vvSTRESS, Deltaeta'VV, and DeltaRVEF. Further studies are required to
      validate the potential prognostic impact of DeltaRAC and the biomechanics
      potentially connecting low DeltaRAC to shorter survival. Such studies may
      facilitate development of novel PH therapies targeted to the proximal PA.

PMID- 28597776
TI  - The Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute celebrates its first decade.

PMID- 28597774
TI  - Combination therapy in pulmonary arterial hypertension: recent accomplishments
      and future challenges.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening disease characterized
      by a progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance, ultimately leading to
      right heart failure and death. Throughout the past 20 years, numerous specific
      pharmacologic agents, including phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, endothelin
      receptor antagonists, prostaglandins, and more recently, soluble guanylate
      cyclase stimulators and selective IP prostacyclin receptor agonist, have emerged
      for the treatment of PAH. Early clinical trials were typically of short-term
      duration, comparing the effects of PAH-targeted therapies versus placebo and
      using exercise tolerance as the primary endpoint in most trials. A meta-analysis
      of these trials documented a reduction in short-term mortality of ~40% with
      monotherapy. More recently, we have witnessed a progressive shift in PAH study
      designs using longer event-driven trials comparing the effects of upfront and
      sequential combination therapy on clinical worsening that is perceived as a more
      clinically relevant outcome measure. Recent meta-analyses also documented that
      combination therapy significantly reduced the risk of clinical worsening by ~35%
      compared with monotherapy alone. In this review article, we will discuss the
      evolution of treatments and clinical trial design in the field of PAH over the
      past decades with a special focus on combination therapy and its current role in
      the management of PAH. We will also detail unresolved questions regarding the
      future of PAH patients' care and the challenges of future clinical trials.

PMID- 28597777
TI  - Improved metabolism and redox state with a novel preservation solution:
      implications for donor lungs after cardiac death (DCD).
AB  - Lungs donated after cardiac death (DCD) are an underutilized resource for a
      dwindling donor lung transplant pool. Our study investigates the potential of a
      novel preservation solution, Somah, to better preserve statically stored DCD
      lungs, for an extended time period, when compared to low-potassium dextran
      solution (LPD). We hypothesize that Somah is a metabolically superior organ
      preservation solution for hypothermic statically stored porcine DCD lungs,
      possibly improving lung transplant outcomes. Porcine DCD lungs (n = 3 per group)
      were flushed with and submerged in cold preservation solution. The lungs were
      stored up to 12 h, and samples were taken from lung tissue and the preservation
      medium throughout. Metabolomic and redox potential were analyzed using high
      performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and RedoxSYS(r), comparing
      substrate and pathway utilization in both preservation solutions. Glutathione
      reduction was seen in Somah but not in LPD during preservation. Carnitine,
      carnosine, and n-acetylcarnosine levels were elevated in the Somah medium
      compared with LPD throughout. Biopsies of Somah exposed lungs demonstrated
      similar trends after 2 h, up to 12 h. Adenosine gradually decreased in Somah
      medium over 12 h, but not in LPD. An inversely proportional increase in inosine
      was found in Somah. Higher oxidative stress levels were measured in LPD. Our
      study suggests suboptimal metabolic preservation in lungs stored in LPD. LPD had
      poor antioxidant potential, cytoprotection, and an insufficient redox potential.
      These findings may have immediate clinical implications for human organs;
      however, further investigation is needed to evaluate DCD lung preservation in
      Somah as a viable option for transplant.

PMID- 28597779
TI  - Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor to riociguat transition is associated with
      hemodynamic and symptomatic improvement in pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - Riociguat is a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator approved for the treatment of
      pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension. We studied the clinical and hemodynamics effects of transitioning
      12 pulmonary hypertension patients from Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor
      (PDE5i) to riociguat, and demonstrated a significant increase in cardiac index,
      fall in pulmonary vascular resistance, and improvement in functional class with
      this switch. Switch from PDE5i to riociguat appeared to be safe and fairly well
      tolerated in most patients.

PMID- 28597778
TI  - Genomic stability of pulmonary artery endothelial colony-forming cells in
      culture.
AB  - Pulmonary vascular remodeling, including proliferation and migration of pulmonary
      artery endothelial cells (PAEC), is a pathologic hallmark of pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH). Multiple studies have shown evidence of increased levels of
      DNA damage and lineage-specific genetic changes in PAH lung vascular cells,
      suggesting increased genomic instability. Highly proliferative endothelial colony
      forming cell (ECFC) clones can be isolated from PAEC. Here we utilized ECFC to
      track chromosomal copy number of 20 PAH and eight control clones across serial
      passages using genome-wide microarrays. All PAH clones were genomically stable
      for at least 20-22 population doublings. At very late passages, ECFC developed a
      highly aneuploid karyotype, but this was generally associated with senescence and
      was common to both PAH and controls. We also utilized ECFC to isolate the
      chromosomally abnormal cells from a mixed population of PAH PAEC. Analysis of
      PAEC harboring two different changes affecting chromosomes 1 and X demonstrated
      that both abnormalities were present in the same clone, indicating they
      originated in a common ancestral cell. In a second case, with a partial
      duplication of chromosome 17, clones carrying the duplication were more frequent
      at later passages than chromosomally normal clones from the same PAEC culture,
      suggesting the rearrangement may confer a proliferative advantage. Overall, this
      small study suggests that endothelial cells from PAH lungs are stable in culture,
      but that when chromosome abnormalities do occur, they may confer a selective
      advantage that allows expansion of the abnormal cell population and could
      contribute to lung vascular remodeling in vivo.

PMID- 28597781
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28597780
TI  - Novel approach to classifying patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension using
      cluster analysis.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients have distinct disease courses and
      responses to treatment, but current diagnostic and treatment schemes provide
      limited insight. We aimed to see if cluster analysis could distinguish clinical
      phenotypes in PAH. An unbiased cluster analysis was performed on 17 baseline
      clinical variables of PAH patients from the FREEDOM-M, FREEDOM-C, and FREEDOM-C2
      randomized trials of oral treprostinil versus placebo. Participants were either
      treatment-naive (FREEDOM-M) or on background therapy (FREEDOM-C, FREEDOM-C2). We
      tested for association of clusters with outcomes and interaction with respect to
      treatment. Primary outcome was 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) change. We
      included 966 participants with 12-week (FREEDOM-M) or 16-week (FREEDOM-C and
      FREEDOM-C2) follow-up. Four patient clusters were identified. Compared with
      Clusters 1 (n = 131) and 2 (n = 496), Clusters 3 (n = 246) and 4 (n = 93)
      patients were older, heavier, had worse baseline functional class, 6MWD, Borg
      Dyspnea Index, and fewer years since PAH diagnosis. Clusters also differed by PAH
      etiology and background therapies, but not gender or race. Mean treatment effect
      of oral treprostinil differed across Clusters 1-4 increased in a monotonic
      fashion (Cluster 1: 10.9 m; Cluster 2: 13.0 m; Cluster 3: 25.0 m; Cluster 4: 50.9
      m; interaction P value = 0.048). We identified four distinct clusters of PAH
      patients based on common patient characteristics. Patients who were older,
      diagnosed with PAH for a shorter period, and had worse baseline symptoms and
      exercise capacity had the greatest response to oral treprostinil treatment.

PMID- 28597782
TI  - Unroofed coronary sinus with cardiac veins.

PMID- 28597783
TI  - Reverse cardiac remodelling after lung transplantation in Eisenmenger syndrome.

PMID- 28597784
TI  - The impact of non-dipper circadian rhythm of blood pressure on left ventricular
      hypertrophy in patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between non
      dipper circadian rhythm of blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular hypertrophy
      (LVH) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods and results All 257
      patients with stage 1 to 5 CKD were enrolled in the study and classified into a
      CKD1-3 group and a CKD4-5 group according to renal function. The parameters and
      circadian rhythm of BP were measured by a GE Marquette Tonoport V Eng dynamic
      sphygmomanometer, and cardiac structure was examined by echocardiography. The
      incidence of abnormal circadian BP rhythm (non-dipper rhythm) was quite high
      (75.4% in all enrolled patients and 71.3% in the patients with normal BP levels)
      in CKD patients and increased with the deterioration of renal function. Changes
      of cardiac structure such as LVH in patients with non-dipper BP were more
      distinct than in patients with dipper BP. The development of left ventricular
      mass index (LVMI) correlated positively with the incidence of non-dipper BP
      rhythm. Multiple regression analysis showed that 24-h systolic BP (beta = 0.417,
      P < 0.01), triglycerides (TG) (beta = -0.132, P = 0.007), Hb (beta = -0.394, P =
      0.016) and gender (beta = 0.158, P = 0.039) were independent risk factors of
      LVMI. Conclusions The incidence of non-dipper circadian rhythm of blood pressure
      was quite high in CKD patients and increased with the deterioration of renal
      function. Non-dipper circadian rhythm of BP is closely related with LVMI.

PMID- 28597785
TI  - Unroofed coronary sinus: multi-modality evaluation.

PMID- 28597786
TI  - Percutaneous tricuspid valve-in-ring implantation in a systemic sclerosis patient
      with pulmonary arterial -hypertension.

PMID- 28597787
TI  - Major depressive disorder is associated with fragmented QRS.
AB  - Objective There is a close link between major depressive disorder (MDD) and
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). Increasing oxidative stress, changes in
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and platelet clotting cascade may lead to
      subclinical myocardial damage in MDD patients without overt CVD. The aim of the
      study was to investigate whether MDD is associated with fragmented QRS (fQRS) on
      electrocardiogram (ECG) which may reflect myocardial fibrosis/scarring and
      ischaemia. Methods and results A total of 66 MDD patients without overt CVD and
      35 age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled in this study. Twelve-lead
      surface ECGs were analysed for the presence of fQRS and echocardiographic
      examination was performed for each individual. Multivariate logistic regression
      analysis was used to assess the relationship between MDD and fQRS. The baseline
      characteristics in terms of age, gender, body mass index and cardiovascular risk
      factors were comparable in the groups (all P values >0.05). Left ventricular
      ejection fraction, left ventricular wall thickness and diastolic blood pressure
      were also similar in the two groups. The presence of fQRS was more prevalent (P <
      0.001) and SBP values (P = 0.007) were higher in patients with MDD compared to
      controls. Moreover, multivariate binary logistic regression analysis indicated
      the recurrent MDD as the only independent predictor of fQRS on ECG (beta =0.196,
      95% CI 0.046 - 0.827, P = 0.014). Conclusion The presence of fQRS on the ECG is
      associated with MDD, and may be a beneficial tool for detecting subclinical
      cardiac damage in this population.

PMID- 28597788
TI  - The non-fluoroscopic navigation reduces significantly not only the fluoroscopic
      exposure during catheter ablation of the cavotricuspid isthmus but the total
      radiofrequency time as well.
AB  - Objective The non-fluoroscopic navigation (NFN) is known to reduce the
      fluoroscopic time during catheter ablation of various arrhythmias. We aimed to
      study the impact of NFN over several procedural parameters during radiofrequency
      (RF) catheter ablation of the cavo-tricuspid isthmus (CTI) in patients with CTI
      dependent atrial flutter. Methods Data about 124 consecutive patients with CTI
      ablation performed were retrospectively collected. The patients were divided into
      two groups: (1) ablation with two diagnostic catheters deployed in the coronary
      sinus and around the tricuspid annulus (NFN-, n = 62); (2) ablation with the same
      two catheters plus NFN system using cutaneous patches (NFN+, n = 62). Several
      procedural parameters were analysed. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was
      used for statistical analysis. A P-value <0.05 was considered significant.
      Results Acute success was achieved in 122 patients (98.4%), recurrences of atrial
      flutter were observed in 11 patients (8.9%). There were no significant
      differences between the NFN + and NFN- groups in the procedural duration (169.6
      vs 157.6 min) and the recurrences (6.5 vs 11.3%). In the NFN + group the
      fluoroscopic time was shorter (9.4 vs 16.7 min), DAP was lower (2,128.3 vs
      4,129.9 MUGy*m2), the total RF time was shorter (1,870.5 vs 2,335.5 sec), R <
      0.05 for all parameters. Conclusions NFN reduces significantly not only the x-ray
      exposure but the total RF time as well. It does not influence the procedural
      duration and the recurrence rate. The acute and long-term success of catheter
      ablation of CTI is high irrespective of the use of NFN.

PMID- 28597789
TI  - Reduction in electrocardiographic lateral precordial voltage after subcutaneous
      implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation.

PMID- 28597790
TI  - Septal thrombus following blunt cardiac injury.

PMID- 28597791
TI  - Value of latent outflow obstruction to predict clinical course of patients with
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Objective The frequency, significance and prognostic value of left ventricle
      obstruction (LVO) induced with provocation (latent LVO) is controversial for
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) patients. This study was designed to assess the
      value of latent LVO in predicting the clinical course in 101 patients with HC.
      Methods and results Patients were followed for a mean of 82 +/- 48 months (range
      2 to 148 months) for clinical end points defined as a composite of cardiovascular
      death resuscitated cardiac arrest, appropriate defibrillator shock or
      hospitalization due to worsening of heart failure symptoms. Presence of LVO
      (hazard ratio 3.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.85 to 7.12; P = 0.0001) and log NT
      proBNP levels (hazard ratio, 1.40; 95% confidence interval, 1.14 to 1.72; P =
      0.001) were the independent variables associated with an increased risk of
      experiencing clinical end points. HC patients with latent LVO have a trend toward
      decreased survival when compared with HC patients without LVO (log rank P =
      0.027), but better survival than patients with resting LVO (log rank P = 0.007).
      HC patients with NT-proBNP levels <1,000 pg/ml had also better survival. LVO and
      NT-proBNP levels are the major determinants of clinical end points in patients
      with HC. Conclusions Evaluation of patients without resting LVO to demonstrate
      latent obstruction is of critical importance in respect of outcome and selection
      of patients for septal reduction therapies, so routine provocative testing with
      physiological exercise and measurement of NT-proBNP is recommended in this
      patient population for risk stratification.

PMID- 28597792
TI  - Implications of the calcium-sensing receptor in ischemia/reperfusion.
AB  - The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) which
      was first isolated from bovine parathyroid glands. Its complex structure has been
      well characterized, which helped to better understand its function. The CaSR
      activity can be modulated by various ligands, either activators (also called
      "calcimimetics") or inhibitors (or "calcilytics"). The main role of the CaSR
      concerns Ca2+ homeostasis. In bone, intestine and kidney, the CaSR acts as a
      sensor for extracellular ionized Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]e) to keep it stable.
      Such a homeostatic function is well illustrated by human inherited diseases
      caused by mutations in CASR gene, characterized by Ca2+ balance disturbances.
      Interestingly, the CaSR is also expressed in numerous tissues which are not
      directly involved in Ca2+ regulation. There, the CaSR has been implicated in
      regulatory pathways, including cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis.
      Moreover, recent observations suggest that the CaSR may be involved in
      ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) cascades. In cardiomyocytes, the expression and
      activation of the CaSR are significantly induced at the time of I/R, which
      induces apoptotic pathways. Likewise, the activation of the CaSR in I/R in brain,
      liver and kidney has been associated with increased cell death and aggravated
      structural and functional damage. The present review summarizes these
      observations and hypothesizes a novel therapeutic option targeting the CaSR in
      I/R.

PMID- 28597793
TI  - The effectiveness of CRT on improvement of survival of heart failure patients in
      real life clinical settings.
AB  - Objectives Prolongation of QRS (>= 120 ms) in patients with heart failure (HF) is
      associated with higher all-cause mortality than in those with narrow QRS. The aim
      of our study was to compare the survival of patients with HF and wide QRS after
      cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with survival of HF patients with narrow
      QRS and to assess factors predictive of non-response to CRT. Methods We enrolled
      680 patients with advanced HF and optimal pharmacologic therapy. All patients
      were assigned according to duration of QRS complex and implanted device. We
      acquired two groups. A first group, patients with wide QRS and implanted CRT-D
      (CRT-D group, n = 354) and a second group, patients having narrow QRS and
      implanted single/dual chamber ICD (ICD group, n = 326). The primary outcome was
      death from any cause. The response to CRT was defined as an increase of EF at
      least by 5% and/or reduction of LVEDD at least by 10%. Results The primary
      outcome was reached by 84 (23.7%) patients in the CRT-D group and 69 (21.2%)
      patients in the ICD group. We did not find a statistically significant difference
      in survival rate between the CRT-D and ICD group [P = 0.44; hazard ratio (HR)
      1.132]. Conclusion Survival of patients with HF and wide QRS after CRT
      implantation is comparable to those with HF and narrow QRS. Coronary artery
      disease and QRS width less than 145 ms increase risk of non-response to CRT 2.2
      and 2.9 times, respectively.

PMID- 28597794
TI  - Narrow QRS tachycardia with AV response from 2:1 to 1:1. What is the mechanism?

PMID- 28597795
TI  - Pseudo-aneurysm as rare complication after pacemaker implantation.

PMID- 28597796
TI  - A1166C polymorphism of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene contributes to
      hypertension susceptibility: evidence from a meta-analysis.
AB  - Background The angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) gene is a prime candidate
      for polymorphisms that could contribute to hypertension. A polymorphism in the 3'
      untranslated region, leading to the transversion of adenine to cytosine at
      position 1166, has been the most-studied variant. However, the results have been
      inconsistent, and we therefore performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the
      association of this polymorphism with hypertension. Methods We conducted an
      extended a computer-based literature search of PubMed and Web of Knowledge up to
      November 30, 2015. The extracted data were analysed statistically, and pooled
      odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess the strengths
      of associations using Review Manager software (version 5.2). Results After
      removing 5 studies that were not consistent with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium,
      we finally collected 41 case-control studies involving 11,837 cases and 11,020
      controls to evaluate the association between AT1R polymorphisms and hypertension.
      We found that the risk of hypertension was higher for allele C than for allele A
      under the codominant model, significantly higher for genotype CC + AC than for
      genotype AA under the dominant model, and significantly higher for genotype CC +
      AC in Caucasians. Conclusion This meta-analysis suggests that the AT1R 1166 CC +
      AC genotype consistently confers susceptibility to hypertension and that early
      preventive measures should be applied in clinical settings according to patient
      genotypes.

PMID- 28597797
TI  - Percutaneous intervention for central shunts: new routes, new strategies.
AB  - Introduction In traditional locations, the standard Blalock-Taussig shunt
      presents numerous technical difficulties for percutaneous intervention. We
      changed our strategy to a central type shunt (Laks-type) with end-to-side
      pulmonary and side-to-side aortic anastomosis. The aim of this study was to
      determine whether this modified strategy would allow easier percutaneous
      manipulation in patients with small pulmonary arteries. Methods All children with
      a stretchable central vascular graft who required any form of percutaneous
      intervention were prospectively enrolled in the study. Results Eleven infants
      were evaluated a median time of 3 months (range 0.9-4.4) following initial shunt
      placement; the median weight at intervention was 5.7 kg (range: 4.0 - 10.0). All
      shunts (100%) were easily and swiftly entered without the need for special
      catheters or co-axial systems. In four patients other interventions in distal
      pulmonary arteries were first performed: cutting balloon treatment in three and
      balloon angioplasty of peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis in one. The shunts
      were then augmented with a stent with a diameter increasing from 3.5 +/- 0.4 mm
      to 4.7 +/- 0.8 mm and saturation increasing from 76% (range: 69-88) to 84%
      (range: 77-88) (P < 0.05). Several months later, two children required further
      interventions that could easily be performed via the stented shunts. No
      complications were observed. Conclusions The Laks-type shunt provides easy access
      for percutaneous procedures of the distal pulmonary arteries including cutting
      balloons; this shunt can predictably be expanded to augment pulmonary flow. This
      study highlights how co-operation between the interventionalist and the surgeon
      can improve strategies to manage these difficult patients.

PMID- 28597799
TI  - Primary cardiac synovial sarcoma and dual-source cardiac computed tomography
      findings.

PMID- 28597798
TI  - Ultrafiltration versus intravenous loop diuretics in patients with acute
      decompensated heart failure: a meta-analysis of clinical trials.
AB  - Background Intravenous loop diuretics are the first-line therapy for acute
      decompensated heart failure (ADHF) but many patients are discharged with
      unresolved congestion resulting in higher re-hospitalization and mortality rates.
      Ultrafiltration (UF) is a promising intervention for ADHF. However, studies
      comparing UF to diuretics have been inconsistent in their clinical outcomes.
      Methods A comprehensive literature search was performed. Trials were included if
      they met the following criteria: (1) randomization with a control group, (2)
      comparison of UF with a loop diuretic, and (3) a diagnosis of ADHF. Results When
      compared to diuretics, UF was associated with a reduced risk of clinical
      worsening (odds ratio (OR) 0.57, 95% CI: 0.38-0.86, P-value 0.007), increased
      likelihood for clinical decongestion (OR 2.32, 95% CI: 1.09-4.91, P-value 0.03)
      with greater weight (0.97 Kg, 95% CI: 0.52-1.42, P-value <0.0001) and volume
      reduction (1.11 L, 95% CI: 0.68-1.54, P-value <0.0001). The overall risk of re
      hospitalization (OR 0.92, 95% CI: 0.62-1.38, P-value 0.70), return to emergency
      department (OR 0.69, 95% CI: 0.44-1.08, P-value 0.10) and mortality (OR 0.99, 95%
      CI: 0.60-1.62, P-value 0.97) were not significantly improved by UF treatment.
      Conclusions UF is associated with significant improvements in clinical
      decongestion but not in rates of re-hospitalization or mortality.

PMID- 28597800
TI  - Effect of dobutamine stress echocardiography on serum heart fatty acid binding
      protein levels.
AB  - Objective Heart fatty acid binding protein (HFABP) is a low-molecular-weight free
      protein that is abundant in the intracytoplasmic space of myocytes. Due to its
      unique features, serum HFABP levels may increase in myocardial ischaemia. The aim
      of this study was to evaluate the effect of myocardial ischaemia induced by
      dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) on serum HFABP levels. Methods and
      results A total of 30 consecutive patients with suspected myocardial ischaemia
      underwent DSE examination. HFABP levels were measured immediately before and 1
      hour after DSE. HFABP rose significantly in individuals in the DSE positive group
      (1.66 +/- 1.18 ng/ml vs 2.65 +/- 1.34 ng/ml, P = 0.004), but remained unchanged
      in the DSE negative group (1.61 +/- 0.77 ng/ml vs 1.85 +/- 0.76 ng/ml, P =
      0.066). Conclusion Serum HFABP levels increased significantly at 1 hour in the
      presence of ischaemia induced by DSE in patients with stable clinical coronary
      syndromes. No such increase was evident in the absence of ischaemia.

PMID- 28597802
TI  - Very late stent thrombosis and longitudinal stent deformation.

PMID- 28597801
TI  - Subtraction coronary CT angiography clarifies in-stent restenosis of a three
      layer stent segment.

PMID- 28597803
TI  - Prognostic value of galectin-3 on admission in Chinese patients with heart
      failure: a prospective observational study.
AB  - Objective We performed a prospective observational study to explore the
      prognostic value of plasma galectin-3, a biomarker for fibrosis and inflammation,
      in Chinese patients with heart failure (HF). Methods and results Galectin-3, N
      terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and other clinically related
      variables were measured in consecutive HF patients in Beijing Hospital.
      Specifically, galectin-3 was detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      The primary end point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including all
      cause mortality or readmission at the end of follow-up. The secondary end point
      was all-cause mortality. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was determined by COX
      regression model. In total, 272 patients were included in this study with a
      median age of 77 years, of whom 55.9% were male. During a median follow-up of 584
      (415-813) days, 53 patients (19.5%) died and 103 patients (37.9%) died and/or
      required readmission. Plasma galectin-3 levels by tertiles were associated with
      an increased risk for the primary end point (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival
      curves showed that the third tertile of galectin-3 was associated with an
      increased rate of MACE, compared with the first and second tertiles, with the log
      rank P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively. In addition, the multivariate COX
      regression model showed that the highest tertile of galectin-3 was associated
      with an increased risk for MACE (HR =2.13, 95% confidence interval: 1.24-3.68, P
      = 0.006), compared with the lowest tertile after adjustment for age, NT-proBNP,
      creatinine, uric acid, albumin, haemoglobin, and estimated glomerular filtration
      rate (eGFR). Conclusion Plasma galectin-3 is an independent predictor of all
      cause mortality and/or readmission in Chinese patients with HF.

PMID- 28597804
TI  - Effect of biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents versus biocompatible polymer
      everolimus-eluting stents: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Biocompatible polymer everolimus-eluting stents (EES) are associated
      with risk of stent thrombosis (ST); biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BP
      DES) were designed to reduce these risks. However, the long-term benefits are not
      completely clear. METHOD: We undertook a meta-analysis of randomized studies
      identified in systematic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database.
      Primary outcome was the risk of ST. RESULTS: Twelve studies (11,692 patients)
      were included. Overall, compared with EES, BP-DES were associated with a broadly
      equivalent risk of definite and probable ST (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.55 to 1.50; P =
      0.71; I2 = 0.0%), early ST (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 0.78 to 6.47; P = 0.13; I2 = 0.0%),
      late ST (OR, 3.57; 95% CI, 0.42 to 30.58; P = 0.25; I2 = 0.0%) and very late ST
      (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.05 to 5.52; P = 0.57). Meanwhile, there was no significant
      difference in all-cause mortality (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.32; P = 0.54; I2 =
      0.0%), myocardial infarction (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.30; P = 0.47; I2 =
      0.0%), target vessel revascularization (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.21; P = 0.80;
      I2 = 12.0%), and major adverse cardiac events (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.16; P
      = 0.53; I2 = 0.0%). Furthermore, angiographic data showed that in-stent and in
      segment late luminal loss were similar between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Compared with biocompatible polymer EES, biodegradable polymer stents appear to
      have equivalent clinical benefits.

PMID- 28597805
TI  - Efficacy of sequential three-step empirical therapy for chronic cough.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Empirical three-step therapy has been proved in just one hospital.
      This study aimed to demonstrate applicability of the sequential empirical three
      step therapy for chronic cough in different clinical settings. METHODS:
      Sequential empirical three-step therapy was given to patients with chronic cough
      in one tertiary and three secondary care respiratory clinics. Recruiters were
      initially treated with methoxyphenamine compound as the first-step therapy,
      followed by corticosteroids as the second-step therapy and the combination of a
      proton-pump inhibitor and a prokinetic agent as the third-step therapy. The
      efficacy of the therapy was verified according to the changes in cough symptom
      score between pre- and post-treatment, and compared among the different clinics.
      RESULTS: In total 155 patients in one tertiary clinic and 193 patients in
      secondary care clinics were recruited. The total dropout ratio is significantly
      higher in the secondary care clinics than that in the tertiary clinic (9.3%
      versus 3.2%, p = 0.023). The therapeutic success rate for cough was 38.7% at
      first-step therapy, 32.3% at second-step therapy and 20.0% at third-step therapy
      in the tertiary clinic, and comparable to corresponding 49.7%, 31.1% and 4.1% in
      secondary care clinics. Furthermore, the overall cough resolution rate was not
      significantly different (91.0% versus 85.0%, p = 0.091). However, the efficacy of
      the third-step therapy is much higher (20.0% versus 4.1%, p = 0.001) in the
      tertiary clinic than in the secondary care clinics. CONCLUSIONS: Sequential
      empirical three-step therapy is universally efficacious and useful for management
      of chronic cough in different clinical settings.

PMID- 28597806
TI  - Sinonasal organised haematoma: clinical features and successful application of
      modified transnasal endoscopic medial maxillectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although organised haematoma often induces bone thinning and
      destruction similar to malignant diseases, the aetiology of organised haematoma
      and the optimal treatment remain unclear. This paper presents the clinical
      features of individuals with organised haematoma, and describes cases in which a
      novel modified approach was successfully applied for resection of organised
      haematoma in the maxillary sinus. METHOD: Pre-operative examination data were
      evaluated retrospectively. Modified transnasal endoscopic medial maxillectomy was
      employed. RESULTS: Fourteen patients with organised haematoma were treated.
      Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed heterogeneous enhancement in all
      patients. Eight patients underwent modified transnasal endoscopic medial
      maxillectomy, without complications such as facial numbness, tooth numbness,
      facial tingling, lacrimation and eye discharge. Dissection of the apertura
      piriformis and anterior maxillary wall was not necessary for any of these eight
      patients. No recurrence was observed. CONCLUSION: Pre-operative examinations can
      be helpful in determining the likelihood of organised haematoma. Modified
      transnasal endoscopic medial maxillectomy appears to be a safe and effective
      method for organised haematoma resection.

PMID- 28597808
TI  - Activation delay-induced mechanical dyssynchrony in single-ventricle heart
      disease.
AB  - We present the case of an infant with a single functional ventricle who developed
      ventricular dysfunction and heart failure due to an electrical activation delay
      and dyssynchrony. Earlier recognition of this potentially reversible aetiology
      may have changed her poor outcome.

PMID- 28597807
TI  - Insights into the mechanisms of copper dyshomeostasis in amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neuromuscular disease
      characterised by a progressive loss of motor neurons that usually results in
      paralysis and death within 2 to 5 years after disease onset. The
      pathophysiological mechanisms involved in ALS remain largely unknown and to date
      there is no effective treatment for this disease. Here, we review clinical and
      experimental evidence suggesting that dysregulation of copper homeostasis in the
      central nervous system is a crucial underlying event in motor neuron degeneration
      and ALS pathophysiology. We also review and discuss novel approaches seeking to
      target copper delivery to treat ALS. These novel approaches may be clinically
      relevant not only for ALS but also for other neurological disorders with abnormal
      copper homeostasis, such as Parkinson's, Huntington's and Prion diseases.

PMID- 28597809
TI  - Discontinuation of contact precautions with the introduction of universal daily
      chlorhexidine bathing.
AB  - Contact precautions are a traditional strategy to prevent transmission of
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Chlorhexidine bathing is
      increasingly used to decrease MRSA burden and transmission in intensive care
      units (ICUs). We sought to evaluate a hospital policy change from routine contact
      precautions for MRSA compared with universal chlorhexidine bathing, without
      contact precautions. We measured new MRSA acquisition in ICU patients and
      surveyed for MRSA environmental contamination in common areas and non-MRSA
      patient rooms before and after the policy change. During the baseline and
      chlorhexidine bathing periods, the number of patients (453 vs. 417), ICU days
      (1999 vs. 1703) and MRSA days/1000 ICU days (109 vs. 102) were similar. MRSA
      acquisition (2/453 vs. 2/457, P = 0.93) and environmental MRSA contamination
      (9/474 vs. 7/500, P = 0.53) were not significantly different between time
      periods. There were 58% fewer contact precaution days in the ICU during the
      chlorhexidine period (241/1993 vs. 102/1730, P < 0.01). We found no evidence that
      discontinuation of contact precautions for patients with MRSA in conjunction with
      adoption of daily chlorhexidine bathing in ICUs is associated with increased MRSA
      acquisition among ICU patients or increased MRSA contamination of ICU fomites.
      Although underpowered, our findings suggest this strategy, which has the
      potential to reduce costs and improve patient safety, should be assessed in
      similar but larger studies.

PMID- 28597810
TI  - Fungi as a Source of Food.
AB  - In this article, we review some of the best-studied fungi used as food sources,
      in particular, the cheese fungi, the truffles, and the fungi used for drink
      fermentation such as beer, wine, and sake. We discuss their history of
      consumption by humans and the genomic mechanisms of adaptation during artificial
      selection.

PMID- 28597812
TI  - Microbial Impact on Host Metabolism: Opportunities for Novel Treatments of
      Nutritional Disorders?
AB  - Malnutrition is the cause of major public health concerns worldwide. On the one
      hand, obesity and associated pathologies (also known as the metabolic syndrome)
      affect more than 10% of the world population. Such pathologies might arise from
      an elevated inflammatory tone. We have discovered that the inflammatory
      properties of high-fat diets were linked to the translocation of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We proposed a mechanism associating the gut microbiota
      with the onset of insulin resistance and low-grade inflammation, a phenomenon
      that we called "metabolic endotoxemia." We and others have shown that bacteria as
      well as host-derived immune-related elements control microbial communities and
      eventually contribute to the phenotype observed during diet-induced obesity,
      diabetes, and metabolic inflammation. On the other hand, undernutrition is one of
      the leading causes of death in children. A diet poor in energy and/or nutrients
      causes incomplete development of the gut microbiota and may profoundly affect
      energy absorption, initiating stunted growth, edema, and diarrhea. In this
      review, we discuss how changes in microbiota composition are associated with
      obesity and undernutrition. We also highlight that opposite consequences exist in
      terms of energy absorption from the diet (obesity versus undernutrition), but
      interestingly the two situations share similar defects in term of diversity,
      functionality, and inflammatory potential.

PMID- 28597813
TI  - Therapeutic Opportunities in the Vaginal Microbiome.
AB  - The reproductive tract of females lies at the core of humanity. The immensely
      complex process that leads to successful reproduction is miraculous yet
      invariably successful. Microorganisms have always been a cause for concern for
      their ability to infect this region, yet it is other, nonpathogenic microbial
      constituents now uncovered by sequencing technologies that offer hope for
      improving health. The universality of Lactobacillus species being associated with
      health is the basis for therapeutic opportunities, including through engineered
      strains. The manipulation of these and other beneficial constituents of the
      microbiota and their functionality, as well as their metabolites, forms the basis
      for new diagnostics and interventions. Within 20 years, we should see significant
      improvements in how cervicovaginal health is restored and maintained, thus
      providing relief to the countless women who suffer from microbiota-associated
      disorders.

PMID- 28597811
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Face of Host-Imposed Nutrient Limitation.
AB  - Coevolution of pathogens and host has led to many metabolic strategies employed
      by intracellular pathogens to deal with the immune response and the scarcity of
      food during infection. Simply put, bacterial pathogens are just looking for food.
      As a consequence, the host has developed strategies to limit nutrients for the
      bacterium by containment of the intruder in a pathogen-containing vacuole and/or
      by actively depleting nutrients from the intracellular space, a process called
      nutritional immunity. Since metabolism is a prerequisite for virulence, such
      pathways could potentially be good targets for antimicrobial therapies. In this
      chapter, we review the current knowledge about the in vivo diet of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis, with a focus on amino acid and cofactors, discuss evidence for the
      bacilli's nutritionally independent lifestyle in the host, and evaluate
      strategies for new chemotherapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28597814
TI  - Killing Mycobacterium tuberculosis In Vitro: What Model Systems Can Teach Us.
AB  - Tuberculosis is one of the most successful human diseases in our history due in
      large part to the multitude of virulence factors exhibited by the causative
      agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Understanding the pathogenic nuances of this
      organism in the context of its human host is an ongoing topic of study
      facilitated by isolating cells from model organisms such as mice and non-human
      primates. However, M. tuberculosis is an obligate intracellular human pathogen,
      and disease progression and outcome in these model systems can differ from that
      of human disease. Current in vitro models of infection include primary
      macrophages and macrophage-like immortalized cell lines as well as the induced
      pluripotent stem cell-derived cell types. This article will discuss these in
      vitro model systems in general, what we have learned so far about utilizing them
      to answer questions about pathogenesis, the potential role of other cell types in
      innate control of M. tuberculosis infection, and the development of new coculture
      systems with multiple cell types. As we continue to expand current in vitro
      systems and institute new ones, the knowledge gained will improve our
      understanding of not only tuberculosis but all infectious diseases.

PMID- 28597816
TI  - Sex and the Imperfect Fungi.
AB  - Approximately 20% of species in the fungal kingdom are only known to reproduce by
      asexual means despite the many supposed advantages of sexual reproduction.
      However, in recent years, sexual cycles have been induced in a series of
      emblematic "asexual" species. We describe how these discoveries were made,
      building on observations of evidence for sexual potential or "cryptic sexuality"
      from population genetic analyses; the presence, distribution, and functionality
      of mating-type genes; genome analyses revealing the presence of genes linked to
      sexuality; the functionality of sex-related genes; and formation of sex-related
      developmental structures. We then describe specific studies that led to the
      discovery of mating and sex in certain Candida, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and
      Trichoderma species and discuss the implications of sex including the beneficial
      exploitation of the sexual cycle. We next consider whether there might be any
      truly asexual fungal species. We suggest that, although rare, imperfect fungi may
      genuinely be present in nature and that certain human activities, combined with
      the genetic flexibility that is a hallmark of the fungal kingdom, might favor the
      evolution of asexuality under certain conditions. Finally, we argue that fungal
      species should not be thought of as simply asexual or sexual, but rather as being
      composed of isolates on a continuum of sexual fertility.

PMID- 28597815
TI  - DksA-HapR-RpoS axis regulates haemagglutinin protease production in Vibrio
      cholerae.
AB  - DksA acts as a co-factor for the intracellular small signalling molecule ppGpp
      during the stringent response. We recently reported that the expression of the
      haemagglutinin protease (HAP), which is needed for shedding of the cholera
      pathogen Vibrio cholerae during the late phase of infection, is significantly
      downregulated in V. cholerae ?dksA mutant (?dksAVc) cells. So far, it has been
      shown that HAP production by V. cholerae cells is critically regulated by HapR
      and also by RpoS. Here, we provide evidence that V. cholerae DksA (DksAVc)
      positively regulates HapR at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional
      levels. We show that in ?dksAVc cells the CsrB/C/D sRNAs, required for the
      maintenance of intracellular levels of hapR transcripts during the stationary
      growth, are distinctly downregulated. Moreover, the expression of exponential
      phase regulatory protein Fis, a known negative regulator of HapR, was found to
      continue even during the stationary phase in ?dksAVc cells compared to that of
      wild-type strain, suggesting another layer of complex regulation of HapR by
      DksAVc. Extensive reporter construct-based and quantitative reverse-transcriptase
      PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses supported that RpoS is distinctly downregulated at the
      post-transcriptional/translational levels in stationary phase-grown ?dksAVc
      cells. Since HAP expression through HapR and RpoS is stationary phase-specific in
      V. cholerae, it appears that DksAVc is also a critical stationary phase regulator
      for fine tuning of the expression of HAP. Moreover, experimental evidence
      provided in this study clearly supports that DksAVc is sitting at the top of the
      hierarchy of regulation of expression of HAP in V. cholerae.

PMID- 28597817
TI  - Decreased pro-inflammatory immune responses during recurrent acute HCV infections
      in HIV co-infected patients.
AB  - Patients in high-risk groups continue to transmit the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and
      frequently experience reinfections. Since little is known regarding the immune
      response to HCV during reinfection, we compared primary and consecutive acute HCV
      infections in patients with an HIV infection, and focused on the cytokine
      bridging innate to adaptive immunity. We observed that the serum levels of IL
      12p40, MIP-1beta, MIG and IP-10 increased during primary acute HCV infection, but
      not during subsequent secondary acute reinfections. The weaker pro-inflammatory
      cytokine responses observed during HCV reinfections suggest more limited
      secondary acute immune responses, which may prevent damage to the infected liver.

PMID- 28597818
TI  - Enhanced pathogenicity and neurotropism of mouse-adapted H10N7 influenza virus
      are mediated by novel PB2 and NA mutations.
AB  - The H10 subtype of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) circulates globally in wild
      birds and poultry, and this subtype has been shown to be increasingly prevalent
      in China. Among the various H10 viruses, H10N7 AIVs have caused repeated mammal
      and human infections. To investigate their genetic adaptation in mammals, we
      generated a mouse-adapted avian H10N7 variant (A/mallard/Beijing/27/2011-MA; BJ27
      MA) which exhibited increased virulence in mice compared to wild-type virus and
      acquired neurotropism. Sequencing showed the absence of the widely recognized
      mammalian adaptation markers of E627K and D701N in PB2 in the mouse-adapted
      strain; instead, five amino acid mutations were identified: E158G and M631L in
      PB2; G218E in haemagglutinin (H3 numbering); and K110E and S453I in neuraminidase
      (NA). The neurovirulence of the BJ27-MA virus necessitated the combined presence
      of the PB2 and NA mutations. Mutations M631L and E158G of PB2 and K110E of NA
      were required to mediate increased virus replication and severity of infection in
      mice and mammalian cells. PB2-M631L was functionally the most dominant mutation
      in that it strongly upregulated viral polymerase activity and played a critical
      role in the enhancement of virus replication and disease severity in mice. K110E
      mutation in NA, on the other hand, significantly promoted NA enzymatic activity.
      These results indicate that the novel mutations in PB2 and NA genes are critical
      for the adaptation of H10N7 AIV in mice, and they could serve as molecular
      signatures of virus transmission to mammalian hosts, including humans.

PMID- 28597819
TI  - Phage exposure causes dynamic shifts in the expression states of specific phase
      variable genes of Campylobacter jejuni.
AB  - Phase variation (PV) creates phenotypic heterogeneity at high frequencies and in
      a reversible manner. This phenomenon allows bacteria to adapt to a variety of
      different environments and selective pressures. In Campylobacterjejuni this
      reversible adaptive process is mediated by mutations in homopolymeric G/C tracts.
      Many C. jejuni-specific phages are dependent on phase-variable surface structures
      for successful infection. We previously identified the capsular polysaccharide
      (CPS) moiety, MeOPN-GalfNAc, as a receptor for phage F336 and showed that phase
      variable expression of the transferase for this CPS modification, cj1421, and two
      other phase-variable CPS genes generated phage resistance in C. jejuni. Here we
      investigate the population dynamics of C. jejuni NCTC11168 when exposed to phage
      F336 in vitro using a newly described method - the 28-locus-CJ11168 PV analysis.
      Dynamic switching was observed in the ON/OFF states of three phase-variable CPS
      genes, cj1421, cj1422 and cj1426, during phage F336 exposure, with the dominant
      phage-resistant phasotype differing between cultures. Although loss of the phage
      receptor was predominately observed, several other PV events also led to phage
      resistance, a phenomenon that increases the chance of phage-resistant
      subpopulations being present in any growing culture. No other PV genes were
      affected and exposure to phage F336 resulted in a highly specific response, only
      selecting for phase variants of cj1421, cj1422 and cj1426. In summary, C. jejuni
      may benefit from modification of the surface in multiple ways to inhibit or
      reduce phage binding, thereby ensuring the survival of the population when
      exposed to phages.

PMID- 28597821
TI  - The Mycobiome: Impact on Health and Disease States.
AB  - The term "microbiome" refers to microorganisms (microbiota) and their genomes
      (metagenome) coexisting with their hosts. Some researchers coined the term
      "second genome" to underscore the importance of the microbiota and its collective
      metagenome on their host's health and/or disease. It is now undeniable that the
      commensal fungal microorganisms, alongside the other components of the
      microbiota, play a central role in association with the human host. In
      recognition, projects were launched nationally and internationally to unify
      efforts to characterize the microbiome and elucidate the functional role of the
      microbiota and the mechanism(s) by which these organisms and their metabolites
      (metabolome) may affect health and disease states. In this article, we will
      highlight the role of the fungal community as an indispensable component of the
      microbiome.

PMID- 28597822
TI  - Fungi that Infect Humans.
AB  - Fungi must meet four criteria to infect humans: growth at human body
      temperatures, circumvention or penetration of surface barriers, lysis and
      absorption of tissue, and resistance to immune defenses, including elevated body
      temperatures. Morphogenesis between small round, detachable cells and long,
      connected cells is the mechanism by which fungi solve problems of locomotion
      around or through host barriers. Secretion of lytic enzymes, and uptake systems
      for the released nutrients, are necessary if a fungus is to nutritionally utilize
      human tissue. Last, the potent human immune system evolved in the interaction
      with potential fungal pathogens, so few fungi meet all four conditions for a
      healthy human host. Paradoxically, the advances of modern medicine have made
      millions of people newly susceptible to fungal infections by disrupting immune
      defenses. This article explores how different members of four fungal phyla use
      different strategies to fulfill the four criteria to infect humans: the
      Entomophthorales, the Mucorales, the Ascomycota, and the Basidiomycota. Unique
      traits confer human pathogenic potential on various important members of these
      phyla: pathogenic Onygenales comprising thermal dimorphs such as Histoplasma and
      Coccidioides; the Cryptococcus spp. that infect immunocompromised as well as
      healthy humans; and important pathogens of immunocompromised patients-Candida,
      Pneumocystis, and Aspergillus spp. Also discussed are agents of neglected
      tropical diseases important in global health such as mycetoma and
      paracoccidiomycosis and common pathogens rarely implicated in serious illness
      such as dermatophytes. Commensalism is considered, as well as parasitism, in
      shaping genomes and physiological systems of hosts and fungi during evolution.

PMID- 28597823
TI  - Made for Each Other: Ascomycete Yeasts and Insects.
AB  - Fungi and insects live together in the same habitats, and many species of both
      groups rely on each other for success. Insects, the most successful animals on
      Earth, cannot produce sterols, essential vitamins, and many enzymes; fungi, often
      yeast-like in growth form, make up for these deficits. Fungi, however, require
      constantly replenished substrates because they consume the previous ones, and
      insects, sometimes lured by volatile fungal compounds, carry fungi directly to a
      similar, but fresh, habitat. Yeasts associated with insects include Ascomycota
      (Saccharomycotina, Pezizomycotina) and a few Basidiomycota. Beetles, homopterans,
      and flies are important associates of fungi, and in turn the insects carry yeasts
      in pits, specialized external pouches, and modified gut pockets. Some yeasts
      undergo sexual reproduction within the insect gut, where the genetic diversity of
      the population is increased, while others, well suited to their stable
      environment, may never mate. The range of interactions extends from dispersal of
      yeasts on the surface of insects (e.g., cactus-Drosophila-yeast and ephemeral
      flower communities, ambrosia beetles, yeasts with holdfasts) to extremely
      specialized associations of organisms that can no longer exist independently, as
      in the case of yeast-like symbionts of planthoppers. In a few cases yeast-like
      fungus-insect associations threaten butterflies and other species with
      extinction. Technical advances improve discovery and identification of the fungi
      but also inform our understanding of the evolution of yeast-insect symbioses,
      although there is much more to learn.

PMID- 28597824
TI  - Mycobacterial Biofilms: Revisiting Tuberculosis Bacilli in Extracellular
      Necrotizing Lesions.
AB  - Under detergent-free in vitro conditions, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the
      etiological agent of tuberculosis in humans, spontaneously forms organized
      multicellular structures called biofilms. Moreover, in vitro biofilms of M.
      tuberculosis are more persistent against antibiotics than their single-cell
      planktonic counterparts, thereby raising questions about the occurrence of
      biofilms in the host tissues and their significance in persistence during
      chemotherapy of tuberculosis. In this article, we present arguments that
      extracellular M. tuberculosis in necrotizing lesions likely grows as biofilms.

PMID- 28597820
TI  - Oxidative Phosphorylation as a Target Space for Tuberculosis: Success, Caution,
      and Future Directions.
AB  - The emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens, and our inability to
      develop new antimicrobials to combat resistance, have inspired scientists to seek
      out new targets for drug development. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is a
      group of obligately aerobic bacteria that have specialized for inhabiting a wide
      range of intracellular and extracellular environments. Two fundamental features
      in this adaptation are the flexible utilization of energy sources and continued
      metabolism in the absence of growth. M. tuberculosis is an obligately aerobic
      heterotroph that depends on oxidative phosphorylation for growth and survival.
      However, several studies are redefining the metabolic breadth of the genus.
      Alternative electron donors and acceptors may provide the maintenance energy for
      the pathogen to maintain viability in hypoxic, nonreplicating states relevant to
      latent infection. This hidden metabolic flexibility may ultimately decrease the
      efficacy of drugs targeted against primary dehydrogenases and terminal oxidases.
      However, it may also open up opportunities to develop novel antimycobacterials
      targeting persister cells. In this review, we discuss the progress in
      understanding the role of energetic targets in mycobacterial physiology and
      pathogenesis and the opportunities for drug discovery.

PMID- 28597826
TI  - Pathology of Tuberculosis: How the Pathology of Human Tuberculosis Informs and
      Directs Animal Models.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by the pathogenic
      bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A wide variety of host- and pathogen
      associated variables influence the clinical manifestation of TB in different
      individuals within the human population. As a consequence, the characteristic
      granulomatous lesions that develop within the lung are heterogeneous in size and
      cellular composition. Due to the lack of appropriate tissues from human TB
      patients, a variety of animal models are used as surrogates to study the basic
      pathogenesis and to test experimental vaccines and new drug therapies. Few animal
      models mimic the clinical course and pathological response of M. tuberculosis
      seen in the naturally occurring disease in people. In particular, post-primary
      TB, which accounts for the majority of cases of active TB and is responsible for
      transmission between individuals via aerosol exposers, cannot be reproduced in
      animals and therefore cannot be adequately modeled experimentally. This article
      describes a new paradigm that explains the pathogenesis of post-primary TB in
      humans. This new evidence was derived from histological examination of tissues
      from patients with different stages of M. tuberculosis infection and that had not
      been treated with antimicrobial drugs. Gaining a better understanding of this
      unique stage of TB disease will lead to more effective treatment, diagnostic, and
      prevention strategies.

PMID- 28597828
TI  - 3D Hepatic Ultrasonography-A Detailed Imaging Modality.

PMID- 28597825
TI  - Fungal Sex: The Basidiomycota.
AB  - Fungi of the Basidiomycota, representing major pathogen lineages and mushroom
      forming species, exhibit diverse means to achieve sexual reproduction, with
      particularly varied mechanisms to determine compatibilities of haploid mating
      partners. For species that require mating between distinct genotypes,
      discrimination is usually based on both the reciprocal exchange of diffusible
      mating pheromones, rather than sexes, and the interactions of homeodomain protein
      signals after cell fusion. Both compatibility factors must be heterozygous in the
      product of mating, and genetic linkage relationships of the mating
      pheromone/receptor and homeodomain genes largely determine the complex patterns
      of mating-type variation. Independent segregation of the two compatibility
      factors can create four haploid mating genotypes from meiosis, referred to as
      tetrapolarity. This condition is thought to be ancestral to the basidiomycetes.
      Alternatively, cosegregation by linkage of the two mating factors, or in some
      cases the absence of the pheromone-based discrimination, yields only two mating
      types from meiosis, referred to as bipolarity. Several species are now known to
      have large and highly rearranged chromosomal regions linked to mating-type genes.
      At the population level, polymorphism of the mating-type genes is an exceptional
      aspect of some basidiomycete fungi, where selection under outcrossing for rare,
      intercompatible allelic variants is thought to be responsible for numbers of
      mating types that may reach several thousand. Advances in genome sequencing and
      assembly are yielding new insights by comparative approaches among and within
      basidiomycete species, with the promise to resolve the evolutionary origins and
      dynamics of mating compatibility genetics in this major eukaryotic lineage.

PMID- 28597827
TI  - Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Childhood and Adolescence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in childhood and
      adolescence is 5-11 cases per 100 000 persons per year, corresponding to a new
      diagnosis of IBD in 800-1470 patients in Germany each year. METHODS: This review
      is based on pertinent publications retrieved by a selective search in PubMed,
      including guidelines from Germany and abroad. RESULTS: Children and adolescents
      with IBD often have extensive involvement and an aggressive course of disease.
      Nonetheless, infliximab and adalimumab are the only biological agents that have
      been approved for this group of patients. In Crohn's disease, exclusive enteral
      nutrition is the treatment of first choice for inducing a remission. Patients
      with (peri-)anal fistulae are treated primarily with infliximab. Corticosteroids
      and aminosalicylates should be used with caution. In contrast, children and
      adolescents with ulcerative colitis are treated with either aminosalicylates or
      prednisolone to induce a remission. As a rule, maintenance pharmacotherapy with
      thiopurines in Crohn's disease and severe ulcerative colitis, or with
      aminosalicylates in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, is indicated for several
      years, at least until the end of puberty. Patients with refractory disease
      courses are treated with methylprednisolone, anti-TNF-alpha-antibodies, and/or
      calcineurin inhibitors. The spectrum of surgical interventions is the same as for
      adults. Specific aspects of the treatment of children and adolescents with IBD
      include adverse drug effects, the areas of nutrition, growth, and development,
      and the structured transition to adult medicine. CONCLUSION: Children and
      adolescents with IBD or suspected IBD should be cared for by pediatric
      gastroenterologists in a center where such care is provided. Individualized
      treatment with multidisciplinary, family-oriented longterm care is particularly
      important. Drug trials in children and adolescents are needed so that the off
      label use of drugs to patients in this age group can be reduced.

PMID- 28597830
TI  - Response to a wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2)-shedding event following accidental
      exposure to WPV2, the Netherlands, April 2017.
AB  - On 3 April 2017, a wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2) spill occurred in a Dutch
      vaccine manufacturing plant. Two fully vaccinated operators with risk of exposure
      were advised on stringent personal hygiene and were monitored for virus shedding.
      Poliovirus (WPV2-MEF1) was detected in the stool of one, 4 days after exposure,
      later also in sewage samples. The operator was isolated at home and followed up
      until shedding stopped 29 days after exposure. No further transmission was
      detected.

PMID- 28597829
TI  - Urogenital Infection as a Risk Factor for Male Infertility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infections of the genital tract are considered common causes of male
      fertility disorders, with a prevalence of 6-10%. Most of the affected men are
      asymptomatic. The diagnostic evaluation is based mainly on laboratory testing.
      Inconsistent diagnostic criteria have been applied to date, and this may explain
      the controversial debate about the role of infection and inflammation in the
      genital tract as a cause of infertility. The risk of an irreversible fertility
      disorder should not be underestimated. METHODS: This review is based on pertinent
      publications retrieved by a selective literature search in PubMed, including
      guidelines from Germany and abroad and systematic review articles. RESULTS: The
      main causes of inflammatory disease of the male genital tract are ascending
      sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and uropathogens. Chronic prostatitis has
      no more than a limited influence on ejaculate variables. By contrast,
      approximately 10% of men who have had acute epididymitis develop persistent
      azoospermia thereafter, and 30% have oligozoospermia. Obstruction of the
      excurrent ducts can ensue, as can post-infectious disturbances of
      spermatogenesis. The differential diagnostic evaluation includes the
      determination of testicular volumes, hormone concentrations, and ejaculate
      variables. Epidemiological data are lacking with regard to infertility after
      primary orchitis of infectious origin; however, up to 25% of testicular biopsies
      obtained from infertile men reveal focal inflammatory reactions. Multiple studies
      have suggested a deleterious effect of leukocytes and inflammatory mediators on
      sperm para - meters. On the other hand, the clinical significance of
      bacteriospermia remains unclear. CONCLUSION: Any suspicion of an infectious or
      inflammatory disease in the male genital tract should prompt a systematic
      diagnostic evaluation and appropriate treatment. For patients with obstructive
      azoospermia, the etiology and site of the obstruction determine the surgical
      approach to be taken. In the near future, the elucidation of underlying
      pathophysiological mechanisms and the identification of suitable biomarkers may
      enable new strategies for conservative treatment.

PMID- 28597833
TI  - ?

PMID- 28597831
TI  - Ongoing haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) outbreak caused by sorbitol-fermenting
      (SF) Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, Germany, December 2016
      to May 2017.
AB  - We report an ongoing, protracted and geographically dispersed outbreak of
      haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and gastroenteritis in Germany, involving 30
      cases since December 2016. The outbreak was caused by the sorbitol-fermenting
      immotile variant of Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) Escherichia coli O157. Molecular
      typing revealed close relatedness between isolates from 14 cases. One HUS patient
      died. Results of a case-control study suggest packaged minced meat as the most
      likely food vehicle. Food safety investigations are ongoing.

PMID- 28597832
TI  - Development and validation of the HCV-MOSAIC risk score to assist testing for
      acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in HIV-infected men who have sex with men
      (MSM).
AB  - Current guidelines recommend hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing for HIV-infected men
      who have sex with men (MSM) with ongoing risk behaviour, without specifying the
      type of risk behaviour. We developed and validated the HCV-MOSAIC risk score to
      assist HCV testing in HIV-infected MSM. The risk score consisted of six self
      reported risk factors identified using multivariable logistic regression using
      data from the Dutch MOSAIC study (n = 213, 2009-2013). Area under the ROC curve
      (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, post-test-probability-of-disease and diagnostic
      gain were calculated. The risk score was validated in case-control studies from
      Belgium (n = 142, 2010-2013) and the United Kingdom (n = 190, 2003-2005) and in
      cross-sectional surveys at a Dutch sexually transmitted infections clinic (n =
      284, 2007-2009). The AUC was 0.82; sensitivity 78.0% and specificity 78.6%. In
      the validation studies sensitivity ranged from 73.1% to 100% and specificity from
      56.2% to 65.6%. The post-test-probability-of-disease ranged from 5.9% to 20.0%
      given acute HCV prevalence of 1.7% to 6.4%, yielding a diagnostic gain of 4.2% to
      13.6%. The HCV-MOSAIC risk score can successfully identify HIV-infected MSM at
      risk for acute HCV infection. It could be a promising tool to improve HCV testing
      strategies in various settings.

PMID- 28597835
TI  - [Optimization of the final lingual occlusion: an analysis].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objectives of orthodontic treatment are to achieve a
      functional, aesthetic and sustainable occlusion. However, its analysis is often
      limited to the study of its buccal side, easy to check in mouth. Yet, the lingual
      occlusion is also of paramount importance. MATERIAL AND METHOD: After calling to
      mind the ideal static objectives of treatment, described by some authors and
      defined by some scientific societies, this article studies the different supports
      for the analysis of lingual static occlusion and proposes a new protocol for the
      carving of orthodontic casts. RESULTS: The lingual occlusion end-of-treatment
      objectives lack details, whether by the scientific societies or literature,
      although we possess simple ways to study them. DISCUSSION: The lingual part of
      occlusion is rarely studied in our daily practice, particularly because its
      analysis cannot be achieved by a direct intraoral examination. However, it is of
      major importance in the success and stability of our treatments.

PMID- 28597834
TI  - [Magnetic resonance imaging artefacts and fixed orthodontic attachments].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Orthodontic appliances are often removed before magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) scans because they are known to produce artefacts. The purpose of
      this study was to find the exact indications for removal of various fixed
      attachments when imaging four specific areas of the head and neck. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Sixty patients requiring an MRI scan of the head for medical reasons
      volunteered for this investigation. One of four different types of fixed
      attachments (stainless steel brackets, titanium brackets, ceramic brackets with
      metal slots, and stainless steel retainers) were assigned to a patient. Each
      patient had two scans at 1.5 T: with an "empty wax jig" and with a wax jig
      including the attachment. Archwires were not investigated as they are easily
      removed before a scan. Two radiologists evaluated the scans of each patient and
      each of the four areas under investigation: maxillary sinus, oral cavity,
      temporomandibular joints and posterior cerebral fossa. RESULTS: Stainless steel
      brackets always caused non-interpretability of all anatomic areas (100 per cent).
      Titanium brackets, ceramic brackets with metal slots, and stainless steel
      retainers caused artefact in the oral cavity only (for 20, 16.65, and 86.65 per
      cent of the subjects). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that ceramic brackets with
      metal slots and titanium brackets do not always have to be removed before MRI
      scans of the head and neck, depending on the area under investigation. Metal
      fixed retainers should only be removed if the oral cavity itself is under
      investigation. Stainless steel brackets should always be removed before MRI scans
      of the head and neck.

PMID- 28597836
TI  - A propos d'un cas de resorptions radiculaires severes en orthodontie : quelle
      etiologie et quelle prise en charge?Orthodontics and root resorptions: a clinical
      case.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Root resorptions are, with white spots, some of the inconveniences
      caused by orthodontic treatments. Although they are rare, they should not be
      ignored despite the many benefits gained by orthodontic treatment. Contrary to
      white spots, which are controllable by good dental hygiene, root resorptions can
      occur despite patient cooperation. Orthodontists should be aware of this
      phenomenon and make regular radiologic controls a priority for detection "before,
      during and after" treatment. MATERIAL AND METHOD: After literary references, the
      presentation of the case report will illustrate the role of the orthodontist in
      the preservation and care of teeth damaged by impacted cuspids. DISCUSSION: The
      discussion will focus on the prevention and the interception of those phenomena,
      the etiologic research on these cases, on medical supervision and prognostic for
      damaged teeth. CONCLUSION: Before the conclusion, we will evoke the contribution
      of the cone-beam in the diagnosis of root resorption.

PMID- 28597837
TI  - [Effectiveness of selective alveolar decortication in accelerating orthodontic
      treatment: a systematic review].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The number of scientific publications on accelerating orthodontic
      treatment, and especially surgical alveolar corticotomies techniques, has grown
      exponentially over the years. The objective of this systematic literature review
      was to assess the effectiveness of these corticotomies basing on human studies.
      MATERIAL AND METHOD: The review was conducted from Medline and Web of Science
      Core Collection to identify prospective controlled clinical trials with duration
      of orthodontic treatment or the tooth movement rate for primary endpoint.
      RESULTS: Eleven studies respected all inclusion criteria. Six investigated the
      duration of treatment and found shorter values in experimental group than in
      control group, with a gain of 8 to 34 weeks. Five investigated the tooth movement
      rate and found 2.3 times higher values on average during the first month in
      experimental groups, 1.9 times during the second and third months, and 1.3 times
      during the fourth month. The technique also seemed to decrease the risk of root
      resorption and improve molar anchorage. Moreover, it exhibited good periodontal
      tolerance. CONCLUSION: Current literature highlights the effectiveness of
      surgical decortications during the first three to four months after surgery.
      Longer prospective studies are needed to assess their long term effects.

PMID- 28597838
TI  - [Collaboration between periodontics and orthodontics: interest of alveolar
      corticotomies and piezocision. Review of literature].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Orthodontics in adults must adapt to certain particularities
      especially related to the decrease or absence of growth and the prevalence of
      periodontal damage in this population. This review of the literature aims to
      assess the effects of alveolar corticotomies on accelerating or facilitating
      tooth movements in different types of orthodontic movements, to compare results
      obtained by classical technique with those obtained by piezocision and analyze
      their impact on periodontal tissues in the long term. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Research was performed with Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases, beginning in
      January 2000. Every study, selected through its title and abstract, was then
      evaluated through its full content. A total of 65 studies were included. RESULTS:
      All studies showed that corticotomies temporarily facilitate accelerated
      orthodontic tooth movement, with minimal complications. No periodontal lesion,
      loss of pulpal vitality or severe root resorption were reported. DISCUSSION: Only
      a few studies have examined control groups treated with conventional
      orthodontics. Corticotomy allows temporary acceleration of orthodontic tooth
      movement. Piezocision is less invasive and performed in certain indications; it
      also lightens the postoperative complications. However, the fact that using
      alveolar corticotomies significantly decreases the treatment time remains
      uncertain, due to the lack of significant data. Further prospective randomized
      clinical studies are necessary to analyze more precisely the decrease in the
      overall treatment time, improved periodontal support and stability of orthodontic
      treatment results in the long term following the alveolar corticotomies.

PMID- 28597839
TI  - [Timing of alveolar bone graft and sequences of canine eruption in cases of cleft
      lip and palate: a systematic review].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The alveolar bone graft (ABG) is an important phase in the surgical
      treatment of cleft lip and palate (CLP). The purpose of alveolar bone grafting is
      to eliminate oronasal fistulas, restore the continuity of the maxilla and provide
      optimal periodontal support for spontaneous eruption of permanent canines
      adjacent to the cleft. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the
      ideal timing of the ABG that would achieve these goals. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Databases consulted were MEDLINE, Embase et EBSCOhost, using keywords present in
      the MeSH: [cleft lip and palate] and [alveolar bone graft] and [tooth eruption].
      Selection criteria included retrospective studies, prospective studies and meta
      analyzes dating from January 2005, with available full text. RESULTS: Among 105
      references, 9 articles met our selection criteria. ABG carried out before or just
      after the eruption of permanent canines adjacent to the cleft, between 8 and 12
      years old, has the best success rate of the transplant (71% to 89%) and the
      lowest risk of canine inclusion (5% to 19%). CONCLUSION: According to literature
      data, the optimal timing of ABG that provide best results is located between 8
      and 12 years, before or just after the eruption of permanent canines adjacent to
      the cleft. However, this timing could be modified by the multidisciplinary team
      according priorities, particularly aesthetic, defined for each child.

PMID- 28597841
TI  - J'ai lu pour vous.

PMID- 28597840
TI  - [How to treat hypoplasia of the lateral upper incisors by canine substitution : a
      clinical case].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Facing a patient with a morphological or numerical disorder of the
      lateral upper incisors (mainly pegged or missing incisor), the orthodontist has
      to choose between two treatment options : either spatial planning for a
      prosthetic restoration, or space closure with substitution of the lateral
      incisors by canines; the choice depends on the clinical context we are faced
      with. Each treatment option has its advantages and disadvantages and it is hard
      to tip the balance in one direction or another. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This article
      illustrates the rationale for therapeutic management of space closure, in a
      patient with skeletal class III, with hypoplastic and peg-shaped upper lateral
      incisors.

PMID- 28597842
TI  - Adjunctive lacosamide for focal epilepsy: an open-label trial evaluating the
      impact of flexible titration and dosing on safety and seizure outcomes.
AB  - To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of lacosamide in a real-life setting
      with the use of a flexible dose titration schedule and individualised maintenance
      doses up to the maximum approved dose of 400 mg/day. Adults with a diagnosis of
      focal seizures, with or without secondary generalization, were enrolled in this
      open-label Phase IV trial (NCT01235403). Lacosamide was initiated at 100 mg/day
      (50 mg bid) and uptitrated over a 12-week period to 200, 300 or 400 mg/day, based
      on safety and seizure control. Although dose increases were to be in increments
      of 100 mg/day, intermediate doses were permitted at each escalation step for one
      week for patients known to be particularly sensitive to starting new AEDs. After
      receiving a stable, effective dose for three weeks, patients entered the 12-week
      maintenance period. Primary outcomes were incidence of treatment-emergent adverse
      events (TEAEs) and withdrawal due to TEAEs. Seizure outcomes, all secondary, were
      median focal seizure frequency, >=50% reduction in focal seizure frequency, and
      seizure freedom. One hundred patients with a mean age of 44 years were enrolled
      and 74 completed the trial. The incidence of TEAEs was 64.0% (n=100), with the
      most frequently reported (>=5% of patients) being dizziness, headache, and
      asthenia. Fourteen patients withdrew due to TEAEs, most frequently due to
      dizziness (six patients; 6.0%), vomiting (two patients; 2%), and tremor (two
      patients; 2%). Among patients with baseline and maintenance phase seizure data
      (n=75), median reduction in focal seizure frequency from baseline was 69.7% and
      the >=50% responder rate was 69.3%. Among 74 patients who completed the
      maintenance phase, 21 (28.4%) were seizure-free. Flexible lacosamide dosing in
      this open-label trial was associated with a favourable tolerability and safety
      profile; the nature of the TEAEs was consistent with that observed in previous
      pivotal trials. Treatment with lacosamide was also associated with effective
      seizure control.

PMID- 28597843
TI  - Dynamical predictors of an imminent phenotypic switch in bacteria.
AB  - Single cells can stochastically switch across thresholds imposed by regulatory
      networks. Such thresholds can act as a tipping point, drastically changing global
      phenotypic states. In ecology and economics, imminent transitions across such
      tipping points can be predicted using dynamical early warning indicators. A
      typical example is 'flickering' of a fast variable, predicting a longer-lasting
      switch from a low to a high state or vice versa. Considering the different
      timescales between metabolite and protein fluctuations in bacteria, we
      hypothesized that metabolic early warning indicators predict imminent transitions
      across a network threshold caused by enzyme saturation. We used stochastic
      simulations to determine if flickering predicts phenotypic transitions,
      accounting for a variety of molecular physiological parameters, including enzyme
      affinity, burstiness of enzyme gene expression, homeostatic feedback, and rates
      of metabolic precursor influx. In most cases, we found that metabolic flickering
      rates are robustly peaked near the enzyme saturation threshold. The degree of
      fluctuation was amplified by product inhibition of the enzyme. We conclude that
      sensitivity to flickering in fast variables may be a possible natural or
      synthetic strategy to prepare physiological states for an imminent transition.

PMID- 28597844
TI  - Study of gelatin as an effective energy absorbing layer for laser bioprinting.
AB  - Laser-induced forward transfer printing, also commonly known as laser printing,
      has been widely implemented for three-dimensional bioprinting due to its unique
      orifice-free nature during printing. However, the printing quality has the
      potential to be further improved for various laser bioprinting applications. The
      objectives of this study are to investigate the feasibility of using gelatin as
      an energy absorbing layer (EAL) material for laser bioprinting and its effects on
      the quality of printed constructs, bioink printability, and post-printing cell
      viability and process-induced DNA damage. The gelatin EAL is applied between the
      quartz support and the coating of build material, which is to be printed.
      Printing quality can be improved by EAL-assisted laser printing when using
      various alginate solutions (1%, 2%, and 4%) and cell-laden bioinks (2% alginate
      and 5 * 106 cells ml-1 in cell culture medium). The required laser fluence is
      also reduced due to a higher absorption coefficient of gelatin gel, in particular
      when to achieve the best printing type/quality. The post-printing cell viability
      is improved by ~10% and DNA double-strand breaks are reduced by ~50%. For all the
      build materials investigated, the gelatin EAL helps reduce the droplet size and
      average jet velocity.

PMID- 28597845
TI  - Significantly enhanced mechanical properties in AlN helix.
AB  - To safely and reliably use aluminum nitride (AlN) helices in the fabrication of
      novel micro/nanodevices, it is very important to know their mechanical
      properties. Herein, we investigate the mechanical properties of individual AlN
      helices using an in situ tensile-bending test. Tensile tests reveal that an AlN
      helix has an average epsilon of ~4.7 +/- 0.8% elastic deformation before a
      typical brittle fracture occurs. The bending test shows a two-step mechanical
      feature-linear-elastic followed by an elastic-plastic process-with an average
      epsilon bent of ~54.5 +/- 0.6%. Our results provide direct cognition about the
      mechanical properties of AlN helices and their benefit to the design of AlN-based
      flexible micro/nanodevices.

PMID- 28597846
TI  - Single-trial effective brain connectivity patterns enhance discriminability of
      mental imagery tasks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The majority of the current approaches of connectivity based brain
      computer interface (BCI) systems focus on distinguishing between different motor
      imagery (MI) tasks. Brain regions associated with MI are anatomically close to
      each other, hence these BCI systems suffer from low performances. Our objective
      is to introduce single-trial connectivity feature based BCI system for cognition
      imagery (CI) based tasks wherein the associated brain regions are located
      relatively far away as compared to those for MI. APPROACH: We implemented time
      domain partial Granger causality (PGC) for the estimation of the connectivity
      features in a BCI setting. The proposed hypothesis has been verified with two
      publically available datasets involving MI and CI tasks. MAIN RESULTS: The
      results support the conclusion that connectivity based features can provide a
      better performance than a classical signal processing framework based on bandpass
      features coupled with spatial filtering for CI tasks, including word generation,
      subtraction, and spatial navigation. These results show for the first time that
      connectivity features can provide a reliable performance for imagery-based BCI
      system. SIGNIFICANCE: We show that single-trial connectivity features for mixed
      imagery tasks (i.e. combination of CI and MI) can outperform the features
      obtained by current state-of-the-art method and hence can be successfully applied
      for BCI applications.

PMID- 28597847
TI  - Mapping the fine structure of cortical activity with different micro-ECoG
      electrode array geometries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Innovations in micro-electrocorticography (uECoG) electrode array
      manufacturing now allow for intricate designs with smaller contact diameters
      and/or pitch (i.e. inter-contact distance) down to the sub-mm range. The aims of
      the present study were: (i) to investigate whether frequency ranges up to 400 Hz
      can be reproducibly observed in uECoG recordings and (ii) to examine how
      differences in topographical substructure between these frequency bands and
      electrode array geometries can be quantified. We also investigated, for the first
      time, the influence of blood vessels on signal properties and assessed the
      influence of cortical vasculature on topographic mapping. APPROACH: The present
      study employed two uECoG electrode arrays with different contact diameters and
      inter-contact distances, which were used to characterize neural activity from the
      somatosensory cortex of minipigs in a broad frequency range up to 400 Hz. The
      analysed neural data were recorded in acute experiments under anaesthesia during
      peripheral electrical stimulation. MAIN RESULTS: We observed that uECoG
      recordings reliably revealed multi-focal cortical somatosensory response
      patterns, in which response peaks were often less than 1 cm apart and would thus
      not have been resolvable with conventional ECoG. The response patterns differed
      by stimulation site and intensity, they were distinct for different frequency
      bands, and the results of functional mapping proved independent of cortical
      vascular. Our analysis of different frequency bands exhibited differences in the
      number of activation peaks in topographical substructures. Notably, signal
      strength and signal-to-noise ratios differed between the two electrode arrays,
      possibly due to their different sensitivity for variations in spatial patterns
      and signal strengths. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings that the geometry of uECoG
      electrode arrays can strongly influence their recording performance can help to
      make informed decisions that maybe important in number of clinical contexts,
      including high-resolution brain mapping, advanced epilepsy diagnostics or brain
      machine interfacing.

PMID- 28597848
TI  - Effects of soft interactions and bound mobility on diffusion in crowded
      environments: a model of sticky and slippery obstacles.
AB  - Crowded environments modify the diffusion of macromolecules, generally slowing
      their movement and inducing transient anomalous subdiffusion. The presence of
      obstacles also modifies the kinetics and equilibrium behavior of tracers. While
      previous theoretical studies of particle diffusion have typically assumed either
      impenetrable obstacles or binding interactions that immobilize the particle, in
      many cellular contexts bound particles remain mobile. Examples include membrane
      proteins or lipids with some entry and diffusion within lipid domains and
      proteins that can enter into membraneless organelles or compartments such as the
      nucleolus. Using a lattice model, we studied the diffusive movement of tracer
      particles which bind to soft obstacles, allowing tracers and obstacles to occupy
      the same lattice site. For sticky obstacles, bound tracer particles are immobile,
      while for slippery obstacles, bound tracers can hop without penalty to adjacent
      obstacles. In both models, binding significantly alters tracer motion. The type
      and degree of motion while bound is a key determinant of the tracer mobility:
      slippery obstacles can allow nearly unhindered diffusion, even at high obstacle
      filling fraction. To mimic compartmentalization in a cell, we examined how
      obstacle size and a range of bound diffusion coefficients affect tracer dynamics.
      The behavior of the model is similar in two and three spatial dimensions. Our
      work has implications for protein movement and interactions within cells.

PMID- 28597849
TI  - Association between diacylglycerol kinase kappa variants and hypospadias
      susceptibility in a Han Chinese population.
AB  - Previous genome-wide association studies have identified variants in the
      diacylglycerol kinase kappa (DGKK) gene associated with hypospadias in
      populations of European descent. However, no variants of DGKK were confirmed to
      be associated with hypospadias in a recent Han Chinese study population, likely
      due to the limited number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) included in
      the analysis. In this study, we aimed to address the inconsistent results and
      evaluate the association between DGKK and hypospadias in the Han Chinese
      population through a more comprehensive analysis of DGKK variants. We conducted
      association analyses for 17 SNPs in or downstream of DGKK with hypospadias among
      322 cases (58 mild, 113 moderate, 128 severe, and 23 unknown) and 1008 controls.
      Five SNPs (rs2211122, rs4554617, rs7058226, rs7063116, and rs5915254) in DGKK
      were significantly associated with hypospadias (P < 0.05), with odds ratios (ORs)
      of 1.64-1.76. When only mild and moderate cases were compared to controls, 10
      SNPs in DGKK were significant (P < 0.05), with ORs of 1.56-2.13. No significant
      SNP was observed when only severe cases were compared to controls. This study
      successfully implicated DGKK variants in hypospadias risk among a Han Chinese
      population, especially for mild/moderate cases. Severe forms of hypospadias are
      likely due to other genetic factors.

PMID- 28597851
TI  - Care for mental disorders and promotion of mental well-being in South-East Asia.

PMID- 28597850
TI  - The role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in prostate cancer.
AB  - Despite great progress in the detection and treatment of prostate cancer, this
      disease remains an incredible health and economic burden. Although androgen
      receptor (AR) signaling plays a key role in the development and progression of
      prostate cancer, aberrations in other molecular pathways also contribute to the
      disease, making it essential to identify and develop drugs against novel targets,
      both for the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. One promising target is
      the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) protein.
      PPARgamma was originally thought to act as a tumor suppressor in prostate cells
      because agonist ligands inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells; however,
      additional studies found that PPARgamma agonists inhibit cell growth independent
      of PPARgamma. Furthermore, PPARgamma expression increases with cancer
      grade/stage, which would suggest that it is not a tumor suppressor but instead
      that PPARgamma activity may play a role in prostate cancer development and/or
      progression. Indeed, two new studies, taking vastly different, unbiased
      approaches, have identified PPARgamma as a target in prostate cancer and suggest
      that PPARgamma inhibition might be useful in prostate cancer prevention and
      treatment. These findings could lead to a new therapeutic weapon in the fight
      against prostate cancer.

PMID- 28597852
TI  - Mental health policies in South-East Asia and the public health role of screening
      instruments for depression.
AB  - The World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region, which contributes one
      quarter of the world's population, has a significant burden due to mental
      illnesses. Mental health has been a low priority in most countries of the region.
      Although most of these countries have national mental health policies,
      implementation at ground level remains a huge challenge. Many countries in the
      region lack mental health legislation that can safeguard the rights of people
      with mental illnesses, and governments have allocated low budgets for mental
      health services. It is imperative that concerned authorities work towards scaling
      up both financial and human resources for effective delivery of mental health
      services. Policymakers should facilitate training in the field of mental health
      and aim towards integrating mental health services with primary health care, to
      reduce the treatment gap. Steps should also be taken to develop a robust mental
      health information system that can provide baseline information and insight about
      existing mental health services and help in prioritization of the mental health
      needs of the individual countries. Although evidence-based management protocols
      such as the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) guidelines facilitate
      training and scaling up of care in resource-limited countries, the identification
      of mental disorders like depression in such settings remains a challenge.
      Development and validation of brief psychiatric screening instruments should be
      prioritized to support such models of care. This paper illustrates an approach
      towards the development of a new culturally adapted instrument to identify
      depression that has scope for wider use in the WHO South-East Asia Region.

PMID- 28597853
TI  - Depression and physical noncommunicable diseases: The need for an integrated
      approach.
AB  - Depression is globally the third-leading cause of disability in terms of
      disability-adjusted life-years. Depression in patients with diseases such as
      cancer, diabetes mellitus, stroke or cardiovascular disease is 2-4-fold more
      prevalent than in people who do not have physical noncommunicable diseases, and
      may have a more prolonged course. The significant burden due to depression that
      is comorbid with chronic physical disease, coupled with limited resources, makes
      it a major public health challenge for low- and middle-income countries. Given
      the bidirectional relation between depression and chronic physical disease, the
      clear way forward in managing this population of patients is via a system in
      which mental health care is integrated with primary care. Central to this
      integrated approach is the Collaborative Care Model, adapted to the local
      sociocultural context. In this model, care is jointly led by the primary care
      physician, supported by a case manager and a mental health professional. Various
      successful initiatives in low- and middle-income countries may be used as
      templates for collaborative care in other low-resource settings. The model
      involves a range of interwoven components, such as capacity-building, task
      sharing, task-shifting, developing good referral and linkage systems, anti-stigma
      initiatives and lifestyle modifications. Policies based on adoption of this
      approach would not only directly address depression that is comorbid with
      physical noncommunicable disease but also facilitate achievement of Sustainable
      Development Goal 3, to "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at
      all ages".

PMID- 28597854
TI  - Decentralizing provision of mental health care in Sri Lanka.
AB  - In the past, mental health services in Sri Lanka were limited to tertiary-care
      institutions, resulting in a large treatment gap. Starting in 2000, significant
      efforts have been made to reconfigure service provision and to integrate mental
      health services with primary health care. This approach was supported by
      significant political commitment to establishing island-wide decentralized mental
      health care in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. Various initiatives were
      consolidated in The mental health policy of Sri Lanka 2005-2015, which called for
      implementation of a comprehensive community-based, decentralized service
      structure. The main objectives of the policy were to provide mental health
      services of good quality at primary, secondary and tertiary levels; to ensure the
      active involvement of communities, families and service users; to make mental
      health services culturally appropriate and evidence based; and to protect the
      human rights and dignity of all people with mental health disorders. Significant
      improvements have been made and new cadres of mental health workers have been
      introduced. Trained medical officers (mental health) now provide outpatient care,
      domiciliary care, mental health promotion in schools, and community mental health
      education. Community psychiatric nurses have also been trained and deployed to
      supervise treatment adherence in the home and provide mental health education to
      patients, their family members and the wider community. A total of 4367 mental
      health volunteers are supporting care and raising mental health literacy in the
      community. Despite these important achievements, more improvements are needed to
      provide more timely intervention, combat myths and stigma, and further
      decentralize care provision. These, and other challenges, will be targeted in the
      new mental health policy for 2017-2026.

PMID- 28597855
TI  - Post-disaster mental health and psychosocial support: Experience from the 2015
      Nepal earthquake.
AB  - On 25 April 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Nepal, which, along with
      the subsequent aftershocks, killed 8897 people, injured 22 303 and left 2.8
      million homeless. Previous efforts to provide services for mental health and
      psychological support (MHPSS) in humanitarian settings in Nepal have been largely
      considered inadequate and poorly coordinated. Immediately after the earthquake,
      the Government of Nepal declared a state of emergency and the health sector
      started to respond. The immediate response to the earthquake was coordinated
      following the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) cluster approach. One month
      after the disaster, integrated MHPSS subclusters were initiated to coordinate the
      activities of many national and international, governmental and nongovernmental,
      partners. These activities were largely conducted on an ad-hoc basis, owing to
      lack of focus on MHPSS in the health sector's contingency plan for emergencies.
      The mental health subcluster attempted to implement a mental health response
      according to World Health Organization and IASC guidelines. The MHPSS response
      highlighted many strengths and weaknesses of Nepal's mental health system. This
      provides an opportunity to "build back better" through reform of mental health
      services. A strategic response to the lessons of the 2015 earthquake will deliver
      both improved population mental health and increased preparedness for the future.

PMID- 28597856
TI  - Challenges and opportunities in suicide prevention in South-East Asia.
AB  - Suicide is a global public health problem, with over 800 000 people worldwide
      dying by suicide in 2012, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The
      WHO South-East Asia Region is especially affected, with 39% of global suicides
      occurring in the 11 countries in this region. Women are a particularly vulnerable
      population, for a variety of social and cultural reasons. In India specifically,
      deaths by suicide for women peak in the age range 15-29 years. There is
      sufficient evidence to show that reduction of easy access to means of suicide is
      an effective prevention strategy. A common method of suicide in the region is by
      ingestion of pesticides. Strategies that have targeted limiting access to
      pesticides as a means of preventing suicide, such as the use of central storage
      and locked boxes, have shown promising results. Given the limited human and
      economic resources in these countries, it is essential to involve all
      stakeholders, including health services, voluntary and community organizations,
      teachers, social workers, traditional healers and other gatekeepers, in suicide
      prevention. A multisectoral approach, specifically targeting women and reducing
      easy access to pesticides, should be the way forward to reducing suicides in this
      region. In addition, more research is needed, to identify cost-effective and
      sustainable strategies.

PMID- 28597857
TI  - Services for depression and suicide in Thailand.
AB  - Depression, together with suicide is an important contributor to the burden of
      disease in Thailand. Until recently, depression has been significantly under
      recognized in the country. The lack of response to this health challenge has been
      compounded by a low level of access to standard care, constraints on mental
      health personnel and inadequate dissemination of knowledge in caring for people
      with these disorders. In the past decade, significant work has been undertaken to
      establish a new evidence-based surveillance and care system for depression and
      suicide in Thailand that operates at all levels of health-care provision
      nationwide. The main components of the integrated system are: (i) community-level
      screening for depression in at-risk groups, using a two-question tool; (ii)
      assessment of the severity of depression using a nine-question scale; (iii)
      diagnosis and treatment by general practitioners; (iv) psychosocial care provided
      by psychiatric nurses; (v) continuous care for relapse and suicide prevention;
      and (vi) promotion of mental well-being and prevention of depression in at-risk
      populations. Factors such as appropriate financial mechanisms, capacity-building
      programmes for health-care workers, and robust treatment guidelines have
      contributed to the success and sustainability of this comprehensive surveillance
      and care system. By 2016, more than 14 million people at risk had been screened
      for depression and received mental health education; more than 1.7 million people
      with depression had received psychosocial interventions; 0.7 million diagnosed
      patients had received antidepressants; and 0.8 million were being followed up for
      relapse and suicide prevention. The application of this surveillance and care
      system has led to an enormous increase in the accessibility of standard care for
      people with depressive disorders, from 5.1% of those with depressive disorders in
      2009 to 48.5% in 2016.

PMID- 28597859
TI  - Suicide burden and prevention in Nepal: The need for a national strategy.
AB  - Suicide is a major cause of deaths worldwide and is a key public health concern
      in Nepal. Although routine national data are not collected in Nepal, the
      available evidence suggests that suicide rates are relatively high, notably for
      women. In addition, civil conflict and the 2015 earthquake have had significant
      contributory effects. A range of factors both facilitate suicide attempts and
      hinder those affected from seeking help, such as the ready availability of toxic
      pesticides and the widespread, although erroneous, belief that suicide is
      illegal. Various interventions have been undertaken at different levels in
      prevention and rehabilitation but a specific long-term national strategy for
      suicide prevention is lacking. Hence, to address this significant public health
      problem, a multisectoral platform of stakeholders needs to be established under
      government leadership, to design and implement innovative and country
      contextualized policies and programmes. A bottom-up approach, with active and
      participatory community engagement from the start of the policy- and strategy
      formulation stage, through to the design and implementation of interventions,
      could potentially build grass-roots public ownership, reduce stigma and ensure a
      scaleable and sustainable response.

PMID- 28597858
TI  - Policy and governance to address depression and suicide in Bhutan: The national
      suicide-prevention strategy.
AB  - Suicide and mental disorders are a growing public health issue in Bhutan, due in
      part to a rapidly transitioning society. The burden of suicide has been
      recognized by the Royal Government of Bhutan and, as a result, it introduced the
      country's first ever national suicide-prevention plan in 2015. The 3-year action
      plan takes a holistic approach to making suicide-prevention services a top social
      priority, through strengthening suicide-prevention policies, promoting socially
      protective measures, mitigating risk factors and reaching out to individuals who
      are at risk of suicide or affected by incidents of suicide. This article
      documents Bhutan's policy and governance for addressing depression and suicide
      within the context of its national suicide-prevention strategy, examines progress
      and highlights lessons for future directions in suicide prevention. Since the
      endorsement of the 3-year action plan by the prime minister's cabinet, the
      implementation of suicide-prevention measures has been accelerated through a high
      level national steering committee. Activities include suicide-prevention actions
      by sectors such as health, education, monastic communities and police; building
      capacity of gatekeepers; and improving the suicide information system to inform
      policies and decision-making. Suicide-prevention activities have become the
      responsibility of local governments, paving the way for suicide prevention as an
      integral mandate across sectors and at grass-root levels in the Kingdom of
      Bhutan.

PMID- 28597860
TI  - Co-occurring depression and alcohol-use disorders in South-East Asia: A narrative
      review.
AB  - Depression and alcohol-use disorders frequently co-occur and the presence of one
      augments the adverse consequences of the other. This article reviews and
      synthesizes the available literature on depression and alcohol-use disorders from
      the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region, with respect to
      epidemiology, screening instruments, interventions and services, and policy. In
      common with other low- and middle-income settings, data from this region on co
      occurring depression and alcohol-use disorders are scarce. The wide variations in
      language and cultural diversity within the countries of this region further make
      the identification and management of people with co-occurring depression and
      alcohol-use disorders a major challenge. A range of interventions for individuals
      with the two disorders have been studied. However, most of this work has been
      done in high-income countries, highlighting the need to explore the effectiveness
      and cost effectiveness of various pharmacological and non-pharmacological
      interventions in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Much of this region comprises
      low-resource settings, with a dearth of trained personnel and resources. Flexible
      transdiagnostic approaches, delivered by community health workers and integrated
      into primary health care may be a pragmatic approach. Such services should form
      part of strengthened national responses to alcohol-related public health problems
      across the region.

PMID- 28597861
TI  - Suicide and depression in the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region: A
      systematic review.
AB  - Background Depression is the most common comorbid psychiatric disorder in people
      who die by suicide and 39% of global suicides occur in the World Health
      Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region. The aim of this systematic review was
      to identify, for countries of this region, first the prevalence of depression
      among people who (i) die by, or (ii) attempt, suicide, and second, the proportion
      of people with depression who attempt or die by suicide. Methods PubMed,
      PsycINFO, EMBASE and Google Scholar were searched, together with five available
      national databases, for quantitative research papers published in English between
      1956 and 4 September 2016 from the 11 countries of the WHO South-East Asia
      Region. Results The 19 articles that met the predefined eligibility criteria were
      from five countries: Bangladesh (1), India (12), Indonesia (1), Sri Lanka (3) and
      Thailand (2); no eligible papers from the remaining countries of the region were
      retrieved. Eight studies, from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka,
      reported the prevalence of depression among people who had died by suicide. The
      study settings varied, as did the proportion of depression recorded (6.9-51.7%),
      and the study sample sizes ranged from 27 to 372. Eight studies from India and
      one from Sri Lanka investigated depression among people who had attempted
      suicide. Using a range of screening and diagnostic tools, the reported prevalence
      of depression ranged between 22.0% and 59.7%. The study sample sizes ranged from
      56 to 949. Only two articles were found, both from Thailand, that reported on
      suicide in people with depression. Conclusion Despite the high burden of
      mortality of suicide in the WHO South-East Asia Region, evidence on the relation
      between suicide and depression is scarce. There is a need to understand this
      phenomenon better, in order to inform suicide-prevention strategies in the
      region.

PMID- 28597862
TI  - Alcohol consumption among adults in Bangladesh: Results from STEPS 2010.
AB  - Background Alcohol use is a risk factor for the development of noncommunicable
      diseases. National data are needed to assess the prevalence of alcohol use in the
      Bangladeshi population. The objective of this study was to describe the
      prevalence and patterns of alcohol use among men and women of rural and urban
      areas of Bangladesh. Additionally, predictors of ever alcohol use were also
      identified. Methods A nationally representative cross-sectional survey (STEPS
      2010) was conducted on 9275 adults between November 2009 and April 2010.
      Participants were selected using multi-stage random cluster sampling. Data on
      several risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, including alcohol use, were
      collected by an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Results Among the total
      population, 5.6% (n = 519) reported to have ever drunk alcohol and 94.4% (8756)
      were lifetime abstainers; 2.0% (n = 190) of participants reported to have drunk
      alcohol within the last 12 months. Of these, 94.7% (n = 180) were men. Only 0.9%
      (n = 87) of the total population had drunk alcohol within the last 30 days and
      were categorized as current drinkers. Among current drinkers, 77.0% (n = 67) were
      defined as binge drinkers, having had at least one episode of heavy drinking in
      this time period; 92.0% (n = 80) were current smokers and 59.8% (n = 52) had
      either no formal education or less than primary school education. Ever alcohol
      use was more common among men, those who live in urban areas and smokers.
      Conclusion Alcohol use is low in Bangladesh; however, those who do use alcohol
      frequently binge drink, which is a public health concern. Targeted efforts should
      be made on these specific groups, to control and prevent the continued use of
      alcohol in Bangladesh.

PMID- 28597863
TI  - Perinatal care practices in home deliveries in rural Bangalore, India: A
      community-based, cross-sectional survey.
AB  - Background A slowing in the decline in neonatal mortality in India has hindered
      progress made in reducing overall child mortality. The persisting use of unsafe
      home deliveries and harmful neonatal care practices may contribute to this
      stagnation in neonatal mortality rates. Methods A community-based cross-sectional
      study of mothers residing in rural Bangalore, India, who had given birth within
      42 days of the day of home visit was done during 2013-2014. Trained health
      workers interviewed women who delivered at home about perinatal care practices.
      The questionnaire used was adapted from previous studies assessing perinatal care
      practices according to World Health Organization guidelines. Descriptive analyses
      of perinatal practices were reported as frequencies. The association of various
      factors with the outcomes clean cord care, thermal care and early initiation of
      breastfeeding were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analyses.
      Results Of a total of 2230 deliveries, 945 (42.4%) took place in hospitals, while
      the remainder were at home (57.6%). Among home deliveries, only 30.6% were
      attended by a skilled worker; a safe-delivery kit was used in 40.6% and 47.1% of
      attendants had washed their hands before delivery. In most cases (94.6%), the
      umbilical cord was cut after delivery of the placenta and a non-sterile
      instrument was used in 26.6% of births. Harmful practices of applications on the
      cord stump (35.0%), bathing within 6 h (61.6%), pre-lacteal feeding (30.8%) and
      delayed initiation of breastfeeding (73.3%) were reported. Wrapping was usually
      delayed, and most (64.7%) neonates were wrapped between 10 min and 60 min after
      birth. Being Hindu was positively associated with good perinatal care practices,
      and attending antenatal care at least once was associated with clean cord care
      and early breastfeeding. Having a trained birth attendant at delivery was
      associated only with clean cord care. Having a medical doctor/nurse in attendance
      was associated with only early initiation of breastfeeding. Being a member of a
      scheduled caste/tribe was positively associated with clean cord care and thermal
      care. Conclusion Appropriate and culturally acceptable behaviour-change
      communication strategies are needed to improve delivery and neonatal care
      practices in Bangalore.

PMID- 28597864
TI  - Motivating and demotivating factors for community health workers: A qualitative
      study in urban slums of Delhi, India.
AB  - Background Community health workers play an important role in delivering health
      care services, especially to underserved populations in low- and middle-income
      countries. They have been shown to be successful in providing a range of
      preventive, promotive and curative services. This qualitative study investigated
      the factors motivating or demotivating community health workers in urban settings
      in Delhi, India. Methods In this sub-study of the ANCHUL (Ante Natal and Child
      Healthcare in Urban Slums) implementation research project, four focus-group
      discussions and nine in-depth interviews were conducted with community health
      workers and medical officers. Utilizing a reflexive and inductive qualitative
      methodology, the data set was coded, to allow categories of motivating and
      demotivating factors to emerge. Results Motivating factors identified were:
      support from family members for their work, improved self-identity, job
      satisfaction and a sense of social responsibility, prior experiences of ill
      health, the opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge, social recognition
      and status conferred by the community, and flexible work and timings. Negative
      experiences in the community and at health centres, constraints in the local
      health system in response to the demand generated by the community health
      workers, and poor pay demotivated community health workers in this study, even
      causing some to quit their jobs. Conclusion Community-health-worker programmes
      that focus on ensuring the technical capacity of their staff may not give
      adequate attention to the factors that motivate or discourage these workers. As
      efforts get under way to ensure universal access to health care, it is important
      that these issues are recognized and addressed, to ensure that community health
      worker programmes are effective and sustainable.

PMID- 28597865
TI  - Adoption of the 2015 World Health Organization guidelines on antiretroviral
      therapy: Programmatic implications for India.
AB  - The therapeutic and preventive benefits of early initiation of antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) for HIV are now well established. Reflecting new research evidence,
      in 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended initiation of ART for all
      people living with HIV (PLHIV), irrespective of their clinical staging and CD4
      cell count. The National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) in India is currently
      following the 2010 WHO ART guidelines for adults and the 2013 guidelines for
      pregnant women and children. This desk study assessed the number of people living
      with HIV who will additionally be eligible for ART on adoption of the 2015 WHO
      recommendations on ART. Data routinely recorded for all PLHIV registered under
      the NACP up to 31 December 2015 were analysed. Of the 250 865 individuals
      recorded in pre-ART care, an estimated 135 593 would be eligible under the WHO
      2013 guidelines. A further 100 221 would be eligible under the WHO 2015
      guidelines. Initiating treatment for all PLHIV in pre-ART care would raise the
      number on ART from 0.92 million to 1.17 million. In addition, nearly 0.07 million
      newly registered PLHIV will become eligible every year if the WHO 2015 guidelines
      are adopted, of which 0.028 million would be attributable to implementation of
      the WHO 2013 guidelines alone. In addition to drugs, there will be a need for
      additional CD4 tests and tests of viral load, as the numbers on ART will increase
      significantly. The outlay should be seen in the context of potential health-care
      savings due to early initiation of ART, in terms of the effect on disease
      progression, complications, deaths and new infections. While desirable, adoption
      of the new guidance will have significant programmatic and resource implications
      for India. The programme needs to plan and strengthen the service-delivery
      mechanism, with emphasis on newer and innovative approaches before implementation
      of these guidelines.

PMID- 28597866
TI  - Delivery of antiretroviral treatment services in India: Estimated costs incurred
      under the National AIDS Control Programme.
AB  - Competing domestic health priorities and shrinking financial support from
      external agencies necessitates that India's National AIDS Control Programme
      (NACP) brings in cost efficiencies to sustain the programme. In addition, current
      plans to expand the criteria for eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) in
      India will have significant financial implications in the near future. ART
      centres in India provide comprehensive services to people living with HIV
      (PLHIV): those fulfilling national eligibility criteria and receiving ART and
      those on pre-ART care, i.e. not on ART. ART centres are financially supported (i)
      directly by the NACP; and (ii) indirectly by general health systems. This study
      was conducted to determine (i) the cost incurred per patient per year of pre-ART
      and ART services at ART centres; and (ii) the proportion of this cost incurred by
      the NACP and by general health systems. The study used national data from April
      2013 to March 2014, on ART costs and non-ART costs (human resources, laboratory
      tests, training, prophylaxis and management of opportunistic infections,
      hospitalization, operational, and programme management). Data were extracted from
      procurement records and reports, statements of expenditure at national and state
      level, records and reports from ART centres, databases of the National AIDS
      Control Organisation, and reports on use of antiretroviral drugs. The analysis
      estimates the cost for ART services as US$ 133.89 (?8032) per patient per year,
      of which 66% (US$ 88.66, ?5320) is for antiretroviral drugs and 34% (US$ 45.23,
      ?2712) is for non-ART recurrent expenditure, while the cost for pre-ART care is
      US$ 33.05 (?1983) per patient per year. The low costs incurred for patients in
      ART and pre-ART care services can be attributed mainly to the low costs of
      generic drugs. However, further integration with general health systems may
      facilitate additional cost saving, such as in human resources.

PMID- 28597867
TI  - Prognostic Significance of a Micropapillary Pattern in Pure Mucinous Carcinoma of
      the Breast: Comparative Analysis with Micropapillary Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucinous carcinoma of the breast is an indolent tumors with a
      favorable prognosis; however, micropapillary features tend to lead to aggressive
      behavior. Thus, mucinous carcinoma and micropapillary carcinoma exhibit
      contrasting biologic behaviors. Here, we review invasive mucinous carcinoma with
      a focus on micropapillary features and correlations with clinicopathological
      factors. METHODS: A total of 64 patients with invasive breast cancer with
      mucinous or micropapillary features were enrolled in the study. Of 36 pure
      mucinous carcinomas, 17 (47.2%) had micropapillary features and were termed
      mucinous carcinoma with micropapillary features (MUMPC), and 19 (52.8%) had no
      micropapillary features and were termed mucinous carcinoma without micropapillary
      features. MUMPC were compared with 15 invasive micropapillary carcinomas (IMPC)
      and 13 invasive ductal and micropapillary carcinomas (IDMPC). RESULTS: The
      clinicopathological factors of pure mucinous carcinoma and MUMPC were not
      significantly different. In contrast to IMPC and IDMPC, MUMPC had a low nuclear
      grade, lower mitotic rate, higher expression of hormone receptors, negative human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, lower Ki-67 proliferating
      index, and less frequent lymph node metastasis (p < .05). According to univariate
      analyses, progesterone receptor, HER2, T-stage, and lymph node metastasis were
      significant risk factors for overall survival; however, only T-stage remained
      significant in a multivariate analysis (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to
      IMPC and IDMPC, the micropapillary pattern in mucinous carcinoma does not
      contribute to aggressive behavior. However, further analysis of a larger series
      of patients is required to clarify the prognostic significance of micropapillary
      patterns in mucinous carcinoma of the breast.

PMID- 28597868
TI  - Loss of Progesterone Receptor Expression Is an Early Tumorigenesis Event
      Associated with Tumor Progression and Shorter Survival in Pancreatic
      Neuroendocrine Tumor Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) are the second most common
      pancreatic neoplasms and there is no well-elucidated biomarker to stratify their
      detection and prognosis. Previous studies have reported that progesterone
      receptor (PR) expression status was associated with poorer survival in PanNET
      patients. METHODS: To validate previous studies, PR protein expression was
      assessed in 21 neuroendocrine microadenomas and 277 PanNETs and compared with
      clinicopathologic factors including patient survival. RESULTS: PR expression was
      gradually decreased from normal islets (49/49 cases, 100%) to neuroendocrine
      microadenoma (14/21, 66.6%) to PanNETs (60/277, 21.3%; p < .001). PanNETs with
      loss of PR expression were associated with increased tumor size (p < .001), World
      Health Organization grade (p = .001), pT classification (p < .001), perineural
      invasion (p = .028), lymph node metastasis (p = .004), activation of alternative
      lengthening of telomeres (p = .005), other peptide hormonal expression (p < .001)
      and ATRX/DAXX expression (p = .015). PanNET patients with loss of PR expression
      (5-year survival rate, 64.1%) had significantly poorer recurrence-free survival
      outcomes than those with intact PR expression (90%) by univariate (p = .012) but
      not multivariate analyses. Similarly, PanNET patients with PR expression loss (5
      year survival rate, 76%) had significantly poorer overall survival by univariate
      (p = .015) but not multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Loss of PR expression was
      noted in neuroendocrine microadenomas and was observed in the majority of
      PanNETs. This was associated with increased grade, tumor size, and advanced pT
      and pN classification; and was correlated with decreased patient survival time by
      univariate but not multivariate analyses. Loss of PR expression can provide
      additional information on shorter disease-free survival in PanNET patients.

PMID- 28597869
TI  - The qualitative orientation in medical education research.
AB  - Qualitative research is very important in educational research as it addresses
      the "how" and "why" research questions and enables deeper understanding of
      experiences, phenomena and context. Qualitative research allows you to ask
      questions that cannot be easily put into numbers to understand human experience.
      Getting at the everyday realities of some social phenomenon and studying
      important questions as they are really practiced helps extend knowledge and
      understanding. To do so, you need to understand the philosophical stance of
      qualitative research and work from this to develop the research question, study
      design, data collection methods and data analysis. In this article, I provide an
      overview of the assumptions underlying qualitative research and the role of the
      researcher in the qualitative process. I then go on to discuss the type of
      research objectives which are common in qualitative research, then introduce the
      main qualitative designs, data collection tools, and finally the basics of
      qualitative analysis. I introduce the criteria by which you can judge the quality
      of qualitative research. Many classic references are cited in this article, and I
      urge you to seek out some of these further reading to inform your qualitative
      research program.

PMID- 28597871
TI  - Development an instrument assessing residents' attitude towards professionalism
      lapses in training.
AB  - PURPOSE: Medical professionalism is a fundamental competency for all physicians
      and continuous development of professionalism during residency training is
      crucial. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument assessing
      residents' attitudes toward unprofessional behaviors. METHODS: A questionnaire
      survey was conducted in cooperation with the Korea Resident Association from May
      to July 2013. A total of 317 residents from seven university-affiliated hospitals
      in South Korea participated in the survey. RESULTS: In the exploratory factor
      analysis, seven factors were extracted from the data; factor loadings of the 44
      items ranged between 0.40 and 0.89. Through iterative discussion, three items
      below 0.45 were deleted and one additional item was removed due to its
      irrelevance. Twelve items included in Factor 1 were divided into two different
      categories. A final version of the questionnaire containing 40 items in eight
      categories was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. It was deemed to have
      a good fit; the root mean square error of approximation and comparative fit index
      were 0.07 and 0.9, respectively. The reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of the
      inventory was 0.97. CONCLUSION: The items of this instrument encompass a broad
      range of residents' behaviors in clinical practice, research, and publication. In
      addition, it includes some types of misconduct that can be considered unique
      features of the authors' cultural backgrounds. We recommend this instrument as an
      assessment tool to diagnose residents' perceptions and attitudes towards
      professionalism lapses and to provide insight regarding potential improvement in
      professionalism education.

PMID- 28597870
TI  - Potential bias factors that affect the course evaluation of students in
      preclinical courses.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aim to identify what potential bias factors affected students'
      overall course evaluation, and to observe what factors should be considered in
      the curriculum evaluation system of medical schools. METHODS: This study analyzed
      students' ratings of preclinical instructions at the Ajou University School of
      Medicine. The ratings of instructions involved 41 first-year and 45 second-year
      medical students. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference
      between years of study and ratings' scoring. Learning difficulty, learning
      amount, student assessment, and teacher preparation from second-year students
      were significantly higher than first-year students (p<0.05). The analysis results
      revealed that student assessment was the predictor of ratings from first-year
      students, while teacher preparation was the predictor of ratings from second-year
      students. CONCLUSION: We found significant interactions between year of study and
      the students' rating results. We were able to confirm that satisfaction of
      instructions factors perceived by medical students were different for the
      characteristics of courses. Our results may be an important resource for
      evaluating preclinical curriculums.

PMID- 28597872
TI  - Flipped-learning course design and evaluation through student self-assessment in
      a predental science class.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study explores how to design a flipped classroom for a predental
      science course and evaluate its course through student self-assessment in order
      to provide practical implications for flipped learning in an undergraduate level.
      METHODS: Second- and third-year predental students in the Seoul National
      University School of Dentistry enrolled in Biodiversity and Global Environment, a
      15-week, three-credit course based on a flipped learning model. At the end of the
      course, the students were asked to rate their self-directed learning, attitude
      toward social media, discussion skills, learning readiness, and class
      satisfaction. Out of the 82 predental students, 61 (74.3%) answered the survey.
      Pearson correlation and multivariate regression analyses were employed to examine
      the relationship between the self-rated measurements and the performance scores.
      RESULTS: The majority of the students felt somewhat more prepared than the medium
      level before the class (mean score of 3.17 out of 5.00), whereas they expressed
      relatively low preference concerning social media use and attitude (mean score of
      2.49). Thus, it was found that learning readiness was significantly associated
      with both discussion skills and class satisfaction. In particular, multivariate
      regression analysis confirmed that learning readiness had a significant influence
      on learning outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study offered insights into how to design
      a flipped learning course in terms of predental students' preference and their
      learning readiness. Although learning success in a flipped classroom depends on
      the students' self-perceived level of preparedness, much still remains to be
      achieved in order to apply social media benefits in a flipped learning context.

PMID- 28597873
TI  - Do medical students generate sound arguments during small group discussions in
      problem-based learning?: an analysis of preclinical medical students'
      argumentation according to a framework of hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hypothetico-deductive reasoning (HDR) is an essential learning activity
      and a learning outcome in problem-based learning (PBL). It is important for
      medical students to engage in the HDR process through argumentation during their
      small group discussions in PBL. This study aimed to analyze the quality of
      preclinical medical students' argumentation according to each phase of HDR in
      PBL. METHODS: Participants were 15 first-year preclinical students divided into
      two small groups. A set of three 2-hour discussion sessions from each of the two
      groups during a 1-week-long PBL unit on the cardiovascular system was audio
      recorded. The arguments constructed by the students were analyzed using a coding
      scheme, which included four types of argumentation (Type 0: incomplete, Type 1:
      claim only, Type 2: claim with data, and Type 3: claim with data and warrant).
      The mean frequency of each type of argumentation according to each HDR phase
      across the two small groups was calculated. RESULTS: During small group
      discussions, Type 1 arguments were generated most often (frequency=120.5, 43%),
      whereas the least common were Type 3 arguments (frequency=24.5, 8.7%) among the
      four types of arguments. CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed that the
      students predominantly made claims without proper justifications; they often
      omitted data for supporting their claims or did not provide warrants to connect
      the claims and data. The findings suggest instructional interventions to enhance
      the quality of medical students' arguments in PBL, including promoting students'
      comprehension of the structure of argumentation for HDR processes and
      questioning.

PMID- 28597875
TI  - Mentoring for career development.

PMID- 28597876
TI  - Metal-free radical trifluoromethylation of beta-nitroalkenes through visible
      light photoredox catalysis.
AB  - A catalytic method for functional group interconversion is immensely important in
      modern sciences. Here, we report an efficient catalytic conversion of
      nitroalkenes to highly stereoselective 1-trifluoromethylalkenes at room
      temperature. This unprecedented metal-free photocatalytic strategy is simple and
      operates under visible-light irradiation using the commercially available CF3
      source.

PMID- 28597874
TI  - Evaluation of an extracurricular program for students interested in rural and
      public health.
AB  - PURPOSE: The problem regarding the geographic imbalance of the physician
      workforce has been a long-standing problem in South Korea. Additionally, rural
      medicine and public health have been marginalized across whole undergraduate
      curriculums. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an
      extracurricular program targeting medical students interested in rural and public
      health. METHODS: A 2-day extracurricular program was held twice in 2015 and 2016.
      A total of 53 students were selected among eighty students who voluntarily
      applied to participate in the program. The effectiveness of the program was
      evaluated by pre- and post-program surveys. RESULTS: The overall satisfaction for
      the program was 5.35 out of 6. The participants showed a significant improvement
      in perception of the clerkship experience in a rural and public health care
      setting as well as the importance of rural medicine and public health in South
      Korea. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study showed the acceptability of a short
      term extracurricular program for medical students interested in rural and public
      health.

PMID- 28597877
TI  - Comparison of the electrochemical performance of iron hexacyanoferrate with high
      and low quality as cathode materials for aqueous sodium-ion batteries.
AB  - In this work, high quality iron hexacyanoferrate nanocubes (HQ-PB NCs) were
      synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method and then investigated as cathode
      electrode materials for aqueous sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), which displayed a
      much enhanced electrochemical performance compared with the PB nanoparticles with
      low quality (LQ-PB NPs). The HQ-PB NCs could be promising cathode materials for
      aqueous SIBs.

PMID- 28597878
TI  - Incorporation studies of clickable ceramides in Jurkat cell plasma membranes.
AB  - The incorporation properties of ceramide analogues for click chemistry in Jurkat
      T cells were investigated. The analogues varied in the acyl chain length and the
      position of the functional group for click chemistry. Fluorescence microscopy
      studies including anisotropy and quenching experiments showed significant
      differences in the accessibility of the functional group indicating different
      incorporation properties into the plasma membrane.

PMID- 28597882
TI  - Quantifying the exchange coupling in linear copper porphyrin oligomers.
AB  - Linear pi-conjugated porphyrin oligomers are of significant current interest due
      to their potential applications as molecular wires. In this study we investigate
      electronic communication in linear butadiyne-linked copper porphyrin oligomers by
      electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy via measurement of the
      exchange interaction, J, between the copper(ii) centers. The contributions of
      dipolar and exchange interactions to the frozen solution continuous wave (cw) EPR
      spectra of the compounds with two or more copper porphyrin units were explicitly
      accounted for in numerical simulations using a spin Hamiltonian approach. It is
      demonstrated that a complete numerical simulation of the powder spectrum of a
      large spin system with a Hamiltonian dimension of 26 244 and beyond can be made
      feasible by simulating the spectra in the time domain. The exchange coupling in
      the Cu2 dimer (CuCu distance 1.35 nm) is of the order of tens of MHz (H = 
      2JS1.S2) and is strongly modulated by low-energy molecular motions such as
      twisting of the molecule.

PMID- 28597880
TI  - The transient manifold structure of the p53 extreme C-terminal domain: insight
      into disorder, recognition, and binding promiscuity by molecular dynamics
      simulations.
AB  - The p53 tumour suppressor is a transcription activator that signals for cell
      cycle arrest and apoptosis. In its active form p53 is a tetramer, with each
      monomer organised in domains with different degrees of structural stability,
      ranging from the well folded DNA-binding domain (DBD) and tetramerization domain
      (TET), to the intrinsically disordered transactivation domain (TAD), and extreme
      C-terminal domain (CTD). Compared to all other domains, the structure/function
      relationship of the p53-CTD within the full-length p53 tetramer is still poorly
      understood due to its high degree of conformational disorder. Meanwhile, the
      structure of p53-CTD-like peptides has been well characterized when in complex
      with a variety of receptors, where, as other intrinsically disordered regions
      (IDR), it adopts specific, while diverse, conformations. Receptor-specific
      folding is likely to occur upon binding, either from a random coil, or as a
      result of an initial recognition of a pre-formed structural motif, known as
      molecular recognition feature (MoRF), selected by the receptor within the
      conformational ensemble of the IDP in solution. In this latter case, MoRFs act as
      nucleation sites, favouring the initiation of the folding process within the
      binding site. In this work we show the results of over 20 MUs of cumulative
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a 22 residue peptide unbound in solution
      with sequence corresponding to the p53-CTD 367-388 section. Such extensive
      sampling allowed us to identify and characterize the structure of specific sets
      of minimal structural MoRFs within the p53-CTD peptide conformational ensemble at
      equilibrium. These motifs are short, involving only 3 to 4 residues, and
      specifically localized within the peptide sequence. Corresponding patterns of
      secondary structure propensity along the p53-CTD sequence are also predicted by
      disorder prediction calculations. Based on these findings we discuss how the
      structural complementarity of specific minimal structural MoRFs to the binding
      site of different receptors could regulate the p53-CTD binding promiscuity.

PMID- 28597879
TI  - To cage or to be caged? The cytotoxic species in ruthenium-based photoactivated
      chemotherapy is not always the metal.
AB  - In metal-based photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), two photoproducts are
      generated by light-triggered photosubstitution of a metal-bound ligand: the free
      ligand itself and an aquated metal complex. By analogy with cisplatin, the
      aquated metal complex is usually presented as the biologically active species, as
      it can typically bind to DNA. In this work, we show that this qualitative
      assumption is not necessarily valid by comparing the biological activity, log P,
      and cellular uptake of three ruthenium-based PACT complexes: [Ru(bpy)2(dmbpy)]2+,
      [Ru(bpy)2(mtmp)]2+, and [Ru(Ph2phen)2(mtmp)]2+. For the first complex, the
      photoreleased dmbpy ligand is responsible for the observed phototoxicity, whereas
      the second complex is not phototoxic, and for the third complex it is the
      ruthenium bis-aqua photoproduct that is the sole cytotoxic species.

PMID- 28597883
TI  - The effect of hydroxyl on the solution behavior of a quaternary ammonium gemini
      surfactant.
AB  - The adsorption and viscoelastic properties of a micellar solution of 2-hydroxyl
      propanediyl-1,3-bis(hexadecyldimethylammonium bromide), abbreviated as 16-3OH-16,
      have been investigated by surface tension and rheological measurements.
      Meanwhile, an aqueous solution of propanediyl-1,3-bis(hexadecyldimethylammonium
      bromide), abbreviated as 16-3-16, was also examined. From the steady state and
      oscillatory rheological results, a notable difference in shear viscosities
      between the two systems was observed. Zeta potentials and size distributions
      confirm the change in the potentials and hydrodynamic diameters, and these
      results are in good agreement with the rheological results. The differences of
      the two solutions were attributed to the effect of the hydroxyl group on the
      spacer of 16-3OH-16. Molecular dynamic simulations and density functional theory
      (DFT) calculations were performed to investigate the non-covalent interactions in
      the solution and the difference between the molecular orbitals and the
      electrostatic potentials. Our research shows that a more uniform distribution of
      positive charges around the spacer could result in a more effective electrostatic
      screening effect between the charged headgroups, and promote the formation of a
      worm-like micelle. Also, hyperconjugation becomes stronger when the hydroxyl
      group is introduced on the spacer of the gemini molecule.

PMID- 28597884
TI  - A neural network potential energy surface for the NaH2 system and dynamics
      studies on the H(2S) + NaH(X1Sigma+) -> Na(2S) + H2(X1Sigmag+) reaction.
AB  - In order to study the dynamics of the reaction H(2S) + NaH(X1Sigma+) -> Na(2S) +
      H2(X1Sigmag+), a new potential energy surface (PES) for the ground state of the
      NaH2 system is constructed based on 35 730 ab initio energy points. Using basis
      sets of quadruple zeta quality, multireference configuration interaction
      calculations with Davidson correction were carried out to obtain the ab initio
      energy points. The neural network method is used to fit the PES, and the root
      mean square error is very small (0.00639 eV). The bond lengths, dissociation
      energies, zero-point energies and spectroscopic constants of H2(X1Sigmag+) and
      NaH(X1Sigma+) obtained on the new NaH2 PES are in good agreement with the
      experiment data. On the new PES, the reactant coordinate-based time-dependent
      wave packet method is applied to study the reaction dynamics of H(2S) +
      NaH(X1Sigma+) -> Na(2S) + H2(X1Sigmag+), and the reaction probabilities, integral
      cross-sections (ICSs) and differential cross-sections (DCSs) are obtained. There
      is no threshold in the reaction due to the absence of an energy barrier on the
      minimum energy path. When the collision energy increases, the ICSs decrease from
      a high value at low collision energy. The DCS results show that the angular
      distribution of the product molecules tends to the forward direction. Compared
      with the LiH2 system, the NaH2 system has a larger mass and the PES has a larger
      well at the H-NaH configuration, which leads to a higher ICS value in the H(2S) +
      NaH(X1Sigma+) -> Na(2S) + H2(X1Sigmag+) reaction. Because the H(2S) +
      NaH(X1Sigma+) -> Na(2S) + H2(X1Sigmag+) reaction releases more energy, the
      product molecules can be excited to a higher vibrational state.

PMID- 28597885
TI  - A simple self-assembly strategy for ultrahigh surface area nitrogen-doped porous
      carbon nanospheres with enhanced adsorption and energy storage performances.
AB  - A class of novel N-doped porous carbon nanospheres (PCNSs) with ultrahigh surface
      areas (e.g., Langmuir surface area = 3219 m2 g-1) and large templated mesopore
      diameters (up to 18.6 nm) was synthesized based upon a simple yet efficient
      copolymerization-induced self-assembly process of aniline/pyrrole co-monomers and
      block copolymer templates. The PCNSs exhibited enhanced adsorption properties
      towards creatinine and superior lithium-sulfur battery performances.

PMID- 28597886
TI  - Photoelectrical properties of CdS/CdSe core/shell QDs modified anatase TiO2
      nanowires and their application for solar cells.
AB  - Anatase TiO2 nanowire (NW) films modified with inverted type-I CdS/CdSe
      core/shell structure QDs have been successfully prepared by the post synthesis
      ligand-assisted technique. Surface photovoltage (SPV), transient photovoltage
      (TPV) and transient photocurrent (TPC) measurements demonstrate that CdS/CdSe
      core/shell structure QD-sensitized TiO2 NWs electrodes favor photoexicited
      electron injection and charge transfer due to the special photo-electronic
      features of CdS/CdSe core/shell structure QDs. With a polysulfide electrolyte,
      the maximum conversion efficiency was 2.18% for CdS/CdSe QDs with the CdSe shell
      being 4.4 nanometers thick; a PCE of 0.07% for CdS QDs and a PCE of 0.63% for
      CdSe QDs were obtained under illumination at 100 mW cm-2. The results reveal that
      the CdS/CdSe core/shell structure QDs sensitized TiO2 NW electrodes have
      promising applications in solar cells.

PMID- 28597887
TI  - Revealing the structure and functionality of graphene oxide and reduced graphene
      oxide/pyrene carboxylic acid interfaces by correlative spectral and imaging
      analysis.
AB  - A high-end correlated spectral and imaging multianalysis, adapted for
      bidimensional systems, is presented here to analyze graphene oxide (GO) and
      reduced GO (rGO) modified with pyrene carboxylic acid (PCA). Confocal Raman
      mapping was used next to two-photon excited Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
      Microscopy (FLIM) to characterize the distribution of PCA on GO and rGO and
      compared to UV-vis and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the
      materials. Raman imaging clearly highlights the difference in the spatial
      distribution of PCA molecules on GO and rGO. Two-photon excited FLIM helped in
      gaining insight into the elusive phenomena and effects occurring at the GO-PCA
      interface level. Apart from the charge transfer effects from PCA molecules to GO,
      the GO structure depends on the molecular orientation and the spatial
      distribution of PCA molecules identified by different sp2 network domains in
      Raman mapping. Heating of GO-PCA results in an enhancement of the sp2 network
      presumably as the PCA aromatic core becomes fused into the GO nanosheets whilst
      enriching the resulting rGO nanosheets with carboxyl functionalities. This
      "healing" effect observed in rGO-PCA might be of high importance for applications
      using rGO-PCA matrices and interfaces in particular for electrical devices.

PMID- 28597888
TI  - Determining oxidative stability of battery electrolytes: validity of common
      electrochemical stability window (ESW) data and alternative strategies.
AB  - Increasing the operation voltage of electrochemical energy storage devices is a
      viable measure to realize higher specific energies and energy densities. A
      sufficient oxidative stability of electrolytes is the predominant requirement for
      successful high voltage applicability. The common method to investigate oxidative
      stability of LIB electrolytes is related to determination of the electrochemical
      stability window (ESW), on e.g. Pt or LiMn2O4 electrodes. However, the
      transferability of the obtained results to practical systems is questionable for
      several reasons. In this work, we evaluated the validity of the potentiodynamic
      based ESW method by comparing the obtained data with the results of galvanostatic
      based techniques, applied on commercial positive electrodes. We demonstrated that
      the oxidative stabilities, determined by the two techniques, are in good
      accordance with each other. However, the investigation of electrolytes being
      incompatible to Li metal, renders conventional ESW measurements useless when
      metallic Li is used as counter - and reference electrode in the ESW setup. For
      this reason, we introduced an alternative setup based on Li4Ti5O12 full cells. On
      the example of a butyronitrile-based electrolyte, we finally demonstrated that
      this electrolyte is not only reductively but also oxidatively less stable than
      common LiPF6/organic carbonate based electrolytes.

PMID- 28597889
TI  - Molecular dynamics simulations of solvent-exfoliation and stabilization of
      graphene with the assistance of compressed carbon dioxide and pyrene-polyethylene
      glycol.
AB  - In this work we carried out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the
      mechanism of solvent-exfoliation and stabilization of graphene in the presence of
      (compressed) carbon dioxide (cpCO2), p-xylene and pyrene-polyethylene glycol (Py
      PEG) polymers. We studied the role of each component in graphene exfoliation and
      stabilization by setting different experimental variables. The simulation results
      show that the cpCO2 molecules played a "wedge" role in the exfoliation process,
      firstly wedging into the interlayer, and then helping solvent molecules to insert
      into the interlayer. The solvent molecules between the graphene sheets are the
      main reasons that graphene exfoliation is achieved. And the Py-PEG polymer chains
      mainly act as stabilizers to prevent the exfoliated graphene sheets from
      restacking. This work provides detailed theoretical clues to better understand
      the mechanism of exfoliation and stabilization of graphene.

PMID- 28597891
TI  - A novel banded structure ceramic phosphor for high-power white LEDs.
AB  - A novel banded structure ceramic phosphor has been fabricated in this research.
      This structure provides a convenient and effective method for regulating the full
      spectrum. It has the advantage of being able to adjust the intensity of all three
      primary colors independently, regardless of the mutual absorption among different
      active ions.

PMID- 28597890
TI  - An in vivo study on bone formation behavior of microporous granular calcium
      phosphate.
AB  - This study was developed based on in vivo investigation of microporous granular
      biomaterials based on calcium phosphates, involving matrices of beta-tricalcium
      phosphate (beta-TCP), hydroxyapatite (HA), biphasic compositions of both phases
      and a control group. The physicochemical characterization of materials was
      carried out by X-Ray diffraction (DRX) and mercury porosimetry. Biodegradability,
      bioactivity and neoformation processes were investigated by Raman spectroscopy,
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and polarized light conducted on biopsies
      obtained from in vivo tests for periods of 90 and 180 days. These were performed
      to evaluate the behavior of granular microporous compositions in relation to bone
      neoformation. Through the performance obtained from in vivo assays, excellent
      osseointegration and bone tissue neoformation were observed. The results are
      encouraging and show that the microporous granular biomaterials of HA, beta-TCP
      and biphasic compositions show similar results with perfect osseointegration.
      Architectures simulating a bone structure can make the difference between
      biomaterials for bone tissue replacement and repair.

PMID- 28597892
TI  - An unexpected rearrangement of pyrazolium halides based on N-N bond cleavage:
      synthesis of 1,2-dihydropyrimidines.
AB  - The rearrangement of pyrazolium halides was observed, giving 1,2
      dihydropyrimidines in good to high yields. A broad scope of pyrazolium halides
      bearing various N-substituted benzyls or alkyls can be utilized. A mechanistic
      study using isotope labelling experiments suggested that the present
      rearrangement proceeds through an ylide formation/ring cleavage/ring closure
      pathway to yield the observed product.

PMID- 28597893
TI  - Observing the dynamic "hot spots" on two-dimensional Au nanoparticles monolayer
      film.
AB  - Interparticle spacing was controlled by evaporating water on 2D Au nanoparticles
      arrays. Relationships among SERS effect, SPR catalysis, and gap distance were
      experimentally and theoretically studied.

PMID- 28597894
TI  - Deciphering the aqueous chemistry of glyoxal oxidation with hydrogen peroxide
      using molecular imaging.
AB  - Aqueous surfaces after photochemical and dark reactions of glyoxal and hydrogen
      peroxide (H2O2) have been studied using a microfluidic reactor coupled with an in
      situ liquid time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) for the
      first time. Spectral principal component analysis was used to determine
      similarities and differences among various photochemical aging and dark reaction
      samples and controls. Compared with previous results using bulk solutions, our
      unique liquid surface molecular imaging approach provided observations of glyoxal
      hydration (i.e., first and secondary products), oxidation products (i.e.,
      glyoxylic acid, oxalic acid, formic acid, tartaric acid), oligomers, cluster
      ions, and water clusters with sub-micrometer spatial resolution. Observations of
      oxidation products give the physical foundation to deduce new reaction pathways
      at the aqueous surface. The first chemical mapping of water cluster changes
      between dark and photochemical aging suggests that glyoxal oxidation affects the
      hydrophobicity and water microenvironment at the surface, influencing the
      particle's ability of reactive uptake and subsequent cloud condensation
      nucleation and/or ice nucleation activation. Moreover, SIMS three-dimensional
      chemical mapping has made it possible to visualize the surface mixing state for
      the first time. We potentially provide a new method to investigate complex
      surface chemistry as an important source of aqueous secondary organic aerosol
      (aqSOA) formation in atmospheric chemistry.

PMID- 28597895
TI  - Investigation of plasmon resonance in metal/dielectric nanocavities for high
      efficiency photocatalytic device.
AB  - Photocatalytic nanostructures loaded with metallic nanoparticles are being
      considered as a potential candidate for designing efficient water splitting
      devices. Here, we aim to unveil the plasmonic behavior of a device made of Au
      TiO2 nanostructures through in-depth investigations combining electron energy
      loss spectroscopy (EELS) and cathodoluminescence (CL). The experiments confirm
      the existence of Au bulk plasmon excitation, intrinsic interband transitions, and
      plasmon losses over a wide range of energies (0.6-2.4 eV). Depending on the size
      and the shape of the obtained nanostructures, such as fishing hook (FH),
      asymmetric nanorod (AR), and a/symmetric nanoparticles, in our devices, the
      dephasing times and the quality factors of the modes vary. Finite difference time
      domain simulations were then carried out on FH and AR structures. These
      simulations indicate good agreement between the electric field enhancement and
      the obtained plasmon excitation as observed in EELS. Moreover, the plasmonic
      activity obtained by CL and EELS was correlated with the photocurrent
      measurements recorded with the device, which confirmed that the localized
      plasmons in Au generate hot electrons and enhance the photoresponse of the
      device. This study confirms the functionality of the metal dielectric
      photocatalyst device over a wide range of wavelengths ranging from UV to near IR.

PMID- 28597896
TI  - Direct catalytic enantioselective Mannich-type reaction of alpha,alpha
      dithioacetonitriles with imines using chiral bis(imidazoline)-Pd complexes.
AB  - The first highly enantioselective reaction of alpha,alpha-dithioacetonitriles
      with imines has been developed. Good yields and enantioselectivity were observed
      for the reaction of various imines using chiral bis(imidazoline) catalysts. The
      obtained products can be converted into beta-aminonitrile or 1,3-diaminoketone.

PMID- 28597897
TI  - Correction: Stable small bubble clusters in two-dimensional foams.
AB  - Correction for 'Stable small bubble clusters in two-dimensional foams' by Kai
      Zhang et al., Soft Matter, 2017, DOI: .

PMID- 28597898
TI  - Maxwell-Stefan diffusion coefficient estimation for ternary systems: an ideal
      ternary alcohol system.
AB  - The Maxwell-Stefan model is a popular diffusion model originally developed to
      model diffusion of gases, which can be considered thermodynamically ideal
      mixtures, although its application has been extended to model diffusion in non
      ideal liquid mixtures as well. A drawback of the model is that it requires the
      Maxwell-Stefan diffusion coefficients, which are not based on measurable
      quantities but they have to be estimated. As a result, numerous estimation
      methods, such as the Darken model, have been proposed to estimate these diffusion
      coefficients. However, the Darken model was derived, and is only well defined,
      for binary systems. This model has been extended to ternary systems according to
      two proposed forms, one by R. Krishna and J. M. van Baten, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.,
      2005, 44, 6939-6947 and the other by X. Liu, T. J. H. Vlugt and A. Bardow, Ind.
      Eng. Chem. Res., 2011, 50, 10350-10358. In this paper, the two forms have been
      analysed against the ideal ternary system of methanol/butan-1-ol/propan-1-ol and
      using experimental values of self-diffusion coefficients. In particular, using
      pulsed gradient stimulated echo nuclear magnetic resonance (PGSTE-NMR) we have
      measured the self-diffusion coefficients in various methanol/butan-1-ol/propan-1
      ol mixtures. The experimental values of self-diffusion coefficients were then
      used as the input data required for the Darken model. The predictions of the two
      proposed multicomponent forms of this model were then compared to experimental
      values of mutual diffusion coefficients for the ideal alcohol ternary system.
      This experimental-based approach showed that the Liu's model gives better
      predictions compared to that of Krishna and van Baten, although it was only
      accurate to within 26%. Nonetheless, the multicomponent Darken model in
      conjunction with self-diffusion measurements from PGSTE-NMR represents an
      attractive method for a rapid estimation of mutual diffusion in multicomponent
      systems, especially when compared to exhaustive MD simulations.

PMID- 28597899
TI  - Mechanochemical synthesis of two-dimensional aromatic polyamides.
AB  - Herein we report a facile mechanochemical synthesis of 2D aromatic polyamides
      (2DAPAs) under solvent-free and room temperature conditions for the first time.
      The solvent-free conditions are found to be key to the successful synthesis of
      2DAPAs. These micrometer-size 2DAPAs have ultrathin graphene-like structures and
      are highly crystalline, solvent dispersible and thermally stable up to 400 
      degrees C.

PMID- 28597900
TI  - Correction: Dynamic nuclear polarization in a magnetic resonance force microscope
      experiment.
AB  - Correction for 'Dynamic nuclear polarization in a magnetic resonance force
      microscope experiment' by Corinne E. Isaac et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016,
      18, 8806-8819.

PMID- 28597901
TI  - A perspective for investigating photo-induced molecular dynamics from within with
      femtosecond free electron lasers.
AB  - Photo-induced molecular dynamics can now be investigated using free electron
      lasers (FELs) whose attributes are unprecedented brightness, few femtosecond
      pulses duration and in the near future few hundreds of attosecond pulse duration.
      These relatively new tools are utilized to investigate photon-induced physical
      and chemical processes by ionizing inner-shell electrons and thus unlocking
      molecular dynamics from within.

PMID- 28597902
TI  - Scalable and practical synthesis of clickable Cu-chelating azides.
AB  - A convenient and effective synthetic access to chelating azides was designed
      enabling the preparation of efficient clickable fluorescent derivatives. The
      comparison of the reactivity of these chelating azides to regular azides
      showcased the striking superiority of such derivatives for labeling applications.

PMID- 28597903
TI  - A near-infrared organic photosensitizer for use in dye-sensitized
      photoelectrochemical water splitting.
AB  - Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (DSPECs) composed of a new near
      infrared BODIPY dye D1 that is co-deposited with a ruthenium water oxidation
      catalyst C1 have been fabricated. The devices at pH 7.2 showed an excellent
      Faradaic efficiency of H2 production (65.8%) that was 5.4 times larger than that
      of a triphenylamine photosensitizer D2 and C1-coadsorbed cell.

PMID- 28597904
TI  - Engineering tough, highly compressible, biodegradable hydrogels by tuning the
      network architecture.
AB  - By precisely tuning the network architecture, tough, highly compressible
      hydrogels were engineered. The hydrogels were made by interconnecting high
      functionality hydrophobic domains through linear tri-block chains, consisting of
      soft hydrophilic middle blocks, flanked with flexible hydrophobic blocks. In
      showing their applicability, the efficient encapsulation and prolonged release of
      hydrophobic drugs were achieved.

PMID- 28597905
TI  - Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: Past, present and future. Comparing the
      guidelines and practical decision-making.
AB  - Concepts and our approaches to stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) have
      changed markedly over the last decade. There has been an evolution over the
      approach to stroke and bleeding risk assessment, as well as new treatment
      options. An increasing awareness of AF has led to calls to improve the detection
      of and population screening for AF. Stroke and bleeding risk assessment continues
      to evolve, and the ongoing debate on balance between simplicity and practicality,
      against precision medicine will continue. In this review article, we provide an
      overview of past, present and the (likely) future concepts and approaches to
      stroke prevention in AF. We propose three simple steps (the Birmingham '3-step')
      that offers a practical management pathway to help streamline and simplify
      decision-making for stroke prevention in patients with AF.

PMID- 28597906
TI  - Platelet receptors as therapeutic targets: Past, present and future.
AB  - Anti-platelet drugs reduce arterial thrombosis after plaque rupture and erosion,
      prevent stent thrombosis and are used to prevent and treat myocardial infarction
      and ischaemic stroke. Some of them may also be helpful in treating less frequent
      diseases such as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. The present concise review
      aims to cover current and future developments of anti-platelet drugs interfering
      with the interaction of von Willebrand factor (VWF) with glycoprotein (GP)
      Ibalpha, and directed against GPVI, GPIIb/IIIa (integrin alphaIIbbeta3), the
      thrombin receptor PAR-1, and the ADP receptor P2Y12. The high expectations of
      having novel antiplatelet drugs which selectively inhibit arterial thrombosis
      without interfering with normal haemostasis could possibly be met in the near
      future.

PMID- 28597907
TI  - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for severely fatigued multiple sclerosis
      patients: A waiting list controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fatigue is the most common symptom in multiple sclerosis. Evidence
      based treatment options are scarce. OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility and
      potential effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in severely
      fatigued multiple sclerosis patients. METHODS: Non-randomized pilot study with a
      wai-ting list control period including 59 multiple sclerosis patients with severe
      fatigue. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: fatigue severity subscale of the Checklist
      Individual Strength-20. Secondary measures: Hospital Anxiety and Depression
      Scale, Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, subscale sleep of the Symptom Checklist
      90, Cognitive Failure Questionnaire, Fatigue Catastrophizing Scale, Coping
      Inventory of Stressful Situations, and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short
      Form. Measurements were taken before treatment (double baseline), after
      treatment, and at follow-up (3 months). RESULTS: Adherence rate was 71%. Eight
      out of 10 participants who completed the intervention were satisfied with the
      intervention. Significant time effects were found for 7 out of 11 outcome
      measures (p = 0.006 to < 0.001). The effect size was moderate for all outcome
      measures that were significant post-treatment and/or at follow-up (N2 = 0.10
      0.17). Improvements were maintained at follow-up. Of the completers, 46% showed a
      clinically relevant change regarding fatigue. CONCLUSION: Mindfulness-based
      cognitive therapy is feasible in severely fatigued multiple sclerosis patients
      and has positive results in the reduction of severe fatigue and several
      psychological factors.

PMID- 28597908
TI  - Chronic pain, depression and quality of life in individuals with spinal cord
      injury: Mediating role of participation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the hypotheses that: (i) pain is associated with depressive
      symptoms and quality of life; and (ii) participation restriction, satisfaction,
      and frequency mediate these relationships. DESIGN: Population-based, cross
      sectional study. SUBJECTS/PATIENTS: Community-dwelling individuals with spinal
      cord injury (n = 1,549). METHODS: Hypotheses were tested in individuals with at
      least moderate chronic pain on the spinal cord injury - Secondary Conditions
      Scale (n = 834), applying structural equation modelling to data for spinal cord
      injury subgroups related to lesion severity (paraplegia, tetraplegia, complete,
      incomplete) and time since injury (<= 10 vs >= 10 years). Model parameters
      included pain intensity (numerical rating scale), participation frequency,
      restriction, satisfaction (Utrecht Scale of Evaluation of Rehabilitation
      Participation; USER-Participation), depressive symptoms (5-item Mental Health
      Index of the Short Form Health Survey; MHI-5), and 5 selected quality of life
      items (World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale; WHOQoL-BREF). RESULTS:
      Structural equation models confirmed associations of pain with depressive
      symptoms and quality of life, as well as the mediating role of participation
      restriction and low satisfaction with participation. These findings were apparent
      in individuals with tetraplegia or complete lesion and in those <= 10 years since
      paraplegia or incomplete injury. CONCLUSION: Unrestricted or satisfactory
      participation was found to be a crucial resource for individuals living less than
      10 years with a more severe spinal cord injury, since it represents buffering
      potential for the negative effects of chronic pain on mental health and quality
      of life.

PMID- 28597909
TI  - Diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine
      neoplasms (recommended by the Polish Network of Neuroendocrine Tumours).
AB  - Progress in the diagnostics and therapy of gastro-entero-pancreatic (GEP)
      neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN), the published results of new randomised clinical
      trials, and the new guidelines issued by the European Neuroendocrine Tumour
      Society (ENETS) have led the Polish Network of Neuroendocrine Tumours to update
      the 2013 guidelines regarding management of these neoplasms. We present the
      general recommendations for the management of NENs, developed by experts during
      the Third Round Table Conference - Diagnostics and therapy of gastro-entero
      pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: Polish recommendations in view of current
      European recommenda-tions, which took place in December 2016 in Zelechow near
      Warsaw. Drawing from the extensive experience of centres dealing with this type
      of neoplasms, we hope that we have managed to develop the optimal management
      system, applying the most recent achievements in the field of medicine, for these
      patients, and that it can be implemented effectively in Poland. These management
      guidelines have been arranged in the following order: gastric and duodenal NENs
      (including gastrinoma); pancreatic NENs; NENs of the small intestine and
      appendix, and colorectal NENs.

PMID- 28597910
TI  - A Complete Association of an intronic SNP rs6798742 with Origin of
      Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7-CAG Expansion Loci in the Indian and Mexican
      Population.
AB  - Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is a rare neurogenetic disorder caused by
      highly unstable CAG repeat expansion mutation in coding region of SCA7. We aimed
      to understand the effect of diverse ATXN7 cis-element in correlation with CAG
      expansion mutation of SCA7. We initially performed an analysis to identify the
      haplotype background of CAG expanded alleles using eight bi-allelic single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) flanking an ATXN7-CAG expansion in 32 individuals
      from nine unrelated Indian SCA7 families and 88 healthy controls. Subsequent
      validation of the findings was performed in 89 ATXN7-CAG mutation carriers and in
      119 unrelated healthy controls of Mexican ancestry. The haplotype analyses showed
      a shared haplotype background and C allele of SNP rs6798742 (approximately 6 kb
      from the 3'-end of CAG repeats) is in complete association with expanded,
      premutation, intermediate, and the majority of large normal (>=12) CAG allele.
      The C allele (ancestral/chimp allele) association was validated in SCA7 subjects
      and healthy controls from Mexico, suggesting its substantial association with CAG
      expanded and expansion-prone chromosomes. Analysis of rs6798742 and other
      neighboring functional SNPs within 6 kb in experimental datasets (Encyclopedia of
      DNA Elements; ENCODE) shows functional marks that could affect transcription as
      well as histone methylation. An allelic association of the CAG region to an
      intronic SNP in two different ethnic and geographical populations suggests a -cis
      factor-dependent mechanism in ATXN7 CAG-region expansion.

PMID- 28597911
TI  - Digitizing Medicines for Remote Capture of Oral Medication Adherence Using Co
      encapsulation.
AB  - High-resolution measurement of medication adherence is essential to personalized
      drug therapy. A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared device, using an
      edible ingestion sensor (IS), external wearable patch, and paired mobile device
      can detect and record ingestion events. Oral medications must be combined with an
      IS to generate precise "digitized-medication" ingestion records. We developed a
      Good Manufacturing Practice protocol to repackage oral medications with the IS
      within certified Capsugel capsules, termed co-encapsulation (CoE). A randomized
      bioequivalence study of CoE-IS-Rifamate (Isoniazid/Rifampin 150/300 mg) vs.
      native-Rifamate was conducted in 12 patients with active Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis and demonstrated bioequivalence using the population method ratio
      test (95% confidence interval). Subsequently, CoE-IS-medications across all
      biopharmaceutical classes underwent in vitro dissolution testing utilizing USP
      and FDA guidelines. CoE-IS medications tested met USP dissolution specifications
      and were equivalent to their native formulations. CoE combines oral medications
      with the IS without altering the quality of the native formulation, generating
      "digitized" medications for remote capture of dosing histories.

PMID- 28597912
TI  - Acute and long-term effects of brivaracetam and brivaracetam-diazepam
      combinations in an experimental model of status epilepticus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate acute and long-term effects of intravenous brivaracetam
      (BRV) and BRV + diazepam (DZP) combination treatment in a rat model of self
      sustaining status epilepticus (SSSE). METHODS: Rats were treated with BRV (10
      mg/kg) 10 min after initiation of perforant path stimulation (PPS) as early
      treatment; or BRV (10-300 mg/kg), DZP (1 mg/kg), or BRV (0.3-10 mg/kg) + DZP (1
      mg/kg) 10 min after the end of PPS (established SSSE). Seizure activity was
      recorded electrographically for 24 h posttreatment (acute effects), and for 1
      week at 6-8 weeks or 12 months' posttreatment (long-term effects). All treatments
      were compared with control rats using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and
      Bonferroni's test, or Kruskal--Wallis and Dunn's multiple comparison tests, when
      appropriate. RESULTS: Treatment of established SSSE with BRV (10-300 mg/kg)
      resulted in dose-dependent reduction in SSSE duration and cumulative seizure
      time, achieving statistical significance at doses >=100 mg/kg. Lower doses of BRV
      (0.3-10 mg/kg) + low-dose DZP (1 mg/kg) significantly reduced SSSE duration and
      number of seizures. All control rats developed spontaneous recurrent seizures
      (SRS) 6-8 weeks after SSSE, whereas seizure freedom was noted in 2/10, 5/10, and
      6/10 rats treated with BRV 200 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg, and BRV 10 mg/kg + DZP,
      respectively. BRV (10-300 mg/kg) showed a dose-dependent trend toward reduction
      of SRS frequency, cumulative seizure time, and spike frequency, achieving
      statistical significance at 300 mg/kg. Combination of BRV (10 mg/kg) + DZP
      significantly reduced SRS frequency, cumulative seizure time, and spike
      frequency. In the 12-month follow-up study, BRV (0.3-10 mg/kg) + low-dose DZP
      markedly reduced SRS frequency, cumulative seizure time, and spike frequency,
      achieving statistical significance at some doses. Early treatment of SSSE with
      BRV 10 mg/kg significantly reduced long-term SRS frequency. SIGNIFICANCE: These
      findings support clinical evaluation of BRV for treatment of status epilepticus
      or acute repetitive seizures.

PMID- 28597914
TI  - Computed tomographic features of urinary bladder torsion in two dogs.
AB  - Urinary bladder torsion is rare in dogs. It is characterised by rotation of the
      organ along its longitudinal axis and is potentially life-threatening because of
      urinary flow obstruction with subsequent urine retention, hydroureter,
      hydronephrosis and azotaemia. This report describes the computed tomographic
      features of urinary bladder torsion in two dogs. In both cases, the hallmark
      indicative of torsion was the "whirl sign," originating from the twisted pelvic
      urethra and urinary bladder neck encircling the ureters, blood vessels and
      bladder ligaments in a characteristic spiral pattern. The imaging features
      correlated well with surgical findings, demonstrating high sensitivity of
      computed tomography in the preoperative diagnosis of urinary bladder torsion.

PMID- 28597913
TI  - Inherent vulnerabilities in monoaminergic pathways predict the emergence of
      depressive impairments in an animal model of chronic epilepsy.
AB  - The objective was to determine whether the depression comorbid with epilepsy
      could be predicted based on inherent premorbid patterns of monoaminergic
      transmission. In male Wistar rats, despair-like and anhedonia-like behaviors were
      examined using forced swimming and taste preference tests, respectively.
      Serotonergic raphe nucleus (RN)-prefrontal cortex (PFC) and dopaminergic ventral
      tegmental area (VTA)-nucleus accumbens (NAcc) pathways were interrogated by fast
      scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV). The assays were performed before and 2 months
      after pilocarpine status epilepticus. In a subset of naive rats, FSCV, coupled
      with the intensity-dependent stimulation paradigm, detected specific deviations
      in each pathway (six rats for RN-PFC and seven rats for VTA-NAcc, with overlap in
      two, of 19 total subjects) in the absence of behavioral impairments. During
      epilepsy, animals with preexisting deviations in RN-PFC invariably developed
      despair, and rats with deviations in VTA-NAcc developed anhedonia. Serotonergic
      and dopaminergic pathways, respectively, showed signs of explicit deterioration.
      We suggest that epilepsy triggers decompensations in the already vulnerable
      depression-relevant neuronal circuits, which culminate in depression. The
      established connection between the identified specific signatures in monoamine
      transmission in naive rats and specific symptoms of epilepsy-associated
      depression may help in understanding causes of comorbidity and in developing its
      early biomarkers.

PMID- 28597916
TI  - Implementing a nursing systems framework in a developing country.
AB  - AIM: To test the effect on patient mortality of implementing a nursing systems
      framework across a national health system. BACKGROUND: There have been five
      previous observational studies that have tested the effect of a nursing systems
      framework on clinical outcomes for patients. Implementation of a nursing systems
      framework in the health system of a developing country has not been evaluated.
      DESIGN: Quasi-experimental (before and after) study. METHOD: A nursing systems
      framework consisting of six themes: (i) Professionalisation; (ii) Education;
      (iii) Structure; (iv) Quality of nursing care; (v) An academic health system; and
      (vi) Communication (Professional), was implemented across the national health
      system of Qatar in March 2015. Routine administrative data were extracted (March
      2014-February 2016) for elective admissions. Our primary and secondary outcomes
      were, respectively, all cause mortality at discharge and readmission to hospital
      (within 28 days of discharge). We split the data into two time periods: before
      (March 2014-February 2015) and after (March 2015-February 2016) the
      implementation of the nursing systems framework. Multivariable regression
      modelling was used to examine the effect of the framework on patient mortality,
      after adjusting for key confounding variables (patient age, episode acuity,
      intensive care admission and length of stay). FINDINGS: Data were extracted for
      318 548 patients (year 1 = 130 829; year 2 = 187 725). After adjusting for
      confounding, there was a significant association between the implementation of
      the nursing systems framework, mortality and readmission. CONCLUSION AND
      IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY AND PRACTICE: Our observations suggest that the
      implementation of a nursing systems framework may be important in improving
      outcomes for patients in emerging health systems.

PMID- 28597915
TI  - Dissecting LSD1-Dependent Neuronal Maturation in the Olfactory Epithelium.
AB  - Neurons in the olfactory epithelium (OE) each express a single dominant olfactory
      receptor (OR) allele from among roughly 1,000 different OR genes. While monogenic
      and monoallelic OR expression has been appreciated for over two decades,
      regulators of this process are still being described; most recently, epigenetic
      modifiers have been of high interest as silent OR genes are decorated with
      transcriptionally repressive trimethylated histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9me3) whereas
      active OR genes are decorated with transcriptionally activating trimethylated
      histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3). The lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1)
      demethylates at both of these lysine residues and has been shown to disrupt
      neuronal maturation and OR expression in the developing embryonic OE. Despite the
      growing literature on LSD1 expression in the OE, a complete characterization of
      the timing of LSD1 expression relative to neuronal maturation and of the function
      of LSD1 in the adult OE have yet to be reported. To fill this gap, the present
      study determined that LSD1 (1) is expressed in early dividing cells before OR
      expression and neuronal maturation and decreases at the time of OR stabilization;
      (2) colocalizes with the repressor CoREST (also known as RCOR1) and histone
      deacetylase 2 in these early dividing cells; and (3) is required for neuronal
      maturation during a distinct time window between activating reserve stem cells
      (horizontal basal cells) and Neurogenin1 (+) immediate neuronal precursors. Thus,
      this study clarifies the role of LSD1 in olfactory neuronal maturation.

PMID- 28597917
TI  - Prediction of specific depressive symptom clusters in youth with epilepsy: The
      NDDI-E-Y versus Neuro-QOL SF.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Proper assessment and early identification of depressive symptoms are
      essential to initiate treatment and minimize the risk for poor outcomes in youth
      with epilepsy (YWE). The current study examined the predictive utility of the
      Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory-Epilepsy for Youth (NDDI-E-Y) and the
      Neuro-QOL Depression Short Form (Neuro-QOL SF) in explaining variance in overall
      depressive symptoms and specific symptom clusters on the gold standard Children's
      Depression Inventory-2 (CDI-2). METHODS: Cross-sectional study examining 99 YWE
      (female 68, mean age 14.7 years) during a routine epilepsy visit, who completed
      self-report measures of depressive symptoms, including the NDDI-E-Y, CDI-2, and
      the Neuro-QOL SF. Caregivers completed a measure of seizure severity. All
      sociodemographic and medical information was evaluated through electronic medical
      record review. RESULTS: After accounting for seizure and demographic variables,
      the NDDI-E-Y accounted for 45% of the variance in the CDI-2 Total score and the
      CDI-2 Ineffectiveness subscale. Furthermore, the NDDI-E-Y predicted CDI-2 Total
      scores and subscales similarly, with the exception of explaining significantly
      more variance in the CDI-2 Ineffectiveness subscale compared to the Negative Mood
      subscale. The NDDI-E-Y explained greater variance compared to Neuro-QOL SF across
      the Total (48% vs. 37%) and all CDI-2 subscale scores; however, the NDDI-E-Y
      emerged as a stronger predictor of only CDI-2 Ineffectiveness. Both the NDDI-E-Y
      and Neuro-QOL SF accounted for the lowest amount of variance in CDI-2 Negative
      Mood. Sensitivity was poor for the Neuro-QOL SF in predicting high versus low CDI
      2 scores. SIGNIFICANCE: The NDDI-E-Y has strong psychometrics and can be easily
      integrated into routine epilepsy care for quick, brief screening of depressive
      symptoms in YWE.

PMID- 28597918
TI  - Inflammation in the developing rat modulates astroglial reactivity to seizures in
      the mature brain.
AB  - Astrocytes participate in neuronal development and excitability, and produce
      factors enhancing or suppressing inflammatory processes occurring due to
      neurodegenerative diseases, such as epilepsy. Seizures, in turn, trigger the
      release of inflammatory mediators, causing structural and functional changes in
      the brain. Therefore, it appears reasonable to determine whether generalized
      inflammation at developmental periods can affect astrocyte reactivity to
      epileptic seizures occurring in the adult brain. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was
      injected in 6- or 30-day-old rats (P6 or P30, respectively). At the age of 2
      months, seizures were induced, and pilocarpine and morphological changes of
      astrocytes located within the hippocampal formation were assessed. Additionally,
      expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), glutamine synthetase (GS),
      aquaporin 4 (AQP4), and inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kir 4.1 (Kir4.1)
      was determined using Western blots. The animal group given LPS on P6 displayed
      maximal susceptibility to pilocarpine-induced seizures, significantly higher than
      the group that received LPS on P30. In the immunohistologically examined
      hippocampal formation, the GFAP-immunoreactive area was not affected by LPS
      alone. However, it was reduced following seizures in naive controls but not in
      LPS-pretreated rats. Increases in the ramification of astrocytic processes were
      detected only in adult rats given LPS on P30, not on P6. Seizures abolished the
      effects. Following seizures, the process ramification showed no significant
      change in the two LPS-treated rat groups, whereas it was significantly reduced in
      the dentate gyrus of LPS-untreated controls. Glial fibrillary acidic protein
      (GFAP) expression showed no changes induced with LPS alone and rose slightly
      after seizures. AQP4 content was lower in rats given LPS on P6 and was seizure
      resistant in the two LPS-treated groups, contrary to a decrease in untreated
      controls. GS expression was not affected by LPS treatments and was reduced after
      seizures without an intergroup difference. Kir4.1 underwent highly significant
      increases in all groups experiencing seizures, but LPS alone had no effect. It
      can be concluded that the generalized inflammatory status led to some important
      changes in astrocytes reflected, in part at least by permanent modifications of
      their morphology and molecular profile. Moreover, the previously experienced
      inflammation prevented the cells from much stronger changes in response to
      seizures observed in adult untreated controls. The obtained results point to a
      link between the activation of astrocytes by transient systemic inflammation
      occurring during the developmental period and their subsequent reactivity to
      seizures, which may play an important role in the functional features of the
      brain, including its susceptibility to seizures.

PMID- 28597919
TI  - An Open-Label Dose-Finding Study of Allopurinol to Target Defined Reduction in
      Urate Levels in Hemodialysis Patients.

PMID- 28597920
TI  - A Case of Nonfatal Intoxication Associated with the Recreational use of
      Diphenidine.
AB  - Diphenidine is a dissociative drug that shows several psychotropic effects
      including euphoria, shifts in perception of reality, hallucinations, and
      transient anterograde amnesia. In this study, a case of acute intoxication
      occurring after diphenidine intake is reported. A 30-year-old Caucasian male was
      hospitalized after he was found in a confused and agitated state and unable to
      communicate. The physical examination displayed tachycardia, miotic pupils, and
      increased both body temperature and respiratory rate. After a liquid-liquid
      extraction procedure, GC/MS analysis revealed the presence of diphenidine in
      plasma and urine at concentrations of 308 and 631 ng/mL, respectively.
      Methylphenidate and diclazepam were also detected in the plasma. The clinical
      progress of the patient was favorable, and his symptoms were cured with a
      symptomatic treatment. The combined circumstantial elements and toxicological
      results of the case reported revealed the occurrence of an acute intoxication
      ascribable to the recreational abuse of diphenidine.

PMID- 28597921
TI  - Feasibility of Canine Detection of Mass Storage Devices: A Study of Volatile
      Organic Compounds Emanating from Electronic Devices Using Solid Phase
      Microextraction.
AB  - Detection of canines are well-known to be valuable in the location of contraband,
      such as explosives or narcotics. More recently, canines have been trained and
      utilized in the detection of concealed mass storage devices that might contain
      evidence of illegal activity such as child pornography. To lay the analytical
      foundation for this detection work, research was carried out to determine the
      volatile organic compounds associated with mass storage devices (MSD) that could
      be used by trained canines for detection. Headspace analysis of a variety of
      electronic devices was performed using solid phase microextraction (SPME) with
      gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Analyses found several volatile
      compounds common to SIM and SD cards, as well as USB drives, including 2
      propenenitrile, styrene, isophorone, hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone, and 2
      furanmethanol, tetrahydro. Results indicated that mass storage devices do have a
      characteristic odor profile making detection with minimal false alerts feasible
      for trained canines.

PMID- 28597922
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Characterization and Dose Selection of a Novel Sumatriptan Nasal
      Spray Formulation, DFN-02.
AB  - This 3-way, single-dose, randomized crossover study evaluated the
      pharmacokinetics (PK) and dose proportionality of 5-, 10-, and 15-mg doses of
      intranasal sumatriptan (DFN-02) coformulated with a permeation enhancer (DDM) in
      18 healthy adults. The objective was to determine which DFN-02 dose approximates
      the PK of a 6-mg dose of sumatriptan delivered via subcutaneous injection in the
      deltoid muscle of the arm. Sumatriptan plasma concentrations peaked with DFN-02
      between 10 and 15 minutes postdose, declining thereafter, with a t1/2 of about
      2.5 hours; mean Cmax and AUC0-infinity values increased linearly across doses.
      After DFN-02 doses of 5, 10, and 15 mg, mean Cmax was 40.7 +/- 14.2, 71.2  +/- 
      22.1, and 101.0  +/-  49.5 ng/mL, and mean AUC0-infinity was 49.9  +/-  20.6,
      87.1  +/- 31.2, and 120.5  +/- 53.3 ng.h/mL, respectively. The increase in
      sumatriptan bioavailability was less than dose-proportional among the DFN-02
      doses studied. Based on the established PK of a 6-mg subcutaneous sumatriptan
      injection (mean Tmax ,  12 minutes; mean Cmax ,  74  +/- 15 ng/mL in the deltoid
      area of the arm) and the peak and time to peak sumatriptan concentrations of the
      DFN-02 doses tested, a 10-mg dose of DFN-02 was found to be the closest match.
      Overall, DFN-02 was well tolerated at doses of 5 to 15 mg, and no new safety
      concerns were identified.

PMID- 28597923
TI  - Mucinous adenocarcinoma in association with hidradenitis suppurativa.

PMID- 28597924
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 28597925
TI  - Validation of a procedure to quantify oxolinic acid, danofloxacin, ciprofloxacin
      and enrofloxacin in selected meats by micellar liquid chromatography according to
      EU Commission Decision 2002/657/EC.
AB  - The suitability of an analytical method to determine oxolinic acid, danofloxacin,
      ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin in edible tissues, based on micellar liquid
      chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection, to be applied in chicken,
      turkey, duck, lamb, goat, rabbit and horse muscle, is described. The method was
      fully matrix-matched in-lab revalidated, for each antimicrobial drug and meat,
      following the guidelines of the EU Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The permitted
      limits were the maximum residue limits stated by the EU Commission Regulation
      37/2010. The results obtained for the studied validation parameters were in
      agreement with the guidelines: selectivity (the antibiotics were resolved),
      linearity (r2  > 0.995), limit of detection (0.004-0.02 mg/kg), limits of
      quantification (0.01-0.05 mg/kg), calibration range (up to 0.5 mg/kg), recovery
      (89.5-105.0%), precision (<8.3%), decision limit, detection capability,
      ruggedness, stability and application to incurred samples. The method was found
      to be able to provide reliable concentrations with low uncertainty within a large
      interval, including the maximum residue limits, and then was useful to find out
      prohibited contaminated samples. The method did not require to be adapted for
      these matrices, and then it maintained its interesting advantages: short-time,
      eco-friendly, safe, inexpensive, easy-to-conduct, minimal manipulation and useful
      for routine analysis.

PMID- 28597926
TI  - Effect of hospital-wide interventions to optimize albumin use in a tertiary
      hospital.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Albumin has been frequently used as a therapeutic
      agent based on previous recommendations that are mostly controversial.
      Considering limited evidence-based indications, common inappropriate albumin use
      in many hospitals necessitates prompt educational and regulatory interventions.
      We performed this study to assess the effect of a hospital-wide programme to
      optimize albumin use in a tertiary referral university-affiliated hospital.
      METHODS: This study was conducted in three 45-day phases, separated by two
      sequential interventions: guideline implementation and albumin order-sheet
      consideration. We evaluated albumin use and assessed its appropriateness in each
      phase at baseline, after guideline implementation and after order-sheet
      consideration. RESULTS: We recorded 100, 93 and 71 albumin orders for 100, 84 and
      66 patients during the first, second and third phases, respectively. The adjusted
      number of albumin orders (used albumin vials) was 94.9 (1481.7 vials), 80.8
      (1037.6 vials) and 66 (1219 vials) in the first, second and third phases of the
      study, respectively. Albumin orders with appropriate indication increased
      significantly over the three phases of the study (OR=1.5, P=.008). The frequency
      of inappropriate orders reduced significantly from the first phase to the third
      phase (58%-27%, P=.007). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The pattern and amount of
      albumin use changed following guideline implementation and order-sheet
      consideration, and inappropriate albumin use was reduced in our hospital. There
      was still room for improvement, particularly for indications that were not
      included in the guideline. Hence, a more comprehensive guideline, frequent audit,
      feedback and interactive educational approaches might be necessary to achieve
      results that are of a greater magnitude.

PMID- 28597928
TI  - Disseminated papular lesions as a unique manifestation heralding bacille Calmette
      Guerin infection in a patient with T-B+NK- severe combined immunodeficiency.

PMID- 28597927
TI  - The prevalence of anxiety and associated factors in persons with epilepsy.
AB  - The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of, and factors
      associated with, anxiety in epilepsy. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis
      using data from the Neurological Disease and Depression Study. The prevalence of
      anxiety and associated factors were assessed using descriptive statistics and
      logistic regression. Of the total sample (n = 250 patients), nearly 40.0% of
      participants had anxiety according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
      The most prevalent symptom of anxiety was "worrying thoughts" (35.6%). After
      adjustment for age and sex, depression (odds ratio [OR] = 8.97, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] = 4.38-18.40), medication side effects (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.04
      3.05), smoking (OR = 4.35, 95% CI = 2.27-8.31), and illicit substance use (OR =
      2.42, 95% CI = 1.18-4.96) were significantly associated with higher odds of
      anxiety, whereas higher education (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.28-0.80) was associated
      with lower odds of anxiety. Furthermore, participants with anxiety reported more
      severe epilepsy, debilitating seizures, and overall lower quality of life.
      Evidence from our study reveals a high prevalence of anxiety in persons with
      epilepsy and that anxiety is associated with a variety of negative outcomes.
      These findings further emphasize the need for more studies to understand the
      impact of anxiety and its relationship with various sociodemographic and clinical
      factors.

PMID- 28597929
TI  - Next-generation sequencing of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in odontogenic
      myxomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutations previously considered drivers of malignant neoplasms also
      occur in benign tumors. From the biological perspective, the study of malignant
      and benign neoplasms is equally relevant. The study of rare tumors contributes to
      the understanding of the more common ones, as both could share the same hallmark
      genetic drivers. The identification of driver mutations in benign tumors is
      facilitated by the fact that they harbor quiet genomes. Pathogenic mutations have
      being described in benign epithelial odontogenic tumors, such as ameloblastomas
      and adenomatoid odontogenic tumors. However, the molecular pathogenesis of
      odontogenic myxoma (OM), a benign aggressive ectomesenchymal tumor, is still
      poorly characterized, precluding the development of personalized therapy. Aiming
      to find druggable genetic mutations, we investigated in OM mutations in 50 genes
      commonly mutated in cancer. METHODS: We used targeted next-generation sequencing
      to interrogate over 2,800 COSMIC mutations in OM. RESULTS: Missense single
      nucleotide variants were detected in KDR, TP53, PIK3CA, KIT, JAK3; however, these
      did not include pathogenic mutations. CONCLUSION: These aggressive tumors do not
      harbor pathogenic mutations in genes commonly mutated in human cancers or if they
      do, these mutations probably occur in a low proportion of cases.

PMID- 28597930
TI  - Infection control guidelines for optometrists 2016.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This paper provides an updated version of the paper: Infection
      control guidelines for optometrists 2007. METHODS: Information from peer-reviewed
      journal articles, guidelines from professional societies, and government health
      department and other websites and instructions from equipment manufacturers were
      considered in determining infection risk factors in optometric practice. They
      were used to revise the recommendations on disinfection, sterilisation and
      reprocessing procedures for instrumentation and other equipment used in
      optometric practice as well as personal infection control measures to be
      undertaken by staff. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Optometrists and optometric
      practice staff should adopt measures to minimise the risk of transmission of
      infection. These include appropriate hand-washing, staff vaccinations, single use
      instruments/equipment, appropriate disposal of waste, appropriate methods of
      reprocessing where items are reused, routine employment of standard infection
      control precautions and application of more rigorous procedures for individuals
      who are known to be infected or immuno-suppressed. Information provided to
      patients regarding infection control procedures in topical drug administration,
      contact lens wear and use of eye make-up are additional considerations for
      optometrists.

PMID- 28597931
TI  - An in vitro study of the long non-coding RNA TUG1 in tongue squamous cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study sought to study the expression of the long non-coding RNA
      (lncRNA) taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma
      (TSCC) and reveal its possible function. METHODS: qRT-PCR was used to evaluate 27
      samples of fresh TSCC tissues and adjacent normal tongue tissues. siRNA
      technology was employed to downregulate TUG1 expression in CAL-27 and SCC-9 cell
      lines. The 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide
      (MTT) assay was utilized to assess cell proliferation ability; apoptosis and cell
      cycle phases were analysed via flow cytometry. RESULTS: qRT-PCR findings
      indicated that the lncRNA TUG1 was upregulated in TSCC tissues compared with
      adjacent normal tongue tissues (P<.05). After TUG1 expression was downregulated
      using siRNA technology, cell proliferation was significantly inhibited (P<.05),
      and the number of cells in S phase was reduced (P<.05). CONCLUSION: The lncRNA
      TUG1 may represent a potential oncogene in TSCC.

PMID- 28597933
TI  - Death due to a rare complication of colonoscopy and the potential medicolegal
      implications.
AB  - A 64-year-old woman was found dead at home after undergoing a screening
      colonoscopy. At autopsy, 1.9 L of blood was discovered within her abdominal
      cavity. The only major abnormality was nontraumatic avulsion of the splenic
      capsule. This was the only identifiable abnormality capable of causing the severe
      hemoperitoneum and demise of the patient. Although rare, splenic capsule avulsion
      is a recognized complication of colonoscopy. Many have theorized that it results
      from excessive traction on the splenocolic ligament resulting in a tear of the
      splenic capsule. Most patients present within the first 24 hours after the
      procedure with nonspecific symptoms, and many patients may not seek medical
      attention. The paucity of the literature in the area of splenic capsular avulsion
      after colonoscopy reinforces the importance of reporting known cases, and by
      doing so raise awareness of this rare but devastating complication of an
      otherwise beneficial screening procedure.

PMID- 28597932
TI  - Low-Cost Zeta Potentiometry Using Solute Gradients.
AB  - The zeta potential is an electric potential in the Debye screening layer of an
      electrolyte, which represents a key physicochemical surface property in various
      fields ranging from electrochemistry to pharmaceuticals. Thus, characterizing the
      zeta potential is essential for many applications, but available measurement
      techniques are limited. Electrophoretic light scattering is typically used to
      measure the zeta potential of particles in suspension, whereas zeta potential
      measurements of a solid wall in solution rely on either streaming potential or
      electroosmotic mobility measurement techniques, both of which are expensive and
      sophisticated. Here, a simple, robust method to simultaneously measure the zeta
      potential of particles in suspension and solid walls is presented. The method
      uses solute gradients to induce particle and fluid motions via diffusiophoresis
      and diffusioosmosis, respectively, which are both sensitive to the zeta potential
      of the particle and the wall. By visualizing the particle dynamics, both zeta
      potentials can be determined independently. Finally, a compact microscope is used
      to demonstrate low-cost zeta potentiometry that allows measurement of both
      particle and wall zeta potentials, which suggests a cost-effective tool for
      pharmaceuticals as well as for educational purposes.

PMID- 28597934
TI  - A comparison of four porewater sampling methods for metal mixtures and dissolved
      organic carbon and the implications for sediment toxicity evaluations.
AB  - Evaluations of sediment quality conditions are commonly conducted using whole
      sediment chemistry analyses but can be enhanced by evaluating multiple lines of
      evidence, including measures of the bioavailable forms of contaminants. In
      particular, porewater chemistry data provide information that is directly
      relevant for interpreting sediment toxicity data. Various methods for sampling
      porewater for trace metals and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is an
      important moderator of metal bioavailability, have been employed. The present
      study compares the peeper, push point, centrifugation, and diffusive gradients in
      thin films (DGT) methods for the quantification of 6 metals and DOC. The methods
      were evaluated at low and high concentrations of metals in 3 sediments having
      different concentrations of total organic carbon and acid volatile sulfide and
      different particle-size distributions. At low metal concentrations,
      centrifugation and push point sampling resulted in up to 100 times higher
      concentrations of metals and DOC in porewater compared with peepers and DGTs. At
      elevated metal levels, the measured concentrations were in better agreement among
      the 4 sampling techniques. The results indicate that there can be marked
      differences among operationally different porewater sampling methods, and it is
      unclear if there is a definitive best method for sampling metals and DOC in
      porewater. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2906-2915. Published 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as
      such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

PMID- 28597935
TI  - Failure rates of artificial dermis products in treatment of diabetic foot ulcer:
      A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
AB  - Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a frequent complication in diabetic patients,
      occurring in up to 25% of those affected. Among the treatments available to
      clinicians, the use of bioengineered skin substitutes is an attractive
      alternative. Artificial dermis functions as a matrix, covering the wound and
      supporting healing and reconstruction of the lost tissue. This study was aimed at
      reviewing the use of five regeneration matrices (namely, Integra, Nevelia,
      Matriderm, Pelnac, and Renoskin) as reported by clinical trials. We searched
      Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials databases for relevant studies. Risk of failure rates was
      analysed by relative risk ratio method and complete ulcer healing was studied
      using network meta-analysis. Thirteen studies (12 randomized clinical trials and
      one cohort study) were eligible for analysis. The network meta-analysis based on
      a single study for Matriderm and 12 studies for other products showed that
      Matriderm was statistically inferior in achieving complete ulcer healing, as
      compared to all other products combined. In the second phase analysis, which was
      limited to three studies using artificial dermis products, there was a 57%
      reduction in the risk of reepithelialization failure for DFU patients who used
      Matriderm or Pelnac, compared to those who used Pelnac with basic fibroblast
      growth factor spray or skin grafting. The data showed an overall low failure rate
      suggesting that these bioengineered skin products provide a suitable support and
      microenvironment for healing of DFUs with low ulcer recurrence rates. This
      systematic review with meta-analysis highlights the pressing need for more
      studies investigating the safety, efficacy and failure rates of regeneration
      matrices in the treatment of DFUs.

PMID- 28597937
TI  - Frustration-guided motion planning reveals conformational transitions in
      proteins.
AB  - Proteins exist as conformational ensembles, exchanging between substates to
      perform their function. Advances in experimental techniques yield unprecedented
      access to structural snapshots of their conformational landscape. However,
      computationally modeling how proteins use collective motions to transition
      between substates is challenging owing to a rugged landscape and large energy
      barriers. Here, we present a new, robotics-inspired motion planning procedure
      called dCC-RRT that navigates the rugged landscape between substates by
      introducing dynamic, interatomic constraints to modulate frustration. The
      constraints balance non-native contacts and flexibility, and instantaneously
      redirect the motion towards sterically favorable conformations. On a test set of
      eight proteins determined in two conformations separated by, on average, 7.5 A
      root mean square deviation (RMSD), our pathways reduced the Calpha atom RMSD to
      the goal conformation by 78%, outperforming peer methods. We then applied dCC-RRT
      to examine how collective, small-scale motions of four side-chains in the active
      site of cyclophilin A propagate through the protein. dCC-RRT uncovered a
      spatially contiguous network of residues linked by steric interactions and
      collective motion connecting the active site to a recently proposed, non
      canonical capsid binding site 25 A away, rationalizing NMR and multi-temperature
      crystallography experiments. In all, dCC-RRT can reveal detailed, all-atom
      molecular mechanisms for small and large amplitude motions. Source code and
      binaries are freely available at https://github.com/ExcitedStates/KGS/.

PMID- 28597936
TI  - The beneficial metabolic effects of insulin sensitizers are not attenuated by
      mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 2 hypomorphism.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? The antidiabetic
      effects of thiazolidinedione (TZD) drugs may be mediated in part by a molecular
      interaction with the constituent proteins of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier
      complex (MPC1 and MPC2). We examined the ability of a mutant mouse strain
      expressing an N-terminal truncation of MPC2 (Mpc2Delta16 mice) to respond to TZD
      treatment. What is the main finding and its importance? The response of
      Mpc2Delta16 mice to TZD treatment was not significantly different from that of
      wild-type C57BL6/J control animals, suggesting that the 16 N-terminal amino acids
      of MPC2 are dispensable for the effects of TZD treatment. Rosiglitazone and
      pioglitazone are thiazolidinedione (TZD) compounds that have been used clinically
      as insulin-sensitizing drugs and are generally believed to mediate their effects
      via activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma
      (PPARgamma). Recent work has shown that it is possible to synthesize TZD
      compounds with potent insulin-sensitizing effects and markedly diminished
      affinity for PPARgamma. Both clinically used TZDs and investigational PPARgamma
      sparing TZDs, such as MSDC-0602, interact with the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier
      (MPC) and inhibit its activity. The MPC complex is composed of two proteins, MPC1
      and MPC2. Herein, we used mice expressing a hypomorphic MPC2 protein missing 16
      amino acids in the N-terminus (Mpc2Delta16 mice) to determine the effects of
      these residues in mediating the insulin-sensitizing effects of TZDs in diet
      induced obese mice. We found that both pioglitazone and MSDC-0602 elicited their
      beneficial metabolic effects, including improvement in glucose tolerance,
      attenuation of hepatic steatosis, reduction of adipose tissue inflammation and
      stimulation of adipocyte browning, in both wild-type and Mpc2Delta16 mice after
      high-fat diet feeding. In addition, truncation of MPC2 failed to attenuate the
      interaction between TZDs and the MPC in a bioluminescence resonance energy
      transfer-based assay or to affect the suppression of pyruvate-stimulated
      respiration in cells. Collectively, these data suggest that the interaction
      between TZDs and MPC2 is not affected by loss of the N-terminal 16 amino acids
      nor are these residues required for the insulin-sensitizing effects of these
      compounds.

PMID- 28597938
TI  - Epigenetics in natural animal populations.
AB  - Phenotypic plasticity is an important mechanism for populations to buffer
      themselves from environmental change. While it has long been appreciated that
      natural populations possess genetic variation in the extent of plasticity, a
      surge of recent evidence suggests that epigenetic variation could also play an
      important role in shaping phenotypic responses. Compared with genetic variation,
      epigenetic variation is more likely to have higher spontaneous rates of mutation
      and a more sensitive reaction to environmental inputs. In our review, we first
      provide an overview of recent studies on epigenetically encoded thermal
      plasticity in animals to illustrate environmentally-mediated epigenetic effects
      within and across generations. Second, we discuss the role of epigenetic effects
      during adaptation by exploring population epigenetics in natural animal
      populations. Finally, we evaluate the evolutionary potential of epigenetic
      variation depending on its autonomy from genetic variation and its
      transgenerational stability. Although many of the causal links between epigenetic
      variation and phenotypic plasticity remain elusive, new data has explored the
      role of epigenetic variation in facilitating evolution in natural populations.
      This recent progress in ecological epigenetics will be helpful for generating
      predictive models of the capacity of organisms to adapt to changing climates.

PMID- 28597940
TI  - "Undoing" (or Symbolic Reversal) at Homicide Crime Scenes.
AB  - A closed case file review of a nonrandom national sample of 975 homicides
      disclosed 11 cases (1.13%) of undoing, wherein offenders engaged in crime scene
      behavior that has been considered an attempt to symbolically reverse the murder.
      The frequency of the various methods of undoing involved the use of blankets to
      cover the victim's body (55%), positioning the body (55%), use of a bed or couch
      (42%), washing the body (36%), using pillows (36%), as well as removing clothing
      and adding other types of adornments (27%). Ten of the 11 offenders were male,
      and one was female; all 12 victims were female. Ten of the 12 victims were family
      members or relationship intimates. These findings are consistent with prior
      reports which concluded that the motivation for undoing behavior is an attempt to
      compensate for guilt or remorse for having committed the homicide.

PMID- 28597941
TI  - Knotting of a urethral catheter.

PMID- 28597939
TI  - Precision oncology based on omics data: The NCT Heidelberg experience.
AB  - Precision oncology implies the ability to predict which patients will likely
      respond to specific cancer therapies based on increasingly accurate, high
      resolution molecular diagnostics as well as the functional and mechanistic
      understanding of individual tumors. While molecular stratification of patients
      can be achieved through different means, a promising approach is next-generation
      sequencing of tumor DNA and RNA, which can reveal genomic alterations that have
      immediate clinical implications. Furthermore, certain genetic alterations are
      shared across multiple histologic entities, raising the fundamental question of
      whether tumors should be treated by molecular profile and not tissue of origin.
      We here describe MASTER (Molecularly Aided Stratification for Tumor Eradication
      Research), a clinically applicable platform for prospective, biology-driven
      stratification of younger adults with advanced-stage cancer across all
      histologies and patients with rare tumors. We illustrate how a standardized
      workflow for selection and consenting of patients, sample processing, whole
      exome/genome and RNA sequencing, bioinformatic analysis, rigorous validation of
      potentially actionable findings, and data evaluation by a dedicated molecular
      tumor board enables categorization of patients into different intervention
      baskets and formulation of evidence-based recommendations for clinical
      management. Critical next steps will be to increase the number of patients that
      can be offered comprehensive molecular analysis through collaborations and
      partnering, to explore ways in which additional technologies can aid in patient
      stratification and individualization of treatment, to stimulate clinically guided
      exploratory research projects, and to gradually move away from assessing the
      therapeutic activity of targeted interventions on a case-by-case basis toward
      controlled clinical trials of genomics-guided treatments.

PMID- 28597942
TI  - Copy number alterations determined by single nucleotide polymorphism array
      testing in the clinical laboratory are indicative of gene fusions in pediatric
      cancer patients.
AB  - Gene fusions resulting from structural rearrangements are an established
      mechanism of tumorigenesis in pediatric cancer. In this clinical cohort, 1,350
      single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based chromosomal microarrays from 1,211
      pediatric cancer patients were evaluated for copy number alterations (CNAs)
      associated with gene fusions. Karyotype or fluorescence in situ hybridization
      studies were performed in 42% of the patients. Ten percent of the bone marrow or
      solid tumor specimens had SNP array-associated CNAs suggestive of a gene fusion.
      Alterations involving ETV6, ABL1-NUP214, EBF1-PDGFRB, KMT2A(MLL), LMO2-RAG, MYH11
      CBFB, NSD1-NUP98, PBX1, STIL-TAL1, ZNF384-TCF3, P2RY8-CRLF2, and RUNX1T1-RUNX1
      fusions were detected in the bone marrow samples. The most common alteration
      among the low-grade gliomas was a 7q34 tandem duplication resulting in a KIAA1549
      BRAF fusion. Additional fusions identified in the pediatric brain tumors included
      FAM131B-BRAF and RAF1-QKI. COL1A1-PDGFB, CRTC1-MAML2, EWSR1, HEY1, PAX3- and PAX7
      FOXO1, and PLAG1 fusions were determined in a variety of solid tumors and a novel
      potential gene fusion, FGFR1-USP6, was detected in an aneurysmal bone cyst. The
      identification of these gene fusions was instrumental in tumor diagnosis. In
      contrast to hematologic and solid tumors in adults that are predominantly driven
      by mutations, the majority of hematologic and solid tumors in children are
      characterized by CNAs and gene fusions. Chromosomal microarray analysis is
      therefore a robust platform to identify diagnostic and prognostic markers in the
      clinical setting.

PMID- 28597944
TI  - A Quantum-mechanical Study of the Binding Pocket of Proteorhodopsin: Absorption
      and Vibrational Spectra Modulated by Analogue Chromophores.
AB  - Proteorhodopsin is a light-driven proton pumping membrane protein related to
      bacteriorhodopsin. It contains an all-trans retinal A1 chromophore covalently
      bound to a lysine residue via a protonated Schiff base. In this study, we
      exploited density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the retinal
      binding pocket in the dark state and after mimicking photoisomerization. The
      model of the binding pocket is constructed incrementally by adding the residues
      near the retinal that are necessary to ensure a stable protonated Schiff base.
      The presence of a few water molecules near the Schiff base turns out to be an
      essential feature of the model. The absorption properties are then studied using
      time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) and compared to experimental data to further validate
      the structural model and to assess the accuracy of the computational setting. It
      is shown that TDDFT is able to reproduce the main absorption peak accurately and
      to quantitatively determine the spectral shift induced by substituting the native
      all-trans retinal A1 chromophore with different retinal analogues. Moreover, ab
      initio molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the
      vibrational spectra of our models before and after isomerization. Specific
      differences in the vibrational spectra are identified that provide further
      insight into experimental FTIR difference spectra.

PMID- 28597943
TI  - Identification of Eight Synthetic Cannabinoids, Including 5F-AKB48 in Seized
      Herbal Products Using DART-TOF-MS and LC-QTOF-MS as Nontargeted Screening
      Methods.
AB  - Synthetic cannabinoids are sprayed onto plant material and smoked for their
      marijuana-like effects. Clandestine manufacturers modify synthetic cannabinoid
      structures by creating closely related analogs. Forensic laboratories are tasked
      with detection of these analog compounds, but targeted analytical methods are
      often thwarted by the structural modifications. Here, direct analysis in real
      time coupled to accurate mass time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART-TOF-MS) in
      combination with liquid chromatography quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry
      (LC-QTOF-MS) are presented as a screening and nontargeted confirmation method,
      respectively. Methanol extracts of herbal material were run using both methods.
      Spectral data from four different herbal products were evaluated by comparing
      fragmentation pattern, accurate mass and retention time to available reference
      standards. JWH-018, JWH-019, AM2201, JWH-122, 5F-AKB48, AKB48-N-(4-pentenyl)
      analog, UR144, and XLR11 were identified in the products. Results demonstrate
      that DART-TOF-MS affords a useful approach for rapid screening of herbal products
      for the presence and identification of synthetic cannabinoids.

PMID- 28597945
TI  - Specific psychosocial exposures for workers' mental health: A population-based
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to plan interventions it is important to obtain evidence on
      the relation between a health outcome and specific exposures. However, there are
      few studies that identify the effect of specific psychosocial work exposures on
      poor mental health. This is the aim of this study. METHODS: Population-based
      cross-sectional study in Catalonia. We estimated prevalence ratios (PR) of minor
      psychiatric disorder associated with several psychosocial work exposures.
      RESULTS: The items with highest PR were "Are there times when you need to be at
      work and at home at the same time?" (PR = 1.81), "Are you worried about a
      variation in your salary?" (PR = 1.77), "Is your work emotionally demanding?" (PR
      = 1.65) and "Are you worried about it being difficult for you to find another job
      if you became unemployed?" (PR = 1.51). CONCLUSIONS: This study could be useful
      in order to begin planning interventions on specific psychosocial exposures to
      protect mental health in the workplace.

PMID- 28597947
TI  - The feasibility of a pragmatic distance-based intervention to increase physical
      activity in lung cancer survivors.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility and preliminary
      efficacy of a pragmatic distance-based intervention designed to increase physical
      activity (PA) participation in lung cancer survivors. Fourteen lung cancer
      survivors were recruited via invitation from the State Cancer Registry to join a
      12-week PA intervention of print materials paired with brief telephone follow-up.
      Outcome measures of feasibility, PA participation and quality of life (QoL) were
      assessed at baseline, post-intervention and follow-up via telephone interview.
      Eligibility, recruitment and attrition rates were 16%, 58% and 29% respectively.
      No adverse events were reported; however, pain scores worsened following the
      intervention (median change -3.6, IQR -8.0, 0.0). Average intervention adherence
      was 91% with low median ratings of participation burden (i.e., all items 1/7) and
      high trial evaluation (i.e., all items 7/7). Post-intervention, median change in
      self-reported moderate and vigorous PA was 84 min (IQR -22, 188), and several
      domains of QoL improved. However, for both of these outcomes, improvements were
      not maintained at follow-up. Our findings suggest that this pragmatic distance
      based intervention was safe, had good adherence rates, and indicate potential for
      improving short-term PA and QoL in lung cancer survivors. Additional strategies
      are needed to improve other indicators of feasibility, particularly recruitment,
      retention and long-term maintenance of improvements. Australian New Zealand
      Clinical Trials Registration: ACTRN12612000085875.

PMID- 28597946
TI  - Comprehensive screening for monogenic diabetes in 89 Japanese children with
      insulin-requiring antibody-negative type 1 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutations in causative genes for neonatal diabetes or maturity-onset
      diabetes of the young have been identified in multiple patients with autoantibody
      negative type 1 diabetes (T1D). OBJECTIVES: We aimed to clarify the prevalence
      and phenotypic characteristics of monogenic abnormalities among 89 children with
      autoantibody-negative insulin-requiring T1D. METHODS: Mutations in 30 genes were
      screened using next-generation sequencing, and copy-number alterations of 4 major
      causative genes were examined using multiplex-ligation-dependent probe
      amplification. We compared the clinical characteristics between mutation carriers
      and non-carriers. RESULTS: We identified 11 probable pathogenic substitutions (6
      in INS , 2 in HNF1A , 2 in HNF4A , and 1 in HNF1B ) in 11 cases, but no copy
      number abnormalities. Only 2 mutation carriers had affected parents. De novo
      occurrence was confirmed for 3 mutations. The non-carrier group, but not the
      carrier group, was enriched with susceptible HLA alleles. Mutation carriers
      exhibited comparable phenotypes to those of non-carriers, except for a relatively
      normal body mass index (BMI) at diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated
      significant genetic overlap between autoantibody-negative T1D and monogenic
      diabetes. Mutations in INS and HNF genes, but not those in GCK and other
      monogenic diabetes genes, likely play critical roles in children with insulin
      requiring T1D. This study also suggests the relatively high de novo rates of INS
      and HNF mutations, and the etiological link between autoimmune abnormalities and
      T1D in the non-carrier group. Carriers of monogenic mutations show non-specific
      phenotypes among all T1D cases, although they are more likely to have a normal
      BMI at diagnosis than non-carriers.

PMID- 28597948
TI  - Identification of a Carbonized Body Using Implanted Surgical Plates: The
      Importance of Computed Tomography.
AB  - In addition to clinical examination, forensic odontologists can use diagnostic
      imaging as an auxiliary method for identification. This paper reports a case
      where forensic odontologists from the Afranio Peixoto Legal Medicine Institute in
      Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) positively identified a carbonized and partially calcined
      body using oral and maxillofacial imaging. The cadaver showed several metallic
      plates fixed with metallic screws on bones of the neurocranium and
      viscerocranium. Family members provided spiral computed tomography scans of the
      skull and a panoramic radiograph that were acquired after an accident that
      required surgical procedures. Comparative analysis between the clinical exam and
      the maxillofacial images demonstrated complete coincidence, confirming the
      victim's identity. Dactyloscopy, which is the most commonly used method of
      identification, was not possible because of the body carbonization. Thus,
      diagnostic imaging, especially computed tomography, was essential for elucidation
      of this case.

PMID- 28597950
TI  - Vicinal Difunctionalization of Alkenes through a Multicomponent Reaction with the
      Insertion of Sulfur Dioxide.
AB  - A four-component reaction of aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborates, sulfur dioxide,
      alkenes, and hydroxylamines under mild conditions is accomplished. No catalyst or
      additive is needed for the vicinal difunctionalization of alkenes with the
      insertion of sulfur dioxide. Not only DABCO?(SO2 )2 (DABCO=1,4
      diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane) but also potassium metabisulfite (K2 S2 O5 ) is
      effective in this transformation. The multicomponent reaction proceeds
      efficiently at room temperature with broad substrate scope, leading to the
      corresponding products in good yields.

PMID- 28597949
TI  - Primary islet autoantibody at initial seroconversion and autoantibodies at
      diagnosis of type 1 diabetes as markers of disease heterogeneity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The relationship between patterns of islet autoantibodies at diagnosis
      and specificity of the first islet autoantibody at the initiation of autoimmunity
      was analyzed with the aim of identifying patterns informative of the primary
      autoantibodies. METHODS: Information about a single first autoantibody at
      seroconversion and autoantibody data at diagnosis were available for 128 children
      participating in the follow-up cohort of the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction
      and Prevention (DIPP) study. Autoantibody data at diagnosis and genotyping
      results were also obtained from children in the Finnish Pediatric Diabetes
      Register (FPDR). RESULTS: Insulin autoantibodies (IAA) were the most common
      primary antibodies (N = 68), followed by those for glutamic acid decarboxylase
      (GADA; N = 38), IA-2 antigen (IA-2A; N = 13), and zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8A; N =
      9), whereas at diagnosis, IA-2A were most frequent (N = 103), followed by IAA (N
      = 78), ZnT8A (N = 73), and GADA (N = 71). Accordingly, the presence of many
      specific autoantibodies at diagnosis was due to the secondary antibodies
      appearing after primary antibodies, and in some cases, the primary autoantibody,
      most often IAA, had already disappeared at the time of diagnosis. Many of the
      autoantibody combinations present at diagnosis could be assembled into groups
      associated with either IAA or GADA as first autoantibodies. These combinations,
      in children diagnosed below the age of 10 years in the FPDR, were found to be
      strongly associated with risk genotypes in either INS (IAA first) or IKZF4-ERBB3
      (GADA first) genes. CONCLUSIONS: Autoantibody patterns at diagnosis may be
      informative on primary autoantibodies initiating autoimmunity in young children
      developing type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 28597951
TI  - Regulatory T-cell conditioning endows activated effector T cells with suppressor
      function in autoimmune hepatitis/autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis.
AB  - : Imbalance between T regulatory (Treg) and T effector (Teff) cells is likely to
      contribute to the induction and perpetuation of liver damage in autoimmune
      hepatitis (AIH) and autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis (AISC) either through
      inability of Tregs to restrain proliferation and effector cytokine production by
      responders or through conversion of Tregs into T helper type 1 (Th1) or type 17
      (Th17) effector lymphocytes. We investigated the effect of Treg skewing on the
      phenotypic and functional properties of CD4+ CD127+ CD25high cells, an activated
      subset of Teff, in 32 patients with AIH and 20 with AISC and in 36 healthy
      subjects. In AIH/AISC we noted a substantial increase in peripheral blood-derived
      CD4+ CD127+ CD25high cells that display a Th1/Th17 phenotypic profile, as
      reflected by heightened interferon gamma and interleukin 17 (IL-17) production as
      well as by high levels of T-bet and related orphan receptor 3 expression, which
      is strongly correlated with disease activity. CD4+ CD127+ CD25high cells are
      unresponsive to low-dose IL-2 and in patients have marked proliferative ability,
      further enhanced by stimulation with IL-7. CD4+ CD127+ CD25high cells obtained
      from CD4+ cells exposed to Treg polarizing conditions display enhanced IL-10
      production; up-regulate CD49b and LAG-3, markers of T regulatory 1 cells; and
      effectively suppress responder cell proliferation in both healthy subjects and
      AIH/AISC patients through a mechanism which is dependent on interferon gamma and
      IL-17. The suppressive function of CD4+ CD127+ CD25high cells is maintained upon
      proinflammatory challenge in healthy subjects but not in AIH/AISC. CONCLUSION:
      Treg skewing confers activated Teff phenotypic and functional properties of T
      regulatory 1 cells in health and in AIH/AISC, though suppressive function is lost
      in patients upon proinflammatory challenge; protracted modulation of the
      inflammatory environment is required to attenuate the effector potential while
      boosting immunoregulatory properties in Teff. (Hepatology 2017;66:1570-1584).

PMID- 28597952
TI  - Efficacy of Combined Sous Vide-Microwave Cooking for Foodborne Pathogen
      Inactivation in Ready-to-Eat Chicory Stems.
AB  - There is a variety of different food processing methods, which can be used to
      prepare ready-to-eat foods. However, the need to preserve the freshness and
      nutritional qualities leads to the application of mild technologies which may be
      insufficient to inactivate microbial pathogens. In this work, fresh chicory stems
      were packed under a vacuum in films, which were transparent to microwaves. These
      were then exposed to microwaves for different periods of time. The application of
      sous vide microwave cooking (SV-MW, 900 W, 2450 MHz), controlled naturally
      occurring mesophilic aerobic bacteria, yeasts and molds for up to 30 d when
      vacuum-packed vegetables were stored at 4  degrees C. In addition, the process
      lethality of the SV-MW 90 s cooking was experimentally validated. This treatment
      led to 6.07 +/- 0.7 and 4.92 +/- 0.65 log cfu/g reduction of Escherichia coli and
      Listeria monocytogenes inoculated over the chicory stems (100 g), respectively.
      With an initial load of 9 log cfu/g for both pathogens, less than 10 cfu/g of
      surviving cells were found after 90 s cooking. This shows that short-time
      microwave cooking can be used to effectively pasteurize vacuum-packed chicory
      stems, achieving >5 log cfu/g reduction of E. coli and L. monocytogenes.

PMID- 28597953
TI  - A clip domain serine protease involved in moulting in the silkworm, Bombyx mori:
      cloning, characterization, expression patterns and functional analysis.
AB  - Clip domain serine proteases (CLIPs), characterized by one or more conserved clip
      domains, are essential components of extracellular signalling cascades in various
      biological processes, especially in innate immunity and the embryonic development
      of insects. Additionally, CLIPs may have additional non-immune functions in
      insect development. In the present study, the clip domain serine protease gene
      Bombyx mori serine protease 95 (BmSP95), which encodes a 527-residue protein, was
      cloned from the integument of B. mori. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that
      BmSP95 is a typical CLIP of the subfamily D and possesses a clip domain at the N
      terminus, a trypsin-like serine protease (tryp_spc) domain at the C terminus and
      a conserved proline-rich motif between these two domains. At the transcriptional
      level, BmSP95 is expressed in the integument during moulting and metamorphosis,
      and the expression pattern is consistent with the fluctuating 20-hydroxyecdysone
      (20E) titre in B. mori. At the translational level, BmSP95 protein is synthesized
      in the epidermal cells, secreted as a zymogen and activated in the moulting
      fluid. Immunofluorescence revealed that BmSP95 is distributed into the old
      endocuticle in the moulting stage. The expression of BmSP95 was upregulated by
      20E. Moreover, expression of BmSP95 was downregulated by pathogen infection. RNA
      interference-mediated silencing of BmSP95 led to delayed moulting from pupa to
      moth. These results suggest that BmSP95 is involved in integument remodelling
      during moulting and metamorphosis.

PMID- 28597954
TI  - Exposure to Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin affects integrin
      mediated adhesion and mechanics in alveolar epithelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The adenylate cyclase (CyaA) toxin is a major virulent
      factor of Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough. CyaA toxin
      is able to invade eukaryotic cells where it produces high levels of cyclic
      adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) affecting cellular physiology. Whether CyaA toxin
      can modulate cell matrix adhesion and mechanics of infected cells remains largely
      unknown. RESULTS: In this study, we use a recently proposed multiple bond force
      spectroscopy (MFS) with an atomic force microscope to assess the early phase of
      cell adhesion (maximal detachment and local rupture forces) and cell rigidity
      (Young's modulus) in alveolar epithelial cells (A549) for toxin exposure <1 h. At
      30 min of exposure, CyaA toxin has a minimal effect on cell viability (>95%) at
      CyaA concentration of 0.5 nM, but a significant effect (~81%) at 10 nM. MFS
      performed on A549 for three different concentrations (0.5, 5 and 10 nM)
      demonstrates that CyaA toxin significantly affects both cell adhesion (detachment
      forces are decreased) and cell mechanics (Young's modulus is increased). CyaA
      toxin (at 0.5 nM) assessed at three indentation/retraction speeds (2, 5 and 10
      MUm/s) significantly affects global detachment forces, local rupture events and
      Young modulus compared with control conditions, while an enzymatically inactive
      variant CyaAE5 has no effect. These results reveal the loading rate dependence of
      the multiple bonds newly formed between the cell and integrin-specific coated
      probe as well as the individual bond kinetics which are only slightly affected by
      the patho-physiological dose of CyaA toxin. Finally, theory of multiple bond
      force rupture enables us to deduce the bond number N which is reduced by a factor
      of 2 upon CyaA exposure (N ~ 6 versus N ~ 12 in control conditions). CONCLUSIONS:
      MFS measurements demonstrate that adhesion and mechanical properties of A549 are
      deeply affected by exposure to the CyaA toxin but not to an enzymatically
      inactive variant. This indicates that the alteration of cell mechanics triggered
      by CyaA is a consequence of the increase in intracellular cAMP in these target
      cells. SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that mechanical and adhesion
      properties of the cells appear as pertinent markers of cytotoxicity of CyaA
      toxin.

PMID- 28597955
TI  - Dispersal enhances beta diversity in nectar microbes.
AB  - Dispersal is considered a key driver of beta diversity, the variation in species
      composition among local communities, but empirical tests remain limited. We
      manipulated dispersal of nectar-inhabiting bacteria and yeasts via flower
      visiting animals to examine how dispersal influenced microbial beta diversity
      among flowers. Contrary to the prevailing view that dispersal lowers beta
      diversity, we found beta diversity was highest when dispersal was least limited.
      Our analysis suggested that this unexpected pattern might have resulted from
      stronger priority effects under increased dispersal. Dispersal is highly
      stochastic, generating variability in species arrival history and consequently
      the potential for community divergence via priority effects, in these and likely
      many other microbial, plant, and animal communities. Yet most previous
      experiments eliminated this possibility. We suggest that the positive effects of
      dispersal on beta diversity, like the one we report here, may have been greatly
      underappreciated.

PMID- 28597956
TI  - A post-GWAS confirming GPAT3 gene associated with pig growth and a significant
      SNP influencing its promoter activity.
AB  - Our previous genome-wide association study revealed that a SNP, ASGA0040372,
      located upstream of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 3 (GPAT3), is related to
      growth traits in Duroc pigs. In this study, we aimed to extensively investigate
      the genetic variation of GPAT3 and to further verify the contribution of
      ASGA0040372 to growth traits and its effect on promoter activity. Our data,
      obtained based on gene cloning and rapid amplification of cDNA ends experiments,
      showed that there are 14 exons and three alternative splicing variants. Five SNPs
      were detected, including ASGA0040372 and four novel SNPs. Furthermore, the five
      SNPs obtained were used to confirm their genetic effects on pig growth by an
      association study in a Duroc pig population. The results indicated that three
      SNPs (ASGA0040372, RS331766122 and RS346215414) are highly associated with
      average daily gain or days to 100 kg traits (P-value < 0.05). Subsequent analysis
      suggested that the promoter region of GPAT3 gene, from -950 to -500 bp, exhibited
      the highest activity. We also observed that ASGA0040372 (A/G) alleles have
      significantly different effects on promoter transcriptional activities, which
      leads to differential expression of GPAT3. Taken together, we conclude that the
      GPAT3 gene is associated with pig growth and that ASGA0040372 influences promoter
      activity of GPAT3 in pig.

PMID- 28597958
TI  - Pristine DNA Hydrogels from Biotechnologically Derived Plasmid DNA.
AB  - DNA hydrogels are of great interest for a variety of biomedical applications
      owing to their biocompatibility and biodegradability but the advantages of DNA
      hydrogels have not been exploited yet because of their limited availability. Thus
      far, DNA hydrogels have been prepared from synthetically derived building blocks,
      and their production on large scale would be far too expensive. As an
      alternative, here the generation of DNA hydrogels from plasmid DNA is reported.
      Plasmid DNA can be prepared on large scale at reasonable costs by a fermentation
      process. The desired linear DNA building blocks are then obtained from the
      plasmid DNA by enzymatic digestion. Gel formation is carried out by covalent bond
      formation between individual building blocks via enzymatic ligation. The
      generation of pristine DNA hydrogels from plasmid DNA is thus presented for the
      first time. The viscoelastic properties of the hydrogels were studied by
      rheology, which confirmed that the gels have storage moduli G' of >100 Pa.

PMID- 28597957
TI  - Early childhood infections precede development of beta-cell autoimmunity and type
      1 diabetes in children with HLA-conferred disease risk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The etiology of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is largely unknown. Infections
      and microbial exposures are believed to play a role in the pathogenesis and in
      the development of islet autoimmunity in genetically susceptible individuals.
      OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationships between early childhood infections, islet
      autoimmunity, and progression to T1D in genetically predisposed children.
      METHODS: Children with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-conferred disease
      susceptibility (N=790; 51.5% males) from Finland (n = 386), Estonia (n = 322),
      and Russian Karelia (n = 82) were observed from birth up to the age of 3 years.
      Children attended clinical visits at the age of 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months.
      Serum samples for analyzing T1D-associated autoimmune markers were collected and
      health data recorded during the visits. RESULTS: Children developing islet
      autoimmunity (n = 46, 5.8%) had more infections during the first year of life
      (3.0 vs 3.0, mean rank 439.1 vs 336.2; P = .001) and their first infection
      occurred earlier (3.6 vs 5.0 months; P = .005) than children with no islet
      autoimmunity. By May 2016, 7 children (0.9%) had developed T1D (progressors).
      Compared with non-diabetic children, T1D progressors were younger at first
      infection (2.2 vs 4.9 months; P = .004) and had more infections during the first
      2 years of life (during each year 6.0 vs 3.0; P = .001 and P = .027,
      respectively). By 3 years of age, the T1D progressors had twice as many
      infections as the other children (17.5 vs 9.0; P = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Early
      childhood infections may play an important role in the pathogenesis of T1D.
      Current findings may reflect either differences in microbial exposures or early
      immunological aberrations making diabetes-prone children more susceptible to
      infections.

PMID- 28597959
TI  - Nonlinear Change Processes During Psychotherapy Characterize Patients Who Have
      Made Multiple Suicide Attempts.
AB  - Research suggests that multiple suicide attempters experience considerable
      variability in suicide ideation and longer-duration suicidal crises, which
      suggests the possibility of two states of stability (one low risk and one high
      risk). To date, however, few studies have examined nonlinear change processes in
      suicide ideation among patients. In a sample of 76 active duty U.S. Army soldiers
      receiving brief cognitive behavioral therapy for acute suicide risk, we examined
      differences in the ebb and flow of suicide ideation among multiple attempters,
      first-time attempters, and ideators. Results indicated that multiple attempters
      were characterized by two states of stability corresponding to low and high
      intensity suicide ideation; these states were separated by a region of
      instability corresponding to moderate intensity suicide ideation. In contrast,
      ideators and first-time attempters were characterized by only a single state of
      stability corresponding to low intensity suicide ideation. Among patients who
      have made multiple suicide attempts, suicide ideation may function as a bimodal
      rather than a continuous construct.

PMID- 28597961
TI  - Non-housekeeping, non-essential GroEL (chaperonin) has acquired novel structure
      and function beneficial under stress in cyanobacteria.
AB  - GroELs which are prokaryotic members of the chaperonin (Cpn)/Hsp60 family are
      molecular chaperones of which Escherichia coli GroEL is a model for subsequent
      research. The majority of bacterial species including E. coli and Bacillus
      subtilis have only one essential groEL gene that forms an operon with the co
      chaperone groES gene. In contrast to these model bacteria, two or three groEL
      genes exist in cyanobacterial genomes. One of them, groEL2, does not form an
      operon with the groES gene, whereas the other(s) does. In the case of
      cyanobacteria containing two GroEL homologs, one of the GroELs, GroEL1,
      substitutes for the native GroEL in an E. coli cell, but GroEL2 does not. Unlike
      the E. coli GroEL, GroEL2 is not essential, but it plays an important role which
      is not substitutable by GroEL1 under stress. Regulation of expression and
      biochemical properties of GroEL2 are different/diversified from GroEL1 and E.
      coli GroEL in many aspects. We postulate that the groEL2 gene has acquired a
      novel, beneficial function especially under stresses and become preserved by
      natural selection, with the groEL1 gene retaining the original, house-keeping
      function. In this review, we will focus on difference between the two GroELs in
      cyanobacteria, and divergence of GroEL2 from the E. coli GroEL. We will also
      compare cyanobacterial GroELs with the chloroplast Cpns (60alpha and 60beta)
      which are thought to be evolved from the cyanobacterial GroEL1. Chloroplast Cpns
      appear to follow the different path from cyanobacterial GroELs in the evolution
      after gene duplication of the corresponding ancestral groEL gene.

PMID- 28597960
TI  - Prevalence of malocclusion in individuals with and without intellectual
      disability: A comparative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence malocclusion
      between individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and a control group without
      disability (NID). METHODS: A total of 202 individuals (123 with ID and 79 with no
      impairment) were included in the study. Data were collected through oral
      examinations using the Angle classification of malocclusion and the dental
      aesthetic index (DAI). RESULTS: According to Angle's classification of
      malocclusion, it was found that 37.6% of all participants presented malocclusion.
      Class II malocclusion was the most common form of malocclusion in both groups,
      whereas class III cases were present almost exclusively in ID group (91.7%). The
      mean DAI score was 30.85 (+/- 13.7), being higher in the ID group (32.80) than in
      the control group (27.81; p = 0.003). A total of 45 (22.3%) participants had DAI
      scores of 36 and above, which indicate a handicapping malocclusion requiring
      mandatory orthodontic treatment. From those needing mandatory orthodontic
      treatment, the majority (84.4%) belonged to ID group. Mandibular irregularity
      (56.4%) and incisal segment crowding (45%) were the most common features of the
      malocclusion. Linear regression indicates that having an intellectual disability
      predicts severe or very severe malocclusion. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the
      prevalence of malocclusion was found to be higher and more severe in intellectual
      disabled participants. The dental practitioner should understand the particular
      relevance of this problem especially in patients with intellectual disabilities
      where impaired oral functions and poor appearance may further complicate oral
      health and increase negative social responses.

PMID- 28597962
TI  - An unusual clinical presentation of lupus erythematosus tumidus localized on the
      thigh.
AB  - A 44-year-old woman with seronegative polyarthritis presented with a 2-year
      history of a solitary, bluish-red, oedematous, nonscaly, annular and partially
      reticulated macule on her right thigh. Histopathological findings revealed
      perivascular and periadnexal lymphocytic infiltrate in the dermis. Alcian blue
      and colloidal iron stains highlighted mucinous deposit in the upper and mid
      dermis. Direct immunofluorescence showed a linear deposit of IgG and C3 along the
      basement membrane zone. Antinuclear antibody was positive at a titre of 1 : 80,
      with homogenous and speckled patterns. Except for its unusual localization and
      lack of photosensitivity, our case had the clinical and histopathological
      features of lupus erythematosus tumidus. These characteristics were also
      reminiscent of reticular erythematous mucinosis and erythema annulare
      centrifugum, both of which are considered to be associated with cutaneous lupus
      erythematosus (CLE). Hydroxychloroquine 200 mg daily led to improvement of the
      skin lesion. The unusual clinical presentation of our case emphasizes the
      heterogeneity of clinical manifestations of CLE.

PMID- 28597964
TI  - Interleukin-10 receptor mutation presenting with severe nappy ulceration and
      infantile inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be divided into Crohn disease, ulcerative
      colitis and inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU). In most patients,
      these disorders present in adolescence or early adulthood. Patients with
      infantile IBD can have an associated underlying immunodeficiency disorder caused
      by a mutation in interleukin (IL)-10 or its receptor. We describe a child
      presenting with intractable bloody diarrhoea since 2 weeks of age and with severe
      nappy ulceration, who was ultimately diagnosed as having inflammatory bowel
      disease (IBD) due to an immunodeficiency in the IL-10 receptor. This report
      highlights the importance of considering this rare immunodeficiency in patients
      with infantile IBD presenting with severe perianal disease to a dermatologist.

PMID- 28597965
TI  - Fracture resistance of zirconia-based all-ceramic crowns after bur adjustment.
AB  - Intra-oral grinding is often required to optimize occlusion of all-ceramic
      restorations. The effect of burs of different grit size on the fracture
      resistance of veneered zirconia crowns was investigated in this study. Forty
      eight standardized zirconia copings were produced. The ceramic veneer was
      designed with a positive ellipsoidal defect on the palatal aspect of the crowns.
      To simulate adjustment of dental restorations by burs, this palatal defect was
      removed by use of three different diamond-coated burs with grit sizes 46, 107, or
      151 MUm (fine, medium, or coarse, respectively). Each different grit size of bur
      was used to grind 16 crowns. All crowns were then polished and surface roughness
      was measured. Half of the specimens underwent thermomechanical aging (10,000
      thermocycles between 6.5 degrees C and 60 degrees C) and 1.2 million cycles of
      chewing simulation (F = 108 N). A linear regression model was computed to test
      the effect of aging and grinding grit size at a level of significance of alpha =
      0.05. Fracture loads increased with decreasing grit size. Grit size and aging had
      a significant effect on the fracture resistance of the crowns. Use of fine and
      coarse burs for intra-oral adjustments resulted in different fracture resistance
      of veneered zirconia crowns. Coarse burs should be avoided in the final stage of
      grinding before polishing.

PMID- 28597966
TI  - Diurnal variation in outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Asian
      communities: The Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine whether the time of out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is associated with survival rate and neurological
      outcome after OHCA, as well as to compare the effect size of time of OHCA across
      six Asian regions. METHODS: We collected data from the Pan-Asian Resuscitation
      Outcomes Study registry, six Asian regions (Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Seoul, Taipei
      and Singapore) from 2009 to 2012. Adult OHCA cases were divided depending on the
      arrest time: I (00.01-06.00 hours), II (06.01-12.00 hours), III (12.01-18.00
      hours) and IV (18.01-24.00 hours). Using a multivariable logistic regression
      analysis, we compared the outcomes of survival and good neurological recovery.
      RESULTS: Of 65 413 cases treated by the emergency medical service, 36 706 (56.1%)
      cases were analysed. There was the lowest OHCA incidence in time block I.
      Compared with time block I, the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals
      for the standardised survival rate were 1.6 (1.3-1.9) in time block II, 1.4 (1.2
      1.7) in time block III and 1.2 (1.0-1.4) in time block IV. Regarding the good
      neurological recovery rate, compared with time block I, the adjusted odds ratios
      and 95% confidence intervals were 1.9 (1.5-2.4) in time block II, 1.7 (1.3-2.1)
      in time block III and 1.4 (1.1-1.7) in time block IV. However, in the subgroup
      analysis, there were regional differences between Japan and the other regions.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found diurnal similarities in OHCA occurrence, as well as
      differences in survival rate and good neurological recovery rate among Asian
      regions.

PMID- 28597963
TI  - miR-181a and miR-150 regulate dendritic cell immune inflammatory responses and
      cardiomyocyte apoptosis via targeting JAK1-STAT1/c-Fos pathway.
AB  - The immune inflammatory response plays a crucial role in many cardiac
      pathophysiological processes, including ischaemic cardiac injury and the post
      infarction repair process. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the development and
      function of dendritic cells (DCs), which are key players in the initiation and
      regulation of immune responses; however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms
      remain unclear. Here, we used the supernatants of necrotic primary cardiomyocytes
      (Necrotic-S) to mimic the myocardial infarction (MI) microenvironment to
      investigate the role of miRNAs in the regulation of DC-mediated inflammatory
      responses. Our results showed that Necrotic-S up-regulated the DC maturation
      markers CD40, CD83 and CD86 and increased the production of inflammatory
      cytokines, concomitant with the up-regulation of miR-181a and down-regulation of
      miR-150. Necrotic-S stimulation activated the JAK/STAT pathway and promoted the
      nuclear translocation of c-Fos and NF-kappaB p65, and silencing of STAT1 or c-Fos
      suppressed Necrotic-S-induced DC maturation and inflammatory cytokine production.
      The effects of Necrotic-S on DC maturation and inflammatory responses, its
      activation of the JAK/STAT pathway and the induction of cardiomyocyte apoptosis
      under conditions of hypoxia were suppressed by miR-181a or miR-150
      overexpression. Taken together, these data indicate that miR-181a and miR-150
      attenuate DC immune inflammatory responses via JAK1-STAT1/c-Fos signalling and
      protect cardiomyocytes from cell death under conditions of hypoxia.

PMID- 28597967
TI  - Anidulafungin for the treatment of candidaemia caused by Candida parapsilosis:
      Analysis of pooled data from six prospective clinical studies.
AB  - Concerns with echinocandin use for infections caused by Candida parapsilosis
      complex species have driven the need for data to support echinocandin clinical
      efficacy in such patients. Data from six prospective studies were pooled to
      assess efficacy and safety of anidulafungin in patients with candidaemia caused
      by C. parapsilosis. Patient-level data were pooled from patients with
      microbiologically confirmed candidaemia due to C. parapsilosis treated with
      anidulafungin. Patients received a 200 mg intravenous (IV) loading dose of
      anidulafungin (day 1) and 100 mg daily thereafter. IV treatment could be switched
      to oral azole therapy after >=5 or >=10 days. Primary endpoint was global
      response at end of IV therapy (EOIVT). Seventy patients had candidaemia caused by
      C. parapsilosis. Global response was 77.1% (95% CI: 67.3, 87.0) at EOIVT and
      70.0% (95% CI: 59.3, 80.7) at end of treatment. Three of 55 isolates (with MICs
      available) were resistant to anidulafungin (MIC >=8 mg/L). All-cause mortality
      was 5.7% (n=4/70) by day 14 and 14.3% (n=10/70) by day 28. IV anidulafungin was
      effective for the treatment of C. parapsilosis candidaemia in this population,
      consistent with efficacy previously demonstrated for other Candida species.
      (ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT00496197, NCT00548262, NCT00537329,
      NCT00689338, NCT00806351, NCT00805740).

PMID- 28597968
TI  - Genetic epidemiology of familial Mediterranean fever through integrative analysis
      of whole genome and exome sequences from Middle East and North Africa.
AB  - Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), an autosomal recessive and rare
      autoinflammatory disease is caused by genetic mutations in the MEFV gene and is
      highly prevalent in the Mediterranean basin. Although the carrier frequency of
      specific disease variants in the MEFV gene has been reported from isolated
      studies, a comprehensive view of variants in the Mediterranean region has not
      been possible due to paucity of data. The recent availability of whole-genome and
      whole-exome datasets prompted us to study the genetic epidemiology of MEFV
      variants in the region. We assembled data from 5 datasets encompassing whole
      genome and whole-exome datasets for 2115 individuals from multiple subpopulations
      in the region and also created a compendium for MEFV genetic variants, which were
      further systematically annotated as per the American College of Medical Genetics
      and Genomics (ACMG) guidelines. Our analysis points to significant differences in
      allele frequencies in the subpopulations, and the carrier frequency for MEFV
      genetic variants in the population to be about 8%. The MEFV gene appears to be
      under natural selection from our analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is
      the most comprehensive study and analysis of population epidemiology of MEFV gene
      variants in the Middle East and North African populations.

PMID- 28597969
TI  - The Role of Epigenetic Regulation and Pluripotency-Related MicroRNAs in
      Differentiation of Pancreatic Stem Cells to Beta Cells.
AB  - In this study, we aimed to research the effects of class-I HDACs and glucose on
      differentiation of pancreatic islet derived mesenchymal stem cells (PI-MSCs) to
      beta cells. Beta cell differentiation determined by flow cytometric analysis and
      gene expression levels of PDX1, PAX4, PAX6, NKX6.1, NGN3, INS2, and GLUT2. As a
      result the valproic acid, is an inhibitor of class-I HDACs, caused the highest
      beta cell differentiation in PI-MSCs. However, the cells in this group were at
      early stages of differentiation. Glucose co-administration to this group carried
      the differentiation to higher levels, but these newly formed beta cells were not
      functional. Moreover, reduction in the levels of pluripotency factors that
      Oct3/4, c-Myc, and Nanog were parallel to beta cell differentiation. Also, the
      levels of HDAC1 and acetylated H3/H4 were increased and methylated H3 was
      decreased by VPA treatment. In addition, we have detected over expression in
      genes of miR-18a-5p, miR-19b-5p, miR-30d-3p, miR-124, miR-146a-5p, miR-184, miR
      335, and miR-433-5p in parallel to beta cell differentiation. As the conclusion,
      this study is important for understanding the epigenetic mechanism that controls
      the beta cell differentation and it suggests new molecules that can be used for
      diagnosis, and treatment of diabetes. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 455-467, 2018. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28597970
TI  - Simultaneous determination of eight short-chain aliphatic amines in drug
      substances by HPLC with diode array detection after derivatization with
      halonitrobenzenes.
AB  - Short-chain aliphatic amines are a class of hazardous impurities in drug
      substances. A simple method, involving derivatization followed by high
      performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection, has been developed
      for residue determination of eight aliphatic amines simultaneously in drug
      substances. Different halonitrobenzenes derivatization reagents were
      systematically compared. As a result, 1-fluoro-2-nitro-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzene
      was selected since the derivatization effectively shifted the absorption
      wavelength to the visible region (400-450 nm), where most drug substances,
      impurities and even the derivatization reagent absorb very weakly. Due to the
      redshift effect, interference was minimized and adequately low limits of
      quantitation were reached (0.24-0.80 nmol/mL). Moreover, the derivatization
      reaction was readily carried out in dimethyl sulfoxide at room temperature for 1
      h using N,N-diisopropylethylamine as catalyst to achieve the highest yield.
      Without any pre-treatment, the derivatives were analyzed by high-performance
      liquid chromatography with diode array detection. The high stability of the
      derivatives within 24 h at room temperature (RSD<1.04%) further facilitated the
      simultaneous preparation and consecutive analysis of quantities of samples.
      Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied for residue determination
      of eight aliphatic amines simultaneously in eight drug substance samples. This
      study could be helpful for the routine analysis and residue control of aliphatic
      amines in drug substances.

PMID- 28597971
TI  - Diagnosis of congenital hyperinsulinism: Biochemical profiles during
      hypoglycemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To define the ranges of biochemical markers during hypoglycemia for
      the diagnosis of congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI), using high sensitivity insulin
      assays. SUBJECTS: A total of 298 patients with CHI and 58 control patients with
      non-hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, who were diagnosed after 2007. METHODS: The
      levels of biochemical markers (glucose, insulin, beta-hydroxybutyrate [BHB], free
      fatty acids [FFA], lactate, ammonia) at the time of hypoglycemia were analyzed
      along with the maximal glucose infusion rate (GIR) to maintain euglycemia and
      clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Median levels of blood glucose in patients with CHI
      and in controls were 30 and 46 mg/dL, while insulin levels were 9.90 and
      undetectable (<.5) MUU/mL, respectively. Similarly, median levels of BHB were
      17.5 and 3745 umol/L, and those of FFA were 270.5 and 2660 umol/L, respectively.
      For patients after 5 months, cutoffs of insulin >1.25 MUU/mL, BHB < 2000 umol/L,
      and FFA < 1248 umol/L predicted CHI with sensitivities of 97.5, 96.2, and 95.2%
      and specificities of 84.2, 89.3, and 92.3%, respectively. Maximal GIR in the CHI
      groups tended to decrease with age. In addition, decreased gestational age, low
      birth weight, and elevated lactate at hypoglycemia were significantly more common
      in patients who were off treatment within 100 days without pancreatectomy.
      CONCLUSIONS: After introduction of high-sensitive assays, the diagnostic value of
      insulin was improved, allowing for more efficient cutoffs to be set for diagnosis
      of CHI. Premature birth, low birth weight and elevated lactate might be helpful
      in predicting early remission of hypoglycemia.

PMID- 28597972
TI  - A Novel Interacting Protein SERP1 Regulates the N-Linked Glycosylation and
      Function of GLP-1 Receptor in the Liver.
AB  - Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) exerts multiple effects on metabolism through its
      receptor, GLP-1R, in the liver. Activation and transduction of GLP-1R require
      complex interactions of largely unknown accessory proteins, and these processes
      are crucial to the response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Using the
      membrane-based split ubiquitin yeast two-hybrid system (MYTH) and a human liver
      cDNA library, we obtained the human GLP-1R interactome and identified SERP1 as a
      potential interacting protein based on its ability to stabilize membrane proteins
      and facilitate N-linked glycosylation. GLP-1R and SERP1 were co-expressed in HEK
      293 cells, and their interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. We then
      found that overexpression of SERP1 could rescue GLP-1R glycosylation after
      application of tunicamycin to block N-linked glycosylation. SERP1 overexpression
      also attenuated exendin-4-stimulated cAMP accumulation and AMPK activation.
      However, the glycosylation and function of mutant GLP-1R, in which all three
      sites for N-linked glycosylation were mutated, were not increased with
      overexpression of SERP1. Moreover, as a GLP-1R interactor, SERP1 could also
      partly reverse the accumulation of tunicamycin-induced ER stress. Taken together,
      our findings identify a group of proteins that interact with GLP-1R and show that
      one specific interacting protein, SERP1, has an important role in facilitating
      the glycosylation of GLP-1R and rescuing its activities after ER stress induced
      by tunicamycin. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3616-3626, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28597973
TI  - Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of Single and Multiple Oral Doses of
      an Omega-3-Carboxylic Acid Formulation in Healthy Male Japanese Subjects: A Phase
      1 Single-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
AB  - OM3-CA (omega-3-carboxylic acids) is a complex mixture of omega-3 carboxylic
      acids, particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA),
      which is approved in the United States for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia.
      As part of its clinical development in Japan, we performed a phase 1 study to
      investigate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics after single and
      multiple doses of OM3-CA in healthy male Japanese subjects. Eighteen Japanese
      subjects were allocated to receive 2 or 4 g/day OM3-CA, or placebo (n = 6 per
      group). In addition, 6 white subjects received 4 g/day OM3-CA. The primary
      objective was to determine the safety and tolerability of OM3-CA. Plasma
      concentrations of EPA and DHA were adjusted for baseline values for
      pharmacokinetic analysis. Overall, OM3-CA was well tolerated in healthy Japanese
      subjects. Two Japanese subjects in each group and 5 white subjects experienced
      adverse events (AEs). Alanine aminotransferase increase was the most common AE in
      Japanese subjects, also seen with placebo, and diarrhea was the most common AE in
      white subjects. The maximum plasma concentrations of EPA and DHA were observed 5
      6 hours postdose. The pharmacokinetic profiles of EPA and DHA after
      administration of OM3-CA were comparable between Japanese and white subjects.

PMID- 28597974
TI  - A simple cell transport device keeps culture alive and functional during
      shipping.
AB  - Transporting living complex cellular constructs through the mail while retaining
      their full viability and functionality is challenging. During this process, cells
      often suffer from exposure to suboptimal life-sustaining conditions (e.g.
      temperature, pH), as well as damage due to shear stress. We have developed a
      transport device for shipping intact cell/tissue constructs from one facility to
      another that overcomes these obstacles. Our transport device maintained three
      different cell lines (Caco2, A549, and HepG2 C3A) individually on transwell
      membranes with high viability (above 97%) for 48 h under simulated shipping
      conditions without an incubator. The device was also tested by actual overnight
      shipping of blood brain barrier constructs consisting of human induced
      pluripotent brain microvascular endothelial cells and rat astrocytes on transwell
      membranes to a remote facility (approximately 1200 miles away). The blood brain
      barrier constructs arrived with high cell viability and were able to regain full
      barrier integrity after equilibrating in the incubator for 24 h; this was
      assessed by the presence of continuous tight junction networks and in vivo-like
      values for trans-endothelial electrical resistance (TEER). These results
      demonstrated that our cell transport device could be a useful tool for long
      distance transport of membrane-bound cell cultures and functional tissue
      constructs. Studies that involve various cell and tissue constructs, such as the
      "Multi-Organ-on-Chip" devices (where multiple microscale tissue constructs are
      integrated on a single microfluidic device) and studies that involve
      microenvironments where multiple tissue interactions are of interest, would
      benefit from the ability to transport or receive these constructs. (c) 2017
      American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1257-1266, 2017.

PMID- 28597975
TI  - Domestic Predation of an Elder: A Fatal Dog Attack Case.
AB  - We present the case of a 91-year-old woman lived alone at her home with two
      domestic dogs, that is,, a Labrador Retriever and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier
      and found dead. The investigation of the scene revealed that the Bull Terrier's
      jawbone and chest were covered with blood. The autopsy revealed multiple,
      histologically confirmed, life-threatening skin and bone lacerations without
      scavenging marks. The punctures and tearing of each of the wounds on the skin
      were compatible with bites. A left humeral fracture and multiple fractures of the
      right facial bones were observed. The death was attributed to external
      hemorrhages due to several dog bites. A veterinary physical and behavioral
      examination indicated that the Bull Terrier was involved in the attack. A
      domestic predation hypothesis was deemed here most likely due to the presence of
      food supplies at the scene, the dog's previous history of attack, and the breed
      of the dog.

PMID- 28597976
TI  - Vesiculobullous eruption in a patient receiving psoralen ultraviolet A (PUVA)
      treatment for prurigo nodules: a case of PUVA-aggravated pemphigoid nodularis.

PMID- 28597977
TI  - Identification of the missing mitochondrial methyltransferase of citrate
      synthase.
AB  - Read the Original article at doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.12649.

PMID- 28597978
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of Sulfadoxine and Pyrimethamine for Intermittent Preventive
      Treatment of Malaria During Pregnancy and After Delivery.
AB  - Sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine is recommended for intermittent preventative treatment
      of malaria during pregnancy. Data from 98 women during pregnancy and 77 after
      delivery in four African countries were analyzed using nonlinear mixed-effects
      modeling to characterize the effects of pregnancy, postpartum duration, and other
      covariates such as body weight and hematocrit on sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine
      pharmacokinetic properties. During pregnancy, clearance increased 3-fold for
      sulfadoxine but decreased by 18% for pyrimethamine. Postpartum sulfadoxine
      clearance decreased gradually over 13 weeks. This finding, together with
      hematocrit-based scaling of plasma to whole-blood concentrations and allometric
      scaling of pharmacokinetics parameters with body weight, enabled site-specific
      differences in the pharmacokinetic profiles to be reduced significantly but not
      eliminated. Further research is necessary to explain residual site-specific
      differences and elucidate whether dose-optimization, to address the 3-fold
      increase in clearance of sulfadoxine in pregnant women, is necessary, viable, and
      safe with the current fixed dose combination of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine.

PMID- 28597979
TI  - On the relationship between residue structural environment and sequence
      conservation in proteins.
AB  - Residues that are crucial to protein function or structure are usually
      evolutionarily conserved. To identify the important residues in protein, sequence
      conservation is estimated, and current methods rely upon the unbiased collection
      of homologous sequences. Surprisingly, our previous studies have shown that the
      sequence conservation is closely correlated with the weighted contact number
      (WCN), a measure of packing density for residue's structural environment,
      calculated only based on the Calpha positions of a protein structure. Moreover,
      studies have shown that sequence conservation is correlated with environment
      related structural properties calculated based on different protein
      substructures, such as a protein's all atoms, backbone atoms, side-chain atoms,
      or side-chain centroid. To know whether the Calpha atomic positions are adequate
      to show the relationship between residue environment and sequence conservation or
      not, here we compared Calpha atoms with other substructures in their
      contributions to the sequence conservation. Our results show that Calpha
      positions are substantially equivalent to the other substructures in calculations
      of various measures of residue environment. As a result, the overlapping
      contributions between Calpha atoms and the other substructures are high, yielding
      similar structure-conservation relationship. Take the WCN as an example, the
      average overlapping contribution to sequence conservation is 87% between Calpha
      and all-atom substructures. These results indicate that only Calpha atoms of a
      protein structure could reflect sequence conservation at the residue level.

PMID- 28597980
TI  - Efficient Flexible Solar Cell based on Composition-Tailored Hybrid Perovskite.
AB  - Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) are new photoactive layer candidates
      for lightweight and flexible solar cells due to their low-temperature process
      capability; however, the reported efficiency of flexible OIHP devices is far
      behind those achieved on rigid glass substrates. Here, it is revealed that the
      limiting factor is the different perovskite film deposition conditions required
      to form the same film morphology on flexible substrates. An optimized perovskite
      film composition needs a different precursor ratio, which is found to be
      essential for the formation of high-quality perovskite films with longer
      radiative carrier recombination lifetime, smaller density of trap states, reduced
      precursor residue, and uniform and pin-hole free films. A record efficiency of
      18.1% is achieved for the flexible perovskite solar-cell devices made on an
      indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate via a low temperature
      (<=100  degrees C) solution process.

PMID- 28597981
TI  - Reflections on patient involvement in research and clinical practice: A secondary
      analysis of women's perceptions and experiences of egg aspiration in fertility
      treatment.
AB  - The importance of patient involvement is increasing in healthcare, and
      initiatives are constantly implemented to reach the ideal of involved and
      educated patients. This secondary analysis was initially embedded in a randomized
      controlled study where the aim was to gain insight into perceptions and
      experiences within a group of women undergoing fertility treatment through two
      focus group interviews. In this secondary analysis, we investigated how patient
      involvement was strived for in both clinical practice and research. During the
      analysis, it became apparent that the women exercised and maintained a clear
      perspective on their hope for a child, Project Child, while the interviewer
      pursued a treatment perspective, Project Treatment. Despite different
      perspectives, the conversation during the interviews seemed effortless, and it
      became apparent how the interviewer and the participants were actually focusing
      partly on the same, but primarily on different issues but without addressing or
      acknowledging this. Knowledge and awareness of the difference in perspectives is
      important when healthcare professionals seek to involve patients both in clinical
      practice and in research. Patient involvement in both research and clinical
      practice has shown to be a challenge and entails that pathways are organized and
      decisions shared by healthcare professionals.

PMID- 28597982
TI  - Rare case of Epstein-Barr virus-associated early gastric cancer with multiple
      synchronous intramucosal lesions.

PMID- 28597983
TI  - Celecoxib for rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic auto-immune disorder that causes
      widespread and persistent inflammation of the synovial lining of joints and
      tendon sheaths. Presently, there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis and
      treatment focuses on managing symptoms such as pain, stiffness and mobility, with
      the aim of achieving stable remission and improving mobility. Celecoxib is a
      selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used for treatment of
      people with rheumatoid arthritis. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of
      celecoxib in people with rheumatoid arthritis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase and
      clinical trials registers (ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization
      trials portal) to May 18, 2017. We also searched the reference and citation lists
      of included studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included prospective randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) that compared oral celecoxib (200 mg and 400 mg daily)
      versus no intervention, placebo or a traditional NSAID (tNSAID) in people with
      confirmed rheumatoid arthritis, of any age and either sex. We excluded studies
      with fewer than 50 participants in each arm or had durations of fewer than four
      weeks treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological
      procedures expected by The Cochrane Collaboration. MAIN RESULTS: We included
      eight RCTs with durations of 4 to 24 weeks, published between 1998 and 2014 that
      involved a total of 3988 adults (mean age = 54 years), most of whom were women
      (73%). Participants had rheumatoid arthritis for an average of 9.2 years. All
      studies were assessed at high or unclear risk of bias in at least one domain.
      Overall, evidence was assessed as moderate-to-low quality. Five studies were
      funded by pharmaceutical companies. Celecoxib versus placeboWe included two
      studies (N = 873) in which participants received 200 mg daily or 400 mg daily or
      placebo. Participants who received celecoxib showed significant clinical
      improvement compared with those receiving placebo (15% absolute improvement; 95%
      CI 7% to 25%; RR 1.53, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.86; number needed to treat to benefit
      (NNTB) = 7, 95% CI 5 to 13; 2 studies, 873 participants; moderate to low quality
      evidence).Participants who received celecoxib reported less pain than placebo
      treated people (11% absolute improvement; 95% CI 8% to 14%; NNTB = 4, 95% CI 3 to
      6; 1 study, 706 participants) but results were inconclusive for improvement in
      physical function (MD -0.10, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.10; 1 study, 706 participants).In
      the celecoxib group, 15/293 participants developed ulcers, compared with 4/99 in
      the placebo group (Peto OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.44 to 3.63; 1 study, 392 participants;
      low quality evidence). Nine (of 475) participants in the celecoxib group
      developed short-term serious adverse events, compared with five (of 231) in the
      placebo group (Peto OR 0.87 (0.28 to 2.69; 1 study, 706 participants; low quality
      evidence).There were fewer withdrawals among people who received celecoxib
      (163/475) compared with placebo (130/231) (22% absolute change; 95% CI 16% to
      27%; RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.72; 1 study, 706 participants).Cardiovascular
      events (myocardial infarction, stroke) were not reported. However, regulatory
      agencies warn of increased cardiovascular event risk associated with celecoxib.
      Celecoxib versus tNSAIDsSeven studies (N = 2930) compared celecoxib and tNSAIDs
      (amtolmetin guacyl, diclofenac, ibuprofen, meloxicam, nabumetone, naproxen,
      pelubiprofen); one study included comparisons of both placebo and tNSAIDs (N =
      1149).There was a small improvement, which may not be clinically significant, in
      numbers of participants achieving ACR20 criteria response in the celecoxib group
      compared to tNSAIDs (4% absolute improvement; 95% CI 0% less improvement to 8%
      more improvement; RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.23; 4 studies, 1981 participants).
      There was a lack of evidence of difference between participants in the celecoxib
      and tNSAID groups in terms of pain or physical function. Results were assessed at
      moderate-to-low quality evidence (downgraded due to risk of bias and
      inconsistency).People who received celecoxib had a lower incidence of
      gastroduodenal ulcers >= 3 mm (34/870) compared with those who received tNSAIDs
      (116/698). This corresponded to 12% absolute change (95% CI 11% to 13%; RR 0.22,
      95% CI 0.15 to 0.32; 5 studies, 1568 participants; moderate quality evidence).
      There were 7% fewer withdrawals among people who received celecoxib (95% CI 4% to
      9%; RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.86; 6 studies, 2639 participants).Results were
      inconclusive for short-term serious adverse events and cardiovascular events (low
      quality evidence). There were 17/918 serious adverse events in people taking
      celecoxib compared to 42/1236 among people who received placebo (Peto OR 0.71;
      95% CI 0.39 to 1.28; 5 studies, 2154 participants). Cardiovascular events were
      reported in both celecoxib and placebo groups in one study (149 participants).
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Celecoxib may improve clinical symptoms, alleviate pain and
      contribute to little or no difference in physical function compared with placebo.
      Celecoxib was associated with fewer numbers of participant withdrawals. Results
      for incidence of gastroduodenal ulcers (>= 3 mm) and short-term serious adverse
      events were uncertain; however, there were few reported events for
      either.Celecoxib may slightly improve clinical symptoms compared with tNSAIDs.
      Results for reduced pain and improved physical function were uncertain.
      Particpants taking celecoxib had lower incidence of gastroduodenal ulcers (>= 3
      mm) and there were fewer withdrawals from trials. Results for cardiovascular
      events and short-term serious adverse events were also uncertain.Uncertainty
      about the rate of cardiovascular events between celecoxib and tNSAIDs could be
      due to risk of bias; another factor is that these were small, short-term trials.
      It has been reported previously that both celecoxib and tNSAIDs increase
      cardiovascular event rates. Our confidence in results about harms is therefore
      low. Larger head-to-head clinical trials comparing celecoxib to other tNSAIDs is
      needed to better inform clinical practice.

PMID- 28597985
TI  - Alkali Metal Chlorine and Bromine Carbenoids: Their Thermal Stability and
      Structural Properties.
AB  - The synthesis and structures of a series of M/X carbenoids of the type [Ph2
      P(S)]2 CMX with M=Li, Na, and K and X=Cl and Br are reported, amongst the first
      isolated Na/Br and K/Br carbenoids. NMR spectroscopic as well as crystallographic
      studies showed distinct differences between the lithium carbenoids and their
      heavier congeners. In the solid state, all carbenoids showed no direct metal
      carbon interaction, but an interaction between the metal and the halogen atom.
      This contact is only very weak in the case of the Li/Br carbenoid, but much more
      pronounced in the corresponding potassium and sodium compounds. Nevertheless,
      these interactions did not significantly influence the stability of the
      carbenoids by weakening the C-X bond and facilitating the MX elimination. As such
      all compounds were found to be stable up to approximately 60  degrees C in
      solution. Hence, M-X interactions-albeit being an essential feature for the
      structure formation of carbenoids-are not the only criterion determining the
      stability of such compounds. In the present systems, the stabilization by the
      thiophosphinoyl moieties is more important than the metal/halogen combination.

PMID- 28597986
TI  - Tensions in the personal world of the nurse family carer: A phenomenological
      approach.
AB  - The incidence of chronic illness is growing globally. As a result, there are
      fiscal and social implications for health delivery. Alongside the increased
      burden on health resources is the expectation that someone within the family will
      assume the responsibility of carer for those who are chronically ill. The
      expectation to assume the role of carer may be amplified for family members who
      are also nurses. Currently, there is little research that investigates the impact
      of nurses who are carers for family with a chronic illness. Consequently, this
      qualitative study, based on face-to-face and telephone dialogue, was conducted
      using unstructured interviews. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach utilizing
      the hermeneutic circle was employed to understand the meaning of the
      transcriptions. Hermeneutic phenomenology inspired by Heideggerian philosophy was
      used as a framework to clarify themes and build ways of understanding the
      phenomenon of 'Being' a nurse and a family carer. Themes identified in the
      analysis of the study included a personal world, a professional world and a
      practical world. This paper explicates the findings from examination of the
      personal world of 'Being' a nurse who is also a family carer. Analysis revealed
      there were three facets to this way of 'Being': a shared experience, a caring
      experience and a fraught experience. The findings of the study disclosed that
      participants were informed by experiences that were both enriching and
      conflicting. These insights can enlighten healthcare professionals to the
      tensions which exist for nurses who care for family so that these considerations
      are incorporated into individualized and effective family-centred care.

PMID- 28597984
TI  - Dual inhibition of BDNF/TrkB and autophagy: a promising therapeutic approach for
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common digestive cancer in the Western world.
      Despite effective therapies, resistance and/or recurrence frequently occur. The
      present study investigated the impact of two survival pathways-neurotrophic
      factors (TrkB/BDNF) and autophagy-on cell fate and tumour evolution. In vitro
      studies were performed on two CRC cell lines, SW480 (primary tumour) and SW620
      (lymph node invasion), which were also used for subcutaneous xenografts on a nude
      mouse model. In addition, the presence of neurotrophic factors (NTs) and
      autophagy markers were assessed in tissue samples representative of different
      stages. On the basis of our previous study (which demonstrated that TrkB
      overexpression is associated with prosurvival signaling in CRC cells), we
      pharmacologically inhibited NTs pathways with K252a. As expected, an inactivation
      of the PI3K/AKT pathway was observed and CRC cells initiated autophagy.
      Conversely, blocking the autophagic flux with chloroquine or with ATG5-siRNA
      overactivated TrkB/BDNF signaling. In vitro, dual inhibition improved the
      effectiveness of single treatment by significantly reducing metabolic activity
      and enhancing apoptotic cell death. These findings were accentuated in vivo, in
      which dual inhibition induced a spectacular reduction in tumour volume following
      long-term treatment (21 days for K252a and 12 days for CQ). Finally, significant
      amounts of phospho-TrkB and LC3II were found in the patients' tissues,
      highlighting their relevance in CRC tumour biology. Taken together, our results
      show that targeting NTs and autophagy pathways potentially constitutes a new
      therapeutic approach for CRC.

PMID- 28597987
TI  - Trafficking and localisation to the plasma membrane of Nav 1.5 promoted by the
      beta2 subunit is defective due to a beta2 mutation associated with Brugada
      syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Cardiac channelopathies arise by mutations in genes
      encoding ion channel subunits. One example is Brugada Syndrome (BrS), which
      causes arrhythmias and sudden death. BrS is often associated with mutations in
      SCN5A, encoding Nav 1.5, the alpha subunit of the major cardiac voltage-gated
      sodium channel. This channel forms a protein complex including one or two
      associated beta subunits as well as other proteins. RESULTS: We analysed
      regulation of Nav 1.5 localisation and trafficking by beta2, specifically, Nav
      1.5 arrival to the cell surface. We used polarised Madin-Darby canine kidney
      (MDCK) cells and mouse atria-derived HL-1 cells, which retain phenotypic features
      of adult cardiomyocytes. In both, Nav 1.5 was found essentially intracellular,
      mainly in the endoplasmic reticulum, whereas beta2 localised to the plasma
      membrane, and was restricted to the apical surface in MDCK cells. A fraction of
      beta2 interacted with Nav 1.5, despite their limited overlap. Importantly, beta2
      promoted Nav 1.5 localisation to the cell surface. Both beta2 WT and the BrS
      associated mutation D211G (substitution of Asp for Gly) effectively reached the
      plasma membrane. Strikingly, however, beta2 D211G was defective in promoting Nav
      1.5 surface localisation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data sustain that beta2 promotes
      surface localisation of Nav 1.5, which can be affected due to beta2 mutations
      associated with channelopathies. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings add to the
      understanding of beta2 role in Nav 1.5 trafficking and localisation, which must
      influence cell excitability and electrical coupling in the heart. This study will
      contribute to knowledge on development of arrhythmias.

PMID- 28597989
TI  - Discrimination and resilience and the needs of people who identify as
      Transgender: A narrative review of quantitative research studies.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine discrimination and resilience experiences of
      people who identify as transgender and establish potential health service
      responses. BACKGROUND: People who identify as transgender face many challenges in
      society in terms of the knowledge, understanding and acceptance of a person's
      gender identity. DESIGN: A narrative review of quantitative empirical research.
      METHODS: A comprehensive search of CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Sociological
      Abstracts electronic databases from 2006-2016 was conducted. RESULTS: The search
      yielded 1,478 papers and following the application of rigorous inclusion and
      exclusion criteria a total of 19 papers were included in the review. The findings
      reveal that there is a need to ensure that the needs of transgender people are
      represented, fully integrated and clearly linked to outcomes that improve their
      health and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Discrimination experiences can result in
      poorer health outcomes; however, many people have developed resilience and
      positive coping strategies. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses need to
      recognise and respond appropriately to the care and treatment needs of this
      population. Comprehensive nursing assessments and plans of care that encompass
      all aspects of the person should be in place supported by clear policy guidelines
      and evidence-based research. The education requirements of practitioners are
      outlined.

PMID- 28597988
TI  - Estimating apparent maximum muscle stress of trunk extensor muscles in older
      adults using subject-specific musculoskeletal models.
AB  - Maximum muscle stress (MMS) is a critical parameter in musculoskeletal modeling,
      defining the maximum force that a muscle of given size can produce. However, a
      wide range of MMS values have been reported in literature, and few studies have
      estimated MMS in trunk muscles. Due to widespread use of musculoskeletal models
      in studies of the spine and trunk, there is a need to determine reasonable
      magnitude and range of trunk MMS. We measured trunk extension strength in 49
      participants over 65 years of age, surveyed participants about low back pain, and
      acquired quantitative computed tomography (QCT) scans of their lumbar spines.
      Trunk muscle morphology was assessed from QCT scans and used to create a subject
      specific musculoskeletal model for each participant. Model-predicted extension
      strength was computed using a trunk muscle MMS of 100 N/cm2 . The MMS of each
      subject-specific model was then adjusted until the measured strength matched the
      model-predicted strength (+/-20 N). We found that measured trunk extension
      strength was significantly higher in men. With the initial constant MMS value,
      the musculoskeletal model generally over-predicted trunk extension strength. By
      adjusting MMS on a subject-specific basis, we found apparent MMS values ranging
      from 40 to 130 N/cm2 , with an average of 75.5 N/cm2 for both men and women.
      Subjects with low back pain had lower apparent MMS than subjects with no back
      pain. This work incorporates a unique approach to estimate subject-specific trunk
      MMS values via musculoskeletal modeling and provides a useful insight into MMS
      variation. (c) 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc. J Orthop Res 36:498-505, 2018.

PMID- 28597990
TI  - Temporal dynamics of relative abundances and bacterial succession in chronic
      wound communities.
AB  - Polymicrobial bacterial infection is an important factor contributing to wound
      chronicity. Consequently, clinicians frequently adopt a biofilm-based wound care
      approach, in which wounds are treated utilizing DNA sequencing information about
      microbial communities. While more successful than treatment not using community
      information, there is little information about temporal dynamics of wound
      communities and optimal approaches over the course of treatment. To characterize
      these dynamics, temporal analysis over three sampling points was conducted for
      167 chronic wounds. Across sampling intervals, wound communities from the same
      patients changed in composition, and most commonly shared less than 50% of
      observed species. There was a significant relationship between community
      similarity and time between sampling. Classifying wounds into state types, we
      found that communities frequently transitioned from Pseudomonas or Staphylococcus
      dominated, into a highly variable state type. Although low abundance microbial
      species are typically disregarded due to uncertainty of biological importance, we
      found that 80% of wound microbiomes included common or dominant species at
      subsequent time points that were in low abundance in earlier samples. Moreover,
      these species were often those known to frequently infect wounds. Results
      document compositional shifts through the course of treatment and suggest that
      routine consideration of low abundance species may improve biofilm-based wound
      care. Moreover, findings indicate that integrating ecological modeling to
      understand wound microbiome succession may lead to more informed therapy.

PMID- 28597992
TI  - Systemic ALA-PDT effectively blocks the development of psoriasis-like lesions and
      alleviates leucocyte infiltration in the K14-VEGF transgenic mouse.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is one of the most common immune-mediated chronic
      inflammatory skin disorders. In spite of significant advances in the treatment of
      psoriasis, more effective and safer therapeutic strategies are still needed.
      Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a method of light treatment that is being used
      increasingly in the treatment of dermatological diseases. AIM: To evaluate the
      therapeutic effects of systemic 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-PDT on psoriasis and
      to explore its potential mechanism of action. METHODS: We investigated the
      therapeutic effects of systemic ALA-PDT in K14-vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) transgenic homozygous mice, an animal model of psoriasis, which has many
      clinical and histopathological characteristics similar to those of human
      psoriasis. Using haematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry and real
      time quantitative PCR respectively, we assessed the changes in psoriasis-like
      lesions, cellular infiltration of T cells, dendritic cells (DCs) and neutrophils,
      and the mRNA expression of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-17 and
      interferon (IFN)-gamma in the lesions. RESULTS: Systemic ALA-PDT blocked the
      development of psoriasis-like lesions and moderately attenuated the
      histopathological changes in K14-VEGF transgenic mice. Furthermore, systemic ALA
      PDT produced an obvious reduction in infiltration of T cells, CD11c+ DCs and
      neutrophils in psoriasis-like lesions. In addition, systemic ALA-PDT also
      significantly decreased the mRNA expression of IL-17 and IFN-gamma. CONCLUSIONS:
      We suggest that the mechanism of systemic ALA-PDT in this psoriasis-like model
      might be associated with selective damage to abnormal T helper (Th)1 and Th17
      cells, and reduction of the inflammatory cytokines IL-17 and IFN-gamma. These
      observations partly explain the potential mechanism of systemic ALA-PDT in
      psoriasis and other inflammatory skin diseases.

PMID- 28597991
TI  - Lack of linear correlation between dynamic and steady-state cerebral
      autoregulation.
AB  - KEY POINTS: For correct application and interpretation of cerebral autoregulation
      (CA) measurements in research and in clinical care, it is essential to understand
      differences and similarities between dynamic and steady-state CA. The present
      study found no correlation between dynamic and steady-state CA indices in healthy
      older adults. There was variability between individuals in all (steady-state and
      dynamic) autoregulatory indices, ranging from low (almost absent) to highly
      efficient CA in this healthy population. These findings challenge the assumption
      that assessment of a single CA parameter or a single set of parameters can be
      generalized to overall CA functioning. Therefore, depending on specific research
      purposes, the choice for either steady-state or dynamic measures or both should
      be weighed carefully. ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to investigate the
      relationship between dynamic (dCA) and steady-state cerebral autoregulation
      (sCA). In 28 healthy older adults, sCA was quantified by a linear regression
      slope of proportionate (%) changes in cerebrovascular resistance (CVR) in
      response to proportionate (%) changes in mean blood pressure (BP) induced by
      stepwise sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and phenylephrine (PhE) infusion. Cerebral
      blood flow (CBF) was measured at the internal carotid artery (ICA) and vertebral
      artery (VA) and CBF velocity at the middle cerebral artery (MCA). With CVR =
      BP/CBF, Slope-CVRICA , Slope-CVRVA and Slope-CVRiMCA were derived. dCA was
      assessed (i) in supine rest, analysed with transfer function analysis (gain and
      phase) and autoregulatory index (ARI) fit from spontaneous oscillations
      (ARIBaseline ), and (ii) with transient changes in BP using a bolus injection of
      SNP (ARISNP ) and PhE (ARIPhE ). Comparison of sCA and dCA parameters (using
      Pearson's r for continuous and Spearman's rho for ordinal parameters)
      demonstrated a lack of linear correlations between sCA and dCA measures. However,
      comparisons of parameters within dCA and within sCA were correlated. For sCA
      slope-CVRVA with Slope-CVRiMCA (r = 0.45, P < 0.03); for dCA ARISNP with ARIPhE
      (rho = 0.50, P = 0.03), ARIBaseline (rho = 0.57, P = 0.03) and PhaseLF (rho =
      0.48, P = 0.03); and for GainVLF with GainLF (r = 0.51, P = 0.01). By contrast to
      the commonly held assumption based on an earlier study, there were no linear
      correlations between sCA and dCA. As an additional observation, there was strong
      inter-individual variability, both in dCA and sCA, in this healthy group of
      elderly, in a range from low to high CA efficiency.

PMID- 28597994
TI  - Corneal sensitivity and tear production in 108 horses with ocular disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare corneal sensitivity and tear production in horses with
      keratitis to horses with other ocular disease. METHOD: Retrospective medical
      record review was used to identify equine patients presented during a 1-year
      period for an ocular complaint who had Schirmer Tear Test (STT) or Corneal Touch
      Threshold (CTT) measured. Variables studied included patient age and sex;
      affected eye; category of presenting ocular complaint (keratitis vs. other ocular
      complaint); STT; and CTT. Patients with a complaint of ulcerative keratitis,
      immune-mediated keratitis, and stromal abscess were categorized in the keratitis
      group. Patients with a complaint of uveitis, as well as lid, lens, or retinal
      disease, were categorized in the group having other ocular disease. For patients
      presenting more than once in 2013, only the first visit at which STT or CTT was
      measured was included. For patients with bilateral disease, STT and CTT of both
      eyes were averaged. RESULTS: A total of 108 patients were included, 45 with
      keratitis and 63 with other ocular disease. Average age was 13.65 years, with
      more males (77) than females (31). Adjusted for age, STT in affected eyes did not
      differ significantly between the two groups (keratitis = 29.92 mm/min; other
      ocular disease = 27.96 mm/min), but CTT was significantly lower in patients with
      keratitis (33.78 mm) than in patients with other ocular disease (40.10 mm).
      CONCLUSIONS: Corneal sensitivity may be decreased in patients with keratitis. It
      is not known whether this is a cause or an effect of corneal disease.

PMID- 28597993
TI  - One-Step Extraction and Hydrolysis of Flavonoid Glycosides in Rape Bee Pollen
      Based on Soxhlet-Assisted Matrix Solid Phase Dispersion.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Flavonoids are frequently found as glycosylated derivatives in
      plant materials. To determine contents of flavonoid aglycones in these matrices,
      procedures for the extraction and hydrolysis of flavonoid glycosides are
      required. The current sample preparation method is both labour and time
      consuming. OBJECTIVE: Develop a modified matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD)
      procedure as an alternative methodology for the one-step extraction and
      hydrolysis of flavonoid glycosides. METHOD: HPLC-DAD was applied for
      demonstrating the one-step extraction and hydrolysis of flavonoids in rape bee
      pollen. The obtained contents of flavonoid aglycones (quercetin, kaempferol,
      isorhamnetin) were used for the optimisation and validation of the method.
      RESULTS: The extraction and hydrolysis were accomplished in one step. The
      procedure completes in 2 h with silica gel as dispersant, a 1:2 ratio of sample
      to dispersant, and 60% aqueous ethanol with 0.3 M hydrochloric acid as the
      extraction solution. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of repeatability
      were less than 5%, and the recoveries at two fortified levels were between 88.3
      and 104.8%. CONCLUSION: The proposed methodology is simple and highly efficient,
      with good repeatability and recovery. Compared with currently available methods,
      the present work has advantages of using less time and labour, higher extraction
      efficiency, and less consumption of the acid catalyst. This method may have
      applications for the one-step extraction and hydrolysis of bioactive compounds
      from plant materials. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28597995
TI  - K+ -Responsive Block Copolymer Micelles for Targeted Intracellular Drug Delivery.
AB  - In this work, a novel type of block copolymer micelles with K+ -responsive
      characteristics for targeted intracellular drug delivery is developed. The
      proposed smart micelles are prepared by self-assembly of poly(ethylene glycol)-b
      poly(N-isopropylacry-lamide-co-benzo-18-crown-6-acrylamide) (PEG-b-P(NIPAM-co
      B18C6Am)) block copolymers. Prednisolone acetate (PA) is successfully loaded into
      the micelles as the model drug, with loading content of 4.7 wt%. The PA-loaded
      micelles display a significantly boosted drug release in simulated intracellular
      fluid with a high K+ concentration of 150 * 10-3 m, as compared with that in
      simulated extracellular fluid. Moreover, the in vitro cell experiments indicate
      that the fluorescent molecules encapsulated in the micelles can be delivered and
      specifically released inside the HSC-T6 and HepG2 cells responding to the
      increase of K+ concentration in intracellular compartments, which confirms the
      successful endocytosis and efficient K+ -induced intracellular release. Such K+ 
      responsive block copolymer micelles are highly potential as new-generation of
      smart nanocarriers for targeted intracellular delivery of drugs.

PMID- 28597996
TI  - Sensitization of melanoma cells to temozolomide by overexpression of microRNA 203
      through direct targeting of glutaminase-mediated glutamine metabolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malignant melanoma (MM) is an aggressive malignancy, which accounts
      for 80% of skin cancer-related deaths and is notably resistant to conventional
      chemotherapeutic agents. One of the most common treatments for melanoma is
      surgery, followed by various combinations of chemotherapy drugs. AIM: To
      investigate the role of microRNA (miR)-203 in sensitivity of MM cells to the
      chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ). METHODS: Using quantitative reverse
      transcription PCR, we measured the expression of miR-203 in an MM cell line. Cell
      viability of MM cells in response to TMZ treatment was measured by MTT assay.
      Glutamine metabolism and level of glutaminase (GLS) were assessed. RESULTS: We
      found that miR-203 was significantly downregulated by TMZ treatment in human MM
      cells. In addition, miR-203 expression was lower in TMZ-resistant MM cells
      compared with parental cells. Interestingly, glutamine metabolism and GLS
      expression were higher in TMZ-resistant cells, and TMZ-resistant cells exhibited
      more glutamine dependency than TMZ-sensitive MM cells. We also identified GLS as
      a downstream target gene of miR-203, which binds directly to the 3' untranslated
      region of GLS. Overexpression of miR-203 was associated with decreased GLS
      expression and sensitization to TMZ in vitro. Re-expression of GLS in miR-203
      overexpressing MM cells markedly rescued miR-203-mediated suppression of these
      events. Finally, we found a significant negative correlation between miR-203 and
      GL, with downregulation of miR-203 and upregulation of GLS in tissues from
      patients with MM. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results demonstrate that
      overexpression of miR-203 sensitizes MM cells to TMZ by targeting GLS, providing
      new insights into the development of anti-tumour agents for patients with
      chemotherapy-resistant MM.

PMID- 28597997
TI  - An under-recognized, life-threatening complication of atopic dermatitis.

PMID- 28597998
TI  - A novel mechanical mitral valve replacement using Sapien XT.
AB  - PATIENT PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 66 year old female who presented to
      our institution fourteen years after receiving a St. Jude Mechanical Mitral Valve
      Replacement. She presented in refractory NYHA class IV congestive heart failure
      with comorbidities of acute renal failure, liver failure, and mental status
      changes. She was found to have immobility of one of the mitral valve disks with
      resultant severe mitral stenosis with a mean pressure gradient of 12 mmHg.
      EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT: The patient was found to have an STS predicted
      mortality of 39% with redo surgical MVR, and evaluation by the valve team led to
      a recommendation of a hybrid surgical and transcatheter procedure. The patient
      underwent femoral bypass and hypothermia with a sternotomy and left atrial
      approach. The mechanical discs were removed utilizing needle drivers without
      removal of the St. Jude ring. Subsequently, a 26 mm Edwards Sapien XT valve was
      deployed under direct and fluoroscopic visualization. The patient had an event
      free post-operative course, and one year following the procedure has had an
      outstanding clinical response with NYHA class II congestive heart failure. Her
      echocardiogram reveals normal valve function with a MPG of 4 mmHg without mitral
      regurgitation. CONCLUSION: Transatrial hybrid TMVR within the ring of a St. Jude
      mechanical mitral valve appears to be a feasible procedure which may be used in
      the future to decrease morbidity and mortality associated with high-risk redo-MVR
      in patients with mechanical mitral valve prostheses.

PMID- 28597999
TI  - A rapid and easy protein N-terminal profiling strategy using (N
      Succinimidyloxycarbonylmethyl)tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)phosphonium bromide
      (TMPP) labeling and StageTip.
AB  - Protein N-terminal profiling is crucial when characterizing biological functions
      and provides proteomic evidences for genome reannotations. However, most of the
      current N-terminal enrichment approaches involve multiple chemical
      derivatizations and chromatographic separation processes which are time consuming
      and can contribute to N-terminal peptide losses. In this study, a fast, one-step
      approach utilizing (N-Succinimidyloxycarbonylmethyl)tris(2,4,6
      trimethoxyphenyl)phosphonium bromide (TMPP) derivatization and StageTip
      separation was developed to enhance N-terminal peptide enrichment and analysis.
      Based on the characteristics of TMPP-derivatized samples, such as a higher
      hydrophobicity and increased likelihood to produce a and b ions in collision
      induced dissociation or HCD fragmentation modes, first the SDS-PAGE was optimized
      to increase protein loading and gel entry and to remove unbound TMPP. Then, this
      process was combined with a simplified StageTip separation and a new scoring
      criterion (considering a, b and y ions) to identify more TMPP-modified N-terminal
      spectra. When utilizing a low amount of starting material (~20 MUg protein), a
      total of 581 yeast N-terminal peptides were identified, with 485 of them being
      TMPP modified, in only about one third of the general experimental time. It is
      hoped that the workflow constructed herein will provide a fast and practical
      strategy for N-terminomic studies.

PMID- 28598000
TI  - Peptidomic Analysis of Maternal Serum to Identify Biomarker Candidates for
      Prenatal Diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot.
AB  - Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common form of cyanotic congenital heart
      disease. To identify endogenous peptides possibly involved in the progression of
      TOF, we performed comparative peptidomic profiling of maternal serum between
      normal fetuses and fetuses suffering from TOF. A total of 278 differentially
      expressed peptides, including 94 over-expressed peptides and 184 under-expressed
      peptides, originating from 227 protein precursors were identified by liquid
      chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) in maternal serum of fetuses with TOF
      compared to normal controls. Further, ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) was used
      to identify putative roles for these peptides in cardiovascular development. Two
      peptides were derived from functional domains of proteins involved in heart
      development and associated with TOF; these may represent candidate bioactive
      peptides involved in TOF. These peptides may be related to the pathologic changes
      in the heart associated with TOF, and may be useful as novel biomarkers for
      prenatal diagnosis of TOF. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 468-477, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598001
TI  - 3D Printing Technology in Planning Thumb Reconstructions with Second Toe
      Transplant.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report preoperative planning using 3D printing to plan thumb
      reconstructions with second toe transplant. METHODS: Between December 2013 and
      October 2015, the thumbs of five patients with grade 3 thumb defects were
      reconstructed using a wrap-around flap and second toe transplant aided by 3D
      printing technology. CT scans of hands and feet were analyzed using Boholo
      surgical simulator software (www.boholo.com). This allowed for the creation of a
      mirror image of the healthy thumb using the uninjured thumb. Using 3D images of
      the reconstructed thumb, a model of the big toe and the second toe was created to
      understand the dimensions of the donor site. This model was also used to repair
      the donor site defect by designing appropriate iliac bone and superficial
      circumflex iliac artery flaps. The polylactic acid model of the donor toes and
      reconstructed thumb was produced using 3D printing. Surgically, the wrap-around
      flap of the first dorsal metatarsal artery and vein combined with the joint and
      bone of the second toe was based upon the model donor site. Sensation was
      reconstructed by anastomosing the dorsal nerve of the foot and the plantar
      digital nerve of the great toe. Patients commenced exercises 2 weeks after
      surgery. RESULTS: All reconstructed thumbs survived, although partial flap
      necrosis occurred in one case. This was managed with regular dressing changes.
      Patients were followed up for 3-15 months. The lengths of the reconstructed
      thumbs are 34-49 mm. The widths of the thumb nail beds are 16-19 mm, and the
      thickness of the digital pulp is 16-20 mm. The thumb opposition function was 0
      1.5 cm; the extension angle was 5 degrees -20 degrees  (mean, 16 degrees ), and
      the angle of flexion was 38 degrees -55 degrees  (mean, 47 degrees ). Two-point
      discrimination was 9-11 mm (mean, 9.6 mm). The reconstructed thumbs had good
      appearance, function and sensation. Based on the criteria set forth by the
      Standard on Approval of Reconstructed Thumb and Finger Functional Assessment of
      the Chinese Medical Association, the results were considered excellent for four
      cases and good for one case. The success rate was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: When
      planning a wrap-around flap and second toe transplant to reconstruct a thumb,
      both the donor and recipient sites can be modeled using 3D printing. This can
      shorten the operative time by supplying digital and accurate schematics for the
      operation. It can also optimize the function and appearance of the reconstructed
      thumb while minimizing damage to the donor site.

PMID- 28598002
TI  - A DNA-Programmed Liposome Fusion Cascade.
AB  - Chemically engineered and functionalized nanoscale compartments are used in
      bottom-up synthetic biology to construct compartmentalized chemical processes.
      Progressively more complex designs demand spatial and temporal control over
      entrapped species. Here, we address this demand with a DNA-encoded design for the
      successive fusion of multiple liposome populations. Three individual stages of
      fusion are induced by orthogonally hybridizing sets of membrane-anchored
      oligonucleotides. Each fusion event leads to efficient content mixing and
      transfer of the recognition unit for the subsequent stage. In contrast to fusion
      protein-dependent eukaryotic vesicle processing, this artificial fusion cascade
      exploits the versatile encoding potential of DNA hybridization and is generally
      applicable to small and giant unilamellar vesicles. This platform could thus
      enable numerous applications in artificial cellular systems and liposome-based
      synthetic pathways.

PMID- 28598003
TI  - Editorial: The Effect of Ethnicity on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus Is Perhaps Not a Paradox.

PMID- 28598006
TI  - Issue Information - IFA.

PMID- 28598004
TI  - Higher maternal vitamin D concentrations are associated with longer leukocyte
      telomeres in newborns.
AB  - Gestational vitamin D insufficiency is related with increased risks of various
      diseases and poor health outcomes later in life. Telomere length at birth or
      early in life is known to be a predictor of individual health. Both vitamin D and
      telomere length are related with various health conditions, and vitamin D
      concentrations are associated with leukocyte telomere lengths in women. We
      investigated the association between maternal vitamin D concentrations and
      newborn leukocyte telomere lengths. This cross-sectional study included 106
      healthy pregnant women without adverse obstetric outcomes and their offspring. We
      examined the maternal age, weight before pregnancy, health behaviours, and
      nutritional intakes, along with each newborn's sex and birthweight, and we
      measured maternal height, telomere length, total white blood cell count, and
      glycosylated haemoglobin as covariates. Pearson's correlation coefficients were
      calculated to evaluate the relationship between the baseline variables and
      newborn leukocyte telomere lengths. To confirm that there was an independent
      association between newborn leukocyte telomere lengths and maternal vitamin D
      concentrations, we performed a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis.
      Newborn leukocyte telomere lengths correlated positively with maternal leukocyte
      telomere lengths (r = .76, p < .01), maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations
      (r = .72, p < .01), maternal energy intakes (r = .22, p = .03), and newborn body
      weights (r = .51, p < .01). In the multivariate model, newborn leukocyte telomere
      lengths were associated with maternal vitamin D concentrations (beta = .33, p <
      .01). These findings suggest that the maternal vitamin D concentration during
      pregnancy may be a significant determinant of the offspring's telomere length.

PMID- 28598007
TI  - Large-scale study of clinical and biochemical characteristics of Chinese patients
      diagnosed with Krabbe disease.
AB  - Krabbe disease (KD) is a rare disease caused by the deficiency of beta
      galactocerebrosidase. This study investigated 22 unrelated Chinese patients,
      including their clinical presentations, plasma psychosine levels and beta
      galactocerebrosidase gene mutations. We found the late-onset form of KD present
      in 82% of the patients in our study, which was more prevalent than in patients
      from other populations. Plasma psychosine levels were elevated in KD, which were
      correlated with the severity of clinical presentations. Sanger sequencing
      identified 8 novel mutations, including 7 missense mutations, p.H253Y, p.S259L,
      p.P318L, p.F350V, p.T428A, p.L530P, p.G586D, and 1 splicing mutation,
      c.1251+1G>A. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex
      ligation-dependent probe amplification identified a novel exon 12 and 14
      deletion, separately. Next generation sequencing, applied at the final step,
      revealed 2 missense mutant alleles missed using Sanger sequencing. The most
      common mutation in Chinese population is p.P154H, which accounts for 20.5% of
      alleles. Consistent with the higher prevalence of the late-onset form of KD,
      missense mutations predominated in our study, different with the common mutation
      types in Europe and Japan. This work was the first large-scale study of Chinese
      KD patients describing their clinical, biochemical and genetic characteristics,
      which furthered our understanding of this classical neurological lysosomal
      storage disease.

PMID- 28598005
TI  - Higher concentrations of dithranol appear to induce hair growth even in severe
      alopecia areata.
AB  - Alopecia areata (AA) is the commonest autoimmune cause of non-scarring alopecia.
      Topical treatments including corticosteroids and irritants maybe beneficial.
      Studies report variable hair regrowth with dithranol (anthralin) but all used low
      concentrations (0.1-1.25%) and inconsistent measurements of AA severity. We
      report retrospective data (2005-2014) of 102 patients who had failed ultra-potent
      topical steroids and were referred to a specialist hair clinic for treatment with
      dithranol up to 3%. The severity of alopecia areata tool was used and
      participants graded as mild (<25%), moderate (>25 to 75%), and severe (>75%) hair
      loss. Compared with baseline any and at-least 50% hair regrowth [72%, 68%, 50%
      and 61.5%, 48.4%, 37.5%, in mild, moderate and severe AA respectively] occurred
      in all groups (median treatment duration 12 months). Twenty-nine patients (28.4%)
      were discharged with complete regrowth; with no difference in proportions in
      severity groups (33.3%, 29%, and 21.9%) but in the period to discharge [7.9, 6.3,
      and 29.4 months (p-values <.05)] for mild, moderate, and severe AA. Treatment
      trials of 12 months with dithranol at higher concentrations may be an option in
      patients who failed potent topical or intra-lesional steroids) regardless of AA
      severity. Randomized trials (of less staining formulations) of dithranol are
      warranted.

PMID- 28598008
TI  - A persistent umbilical nodule.

PMID- 28598009
TI  - Development of overuse tendinopathy: A new descriptive model for the initiation
      of tendon damage during cyclic loading.
AB  - Tendinopathic tissue has long been characterized by changes to collagen
      microstructure. However, initial tendon damage from excessive mechanical loading
      a hallmark of tendinopathy development-could occur at the nanoscale level of
      collagen fibrils. Indeed, it is on this scale that tenocytes interact directly
      with tendon matrix, and excessive collagen fibril damage not visible at the
      microscale could trigger a degenerative cascade. In this study, we explored
      whether initiation of tendon damage during cyclic loading occurs via a
      longitudinal compression-induced buckling mechanism of collagen fibrils leading
      to nanoscale kinkband development. Two groups of tendons were cyclically loaded
      to equivalent peak stresses. In each loading cycle, tendons in one group were
      unloaded to the zero displacement mark, while those in the other group were
      unloaded to a nominal level of tension, minimizing the potential for fibril
      buckling. Tendons that were unloaded to the zero displacement mark ruptured
      significantly sooner during cyclic loading (1,446 +/- 737 vs. 4,069 +/- 1,129
      cycles), indicating that significant fatigue damage is accrued in the low stress,
      toe region of the load-deformation response. Ultrastructural analysis using
      scanning electron microscopy of tendons stopped after 1,000 cycles showed that
      maintaining a nominal tension slowed the accumulation of kinkbands, supporting a
      longitudinal compression-induced buckling mechanism as the basis for kinkband
      development. Based on our results, we present a new descriptive model for the
      initiation of tendon damage during cyclic loading. The so-called Compression of
      Unrecovered Elongation or CUE Model may provide useful insight into the
      development of tendinopathy. (c) 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 36:467-476, 2018.

PMID- 28598011
TI  - An Evolutionary Concept Analysis of Compassion Fatigue.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to fill the need for an updated concept
      analysis of compassion fatigue. METHODS: This review used Rodgers' Evolutionary
      Model to direct the analysis of 25 papers published between 2005 and 2015. This
      review focused strictly on healthcare providers in the formal healthcare setting.
      CONCLUSIONS: The authors provided an analysis of the evolution of compassion
      fatigue and identified surrogate terms, attributes and defining characteristics,
      and antecedents and consequences of the term, true to Rodgers' Evolutionary
      Model. Related terms are also discussed and a brief case model is provided.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A better understanding of compassion fatigue will allow
      researchers and clinicians to identify its causes, prevention, and treatment.
      This could impact the rate at which healthcare providers leave clinical practice
      and their ability to compassionately engage with patients.

PMID- 28598010
TI  - DLEU1 contributes to ovarian carcinoma tumourigenesis and development by
      interacting with miR-490-3p and altering CDK1 expression.
AB  - Recently, a large number of studies have focused on the important role of long
      non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in metabolism and development and have found that
      abnormal lncRNA expression is associated with the pathogenesis and development of
      many diseases. The lncRNA DLEU1 is involved in many solid tumours and
      haematological malignancies. However, its role in epithelial ovarian carcinoma
      (EOC) and the associated molecular mechanisms has not been reported. In this
      study, quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) demonstrated higher
      lncRNADLEU1 expression in EOC tissues than in normal tissues. Plasmid
      transfection of DLEU1 to up-regulate its expression in the ovarian cancer cell
      lines A2780 and OVCAR3 increased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion,
      while inhibited apoptosis. Nude mouse xenograft assay demonstrated that DLEU1
      overexpression promoted tumour growth in vivo. QRT-PCR showed decreased miR-490
      3p expression, while Western blotting demonstrated increased its target genes
      CDK1, cyclinD1 and SMARCD1, as well as matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), Bcl-xL
      and P70S6K protein expression, respectively. Short interfering RNA silencing of
      DLEU1 produced opposite results, where qRT-PCR showed increased miR-490-3p
      expression. The dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed a direct interaction
      between DLEU1 and miR-490-3p. MiR-490-3p plays a tumour suppressor role in
      epithelial ovarian cancer by targeting CDK1 regulation and influencing SMARCD1
      and cyclin D1 (CCND1) expressions. Therefore, we suggest that through interaction
      with miR-490-3p, DLEU1 may influence the expression of CDK1, CCND1 and SMARCD1
      protein, subsequently promoting the development and progression of EOC.

PMID- 28598012
TI  - Meta-analysis: Association of Helicobacter pylori infection with Parkinson's
      diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The results from observational studies on the relationship between
      helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and Parkinson's disease remain
      controversial. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between
      helicobacter pylori infection and Parkinson's disease. METHODS: A comprehensive
      literature search was performed on relevant studies published from January 1983
      to January 2017 in PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE databases. The fixed or
      random effects model was used to pool the odds ratio with 95% confidence interval
      from individual studies. Publication bias was estimated by Egger's test and the
      funnel plot. RESULTS: Eight eligible studies involving 33 125 participants were
      included in this meta-analysis. Compared with the no helicobacter pylori infected
      person, the pooled odds ratio of Parkinson's disease in helicobacter pylori
      infected person was 1.59 (95% confidence interval: 1.37-1.85). In subgroup
      analyzes, the combined odds ratios were 1.96 (1.23-3.12) in Asia, 1.55 (1.32
      1.82) in Europe, 1.59 (1.35-1.88) in case-control studies, 1.56 (1.01-2.39) in
      cross-sectional studies, 1.56 (1.32-1.85) in studies with confounders adjusted,
      and 1.71 (1.21-2.43) in studies with no confounder adjusted, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicated that H. pylori infection might be
      associated with the risk of Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28598013
TI  - 3D Nitrogen-Anion-Decorated Nickel Sulfides for Highly Efficient Overall Water
      Splitting.
AB  - Developing non-noble-metal electrocatalysts with high activity and low cost for
      both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is
      of paramount importance for improving the generation of H2 fuel by
      electrocatalytic water-splitting. This study puts forward a new N-anion-decorated
      Ni3 S2 material synthesized by a simple one-step calcination route, acting as a
      superior bifunctional electrocatalyst for the OER/HER for the first time. The
      introduction of N anions significantly modifies the morphology and electronic
      structure of Ni3 S2 , bringing high surface active sites exposure, enhanced
      electrical conductivity, optimal HER Gibbs free-energy (DeltaGH* ), and water
      adsorption energy change (DeltaGH2O* ). Remarkably, the obtained N-Ni3 S2 /NF 3D
      electrode exhibits extremely low overpotentials of 330 and 110 mV to reach a
      current density of 100 and 10 mA cm-2 for the OER and HER in 1.0 m KOH,
      respectively. Moreover, an overall water-splitting device comprising this
      electrode delivers a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a very low cell voltage of
      1.48 V. Our finding introduces a new way to design advanced bifunctional
      catalysts for water splitting.

PMID- 28598014
TI  - Nurses' experience of the transfer of ICU patients to general wards: A great
      responsibility and a huge challenge.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to describe nurses' experiences of
      patients' transition from ICUs to general wards and their suggestions for
      improvements. BACKGROUND: In the ICU, the most seriously ill patients with life
      threatening conditions and multiple organ dysfunction syndromes are cared for and
      carefully monitored by specially trained professionals using advanced techniques
      for the prevention of failure of vital functions. The transfer of ICU patients to
      general wards means a change from a high to a lower level, including the loss of
      one-to-one nursing and a reduction of visible monitoring equipment and general
      close attention. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design. METHODS: Eight nurses
      from three different inpatient units in Norway, five from a university hospital
      and three from a local hospital were selected through a convenience sample.
      Interviews with open questions were conducted, and qualitative content analysis
      was used to explore the data. RESULTS: Nurses' experiences were described in one
      main category: ICU patients' transition-a great responsibility and a huge
      challenge, and two generic categories: (i) a challenging transition for nurses,
      patients and relatives and (ii) dialogue and competencies as tools for
      improvement, with six subcategories. CONCLUSION: A number of factors affected
      patient care, such as poor cooperation, communication, reporting, expertise and
      clinical gaze. It was clear that the general wards had major challenges, and a
      number of improvements were suggested. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study
      shows that there is still a gap between the ICU and general wards and that nurses
      continue to struggle with this. It is therefore important that the managers
      responsible for the quality of care together with the professionals take
      seriously the criticism in the present and previous studies and work towards a
      safe transition for patients.

PMID- 28598015
TI  - Cutaneous nerve biomarkers in transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the utility of skin biopsies as a biomarker of disease
      severity in subjects with amyloid neuropathy. METHODS: Five groups of patients
      were studied: (1) transthyretin (TTR) familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP; n
      = 20), (2) TTR mutation carriers without peripheral neuropathy (TTR-noPN; n =
      10), (3) healthy controls (n = 20), (4) diabetic neuropathy disease controls (n =
      20), and (5) patients with light-chain (AL) amyloid (n = 2). All subjects
      underwent neurological examination and 3mm skin biopsies. Sections were stained
      with anti-PGP9.5, anti-TTR, and Congo red. Intraepidermal (IENFD), sweat gland
      (SGNFD), and pilomotor nerve fiber densities (PMNFD) were measured. Correlations
      between the amount of amyloid present (amyloid burden), fiber subtype, and
      Neuropathy Impairment Score in the Lower Limbs (NIS-LL) were evaluated. RESULTS:
      IENFD, SGNFD, and PMNFD were all significantly reduced in TTR-FAP patients versus
      healthy controls, whereas TTR-noPN subjects had intermediate reductions. Lower
      nerve fiber densities were associated with NIS-LL (p < 0.001). Congo red staining
      revealed brilliant red amyloid deposits confirmed by apple-green birefringence
      within dermal collagen, sweat glands, and arrector pili that engulfed axons. The
      diagnostic sensitivity and specificity to detect amyloid in skin were 70% and
      100%. Both AL amyloidosis and 2 of 10 TTR-noPN subjects were Congo red-positive.
      Amyloid burden correlated with IENFD (r = -0.63), SGNFD (r = -0.67), PMNFD (r = 
      0.50), and NIS-LL (r = -0.57). Wild-type TTR staining was less prominent in TTR
      FAP patients. INTERPRETATION: Cutaneous amyloid was detected in 70% of TTR-FAP
      and 20% of TTR-noPN subjects. Amyloid burden correlated strongly with reductions
      in IENFD, SGNFD, PMNFD, and NIS-LL. Skin is an attractive tissue to establish an
      amyloid diagnosis, and amyloid burden has potential as a biomarker to detect
      treatment effect in TTR-FAP drug trials. Ann Neurol 2017;82:44-56.

PMID- 28598018
TI  - Enantioselective Hydroazidation of Trisubstituted Non-Activated Alkenes.
AB  - A one-pot procedure for the enantioselective hydroazidation of non-activated
      trisubstituted alkenes is described. Hydroboration with monoisopinocampheylborane
      (IpcBH2 ) provides dialkylboranes that are in situ selectively converted into
      monoalkyl-substituted catecholboranes; these undergo radical azidation upon
      treatment with benzenesulfonyl azide and a radical initiator. Enantiomerically
      enriched azides were thus obtained in yields of 59-81 % and enantioselectivities
      of up to 94:6 e.r. (98:2 e.r. if the intermediate dialkylborane is purified by
      crystallization). A rapid access to enantiomerically pure (+)-rodocaine is also
      described. The use of other arenesulfonyl radical traps enables enantioselective
      hydroallylation, hydrosulfanylation, and hydrobromination reactions with yields
      of 71-86 %.

PMID- 28598016
TI  - Race/Ethnicity and Cardiovascular Events Among Patients With Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is more prevalent and results in
      more severe outcomes among blacks, Asians, and Hispanics than among whites.
      Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among SLE patients. We
      undertook this study to examine racial/ethnic variations in risk of CVD events
      among SLE patients. METHODS: Within the Medicaid Analytic eXtract from 2000 to
      2010, we identified patients ages 18-65 years with SLE (>=3 International
      Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision 710.0 codes, >=30 days apart) and with
      >=12 months of continuous enrollment. Subjects were followed up from the index
      date to the first CVD event (myocardial infarction [MI] or stroke), death,
      disenrollment, loss to follow-up, or end of follow-up period. Race/ethnicity
      specific annual CVD event rates were calculated. Cox regression models estimated
      hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), accounting for
      competing risk of death and adjusting for baseline demographics and
      comorbidities. RESULTS: Of 65,788 SLE patients, 93.1% were women and ~42% were
      black, 38% were white, 16% were Hispanic, 3% were Asian, and 1% were American
      Indian/Alaska Native. Mean +/- SD follow-up was 3.8 +/- 3.1 years. CVD event
      rates were highest among blacks (incidence rate [IR] 10.57 [95% CI 9.96-11.22])
      and lowest among Asians (IR 6.63 [95% CI 4.97-8.85]). After multivariable
      adjustment, risk of CVD events was increased among blacks (HR 1.14 [95% CI 1.03
      1.26]) compared to whites. Hispanics and Asians had a lower risk of MI (HR 0.61
      [95% CI 0.48-0.77] and HR 0.57 [95% CI 0.34-0.96], respectively), while blacks
      and Hispanics had a higher risk of stroke (HR 1.31 [95% CI 1.15-1.49] and HR 1.22
      [95% CI 1.03-1.44], respectively). CONCLUSION: Among SLE patients enrolled in
      Medicaid, the risk of MI was lower among Hispanics and Asians compared to whites,
      while the risk of stroke was elevated among blacks and Hispanics compared to
      whites.

PMID- 28598017
TI  - A novel RNA polymerase-binding protein that interacts with a sigma-factor docking
      site.
AB  - Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is governed by a cascade of alternative RNA
      polymerase sigma factors. We previously identified a small protein Fin that is
      produced under the control of the sporulation sigma factor sigmaF to create a
      negative feedback loop that inhibits sigmaF -directed gene transcription. Cells
      deleted for fin are defective for spore formation and exhibit increased levels of
      sigmaF -directed gene transcription. Based on pull-down experiments, chemical
      crosslinking, bacterial two-hybrid experiments and nuclear magnetic resonance
      chemical shift analysis, we now report that Fin binds to RNA polymerase and
      specifically to the coiled-coil region of the beta' subunit. The coiled-coil is a
      docking site for sigma factors on RNA polymerase, and evidence is presented that
      the binding of Fin and sigmaF to RNA polymerase is mutually exclusive. We propose
      that Fin functions by a mechanism distinct from that of classic sigma factor
      antagonists (anti-sigma factors), which bind directly to a target sigma factor to
      prevent its association with RNA polymerase, and instead functions to inhibit
      sigmaF by competing for binding to the beta' coiled-coil.

PMID- 28598019
TI  - Authors' reply to the letter by Nguyen et al.

PMID- 28598020
TI  - Comment on a paper by Palmlof et al. entitled 'Expectations of recovery: A
      prognostic factor in patients with neck pain undergoing manual therapy
      treatment'.

PMID- 28598021
TI  - Onset of Kaposi sarcoma and Merkel cell carcinoma during low-dose steroid therapy
      for rheumatic polymyalgia.

PMID- 28598022
TI  - Skin resistance to UVB-induced oxidative stress and hyperpigmentation by the
      topical use of Lactobacillus helveticus NS8-fermented milk supernatant.
AB  - AIMS: In this study, we investigated the preventive properties of the supernatant
      of Lactobacillus helveticus NS8-fermented milk (NS8-FS) against UV light-induced
      skin oxidative damage and hyperpigmentation. METHODS AND RESULTS: NS8-FS
      exhibited significant radical scavenging activity in tests with ABST+ and DPPH
      scavenging methods, and as well strongly inhibited 3-morpholinosydnonimine (Sin
      1)-induced ROS generation in HaCat keratinocytes. Unexpectedly, NS8-FS was found
      to inhibit melanin production in B16F10 melanoma cells and to exhibit inhibitory
      effects both to the enzymatic activity of tyrosinase (TYR) and the expression of
      proteins required for melanin synthesis. In SKH-1 hairless mice, topical
      application of NS8-FS alleviated UVB-induced skin photodamage, including the
      improvement of the appearance of epidermal thickness, transepidennal water loss
      and lipid peroxidation levels. In the tanning guinea pig model, the whitening
      effect of NS8-FS was demonstrated using Masson-Fontana staining and TYR staining.
      Furthermore, NS8-FS was shown to stimulate the nuclear translocation and
      activation of the Nrf2 protein, along with recovery of antioxidant enzyme
      activities. CONCLUSION: NS8-FS exhibits the protective capacities against UV
      light-induced skin oxidative damage and hyperpigmentation. SIGNIFICANCE AND
      IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our findings indicate the potential of cell-free fermented
      products of lactic acid bacteria in topical photoprotection.

PMID- 28598024
TI  - Facile and Reversible Formation of Iron(III)-Oxo-Cerium(IV) Adducts from Nonheme
      Oxoiron(IV) Complexes and Cerium(III).
AB  - Ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) or CeIV (NH4 )2 (NO3 )6 is often used in artificial
      water oxidation and generally considered to be an outer-sphere oxidant. Herein we
      report the spectroscopic and crystallographic characterization of [(N4Py)FeIII -O
      CeIV (OH2 )(NO3 )4 ]+ (3), a complex obtained from the reaction of [(N4Py)FeII
      (NCMe)]2+ with 2 equiv CAN or [(N4Py)FeIV =O]2+ (2) with CeIII (NO3 )3 in MeCN.
      Surprisingly, the formation of 3 is reversible, the position of the equilibrium
      being dependent on the MeCN/water ratio of the solvent. These results suggest
      that the FeIV and CeIV centers have comparable reduction potentials. Moreover,
      the equilibrium entails a change in iron spin state, from S=1 FeIV in 2 to S=5/2
      in 3, which is found to be facile despite the formal spin-forbidden nature of
      this process. This observation suggests that FeIV =O complexes may avail of
      reaction pathways involving multiple spin states having little or no barrier.

PMID- 28598023
TI  - Nintedanib reduces ventilation-augmented bleomycin-induced epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition and lung fibrosis through suppression of the Src pathway.
AB  - Mechanical ventilation (MV) used in patients with acute respiratory distress
      syndrome (ARDS) can increase lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrogenesis. Src is
      crucial in mediating the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1-induced
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during the fibroproliferative phase of
      ARDS. Nintedanib, a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor that directly blocks
      Src, has been approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The
      mechanisms regulating interactions among MV, EMT and Src remain unclear. In this
      study, we suggested hypothesized that nintedanib can suppress MV-augmented
      bleomycin-induced EMT and pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting the Src pathway. Five
      days after administrating bleomycin to mimic acute lung injury (ALI), C57BL/6
      mice, either wild-type or Src-deficient were exposed to low tidal volume (VT ) (6
      ml/kg) or high VT (30 ml/kg) MV with room air for 5 hrs. Oral nintedanib was
      administered once daily in doses of 30, 60 and 100 mg/kg for 5 days before MV.
      Non-ventilated mice were used as control groups. Following bleomycin exposure in
      wild-type mice, high VT MV induced substantial increases in microvascular
      permeability, TGF-beta1, malondialdehyde, Masson's trichrome staining, collagen
      1a1 gene expression, EMT (identified by colocalization of increased staining of
      alpha-smooth muscle actin and decreased staining of E-cadherin) and alveolar
      epithelial apoptosis (P < 0.05). Oral nintedanib, which simulated genetic
      downregulation of Src signalling using Src-deficient mice, dampened the MV
      augmented profibrotic mediators, EMT profile, epithelial apoptotic cell death and
      pathologic fibrotic scores (P < 0.05). Our data indicate that nintedanib reduces
      high VT MV-augmented EMT and pulmonary fibrosis after bleomycin-induced ALI,
      partly by inhibiting the Src pathway.

PMID- 28598025
TI  - A Diary Study of Self-Compassion, Upward Social Comparisons, and Body Image
      Related Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-compassion may protect individuals experiencing poor body image
      and associated maladaptive outcomes. The purpose of the study was to examine
      within-person associations (whilst controlling for between-person differences)
      between appearance-related self-compassion, appearance-related threats
      (operationalised as upward appearance comparisons), and body image-related
      variables, namely, social physique anxiety, drive for thinness, and body
      dissatisfaction. METHODS: A diary methodology was used whereby young women (n =
      126; Mage = 21.26) responded to brief online surveys three times per day (11am,
      3pm, and 7pm) every second day for one week (i.e. a total of 12 measurement
      points). RESULTS: Results of mixed linear modeling revealed that both state
      appearance-related upward comparisons and self-compassion independently predicted
      all three outcomes in a positive and negative fashion, respectively. No
      significant interaction effects between state appearance-related upward
      comparisons and self-compassion were found. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested
      that appearance-based self-compassion was important, not just when there was a
      potential threat to body image via upward appearance comparisons. The findings
      highlight the importance of fostering self-compassion on a daily level.

PMID- 28598026
TI  - Altered Expression of MicroRNAs in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common types of inflammatory joint
      diseases. Women, smokers, and people with positive family history are more
      susceptible to this disease. Diagnostic criteria include at least one swollen
      joint that has not been caused by other diseases. MicroRNAs are non-coding RNAs
      that are evolutionarily conserved and have a length of 18-25 nucleotides.
      MicroRNAs control gene expression at the post-transcriptional level via promoting
      mRNA degradation or translational repression. Recognition of alterations in
      microRNA status and their respective targets, may offer an opportunity to better
      identify the pathways that are involved in the etiopathogenesis of autoimmune
      diseases. It has been suggested that microRNAs may serve as potential biomarkers
      for both diagnosis and prognosis of autoimmune diseases. Here, we review the
      available evidence on the deregulations of microRNA expression in rheumatoid
      arthritis. More precisely, this review focuses on the microRNA involved in T cell
      regulation and gives perspectives on the use of this microRNA as biomarkers of
      diagnosis, prognosis, or intervention efficacy. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 478-487,
      2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598027
TI  - A novel GIP analogue, ZP4165, enhances glucagon-like peptide-1-induced body
      weight loss and improves glycaemic control in rodents.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the effects of the novel glucose-dependent insulinotropic
      polypeptide (GIP) analogue, ZP4165, on body weight and glycaemic control in
      rodents, and to investigate if ZP4165 modulates the anti-obesity and anti
      hyperglycaemic effects of a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist
      (liraglutide). METHODS: The acute insulinotropic effect of ZP4165 was
      investigated in rats during an oral glucose tolerance test. The long-term effects
      of ZP4165 on body weight and glycaemic control, either alone or in combination
      with liraglutide, were assessed in diet-induced obese mice and diabetic db/db
      mice. RESULTS: ZP4165 showed insulinotropic action in rats. The GIP analogue did
      not alter the body weight of obese mice but enhanced GLP-1-induced weight loss.
      In diabetic mice, 4 weeks' dosing with ZP4165 reduced glycated haemoglobin levels
      vs vehicle by an extent similar to the GLP-1 agonist. CONCLUSIONS: ZP4165
      potentiated the anti-obesity effect of a GLP-1 agonist in obese mice and improved
      glycaemic control in diabetic mice. These studies support further investigation
      of dual-incretin therapy as a more effective treatment option than mono GLP-1
      medication for type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity.

PMID- 28598030
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28598029
TI  - Assessing the stability and suitability of haematology parameters for diagnosing
      and monitoring iron deficiency.

PMID- 28598028
TI  - Antitumor evaluation and multiple analysis on different extracted fractions of
      the root of Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight.
AB  - The root of Cynanchum auriculatum (C. auriculatum) Royle ex Wight has been shown
      to possess various pharmacological effects and has recently attracted much
      attention with respect to its potential role in antitumor activity. The C-21
      steroidal glycosides are commonly accepted as the major active ingredients of C.
      auriculatum. In this study, the antitumor abilities of different extracted
      fractions of the root bark and the root tuber of C. auriculatum were investigated
      by using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay in
      human cancer cell lines HepG2 and SMMC-7721. The results showed that the
      chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions of the root tuber suppressed tumor cell
      growth strongly. To identify and characterize the chemical constituents of
      different active fractions, an ultra high performance liquid chromatography with
      triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the
      simultaneous quantitation of eight C-21 steroidal glycosides. The analysis
      revealed that the C-21 steroidal glycosides were concentrated in the chloroform
      and ethyl acetate fractions, and the total contents of different fractions in the
      root tuber were significantly higher than those of corresponding ones in the root
      bark. Furthermore, the C-21 steroidal glycosides based on different types of
      aglucones were prone in different medicinal parts of C. auriculatum.

PMID- 28598031
TI  - Laparoscopic segmental duodenectomy for a gastrointestinal stromal tumor located
      in the second portion of the duodenum: A case report.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the duodenum are rare. For benign tumors,
      premalignant lesions, or malignant potential tumors located in the second portion
      of the duodenum close to the papilla of Vater, pancreaticoduodenectomy is
      sometimes performed. A case of laparoscopic segmental duodenectomy for a
      gastrointestinal stromal tumor at the second portion of the duodenum is reported.
      The surgical procedure was performed as follows: first, the second portion of the
      duodenum was separated from the pancreatic head; second, the duodenum was cut off
      with the linear stapler after having confirmed preservation of the papilla by
      intraoperative endoscopy; and third, reconstruction was carried out by a side-to
      side duodenojejunostomy. Laparoscopic segmental duodenectomy for duodenal
      gastrointestinal stromal tumors is thought to be advantageous compared with
      pancreaticoduodenectomy in terms of low burden and organ function preservation.
      The present procedure is feasible for benign or low-malignant tumors that do not
      infiltrate outside of the duodenal walls.

PMID- 28598032
TI  - The relationship between species richness and ecosystem variability is shaped by
      the mechanism of coexistence.
AB  - Theory relating species richness to ecosystem variability typically ignores the
      potential for environmental variability to promote species coexistence. Failure
      to account for fluctuation-dependent coexistence may explain deviations from the
      expected negative diversity-ecosystem variability relationship, and limits our
      ability to predict the consequences of increases in environmental variability. We
      use a consumer-resource model to explore how coexistence via the temporal storage
      effect and relative nonlinearity affects ecosystem variability. We show that a
      positive, rather than negative, diversity-ecosystem variability relationship is
      possible when ecosystem function is sampled across a natural gradient in
      environmental variability and diversity. We also show how fluctuation-dependent
      coexistence can buffer ecosystem functioning against increasing environmental
      variability by promoting species richness and portfolio effects. Our work
      provides a general explanation for variation in observed diversity-ecosystem
      variability relationships and highlights the importance of conserving regional
      species pools to help buffer ecosystems against predicted increases in
      environmental variability.

PMID- 28598033
TI  - Decision making in anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery.
AB  - Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA) is the second most common
      cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young athletes in United States. The exact
      pathophysiological mechanisms of SCD are unknown. There is lack of long-term
      outcome data on repaired and unrepaired AAOCA and our current risk stratification
      scheme for these patients is suboptimal. These patients are evaluated in a
      nonuniform manner across institutions in United States, and even by different
      providers residing in the same institution. The main objective of this article is
      to use what is known and unknown about this disease and to provide a possible
      framework that can help workup and manage patients with AAOCA in a more
      consistent fashion.

PMID- 28598035
TI  - Genetic study of early-onset Graves' disease in the Chinese Han population.
AB  - Graves' disease (GD) is a complex autoimmune disorder in which genetic and
      environmental factors are both involved in the pathogenesis. Early-onset patients
      have a shorter exposure time to environmental factors and are, therefore, good
      models to help understand the genetic architecture of GD. Based on previous
      studies of early-onset GD, 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and their
      related SNPs (R2  > .6), SNPs located within a +/-1-Mb region of the FOXP3 gene,
      and 20 validated GD-risk SNPs were selected and screened for genotyping in 3735
      GD and 4893 control patients to investigate whether early-onset GD is a subtype
      of GD with distinct susceptibility genes. Ultimately, we did not confirm the
      reported genetic markers of early-onset GD in our Chinese Han population but
      found that a GD-risk SNP located in the human leukocyte antigen class I region
      rs4947296-was more strongly correlated with early-onset GD than non-early-onset
      GD. In addition, heterogeneity analysis of GD patients suggests that it may be
      more reasonable to define early-onset GD as an onset age <=20 years.

PMID- 28598036
TI  - GmTIR1/GmAFB3-based auxin perception regulated by miR393 modulates soybean
      nodulation.
AB  - Auxins play important roles in the nodulation of legumes. However, the mechanism
      by which auxin signaling regulates root nodulation is largely unknown. In
      particular, the role of auxin receptors and their regulation in determinate
      nodule development remains elusive. We checked the expression pattern of the
      auxin receptor GmTIR1/GmAFB3 genes in soybean. We analyzed the functions of
      GmTIR1/AFB3 in the regulation of rhizobial infection and nodule number, and also
      tested the functions of miR393 during nodulation and its relationship with
      GmTIR1/AFB3. The results showed that GmTIR1 and GmAFB3 genes exhibit diverse
      expression patterns during nodulation and overexpression of GmTIR1 genes
      significantly increased inflection foci and eventual nodule number. GmTIR1/AFB3
      genes were post-transcriptionally cleaved by miR393 family and knock-down of the
      miR393 family members significantly increased rhizobial infection and the nodule
      number. Overexpression of the mutated form of GmTIR1C at the miR393 cleavage site
      that is resistant to miR393 cleavage led to a further increase in the number of
      infection foci and nodules, suggesting that miR393s modulate nodulation by
      directly targeting GmTIR1C. This study demonstrated that GmTIR1- and GmAFB3
      mediated auxin signaling, that is spatio-temporally regulated by miR393, plays a
      crucial role in determinate nodule development in soybean.

PMID- 28598037
TI  - Atypical neurofibromatosis type 1 with unilateral limb hypertrophy mimicking
      overgrowth syndrome.
AB  - Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1; OMIM 162200), a dominantly inherited multitumor
      syndrome, results from mutations in the Neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene. We present
      the case of a Hungarian woman with the clinical phenotype of NF1 over her whole
      body and the clinical features of unilateral overgrowth involving her entire left
      leg. This unusual phenotype suggested either the atypical form of NF1 or the
      coexistence of NF1 and overgrowth syndrome. Direct sequencing of the genomic DNA
      isolated from peripheral blood revealed a novel frameshift mutation (c.5727insT,
      p.V1909fsX1912) in the NF1 gene. Next-generation sequencing of 50 oncogenes and
      tumour suppressor genes, performed on the genomic DNAs isolated from tissue
      samples and peripheral blood, detected only wild-type sequences. Based on these
      results, we concluded that the patient is affected by an unusual phenotype of
      NF1, and that the observed unilateral overgrowth of the left leg might be a rare
      consequence of the identified c.5727insT mutation.

PMID- 28598034
TI  - Hepatitis E in southern Vietnam: Seroepidemiology in humans and molecular
      epidemiology in pigs.
AB  - Viral pathogens account for a significant proportion of the burden of emerging
      infectious diseases in humans. The Wellcome Trust-Vietnamese Initiative on
      Zoonotic Infections (WT-VIZIONS) is aiming to understand the circulation of viral
      zoonotic pathogens in animals that pose a potential risk to human health.
      Evidence suggests that human exposure and infections with hepatitis E virus (HEV)
      genotypes (GT) 3 and 4 results from zoonotic transmission. Hypothesising that HEV
      GT3 and GT4 are circulating in the Vietnamese pig population and can be
      transmitted to humans, we aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of HEV exposure in
      a population of farmers and the general population. We additionally performed
      sequence analysis of HEV in pig populations in the same region to address
      knowledge gaps regarding HEV circulation and to evaluate if pigs were a potential
      source of HEV exposure. We found a high prevalence of HEV GT3 viral RNA in pigs
      (19.1% in faecal samples and 8.2% in rectal swabs) and a high HEV seroprevalence
      in pig farmers (16.0%) and a hospital-attending population (31.7%) in southern
      Vietnam. The hospital population was recruited as a general-population proxy even
      though this particular population subgroup may introduce bias. The detection of
      HEV RNA in pigs indicates that HEV may be a zoonotic disease risk in this
      location, although a larger sample size is required to infer an association
      between HEV positivity in pigs and seroprevalence in humans.

PMID- 28598038
TI  - Biphasic Effect of ATP on In Vitro Mineralization of Dental Pulp Cells.
AB  - Dental pulp cells release adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in response to intrapulpal
      pressure and the amount released depends on the magnitude of the pressure. ATP
      regulates the differentiation of stem cells into adipocytes and osteoblasts.
      However, it is unknown whether extracellular ATP influences the stemness and
      osteogenic differentiation of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth
      (SHEDs). Therefore, this study investigated the effects of extracellular ATP at a
      low (0.1 MUM) and high (10 MUM) concentration on the stemness and osteogenic
      differentiation of SHEDs. Cells were cultured in either growth medium or
      osteogenic medium with or without 0.1-10 MUM ATP. In growth medium, both
      concentrations of ATP increased the mRNA expression of pluripotent and osteogenic
      markers. In contrast, in osteogenic medium, 0.1 MUM ATP enhanced in vitro
      mineralization, whereas 10 MUM ATP inhibited this process. In addition, 10 MUM
      ATP stimulated the mRNA expression and activity of ectonucleotide
      pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase (ENPP), an enzyme that regulates the
      phosphate/pyrophosphate ratio. Thus, depending on the growth condition and its
      concentration, ATP stimulated stemness and in vitro mineralization or inhibited
      mineralization. In growth medium, both ATP concentrations stimulated pluripotent
      and osteogenic marker gene expression. However, in osteogenic medium, a biphasic
      effect was found on in vitro mineralization; the low concentration stimulated,
      whereas the high concentration inhibited, mineralization. We propose that ATP
      released due to mechanical stress modulates the stemness and differentiation of
      SHEDs. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 488-498, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598039
TI  - The Synthesis and Evaluation of Fluoro-, Trifluoromethyl-, and Iodomuscimols as
      GABA Agonists.
AB  - Halogenated analogues of the neurotoxic alkaloid muscimol were prepared with
      fluorine, iodine or trifluoromethyl at the 4 position of the isoxazole ring
      system. These compounds were investigated as agonists for GABAA receptors. Only
      the C-4 fluorine-containing analogue proved to be an active compound in these
      assays. The fluoro analogue was less active than muscimol, however it showed
      differential activity between synaptic (alpha1 beta2 gamma2 ) and extrasynaptic
      (alpha4 beta2 gamma) GABAA receptors, having a similar potency to the
      neurotransmitter GABA for the extrasynaptic (alpha4 beta2 gamma) receptor.

PMID- 28598040
TI  - Doing the Research that Informs Practice: A Retrospective View of One Group's
      Attempt to Study The Teaching and Learning of Organic Chemistry.
AB  - The idea that the focus of educational research should be on results that can
      inform the practice of teaching has been an implicit assumption for so many years
      that one would be hard-pressed to trace it back to an individual source. At one
      time, the people doing such research in STEM disciplines were faculty in schools
      or colleges of education who focused on K-12 classrooms and looked for ideas,
      concepts, and principles that would be valid across a range of STEM disciplines.
      Eventually, this research was done on college- or university-level students, as
      well, and there was a shift toward what has been called discipline-based
      educational research (DBER) that looks at the problems associated with the
      teaching and learning of a given discipline, such as chemistry. This paper will
      discuss the results of research on problem-solving in chemistry that has been
      done in our research group, with particular emphasis on the challenges of
      teaching and learning organic chemistry. The goal of this paper is to show what
      can happen when one listens carefully to students and begins to appreciate the
      difference between what we think we have taught and what the students learned.
      The examples we will use have the potential for convincing those of us who teach
      chemistry to rethink what we do in our classes to find better ways of helping our
      students understand the material we are trying to teach. Although this paper will
      focus on results from the second-year organic chemistry course, similar results
      have been observed in both inorganic and physical chemistry, as well as
      biochemistry courses.

PMID- 28598041
TI  - The Double Trouble: PVD and Peripheral Neuropathy in Diabetes.

PMID- 28598043
TI  - Clinical Profile of Hypertensive Emergencies in an Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of hypertensive emergencies in an ICU
      set up and to study the clinical presentation of hypertensive emergencies related
      to cardiovascular, neurological and renovascular system. METHODS: Type of Study:
      Cross-sectional, descriptive study. DURATION OF STUDY: Two years from 1st
      December 2011 till 30th November 2013. SAMPLE SIZE: 50 patients of hypertensive
      emergencies admitted to the intensive care unit of Dr. V.M. Govt. Medical
      College, Solapur were studied. Inclusion criteria All patients above 18 years of
      age. Systolic blood pressure > 180 mmHg Diastolic blood pressure > 120 mm Hg
      Exclusion criteria Pregnancy Patients with diabetes mellitus We classified as
      hypertensive emergencies all cases in which the increase in blood pressure was
      associated with one or more of the following types of acute or ongoing end-organ
      damage: hypertensive encephalopathy; stroke (cerebral infarction or intracerebral
      or subarachnoid hemorrhage, transient ischemic attack); acute pulmonary edema,
      left ventricular failure; acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina,
      progressive renal insufficiency features suggestive of retinopathy. All these
      conditions were diagnosed clinically or by approprriate diagnostic tests.
      CONCLUSIONS: most common presenting complaint in patients was breathlessness seen
      in 17 patients (34%), followed by neurological deficit in 14 patients (28%).
      Thirteen patients (26%) had complaints of headache, whereas 12 (24%) patients
      complained of chest pain on admission. Other symptoms included vomiting,
      giddiness, psychomotor agitation, and decreased urine output. Out of a total of
      4076 admissions during the study period in the intensive care unit we had 50
      cases of hypertensive emergencies with prevalence of 1.22% in our intensive care
      unit. Most common organ involvement was the retina followed by cardiovascular
      system, renal and then the central nervous system.

PMID- 28598042
TI  - Peripheral Vascular Disease in Patients with Diabetic Foot Ulcers - An Emerging
      Trend: A Prospective Study from North India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the chronic complications of diabetes
      mellitus (DM) with 25% of patients with diabetes developing a foot ulcer during
      their lifetime leading to amputation. Diabetic foot is classified into 2 main
      types: neuropathic ulcers (NPU) and neuro-ischemic ulcer (NIU) where in addition
      to neuropathy peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is also present. AIMS: We aimed
      to a) assess the prevalence of Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in patients of
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) presenting with New Diabetic Foot ulcers (DFU).
      b) To compare the clinical profile and risk factors responsible for development
      of NPU and NIU in North Indian population. SETTING AND DESIGN: Cross sectional
      study conducted on first 100 T2DM patients presenting with new DFU in tertiary
      referral institute for one year period from August 2012 to July 2013. METHODS AND
      MATERIAL: Detailed relevant clinical history including age, sex and duration of
      diabetes, history of smoking and hypertension (HTN) and prevalence of other
      complications like retinopathy, nephropathy, coronary artery disease (CAD) and
      stroke was obtained. Patients were examined for neuropathy, loss of pulsations,
      ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) and investigated for HbA1C, blood urea
      nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine. Statistical analysis used: t test, Fisher
      exact test and univariate analysis. RESULTS: NIU was present in 30 and NPU in 70
      out of 100 patients. NIU were commoner among males as compared to females (21/64
      males vs 9/36 females). Strong association of smoking (20/30 patients),
      hypertension (24/30 patients) and longer duration of DM (14 vs 8 years) with NIU
      was found. Even other complications of DM like CAD (8/30 patients), stroke (4/30
      patients), retinopathy (24/30 patients) and nephropathy (15/30 patients) were
      more prevalent in patients with NIU. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of PVD is 30% in our
      study which is more than previous studies showing an increasing trend. NPU are
      two times more common than NIU. Hypertensive male patients with smoking habits
      and longer duration of T2DM are most prone to develop NIU. NIU share the similar
      risk factors with CAD and coexist with other complications of DM which should be
      looked for and treated.

PMID- 28598044
TI  - A Study of Prehospital Delay Patterns in Acute Myocardial Infarction in an Urban
      Tertiary Care Institute in Mumbai.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is now increasing awareness about the need for early diagnosis
      in patients presenting with chest pain. Pre-hospital delay remains a major hurdle
      in the institution of early reperfusion therapy, which is crucial in salvaging
      'at-risk' myocardium and reducing adverse cardiovascular events following ST
      elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study aims to determine the
      incidence and the determinants of delayed presentation STEMI and the potential
      impact of such delay on adverse cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We
      prospectively evaluated all patients who were admitted in the emergency
      department of our hospital with STEMI from March 2014 to February 2016. Data was
      collected sequentially at the time of admission, discharge and during follow-up.
      Patients were evaluated with serial ECGs, continuous ECG monitoring and
      echocardiography. RESULTS: Out of 1386 patients with STEMI, delayed presentation
      was seen in 1148 (> 2 hrs) and 805 (> 4 hrs) patients. The duration from onset of
      symptoms to the presentation in the emergency room (pre-hospital delay) was 228
      +/- 341minutes.The door to needle time was 34 +/- 24 minutes. The major factors
      for pre-hospital delay were misinterpretation of symptoms (45%) and
      transportation problems (27%). CONCLUSIONS: The problem of pre-hospital delay
      continues to remain a major hurdle in initiating timely reperfusion therapy in
      patients with acute STEMI. Lack of awareness and poor transportation facilities
      are the major contributors. It should be the goal of STEMI care programmes of the
      future to make a concerted effort to addressing these factors, in order to
      optimize the benefit of reperfusion therapy for this high risk group of patients.

PMID- 28598045
TI  - Soft Drinks Consumption and the Risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has
      been implicated in the increased incidence of obesity and metabolic syndrome
      Little of the research on sugar-sweetened beverage intake has examined the
      consumption patterns of sugared beverages by college students, despite the
      vulnerabilities of this population to weight gain. The current study sought to
      characterize sugar-sweetened beverage intake of undergraduate students who belong
      to high socio-economic strata and to study its correlation with presence of non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a cross sectional, a self
      reported questionnaire based study about soft drink consumption (>=2/day, 1/day,
      <1/day). That included undergraduate medical students. Anthropometry and blood
      pressure were recorded and fasting glucose, insulin and lipid profile and
      abdominal ultrasonography for the presence of fatty liver was assessed. RESULTS:
      A total of 242 students were studied. The students in group 1 (>=2/day) had
      significantly higher BMI, waist circumference and diastolic blood pressure than
      students of other groups. They also had higher triglycerides, fasting insulin,
      HOMA-IR and significantly lower levels of HDL-cholesterol. Overall (40%) students
      had metabolic syndromes in group 1 compared to 8% and 3% in other groups while
      presence of NAFLD was observed in 75%, 16% and 4% in three groups respectively.
      Duration of soft drink consumption had positive correlation with presence of
      NAFLD. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial consumption of soft drinks is leading to
      increased obesity and cardio-metabolic risk factors in young adults. Artificially
      sweetened diet soft drinks have been posed as a healthier alternative due to
      their lack of calories but they do not guarantee protection against non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease.

PMID- 28598047
TI  - Awareness and Outcome of Changing Trends in Clinical Profile of Dengue Fever: A
      Retrospective Analysis of Dengue Epidemic from January to December 2014 at a
      Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue fever is caused by mosquito-borne arboviral infection that has
      become a public health concern globally. Recently, an alarming rise of dengue has
      also been seen in India. Hence the study was undertaken to know profile of
      clinical manifestations and laboratory findings during the evolution of dengue
      fever. METHODS: In this study, retrospective data analysis was done in 216
      seropositive dengue patients admitted between January to December 2014 in
      department of medicine at a north Indian care hospital. The tests analyzed were
      blood counts, serum electrolytes, liver function tests, kidney function tests,
      chest x-ray and other relevant investigations. RESULTS: Males were commonly
      affected and the most exposed age group was found to be18-35 years. The
      seropositive case rate for dengue was 56% for NS1 antigen and 36% for IgM. There
      was rural dominancy of cases with a peak in September. Fever was the most common
      clinical feature followed by headache, myalgia, backache, nausea and abdominal
      pain. Petechia was most common haemorrhagic manifestation. Common laboratory
      findings included 89.35% decreased Platelet counts (<100 000/cmm), 67.59%
      increased hematocrit (>45%) and 58.33% deranged liver function test. There was no
      reported mortality in dengue. CONCLUSIONS: From prompt and proper treatment could
      prevent deaths in moderate and severe dengue. Atypical presentations of dengue
      should be kept in mind so as not to miss the cases. Increased community awareness
      and vector control measures need to be strengthened during peri-monsoon period to
      reduce burden of dengue cases.

PMID- 28598046
TI  - Correlation and Comparison of Epicardial Adipose Tissue with Sagittal Abdominal
      Diameter and Other Anthropometric and Biochemical Variables of Metabolic
      syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: 1) To determine relation of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness
      with sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) and other anthropometric measurements in
      metabolic syndrome (MetS). 2) To determine relation of epicardial adipose tissue
      with biochemical variables of metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Cases were recruited
      from the patients attending OPD in New Medical College Hospital, Govt. Medical
      College, Kota, Rajasthan, India between March 2015 to February 2016. Informed
      consent was obtained from all participants after taking permission from hospital
      ethical committee. Patients were categorized as cases and controls according to
      IDF criteria for MetS. We obtained receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve
      of EAT for determination of cut-off values. RESULTS: Epicardial adipose tissue
      thickness had significant positive correlation with fasting blood sugar (r =
      0.49), sagittal abdominal diameter(r = 0.48), body mass index (r = 0.47), LDL
      cholesterol(r = 0.34), waist circumference (r = 0.33), waist hip ratio (r =
      0.32), triglycerides (r= 0.31) and total cholesterol (r = 0.29). Epicardial
      adipose tissue thickness had significant negative correlation to HDL cholesterol
      (r = -0.34). EAT thickness (cm) was greater in metabolic syndrome cases (0.515 +/
      0.07 vs 0.338 +/- 0.06; p < 0.0001). Optimal cut off of EAT in metabolic
      syndrome is 0.425 cm according to ROC curve at which test is 96% sensitive and 83
      % specific. CONCLUSIONS: EAT has shown good correlation with SAD and other
      anthropometric measurements as well as biochemical parameters of metabolic
      syndrome. Optimal cut off value of EAT to predict metabolic syndrome is 0.425 cm.
      FBS and Triglycerides are more closely associated with EAT. HDL Cholesterol is
      better correlated to SAD while LDL cholesterol is best correlated to WC.

PMID- 28598048
TI  - Hepatotoxicity in HIV Patients, An Observational Study in Patients from Tertiary
      Care Centre of Western India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: HIV AIDS has currently become a chronic manageable condition with
      HAART, but with its chronicity and lifelong therapy currently the adverse drug
      reactions to these drugs are the main concern for any treating physician.
      Hepatotoxicity is one of the prime concerns of any physician managing HIV
      patients. We observe a number of patients reporting hepatotoxicity in our cohort
      and this had great impact on the efficacy and intake of the HAART drugs, this led
      us to explore this area and to find out the prevalence and etiologies in our
      cohort. METHODS: Thus we conducted this observational study to determine the
      prevalence of hepatotoxicity, the various etiologies for hepatotoxicity and
      assess HAART as the etiology of hepatotoxicity .The study was conducted in the
      virology department after obtaining ethics committee approval and incompliance
      with ICH, GCP guidelines. The study was conducted over a span of 3 months and
      data was collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Data of 178 Subjects was considered for
      evaluation of which 10 were excluded due to incomplete information. 168 patients
      with hepatotoxicity were assessed in the study, the prevalence of hepatotoxicity
      in our cohort was around 2.25%. Of the 168 patients 111 were male and 57 were
      female.52 patients were on Antituberculosis therapy (ATT) and thus 30.95% was the
      incidence rate of hepatotoxicity due to ATT. 23.80% (40 out of 168) were
      alcoholic and hence it was the etiological agent. HAART as the etiology was
      observed in 5 patients,2.97%being the incidence .Hepatitis B as the causative
      agent for hepatotoxicity was observed in 3.57% patients. CONCLUSIONS: We thus
      concluded that ATT and alcoholism are major areas of concern in HIV patients and
      thus a strict monitoring is warranted while prescribing ATT at the same time
      deaddiction is equally important. HAART induced hepatotoxicity is observed only
      in a small section of patients and thus these drugs need not be attributed as
      culprits blindly and put to disrepute.

PMID- 28598049
TI  - Diabetes Drug Prescription Pattern and Awareness Among Health Care Providers in
      Sub-Himalayan Region of India: A Population Based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the pattern of diabetic drug prescription and awareness
      about diabetes among primary health providers in the rural areas of Himachal
      Pradesh situated in the western Himalayas at an elevation range from 350 meters
      (1,148ft) to 6900 meters (22,966ft) above sea level. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Study
      was conducted in 20 rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, located 50 to 400 Km from
      state capital, at 2200 to 10,000 feet altitude. Non-pregnant diabetic adults were
      surveyed through 31 diabetic camps. Detailed history, weight, height, waist
      circumference, body mass index recorded. Fasting or random blood glucose,
      glycated hemoglobin, lipid profile measured and blood pressure recorded. RESULTS:
      894 diabetic patients were included in the study (59.83% male) with the mean age
      of 52.94+/-6.78 years. Two in three patients were on oral hypoglycemic agents
      (OHAs), and one in three on alternative approaches for diabetes control. Among
      OHAs, sulphonylureas (SU) were the most commonly prescribed oral agents in 76.09%
      of patients followed by metformin in 23.87%. Glibenclamide was the most commonly
      prescribed SU in 44.60%. Amlodipine and atenolol was the commonest anti
      hypertensive drug prescribed in 77.85% either in combination or as individual
      drug. Only 10.59% were on lipid lowering therapy. For primary care providers
      glycemic target was the mainstay of diabetes treatment with little emphasis on
      blood pressure control and no emphasis on lipid reduction. CONCLUSIONS:
      Sulphonylureas were the commonest anti-diabetic drug prescribed by the primary
      care providers followed by metformin. Insulin was prescribed to 2.23% only.
      Combination of amlodipine and atenolol was the commonest anti-hypertensive drugs
      prescribed and only 10% of patients were prescribed statin.

PMID- 28598050
TI  - Consensus Document on Home Nebulization for Maintenance Treatment of Obstructive
      Airway Diseases: A Joint Initiative by the National Allergy Asthma Bronchitis
      Institute (NAABI) and Chest Research Foundation (CRF).
AB  - Recent years have seen an increase in the use of nebulizers for delivering
      maintenance therapy in obstructive airway diseases (OADs) such as asthma and
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The probable factors associated
      with this increase at home are: convenience of drug delivery, technological
      advances making the nebulizer equipment more efficient and portable, increase in
      the prevalence of OADs and the ageing population which may impact the optimal use
      of handheld inhalers such as pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) and dry
      powder inhalers (DPIs). Although there is increase in the use of maintenance
      therapy with nebulization, there has been no such increase in the evidence base
      available for the appropriate use of nebulizers. The last international
      guidelines were published in 2001. Hence there is a need to address this
      knowledge gap especially with the widespread use of home nebulization in India.
      With this objective, we organized a consensus meeting to address certain critical
      questions pertaining to the use of nebulizers for maintenance treatment in OADs.
      This article presents the findings of the consensus panel on the use of
      maintenance treatment of OADs with nebulization at home.

PMID- 28598052
TI  - Survival Analysis.

PMID- 28598051
TI  - Prevention and Management of Acute Kidney Injury: What a Physician Should Know.
AB  - The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been increasing worldwide. The
      increase is attributable not only to ageing population with multiple
      comorbidities, polypharmacy, increasing use of contrast for diagnostic and
      therapeutic procedures but also to the fact that now it is being recognized more
      often. The 'Zero by 25' initiative by International Society of Nephrology aims at
      preventing all avoidable deaths from AKI worldwide by the year 2025. It calls for
      greater awareness about management of AKI among primary care physicians. In last
      few years, various concepts have emerged regarding prevention and management of
      AKI. This review aims at consolidating and applying these concepts to the '5R
      approach' for management of AKI introduced by Lewington.

PMID- 28598053
TI  - Healer on Death Bed: How and Why? Revive Him Please!

PMID- 28598054
TI  - Right Atrial Myxoma.

PMID- 28598055
TI  - The "Mexican Hat" Sign in Osmotic Demyelination Syndrome.

PMID- 28598056
TI  - Neuro-Behcet's Disease Presenting as a Young Stroke.
AB  - Neuro-Behcet's disease (NBD) is a rare neurological manifestation of the systemic
      small vessel vasculitis called Behcet's disease. It can present in various ways
      with predilection for the brain stem, thalamo- hypothalamic regions, cerebellum
      and basal ganglia. In this case, we describe a case of young stroke that was
      later attributed to NBD.

PMID- 28598057
TI  - Macrophage Activation Syndrome.
AB  - Macrophage Activation Syndrome (MAS) occurs as a severe life-threatening
      complication of several chronic rheumatic diseases. It is more frequent with
      systemic onset juvenile arthritis and adult onset Still's disease.1 It can be
      primary, infection related, malignancy associated or autoimmune3. We report a
      case of Macrophage Activation Syndrome presenting as pyrexia of unknown origin
      (PUO) and pancytopenia in the absence of any known triggering factor.

PMID- 28598058
TI  - Successful Treatment of BK Virus Hemorrhagic Cystitis (HC) Post Allogenic
      Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation with Low Dose Cidofovir.
AB  - BK virus (BKV) hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) is a serious cause of morbidity and
      mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (allo-HSCT) in patients with
      hematological malignancies. Around half of allogenic HSCT patients present with
      BKV viruria at some point after HSCT; about 5-40% of these patients subsequently
      develop active HC. Supportive care including bladder irrigation, blood
      transfusions and symptomatic pain management remains the mainstay of therapy; the
      acyclic nucleoside analogue cidofovir is currently the front-line drug for BKV-HC
      treatment. Here we report the first case of severe hemorrhagic cystitis from
      India who was successfully treated with low dose cidofovir therapy.

PMID- 28598059
TI  - Cardiac Abscess with Ventricular Aneurysm Secondary to Old Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - Myocardial Abscess (MA) is a rare life threatening condition mostly occurring
      secondary to underlying infective endocarditis. But it can also be found
      secondary to septicemia with some unknown focus of sepsis in the body.
      Development of MA as a consequence of left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) secondary
      to myocardial infarction is very rare. We report the case of 56 year old male,
      who presented with high grade fever and leukocytosis. On detailed evaluation, he
      was found to have a myocardial abscess with underlying LVA.

PMID- 28598060
TI  - Spontaneous Pneumothorax in H1N1 Infection.
AB  - Spontaneous pneumothorax is a very rare entity in H1N1 infection unless it is co
      existent with other respiratory conditions especially COPD. The other factors are
      old age, children below 5 years and patients with ILD. The mortality rate goes
      high with pulmonary illness complicated by H1N1 infection in smokers and in
      pregnant women. This is the first reported case of H1N1 infection with
      Spontaneous Pneumothorax in India.

PMID- 28598061
TI  - Bullous Pemphigoid as a Harbinger of Metastatic Cholangiocarcinoma - A Rarity.
AB  - Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune blistering disorder of the skin first
      described in 1953. A decade later, antibodies were described targeting the
      cutaneous basement membrane zone. The association of Bullous pemphigoid with
      malignancy is debatable1 but reported in many case reports.2-6 We report a 79
      year old male with cholangiocarcinoma that presented with bullous pemphigoid as a
      paraneoplastic phenomenon.

PMID- 28598062
TI  - Atypical Variants of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: Twin Case Reports.
AB  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is a well-known entity. We present two rare
      presentations of the same. Our first patient was diagnosed to have hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy with ventricular tachycardia (VT), for which an ICD had been
      implanted. He later developed acute TTC with a large left ventricular (LV) apical
      thrombus. Our second patient was a 59 year old lady diagnosed to have TTC 2 years
      ago, from which she had recovered completely. She recently developed a recurrence
      of the same.

PMID- 28598063
TI  - Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Oesophagus with Tracheo- Esophageal Fistula, Pulmonary
      Tuberculosis and Hyperthyroidism in 16 yrs Old Female.
AB  - This case of a 16-year-old female with moderately-differentiated squamous cell
      carcinoma of the esophagus with tracheo-esophageal fistula, hyperthyroidism and
      sputum positive pulmonary tuberculosis with RNTCP Category 1 DOTS is reported
      because of its rarity. The patient presented with cough, vomiting, weight loss
      and respiratory distress.

PMID- 28598064
TI  - Emphysematous Gastritis with Air in Portal Venous System.
AB  - Emphysematous gastritis is a rare but severe form of phlegmonous gastritis caused
      by gastric mucosal disruption and infection of stomach wall by gas-forming
      bacteria. Ingestion of corrosive substances is the most common predisposing
      factor, followed by alcohol abuse, abdominal surgery, diabetes and
      immunosuppression. Patients usually present with abdominal pain, vomiting,
      diarrhea, constipation and/or gastro-intestinal hemorrhage. Characteristic
      radiological findings include presence of gas in the gastric wall. Management of
      this condition includes broad-spectrum antibiotics and supportive therapy.
      Outcome of emphysematous gastritis is frequently fatal due to septic shock and
      multi-organ failure. We report a case of a 65 years old male who presented with
      fever and upper abdominal tenderness. He had history of uncontrolled diabetes and
      chronic alcohol intake. Radiological investigations revealed air within the
      gastric wall, portal vein, liver and spleen. Despite initial improvement with
      conservative management, patient succumbed due to sepsis and shock.

PMID- 28598065
TI  - Malignant Pleural Effusion with Filariasis.
AB  - The occurrence of microfilaria in pleural fluid is rare. Filarial lung
      involvement occurs in the form of Tropical Pulmonary Eosinophilia with pulmonary
      infiltrates and peripheral eosinophilia. We report a 74-year-old male patient,
      non smoker who was admitted to our hospital with breathlessness and chest
      discomfort of two weeks duration. He had, eosinophilia and deranged renal
      function. X-ray chest revealed massive left sided pleural effusion. Pleural fluid
      analysis revealed atypical cells and pleural fluid cytology showed microfilaria
      (Wuchereria bancrofti), which were also found on peripheral smear.

PMID- 28598067
TI  - Is this the Right Direction for Dengue Fever Research in India?

PMID- 28598066
TI  - Invention of Contraceptive Pill.

PMID- 28598068
TI  - Early Recognition of Malaria or Dengue in Thrombocytopenic Febrile Illness.

PMID- 28598069
TI  - Intractable Vomiting and Hiccups as a Presenting Symptom of Neuromyelitis Optica
      Spectrum Disorder.

PMID- 28598070
TI  - [Helminth derived Immunomodulatory Glycan LNFP3 Impairs Pathogenesis of
      Peripheral Neuropathic Pain and Spinal Glial Activation].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of helminth-derived immunomodulatory glycan
      lacto-N-fucopentaose3(LNFP3) on the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and spinal
      glial activation in the corresponding time windows after adult rat tibial nerve
      permanent transection (modified spared nerve injury, mSNI). METHODS: Ten weeks
      old male adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats weighing 250-300 g were randomly grouped
      into four groups: sham-operated group (n =6), mSNI group (n =6), mSNI plus bovine
      serum albumin (BSA) group (n =12) and mSNI plus LNFP3 group (n=12). Rats were
      subjected to surgical operation or sham operation on the right tibial nerves and
      were intraperitoneal injected BSA or LNEP3-BSA conjugates by the group design.
      Animals from each group (n=6 per group) were subjected to the plantar test,von
      Frey hairs test, pinprick test and acetone test for critical evaluation of region
      specific pain responses on the plantar sural and saphenous skin territories of
      ipsilateral and contralateral hindpaws after injuries. Transverse frozen sections
      of L3-4 spinal cords from the remaining animals of mSNI plus BSA group and mSNI
      plus LNFP3 group 7 and 14 d after injury (n=3 for each time point per group)were
      prepared and subjected to immunofluorescent staining of microglia/macrophage
      marker [cluster of differentiation molecule 11b (CD11b)] and astrocyte marker
      [glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)], for analysis of spinal glial
      activation. RESULTS: After adult rat mSNI, early systematic administration of
      LNFP3 significantly but not completely attenuated region-specific pathological
      pain evoked by mechanical and thermal stimuli on the sural and saphenous skin
      territories of rat hindpaw plantar surfaces in acute (4/5 d after injuries) and
      subacute (7/8 d and 14/15 d after injuries) phases. Meanwhile, in the ipsilateral
      spinal cord dorsal horns, this early systematic treatment inhibited
      microglia/macrophage activation 7 d after injury and astrocyte activation 7 and
      14 d after injury. CONCLUSIONS: Early systematic administration of LNFP3 impairs
      the pathogenesis (acute induction and chronic transition) of neuropathic pain and
      spinal glial activation in the corresponding time windows after adult rat mSNI.

PMID- 28598071
TI  - [Early Systemic Administration of IL-10 Inhibits Neuropathic Pain in Adult Rats
      with Tibial Nerve Injury].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of early systemic administration of IL-10 on
      peripheral neuropathic pain induced by tibial nerve permanent transection
      [modified spared nerve injury (mSNI)]in adult rats. METHODS: Male adult Sprague
      Dawley (SD) rats (ten-week old, 250-300 g) with mSNI were randomly divided into
      mSNI, sham-operated, IL-10 intervention (intraperitoneal injection), PBS
      intervention (intraperitoneal injection) groups, each containing six rats.
      Intraperitoneally injections (IL-10 or PBS) were given immediately after
      surgeries for a single regime with a dosage of 500 uL (0.1 mg/mL). Plantar test,
      von Frey hairs test, pinprick test and acetone test were performed before and
      after tibial nerve injuries (0 d, 4/5 d, 7/8 d, 14/15 d) to evaluate region
      specific pain responses of the rats on the plantar sural and saphenous skin
      territories of ipsilateral and contralateral hindpaws. The hindpaw position (on 8
      d) of six additional rats with standard SNI was compared with those with mSNI.
      RESULTS: The rats with standard SNI showed an eversion posture of hindpaws, more
      prominent than those with mSNI. Region-specific pathological pain evoked by
      mechanical and thermal stimuli on the sural and saphenous skin territories of the
      plantar surfaces of rat hindpaws was demonstrated on the ipsilateral rather than
      contralateral hindpaws. This effect was shown in the rats with mSNI but not in
      those with sham operations. Compared with PBS, early intraperitoneal injection of
      IL-10 significantly and persistently attenuated either allodynia or hyperalgesia
      in the rats with mSNI. CONCLUSIONS: Tibial nerve permanent transection models of
      adult rats can be used as a simple but useful rodent model of peripheral
      neuropathic pain. Early systemic administration of IL-10 impairs the pathogenesis
      of neuropathic pain induced by tibial nerve injuries.

PMID- 28598072
TI  - [The Effects of NF-kappaB Signalling on the TNF-alpha induced Ratios of MMPs to
      TIMPs in Chondrocytes].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the influence of the NF-kappaB inhibitor (bay11-7082) on
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced different ratios of matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) in chondrocytes.
      METHODS: Chondrocytes were isolated from the knee joint of a 1-day old mouse by
      trypsin digestion method. Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) stain was used to show the
      morphology of isolated chondrocytes; Semi-quantitative PCR was applied to analyze
      the influence of bay11-7082 on gene expressions of TNF-alpha-induced MMPsand
      TIMPsin chondrocytes; Zymography was used to elucidate activities of the
      gelatinases induced by TNF-alpha and/or bay11-7082. RESULTS: TNF-alpha up
      regulated gene expressiosn of the MMPsand TIMPs(P<0.05). The ratios of
      MMPs/TIMPswere mostly increased except the part of MMP-1. Bay11-7082 could reduce
      TNF-alpha-induced MMPsand TIMPsgene expressions, and could make the increased
      ratio of MMPs/TIMPsdropped to the normal level of chondrocytes. Similar results
      were observed at the protein level of the gelatinases by zymography. CONCLUSIONS:
      TNF-alpha-induced high ratios of MMPs/TIMPs could partiallyexplain over
      degradation of cartilage extracellular matrix in osteoarthritis (OA). Blockage of
      NF-kappaB with bay11-7082 might provide a possible therapeutic strategy for the
      OA deterioration.

PMID- 28598073
TI  - [Effects of FGF-21 on Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal
      Stem Cells in High Glucose Environment].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of fibroblast growth factor-21(FGF-21)on the
      osteogenic differention of human bone mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) exposed to
      a hyperglycemia condition in vitro. METHODS: hBMSCs were isolated from adult bone
      marrows, and identified by Alizarin red and oil red O staining. The expressions
      of immunophenotype were analysed using flow cytometry (CD105, CD90, CD73,
      CD44).HBMSCs were divided into control group[glucose (Glu) concentration of 5.5
      mmol/L], Glu A, B, C groups(Glu 16.5, 25, 40 mmol/L), FGF-21 group (Glu 5.5mmol/
      L+ FGF-21 ),Glu B+ FGF-21 group, and Glu B +FGF-21+cell mitogen activated protein
      kinase (MAPK) blocker (PD98059, SP600125 ,and SB203580) groups. The effect of FGF
      21 on the differentiation of hBMSCs was detected using indicators as follows:
      alkaline phosphatase(ALP)on day 14, mRNA expressions ofALP, osteocalcin(OCN)and
      Runx2, protein expressions and phosphorylation of extracellular signal regulated
      kinase (ERK), mitogen-activated protein kinase(P38) and c-Jun N-terminal
      kinases(JNK) on day 21. RESULTS: hBMSCs differentiated into osteoblast cells and
      lipocyte. The hBMSCs were identified by flow cytometry.Compared with control
      group, significant increases of ALP mRNA, OCN mRNA and Runx2mRNA levels, as well
      as phosphorylation of ERK, P38 and JNK were observed in Glu A, B, C
      groups.Compared with Glu B group, ALP, OCN and Runx2 mRNA levels, and
      phosphorylation of ERK, P38 and JNK were decreased in Glu B+FGF-21 group
      .Compared with Glu B+FGF-21 group, ALP and Runx2 mRNA levels, and phosphorylation
      of ERK, JNK and P38 were decreased in Glu B +FGF-21 +MAPK blocker groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: High glucose could promote the biomineralization of hBMSCs. FGF-21
      in high glucose environment could inhibit the osteogenic differentiation of
      hBMSCs.

PMID- 28598074
TI  - [Sodium Ferulate Attenuates Oxidative Stressvia Suppressing NALP3 Inflammasome
      and ERK Signal Pathway].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Study the gene and protein expression of NACHT-PYD-containing protein
      3 (NALP3) inflammasome and extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK), the
      intervention effects of sodium ferulate (SF) in human lung epithelial cells A549
      under oxidative stress, and to investigate the possible mechanism. METHODS: Human
      lung epithelial cells A549 cultured in vitro were divided into 6 groups,
      including control group,H2O2(200 umol/L) group, SF group (400 ug/mL), caspase-1
      blockers (Z-VAD) group (Z-VAD 20 umol/L+H2O2200 umol/L), ERK blockers (PD98059)
      group (PD98059 50 umol/L+H2O2 200 umol/L), and SF+H2O2 group (SF 400 ug/mL+H2O2
      200 umol/L). Fluorescent quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to
      detect the mRNA levels of caspase-1 and NALP3, the expression of caspase-1,
      NALP3, phosphorylated ERK p-ERK, ERK protein were evaluated by Western blot. The
      level of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) were detected by ELISA. RESULTS: Compared
      with the control group,H2O2 not only increased the mRNA and protein expression
      levels of caspase-1 and NALP3 and the protein expression levels of p-ERK/ERK, but
      also enhanced the secretion of IL-1beta in human lung epithelial cells A549
      (P<0.05),while SF group showed no statistic significance of those indicators
      above (P>0.05). The Z-VAD group, the PD98059 group and the SF+H2O2 group resisted
      the effects of H2O2 on A549 cells by decreasing the mRNA and protein expressions
      of caspase-1 and NALP3,and the protein expression of p-ERK/ERK, as well as
      reducing the secretion of IL-1beta(P<0.05),when compared with the H2O2 group.
      CONCLUSIONS: SF may reduce the expression of caspase-1, NALP3 and IL-1beta by
      inhibiting ERK, so as to reduce the inflammation caused by oxidative stress.

PMID- 28598075
TI  - [The Protective Effect of Tanshinone IIA on Oxygen-glucose Deprivation and
      Reperfusion Injury of MicrogliaThrough the NLRP3 Inflammatory Signaling Pathway].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective effect of Tanshinone IIA (TSA) on
      oxygen-glucose deprivation and reperfusion (OGD/R) injury of BV-2 cell and its
      NLRP3 inflammatory signaling pathway. METHODS: The highest expression level of
      NLPR3 in BV-2 cells was detected by Western blot after oxygen-glucose deprivation
      (OGD) for 3 h and reperfusion for different time, to determine the most suitable
      reperfusion time. Cell viability of TSA (0-2.5 ug/mL) treatment was detected by
      CCK8 assay to determine the maximum effect concentration of TSA. In TSA 0 (also
      called OGD group), 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 ug/mL groups, expression levels of NLRP3 and
      caspase-1 were detected by Western blot, while IL-1beta and IL-18 in culture
      medium of those groups were detected by ELISA assay. RESULTS: The highest
      expression level of NLRP3 came to 12 h of reperfusion. The maximum effective
      concentration of TSA was 2.0 ug/mL. The expression levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, IL
      1beta and IL-18 decreased with the increase of TSA concentration. CONCLUSIONS:
      TSA can inhibit the expression of protein and cytokines of NLRP3 inflammatory
      signaling pathway in OGD/R BV-2 cells, which may be one of the molecular
      mechanisms of the protective effect of TSA on OGD/R cells.

PMID- 28598076
TI  - [Effect of RUNX3 on the Expression of Smad4 in T24 Bladder Cancer Cell Line].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of RUNX3 on cell proliferation and apoptosis
      and the expression level of Smad4 mRNA in the bladder cancer cell line of T24 by
      transfection with recombinant plasmid of pIRES-EGFP-RUNX3. METHODS: The
      recombinant plasmid of pIRES-EGFP-RUNX3 was constructed successfully. Cultured
      T24 cells were divided into three groups, including control group, empty vector
      group,and recombinant plasmid group. The cells in empty vector group and
      recombinant plasmid group were respectively transfected by pIRES-EGFP and pIRES
      EGFP-RUNX3 The cells were harvested at 24 h after the transfection, the variation
      of cell morphology was examined by fluorescence microscopy. The cell apoptosis
      was detected by flow cytometry. The expression level of RUNX3 and Smad4 mRNA was
      measured by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Cell death was observed in two transfection groups.
      At 24 h after transfection,the apoptosis rate was (3.23+/-0.45)% in control
      group, (8.98+/-1.62)% in empty vector group and (43.61+/-2.69)% in recombinant
      plasmid group. The expression level of RUNX3 mRNA was 2.79+/-0.36,detected only
      in recombinant plasmid group, which was significantly up-regulated compared with
      the other two groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression level of Smad4 mRNA
      was up-regulated by transfection with pIRES-EGFP-RUNX3,which also inhibited cell
      proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis.The tumor suppressor gene of RUNX3
      could regulate the bladder cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis by TGF
      beta/Smad signaling pathway.

PMID- 28598077
TI  - [The Effect of Ruxolitinib on the Expression of VEGF and HIF-1alpha in Leukemia
      HEL Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of Ruxolitinib on the expression of
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha
      (HIF-1alpha) in HEL cells. METHODS: he HEL cells were treated with Ruxolitinib in
      different concentrations (1 nmol/L, 5 nmol/L, 10 nmol/L, 50 nmol/L, 100 nmol/L,
      500 nmol/L). The growth inhibition of Ruxolitinib on HEL cells was detected by
      CCK-8 assay;the mRNA expression level ofJAK2 were measured by RT-PCR and the
      protein level of p-JAK2, VEGF, HIF-1alpha were observed by Western blot after
      treated with Ruxolitinib for 24,48,72 h. Chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM)
      test was used to testify the effect of Ruxolitinib on angiogenesis. RESULTS:
      Ruxolitinib with different concentrations could inhibit HEL cells proliferation.
      RT-PCR showed that the mRNA level ofJAK2 decreased in a concentration-dependent
      manner and Western blot demonstrated that the expression levels of p-JAK2, VEGF
      and HIF-1alpha were lower in Ruxolitinib treatment groups than those in control
      group (P<0.05) after HEL cells were treated with different concentrations of
      Ruxolitinib for 24,48,72 h. Ruxolitinib significantly suppressed blood
      vessels'formation in CAM. CONCLUSIONS: Ruxolitinib can inhibit VEGF, HIF-1alpha
      expression and angiogenesis of HEL leukemia cells by inhibiting JAK2 pathway.

PMID- 28598078
TI  - [The Transmission of KPC-2 Gene in Klebsiella Species].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the mechanisms of imipenem resistance inKlebsiella spp.
      and the transmission of Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-2(KPC-2) gene in
      Klebsiella species. METHODS: The imipenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and
      Klebsiella oxytoca were isolated in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University
      in 2009/2010 and 2012/2013. Their minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was
      determined by agar dilution method. CARB ChromID plate and improved Hodge test
      were undertaken to detect carbapenemases resistant phenotype. PCR method was used
      for detecting KPC-2 gene. Plasmid transmission was detected by plasmid
      conjugation tests. The homology of the plasmids and the strains was analyzed
      using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and enterobacterial repetitive
      intergenic consensus PCR(ERIC-PCR) methods. RESULTS: Three strains of Klebsiella
      oxytoca collected in 2009/2010 and 7 Klebsiella pneumoniae collected in 2012/2013
      developed carbapenemases resistance, all of which carried KPC-2 gene. The 3 KPC-2
      positive plasmids isolated from Klebsiella oxytoca transited to recipient
      organisms and showed homology with the 7 KPC-2 gene positive plasmids isolated
      from Klebsiella pneumoniae. The ERIC-PCR showed homology of the 7 KPC positive
      Klebsiella pneumoniae. CONCLUSIONS: Carbapenemases inKlebsiella spp with
      expressed KPC-2 gene contribute to the development of resistance in this
      hospital. The transmission of KPC-2 plasmid in Klebsiella oxytoca may cause
      imipenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumonia. The horizontal transmission may be
      the main mechanism in the spread of imipenem resistance inKlebsiella spp.

PMID- 28598079
TI  - [Effects of Different Concentrations of Glucose on the Osteogenic Differentiation
      of Orofacial Bone Mesenchymal Stem Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of different concentrations of glucose on
      the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of orofacial bonemesenchymal
      stem cells (OFMSCs). METHODS: OFMSCs were primarily cultured and identified in
      vitro to undergo osteogenic/adipogenic/chondrogenic differentiation. The cells
      were exposed to osteogenic medium containing different levels of glucose:
      5.5,11,16.5,25,44 mmol/L. The cell activity and proliferation index were measured
      using a cell counting kit (CCK)-8 and flow cytometry. The alkaline phosphatase
      (ALP) activity of the cells was measured at the 4th and 7th day. Alizarin red
      staining was carried out at the 21st day. RT-PCR detecting osteogenesis-related
      gene Runx2 and Osterix mRNA expression was performed at the 4th, 7th, 14th and
      21st day. RESULTS: Osteogenesis induced calcium nodes was observed with Alizarin
      red staining at the 21st day. Adipogenic induced red lipid droplets was observed
      with Oil Red O staining at the 14th day. Chondrogenic induced blue cytoplasm was
      observed with Alcian blue staining at the 14th day. With 5.5 to 25 mmol/L
      glucose,OFMSCs proliferation was promoted.But when the concentration of glucose
      continued to increase (from 25 to 44 mmol/L),OFMSCs proliferation significantly
      reduced.The ALP activity decreased with glucose in a concentration-dependent
      manner ( P<0.05). Osteogenesis induced Alizarin red staining and mineralization
      showed at the 21st day. The calcium nodes and mineralization quantity decreased
      with glucose in a concentration-dependent manner ( P<0.05).The cells exposed to
      5.5 mmol/L glucose had a higher level of expression of Runx2 and Osterix mRNA
      than the others (P<0.05).The experssion of Runx2 and Osterix mRNA in all groups
      showed a trend of rising first, followed by an obvious down regulation.
      CONCLUSIONS: With certain limits,OFMSC proliferation is promoted by glucose.
      Osteogenic differentiation is inhibited by glucose in a concentration-dependent
      manner.

PMID- 28598080
TI  - [Expression of CXCR7 in Gastric Cancer Cells and Its Effect on the Migration and
      Invasion of SGC-7901 Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the expression of chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 7
      (CXCR7) in five gastric cancer cell lines with various degrees of
      differentiation, and the effect of silencing CXCR7 on the migration and invasion
      of SGC-7901 cells. METHODS: The expression of CXCR7 in gastric cell lines (HGC
      27, MGC-803, SGC-7901, BGC-823 and MKN-28) was detected by Western bolt and RT
      PCR. The SGC-7901 cells were transfected with liposome of CXCR7 siRNA to silence
      CXCR7 gene, and then treated with stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1)-the ligand of
      CXCR7. Transwell assay was used for determining the migratory and invasive
      ability of SGC-7901 cells in the four groups: NC siRNA, NC siRNA+SDF-1, CXCR7
      siRNA and CXCR7 siRNA+SDF-1. RESULTS: CXCR7 was expressed in the five gastric
      cancer cell lines, with the highest intensity in SGC-7901. The migrated and
      invasive cells increased in the NC siRNA+SDF-1 group and reduced in the CXCR7
      siRNA group compared with the NC siRNA group (P<0.05). The CXCR7-siRNA+SDF-1
      group had less migrated and invasive cells than the NC siRNA+SDF-1 group
      (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CXCR7 is highly expressed in SGC-7901. SDF-1 promotes the
      migratory and invasive capability of SGC-7901 cells, but such an effect can be
      inhibited by silencing it with CXCR7siRNA.

PMID- 28598081
TI  - [MiR-183 Regulates Proliferation of SW1990 Pancreatic Cancer Cell Line by
      Targeting PDCD4].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of miR-183 on the cell proliferation in
      SW1990 pancreatic cancer cell line by targeting programmed cell death factor
      4(PDCD4). METHODS: The SW1990 pancreatic cancer cells were transfected with miR
      183 mimics and inhibitors at different concentrations, the alteration of PDCD4
      levels was observed at specific concentrations by qPCR and Western blot. The
      cellular proliferation of transfected cells was determined by MTT assay. The
      distribution of cell cycle and apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry (FCM) and
      Hoechst 33258 staining. The expression of B-cell lymphoma(bcl-2) was evaluated by
      Western blot. RESULTS: The miR-183 mimic and inhibitor (at concentrations of 50
      nmol/L or 150 nmol/L) showed significantly increasing or decreasing effects on
      the levels ofmiR-183 respectively. The expression of PDCD4 was downregulated in
      the cells transfected with miR-183 mimics, while significantly upregulated in the
      cells treated with miR-183 inhibitors. Western blot showed that miR-183
      inhibitors resulted in a marked decrease in the expression levels of bcl-2. The
      growth of SW1990 cells was obviously inhibited after anti-miR-183 treatment,
      while an increase of apoptosis cells proportion and cell cycle G0/G1 arrest were
      observed after miR-183 inhibitors transfection. CONCLUSIONS: The miR-183
      inhibitors could restrain cell proliferation, promote cell apoptosis and increase
      G0/G1 arrest in SW1990 pancreatic cancer cells, which may be possibly through
      targeting PDCD4.

PMID- 28598082
TI  - [Expression of Micro-RNA 218 in Cervical Cancer and Its Effect on Proliferation,
      Apoptosis and Invasion of HeLa Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of microRNA
      218(miR-218)in human cervical cancer and the effects ofmiR-218 on proliferation,
      cell apoptosis and invasion of HeLa cells. METHODS: QRT-PCR was used to detect
      the expression ofmiR-218 in 23 cases of normal cervical tissues and 114 cases of
      cervical cancer, and the relationship between the expression and the
      clinicopathological features was analyzed; HeLa cells were devided into three
      groups: non transfection (control group), transfected with empty liposomes
      negative control goup (NC group), transfected with miR-218 mimic (miR-218M
      group). The cell growth inhibiting ratio of HeLa cells was assessed by MTT assay.
      Fluorescence activated cell sorting was used to measure cell apoptosis. Changes
      of cell migration ability were detected by wound healing test and Transwell
      assay. QRT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of Bcl-2, Bax,
      NF-kappaB and E-cadherin, respectively. RESULTS: The expression ofmiR-218 in
      cervical cancer was down regulated, and there were significant differences in the
      different pathological types, stages, lymph node metastasis and interstitial
      infiltration in cervical cancer tissues ( P<0.01); After being transfected with
      miR-218 mimic, the proliferation of HeLa cells was significantly inhibited. The
      ability of invasion was decreased. QRT-PCR and Western blot showed that after
      being transfected with miR-218 mimic, the expression levels of Bcl-2 mRNA and
      protein were down-regulated and Bax mRNA and protein expression levels were
      increased, E-cadherin mRNA and protein expression were up-regulated, but NF 
      kappaB mRNA and protein expression were down-regulated. CONCLUSIONS: he low
      expression of miR-218 is correlated with the poor clinicopathological features in
      human cervical cancer. MiR-218 overexpression reduces cancer cell proliferation
      and induces apoptosis and inhibits cell migration, suggesting that miR-218 may
      play a key role in the progression of human cervical cancer.

PMID- 28598083
TI  - [Expressions of Spinal Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor and Its Receptor CSF
      1R in the Development ofComplicated Regional Pain Symptom I].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the changes of mechanical allodynia and temperature
      hyperalgesia, as well as the expression of the spinal macrophage colony
      stimulating factor (M-CSF) and its receptor CSF-1R during the development of
      complicated regional pain symptom I(CRPS I). METHODS: The animal model of CRPS I
      was established using prolonged ischemia-reperfusion injury of rodent left
      hindpaw. The mechanical allodynia and temperature hyperalgesia of ipsilateral
      hindpaw were continuously measured for 14 d after reperfusion, and the
      expressions of spinal M-CSF and CSF-1R in ipsilateral spinal cord horn were
      measured with immunofluorescence technique on day 3, day 7 and day 14 after
      reperfusion. RESULTS: The thresholds of mechanical allodynia and temperature
      hyperalgesia of ipsilateral hindpaw were significantly decreased (P<0.05). M-CSF
      was secreted by the astrocytes. CSF-1R was primarily distributed on the
      microglia. The immunofluorescence intensities of M-CSF and CSF-1R in ipsilateral
      spinal cord horn were significantly increased on day 7 and day 14 after
      reperfusion (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The ischemia-reperfusion injury simulated pain
      syndrome in CRPS I and increased the expressions of spinal M-CSF and CSF-1R.

PMID- 28598084
TI  - [Effect of Electroacupuncture with Near-to-bone Needling to Chondrocyte Apoptosis
      and Proliferation on the Knee Osteoarthritis Model].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of electroacupuncture with near-to-bone needling
      on the proliferation and apoptosis of knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Totally 40
      New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into two groups, the normal group (A, n
      =10) and the modeling group (n =30). Hulth-Telhag method was applied 30 rabbits
      to establish rabbit left knee osteoarthritis model, and evaluated by X-ray after
      6 weeks. Then divided the 30 modeling rabbits into electroacupuncture with near
      to-bone needling group (C,n =10), electroacupuncture with ordinary needling group
      (D,n =10) and model group (B ,n =10) randomly. Four treatments (5 d as one course
      of treatment) were applied to C group and D group, respectively. At the end of
      the experiment, modeling situation was detected by X-ray, pathological changes of
      cartilage was detected by HE staining ,and apoptosis of chondrocytes was checked
      by TUNEL staining; mRNA expressions of Caspase-3 and proliferating cell unclear
      antigen (PCNA) in chondrocytes were detected by RT-PCR; protein expressions of
      Caspase-3, PCNA, Bcl-2 and Bax in chondrocytes were detected by Western blot.
      RESULTS: HE stain demonstrated that the chondrocytes of A group,C group and D
      group were arranged in a more regular and smooth surface when compared with B
      group. The expressions of Bcl-2 and PCNA in C and D groups were higher than those
      of B group, but the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax were lower, when evaluated
      with Western blot;increased expressions of PCNA and Bcl-2 but decreased
      expressions of Caspase-3 and Bax in C group were also noticed when compared with
      D group. RT-PCR results demonstrated that when compared with B group, the
      expression of PCNA mRNA were increased but Caspase-3 mRNA were decreased in C and
      D groups; compared with D group, the expression of PCNA mRNA were increased but
      Caspase-3 mRNA were decreased in C group. CONCLUSIONS: The electroacupuncture
      with near-to-bone needling method is superior to the electroacupuncture with
      ordinary needling in decreasing apoptosis and promoting proliferation of
      chondrocytes.

PMID- 28598085
TI  - [Inhibitory Effects of Sphingosine-1-phosphate Receptor-2 on Vascular
      Permeability in Mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1PR2)
      on vascular permeability in mice. METHODS: Acute lung injury models of mice were
      constructed with intra-tracheal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and
      compared with the controls with intra-tracheal administration of saline. The
      effect of S1PR2 on vascular permeability was observed by detecting leakage of
      Evans blue into lung tissues, pulmonary vascular leakage of fluorescein
      isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran, and the wet/dry mass ratio of lungs. The effect of
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on vascular endothelial permeability
      was detected by Miles analysis. RESULTS: LPS injections induced significant Evans
      blue leakage, FITC-dextran pulmonary vascular leakage and pulmonary edema, which
      appeared to be more serious in S1PR2-deleted mice compared with those in wild
      type mice. LPS enhanced Evans blue leakage associated with VEGF in a dose
      dependent way in both S1PR2-deleted mice and wild type mice. But the vascular
      permeability response in subcutaneous tissues induced by VEGF was higher in S1PR2
      deleted mice than that in wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: S1PR2 is involved in
      endothelial cell barrier protections, which inhibits vascular permeability.

PMID- 28598086
TI  - [High Mobility Group Chromosomal Protein N2 Inhibit Cervical Cancer Transplanted
      in Nude Mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of high mobility group chromosomal protein N2 on
      inhibiting cervical cancer in nude mice. METHODS: Model of cervical cancer were
      established in nude mice. They were randomly divided into 4 groups including
      negative control group, HMGN2 group, cisplatin group and HMGN2 with cisplatin
      group. After 4 injections, the tumor size were calculated and tumor tissues were
      stained by haematoxylin eosin (HE) staining. RESULTS: Transplated tumor models
      were established successfully. The tumor sizes of negative control group [(0.38+/
      0.12) cm3] were significantly lower than those of HMGN2 group [(0.14+/-0.07)cm3,
      cisplatin group [(0.11+/-0.06) cm3] and HMGN2 combined with cisplatin
      group[(0.11+/-0.07) cm3]. No differences were detected in HMGN2 group, cisplatin
      group and HMGN2 with cisplatin group in tumor sizes. The tumor inhibition rates
      of HMGN2 group, cisplatin group and HMGN2 with cisplatin group were 0.62+/-0.18,
      0.71+/-0.17 and 0.70+/-0.18, respectively. The necrosis area were smaller in
      negative control group than in other three groups by HE staining. CONCLUSIONS:
      HMGN2 has a significant inhibitory effect on transplanted cervical cancer in nude
      mice.

PMID- 28598087
TI  - [Bioinformatic Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes Involved in the Post
      hypoxic Ischemic Brain Damage of Newborn Rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in cerebral
      cortices of rats which were seven weeks after neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain
      damage (HIBD) and elucidate the biological significance of the DEGs. METHODS: The
      gene expression profile of GSE37777, including 4 HI samples subjected to HIBD and
      4 normal controls, was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database
      (GEO). DEGs were screened using the R package in HIBD groups compared with normal
      controls. Pathway enrichment analysis was carried out using the Cytoscape plug-in
      ClueGO+Cluepedia and a functionally grouped pathway network of DEGs was
      constructed and analyzed. Besides, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network
      was constructed with the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes
      (STRING) database and visualized using Cytoscape. RESULTS: A total of 973 DEGs
      were identified in HIBD group compared with the control group, including 599 up
      regulated and 374 down-regulated genes. Furthermore, a functionally grouped
      pathway network of DEGs was constructed and hedgehog signaling pathway were
      identified. Shh and Dhh which were Hedgehog signaling pathway-related genes and
      the Wnt signaling pathway-related genes Wnt1, Wnt2B, and Wnt5 were up-regulated
      in HIBD group. Furthermore, Ccnd1, Shh, Ret and Gli3 were hub proteins in the PPI
      network and up-regulated Shh and Dhh, down-regulated Ccnd1 and Gli3 were noticed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that Hedgehog and Wnt signaling pathway may be
      activated HIBD group. Additionally, Shh and Ret which were related to the repair
      process of brain damage were up-regulated. Continuous repair process may exist in
      the cerebral cortices of rats which were seven weeks after neonatal HIBD.

PMID- 28598088
TI  - [Study on the Characteristics of Bone in Type-2 Diabetic Rats by Micro-CT].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the characteristics of bone in type 2 diabetic rats using
      micro-CT. METHODS: Sixteen male Sprague Dawley(SD) rats, aged 8 week-old, were
      randomly divided into normal group and experimental group (n =10). Afer being fed
      with high-fat chow, the rats in experimental group were given low-dose
      streptozotocin (STZ,30 mg/kg) to induce type 2 diabetic disease. Serum glucose,
      insulin and tissue sections of pancreas is used to evaluate the effect of type 2
      diabetic rat model. The characteristics of bone in the two groups were measured
      and compared by micro-CT. RESULTS: Compared with normal group (n =10), the
      experimental group (n =9) had the body mass and serum glucose increased
      significantly (P<0.05). The level of serum insulin was equivalent in two
      groups(P>0.05). Pancreatic tissue section staining showed in experimental group
      islet morphology was irregular, edge boundary was blur and islet cells were
      saperated with increasing fiber tissue. The bone volume of normal and
      experimental groups were (0.194 2+/-2.332)%, and (0.080 7+/-1.952)%,
      respectively. Trabecular thickness (unit:mm) were 0.052 9+/-0.004 5 and 0.043 6+/
      0.002 4, respectively. Trabecular number (unit:mm-1) were 3.668 8+/-0.134 5, and
      1.851 7+/-0.288 8, respectively ( P<0.05), while trabecular space (unit:mm) were
      0.219 6+/-0.072 1 and 0.496 5+/-0.076 4, respectively( P<0.05). Bone tissue
      morphology metrology test results was consistent with the results of micro-CT.
      CONCLUSIONS: The diabetic rat model showed declined bone volume and trabecular
      density, trabecular number. Micro-CT may be more intuitive in bone quality
      inspection to reflect the characteristics of bone microstructure morphology.

PMID- 28598089
TI  - [Expressions of MACC1, Snail, and KISS-1 Proteins in Infiltrating Breast
      Carcinoma and Its Clinicopathological Features].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protein expressions of metastasis-associated in
      colon cancer 1 (MACC1), KISS-1 (a cancer ruppressor gene) and Snail (the marker
      of epithelial-mesenchymal transition) in infiltrating breast carcinoma (IBC) and
      explore the role of them in invasion, metastasis and prognosis in IBC. METHODS:
      Expressions of MACC1, Snail and KISS-1 were examined by immunohistochemistry in
      250 specimens of IBC and 80 specimens of normal breast tissues. Their
      clinicopathological features were analyzed, and their influence on patients'
      survival was identified. RESULTS: The positive rate of MACC1, Snail and KISS-1 in
      normal breast tissues and IBC tissues was 7.5%, 5.0%, 87.5% and 63.6%, 58.8%,
      38.0%, respectively. And there was a significant difference between the IBC group
      and control group ( P<0.05). The positive expressions of MACC1, Snail and KISS-1
      were significantly different in different TNM stages, lymph node metastasis,
      types and grades of tumor ( P<0.05). The survival time of positive KISS-1 group
      was significantly longer than that of negative group ( P<0.001); the survival
      time was significantly shorter in positive MACC1 group or Snail group than that
      of negative groups (both P<0.001). Cox regression analysis indicated that the
      positive expressions of MACC1, Snail and negative expression of KISS-1 were
      independent risk factors of IBC (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal expression of
      MACC1, Snail and KISS-1 should be involved in the invasion and metastasis of IBC.
      The combined detection in the expressions of MACC1, Snail and KISS-1 at the early
      stage may play an important role in predicting the progression and prognosis of
      IBC.

PMID- 28598090
TI  - [The Association Between Bone Morphogenic Protein-4 and in-situ Saphenous Vein
      Graft Pathology in Diabetic Patients Undergoing Coronary Revascularization].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to assess the expression levels of bone
      morphogenic protein-4 (BMP4) in saphenous veins harvested from diabetic patients
      undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and to investigate its
      association with in-situ morphological and pathological changes within the venous
      wall. METHODS: From January 2013 to December 2014, forty patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus (DM) and risk factors matched non-DM controls (n =40) were
      enrolled prospectively. Of the 40 DM patients, 24 had noninsulin-dependent
      diabetes (NIDM) and the remaining 16 had insulin-dependent diabetes (IDM).
      Segments of saphenous vein without surgical dilatation from these 80 patients
      were obtained. Vessel wall characteristics were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin
      (HE) staining, and the expression and distribution of BMP4 was assessed by
      Western blot assay and immunohistochemistry analysis. RESULTS: The intimal and
      medial thickness of the saphenous veins harvested from DM patients were higher
      than those from non-DM controls. Compared with non-DM patients, the expression
      level of BMP4 was significantly elevated in diabetic veins ( P<0.05), and BMP4
      was highly expressed in smooth muscle cells located in the medial layer.
      Moreover, the expression levels of BMP4 in diabetic veins were significantly
      correlated with intimal thickness (r =0.655, P<0.01), intimal area (r =0.684,
      P<0.01), medial thickness (r =0.642, P<0.01) and medial area (r =0.692, P<0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: The pre-existing intimal and medial hyperplasia were significantly
      correlated with the high expression levels of BMP4 in saphenous veins harvested
      from diabetic patients, implying a potential role of BMP4 in the progression of
      vein graft stenotic diseases in this cohort of post-CABG patients. Future studies
      were warranted in investigating novel therapeutic strategy targeting at BMP4 for
      improving long-term vein graft patency.

PMID- 28598091
TI  - [Layer-specific Analysis in Patients with ST Segment Elevation Myocardial
      Infarction].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate left ventricular wall function after ST segment elevation
      myocardial infarction(STEMI) by layer-specific analysis and determine if the
      layer-specific parameters can predict left ventricular remodeling(LVR). METHODS:
      Thirty nine patients with first STEMI who had successful primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention(P-PCI) were studied, while 30 healthy individuals were
      included as normal control. Echocardiographic examinations were performed in
      STEMI patients within 48 h after P-PCI (before follow-up) and 6 months later
      (follow-up). Three dimensional cardiac function and longitudinal, circumferential
      3-layer strain were analyzed. RESULTS: In STEMI, longitudinal endocardial strain
      was higher than epicardial strain (P<0.01), circumferential strain decreased from
      endocardium to epicardium gradually (P<0.01). Longitudinal and circumferential 3
      layer strain at follow-up was higher than that before follow-up (P<0.01), but
      lower than that in control group( P<0.05). LVR group had lower longitudinal and
      circumferential 3-layer strain (P<0.05). Longitudinal epicardial strain was the
      independent predictor of LVR(odds ratio:3.332,95% confidence interval:1.124
      3.882,P=0.03), the cut off value of -9% yielded 89.5% sensitivity and 70.2%
      specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Strain decreased from endocardium to epicardium within
      48 h after P-PCI in STEMI. Myocardial function was lower in LVR group.
      Longitudinal epicardial strain could be employed as an independent predictor of
      LVR after STEMI.

PMID- 28598092
TI  - [Risk Prediction of Feeding Intolerance in Preterm Infants].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify risk factors associated with feeding intolerance (FI) in
      preterm infants. METHODS: Preterm infants treated in the neonatal unit of a
      hospital from August 2014 to January 2015 were recruited in this study. A
      clinical observation table was developed based on the reactive scope model. Data
      in relation to predictive homeostasis, reactive homeostasis, homeostatic
      overload, homeostatic failure and other aspects were collected and compared
      between those with and without FI.Alogistic regression model was established to
      determine predictors of FI. RESULTS: 1.A total of 207 preterm infants were
      included in the study: 125 male and 82 female. They had an average gestational
      age of (33.48+/-1.66) weeks (ranging from 27+2 to 37 weeks) and an average birth
      body mass of (2 019.55+/-334.38) g(ranging from 830 g to 3 120 g).2.The incidence
      of FI was 33.8%. FI in preterm infants often occurred during the period of being
      fed within 72 h.The main clinical manifestation of FI was gastric retentionin
      early-preterm infants and emesis in late-preterm infants.3.Gestational age, birth
      body mass, fetal distress, aminophylline application, intrauterine infection,
      breast milk feeding and interval between stools were associated with FI.
      Gestational age and birth body mass were found to be significant protectors of FI
      in the logistic regression model. FI declined with increased gestational age and
      birth body mass. Fetal distress, aminophylline application, and >3 d interval
      between stools were found to be significant risks of FI in the logistic
      regression model.4.The prediction model had a 92.73% forecast generation rate of
      return, with 97.14% sensitivity,88.32%specificity, and 91.30% accuracy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Low gestational age, low birth body mass, fetal
      distress,aminophylline application, and >3 d interval between stools are
      independent risk factors associate with FI. The prediction model can identify
      high risk cases of FI.

PMID- 28598093
TI  - [Genotype Distribution of 1 998 Strains of Hepatitis C Virus in West China
      Hospital of Sichuan University from 2009 to 2013].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype distribution detected
      in West China Hospital of Sichuan University. METHODS: We analyzed genotype
      distribution data on HCV infected patients who had information of HCV genotypes
      from January 2009 to December 2013 diagnosed in West China Hospital of Sichuan
      University. RESULTS: Five genotypes and 15 genetic subtypes of HCV were found
      among the 1 998 cases, and 4 of the patients were infected with mixed HCV
      subtype. Among those genotypes and genetic subtypes, genotype 1a was detected in
      8 cases (0.40%), genotype 1b in 1 368 cases (68.47%), genotype 1c in 18 cases
      (0.90%), genotype 2a in 78 cases (3.90%), genotype 2b in 1 case (0.05%), genotype
      2i in 16 cases (0.80%), genotype 3a in 291 cases (14.56%), genotype 3b in 154
      cases (7.71%), genotype 3k in 4 cases (0.20%), genotype 5a in 1 case (0.05%),
      genotype 6a in 50 cases (2.50%), genotype 6b in 3 cases (0.15%), genotype 6h in 1
      case (0.05%), genotype 6n in 1 case (0.05%), mixed-genotype 1b/1c in 1 case
      (0.05%), mixed-genotype 1b/6h in 1 case (0.05%), mixed-genotype 2c/2a in 1 case
      (0.05%), and mixed-genotype 3b/3k in 1 case (0.05%). The distribution of five
      main HCV genetic subtypes on gender had no statistical significance (P>0.05), and
      its distribution on people with different ages had statistical significance (
      P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The major genotypes of HCV were 1b (predominant), 3a, 3b,
      2a, 6a in patients diagnosed in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, with
      the existence of single-genotype 1a, 1c, 2b, 2i, 3k, 5a, 6b, 6h, 6n and mixed
      genotype 1b/1c, 1b/6h, 2c/2a, 3b/3k, indicating the diversity of HCV genotype.

PMID- 28598094
TI  - [Ecological Trendofthe Incidence of Tuberculosis in Mianyang City During 2004
      2013].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the trend of the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in
      Mianyang City during 2004-2013 and its ecological determinants. METHODS: Linear
      correlations between TB incidence and ecological factors were analyzed using the
      data collected in Mianyang City from 2004 to 2013. A multivariate linear
      regression model was established to determine the ecological predictors of TB
      incidence. RESULTS: The incidence of TB in Mianyang City decreased over the
      period of 2004-2013. Economic development and increased health resources were
      negatively correlated with TB incidence. Population density was positively
      correlated with TB incidence. A multivariate linear regression equationon TB
      incidence (y) was established with the independent variables (x1 to x10) forming
      a component (using principal component analysis) to eliminate multicollinearity:
      y=117.692-1.467x1-1.145x2-1.961x3-4.777x4-2.690x5-6.181x6+82.234x7-2.721x8
      0.351x9-0.382x10. The incidence of TB decreased with the increases of real GDP
      per capita (x1), average wage of workers(x2), per capita disposable income of
      urban residents (x3), rural per capita net income (x4), per capita consumption
      expenditure of urban residents (x5), per capita living consumption expenditure of
      rural residents (x6), number of licensed (assistant) physicians per thousand
      population (x8), urbanization rate (x9),and per capita housing construction area
      of urban (x10),while it increased with the increase of density of population
      (x7). CONCLUSIONS: Socio-economic development, health resources and population
      density are predictors of TB incidence.

PMID- 28598095
TI  - [Depressive Symptoms in the Mid- and Old-aged People in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and determinants of depressive symptoms
      in the mid- and old-aged people in China. METHODS: Data were extracted from the
      2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS),which containthe
      Center Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale(CES-D). Binary logistic regression
      models were developed to identify factors associated with the prevalence of
      depression symptoms. These included socio-economic status of the respondents
      (gender, age, education),health-related factors (chronic diseases, disability,
      accident injury, and fall in recent two years),and family events over the past
      two years (deaths of a parent, spouse or child). RESULTS: About 31.9% of
      respondents had depressive symptoms, with a mean CES-D score of 8.0+/-4.9.Women
      and those who were younger than 75 years, widowed, resided in a rural area, had
      low levels of education, and suffered from multiple chronic conditions were more
      likely to have depressive symptoms than the others. CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence
      of depressive symptoms in the mid- and old-aged population in China is evident,
      which is associated with the health and socio-economic status of the population.

PMID- 28598096
TI  - [Catastrophic Health Expenditure before and after Compensations from the New
      Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in Rural Zigong of Sichuan Province].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) of rural families
      in Zigong, and to determine the main influencing factors of CHE. METHODS: CHE was
      estimated using indicators such as occurrence and average deviations. The
      influencing factors of CHE were identified through binary logistic regression.
      RESULTS: We found 6.37% catastrophic health payment headcount, 1.13% mean
      catastrophic payment gap, and 17.80% mean positive gap after compensations.
      Compensations from the new rural cooperative medical scheme (NCMS) led to a
      reduction of 74.81% catastrophic health payment headcount for hospitalization
      costs and 48.00% catastrophic health payment headcount for outpatient costs,
      respectively. The numbers of hospitalizations in a family, presence of patients
      with chronic diseases, per capita household income, and numbers of family members
      with a job were found to be predictors of CHE. CONCLUSIONS: Rural families that
      have patients with chronic diseases are vulnerable to CHE.The government should
      develop policies to ease the financial burdens of the families with a high
      accumulated health expenditure over time.

PMID- 28598097
TI  - [Correlation Between Gross Motor Function and Risk Factors in Children with
      Cerebral Palsy:an Epidemiology Study in Chengdu].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the correlation between gross motor function and risk
      factors in children with cerebral palsy(CP). METHODS: We included the children
      aged 2-12 years old who were diagnosed with CP and registered in Chengdu
      Federation of Disabled Persons in 20 districts of Chengdu. Gross motor function
      was estimated by gross motor function classification system (CMFCS). Risk factors
      of the CP children were investigated retrospectively. Univariate and multivariate
      logistic regression analyses were used to analysis the correlation of the CP risk
      factors and GMFCS grades in the children with CP. RESULTS: A total of 333
      children were identified with a male to female ratio of 1.15,an average age of
      (6.32+/-2.74) years old, and dominated in 6-<12 age group (197 cases,59.16%) and
      spastic CP (228 cases,68.47%).Thirty risk factors for CP were included, among
      which the majors were listed as premature delivery (185 cases,55.56%),low body
      mass (150 cases,45.05%),and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (104
      cases,31.23%).No risk factors of CP were found correlating with GMFCS grades by
      univariate logistic regression analysis. Stepwise multiple logistic regression
      analysis showed no risk factors of CP in the regression equation. CONCLUSIONS:
      The risk factors of CP can not be used to predict the severity of gross motor
      function of children with CP.

PMID- 28598098
TI  - [Improving Primary Culture of Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells of Rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To improve the culturing method of pulmonary microvascular
      endothelial cells (PMEVCs) of SD rats. METHODS: The culturing processes in regard
      to obtaining peripheral lung tissue, attaching tissue block,preparing medium and
      subculturing were modified.These included an injection of heparin sodium before
      anesthesia, abdominal bleeding, opening of chest when breathing stopped,
      improvement of operational details, reduction of pollution by adding penicillin
      and streptomycin, discard of tissues after 48 h of primary culturing, remove of
      fibroblasts by a second digestion, and identification of cells using a
      fluorescence microscope for binding with lectin from BSI (FITC-BSI).An inverted
      microscope was used to observe the morphological characteristics of PMEVCs.
      RESULTS: Purified PMEVCs were obtained,which displayed a polygon or short
      fusiform, exhibiting a typical cobblestone-like morphology. The morphology of
      PMVECs turned into swirling or long fusiform following subculture or changes in
      culture conditions. The results of FITC-BSI assay showed that more than 90% cells
      were stained with green fluorescence. CONCLUSIONS: Purified PMEVCs with a good
      growth state and subculture stability can be obtained using the modified method.

PMID- 28598099
TI  - [Emulsified Sevoflurane Selectively Blocking Spinal Cord and Brain in Rabbit
      Model].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish the rabbits model of selectively anesthetized brain and
      spinal cord and to explore the skeletal muscle relaxation sites of sevoflurane.
      METHODS: Sixteen adult male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned to
      the experiment. The upper torso systemic circulation and the lower torso bypass
      circulation were independently established by the ligation of thoracic aorta at
      T12-L1 level. Sevoflurane was administered to the upper or lower torso through
      lungs or oxygenator to selectively anesthetized brain or spinal cord (mainly
      lumbar and sacro-coccygeal region). Sevoflurane concentration from end-tidal
      (represented the brain) and oxygenator outlet (represented the spinal cord) was
      measured by an anesthetic gas analyzer. The concentration and partial pressure of
      sevoflurane in carotid artery (represented the brain) and abdominal aorta
      (represented the spinal cord) were determined using a gas chromatograph with the
      two-stage headspace equilibration method. RESULTS: When 1.5 mininum alveolar
      concentration (MAC) sevoflurane was administrated via lungs, the concentration
      and partial pressure of sevoflurane in the carotid artery were significantly
      higher than those in the abdominal aorta (P<0.05), with the end-tidal sevoflurane
      concentration higher than that of oxygenator outlet ( P<0.05), which indicated
      sevoflurane concentration and partial pressure in brain were higher than those in
      spinal cord. When 1.5 MAC sevoflurane was delivered via oxygenator,the indicators
      were conversed ( P<0.05), which indicated sevoflurane concentration and partial
      pressure in spinal cord were higher than those in brain. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      the unique blood supply to the spinal cord of New Zealand white rabbits, we
      successfully established selectively anesthetized brain and spinal cord rabbit
      models.

PMID- 28598100
TI  - [Construction and Identification of the cDNA Expression Library for Human
      Esophageal Cancer Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To construct a cDNA phage expression library for human esophageal
      cancer cells. METHODS: After the total RNA were obtained from esophageal cancer
      cells, the mRNA were separated with magnetic beads adsorption method, and the
      single-strand and double-strand cDNA were synthesized through reverse
      transcription. With the undesirable cDNA fragments removed, the remaining cDNA
      (linked withEcoR1 aptamer and phosphorylated its 5'end) combined with the carrier
      of T7 Select10-3b. The recombinant phage were packaged in vitro for preliminary
      cDNA library. PCR was used to identify the size of inserted cDNA. RESULTS: The
      constructed original cDNA phage expression library for human esophageal cancer
      cells was consisted of 2.01*106 pfu/mL bacteriophages with a recombination rate
      of 100%. The length of the inserted cDNA fragments were range from 300 bp to 1
      500 bp. CONCLUSIONS: The cDNA phage expression library of human esophageal cell
      is successfully constructed to meet the currently recognized standards, and can
      be well used to screen cDNA-cloned genes of human esophageal cancer antigens by
      serological analysis of recombinantly expressed cDNA clone (SEREX).

PMID- 28598101
TI  - [Pancreatic beta-cell Functions Measured by Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Han
      Chinese with Varied Degree of Glucose Tolerance].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the pancreatic beta-cell functions of Han people between
      those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT),prediabetes (PD),and newly-diagnosed
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (NDDM), and to evaluate the value of the continuous
      glucose monitoring system (CGMS) in determining beta-cell functions. METHODS: A
      total of 169 volunteers of Han people (20-75 years old, 72 male and 97 female)
      without diagnosed diabetes were given 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and
      insulin release tests. The body mass index (BMI) of the participants ranged from
      18.5 to 28.0 kg/m2.They were categorized into NGT (n=87), PD (n=52) and NDDM
      (n=30) groupsaccording to the World Health Organization (WHO) 1999 criteria.Blood
      samples were taken to test triglyceride(TG),total cholesterol (TC),and
      glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). The participants were also given a 72 h
      continuous glucose monitoring. The beta-cell functions were calculated using the
      OGTT and insulin release test results, which included homeostasis model
      assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR),homeostasis model assessment beta-cell
      function (HOMA-B),basic secretion, early phase secretion, and second phase
      secretion. The area under the curve of glucose (AUC-G) was estimated through the
      CGMS.A multivariate stepwise regression model was developed to identify
      predictors of beta-cell functions. RESULTS: Significant differences in
      age,BMI,HOMA-IR,HOMA-B,AUC-G, basic secretion, early phase secretion and second
      phase secretion were found between the NGT and PD groups (P<0.05) and between the
      NGT and NDDM groups (P<0.05). Differences in AUC-G and basic secretion and early
      phase secretion were found between the PD and NDDM groups (P<0.05),but not in
      age, BMI, HOMA-IR, HOMA-B, and second phase secretion.The multivariate stepwise
      regression analysis showed that HOMA-B (standardized partical regression
      coefficient beta=-0.244,P=0.001), basic secretion (beta=-0.355,P<0.001), and
      HbA1c (beta=0.638,P<0.001) contributed significantly to the AUC-G. CONCLUSIONS:
      beta-cell functions decline in those with prediabetes, which appears first at the
      second phase secretion. Changes in beta-cell secretion functions are more obvious
      than in insulin resistance during the progression from PD to NDDM.AUC-G can be a
      better indicator of impaired beta-cellfunctions.

PMID- 28598102
TI  - [The Diagnostic Value of Double Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound in Colorectal
      Neoplasms].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the value of double contrast enhanced ultrasound (DCEUS)
      in detecting colorectal neoplasms. METHODS: The conventional abdominal ultrasound
      and DCEUS (hydrocolonal ultrasound+intravenous contrast-enhanced ultrasonography)
      were performed in 77 patients with 79 colorectal tumors. The clinical, ultrasonic
      and pathological data of the patients were reviewed. RESULTS: The conventional
      abdominal ultrasound detected 32 colorectal tumors (32/79, with a sensitivity of
      40.1%), compared with 68 tumors found in DCEUS (68/79, with a sensitivity of
      86.1%). The tumors were located accurately in 21.9%(7/32) and 88.2%(60/68) cases
      for the conventional abdominal ultrasound and DCEUS, respectively ( P<0.05).
      DCEUS accurately located 94.4%(51/54)cased with colon neoplasm. Two types of
      enhancing modes were found with colorectal neoplasm: entirely homogeneous
      enhancing and heterogeneous enhancing perpendicularly from the serosal part to
      the mucosal part. The enhancing modes were associated with the morphology of
      neoplasm. Thirty-nine segmented-thickened tumors were found with perpendicularly
      enhancing from the serosal surface to the mucosal surface, while 29 protruding
      tumors were found with enhancing from their pedicles or fund. CONCLUSIONS: DCEUS
      has higher detection sensitivity and location accuracy than conventional
      ultrasound.

PMID- 28598103
TI  - [Safety and Tolerance of Healthy People to Injection of Astragalosides-a New Drug
      for Coronary Heart Disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety and tolerance of healthy volunteers to as
      tragalosides injection (AGI), and to determine a safe dose range for phase II
      clinical trial. METHODS: A total of 62 healthy volunteers participated in this
      study, with 26 being given a single AGI of 100 mL, 200 mL, 300 mL, 400 mL, 500
      mL, or 600 mL and 36 subjects being given 500 mL, 400 mL, 200 mL or 300 mL of AGI
      once a day for 7 d. Discomfortsymptoms, vital signs and safety problems were
      recorded 3 d and 7 d after the administration of AGI. The results were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Of the 62 participants, 40 adverse events (AEs) were reported by 31
      participants, which included 23 mild adverse reactions (ADRs) and 4 moderate
      ADRs. Nine AEs were reported by 9 participants with single AGI, including 7 ADRs.
      Fourteen AEs were reported by 10 participants with 500 mL and 400 mL multiple
      AGI, including 12 ADRs occurred in 9 participants.Seventeen AEs were reported by
      12 participants with 300 mL and 300 mL multiple AGI, including 3 mild ADRs. The
      main ADRs included abnormal liver function [slightly elevated glutamic pyruvic
      transaminase (ALT), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (AST),and serum total
      bilirubin (TBil)], low blood potassium, increased urine red blood cell count,
      rash, and phlebitis. CONCLUSIONS: The maximum tolerance is 600 mL for single-dose
      treatment, and 400 mL for multiple-dose (7 d). The dose guidance given in this
      study should be examined its effects and safety in patients with coronary heart
      disease in phase II clinical trial.

PMID- 28598104
TI  - [Association of nt3434A&#8594;G Mutation in Mitochondrial DNA ND1 Gene with
      Diabetes Mellitus].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the association of nt3434 A&#8594;G mutation in
      mitochondrial DNA NADH dehydrogenase 1 subunit (ND1) gene with diabetes mellitus.
      METHODS: PCR-RFLP was used to detect the nt3434 A&#8594;G variant of mtDNA ND1
      gene in 216 diabetic patients and 203 healthy control individuals.
      Characteristics of mutation and clinical indicators in nt3434A&#8594;G family
      were analyzed. RESULTS: nt3434A&#8594;G mutation was detected in one diabetic
      patient but not found in NC group. This patient had low insulin secretion, low
      BMI, and elevated serum lactate acids. No significant difference was found in the
      mutation frequencies between these two groups. nt3434 A&#8594;G mutation was also
      detected in this patient's sister and daughter, who were normal glucose tolerance
      and had slightly elevated serum lactate acids levels. CONCLUSIONS: Further
      investigation would be helpful to answer whether nt3434A&#8594;G mutation of
      mitochondrial DNA ND1 gene is associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

PMID- 28598106
TI  - [The Protective Effect of Inhibition of PARP-1 on Inflammation Induced by PM2.5
      in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cell Line.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore whether the inhibition of poly ADP-ribose polymerase
      1(PARP-1) could attenuated inflammation induced by fine particulate matter
      (PM2.5) in human bronchial epithelial cell line. METHODS: Cell viability was
      detected by Trypan Blue assay after incubated with PM2.5 for 24 h.PM2.5 doses no
      more than 600 MUg/mL were utilized in the following experiments.In order to
      observe how PARP-1 would effect the expression of nuclear factor-kappaB p65 and
      inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS),cells were respectively treated with 600
      MUg/mL PM2.5,10 MUmol/L 4-amino-1, 8-naphthalimide (4-AN),600 MUg/mL PM2.5+10
      MUmol/L 4-AN or DMSO.Western blot assay was used to estimate the protein
      expression of PARP-1,p65 in nuclear and iNOS in cytoplasm.Nitric acid enzyme
      reduction assay was used to determine the production of nitric oxide (NO).
      RESULTS: As the PM2.5 concentration increased,the cell viability decreased,while
      the expression of PARP-1,p65,iNOS and NO increased significantly (P<0.05).After
      pretreatment of 4-AN for 24 h,the expression of PARP-1,p65,iNOS and NO almost
      decreased to the normal level(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation triggered by
      PM2.5 could be attenuated by the inhibition of PAPR-1,which involved the block of
      transcriptional activity of NF-kappaB for inflammatory mediator.

PMID- 28598105
TI  - [Genetic Recombiniation and Protein Expression Detection of Listeria-based
      tuberculosis Vaccine Candidates.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Genetic construction of tuberculosis vaccine candidates based on
      Listeria(L.) monocytogenes,L.ivanovii,and evaluation their protein expression,in
      order to provide a novel method for research on tuberculosis controlling.
      METHODS: Two kinds of gene cassettes carrying tuberculosis antigen encoding gene
      Rv3875 or Rv0129c were inserted into targeting vector harboring
      L.monocytogenes,L.ivanovii homologous sequences via genetic connection methods
      and plasmid transformation technology in vitro.Targeting plasmids were
      electroporated into L.monocytogenes,L.ivanovii,and the recombinant strains were
      experienced serial passage at 42  degrees C and 30  degrees C.Subsequently,the
      tuberculosis antigen gene cassettes in targeting plasmids were integrated into
      L.monocytogenes and L.ivanovii attenuated strain (knocking out of virulence gene
      actA and plcB) and L.ivanovii wild type strain by homologous recombination and
      gene targeting technology.The recombinant strains were screened by blue-white
      spot and antibiotic resistance test;the intracellular and extracellular proteins
      of the recombinant strains were tested by Western blot. RESULTS: Five
      recombination strains carried antigen gene cassette were constructed,and the
      recombinant genome were confirmed by PCR and sequencing.No erythromycin
      resistance gene was found in 5 strains,which was coincident to
      expection.Recombination strains Li-Rv0129c,Li-DeltaactAplcB-Rv0129c and Li
      DeltaactAplcB-Rv3875 expressed Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigenic protein,Ag85C
      or ESAT-6,as expected.But L.monocytogenes strains did not express proper
      antigenic protein. CONCLUSIONS: Three novel L.ivanovii-based tuberculosis vaccine
      candicates,carrying Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv0129c antigen gene cassette
      (coding for Ag85C) or Rv3875 gene cassette (coding for ESAT-6),and expressing
      relevant antigenic proteins have been successfully selected.

PMID- 28598107
TI  - [The Antitumor Effects of Fisetin on Ovarian Cancer in vitro and in vivo.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We attempted to survey the inhibit effect of fisetin with human
      ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 and the xenograft and the mechanism of the effect.
      METHODS: The ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 treated by fisetin were observed
      directly under the transmission electronmicroscope (TEM);MTT assay was used to
      determine cell viability.Flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptosis in
      ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3.In addition,we established an ovarian cancer
      athymicnude rat model.We observed the neoplasia and progression after fisetin
      treatment.The proliferation and apoptosis of athymic nude rat model were
      evaluated by testing Bcl-2,Bax and poly-ADP-ribose polyerase (PARP) expression
      through Western blot. RESULTS: The chromatin were brought together and the
      apoptotic bodies were detected in SKOV3 cells under transmission electron
      microscope after the treatment by fisetin.MTT assay indicated that fisetin
      inhibited ovarian cancer cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner.The flow
      cytometry data demonstrated that the apoptosis might induct in SKOV3 cells after
      treatment by fisetin.In athymic rude rat model,under the influence of
      fisetin,tumor volume and tumor mass were significantly decreased.Western blot
      demonstrated that treatment with higher concentration of fisetin resulted in a
      significant decrease of Bcl-2 and a significant increase of Bax.The apoptosis
      proteins PARP was cut apparently. CONCLUSIONS: The results provided the first
      insight into antitumor anti-proliferative and the induction of apoptosis efficacy
      of fisetin against ovarian cancer in vitro and in vivo.All data suggested a safe
      promising therapeutic potential of fisetin in ovarian cancer treatment.

PMID- 28598108
TI  - [HPV E7 Function in DNA Damage Response of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the function of human papillomavirus (HPV) E7 in DNA
      damage response of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 cells. METHODS:
      Samples of CIN 3 and child foreskin tissues were collected,with pathologically
      confirmed HPV positive and negative,respectively.Collagenase A was used for
      digesting tissues prior to primary culture.The HPV negative cells were infected
      with lentivirus E7 and pLV.Proteins(53BP1,NBS1,BRCA1 and RPA32) responsive to DNA
      double break damages were detected by indirect immunofluorescent staining after 0
      8 h treatment with X-ray (2 or 5 Gy). RESULTS: After treatment with 2 or 5 Gy X
      ray,53BP1,NBS1,BRCA1 and RPA32 foci in HPV+ cells increased compared with HPV-
      cells (P<0.05).Less 53BP1,RPA32,BRCA1 and NBS1 foci positive cells (foci>5) were
      found in E7 infected cells than in pLV infected cells(P<0.05).Both of them
      reached the peak at 6 h (2 Gy) or 4 h (5 Gy). CONCLUSIONS: We have successfully
      established a model to detect the function of HPV E7 in DNA damage response using
      primary culture of CIN fibroblasts.With the progression of CIN,HPV E7 can inhibit
      DNA double break repair.

PMID- 28598109
TI  - [The Study of Decitabine Effect on the Endometrial Carcinoma Xenografted in Nude
      Mice.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the effect of the demethylation drug 5-Aza-CdR on
      endometrial carcinoma xenografted in nude mice. METHODS: Randomly assigned the
      mice into decitabine (AZA),cisplatin (DDP),medroxyprogesterone acetate
      (MPA),AZA+DDP,AZA+MPA,DDP+MPA and model groups (three in each group) after
      building the models of xenografted tumor by transplanting the HEC-1B cells on
      nude mice,and dealt them respectively with corresponding drugs (1 MUg/g,single or
      combination) in the experiment groups and normal saline in model group (injected
      per 3 d,8 injections in total).Then the tumor inhibitory rates in different
      groups were calculated.The methylation and protein expression of RASSF1A gene was
      estimated by methylation specific PCR (MSP) and Western blot respectively,and
      apoptosis situation of carcinoma cell was estimated by tunel. RESULTS: Inhibitory
      rate in AZA+DDP group was the highest,and the lowest was AZA group.RASSF1A gene
      promoter region methylation levels of AZA,AZA+DDP and AZA+MPA groups
      significantly reduced and showed obvious demethylation stripes while other groups
      mainly showed the methylation stripes.The differences of RASSF1A protein
      expression between AZA,AZA+DDP and AZA+MPA groups were not statistical
      significant (P>0.05),but the three were higher than model group (P<0.05);there
      was no statistically significant difference respectively in the DDP,MPA,DDP+ MPA
      groups compared with that of model group (P>0.05).In the comparison of apoptosis
      index,model group was the lowest,followed by the three single medicine groups,and
      the highest was three combination groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Demethylation
      drug 5-Aza-CdR in endometrial cancer treatment has a great potential clinical
      application value by reversing the abnormal methylation of RASSF1A gene,restoring
      biological functions of RASSF1A protein and strengthening the efficacy of DDP and
      MPA.

PMID- 28598110
TI  - [Microbial Community Structure on the Root Surface of Patients with
      Periodontitis.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the microbial community structure on the root surface of
      patients with periodontitis. METHODS: Bacterial plaque and tissues from the root
      neck (RN group),root middle (RM group) and root tine (RT group) of six teeth with
      mobility 3 in one patient with periodontitis were sampled.The V3V4 region of 16S
      rRNA was sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform.The microbial community
      structure was analyzed by Mothur,Qiime and SPSS software. RESULTS: The principal
      component analysis (PCoA) results indicated that the RM samples had a similar
      microbial community structure as that of the RT samples,which was significant
      different from that of the RN samples.Thirteen phyla were detected in the three
      groups of samples,which included 7 dominant phyla.29 dominant genera were
      detected in 184 genera.The abundance of Bacteroidetes_[G-6] and Peptostre
      ptococcaceae_[XI][G-4] had a positive correlation with the depth of the
      collection site of samples (P<0.05),while the abundance of
      Prevotella,Selenomonas,Corynebacterium and Olsenella had a negative correlation
      with the depth of the collection site of samples (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There is
      region-specificity of microbial community structure on the root surface of
      patients with periodontitis.

PMID- 28598111
TI  - [The Alterations in Expression of the Synaptophysin in Rat Brain Trauma Injury
      Model-an Experimental Study.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the rat brain trauma injury model and investigate the rules
      of transformation of expression of synaptophysin and its relationship between
      histology and radiology alternation after brain trauma injury. METHODS: 24 SD
      male rats aged three months were randomly divided into 4 groups,including a
      control group of 6 rats.The experimental group rats were received operation to
      build free falling brain trauma injury model.The rat were analyzed at 2,4,8 weeks
      after injury.The experimental group rat were killed after CT scan and functional
      evaluation,histological changes were measured through HE staining.Synaptophysin
      were observed by using immunofluorescence method and Western blot. RESULTS: After
      brain injury the functional evaluation of rat showed dysneuria.Edema and necrosis
      in neurons and local congestion at 24 h after injury,necrosis and solubility
      liquefaction at 2 weeks after injury,and histological defects at 4 weeks and 8
      weeks after injury,were observed in HE staining in experimental group.The
      significant cerebral low density shadows at 24 h after injury,lightened in 2
      weeks after injury,and disappeared at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after injury,left only
      the bone defects in CT images.Expression of synaptophysin in brain tissue was
      decreased from 2 weeks after injury and it was mild increased at 8 weeks after
      injury evaluated by immunofluorescence method and Western blot. CONCLUSIONS: The
      functional evaluation,histological and CT scan result indicate that we have built
      the rat brain trauma injury model successfully.The damage of synapse was
      correlated with histological and radiological result.The expression of
      synaptophysin was decreased form acute stage and gradually increased until 8
      weeks after injury.This study can be applied as control in research of nerve
      regeneration after brain trauma injury.

PMID- 28598112
TI  - [Effects of Fluoxetine on Nogo Expression and Collagen Production with Decrease
      of Pulmonary Artery Pressure in Rats with Right Ventricular Failure.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of fluoxetine on neurite growth inhibitor
      (Nogo) expession and collagen production of cardiac tissue in rats with right
      heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: Thirty one male SD rats were
      randomly divided into the treatment group,right heart failure group and normal
      control group.The rats in the treatment group and right heart failure group
      received intrapertioneal injection of monocrotaline (MCT,60 mg/kg) to induce
      pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure.After 21 days,the rats in
      treatment group were given fluoxetine of 10 mg/(kg*d) by gavage per day for 21
      days,the rats in the other two groups were given saline.HE staining was used to
      observe the pulmonary artery and right ventricular myocardial tissue in rats.The
      collagen formation in right ventricular myocardium was observed by Masson
      staining.The expressions of Nogo-A, Nogo-B,type1collagen and type 3 collagen mRNA
      in myocardium were measured by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,while the
      semi quantitative measurement of Nogo protein level was detected by Western blot.
      RESULTS: After the intervention of fluoxetine,pulmonary artery stenosis was
      significantly reduced,myocardial tissue lesion decreased,collagen synthesis
      decreased in right ventricular myocardium.RT-PCR showed that mRNA of Nogo-A
      decreased,and mRNA of Nogo-B increased (P<0.05).Western blot showed that the
      expression of Nogo-A protein decreased,while Nogo-B1 protein expression increased
      (P<0.05),Nogo-B2 expression was not significantly changed (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Nogo may affect the collagen synthesis in right heart failure,and partly involved
      in myocardial fibrosis.

PMID- 28598113
TI  - [Effects of Huoxue Dingxuan Capsule Glare on Vertebral Artery Blood Flow,Plasma
      PAI and t-PA in CSA Rat Models.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of Huoxue Dingxuan Capsule on vertebral
      artery blood flow,plasma plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator
      inhibitor (PAI) in rats with cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type (CSA).
      METHODS: Ninety healthy male Wistar rats were equally and randomly divided into
      control,model and treatment groups.The rats in the model and treatment groups
      were subject to composite modeling manufacturing CSA.The treatment group was
      given six-week interventions with Huoxue Dingxuan capsule 4 weeks after the
      modeling.Vertebral artery blood flow,plasma PAI,and t-PA contents were detected
      before modeling,prior to the interventions,and post interventions. RESULTS:
      Before the interventions,the rats in the model and treatment groups had
      significantly lower blood flow of vertebral artery than the controls (P<0.05).The
      model rats also had increased serum PAI and t-PA contents (P<0.01).After the
      interventions,significantly higher vertebral blood flow was found in the
      treatment group compared with the controls (P<0.05).After the
      interventions,increased serum PAI and t-PA contents were observed in the rats in
      the model group (P<0.01);whereas,decreased serum PAI and t-PA contents were
      observed in the rats in the treatment group (P<0.01).The treatment group had
      lower levels of serum PAI and t-PA contents than the model group (P<0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Huoxue Dingxuan Capsule glare can improve the blood flow of
      vertebral artery and reduce serum PAI and t-PA contents.

PMID- 28598114
TI  - [Effects of Lung Ventilation Perfusion Imaging Examination on Pregnant Outcomes
      of Rabbits.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the pregnancy outcomes of rabbits being subjected to
      pulmonary ventilation perfusion imaging examinations. METHODS: Pregnant rabbits
      were randomly divided into two groups: control group and experimental (lung
      ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy) group.The pregnancy outcomes were measured
      using indicators of miscarriage,premature birth,and stillbirth,as well as
      malformations and developmental abnormalities of offspring over a three-month
      period. RESULTS: No significant differences in miscarriage,premature birth,and
      stillbirth were found between the two groups.No obvious deformity appearances in
      the offspring were observed.The two groups showed no statistically significant
      differences in fetal progeny-intrauterine growth and developmental indicators
      measured by body mass,head circumference,abdominal circumference and length.
      CONCLUSIONS: Lung ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy examination has no effects
      on pregnant outcomes measured by miscarriage,premature birth,stillbirth,fetal
      teratogenicity and fetal growth.

PMID- 28598115
TI  - [Expression of miR-429 and Its Target Gene HSPA4L in Sperms from Asthenospermia
      Patients.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression of miR-429 and its target gene heat
      shock protein A4L (HSPA4L) in sperms from asthenospermia patients. METHODS:
      Twenty semen samples from healthy and fertile adults and 20 semen samples from
      asthenospermia patients were collected,and normal sperm parameters were defined
      according to World Health Organization criteria.The expression levels of miR-429
      and HSPA4L mRNA were determined by qRT-PCR,and the bioinformatics tool
      (Targetscan) was used to predict the target of miR-429.Luciferase reporter assay
      and transfection study were performed to confirm target gene of miR-429.The
      expression levels of HSPA4L mRNA and protein were further determined by qRT-CPR
      and Western blot,respectively. RESULTS: The motility and viability of sperms from
      asthenospermia patients were lower than that in control group,and miR-429 was up
      regulated in sperms from asthenospermia patients.Bioinformatics analysis revealed
      that HSPA4L was a target of miR-429.Luciferase reporter assay and transfection
      study further confirmed that miR-429 suppresses the expressions of HSPA4L mRNA
      and protein via directly targeting HSPA4L 3'UTR.Results from clinical samples
      also demonstrated that HSPA4L mRNA and protein were down-regulated in sperms from
      asthenospermia patients and the expression level of miR-429 was inversely
      correlated with the expression level of HSPA4L mRNA (r=-0.725, P<0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: miR-429 is up-regulated in sperms from asthenospermia patients,and
      it may modulate the motility and viability of sperms via suppressing the
      expression of HSPA4L.

PMID- 28598116
TI  - [Optimal Ovulation Induction in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Resistant to Clomiphene
      Citrate or Letrozole.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the optimal ovulation induction with the combination
      of combining letrozole(LE),clomiphene citrate (CC),and human menopausal
      gonadotropin (HMG) in polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) patients resistant to CC or
      LE. METHODS: Two hundreds nine PCOS patients (209 cycles) resistant to CC or LE
      were randomly divided into three groups: CC+HMG group (59 cycles),LE+HMG group
      (72 cycles) and LE+CC group (78 cycles).The patients in LE+CC group unable to
      form the dominant follicle after 54 cycles were enrolled into LE+CC+HMG
      group.Maximum follicle diameter (MFD),endometrial thickness,number of follicles
      (diameter>1.4 cm),the level of serum estradiol (E2) were measured on the day of
      HMG administration.Also these results were observed and compared including the
      duration of treatment,dosage of HMG,number of ovulated follicles,clinical
      pregnancy rate,biochemical pregnancy rate,early abortion rate,twinning rate,and
      ectopic pregnancy rate. RESULTS: The ovulation rate was significantly lower in
      LE+CC group (30.77%) (P<0.05),but similar in the other three groups.The number of
      >1.4 cm follicles and ovulated follicles,ovulation duration and E2 concentration
      in LE+CC group were also at a lower level (P<0.05).The patients in LE+CC+HMG
      group showed higher E2 level and more HMG consumption (P<0.05).There was no
      statistical difference in endometrial thickness,MFD,clinical pregnancy
      rate,biochemical pregnancy rate,early abortion rate and twinning rate among these
      groups (P>0.05).No severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) or luteinized
      unruptured follicle (LUF) occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Combintion of LE with CC could
      achieve 1/3 ovulation induction in PCOS resistant to CC or LE alone.When both
      combined with HMG,the induction of ovulation could be significantly higher than
      LE+HMG and CC+HMG,while the risk of multiple pregnancy and OHSS was reduced.

PMID- 28598117
TI  - [Expression Level of Membrane-associated Proteins Numb in Epithelial Ovarian
      Carcinoma and Its Relationship with Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Markers CD117,
      CD133, ALDH1.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the expression level of membrane-associated protein Numb
      in epithelial ovarian carcinoma and its relationship with ovarian cancer stem
      cell markers CD117,CD133,acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 1(ALDH1). METHODS: A total of
      136 patients who had ovarian tumors and 22 patients who had not ovarian tumors in
      Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics,West China Second University
      Hospital,Sichuan University were chosen as the study subjects.According to the
      histopathologic examination results,they were divided into epithelial ovarian
      carcinoma group (n=92),ovarian borderline tumor group (n=23),ovarian benign tumor
      group (n=21) and normal ovary group (n=22).Expression levels of Numb
      protein,CD117,CD133 and ALDH1 in ovarian tissue were detected by
      immunohistochemical SP method and these several kinds of protein expression
      differences and correlation statistical analysis were performend. RESULTS: 1 The
      positive expression rate of Numb protein in epithelial ovarian carcinoma group
      was higher than that in benign tumor or normal ovary group,also Numb protein
      positive expression rate in ovarian borderline tumor group was higher than that
      in normal ovary group,and the differences were statistically significant
      (P<0.05).2 Numb protein positive expression rate in ovarian tissue in patients
      with epithelial ovarian carcinoma FIGO stage1-2 was lower than that in stage 3
      4,also the same in no lymph nodes metastasis compared with lymph nodes
      invasion,and the differences of positive expression rate were statistically
      significant (P<0.05).While there were no significant differences among different
      age,histopathological types,pathological grades and residual tumor size
      (P>0.05).3 There was no correlation between Numb protein and CD117 and CD133
      positive expression rate in epithelial ovarian carcinoma tissue [correlation
      coefficient (r)=0.116,P=0.261; r=0.083,P=0.425].However,the positive expression
      rate of Numb protein and ALDH1 was positively correlated (r=0.296,P=0.261).
      CONCLUSIONS: The expression of Numb protein may involve in the
      occurrence,invasion and mechanisms of ovarian cancer,positively correlated with
      ovarian cancer stem cell markers ALDH1,and may affect the prognosis of patients.

PMID- 28598118
TI  - [The Evaluation Value of Methylation Status of CpG Island of SFRP1 and LINE1 Gene
      Promoter Area in the Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between aberrant promoter CpG islands
      methylation status of secreted frizzled related protein 1 (SFRP1) and long
      intersper sed nuclear element 1 (LINE1) gene and clinicopathologic parameters to
      determine their prognosis value for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: 105
      cases of HCC and 50 cases of normal people plasma were collected,and then the
      promoter hypermethylation status of SFRP1 and hypormethylation status of LINE1
      were examined by methylation specific PCR (MSP); The relationship between
      SFRP1/LINE1 methylation status and patients' clinicopathologic factors was
      analyzed;The association between SFRP1/LINE1 methylation status and disease-free
      survival and overall survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves,the log-rank
      test,and multivariate Cox regression. RESULTS: SFRP1 gene promoter CpG islands
      hypermethylation and LINE1 gene promoter CpG islands hypomethylation were found
      in 59.05% (62/105) and 66.67% (70/105) of 105 cancerous plasma
      cases,repectively,SFRP1 hypermethylation status and LINE1 hypomethylation status
      in plasma of HCC account for 43.81%(62/105) and no positive methylation cases
      were detected in normal cases;The hypermethylation status of SFRP1 and
      hypomethylation status of LINE1 gene were related with HBsAg and alpha
      fetoprotein (AFP) level;There was statistically significant difference between
      CpG islands hypermethylation of two genes and disease-free survival rate and
      overall survival rate;The group patients with SFRP1 hypermethylation positive and
      LINE1 hypomethylation positive demonstrated the worst prognosis while the group
      with SFRP1 hypermethylation negative and LINE1 hypomethylation negative had the
      best prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The promoter methylation of SFRP1 and LINE1 is
      correlated with the occurrence and development of HCC.SFRP1 and LINE1 might be
      potential and reliable biomarkers for predicting prognosis in HCC patients.

PMID- 28598119
TI  - [Aortic and Mitral Annuli Coupling and Its Association with Cardiac Function in
      Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the mitral and aortic annuli excursion (AE) and
      aortomitral angle (AMA) variations between patients with and without dilated
      cardiomyopathy (DCM) using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE),and determine
      the role of annuli dynamics and coupling behaviors in the left ventricular
      function. METHODS: Thirty-five patients with DCM and thirty-five age and sex
      matched healthy adults underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examinations.In
      the parasternal long-axis view,the AE and AMA variations were measured using
      Philips QLAB 9.0 software.In the apical four chamber view,the left ventricular
      ejection fraction (LVEF),longitudinal,circumferential,and radial strain were
      measured using Tomtec Arene 1.0 software. RESULTS: The DCM patients had
      significantly smaller AE and AMAmax-min,bigger AMAmax and AMAmin,and varied
      cardiac cycle compared with the healthy adults.The AMA of DCM patients increased
      to its maximal value earlier in diastole with little variation.AE was positively
      correlated with LVEF and multidirectional strain.AMAmax and AMAmin were
      negatively correlated with AE,LVEF and multidirectional strain
      (P<0.05).Significant correlations were also found between AMAmax-min and AE,LVEF
      and multidirectional strain (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: AE,AMA,LVEF and
      multidirectional strain can be quantified using STE.The coupling of mitral and
      aortic annuli in DCM patients is abnormal and correlated well with left
      ventricular systolic function.AE and AMA can be conveniently used for estimation
      of integral and regional cardiac function.

PMID- 28598120
TI  - [Characteristics and Clinical Significance of Outer Retinal Tubulation in Wet Age
      macular Degeneration Treated by Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Through
      Optical Coherence Tomography.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the characteristics and clinical significance of outer
      retinal tabulation (ORT) in wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) treated
      by anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) through optical coherence
      tomography (OCT). METHODS: The 35 wAMD patients with 39 ORT eyes treated by anti
      VEGF were examined by OCT to determine the morphological features and evolution
      of the ORTs over time and their response to anti-VEGF. RESULTS: ORTs were located
      in the places that exudation or edema had happened in the outer nuclear layer of
      retina.38 ORTs remained stable on both quantity and morphology.One ORT became
      invisible temporarily and then reappeared. CONCLUSIONS: ORTs are reconstructed by
      photoreceptor cells that have survived after outer retina damages.There is no
      connection between anti-VEGF treatment and ORT formation.

PMID- 28598121
TI  - [Regional Homogeneity Changes in Patients with Social Anxiety Disorders after
      Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the altered spontaneous brain activity in patients with
      social anxiety disorders (SAD) before and after cognitive behavior therapy
      (CBT),and determine the neuromechanism of formation,treatment and recovery of
      SAD. METHODS: Fifteen SAD patients were treated with an eight-week group CBT.The
      patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at resting state
      before and after the treatments.Eighteen healthy controls (HC) were recruited and
      underwent a baseline fMRI scan.The regional homogeneity (ReHo) of the patients
      was compared with the healthy controls.Before the baseline scanning,all
      participants were assessed with the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale(LSAS),the
      Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
      (HAMD). RESULTS: All participants were right-handed.10 males and 4 females were
      in the patient group,with mean age of (27.07+/-8.11) years.13 males and 5 females
      were in the HC group,with mean age of (26.28+/-2.42) years.There was no
      difference for gender and age while significant differences were found in
      LSAS,HAMA,HAMD between patients and controls (P<0.01).After 8 weeks of group
      CBT,clinical assessments significantly decreased (P<0.05) in patients
      group.Compared with HC,the pre-treatment SAD patients showed significantly
      increased ReHo in right cerebellum lobe at baseline [(P<0.05,with Gaussian random
      field (GRF) correction]; but the difference became insignificant after the group
      CBT.The post-treatment patients showed increased ReHo in left putamen and right
      caudate compared with their pre-treatment conditions (P<0.05,with GRF
      correction).Pre-post ReHo change in right cerebellum posterior in patients was
      positively correlated with pre-post change of LSAS-fear scores (r=0.62,P=0.015).
      CONCLUSIONS: The activity of cerebellum might be one of the potential biomakers
      to modulate the treatment effect of CBT in SAD,which provides a basis for further
      investigation into the pathophysiology of SAD.

PMID- 28598122
TI  - [Adverse Drug Reactions in Sichuan Children During 2012-2014.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the characteristics of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in
      children. METHODS: Reported ADRs in the patients aged from 0-18 years were
      extracted from the 2012-2014 Sichuan ADR surveillance system.The time
      trend,category of ADRs [system organ class (SOC)],outcomes,and demographic
      characteristics of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The reported paediatric
      ADRs increased over time;most occurred in males (7 709,56.40%) and preschool
      children (5 928,43.37%).The majorities involved intravenous drips (8 492,62.13%)
      and skin and appendages (7 510,55.10%).About 267 (1.95%) cases were deemed as
      serious ADRs,most (120,44.94%) involving whole body consequences.The majority (13
      515,98.87%) of patients recovered.But deaths (5,0.04%) were also reported.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric ADRs are associated with young age (less than 5 years old)
      and intravenous drips.Serious ADRs should be identified for early interventions.

PMID- 28598123
TI  - [Advances of Molecular Diagnostic Techniques Application in Clinical Diagnosis.]
AB  - Over the past 20 years,clinical molecular diagnostic technology has made rapid
      development,and became the most promising field in clinical laboratory
      medicine.In particular,with the development of genomics,clinical molecular
      diagnostic methods will reveal the nature of clinical diseases in a deeper
      level,thus guiding the clinical diagnosis and treatments.Many molecular
      diagnostic projects have been routinely applied in clinical works.This paper
      reviews the advances on application of clinical diagnostic techniques in
      infectious disease,tumor and genetic disorders,including nucleic acid
      amplification,biochip,next-generation sequencing,and automation molecular
      system,and so on.

PMID- 28598124
TI  - [The Targeted Regulating Role of Has-miR-577 and Has-miR-583 on Gene FGF-21
      Detected by the Dual Luciferase Reporter System.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the targeted regulating role of has-miR-577 and has-miR
      583 on the expression of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) based on a
      constructed luciferase reporter FGF-21 gene vector. METHODS: The site of has-miR
      577 and has-miR-583 target genes FGF-21 were predicted by the bioinformatics
      analyzing tools online.FGF-21 gene fragments,combined with has-miR-577 or has-miR
      583 sequences and mutant sequences,were designed and synthesized.The wild type
      (psiCHECK2-FGF-21) and mutant (psiCHECK2-FGF-21-mut) luciferase reporter gene
      carriers were constructed.The relevant plasmids [hsa-miR-577mimics,hsa-miR-583
      mimics or miR negative control (miR-NC)] and luciferase reporter gene carrier
      (wild type or mutant ) were co-transfected into 293T cells.The luciferase
      reporter system was used to detect the luciferase activity.The effects of has-miR
      577 and has-miR-583 on the expression of FGF-21 were observed. RESULTS: The
      double enzyme electrophoresis and sequencing results showed that the gene
      fragment size and sequences of the wild type (psiCHECK2-FGF-21) and mutant
      (psiCHECK2-FGF-21-mut) carriers met expectations of the experiment.The luciferase
      assays revealed that has-miR-577 and has-miR-583 significantly diminished
      luciferase activity from the reporter vector containing 3'UTR of FGF-21
      (P<0.05),whereas no suppression of luciferase activity was found in the mutant
      (psiCHECK2-FGF-21-mut). CONCLUSIONS: FGF-21 gene can be targeted by has-miR-577
      and has-miR-583.

PMID- 28598125
TI  - [Association of Gene Polymorphisms in Wnt Signal Pathway with Tuberculosis in
      Chinese Tibetan Population.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the correlation between gene polymorphisms in Wnt signal
      pathway and susceptibility of Chinese Tibetan people to tuberculosis. METHODS: A
      total of 488 active tuberculosis patients and 454 healthy subjects(control) were
      enrolled in this case-control study.Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      in Wnt signal pathway (rs4135385 in CTNNB1 gene,rs11001553 in DKK1
      gene,rs56900803 in WIF1 gene,rs7832767 in SFRP1 gene and rs11079571 in AXIN2
      gene) were genotyped using MassARRAY method.The genotype and allele distributions
      of these loci were determined using SPSS19.0 and SNP stats software.Significant
      SNPs were measured in the co-dominant,dominant and recessive genetic models.The
      polymorphism distributions of Chinese Tibetans were compared with those of
      Chinese Han populations. RESULTS: The genotype distributions of all SNPs
      coincided with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the 2 groups.The frequencies of
      genotype and allele of rs7832767 in SFRP1 gene were significantly different
      (P=0.004,0.002,respectively) between the Tibetan patients with tuberculosis and
      the Tibetan healthy controls.Compared with C allele carriers,those carrying T
      allele of rs7832767 showed increased risk of tuberculosis [odds ratio
      (OR)=1.260,95% confidence interval (CI):1.086-1.471,P=0.002].The co
      dominant,dominant and recessive models of this locus were also associated with
      higher risk of tuberculosis.No significant differences in genotype and allele
      distributions were observed for the other four SNP loci (P all>0.05).The
      distribution of rs4135385 in CTNNB1 gene in the Chinese Tibetan population
      differed from the Han population (P=0.035 for genotype,0.021 for allele).There
      were no obvious differences in genotype and allele distributions for the other
      four SNPs between the Tibetan and Han populations (P all >0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      SFRP1 gene polymorphism in Wnt signal pathway is associated with tuberculosis
      susceptibility in Chinese Tibetan population.The distribution of CTNNB1 gene
      polymorphism differs between Chinese Tibetan and Han populations.

PMID- 28598126
TI  - [FLT3 Gene Expression and Its Clinical Significance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the correlation between fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 gene
      (FLT3) expression and FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations in acute
      myeloid leukemia patients,and the association between expression of FLT3 gene and
      clinical and laboratory features of patients. METHODS: The expression of FLT3
      mRNA in bone marrow (BM) leukemic cells of 128 acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
      patients was measured by real-time PCR.The patients were divided into two groups
      using the 35% FLT3 expression as a cut-off point.The associations between the
      expression level of FLT3 and clinical and laboratory features of patients were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The patients had a FLT3 gene expression level of 0.01-180.68
      (mean 14.65) at the initial diagnosis,with AML-M1 the most expressed and AML-M6
      the least expressed,but without statistical significance.The patients with a high
      level of FLT3 gene expression had higher peripheral blood white blood cell count
      (WBC) (P<0.01) and were more likely to become anemic and febrile (P<0.05).WBC
      [regression coefficient (B)=1.508,odds ratio (OR)=4.518,95% confidence
      interval(CI):1.465-13.390,P=0.009] and anemia (B=2.142,OR=8.513,95%CI:3.201
      22.644,P<0.001)were predictors of higher expression of FLT3.The patients with
      high levels of FLT3 gene expression had lower complete remission rate
      (32/83),compared with those (36/44) with low levels of FLT3 gene expression
      (P<0.05).The Cox regression analysis showed that the patients with higher levels
      of FLT3 gene expression had a higher risk of death (B=1.338, relative risk=3.810,
      95%CI:1.820-7.947,P<0.001).The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the patients
      with higher levels of FLT3 gene expression had lower survival time (56.63%) than
      those with lower levels of FLT3 expression (70.45%,P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FLT3
      gene has adverse impacts on complete remission of AML.High expression of FLT3
      gene is associated with poor prognosis of patients with AML.

PMID- 28598127
TI  - [Correlations Between AML1-ETO  Fusion Gene and Clinical Features of Acute
      Myeloid Leukemia in Sichuan.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the correlations between AML1-ETO fusion gene and
      clinical characteristics of patients with AML,and its association with the
      prognosis of AML-M2. METHODS: Medical records of 94 AML-M2 cases with positive
      AML1-ETO fusion gene and 51 AML-M2 cases with negative AML1-ETO gene were
      retrospective reviewed.Their clinical characteristics,treatment responses and
      prognostic outcomes were compared. RESULTS: No significant differences in the
      clinical symptoms,predominantly anemia,fever and hemorrhage,were found between
      the AML1-ETO fusion gene positive and negative AML-M2 (P>0.05).However,lower
      levels of red blood cell (RBC) and platelet (PLT),and higher levels of ratio of
      grain to red,percentage of bone marrow granulocyte (NC),CD34,human leukocyte
      antigen DR (HLA-DR),CD56 and CD19 were found in those with positive AML1-ETO
      fusion gene (P<0.05).The efficacy of treatments and survival curves showed no
      significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05).CD56 and original
      percentage of bone marrow granulocyte were predictors of poor long-term
      survival.Complete remission was the only predictor of better long-term survival.
      CONCLUSIONS: AML1-ETO fusion gene is neither associated with clinical
      symptoms,nor with survival and long term prognosis in Sichuan.As many factors
      affect the efficacy of treatments and prognosis of AML-M2,stratified analysis is
      needed to determine the role of AML1-ETO.

PMID- 28598128
TI  - [Molecular Features of SMA-related Genes in Spinal Muscular Atrophy Patients of
      Han Nationality in Southwest China.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the molecular features of spinal muscular atrophy
      (SMA) related genes in SMA patients of Han nationality of southwest of China.
      METHODS: We collected 62 unrelated patients of SMA and 50 unrelated healthy
      individuals in this study.The copy numbers of survival motor neuron gene (SMN)
      and uronal-apoptosis inhibitory protein gene (NAIP) were measured by using
      multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). RESULTS: Of 62
      patients,the copy number of SMA1-4 were 30.65% (19/62),41.94%(26/62),16.13%
      (10/62),11.29% (7/62),respectively.The deletion of SMN1 exon 7 accounts for
      98.38% (61/62).The deletion of SMN1 exon 8 accounts for 82.26% (51/62).Among SMA
      1 patients,the homozygous deletion of NAIP exon 5 accounts for 68.42% (13/19) and
      heterzygous deletion accounts for 26.32% (5/19).Among SMA2-4patients,the
      homozygous deletion of NAIP exon 5 accounts for 13.95% (6/43) and heterzygous
      deletion accounts for 62.79% (27/43).Furthermore,68.42% (13/19) patients of
      SMA1have 1 copy and 2 copies of SMN2 gene,84.62% (22/26) patients of SMA 2 have
      more than 2 copies of SMN2 gene,90.00% (9/10) SMA3 and 85.71% (6/7) SMA4 have
      over 2 copies of SMN2 gene and even have 5 and 6 copy of SMN2 gene. CONCLUSIONS:
      The deletion of SMN1 gene is the main cause of SMA,and the change of SMN2 and
      NAIP copy number can affect the severity of SMA.

PMID- 28598129
TI  - [Genotype of Thalassemia in Han Chinese and Tibetans in Sichuan Province,China.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the carrying rates and genotype distribution of
      thalassemia gene in Han people and Tibetans in Sichuan district. METHODS: A total
      of 1 147 Han adults and 613 adult Tibetans were included in this
      study.Hematological parameters were measured with Sysmex XE-2100 automatic blood
      cell analyzer.Alpha thalassemia and beta thalassemia gene analyses were further
      performed on samples with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) <85 fL and a mean
      corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) <27 pg.Multiplex ligation-dependent probe
      amplification (MLPA) and reverse dot blot assays were used for detecting
      deletional mutations of alpha globin gene and non-deletional mutations of alpha
      globin and beta globin genes,respectively. RESULTS: About 1.48% (17/1 147) Han
      people carried alpha thalassemia gene,with --SEA/alphaalpha as the most common
      genotype; 1.39% (16/1 147) carried beta thalassemia gene,with CD17 and IVS-2-654
      as the most common genotype.There were 2 cases with both alpha and beta
      thalassemia.Low MCH (<27 pg) was found in all 33 cases with positive thalassemia
      genes.However,5 people with positive thalassemia genes had higher than 80 fL
      MCV,with the highest reaching 83.7 fL.Out of 613 Tibetans,only one was found to
      have positive thalassemia genes. CONCLUSIONS: Sichuan Han population carry a high
      level of thalassemia genes,with various genotypes and pathogenic gene mutation
      types.Han people with < 84 fL MCV and <27 pg MCH were recommended for thalassemia
      gene screening.Tibetans were not recommended for routine screening of
      thalassemia.

PMID- 28598130
TI  - [Radiation Dose of Body Surface at Sensitive Organs and Its Protective Precaution
      in Head CT Scanning:Initial Experience.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the radiation dose of body surface at sensitive organs
      using different protective precaution in head CT scanning. METHODS: The standard
      phantom received head routine sequence scanning with dual-source computed
      tomography.The phantoms were scanned with three different protective
      precaution:group A (without protective clothing),group B (wearing lead collar and
      cover lead clothes),group C (wearing lead collar and clothes without cuffs).The
      thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) was placed on the body surface corresponding
      to sensitive organs to measure radiation dose. RESULTS: The volume of CT dose
      index (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP) in group A,B and C were same,44.06
      mGy and 634 mGy*cm,respectively.There was no statistic significant difference
      between group A,B and C of radiation dose in non-protective region (P=0.712).The
      radiation dose in the neck region under the cover of lead collar in group A,B and
      C were (2.57 +/- 0.65) mGy,(2.30 +/- 1.10) mGy and (2.48 +/- 0.90)
      mGy,respectively,without statistic significant difference between groups
      (P=0.816).However,the radiation dose in abdominal region of group A was (0.66+/
      0.37) mGy,which was significantly higher than that of group B [(0.18 +/- 0.18)
      mGy] and group C [(0.18+/-0.16) mGy],The radiation dose in dorsal region of group
      A was (0.55+/-0.43) mGy,which was significantly higher than that of group B
      [(0.28+/-0.22) mGy],while that of group C [(0.14+/-0.12) mGy] was significantly
      lower than group B. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to traditional lead coverage,lead
      collar and cloth can decrease the radiation dose of body surface and sensitive
      organs in head scan with dual source CT.

PMID- 28598131
TI  - [Clinical Characteristics of Autonomic Dysfunction in Hypertensive Patients with
      Minor Ischemic Stroke.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate clinical characteristics of autonomic dysfunction (AD)
      in hypertensive patients with minor ischemic stroke (MIS). METHODS: Sixty
      hypertensive patients with MIS (observation group) and 60 age-matched
      hypertensive patients (control group) were recruited in our study.The clinical
      data of the patients were collected.Autonomic symptoms were accessed using the
      Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson disease-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT).Depression was
      evaluated with Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) .Age,heart beat rate,concomitant
      diseases,SCOPA-AUT,and HAM-D were analyzed between the two groups. RESULTS:
      Compared with the control group,the observation group showed an increased
      incidence of orthostatic hypotension,depression,SCOPA-AUT and HAM-D
      score.Logistic regression showed HAM-D score>8 [standard partial regression
      coefficent (beta)=0.142,odds ratio (OR)=3.251,P=0.009] and age>60
      yr.(beta=0.180,OR=1.972, P=0.003) were independent risk factors for AD.
      CONCLUSIONS: AD is common in hypertensive patients with MIS and depression is
      probably the potential etiology.

PMID- 28598133
TI  - [Therapeutic Efficacy of Qingre Jiedu and Huoxue Huayu Recipe in Prednisone
      dependant Patients with Chronic Primary Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To observe the clinical efficacy of Qingre Jiedu and Huoxue Huayu
      Recipe on the prednisone-dependant patients with chronic primary immune
      thrombocytopenic purpura (CPITP). METHODS: Fifty prednisone-dependant CPITP
      patients were treated with Qingre Jiedu and Huoxue Huayu Recipe orally one dose a
      day,the dosage of prednisone for these patients was tapered according to the
      monitoring result of blood platelet count (BPC).The therapeutic efficacy in these
      patients was evaluated before and after Chinese medicine treatment over 4 weeks.
      RESULTS: After the treatment of chinese medicine,BPC was increased from (28.6+/
      22.5) *109 L-1 to (81.8+/-56.5)*109 L-1 (P<0.05).The dosage of prednisone was
      decreased from (28.1+/-15.2) mg/d to (8.0+/-9.4) mg/d (P<0.05).Complement
      response,response and no response rate were 2%,10% and 88% before Chinese
      medicine treatment,which were 30%, 46% and 24% after Chinese medicine
      treatment,respectively (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Qingre Jiedu and Huoxue Huayu
      Recipe could be effective in the treatment of prednisone-dependant patients with
      CPITP,and could decrease the dosage of prednisone.

PMID- 28598134
TI  - The International Health Regulations (IHR) - 10 years of global public health 
      security.

PMID- 28598135
TI  - Japanese encephalitis: surveillance and immunization in Asia and the Western
      Pacific, 2016.

PMID- 28598132
TI  - [Effect of Sleep in Early Pregnancy on Gestational Diabetes: a Prospective
      Study.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the influence of sleep status in early pregnant women
      on the occurrence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: In this
      prospective study,542 pregnant women in early pregnancy were selected as
      subjects.The sleep time,insomnia,pre-gestational body mass and basic information
      of the subjects were collected by the trained investigators through
      questionnaire.At the 24th to 28th pregnant week,the body mass of each subject was
      measured and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was conducted.The diagnosis of
      GDM was followed the guidelines of diagnose and treatment of gestational diabetes
      mellitus in China (2014).A non-conditional logistic regression method was adopted
      to analyze the correlation between sleep status of early pregnant women and the
      occurrence of GDM. RESULTS: The numbers of subjects in sleep deficiency
      group,sleep sufficiency group and sleep excessive group were 16 (2.95%),268
      (49.45%) and 258 (47.60%),respectively.The incidences of GDM for sleep deficiency
      group,sleep sufficient group,and sleep excessive group were
      62.50%(10/16),25.75%(69/268) and 22.09% (57/258),respectively,the difference was
      statistically significant (chi2=11.280,P<0.05).Compared with either sleep
      sufficiency or sleep excessive group,sleep deficiency group had higher GDM
      occurrence rate with statistically significant
      (chi2=8.410,11.218,P<0.017).Insomnia subjects in early pregnancy were 137
      (25.28%).The incidences of GDM in insomnia group and normal group were 32.12% and
      22.72% respectively,the difference was statistically significant (chi2=4.813,
      P<0.05).After adjusting the confounding factors [age,education,pre-pregnant body
      mass index (BMI),gained body mass in early and medium pregnancy,family history of
      type-2 diabetes,gravidity,parity,smoke,drink,exercise and occupation],non
      conditional logistic regression results show that sleep deficiency for early
      pregnant women was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of GDM [odds
      ratio (OR)=7.38,95% confidence interval (CI): 2.25-24.17].However,the association
      between insomnia and the occurrence of GDM was not found. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep
      deficiency in early pregnancy may be a risk factor for the occurrence of GDM.

PMID- 28598136
TI  - Early detection of recurrence or progression disease in patients with ovarian
      cancer after primary debulking surgery. Correlation between CT findings and CA
      125 levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are no standard approaches for follow up in advanced ovarian
      cancer (AOC) patients; the aim of this study is to evaluate correlation between
      computed tomography (CT) and CA 125 levels to assess early detection of
      recurrence or progression disease (PD). METHODS: We included 76 patients with
      AOC, who had prior debulking surgery, starting first or second line of
      chemotherapy and underwent follow-up CT examinations. Evaluation of tumor
      response to treatment by imaging was assessed using RECIST 1.1. Site of relapse
      was classified as: abdomen, chest and neck (observed in the upper chest scans).
      RESULTS: Change in CA 125 levels was calculated in respect previous evaluation at
      the end of treatment for each patient. The most suitable cut-offs could be
      identified in an increase in CA 125 levels >10.5% (sensitivity: 67.9%;
      specificity: 83.6%; LR+: 4.1; LR-: 0.4) in order to predict PD and in a change of
      -0.5% in order to exclude PD (sensitivity 83.0%; specificity: 69.6%; LR+: 2.7; LR
      : 0.2). Site of relapse was abdomen (58.5%), abdomen and chest (33.9%), chest
      (3.8%), chest and neck (1.9%), and abdomen, chest and neck (1.9%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Increase in CA 125 levels >10.5% could be sufficiently predictive of PD requiring
      CT examination. Change of -0.5% is sufficiently predictive of absence of PD.
      Increase <10.5% and >0.5% needs clinical correlation to establish correct timing
      and extension of CT examination. Attention must be played in reducing number and
      extent of CT examinations to reduce exposure dose.

PMID- 28598137
TI  - The effectiveness of psychosocial assessment in the detection and management of
      postpartum depression: a systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Perinatal mental disorders remain a public health concern. A
      psychosocial assessment gives a comprehensive understanding of a woman's
      circumstances by identifying risk factors that affect the overall mental state
      and function of the woman. The aim was to evaluate the current international
      evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychosocial assessments in the detection
      and management of postpartum depression. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Six health related
      databases were systematically searched from January 2000 to June 2016. Full
      papers reporting the effectiveness of psychosocial assessment on the detection
      and management of postpartum depression were included. A data extraction form was
      designed and piloted on two studies. Data were extracted on study design,
      population, study context, intervention/s and outcome/s. The methods of all the
      studies selected were critically appraised using the Quality Assessment Tool for
      Quantitative Studies. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A total of 692 citations were found.
      Four randomized control trials (RCTs) met full inclusion criteria and qualified
      for full paper review and data extraction. Due to the heterogeneity of the data
      retrieved a narrative synthesis was carried out. Overall, when compared to
      routine care, psychosocial assessments were found to be sensitive to detect risk
      factors associated with postnatal depression. Results from two of the included
      studies reported no statistically significant difference in outcomes amongst
      those who screened positive and received the intervention compared to those who
      screened positive and were given standard care. CONCLUSIONS: Presently there is a
      paucity of published data on the effectiveness of psychosocial assessment in the
      detection and management of postnatal depression and results show conflicting
      evidence. Further RCTs are recommended to further elucidate the effectiveness of
      psychosocial assessments.

PMID- 28598138
TI  - Unexplained infertility: live-birth's prognostic factors to determine the ART
      management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to identify
      prognostic factors that lead to a live birth (LB) in couples with unexplained
      infertility in order to define the best assisted-reproductive technique (ART)
      strategy. METHODS: Prognostic factors of couples with unexplained infertility
      managed initially with gonadotropin intrauterine inseminations (IUI) at a single
      university fertility center were analyzed. Infertility was not considered
      "unexplained" in case of mild male infertility and suspicion of diminished
      ovarian reserve (FSH>10 IU/L). ART management consisted to start with IUI cycles
      and then, if failure, to propose in vitro fertilization (IVF). Couples were
      compared according to the results of IUI cycles in terms of LB. RESULTS: Between
      January 2011 and July 2015, 133 couples with unexplained infertility were
      included (320 IUI cycles). The average age of women was 31.6+/-4.6 years and the
      average number of IUI per couple was 2.4+/-1.2. The IUI live birth rate (LBR) was
      37.6%, with an average of 2 cycles to obtain a pregnancy. For 63 couples, no
      pregnancy occurred after IUI cycles. The prognostic factors of the two groups "LB
      after IUI" vs. "no LB after IUI" were not statistically different. The remaining
      20 couples had a spontaneous pregnancy with a LB. Cumulative LBR, including
      spontaneous and ART pregnancies, was 65.7%. Of the 63 couples with no LB after
      IUI, 33.3% dropped-out from infertility treatments before starting IVF.
      CONCLUSIONS: To avoid couple's drop-out, we advise to start infertility treatment
      for unexplained infertility with two IUI before undergoing IVF if IUI failure.

PMID- 28598139
TI  - Mini-sling efficacy in obese versus non-obese patients for treatment of stress
      urinary incontinence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of obesity on single-incision has been object of concerns.
      The aim of the study was to compare the outcomes of MiniArc single-incision sling
      in normal weight, overweight and obese patients. METHODS: This retrospective
      study analyzed women with proven stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Patients were
      divided into three groups according to BMI: normal weight (group A), overweight
      (group B) and obese (group C). Objective cure rate was assessed with stress test
      and subjective cure rate was determined by ICIQ-SF and PGI-I scores.
      Postoperative overactive bladder syndrome and voiding symptoms were recorded.
      RESULTS: One hundred ninety-two patients were analyzed (A=97; B=68; C=27). Mean
      follow-up was 23.2 months without differences among groups. Estimated blood loss
      and operative time were not influenced by BMI. No bladder perforation were
      observed. Objective cure rate (A=87.6%; B=86.8%; C=81.5%) and subjective outcomes
      resulted similar irrespective of BMI class. De novo onset of overactive bladder
      syndrome and voiding symptoms were reported without significant differences among
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed that single-incision sling Miniarc
      seems to be an effective treatment irrespective of BMI. Operative data,
      complications, objective and subjective outcomes were similar for normal weight,
      overweight and obese women.

PMID- 28598140
TI  - Biomarker profiling of plasma samples utilizing RANDOX biochip array technology.
AB  - RANDOX Biochip Array Technology offers an efficient, cost-effective method of
      measuring multiple analytes on a large number of samples in biologic fluids. This
      innovative technology has proven extremely useful in the profiling of markers in
      a number of different disease states. Biochip arrays have also shown promise in
      clinical trials, offering rapid evaluation of multiple markers and circulating
      levels of the analyte with only a small sample. This biochip technology has broad
      applications in clinical, pharmaceutical, toxicological, immunologic and
      microbiologic areas. This technique offers parallel profiling and will have great
      value in personalized and precision medicine. The aim of this manuscript is to
      explore the recent and future utility of biochips for profiling marker levels in
      different diseased populations using RANDOX's Biochip Array Technology.

PMID- 28598141
TI  - Evaluation of cerebral perfusion by contrast-enhanced ultrasound at low
      mechanical index in cerebral ischemia rat model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No data is available for brain low mechanical index (low-MI) contrast
      enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). This study aimed to assess low-MI CEUS for cerebral
      ischemia in rats. METHODS: Twenty adult Wistar rats were divided to the brain
      ischemia (N.=12) and sham (N.=8) groups. A Logiq E9 (GE; ML6-15 probe) was used.
      Bolus injection of SonoVue (Bracco) at 3.6 mL/kg was performed. Cerebral
      perfusion was evaluated using time to peak (TTP) and area under the curve (AUC)
      of time-intensity curves (TIC). RESULTS: There was a decrease in peak systolic
      BFV of anterior cerebral and middle cerebral arteries in ischemic rats and a
      sharp increase in peak systolic BFV of basilar artery compared with sham rats
      (all P<0.01). Microbubble enhancement occurred in the Willis circle, followed by
      diencephalon and telencephalon. The AUC and TTP of the region of interest at
      telencephalon were significantly different between the two groups; in addition,
      the differences with the diencephalon were also significant (all P<0.01). There
      were differences in AUC and TTP between the telencephalon and diencephalon of the
      same group (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Real-time low-MI CEUS could sensitively
      demonstrate dynamic microbubble enhancement in brain tissues and allows semi
      quantitative assessment of cerebral perfusion after ischemic brain injury using
      TIC.

PMID- 28598142
TI  - Arthroscopic eminoplasty: a new choice of treatment for TMJ internal derangement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) internal derangement is a common
      disabling disorder that is often underestimated by society. The main goal of our
      study was to show the clinic improvement experienced by patients that underwent
      arthroscopic eminoplasty as a treatment for TMJ in our center. METHODS: Nineteen
      patients (1 male, 18 females) agreed to participate voluntarily in our study.
      These patients presented signs and symptoms of TMJ internal derangement and
      pathological MRI images, and underwent arthroscopic eminoplasty in our center. A
      patient database was created to record Wilkes stages, type of surgical
      intervention, complications, and preoperative and postoperative pain and mouth
      opening. RESULTS: Our data showed that TMJ pain (measured 6 months before
      surgery) was higher (M=7.44, SD=1.44; t(18)=8.37, P<0.01) than the pain
      registered eighteen months after surgery (M=3.10, SD=2.40). Moreover,
      postoperative mouth opening (M=33.6 SD=7.92) was greater than preoperative mouth
      opening. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that this technique is effective in
      reducing pain and increasing mouth opening with minimal postoperative morbidity.
      Specifically, this technique minimizes the stress suffered by the joint disc at
      the narrowest points of joint space and increases articular stability.

PMID- 28598143
TI  - Composite Polymer Electrolytes with Li7La3Zr2O12 Garnet-Type Nanowires as Ceramic
      Fillers: Mechanism of Conductivity Enhancement and Role of Doping and Morphology.
AB  - Composite polymer solid electrolytes (CPEs) containing ceramic fillers embedded
      inside a polymer-salt matrix show great improvements in Li+ ionic conductivity
      compared to the polymer electrolyte alone. Lithium lanthanum zirconate
      (Li7La3Zr2O12, LLZO) with a garnet-type crystal structure is a promising solid
      Li+ conductor. We show that by incorporating only 5 wt % of the ceramic filler
      comprising undoped, cubic-phase LLZO nanowires prepared by electrospinning, the
      room temperature ionic conductivity of a polyacrylonitrile-LiClO4-based composite
      is increased 3 orders of magnitude to 1.31 * 10-4 S/cm. Al-doped and Ta-doped
      LLZO nanowires are also synthesized and utilized as fillers, but the conductivity
      enhancement is similar as for the undoped LLZO nanowires. Solid-state nuclear
      magnetic resonance (NMR) studies show that LLZO NWs partially modify the PAN
      polymer matrix and create preferential pathways for Li+ conduction through the
      modified polymer regions. CPEs with LLZO nanoparticles and Al2O3 nanowire fillers
      are also studied to elucidate the role of filler type (active vs passive), LLZO
      composition (undoped vs doped), and morphology (nanowire vs nanoparticle) on the
      CPE conductivity. It is demonstrated that both intrinsic Li+ conductivity and
      nanowire morphology are needed for optimal performance when using 5 wt % of the
      ceramic filler in the CPE.

PMID- 28598144
TI  - Use of Mass Spectrometric Vapor Analysis To Improve Canine Explosive Detection
      Efficiency.
AB  - Canines remain the gold standard for explosives detection in many situations, and
      there is an ongoing desire for them to perform at the highest level. This goal
      requires canine training to be approached similarly to scientific sensor design.
      Developing a canine training regimen is made challenging by a lack of
      understanding of the canine's odor environment, which is dynamic and typically
      contains multiple odorants. Existing methodology assumes that the handler's
      intention is an adequate surrogate for actual knowledge of the odors cuing the
      canine, but canines are easily exposed to unintentional explosive odors through
      training material cross-contamination. A sensitive, real-time (~1 s) vapor
      analysis mass spectrometer was developed to provide tools, techniques, and
      knowledge to better understand, train, and utilize canines. The instrument has a
      detection library of nine explosives and explosive-related materials consisting
      of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT), 2,4,6
      trinitrotoluene (TNT), nitroglycerin (NG), 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine
      (RDX), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), triacetone triperoxide (TATP),
      hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), and cyclohexanone, with detection
      limits in the parts-per-trillion to parts-per-quadrillion range by volume. The
      instrument can illustrate aspects of vapor plume dynamics, such as detecting
      plume filaments at a distance. The instrument was deployed to support canine
      training in the field, detecting cross-contamination among training materials,
      and developing an evaluation method based on the odor environment. Support for
      training material production and handling was provided by studying the dynamic
      headspace of a nonexplosive HMTD training aid that is in development. These
      results supported existing canine training and identified certain areas that may
      be improved.

PMID- 28598145
TI  - Redox Induced Configurational Isomerization of Bisphosphine-Tricarbonyliron(I)
      Complexes and the Difference a Ferrocene Makes.
AB  - The tricarbonyliron (TCFe) complexes Fe(CO)3(dppf) and Fe(CO)3(dppp), where dppf
      = 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene and dppp = 1,3
      bis(diphenylphosphino)propane, exhibit redox activity that induces
      configurational isomerization. The presence of the ferrocenyl (Fc) group
      stabilizes higher oxidized forms of TCFe. Using spectroelectrochemistry (IR, UV
      vis, Mossbauer, and EPR) and computational analysis, we can show that the Fc in
      the backbone of the dppf ligand tends to form a weak dative bond to the
      electrophilic TCFeI and TCFeII species. The open shell TCFeI intermediate was
      stabilized by the distribution of spin between the two Fe centers (Fc and TCFe),
      whereas lacking the Fc moiety resulted in highly reactive TCFeI species. The
      [Fe(CO)3(dppf)]+ cation adopts two possible configurations, square-pyramidal
      (without an Fe-Fe interaction) and trigonal-bipyramidal (containing an Fe-Fe
      interaction). The two configurations are in equilibrium with the trigonal
      bipyramidal configuration being enthalpically favored (DeltaH = -7 kJ mol-1).
      There is an entropic penalty (DeltaS = -20 J mol-1) due to tilting of the Cp
      (cyclopentadienide) rings of the dppf moieties by ~8 degrees . Additionally, the
      terminal iron hydride [FeH(CO)3(dppf)]BF4 was formed by protonation with a strong
      acid (HBF4.Et2O).

PMID- 28598146
TI  - Uranyl Carbonate Complexes in Aqueous Solution and Their Ligand NMR Chemical
      Shifts and 17O Quadrupolar Relaxation Studied by ab Initio Molecular Dynamics.
AB  - Dynamic structural effects, NMR ligand chemical shifts, and 17O NMR quadrupolar
      relaxation rates are investigated in the series of complexes UO22+, UO2(CO3)34-,
      and (UO2)3(CO3)66-. Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) is used to simulate
      the dynamics of the complexes in water. NMR properties are computed on clusters
      extracted from the CPMD trajectories. In the UO22+ complex, coordination at the
      uranium center by water molecules causes a decrease of around 300 ppm for the
      uranyl 17O chemical shift. The final value of this chemical shift is within 40
      ppm of the experimental range. The UO2(CO3)34- and (UO2)3(CO3)66- complexes show
      a solvent dependence of the terminal carbonate 17O and 13C chemical shifts that
      is less pronounced than that for the uranyl oxygen atom. Corrections to the
      chemical shift from hybrid functionals and spin-orbit coupling improve the
      accuracy of chemical shifts if the sensitivity of the uranyl chemical shift to
      the uranyl bond length (estimated at 140 ppm per 0.1 A from trajectory data) is
      taken into consideration. The experimentally reported trend in the two unique 13C
      chemical shifts is correctly reproduced for (UO2)3(CO3)66-. NMR relaxation rate
      data support large 17O peak widths, but remain below those noted in the
      experimental literature. Comparison of relaxation data for solvent-including
      versus solvent-free models suggest that carbonate ligand motion overshadows
      explicit solvent effects.

PMID- 28598147
TI  - X-ray Crystallographic Structure of a Giant Double-Walled Peptide Nanotube Formed
      by a Macrocyclic beta-Sheet Containing Abeta16-22.
AB  - This paper describes the supramolecular assembly of a macrocyclic beta-sheet
      containing residues 16-22 of the beta-amyloid peptide, Abeta. X-ray
      crystallography reveals that the macrocyclic beta-sheet assembles to form double
      walled nanotubes, with an inner diameter of 7 nm and outer diameter of 11 nm. The
      inner wall is composed of an extended network of hydrogen-bonded dimers. The
      outer wall is composed of a separate extended network of beta-barrel-like
      tetramers. These large peptide nanotubes pack into a hexagonal lattice that
      resembles a honeycomb. The complexity and size of the peptide nanotubes rivals
      some of the largest tubular biomolecular assemblies, such as GroEL and
      microtubules. These observations demonstrate that small amyloidogenic sequences
      can be used to build large nanostructures.

PMID- 28598149
TI  - Taking the Silver Bullet Colloidal Silver Particles for the Topical Treatment of
      Biofilm-Related Infections.
AB  - Biofilms are aggregates of bacteria residing in a self-assembled matrix, which
      protects these sessile cells against external stress, including antibiotic
      therapies. In light of emerging multidrug-resistant bacteria, alternative
      strategies to antibiotics are emerging. The present study evaluated the activity
      of colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of different shapes against biofilms
      formed by Staphylococcus aureus (SA), methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA), and
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). Colloidal quasi-spherical, cubic, and star-shaped
      AgNPs were synthesized, and their cytotoxicity on macrophages (THP-1) and
      bronchial epithelial cells (Nuli-1) was analyzed by the lactate dehydrogenase
      assay. The antibiofilm activity was assessed in vitro by the resazurin assay and
      in an in vivo infection model in Caenorhabditis elegans. Cubic and star-shaped
      AgNPs induced cytotoxicity, while quasi-spherical AgNPs were not toxic. Quasi
      spherical AgNPs showed substantial antibiofilm activity in vitro with 96% (+/
      2%), 97% (+/-1%), and 98% (+/-1%) biofilm killing of SA, MRSA, and PA,
      respectively, while significantly reducing mortality of infected nematodes. The
      in vivo antibiofilm activity was linked to the accumulation of AgNPs in the
      intestinal tract of C. elegans as observed by 3D X-ray tomography. Quasi
      spherical AgNPs were physically stable in suspension for over 6 months with no
      observed loss in antibiofilm activity. While toxicity and stability limited the
      utilization of cubic and star-shaped AgNPs, quasi-spherical AgNPs could be
      rapidly synthesized, were stable and nontoxic, and showed substantial in vitro
      and in vivo activity against clinically relevant biofilms. Quasi-spherical AgNPs
      hold potential as pharmacotherapy, for example, as topical treatment for biofilm
      related infections.

PMID- 28598150
TI  - High-Yield Site-Specific Conjugation of Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 with
      Monomethylauristatin E via Cysteine Flanked by Basic Residues.
AB  - Site-specific conjugation is a leading trend in the development of protein
      conjugates, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), suitable for targeted
      cancer therapy. Here, we present a very efficient strategy for specific
      attachment of a cytotoxic drug to fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1), a natural
      ligand of FGF receptors (FGFRs), which are over-expressed in several types of
      lung, breast, and gastric cancers and are therefore an attractive molecular
      target. Recently, we showed that FGF1 fused to monomethylauristatin E (vcMMAE)
      was highly cytotoxic to cells presenting FGFRs on their surface and could be used
      as a targeting agent alternative to an antibody. Unfortunately, conjugation via
      maleimide chemistry to endogenous FGF1 cysteines or a cysteine introduced at the
      N-terminus proceeded with low yield and led to nonhomogeneous products. To
      improve the conjugation, we introduced a novel Lys-Cys-Lys motif at either FGF1
      terminus, which increased cysteine reactivity and allowed us to obtain an FGF1
      conjugate with a defined site of conjugation and a yield exceeding 95%. Using
      FGFR-expressing cancer lines, we confirmed specific cytotoxity of the obtained C
      terminal FGF1-vcMMAE conjugate and its selective endocytososis as compared with
      FGFR1-negative cells. This simple and powerful approach relying on the
      introduction of a short sequence containing cysteine and positively charged amino
      acids could be used universally to improve the efficiency of the site-specific
      chemical modification of other proteins.

PMID- 28598148
TI  - Effect of a K72A Mutation on the Structure, Stability, Dynamics, and Peroxidase
      Activity of Human Cytochrome c.
AB  - We test the hypothesis that Lys72 suppresses the intrinsic peroxidase activity of
      human cytochrome c, as observed previously for yeast iso-1-cytochrome c
      [McClelland, L. J., et al. (2014) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 111, 6648
      6653]. A 1.25 A X-ray structure of K72A human cytochrome c shows that the
      mutation minimally affects structure. Guanidine hydrochloride denaturation
      demonstrates that the K72A mutation increases global stability by 0.5 kcal/mol.
      The K72A mutation also increases the apparent pKa of the alkaline transition, a
      measure of the stability of the heme crevice, by 0.5 unit. Consistent with the
      increase in the apparent pKa, the rate of formation of the dominant alkaline
      conformer decreases, and this conformer is no longer stabilized by proline
      isomerization. Peroxidase activity measurements show that the K72A mutation
      increases kcat by 1.6-4-fold at pH 7-10, an effect larger than that seen for the
      yeast protein. X-ray structures of wild type and K72A human cytochrome c indicate
      that direct interactions of Lys72 with the far side of Omega-loop D, which are
      seen in X-ray structures of horse and yeast cytochrome c and could suppress
      peroxidase activity, are lacking. Instead, we propose that the stronger effect of
      the K72A mutation on the peroxidase activity of human versus yeast cytochrome c
      results from relief of steric interactions between the side chains at positions
      72 and 81 (Ile in human vs Ala in yeast), which suppress the dynamics of Omega
      loop D necessary for the intrinsic peroxidase activity of cytochrome c.

PMID- 28598152
TI  - Continuous-Ink, Multiplexed Pen-Plotter Approach for Low-Cost, High-Throughput
      Fabrication of Paper-Based Microfluidics.
AB  - There is an unmet need for high-throughput fabrication techniques for paper-based
      microanalytical devices, especially in limited resource areas. Fabrication of
      these devices requires precise and repeatable deposition of hydrophobic materials
      in a defined pattern to delineate the hydrophilic reaction zones. In this study,
      we demonstrated a cost- and time-effective method for high-throughput, easily
      accessible fabrication of paper-based microfluidics using a desktop pen plotter
      integrated with a custom-designed multipen holder. This approach enabled
      simultaneous printing with multiple printing heads and, thus, multiplexed
      fabrication. Moreover, we proposed an ink supply system connected to commercial
      technical pens to allow continuous flow of the ink, thereby increasing the
      printing capacity of the system. We tested the use of either hot- or cold
      laminating layers to improve (i) the durability, stability, and mechanical
      strength of the paper-based devices and (ii) the seal on the back face of the
      chromatography paper to prevent wetting of the sample beyond the hydrophilic
      testing region. To demonstrate a potential application of the paper-based
      microfluidic devices fabricated by the proposed method, colorimetric urine assays
      were implemented and tested: nitrite, urobilinogen, protein, blood, and pH.

PMID- 28598153
TI  - Molecular Precursors for ZnO Nanoparticles: Field-Assisted Synthesis,
      Electrophoretic Deposition, and Field-Effect Transistor Device Performance.
AB  - Zinc complexes with multidentate Schiff base ligands are suitable precursors for
      ZnO in microwave-assisted transformation reactions.
      [Bis(acetylacetonato)ethylenediimine]zinc(II) and
      [bis(methylacetoacetato)ethylenediimine]zinc(II) have been synthesized with high
      purity and good yield from the direct reaction of the respective diimine ligand
      with diethylzinc in tetrahydrofuran. The thermal decay is studied by
      thermogravimetry coupled with online infrared spectroscopy. The ceramization
      reaction in ethoxyethanol yields stable dispersions of spherical ZnO
      nanoparticles with very small particle sizes (around 5-6 nm), which can be
      employed for coating and thin-film deposition processes. Field-effect transistors
      (FETs) composed of thin films fabricated from these semiconducting ZnO particles
      possess charge-carrier mobilities of 6.0 * 10-3 and 5.4 * 10-2 cm2/(V s) after
      processing at 350 and 450  degrees C, respectively. Electrophoretic deposition
      affords dense film coatings composed of these ZnO nanoparticles with thicknesses
      of 30-90 nm on ITO (indium tin oxide) glass-electrodes. The positive zeta
      potentials of the ZnO nanoparticles in these dispersions are in agreement with
      the electrocoating process at the cathode.

PMID- 28598151
TI  - Active Targeting of the Nucleus Using Nonpeptidic Boronate Tags.
AB  - Active intracellular transport is a central mechanism in cell biology, directed
      by a limited set of naturally occurring signaling peptides. Here, we report the
      first nonpeptide moiety that recruits intracellular transport machinery for
      nuclear targeting. Proteins synthetically modified with a simple aromatic
      boronate motif are actively trafficked to the nucleus via the importin alpha/beta
      pathway. Significantly, proteins too large to passively diffuse through nuclear
      pores were readily imported into the nucleus through this boronate-mediated
      pathway. The use of this simple motif to provide active intracellular targeting
      provides a promising strategy for directing subcellular localization for
      therapeutic and fundamental applications.

PMID- 28598155
TI  - Dissolution Trapping of Carbon Dioxide in Heterogeneous Aquifers.
AB  - The geologic architecture in sedimentary reservoirs affects the behavior of
      density-driven flow and the dispersion of CO2-rich brine. The spatial
      organization and connectivity of facies types play an important role. Low
      permeability facies may suppress fingering and reduce vertical spreading, but may
      also increase transverse mixing. This is more pronounced when geologic structures
      create preferential flow pathways through connected facies types. We perform high
      resolution simulations of three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous formations whose
      connectivity cannot be represented in two-dimensional models consistent with
      percolation theory. This work focuses on the importance of 3D facies-based
      heterogeneity and connectivity on advection-diffusion transport of dissolved CO2.
      Because the dissolution of CO2 and the subsequent density increase of brine are
      the driving force for gravitational instabilities, we model the phase behavior
      with the accurate cubic-plus-association equation-of-state, which accounts for
      the self-association of polar water molecules and the cross-association between
      CO2 and water. Our results elucidate how the spatial organization of facies
      affects the dynamics of CO2 convective mixing. Scaling relations for the
      evolution of a global dispersion-width provide insights that can be universally
      applied. The results suggest that the long-term evolution and scaling of
      dispersion are surprisingly similar for homogeneous and (binary and multiscale)
      heterogeneous porous media.

PMID- 28598154
TI  - 3D-Printable Bioactivated Nanocellulose-Alginate Hydrogels.
AB  - We describe herein a nanocellulose-alginate hydrogel suitable for 3D printing.
      The composition of the hydrogel was optimized based on material characterization
      methods and 3D printing experiments, and its behavior during the printing process
      was studied using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The hydrogel was
      biofunctionalized by the covalent coupling of an enhanced avidin protein to the
      cellulose nanofibrils. Ionic cross-linking of the hydrogel using calcium ions
      improved the performance of the material. The resulting hydrogel is suitable for
      3D printing, its mechanical properties indicate good tissue compatibility, and
      the hydrogel absorbs water in moist conditions, suggesting potential in
      applications such as wound dressings. The biofunctionalization potential was
      shown by attaching a biotinylated fluorescent protein and a biotinylated
      fluorescent small molecule via avidin and monitoring the material using confocal
      microscopy. The 3D-printable bioactivated nanocellulose-alginate hydrogel offers
      a platform for the development of biomedical devices, wearable sensors, and drug
      releasing materials.

PMID- 28598156
TI  - Ultrafast Self-Assembly of Sub-10 nm Block Copolymer Nanostructures by Solvent
      Free High-Temperature Laser Annealing.
AB  - Laser spike annealing was applied to PS-b-PDMS diblock copolymers to induce short
      time (millisecond time scale), high-temperature (300 to 700  degrees C)
      microphase segregation and directed self-assembly of sub-10 nm features.
      Conditions were identified that enabled uniform microphase separation in the time
      frame of tens of milliseconds. Microphase ordering improved with increased
      temperature and annealing time, whereas phase separation contrast was lost for
      very short annealing times at high temperature. PMMA brush underlayers aided
      ordering under otherwise identical laser annealing conditions. Good long-range
      order for sub-10 nm cylinder morphology was achieved using graphoepitaxy coupled
      with a 20 ms dwell laser spike anneal above 440  degrees C.

PMID- 28598157
TI  - Pseudoknot Formation Seeds the Twister Ribozyme Cleavage Reaction Coordinate.
AB  - The twister RNA is a recently discovered nucleolytic ribozyme that is present in
      both bacteria and eukarya. While its biological role remains unclear, crystal
      structure analyses and biochemical approaches have revealed critical features of
      its catalytic mechanism. Here, we set out to explore dynamic aspects of twister
      RNA folding along the cleavage reaction coordinate. To do so, we have employed
      both bulk and single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
      methods to investigate a set of twister RNAs with labels strategically positioned
      at communicating segments. The data reveal that folding of the central pseudoknot
      (T1), the most crucial structural determinant to promote cleavage, exhibits
      reversible opening and closing dynamics at physiological Mg2+ concentration.
      Uncoupled folding, in which T1 formation precedes structuring for closing of stem
      P1, was confirmed using pre-steady-state three-color smFRET experiments initiated
      by Mg2+ injection. This finding suggests that the folding path of twister RNA
      requires proper orientation of the substrate prior to T1 closure such that the U5
      A6 cleavage site becomes embraced to achieve its cleavage competent conformation.
      We also find that the cleaved 3'-fragment retains its compacted pseudoknot fold,
      despite the absence of the phylogenetically conserved stem P1, rationalizing the
      poor turnover efficiency of the twister ribozyme.

PMID- 28598159
TI  - Palladium-Promoted Neutral 1,4-Brook Rearrangement/Intramolecular Allylic
      Cyclization Cascade Reaction: A Strategy for the Construction of Vinyl
      Cyclobutanols.
AB  - A cascade reaction to build vinyl cyclobutanol rings through activation of vinyl
      epoxides by palladium, followed by 1,4-Brook rearrangement and intramolecular
      cyclization with a palladium complex of the resulting carbon anion, is described.
      Through this cascade reaction, several highly substituted cyclobutanol substrates
      were achieved in good yields with high stereoselectivities.

PMID- 28598158
TI  - Selective and Scalable Perfluoroarylation of Nitroalkanes.
AB  - Functionalized per- and polyfluoroarenes are important building blocks, with many
      industrially and medicinally important molecules containing them. Nucleophilic
      aromatic substitution can be employed as a quick and straightforward way to
      synthesize these building blocks. While many methods to derivatize fluoroarenes
      exist that use heteroatom centered nucleophiles, there are fewer methods that use
      carbon centered nucleophiles, and of those many are poorly defined. This work
      presents the SNAr reaction of nucleophiles generated from nitroalkanes with a
      variety of fluorinated arenes. Given that the products are versatile, accessing
      polyfluorinated arene building blocks in substantial scale is important. This
      method is highly regioselective, and produces good to moderate yields on a large
      scale, sans chromatography, and thus fulfills this need. In addition, the
      regioselectivity of the addition was probed using both DFT calculations and
      experimentally via halogen exchange.

PMID- 28598160
TI  - A Double Decarboxylation in Superfolder Green Fluorescent Protein Leads to High
      Contrast Photoactivation.
AB  - A photoactivatable variant of superfolder green fluorescent protein (GFP) was
      created by replacing the threonine at position 203 with aspartic acid.
      Photoactivation by exposure of this mutant to UV light resulted in conversion of
      the fluorophore from the neutral to the negatively charged form, accompanied by a
      ~95-fold increase in fluorescence under 488 nm excitation. Mass spectrometry
      before and after exposure to UV light revealed a change in mass of 88 Da,
      attributed to the double decarboxylation of Glu 222 and Asp 203. Kinetics studies
      and nonlinear power-dependence of the initial rate of photoconversion indicated
      that the double decarboxylation occurred via a multiphoton absorption process at
      254 nm. In addition to providing a photoactivatable GFP with robust folding
      properties, a detailed mechanistic understanding of this double decarboxylation
      in GFP will lead to a better understanding of charge transfer in fluorescent
      proteins.

PMID- 28598161
TI  - Ruthenium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Fused Tricyclic 1H-2,3-Dihydropyrimido[1,2
      a]quinolines in One Step.
AB  - A novel ruthenium-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of a nitrile and an
      azetidine was developed to achieve a one-step synthesis of the fused tricyclic 1H
      2,3-dihydropyrimido[1,2-a]quinoline, which is the core skeleton for more than 100
      natural pyoverdines and is also responsible for their fluorescence.

PMID- 28598162
TI  - Linear Response Theory for Water Transport Through Dry Nanopores.
AB  - Porous two-dimensional crystals like graphene have the potential to revolutionize
      reverse-osmosis membrane technology. The permeability is a common figure of merit
      that describes the ease with which water flows through a membrane. For two
      dimensional crystals, the permeability can be orders of magnitude higher than it
      is in conventional reverse-osmosis membranes. We apply our Gaussian Dynamics
      nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation method to very hydrophobic two
      dimensional membranes and find that the current-pressure drop relationship
      becomes nonlinear. In this regime, the conventional permeability is an inadequate
      descriptor of the passage process, and the transport mechanism becomes a two-step
      one. The backing pressure first causes the pore to wet, and after it reaches a
      threshold pressure, water transport takes place from the wet state. We recover a
      simple description of the transport process by applying linear response theory
      with respect to the wet reference state rather than the dry one. A macroscopic
      thermodynamic argument supports our mechanistic description and predicts the
      wetting threshold pressure as a function of the contact angle.

PMID- 28598163
TI  - Structural Color Patterns on Paper Fabricated by Inkjet Printer and Their
      Application in Anticounterfeiting.
AB  - Inkjet-printed structural color patterns have attracted great attention in recent
      years because of their broadly promising applications. However, the patterns are
      usually fabricated on pretreated plastic substrates. Herein a convenient inkjet
      printing method was developed to fabricate large-scale computer-designed
      structural color patterns on photo paper without any treatment using inks
      containing monodisperse CdS spheres. By this strategy, not only were the single
      color and multicolor structural color patterns on paper successfully obtained,
      but also invisible photonic anticounterfeiting was achieved without any external
      stimuli. The key point of this anticounterfeiting technique is printing patterns
      and the background with inks containing uniformed CdS spheres with different
      diameters but similar intrinsic colors, so that the invisible patterns can be
      observed clearly by simply changing the viewing angle. The invisible and visible
      can be realized without the change of intrinsic structure, and the patterns are
      all solids. The patterns will have long lifetime and good durability, which is
      beneficial for their practical usage.

PMID- 28598164
TI  - Asymmetric Syntheses of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids (-)-Crinane and (+)-4a
      Dehydroxycrinamabine.
AB  - A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allyl-allyl cross-coupling reaction to construct
      the chiral quaternary carbon center of crinane alkaloids has been developed. On
      the basis of an efficient approach, the enantioselective synthesis of (-)-crinane
      (1) is presented, and the first asymmetric total synthesis of (+)-4a
      dehydroxycrinamabine (2) was achieved by subsequent oxidation, 1,4-conjugate
      addition, RCM reaction, reductive amination, and Pictet-Spengler reaction. The
      method provided an alternative strategy for the syntheses of crinane alkaloids
      and other Amaryllidaceae natural products.

PMID- 28598165
TI  - Phosphine-Catalyzed Domino beta/gamma-Additions of Benzofuranones with
      Allenoates: A Method for Unsymmetrical 3,3-Disubstituted Benzofuranones.
AB  - A phosphine-catalyzed domino process of benzofuranones with allenoates has been
      developed which furnishes highly functionalized unsymmetrical 3,3-disubstituted
      benzofuranones in synthetically useful yields. The mechanism for the
      transformation is a tandem beta-umpolung/gamma-umpolung process.

PMID- 28598166
TI  - Resolving the Iron Phthalocyanine Redox Transitions for ORR Catalysis in Aqueous
      Media.
AB  - Metal macrocycles are among the most important catalytic systems in
      electrocatalysis and biocatalysis owing to their rich redox chemistry. Precise
      understanding of the redox behavior of metal macrocycles in operando is essential
      for fundamental studies and practical applications of this catalytic system. Here
      we present electrochemical data for the representative iron phthalocyanine (FePc)
      in both aqueous and nonaqueous media coupled with in situ Raman and X-ray
      absorption analyses to challenge the traditional notion of the redox transition
      of FePc at the low potential end in aqueous media by showing that it arises from
      the redox transition of the ring. Our data unequivocally demonstrate that the
      electron is shuttled to the Pc ring via the Fe(II)/Fe(I) redox center. The
      Fe(II)/Fe(I) redox transition of FePc in aqueous media is indiscernible by normal
      spectroscopic methods owing to the lack of a suitable axial ligand to stabilize
      the Fe(I) state.

PMID- 28598167
TI  - Closer versus Long Range Interaction Effects on the Non-Arrhenius Behavior of
      Quasi-Resonant O2 + N2 Collisions.
AB  - We report in this paper an investigation on energy transfer processes from
      vibration to vibration and/or translation in thermal and subthermal regimes for
      the O2 + N2 system performed using quantum-classical calculations on different
      empirical, semiempirical, and ab initio potential energy surfaces. In particular,
      the paper focuses on the rationalization of the non-Arrhenius behavior (inversion
      of the temperature dependence) of the quasi-resonant vibration-to-vibration
      energy transfer transition rate coefficients at threshold. To better understand
      the microscopic nature of the involved processes, we pushed the calculations to
      the detail of the related cross sections and analyzed the impact of the medium
      and long-range components of the interaction on them. Furthermore, the variation
      with temperature of the dependence of the quasi-resonant rate coefficient on the
      vibrational energy gap between initial and final vibrational states and the
      effectiveness of quantum-classical calculations to overcome the limitations of
      the purely classical treatments were also investigated. These treatments, handled
      in an open molecular science fashion by chaining data and competencies of the
      various laboratories using a grid empowered molecular simulator, have allowed a
      rationalization of the dependence of the computed rate coefficients in terms of
      the distortion of the O2-N2 configuration during the diatom-diatom collisions. A
      way of relating such distortions to a smooth and continuous progress variable,
      allowing a proper evolution from both long to closer range formulation of the
      interaction and from its entrance to exit channel (through the strong interaction
      region) relaxed graphical representations, is also discussed in the paper.

PMID- 28598169
TI  - Reunderstanding the Fluorescent Behavior of Four-Coordinate Monoboron Complexes
      Containing Monoanionic Bidentate Ligands.
AB  - We demonstrated for the first time that, at temperatures below the melting point
      of a given polar solvent, the emission of some four-coordinate monoboron
      complexes containing monoanionic bidentate (NO) ligands shifted to lower
      wavelengths, but no such shift was observed for studies conducted in nonpolar
      solvents. This means that the emission from a polar solvent appears at shorter
      wavelengths if compared with that from a nonpolar solvent when the measurement
      was performed at low temperatures, a phenomenon totally different from that
      observed for conventional solvatochromic fluorophores. The finding was
      rationalized by considering the temperature-dependent conformational relaxation
      of the tetrahedron monoboron complexes from their local excited (LE) state to
      their relaxed excited (RE) state. Further studies revealed that variating the
      structure of the chelating ligands could result in remarkable changes in the
      fluorescent colors of the monoboron complexes. However, changing the structure of
      other two monodentate ligands showed little effect upon the fluorescence property
      of the compounds. Therefore, it is anticipated that the monoboron complexes may
      be taken as a platform to construct a variety of functional molecular systems via
      alternating the structure of the chelating ligand and that of the monodentate
      ligand. As an example, naphthalene was introduced as a monodentate ligand, and
      independent emissions from naphthalene unit and the other part of the monoboron
      complex as well as intramolecular energy transfer between them were observed. It
      is believed that the present work provides a new insight into the monoboron
      complexes, laying the foundation for them to be explored for developing novel
      molecular systems.

PMID- 28598168
TI  - Diastereoselective Au-Catalyzed Allene Cycloisomerizations to Highly Substituted
      Cyclopentenes.
AB  - Site- and regiocontrolled Au-catalyzed allene carbocyclizations furnish highly
      substituted cyclopentenes in >1:1 dr. Significant substitution on the substrate
      is tolerated, with potential to install five contiguous stereocenters after
      alkene functionalization. Major challenges include identifying a Au/Cu catalyst
      that controls both the relative rates of allene epimerization/cyclization and the
      facial selectivity in addition of a metal enolate to the allene. Experiments to
      achieve stereodivergent cyclizations and transform key cyclopentenes into useful
      synthetic building blocks are described.

PMID- 28598171
TI  - Exotic Physics and Chemistry of Two-Dimensional Phosphorus: Phosphorene.
AB  - Phosphorene, the monolayer form of black phosphorus, is the most recent addition
      to graphene-like van der Waals two-dimensional (2D) systems. Due to its several
      interesting properties, namely its tunable direct band gap, high carrier
      mobility, and unique in-plane anisotropy, it has emerged as a promising candidate
      for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Phosphorene (Pn) reveals a much richer
      phase diagram than graphene, and it comprises the two forms namely the stapler
      clip like (black Pn, alpha form) and chairlike (blue Pn, beta form) structures.
      Regardless of its favorable properties, black Pn suffers from instability in
      oxygen and water, which limits its successful applications in electronic devices.
      In this Perspective, the cause of structural diversity of Pn, which leads to
      different properties of both black and blue Pn, is discussed. We provide possible
      solutions for protecting phosphorene from chemical degradation and its
      applications in the field of energy storage namely for Li and Na ion batteries.

PMID- 28598170
TI  - Synthesis of (1 -> 2)-S-Linked Saccharides and S-Linked Glycoconjugates via a
      Palladium-G3-XantPhos Precatalyst Catalysis.
AB  - Buchwald-Hartwig-Migita cross-coupling of 1-thiosugars with 2-iodoglycals has
      been accomplished under mild and operationally simple reaction conditions through
      the use of Pd-G3 XantPhos palladacycle precatalyst. This new methodology has been
      successfully applied to a variety of alpha- or beta-mono-, di-, and polythiosugar
      derivatives to synthesize efficiently a series of (1 -> 2)-S-linked
      thiosaccharides and S-linked glycoconjugates, which are difficult to synthesize
      by classical methods.

PMID- 28598172
TI  - Feasibility of Photosensitized Reactions with Secondary Organic Aerosol Particles
      in the Presence of Volatile Organic Compounds.
AB  - The ability of a complex mixture of organic compounds found in secondary organic
      aerosol (SOA) to act as a photosensitizer in the oxidation of volatile organic
      compounds (VOCs) was investigated. Different types of SOAs were produced in a
      smog chamber by oxidation of various biogenic and anthropogenic VOCs. The SOA
      particles were collected from the chamber onto an inert substrate, and the
      resulting material was exposed to 365 nm radiation in an air flow containing ~200
      ppbv of limonene vapor. The mixing ratio of limonene and other VOCs in the flow
      was observed with a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer
      (PTR-ToF-MS). The photosensitized uptake of limonene was observed for several SOA
      materials, with a lower limit for the reactive uptake coefficient on the scale of
      ~10-5. The lower limit for the uptake coefficient under conditions of Los
      Angeles, California on the summer solstice at noon was estimated to be on the
      order of ~10-6. Photoproduction of oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) resulting from
      photodegradation of the SOA material also occurred in parallel with the
      photosensitized uptake of limonene. The estimated photosensitized limonene uptake
      rates by atmospheric SOA particles and vegetation surfaces appear to be too small
      to compete with the atmospheric oxidation of limonene by the hydroxyl radical or
      ozone. However, these processes could play a role in the leaf boundary layer
      where concentrations of oxidants are depleted and concentrations of VOCs are
      enhanced relative to the free atmosphere.

PMID- 28598173
TI  - Nanocrystal Width Controls Fibrinogen Orientation and Assembly Kinetics on
      Poly(butene-1) Surfaces.
AB  - From the view of biomedical relevance, it is known that a specific arrangement of
      surface-immobilized human plasma fibrinogen (HPF) molecules is required to retain
      their biological functionality. Here, we demonstrate a topographical effect of
      chemically identical isotactic poly(butene-1) (iPB-1) semicrystalline
      nanostructures on the adsorption behavior, i.e., conformation change and
      orientation of HPF molecules. Using the distinct crystallization of iPB-1 under
      different shear conditions, polymer thin films consisting of needle-like crystals
      (NLCs) or shish-kebab crystals (SKCs) having lateral dimension, i.e., width,
      smaller than or comparable to the HPF major axis, respectively, were fabricated.
      The protein adsorption kinetic studies by quartz crystal microbalance with
      dissipation (QCM-D) revealed surface-dependent packing density and assembly
      configuration of HPF. High-resolution imaging disclosed a "side-on" protein
      adsorption and anisotropic network formation on the NLCs. With a 2-fold
      orientation analysis performed at both "single" protein and multiprotein levels,
      we quantitatively proved the preferential alignment of adsorbed HPF molecules
      with respect to the axial direction of the NLCs. Remarkably, the iPB-1 surface
      with SKCs perturbed the "end-to-end" protein-protein interactions and thus
      hindered the network formation. The distinguished adsorption behavior of HPF
      molecules on iPB-1 surfaces is explained by the physical effect of crystal width,
      which is additionally supported by the synergistic effect of crystal curvature
      and aspect ratio. Our studies provide fundamental insight into purely topography
      controlled self-assembly of HPF molecules, which might be further exploited in
      creating topographically defined implant surfaces for preventing protein
      aggregation related disorders.

PMID- 28598174
TI  - General Approach to Five-Membered Nitrogen Heteroaryl C-Glycosides Using a
      Palladium/Copper Cocatalyzed C-H Functionalization Strategy.
AB  - A general approach to the synthesis of diverse heteroaryl-C-Delta1,2-glycosides
      has been developed by employing the Pd(OAc)2/CuI cocatalyzed direct cross
      coupling of five-membered nitrogen heterocycles with 1-iodoglycals in a C-H
      activation manner. Using this method, 27 examples of heteroaryl-C-Delta1,2
      glycosides, containing indoles, thiazoles, benzothiazoles, imidazoles,
      benzimidazoles, and benzoxazoles as aglycones were obtained in 43-99% yield.

PMID- 28598175
TI  - Naphthoquinones of Sinningia reitzii and Anti-inflammatory/Antinociceptive
      Activities of 8-Hydroxydehydrodunnione.
AB  - Chemical investigation of the tubers of Sinningia reitzii led to the isolation of
      five new naphthoquinones, 8-hydroxydehydrodunnione (1), 7-hydroxydehydrodunnione
      (2), 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-alpha-dunnione (3), 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxydunniol
      (4), and 8-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2-O-methylstreptocarpone (5). Three known
      naphthoquinones, 7-hydroxy-alpha-dunnione, 8-hydroxydunnione, and 6,8-dihydroxy-7
      methoxy-2-O-methyldunniol, were also identified. When tested for anti
      inflammatory activity in a mouse model, compound 1 (50-500 pg/paw) reduced the
      edema induced by carrageenan in a dose-dependent fashion. The highest dose showed
      a similar inhibition to that observed for the positive control dexamethasone. At
      lower doses (5-10 pg/paw), 1 also dose dependently reduced the mechanical
      hyperalgesia induced by carrageenan. Compound 1 (15 pg/paw) abolished the
      mechanical hyperalgesia induced by prostaglandin E2 and dopamine, but not that
      induced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP. Dipyrone (320 MUg/paw) completely abolished the
      hyperalgesia induced by these algogens. Additionally, compound 1 did not alter
      heat-induced nociception. These results suggest that this new naphthoquinone
      exhibits important anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities, which is
      dissimilar to that of most known analgesics.

PMID- 28598177
TI  - Finally in Italy the School of Specialisation in Paediatric Dentistry!
AB  - After over two decades of discussions, promises and indecisions, the year 2016
      marked the birth of the School of Specialisation in Paediatric Dentistry, which
      is now a reality. The importance of dental post-graduate specialisation schools
      has been debated since the Degree Course in Dentistry was established.
      Previously, in Italy only two dental branches - Oral Surgery and Orthodontics -
      had obtained the recognition that a School of Specialisation entails. Today, with
      specific training and the newly- established hyper-specialisation in Paediatric
      Dentistry, the future of the profession is brighter than ever. This will allow
      dental professionals to provide the best cure to our young patients but it
      especially marks and recognises the importance of prevention in general. Having
      established a Specialty School in Paediatric Dentistry is also important to keep
      the pace with the other European countries where this postgraduate course has
      been already offered for many years. In my opinion, training professionals with a
      solid specialisation based both on cultural insights and hands-on clinical
      activities translates into the possibility of making true prevention. The
      ultimate goal of paediatric dentists, as well as paediatricians, is certainly to
      treat young patients but also and above all to accompany them toward an adulthood
      possibly free of pathologies. With an eye to a future where Paediatric Dentistry
      will be at the core of dental and orthodontic prevention, I wish great success to
      all the many specialisation schools established within the Italian Universities.

PMID- 28598176
TI  - Reaction Kinetics of Phenolic Antioxidants toward Photoinduced Pyranine Free
      Radicals in Biological Models.
AB  - 8-Hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonic acid (pyranine, PyOH) free radicals were
      induced by laser excitation at visible wavelengths (470 nm). The photochemical
      process involves photoelectron ejection from PyO- to produce PyO* and PyO*- with
      maxima absorption at 450 and 510 nm, respectively. The kinetic rate constants for
      phenolic antioxidants with PyO*, determined by nanosecond time-resolved
      spectroscopy, were largely reliant on the ionic strength depending on the
      antioxidant phenol/phenolate dissociation constant. Further, the apparent rate
      constant measured in the presence of Triton X100 micelles was influenced by the
      antioxidant partition between the micelle and the dispersant aqueous media but
      limited by its exit rates from the micelle. Similarly, the rate reaction between
      ascorbic acid and PyO* was markedly affected by the presence of human serum
      albumin responding to the dynamic of the ascorbic acid binding to the protein.

PMID- 28598178
TI  - Multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of double bilateral upper permanent
      incisors in a young boy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A double tooth is a rare developmental anomaly referring to the
      fusion of two adjacent tooth buds or the gemination of a single bud. CASE REPORT:
      This case report describes the multidisciplinary approach to an 11-year-old
      patient with two double upper permanent incisors. The clinical intraoral
      examination showed a mixed dentition with bilateral double maxillary central
      incisors, molar Class I malocclusion and palatal ectopy of two lateral upper
      incisors. Computed tomography of the upper dental arch revealed the presence of
      double central incisors with two distinct roots. The clinical choice consisted of
      an innovative treatment including surgical, endodontic, orthodontic and
      restorative treatments. This management protocol produced good aesthetic, healthy
      and functional results that were stable also two years post-treatment.

PMID- 28598179
TI  - In vivo and in vitro comparison of ICDAS II, DIAGNOdent pen, CarieScan PRO and
      SoproLife camera for occlusal caries detection in primary molar teeth.
AB  - AIM: This research was aimed to investigate the in vivo and in vitro performance
      of traditional and novel methods in the detection of occlusal caries in primary
      teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty primary molar teeth were
      assessed by two examiners both in vivo using ICDAS II, radiographic examination,
      DIAGNOdent pen, CarieScan PRO and SoproLife camera and in vitro using the
      mentioned diagnostic methods except radiographic examination. In addition, in
      vitro examinations were repeated 2 weeks later. After sectioning and evaluation
      under stereomicroscope, the lesion depth was determined with Downer's
      histological criteria. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive
      value, accuracy and area under the ROC curve were calculated at D1 and D3
      thresholds. The intra- and inter-examiners' reproducibility were analysed using
      Cohen's kappa statistics and intraclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Intra-
      and inter-examiner repeatability were high for all methods. While ICDAS and
      SoproLife camera showed the highest sensitivity value at D1 and D3 thresholds in
      vivo, radiographic examination showed the lowest sensitivity values. While ICDAS
      and SoproLife camera showed the highest sensitivity values at D3 threshold in
      vitro, CarieScan PRO showed the lowest sensitivity value. CONCLUSION: The ICDAS
      II method could be sufficient alone in diagnosis of occlusal caries of primary
      teeth. However, SoproLife camera may be useful in monitoring caries lesions.

PMID- 28598180
TI  - Evaluation of the Self-Adjusting File system (SAF) for the instrumentation of
      primary molar root canals: a micro-computed tomographic study.
AB  - AIM: The Self-Adjusting File (SAF) system has been recommended for use in
      permanent teeth since it offers more conservative and effective root-canal
      preparation when compared to traditional rotary systems. However, no study had
      evaluated the usage of SAF in primary teeth. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate and compare the use of SAF, K file (manual instrumentation) and Profile
      (traditional rotary instrumentation) systems for primary-tooth root-canal
      preparation in terms of instrumentation time and amounts of dentin removed using
      micro-computed tomography (&#956;CT) technology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study
      Design: The study was conducted with 60 human primary mandibular second molar
      teeth divided into 3 groups according to instrumentation technique: Group I: SAF
      (n=20); Group II: K file (n=20); Group III; Profile (n=20). Teeth were embedded
      in acrylic blocks and scanned with a &#956;CT scanner prior to instrumentation.
      All distal root canals were prepared up to size 30 for K file,.04/30 for Profile
      and 2 mm thickness, size 25 for SAF; instrumentation time was recorded for each
      tooth, and a second &#956;CT scan was performed after instrumentation was
      complete. Amounts of dentin removed were measured using the three-dimensional
      images by calculating the difference in root-canal volume before and after
      preparation. Data was statistically analysed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and
      Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: Manual instrumentation (K file) resulted in
      significantly more dentin removal when compared to rotary instrumentation
      (Profile and SAF), while the SAF system generated significantly less dentin
      removal than both manual instrumentation (K file) and traditional rotary
      instrumentation (Profile) (p<.05). Instrumentation time was significantly greater
      with manual instrumentation when compared to rotary instrumentation (p<.05),
      whereas instrumentation time did not differ significantly between the Profile and
      SAF systems. CONCLUSION: Within the experimental conditions of the present study,
      the SAF seems as a useful system for root-canal instrumentation in primary molars
      because it removed less dentin than other systems, which is especially important
      for the relatively thin-walled canals of primary teeth, and because it involves
      less clinical time, which is particularly important in the treatment of
      paediatric patients.

PMID- 28598181
TI  - A new method for deep caries treatment in primary teeth using ozone: a
      retrospective study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a new protocol for
      deep caries treatment in deciduous teeth based on: 1) the incomplete removal of
      carious dentin tissue; 2) the use of new technology (ozone) for the disinfection
      of carious dentine; 3) the creation of a peripheral seal in healthy tissue for
      bonding procedures with rubber dam isolation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From a
      personal database, authors selected 50 consecutive patients (28 males, 22
      females; mean age 5.8 &#177; 1.7 years) in whom this new protocol was applied on
      posterior deciduous molars, for a total of 94 restorations. RESULTS: Regular
      follow- ups were performed at 3, 6 and 12 months by a second operator, who was
      asked to rate each restoration as success or failure. The success rate at 12
      months was 93,62% (n. 88/94 restorations), similar to that reported in the
      literature for pulpotomy. CONCLUSION: The deciduous teeth considered for this
      study, if treated conventionally, would have probably been subjected to
      pulpotomy, because of the extension of the carious lesions. The proposed
      protocol, through the use of ozone, proved to be an excellent alternative, with
      the fundamental advantage of saving dental tissue and preventing the invasion of
      the pulp chamber.

PMID- 28598182
TI  - Masticatory parameters of children with and without clinically diagnosed caries
      in permanent dentition.
AB  - AIM: Mastication turns food into a bolus and prepares it for chemical digestion.
      Any condition affecting tooth structure and position may have an impact on
      mastication. The aim of this study is to compare masticatory performance (MP) and
      maximum bite force (MBF) between children with and without clinically visible
      caries in permanent first molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted
      with 50 children in good general condition aged 12-14 years (25 girls, 25 boys)
      with no orthodontic/skeletal anomalies and no missing teeth due to dental trauma
      or extraction. Maximum bite force was measured bilaterally using strain gauge
      sensors. Masticatory performance was evaluated by silicone tablet comminution
      test. RESULTS: Masticatory performance was superior in caries-free children when
      compared to children with caries. Maximum bite force values in children with and
      without caries were not statistically different. CONCLUSIONS: Caries reduces
      masticatory performance. Therefore, treatment is crucial for masticatory
      efficiency.

PMID- 28598183
TI  - Dental fear/anxiety among children and adolescents. A systematic review.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this paper was to review the published scientific literature to
      quantify the prevalence and mean score of dental fear/anxiety (DFA) in
      children/adolescents and its variation according to several variables. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Cross- sectional and cohort studies published from 2000 to 2014,
      that measured DFA in children /adolescents (aged 0-19 years), in the general
      population, or visiting private or public dental services (general or pediatric)
      or attending school and kindergarten, were searched, with specific terms, in 3
      electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Web Of Science). Primary data, collected
      with specific questionnaires of demonstrated reliability and/or validity, were
      extracted. RESULTS: After screening 743 abstracts and evaluating 164 full-text
      publications, 36 articles were selected. Dental fear/anxiety prevalence rates
      were 12.2%, 10.0%, 12.2%,11.0% and 20.0% for the CFSS-DS, DAS, MDAS, DFS, and
      DFSS-SF scores, respectively. In the studies that used MCDAS Dental
      fear/prevalence rates varied from 13.3% to 29.3%. In the studies that used CFSS
      DS ratings, the prevalence and the mean score of dental fear/anxiety was lower in
      Northern Europe than the remaining countries, the prevalence decreased with
      increasing age and the frequency was higher in females than males. CONCLUSIONS:
      Dental fear/anxiety is a common problem in children/adolescents worldwide,
      therefore, new strategies to overcome this relevant children/adolescent condition
      should be encouraged.

PMID- 28598185
TI  - Three-dimensional longitudinal changes of maxilla and mandible morphology during
      the predental period.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to longitudinally analyse the morphology of
      maxilla and mandible over time in infants using a three-dimensional (3D) surface
      scanner. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen Japanese full-term infants participated
      in the study. Dental plaster models were fabricated every 3 months from 1 month
      of age to 12 months. The plaster models were scanned using the 3D surface scanner
      to create 3D models. The arch width, arch length, arch angle, palatal depth and
      palatal area of the 3D models were analysed. RESULTS: The arch width and length
      of maxilla and mandible increased as the arch angle decreased. The arch width and
      length of the maxilla were greater than those of the mandible. The total alveolar
      ridge morphology increased in size in the occlusal view, with marked growth in
      the sagittal direction. The palatal depth remained virtually unchanged although
      the palatal area increased as a result of buccal growth of the alveolar ridge.
      CONCLUSIONS: The morphological growth pattern of the maxilla and mandible in
      infants can be evaluated quantitatively using 3D analysis. Knowledge about the
      healthy development of children and their orofacial growth patterns during the
      predental period can be applied as an index for diagnostic criteria.

PMID- 28598184
TI  - Surface electromyography before and after orthognathic surgery and condylectomy
      in active laterognathia: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Condylar hyperplasia is a rare bone disease characterised by
      excessive development of mandibular condyle, which can lead to the development of
      asymmetric facial deformity together with malocclusion, mandibular deviation, TMJ
      and masticatory musculoskeletal system dysfunction. There is not a treatment
      protocol universally accepted. In order to determine the correct management,
      treatment and intervention timing of these patients, morphological examinations
      should be coupled with functional assessments. CASE REPORT: In the present case
      report, morphological (bone scintigraphy; orthopantomography; posteroanterior and
      lateral cephalograms; 3D facial photographs) and functional (surface
      electromyography of masseter and temporalis muscles) quantitative data of a 20
      year-old male patient affected by unilateral condylar hyperplasia are presented.
      The patient underwent a surgical treatment with high unilateral condylectomy
      associated to a maxillary Le Fort I osteotomy; as well as orthodontic treatment
      before and after surgery. Facial morphology and masticatory muscles activity were
      assessed before surgery and followed-up 6, 12 and 24 months after surgery. Twenty
      four months after surgery, all electromyographic values were normal, and soft
      tissue facial asymmetry was negligible at 3D assessment. CONCLUSION: Surface
      electromyography joins a set of clinical and morphological diagnostic tests that
      help the surgeon in planning the operation and managing the post-surgical
      patient.

PMID- 28598186
TI  - Dentoskeletal features in mixed dentition children with displaced maxillary
      canines in a southern Italian population.
AB  - AIM: To analyse the prevalence and the distribution of displaced, buccal/palatal
      maxillary canines, and the association with sagittal and vertical skeletal
      relationships in a southern Italian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Consecutive records of patients were examined. Inclusion criteria were: age 7-12
      years, 1-2 cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) stage, initial dental casts,
      intraoral photographs, panoramic, lateral and periapical radiographs. Subjects
      with at least one canine in Lindauer II, III or IV sector and/or &#945; angle
      >31&#176; were included in displaced maxillary canine (DMC) group, whereas those
      with both canines in sector I and &#945; angle &#8804;31&#176; were used as
      control group (CTR). According to canine bulges and/or x-ray examinations, DMC
      were then divided in palatal and buccal displaced canines (PDC/BDC). Sagittal and
      vertical skeletal relationships were evaluated using ANB and SN/GoMe angles. Chi
      square tests were performed to compare the prevalence rates of skeletal features.
      RESULTS: The sample consisted of 123 children, 40 DMC and 83 CTR. The DMC group
      included 11 PDC and 29 BDC subjects. The M:F ratio was 1:3 in PDC and BDC, 1:1 in
      CTR group. The unilateral-to-bilateral ratio was 1:1 and 3:1 in PDC and BDC
      subjects. The most common sector combination regarding unilateral and bilateral
      displacements was "II" and "II,II". PDC occurred more in Class I and in
      hyperdivergents, whereas BDC in Class I or II and in normodivergents.
      CONCLUSIONS: DMC occurred more often in females than in males. BDC was more
      common than PDC and unilateral displacements occurred more frequently than
      bilateral ones. No significant correlation with skeletal features was observed.

PMID- 28598187
TI  - Dental intrinsic green pigmentation from primary to mixed dentition: clinical and
      histological findings.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this report is to present a case of a child with green
      pigmentation of the primary dentition caused by bilirubin elevation due to
      choleostasis during neonatal life, and the 5-year follow-up. CASE REPORT: The
      case presented initially with bands of green pigmentation of all primary teeth in
      a pattern that followed the time of their calcification, with those formed
      earlier being more severely affected. Fading of the green pigmentation was
      detected during the follow-up, while erupted lower permanent incisors were
      normal. Histological findings of an exfoliated primary incisor showed a green
      line at the enamel-dentine junction with the external surface of the dentine
      showing a band of variable width and irregularly arranged tubules. CONCLUSION:
      Bilirubin green pigmentation of primary teeth follows a chronological pattern and
      its intensity fades with time. Overlying enamel in affected areas may appear
      thinner.

PMID- 28598188
TI  - How serious is Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation (MIH) among 8- and 9-year-old
      children in Bosnia-Herzegovina? A clinical study.
AB  - AIM: To determine the prevalence of MIH in 8- and 9 year-old children in the city
      of Kljuc, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and to describe the distribution and severity of
      the affected teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study design: All 8- and 9-year-olds
      (n=104) living in Kljuc (born 2004/2005) were invited to participate, and 103
      were examined by a calibrated clinician. Written, informed consent was obtained
      from all participants' relatives, as well as a questionnaire designed to assess
      potential risk indicators. Index teeth were all permanent first molars and
      incisors (12 teeth). Opacities (>1mm), post eruptive breakdown (PEB), atypical
      restorations and previous extractions caused by MIH were registered. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of MIH was 11.7% (n=12), significantly higher for girls than for boys
      (14.6% vs. 9.7%; p<0.05). The maxillary first molars and incisors were 1.8
      (p<0.02) and 2.3 (p<0.05) times more frequently affected than the mandibular
      ones, respectively. Seven (30%) of the affected molars had opacities, 8 (35%) had
      PEB and 8 (35%) atypical restorations. No molars had been extracted due to MIH.
      The use of penicillin due to adenoid infections in the first 5 years was
      associated with a higher prevalence of MIH (41.7% vs. 19.6%). CONCLUSIONS: The
      prevalence of MIH (11.7%) supports the data previously published from Bosnia
      Herzegovina. Girls had higher prevalence of MIH than boys; first molars and
      incisors in the maxilla were almost twice as often affected as in the mandible.
      Use of penicillin in the first 5 years was associated with a higher prevalence.

PMID- 28598189
TI  - Translation and validation of the italian version of the Psychosocial Impact of
      Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (pidaq) among adolescents.
AB  - AIM: The Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) is a
      valid tool aiming to evaluate the self-reported influence of dental aesthetics on
      quality of life. This questionnaire was developed in English for young adults,
      and later translated and validated with an Italian population. A new version of
      the questionnaire was recently introduced to be used in adolescents (11-17 years-
      old), but it had not been translated in Italian yet. Hence, the purpose of this
      study was to translate, cross-culturally adapt and validate the PIDAQ for
      adolescents, for its use among Italian subjects. METHODS: To develop the Italian
      PIDAQ, the original version was translated, back-translated, cross-culturally
      adapted and pre-tested. Afterwards, the Italian PIDAQ was administered to a
      convenience sample of 677 subjects, aged 11-17 years, together with two other
      written questionnaires: the Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic
      Treatment Need (IOTN-AC) and the Perception of Occlusion Scale (POS), which are
      instruments dedicated to assess the self-reported degree of malocclusion. A one
      way ANOVA was performed to assess the difference between groups, within each
      PIDAQ factor, according to POS and IOTN-AC scores. The correlation between PIDAQ
      factors and POS/IOTN-AC scores was measured as Spearman's rank correlation. The
      internal consistency was assessed as Cronbach's alpha coef?cient (&#945;), and
      the test-retest reproducibility as Intra-Class Correlation Coef?cient (ICC).
      RESULTS: The one-way ANOVA showed that all the factors of the self- reported
      impact of dental aesthetics on quality of life significantly increased as the
      degree of malocclusion worsened (P<0.001). Furthermore, all the factors showed
      statistically significant correlations with both IOTN-AC and POS scores. The
      &#945; ranged between 0.79 and 0.90, and the ICC ranged between 0.93-0.97.
      CONCLUSION: The Italian adolescent PIDAQ showed good reliability and validity.
      The psychometric properties of this version of the questionnaire support its use
      for the assessment of the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics among Italian
      adolescents.

PMID- 28598190
TI  - Paediatric laser dentistry. Part 2: Hard tissue laser applications.
AB  - AIM: Erbium lasers can provide effective and minimally invasive caries removal in
      children. The bonding phase remains a critic step as well as the choice of
      material. Glass ionomers exhibits lower bonding properties in laser irradiated
      teeth compared to the conventional method or to composite and resin modified
      glass ionomer. Laser can also provide effective decontamination and coagulation
      effects in vital and non vital pulp therapy of primary teeth, improving and
      simplifying the cleaning and disinfecting steps.

PMID- 28598191
TI  - No time like the present - two hundred years of Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28598192
TI  - Evaluation of a human neural stem cell culture method for prediction of the
      neurotoxicity of anti-epileptics.
AB  - Human neural stem cells have been proposed as an in vitro model to predict
      neurotoxicity. In this study, the potential of in vitro cultures of human-derived
      neurospheres to predict the effects of various anti-epileptic drugs (sodium
      valproate, phenytoin, carbamazepine and phenobarbitone) was evaluated. In
      general, these drugs had no significant effects on cell viability, total cellular
      protein, and neuronal process length at low doses, but at high doses these
      parameters were reduced significantly. Therapeutic doses of sodium valproate and
      phenytoin had a clear effect on neurosphere size and cell migration, with a
      significant reduction in both parameters when compared with the control group.
      The other drugs (carbamazepine and phenobarbitone) reduced neurosphere size and
      cell migration only at higher doses. The expression levels of glial fibrillary
      protein and tubulin III, which were used to identify astrocytes and neuronal
      cells, respectively, were reduced in a dose-dependent manner that became
      significant at high doses. The levels of glial fibrillary protein did not
      indicate any occurrence of reactive astrocytosis.

PMID- 28598193
TI  - Sample size estimation for pilot animal experiments by using a Markov Chain Monte
      Carlo approach.
AB  - The statistical determination of sample size is mandatory when planning animal
      experiments, but it is usually difficult to implement appropriately. The main
      reason is that prior information is hardly ever available, so the assumptions
      made cannot be verified reliably. This is especially true for pilot experiments.
      Statistical simulation might help in these situations. We used a Markov Chain
      Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach to verify the pragmatic assumptions made on different
      distribution parameters used for power and sample size calculations in animal
      experiments. Binomial and normal distributions, which are the most frequent
      distributions in practice, were simulated for categorical and continuous
      endpoints, respectively. The simulations showed that the common practice of using
      five or six animals per group for continuous endpoints is reasonable. Even in the
      case of small effect sizes, the statistical power would be sufficiently large (>=
      80%). For categorical outcomes, group sizes should never be under eight animals,
      otherwise a sufficient statistical power cannot be guaranteed. This applies even
      in the case of large effects. The MCMC approach demonstrated to be a useful
      method for calculating sample size in animal studies that lack prior data. Of
      course, the simulation results particularly depend on the assumptions made with
      regard to the distributional properties and effects to be detected, but the same
      also holds in situations where prior data are available. MCMC is therefore a
      promising approach toward the more informed planning of pilot research
      experiments involving the use of animals.

PMID- 28598194
TI  - The use of neurocomputational models as alternatives to animal models in the
      development of electrical brain stimulation treatments.
AB  - Recent publications call for more animal models to be used and more experiments
      to be performed, in order to better understand the mechanisms of
      neurodegenerative disorders, to improve human health, and to develop new brain
      stimulation treatments. In response to these calls, some limitations of the
      current animal models are examined by using Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in
      Parkinson's disease as an illustrative example. Without focusing on the arguments
      for or against animal experimentation, or on the history of DBS, the present
      paper argues that given recent technological and theoretical advances, the time
      has come to consider bioinspired computational modelling as a valid alternative
      to animal models, in order to design the next generation of human brain
      stimulation treatments. However, before computational neuroscience is fully
      integrated in the translational process and used as a substitute for animal
      models, several obstacles need to be overcome. These obstacles are examined in
      the context of institutional, financial, technological and behavioural lock-in.
      Recommendations include encouraging agreement to change long-term habitual
      practices, explaining what alternative models can achieve, considering economic
      stakes, simplifying administrative and regulatory constraints, and carefully
      examining possible conflicts of interest.

PMID- 28598195
TI  - White paper and colourful language: Toward a realistic view of animal research.

PMID- 28598196
TI  - Derivation and Validation of a Prognostic Model to Predict 6-Month Mortality in
      an Intensive Care Unit Population.
AB  - RATIONALE: Identification of terminally ill patients in the intensive care unit
      (ICU) would facilitate decision making and timely palliative care. OBJECTIVES: To
      develop and validate a patient-specific integrated prognostic model to predict 6
      month mortality in medical ICU patients. METHODS: A longitudinal prospective
      cohort study of temporally split samples of 1,049 consecutive medical ICU
      patients in a tertiary care hospital was performed. For each patient, we
      collected demographic data, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III
      score, Charlson comorbidity index, intensivist response to a surprise question
      (SQ; "Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next 6 months?") on
      admission, and vital status at 6 months. RESULTS: Between November 2013 and May
      2015, derivation and validation cohorts of 500 and 549 consecutive patients were
      studied to develop a multivariate logistic regression model. In the multivariate
      logistic regression model, Charlson comorbidity index (P = 0.033), Acute
      Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III score (P < 0.001), and SQ response
      (P < 0.001) were predictors of vital status at 6 months. The odds of dying within
      6 months were significantly higher when the SQ was answered "no" than when it was
      answered "yes" (odds ratio, 7.29; P < 0.001). The c-statistic for the derivation
      and validation cohorts were 0.832 (95% confidence interval, 0.795-0.870) and 0.84
      (95% confidence interval, 0.806-0.875), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our integrated
      prognostic model, which includes the SQ, has strong discrimination and
      calibration to predict 6-month mortality in medical ICU patients. This model can
      aid clinicians in identifying ICU patients who may benefit from the integration
      of palliative care into their treatment.

PMID- 28598198
TI  - Usefulness of ischemia-modified albumin in predicting oxidative stress in
      patients with vitiligo.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the emphasis of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of
      vitiligo through an evaluation of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA).
      Results/methodology: IMA was of higher statistical significance in patients than
      in the control group (IMA: 0.57 +/- 0.2 vs 0.52 +/- 0.2 DeltaABSU; p < 0.0001).
      IMA (p < 0.0001; OR: 8.9; 95% CI = 3.1-26.1) was found as an independent
      predictor of oxidative stress. Increases in affected body surface area and age
      were found to be independent risk factors for IMA. The sensitivity, specificity
      and positive and negative predictive values and capacity of IMA were higher than
      other studied biomarkers. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: IMA can be detected in the
      condition of oxidative stress in vitiligo; it has great potential as a biomarker
      of said condition, when compared with other studied biomarkers.

PMID- 28598197
TI  - Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis: Perspectives in Diagnosis and Management.

PMID- 28598200
TI  - Correction to: Murugaian et al., Novel mutations in calcium sensing receptor gene
      in tropical chronic pancreatitis in India.

PMID- 28598199
TI  - Phytoremediation of domestic wastewater using a hybrid constructed wetland in
      mountainous rural area.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of hybrid constructed
      wetlands (HCWs) in a rural mountainous area. The experiment was set up in small
      rural community named Tidili within the region of Marrakech, Morocco. The
      wastewater treatment plant was composed of three vertical flow constructed
      wetlands (VFCWs) working in parallel, followed by two parallel horizontal
      subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HFCWs), with hydraulic loading rates of 0.5
      and 0.75 m3/m2.d, respectively. The two units were planted with Phragmites
      australis at a density of 4 plants/m2. Wastewater samples were collected at the
      inlet of the storage tank and at the outlet of the whole system (VFCWs, HFCWs)
      stages. The main removal percentages of total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical
      oxygen demand measured in a 5-day test (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD),
      total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were respectively 95%, 93%, 91%, 67%, and
      62%. The system showed a very high capacity to remove total coliforms, fecal
      coliforms, and fecal streptococci (4.46, 4.31, and 4.10 Log units, respectively).
      Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used to model the quality parameters (TSS,
      BOD5, COD) and total coliforms and fecal streptococci. Based on the obtained
      results, the ANN model could be considered as an efficient tool to predict the
      studied phytoremediation performances using HCWs.

PMID- 28598201
TI  - Fate of heavy metals in vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands treating
      secondary treated petroleum refinery wastewater in Kaduna, Nigeria.
AB  - This study examined the performance of pilot-scale vertical subsurface flow
      constructed wetlands (VSF-CWs) planted with three indigenous plants, i.e. Typha
      latifolia, Cyperus alternifolius, and Cynodon dactylon, in removing heavy metals
      from secondary treated refinery wastewater under tropical conditions. The T.
      latifolia-planted VSF-CW had the best heavy metal removal performance, followed
      by the Cyperus alternifolius-planted VSF-CW and then the Cynodon dactylon-planted
      VSF-CW. The data indicated that Cu, Cr, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Fe were accumulated in
      the plants at all the three VSF-CWs. However, the accumulation of the heavy
      metals in the plants accounted for only a rather small fraction (0.09-16%) of the
      overall heavy metal removal by the wetlands. The plant roots accumulated the
      highest amount of heavy metals, followed by the leaves, and then the stem. Cr and
      Fe were mainly retained in the roots of T. latifolia, Cyperus alternifolius, and
      Cynodon dactylon (TF < 1), meaning that Cr and Fe were only partially transported
      to the leaves of these plants. This study showed that VSF-CWs planted with T.
      latifolia, Cyperus Alternifolius, and Cynodon dactylon can be used for the large
      scale removal of heavy metals from secondary refinery wastewater.

PMID- 28598202
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of time dependent dosing on pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamics of amlodipine in normotensive and hypertensive human subjects.
AB  - In clinical practice, circadian rhythms play a prominent role in pharmacokinetics
      and cell responses to therapy, hence necessitating in designing a defined
      protocol for drug administration. Clinical evidence for chronopharmacological
      behavior of cardiovascular active drugs in human subjects has been limited for
      amlodipine. Hence, the present study was undertaken to study the
      chronopharmacokinetic and chronopharmacodynamic phenomena of amlodipine and
      evaluate the effect of time of dosage in hypertensive subjects. Single oral dose
      of amlodipine was administered to the hypertensive/normotensive subjects either
      morning or evening to assess the pharmacokinetic profile after morning dosing or
      evening dosing, respectively. PK parameters obtained revealed that Tmax was
      shorter and Cmax was greater after evening dosing than the morning dosing in both
      hypertensive and normotensive subjects. These observations were comparable with
      the hypothesis that amlodipine is absorbed rapidly when it is given during the
      night time. Also, the changes in systolicBP, DiastolicBP, and heart rate in
      comparison to the respective circadian baseline values were markedly different
      depending on the time and dosing. SBP and HR were significantly reduced after
      evening dosing with slight difference in measurement of DBP in hypertensive
      patients. Hence, it can be concluded that prescription of antihypertensive
      medications containing amlodipine, to be administered at night offers highly
      efficacious means to control BP without the need to increase either the dose or
      number of medications. The current treatment strategy method involves delivery of
      medications, so that they are synchronized in time to biological need that varies
      according to the chronobiology of the targeted tissues.

PMID- 28598204
TI  - Hygienic Status Assessment of Two Lamb Slaughterhouses in Spain.
AB  - A total of 180 lamb carcasses and 200 inert surfaces were sampled in two
      commercial abattoirs (plants A and B) from northwest Spain. A higher (P < 0.001)
      average microbial load (log CFU per square centimeter) on lamb carcasses was
      observed for total viable counts (TVC; 2.74 +/- 1.15) than for Enterobacteriaceae
      (2.21 +/- 1.16). Different microbial counts were found on carcasses from plants A
      and B, both for TVC (2.56 +/- 0.96 versus 3.18 +/- 1.47, respectively; P < 0.001)
      and Enterobacteriaceae (2.09 +/- 0.97 versus 2.50 +/- 1.61, respectively; P <
      0.05). High correlations (P < 0.001) were observed for TVC and Enterobacteriaceae
      in both plants A (r = 0.708) and B (r = 0.912). The percentages of unsatisfactory
      daily mean log values for carcasses, according to European Union Regulation (EC)
      No 2073/2005, were 0.0 (TVC) and 30.8 (Enterobacteriaceae) in plant A and 10.0
      (TVC) and 40.0 (Enterobacteriaceae) in plant B. Average counts for inert surfaces
      were all lower than 10 CFU/cm2 (TVC) or 1 CFU/cm2 (Enterobacteriaceae). The need
      to improve hygienic practices in order to adhere to the European Union
      microbiological performance criteria is emphasized. The detected different
      microbial counts between slaughterhouses could be attributed to differences in
      external hygiene of livestock and in the number of slaughterhouse workers.
      Microbiological analysis of carcasses and surfaces allows detection of hygienic
      concerns in the overall process.

PMID- 28598203
TI  - Prevalence and Mechanism of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Escherichia coli
      Isolated from Swine Feces in Korea.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the prevalence and fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance
      mechanisms in Escherichia coli isolated from swine fecal samples. E. coli
      isolates were collected from 171 (72.2%) of 237 swine fecal samples. Of these, 59
      isolates (34.5%) were confirmed as FQ-resistant E. coli by the disk diffusion
      method. Of the FQ-resistant isolates, three major FQ resistance mechanisms were
      investigated. Of the 59 isolates, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes
      were detected in 9 isolates (15.3%). Efflux pump activity was found in 56
      isolates (94.9%); however, this was not correlated with the increased FQ
      resistance measured by determining the MIC. Point mutations in quinolone
      resistance-determining regions were the main cause of FQ resistance. All 59
      ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates had mutations in quinolone resistance
      determining regions; of these 59 isolates, all (100%) had mutations in gyrA, 58
      (98.3%) had mutations in parC, 22 (37.3%) had mutations in parE, and none had
      mutations in gyrB. The predominant mutation type was double mutation in gyrA
      (Ser83Leu plus mutation in aspartic acid 87), and all FQ-resistant isolates
      (except one) that had mutations in parC or parE also had double mutations in
      gyrA. Importantly, the frequencies of multidrug-resistant and extended-spectrum
      beta-lactamase-producing E. coli were significantly higher in the high
      ciprofloxacin MIC group in this study. Compared with previous studies in Korea,
      the prevalence of FQ resistance and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes
      had increased considerably in swine. Although the use of FQ as a feed additive is
      prohibited in Korea, use for self-treatment and therapeutic purposes has been
      increasing, which may be responsible for the higher FQ resistance rate observed
      in this study. Therefore, prudent use of FQ on animal farms is warranted to
      reduce the evolution of FQ-resistant bacteria in the animal industry.

PMID- 28598205
TI  - Neurofilament light chain protein as a marker of neuronal injury: review of its
      use in HIV-1 infection and reference values for HIV-negative controls.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Several CSF biomarkers of neuronal injury have been studied in
      people living with HIV. At this time, the most useful is the light subunit of the
      neurofilament protein (NFL). This major structural component of myelinated axons
      is essential to maintain axonal caliber and to facilitate effective nerve
      conduction. CSF concentrations of NFL provide a sensitive marker of CNS injury in
      a number of neurological diseases, including HIV-related neuronal injury. Areas
      Covered: In this review, the authors describe CSF NFL concentrations across the
      spectrum of HIV-infection, from its early acute phase to severe
      immunosuppression, with and without neurological conditions, and with and without
      antiretroviral treatment (n = 516). Furthermore, in order to provide more precise
      estimates of age-related upper limits of CSF NFL concentrations, the authors
      present data from a large number (n = 359) of HIV-negative controls. Expert
      Commentary: Recently a new ultrasensitive diagnostic assay for quantification of
      NFL in plasma has been developed, providing a convenient way to assess neuronal
      damage without having to perform a lumbar puncture. This review also considers
      our current knowledge of plasma NFL in HIV CNS infection.

PMID- 28598207
TI  - The Relationship Between Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms, the Expression of DNA
      Damage Response Genes, and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Polish Population.
AB  - The molecular mechanism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is related to DNA
      damage caused by oxidative stress products induced by hepatitis B virus (HBV) or
      C (HCV) infection and exposure to environmental pollutants. Single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) of DNA damage response (DDR) genes may influence individual
      susceptibility to environmental risk factors and affect DNA repair efficacy,
      which, in turn, can influence the risk of HCC. The study evaluates a panel of 15
      SNPs in 11 DDR genes (XRCC1, XRCC3, XPD, MUTYH, LIG1, LIG3, hOGG1, PARP1, NFIL1,
      FEN1, and APEX1) in 65 HCC patients, 50 HBV- and 50 HCV-infected non-cancerous
      patients, and 50 healthy controls. It also estimates the mRNA expression of nine
      DDR genes in cancerous and adjacent healthy liver tissues. Two of the
      investigated polymorphisms (rs1052133 and rs13181) were associated with HCC risk.
      For all investigated genes, the level of mRNA was significantly lower in HCC
      cancer tissue than in non-cancerous liver tissue. Seven of the investigated
      polymorphisms were statistically related to gene expression in cancer tissues.
      The disruption of DDR genes may be responsible for hepatocellular transformation
      in HCV-infected patients.

PMID- 28598206
TI  - A Novel In Vitro Human Granuloma Model of Sarcoidosis and Latent Tuberculosis
      Infection.
AB  - Many aspects of pathogenic granuloma formation are poorly understood, requiring
      new relevant laboratory models that represent the complexity (genetics and
      diversity) of human disease. To address this need, we developed an in vitro model
      of granuloma formation using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
      derived from patients with active sarcoidosis, latent tuberculosis (TB) infection
      (LTBI), or normal healthy control subjects. PBMCs were incubated for 7 days with
      uncoated polystyrene beads or beads coated with purified protein derivative (PPD)
      or human serum albumin. In response to PPD-coated beads, PBMCs from donors with
      sarcoidosis and LTBI formed robust multicellular aggregates resembling
      granulomas, displaying a typical T-helper cell type 1 immune response, as
      assessed by cytokine analyses. In contrast, minimal PBMC aggregation occurred
      when control PBMCs were incubated with PPD-coated beads, whereas the response to
      uncoated beads was negligible in all groups. Sarcoidosis PBMCs responded to human
      serum albumin-coated beads with modest cellular aggregation and inflammatory
      cytokine release. Whereas the granuloma-like aggregates formed in response to PPD
      coated beads were similar for sarcoidosis and LTBI, molecular profiles differed
      significantly. mRNA expression patterns revealed distinct pathways engaged in
      early granuloma formation in sarcoidosis and LTBI, and they resemble molecular
      patterns reported in diseased human tissues. This novel in vitro human granuloma
      model is proposed as a tool to investigate mechanisms of early granuloma
      formation and for preclinical drug discovery research of human granulomatous
      disorders. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01857401).

PMID- 28598209
TI  - The significance of early warning in chronic myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 28598208
TI  - Characterization and Spatiotemporal Expression of Klf4 in Large Yellow Croaker
      Larimichthys crocea.
AB  - As one of transcription factors and pluripotency factors, Klf4 plays a crucial
      role in regulation of cellular processes. In this article, we characterized Klf4
      of large yellow croaker (Lc-Klf4), which encodes a 452-amino acid protein (Lc
      Klf4) with three highly conserved C2H2 zinc fingers. Lc-Klf4 shares high
      conservative functions in teleosts with the closest relationship with Stegastes
      partitus. The spatiotemporal expression showed that Lc-Klf4 was expressed widely
      in adult tissues with gender difference as follows: brain>gill>eye>heart in
      female; heart>testis>gill>brain in male; male>female in heart, gill, and testis;
      and female>male in eye. During growth, the highest expression level of Lc-Klf4
      was at 635 dph (days posthatching) in testis and at 270 dph and 635 dph in brain.
      Besides, Lc-Klf4 was widely and highly distributed in different developmental
      spermatids especially in spermatocytes. The expression of Lc-Klf4 in embryos was
      exhibited zygotically beginning from late gastrula stage with high level in
      closure of blastopore stage and appearance of optic vesicle stage. This
      expression pattern was supported by whole-mount in situ hybridization with high
      expression in back and head of late embryos. In conclusion, the spatiotemporal
      expression patterns of Lc-Klf4 illustrated that Klf4 involves in spermatogenesis,
      embryogenesis, and adult physiological processes.

PMID- 28598211
TI  - Pleural Diseases: Saline Irrigation in Pleural Infection, Epidemiology of
      Pneumothorax, and Bevacizumab in Mesothelioma.

PMID- 28598210
TI  - eHealth for inflammatory bowel disease self-management - the patient perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic health (eHealth) solutions may help address the growing
      pressure on IBD outpatient services as they encompass a component of self
      management. However, information regarding patients' attitudes towards the use of
      eHealth solutions in IBD is lacking. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate eHealth technology use and explore the perspectives of IBD patients on
      what constitutes the ideal eHealth solution to facilitate self-management.
      METHODS: A mixed methods qualitative and quantitative analysis of the outcomes of
      a discussion forum and an online survey conducted at a tertiary hospital in
      Melbourne, Australia between November 2015 and January 2016 was undertaken.
      RESULTS: Eighteen IBD patients and parents participated in the discussion forum.
      IBD patients expressed interest in eHealth tools that are convenient and improve
      access to care, communication, disease monitoring and adherence. Eighty six
      patients with IBD responded to the online survey. A majority of patients owned a
      mobile phone (98.8%), had access to the internet (97.7%), and felt confident
      entering data onto a phone or computer (73.3%). Most patients (98.8%) were
      willing to use at least one form of information and communication technology to
      help manage their IBD. Smartphone apps and internet websites were the two most
      preferred technologies to facilitate IBD self-management. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrates the willifngness of patients to engage with eHealth as a potential
      solution to facilitate IBD self-management. Future development and testing of
      eHealth solutions should be informed by all major stakeholders including patients
      to maximise their uptake and efficacy to facilitate IBD self-management.

PMID- 28598212
TI  - Blood protein biomarkers as diagnostic tool for ischemic stroke: a systematic
      review.
AB  - AIM: This systematic review provides a summary of the blood protein biomarkers
      that have been studied for the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke. MATERIALS &
      METHODS: An extensive MEDLINE (using PubMed) and Web of Knowledge search was
      performed. From the 354 articles found, 42 were eligible for further analysis and
      25 protein biomarkers were examined. RESULTS: Though many candidate blood-based
      protein biomarkers were examined, only two could significantly differentiate
      ischemic stroke patients from healthy controls, stroke mimics and hemorrhagic
      stroke patients. CONCLUSION: The blood protein biomarkers, brain natriuretic
      peptide (BNP) and S100B, were promising biomarkers in diagnosing ischemic stroke.
      They could be used in cases of diagnostic uncertainty and/or when less
      experienced healthcare personnel are involved.

PMID- 28598213
TI  - Characterization and degradation potential of diesel-degrading bacterial strains
      for application in bioremediation.
AB  - Bioremediation of polluted soils is a promising technique with low environmental
      impact, which uses soil organisms to degrade soil contaminants. In this study, 19
      bacterial strains isolated from a diesel-contaminated soil were screened for
      their diesel-degrading potential, biosurfactant (BS) production, and biofilm
      formation abilities, all desirable characteristics when selecting strains for re
      inoculation into hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. Diesel-degradation rates were
      determined in vitro in minimal medium with diesel as the sole carbon source. The
      capacity to degrade diesel range organics (DROs) of strains SPG23 (Arthobacter
      sp.) and PF1 (Acinetobacter oleivorans) reached 17-26% of total DROs after 10
      days, and 90% for strain GK2 (Acinetobacter calcoaceticus). The amount and rate
      of alkane degradation decreased significantly with increasing carbon number for
      strains SPG23 and PF1. Strain GK2, which produced BSs and biofilms, exhibited a
      greater extent, and faster rate of alkane degradation compared to SPG23 and PF1.
      Based on the outcomes of degradation experiments, in addition to BS production,
      biofilm formation capacities, and previous genome characterizations, strain GK2
      is a promising candidate for microbial-assisted phytoremediation of diesel
      contaminated soils. These results are of particular interest to select suitable
      strains for bioremediation, not only presenting high diesel-degradation rates,
      but also other characteristics which could improve rhizosphere colonization.

PMID- 28598215
TI  - Enhanced atrazine removal by hydrophyte-bacterium associations and in vitro
      screening of the isolates for their plant growth-promoting potential.
AB  - Emergent hydrophytes Acorus calamus, Typha latifolia, and Phragmites karka and
      epiphytic root bacteria isolated from their rhizoplanes were exposed to atrazine
      (5 and 10 mg l-1) individually and in plant-bacterium combination for 15 days
      hydroponically. It was observed that A. calamus-Pseudomonas sp. strain, the ACB
      combination, was best in decontamination, showing 91% and 87% removal of 5 and 10
      mg l-1 atrazine. Plant-bacterium association led to significant increase in
      atrazine decontamination as compared to decontamination by either plant or
      bacterium alone, indicating a synergistic action of the hydrophytes and isolates
      which led to enhanced atrazine removal. To the best of our knowledge this is the
      first report on the potential of plant-bacterium combinations for atrazine
      decontamination. The isolates showed augmented growth in the presence of plants
      and were able to alleviate atrazine stress in them. These isolates exhibited
      plant growth-promoting traits such as auxin, siderophore, Poly(3-hydroxybutyric
      acid)/succinogycan, ammonia, catalase production and solubilization of inorganic
      phosphate in vitro. The use of plant-bacterium mutualistic symbiosis for atrazine
      mitigation is a relatively simple, inexpensive, and clean technique and this
      phytoremediation-rhizoremediation combination is suggested to be tried on field
      to establish their potential for clean-up of contaminated sites.

PMID- 28598214
TI  - Exosomal miRNAs as biomarkers in the diagnosis of liver disease.
AB  - Liver disease is a primary cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality
      worldwide. Currently, histological examination is the gold standard for diagnosis
      and classification of liver disease; however, due to its several drawbacks,
      including the risk of complications and sampling variability, noninvasive
      diagnostic options are favorable. Exosomal miRNAs have recently been considered
      as an important source of medical biomarkers due to being widely distributed in
      body fluids. This review summarizes existing concepts related to the origin, mode
      of transportation and possible functions of exosomal miRNAs, and recent findings
      on the role of exosomal miRNAs in liver diseases and development of exosomal
      miRNA-based diagnostic biomarkers in the primary forms of liver diseases.

PMID- 28598216
TI  - The Impact of Partial Factorial Invariance on Cross-Group Comparisons.
AB  - This study explored the impact of partial factorial invariance on cross-group
      comparisons of latent variables, including latent means, latent variances,
      structural relations (or correlations) with other constructs, and regression
      coefficients as predicting external variables. The results indicate that the
      estimates of factor mean differences are sensitive to violations of invariance on
      both factor loadings and intercepts. Noninvariant factor loadings were also found
      to influence the cross-group comparisons of factor variances and regression
      coefficients (slopes, in the raw metric) with external variables. However, cross
      group comparisons of standardized slopes and interfactor correlations were not
      subject to noninvariance. Under conditions of partial invariance, we further
      compared the performance of four different model specification strategies. In
      general, fitting partially invariant models with all noninvariant parameters that
      were freely estimated yielded more accurate estimates of the parameters of
      interest. The implications of the major findings of this work, as well as
      recommendations and guidelines for future empirical researchers, are discussed
      below.

PMID- 28598217
TI  - Influence of biochar and compost on phytoremediation of oil-contaminated soil.
AB  - The use of pyrolyzed carbon, biochar, as a soil amendment is of potential
      interest for improving phytoremediation of soil that has been contaminated by
      petroleum hydrocarbons. To examine this question, the research reported here
      compared the effects of biochar, plants (mesquite tree seedlings), compost and
      combinations of these treatments on the rate of biodegradation of oil in a
      contaminated soil and the population size of oil-degrading bacteria. The presence
      of mesquite plants significantly enhanced oil degradation in all treatments
      except when biochar was used as the sole amendment without compost. The greatest
      extent of oil degradation was achieved in soil planted with mesquite and amended
      with compost (44% of the light hydrocarbon fraction). Most probable number assays
      showed that biochar generally reduced the population size of the oil-degrading
      community. The results of this study suggest that biochar addition to petroleum
      contaminated soils does not improve the rate of bioremediation. In contrast, the
      use of plants and compost additions to soil are confirmed as important
      bioremediation technologies.

PMID- 28598218
TI  - What's New in Noninvasive Ventilation: Factors Associated with Failure, Patterns
      of Use in Acute Asthma, and the Role of New Interfaces.

PMID- 28598219
TI  - Recent approaches to ameliorate selectivity and sensitivity of enzyme based
      cholesterol biosensors: a review.
AB  - The healthcare area is often reluctant to execute new technology unless they are
      proven to be safe, constructive and secure. Eventually, an aspiration stands for
      providing point-of-care testing service to allow a better estimation of the
      biochemical levels of a patient that entails an insistent remedial action. With
      increasing mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in present
      scenario, it has become the need of hour to develop more advance methods for
      their diagnosis, so that it can be determined at sensitive levels and can be
      prevented from being fatal. Elevated level of cholesterol in blood stream is one
      of the utmost risk factors which lead to CVDs. Discernible from the vast research
      in this field, worth of cholesterol biosensors is already recognized and
      flourished in the clinical analysis of brain and cardiac vascular diseases. It
      necessitates unremitting progress in the development of biosensing technology
      towards fabrication, miniaturization and multiplexing ability of cholesterol
      quantification devices so that they can endow with lab-on-chip-analysis systems
      to the medical field. Different strategies have been meticulously explored for
      the engineering of cholesterol biosensors utilizing nanocomposites, conducting
      polymers, nanotubes and nanoparticles. Foremost, this article reviews the
      contemporary evolution in cholesterol biosensors, which encompass various
      strategies for immobilization of enzymes and roles of various matrices and
      artificial mediators used for the biosensor fabrication. Still there remains an
      enormous challenge to congregate the demands of performance and yield in a cost
      effective manner for its application in successful treatments of CVDs.

PMID- 28598220
TI  - Bone and cortical bone thickness of mandibular buccal shelf for mini-screw
      insertion in adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the buccal bone thickness, bone depth, and cortical bone
      depth of the mandibular buccal shelf (MBS) to determine the most suitable sites
      of the MBS for mini-screw insertion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample included
      cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) records of 30 adult subjects (mean age 30.9
      +/- 7.0 years) evaluated retrospectively. All CBCT examinations were performed
      with the i-CAT CBCT scanner. Each exam was converted into DICOM format and
      processed with OsiriX Medical Imaging software. Proper view sections of the MBS
      were obtained for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of bone
      characteristics. RESULTS: Mesial and distal second molar root scan sections
      showed enough buccal bone for mini-screw insertion. The evaluation of bone depth
      was performed at 4 and 6 mm buccally to the cementoenamel junction. The mesial
      root of the mandibular second molar at 4 and 6 mm showed average bone depths of
      18.51 mm and 14.14 mm, respectively. The distal root of the mandibular second
      molar showed average bone depths of 19.91 mm and 16.5 mm, respectively. All sites
      showed cortical bone depth thickness greater than 2 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Specific
      sites of the MBS offer enough bone quantity and adequate bone quality for mini
      screw insertion. The insertion site with the optimal anatomic characteristics is
      the buccal bone corresponding to the distal root of second molar, with screw
      insertion 4 mm buccal to the cementoenamel junction. Considering the cortical
      bone thickness of optimal insertion sites, pre-drilling is always recommended in
      order to avoid high insertion torque.

PMID- 28598221
TI  - The beneficial effects of renin-angiotensin system blockades on 2 year outcomes
      in coronary artery ectasia patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to investigate the impact of renin
      angiotensin system blockade (RASB) therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme
      inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers on the outcomes of coronary artery
      ectasia (CAE). METHODS: The CAE patients identified by coronary angiography from
      our center were consecutively enrolled. We obtained the baseline discharge
      prescription of RASB from the medical records system and conducted follow-up
      through telephone interviews. Cox regression models, propensity score and
      subgroup analysis were used to assess the impact of RASB on all-cause mortality
      and non-fatal myocardial infarction. Both the unadjusted and adjusted Kaplan
      Meier curves stratified by RASB therapy were plotted. RESULTS: There were 595
      patients with CAE in total and 333 (56.0%) were prescribed RASB therapy. Over a 2
      year follow-up time, 16 all-cause deaths and 10 non-fatal myocardial infarctions
      were identified. Those patients treated with RASB had a significantly lower all
      cause mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction rate with an adjusted hazard
      ratio of 0.32 (95% confidence interval: 0.13 to 0.77, p = .011). The outcome
      benefits of RASB therapy were further confirmed in the propensity score analysis
      and subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS: This observational study suggests that RASB
      therapy is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and non-fatal
      myocardial infarction in patients with CAE.

PMID- 28598222
TI  - PFCA uptake and translocation in dominant wheat species (Triticum aestivum L.).
AB  - The comparative uptake of four perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) by wheat
      (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in nutrient solution was investigated. Wheat is the
      main food crop in northern China and may become a potential pathway of human
      exposure to these PFCAs. The uptake of four PFCAs from water at a fixed
      concentration (1 MUg/mL) increased over time, approaching a steady state, and
      except for the short-chain perfluorobutanoic acid, most of the total mass of each
      of the PFCAs taken up by wheat was found to be at the root. The root
      concentration factor (RCF) and shoot/root concentration factor (SRCF) were
      calculated, and with the increase in carbon chain length, the RCFs increased but
      SRCFs decreased, which indicated that long-chain PFCAs had stronger root uptake
      and weaker translocation capacities than short-chain PFCAs. In addition, pH could
      obviously impact the uptake of four PFCAs in the roots and shoots of wheat, and
      the highest concentrations were found at pH = 7 when the pH increased from 4 to
      10.

PMID- 28598225
TI  - A novel voxel-wise lesion segmentation technique on 3.0-T diffusion MRI of
      hyperacute focal cerebral ischemia at 1 h after permanent MCAO in rats.
AB  - To assess hyperacute focal cerebral ischemia in rats on 3.0-Tesla diffusion
      weighted imaging (DWI), we developed a novel voxel-wise lesion segmentation
      technique that overcomes intra- and inter-subject variation in apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC) distribution. Our novel technique involves the following: (1)
      intensity normalization including determination of the optimal type of region of
      interest (ROI) and its intra- and inter-subject validation, (2) verification of
      focal cerebral ischemic lesions at 1 h with gross and high-magnification light
      microscopy of hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) pathology, (3) voxel-wise segmentation on
      ADC with various thresholds, and (4) calculation of dice indices (DIs) to compare
      focal cerebral ischemic lesions at 1 h defined by ADC and matching H&E pathology.
      The best coefficient of variation was the mode of the left hemisphere after
      normalization using whole left hemispheric ROI, which showed lower intra- (2.54
      +/- 0.72%) and inter-subject (2.67 +/- 0.70%) values than the original. Focal
      ischemic lesion at 1 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was
      confirmed on both gross and microscopic H&E pathology. The 83 relative threshold
      of normalized ADC showed the highest mean DI (DI = 0.820 +/- 0.075). We could
      evaluate hyperacute ischemic lesions at 1 h more reliably on 3-Tesla DWI in rat
      brains.

PMID- 28598224
TI  - Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Modulate Macrophages in Clinically Relevant Lung Injury
      Models by Extracellular Vesicle Mitochondrial Transfer.
AB  - RATIONALE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a major cause of
      respiratory failure in critically ill patients. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs)
      are a promising candidate for a cell-based therapy. However, the mechanisms of
      MSCs' effects in ARDS are not well understood. In this study, we focused on the
      paracrine effect of MSCs on macrophage polarization and the role of extracellular
      vesicle (EV)-mediated mitochondrial transfer. OBJECTIVES: To determine the
      effects of human MSCs on macrophage function in the ARDS environment and to
      elucidate the mechanisms of these effects. METHODS: Human monocyte-derived
      macrophages (MDMs) were studied in noncontact coculture with human MSCs when
      stimulated with LPS or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with
      ARDS. Murine alveolar macrophages (AMs) were cultured ex vivo with/without human
      MSC-derived EVs before adoptive transfer to LPS-injured mice. MEASUREMENTS AND
      MAIN RESULTS: MSCs suppressed cytokine production, increased M2 macrophage marker
      expression, and augmented phagocytic capacity of human MDMs stimulated with LPS
      or ARDS BALF. These effects were partially mediated by CD44-expressing EVs.
      Adoptive transfer of AMs pretreated with MSC-derived EVs reduced inflammation and
      lung injury in LPS-injured mice. Inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation in MDMs
      prevented the modulatory effects of MSCs. Generating dysfunctional mitochondria
      in MSCs using rhodamine 6G pretreatment also abrogated these effects.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the ARDS environment, MSCs promote an antiinflammatory and highly
      phagocytic macrophage phenotype through EV-mediated mitochondrial transfer. MSC
      induced changes in macrophage phenotype critically depend on enhancement of
      macrophage oxidative phosphorylation. AMs treated with MSC-derived EVs ameliorate
      lung injury in vivo.

PMID- 28598223
TI  - Mitochondria in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer: where are
      we now?
AB  - Recent advances in mitochondrial biogenesis have provided the emerging
      recognition that mitochondria do much more than 'simply providing energy for
      cellular function'. Currently, a constantly improving understanding of the
      mitochondrial structure and function has been providing valuable insights into
      the contribution of defects in mitochondrial metabolism to various human
      diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. The
      growing interest in mitochondria research led to development of new biomedical
      fields in the two main smoking-related lung diseases. However, there is
      considerable paucity in our understanding of mechanisms by which mitochondrial
      dynamics regulate lung diseases. In this review, we will discuss our current
      knowledge on the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease and non-small-cell lung cancer.

PMID- 28598226
TI  - MTOR controls genesis and autophagy of GABAergic interneurons during brain
      development.
AB  - Interneuron progenitors in the ganglionic eminence of the ventral telencephalon
      generate most cortical interneurons during brain development. However, the
      regulatory mechanism of interneuron progenitors remains poorly understood. Here,
      we show that MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin [serine/threonine kinase])
      regulates proliferation and macroautophagy/autophagy of interneuron progenitors
      in the developing ventral telencephalon. To investigate the role of MTOR in
      interneuron progenitors, we conditionally deleted the Mtor gene in mouse
      interneuron progenitors and their progeny by using Tg(mI56i-cre,EGFP)1Kc/Dlx5/6
      Cre-IRES-EGFP and Nkx2-1-Cre drivers. We found that Mtor deletion markedly
      reduced the number of interneurons in the cerebral cortex. However, relative
      positioning of cortical interneurons was normal, suggesting that disruption of
      progenitor self-renewal caused the decreased number of cortical interneurons in
      the Mtor-deleted brain. Indeed, Mtor-deleted interneuron progenitors showed
      abnormal proliferation and cell cycle progression. Additionally, we detected a
      significant activation of autophagy in Mtor-deleted brain. Our findings suggest
      that MTOR plays a critical role in the regulation of cortical interneuron number
      and autophagy in the developing brain.

PMID- 28598227
TI  - Integration of a Palliative Care Intervention into Community Practice for Lung
      Cancer: A Study Protocol and Lessons Learned with Implementation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A notable gap in the evidence base for outpatient palliative care
      (PC) for cancer is that most trials were conducted in specialized oncology or
      academic centers with limited translation and further evaluation in "real-world"
      settings. Health systems are desperate for guidance regarding the most effective
      and sustainable PC service models. OBJECTIVE: Describe the study protocol to
      evaluate the dissemination of a previously tested nurse-led PC intervention (PCI)
      for patients with lung cancer and their family caregiver in community-based
      settings, lessons learned in adapting and implementing the PCI, and implications
      for future dissemination-translational efforts Design: Two-group, prospective
      sequential, quasi-experimental design with Phase 1 (Usual care) followed by Phase
      2 (Intervention) setting/subjects. Three Kaiser Permanente Southern California
      sites. Patients with stage 2-4 nonsmall cell lung cancer and their caregiver.
      MEASUREMENTS: Standard measures of quality of life (QOL; FACT-L, FACIT- SP12,
      City of Hope Family QOL), symptom burden, distress, and caregiver preparedness
      and perceived burden. RESULTS: Adaptations were made to the PCI (comprehensive
      patient/caregiver assessment, interdisciplinary care planning, and
      patient/caregiver education) to harmonize with existing workflows, minimize
      burden to patients, caregivers, and the PC team, and maximize chances of
      sustainability. Implementation facilitators include external competitive
      pressures, internal readiness, and adaptability of the PCI. Barriers include the
      changing lung cancer therapeutic landscape and perceived need for PC support by
      patients and providers, insufficient staffing, and people-dependent processes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to disseminate and implement previously tested PC models
      into real-world community practices need to be more realistic and consider the
      local context.

PMID- 28598228
TI  - HDAC6 inhibition disrupts maturational progression and meiotic apparatus assembly
      in mouse oocytes.
AB  - Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been implicated in diverse biologic processes
      including transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and developmental
      control. However, the role of HDAC6 in mammalian oocytes remains unknown. In the
      present study, by using Tubastatin A (TubA), a selective HDAC6 inhibitor, we
      examined the effects of HDAC6 on maturational progression and meiotic apparatus
      in mouse oocytes. We found that HDAC6 inhibition results in maturation arrest and
      disruption of spindle morphology and chromosome alignment. In line with this
      observation, confocal microscopy revealed that kinetochore-microtubule
      attachment, a critical mechanism controlling chromosome movement, is compromised
      in TubA-treated oocytes markedly. Moreover, we noted that HDAC6 inhibition
      significantly increases the acetylation levels of alpha-tubulin in mouse oocytes,
      which may be associated with the defective phenotypes of TubA-treated oocytes by
      altering microtubule stability and dynamics. In sum, we discover a novel function
      of HDAC6 during oocyte maturation and suggest a potential pathway modulating
      meiotic apparatus assembly.

PMID- 28598229
TI  - Autophagy in natural and therapy-driven anticancer immunosurveillance.
AB  - Autophagy is primordial for the maintenance of metabolic and genetic homeostasis
      in all eukaryotic organisms. Owing to its cell-intrinsic effects, autophagy
      robustly inhibits malignant transformation, yet can support the progression of
      established neoplasms as well as their resistance to conventional treatments. The
      notion that autophagy inhibition sensitizes neoplastic cells to chemotherapy and
      radiation therapy rivals with the capacity of autophagy to contribute to natural
      and therapy-driven anticancer immunosurveillance via a multitude of mechanisms.
      Indeed, autophagy ensures an optimal release of immunostimulatory signals by
      dying cancer cells and hence boosts their capacity to initiate an immune
      response. Moreover, autophagy is important for the activity of several components
      of the immune system involved in tumor recognition and elimination, including
      antigen-presenting cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In this review, we
      discuss how cancer cells disable autophagy to bypass immune control and how
      strategies aiming to enhance autophagy can be envisaged to improve the efficacy
      of immunogenic cancer therapies.

PMID- 28598231
TI  - Effect of Ursolic Acid on Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Sensitivity, and
      Inflammation.
AB  - To evaluate the effect of ursolic acid on metabolic syndrome, insulin
      sensitivity, and inflammation, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
      clinical trial was carried out in 24 patients (30-60 years) with a diagnosis of
      metabolic syndrome without treatment. They were randomly assigned to two groups
      of 12 patients, each to receive orally 150 mg of ursolic acid or homologated
      placebo once a day for 12 weeks. Before and after the intervention, the
      components of metabolic syndrome, insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index), and
      inflammation profile (interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein) were evaluated. After
      ursolic acid administration, the remission of metabolic syndrome occurred in 50%
      of patients (P = .005) with significant differences in body weight (75.7 +/- 11.5
      vs. 71 +/- 11 kg, P = .002), body mass index (BMI) (29.9 + 3.6 vs. 24.9 +/- 1.2
      kg/m2, P = .049), waist circumference (93 +/- 8.9 vs. 83 + 8.6 cm, P = .008),
      fasting glucose (6.0 +/- 0.5 vs. 4.7 +/- 0.4 mmol/L, P = .002), and insulin
      sensitivity (3.1 +/- 1.1 vs. 4.2 +/- 1.2, P = .003). Ursolic acid administration
      leads to transient remission of metabolic syndrome, reducing body weight, BMI,
      waist circumference and fasting glucose, as well as increasing insulin
      sensitivity.

PMID- 28598233
TI  - Functional impairment in RHOT1/Miro1 degradation and mitophagy is a shared
      feature in familial and sporadic Parkinson disease.
AB  - Mitophagy is a conserved and highly regulated process of selective degradation
      crucial in maintaining normal cellular physiology. Genetic defects and cellular
      aberrations affecting mitophagy have been associated with the development of
      Parkinson disease. In their recently published article (highlighted in a punctum
      in this issue of the journal) Hsieh et al. present a putative mitophagy marker,
      which serves as a mechanistic link between sporadic and familial Parkinson
      disease.

PMID- 28598230
TI  - Protective mechanism of FSH against oxidative damage in mouse ovarian granulosa
      cells by repressing autophagy.
AB  - Oxidative stress-induced granulosa cell (GCs) death represents a common reason
      for follicular atresia. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) has been shown to
      prevent GCs from oxidative injury, although the underlying mechanism remains to
      be elucidated. Here we first report that the suppression of autophagic cell death
      via some novel signaling effectors is engaged in FSH-mediated GCs protection
      against oxidative damage. The decline in GCs viability caused by oxidant injury
      was remarkably reduced following FSH treatment, along with impaired
      macroautophagic/autophagic flux under conditions of oxidative stress both in vivo
      and in vitro. Blocking of autophagy displayed similar levels of suppression in
      oxidant-induced cell death compared with FSH treatment, but FSH did not further
      improve survival of GCs pretreated with autophagy inhibitors. Further
      investigations revealed that activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)
      AKT-MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin [serine/threonine kinase]) signaling
      pathway was required for FSH-mediated GCs survival from oxidative stress-induced
      autophagy. Additionally, the FSH-PI3K-AKT axis also downregulated the autophagic
      response by targeting FOXO1, whereas constitutive activation of FOXO1 in GCs not
      only abolished the protection from FSH, but also emancipated the autophagic
      process, from the protein level of MAP1LC3B-II to autophagic gene expression.
      Furthermore, FSH inhibited the production of acetylated FOXO1 and its interaction
      with Atg proteins, followed by a decreased level of autophagic cell death upon
      oxidative stress. Taken together, our findings suggest a new mechanism involving
      FSH-FOXO1 signaling in defense against oxidative damage to GCs by restraining
      autophagy, which may be a potential avenue for the clinical treatment of
      anovulatory disorders.

PMID- 28598232
TI  - Exercise reestablishes autophagic flux and mitochondrial quality control in heart
      failure.
AB  - We previously reported that facilitating the clearance of damaged mitochondria
      through macroautophagy/autophagy protects against acute myocardial infarction.
      Here we characterize the impact of exercise, a safe strategy against
      cardiovascular disease, on cardiac autophagy and its contribution to
      mitochondrial quality control, bioenergetics and oxidative damage in a post
      myocardial infarction-induced heart failure animal model. We found that failing
      hearts displayed reduced autophagic flux depicted by accumulation of autophagy
      related markers and loss of responsiveness to chloroquine treatment at 4 and 12
      wk after myocardial infarction. These changes were accompanied by accumulation of
      fragmented mitochondria with reduced O2 consumption, elevated H2O2 release and
      increased Ca2+-induced mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening. Of
      interest, disruption of autophagic flux was sufficient to decrease cardiac
      mitochondrial function in sham-treated animals and increase cardiomyocyte
      toxicity upon mitochondrial stress. Importantly, 8 wk of exercise training,
      starting 4 wk after myocardial infarction at a time when autophagy and
      mitochondrial oxidative capacity were already impaired, improved cardiac
      autophagic flux. These changes were followed by reduced mitochondrial number:size
      ratio, increased mitochondrial bioenergetics and better cardiac function.
      Moreover, exercise training increased cardiac mitochondrial number, size and
      oxidative capacity without affecting autophagic flux in sham-treated animals.
      Further supporting an autophagy mechanism for exercise-induced improvements of
      mitochondrial bioenergetics in heart failure, acute in vivo inhibition of
      autophagic flux was sufficient to mitigate the increased mitochondrial oxidative
      capacity triggered by exercise in failing hearts. Collectively, our findings
      uncover the potential contribution of exercise in restoring cardiac autophagy
      flux in heart failure, which is associated with better mitochondrial quality
      control, bioenergetics and cardiac function.

PMID- 28598234
TI  - Design and evaluation of novel topical formulation with olive oil as natural
      functional active.
AB  - Currently, the innovative skin research is focused on the development of novel
      topical formulations loaded with natural functional actives. The health benefits
      of olive oil are unsurpassed and many others are revealed as research studies
      allow the understanding of its unlimited properties. Olive oil has a protective
      toning effect on skin, but it is not transported effectively into its layers.
      Aiming the development of a cosmetic formulation for skin photoprotection and
      hydration, we have prepared and characterized macro-sized particles, made of a
      hydrogel polymer, loaded with olive oil. Alginate beads were uniform in shape,
      with minimal oil leakage, offering interesting prospects for encapsulation of
      lipophilic and poorly stable molecules, like olive oil. In vitro photoprotection
      and in vivo tolerance tests were in favor of this application. Thus, this study
      suggests that the incorporation of the olive oil-loaded particles into a cream
      formulation provides strong moisturizing properties and a photoprotective
      potential, when applied to healthy subjects.

PMID- 28598235
TI  - Lift and cut: Anti-host autophagy mechanism of Legionella pneumophila.
AB  - RavZ, an effector protein of pathogenic Legionella pneumophila, inhibits host
      macroautophagy/autophagy by deconjugation of lipidated LC3 proteins from
      phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on the autophagosome membrane. The mechanism for
      how RavZ specifically recognizes and deconjugates the lipidated LC3s is not
      clear. To understand the structure-function relationship of LC3-deconjugation by
      RavZ, we prepared semisynthetic LC3 proteins modified with different fragments of
      PE or 1-hexadecanol (C16). We find that RavZ activity is strictly dependent on
      the conjugated PE structure and RavZ extracts LC3-PE from the membrane before
      deconjugation. Structural and biophysical analysis of RavZ-LC3 interactions
      suggest that RavZ initially recognizes LC3-PE on the membrane via its N-terminal
      LC3-interacting region (LIR) motif. RavZ specifically targets to autophagosome
      membranes by interaction with phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns3P) via its
      C-terminal domain and association with membranes via the hydrophobic alpha3
      helix. The alpha3 helix is involved in extraction of the PE moiety and docking of
      the fatty acid chains into the lipid-binding site of RavZ, which is related in
      structure to that of the phospholipid transfer protein Sec14. The LIR interaction
      and lipid binding facilitate subsequent proteolytic cleavage of LC3-PE. The
      findings reveal a novel mode of host-pathogen interaction.

PMID- 28598236
TI  - Destructive cellular paths underlying familial and sporadic Parkinson disease
      converge on mitophagy.
AB  - The knowledge gap separating the molecular and cellular underpinnings of
      Parkinson disease (PD) and its pathology hinders treatment innovation. Adding to
      this difficulty is the lack of a reliable biomarker for PD. Our previous studies
      identify a link of 2 PD proteins, PINK1/PRKN Parkin to a mitochondrial motor
      adaptor RHOT1/Miro-1, which mediates mitochondrial motility and mitophagy. Here
      we review our recent paper showing that a third PD protein, LRRK2, also targets
      RHOT1 and regulates mitophagy, and pathogenic LRRK2 disrupts this function.
      Notably, we discover impairments in RHOT1 and mitophagy in sporadic PD patients
      with no known genetic backgrounds, pointing to RHOT1-mediated mitophagy as a
      convergent pathway in PD. This novelty opens new doors in PD research toward
      RHOT1-based therapy and biomarker development.

PMID- 28598237
TI  - Homocysteine as a Diagnostic and Etiopathogenic Factor in Children with Autism
      Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Substantial characteristics of autism are cognitive and psychophysical disorders.
      Etiopathogenetic factors are thought to be responsible for development of autism
      in children with genetic predisposition as well as have their effect on the
      severity of the disorders. The main problem of early identification of patients
      affected by autism spectrum disorder is that there are no clear diagnostic
      criteria. The aim of our study was assessment of hair magnesium and serum
      homocysteine concentrations in children with autism. The presented work is a
      continuation of previous study in which we investigated the influence of
      disturbances in magnesium and homocysteine levels in children with autism,
      performed on a new, larger group of patients. One hundred and forty children had
      hair magnesium levels analyzed, as well as blood serum levels of homocysteine and
      magnesium. Hair magnesium analysis was performed using a flame atomic absorption
      spectrometer, blood serum homocysteine determination was performed using a
      radioimmunological method, and blood serum magnesium level was determined using a
      biochemical method. Our research showed normal magnesium blood levels and
      significantly high homocysteine levels and very low hair magnesium levels. Low
      concentration of hair magnesium progresses with age. Our hypothesis is that
      magnesium deficiency, as a relevant epigenetic factor, might be decreasing
      methylation of homocysteine, therefore decreasing genome transcription and
      lowering the synaptic plasticity. We suggest that analysis of hair magnesium and
      serum homocysteine levels might be useful in identification of children with
      autism spectrum disorder, as well as control of its treatment. Obtained results
      and performed analysis might therefore justify supplementation of magnesium among
      children with autism.

PMID- 28598239
TI  - The Prospective Evaluation of the Net Effect of Red Blood Cell Transfusions in
      Routine Provision of Palliative Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Red Blood Cell (RBC) transfusions are commonly used in palliative
      care. RBCs are a finite resource, transfusions carry risks, and the net effect
      (benefits and harms) is poorly defined for people with life-limiting illnesses.
      OBJECTIVE: To examine the indications and effects of RBC transfusion in
      palliative care patients. DESIGN: This international, multisite, prospective
      consecutive cohort study. SETTING/SUBJECTS: Palliative care patients undergoing
      RBC transfusion. MEASUREMENTS: Target symptoms (fatigue, breathlessness,
      generalized weakness, or dizziness) were assessed before transfusion and at day 7
      by treating clinicians, using National Cancer Center Institute Common Terminology
      Criteria for Adverse Events. Assessment of harms was made at day 2. RESULTS: One
      hundred and one transfusions with day 7 follow-up were collected. Median age was
      72.0 (interquartile range 61.5-83.0) years, 58% men, and mean Australia-modified
      Karnofsky Performance Status (AKPS) of 48 (standard deviation [SD] 17). A mean
      2.1 (SD 0.6) unit was tranfused. The target symptoms were fatigue (61%),
      breathlessness (16%), generalized weakness (12%), dizziness (6%), or other (5%).
      Forty-nine percent of transfusions improved the primary target symptom, and 78%
      of transfusions improved at least one of the target symptoms. Harms were
      infrequent and mild. An AKPS of 40%-50% was associated with higher chances of
      symptomatic benefit in the target symptom; however, no other predictors of
      response were identified. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest prospective consecutive
      case series to date, clinicians generally reported benefit, with minimal harms.
      Ongoing work is required to define the optimal patient- and clinician-reported
      hematological and functional outcome measures to optimize the use of donor blood
      and to minimize transfusion-associated risk.

PMID- 28598238
TI  - NLRC3 regulates cellular proliferation and apoptosis to attenuate the development
      of colorectal cancer.
AB  - Nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-repeat-containing proteins (NLRs) are
      intracellular innate immune sensors of pathogen-associated and damage-associated
      molecular patterns. NLRs regulate diverse biologic processes such as inflammatory
      responses, cell proliferation and death, and gut microbiota to attenuate
      tumorigenesis. In a recent publication in Nature, we identified NLRC3 as a
      negative regulator of PI3K-mTOR signaling and characterized its potential tumor
      suppressor function. Enterocytes lacking NLRC3 cannot control cellular
      proliferation because they are unable to suppress activation of PI3K-mTOR
      signaling pathways. In this Extra-View, we explore possible mechanisms through
      which NLRC3 regulates cellular proliferation and cell death. Besides interacting
      with PI3K, NLRC3 associates with TRAF6 and mTOR, confirming our recent finding
      that NLRC3 negatively regulates the PI3K-mTOR axis. Herein, we show that NLRC3
      suppresses c-Myc expression and activation of PI3K-AKT targets FoxO3a and FoxO1
      in the colon of Nlrc3-/- mice, suggesting that additional signaling pathways
      contribute to increased cellular proliferation. Moreover, NLRC3 suppresses
      colorectal tumorigenesis by promoting cellular apoptosis. Genes encoding
      intestinal stem cell markers BMI1 and OLFM4 are upregulated in the colon of Nlrc3
      /- mice. Herein, we discuss recent findings and explore mechanisms through which
      NLRC3 regulates PI3K-mTOR signaling. Our studies highlight the therapeutic
      potential of modulating NLRC3 to prevent and treat cancer.

PMID- 28598242
TI  - Antithrombotic Effect of Fermented Ophiopogon japonicus in Thrombosis-Induced Rat
      Models.
AB  - In this study, the antithrombotic and thrombolytic ability of second fermented
      extract of Ophiopogon japonicus (FEOJ) was verified in thrombosis-induced rats.
      Thrombosis was induced by oral administration of 2% carrageenan for 4 weeks. Five
      experimental groups (n = 9/group) involved in the study were control group,
      thrombosis group, low-dose FEOJ group (2 mL/kg, low-dose Ophiopogon japonicus
      [LOJ]), middle-dose FEOJ group (6 mL/kg, medium-dose Ophiopogon japonicus [MOJ]),
      and high-dose FEOJ group (12 mL/kg, high-dose Ophiopogon japonicus [HOJ]). The
      clotting time (CT), bleeding time (BT), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial
      thromboplastin time (APTT), and fibrinogen (FBG) were assessed in blood samples,
      and histological studies were performed on liver and lung tissues. The results
      demonstrated delayed CT only in MOJ and HOJ groups and delayed BT in all FEOJ
      groups compared with those in thrombosis and control groups (P < .05). Similarly,
      APTT was significantly delayed only in MOJ and HOJ groups, and PT was
      significantly delayed in all FEOJ groups, compared with those in control and
      thrombosis groups (P < .05). Although concentrations of FBG were similar in
      control, thrombosis, and LOJ groups, the tendency for decreased concentration of
      FBG (statistically nonsignificant) in MOJ and HOJ groups has been observed.
      Histological examination of livers and lungs revealed that thrombosis was
      partially improved in FEOJ group compared with the thrombosis group. In
      conclusion, CT, BT, PT, and APTT were prolonged in FEOJ group more than in
      control and thrombosis groups, thereby, depicting antithrombotic and thrombolytic
      effects. However, concentration-dependent effects of FEOJ were more prominent in
      MOJ and HOJ groups than in the LOJ group.

PMID- 28598241
TI  - Critical histone post-translational modifications for centromere function and
      propagation.
AB  - The centromere is a critical genomic region that enables faithful chromosome
      segregation during mitosis, and must be distinguishable from other genomic
      regions to facilitate establishment of the kinetochore. The centromere-specific
      histone H3-variant CENP-A forms a special nucleosome that functions as a marker
      for centromere specification. In addition to the CENP-A nucleosomes, there are
      additional H3 nucleosomes that have been identified in centromeres, both of which
      are predicted to exhibit specific features. It is likely that the composite
      organization of CENP-A and H3 nucleosomes contributes to the formation of
      centromere-specific chromatin, termed 'centrochromatin'. Recent studies suggest
      that centrochromatin has specific histone modifications that mediate centromere
      specification and kinetochore assembly. We use chicken non-repetitive centromeres
      as a model of centromeric activities to characterize functional features of
      centrochromatin. This review discusses our recent progress, and that of various
      other research groups, in elucidating the functional roles of histone
      modifications in centrochromatin.

PMID- 28598240
TI  - Classical autophagy proteins LC3B and ATG4B facilitate melanosome movement on
      cytoskeletal tracks.
AB  - Macroautophagy/autophagy is a dynamic and inducible catabolic process that
      responds to a variety of hormonal and environmental cues. Recent studies
      highlight the interplay of this central pathway in a variety of
      pathophysiological diseases. Although defective autophagy is implicated in
      melanocyte proliferation and pigmentary disorders, the mechanistic relationship
      between the 2 pathways has not been elucidated. In this study, we show that
      autophagic proteins LC3B and ATG4B mediate melanosome trafficking on cytoskeletal
      tracks. While studying melanogenesis, we observed spatial segregation of LC3B
      labeled melanosomes with preferential absence at the dendritic ends of
      melanocytes. This LC3B labeling of melanosomes did not impact the steady-state
      levels of these organelles but instead facilitated their intracellular
      positioning. Melanosomes primarily traverse on microtubule and actin cytoskeletal
      tracks and our studies reveal that LC3B enables the assembly of microtubule
      translocon complex. At the microtubule-actin crossover junction, ATG4B detaches
      LC3B from melanosomal membranes by enzymatic delipidation. Further, by live
      imaging we show that melanosomes transferred to keratinocytes lack melanocyte
      specific LC3B. Our study thus elucidates a new role for autophagy proteins in
      directing melanosome movement and reveal the unconventional use of these proteins
      in cellular trafficking pathways. Such crosstalk between the central cellular
      function and housekeeping pathway may be a crucial mechanism to balance
      melanocyte bioenergetics and homeostasis.

PMID- 28598244
TI  - Accumulation of undegraded autophagosomes by expression of dominant-negative
      STX17 (syntaxin 17) mutants.
AB  - Macroautophagy/autophagy, which is one of the main degradation systems in the
      cell, is mediated by a specialized organelle, the autophagosome. Purification of
      autophagosomes before fusion with lysosomes is important for both mechanistic and
      physiological studies of the autophagosome. Here, we report a simple method to
      accumulate undigested autophagosomes. Overexpression of the autophagosomal Qa
      SNARE STX17 (syntaxin 17) lacking the N-terminal domain (NTD) or N-terminally
      tagged GFP-STX17 causes accumulation of autophagosomes. A HeLa cell line, which
      expresses GFP-STX17DeltaNTD or full-length GFP-STX17 under the control of the
      tetracycline-responsive promoter, accumulates a large number of undigested
      autophagosomes devoid of lysosomal markers or early autophagy factors upon
      treatment with doxycycline. Using this inducible cell line, nascent
      autophagosomes can be easily purified by OptiPrep density-gradient centrifugation
      and immunoprecipitation. This novel method should be useful for further
      characterization of nascent autophagosomes.

PMID- 28598245
TI  - Factors associated with stress in families of children with autism spectrum
      disorder.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify key factors associated with
      severe stress in families raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
      METHODS: Questionnaires were mailed to families with one or more children with a
      diagnosis of ASD. Data from 543 surveys were analyzed using univariate and
      multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Forty-four percent (n = 241) of the
      caregivers reported severe family stress related to raising a child with ASD.
      Severe family stress was associated with (1) reduced ability to socialize; (2)
      not having accessed individual therapy; (3) negative co-parent relationships; and
      (4) high out of pockets costs due to the child's ASD. The specific ASD diagnosis,
      comorbid conditions, socio-demographic variables, and social support were not
      associated with severe family stress. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current
      study highlight the importance of a systemic approach to family stress, whereby
      individual, family, and ecological factors are investigated.

PMID- 28598246
TI  - The effect of ISAba1-mediated adeN gene disruption on Acinetobacter baumannii
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 28598243
TI  - Advances in arterial spin labelling MRI methods for measuring perfusion and
      collateral flow.
AB  - With the publication in 2015 of the consensus statement by the perfusion study
      group of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and
      the EU-COST action 'ASL in dementia' on the implementation of arterial spin
      labelling MRI (ASL) in a clinical setting, the development of ASL can be
      considered to have become mature and ready for clinical prime-time. In this
      review article new developments and remaining issues will be discussed,
      especially focusing on quantification of ASL as well as on new technological
      developments of ASL for perfusion imaging and flow territory mapping. Uncertainty
      of the achieved labelling efficiency in pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) as well as
      the presence of arterial transit time artefacts, can be considered the main
      remaining challenges for the use of quantitative cerebral blood flow (CBF)
      values. New developments in ASL centre around time-efficient acquisition of
      dynamic ASL-images by means of time-encoded pCASL and diversification of
      information content, for example by combined 4D-angiography with perfusion
      imaging. Current vessel-encoded and super-selective pCASL-methodology have
      developed into easily applied flow-territory mapping methods providing relevant
      clinical information with highly similar information content as digital
      subtraction angiography (DSA), the current clinical standard. Both approaches
      seem therefore to be ready for clinical use.

PMID- 28598247
TI  - A long-range flexible billboard model of gene activation.
AB  - Gene regulation is fundamentally important for the coordination of diverse
      biologic processes including homeostasis and responses to developmental and
      environmental stimuli. Transcription factor (TF) binding sites are one of the
      major functional subunits of gene regulation. They are arranged in cis-regulatory
      modules (CRMs) that can be more active than the sum of their individual effects.
      Recently, we described a mechanism of glucocorticoid (GC)-induced gene regulation
      in which the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binds coordinately to multiple CRMs
      that are 10s of kilobases apart in the genome. In those results, the minority of
      GR binding sites appear to involve direct TF:DNA interactions. Meanwhile, other
      GR binding sites in a cluster interact with those direct binding sites to tune
      their gene regulatory activity. Here, we consider the implications of those and
      related results in the context of existing models of gene regulation. Based on
      our analyses, we propose that the billboard and regulatory grammar models of cis
      regulatory element activity be expanded to consider the influence of long-range
      interactions between cis-regulatory modules.

PMID- 28598250
TI  - Telehealth Centers: A Proposal of a Theoretical Model for Evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Telehealth is a form of assistance support and continuing education
      for professionals who work in Primary Healthcare. INTRODUCTION: The
      implementation of the Brazilian Telehealth Program has extended the need for
      evaluation of its results to improve its use and benefits. Thus, it is necessary
      to systematize the theory, principals, and guidelines that guide the program
      organization, its activities, and resources. The objective of this study is to
      propose a theoretical model of functioning and organization for telehealth
      centers of the Brazilian Telehealth Program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study that
      combined bibliographic, documental research and empiric data to systematize
      information, which are the basis functioning of the program, and verify the
      availability of telehealth centers in Brazil. RESULTS: The results were the
      construction of a theoretical model that demonstrated the evaluability of the
      object and the definition of methodological paths to continue the evaluation
      research that respond with fragilities and potentialities. DISCUSSION: In Brazil,
      there is public funding for telehealth activities offered by telehealth centers
      linked to the Ministry of Health. Its operation is guided by support for training
      and assistance activities, enabling qualification and strengthening of
      professionals to improve patient care and increase access. The transformation of
      reality is possible and favored by the articulation of teaching and service. More
      research is needed to evaluate these services offered. Theoretical guidance
      through modeling is fundamental to qualify the evaluation. CONCLUSION: The
      theoretical model is an important tool to qualify and optimize the evaluative
      research process.

PMID- 28598249
TI  - Recall and decay of consent information among parents of infants participating in
      a randomized controlled clinical trial using an audio-visual tool in The Gambia.
AB  - Communicating essential research information to low literacy research
      participants in Africa is highly challenging, since this population is vulnerable
      to poor comprehension of consent information. Several supportive materials have
      been developed to aid participant comprehension in these settings. Within the
      framework of a pneumococcal vaccine trial in The Gambia, we evaluated the recall
      and decay of consent information during the trial which used an audio-visual tool
      called 'Speaking Book', to foster comprehension among parents of participating
      infants. The Speaking Book was developed in the 2 most widely spoken local
      languages. Four-hundred and 9 parents of trial infants gave consent to
      participate in this nested study and were included in the baseline assessment of
      their knowledge about trial participation. An additional assessment was conducted
      approximately 90 d later, following completion of the clinical trial protocol.
      All parents received a Speaking Book at the start of the trial. Trial knowledge
      was already high at the baseline assessment with no differences related to socio
      economic status or education. Knowledge of key trial information was retained at
      the completion of the study follow-up. The Speaking Book (SB) was well received
      by the study participants. We hypothesize that the SB may have contributed to the
      retention of information over the trial follow-up. Further studies evaluating the
      impact of this innovative tool are thus warranted.

PMID- 28598248
TI  - Enamel matrix derivative enhances the proliferation and osteogenic
      differentiation of human periodontal ligament stem cells on the titanium implant
      surface.
AB  - Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) have mesenchymal-stem-cells-like
      qualities, and are considered as one of the candidates of future clinical
      application in periodontal regeneration therapy. Enamel matrix derivative (EMD)
      is widely used in promoting periodontal regeneration. However, the effects of EMD
      on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human PDLSCs grown on the
      Ti implant surface are still no clear. Therefore, this study examined the effects
      of EMD on human PDLSCs in vitro. Human PDLSCs were isolated from healthy
      participants, and seeded on the surface of Ti implant disks and stimulated with
      various concentrations of EMD. Cell proliferation was determined with Cell
      Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs was evaluated by
      the measurement of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, Alizarin red staining,
      and real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting,
      respectively. The results indicated that EMD at concentrations (5-60 ug/ml)
      increased the viability and proliferation of PDLSCs. The treatment with 30 and 60
      ug/ml of EMD significantly elevated ALP activity, augmented mineralized nodule
      formation and calcium deposition, and upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of
      Runx-2 and osteocalcin (OCN) in the PDLSCs grown on the Ti surface. Further
      investigation found that EMD treatment did not change the protein levels of
      phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), p-PI3K, Akt and mTOR, but significantly
      upregulated the phosphorylated levels of Akt and mTOR. Collectively, these
      results suggest that EMD stimulation can promote the proliferation and osteogenic
      differentiation of PDLSCs grown on Ti surface, which is possibly associated with
      the activation of Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

PMID- 28598251
TI  - Molecular Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      Isolated from Australian Animals and Veterinarians.
AB  - This study aimed to determine the frequency and molecular epidemiology of
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from Australian animals and
      whether animal-derived MRSA was similar to that from Australian veterinarians. A
      total of 1,080 clinical coagulase positive Staphylococcus isolates from
      Australian animals were collected during 2013. Sixteen (4%) of 360 S. aureus
      isolates were MRSA. Most MRSA came from companion animals, while none came from
      livestock. MRSA isolates were characterized using whole genome sequencing. ST22
      IV (EMRSA-15) was the most common clone in dogs and cats. Clonal complex (CC) 8
      was most common in horses. Most ST22-IV isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin.
      Animal-derived MRSA genomes were interrogated for the presence of host-specific
      genetic markers (staphylokinase gene [scn], chemotaxis-inhibiting proteins gene
      [chp], staphylococcal complement inhibitor gene [sak], enterotoxin A gene [sea],
      and Von Willebrand Factor binding protein gene [vwb]). A subset of MRSA genomes
      previously collected from Australian veterinarians was also interrogated. There
      was no clear pattern in the distribution of host-specific markers among animal
      and veterinarian isolates. Animal- and veterinarian-derived MRSA were
      intermingled in the phylogenetic tree. The absence of MRSA in Australian
      livestock is in stark contrast with its presence in livestock from other
      countries. Possible explanations include Australia's geographic isolation, the
      absence of live animal importation into Australia, and most notably, the
      restrictions placed on the use of antimicrobials of critical importance in
      Australian livestock.

PMID- 28598252
TI  - Mutation of nucleotides around the +1 position of type 3 polymerase III
      promoters: The effect on transcriptional activity and start site usage.
AB  - Type 3 RNA polymerase III (Pol III) promoters are widely used for the expression
      of small RNAs such as short hairpin RNA and guide RNA in the popular RNAi and
      CRISPR-Cas gene regulation systems. Although it is generally believed that type 3
      Pol III promoters use a defined transcription start site (+1 position), most man
      made promoter constructs contain local sequence alterations of which the impact
      on transcription efficiency and initiation accuracy is not known. For three human
      type 3 Pol III promoters (7SK, U6, and H1), we demonstrated that the nucleotides
      around the +1 position affect both the transcriptional efficiency and start site
      selection. Human 7SK and U6 promoters with A or G at the +1 position efficiently
      produced small RNAs with a precise +1 start site. The human H1 promoter with +1A
      or G also efficiently produced small RNAs but from multiple start sites in the 
      3/-1 window. These results provide new insights for the design of vectors for
      accurate expression of designed small RNAs for research and therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 28598253
TI  - Androgen receptor and miR-206 regulation in prostate cancer.
AB  - In the United States, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer
      related deaths among men with an approximately 220,000 patients diagnosed with
      the disease in 2015. Prostate cancer is a hormone-driven tumor, and a common
      therapy is androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) that involves anti-androgen
      treatments and/or castration therapy. Understanding the molecular basis for
      androgen-independent tumors is crucial toward developing new therapies for these
      patients. Understanding how androgen receptor itself functions is an important
      step in elucidating this process. Androgen receptor (AR), NR3C4, is a nuclear
      hormone receptor and functions as a DNA-binding transcription factor that
      regulates the expression of protein-coding genes. Translocation of AR to improper
      gene promoter elements or DNA-binding sites can result in an alteration in gene
      expression and thus normal prostate function. Therefore, it is crucial to
      understand which AR-promoter interactions are drivers of disease, as compared to
      promiscuous or benign AR-binding interactions. While a large portion of our
      genome is considered a gene desert, it is now appreciated that these regions of
      the genome contain non-coding RNA genes such as microRNAs (miRNAs). These non
      coding RNAs have enormous regulatory potential, as they post-transcriptionally
      regulate gene expression by binding to messenger RNAs (mRNAs) to promote
      degradation or intervention of translational processes. In this review, we focus
      specifically on the notion that mis-regulation of non-coding RNAs such as miRNAs
      by improper AR-DNA binding are an important component that promotes prostate
      cancer. We also highlight the role of miR-206 and the interaction of miR-206 and
      AR within this process, given this is a miRNA known to be regulated by hormones
      in both breast and prostate cancer.

PMID- 28598254
TI  - Archaeal RNA polymerase arrests transcription at DNA lesions.
AB  - Transcription elongation is not uniform and transcription is often hindered by
      protein-bound factors or DNA lesions that limit translocation and impair
      catalysis. Despite the high degree of sequence and structural homology of the
      multi-subunit RNA polymerases (RNAP), substantial differences in response to DNA
      lesions have been reported. Archaea encode only a single RNAP with striking
      structural conservation with eukaryotic RNAP II (Pol II). Here, we demonstrate
      that the archaeal RNAP from Thermococcus kodakarensis is sensitive to a variety
      of DNA lesions that pause and arrest RNAP at or adjacent to the site of DNA
      damage. DNA damage only halts elongation when present in the template strand, and
      the damage often results in RNAP arresting such that the lesion would be
      encapsulated with the transcription elongation complex. The strand-specific halt
      to archaeal transcription elongation on modified templates is supportive of RNAP
      recognizing DNA damage and potentially initiating DNA repair through a process
      akin to the well-described transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR) pathways in
      Bacteria and Eukarya.

PMID- 28598257
TI  - What's Worth Talking About? Information Theory Reveals How Children Balance
      Informativeness and Ease of Production.
AB  - Of all the things a person could say in a given situation, what determines what
      is worth saying? Greenfield's principle of informativeness states that right from
      the onset of language, humans selectively comment on whatever they find
      unexpected. In this article, we quantify this tendency using information
      theoretic measures and report on a study in which we tested the counterintuitive
      prediction that children will produce words that have a low frequency given the
      context, because these will be most informative. Using corpora of child-directed
      speech, we identified adjectives that varied in how informative (i.e.,
      unexpected) they were given the noun they modified. In an initial experiment ( N
      = 31) and in a replication ( N = 13), 3-year-olds heard an experimenter use these
      adjectives to describe pictures. The children's task was then to describe the
      pictures to another person. As the information content of the experimenter's
      adjective increased, so did children's tendency to comment on the feature that
      adjective had encoded. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that children balance
      informativeness with a competing drive to ease production.

PMID- 28598255
TI  - The regulatory role of miRNAs on VDR in breast cancer.
AB  - Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been associated with the lack of three
      hormone receptors; estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). However, a host of other steroid
      hormone receptors such as vitamin D receptor (VDR) is present in TNBC, and the
      role of these hormone receptors in breast tumorigenesis is unclear. The levels of
      microRNAs (miRNAs) are also expressed differently than in normal mammary
      epithelial cells. miRNAs are regulatory RNAs involved in various cellular
      functions, mainly gene silencing. Here, we reviewed the literature surrounding
      miRNAs in breast cancer, and performed in silico analysis to determine whether
      there was a correlation between levels of VDR in relation to miRNAs important in
      breast cancer development and tumorigenesis. We identified three miRNAs of
      interest, specifically, miR-23, miR-124, and miR-125. Through this research we
      determined the possibility that these miRNAs play an important role in
      controlling VDR activity and by virtue the development of breast cancer.

PMID- 28598259
TI  - SEPP1 and SEP15 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to breast cancer.

PMID- 28598256
TI  - Integrated immunogenicity analysis of a tetravalent dengue vaccine up to 4 y
      after vaccination.
AB  - Two large pivotal phase III studies demonstrated the efficacy of the tetravalent
      dengue vaccine (CYD-TDV; Dengvaxia(r), Sanofi Pasteur) against all dengue
      serotypes. Here we present an unprecedented integrated summary of the
      immunogenicity of CYD-TDV to identify the parameters driving the neutralizing
      humoral immune response and evolution over time. We summarized the immunogenicity
      profiles of a 3-dose schedule of CYD-TDV administered 6 months apart across 10
      phase II and 6 phase III trials undertaken in dengue endemic and non-endemic
      countries. Dengue neutralizing antibody titers in sera were determined at
      centralized laboratories using the 50% plaque reduction neutralization test
      (PRNT50) at baseline, 28 d after the third dose, and annually thereafter for up
      to 4 y after the third dose in some studies. CYD-TDV elicits neutralizing
      antibody responses against all 4 dengue serotypes; geometric mean titers (GMTs)
      increased from baseline to post-dose 3. GMTs were influenced by several
      parameters including age, baseline dengue seropositivity and region. In the 2
      pivotal studies, GMTs decreased initially during the first 2 y post-dose 3 but
      appear to stabilize or slightly increase again in the third year. GMTs persisted
      1.2-3.2-fold higher than baseline levels for up to 4 y post-dose 3 in other
      studies undertaken in dengue endemic countries. Our integrated analysis captures
      the fullness of the CYD-TDV immunogenicity profile across studies, age groups and
      regions; by presenting the available data in this way general trends and
      substantial outliers within each grouping can be easily identified. CYD-TDV
      elicits neutralizing antibody responses against all dengue serotypes, with
      differences by age and endemicity, which persist above baseline levels in endemic
      countries.

PMID- 28598260
TI  - Comparison of the Acceptance of Telemonitoring for Glucose Management Between
      South Korea and China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Telemonitoring is used for glucose management and support in many
      countries. A better understanding of the differences in telemonitoring acceptance
      based on regional characteristics is needed. Therefore, we compared the
      acceptance of telemonitoring for glucose management among patients in South Korea
      and China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used data from Korean (n = 81) and
      Chinese (n = 92) subjects with type 2 diabetes. We used two independent sample t
      tests to compare patients' perceptions of telemonitoring and multiple regression
      analysis to determine the factors that affected their behavioral intentions to
      use telemonitoring. We conducted Wilcoxon signed rank tests to assess the
      differences in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels from baseline to follow-up. RESULTS:
      Although Korean and Chinese patients had positive perceptions of the services,
      different factors influenced their behavioral intentions to use them. In South
      Korea, performance expectations and social influences were significantly
      associated with intention to use telemonitoring. Patients younger than 50 years
      showed a significant decrease in HbA1c levels at month 6 (p < 0.05). In China,
      effort expectancy and facilitating conditions were significantly associated with
      intention to use. In addition, subjects in all age groups exhibited a significant
      decrease in HbA1c levels at all follow-up points (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION:
      Telemonitoring was a supportive intervention in improving blood sugar levels
      among patients with diabetes in South Korea and China, but the factors
      influencing its use varied. We provide practical guidance for developing
      telemonitoring for glucose management that considers the distinct characteristics
      of different countries.

PMID- 28598258
TI  - The epidemiology of supernumerary teeth and the associated molecular mechanism.
AB  - Supernumerary teeth are common clinical dental anomalies. Although various
      studies have provided abundant information regarding genes and signaling pathways
      involved in tooth morphogenesis, which include Wnt, FGF, BMP, and Shh, the
      molecular mechanism of tooth formation, especially for supernumerary teeth, is
      still unclear. In the population, some cases of supernumerary teeth are sporadic,
      while others are syndrome-related with familial hereditary. The prompt and
      accurate diagnosis of syndrome related supernumerary teeth is quite important for
      some distinctive disorders. Mice are the most commonly used model system for
      investigating supernumerary teeth. The upregulation of Wnt and Shh signaling in
      the dental epithelium results in the formation of multiple supernumerary teeth in
      mice. Understanding the molecular mechanism of supernumerary teeth is also a
      component of understanding tooth formation in general and provides clinical
      guidance for early diagnosis and treatment in the future.

PMID- 28598262
TI  - Strigolactones in the Rhizosphere: Friend or Foe?
AB  - Strigolactones are well-known endogenous plant hormones that play a major role in
      planta by influencing different physiological processes. Moreover, ex planta,
      strigolactones are important signaling molecules in root exudates and function as
      host detection cues to launch mutualistic interactions with arbuscular
      mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere. However, parasitic plants belonging to the
      Orobanchaceae family hijacked this communication system to stimulate their seed
      germination when in close proximity to the roots of a suitable host. As a result,
      the secretion of strigolactones by the plant can have both favorable and
      detrimental outcomes. Here, we discuss these dual positive and negative effects
      of strigolactones and we provide a detailed overview on the role of these
      molecules in the complex dialogs between plants and different organisms in the
      rhizosphere.

PMID- 28598261
TI  - Neurotoxicity of alkylated polycyclic aromatic compounds in human neuroblastoma
      cells.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants
      originating from incomplete combustion processes. While the toxicity of parent
      PAC such as benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is well characterized, effects of other alkyl
      PAC dibenzothiophene (DBT) and retene (Ret) are not well established. The aim of
      this study was to examine the underlying relative neurotoxic mechanisms
      attributed to BaP (parent PAH), DBT and Ret (alkyl-PACs) using human
      neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells. The lethal concentrations (LC10 and LC20) were found
      at approximately 10 uM and 40 uM, respectively after 24-h exposure of SK-N-SH
      cells. It was hypothesized that PAC trigger reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production, leading to activation of apoptotic signaling pathways. Differentiated
      neuronal cells were treated with three compounds at (0.5-40 uM) for 24 h. There
      was a significant concentration-dependent increase in levels of ROS, even at sub
      lethal levels of 1 uM Ret. The mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was
      significantly decreased. Real-time RT-PCR results showed up-regulation of pro
      apoptotic genes and down-regulation of antioxidative genes expression in BaP-,
      DBT-, and Ret-treated SK-N-SH cells. Cytochrome c protein levels and lipid
      peroxidation (LPO) were also significantly elevated in a concentration-related
      manner. Data demonstrated that BaP-, DBT-, or Ret-induced neuronal cell damage
      involved oxidative stress generation through mitochondria-mediated apoptosis
      pathway. Alkyl-PAC also exhibited higher potency in ROS induction and reduction
      of MMP than parent PAC. These findings may be important for environmental risk
      assessment attributed to exposure to PAC.

PMID- 28598264
TI  - Letter to the Editor. Subdural collections in infants: trauma or not trauma?

PMID- 28598263
TI  - The Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase Gene LjPAL1 Is Involved in Plant Defense
      Responses to Pathogens and Plays Diverse Roles in Lotus japonicus-Rhizobium
      Symbioses.
AB  - Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) is important in the biosynthesis of plant
      secondary metabolites that regulate growth responses. Although its function is
      well-established in various plants, the functional significance of PAL genes in
      nodulation is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the Lotus japonicus
      PAL (LjPAL1) gene is induced by Mesorhizobium loti infection and methyl-jasmonate
      (Me-JA) treatment in roots. LjPAL1 altered PAL activity, leading to changes in
      lignin contents and thicknesses of cell walls in roots and nodules of transgenic
      plants and, hence, to structural changes in roots and nodules. LjPAL1-knockdown
      plants (LjPAL1i) exhibited increased infection thread and nodule numbers and the
      induced upregulation of nodulin gene expression after M. loti infection.
      Conversely, LjPAL1 overexpression delayed the infection process and reduced
      infection thread and nodule numbers after M. loti inoculation. LjPAL1i plants
      also exhibited reduced endogenous salicylic acid (SA) accumulation and expression
      of the SA-dependent marker gene. Their infection phenotype could be partially
      restored by exogenous SA or Me-JA application. Our data demonstrate that LjPAL1
      plays diverse roles in L. japonicus-rhizobium symbiosis, affecting rhizobial
      infection progress and nodule structure, likely by inducing lignin modification,
      regulating endogenous SA biosynthesis, and modulating SA signaling.

PMID- 28598265
TI  - Robot-assisted endoscopic third ventriculostomy: institutional experience in 9
      patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE The endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is an established and
      effective treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus. In its most common
      application, surgeons plan their entry point and the endoscope trajectory for the
      procedure based on anatomical landmarks, then control the endoscope freehand.
      Recent studies report an incidence of neural injuries as high as 16.6% of all
      ETVs performed in North America. The authors have introduced the ROSA system to
      their ETV procedure to stereotactically optimize endoscope trajectories, to
      reduce risk of traction on neural structures by the endoscope, and to provide a
      stable mechanical holder of the endoscope. Here, they present their series in
      which the ROSA system was used for ETVs. METHODS At the authors' institution,
      they performed ETVs with the ROSA system in 9 consecutive patients within an 8
      month period. Patients had to have a favorable expected response to ETV (ETV
      Success Score >= 70) with no additional endoscopic procedures (e.g., choroid
      plexus cauterization, septum pellucidum fenestration). The modality of image
      registration (CT, MRI, surface mapping, or bone fiducials) was dependent on the
      case. RESULTS Nine pediatric patients with an age range of 1.5 to 16 years, 4
      girls and 5 boys, with ETV Success Scores ranging from 70 to 90, underwent
      successful ETV surgery with the ROSA system within an 8-month period. Their
      intracranial pathologies included tectal tumors (n = 3), communicating
      hydrocephalus from hemorrhage or meningeal disease (n = 2), congenital aqueductal
      stenosis (n = 1), compressive porencephalic cyst (n = 1), Chiari I malformation
      (n = 1), and pineal region mass (n = 1). Robotic assistance was limited to the
      ventricular access in the first 2 procedures, but was used for the entirety of
      the procedure for the following 7 cases. Four of these cases were combined with
      another procedural objective (3 stereotactic tectal mass biopsies, 1 Chiari
      decompression). A learning curve was observed with each subsequent surgery as
      registration and surgical times became shorter and more efficient. All patients
      had complete resolution of their preprocedural symptoms. There were no
      complications. CONCLUSIONS The ROSA system provides a stable, precise, and
      minimally invasive approach to ETVs.

PMID- 28598266
TI  - Reversible lysine acetylation: Another layer of post-translational regulation of
      the cardiac sodium channel.

PMID- 28598267
TI  - Interaction of Immunoglobulin with Cytomegalovirus-Infected Cells.
AB  - Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is used to treat or prevent severe viral
      infection, especially cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. IVIG was characterized to
      understand its interaction with CMV-infected cells. IVIG retarded CMV spread and
      reduced virus yields depending on the neutralizing (NT) antibody titer. Immediate
      early protein synthesis was reduced by IVIG in 3 to 15 h, and IVIG specifically
      reduced the ratio of 66/68k protein synthesis among immediate early proteins in
      an NT antibody-dependent manner between 4 and 8 h after infection, indicating
      that antigenic modulation of CMV-infected cells by IVIG reduced viral protein
      synthesis and virus production. The half-life of antibody bound to CMV-infected
      cells was 3.8 h. NT antibody titers to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and CMV in
      IVIG were dose dependently absorbed by cells infected with VZV and CMV,
      respectively, but the antibody titers to CMV and VZV, respectively, were not
      affected. NT antibody in 0.3 mL of IVIG (15 mg) was specifically absorbed by 108
      CMV-infected cells and 107 VZV-infected cells, suggesting that the NT antibody in
      IVIG might be inactivated by one-tenth of a similar volume of CMV-infected or VZV
      infected cells. Various antiviral activities of IVIG may contribute to control
      and alleviation of CMV infection.

PMID- 28598268
TI  - Effects of pulmonary exposure to chemically-distinct welding fumes on
      neuroendocrine markers of toxicity.
AB  - Exposure to welding fumes may result in disorders of the pulmonary,
      cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. Welders are also at a greater risk of
      developing symptoms similar to those seen in individuals with idiopathic
      Parkinson's disease. In welders, there are studies that suggest that alterations
      in circulating prolactin concentrations may be indicative of injury to the
      dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra. The goal of these studies was to
      use an established model of welding particulate exposure to mimic the effects of
      welding fume inhalation on reproductive functions. Since previous investigators
      suggested that changes in circulating prolactin may be an early marker of DA
      neuron injury, movement disorders, and reproductive dysfunction, prolactin,
      hypothalamic tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) levels (a marker of DA synthesis), and
      other measures of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) function were measured
      after repetitive instillation of welding fume particulates generated by flux core
      arc-hard surfacing (FCA-HS), manual metal arc-hard surfacing (MMA-HS) or gas
      metal arc-mild steel (GMA-MS) welding, or manganese chloride (MnCl2). Exposure to
      welding fume particulate resulted in the accumulation of various metals in the
      pituitary and testes of rats, along with changes in hypothalamic TH and serum
      prolactin levels. Exposure to particulates with high concentrations of soluble
      manganese (Mn) appeared to exert the greatest influence on TH activity levels and
      serum prolactin concentrations. Thus, circulating prolactin levels may serve as a
      biomarker for welding fume/Mn-induced neurotoxicity. Other reproductive measures
      were collected, and these data were consistent with epidemiological findings that
      prolactin and testosterone may serve as biomarkers of welding particulate induced
      DA neuron and reproductive dysfunction.

PMID- 28598269
TI  - Cancer mortality in Yukon 1999-2013: elevated mortality rates and a unique cancer
      profile.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, cancer in
      the North has been incompletely described. OBJECTIVE: To determine cancer
      mortality rates in the Yukon Territory, compare them with Canadian rates, and
      identify major causes of cancer mortality. DESIGN: The Yukon Vital Statistics
      Registry provided all cancer deaths for Yukon residents between 1999-2013. Age
      standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) were calculated using direct standardisation
      and compared with Canadian rates. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were
      calculated using indirect standardisation relative to age-specific rates from
      Canada, British Columbia (BC), and three sub-provincial BC administrative health
      regions : Interior Health (IH), Northern Health (NH) and Vancouver Coastal Health
      (VCH). Trends in smoothed ASMRs were examined with graphical methods. RESULTS:
      Yukon's all-cancer ASMRs were elevated compared with national and provincial
      rates for the entire period. Disparities were greatest compared with the urban
      VCH: prostate (SMRVCH=246.3, 95% CI 140.9-351.6), female lung (SMRVCH=221.2, 95%
      CI 154.3-288.1), female breast (SMRVCH=169.0 95% CI, 101.4-236.7), and total
      colorectal (SMRVCH=149.3, 95% CI 101.8-196.8) cancers were significantly
      elevated. Total stomach cancer mortality was significantly elevated compared with
      all comparators. CONCLUSIONS: Yukon cancer mortality rates were elevated compared
      with national, provincial, urban, and southern-rural jurisdictions. More research
      is required to elucidate these differences.

PMID- 28598270
TI  - Investigating the Adult Ixodid Tick Populations and Their Associated Anaplasma,
      Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia Bacteria at a Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Hotspot in
      Western Tennessee.
AB  - Ehrlichiosis and rickettsiosis are two common bacterial tick-borne diseases in
      the southeastern United States. Ehrlichiosis is caused by ehrlichiae transmitted
      by Amblyomma americanum and rickettsiosis is caused by rickettsiae transmitted by
      Amblyomma maculatum and Dermacentor variabilis. These ticks are common and have
      overlapping distributions in the region. The objective of this study was to
      identify Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia species associated with questing
      ticks in a Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) hotspot, and identify habitats,
      time periods, and collection methods for collecting questing-infected ticks.
      Using vegetation drags and CO2-baited traps, ticks were collected six times (May
      September 2012) from 100 sites (upland deciduous, bottomland deciduous,
      grassland, and coniferous habitats) in western Tennessee. Adult collections were
      screened for Anaplasma and Ehrlichia (simultaneous polymerase chain reaction
      [PCR]) and Rickettsia using genus-specific PCRs, and resulting positive amplicons
      were sequenced. Anaplasma and Ehrlichia were only identified within A. americanum
      (Ehrlichia ewingii, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Panola Mountain Ehrlichia, and
      Anaplasma odocoilei sp. nov.); more Ehrlichia-infected A. americanum were
      collected at the end of June regardless of habitat and collection method.
      Rickettsia was identified in three tick species; "Candidatus Rickettsia
      amblyommii" from A. americanum, R. parkeri and R. andeanae from A. maculatum, and
      R. montanensis ( = montana) from D. variabilis. Overall, significantly more
      Rickettsia-infected ticks were identified as A. americanum and A. maculatum
      compared to D. variabilis; more infected-ticks were collected from sites May-July
      and with dragging. In this study, we report in the Tennessee RMSF hotspot the
      following: (1) Anaplasma and Ehrlichia are only found in A. americanum, (2) each
      tick species has its own Rickettsia species, (3) a majority of questing-infected
      ticks are collected May-July, (4) A. americanum and A. maculatum harbor
      pathogenic bacteria in western Tennessee, and (5) R. rickettsii remains
      unidentified.

PMID- 28598271
TI  - Short-term effects of ozone air pollution on hospital admissions for myocardial
      infarction: A time-stratified case-crossover study in Taipei.
AB  - This study was undertaken to determine whether there was a correlation between
      ambient ozone (O3) levels and number of hospital admissions for myocardial
      infarction (MI) in Taipei, Taiwan. Hospital admissions for MI and ambient air
      pollution data for Taipei were obtained for the period from 2006 to 2010. The
      relative risk (RR) of hospital admissions for MI was estimated using a time
      stratified case-crossover approach, controlling for weather variables, day of the
      week, seasonality, and long-term time trends. For the single-pollutant model
      (without adjustment for other pollutants), increased RR for a number of MI
      admissions was significantly associated with higher O3 levels both on warm days
      (>23 degrees C) and on cool days (<23 degrees C). This observation was
      accompanied by an interquartile range elevation correlated with a 7% (95% CI = 2%
      12%) and 17% (95% CI = 11%-25%) rise in number of MI admissions, respectively. In
      the two-pollutant models, no significant associations between ambient O3
      concentrations and number of MI admissions were observed on warm days. However,
      on cool days, correlation between ambient O3 after inclusion of each of the other
      five pollutants, particulate matter (PM10 or PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2),
      nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or carbon monoxide (CO), and number of MI admissions
      remained significant. This study provides evidence that higher levels of ambient
      O3 increase the RR of number of hospital admissions for MI.

PMID- 28598272
TI  - Short-term effects of fine particulate air pollution on hospital admissions for
      hypertension: A time-stratified case-crossover study in Taipei.
AB  - This study was undertaken to determine whether there was a correlation between
      fine particle (PM2.5) levels and hospital admissions for hypertension in Taipei,
      Taiwan. Hospital admissions for hypertension and ambient air pollution data for
      Taipei were obtained for the period from 2009 to 2013. The relative risk of
      hospital admissions was estimated using a case-crossover approach, controlling
      for weather variables, day of the week, seasonality, and long-term time trends.
      For the single pollutant model (without adjustment for other pollutants), the
      risk of hospital admissions for hypertension was estimated to increase by 12% on
      warm days (>23 degrees C) and 2% on cool days (<23 degrees C), respectively.
      There was no indication of an association between levels of PM2.5 and risk of
      hospital admissions for hypertension. In two-pollutant model, PM2.5 remained
      nonsignificant after inclusion of any of the other air pollutants (SO2, NO2, CO,
      or O3) both on warm and cool days, but a numerically greater response was seen on
      warm days. Data thus indicate that in Taipei, hospital admissions for
      hypertension occur as a consequence of factors not related to ambient air
      exposure.

PMID- 28598273
TI  - Conventional and high-resolution vessel wall MRI of intracranial aneurysms:
      current concepts and new horizons.
AB  - Intracranial aneurysms are heterogeneous in histopathology and imaging
      appearance. The biological behavior of different types of aneurysms is now known
      to depend on the structure and physiology of the aneurysm wall itself in addition
      to intraluminal flow and other luminal features. Aneurysm wall structure and
      imaging markers of physiology such as aneurysm wall enhancement have been
      assessed in many prior investigations using conventional-resolution MRI.
      Recently, high-resolution vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI) techniques with MRI have
      been introduced. Reports of findings on high-resolution imaging have already
      emerged for many types of aneurysms demonstrating detailed characterization of
      wall enhancement, thickness, and components, but many questions remain
      unexplored. This review discusses the key HR-VWI literature to date. Aneurysm
      wall findings on conventional-resolution MRI are also discussed as these may help
      one understand the potential utility and findings on HR-VWI for various aneurysm
      types. The authors have illustrated these points with several examples
      demonstrating both features already described in the literature and novel cases
      demonstrating the potential for future clinical and research applications.

PMID- 28598274
TI  - Evaluation of ischemic lesion prevalence after endovascular treatment of
      intracranial aneurysms, as documented by 3-T diffusion-weighted imaging: a 2
      year, single-center cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Even though published data exist concerning the prevalence of ischemic
      lesions detected by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) following endovascular
      treatment of intracranial aneurysms, a single-center cross-evaluation of the
      different endovascular techniques has been lacking. The authors sought to
      prospectively evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of ischemic
      lesions occurring after endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms and to
      compare the safety and effectiveness of a broad spectrum of currently accepted
      endovascular techniques in a single-center setting. METHODS This was a
      prospective cohort study involving consecutive patients treated for intracranial
      aneurysms exclusively by endovascular means, excluding treatments in the acute
      rupture phase, in a center featuring an endovascular-only treatment policy for
      intracranial aneurysms. All patients underwent MRI, including a 3-directional DWI
      sequence, before treatment, 24 hours postprocedure, and 6 months following
      endovascular embolization. Selective angiography was performed at 6 months'
      follow-up. RESULTS From January 2012 through December 2013, 164 aneurysms were
      treated in 128 consecutive patients. Endovascular techniques included coiling
      (14.6%), balloon-assisted coiling (20.1%), stent-assisted coiling (3.7%), low
      profile stent-assisted coiling, flow diversion (38.4%), and very complex
      treatments (6.1%) involving 2 stents in Y or T configurations. On postprocedure
      MRI, the rates of occurrence of new DWI-positive lesions were 64.3% for coiling,
      54.5% for remodeling, 61.1% for stent-assisted coiling, 53.7% for flow-diverting
      stents, and 75% for very complex treatments (p = 0.4962). The 6-month procedure
      related morbidity and mortality rates were 6.25% and 0%, respectively. At 6
      months' follow-up, 93% of the patients had modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores of
      0-2. Very complex treatments offered a higher complete occlusion rate (100%) than
      all other techniques (66.7%-88.9%). Age and length of procedure were independent
      factors for DWI lesion occurrence. The diameter of DWI lesions on 24-hour
      postprocedure MRI was positively correlated with mRS score at discharge. Among
      the DWI-positive lesions measuring less than 2 mm in diameter on the 24-hour MRI,
      44.12% had regressed at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS Procedure-related DWI lesions are
      far more often encountered in silent forms than they are clinically evident. They
      do not seem to be significantly correlated with procedure-related complications,
      nor do they seem to impair clinical outcome, regardless of the endovascular
      technique. Small lesions (< 2 mm in diameter) may regress within 6 months. The
      use of the most adapted technique, in terms of aneurysm configuration, results in
      significant total occlusion rates, with acceptable safety.

PMID- 28598275
TI  - Demographic and clinical predictors of multiple intracranial aneurysms in
      patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Pathophysiological differences that underlie the development and
      subsequent growth of multiple aneurysms may exist. In this study, the authors
      assessed the factors associated with the occurrence of multiple aneurysms in
      patients presenting with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS
      Consecutive patients presenting with aneurysmal SAH between 1996 and 2012 were
      prospectively enrolled in the Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Outcome Project. Patients
      harboring 1, 2, or 3 or more aneurysms were stratified into groups, and the
      clinical and radiological characteristics of each group were compared using
      multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS Of 1277 patients with ruptured
      intracranial aneurysms, 890 had 1 aneurysm, 267 had 2 aneurysms, and 120 had 3 or
      more aneurysms. On multinomial regression using the single-aneurysm cohort as
      base case, risk factors for patients presenting with 2 aneurysms were female sex
      (relative risk ratio [RRR] 1.80, p < 0.001), higher body mass index (BMI) (RRR
      1.02, p = 0.003), more years of smoking (RRR = 1.01, p = 0.004), and black race
      (RRR 1.83, p = 0.001). The risk factors for patients presenting with 3 or more
      aneurysms were female sex (RRR 3.10, p < 0.001), higher BMI (RRR 1.03, p <
      0.001), aneurysm in the posterior circulation (RRR 2.59, p < 0.001), and black
      race (RRR 2.15, p = 0.001). Female sex, longer smoking history, aneurysms in the
      posterior circulation, BMI, and black race were independently associated with the
      development of multiple aneurysms in our adjusted multivariate multinomial model.
      CONCLUSIONS Significant demographic and clinical differences are found between
      patients presenting with single and multiple aneurysms in the setting of
      aneurysmal SAH. These predictors of multiple aneurysms likely reflect a
      predisposition toward inflammation and endothelial injury.

PMID- 28598276
TI  - Risk factors associated with postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak after
      endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE The aim in this paper was to determine risk factors for the development
      of a postoperative CSF leak after an endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) for
      resection of skull base tumors. METHODS A retrospective review of patients who
      underwent EEA for the resection of intradural pathology between January 1997 and
      June 2012 was performed. Basic demographic data were collected, along with
      patient body mass index (BMI), tumor pathology, reconstruction technique, lumbar
      drainage, and outcomes. RESULTS Of the 615 patients studied, 103 developed a
      postoperative CSF leak (16.7%). Sex and perioperative lumbar drainage did not
      affect CSF leakage rates. Posterior fossa tumors had the highest rate of CSF
      leakage (32.6%), followed by anterior skull base lesions (21.0%) and
      sellar/suprasellar lesions (9.9%) (p < 0.0001). There was a higher leakage rate
      for overweight and obese patients (BMI > 25 kg/m2) than for those with a healthy
      weight BMI (18.7% vs 11.5%; p = 0.04). Patients in whom a pedicled vascularized
      flap was used for reconstruction had a lower leakage rate than those in whom a
      free graft was used (13.5% vs 27.8%; p = 0.0015). In patients with a BMI > 25
      kg/m2, the use of a pedicled flap reduced the rate of CSF leakage from 29.5% to
      15.0% (p = 0.001); in patients of normal weight, this reduction did not reach
      statistical significance (21.9% [pedicled flap] vs 9.2% [free graft]; p = 0.09).
      CONCLUSIONS Preoperative BMI > 25 kg/m2 and tumor location in the posterior fossa
      were associated with higher rates of postoperative CSF leak. Use of a pedicled
      vascularized flap may be associated with reduced risk of a CSF leak, particularly
      in overweight patients.

PMID- 28598277
TI  - Surgical strategy to avoid ischemic complications of the pyramidal tract in
      resective epilepsy surgery of the insula: technical case report.
AB  - Surgical treatment of the insula is notorious for its high probability of motor
      complications, particularly when resecting the superoposterior part. Ischemic
      damage to the pyramidal tract in the corona radiata has been regarded as the
      cause of these complications, resulting from occlusion of the perforating
      arteries to the pyramidal tract through the insular cortex. The authors describe
      a strategy in which a small piece of gray matter is spared at the bottom of the
      periinsular sulcus, where the perforating arteries pass en route to the pyramidal
      tract, in order to avoid these complications. This method was successfully
      applied in 3 patients harboring focal cortical dysplasia in the posterior insula
      and frontoparietal operculum surrounding the periinsular sulcus. None of the
      patients developed permanent postoperative motor deficits, and seizure control
      was achieved in all 3 cases. The method described in this paper can be adopted
      for functional preservation of the pyramidal tract in the corona radiata when
      resecting epileptogenic pathologies involving insular and opercular regions.

PMID- 28598278
TI  - Atypical pituitary adenoma: a clinicopathologic case series.
AB  - OBJECTIVE In 2004, the WHO classified atypical pituitary adenoma as a distinct
      adenoma subtype. However, the clinical significance of this distinction remains
      undetermined. The authors sought to define patient characteristics, tumor
      features, and treatment outcomes associated with atypical pituitary adenoma.
      METHODS The authors reviewed records of patients who underwent resection of
      pituitary adenoma at the University of California, San Francisco, between 2007
      and 2014. Per institutional protocol, adenomas exhibiting mitotic activity
      underwent evaluation for all 3 markers of atypicality (mitotic index, extensive
      p53 staining, and MIB-1 index >= 3%). Statistical analyses were performed using
      chi2, Fisher's exact test, t-test, log-rank, and logistic regression. RESULTS
      Between 2007 and 2014, 701 patients underwent resection for pituitary adenoma.
      Among these patients, 122 adenomas exhibited mitotic activity and therefore were
      evaluated for all 3 markers of atypicality, with 36 tumors (5%) proving to be
      atypical. There were 21 female patients (58%) and 15 male patients (42%) in the
      atypical cohort, and 313 female patients (47%) and 352 male patients (53%) in the
      nonatypical cohort (p = 0.231). The mean age of patients in the atypical cohort
      was 37 years (range 10-65 years), which was significantly lower than the mean age
      of 49 years (range 10-93 years) for patients in the nonatypical cohort (p <
      0.001). The most common presenting symptoms for patients with atypical adenomas
      were headaches (42%) and visual changes (33%). Atypical adenomas were more likely
      to be functional (78%) than nonatypical adenomas (42%; p < 0.001). Functional
      atypical adenomas were significantly larger than functional nonatypical adenomas
      (mean diameter 2.2 vs 1.4 cm; p = 0.009), as were nonfunctional atypical adenomas
      compared with nonfunctional nonatypical adenomas (mean diameter 3.3 vs 2.3 cm; p
      = 0.01). Among the entire adenoma cohort, larger presenting tumor size was
      associated with cavernous sinus invasion (p < 0.001), and subtotal resection was
      associated with cavernous sinus invasion (p < 0.001) and larger size (p < 0.001)
      on binomial multivariate regression. The median time until recurrence was 56
      months for atypical adenomas, 129 months for functional nonatypical adenomas, and
      204 months for nonfunctional nonatypical adenomas (p < 0.001). Functional
      atypical adenomas recurred more frequently and significantly earlier than
      functional nonatypical adenomas (p < 0.001). When accounting for extent of
      resection, cavernous sinus invasion, size, age, sex, and functional subtype,
      atypicality remained a significant predictor of earlier recurrence among
      functional adenomas (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS When compared with nonatypical
      pituitary adenomas, atypical adenomas are more likely to present in younger
      patients at a larger size, are more often hormonally hypersecretory, and are
      associated with earlier recurrence. These features lend credence to atypical
      pituitary adenomas being a distinct clinical entity in addition to a discrete
      pathological diagnosis.

PMID- 28598279
TI  - A novel score to predict shunt dependency after aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Feasible clinical scores for predicting shunt-dependent hydrocephalus
      (SDHC) after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) are scarce. The chronic
      hydrocephalus ensuing from SAH score (CHESS) was introduced in 2015 and has a
      high predictive value for SDHC. Although this score is easy to calculate, several
      early clinical and radiological factors are required. The authors designed the
      retrospective analysis described here for external CHESS validation and
      determination of predictive values for the radiographic Barrow Neurological
      Institute (BNI) scoring system and a new simplified combined scoring system.
      METHODS Consecutive data of 314 patients with aSAH were retrospectively analyzed
      with respect to CHESS parameters and BNI score. A new score, the shunt dependency
      in aSAH (SDASH) score, was calculated from independent risk factors identified
      with multivariate analysis. RESULTS Two hundred twenty-five patients survived the
      initial phase after the hemorrhage, and 27.1% of these patients developed SDHC.
      The SDASH score was developed from results of multivariate analysis, which
      revealed acute hydrocephalus (aHP), a BNI score of >= 3, and a Hunt and Hess (HH)
      grade of >= 4 to be independent risk factors for SDHC (ORs 5.709 [aHP], 6.804
      [BNI], and 4.122 [HH]; p < 0.001). All 3 SDHC scores tested (CHESS, BNI, and
      SDASH) reliably predicted chronic hydrocephalus (ORs 1.533 [CHESS], 2.021 [BNI],
      and 2.496 [SDASH]; p <= 0.001). Areas under the receiver operating curve (AUROC)
      for CHESS and SDASH were comparable (0.769 vs 0.785, respectively; p = 0.447),
      but the CHESS and SDASH scores were superior to the BNI grading system for
      predicting SDHC (BNI AUROC 0.649; p = 0.014 and 0.001, respectively). In contrast
      to CHESS and BNI scores, an increase in the SDASH score coincided with a
      monotonous increase in the risk of developing SDHC. CONCLUSIONS The newly
      developed SDASH score is a reliable tool for predicting SDHC. It contains fewer
      factors and is more intuitive than existing scores that were shown to predict
      SDHC. A prospective score evaluation is needed.

PMID- 28598280
TI  - Pathogens and glioma: a history of unexpected discoveries ushering in novel
      therapy.
AB  - In the late 19th century, Dr. William B. Coley introduced the theory that
      infections may aid in the treatment of malignancy. With the creation of Coley's
      toxin, reports of remission during viral illnesses for systemic malignancies soon
      emerged. A few decades after this initial discovery, Austrian physicians
      performed intravascular injections of Clostridium to induce oncolysis in patients
      with glioblastoma. Since then, suggestions between improved survival and
      infectious processes have been reported in several patients with glioma, which
      ultimately marshaled the infamous use of intracerebral Enterobacter. These early
      observations of tumor regression and concomitant infection piloted a burgeoning
      field focusing on the use of pathogens in molecular oncology.

PMID- 28598282
TI  - MicroRNA-126 Regulates Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion in Human Gingival
      Fibroblasts Under High Glucose via Targeting Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor
      Associated Factor 6.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRs) play a crucial role in inflammatory diseases,
      including periodontitis. Meanwhile, miRs act as biomarkers for predicting
      diabetes mellitus (DM). However, the regulatory mechanism of miR-126 on
      development of periodontitis in patients with DM still remains unclear. METHODS:
      Human gingival fibroblasts were cultured with low (5.5 mmol/L), medium (15
      mmol/L), and high (25 mmol/L) glucose, respectively. Expressions of miR-126,
      tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor associated factor (TRAF) 6, and related
      cytokines were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After
      transfection with miR-126 mimic, PCR and western blot were performed to detect
      level of TRAF6, and luciferase reporter assay confirmed if TRAF6 is the direct
      target of miR-126. Production of cytokines was measured using enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Increased glucose significantly suppressed miR-126
      expression in human gingival fibroblasts (P <0.05). Also, high glucose increased
      TRAF6, interleukin (IL)-6, TNF-alpha, and chemical chemokine ligand (CCL) 2
      levels, whereas it decreased IL-10 level. MiR-126 mimic significantly decreased
      TRAF6 mRNA and protein levels under high glucose (P <0.05). Also, miR-126
      directly targeted TRAF6 through binding to its 3' untranslated region in human
      gingival fibroblasts. Overexpression of miR-126 significantly abrogated high
      glucose-induced secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-alpha,
      and CCL2 and promoted production of IL-10. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that
      miR-126 inhibits inflammation of human gingival fibroblasts under high glucose
      through targeting TRAF6, which may be a potential therapeutic target for
      periodontitis concomitant with DM.

PMID- 28598281
TI  - Design, development and characterization of ACT017, a humanized Fab that blocks
      platelet's glycoprotein VI function without causing bleeding risks.
AB  - Glycoprotein VI is a platelet-specific collagen receptor critical for in vivo
      formation of arterial thrombosis. It is also considered as an attractive target
      for the development of anti-thrombotic drugs because blocking glycoprotein (GP)VI
      inhibits platelet aggregation without inducing detrimental effects on physiologic
      hemostasis. Here, we present data on the identification, in vitro and ex vivo
      pharmacology of a humanized Fab fragment designated as ACT017. ACT017 was
      selected out of 15 humanized variants based upon structural and functional
      properties. It was produced under GMP-like conditions followed by detailed
      physico-chemical analysis and functional characterization indicating high antigen
      binding specificity and affinity. In addition, we demonstrate, in a dose
      escalation study, that ACT017 has a high capacity to specifically inhibit
      collagen-induced platelet aggregation ex vivo after injection to the macaque
      without inducing thrombocytopenia, GPVI depletion or bleeding side effects as is
      the case for conventional anti-platelets. Therefore, ACT017 is a promising
      therapeutic candidate for the development of a new generation of safe and
      efficient anti-thrombotic drugs.

PMID- 28598283
TI  - Identification of MicroRNAs by Microarray Analysis and Prediction of Target Genes
      Involved in Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in osteogenic differentiation of
      human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) remain largely unexplored. In
      this study, the underlying molecular mechanism of osteogenic differentiation in
      hPDLSCs is investigated using miRNA profiling. METHODS: The miRNA expression
      profile during osteogenic differentiation was analyzed using a microarray. Target
      genes of miRNAs with at least two-fold change in expression (P <0.05) were
      predicted by bioinformatics. Six miRNAs with osteogenesis-related target genes
      were validated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
      (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: Expression of 116 miRNAs was found to be altered after
      osteoinduction, with 30 upregulated and 86 downregulated. Thirty-one of these
      miRNAs (26.7%) had osteogenesis-related target genes. Changes in expression
      levels of six of the 31 miRNAs (miR-654-3p, miR-4288, miR-34c-5p, miR-218-5p, miR
      663a, and miR-874-3p) were validated by qRT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Significant
      alterations in miRNA expression profiles were observed during osteogenic
      differentiation of hPDLSCs. These results imply that miRNAs may have regulatory
      effects on this process by targeting osteogenesis-related genes.

PMID- 28598284
TI  - The Circular RNA Landscape of Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells During
      Osteogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study aims to investigate the distinct expression pattern
      of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) during
      osteogenesis. METHODS: PDLSCs were isolated and cultured in osteogenic medium.
      Total RNA was extracted from cells at day 0 (D0), day 3 (D3), day 7 (D7), and day
      14 (D14) and submitted to RNA-sequencing to detect expression profiles of
      circRNAs, messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs). Real-time quantitative
      reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to
      validate expression of circRNAs and miRNAs. Differential expression analysis and
      gene ontology analysis were performed. A circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was
      constructed to reveal the potential regulatory role of circRNAs. RESULTS: A total
      of 12,693 circRNA transcripts were detected, and circRNAs displayed stage
      specific expression. Expression of four well-known circRNAs was validated by qRT
      PCR. In total, 118 circRNAs were differentially expressed at D3, 128 circRNAs
      were differentially expressed at D7, and 139 circRNAs were differentially
      expressed at D14 compared with D0. Host genes of differentially expressed
      circRNAs were enriched in cytoplasmic or membrane-bound vesicles and
      extracellular matrix, indicating their potential roles in modulating biogenesis
      of extracellular vesicles. Moreover, mRNAs that were potentially regulated by
      circRNAs were enriched in bone-formation-associated processes, including
      extracellular matrix organization, cell differentiation, and bone morphogenetic
      protein signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Expression profiles of circRNAs were
      significantly altered during osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs, providing a
      clue for future studies on the role of circRNAs in osteoblast differentiation.

PMID- 28598285
TI  - Effect of Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy Along With Myo-Inositol on High
      Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Insulin Resistance in Women With Polycystic
      Ovary Syndrome and Chronic Periodontitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of non-surgical
      periodontal therapy and medical treatment on the level of a serologic marker of
      inflammation (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP]) and insulin resistance
      (homeostatic model assessment [HOMA]) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
      (PCOS) and chronic periodontitis (CP). METHODS: Women with PCOS and CP (n = 60)
      were randomly divided into two groups. The test group was treated with scaling
      and root planing (SRP) and myo-inositol (MI). The control group was treated with
      MI and given oral hygiene instructions. Anthropometric, metabolic, and
      periodontal parameters were assessed at baseline and re-evaluated at 3 and 6
      months. All parameters of both groups at 6 months were compared with 25
      systemically and periodontally healthy females (group A). RESULTS: Periodontal
      parameters were significantly improved in the test group compared with the
      control group at 3- and 6-month follow-up (P <0.001). A statistically significant
      reduction was observed in hsCRP and HOMA in both groups at 3- and 6-month follow
      up (P <0.05). However, significantly more improvement in hsCRP (P <0.05) and a
      statistically comparable reduction in HOMA (P >0.05) was observed in the test
      group compared with the control group at 3 and 6 months. Both the test and
      control group showed significant consistent improvement in metabolic parameters
      at 3- and 6-month follow-up, which was further comparable to group A. CONCLUSION:
      SRP together with medical treatment results in a greater reduction of systemic
      inflammatory burden compared with medical treatment alone in management of women
      with PCOS and CP.

PMID- 28598286
TI  - Gingival Inflammation and Salivary or Serum Granulocyte-Secreted Enzymes in
      Patients With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this cross-sectional study is to investigate levels
      of salivary and serum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, myeloperoxidase (MPO),
      neutrophil elastase (NE), and MMP-9/tissue inhibitor of MMP-1 (TIMP)-1 ratio in
      patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and systemically healthy controls
      in the presence or absence of gingivitis. METHODS: Serum and salivary levels of
      these biomarkers were evaluated in the following: 1) periodontally healthy women
      with PCOS (n = 45); 2) women with PCOS and gingivitis (n = 35); 3) systemically
      and periodontally healthy women (n = 25); and 4) systemically healthy women with
      gingivitis (n = 20). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine
      levels of these biomarkers. A full-mouth clinical periodontal evaluation was
      performed for each patient. RESULTS: Salivary MMP-9 and NE levels, as well as MMP
      9/TIMP-1 ratios, were higher in the systemically healthy women with gingivitis
      compared with periodontally healthy women with PCOS (P <0.001; P <0.01; and P
      <0.0001, respectively). Serum MMP-9 and MPO levels were higher in women with PCOS
      and gingivitis compared with periodontally healthy women with PCOS (P <0.05).
      Serum MMP-9 levels were lower in healthy women with gingivitis than systemically
      and periodontally healthy women or women with PCOS and gingivitis (P <0.05). PCOS
      groups exhibited a positive correlation among clinical periodontal parameters and
      serum MMP-9 levels or salivary MPO, NE levels, and MMP-9/MMP-1 ratio. Correlation
      was negative among clinical periodontal parameters and serum MMP-9 levels and MMP
      9/TIMP-1 ratio in systemically healthy patients (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The
      present findings emphasize that PCOS and gingival inflammation are associated
      with each other, as evidenced by salivary and serum levels of neutrophilic
      enzymes. This interaction may contribute to the perturbation of ovarian
      remodeling in PCOS.

PMID- 28598287
TI  - Association Between Periodontitis and Amyloid beta Peptide in Elderly People With
      and Without Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence that periodontal disease is a possible risk factor for
      cognitive impairment may be explained by the inflammatory hypothesis. The aim of
      this study is to determine whether periodontitis is related to the amyloid beta
      (Abeta) load in blood and the role of any such relationship in the association
      between Abeta and cognitive impairment. METHODS: A case-control study was
      performed in elderly people diagnosed with cognitive impairment with or without
      dementia (cases group) and cognitively healthy elderly people (control group);
      data were collected on the medical and dental history of participants, and blood
      samples were drawn to determine Abeta levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay. RESULTS: The study included 166 patients and 122 control participants.
      Higher blood Abeta1-42 levels (P = 0.01) and higher Abeta42:40 ratio (P = 0.06)
      were observed in participants with severe attachment loss than in other
      participants. Periodontitis was a significant interaction variable, given that
      the association between Abeta1-42 and Abeta1-40 and cognitive impairment was only
      observed in patients with severe periodontitis. According to these data,
      periodontitis may be a modulating variable of the association between Abeta and
      cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma Abeta1-42 levels are higher in
      individuals who have severe periodontal disease. The presence of periodontitis
      may modify the association between Abeta and cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28598288
TI  - Implant Patient Compliance Varies by Periodontal Treatment History.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This retrospective study aims to assess compliance to supportive
      periodontal therapy (SPT) among patients treated with dental implants with
      different periodontitis histories and the possible influence of their compliance
      on peri-implant marginal bone level. METHODS: Dental records of 106 patients
      treated with at least one dental implant were reviewed. A single operator who did
      not provide care to the patients recorded the following during the first year of
      implant function (first year of follow-up), during the first 5 years of follow
      up, and during the entire follow-up duration: 1) number of recalls; 2)
      compliance, calculated from registered attendance; 3) periodontal disease
      history; 4) peri-implant radiographic bone level from most recent examination;
      and 5) clinical parameters including probing depth and bleeding on probing.
      Clinical and radiographic parameters were assessed at site level and analyzed for
      possible associations among them and with demographic parameters. RESULTS:
      Collected data were based on 156 implants with an average of 6.5 +/- 3.4 years
      (range: 1 to 13 years) in function. Patients with periodontitis history
      demonstrated greater compliance than patients without periodontitis history
      during the two longer follow-up times. Over time, the majority of patients
      demonstrated partial compliance (71% to 80% of patients). Peri-implant bone level
      averaged 0.9 +/- 1.1 mm, without significant association with compliance level;
      however, positive periodontitis history and more years in function were
      significantly associated with greater peri-implant bone loss. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with implants partially comply with scheduled SPT, regardless of
      periodontitis history. Patients who had received periodontal treatment
      demonstrated better compliance than those without prior periodontal therapy
      experiences.

PMID- 28598290
TI  - Delayed Growth Suppression and Radioresistance Induced by Long-Term Continuous
      Gamma Irradiation.
AB  - Biological response to ionizing radiation depends not only on the type of
      radiation and dose, but also on the duration and dose rate of treatment. For a
      given radiation dose, the biological response may differ based on duration and
      dose rate. We studied the properties of two human cell lines, M059K glioma and
      U2OS osteosarcoma, continuously exposed to gamma rays for long time periods of
      more than five months. Growth inhibition in both cell lines was dependent on
      total dose when exposed to acute radiation over several minutes, whereas
      prolonged growth inhibition was dependent on dose rate after continuous
      irradiation over several months. The minimum dose rate for growth inhibition was
      53.6 mGy/h. Cell cycle analysis showed G1 phase accumulation in cell populations
      continuously exposed to gamma rays, and G2 phase accumulation in cells acutely
      exposed to high-dose-rate gamma rays. Cells continuously exposed to gamma rays
      continued to exhibit delayed growth suppression even after one month in an
      environment of background radiation, and maintained a high-level expression of c
      Jun and its phosphorylation forms, as well as resistance to apoptosis induced by
      staurosporine and chemotherapeutic agents. These delayed effects were not
      observed in cells acutely exposed to 5 Gy of radiation. These results suggest
      that optimization of the irradiation schedule is crucial for risk estimation,
      protection and therapeutic utilization of ionizing radiation.

PMID- 28598289
TI  - Subtype-Specific Radiation Response and Therapeutic Effect of FAS Death Receptor
      Modulation in Human Breast Cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed among women and represents
      a heterogeneous group of subtypes. Radiation therapy is a critical component of
      treatment for breast cancer patients. However, little is known about radiation
      response among these intrinsic subtypes. In previous studies, we identified a
      significant induction of FAS after irradiation in biologically favorable breast
      cancer patients and breast cancer cell lines. Here, we expanded our study and
      investigated radiation response in a mouse model of breast cancer. MCF7
      (luminal), HCC1954 (HER2+) or SUM159 (basal) cells were implanted orthotopically
      into the dorsal mammary fat pad of nude mice. These mice were then treated with
      different doses of radiation to assess tumor growth control. We further
      investigated the therapeutic effect of FAS modulation by silencing FAS in
      radiation-responsive tumors and injecting FAS agonist antibody into radiation
      resistant tumors. Exposure to radiation inhibited MCF7, and to a lesser extent
      HCC1954 tumor growth in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, SUM159 tumors were
      resistant to radiation. The estimated TCD50 values were 19.3 Gy for MCF7 and 44.9
      Gy for SUM159. Radiation induced FAS expression in MCF7 tumors, but not SUM159
      tumors. We found that silencing of FAS did not negatively impact radiation
      response in MCF7 tumors, possibly due to compensation by other apoptotic
      pathways. On the other hand, FAS activating antibody in combination with
      radiation treatment delayed SUM159 and HCC1954 tumor growth. However, it did not
      reach statistical significance compared to radiation treatment alone. Our results
      suggest that there is intrinsic variation in radiation response among breast
      cancer subtypes. FAS activation concurrent with radiation slows tumor growth in
      the radiation-resistant subtypes, but the effect was not significant. Alternative
      subtype-specific modulators of radiation response are under investigation.

PMID- 28598291
TI  - Spinal navigation for posterior instrumentation of C1-2 instability using a
      mobile intraoperative CT scanner.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Spinal navigation techniques for surgical fixation of unstable C1-2
      pathologies are challenged by complex osseous and neurovascular anatomy,
      instability of the pathology, and unreliable preoperative registration
      techniques. An intraoperative CT scanner with autoregistration of C-1 and C-2
      promises sufficient accuracy of spinal navigation without the need for further
      registration procedures. The aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy and
      reliability of posterior C1-2 fixation using intraoperative mobile CT scanner
      guided navigation. METHODS In the period from July 2014 to February 2016, 10
      consecutive patients with instability of C1-2 underwent posterior fixation using
      C-2 pedicle screws and C-1 lateral mass screws, and 2 patients underwent
      posterior fixation from C-1 to C-3. Spinal navigation was performed using
      intraoperative mobile CT. Following navigated screw insertion in C-1 and C-2,
      intraoperative CT was repeated to check for the accuracy of screw placement. In
      this study, the accuracy of screw positioning was retrospectively analyzed and
      graded by an independent observer. RESULTS The authors retrospectively analyzed
      the records of 10 females and 2 males, with a mean age of 80.7 +/- 4.95 years
      (range 42-90 years). Unstable pathologies, which were verified by fracture
      dislocation or by flexion/extension radiographs, included 8 Anderson Type II
      fractures, 1 unstable Anderson Type III fracture, 1 hangman fracture Levine
      Effendi Ia, 1 complex hangman-Anderson Type III fracture, and 1 destructive
      rheumatoid arthritis of C1-2. In 4 patients, critical anatomy was observed: high
      riding vertebral artery (3 patients) and arthritis-induced partial osseous
      destruction of the C-1 lateral mass (1 patient). A total of 48 navigated screws
      were placed. Correct screw positioning was observed in 47 screws (97.9%). Minor
      pedicle breach was observed in 1 screw (2.1%). No screw displacement occurred
      (accuracy rate 97.9%). CONCLUSION Spinal navigation using intraoperative mobile
      CT scanning was reliable and safe for posterior fixation in unstable C1-2
      pathologies with high accuracy in this patient series.

PMID- 28598292
TI  - Effects of primary and recurrent sacral chordoma on the motor and nociceptive
      function of hindlimbs in rats: an orthotopic spine model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Chordoma is a slow-growing, locally aggressive cancer that is minimally
      responsive to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy and has high local
      recurrence rates after resection. Currently, there are no rodent models of spinal
      chordoma. In the present study, the authors sought to develop and characterize an
      orthotopic model of human chordoma in an immunocompromised rat. METHODS Thirty
      four immunocompromised rats were randomly allocated to 4 study groups; 22 of the
      34 rats were engrafted in the lumbar spine with human chordoma. The groups were
      as follows: UCH1 tumor-engrafted (n = 11), JHC7 tumor-engrafted (n = 11), sham
      surgery (n = 6), and intact control (n = 6) rats. Neurological impairment of rats
      due to tumor growth was evaluated using open field and locomotion gait analysis;
      pain response was evaluated using mechanical or thermal paw stimulation. Cone
      beam CT (CBCT), MRI, and nanoScan PET/CT were performed to evaluate bony changes
      due to tumor growth. On Day 550, rats were killed and spines were processed for H
      & E-based histological examination and immunohistochemistry for brachyury,
      S100beta, and cytokeratin. RESULTS The spine tumors displayed typical chordoma
      morphology, that is, physaliferous cells filled with vacuolated cytoplasm of
      mucoid matrix. Brachyury immunoreactivity was confirmed by immunostaining, in
      which samples from tumor-engrafted rats showed a strong nuclear signal. Sclerotic
      lesions in the vertebral body of rats in the UCH1 and JHC7 groups were observed
      on CBCT. Tumor growth was confirmed using contrast-enhanced MRI. In UCH1 rats,
      large tumors were observed growing from the vertebral body. JHC7 chordoma
      engrafted rats showed smaller tumors confined to the bone periphery compared with
      UCH1 chordoma-engrafted rats. Locomotion analysis showed a disruption in the
      normal gait pattern, with an increase in the step length and duration of the gait
      in tumor-engrafted rats. The distance traveled and the speed of rats in the open
      field test was significantly reduced in the UCH1 and JHC7 tumor-engrafted rats
      compared with controls. Nociceptive response to a mechanical stimulus showed a
      significant (p < 0.001) increase in the paw withdrawal threshold (mechanical
      hypalgesia). In contrast, the paw withdrawal response to a thermal stimulus
      decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in tumor-engrafted rats. CONCLUSIONS The
      authors developed an orthotopic human chordoma model in rats. Rats were followed
      for 550 days using imaging techniques, including MRI, CBCT, and nanoScan PET/CT,
      to evaluate lesion progression and bony integrity. Nociceptive evaluations and
      locomotion analysis were performed during follow-up. This model reproduces
      cardinal signs, such as locomotor and sensory deficits, similar to those observed
      clinically in human patients. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first spine
      rodent model of human chordoma. Its use and further study will be essential for
      pathophysiology research and the development of new therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28598293
TI  - Stereotactic body radiotherapy for de novo spinal metastases: systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review was to provide an objective summary
      of the published literature pertaining to the use of stereotactic body radiation
      therapy (SBRT) specific to previously untreated spinal metastases. METHODS The
      authors performed a systematic review, using Preferred Reporting Items for
      Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, of the literature found
      in a search of Medline, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library up to March
      2015. The search strategy was limited to publications in the English language.
      RESULTS A total of 14 full-text articles were included in the analysis. All
      studies were retrospective except for 2 studies, which were prospective. A total
      of 1024 treated spinal lesions were analyzed. The median follow-up time ranged
      from 9 to 49 months. A range of dose-fractionation schemes was used, the most
      common of which were 16-24 Gy/1 fraction (fx), 24 Gy/2 fx, 24-27 Gy/3 fx, and 30
      35 Gy/5 fx. In studies that reported crude results regarding in-field local tumor
      control, 346 (85%) of 407 lesions remained controlled. For studies that reported
      actuarial values, the weighted average revealed a 90% 1-year local control rate.
      Only 3 studies reported data on complete pain response, and the weighted average
      of these results yielded a complete pain response rate of 54%. The most common
      toxicity was new or progressing vertebral compression fracture, which was
      observed in 9.4% of cases; 2 cases (0.2%) of neurologic injury were reported.
      CONCLUSION There is a paucity of prospective data specific to SBRT in patients
      with spinal metastases not otherwise irradiated. This systematic review found
      that SBRT is associated with favorable rates of local control (approximately 90%
      at 1 year) and complete pain response (approximately 50%), and low rates of
      serious adverse events were found. Practice guidelines are summarized based on
      these data and International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society consensus.

PMID- 28598294
TI  - Open versus percutaneous instrumentation in thoracolumbar fractures: magnetic
      resonance imaging comparison of paravertebral muscles after implant removal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Percutaneous instrumentation in thoracolumbar fractures is intended to
      decrease paravertebral muscle damage by avoiding dissection. The aim of this
      study was to compare muscles at instrumented levels in patients who were treated
      by open or percutaneous surgery. METHODS Twenty-seven patients underwent open
      instrumentation, and 65 were treated percutaneously. A standardized MRI protocol
      using axial T1-weighted sequences was performed at a minimum 1-year follow-up
      after implant removal. Two independent observers measured cross-sectional areas
      (CSAs, in cm2) and region of interest (ROI) signal intensity (in pixels) of
      paravertebral muscles by using OsiriX at the fracture level, and at cranial and
      caudal instrumented pedicle levels. An interobserver comparison was made using
      the Bland-Altman method. Reference ROI muscle was assessed in the psoas and ROI
      fat subcutaneously. The ratio ROI-CSA/ROI-fat was compared for patients treated
      with open versus percutaneous procedures by using a linear mixed model. A linear
      regression analyzed additional factors: age, sex, body mass index (BMI),
      Pfirrmann grade of adjacent discs, and duration of instrumentation in situ.
      RESULTS The interobserver agreement was good for all CSAs. The average CSA for
      the entire spine was 15.7 cm2 in the open surgery group and 18.5 cm2 in the
      percutaneous group (p = 0.0234). The average ROI-fat and ROI-muscle signal
      intensities were comparable: 497.1 versus 483.9 pixels for ROI-fat and 120.4
      versus 111.7 pixels for ROI-muscle in open versus percutaneous groups. The ROI
      CSA varied between 154 and 226 for open, and between 154 and 195 for percutaneous
      procedures, depending on instrumented levels. A significant difference of the ROI
      CSA/ROI-fat ratio (0.4 vs 0.3) was present at fracture levels T12-L1 (p = 0.0329)
      and at adjacent cranial (p = 0.0139) and caudal (p = 0.0100) instrumented levels.
      Differences were not significant at thoracic levels. When adjusting based on age,
      BMI, and Pfirrmann grade, a significant difference between open and percutaneous
      procedures regarding the ROI-CSA/ROI-fat ratio was present in the lumbar spine (p
      < 0.01). Sex and duration of instrumentation had no significant influence.
      CONCLUSIONS Percutaneous instrumentation decreased muscle atrophy compared with
      open surgery. The MRI signal differences for T-12 and L-1 fractures indicated
      less fat infiltration within CSAs in patients who received percutaneous
      treatment. Differences were not evidenced at thoracic levels, where CSAs were
      smaller. Fat infiltration was not significantly different at lumbar levels with
      either procedure in elderly patients with associated discopathy and higher BMI.
      In younger patients, there was less fat infiltration of lumbar paravertebral
      muscles with percutaneous procedures.

PMID- 28598296
TI  - Letter to the Editor. Endovascular and surgical management of spinal dural
      arteriovenous fistulas.

PMID- 28598295
TI  - Pelvic retroversion: a compensatory mechanism for lumbar stenosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE The flexed posture of the proximal (L1-3) or distal (L4-S1) lumbar
      spine increases the diameter of the spinal canal and neuroforamina and can
      relieve symptoms of neurogenic claudication. Distal lumbar flexion can result in
      pelvic retroversion; therefore, in cases of flexible sagittal imbalance, pelvic
      retroversion may be compensatory for lumbar stenosis and not solely compensatory
      for the sagittal imbalance as previously thought. The authors investigate
      underlying causes for pelvic retroversion in patients with flexible sagittal
      imbalance. METHODS One hundred thirty-eight patients with sagittal imbalance who
      underwent a total of 148 fusion procedures of the thoracolumbar spine were
      identified from a prospective clinical database. Radiographic parameters were
      obtained from images preoperatively, intraoperatively, and at 6-month and 2-year
      follow-up. A cohort of 24 patients with flexible sagittal imbalance was
      identified and individually matched with a control cohort of 23 patients with
      fixed deformities. Flexible deformities were defined as a 10 degrees  change in
      lumbar lordosis between weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing images. Pelvic
      retroversion was quantified as the ratio of pelvic tilt (PT) to pelvic incidence
      (PI). RESULTS The average difference between lumbar lordosis on supine MR images
      and standing radiographs was 15 degrees  in the flexible cohort. Sixty-eight
      percent of the patients in the flexible cohort were diagnosed preoperatively with
      lumbar stenosis compared with only 22% in the fixed sagittal imbalance cohort (p
      = 0.0032). There was no difference between the flexible and fixed cohorts with
      regard to C-2 sagittal vertical axis (SVA) (p = 0.95) or C-7 SVA (p = 0.43). When
      assessing for postural compensation by pelvic retroversion in the stenotic
      patients and nonstenotic patients, the PT/PI ratio was found to be significantly
      greater in the patients with stenosis (p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS For flexible
      sagittal imbalance, preoperative attention should be given to the root cause of
      the sagittal misalignment, which could be compensation for lumbar stenosis.
      Pelvic retroversion can be compensatory for both the lumbar stenosis as well as
      for sagittal imbalance.

PMID- 28598297
TI  - The neuronal differentiation microenvironment is essential for spinal cord injury
      repair.
AB  - Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to substantial disability due to loss of
      motor function and sensation below the lesion. Neural stem cells (NSCs) are a
      promising strategy for SCI repair. However, NSCs rarely differentiate into
      neurons; they mostly differentiate into astrocytes because of the adverse
      microenvironment present after SCI. We have shown that myelin-associated
      inhibitors (MAIs) inhibited neuronal differentiation of NSCs. Given that MAIs
      activate epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling, we used a collagen
      scaffold-tethered anti-EGFR antibody to attenuate the inhibitory effects of MAIs
      and create a neuronal differentiation microenvironment for SCI repair. The
      collagen scaffold modified with anti-EGFR antibody prevented the inhibition of
      NSC neuronal differentiation by myelin. After transplantation into completely
      transected SCI animals, the scaffold-linked antibodies induced production of
      nascent neurons from endogenous and transplanted NSCs, which rebuilt the neuronal
      relay by forming connections with each other or host neurons to transmit
      electrophysiological signals and promote functional recovery. Thus, a scaffold
      based strategy for rebuilding the neuronal differentiation microenvironment could
      be useful for SCI repair.

PMID- 28598298
TI  - Efficacy of exclusive enteral nutrition in complicated Crohn's disease.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the efficacy of exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) in
      induction of remission in adult active Crohn's disease (CD) complicated with
      intestinal fistula/abdominal abscess or inflammatory intestinal stricture.
      METHOD: Patients diagnosed with active CD with complications were recruited
      between July 2013 and July 2015. Patients were offered EEN for 12 weeks. Patients
      with abscess received antibiotic treatment with or without percutaneous drainage.
      Clinical variables were recorded (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02887287).
      RESULTS: Forty-one patients with CD and with intestinal fistula/abdominal abscess
      or inflammatory intestinal stricture aged 18-60 years, were included. Ten
      patients were accompanied with stenosis and 33 with intestinal fistula/abscess.
      After 12 weeks of EEN, the Crohn's disease activity index significantly decreased
      (223.43 +/- 65.5 vs. 106.77 +/- 42.73, p <= .001), and 80.5% of patients achieved
      full clinical remission totally. Fistula closure after EEN was observed in 75% of
      patients with entero-cutaneous fistula. In patients with stenosis, 20% had no
      response to EEN and were transferred for surgery. Partial remission and full
      remission were observed in 20% and 60% of patients after 12 weeks of EEN,
      respectively. Intra-abdominal abscess resolved in 76% of patients. Seventeen
      patients who had mucosal ulcers underwent colonoscopy before and after EEN, 47%
      achieved mucosal healing after the treatment. The inflammatory index of patients
      significantly decreased (p <= .01), nutritional parameters increased (p <= .01)
      and the European Nutritional Risk Screening (2002) decreased (p <= .01).
      CONCLUSION: EEN is effective in inducing early clinical remission, mucosal
      healing, promoting fistula closure and reducing the size of abscess in adult CD
      patients with complications.

PMID- 28598299
TI  - Proper sister chromatid disjunction requires CDA and PARP-1.

PMID- 28598300
TI  - User experience of lower-limb orthosis.
AB  - If an assistive device is not acceptable to the user, it will not achieve
      efficacy and would be resource-wasting. This study employed in-depth interviews
      to understand what users' individual activities of daily living, problems of
      using orthoses, and considerations for selecting orthoses are. We conducted
      qualitative interviews with 35 lower-limb orthosis users, and semi-structured
      interviews were applied in this study. We analyzed the interview data from
      transcripts, through coding and concepts, to theories based on grounded theory.
      The results showed that problems of using orthoses are mostly related to
      activities of daily living of the user and user's expectation. Therefore, in
      order to enhance its efficacy and use intention, the design and prescribing
      process of orthoses need to address the problems in the light of activities of
      daily living and user education.

PMID- 28598301
TI  - Aquimarina rubra sp. nov., isolated from sediment of a sea cucumber culture pond.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped, red-pigmented, facultatively
      anaerobic bacterium, designated SS2-9T, was isolated from sediment collected from
      a sea cucumber culture pond located in Rongcheng, Shandong province, China. Cells
      of strain SS2-9T were approximately 0.3-0.5 um in width and 1.5-6.0 um in length.
      The strain was able to grow at 10-37  degrees C, at pH 6.5-8.5 and in the
      presence of 0.5-6.0 % (w/v) NaCl. It grew optimally at 28  degrees C and in the
      presence of 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The DNA G+C content was 34.5 mol% and the sole
      respiratory quinone was menaquinone 6 (MK-6). The predominant cellular fatty
      acids were C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G, iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH. The major
      polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified phospholipid, two
      unidentified aminolipids and four unidentified lipids. Phylogenetic analyses
      based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SS2-9T was phylogenetically
      related to members of the genus Aquimarina and was closely related to Aquimarina
      amphilecti 92VT (97.29 % similarity). On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic
      and phylogenetic data, strain SS2-9T was considered to represent a novel species
      of the genus Aquimarina, for which the name Aquimarina rubra sp. nov. is
      proposed. The type strain is SS2-9T (=KCTC 52274T=MCCC 1H00142T).

PMID- 28598302
TI  - Multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis of Bordetella pertussis
      isolates circulating in Poland in the period 1959-2013.
AB  - PURPOSE: Despite the long history of pertussis vaccination and high vaccination
      coverage in Poland and many other developed countries, pertussis incidence rates
      have increased substantially, making whooping cough one of the most prevalent
      vaccine-preventable diseases. Among the factors potentially involved in pertussis
      resurgence, the adaptation of the Bordetella pertussis population to country
      specific vaccine-induced immunity through selection of non-vaccine-type strains
      still needs detailed studies. METHODOLOGY: Multi-locus variable-number tandem
      repeat analysis (MLVA), also linked to MLST and PFGE profiling, was applied to
      trace the genetic changes in the B. pertussis population circulating in Poland in
      the period 1959-2013 versus country-specific vaccine strains. RESULTS: Generally,
      among 174 B. pertussis isolates, 31 MLVA types were detected, of which 11 were
      not described previously. The predominant MLVA types of recent isolates in Poland
      were different from those of the typical isolates circulating in other European
      countries. The MT27 type, currently predominant in Europe, was rarely seen and
      detected in only five isolates among all studied. The features of the vaccine
      strains used for production of the pertussis component of a national whole-cell
      diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine, as studied by MLVA and MLST tools,
      were found to not match those observed in the currently circulating B. pertussis
      isolates in Poland. CONCLUSIONS: Differences traced by MLVA in relation to the
      MLST and PFGE profiling confirmed that the B. pertussis strain types currently
      observed elsewhere in Europe, even if appearing in Poland, were not able to
      successfully disseminate within a human population in Poland that has been
      vaccinated with a whole-cell pertussis vaccine not used in other countries.

PMID- 28598303
TI  - Caulobacter rhizosphaerae sp. nov., a stalked bacterium isolated from rhizosphere
      soil.
AB  - The Gram-reaction-negative, aerobic, white- to pale-yellow-coloured and rod
      shaped bacterium with a single polar flagellum or a stalk, designated strain
      7F14T, was isolated from rhizosphere soil of cultivated watermelon (Citrullus
      lanatus) collected from Hefei, China. Growth of strain 7F14T was observed at pH
      6.0-9.0, 10-30  degrees C and in the presence of 0-1 % (w/v) NaCl. Cells were
      catalase-negative and oxidase-positive. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA
      gene sequences indicated that strain 7F14T formed a phyletic lineage within the
      genus Caulobacter of the family Caulobacteraceae and showed the highest 16S rRNA
      gene sequence similarities to Caulobacter henricii ATCC 15253T (98.66 %),
      Caulobacter segnis ATCC 21756T (98.27 %), Caulobacter vibrioides CB51T (97.92 %)
      and Caulobacter flavus RHGG3T (97.44 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was
      68.6 mol%. Strain 7F14T contained Q-10 as the sole ubiquinone and 11-methyl C18 :
      1omega7c, C18 : 1omega7c, C16 : 0 and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1omega7c and/or iso
      C15 : 0 2-OH) as the major fatty acids. The polar lipids profile consisted of
      phosphatidylglycerol, an unknown phosphoglycolipid, five unknown glycolipids, an
      unknown phospholipid and three unknown lipids. DNA-DNA relatedness values to the
      most closely related type strains Caulobacter henricii DSM 4730T and Caulobacter
      segnis DSM 7131T were 26.0 and 19.7 %, respectively. Based on unique phenotypic
      traits, and phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and DNA-DNA hybridization results,
      strain 7F14T should be classified as a representative of a novel species of the
      genus Caulobacter, for which the name Caulobacter rhizosphaerae sp. nov. is
      proposed. The type strain is 7F14T (=CGMCC 1.15915T=KCTC 52515T).

PMID- 28598304
TI  - Antibacterial activity of diacetylcurcumin against Staphylococcus aureus results
      in decreased biofilm and cellular adhesion.
AB  - PURPOSE: Staphylococcus aureus infections have contributed to the global
      healthcare burden, particularly with regard to hospital-acquired meticillin
      resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections. METHODOLOGY: This study describes the
      antibacterial activity of diacetylcurcumin (DAC) against meticillin-susceptible
      S. aureus/MRSA biofilm formation, survival, metabolic activity and structure; its
      ability to prevent bacterial adhesion to human cells; and toxicity in Galleria
      mellonella larvae. RESULTS: DAC showed excellent antibacterial activity, with MIC
      ranging between 17.3 and 34.6 umol l-1, and minimum bactericidal concentration
      ranging between 69 and 277 umol l-1. It significantly reduced bacterial biofilm
      survival - by 22-63 % (at MIC, 10*MIC or 100*MIC) as compared to the 25-42 %
      reduction by vancomycin (P<0.0001) - and severely affected biofilm cell
      structures, leading to damaged architecture and the formation of amorphous cell
      clusters. Treatment with DAC (MIC/4) decreased bacterial adhesion to HaCaT
      keratinocytes from 1 to 5 h (P<0.0001). Finally, DAC demonstrated low toxicity in
      G. mellonella at its effective anti-biofilm concentrations. CONCLUSION: These
      findings open new avenues for the study of this curcumin derivative as an
      excellent prototype with anti-MRSA activity.

PMID- 28598305
TI  - Comparison of the in vitro activity of ampicillin and moxifloxacin against
      Listeria monocytogenes at achievable concentrations in the central nervous
      system.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the in vitro activity of ampicillin
      and moxifloxacin against six isolates selected from 154 invasive clinical
      isolates of Listeria monocytogenes and evaluate their intra- and extracellular
      activities with achievable central nervous system concentrations obtained using
      Monte Carlo simulations with conventional and unconventional dosages.
      METHODOLOGY: The MICs and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of
      ampicillin and moxifloxacin were determined by using the broth microdilution
      method. The intra- and extracellular activities were compared using time-kill
      curves and inhibition of intracellular growth assays. RESULTS: The MICs50/90 of
      ampicillin were 0.125/0.5 mg l-1 and the MBC50/90 was >=16 mg l-1, while the
      moxifloxacin MICs50/90 were 0.25/0.5 mg l-1 and the MBC50/90 was 0.5 mg l-1.
      Ampicillin did not show any extracellular bactericidal activity at 24 h, although
      bactericidal activity was detected at 48 h. For moxifloxacin, the bactericidal
      effect was evident after 6 h of incubation. Both antibiotics achieved significant
      reductions in intracellular inoculum after 1-24 h of incubation; however,
      moxifloxacin becomes bactericidal more rapidly, producing a much greater
      reduction in the inoculum in the first hour than ampicillin. There were no
      differences among the MIC and MBC values of moxifloxacin and ampicillin among the
      strains belonging to different serotypes and/or epidemic clones. This fact was
      also found in the intra- and extracellular studies. CONCLUSION: The results of
      this study demonstrated the faster bactericidal activity of moxifloxacin at
      achievable central nervous system concentrations against intra- and extracellular
      forms of L. monocytogenes in comparison with ampicillin.

PMID- 28598306
TI  - Determinants of the regulation of Helicobacter pylori adhesins include repeat
      sequences in both promoter and coding regions as well as the two-component system
      ArsRS.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the transcription of adhesin-encoding genes sabA, hopZ
      and labA in Helicobacter pylori strain J99. Each possesses a repeating
      homopolymeric nucleotide tract within their promoter regions, and sabA and hopZ
      possess repeats within their 5' coding regions. METHODOLOGY: We altered the
      repeat lengths associated with the adhesin genes and quantified mRNA levels by
      real-time quantitative PCR. Using adherence to AGS cells and IL-8 assays, we
      examined the effects of altered transcript levels. We assessed the role of ArsRS
      in transcription using an arsS null mutant and by examining ArsR binding to
      promoter regions via electrophoretic mobility shift assays. RESULTS: Extensions
      or truncations of promoter region repeats in hopZ and labA increased transcript
      levels, mirroring results shown by our lab and others for mutations in the sabA
      promoter. Altered lengths of the poly-cytosine thymine tract within the 5' coding
      region of sabA demonstrated that switching from phase-off to phase-on
      significantly increased mRNA levels. However, mutations in the poly-thymine tract
      of sabA, which increased mRNA levels, do not behave synergistically with phase-on
      mutations. Phase-on mutations of sabA resulted in increased H. pylori adherence
      to AGS cells, but only a modest effect on IL-8. hopZ and labA, and sabA paralogue
      sabB, transcript levels were increased in an arsS mutant and ArsR bound the
      promoter regions for each of these genes in vitro. CONCLUSION: This work
      highlights the complex nature of adhesin regulation, its impact on H. pylori
      attachment and the pervasive role of ArsRS in adhesin expression. Such regulation
      may help facilitate the decades-long persistence of infection.

PMID- 28598307
TI  - Exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and
      cefotaxime induces multidrug resistance and reactive oxygen species generation in
      meticillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of antibiotics below their MIC in the development of bacterial
      drug resistance is becoming increasingly important. We investigated the effect of
      sub-MICs of bactericidal antibiotics on the susceptibility pattern of
      Staphylococcus aureus and evaluated the role of free radicals. METHODOLOGY: A
      total of 12 S. aureus strains were recovered from pus samples and their
      antibiograms determined. The test isolates were treated with sub-MIC levels of
      tetracycline, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime. Alterations in their
      respective breakpoints were observed along with measurements of free radical
      generation by nitro blue tetrazolium test.Results/Key findings. Gentamicin,
      ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime exposure significantly altered the breakpoints of
      exposed isolates against several tested antibiotics and higher levels of free
      radicals were generated after antibiotic exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      demonstrates that sub-MIC levels of antimicrobials can lead to resistance and
      cross-resistance across several classes of antibiotics in wild strains of S.
      aureus, possibly by free radical production. The molecular mechanisms behind the
      acquisition of drug resistance at low antibiotic concentrations and the specific
      target genes of reactive oxygen speciesneed to be explored further.

PMID- 28598308
TI  - Pseudoxanthomonas putridarboris sp. nov. isolated from rotten tree.
AB  - A Gram-staining-negative, rod-shaped, motile bacterium, designated WD12T, was
      isolated from a rotten tree at Chungbuk National University, South Korea. WD12T
      grew optimally at 30-37  degrees C and pH 7.0-7.5 and could assimilate arbutin
      and potassium-5-ketogluconate. The major cellular fatty acid were iso-C16 : 0,
      C16 : 0, cyclo C17 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, summed features 3 (comprising C16 :
      1omega7c/iso-C15 : 0 2-OH) and anteiso-C15 : 0. The major polar lipids consisted
      of phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. The
      major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8). The G+C content of the genomic
      DNA was 69.1 %. The results of phylogenetic and comparative analysis based on the
      16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that WD12T formed a tight phylogenetic lineage
      with Pseudoxanthomonas mexicana AMX 26BT and Pseudoxanthomonas japonensis 12-3T
      of the the genus Pseudoxanthomonas in the family Xanthomonadaceae. Sequence
      similarity to other members of the genus Pseudoxanthomonasranged from 98.6 % (P.
      mexicana AMX 26BT) to 95.1 % (Pseudoxanthomonas taiwanensis CB-226T). DNA-DNA
      relatedness between WD12T and eight type strains of species of the genus
      Pseudoxanthomonasshowing more than 97 % 16S rRNA sequence similarity were 6+/-0
      26+/-1 %. On the basis of the evidence from this polyphasic study, WD12T
      represents a novel species of the genus Pseudoxanthomonas, for which the name
      Pseudoxanthomonas putridarboris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WD12T
      (=KACC 15045T=LMG 25968T).

PMID- 28598309
TI  - Reclassification of Arthrobacter viscosus as Rhizobium viscosum comb. nov.
AB  - The species Arthrobacter viscosus was isolated from soil from Guatemala and it
      was classified into the genus Arthrobacter on the basis of phenotypic traits.
      Nevertheless, the results of16S rRNA gene analysis indicated that this species is
      a member of the genus Rhizobium, with Rhizobium alamii GBV016T and Rhizobium
      mesosinicum CCBAU 25010T as the most closely related species with 99.64 and 99.48
      % similarity, respectively. The similarity values for the recA gene are 92.2 and
      94.4 % with respect to R. alamii GBV016T and R. mesosinicum CCBAU 25010T,
      respectively, and those for the atpD gene are 92.9 and 98.7 %, respectively.
      Results of DNA-DNA hybridization analysis yield averages of 46 and 41 %
      relatedness with respect to the type strains of R. alamii and R. mesosinicum,
      respectively. Phenotypic characteristics also differed from those of the most
      closely related species of the genus Rhizobium. Therefore, based on the data
      obtained in this study, we propose to classify strain LMG 16473T as representing
      a novel species named Rhizobiumviscosum comb. nov. (type strain LMG 16473T=CECT
      908T).

PMID- 28598310
TI  - In vitro activities of vancomycin and linezolid against biofilm-producing
      methicillin-resistant staphylococci species isolated from catheter-related
      bloodstream infections from an Egyptian tertiary hospital.
AB  - PURPOSE: Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) are among the most
      common hospital-acquired infections. We aimed to survey methicillin resistance,
      biofilm production and susceptibility to vancomycin, linezolid and other
      antibiotics for staphylococci isolated from CRBSIs. METHODOLOGY: Fifty-eight
      isolates [20 S. aureus and 38 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; 20
      Staphylococcusepidermidis, nine Staphylococcushaemolyticus, three
      Staphylococcusschleiferi, two Staphylococcuswarneri and four
      Staphylococcuslugdunensis)] were tested for methicillin resistance by cefoxitin
      disk diffusion and detection of the mecA gene by PCR; biofilm-forming ability
      using Congo red agar and tissue culture plate methods; susceptibility to
      ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, cotrimoxazole, erythromycin, gentamicin, linezolid,
      rifampicin and tetracycline; and MIC determination for vancomycin.Results/Key
      findings. Cefoxitin resistance was detected among 40 % (8/20) S. aureus isolates,
      70 % (14/20) S. epidermidis isolates and 16.7 % (3/18) of other CoNS, although
      the mecA gene was detected in 45 % (9/20) S. aureus isolates, 35 % (7/20) S.
      epidermidis isolates and 16.7 % (3/18) of other CoNS. Biofilm-forming ability
      ranged from 45 to 75 %. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus and other CoNS were
      considered to be more virulent than methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis due to
      the higher biofilm forming abilities of the former. All tested isolates exhibited
      100 % sensitivity to vancomycin and linezolid, irrespective of their methicillin
      resistance or biofilm-forming ability. Rifampicin showed overall sensitivity of
      75.9 %. Varying degrees of multi-resistance were found for the other antibiotics.
      CONCLUSION: Vancomycin, linezolid and rifampicin could be used effectively
      against methicillin-resistant staphylococci isolated from CRBSIs.

PMID- 28598311
TI  - In vitro activity of sitafloxacin against Mycobacterium tuberculosis with gyrA/B
      mutations isolated in Japan.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sitafloxacin (SFX) is a new fluoroquinolone (FQ) that has shown a strong
      bactericidal effect against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in vitro. However,
      data on SFX efficacy against Mtb with gyrA/B mutations and its epidemiological
      cut-off (ECOFF) value remain limited. Therefore, we evaluated and compared the in
      vitro activity of SFX against gyrA/B-mutant Mtb to that of moxifloxacin (MFX),
      levofloxacin (LFX) and ciprofloxacin (CFX), and determined the ECOFF for SFX.
      METHODOLOGY: A total of 109 clinical Mtb isolates, including 73 multidrug
      resistant (MDR) isolates, were subjected to minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) analysis in oleic-albumin-dextrose-catalase (OADC)-supplemented Middlebrook
      7H9 medium. Our results showed that SFX had lower cumulative MIC than MFX, LFX
      and CFX. Furthermore, we performed direct DNA sequencing of the quinolone
      resistance-determining regions (QRDRs). RESULTS: We identified the following
      mutations: D94G, D94A, A90V, D94H, D94N and G88A in gyrA; and A543V, A543T,
      E540D, R485C, D500A, I552S and D577A in gyrB. Based on our results, an ECOFF of
      0.125 ug ml-1 was proposed for SFX. With this ECOFF, 15 % of LFX-resistant
      isolates with MIC >=2 ug ml-1 were susceptible to SFX. CONCLUSION: SFX had the
      lowest cumulative MIC and a relatively low ECOFF value against Mtb, indicating
      that SFX was not only more effective against gyrA-mutant isolates, but also MDR
      isolates in Japan.

PMID- 28598312
TI  - Three novel species of the genus Kibdelosporangium; Kibdelosporangium
      kanagawaense sp. nov., Kibdelosporangiumrhizosphaerae sp. nov. and
      Kibdelosporangium rhizovicinum sp. nov.
AB  - The taxonomic positions of three actinomycete isolates, K08-0175T, K10-0543T and
      K12-0791T, which were isolated from plant root and rhizospheric soil samples were
      subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. On the basis of the results of
      phylogenetic analysis and morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, these
      three strains were classified as representing members of the genus
      Kibdelosporangium. These strains were observed to produce both long chains of rod
      shaped spores and sporangium-like structures with well-defined walls on aerial
      hyphae. Phylogenetic position, DNA-DNA hybridization and comparison of the
      phylogenetically closest relatives revealed that these three strains were clearly
      distinguishable from each other and from their closest phylogenetic relatives.
      Therefore, three novel species are proposed as Kibdelosporangium kanagawaense sp.
      nov. [type strain K08-0175T (=NBRC 112388T=TBRC 6786T)],
      Kibdelosporangiumrhizosphaerae sp. nov. [type strain K10-0543T (=NBRC
      112389T=TBRC 6787T)] and Kibdelosporangium rhizovicinum sp. nov. [type strain K12
      0791T (=NBRC 112390T=TBRC 6788T)].

PMID- 28598313
TI  - Deactivation of the autotrophic sulfate assimilation pathway substantially
      reduces high-level beta-lactam antibiotic biosynthesis and arthrospore formation
      in a production strain from Acremonium chrysogenum.
AB  - The filamentous ascomycete Acremonium chrysogenum is the only industrial producer
      of the beta-lactam antibiotic cephalosporin C. Synthesis of all beta-lactam
      antibiotics starts with the three amino acids l-alpha-aminoadipic acid, l
      cysteine and l-valine condensing to form the delta-(l-alpha-aminoadipyl)-l
      cysteinyl-d-valine tripeptide. The availability of building blocks is essential
      in every biosynthetic process and is therefore one of the most important
      parameters required for optimal biosynthetic production. Synthesis of l-cysteine
      is feasible by various biosynthetic pathways in all euascomycetes, and sequencing
      of the Acr. chrysogenum genome has shown that a full set of sulfur-metabolizing
      genes is present. In principle, two pathways are effective: an autotrophic one,
      where the sulfur atom is taken from assimilated sulfide to synthesize either l
      cysteine or l-homocysteine, and a reverse transsulfuration pathway, where l
      methionine is the sulfur donor. Previous research with production strains has
      focused on reverse transsulfuration, and concluded that both l-methionine and
      reverse transsulfuration are essential for high-level cephalosporin C synthesis.
      Here, we conducted molecular genetic analysis with A3/2, another production
      strain, to investigate the autotrophic pathway. Strains lacking either cysteine
      synthase or homocysteine synthase, enzymes of the autotrophic pathway, are still
      autotrophic for sulfur. However, deletion of both genes results in sulfur amino
      acid auxotrophic mutants exhibiting delayed biomass production and drastically
      reduced cephalosporin C synthesis. Furthermore, both single- and double-deletion
      strains are more sensitive to oxidative stress and form fewer arthrospores. Our
      findings provide evidence that autotrophic sulfur assimilation is essential for
      growth and cephalosporin C biosynthesis in production strain A3/2 from Acr.
      chrysogenum.

PMID- 28598314
TI  - Thioclava arenosa sp. nov., isolated from sea sand.
AB  - A Gram-staining-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile, rod-shaped,
      facultatively anaerobe bacterial strain, designated CAU 1312T, was isolated from
      sea sand of Eurwangri beach, South Korea. The strain's taxonomic position was
      investigated using a polyphasic approach. CAU 1312T grew at temperatures from 20
      to 40  degrees C, in the range of pH 6.0-9.0 and at salinities from 1-4 % (w/v).
      The results of phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed
      that CAU 1312T represented a member of the genus Thioclava and was most closely
      related to Thioclava atlantica 13D2W-2T (similarity 96.53 %). The strain
      contained Q-10 as the predominant menaquinone and summed feature 8 (C18 :
      1omega7c/omega6c) as the major fatty acid. The polar lipids of CAU 1312T
      consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, two
      aminophospholipids, a phosphoglycolipid, and two unidentified phospholipids. The
      DNA G+C content was 64.7 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic
      properties and phylogenetic inference, CAU 1312T is considered to represent a
      novel species of the genus Thioclava, for which the name Thioclava arenosa sp.
      nov. is proposed. The type strain is CAU 1312T(=KCTC 52190T=NBRC 111989T).

PMID- 28598315
TI  - Prevalence of faecal carriage of colistin-resistant Gram-negative rods in a
      university hospital in western France, 2016.
AB  - Plasmid-mediated and chromosomally-encoded colistin resistance is increasingly
      being reported worldwide. We aimed to determine the prevalence of faecal carriage
      of colistin-resistant Gram-negative rod isolates in a university hospital in
      western France. From February to May 2016, rectal swabs from 653 patients
      hospitalized in various clinical settings were recovered and subsequently
      screened for colistin resistance using the SuperPolymyxin medium. Antimicrobial
      susceptibilities were determined according to EUCAST guidelines. Genetic
      detection of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance was performed by PCR. The
      faecal carriage with intrinsic colistin-resistant isolates was high (23 %), while
      the faecal carriage with Gram-negative rods showing acquired resistance was low
      (1.4 %). No isolate carried the plasmid-mediated mcr-1/mcr-2 genes. It was
      noteworthy that none of the patients carrying isolates with acquired colistin
      resistance had previously received a colistin-based treatment, while these
      isolates were not multidrug resistant.

PMID- 28598316
TI  - How do the epidemiology of paediatric methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia differ?
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine whether the epidemiology of bacteraemia caused by methicillin
      susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus
      (MRSA) differed in children aged <1 year and in comparison to older age groups.
      METHODOLOGY: English mandatory MRSA and MSSA surveillance data from 2006 and
      2011, respectively, were collected. Epidemiological information was descriptively
      analysed in relation to methicillin susceptibility and patient age. Ninety-five
      percent confidence intervals (CIs) are reported.Results/Key findings. The average
      incidence rate of MSSA and MRSA bacteraemia in <1-year-olds was 60.2 and 4.8
      episodes per 100 000 population per year, respectively. Of the cases of MSSA
      bacteraemia in children aged <1 year, 47.5 % (95 % CI: 45.1-50.0; n=760/1 599)
      were in neonates. With increasing age up to one year, more MSSA bacteraemias were
      detected >=7 days after admission, ranging from 0 % (95 % CI: 0-2.5 %) in 0-2-day
      olds to 68.4 % (95 % CI: 64.0-72.5 %; 333/487) in 8-28-day-olds and 50.5 % (95 %
      CI: 47.1-54.0 %; 423/837) in 29 day-1-year-olds, a higher proportion than in
      older children but similar to MRSA bacteraemia. Amongst <1-year-olds with MSSA
      bacteraemia, the underlying source was most commonly recorded as intravascular
      devices [34.4 % (95 %, CI: 30.5-38.6 %); n=190/552] whilst in older age groups
      this declined. A similar trend was observed for MRSA bacteraemia. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our analysis indicates that S. aureus bacteraemia in <1-year-olds is primarily
      healthcare-associated, unlike MSSA bacteraemia in older age groups. Paediatric
      specific interventions targeted at the healthcare setting, such as neonatal unit
      specific care bundles and paediatric device-specific strategies, are required.

PMID- 28598317
TI  - Thioclava nitratireducens sp. nov., isolated from surface seawater.
AB  - A bacterial strain, designated 25B10_4T, was isolated from surface seawater of
      the Bering Sea and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of
      strain 25B10_4T were Gram-stain-negative, motile and short-rod-shaped. Growth was
      observed at 10-43  degrees C (optimum 28  degrees C), at pH 6-9 (optimum pH 7)
      and with 0-12 % NaCl (optimum 3-4 %, w/v). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S
      rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 25B10_4T formed an independent branch
      within the genus Thioclava, sharing high similarities with four related type
      strains, Thioclava atlantica 13D2W-2T (98.9 %), Thioclava pacifica TL 2T (98.5
      %), Thioclava dalianensis DLFJ1-1T (98.4 %) and Thioclava indica DT23-4T (96.9
      %), and low similarities (less than 96.5 %) with other type strains within the
      family Rhodobacteraceae. The major fatty acid was identified as summed feature 8
      (C18 : 1omega6c and/or C18 : 1omega7c). The quinone was Q-10. The polar lipids
      comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid and five
      unidentified phospholipids. The DNA G+C content was 63.8 mol%. The digital DNA
      DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values between strain 25B10_4T
      and the four above-mentioned type strains were, respectively, 20.5-25.7 % and
      77.8-82.4 %. The phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic analyses clearly
      indicated that strain 25B10_4T represents a novel species within the genus
      Thioclava, for which the name Thioclava nitratireducens sp. nov. is proposed. The
      type strain is 25B10_4T (=MCCC 1A07302T=LMG 29614T).

PMID- 28598318
TI  - Paracoccus hibisci sp. nov., isolated from the rhizosphere of Hibiscus syriacus
      L. (Mugunghwa flower).
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, short-rod-shaped bacterium, motile by means of
      one flagellum (THG-T2.8T), was isolated from the rhizosphere of Mugunghwa flower.
      Growth occurred at 10-37  degrees C (optimum 28  degrees C), at pH 6-8 (optimum
      7) and with 0-5 % NaCl (optimum 1 %). The major quinone was ubiquinone-10 (Q-10).
      The major fatty acids were C10 : 0 3-OH, C16 : 0, C18 : 0 and C18 : 1omega7c. The
      polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine,
      phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminolipid, two
      unknown phospholipids, one unknown glycolipid and one unidentified lipid. The DNA
      G+C content of strain THG-T2.8T was 65.5 mol%. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence
      analysis, the nearest phylogenetic neighbours of strain THG-T2.8T were identified
      as Paracoccus tibetensis Tibet-S9a3T (98.6 %), Paracoccus aestuarii B7T (98.4 %),
      Paracoccus rhizosphaerae CC-CCM15-8T (98.3 %) and Paracoccus beibuensis JLT1284T
      (98.2 %). Levels of sequence similarity among strain THG-T2.8T and other species
      of the genus Paracoccus were lower than 98.0 %. DNA-DNA hybridization values
      between strain THG-T2.8T and P. tibetensis Tibet-S9A3TT, P. aestuarii B7T, P.
      rhizosphaerae CC-CCM15-8T and P. beibuensisJLT1284T were 36.5 % (38.8 %,
      reciprocal analysis), 32.8 % (34.8 %), 31.6 % (33.8 %) and 15.3 % (24.8 %),
      respectively. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data,
      physiological characteristics and DNA-DNA hybridization data, strain THG-T2.8T
      represents a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccus
      hibisci sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-T2.8T (=KACC 18932T=CCTCC AB
      2016181T).

PMID- 28598319
TI  - Are children with familial Mediterranean fever really vitamin D deficient?

PMID- 28598320
TI  - Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis presenting with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome
      in a 13-year-old boy.

PMID- 28598321
TI  - Reply to: About the AIRTRIP randomised clinical trial.

PMID- 28598322
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis is not a single disease.

PMID- 28598323
TI  - Associations of HLA-B alleles with Behcet's disease in Ireland.

PMID- 28598324
TI  - A case-control study to assess the effectiveness of pertussis vaccination during
      pregnancy on newborns, Valencian community, Spain, 1 March 2015 to 29 February
      2016.
AB  - In the Valencian Community (Spain), the programme of maternal pertussis
      vaccination during pregnancy started in January 2015. The objective of this study
      was to estimate in this region the vaccine effectiveness (VE) in protecting
      newborns against laboratory-confirmed pertussis infection. A matched case-control
      study was undertaken in the period between 1 March 2015 and 29 February 2016.
      Twenty-two cases and 66 controls (+/- 15 days of age difference) were included in
      the study. Cases were non-vaccinated infants < 3 months of age at disease onset
      testing positive for pertussis by real-time PCR. For every case three
      unvaccinated controls were selected. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by multiple
      conditional logistic regression for association between maternal vaccination and
      infant pertussis. Other children in the household, as well as mother- and
      environmental covariates were taken into account. The VE was calculated as 1 -
      OR. Mothers of five cases (23%) and of 41 controls (62%) were vaccinated during
      pregnancy. The adjusted VE was 90.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 56.6 to
      98.1). The only covariate in the final model was breastfeeding (protective
      effect). Our study provides evidence in favour of pertussis vaccination
      programmes for pregnant women in order to prevent whooping cough in infants aged
      less than 3 months.

PMID- 28598325
TI  - Human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) in England and Wales, 2004 to 2013: testing
      and diagnoses.
AB  - Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection has been under enhanced surveillance
      in England and Wales since 2002, however, little is known about testing patterns.
      Using data from two surveillance systems held at Public Health England, we
      described HTLV antibody testing patterns between 2008 and 2013 and the
      demographic and clinical characteristics of persons diagnosed with HTLV in
      England and Wales between 2004 and 2013. An increase in HTLV testing was observed
      in England between 2008 and 2013 (3,581 to 7,130). Most tests (82%; 7,597/9,302)
      occurred within secondary care, 0.5% (48/9,302) of persons were reactive for HTLV
      antibodies and 0.3% (27/9,302) were confirmed positive. Increasing age and female
      sex were predictors of a reactive HTLV screen and confirmed diagnosis. Testing in
      primary care including sexual health and antenatal services was infrequent.
      Between 2004 and 2013, 858 people were diagnosed with HTLV, most of whom were
      female (65%; 549/851), of black Caribbean ethnicity (60%), not born in the United
      Kingdom (72%; 369/514) and asymptomatic at diagnosis (45%; 267/595). Despite
      increased testing, the epidemiology and clinical features of those diagnosed with
      HTLV have remained consistent. Apart from donor screening, testing for HTLV
      infection remains uncommon, except to diagnose associated disease.

PMID- 28598326
TI  - Enhancers not required.
AB  - Laboratory mice with over half a megabase of DNA upstream of their Myc gene
      removed still thrive in the absence of stress.

PMID- 28598327
TI  - Co-agonists differentially tune GluN2B-NMDA receptor trafficking at hippocampal
      synapses.
AB  - The subunit composition of synaptic NMDA receptors (NMDAR), such as the relative
      content of GluN2A- and GluN2B-containing receptors, greatly influences the
      glutamate synaptic transmission. Receptor co-agonists, glycine and D-serine, have
      intriguingly emerged as potential regulators of the receptor trafficking in
      addition to their requirement for its activation. Using a combination of single
      molecule imaging, biochemistry and electrophysiology, we show that glycine and D
      serine relative availability at rat hippocampal glutamatergic synapses regulate
      the trafficking and synaptic content of NMDAR subtypes. Acute manipulations of co
      agonist levels, both ex vivo and in vitro, unveil that D-serine alter the
      membrane dynamics and content of GluN2B-NMDAR, but not GluN2A-NMDAR, at synapses
      through a process requiring PDZ binding scaffold partners. In addition, using
      FRET-based FLIM approach, we demonstrate that D-serine rapidly induces a
      conformational change of the GluN1 subunit intracellular C-terminus domain.
      Together our data fuels the view that the extracellular microenvironment
      regulates synaptic NMDAR signaling.

PMID- 28598332
TI  - Engineering phase transformation of cobalt selenide in carbon cages and the
      phases' bifunctional electrocatalytic activity for water splitting.
AB  - Using Co-based metal-organic frameworks as the precursor, we synthesized cobalt
      selenide (CoSe2) nanoparticles imbedded in carbon cages. By simply controlling
      the annealing conditions, phase transformation of CoSe2 from the orthorhombic
      phase to the cubic phase has been realized. Benefitting from the metallic
      character, the cubic phase CoSe2 shows greatly enhanced electrocatalytic activity
      for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction
      (OER). The as-prepared cubic phase CoSe2 electrode possesses onset overpotentials
      of 43 and 200 mV, and Tafel slopes of 51 and 83 mV dec-1 for HER and OER,
      respectively, which are remarkably superior to that of the orthorhombic phase
      CoSe2 catalyst and comparable to those of commercial noble-metal catalysts. In
      addition, the cubic phase CoSe2 electrode also demonstrates excellent stability
      after long-term operations. Our work not only provides a high performance
      catalyst for water splitting, but also introduces a new route to the design of a
      highly efficient catalyst by phase transformation.

PMID- 28598328
TI  - A novel twelve class fluctuation test reveals higher than expected mutation rates
      for influenza A viruses.
AB  - Influenza virus' low replicative fidelity contributes to its capacity for rapid
      evolution. Clonal sequencing and fluctuation tests have suggested that the
      influenza virus mutation rate is 2.7 * 10-6 - 3.0 * 10-5 substitutions per
      nucleotide per strand copied (s/n/r). However, sequencing assays are biased
      toward mutations with minimal fitness impacts and fluctuation tests typically
      investigate only a subset of all possible single nucleotide mutations. We
      developed a fluctuation test based on reversion to fluorescence in a set of
      virally encoded mutant green fluorescent proteins, which allowed us to measure
      the rates of selectively neutral mutations representative of the twelve different
      mutation types. We measured an overall mutation rate of 1.8 * 10-4 s/n/r for PR8
      (H1N1) and 2.5 * 10-4 s/n/r for Hong Kong 2014 (H3N2) and a transitional bias of
      2.7-3.6. Our data suggest that each replicated genome will have an average of 2-3
      mutations and highlight the importance of mutational load in influenza virus
      evolution.

PMID- 28598333
TI  - Itinerant magnetic metals.
AB  - In this review, an overview of itinerant magnets without magnetic elements is
      presented, beginning with a comparison of the local and itinerant moment
      pictures, the two extremes of magnetism. Then, the theoretical developments
      leading up to the self-consistent renormalization theory of spin fluctuations
      will be discussed, followed by an introduction to quantum criticality and the
      experimental signatures associated with systems near a quantum critical point.
      Three itinerant magnets without magnetic elements, ZrZn2, Sc3.1In, and TiAu are
      the focus of this review, as their empty d shells set them apart in their purely
      itinerant character, while several enhanced Pauli paramagnets and intermediate
      moment magnets are also discussed to put the overall comparison into perspective.

PMID- 28598330
TI  - Analysis of SUMO1-conjugation at synapses.
AB  - SUMO1-conjugation of proteins at neuronal synapses is considered to be a major
      post-translational regulatory process in nerve cell and synapse function, but the
      published evidence for SUMO1-conjugation at synapses is contradictory. We
      employed multiple genetic mouse models for stringently controlled biochemical and
      immunostaining analyses of synaptic SUMO1-conjugation. By using a knock-in
      reporter mouse line expressing tagged SUMO1, we could not detect SUMO1
      conjugation of seven previously proposed synaptic SUMO1-targets in the brain.
      Further, immunostaining of cultured neurons from wild-type and SUMO1 knock-out
      mice showed that anti-SUMO1 immunolabelling at synapses is non-specific. Our
      findings indicate that SUMO1-conjugation of synaptic proteins does not occur or
      is extremely rare and hence not detectable using current methodology. Based on
      our data, we discuss a set of experimental strategies and minimal consensus
      criteria for the validation of SUMOylation that can be applied to any SUMOylation
      substrate and SUMO isoform.

PMID- 28598334
TI  - High-pressure structures of yttrium hydrides.
AB  - In this work, the crystal structures of YH3 and YH4 at high pressure (100-250
      GPa) have been explored using a genetic algorithm combined with first-principles
      calculations. New structures of YH3 with space group symmetries of P21/m and
      I4/mmm were predicted. The electronic structures and the phonon dispersion
      properties of various YH3 and YH4 structures at different temperatures and
      pressures were investigated. Among YH3 phases, the P21/m structure of YH3 was
      found to have a relatively high superconducting transformation temperature T c of
      19 K at 120 GPa, which is reduced to 9 K at 200 GPa. Other YH3 structures have
      much lower T cs. Compared with YH3, the T c of the YH4 compound is much higher,
      i.e. 94 K at 120 GPa and 55 K at 200 GPa.

PMID- 28598329
TI  - Glycolytic reliance promotes anabolism in photoreceptors.
AB  - Vertebrate photoreceptors are among the most metabolically active cells,
      exhibiting a high rate of ATP consumption. This is coupled with a high anabolic
      demand, necessitated by the diurnal turnover of a specialized membrane-rich
      organelle, the outer segment, which is the primary site of phototransduction. How
      photoreceptors balance their catabolic and anabolic demands is poorly understood.
      Here, we show that rod photoreceptors in mice rely on glycolysis for their outer
      segment biogenesis. Genetic perturbations targeting allostery or key regulatory
      nodes in the glycolytic pathway impacted the size of the outer segments.
      Fibroblast growth factor signaling was found to regulate glycolysis, with
      antagonism of this pathway resulting in anabolic deficits. These data demonstrate
      the cell autonomous role of the glycolytic pathway in outer segment maintenance
      and provide evidence that aerobic glycolysis is part of a metabolic program that
      supports the biosynthetic needs of a normal neuronal cell type.

PMID- 28598335
TI  - Complex magnetic order from multiple Ce-sites in Ce3Pd4Sn6.
AB  - Polycrystalline [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]
      samples were synthesized by arc-melting and subsequent annealing at 970 K.
      Specific heat, electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements
      are performed over a wide range in temperature and provide hints for the presence
      of a complex magnetic ordering below 3 K arising from three crystallographically
      independent Ce sites. This behaviour is driven by a complex interplay between
      ferro-, ferri-, and antiferromagnetic correlations among the Ce atoms.

PMID- 28598336
TI  - Investigation on H-containing shallow trap of hydrogenated TiO2 with in situ
      Fourier transform infrared diffuse reflection spectroscopy.
AB  - A novel technique, high temperature high pressure in situ Fourier transform
      infrared diffuse reflection spectroscopy, was successfully used to investigate
      the formation and stability of shallow trap states in P25 TiO2 nanoparticles. Two
      types of shallow traps (with and without H atoms) were identified. The H
      containing shallow trap can be easily generated by heating in H2 atmosphere.
      However, the trap is unstable in vacuum at 600  degrees C. In contrast, the H
      free shallow trap, which can be formed by heating in vacuum, is stable even at
      600  degrees C. The energy gaps between shallow trap states and the conduction
      band are 0.09 eV for H-containing shallow trap and 0.13 eV for H-free shallow
      trap, indicating that the H-containing shallow trap state is closer to the
      conduction band than that without H.

PMID- 28598337
TI  - Measuring sporadic gastrointestinal illness associated with drinking water - an
      overview of methodologies.
AB  - There is an increasing awareness that drinking water contributes to sporadic
      gastrointestinal illness (GI) in high income countries of the northern
      hemisphere. A literature search was conducted in order to review: (1) methods
      used for investigating the effects of public drinking water on GI; (2) evidence
      of possible dose-response relationship between sporadic GI and drinking water
      consumption; and (3) association between sporadic GI and factors affecting
      drinking water quality. Seventy-four articles were selected, key findings and
      information gaps were identified. In-home intervention studies have only been
      conducted in areas using surface water sources and intervention studies in
      communities supplied by ground water are therefore needed. Community-wide
      intervention studies may constitute a cost-effective alternative to in-home
      intervention studies. Proxy data that correlate with GI in the community can be
      used for detecting changes in the incidence of GI. Proxy data can, however, not
      be used for measuring the prevalence of illness. Local conditions affecting water
      safety may vary greatly, making direct comparisons between studies difficult
      unless sufficient knowledge about these conditions is acquired. Drinking water in
      high-income countries contributes to endemic levels of GI and there are public
      health benefits for further improvements of drinking water safety.

PMID- 28598338
TI  - Polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane incorporated with Ag-SiO2 nanohybrid for
      effective fouling control.
AB  - An anti-fouling hybrid membrane was prepared by incorporating Ag-SiO2 nanohybrid
      into a polysulfone (PSf) matrix. The addition of Ag-SiO2 can significantly
      improve the hydrophilicity, separation property, anti-fouling ability, and
      especially anti-bacterial activity of hybrid membranes. The optimum performance
      of the Ag-SiO2/PSf hybrid membrane is achieved when the concentration of Ag-SiO2
      is as low as 0.45 wt%. Compared with PSf membrane and SiO2/PSf hybrid membrane,
      the Ag-SiO2/PSf hybrid membrane displays the best overall properties. The
      excellent performance of the Ag-SiO2/PSf hybrid membrane can be attributed to the
      well-tailored structure and unique property of Ag-SiO2 nanohybrid, where
      nanosized Ag (~5 nm) can densely and uniformly disperse on the surface of silica
      spheres. The obtained membrane could be a promising material for water treatment.

PMID- 28598339
TI  - Comparison of MI, Chromocult(r) coliform, and Compass CC chromogenic culture
      based methods to detect Escherichia coli and total coliforms in water using 16S
      rRNA sequencing for colony identification.
AB  - The MI, Chromocult(r) coliform, and Compass CC chromogenic culture-based methods
      used to assess water quality by the detection of Escherichia coli and total
      coliforms were compared in terms of their specificity and sensitivity, using 16S
      rRNA sequencing for colony identification. A sewage water sample was divided in 2
      MUL subsamples for testing by all three culture-based methods. All growing
      colonies were harvested and subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. Test results showed
      that all E. coli colonies were correctly identified by all three methods, for a
      specificity and a sensitivity of 100%. However, for the total coliform detection,
      the MI agar, Chromocult(r) coliform agar, and Compass CC agar were specific for
      only 69.2% (9/13), 47.2% (25/53), and 40.5% (17/42), whereas sensitive for 97.8%
      (45/46), 97.5% (39/40), and 85.7% (24/28), respectively. Thus, given the low
      level of specificity of these methods for the detection of total coliforms,
      confirming the identity of total coliform colonies could help to take public
      health decisions, in particular for cities connected to a public drinking water
      distribution system since the growth of few putative total coliform colonies on
      chromogenic agar is problematic and can lead to unnecessary and costly boiling
      notices from public health authorities.

PMID- 28598340
TI  - Effects of drinking desalinated seawater on cell viability and proliferation.
AB  - Desalination of seawater is becoming an important means to address the increasing
      scarcity of freshwater resources in the world. Seawater has been used as drinking
      water in the health, food, and medical fields and various beneficial effects have
      been suggested, although not confirmed. Given the presence of 63 minerals and
      trace elements in drinking desalinated seawater (63 DSW), we evaluated their
      effects on the behavior of tumorigenic and nontumorigenic cells through the 3
      (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay and annexin-V
      fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide staining. Our results showed that
      cell viability and proliferation in the presence of 63 DSW were significantly
      greater than in mineral water and in the presence of fetal bovine serum in a dose
      dependent manner. Furthermore, 63 DSW showed no toxic effect on murine embryonic
      fibroblast (NIH-3T3) and murine melanoma (B16-F10) cells. In another assay, we
      also showed that pre-treatment of non-adherent THP-1 cells with 63 DSW reduces
      apoptosis incidence, suggesting a protective effect against cell death. We
      conclude that cell viability and proliferation were improved by the mineral
      components of 63 DSW and this effect can guide further studies on health effects
      associated with DSW consumption.

PMID- 28598341
TI  - Effect of trihalomethanes (chloroform and bromoform) on human haematological
      count.
AB  - With the increasing concerns about the harmful effects of disinfection products,
      the process of chlorination is becoming questionable. Bromoform and chloroform
      are among the most frequently occurring disinfection by-products. Haematological
      parameters are an important indicator of human well-being which is why the prime
      objective of the current study was to conduct a dose-response assessment to
      investigate the effects of trihalomethanes on human haematological count. Blood
      samples of healthy subjects were exposed to different concentrations (10, 30 and
      50 MUg/mL) of chloroform and bromoform in vitro to analyse how these compounds
      affected the haematological count with increasing dose concentrations. Headspace
      gas chromatography analysis was also conducted on samples to assess the
      difference between measured and spiked values of doses. The results indicated
      that the damage caused by bromoform was statistically more significant as
      compared to chloroform. Haemoglobin (HGB) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin
      concentration levels lowered as they were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by
      bromoform at all administered doses. It also significantly damaged platelet level
      at doses of 30 (p < 0.05) and 50 MUg/mL (p < 0.01). Conversely, the damage caused
      by chloroform was statistically less significant (p > 0.05).

PMID- 28598342
TI  - Removals of cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and cryptosporidium-sized polystyrene
      microspheres from swimming pool water by diatomaceous earth filtration and
      perlite-sand filtration.
AB  - Removal of Cryptosporidium-sized microspheres and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts
      from swimming pools was investigated using diatomaceous earth (DE) precoat
      filtration and perlite-sand filtration. In pilot-scale experiments, microsphere
      removals of up to 2 log were obtained with 0.7 kg.DE/m2 at a filtration rate of 5
      m/h. A slightly higher microsphere removal (2.3 log) was obtained for these DE
      precoated filters when the filtration rate was 3.6 m/h. Additionally, pilot-scale
      perlite-sand filters achieved greater than 2 log removal when at least 0.37 kg/m2
      of perlite was used compared to 0.1-0.4 log removal without perlite both at a
      surface loading rate of 37 m/h. Full-scale testing achieved 2.7 log of
      microspheres and oocysts removal when 0.7 kg.DE/m2 was used at 3.6 m/h. Removals
      were significantly decreased by a 15-minute interruption of the flow (without any
      mechanical agitation) to the DE filter in pilot-scale studies, which was not
      observed in full-scale filters. Microsphere removals were 2.7 log by perlite-sand
      filtration in a full-scale swimming pool filter operated at 34 m/h with 0.5 kg/m2
      of perlite. The results demonstrate that either a DE precoat filter or a perlite
      sand filter can improve the efficiency of removal of microspheres and oocysts
      from swimming pools over a standard sand filter under the conditions studied.

PMID- 28598343
TI  - From urban municipalities to polar bioremediation: the characterisation and
      contribution of biogenic minerals for water treatment.
AB  - Minerals of biological origin have shown significant potential for the separation
      of contaminants from water worldwide. This study details the contribution of
      biologically derived minerals to water treatment operations, with a focus on
      filtration media from urban municipalities and remote cold regions. The results
      support biofilm-embedded iron and manganese to be the building blocks of biogenic
      mineral development on activated carbon and nutrient-amended zeolites. The
      presence of similar iron and manganese oxidising bacterial species across all
      filter media supports the analogous morphologies of biogenic minerals between
      sites and suggests that biological water treatment processes may be feasible
      across a range of climates. This is the first time the stages of biogenic mineral
      formation have been aligned with comprehensive imaging of the biofilm community
      and bacterial identification; especially with respect to cold regions. Where
      biogenic mineral formation occurs on filter media, the potential exists for
      enhanced adsorption for a range of organic and inorganic contaminants and
      improved longevity of filter media beyond the adsorption or exchange capacities
      of the raw material.

PMID- 28598344
TI  - Occurrence of Legionella in showers at recreational facilities.
AB  - Critical environments, including water systems in recreational settings,
      represent an important source of Legionella pneumophila infection in humans. In
      order to assess the potential risk for legionellosis, we analyzed Legionella
      contamination of water distribution systems in 36 recreational facilities
      equipped with swimming pools. One hundred and sixty water samples were analyzed
      from shower heads or taps located in locker rooms or in bathrooms. By culture
      method and polymerase chain reaction, 41/160 samples were positive for Legionella
      from 12/36 recreational centers. Hotels (57.1%) and sports centers (41.2%) were
      the most contaminated. L. pneumophila serotypes 2-14 (25/41) were more frequently
      found than serotype 1 (10/41). Samples at temperature >=30  degrees C were more
      frequently positive than samples at temperature <30  degrees C (n = 39 vs n = 2,
      p < 0.00001). The presence of L. pneumophila was investigated by comparison with
      heterotrophic plate count (HPC), an indicator of water quality. The presence of
      L. pneumophila was associated more frequently with high and intermediate HPC load
      at 37  degrees C, therefore should be considered a potential source when HPC at
      37  degrees C is >10 CFU/mL. Maintenance, good hygiene practices, interventions
      on the hydraulic system and regular controls must be implemented to minimize
      exposure to L. pneumophila infection risk.

PMID- 28598345
TI  - Microbiological quality of ice and ice machines used in food establishments.
AB  - The ice used in the food industry has to be safe and the water used in ice
      production should have the quality of drinking water. The consumption of
      contaminated ice directly or indirectly may be a vehicle for transmission of
      pathogenic bacteria to humans producing outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases.
      The objective of this study was to monitor the microbiological quality of ice,
      the water used in producing ice and the hygienic conditions of ice making
      machines in various food enterprises. Escherichia coli was detected in seven
      (6.7%) ice and 23 (21.9%) ice chest samples whereas E. coli was negative in all
      examined water samples. Psychrophilic bacteria were detected in 83 (79.0%) of 105
      ice chest and in 68 (64.7%) of 105 ice samples, whereas Enterococci were detected
      only in 13 (12.4%) ice samples. Coliforms were detected in 13 (12.4%) water, 71
      (67.6%) ice chest and 54 (51.4%) ice samples. In order to improve the
      microbiological quality of ice, the maintenance, cleaning and disinfecting of ice
      machines should be carried out effectively and periodically. Also, high quality
      water should be used for ice production.

PMID- 28598346
TI  - Application of long amplicon propidium monoazide-PCR to assess the effects of
      temperature and background microbiota on pathogens in river water.
AB  - The decay rates of enteric waterborne pathogens were evaluated following the
      introduction of Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter
      jejuni and Arcobacter butzleri into river water at different temperatures (5, 15
      and 25 degrees C) for a period of 28 days. To improve the accuracy of the results
      a molecular viability assay, long amplicon propidium monoazide-polymerase chain
      reaction (PMA-PCR), was used to quantify the viable cell concentration and
      results from PCR with and without PMA were compared. As well, the effect of
      background microbiota was assessed for Y. enterocolitica and S. enterica by
      inoculating cells into sterile and non-sterile river water. Cell persistence was
      improved by up to 4 log for Y. enterocolitica and 4.5 log for S. enterica in
      sterile river water compared to natural river water, showing that the
      autochthonous biological activity in river water can accelerate the die-off of
      introduced bacteria. Results also showed that low temperature significantly
      improved the persistence of all four target bacteria in non-sterile river water.
      There was a more rapid decline in cell concentration in samples with PMA
      pretreatment; therefore using PMA-PCR analysis can provide more reliable data on
      viable/active enteric bacteria in aquatic microcosms and allows for improved
      assessment of pathogens in the environment.

PMID- 28598347
TI  - Ingestion of swimming pool water by recreational swimmers.
AB  - The volume of water ingested by swimmers while swimming is of great interest to
      individuals who develop risk assessments using quantitative microbial risk
      assessment or epidemiological approaches. We have used chloroisocyanurate
      disinfected swimming pool waters to determine the amount of water swallowed by
      swimmers during swimming activity. The chloroisocyanurate, which is in
      equilibrium with chlorine and cyanuric acid in the pool water, provides a
      biomarker, cyanuric acid, that once swallowed passes through the body into the
      urine unchanged. The concentration of cyanuric acid in a 24 hour urine specimen
      and the concentration in pool water can be used to calculate the amount of water
      swallowed. Our study population of 549 participants, which was about evenly
      divided by gender, and young and adult swimmers, indicated that swimmers ingest
      about 32 mL per hour (arithmetic mean) and that children swallowed about four
      times as much water as adults during swimming activities. It was also observed
      that males had a tendency to swallow more water than females during swimming
      activity and that children spent about twice as much time in the water than
      adults.

PMID- 28598348
TI  - Mortality from selected diseases that can be transmitted by water - United
      States, 2003-2009.
AB  - Diseases spread by water are caused by fecal-oral, contact, inhalation, or other
      routes, resulting in illnesses affecting multiple body systems. We selected 13
      pathogens or syndromes implicated in waterborne disease outbreaks or other well
      documented waterborne transmission (acute otitis externa, Campylobacter,
      Cryptosporidium, Escherichia coli (E. coli), free-living ameba, Giardia,
      Hepatitis A virus, Legionella (Legionnaires' disease), nontuberculous
      mycobacteria (NTM), Pseudomonas-related pneumonia or septicemia, Salmonella,
      Shigella, and Vibrio). We documented annual numbers of deaths in the United
      States associated with these infections using a combination of death certificate
      data, nationally representative hospital discharge data, and disease-specific
      surveillance systems (2003-2009). We documented 6,939 annual total deaths
      associated with the 13 infections; of these, 493 (7%) were caused by seven
      pathogens transmitted by the fecal-oral route. A total of 6,301 deaths (91%) were
      associated with infections from Pseudomonas, NTM, and Legionella, environmental
      pathogens that grow in water system biofilms. Biofilm-associated pathogens can
      cause illness following inhalation of aerosols or contact with contaminated
      water. These findings suggest that most mortality from these 13 selected
      infections in the United States does not result from classical fecal-oral
      transmission but rather from other transmission routes.

PMID- 28598349
TI  - Predicting water filter and bottled water use in Appalachia: a community-scale
      case study.
AB  - A questionnaire survey was conducted in order to assess residents' perceptions of
      water quality for drinking and recreational purposes in a mid-sized city in
      northcentral West Virginia. Two logistic regression analyses were conducted in
      order to investigate the factors that influence bottle use and filter use.
      Results show that 37% of respondents primarily use bottled water and that 58% use
      a household filter when drinking from the tap. Respondents with lower levels of
      environmental concern, education levels, and lower organoleptic perceptions were
      most likely to perceive health risks from tap water consumption, and were most
      likely to use bottled water. Income, age, and organoleptic perceptions were
      predictors of water filter use among respondents. Clean water for recreational
      purposes was not found to be significant with either of these models. Our results
      demonstrate that bottle use and filter use are explained differently. We argue
      that more education and better communication about local tap water quality would
      decrease the use of bottled water. We demonstrate that household filters could be
      used as an alternative to bottled water.

PMID- 28598350
TI  - Comparative study of physico-chemical parameters of drinking water from some
      longevity and non-longevity areas of China.
AB  - There is an obvious regional longevity phenomenon in China and many longevity
      counties are located in South China. This study was carried out to find the
      characteristics of elemental contents of drinking water in longevity areas in
      South China and the differences to non-longevity areas in China. A total of 128
      drinking water samples were collected from longevity areas in South China (n =
      40), non-longevity areas in South China (n = 74) and non-longevity areas in North
      China (n = 14) and 46 parameters of water were determined or calculated. The
      results showed that drinking water in longevity areas of South China had a high
      ratio of sum concentration of essential micro-elements in sum concentration of
      micro-elements (SCME) and a low ratio of sum concentration of hazardous micro
      elements in SCME. The concentration of total hardness (TH) and strontium in
      drinking water was 157.82 mg/L and 82.1 MUg/L, respectively, and they were 14.61
      mg/L, 7.45 MUg/L and 291.69 mg/L, 748.65 MUg/L in the non-longevity areas of
      South and North China, respectively. The study concluded that drinking water
      containing 157.82 mg/L TH and 82.1 MUg/L strontium in South China may be optimum
      to human health.

PMID- 28598351
TI  - Erratum: Journal of Water and Health 14(6), 998-1008: Exploring the relationships
      between small non-community drinking water system characteristics and water
      system performance in Ontario, Canada, W. Pons et al., doi:
      https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2016.007.

PMID- 28598352
TI  - UK Pigs at the Time of Slaughter: Investigation into the Correlation of Infection
      with PRRSV and HEV.
AB  - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
      (PRRSV) and are both globally prevalent in the pig population. While HEV does not
      cause clinical disease in pigs, its zoonotic potential has raised concerns in the
      food safety sector. PRRS has become endemic in the United Kingdom (UK) since its
      introduction in 1991, and continues to cause considerable economic losses to the
      swine industry. A better understanding of the current prevalence and diversity of
      PRRSV and HEV in the UK, and their potential association, is needed to assess
      risks and target control measures appropriately. This study used plasma, tonsil,
      and cecal content samples previously collected from pigs in 14 abattoirs in
      England and Northern Ireland to study the prevalence of several pathogens
      including PRRSV and HEV. The diversity of PRRSV strains detected in these samples
      was analyzed by sequencing open reading frame 5 (ORF5), revealing no substantial
      difference in PRRSV strains from these clinically unaffected pigs relative to
      those from clinical cases of disease in the UK. Despite the potential immuno
      modulatory effect of PRRSV infection, previously demonstrated to affect
      Salmonella and HEV shedding profiles, no significant association was found
      between positive PRRSV status and positive HEV status.

PMID- 28598355
TI  - Ecological Niche Modeling Identifies Fine-Scale Areas at High Risk of Dengue
      Fever in the Pearl River Delta, China.
AB  - Dengue fever (DF) is one of the most common and rapidly spreading mosquito-borne
      viral diseases in tropical and subtropical regions. In recent years, this
      imported disease has posed a serious threat to public health in China, especially
      in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). Although the severity of DF outbreaks in the PRD
      is generally associated with known risk factors, fine scale assessments of areas
      at high risk for DF outbreaks are limited. We built five ecological niche models
      to identify such areas including a variety of climatic, environmental, and
      socioeconomic variables, as well as, in some models, extracted principal
      components. All the models we tested accurately identified the risk of DF, the
      area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were greater than
      0.8, but the model using all original variables was the most accurate (AUC =
      0.906). Socioeconomic variables had a greater impact on this model (total
      contribution 55.27%) than climatic and environmental variables (total
      contribution 44.93%). We found the highest risk of DF outbreaks on the border of
      Guangzhou and Foshan (in the central PRD), and in northern Zhongshan (in the
      southern PRD). Our fine-scale results may help health agencies to focus epidemic
      monitoring tightly on the areas at highest risk of DF outbreaks.

PMID- 28598353
TI  - Cellular Consequences of Diminished Protein O-Mannosyltransferase Activity in
      Baker's Yeast.
AB  - O-Mannosylation is a type of protein glycosylation initiated in the endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER) by the protein O-mannosyltransferase (PMT) family. Despite the
      vital role of O-mannosylation, its molecular functions and regulation are not
      fully characterized. To further explore the cellular impact of protein O
      mannosylation, we performed a genome-wide screen to identify Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae mutants with increased sensitivity towards the PMT-specific inhibitor
      compound R3A-5a. We identified the cell wall and the ER as the cell compartments
      affected most upon PMT inhibition. Especially mutants with defects in N
      glycosylation, biosynthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins and
      cell wall beta-1,6-glucan showed impaired growth when O-mannosylation became
      limiting. Signaling pathways that counteract cell wall defects and unbalanced ER
      homeostasis, namely the cell wall integrity pathway and the unfolded protein
      response, were highly crucial for the cell growth. Moreover, among the most
      affected mutants, we identified Ost3, one of two homologous subunits of the
      oligosaccharyltransferase complexes involved in N-glycosylation, suggesting a
      functional link between the two pathways. Indeed, we identified Pmt2 as a
      substrate for Ost3 suggesting that the reduced function of Pmt2 in the absence of
      N-glycosylation promoted sensitivity to the drug. Interestingly, even though S.
      cerevisiae Pmt1 and Pmt2 proteins are highly similar on the sequence, as well as
      the structural level and act as a complex, we identified only Pmt2, but not Pmt1,
      as an Ost3-specific substrate protein.

PMID- 28598354
TI  - Message in a Bottle: Dialog between Intestine and Skin Modulated by Probiotics.
AB  - At the beginning, probiotics were used exclusively for gastrointestinal
      conditions. However, over the years, evidence has shown that probiotics exert
      systemic effects. In this review article, we will summarize recent reports that
      postulate probiotic treatment as an efficient one against skin pathologies, such
      as cancer, allergy, photoaging and skin infections. The focus will be restricted
      to oral probiotics that could potentially counteract the ultraviolet irradiation
      induced skin alterations. Moreover, the possible underlying mechanisms by which
      probiotics can impact on the gut and exert their skin effects will be reviewed.
      Furthermore, how the local and systemic immune system is involved in the
      intestine-cutaneous crosstalk will be analyzed. In conclusion, this article will
      be divided into three core ideas: (a) probiotics regulate gut homeostasis; (b)
      gut and skin homeostasis are connected;

PMID- 28598357
TI  - Microcephaly.
AB  - Microcephaly is defined as a head circumference more than two standard deviations
      below the mean for gender and age. Congenital microcephaly is present at birth,
      whereas postnatal microcephaly occurs later in life. Genetic abnormalities,
      syndromes, metabolic disorders, teratogens, infections, prenatal, perinatal, and
      postnatal injuries can cause both congenital and postnatal microcephaly.
      Evaluation of patients with microcephaly begins with a thorough history and
      physical examination. In cases of worsening microcephaly or neurological signs or
      symptoms, neuroimaging, metabolic, or genetic testing should be strongly
      considered. Any further studies and workup should be directed by the presence of
      signs or symptoms pointing to an underlying diagnosis and are usually used as
      confirmatory testing for certain conditions. Neuroimaging with magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) is often the first diagnostic test in evaluating children with
      microcephaly. Genetic testing is becoming more common and is often the next step
      following neuroimaging when there is no specific evidence in the history or
      physical examination suggesting a diagnosis. Microcephaly is a lifelong condition
      with no known cure. The prognosis is usually worse for children who experienced
      an intrauterine infection or have a chromosomal or metabolic abnormality. Zika
      virus has rapidly spread since 2015, and maternal infection with this virus is
      associated with microcephaly and other serious brain abnormalities. Microcephaly
      has become much more prevalent in the news and scientific community with the
      recent emergence of Zika virus as a cause of congenital microcephaly.

PMID- 28598358
TI  - A Smartphone Indoor Localization Algorithm Based on WLAN Location Fingerprinting
      with Feature Extraction and Clustering.
AB  - With the development of communication technology, the demand for location-based
      services is growing rapidly. This paper presents an algorithm for indoor
      localization based on Received Signal Strength (RSS), which is collected from
      Access Points (APs). The proposed localization algorithm contains the offline
      information acquisition phase and online positioning phase. Firstly, the AP
      selection algorithm is reviewed and improved based on the stability of signals to
      remove useless AP; secondly, Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA) is
      analyzed and used to remove the data redundancy and maintain useful
      characteristics for nonlinear feature extraction; thirdly, the Affinity
      Propagation Clustering (APC) algorithm utilizes RSS values to classify data
      samples and narrow the positioning range. In the online positioning phase, the
      classified data will be matched with the testing data to determine the position
      area, and the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimate will be employed for precise
      positioning. Eventually, the proposed algorithm is implemented in a real-world
      environment for performance evaluation. Experimental results demonstrate that the
      proposed algorithm improves the accuracy and computational complexity.

PMID- 28598356
TI  - NF-kappaB Signalling in Glioblastoma.
AB  - Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a transcription factor regulating a wide
      array of genes mediating numerous cellular processes such as proliferation,
      differentiation, motility and survival, to name a few. Aberrant activation of NF
      kappaB is a frequent event in numerous cancers, including glioblastoma, the most
      common and lethal form of brain tumours of glial cell origin (collectively termed
      gliomas). Glioblastoma is characterized by high cellular heterogeneity,
      resistance to therapy and almost inevitable recurrence after surgery and
      treatment. NF-kappaB is aberrantly activated in response to a variety of stimuli
      in glioblastoma, where its activity has been implicated in processes ranging from
      maintenance of cancer stem-like cells, stimulation of cancer cell invasion,
      promotion of mesenchymal identity, and resistance to radiotherapy. This review
      examines the mechanisms of NF-kappaB activation in glioblastoma, the involvement
      of NF-kappaB in several mechanisms underlying glioblastoma propagation, and
      discusses some of the important questions of future research into the roles of NF
      kappaB in glioblastoma.

PMID- 28598360
TI  - Role of Gut Microbiota in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease, caused by both
      genetic and environmental factors. Recently, investigators have focused on the
      gut microbiota, which is thought to be an environmental agent affecting the
      development of RA. Here we review the evidence from animal and human studies that
      supports the role of the gut microbiota in RA. We and others have demonstrated
      that the abundance of Prevotella copri is increased in some early RA. We have
      also used gnotobiotic experiments to show that dysbiosis in RA patients
      contributed to the development of Th17 cell-dependent arthritis in intestinal
      microbiota-humanized SKG mice. On the other hand, Prevotella histicola from human
      gut microbiota suppressed the development of arthritis. In summary, Prevotella
      species are involved in the pathogenesis of arthritis.

PMID- 28598359
TI  - Vitamin B12 and Semen Quality.
AB  - Various studies have revealed the effects of vitamin B12, also named cobalamin,
      on semen quality and sperm physiology; however, these studies collectively are
      still unsummarized. Here, we systematically discuss and summarize the currently
      understood role of vitamin B12 on semen quality and sperm physiology. We searched
      the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases for only English language
      articles or abstracts from September 1961 to March 2017 (inclusive) using the key
      words "vitamin B12" and "cobalamin" versus "sperm". Certain relevant references
      were included to support the empirical as well as the mechanistic discussions. In
      conclusion, the mainstream published work demonstrates the positive effects of
      vitamin B12 on semen quality: first, by increasing sperm count, and by enhancing
      sperm motility and reducing sperm DNA damage, though there are a few in vivo
      system studies that have deliberated some adverse effects. The beneficial effects
      of vitamin B12 on semen quality may be due to increased functionality of
      reproductive organs, decreased homocysteine toxicity, reduced amounts of
      generated nitric oxide, decreased levels of oxidative damage to sperm, reduced
      amount of energy produced by spermatozoa, decreased inflammation-induced semen
      impairment, and control of nuclear factor-kappaB activation. However, additional
      research, mainly clinical, is still needed to confirm these positive effects.

PMID- 28598361
TI  - Social Factors Determine the Emergency Medical Admission Workload.
AB  - We related social factors with the annual rate of emergency medical admissions
      using census small area statistics. All emergency medical admissions (70,543
      episodes in 33,343 patients) within the catchment area of St. James's Hospital,
      Dublin, were examined between 2002 and 2016. Deprivation Index, Single-Parent
      status, Educational level and Unemployment rates were regressed against admission
      rates. High deprivation areas had an approximately fourfold (Incidence Rate Ratio
      (IRR) 4.0 (3.96, 4.12)) increase in annual admission rate incidence/1000
      population from Quintile 1(Q1), from 9.2/1000 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 9.0,
      9.4) to Q5 37.3 (37.0, 37.5)). Single-Parent families comprised 40.6% of
      households (95% CI: 32.4, 49.7); small areas with more Single Parents had a
      higher admission rate-IRR (Q1 vs. for Q5) of 2.92 (95% CI: 2.83, 3.01). The
      admission incidence rate was higher for Single-Parent status (IRR 1.50 (95% CI:
      1.46, 1.52)) where the educational completion level was limited to primary level
      (Incidence Rate Ratio 1.45 (95% CI: 1.43, 1.47)). Small areas with higher
      educational quintiles predicted lower Admission Rates (IRR 0.85 (95% CI: 0.84,
      0.86)). Social factors strongly predict the annual incidence rate of emergency
      medical admissions.

PMID- 28598364
TI  - Isoprenoids Production from Lipid-Extracted Microalgal Biomass Residues Using
      Engineered E. coli.
AB  - Microalgae are recognized as a third generation feedstock for biofuel production
      due to their rapid growth rates and lignin-free characteristics. In this study, a
      lipid extracted microalgal biomass residues was used as the raw material to
      produce isoprene, alpha-pinene and beta-pinene with an engineered E. coli strain.
      We adopted an optimal sulfuric acid hydrolysis method (1:7 ratio of solid to acid
      solution, 32% (w/v) concentration of sulfuric acid solution at 90  degrees C for
      90 min) to efficiently convert holocellulose into glucose efficiently (6.37 g/L).
      Futhermore, we explored a novel detoxification strategy (phosphoric acid/calcium
      hydroxide) to remove inhibitors and notably acetic acid, furfural and 5
      hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) were reduced by 5.32%, different number given later
      99.19% and 98.22%, respectively. Finally, the fermentation concentrations of
      isoprene (223.23 mg/L), alpha-pinene (382.21 MUg/L) and beta-pinene (17.4 mg/L)
      were achieved using the detoxified hydrolysate as the carbon source, equivalent
      to approximately 86.02%, 90.16% and 88.32% of those produced by the engineered E.
      coli strain fermented on pure glucose, respectively.

PMID- 28598365
TI  - Subcritical Water Chromatography with Electrochemical Detection.
AB  - Reverse phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is a commonly used separation and
      analysis technique. RPLC typically employs mixtures of organic solvents and water
      or aqueous buffers as the mobile phase. With RPLC being used on a global scale,
      enormous quantities of organic solvents are consumed every day. In addition to
      the purchasing cost of the hazardous solvents, the issue of waste disposal is
      another concern. At ambient temperature, water is too polar to dissolve many
      organic substances. Therefore, although water is nontoxic it cannot be used to
      replace the mobile phase in RPLC since organic analytes will not be eluted.
      Subcritical water chromatography may be an alternative. The characteristics of
      water, such as polarity, surface tension, and viscosity, can be altered by
      manipulating water's temperature, thus making it behave like an organic solvent.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of separation using water
      mobile phase and detection by an electrochemical (EC) detector. The classes of
      analytes studied were neurotransmitters/metabolites, nucleic acids/heterocyclic
      bases, and capsaicinoids. Both isothermal and temperature-programmed separations
      were carried out. The separation temperature ranged from 25 to 100  degrees C.
      For separations of all three classes of solutes, the retention time was decreased
      with increasing temperature, thus shortening the analysis time. The peaks also
      became narrower as temperature increased. The limit of detection of
      neurotransmitters/metabolites ranges from 0.112 to 0.224 ppm.

PMID- 28598363
TI  - Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS): An Interplay among
      Drugs, Viruses, and Immune System.
AB  - Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is a
      severe multiorgan hypersensitivity reaction mostly caused by a limited number of
      eliciting drugs in patients with a genetic predisposition. Patients with DRESS
      syndrome present with characteristic but variable clinical and pathological
      features. Reactivation of human herpesviruses (HHV), especially HHV-6, is the
      hallmark of the disease. Anti-viral immune responses intertwined with drug
      hypersensitivity make the disease more complicated and protracted. In recent
      years, emerging studies have outlined the disease more clearly, though several
      important questions remain unresolved. In this review, we provide an overview of
      DRESS syndrome, including clinical presentations, histopathological features,
      pathomechanisms, and treatments.

PMID- 28598366
TI  - Isolation of Monoterpene Dihydrochalcones from Piper montealegreanum Yuncker
      (Piperaceae).
AB  - Four new compounds were isolated from the branches of Piper montealegreanum
      Yuncker, a shrub found in the Amazon rainforest, including two new
      dihydrochalcones named claricine (1) and maisine (2), a cinnamic acid derivative
      3 and a phenylalkanoid 4, along with a porphyrin identified as the known compound
      phaeophytin a (5). The structures were established using spectroscopic
      experiments, including 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS experiments, performed on the
      two monoterpene dihydrochalcones and their monoacetyl derivatives. The structural
      diversity of these substances is very important for the Piper genus
      chemotaxonomy.

PMID- 28598367
TI  - Pattern Evolution during Double Liquid-Vapor Phase Transitions under
      Weightlessness.
AB  - Phase transition in fluids is ubiquitous in nature and has important applications
      in areas such as the food industry for volatile oils' extraction or in nuclear
      plants for heat transfer. Fundamentals are hampered by gravity effects on Earth.
      We used direct imaging to record snapshots of phase separation that takes place
      in sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, under weightlessness conditions on the International
      Space Station (ISS). The system was already at liquid-vapor equilibrium slightly
      below the critical temperature and further cooled down by a 0.2-mK temperature
      quench that produced a new phase separation. Both full view and microscopic views
      of the direct observation cell were analyzed to determine the evolution of the
      radii distributions. We found that radii distributions could be well approximated
      by a lognormal function. The fraction of small radii droplets declined while the
      fraction of large radii droplets increased over time. Phase separation at the
      center of the sample cell was visualized using a 12* microscope objective, which
      corresponds to a depth of focus of about 5 MU m. We found that the mean radii of
      liquid droplets exhibit a t 1 / 3 evolution, in agreement with growth driven by
      Brownian coalescence. It was also found that the mean radii of the vapor bubbles
      inside the liquid majority phase exhibit a t 1 / 2 evolution, which suggest a
      possible directional motion of vapor bubbles due to the influence of weak
      remaining gravitational field and/or a composition Marangoni force.

PMID- 28598362
TI  - Carbon Ion Radiotherapy: A Review of Clinical Experiences and Preclinical
      Research, with an Emphasis on DNA Damage/Repair.
AB  - Compared to conventional photon-based external beam radiation (PhXRT), carbon ion
      radiotherapy (CIRT) has superior dose distribution, higher linear energy transfer
      (LET), and a higher relative biological effectiveness (RBE). This enhanced RBE is
      driven by a unique DNA damage signature characterized by clustered lesions that
      overwhelm the DNA repair capacity of malignant cells. These physical and
      radiobiological characteristics imbue heavy ions with potent tumoricidal
      capacity, while having the potential for simultaneously maximally sparing normal
      tissues. Thus, CIRT could potentially be used to treat some of the most difficult
      to treat tumors, including those that are hypoxic, radio-resistant, or deep
      seated. Clinical data, mostly from Japan and Germany, are promising, with
      favorable oncologic outcomes and acceptable toxicity. In this manuscript, we
      review the physical and biological rationales for CIRT, with an emphasis on DNA
      damage and repair, as well as providing a comprehensive overview of the
      translational and clinical data using CIRT.

PMID- 28598368
TI  - Self-Assembled Lipid Nanoparticles for Oral Delivery of Heparin-Coated Iron Oxide
      Nanoparticles for Theranostic Purposes.
AB  - Recently, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have attracted increasing attention
      owing to their potential as an oral delivery system, promoting intestinal
      absorption in the lymphatic circulation which plays a role in disseminating
      metastatic cancer cells and infectious agents throughout the body. SLN features
      can be exploited for the oral delivery of theranostics. Therefore, the aim of
      this work was to design and characterise self-assembled lipid nanoparticles
      (SALNs) to encapsulate and stabilise iron oxide nanoparticles non-covalently
      coated with heparin (Fe@hepa) as a model of a theranostic tool. SALNs were
      characterised for physico-chemical properties (particle size, surface charge,
      encapsulation efficiency, in vitro stability, and heparin leakage), as well as in
      vitro cytotoxicity by methyl thiazole tetrazolium (MTT) assay and cell
      internalisation in CaCo-2, a cell line model used as an indirect indication of
      intestinal lymphatic absorption. SALNs of about 180 nm, which are stable in
      suspension and have a high encapsulation efficiency (>90%) were obtained. SALNs
      were able to stabilise the heparin coating of Fe@hepa, which are typically
      unstable in physiological environments. Moreover, SALNs-Fe@hepa showed no
      cytotoxicity, although their ability to be internalised into CaCo-2 cells was
      highlighted by confocal microscopy analysis. Therefore, the results indicated
      that SALNs can be considered as a promising tool to orally deliver theranostic
      Fe@hepa into the lymphatic circulation, although further in vivo studies are
      needed to comprehend further potential applications.

PMID- 28598370
TI  - UV-Curable Aliphatic Silicone Acrylate Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Coatings with
      Antibacterial Activity.
AB  - The most effective means to protect against bacterial invasion and to reduce the
      risk of healthcare-associated infections are antibacterial components synthesis.
      In this study, a novel process for the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid
      coatings containing silver nanoparticles is presented. Silver nanoparticles and
      polymer formation proceeds simultaneously through the in situ photoreduction of
      silver salt to silver nanoparticles and UV-crosslinking of bifunctional aliphatic
      silicone acrylate. The nanocomposite films with 0.5-1.43 wt % of silver
      nanoparticles concentration were obtained and investigated. The formation of
      silver nanoparticles in polymer matrix was confirmed via UV-visible spectroscopy,
      X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning
      electron spectroscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Our investigations
      clearly show the formation of silver nanoparticles in silicone acrylate network.
      Direct photoreduction of silver salt by UV-radiation in the organic media
      produced silver nanoparticles exhibiting cubic crystal structure. The size of
      nanoparticles was determined to be near 20 +/- 5 nm. The antibacterial activities
      of coatings were determined using the disc diffusion and direct contact methods.
      UV-curable silicone acrylate hybrid coatings exhibited antibacterial activity
      against harmful bacteria strains.

PMID- 28598374
TI  - Doppler Navigation System with a Non-Stabilized Antenna as a Sea-Surface Wind
      Sensor.
AB  - We propose a concept of the utilization of an aircraft Doppler Navigation System
      (DNS) as a sea-surface wind sensor complementary to its normal functionality. The
      DNS with an antenna, which is non-stabilized physically to the local horizontal
      with x-configured beams, is considered. We consider the wind measurements by the
      DNS configured in the multi-beam scatterometer mode for a rectilinear flight
      scenario. The system feasibility and the efficiency of the proposed wind
      algorithm retrieval are supported by computer simulations. Finally, the
      associated limitations of the proposed approach are considered.

PMID- 28598372
TI  - Evaluation of the Cardiotoxicity of Evodiamine In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - Evodiamine is a bioactive alkaloid that is specified as a biomarker for the
      quality assessment of Evodia rutaecarpa (E. rutaecarpa) and for traditional
      Chinese medicines containing this plant. We previously reported that quantitative
      structure-activity modeling indicated that evodiamine may cause cardiotoxicity.
      However, previous investigations have indicated that evodiamine has beneficial
      effects in patients with cardiovascular diseases and there are no previous in
      vitro or in vivo reports of evodiamine-induced cardiotoxicity. The present study
      investigated the effects of evodiamine on primary cultured neonatal rat
      cardiomyocytes in vitro, and on zebrafish in vivo. Cell viability was reduced in
      vitro, where evodiamine had a 24 h 50% inhibitory concentration of 28.44 ug/mL.
      Cells exposed to evodiamine also showed increased lactate dehydrogenase release
      and maleic dialdehyde levels, and reduced superoxide dismutase activity. In vivo,
      evodiamine had a 10% lethal concentration of 354 ng/mL and induced cardiac
      malfunction, as evidenced by changes in heart rate and circulation, and
      pericardial malformations. This study indicated that evodiamine could cause
      cardiovascular side effects involving oxidative stress. These findings suggest
      that cardiac function should be monitored in patients receiving preparations
      containing evodiamine.

PMID- 28598373
TI  - Dichlorotrifluoromethoxyacetic Acid: Preparation and Reactivity.
AB  - We describe the first gram scale preparation of the reagent
      dichlorotrifluoromethoxyacetic acid. This stable compound is obtained in five
      steps starting from the cheap diethylene glycol. The reactivity of the sodium
      salt of this fluorinated acid was also tested and allowed the preparation of new
      amides.

PMID- 28598369
TI  - Plant Lectins Targeting O-Glycans at the Cell Surface as Tools for Cancer
      Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy.
AB  - Aberrant O-glycans expressed at the surface of cancer cells consist of membrane
      tethered glycoproteins (T and Tn antigens) and glycolipids (Lewis a, Lewis x and
      Forssman antigens). All of these O-glycans have been identified as glyco-markers
      of interest for the diagnosis and the prognosis of cancer diseases. These
      epitopes are specifically detected using T/Tn-specific lectins isolated from
      various plants such as jacalin from Artocarpus integrifola, and fungi such as the
      Agaricus bisporus lectin. These lectins accommodate T/Tn antigens at the
      monosaccharide-binding site; residues located in the surrounding extended binding
      site of the lectins often participate in the binding of more extended epitopes.
      Depending on the shape and size of the extended carbohydrate-binding site, their
      fine sugar-binding specificity towards complex O-glycans readily differs from one
      lectin to another, resulting in a great diversity in their sugar-recognition
      capacity. T/Tn-specific lectins have been extensively used for the histochemical
      detection of cancer cells in biopsies and for the follow up of the cancer
      progression and evolution. T/Tn-specific lectins also induce a caspase-dependent
      apoptosis in cancer cells, often associated with a more or less severe inhibition
      of proliferation. Moreover, they provide another potential source of molecules
      adapted to the building of photosensitizer-conjugates allowing a specific
      targeting to cancer cells, for the photodynamic treatment of tumors.

PMID- 28598371
TI  - New Strigolactone Mimics as Exogenous Signals for Rhizosphere Organisms.
AB  - The importance of strigolactones in plant biology prompted us to synthesize
      simplified strigolactone mimics effective as exogenous signals for rhizosphere
      organisms. New strigolactone mimics easily derived from simple and available
      starting materials in significant amounts were prepared and fully characterized.
      These compounds contain an aromatic or heterocyclic ring, usually present in
      various bioactive molecules, connected by an ether link to a furan-2-one moiety.
      The new synthesized strigolactone mimics were confirmed to be active on plant
      pathogenic fungi and parasitic weed seeds.

PMID- 28598375
TI  - Allogrooming, Self-Grooming, and Touching Behavior: Contamination Routes of Leaf
      Cutting Ant Workers Using a Fat-Soluble Tracer Dye.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether worker self-grooming,
      allogrooming, and direct contact promotes the dispersal of substances among
      members of the colony. For this purpose, a tracer (Sudan III dye) was applied
      topically to a worker ant and the social interactions between the worker with the
      tracer and workers without the tracer were studied. Additionally, the worker
      heads were dissected to visualize whether or not the post-pharyngeal gland was
      stained. The post-pharyngeal glands from 50% to 70% of workers were stained
      depending on the size of the group. With the increase in the experimental group
      size, the frequency of interactions between workers increased, with touching
      being the most frequent behavior. The tracer dye was probably passed on by direct
      contact between workers, followed by self-grooming and allogrooming. These
      behaviors are responsible for the rapid dispersal of substances among colony
      members as observed in our experiment. The results therefore support the
      hypothesis that contact with substances promotes the contamination of nestmates,
      even in the absence of feeding, serving as a model for further studies on the
      contamination of workers with the active ingredients of insecticides.

PMID- 28598376
TI  - Floral Volatiles from Vigna unguiculata Are Olfactory and Gustatory Stimulants
      for Oviposition by the Bean Pod Borer Moth Maruca vitrata.
AB  - Abstract: We investigated the role of floral odors from cowpea, Vigna unguiculata
      (L.), in mediating oviposition of the bean pod borer moth, Maruca vitrata, a
      serious pest of grain legumes that flies to host plants at the flowering stage
      and oviposits onto flowers and buds. The flower of the host plant V. unguiculata
      was a stimulus for egg-laying by M. vitrata in an oviposition bioassay.
      Commercial longifolene, beta-caryophyllene, linalool, geraniol, and (Z)-3-hexenyl
      acetate were used as stimulus. Each one elicited dose-dependent
      electroantennogram responses in female M. vitrata, and all but longifolene
      stimulated oviposition, when presented singly. Beta-caryophyllene was the most
      active stimulant, similar to that of the flower of V. unguiculata, and eliciting
      a dose-dependent oviposition response. Either olfaction or gustation was
      sufficient to mediate an oviposition response to V. unguiculata floral volatiles:
      intact M. vitrata responded to beta-caryophyllene whether or not they could
      contact the source of the volatiles, and females with amputated antennae
      responded if allowed to contact the source. We believe this is the first
      demonstration in a moth where beta-caryophyllene from the host plant was able to
      mediate an oviposition response. As beta-caryophyllene is widely expressed by non
      host plants, we suggest that its role in stimulating oviposition could be
      exploited as part of a push-pull strategy for pest management in which beta
      caryophyllene-expressing non-host plants provide a population sink for M.
      vitrata.

PMID- 28598378
TI  - Stock Market Fluctuations and Self-Harm among Children and Adolescents in Hong
      Kong.
AB  - Although a few studies investigated the impact of stock market fluctuations on
      population health, the question of whether stock market fluctuations have an
      impact on self-harm in children and adolescents remain unanswered. This study
      therefore investigated the association between stock market fluctuations and self
      harm among children and adolescents in Hong Kong. Daily self-harm attendance
      records were retrieved from all 18 local Accident and Emergency Departments (AED)
      from 2001 to 2012. 4931 children and adolescents who committed self-harm were
      included. The results indicated positive correlation between daily change in
      stock market index, Hang Seng Index (?HSI, per 300 points), and daily self-harm
      incident risk of children and adolescents, without time lag between the two. The
      incident risk ratio for ?HSI was 1.09 (p = 0.0339) in children and 1.06 (p =
      0.0246) in adolescents. Importantly, non-trading days were found to impose
      significant protective effect in both groups against self-harm risk. Our results
      showed that stock market fluctuations were related to self-harm behaviors in
      children and adolescents. Parents and professionals should be educated about the
      potential harm of stock market fluctuations and the importance of effective
      parenting in reducing self-harm among children and adolescents.

PMID- 28598377
TI  - 3D Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening and Docking Approaches toward the
      Discovery of Novel HPPD Inhibitors.
AB  - p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) is not only the useful molecular
      target in treating life-threatening tyrosinemia type I, but also an important
      target for chemical herbicides. A combined in silico structure-based
      pharmacophore and molecular docking-based virtual screening were performed to
      identify novel potential HPPD inhibitors. The complex-based pharmacophore model
      (CBP) with 0.721 of ROC used for screening compounds showed remarkable ability to
      retrieve known active ligands from among decoy molecules. The ChemDiv database
      was screened using CBP-Hypo2 as a 3D query, and the best-fit hits subjected to
      molecular docking with two methods of LibDock and CDOCKER in Accelrys Discovery
      Studio 2.5 (DS 2.5) to discern interactions with key residues at the active site
      of HPPD. Four compounds with top rankings in the HipHop model and well-known
      binding model were finally chosen as lead compounds with potential inhibitory
      effects on the active site of target. The results provided powerful insight into
      the development of novel HPPD inhibitors herbicides using computational
      techniques.

PMID- 28598379
TI  - Genomic Insight into the Role of lncRNA in Cancer Susceptibility.
AB  - With the development of advanced genomic methods, a large amount of long non
      coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been found to be important for cancer initiation and
      progression. Given that most of the genome-wide association study (GWAS)
      identified cancer risk SNPs are located in the noncoding region, the expression
      and function of lncRNAs are more likely to be affected by the SNPs. The SNPs may
      affect the expression of lncRNAs directly through disrupting the binding of
      transcription factors or indirectly by affecting the expression of regulatory
      factors. Moreover, SNPs may disrupt the interaction between lncRNAs and other
      RNAs or proteins. Unveiling the relationship of lncRNA, protein-coding genes,
      transcription factors and miRNAs from the angle of genomics will improve the
      accuracy of disease prediction and help find new therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28598382
TI  - Syk Activity Is Dispensable for Platelet GP1b-IX-V Signaling.
AB  - The binding of von Willebrand factor (VWF) to the platelet membrane glycoprotein
      1b-IX (GP1b-IX) leads to activation of platelets. GP1b was shown to signal via
      the FcRgamma-ITAM (Fc Receptor gamma-Immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation
      motif) pathway, activating spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and other tyrosine
      kinases. However, there have been conflicting reports regarding the role of Syk
      in GP1b signaling. In this study, we sought to resolve these conflicting reports
      and clarify the role of Syk in VWF-induced platelet activation. The inhibition of
      Syk with the selective Syk inhibitors, OXSI-2 and PRT-060318, did not inhibit VWF
      induced platelet adhesion, agglutination, aggregation, or secretion. In contrast,
      platelets stimulated with the Glycoprotein VI (GPVI) agonist, collagen-related
      peptide (CRP), failed to cause any aggregation or secretion in presence of the
      Syk inhibitors. Furthermore, GP1b-induced platelet signaling was unaffected in
      the presence of Syk inhibitors, but GPVI-induced signaling was abolished under
      similar conditions. Thus, we conclude that Syk kinase activity does not play any
      functional role downstream of GP1b-mediated platelet activation.

PMID- 28598380
TI  - The Magnitude of Occupational Class Differences in Sickness Absence: 15-Year
      Trends among Young and Middle-Aged Municipal Employees.
AB  - : Background: Our aim was to examine the magnitude of relative occupational class
      differences in sickness absence (SA) days over a 15-year period among female and
      male municipal employees in two age-groups. Methods: 18-34 and 35-59-year-old
      employees of the City of Helsinki from 2002 to 2016 were included in our data (n
      = ~37,500 per year). Occupational class was classified into four groups. The
      magnitude of relative occupational class differences in SA was studied using the
      relative index of inequality (RII). Results: The relative occupational class
      differences were larger among older than younger employees; the largest
      differences were among 35-59-year-old men. Among women in both age-groups the
      relative class differences remained stable during 2002-2016. Among younger and
      older men, the differences were larger during the beginning of study period than
      in the end. Among women in both age-groups the RII values were between 2.19 (95%
      confidence intervals (CI) 1.98, 2.42) and 3.60 (95% CI 3.28, 3.95). The
      corresponding differences varied from 3.74 (95% CI 3.13, 4.48) to 1.68 (95% CI
      1.44, 1.97) among younger and from 6.43 (95% CI 5.85, 7.06) to 3.31 (95% CI 2.98,
      3.68) among older men. CONCLUSIONS: Relative occupational class differences were
      persistent among employees irrespective of age group and gender. Preventive
      measures should be started at young age.

PMID- 28598381
TI  - Renin Inhibition with Aliskiren: A Decade of Clinical Experience.
AB  - The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays a key role in the
      pathophysiology of arterial hypertension as well as in more complex mechanisms of
      cardiovascular and renal diseases. RAAS-blocking agents like angiotensin
      converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers, have
      long been key components in the treatment of essential hypertension, heart
      failure, diabetic nephropathy, and chronic kidney disease, showing benefits well
      beyond blood pressure reduction. Renin blockade as the first step of the RAAS
      cascade finally became possible in 2007 with the approval of aliskiren, the first
      orally active direct renin inhibitor available for clinical use and the newest
      antihypertensive agent on the market. In the last decade, many clinical trials
      and meta-analyses have been conducted concerning the efficacy and safety of
      aliskiren in comparison to other antihypertensive agents, as well as the efficacy
      and potential clinical use of various combinations. Large trials with
      cardiovascular and renal endpoints attempted to show potential benefits of
      aliskiren beyond blood pressure lowering, as well as morbidity and mortality
      outcomes in specific populations such as diabetics, heart failure patients, and
      post-myocardial infarction individuals. The purpose of this review is to present
      the currently available data regarding established and future potential clinical
      uses of aliskiren.

PMID- 28598383
TI  - The Biology and Control of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella.
AB  - The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella Linnaeus, is a ubiquitous pest of the
      honeybee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, and Apis cerana Fabricius. The greater wax
      moth larvae burrow into the edge of unsealed cells with pollen, bee brood, and
      honey through to the midrib of honeybee comb. Burrowing larvae leave behind
      masses of webs which causes galleriasis and later absconding of colonies. The
      damage caused by G. mellonella larvae is severe in tropical and sub-tropical
      regions, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors to the decline in
      both feral and wild honeybee populations. Previously, the pest was considered a
      nuisance in honeybee colonies, therefore, most studies have focused on the pest
      as a model for in vivo studies of toxicology and pathogenicity. It is currently
      widespread, especially in Africa, and the potential of transmitting honeybee
      viruses has raised legitimate concern, thus, there is need for more studies to
      find sustainable integrated management strategies. However, our knowledge of this
      pest is limited. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on the
      biology, distribution, economic damage, and management options. In addition, we
      provide prospects that need consideration for better understanding and management
      of the pest.

PMID- 28598384
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory and Neuroprotective Constituents from the Peels of Citrus
      grandis.
AB  - A series of chromatographic separations performed on the ethanol extracts of the
      peels of Citrus grandis has led to the characterization of forty compounds,
      including seventeen coumarins, eight flavonoids, two triterpenoids, four
      benzenoids, two steroids, one lignan, one amide, and five other compounds,
      respectively. The chemical structures of the purified constituents were
      identified on the basis of spectroscopic elucidation, including 1D- and 2D-NMR,
      UV, IR, and mass spectrometric analysis. Most of the isolated compounds were
      examined for their inhibition of superoxide anion generation and elastase release
      by human neutrophils. Among the isolates, isomeranzin (3), 17,18
      dihydroxybergamottin (12), epoxybergamottin (13), rhoifolin (19), vitexicarpin
      (22) and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (29) displayed the most significant inhibition of
      superoxide anion generation and elastase release with IC50 values ranged from
      0.54 to 7.57 MUM, and 0.43 to 4.33 MUM, respectively. In addition, 7-hydroxy-8
      (2'-hydroxy-3'-methylbut-3'-enyl)coumarin (8) and 17,18-dihydroxybergamottin (12)
      also exhibited the protection of neurons against A-mediated neurotoxicity at 50
      MUM.

PMID- 28598386
TI  - A Noise Removal Method for Uniform Circular Arrays in Complex Underwater Noise
      Environments with Low SNR.
AB  - Generally, many beamforming methods are derived under the assumption of white
      noise. In practice, the actual underwater ambient noise is complex. As a result,
      the noise removal capacity of the beamforming method may be deteriorated
      considerably. Furthermore, in underwater environment with extremely low signal-to
      noise ratio (SNR), the performances of the beamforming method may be
      deteriorated. To tackle these problems, a noise removal method for uniform
      circular array (UCA) is proposed to remove the received noise and improve the SNR
      in complex noise environments with low SNR. First, the symmetrical noise sources
      are defined and the spatial correlation of the symmetrical noise sources is
      calculated. Then, based on the preceding results, the noise covariance matrix is
      decomposed into symmetrical and asymmetrical components. Analysis indicates that
      the symmetrical component only affect the real part of the noise covariance
      matrix. Consequently, the delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming is performed by using
      the imaginary part of the covariance matrix to remove the symmetrical component.
      However, the noise removal method causes two problems. First, the proposed method
      produces a false target. Second, the proposed method would seriously suppress the
      signal when it is located in some directions. To solve the first problem, two
      methods to reconstruct the signal covariance matrix are presented: based on the
      estimation of signal variance and based on the constrained optimization
      algorithm. To solve the second problem, we can design the array configuration and
      select the suitable working frequency. Theoretical analysis and experimental
      results are included to demonstrate that the proposed methods are particularly
      effective in complex noise environments with low SNR. The proposed method can be
      extended to any array.

PMID- 28598385
TI  - The Roles of Long Non-Protein-Coding RNAs in Osteo-Adipogenic Lineage Commitment.
AB  - Osteoblasts and adipocytes share a common mesenchymal progenitor in the bone
      marrow. This implies that a reciprocal relationship exists between osteogenic and
      adipogenic differentiation. Further, cells of osteoblast lineage
      transdifferentiate into adipocytes under some circumstances. Dysregulation of
      osteo-adipogenic fate-determination leads to bone diseases such as osteoporosis,
      accompanied by an increase in bone marrow adipose tissue. Thus, the fine-tuning
      of osteo-adipogenesis is necessary for bone homeostasis. Osteo-adipogenic
      progression is governed by a complex crosstalk of extrinsic signals,
      transcription factors, and epigenetic factors. Long non-protein-coding RNAs
      (lncRNAs) act in part as epigenetic regulators in a broad range of biological
      activities, such as chromatin organization, transcriptional regulation, post
      translational modifications, and histone modification. In this review, we
      highlight the roles of epigenetic regulators, particularly lncRNAs, in the osteo
      adipogenic lineage commitment of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and the
      adipogenic transdifferentiation of osteoblasts.

PMID- 28598387
TI  - Occlusal Features and Caries Experience of Hong Kong Chinese Preschool Children:
      A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - Objective: To study occlusal features and their relation to caries experience in
      Hong Kong Chinese preschool children. Methods: Seven kindergarten classes in Hong
      Kong were selected using a stratified random sampling method, and the 4- and 5
      year-old Chinese kindergarten children were invited to join the survey. Two
      calibrated dentists performed the clinical examinations in the kindergartens.
      Occlusion features, including incisal overjet; canine and molar relationship;
      median diastema; and primate space as well as malocclusion features, including
      crossbite; anterior open bite; and scissor bite, were recorded. Caries experience
      was recorded with the dmft index. Results: A total of 538 children were invited
      to participate in the study, and finally 495 children were examined (92%).
      Approximately half (52%) had a normal incisor relationship. Most children had a
      class I canine relationship (left-79%; right-75%). Approximately two-thirds had a
      flush terminal plane (left-64%; right-65%). Most children (76%) had a maxillary
      primate space, and 47% had a mandibular primate space. The prevalence of median
      diastema, anterior crossbite, and unilateral posterior crossbite was 30%, 12% and
      1%, respectively. No bilateral posterior crossbite or scissor bite was found.
      Approximately half (49%) had caries experience. The mean dmft score was 2.1.
      Gender and age were not associated with either the studied occlusal features or
      the mean dmft score (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Approximately half of the Hong Kong
      preschool children studied had a normal occlusion, and two-thirds of them had a
      flush terminal plane. About three-quarters of them had a maxillary primate space,
      and half of them had a mandibular primate space. Their occlusal traits were not
      associated with caries experience and prevalence.

PMID- 28598388
TI  - How Social Reactions to Alcohol-Related Facial Flushing Are Affected by Gender,
      Relationship, and Drinking Purposes: Implications for Education to Reduce
      Aerodigestive Cancer Risks.
AB  - Alcohol-related facial flushing is a sign of compromised alcohol metabolism and
      increased risk of certain cancers. This project examined how facial flushing
      might be used to reduce alcohol use to lower cancer risks. Interviews with
      Chinese university students identified gender, friendship, and drinking purpose
      as important variables related to whether someone would encourage a person who
      flushes when drinking alcohol to stop or reduce their drinking. A questionnaire
      was developed that incorporated these variables into 24 drinking scenarios in
      which someone flushed while drinking. Students responded whether they would (a)
      encourage the flusher to stop or drink less; (b) do nothing while wishing they
      could; or (c) do nothing because there was no need. Analysis of survey responses
      from 2912 university students showed a three-way interaction of the variables and
      implied that the probability students will intervene when a drinker flushes was
      highest when the flusher was a female, a close friend, and the drinking purpose
      was for fun and lowest if the flusher was a male, the friendship was general, and
      the drinking purpose was risky. The results provide important details about the
      social factors affecting how other people respond to a person who flushes when
      drinking alcohol. This information is useful for those considering ways to reduce
      and prevent aerodigestive cancers through education and information programs.

PMID- 28598389
TI  - Identification of a Novel O-Conotoxin Reveals an Unusual and Potent Inhibitor of
      the Human alpha9alpha10 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.
AB  - Conotoxins are a pool of disulfide-rich peptide neurotoxins produced by cone
      snails for predation and defense. They are a rich reservoir of novel ligands for
      ion channels, neurotransmitter receptors and transporters in the nervous system.
      In this study, we identified a novel conotoxin component, O-conotoxin GeXXVIIA,
      from the venom of Conus generalis. The native form of this component is a
      disulfide-linked homodimer of a 5-Cys-containing peptide. Surprisingly, our
      electrophysiological studies showed that, in comparison to the folded monomers,
      the linear peptide of this toxin had the highest inhibitory activity at the human
      alpha9alpha10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), with an IC50 of 16.2 +/-
      1.4 nM. The activities of the N-terminal and C-terminal halves of the linear
      toxin are markedly reduced compared with the full-length toxin, suggesting that
      the intact sequence is required to potently inhibit the halpha9alpha10 nAChR.
      alpha9alpha10 nAChRs are expressed not only in the nervous system, but also in a
      variety of non-neuronal cells, such as cochlear hair cells, keratinocytes,
      epithelial and immune cells. A potent inhibitor of human alpha9alpha10 nAChRs,
      such as GeXXVIIA, would facilitate unraveling the functions of this nAChR
      subtype. Furthermore, this unusual nAChR inhibitor may lead to the development of
      novel alpha9alpha10 nAChR-targeting drugs.

PMID- 28598391
TI  - Rapid Waterborne Pathogen Detection with Mobile Electronics.
AB  - Pathogen detection in water samples, without complex and time consuming
      procedures such as fluorescent-labeling or culture-based incubation, is essential
      to public safety. We propose an immunoagglutination-based protocol together with
      the microfluidic device to quantify pathogen levels directly from water samples.
      Utilizing ubiquitous complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) imagers from
      mobile electronics, a low-cost and one-step reaction detection protocol is
      developed to enable field detection for waterborne pathogens. 10 mL of pathogen
      containing water samples was processed using the developed protocol including
      filtration enrichment, immune-reaction detection and imaging processing. The
      limit of detection of 10 E. coli O157:H7 cells/10 mL has been demonstrated within
      10 min of turnaround time. The protocol can readily be integrated into a mobile
      electronics such as smartphones for rapid and reproducible field detection of
      waterborne pathogens.

PMID- 28598390
TI  - The Implication of Substance P in the Development of Tendinopathy: A Case Control
      Study.
AB  - It was reported that substance P had beneficial effects in the healing of acute
      tendon injury. However, the relationship between substance P and degenerative
      tendinopathy development remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to
      determine the role of substance P in the pathogenesis of tendinopathy. Healthy
      and tendinopathy tendon were harvested from human and tenocytes were cultured
      individually. The expression levels of genes associated with tendinopathy were
      compared. Next, substance P was exogenously administered to the healthy tenocyte
      and the effect was evaluated. The results showed that tendinopathy tenocytes had
      higher levels of COL3A1, MMP1, COX2, SCX, ACTA2, and substance P gene expression
      compared to healthy tenocytes. Next, substance P treatment on the healthy
      tenocyte displayed similar changes to that of the tendinopathy tenocytes. These
      differences between the two groups were also determined by Western blot.
      Additionally, cells with substance P had the tendinopathy change morphologically
      although cellular proliferation was significantly higher compared to that of the
      control group. In conclusion, substance P enhanced cellular proliferation, but
      concomitantly increased immature collagen (type 3 collagen). Substance P plays a
      crucial role in tendinopathy development and could be a future therapeutic target
      for treatment.

PMID- 28598393
TI  - Development of a Flexible Strain Sensor Based on PEDOT:PSS for Thin Film
      Structures.
AB  - The aim of this study was to develop and optimize a reproducible flexible sensor
      adapted to thin low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films and/or structures to enable
      their deformation measurements. As these deformations are suspected to be weak
      (less than 10%), the developed sensor needs to be particularly sensitive.
      Moreover, it is of prime importance that sensor integration and usability do not
      modify the mechanical behavior of its LDPE substrate. The literature review
      allowed several materials to be investigated and an elastomer/intrinsically
      conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS (CleviosTM) filled composite was selected to
      simultaneously combine mechanical properties and electrical conductivity. This
      composite (made of PEDOT:PSS and silicone Bluesil(r)) presented satisfying
      compatibilities with piezoresistive effects, negative temperature performances
      (in a range from -60  degrees C to 20  degrees C), as well as elongation
      properties (until the elastic limit of the substrate was reached). The method
      used for creating the sensor is fully described, as are the optimization of the
      sensor manufacture in terms of used materials, the used amount of materials where
      the percolation theory aspects must be considered, the adhesion to the substrate,
      and the manufacturing protocol. Electromechanical characterization was performed
      to assess the gauge factor (K) of the sensor on its substrate.

PMID- 28598394
TI  - Recognizing Bedside Events Using Thermal and Ultrasonic Readings.
AB  - Falls in homes of the elderly, in residential care facilities and in hospitals
      commonly occur in close proximity to the bed. Most approaches for recognizing
      falls use cameras, which challenge privacy, or sensor devices attached to the bed
      or the body to recognize bedside events and bedside falls. We use data collected
      from a ceiling mounted 80 * 60 thermal array combined with an ultrasonic sensor
      device. This approach makes it possible to monitor activity while preserving
      privacy in a non-intrusive manner. We evaluate three different approaches towards
      recognizing location and posture of an individual. Bedside events are recognized
      using a 10-second floating image rule/filter-based approach, recognizing bedside
      falls with 98.62% accuracy. Bed-entry and exit events are recognized with 98.66%
      and 96.73% accuracy, respectively.

PMID- 28598392
TI  - The Functions of Metamorphic Metallothioneins in Zinc and Copper Metabolism.
AB  - Recent discoveries in zinc biology provide a new platform for discussing the
      primary physiological functions of mammalian metallothioneins (MTs) and their
      exquisite zinc-dependent regulation. It is now understood that the control of
      cellular zinc homeostasis includes buffering of Zn2+ ions at picomolar
      concentrations, extensive subcellular re-distribution of Zn2+, the loading of
      exocytotic vesicles with zinc species, and the control of Zn2+ ion signalling. In
      parallel, characteristic features of human MTs became known: their graded
      affinities for Zn2+ and the redox activity of their thiolate coordination
      environments. Unlike the single species that structural models of mammalian MTs
      describe with a set of seven divalent or eight to twelve monovalent metal ions,
      MTs are metamorphic. In vivo, they exist as many species differing in redox state
      and load with different metal ions. The functions of mammalian MTs should no
      longer be considered elusive or enigmatic because it is now evident that the
      reactivity and coordination dynamics of MTs with Zn2+ and Cu+ match the
      biological requirements for controlling-binding and delivering-these cellular
      metal ions, thus completing a 60-year search for their functions. MT represents a
      unique biological principle for buffering the most competitive essential metal
      ions Zn2+ and Cu+. How this knowledge translates to the function of other
      families of MTs awaits further insights into the specifics of how their
      properties relate to zinc and copper metabolism in other organisms.

PMID- 28598395
TI  - Improved Scheduling Mechanisms for Synchronous Information and Energy
      Transmission.
AB  - Wireless energy collecting technology can effectively reduce the network time
      overhead and prolong the wireless sensor network (WSN) lifetime. However, the
      traditional energy collecting technology cannot achieve the balance between
      ergodic channel capacity and average collected energy. In order to solve the
      problem of the network transmission efficiency and the limited energy of wireless
      devices, three improved scheduling mechanisms are proposed: improved signal noise
      ratio (SNR) scheduling mechanism (IS2M), improved N-SNR scheduling mechanism
      (INS2M) and an improved Equal Throughput scheduling mechanism (IETSM) for
      different channel conditions to improve the whole network performance. Meanwhile,
      the average collected energy of single users and the ergodic channel capacity of
      three scheduling mechanisms can be obtained through the order statistical theory
      in Rayleig, Ricean, Nakagami-m and Weibull fading channels. It is concluded that
      the proposed scheduling mechanisms can achieve better balance between energy
      collection and data transmission, so as to provide a new solution to realize
      synchronous information and energy transmission for WSNs.

PMID- 28598397
TI  - Trichodermanins C-E, New Diterpenes with a Fused 6-5-6-6 Ring System Produced by
      a Marine Sponge-Derived Fungus.
AB  - Trichodermanins C-E (1-3), new diterpenes with a rare fused 6-5-6-6 ring system,
      have been isolated from a fungus Trichoderma harzianum OUPS-111D-4 separated from
      a piece of a marine sponge Halichondria okadai, and these chemical structures
      have been established by spectroscopic analyses using IR, MASS, HRFABMS, and NMR
      spectra. We established their absolute stereostructures by application of the
      modified Mosher's method. In addition, 1 inhibited the growth of cancer cell
      lines potently.

PMID- 28598399
TI  - A Weekly Indicator of Surface Moisture Status from Satellite Data for Operational
      Monitoring of Crop Conditions.
AB  - The triangle method has been applied to derive a weekly indicator of evaporative
      fraction on vegetated areas in a temperate region in Northern Italy. Daily MODIS
      Aqua Land Surface Temperature (MYD11A1) data has been combined with air
      temperature maps and 8-day composite MODIS NDVI (MOD13Q1/MYD13Q1) data to
      estimate the Evaporative Fraction (EF) at 1 km resolution, on a daily basis.
      Measurements at two eddy covariance towers located within the study area have
      been exploited to assess the reliability of satellite based EF estimations as
      well as the robustness of input data. Weekly syntheses of the daily EF indicator
      (EFw) were then derived at regional scale for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 as a
      proxy of overall surface moisture condition. EFw showed a temporal behavior
      consistent with growing cycles and agro-practices of the main crops cultivated in
      the study area (rice, forages and corn). Comparison with official regional corn
      yield data showed that variations in EFw cumulated over summer are related with
      crop production shortages induced by water scarcity. These results suggest that
      weekly-averaged EF estimated from MODIS data is sensible to water stress
      conditions and can be used as an indicator of crops' moisture conditions at
      agronomical district level. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach
      to provide information useful to issue operational near real time bulletins on
      crop conditions at regional scale are discussed.

PMID- 28598396
TI  - Embryotoxicity Caused by DON-Induced Oxidative Stress Mediated by Nrf2/HO-1
      Pathway.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON) belongs to the type B group of trichothecenes family, which
      is composed of sesquiterpenoid metabolites produced by Fusarium and other fungi
      in grain. DON may cause various toxicities, such as cytotoxicity, immunotoxicity,
      genotoxicity as well as teratogenicity and carcinogenicity. In the present study,
      we focus on a hypothesis that DON alters the expressions of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway by
      inducing embryotoxicity in C57BL/6 mouse (5.0, 2.5, 1.0, and 0 mg/kg/day) and
      BeWo cell lines (0 and 50 nM; 3 h, 12 h and 24 h). Our results indicate that DON
      treatment in mice during pregnancy leads to ROS accumulation in the placenta,
      which results in embryotoxicity. At the same time Nrf2/HO-1 pathway is up
      regulated by ROS to protect placenta cells from oxidative damage. In DON-treated
      BeWo cells, the level of ROS has time-effect and dose-effect relationships with
      HO-1 expression. Moderate increase in HO-1 protects the cell from oxidative
      damage, while excessive increase in HO-1 aggravates the oxidative damage, which
      is called in some studies the "threshold effect". Therefore, oxidative stress may
      be the critical molecular mechanism for DON-induced embryotoxicity. Besides,
      Nrf2/HO-1 pathway accompanied by the "threshold effect" also plays an important
      role against DON-induced oxidative damage in this process.

PMID- 28598398
TI  - Right- vs. Left-Sided Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Differences in Tumor Biology
      and Bevacizumab Efficacy.
AB  - There is evidence of a different response to treatment with regard to the primary
      tumor localization (right-sided or left-sided) in patients with metastatic
      colorectal cancer (mCRC). We analyzed the different outcomes and biomolecular
      characteristics in relation to tumor localization in 122 of the 370 patients with
      metastatic colorectal cancer enrolled onto the phase III prospective multicenter
      "Italian Trial in Advanced Colorectal Cancer (ITACa)", randomized to receive
      first-line chemotherapy (CT) or CT plus bevacizumab (CT + B). RAS and BRAF
      mutations; baseline expression levels of circulating vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2),
      ephrin type-B receptor 4 (EPHB4), hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1alpha),
      lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP);
      and inflammatory indexes such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet
      lymphocyte rate and systemic immune-inflammation index were evaluated. Patients
      with right-sided tumors showed a longer median progression-free survival in the
      CT + B arm than in the CT group (12.6 vs. 9.0 months, respectively, p = 0.017).
      Baseline inflammatory indexes were significantly higher in left-sided tumors,
      whereas eNOS and EPHB4 expression was significantly higher and BRAF mutation more
      frequent in right-sided tumors. Our data suggest a greater efficacy of the CT + B
      combination in right-sided mCRC, which might be attributable to the lower
      inflammatory status and higher expression of pro-angiogenic factors that appear
      to characterize these tumors.

PMID- 28598400
TI  - Feed-Forward Neural Network Prediction of the Mechanical Properties of Sandcrete
      Materials.
AB  - This work presents a soft-sensor approach for estimating critical mechanical
      properties of sandcrete materials. Feed-forward (FF) artificial neural network
      (ANN) models are employed for building soft-sensors able to predict the 28-day
      compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity of sandcrete materials. To
      this end, a new normalization technique for the pre-processing of data is
      proposed. The comparison of the derived results with the available experimental
      data demonstrates the capability of FF ANNs to predict with pinpoint accuracy the
      mechanical properties of sandcrete materials. Furthermore, the proposed
      normalization technique has been proven effective and robust compared to other
      normalization techniques available in the literature.

PMID- 28598401
TI  - Toward a Trust Evaluation Mechanism in the Social Internet of Things.
AB  - In the blooming era of the Internet of Things (IoT), trust has been accepted as a
      vital factor for provisioning secure, reliable, seamless communications and
      services. However, a large number of challenges still remain unsolved due to the
      ambiguity of the concept of trust as well as the variety of divergent trust
      models in different contexts. In this research, we augment the trust concept, the
      trust definition and provide a general conceptual model in the context of the
      Social IoT (SIoT) environment by breaking down all attributes influencing trust.
      Then, we propose a trust evaluation model called REK, comprised of the triad of
      trust indicators (TIs) Reputation, Experience and Knowledge. The REK model covers
      multi-dimensional aspects of trust by incorporating heterogeneous information
      from direct observation (as Knowledge TI), personal experiences (as Experience
      TI) to global opinions (as Reputation TI). The associated evaluation models for
      the three TIs are also proposed and provisioned. We then come up with an
      aggregation mechanism for deriving trust values as the final outcome of the REK
      evaluation model. We believe this article offers better understandings on trust
      as well as provides several prospective approaches for the trust evaluation in
      the SIoT environment.

PMID- 28598403
TI  - Development and Positioning Accuracy Assessment of Single-Frequency Precise Point
      Positioning Algorithms by Combining GPS Code-Pseudorange Measurements with Real
      Time SSR Corrections.
AB  - We have developed a suite of real-time precise point positioning programs to
      process GPS pseudorange observables, and validated their performance through
      static and kinematic positioning tests. To correct inaccurate broadcast orbits
      and clocks, and account for signal delays occurring from the ionosphere and
      troposphere, we applied State Space Representation (SSR) error corrections
      provided by the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) in South Korea. Site
      displacements due to solid earth tide loading are also considered for the purpose
      of improving the positioning accuracy, particularly in the height direction. When
      the developed algorithm was tested under static positioning, Kalman-filtered
      solutions produced a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.32 and 0.40 m in the
      horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. For the moving platform, the
      RMSE was found to be 0.53 and 0.69 m in the horizontal and vertical directions.

PMID- 28598402
TI  - Cognitive Performance Enhancement Induced by Caffeine, Carbohydrate and Guarana
      Mouth Rinsing during Submaximal Exercise.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of serial mouth rinsing
      (MR) with nutritional supplements on cognitive performance (i.e., cognitive
      control and time perception) during a 40-min submaximal exercise. Twenty-four
      participants completed 4 counterbalanced experimental sessions, during which they
      performed MR with either placebo (PL), carbohydrate (CHO: 1.6 g/25 mL), guarana
      complex (GUAc: 0.4 g/25 mL) or caffeine (CAF: 67 mg/25 mL) before and twice
      during exercise. The present study provided some important new insights regarding
      the specific changes in cognitive performance induced by nutritional supplements.
      The main results were: (1) CHO, CAF and GUA MR likely led participants to improve
      temporal performance; (2) CAF MR likely improved cognitive control; and (3) CHO
      MR led to a likely decrease in subjective perception of effort at the end of the
      exercise compared to PL, GUA and CAF. Moreover, results have shown that
      performing 40-min submaximal exercise enhances information processing in terms of
      both speed and accuracy, improves temporal performance and does not alter
      cognitive control. The present study opens up new perspectives regarding the use
      of MR to optimize cognitive performance during physical exercise.

PMID- 28598404
TI  - Validation of DESS as a DNA Preservation Method for the Detection of
      Strongyloides spp. in Canine Feces.
AB  - Strongyloides stercoralis is a gastrointestinal parasitic nematode with a life
      cycle that includes free-living and parasitic forms. For both clinical
      (diagnostic) and environmental evaluation, it is important that we can detect
      Strongyloides spp. in both human and non-human fecal samples. Real-time PCR is
      the most feasible method for detecting the parasite in both clinical and
      environmental samples that have been preserved. However, one of the biggest
      challenges with PCR detection is DNA degradation during the postage time from
      rural and remote areas to the laboratory. This study included a laboratory
      assessment and field validation of DESS (dimethyl sulfoxide, disodium EDTA, and
      saturated NaCl) preservation of Strongyloides spp. DNA in fecal samples. The
      laboratory study investigated the capacity of 1:1 and 1:3 sample to DESS ratios
      to preserve Strongyloides ratti in spike canine feces. It was found that both
      ratios of DESS significantly prevented DNA degradation compared to the untreated
      sample. This method was then validated by applying it to the field-collected
      canine feces and detecting Strongyloides DNA using PCR. A total of 37 canine
      feces samples were collected and preserved in the 1:3 ratio (sample: DESS) and of
      these, 17 were positive for Strongyloides spp. The study shows that both 1:1 and
      1:3 sample to DESS ratios were able to preserve the Strongyloides spp. DNA in
      canine feces samples stored at room temperature for up to 56 days. This DESS
      preservation method presents the most applicable and feasible method for the
      Strongyloides DNA preservation in field-collected feces.

PMID- 28598405
TI  - Design and Validation of a Breathing Detection System for Scuba Divers.
AB  - Drowning is the major cause of death in self-contained underwater breathing
      apparatus (SCUBA) diving. This study proposes an embedded system with a live and
      light-weight algorithm which detects the breathing of divers through the analysis
      of the intermediate pressure (IP) signal of the SCUBA regulator. A system
      composed mainly of two pressure sensors and a low-power microcontroller was
      designed and programmed to record the pressure sensors signals and provide alarms
      in absence of breathing. An algorithm was developed to analyze the signals and
      identify inhalation events of the diver. A waterproof case was built to
      accommodate the system and was tested up to a depth of 25 m in a pressure
      chamber. To validate the system in the real environment, a series of dives with
      two different types of workload requiring different ranges of breathing
      frequencies were planned. Eight professional SCUBA divers volunteered to dive
      with the system to collect their IP data in order to participate to validation
      trials. The subjects underwent two dives, each of 52 min on average and a maximum
      depth of 7 m. The algorithm was optimized for the collected dataset and proved a
      sensitivity of inhalation detection of 97.5% and a total number of 275 false
      positives (FP) over a total recording time of 13.9 h. The detection algorithm
      presents a maximum delay of 5.2 s and requires only 800 bytes of random-access
      memory (RAM). The results were compared against the analysis of video records of
      the dives by two blinded observers and proved a sensitivity of 97.6% on the data
      set. The design includes a buzzer to provide audible alarms to accompanying dive
      buddies which will be triggered in case of degraded health conditions such as
      near drowning (absence of breathing), hyperventilation (breathing frequency too
      high) and skip-breathing (breathing frequency too low) measured by the improper
      breathing frequency. The system also measures the IP at rest before the dive and
      indicates with flashing light-emitting diodes and audible alarm the regulator
      malfunctions due to high or low IP that may cause fatal accidents during the dive
      by preventing natural breathing. It is also planned to relay the alarm signal to
      underwater and surface rescue authorities by means of acoustic communication.

PMID- 28598406
TI  - Theoretical Study of the BaTiO3 Powder's Volume Ratio's Influence on the Output
      of Composite Piezoelectric Nanogenerator.
AB  - The combination of the piezoelectric materials and polymer is an effective way to
      make the piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) possess both the polymer's good
      flexibility and ferroelectric material's high piezoelectric coefficient. The
      volume ratio of ferroelectric material in the composite is an important factor
      that determines the PENG's output performance. In this paper, the
      BaTiO3/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite PENG was demonstrated as having an
      optimal volume ratio (46%) at which the PENG can output its highest voltage, and
      this phenomenon can be ascribed to the trade-off between the composite PENG's top
      electrode charge and its capacitance. These results are of practical importance
      for the composite PENG's performance optimization.

PMID- 28598407
TI  - Extraction Optimization, Characterization, and Bioactivities of Polysaccharides
      from Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum Cum Alumine Employing Ultrasound-Assisted
      Extraction.
AB  - In this study, the ultrasound-assisted extraction of polysaccharides (PSA) from
      Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum Cum Alumine (PRPCA) was optimized by response
      surface methodology (RSM). The structural characteristics of PSA were analyzed by
      UV-vis spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high
      performance gel permeation chromatography and high performance liquid
      chromatography, respectively. In addition, antioxidant and antimicrobial
      activities of PSA were studied by different in vitro assays. Results indicated
      that the optimal extraction conditions were as follows: the ratio of water to raw
      of 30 mL/g, extraction time of 46.50 min, ultrasonic temperature of 72.00 
      degrees C, and ultrasonic power of 230 W. Under these conditions, the obtained
      PSA yield (13.21 +/- 0.37%) was closely agreed with the predicted yield by the
      model. The average molecular weights of the PSA were estimated to be 5.34 * 103
      and 6.27 * 105 Da. Monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that PSA
      consisted of mannose, galactose uronic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose with a
      molar ratio of 1.83:0.55:75.75:1.94:0.45. Furthermore, PSA exhibited moderate
      antioxidant and antibacterial activities in vitro. Collectively, this study
      provides a promising strategy to obtain bioactive polysaccharides from processed
      products of herbal medicines.

PMID- 28598408
TI  - Anti-Mycobacterial Evaluation of 7-Chloro-4-Aminoquinolines and Hologram
      Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (HQSAR) Modeling of Amino-Imino
      Tautomers.
AB  - In an ongoing research program for the development of new anti-tuberculosis
      drugs, we synthesized three series (A, B, and C) of 7-chloro-4-aminoquinolines,
      which were evaluated in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Now, we
      report the anti-MTB and cytotoxicity evaluations of a new series, D (D01-D21).
      Considering the active compounds of series A (A01-A13), B (B01-B13), C (C01-C07),
      and D (D01-D09), we compose a data set of 42 compounds and carried out hologram
      quantitative structure-activity relationship (HQSAR) analysis. The amino-imino
      tautomerism of the 4-aminoquinoline moiety was considered using both amino (I)
      and imino (II) forms as independent datasets. The best HQSAR model from each
      dataset was internally validated and both models showed significant statistical
      indexes. Tautomer I model: leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validated correlation
      coefficient (q2) = 0.80, squared correlation coefficient (r2) = 0.97, standard
      error (SE) = 0.12, cross-validated standard error (SEcv) = 0.32. Tautomer II
      model: q2 = 0.77, r2 = 0.98, SE = 0.10, SEcv = 0.35. Both models were externally
      validated by predicting the activity values of the corresponding test set, and
      the tautomer II model, which showed the best external prediction performance, was
      used to predict the biological activity responses of the compounds that were not
      evaluated in the anti-MTB trials due to poor solubility, pointing out D21 for
      further solubility studies to attempt to determine its actual biological
      activity.

PMID- 28598409
TI  - Two New beta-Dihydroagarofuran Sesquiterpenes from Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb
      and Their Anti-Proliferative Activity.
AB  - Two new beta-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenes (1-2) were isolated and
      identified from the fruit of Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb, together with seventeen
      known compounds (3-19). The structures of the isolated new compounds were
      elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analyses. The cytotoxic activities of
      the 19 sesquiterpenes on three cell lines, human acute promyelocytic leukemia HL
      60, human leukemic K562, and human colon cancer HCT-116 cells, were evaluated in
      vitro. Compound 4 exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against HL-60, K562, and
      HCT116 cell lines with IC50 values of 3.61 MUMU, 17.13 MUMU and 10.15 MUMU,
      respectively, and the other compounds displayed moderate activity.

PMID- 28598410
TI  - Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - Abstract: With the increase in the prevalence of obesity, non-alcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD) has become among the leading causes of chronic liver
      disease in the pediatric age group. Once believed to be a "two-hit process", it
      is now clear that the actual pathophysiology of NAFLD is complex and involves
      multiple pathways. Moreover, NAFLD is not always benign, and patients with non
      alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are at increased risk of developing advanced
      stages of liver disease. It has also been shown that NAFLD is not only a liver
      disease, but is also associated with multiple extrahepatic manifestations,
      including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and low bone mineral density.
      Although the data is scarce in the pediatric population, some studies have
      suggested that long-term mortality and the requirement of liver transplantation
      will continue to increase in patients with NAFLD. More studies are needed to
      better understand the natural history of NAFLD, especially in the pediatric age
      group.

PMID- 28598411
TI  - Ruthenium(II)-catalysed remote C-H alkylations as a versatile platform to meta
      decorated arenes.
AB  - The full control of positional selectivity is of prime importance in C-H
      activation technology. Chelation assistance served as the stimulus for the
      development of a plethora of ortho-selective arene functionalizations. In sharp
      contrast, meta-selective C-H functionalizations continue to be scarce, with all
      ruthenium-catalysed transformations currently requiring difficult to remove or
      modify nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Herein, we describe a unifying concept
      to access a wealth of meta-decorated arenes by a unique arene ligand effect in
      proximity-induced ruthenium(II) C-H activation catalysis. The transformative
      nature of our strategy is mirrored by providing a step-economical entry to a
      range of meta-substituted arenes, including ketones, acids, amines and phenols
      key structural motifs in crop protection, material sciences, medicinal chemistry
      and pharmaceutical industries.

PMID- 28598412
TI  - The influence of Antarctic subglacial volcanism on the global iron cycle during
      the Last Glacial Maximum.
AB  - Marine sediment records suggest that episodes of major atmospheric CO2 drawdown
      during the last glacial period were linked to iron (Fe) fertilization of
      subantarctic surface waters. The principal source of this Fe is thought to be
      dust transported from southern mid-latitude deserts. However, uncertainty exists
      over contributions to CO2 sequestration from complementary Fe sources, such as
      the Antarctic ice sheet, due to the difficulty of locating and interrogating
      suitable archives that have the potential to preserve such information. Here we
      present petrographic, geochemical and microbial DNA evidence preserved in
      precisely dated subglacial calcites from close to the East Antarctic Ice-Sheet
      margin, which together suggest that volcanically-induced drainage of Fe-rich
      waters during the Last Glacial Maximum could have reached the Southern Ocean. Our
      results support a significant contribution of Antarctic volcanism to subglacial
      transport and delivery of nutrients with implications on ocean productivity at
      peak glacial conditions.

PMID- 28598413
TI  - Anthropogenic climate change has altered primary productivity in Lake Superior.
AB  - Anthropogenic climate change has the potential to alter many facets of Earth's
      freshwater resources, especially lacustrine ecosystems. The effects of
      anthropogenic changes in Lake Superior, which is Earth's largest freshwater lake
      by area, are not well documented (spatially or temporally) and predicted future
      states in response to climate change vary. Here we show that Lake Superior
      experienced a slow, steady increase in production throughout the Holocene using
      (paleo)productivity proxies in lacustrine sediments to reconstruct past changes
      in primary production. Furthermore, data from the last century indicate a rapid
      increase in primary production, which we attribute to increasing surface water
      temperatures and longer seasonal stratification related to longer ice-free
      periods in Lake Superior due to anthropogenic climate warming. These observations
      demonstrate that anthropogenic effects have become a prominent influence on one
      of Earth's largest, most pristine lacustrine ecosystems.

PMID- 28598414
TI  - Structure of the Rpn13-Rpn2 complex provides insights for Rpn13 and Uch37 as
      anticancer targets.
AB  - Proteasome-ubiquitin receptor hRpn13/Adrm1 binds and activates deubiquitinating
      enzyme Uch37/UCHL5 and is targeted by bis-benzylidine piperidone RA190, which
      restricts cancer growth in mice xenografts. Here, we solve the structure of
      hRpn13 with a segment of hRpn2 that serves as its proteasome docking site; a
      proline-rich C-terminal hRpn2 extension stretches across a narrow canyon of the
      ubiquitin-binding hRpn13 Pru domain blocking an RA190-binding surface.
      Biophysical analyses in combination with cell-based assays indicate that hRpn13
      binds preferentially to hRpn2 and proteasomes over RA190. hRpn13 also exists
      outside of proteasomes where it may be RA190 sensitive. RA190 does not affect
      hRpn13 interaction with Uch37, but rather directly binds and inactivates Uch37.
      hRpn13 deletion from HCT116 cells abrogates RA190-induced accumulation of
      substrates at proteasomes. We propose that RA190 targets hRpn13 and Uch37 through
      parallel mechanisms and at proteasomes, RA190-inactivated Uch37 cannot
      disassemble hRpn13-bound ubiquitin chains.

PMID- 28598415
TI  - DNA exonuclease Trex1 regulates radiotherapy-induced tumour immunogenicity.
AB  - Radiotherapy is under investigation for its ability to enhance responses to
      immunotherapy. However, the mechanisms by which radiation induces anti-tumour T
      cells remain unclear. We show that the DNA exonuclease Trex1 is induced by
      radiation doses above 12-18 Gy in different cancer cells, and attenuates their
      immunogenicity by degrading DNA that accumulates in the cytosol upon radiation.
      Cytosolic DNA stimulates secretion of interferon-beta by cancer cells following
      activation of the DNA sensor cGAS and its downstream effector STING. Repeated
      irradiation at doses that do not induce Trex1 amplifies interferon-beta
      production, resulting in recruitment and activation of Batf3-dependent dendritic
      cells. This effect is essential for priming of CD8+ T cells that mediate systemic
      tumour rejection (abscopal effect) in the context of immune checkpoint blockade.
      Thus, Trex1 is an upstream regulator of radiation-driven anti-tumour immunity.
      Trex1 induction may guide the selection of radiation dose and fractionation in
      patients treated with immunotherapy.

PMID- 28598416
TI  - Three-dimensional nanomagnetism.

PMID- 28598418
TI  - Taming interfacial electronic properties of platinum nanoparticles on vacancy
      abundant boron nitride nanosheets for enhanced catalysis.
AB  - Taming interfacial electronic effects on Pt nanoparticles modulated by their
      concomitants has emerged as an intriguing approach to optimize Pt catalytic
      performance. Here, we report Pt nanoparticles assembled on vacancy-abundant
      hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets and their use as a model catalyst to embrace
      an interfacial electronic effect on Pt induced by the nanosheets with N-vacancies
      and B-vacancies for superior CO oxidation catalysis. Experimental results
      indicate that strong interaction exists between Pt and the vacancies. Bader
      charge analysis shows that with Pt on B-vacancies, the nanosheets serve as a
      Lewis acid to accept electrons from Pt, and on the contrary, when Pt sits on N
      vacancies, the nanosheets act as a Lewis base for donating electrons to Pt. The
      overall-electronic effect demonstrates an electron-rich feature of Pt after
      assembling on hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets. Such an interfacial electronic
      effect makes Pt favour the adsorption of O2, alleviating CO poisoning and
      promoting the catalysis.

PMID- 28598417
TI  - Age-related delay in visual and auditory evoked responses is mediated by white-
      and grey-matter differences.
AB  - Slowing is a common feature of ageing, yet a direct relationship between neural
      slowing and brain atrophy is yet to be established in healthy humans. We combine
      magnetoencephalographic (MEG) measures of neural processing speed with magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) measures of white and grey matter in a large population
      derived cohort to investigate the relationship between age-related structural
      differences and visual evoked field (VEF) and auditory evoked field (AEF) delay
      across two different tasks. Here we use a novel technique to show that VEFs
      exhibit a constant delay, whereas AEFs exhibit delay that accumulates over time.
      White-matter (WM) microstructure in the optic radiation partially mediates visual
      delay, suggesting increased transmission time, whereas grey matter (GM) in
      auditory cortex partially mediates auditory delay, suggesting less efficient
      local processing. Our results demonstrate that age has dissociable effects on
      neural processing speed, and that these effects relate to different types of
      brain atrophy.

PMID- 28598420
TI  - Tespa1 regulates T cell receptor-induced calcium signals by recruiting inositol
      1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors.
AB  - Thymocyte-expressed, positive selection-associated 1 (Tespa1) is important in T
      cell receptor (TCR)-driven thymocyte development. Downstream of the TCR, Tespa1
      is a crucial component of the linker for activation of T cells (LAT) signalosome,
      facilitating calcium signalling and subsequent MAPK activation. However, it is
      unknown how Tespa1 elicits calcium signalling. Here, we show that inositol 1,4,5
      trisphosphate receptor type 1 (IP3R1) is crucial for Tespa1-optimized, TCR
      induced Ca2+ flux and thymocyte development. Upon TCR stimulation, Tespa1
      directly interacts with IP3R1 and recruits it to the TCR complex, where IP3R1 is
      phosphorylated at Y353 by Fyn. This Tespa1-IP3R1 interaction is mediated by the
      F187 and F188 residues of Tespa1 and the amino-terminus of IP3R1. Tespa1
      F187A/F188A mutant mice phenocopy Tespa1-deficient mice with impaired late
      thymocyte development due to reduced IP3R1 translocation to the TCR-proximal
      region. Our work elucidates the function of Tespa1 in T cell development and the
      regulation of TCR-induced Ca2+ signalling through IP3R1.

PMID- 28598419
TI  - Genome-wide approach identifies a novel gene-maternal pre-pregnancy BMI
      interaction on preterm birth.
AB  - Preterm birth (PTB) contributes significantly to infant mortality and morbidity
      with lifelong impact. Few robust genetic factors of PTB have been identified.
      Such 'missing heritability' may be partly due to gene * environment interactions
      (G * E), which is largely unexplored. Here we conduct genome-wide G * E analyses
      of PTB in 1,733 African-American women (698 mothers of PTB; 1,035 of term birth)
      from the Boston Birth Cohort. We show that maternal COL24A1 variants have a
      significant genome-wide interaction with maternal pre-pregnancy
      overweight/obesity on PTB risk, with rs11161721 (PG * E=1.8 * 10-8; empirical PG
      * E=1.2 * 10-8) as the top hit. This interaction is replicated in African
      American mothers (PG * E=0.01) from an independent cohort and in meta-analysis
      (PG * E=3.6 * 10-9), but is not replicated in Caucasians. In adipose tissue,
      rs11161721 is significantly associated with altered COL24A1 expression. Our
      findings may provide new insight into the aetiology of PTB and improve our
      ability to predict and prevent PTB.

PMID- 28598421
TI  - A two-dimensional Dirac fermion microscope.
AB  - The electron microscope has been a powerful, highly versatile workhorse in the
      fields of material and surface science, micro and nanotechnology, biology and
      geology, for nearly 80 years. The advent of two-dimensional materials opens new
      possibilities for realizing an analogy to electron microscopy in the solid state.
      Here we provide a perspective view on how a two-dimensional (2D) Dirac fermion
      based microscope can be realistically implemented and operated, using graphene as
      a vacuum chamber for ballistic electrons. We use semiclassical simulations to
      propose concrete architectures and design rules of 2D electron guns, deflectors,
      tunable lenses and various detectors. The simulations show how simple objects can
      be imaged with well-controlled and collimated in-plane beams consisting of
      relativistic charge carriers. Finally, we discuss the potential of such
      microscopes for investigating edges, terminations and defects, as well as
      interfaces, including external nanoscale structures such as adsorbed molecules,
      nanoparticles or quantum dots.

PMID- 28598423
TI  - Diversity spurs diversification in ecological communities.
AB  - Diversity is a fundamental, yet threatened, property of ecological systems. The
      idea that diversity can itself favour diversification, in an autocatalytic
      process, is very appealing but remains controversial. Here, we study a
      generalized model of ecological communities and investigate how the level of
      initial diversity influences the possibility of evolutionary diversification. We
      show that even simple models of intra- and inter-specific ecological interactions
      can predict a positive effect of diversity on diversification: adaptive
      radiations may require a threshold number of species before kicking-off. We call
      this phenomenon DDAR (diversity-dependent adaptive radiations) and identify
      mathematically two distinct pathways connecting diversity to diversification,
      involving character displacement and the positive diversity-productivity
      relationship. Our results may explain observed delays in adaptive radiations at
      the macroscale and diversification patterns reported in experimental microbial
      communities, and shed new light on the dynamics of ecological diversity, the
      diversity-dependence of diversification rates, and the consequences of
      biodiversity loss.

PMID- 28598422
TI  - Constriction of the mitochondrial inner compartment is a priming event for
      mitochondrial division.
AB  - Mitochondrial division is critical for the maintenance and regulation of
      mitochondrial function, quality and distribution. This process is controlled by
      cytosolic actin-based constriction machinery and dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1)
      on mitochondrial outer membrane (OMM). Although mitochondrial physiology,
      including oxidative phosphorylation, is also important for efficient
      mitochondrial division, morphological alterations of the mitochondrial inner
      membrane (IMM) have not been clearly elucidated. Here we report spontaneous and
      repetitive constriction of mitochondrial inner compartment (CoMIC) associated
      with subsequent division in neurons. Although CoMIC is potentiated by inhibition
      of Drp1 and occurs at the potential division spots contacting the endoplasmic
      reticulum, it appears on IMM independently of OMM. Intra-mitochondrial influx of
      Ca2+ induces and potentiates CoMIC, and leads to K+-mediated mitochondrial
      bulging and depolarization. Synergistically, optic atrophy 1 (Opa1) also
      regulates CoMIC via controlling Mic60-mediated OMM-IMM tethering. Therefore, we
      propose that CoMIC is a priming event for efficient mitochondrial division.

PMID- 28598424
TI  - Raptor regulates functional maturation of murine beta cells.
AB  - Diabetes is associated with beta cell mass loss and islet dysfunctions. mTORC1
      regulates beta cell survival, proliferation and function in physiological and
      pathological conditions, such as pregnancy and pancreatectomy. Here we show that
      deletion of Raptor, which is an essential component of mTORC1, in insulin
      expressing cells promotes hypoinsulinemia and glucose intolerance. Raptor
      deficient beta cells display reduced glucose responsiveness and exhibit a glucose
      metabolic profile resembling fetal beta cells. Knockout islets have decreased
      expression of key factors of functional maturation and upregulation of neonatal
      markers and beta cell disallowed genes, resulting in loss of functional maturity.
      Mechanistically, Raptor-deficient beta cells show reduced expression of DNA
      methyltransferase 3a and altered patterns of DNA methylation at loci that are
      involved in the repression of disallowed genes. The present findings highlight a
      novel role of mTORC1 as a core mechanism governing postnatal beta cell maturation
      and physiologic beta cell mass during adulthood.

PMID- 28598425
TI  - Local probe of single phonon dynamics in warm ion crystals.
AB  - The detailed characterization of non-trivial coherence properties of composite
      quantum systems of increasing size is an indispensable prerequisite for scalable
      quantum computation, as well as for understanding non-equilibrium many-body
      physics. Here, we show how autocorrelation functions in an interacting system of
      phonons as well as the quantum discord between distinct degrees of freedoms can
      be extracted from a small controllable part of the system. As a benchmark, we
      show this in chains of up to 42 trapped ions, by tracing a single phonon
      excitation through interferometric measurements of only a single ion in the
      chain. We observe the spreading and partial refocusing of the excitation in the
      chain, even on a background of thermal excitations. We further show how this
      local observable reflects the dynamical evolution of quantum discord between the
      electronic state and the vibrational degrees of freedom of the probe ion.

PMID- 28598426
TI  - Mesoscopic chaos mediated by Drude electron-hole plasma in silicon optomechanical
      oscillators.
AB  - Chaos has revolutionized the field of nonlinear science and stimulated
      foundational studies from neural networks, extreme event statistics, to physics
      of electron transport. Recent studies in cavity optomechanics provide a new
      platform to uncover quintessential architectures of chaos generation and the
      underlying physics. Here, we report the generation of dynamical chaos in silicon
      based monolithic optomechanical oscillators, enabled by the strong and coupled
      nonlinearities of two-photon absorption induced Drude electron-hole plasma.
      Deterministic chaotic oscillation is achieved, and statistical and entropic
      characterization quantifies the chaos complexity at 60 fJ intracavity energies.
      The correlation dimension D2 is determined at 1.67 for the chaotic attractor,
      along with a maximal Lyapunov exponent rate of about 2.94 times the fundamental
      optomechanical oscillation for fast adjacent trajectory divergence. Nonlinear
      dynamical maps demonstrate the subharmonics, bifurcations and stable regimes,
      along with distinct transitional routes into chaos. This provides a CMOS
      compatible and scalable architecture for understanding complex dynamics on the
      mesoscopic scale.

PMID- 28598427
TI  - Different populations of CD11b+ dendritic cells drive Th2 responses in the small
      intestine and colon.
AB  - T-helper 2 (Th2) cell responses defend against parasites. Although dendritic
      cells (DCs) are vital for the induction of T-cell responses, the DC
      subpopulations that induce Th2 cells in the intestine are unidentified. Here we
      show that intestinal Th2 responses against Trichuris muris worms and Schistosoma
      mansoni eggs do not develop in mice with IRF-4-deficient DCs (IRF-4f/f CD11c
      cre). Adoptive transfer of conventional DCs, in particular CD11b-expressing DCs
      from the intestine, is sufficient to prime S. mansoni-specific Th2 responses.
      Surprisingly, transferred IRF-4-deficient DCs also effectively prime S. mansoni
      specific Th2 responses. Egg antigens do not induce the expression of IRF-4
      related genes. Instead, IRF-4f/f CD11c-cre mice have fewer CD11b+ migrating DCs
      and fewer DCs carrying parasite antigens to the lymph nodes. Furthermore,
      CD11b+CD103+ DCs induce Th2 responses in the small intestine, whereas CD11b+CD103
      DCs perform this role in the colon, revealing a specific functional
      heterogeneity among intestinal DCs in inducing Th2 responses.

PMID- 28598428
TI  - Real-time observation of cation exchange kinetics and dynamics at the muscovite
      water interface.
AB  - Ion exchange at charged solid-liquid interfaces is central to a broad range of
      chemical and transport phenomena. Real-time observations of adsorption/desorption
      at the molecular-scale elucidate exchange reaction pathways. Here we report
      temporal variation in the distribution of Rb+ species at the muscovite (001)
      water interface during exchange with Na+. Time-resolved resonant anomalous X-ray
      reflectivity measurements at 25  degrees C reveal that Rb+ desorption occurs over
      several tens of seconds during which thermodynamically stable inner-sphere Rb+
      slowly transforms to a less stable outer-sphere Rb+. In contrast, Rb+ adsorption
      is about twice as fast, proceeding from Rb+ in the bulk solution to the stable
      inner-sphere species. The Arrhenius plot of the adsorption/desorption rate
      constants measured from 9 to 55  degrees C shows that the pre-exponential factor
      for desorption is significantly smaller than that for adsorption, indicating that
      this reduced attempt frequency of cation detachment largely explains the slow
      cation exchange processes at the interface.

PMID- 28598429
TI  - Temperature-regulated guest admission and release in microporous materials.
AB  - While it has long been known that some highly adsorbing microporous materials
      suddenly become inaccessible to guest molecules below certain temperatures,
      previous attempts to explain this phenomenon have failed. Here we show that this
      anomalous sorption behaviour is a temperature-regulated guest admission process,
      where the pore-keeping group's thermal fluctuations are influenced by
      interactions with guest molecules. A physical model is presented to explain the
      atomic-level chemistry and structure of these thermally regulated micropores,
      which is crucial to systematic engineering of new functional materials such as
      tunable molecular sieves, gated membranes and controlled-release nanocontainers.
      The model was validated experimentally with H2, N2, Ar and CH4 on three classes
      of microporous materials: trapdoor zeolites, supramolecular host calixarenes and
      metal-organic frameworks. We demonstrate how temperature can be exploited to
      achieve appreciable hydrogen and methane storage in such materials without
      sustained pressure. These findings also open new avenues for gas sensing and
      isotope separation.

PMID- 28598430
TI  - Vegetation recovery in tidal marshes reveals critical slowing down under
      increased inundation.
AB  - A declining rate of recovery following disturbance has been proposed as an
      important early warning for impending tipping points in complex systems. Despite
      extensive theoretical and laboratory studies, this 'critical slowing down'
      remains largely untested in the complex settings of real-world ecosystems. Here,
      we provide both observational and experimental support of critical slowing down
      along natural stress gradients in tidal marsh ecosystems. Time series of aerial
      images of European marsh development reveal a consistent lengthening of recovery
      time as inundation stress increases. We corroborate this finding with
      transplantation experiments in European and North American tidal marshes. In
      particular, our results emphasize the power of direct observational or
      experimental measures of recovery over indirect statistical signatures, such as
      spatial variance or autocorrelation. Our results indicate that the phenomenon of
      critical slowing down can provide a powerful tool to probe the resilience of
      natural ecosystems.

PMID- 28598431
TI  - A covalent PIN1 inhibitor selectively targets cancer cells by a dual mechanism of
      action.
AB  - The prolyl isomerase PIN1, a critical modifier of multiple signalling pathways,
      is overexpressed in the majority of cancers and its activity strongly contributes
      to tumour initiation and progression. Inactivation of PIN1 function conversely
      curbs tumour growth and cancer stem cell expansion, restores chemosensitivity and
      blocks metastatic spread, thus providing the rationale for a therapeutic strategy
      based on PIN1 inhibition. Notwithstanding, potent PIN1 inhibitors are still
      missing from the arsenal of anti-cancer drugs. By a mechanism-based screening, we
      have identified a novel covalent PIN1 inhibitor, KPT-6566, able to selectively
      inhibit PIN1 and target it for degradation. We demonstrate that KPT-6566
      covalently binds to the catalytic site of PIN1. This interaction results in the
      release of a quinone-mimicking drug that generates reactive oxygen species and
      DNA damage, inducing cell death specifically in cancer cells. Accordingly, KPT
      6566 treatment impairs PIN1-dependent cancer phenotypes in vitro and growth of
      lung metastasis in vivo.

PMID- 28598432
TI  - Neural correlates of evidence accumulation during value-based decisions revealed
      via simultaneous EEG-fMRI.
AB  - Current computational accounts posit that, in simple binary choices, humans
      accumulate evidence in favour of the different alternatives before committing to
      a decision. Neural correlates of this accumulating activity have been found
      during perceptual decisions in parietal and prefrontal cortex; however the source
      of such activity in value-based choices remains unknown. Here we use simultaneous
      EEG-fMRI and computational modelling to identify EEG signals reflecting an
      accumulation process and demonstrate that the within- and across-trial
      variability in these signals explains fMRI responses in posterior-medial frontal
      cortex. Consistent with its role in integrating the evidence prior to reaching a
      decision, this region also exhibits task-dependent coupling with the ventromedial
      prefrontal cortex and the striatum, brain areas known to encode the subjective
      value of the decision alternatives. These results further endorse the proposition
      of an evidence accumulation process during value-based decisions in humans and
      implicate the posterior-medial frontal cortex in this process.

PMID- 28598433
TI  - Refinement of learned skilled movement representation in motor cortex deep output
      layer.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying the emergence of learned motor skill representation in
      primary motor cortex (M1) are not well understood. Specifically, how motor
      representation in the deep output layer 5b (L5b) is shaped by motor learning
      remains virtually unknown. In rats undergoing motor skill training, we detect a
      subpopulation of task-recruited L5b neurons that not only become more movement
      encoding, but their activities are also more structured and temporally aligned to
      motor execution with a timescale of refinement in tens-of-milliseconds. Field
      potentials evoked at L5b in vivo exhibit persistent long-term potentiation (LTP)
      that parallels motor performance. Intracortical dopamine denervation impairs
      motor learning, and disrupts the LTP profile as well as the emergent
      neurodynamical properties of task-recruited L5b neurons. Thus, dopamine-dependent
      recruitment of L5b neuronal ensembles via synaptic reorganization may allow the
      motor cortex to generate more temporally structured, movement-encoding output
      signal from M1 to downstream circuitry that drives increased uniformity and
      precision of movement during motor learning.

PMID- 28598435
TI  - Zinc-dependent regulation of zinc import and export genes by Zur.
AB  - In most bacteria, zinc depletion is sensed by Zur, whereas the surplus is sensed
      by different regulators to achieve zinc homeostasis. Here we present evidence
      that zinc-bound Zur not only represses genes for zinc acquisition but also
      induces the zitB gene encoding a zinc exporter in Streptomyces coelicolor, a
      model actinobacteria. Zinc-dependent gene regulation by Zur occurs in two phases.
      At sub-femtomolar zinc concentrations (phase I), dimeric Zur binds to the Zur-box
      motif immediately upstream of the zitB promoter, resulting in low zitB
      expression. At the same time, Zur represses genes for zinc uptake. At micromolar
      zinc concentrations (phase II), oligomeric Zur binding with footprint expansion
      upward from the Zur box results in high zitB induction. Our findings reveal a
      mode of zinc-dependent gene activation that uses a single metalloregulator to
      control genes for both uptake and export over a wide range of zinc
      concentrations.

PMID- 28598436
TI  - 11% efficiency solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with copper(II/I) hole
      transport materials.
AB  - Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells currently suffer from issues such as
      inadequate nanopore filling, low conductivity and crystallization of hole
      transport materials infiltrated in the mesoscopic TiO2 scaffolds, leading to low
      performances. Here we report a record 11% stable solid-state dye-sensitized solar
      cell under standard air mass 1.5 global using a hole-transport material composed
      of a blend of [Cu (4,4',6,6'-tetramethyl-2,2'
      bipyridine)2](bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide)2 and [Cu (4,4',6,6'-tetramethyl
      2,2'-bipyridine)2](bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide). The amorphous Cu(II/I)
      conductors that conduct holes by rapid hopping infiltrated in a 6.5 MUm-thick
      mesoscopic TiO2 scaffold are crucial for achieving such high efficiency. Using
      time-resolved laser photolysis, we determine the time constants for electron
      injection from the photoexcited sensitizers Y123 into the TiO2 and regeneration
      of the Y123 by Cu(I) to be 25 ps and 3.2 MUs, respectively. Our work will foster
      the development of low-cost solid-state photovoltaic based on transition metal
      complexes as hole conductors.

PMID- 28598437
TI  - Centromeres are maintained by fastening CENP-A to DNA and directing an arginine
      anchor-dependent nucleosome transition.
AB  - Maintaining centromere identity relies upon the persistence of the epigenetic
      mark provided by the histone H3 variant, centromere protein A (CENP-A), but the
      molecular mechanisms that underlie its remarkable stability remain unclear. Here,
      we define the contributions of each of the three candidate CENP-A nucleosome
      binding domains (two on CENP-C and one on CENP-N) to CENP-A stability using gene
      replacement and rapid protein degradation. Surprisingly, the most conserved
      domain, the CENP-C motif, is dispensable. Instead, the stability is conferred by
      the unfolded central domain of CENP-C and the folded N-terminal domain of CENP-N
      that becomes rigidified 1,000-fold upon crossbridging CENP-A and its adjacent
      nucleosomal DNA. Disrupting the 'arginine anchor' on CENP-C for the nucleosomal
      acidic patch disrupts the CENP-A nucleosome structural transition and removes
      CENP-A nucleosomes from centromeres. CENP-A nucleosome retention at centromeres
      requires a core centromeric nucleosome complex where CENP-C clamps down a stable
      nucleosome conformation and CENP-N fastens CENP-A to the DNA.

PMID- 28598439
TI  - Erratum: Lkb1 inactivation drives lung cancer lineage switching governed by
      Polycomb Repressive Complex 2.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14922.

PMID- 28598438
TI  - Reactivation of associative structure specific outcome responses during
      prospective evaluation in reward-based choices.
AB  - Before making a reward-based choice, we must evaluate each option. Some theories
      propose that prospective evaluation involves a reactivation of the neural
      response to the outcome. Others propose that it calls upon a response pattern
      that is specific to each underlying associative structure. We hypothesize that
      these views are reconcilable: during prospective evaluation, offers reactivate
      neural responses to outcomes that are unique to each associative structure; when
      the outcome occurs, this pattern is activated, simultaneously, with a general
      response to the reward. We recorded single-units from macaque orbitofrontal
      cortex (Area 13) in a riskless choice task with interleaved described and
      experienced offer trials. Here we report that neural activations to offers and
      their outcomes overlap, as do neural activations to the outcomes on the two trial
      types. Neural activations to experienced and described offers are unrelated even
      though they predict the same outcomes. Our reactivation theory parsimoniously
      explains these results.

PMID- 28598434
TI  - Genome-wide association study identifies multiple risk loci for renal cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified six risk loci for
      renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We conducted a meta-analysis of two new scans of
      5,198 cases and 7,331 controls together with four existing scans, totalling
      10,784 cases and 20,406 controls of European ancestry. Twenty-four loci were
      tested in an additional 3,182 cases and 6,301 controls. We confirm the six known
      RCC risk loci and identify seven new loci at 1p32.3 (rs4381241, P=3.1 * 10-10),
      3p22.1 (rs67311347, P=2.5 * 10-8), 3q26.2 (rs10936602, P=8.8 * 10-9), 8p21.3
      (rs2241261, P=5.8 * 10-9), 10q24.33-q25.1 (rs11813268, P=3.9 * 10-8), 11q22.3
      (rs74911261, P=2.1 * 10-10) and 14q24.2 (rs4903064, P=2.2 * 10-24). Expression
      quantitative trait analyses suggest plausible candidate genes at these regions
      that may contribute to RCC susceptibility.

PMID- 28598440
TI  - An autonomous organic reaction search engine for chemical reactivity.
AB  - The exploration of chemical space for new reactivity, reactions and molecules is
      limited by the need for separate work-up-separation steps searching for molecules
      rather than reactivity. Herein we present a system that can autonomously evaluate
      chemical reactivity within a network of 64 possible reaction combinations and
      aims for new reactivity, rather than a predefined set of targets. The robotic
      system combines chemical handling, in-line spectroscopy and real-time feedback
      and analysis with an algorithm that is able to distinguish and select the most
      reactive pathways, generating a reaction selection index (RSI) without need for
      separate work-up or purification steps. This allows the automatic navigation of a
      chemical network, leading to previously unreported molecules while needing only
      to do a fraction of the total possible reactions without any prior knowledge of
      the chemistry. We show the RSI correlates with reactivity and is able to search
      chemical space using the most reactive pathways.

PMID- 28598441
TI  - Controlling hybrid nonlinearities in transparent conducting oxides via two-colour
      excitation.
AB  - Nanophotonics and metamaterials have revolutionized the way we think about
      optical space (E,MU), enabling us to engineer the refractive index almost at
      will, to confine light to the smallest of the volumes, and to manipulate optical
      signals with extremely small footprints and energy requirements. Significant
      efforts are now devoted to finding suitable materials and strategies for the
      dynamic control of the optical properties. Transparent conductive oxides exhibit
      large ultrafast nonlinearities under both interband and intraband excitations.
      Here we show that combining these two effects in aluminium-doped zinc oxide via a
      two-colour laser field discloses new material functionalities. Owing to the
      independence of the two nonlinearities, the ultrafast temporal dynamics of the
      material permittivity can be designed by acting on the amplitude and delay of the
      two fields. We demonstrate the potential applications of this novel degree of
      freedom by dynamically addressing the modulation bandwidth and optical spectral
      tuning of a probe optical pulse.

PMID- 28598442
TI  - Distinct homotypic B-cell receptor interactions shape the outcome of chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia.
AB  - Cell-autonomous B-cell receptor (BcR)-mediated signalling is a hallmark feature
      of the neoplastic B lymphocytes in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Here we
      elucidate the structural basis of autonomous activation of CLL B cells, showing
      that BcR immunoglobulins initiate intracellular signalling through homotypic
      interactions between epitopes that are specific for each subgroup of patients
      with homogeneous clinicobiological profiles. The molecular details of the BcR-BcR
      interactions apparently dictate the clinical course of disease, with stronger
      affinities and longer half-lives in indolent cases, and weaker, short-lived
      contacts mediating the aggressive ones. The diversity of homotypic BcR contacts
      leading to cell-autonomous signalling reconciles the existence of a shared
      pathogenic mechanism with the biological and clinical heterogeneity of CLL and
      offers opportunities for innovative treatment strategies.

PMID- 28598444
TI  - Pumping approximately integrable systems.
AB  - Weak perturbations can drive an interacting many-particle system far from its
      initial equilibrium state if one is able to pump into degrees of freedom
      approximately protected by conservation laws. This concept has for example been
      used to realize Bose-Einstein condensates of photons, magnons and excitons.
      Integrable quantum systems, like the one-dimensional Heisenberg model, are
      characterized by an infinite set of conservation laws. Here, we develop a theory
      of weakly driven integrable systems and show that pumping can induce large spin
      or heat currents even in the presence of integrability breaking perturbations,
      since it activates local and quasi-local approximate conserved quantities. The
      resulting steady state is qualitatively captured by a truncated generalized Gibbs
      ensemble with Lagrange parameters that depend on the structure but not on the
      overall amplitude of perturbations nor the initial state. We suggest to use spin
      chain materials driven by terahertz radiation to realize integrability-based spin
      and heat pumps.

PMID- 28598443
TI  - Ash1l and lnc-Smad3 coordinate Smad3 locus accessibility to modulate iTreg
      polarization and T cell autoimmunity.
AB  - Regulatory T (Treg) cells are important for the maintenance of immune
      homoeostasis and prevention of autoimmune diseases. Epigenetic modifications have
      been reported to modulate autoimmunity by altering Treg cell fate. Here we show
      that the H3K4 methyltransferase Ash1l facilitates TGF-beta-induced Treg cell
      polarization in vitro and protects mice from T cell-mediated colitis in vivo.
      Ash1l upregulates Smad3 expression by directly targeting Smad3 promoter to
      increase local H3K4 trimethylation. Furthermore, we identify an lncRNA, namely
      lnc-Smad3, which interacts with the histone deacetylase HDAC1 and silences Smad3
      transcription. After TGF-beta stimulation, activated Smad3 suppresses lnc-Smad3
      transcription, thereby recovering the Smad3 promoter accessibility to Ash1l. By
      revealing the opposite regulatory functions of Ash1l and lnc-Smad3 in Smad3
      expression, our data provide insights for the epigenetic control of Treg cell
      fate to potentially aid in the development of therapeutic intervention for
      autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 28598446
TI  - Construction of Multiple Choice Questions Before and After An Educational
      Intervention.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan, established
      in 2014, has ushered in a new era in medical education in Bhutan. Multiple Choice
      Questions are a common means of written assessment in medical education. METHODS:
      This was a quasi-experimental study conducted at the Faculty of Postgraduate
      Medicine, KGUMSB, Thimphu in December 2016. A total of 8 MCQs were prepared by
      four teaching faculties from different fields who had no prior training on
      construction of MCQs. It was delivered to a group of 16 randomly selected intern
      doctors. A 2 hours long workshop on construction of MCQs was conducted. After the
      workshop, the same MCQs were modified according to standard guidelines on
      developing MCQs and were tested in the same group of intern doctors. An analysis
      on the performance, difficulty factor, discrimination index and distractor
      analysis was done on the two sets of MCQs using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 20.0.
      RESULTS: For the pre- and post-workshop questions respectively, the pass
      percentage was 69.8% (11) and 81.3% (13), difficulty factor was 0.51 and 0.53,
      discrimination index was 0.59 and 0.47, distractor effectiveness was 83.3% and
      74.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The workshop on MCQ development apparently seemed highly
      valuable and effective in changing the learning and performances of medical
      educators in the development of MCQs.

PMID- 28598445
TI  - Menopausal Health Status of Nepalese Women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Menopause is an unavoidable and sometimes problematic condition in
      which women may suffer from a number of health problems. Knowledge of the major
      symptoms associated with menopause helps reduce the burden and stress associated
      with the condition. In this context, a study was conducted to establish baseline
      data regarding menopausal health problems among Nepalese women. METHODS: A
      descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 2000 women aged over 40
      years to identify their knowledge, attitude and practice related to menopausal
      health problems. Data was collected by interviewing the women and doing physical
      examination. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and SPSS software was
      used for data analysis. RESULTS: A cohort of 2073 women (ages 40-60 years)
      participated in the research, among them 2000 yielded complete response. The
      study revealed that 820 (41%) women had reached menopause. The average age of
      menopause was 48.7 years. Majority of the women 1183 (59.2%) in the study did not
      know about menopausal health problems. Abnormal bleeding 353 (17.65%), sweating
      315 (15.75%), hot flushes 299 (14.95%), joint/muscle pain 285 (14.25%) were the
      most common menopausal symptoms known by the women. Joint pain 736 (36.8%), hot
      flushes 584 (29.2%), irregular bleeding 582 (29.1%) were the most common
      experienced symptoms of menopause and only 586 (29.3%) consulted the health
      workers to alleviate menopausal symptoms. Moreover, most of the women 926 (46.3%)
      accepted menopause as a part of life. CONCLUSIONS: The research has tried to
      establish the baseline of menopausal health problems in the Nepalese women. The
      average age of menopause was 48.7 years. Majority did not know about menopausal
      health problems. Further researches with nationally representative sample are
      recommended to further explore the menopausal health problems of Nepalese women.

PMID- 28598447
TI  - Single Stage Management of Concomitant Cholelithiasis and Choledocholithiasis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Concomitant cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis are commonly
      managed in two stage procedure, endoscopic management of common bile duct stone
      followed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy in different time and setting. We
      perform these two procedures in same sitting in operating room set up. We
      evaluated the procedure in terms of outcome, feasibility and complications.
      METHODS: Prospective cross-sectional study carried out since April 2013 to August
      2016 in all patients who had undergone single stage endoscopic and laparoscopic
      management of concomitant cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis. Patient's
      demography, procedural time for different procedure and procedure in total and
      post-operative complications were recorded and analyzed with suitable statistical
      methods. RESULTS: Out of 50 cases enrolled, 2 patients were converted to open.
      Out of 48 patients, 3 needed re-attempt for completion. Majority were female 36
      (72%), mean age was 39.48years. Mean common bile duct diameter and mean stone
      size was 11.43+/-2.63 cm and 7.99+/-2.01cm, respectively. Mean of total
      procedural time was 90.93+/- 33.68 minutes. In most of the cases, laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy performed first followed by endoscopic method (66.7%). Total
      procedural time was less in the patients who underwent laparoscopy first in
      comparison to endoscopy first. Clinically significant complications like
      cholangitis, pancreatitis and duodenal perforation occurred in 7 patients. Out of
      4 patients who developed pancreatitis, one had severe acute pancreatitis
      requiring prolonged hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Single stage management of
      common bile duct and gall bladder stone by laparoscopic and endoscopic method is
      feasible in our setup with acceptable results. Endoscopic treatment of common
      bile duct stone if performed first, is associated with longer procedural time.

PMID- 28598448
TI  - Fetal Ductus Venosus Pulsatility Index and Diameter during Second and Third
      Trimester of Gestation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The ductus venosus is a small funnel shaped vessel found posterior
      to the fetal liver connecting the intra-abdominal umbilical vein and the inferior
      vena cava. It is one of the three physiological shunts in the fetus. The main
      objective of this study is to construct the reference table and normogram for
      fetal ductus venosus Pulsatility Index and diameter with gestational age.
      METHODS: This was a prospective cross sectional study conducted during August
      2011 to July 2012 taking 294 uncomplicated pregnancies using systemic random
      sampling method. Three measurements were made for ductus venosus diameter and
      Pulsatility Index in each fetus during period of fetal quiescence. RESULTS: The
      ductus venosus diameter at <20weeks, 20-25 weeks, 25-30 weeks, >30 weeks were
      1.16, 1.31, 1.62, 1.81 and Pulsatility Index at <20weeks, 20-25 weeks, 25-30
      weeks, >30 weeks were 0.41, 0.44, 0.41 and 0.41 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The
      mean diameter of the ductus venosus was linear across gestational age. The
      Pulsatility Index shows a scattered distribution across the gestational age.

PMID- 28598450
TI  - Lower Genital Tract Trauma in A Tertiary Care Centre in Mid-Western Nepal.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study of lower genital tract trauma has become important in
      gynaecological practice. There is paucity of reports on this clinical entity from
      our settings. The main aim of this study is to document injuries in female lower
      genital tract in Mid-Western Nepal. METHODS: Sixty female patients admitted to
      the hospital with genital tract injuries caused by coitus or accidents were
      included in the study. Details of the causes of trauma clinical presentations and
      management were recorded. RESULTS: These injuries were grouped according to
      etiological factors. This study included 33 (55%) coital injuries and 27 (45%)
      non- coital injuries. Out of coital injury, 12 cases were criminal assault (rape)
      in age group of 4 to 18 years. Four unmarried girls had consensual sex. Non
      coital injuries were due to fall from height, cattle horn injuries, straddle type
      of trauma, vulvar haematoma and anorectal injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate
      surgical intervention can avert morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28598449
TI  - Clinicopathological Study of Malignant Melanoma at Tertiary Care Centre.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malignant melanoma, which causes three fourth of all deaths related
      to skin cancer, is more common in Caucasian population compared to Asian
      population. There is no reliable information about malignant melanoma in Nepal
      hence an effort has been made to assess the clinical and pathological features of
      melanoma patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective hospital based study done in
      the department of Pathology. All cases of malignant melanoma diagnosed on biopsy
      during a period of 13 years were retrieved, reviewed and collated. RESULTS: We
      had 35 cases with age range from 15 to 84 years with the mean of 51.4 years and
      M: F of 1.3:1. The predominant site was lower extremities. Most cases were less
      than 3 cm. Majority of histologic subtypes were nodular melanoma 29 (82.8%)
      followed by mucosal lentiginous melanoma 3 (8.6%), superficial spreading melanoma
      2 (5.7%) and acral lentiginous melanoma 1 (2.9%). Half (50%) of the excisional
      biopsies were at Clark's level IV and 75% were at high Breslow thickness.
      CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent site in males and females were lower extremities
      and trunk respectively in contrast to Western studies where it is opposite.
      Nodular melanoma was the commonest histologic subtype while in other Asian
      studies and in Western studies majority were acral lentiginous melanoma and
      superficial spreading melanoma respectively.

PMID- 28598451
TI  - Role of S-100 Immunostain as An Auxiliary Diagnostic Aid in Leprosy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Histopathologic diagnosis of leprosy is difficult when Bacillary
      Index (BI) is zero and neural involvement are not easily identifiable on routine
      Hematoxylin and Eosin stain. This study was undertaken to study the role of S-100
      immunostaining in demonstrating different patterns of nerve involvement in
      various types of leprosy. METHODS: Thirty one skin biopsies with clinico
      histopathologic diagnoses of leprosy over a period of two years were included in
      the study. Ten cases of non-lepromatous granulomatous dermatoses (including eight
      cases of lupus vulgaris and two cases of erythema nodosum) were used as controls.
      Tissue sections from all cases and controls were stained with Hematoxylin and
      Eosin (H&E) stain, Fite stain and S-100 immunostain. The H&E stained slides were
      used to study the histopathological features, Fite stained slides for Bacillary
      Index and S-100 for nerve changes. RESULTS: Neural changes could be demonstrated
      in the entire spectrum of leprosy using S-100 immunostaining. The most common
      pattern of nerve destruction in the tuberculoid spectrum was fragmented and
      infiltrated whereas lepromatous spectrum showed mostly fragmented nerve twigs.
      Intact nerves were not detected in any of the leprosy cases. CONCLUSIONS: S-100
      immunostain is a useful auxiliary aid to the routine H&E stain in the diagnosis
      of leprosy especially tuberculoid spectrum and intermediate leprosy.

PMID- 28598452
TI  - Risk Factors for Complications in Acute Appendicitis among Paediatric Population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdomen in
      children. Patients who are diagnosed early and undergo an appendectomy before
      perforation have a good outcome. However, it is difficult to diagnose in young
      children because its clinical manifestations may be atypical. The aim of this
      study was to determine the risk factors for complications in acute appendicitis
      in paediatric population. METHODS: We performed a cross sectional study on
      children (age <=18 years) who underwent appendectomy for suspected appendicitis
      from January 2014 to December 2015. Medical records of patients who met inclusion
      criteria were reviewed. Preoperative, operative and post-operative data were
      analyzed. The main outcome measure was intraoperative confirmation of gangrenous
      or perforated appendicitis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was
      performed, and the main predictors of interest were patient's age, duration of
      pain and total leucocyte count. RESULTS: Total 73 paediatric patients (46 males)
      with mean age 13+/-3.8 were studied. In multivariate logistic regression
      analysis, patients having pain duration more than 72 hours and patients with
      leucocyte count >15000/mm3 were more likely to have complicated appendicitis
      [(OR:14.6), (95% CI= 2.40 - 89.77), (P= 0.004)] and [(OR=16.38), (95% CI = 1.836
      146), (P = 0.012)] respectively. However, the age of the patient is not
      independently associated with complicated appendicitis. CONCLUSIONS: Increase in
      total leucocyte count and duration of the presentation can be a good marker of
      complicated appendicitis.

PMID- 28598453
TI  - Effectiveness of 0.2% Glyceryl Trinitrate and 0.5% Nifedipine in the Treatment of
      Chronic Anal Fissure.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anal fissure is an ischemic ulcer caused by combination of spasm of
      internal anal sphincter and poor blood supply to the posterior midline of anal
      canal. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of Glyceryl Trinitrate and
      Nifedipine in the treatment of chronic anal fissure. METHODS: Ninety patients
      with symptomatic anal fissure in Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital are
      allocated for study in two groups of 45 each from March 2013 to April 2014. The
      patients are assigned alternatively to GTN group and Nifedipine group. All
      patients were assessed every week till 8 weeks in regards to headache,
      compliance, healing and recurrence. The patients who had complete healing in 8
      weeks were further followed up for 6 weeks to detect recurrence. RESULTS:
      Patients in the two groups were comparable in regard to demographic data (age and
      sex) as well as clinical factors. Headache was main complaint of patients using
      GTN in high percentage (16.6%) than complained by patients using topical
      Nifedipine (6.9%). This factor led to poor compliance with GTN compared with
      Nifedipine. Nifedipine showed better healing rate 82.5% compared with GTN 60%.
      Recurrence was comparable among the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Nifedipine ointment
      showed better results than GTN ointment in chronic anal fissure regarding
      headache, compliance, healing and recurrence in 6 weeks of follow up period after
      complete healing of fissure in 8 weeks.

PMID- 28598454
TI  - Prevalence of Malnutrition in a Rural Residential Sanskrit School in Baglung,
      Nepal.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Under-nutrition is a condition in which there is inadequate
      consumption, poor absorption or excessive loss of nutrients. Nepal still faces
      high chronic as well as acute under-nutrition in children. The following study
      was conducted a Sanskrit school in rural Baglung to find the prevalence of
      malnutrition among the children which could reflect the nutritional status of the
      community. METHODS: Out of 60 students admitted to the school, only 43 were
      present at the time when we collected our data. Weight was measured with a
      standard weighing scale and standing height with a measuring tape attached to the
      wall. Data were filled up in proforma, entered in Microsoft Excel 2013 and were
      analyzed and indicators calculated with SPSS version 20 using WHO Child Growth
      Reference data for 5-19 years and macros. RESULTS: Stunting (Z score < -2) was
      found in 53.5% of the study group and severe stunting (Z score < -3) was found in
      25.6%. 12.5% of the 8 children under 10 years in our study had weight-for-age < 
      2 Z score which indicates underweight. No one was severely underweight. In our
      study, 2.3% had severe thinness (Z-score < -3), 14% had thinness (Z-score < -2).
      No one was overweight or obese. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of malnutrition was
      high among the students of the rural Sanskrit school where the study was
      conducted.

PMID- 28598455
TI  - Primary Total Hip Replacement in The Military Hospital in Kathmandu.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Total hip replacement is one of the most widely performed and
      amongst the most successful orthopedic procedures performed worldwide. Even
      though it is a common orthopedic procedure in developed nations, it is performed
      only in selected centers in Nepal. This study will review the functional outcome
      of total hip replacements carried out in Shree Birendra Hospital. METHODS: We
      reviewed the records of total hip replacements, which were carried out in Shree
      Birendra Hospital, Kathmandu. Twenty-one hips were cemented and nineteen were
      uncemented. Cases were followed up in six weeks, twelve weeks, six months and
      every year from then on. Outcome in terms of Harris hip score of 40
      osteoarthritic hips were measured pre-operatively as well as post-operatively.
      RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 50.63 years (range 22-79 years). The
      commonest reason for the replacement was primary osteoarthritis of the hip.
      Thirty-nine patients underwent unilateral total hip replacement while in one
      patient both hips were replaced. The mean Harris hip score for the forty hips
      that were available at the latest follow-up examination at an average of five
      years (range two to six and a half years) after the operation was 85.2 +/- 7.65
      points as compared to the pre-operative mean Harris hip score of 32.38 +/- 3.4.
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on improved Harris hip scores, we believe that THR is a good
      option in patients with end stage arthritis of the hip.

PMID- 28598456
TI  - Hormonal Changes in Intracranial Hemorrhage.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of serum
      ACTH and Thyroid hormone level in the acute phase of ICH. METHODS: Sixty patients
      with spontaneous ICH were assessed regarding hormonal changes by measuring ACTH
      and Thyroid hormone level. The relationships of hormone concentrations to
      clinical and radiological parameters were evaluated at hospital admission (t0), 5
      days (t1) and 10 days (t2). The results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS:
      ACTH, TSH, Thyroxine, and free Thyroxine were not significantly different among
      the three time periods (P > 0.05), while Triiodothyronine (T3) and free
      Triiodothyronine (FT3) were significantly different (P < 0.05). T3 and FT3 were
      not significantly different among patients with hemorrhage of different locations
      (P>0.05). There were significant negative correlations between T3 and FT3 with
      volume of ICH (r=-0.63 and r=-0.25) and there were positive correlations between
      T3 and FT3 with GCS (r=0.63 and r=0.37) respectively on admission day (p <0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Hormonal secretion patterns is associated with the severity of ICH.
      This is an important index to evaluate the disease severity and prognosis.

PMID- 28598457
TI  - Rural Health Care Workers and Local Residents Health Status in Yulong County of
      Yunnan Province China and Hat Yai City of Songkhla Mansion Thailand.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To compare health status between Hat Yai city of Songkhla Province
      in Thailand and Yulong county of Yunnan province in China about rural health care
      workers and local residents, analyzing of both differences, learning from the
      advanced experience and practice of Thailand, adjusting policy, especially for
      the implementation of measures to improve the lack of human resources
      construction of Yulong County rural health, promote the level of rural health
      service of Lijiang. METHODS: A qualitative study consisting of focus group
      discussions and individual in-depth interviews were conducted in Rural Health
      Care Workers and Local Residents Health Status in Yulong County of Yunnan
      Province China and Hat Yai City of Songkhla Mansion Thailand from. RESULTS:
      Compared to 41(100%) bachelor's degree of medical staffs in Hat Yai, this
      accounted only 94 (42%) bachelor's degree of medical staffs in Yulong county
      hospital, and 31 (12%)in townships hospitals. For medical workers in Hat Yai,
      they have at least one time on-job training per year, but for Yulong county, only
      144 (29%)of the medical personnel participated in the training per year. Health
      expenditures of Yulong county was mainly borne by the local government, and
      medical insurance coverage rate is 217,107 (99%). Insurance average awareness of
      Hat Yai is 4449 (66.4%), Yulong County is 62,501 (28.5%), P<0.001, there are
      statistically significant differences between two cities. CONCLUSIONS: Thailand
      has good experience in training, well-paid, motivating and retaining talent for
      rural health human resources; multi-pronged, mechanism innovation, establish and
      perfect the system of human resources for health, is the essential way to solve
      the problem.

PMID- 28598459
TI  - True Brachial Artery Aneurysm Presenting as a Non-Pulsatile Mass.
AB  - Brachial artery aneurysms are rare disease that can be encountered. It is divided
      into true and false. The frequency of true aneurysm of the brachial artery is so
      much unusual. So, we present a case of a 59 year old male who presented to us
      with complaint of mass in left upper limb since many years ago. Now, there was
      sudden onset of progressive pain with coldness, numbness, tingling sensation and
      blackish discolouration of skin from 8 hours. The left upper limb was pulseless
      and color Doppler ultrasound showed a non-pulsatile aneurysm at the mid level of
      left brachial artery associated with arterial occlusion in its distal branch by
      thrombus. The patient was successfully revascularised by interposing a saphenous
      vein graft. Thus,this case suggest that the prompt diagnosis of true brachial
      artery aneurysm by ultrasound or color Doppler ultrasound and the proper
      treatment by surgical repair can save limb from dangerous sequel Keywords:
      brachial artery aneurysm; color doppler ultrasound; true aneurysm; ultrasound.

PMID- 28598458
TI  - Multidisciplinary Cooperation in a Simultaneous Combined Liver and Kidney
      Transplantation Patient of Primary Hyperoxaluria 1.
AB  - Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 is an autosomal recessive hereditary glyoxylate
      metabolism disorder characterized by excessive production of oxalate, caused by
      the deficiency of liver specific peroxisomal enzyme: alanineglyoxylate
      aminotransferase. For patients with end-stage renal disease, combined liver and
      kidney transplantation was needed. This report describes one patient, with a
      diagnosis of end-stage renal disease and primary hyperoxaluria 1 confirmed by PCR
      and direct sequencing with genomic DNA, received the simultaneous combined liver
      and kidney transplantation after seven months' waiting. However, there were
      several complications observed post surgery, such as protracted bleeding, common
      bile duct anastomotic stenosis, biliary calculi and recurrence of urolithiasis.
      All these were well solved by relevant department, and finally a satisfactory
      outcome was achieved. Multidisciplinary cooperation plays an important role on
      the PH1 patient management, especially when multiple complications are
      encountered.

PMID- 28598460
TI  - Hypercalcemia due to Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
AB  - Hypercalcemia is a rare metabolic disorder associated with hyperparathyroidism,
      malignancy and various other causes. Although common in adult malignancies,
      hypercalcemia is rare in pediatrics and purports poor prognosis. Nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma is rare with no reported hypercalcemic presentation. We present here a
      case of hypercalcemia in a child of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A 10 year girl
      presented with backache for 1 month, epistaxis, cough, chest-pain for 1 week
      alongwith anorexia and weight loss. Investigations revealed anemia and
      hypercalcemia (23mg/dl; normal range 9-11 mg/dl) with hyperphosphatemia, normal
      parathyroid levels. Hypercalcemic crisis was managed with saline, furosemide and
      bisphosphonate. Computed Tomography of paranasal sinuses revealed mass in right
      nasal cavity. Endoscopic biopsy disclosed undifferentiated nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma. The child expired despite supportive measures. Thus, hypercalcemia,
      though rare, may complicate advanced tumors. NPC, being rare in children,
      requires high index of suspicion with careful clinicoradiological examination and
      timely management for better chances of survival.

PMID- 28598461
TI  - Acute Retropharyngeal Abscess Masquerading as Meningitis.
AB  - Retropharyngeal abscess is a potentially serious deep neck space infection
      occurring more frequently in children than in adults. The clinical picture of RPA
      is highly variable with paucity of physical findings. Prompt diagnosis of RPA
      especially in infants is mandatory to prevent potential fatal complications
      including airway obstruction. The diagnosis of RPA should be based on high index
      of clinical suspicion with supportive imaging studies like lateral X-ray of neck
      and CT. We present a case of acute retropharyngeal abscess which was initially
      misdiagnosed as meningitis and led to airway obstruction. This case is reported
      to create awareness among emergency physicians, paediatricians and
      otolaryngologists to have high index of suspicion in diagnosing RPA especially in
      infants.

PMID- 28598462
TI  - An Experience of Optimizing A Community-Based Micro-Insurance Model to Bridge the
      Gap between Treatment Cost and Ability to pay at BPKIHS.
AB  - In the year 2001 the leaders of BPKIHS started a micro social insurance scheme;
      Social Health Insurance (SHI) for prospective research. It is a method of
      financing and managing health care using compulsory contributions from employers,
      employees and may be from the government. Household members from organized groups
      in catchment areas enrolled voluntarily. Photographed service cards were issued
      entitled for free IPD/OPD consultations, investigations and bed charges excluding
      CT scans and specialty treatment. Institute bore operation and medicine costs up
      to 10000 and 3500 respectively for IPD yearly. Premium was fixed after a research
      through focus group discussion in villages of Morang, Sunsari and Biratnagar. A
      flat rate premium of 15 and 50 NRS/adult/month for villagers, city dwellers and
      half for children was fixed. Marginalized community and handicapped paid 33% of
      premium, 33% by Institute and 33% by concerned VDC. As the client number
      increased from 2383 to 7392 in second and to 15779 in third year, Premium:
      Expenditure ratio moved from 225:222 to 198:391. Average cost sharing of premium
      to expenditure came to 226:332 showing a negative 3alance. This scheme completed
      its fourth year till this research in 2005 A.D. But it was closed due to deficit.
      As reinsured population occasionally concealed information by not incorporating
      all family members. They defaulted in subsequent year after utilizing the
      benefits of SHI and misused the card for uninsured ones. It may, in its optimized
      form, become a model to be widely adopted to bridge the gap between the cost of
      treatment and the ability to pay in developing countries.

PMID- 28598463
TI  - Re: Dementia Assessment and Management Protocol for Doctors in Nepal.

PMID- 28598464
TI  - Re: Comprehensive Diabetes and Non-Communicable Disease Educator in the Low
      Resource Settings -As NCD Primary Care Assistant with One Year Training.

PMID- 28598465
TI  - Dispersity effects in polymer self-assemblies: a matter of hierarchical control.
AB  - Advanced applications of polymeric self-assembled structures require a stringent
      degree of control over such aspects as functionality location, morphology and
      size of the resulting assemblies. A loss of control in the polymeric building
      blocks of these assemblies can have drastic effects upon the final morphology or
      function of these structures. Gaining precise control over various aspects of the
      polymers, such as chain lengths and architecture, blocking efficiency and
      compositional distribution is a challenge and, hence, measuring the intrinsic
      mass and size dispersity within these areas is an important aspect of such
      control. It is of great importance that a good handle on how to improve control
      and accurately measure it is achieved. Additionally dispersity of the final
      structure can also play a large part in the suitability for a desired
      application. In this Tutorial Review, we aim to highlight the different aspects
      of dispersity that are often overlooked and the effect that a lack of control can
      have on both the polymer and the final assembled structure.

PMID- 28598466
TI  - New Fukui, dual and hyper-dual kernels as bond reactivity descriptors.
AB  - We define three new linear response indices with promising applications for bond
      reactivity using the mathematical framework of tau-CRT (finite temperature
      chemical reactivity theory). The tau-Fukui kernel is defined as the ratio between
      the fluctuations of the average electron density at two different points in the
      space and the fluctuations in the average electron number and is designed to
      integrate to the finite-temperature definition of the electronic Fukui function.
      When this kernel is condensed, it can be interpreted as a site-reactivity
      descriptor of the boundary region between two atoms. The tau-dual kernel
      corresponds to the first order response of the Fukui kernel and is designed to
      integrate to the finite temperature definition of the dual descriptor; it
      indicates the ambiphilic reactivity of a specific bond and enriches the
      traditional dual descriptor by allowing one to distinguish between the electron
      accepting and electron-donating processes. Finally, the tau-hyper dual kernel is
      defined as the second-order derivative of the Fukui kernel and is proposed as a
      measure of the strength of ambiphilic bonding interactions. Although these
      quantities have never been proposed, our results for the tau-Fukui kernel and for
      tau-dual kernel can be derived in zero-temperature formulation of the chemical
      reactivity theory with, among other things, the widely-used parabolic
      interpolation model.

PMID- 28598467
TI  - Vibronic quantized tunneling controlled photoinduced electron transfer in an
      organic solar cell subjected to an external electric field.
AB  - In this work, vibration-resolved photoinduced electron transfer of an organic
      conjugated DA system subjected to an external electric field was theoretically
      investigated. The ground and excited state vibrational relaxation energies were
      quantitatively characterized. The effective high frequency, omegaeff, could be
      estimated from the variation in energy of the excited-state equilibrium
      geometries of acceptor and donor sites as well as the analysis of the vibrational
      modes upon electron transfer. For a PCDTBT:PC70BM blend in an external electric
      field, the vibronic modes affected the charge separation process differently from
      the charge recombination process. The simulated results indicated that the
      vibrational quantum tunneling effect facilitated the charge recombination process
      to a large extent. Thus, for electron transfer reactions, considering the
      vibrational excitation influence and perturbed nucleus-electron interactions is
      essential. These results provide a feasible way to enhance the efficiency in
      yielding the electron transfer process products.

PMID- 28598468
TI  - The synergy effect of rare earth cations on local structure and PL emission in a
      Ce3+:REPO4 (RE = La, Gd, Lu, Y) system.
AB  - REPO4 (RE = La, Gd, Lu, Y) serves as an excellent host lattice due to its stable
      physicochemical properties and optical inertia. Doping Gd3+(La3+) into LuPO4 can
      form mixed crystals, increasing the Gd3+(La3+) concentration will induce the
      phase transition from tetragonal to hexagonal lattices, and the variation of the
      local structure around the Ce3+ activator will influence its 5d-level position
      and consequently 5d -> 4f radiation transition. This can be attributed to the
      synergy effect of rare earth ions in REPO4, however, the essential mechanism of
      such a synergy effect on the local structure and optical property is still poorly
      understood. Here, we study the synergy effect of rare earth ions on the phase
      transition and PL emission in a Ce3+:REPO4 system on the basis of the
      relationship between the composition-dependent local structure around Ce3+ and
      its PL emission properties from a molecular view. The competition between Lu3+
      and Gd3+(La3+) in REPO4 not only influences the relative atomic position but also
      varies the symmetry of anion groups. Infrared absorption bands indicate that the
      activation of P-O bonding promotes phase transition and enhances PL emission
      intensity. The PL emission intensity of Ce3+ is higher in a REPO4 host with a
      lower site symmetry PO43- group (C2) than that with a higher site symmetry PO43-
      group (D2d). An increased disorder degree in Ce:GdxLu1-xPO4 mixed crystals leads
      to the shift of the 5d-level of Ce3+ towards a higher position, resulting in the
      blue shift of the PL emission wavelength. Moreover, the 5d -> 4f emission of Ce3+
      may also be modulated towards a larger wavelength via substituting the cation
      site with larger-radius cations under a particular crystallographic structure in
      REPO4. Our results highlight the importance of disordered local structures as
      well as activated anion groups in the enhanced PL emission of Ce3+ activators in
      a host lattice.

PMID- 28598469
TI  - Interfacial photochemistry of biogenic surfactants: a major source of abiotic
      volatile organic compounds.
AB  - Films of biogenic compounds exposed to the atmosphere are ubiquitously found on
      the surfaces of cloud droplets, aerosol particles, buildings, plants, soils and
      the ocean. These air/water interfaces host countless amphiphilic compounds
      concentrated there with respect to in bulk water, leading to a unique chemical
      environment. Here, photochemical processes at the air/water interface of biofilm
      containing solutions were studied, demonstrating abiotic VOC production from
      authentic biogenic surfactants under ambient conditions. Using a combination of
      online-APCI-HRMS and PTR-ToF-MS, unsaturated and functionalized VOCs were
      identified and quantified, giving emission fluxes comparable to previous field
      and laboratory observations. Interestingly, VOC fluxes increased with the decay
      of microbial cells in the samples, indicating that cell lysis due to cell death
      was the main source for surfactants and VOC production. In particular,
      irradiation of samples containing solely biofilm cells without matrix components
      exhibited the strongest VOC production upon irradiation. In agreement with
      previous studies, LC-MS measurements of the liquid phase suggested the presence
      of fatty acids and known photosensitizers, possibly inducing the observed VOC
      production via peroxy radical chemistry. Up to now, such VOC emissions were
      directly accounted to high biological activity in surface waters. However, the
      results obtained suggest that abiotic photochemistry can lead to similar
      emissions into the atmosphere, especially in less biologically-active regions.
      Furthermore, chamber experiments suggest that oxidation (O3/OH radicals) of the
      photochemically-produced VOCs leads to aerosol formation and growth, possibly
      affecting atmospheric chemistry and climate-related processes, such as cloud
      formation or the Earth's radiation budget.

PMID- 28598470
TI  - Synthesis and magnetochemistry of heterometallic triangular FeLnIII (Ln = La, Gd,
      Tb, Dy, and Ho) and FeYIII complexes.
AB  - A series of Fe2Ln (Ln = La, Gd, Tb, Dy and Ho) and Fe2Y complexes have been
      synthesized via metal substitution and characterized by single crystal X-ray
      diffraction. All the molecules are isostructural and have a Fe2LnO triangular
      core with the oxygen atom existing as an MU3-oxo2- anion. DC and AC magnetic
      susceptibility studies were performed on all the molecules. For Fe2Ln (Ln = Gd,
      La) and Fe2Y, the data were fitted to Van Vleck equations and the magnetic
      coupling constants were obtained. In all cases, the two Fe(iii) spins were found
      to be antiparallel to each other in the ground state leaving the heterometal to
      remain essentially uncoupled.

PMID- 28598471
TI  - Fast gate-tunable photodetection in the graphene sandwiched WSe2/GaSe
      heterojunctions.
AB  - We investigated electrical and photoelectrical properties of graphene sandwiched
      WSe2/GaSe van der Waals heterojunctions. The device showed a high rectification
      ratio up to 300 at Vds = 1.5/-1.5 V, which is attributed to the built-in electric
      field in the device. Due to the bipolar property of WSe2, gate-tunable
      rectification inversion was observed. Meanwhile, the graphene sandwiched
      heterojunction showed excellent performances on photodetection, where the
      photoresponsivity of (6.2 +/- 0.2) A W-1 can be reached under Vds = -1.5 V and P
      = 0.2 MUW. The device also showed great external quantum efficiency of (1490 +/-
      50)% and fast response time of ~30 MUs. Our study identified the graphene
      sandwiched heterojunctions based on 2D materials have great potential for gate
      tunable electronic and optoelectronic applications.

PMID- 28598472
TI  - Reaction of azides and enolisable aldehydes under the catalysis of organic bases
      and Cinchona based quaternary ammonium salts.
AB  - Herein we report a two-step sequence for the preparation of amides starting from
      azides and enolisable aldehydes. The reaction proceeded via the formation of
      triazoline intermediates that were converted into amides via Lewis acid
      catalysis. Preliminary studies on the preparation of triazolines under chiral
      phase transfer catalysis are also presented, demonstrating that enantioenriched
      amides could be prepared from achiral aldehydes in moderate to low
      enantioselectivity.

PMID- 28598473
TI  - Noninnocent ligands: heteroleptic nickel complexes with alpha-diimine and 1,2
      diketone derivatives.
AB  - Reaction of the Ni-Ni-bonded compound [(NiIL-)2] (1, L = [(2,6-iPr2C6H3)NC(Me)]2)
      with various 1,2-diketones afforded a series of heteroleptic complexes:
      [LNi(PhC(O)-C(O)Ph)] (2), [LNi(PhC(O)-C(O)Me)] (3), [LNi(3,5-tBu2C6H2O2)] (4),
      and [(LNi){MU-eta2,eta2-(MeC(O)-C(O)Me)}(NiL)] (5). Furthermore, the complex
      [Na(Et2O)][LNi{PhC(O)-C(O)Ph}] (6) was obtained by the reduction of 2 with 1.0
      equiv. of Na metal. These complexes, which contain three potential redox-active
      centers, nickel and both alpha-diimine and 1,2-diketone ligands, were
      characterized by X-ray crystallography, NMR, EPR, and UV-vis-NIR spectra,
      magnetic susceptibility measurements, and DFT computations to elucidate their
      electronic structures.

PMID- 28598474
TI  - Anisotropic longitudinal electronic relaxation affects DNP at cryogenic
      temperatures.
AB  - We report the observation of anisotropic longitudinal electronic relaxation in
      nitroxide radicals under typical dynamic nuclear polarization conditions. This
      anisotropy affects the efficiency of dynamic nuclear polarization at cryogenic
      temperatures of 4 K and high magnetic fields of 6.7 T. Under our experimental
      conditions, the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of nitroxides such as
      TEMPOL (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl) is only partly averaged by
      electronic spectral diffusion, so that the relaxation times T1e(omega) vary
      across the spectrum. We demonstrate how the anisotropy of T1e(omega) can be taken
      into account in simple DNP models.

PMID- 28598475
TI  - Improving present day and future estimates of anthropogenic sectoral emissions
      and the resulting air quality impacts in Africa.
AB  - The African continent is undergoing immense social and economic change,
      particularly regarding population growth and urbanization, where the urban
      population in Africa is anticipated to increase by a factor of 3 over the next 40
      years. To understand the potential health impacts from this demographical shift
      and design efficient emission mitigation strategies, we used improved Africa
      specific emissions that account for inefficient combustion sources for a number
      of sectors such as transportation, household energy generation, waste burning,
      and home heating and cooking. When these underrepresented emissions sources are
      combined with the current estimates of emissions in Africa, ambient particulate
      matter concentrations from present-day anthropogenic activity contribute to 13
      210 annual premature deaths, with the largest contributions (38%) coming from
      residential emissions. By scaling both the population and the emissions for
      projected national-scale levels of growth, the predicted health impact grows to
      approximately 78 986 annual premature deaths by 2030 with 45% now resulting from
      emissions related to energy combustion. In order to mitigate this resulting
      increase in premature deaths, three scenarios have been developed which reduce
      sector-specific future emissions based on prior targets for technological
      improvements and emission controls in transportation, energy production and
      residential activities. These targeted potential mitigation strategies can avoid
      up to 37% of the estimated annual premature deaths by 2030 with the largest
      opportunity being a reduction of 10 868 annual deaths from switching half of the
      energy generation in South Africa to renewable technologies.

PMID- 28598477
TI  - Revealing the slow decomposition kinetics of type-I clathrate Ba8Ga16Ge30.
AB  - Inconsistencies in high temperature thermoelectric property measurements of
      Ba8Ga16Ge30 have prompted our study on the thermal stability of this heavily
      studied inorganic clathrate. Using X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and
      imaging techniques on both powder and spark plasma sintered pelletized samples,
      we probe the structure and decomposition characteristics of this important high
      temperature thermoelectric material. We demonstrate that the decomposition of
      Ba8Ga16Ge30 is extremely dependent on the heating conditions employed and, as a
      result of the slow decomposition kinetics of the clathrate, reveal that the true
      stability of this system has been overlooked in the extensive literature
      available. Loss of Ga and Ge from the clathrate cage is evident in all high
      temperature experiments under both air and inert environments. This study serves
      to highlight that the underlying structural chemistry and stability of
      thermoelectric materials at high temperature needs to be considered in parallel
      with the thermoelectric properties which constitute the figure of merit. Only
      then will reliable thermoelectric modules for real applications be realized.

PMID- 28598476
TI  - On the mechanism of mechanochemical molecular encapsulation in peptidic capsules.
AB  - Molecular encapsulation of C60 inside a hydrogen-bond-sealed semi-flexible
      peptidic capsule is hindered in solution, yet it proceeds effectively after
      mechanical milling of a solid sample. We show that the molecular mechanism
      involves the generation of non-covalently disordered forms that are active in
      guest uptake. We also show that the solvent-free mechanochemical covalent
      synthesis of capsules directly results in obtaining disordered, active forms.

PMID- 28598478
TI  - Correction: Platinum complexes as light promoted anticancer agents: a redefined
      strategy for controlled activation.
AB  - Correction for 'Platinum complexes as light promoted anticancer agents: a
      redefined strategy for controlled activation' by Koushambi Mitra, et al., Dalton
      Trans., 2016, 45, 19157-19171.

PMID- 28598479
TI  - Organs-on-chips with integrated electrodes for trans-epithelial electrical
      resistance (TEER) measurements of human epithelial barrier function.
AB  - Trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is broadly used as an experimental
      readout and a quality control assay for measuring the integrity of epithelial
      monolayers cultured under static conditions in vitro, however, there is no
      standard methodology for its application to microfluidic organ-on-a-chip (organ
      chip) cultures. Here, we describe a new microfluidic organ chip design that
      contains embedded electrodes, and we demonstrate its utility for assessing
      formation and disruption of barrier function both within a human lung airway chip
      lined by a fully differentiated mucociliary human airway epithelium and in a
      human gut chip lined by intestinal epithelial cells. These chips with integrated
      electrodes enable real-time, non-invasive monitoring of TEER and can be applied
      to measure barrier function in virtually any type of cultured cell.

PMID- 28598480
TI  - Phosphine-catalyzed [3 + 2] and [4 + 2] annulation reactions of ynones with
      barbiturate-derived alkenes.
AB  - The phosphine-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation reaction of ynones and barbiturate
      derived alkenes has been developed with the assistance of a weak acid, giving
      functionalized spirobarbiturate-cyclopentanones in moderate to excellent yields
      with excellent E/Z stereoselectivity. An unprecedented [4 + 2] annulation of
      ynones with barbiturate-derived alkenes was also achieved in the presence of a
      phosphine catalyst and an inorganic base, affording biologically interesting 1,5
      dihydro-2H-pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidine-2,4(3H)-dione derivatives. An asymmetric
      variant of the [3 + 2] annulation reaction has been explored and a moderate
      enantioselectivity was obtained when a bifunctional chiral phosphine was used as
      a chiral catalyst. A plausible mechanism was proposed to illuminate two different
      reaction pathways.

PMID- 28598481
TI  - Pools of cadmium in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii revealed by chemical imaging and
      XAS spectroscopy.
AB  - The green micro-alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is commonly used as a model to
      investigate metallic stress in photosynthetic organisms. The aim of this study
      was to explore processes implemented by three C. reinhardtii strains to cope with
      cadmium (Cd), and particularly to evidence Cd sequestration in the cell. For
      that, we used a combination of subcellular fractionation and chemical imaging
      (micro X-ray fluorescence (MUXRF) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM/X
      EDS)) to identify subcellular compartments of Cd accumulation, and X-ray
      absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to determine chemical Cd speciation. C. reinhardtii
      wild type strain 11/32b (wt), a newly design strain (pcs1) expressing a modified
      phytochelatin synthase in the chloroplast and a cell wall less strain CC400
      (cw15) were exposed to 70 MUM Cd. At this Cd concentration, cell vitality was not
      affected, however, the strains showed various strategies to cope with Cd stress.
      In wt, most of Cd was diffused in the whole cell, and complexed by thiol ligands,
      while the other part was associated with phosphate in vacuolar Ca polyphosphate
      granules. Thiol ligands increased with exposure time, confirming their important
      role in Cd stress. In pcs1, Cd was also present as vacuolar Ca polyphosphate
      granules, and diffused in the cell as Cd-thiol complexes. In addition, while it
      should be regarded with caution, a minor proportion of Cd complexed by carboxyl
      groups, was potentially provided by starch produced around the pyrenoid and in
      the chloroplast. Results suggested that pcs1 uses thiol compounds such as PC to a
      lesser extent for Cd sequestration than wt. In cw15, an excretion of Cd, Ca
      polyphosphate granules has to be considered. Finally, Cd was detected in the
      pyrenoid of all strains.

PMID- 28598482
TI  - Correction: Structural stability of DNA origami nanostructures in the presence of
      chaotropic agents.
AB  - Correction for 'Structural stability of DNA origami nanostructures in the
      presence of chaotropic agents' by Saminathan Ramakrishnan et al., Nanoscale,
      2016, 8, 10398-10405.

PMID- 28598483
TI  - The photocurrent response in the perovskite device based on coordination
      polymers: structure, topology, band gap and matched energy levels.
AB  - Using a rigid ditopic ligand, 4,5-di(4'-carboxylphenyl)benzene (H2L), three
      coordination polymers (CPs) formulated as MnL(H2O)2 (1), CdL(H2O) (2) and
      Mn2L2(DMF)3 (3) have been synthesized and structurally characterized by single
      crystal X-ray diffraction. These three CPs display 2D architectures but with
      different topologies. The experimental data and DFT calculation indicate that CP
      2 is a semiconductor, and its CB/VB energy levels match with those of the
      perovskite CH3NH3PbI3. A FTO/TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3/CP 2 device is fabricated and the CP
      based device shows much larger photoresponse under visible light illumination
      (650 nm > lambda > 350 nm, 100 mW cm-2) than the individual CP 2. At 0 V vs.
      AgCl/Ag, the largest photocurrent density yielded by the CP-based perovskite
      device is ca. 200 times that of CP 2, which is due to the matched energy levels
      of all the materials in the device, leading the photogenerated electron-hole
      pairs to be separated effectively. Meanwhile, the coverage of the insoluble CP on
      the surface of the perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 can improve the stability of the
      perovskite against water.

PMID- 28598484
TI  - Correction: An intravascular bioartificial pancreas device (iBAP) with silicon
      nanopore membranes (SNM) for islet encapsulation under convective mass transport.
AB  - Correction for 'An intravascular bioartificial pancreas device (iBAP) with
      silicon nanopore membranes (SNM) for islet encapsulation under convective mass
      transport' by Shang Song et al., Lab Chip, 2017, 17, 1778-1792.

PMID- 28598485
TI  - An open-framework manganese(ii) phosphite and its composite membranes with
      polyvinylidene fluoride exhibiting intrinsic water-assisted proton conductance.
AB  - Proton conducting materials have important technological applications as key
      components in electrochemical devices, including fuel cells, electrochemical
      sensors, electrochemical reactors and electrochromic displays. And the
      exploration of novel proton conducting materials is significant for the
      development of efficient electrochemical devices. In this study, we have
      investigated the proton conductance of an open-framework manganese(ii) phosphite,
      (NH4)0.59(H3O)1.41Mn5(HPO3)6 (1). The open-framework manganese(ii) phosphate
      shows superior water-stability and excellent thermal stability. There was
      intrinsic water-assisted proton conductivity with sigma = 3.94 * 10-4 S cm-1 at
      328 K and 98% RH. Furthermore, composite membranes have further been fabricated
      using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and 1, labeled as 1@PVDF-X, where the symbol
      X represents the mass percentage of 1 (as X%) in the composite membrane and X =
      10-55%. The composite membranes display good mechanical performance and
      durability for practical applications, and the proton conductivity of 1@PVDF-55
      reaches 3.32 * 10-5 S cm-1 in deionized water at 336 K.

PMID- 28598486
TI  - Temperature dependent NIR emitting lanthanide-PMO/silica hybrid materials.
AB  - Two materials - a mesoporous silica (MS) and a periodic mesoporous organosilica
      (PMO) functionalized with dipyridyl-pyridazine (dppz) units were grafted with
      near-infrared (NIR) emitting lanthanide (Nd3+, Er3+, Yb3+) complexes in an
      attempt to obtain hybrid NIR emitting materials. The parent materials: dppz
      vSilica and dppz-ePMO were prepared by a hetero Diels-Alder reaction between 3,6
      di(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (dptz) and the double bonds of either ethenylene
      bridged PMO (ePMO) or vinyl-silica (vSilica) and subsequent oxidation. The dppz
      vSilica is reported here for the first time. The prepared lanthanide-PMO/silica
      hybrid materials were studied in depth for their luminescence properties at room
      temperature and chosen Nd3+ and Yb3+ samples also at low temperature (as low as
      10 K). We show that both the dppz-vSilica and dppz-ePMO materials can be used as
      "platforms" for obtaining porous materials showing NIR luminescence. To obtain
      NIR emission these materials can be excited either in the UV or Vis region (into
      the pi->pi* transitions of the ligands or directly into the f-f transitions of
      the Ln3+ ions). More interestingly, when functionalized with Nd3+ or Yb3+beta
      diketonate complexes these materials showed interesting luminescence properties
      over a wide temperature range (10-360 K). The Yb3+ materials were investigated
      for their potential use as ratiometric temperature sensors.

PMID- 28598487
TI  - Apigenin exhibits protective effects in a mouse model of d-galactose-induced
      aging via activating the Nrf2 pathway.
AB  - The aim of the present research was to study the protective effects and
      underlying mechanisms of apigenin on d-galactose-induced aging mice. Firstly,
      apigenin exhibited a potent antioxidant activity in vitro. Secondly, d-galactose
      was administered by subcutaneous injection once daily for 8 weeks to establish an
      aging mouse model to investigate the protective effect of apigenin. We found that
      apigenin supplementation significantly ameliorated aging-related changes such as
      behavioral impairment, decreased organic index, histopathological injury,
      increased senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SAbeta-gal) activity and
      advanced glycation end product (AGE) level. Further data showed that apigenin
      facilitated Nrf2 nuclear translocation both in aging mice and normal young mice,
      and the Nrf2 expression of normal young mice was higher than that of natural
      senile mice. In addition, the expressions of Nrf2 downstream gene targets,
      including HO-1 and NQO1, were also promoted by apigenin administration. Moreover,
      apigenin also decreased the MDA level and elevated SOD and CAT activities. In
      conclusion, focusing on the Nrf2 pathway is a suitable strategy to delay the
      aging process, and apigenin may exert an anti-senescent effect process via
      activating the Nrf2 pathway.

PMID- 28598488
TI  - Myosin light chain kinase knockout improves gut barrier function and confers a
      survival advantage in polymicrobial sepsis.
AB  - Sepsis-induced intestinal hyperpermeability is mediated by disruption of the
      epithelial tight junction, which is closely associated with the peri-junctional
      actin-myosin ring. Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) phosphorylates the myosin
      regulatory light chain, resulting in increased permeability. The purpose of this
      study was to determine whether genetic deletion of MLCK would alter gut barrier
      function and survival from sepsis. MLCK-/- and wild type (WT) mice were subjected
      to cecal ligation and puncture and assayed for both survival and mechanistic
      studies. Survival was significantly increased in MLCK-/- mice (95% vs. 24%,
      p<0.0001). Intestinal permeability increased in septic WT mice compared to
      unmanipulated mice. In contrast, permeability in septic MLCK-/- mice was similar
      to that seen in unmanipulated animals. Improved gut barrier function in MLCK-/-
      mice was associated with increases in the tight junction mediators ZO-1 and
      claudin 15 without alterations in claudin 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, occludin or
      JAM-A. Other components of intestinal integrity (apoptosis, proliferation and
      villus length) were unaffected by MLCK deletion as were local peritoneal
      inflammation and distant lung injury. Systemic IL-10 was decreased greater than
      10-fold in MLCK-/- mice; however, survival was similar between septic MLCK-/-
      mice given exogenous IL-10 or vehicle. These data demonstrate that deletion of
      MLCK improves survival following sepsis, associated with normalization of
      intestinal permeability and selected tight junction proteins.

PMID- 28598489
TI  - Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated protection of the rat heart exposed to
      ischemia reperfusion.
AB  - Reperfusion injury following acute myocardial infarction is associated with
      significant morbidity. Activation of neuronal or non-neuronal cholinergic
      pathways in the heart has been shown to reduce ischemic injury and this effect
      has been attributed primarily to muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. In contrast,
      the role of nicotinic receptors, specifically alpha-7 subtype (alpha7nAChR) in
      the myocardium remains unknown which offers an opportunity to potentially
      repurpose several agonists/modulators that are currently under development for
      neurologic indications. Treatment of ex vivo and in vivo rat models of cardiac
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) with a selective alpha7nAChR agonist (GTS21) showed
      significant increases in left ventricular developing pressure, and rates of
      pressure development without effects on heart rate. These positive functional
      effects were blocked by co-administration with methyllycaconatine (MLA), a
      selective antagonist of alpha7nAChRs. In vivo, delivery of GTS21 at the
      initiation of reperfusion, reduced infarct size by 42% (p<0.01) and decreased
      tissue reactive oxygen species (ROS) by 62% (p<0.01). Flow cytometry of
      MitoTracker Red stained mitochondria showed that mitochondrial membrane potential
      was normalized in mitochondria isolated from GTS21 treated compared to untreated
      I/R hearts. Intracellular ATP concentration in cultured cardiomyocytes exposed to
      hypoxia/reoxygenation was reduced (p<0.001), but significantly increased to
      normoxic levels with GTS21 treatment, and this was abrogated by MLA pretreatment.
      Activation of stress-activated kinases, JNK and p38MAPK, were significantly
      reduced by GTS21 in I/R. We conclude that targeting myocardial 17nAChRs in I/R
      may provide therapeutic benefit by improving cardiac contractile function through
      a mechanism that preserves mitochondrial membrane potential, maintains
      intracellular ATP and reduces ROS generation, thus limiting infarct size.

PMID- 28598490
TI  - Development of a zebrafish sepsis model for high-throughput drug discovery.
AB  - Sepsis is a leading cause of death worldwide. Current treatment modalities remain
      largely supportive. Intervention strategies focused on inhibiting specific
      mediators of the inflammatory host response have been largely unsuccessful, a
      consequence of an inadequate understanding of the complexity and heterogeneity of
      the innate immune response. Moreover, the conventional drug development pipeline
      is time consuming and expensive and the low success rates associated with cell
      based screens underline the need for whole organism screening strategies,
      especially for complex pathological processes. Here, we established an LPS
      induced zebrafish endotoxemia model, which exhibits the major hallmarks of human
      sepsis including, edema and tissue/organ damage, increased vascular permeability
      and vascular leakage accompanied by an altered expression of cellular junction
      proteins, increased cytokine expression, immune cell activation and ROS
      production, reduced circulation and increased platelet aggregation. We tested the
      suitability of the model for phenotype-based drug screening using three primary
      readouts: mortality, vascular leakage, and ROS production. Preliminary screening
      identified fasudil, a drug known to protect against vascular leakage in murine
      models, as a lead hit thereby validating the utility of our model for sepsis drug
      screens. This zebrafish sepsis model has the potential to rapidly analyze sepsis
      associated pathologies and cellular processes in the whole organism, as well as
      to screen and validate large numbers of compounds that can modify sepsis
      pathology in vivo.

PMID- 28598492
TI  - Use of 2-Octyl Cyanoacrylate Adhesive and Polyester Mesh for Wound Closure in
      Primary Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - Wound closure in primary knee arthroplasty is important both for surgical
      success, by minimizing the risk of wound complications and infection, and for
      patient satisfaction with wound care and cosmesis. This article reports the use
      of a topical self-adhering, pressure-sensitive polyester mesh combined with 2
      octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive for final skin closure of primary knee arthroplasty
      without external staples or sutures. During a 2.5-year period, 360 consecutive
      primary knee arthroplasty procedures (321 total knee arthroplasty procedures and
      39 partial knee arthroplasty procedures) performed by 1 surgeon at 1 institution
      were reviewed. For all primary arthroplasty procedures, closure was performed
      with a standardized method. Final skin closure was performed with 2-octyl
      cyanoacrylate adhesive and polyester mesh. Patients returned at 6 weeks and 1
      year postoperatively. The study found a 0.8% rate of superficial wound
      complications, no cases of dehiscence, no wound complications requiring operative
      irrigation and debridement, and no prosthetic joint infections. One patient had a
      reaction consistent with previously reported localized contact dermatitis that
      was believed to be related to the 2-octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive. In 2 cases,
      treatment with cephalexin was required, in 1 case for 2 small suture abscesses
      and in the other case for periincisional cellulitis. All wound complications
      resolved by 6 weeks. The results showed that 2-octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive and
      polyester mesh can be used successfully in the setting of primary knee
      arthroplasty for closure of high-tension knee arthroplasty wounds. This series
      found a 0.8% rate of superficial wound complications, no cases of dehiscence, and
      no infections. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):e784-e787.].

PMID- 28598491
TI  - Modularity in Total Hip Arthroplasty: Benefits, Risks, Mechanisms, Diagnosis, and
      Management.
AB  - Modular implants are currently widely used in total hip arthroplasty because they
      give surgeons versatility during the operation, allow for easier revision
      surgery, and can be adjusted to better fit the anatomy of the specific patient.
      However, modular implants, specifically those that have metal-on-metal junctions,
      are susceptible to crevice and fretting corrosion. This can ultimately cause
      implant failure, inflammation, and adverse local tissue reaction, among other
      possible side effects. Surgeons should be aware of the possibility of implant
      corrosion and should follow a set of recommended guidelines to systematically
      diagnose and treat patients with corroded implants. Ultimately, surgeons will
      continue to use modular implants because of their widespread benefits. However,
      more research is needed to determine how to minimize corrosion and the negative
      side effects that have been associated with modular junctions in total hip
      arthroplasty. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(6):355-366.].

PMID- 28598494
TI  - Decreased Radiation Exposure Among Orthopedic Residents Is Maintained When Using
      the Mini C-Arm After Undergoing Radiation Safety Training.
AB  - The resident curriculum of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery emphasizes
      radiation safety. Gendelberg showed that, immediately after a program on
      fluoroscopic safety, residents used less radiation when using the mini C-arm to
      reduce pediatric fractures. The current study evaluated whether this effect
      lasted. Residents underwent a new annual 3-hour session on mini C-arm use and
      radiation. Group A included 53 reductions performed before training. Group B
      included 45 reductions performed immediately after training. Group C included 46
      reductions performed 11 months later. For distal radius fractures, exposure time
      and amount were 38.1 seconds and 83.1 mR, respectively, for group A; 26.7 seconds
      and 32.6 mR, respectively, for group B; and 24.1 seconds and 40.0 mR,
      respectively, for group C. When radiation time and amount were compared between
      group B and group C, P values were .525 and .293, respectively. When group C and
      group A were compared, P values were <.05 and <.01, respectively. For both bone
      forearm fractures, exposure time and amount were 41.2 seconds and 90.9 mR,
      respectively, for group A; 28.9 seconds and 30.4 mR, respectively, for group B;
      and 31.2 seconds and 43.6 mR, respectively, for group C. When radiation time and
      amount were compared between group B and group C, P values were .704 and .117,
      respectively. When group C and group A were compared, P values were .183 and
      .004, respectively. No significant difference in radiation exposure was noted
      immediately after training vs 11 months later. A sustained decrease in radiation
      exposure occurred after an educational program on safe mini C-arm use.
      [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(5):e788-e792.].

PMID- 28598493
TI  - Adult Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis.
AB  - Adult degenerative lumbar scoliosis is a 3-dimensional deformity defined as a
      coronal deviation of greater than 10 degrees . It causes significant pain and
      disability in the elderly. With the aging of the population, the incidence of
      adult degenerative lumbar scoliosis will continue to increase. During the past
      decade, advancements in surgical techniques and instrumentation have changed the
      management of adult spinal deformity and led to improved long-term outcomes. In
      this article, the authors provide a comprehensive review of the pathophysiology,
      diagnosis, and management of adult degenerative lumbar scoliosis. [Orthopedics.
      2017; 40(6):e930-e939.].

PMID- 28598495
TI  - Ultrasonography for endoleak detection after endoluminal abdominal aortic
      aneurysm repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with abdominal aortic aneurysm who receive endovascular
      aneurysm repair (EVAR) need lifetime surveillance to detect potential endoleaks.
      Endoleak is defined as persistent blood flow within the aneurysm sac following
      EVAR. Computed tomography (CT) angiography is considered the reference standard
      for endoleak surveillance. Colour duplex ultrasound (CDUS) and contrast-enhanced
      CDUS (CE-CDUS) are less invasive but considered less accurate than CT.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of colour duplex ultrasound
      (CDUS) and contrast-enhanced-colour duplex ultrasound (CE-CDUS) in terms of
      sensitivity and specificity for endoleak detection after endoluminal abdominal
      aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). SEARCH METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, Embase,
      LILACS, ISI Conference Proceedings, Zetoc, and trial registries in June 2016
      without language restrictions and without use of filters to maximize sensitivity.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Any cross-sectional diagnostic study evaluating participants
      who received EVAR by both ultrasound (with or without contrast) and CT scan
      assessed at regular intervals. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two pairs of review
      authors independently extracted data and assessed quality of included studies
      using the QUADAS 1 tool. A third review author resolved discrepancies. The unit
      of analysis was number of participants for the primary analysis and number of
      scans performed for the secondary analysis. We carried out a meta-analysis to
      estimate sensitivity and specificity of CDUS or CE-CDUS using a bivariate model.
      We analysed each index test separately. As potential sources of heterogeneity, we
      explored year of publication, characteristics of included participants (age and
      gender), direction of the study (retrospective, prospective), country of origin,
      number of CDUS operators, and ultrasound manufacturer. MAIN RESULTS: We
      identified 42 primary studies with 4220 participants. Twenty studies provided
      accuracy data based on the number of individual participants (seven of which
      provided data with and without the use of contrast). Sixteen of these studies
      evaluated the accuracy of CDUS. These studies were generally of moderate to low
      quality: only three studies fulfilled all the QUADAS items; in six (40%) of the
      studies, the delay between the tests was unclear or longer than four weeks; in
      eight (50%), the blinding of either the index test or the reference standard was
      not clearly reported or was not performed; and in two studies (12%), the
      interpretation of the reference standard was not clearly reported. Eleven studies
      evaluated the accuracy of CE-CDUS. These studies were of better quality than the
      CDUS studies: five (45%) studies fulfilled all the QUADAS items; four (36%) did
      not report clearly the blinding interpretation of the reference standard; and two
      (18%) did not clearly report the delay between the two tests.Based on the
      bivariate model, the summary estimates for CDUS were 0.82 (95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.66 to 0.91) for sensitivity and 0.93 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.96) for
      specificity whereas for CE-CDUS the estimates were 0.94 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.98) for
      sensitivity and 0.95 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.98) for specificity. Regression analysis
      showed that CE-CDUS was superior to CDUS in terms of sensitivity (LR Chi2 = 5.08,
      1 degree of freedom (df); P = 0.0242 for model improvement).Seven studies
      provided estimates before and after administration of contrast. Sensitivity
      before contrast was 0.67 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.83) and after contrast was 0.97 (95%
      CI 0.92 to 0.99). The improvement in sensitivity with of contrast use was
      statistically significant (LR Chi2 = 13.47, 1 df; P = 0.0002 for model
      improvement).Regression testing showed evidence of statistically significant
      effect bias related to year of publication and study quality within individual
      participants based CDUS studies. Sensitivity estimates were higher in the studies
      published before 2006 than the estimates obtained from studies published in 2006
      or later (P < 0.001); and studies judged as low/unclear quality provided higher
      estimates in sensitivity. When regression testing was applied to the individual
      based CE-CDUS studies, none of the items, namely direction of the study design,
      quality, and age, were identified as a source of heterogeneity.Twenty-two studies
      provided accuracy data based on number of scans performed (of which four provided
      data with and without the use of contrast). Analysis of the studies that provided
      scan based data showed similar results. Summary estimates for CDUS (18 studies)
      showed 0.72 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.85) for sensitivity and 0.95 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.96)
      for specificity whereas summary estimates for CE-CDUS (eight studies) were 0.91
      (95% CI 0.68 to 0.98) for sensitivity and 0.89 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.96) for
      specificity. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review demonstrates that both ultrasound
      modalities (with or without contrast) showed high specificity. For ruling in
      endoleaks, CE-CDUS appears superior to CDUS. In an endoleak surveillance
      programme CE-CDUS can be introduced as a routine diagnostic modality followed by
      CT scan only when the ultrasound is positive to establish the type of endoleak
      and the subsequent therapeutic management.

PMID- 28598496
TI  - Introduction to the Special Section of Child Development on Positive Youth
      Development in Diverse and Global Contexts.
AB  - Positive youth development (PYD) research seeks to understand and promote
      positive aspects of development in young people. In this the special section,
      focused upon youth from diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds around the globe, we
      describe the origins and development of the field, identify key and emerging
      themes, and present the challenges for work in the area in the years ahead.
      Central to these are elements that are inherent in many of the articles that
      constitute the section: These include a need to articulate more clearly the role
      of social and cultural context in positive development, a need to refine the
      measures and methods used for collecting data, the significance of social
      identities, and engagement with other fields of study and with policymakers.

PMID- 28598497
TI  - Descriptive and Temporal Saltiness Perception Properties of Model Solid
      Lipoproteic Colloid Foods-Implications for Sodium Reduction.
AB  - Solid lipoproteic colloid (SLC) foods that consist of an oil-in-water emulsion of
      lipid and protein such as cheese and sausage contribute a significant amount of
      sodium to modern diets. This study aimed to correlate the overall saltiness
      perception to the texture and temporal saltiness perception of SLCs to understand
      saltiness perception during oral processing. Model SLCs with varying levels of
      protein and fat were prepared via pressure homogenization of whey protein
      isolate, anhydrous milk fat, and NaCl, followed by heat-induced gelation.
      Descriptive sensory analysis (DSA) and time-intensity (TI) method were used to
      characterize the sensory profiles and the temporal saltiness perception
      properties of the SLCs, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) and
      cluster analysis of the DSA results showed that the samples were grouped based on
      the formulation and the homogenization pressures. The maximum saltiness intensity
      in the TI curves increased with decreasing contents of protein and fat and
      decreasing homogenization pressures. The PCA and cluster analysis of the taste
      and texture attributes from the DSA and the TI parameters showed that the nonfat
      samples were clustered together, characterized by the DSA salty taste, syneresis
      texture, and the TI initial saltiness intensity. When only fat-containing samples
      were analyzed, the DSA salty attribute correlated significantly with the texture
      attributes of fracturable and syneresis. The dependence of saltiness perception
      on the texture properties of the nonfat and fat-containing samples discovered in
      this study provided insights for the future development of reduced-sodium
      products.

PMID- 28598498
TI  - Happy To Be "Me?" Authenticity, Psychological Need Satisfaction, and Subjective
      Well-Being in Adolescence.
AB  - Adolescents have a strong desire to "be themselves." How does experiencing
      authenticity-the sense of being one's true self-influence subjective well-being?
      What allows adolescents to experience authenticity? This research tests a working
      model of how authenticity is implicated in adolescents' well-being. Using survey,
      diary, and experimental methodologies, four studies (total N = 759, age range =
      12-17) supported the main tenets of the model. Authenticity (a) enhances well
      being, (b) covaries with satisfaction of psychological needs for relatedness and
      competence; is caused by satisfaction of the need for autonomy; and (c) mediates
      the link between need satisfaction and well-being. Authenticity is more than a
      powerful motive: It has robust, replicable effects on well-being and may thus be
      a pervasive force in positive youth development.

PMID- 28598499
TI  - An experimental test of local adaptation among cytotypes within a polyploid
      complex.
AB  - The geographic distributions of polyploids suggest they can have distinct and
      sometimes broader niches compared to diploids. However, relatively few field
      experiments have investigated whether range differences are associated with local
      adaptation or reflect other processes, such as dispersal limitation. In three
      years of transplants across the elevational ranges of five cytotypes in the
      Claytonia perfoliata complex, we found evidence for local adaptation. In at least
      one study year germination was higher within the natural range for each cytotype,
      and four of the five cytotypes attained larger biomass within their natural
      range. Fitness within and beyond range varied across years, with two instances of
      cytotypes showing higher fitness beyond the range, highlighting a potential role
      of temporal variability in cytotype differentiation. Polyploids as a group did
      not outperform diploids, but the cytotype with highest fitness across
      environments was a hexaploid reported to be invasive. Our results suggest that
      differences in geographic ranges within the C. perfoliata complex reflect local
      adaptation of cytotypes. Although we did not find a general polyploid advantage,
      our findings support the idea that occasional polyploid cytotypes exhibit high
      fitness relative to other cytotypes, and contribute to growing evidence
      supporting ecological differentiation of cytotypes within polyploid complexes.

PMID- 28598500
TI  - Using propensity score matching to evaluate the effect of complementary medicine
      on clinical and embryologic outcomes of in vitro fertilization.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between using complementary medical therapies
      (CMTs) and embryologic and clinical outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF).
      METHODS: The present prospective questionnaire-based cohort study enrolled women
      aged 18-44 years undergoing their first, second, or third IVF cycle using their
      own oocytes at a large IVF clinic in Israel between February 1, 2013, and July
      31, 2015. Clinical and embryologic data were obtained from patient records and
      patients completed a self-administered questionnaire that included details of any
      CMTs used to treat infertility. Propensity score matching was used and the
      proportion of top-quality embryos was compared between CMT users and non-users.
      RESULTS: The study enrolled 400 participants and 134 (33.5%) reported using CMT
      to treat infertility. In an unmatched analysis, reduced endometrium thickness was
      observed among CMT users (P=0.020); differences were not observed for embryologic
      or other clinical parameters. Following propensity score matching, reduced
      endometrial thickness (P=0.046), and a lower proportion (P=0.046) and number
      (P=0.040) of top-quality embryos were observed among CMT users in comparison with
      patients who did not use CMTs. CONCLUSIONS: Using CMTs was associated with
      inferior clinical and embryologic outcomes; using CMTs during IVF treatment could
      contribute to adverse outcomes.

PMID- 28598501
TI  - Effect of craniofacial genotype on the relationship between morphology and
      feeding performance in cichlid fishes.
AB  - The relationship between morphology and performance is complex, but important for
      understanding the adaptive nature of morphological variation. Recent studies have
      sought to better understand this system by illuminating the interconnectedness of
      different functional systems; however, the role of genetics is often overlooked.
      In this study, we attempt to gain insights into this relationship by examining
      the effect of genotypic variation at putative craniofacial loci on the
      relationship between morphology and feeding performance in cichlids. We studied
      two morphologically disparate species, as well as a morphologically intermediate
      hybrid population. We assessed feeding performance, jaw protrusion, and general
      facial morphology for each fish. We also genotyped hybrid animals at six
      previously identified craniofacial loci. Cichlid species were found to differ in
      facial geometry, kinematic morphology, and performance. Significant correlations
      were also noted between these variables; however, the explanatory power of facial
      geometry in predicting performance was relatively poor. Notably, when hybrids
      were grouped by genotype, the relationship between shape and performance
      improved. This relationship was especially robust in animals with the specialist
      allele at sox9b, a well-characterized regulator of craniofacial development.
      These data suggest a novel role for genotype in influencing complex relationships
      between form and function.

PMID- 28598503
TI  - Children's Early Awareness of Comprehension as Evident in Their Spontaneous
      Corrections of Speech Errors.
AB  - A crucial human cognitive goal is to understand and to be understood. But
      understanding often takes active management. Two studies investigated early
      developmental processes of understanding management by focusing on young
      children's comprehension monitoring. We ask: When and how do young children
      actively monitor their comprehension of social-communicative interchanges and so
      seek to clarify and correct their own potential miscomprehension? Study 1
      examined the parent-child conversations of 13 children studied longitudinally in
      everyday situations from the time the children were approximately 2 years through
      3 years. Study 2 used a seminaturalistic situation in the laboratory to address
      these questions with more precision and control with 36 children aged 2-3 years.

PMID- 28598502
TI  - Balanced Bcl-3 expression in murine CD4+ T cells is required for generation of
      encephalitogenic Th17 cells.
AB  - The function of NF-kappaB family members is controlled by multiple mechanisms
      including the transcriptional regulator Bcl-3, an atypical member of the IkappaB
      family. By using a murine model of conditional Bcl-3 overexpression specifically
      in T cells, we observed impairment in the development of Th2, Th1, and Th17
      cells. High expression of Bcl-3 promoted CD4+ T-cell survival, but at the same
      time suppressed proliferation in response to TCR stimulation, resulting in
      reduced CD4+ T-cell expansion. As a consequence, T-cell-specific overexpression
      of Bcl-3 led to reduced inflammation in the small intestine of mice applied with
      anti-CD3 in a model of gut inflammation. Moreover, impaired Th17-cell development
      resulted in the resistance of Bcl-3 overexpressing mice to EAE, a mouse model of
      multiple sclerosis. Thus, we concluded that fine-tuning expression of Bcl-3 is
      needed for proper CD4+ T-cell development and is required to sustain Th17-cell
      mediated pathology.

PMID- 28598504
TI  - Microencapsulation of Corn Wastewater (Nejayote) Phytochemicals by Spray Drying
      and Their Release Under Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion.
AB  - Corn lime cooking generates a large amount of wastewater known as nejayote that
      is composed of suspended solids and solubilized phytochemicals. Spray drying can
      be an alternative to recover bioactive molecules, such as ferulic acid, from
      nejayote. Besides the yield, the physicochemical properties (solubility, water
      activity, pH, moisture, hygroscopicity, total phenolic content, and distribution
      of free and bound hydroxycinnamic acids) of spray-dried nejayote powders were
      analyzed. The powders were obtained at 200  degrees C/100  degrees C or 150 
      degrees C/75  degrees C (inlet/outlet) air temperatures with the addition of
      maltodextrin (MD) or 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HBCD) as encapsulating
      agents. Even when no carrier agent was used, a spray-dried nejayote powder was
      produced. The use of MD or HBCD as carrier increased the yield from 60.26% to
      68.09% or 71.83%, respectively. As expected, a high inlet temperature (200 
      degrees C) allowed a satisfactory yield (>70%) and a low powder moisture (2.5%)
      desired by the industry. Water activity was reduced from 0.586 to 0.307 when HBCD
      was used in combination with a drying inlet temperature of 150  degrees C; and
      from 0.488 to 0.280 when the inlet temperature was set at 200  degrees C. Around
      100% bioaccessibility of the compounds was observed after in vitro digestion. The
      addition of HBCD increased the release time (P < 0.05). Under simulated
      physiological conditions, there was no reduction of total phenolics, suggesting a
      good stability. This paper showed the feasibility to engage the spray drying
      technology to the corn industry to minimize their residues and reuse their by
      products.

PMID- 28598505
TI  - Paving the way for Bartter syndrome type 3 drug discovery: a hope from basic
      research.

PMID- 28598506
TI  - Atrial overdrive pacing during wide QRS tachycardia with RBBB morphology. What is
      the mechanism?

PMID- 28598507
TI  - Periodontal Disease Associated with Higher Risk of Dementia: Population-Based
      Cohort Study in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the magnitude and temporal aspect of the effect of poor
      dental health and periodontal disease (PD) on dementia. DESIGN: Retrospective
      cohort study SETTING: Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.
      PARTICIPANTS: Individuals with newly diagnosed PD (N = 182,747) MEASUREMENTS:
      Participants were followed from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2010.
      Participants were assigned to dental prophylaxis, intensive periodontal
      treatment, tooth extraction, or no treatment, according to International
      Classification of Diseases codes and PD treatment codes. The incidence rate of
      dementia of the groups was compared. The association between PD and dementia was
      analyzed using Cox regression, with adjustments for age, sex, monthly income,
      residential urbanicity, and comorbidities. RESULTS: The incidence of dementia was
      significantly higher in the group with PD that did not receive treatment (0.76%
      per year) and in the group that had teeth extracted (0.57% per year) than in the
      group that underwent intensive PD treatment (0.35% per year) and the group that
      received dental prophylaxis (0.39% per year) (P < .001). After adjusting for
      confounders, the Cox proportional hazards model revealed a higher risk of
      dementia in the group with PD who did not undergo treatment (hazard ratio (HR) =
      1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04-1.24) and the group that had teeth
      extracted (HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.04-1.16) than in the group that received dental
      prophylaxis. CONCLUSION: Subjects who had more severe PD or did not receive
      periodontal treatment were at greater risk of developing dementia.

PMID- 28598508
TI  - Farm to Sensory Lab: Taste of Blueberry Fruit by Children and Adults.
AB  - The average American child eats fewer fruits than recommended. Although taste is
      the primary motivator for food intake among children, little research has
      systematically measured children's liking of fruit and determined whether their
      preferences differ from adults. We phenotyped 49 children and their mothers to
      determine: (1) their liking of the taste of 3 blueberry cultivars ("Arcadia,"
      "Keecrisp," and "Kestrel") from 2 harvests for which total soluble solids were
      determined using a handheld Brix refractometer; (2) the association between
      liking and blueberry sugar content; and (3) the most preferred level of fructose,
      one of the primary sugars in blueberry fruit. Multiple methods, identical for all
      participants, assessed which cultivar they liked best. Dietary intake, determined
      via 24-h dietary recall, revealed most children (73%) and adults (92%) did not
      meet dietary guidelines for fruit intake. We found that during the 1st harvest,
      Keecrisp was sweeter by 4 degrees  Brix than either Arcadia or Kestrel and was
      the cultivar most preferred by both children and adults. For the 2nd harvest,
      mothers liked each of the cultivars equally, but children preferred Arcadia,
      which was 2 degrees  Brix sweeter than the other 2 cultivars. Like other sugars,
      children's most preferred concentration of fructose was significantly higher than
      that of adults. In sum, children appear to be more sensitive to smaller
      variations in sweetness than are adults. Identifying drivers of fruit preference
      and assessing children's liking for whole fruits are important steps in
      developing strategies to increase fruit consumption among children.

PMID- 28598509
TI  - Comparison of Nutritional Composition, Aroma Compounds, and Biological Activities
      of Two Kinds of Tartary Buckwheat Tea.
AB  - Tartary buckwheat tea (TBT) is becoming increasingly popular for its unique
      flavor and health benefits. However, there is little information regarding the
      differences in nutritional quality among different kinds of TBT. Two kinds of TBT
      samples, whole grain tea (WGT) and whole plant tea (WPT), were collected from
      markets in China. The content of their nutritional compositions, including
      protein, amino acids, starch, fat, fatty acids, and flavonoids, as well as aroma
      compounds, were determined. Antioxidant and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory
      activities were also evaluated. WPT showed higher levels of protein and fat
      relative to WGT, but the content of essential amino acids and fatty acids was
      lower. WPT contained more total flavonoids with quercetin as the predominant
      flavonoid (81%), while rutin was the principal flavonoid compound (86%) in WGT.
      GC-MS analysis indicated that there were some differences in the aroma compound
      profile between WGT and WPT, though 14 aroma compounds were identified in both of
      them with 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethyl-pyrazine as the predominant compound. In addition,
      WPT showed superior antioxidant and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activities than
      WGT. However, the total flavonoid content determined in tea soup was decreased by
      60% and 98% compared with that in the alcohol extracts of WGT and WPT,
      respectively. The antioxidant and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activities of tea
      soup were also lowered, especially for WPT. The differences between 2 kinds of
      TBT might be due to the variety of raw materials and processing methods.
      Diversified plant materials and scientific processing technologies should be
      taken into account to develop a nutritional and healthy TBT product.

PMID- 28598511
TI  - Evaluating Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) leukocyte
      differential counts comparing the CellaVision DM96 and the manual method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The leukocyte differential count is an excellent diagnostic tool;
      however, the manual differential count has several drawbacks, especially for
      nontraditional species. Automated cell analyzers commonly used in veterinary
      practices require species-specific validation for use in nondomestic species
      other than dogs and cats. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine
      the potential of the CellaVision DM96 (DM96), an automated image analysis system,
      as a rapid and accurate method for providing a WBC differential count in
      comparison to the manual WBC differential count in bottlenose dolphins. METHODS:
      Ten fresh, EDTA anticoagulated blood samples were collected, blood smears were
      made and stained, and the differential WBC counts were performed on the DM96 and
      compared with manual differential WBC counts. Agreement, means, and errors were
      compared between the methods. RESULTS: There was good agreement between the DM96
      and manual differential WBC counts for neutrophils; however, there was
      significant variation when comparing lymphocyte, monocyte, and eosinophil counts.
      No basophils were seen by any method. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a small sample size,
      the DM96 appeared to provide a viable alternative for automated neutrophil
      counting in blood of bottlenose dolphins. Whether the counts are comparable in
      animals with highly pathologic differential counts must be addressed in follow-up
      studies, preferably with more study animals.

PMID- 28598512
TI  - Long-term dental management of a patient with features of Schopf-Schulz-Passarge
      syndrome.
AB  - Schopf-Schulz-Passarge syndrome (SSPS) is thought to be a rare autosomal
      recessive condition similar to many other ectodermal dysplasias. Diagnosis is
      difficult, with many possible differential diagnoses; however, eyelid cysts are a
      commonly seen feature. This clinical report aims to highlight this and describe
      the dental features and management of this syndrome, which existing literature
      has not previously described.

PMID- 28598513
TI  - Structural study of the bladder in fetuses with prune belly syndrome.
AB  - AIMS: To study the bladder structure of fetuses with prune belly syndrome (PBS).
      METHODS: We studied three bladders obtained from three male fetuses with PBS and
      seven bladders from seven male fetuses without anomalies. Each bladder was
      dissected and embedded in paraffin, from which 5 MUm thick sections were obtained
      and stained with Masson's trichrome (to quantify connective tissue and smooth
      muscle) and picrosirius red with polarization (to observe collagen).
      Immunohistochemistry with tubulin (Tubulin, beta III, Mouse Monoclonal Antibody)
      was applied to observe the bladder nerves. The images were captured with an
      Olympus BX51 microscope and Olympus DP70 camera. The stereological analysis was
      done with the Image Pro and Image J programs, using a grid to determine
      volumetric densities (Vv). Means were statistically compared using the Mann
      Whitney test (P < 0.05). RESULTS: Quantitative analysis documented that smooth
      muscle fibers were significantly smaller (P = 0.04) in PBS fetuses (9.67% to
      17.75%, mean = 13.2%) compared to control group (13.33% to 26.56%, mean =
      17.43%). The analysis of collagen fibers showed predominance of green in the
      control group, suggesting collagen type III presence, and predominance of red in
      the in PBS fetal bladders, suggesting collagen type I presence in this group. The
      qualitative analysis of the nerves with immunohistochemistry with tubulin showed
      predominance of nerves in the control group. CONCLUSION: The bladder in PBS had
      lower concentrations of smooth muscle fibers, collagen type III, and nerves.
      These structural alterations can be one of the factors involved in urinary tract
      abnormality such as distended bladder in patients with PBS.

PMID- 28598510
TI  - Relative efficacy and safety of ticagelor vs clopidogrel as a function of time to
      invasive management in non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome in the
      PLATO trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Guidelines suggest that "upstream" P2Y12 receptor antagonists should
      be considered in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes
      (NSTE-ACS). HYPOTHESIS: Early use of ticagrelor in patients managed with an
      invasive strategy would be more effective than clopidogrel because of its more
      rapid onset of action and greater potency. METHODS: In the PLATO trial, 6792 NSTE
      ACS patients were randomized to ticagrelor or clopidogrel (started prior to
      angiography) and underwent angiography within 72 hours of randomization. We
      compared efficacy and safety outcomes of ticagrelor vs clopidogrel as a function
      of "early" (<3h) vs "late" (>=3h) time to angiography. Adjusted Cox proportional
      hazards models evaluated interaction between randomized treatment and time from
      randomization to angiography on subsequent outcomes. RESULTS: Overall, a benefit
      of ticagrelor vs clopidogrel for cardiovascular death/myocardial
      infarction/stroke was seen at day 7 (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.67, P = 0.002), day 30
      (HR: 0.81, P = 0.042), and 1 year (HR: 0.80, P = 0.0045). There were no
      significant interactions in the <3h vs >=3h groups at any timepoint. For major
      bleeding, overall there was no significant increase (HR: 1.04, 95% confidence
      interval: 0.85-1.27); but there was a significant interaction with no difference
      between ticagrelor and clopidogrel in the early group (HR: 0.79), but higher
      bleeding risk with ticagrelor in the late angiography group, at 7 days (HR: 1.51,
      Pint = 0.002). Patterns were similar at 30 days and 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: The
      benefit of ticagrelor over clopidogrel was consistent in those undergoing early
      and late angiography, supporting upstream use of ticagrelor.

PMID- 28598514
TI  - The finite number of global motion patterns available to symmetric protein
      complexes.
AB  - In PDB, more than half of the entries are structure complexes and of these
      complexes, most are symmetric, composed of identical subunits. Complex formation
      is the way through which larger structures and even molecular machines are
      assembled and built in nature. In this work, we apply group theory and carry out
      a comprehensive study of the global motion patterns of protein complexes of
      various symmetries. The work presents for the first time a comprehensive list of
      all the symmetric, aesthetically pleasing, global motion patterns available to
      complexes of cyclic, dihedral, tetrahedral, or octahedral symmetry. Our results
      clearly demonstrate that complexes with the same symmetry will have the same
      global motion patterns and thus may function in a similar way, and that there are
      only a finite number of global motion patterns available to symmetric complexes
      as the number of protein symmetry groups is effectively finite. The work
      complements our current understanding of the principle of complex formation that
      has been mostly structure-based by providing novel dynamics-based insights.
      Furthermore, as dynamics is closely tied to function, these motion patterns can
      provide global insights into the general functional mechanisms of protein
      complexes.

PMID- 28598515
TI  - Evidence of direct reciprocity, but not of indirect and generalized reciprocity,
      in the grooming exchanges of wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).
AB  - Reciprocity is one of the mechanisms that have been proposed to explain the
      exchange of social behaviors, such as grooming, in animals. Reciprocity assumes
      that individuals act as the donor and recipient of grooming and switch roles over
      time to balance the benefits and costs of this behavior. Three main patterns of
      reciprocity may follow a grooming given: (i) direct reciprocity, where the former
      recipient returns the grooming to the former donor; (ii) indirect reciprocity,
      where another individual returns the grooming to the former donor; and (iii)
      generalized reciprocity, where the former recipient returns the grooming to
      another individual. While there is evidence that direct reciprocity plays an
      important role in various species of animals, the role of indirect and
      generalized reciprocity is less clear and has been rarely analyzed. We tested the
      role of direct, indirect, and generalized reciprocity in explaining grooming
      exchanges of wild Barbary macaques, by analyzing the temporal contingency between
      giving and receiving grooming. We collected the occurrence and latency of the
      three types of grooming reciprocation during 1 hr long focal sessions run
      simultaneously on two partners who just stopped grooming (post-grooming session)
      or who were in proximity (i.e., within 1.5 m) without grooming each other
      (control session). We ran the analyses on 284 post-grooming and 63 control
      sessions. The results revealed a temporal contingency of grooming interactions
      exchanged according to direct reciprocity but not according to indirect or
      generalized reciprocity. Our results indicate that grooming distribution in
      Barbary macaques is partner-specific. We discuss the possible role of cognition
      and emotions in explaining direct reciprocity in animals.

PMID- 28598516
TI  - Intratumor cisplatin nephrotoxicity in combined laser-induced thermal therapy for
      cancer treatment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Thermal ablation of tumors by Nd:YAG laser has been growing as a
      multidisciplinary subspecialty defined as laser-induced thermal therapy (LITT),
      and has been increasingly accepted as a minimally invasive method for palliation
      of advanced or recurrent cancer. Previous studies have shown that adjuvant
      chemotherapy can potentiate laser thermal ablation of tumors leading to improved
      palliation in advanced cancer patients. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate nephrotoxicity by
      early markers of renal function in treating head and neck cancer using intra
      tumor injections of cisplatin combined with laser-induced thermal therapy (CDDP
      LITT). METHODS: Nine patients with recurrent head and neck tumors were treated by
      CDDP-LITT in order to determine nephrotoxicity related to this synergistic
      association. Among the tests requested to detect early were creatinine,
      magnesium, creatinine clearance, serum urea-BUN, type I urine, and proteinuria at
      24 hours. RESULTS: Twelve recurrent tumors in nine patients were treated by CDDP
      LITT. Pain was the major complaint (four patients), while other symptoms included
      dysphagia, dyspnea, bleeding, and difficulties in chewing. Fifteen laser
      procedures were performed and maximal CDDP dose was 50 mg. None of the markers
      for nephrotoxicity showed changes at these levels of CDDP intra-tumor injections.
      CONCLUSION: This initial experience with (CDDP-LITT) indicates both safety and
      therapeutic potential for palliation of advanced head and neck cancer. However,
      safety and feasibility must be confirmed by longer follow-up and further
      escalation of CDDP doses in a Phase I study to determine maximum tolerated dose
      (MTD) and demonstrate tangible benefits for patients. Lasers Surg. Med. 49:756
      762, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598517
TI  - Impact of episiotomy on the urogenital hiatus using transperineal ultrasound.
AB  - AIMS: To analyze whether episiotomy affects the urogenital hiatal area and the
      difference in the hiatus at rest and during contraction, as an indirect
      measurement of the contractile capacity of the levator ani muscle. METHODS: We
      performed an observational, comparative, retrospective study of primiparous women
      who had normal vaginal deliveries. The urogenital hiatal area was compared in
      women with and without episiotomy. All women underwent transperineal ultrasound
      scanning after delivery, and all the images were analyzed offline by the
      principal investigator who was blinded to all clinical data. The urogenital
      hiatal area was measured at rest and during both Valsalva and contraction
      manoeuvres. The difference in the hiatus at rest and during contraction was also
      calculated. These scanning variables were compared between the study groups.
      RESULTS: In total, 194 women were analysed (101 with, and 93 without,
      episiotomy). There were no statistically significant differences between the
      groups regarding the area of the hiatus at rest (P = 0.583), on Valsalva (P =
      0.158), and on contraction (P = 0.468), or in the difference in the hiatus at
      rest and during contraction (P = 0.095). CONCLUSIONS: In normal vaginal delivery,
      neither the area of the urogenital hiatus nor its difference at rest and during
      contraction, as measured by ultrasound, were modified by performing an
      episiotomy.

PMID- 28598518
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 28598520
TI  - Xenopus pitx3 target genes lhx1 and xnr5 are identified using a novel three-fluor
      flow cytometry-based analysis of promoter activation and repression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pitx3 plays a well understood role in directing development of lens,
      muscle fiber, and dopaminergic neurons; however, in Xenopus laevis, it may also
      play a role in early gastrulation and somitogenesis. Potential downstream targets
      of pitx3 possess multiple binding motifs that would not be readily accessible by
      conventional promoter analysis. RESULTS: We isolated and characterized pitx3
      target genes lhx1 and xnr5 using a novel three-fluor flow cytometry tool that was
      designed to dissect promoters with multiple binding sites for the same
      transcription factor. This approach was calibrated using a known pitx3 target
      gene, Tyrosine hydroxylase. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate how flow cytometry can be
      used to detect gene regulatory changes with exquisite precision on a cell-by-cell
      basis, and establish that in HEK293 cells, pitx3 directly activates lhx1 and
      represses xnr5. Developmental Dynamics 246:657-669, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598521
TI  - Transmission electron microscopy of zebrafish spinal motor nerve roots.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal motor nerves are essential for relaying information between
      the central and peripheral nervous systems. Perturbations to cell types that
      comprise these nerves may impair rapid and efficient transmission of action
      potentials and alter nerve function. Identifying ultrastructural changes
      resulting from defects to these cellular components via transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) can provide valuable insight into nerve function and disease.
      However, efficiently locating spinal motor nerves in adult zebrafish for TEM is
      challenging and time-consuming. Because of this, we developed a protocol that
      allows us to quickly and precisely locate spinal motor nerve roots in adult
      zebrafish for TEM processing. RESULTS: Following fixation, a transverse slab of
      adult zebrafish dissected from the trunk region was mounted in embedding media,
      sectioned, and secondary fixation with osmium tetroxide performed. Transverse
      sections containing motor nerves were selected for TEM ultrathin sectioning and
      imaging. CONCLUSIONS: We developed an efficient protocol for locating spinal
      motor nerves in adult zebrafish to allow for ultrastructural characterization.
      Although our work focuses on spinal motor nerves, this protocol may be useful for
      efficiently identifying other discrete, repeated structures within the developing
      and mature nervous system that are difficult to find via traditional, whole
      organism TEM processing. Developmental Dynamics 246:956-962, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598522
TI  - The role of energetic reserves during embryonic development of an annual
      killifish.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Females can significantly improve their fitness by utilizing a range
      of maternal effects. Embryos of annual killifish survive the dry season in
      ephemeral pools encased in dry substrate for several months. Here, we
      experimentally test the association between energetic provisioning and maternally
      controlled duration of embryonic development in the African annual killifish
      Nothobranchius furzeri (Cyprinodontiformes). RESULTS: We found that embryonic
      energetic reserves do not limit duration of development. However, differences in
      energetic reserves affect the size at which embryos hatched, with larger yolk
      size resulting in larger hatchling size. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest
      uncoupling of the two traits examined (i.e., embryonic energetic reserves and
      development duration) and emphasize the strong buffering role of diapause in the
      energetic balance of embryonic development in the annual killifish. Developmental
      Dynamics 246:838-847, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598519
TI  - Complexities of gene expression patterns in natural populations of an
      extremophile fish (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae).
AB  - Variation in gene expression can provide insights into organismal responses to
      environmental stress and physiological mechanisms mediating adaptation to
      habitats with contrasting environmental conditions. We performed an RNA
      sequencing experiment to quantify gene expression patterns in fish adapted to
      habitats with different combinations of environmental stressors, including the
      presence of toxic hydrogen sulphide (H2 S) and the absence of light in caves. We
      specifically asked how gene expression varies among populations living in
      different habitats, whether population differences were consistent among organs,
      and whether there is evidence for shared expression responses in populations
      exposed to the same stressors. We analysed organ-specific transcriptome-wide data
      from four ecotypes of Poecilia mexicana (nonsulphidic surface, sulphidic surface,
      nonsulphidic cave and sulphidic cave). The majority of variation in gene
      expression was correlated with organ type, and the presence of specific
      environmental stressors elicited unique expression differences among organs.
      Shared patterns of gene expression between populations exposed to the same
      environmental stressors increased with levels of organismal organization (from
      transcript to gene to physiological pathway). In addition, shared patterns of
      gene expression were more common between populations from sulphidic than
      populations from cave habitats, potentially indicating that physiochemical
      stressors with clear biochemical consequences can constrain the diversity of
      adaptive solutions that mitigate their adverse effects. Overall, our analyses
      provided insights into transcriptional variation in a unique system, in which
      adaptation to H2 S and darkness coincide. Functional annotations of
      differentially expressed genes provide a springboard for investigating
      physiological mechanisms putatively underlying adaptation to extreme
      environments.

PMID- 28598523
TI  - Mechanistic insight into acrylate metabolism and detoxification in marine
      dimethylsulfoniopropionate-catabolizing bacteria.
AB  - Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) cleavage, yielding dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and
      acrylate, provides vital carbon sources to marine bacteria, is a key component of
      the global sulfur cycle and effects atmospheric chemistry and potentially
      climate. Acrylate and its metabolite acryloyl-CoA are toxic if allowed to
      accumulate within cells. Thus, organisms cleaving DMSP require effective systems
      for both the utilization and detoxification of acrylate. Here, we examine the
      mechanism of acrylate utilization and detoxification in Roseobacters. We propose
      propionate-CoA ligase (PrpE) and acryloyl-CoA reductase (AcuI) as the key enzymes
      involved and through structural and mutagenesis analyses, provide explanations of
      their catalytic mechanisms. In most cases, DMSP lyases and DMSP demethylases
      (DmdAs) have low substrate affinities, but AcuIs have very high substrate
      affinities, suggesting that an effective detoxification system for acylate
      catabolism exists in DMSP-catabolizing Roseobacters. This study provides insight
      on acrylate metabolism and detoxification and a possible explanation for the high
      Km values that have been noted for some DMSP lyases. Since acrylate/acryloyl-CoA
      is probably produced by other metabolism, and AcuI and PrpE are conserved in many
      organisms across all domains of life, the detoxification system is likely
      relevant to many metabolic processes and environments beyond DMSP catabolism.

PMID- 28598524
TI  - Nicotine Upregulates Coaggregation of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans.
AB  - PURPOSE: Denture stomatitis is a condition of painless inflammation of denture
      bearing mucosa. Reports indicate that nicotine, the major psychoactive ingredient
      in tobacco, increases growth of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans in
      denture biofilm. The purpose of this study was to determine the in vitro effects
      of nicotine on coaggregation of C. albicans with S. mutans. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      C. albicans strain ATCC 10231, S. mutans strain UA159 (ATTC 700610), and nicotine
      dilutions (ranging from 0 to 32 mg/ml) were used for this study. Both
      microorganisms were grown for 24 hours in dilutions of nicotine (0 to 32 mg/ml)
      made in tryptic soy broth (TSB) or TSB supplemented with 1% sucrose (TSBS; S.
      mutans) or yeast peptone dextrose broth (YPD; C. albicans). Suspensions of the
      nicotine-treated cells were prepared, mixed together and incubated for up to 24
      hours to determine if there was an increase in coaggregation of nicotine-treated
      cells compared to the no nicotine control cells. Qualitative analysis of
      coaggregation was performed using a visual aggregation assay and light
      microscopic observation. A spectrophotometric assay was used to provide a
      quantitative analysis of the coaggregation. RESULTS: The visual aggregation assay
      indicated a significant increase in coaggregation between C. albicans and S.
      mutans with increasing incubation time (0 to 24 hours) and nicotine
      concentrations (0 to 4 mg/ml). Microbial growth in nicotine at 4 mg/ml
      demonstrated a significant increase in coaggregation after 24 hours of
      incubation. The numbers of coaggregated S. mutans/C. albicans cells exhibited a
      significant increase with incubation time and nicotine concentrations when the
      samples were examined microscopically. More coaggregation of S. mutans and C.
      albicans was observed with incubation time and increased nicotine compared to the
      0 mg/ml nicotine group. There was a noticeable increase of coaggregation when
      cells were grown in TSBS compared to TSB. Absorbance of nicotine-treated cells
      (0.25 to 4 mg/ml) exhibited a decrease in values compared to 0 mg/ml at 0 hours
      of incubation, confirming increased coaggregation. CONCLUSION: These results
      demonstrated the effect of nicotine in increasing the coaggregation of S. mutans
      with C. albicans. Coaggregation increased with incubation time and nicotine
      concentration. Coaggregation was increased with S. mutans grown in TSBS compared
      to TSB, suggesting that growth in sucrose media leads to an increase in receptors
      responsible for coaggregation.

PMID- 28598525
TI  - Retraction: 'An ~400 kDa membrane-associated complex that contains one molecule
      of the resistance protein Cf-4' by Susana Rivas, Tatiana Mucyn, Harrold A. van
      den Burg, Jacques Vervoort and Jonathan D. G. Jones.
AB  - : The above article, published online on 26 March 2002 in Wiley Online Library
      (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and in Volume 29, pp. 783-796 has been retracted by
      agreement between the authors, the journal Editor-in-Chief, Christoph Benning,
      and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The authors have requested that it be retracted
      because it contains a substantial number of inappropriate image manipulations.
      These manipulations consist of the reuse or duplication of images, both within
      the above article and with another manuscript published previously in The Plant
      Cell (Rivas et al., 2002b). Specific problems with the manuscripts include: The
      duplication of immunoblot bands in The Plant Journal Figure 4C and The Plant Cell
      Figure 3 row 3, The Plant Cell Figure 4A row 1, The Plant Cell Figure 4C. The
      Plant Journal Figure 4B Cf-9 c-myc band is duplicated in The Plant Journal Figure
      4C Cf-9:TAP band under the 475 kDa marker. The first four lanes of Figure 4A row
      3 in The Plant Journal are a duplication of lanes 23, 24, 25, and 26 in Figure 4A
      row 2 in The Plant Cell. The Plant Journal Figure 7B lanes 1&2 and lanes 4&5 are
      duplicates of each other and are duplicated from Figure 7B lanes 1 and 2 in The
      Plant Cell. The Plant Journal Figure 7C is a duplication from Figure 7C in The
      Plant Cell. REFERENCES: Rivas, S., Mucyn, T., van den Burg, H.A., Vervoort, J.
      and Jones, J.D.G. (2002a) An ~400 kDa membrane-associated complex that contains
      one molecule of the resistance protein Cf-4. Plant J. 29, 783-796.
      https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01254.x. Rivas, S., Romeis, T. and
      Jones, J.D.G. (2002b) The Cf-9 disease resistance protein is present in an ~420
      Kilodalton heteromultimeric membrane-associated complex at one molecule per
      complex. Plant Cell, 14, 689-702. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.010357.

PMID- 28598526
TI  - Aspects of Malpractice in Prosthodontics.
AB  - Crowns, fixed partial dentures, and removable dentures are the popular prosthetic
      dental restorations in current dental practice. Prosthodontic rehabilitation of
      the mouth, particularly in advanced and complex cases, requires careful planning,
      adequate clinical skills, and exacting technical standards. While a successful
      outcome is the ultimate goal for any prosthodontic treatment, complications,
      injuries, dissatisfaction, and/or failure may occur. When such events develop as
      a result of negligence or violation of standards of care, they are considered
      under the term of malpractice and may incur ethical and medico-legal
      implications. This paper reviews and highlights some aspects of malpractice in
      prosthodontics. The current state of prosthodontic malpractice on a global level
      will also be evaluated. Standards of prosthodontic care, current literature of
      prosthodontic malpractice, where and how prosthodontic malpractice occurs, and
      recommendations for the future are presented. A thorough understanding of what is
      quality prosthodontic care and what disrupts this care can be a useful guard
      against professional litigation and may protect patients from poor quality of
      dental prosthetic care.

PMID- 28598527
TI  - Energy Transfer between Spatially Separated Entangled Molecules.
AB  - Light-matter strong coupling allows for the possibility of entangling the wave
      functions of different molecules through the light field. We hereby present
      direct evidence of non-radiative energy transfer well beyond the Forster limit
      for spatially separated donor and acceptor cyanine dyes strongly coupled to a
      cavity. The transient dynamics and the static spectra show an energy transfer
      efficiency approaching 37 % for donor-acceptor distances >=100 nm. In such
      systems, the energy transfer process becomes independent of distance as long as
      the coupling strength is maintained. This is consistent with the entangled and
      delocalized nature of the polaritonic states.

PMID- 28598528
TI  - Use of radar detectors to track attendance of albatrosses at fishing vessels.
AB  - Despite international waters covering over 60% of the world's oceans,
      understanding of how fisheries in these regions shape ecosystem processes is
      surprisingly poor. Seabirds forage at fishing vessels, which has potentially
      deleterious effects for their population, but the extent of overlap and behavior
      in relation to ships is poorly known. Using novel biologging devices, which
      detect radar emissions and record the position of boats and seabirds, we measured
      the true extent of the overlap between seabirds and fishing vessels and generated
      estimates of the intensity of fishing and distribution of vessels in
      international waters. During breeding, wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans)
      from the Crozet Islands patrolled an area of over 10 million km2 at distances up
      to 2500 km from the colony. Up to 79.5% of loggers attached to birds detected
      vessels. The extent of overlap between albatrosses and fisheries has widespread
      implications for bycatch risk in seabirds and reveals the areas of intense
      fishing throughout the ocean. We suggest that seabirds equipped with radar
      detectors are excellent monitors of the presence of vessels in the Southern Ocean
      and offer a new way to monitor the presence of illegal fisheries and to better
      understand the impact of fisheries on seabirds.

PMID- 28598529
TI  - Association of a reactive intermediate derived from 1',6-dihydroxy metabolite
      with benzbromarone-induced hepatotoxicity.
AB  - Treatment with benzbromarone can be associated with liver injury, but the
      detailed mechanism remains unknown. Our recent studies demonstrated that
      benzbromarone was metabolized to 1',6-dihydroxybenzbromarone and followed by
      formation of reactive intermediates that were trapped by glutathione, suggesting
      that the reactive intermediates may be responsible for the liver injury. The aim
      of this study was to clarify whether the reactive intermediates derived from 1',6
      dihydroxybenzbromarone is a risk factor of liver injury in mice. An incubation
      study using mouse liver microsomes showed that the rates of formation of 1',6
      dihydroxybenzbromarone from benzbromarone were increased by pretreatment with
      dexamethasone. Levels of a hepatic glutathione adduct derived from 1',6
      dihydroxybenzbromarone were increased by pretreatment with dexamethasone.
      Furthermore, plasma alanine amino transferase activities were increased in mice
      treated with benzbromarone after pretreatment with dexamethasone. The results
      suggest that the reactive intermediate derived from 1',6-dihydroxybenzbromarone
      may be associated with liver injury.

PMID- 28598530
TI  - The Effect of Temporary Cement Cleaning Methods on the Retention of Crowns.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of temporary cement cleaning methods on the
      retention of cemented crowns using zinc phosphate cement and resin-modified glass
      ionomer cement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty titanium specimens were fabricated
      to simulate prepared molars with minimally retentive taper. The Ni-Cr cast crowns
      were fabricated, temporarily cemented, and separated. The specimens were divided
      into four groups according to the temporary cement cleaning method (n = 10) as
      follows: control group (no temporary cementation), orange solvent group,
      ultrasonic cleaning group, and air-abrasion group. After the cleaning procedures,
      the specimens were cemented with definitive cements (zinc phosphate cement and
      resin-modified glass ionomer, RMGI, cement) and subjected to thermocycling (5000
      cycles, 5-55 degrees C, dwell time, 10 seconds). The tensile bond strength of
      each specimen was measured using a universal testing machine, and the results
      were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test (alpha = 0.05).
      RESULTS: When cemented with zinc phosphate cement, the statistical analysis
      showed that the value of the air-abrasion group was significantly higher than
      those of the other groups (p < 0.01). There was no statistically significant
      difference among the other groups. When cemented with RMGI cement, the air
      abrasion group showed the lowest value, and the control group showed the highest
      value (p < 0.01). The difference between the ultrasonic cleaning group and the
      orange solvent group was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The use of
      temporary cement did not have a significant influence on retention of permanently
      cemented crowns when zinc phosphate cement was used for permanent cementation.
      Airborne-particle abrasion after provisional cementation improved retention of
      crowns cemented with zinc phosphate cement; however, the use of temporary cement
      significantly decreased retention of permanently cemented crowns when RMGI cement
      was used regardless of the temporary cement cleaning method.

PMID- 28598532
TI  - PTR-MS volatile profiling of Pinot Noir wines for the investigation of
      differences based on vineyard site.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of vineyard site on the volatile profiles of
      Pinot Noir wines using proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry with prior
      headspace dilution. The ANOVA and PCA enabled discrimination of wine based on
      vineyard site. Sample separation was due to differences in the ratios of a
      mixture of compounds, including higher alcohols, ethyl, and acetate esters.
      Proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry appears to be a useful technique for
      rapidly discriminating wines based on vineyard site. The similarities and
      differences expressed in the wines' volatile profiles may help winemakers to
      reveal the potential of individual vineyard sites to produce wines of certain
      character. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28598531
TI  - Thermally Stable and Regenerable Platinum-Tin Clusters for Propane
      Dehydrogenation Prepared by Atom Trapping on Ceria.
AB  - Ceria (CeO2 ) supports are unique in their ability to trap ionic platinum (Pt),
      providing exceptional stability for isolated single atoms of Pt. The reactivity
      and stability of single-atom Pt species was explored for the industrially
      important light alkane dehydrogenation reaction. The single-atom Pt/CeO2
      catalysts are stable during propane dehydrogenation, but are not selective for
      propylene. DFT calculations show strong adsorption of the olefin produced,
      leading to further unwanted reactions. In contrast, when tin (Sn) is added to
      CeO2 , the single-atom Pt catalyst undergoes an activation phase where it
      transforms into Pt-Sn clusters under reaction conditions. Formation of small Pt
      Sn clusters allows the catalyst to achieve high selectivity towards propylene
      because of facile desorption of the product. The CeO2 -supported Pt-Sn clusters
      are very stable, even during extended reaction at 680  degrees C. Coke formation
      is almost completely suppressed by adding water vapor to the feed. Furthermore,
      upon oxidation the Pt-Sn clusters readily revert to the atomically dispersed
      species on CeO2 , making Pt-Sn/CeO2 a fully regenerable catalyst.

PMID- 28598533
TI  - Prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis in Australia: the National Eye Health
      Survey.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Australia is the only developed country to still have pockets of
      endemic trachoma. The research provides up-to-date, population-based prevalence
      data of later complications of trachoma amongst a national sample of Indigenous
      adults. BACKGROUND: To report the prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in
      Indigenous Australians aged 40 years and older. DESIGN: Population-based cross
      sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1738 (41% male) Indigenous Australians
      aged 40 years or older, living amongst 30 randomly selected Australian sites,
      stratified by remoteness. METHODS: Anterior segment examination was performed and
      trachoma grading for the presence of TT and corneal opacification (CO) was
      conducted using the WHO (WHO) simplified grading system. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Prevalence of TT. RESULTS: A total of three (0.17%) participants had TT, and
      there were no confirmed cases of trachomatous CO in the NEHS. All three
      participants with TT were female and aged 40 years or older. Although they had
      likely spent their childhoods in more remote areas, two of the three confirmed
      cases resided in an urban and outer regional area at the time of their
      examinations. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Our data are in line with ongoing
      national trachoma surveillance reports that suggest the prevalence of late
      sequences of trachoma appear to be decreasing in Australia.

PMID- 28598534
TI  - "Very much in love": The letters of Magda Arnold and Father John Gasson.
AB  - Magda Arnold (1903-2002), best known for her pioneering appraisal theory of
      emotion, belonged to the second generation of women in psychology who frequently
      experienced institutional sexism and career barriers. Following her religious
      conversion, Arnold had to contend with the additional challenge of being an
      openly Catholic woman in psychology at a time when Catholic academics were
      stigmatized. This paper announces the discovery of and relies upon a number of
      previously unknown primary sources on Magda Arnold, including approximately 150
      letters exchanged by Arnold and Father John Gasson. This correspondence
      illuminates both the development of Arnold's thought and her navigation of the
      career challenges posed by her conversion. I argue that Gasson's emotional and
      intellectual support be considered as resources that helped Arnold succeed
      despite the discrimination she experienced. Given the romantic content of the
      correspondence, I also consider Arnold and Gasson in the context of other
      academic couples in psychology in this period and argue that religious belief
      ought to be further explored as a potential contributor to the resilience of
      women in psychology's history.

PMID- 28598535
TI  - Functional Impairment and Risk of Venous Thrombosis in Older Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the role of age-specific risk factors for thrombosis in
      older age, such as functional impairment. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING:
      The Age and Thrombosis-Acquired and Genetic risk factors in the Elderly Study, a
      two-center study conducted in the Netherlands and the United States from 2008 to
      2011. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 70 and older with a first-time deep venous
      thrombosis in the leg or pulmonary embolism (n = 401) and controls aged 70 and
      older (n = 431) without a history of thrombosis. Exclusion criteria were active
      malignancy and severe cognitive disorders. MEASUREMENTS: The thrombotic risk
      associated with functional impairment, defined as impairment in two or more
      activities of daily living (ADLs), impaired mobility (inability to walk outside),
      sedentary lifestyle (>=20 h/d sleeping or sitting), and low handgrip strength
      (<15th percentile), was assessed. Odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for age, sex, and
      study center with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and population attributable
      risks (PAR) were calculated. RESULTS: Risk of venous thrombosis was 2.9 times
      greater (OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.6-5.3) in individuals with impairment in ADLs,
      three times as great (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.9-4.7) in those with impaired
      mobility, four times as great (OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 2.5-6.3) in those with a
      sedentary life style, and 2.3 times as great (OR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.5-3.4) in
      those with weak handgrip strength. PARs were 8% for ADL disability, 13% for
      inability to walk outside for 15 minutes, 29% for sedentary lifestyle, and 13%
      for weak hand grip strength. CONCLUSION: In individuals aged 70 and older,
      functional impairments are a major risk factor for venous thrombosis. These
      findings may help providers caring for older people be more aware of venous
      thrombosis risk.

PMID- 28598536
TI  - Characteristics and outcome in patients with central nervous system involvement
      treated in European pediatric acute myeloid leukemia study groups.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no consensus on the treatment for pediatric patients with
      acute myeloid leukemia and initial central nervous system (CNS) involvement.
      METHODS: To evaluate different CNS-directed treatment options (intrathecal [IT]
      therapy, CNS irradiation, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation [HSCT]), 261
      patients (excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia) with initial CNS involvement
      treated in trials with similar intensive chemotherapy by four cooperative
      European study groups (1998-2013) were studied and compared with CNS-negative
      patients from the Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster group. RESULTS: Patient
      characteristics in the different study groups were comparable. Young age, high
      white blood cell count, extramedullary involvement other than the CNS,
      monoblastic morphology, and inv(16) were associated with CNS involvement (each P
      < 0.0001). There were no major differences in outcome between the study groups.
      The cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) regarding the CNS was higher in
      initially CNS-positive versus initially CNS-negative patients (all: 8 +/- 2% vs.
      3 +/- 1%, P(Gray) = 0.001; isolated: 4 +/- 1% vs. 1 +/- 0%, P(Gray) = 0.03).
      However, global outcome of the CNS-positive cohort (overall survival, 64 +/- 3%;
      event-free survival 48 +/- 3%; and CIR 33% +/- 3%) did not differ significantly
      from CNS-negative patients. Risk groups defined by cytogenetics were of likewise
      prognostic significance in CNS-positive and -negative patients. CNS treatment
      with cranial irradiation was not superior compared to IT therapy and systemic
      chemotherapy (+/- HSCT). CONCLUSION: Although CNS relapses occurred more
      frequently in initially CNS-positive patients, their global outcome was similar
      as in CNS-negative patients. Intensified IT therapy was heterogeneous; however,
      at least eight applications, preferably with triple IT chemotherapy, seem to be
      appropriate to accompany dose-intensive systemic chemotherapy.

PMID- 28598537
TI  - Factors possibly affecting prognosis in children with Wilms' tumor diagnosed
      before 24 months of age: A report from the Associazione Italiana Ematologia
      Oncologia Pediatrica (AIEOP) Wilms Tumor Working Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with Wilms' tumor (WT) aged under 24 months (infants) have a
      better prognosis than older patients. Our aim was to study the epidemiology of
      this age group, with focus on the modality of diagnosis, tumor size, and
      association with malformations/syndromes, seeking to understand if any of these
      factors might be related to prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Infants diagnosed
      with WT between 2003 and February 2010 were evaluated. A query form was used to
      collect data on the modality of WT diagnosis (symptomatic or incidental), tumor
      volume, maximum diameter, site, and stage. RESULTS: Data were collected for 117
      of 124 WT infants registered. Twenty-four cases had an incidental diagnosis (ID)
      of renal mass, usually arising from an abdominal ultrasound performed for other
      reasons, and 93 had been diagnosed based on clinical signs/symptoms. The
      incidental cohort displayed unifocal disease, mean tumor diameter 5.52 cm, mean
      tumor volume 84.30 ml, and 14 patients showed associated malformations.
      Symptomatic patients had mean maximum tumor diameter of 10.18 cm, mean tumor
      volume of 451.18 ml, and six had associated malformations. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      showed that 20% of the infants had an ID of WT; they had a relatively smaller
      nonmetastatic tumor and a higher rate of malformations than infants of the
      symptomatically diagnosed group, but we did not detect any difference in age at
      diagnosis between the two groups. Conversely, we found a significant difference
      in the 5-year event-free survival rate (P = 0.018) between infants under 1 year
      (96%), more frequently associated with congenital malformations, and infants 1-2
      years (80%).

PMID- 28598538
TI  - Expression of the double-stranded RNA of the soybean pod borer Leguminivora
      glycinivorella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) ribosomal protein P0 gene enhances the
      resistance of transgenic soybean plants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The soybean pod borer [SPB; Leguminivora glycinivorella (Matsumura)
      (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)] is the most important soybean pest in northeastern
      Asia. Silencing genes using plant-mediated RNA-interference is a promising
      strategy for controlling SPB infestations. The ribosomal protein P0 is important
      for protein translation and DNA repair in the SPB. Thus, transferring P0 double
      stranded RNA (dsRNA) into plants may help prevent SPB-induced damage. RESULTS: We
      investigated the effects of SpbP0 dsRNA injections and SpbP0 dsRNA-expressing
      transgenic soybean plants on the SPB. Larval mortality rates were greater for
      SpbP0 dsRNA-injected larvae (96%) than for the control larvae (31%) at 14 days
      after injections. Transgenic T2 soybean plants expressing SpbP0 dsRNA sustained
      less damage from SPB larvae than control plants. In addition, the expression
      level of the SpbP0 gene decreased and the mortality rate increased when SPB
      larvae were fed on T3 transgenic soybean pods. Moreover, the surviving larvae
      were deformed and exhibited inhibited growth. CONCLUSION: Silencing SpbP0
      expression is lethal to the SPB. Transgenic soybean plants expressing SpbP0 dsRNA
      are more resistant to the SPB than wild-type plants. Thus, SpbP0 dsRNA-expressing
      transgenic plants may be useful for controlling insect pests. (c) 2017 Society of
      Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28598539
TI  - Feasibility and safety of home exercise training in children with sickle cell
      anemia.
AB  - Exercise guidelines do not exist for individuals with sickle cell anemia (SCA)
      despite the impact of disease-related complications on physical functioning.
      Thirteen subjects (mean 15.1 +/- 2.8 years old) with SCA were prescribed three
      exercise sessions/week for 12 weeks on a stationary bicycle placed at home. In
      total, 77% of subjects completed 89% of prescribed sessions without exercise
      related adverse events, thus meeting feasibility and safety criteria. Adherence
      to prescribed duration and target heart rate during training decreased during the
      second half of the study. Future trials are warranted to further evaluate
      training benefits associated with regular exercise in children with SCA.

PMID- 28598540
TI  - Effects of 4 Probiotic Strains in Coculture with Traditional Starters on the
      Flavor Profile of Yogurt.
AB  - To study the influence of probiotics on the flavor profile of yogurt, 4
      probiotics, including Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum,
      Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus casei, were cofermented with
      traditional starters. The changes of bacterial growth, acid contents and volatile
      compounds of yogurt were investigated during fermentation and refrigerated
      storage. The strains that exhibited a low growth rate in milk did not
      significantly affect the bacterial population dynamics, acidity, or organic acid
      content during fermentation and storage. However, high viability and enhancement
      of postacidification were clearly observed in the samples that contained strains
      with a high growth rate in milk, particularly L. casei. A total of 45 volatile
      compounds, detected in most samples, were identified by headspace solid-phase
      micro-extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Among these
      compounds, ketones and aldehydes were the most abundant. The presence of either
      L. rhamnosus or L. plantarum did not significantly affect the major volatile
      compounds, while contributions of L. casei and L. acidophilus were found in the
      formation of minor volatile metabolites. Electronic nose measurements exhibited a
      good discrimination of samples that contained different probiotics during
      refrigerated storage.

PMID- 28598541
TI  - The time-dependent "cure-death" model investigating two equally important
      endpoints simultaneously in trials treating high-risk patients with resistant
      pathogens.
AB  - A variety of primary endpoints are used in clinical trials treating patients with
      severe infectious diseases, and existing guidelines do not provide a consistent
      recommendation. We propose to study simultaneously two primary endpoints, cure
      and death, in a comprehensive multistate cure-death model as starting point for a
      treatment comparison. This technique enables us to study the temporal dynamic of
      the patient-relevant probability to be cured and alive. We describe and compare
      traditional and innovative methods suitable for a treatment comparison based on
      this model. Traditional analyses using risk differences focus on one prespecified
      timepoint only. A restricted logrank-based test of treatment effect is sensitive
      to ordered categories of responses and integrates information on duration of
      response. The pseudo-value regression provides a direct regression model for
      examination of treatment effect via difference in transition probabilities.
      Applied to a topical real data example and simulation scenarios, we demonstrate
      advantages and limitations and provide an insight into how these methods can
      handle different kinds of treatment imbalances. The cure-death model provides a
      suitable framework to gain a better understanding of how a new treatment
      influences the time-dynamic cure and death process. This might help the future
      planning of randomised clinical trials, sample size calculations, and data
      analyses.

PMID- 28598542
TI  - Overexpression of minichromosome maintenance protein 10 in medulloblastoma and
      its clinical implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overexpression of minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins 2, 3, and
      7 is associated with migration and invasion in medulloblastoma (MB). However,
      expression profiling of all prereplication complex (pre-RC) has not been
      addressed in MBs. PROCEDURE: We performed mRNA expression profiling of a large
      set of pre-RC elements in cell lines and tumor tissues of MB. RNAi technology was
      employed for functional studies in MB cell lines. RESULTS: Our data showed that
      most of the pre-RC components are significantly overexpressed in MB. Among all
      pre-RC mRNAs, MCM10 showed the highest level of expression (~500- to 1,000-fold)
      in MB cell lines and tissues compared to the levels detected in cerebellum. In
      addition, RNAi silencing of MCM10 caused reduced cell proliferation and cell
      viability in MB cells. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our study reveals that the
      pre-RC is dysregulated in MB. In addition, MCM10, a member of this complex, is
      significantly overexpressed in MB and is required for tumor cell proliferation.

PMID- 28598543
TI  - Mutation in a novel gene SMALL AND CORDATE LEAF 1 affects leaf morphology in
      cucumber.
AB  - Plant species exhibit substantial variation in leaf morphology. We isolated a
      recessive mutant gene termed small and cordate leaf 1 (scl1) that causes
      alteration in both leaf size and shape of cucumber. Compared to wild type leaves,
      the scl1 mutant had fewer numbers of epidermal pavement cells. A single
      nucleotide polymorphism was associated with this leaf phenotype, which occurred
      in a putative nucleoside bisphosphate phosphatase. RNA-seq analysis of the wild
      type and scl1 mutant leaves suggested that SCL1 regulation may not involve known
      hormonal pathways. Our work identified a candidate gene for SCL1 that may play a
      role in leaf development.

PMID- 28598544
TI  - Dermatological manifestations of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).
AB  - Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic multisystem disorder with prominent
      skin involvement that frequently occurs in early childhood. Dermatologic
      manifestations include facial angiofibromas, hypomelanotic macules, fibrous
      cephalic plaques, shagreen patches, and ungual fibromas. The International TSC
      Consensus Conference in 2012 provided guidelines for standardized baseline
      evaluation and follow-up. Detailed clinical dermatological evaluation at the time
      of diagnosis and annual skin examination is recommended for both pediatric and
      adult populations. The onset of dermatological manifestations is clearly age
      related. However, dermatologists also have to assess for clinical manifestations
      beyond their own specialty. With advances in genetics and the advent of mTORC1
      inhibitors, new specific therapeutic options have become available for TSC
      patients with skin manifestations. Early intervention is commonly recommended for
      symptomatic, rapidly evolving, disfiguring, or debilitating lesions. The
      consensus guidelines recommend "treatment as appropriate for the lesion and
      clinical context" and suggest the use of surgical excision, laser therapy, or
      topical mTORC1 inhibitors. Topical mTORC1 inhibitors present a useful option for
      TSC-associated skin lesions, particularly in medically complex patients. They may
      prevent or reduce the risks of subsequent surgeries and permanent scarring.

PMID- 28598546
TI  - Helping children with growth failure due to tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs
      requires knowledge of the pathogenesis of the problem.

PMID- 28598547
TI  - Rituximab in the treatment of recalcitrant generalized lupus erythematosus
      tumidus.

PMID- 28598545
TI  - Analysis of common cytogenetic abnormalities in New Zealand pediatric ALL shows
      ethnically diverse carriage of ETV6-RUNX1, without a corresponding difference in
      survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The frequency of common cytogenetic abnormalities in pediatric acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is known to vary by geographic location and ethnic
      origin. This study aimed to determine the frequency of hypodiploidy, ETV6-RUNX1,
      BCR-ABL1, and MLL rearrangement within New Zealand's pediatric ALL population and
      to assess whether the frequency of these ALL prognostic markers varies according
      to ethnicity. PROCEDURE: The New Zealand Children's Cancer Registry provided
      information for all registered pediatric ALL patients that were diagnosed between
      2000 and 2009, with medical records available for 246 patients. Each patient's
      medical record was reviewed to determine the frequency of hypodiploidy, ETV6
      RUNX1, BCR-ABL1, MLL rearrangement, and cell lineage. Chi-square tests for
      independence were undertaken to compare the frequencies of cytogenetic
      abnormalities according to prioritized ethnicity. RESULTS: The frequency of
      cytogenetic ALL abnormalities in the New Zealand pediatric population were
      consistent with international reference values. A low frequency of ETV6-RUNX1 was
      evident for Maori pediatric ALL patients (5.4%, P = 0.018), when compared to
      Pacific peoples (21.1%) and non-Maori/non-Pacific peoples (27.4%). This has not
      impacted on outcome, however, with equivalent 5-year overall survival being
      observed in Maori (89.4%) compared to Pacific peoples (92.0%) and non-Maori/non
      Pacific peoples (90.2%). CONCLUSIONS: A lower frequency of the favorable
      prognostic marker ETV6-RUNX1 was observed in Maori pediatric ALL patients. This
      did not translate into poorer survival. Future research into biological and
      nonbiological prognostic factors in this patient population may assist in
      explaining this finding.

PMID- 28598548
TI  - Eating behavior during dexamethasone treatment in children with acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Large prospective studies on dexamethasone-induced changes in
      eating behavior, energy, and nutrient intake are lacking in pediatric acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We prospectively studied eating behavior, energy,
      nutrient intake, and the effect on leptin and adiponectin levels during
      dexamethasone administration in children with ALL. PATIENTS: Parents of patients
      with ALL (3-16 years) completed a dietary diary for their child during 4 days of
      dexamethasone (6 mg/m2 ) administration. Energy intake and nutrient intake
      (energy percentage = E%) were assessed and compared with the recommended intake.
      The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Children was completed before start
      and after 4 days of dexamethasone administration by patients of 7-12 years of
      age. Fasting leptin and adiponectin levels were also measured before start and
      after 4 days of dexamethasone administration. RESULTS: Energy intake per
      day(kcal) (N = 44) increased significantly during dexamethasone (median day 1:
      1,103 (717-1,572) versus day 4: 1,482 (1,176-1,822), P < 0.01), including an
      increase in total protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, and sodium intake.
      Intake of saturated fat (median day 4: 12 E%) and salt (median day 4: 1.9 g/day)
      exceeded the healthy range for age and gender. With respect to eating behavior,
      dexamethasone significantly decreased restrained eating (P = 0.04). Leptin levels
      as well as adiponectin levels increased significantly during the dexamethasone
      course. CONCLUSIONS: Four days of dexamethasone treatment significantly increased
      energy intake, including excessive saturated fat and salt intake, and changed
      eating behavior in children with ALL. Nutritional and behavioral interventions
      during dexamethasone treatment are recommended to stimulate a healthy lifestyle.

PMID- 28598549
TI  - The presence of minocycline in the tear film of normal horses following oral
      administration and its anticollagenase activity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Tetracyclines have activity against matrix metalloproteinases (MMP).
      Oral medications with effects on the ocular surface are of interest in patients
      where repeated topical dosing is limited. The aim of this study was to
      characterize the concentration of minocycline in the tears of normal horses after
      oral administration and to determine if this level directly inhibits MMP
      activity. METHODS: Five healthy adult ponies were administered oral minocycline
      (Wedgewood Pharmacy; Swedesboro, NJ) at 4 mg/kg every 12 h for 5 days. Tears were
      collected at T = 2, 26, 50, 56, 74, 80, and 98 h. Tear minocycline concentrations
      were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. The inhibition of
      recombinant human MMP-2 and MMP-9 by minocycline was investigated using
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer. RESULTS: Minocycline was present in the
      tears of each pony at every measurement but with interpony variability. A mean
      concentration of 11.8 MUg/mL was present 2 h after administration of the first
      dose. Minocycline did not directly inhibit MMP-2 or MMP-9 function at a
      concentration achieved in the pony tear film. CONCLUSIONS: Minocycline was
      present in the tears of all ponies at each sampling point following oral
      administration. One pony of the five had consistently lower levels of minocycline
      secretion (P <= 0.05). The concentration secreted in the tears did not directly
      inhibit MMP-2 or MMP-9 when tested in vitro. The inconsistencies in the tear
      concentration and the inhibition activity suggest topical application may be
      necessary to attain direct inhibition of MMP with minocycline.

PMID- 28598551
TI  - Coronary artery bypass grafting in infants, children, and young adults for
      acquired and congenital lesions.
AB  - Coronary artery disease ranges from congenital in origin such as anomalous aortic
      origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA) to acquired diseases such as Kawasaki
      disease, and previously repaired conditions such as transposition of the great
      arteries. It is not uncommon, in the long run, for proximal coronary stenosis to
      develop following arterial switch, AAOCA repair, Ross procedure and Kawasaki
      disease leading to coronary artery bypass grafing (CABG). The objective of this
      report is to discuss the indications, challenges, and outcomes of CABG in
      infants, children, and young adults with acquired and congenital lesions.

PMID- 28598552
TI  - Acrolein Scavenger Hydralazine Prevents Streptozotocin-Induced Painful Diabetic
      Neuropathy and Spinal Neuroinflammation in Rats.
AB  - Diabetes-induced neuropathic pain (DNP) substantially influences people's life
      qualities. Hyperglycemia-induced excess free radicals have been considered as the
      most critical mechanisms underlying DNP. As an unsaturated aldehyde and a
      reactive product of lipid peroxidation, acrolein plays critical roles in diabetic
      nephropathy and inflammatory pain. We sought to determine whether acrolein is
      involved in DNP in this study. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal
      (i.p.) injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). An acrolein scavenger
      hydralazine (5 mg/kg) was administered through a daily injection for 4 weeks,
      starting immediately within 30 min after STZ injection. Western blot showed that
      hydralazine could effectively inhibit STZ-induced upregulation of acrolein in the
      spinal dorsal horn on day 7-28 after STZ injection. Behavioral tests showed that
      STZ injection induced significant mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia,
      which could be alleviated by hydralazine. Immunofluorescent histochemistry and
      Western blot showed that STZ induced significant microglial activation. ELISA
      data indicated upregulation of inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and TNF-alpha
      expression in the spinal dorsal horn. Furthermore, hydralazine effectively
      attenuated microglial activation and expression of inflammatory mediators. Our
      data indicate that acrolein might be involved in the development of
      neuroinflammation and behavioral consequences of DNP. Anat Rec, 2017. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Anat Rec, 300:1858-1864, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598550
TI  - Sexual Orientation Disparities in Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancy Among Adult
      Women.
AB  - CONTEXT: Many sexual minority women, regardless of sexual identity, engage in
      heterosexual behavior across the life course, which provides them opportunities
      to experience an unintended pregnancy. In addition, sexual minority women are
      more likely than others to report characteristics that may make them vulnerable
      to unintended pregnancy. Little research, however, has examined whether the risk
      of unintended pregnancy is elevated among these women. METHODS: Using data from
      the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, logistic regression models were
      fitted to examine sexual orientation disparities in mistimed and unwanted
      pregnancies among 9,807 women aged 20-45; mixed-effects hazard models assessed
      disparities in the intention status of 5,238 pregnancies among these women by
      maternal sexual orientation. RESULTS: Compared with heterosexual women reporting
      only male partners, heterosexual women who have sex with women had higher odds of
      reporting a mistimed pregnancy (odds ratio, 1.4), and bisexual women had higher
      odds of reporting an unwanted pregnancy (1.8). When compared with pregnancies
      reported by heterosexual women with only male partners, those reported by
      heterosexual women who have sex with women were more likely to be mistimed
      (hazard ratio, 1.7), and those reported by bisexual and lesbian women were more
      likely to be unwanted (1.7-4.4). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with heterosexuals who
      have sex with men only, adult sexual minority women are at equal or greater risk
      of reporting an unintended pregnancy. More research addressing the reproductive
      health care needs of sexual minority women is needed to develop strategies to
      improve family planning for this population.

PMID- 28598553
TI  - The Effectiveness of a Large-Scale Language and Preliteracy Intervention: The
      SPELL Randomized Controlled Trial in Denmark.
AB  - The present article reports results of a real-world effectiveness trial conducted
      in Denmark with six thousand four hundred eighty-three 3- to 6-year-olds designed
      to improve children's language and preliteracy skills. Children in 144 child
      cares were assigned to a control condition or one of three planned variations of
      a 20-week storybook-based intervention: a base intervention and two enhanced
      versions featuring extended professional development for educators or a home
      based program for parents. Pre- to posttest comparisons revealed a significant
      impact of all three interventions for preliteracy skills (= .21-.27) but not
      language skills (d = .04-.16), with little differentiation among the three
      variations. Fidelity, indexed by number of lessons delivered, was a significant
      predictor of most outcomes. Implications for real-world research and practice are
      considered.

PMID- 28598554
TI  - Reproductive hormones and metabolic syndrome in 24 testicular cancer survivors
      and their biological brothers.
AB  - Testicular cancer survivors have impaired gonadal function and increased risk of
      metabolic syndrome when compared to healthy controls. However, because of the
      fetal etiology of testicular cancer, familial unrelated healthy men might not be
      an optimal control group. The objective of this study was to clarify if
      testicular cancer survivors have impaired gonadal function and increased risk of
      metabolic syndrome when compared to their biological brothers. A cross-sectional
      study of testicular cancer survivors (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02240966) was
      conducted between 2014 and 2016. Of 158 testicular cancer survivors included, 24
      had a biological brother who accepted to participate in the study. Serum levels
      of reproductive hormones and prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to
      International Diabetes Federation Criteria and National Cholesterol Education
      Program (Adult Treatment Panel III) criteria comprised the main outcome measures
      of the study. Median age was similar in testicular cancer survivors and their
      biological brothers [44 years (IQR 39-50) vs. 46 (40-53) years respectively (p =
      0.1)]. In testicular cancer survivors, follow-up since treatment was 12 years (7
      19). Serum levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone were
      elevated (p <= 0.001), while total testosterone, free testosterone, inhibin B and
      anti-Mullerian hormone were lower (p <= 0.001) in testicular cancer survivors
      than in their biological brothers. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was
      similar and apart from HDL-cholesterol, which was lower in testicular cancer
      survivors (p = 0.01); there were no differences in the individual components of
      the metabolic syndrome between testicular cancer survivors and their brothers. In
      conclusion, gonadal function was impaired in testicular cancer survivors, while
      we did not detect any difference in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome between
      testicular cancer survivors and their biological brothers.

PMID- 28598555
TI  - Experimental and numerical investigation on the transient vascular thermal
      response to multi-pulse Nd:YAG laser.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Port wine stains (PWS) are congenital vascular
      malformations that progressively darken and thicken with age. Laser therapy is
      currently the most effective way in clinical practice for PWS. A 1,064 nm Nd:YAG
      laser in the near-infrared band can achieve a deeper treatment depth compared to
      the current widely adopted pulsed dye laser. However, because of its relatively
      weak absorption by blood, single-pulse Nd:YAG laser requires high energy density
      to cause effective vessel damage, but may inflict undesirable burning to
      surrounding collagen. Multi-pulse laser has great potential in clinical treatment
      because it needs less energy density for each pulse. This paper presented an
      experimental and theoretical study of the transient thermal effects of low-energy
      multi-pulse Nd:YAG laser on blood vessels. STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      vivo experiments were performed on dorsal skin chamber. By using a high speed
      camera (up to 2,000 fps), the complete and dynamic thermal response of blood
      vessels during laser irradiation and between pulse intervals was obtained. In
      vitro experiment in capillary tubes and Numerical simulations by two-scale heat
      transfer model were also conducted to further explore the in vivo experimental
      findings. RESULTS: The complete and dynamic response of blood vessels were
      obtained, including vessel dilation, thrombus formation, partial vessel
      constriction, thread-like constriction, cavitation and bubbles, and hemorrhage.
      Thread-like constriction is the desirable treatment end point, which will only
      occur after thrombus completely occludes the vessel lumen. Cavitation can cause
      hemorrhage when thrombus fails to occlude the vessel lumen. In vitro experiment
      found that vessel constriction was due to the constriction of thrombus induced by
      laser irradiation. Theoretical investigation revealed that the mechanism for the
      effective reduction of energy density by multi-pulse Nd:YAG laser was due to
      enhanced light absorption of the blood with thrombus formation. CONCLUSIONS: For
      multi-pulse treatment, laser parameters are recommended as repetition rate of 10
      Hz and pulse number of 10. The incident energy in each pulse should be strong
      enough to induce blood coagulation through seven or eight pulses and should be
      lower than the threshold of blood cavitation. Lasers Surg. Med. 49:852-865, 2017.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598556
TI  - Can preoperative detrusor underactivity influence surgical outcomes of 120 W HPS
      vaporization of the prostate (PVP) or holmium laser enucleation of the prostate
      (HoLEP)? A serial 3-year follow-up study.
AB  - AIMS: To determine the influence of preoperative detrusor underactivity (DU) on
      serial long-term outcomes of HPS/PVP or HoLEP for LUTS/BPH, and to compare the
      influence between the two surgeries. METHODS: A total of 382 men, who underwent
      120W-HPS/PVP or HoLEP for LUTS/BPH and for whom 36-month follow-up data were
      available, were classified into four groups: HPS with DU (n = 145), HPS without
      DU (n = 44), HoLEP with DU (n = 105), and HoLEP without DU (n = 88). DU was
      defined as bladder contractility index of <100. Surgical outcomes were assessed
      at postoperative 6, 12, 24, and 36 months using IPSS, uroflowmetry, and serum
      PSA. RESULTS: All four groups maintained improvements in voiding symptom score
      (VSS), storage symptom score, total-IPSS, QOL index, maximum flow rate (Qmax),
      post-void residual urine volume (PVR), and bladder voiding efficiency (BVE)
      compared with baseline up to 3 years postoperatively. There were no significant
      differences in improvements of postoperative IPSS parameters including QOL index
      between men with and without DU throughout the follow-up period after HPS or
      HoLEP. In men with DU, there were no significant differences in improvements of
      postoperative QOL index, Qmax, PVR, or BVE between HPS and HoLEP groups
      throughout the follow-up period, except for VSS and total IPSS. Serum PSA
      reductions after HoLEP were greater than after PVP. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in
      LUTS, Qmax, and BVE can maintain up to 3 years after HPS or HoLEP for LUTS/BPH,
      irrespective of the presence or absence of preoperative DU. Although HoLEP may
      provide more durable improvement of VS in men with DU than HPS, there seems to be
      no difference in improvement of QOL or Qmax or BVE between HPS and HoLEP.

PMID- 28598557
TI  - Computational Studies of the Active and Inactive Regulatory Domains of Response
      Regulator PhoP Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - The response regulator PhoP is part of the PhoP/PhoQ two-component system, which
      is responsible for regulating the expression of multiple genes involved in
      controlling virulence, biofilm formation, and resistance to antimicrobial
      peptides. Therefore, modulating the transcriptional function of the PhoP protein
      is a promising strategy for developing new antimicrobial agents. There is
      evidence suggesting that phosphorylation-mediated dimerization in the regulatory
      domain of PhoP is essential for its transcriptional function. Disruption or
      stabilization of protein-protein interactions at the dimerization interface may
      inhibit or enhance the expression of PhoP-dependent genes. In this study, we
      performed molecular dynamics simulations on the active and inactive dimers and
      monomers of the PhoP regulatory domains, followed by pocket-detecting screenings
      and a quantitative hot-spot analysis in order to assess the druggability of the
      protein. Consistent with prior hypothesis, the calculation of the binding free
      energy shows that phosphorylation enhances dimerization of PhoP. Furthermore, we
      have identified two different putative binding sites at the dimerization active
      site (the alpha4-beta5-alpha5 face) with energetic "hot-spot" areas, which could
      be used to search for modulators of protein-protein interactions. This study
      delivers insight into the dynamics and druggability of the dimerization interface
      of the PhoP regulatory domain, and may serve as a basis for the rational
      identification of new antimicrobial drugs.

PMID- 28598558
TI  - Conserved signaling mechanisms in Drosophila heart development.
AB  - Signal transduction through multiple distinct pathways regulates and orchestrates
      the numerous biological processes comprising heart development. This review
      outlines the roles of the FGFR, EGFR, Wnt, BMP, Notch, Hedgehog, Slit/Robo, and
      other signaling pathways during four sequential phases of Drosophila
      cardiogenesis-mesoderm migration, cardiac mesoderm establishment, differentiation
      of the cardiac mesoderm into distinct cardiac cell types, and morphogenesis of
      the heart and its lumen based on the proper positioning and cell shape changes of
      these differentiated cardiac cells-and illustrates how these same cardiogenic
      roles are conserved in vertebrates. Mechanisms bringing about the regulation and
      combinatorial integration of these diverse signaling pathways in Drosophila are
      also described. This synopsis of our present state of knowledge of conserved
      signaling pathways in Drosophila cardiogenesis and the means by which it was
      acquired should facilitate our understanding of and investigations into related
      processes in vertebrates. Developmental Dynamics 246:641-656, 2017. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598559
TI  - New structural classes of antituberculosis agents.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB), one of the deadliest diseases is shattering the health and
      socioeconomic status of the society. The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR)
      and extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains has provided unprecedented lethal
      character to TB. The development of MDR and XDR strains of TB results in more
      deaths, longer duration of therapy, and appearance of the disease in the
      immunocompromised patients. Because of the development of rapid resistance by
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis, researchers are confronted with serious challenges in
      combating TB. For instance, the need for potency and specificity in therapeutic
      agents approaching clinics, and the increasing demand of low toxicity due to long
      duration of treatment. Recently, it is proposed that such challenges could be
      addressed by a shift from contemporary or known classes of drugs to new scaffold
      containing or entirely new structural classes of drugs that possibly act on the
      previously unknown targets, resulting in possibly less instances of resistance
      development. The exploitation of advances made in the biology of TB in the last
      and present decades have created opportunities to discover a large number of new
      structural classes that specifically targets TB by molecular mechanism of
      action(s) unknown earlier. We have earlier reviewed new structural classes of
      anti-TB agents up to year 2005. This review covers literature reports of the
      subsequent 10 years on the discovery of new structural classes of synthetic anti
      TB agents. Due to the availability of large number of research reports, we have
      divided new compounds in 38 structural classes, 368 structures, and 307
      references.

PMID- 28598560
TI  - Effects of Unilateral Tourniquet Used in Patients Undergoing Simultaneous
      Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the benefits of use of a tourniquet in one limb in patients
      undergoing simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: A
      prospective randomized trial was designed to evaluate the outcomes of unilateral
      tourniquet use during simultaneous bilateral TKA. A total of 52 (36 women and 16
      men) patients with osteoarthritis who underwent simultaneous bilateral primary
      TKA between January 2010 and January 2015 were assigned randomly to tourniquet
      (TG) or non-tourniquet (NG) groups prior to surgery. Operating time, pain score,
      range of motion, first active straight-leg raise time, swelling, wound healing,
      deep vein thrombosis, and Knee Society score were observed. RESULTS: Mean
      operating time in the TG group was shorter than that in the NG group (P < 0.05).
      Postoperative pain was measured by a visual analog scale (VAS) and straight-leg
      raise time, which was lower and shorter in limbs operated without the use of a
      tourniquet (P < 0.05). In addition, this group had less postoperative swelling
      and lower incidence of wound complications in the early postoperative period (P <
      0.05). There was no significant difference in the range of motion (ROM), deep
      venous thrombosis incidence, and Knee Society scores between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Tourniquet use in bilateral TKA can reduce intraoperative time but
      was associated with a higher incidence of wound complications and larger
      postoperative knee swelling.

PMID- 28598561
TI  - Zinc-Zinc Double Bonds: A Theoretical Study.
AB  - While double bonds are known for transition metals of Groups 9 and 10 as well as
      for boron and p-block elements of Groups 14-16, Zn sits in a small region of the
      periodic table with no well-characterized double bonds. A qualitative reasoning
      indicates that zero-valent zinc has the potential to form Zn=Zn double bonds. A
      computational study in search for complexes that might showcase this new bond
      type is presented here.

PMID- 28598563
TI  - Alpha lipoic acid prevents doxorubicin-induced nephrotoxicity by mitigation of
      oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in rats.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of alpha lipoic acid (ALA)
      against doxorubicin (DOX)-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. A single dose of DOX
      (7.5 mg/kg i.v.) induced nephrotoxicity evidenced by significant elevations in
      kidney weight, kidney/body weight ratio, serum urea, creatinine, tumor necrosis
      factor alpha, and renal contents of malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, cyclooxygenase
      2, and caspase-3. Also, it causes significant reduction in final body weight,
      serum albumin, renal contents of reduced glutathione and superoxide dismutase
      activity. Histopathological changes in the kidney tissue confirmed the
      nephrotoxic effect. In contrast, pretreatment with ALA (50 mg/kg, orally) for 14
      days before DOX and for 7 days after DOX administration mitigated renal toxicity
      evidenced by greater improvement in the examined oxidative stress, inflammation,
      and apoptosis parameters. In conclusion, ALA had promising protective effects
      against DOX-induced nephrotoxicity that might be attributed to its antioxidant,
      anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptoic activities.

PMID- 28598562
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms and folate status.
AB  - Moderate hyperhomocysteinemia-induced low folate status is an independent risk
      factor for cardiovascular disease, dementia, and depression. Folate is an
      essential cofactor in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and is necessary in amino
      acid metabolism, purine and thymidylate synthesis, and DNA methylation. In the
      folate cycle and homocysteine metabolism, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and
      vitamin B2 are important cofactors. Many enzymes are involved in folate transport
      and uptake, the folate pathway, and homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism, and various
      polymorphisms have been documented in these enzymes. Serum folate and total Hcy
      (tHcy) levels are influenced by folate intake and genetic polymorphisms in 5,10
      methylenetertahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) such as C677T. The prevalence of the
      MTHFR 677TT genotype varies across ethnic groups and regions, with a frequency of
      approximately 15% in Japanese populations. Individuals with the TT genotype have
      significantly higher tHcy levels and lower folate levels in serum than those with
      the CT and TT genotypes. However, administration of folic acid has been shown to
      eliminate these differences. Moreover, data have suggested that interventions
      based on genotype may be effective for motivating individuals to change their
      lifestyle and improve their nutrition status. Accordingly, in this review, we
      discuss the effects of MTHFR C677T polymorphisms on serum tHcy and folate levels
      with folic acid intervention and evaluate approaches for overcoming folic acid
      deficiency and related symptoms.

PMID- 28598564
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Celecoxib for rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic auto-immune disorder,
      involving persistent joint inflammation. NSAIDs are used to control the symptoms
      of RA, but are associated with significant gastro-intestinal toxicity, including
      a risk of potentially life threatening gastroduodenal perforations, ulcers and
      bleeds. The NSAIDs known as the selective Cox II inhibitors, of which celecoxib
      is a member, were developed in order to reduce the GI toxicity, but are more
      expensive. OBJECTIVES: To establish the efficacy and safety of celecoxib in the
      management of RA by systematic review of available evidence. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched the following databases up to August 2002: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane
      Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, National
      Research Register, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Health Technology Assessment
      Database. The bibliographies of retrieved papers and content experts were
      consulted for additional references. SELECTION CRITERIA: All eligible randomised
      controlled trials (RCTs) were included. No unpublished RCTs were included in this
      edition of the review. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were abstracted
      independently by two reviewers. Data was analysed using a fixed effects model. A
      validated checklist was used to score the quality of the RCTs. The planned
      analysis was to pool, where appropriate continuous outcomes using mean
      differences and dichotomous outcomes using relative risk ratios. This was not
      however possible due to the lack of data. MAIN RESULTS: Five RCTs were included
      (4465 participants); three of the studies also enrolled individuals with OA. The
      comparators were placebo, naproxen, diclofenac and ibuprofen. The evidence
      reviewed suggests that celecoxib controls the symptoms of RA to a similar degree
      to that of the active comparators examined (naproxen, diclofenac and ibuprofen).
      When compared to placebo, the percentage of patients showing improvement
      according to ACR 20 criteria at week 4 were 42/82 (51%) in the twice daily
      celecoxib 200mg group and 43/82 (52%) in the twice daily celecoxib 400mg group;
      these were significantly different from the placebo group in which 25/85 (29%)
      improved. The six month data reviewed support a reduced rate of UGI complications
      with celecoxib but there is also evidence to suggest that these benefits may not
      be evident in the long-term and that celecoxib offers no additional benefit in
      patients who are also receiving cardio-prophylactic low dose aspirin. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: For an individual with RA the potential benefits of celecoxib need
      to be balanced against the uncertainty that the short-term reduced incidence of
      upper GI complications are maintained in the long-term and its increased cost in
      comparison to traditional NSAIDs.

PMID- 28598565
TI  - Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors in children treated with multimodal therapies:
      The necessity of upfront radiotherapy after surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is a rare malignant pediatric
      brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. We evaluated the efficacy of multimodal
      therapy in children with ATRT. PROCEDURE: Nine children diagnosed with cranial
      ATRT, who received multimodal therapy between 2005 and 2014, including surgical
      resection followed by radiotherapy (RT), systemic chemotherapy (CT), and high
      dose chemotherapy/stem cell transplantation (HDCT/SCT), were analyzed
      retrospectively. The median age at diagnosis was 32 months. Initial treatment
      included surgery in eight patients (88%), CT in all (100%), RT in eight (88%),
      and HDCT/SCT in seven (78%). RESULTS: The median follow-up period for survivors
      was 21 months. The 2-year progression-free rate was 66.7%. Two patients had
      progression 4 and 17 months after diagnosis. One received multimodal treatment,
      including surgery and upfront CT with delayed RT; the other underwent surgery and
      upfront CT without RT. The 2-year event-free survival and overall survival rates
      were 46.7% and 62.2%, respectively. Hematologic toxicity of grade 3 or more was
      observed in six patients treated with HDCT/SCT and two who underwent craniospinal
      irradiation. Deaths were attributed to progressive disease (n = 2) and treatment
      related toxicity (n = 2) from sepsis and acute respiratory failure after CT and
      HDCT/SCT. CONCLUSIONS: Maximal safe resection in conjunction with upfront RT is a
      reasonable multimodal treatment in patients with ATRT for prolonging progression
      free survival. Further research may help determine the optimal parameters for
      reducing treatment toxicity, such as intensity of HDCT/SCT and the RT field.

PMID- 28598566
TI  - Electrochemical Graphitization: An Efficient Conversion of Amorphous Carbons to
      Nanostructured Graphites.
AB  - This concept paper describes a new electrochemical method for the graphitization
      of amorphous carbons. The graphitization is achieved by a simple cathodic
      polarization of the carbons at merely ~1100 K in molten CaCl2 . This
      electrochemical process is applicable to both graphitizable and non-graphitizable
      carbons, generating porous graphitic structures of high-crystallinity nanosheets.
      The transformation of carbon blacks, microspheres, and fibers to porous
      graphites, hollow graphite spheres, and pipes with porous shells have been
      demonstrated and the potential graphitization mechanism discussed.

PMID- 28598567
TI  - Humanized mouse models: Application to human diseases.
AB  - Humanized mice are superior to rodents for preclinical evaluation of the efficacy
      and safety of drug candidates using human cells or tissues. During the past
      decade, humanized mouse technology has been greatly advanced by the establishment
      of novel platforms of genetically modified immunodeficient mice. Several human
      diseases can be recapitulated using humanized mice due to the improved
      engraftment and differentiation capacity of human cells or tissues. In this
      review, we discuss current advanced humanized mouse models that recapitulate
      human diseases including cancer, allergy, and graft-versus-host disease.

PMID- 28598568
TI  - Managing biological control services through multi-trophic trait interactions:
      review and guidelines for implementation at local and landscape scales.
AB  - Ecological studies are increasingly moving towards trait-based approaches, as the
      evidence mounts that functions, as opposed to taxonomy, drive ecosystem service
      delivery. Among ecosystem services, biological control has been somewhat
      overlooked in functional ecological studies. This is surprising given that, over
      recent decades, much of biological control research has been focused on
      identifying the multiple characteristics (traits) of species that influence
      trophic interactions. These traits are especially well developed for interactions
      between arthropods and flowers - important for biological control, as floral
      resources can provide natural enemies with nutritional supplements, which can
      dramatically increase biological control efficiency. Traits that underpin the
      biological control potential of a community and that drive the response of
      arthropods to environmental filters, from local to landscape-level conditions,
      are also emerging from recent empirical studies. We present an overview of the
      traits that have been identified to (i) drive trophic interactions, especially
      between plants and biological control agents through determining access to floral
      resources and enhancing longevity and fecundity of natural enemies, (ii) affect
      the biological control services provided by arthropods, and (iii) limit the
      response of arthropods to environmental filters, ranging from local management
      practices to landscape-level simplification. We use this review as a platform to
      outline opportunities and guidelines for future trait-based studies focused on
      the enhancement of biological control services.

PMID- 28598569
TI  - Heart failure in patients admitted for acute coronary syndromes: A report from a
      large national registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on temporal trends of heart failure (HF) in acute coronary
      syndrome (ACS) are scarce. HYPOTHESIS: Improved treatment options may have led to
      lower case-fatality rates (CFRs) during the last years in ACS complicated by HF.
      METHODS: Patients of the nationwide Acute Myocardial Infarction in Switzerland
      (AMIS)-Plus ACS registry were analyzed from 2000 to 2014. RESULTS: Of 36 366 ACS
      patients, 3376 (9.3%) had acute or chronic HF, 2111 (5.8%) de novo acute HF
      (AHF), 964 (2.7%) chronic HF (CHF), and 301 (0.8%) acute decompensated CHF
      (ADCHF). In-hospital CFRs were highest in patients with ADCHF (32.6%) and de novo
      AHF (29.7%), followed by patients with CHF (12.9%) and without HF (3.2%, P <
      0.001). Although in-hospital CFRs gradually decreased in CHF patients (14.3% to
      4.5%, P = 0.003) and patients without HF (3.5% to 2.2%, P < 0.001), they remained
      high in patients with ADCHF (36.4% to 40.0%, P = 0.45) and de novo AHF (50.0% to
      29.4%, P = 0.37). Although there was an increase in specific ACS therapies in the
      cohort over time, ACS patients with HF received significantly less
      pharmacological and interventional ACS therapies than patients without HF. There
      was no significant change in HF medication rates except less frequent use of beta
      blockers and diuretics in de novo AHF patients in recent years. CONCLUSIONS: HF
      is present in 1 out of 10 patients presenting with ACS and is associated with
      high in-hospital CFRs, particularly in acute HF. Although advances in ACS therapy
      improved in-hospital CFRs in patients with no HF or CHF, CFRs remained unchanged
      and high in patients with acute HF and ACS over the last decade.

PMID- 28598570
TI  - Postnatal outcome of fetal isolated ventricular size disproportion in the absence
      of aortic coarctation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cardiac ventricular size disproportion is a marker for aortic
      coarctation (CoA) in fetal life, but approximately 50% of fetuses do not have CoA
      after birth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the postnatal outcome of cases
      with fetal ventricular size disproportion in the absence of CoA after birth.
      METHODS: All cases with fetal isolated ventricular size disproportion diagnosed
      between 2002 and 2015 were extracted from a prenatal congenital heart defects
      regional registry. Cases were stratified according to presence or absence (non
      CoA) of aortic arch anomalies after birth. Postnatal outcome of non-CoA cases was
      evaluated by assessing the presence of cardiac and other congenital
      malformations, genetic syndromes and other morbidity after birth. Non-CoA cases
      were further classified according to whether they had cardiovascular pathology
      requiring medication or intervention. RESULTS: Seventy-seven cases with fetal
      ventricular size disproportion were identified, of which 46 (60%) did not have
      CoA after birth. Of these, 35 did not require cardiovascular intervention or
      medication, whereas 11 did. Of the 46 non-CoA cases, six presented with clinical
      pulmonary hypertension requiring treatment after birth, cardiac defects were
      present in 24 cases and syndromic features were seen in four. Overall, 43% of all
      non-CoA children were still under surveillance at the end of the study period.
      CONCLUSIONS: The postnatal course of cases with fetal ventricular size
      disproportion is complicated by prenatally undetected congenital defects (46%)
      and pulmonary or transition problems (35%) in a significant number of cases that
      do not develop CoA. Proper monitoring of these cases is therefore warranted and
      it is advisable to incorporate the risks for additional morbidity and neonatal
      complications in prenatal counseling. Copyright (c) 2017 ISUOG. Published by John
      Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28598571
TI  - Ames Test to Detect Mutagenicity of 2-Alkylcyclobutanones: A Review.
AB  - Food irradiation is an effective and safe method for preservation and long-term
      storage, and it is approved for use in over 60 countries for various applications
      in a wide variety of food products. This process is performed by use of
      accelerated electron beams, X-rays, or gamma radiation (60 Co or 137 Cs). 2
      Alkylcyclobutanones (2-ACBs) are the only known radiolytic products generated
      from foods that have fatty acids (triglycerides) and are subjected to
      irradiation. Since the 1990s toxicological safety studies of 2-ACBs have been
      conducted extensively through synthetic compounds, then and tests to determine if
      the compounds have any mutagenic activity are strictly necessary. The Ames test
      was chosen by many researchers to assess the mutagenicity of 2-ACBs. The test
      uses distinct bacterial cell lines Salmonella typhimurium to detect point
      mutations at sites guanine-cytosine (G-C) and Escherichia coli to detect point
      mutations at sites adenine-thymine (A-T). This bibliographic research aims to
      bring together all the results obtained and a comparison and cell lines used,
      type of plates, and solvents. This research showed that no mutagenic activity was
      observed in any of the cell lines and concentrations evaluated by the works of
      authors, so the 2-ACBs compounds showed no mutagenic substance in concentrations
      detectable by the Ames test.

PMID- 28598572
TI  - Searching for Novel Inhibitors of the S. aureus NorA Efflux Pump: Synthesis and
      Biological Evaluation of the 3-Phenyl-1,4-benzothiazine Analogues.
AB  - Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents has become an increasingly serious
      health problem in recent years. Among the strategies by which resistance can be
      achieved, overexpression of efflux pumps such as NorA of Staphylococcus aureus
      leads to a sub-lethal concentration of the antibacterial agent at the active site
      that in turn may predispose the organism to the development of high-level target
      based resistance. With an aim to improve both the chemical stability and potency
      of our previously reported 3-phenyl-1,4-benzothiazine NorA inhibitors, we
      replaced the benzothiazine core with different nuclei. None of the new
      synthesized compounds showed any appreciable intrinsic antibacterial activity,
      and, in particular, 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)quinoline (6 c) was able to decrease,
      in a concentration-dependent manner, the ciprofloxacin MIC against the norA
      overexpressing strains S. aureus SA-K2378 (norA++) and SA-1199B (norA+/A116E
      GrlA).

PMID- 28598573
TI  - Successful treatment of tacrolimus-related pure red cell aplasia and autoimmune
      hemolytic anemia with rituximab in a pediatric cardiac transplant patient.
AB  - Acquired pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) are
      rare complications of immunosuppression in pediatric solid organ transplant
      patients. We report a 14-month-old female child who developed Coombs positive
      hemolytic anemia and reticulocytopenia while on tacrolimus after cardiac
      transplantation. She was successfully treated with rituximab after failing
      treatment with corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulins. Clinicians should
      consider PRCA differential diagnosis in a patient presenting with
      reticulocytopenia and hemolysis. In addition, the coexistence of PRCA with AIHA,
      and the response to therapy with rituximab, supports a common immune-mediated
      pathogenesis for both disorders.

PMID- 28598574
TI  - Socioeconomic status and the development of atrial fibrillation in Hispanics,
      African Americans and non-Hispanic whites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and is
      associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Despite having a higher
      burden of traditional AF risk factors, African American and Hispanic minorities
      have a lower incidence of AF when compared to non-Hispanic whites, referred to as
      the "racial paradox." HYPOTHESIS: Lower SES among Hispanics and African Americans
      may help to explain the lower incidence rates of AF compared to non-Hispanic
      whites. METHODS: An electrocardiogram/electronic medical records database in New
      York State was interrogated for individuals free of AF for development of
      subsequent AF from 2000 to 2013. SES was assessed per zip code via a composite of
      6 measures Z-scored to the New York State average. SES was reclassified into
      decile groups. Cox regression analysis controlling for all baseline differences
      was used to estimate the independent predictive ability of SES for AF. RESULTS:
      We identified 48 631 persons (43% Hispanic, 37% African Americans, and 20% non
      Hispanic white; mean age 59 years; mean follow-up of 3.2 years) of which 4556 AF
      cases occurred. Hispanics and African Americans had lower AF risk than whites in
      all SES deciles (P < 0.001 by log-rank test). Higher SES was borderline
      associated with lower AF risk (hazard ratio: 0.990, 95% confidence interval:
      0.980-1.001, P = 0.061). P trend analysis was not significant by any race/ethnic
      group by SES deciles for AF. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that non-Hispanic
      whites were at higher risk for AF compared to nonwhites, and this was independent
      of SES.

PMID- 28598575
TI  - An Efficient and Versatile Lanthanum Heteroscorpionate Catalyst for Carbon
      Dioxide Fixation into Cyclic Carbonates.
AB  - A new lanthanum heteroscorpionate complex has shown exceptional catalytic
      activity for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide.
      This catalyst system also promotes the reaction of bio-based epoxides to give an
      important class of bis(cyclic carbonates) that can be further used for the
      production of bio-derived non-isocyanate polyurethanes. The catalytic process
      requires low catalyst loading and mild reaction conditions for the synthesis of a
      wide range of cyclic carbonates.

PMID- 28598577
TI  - Comment on: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors and risk of adverse renal
      outcomes among type 2 diabetes patients: A network and cumulative meta-analysis
      of randomized controlled trials.

PMID- 28598578
TI  - Oversensing and inappropriate shock in a patient with subcutaneous implantable
      cardioverter defibrillator: What is the mechanism?

PMID- 28598576
TI  - Semi-automated cancer genome analysis using high-performance computing.
AB  - Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has turned from a new and experimental
      technology into a standard procedure for cancer genome studies and clinical
      investigation. While a multitude of software packages for cancer genome data
      analysis have been made available, these need to be combined into efficient
      analytical workflows that cover multiple aspects relevant to a clinical
      environment and that deliver handy results within a reasonable time frame. Here,
      we introduce QuickNGS Cancer as a new suite of bioinformatics pipelines that is
      focused on cancer genomics and significantly reduces the analytical hurdles that
      still limit a broader applicability of NGS technology, particularly to clinically
      driven research. QuickNGS Cancer allows a highly efficient analysis of a broad
      variety of NGS data types, specifically considering cancer-specific issues, such
      as biases introduced by tumor impurity and aneuploidy or the assessment of
      genomic variations regarding their biomedical relevance. It delivers highly
      reproducible analysis results ready for interpretation within only a few days
      after sequencing, as shown by a reanalysis of 140 tumor/normal pairs from The
      Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) in which QuickNGS Cancer detected a significant number
      of mutations in key cancer genes missed by a well-established mutation calling
      pipeline. Finally, QuickNGS Cancer obtained several unexpected mutations in
      leukemias that could be confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

PMID- 28598579
TI  - Validation of protein structure models using network similarity score.
AB  - Accurate structural validation of proteins is of extreme importance in studies
      like protein structure prediction, analysis of molecular dynamic simulation
      trajectories and finding subtle changes in very similar structures. The
      benchmarks for today's structure validation are scoring methods like global
      distance test-total structure (GDT-TS), TM-score and root mean square deviations
      (RMSD). However, there is a lack of methods that look at both the protein
      backbone and side-chain structures at the global connectivity level and provide
      information about the differences in connectivity. To address this gap, a graph
      spectral based method (NSS-network similarity score) which has been recently
      developed to rigorously compare networks in diverse fields, is adopted to compare
      protein structures both at the backbone and at the side-chain noncovalent
      connectivity levels. In this study, we validate the performance of NSS by
      investigating protein structures from X-ray structures, modeling (including CASP
      models), and molecular dynamics simulations. Further, we systematically identify
      the local and the global regions of the structures contributing to the difference
      in NSS, through the components of the score, a feature unique to this spectral
      based scoring scheme. It is demonstrated that the method can quantify subtle
      differences in connectivity compared to a reference protein structure and can
      form a robust basis for protein structure comparison. Additionally, we have also
      introduced a network-based method to analyze fluctuations in side chain
      interactions (edge-weights) in an ensemble of structures, which can be an useful
      tool for the analysis of MD trajectories.

PMID- 28598580
TI  - Neuroanatomy of the Pig Cardiac Ventricles. A Stereomicroscopic, Confocal and
      Electron Microscope Study.
AB  - Although the pig is a model for heart disease, the neuroanatomy of cardiac
      ventricles (CV) in this species remains undetailed. We aimed to define the
      innervation pattern of pig CV, combining histochemistry for acetylcholinesterase,
      immunofluorescent labeling and electron microscopy. Forty nine examined pig
      hearts show that the major nerves supplying the ventral side of CV descend from
      the venous part of the heart hilum. Fewer in number and smaller in size,
      epicardial nerves supply the dorsal half of the CV. Epicardial nerves on the left
      ventricle are thicker than those on the right. Ventricular ganglia of various
      sizes distribute at the basal level of both CV. Averagely, we found 3,848
      ventricular neuronal somata per heart. The majority of somata were cholinergic,
      although ganglionic cells of different neurochemical phenotypes (positive for
      nNOS, ChAT/nNOS, or ChAT/TH) were also observed. Large and most numerous nerves
      proceeded within the epicardium. Most of endocardium and myocardium contained a
      network of nerve bundles and nerve fibers (NFs). But, a large number of thin
      nerves extended along the bundle of His and its branches. The majority of NFs
      were adrenergic, while cholinergic NFs were scarce yet more abundant than
      nitrergic ones. Sensory NFs positive for CGRP were the second most abundant
      phenotype after adrenergic NFs in all layers of the ventricular wall. Electron
      microscopy elucidated that ultrastructure of nerves varied between different
      areas of CV. The described structural organization of CV provides an anatomical
      basis for further functional and pathophysiological studies in the pig heart.
      Anat Rec, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Anat Rec, 300:1756-1780, 2017.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28598581
TI  - Life-threatening sinusoidal obstruction syndrome after high-dose chemotherapy
      linked to compound heterozygous mutations in ABCB11.

PMID- 28598582
TI  - Outcomes of Intercalary Prosthetic Reconstruction for Pathological Diaphyseal
      Femoral Fractures Secondary to Metastatic Tumors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical outcomes and complications of segmental
      prosthetic reconstruction for pathological diaphyseal femoral fractures secondary
      to metastatic tumors. METHODS: Between 2011 and 2015, we retrospectively
      evaluated 16 patients (6 men and 10 women; 64.5 +/- 11.4 years old at diagnosis)
      who underwent prosthetic reconstruction after segmental resection of diaphyseal
      femoral fractures due to metastatic lesions. Visual analog scale (VAS),
      functional outcomes, implant-related complications, and Mean postoperative
      Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score for each patient were collected.
      RESULTS: The mean length of bone defect was 10.2 +/- 2.6 cm (range, 8-16 cm);
      follow-up was 9 +/- 6.8 months (range, 2-25 months) for all patients, and 24
      months (23 and 25 months) for the 2 patients still alive. At final follow-up, 14
      patients were dead, indicating a mean survival of 6.9 +/- 3.6 months (range, 2-14
      months). Mean preoperative VAS score was 8.5 +/- 1.0, which decreased to 2.5 +/-
      1.3 at day 2 postoperatively, indicating significant pain relief (P < 0.05). The
      MSTS score for lower extremities was 84.6% (range, 73%-90%). The range of motion
      and function of adjacent joints was within the normal limits in all cases. Three
      patients (33%) developed complications, including aseptic loosening because of
      disease progression (1), infection (1), and peri-prosthesis fracture (1).
      CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that this approach greatly relieves pain,
      and yields satisfactory functional outcomes with fewer complications in patients
      with pathological femoral fractures secondary to metastatic tumors; however,
      survival was not significantly improved.

PMID- 28598583
TI  - Ring-Opening 1-Amino-3-aminomethylation of Donor-Acceptor Cyclopropanes via 1,3
      Diazepanes.
AB  - The first ring-opening reaction of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes to give diamines
      is reported. For this reaction, a 1,3-bisfunctionalization was developed using
      cyclopropanes, triazinanes, and Sc(OTf)3 as the catalyst, followed by treatment
      with acid. The reaction proceeds under very mild conditions and tolerates many
      functional groups. Moreover, a library of various 1,3-diazepanes, which arise as
      intermediates of the first formal aza-[4+3]-cycloaddition reaction with donor
      acceptor cyclopropanes, was synthesized.

PMID- 28598584
TI  - CaMELS: In silico prediction of calmodulin binding proteins and their binding
      sites.
AB  - Due to Ca2+ -dependent binding and the sequence diversity of Calmodulin (CaM)
      binding proteins, identifying CaM interactions and binding sites in the wet-lab
      is tedious and costly. Therefore, computational methods for this purpose are
      crucial to the design of such wet-lab experiments. We present an algorithm suite
      called CaMELS (CalModulin intEraction Learning System) for predicting proteins
      that interact with CaM as well as their binding sites using sequence information
      alone. CaMELS offers state of the art accuracy for both CaM interaction and
      binding site prediction and can aid biologists in studying CaM binding proteins.
      For CaM interaction prediction, CaMELS uses protein sequence features coupled
      with a large-margin classifier. CaMELS models the binding site prediction problem
      using multiple instance machine learning with a custom optimization algorithm
      which allows more effective learning over imprecisely annotated CaM-binding sites
      during training. CaMELS has been extensively benchmarked using a variety of data
      sets, mutagenic studies, proteome-wide Gene Ontology enrichment analyses and
      protein structures. Our experiments indicate that CaMELS outperforms simple motif
      based search and other existing methods for interaction and binding site
      prediction. We have also found that the whole sequence of a protein, rather than
      just its binding site, is important for predicting its interaction with CaM.
      Using the machine learning model in CaMELS, we have identified important features
      of protein sequences for CaM interaction prediction as well as characteristic
      amino acid sub-sequences and their relative position for identifying CaM binding
      sites. Python code for training and evaluating CaMELS together with a webserver
      implementation is available at the URL:
      http://faculty.pieas.edu.pk/fayyaz/software.html#camels.

PMID- 28598586
TI  - Nitrogen Photofixation over III-Nitride Nanowires Assisted by Ruthenium Clusters
      of Low Atomicity.
AB  - In many heterogeneous catalysts, the interaction of supported metal species with
      a matrix can alter the electronic and morphological properties of the metal and
      manipulate its catalytic properties. III-nitride semiconductors have a unique
      ability to stabilize ultra-small ruthenium (Ru) clusters (ca. 0.8 nm) at a high
      loading density up to 5 wt %. n-Type III-nitride nanowires decorated with Ru sub
      nanoclusters offer controlled surface charge properties and exhibit superior UV-
      and visible-light photocatalytic activity for ammonia synthesis at ambient
      temperature. A metal/semiconductor interfacial Schottky junction with a 0.94 eV
      barrier height can greatly facilitate photogenerated electron transfer from III
      nitrides to Ru, rendering Ru an electron sink that promotes N=N bond cleavage,
      and thereby achieving low-temperature ammonia synthesis.

PMID- 28598585
TI  - Epithelioid hemangioendotheliomas of the liver and lung in children and
      adolescents.
AB  - Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare, vascular sarcoma. Visceral
      forms arise in the liver/ lungs. We review the clinical and molecular phenotype
      of pediatric visceral EHE based on the case of a 9-year-old male child with EHE
      of the liver/lungs. His tumor expressed the EHE-specific fusion oncogene WWTR1
      CAMTA1. Molecular characterization revealed a low somatic mutation rate and
      activated interferon signaling, angiogenesis regulation, and blood vessel
      remodeling. After polychemotherapy and resection of lung tumors, residual disease
      remained stable on oral lenalidomide. Literature review identified another 24
      children with EHE of the liver/lungs. Most presented with multifocal, systemic
      disease. Only those who underwent complete resection achieved complete remission.
      Four children experienced rapid progression and died. In six children, disease
      remained stable for years without therapy. Two patients died from progressive EHE
      21 and 24 years after first diagnosis. Natural evolution of pediatric visceral
      EHE is variable, and long-term prognosis remains unclear.

PMID- 28598587
TI  - Challenges in Model Development for Meat Composition Using Multipoint NIR
      Spectroscopy from At-Line to In-Line Monitoring.
AB  - This study evaluates the efficiency of multipoint near-infrared spectroscopy
      (NIRS) to predict the fat and moisture content of minced beef samples both in at
      line and on-line modes. Additionally, it aims at identifying the obstacles that
      can be encountered in the path of performing in-line monitoring. Near-infrared
      (NIR) reflectance spectra of minced beef samples were collected using an NIR
      spectrophotometer, employing a Fabry-Perot interferometer. Partial least squares
      regression (PLSR) models based on reference values from proximate analysis
      yielded calibration coefficients of determination (Rc2) of 0.96 for both fat and
      moisture. For an independent batch of samples, fat was estimated with a
      prediction coefficient of determination (Rp2) of 0.87 and 0.82 for the samples in
      at-line and on-line modes, respectively. All the models were found to have good
      prediction accuracy; however, a higher bias was observed for predictions under on
      line mode. Overall results from this study illustrate that multipoint NIR systems
      combined with multivariate analysis has potential as a process analytical
      technology (PAT) tool for monitoring process parameters such as fat and moisture
      in the meat industry, providing real-time spectral and spatial information.

PMID- 28598588
TI  - Nutritional outcomes in infants with food allergy after cardiac surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Food allergy is a rapidly growing public health concern because of
      its increasing prevalence, as well as life-threatening potential. There is
      limited knowledge on the nutritional status for the pediatric congenital heart
      disease (CHD) patients with food allergy. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated both
      clinical and nutritional outcomes according to the CHD infants with food allergy.
      METHODS: Forty CHD infants with food allergy and 39 controls were recruited in
      Shanghai, China. The height and weight for age and weight for height were
      converted to z-scores to evaluate their effects on nutritional status before and
      after CHD operation. RESULTS: Cow's milk showed the most frequently sensitized
      food allergen. The WHZ in the >=2 allergen group was different before operation
      and after operation (P = .040). The number of sensitized food allergens
      significantly correlated with the WHZ (r = -0.431, P = .001), WAZ (r = -0.465, P
      = .000), and HAZ (r = -0.287, P = .025). Infection and NT-BNP showing negative
      correlation with WHZ and WAZ of infants with food allergy. CONCLUSIONS: The
      increased number of sensitized food allergens is associated with negative effects
      on both short-term and long-term nutritional status in infants with CHD.
      Therefore, the meticulous and continuous evaluation and management of both growth
      and nutritional status should be considered in CHD patients with a high number of
      sensitized food allergens.

PMID- 28598589
TI  - Creating a Biomimetic Microenvironment for the Ex Vivo Expansion of Primary Human
      T Lymphocytes.
AB  - The ex vivo expansion of primary human T cells is of considerable interest.
      Current protocols call for the addition of massive amounts of stimuli. This study
      presents as alternative the expansion of such cells in semipermeable sodium
      cellulose sulfate/poly(diallyldimethyl) ammonium chloride (SCS/PDADMAC)
      polyelectrolyte microcapsules, which supports at least six cell divisions and
      results in >40 * 106 cells mLcapsule-1 within less than 10 d. Inside the
      microcapsules, the T cells are suspended in a viscous SCS-solution. The low
      molecular weight cut off (<10 000 Da) of the surrounding polyelectrolyte membrane
      assures that typical signaling molecules produced by the cells are retained,
      while nutrients and metabolites can pass. Expensive additives, such as
      interleukin-2 (IL-2), can be coencapsulated. Expansion then no longer requires
      specialized T-cell media. Moreover, these results suggest that an SCS with a low
      degree of sulfation has biomimetic properties, representing an artificial
      extracellular matrix mimicking heparin sulfate.

PMID- 28598590
TI  - Impact of Denture Cleansing Solution Immersion on Some Properties of Different
      Denture Base Materials: An In Vitro Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of several denture cleansing solutions on the
      color stability, surface roughness, and flexural strength of three denture base
      materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-seven specimens were prepared using heat
      polymerized (HP) denture base material, 27 using autopolymerized (AP) denture
      base material, and 27 using visible-light-polymerized (VLP) denture base,
      creating a total of 81 specimens. The specimens were randomly divided into three
      groups (n = 27): the distilled water group (DWG), Corega group (CG), and Renew
      group (RG). Color changes (DeltaE), surface roughness (Ra, nm), and flexural
      strength (MPa) of each specimen were measured using a spectrophotometer, an
      optical profilometer, and a universal testing machine, respectively. The results
      were statistically analyzed using a one-way ANOVA and a post hoc Tukey's test
      (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: The only statistically significant color change detected
      was in the VLP resin treated with Corega and Renew. There was a significant
      increase in the surface roughness of all denture resin groups after immersion in
      Corega. Immersion in Renew significantly increased surface roughness only in the
      HP and AP specimens. The only significant reduction in flexural strength was
      detected in the HP resin after immersion in Corega (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that Corega has a
      significantly greater negative impact than distilled water on the flexural
      strength of HP resin base materials. Renew significantly increased the surface
      roughness of AP and HP, while Corega increased the surface roughness of all resin
      materials.

PMID- 28598591
TI  - Effect of Split-File Digital Workflow on Crown Margin Adaptation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) is becoming
      increasingly integrated into dental practice workflow at a pace that exceeds
      scientific validation. The aim of this study is to evaluate a complete digital
      split-file protocol relative to segmental digital and analog techniques for
      restoring a single maxillary anterior edentulous space with custom abutment and
      crown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four treatment workflows were assessed: complete
      digital (CD), segmental digital (SD), milled wax (AM), and heat pressed and hand
      waxed (AH) and heat pressed. The CD workflow "split" an abutment and crown into
      separate files to fabricate a zirconia abutment and both zirconia/lithium
      disilicate crown restorations. The SD workflow scanned the existing abutment for
      design of segmental restorations in zirconia, lithium disilicate, and milled wax
      (AM). The AH specimens were conventionally hand waxed. Both the AM and AH
      specimens were heat pressed with lithium disilicate. All restorations were
      evaluated with standardized measurements using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
      as manufactured without internal adjustments and after manual adjustment. The
      number of adjustments, adjustment time, and location of adjustments were
      recorded. One-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to report geometric means
      with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: The mean marginal gap after adjustment of
      the CD group was 69 MUm, with an upper bound (UB) of 79 MUm and a lower bound
      (LB) of 60 MUm. SD group mean was 26 MUm with an UB of 31 MUm and LB of 22 MUm.
      The AM group mean was 32 MUm, with an UB of 49 MUm and a LB of 20 MUm; AH group
      mean of 26 MUm with an UB of 34 MUm and a LB of 20 MUm. The SD, AM, and AH
      workflows were statistically similar (p = 1.000), and the CD workflow was
      statistically greater than the other three (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The split
      file (CD) protocol results in marginal gap size within clinical standards after
      adjustment; however, 52 of the 60 digitally produced restorations showed a
      horizontal marginal offset that required adjustment for proper contours.

PMID- 28598592
TI  - Hospitalization rate and costs in acute lymphoblastic leukemia of childhood in a
      low-income group: Financial impact in Northeast Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the main and most
      expensive and prolonged causes of hospitalization for childhood cancer. We
      describe the hospitalization rate and its costs for an open population with ALL
      in a low-middle income country. PROCEDURE: We retrospectively analyzed 449
      hospital admissions for 101 pediatric patients with ALL over 8 years. Clinical
      files and electronic databases were scrutinized to document causes, duration,
      readmission rate, costs, and outcome of each admission. Hospitalizations were
      divided into two categories: general pediatric ward and pediatric intensive care
      unit (PICU). Hospitalization rates and its costs per patient were estimated
      considering person-time at risk. RESULTS: Patients had an admission rate of 2.09
      hospitalizations per patient-year and median length of stay per admission was 5
      days. Most admissions occurred during the first 2 years from diagnosis. Mean cost
      per day was 239 US dollars (USD) and mean cost per stay was 2,246 USD versus
      1,016 and 19,004 USD (P = 0.001) in the PICU, respectively. Total hospitalization
      cost per patient per year (PPPY) was 5,991 USD for high-risk patients and 3,038
      USD for standard-risk patients. Patients between ages 1 and 9 years had a PPPY
      cost of $4,057; while for children younger than 1 year or older than 9 years, it
      was 7,463 USD. The popular medical insurance program covered 70% of
      hospitalizations and 63% of its total cost; patients contributed 2%, with the
      hospital absorbing 35%. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalizations for children with ALL were
      less expensive than in high-income countries but had a significant cost to low
      income families and to the healthcare system.

PMID- 28598593
TI  - Intravenous palivizumab in respiratory syncytial virus infection after
      hematopoietic stem cell transplant in children.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause lower respiratory tract
      disease and mortality in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)
      recipients. We report two children who underwent HSCT and developed RSV infection
      simultaneously at the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. The treatment with intravenous
      palivizumab was provided and sequential viral loads were measured in
      nasopharyngeal (NP) and whole blood samples. To our knowledge, this is the first
      report where RSV loads were measured in parallel (NP and blood), before and after
      palivizumab, in correlation with a favorable clinical outcome in both cases.

PMID- 28598594
TI  - Tethering Growth Factors to Collagen Surfaces Using Copper-Free Click Chemistry:
      Surface Characterization and in Vitro Biological Response.
AB  - Surface modifications with tethered growth factors have mainly been applied to
      synthetic polymeric biomaterials in well-controlled, acellular settings, followed
      by seeding with cells. The known bio-orthogonality of copper-free click chemistry
      provides an opportunity to not only use it in vitro to create scaffolds or pro
      migratory tracks in the presence of living cells, but also potentially apply it
      to living tissues directly as a coupling modality in situ. In this study, we
      studied the chemical coupling of growth factors to collagen using biocompatible
      copper-free click chemistry and its effect on the enhancement of growth factor
      activity in vitro. We verified the characteristics of modified epidermal growth
      factor (EGF) using mass spectrometry and an EGF/EGF receptor binding assay, and
      evaluated the chemical immobilization of EGF on collagen by copper-free click
      chemistry using surface X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), surface plasmon
      resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We
      found that the anchoring was noncytotoxic, biocompatible, and rapid. Moreover,
      the surface-immobilized EGF had significant effects on epithelial cell attachment
      and proliferation. Our results demonstrate the possibility of copper-free click
      chemistry as a tool for covalent bonding of growth factors to collagen in the
      presence of living cells. This approach is a novel and potentially clinically
      useful application of copper-free click chemistry as a way of anchoring growth
      factors to collagen and foster epithelial wound healing.

PMID- 28598595
TI  - Self-Perforated Hydrogel Nanomembranes Facilitate Structural Analysis of Proteins
      by Electron Cryo-Microscopy.
AB  - We developed a method to improve specimen preparation for electron cryo
      microscopy of membrane proteins. The method features a perforated hydrogel
      nanomembrane that stabilizes the thin film of aqueous buffer spanning the holes
      of holey carbon films, while at the same time preventing the depletion of protein
      molecules from these holes. The membrane is obtained by cross-linking of
      thiolated polyglycerol dendrimer films on gold, which self-perforate upon
      transfer to holey carbon substrates, forming a sub-micron-sized hydrogel network.
      The perforated nanomembrane improves the distribution of the protein molecules in
      the ice considerably. This facilitates data acquisition as demonstrated with two
      eukaryotic membrane protein complexes.

PMID- 28598596
TI  - Interconnected Copper Cobaltite Nanochains as Efficient Electrocatalysts for
      Water Oxidation in Alkaline Medium.
AB  - The present work is focused on the protective-agent-free synthesis of
      interconnected copper cobaltite (Cu0.3Co2.7O4) nanochains by temperature
      controlled solvothermal method followed by post-thermal treatment of the
      precursors. Furthermore, Cu0.3Co2.7O4 interconnected nanochains are employed as
      electrocatalyst for water oxidation in alkaline medium for the first time.
      Extensive studies of physiochemical properties showed the formation of
      interconnected 1D nanochains of Cu0.3Co2.7O4 exhibiting a larger specific surface
      area (139.5 m2 g-1) and enhanced electrochemical water oxidation ability. It
      delivered excellent mass activity (~50.0 A g-1), high anodic current density
      (~124.9 mA cm-2 at 1.75 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode), and turnover
      frequency (~4.26 * 10-2 s-1) in 1.0 M KOH. These Cu0.3Co2.7O4 nanochains also
      demonstrated low overpotential (~351 mV) and good cycling stability (1000 cycles)
      in strong alkaline media. The fabricated Cu0.3Co2.7O4 nanochains could be a good
      alternative to the commercial OER electrocatalysts (RuO2 and IrO2) and also
      advantageous to the development of efficient, cost-effective, and durable
      electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting.

PMID- 28598597
TI  - Azapeptide Synthesis Methods for Expanding Side-Chain Diversity for Biomedical
      Applications.
AB  - Mimicry of bioactive conformations is critical for peptide-based medicinal
      chemistry because such peptidomimetics may augment stability, enhance affinity,
      and increase specificity. Azapeptides are peptidomimetics in which the alpha
      carbon(s) of one or more amino acid residues are substituted by nitrogen. The
      resulting semicarbazide analogues have been shown to reinforce beta-turn
      conformation through the combination of lone pair-lone pair repulsion of the
      adjacent hydrazine nitrogen and urea planarity. Substitution of a semicarbazide
      for an amino amide residue in a peptide may retain biological activity and add
      benefits such as improved metabolic stability. The applications of azapeptides
      include receptor ligands, enzyme inhibitors, prodrugs, probes, and imaging
      agents. Moreover, azapeptides have proven therapeutic utility. For example, the
      aza-glycinamide analogue of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue
      Zoladex is a potent long-acting agonist currently used in the clinic for the
      treatment of prostate and breast cancer. However, the use of azapeptides was
      hampered by tedious solution-phase synthetic routes for selective hydrazine
      functionalization. A remarkable stride to overcome this bottleneck was made in
      2009 through the introduction of the submonomer procedure for azapeptide
      synthesis, which enabled addition of diverse side chains onto a common
      semicarbazone intermediate, providing a means to construct azapeptide libraries
      by solution- and solid-phase chemistry. In brief, aza residues are introduced
      into the peptide chain using the submonomer strategy by semicarbazone
      incorporation, deprotonation, N-alkylation, and orthogonal deprotection. Amino
      acylation of the resulting semicarbazide and elongation gives the desired
      azapeptide. Since the initial report, a number of chemical transformations have
      taken advantage of the orthogonal chemistry of semicarbazone residues (e.g.,
      Michael additions and N-arylations). In addition, libraries have been synthesized
      from libraries by diversification of aza-propargylglycine (e.g., A3 coupling
      reactions, [1,3]-dipolar cycloadditions, and 5-exo-dig cyclizations) and aza
      chloroalkylglycine residues. In addition, oxidation of aza-glycine residues has
      afforded azopeptides that react in pericyclic reactions (e.g., Diels-Alder and
      Alder-ene chemistry). The bulk of these transformations of aza-glycine residues
      have been developed by the Lubell laboratory, which has applied such chemistry in
      the synthesis of ligands with promising biological activity for treating diseases
      such as cancer and age-related macular degeneration. Azapeptide analogues of
      growth hormone-releasing peptide-6 (His-d-Trp-Ala-Trp-d-Phe-Lys-NH2, GHRP-6) have
      for example been pursued as ligands of the cluster of differentiation 36 receptor
      (CD36) and show promising activity for the development of treatments for
      angiogenesis-related diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, as well
      as for atherosclerosis. Azapeptides have also been employed to make a series of
      conformationally constrained second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase
      (Smac) mimetics that exhibit promising apoptosis-inducing activity in cancer
      cells. The synthesis of cyclic azapeptide derivatives was used to make an aza
      scan to study the conformation-activity relationships of the anticancer agent
      cilengitide, cyclo(RGDf-N(Me)V), and its parent counterpart cyclo(RGDfV), which
      exhibit potency against human tumor metastasis and tumor-induced angiogenesis.
      Innovations in the synthesis and application of azapeptides will be presented in
      this Account, focusing on the creation and use of side-chain diversity in
      medicinal chemistry.

PMID- 28598599
TI  - Generation, Spectroscopic, and Chemical Characterization of an Octahedral Iron(V)
      Nitrido Species with a Neutral Ligand Platform.
AB  - Iron complex [FeIII(N3)(MePy2tacn)](PF6)2 (1), containing a neutral
      triazacyclononane-based pentadentate ligand, and a terminally bound azide ligand
      has been prepared and spectroscopically and structurally characterized.
      Structural details, magnetic susceptibility data, and Mossbauer spectra
      demonstrate that 1 has a low-spin (S = 1/2) ferric center. X-ray diffraction
      analysis of 1 reveals remarkably short Fe-N (1.859 A) and long FeN-N2 (1.246 A)
      distances, while the FT-IR spectra show an unusually low N-N stretching frequency
      (2019 cm-1), suggesting that the FeN-N2 bond is particularly weak. Photolysis of
      1 at 470 or 530 nm caused N2 elimination and generation of a nitrido species that
      on the basis of Mossbauer, magnetic susceptibility, EPR, and X-ray absorption in
      conjunction with density functional theory computational analyses is formulated
      as [FeV(N)(MePy2tacn)]2+ (2). Results indicate that 2 is a low-spin (S = 1/2)
      iron(V) species, which exhibits a short Fe-N distance (1.64 A), as deduced from
      extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. Compound 2 is only stable at
      cryogenic (liquid N2) temperatures, and frozen solutions as well as solid samples
      decompose rapidly upon warming, producing N2. However, the high-valent compound
      could be generated in the gas phase, and its reactivity against olefins,
      sulfides, and substrates with weak C-H bonds studied. Compound 2 proved to be a
      powerful two-electron oxidant that can add the nitrido ligand to olefin and
      sulfide sites as well as oxidize cyclohexadiene substrates to benzene in a formal
      H2-transfer process. In summary, compound 2 constitutes the first case of an
      octahedral FeV(N) species prepared within a neutral ligand framework and adds to
      the few examples of FeV species that could be spectroscopically and chemically
      characterized.

PMID- 28598600
TI  - Protein-Free Hapten-Carbon Nanotube Constructs Induce the Secondary Immune
      Response.
AB  - Carbon nanotubes are novel technological tools with multiple applications. The
      interaction between such nanoparticles and living organisms is nowadays a matter
      of keen research by academic and private institutions. In this study, carbon
      nanotube constructs were investigated as delivery vehicles for immunostimulation
      and induction of the secondary immune response to a small organic molecule,
      namely, a hapten. Two types of nanoconstructs were prepared: on one hand, carbon
      nanotubes carrying a protein bioconjugate of a hapten covalently linked to the
      carbon surface, and on the other hand, covalent carbon nanotube constructs of the
      same model chemical compound without the carrier protein. Nanotube vehicles
      carrying a hapten-protein bioconjugate were demonstrated to stimulate the immune
      system and to induce a strong primary immune response against the hapten with as
      low as 0.1 MUg of the model chemical. The influence of the different elements of
      those nanoconstructs over the immune response was investigated to better
      understand the molecular mechanisms that are involved. As expected, the presence
      of the carrier protein was shown to be necessary in order to trigger the immune
      response. Interestingly, we found that a remarkable secondary immune response to
      the model organic compound occurred in the absence of a carrier protein.
      Additionally, a satisfactory adjuvant effect of carbon nanotubes was observed and
      a potent immune response was elicited without employing an oil-based adjuvant.

PMID- 28598601
TI  - Designing Air-Stable O3-Type Cathode Materials by Combined Structure Modulation
      for Na-Ion Batteries.
AB  - As promising high-capacity cathode materials for Na-ion batteries, O3-type Na
      based metal oxides always suffer from their poor air stability originating from
      the spontaneous extraction of Na and oxidation of transition metals when exposed
      to air. Herein, a combined structure modulation is proposed to tackle
      concurrently the two handicaps via reducing Na layers spacing and simultaneously
      increasing valence state of transition metals. Guided by density functional
      theory calculations, we demonstrate such a modulation can be subtly realized
      through cosubstitution of one kind of heteroatom with comparable
      electronegativity and another one with substantially different Fermi level, by
      adjusting the structure of NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2 via Cu/Ti codoping. The as-obtained
      NaNi0.45Cu0.05Mn0.4Ti0.1O2 exhibits an increase of 20 times in stable air
      exposure period and 9 times in capacity retention after 500 cycles, and even
      retains its structure and capacity after being soaked in water. Such a simple and
      effective structure modulation reveals a new avenue for high-performance O3-type
      cathodes and pushes the large-scale industrialization of Na-ion batteries a
      decisive step forward.

PMID- 28598602
TI  - Multiactinide Analysis with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for Ultratrace
      Determination in Small Samples: Application to an in Situ Radionuclide Tracer
      Test within the Colloid Formation and Migration Experiment at the Grimsel Test
      Site (Switzerland).
AB  - The multiactinide analysis with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was applied
      to samples collected from the run 13-05 of the Colloid Formation and Migration
      (CFM) experiment at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS). In this in situ radionuclide
      tracer test, the environmental behavior of 233U, 237Np, 242Pu, and 243Am was
      investigated in a water conductive shear zone under conditions relevant for a
      nuclear waste repository in crystalline rock. The concentration of the actinides
      in the GTS groundwater was determined with AMS over 6 orders of magnitude from
      ~15 pg/g down to ~25 ag/g. Levels above 10 fg/g were investigated with both
      sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICPMS) and AMS.
      Agreement within a relative uncertainty of 50% was found for 237Np, 242Pu, and
      243Am concentrations determined with the two analytical methods. With the extreme
      sensitivity of AMS, the long-term release and retention of the actinides was
      investigated over 8 months in the tailing of the breakthrough curve of run 13-05
      as well as in samples collected up to 22 months after. Furthermore, the evidence
      of masses 241 and 244 u in the CFM samples most probably representing 241Am and
      244Pu employed in a previous tracer test demonstrated the analytical capability
      of AMS for in situ studies lasting more than a decade.

PMID- 28598598
TI  - Reversible Low-Temperature Metal Node Distortion during Atomic Layer Deposition
      of Al2O3 and TiO2 on UiO-66-NH2 Metal-Organic Framework Crystal Surfaces.
AB  - Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are chemically functionalized micro- and
      mesoporous materials with high surface areas and are attractive for multiple
      applications including filtration, gas storage, and catalysis. Postsynthetic
      modification (PSM), via solution or vapor-based techniques, is a way to impart
      additional complexity and functionality into these materials. There is a desire
      to shift toward vapor-phase methods in order to ensure more controlled
      modification and more efficient reagent and solvent removal from the modified MOF
      material. In this work we explore how the metal precursors titanium tetrachloride
      (TiCl4) and trimethylaluminum (TMA), commonly used in atomic layer deposition,
      react with UiO-66-NH2 MOF. Using in situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) at 150 and 250  degrees C, we find
      that the ALD precursors react with MU3-OH hydroxyl and MU3-O bridging oxygen
      groups on Zr6 nodes, as well as oxygen from carboxylate linker groups. The
      reactions occur predominantly at the crystal surface at MU3-OH hydroxyl sites,
      with TiCl4 exhibiting greater diffusion into the MOF subsurface. FTIR analysis
      suggests that, at 150  degrees C, both TiCl4 and TMA reversibly dehydroxylate the
      hydroxylated UiO-66-NH2, which is accompanied by distortion of the zirconium
      metal clusters. Finally, we show that TiCl4 is able to react with the
      dehydroxylated UiO-66-NH2 structure, suggesting that TiCl4 is also able to react
      directly with the bridging oxygens in the metal clusters or carboxylate groups on
      the organic ligand. A better understanding of chemical and thermally driven MOF
      dehydroxylation reactions can be important for improved postsynthetic
      modification of MOFs.

PMID- 28598603
TI  - Crystal Structures of CaB3N3 at High Pressures.
AB  - Using global structure searches, we have explored the structural stability of
      CaB3N3, a compound analogous to CaC6, under pressure. There are two high-pressure
      phases with space groups R3c and Amm2 that were found to be stable between 29 and
      42 GPa, and above 42 GPa, respectively. The two phases show different structural
      frameworks, analogous to graphitic CaC6. Phonon calculations confirm that both
      structures are also dynamically stable at high pressures. The electronic
      structure calculations show that the R3c phase is a semiconductor with a band gap
      of 2.21 eV and that the Amm2 phase is a semimetal. These findings help advance
      our understanding of the Ca-B-N ternary system.

PMID- 28598604
TI  - Understanding the Oxygen Evolution Reaction Mechanism on CoOx using Operando
      Ambient-Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.
AB  - Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising approach for renewable
      production of hydrogen from solar energy and requires interfacing advanced water
      splitting catalysts with semiconductors. Understanding the mechanism of function
      of such electrocatalysts at the atomic scale and under realistic working
      conditions is a challenging, yet important, task for advancing efficient and
      stable function. This is particularly true for the case of oxygen evolution
      catalysts and, here, we study a highly active Co3O4/Co(OH)2 biphasic
      electrocatalyst on Si by means of operando ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy performed at the solid/liquid electrified interface. Spectral
      simulation and multiplet fitting reveal that the catalyst undergoes chemical
      structural transformations as a function of the applied anodic potential, with
      complete conversion of the Co(OH)2 and partial conversion of the spinel Co3O4
      phases to CoO(OH) under precatalytic electrochemical conditions. Furthermore, we
      observe new spectral features in both Co 2p and O 1s core-level regions to emerge
      under oxygen evolution reaction conditions on CoO(OH). The operando photoelectron
      spectra support assignment of these newly observed features to highly active Co4+
      centers under catalytic conditions. Comparison of these results to those from a
      pure phase spinel Co3O4 catalyst supports this interpretation and reveals that
      the presence of Co(OH)2 enhances catalytic activity by promoting transformations
      to CoO(OH). The direct investigation of electrified interfaces presented in this
      work can be extended to different materials under realistic catalytic conditions,
      thereby providing a powerful tool for mechanism discovery and an enabling
      capability for catalyst design.

PMID- 28598605
TI  - Metal Sensing by DNA.
AB  - Metal ions are essential to many chemical, biological, and environmental
      processes. In the past two decades, many DNA-based metal sensors have emerged.
      While the main biological role of DNA is to store genetic information, its
      chemical structure is ideal for metal binding via both the phosphate backbone and
      nucleobases. DNA is highly stable, cost-effective, easy to modify, and amenable
      to combinatorial selection. Two main classes of functional DNA were developed for
      metal sensing: aptamers and DNAzymes. While a few metal binding aptamers are
      known, it is generally quite difficult to isolate such aptamers. On the other
      hand, DNAzymes are powerful tools for metal sensing since they are selected based
      on catalytic activity, thus bypassing the need for metal immobilization. In the
      last five years, a new surge of development has been made on isolating new metal
      sensing DNA sequences. To date, many important metals can be selectively detected
      by DNA often down to the low parts-per-billion level. Herein, each metal ion and
      the known DNA sequences for its sensing are reviewed. We focus on the fundamental
      aspect of metal binding, emphasizing the distinct chemical property of each
      metal. Instead of reviewing each published sensor, a high-level summary of
      signaling methods is made as a separate section. In principle, each signaling
      strategy can be applied to many DNA sequences for designing sensors. Finally, a
      few specific applications are highlighted, and future research opportunities are
      discussed.

PMID- 28598607
TI  - Electrochemistry and Electrochemiluminescence of Organometal Halide Perovskite
      Nanocrystals in Aqueous Medium.
AB  - The redox nature and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of highly crystallized
      organometal halide perovskite CH3NH3PbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs) in aqueous medium
      were investigated for the first time. CH3NH3PbBr3 NCs could be electrochemically
      reduced to negative charge states by injecting electrons into the lowest
      unoccupied molecular orbitals and oxidized to positive charge states by removing
      electrons from the highest occupied molecular orbitals; charge transfer between
      NCs with positive and negative charge states could produce ECL. The redox
      sequence of CH3NH3PbBr3 NCs played an important role in the generation of charge
      transfer-mediated ECL; transient ECL could be achieved only by electrochemically
      reducing positive-charged NCs in an annihilation route. A large redox current was
      unfavorable for ECL. Charge mobility within CH3NH3PbBr3 NCs had an important
      effect on ECL intensity in a co-reactant route, which is promising for
      photovoltaic and optoelectronic device applications. Importantly, the ECL spectra
      of CH3NH3PbBr3 NCs were almost identical to their photoluminescence spectra, with
      a maximum emission around 535 nm and full width at half-maximum around 25 nm;
      this might open a way to obtaining monochromatic ECL using highly crystallized
      NCs as emitters, which makes them promising for use in color-selective ECL
      analysis.

PMID- 28598608
TI  - Ground-State Crystal Structure of Strontium Peroxide Predicted from First
      Principles.
AB  - It has been widely believed that SrO2, a typical alkaline earth metal peroxide,
      should adopt the tetrahedral CaC2-type structure (space group I4/mmm) at ambient
      pressure. Here we report a monoclinic structure (space group C2c), as predicted
      from first-principles swarm structure searching simulations, is energetically
      more favorable than the CaC2-type structure at ambient pressure and low
      temperature, while the I4/mmm structure is only stable at high pressure (>20 GPa)
      or elevated temperature conditions. A key difference between these structures is
      the distinct orientation of peroxide ions. Especially, frozen-phonon calculations
      indicate that the C2c structure can be derived by a softening mode phonon from
      I4/mmm structure. Furthermore, a high-pressure phase of SrO2 with P21/c
      symmetries containing two layers of peroxide ions with different orientations is
      uncovered at pressures higher than 36 GPa. Our electronic band calculations
      indicate that all the stable structures of SrO2 are wide band gap semiconductors.
      Our results represent a step forward toward a more complete understanding of the
      structures and properties of alkaline earth metal peroxides.

PMID- 28598606
TI  - 4S-Hydroxylation of Insulin at ProB28 Accelerates Hexamer Dissociation and Delays
      Fibrillation.
AB  - Daily injections of insulin provide lifesaving benefits to millions of diabetics.
      But currently available prandial insulins are suboptimal: The onset of action is
      delayed by slow dissociation of the insulin hexamer in the subcutaneous space,
      and insulin forms amyloid fibrils upon storage in solution. Here we show, through
      the use of noncanonical amino acid mutagenesis, that replacement of the proline
      residue at position 28 of the insulin B-chain (ProB28) by (4S)-hydroxyproline
      (Hzp) yields an active form of insulin that dissociates more rapidly, and
      fibrillates more slowly, than the wild-type protein. Crystal structures of
      dimeric and hexameric insulin preparations suggest that a hydrogen bond between
      the hydroxyl group of Hzp and a backbone amide carbonyl positioned across the
      dimer interface may be responsible for the altered behavior. The effects of
      hydroxylation are stereospecific; replacement of ProB28 by (4R)-hydroxyproline
      (Hyp) causes little change in the rates of fibrillation and hexamer
      disassociation. These results demonstrate a new approach that fuses the concepts
      of medicinal chemistry and protein design, and paves the way to further
      engineering of insulin and other therapeutic proteins.

PMID- 28598609
TI  - Novel 2D-NMR Approach for the Classification of Balsamic Vinegars of Modena.
AB  - The aim of this work is to evaluate the possibility of using 2D-NMR for the
      construction of classification models for balsamic vinegars of Modena. The goal
      was to obtain an indirect indicator of authenticity and a quality control tool.
      The spectral data were analyzed by chemometric methods, aiming to discriminate
      the samples in relation to their origin. Application of general discriminant
      analysis (GDA) revealed a good discrimination; the two obtained models explained
      83.9% and 97.3% of the total variance with a predictive capacity of 98.6% and
      98.4%, respectively. The signals of 5-HMF, beta-glucose, 2,3-butanediol, 6-acetyl
      glucose, and different aliphatic signals of sugars were the most significant
      variables. These results are very promising for giving an important contribution
      in quality control and characterization of such very valuable foods.

PMID- 28598610
TI  - Octahedral Gyroscope-like Molecules Consisting of Rhenium Rotators within Cage
      like Dibridgehead Diphosphine Stators: Syntheses, Substitution Reactions,
      Structures, and Dynamic Properties.
AB  - Reactions of Re(CO)5(X) (X = Cl, Br) or [Re2(CO)4(NO)2(MU-Cl)2(Cl)2] and the
      phosphines P((CH2)mCH?CH2)3 (m = 6, a; 7, b; 8, c) give mer,trans
      Re(CO)3(X)(P((CH2)mCH?CH2)3)2 (53-95%) or cis,trans-Re(CO) (NO)
      (Cl)2(P((CH2)6CH?CH2)3)2 (57%), respectively. Additions of Grubbs' catalyst (5-10
      mol %, 0.0010-0.0012 M) and subsequent hydrogenations (PtO2, <=5 bar) yield the
      gyroscope-like complexes mer,trans-R e(CO)3(X)(P((CH2)n)3 P) (n = 2m + 2; X = Cl,
      7a,c; Br, 8a,c; 18-61%) or cis,trans-R e(CO)(NO)(Cl)2(P((CH2)14)3 P) (14%),
      respectively, and/or the isomers mer,trans-R e(CO)3(X)( P(CH2)n-1 CH2)((CH2)n)(
      P(CH2)n-1 CH2) (X = Cl, 7'a-c; Br, 8'b; 6-27%). The latter are derived from a
      combination of interligand and intraligand metatheses. Reactions of 7a or 8a with
      NaI, Ph2Zn, or MeLi give mer,trans-R e(CO)3(X)(P((CH2)14)3 P) (X = I, 11a; Ph,
      12a; Me, 13a; 34-87%). The 13C NMR spectra of 7a-c, 8a-c, 11a, and 13a show
      rotation of the Re(CO)3(X) moieties to be fast on the NMR time scale at room
      temperature (and at -90  degrees C for 8a). In contrast, the phenyl group in 12a
      acts as a brake, and two sets of 13C NMR signals (2:1) are observed for the
      methylene chains. The crystal structures of 7a, 8a, 12a, and 13a are analyzed
      with respect to Re(CO)3(X) rotation in solution and the solid state.

PMID- 28598611
TI  - Synthesis and Exciton Dynamics of Donor-Orthogonal Acceptor Conjugated Polymers:
      Reducing the Singlet-Triplet Energy Gap.
AB  - The presence of energetically low-lying triplet states is a hallmark of organic
      semiconductors. Even though they present a wealth of interesting photophysical
      properties, these optically dark states significantly limit optoelectronic device
      performance. Recent advances in emissive charge-transfer molecules have pioneered
      routes to reduce the energy gap between triplets and "bright" singlets, allowing
      thermal population exchange between them and eliminating a significant loss
      channel in devices. In conjugated polymers, this gap has proved resistant to
      modification. Here, we introduce a general approach to reduce the singlet-triplet
      energy gap in fully conjugated polymers, using a donor-orthogonal acceptor motif
      to spatially separate electron and hole wave functions. This new generation of
      conjugated polymers allows for a greatly reduced exchange energy, enhancing
      triplet formation and enabling thermally activated delayed fluorescence. We find
      that the mechanisms of both processes are driven by excited-state mixing between
      pi-pi*and charge-transfer states, affording new insight into reverse intersystem
      crossing.

PMID- 28598612
TI  - Dynamic Links between Lipid Storage, Toxicokinetics and Mortality in a Marine
      Copepod Exposed to Dimethylnaphthalene.
AB  - Efficiently assessing and managing the risks of pollution in the marine
      environment requires mechanistic models for toxic effects. The General Unified
      Threshold model for Survival (GUTS) provides a framework for deriving
      toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) models for the end point survival. Two
      recurring questions in the application of GUTS concern the most appropriate death
      mechanism, and whether the total body residue is a proper dose metric for toxic
      effects. We address these questions with a case study for dimethylnaphthalene in
      the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus. A detailed analysis revealed that body
      residues were best explained by representing copepods with two toxicokinetic
      compartments: separating structural biomass and lipid storage. Toxicity is most
      likely related to the concentration in structure, which led to identification of
      "stochastic death" as the most appropriate death mechanism. Interestingly, the
      parametrized model predicts that lipid content will have only minor influence on
      short-term toxicity. However, the toxicants stored in lipids may have more
      substantial impacts in situations not included in our experiments (e.g., during
      diapause and gonad maturation), and for contaminant transfer to eggs and copepod
      predators.

PMID- 28598613
TI  - Role of Sample Processing Strategies at the European Union National Reference
      Laboratories (NRLs) Concerning the Analysis of Pesticide Residues.
AB  - The guidance document SANTE 11945/2015 recommends that cereal samples be milled
      to a particle size preferably smaller than 1.0 mm and that extensive heating of
      the samples should be avoided. The aim of the present study was therefore to
      investigate the differences in milling procedures, obtained particle size
      distributions, and the resulting pesticide residue recovery when cereal samples
      were milled at the European Union National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) with
      their routine milling procedures. A total of 23 NRLs participated in the study.
      The oat and rye samples milled by each NRL were sent to the European Union
      Reference Laboratory on Cereals and Feedingstuff (EURL) for the determination of
      the particle size distribution and pesticide residue recovery. The results showed
      that the NRLs used several different brands and types of mills. Large variations
      in the particle size distributions and pesticide extraction efficiencies were
      observed even between samples milled by the same type of mill.

PMID- 28598614
TI  - Enantio- and Diastereoselective Spiroketalization Catalyzed by Chiral Iridium
      Complex.
AB  - Iridium-(P,olefin) complex-catalyzed enantio- and diastereoselective formation of
      substituted spiroketals from racemic, allylic carbonates is reported, which
      enables the installation of multiple stereogenic centers in a single operation.
      The protocol was effective for the preparation of a collection of spiroketals of
      various ring sizes and substituents, including heteroatoms with high enantio- and
      diastereoselectivity. Furthermore, cascade reactions that couple this enantio-
      and diastereoselective transformation to additional reversible processes have
      been achieved to exert concomitant stereocontrol over additional stereogenic
      centers.

PMID- 28598617
TI  - Role of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes as Ligands in Iridium Carbonyl Clusters.
AB  - The low-energy isomers of Irx(CO)y(NHC)z (x = 1, 2, 4) are investigated with
      density functional theory (DFT) and correlated molecular orbital theory at the
      coupled cluster CCSD(T) level. The structures, relative energies, ligand
      dissociation energies, and natural charges are calculated. The energies of
      tetrairidium cluster are predicted at the CAM-B3LYP level that best fit the
      CCSD(T) results compared with the other four functionals in the benchmark
      calculations. The NHC's behave as stronger sigma donors compared with CO's and
      have higher ligand dissociation energies (LDEs). For smaller isomers, the
      increase in the LDEs of the CO's and the decrease in the LDEs of the NHC's as
      more NHC's are substituted for CO's are due to pi-back-bonding and electron
      repulsion, whereas the trend of how the LDEs change for larger isomers is not
      obvious. We demonstrate a MU3-CO resulting from the high electron density of the
      metal centers in these complexes, as the bridging CO's and the MU3-CO's can carry
      more negative charge and stabilize the isomers. Comparison of calculations for a
      mixed tetrairidum cluster consisting of two calixarene-phosphine ligands and a
      single calixarene-NHC ligand in the basal plane demonstrated good agreement in
      terms of both the ligand substitution symmetry (C3v derived), as well as the
      infrared spectra. Similar comparisons were also performed between calculations
      and experiment for novel monosubstituted calixarene-NHC tetrairidium clusters.

PMID- 28598616
TI  - Identification of BMI1 Promoter Inhibitors from Beaumontia murtonii and Eugenia
      operculata.
AB  - B-Cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion region 1 (BMI1) is a core
      component of the polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1). Abnormal expression of
      BMI1 is associated with a number of human malignances and cancer stem cells
      (CSCs), which cause chemotherapy resistance. Therefore, small molecules that
      inhibit BMI1 expression are potential candidates for cancer therapy. In this
      study, a cell-based reporter gene assay was developed that allowed BMI1 promoter
      activity to be measured in 293T human embryonic kidney cells based on luciferase
      expression levels. Using this screening assay, the methanol-soluble extracts of
      Beaumontia murtonii and Eugenia operculata were selected as leads. Bioassay
      guided fractionation of the extracts led to the isolation of three known
      cardenolides (1-3) and one new compound (4) from B. murtonii and two known
      triterpenoids (5 and 6) and one new compound (7) from E. operculata. These seven
      compounds inhibited BMI1 promoter activity (IC50 range 0.093-23.0 MUM), and the
      most active compound, wallichoside (1), was further evaluated. Western blot
      analysis revealed that wallichoside (1) decreases BMI1 protein levels in HCT116
      human colon carcinoma cells, and flow cytometry analysis showed that it
      significantly reduced levels of the CSC biomarker epithelial cell adhesion
      molecule. Wallichoside (1) also inhibited sphere formation of Huh7 human
      hepatocellular carcinoma cells, indicating that it diminished the self-renewal
      capability of CSCs.

PMID- 28598615
TI  - Induction of Slug by Chronic Exposure to Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Promotes
      Tumor Formation and Metastasis.
AB  - Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) represent a major class of engineered nanomaterials that
      are being used in diverse fields. However, their use has increasingly become a
      concern because of their carcinogenic potential. Accumulating evidence has
      demonstrated that certain types of CNTs are carcinogenic or tumor-promoting in
      animal models. However, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms are
      unclear. Here, we report that chronic exposure to single-walled (SW) CNTs results
      in the induction of Slug, a key transcription factor that induces an epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT), in human lung epithelial cells. We show that SWCNT
      induced Slug upregulation plays a critical role in the aggressive phenotype of
      SWCNT-exposed cells, which includes increased cell migration, invasion, and
      anchorage-independent cell growth. Our in vivo studies also show that SWCNT
      induced Slug upregulation and EMT activation play a pivotal role in tumor
      formation and metastasis. Our findings illustrate a direct link between CNT
      induced Slug upregulation, EMT activation, and tumor formation and metastasis,
      and they highlight the potential of CNT-induced Slug upregulation as a target for
      future risk assessment and prevention of CNT-associated diseases.

PMID- 28598618
TI  - Acetic Acid Mediated Sulfonylation of Allenylphosphine Oxides: Divergent
      Synthesis of Bifunctionalized 1,3-Butadienes and Allenes.
AB  - An acetic acid-mediated sulfonylation of allenylphosphine oxides with sodium
      sulfinates is disclosed. This new methodology involves tandem (Ar)O-C(sp3) bond
      cleavage and C(sp2)/C(sp3)-SO2 formation toward divergent synthesis of sulfonyl-
      and phosphinyl-bifunctionalized 1,3-butadienes or allenes, depending on the
      substitution at the terminal carbon atoms of allenylphosphine oxides. The
      reaction mechanism is explained via an acid-accelerated synergistic process.

PMID- 28598619
TI  - Using Structural Kinetic Modeling To Identify Key Determinants of Stability in
      Reaction Networks.
AB  - Kinetic modeling is increasingly used to understand the reaction dynamics of
      metabolic systems. However, one major drawback of kinetic modeling is that
      appropriate rate parameters required to implement such models are often
      unavailable. To circumvent this limitation, an approach known as structural
      kinetic modeling was developed as a way to understand the dynamics of reaction
      networks without explicitly requiring rate parameters. This study describes a
      novel approach to use structural kinetic modeling to identify reaction components
      that contribute most significantly to mediating network stability. We applied
      this method to analyze the metabolic pathway of glycolysis in yeast. As a result,
      we identified specific metabolic components that contribute most significantly to
      defining the stability properties of the glycolysis reaction network and predict
      the responses of these components to perturbations. These results were validated
      via comparison to a conventional kinetic model of glycolysis. Thus, applying our
      approach allows more detailed information about the stability and dynamics of the
      metabolic network to now be accessible without requiring rate parameters. We
      anticipate that this method can focus efforts of experimental studies by
      identifying the susceptibility of reaction components to metabolic engineering.
      The approach may be applied to a variety of complex reaction networks.

PMID- 28598620
TI  - Full Investigation of Angle Dependence in Dip-Coating Sol-Gel Films.
AB  - Dip-coating is one of the most convenient methods used in laboratory and industry
      to deposit a solid layer onto a surface with a controlled thickness from a
      chemical solution. The present Article investigates the influence of the
      withdrawal speed on the film thickness and homogeneity with respect to the
      dipping angle ranging from 90 degrees  (conventional vertical configuration) to 1
      degrees  (quasi-horizontal configuration). Several advantages were found in the
      latter extreme low-dipping angle conditions that are (i) an available wider range
      of thickness, (ii) the elimination of the perturbations/effects induced by
      evaporation, and (iii) the compatibility with large surface and single face
      deposition at high throughput and using a minimal amount of solution. One shows
      that experimental data follow the Landau-Levich model, modified by Tallmadge for
      angle dependence, only for intermediate regimes of speed. A maximal thickness
      limited by the physical-chemical characteristics of the initial solution is
      reached at high speeds while a minimal thickness, corresponding to a single layer
      of solute interacting with the substrate surface can be obtained at very low
      speeds.

PMID- 28598621
TI  - Roughness in Surface Force Measurements: Extension of DLVO Theory To Describe the
      Forces between Hafnia Surfaces.
AB  - The interaction between colloidal particles is commonly viewed through the lens
      of DLVO theory, whereby the interaction is described as the sum of the
      electrostatic and dispersion forces. For similar materials acting across a medium
      at pH values remote from the isoelectric point the theory typically involves an
      electrostatic repulsion that is overcome by dispersion forces at very small
      separations. However, the dominance of the dispersion forces at short separations
      is generally not seen in force measurements, with the exception of the
      interaction between mica surfaces. The discrepancy for silica surfaces has been
      attributed to hydration forces, but this does not explain the situation for
      titania surfaces where the dispersion forces are very much larger. Here, the
      interaction forces between very smooth hafnia surfaces have been measured using
      the colloid probe technique and the forces evaluated within the DLVO framework,
      including both hydration forces and the influence of roughness. The measured
      forces across a wide range of pH at different salt concentrations are well
      described with a single parameter for the surface roughness. These findings show
      that even small degrees of surface roughness significantly alter the form of the
      interaction force and therefore indicate that surface roughness needs to be
      included in the evaluation of surface forces between all surfaces that are not
      ideally smooth.

PMID- 28598622
TI  - Energetic Analysis of Adsorption and Absorption of Small Molecule to Nanodroplet
      of Water.
AB  - Adsorption and absorption were analyzed for nonpolar and polar solutes to a water
      droplet of nanometer size and to a planar slab. All-atom molecular dynamics
      simulation was performed, and the free energy change for bringing the solute to
      the water aggregate was computed over a wide range of temperature. It was seen in
      both the droplet and slab systems that the solute is preferably located at the
      surface, and the propensity of the nonpolar solute at the surface relative to the
      bulk was found to be larger in the droplet than in the slab. A molecular-sized
      curvature thus enhances the surface propensity of a nonpolar solute, whereas the
      curvature effect is weaker for polar one. The attractive and repulsive
      interactions of the solute with water were further analyzed, and the role of the
      repulsive interaction is discussed with respect to the stability of the surface
      bound state.

PMID- 28598623
TI  - A pOH Jump Driven by N?N Out-of-Plane Motion in the Photoisomerization of Water
      Solvated Triazabutadiene.
AB  - Utilization of photoinitiated isomerization reaction has recently emerged as a
      very promising platform to modulate the basicity of compounds; however,
      theoretical insight into its regulatory mechanism remains largely unknown and
      needs to be addressed. For the first time, an unexpected trans-cis
      photoisomerization via the N?N out of plane (NOOP) motion triggered by an in
      plane inversion of N-N?N moiety was computationally demonstrated to regulate the
      pOH jump of water-solvated triazabutadiene by using the multiconfigurational
      perturbation theory together with the calculation of rate constants of
      protonation-deprotonation reactions. Kinetic analyses show that the dramatic pOH
      change can be attributed to the reinforced intramolecular hydrogen bonding
      resulting from water cluster reorientation and the enhanced coupling between the
      rotated pi orbital and N lone pair of triazabutadiene in the remarkable trans-cis
      photoisomerization.

PMID- 28598624
TI  - Synthesis of Deoxyglycosides by Desulfurization under UV Light.
AB  - This study was performed to develop a highly efficient method whereby
      desulfurization could be completed in 0.5 h under ultraviolet light, at room
      temperature, and in the presence of trialkylphosphine. Using this method,
      deoxyglycosides could be produced from sulfur-containing glycosides in almost
      quantitative yields. The much higher reactivity of desulfurization with
      triethylphosphine versus that with triethylphosphite is also discussed.

PMID- 28598625
TI  - Weight-Averaged Anharmonic Vibrational Analysis of Hydration Structures of
      Polyamide 6.
AB  - Structures of polyamide 6 are investigated for different hydration levels using
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and quantum vibrational calculations. The MD
      simulations have shown that hydration leads to an increase in the diffusion
      coefficient, accompanied by a growth of water clusters in the polymer. The IR
      difference spectra upon hydration are calculated using a weight-averaged method
      incorporating anharmonicity of the potential energy surface. The predicted IR
      difference spectrum for the amide A band is in quantitative agreement with the
      experiment [ Iwamoto , R. ; Murase , H. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2003
      , 41 , 1722 - 1729 ]. The proposed method, combined with experimental IR
      difference spectra, makes it feasible to elucidate the atomistic structure of
      hydrated polymer materials.

PMID- 28598626
TI  - CO2 Hydration Shell Structure and Transformation.
AB  - The hydration-shell of CO2 is characterized using Raman multivariate curve
      resolution (Raman-MCR) spectroscopy combined with ab initio molecular dynamics
      (AIMD) vibrational density of states simulations, to validate our assignment of
      the experimentally observed high-frequency OH band to a weak hydrogen bond
      between water and CO2. Our results reveal that while the hydration-shell of CO2
      is highly tetrahedral, it is also occasionally disrupted by the presence of
      entropically stabilized defects associated with the CO2-water hydrogen bond.
      Moreover, we find that the hydration-shell of CO2 undergoes a temperature
      dependent structural transformation to a highly disordered (less tetrahedral)
      structure, reminiscent of the transformation that takes place at higher
      temperatures around much larger oily molecules. The biological significance of
      the CO2 hydration shell structural transformation is suggested by the fact that
      it takes place near physiological temperatures.

PMID- 28598627
TI  - Charge-Transfer Complex Promoted C-N Bond Activation for Ni-Catalyzed
      Carbonylation.
AB  - A new strategy was developed for activation of C-N bond via formation of an amine
      I2 charge-transfer complex, which facilitates the inert C-N bond activation via
      oxidative addition with Ni(0). This strategy has been successfully applied in the
      Ni-catalyzed carbonylation of benzylamines via direct insertion of CO into the C
      N bond, which provided a straightforward and rapid approach to arylacetamides in
      the presence of catalytic amounts of I2 and Ni catalyst. Mechanistic studies
      suggested that a benzyl radical generated via the oxidative addition was involved
      in the present reaction.

PMID- 28598628
TI  - Bipolar Photothermoelectric Effect Across Energy Filters in Single Nanowires.
AB  - The photothermoelectric (PTE) effect uses nonuniform absorption of light to
      produce a voltage via the Seebeck effect and is of interest for optical sensing
      and solar-to-electric energy conversion. However, the utility of PTE devices
      reported to date has been limited by the need to use a tightly focused laser spot
      to achieve the required, nonuniform illumination and by their dependence upon the
      Seebeck coefficients of the constituent materials, which exhibit limited
      tunability and, generally, low values. Here, we use InAs/InP heterostructure
      nanowires to overcome these limitations: first, we use naturally occurring
      absorption "hot spots" at wave mode maxima within the nanowire to achieve sharp
      boundaries between heated and unheated subwavelength regions of high and low
      absorption, allowing us to use global illumination; second, we employ carrier
      energy-filtering heterostructures to achieve a high Seebeck coefficient that is
      tunable by heterostructure design. Using these methods, we demonstrate PTE
      voltages of hundreds of millivolts at room temperature from a globally
      illuminated nanowire device. Furthermore, we find PTE currents and voltages that
      change polarity as a function of the wavelength of illumination due to spatial
      shifting of subwavelength absorption hot spots. These results indicate the
      feasibility of designing new types of PTE-based photodetectors,
      photothermoelectrics, and hot-carrier solar cells using nanowires.

PMID- 28598629
TI  - Charge Dynamics and Optolectronic Properties in HgTe Colloidal Quantum Wells.
AB  - We investigate the electronic and transport properties of HgTe 2D colloidal
      quantum wells. We demonstrate that the material can be made p- or n-type
      depending on the capping ligands. In addition to the control of majority carrier
      type, the surface chemistry also strongly affects the photoconductivity of the
      material. These transport measurements are correlated with the electronic
      structure determined by high resolution X-ray photoemission. We attribute the
      change of majority carriers to the strong hybridization of an n-doped HgS layer
      resulting from capping the HgTe nanoplatelets by S2- ions. We further investigate
      the gate and temperature dependence of the photoresponse and its dynamics. We
      show that the photocurrent rise and fall times can be tuned from 100 MUs to 1 ms
      using the gate bias. Finally, we use time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy as
      a probe of the transport relaxation to determine if the observed dynamics are
      limited by a fundamental process such as trapping. These pump probe surface
      photovoltage measurements show an even faster relaxation in the 100-500 ns range,
      which suggests that the current performances are rather limited by geometrical
      factors.

PMID- 28598630
TI  - A General Copper Catalyst for Photoredox Transformations of Organic Halides.
AB  - A broadly applicable copper catalyst for photoredox transformations of organic
      halides is reported. Upon visible light irradiation in the presence of catalytic
      amounts of [(DPEphos)(bcp)Cu]PF6 and an amine, a range of unactivated aryl and
      alkyl halides were shown to be smoothly activated through a rare
      Cu(I)/Cu(I)*/Cu(0) catalytic cycle. This complex efficiently catalyzes a series
      of radical processes, including reductions, cyclizations, and direct arylation of
      arenes.

PMID- 28598631
TI  - Thermally Activated Tunneling Transition in a Photoswitchable Single-Molecule
      Electrical Junction.
AB  - Exploring the charge transport process in molecular junctions is essential to the
      development of molecular electronics. Here, we investigate the temperature
      dependent charge transport mechanism of carbon electrode-diarylethene single
      molecule junctions, which possess photocontrollable molecular orbital energy
      levels due to reversible photoisomerization of individual diarylethenes between
      open and closed conformations. Both the experimental results and theoretical
      calculations consistently demonstrate that the vibronic coupling (thermally
      activated at the proper temperature) drives the transition of charge transport in
      the junctions from coherent tunneling to incoherent transport. Due to the subtle
      electron-phonon coupling effect, incoherent transport in the junctions proves to
      have different activation energies, depending on the photoswitchable molecular
      energy levels of two different conformations. These results improve fundamental
      understanding of charge transport mechanisms in molecular junctions and should
      lead to the rapid development of functional molecular devices toward practical
      applications.

PMID- 28598632
TI  - Dearomatization Approach to 2-Trifluoromethylated Benzofuran and
      Dihydrobenzofuran Products.
AB  - A mild dearomatization enabled ortho-selective replacement of an aromatic C-H
      bond with a hexafluoroacetylacetone (hfacac) substituent has been developed. This
      reaction is dependent on a hypervalent iodine generated phenoxonium intermediate,
      a critical choice of solvent, and reagent addition order. The fluorinated
      dihydrobenzofuran product can be transformed into dihydrobenzofuran and
      benzofuran products decorated with a 2-trifluoromethyl group. The 3
      trifluoromethylacyl substituted benzofurans rapidly form hydrates, which can be
      reduced to the corresponding alcohols.

PMID- 28598633
TI  - Ochracenes A-I, Humulane-Derived Sesquiterpenoids from the Antarctic Fungus
      Aspergillus ochraceopetaliformis.
AB  - Nine new humulane-derived sesquiterpenoids, ochracenes A-I (1-9), were isolated
      from the Antarctic fungus Aspergillus ochraceopetaliformis SCSIO 05702. Their
      structures including absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of
      spectroscopic analysis, Mosher's method, and electronic circular dichroism
      analysis. Compared with previous humulane-type sesquiterpenoids, ochracenes A-I
      (1-9) featured novel carbon skeletons with corresponding methyl migration, ring
      cleavage, and carbon loss. Two unprecedented 8,9-secocyclic sesquiterpenoids (2
      and 3) exhibited inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced NO release in
      RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cell lines with IC50 values of 14.6 +/- 0.5 and 18.3
      +/- 1.7 MUM, respectively.

PMID- 28598634
TI  - Design and Synthesis of gamma- and delta-Lactam M1 Positive Allosteric Modulators
      (PAMs): Convulsion and Cholinergic Toxicity of an M1-Selective PAM with Weak
      Agonist Activity.
AB  - Recent data demonstrated that activation of the muscarinic M1 receptor by a
      subtype-selective positive allosteric modulator (PAM) contributes to the
      gastrointestinal (GI) and cardiovascular (CV) cholinergic adverse events (AEs)
      previously attributed to M2 and M3 activation. These studies were conducted using
      PAMs that also exhibited allosteric agonist activity, leaving open the
      possibility that direct activation by allosteric agonism, rather than allosteric
      modulation, could be responsible for the adverse effects. This article describes
      the design and synthesis of lactam-derived M1 PAMs that address this hypothesis.
      The lead molecule from this series, compound 1 (PF-06827443), is a potent, low
      clearance, orally bioavailable, and CNS-penetrant M1-selective PAM with minimal
      agonist activity. Compound 1 was tested in dose escalation studies in rats and
      dogs and was found to induce cholinergic AEs and convulsion at therapeutic
      indices similar to previous compounds with more agonist activity. These findings
      provide preliminary evidence that positive allosteric modulation of M1 is
      sufficient to elicit cholinergic AEs.

PMID- 28598635
TI  - Deciphering Front-Side Complex Formation in SN2 Reactions via Dynamics Mapping.
AB  - Due to their importance in organic chemistry, the atomistic understanding of
      bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2) reactions shows exponentially growing
      interest. In this publication, the effect of front-side complex (FSC) formation
      is uncovered via quasi-classical trajectory computations combined with a novel
      analysis method called trajectory orthogonal projection (TOP). For both F- + CH3Y
      [Y = Cl,I] reactions, the lifetime distributions of the F-...YCH3 front-side
      complex revealed weakly trapped nucleophiles (F-). However, only the F- + CH3I
      reaction features strongly trapped nucleophiles in the front-side region of the
      prereaction well. Interestingly, both back-side and front-side attack show
      propensity to long-lived FSC formation. Spatial distributions of the nucleophile
      demonstrate more prominent FSC formation in case of the F- + CH3I reaction
      compared to F- + CH3Cl. The presence of front-side intermediates and the broad
      spatial distribution in the back-side region may explain the indirect nature of
      the F- + CH3I reaction.

PMID- 28598636
TI  - Formal [3 + 4] Annulation of alpha,beta-Unsaturated Acyl Azoliums: Access to
      Enantioenriched N-H-Free 1,5-Benzothiazepines.
AB  - An unprecedented formal [3 + 4] annulation of alpha,beta-unsaturated acyl
      azoliums with 2-aminobenzenethiols has been utilized to synthesize
      enantioenriched N-H-free 1,5-benzothiazepines, which are recognized as privileged
      structures in numerous biologically active scaffolds. This protocol offers a
      rapid and direct pathway to access the target compounds with high
      enantioselectivities and has been applied in the concise synthesis of chiral drug
      (R)-thiazesim.

PMID- 28598637
TI  - Access to Benzo[a]carbazoles and Indeno[1,2-c]quinolines by a Gold(I)-Catalyzed
      Tunable Domino Cyclization of Difunctional 1,2-Diphenylethynes.
AB  - The cyclization order of the difunctional 1,2-diphenylethynes was precisely tuned
      under the catalysis of gold by changing the nitrogen substitution of the
      substrates, leading to the facile preparation of benzo[a]carbazole and indeno[1,2
      c]quinoline derivatives. The mechanisms of these domino cyclizations were probed
      by control experiments, and an insight into the selectivity of the cyclization
      was gained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This research
      represents a unified and common method to access benzo[a]carbazoles and
      indeno[1,2-c]quinolines.

PMID- 28598638
TI  - Many-Body Topological Invariants for Fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological
      Phases.
AB  - We define and compute many-body topological invariants of interacting fermionic
      symmetry-protected topological phases, protected by an orientation-reversing
      symmetry, such as time-reversal or reflection symmetry. The topological
      invariants are given by partition functions obtained by a path integral on
      unoriented spacetime which, as we show, can be computed for a given ground state
      wave function by considering a nonlocal operation, "partial" reflection or
      transpose. As an application of our scheme, we study the Z_{8} and Z_{16}
      classification of topological superconductors in one and three dimensions.

PMID- 28598639
TI  - Attraction Controls the Inversion of Order by Disorder in Buckled Colloidal
      Monolayers.
AB  - We show how including attraction in interparticle interactions reverses the
      effect of fluctuations in ordering of a prototypical artificial frustrated
      system. Buckled colloidal monolayers exhibit the same ground state as the Ising
      antiferromagnet on a deformable triangular lattice, but it is unclear if ordering
      in the two systems is driven by the same geometric mechanism. By a real-space
      expansion we find that, for buckled colloids, bent stripes constitute the stable
      phase, whereas in the Ising antiferromagnet straight stripes are favored. For
      generic pair potentials we show that attraction governs this selection mechanism,
      in a manner that is linked to local packing considerations. This supports the
      geometric origin of entropy in jammed sphere packings and provides a tool for
      designing self-assembled colloidal structures.

PMID- 28598640
TI  - Cold Anisotropically Interacting van der Waals Molecule: TiHe.
AB  - We have used laser ablation and helium buffer-gas cooling to produce titanium
      helium van der Waals molecules at cryogenic temperatures. The molecules were
      detected through laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Ground-state
      Ti(a^{3}F_{2})-He binding energies were determined for the ground and first
      rotationally excited states from studying equilibrium thermodynamic properties,
      and found to agree well with theoretical calculations based on newly calculated
      ab initio Ti-He interaction potentials, opening up novel possibilities for
      studying the formation, dynamics, and nonuniversal chemistry of van der Waals
      clusters at low temperatures.

PMID- 28598641
TI  - Fingerprints of a Bosonic Symmetry-Protected Topological State in a Quantum Point
      Contact.
AB  - In this work, we study the transport through a quantum point contact for bosonic
      helical liquid that exists at the edge of a bilayer graphene under a strong
      magnetic field. We identify "smoking gun" transport signatures to distinguish a
      bosonic symmetry-protected topological (BSPT) state from a fermionic two-channel
      quantum spin Hall (QSH) state in this system. In particular, a novel charge
      insulator-spin-conductor phase is found for the BSPT state, while either the
      charge-insulator-spin-insulator or the charge-conductor-spin-conductor phase is
      expected for the two-channel QSH state. Consequently, a simple transport
      measurement will reveal the fingerprint of bosonic topological physics in bilayer
      graphene systems.

PMID- 28598642
TI  - Twist-Bend Coupling and the Torsional Response of Double-Stranded DNA.
AB  - Recent magnetic tweezers experiments have reported systematic deviations of the
      twist response of double-stranded DNA from the predictions of the twistable
      wormlike chain model. Here we show, by means of analytical results and computer
      simulations, that these discrepancies can be resolved if a coupling between twist
      and bend is introduced. We obtain an estimate of 40+/-10  nm for the twist-bend
      coupling constant. Our simulations are in good agreement with high-resolution,
      magnetic-tweezers torque data. Although the existence of twist-bend coupling was
      predicted long ago [J. Marko and E. Siggia, Macromolecules 27, 981
      (1994)MAMOBX0024-929710.1021/ma00082a015], its effects on the mechanical
      properties of DNA have been so far largely unexplored. We expect that this
      coupling plays an important role in several aspects of DNA statics and dynamics.

PMID- 28598643
TI  - From Glass Formation to Icosahedral Ordering by Curving Three-Dimensional Space.
AB  - Geometric frustration describes the inability of a local molecular arrangement,
      such as icosahedra found in metallic glasses and in model atomic glass formers,
      to tile space. Local icosahedral order, however, is strongly frustrated in
      Euclidean space, which obscures any causal relationship with the observed
      dynamical slowdown. Here we relieve frustration in a model glass-forming liquid
      by curving three-dimensional space onto the surface of a 4-dimensional
      hypersphere. For sufficient curvature, frustration vanishes and the liquid
      "freezes" in a fully icosahedral structure via a sharp "transition." Frustration
      increases upon reducing the curvature, and the transition to the icosahedral
      state smoothens while glassy dynamics emerge. Decreasing the curvature leads to
      decoupling between dynamical and structural length scales and the decrease of
      kinetic fragility. This sheds light on the observed glass-forming behavior in
      Euclidean space.

PMID- 28598644
TI  - Proof of Concept for an Ultrasensitive Technique to Detect and Localize Sources
      of Elastic Nonlinearity Using Phononic Crystals.
AB  - The appearance of nonlinear effects in elastic wave propagation is one of the
      most reliable and sensitive indicators of the onset of material damage. However,
      these effects are usually very small and can be detected only using cumbersome
      digital signal processing techniques. Here, we propose and experimentally
      validate an alternative approach, using the filtering and focusing properties of
      phononic crystals to naturally select and reflect the higher harmonics generated
      by nonlinear effects, enabling the realization of time-reversal procedures for
      nonlinear elastic source detection. The proposed device demonstrates its
      potential as an efficient, compact, portable, passive apparatus for nonlinear
      elastic wave sensing and damage detection.

PMID- 28598645
TI  - Cavity Carving of Atomic Bell States.
AB  - We demonstrate entanglement generation of two neutral atoms trapped inside an
      optical cavity. Entanglement is created from initially separable two-atom states
      through carving with weak photon pulses reflected from the cavity. A polarization
      rotation of the photons heralds the entanglement. We show the successful
      implementation of two different protocols and the generation of all four Bell
      states with a maximum fidelity of (90+/-2)%. The protocol works for any distance
      between cavity-coupled atoms, and no individual addressing is required. Our
      result constitutes an important step towards applications in quantum networks,
      e.g., for entanglement swapping in a quantum repeater.

PMID- 28598646
TI  - Semiflexible Polymers in Spherical Confinement: Bipolar Orientational Order
      Versus Tennis Ball States.
AB  - Densely packed semiflexible polymers with contour length L confined in spheres
      with radius R of the same order as L cannot exhibit uniform nematic order.
      Depending on the chain stiffness (which we vary over a wide range), highly
      distorted structures form with topological defects on the sphere surface. These
      structures are completely different from previously observed ones of very long
      chains winding around the inner surface of spheres and from nematic droplets. At
      high densities, a thin shell of polymers close to the sphere surface exhibits a
      tennis ball texture due to the confinement-induced gradual bending of polymer
      bonds. In contrast, when the contour length of the chains is significantly
      smaller than the radius of the confining sphere, a few bent smectic layers form
      in the sphere. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate these complex
      structures, and suitable order parameters characterizing them are proposed.

PMID- 28598647
TI  - Role of the Intercrystalline Tie Chains Network in the Mechanical Response of
      Semicrystalline Polymers.
AB  - We examine the microscopic origin of the tensile response in semicrystalline
      polymers by performing large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of various
      chain lengths. We investigate the microscopic rearrangements of the polymers
      during tensile deformation and show that the intercrystalline chain connections
      known as tie chains contribute significantly to the elastic and plastic response.
      These results suggest that the mechanical behavior of semicrystalline polymers is
      controlled by two interpenetrated networks of entanglements and tie chains.

PMID- 28598648
TI  - Origin of Granular Capillarity Revealed by Particle-Based Simulations.
AB  - When a thin tube is dipped into water, the water will ascend to a certain height,
      against the action of gravity. While this effect, termed capillarity, is well
      known, recent experiments have shown that agitated granular matter reveals a
      similar behavior. Namely, when a vertical tube is inserted into a container
      filled with granular material and is then set into vertical vibration, the
      particles rise up along the tube. In the present Letter, we investigate the
      effect of granular capillarity by means of numerical simulations and show that
      the effect is caused by convection of the granular material in the container.
      Moreover, we identify two regimes of behavior for the capillary height
      H_{c}^{infinity} depending on the tube-to-particle-diameter ratio, D/d. For large
      D/d, a scaling of H_{c}^{infinity} with the inverse of the tube diameter, which
      is reminiscent of liquids, is observed. However, when D/d decreases down to
      values smaller than a few particle sizes, a uniquely granular behavior is
      observed where H_{c}^{infinity} increases linearly with the tube diameter.

PMID- 28598649
TI  - Impact of Next-to-Leading Order Contributions to Cosmic Microwave Background
      Lensing.
AB  - In this Letter we study the impact on cosmological parameter estimation, from
      present and future surveys, due to lensing corrections on cosmic microwave
      background temperature and polarization anisotropies beyond leading order. In
      particular, we show how post-Born corrections, large-scale structure effects, and
      the correction due to the change in the polarization direction between the
      emission at the source and the detection at the observer are non-negligible in
      the determination of the polarization spectra. They have to be taken into account
      for an accurate estimation of cosmological parameters sensitive to or even based
      on these spectra. We study in detail the impact of higher order lensing on the
      determination of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r and on the estimation of the
      effective number of relativistic species N_{eff}. We find that neglecting higher
      order lensing terms can lead to misinterpreting these corrections as a primordial
      tensor-to-scalar ratio of about O(10^{-3}). Furthermore, it leads to a shift of
      the parameter N_{eff} by nearly 2sigma considering the level of accuracy aimed by
      future S4 surveys.

PMID- 28598650
TI  - Cavity Mediated Manipulation of Distant Spin Currents Using a Cavity-Magnon
      Polariton.
AB  - Using electrical detection of a strongly coupled spin-photon system comprised of
      a microwave cavity mode and two magnetic samples, we demonstrate the long
      distance manipulation of spin currents. This distant control is not limited by
      the spin diffusion length, instead depending on the interplay between the local
      and global properties of the coupled system, enabling systematic spin current
      control over large distance scales (several centimeters in this work). This
      flexibility opens the door to improved spin current generation and manipulation
      for cavity spintronic devices.

PMID- 28598651
TI  - Testing General Relativity with Stellar Orbits around the Supermassive Black Hole
      in Our Galactic Center.
AB  - We demonstrate that short-period stars orbiting around the supermassive black
      hole in our Galactic center can successfully be used to probe the gravitational
      theory in a strong regime. We use 19 years of observations of the two best
      measured short-period stars orbiting our Galactic center to constrain a
      hypothetical fifth force that arises in various scenarios motivated by the
      development of a unification theory or in some models of dark matter and dark
      energy. No deviation from general relativity is reported and the fifth force
      strength is restricted to an upper 95% confidence limit of |alpha|<0.016 at a
      length scale of lambda=150 astronomical units. We also derive a 95% confidence
      upper limit on a linear drift of the argument of periastron of the short-period
      star S0-2 of |omega[over ]_{S0-2}|<1.6*10^{-3}  rad/yr, which can be used to
      constrain various gravitational and astrophysical theories. This analysis
      provides the first fully self-consistent test of the gravitational theory using
      orbital dynamic in a strong gravitational regime, that of a supermassive black
      hole. A sensitivity analysis for future measurements is also presented.

PMID- 28598652
TI  - Erratum: First-Principles Approach to Calculating Energy Level Alignment at
      Aqueous Semiconductor Interfaces [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 176802 (2014)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.176802.

PMID- 28598653
TI  - Macroscopic Two-Dimensional Polariton Condensates.
AB  - We report a record-size, two-dimensional polariton condensate of a fraction of a
      millimeter radius free from the presence of an exciton reservoir. This
      macroscopically occupied state is formed by the ballistically expanding polariton
      flow that relaxes and condenses over a large area outside of the excitation spot.
      The density of this trap-free condensate is <1  polariton/MUm^{2}, reducing the
      phase noise induced by the interaction energy. Moreover, the backflow effect,
      recently predicted for the nonparabolic polariton dispersion, is observed here
      for the first time in the fast-expanding wave packet.

PMID- 28598654
TI  - Subfemtosecond Control of Molecular Fragmentation by Hard X-Ray Photons.
AB  - Tuning hard x-ray excitation energy along Cl 1s->sigma^{*} resonance in gaseous
      HCl allows manipulating molecular fragmentation in the course of the induced
      multistep ultrafast dissociation. The observations are supported by theoretical
      modeling, which shows a strong interplay between the topology of the potential
      energy curves, involved in the Auger cascades, and the so-called core-hole clock,
      which determines the time spent by the system in the very first step. The
      asymmetric profile of the fragmentation ratios reflects different dynamics of
      nuclear wave packets dependent on the photon energy.

PMID- 28598655
TI  - Efficient Multiphoton Generation in Waveguide Quantum Electrodynamics.
AB  - Engineering quantum states of light is at the basis of many quantum technologies
      such as quantum cryptography, teleportation, or metrology among others. Though,
      single photons can be generated in many scenarios, the efficient and reliable
      generation of complex single-mode multiphoton states is still a long-standing
      goal in the field, as current methods either suffer from low fidelities or small
      probabilities. Here we discuss several protocols which harness the strong and
      long-range atomic interactions induced by waveguide QED to efficiently load
      excitations in a collection of atoms, which can then be triggered to produce the
      desired multiphoton state. In order to boost the success probability and fidelity
      of each excitation process, atoms are used to both generate the excitations in
      the rest, as well as to herald the successful generation. Furthermore, to
      overcome the exponential scaling of the probability of success with the number of
      excitations, we design a protocol to merge excitations that are present in
      different internal atomic levels with a polynomial scaling.

PMID- 28598656
TI  - Erratum: Anatomy of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction at Co/Pt Interfaces [Phys.
      Rev. Lett. 115, 267210 (2015)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.267210.

PMID- 28598657
TI  - Reduced Transition Probabilities for the Gamma Decay of the 7.8 eV Isomer in
      ^{229}Th.
AB  - The reduced magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole transition probabilities for
      the radiative decay of the ^{229}Th 7.8  eV isomer to the ground state are
      predicted within a detailed nuclear-structure model approach. We show that the
      presence and decay of this isomer can only be accounted for by the Coriolis
      mixing emerging from a remarkably fine interplay between the coherent quadrupole
      octupole motion of the nuclear core and the single-nucleon motion within a
      reflection-asymmetric deformed potential. We find that the magnetic dipole
      transition probability which determines the radiative lifetime of the isomer is
      considerably smaller than presently estimated. The so-far disregarded electric
      quadrupole component may have non-negligible contributions to the internal
      conversion channel. These findings support new directions in the experimental
      search of the ^{229}Th transition frequency for the development of a future
      nuclear frequency standard.

PMID- 28598658
TI  - Long-Range Repulsion Between Spatially Confined van der Waals Dimers.
AB  - It is an undisputed textbook fact that nonretarded van der Waals (vdW)
      interactions between isotropic dimers are attractive, regardless of the
      polarizability of the interacting systems or spatial dimensionality. The
      universality of vdW attraction is attributed to the dipolar coupling between
      fluctuating electron charge densities. Here, we demonstrate that the long-range
      interaction between spatially confined vdW dimers becomes repulsive when
      accounting for the full Coulomb interaction between charge fluctuations. Our
      analytic results are obtained by using the Coulomb potential as a perturbation
      over dipole-correlated states for two quantum harmonic oscillators embedded in
      spaces with reduced dimensionality; however, the long-range repulsion is expected
      to be a general phenomenon for spatially confined quantum systems. We suggest
      optical experiments to test our predictions, analyze their relevance in the
      context of intermolecular interactions in nanoscale environments, and rationalize
      the recent observation of anomalously strong screening of the lateral vdW
      interactions between aromatic hydrocarbons adsorbed on metal surfaces.

PMID- 28598659
TI  - Geometric Correlations Mitigate the Extreme Vulnerability of Multiplex Networks
      against Targeted Attacks.
AB  - We show that real multiplex networks are unexpectedly robust against targeted
      attacks on high-degree nodes and that hidden interlayer geometric correlations
      predict this robustness. Without geometric correlations, multiplexes exhibit an
      abrupt breakdown of mutual connectivity, even with interlayer degree
      correlations. With geometric correlations, we instead observe a multistep
      cascading process leading into a continuous transition, which apparently becomes
      fully continuous in the thermodynamic limit. Our results are important for the
      design of efficient protection strategies and of robust interacting networks in
      many domains.

PMID- 28598660
TI  - Solving Systems of Linear Equations with a Superconducting Quantum Processor.
AB  - Superconducting quantum circuits are a promising candidate for building scalable
      quantum computers. Here, we use a four-qubit superconducting quantum processor to
      solve a two-dimensional system of linear equations based on a quantum algorithm
      proposed by Harrow, Hassidim, and Lloyd [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 150502
      (2009)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.103.150502], which promises an
      exponential speedup over classical algorithms under certain circumstances. We
      benchmark the solver with quantum inputs and outputs, and characterize it by
      nontrace-preserving quantum process tomography, which yields a process fidelity
      of 0.837+/-0.006. Our results highlight the potential of superconducting quantum
      circuits for applications in solving large-scale linear systems, a ubiquitous
      task in science and engineering.

PMID- 28598661
TI  - Randomized Benchmarking of Barrier versus Tilt Control of a Singlet-Triplet
      Qubit.
AB  - Decoherence due to charge noise is one of the central challenges in using spin
      qubits in semiconductor quantum dots as a platform for quantum information
      processing. Recently, it has been experimentally demonstrated in both Si and GaAs
      singlet-triplet qubits that the effects of charge noise can be suppressed if
      qubit operations are implemented using symmetric barrier control instead of the
      standard tilt control. Here, we investigate the key issue of whether the benefits
      of barrier control persist over the entire set of single-qubit gates by
      performing randomized benchmarking simulations. We find the surprising result
      that the improvement afforded by barrier control depends sensitively on the
      amount of spin noise: for the minimal nuclear spin noise levels present in Si,
      the coherence time improves by more than 2 orders of magnitude whereas in GaAs,
      by contrast the coherence time is essentially the same for barrier and tilt
      control. However, we establish that barrier control becomes beneficial if qubit
      operations are performed using a new family of composite pulses that reduce gate
      times by up to 90%. With these optimized pulses, barrier control is the best way
      to achieve high-fidelity quantum gates in singlet-triplet qubits.

PMID- 28598662
TI  - Spin-Orbit Dimers and Noncollinear Phases in d^{1} Cubic Double Perovskites.
AB  - We formulate and study a spin-orbital model for a family of cubic double
      perovskites with d^{1} ions occupying a frustrated fcc sublattice. A variational
      approach and a complementary analytical analysis reveal a rich variety of phases
      emerging from the interplay of Hund's rule and spin-orbit coupling. The phase
      digram includes noncollinear ordered states, with or without a net moment, and,
      remarkably, a large window of a nonmagnetic disordered spin-orbit dimer phase.
      The present theory uncovers the physical origin of the unusual amorphous valence
      bond state experimentally suggested for Ba_{2}BMoO_{6} (B=Y, Lu) and predicts
      possible ordered patterns in Ba_{2}BOsO_{6} (B=Na, Li) compounds.

PMID- 28598666
TI  - Erratum: Bright Solitonic Matter-Wave Interferometer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113,
      013002 (2014)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.013002.

PMID- 28598667
TI  - Numerical Detector Theory for the Longitudinal Momentum Distribution of the
      Electron in Strong Field Ionization.
AB  - The lack of analytical solutions for the exit momentum in the laser-driven
      tunneling theory is a well-recognized problem in strong field physics.
      Theoretical studies of electron momentum distributions in the neighborhood of the
      tunneling exit depend heavily on ad hoc assumptions. In this Letter, we apply a
      new numerical method to study the exiting electron's longitudinal momentum
      distribution under intense short-pulse laser excitation. We present the first
      realizations of the dynamic behavior of an electron near the so-called tunneling
      exit region without adopting a tunneling approximation.

PMID- 28598668
TI  - Emergence and Evolution of the k Gap in Spectra of Liquid and Supercritical
      States.
AB  - Fundamental understanding of strongly interacting systems necessarily involves
      collective modes, but their nature and evolution is not generally understood in
      dynamically disordered and strongly interacting systems such as liquids and
      supercritical fluids. We report the results of extensive molecular dynamics
      simulations and provide direct evidence that liquids develop a gap in a solidlike
      transverse spectrum in the reciprocal space, with no propagating modes between
      zero and a threshold value. In addition to the liquid state, this result
      importantly applies to the supercritical state of matter. We show that the
      emerging gap increases with the inverse of liquid relaxation time and discuss how
      the gap affects properties of liquid and supercritical states.

PMID- 28598665
TI  - Study of eta and eta' Photoproduction at MAMI.
AB  - The reactions gammap->etap and gammap->eta^{'}p are measured from their
      thresholds up to the center-of-mass energy W=1.96  GeV with the tagged-photon
      facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. Differential cross sections are obtained
      with unprecedented statistical accuracy, providing fine energy binning and full
      production-angle coverage. A strong cusp is observed in the total cross section
      for eta photoproduction at the energies in the vicinity of the eta^{'} threshold,
      W=1896  MeV (E_{gamma}=1447  MeV). Within the framework of a revised etaMAID
      isobar model, the cusp, in connection with a steep rise of the eta^{'} total
      cross section from its threshold, can only be explained by a strong coupling of
      the poorly known N(1895)1/2^{-} state to both etap and eta^{'}p. Including the
      new high-accuracy results in the etaMAID fit to available eta and eta^{'}
      photoproduction data allows the determination of the N(1895)1/2^{-} properties.

PMID- 28598669
TI  - Nontrivial Critical Fixed Point for Replica-Symmetry-Breaking Transitions.
AB  - The transformation of the free-energy landscape from smooth to hierarchical is
      one of the richest features of mean-field disordered systems. A well-studied
      example is the de Almeida-Thouless transition for spin glasses in a magnetic
      field, and a similar phenomenon-the Gardner transition-has recently been
      predicted for structural glasses. The existence of these replica-symmetry
      breaking phase transitions has, however, long been questioned below their upper
      critical dimension, d_{u}=6. Here, we obtain evidence for the existence of these
      transitions in d<d_{u} using a two-loop calculation. Because the critical fixed
      point is found in the strong-coupling regime, we corroborate the result by
      resumming the perturbative series with inputs from a three-loop calculation and
      an analysis of its large-order behavior. Our study offers a resolution of the
      long-lasting controversy surrounding phase transitions in finite-dimensional
      disordered systems.

PMID- 28598670
TI  - Quantum Loop Topography for Machine Learning.
AB  - Despite rapidly growing interest in harnessing machine learning in the study of
      quantum many-body systems, training neural networks to identify quantum phases is
      a nontrivial challenge. The key challenge is in efficiently extracting essential
      information from the many-body Hamiltonian or wave function and turning the
      information into an image that can be fed into a neural network. When targeting
      topological phases, this task becomes particularly challenging as topological
      phases are defined in terms of nonlocal properties. Here, we introduce quantum
      loop topography (QLT): a procedure of constructing a multidimensional image from
      the "sample" Hamiltonian or wave function by evaluating two-point operators that
      form loops at independent Monte Carlo steps. The loop configuration is guided by
      the characteristic response for defining the phase, which is Hall conductivity
      for the cases at hand. Feeding QLT to a fully connected neural network with a
      single hidden layer, we demonstrate that the architecture can be effectively
      trained to distinguish the Chern insulator and the fractional Chern insulator
      from trivial insulators with high fidelity. In addition to establishing the first
      case of obtaining a phase diagram with a topological quantum phase transition
      with machine learning, the perspective of bridging traditional condensed matter
      theory with machine learning will be broadly valuable.

PMID- 28598671
TI  - Quasiparticle Energy in a Strongly Interacting Homogeneous Bose-Einstein
      Condensate.
AB  - Using two-photon Bragg spectroscopy, we study the energy of particlelike
      excitations in a strongly interacting homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensate, and
      observe dramatic deviations from Bogoliubov theory. In particular, at large
      scattering length a the shift of the excitation resonance from the free-particle
      energy changes sign from positive to negative. For an excitation with wave number
      q, this sign change occurs at a~4/(piq), in agreement with the Feynman energy
      relation and the static structure factor expressed in terms of the two-body
      contact. For a?3/q we also see a breakdown of this theory, and better agreement
      with calculations based on the Wilson operator product expansion. Neither theory
      explains our observations across all interaction regimes, inviting further
      theoretical efforts.

PMID- 28598672
TI  - Solid-State Source of Nonclassical Photon Pairs with Embedded Multimode Quantum
      Memory.
AB  - The generation and distribution of quantum correlations between photonic qubits
      is a key resource in quantum information science. For applications in quantum
      networks and quantum repeaters, it is required that these quantum correlations be
      stored in a quantum memory. In 2001, Duan, Lukin, Cirac, and Zoller (DLCZ)
      proposed a scheme combining a correlated photon-pair source and a quantum memory
      in atomic gases, which has enabled fast progress towards elementary quantum
      networks. In this Letter, we demonstrate a solid-state source of correlated
      photon pairs with embedded spin-wave quantum memory, using a rare-earth-ion-doped
      crystal. We show strong quantum correlations between the photons, high enough for
      performing quantum communication. Unlike the original DLCZ proposal, our scheme
      is inherently multimode thanks to a built-in rephasing mechanism, allowing us to
      demonstrate storage of 11 temporal modes. These results represent an important
      step towards the realization of complex quantum networks architectures using
      solid-state resources.

PMID- 28598673
TI  - Entangled Dynamics in Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling of Bose-Einstein Condensates.
AB  - Tunneling of a quasibound state is a nonsmooth process in the entangled many-body
      case. Using time-evolving block decimation, we show that repulsive (attractive)
      interactions speed up (slow down) tunneling. While the escape time scales
      exponentially with small interactions, the maximization time of the von Neumann
      entanglement entropy between the remaining quasibound and escaped atoms scales
      quadratically. Stronger interactions require higher-order corrections.
      Entanglement entropy is maximized when about half the atoms have escaped.

PMID- 28598663
TI  - Measurement of the tau Lepton Polarization and R(D^{*}) in the Decay B[over -]
      >D^{*}tau^{-}nu[over -]_{tau}.
AB  - We report the first measurement of the tau lepton polarization P_{tau}(D^{*}) in
      the decay B[over -]->D^{*}tau^{-}nu[over -]_{tau} as well as a new measurement of
      the ratio of the branching fractions R(D^{*})=B(B[over -]->D^{*}tau^{-}nu[over 
      ]_{tau})/B(B[over -]->D^{*}l^{-}nu[over -]_{l}), where l^{-} denotes an electron
      or a muon, and the tau is reconstructed in the modes tau^{-}->pi^{-}nu_{tau} and
      tau^{-}->rho^{-}nu_{tau}. We use the full data sample of 772*10^{6}  BB[over -]
      pairs recorded with the Belle detector at the KEKB electron-positron collider.
      Our results, P_{tau}(D^{*})=-0.38+/-0.51(stat)_{-0.16}^{+0.21}(syst) and
      R(D^{*})=0.270+/-0.035(stat)_{-0.025}^{+0.028}(syst), are consistent with the
      theoretical predictions of the standard model.

PMID- 28598674
TI  - Multimode and Long-Lived Quantum Correlations Between Photons and Spins in a
      Crystal.
AB  - The realization of quantum networks and quantum repeaters remains an outstanding
      challenge in quantum communication. These rely on the entanglement of remote
      matter systems, which in turn requires the creation of quantum correlations
      between a single photon and a matter system. A practical way to establish such
      correlations is via spontaneous Raman scattering in atomic ensembles, known as
      the Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller (DLCZ) scheme. However, time multiplexing is
      inherently difficult using this method, which leads to low communication rates
      even in theory. Moreover, it is desirable to find solid-state ensembles where
      such matter-photon correlations could be generated. Here we demonstrate quantum
      correlations between a single photon and a spin excitation in up to 12 temporal
      modes, in a ^{151}Eu^{3+}-doped Y_{2}SiO_{5} crystal, using a novel DLCZ approach
      that is inherently multimode. After a storage time of 1 ms, the spin excitation
      is converted into a second photon. The quantum correlation of the generated
      photon pair is verified by violating a Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Our results
      show that solid-state rare-earth-ion-doped crystals could be used to generate
      remote multimode entanglement, an important resource for future quantum networks.

PMID- 28598676
TI  - Spectral Flow and Global Topology of the Hofstadter Butterfly.
AB  - We study the relation between the global topology of the Hofstadter butterfly of
      a multiband insulator and the topological invariants of the underlying
      Hamiltonian. The global topology of the butterfly, i.e., the displacement of the
      energy gaps as the magnetic field is varied by one flux quantum, is determined by
      the spectral flow of energy eigenstates crossing gaps as the field is tuned. We
      find that for each gap this spectral flow is equal to the topological invariant
      of the gap, i.e., the net number of edge modes traversing the gap. For
      periodically driven systems, our results apply to the spectrum of quasienergies.
      In this case, the spectral flow of the sum of all the quasienergies gives
      directly the Rudner-Lindner-Berg-Levin invariant that characterizes the
      topological phases of a periodically driven system.

PMID- 28598675
TI  - Chirp Mitigation of Plasma-Accelerated Beams by a Modulated Plasma Density.
AB  - Plasma-based accelerators offer the possibility to drive future compact light
      sources and high-energy physics applications. Achieving good beam quality,
      especially a small beam energy spread, is still one of the major challenges.
      Here, we propose to use a periodically modulated plasma density to shape the
      longitudinal fields acting on an electron bunch in the linear wakefield regime.
      With simulations, we demonstrate an on-average flat accelerating field that
      maintains a small beam energy spread.

PMID- 28598677
TI  - E2 decay strength of the M1 scissors mode of ^{156}Gd and its first excited
      rotational state.
AB  - The E2/M1 multipole mixing ratio delta_{1->2} of the 1_{sc}^{+}->2_{1}^{+} gamma
      ray decay in ^{156}Gd and hence the isovector E2 transition rate of the scissors
      mode of a well-deformed rotational nucleus has been measured for the first time.
      It has been obtained from the angular distribution of an artificial
      quasimonochromatic linearly polarized gamma-ray beam of energy 3.07(6) MeV
      scattered inelastically off an isotopically highly enriched ^{156}Gd target. The
      data yield first direct support for the deformation dependence of effective
      proton and neutron quadrupole boson charges in the framework of algebraic nuclear
      models. First evidence for a low-lying J^{pi}=2^{+} member of the rotational band
      of states on top of the 1^{+} band head is obtained, too, indicating a
      significant signature splitting in the K=1 scissors mode rotational band.

PMID- 28598678
TI  - Energy Invariance in Capillary Systems.
AB  - We demonstrate the continuous translational invariance of the energy of a
      capillary surface in contact with reconfigurable solid boundaries. We present a
      theoretical approach to find the energy-invariant equilibria of spherical
      capillary surfaces in contact with solid boundaries of arbitrary shape and
      examine the implications of dynamic frictional forces upon a reconfiguration of
      the boundaries. Experimentally, we realize our ideas by manipulating the position
      of a droplet in a wedge geometry using lubricant-impregnated solid surfaces,
      which eliminate the contact-angle hysteresis and provide a test bed for
      quantifying dissipative losses out of equilibrium. Our experiments show that
      dissipative energy losses for an otherwise energy-invariant reconfiguration are
      relatively small, provided that the actuation time scale is longer than the
      typical relaxation time scale of the capillary surface. We discuss the wider
      applicability of our ideas as a pathway for liquid manipulation at no potential
      energy cost in low-pinning, low-friction situations.

PMID- 28598679
TI  - Hypoxia Modulates Epithelial Permeability via Regulation of Vascular Endothelial
      Growth Factor in Airway Epithelia.
AB  - Hypoxia resulting from occlusion of the sinus ostium is known to be one of the
      major pathogenic mechanisms of sinusitis. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 is a
      widely known transcription factor that induces the cellular response to hypoxic
      conditions and activates the transcription of several genes, including vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We hypothesized that induced permeability
      caused by hypoxia is a major pathophysiologic mechanism of upper airway diseases,
      such as sinusitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of
      hypoxia-induced hyperpermeability, which mediates increased paracellular
      permeability and enhanced microbial invasiveness in the airway epithelium. We
      show that expression of VEGF mRNA and protein and HIF-1alpha protein increased as
      a function of time under hypoxia in normal human nasal epithelial cells. Our
      results also indicate that VEGF expression was induced by transfection with a
      mammalian expression vector encoding HIF-1 but down-regulated by transfection
      with small interfering RNA specific for HIF-1alpha under hypoxic conditions.
      Results of a transepithelial permeability assay measuring transepithelial
      electrical resistance indicated that permeability was increased as a function of
      time under hypoxia and was rescued by anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (bevacizumab)
      and small interfering RNA specific for HIF-1alpha. We detected up-regulated HIF
      1alpha and VEGF expression in mucosal epithelium samples from patients with
      sinusitis compared with normal mucosal epithelium using Western blotting and
      immunohistochemical staining. In conclusion, we suggest that the hypoxia-HIF
      1alpha-VEGF axis plays an important role in hyperpermeability of airway
      epithelial cells, implying a role in the pathophysiology of upper respiratory
      tract diseases, such as sinusitis.

PMID- 28598664
TI  - Measurement of D^{0} Azimuthal Anisotropy at Midrapidity in Au+Au Collisions at
      sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV.
AB  - We report the first measurement of the elliptic anisotropy (v_{2}) of the charm
      meson D^{0} at midrapidity (|y|<1) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV.
      The measurement was conducted by the STAR experiment at RHIC utilizing a new high
      resolution silicon tracker. The measured D^{0} v_{2} in 0%-80% centrality Au+Au
      collisions can be described by a viscous hydrodynamic calculation for a
      transverse momentum (p_{T}) of less than 4  GeV/c. The D^{0} v_{2} as a function
      of transverse kinetic energy (m_{T}-m_{0}, where m_{T}=sqrt[p_{T}^{2}+m_{0}^{2}])
      is consistent with that of light mesons in 10%-40% centrality Au+Au collisions.
      These results suggest that charm quarks have achieved local thermal equilibrium
      with the medium created in such collisions. Several theoretical models, with the
      temperature-dependent, dimensionless charm spatial diffusion coefficient
      (2piTD_{s}) in the range of ~2-12, are able to simultaneously reproduce our D^{0}
      v_{2} result and our previously published results for the D^{0} nuclear
      modification factor.

PMID- 28598680
TI  - Alterations of thymic morphology and antioxidant biomarkers in 60-day-old male
      rats following exposure to a continuous 900 MHz electromagnetic field during
      adolescence.
AB  - We investigated changes in thymic tissue of male rats exposed to a 900 megahertz
      (MHz) electromagnetic field (EMF) on postnatal days 22-59. Three groups of six 21
      day-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated as: control (CG), sham (SG) and
      EMF (EMFG) groups. No procedure was performed on the CG rats. SG rats were placed
      in a Plexiglas cage for 1 h every day between postnatal days 22 and 59 without
      exposure to EMF. EMFG rats were placed in the same cage for the same periods as
      the SG rats and were exposed to 900 MHz EMF. Rats were sacrificed on postnatal
      day 60. Sections of thymus were stained for histological assessment.
      Oxidant/antioxidant parameters were investigated biochemically. Malondialdehyde
      (MDA) levels in EMFG increased compared to the other groups. Extravascular
      erythrocytes were observed in the medullary/corticomedullary regions in EMFG
      sections. We found that 900 MHz EMF applied for 1 h/day on postnatal days 22-59
      can increase tissue MDA and histopathological changes in male rat thymic tissue.

PMID- 28598681
TI  - Soluble CD206 plasma levels in rheumatoid arthritis reflect decrease in disease
      activity.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic joint inflammation and
      infiltration by activated macrophages. TNFalpha is a central mediator in this
      process. The mannose receptor, CD206, is a scavenger receptor expressed by M2A
      macrophages and dendritic cells. It is involved in collagen internalization and
      degradation. The soluble form has been suggested as a biomarker of M2A-macrophage
      activation. The aim of this study was to investigate sCD206 plasma levels in
      early RA patients initiating anti-TNFalpha treatment. Plasma levels of sCD206
      were measured by ELISA in samples from 155 early RA patients with an average
      symptom duration of 3 months. Patients were randomized to 12 months' methotrexate
      and placebo (PLA) or methotrexate and adalimumab (ADA) treatment, followed by
      open-label treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD) and if
      needed, ADA. Disease activity was assessed at baseline and after 3, 6, 12 and 24
      months. Baseline plasma level of sCD206 in treatment naive RA patients was 0.33
      mg/L (CI: 0.33-0.38 mg/L) corresponding to the upper part of the reference
      interval for healthy controls (0.10-0.43 mg/L). In the PLA group, sCD206 levels
      decreased after 3 months, but did not differ from baseline after 6 months. In the
      ADA group, however, levels remained lower than baseline throughout the treatment
      period. In conclusion, initially, plasma sCD206 in early RA patients decreased in
      accordance with disease activity and initiation of DMARD treatment. Treatment
      with anti-TNFalpha preserved this decrease throughout the study period.

PMID- 28598682
TI  - Mechanisms Linking Self-Regulation and Sexual Behaviors in Never-Married Young
      Adults.
AB  - Little is known about specific mechanisms linking self-regulation to sexual risk
      taking. The present study considered four possibilities in emerging adulthood:
      sexual self-restraint, consideration of future consequences, substance use, and
      romantic competence. Never-married young adults (N = 274), ages 18 to 24,
      responded to anonymous Internet surveys (60.2% female, 78.8% European American,
      66.3% university students). The effects of self-regulation were primarily
      indirect but varied by sexual behavior, suggesting that high self-regulation
      limits sexual risk via high sexual self-restraint and low substance use. High
      regulation was linked to multiple sexual partners and high-risk practices risk
      via high romantic competence, high self-regulation was linked to multiple sexual
      partners and high risk practices.

PMID- 28598683
TI  - Buffered Romanowsky-Giemsa method for formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections:
      taming a traditional stain.
AB  - Romanowsky-Giemsa (RG) stains were devised during the 19th century for
      identifying plasmodia parasites in blood smears. Later, RG stains became standard
      procedures for hematology and cytology. Numerous attempts have been made to apply
      RG staining to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections, with varied
      success. Most published work on this topic described RG staining methods in which
      sections were overstained, then subjected to acid differentiation; unfortunately,
      the differentiation step often caused inconsistent staining outcomes. If staining
      is performed under optimal conditions with control of dye concentration, pH,
      solution temperature and staining time, no differentiation is required. We used
      RG and 0.002 M buffer, pH 42, for staining and washing sections. All steps were
      performed at room temperature. After staining and air drying, sections were
      washed in 96-100% ethanol to remove extraneous stain. Finally, sections were
      washed in xylene and mounted using DPX. Staining results were similar to routine
      hemalum and eosin (H & E) staining. Nuclei were blue; intensity depended largely
      on chromatin density. RNA-rich sites were purple. Collagen fibers, keratin,
      muscle cells, erythrocytes and white matter of the central nervous system were
      stained pinkish and reddish hues. Cartilage matrix, mast cell granules and areas
      of myxomatous degeneration were purple. Sulfate-rich mucins were stained pale
      blue, while those lacking sulfate groups were unstained. Deposits of hemosiderin,
      lipofuscin and melanin were greenish, and calcium deposits were blue.
      Helicobacter pylori bacteria were violet to purple. The advantages of the method
      are its close similarity to H & E staining and technical simplicity. Hemosiderin,
      H. pylori, mast cell granules, melanin and specific granules of different
      hematopoietic cells, which are invisible or barely distinguishable by H & E
      staining, are visualized. Other advantages over previous RG stains include
      shorter staining time and avoidance of acetone.

PMID- 28598684
TI  - A histopathological and stereological study of liver damage in female rats caused
      by mercury vapor.
AB  - We examined the possible effects of elemental mercury vapor on the liver of the
      female rats. We divided the animals into an untreated control group and an
      experimental group that was exposed to mercury vapor for 45 days. Liver samples
      were obtained for histological and stereological analysis. The total liver,
      parenchyma and sinusoid volumes were increased significantly in the mercury vapor
      treated group compared to controls. Also, the mean density, total number and mean
      nuclear diameter of hepatocytes, except for binucleated hepatocytes, was
      decreased in the experimental group compared to controls. Light and electron
      microscopy revealed alterations of liver structure of the experimental animals
      compared to controls.

PMID- 28598685
TI  - Radioembolization for Unresectable Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: Review of
      Safety, Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1 Imaging Response and
      Survival.
AB  - The optimal palliative treatment for unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
      (ICC) remains controversial. While selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT)
      using yttrium-90 microspheres is a well-accepted treatment for hepatocellular
      carcinoma, data related to its use for locally advanced ICC remain relatively
      scarce. Twenty-nine patients (mean age 66 +/- 11 years; 15 female) with
      unresectable biopsy-proven ICC treated with SIRT between June 2008 and April 2015
      were retrospectively evaluated for post-treatment toxicity, overall survival, and
      imaging response using response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) 1.1
      criteria. RECIST 1.1 response was evaluable following 26 treatments [complete
      response (CR):0, partial response (PR):3; stable disease (SD):16, progression of
      disease (PD):7]. Objective response rate (CR+PR) was 12%. Disease control rate
      (CR+PR+SD) was 73%. Median time to progression was 5.6 [95% confidence interval
      (CI): 0-12.0] months. Median survival following SIRT was 9.1 (95% CI: 1.7-16.4)
      months. Post-treatment survival was prolonged in patients with absence of
      extrahepatic disease (p = 0.03) and correlated with RECIST 1.1 response (p =
      0.02). Toxicities were limited to grade I severity and occurred following 27% of
      treatments. These findings support the safe, effective use of SIRT for
      unresectable ICC. Post-treatment survival is prolonged in patients with absence
      of extrahepatic disease at baseline. RECIST 1.1 response following SIRT for ICC
      is predictive of survival.

PMID- 28598686
TI  - How your ears can tell what is hidden in your heart: wild-type transthyretin
      amyloidosis as potential cause of sensorineural hearing loss inelderly
      AmyloDEAFNESS pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt) is an age-related life
      threatening condition. Prognosis is mainly dependent on cardiac involvement.
      Other organs and tissues may be affected. Their early recognition may increase
      awareness of physicians and positively affects the prognosis. Presbycusis is
      another age-related disorder. Whether this disease is associated to ATTRwt
      amyloidosis is unknown. METHODS: Sixteen consecutive patients with confirmed
      diagnosis of ATTRwt amyloidosis at the Mondor Amyloidosis Network, France,
      underwent otoscopy and audiological tests including pure tone audiometry, speech
      reception threshold and speech discrimination score. RESULTS: The mean age was 79
      +/- 5 years. All were male with an NYHA average of 2.5 +/- 0.8. All the patients
      had sensorineural hearing loss that seemed to preexist to cardiac disorder with
      greater severity than expected for their age. For speech discrimination test, the
      mean speech reception threshold was 28 +/- 15 dB and the mean speech
      discrimination score was 68 +/- 16 at 40 dB. Ten patients (62.5%) failed to
      recognize 100% of the words. Compared to age-related expectations according to
      statistical distribution (ISO), hearing loss included all frequencies and was
      more severe in patients with ATTRwt amyloidosis. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest that amyloid deposits could infiltrate the various anatomical structures
      of the inner ear. Description of specific audiologic pattern of ATTRwt
      amyloidosis might be proposed as a "red flag" and could help for early
      identification of patients who may be at high risk of ATTRwt amyloidosis as
      specific treatments are available.

PMID- 28598687
TI  - Lomitapide for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a serious rare
      inherited condition that leads to extremely elevated levels of low density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and predisposes affected individuals to high
      risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Traditional therapies are largely
      ineffective in managing the hypercholesterolemia in these patients; diet and
      regular LDL-apheresis are the mainstays of management. Lomitapide is an inhibitor
      of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) that blocks the assembly of
      metabolic precursors of LDL particles. Lomitapide has been approved for use in
      the HoFH population. Areas covered: This article explores the basic properties of
      lomitapide, including its pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and metabolic
      profiles. It also reports the current market status of lomitapide and its close
      competitors. Trials of lomitapide are also briefly reviewed as well as the safety
      and tolerability of the drug. Expert opinion: Lomitapide has been recently
      approved for use in HoFH, a population that has been traditionally very difficult
      to effectively manage. While lomitapide has some safety concerns, including
      gastrointestinal symptoms and potential hepatotoxicity, and has yet to prove long
      term efficacy on hard cardiovascular endpoints, it does represent an attractive
      treatment option for a small group of patients who, until now, had very limited
      available effective therapies.

PMID- 28598688
TI  - Impact of an Educational Text Message Intervention on Adolescents' Knowledge and
      High-Risk Behaviors.
AB  - Health care providers need to develop improved methods of educating adolescents.
      This study was developed to evaluate adolescents' responses to and satisfaction
      with an educational text message intervention to promote healthy behaviors,
      reduce the incidence of unhealthy behaviors, and prevent high-risk behaviors.
      Adolescent participants received weekly text messages regarding high-risk sexual
      behaviors, healthy dietary habits, exercise, drug, or alcohol use, and social
      issues. Results indicate adolescents learned something new, made a behavioral
      change, and overall liked the delivery of educational information via text
      message. This indicates long-term continuation of a text message intervention is
      a viable means to deliver adolescent health information, thereby improving an
      adolescent's current and future health status.

PMID- 28598689
TI  - Mathematical rationalization for the renal tubular transport: revised concepts.
AB  - The current emphasis on kinetics and in situ control of molecular exchanges,
      across the tubular membrane, has not been paralleled by corresponding
      improvements in our understanding of tubular behaviour at the macroscopic level
      of classical physiology. In this paper, we propose a mathematical rationalization
      of macroscopic tubular transport by means of a principal transport equation,
      originating from the law of mass action between substrate and carrier. The other
      equations, derived from the main one, demonstrate the possibility of
      distinguishing between transporters with low affinity and high capacity and
      transporters with high affinity and low capacity. Moreover, our model formalizes
      both tubular reabsorption and tubular secretion. Regarding the renal calcium
      handling, our model confirms the two-compartment system proposed by Mioni in
      1971, with some important variants, which are in agreement with the fractional
      reabsorptions of this cation along the tubule, as verified by micro-puncture
      technique. To obtain the frequency distribution of saturated tubules, we have
      utilized the infinitesimal analysis method, starting from the equations proposed
      by Smith in 1943, concluding that all titration curves result from the combined
      effect of enzymatic approach and anatomical heterogeneity of the nephrons. The
      theoretical equations included in our manuscript reflect substantial and palpable
      physiological mechanisms able to suggest diagnosis and therapy of some
      electrolyte and hormonal disorders. At the end of this paper, we highlight
      advantages and disadvantages detectable by comparing our mathematical approach
      with Marshall's and Bijvoet's methods, proposed, respectively, in 1976 and 1984.

PMID- 28598690
TI  - In Vitro Evaluation of 188Re-HEDP: A Mechanistic View of Bone Pain Palliations.
AB  - Skeletal metastasis is common in advanced stages of various cancers, particularly
      of the prostate and breast carcinoma. 188Re-HEDP (1-hydroxyethane 1, 1
      diphosphonic acid) is a clinically established radiopharmaceutical for bone pain
      palliation of osseous metastasis, and it takes advantage of high bone affinity.
      The present work aims at elucidating the possible mechanisms of cell killing by
      188Re-HEDP in osteosarcoma cells and biodistribution studies in mice.188Re-HEDP
      complex was prepared by using lyophilized HEDP kits prepared in-house. In vitro
      cellular uptake in mineralized bone matrix was found to be 13.41% +/- 0.46% (at 2
      hours), which was reduced to 2.44% +/- 0.12% in the presence of excess amounts of
      unlabeled HEDP ligand. Uptake of 188Re-HEDP in bones of normal Swiss mice in vivo
      and mineralized bone in vitro indicated its affinity toward the bone matrix. The
      study also revealed that cellular toxicity and G2/M cell cycle arrest were dose
      dependent. At higher doses, G2/M cell cycle arrest was observed, which might be
      the major cause of cell death and a possible mechanism of bone pain relief.

PMID- 28598691
TI  - Development of 68Ga-SCN-DOTA-Capsaicin as an Imaging Agent Targeting Apoptosis
      and Cell Cycle Arrest in Breast Cancer.
AB  - 68Ga-labeled capsaicin using a DOTA (1,4,7,10-tetraazocyclododecane-N,N',N",N'"
      tetraacetic acid) derivative [68Ga-SCN-Benzyl(Bn)-DOTA-capsaicin] was studied for
      the diagnosis of breast cancers, such as MCF-7 and SK-BR-3. The standard
      compound, 69Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin, was also prepared and characterized by
      spectroscopic analysis. The binding affinity of 68Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin was
      evaluated by using breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, SK-BR-3) and colon cancer
      cell (CT-26); the biodistribution was carried out by using MCF-7-bearing nude
      mice, after which the positron emission tomography (PET) images were obtained at
      different time intervals (15-120 minutes). 68Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin showed a
      cellular uptake of 0.93% Injected Dose (ID) after 30 minutes of incubation,
      whereas 68Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA showed a lower uptake of 0.25% ID. The tumor-to-blood
      ID/g% ratios increased and were found to be 0.49, 0.22, and 0.77 for 15, 30, and
      60 minutes, respectively. The small-animal PET study showed that the uptake of
      68Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin was higher in the tumor regions even at 30 minutes
      after injection. These results suggest that 68Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin is a
      potential targeting agent for PET imaging of MCF-7.

PMID- 28598692
TI  - Modulatory effect of garcinol in streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats.
AB  - The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of garcinol as an
      antidiabetic candidate in streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats. Diabetic
      rats showed a significant increase in the biochemical parameters such as fasting
      blood glucose, glycated haemoglobin, urea, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate
      aminotransferase, malondialdehyde, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, atherogenic
      index and a significant decrease in plasma insulin, HOMA-beta-cell functioning
      index, glycogen, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body weight and
      antioxidant enzyme activities, viz. superoxide dismutase, catalase and reduced
      glutathione. Oral administration of garcinol (10 and 20 mg/kg body weight/day)
      for 30 days improved the above-mentioned alterations. The effect produced by the
      drug was compared with that of glibenclamide, a standard hypoglycaemic drug.
      These findings reveal that garcinol can be a promising antidiabetic candidate in
      the future.

PMID- 28598694
TI  - Kiwifruit ameliorates gentamicin induced histological and histochemical
      alterations in the kidney of albino mice.
AB  - Gentamicin is an antibiotic used worldwide for treating Gram-negative bacterial
      infections. Gentamicin causes nephrotoxicity in up to 25% of therapeutic cases
      owing to increased production of free radicals. Kiwifruit are nutrient-dense
      fruits that have proven effective for ameliorating many pathological conditions
      caused by oxidative stress. We investigated the possible prophylactic and
      therapeutic effects of kiwifruit on the changes in renal histology and
      histochemistry caused by gentamicin. Intramuscular injection of mice with
      gentamicin for 10 consecutive days was nephrotoxic as indicated by epithelial
      vacuolization, glomerular atrophy and tubular necrosis. Necrotic tubule cells
      lost most of their polysaccharides and structural proteins. Co-administration of
      kiwifruit with gentamicin prevented nephrotoxic changes to a modest degree. When
      administered subsequent to gentamicin intoxication, kiwifruit ameliorated
      significantly the histological and histochemical alterations caused by
      gentamicin. Our findings support the use of kiwifruit in cases of acute renal
      injury due to gentamicin.

PMID- 28598693
TI  - Managing community acquired pneumonia in the elderly - the next generation of
      pharmacotherapy on the horizon.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with high rates of
      morbidity and mortality, especially among the elderly. Antibiotic treatment for
      CAP in the elderly is particularly challenging for many reasons, including
      compliance issues, immunosuppression, polypharmacy and antimicrobial resistance.
      There are few available antibiotics that are able to address these concerns.
      Areas covered: After a systematic review of the current literature, we describe
      seven novel antibiotics that are currently in advanced stages of development
      (phase 3 and beyond) and show promise for the treatment of CAP in those over the
      age of 65. These antibiotics are: Solithromycin, Pristinamycin, Nemonaxacin,
      Lefamulin, Omadacycline, Ceftobiprole and Delafloxacin. Using a novel conceptual
      framework designed by the present authors, known as the 'San Antonio NIPS model',
      we evaluate their strengths and weaknesses based on their ability to address the
      unique challenges that face the elderly. Expert opinion: All seven antibiotics
      have potential value for effective utilization in the elderly, but to varying
      degrees based on their NIPS model score. The goal of this model is to reorganize
      a clinician's focus on antibiotic choices in the elderly and bring attention to a
      seldom discussed topic that may potentially become a health-care crisis in the
      next decade.

PMID- 28598696
TI  - Pathology and molecular updates in tumors of the prostate: towards a personalized
      approach.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Treatment planning in patients with prostate neoplasms and prostate
      cancer (PCa) is generally based on the clinical and pathological molecular
      markers obtained from prostate needle biopsy and/or radical prostatectomy
      specimens. Area covered: Pathology of prostate neoplasms is evolving rapidly.
      Emerging trends include new additions to the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO)
      tumor classification as well as expanded diagnostic utility of biomarkers and
      molecular testing in tissue specimens, liquid biopsies and urinary samples, with
      the following purposes: diagnosis, prognosis and prediction. Expert commentary:
      The new additions to the 2016 WHO tumor classification, which include
      pathological definition of Intraductal carcinoma of the prostate (IDC-P) and of a
      new grading system for PCa, as well as identification of molecular markers, such
      as TMPRSS2-ERG and AR-V7, may pave the way to personalized therapy for patients
      with prostate tumors.

PMID- 28598697
TI  - Quirks of dye nomenclature. 8. Methylene blue, azure and violet.
AB  - Methylene blue was synthesized in 1877 and soon found application in medicine,
      staining for microscopy and as an industrial dye and pigment. An enormous
      literature has accumulated since its introduction. Early on, it was known that
      methylene blue could be degraded easily by demethylation; consequently, the
      purity of commercial samples often was low. Therefore, demethylation products,
      such as azures and methylene violet, also are considered here. The names and
      identity of the components, their varying modes of manufacture, analytical
      methods and their contribution to biological staining are discussed.

PMID- 28598698
TI  - Beyond serotonin: newer antidepressants in the future.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There are numerous antidepressants for the treatment of major
      depressive disorder (MDD) on the market. However, inadequate treatment response,
      therapeutic lag between drug administration and the onset of clinical
      improvement, and safety/tolerability issues with the use of contemporary
      antidepressants have accelerated the search for newer antidepressants with novel
      mechanisms of action. Areas covered: The authors review novel antidepressants
      with rapid efficacy for diverse MDD symptoms and have fewer adverse effects
      (AEs). Mechanisms of action for novel therapeutic molecules are through
      glutamatergic, opiate, cholinergic receptors and neuroplasticity. We enumerate
      results from human trials with novel agents in all phases, highlighting proximity
      to approval and therapeutic potential based on quality of evidence. Expert
      commentary: There is a huge unmet need to diversify conventional antidepressant
      targets. Glutamatergic and opiate agents may be most promising among newer
      therapeutic agents. It is also important to develop advanced but flexible
      synergistic treatment strategies with newer therapeutic agents that are usable in
      routine clinical practice. This would include combining newer molecules with
      existing antidepressants and using molecules that target specific symptom
      dimensions of MDD. These strategies would lead to a systematic approach to tackle
      treatment resistant depression (TRD) and treatment of residual symptoms in
      partially remitted MDD.

PMID- 28598700
TI  - Comment and response to: the significance of early warning in chronic myeloid
      leukemia.

PMID- 28598701
TI  - A double-blind randomized pilot trial comparing computerized cognitive exercises
      to Tetris in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this trial was to examine the feasibility and efficacy
      of computerized cognitive exercises from Scientific Brain Training (SBT),
      compared to the computer game Tetris as an active placebo, in a pilot study of
      adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD:
      Eighteen adolescents with ADHD were randomized to treatment or control
      intervention for 7 weeks. Outcome measures were cognitive test, symptom, and
      motivation questionnaires. RESULTS: SBT and Tetris were feasible as home-based
      interventions, and participants' compliance was high, but participants perceived
      both interventions as not very interesting or helpful. There were no significant
      group differences on cognitive and ADHD-symptom measures after intervention. Pre
      post intra-group measurement showed that the SBT had a significant beneficial
      effect on sustained attention, while the active placebo had significant
      beneficial effects on working memory, both with large effect sizes. CONCLUSION:
      Although no significant differences were found between groups on any measure,
      there were significant intra-group changes for each group.

PMID- 28598695
TI  - Unconventional Roles of Opsins.
AB  - Rhodopsin is the classical light sensor. Although rhodopsin has long been known
      to be important for image formation in the eye, the requirements for opsins in
      non-image formation and in extraocular light sensation were revealed much later.
      Most recent is the demonstration that an opsin in the fruit fly, Drosophila
      melanogaster, is expressed in pacemaker neurons in the brain and functions in
      light entrainment of circadian rhythms. However, the biggest surprise is that
      opsins have light-independent roles, countering more than a century of dogma that
      they function exclusively as light sensors. Through studies in Drosophila, light
      independent roles of opsins have emerged in temperature sensation and hearing.
      Although these findings have been uncovered in the fruit fly, there are hints
      that opsins have light-independent roles in a wide array of animals, including
      mammals. Thus, despite the decades of focus on opsins as light detectors, they
      represent an important new class of polymodal sensory receptor.

PMID- 28598702
TI  - A safe and efficient BCG vectored vaccine to prevent the disease caused by the
      human Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
AB  - The human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (hRSV) causes lower respiratory tract
      infections including pneumonia and bronchiolitis. Such infections also cause a
      large number of hospitalizations and affects mainly newborns, young children and
      the elderly worldwide. Symptoms associated with hRSV infection are due to an
      exacerbated immune response characterized by low levels of IFN-gamma, recruitment
      of neutrophils and eosinophils to the site of infection and lung damage. Although
      hRSV is a major health problem, no vaccines are currently available. Different
      immunization approaches have been developed to achieve a vaccine that activates
      the immune system, without triggering an unbalanced inflammation. These
      approaches include live attenuated vaccine, DNA or proteins technologies, and the
      use of vectors to express proteins of the virus. In this review, we discuss the
      host immune response to hRSV and the immunological mechanisms underlying an
      effective and safe BCG vectored vaccine against hRSV.

PMID- 28598704
TI  - Cancer Metastasis to the Peritoneum: Bad Luck or Dysregulated Biology?

PMID- 28598703
TI  - In Silico Ocular Pharmacokinetic Modeling: Delivery of Topical FK962 to Retina.
AB  - PURPOSES: To establish the in silico ocular pharmacokinetic modeling for eye
      drops, and to simulate the dose regimen for FK962 in human choroid/retinal
      diseases. METHODS: Pharmacokinetics for FK962 in vivo was performed by a single
      instillation of drops containing 0.1% 14C-FK962 in rabbit eyes. Permeation of
      FK962 across the cornea, sclera, and choroid/retina was measured in vitro.
      Neurite elongation by FK962 was measured in cultured rat retinal ganglion cells.
      Parameters from the experimental data were used in an improved in silico model of
      ocular pharmacokinetics of FK962 in man. RESULTS: The mean concentration of FK962
      in ocular tissues predicted by in silico modeling was consistent with in vivo
      results, validating the in silico model. FK962 rapidly penetrated into the
      anterior and posterior segments of the eye and then diffused into the vitreous
      body. The in silico pharmacokinetic modeling also predicted that a dose regimen
      of 0.0054% FK962 twice per day would produce biologically effective
      concentrations of FK962 in the choroid/retina, where FK962 facilitates rat
      neurite elongation. CONCLUSIONS: Our in silico model for ocular pharmacokinetics
      is useful (1) for predicting drug concentrations in specific ocular tissues after
      topical instillation, and (2) for suggesting the optimal dose regimens for eye
      drops. The pharmacodynamics for FK962 produced by this model may be useful for
      clinical trials against retinal neuropathy.

PMID- 28598705
TI  - Effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for treatment-resistant depression
      with psychiatric comorbidity: comparison of individual versus group CBT in an
      interdisciplinary rehabilitation setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective, yet
      there is a paucity of research on the differential effectiveness of individual
      and group CBT for adults with treatment-resistant depression with psychiatric
      comorbidity. AIMS: To investigate the effectiveness of individual and group CBT
      for inpatients, in an interdisciplinary rehabilitation setting; the extent of
      psychiatric comorbidity; and who benefits the most from group CBT. METHODS: All
      patients (n = 181) received 6 weeks of rehabilitation (treatment as usual, TAU).
      In addition, they were randomly allocated to group CBT (n = 86) or individual CBT
      (n = 59) combined with TAU, or TAU only (n = 36). All CBT therapists were part of
      an interdisciplinary team, had at least 1-year CBT training, and attended weekly
      supervision. The same CBT manual was used for individual and group therapy,
      providing 12 sessions, two per week. Groups had 12-15 participants and two
      therapists in each session. RESULTS: Individual CBT was superior in efficacy to
      group CBT and TAU, with a large within-subject effect size (ES = 2.10). Group CBT
      was not superior to TAU. The benefits of treatment decreased over time, but
      remained large at 18-month follow-up for individual CBT (ES = 1.02), and medium
      for group CBT (ES = 0.46) and TAU (ES = 0.60). CONCLUSIONS: Individual CBT was an
      effective addition to TAU and showed significant improvements in symptom severity
      post-treatment and at 18-month follow-up. Disorder severity and comorbidity may
      have decreased effectiveness of group therapy primarily aimed at depression.

PMID- 28598707
TI  - Twelve tips for undertaking reflexive global health experiences in medicine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While interest and opportunities for global health experiences (GHE)
      continue to grow, the preparation of students and health professionals alike to
      engage in these GHEs remains limited. AIMS: This article provides tips for
      reflexivity prior to undertaking a GHE and suggests ways to debrief the
      experience in order to ensure that trainees and professionals that engage in GHEs
      can both help their intended communities and also get the most out of the
      experience. METHODS: The authors conducted a scoping review using Medline, PubMed
      and Google scholar using searching the terms: global health, global health
      experience, global health research, and international medical elective. We
      supplemented this search with our own experiences working with international
      partners. CONCLUSIONS: GHEs should be undertaken with reflexivity prior to,
      during and subsequent to the experience in order to ensure that all collaborators
      in the partnership meet their intended goals.

PMID- 28598706
TI  - Citrus tachibana Leaves Ethanol Extract Alleviates Airway Inflammation by the
      Modulation of Th1/Th2 Imbalance via Inhibiting NF-kappaB Signaling and Histamine
      Secretion in a Mouse Model of Allergic Asthma.
AB  - Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of bronchial airway, which is
      characterized by chronic airway inflammation, airway edema, goblet cell
      hyperplasia, the aberrant production of the Th2 cytokines, and eosinophil
      infiltration in the lungs. In this study, the therapeutic effect and the
      underlying mechanism of Citrus tachibana leaves ethanol extract (CTLE) in the
      ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic asthma and compound 48/80-induced anaphylaxis
      were investigated. Oral administration of CTLE inhibited OVA-induced asthmatic
      response by reducing airway inflammation, OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 levels, and
      increasing OVA-specific IgG2a levels. CTLE restored Th1/Th2 balance through an
      increase in Th2 cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL
      6 and decreases in Th1 cytokines interferon-gamma and IL-12. Furthermore, CTLE
      inhibited the total level of NF-kappaB and the phosphorylation of IkappaB-alpha
      and NF-kappaB by OVA. In addition, CTLE dose-dependently inhibited compound 48/80
      induced anaphylaxis via blocking histamine secretion from mast cells. The anti
      inflammatory mechanism of CTLE may involve the modulation of Th1/Th2 imbalance
      via inhibiting the NF-kappaB signaling and histamine secretion. Taken together,
      we suggest that CTLE could be used as a therapeutic agent for patients with Th2
      mediated or histamine-mediated allergic asthma.

PMID- 28598708
TI  - Twelve tips for implementation of "student-as-teacher" programs.
AB  - Much has been written about the learning benefits of peer teaching for medical
      trainees. What remains less certain is how practically to implement "Student-as
      teacher" (SaT) programs combining teacher-skills training with hands-on teaching
      experiences for medical students to prepare them for their roles as teachers in
      residency and beyond. In this article, we address this gap by outlining twelve
      tips for the implementation of SaT programs based on review of the literature and
      our experience implementing SaT curricula at our institution. We have organized
      the tips into three domains (i.e. preimplementation, implementation and
      postimplementation) to encourage SaT coordinators to iteratively consider how to
      continually enhance SaT programs before, during and after their implementation.

PMID- 28598709
TI  - An association between bone mineral density and anabolic hormones in middle-aged
      and elderly men with prediabetes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prediabetes (PD) leads to reduced testosterone (T) in males, but
      the association between the anabolic hormones and bone mineral density (BMD)
      remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: We investigated an association between the anabolic
      hormones and BMD in middle-aged and elderly men with PD. METHODS: We investigated
      84 prediabetic and 56 control men. Total T (TT), calculated free T (cFT), and
      dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) were measured, and BMD was assessed using
      DXA methods. RESULTS: Patients with PD had lower TT (p < .001), cFT (p < .005),
      and DHEAS (p < .02) than control group. BMD values of the lower lumbar spine (p <
      .02) and total body (p < .05) in prediabetic men were lower than in control
      group. Lumbar spine BMD correlated with TT (r = 0.376), cFT (r = 0.235), and
      HbA1c (r = -0.368); femoral neck BMD correlated with TT (r = 0.412) and cFT (r =
      0.421). The high lumbar spine and femur neck BMD was associated with high TT,
      cFT, and low HbA1c, while the high total body BMD with high TT, cFT, and low
      HbA1c. CONCLUSION: The anabolic hormones significantly affect BMD in male with
      PD, and screening for low BMD is necessary in these patients.

PMID- 28598710
TI  - The Use of Yoga by Physical Therapists in the United States.
AB  - How physical therapists (PTs) in the United States currently use yoga in their
      clinical practices is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine how PTs
      in the United States view yoga as a physical therapy (PT) tool and how PTs use
      yoga therapeutically. The authors conducted a 24-item survey via electronic
      communications of the Geriatric, Orthopedic, Pediatric, and Women's Health
      Sections of the American Physical Therapy Association. Participants (n = 333)
      from 47 states and the District of Columbia replied. Reported use of therapeutic
      yoga among participants was high (70.6%). Of those participants, nearly a third
      use asana and pranayama only. Most participants using therapeutic yoga also
      include additional mindfulness-related elements such as sensory awareness,
      concentration/focus, and/or meditation. Most participants learned about yoga
      through personal experiences, with many participants citing lack of familiarity
      in using yoga in PT practice. Safety is the primary concern of participants when
      recommending yoga to patients as an independent health and wellness activity.
      Interdisciplinary communication between PTs, yoga therapists, and yoga teachers
      is warranted to address the post-discharge needs of clients. Healthcare changes
      have required PTs to adapt to a biopsychosocial-spiritual model (BPSS) for
      improved patient outcomes. Therapeutic yoga may provide an opportunity for PTs to
      expand their role in health and wellness and chronic disease management. There is
      opportunity for continuing education in therapeutic yoga for PTs.

PMID- 28598711
TI  - Twelve tips for just in time teaching of communication skills for difficult
      conversations in the clinical setting.
AB  - The ability to communicate well with patients and other members of the healthcare
      team is a vital skill for physicians to have, but one that is often not
      emphasized in medical education. Learners of all levels can obtain and develop
      good communication skills regardless of their natural ability in this area, and
      the clinical setting represents an underutilized resource to accomplish this
      task. With this in mind, we have reviewed the growing body of literature on the
      subject and organized our findings into twelve tips to help educators capitalize
      on these missed opportunities. While our emphasis is helping learners with
      difficult discussions, these tips can be easily adapted to any other clinical
      encounter requiring clear communication. Teaching effective communication skills
      in the clinical setting requires some extra time, but the steps outlined should
      not take more than a few minutes to complete. Taking the time to develop these
      skills in our learners will make a significant difference not only their lives
      but also their patients and their families.

PMID- 28598712
TI  - Autotaxin Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant
      tumors. Despite the important progress observed in liver surgery, the survival
      rates are discouraging. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression
      of autotaxin in hepatocellular carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Liver tissues
      from 28 human hepatocellular carcinomas were evaluated for the expression of
      autotaxin by immunohistochemistry. The gender, age, histological grade,
      lymphovascular invasion, number of tumors, levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein
      (aFP), presence of liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, surgery and survival rates were
      recorded. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of autotaxin in
      hepatocellular carcinoma. The histological grade seems to be the only independent
      predictor of stronger autotaxin expression, as significantly higher levels of
      autotaxin were detected in histological grades II and III. In addition, levels of
      autotaxin seem to be the most important independent prognostic factor related to
      poor survival. There was an eight-fold higher risk of death in patients with high
      levels of autotaxin compared to patients with low levels. CONCLUSIONS: Autotaxin
      expression in hepatocellular carcinoma could be of great importance. High
      autotaxin expression in HCC is detected in patients with histological grade II
      and III. Further, patients with elevated expression levels were found to possess
      an eight-fold higher risk of death. Autotaxin role in HCC should be further
      elucidated.

PMID- 28598713
TI  - Robot-assisted endoscope guidance versus manual endoscope guidance in functional
      endonasal sinus surgery (FESS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Having one hand occupied with the endoscope is the major disadvantage
      for the surgeon when it comes to functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Only
      the other hand is free to use the surgical instruments. Tiredness or frequent
      instrument changes can thus lead to shaky endoscopic images. METHODS: We
      collected the pose data (position and orientation) of the rigid 0 degrees 
      endoscope and all the instruments used in 16 FESS procedures with manual
      endoscope guidance as well as robot-assisted endoscope guidance. In combination
      with the DICOM CT data, we tracked the endoscope poses and workspaces using self
      developed tracking markers. RESULTS: All surgeries were performed once with the
      robot and once with the surgeon holding the endoscope. Looking at the durations
      required, we observed a decrease in the operating time because one surgeon doing
      all the procedures and so a learning curve occurred what we expected. The visual
      inspection of the specimens showed no damages to any of the structures outside
      the paranasal sinuses. CONCLUSION: Robot-assisted endoscope guidance in sinus
      surgery is possible. Further CT data, however, are desirable for the surgical
      analysis of a tracker-based navigation within the anatomic borders. Our marker
      based tracking of the endoscope as well as the instruments makes an automated
      endoscope guidance feasible. On the subjective side, we see that RASS brings a
      relief for the surgeon.

PMID- 28598715
TI  - Responding to a suicide death: The role of first responders.
AB  - Effective response by first responders in the immediate aftermath of a suicide
      death can play a critical role in reducing risk and promoting healing for family,
      friends, and the larger community by helping people who are newly bereaved to
      cope with the immediate crisis, created by the death. They also can lay the
      foundation for the difficult journey of mourning and healing that must follow.
      Stressing the importance of a comprehensive and coordinated community response to
      suicide, this article addresses the principles and practices that are called for
      in the Guidelines by highlighting four distinct first responder communities: law
      enforcement and emergency medical services; medical examiners; funeral
      professionals; and clergy and faith leaders. For each of these groups, the
      interrelated functions they serve after a suicide are described, and clear
      suggestions for improvement of these functions in the service of better assisting
      suicide loss survivors, as well as the broader community, are discussed.

PMID- 28598716
TI  - Evaluation and application of a passive air sampler for polycylic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs).
AB  - Sampling of 15 PAHs by the use of both passive air sampler developed (D-PAS) in
      our research group and PAS (C-PAS) having widespread use in the literature was
      conducted to compare the performances of the samplers. Sampling was carried out
      for 1-year period (February 2013-February 2014), in different sampling periods by
      employing D-PAS and C-PAS. D-PAS and C-PAS were run in parallel for 10, 20, 30,
      40 and 60 days. Sampling rates were calculated for both PASs by the use of
      concentration values obtained from a high-volume air sampler (HVAS). It was
      determined that calculated sampling values are different from each other by
      definition of design of C-PAS and D-PAS and difference in environment as velocity
      of wind and temperature are having different effects upon sampling rates.
      Collected sigma15PAHs amounts of 10-day periods in spring, summer, autumn and
      winter were obtained as 576 +/- 333, 209 +/- 29, 2402 +/- 910 and 664 +/- 246 ng
      for D-PAS and 1070 +/- 522, 318 +/- 292, 6062 +/- 1501 and 6089 +/- 4018 ng for C
      PAS, respectively. In addition, according to seasons, when collected PAHs in two
      different samplers were considered, similar results were obtained for the summer
      time in which no combustion takes place with the aim of domestic heating, while
      there were differences determined for the seasons with combustion in need of
      domestic heating. Gas-phase sigma15PAHs' concentrations were reported depending
      on seasons in the spring, summer, autumn and winter sequences as 46 +/- 32, 9 +/-
      3, 367 +/- 207 and 127 +/- 93 ng m-3 for HVAS, respectively.

PMID- 28598718
TI  - A Review of: "Helping Teens Work Through Grief".

PMID- 28598717
TI  - Inhibitory Plasticity: Balance, Control, and Codependence.
AB  - Inhibitory neurons, although relatively few in number, exert powerful control
      over brain circuits. They stabilize network activity in the face of strong
      feedback excitation and actively engage in computations. Recent studies reveal
      the importance of a precise balance of excitation and inhibition in neural
      circuits, which often requires exquisite fine-tuning of inhibitory connections.
      We review inhibitory synaptic plasticity and its roles in shaping both
      feedforward and feedback control. We discuss the necessity of complex,
      codependent plasticity mechanisms to build nontrivial, functioning networks, and
      we end by summarizing experimental evidence of such interactions.

PMID- 28598714
TI  - The role of Slit-Robo signaling in the regulation of tissue barriers.
AB  - The role of Slit/Robo signaling has extended from initial axon repulsion in the
      developing nervous system to organ morphogenesis, cancer development and
      angiogenesis. Slit/Robo signaling regulates similar pathways within these
      processes. Slit/Robo ensures the homeostasis of the dynamic interaction between
      cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. The dysregulation of Slit/Robo signaling
      damages the tissue barrier, resulting in developmental abnormalities or disease.
      Here, we summarize how Slit/Robo controls kidney morphogenesis and describe the
      dual roles of Slit/Robo signaling in the regulation of tumorigenesis and
      angiogenesis.

PMID- 28598721
TI  - Iron and Immunity.
AB  - Iron is an essential nutrient for most life on Earth because it functions as a
      crucial redox catalyst in many cellular processes. However, when present in
      excess iron can lead to the formation of harmful hydroxyl radicals. Hence, the
      cellular iron balance must be tightly controlled. Perturbation of iron
      homeostasis is a major strategy in host-pathogen interactions. Plants use iron
      withholding strategies to reduce pathogen virulence or to locally increase iron
      levels to activate a toxic oxidative burst. Some plant pathogens counteract such
      defenses by secreting iron-scavenging siderophores that promote iron uptake and
      alleviate iron-regulated host immune responses. Mutualistic root microbiota can
      also influence plant disease via iron. They compete for iron with soil-borne
      pathogens or induce a systemic resistance that shares early signaling components
      with the root iron-uptake machinery. This review describes the progress in our
      understanding of the role of iron homeostasis in both pathogenic and beneficial
      plant-microbe interactions.

PMID- 28598722
TI  - Improvement of mechanical strength and osteogenic potential of calcium sulfate
      based hydroxyapatite 3-dimensional printed scaffolds by epsilon-polycarbonate
      coating.
AB  - Powder-based three-dimensional (3D) printing is an excellent method to fabricate
      complex-shaped scaffolds for tissue engineering. However, their lower mechanical
      strength restricts their application in bone tissue engineering. Here, we created
      a 3D-printed scaffold coated with a epsilon-polycaprolactone (PCL) polymer
      solution (5 and 10 w/v %) to improve the mechanical strength of the scaffold. The
      3D scaffold was fabricated from calcium sulfate hemihydrate powder (CaSO4-1/2
      H2O), transformed into hydroxyapatite (HAp) by treatment with a hydrothermal
      reaction in an NH4H2PO4 solution. The surface properties and composition of the
      scaffold were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction
      analysis. We demonstrated that the 3D scaffold coated with PCL had an improved
      mechanical modulus. Coating with 5 and 10% PCL increased the compressive strength
      significantly, by about 2-fold and 4-fold, respectively, compared with that of
      uncoated scaffolds. However, the porosity was reduced significantly by coating
      with 10% PCL. In vitro biological evaluation demonstrated that MG-63 cells
      adhered well and proliferated on the 3D scaffold coated with PCL, and the
      scaffold was not cytotoxic. In addition, alkaline phosphatase activity and real
      time polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that osteoblast differentiation also
      improved in the PCL-coated 3D scaffolds. These results indicated that PCL polymer
      coating could improve the compressive strength and biocompatibility of 3D HAp
      scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.

PMID- 28598723
TI  - Use of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) to Classify Suicidal
      Behaviors.
AB  - Efforts to better understand and prevent suicide have increasingly pointed to the
      prospective assessment of suicidal behaviors in clinical trials. These
      assessments are aided by instruments such as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating
      Scale (C-SSRS), which have sought to improve the conceptual uniformity and ease
      by which suicidal behaviors are classified. At the same time, assessment and
      classification of suicidal behaviors has been a longtime challenge in the field.
      To aid users of the C-SSRS, this article illustrates the use of the C-SSRS in
      instances where classification complexities arise. Illustrations are presented
      based on cases encountered during a clinical trial for a suicide prevention
      intervention. Key decision points are summarized and classification issues that
      warrant consideration for future refinement of such decisions are discussed.

PMID- 28598724
TI  - Prevalence,awareness and factors associated with hypertension in North West
      Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a public health problem, and yet few people are aware
      of it and even fewer access effective treatment. With the ongoing demographic
      transition in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, people are changing from rural,
      manual work to urban lifestyles, hence the risk of hypertension increases.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at determining the prevalence, awareness and risk
      factors associated with hypertension in North West Tanzania. DESIGN: A community
      based cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in Magu District in 2013.
      Information on socio-demographic, economic and lifestyle characteristics, medical
      conditions, and risk factors for hypertension were collected according to the WHO
      Steps survey tool. Measurements of blood pressure, blood sugar, pulse rate, and
      anthropometry were taken. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate
      the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for factors associated
      with hypertension (Blood pressure >=140/90mm/Hg). Frequencies and percentages
      were used to determine the awareness, and treatment among hypertensive
      participants. RESULTS: Among 9678 participants, the prevalence of hypertension
      was 8.0% and pre-hypertension 36.2%. There was a higher prevalence of
      hypertension at older ages, among females (8.2%) compared to males (7.7%), and
      among urban dwellers (10.1%) compared to rural residents (6.8%). Overweight,
      obese, and diabetic individuals had a higher risk of hypertension while HIV
      positive participants had a lower risk of hypertension (OR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.39 -
      0.79). Among participants with hypertension, awareness was less than 10%.
      CONCLUSION: By integrating blood pressure screening into our long-standing
      community HIV screening program, we were able to identify many previously
      undiagnosed cases of hypertension and pre-hypertension. Age, residence,
      overweight and obesity were the major associated factors for hypertension.
      Awareness and treatment rates are very low indicating the need for programs to
      improve awareness, and treatment of hypertension.

PMID- 28598725
TI  - A critical review of the postulated role of the non-essential amino acid, beta-N
      methylamino-L-alanine, in neurodegenerative disease in humans.
AB  - The compound BMAA (beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine) has been postulated to play a
      significant role in four serious neurological human diseases: Amyotrophic Lateral
      Sclerosis/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex (ALS/PDC) found on Guam, and ALS,
      Parkinsonism, and dementia that occur globally. ALS/PDC with symptoms of all
      three diseases first came to the attention of the scientific community during and
      after World War II. It was initially associated with cycad flour used for food
      because BMAA is a product of symbiotic cycad root-dwelling cyanobacteria. Human
      consumption of flying foxes that fed on cycad seeds was later suggested as a
      source of BMAA on Guam and a cause of ALS/PDC. Subsequently, the hypothesis was
      expanded to include a causative role for BMAA in other neurodegenerative diseases
      including Alzheimer's disease (AD) through exposures attributed to proximity to
      freshwaters and/or consumption of seafood due to its purported production by most
      species of cyanobacteria. The hypothesis that BMAA is the critical factor in the
      genesis of these neurodegenerative diseases received considerable attention in
      the medical, scientific, and public arenas. This review examines the history of
      ALS/PDC and the BMAA-human disease hypotheses; similarities and differences
      between ALS/PDC and the other diseases with similar symptomologies; the
      relationship of ALS/PDC to other similar diseases, studies of BMAA-mediated
      effects in lab animals, inconsistencies and data gaps in the hypothesis; and
      other compounds and agents that were suggested as the cause of ALS/PDC on Guam.
      The review concludes that the hypothesis of a causal BMAA neurodegenerative
      disease relationship is not supported by existing data.

PMID- 28598726
TI  - Outer and inner tolerance limits: their usefulness for the construction of norms
      and the standardization of neuropsychological tests.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: After adjustment of scores for demographic variables, especially when
      test scales have an upper limit that causes a ceiling effect, the original score
      variability is deeply altered and the scale properties degenerate. We present a
      method for fixing normality thresholds on scores previously adjusted for
      demographic variables that overcomes these problems. METHODS: We suggest to fix
      norms using non-parametric tolerance limits. These limits, valid even for
      asymmetrical distributions and adjusted scores, can also be used as a basis for a
      non-parametric standardization of adjusted scores. Non-parametric tolerance
      limits permit to fix, with controlled risk, the threshold under which there is at
      most 5% of the normal population (outer tolerance limit); this approach also
      permits to fix, still with a stringent risk control, the inner tolerance limit,
      i.e. the threshold under which there is at least 5% of the normal population.
      Separate limits are needed to control not only against falsely declaring that an
      individual is 'not normal' (outer tolerance limit), but also against falsely
      declaring that an individual is 'normal' (inner tolerance limit). RESULTS: We
      provide examples of the calculations necessary and some tables useful for
      clinical practice, both for the normality judgment and for a standardization
      method called Equivalent Scores. CONCLUSIONS: This approach has been followed for
      about 80 neuropsychological tests studied in the Italian population. Besides the
      intrinsic value of this method, its extension to a wider audience of
      neuropsychologists could provide a way to gain from the experimental and clinical
      practice carried out in different countries.

PMID- 28598728
TI  - Moving the needle: Providing evidence based care to older adults with behavioral
      issues through knowledge translation.
AB  - Implementing evidence based practices into practice settings is exceedingly
      difficult. Knowledge translation is a framework used for moving practices from
      the literature into the real world. This article discusses how six articles in
      this special issue of Gerontology and Geriatrics Education use various knowledge
      translation approaches to implement evidence based practices in older adults with
      behavioral health issues including dementia, delirium and serious mental illness
      across a variety of settings, as well as lessons learned for future knowledge
      translation and implementation science studies.

PMID- 28598729
TI  - Travel abroad increases sexual health risk-taking among Swedish youth: a
      population-based study using a case-crossover strategy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fact that youth take sexual risks when they are abroad have been
      shown in previous studies. However, it is not known if they increased their
      sexual risk-taking when travelling abroad, compared to the stay in their
      homeland. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether Swedish youth increased their individual
      sexual risk behaviour, defined as having a casual sex partner, when travelling
      abroad and to examine possible factors that may be associated with increased risk
      taking abroad. DESIGN: In 2013, a population-based sample of 2189 Swedes, 18-29
      years, was assessed by a questionnaire (45% response rate). Sexuality, duration
      of travel, parents' country of origin, mental health, heavy episodic drinking
      (HED), use of illicit drugs, and socio-demographic background were assessed.
      Increased risk of casual sex in relation to time spent abroad vs. time spent in
      Sweden was analysed by a variant of case-crossover design. Factors that could be
      associated with increased risk of casual sex in Sweden and abroad, separately,
      were analysed by logistic regression.

PMID- 28598730
TI  - The Effects of Gain-, Loss-, and Balanced-Framed Messages for Preventing Indoor
      Tanning among Young Adult Women.
AB  - Indoor tanning (IT) increases the risks of skin cancer, but evidence on how to
      design health education messaging targeting IT among young adult women remains
      limited. This study investigated the effects of theory-guided gain-, loss-, and
      balanced-framed IT prevention messages. Young adult women ages 18-30 who indoor
      tan (n = 552, mean age = 24.9 years [standard deviation = 3.1]) were recruited
      online, completed pre-exposure measures, and were randomized to view a gain-,
      loss-, or balanced-framed message. Participants completed post-exposure measures
      of message response (emotional response, message receptivity), IT risk (perceived
      severity, susceptibility), and efficacy (self-efficacy, perceived benefits of
      avoiding IT) beliefs, and IT behavioral intentions. Loss- and balanced-framed
      messages promoted significantly greater emotional response and message
      receptivity and lower IT behavioral intentions than gain-framed messages. The
      effects of loss- and balanced-framed messages on IT behavioral intentions were
      mediated by greater emotional response and message receptivity compared with the
      gain-framed message. These results can inform the development of public health
      education campaigns to prevent and reduce IT among young adult women. Future
      research can build from these findings by investigating additional message themes
      and tailoring strategies to maximize their effects, examining the effects of
      framed messages prospectively, and investigating ways to enhance message
      receptivity, such as through novel message delivery channels (e.g., mobile
      devices).

PMID- 28598731
TI  - Neoplasms of the Appendix: Pictorial Review with Clinical and Pathologic
      Correlation.
AB  - Appendiceal neoplasms are uncommon tumors of the gastrointestinal tract that may
      manifest with symptoms of appendicitis, right lower quadrant pain, or palpable
      mass, leading to imaging or surgical intervention. The majority of appendiceal
      masses consist of primary epithelial neoplasms and neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).
      Epithelial neoplasms-mucinous and nonmucinous types-are more often detected at
      imaging than NETs due to their larger size and propensity for peritoneal spread
      and metastatic disease. Epithelial mucinous neoplasms are defined by the presence
      of mucin, detected at radiologic and pathologic examination. A mucocele or
      pseudomyxoma peritonei from epithelial mucinous tumors are the two most common
      cross-sectional imaging findings of appendiceal mucinous neoplasms. Nonmucinous
      epithelial tumors are less common and manifest as masses similar to colonic-type
      malignancies. NETs are often discovered incidentally at appendectomy due to their
      small size and nonaggressive behavior. Imaging findings of primary appendiceal
      tumors may overlap with those of acute appendicitis. Additionally, an appendiceal
      mass may cause acute appendicitis, obscuring the underlying mass. Other neoplasms
      including lymphoma, sarcoma, mesenchymal and nerve sheath tumors, or secondary
      malignant involvement of the appendix are rare. Treatment depends on the
      histologic subtype and extent of disease. Detailed description of organ, nodal,
      and peritoneal involvement informs surgical management with the goal of complete
      cytoreduction. Novel treatments such as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy
      have increased survival for patients with mucinous tumors. (c)RSNA, 2017.

PMID- 28598732
TI  - Pulmonary Function Tests for the Radiologist.
AB  - Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) provide important quantitative information about
      lung function and can be used to elucidate pathologic conditions responsible for
      respiratory symptoms, assess the severity and course of disease, and evaluate the
      patient for suitability and timing for lung transplantation. They are typically
      used in tandem with chest imaging, along with other ancillary data, to arrive at
      a specific diagnosis. PFTs may provide the radiologist with clues to the
      diagnosis and grading of a wide variety of pulmonary diseases. In this review,
      the authors discuss the clinical use of PFTs, their major components, and
      important measurements and graphical representations that are essential for
      understanding and interpreting the results. The key components of PFT panels
      static lung volumes, dynamic lung function (spirometry), and diffusion capacity
      are explained. The authors present a general algorithmic approach for problem
      solving, with recognition of common patterns of results (obstructive,
      restrictive, mixed, nonspecific, and normal). Pulmonary diseases from each of the
      major patterns and chest imaging are illustrated, and correlations between
      particular PFT results and disease severity and morphology at imaging are
      examined. Common pitfalls encountered during interpretation are also highlighted.
      A basic understanding of the mechanics of PFTs, characteristic patterns in
      important diseases, and correlation between lung function and imaging findings
      may assist the radiologist in diagnosis and follow-up of key pulmonary diseases
      and strengthen the radiologist's role as part of a multidisciplinary diagnostic
      team. Online supplemental material is available for this article. (c)RSNA, 2017.

PMID- 28598733
TI  - Task-context-dependent Linear Representation of Multiple Visual Objects in Human
      Parietal Cortex.
AB  - A host of recent studies have reported robust representations of visual object
      information in the human parietal cortex, similar to those found in ventral
      visual cortex. In ventral visual cortex, both monkey neurophysiology and human
      fMRI studies showed that the neural representation of a pair of unrelated objects
      can be approximated by the averaged neural representation of the constituent
      objects shown in isolation. In this study, we examined whether such a linear
      relationship between objects exists for object representations in the human
      parietal cortex. Using fMRI and multivoxel pattern analysis, we examined object
      representations in human inferior and superior intraparietal sulcus, two parietal
      regions previously implicated in visual object selection and encoding,
      respectively. We also examined responses from the lateral occipital region, a
      ventral object processing area. We obtained fMRI response patterns to object
      pairs and their constituent objects shown in isolation while participants viewed
      these objects and performed a 1-back repetition detection task. By measuring fMRI
      response pattern correlations, we found that all three brain regions contained
      representations for both single object and object pairs. In the lateral occipital
      region, the representation for a pair of objects could be reliably approximated
      by the average representation of its constituent objects shown in isolation,
      replicating previous findings in ventral visual cortex. Such a simple linear
      relationship, however, was not observed in either parietal region examined.
      Nevertheless, when we equated the amount of task information present by examining
      responses from two pairs of objects, we found that representations for the
      average of two object pairs were indistinguishable in both parietal regions from
      the average of another two object pairs containing the same four component
      objects but with a different pairing of the objects (i.e., the average of AB and
      CD vs. that of AD and CB). Thus, when task information was held consistent, the
      same linear relationship may govern how multiple independent objects are
      represented in the human parietal cortex as it does in ventral visual cortex.
      These findings show that object and task representations coexist in the human
      parietal cortex and characterize one significant difference of how visual
      information may be represented in ventral visual and parietal regions.

PMID- 28598735
TI  - Top-rated AMEE MedEdPublish Papers - February 2017.

PMID- 28598734
TI  - Does Psychosocial Stress Impact Cognitive Reappraisal? Behavioral and Neural
      Evidence.
AB  - Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is regarded as an effective emotion regulation
      strategy. Acute stress, however, is believed to impair the functioning of
      prefrontal-based neural systems, which could result in lessened effectiveness of
      CR under stress. This study tested the behavioral and neurobiological impact of
      acute stress on CR. While undergoing fMRI, adult participants ( n = 54) passively
      viewed or used CR to regulate their response to negative and neutral pictures and
      provided ratings of their negative affect in response to each picture. Half of
      the participants experienced an fMRI-adapted acute psychosocial stress
      manipulation similar to the Trier Social Stress Test, and a control group
      received parallel manipulations without the stressful components. Relative to the
      control group, the stress group exhibited heightened stress as indexed by self
      report, heart rate, and salivary cortisol throughout the scan. Contrary to our
      hypothesis, we found that reappraisal success was equivalent in the control and
      stress groups, as was electrodermal response to the pictures. Heart rate
      deceleration, a physiological response typically evoked by aversive pictures, was
      blunted in response to negative pictures and heightened in response to neutral
      pictures in the stress group. In the brain, we found weak evidence of stress
      induced increases of reappraisal-related activity in parts of the PFC and left
      amygdala, but these relationships were statistically fragile. Together, these
      findings suggest that both the self-reported and neural effects of CR may be
      robust to at least moderate levels of stress, informing theoretical models of
      stress effects on cognition and emotion.

PMID- 28598736
TI  - Evolving concepts of assessment in a competency-based world.
AB  - Competency-based medical education (CBME) is an approach to the design of
      educational systems or curricula that focuses on graduate abilities or
      competencies. It has been adopted in many jurisdictions, and in recent years an
      explosion of publications has examined its implementation and provided a critique
      of the approach. Assessment in a CBME context is often based on observations or
      judgments about an individual's level of expertise; it emphasizes frequent,
      direct observation of performance along with constructive and timely feedback to
      ensure that learners, including clinicians, have the expertise they need to
      perform entrusted tasks. This paper explores recent developments since the
      publication in 2010 of Holmboe and colleagues' description of CBME assessment.
      Seven themes regarding assessment that arose at the second invitational summit on
      CBME, held in 2013, are described: competency frameworks, the reconceptualization
      of validity, qualitative methods, milestones, feedback, assessment processes, and
      assessment across the medical education continuum. Medical educators interested
      in CBME, or assessment more generally, should consider the implications for their
      practice of the review of these emerging concepts.

PMID- 28598737
TI  - Twelve tips for conducting successful multiple patient encounter simulations
      (simultaneous simulations).
AB  - Multiple patient encounter simulations (MPES), whereby learners are exposed to a
      number of simulated patients simultaneously, are gaining popularity as a method
      to address curricular gaps. Whilst this approach offers a host of benefits to
      educators and learners in ways single patient encounter simulations cannot, it
      also has significant challenges with regards to its implementation. We describe
      twelve tips for conducting successful MPES, divided into pre-, intra- and post
      simulation considerations. By adhering to these twelve tips, educators can plan
      successful, fiscally responsible, well-organized, structured sessions for all
      learners (active and observing) that will achieve the learning outcomes desired
      using this advanced method of simulation.

PMID- 28598738
TI  - Competency-based medical education and continuing professional development: A
      conceptualization for change.
AB  - Competency-based medical education (CBME) is as important in continuing
      professional development (CPD) as at any other stage of a physician's career.
      Principles of CBME have the potential to revolutionize CPD. Transitioning to CBME
      based CPD will require a cultural change to gain commitment from physicians,
      their employers and institutions, CPD providers, professional organizations, and
      medical regulators. It will require learning to be aligned with professional and
      workplace standards. Practitioners will need to develop the expertise to
      systematically examine their own clinical performance data, identify performance
      improvement opportunities and possibilities, and develop a plan to address areas
      of concern. Health care facilities and systems will need to produce data on a
      regular basis and to develop and train CPD educators who can work with physician
      groups. Stakeholders, such as medical regulatory authorities who are responsible
      for licensing physicians and other standard-setting bodies that credential and
      develop maintenance-of-certification systems, will need to change their paradigm
      of competency enhancement through CPD.

PMID- 28598739
TI  - Toward a shared language for competency-based medical education.
AB  - The paradigm shift brought about by the advent of competency-based medical
      education (CBME) can be characterized as an adaptive change. Currently, its
      development and implementation suffer from the lack of a lingua franca. A shared
      language is needed to support collaboration and dissemination across the world
      community of medical educators. The International CBME Collaborators held a
      second summit in 2013 to explore this and other contemporary CBME issues. We
      present the resulting International CBME Collaborator's glossary of CBME terms.
      Particular attention is given to the terms competency, entrustable professional
      activity (EPA), and milestone and their interrelationships. Medical education
      scholars and enthusiasts of the competency-based approach are encouraged to adopt
      these terms and definitions, although no doubt the vocabulary of CBME will
      continue to evolve.

PMID- 28598740
TI  - Teaching to the opioid epidemic - an interdisciplinary approach.

PMID- 28598741
TI  - Toward a research agenda for competency-based medical education.
AB  - Competency-based medical education (CBME) is both an educational philosophy and
      an approach to educational design. CBME has already had a broad impact on medical
      schools, residency programs, and continuing professional development in health
      professions around the world. As the CBME movement evolves and CBME programs are
      implemented, a wide range of emerging research questions will warrant scholarly
      examination. In this paper, we describe a proposed CBME research agenda developed
      by the International CBME Collaborators. The resulting framework includes
      questions about the meaning of key concepts of CBME and their implications for
      learners, faculty members, and institutional structures. Other research questions
      relate to the learning process, the meaning of entrustment decisions, fundamental
      measurement issues, and the nature and definition of standards. The exploration
      of these questions will help to solidify the theoretical foundation of CBME, but
      many issues related to implementation also need to be addressed. These pertain
      to, among other things, nurturing independent learning, assembling and using
      assessment results to make decisions about competence, structuring feedback,
      supporting remediation, and how best to evaluate the longer-term outcomes of
      CBME. High-quality research on these questions will require rigorous outcome
      measures with strong validity evidence. The complexity of CBME necessitates
      theoretical and methodological diversity. It also requires multi-institutional
      studies that examine effects at multiple levels, from the learner to the team,
      the institution, and the health care system. Such a framework of research
      questions can guide and facilitate scholarly discourse on the theoretical and
      practical body of knowledge related to competency-based health professions
      education.

PMID- 28598742
TI  - A call to action: The controversy of and rationale for competency-based medical
      education.
AB  - Although medical education has enjoyed many successes over the last century,
      there is a recognition that health care is too often unsafe and of poor quality.
      Errors in diagnosis and treatment, communication breakdowns, poor care
      coordination, inappropriate use of tests and procedures, and dysfunctional
      collaboration harm patients and families around the world. These issues reflect
      on our current model of medical education and raise the question: Are physicians
      being adequately prepared for twenty-first century practice? Multiple reports
      have concluded the answer is "no." Concurrent with this concern is an increasing
      interest in competency-based medical education (CBME) as an approach to help
      reform medical education. The principles of CBME are grounded in providing better
      and safer care. As interest in CBME has increased, so have criticisms of the
      movement. This article summarizes and addresses objections and challenges related
      to CBME. These can provide valuable feedback to improve CBME implementation and
      avoid pitfalls. We strongly believe medical education reform should not be
      reduced to an "either/or" approach, but should blend theories and approaches to
      suit the needs and resources of the populations served. The incorporation of
      milestones and entrustable professional activities within existing competency
      frameworks speaks to the dynamic evolution of CBME, which should not be viewed as
      a fixed doctrine, but rather as a set of evolving concepts, principles, tools,
      and approaches that can enable important reforms in medical education that, in
      turn, enable the best outcomes for patients.

PMID- 28598743
TI  - Implementing competency-based medical education: Moving forward.
AB  - For more than 60 years, competency-based education has been proposed as an
      approach to education in many disciplines. In medical education, interest in CBME
      has grown dramatically in the last decade. This editorial introduces a series of
      papers that resulted from summits held in 2013 and 2016 by the International CBME
      Collaborators, a scholarly network whose members are interested in developing
      competency-based approaches to preparing the next generation of health
      professionals. An overview of the papers is given, as well as a summary of
      landmarks in the conceptual evolution and implementation of CBME. This series
      follows on a first collection of papers published by the International CBME
      Collaborators in Medical Teacher in 2010.

PMID- 28598744
TI  - Realising the benefits of medical education in rural Wales.

PMID- 28598745
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28598746
TI  - Core principles of assessment in competency-based medical education.
AB  - The meaningful assessment of competence is critical for the implementation of
      effective competency-based medical education (CBME). Timely ongoing assessments
      are needed along with comprehensive periodic reviews to ensure that trainees
      continue to progress. New approaches are needed to optimize the use of multiple
      assessors and assessments; to synthesize the data collected from multiple
      assessors and multiple types of assessments; to develop faculty competence in
      assessment; and to ensure that relationships between the givers and receivers of
      feedback are appropriate. This paper describes the core principles of assessment
      for learning and assessment of learning. It addresses several ways to ensure the
      effectiveness of assessment programs, including using the right combination of
      assessment methods and conducting careful assessor selection and training. It
      provides a reconceptualization of the role of psychometrics and articulates the
      importance of a group process in determining trainees' progress. In addition, it
      notes that, to reach its potential as a driver in trainee development, quality
      care, and patient safety, CBME requires effective information management and
      documentation as well as ongoing consideration of ways to improve the assessment
      system.

PMID- 28598747
TI  - Overarching challenges to the implementation of competency-based medical
      education.
AB  - Medical education is under increasing pressure to more effectively prepare
      physicians to meet the needs of patients and populations. With its emphasis on
      individual, programmatic, and institutional outcomes, competency-based medical
      education (CBME) has the potential to realign medical education with this
      societal expectation. Implementing CBME, however, comes with significant
      challenges. This manuscript describes four overarching challenges that must be
      confronted by medical educators worldwide in the implementation of CBME: (1) the
      need to align all regulatory stakeholders in order to facilitate the optimization
      of training programs and learning environments so that they support competency
      based progression; (2) the purposeful integration of efforts to redesign both
      medical education and the delivery of clinical care; (3) the need to establish
      expected outcomes for individuals, programs, training institutions, and health
      care systems so that performance can be measured; and (4) the need to establish a
      culture of mutual accountability for the achievement of these defined outcomes.
      In overcoming these challenges, medical educators, leaders, and policy-makers
      will need to seek collaborative approaches to common problems and to learn from
      innovators who have already successfully made the transition to CBME.

PMID- 28598748
TI  - Implementing competency-based medical education: What changes in curricular
      structure and processes are needed?
AB  - Medical educators must prepare for a number of challenges when they decide to
      implement a competency-based curriculum. Many of these challenges will pertain to
      three key aspects of implementation: organizing the structural changes that will
      be necessary to deliver new curricula and methods of assessment; modifying the
      processes of teaching and evaluation; and helping to change the culture of
      education so that the CBME paradigm gains acceptance. This paper focuses on nine
      key considerations that will support positive change in first two of these areas.
      Key considerations include: ensuring that educational continuity exists amongst
      all levels of medical education, altering how time is used in medical education,
      involving CBME in human health resources planning, ensuring that competent
      doctors work in competent health care systems, ensuring that information
      technology supports CBME, ensuring that faculty development is supported,
      ensuring that the rights and responsibilities of the learner are appropriately
      balanced in the workplace, preparing for the costs of change, and having
      appropriate leadership in order to achieve success in implementation.

PMID- 28598749
TI  - Changing the culture of medical training: An important step toward the
      implementation of competency-based medical education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The current medical education system is steeped in tradition and has
      been shaped by many long-held beliefs and convictions about the essential
      components of training. The objective of this article is to propose initiatives
      to overcome biases against competency-based medical education (CBME) in the
      culture of medical education. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At a retreat of the
      International Competency Based Medical Education (ICBME) Collaborators group, an
      intensive brainstorming session was held to determine potential barriers to
      adoption of CBME in the culture of medical education. This was supplemented with
      a review of the literature on the topic. RESULTS: There continues to exist
      significant key barriers to the widespread adoption of CBME. Change in
      educational culture must be embraced by all components of the medical education
      hierarchy. Research is essential to provide convincing evidence of the benefit of
      CBME. CONCLUSIONS: The widespread adoption of CBME will require a change in the
      professional, institutional, and organizational culture surrounding the training
      of medical professionals.

PMID- 28598750
TI  - Medical Teacher In Ten Minutes.

PMID- 28598751
TI  - Teaching history enriches learning experience.

PMID- 28598753
TI  - Letters: Response to comment on 'Nurses' practice in preventing postoperative
      wound infections: an observational study' JWC January 2017; 26: 1.

PMID- 28598752
TI  - Association between continuity of care in Swedish primary care and emergency
      services utilisation: a population-based cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to determine the association
      between longitudinal continuity of care (CoC) in Swedish primary care (PC) and
      emergency services (ES) utilisation. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional analysis of
      longitudinal population data. SETTING: PC centres, out-of-hours PC facilities and
      emergency departments (EDs) in Blekinge County in southern Sweden. SUBJECTS:
      People of all ages who lived in Blekinge County and who had made two or more
      visits per year to a general practitioner (GP) during office hours from 1 January
      2012 to 31 December 2014. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: ES utilisation. RESULTS: Eight
      thousand one-hundred and eighty-five people were included in the study. CoC was
      quantified using three different indices-Usual Provider of Care index (UPC),
      Continuity of Care index (CoCI), and Sequential Continuity index (SECON). The CoC
      that the PC centres could offer their enrolled patients varied significantly
      between the different centres, ranging from 0.23-0.57 for UPC, 0.12-0.43 for
      CoCI, and 0.25-0.52 for SECON. Association between the three CoC indices and ES
      utilisation was computed as an incidence rate ratio which ranged between 0.50 and
      0.59. CONCLUSION: Longitudinal CoC was shown to have a negative association with
      ES utilisation. The association was significant and of a magnitude that implies
      clinical relevance. Computed incidence rate ratios suggest that patients with the
      lowest CoC had twice as many ES visits compared to patients with the highest CoC.

PMID- 28598754
TI  - Use of an epidermal growth factor-infused foam dressing in a complicated case of
      Adams-Oliver syndrome.
AB  - Adams-Oliver syndrome is a rare disorder with varying degrees of scalp and
      cranial bone defects as well as limb anomalies, which can range from mild to more
      pronounced manifestations. In mild cases, closure of these defects can be
      achieved with a conservative approach. However, surgical closure is recommended
      in cases where the defect is extensive and includes cranial involvement. Several
      complicated cases of Adams-Oliver syndrome have been reported, in which flap
      failures were encountered and other alternatives had to be used to close critical
      scalp defects. Here, the case of a 4-year-old child with Adams-Oliver syndrome
      and a complex cranial defect with exposed titanium mesh is described. The patient
      was successfully treated with epidermal growth factor (EGF) infused foam
      dressings and subsequent split-thickness skin grafting. The EGF has been
      highlighted for its essential role in dermal wound repair through the stimulation
      of the proliferation and migration of keratinocytes, and showed accelerated wound
      healing when used in partial or full-thickness skin wounds.

PMID- 28598755
TI  - Waiting for change.

PMID- 28598756
TI  - The impact of the multidisciplinary team in the management of individuals with
      diabetic foot ulcers: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of the multidisciplinary team in the management
      of the diabetic foot compared with those who did not receive multidisciplinary
      care. METHOD: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using the
      following databases: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
      (CINAHL), Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library. The following search terms were
      used: diabetic foot, multidisciplinary team, patient care team, multidisciplinary
      care team. Data were extracted using a bespoke data extraction tool and quality
      appraisal of the studies was undertaken using the EBL Critical Appraisal
      checklist. Data analysis was undertaken using RevMan with results presented as
      odds ratio for dichotomous data, or mean difference for continuous data, all with
      the associated 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: The search identified 19
      eligible studies. Severity of amputation, death rates and length of hospital stay
      of clients receiving multidisciplinary team care were improved when compared with
      those who did not receive multidisciplinary team care. Ulcer healing and quality
      of life showed an improvement but not all studies explored these outcomes. Only 7
      of the 19 articles appraised were found to be of acceptable quality, questioning
      the generalisability of the results. CONCLUSION: From the currently available
      evidence a positive impact of the multidisciplinary team on diabetic foot
      outcomes can be seen, but due to the lack of high-quality evidence and
      substantial heterogeneity in the studies, these results should be interpreted
      with caution.

PMID- 28598757
TI  - Exudates absorption and proteases trapping in venous leg ulcers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In venous leg ulcer (VLU), the impaired healing has been shown to be
      associated with excessive levels of protease activities such as matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) and elastases found in exudates. The present study
      focused on exudates absorption and proteases trapping capacity of a new
      generation of polyacrylate superabsorbent, Tegaderm superabsorber (TS), compared
      with a traditional dressing such as Zetuvit. METHOD: We studied the proteases
      implicated in VLU (MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and PMN elastase). Absorption was tested
      using an artificial exudate like fluid, over 30 minutes. The protein trapping
      ability was obtained using ELISA assays (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) to
      determine the amount retained by the dressings from spiked fluid samples.
      RESULTS: TS had a higher exudate absorption capacity (72.8+/-1.7%) compared with
      the standard dressing (36.5+/-1.6%), and was also able to trap and retain
      proteases while the standard dressing released them. The difference was shown to
      be much larger for MMP-2 and PMN elastase. CONCLUSION: In our knowledge, this is
      the first comparative in vitro study evaluating absorption capacity as well as
      protease trapping capacity of a polyacrylate dressing for the four most
      implicated proteases in VLU. TS could be an appropriate alternative to improve
      the management of VLU by trapping MMPs and PMN elastse with a particularly high
      affinity for MMP-2 and PMN elastase.

PMID- 28598758
TI  - Management of Fournier's gangrene non-healing wounds by autologous skin
      micrograft biotechnology: a new technique.
AB  - Fournier's gangrene is an acute bacterial infection producing necrosis of the
      perineum and external genitalia that generally affects elderly men. Although skin
      grafts and flaps are the standard procedure for reconstruction, sometimes wounds
      can become chronic. Rigenera Protocol is a new technique based on autologous skin
      micrografts that reactivates and supports wound healing. A 40-year-old male with
      Fournier's gangrene, due to a rectal microperforation following diarrhoea, was
      treated with surgical debridement, negative pressure wound therapy and
      subsequently coverage with skin grafts. He developed non-healing wounds treated
      by Rigenera protocol after two months of advanced wound dressings. This technique
      is based on skin micrografts obtained by mechanical dermal disgregation to
      provide mesenchymal stem cells and extracellular matrix to the wound. The
      suspension injected into the wound triggers reactivation of healing without
      significant residual scarring on both donor site and treated area. Non-healing
      wounds were reduced by 15% at day 7 and by 50% after 30 days. Wounds completely
      healed after seventy days. The regenerated tissue appeared closer to skin graft
      than to scar tissue. This report shows how the use of skin micrografts through
      Rigenera protocol can be a useful method to reactivate wound healing resulting
      from Fournier's gangrene, with no discomfort for patient in a practical, safe and
      easy way.

PMID- 28598759
TI  - Pressure ulcers prevention efficacy of an alternating pressure air mattress in
      elderly patients: E2MAO a randomised study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to compare Axtair One, an alternating pressure air
      mattress (APAM), with a viscoelastic foam mattress (VFM) in elderly patients at
      moderate to high risk of developing pressure ulcers (PUs). METHOD: A randomised,
      controlled, superiority, parallel-group, open-label, multicentre study, was
      conducted, between February 2012 and March 2015, in nine French, medium- and long
      term stay facilities. Eligible patients were aged 70 and over, had no PUs on
      enrolment, were bedridden for at least 15 hours per day, had reduced mobility, an
      absent or minimal positioning capability, a Braden score <14, a nutritional
      status score >12 and a Karnofsky score <40%. The primary endpoint was the
      appearance of PUs over a 30-day monitoring period. The primary objective was to
      demonstrate a 50% reduction in instantaneous risk of PUs in the APAM versus the
      VFM group. Secondary objectives were to determine if preventive care was less
      frequent in the APAM group, the instantaneous relative risk of PUs (hazard ratio)
      was constant over time and the comfort experienced was higher in the APAM group
      and to verify the uniformity of the preventive benefit of an APAM, regardless of
      the level of exposure to major risk factors for PUs. RESULTS: We randomised 76
      patients (39 in the APAM group and 37 in the VFM group). The groups were
      comparable on enrolment and throughout the study. The cumulative risk of PUs was
      estimated at 6.46% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.64; 23.66] in the APAM group
      and at 38.91% [95% CI: 24.66; 57.59] in the VFM group, p=0.001 (log-rank test).
      The adjusted hazard ratio according to the Cox model with four prognostic factors
      for the appearance of PUs was 7.57 [95% CI: 1.67; 34.38, p=0.009]. Preventive
      care proved to be equivalent in both groups. The only risk factor significantly
      associated with an increased risk of PUs was the type of mattress (VFM). The
      comfort and tolerance perceived by the patients were both high and similar in the
      two groups. The constancy over time of the preventive benefit of an APAM could
      not be verified because of the lack of a sufficient number of events (appearance
      of PUs) in the APAM group. CONCLUSION: The APAM was superior to a VFM for
      preventing PUs in elderly patients, bedridden for more than 15 hours per day,
      severely dependent, at moderate-to high-risk of PUs, with an instantaneous risk
      for the appearance of PUs 7.57 times greater in the VFM group than in the APAM
      group. This study provides descriptive information and evidence for practice.

PMID- 28598760
TI  - The use of modern dressings in managing split-thickness skin graft donor sites: a
      single-centre randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the most appropriate, most suitable and most efficient
      dressing for split-thickness skin graft (STSG) donor sites. Comparing the wound
      healing rate, pain severity and duration, as well as the dressing change
      frequency in four randomised patient groups. METHODS: A single-centre non-blinded
      randomised controlled trial was carried out during 2010-2014. All patients
      treated for skin defects/lesions (due to burns, trauma or ulcers) using STSG were
      included in the study. All patients were randomly allocated in four different
      donor site treatment groups; polyurethane (PU group, Mepilex); polyurethane with
      silicone membrane (PUSM group; Mepilex border,); transparent, breathable film
      (TBF group; Mepitel film) and cotton gauze dressings (CG group) using Excel 2007.
      We evaluated: wound healing time, pain severity and duration, the frequency of
      dressing change, donor site re-epithelialisation, donor site complications (signs
      of inflammation or infection). Patients were assessed on postoperative days: 1,
      3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21. RESULTS: After random allocation of study
      participants the number of patients in each group were: PU group n=25; PUSM group
      n=24; TBF group n=24; CG group n=25. The groups were homogenous according to
      gender, age, main pathology, donor site area and wound size. The STSG donor site
      healing time varied from 9 to 21 days. The mean healing time in the CG group was
      14.76 days, whereas in the PU, PUSM, and TBF group it was significantly shorter;
      12.25 days, 11.63 days and 10 days, respectively. Patients in the TBF group
      demonstrated the most rapid healing time with 66.7% of STSG donor sites healed by
      postoperative day 9. The pain duration interval in modern dressing groups (PU,
      PUSM and TBF groups) was 0-9 days, whereas it was 6-18 day in the CS group. Pain
      intensity mean on postoperative day 1 was 2.21 in the PU group; 1.67 in the PUSM
      group; 1.46 in the TBF group and 3.04 in the CG group. The average pain duration
      in Group PU, PUSM, and TBF was 4.08 days; 2.5 days; 2.29 days, respectively. The
      average number of times each dressing was changed in each group was, 2.83 times
      in the PU group and PUSM group and 1.46 times in the TBF group. The CG dressing
      group were changed once when the donor site wound re-epithelialised. There was
      one patient in the PU group who experienced signs of infection, was treated
      accordingly and excluded from the study. CONCLUSION: The fastest healing time was
      demonstrated by patients in the TBF group. The pain was not as severe and for a
      shorter period of time in modern dressing study groups. However, the pain was
      lightest and felt shortest in TBF dressing group. The modern dressings PU and
      PUSM had to be changed more frequently than TBF.

PMID- 28598762
TI  - Efficacy of arginine-enriched enteral formulas for the healing of pressure
      ulcers: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Arginine improves healing and modulates inflammation and the immune
      response. This systematic review aimed to assess the effect of arginine-enriched
      enteral formulas in pressure ulcer (PU) healing. METHOD: Systematic computerised
      searches of PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, ENTRAL and CINAHL databases were
      performed from their inception to 20 January 2016. Randomised controlled trials
      (RCTs) were included in this systematic review. We used the Jadad scale as a
      quality assessment tool. RESULTS: There were seven RCTs with 369 patients
      included in this systematic review; four RCTs assessed healing by PU area
      reduction. All of them reported arginine-enriched enteral nutrition led to a
      significant improved PU healing compared with standard hospital diet in 2-12
      weeks follow-up. Among these four RCTs, one enrolled malnourished patients, one
      enrolled non-malnourished patients, and the other two studies did not restrict
      the nutritional status of the patients. Using the Pressure Ulcer Scale for
      Healing (PUSH) four RCTs assessed healing of PU, all reporting arginine-enriched
      enteral nutrition resulted in a significant PUSH score improvement compared with
      control at follow-up. Using the Pressure Sore Status Tool (PSST) one RCT assessed
      healing of PUs, finding patients receiving arginine had the lowest PSST scores
      compared with controls. An RCT compared healing with two doses of arginine (4.5g
      versus 9g), but no difference was found between the doses. CONCLUSION: Evidence
      showed that arginine-enriched enteral nutrition led to a significant improvement
      in PU healing. It was effective not only in malnourished patients, but also in
      non-malnourished patients.

PMID- 28598761
TI  - The health economic burden that acute and chronic wounds impose on an average
      clinical commissioning group/health board in the UK.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the patterns of care and related resource use attributable
      to managing acute and chronic wounds among a catchment population of a typical
      clinical commissioning group (CCG)/health board and corresponding National Health
      Service (NHS) costs in the UK. METHOD: This was a sub-analysis of a retrospective
      cohort analysis of the records of 2000 patients in The Health Improvement Network
      (THIN) database. Patients' characteristics, wound-related health outcomes and
      health-care resource use were quantified for an average CCG/health board with a
      catchment population of 250,000 adults >=18 years of age, and the corresponding
      NHS cost of patient management was estimated at 2013/2014 prices. RESULTS: An
      average CCG/health board was estimated to be managing 11,200 wounds in 2012/2013.
      Of these, 40% were considered to be acute wounds, 48% chronic and 12% lacking any
      specific diagnosis. The prevalence of acute, chronic and unspecified wounds was
      estimated to be growing at the rate of 9%, 12% and 13% per annum respectively.
      Our analysis indicated that the current rate of wound healing must increase by an
      average of at least 1% per annum across all wound types in order to slow down the
      increasing prevalence. Otherwise, an average CCG/health board is predicted to
      manage ~23,200 wounds per annum by 2019/2020 and is predicted to spend a
      discounted (the process of determining the present value of a payment that is to
      be received in the future) L50 million on managing these wounds and associated
      comorbidities. CONCLUSION: Real-world evidence highlights the substantial burden
      that acute and chronic wounds impose on an average CCG/health board. Strategies
      are required to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and healing rates.

PMID- 28598763
TI  - Chronic venous disease and wound infection: approaches, prevention and outcome
      measures from EWMA.
AB  - In May, BSN medical hosted two clinical symposia at the 2017 EWMA conference.
      These described the challenges in reducing the costs of treatment for patients
      with chronic venous disease (CVD), the importance of compression therapy and
      physical activity in the management and prevention of leg ulcers, and the
      obstacles in treating wound infection, among other topics. Camila Fronzo, JWC
      chief sub editor, was there to summarise the main points of each session.

PMID- 28598764
TI  - Letters: Comment on Guest et al. 'The health economic burden that acute and
      chronic wounds impose on an average clinical commissioning group/health board in
      the UK' JWC June 2017; 26: 6.

PMID- 28598768
TI  - LAW AND ETHICS.

PMID- 28598766
TI  - Tonsil surgery in Sweden 2013-2015. Indications, surgical methods and patient
      reported outcomes from the National Tonsil Surgery Register.
AB  - AIM: To describes how tonsil surgery was performed in Sweden from 2013 to 2015
      with data from the National Tonsil Surgery Registry in Sweden (NTSRS). METHOD:
      The registry collects data from both professionals and patients through
      questionnaires. A total of 33,870 tonsil surgeries were analysed, comprising
      approximately 80% of all tonsil surgeries in Sweden from 2013 to 2015. RESULTS:
      The two most common procedures were tonsillectomy (41%) and tonsillotomy with
      adenoidectomy (38%). Tonsillectomy was most commonly performed to treat frequent
      tonsillitis, while the main indication for tonsil surgery with combined
      adenoidectomy and for tonsillotomy alone was upper airway obstruction. The most
      commonly used techniques were cold steel (70%) for
      tonsillectomy/adenotonsillectomy and radiofrequency (79%) for
      tonsillotomy/adenotonsillotomy. Ninety-five percent of patients reported symptom
      relief after 180 d. Day surgery was utilised in 70% of the surgeries. The rate of
      readmission due to post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage was 5.1%. Male patients more
      often underwent tonsil surgery at preschool ages due to upper airway obstruction;
      in comparison, female patients to a larger extent underwent surgery in their
      early teens because of previous infections. CONCLUSIONS: The NTSRS provides an
      opportunity to survey tonsil surgery in Sweden and to launch and follow up
      improvement programmes as desired.

PMID- 28598765
TI  - Shigella depends on SepA to destabilize the intestinal epithelial integrity via
      cofilin activation.
AB  - Shigella is unique among enteric pathogens, as it invades colonic epithelia
      through the basolateral pole. Therefore, it has evolved the ability to breach the
      intestinal epithelial barrier to deploy an arsenal of effector proteins, which
      permits bacterial invasion and leads to a severe inflammatory response. However,
      the mechanisms used by Shigella to regulate epithelial barrier permeability
      remain unknown. To address this question, we used both an intestinal polarized
      model and a human ex-vivo model to further characterize the early events of host
      bacteria interactions. Our results showed that secreted Serine Protease A (SepA),
      which belongs to the serine protease autotransporter of Enterobacteriaceae
      family, is responsible for critically disrupting the intestinal epithelial
      barrier. Such disruption facilitates bacterial transit to the basolateral pole of
      the epithelium, ultimately fostering the hallmarks of the disease pathology. SepA
      was found to cause a decrease in active LIM Kinase 1 (LIMK1) levels, a negative
      inhibitor of actin-remodeling proteins, namely cofilin. Correspondingly, we
      observed increased activation of cofilin, a major actin-polymerization factor
      known to control opening of tight junctions at the epithelial barrier.
      Furthermore, we resolved the crystal structure of SepA to elucidate its role on
      actin-dynamics and barrier disruption. The serine protease activity of SepA was
      found to be required for the regulatory effects on LIMK1 and cofilin, resulting
      in the disruption of the epithelial barrier during infection. Altogether, we
      demonstrate that SepA is indispensable for barrier disruption, ultimately
      facilitating Shigella transit to the basolateral pole where it effectively
      invades the epithelium.

PMID- 28598769
TI  - A study of the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons performing
      minimally invasive surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has shown significant benefits for
      patients and healthcare systems. However, due to the poor ergonomic adaptation of
      operating rooms and surgical instruments, most surgeons suffer from pain caused
      by musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). METHODS: A descriptive survey on MIS
      surgeons working in different surgical specialties has been carried out in
      Hospital Valdecilla (Spain). The aim is to determine the prevalence of MSDs using
      a personal interview and the standardized Nordic questionnaire. The study
      determines the prevalence of MSDs in different parts of the body and their
      relationship with epidemiological and labor variables. A questionnaire was filled
      out by 129 surgeons. RESULTS: 90% of surgeons reported MSDs. The higher
      prevalence appears in the most experienced surgeons. The most affected zones are
      the lower back (54%), neck (51%), upper back (44%), lower extremities (42%),
      right shoulder (29%) and right hand (28%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MSDs is
      higher in MIS surgeons than in any other occupational group. The most vulnerable
      group is experienced surgeons and there is a potential risk that symptoms will be
      increased in the future. Muscle strength is revealed as a protective factor
      against MSDs.

PMID- 28598770
TI  - Review of the ecotoxicological effects of emerging contaminants to soil biota.
AB  - In recent years, emerging contaminants (e.g. pesticides and their metabolites,
      pharmaceuticals, personal and house care products, life-style compounds, food
      additives, industrial products and wastes, as well as nanomaterials) have become
      a problem to the environment. In fact, the cumulative use of a panoply of
      chemical substances in agriculture, industrial activities, in our homes and in
      health care services has led to their recent appearance in detectable levels in
      soils, surface, and groundwater resources, with unpredictable consequences for
      these ecosystems. Few data exist regarding the toxicity and potential for
      bioaccumulation in biota. When available, data were obtained only for some
      representatives of the main groups of chemical substances, and for a limited
      number of species, following non-standard protocols. This makes difficult the
      calculation of predicted no effect concentrations (PNEC) and the existence of
      sufficient data to set limits for their release into the environment. This is
      particularly concerning for the soil compartment, since only recently the
      scientific community, regulators, and the public have realised the importance of
      protecting this natural resource and its services to guarantee the sustainability
      of terrestrial ecosystems and human well-being. In this context, this review
      paper aims to identify the major groups of soil emerging contaminants, their
      sources, pathways and receptors, and in parallel to analyse existing
      ecotoxicological data for soil biota.

PMID- 28598772
TI  - Implementation of a novel taxonomy based on cognitive work analysis in the
      assessment of safety performance.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine how the developed taxonomy of
      cognitive work analysis (CWA) can be applied in combination with statistical
      analysis regarding different sociotechnical categories. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This study applied a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
      Workers (n = 120) and managers (n = 85) in the chemical industry were asked in a
      questionnaire how different occupational safety and health (OSH) measures were
      being implemented. The exploration of the qualitative CWA taxonomy consisted of
      an analysis of the following topics: (a) work domain; (b) control task; (c)
      strategies; (d) social organization and cooperation; (e) worker competencies.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The following hypotheses were supported - activities of
      the management had positive impacts on the aggregated variables: near-accident
      investigation and instructions (H1); OSH training (H2); operations, technical
      processes and safe use of chemicals (H3); use of personal protective equipment
      (H4); measuring, follow-up and prevention of major accidents (H5). The CWA
      taxonomy was applied in mixed methods when testing H1-H5. A special approach is
      to analyze the work demands of complex sociotechnical systems with the taxonomy
      of CWA. In problem-solving, the CWA taxonomy should seek to capitalize on the
      strengths and minimize the limitations of safety performance.

PMID- 28598771
TI  - Barriers to initiating tuberculosis treatment in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic
      review focused on children and youth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease globally, with
      10.4 million people infected and more than 1.8 million deaths in 2015. TB is a
      preventable, treatable, and curable disease, yet there are numerous barriers to
      initiating treatment. These barriers to treatment are exacerbated in low-resource
      settings and may be compounded by factors related to childhood. OBJECTIVE: Timely
      initiation of tuberculosis (TB) treatment is critical to reducing disease
      transmission and improving patient outcomes. The aim of this paper is to describe
      patient- and system-level barriers to TB treatment initiation specifically for
      children and youth in sub-Saharan Africa through systematic review of the
      literature. DESIGN: This review was conducted in October 2015 in accordance with
      preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA)
      guidelines. Six databases were searched to identify studies where primary or
      secondary objectives were related to barriers to TB treatment initiation and
      which included children or youth 0-24 years of age. RESULTS: A total of 1490
      manuscripts met screening criteria; 152 met criteria for full-text review and 47
      for analysis. Patient-level barriers included limited knowledge, attitudes and
      beliefs regarding TB, and economic burdens. System-level barriers included
      centralization of services, health system delays, and geographical access to
      healthcare. Of the 47 studies included, 7 evaluated cost, 19 health-seeking
      behaviors, and 29 health system infrastructure. Only 4 studies primarily assessed
      pediatric cohorts yet all 47 studies were inclusive of children. CONCLUSIONS:
      Recognizing and removing barriers to treatment initiation for pediatric TB in sub
      Saharan Africa are critical. Both patient- and system-level barriers must be
      better researched in order to improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28598774
TI  - What could we learn from the sub-analysis of a single nation cohort in a
      worldwide study? Lessons from the results observed in the Italian cohort of the
      GO-MORE trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: GO-MORE Trial investigated the use of Golimumab (GLM) in 3280
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients worldwide. At present, the burden of arthritis
      is greater in poorer countries than in developed countries due to socioeconomic
      disparities, thus suggesting the usefulness of subgroup investigations. We aimed
      to evaluate GLM as add-on therapy for RA patients in the Italian cohort of GO
      MORE trial and compared the clinical characteristics between Italian patients and
      the enrolled patients worldwide. METHODS: Ninety-eight Italian patients with
      active RA, fulfilling the 1987 ACR criteria were enrolled. Statistical analyses
      were performed to assess: i. the differences in baseline characteristics; ii. the
      efficacy after 6 months; between Italian and Rest of the World GO-MORE
      populations. RESULTS: Compared to the worldwide population, Italian patients
      showed a lower value of disease activity and a significantly short disease
      duration. Unlike the worldwide patients, the large majority of Italian patients
      received biologic therapy after the failure of the first synthetic DMARD and were
      not treated by high methotrexate dosage. After 6 months of GLM treatment, no
      differences were observed in the therapeutic response. Italian patients reported
      a positive autoinjection experience mirroring the worldwide results. CONCLUSIONS:
      The analysis of the Italian GO-MORE subset confirms that differences among
      patients may be shown, depending on different approaches in different health
      systems. GLM in the Italian patients showed a favourable benefit/risk profile and
      the positive autoinjection experience may help with patient's compliance and
      survival of the treatment.

PMID- 28598773
TI  - Behcet's syndrome and health-related quality of life: influence of symptoms,
      lifestyle and employment status.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Behcet's syndrome (BS) is a chronic multisystemic disorder. The
      complex pattern of BS symptoms can effect negatively on patients' quality of
      life. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of BS symptoms, oral
      health related lifestyles and employment status on Health Related Quality of Life
      (HRQoL). METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to a cohort of 641 adult members of
      the Behcet's Syndrome Society (BSS) and patients attending a Behcet's syndrome
      centre in the UK. Respondents gave information on socio-demographic
      characteristics, disease duration, current symptoms, symptom control, health
      related lifestyle, diet, smoking and alcohol, employment status and quality of
      life (the EQ-5D index). RESULTS: 315 out of 426 BS participants (Males:
      Females=136:179) were recruited. BS symptoms and EQ-5D score model (R=0.67 and
      R2=0.45) and standardised coefficients for symptoms were; arthropathy (-0.336),
      headache (-0.227), neurological problems (-0.135), pathergy reaction (-0.119) and
      skin lesions (-0.107) in decreasing order. This finding was similar to a 2009
      study of the same cohort. Regression analysis of tobacco consumption revealed
      that tobacco use was a risk factor for decreasing the EQ-5D score (beta value = -
      0.72, p=0.001). Using an effective mouthwash has a positive impact on HRQoL (beta
      value= 0.149 and p=0.012). The mean EQ-5D in patients who continued in employment
      and who were not receiving benefits was better compared to other sub groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: BS symptoms, employment status, a healthy lifestyle combined with a
      good oral health have a significant impact on the HRQoL of BS patients.

PMID- 28598775
TI  - Rheumatologists' guideline adherence in rheumatoid arthritis: a randomised
      controlled study on electronic decision support, education and feedback.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of education, feedback and a computerised
      decision support system (CDSS) versus education and feedback alone on
      rheumatologists' rheumatoid arthritis (RA) guideline adherence. METHODS: A single
      centre, randomised controlled pilot study was performed among clinicians
      (rheumatologists, residents and physician assistants; n=20) working at the study
      centre, with a 1:1 randomisation of included clinicians. A standardized sum score
      (SSS) on guideline adherence was used as the primary outcome (patient level). The
      SSS was calculated from 13 dichotomous indicators on quality of RA monitoring,
      treatment and follow-up. The randomised controlled design was combined with a
      before-after design in the control group to assess the effect education and
      feedback alone. RESULTS: Twenty clinicians (mean age 44.3+/-10.9 years; 55%
      female) and 990 patients (mean age 62 +/- 13 years; 69% female; 72% rheumatoid
      factor and/or anti-CCP positive) were included. Addition of CDSS to education and
      feedback did not result in significant better quality of RA care than education
      and feedback alone (SSS difference 0.02; 95%-CI -0.04 to 0.08; p=0.60). However,
      before/after comparison showed that education and feedback alone resulted in a
      significant increase in the SSS from 0.58 to 0.64 (difference 0.06; 95%-CI 0.02
      to 0.11; p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that CDSS did not have added
      value with regard to guideline adherence, whereas education and feedback can lead
      to a small but significant improvement of guideline adherence.

PMID- 28598776
TI  - Expression of the genes facilitating methotrexate action within subcutaneous
      rheumatoid nodules.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought further understanding of the association between
      methotrexate (MTX) therapy and accelerated development of subcutaneous rheumatoid
      nodules. The objective was to establish expression of genes involved in the
      transport, metabolism, and mechanism of action of MTX within nodule tissue. We
      also examined for differences in gene expression between nodules from patients
      actively receiving MTX compared to those not receiving MTX. METHODS: Subcutaneous
      nodule tissues (n=23) were obtained from 21 patients with RA, undergoing elective
      surgery. Expression of genes important to the transport (SLC19A1, ABCB1, ABCC1,
      ABCG2), metabolism (FPGS, GGH), and mechanism of action (TYMS, MTR, MTRR) of MTX,
      including for the adenosine receptors ADORA1, ADORA2A, ADORA2B, ADORA3 and
      ADORA3variant were quantitated by real-time PCR in each nodule sample. RESULTS:
      Transcripts for all genes were found in all nodules. Expression of MTR was
      significantly reduced in nodules from patients receiving MTX therapy. Patterns of
      gene expression differed, with those metabolising MTX more prominent in nodules
      from patients receiving MTX when compared to nodules from those not receiving
      MTX, where genes involved in MTX transport were more prominent. CONCLUSIONS:
      Genes involved in MTX handling are expressed in rheumatoid nodules, providing
      further evidence that metabolism of MTX within nodules could exert a local
      effect. Furthermore the profile of gene expression in nodules differed from that
      previously observed in rheumatoid synovial membrane. The significant reduction of
      MTR expression in nodules has implications for MTR- and MTRR-mediated re
      methylation reactions. Our data suggest that in contrast to synovium, downstream
      methylation reactions involving methionine and the biosynthesis of S
      adenosylmethionine (SAM) could be reduced in nodule tissue. This could help
      explain differing responses to MTX in rheumatoid nodules and synovium and
      warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28598777
TI  - No histologic evidence of foetal cardiotoxicity following exposure to maternal
      hydroxychloroquine.
AB  - It is currently recommended that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) be maintained during
      pregnancy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Recent data suggest that
      this Toll-like receptor inhibitor may also reduce the recurrence rate of anti
      SSA/Ro associated congenital heart block (CHB). This case report describes a
      unique situation in which a CHB-afflicted, HCQ-exposed pregnancy was electively
      terminated. The heart did not reveal any characteristic features of
      cardiotoxicity, providing further evidence supporting the safety of foetal
      exposure to HCQ.

PMID- 28598778
TI  - Uncommon presentation of granulomatosis with polyangiitis in association with
      subclinical coeliac disease.

PMID- 28598779
TI  - Preclinical biomarker associations with both incident rheumatoid arthritis and
      its subsequent mortality: sex effects in a 41-year, community-based, case-control
      cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify sex effects and preclinical serum biomarker associations
      with both incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its subsequent mortality, using
      a 41-year, community-based, case-control cohort. METHODS: After cohort entry in
      1974, incident RA cases (n=54) had clinical onsets between 1977 and 1994. Cohort
      control (CN) subjects were individually matched on entry to cases (4 CN:1 RA,
      n=216). All subjects were followed for survival from 1995 through 2015. Ranks (1
      5) of preclinical z-scores within each set of 1 RA and 4 matched CN were analysed
      for associations with incident RA and mortality. Survival was evaluated using Cox
      proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Preclinical serum IgG RF z-score ranks
      associated with incident RA in 90 males (18 RA, 72 CN). Cigarette smoking,
      androstenedione, pregnenolone, and sIL-2Ralpha ranks associated with incident RA
      in 180 females (36 RA, 144 CN). Total percentile mortality was greater (p=0.003)
      in RA (70.4) vs. CN (49.9) and equivalently increased in female RA (69.4) vs. CN
      (49.3) and in male RA (72.2) vs. CN (43.1) subjects. Percentile respiratory
      related CODs were greater (p=0.009) only in the female RA cases (16.7) vs. CN
      (3.5). Ranks of preclinical hsCRP (p=0.028) and sIL-2Ralpha (p=0.030)
      independently associated with 140 total deaths, as did sTNF-R1 (p=0.003) and
      hsCRP (p=0.005) with 50 CVD deaths. Latter biomarker association were significant
      in females. Therapy responses in 1995 significantly associated with subsequent
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Sex effects were important in preclinical biomarker
      associations with incident RA, total and CVD mortality as well as occurrence of
      respiratory deaths.

PMID- 28598781
TI  - Health care utilisation before and after intensive care unit admission in
      rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the incidence of intensive care unit (ICU) admission in
      a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) population according to health care utilisation and
      use of immune therapies in the year preceding admission. Also, we compared health
      care utilisation after ICU admission in persons with and without RA. METHODS: We
      identified all persons with RA in Manitoba, Canada using population-based
      administrative data, and controls matched by age, sex, and region of residence.
      ICU admissions were identified using special care unit codes included in hospital
      discharge abstracts. We estimated the annual incidence rate of ICU admission in
      the RA population according to health care utilisation using generalised linear
      models, adjusting for age, sex, comorbidity, region and socioeconomic status. We
      compared health care utilisation post-ICU admission in persons with and without
      RA. RESULTS: From 2000/01 through 2009/10, the average annual incidence of ICU
      admission was 1.26% in the RA population. Corticosteroid use was associated with
      an increased incidence of ICU admission (IRR 1.07; 95%CI: 1.05, 1.09). Use of
      disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and biologics was not associated with an
      increased incidence of ICU admission. In the year following ICU admission, 45.3%
      of the RA population was re-hospitalised, and 8.9% were readmitted to the ICU.
      CONCLUSIONS: Persons with RA who are admitted to the ICU have higher rates of
      health care utilisation in the year before ICU admission than those who are not
      admitted. Corticosteroid use is associated with an increased risk of ICU
      admission even after accounting for other health care utilisation.

PMID- 28598780
TI  - The liver in familial Mediterranean fever: is it involved?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is characterised by recurrent
      attacks of fever and serositis. It may affect the peritoneum, pleura, synovia and
      the skin. Usually the liver is intact in FMF. Recently, this concept was
      challenged by some groups which claimed that hepatitis is a feature of FMF and
      that non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD) and cryptogenic cirrhosis are more
      common among FMF patients. Scope of this paper is to critically review the
      relevant literature and to answer the question whether or not the liver is
      involved in FMF. METHODS: We used Medline, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science
      database for searching articles dealing with FMF and the liver since 1960. We
      also reviewed some manuscripts which were not identified by the above searching
      engines. RESULTS: Some cases reported that hepatitis is a feature of FMF based
      upon transaminase elevations without liver biopsy. Due to this questionable
      diagnosis and the paucity of similar reports, it seems that hepatitis is not a
      feature of FMF. Cryptogenic cirrhosis is considered as the end stage of NAFLD.
      Since NAFLD is prevalent in 25% of the general population it is more plausible to
      relate the occurrence of cryptogenic cirrhosis in FMF patients to NAFLD rather
      than to FMF. M694V mutation carriage was relatively more frequent among FMF
      patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis or "hepatitis". CONCLUSIONS: The literature
      review indicates that FMF and liver disease are not generally associated.
      However, carriage of M694V mutations may play a role in the pathogenesis of liver
      disease.

PMID- 28598782
TI  - Serum thyroxine levels are associated with increased systolic pulmonary arterial
      pressure in systemic sclerosis.

PMID- 28598783
TI  - Anti-homocitrullinated protein antibody isotype usage in rheumatoid arthritis and
      their unaffected first-degree relatives.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The majority of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients express anti
      citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). Unaffected first-degree relatives of RA
      patients (FDR) also express ACPA, commonly of the IgA isotype. IgG anti
      homocitrullinated/carbamylated protein antibodies (AHCPA) have been detected in
      both RA and FDR. It is unknown whether other isotypes are expressed. We aim to
      investigate the AHCPA isotype profile in unaffected FDR of RA patients. METHODS:
      The enrolled subjects were examined by a rheumatologist. FDR and healthy controls
      (HC) were excluded if they had swollen joints. Serum AHCPA targeting
      homocitrullinated fibrinogen was determined using enzyme linked immunoabsorbant
      assay (ELISA). FDR were genotyped for HLA-DR4 alleles encoding the shared epitope
      (SE). RESULTS: 125 RA (35 probands), 61 FDR and 40 HC were included. 20% of FDR
      expressed IgG AHCPA, compared to 30% in RA patients and 5% in HC (p=0.0010 for RA
      vs. HC). Levels of IgG AHCPA in FDR were similar to RA. FDR rarely expressed IgM
      (8%) and did not express IgA AHCPA. 20% of RA and 13% of HC subjects expressed
      IgM, but very few expressed IgA AHCPA (<7% in both groups). AHCPA expression in
      FDR was not significantly associated with joint symptoms, smoking or SE.
      CONCLUSIONS: IgG AHCPA is the most commonly expressed isotype in RA and FDR. The
      significance of IgG AHCPA in FDR is unclear as it was not associated with joint
      symptoms or other risk factors for RA. Longitudinal studies are needed to
      determine whether AHCPA is meaningful in populations at risk for RA.

PMID- 28598784
TI  - A pilot study using high-frequency ultrasound to measure digital ulcers: a
      possible outcome measure in systemic sclerosis clinical trials?

PMID- 28598785
TI  - Pain modulation in patients with fibromyalgia undergoing acupuncture treatment is
      associated with fluctuations in serum neuropeptide Y levels.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a neurotransmitter released by sympathetic
      neurons, which is probably involved in pain modulation. Acupuncture is
      increasingly used as an alternative or complementary means of controlling pain in
      rheumatic diseases such as fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic widespread pain syndrome
      accompanied by allodynia and hyperalgesia. The aim of the present study was to
      assess the effects of an acupuncture cycle on serum NPY levels in patients with
      FM, and identify possible correlations between its serum levels and clinical and
      clinimetric parameters. METHODS: The study involved 30 FM patients who underwent
      clinical and clinimetric evaluations and blood sampling at baseline and at the
      end of the treatment, and 20 healthy subjects who underwent blood sampling.
      RESULTS: The baseline serum NPY levels of the patients were higher than those of
      the controls. They had significantly increased by the end of the treatment, when
      there was also a statistically significant reduction in pain, the number of
      tender points number, and the clinimetric scores. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      confirm the analgesic properties of acupuncture as a complementary treatment in
      FM, and indicate that NPY could play a role in pain modulation.

PMID- 28598786
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for liver fibrosis detected by transient elastography
      or shear wave elastography in inflammatory arthritis: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Emerging technologies for monitoring subclinical liver fibrosis
      include transient elastography (TE) and shear wave elastography (SWE). A
      systematic review was conducted to assess the prevalence and report on predictors
      of liver fibrosis as detected by these technologies in inflammatory arthritis
      (IA) patients, including rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis and juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched
      from inception to 06/27/2016 using search terms for IA or DMARDs and TE/SWE.
      Studies reporting on prevalence and/or risk factors for liver fibrosis as
      detected by TE/SWE were included. A meta-analysis was not conducted due to study
      heterogeneity. RESULTS: Seven cross-sectional and three case-control studies were
      included. The cut-off values to define liver fibrosis ranged from 5.3-8.6 kPa.
      The prevalence of liver fibrosis in RA detected by TE/SWE ranged from 3-23%, with
      higher prevalence found in studies using a 5.3kPa cut-off. In two studies
      fibrosis was reported in 16-17% of PsA patients with no JIA studies identified.
      Obesity was the most consistently reported independent predictor of fibrosis in
      three studies. Liver function tests (LFTs) were found to independently predict
      increased liver stiffness in one study, while cumulative dose of either
      methotrexate or leflunomide were predictors in two studies. CONCLUSIONS:
      Methotrexate or leflunomide cumulative dose was not consistently reported as an
      independent predictor of liver fibrosis; whereas, obesity was more consistently
      identified. Of note, LFTs did not consistently predict elevated TE/SWE measures.
      Further studies are needed to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of liver
      fibrosis and to explore the utility of using TE/SWE in IA patients.

PMID- 28598787
TI  - Severe adverse drug reactions to biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic
      drugs in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Biological DMARDs are widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA) but their relationship with adverse drug reaction (ADR) is
      important. RA is now known to increase in incidence and prevalence with age. Our
      objective was to assess the incidence of severe ADR in the long term, compare
      safety between the different bDMARDs and identify other possible risk factors for
      severe ADR in elderly RA patients. METHODS: A 14-year retrospective longitudinal
      study was performed. RA patients followed in an out-patient clinic starting
      bDMARDs after the age of 65 were included. PRIMARY OUTCOME: discontinuation due
      to a severe ADR related to bDMARDs (etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab,
      rituximab, golimumab, certolizumab, abatacept and tocilizumab). Covariables:
      sociodemographic, clinical and therapy. Incidence rates of discontinuation were
      estimated using survival techniques and comparison between bDMARDs
      discontinuation rates and other associated factors were run by Cox regression
      models. RESULTS: We analysed 286 courses of bDMARDs therapy in 146 elderly
      patients (604 patient-years). 78% were women, with a mean age at diagnosis of
      66.5+/-7 years, and a median time to the start of the first bDMARDs of 6+/-4
      years. The incidence of discontinuation due to severe ADR estimated was 10.2%
      patient-years, with a median survival of around 7 years. The most frequent cause
      was infections. Etanercept had the lowest risk of severe ADR compared to other
      bDMARDs. CONCLUSIONS: Our study reflects the 'real world' experience in elderly
      RA patients on bDMARDs, with non-selected patients for a 14-year follow-up.

PMID- 28598788
TI  - CROI 2017: Basic Science Review.
AB  - The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) continues to
      be the preeminent gathering for HIV/AIDS researchers. It provides a forum in
      which investigators involved in all aspects of research on HIV/AIDS and related
      conditions can present and be updated on the latest scientific developments in
      the field. In 2017, basic research continued to be strongly represented at the
      conference. Most of the presentations focused on mechanisms of viral persistence
      in the face of effective antiretroviral therapy as well as approaches to
      measuring viral reservoirs and intervening in those reservoirs. The intermix of
      basic and clinical research presentations provided a dynamic forum for the
      sharing of knowledge that is crucial to moving the field forward.

PMID- 28598789
TI  - CROI 2017: HIV Epidemic Trends and Advances in Prevention.
AB  - At the 2017 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI),
      trends in the HIV epidemic were highlighted, with decreasing HIV incidence
      reported across several countries, although key groups remain underdiagnosed and
      undertreated. In the United States, men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to
      comprise the largest number of new and undiagnosed HIV infections, with rising
      incidence in MSM 25 to 34 years old and Latino MSM. Phylogenetics are being used
      to identify rapidly growing HIV transmission clusters, which can inform
      prevention efforts. HIV testing is a crucial first step for accessing HIV
      prevention and treatment, and several innovative strategies to increase HIV
      testing show promise. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been on the
      rise but predate widespread use of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP); enhanced
      STI screening and treatment coupled with PrEP could substantially reduce STI
      incidence in the United States. Several studies indicate increasing PrEP
      awareness and use, although disparities exist in vulnerable populations. PrEP
      persistence remains a challenge, and practitioner adherence to prescribing
      guidelines is suboptimal. Novel PrEP delivery models are being developed to
      increase PrEP knowledge, access, and support.

PMID- 28598790
TI  - CROI 2017: Advances in Antiretroviral Therapy.
AB  - The 2017 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) featured
      exciting preclinical data on investigational antiretroviral agents with good in
      vitro efficacy and long half-lives. Investigational medications, including
      bictegravir, demonstrated excellent efficacy and tolerability, as did dual-agent
      therapy with dolutegravir paired with rilpivirine or with lamivudine.
      Dolutegravir monotherapy proved inadvisable due to virologic failure and
      resistance. The gap between high- and low-income settings along the HIV care
      continuum is narrowing, with Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia approaching the 90-90
      90 targets established by the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
      (UNAIDS), whereas communities in the Southern United States are falling behind.
      Innovative strategies to improve outcomes include 2-way text messaging, home
      based HIV testing, peer navigation, and New York City's realignment of services
      into comprehensive sexual health programs. A high prevalence of resistance was
      documented in low- and middle-income settings and policy considerations were
      modeled to address increasing resistance rates. Novel resistance mutations to
      integrase strand transfer inhibitors and nucleoside analogue reserve
      transcriptase inhibitors were identified, but the clinical implications are
      unclear and require further investigation. Several studies provided insights on
      dosing and safety of antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child
      transmission through pharmacokinetic analysis. A special session devoted to Zika
      virus included a study of its effects on the central nervous system and a
      promising animal study of a Zika vaccine.

PMID- 28598791
TI  - CROI 2017: Neurologic Complications of HIV Infection.
AB  - The brain is a major target for HIV infection and is a potential viral reservoir
      even in virologically well-controlled HIV-infected individuals. Data presented at
      the 2017 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) suggested
      that during early HIV infection, CD4+ T cells in the meninges and choroid plexus
      serve as an important early site of HIV infection in the central nervous system
      (CNS), with brain macrophages and microglial cells becoming an important source
      of viral replication with advancing disease. Longitudinal evaluations of HIV
      associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) demonstrated that cognitive changes
      occur during early HIV infection and may remain during chronic infection despite
      virologic control by antiretroviral therapy. Cerebrospinal fluid escape during
      treatment was noted in numerous cohorts and pathogenetically evaluated as a state
      of persistent CNS HIV infection despite antiretroviral therapy. Non-HIV risk
      factors identified for cognitive impairment were depression and frailty.
      Questions remain concerning appropriate cognitive screening tests to evaluate for
      HAND. Additional studies highlighted the increasing role of neuroimaging to
      longitudinally assess potential changes in brain integrity in individuals on
      systemically suppressive therapy, and provided new CNS considerations in
      antiretroviral regimens.

PMID- 28598792
TI  - CROI 2017: Complications and Comorbidities of HIV Disease and Its Treatment.
AB  - Complications of HIV disease remained a major focus at the 2017 Conference on
      Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), and included studies focused on
      noncommunicable chronic diseases (eg, cardiovascular disease, obesity, bone
      disease, and malignancies) and opportunistic infections (Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis and cryptococcosis). Progress in identifying predictors of specific
      complications as well as interventions for the prevention and treatment of these
      comorbidities are summarized below.

PMID- 28598793
TI  - CROI 2017: Highlights of Advances in Viral Hepatitis and Liver Fibrosis.
AB  - At the 2017 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in
      Seattle, Washington, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was a major focus in the
      context of HIV-associated liver disease. Well-tolerated direct-acting antiviral
      (DAA) regimens have enabled effective treatment of the populations that are
      hardest to cure, including those with decompensated cirrhosis, and many studies
      examined the impact of HCV cure on hepatitis and extrahepatic outcomes. Scaling
      up access to DAA, and the impact that their universal availability can have on
      reducing prevalence were key topics. There was much discussion of what is needed
      to eliminate HCV on local and global levels and a focus on ensuring that the
      populations hardest to reach can access treatment. Prevention of new infections
      and reinfection will be key to sustaining the benefits of scaled-up HCV
      treatment, with particular attention to populations at elevated risk for HCV
      reinfection, including HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) as well as
      some HIV-uninfected MSM on preexposure prophylaxis. In the hepatitis B virus
      (HBV) arena, a landmark phase III trial demonstrated that tenofovir disoproxil
      fumarate given to HBV-infected pregnant women at week 28 of gestation, in
      combination with postpartum HBV vaccination and hepatitis B immunoglobulin,
      resulted in zero mother-to-child transmissions of HBV.

PMID- 28598794
TI  - Falsely elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone value due to anti-ruthenium
      antibodies in a patient with primary hypothyroidism: a case report.

PMID- 28598796
TI  - Exploring maternal attitudes towards adolescent contraception: implications for
      use of LARC.
AB  - Introduction Maternal attitudes have been shown to impact adolescent girls'
      sexual decision making and attitudes towards contraception. Given the potential
      for maternal influence on adolescent contraceptive use, we undertook an
      exploratory study of mothers' perceptions of the maternal role in adolescent
      contraceptive decision making, and maternal perceptions of long acting reversible
      contraceptives (LARC) for adolescent girls. Materials and methods We utilized a
      mixed methods study design. Acceptability of contraceptive methods and attitudes
      towards adolescent contraceptive use were assessed using a paper survey of 162
      mothers of girls aged 11-19 years in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Seven survey
      participants completed subsequent semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed
      using grounded theory methodology. Results Pills, condoms and injections were
      most frequently selected as acceptable by 55.4%, 55.4%, and 51.6% of women,
      respectively. One or more LARC methods were selected by 16.6% of the women. Of
      those (94.4%) agreed or strongly agreed that, "It is expected of me to make sure
      that my daughter knows about birth control methods." Important themes that
      emerged during interviews were the responsibility mothers felt to help their
      daughters navigate contraception options, appreciation of the effectiveness of
      LARC methods and concerns about the use of those methods by teenagers due to the
      invasiveness. Conclusion Our data suggest that mothers want to be involved and
      support adolescent decision making about contraceptives. We also found that
      mothers viewed LARC as less acceptable than other forms of birth control for
      adolescents and have specific concerns about LARC. These results suggest
      directions for future work to better characterize the impact of maternal
      attitudes on adolescent LARC use.

PMID- 28598795
TI  - Determination of reference intervals for urinary steroid profiling using a newly
      validated GC-MS/MS method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urinary steroid profiling (USP) is a powerful diagnostic tool to
      asses disorders of steroidogenesis. Pre-analytical factors such as age, sex and
      use of oral contraceptive pills (OCP) may affect steroid hormone synthesis and
      metabolism. In general, USP reference intervals are not adjusted for these
      variables. In this study we aimed to establish such reference intervals using a
      newly-developed and validated gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry
      detection method (GC-MS/MS). METHODS: Two hundred and forty healthy subjects aged
      20-79 years, stratified into six consecutive decade groups each containing 20
      males and 20 females, were included. None of the subjects used medications. In
      addition, 40 women aged 20-39 years using OCP were selected. A GC-MS/MS assay,
      using hydrolysis, solid phase extraction and double derivatization, was
      extensively validated and applied for determining USP reference intervals.
      RESULTS: Androgen metabolite excretion declined with age in both men and women.
      Cortisol metabolite excretion remained constant during life in both sexes but
      increased in women 70-79 years of age. Progesterone metabolite excretion peaked
      in 30-39-year-old women and declined afterwards. Women using OCP had lower
      excretions of androgen metabolites, progesterone metabolites and cortisol
      metabolites. Method validation results met prerequisites and revealed the
      robustness of the GC-MS/MS method. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a new GC-MS/MS
      method for USP which is applicable for high throughput analysis. Widely
      applicable age and sex specific reference intervals for 33 metabolites and their
      diagnostic ratios have been defined. In addition to age and gender, USP reference
      intervals should be adjusted for OCP use.

PMID- 28598797
TI  - Physical fitness and obesity levels during an academic year followed by summer
      holidays: an issue of insufficient time for physical activity.
AB  - Today, available time for physical activity has been continuously decreasing,
      whilst, school-time physical education (PE) classes appear to be the only real
      option for many adolescents to engage in physical activity and exercise. The aim
      of the present study was to investigate fitness and health related parameters
      over one academic year, and after the summer holidays for adolescents who do not
      engage in out-of-school physical activities. Participants were 153 students (age:
      15-17 years; boys n = 86) who exercised only during PE (2 * 45-min periods per
      week). Body fat, flexibility, handgrip strength, squat jump, 30 m sprint and
      cardiorespiratory fitness were examined at the beginning and end of a school
      year, and after the ensuing summer holidays. The boys improved handgrip and
      flexibility, but no other significant improvement was observed over the school
      year in any of the examined physical fitness parameters, or obesity indices.
      Instead, the girls' cardiorespiratory fitness decreased over the summer holidays.
      It seems that exercising only twice a week during school PE classes is
      insufficient to induce significant improvements in physical fitness, body
      composition and health parameters.

PMID- 28598798
TI  - Level of Internet use among Greek adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
AB  - Background Compulsive Internet use has emerged as a contemporary addictive
      behavior. Our aim was to investigate the reasons for Greek adolescents with type
      1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and their families to use the Internet and
      additionally to investigate the level of Internet use and its associations to
      demographic, socio-economic parameters and glycemic control. Methods Patients
      with T1DM, aged >12 years and their parents were recruited during their regular
      visits to the Pediatric Diabetes Clinic. A similar group of healthy children, age
      and sex-matched served as a control group. All participants were asked to fill
      out the Greek translated version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Caregivers
      of patients with T1DM were asked to complete a second questionnaire consisting of
      questions regarding demographic and socio-economic data of the family and data
      concerning disease management. Results Thirty-five patients with T1DM (mean
      decimal age of 14.95 +/- 1.90 years) and 35 controls participated in the study.
      Nine patients were on an insulin pump whereas the rest were on multiple daily
      injections. The mean total score of the patients' IAT questionnaires was
      significantly lower compared to the controls (26.26 +/- 12.67 vs. 39.91 +/-
      18.55, p = 0.003). Controls were characterized as exhibiting moderate addictive
      behavior at a significantly higher percentage than patients (31.43% vs. 2.86%, p
      = 0.002). All patients on insulin pumps demonstrated normal Internet use. Mild
      addictive behavior was associated with a lower parental educational level.
      Finally, level of Internet use (IAT score) was positively associated to glycemic
      control (HbA1c value) with a correlation that was approaching significance (r =
      0.315, p = 0.065). Conclusions Adolescents with T1DM and especially those on an
      insulin pump exhibit normal Internet use compared to their healthy peers. Time
      consumed on Internet correlates reversibly with glycemic control.

PMID- 28598799
TI  - Clinical outcomes of an inpatient pediatric obesity treatment program in the USA.
AB  - Background When treating recalcitrant and severe childhood obesity,
      pharmaceutical options are limited and few patients qualify for bariatric
      surgery. A prolonged inpatient program serves as an alternative treatment. The
      purpose of this project was to describe the development of a medically supervised
      inpatient weight management program and evaluate its effectiveness. Methods This
      is a retrospective chart review of 18 patients [4-18 years, mean body mass index
      (BMI) 50.2 kg/m2] admitted to an inpatient pediatric weight management program
      from October 2011 through December 31, 2012 to evaluate the biometric,
      laboratory, sleep and behavioral changes that occurred from admission to
      discharge from the program. Results Average weight loss was 15% (6.9%-21.5%, p =
      0.0001), the decrease in BMI was 15.1% (1.61-21.57, p = 0.0001), systolic blood
      pressure and diastolic blood pressure decreased by 7.2% (p = 0.003) and 10.3% (p
      = 0.040), respectively. The reduction in heart rate was 15% (p = 0.013). Upon
      admission, nine patients had obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), of which
      one was treated with tonsillectomy and six were not compliant with home positive
      airway pressure (PAP) therapy. At discharge, three patients no longer required
      PAP and five required decreased PAP settings. Upon admission, seven patients met
      the criteria for an internalizing disorder. At discharge, symptom reduction was
      noted. Conclusion An intensive pediatric inpatient weight management program
      leads to successful weight loss, improvement in hemodynamic parameters, reduction
      in OSA treatment requirements and symptom improvement in anxiety and depressive
      disorders in obese children.

PMID- 28598800
TI  - Associations among daytime sleepiness, depression and suicidal ideation in Korean
      adolescents.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine the effects of daytime sleepiness on
      depression and suicidal ideation in adolescent high-school students. A survey of
      538 high school students aged 16-17 years attending two academic schools was
      conducted. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Beck Depression Inventory and
      the Scale for Suicide Ideation were used to assess subjects' daytime sleepiness,
      depression and suicidal ideation. The mean score for daytime sleepiness was 8.52,
      which indicates a sleep deficit. Significant positive correlations were found
      between daytime sleepiness and depression, between daytime sleepiness and
      suicidal ideation and between depression and suicidal ideation. Gender and
      depression were significant predictors of suicidal ideation, accounting for 48%
      of the variance in this measure. Depression acts as a mediator of the
      relationship between daytime sleepiness and suicidal ideation. High school
      students in Korea generally have insufficient sleep time and feel sleepy during
      the day; insufficient sleep during adolescence may be associated with depression
      and suicidal ideation.

PMID- 28598801
TI  - Improving adolescent access and services in a large primary care network: report
      of a 10 year project.
AB  - This report describes a decade long initiative to bring a unified approach and
      improved quality to the process and content of adolescent health care in a large
      and complex urban primary care network within an academic health system. The
      moving force was a voluntary multidisciplinary group who comprised the Montefiore
      Adolescent Primary Care Initiative, known as MAPCI, led by a physician
      subspecialist in Adolescent Medicine. A series of needs assessments formed the
      basis for a multipronged effort to create policies and procedures, educational
      activities and materials, changes in record-keeping and billing practices, and
      modification of staff attitudes and behavior that would enhance access and ensure
      confidentiality of services for the adolescent age group. The commitment of
      medical center leadership contributed to overall progress which was accelerated
      in the second half of the decade by the addition of a full-time staff member,
      with the title Adolescent Program Manager. Progress in various arenas was
      assessed with a series of planned studies, whose positive results provided
      encouragement for continuing efforts. The example of this initiative and its
      accomplishments should provide useful and replicable methods that could be
      adapted for improvement of adolescent health services in some of the other large
      primary care networks that are an ever-expanding presence in the current health
      care environment.

PMID- 28598802
TI  - Factors contributing to intentional injuries in Iranian university students.
AB  - Background Intentional injuries refer to injuries resulting from purposeful human
      action, whether directed at oneself or others. This study was performed to assess
      intentional injuries in Iranian university students. Methods This cross-sectional
      study was carried out with 430 female and male university in three higher
      education institutions located in the northern part of Iran in the year 2015.
      Samples were chosen through the stratified cluster random sampling method. They
      were requested to fill out the demographic data form and the Persian version of
      the Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential
      statistics were used for data analysis via the SPSS v.13 software. Findings
      Intentional injuries were more frequent in the male university students than
      female (p < 0.05). Also, 9.1% and 6.7% of the university students were physically
      injured or sexually assaulted by a boy/girl friend. No statistically significant
      difference was reported in dating violence between the male and female university
      students. The logistic regression test showed that the history of stealing money
      from parents without their permission, son's preferences in the family and gender
      are the most important predisposing factors for the university students'
      intentional injury. Conclusion It is suggested that health policy makers consider
      the role of family in programs that have been designed for improving the health
      of young people.

PMID- 28598804
TI  - Pubertal gynecomastia: years of progress - the Hacettepe experience.
AB  - Gynecomastia is defined as an enlargement of the male breast. Although it is
      commonly seen during puberty, it is often overlooked by many physicians. As
      adolescent medicine specialists, we believe there is a gap in the literature
      concerning both the etiology and maybe more importantly the care of these
      adolescents. Thus, we have been dedicated to conducting research on this topic.
      The aim of this review article was to evaluate the studies concerning pubertal
      gynecomastia that took place at the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Hacettepe
      University, published between the years 2003 and 2016. The review covers in
      detail both the short- and long-term effectivity and safety of tamoxifen used for
      the treatment of pubertal gynecomastia. As the exact basis for the pathogenesis
      of gynecomastia remains unknown, we also evaluate three studies that aimed to
      answer this question. We additionally review a study that aimed to assess the
      psychological distress and effect on body image that gynecomastia may have on the
      adolescent male. An important contribution this review article adds to the
      literature is as a conclusion to all the studies performed, we present the
      'Hacettepe indications for tamoxifen treatment for pubertal gynecomastia'. These
      indications will aid physicians when considering treating these patients.

PMID- 28598803
TI  - Bicycle and helmet use of adolescents in Markham, Canada.
AB  - Bicycle crashes are the second most common sports- or recreation-associated cause
      of serious injury. While the literature suggests that wearing protective helmets
      can significantly decrease risks associated with bicycle-related injuries,
      overall helmet use remains sub-optimal. A recent study by Chow et al. suggested
      that helmet-wearing rates in adolescent boys are negatively correlated with age.
      The aim of this study was to determine if similar trends are observed in a co
      educational high school setting. A questionnaire was circulated at Unionville
      High School, a co-ed public high school in Markham, Canada. Of the 144
      participants, 27 of them were in Grade 9 or 10, and 117 of them were in Grade 11
      or 12. While there was no statistical difference between helmet-wearing rates in
      Grade 9-10 and Grade 11-12 students, overall usage rates were low (41% and 38%,
      respectively, for recreational cyclists). This trend is interesting, considering
      that nearly 90% of all students were aware that wearing a helmet while cycling is
      required under Ontario law. Further studies should be conducted among the young
      adult population to determine whether the alarming trends discovered by this
      study and Chow et al. continue.

PMID- 28598805
TI  - Meningococcal disease awareness and meningoccocal vaccination among Greek
      students planning to travel abroad.
AB  - Objective Students living in dormitories are at increased risk for meningococcal
      disease. Our aim was to evaluate Greek students planning to study abroad about
      their level of meningococcal disease awareness and attitudes and practices
      towards meningococcal vaccination. Methods We studied 231 Greek ERASMUS students
      using a questionnaire. Results Students had a mean number of 4.1 correct answers
      out of six questions. In particular 66.5% 79.3%, 72.3% and 82.3% of them answered
      correctly about the etiology, transmission, epidemiology and treatment of
      meningococcal disease, respectively. Only 23.4% were vaccinated, whereas 14.7%
      were planning to do so in the near future. Students who answered correctly >=5
      questions were more likely to be male, vaccinated against meningococcal
      meningitis and science students. Conclusion We found an overall good level of
      knowledge about meningococcal disease among Greek students planning to study or
      already studying abroad. Knowledge about meningococcal disease was associated
      with vaccine uptake. However, vaccination rate against meningococcal disease was
      low.

PMID- 28598806
TI  - Parent educators for teenage smoking behavior.
AB  - Background Several studies have shown that there is a significant relationship
      between teenagers and parental smoking behavior. This study was to empower parent
      (smokers and non-smokers) to raise parents' concern, to describe teenagers'
      knowledge about smoking and its dangers, to reduce the status of teenage smoking
      behavior, and to decrease the number of cigarettes smoked/day. Methods This was a
      quasi-experimental study, with a pretest-posttest group design. The respondents
      were 649 students from the 8th grade in junior high schools from three provinces
      in Indonesia divided into two intervention groups and one control group. The
      dependent variable was the implementation of parent educators (smokers and non
      smokers) who were trained about smoking and its dangers. Data were analyzed by
      analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Kruskal-Wallis test, with a significant
      level of 0.05. Results The results showed that the smoking parent educator model
      increased the frequency of parent concern significantly and improved knowledge
      about the dangers of smoking insignificantly; whereas the non-smoker parent
      educator model decreased the number of respondents' frequent smoking status
      insignificantly and reduced the number of cigarettes smoked /day by the frequent
      smoker respondents significantly. Conclusion The parent educator model can be
      used for preventing teenage smoking behavior.

PMID- 28598807
TI  - Renal lymphangiectasia treated with percutaneous drainage and sclerotherapy.
AB  - Renal lymphangiectasia is a rare benign condition of the lymphatic system.
      Primarily, the diagnosis is based upon characteristic imaging findings along with
      biochemical analysis of aspirated fluid. No definitive algorithm exists for
      treating this condition owing to its rarity. The literature describes various
      modes of management ranging from conservative management to nephrectomies. We
      present a case of bilateral renal lymphangiectasia managed with percutaneous
      drainage along with sclerotherapy. Our initial findings show a favorable outcome
      with this approach.

PMID- 28598814
TI  - MiR210 in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

PMID- 28598824
TI  - Correction: The marrow niche controls the cancer stem cell phenotype of
      disseminated prostate cancer.

PMID- 28598825
TI  - Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) variants and risk of breast
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the second
      leading cause of cancer death in females. Despite numerous studies in this field,
      the etiology and clinical behavior of breast tumors have not been understood yet.
      Retinoid orphan nuclear receptor alpha (RORA) is a member of the orphan nuclear
      factor family involved in the regulation of lipid and steroid metabolism, immune
      response and circadian rhythms. Recent evidences support its role as a tumor
      suppressor gene. OBJECTIVES: To find the associations between RORA polymorphisms
      and breast cancer. METHODS: In the present study, we evaluated the association
      between two functional polymorphisms in RORA (rs11639084 and rs4774388) and
      breast cancer risk in a population of 122 Iranian breast cancer patients as well
      as 200 healthy subjects by means of tetra primer-amplification refractory
      mutation system-PCR (4P-ARMS-PCR) method. RESULTS: The rs4774388 has been shown
      to be associated with breast cancer risk in recessive inheritance model (OR (95%
      CI ) = 0.51 (0.26-0.97) and P = 0.041). However, the allele and genotype
      frequencies of rs11639084 were not different in patients and control (P > 0.05).
      Haplotype analysis revealed no significant association of any estimated block of
      rs11639084/rs4774388 in breast cancer patients versus healthy controls.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support a putative role for RORA in breast
      cancer pathogenesis.

PMID- 28598826
TI  - The evaluation of the effect of metformin on breast fibrocystic disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibrocystic changes (FCC) is the most common benign breast disease.
      The main pathophysiologic mechanism of FCC, excessive cell proliferation in
      response to monthly estrogen and progesterone changes. Regarding to
      antiproliferative of metformin, the aim of this study is the evaluation of the
      effect of metformin on FCC in women who were referred to gynecology clinics of
      ArakMETHODS:This study is a double blind placebo control randomized clinical
      trial. At the first among women who were referred to gynecology of Arak, 186
      women with FCC between 18-40 years were selected. The women were randomly
      classified into three groups. The first group took metformin and the second group
      as placebo group took vitamin E and the third group did not take any drug during
      six months. All groups were compared in clinical symptoms based on visual
      analogue scale (VAS) and the sonographic data also were recorded and compared.
      Data analysis was performed by unilateral variance, student t and Chi-square.
      RESULTS: The three groups were not different in aspect of mean of the cysts
      number, cyst size, tenderness and discharge from breast before the intervention,
      but after the intervention, there was a significant decrease in metformin group
      (p value < 0.001) based on variance analysis test. There was not a meaningful
      difference of pain and the location of cysts between the groups after the
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that metformin is effective
      in treatment of FCC and decreasing of clinical symptoms and imaging items.

PMID- 28598827
TI  - Expression analysis of long non-coding ATB and its putative target in breast
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) activated by transforming growth factor
      (TGF)-beta (lncRNA-ATB) has been recently shown to promote the invasion
      metastasis cascade in various types of cancers via upregulation of some targets
      including ZEB1. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to elucidate the
      expression of lncRNA-ATB and ZEB in breast cancer patients. METHODS: The
      expression of these genes was evaluated by real-time reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction in tumor samples form 50 newly diagnosed breast cancer
      patients as well as their corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCTs).
      Patients were divided into subsequent groups according to the median lncRNA-ATB
      expression. RESULTS: LncRNA-ATB has been shown to be downregulated in about two
      third of tumor samples compared with their ANCTs.A significant association has
      been found between ZEB1 expression and Ki-67 status. In addition, we demonstrated
      a correlation between expression of lncRNA-ATB and ZEB1 in tumor samples and not
      in ANCTs. CONCLUSION: Collectively, out data show downregulation of lncRNA-ATB in
      a significant number of breast tumor tissues compared with ANCTs and imply that
      lncRNA-ATB might have distinct roles in the pathogenesis of different cancers or
      even different subtypes of a certain cancer which should be evaluated in future
      studies.

PMID- 28598828
TI  - Gigantomastia due to retromammary lipoma: An aesthetic management.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A "giant" lipoma is defined as a tumor having dimensions greater
      than 10 cm. Giant lipomas are rare and giant breast lipomas are exceptionally
      uncommon. Only six cases have been described in world literature till date.
      Herein we describe a case of giant breast lipoma and discuss its surgical
      management. CASE REPORT: A 43-year-old lady presented with left sided unilateral
      gigantomastia. Clinical examination, radiology and histopathology diagnosed
      lipoma. Excision of the tumor was planned, together with correction of the breast
      deformity by reduction mammoplasty using McKissok technique. A tumor measuring 19
      cm * 16 cm * 10 cm and weighing 1647 grams was removed. The nipple areola complex
      was set by infolding of the vertical pedicles and the lateral and medial flaps
      were approximated to create the final breast contour. The patient is doing well
      on follow up. DISCUSSION: Giant lipomas are rare and of them, giant breast
      lipomas are extremely uncommon. They can grow to immense proportions and cause
      significant aesthetic and functional problems. The treatment is excision. But
      reconstruction of the breast is almost always necessary to achieve a symmetric
      breast in terms of volume, shape, projection and nipple areola complex symmetry
      compared to the normal opposite breast. Few authors have used various mammoplasty
      techniques for reconstruction of the breast after giant lipoma excision. Our case
      has the following unique features: (i) It is the third largest breast lipoma
      described in the literature till date, weighing 1647 grams; (ii) The Mckissock
      technique has been used for parenchymal reshaping which has not been previously
      described for giant breast lipoma. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates that
      reduction mammoplasty after giant lipoma removal is highly rewarding, resulting
      in a smaller-sized breast that is aesthetically more pleasing, has better
      symmetry with the contralateral breast, and provides relief from functional mass
      deficit.

PMID- 28598829
TI  - Impaired expression of Drosha in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Impaired miRNAs processing pathway is one interesting scenario for
      global downregulation of the miRNAome in various types of malignancy. We
      previously reported that DGCR8 and Dicer genes dysregulated in patients with
      breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression pattern of Drosha in
      patients with breast cancer. METHODS: We evaluated the mRNA expression level of
      Drosha in 70 fresh breast carcinomas and adjacent non-neoplastic tissue using
      quantitative real-time PCR and assessed the possible correlation between its
      expression and clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Our results revealed that
      mRNA expression level of Drosha was decreased in tumors when compared to adjacent
      non-neoplastic tissue. However, this difference is not statistically significant
      (P > 0.05). Downregulation of Drosha is related to older age at diagnosis, higher
      histological grade, higher tumor size and metastasis. However, there was no
      significant correlation between Drosha expression level and clinicopathological
      parameters (P > 0.05). We found that Drosha expression negatively correlated with
      DGCR8 (P = 0.043), whereas dysregulated expression levels of Drosha and Dicer are
      positively correlated with to each other (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This study
      provides evidence that the expression of Drosha is impaired in breast cancer.
      However, the molecular basis of observed expression pattern have remained
      inexplicable and should be further investigated.

PMID- 28598830
TI  - Tetrahydrobiopterin improves microcirculation in experimental sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), an endogenous nucleic acid derivative,
      acts as an important cofactor for several enzymes found within the vascular
      endothelium, which is deranged in sepsis. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that BH4
      would improve capillary density and decrease inflammation within the intestinal
      microcirculation of septic rats. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, controlled
      trial using two previously validated models of sepsis in rats: 1) A fecal
      peritonitis model using a stent perforating the ascending colon, and 2) An
      endotoxemia model using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) toxin from E. coli. Experimental
      groups receiving BH4 (60 mg/kg) were compared to otherwise healthy controls and
      to untreated groups with sepsis-like physiology. RESULTS: BH4 decreased leukocyte
      endothelial adhesion by 55% and 58% (P < 0.05) in the peritonitis model and
      endotoxemia models, respectively. In the endotoxemia model but not the
      peritonitis model, BH4 improved functional capillary density in capillary beds
      within the intestine (141.3 vs. 106.7 mm/cm2, p < 0.05). Macrohemodynamic
      parameters were no different between placebo treatment and BH4-treated groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that BH4 improves capillary density and
      inflammation in two separate models of sepsis. BH4 may represent a novel adjunct
      in the treatment of sepsis and septic shock in clinical practice. Further dose
      finding studies and clinical trials are warranted.

PMID- 28598832
TI  - Combination of conventional ultrasonography and virtual touch tissue imaging
      quantification for differential diagnosis of breast lesions smaller than 10 mm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of combining conventional ultrasonography with
      virtual touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) for differential diagnosis of
      breast lesions smaller than 10 mm. METHODS: A total of 98 breast lesions smaller
      than 10 mm were examined by conventional ultrasound and VTIQ using a Siemens
      ACUSON S3000 ultrasound machine. Pathologic diagnosis was established after
      surgery or fine needle biopsy. RESULTS: Malignant lesions were characterized by
      taller-than-wide shape, poorly circumscribed margin, and marked hypoechogenicity.
      The mean VTIQ shear wave velocity (SWV) value of malignant lesions was 4.88+/
      1.87 m/s (range, 1.75-9.34 m/s), significantly higher than that of benign lesions
      (2.68+/-1.02 m/s; range, 1.18-4.67 m/s). The optimal cutoff SWV value was 3.27
      m/s, with sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, positive predictive
      value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 86.20%, 95.65%, 92.86%,
      89.29%, and 94.29%, respectively. The combination of SWV >3.27 m/s plus the US
      feature of poorly circumscribed margin had the highest sensitivity (93.33%) and
      specificity (100%) for diagnosis of malignant breast lesions. CONCLUSION:
      Features such as taller-than-wide shape, poorly circumscribed margin, and marked
      hypoechogenicity on conventional US, and SWV >3.27 m/s on VTIQ, are indicators of
      malignancy in breast lesions with diameter <10 mm. The combination of poorly
      circumscribed margin and SWV >3.27 m/s provides the highest specificity and
      diagnostic accuracy.

PMID- 28598831
TI  - Rat red blood cell storage lesions in various additive solutions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small rodent models are routinely used to evaluate the safety and
      efficacy of blood transfusions. Limited comprehensive literature exists about
      effect of different storage solutions in rat red blood cells (RBCs)
      characteristics. RBCs undergo time dependent biochemical and biophysical changes
      during storage known as hypothermic storage lesions (HSLs). OBJECTIVE: This study
      evaluates the effects of RBC additive solutions (AS) during storage of rat RBCs.
      METHODS: Blood was leukoreduced and stored as per manufacturer instructions at 4
      degrees C up to 42-days. Three solutions, CPDA-1; AS-1; and AS-7 (SOLX), were
      evaluated. Biochemical parameters measured included extracellular K+, pH,
      hemolysis, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG), oxygen affinity, ATP, and lactate.
      Mechanical properties measured included RBC deformability, elongation index (EI),
      RBC membrane shear elastic modulus (SEM), mean corpuscular volume (MCV),
      viscosity, and aggregability. RESULTS: There were no differences in biochemical
      or mechanical parameters at baseline or after one week of storage. However, after
      two weeks, AS-7 preserved biochemical and mechanical properties as compared to
      CPDA-1 and AS-1. Changes were observed to be significant after 14-days of
      storage. AS-7 prevented extracellular K+ increase, reduced acidosis, showed lower
      hemolysis, preserved ATP and 2,3-DPG levels (consequently oxygen affinity), and
      reduced lactate. AS-7, when compared to CPDA-1 and AS-1, prevented the reduction
      in RBC deformability and was found to preserve the EI at multiple shear stresses,
      the membrane SEM, the aggregability and viscosity. DISCUSSION: Rat RBCs stored
      with AS-7 presented reduced changes in biochemical and mechanical parameters,
      when compared with rat RBCs stored in CPDA-1 and AS-1, after as early as two
      weeks of storage.

PMID- 28598833
TI  - Changes of red blood cell aggregation parameters in a long-term follow-up of
      splenectomy, spleen-autotransplantation and partial or subtotal spleen resections
      in a canine model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decrease or loss in splenic filtration function may influence the
      hemorheological state. OBJECTIVE: To follow-up the long-term effects of
      splenectomy, spleen autotransplantation and spleen resections on red blood cell
      aggregation in a canine model. METHODS: Beagle dogs were subjected to control (n
      = 6), splenectomy (SE, n = 4), spleen autotransplantation (AU, Furka's spleen
      chip method, n = 8) or partial and subtotal spleen resection (n = 4/each) groups,
      and followed-up for 18 postoperative (p.o.) months. Erythrocyte aggregation was
      determined in parallel by light-transmittance aggregometry (Myrenne MA-1
      aggregometer) and syllectometry (LoRRca). RESULTS: Erythrocyte aggregation
      decreased three months after splenectomy, with lower aggregation index and
      elongated aggregation time. It was more or less associated with relatively lower
      hematocrit and fibrinogen concentration. However, in autotransplantated animals a
      relatively higher fibrinogen did not increase the aggregation markedly. Spleen
      resection resulted in the most controversial red blood cell aggregation findings,
      and it seems, that the degree of the resection is an influencing factor.
      CONCLUSIONS: Splenectomy alters erythrocyte aggregation, spleen
      autotransplantation can be useful to preserve filtration function. However, the
      degree of restoration shows individual differences with a kind of 'functional
      periodicity'. Spleen resection controversially influences erythrocyte aggregation
      parameters. The subtotal resection is supposed to be worse than spleen
      autotransplantation.

PMID- 28598834
TI  - Do cell based tissue engineering products for meniscus regeneration influence
      vascularization?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Meniscus regeneration is observed within the peripheral, vascularized
      zone but decreases in the inner two thirds alongside the vascularization. Within
      this avascular area, cell-based tissue-engineering-approaches appear to be a
      promising strategy for the treatment of meniscal defects. OBJECTIVE: Evaluation
      of the angiogenic potential of cell-based tissue-engineering-products for
      meniscus healing. METHODS: Evaluation of angiogenesis induced by rabbit meniscus
      pellets, meniscus-cells (MC) or mesenchymal stem-cells (MSC) in cell-based tissue
      engineering-products within a rabbit meniscus-ring was performed using a
      transparent dorsal skin fold chamber in nude mice. Observations were undertaken
      during a 14 days period. Cell preconditioning differed between experimental
      groups. Immunohistochemical analysis of the regenerated tissue in the meniscus
      ring induced by cell loaded composite scaffolds for differentiation and anti
      angiogenic factors were performed. RESULTS: Meniscus-pellets and MSC-/MC-based
      tissue-engineering-products induced angiogenesis. An accelerated vascularization
      was detected in the group of meniscus-pellets derived from the vascularized zone
      compared to avascular meniscus-pellets. In terms of cell-based tissue-engineering
      products, chondrogenic preconditioning resulted in significantly increased vessel
      growth. MSC-constructs showed an accelerated angiogenesis. Immunohistochemical
      evaluation showed a progressive differentiation and lower content for anti
      angiogenic endostatin in the precultured group. CONCLUSIONS: Preconditioning of
      MC-/MSC-based tissue-engineering-products is a promising tool to influence the
      angiogenic potential of tissue-engineering-products and to adapt these properties
      according to the aimed tissue qualities.

PMID- 28598835
TI  - Efficiency of contrast enhanced ultrasound for immediate assessment of ablation
      status after intraoperative radiofrequency ablation of hepatic malignancies.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficiency of intraoperative contrast enhanced ultrasound
      (Io-CEUS) for assessment of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) during liver tumor
      surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed on a total
      number of 18 patients out of over 500 patients who underwent combined liver tumor
      surgery and RFA of 27 hepatic tumors between 02/2011 and 12/2016. Io-CEUS was
      performed by bolus injections of up to 10 ml sulphur hexaflourid microbubbles for
      diagnostic purposes. To guide the RFA up to 20 ml microbubbles were applied to
      monitor the procedure and assess the ablation status finally. A fully avascular
      area or absence of any residual vascularization intratumorally was considered
      technical success. These findings were correlated to findings of follow-up
      imaging results (CEUS, MRI, CT) at least 1 up to 40 months (mean 11 months) after
      surgery. RESULTS: 13 male and 5 female patients aged between 45-77 years (mean
      59.2+/-17.1 years) with 26 malignant and one most probable benign hepatic lesion
      were treated with intraoperative RFA. Io-CEUS detected 23 preoperatively unknown
      liver lesions leading to a change in therapy in 13/18 cases (72,2%). All 27
      treated lesions showed an avascular area immediately after RFA. According to
      follow-up imaging results (1 month - 3 years after surgery, mean follow-up time
      11 months), 2/18 patients had local recurrences, 8 patients had distant
      intrahepatic recurrences or extrahepatic recurrence, 8 patients remained tumor
      free. Thereby, a success rate of CEUS guided RFA of 89% could be obtained
      concerning the targeted liver lesions. CONCLUSION: Modern intraoperative
      ultrasound using B-mode and Io-CEUS is a valuable tool for optimization of
      diagnostic and therapeutic intraoperative liver procedures and ablative
      therapies.

PMID- 28598836
TI  - PE859, A Novel Curcumin Derivative, Inhibits Amyloid-beta and Tau Aggregation,
      and Ameliorates Cognitive Dysfunction in Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Prone 8.
AB  - Aggregation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) and tau plays a crucial role in the onset and
      progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, the inhibition of Abeta and
      tau aggregation may represent a potential therapeutic target for AD. Herein, we
      designed and synthesized both Abeta and tau dual aggregation inhibitors based on
      the structure of curcumin and developed the novel curcumin derivative PE859. In
      this study, we investigated the inhibitory activity of PE859 on Abeta
      aggregationin vitro and the therapeutic effects of PE859 on cognitive dysfunction
      via dual inhibition of Abeta and tau aggregation in vivo. PE859 inhibited Abeta
      aggregation in vitro and protected cultured cells from Abeta-induced
      cytotoxicity. Furthermore, PE859 ameliorated cognitive dysfunction and reduced
      the amount of aggregated Abeta and tau in brains of senescence-accelerated mouse
      prone 8 (SAMP8). These results warrant consideration of PE859 as a candidate drug
      for AD.

PMID- 28598837
TI  - Rhamnolipids, Microbial Virulence Factors, in Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been attributed to chronic bacterial infections. The
      recognition of human microbiota as a substantial contributor to health and
      disease is relatively recent and growing. During evolution, mammals live in a
      symbiotic state with myriads of microorganisms that survive at a diversity of
      tissue micro-surroundings. Microbes produce a plethora of secretory products
      [amyloids, lipopolysaccharides, virulence factors rhamnolipids (RLs), toxins, and
      a great number of neuroactive compounds]. The contribution of infectious
      microbial components to the pathophysiology of the human central nervous system
      including AD is considered potentially substantial, but the involvement of the
      RLs has never been reported. Here, RLs were isolated from serum and identified
      through various conventional methods including the colorimetric orcinol method,
      thin-layer chromatography, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared
      (ATR-FTIR), and dot blot using antibodies against RLs. Dot blot demonstrated
      elevated RL levels in sera of AD patients compared to controls (p = 0.014).
      Moreover, ELISA showed similarly elevated RL levels in cerebrospinal fluid of
      both AD (0.188 versus 0.080) (p = 0.04) and mild cognitive impairment (0.188
      versus 0.129) (p = 0.088) patients compared to healthy, and are well-correlated
      with the AD stages severity assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination.
      These results provide conclusive evidence for the newly-reported implication of
      RLs in AD, adding it to the list of bacterial components, opening new avenues for
      AD investigation. Moreover, they strengthen and vindicate the divergence of
      research toward the exploration of bacterial involvement in AD generation and
      progression.

PMID- 28598838
TI  - Dissociable Effects of Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment on Bottom-Up
      Audiovisual Integration.
AB  - Effective audiovisual sensory integration involves dynamic changes in functional
      connectivity between superior temporal sulcus and primary sensory areas. This
      study examined whether disrupted connectivity in early Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      produces impaired audiovisual integration under conditions requiring greater
      corticocortical interactions. Audiovisual speech integration was examined in
      healthy young adult controls (YC), healthy elderly controls (EC), and patients
      with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using McGurk-type stimuli
      (providing either congruent or incongruent audiovisual speech information) under
      conditions differing in the strength of bottom-up support and the degree of top
      down lexical asymmetry. All groups accurately identified auditory speech under
      congruent audiovisual conditions, and displayed high levels of visual bias under
      strong bottom-up incongruent conditions. Under weak bottom-up incongruent
      conditions, however, EC and amnestic MCI groups displayed opposite patterns of
      performance, with enhanced visual bias in the EC group and reduced visual bias in
      the MCI group relative to the YC group. Moreover, there was no overlap between
      the EC and MCI groups in individual visual bias scores reflecting the change in
      audiovisual integration from the strong to the weak stimulus conditions. Top-down
      lexicality influences on visual biasing were observed only in the MCI patients
      under weaker bottom-up conditions. Results support a deficit in bottom-up
      audiovisual integration in early AD attributable to disruptions in
      corticocortical connectivity. Given that this deficit is not simply an
      exacerbation of changes associated with healthy aging, tests of audiovisual
      speech integration may serve as sensitive and specific markers of the earliest
      cognitive change associated with AD.

PMID- 28598839
TI  - Functional Disintegration of the Default Mode Network in Prodromal Alzheimer's
      Disease.
AB  - Neurodegenerative brain changes can affect the functional connectivity strength
      between nodes of the default-mode network (DMN), which may underlie changes in
      cognitive performance. It remains unclear how the functional connectivity
      strength of DMN nodes differs from healthy to pathological aging and whether
      these changes are cognitively relevant. We used resting-state functional magnetic
      resonance imaging to investigate the functional connectivity strength across five
      DMN nodes in 25 healthy controls (HC), 28 subjective cognitive decline (SCD)
      participants, and 25 prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. After
      identifying the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), posterior cingulate
      cortex (PCC), retrosplenial cortex (RSC), inferior parietal lobule, and the
      hippocampus we investigated the functional strength between DMN nodes using
      temporal network modeling. Functional coupling of the vmPFC and PCC in prodromal
      AD patients was disrupted. This vmPFC-PCC coupling correlated positively with
      memory performance in prodromal AD. Furthermore, the hippocampus de-coupled from
      posterior DMN nodes in SCD and prodromal AD patients. There was no coupling
      between the hippocampus and the anterior DMN. Additional mediation analyses
      indicated that the RSC enables communication between the hippocampus and DMN
      regions in HC but none of the other two groups. These results suggest an anterior
      posterior disconnection and a hippocampal de-coupling from posterior DMN nodes
      with disease progression. Hippocampal de-coupling already occurring in SCD may
      provide valuable information for the development of a functional biomarker.

PMID- 28598840
TI  - Neuropsychological Symptoms in Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Patients in
      Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The polymorphism at codon 129 of the prion protein gene (PRNP) and
      the PrPSc types 1 and 2 belong to a molecular classification of sporadic
      Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) that correlates well with the clinical and
      neuropathological phenotype of sCJD. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to
      perform the first detailed evaluation of neuropsychological deficits in a large
      group of definite sCJD patients with known molecular subtype. METHODS: We
      analyzed neuropsychological symptoms in a cohort of 248 sCJD patients with known
      M129 V polymorphism of PRNP and prion protein type. RESULTS: Neuropsychological
      symptoms were very frequent in our patients (96%) and occurred as early as in the
      first third of the disease course. Besides amnesia and impaired attention (89%
      each), frontal lobe syndrome (75%), aphasia (63%), and apraxia (57%) were the
      most common neuropsychological deficits. There was no statistically significant
      difference with regard to frequency of neuropsychological symptoms between the
      subtypes. In MV2 and VV2 patients, the onset of neuropsychological symptoms was
      significantly later than in all other subtypes. CONCLUSION: We provide the first
      detailed analysis of neuropsychological symptoms in a large group of sCJD
      patients with known M129 V genotype and prion protein type. We suggest that the
      rate of progression of neuropsychological symptoms is subtype-specific. These
      data may improve the diagnosis in atypical sCJD subtypes.

PMID- 28598841
TI  - Effects of Exercise on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus-Related Cognitive Impairment and
      Dementia.
AB  - Cognitive impairment and dementia are common contributors to institutionalization
      and loss of quality of life in older people. Both type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
      and physical inactivity are prevalent and important modifiable risk factors for
      developing dementia. Physical activity is recommended in the management of T2DM,
      and there is growing evidence that exercise, a subgroup of physical activity, is
      also beneficial for maintaining and improving brain structure and function. This
      paper reviews the evidence for a benefit of exercise on T2DM related cognitive
      impairment and dementia. In addition, the type (e.g., aerobic, resistance),
      intensity, duration, and frequency of exercise are discussed. This review shows
      that although exercise has known benefits on the mechanisms linking T2DM to
      dementia, there are very few randomized controlled trials examining whether this
      is the case. It is concluded that the uptake of exercise for the brain has great
      potential to improve quality of life and provide significant cost savings, but
      further research is warranted to clarify the effects of exercise on T2DM and
      those on dementia.

PMID- 28598842
TI  - Visit-to-Visit Blood Pressure Variability and Alzheimer's Disease: Links and
      Risks.
AB  - While hypertension has been shown to be a risk factor for vascular dementia,
      several studies have also demonstrated that hypertension also increases the risk
      of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the relationship between visit-to-visit
      blood pressure variability (VVV) and cognitive impairment, including AD, have
      been provided, the mechanisms remain poorly understood. This review paper focuses
      on the relationship of VVV with AD and summarizes the pathophysiology underlying
      that relationship, which appears to be mediated by arterial stiffness.

PMID- 28598844
TI  - Combustion-Derived Nanoparticles in Key Brain Target Cells and Organelles in
      Young Urbanites: Culprit Hidden in Plain Sight in Alzheimer's Disease
      Development.
AB  - Millions of children and young adults are exposed to fine particulate matter
      (PM2.5) and ozone, associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. Mexico City
      (MC) children exhibit systemic and brain inflammation, low cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF) Abeta1-42, breakdown of nasal, olfactory, alveolar-capillary, duodenal, and
      blood-brain barriers, volumetric and metabolic brain changes, attention and short
      term memory deficits, and hallmarks of AD and Parkinson's disease. Airborne iron
      rich strongly magnetic combustion-derived nanoparticles (CDNPs) are present in
      young urbanites' brains. Using transmission electron microscopy, we documented
      CDNPs in neurons, glia, choroid plexus, and neurovascular units of young MC
      residents versus matched clean air controls. CDNPs are associated with pathology
      in mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mitochondria-ER contacts (MERCs),
      axons,and dendrites. There is a significant difference in size and numbers
      between spherical CDNPs (>85%) and the angular, euhedral endogenous NPs (<15%).
      Spherical CDNPs (dogs 21.2+/-7.1 nm in diameter versus humans 29.1+/-11.2 nm, p =
      0.002) are present in neurons, glia, choroid plexus, endothelium, nasal and
      olfactory epithelium, and in CSF at significantly higher in numbers in MC
      residents (p < 0.0001). Degenerated MERCs, abnormal mitochondria, and dilated ER
      are widespread, and CDNPs in close contact with neurofilaments, glial fibers, and
      chromatin are a potential source for altered microtubule dynamics, mitochondrial
      dysfunction, accumulation and aggregation of unfolded proteins, abnormal
      endosomal systems, altered insulin signaling, calcium homeostasis, apoptotic
      signaling, autophagy, and epigenetic changes. Highly oxidative, ubiquitous CDNPs
      constitute a novel path into AD pathogenesis. Exposed children and young adults
      need early neuroprotection and multidisciplinary prevention efforts to modify the
      course of AD at early stages.

PMID- 28598845
TI  - Discovery and Confirmation of Diagnostic Serum Lipid Biomarkers for Alzheimer's
      Disease Using Direct Infusion Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder lacking early
      biochemical diagnosis and treatment. Lipids have been implicated in
      neurodegenerative disorders including AD. A shotgun lipidomic approach was
      undertaken to determine if lipid biomarkers exist that can discriminate AD cases
      from controls. The discovery study involved sera from 29 different stage AD cases
      and 32 controls. Lipid extraction was performed using organic solvent and the
      samples were directly infused into a time-of-flight mass spectrometer.
      Differences between AD cases and controls were detected with 87 statistically
      significant lipid candidate markers found. These potential lipid markers were
      reevaluated in a second confirmatory study involving 27 cases and 30 controls. Of
      the 87 candidates from the first study, 35 continued to be statistically
      significant in the second confirmatory set. Tandem MS studies were performed and
      almost all confirmed markers were characterized and classified. Using a Bayesian
      lasso probit regression model on the confirmed markers, a multi-marker set with
      AUC = 0.886 was developed comparing all stages of AD with controls. Additionally,
      using confirmed biomarkers, multi-marker sets with AUCs >0.90 were developed for
      each specific AD Clinical Dementia Rating versus controls, including the earliest
      stage of AD. More conservative and likely more realistic statistical analyses
      still found multi-marker sets that appeared useful in diagnosing AD. Finally,
      using ordinal modeling a set of markers was developed that staged AD accurately
      70% of the time, p = 0.0079. These results suggest that these serum lipidomic
      biomarkers may help diagnose and perhaps even stage AD.

PMID- 28598846
TI  - Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Cognitive Impairment: Understanding the Importance
      of Co-Morbid Symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common in older adults with
      cognitive impairment, yet little is known about population-based prevalence and
      clinical implications of co-morbid symptom presentation across the spectrum from
      normal cognition to dementia. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the prevalence of NPS
      and explore the clinical implications of co-morbid symptom presentation. METHODS:
      Cross-sectional study of 1,417 older adults (aged 73-79) with dementia (n = 40);
      with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 133); who are 'cognitively normal, but
      at-risk' (CN-AR; n = 397); and who are cognitively normal (n = 847). NPS were
      assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Cluster analyses were conducted using
      a latent class analysis (LCA). RESULTS: NPS are highly prevalent across the
      cognitive function spectrum (30.8% -80%). NPS were associated with a 3-fold
      increased risk of dementia, a 2-fold increased risk of MCI, and a 1.5-times
      increased risk of CN-AR. Each additional co-morbid symptom was associated with an
      additional 1.5-times increased risk of dementia, but not MCI or CN-AR. LCA
      revealed four distinctive sub-populations: 1) frontal/low comorbidity; 2) high
      prevalence/high comorbidity; 3) affective/low comorbidity; and 4) sleep/low
      comorbidity. CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm previous reports on the prevalence
      of NPS in community-based samples and are consistent with the profiles of NPS
      domain characteristics of MCI and dementia. Number of co-morbid NPS and not
      symptom clusters are associated with increased risk of dementia. Understanding
      such patterns will help inform our understanding of mild behavioral disorders and
      assist with clinical assessment.

PMID- 28598843
TI  - A Lipidomics Approach to Assess the Association Between Plasma Sphingolipids and
      Verbal Memory Performance in Coronary Artery Disease Patients Undertaking Cardiac
      Rehabilitation: A C18:0 Signature for Cognitive Response to Exercise.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early subtle deficits in verbal memory, which may indicate early
      neural risk, are common in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). While
      exercise can improve cognition, cognitive response to exercise is heterogeneous.
      Sphingolipids have been associated with the development and progression of CAD,
      and impairments in sphingolipid metabolism may play roles in neurodegeneration
      and in the neural adaptation response to exercise. OBJECTIVE: In this study,
      change in plasma concentrations of sphingolipids was assessed in relation to
      change in verbal memory performance and in other cognitive domains among CAD
      subjects undertaking a 6-month cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program. METHODS:
      Patients with CAD (n = 120, mean age = 64+/-6 y, 84% male, years of education =
      16+/-3) underwent CR with neuropsychological assessments and blood collected at
      baseline, 3-, and 6-months. Z-scores based on age, gender, and education were
      combined for verbal memory, visuospatial memory, processing speed, executive
      function, and global cognition tasks to calculate cognitive domain Z-scores.
      Plasma sphingolipid concentrations were measured from fasting blood samples using
      high performance liquid chromatography coupled electrospray ionization tandem
      mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Mixed models were used to identify sphingolipids
      significantly associated with performance in verbal memory and other cognitive
      domains, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: A decrease in ceramide
      C18:0 concentration was significantly associated with improvement in verbal
      memory performance (b[SE] = -0.51 [0.25], p = 0.04), visuospatial memory (b[SE] =
      -0.44 [0.22], p = 0.05), processing speed (b[SE] = -0.89 [0.32], p = 0.007), and
      global cognition (b[SE] = -1.47 [0.59], p = 0.01) over 6 months of CR.
      CONCLUSIONS: Plasma ceramide C18:0 concentrations may be a sensitive marker of
      cognitive response to exercise in patients with CAD.

PMID- 28598847
TI  - A Mitochondrial Biomarker-Based Study of S-Equol in Alzheimer's Disease Subjects:
      Results of a Single-Arm, Pilot Trial.
AB  - Reductions in bioenergetic fluxes, mitochondrial enzyme activities, and
      mitochondrial number are observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Preclinical work
      indicates estrogen pathway signaling by either estrogen or selective beta
      estrogen receptor (ERbeta) agonists benefits these parameters. To assess whether
      an ERbeta agonist could improve mitochondrial function in actual AD subjects, we
      administered S-equol (10 mg twice daily) to 15 women with AD and determined the
      platelet mitochondria cytochrome oxidase (COX) activity before initiating S-equol
      (lead-in), after two weeks of S-equol (active treatment), and two weeks after
      stopping S-equol (wash-out). Because the intra-individual variation of this
      enzyme across samples taken at different times was unknown we used a
      nonparametric, single-arm, dichotomous endpoint that classified subjects whose
      active treatment COX activity exceeded the average of their lead-in and wash-out
      measures as positive responders. Eleven positive responses were observed (p <
      0.06). The implications of this finding on our null hypothesis (that S-equol does
      not influence platelet mitochondria COX activity) are discussed. To our
      knowledge, this is the first time a direct mitochondrial target engagement
      biomarker has been utilized in an AD clinical study.

PMID- 28598848
TI  - Synaptic Membrane Synthesis in Rats Depends on Dietary Sufficiency of Vitamin C,
      Vitamin E, and Selenium: Relevance for Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Chronic consumption of a diet enriched with nutritional precursors of
      phospholipids, including uridine and the polyunsaturated fatty acids,
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), was shown previously
      to enhance levels of brain phospholipids and synaptic proteins in rodents.
      Vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium may directly affect the breakdown or synthesis
      of membrane phospholipids. The present study investigated the necessity of
      antioxidants for the effectiveness of supplementation with uridine plus DHA and
      EPA (as fish oil) in rats. Rats were randomized to four treatment groups and
      received, for 6 weeks, one of four experimental diets, i.e., a diet low in
      antioxidants, a diet high in antioxidants, a diet low in antioxidants
      supplemented with DHA+EPA+uridine, or a diet high in antioxidants supplemented
      with DHA+EPA+uridine. On completion of dietary treatment, rats were sacrificed,
      and brain levels of phospholipids, synaptic proteins, and two enzymes involved in
      phospholipid synthesis (choline-phosphate cytidylyltransferase, PCYT1A, and
      choline/ethanolamine phosphotransferase, CEPT1) were analyzed. Levels of
      phospholipids, the pre- and post-synaptic proteins Synapsin-1 and PSD95, and the
      enzymes PCYT1A and CEPT1 were significantly enhanced by combined supplementation
      of DHA+EPA+uridine and antioxidants and not enhanced by supplementation of
      DHA+EPA+uridine with insufficient antioxidant levels. Our data suggest that
      dietary vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium are essential for the phospholipid
      precursors' effects on increasing levels of membrane phospholipids and synaptic
      proteins, the indirect indicators of synaptogenesis. Their concomitant supply may
      be relevant in Alzheimer's disease patients, because the disease is characterized
      by synapse loss and lower plasma and brain levels of phospholipid precursors and
      antioxidants.

PMID- 28598850
TI  - Recovery from Proactive Semantic Interference and MRI Volume: A Replication and
      Extension Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rise in incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has led to efforts
      to advance early detection of the disease during its preclinical stages. To
      achieve this, the field needs to develop more sensitive cognitive tests that
      relate to biological markers of disease pathology. Failure to recover from
      proactive interference (frPSI) is one such cognitive marker that is associated
      with volumetric reductions in the hippocampus, precuneus, and other AD-prone
      regions, and to amyloid load in the brain. OBJECTIVE: The current study attempted
      to replicate and extend our previous findings that frPSI is a sensitive marker of
      early AD, and related to a unique pattern of volumetric loss in AD prone areas.
      METHODS: Three different memory measures were examined relative to volumetric
      loss and cortical thickness among 45 participants with amnestic mild cognitive
      impairment. RESULTS: frPSI was uniquely associated with reduced volumes in the
      hippocampus (r = 0.50) precuneus (r = 0.41), and other AD prone regions,
      replicating previous findings. Strong associations between frPSI and lower
      entorhinal cortex volumes and cortical thickness (r>=0.60) and precuneus (r =
      0.50) were also observed. CONCLUSION: Unique and strong associations between
      volumetric reductions and frPSI as observed by Loewenstein and colleagues were
      replicated. Together with cortical thickness findings, these results indicate
      that frPSI is worthy of further study as a sensitive and early cognitive marker
      of AD.

PMID- 28598849
TI  - Overexpression of Ubiquilin-1 Alleviates Alzheimer's Disease-Caused Cognitive and
      Motor Deficits and Reduces Amyloid-beta Accumulation in Mice.
AB  - Ubiquilin-1 (Ubqln1) is a ubiquitin-like protein that has been implicated in
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, whether Ubqln1 modulates learning and memory
      and alters AD-like behavior and/or pathology has not been determined in animal
      models. To understand the function of Ubqln1 in vivo, we previously generated
      Ubqln1 transgenic (TG) mice that overexpress mouse Ubqln1. With the model, we
      here characterized the TG mouse cognitive behaviors and found that Ubqln1 TG mice
      showed better spatial learning and memory capabilities than their wild-type
      littermates in both radial arm water maze and Y-maze tests. Additionally, we
      crossed the Ubqln1 TG mice with the AbetaPPswe/PSEN1dE9 double transgenic AD
      mouse to generate the AD/Ubqln1 triple TG (AD/TG) mice. Our results suggest that
      at 12 months of age following the onset of AD, AD/TG mice showed better spatial
      learning and memory than AD mice. AD/TG mice also exhibited better motor function
      than AD mice at the same age. Furthermore, compared to AD mice, AD/TG mice showed
      significant reduction in amyloid-beta 40 (Abeta40) and Abeta42 levels in the
      cerebral cortex and in the hippocampus at the post-onset stage. The number of
      Abeta plaques was significantly decreased in the cerebral cortex of AD/TG mice at
      this post-onset stage. Moreover, mature AbetaPP level in AD/TG hippocampus was
      lower than that in AD hippocampus. These data not only provide a direct link
      between overexpression of Ubqln1 and altered learning and memory, but also raise
      the possibility that Ubqln1 is a potential therapeutic target for treating AD and
      possibly other neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 28598852
TI  - Retrograde Amnesia for Episodic and Semantic Memories in Amnestic Mild Cognitive
      Impairment.
AB  - Retrograde amnesia (RA), which includes loss of memory for past personal events
      (autobiographical RA) and for acquired knowledge (semantic RA), has been largely
      documented in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However,
      previous studies have produced controversial results particularly concerning the
      temporal extent of memory impairment. Here we investigated whether, with the
      onset of hippocampal pathology, age of memory acquisition and retrieval frequency
      play different roles in modulating the progressive loss of semantic and episodic
      contents of retrograde memory respectively. For this purpose, aMCI patients and
      healthy controls were tested for the ability to recall semantic and
      autobiographical information related to famous public events as a function of
      both age of acquisition and retrieval frequency. In aMCI patients, we found that
      the impairment in recollecting past personal incidents was modulated by the
      combined action of memory age and retrieval frequency, because older and more
      frequently retrieved episodes are less susceptible to loss than more recent and
      less frequently retrieved ones. On the other side, we found that the loss of
      semantic information depended only on memory age, because the remoteness of the
      trace allows for better preservation of the memory. Our results provide evidence
      that the loss of the two components of retrograde memory is regulated by
      different mechanisms. This supports the view that diverse neural mechanisms are
      involved in episodic and semantic memory trace storage and retrieval, as
      postulated by the Multiple Trace Theory.

PMID- 28598853
TI  - Memory Binding Test Predicts Incident Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PMID- 28598851
TI  - Mitochondrial Dysfunction Triggers Synaptic Deficits via Activation of p38 MAP
      Kinase Signaling in Differentiated Alzheimer's Disease Trans-Mitochondrial Cybrid
      Cells.
AB  - Loss of synapse and synaptic dysfunction contribute importantly to cognitive
      impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative
      stress are early pathological features in AD-affected brain. However, the effect
      of AD mitochondria on synaptogenesis remains to be determined. Using human trans
      mitochondrial "cybrid" (cytoplasmic hybrid) neuronal cells whose mitochondria
      were transferred from platelets of patients with sporadic AD or age-matched non
      AD subjects with relatively normal cognition, we provide the first evidence of
      mitochondrial dysfunction compromises synaptic development and formation of
      synapse in AD cybrid cells in response to chemical-induced neuronal
      differentiation. Compared to non-AD control cybrids, AD cybrid cells showed
      synaptic loss which was evidenced by a significant reduction in expression of two
      synaptic marker proteins: synaptophysin (presynaptic marker) and postsynaptic
      density protein-95, and neuronal proteins (MAP-2 and NeuN) upon neuronal
      differentiation. In parallel, AD-mediated synaptic deficits correlate to
      mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress as well as activation of p38 MAP
      kinase. Notably, inhibition of p38 MAP kinase by pharmacological specific p38
      inhibitor significantly increased synaptic density, improved mitochondrial
      function, and reduced oxidative stress. These results suggest that activation of
      p38 MAP kinase signaling pathway contributes to AD-mediated impairment in
      neurogenesis, possibly by inhibiting the neuronal differentiation. Our results
      provide new insight into the crosstalk of dysfunctional AD mitochondria to
      synaptic formation and maturation via activation of p38 MAP kinase. Therefore,
      blockade of p38 MAP kinase signal transduction could be a potential therapeutic
      strategy for AD by alleviating loss of synapses.

PMID- 28598854
TI  - Analysis of Azithromycin Monohydrate as a Single or a Combinatorial Therapy in a
      Mouse Model of Severe Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative autosomal
      recessive disorder characterized by the loss of alpha-motor neurons. A variety of
      molecular pathways are being investigated to elevate SMN protein expression in
      SMA models and in the clinic. One of these approaches involves stabilizing the
      SMNDelta7 protein by inducing translational read-through. Previous studies have
      demonstrated that functionality and stability are partially restored to the
      otherwise unstable SMNDelta7 by the addition of non-specific C-terminal peptide
      sequences, or by inducing a similar molecular event through the use of read
      through inducing compounds such as aminoglycosides. OBJECTIVE: The objective was
      to determine the efficacy of the macrolide Azithromycin (AZM), an FDA approved
      read-through-inducing compound, in the well-established severe mouse model of
      SMA. METHODS: Initially, dosing regimen following ICV administrations of AZM at
      different post-natal days and concentrations was determined by their impact on
      SMN levels in disease-relevant tissues. Selected dose was then tested for
      phenotypic parameters changes as compared to the appropriate controls and in
      conjugation to another therapy. RESULTS: AZM increases SMN protein in disease
      relevant tissues, however, this did not translate into similar improvements in
      the SMA phenotype in a severe mouse model of SMA. Co-administration of AZM and a
      previously developed antisense oligonucleotide that increases SMN2 splicing,
      resulted in an improvement in the SMA phenotype beyond either AZM or ASO alone,
      including a highly significant extension in survival with improvement in body
      weight and movement. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to explore various approaches
      for SMA therapeutics, hence compounds that specifically induce SMNDelta7 read
      through, without having prohibitive toxicity, may provide an alternative platform
      for a combinatorial treatment. Here we established that AZM activity at a low
      dose can increase SMN protein in disease-relevant animal model and can impact
      disease severity.

PMID- 28598855
TI  - Risk for Complications after Pacemaker or Cardioverter Defibrillator
      Implantations in Patients with Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pacemakers (PM) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) may
      be indicated for sudden death prevention in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1),
      however the risk of complications after the placement of these devices is
      unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the rate of device-related complications between
      PM and ICD implantations in patients with DM1. METHODS: Among 914 patients with
      DM1 included in the DM1 Heart Registry between January 2000 and January 2010, we
      retrospectively selected 23 patients who were implanted with an ICD and matched
      them to 46 controls with a PM on age, gender, and year of device placement.
      RESULTS: Over a 6 years follow-up period, we observed device-related
      complications in 9 ICD recipients (inappropriate shocks in 5, lead dysfunction in
      5, infection in 2) and in 3 PM recipients (lead dysfunction in 3). Patients with
      an ICD had, compared to those with a PM, higher rates of complications (39.1% vs.
      6.5%, p = 0.0006) and more frequent complications requiring hospitalisation
      and/or re-intervention (respectively 30.4% and 21.7% vs. 0%). CONCLUSION: Our
      study shows a higher risk of device-related complications after the implantation
      of an ICD than for a PM in patients presenting with DM1.

PMID- 28598856
TI  - Glucocerebrosidase Mutations in Parkinson Disease.
AB  - Following the discovery of a higher than expected incidence of Parkinson Disease
      (PD) in Gaucher disease, a lysosomal storage disorder, mutations in the
      glucocerebrocidase (GBA) gene, which encodes a lysosomal enzyme involved in
      sphingolipid degradation were explored in the context of idiopathic PD. GBA
      mutations are now known to be the single largest risk factor for development of
      idiopathic PD. Clinically, on imaging and pharmacologically, GBA PD is almost
      identical to idiopathic PD, other than certain features that can be identified in
      the specialist research setting but not in routine clinical practice. In patients
      with a known GBA mutation, it is possible to monitor for prodromal signs of PD.
      The clinical similarity with idiopathic PD and the chance to identify PD at a pre
      clinical stage provides a unique opportunity to research therapeutic options for
      early PD, before major irreversible neurodegeneration occurs. However, to date,
      the molecular mechanisms which lead to this increased PD risk in GBA mutation
      carriers are not fully elucidated. Experimental models to define the molecular
      mechanisms and test therapeutic options include cell culture, transgenic mice and
      other in vivo models amenable to genetic manipulation, such as drosophilia. Some
      key pathological pathways of interest in the context of GBA mutations include
      alpha synuclein aggregation, lysosomal-autophagy axis changes and endoplasmic
      reticulum stress. Therapeutic agents that exploit these pathways are being
      developed and include the small molecule chaperone Ambroxol. This review aims to
      summarise the main features of GBA-PD and provide insights into the pathological
      relevance of GBA mutations on molecular pathways and the therapeutic implications
      for PD resulting from investigation of the role of GBA in PD.

PMID- 28598857
TI  - SDF-1 overexpression by mesenchymal stem cells enhances GAP-43-positive axonal
      growth following spinal cord injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: Utilizing genetic overexpression of trophic molecules in cell
      populations has been a promising strategy to develop cell replacement therapies
      for spinal cord injury (SCI). Over-expressing the chemokine, stromal derived
      factor-1 (SDF-1alpha), which has chemotactic effects on many cells of the nervous
      system, offers a promising strategy to promote axonal regrowth following SCI. The
      purpose of this study was to explore the effects of human SDF-1alpha, when
      overexpressed by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), on axonal growth and motor
      behavior in a contusive rat model of SCI. METHODS: Using a transwell migration
      assay, the paracrine effects of MSCs, which were engineered to secrete human SDF
      1alpha (SDF-1-MSCs), were assessed on cultured neural stem cells (NSCs). For in
      vivo analyses, the SDF-1-MSCs, unaltered MSCs, or Hanks Buffered Saline Solution
      (vehicle) were injected into the lesion epicenter of rats at 9-days post-SCI.
      Behavior was analyzed for 7-weeks post-injury, using the Basso, Beattie, and
      Bresnahan (BBB) scale of locomotor functions. Immunohistochemistry was performed
      to evaluate major histopathological outcomes, including gliosis, inflammation,
      white matter sparing, and cavitation. New axonal outgrowth was characterized
      using immunohistochemistry against the neuron specific growth-associated protein
      43 (GAP-43). RESULTS: The results of these experiments demonstrate that the
      overexpression of SDF-1alpha by MSCs can enhance the migration of NSCs in vitro.
      Although only modest functional improvements were observed following
      transplantation of SDF-1-MSCs, a significant reduction in cavitation surrounding
      the lesion, and an increased density of GAP-43-positive axons inside the SCI
      lesion/graft site were found. CONCLUSION: The results from these experiments
      support the potential role for utilizing SDF-1alpha as a treatment for enhancing
      growth and regeneration of axons after traumatic SCI.

PMID- 28598858
TI  - Effects of intermittent theta burst stimulation on spasticity after spinal cord
      injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: Spasticity is a common disorder in patients with spinal cord injury
      (SCI). The aim of this study was to investigate whether intermittent theta burst
      stimulation (iTBS), a safe, non-invasive and well-tolerated protocol of
      excitatory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), is effective in
      modulating spasticity in SCI patients. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind,
      crossover, sham-controlled study, ten subjects with incomplete cervical or
      thoracic SCI received 10 days of daily sessions of real or sham iTBS. The H/M
      amplitude ratio of the Soleus H reflex, the amplitude of the motor evoked
      potentials (MEPs) at rest and during background contraction, as well as Modified
      Ashworth Scale (MAS) and the Spinal Cord Injury Assessment Tool for Spasticity
      (SCAT) were compared before and after the stimulation protocols. RESULTS:
      Patients receiving real iTBS showed significant increased resting and active MEPs
      amplitude and a significant reduction of the H/M amplitude ratio. In these
      patients also the MAS and SCAT scores were significantly reduced after treatment.
      These changes persisted up to 1 week after the end of the iTBS treatment, and
      were not observed under the sham-TBS condition. CONCLUSION: These findings
      suggest that iTBS may be a promising therapeutic tool for the spasticity in SCI
      patients.

PMID- 28598859
TI  - The role of the dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC) in a cognitive and
      emotional counting Stroop task: Two cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in both
      cognitive and emotional processing, with cognitive information proposed to be
      processed through the dorsal/caudal ACC and emotional information through the
      rostral/ventral ACC. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the
      role of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in cognitive and emotional
      processing using a cognitive and emotional counting Stroop task in two patients
      in whom abnormalities in the dACC were identified and treated. METHODS: Two
      patients performed the cognitive and emotional counting Stroop task before and
      after treatment to examine whether the dACC has a specific or more general
      processing function. RESULTS: We observed an overall improvement in the
      emotional, cognitive, and neutral trials of the counting Stroop task after the
      intervention, indicating that the dACC is not a subregion of the ACC that only
      contributes to a specific domain. CONCLUSION: This study reveals that the dACC is
      not just a subregion of the ACC that contributes to a specific cognitive
      function, but is rather part of a salience network that influences general brain
      functioning, influencing cognitive as well as emotional processing.

PMID- 28598860
TI  - Translational motion correction algorithm for truncated cone-beam CT using
      opposite projections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is widely used in various
      medical imaging applications, including dental examinations. Dental CBCT images
      often suffer from motion artifacts caused by involuntary rigid motion of
      patients. However, earlier motion compensation studies are not applicable for
      dental CBCT systems using truncated detectors. OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a
      novel motion correction algorithm that can be applied for truncated dental CBCT
      images. METHODS: We propose a two-step method for motion correction. First, we
      estimate the relative displacement of each pair of opposite projections by
      finding the motion vector that maximizes the two-dimensional correlation
      coefficients of the opposite projections. Second, we convert the relative
      displacement into the absolute coordinate motion that yields the highest image
      sharpness of the reconstruction image. Using the motion vectors in the absolute
      coordinate system, motion artifacts are then compensated by modifying the
      trajectory of the source and detector during the back-projection step of the
      image reconstruction process. RESULTS: In simulation, the proposed method
      successfully estimated the true relative displacement. After converting to the
      absolute coordinate motions, the motion-compensated image was close to the ground
      truth image and exhibited a lower mean-square-error than that of the
      uncompensated image. The results from the real data experiment also confirmed
      that the proposed method successfully compensated for the motion artifacts.
      CONCLUSIONS: The experimental results confirmed that the proposed method was
      applicable to most dental CBCT systems using a truncated detector without any use
      of an additional motion tracking system nor prior knowledge.

PMID- 28598861
TI  - Collimated superfine x-ray beam based x-ray luminescence computed tomography.
AB  - X-ray luminescence computed tomography (XLCT) is a hybrid imaging modality with
      the potential to achieve a spatial resolution up to several hundred micrometers
      for targets embedded in turbid media with a depth larger than several
      millimeters. In this paper, we report a high spatial resolution XLCT imaging
      system with a collimated superfine x-ray beam in imaging the deeply embedded
      targets. A collimator with a 100 micrometer pinhole was mounted in the front of a
      powerful x-ray tube to generate a superfine x-ray pencil beam with a beam
      diameter of 0.175 mm. For the phantom experiment of four capillary targets with
      an edge-to-edge distance of 400 micrometers, we were able to reconstruct the
      targets in a depth of 5 mm successfully, which were validated with microCT
      images. We have further investigated the effect of different x-ray beam diameters
      on the reconstructed XLCT images with numerical simulations. Our results indicate
      that XLCT has the ability to image successfully multiple deeply embedded targets
      when the collimated x-ray beam diameter is less than or equal to the target edge
      to-edge distance. Our numerical simulations also demonstrate that XLCT can
      achieve a spatial resolution of 200 micrometers for targets embedded at a depth
      of 5 mm if the scanning beam has a diameter of 100 micrometers.

PMID- 28598862
TI  - The feasibility of low-dose CT perfusion imaging in gastric cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate feasibility of applying low-dose CT perfusion imaging
      (CTPI) to diagnose gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with
      gastric cancer confirmed by endoscopic biopsy were undergone routine dose (120
      kV, 100 mA) and low-dose (120 kV, 50 mA) CTPI examination, respectively. The
      original data were processed by body perfusion software, and the perfusion
      parameters values including blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV) and permeability
      surface (PS) of gastric cancer were measured. Statistical data analyses including
      paired-samples t test, Pearson correlation analysis and Bland-Altman consistency
      test were used to compare the perfusion parameters values between the routine
      dose and low-dose CTPI examinations. Radiation dosage, which the patients
      received during two CTPI examinations, was also calculated and compared. RESULTS:
      There were no statistical differences in the BF, BV and PS values between routine
      dose group and low-dose group (P > 0.05), and there were significant correlation
      in the BF, BV and PS values between two groups (P <  0.01). The consistency of BF
      and BV values between the two groups was preferable to that of PS value. The
      radiation dosage of the low-dose group was much less than that of routine dose
      group, and the CTDIvol and DLP values of low-dose CTPI were decreased by 50%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The parameters BF and BV values may play a valuable
      role in the diagnosis and assessment of gastric cancer in low-dose CTPI
      examination.

PMID- 28598865
TI  - Drug allergy/hypersensitivity in adults and children.

PMID- 28598863
TI  - Characterization of the discriminative stimulus effects of 3,4
      methylenedioxypyrovalerone in male Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - Recreational use of 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) in the early 2000s
      prompted numerous scientific investigations of its behavioral and neurochemical
      effects. The purpose of this study was to further characterize the interoceptive
      stimulus effects of MDPV using a validated in-vivo drug-detection assay. Male
      Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate 0.3 mg/kg MDPV from saline under
      a fixed ratio 20 (FR 20) schedule of food reinforcement. After stimulus control
      was established with MDPV (~35 training sessions), substitution tests were
      commenced with drugs from several chemical classes, including drugs with
      predominantly dopaminergic actions [MDPV, D-amphetamine, (+)-methamphetamine, (-)
      cocaine], drugs with predominantly serotonergic actions [(+)-lysergic acid
      diethylamide, (+)-fenfluramine], and drugs with both serotonergic and
      dopaminergic actions (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 4-methylmethcathinone).
      Full substitution for the 0.3 mg/kg MDPV cue was observed with D-amphetamine, (+)
      methamphetamine, and (-)-cocaine. Surprisingly, the 5-HT releaser (+)
      fenfluramine fully substituted in half the subjects, but completely suppressed
      responding in the remaining subjects. 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 4
      methylmethcathinone, and (+)-lysergic acid diethylamide failed to fully
      substitute for MDPV. These results indicate that the MDPV cue is similar to cues
      produced by drugs with predominantly dopamine-increasing effects and perhaps
      serotonin-releasing effects among individual subjects. Given these findings,
      further research is warranted to directly assess the contributions of dopamine
      and serotonin receptor isoforms to the discriminative stimulus functions of MDPV.

PMID- 28598864
TI  - Advances in vascular thiol isomerase function.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The present review will provide an overview of several recent
      advances in the field of vascular thiol isomerase function. RECENT FINDINGS: The
      initial observation that protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) functions in thrombus
      formation occurred approximately a decade ago. At the time, there was little
      understanding regarding how PDI or other vascular thiol isomerases contribute to
      thrombosis. Although this problem is far from solved, the past few years have
      seen substantial progress in several areas that will be reviewed in this article.
      The relationship between PDI structure and its function has been investigated and
      applied to identify domains of PDI that are critical for thrombus formation. The
      mechanisms that direct thiol isomerase storage and release from platelets and
      endothelium have been studied. New techniques including kinetic-based trapping
      have identified substrates that vascular thiol isomerases modify during thrombus
      formation. Novel inhibitors of thiol isomerases have been developed that are
      useful both as tools to interrogate PDI function and as potential therapeutics.
      Human studies have been conducted to measure circulating PDI in disease states
      and evaluate the effect of oral administration of a PDI inhibitor on ex-vivo
      thrombin generation. SUMMARY: Current findings indicate that thiol isomerase
      mediated disulfide bond modification in receptors and plasma proteins is an
      important layer of control of thrombosis and vascular function more generally.

PMID- 28598866
TI  - Using Qualitative Research to Inform Development of Professional Guidelines: A
      Case Study of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Family-Centered Care
      Guidelines.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the importance, challenges, and opportunities using
      qualitative research to enhance development of clinical practice guidelines,
      using recent guidelines for family-centered care in the ICU as an example.
      METHODS: In developing the Society of Critical Care Medicine guidelines for
      family-centered care in the neonatal ICU, PICU, and adult ICU, we developed an
      innovative adaptation of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessments, Development
      and Evaluations approach to explicitly incorporate qualitative research. Using
      Grading of Recommendations, Assessments, Development and Evaluations and the
      Council of Medical Specialty Societies principles, we conducted a systematic
      review of qualitative research to establish family-centered domains and outcomes.
      Thematic analyses were undertaken on study findings and used to support
      Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome question development. RESULTS: We
      identified and employed three approaches using qualitative research in these
      guidelines. First, previously published qualitative research was used to identify
      important domains for the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome
      questions. Second, this qualitative research was used to identify and prioritize
      key outcomes to be evaluated. Finally, we used qualitative methods, member
      checking with patients and families, to validate the process and outcome of the
      guideline development. CONCLUSIONS: In this, a novel report, we provide direction
      for standardizing the use of qualitative evidence in future guidelines.
      Recommendations are made to incorporate qualitative literature review and
      appraisal, include qualitative methodologists in guideline taskforce teams, and
      develop training for evaluation of qualitative research into guideline
      development procedures. Effective methods of involving patients and families as
      members of guideline development represent opportunities for future work.

PMID- 28598867
TI  - Pathophysiology of antenatal Bartter's syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Antenatal Bartter syndrome (aBS) is a heterogenous disease
      resulting from defective ion transport in the thick ascending limb of the loop of
      Henle. Novel insights into the pathophysiology, as well as the recent
      identification of a novel genetic cause of aBS, merit an update on this topic.
      RECENT FINDINGS: In aBS, severe salt losing is further aggravated by defective
      salt sensing in the macula densa, where a reduced tubular salt concentration is
      perceived and glomerular filtration is increased instead of decreased. As
      patients with aBS come of age, there is an increased incidence of proteinuria and
      impaired renal function.Moreover, we recently reported a new form of aBS. Indeed,
      we described a series of nine families in whom pregnancies with male fetuses
      where complicated by acute polyhydramnios, preterm delivery and with severe but
      transient polyuria. We identified mutations in melanoma-associated antigen D2 in
      all study participants and showed, in vivo and in vitro, reduced expression of
      the furosemide and thiazide sensitive transporters sodium-potassium-2-chloride
      cotransporter and sodium chloride cotransporter, respectively. SUMMARY: Genetic
      studies revealed the complexity of ion transport in the thick ascending limb of
      the loop of Henle and will help to clarify the pathophysiology, which is
      essential to design new therapies.

PMID- 28598868
TI  - PAX6 aniridia syndrome: clinics, genetics, and therapeutics.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Aniridia is a rare and panocular disorder affecting most of
      the ocular structures which may have significant impact on vision. The purpose of
      this review is to describe the clinical features, genetics, and therapeutic
      options for this disease and to provide an update of current knowledge and latest
      research findings. RECENT FINDINGS: Aside from the ocular features, a variety of
      associated systemic abnormalities, including hormonal, metabolic,
      gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and neurologic pathologies have been reported in
      children with aniridia. Although mutations in PAX6 are a major cause of aniridia,
      genetic defects in nearby genes, such as TRIM44 or ELP4, have also been reported
      to cause aniridia. Recent improvement in genetic testing technique will help more
      rapid and precise diagnosis for aniridia. A promising therapeutic approach called
      nonsense suppression therapy has been introduced and successfully used in an
      animal model. SUMMARY: Aniridia is a challenging disease. The progressive nature
      of this condition and its potential complications require continuous and life
      long ophthalmologic care. Genetic diagnosis for aniridia is important for
      establishing definitive molecular characterization as well as identifying
      individuals at high risk for Wilms tumor. Recent advancement in understanding the
      genetic pathogenesis of this disease offers promise for the approaches to
      treatment.

PMID- 28598869
TI  - Graft versus host disease: what should the oculoplastic surgeon know?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide a concise review of the oculoplastic manifestations
      of ocular graft versus host disease (GVHD), and to discuss their management.
      RECENT FINDINGS: Ocular GVHD occurs as a common immune-mediated complication of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation that presents as a Stevens-Johnson-like
      syndrome in the acute phase or a Sjogren-like syndrome in the chronic phase.
      Cicatricial conjunctivitis may be underreported in ocular GVHD. The spectrum of
      oculoplastic manifestations includes GVHD of the skin, cicatricial entropion,
      nasolacrimal duct obstruction, and lacrimal gland dysfunction. Surgical treatment
      is indicated for patients with significant corneal complications from entropion.
      Surgical approach to repair of nasolacrimal duct obstruction is presented in this
      review, including modified approaches for treating patients at risk for keratitis
      sicca. Management of the ocular graft versus host patient may require a
      multidisciplinary approach involving collaboration from the oculoplastic surgeon,
      the corneal specialist, and the stem cell transplant physician. SUMMARY:
      Oculoplastic manifestations of ocular GVHD typically present as cicatricial
      changes in the eyelid and lacrimal system. Careful oculoplastic and corneal
      evaluation are necessary when considering surgical management for the ocular GVHD
      patient.

PMID- 28598870
TI  - Molecularly targeted agents in oculoplastic surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Significant advances have been made in oncology and
      rheumatology with the introduction of molecularly targeted agents (MTAs). MTAs
      consist of monoclonal antibodies and small molecule inhibitors. The purpose of
      this manuscript is to review the recent applications of MTAs to orbital,
      lacrimal, and eyelid disease. RECENT FINDINGS: The use of monoclonal antibodies
      has been described in the treatment of orbital vascular lesions, lymphoma, and
      squamous cell carcinoma. Inflammatory conditions treated with monoclonal
      antibodies include thyroid eye disease, IgG4 disease, and granulomatosis with
      polyangiitis. Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has also found
      applications to orbital disease. Use of small molecule inhibitors has been
      described in the treatment of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and
      Erdheim-Chester disease. There are many orbital, lacrimal, and eyelid side
      effects of MTAs with which the oculoplastic surgeon should be familiar, including
      hypertrichosis, edema, and orbital and eyelid inflammation. SUMMARY: MTAs
      represent the future of treatment of oncologic and inflammatory conditions.
      Application of these agents to orbital, lacrimal, and eyelid disease will
      continue to expand. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of oculoplastic
      disorders will facilitate additional potential pathways that could be targeted
      for therapy.

PMID- 28598871
TI  - Current concepts regarding calcium metabolism and bone health in sarcoidosis.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Vitamin D supplementation is widespread used in the general
      population. In sarcoidosis, up to 50% of patients, especially postmenopausal
      women and those taking corticosteroids, show evidence of increased bone
      fragility. The purpose of this review is to provide an evidence-based rationale
      on how to treat sarcoidosis patients with bone health issues. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Evidence from observational studies show that decreased 25-hydroxy vitamin D is
      common in sarcoidosis. However, the great majority of sarcoidosis patents have
      normal or often elevated levels of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D (calcitriol), a
      marker associated with disease activity. High calcitriol levels may often be
      associated with hypercalcemia and hypercalcuria. The few interventional
      randomized controlled studies in the field, suggest that vitamin D
      supplementation may not be well tolerated because of hypercalcemia, moreover
      without substantial benefit on bone health and risk for fractures in these
      patients. SUMMARY: Vitamin D supplementation may be withheld in sarcoidosis
      patients with bone fragility, unless calcitriol levels are below normal limits. A
      treating scheme is proposed.

PMID- 28598872
TI  - Many faces of neurosarcoidosis: from chronic meningitis to myelopathy.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Neurosarcoidosis occurs in 5% of patients with sarcoidosis and
      can be difficult to diagnose. In this review we discuss the most recent advances
      in our understanding of the disease, describing clinical characteristics,
      diagnostic process, treatment, and prognosis. RECENT FINDINGS: Clinical
      presentation is heterogeneous with most patients presenting with cranial nerve
      palsy, headache, or sensory abnormalities. Patients are classified according to
      probability of the diagnosis with the Zajicek criteria. In these criteria,
      histopathological confirmation of noncaseating granulomas in affected tissue
      outside the nervous system is key. Radiological abnormalities on neuroimaging are
      nonspecific. No biomarkers have been described that adequately identify patients
      with sarcoidosis. However, soluble interleukin-2 receptor is a relatively novel
      biomarker that may be useful. In addition to HRCT scan, F-FDG PET-CT scanning can
      identify occult locations of disease activity and aid in obtaining pathological
      confirmation. Despite the use of new therapies, still a third of patients remains
      stable, deteriorate, or die. SUMMARY: Diagnosing and treating patients with
      neurosarcoidosis remains a challenge. Long-term prospective studies evaluating
      patients suspected of neurosarcoidosis are needed to assess sensitivity and
      specificity of ancillary investigations and diagnostic criteria. Furthermore,
      future studies are needed to evaluate the prognosis and the optimal treatment
      strategy.

PMID- 28598873
TI  - Cutaneous sarcoidosis.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cutaneous sarcoidosis occurs in up to 30% of patients with
      sarcoidosis and skin findings are often the initial presenting symptom. Cutaneous
      sarcoidosis is a rare skin disease and many aspects of the disease presentation
      and treatment are not well understood. This review will highlight developments in
      the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous
      sarcoidosis over the past several years. RECENT FINDINGS: Epidemiological studies
      from several different populations reaffirm that cutaneous sarcoidosis is more
      common in women and is often the presenting symptom of systemic sarcoidosis.
      Recently, more cases are being reported in association with oncologic immune
      modulators, which will be of great interest as use of those agents increases.
      Also, ultrasound has shown promise for the imaging of cutaneous granulomas for
      disease assessment and measuring response to treatment. Finally, the treatment of
      cutaneous sarcoidosis remains difficult and is based largely on retrospective
      data with a paucity of large, prospective trials. There have been recently
      introduced and validated cutaneous scoring tools which show promise and may lead
      to more high-quality studies going forward. SUMMARY: The recent developments in
      cutaneous sarcoidosis have identified many new pharmacologic and physical
      triggers of disease, but the evidence for effective treatment is still lacking.
      Further research is necessary to improve the care of patients with cutaneous
      sarcoidosis.

PMID- 28598874
TI  - Transverse Split Sternotomy: A Mini-Invasive Approach for Repair of Congenital
      Cardiac Defects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this article, we aim to review our mini-invasive technique of
      transverse sternal split (TSS) with or without cervical cannulation for
      cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), its usefulness, and efficiency for repair of
      congenital cardiac defects. METHODS: Between January 2013 and June 2015, 34
      infants and small children were operated through TSS in third or fourth
      intercostal space [Tetralogy of Fallot 11, perventricular ventricular septal
      defect (VSD) device closure 23]. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established through
      cervical (common carotid artery [CCA] and internal juglar vein [IJV]) and
      inferior vena cava cannulation. In patients operated on CPB, near-infrared
      spectroscopy was monitored during surgery for cerebral oxygenation and Doppler
      ultrasonography was performed postoperatively for patency of CCA and IJV.
      Patients were followed up after discharge with physical examination and
      transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). RESULTS: Surgical site exposure through TSS
      was adequate in all patients. There was no significant morbidity, postoperatively
      or during follow-up except three patients with VSD device closure who required
      prolonged mechanical ventilation. Cervical cannulation was sufficient for
      arterial inflow in all patients operated on CPB. There was one mortality and
      three procedure failures in VSD device closure group. There was no incidence of
      neurological complication. Both CCA and IJV were patent in all patients operated
      on CPB. No significant residual defect was found in either group on postoperative
      transthoracic echocardiography. CONCLUSIONS: Transverse sternal split with or
      without cervical cannulation is a feasible technique for repair of tetralogy of
      Fallot and perventricular device closure in selected group of infants and small
      children without compromising the exposure or quality of repair.

PMID- 28598876
TI  - Anesthesiologist as Resuscitation Consultant.

PMID- 28598877
TI  - Perioperative ACLS/Cognitive Aids in Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598875
TI  - Early Hemodynamic Results in Patients With Small Aortic Annulus After Aortic
      Valve Replacement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with a small aortic annulus (<=21 mm) have an increased risk
      of patient-prosthesis mismatch after valve replacement. The aim of this study was
      to compare the early hemodynamic performance of the balloon-expandable
      transaortic valve implantation Edwards system (SAPIEN) and the sutureless
      Perceval prostheses. METHODS: Fifty patients underwent transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation, and 113 patients underwent sutureless aortic valve replacement.
      Mean +/- SD aortic annulus diameter was 19.7 +/- 1 mm, with no significant
      difference between groups. SAPIEN valve size was 23 mm in 40 patients (80%) and
      26 mm in 10 patients (20%). Perceval valve size was small in 45 patients (40%),
      medium in 62 patients (55%), and large in 6 patients (5%). Transthoracic Doppler
      echocardiographic images were collected at baseline and before discharge.
      RESULTS: There were no significant difference in predischarge effective orifice
      area (SAPIEN: 1.5 +/- 0.5 cm and Perceval: 1.48 +/- 0.34 cm, P = 0.58) and
      indexed effective orifice areas (SAPIEN: 0.93 +/- 0.32 cm/m and Perceval: 0.88 +/
      0.22 cm/m, P = 0.42). Predischarge mean +/- SD transaortic gradient was lower
      with the SAPIEN than with Perceval valves (12 +/- 6 and 17 +/- 6 mm Hg,
      respectively, P < 0.001). Rates of moderate and severe prosthesis-patient
      mismatch were similar (SAPIEN: 44% and 10% and Perceval: 50% and 14%, P = 0.53
      and 0.75, respectively). There were no moderate-severe paravalvular leaks.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although indexed effective orifice areas were similar, transcatheter
      aortic valve implantation with the balloon-expandable SAPIEN system yielded lower
      predischarge transaortic mean gradients than the surgically implanted Perceval,
      in patients with a small annulus.

PMID- 28598878
TI  - ECMO in Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598879
TI  - Prehospital Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598881
TI  - Ethical Considerations in Trauma Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598880
TI  - Pediatric Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598883
TI  - Viscoelastic Testing of Coagulation.

PMID- 28598882
TI  - Fluid Management and Transfusion.

PMID- 28598884
TI  - The Acute Care Anesthesiologist as Resuscitationist.

PMID- 28598885
TI  - History of Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598886
TI  - Maintaining the Critical Care Continuum in Resuscitation.

PMID- 28598888
TI  - Long-term diabetes complications after pancreas transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The intention of this study is to summarize present knowledge
      about adverse effects of hyperglycemia in diabetes, and in this context review
      more recent data concerning the effects of pancreas transplantation on a wide
      range of diabetic complications. RECENT FINDINGS: Effective blood glucose control
      by insulin delays progression of microvascular complications and probably
      improves survival in type 1 diabetes. A successful pancreas transplantation
      combined with a kidney graft has recently been found to prevent diabetic kidney
      lesions, and registry data support improved long-term patient survival.
      Cardiovascular mortality was reduced in one study, even though coronary heart
      disease was not significantly altered. Advanced coronary lesions may be too
      advanced in these patients at baseline. However, with a successful single
      pancreas transplant, which is generally performed in patients with near-normal
      kidney function, pancreas transplantation may improve left ventricular function.
      Development of retinopathy and neuropathy is delayed with functioning pancreas
      grafts, and both quality of life and certain skin lesions may improve after
      pancreas transplantation. SUMMARY: In patients with type 1 diabetes, pancreas
      transplantation may improve cardiac outcomes and ameliorate diabetic lesions in
      the kidney transplant. Also quality of life, neuropathy, retinopathy, and healing
      of certain skin lesions may be improved.

PMID- 28598889
TI  - Survival of solid cancer patients in France, 1989-2013: a population-based study.
AB  - This study provides updates of net survival (NS) estimates at 5, 10, and 15 years
      as well as survival trends for 35 solid cancers in France using data from 19
      population-based cancer registries. The study considered all cases of solid
      cancer diagnosed between 1989 and 2010 in patients older than 15 years of age who
      were actively followed up until 30 June 2013. NS was estimated using the Pohar
      Perme method. The age-standardized NS used the international cancer survival
      standard weights. The 5-year age-standardized NSs ranged from 4% (pleural
      mesothelioma) to 93% (prostate) in men and from 10% (pancreas) to 97% (thyroid)
      in women. The 10-year age-standardized NSs ranged from 2% (pleural mesothelioma)
      in both sexes to 95% (testis) in men and 91% (thyroid) in women. The most
      frequent cancers (namely, breast and prostate cancers) had the highest NSs: 87
      and 93% at 5 years and 78 and 84% at 10 years, respectively. Several cancers
      (especially lung, pancreas, and liver cancer) had very poor prognoses (5-year NSs
      under 20%). Fifteen-year NSs remained high for testis cancer. In most cancers, 5-
      and 10-year age-standardized NSs increased between 1989 and 2010. Advanced age
      was associated with a poor prognosis and little improvement in survival. The
      increases in cancer survival are probably related to earlier diagnosis and
      therapeutic advances over the last decade. However, poor prognoses are still
      found in some alcohol-related and tobacco-related cancers and in elderly
      patients, highlighting the need for more prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
      efforts.

PMID- 28598890
TI  - Comparing Population-based Risk-stratification Model Performance Using
      Demographic, Diagnosis and Medication Data Extracted From Outpatient Electronic
      Health Records Versus Administrative Claims.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is an increasing demand for electronic health record (EHR)
      based risk stratification and predictive modeling tools at the population level.
      This trend is partly due to increased value-based payment policies and the
      increasing availability of EHRs at the provider level. Risk stratification
      models, however, have been traditionally derived from claims or encounter
      systems. This study evaluates the challenges and opportunities of using EHR data
      instead of or in addition to administrative claims for risk stratification.
      METHODS: This study used the structured EHR records and administrative claims of
      85,581 patients receiving outpatient care at a large integrated provider system.
      Common data elements for risk stratification (ie, age, sex, diagnosis, and
      medication) were extracted from outpatient EHR records and administrative claims.
      The performance of a validated risk-stratification model was assessed using data
      extracted from claims alone, EHR alone, and claims and EHR combined. RESULTS: EHR
      derived metrics overlapped considerably with administrative claims (eg, number of
      chronic conditions). The accuracy of the model, when using EHR data alone, was
      acceptable with an area under the curve of ~0.81 for hospitalization and ~0.85
      for identifying top 1% utilizers using the concurrent model. However, when using
      EHR data alone, the predictive model explained a lower amount of variation in
      utilization-based outcomes compared with administrative claims. DISCUSSION: The
      results show a promising performance of models predicting cost and
      hospitalization using outpatient EHR's diagnosis and medication data. More
      research is needed to evaluate the benefits of other EHR data types (eg, lab
      values and vital signs) for risk stratification.

PMID- 28598891
TI  - Effect of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Statin Use in the United States.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: The value of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription
      drugs is widely debated, as is the effect of DTCA on prescription sales and
      health care utilization. OBJECTIVE: We examined the association between DTCA
      intensity for statin medications and prescription sales and cholesterol-related
      health care utilization. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted an
      ecological study for 75 designated market areas from 2005 to 2009 in the United
      States using linked data regarding televised DTCA volume, non-DTCA marketing and
      promotion, retail, mail order and long-term care prescription drug sales,
      prescription drug and ambulatory care health care utilization, and contextual
      factors such as health care density and socioeconomic status. Main outcomes and
      measures were volume of sales, number of dispensed prescriptions, and high
      cholesterol-related outpatient visits. Analyses were conducted in 2016. RESULTS:
      The intensity of rosuvastatin and atorvastatin ad exposures per household varied
      substantially across designated market areas. After adjustment for socioeconomic,
      demographic, and clinical characteristics, each 100-unit increase in
      advertisement viewership was associated with a 2.22% [95% confidence interval
      (CI), 0.30%-4.19%] increase in statin sales. Similar patterns were observed
      between DTCA and statin dispensing among the commercially insured. DTCA was
      associated with increases in high cholesterol-related outpatient visits among
      adults 18-45 years of age (3.15% increase in visits per 100-unit increase in
      viewership, 95% CI, 0.98%-5.37%) but not among those 46-65 years of age (0.51%,
      95% CI, -1.49% to 2.55%). CONCLUSION: DTCA for statins is associated with
      increases in statin utilization and hyperlipidemia-related outpatient visits,
      especially for young adults.

PMID- 28598893
TI  - Phenylephrine Infusion: Driving a Wedge in Our Practice of Left Uterine
      Displacement?

PMID- 28598894
TI  - Left Lateral Table Tilt for Elective Cesarean Delivery under Spinal Anesthesia
      Has No Effect on Neonatal Acid-Base Status: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current recommendations for women undergoing cesarean delivery
      include 15 degrees  left tilt for uterine displacement to prevent aortocaval
      compression, although this degree of tilt is practically never achieved. We
      hypothesized that under contemporary clinical practice, including a crystalloid
      coload and phenylephrine infusion targeted at maintaining baseline systolic blood
      pressure, there would be no effect of maternal position on neonatal acid base
      status in women undergoing elective cesarean delivery with spinal anesthesia.
      METHODS: Healthy women undergoing elective cesarean delivery were randomized
      (nonblinded) to supine horizontal (supine, n = 50) or 15 degrees  left tilt of
      the surgical table (tilt, n = 50) after spinal anesthesia (hyperbaric bupivacaine
      12 mg, fentanyl 15 MUg, preservative-free morphine 150 MUg). Lactated Ringer's 10
      ml/kg and a phenylephrine infusion titrated to 100% baseline systolic blood
      pressure were initiated with intrathecal injection. The primary outcome was
      umbilical artery base excess. RESULTS: There were no differences in umbilical
      artery base excess or pH between groups. The mean umbilical artery base excess
      (+/- SD) was -0.5 mM (+/- 1.6) in the supine group (n = 50) versus -0.6 mM (+/-
      1.5) in the tilt group (n = 47) (P = 0.64). During 15 min after spinal
      anesthesia, mean phenylephrine requirement was greater (P = 0.002), and mean
      cardiac output was lower (P = 0.014) in the supine group. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal
      supine position during elective cesarean delivery with spinal anesthesia in
      healthy term women does not impair neonatal acid-base status compared to 15
      degrees  left tilt, when maternal systolic blood pressure is maintained with a
      coload and phenylephrine infusion. These findings may not be generalized to
      emergency situations or nonreassuring fetal status.

PMID- 28598895
TI  - Concurrent Use of Lumbar Total Disc Arthroplasty and Anterior Lumbar Interbody
      Fusion: The Lumbar Hybrid Procedure for the Treatment of Multilevel Symptomatic
      Degenerative Disc Disease: A Prospective Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate clinical and patient outcomes post combined total disc arthroplasty
      (TDA) and anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), known as hybrid surgery for
      the treatment of multilevel symptomatic degenerative disc disease (DDD). SUMMARY
      OF BACKGROUND DATA: Class I studies comparing the treatment of one-level lumbar
      DDD with TDA and ALIF have confirmed the effectiveness of those treatments
      through clinical and patient outcomes. Although the success of single-level
      disease is well documented, the evidence relating to the treatment of multilevel
      DDD with these modalities is emerging. With the evolution of the TDA technology,
      a combined approach to multilevel disease has developed in the form of the hybrid
      procedure. METHODS: A total of 617 patients underwent hybrid surgery for chronic
      back pain between July 1998 and February 2012. Visual Analog Pain Scale for the
      back and leg were recorded along with the Oswestry Disability Index and Roland
      Morris Disability Questionnaire. RESULTS: Both statistically and clinically
      significant (p < 0.005) reductions were seen in back and leg pain, which were
      sustained for at least 8 years postsurgery. In addition, significant improvements
      (P < 0.001) in self-rated disability and function were also maintained for at
      least 8 years. Patient satisfaction was rated as good or excellent in >90% of
      cases. CONCLUSION: The results of this research indicate that improvements in
      both back and leg pain and function can be achieved using the hybrid lumbar
      reconstructive technique. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28598896
TI  - Assessing pathophysiology of cancer anorexia.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cancer anorexia is a negative prognostic factor and is broadly
      defined as the loss of the interest in food. However, multiple clinical domains
      contribute to the phenotype of cancer anorexia. The characterization of the
      clinical and molecular pathophysiology of cancer anorexia may enhance the
      efficacy of preventive and therapeutic strategies. RECENT FINDINGS: Clinical
      trials showed that cancer anorexia should be considered as an umbrella
      encompassing different signs and symptoms contributing to appetite disruption in
      cancer patients. Loss of appetite, early satiety, changes in taste and smell are
      determinants of cancer anorexia, whose presence should be assessed in cancer
      patients. Interestingly, neuronal correlates of cancer anorexia-related symptoms
      have been revealed by brain imaging techniques. SUMMARY: The pathophysiology of
      cancer anorexia is complex and involves different domains influencing eating
      behavior. Limiting the assessment of cancer anorexia to questions investigating
      changes in appetite may impede correct identification of the targets to address.

PMID- 28598897
TI  - Adverse Events Detection Through Global Trigger Tool Methodology: Results From a
      5-Year Study in an Italian Hospital and Opportunities to Improve Interrater
      Reliability.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Global Trigger Tool (GTT) has been proposed as a low-cost method to
      detect adverse events (AEs). The validity of the methodology has been questioned
      because of moderate interrater agreement. Continuous training has been suggested
      as a means to improve consistency over time. We present the main findings of the
      implementation of the Italian version of the GTT and evaluate efforts to improve
      the interrater reliability over time. METHODS: The Italian version of the GTT was
      developed and implemented at the San Bonifacio Hospital, a 270-bed secondary care
      acute hospital in Verona, Italy. Ten clinical records randomly selected every 2
      weeks were reviewed from 2009 to 2014. Two-stage interrater reliability
      assessment between team members was conducted on 2 subsamples of 50 clinical
      records before and after the implementation of specific review rules and staff
      training. RESULTS: Among 1320 medical records reviewed, a total of 366 AEs were
      found with at least 1 AE on 20.2% of all discharges, 27.7 AEs/100 admissions, and
      30.6 AEs/1000 patient-days. Adverse events with harm score E and F were
      respectively 58.2% (n = 213) and 38.8% (n = 142). First round interrater
      reliability was comparable with other international studies. The interrater
      agreement improved significantly after intervention (kappa interrater I = 0.52,
      kappa interrater II = 0.80, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the improvements in
      the interrater consistency, overall results did not show any significant trend in
      AEs over time. Future studies may be directed to apply and adapt the GTT
      methodology to more specific settings to explore how to improve its sensitivity.

PMID- 28598898
TI  - A 99mTc-labelled scFv antibody fragment that binds to prostate-specific membrane
      antigen.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an extensively studied
      antigen for imaging prostate cancer. We prepared a single-chain variable fragment
      (scFv) of J591, a monoclonal antibody that recognises an external epitope of
      PSMA, incorporating a His-tag for labelling with Tc tricarbonyl, and evaluated
      its binding using human PCa cell lines. METHODS: J591(scFv) was expressed in HEK
      293T cells and purified by metal ion affinity chromatography, followed by size
      exclusion chromatography. Stability and monomer/dimer ratios of purified scFv
      under different storage conditions were analysed by SDS-PAGE and analytical size
      exclusion chromatography. J591(scFv) was labelled with (Equation is included in
      full-text article.)at 37 degrees C for 60 min. The stability of Tc-scFv in human
      serum was analysed by SDS-PAGE with autoradiography. Cell-binding studies were
      carried out using PC3LN3 (PSMA negative) and PC3LN3-PSMA (a variant engineered to
      express PSMA) cell lines. RESULTS: J591(scFv) was most stable to dimerisation on
      storage at -80 degrees C compared with -20 and 4 degrees C. Radiochemical yields
      of 85-90% were obtained with the final radiochemical purity of more than 99%
      after purification by gel filtration. In these small-scale studies, the maximum
      specific activity achieved was 7 MBq/MUg. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
      showed the formation of Tc-J591(scFv), which was radiochemically stable in serum,
      with no dissociation of Tc over 24 h. Cell-binding assays showed specific binding
      to PSMA-positive cells. CONCLUSION: J591(scFv) can be radiolabelled with
      (Equation is included in full-text article.)conveniently and efficiently. The
      labelled product was stable in serum. It showed selective binding to PSMA
      positive cells compared with PSMA-negative cells. This potential radiotracer
      warrants evaluation in PCa xenograft models.

PMID- 28598899
TI  - Long-term function and psychosocial outcomes with venlafaxine extended release 75
      225 mg/day versus placebo in the PREVENT study.
AB  - This post-hoc analysis evaluated long-term psychosocial outcomes in patients with
      recurrent major depressive disorder treated with venlafaxine extended release
      (ER) 75-225 mg/day or placebo. Patients who responded to 10-week venlafaxine ER
      75-300 mg/day treatment and maintained response through a 6-month continuation
      treatment were assigned randomly to venlafaxine ER or placebo maintenance-phase
      treatment. Data from responders to acute and continuation venlafaxine ER 75-225
      mg/day treatment were analyzed during 12-month maintenance treatment while
      receiving venlafaxine ER of up to 225 mg/day. Failure to maintain improvement in
      psychosocial functioning, on the basis of the Social Adjustment Scale-Self
      Report, Life Enjoyment Scale, Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction
      Questionnaire, and Short-Form Health Survey, was defined as loss of at least 50%
      of the improvement from acute-phase baseline achieved during acute and
      continuation treatment or dose escalation of more than 225 mg/day. The
      probability of remaining well (no failure to maintain improvement in functioning)
      was significantly higher through 12-month maintenance treatment for patients
      treated with venlafaxine ER 75-225 mg/day versus placebo Social Adjustment Scale
      Self-Report, Life Enjoyment Scale, Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction
      Questionnaire, and Short-Form Health Survey component summary scores (all
      P<=0.0351). Effects of up to 20 months of treatment with venlafaxine ER 75-225
      mg/day on psychosocial functioning were consistent with the results for
      venlafaxine ER 75-300 mg/day.

PMID- 28598900
TI  - Interleaved Mapping of Temperature and Longitudinal Relaxation Rate to Monitor
      Drug Delivery During Magnetic Resonance-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound
      Induced Hyperthermia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU)
      is a method to heat lesions noninvasively to a stable, elevated temperature and a
      well-suited method to induce local hyperthermia (41 degrees C-43 degrees C) in
      deep-seated tissues. Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging provides therapy planning on
      anatomical images and offers temperature feedback based on near-real-time MR
      thermometry. Although constant acquisition of MR thermometry data is crucial to
      ensure prolonged hyperthermia, it limits the freedom to perform measurements of
      other MR parameters, which are of interest during hyperthermia treatments. In
      image-guided drug delivery applications, co-encapsulation of paramagnetic MR
      contrast agents with a drug inside temperature-sensitive liposomes (TSLs) allows
      to visualize hyperthermia-triggered drug delivery through changes of the
      longitudinal relaxation rate R1. While the drug accumulates in the heated tumor
      tissue, R1 changes can be used for an estimate of the tumor drug concentration.
      The main objective of this study was to demonstrate that interleaved MR sequences
      are able to monitor temperature with an adequate temporal resolution and could
      give a reasonable estimate of the achieved tumor drug concentration through R1
      changes. To this aim, in vitro validation tests and an in vivo proof-of-concept
      study were performed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All experiments were performed on a
      clinical 3-T MR-HIFU system adapted with a preclinical setup. The validity of the
      R1 values and the temperature maps stability were evaluated in phantom
      experiments and in ex vivo porcine muscle tissue. In vivo experiments were
      performed on rats bearing a 9L glioma tumor on their hind limb. All animals (n =
      4 HIFU-treated, n = 4 no HIFU) were injected intravenously with TSLs co
      encapsulating doxorubicin and gadoteridol as contrast agent. The TSL injection
      was followed by either 2 times 15 minutes of MR-HIFU-induced hyperthermia or a
      sham treatment. R1 maps were acquired before, during, and after sonication, using
      a single slice Inversion Recovery Look-Locker (IR-LL) sequence (field of view
      [FOV], 50 * 69 mm; in-plane resolution, 0.52 * 0.71 mm; slice thickness, 3 mm; 23
      phases of 130 milliseconds; 1 full R1 map every 2 minutes). The R1 maps acquired
      during treatment were interleaved with 2 perpendicular proton resonance frequency
      shift (PRFS) MR thermometry slices (dynamic repetition time, 8.6 seconds; FOV,
      250 * 250 mm; 1.4 * 1.4 mm in-plane resolution; 4 mm slice thickness). Tumor
      doxorubicin concentrations were determined fluorometrically. RESULTS: In vitro
      results showed a slight but consistent overestimation of the measured R1 values
      compared with calibrated R1 values, regardless whether the R1 was acquired with
      noninterleaved IR-LL or interleaved. The average treatment cell temperature had a
      slightly higher temporal standard deviation for the interleaved PRFS sequence
      compared with the noninterleaved PRFS sequence (0.186 degrees C vs 0.101 degrees
      C, respectively). The prolonged time in between temperature maps due to the
      interleaved IR-LL sequence did not degrade the temperature stability during MR
      HIFU treatment (Taverage = 40.9 degrees C +/- 0.3 degrees C). Upon heat
      treatment, some tumors showed an R1 increase in a large part of the tumor while
      other tumors hardly showed any DeltaR1. The tumor doxorubicin concentration
      showed a linear correlation with the average DeltaR1 during both sonications (n =
      8, Radj = 0.933), which was higher than for the DeltaR1 measured after tumor
      cooldown (averaged for both sonications, n = 8, Radj = 0.877). CONCLUSIONS: The
      new approach of interleaving different MR sequences was applied to simultaneously
      acquire R1 maps and PRFS thermometry scans during a feedback-controlled MR-HIFU
      induced hyperthermia treatment. Interleaved acquisition did not compromise speed
      or accuracy of each scan. The DeltaR1 acquired during treatment was used to
      visualize and quantify hyperthermia-triggered release of gadoteridol from TSLs
      and better reflected the intratumoral doxorubicin concentrations than the DeltaR1
      measured after cooldown of the tumor, exemplifying the benefit of interleaving R1
      maps with temperature maps during drug delivery. Our study serves as an example
      for interleaved MR acquisition schemes, which introduce a higher flexibility in
      speed, sequence optimization, and timing.

PMID- 28598901
TI  - HIV preexposure prophylaxis for adolescents and young adults.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The review describes the evidence for HIV preexposure
      prophylaxis (PrEP) with daily combined tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and
      emtricitabine for adolescents and young adults. Current recommendations are
      described, as are the unique medical, socioeconomic, and legal considerations
      regarding the use of PrEP for youth. RECENT FINDINGS: PrEP with daily oral
      tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-emtricitabine has been shown to help prevent new
      HIV infection among adults at substantial risk. Evidence suggests a protective
      benefit of PrEP for youth at risk for HIV, although low adherence is emerging as
      a barrier to effective use. SUMMARY: Effective use of antiretrovirals for PrEP
      represents a seminal development in HIV prevention efforts. Improving access and
      adherence to PrEP for youth has the potential to substantially reduce the
      incidence of HIV in this population.

PMID- 28598902
TI  - Child and parent pain catastrophizing and pain from presurgery to 6 weeks
      postsurgery: examination of cross-sectional and longitudinal actor-partner
      effects.
AB  - Child and parent pain catastrophizing are reported preoperative risk factors for
      children's acute and persistent postsurgical pain. This study examined dyadic
      relations between child and parent pain catastrophizing and child and parent
      ratings of child pain prior to (M = 4.01 days; "baseline") and following surgery
      (M = 6.5 weeks; "acute follow-up"), as well changes in pain catastrophizing
      during this time in 167 youth (86% female; Mage = 14.55 years) undergoing spinal
      fusion surgery and 1 parent (89% mothers). Actor-partner interdependence models
      assessed cross-sectional and longitudinal intra- and interpersonal effects. Cross
      sectionally, child pain catastrophizing was positively associated with child pain
      at baseline and acute follow-up (actor effects: betabaseline = 0.288 and
      betafollow-up = 0.262; P < 0.01), and parents' ratings of child pain at baseline
      (partner effect: betabaseline = 0.212; P < 0.01). Parent pain catastrophizing was
      not cross-sectionally associated with ratings of child pain. Longitudinally,
      higher pain catastrophizing at baseline predicted higher pain catastrophizing at
      acute follow-up for children (actor effect: beta = 0.337; P < 0.01) and parents
      (actor effect: beta = 0.579; P < 0.01) with a significantly smaller effect for
      children (respondent * actor interaction: beta = 0.121; P < 0.05). No
      longitudinal partner effects for catastrophizing were observed. Baseline child
      and parent pain catastrophizing did not predict child pain at acute follow-up. In
      conclusion, child, not parent, pain catastrophizing was associated with
      children's pre- and postsurgical pain, and showed significantly less stability
      over time. There is a need to better understand contributors to the stability or
      changeability of pain catastrophizing, the prospective relation of
      catastrophizing to pain, and contexts in which child vs parent pain
      catastrophizing is most influential for pediatric postsurgical pain.

PMID- 28598904
TI  - Deaths and high-risk trauma patients missed by standard trauma data sources.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trauma registries are used to evaluate and improve trauma care, yet
      potentially miss certain trauma deaths and high-risk patients. We estimated the
      number of missed deaths and high-risk trauma patients using commonly available
      sources of trauma data and resulting bias in quality metrics for field trauma
      triage. METHODS: This was a preplanned secondary analysis of a population-based
      prospective cohort of injured patients transported by 44 emergency medical
      services agencies to 28 hospitals in seven Northwest counties from January 1,
      2011 to December 31, 2011 and followed through hospitalization. We used a
      stratified probability sampling design for 17,633 patients, weighted to represent
      all 53,487 injured patients transported by emergency medical services. We
      compared patients meeting National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) criteria (weighted n =
      5,883), all injured patients presenting to major trauma centers (weighted n =
      16,859), and all admitted patients (weighted n = 18,433), to the full sample.
      Outcomes included in-hospital mortality, Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 16 or
      higher, and critical resource use within 24 hours. RESULTS: Among 53,487 injured
      patients, there were 520 emergency department and in-hospital deaths, 1,745 with
      ISS of 16 or higher, and 923 requiring early critical resources. Compared to the
      full cohort, the NTDB cohort missed 62.1% of deaths, 39.2% of patients with ISS
      of 16 or higher, and 23.8% requiring early critical resources, especially older
      adults injured by falls and admitted to nontrauma hospitals. The admission cohort
      missed the fewest patients-23.3% of deaths, 10.5% with an ISS of 16 or higher,
      and 13.1% requiring early resources. Compared to triage sensitivity in the full
      cohort (66.2%), sensitivity estimates ranged from 63.6% (all admissions) to 93.4%
      (NTDB). Compared to triage specificity in the full cohort (87.8%), estimates
      ranged from 36.4% (NTDB) to 77.3% (all admissions). CONCLUSION: Common sources of
      trauma data miss substantial numbers of trauma deaths and high-risk trauma
      patients and can generate biased estimates for trauma system quality metrics.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiologic, level III.

PMID- 28598907
TI  - Treating pain on skin graft donor sites: Review and clinical recommendations.
AB  - Split-thickness skin grafting is the most common reconstructive procedure in
      managing burn injuries. Harvesting split-thickness skin creates a new partial
      thickness wound referred to as the donor site. Pain at the donor site is reported
      to be one of the most distressing symptoms during the early postoperative period.
      Here, we (a) identify strategies for managing donor site pain, (b) assess the
      quality of individual studies, and (c) formulate evidence-based recommendations
      based on the amount and consistency of evidence. Our analysis revealed five
      distinct approaches to minimize donor site pain. These include: continuous
      subcutaneous local anesthetic infusion (three studies), subcutaneous anesthetic
      injection (five studies), topical agents (six studies), nonpharmacological
      interventions (three studies), and wound dressings (18 studies). Available
      randomized control trials typically evaluated pain on standardized scales (i.e.
      Visual Analog Scale, Numerical Rating Scale), and compared the experimental group
      with standard care. Recommended treatments include: (a) subcutaneous anesthetic
      injection of adrenaline-lidocaine; (b) ice application; (c) topical agents, such
      as lidocaine and bupivacaine; and (d) hydrocolloid- and polyurethane-based wound
      dressings accompanied with fibrin sealant. Methodologically sound randomized
      control trials examining the efficacy of modified tumescent solution,
      ropivacaine, plasma therapy, noncontact ultrasound, and morphine gels are lacking
      and should be a priority for future research.

PMID- 28598908
TI  - The rate of deep vein thrombosis doubles in trauma patients with hypercoagulable
      thromboelastography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) in trauma can occur in patients at low
      risk. Conventional coagulation tests do not predict VTE. Studies investigating
      thromboelastography (TEG) for VTE risk are conflicting and have not included
      routine surveillance to detect deep vein thrombosis (DVT). We undertook a
      prospective study of TEG to evaluate its utility in predicting VTE. METHODS: We
      conducted a prospective cohort study on all adult trauma patients admitted to our
      Level I trauma center from 2013 to 2015. TEG was performed immediately on arrival
      to the trauma bay. Hypercoagulable TEG was defined as reaction time (R) below,
      angle (alpha) above, or maximum amplitude (MA) above reference ranges. All
      patients received mechanical and/or pharmacologic prophylaxis and were followed
      up for DVT with our ultrasound surveillance protocol. The primary outcome was
      lower-extremity DVT. After bivariate analysis of variables related to DVT, those
      with p values of 0.100 or less were included for multivariate logistic
      regression. RESULTS: A total of 983 patients were evaluated with TEG on
      admission; of these, 684 (69.6%) received at least one surveillance ultrasound
      during the index admission. Lower-extremity DVT was diagnosed in 99 (14.5%)
      patients. Hypercoagulability based on admission TEG occurred in 582 (85.1%)
      patients. The lower-extremity DVT rate was higher in patients with
      hypercoagulable TEG than in those without hypercoagulable TEG (15.6% vs. 8%; p =
      0.039). Multivariate analysis showed hypercoagulable TEG remained associated with
      DVT after adjustment for relevant covariates available at admission, with an odds
      ratio of 2.41 (95% confidence interval, 1.11-5.24; p = 0.026). CONCLUSION: Most
      trauma patients were hypercoagulable at admission and remained at risk of
      developing DVT. The rate of DVT doubled in patients with hypercoagulable TEG
      indices despite prophylaxis. Beyond its current clinical roles, TEG is useful for
      assessing DVT risk, particularly in patients otherwise perceived to be at low
      risk. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic study, level II.

PMID- 28598906
TI  - Mortality after emergent trauma laparotomy: A multicenter, retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two decades ago, hypotensive trauma patients requiring emergent
      laparotomy had a 40% mortality. In the interim, multiple interventions to
      decrease hemorrhage-related mortality have been implemented but few have any
      documented evidence of change in outcomes for patients requiring emergent
      laparotomy. The purpose of this study was to determine current mortality rates
      for patients undergoing emergent trauma laparotomy. METHODS: A retrospective
      cohort of all adult, emergent trauma laparotomies performed in 2012 to 2013 at 12
      Level I trauma centers was reviewed. Emergent trauma laparotomy was defined as
      emergency department (ED) admission to surgical start time in 90 minutes or less.
      Hypotension was defined as arrival ED systolic blood pressure (SBP) <=90 mm Hg.
      Cause and time to death was also determined. Continuous data are presented as
      median (interquartile range [IQR]). RESULTS: One thousand seven hundred six
      patients underwent emergent trauma laparotomy. The cohort was predominately young
      (31 years; IQR, 24-45), male (84%), sustained blunt trauma (67%), and with
      moderate injuries (Injury Severity Score, 19; IQR, 10-33). The time in ED was 24
      minutes (IQR, 14-39) and time from ED admission to surgical start was 42 minutes
      (IQR, 30-61). The most common procedures were enterectomy (23%), hepatorrhaphy
      (20%), enterorrhaphy (16%), and splenectomy (16%). Damage control laparotomy was
      used in 38% of all patients and 62% of hypotensive patients. The Injury Severity
      Score for the entire cohort was 19 (IQR, 10-33) and 29 (IQR, 18-41) for the
      hypotensive group. Mortality for the entire cohort was 21% with 60% of deaths due
      to hemorrhage. Mortality in the hypotensive group was 46%, with 65% of deaths due
      to hemorrhage. CONCLUSION: Overall mortality rate of a trauma laparotomy is
      substantial (21%) with hemorrhage accounting for 60% of the deaths. The mortality
      rate for hypotensive patients (46%) appears unchanged over the last two decades
      and is even more concerning, with almost half of patients presenting with an SBP
      of 90 mm Hg or less dying.

PMID- 28598910
TI  - Power Training-induced Increases in Muscle Activation during Gait in Old Adults.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: Aging modifies neuromuscular activation of agonist and
      antagonist muscles during walking. Power training can evoke adaptations in
      neuromuscular activation that underlie gains in muscle strength and power but it
      is unknown if these adaptations transfer to dynamic tasks such as walking. We
      examined the effects of lower-extremity power training on neuromuscular
      activation during level gait in old adults. METHODS: Twelve community-dwelling
      old adults (age >= 65 yr) completed a 10-wk lower-extremity power training
      program and 13 old adults completed a 10-wk control period. Before and after the
      interventions, we measured maximal isometric muscle strength and
      electromyographic (EMG) activation of the right knee flexor, knee extensor, and
      plantarflexor muscles on a dynamometer and we measured EMG amplitudes, activation
      onsets and offsets, and activation duration of the knee flexors, knee extensors,
      and plantarflexors during gait at habitual, fast, and standardized (1.25 +/- 0.6
      m.s) speeds. RESULTS: Power training-induced increases in EMG amplitude (~41%;
      0.47 <= d <= 1.47; P <= 0.05) explained 33% (P = 0.049) of increases in isometric
      muscle strength (~43%; 0.34 <= d <= 0.80; P <= 0.05). Power training-induced
      gains in plantarflexor activation during push-off (+11%; d = 0.38; P = 0.045)
      explained 57% (P = 0.004) of the gains in fast gait velocity (+4%; d = 0.31; P =
      0.059). Furthermore, power training increased knee extensor activation (~18%;
      0.26 <= d <= 0.29; P <= 0.05) and knee extensor coactivation during the main knee
      flexor burst (~24%, 0.26 <= d <= 0.44; P <= 0.05) at habitual and fast speed but
      these adaptations did not correlate with changes in gait velocity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Power training increased neuromuscular activation during isometric contractions
      and level gait in old adults. The power training-induced neuromuscular
      adaptations were associated with increases in isometric muscle strength and
      partly with increases in fast gait velocity.

PMID- 28598909
TI  - Cardiorespiratory Reference Data in Older Adults: The Generation 100 Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is regarded a clinical vital sign, and
      accurate reference values for all age groups are essential. Little data exist on
      CRF and cardiorespiratory function in older adults. The aim of this study was to
      provide normative values for CRF and cardiorespiratory function in older adults,
      including people with history of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). METHODS: In
      total, 1537 (769 women) participants age 70 to 77 yr underwent clinical
      examinations and cardiopulmonary exercise tests. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak),
      ventilation (VEpeak), expiration of carbon dioxide (VVCO2peak), breathing
      frequency (BFpeak), tidal volume (VTpeak), oxygen pulse (O2 pulsepeak),
      ventilatory efficiency (EqVO2peak and EqVCO2peak), and 1-min HR recovery were
      assessed. RESULTS: Men compared with women had higher VO2peak (31.3 +/- 6.7 vs
      26.2 +/- 5.0 mL.min.kg), BFpeak (41.8 +/- 8.0 vs 39.7 +/- 7.1 breaths per
      minute), VTpeak (2.3 +/- 0.5 vs 1.6 +/- 0.3), O2 pulsepeak (16.4 +/- 3.2 vs 11.3
      +/- 2.0), VCO2peak (2.9 +/- 0.2 and 1.9 +/- 0.1 L.min), VEpeak (96.2 +/- 21.7 vs
      61.1 +/- 21.6 L.min), EqVO2peak (38.0 +/- 6.9 vs 35.1 +/- 5.6), and EqVCO2peak
      (33.5 +/- 5.7 vs 31.9 +/- 4.5). Women and men with CVD had lower VO2peak (14% and
      19%), peak HR (5% and 6%), VEpeak (8% and 10%), VTpeak (7% and 4%), and lower
      EqVCO2peak (4% and 6%) compared with their healthy counterparts, respectively.
      Compared with healthy women and men, 1-min HR recovery was 12% and 16% lower for
      women and men with CVD. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the largest reference
      material on directly measured CRF and cardiorespiratory function in older men and
      women, with and without CVD. This novel information will help researchers and
      clinicians to interpret data form cardiopulmonary testing in older adults.

PMID- 28598911
TI  - The minimally invasive approach to the symptomatic isthmocele - what does the
      literature say? A step-by-step primer on laparoscopic isthmocele - excision and
      repair.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to understand the minimally
      invasive approach to the excision and repair of an isthmocele. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Previous small trials and case reports have shown that the minimally invasive
      approach by hysteroscopy and/or laparoscopy can cure symptoms of a uterine
      isthmocele, including abnormal bleeding, pelvic pain and secondary infertility. A
      recent larger prospective study has been published that evaluates outcomes of
      minimally invasive isthmocele repair. Smaller studies and individual case reports
      echo the positive results of this larger trial. SUMMARY: The cesarean section
      scar defect, also known as an isthmocele, has become an important diagnosis for
      women who present with abnormal uterine bleeding, pelvic pain and secondary
      infertility. It is important for providers to be aware of the effective surgical
      treatment options for the symptomatic isthmocele. A minimally invasive approach,
      whether it be laparoscopic or hysteroscopic, has proven to be a safe and
      effective option in reducing symptoms and improving fertility. VIDEO ABSTRACT:
      http://links.lww.com/COOG/A37.

PMID- 28598912
TI  - Cardiac Output Measurements Based on the Pulse Wave Transit Time and Thoracic
      Impedance Exhibit Limited Agreement With Thermodilution Method During Orthotopic
      Liver Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is characterized by
      significant intraoperative hemodynamic variability. Accurate and real-time
      cardiac output (CO) monitoring aids clinical decision making during OLT. The
      purpose of this study is to compare accuracy, precision, and trending ability of
      CO estimation obtained noninvasively using pulse wave transit time (estimated
      continuous cardiac output [esCCO; Nihon Kohden, Tokyo, Japan]) or thoracic
      bioimpedance (ICON; Osypka Medical GmbH, Berlin, Germany) to thermodilution
      cardiac output (TDCO) measured with a pulmonary artery catheter. METHODS:
      Nineteen patients undergoing OLT were enrolled. CO measurements were collected
      with esCCO, ICON, and thermodilution at 5 time points: (T1) pulmonary artery
      catheter insertion; (T2) surgical incision; (T3) portal reperfusion; (T4) hepatic
      arterial reperfusion; and (T5) abdominal closure. The results were analyzed with
      Bland-Altman plot, percentage error (the percentage of the difference between the
      CO estimated with the noninvasive monitoring device and CO measured with the
      thermodilution technique), 4-quadrant plot with concordance rate (the percentage
      of the total number of points in the I and III quadrant of the 4-quadrant plot),
      and concordance correlation coefficient (a measure of how well the pairs of
      observations deviate from the 45-degree line of perfect agreement). RESULTS:
      Although TDCO increased at T3-T5, both esCCO and ICON failed to track the changes
      of CO with sufficient accuracy and precision. The mean bias of esCCO and ICON
      compared to TDCO were -2.0 L/min (SD, +/-2.7 L/min) and -3.3 L/min (SD, +/-2.8
      L/min), respectively. The percentage error was 69% for esCCO and 77% for ICON.
      The concordance correlation coefficient was 0.653 (95% confidence interval [CI],
      0.283-0.853) for esCCO and 0.310 (95% CI, -0.167 to 0.669) for ICON. Nonetheless,
      esCCO and ICON exhibited reasonable trending ability of TDCO (concordance rate:
      95% [95% CI, 88-100] and 100% [95% CI, 93-100]), respectively. The mean bias was
      correlated with systemic vascular resistance (SVR) and arterial elastance (Ea)
      for esCCO (SVR, r = 0.610, 95% CI, 0.216-0.833, P < .0001; Ea, r = 0.692, 95% CI,
      0.347-0.872; P < .0001) and ICON (SVR, r = 0.573, 95% CI, 0.161-0.815, P < .0001;
      Ea, r = 0.612, 95% CI, 0.219-0.834, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: The noninvasive CO
      estimation with esCCO and ICON exhibited limited accuracy and precision, despite
      with reasonable trending ability, when compared to TDCO, during OLT. The
      inaccuracy of esCCO and ICON is especially large when SVR and Ea were decreased
      during the neohepatic phase. Further refinement of the technology is desirable
      before noninvasive techniques can replace TDCO during OLT.

PMID- 28598913
TI  - Xenon as an Adjuvant to Propofol Anesthesia in Patients Undergoing Off-Pump
      Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Clinical
      Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Xenon was shown to cause less hemodynamic instability and reduce
      vasopressor needs during off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery when
      compared with conventionally used anesthetics. As xenon exerts its organ
      protective properties even in subanesthetic concentrations, we hypothesized that
      in patients undergoing OPCAB surgery, 30% xenon added to general anesthesia with
      propofol results in superior hemodynamic stability when compared to anesthesia
      with propofol alone. METHODS: Fifty patients undergoing elective OPCAB surgery
      were randomized to receive general anesthesia with 30% xenon adjuvant to a target
      controlled infusion of propofol or with propofol alone. The primary end point was
      the total intraoperative dose of norepinephrine required to maintain an
      intraoperative mean arterial pressure >70 mm Hg. Secondary outcomes included the
      perioperative cardiorespiratory profile and the incidence of adverse and serious
      adverse events. RESULTS: Adding xenon to propofol anesthesia resulted in a
      significant reduction of norepinephrine required to attain the predefined
      hemodynamic goals (cumulative intraoperative dose: median [interquartile range]:
      370 [116-570] vs 840 [335-1710] ug, P = .001). In the xenon-propofol group,
      significantly less propofol was required to obtain a similar depth of anesthesia
      as judged by clinical signs and the bispectral index (propofol effect site
      concentration [mean +/- SD]: 1.8 +/- 0.5 vs 2.8 +/- 0.3 mg, P<= .0001). Moreover,
      the xenon-propofol group required significantly less norepinephrine during the
      first 24 hours on the intensive care unit (median [interquartile range]: 1.5 [0.1
      7] vs 5 [2-8] mg, P = .048). Other outcomes and safety parameters were similar in
      both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty percent xenon added to propofol anesthesia
      improves hemodynamic stability by decreasing norepinephrine requirements in
      patients undergoing OPCAB surgery.

PMID- 28598914
TI  - Perioperative Temperature Measurement Considerations Relevant to Reporting
      Requirements for National Quality Programs Using Data From Anesthesia Information
      Management Systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perioperative hypothermia may increase the incidences of wound
      infection, blood loss, transfusion, and cardiac morbidity. US national quality
      programs for perioperative normothermia specify the presence of at least 1 "body
      temperature" >=35.5 degrees C during the interval from 30 minutes before to 15
      minutes after the anesthesia end time. Using data from 4 academic hospitals, we
      evaluated timing and measurement considerations relevant to the current
      requirements to guide hospitals wishing to report perioperative temperature
      measures using electronic data sources. METHODS: Anesthesia information
      management system databases from 4 hospitals were queried to obtain
      intraoperative temperatures and intervals to the anesthesia end time from
      discontinuation of temperature monitoring, end of surgery, and extubation.
      Inclusion criteria included age >16 years, use of a tracheal tube or supraglottic
      airway, and case duration >=60 minutes. The end-of-case temperature was
      determined as the maximum intraoperative temperature recorded within 30 minutes
      before the anesthesia end time (ie, the temperature that would be used for
      reporting purposes). The fractions of cases with intervals >30 minutes between
      the last intraoperative temperature and the anesthesia end time were determined.
      RESULTS: Among the hospitals, averages (binned by quarters) of 34.5% to 59.5% of
      cases had intraoperative temperature monitoring discontinued >30 minutes before
      the anesthesia end time. Even if temperature measurement had been continued until
      extubation, averages of 5.9% to 20.8% of cases would have exceeded the allowed 30
      minute window. Averages of 8.9% to 21.3% of cases had end-of-case intraoperative
      temperatures <35.5 degrees C (ie, a quality measure failure). CONCLUSIONS:
      Because of timing considerations, a substantial fraction of cases would have been
      ineligible to use the end-of-case intraoperative temperature for national quality
      program reporting. Thus, retrieval of postanesthesia care unit temperatures would
      have been necessary. A substantive percentage of cases had end-of-case
      intraoperative temperatures below the 35.5 degrees C threshold, also requiring
      postoperative measurement to determine whether the quality measure was satisfied.
      Institutions considering reporting national quality measures for perioperative
      normothermia should consider the technical and logistical issues identified to
      achieve a high level of compliance based on the specified regulatory language.

PMID- 28598915
TI  - Anesthetic and Obstetric Management of Syringomyelia During Labor and Delivery: A
      Case Series and Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Syringomyelia is a rare, slowly progressive neurological condition
      characterized by the presence of a syrinx within the spinal cord. Consensus
      regarding the safest mode of delivery and anesthetic management in patients with
      syringomyelia remains controversial and presents management dilemmas. This study
      reviews the cases of syringomyelia at our institution and provides a systematic
      review of the literature to guide decisions regarding labor and delivery
      management. METHODS: A retrospective review of cases at our hospital from 2002 to
      2014 and a systematic review of the literature from 1946 to 2014 were undertaken.
      Hospital records and electronic databases were interrogated using International
      Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes and the keywords "syringomyelia,"
      "syringobulbia," and "pregnancy." Data regarding demographics, diagnosis,
      radiology reports, neurological symptoms, mode of delivery, anesthetic
      management, and maternal-fetal outcomes were collected. RESULTS: We collected and
      analyzed data on a total of 43 pregnancies in 39 patients. The most common
      location for syrinx was in the cervicothoracic region (41.9%). The large majority
      of patients (n = 34; 87%) demonstrated signs and symptoms associated with
      syringomyelia before delivery. Syringomyelia associated with Arnold Chiari
      malformation was documented in 49% (n = 21) cases. General anesthesia was the
      most commonly used (n = 21/30, 70%) anesthetic technique for cesarean delivery.
      The majority (n = 9/13, 69%) of patients had an epidural sited for labor
      analgesia. There were no maternal or neonatal complications associated with
      neuraxial anesthesia; however, 3 cases (14%) raised concerns regarding general
      anesthesia including difficult intubation, transient worsening of neurological
      symptoms postpartum, and prolonged muscle paralysis after atracurium.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite concerns regarding aggravation of the syrinx with vaginal
      delivery, this mode of delivery has never caused any documented long-term
      worsening of neurological condition. All techniques of anesthesia have been
      performed successfully without major lasting complications. All cases necessitate
      patient counseling and individualized multidisciplinary involvement to ensure
      maternal safety.

PMID- 28598917
TI  - Improving Performance by Monitoring the Success Rate of Peripheral Nerve Blocks.
AB  - In our hospital, we introduced a system to measure the collective and individual
      efficacy of brachial plexus and popliteal nerve blocks with the objective to
      create transparency as an instrument for monitoring and improvement. Initially,
      individual results were anonymous, but after 1 year anonymity was lifted within
      the team of anesthesiologists and results are now discussed quarterly. Collective
      performance of interscalene, supraclavicular, and popliteal blocks improved
      significantly over time. Sharing and discussing collective and individual
      performance has resulted in critical self-appraisal and increased willingness to
      learn from each other and strengthened the team's ambition for further
      improvement.

PMID- 28598916
TI  - Protective Lung Ventilation and Morbidity After Pulmonary Resection: A Propensity
      Score-Matched Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Protective lung ventilation (PLV) during one-lung ventilation (OLV)
      for thoracic surgery is frequently recommended to reduce pulmonary complications.
      However, limited outcome data exist on whether PLV use during OLV is associated
      with less clinically relevant pulmonary morbidity after lung resection. METHODS:
      Intraoperative data were prospectively collected in 1080 patients undergoing
      pulmonary resection with OLV, intentional crystalloid restriction, and mechanical
      ventilation to maintain inspiratory peak airway pressure <30 cm H2O. Other
      ventilator settings and all aspects of anesthetic management were at the
      discretion of the anesthesia care team. We defined PLV and non-PLV as <8 or >=8
      mL/kg (predicted body weight) mean tidal volume. The primary outcome was the
      occurrence of pneumonia and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
      Propensity score matching was used to generate PLV and non-PLV groups with
      comparable characteristics. Associations between outcomes and PLV status were
      analyzed by exact logistic regression, with matching as cluster in the anatomic
      and nonanatomic lung resection cohorts. RESULTS: In the propensity score-matched
      analysis, the incidence of pneumonia and/or ARDS among patients who had an
      anatomic lung resection was 9/172 (5.2%) in the non-PLV compared to the PLV group
      7/172 (4.1%; odds ratio, 1.29; 95% confidence interval, 0.48-3.45, P= .62). The
      incidence of pneumonia and/or ARDS in patients who underwent nonanatomic
      resection was 3/118 (2.5%) in the non-PLV compared to the PLV group, 1/118 (0.9%;
      odds ratio, 3.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.31-28.84, P= .34). CONCLUSIONS: In
      this prospective observational study, we found no differences in the incidence of
      pneumonia and/or ARDS between patients undergoing lung resection with tidal
      volumes <8 or >=8 mL/kg. Our data suggest that when fluid restriction and peak
      airway pressures are limited, the clinical impact of PLV in this patient
      population is small. Future randomized trials are needed to better understand the
      benefits of a small tidal volume strategy during OLV on clinically important
      outcomes.

PMID- 28598918
TI  - Falls From the O.R. or Procedure Table.
AB  - Patient safety secured by constant vigilance remains a primary responsibility of
      every anesthesia professional. Although significant attention has been focused on
      patient falls occurring before and after surgery, a potentially catastrophic
      complication is when patients fall off an operating room or procedure table
      during anesthesia care. Because such events are (fortunately) uncommon, and
      because very little information is published in our literature, we queried 2
      independent closed claims databases (the American Society of Anesthesiologists
      Closed Claims Project and the secure records of a private, anesthesia specialty
      specific liability insurer) for information. We acquired documentation of patient
      events where a fall occurred during anesthesia care, noting the surrounding
      conditions of the provider, the patient, and the environment at the time of the
      event. We identified 21 claims (1.2% of cases) from the American Society of
      Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project, while information from a private
      liability insurer identified falls in only 0.07% of cases. The percentage of
      these patients under general, regional, or monitored anesthesia care anesthesia
      was 71.5%, 19.5%, and 9.5%, respectively. To educate personnel about these
      uncommon events, we summarized this cohort with illustrative examples in a series
      of mini-case reports, noting that both inpatients and outpatients undergoing a
      broad array of procedures with various anesthetic techniques within and outside
      operating rooms may be vulnerable to patient falls. Based on detailed reports, we
      created 2 supplementary videos to further illuminate some of the unique
      mechanisms by which these events and their resulting injuries occur. When such
      information was available, we also noted the associated liability costs of
      defending and settling malpractice claims associated with these events. Our goal
      is to inform anesthesia and perioperative personnel about the common patient,
      provider, and environmental risk factors that appear to contribute to these
      mishaps, and suggest key strategies to mitigate the risks.

PMID- 28598919
TI  - Cardiorespiratory Alterations Following Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution in a
      Pediatric and an Adult Porcine Model: A Prospective Interventional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) is considered as a blood
      sparing intervention during the perioperative management. We aimed at comparing
      the cardiopulmonary consequences of ANH between adult pigs and weaned piglets to
      establish the effects of lowering hematocrit in these age groups, and thereby
      testing the hypothesis that difference in the age-related physiological behavior
      will be reflected in the cardiorespiratory changes following ANH. METHODS: ANH
      was achieved in anesthetized, mechanically ventilated adult minipigs and 5-week
      old weaned piglets by stepwise blood withdrawal (10 mL/kg) with crystalloids
      replacement. Cardiorespiratory assessments consisted of measuring airway
      resistance, respiratory tissue elastance, effective lung volume, extravascular
      lung water, mean arterial pressure, pulmonary blood flow, and cardiac output.
      Respiratory and hemodynamic measurements were made at control conditions and
      following each ANH condition obtained with 5 to 7 steps. RESULTS: ANH induced
      immediate and progressive increases in airway resistance and tissue elastance in
      both groups, with more pronounced worsening in adults despite the similar
      decreases in hematocrit. The increases in extravascular lung water were
      significantly greater in the adult population with the differences in mean (DM)
      of 25.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.3%-44.9%). Progressive ANH led to
      significant decreases in the DM of pulmonary blood flow (45.3%; 95% CI, 19.8%
      70.8%) and mean arterial pressure (36.3%; 95% CI, 18.7%-53.9%) only in adults,
      whereas cardiac output increased significantly only in the piglets (DM, 51.6; 95%
      CI, 14.2%-89.0%). CONCLUSIONS: While ANH led to mild detrimental
      cardiorespiratory changes in weaned piglets, gradual developments of
      bronchoconstriction, lung tissue extravasation and stiffening, and deteriorations
      in systemic and pulmonary hemodynamics were observed in adults. ANH may exert age
      dependent cardiorespiratory effect.

PMID- 28598920
TI  - Aerosolized Vasodilators for the Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in Cardiac
      Surgical Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In cardiac surgery, pulmonary hypertension is an important prognostic
      factor for which several treatments have been suggested over time. In this
      systematic review and meta-analysis, we compared the efficacy of inhaled
      aerosolized vasodilators to intravenously administered agents and to placebo in
      the treatment of pulmonary hypertension during cardiac surgery. We searched
      MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, Web of Science, and clinicaltrials.gov databases from
      inception to October 2015. The incidence of mortality was assessed as the primary
      outcome. Secondary outcomes included length of stay in hospital and in the
      intensive care unit, and evaluation of the hemodynamic profile. METHODS: Of the
      2897 citations identified, 10 studies were included comprising a total of 434
      patients. RESULTS: Inhaled aerosolized agents were associated with a significant
      decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance (-41.36 dyne.s/cm, P= .03) and a
      significant increase in mean arterial pressure (8.24 mm Hg, P= .02) and right
      ventricular ejection fraction (7.29%, P< .0001) when compared to intravenously
      administered agents. No significant hemodynamically meaningful differences were
      observed between inhaled agents and placebo; however, an increase in length of
      stay in the intensive care unit was shown with the use of inhaled aerosolized
      agents (0.66 days, P= .01). No other differences were observed for either
      comparison. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of inhaled aerosolized vasodilators
      for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension during cardiac surgery is associated
      with improved right ventricular performance when compared to intravenously
      administered agents. This review does not support any benefit compared to placebo
      on major outcomes. Further investigation is warranted in this area of research
      and should focus on clinically significant outcomes.

PMID- 28598922
TI  - Retrograde Type B Aortic Dissection Caused by Intraaortic Balloon
      Counterpulsation.

PMID- 28598921
TI  - Virtual Reality as an Adjunctive Nonpharmacological Sedative During Orthopedic
      Surgery Under Regional Anesthesia: A Pilot and Feasibility Study.
AB  - This pilot study assessed the feasibility and potential for any possible sedation
      sparing effect of immersive virtual reality (IVR) therapy on patients undergoing
      joint replacement surgery under regional anesthesia. Nine participants were given
      IVR, regional anesthetic, and sedation. Ten received conventional care. Mean
      propofol usage was 155 +/- 45 mg/h in the conventional care group and 63 +/- 21
      mg/h in the IVR group (P = .088, mean difference -91.6 mg/h, 95% confidence
      interval, -200 to 16.87 mg/h). There was no significant difference in
      postoperative satisfaction between the 2 groups. This pilot study demonstrates
      that it is possible to safely provide IVR in an operating theater environment and
      may confer a sedation sparing effect. A larger, more powered, and randomized
      study is needed to assess this effect.

PMID- 28598923
TI  - Readmissions to Different Hospitals After Common Surgical Procedures and
      Consequences for Implementation of Perioperative Surgical Home Programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We consider whether there should be greater priority of information
      sharing about postacute surgical resources used: (1) at skilled nursing
      facilities or inpatient rehabilitation hospitals to which patients are
      transferred upon discharge (when applicable) versus (2) at different hospitals
      where readmissions occur. Obtaining and storing data electronically from these 2
      sources for Perioperative Surgical Home initiatives are dissimilar; both can be
      challenging depending on the country and health system. METHODS: Using the 2013
      US Nationwide Readmissions Database, we studied discharges of surgical diagnosis
      related group (DRG) with US national median length of stay (LOS) >= 3 days and >=
      10 hospitals each with >= 100 discharges for the Medicare Severity DRG. RESULTS:
      Nationwide, 16.15% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.14%-17.22%) of discharges
      were with a disposition of "not to home" (ie, transfer to a skilled nursing
      facility or an inpatient rehabilitation hospital). Within 30 days, 0.88% of
      discharges (0.82%-0.95%) were followed by readmission and to a different hospital
      than the original hospital where the surgery was performed. Among all discharges,
      disposition "not to home" versus "to home" was associated with greater odds that
      the patient would have readmission within 30 days and to a different hospital
      than where the surgery was performed (2.11, 95% CI, 1.96-2.27; P < .0001). In
      part, this was because disposition "not to home" was associated with greater odds
      of readmission to any hospital (1.90, 95% CI, 1.82-1.98; P < .0001). In addition,
      among the subset of discharges with readmission within 30 days, disposition "not
      to home" versus "to home" was associated with greater odds that the readmission
      was to a different hospital than where the surgery was performed (1.20, 95% CI,
      1.11-1.31; P < .0001). There was no association between the hospitals' median LOS
      for the DRG and the odds that readmission was to a different hospital (P = .82).
      The odds ratio per each 1 day decrease in the hospital median LOS was 1.01 (95%
      CI, 0.91-1.12). CONCLUSIONS: Departments and hospitals wishing to demonstrate the
      value of their Perioperative Surgical Home initiatives, or to calculate risk
      assumption contracts, should ensure that their informatics priorities include
      obtaining accurate data on resource use at postacute care facilities such as
      skilled nursing facilities. Although approximately a quarter of readmissions are
      to different hospitals than where surgery was performed, provided that is
      recognized, obtaining those missing data is of less importance.

PMID- 28598924
TI  - Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta: Principles, Initial
      Clinical Experience, and Considerations for the Anesthesiologist.
AB  - Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is an
      endovascular technique that allows for temporary occlusion of the aorta in
      patients with severe, life-threatening, trauma-induced noncompressible hemorrhage
      arising below the diaphragm. REBOA utilizes a transfemoral balloon catheter
      inserted in a retrograde fashion into the aorta to provide inflow control and
      support blood pressure until definitive hemostasis can be achieved. Initial
      retrospective and registry clinical data in the trauma surgical literature
      demonstrate improvement in systolic blood pressure with balloon inflation and
      improved survival compared to open aortic cross-clamping via resuscitative
      thoracotomy. However, there are no significant reports of anesthetic implications
      and perioperative management in this challenging cohort. In this narrative, we
      review the principles, technique, and logistics of REBOA deployment, as well as
      initial clinical outcome data from our level-1 American College of Surgeons
      verified trauma center. For anesthesiologists who may not yet be familiar with
      REBOA, we make several suggestions and recommendations for intraoperative
      management based on extrapolation from these initial surgical-based reports,
      opinions from a team with increasing experience, and translated experience from
      emergency aortic vascular surgical procedures. Further prospective data will be
      necessary to conclusively guide anesthetic management, especially as potential
      complications and implications for global organ function, including cerebral and
      renal, are recognized and described.

PMID- 28598925
TI  - Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty: A Concern of Anesthesiologists.

PMID- 28598926
TI  - Enhancing Feedback on Professionalism and Communication Skills in Anesthesia
      Residency Programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite its importance, training faculty to provide feedback to
      residents remains challenging. We hypothesized that, overall, at 4 institutions,
      a faculty development program on providing feedback on professionalism and
      communication skills would lead to (1) an improvement in the quantity, quality,
      and utility of feedback and (2) an increase in feedback containing
      negative/constructive feedback and pertaining to professionalism/communication.
      As secondary analyses, we explored these outcomes at the individual institutions.
      METHODS: In this prospective cohort study (October 2013 to July 2014), we
      implemented a video-based educational program on feedback at 4 institutions.
      Feedback records from 3 months before to 3 months after the intervention were
      rated for quality (0-5), utility (0-5), and whether they had
      negative/constructive feedback and/or were related to
      professionalism/communication. Feedback records during the preintervention,
      intervention, and postintervention periods were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis
      and chi tests. Data are reported as median (interquartile range) or
      proportion/percentage. RESULTS: A total of 1926 feedback records were rated. The
      institutions overall did not have a significant difference in feedback quantity
      (preintervention: 855/3046 [28.1%]; postintervention: 896/3327 [26.9%]; odds
      ratio: 1.06; 95% confidence interval, 0.95-1.18; P = .31), feedback quality
      (preintervention: 2 [1-4]; intervention: 2 [1-4]; postintervention: 2 [1-4]; P =
      .90), feedback utility (preintervention: 1 [1-3]; intervention: 2 [1-3];
      postintervention: 1 [1-2]; P = .61), or percentage of feedback records containing
      negative/constructive feedback (preintervention: 27%; intervention: 32%;
      postintervention: 25%; P = .12) or related to professionalism/communication
      (preintervention: 23%; intervention: 33%; postintervention: 24%; P = .03).
      Institution 1 had a significant difference in feedback quality (preintervention:
      2 [1-3]; intervention: 3 [2-4]; postintervention: 3 [2-4]; P = .001) and utility
      (preintervention: 1 [1-3]; intervention: 2 [1-3]; postintervention: 2 [1-4]; P =
      .008). Institution 3 had a significant difference in the percentage of feedback
      records containing negative/constructive feedback (preintervention: 16%;
      intervention: 28%; postintervention: 17%; P = .02). Institution 2 had a
      significant difference in the percentage of feedback records related to
      professionalism/communication (preintervention: 26%; intervention: 57%;
      postintervention: 31%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: We detected no overall changes but
      did detect different changes at each institution despite the identical
      intervention. The intervention may be more effective with new faculty and/or
      smaller discussion sessions. Future steps include refining the rating system,
      exploring ways to sustain changes, and investigating other factors contributing
      to feedback quality and utility.

PMID- 28598927
TI  - Intraoperative "Analgesia Nociception Index"-Guided Fentanyl Administration
      During Sevoflurane Anesthesia in Lumbar Discectomy and Laminectomy: A Randomized
      Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The "Analgesia Nociception Index" (ANI; MetroDoloris Medical Systems,
      Lille, France) is a proposed noninvasive guide to analgesia derived from an
      electrocardiogram trace. ANI is scaled from 0 to 100; with previous studies
      suggesting that values >=50 can indicate adequate analgesia. This clinical trial
      was designed to investigate the effect of intraoperative ANI-guided fentanyl
      administration on postoperative pain, under anesthetic conditions optimized for
      ANI functioning. METHODS: Fifty patients aged 18 to 75 years undergoing lumbar
      discectomy or laminectomy were studied. Participants were randomly allocated to
      receive intraoperative fentanyl guided either by the anesthesiologist's standard
      clinical practice (control group) or by maintaining ANI >=50 with boluses of
      fentanyl at 5-minute intervals (ANI group). A standardized anesthetic regimen
      (sevoflurane, rocuronium, and nonopioid analgesia) was utilized for both groups.
      The primary outcome was Numerical Rating Scale pain scores recorded from 0 to 90
      minutes of recovery room stay. Secondary outcomes included those in the recovery
      room period (total fentanyl administration, nausea, vomiting, shivering, airway
      obstruction, respiratory depression, sedation, emergence time, and time spent in
      the recovery room) and in the intraoperative period (total fentanyl
      administration, intraoperative-predicted fentanyl effect-site concentrations over
      time [CeFent], the correlation between ANI and predicted CeFent and the incidence
      of movement). Statistical analysis was performed with 2-tailed Student t tests,
      chi tests, ordinal logistic generalized estimating equation models, and linear
      mixed-effects models. Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons were made
      for primary and secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Over the recovery room period (0-90
      minutes) Numerical Rating Scale pain scores were on average 1.3 units lower in
      ANI group compared to the control group (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.4 to
      2.4; P= .01). Patients in the ANI group additionally had 64% lower recovery room
      total fentanyl administration (95% CI, -12% to 85%; P= .44, unadjusted P= .026),
      82% lower nausea scores (95% CI, -19% to 96%; P= .43, unadjusted P= .03), and a
      reduced incidence of shivering (ANI 4%, control 27%, P= .80, unadjusted P= .047)
      compared to the control group. Intraoperatively, ANI group patients had on
      average 27% higher predicted CeFent levels during the highly nociceptive periods
      of intubation and first incision (5-30 minutes) compared with control group
      patients (95% CI, 3%-57%; P= .51, unadjusted P= .03). For a 1-unit decrease in
      ANI scores, predicted CeFent on average increased by an estimated 1.98% in the
      ANI group (95% CI, 1.7%-2.26%; P< .0001) and 1.08% in the control group (95% CI,
      0.76%-1.39%; P< .0001). This correlation was significantly different between
      groups (0.9%, 95% CI, 0.5%-1.3%; P< .0001). Recovery room vomiting, airway
      obstruction, respiratory depression, sedation, emergence time, time spent in the
      recovery room as well as total intraoperative fentanyl administration, hypnotic
      parameters, and incidence of intraoperative movement were not different between
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients receiving intraoperative ANI-guided fentanyl
      administration during sevoflurane anesthesia for lumbar discectomy and
      laminectomy demonstrated decreased pain in the recovery room, likely as a result
      of more objective intraoperative fentanyl administration.

PMID- 28598929
TI  - Association of Job Stressors With Panic Attack and Panic Disorder in a Working
      Population in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate associations of job stressors with
      panic attack (PA) and panic disorder (PD) among Japanese workers. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was conducted of 2060 workers. Job
      strain, effort/reward imbalance, and workplace social support were measured by
      the job content questionnaire and effort/reward imbalance questionnaire. These
      variables were classified into tertiles. PA/PD were measured by self-report based
      on the mini international neuropsychiatric interview (MINI). Multiple logistic
      regression was conducted, adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and health
      related covariates. RESULTS: Data from 1965 participants were analyzed. Adjusted
      odds ratio (OR) of PA/PD was significantly greater for the group with high
      effort/reward imbalance compared with the group with low effort/reward imbalance
      (ORs, 2.64 and 2.94, respectively, both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study found
      effort/reward imbalance was associated with having PA/PD among Japanese workers.

PMID- 28598928
TI  - Occupation and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains a prevalent condition, but its
      occupational burden is unclear. We carried out a systematic review to
      characterize the consistency and magnitude of occupational associations with OSA.
      METHODS: We studied OSA within three occupational categories: commercial drivers,
      organic solvent-exposed workers, other selected occupations. We performed a meta
      analysis on the prevalence of OSA among drivers and the risk of OSA associated
      with solvent exposure. RESULTS: The pooled OSA prevalence in drivers was 41% (95%
      confidence interval [CI] 26% to 56%) for apnea hypopnea-index (AHI) is greater
      than 5, and 15% (95% CI 12% to 19%) for AHI is greater than 15. Exposure to
      solvents was associated with increased but non-statistically significant risk of
      OSA: summary relative risk, 2.38 (95% CI 0.89 to 6.32). Evidence of occupational
      association was inconsistent for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: OSA is common among
      commercial drivers and potentially associated with occupations involving likely
      solvent exposure.

PMID- 28598930
TI  - Health Care Personnel Perception of the Privacy of Electronic Health Records.
AB  - : : Health care facilities are increasingly converting paper medical records to
      electronic health records. This study investigates the perception of privacy
      health care personnel have of electronic health records. METHODS: A pilot tested,
      anonymous survey was administered to a convenience sample of health care
      personnel. Standard summary statistics and Chi-square analysis were used to
      assess differences in perception. RESULTS: Of the 93% (96/103) who responded, 65%
      were female and 43% white. The mean age was 44.3 years. Most (94%) felt that
      Medical Record privacy was important and one-third reported they would not seek
      care at their workplace if Electronic Health Records were used. CONCLUSION:
      Efforts to assure and communicate the integrity of electronic health records are
      essential toward reducing deterrents for health care personnel to access
      geographically convenient and timely health care.

PMID- 28598931
TI  - Distinct Clinical Phenotypes of Occupational Asthma due to Diisocyanates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether diisocyanate occupational asthma represents a unique
      phenotype. METHODS: We studied 187 patients with diagnosis of asthma due to
      diisocyanates confirmed by a positive specific inhalation challenge. The
      simplified algorithm from severe asthma research program (SARP) (Moore et al,
      2010) was applied to classify patients into five clusters. RESULTS: Our patients
      were allocated in three of the five clusters described in common asthma, since
      the most severe Clusters (4 and 5) were not represented. Cluster 2 was the most
      populated, as in common asthma, and included the youngest patients with the
      shortest duration of exposure to the sensitizers. Cluster 3 included older men
      patients with worse lung function and longer occupational exposure. CONCLUSIONS:
      Diisocyanate asthma is a heterogeneous disease. Differences across clusters
      include demographic characteristics, lung function, and chronology of
      diisocyanate exposure.

PMID- 28598932
TI  - Diagnostic Accuracy of the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun): A Method to
      Detect Workers Who Have Health Problems Affecting their Work and to Evaluate
      Fitness for Work.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the Work Functioning
      Impairment Scale (WFun), a questionnaire to detect workers with health problems
      which affect their work, using an assessment by an occupational health nurse as
      objective standard. METHODS: The WFun was completed by 294 employees. The nurse
      interviewed to assess 1) health problems; 2) effects of health on their work;
      necessity for 3) treatment, 4) health care instruction, and 5) consideration of
      job accommodation. RESULTS: The odds ratio in the high work functioning
      impairment group compared with the low was highly statistically significant with
      9.05, 10.26, 5.77, 9.37, and 14.70, respectively. The WFun demonstrated the high
      detectability with an area under the receiver operating characteristic of 0.75,
      0.81, 0.72, 0.79, and 0.83, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that
      the WFun is useful in detecting those who have health problems affecting their
      work.

PMID- 28598934
TI  - Feasibility and Utility of Lexical Analysis for Occupational Health Text.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Assess feasibility and potential utility of natural language
      processing (NLP) for storing and analyzing occupational health data. METHODS:
      Basic NLP lexical analysis methods were applied to 89,000 Mine Safety and Health
      Administration (MSHA) free text records. Steps included tokenization, term and co
      occurrence counts, term annotation, and identifying exposure-health effect
      relationships. Presence of terms in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS)
      was assessed. RESULTS: The methods efficiently demonstrated common exposures,
      health effects, and exposure-injury relationships. Many workplace terms are not
      present in UMLS or map inaccurately. CONCLUSIONS: Use of free text rather than
      narrowly defined numerically coded fields is feasible, flexible, and efficient.
      It has potential to encourage workers and clinicians to provide more data and to
      support automated knowledge creation. The lexical method used is easily
      generalizable to other areas. The UMLS vocabularies should be enhanced to be
      relevant to occupational health.

PMID- 28598933
TI  - Evaluation of a Workplace Exercise Program for Control of Shoulder Disorders in
      Overhead Assembly Work.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess effects of exercise on shoulder
      musculoskeletal symptoms among employees with overhead assembly work exposures.
      METHODS: A voluntary workplace shoulder exercise program was offered to employees
      in two automotive assembly departments, while two similar departments served as
      controls. N = 76 total workers participated. Shoulder Rating Questionnaire (SRQ)
      and Discomfort of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH) symptoms were queried monthly
      for 7 baseline months, followed by 6 months that included exercise. RESULTS: SRQ
      scores were higher for exercisers than among controls in the 6 exercising months,
      but not in the baseline months. Although the group x month interaction was
      significant (P < 0.05), the temporal trend was inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS:
      Exercise may have temporarily lessened decline in SRQ. It is not clear whether
      shorter term differences were clinically meaningful or predictive of longer term
      disability prevention.

PMID- 28598937
TI  - Increasing Severity of Pneumoconiosis Among Younger Former US Coal Miners Working
      Exclusively Under Modern Dust-Control Regulations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) steadily declined among US miners
      following dust control regulations in 1970. In 2000, severe forms of this disease
      reemerged among young miners, and are well described among working-but not former
      miners. METHODS: Black lung benefits program (BLBP) data (2001 to 2013) were used
      to estimate respiratory disease burden among former miners including: (1) CWP
      (simple; advanced CWP, and progressive massive fibrosis [CWP/PMF]); and (2)
      respiratory impairment (FEV1 percent reference: mild, moderate, >=moderately
      severe). RESULTS: Among 24,686 claimants, 8.5% had advanced CWP/PMF; prevalence
      was highest among younger (less than or equal to 56 years: 10.8%) and older
      (greater than 70 years: 8.4%) miners and those who began work after versus before
      1970 (8.3% vs. 4.0%). CONCLUSIONS: BLBP claims provide potentially useful data
      for monitoring the burden and severity of coal mine dust lung disease, and
      assessing efficacy of protective regulations.

PMID- 28598938
TI  - Construct Validity and Scoring Methods of the World Health Organization: Health
      and Work Performance Questionnaire Among Workers With Arthritis and
      Rheumatological Conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate construct validity and scoring methods of the world health
      organization-health and work performance questionnaire (HPQ) for people with
      arthritis. METHODS: Construct validity was examined through hypothesis testing
      using the recommended guidelines of the consensus-based standards for the
      selection of health measurement instruments (COSMIN). RESULTS: The HPQ using the
      absolute scoring method showed moderate construct validity as four of the seven
      hypotheses were met. The HPQ using the relative scoring method had weak construct
      validity as only one of the seven hypotheses were met. CONCLUSION: The absolute
      scoring method for the HPQ is superior in construct validity to the relative
      scoring method in assessing work performance among people with arthritis and
      related rheumatic conditions; however, more research is needed to further explore
      other psychometric properties of the HPQ.

PMID- 28598940
TI  - The Personal Physician's Role in Helping Patients With Medical Conditions Stay at
      Work or Return to Work.

PMID- 28598939
TI  - Impact of Occupational Injuries on Nonworkers' Compensation Medical Costs of
      Patient-Care Workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the extent to which work-related
      injuries contribute to medical expenditures paid for by group health insurance.
      METHODS: Administrative data on OSHA recordable injuries spanning 2010 to 2013
      were obtained for female patient care workers (n = 2495). Expenditures were
      aggregated group health insurance claims for 3 and 6-month periods before/after
      injury. Group health insurance plan type, age group, and job category were
      control variables. RESULTS: Being injured is associated with the odds of having
      expenditures at both 3 months, odds ratio (OR) 2.17 [95% confidence interval (95%
      CI) 1.61 to 2.92], and 6 months, 2.95 (95% CI 1.96 to 4.45). Injury was
      associated with $275 of additional expenditures (95% CI $38 to $549) over 3
      months and $587 of additional expenditures (95% CI $167 to $1140) over 6 months.
      CONCLUSIONS: Injury was associated with increased odds of positive expenditures
      and increased expenditures paid for by group health insurance.

PMID- 28598941
TI  - Is it Allowable to Subject Pregnant Employees to Fitness-for-duty Evaluations if
      There is a Question as to Whether They can Continue to do Their Job?

PMID- 28598942
TI  - Descriptive Study on Musculoskeletal Disorders Among "Fromagers" (Workers of
      Cheese Shops) and Their Risk Factors.

PMID- 28598943
TI  - Mosquito Control Practices and Zika Knowledge Among Outdoor Construction Workers:
      A Comment.

PMID- 28598944
TI  - Response to Comment on Mosquito Control Practices and Zika Knowledge Among
      Outdoor Construction Workers: A Comment.

PMID- 28598945
TI  - Long-Term Outcomes of Pediatric Cardiac Patients Supported by Extracorporeal
      Membrane Oxygenation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is an important form of short-term
      mechanical support in children with cardiac disease, but information on long-term
      outcomes and quality of life is limited. The primary objective of this study was
      to determine the long-term outcomes of children previously supported by
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiac etiologies. DESIGN: A
      retrospective analysis was performed on patients with cardiac disease managed
      with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation between January 1, 1995, and December
      31, 2012, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Survivors completed patient
      and parent-reported verbal and written surveys, and univariate analyses assessed
      risk factors for long-term outcomes. SETTING: Tertiary-care children's hospital.
      PATIENTS: Patients with cardiac disease managed with extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Over 18 years,
      396 patients were managed with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with 43%
      survival to discharge. The median age at cannulation was 78 days. The majority
      had congenital heart disease (86%), surgery prior to extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation (71%), and cardiopulmonary arrest as the primary extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation indication (53%). With 6-year median follow-up, 66% are
      known to be deceased, including 38 deaths after hospital discharge. Among
      survivors at discharge, 65 (38%) completed the phone survey, and 33 (19%)
      completed the written survey. Negative clinical outcomes, defined as having at
      least significant physical limitations or "fair" or "poor" health, were present
      in 18% of patients. No patient- or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation-related
      variables were associated with negative outcomes in univariate analyses. There
      were significantly lower self-reported and parent-reported written Pediatric
      Quality of Life Inventory quality of life scores in children compared with
      healthy individual normative data but no differences in adolescents. CONCLUSIONS:
      In this series of pediatric cardiac patients supported by extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation, mortality was 66% with 6-year median follow-up. The majority
      reported positive outcomes with respect to health and physical limitations, but
      children reported lower quality of life compared with healthy individuals.

PMID- 28598946
TI  - Dexmedetomidine for Sedation During Noninvasive Ventilation in Pediatric
      Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the use of dexmedetomidine for sedation in a large cohort
      of nonintubated children with acute respiratory insufficiency receiving
      noninvasive ventilatory support. DESIGN: Single-center, retrospective,
      observational cohort study. SETTING: A large quaternary-care PICU. PATIENTS: The
      study cohort included 202 children receiving noninvasive ventilatory and a
      dexmedetomidine infusion within 48 hours of PICU admission over a 6-month period.
      INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary respiratory
      diagnoses in the cohort (median age, 2 yr) included status asthmaticus (60%) and
      bronchiolitis (29%). Dexmedetomidine was infused for a median of 35 hours with a
      median hourly dose across the patient cohort of 0.61 MUg/kg/hr (range, 0.4-0.8
      MUg/kg/hr). The target sedation level was achieved in 168 patients (83%) in the
      cohort for greater than or equal to 80% of the recorded values over the entire
      noninvasive ventilatory course, with dexmedetomidine as the only continuously
      administered sedative agent. While vital signs were frequently abnormal relative
      to age-based norms, clinical interventions were needed rarely to treat
      bradycardia (13%), hypotension (20%), and hypopnea (5%). The most frequently used
      of these interventions was a dexmedetomidine dose reduction, fluid bolus, and
      titration of noninvasive ventilatory support. Five patients (2.5%) required
      endotracheal intubation: three due to progression of their respiratory illness,
      one with septic shock, and one with apnea requiring resuscitation. In 194 of 202
      patients (96%), the outcome of the noninvasive ventilatory course was successful
      with the patient being weaned from noninvasive respiratory support to nasal
      cannula or room air. CONCLUSIONS: Dexmedetomidine was often effective as a single
      continuous sedative infusion during pediatric noninvasive ventilatory.
      Cardiorespiratory events associated with its use were typically mild and/or
      reversible with dose reduction, fluid administration, and/or noninvasive
      ventilatory titration. Prospective studies comparing dexmedetomidine with other
      agents in this setting are warranted.

PMID- 28598947
TI  - Moral Distress in PICU and Neonatal ICU Practitioners: A Cross-Sectional
      Evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To measure the level of moral distress in PICU and neonatal ICU
      health practitioners, and to describe the relationship of moral distress with
      demographic factors, burnout, and uncertainty. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey.
      SETTING: A large pediatric tertiary care center. SUBJECTS: Neonatal ICU and PICU
      health practitioners with at least 3 months of ICU experience. INTERVENTIONS: A
      41-item questionnaire examining moral distress, burnout, and uncertainty.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The main outcome was moral distress measured with
      the Revised Moral Distress Scale. Secondary outcomes were frequency and intensity
      Revised Moral Distress Scale subscores, burnout measured with the Maslach Burnout
      Inventory depersonalization subscale, and uncertainty measured with questions
      adapted from Mishel's Parent Perception of Uncertainty Scale. Linear regression
      models were used to examine associations between participant characteristics and
      the measures of moral distress, burnout, and uncertainty. Two-hundred six
      analyzable surveys were returned. The median Revised Moral Distress Scale score
      was 96.5 (interquartile range, 69-133), and 58% of respondents reported
      significant work-related moral distress. Revised Moral Distress Scale items
      involving end-of-life care and communication scored highest. Moral distress was
      positively associated with burnout (r = 0.27; p < 0.001) and uncertainty (r =
      0.04; p = 0.008) and inversely associated with perceived hospital supportiveness
      (r = 0.18; p < 0.001). Nurses reported higher moral distress intensity than
      physicians (Revised Moral Distress Scale intensity subscores: 57.3 vs 44.7; p =
      0.002). In nurses only, moral distress was positively associated with increasing
      years of ICU experience (p = 0.02) and uncertainty about whether their care was
      of benefit (r = 0.11; p < 0.001) and inversely associated with uncertainty about
      a child's prognosis (r = 0.03; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In this single-center,
      cross-sectional study, we found that moral distress is present in PICU and
      neonatal ICU health practitioners and is correlated with burnout, uncertainty,
      and feeling unsupported.

PMID- 28598948
TI  - Causes for Pauses During Simulated Pediatric Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pauses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation negatively impact clinical
      outcomes; however, little is known about the contributing factors. The objective
      of this study is to determine the frequency, duration, and causes for pauses
      during cardiac arrest. DESIGN: This is a secondary analysis of video data
      collected from a prospective multicenter trial. Twenty-six simulated pediatric
      cardiac arrest scenarios each lasting 12 minutes in duration were analyzed by two
      independent reviewers to document events surrounding each pause in chest
      compressions. SETTING: Ten children's hospitals across Canada, the United, and
      the United Kingdom. SUBJECTS: Resuscitation teams composed of three healthcare
      providers trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. INTERVENTIONS: A simulated
      pediatric cardiac arrest case in a 5 year old. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The
      frequency, duration, and associated factors for each pause were recorded.
      Communication was rated using a four-point scale reflecting the team's shared
      mental model. Two hundred fifty-six pauses were reviewed with a median of 10
      pauses per scenario (interquartile range, 7-12). Median pause duration was 5
      seconds (interquartile range, 2-9 s), with 91% chest compression fraction per
      scenario (interquartile range, 88-94%). Only one task occurred during most pauses
      (66%). The most common tasks were a change of chest compressors (25%), performing
      pulse check (24%), and performing rhythm check (15%). Forty-nine (19%) of the
      pauses lasted greater than 10 seconds and were associated with shock delivery (p
      < 0.001), performing rhythm check (p < 0.001), and performing pulse check (p <
      0.001). When a shared mental model was rated high, pauses were significantly
      shorter (mean difference, 4.2 s; 95% CI, 1.6-6.8 s; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS:
      Pauses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation occurred frequently during simulated
      pediatric cardiac arrest, with variable duration and underlying causes. A large
      percentage of pauses were greater than 10 seconds and occurred more frequently
      than the recommended 2-minute interval. Future efforts should focus on improving
      team coordination to minimize pause frequency and duration.

PMID- 28598949
TI  - Subjective Visual Vertical in Idiopathic Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction:
      Enhanced Role of Vision, Neck, and Body Proprioception.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We aimed to study the participation of proprioceptive and visual
      inputs in subjective visual vertical (SVV) in bilateral vestibular hypofunction
      and in normal subjects. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective case-control study. SETTING:
      Tertiary referral center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SVV (six replicates) was
      measured on a tiltable rehabilitation seat in 26 adult patients with idiopathic
      bilateral vestibular hypofunction (IBVH) and 33 adult controls. Subjects were
      asked to place vertically a 45 degrees-tilted red line on a screen (three
      replicates to left and three to right alternatively) using a remote control in
      total darkness and in seven body positions: vertical, head, and body left- and
      right-tilts to 12 and 24 degrees, and then body left- and right-tilt to 24
      degrees with the head upright. RESULTS: In the vertical position, SVV did not
      differ between IBVH and controls. Patients with IBVH were more sensitive to body
      tilt than controls (SVV: -8.1 +/- 4.66 degrees for IBVH versus -0.2 +/- 3.23 for
      control at 24 degrees body and head left-tilt, p < 0.0001, unpaired t test). The
      visual attraction effect defined by a deviation of the SVV to the side of the
      initial line presentation appeared to be higher in the IBVH than in controls
      suggesting higher visual dependence in IBVH. Placing the head upright while the
      body was still tilted significantly reduced this difference. Similar results were
      observed for the right-tilts. CONCLUSION: Not only otolithic function but also
      visual plus body and neck proprioceptive entries participate in SVV. The
      influence of vision and proprioception appears to be enhanced in case of IBVH.

PMID- 28598951
TI  - The Impact of Legislation on Gas Can- and Mattress-Related Burn Injuries.
AB  - Burn prevention program success requires thorough evaluation of intervention
      outcomes. The impact of 2 engineering-specific burn prevention regulations, the
      Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act and the Standard for the Flammability of
      Mattress Sets, will be assessed. Records from 1997 to 2015 within the Consumer
      Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System
      (NEISS) were reviewed. After identifying gas can- and mattress-involved burn
      injuries, injury incidence was estimated by utilizing survey sampling weights
      associated with each record. Logistic regression, incorporating estimated injury
      incidence and adjusting for gender and age, was performed to test for change in
      injury risk following these regulations. Within NEISS, there were 493 burns
      involving gas cans, yielding an estimated 19,339 injuries (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 15,781-22,896) during the 19-year study period. The odds of a gas
      can burn injury after legislation decreased by 67% for children younger than 5
      years (odds ratio [OR], 0.33; 95% CI, 0.16-0.66; P = 0.0018). There was no
      significant change in risk for persons 5 years and older (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.80
      1.41; P = 0.66). During the same time, there were 219 NEISS burns involving
      mattresses, yielding an estimated 6864 injuries (95% CI, 5071-8658). The odds of
      a mattress burn injury following legislation enactment decreased by 31% for all
      ages (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.51-0.94; P = 0.02). Both regulations decreased the odds
      of injury in their target populations. This study demonstrates that passive
      interventions involving engineering standards remain a powerful tool for burn
      prevention and should be the focus of future efforts to improve burn care.

PMID- 28598950
TI  - Drill-induced Cochlear Injury During Otologic Surgery: Intracochlear Pressure
      Evidence of Acoustic Trauma.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Drilling on the incus produces intracochlear pressure changes
      comparable to pressures created by high-intensity acoustic stimuli. BACKGROUND:
      New-onset sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) following mastoid surgery can occur
      secondary to inadvertent drilling on the ossicular chain. To investigate this, we
      test the hypothesis that high sound pressure levels are generated when a high
      speed drill contacts the incus. METHODS: Human cadaveric heads underwent
      mastoidectomy, and fiber-optic sensors were placed in scala tympani and vestibuli
      to measure intracochlear pressures (PIC). Stapes velocities (Vstap) were measured
      using single-axis laser Doppler vibrometry. PIC and Vstap were measured while
      drilling on the incus. Four-millimeter diamond and cutting burrs were used at
      drill speeds of 20k, 50k, and 80k Hz. RESULTS: No differences in peak equivalent
      ear canal noise exposures (134-165 dB SPL) were seen between drill speeds or burr
      types. Root-mean-square PIC amplitude calculated in third-octave bandwidths
      around 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz revealed equivalent ear canal (EAC) pressures up
      to 110 to 112 dB SPL. A statistically significant trend toward increasing noise
      exposure with decreasing drill speed was seen. No significant differences were
      noted between burr types. Calculations of equivalent EAC pressure from Vstap were
      significantly higher at 101 to 116 dB SPL. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that
      incidental drilling on the ossicular chain can generate PIC comparable to high
      intensity acoustic stimulation. Drill speed, but not burr type, significantly
      affected the magnitude of PIC. Inadvertent drilling on the ossicular chain
      produces intense cochlear stimulation that could cause SNHL.

PMID- 28598952
TI  - A Pediatric Burn Outpatient Short Stay Program Decreases Patient Length of Stay
      With Equivalent Burn Outcomes.
AB  - Traditionally, small pediatric burns are managed with inpatient admission and
      daily dressing changes. In 2011, our burn center implemented an outpatient short
      stay (OSS) program in which small pediatric burns were managed as an outpatient
      utilizing Mepilex AgTM dressings changed under moderate sedation every 5 to 7
      days. Pediatric burn cases were queried for 2 time periods: before the OSS
      program (2009-2010) and after the OSS program (2013-2014). Burns > 15% total body
      surface area (TBSA), children with polytrauma, and children > 10 years old were
      excluded. Independent t tests and chi-square tests were conducted to analyze
      differences in patient demographics, burn management, and burn outcomes between
      these groups. Two hundred nineteen cases were included in the analysis (77 pre
      OSS and 142 post-OSS). There was no difference in patient age (P = 0.872) or TBSA
      (P = 0.786) between the groups. The post-OSS group had shorter inpatient length
      of stay (2.93 days vs 5.21 days; P < 0.001) and fewer dressing changes (2.32 vs
      4.71; P < 0.001). There were no changes in readmission rates (P = 0.375) or burns
      requiring grafting (P = 0.155). Although not reaching statistical significance,
      less children in the post-OSS group had infectious complications (P = 0.054) or
      required reoperation in a 2-year follow-up period (P = 0.081). Patient and family
      satisfaction with the program was high. Children treated after the implementation
      of an OSS burn program at the University of Wisconsin had decreased inpatient
      length of stay and fewer painful burn dressing changes. These patients exhibited
      equivalent, if not superior burn outcomes.

PMID- 28598953
TI  - Uromodulin associates with cardiorenal function in patients with hypertension and
      cardiovascular disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Common genetic variants in the gene encoding uromodulin (UMOD) have
      been associated with renal function, blood pressure (BP) and hypertension. We
      investigated the associations between an important single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) in UMOD, that is rs12917707-G>T, and estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (eGFR), BP and cardiac organ damage as determined by echocardiography in patients
      with arterial hypertension. METHODS: A cohort of 1218 treated high-risk patients
      (mean age 58.5 years, 83% men) with documented cardiovascular disease (81% with
      coronary heart disease) was analysed. RESULTS: The mean values for 24-h SBP and
      DBP were 124.7 +/- 14.7 and 73.9 +/- 9.4 mmHg; mean eGFR was 77.5 +/- 18.3 ml/min
      per 1.73 m, mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 59.3 +/- 9.9% and mean
      left ventricular mass index in men and women was 53.9 +/- 23.2 and 54.9 +/- 23.7
      g/m with 50.4% of patients having left ventricular hypertrophy. A significant
      association between rs12917707 and eGFR was observed with T-allele carriers
      showing significantly higher eGFR values (+2.6 ml/min per 1.73 m, P = 0.006) than
      noncarriers. This SNP associated also with left atrial diameter (P = 0.007);
      homozygous carriers of the T-allele had smaller left atrial diameter (-1.5 mm)
      than other genotype groups (P = 0.040). No significant associations between
      rs12917707 and other cardiac or BP phenotypes were observed. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings extend the previously documented role of UMOD for renal function also to
      treated high-risk patients with arterial hypertension and reveal a novel
      association with left atrial remodelling and thus a potential cardiorenal link
      modulated by UMOD.

PMID- 28598954
TI  - Role of the sympathetic nervous system in regulation of the sodium glucose
      cotransporter 2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) regulates glucose metabolism in
      various organs including the kidneys. The sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2)
      mediates glucose reabsorption in renal proximal tubules and its inhibition has
      been shown to improve glucose control, cardiovascular and renal outcomes. We
      hypothesized that SNS-induced alterations of glucose metabolism may be mediated
      via regulation of SGLT2. METHOD: We used human renal proximal tubule cells to
      investigate the effects of noradrenaline on SGLT2 regulation. Mice fed a high-fat
      diet were oral gavaged with dapagliflozin and the expression of noradrenaline and
      tyrosine hydroxylase was measured in the kidney and heart. RESULTS: Noradrenaline
      treatment resulted in a pronounced increase in SGLT2 and interleukin (IL)-6
      expression in HK2 cells and promoted translocation of SGLT2 to the cell surface.
      In vivo, dapagliflozin treatment resulted in marked glucosuria in high-fat diet
      fed mice. SGLT2 inhibition significantly reduced high-fat diet-induced elevations
      of tyrosine hydroxylase and noradrenaline in the kidney and heart. We also aimed
      to assess the levels of hypertension-related cytokines in the kidneys of our mice
      treated with and without dapagliflozin. Excitingly, we demonstrate that SGLT2
      inhibition with dapagliflozin promoted a trend towards reduced tumour necrosis
      factor-alpha and elevated IL-1beta protein levels in the kidney. CONCLUSION: Our
      in-vitro and in-vivo studies provide first evidence for an important cross-talk
      between the SNS and SGLT2 regulation that may not only account for SNS-induced
      alterations of glucose metabolism but potentially contribute to cardiovascular
      and renal protection observed with SGLT2 inhibitors.

PMID- 28598955
TI  - The Comorbidity of Daydreaming Disorder (Maladaptive Daydreaming).
AB  - To determine the comorbidity profile of individuals meeting criteria for a
      proposed new disorder, daydreaming disorder (more commonly known as maladaptive
      daydreaming [MD]), the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and the Structured
      Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders were administered to 39
      participants who met criteria for MD on a structured interview. We determined
      high rates of comorbidity: 74.4% met criteria for more than three additional
      disorders, and 41.1% met criteria for more than four. The most frequent comorbid
      disorder was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (76.9%); 71.8% met criteria
      for an anxiety disorder, 66.7% for a depressive disorder, and 53.9% for an
      obsessive-compulsive or related disorder. Notably, 28.2% have attempted suicide.
      Individuals meeting criteria for MD have complex psychiatric problems spanning a
      range of DSM-5 disorders. This finding provides evidence that MD is different
      than normal daydreaming and that these individuals experience considerable
      distress and impairment.

PMID- 28598956
TI  - The Rate of Improvement in Long-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy For Borderline
      Personality Disorder.
AB  - Controlled trials of psychotherapy and follow-up studies of borderline
      personality disorder (BPD) have shown significant, but usually limited,
      improvement. We examined the hypothesis that BPD changes more slowly than
      nonborderline disorders. In a study of long-term dynamic psychotherapy, 16
      subjects with BPD and 35 with non-BPD disorders were treated for a median of 3
      years with a follow-up of 5 years. From periodic assessments, we calculated the
      rate of change for each subject over the course of the study on each measure of
      symptoms and functioning. At intake, borderline psychopathology was associated
      with higher levels on 76% of 17 measures of comorbid axis I disorders, symptoms,
      and functioning. BPD psychopathology was associated with faster (not slower)
      rates of improvement on three measures, but after controlling for the initial
      level of each measure, there were no significant associations. These findings
      counsel both optimism and patience in the long-term treatment of patients with
      BPD.

PMID- 28598957
TI  - Childhood Adversity, Cortisol Levels, and Psychosis: A Retrospective
      Investigation.
AB  - Although it has been proposed that the dysregulation of the hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may act as a possible pathway linking early life
      stress to psychosis, this relationship has not yet been fully confirmed. This
      study aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood adversity (CA),
      cortisol levels, and psychosis. Eighty-five patients with psychosis and 170
      control subjects were enrolled in the study. CA was evaluated using the Florence
      Psychiatric Interview, and Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire.
      Positive symptoms (PS) were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome
      Scale. Cortisol levels were evaluated in saliva samples. Patients experienced
      more CA and showed higher cortisol levels than controls. Patients with CA showed
      higher morning cortisol levels and more severe PS than those without CA. Patients
      with higher morning cortisol levels showed severe delusions. These findings
      suggest that both CA and dysregulation of the HPA axis could be related to
      psychosis.

PMID- 28598958
TI  - Internet Game Addiction, Depression, and Escape From Negative Emotions in
      Adulthood: A Nationwide Community Sample of Korea.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the association between adult Internet
      game addiction (IGA) and mental disorders. A total of 1401 adults aged between 18
      and 74 years participated in this study. The IGA group had significantly younger
      patients, and it showed a higher proportion of unmarried and unemployed adults,
      and higher rates of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt than the non-IGA group.
      Multivariate logistic regression indicated that IGA was significantly associated
      with major depressive disorder, dysthymia, and depressive disorders adjusting for
      all variables. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score was significantly higher
      in the IGA group than in the non-IGA group for both young adults and middle
      groups. "Escape from negative emotions like nervousness, sadness, and anger" was
      the only significant item associated with depression among symptoms of IGA. This
      study suggests that adults with IGA and depression may use Internet games to
      escape from negative emotions.

PMID- 28598959
TI  - Microinvasive Glaucoma Stent (MIGS) Surgery With Concomitant Phakoemulsification
      Cataract Extraction: Outcomes and the Learning Curve.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate learning effects with respect to outcomes of a microinvasive
      glaucoma stent (MIGS) inserted during cataract surgery in glaucoma patients.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Single surgeon, observational cohort study of 25
      consecutive Ivantis Hydrus microstent insertions, with a minimum follow-up of 12
      months. A learning curve analysis was performed by assessing hypotensive effect,
      adverse effects, and surgical procedure duration, with respect to consecutive
      case number. Success was defined with respect to various intraocular pressure
      (IOP) targets (21, 18, 15 mm Hg) and reduction in required antiglaucoma
      medications. Complete success was defined as achieving target IOP without
      antiglaucoma therapy. RESULTS: No clinically significant adverse events or
      learning effects were identified, although surgical time reduced with consecutive
      case number. Mean follow-up was 16.8 months. At final follow-up the mean IOP for
      all eyes was reduced from 18.1 (+/-3.6) mm Hg [and a simulated untreated value of
      25.9 (+/-5.2) mm Hg] to 15.3 (+/-2.2) mm Hg (P=0.007; <0.0001) and the mean
      number of topical antiglaucoma medications was reduced from 1.96 (+/-0.96) to
      0.04 (+/-0.20) (P<0.0001). Complete success (IOP<21 mm Hg, no medications) was
      96% at final follow-up. Complete success (IOP<18 mm Hg, no medications) was 80%
      at final follow-up, but only 32% with a target IOP of <15 mm Hg (no medications).
      CONCLUSIONS: No significant learning curve effects were observed for a trained
      surgeon with respect to MIGS microstent insertion performed at the time of
      cataract surgery. Adjunctive MIGS surgery was successful in lowering IOP to <18
      mm Hg and reducing/abolishing the requirement for antiglaucoma medication in eyes
      with open-angle glaucoma, but less successful at achieving low IOP levels (<15 mm
      Hg).

PMID- 28598960
TI  - Relationship Between Serum Glucose Levels and Intraocular Pressure, a Population
      based Cross-sectional Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between serum
      glucose levels and intraocular pressure (IOP) both in subjects with impaired
      fasting glucose (IFG) as well as in subjects with diabetes mellitus (DM).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of a cross-sectional sample of 18,406 subjects who
      underwent routine annual screening at a tertiary medical center in 2000 to 2013
      were analyzed. RESULTS: Mean (SD) age of the subjects was 46 (10) years; 68% were
      male. Mean (95% confidence interval) IOP measured 13.1 (13.0-13.1) mm Hg in
      subjects with normal glucose levels, 13.7 (13.6-13.8) mm Hg in subjects with IFG,
      and 14.3 (14.1-14.4) mm Hg in subjects with diabetes. The difference in IOP
      between subjects with normal and abnormal (DM or IFG) serum glucose levels were
      significant, even after adjusting for age, body mass index, and hypertension
      (P<0.0001). There was a positive linear correlation between serum glucose levels
      and IOP in both men (r=0.12; P<0.0001) and women (r=0.17; P<0.0001). For every 10
      mg/dL increase in fasting serum glucose, IOP increased by 0.09 mm Hg in men and
      by 0.11 mm Hg in women. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that similar to
      subjects with DM, subjects with IFG also have IOP levels that are higher than
      those with normal serum glucose. Moreover, there is a direct correlation between
      fasting serum glucose levels and changes in IOP. These findings highlight another
      end-organ effect of uncontrolled glucose levels.

PMID- 28598961
TI  - Adjustable Dual Muscle Speculum for Simplified Placement of a 350 Baerveldt
      Implant.
AB  - The authors have designed a muscle hook speculum that simultaneously allows the
      surgeon to isolate and expose both rectus muscles (either the superior and
      temporal or medial and inferior) for ease of placement of a 350-mm Baerveldt
      implant. This instrument facilitates the exposure and subsequent placement of
      either a superior-temporal tube or an infero-nasal tube in a more independent
      manner. By using the dual muscle hook speculum, an individual surgeon, without a
      glaucoma-trained assistant, can hook typically both the superior and lateral
      recti muscles while gaining simultaneous exposure of the quadrant. The purpose of
      this report is to describe the instrument, how it is used, and how it can improve
      efficiency in the operating room.

PMID- 28598962
TI  - Ab Interno Trabeculectomy With a Dual Blade: Surgical Technique for Childhood
      Glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To introduce a technique using the Kahook Dual Blade for treatment of
      childhood glaucoma. PATIENT AND METHOD: An infant developed glaucoma after
      cataract extraction and anterior vitrectomy. Ab interno trabeculectomy was
      performed in both eyes using a dual-blade device. RESULTS: Description of
      technique to treat childhood glaucoma. Intraocular pressure reduced from 35 to 17
      mm Hg in the right eye and from 52 to 18 mm Hg in the left eye after 7 to 10
      weeks. There were no complications. CONCLUSIONS: This was a successful, minimally
      invasive procedure for treatment of childhood glaucoma.

PMID- 28598963
TI  - Response to "The Association of Chronic Topical Prostaglandin Analog Use With
      Meibomian Gland Dysfunction: Comment".

PMID- 28598964
TI  - Changes in Expression of Dopamine, Its Receptor, and Transporter in Nucleus
      Accumbens of Heroin-Addicted Rats with Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
      Overexpression.
AB  - BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore how changes in the expression of
      BDNF in MLDS change the effect of BDNF on dopamine (DA) neurons, which may have
      therapeutic implications for heroin addiction. MATERIAL AND METHODS We
      established a rat model of heroin addiction and observed changes in the
      expression of BDNF, DA, dopamine receptor (DRD), dopamine transporter (DAT), and
      other relevant pathways in NAc. We also assessed the effect of BDNF
      overexpression in the NAc, behavioral changes of heroin-conditioned place
      preference (CPP), and naloxone withdrawal in rats with high levels of BDNF. We
      established 5 adult male rat groups: heroin addiction, lentivirus transfection,
      blank virus, sham operation, and control. The PCR gene chip was used to study
      gene expression changes. BDNF lentivirus transfection was used for BDNF
      overexpression. A heroin CPP model and a naloxone withdrawal model of rats were
      established. RESULTS Expression changes were found in 20 of the 84 DA-associated
      genes in the NAc of heroin-addicted rats. Weight loss and withdrawal symptoms in
      the lentivirus group for naloxone withdrawal was less than in the blank virus and
      the sham operation group. These 2 latter groups also showed significant
      behavioral changes, but such changes were not observed in the BDNF lentivirus
      group before or after training. DRD3 and DAT increased in the NAc of the
      lentivirus group. CONCLUSIONS BDNF and DA in the NAc are involved in heroin
      addiction. BDNF overexpression in NAc reduces withdrawal symptoms and craving
      behavior for medicine induced by environmental cues for heroin-addicted rats.
      BDNF participates in the regulation of the dopamine system by acting on DRD3 and
      DAT.

PMID- 28598965
TI  - Metabolic network segmentation: A probabilistic graphical modeling approach to
      identify the sites and sequential order of metabolic regulation from non-targeted
      metabolomics data.
AB  - In recent years, the number of large-scale metabolomics studies on various
      cellular processes in different organisms has increased drastically. However, it
      remains a major challenge to perform a systematic identification of mechanistic
      regulatory events that mediate the observed changes in metabolite levels, due to
      complex interdependencies within metabolic networks. We present the metabolic
      network segmentation (MNS) algorithm, a probabilistic graphical modeling approach
      that enables genome-scale, automated prediction of regulated metabolic reactions
      from differential or serial metabolomics data. The algorithm sections the
      metabolic network into modules of metabolites with consistent changes. Metabolic
      reactions that connect different modules are the most likely sites of metabolic
      regulation. In contrast to most state-of-the-art methods, the MNS algorithm is
      independent of arbitrary pathway definitions, and its probabilistic nature
      facilitates assessments of noisy and incomplete measurements. With serial (i.e.,
      time-resolved) data, the MNS algorithm also indicates the sequential order of
      metabolic regulation. We demonstrated the power and flexibility of the MNS
      algorithm with three, realistic case studies with bacterial and human cells.
      Thus, this approach enables the identification of mechanistic regulatory events
      from large-scale metabolomics data, and contributes to the understanding of
      metabolic processes and their interplay with cellular signaling and regulation
      processes.

PMID- 28598966
TI  - Joint modeling of genetically correlated diseases and functional annotations
      increases accuracy of polygenic risk prediction.
AB  - Accurate prediction of disease risk based on genetic factors is an important goal
      in human genetics research and precision medicine. Advanced prediction models
      will lead to more effective disease prevention and treatment strategies. Despite
      the identification of thousands of disease-associated genetic variants through
      genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the past decade, accuracy of genetic
      risk prediction remains moderate for most diseases, which is largely due to the
      challenges in both identifying all the functionally relevant variants and
      accurately estimating their effect sizes. In this work, we introduce PleioPred, a
      principled framework that leverages pleiotropy and functional annotations in
      genetic risk prediction for complex diseases. PleioPred uses GWAS summary
      statistics as its input, and jointly models multiple genetically correlated
      diseases and a variety of external information including linkage disequilibrium
      and diverse functional annotations to increase the accuracy of risk prediction.
      Through comprehensive simulations and real data analyses on Crohn's disease,
      celiac disease and type-II diabetes, we demonstrate that our approach can
      substantially increase the accuracy of polygenic risk prediction and risk
      population stratification, i.e. PleioPred can significantly better separate type
      II diabetes patients with early and late onset ages, illustrating its potential
      clinical application. Furthermore, we show that the increment in prediction
      accuracy is significantly correlated with the genetic correlation between the
      predicted and jointly modeled diseases.

PMID- 28598967
TI  - Mitochondrial respiration and ROS emission during beta-oxidation in the heart: An
      experimental-computational study.
AB  - Lipids are main fuels for cellular energy and mitochondria their major oxidation
      site. Yet unknown is to what extent the fuel role of lipids is influenced by
      their uncoupling effects, and how this affects mitochondrial energetics, redox
      balance and the emission of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Employing a combined
      experimental-computational approach, we comparatively analyze beta-oxidation of
      palmitoyl CoA (PCoA) in isolated heart mitochondria from Sham and streptozotocin
      (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic (T1DM) guinea pigs (GPs). Parallel high throughput
      measurements of the rates of oxygen consumption (VO2) and hydrogen peroxide
      (H2O2) emission as a function of PCoA concentration, in the presence of L
      carnitine and malate, were performed. We found that PCoA concentration < 200
      nmol/mg mito protein resulted in low H2O2 emission flux, increasing thereafter in
      Sham and T1DM GPs under both states 4 and 3 respiration with diabetic
      mitochondria releasing higher amounts of ROS. Respiratory uncoupling and ROS
      excess occurred at PCoA > 600 nmol/mg mito prot, in both control and diabetic
      animals. Also, for the first time, we show that an integrated two compartment
      mitochondrial model of beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids and main energy
      redox processes is able to simulate the relationship between VO2 and H2O2
      emission as a function of lipid concentration. Model and experimental results
      indicate that PCoA oxidation and its concentration-dependent uncoupling effect,
      together with a partial lipid-dependent decrease in the rate of superoxide
      generation, modulate H2O2 emission as a function of VO2. Results indicate that
      keeping low levels of intracellular lipid is crucial for mitochondria and cells
      to maintain ROS within physiological levels compatible with signaling and
      reliable energy supply.

PMID- 28598968
TI  - Comparative mitochondrial genome analysis of Daphnis nerii and other lepidopteran
      insects reveals conserved mitochondrial genome organization and phylogenetic
      relationships.
AB  - In the present study, the complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome
      (mitogenome) of Daphnis nerii (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) is described. The
      mitogenome (15,247 bp) of D.nerii encodes13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22
      transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and an adenine (A) +
      thymine (T)-rich region. Its gene complement and order is similar to that of
      other sequenced lepidopterans. The 12 PCGs initiated by ATN codons except for
      cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene that is seemingly initiated by the CGA
      codon as documented in other insect mitogenomes. Four of the 13 PCGs have the
      incomplete termination codon T, while the remainder terminated with the canonical
      stop codon. This mitogenome has six major intergenic spacers, with the exception
      of A+T-rich region, spanning at least 10 bp. The A+T-rich region is 351 bp long,
      and contains some conserved regions, including 'ATAGA' motif followed by a 17 bp
      poly-T stretch, a microsatellite-like element (AT)9 and also a poly-A element.
      Phylogenetic analyses based on 13 PCGs using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian
      inference (BI) revealed that D. nerii resides in the Sphingidae family.

PMID- 28598969
TI  - Cucurbitacin E reduces obesity and related metabolic dysfunction in mice by
      targeting JAK-STAT5 signaling pathway.
AB  - Several members of cucurbitaceae family have been reported to regulate growth of
      cancer by interfering with STAT3 signaling. In the present study, we investigated
      the unique role and molecular mechanism of cucurbitacins (Cucs) in reducing
      symptoms of metabolic syndrome in mice. Cucurbitacin E (CuE) was found to reduce
      adipogenesis in murine adipocytes. CuE treatment diminished hypertrophy of
      adipocytes, visceral obesity and lipogenesis gene expression in diet induced mice
      model of metabolic syndrome (MetS). CuE also ameliorated adipose tissue
      dysfunction by reducing hyperleptinemia and TNF-alpha levels and enhancing
      hypoadiponectinemia. Results show that CuE mediated these effects by attenuating
      Jenus kinase- Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (JAK- STAT5)
      signaling in visceral fat tissue. As a result, CuE treatment also reduced PPAR
      gamma expression. Glucose uptake enhanced in adipocytes after stimulation with
      CuE and insulin resistance diminished in mice treated with CuE, as reflected by
      reduced glucose intolerance and glucose stimulated insulin secretion. CuE
      restored insulin sensitivity indirectly by inhibiting JAK phosphorylation and
      improving AMPK activity. Consequently, insulin signaling was up-regulated in mice
      muscle. As CuE positively regulated adipose tissue function and suppressed
      visceral obesity, dyslipedemia, hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in mice
      model of MetS, we suggest that CuE can be used as novel approach to treat
      metabolic diseases.

PMID- 28598970
TI  - Seroprevalence and clinical characteristics of viral hepatitis in transfusion
      dependent thalassemia and hemophilia patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Transfusion dependent subjects are at a great risk of viral
      hepatitis infection. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated
      with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among
      transfusion-dependent patients in Taiwan. METHODS: A total of 140 patients (67
      thalassemic patients, 70 hemophilic patients, two patients with hereditary
      spherocytosis and one patient with von Willebrand disease) were prospectively
      enrolled to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with viral hepatitis
      and spontaneous HCV clearance. All patients were tested for HBV and HCV serology
      and virology. Two consecutive serum samples, at least 1 year apart, were
      collected to clarify HCV seroclearance. RESULTS: The seropositivity rate of
      hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), HCV antibody (anti-HCV), and both HBsAg/anti
      HCV were 6.4%, 45.7% and 5%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis of
      factors associated with anti-HCV seropositivity included age (odds ratio/95%
      confidence interval [OR/CI]: 1.12/1.07-1.18, P<0.001), serum alanine
      aminotransferase (ALT) (OR/CI: 1.04/1.02-1.06, P<0.001) and platelet counts
      (OR/CI: 0.995/0.991-0.998, P = 0.002). Age was the only factor independently
      associated with HBsAg seropositivity (OR/CI: 1.08/1.02-1.14.4, P = 0.007).
      Compared to patients born before 1992, the seroprevalence of HCV among
      thalassemic patients decreased dramatically in those born after 1992 (46.0% vs.
      11.8%, p = 0.012). The seroprevalence of HCV among hemophilic patients also
      decreased significantly when comparing patients born before 1987 to those born
      after 1987 (79.5% vs. 11.5%, p<0.001). Similarly, the seroprevalence of HBV
      decreased significantly in the post-vaccination cohort compared to its
      counterpart (13.1%, vs. 1.3%, p = 0.005). The spontaneous clearance of HCV was
      observed in 25.4% (15/59) of patients, and ALT was the only factor associated
      with it (OR/CI 0.98/0.96-1.00, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Both HBV and HCV
      infections are prevalent among transfusion-dependent thalassemic and hemophilic
      patients in Taiwan. Nevertheless, seroprevalence decreased significantly and
      dramatically for HCV after universal blood screening and for HBV after
      implementation of a universal mass vaccination program.

PMID- 28598971
TI  - Expression of inhibitory receptors and polyfunctional responses of T cells are
      linked to the risk of congenital transmission of T. cruzi.
AB  - Congenital T. cruzi infections involve multiple factors in which complex
      interactions between the parasite and the immune system of pregnant women play
      important roles. In this study, we used an experimental murine model of chronic
      infection with T. cruzi to evaluate the changes in the expression of inhibitory
      receptors and the polyfunctionality of T cells during gestation and their
      association with congenital transmission rate of T. cruzi infection. The results
      showed that pregnant naive mice had a higher percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells
      that expressed inhibitory receptors than cells from non-pregnant naive mice.
      However, in mice chronically infected with T. cruzi, gestation induced a
      significant decrease in the frequency of T cells that expressed or co-expressed
      inhibitory receptors, as well as an increase in the frequency of polyfunctional
      CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. This different behavior may be due to the breakdown in the
      infected mice of the gestation-induced immune homeostasis, probably to control
      the parasite load. Remarkably, it was observed that the mothers that transmitted
      the parasite had a higher frequency of T cells that expressed and co-expressed
      inhibitory receptors as well as a lower frequency of polyfunctional parasite
      specific T cells than those that did not transmit it, even though the parasitemia
      load was similar in both groups. All together these data suggest that the
      maternal immune profile of the CD4+ and CD8+ T cells could be a determining
      factor in the congenital transmission of T. cruzi.

PMID- 28598973
TI  - Seven-year longitudinal change in risk factors for non-communicable diseases in
      rural Kerala, India: The WHO STEPS approach.
AB  - Nearly three-quarters of global deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
      occur in low- and middle-income countries such as India. However, there are few
      data available on longitudinal change in risk factors for NCDs in India. We
      conducted a cohort study among 495 individuals (aged 15 to 64 years at baseline)
      in rural Kerala state, India, from 2003 to 2010. For the present analysis, data
      from 410 adults (aged 20 to 64 years at baseline) who participated at both
      baseline and follow-up studies were analyzed. We used the World Health
      Organization STEPwise approach to risk factor surveillance for data collection.
      Age-adjusted change in risk factors for NCDs was assessed using the mixed-effects
      linear regression for continuous variables and the generalized estimating
      equation for categorical variables. The mean age of participants at baseline was
      41.6 years, and 53.9% were women. The mean follow-up period was 7.1 years. There
      were significant increases in weight (mean change +5.0 kg, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 4.2 to 5.8), body mass index (mean change +1.8 kg/m2, 95% CI 1.5 to
      2.1), waist circumference (mean change +3.9 cm, 95% CI 3.0 to 4.8), waist-to
      height ratio (mean change +0.022, 95% CI 0.016 to 0.027), current smokeless
      tobacco use (men: odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.2), alcohol use (men: OR
      2.6, 95% CI 1.9 to 3.5; women: OR 4.8, 95% CI 1.8 to 12.6), physical inactivity
      (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.0), obesity (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.7 to 2.8), and central
      obesity (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.5 to 2.3). Over a seven-year period, several NCD risk
      factors have increased in the study cohort. This calls for implementation of
      lifestyle intervention programs in rural Kerala.

PMID- 28598972
TI  - Non-invasive transmission of sensorimotor information in humans using an
      EEG/focused ultrasound brain-to-brain interface.
AB  - We present non-invasive means that detect unilateral hand motor brain activity
      from one individual and subsequently stimulate the somatosensory area of another
      individual, thus, enabling the remote hemispheric link between each brain
      hemisphere in humans. Healthy participants were paired as a sender and a
      receiver. A sender performed a motor imagery task of either right or left hand,
      and associated changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) mu rhythm (8-10 Hz)
      originating from either hemisphere were programmed to move a computer cursor to a
      target that appeared in either left or right of the computer screen. When the
      cursor reaches its target, the outcome was transmitted to another computer over
      the internet, and actuated the focused ultrasound (FUS) devices that selectively
      and non-invasively stimulated either the right or left hand somatosensory area of
      the receiver. Small FUS transducers effectively allowed for the independent
      administration of stimulatory ultrasonic waves to somatosensory areas. The
      stimulation elicited unilateral tactile sensation of the hand from the receiver,
      thus establishing the hemispheric brain-to-brain interface (BBI). Although there
      was a degree of variability in task accuracy, six pairs of volunteers performed
      the BBI task in high accuracy, transferring approximately eight commands per
      minute. Linkage between the hemispheric brain activities among individuals
      suggests the possibility for expansion of the information bandwidth in the
      context of BBI.

PMID- 28598974
TI  - Water use efficiency and evapotranspiration in maize-soybean relay strip
      intercrop systems as affected by planting geometries.
AB  - Optimum planting geometries have been shown to increase crop yields in maize
      soybean intercrop systems. However, little is known about whether changes in
      planting geometry improve the seasonal water use of maize and soybean intercrops.
      We conducted two different field experiments in 2013 and 2014 to investigate the
      effects of changes in planting geometry on water use efficiency (WUE) and
      evapotranspiration (ETc) of maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.)
      Merr.] relay strip intercrop systems. Our results showed that the leaf area index
      of maize for both years where intercropping occurred was notably greater compared
      to sole maize, thus the soil water content (SWC), soil evaporation (E), and
      throughfall followed a decreasing trend in the following order: central row of
      maize strip (CRM) < adjacent row between maize and soybean strip (AR) < central
      row of soybean strip (CRS). When intercropped, the highest grain yield for maize
      and total yields were recorded for the 40:120 cm and 40:160 cm planting
      geometries using 160 cm and 200 cm bandwidth, respectively. By contrast, the
      highest grain yield of intercropped soybean was appeared for the 20:140 cm and
      20:180 cm planting geometries. The largest land equivalent ratios were 1.62 for
      the 40:120 cm planting geometry and 1.79 for the 40:160 cm planting geometry,
      indicating that both intercropping strategies were advantageous. Changes in
      planting geometries did not show any significant effect on the ETc of the maize
      and soybean intercrops. WUEs in the different planting geometries of intercrop
      systems were lower compared to sole cropping. However, the highest group WUEs of
      23.06 and 26.21 kg ha-1 mm-1 for the 40:120 cm and 40:160 cm planting geometries,
      respectively, were 39% and 23% higher than those for sole cropping. Moreover, the
      highest water equivalent ratio values of 1.66 and 1.76 also appeared for the
      40:120 cm and 40:160 cm planting geometries. We therefore suggest that an optimum
      planting geometry of 40:160 cm and bandwidth of 200 cm could be a viable planting
      pattern management method for attaining high group WUE in maize-soybean intercrop
      systems.

PMID- 28598975
TI  - Vitamin D deficiency and clinical correlations in systemic sclerosis patients: A
      retrospective analysis for possible future developments.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Assessment of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) correlations with
      clinical parameters and evaluation of the efficacy of standard oral
      supplementation in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. METHODS: 154 SSc patients
      were recruited, in all seasons. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were evaluated using
      LIAISON 25-OH (Diasorin, Italy). Medsger disease severity scale (DSS), nailfold
      videocapillaroscopy (NVC) and all instrumental exam contemplated by international
      guidelines were performed. Drug assumption, including oral colecalciferol, was
      evaluated. Non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS:
      Average 25(OH)D serum concentration was 18.7 +/-9 ng/ml (<20 classified as
      deficiency). A significant correlation was found with presence/absence of lung bi
      basal fibrotic changes (16.1 +/-8 ng/ml and 20 +/-10 ng/ml, respectively; p =
      0.04). Peripheral vascular (p = 0.03), kidney (p = 0.02), gastrointestinal (p =
      0.05) Medsger's DSS parameters were found to correlate with 25(OH)D serum
      concentrations. No significant correlations were observed with digital ulcers
      incidence, strictly correlated to patterns of microangiopathy, defined at NVC
      analysis (p<0.0001). Interestingly, no effects of treatment with oral
      colecalciferol (Dibase 1,000 IU daily for at least 6 months) were found on
      25(OH)D serum concentrations in treated (18.8 +/-10 ng/ml) or untreated (18.7 +/
      9 ng/ml) SSc patients (p = 0.81). A significant difference was observed among
      seasonal 25(OH)D serum concentrations (winter: 14.6 +/-7.8 ng/ml, spring: 17.2 +/
      7.9 ng/ml, summer: 21.43 +/-10 ng/ml, autumn: 20.2 +/-10 ng/ml; p = 0.032) in all
      patients. CONCLUSION: Serum 25(OH)D deficiency was found to correlate with lung
      involvement, peripheral vascular, kidney and gastrointestinal Medsger's DSS
      parameters and with seasonality In SSc patients. Supplementation with oral
      colecalciferol was found not effective in increasing 25(OH)D serum
      concentrations. Therefore, for successful replacement, supra-physiological
      vitamin D3 doses or programmed UVB light exposure should be tested.

PMID- 28598976
TI  - The dynamic role of autophagy and MAPK signaling in determining cell fate under
      cisplatin stress in osteosarcoma cells.
AB  - Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive bone malignancy commonly observed in children
      and adolescents. Sub-optimal therapy for years has irretrievably compromised the
      chances of OS patient survival; also, lack of extensive research on this rare
      disease has hindered therapeutic development. Cisplatin, a common anti-tumor
      drug, is currently an integral part of treatment regime for OS along with
      methotrexate and doxorubicin. However, toxicity issues associated with
      combination module impede OS therapy. Also, despite the proven benefits of
      cisplatin, acquisition of resistance remains a concern with cisplatin-based
      therapy. This prompted us to investigate the molecular effects of cisplatin
      exposure and changes associated with acquired resistance in OS cells. Cisplatin
      shock was found to activate MAPK signaling and autophagy in OS cells. An
      activation of JNK and autophagy acted as pro-survival strategy, while ERK1/2
      triggered apoptotic signals upon cisplatin stress. A crosstalk between JNK and
      autophagy was observed. Maximal sensitivity to cisplatin was obtained with
      simultaneous inhibition of both autophagy and JNK pathway. Cisplatin resistant
      cells were further developed by repetitive drug exposure followed by clonal
      selection. The resistant cells showed an altered signaling circuitry upon
      cisplatin exposure. Our results provide valuable cues to possible molecular
      alterations that can be considered for development of improved therapeutic
      strategy against osteosarcoma.

PMID- 28598977
TI  - Coagulant plus ballast technique provides a rapid mitigation of cyanobacterial
      nuisance.
AB  - Cyanobacteria blooms are a risk to environmental health and public safety due to
      the potent toxins certain cyanobacteria can produce. These nuisance organisms can
      be removed from water bodies by biomass flocculation and sedimentation. Here, we
      studied the efficacy of combinations of a low dose coagulant (poly-aluminium
      chloride-PAC-or chitosan) with different ballast compounds (red soil, bauxite,
      gravel, aluminium modified zeolite and lanthanum modified bentonite) to remove
      cyanobacterial biomass from water collected in Funil Reservoir (Brazil). We
      tested the effect of different cyanobacterial biomass concentrations on removal
      efficiency. We also examined if zeta potential was altered by treatments.
      Addition of low doses of PAC and chitosan (1-8 mg Al L-1) to the cyanobacterial
      suspensions caused flock formation, but did not settle the cyanobacteria. When
      those low dose coagulants were combined with ballast, effective settling in a
      dose-dependent way up to 99.7% removal of the flocks could be achieved without
      any effect on the zeta potential and thus without potential membrane damage.
      Removal efficacy was influenced by the cyanobacterial biomass and at higher
      biomass more ballast was needed to achieve good removal. The combined coagulant
      ballast technique provides a promising alternative to algaecides in lakes, ponds
      and reservoirs.

PMID- 28598978
TI  - An evaluation tool for myofascial adhesions in patients after breast cancer (MAP
      BC evaluation tool): Development and interrater reliability.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a tool to evaluate myofascial adhesions objectively in
      patients with breast cancer and to investigate its interrater reliability.
      METHODS: 1) Development of the evaluation tool. Literature was searched, experts
      in the field of myofascial therapy were consulted and pilot testing was
      performed. 2) Thirty patients (63% had a mastectomy, 37% breast-conserving
      surgery and 97% radiotherapy) with myofascial adhesions were evaluated using the
      developed tool by 2 independent raters. The Weighted Kappa (WK) and the intra
      class correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. RESULTS: 1) The evaluation
      tool for Myofascial Adhesions in Patients with Breast Cancer (MAP-BC evaluation
      tool) consisted of the assessment of myofascial adhesions at 7 locations:
      axillary and breast region scars, musculi pectorales region, axilla, frontal
      chest wall, lateral chest wall and the inframammary fold. At each location the
      degree of the myofascial adhesion was scored at three levels (skin, superficial
      and deep) on a 4-points scale (between no adhesions and very stiff adhesions).
      Additionally, a total score (0-9) was calculated, i.e. the sum of the different
      levels of each location. 2) Interrater agreement of the different levels
      separately was moderate for the axillary and mastectomy scar (WK 0.62-0.73) and
      good for the scar on the breast (WK >0.75). Moderate agreement was reached for
      almost all levels of the non-scar locations. Interrater reliability of the total
      scores was the highest for the scars (ICC 0.82-0.99). At non-scar locations good
      interrater reliability was reached, except for the inframammary fold (ICC =
      0.71). CONCLUSIONS: The total scores of all locations of the MAP-BC evaluation
      tool had good to excellent interrater reliability, except for the inframammary
      fold which only reached moderate reliability.

PMID- 28598979
TI  - Association of maternal weight with FADS and ELOVL genetic variants and fatty
      acid levels- The PREOBE follow-up.
AB  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes encoding the fatty acid
      desaturase (FADS) and elongase (ELOVL) enzymes affect long-chain polyunsaturated
      fatty acid (LC-PUFA) production. We aimed to determine if these SNPs are
      associated with body mass index (BMI) or affect fatty acids (FAs) in pregnant
      women. Participants (n = 180) from the PREOBE cohort were grouped according to
      pre-pregnancy BMI: normal-weight (BMI = 18.5-24.9, n = 88) and overweight/obese
      (BMI>=25, n = 92). Plasma samples were analyzed at 24 weeks of gestation to
      measure FA levels in the phospholipid fraction. Selected SNPs were genotyped (7
      in FADS1, 5 in FADS2, 3 in ELOVL2 and 2 in ELOVL5). Minor allele carriers of
      rs174545, rs174546, rs174548 and rs174553 (FADS1), and rs1535 and rs174583
      (FADS2) were nominally associated with an increased risk of having a BMI>=25.
      Only for the normal-weight group, minor allele carriers of rs174537, rs174545,
      rs174546, and rs174553 (FADS1) were negatively associated with AA:DGLA index.
      Normal-weight women who were minor allele carriers of FADS SNPs had lower levels
      of AA, AA:DGLA and AA:LA indexes, and higher levels of DGLA, compared to major
      homozygotes. Among minor allele carriers of FADS2 and ELOVL2 SNPs,
      overweight/obese women showed higher DHA:EPA index than the normal-weight group;
      however, they did not present higher DHA concentrations than the normal-weight
      women. In conclusion, minor allele carriers of FADS SNPs have an increased risk
      of obesity. Maternal weight changes the effect of genotype on FA levels. Only in
      the normal-weight group, minor allele carriers of FADS SNPs displayed reduced
      enzymatic activity and FA levels. This suggests that women with a BMI>=25 are
      less affected by FADS genetic variants in this regard. In the presence of FADS2
      and ELOVL2 SNPs, overweight/obese women showed higher n-3 LC-PUFA production
      indexes than women with normal weight, but this was not enough to obtain a higher
      n-3 LC-PUFA concentration.

PMID- 28598980
TI  - Accuracy of subject-specific prediction of end-systolic time in MRI across a
      range of RR intervals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prediction of End-Systole time is of utmost importance for cardiac
      MRI to correctly associate acquired k-space lines during reconstruction of cine
      acquisitions. This prediction is usually based on the patient's heart rate using
      Weissler's formula, which was calibrated by linear regression within a population
      and cannot account for individual variability. OBJECTIVE: We propose an automatic
      method to build a personalized model that better predicts end-systole. METHODS: A
      phase contrast sequence was modified to acquire only central k-space line with
      6.6ms temporal resolution, in a slice passing through the aorta during 128
      heartbeats in 35 subjects. Segmentation of aorta and detection of end of systolic
      ejection was automatic. Duration of electromechanical systole duration as
      function of heart rate was determined for each subject separately. RESULTS: In
      comparison with the global models, the adapted cardiac model predicted
      significantly better both echocardiographic end-systolic reference (bias = 0ms vs
      17ms, p<0.001) and MRI measurements (bias = 6.8ms vs 17ms). Favorable impact was
      shown on the cine reconstruction of the 5 subjects with the higher cardiac
      variability (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Personalization of cardiac model to the
      subject is feasible in MRI and reduces the error of prediction of systole.

PMID- 28598981
TI  - Correction: Metal accumulation by sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and the
      efficacy of its biomass in enzymatic saccharification.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175845.].

PMID- 28598982
TI  - alpha-Mangostin ameliorates hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance by
      inhibition C-C chemokine receptor 2.
AB  - Obesity induces various metabolic diseases such as dyslipidemia, nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and type 2 diabetes. Fat expansion in adipose tissue
      induces adipose tissue dysfunction and inflammation, insulin resistance, and
      other metabolic syndromes. alpha-Mangostin (alpha-MG) has been previously studied
      for its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. In this
      study, we investigated the effects of alpha-MG on adipose tissue inflammation and
      hepatic steatosis. We categorized study animals into four groups: regular diet
      control mice, RD mice treated with alpha-MG, high fat diet-induced obese mice,
      and HFD mice treated with alpha-MG. alpha-MG treatment significantly reduced not
      only the body, liver, and fat weights, but also plasma glucose, insulin, and
      triglyceride levels in HFD mice. Additionally, adiponectin levels of alpha-MG
      treated mice were significantly higher than those of control HFD mice.
      Immunohistochemistry of liver and adipose tissue showed that CD11c expression was
      reduced in alpha-MG fed obese mice. alpha-MG treatment of HFD mice down-regulated
      the adipose-associated inflammatory cytokines and CCR2 in both liver and adipose
      tissue. Moreover, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were significantly
      improved in alpha-MG fed obese mice. alpha-Mangostin ameliorates adipose
      inflammation and hepatic steatosis in HFD-induced obese mice.

PMID- 28598983
TI  - A preclinical evaluation of polypropylene/polylacticacid hybrid meshes for
      fascial defect repair using a rat abdominal hernia model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Synthetic mesh surgery for both abdominal and urogenital hernia
      repair is often unsatisfactory in the long-term due to postoperative
      complications. We hypothesized that a semi-degradable mesh hybrid may provide
      more appropriate biocompatibility with comparable mechanical properties. The aim
      was to compare its in vivo biocompatibility with a commercial polypropylene (PP)
      mesh. METHODS: 72 rats were randomly allocated to either our new composite mesh
      (monofilament PP mesh knitted with polylactic-acid-fibers (PLA)) or to a
      commercially available PP mesh that was used as a control. 15, 90, and 180 days
      after implantation into the rat abdomen mesh tissue complexes were analysed for
      erosion, contraction, foreign body reaction, tissue integration and biomechanical
      properties. RESULTS: No differences were seen in regard to clinical parameters
      including erosion, contraction or infection rates between the two groups.
      Biomechanical properties including breaking load, stiffness and deformation did
      not show any significant differences between the different materials at any
      timepoint. Macrophage staining did not reveal any significant differences between
      the two groups or between timepoints either. In regard to collagen I there was
      significantly less collagen I in the PP group compared to the PP/ PLA group at
      day 180. Collagen III did not show any significant differences at any timepoint
      between the two groups. CONCLUSION: A PP/PLA hybrid mesh, leaving a low amount of
      PP after PLA degradation seems to have comparable biomechanical properties like
      PP at 180 days due to enhanced collagen production without significant
      differences in erosion, contraction, herniation or infection rates.

PMID- 28598984
TI  - A systematic review evaluating the psychometric properties of measures of social
      inclusion.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Improving social inclusion opportunities for population health has
      been identified as a priority area for international policy. There is a need to
      comprehensively examine and evaluate the quality of psychometric properties of
      measures of social inclusion that are used to guide social policy and outcomes.
      OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review of the literature on all current
      measures of social inclusion for any population group, to evaluate the quality of
      the psychometric properties of identified measures, and to evaluate if they
      capture the construct of social inclusion. METHODS: A systematic search was
      performed using five electronic databases: CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, ERIC and
      Pubmed and grey literature were sourced to identify measures of social inclusion.
      The psychometric properties of the social inclusion measures were evaluated
      against the COSMIN taxonomy of measurement properties using pre-set psychometric
      criteria. RESULTS: Of the 109 measures identified, twenty-five measures,
      involving twenty-five studies and one manual met the inclusion criteria. The
      overall quality of the reviewed measures was variable, with the Social and
      Community Opportunities Profile-Short, Social Connectedness Scale and the Social
      Inclusion Scale demonstrating the strongest evidence for sound psychometric
      quality. The most common domain included in the measures was connectedness (21),
      followed by participation (19); the domain of citizenship was covered by the
      least number of measures (10). No single instrument measured all aspects within
      the three domains of social inclusion. Of the measures with sound psychometric
      evidence, the Social and Community Opportunities Profile-Short captured the
      construct of social inclusion best. CONCLUSIONS: The overall quality of the
      psychometric properties demonstrate that the current suite of available
      instruments for the measurement of social inclusion are promising but need
      further refinement. There is a need for a universal working definition of social
      inclusion as an overarching construct for ongoing research in the area of the
      psychometric properties of social inclusion instruments.

PMID- 28598985
TI  - Optimized double-digest genotyping by sequencing (ddGBS) method with high-density
      SNP markers and high genotyping accuracy for chickens.
AB  - High-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are crucial to improve
      the resolution and accuracy of genome-wide association study (GWAS) and genomic
      selection (GS). Numerous approaches, including whole genome sequencing, genome
      sampling sequencing, and SNP chips are able to discover or genotype markers at
      different densities and costs. Achieving an optimal balance between sequencing
      resolution and budgets, especially in large-scale population genetics research,
      constitutes a major challenge. Here, we performed improved double-enzyme
      digestion genotyping by sequencing (ddGBS) on chicken. We evaluated eight double
      enzyme digestion combinations, and EcoR I- Mse I was chosen as the optimal
      combination for the chicken genome. We firstly proposed that two parameters,
      optimal read-count point (ORP) and saturated read-count point (SRP), could be
      utilized to determine the optimal sequencing volume. A total of 291,772 high
      density SNPs from 824 animals were identified. By validation using the SNP chip,
      we found that the consistency between ddGBS data and the SNP chip is over 99%.
      The approach that we developed in chickens, which is high-quality, high-density,
      cost-effective (300 K, $30/sample), and time-saving (within 48 h), will have
      broad applications in animal breeding programs.

PMID- 28598987
TI  - Ethnicity and the first diagnosis of a wide range of cardiovascular diseases:
      Associations in a linked electronic health record cohort of 1 million patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While the association of ethnic group with individual cardiovascular
      diseases has been studied, little is known about ethnic differences in the
      initial lifetime presentation of clinical cardiovascular disease in contemporary
      populations. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 1,068,318 people, aged >=30 years
      and free from diagnosed CVD at baseline (90.9% White, 3.6% South Asian and 2.9%
      Black), using English linked electronic health records covering primary care,
      hospital admissions, acute coronary syndrome registry and mortality registry
      (CALIBER platform). During 5.7 years median follow-up between 1997-2010, 95,224
      people experienced an incident cardiovascular diagnosis. 69.9% (67.2%-72.4%) of
      initial presentation in South Asian <60 yrs were coronary heart disease
      presentations compared to 47.8% (47.3%-48.3%) in White and 40.1% (36.3%-43.9%) in
      Black patients. Compared to White patients, Black patients had significantly
      lower age-sex adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for initial lifetime presentation of
      all the coronary disease diagnoses (stable angina HR 0.80 (95% CI 0.68-0.93);
      unstable angina- 0.75 (0.59-0.97); myocardial infarction 0.49 (0.40-0.62)) while
      South Asian patients had significantly higher HRs (stable angina- 1.67 (1.52
      1.84); unstable angina 1.82 (1.56-2.13); myocardial infarction- 1.67 (1.49-1.87).
      We found no ethnic differences in initial presentation with heart failure (Black
      0.97 (0.79-1.20); S Asian 1.04(0.87-1.26)). Compared to White patients, Black
      patients were more likely to present with ischaemic stroke (1.24 (0.97-1.58)) and
      intracerebral haemorrhage (1.44 (0.97-2.12)). Presentation with peripheral
      arterial disease was less likely for Black (0.63 (0.50-0.80)) and South Asian
      patients (0.70 (0.57-0.86)) compared with White patients. DISCUSSION: While we
      found the anticipated substantial predominance of coronary heart disease
      presentations in South Asian and predominance of stroke presentations in Black
      patients, we found no ethnic differences in presentation with heart failure. We
      consider the public health and research implications of our findings. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: NCT02176174, www.clinicaltrials.gov.

PMID- 28598988
TI  - Biochar particle size, shape, and porosity act together to influence soil water
      properties.
AB  - Many studies report that, under some circumstances, amending soil with biochar
      can improve field capacity and plant-available water. However, little is known
      about the mechanisms that control these improvements, making it challenging to
      predict when biochar will improve soil water properties. To develop a conceptual
      model explaining biochar's effects on soil hydrologic processes, we conducted a
      series of well constrained laboratory experiments using a sand matrix to test the
      effects of biochar particle size and porosity on soil water retention curves. We
      showed that biochar particle size affects soil water storage through changing
      pore space between particles (interpores) and by adding pores that are part of
      the biochar (intrapores). We used these experimental results to better understand
      how biochar intrapores and biochar particle shape control the observed changes in
      water retention when capillary pressure is the main component of soil water
      potential. We propose that biochar's intrapores increase water content of biochar
      sand mixtures when soils are drier. When biochar-sand mixtures are wetter,
      biochar particles' elongated shape disrupts the packing of grains in the sandy
      matrix, increasing the volume between grains (interpores) available for water
      storage. These results imply that biochars with a high intraporosity and
      irregular shapes will most effectively increase water storage in coarse soils.

PMID- 28598986
TI  - Computational analysis of multimorbidity between asthma, eczema and rhinitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mechanisms explaining the co-existence of asthma, eczema and
      rhinitis (allergic multimorbidity) are largely unknown. We investigated the
      mechanisms underlying multimorbidity between three main allergic diseases at a
      molecular level by identifying the proteins and cellular processes that are
      common to them. METHODS: An in silico study based on computational analysis of
      the topology of the protein interaction network was performed in order to
      characterize the molecular mechanisms of multimorbidity of asthma, eczema and
      rhinitis. As a first step, proteins associated to either disease were identified
      using data mining approaches, and their overlap was calculated. Secondly, a
      functional interaction network was built, allowing to identify cellular pathways
      involved in allergic multimorbidity. Finally, a network-based algorithm generated
      a ranked list of newly predicted multimorbidity-associated proteins. RESULTS:
      Asthma, eczema and rhinitis shared a larger number of associated proteins than
      expected by chance, and their associated proteins exhibited a significant degree
      of interconnectedness in the interaction network. There were 15 pathways involved
      in the multimorbidity of asthma, eczema and rhinitis, including IL4 signaling and
      GATA3-related pathways. A number of proteins potentially associated to these
      multimorbidity processes were also obtained. CONCLUSIONS: These results strongly
      support the existence of an allergic multimorbidity cluster between asthma,
      eczema and rhinitis, and suggest that type 2 signaling pathways represent a
      relevant multimorbidity mechanism of allergic diseases. Furthermore, we
      identified new candidates contributing to multimorbidity that may assist in
      identifying new targets for multimorbid allergic diseases.

PMID- 28598989
TI  - Leveraging genomic prediction to scan germplasm collection for crop improvement.
AB  - The objective of this study was to explore the potential of genomic prediction
      (GP) for soybean resistance against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, the
      causal agent of white mold (WM). A diverse panel of 465 soybean plant
      introduction accessions was phenotyped for WM resistance in replicated field and
      greenhouse tests. All plant accessions were previously genotyped using the
      SoySNP50K BeadChip. The predictive ability of six GP models were compared, and
      the impact of marker density and training population size on the predictive
      ability was investigated. Cross-prediction among environments was tested to
      determine the effectiveness of the prediction models. GP models had similar
      prediction accuracies for all experiments. Predictive ability did not improve
      significantly by using more than 5k SNPs, or by increasing the training
      population size (from 50% to 90% of the total of individuals). The GP model
      effectively predicted WM resistance across field and greenhouse experiments when
      each was used as either the training or validation population. The GP model was
      able to identify WM-resistant accessions in the USDA soybean germplasm collection
      that had previously been reported and were not included in the study panel. This
      study demonstrated the applicability of GP to identify useful genetic sources of
      WM resistance for soybean breeding. Further research will confirm the
      applicability of the proposed approach to other complex disease resistance traits
      and in other crops.

PMID- 28598990
TI  - Neurological failure in ICU patients with hematological malignancies: A
      prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies of neurological complications in patients
      with hematological malignancies are scant. The objective of the study was to
      identify determinants of survival in patients with hematological malignancy and
      neurological failure. METHODS: Post hoc analysis of a prospective study of adults
      with hematological malignancies admitted for any reason to one of 17 university
      or university-affiliated participating ICUs in France and Belgium (2010-2012).
      The primary outcome was vital status at hospital discharge. RESULTS: Of the 1011
      patients enrolled initially, 226 (22.4%) had neurological failure. Presenting
      manifestations were dominated by drowsiness or stupor (65%), coma (32%), weakness
      (26%), and seizures (19%). Neuroimaging, lumbar puncture, and
      electroencephalography were performed in 113 (50%), 73 (32%), and 63 (28%)
      patients, respectively. A neurosurgical biopsy was done in 1 patient. Hospital
      mortality was 50%. By multivariate analysis, factors independently associated
      with higher hospital mortality were poor performance status (odds ratio [OR],
      3.99; 95%CI, 1.82-9.39; P = 0.0009), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (OR, 2.60; 95%CI,
      1.35-5.15; P = 0.005), shock (OR, 1.95; 95%CI, 1.04-3.72; P = 0.04), and
      respiratory failure (OR, 2.18; 95%CI, 1.14-4.25; P = 0.02); and factors
      independently associated with lower hospital mortality were GCS score on day 1
      (OR, 0.88/point; 95%CI, 0.81-0.95; P = 0.0009) and autologous stem cell
      transplantation (OR, 0.25; 95%CI, 0.07-0.75; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In ICU
      patients with hematological malignancies, neurological failure is common and
      often fatal. Independent predictors of higher hospital mortality were type of
      underlying hematological malignancy, poor performance status, hemodynamic and
      respiratory failures, and severity of consciousness impairment. Knowledge of
      these risk factors might help to optimize management strategies.

PMID- 28598991
TI  - Change in potato consumption among Norwegian women 1998-2005-The Norwegian Women
      and Cancer study (NOWAC).
AB  - Studies have shown that potato consumption in Norway have been on the decline in
      recent years. Increase in income and the association of potato consumption with
      weight gain and chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes have been identified as
      some of the factors responsible for the change. The aim of this study was to
      describe the change in potato consumption within persons and how non-dietary
      variables influenced that change among participants in the Norwegian Women and
      Cancer study (NOWAC). A prospective analysis was performed in the NOWAC cohort
      using linear regression. Data on dietary, lifestyle, socioeconomic and health
      related factors were collected by mailed questionnaires. The change in potato
      consumption among 38,820 women aged 41-70 years was investigated using two
      measurements taken at intervals of 4-6 years. At baseline, mean intake was 112g
      per day; this had decreased to 94.5g per day at the second measurement. Results
      showed that the percentage of women who reported that they ate less than 1 potato
      a day increased from 24.6% at baseline to 35.5% at the second measurement. Those
      who reported that they ate more than 3 potatoes a day had decreased from 20.2% of
      the participants at baseline to 12.1% at the second measurement. Multivariable
      adjusted results show that geography was an important predictor of potato
      consumption at second measurement. Living in the north compared to Oslo (the
      capital) was associated with higher intake of potato at second measurement (B:
      0.60, 95% CI: 0.55-0.65). Compared to women living with a partner, living alone
      was associated with lower potato intake at second measurement (B: -0.13, 95% CI: 
      0.17 --0.09) while living with children tended to be associated with higher
      potato intake at second measurement (B: 0.01, 95% CI: -0.02-0.04). Younger age,
      more years of education, higher income or BMI was associated with a lower potato
      intake at second measurement. Smoking was associated with a higher intake of
      potato at second measurement (B: 0.03, 95% CI: 0.00-0.06 for smokers compared to
      non-smokers). Having diabetes at baseline was associated with lower intake of
      potato at second measurement (B: -0.04, 95% CI: -0.14 --0.06 for non-diabetics
      compared to diabetics). Potato consumption among women in the NOWAC study showed
      a decline over the period studied. Change in the consumption was found to be
      influenced by age, education, income, household structure, region of residence as
      well as health-related factors like smoking and diabetes. The use of repeated
      measures is necessary to continue the monitoring and also to understand the
      stability and direction of the possible change in diet of a population.

PMID- 28598992
TI  - Ribosome reinitiation can explain length-dependent translation of messenger RNA.
AB  - Models of mRNA translation usually presume that transcripts are linear; upon
      reaching the end of a transcript each terminating ribosome returns to the
      cytoplasmic pool before initiating anew on a different transcript. A consequence
      of linear models is that faster translation of a given mRNA is unlikely to
      generate more of the encoded protein, particularly at low ribosome availability.
      Recent evidence indicates that eukaryotic mRNAs are circularized, potentially
      allowing terminating ribosomes to preferentially reinitiate on the same
      transcript. Here we model the effect of ribosome reinitiation on translation and
      show that, at high levels of reinitiation, protein synthesis rates are dominated
      by the time required to translate a given transcript. Our model provides a simple
      mechanistic explanation for many previously enigmatic features of eukaryotic
      translation, including the negative correlation of both ribosome densities and
      protein abundance on transcript length, the importance of codon usage in
      determining protein synthesis rates, and the negative correlation between
      transcript length and both codon adaptation and 5' mRNA folding energies. In
      contrast to linear models where translation is largely limited by initiation
      rates, our model reveals that all three stages of translation-initiation,
      elongation, and termination/reinitiation-determine protein synthesis rates even
      at low ribosome availability.

PMID- 28598993
TI  - Associations of low-intensity light physical activity with physical performance
      in community-dwelling elderly Japanese: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity and physical performance relate to quality of life,
      mortality, and morbidity in elderly people. However, little is known about
      differences in physical performance related to low-intensity light physical
      activity (LLPA), high-intensity light physical activity (HLPA), and moderate
      intensity physical activity (MPA) and how they are separated by sex in elderly
      populations. AIMS: This study aimed to determine differences in LLPA, HLPA, MPA,
      and physical performance, and associations between these measures in community
      dwelling elderly men and women. METHODS: Physical activity and physical
      performance such as timed-up-and-go test, one-leg standing time, and maximum gait
      speed were measured in 181 community-dwelling elderly men (mean age, 75.1 +/- 5.3
      years) and 109 women (mean age, 73.4 +/- 4.8 years) in 2013. Physical activity
      was classified as LLPA (1.6~1.9 METs of physical activity), HLPA (2.0~2.9 METs of
      physical activity), and MPA (over 3 METs of physical activity). The association
      between the values of these three intensities of physical activity in the
      participants was assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficients. Multiple linear
      regression analyses were used to assess the association of physical performance
      values with the three groups defined by accelerometer-measured physical activity
      intensity adjusted for sociographic, behavioral, and multiple diseases in the
      participants. RESULTS: MPA was beneficially associated with all physical
      performance indicators in the men (all P<0.05) and women (all P<0.05). Only HLPA
      showed significant associations with the timed-up-and-go test (P = 0.001) and
      maximum gait speed (P = 0.006) in women. DISCUSSION: These results may support
      the notion that not only HLPA in women but MPA in both sexes appears to improve
      physical performance in elderly populations. CONCLUSION: The present study
      findings provide novel epidemiological evidence for the potential benefits of
      HLPA in women and also reinforce the potential benefits of MPA in both sexes,
      which is the mainstay of public health recommendations.

PMID- 28598994
TI  - Asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizome prevents oxidative stress-induced cell
      injury in cultured astrocytes: A signaling triggered by Akt activation.
AB  - Acori Tatarinowii Rhizome (ATR; the dried rhizome of Acori tatarinowii Schott) is
      a well-known herb being used for mental disorder in China and Asia. Volatile oil
      is considered as the active ingredient of ATR, and asarones account for more than
      90% of total volatile oil. Here, the protective effects of ATR oil and asarones,
      both alpha-asarone and beta-asarone, were probed in cultured rat astrocytes. The
      cyto-protective effect of ATR oil and asarones against tBHP-induced astrocyte
      injury was revealed, and additionally ATR oil and asarones reduced the tBHP
      induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. In parallel,
      the activity of anti-oxidant response element (ARE) promoter construct (pARE
      Luc), being transfected in cultured astrocytes, was markedly induced by
      application of ATR oil and asarones. The mRNAs encoding anti-oxidant enzymes,
      e.g. glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutamate-cysteine ligase modulatory
      subunit (GCLM), glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) and NAD(P)H
      quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) were induced by ATR oil and asarones in a dose
      dependent manner. The ATR oil/asarone-induced gene expression could be mediated
      by Akt phosphorylation; because the applied LY294002, a phosphoinositide 3-kinase
      inhibitor, fully abolished the induction. These results demonstrated that alpha
      asarone and beta-asarone could account, at least partly, the function of ATR
      being a Chinese medicinal herb.

PMID- 28598995
TI  - Plant cell wall glycosyltransferases: High-throughput recombinant expression
      screening and general requirements for these challenging enzymes.
AB  - Molecular characterization of plant cell wall glycosyltransferases is a critical
      step towards understanding the biosynthesis of the complex plant cell wall, and
      ultimately for efficient engineering of biofuel and agricultural crops. The
      majority of these enzymes have proven very difficult to obtain in the needed
      amount and purity for such molecular studies, and recombinant cell wall
      glycosyltransferase production efforts have largely failed. A daunting number of
      strategies can be employed to overcome this challenge, including optimization of
      DNA and protein sequences, choice of expression organism, expression conditions,
      co-expression partners, purification methods, and optimization of protein
      solubility and stability. Hence researchers are presented with thousands of
      potential conditions to test. Ultimately, the subset of conditions that will be
      sampled depends on practical considerations and prior knowledge of the enzyme(s)
      being studied. We have developed a rational approach to this process. We devise a
      pipeline comprising in silico selection of targets and construct design, and high
      throughput expression screening, target enrichment, and hit identification. We
      have applied this pipeline to a test set of Arabidopsis thaliana cell wall
      glycosyltransferases known to be challenging to obtain in soluble form, as well
      as to a library of cell wall glycosyltransferases from other plants including
      agricultural and biofuel crops. The screening results suggest that recombinant
      cell wall glycosyltransferases in general have a very low soluble:insoluble ratio
      in lysates from heterologous expression cultures, and that co-expression of
      chaperones as well as lysis buffer optimization can increase this ratio. We have
      applied the identified preferred conditions to Reversibly Glycosylated
      Polypeptide 1 from Arabidopsis thaliana, and processed this enzyme to near-purity
      in unprecedented milligram amounts. The obtained preparation of Reversibly
      Glycosylated Polypeptide 1 has the expected arabinopyranose mutase and
      autoglycosylation activities.

PMID- 28598997
TI  - Selection of reference genes for quantitative real-time RT-PCR assays in
      different morphological forms of dimorphic zygomycetous fungus Benjaminiella
      poitrasii.
AB  - Benjaminiella poitrasii, a dimorphic non-pathogenic zygomycetous fungus, exhibits
      a morphological yeast (Y) to hypha (H) reversible transition in the vegetative
      phase, sporangiospores (S) in the asexual phase and zygospores (Z) in the sexual
      phase. To study the gene expression across these diverse morphological forms,
      suitable reference genes are required. In the present study, 13 genes viz. ACT,
      18S rRNA, eEF1alpha, eEF-Tu,eIF-1A, Tub-alpha, Tub-b, Ubc, GAPDH, Try, WS-21,
      NADGDH and NADPGDH were evaluated for their potential as a reference,
      particularly for studying gene expression during the Y-H reversible transition
      and also for other asexual and sexual life stages of B. poitrasii. Analysis of RT
      qPCR data using geNorm, normFinder and BestKeeper software revealed that genes
      such as Ubc, 18S rRNA and WS-21 were expressed at constant levels in each given
      subset of RNA samples from all the morphological phases of B. poitrasii.
      Therefore, these reference genes can be used to elucidate the role of morpho
      genes in B. poitrasii. Further, use of the two most stably expressed genes (Ubc
      and WS-21) to normalize the expression of the ornithine decarboxylase gene
      (Bpodc) in different morphological forms of B. poitrasii, generated more reliable
      results, indicating that our selection of reference genes was appropriate.

PMID- 28598996
TI  - Alterations in audiovisual simultaneity perception in amblyopia.
AB  - Amblyopia is a developmental visual impairment that is increasingly recognized to
      affect higher-level perceptual and multisensory processes. To further investigate
      the audiovisual (AV) perceptual impairments associated with this condition, we
      characterized the temporal interval in which asynchronous auditory and visual
      stimuli are perceived as simultaneous 50% of the time (i.e., the AV simultaneity
      window). Adults with unilateral amblyopia (n = 17) and visually normal controls
      (n = 17) judged the simultaneity of a flash and a click presented with both eyes
      viewing. The signal onset asynchrony (SOA) varied from 0 ms to 450 ms for
      auditory-lead and visual-lead conditions. A subset of participants with amblyopia
      (n = 6) was tested monocularly. Compared to the control group, the auditory-lead
      side of the AV simultaneity window was widened by 48 ms (36%; p = 0.002), whereas
      that of the visual-lead side was widened by 86 ms (37%; p = 0.02). The overall
      mean window width was 500 ms, compared to 366 ms among controls (37% wider; p =
      0.002). Among participants with amblyopia, the simultaneity window parameters
      were unchanged by viewing condition, but subgroup analysis revealed differential
      effects on the parameters by amblyopia severity, etiology, and foveal suppression
      status. Possible mechanisms to explain these findings include visual temporal
      uncertainty, interocular perceptual latency asymmetry, and disruption of normal
      developmental tuning of sensitivity to audiovisual asynchrony.

PMID- 28598998
TI  - Financial incentives improve recognition but not treatment of cardiovascular risk
      factors in severe mental illness.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Severe mental illness (SMI) is associated with premature
      cardiovascular disease, prompting the UK primary care payment-for-performance
      system (Quality and Outcomes Framework, QOF) to incentivise annual physical
      health reviews. This study aimed to assess the QOF's impact on detection and
      treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in people with SMI. METHODS: A
      retrospective open cohort study of UK general practice was conducted between 1996
      and 2014, using segmented logistic regression with 2004 and 2011 as break points,
      reflecting the introduction of relevant QOF incentives in these years. 67239 SMI
      cases and 359951 randomly-selected unmatched controls were extracted from the
      Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). RESULTS: There was strong evidence
      (p<=0.015) the 2004 QOF indicator (general health) resulted in an immediate
      increase in recording of elevated cholesterol (odds ratio 1.37 (95% confidence
      interval 1.24 to 1.51)); obesity (OR 1.21 (1.06 to 1.38)); and hypertension (OR
      1.19 (1.04 to 1.38)) in the SMI group compared with the control group, which was
      sustained in subsequent years. Similar findings were found for diabetes, although
      the evidence was weaker (p = 0.059; OR 1.21 (0.99 to 1.49)). There was evidence
      (p<0.001) of a further, but unsustained, increase in recording of elevated
      cholesterol and obesity in the SMI group following the 2011 QOF indicator
      (cardiovascular specific). There was no clear evidence that the QOF indicators
      affected the prescribing of lipid modifying medications or anti-diabetic
      medications. CONCLUSION: Incentivising general physical health review for SMI
      improves identification of cardiovascular risk factors, although the additional
      value of specifically incentivising cardiovascular risk factor assessment is
      unclear. However, incentives do not affect pharmacological management of these
      risks.

PMID- 28599000
TI  - Modeling the live-pig trade network in Georgia: Implications for disease
      prevention and control.
AB  - Live pig trade patterns, drivers and characteristics, particularly in backyard
      predominant systems, remain largely unexplored despite their important
      contribution to the spread of infectious diseases in the swine industry. A better
      understanding of the pig trade dynamics can inform the implementation of risk
      based and more cost-effective prevention and control programs for swine diseases.
      In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire elaborated by FAO and implemented
      to 487 farmers was used to collect data regarding basic characteristics about pig
      demographics and live-pig trade among villages in the country of Georgia, where
      very scarce information is available. Social network analysis and exponential
      random graph models were used to better understand the structure, contact
      patterns and main drivers for pig trade in the country. Results indicate
      relatively infrequent (a total of 599 shipments in one year) and geographically
      localized (median Euclidean distance between shipments = 6.08 km; IQR = 0-13.88
      km) pig movements in the studied regions. The main factors contributing to live
      pig trade movements among villages were being from the same region (i.e., local
      trade), usage of a middleman or a live animal market to trade live pigs by at
      least one farmer in the village, and having a large number of pig farmers in the
      village. The identified villages' characteristics and structural network
      properties could be used to inform the design of more cost-effective surveillance
      systems in a country which pig industry was recently devastated by African swine
      fever epidemics and where backyard production systems are predominant.

PMID- 28598999
TI  - Lymphatic endothelial progenitors originate from plastic myeloid cells activated
      by toll-like receptor-4.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myeloid-derived lymphatic endothelial cells (M-LECP) are induced by
      inflammation and play an important role in adult lymphangiogenesis. However, the
      mechanisms driving M-LECP differentiation are currently unclear. We previously
      showed that activation of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) induces myeloid-lymphatic
      transition (MLT) of immortalized mouse myeloid cells. Here the goals were to
      assess the potential of different TLR4 ligands to induce pro-lymphatic
      reprogramming in human and mouse primary myeloid cells and to identify
      transcriptional changes regulating this process. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
      Human and mouse myeloid cells were reprogrammed to the lymphatic phenotype by
      TLR4 ligands including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), recombinant high mobility group
      box 1 protein (HMGB1), and paclitaxel. TLR4 induced similar MLT in cells from
      mice of different strains and immune status. Commonly induced genes were detected
      by transcriptional profiling in human and mouse myeloid cells from either
      immunocompetent or immunodeficient mice. Shared trends included: (1) novel
      expression of lymphatic-specific markers vascular endothelial growth factor
      receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1 (LYVE-1)
      and podoplanin (PDPN) largely absent prior to induction; (2) lack of notable
      changes in blood vessel-specific markers; (3) transient expression of VEGFR-3,
      but sustained increase of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and a
      variety of inflammatory cytokines; (4) dependency of VEGFR-3 upregulation and
      other LEC genes on NF-kappaB; and (5) novel expression of lymphatic-specific
      (e.g., PROX1) and stem/progenitor (e.g., E2F1) transcription factors known for
      their roles in adult and embryonic vascular formation. M-LECP generated by TLR4
      ligands in vitro were functional in vivo as demonstrated by significantly
      increased lymphatic vessel density and lymphatic metastasis detected in
      orthotopic breast cancer models. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We established a novel
      TLR4-dependent protocol for in vitro production of functionally competent M-LECP
      from primary human or mouse myeloid cells and identified many potential
      regulators of this process. This information can be further exploited for
      research and therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 28599001
TI  - Diagnostic value and relative weight of sequence-specific magnetic resonance
      features in characterizing clinically significant prostate cancers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the diagnostic weight of sequence-specific magnetic resonance
      features in characterizing clinically significant prostate cancers (csPCa).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a prospective database of 262 patients who
      underwent T2-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)
      imaging before prostatectomy. For each lesion, two independent readers (R1, R2)
      prospectively defined nine features: shape, volume (V_Max), signal abnormality on
      each pulse sequence, number of pulse sequences with a marked (S_Max) and non
      visible (S_Min) abnormality, likelihood of extracapsular extension (ECE) and PSA
      density (dPSA). Overall likelihood of malignancy was assessed using a 5-level
      Likert score. Features were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve (AUC). csPCa was defined as Gleason >=7 cancer (csPCa-A),
      Gleason >=7(4+3) cancer (csPCa-B) or Gleason >=7 cancer with histological
      extraprostatic extension (csPCa-C). RESULTS: For csPCa-A, the Signal1 model
      (S_Max+S_Min) provided the best combination of signal-related variables, for both
      readers. The performance was improved by adding V_Max, ECE and/or dPSA, but not
      shape. All models performed better with DCE findings than without. When moving
      from csPCa-A to csPCa-B and csPCa-C definitions, the added value of V_Max, dPSA
      and ECE increased as compared to signal-related variables, and the added value of
      DCE decreased. For R1, the best models were Signal1+ECE+dPSA (AUC = 0,805
      [95%CI:0,757-0,866]), Signal1+V_Max+dPSA (AUC = 0.823 [95%CI:0.760-0.893]) and
      Signal1+ECE+dPSA [AUC = 0.840 (95%CI:0.774-0.907)] for csPCa-A, csPCA-B and csPCA
      C respectively. The AUCs of the corresponding Likert scores were 0.844
      [95%CI:0.806-0.877, p = 0.11], 0.841 [95%CI:0.799-0.876, p = 0.52]) and 0.849
      [95%CI:0.811-0.884, p = 0.49], respectively. For R2, the best models were
      Signal1+V_Max+dPSA (AUC = 0,790 [95%CI:0,731-0,857]), Signal1+V_Max (AUC = 0.813
      [95%CI:0.746-0.882]) and Signal1+ECE+V_Max (AUC = 0.843 [95%CI: 0.781-0.907]) for
      csPCa-A, csPCA-B and csPCA-C respectively. The AUCs of the corresponding Likert
      scores were 0. 829 [95%CI:0.791-0.868, p = 0.13], 0.790 [95%CI:0.742-0.841, p =
      0.12]) and 0.808 [95%CI:0.764-0.845, p = 0.006]), respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Combination of simple variables can match the Likert score's results. The optimal
      combination depends on the definition of csPCa.

PMID- 28599002
TI  - Social orienting and joint attention in preschoolers with autism spectrum
      disorders.
AB  - Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) orient less to socially salient
      stimuli, such as dynamic social images, than typically developing children. In
      turn, this lack of social orienting is thought to impair affected individuals'
      socio communicative development. Here, we aim to explore the relationship between
      time spent on dynamic social images and ASD behaviors, such as joint attention
      and communication, in preschoolers on the autism spectrum. In this study, social
      orienting is measured using eye-tracking during a task consisting of side-by-side
      presentations of dynamic social images and dynamic geometric images. The side of
      the screen where each type of video was presented alternated between items to
      avoid visual perseveration from influencing the location of participants' first
      fixations. Visual exploration patterns recorded during the task from 33
      preschoolers with ASD were compared with those of 27 typical developing (TD)
      children. Additionally, we quantified joint attention behaviors and used
      standardized parent reports to measure communication. We observed reduced
      orienting to dynamic social images in preschoolers with ASD compared to TD
      children. Also, ASD participants went to the dynamic social images less
      frequently for their first fixations. However, we observed great heterogeneity
      within the ASD group. ASD preschoolers who spent more time on the dynamic social
      images also presented more pronounced visual engagement with the dynamic social
      images (longer mean fixation duration and fewer saccades per second). Moreover,
      in the ASD group, more time spent on dynamic social images correlated with
      increased frequency of joint attention behaviors, which in turn correlated with
      improved communication skills. Our results support reduced social orienting in
      children with ASD, which correlated with their visual exploration patterns.
      Further, reduced orienting to the social world in young children with ASD is
      related to socio communicative deficits and should, therefore, be a focus of
      intervention programs as early as possible.

PMID- 28599003
TI  - Measurement agreement between a newly developed sensing insole and traditional
      laboratory-based method for footstrike pattern detection in runners.
AB  - This study introduced a novel but simple method to continuously measure
      footstrike patterns in runners using inexpensive force sensors. Two force sensing
      resistors were firmly affixed at the heel and second toe of both insoles to
      collect the time signal of foot contact. A total of 109 healthy young adults (42
      males and 67 females) were recruited in this study. They ran on an instrumented
      treadmill at 0 degrees , +10 degrees , and -10 degrees  inclinations and
      attempted rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot landings using real time visual
      biofeedback. Intra-step strike index and onset time difference between two force
      sensors were measured and analyzed with univariate linear regression. We analyzed
      25,655 footfalls and found that onset time difference between two sensors
      explained 80-84% of variation in the prediction model of strike index (R-squared
      = 0.799-0.836, p<0.001). However, the time windows to detect footstrike patterns
      on different surface inclinations were not consistent. These findings may allow
      laboratory-based gait retraining to be implemented in natural running
      environments to aid in both injury prevention and performance enhancement.

PMID- 28599004
TI  - Extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis: Demographic, clinicoradiological, and
      inflammatory features.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis (ExPNCC), an infection caused by
      Taenia solium cysticerci that mainly occurs in the ventricular compartment (Ve)
      or the basal subarachnoid space (SAb), is more severe but less frequent and much
      less studied than parenchymal neurocysticercosis (ParNCC). Demographic, clinical,
      radiological, and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid features of patients affected by
      ExPNCC are herein described and compared with those of ParNCC patients.
      METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 429 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of
      neurocysticercosis, attending the Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y
      Neurocirugia, a tertiary reference center in Mexico City, from 2000 through 2014,
      were included. Demographic information, signs and symptoms, radiological
      patterns, and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) laboratory values were retrieved
      from medical records for all patients. Data were statistically analyzed to assess
      potential differences depending on cyst location and to determine the effects of
      age and sex on the disease presentation. In total, 238 ExPNCC and 191 ParNCC
      patients were included. With respect to parenchymal cysts, extraparenchymal
      parasites were diagnosed at an older age (P = 0.002), chiefly caused intracranial
      hypertension (P < 0.0001), were more frequently multiple and vesicular (P <
      0.0001), and CSF from these patients showed higher protein concentration and cell
      count (P < 0.0001). SAb patients were diagnosed at an older age than Ve patients,
      and showed more frequently seizures, vesicular cysticerci, and higher CSF
      cellularity. Gender and age modulated some traits of the disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study evidenced clear clinical, radiological, and inflammatory differences
      between ExPNCC and ParNCC, and between SAb and Ve patients, and demonstrated that
      parasite location determines different pathological entities.

PMID- 28599005
TI  - Formation and spreading of TDP-43 aggregates in cultured neuronal and glial cells
      demonstrated by time-lapse imaging.
AB  - TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a main constituent of cytoplasmic
      aggregates in neuronal and glial cells in cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
      and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. We have previously demonstrated that
      adenovirus-transduced artificial TDP-43 cytoplasmic aggregates formation is
      enhanced by proteasome inhibition in vitro and in vivo. However, the relationship
      between cytoplasmic aggregate formation and cell death remains unclear. In the
      present study, rat neural stem cell lines stably transfected with EGFP- or Sirius
      expression vectors under the control of tubulin beta III, glial fibrillary acidic
      protein, or 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase promoter were
      differentiated into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, respectively, in
      the presence of retinoic acid. The differentiated cells were then transduced with
      adenoviruses expressing DsRed-tagged human wild type and C-terminal fragment TDP
      43 under the condition of proteasome inhibition. Time-lapse imaging analyses
      revealed growing cytoplasmic aggregates in the transduced neuronal and glial
      cells, followed by collapse of the cell. The aggregates remained insoluble in
      culture media, consisted of sarkosyl-insoluble granular materials, and contained
      phosphorylated TDP-43. Moreover, the released aggregates were incorporated into
      neighboring neuronal cells, suggesting cell-to-cell spreading. The present study
      provides a novel tool for analyzing the detailed molecular mechanisms of TDP-43
      proteinopathy in vitro.

PMID- 28599006
TI  - Long-term cryopreservation of decellularised oesophagi for tissue engineering
      clinical application.
AB  - Oesophageal tissue engineering is a therapeutic alternative when oesophageal
      replacement is required. Decellularised scaffolds are ideal as they are derived
      from tissue-specific extracellular matrix and are non-immunogenic. However,
      appropriate preservation may significantly affect scaffold behaviour. Here we aim
      to prove that an effective method for short- and long-term preservation can be
      applied to tissue engineered products allowing their translation to clinical
      application. Rabbit oesophagi were decellularised using the detergent-enzymatic
      treatment (DET), a combination of deionised water, sodium deoxycholate and DNase
      I. Samples were stored in phosphate-buffered saline solution at 4 degrees C (4
      degrees C) or slow cooled in medium with 10% Me2SO at -1 degrees C/min followed
      by storage in liquid nitrogen (SCM). Structural and functional analyses were
      performed prior to and after 2 and 4 weeks and 3 and 6 months of storage under
      each condition. Efficient decellularisation was achieved after 2 cycles of DET as
      determined with histology and DNA quantification, with preservation of the ECM.
      Only the SCM method, commonly used for cell storage, maintained the architecture
      and biomechanical properties of the scaffold up to 6 months. On the contrary, 4
      degrees C method was effective for short-term storage but led to a progressive
      distortion and degradation of the tissue architecture at the following time
      points. Efficient storage allows a timely use of decellularised oesophagi,
      essential for clinical translation. Here we describe that slow cooling with
      cryoprotectant solution in liquid nitrogen vapour leads to reliable long-term
      storage of decellularised oesophageal scaffolds for tissue engineering purposes.

PMID- 28599007
TI  - Clinical features of children with nontyphoidal Salmonella bacteremia: A single
      institution survey in rural Japan.
AB  - Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) can cause bacterial enterocolitis. Although some
      children with NTS infection develop bacteremia, its clinical manifestations have
      not been discussed adequately. Therefore, we examined children with NTS
      bacteremia. We retrospectively examined the medical records of 15 patients aged
      less than 15 years. Salmonella spp. were detected in the blood cultures of these
      patients between 1991 and 2014. We divided an additional sample group of 34
      patients diagnosed with an NTS infection between 2005 and 2014, into 2 groups.
      Group bacteremia (B) included patients in whose blood cultures Salmonella spp.
      were detected, and group non-bacteremia (NB) included patients in whom Salmonella
      infection was not detected. We compared each group using Wilcoxon test and
      Fisher's exact test. The number of patients with fever, diarrhea, or abdominal
      pain was 15 (100%), 13 (87%), and 9 (60%), respectively, in the first sample of
      patients. However, vomiting and bloody stool were observed in only 5 patients
      (33%). More than 70% of patients exhibited a reduced white blood cell count,
      while C-reactive protein levels were variable in the patients. Salmonella spp.
      were detected via stool culture in 10 patients (67%). Diarrhea persisted for more
      than 4 days more frequently in group B than group NB (p = 0.004). The number of
      patients whose fever persisted for more than 4 days was significantly higher in
      group B than group NB (p = 0.030). Therefore, if NTS bacteremia is suspected,
      blood cultures should be collected and antibiotics should be initiated in cases
      with diarrhea or fever for more than 4 days. Furthermore, a negative stool
      culture result does not preclude the possibility of NTS bacteremia.

PMID- 28599009
TI  - Anaerobic metabolism during short all-out efforts in tethered running: Comparison
      of energy expenditure and mechanical parameters between different sprint
      durations for testing.
AB  - This study's aims to verify the energy expenditure, metabolic distress and
      usefulness to evaluate the anaerobic constructs for different all-out durations
      in running efforts. Twelve active male underwent four testing sessions, one for
      familiarization and three performing one all-out (AO) tethered running sprint
      lasting 30s, 20s or 10s. Oxygen consumption, excess post exercise oxygen
      consumption, and lactate production were retained to analyse metabolic function,
      together with mechanical power and work as performance parameters. Paired results
      were compared via one-way ANOVA for repeated measures (Tukey-HSD post-hoc),
      effect sizes and ICC for absolute agreement. Statistical significance was
      accepted at p <= 0.05. Despite total and energy expenditure from oxidative
      pathway being significantly higher for longer durations (p < 0.001; ES > 0.7),
      glycolytic energy expenditure presented an agreement between AO30s and AO20s (ICC
      A = 0.63*), while the paired comparisons to AO10s have presented significant
      differences (p < 0.01; ES > 1.0). Phosphagen energy expenditure were similar
      between all-out durations (p = 0.12; ICC-A = 0.62*; ES < 0.5). Maximum mechanical
      power was higher in AO10s than in AO30s (p = 0.03; ES = 0.6), not being different
      between AO10s and AO20s (p = 0.67; ICC-A = 0.88*; ES = 0.2) and between AO20s and
      AO30s (p = 0.18; ICC-A = 0.56*; ES = 0.4). In addition, agreement between work in
      the first ten seconds was confirmed via ICC only between AO10s and AO20s (p =
      0.50; ICC-A = 0.86*; ES = 0.3), but not for the other paired comparisons (p <
      0.1; ICC < 0.45; ES > 0.5). AO20s is a better alternative to estimate anaerobic
      power and capacity in one single test, with similar oxidative demand than AO30s.

PMID- 28599008
TI  - Pediatric melioidosis in Sarawak, Malaysia: Epidemiological, clinical and
      microbiological characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Melioidosis is a serious, and potentially fatal community-acquired
      infection endemic to northern Australia and Southeast Asia, including Sarawak,
      Malaysia. The disease, caused by the usually intrinsically aminoglycoside
      resistant Burkholderia pseudomallei, most commonly affects adults with
      predisposing risk factors. There are limited data on pediatric melioidosis in
      Sarawak. METHODS: A part prospective, part retrospective study of children aged
      <15 years with culture-confirmed melioidosis was conducted in the 3 major public
      hospitals in Central Sarawak between 2009 and 2014. We examined epidemiological,
      clinical and microbiological characteristics. FINDINGS: Forty-two patients were
      recruited during the 6-year study period. The overall annual incidence was
      estimated to be 4.1 per 100,000 children <15 years, with marked variation between
      districts. No children had pre-existing medical conditions. Twenty-three (55%)
      had disseminated disease, 10 (43%) of whom died. The commonest site of infection
      was the lungs, which occurred in 21 (50%) children. Other important sites of
      infection included lymph nodes, spleen, joints and lacrimal glands. Seven (17%)
      children had bacteremia with no overt focus of infection. Delays in diagnosis and
      in melioidosis-appropriate antibiotic treatment were observed in nearly 90% of
      children. Of the clinical isolates tested, 35/36 (97%) were susceptible to
      gentamicin. Of these, all 11 isolates that were genotyped were of a single multi
      locus sequence type, ST881, and possessed the putative B. pseudomallei virulence
      determinants bimABp, fhaB3, and the YLF gene cluster. CONCLUSIONS: Central
      Sarawak has a very high incidence of pediatric melioidosis, caused predominantly
      by gentamicin-susceptible B. pseudomallei strains. Children frequently presented
      with disseminated disease and had an alarmingly high death rate, despite the
      absence of any apparent predisposing risk factor.

PMID- 28599011
TI  - Medicine, Performing Arts, and Science--Dancing to the Same Tune.
AB  - A substantial period of time has been spent developing rigorous quantitative
      scientific approaches to inform medical practice (evidence-based practice). While
      this process has been important for many medical breakthroughs, and continues to
      play a critical role in medical and scientific research, it was felt to cause a
      medical shift away from the individual patient, as practitioners focussed more on
      the method of practice than the person themselves. However, following this period
      when a preponderance of attention was paid to quantitative studies, the tide has
      now turned back to integrating this knowledge with the clinical skills and
      expertise of medical practitioners. This is very important in the practice of
      performing arts medicine, whereby approaches to treating the performing artist
      using the most up-to-date scientific evidence need to be tempered with tailoring
      interventions to the particular demands of the individual within the context of
      their profession. Such integrated approaches to health and medical practice for
      performing artists have seen an increase in varied methodological strategies to
      understanding or managing the diverse range of health conditions that can affect
      performers. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs are
      allowing a greater range of approaches to find the best way to answer a research
      question.

PMID- 28599010
TI  - Population structure within the one-dimensional range of a coastal plain katydid.
AB  - Biogeography plays a significant role in species' dispersal, and in turn
      population structure, across the landscape. The North American katydid
      Neoconocephalus melanorhinus belongs to a genus with high mobility. Unlike other
      members of the genus, N. melanorhinus is a salt marsh specialist restricted to a
      narrow corridor along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In addition, their range
      crosses at least one known biogeographic barrier and possesses biogeographic
      characteristics of the stepping-stone as well as the hierarchical island model of
      dispersal. Using AFLP markers we searched for areas that conform to the
      predictions of isolation by distance and for areas of non-uniform increases in
      genetic variance, indicative of isolation by barrier. We found significant
      genetic differentiation between all twelve sampled sites. Isolation by distance
      was the predominant pattern of variation across their range. In addition, we saw
      possible evidence of two biogeographic barriers to gene flow, one at the Atlantic
      Gulf divide and the other along the Gulf coast. We also observed a change in body
      size across the range. Body size, as measured by male hind femur length,
      correlated closely with latitude, a possible indication of differential selection
      across the species range.

PMID- 28599012
TI  - Influence of Textured Insoles on Dynamic Postural Balance of Young Dancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postural balance (PB) is a significant factor in dance performance
      and injury prevention. We aimed to determine whether the use of textured insoles
      inserted into casual walking shoes of dancers improved their dynamic PB and
      whether dancers with previous injury manifested different dynamic PB compared
      with non-injured dancers. METHODS: In this crossover design study, 26 ballet
      dancers from the Australian Ballet School, aged 14-19 yrs, were divided into two
      groups matched by sex and class levels. Group 1 wore the textured insoles in
      their walking shoes for at least 2 hrs/day during weeks 1 to 4 of the study, and
      group 2 wore the textured insoles in their walking shoes during weeks 5 to 8.
      Reports from the school medical staff identified dancers who had previous
      injuries. All participants were tested pre-intervention and at 4 and 8 weeks by
      an accelerometer for dynamic PB (average acceleration magnitude, root mean square
      acceleration, range, and mean frequency) during single-leg fondu, flexing and
      extending of the knee. FINDINGS: Interactions (group x time) were found in
      dynamic PB measured in the mediolateral direction, indicating significant
      differences between the groups at the three testing times. Furthermore, both
      previously injured and noninjured dancers manifested significant time effects
      from pre-intervention to 8 weeks, indicating a significant improvement in their
      PB after using the textured insoles. CONCLUSION: Textured insoles can improve the
      dynamic PB of ballet dancers and can also be useful as a routine intervention. PB
      was improved among both dancers with previous injury and non-injured dancers.

PMID- 28599013
TI  - Thumb-Rest Position and its Role in Neuromuscular Control of the Clarinet Task.
AB  - Musicians spend long hours of practice and performance to master their
      instrument. Clarinet players support their roughly 2-lb instrument on the right
      hand thumb, which results in cumulative static loading of the arm. This posture
      in turn can cause discomfort and, in some cases, evolve into debilitating overuse
      injuries and pain throughout the right upper limb. Altering the thumb-rest
      position has been proposed as a way to alleviate this discomfort, although no
      quantitative research has been conducted on this issue. The purpose of this study
      was to address the impact of thumb-rest position on the neuromuscular control of
      holding the clarinet. Surface electromyographic recordings of superficial muscles
      that control the right thumb, wrist, and arm were taken during realistic playing
      tasks. Twenty clarinetists performed 10 held notes and 10 exercises on the three
      different thumb-rest positions. The notes and exercises were chosen to isolate
      specific elements of playing. We hypothesized that a high thumb-rest position
      would result in a significantly different balance of muscle activity than
      traditional and low thumb-rest positions. The patterns of muscle activity
      recorded among clarinetists were idiosyncratic, but for all players these
      patterns were influenced by the note(s) played and thumb-rest position, and thus
      the hypothesis was partially supported. Muscles that acted on the thumb and wrist
      were most influenced by thumb-rest position. These results support the notion
      that adjustment of thumb-rest position may be a useful way to alleviate
      discomfort in the supporting limb but must be evaluated for each individual.

PMID- 28599014
TI  - Effect of the Alexander Technique on Muscle Activation, Movement Kinematics, and
      Performance Quality in Collegiate Violinists and Violists: A Pilot Feasibility
      Study.
AB  - Musicians are trained to attend to aural and visual senses, to the detriment of
      kinesthetic awareness, which often results in unnecessary muscle tension and
      narrowed attentional focus. The Alexander technique (AT) addresses these concerns
      by approaching action using a process of whole-body consciousness. Incorporation
      of AT concepts into skill practice may reduce static tension in playing and
      result in both prevention of injury and improved quality of performance, but
      objective evidence of these effects is lacking. This pilot feasibility study was
      designed to determine if muscle activation, movement kinematics, musical
      performance, and qualitative self-assessment over the course of a 10- week AT
      intervention are viable means to assess the efficacy of AT in violinists/
      violists. Two groups of collegiate violinists and violists participated: Group A
      (n=4) participated in weekly 1-hour group AT lessons and kept a personal journal
      of their progress. Group B (n=3) received no AT lessons. Pre- and post tests
      included muscle activation recorded using electromyography (EMG) and movement
      kinematics recorded via motion tracking as musicians played a scale and a
      Kreutzer etude. Performance was also video-recorded and evaluated by an expert
      for quality and kinesthetic awareness. The results suggest that the measures and
      intervention employed could, with some adaptation, be a viable means of
      determining the potential benefits of AT training.

PMID- 28599015
TI  - Torso and Bowing Arm Three-Dimensional Joint Kinematics of Elite Cellists:
      Clinical and Pedagogical Implications for Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Elite cello playing requires complex and refined motor control.
      Cellists are prone to right shoulder and thoracolumbar injuries. Research
      informing injury management of cellists and cello pedagogy is limited. The aims
      of this study were to quantify the torso, right shoulder, and elbow joint
      movement used by elite cellists while performing a fundamental playing task, a C
      major scale, under two volume conditions. METHODS: An eight degrees of freedom
      upper limb biomechanical model was applied to 3D motion capture data of the
      torso, upper arm, and forearm for 31 cellists with a mean experience of 19.4 yrs
      (SD 9.1). Two-factor ANOVA compared the joint positions between the four cello
      strings and two volume conditions. FINDINGS: Significant (p<0.05) effects were
      found for either the string and/or volume conditions across all torso, shoulder,
      and elbow joint degrees of freedom. The torso was consistently positioned in left
      rotation from 5.0 degrees  (SD 5.6) at the beginning of the scale, increasing to
      16.3 degrees  (5.5) at its apogee. The greatest mean shoulder flexion, internal
      rotation, and abduction joint angles were observed when playing at the tip of the
      bow on the top string (A): 107.2 degrees  (11.6), 59.1 degrees  (7.1), and -76.9
      degrees  (15.7), respectively, during loud playing. INTERPRETATION: Elite
      cellists use specific movement patterns to achieve string crossings and volume
      regulation during fundamental playing tasks. Implications of the static left
      rotated torso posture and high degrees of combined shoulder flexion and internal
      rotation can be used to inform clinical and pedagogical practices.

PMID- 28599016
TI  - Comparing the Impact of Specific Strength Training vs General Fitness Training on
      Professional Symphony Orchestra Musicians: A Feasibility Study.
AB  - : Musculoskeletal symptoms, especially in the upper body, are frequent among
      professional symphony orchestra musicians. Physical exercise may relieve pain but
      might also interfere with playing performance. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      feasibility and effect of "specific strength training" (SST) versus "general
      fitness training" (GFT). METHODS: A feasibility study using randomized controlled
      methods. Primarily, evaluations involved self-reported impact on instrument
      playing and satisfaction with the interventions. Secondary evaluations included
      pain intensity, hand-grip strength, aerobic capacity, body mass index, and self
      assessed physical fitness. A total of 23 professional symphony orchestra
      musicians were randomly allocated to either the SST (n=12) or GFT (n=11) groups.
      Participants conducted three 20-minutes exercise periods/wk at the workplace for
      9 weeks. RESULTS: Evaluations of both interventions showed that approximately 50%
      of musicians were satisfied with the interventions and experienced a positive
      impact on playing, while 18% reported a slightly negative impact. From baseline
      to follow-up, SST showed a significant reduction in pain (26.3+/-22.5 to 11.4+/
      15.2 mm), with no significant reduction for GFT (19.7+/-24.0 to 13.5+/-26.0 mm).
      GFT significantly improved aerobic capacity (34.1+/-7.9 mL/min/kg to 40.0+/-13.6
      mL/min/kg) compared to no significant gain for SST. For GFT, a significant
      improvement was seen in self-reported muscle strength (5.7+/-1.3 to 6.5+/-1.8)
      with a tendency toward significant improvement in self-reported aerobic fitness
      (5.6+/-2.3 to 6.2+/-2.5). CONCLUSION: Exercise interventions have the potential
      to improve musicians' working situation. For future research, muscle
      strengthening exercises and aerobic fitness exercises might be combined in an
      intelligently designed program, which may include other relevant educational
      activities.

PMID- 28599017
TI  - In Their Own Words: Interviews with Musicians Reveal the Advantages and
      Disadvantages of Wearing Earplugs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Musicians are at risk of hearing loss from sound exposure, and
      earplugs form part of many musicians' hearing conservation practices. Although
      musicians typically report a range of difficulties when wearing earplugs, there
      are many who have managed to successfully incorporate earplugs into their
      practice of music. OBJECTIVE: The study aim was to provide a detailed account of
      earplug usage from the perspective of the musician, including motivating factors,
      practical strategies, and attitudes. METHODS: In-depth interviews with 23
      musicians were transcribed and content analysis was performed. Responses were
      coded and classified into three main themes: advantages, disadvantages, and usage
      patterns and strategies, together with an overlapping fourth theme, youth
      perspectives. RESULTS: Several positive aspects of wearing earplugs were
      identified, including long-term hearing protection and reduced levels of fatigue
      and pain. Musicians reported that earplugs present few problems for
      communication, improve sound clarity in ensembles, are discreet, and are easy to
      handle. However, earplugs also present challenges, including an overall dullness
      of sound, reduced immediacy, and an impaired ability to judge balance and
      intonation due to the occlusion effect, all of which influence usage habits and
      patterns. CONCLUSION: The experiences of the younger musicians and long-term
      users of earplugs indicate that practice, persistence, and a flexible approach
      are required for successful earplug usage. In time, there may be greater
      acceptance of earplugs, particularly amongst a new generation of musicians, some
      of whom regard the earplugs as a performance enhancement tool as well as a
      protective device.

PMID- 28599018
TI  - Biopsychosocial Factors Associated with Foot and Ankle Pain and Injury in Irish
      Dance: A Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Foot and ankle pain/injury (FAPI) is the most common musculoskeletal
      problem suffered in Irish dancing. A prospective examination of risk factors for
      FAPI in this cohort has never been performed. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study
      over 1-year. METHODS: 85 elite adult Irish dancers were screened at baseline for
      biopsychosocial factors and followed up prospectively each month for 1 year to
      evaluate FAPI rates and potential risk factors. Subjects who suffered from
      multiple incidences of FAPI (with no pain/injury reported elsewhere in the body)
      or at least one moderate episode of FAPI were allocated to the foot/ankle-injured
      (FAI) group (n=28, 25 F/3 M). Subjects reporting no pain/injury or only one minor
      FAPI were allocated to the non-injured group (n=21, 14 F/7 M). Baseline
      differences in variables between groups were tested with the independent samples
      t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test for skewed data, and Fisher's exact test for
      categorical variables. RESULTS: Baseline factors significantly associated with
      the FAI group included failing to always perform a warm-up (p=0.042), lower
      levels of energy (p=0.013), and more bothersome pain (p=0.021). Subjects also
      scored worse on two dimensions of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory: i.e.,
      coping with adversity (p=0.035) and goal setting and mental preparation
      (p=0.009). CONCLUSION: Several biopsychosocial factors appear to be associated
      with FAPI in Irish dancers. Biopsychosocial screening protocols and prevention
      strategies may best identify and support at-risk dancers.

PMID- 28599019
TI  - Musculoskeletal Problems in Pianists and Their Influence on Professional
      Activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Professional musical performance requires static postures and
      repetitive movements that may cause musculoskeletal problems in performers. Elite
      pianists are especially at risk for these disorders, which may cause discomfort
      but also affect their work. The objective of this study was to describe the most
      frequent musculoskeletal problems observed in pianists, and to explore the
      influence of these disorders on their professional activities from the
      perspective of the pianists themselves. METHODS: Musculoskeletal problems were
      defined in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10),
      and an analysis was conducted of medical records of 183 professional pianists
      held by a performing arts clinic (Terrassa, Spain). In addition, in-depth
      interviews were conducted with 20 pianists (6 students, 12 teachers, and 2
      performers), followed by content analysis of the transcripts to explore
      musicians' perceptions. RESULTS: We identified a total of 20 different problems,
      which principally involved the upper body (arms and back). Regardless of
      occupation or age, all respondents reported having musculoskeletal problems and
      that these impacted on their professional activity. Interviewees also identified
      a lack of support or advice on how to prevent these problems. CONCLUSION:
      Musculoskeletal problems, principally those involving the upper body, are very
      common among pianists and affect their professional activity. It is necessary to
      include risk prevention information starting in the early stages of musicians'
      training programs.

PMID- 28599021
TI  - Imaging microscopic distribution of antifungal agents in dandruff treatments with
      stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.
AB  - Treatment of dandruff condition usually involves use of antidandruff shampoos
      containing antifungal agents. Different antifungal agents show variable clinical
      efficacy based on their cutaneous distribution and bioavailability. Using
      stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), we mapped the distribution of unlabeled low
      molecular weight antifungal compounds zinc pyrithione (ZnPT) and climbazole (CBZ)
      on the surface of intact porcine skin with cellular precision. SRS has sufficient
      chemical selectivity and sensitivity to detect the agents on the skin surface
      based on their unique chemical motifs that do not occur naturally in biological
      tissues. Moreover, SRS is able to correlate the distribution of the agents with
      the morphological features of the skin using the CH 2 stretch mode, which is
      abundant in skin lipids. This is a significant strength of the technique since it
      allows the microscopic accumulation of the agents to be correlated with
      physiological features and their chemical environment without the use of counter
      stains. Our findings show that due to its lower solubility, ZnPT coats the
      surface of the skin with a sparse layer of crystals in the size range of 1 to 4
      ?? ? m . This is consistent with the current understanding of the mode of action
      of ZnPT. In contrast, CBZ being more soluble and hydrophobic resulted in diffuse
      homogeneous distribution. It predominantly resided in microscopic lipid-rich
      crevasses and penetrated up to 60 ?? ? m into the infundibular spaces surrounding
      the hair shaft. The ability of the SRS to selectively map the distribution of
      agents on the skin's surface has the potential to provide insight into the
      mechanisms underpinning the topical application of antifungal or skin-active
      agents that could lead to the rational engineering of enhanced formulations.

PMID- 28599022
TI  - Burden of disease from road traffic and railway noise - a quantification of
      healthy life years lost in Sweden.
AB  - Objectives National quantifications of the health burden related to traffic noise
      are still rare. In this study, we use disability-adjusted life-years (DALY)
      measure to assess the burden of disease from road traffic and railway noise in
      Sweden. Methods The number of DALY was assessed for annoyance, sleep disturbance,
      hypertension, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke using a method previously
      implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO). Population exposure to noise
      was obtained from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish
      Transport Administration. Data on disease occurrence were gathered from registers
      held by the National Board of Health and Welfare and Statistics Sweden.
      Disability weights (DW) and duration were based on WHO definitions. Finally, we
      used research-based exposure-response functions or relative risks to estimate
      disease attributable to noise in each exposure category. Results The number of
      DALY attributed to traffic noise in Sweden was estimated to be 41 033 years; 36
      711 (90%) related to road traffic and 4322 (10%) related to railway traffic. The
      most important contributor to the disease burden was sleep disturbances,
      accounting for 22 218 DALY (54%), followed by annoyance, 12 090 DALY (30%), and
      cardiovascular diseases, 6725 DALY (16%). Conclusions Road traffic and railway
      noise contribute significantly to the burden of disease in Sweden each year. The
      total number of DALY should, however, be interpreted with caution due to
      limitations in data quality.

PMID- 28599023
TI  - Anxiety About Transitioning Pediatric Patients to Adult Care.

PMID- 28599020
TI  - ISG15 in Host Defense Against Candida albicans Infection in a Mouse Model of
      Fungal Keratitis.
AB  - Purpose: ISG15, a di-ubiquitin-like protein, is critical for controlling certain
      viral and bacterial infections. We sought to determine if ISG15 plays a role in
      corneal innate immunity against Candida albicans (C. albicans) using a C57BL/6
      (B6) mouse model of human fungal keratitis. Methods: Scarified corneas of adult
      B6 mice were pretreated with TLR5 ligand flagellin and then inoculated with C.
      albicans. The expression of ISG15 and other genes involved in ISG15 conjugation
      (ISGylation) was determined by real-time PCR. ISG15 expression and distribution
      in infected corneas were assessed by immunohistochemistry. ISGylation was
      examined by Western blotting. siRNA knockdown and recombinant ISG15 were used to
      elucidate the effects of ISG15 on controlling fungal keratitis by clinical
      scoring, fungal number plate counting, ELISA cytokine determination, and
      polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) infiltration measurement. Results: Heat-killed
      C. albicans induced expression of ISG15, and hBD2 was markedly enhanced by
      flagellin-pretreatment in cultured human primary corneal epithelial cells (CECs).
      In vivo, C. albicans infection induced the expression of ISG15, ISGylation
      associated genes (UBE1L, UBCH8, and HERC5), and ISGylation in mouse CECs, all of
      which were enhanced by flagellin-pretreatment. siRNA knockdown of ISG15 increased
      keratitis severity, dampened flagellin-induced protection, and greatly suppressed
      the expressions of ISGylation enzymes, IFN-gamma, but not CXCL2 in B6 mouse CECs.
      Recombinant ISG15, on the other hand, enhanced corneal innate immunity against C.
      albicans and suppressed infection-induced IL-1beta, but not IL-Ra expression.
      ISG15 alone induced the expression of IL-1Ra, CXCL10, and CRAMP in mouse CECs.
      ISG15 was upregulated and secreted in cultured human CECs in response to
      challenge in a type 1 IFN-dependent manner. Conclusions: Our data, for the first
      time, demonstrate that ISG15 acts as an immunomodulator in the cornea and plays a
      critical role in controlling fungal keratitis.

PMID- 28599024
TI  - Anxiety Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence: A Primary Care Approach.
AB  - Fears and worries are normal feelings that help us adapt to the ups and downs of
      life. Those ups and downs are especially normal as children and adolescents grow
      up and try to find where they fit in the world. With changing relationships at
      home and in social circles, they are establishing their worldview and solidifying
      their identity. These feelings of fear and worry can sometimes become
      overwhelming, and anxiety disorders can develop. Anxiety disorders are the most
      common psychiatric disorders with onset in childhood. Pediatricians are often a
      trusted confidant for children and adolescents, and they may be the first people
      to hear when normal stress becomes overwhelming and progresses into an anxiety
      disorder. This article is intended for primary care pediatricians to help them
      identify normal stresses versus anxiety disorders, and help their patients move,
      through psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, toward wellness. [Pediatr Ann.
      2017;46(6)e213-e216.].

PMID- 28599025
TI  - Transition Medicine-From Pediatric to Adult Care: Part 2.

PMID- 28599026
TI  - Transition Issues and Challenges for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
AB  - Earlier detection and effective, evidence-based practices are gradually improving
      outcomes for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although some continue
      to need intensive support as adults, an increasing number are now going to
      college, becoming independent, and marrying. With the transition to adulthood,
      people with ASD will face a number of significant challenges. Health care
      providers who are knowledgeable about these challenges can help foster better
      outcomes and support those requiring higher levels of care. We summarize the
      challenges faced by youth with ASD as they transition into adulthood and note
      areas where more research is needed. [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(6):e219-e223.].

PMID- 28599027
TI  - Transition of Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Heart Disease:
      Challenges, Progress, and Future Improvements.
AB  - Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common and perhaps most widely
      variable birth defect. Decades of improved CHD care has resulted in a steady
      growth in the number and complexity of adults with CHD, and many of these
      patients require lifelong, specialized follow-up care. This begins with
      successful transition from pediatric-based to adult-based care. Despite the
      remarkable advances in this field, many adults with CHD still experience lapses
      in care that have significant health consequences. This review outlines some of
      the challenges, progress, and areas for improvement in CHD transition medicine.
      [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(6):e224-e228.].

PMID- 28599028
TI  - Transitioning the Allergy/Immunology Patient from Childhood to Adulthood.
AB  - Allergic disorders and immunodeficiencies are generally chronic and even lifelong
      conditions, often changing over time, making the cautious transition of care from
      childhood to adulthood particularly important. Many, but not all, patients can
      continue to receive their care from the same physician as they transition through
      adolescence and emerging adulthood, made possible because allergy/immunology
      training programs require cross-training in the care of both pediatric and adult
      patients. Although keeping the same physician makes the transition easier for
      many allergy/immunology patients, even these patients face psychosocial issues
      unique to adolescents and emerging adults, including increased autonomy, risk
      taking behavior, and medical self-management. Successful transition for patients
      with chronic allergic and immunologic conditions involves an understanding of the
      natural history of these conditions by patients and physicians alike, a gradual
      increase in self-management depending on individual readiness, and careful
      communication between pediatric and adult specialists as care is transitioned.
      [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(6):e229-e234.].

PMID- 28599029
TI  - Transition Consultation Models in Two Academic Medical Centers.
AB  - Health care transition (HCT), the organized progression from pediatric- to adult
      focused models of care, is crucial for patients with chronic childhood
      conditions. More adolescents with chronic conditions now survive into adulthood
      and have increased risk of adverse events during HCT. Got Transition-an agreement
      between the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the National Alliance to Advance
      Adolescent Health-developed the Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition 2.0,
      defining the components of HCT. Most HCT programs incorporate these elements, but
      delivery varies. Additional studies are needed to determine the most efficacious
      interventions to improve HCT outcomes. Here, we introduce two approaches to
      improve HCT. The first is a clinic dedicated to HCT coupled with a life skills
      program. The other is a HCT consult service using existing resources to provide
      resident education and address HCT. Together, these programs provide examples
      that can be adapted to other settings. [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(6):e235-e241.].

PMID- 28599030
TI  - Pediatric Nephrolithiasis: A Review.
AB  - The incidence of pediatric nephrolithiasis is on the rise. The composition of
      kidney stones in children is different than in adults, as most stones in children
      have a composition of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate mixed with a small
      amount of uric acid. The symptoms of pediatric nephrolithiasis are nonspecific.
      Computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard for diagnosis; however, because of
      radiation exposure associated with a CT scan, ultrasonography is also an accepted
      modality for the diagnosis. Extensive metabolic evaluation is important to rule
      out an underlying metabolic disorder. Urinary decompression, medical expulsion
      therapy, and surgical interventions such as ureteroscopy and extracorporeal
      shockwave lithotripsy are some of the options available for treating pediatric
      nephrolithiasis. [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(6):e242-e244.].

PMID- 28599031
TI  - Foreign Language Short Course: Special Operations Clinical Research Fundamentals.
AB  - When we do not know a language, we are at the mercy of an interpreter. The same
      is true for research: Special Operations Forces (SOF) clinicians not actively
      involved in research initiatives may rely on scientific interpreters, so it is
      important to speak some of the language personally. For any clinician, using
      evidence in practice requires a working knowledge of how that evidence was
      generated from research, which requires an understanding of research science
      language. Here we review common basics of research science to reinforce concepts
      and elements of experimental and nonexperimental research.

PMID- 28599032
TI  - TCCC Guidelines Comprehensive Review and Update: TCCC Guidelines Change 16-03.
AB  - Based on careful review of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Guidelines,
      the authors developed a list of proposed changes for inclusion in a comprehensive
      change proposal. To be included in the proposal, individual changes had to meet
      at least one of three criteria: (1) The change was primarily tactical rather than
      clinical; (2) the change was a minor modification to the language of an existing
      TCCC Guideline; and (3) the change, though clinical, was straightforward and
      noncontentious. The authors presented their list to the TCCC Working Group for
      review and approval at the 7 September 2016 meeting of the Committee on Tactical
      Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC). Twenty-three items met with general agreement and
      were retained in this change proposal.

PMID- 28599033
TI  - Assessment of Trainer Skill to Control Groin-Wound Bleeding: Use of Junctional
      Tourniquet Models on a Manikin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the skills of trainers using
      different junctional tourniquet models to control groin bleeding in a manikin.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 204 assessments, 17 trainers used four junctional
      tourniquet models three times each to control simulated hemorrhage. The models
      included the Combat Ready Clamp (CRoC), Junctional Emergency Treatment Tool
      (JETT), Abdominal Aortic and Junctional Tourniquet (AAJT), and SAM Junctional
      Tourniquet (SJT). The criteria of assessment included effectiveness (i.e.,
      control [yes-no]), time to stop bleeding, total blood loss, and bleeding rate.
      RESULTS: All uses were effective. By model, the results of mean blood loss and
      time to stop bleeding were different with varying levels of statistical
      significance: control was worst with the JETT and AAJT, moderate with the AAJT
      and SJT, and best with the SJT and CRoC. The means sharing a level were not
      significantly different, but a mean in more than one level was not different from
      itself. The composite outcome results were 90% good for CRoC and 67% good for
      JETT, whereas results for the SJT and AAJT were in between, and only the result
      of the CROC and JETT comparison was significant. The ease of use varied
      significantly; JETT was more difficult to use and all others were easier. The
      analysis attributed to the users 19% of the variance of results for time, 44% for
      blood loss volume, and 67% for bleeding rate. Most users preferred the SJT (53%
      before and 70% after assessment). CONCLUSION: Effectiveness was attained by all
      users with each of the four models of junctional tourniquet. The analysis
      demonstrated that up to 67% of the variance of performance results could be
      attributed to the users.

PMID- 28599034
TI  - A Prospective Randomized Controlled Two-Arm Clinical Study Evaluating the
      Efficacy of a Bioelectric Dressing System for Blister Management in US Army
      Ranger Recruits.
AB  - This study focused on a clinically relevant healthcare problem in the military:
      acute soft tissue wounds, or blisters. The trial was a prospective, controlled,
      randomized two-arm study evaluating the efficacy of a bioelectric dressing,
      Procellera(r), applied topically two to three times per week for 2 weeks to
      blisters developed in Ranger trainees during training at Fort Benning, Georgia. A
      total of 80 US Army Ranger recruits with blister wounds below the knee were
      randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (n = 40/group). The primary goal
      was to assess the clinical efficacy (rate of healing) of administered Procellera
      in conjunction with the standard-of-care (SOC) treatment, moleskin and Tegaderm
      (r), on the healing rate of blisters compared with the SOC treatment alone. The
      secondary end points for efficacy were the quantities of wound fluid biomarkers
      and bacterial bioburden. The tertiary end point was assessment of pain in the
      treatment group compared with that of the control group during the 2-week study.
      The results showed no statistical difference between the SOC and SOC+Procellera
      groups in wound healing and pain. Wound fluid was reported for 24 participants
      (64.9%) in the SOC group and 21 participants (56.8%) in SOC+Procellera group at
      the baseline measurement (rho = .475); however, the wounds were devoid of fluid
      on follow-up visits. The mild nature of the wounds in this study was apparent by
      the low pain scores at the beginning of the study, which disappeared by the
      follow-up visits. The average wound sizes were 2.2cm2 and 1.5cm2 for the SOC and
      SOC+Procellera groups, respectively. This trial protocol should be conducted on
      open softtissue wounds in severe heat. To our knowledge, this is the first
      clinical study conducted within the US Army Rangers training doctrine.

PMID- 28599035
TI  - Rapid Vision Correction by Special Operations Forces.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This report describes a rapid method of vision correction used by
      Special Operations Medics in multiple operational engagements. METHODS: Between
      2011 and 2015, Special Operations Medics used an algorithm- driven refraction
      technique. A standard block of instruction was provided to the medics, along with
      a packaged kit. The technique was used in multiple operational engagements with
      host nation military and civilians. Data collected for program evaluation were
      later analyzed to assess the utility of the technique. RESULTS: Glasses were
      distributed to 230 patients with complaints of either decreased distance or near
      (reading). Most patients (84%) with distance complaints achieved corrected
      binocular vision of 20/40 or better, and 97% of patients with near-vision
      complaints achieved corrected near-binocular vision of 20/40 or better. There was
      no statistically significant difference between the percentages of patients
      achieving 20/40 when medics used the technique under direct supervision versus
      independent use. CONCLUSION: A basic refraction technique using a designed kit
      allows for meaningful improvement in distance and/or near vision at austere
      locations. Special Operations Medics can leverage this approach after specific
      training with minimal time commitment. It can serve as a rapid, effective
      intervention with multiple applications in diverse operational environments.

PMID- 28599036
TI  - The Role I Resuscitation Team and Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of
      the Aorta.
AB  - The medical advancements made during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have
      resulted in an unprecedented survival rate, yet there is still a significant
      number of deaths that were potentially survivable. Additionally, the ability to
      deliver casualties to definitive surgical care within the "golden hour" is
      diminishing in many areas of conflict. Resuscitative endovascular balloon
      occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has been implemented successfully in the hospital
      setting. REBOA may be a possible adjunct for the Role I and point-of-injury (POI)
      care to provide temporary control of noncompressible torso hemorrhage (NCTH) and
      junctional hemorrhage. Here the authors advocate for the development of the Role
      I Resuscitation Team (RT) and a training pathway to meet the challenge of the
      changing battlefield.

PMID- 28599037
TI  - The Sole Provider: Preparation for Deployment to a Medically Austere Theater.
AB  - The combat focus of the US Military over the past 15 years has primarily centered
      on the Iraq and Afghanistan areas of operation (AOs). Thus, much human and
      financial capital has been dedicated to the creation of a robust medical
      infrastructure to support those operations. However, Special Operation Forces
      (SOF) are often called upon to deploy in much more medically austere AOs. SOF
      medical providers operating in such environments face significant challenges due
      to the diversity of medical threats, extremely limited access to medical
      resupply, a material shortage of casualty evacuation platforms, lack of medical
      facilities, and limited access to higher-level care providers. This article
      highlights the challenges faced during a recent Special Forces deployment to such
      an austere environment. Many of these challenges can be mitigated with a specific
      approach to premission training and preparation.

PMID- 28599038
TI  - Albumin for Prehospital Fluid Resuscitation of Hemorrhagic Shock in Tactical
      Combat Casualty Care.
AB  - Optimal fluid resuscitation on the battlefield in the absence of blood products
      remains unclear. Contemporary Combat medics are generally limited to hydroxyethyl
      starch or crystalloid solutions, both of which present significant drawbacks.
      Obtaining US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved freeze-dried plasma
      (FDP) is a top casualty care research priority for the US Military. Interest in
      this agent reflects a desire to simultaneously expand intravascular volume and
      address coagulopathy. The history of FDP dates to the Second World War, when
      American expeditionary forces used this agent frequently. Also fielded was 25%
      albumin, an agent that lacks coagulation factors but offers impressive volume
      expansion with minimal weight to carry and requires no reconstitution in the
      field. The current potential value of 25% albumin is largely overlooked. Although
      FDP presents an attractive future option for battlefield prehospital fluid
      resuscitation once FDA approved, this article argues that in the interim, 25%
      albumin, augmented with fibrinogen concentrate and tranexamic acid to mitigate
      hemodilution effects on coagulation capacity, offers an effective volume
      resuscitation alternative that could save lives on the battlefield immediately.

PMID- 28599039
TI  - Manikin Human-Patient Simulator Training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human-patient simulators (HPSs) may help enhance medical education.
      Manikin HPS devices respond to common field medical interventions, such as
      cricothyroidotomy, and have realistic feedback features, such as respirations and
      pulses. This study surveys Special Operations Medics for evaluations of HPS
      features. METHODS: Of 518 subjects, 376 completed testing and surveys with valid
      responses. A total of 102 variables were divided into three categories-general
      characteristics, procedures, and injuries-and assessed on a fivepoint Likert
      scale. The Student t test was used to analyze data together and as separate
      groups against each other and against an aggregated mean. RESULTS: Features that
      received high scores (i.e., higher than 4.5/5) corresponded closely with pillars
      of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) curriculum, basic life support, and
      realism. DISCUSSION: US Army Special Operations Command and US Special Operations
      Command Medics have overall high confidence in manikin HPS devices and
      specifically in those that align with TCCC training and lifesaving procedures.
      The skills most valued coincide with difficult-to-practice measures, such as
      cricothyroidotomy and wound packing. Features such as prerecorded sounds, sex,
      automated movements, skin color, defibrillation, bowel sounds, and
      electrocardiogram are rated lower. These evaluations may guide future development
      or procurement of manikin HPS devices.

PMID- 28599040
TI  - Intubation of the Right Atrium During an Attempted Modified Surgical Airway in a
      Pig.
AB  - In modern medicine, the surgical cricothyrotomy is an airway procedure of last
      resort. In austere environments, however, its simplicity may make it a more
      feasible option than carrying a full complement of laryngoscopes. To create a
      Transportation Security Agency-compliant compact first-response bag, we attempted
      to establish a surgical cricothyrotomy in a pig, using trauma shears, basic
      medical scissors, a pocket bougie, and an endotracheal tube. Bougies can provide
      tactile feedback via the "tracheal ring sign" and "stop sign" to indicate
      positive tracheal placement during orotracheal intubation. We report on a
      previously unknown serious potential complication that questions the use of
      scissors to establish a surgical airway and the reliability of tactile bougie
      signs when translated into certain surgical airways.

PMID- 28599041
TI  - QuikClot(r) Combat Gauze(r) Use by Ground Forces in Afghanistan The Prehospital
      Trauma Registry Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: QuikClot(r) Combat Gauze(r) (QCCG) was fielded in 2008 to replace
      previous generations of hemostatic products. To the best of our knowledge,
      despite nearly a decade of use, there are no published data on use among US
      combatant forces. We describe the use of QCCG by ground forces in Afghanistan and
      compare patients who received QCCG compared with the remaining population in the
      database who did not receive QCCG. METHODS: Data were obtained from the
      Prehospital Trauma Registry (PHTR). Joint Trauma System personnel linked patients
      to the Department of Defense Trauma Registry (DODTR) for outcome data, when
      available, upon reaching a fixed facility. RESULTS: Of the 705 patients within
      the entire PHTR, 118 (16.7%) had documented use of QCCG. Most patients (69.5%)
      were Afghan; all were male. Lower extremities accounted for the most common site
      of application (39.7%). Hemorrhage control occurred in 88.3% of encounters with
      hemorrhage control status documented. Patients receiving QCCG generally had
      higher rates of concomitant interventions. Of the 705 patients, 190 were linkable
      to the DODTR for outcome data; 25 of the 28 (89.3%) in the QCCG group were
      discharged alive compared with 153 of the 162 (94.4%) in the non-QCCG group (rho
      = .300). CONCLUSION: QCCG appears to have common use on the battlefield as a
      concomitant intervention for obtaining hemorrhage control. Patients receiving
      QCCG had higher rates of gunshot wounds compared with the baseline population and
      were generally sicker. Hemorrhage control success was like that reported in other
      military and civilian settings.

PMID- 28599042
TI  - Headache.

PMID- 28599043
TI  - Ketones and Human Performance.
AB  - Everyone is seeking nutritional strategies that might benefit performance. One
      approach receiving much attention is ketones, or ketosis. Ketones are very simple
      compounds made of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, and ketosis is a metabolic state
      whereby the body uses predominantly ketones. Ketosis can be achieved by fasting
      for longer than 72 hours or by following a very lowcarbohydrate, high-fat diet
      (ketogenic diet) for several days to weeks. Alternatively, ketone supplements
      purportedly induce ketosis rapidly and do not require strict adherence to any
      specific type of diet; however, much of the touted benefits are anecdotal. A
      potential role for ketosis as a performance enhancer was first introduced in 1983
      with the idea that chronic ketosis without caloric restriction could preserve
      submaximal exercise capability by sparing glycogen or conserving the limited
      carbohydrate stores. Few human studies on the effects of a ketogenic diet on
      performance have yielded positive results, and most studies have yielded
      equivocal or null results, and a few negative results. Many questions about
      ketones relevant to Special Operations Forces (SOF) remain unanswered. At
      present, a ketogenic diet and/or a ketone supplement do not appear confer
      performance benefits for SOF. Instead, Operators should engage with their unit
      dietitian to develop individualized nutritional strategies based on unique
      mission requirements. The authors review the concept of a ketogenic diet,
      describe some potential benefits and risks of ketosis, review the performance
      literature and how to measure ketone status, and then summarize the landscape in
      2017.

PMID- 28599044
TI  - Mumps.

PMID- 28599046
TI  - Prolonged Field Care for the Summer 2017 Edition.

PMID- 28599045
TI  - Stress Fractures: Etiology, Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.
AB  - Stress fractures are part of a continuum of changes in healthy bones in response
      to repeated mechanical deformation from physical activity. If the activity
      produces excessive repetitive stress, osteoclastic processes in the bone may
      proceed at a faster pace than osteoblastic processes, thus weakening the bone and
      augmenting susceptibility to stress fractures. Overall stress fracture incidence
      is about three cases per 1,000 in active duty Servicemembers, but it is much
      higher among Army basic trainees: 19 per 1,000 for men and 80 per 1,000 for
      women. Well-documented risk factors include female sex, white ethnicity, older
      age, taller stature, lower aerobic fitness, prior physical inactivity, greater
      amounts of current physical training, thinner bones, cigarette smoking, and
      inadequate intake of vitamin D and/or calcium. Individuals with stress fractures
      present with focal tenderness and local pain that is aggravated by physical
      activity and reduced by rest. A sudden increase in the volume of physical
      activity along with other risk factors is often reported. Simple clinical tests
      can assist in diagnosis, but more definitive imaging tests will eventually need
      to be conducted if a stress fracture is suspected. Plain radiographs are
      recommended as the initial imaging test, but magnetic resonance imaging has
      higher sensitivity and is more likely to detect the injury sooner. Treatment
      involves first determining if the stress fracture is of higher or lower risk;
      these are distinguished by anatomical location and whether the bone is loaded in
      tension (high risk) or compression (lower risk). Lowerrisk stress fractures can
      be initially treated by reducing loading on the injured bone through a reduction
      in activity or by substituting other activities. Higher-risk stress fractures
      should be referred to an orthopedist. Investigated prevention strategies include
      modifications to physical training programs, use of shock absorbing insoles,
      vitamin D and calcium supplementation, modifications of military equipment, and
      leadership education with injury surveillance.

PMID- 28599048
TI  - Easy Scan and Easy Fix for the Shoulder Injury in a Difficult Environment.

PMID- 28599047
TI  - Acute Traumatic Wound Management in the Prolonged Field Care Setting.

PMID- 28599049
TI  - An Interview With SOMA President Steven Viola, SOCM, ATP, NREMT-P.
AB  - Interviewed by COL (Ret) Andre Pennardt, MD.

PMID- 28599050
TI  - Introduction to the Unconventional Medicine Series.

PMID- 28599051
TI  - Maggot Therapy for Wound Care in Austere Environments.
AB  - The past 25 years have seen an increase in use of maggot therapy for wound care.
      Maggot therapy is very effective in wound debridement; it is simple to apply and
      requires very little in the way of resources, costs, or skilled personnel. These
      characteristics make it well suited for use in austere environments. The use of
      medical-grade maggots makes maggot therapy nearly risk free, but medical grade
      maggots may not always be available, especially in the wilderness or in resource
      limited communities. By understanding myiasis and fly biology, it should be
      possible even for the nonentomologist to obtain maggots from the wild and apply
      them therapeutically, with minimal risks.

PMID- 28599052
TI  - TCCC Updates: Two Decades of Saving Lives on the Battlefield: Tactical Combat
      Casualty Care Turns 20.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Twenty years ago, the original Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC)
      article was published in this journal. Since TCCC is essentially a set of
      bestpractice prehospital trauma care guidelines customized for use on the
      battlefield, the presence of a journal with a specific focus on military medicine
      was a profound benefit to the initial presentation of TCCC to the US Military.
      METHODS: In the two ensuing decades, which included the longest continuous period
      of armed conflict in our nation's history, TCCC steadily evolved as the
      prehospital trauma care evidence base was augmented and as feedback from user
      medics, corpsmen, and pararescuemen was obtained. FINDINGS: TCCC has taken a
      leadership role in advocating for battlefield trauma care advances such as the
      aggressive use of tourniquets and hemostatic dressings to control lifethreatening
      external hemorrhage; improved fluid resuscitation techniques for casualties in
      hemorrhagic shock; increased emphasis on airway positioning and surgical airways
      to manage the traumatized airway; faster, safer, and more effective battlefield
      analgesia; the increased use of intraosseous vascular access when needed;
      battlefield antibiotics; and combining good medicine with good small-unit
      tactics. With the continuing assistance of Military Medicine, these advances and
      the evidence base that supports them have been presented to TCCC stakeholders.
      Discussion/Impact: Now-20 years later-TCCC has been documented to produce
      unprecedented decreases in preventable combat death in military units that have
      trained all of their members in TCCC. As a result of this proven success, TCCC
      has become the standard for battlefield trauma care in the US military and for
      the militaries of many of our allied nations. Committee on TCCC members and the
      Joint Trauma System also work closely with civilian trauma colleagues through
      initiatives such as the Hartford Consensus, the White House Stop the Bleed
      campaign, and the development of National Association of Emergency Medical
      Technicians TCCC-based courses to ensure that advances in prehospital trauma care
      pioneered by the military on the battlefield are translated into civilian
      practice on the streets of America. Active shooter incidents, terrorist bombings,
      and the day-today trauma that results from motor vehicle accidents and criminal
      violence create the potential for many additional lives to be saved in the
      civilian sector. Along with the other components of the Department of Defense's
      Joint Trauma System, the Committee on TCCC, and the TCCC Working Group have been
      recognized as a national resource and will continue to advocate for advances in
      best-practice battlefield trauma care as opportunities to improve are identified.

PMID- 28599053
TI  - TacMed Updates: K9 Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Direct Threat Care
      Guidelines.

PMID- 28599054
TI  - Coexistence of Eph receptor B1 and ephrin B2 in port-wine stain endothelial
      progenitor cells contributes to clinicopathological vasculature dilatation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Port-wine stain (PWS) is a vascular malformation characterized by
      progressive dilatation of postcapillary venules, but the molecular pathogenesis
      remains obscure. OBJECTIVES: To illustrate that PWS endothelial cells (ECs)
      present a unique molecular phenotype that leads to pathoanatomical PWS
      vasculatures. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy
      were used to characterize the ultrastructure and molecular phenotypes of PWS
      blood vessels. Primary culture of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells
      and in vitro tube formation assay were used for confirmative functional studies.
      RESULTS: Multiple clinicopathological features of PWS blood vessels during the
      development and progression of the disease were shown. There were no normal
      arterioles and venules observed phenotypically and morphologically in PWS skin;
      arterioles and venules both showed differentiation impairments, resulting in a
      reduction of arteriole-like vasculatures and defects in capillary loop formation
      in PWS lesions. PWS ECs showed stemness properties with expression of endothelial
      progenitor cell markers CD133 and CD166 in non-nodular lesions. They also
      expressed dual venous/arterial identities, Eph receptor B1 (EphB1) and ephrin B2
      (EfnB2). Co-expression of EphB1 and EfnB2 in normal human dermal microvascular
      ECs led to the formation of PWS-like vasculatures in vitro, for example larger
      diameter and thick-walled capillaries. CONCLUSIONS: PWS ECs are differentiation
      impaired, late-stage endothelial progenitor cells with a specific phenotype of
      CD133+ /CD166+ /EphB1+ /EfnB2+ , which form immature venule-like pathoanatomical
      vasculatures. The disruption of normal EC-EC interactions by coexistence of EphB1
      and EfnB2 contributes to progressive dilatation of PWS vasculatures.

PMID- 28599055
TI  - Delivered adipose-derived stromal cells improve host-derived adipose tissue
      formation in composite constructs in vivo.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Adipose tissue engineering aims to provide functional
      tissue surrogates for the restoration of soft tissue defects and contour
      deformities in the face. Many studies involve the delivery of cells; however, the
      impact and the exact role of the implanted cells is not yet fully elucidated.
      STUDY DESIGN: Animal research. METHODS: In this study, we used a mouse model for
      the development of volume-stable adipose tissue using polyurethane scaffolds
      combined with a long-term stable fibrin gel and adipose-derived stromal cells to
      investigate the influence of cell delivery on tissue development. RESULTS: After
      12 weeks in vivo, the emerging tissue in these constructs was shown to be
      exclusively of host origin by human-specific vimentin staining. Comparison of
      unseeded versus seeded scaffolds revealed a significant effect of the delivered
      cells on adipose tissue development as shown by histological staining and
      histomorphometric quantification of adipocytes, whereas blood vessel formation
      was not affected by delivery of adipose-derived stromal cells at this time point.
      CONCLUSIONS: This is evidence for an indirect action of the implanted cells,
      providing a proadipogenic microenvironment within constructs, which was further
      boosted by adipogenic precultivation of the seeded constructs. Especially in
      peripheral areas of the constructs, the number of adipocytes was significantly
      elevated in seeded scaffolds compared to nonseeded controls, suggesting that the
      implanted cells likely triggered the invasion and differentiation of host cells.
      This is supported by the fact that the provision of a fat rich environment (by
      coverage of the constructs with a fat flap upon implantation) additionally
      stimulated adipose tissue formation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA. Laryngoscope,
      127:E428-E436, 2017.

PMID- 28599056
TI  - Retrospective study of the prognostic significance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte
      ratio for postsurgical outcomes of patients with endometrial carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the significance of postoperative inflammatory system
      response markers in predicting the prognosis of patients with endometrial cancer
      undergoing surgery. METHODS: The present retrospective study included patients
      who underwent surgical treatment for pathology-confirmed endometrial cancer
      between January 1, 2007, and June 30, 2013, at the Affiliated Drum Tower
      Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China. Potential prognostic
      factors were investigated by Cox proportional hazards analysis and survival rates
      were compared using Kaplan-Meier analyses. RESULTS: There were 185 patients with
      surgically treated endometrial cancer included. Multivariate analyses
      demonstrated that a preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) above 1.81
      (P=0.010) and a postoperative NLR above 7.54 (P=0.008) were both independently
      associated with lower disease free survival. Elevated preoperative and
      postoperative NLRs were associated with higher tumor stage (P=0.021 and P=0.009,
      respectively), and only elevated preoperative NLR was associated with lymph node
      involvement (P=0.023). CONCLUSION: Preoperative and postoperative NLRs were
      independently associated with inflammatory system response markers and could be
      combined to evaluate the prognosis of patients with endometrial cancer following
      surgery.

PMID- 28599057
TI  - Dynamic nuclear polarization studies of nitroxyl spin probes in agarose gel using
      Overhauser-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Agarose is a tissue-equivalent material and its imaging characteristics similar
      to those of real tissues. Hence, the dynamic nuclear polarization studies of 3
      carboxy-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-pyrrolidine-1-oxyl (carboxy-PROXYL) in agarose gel
      were carried out. The dynamic nuclear polarization parameters such as spin
      lattice relaxation time, longitudinal relaxivity, leakage factor, saturation
      parameter and coupling parameter were estimated for 2 mM carboxy-PROXYL in
      phosphate-buffered saline solution and water/agarose mixture (99 : 1). From these
      results, the spin probe concentration was optimized as 2 mM, and the reduction in
      enhancement was observed for carboxy-PROXYL in water/agarose mixture (99 : 1)
      compared with phosphate-buffered saline solution. Phantom imaging was also
      performed with 2 mM concentration of carboxy-PROXYL in various concentrations of
      agarose gel at various radio frequency power levels. The results from the dynamic
      nuclear polarization measurements agree well with the phantom imaging results.
      These results pave the way for designing model system for human tissues suited to
      the biological applications of electron spin resonance/Overhauser-enhanced
      magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 28599058
TI  - The timing of leaf damage affects future herbivory in mountain sagebrush
      (Artemisia tridentata).
AB  - Many plants respond to herbivory by increasing expression of defensive traits.
      The defensive response of plants can vary depending on plant condition,
      seasonality, and time of day. Due to a lack of field-based studies, it is unclear
      how temporal variability in defensive response may alter future rates of
      herbivory within ecological communities. In a series of simulated herbivory
      experiments, I quantified how the timing of leaf damage in mountain sagebrush
      (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) affects future herbivory. An identical leaf
      damage treatment was applied across 12 time windows to test how the effectiveness
      of response to herbivore damage changes along three interacting temporal scales:
      diel, seasonal, and annual. In contrast to several studies demonstrating induced
      resistance to herbivory in sagebrush, prevention of future herbivory was only
      detected following summer afternoon leaf damage in one of three years. These
      findings suggest that the timing of experimental leaf damage is one of many
      factors contributing to variability in field-based plant defensive induction
      studies.

PMID- 28599059
TI  - A Silicon Nanowire as a Spectrally Tunable Light-Driven Nanomotor.
AB  - Over the last decades, scientists have endeavored to develop nanoscopic machines
      and envisioned that these tiny machines could be exploited in biomedical
      applications and novel material fabrication. Here, a visible-/near-infrared light
      driven nanomotor based on a single silicon nanowire is reported. The silicon
      nanomotor harvests energy from light and propels itself by the self
      electrophoresis mechanism. Due to the high efficiency, the silicon nanowire can
      be readily driven by visible and near-infrared illumination at ultralow light
      intensity (~3 mW cm-2 ). The experimental study and numerical simulation also
      show that the detailed structure around the concentrated reaction center
      determines the migration behavior of the nanomotor. Importantly, due to the
      optical resonance inside the silicon nanowire, the spectral response of the
      nanowire-based nanomotor can be readily modulated by the nanowire's diameter.
      Compared to other methods, light controlling potentially offers more freedom and
      flexibility, as light can be modulated not only with its intensity and direction,
      but also with the frequency and polarities. This nanowire motor demonstrates a
      step forward to harness the advantages of light, which opens up new opportunities
      for the realization of many novel functions such as multiple channels
      communication to nanorobots and controllable self-assembly.

PMID- 28599060
TI  - Evaluation of Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Drug-Drug Interaction of
      Sacubitril/Valsartan (LCZ696) and Sildenafil in Patients With Mild-to-Moderate
      Hypertension.
AB  - Sacubitril/valsartan (LCZ696) is indicated for the treatment of patients with
      heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Since patients with HFrEF
      may receive sacubitril/valsartan and sildenafil, both increasing cyclic guanosine
      monophosphate, the present study evaluated the pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamic drug interaction potential between sacubitril/valsartan and
      sildenafil. In this open-label, three-period, single sequence study, patients
      with mild-to-moderate hypertension (153.8 +/- 8.2 mmHg mean systolic blood
      pressure (SBP)) received a single dose of sildenafil 50 mg, sacubitril/valsartan
      400 mg once daily for 5 days, and sacubitril/valsartan and sildenafil
      coadministration. When coadministered with sildenafil, the AUC and Cmax of
      valsartan decreased by 29% and 39%, respectively. Coadministration of
      sacubitril/valsartan and sildenafil resulted in a greater decrease in BP (-5/-4/
      4 mmHg mean ambulatory SBP/DBP/MAP (mean arterial pressure)) than with
      sacubitril/valsartan alone. Both treatments were generally safe and well
      tolerated in this study; however, the additional BP reduction suggests that
      sildenafil should be administered cautiously in patients receiving
      sacubitril/valsartan. Unique identifier: NCT01601470.

PMID- 28599061
TI  - A possible role of stem cells in nasal polyposis.
AB  - Since its discovery, the understanding of stem/progenitor cells raised
      dramatically in the last decade. Their regenerative potential is important to
      develop new therapeutic applications, but the identification advanced much faster
      than our understanding of stem/progenitor cells. In nasal polyposis, little is
      known about stem cells/progenitor cells and their ability. However, the further
      characterization of stem cells/progenitor cells may provide new treatment options
      for combating nasal polyposis. This review highlights the knowledge of the
      current literature about stem cells/progenitor cells in nasal polyposis and how
      this may be exploited in the development of novel treatment strategies.

PMID- 28599062
TI  - Pediatric cochlear implantation: Variation in income, race, payer, and charges
      across five states.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Our objectives were to investigate pediatric cochlear
      implantation (PCI) across representative states within the United States and
      analyze any geographical differences in age, median household income, race,
      insurance, and total medical charges. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS:
      Data from children (aged 0.5-18 years) who received cochlear implantation surgery
      were collected from the 2011 State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases from
      California (CA), Florida (FL), Maryland (MD), New York (NY), and Kentucky (KY) as
      a part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. We performed data analysis
      using a combination of Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank sum tests, as well as
      nominal logistic regression. RESULTS: Five hundred twelve cases of PCI were
      performed during 2011 across the five states. The overall mean and median age of
      implantation were 5.6 years and 4 years, respectively. There was no statistical
      difference in age of implantation across states (P = .85). However, there were
      statistical differences in primary payer (P < .001), median household income
      quartiles of patients who received an implant (P < .006), race (P < .001), and
      total median hospital charges for four of the states, with the exception of CA (P
      < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Age of PCI appears to be similar across the five states in
      cross-sectional analysis. Geographic variations in charges, payer, race, and
      median household income occur with statistical significance in PCI. Further
      analysis of contributing factors at each state level may help elucidate the root
      cause of these disparities and improve and justify a uniform approach to
      healthcare delivery and standards of care. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope,
      128:954-958, 2018.

PMID- 28599063
TI  - Making the case for double-blind peer review in otolaryngology.

PMID- 28599064
TI  - Molecular classification of hepatocellular carcinoma: The view from metabolic
      zonation.

PMID- 28599065
TI  - The Role of the Kidney in Drug Elimination: Transport, Metabolism, and the Impact
      of Kidney Disease on Drug Clearance.
AB  - Recent advances in the identification and characterization of renal drug
      transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes has led to greater understanding of
      their roles in drug and chemical elimination and in modulation of the intrarenal
      exposure and response to drugs, nephrotoxic compounds, and physiological
      mediators. Furthermore, there is increasing awareness of the potential importance
      of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) arising from inhibition of renal transporters,
      and regulatory agencies now provide recommendations for the evaluation of
      transporter-mediated DDIs. Apart from the well-recognized effects of kidney
      disease on renal drug clearance, there is a growing body of evidence
      demonstrating that the nonrenal clearances of drugs eliminated by certain
      transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes are decreased in patients with chronic
      kidney disease (CKD). Based on these observations, renal impairment guidance
      documents of regulatory agencies recommend pharmacokinetic characterization of
      both renally cleared and nonrenally cleared drugs in CKD patients to inform
      possible dosage adjustment.

PMID- 28599066
TI  - Rhinovirus and preschool wheeze.
AB  - Rhinovirus (RV) known as the common cold virus generally only causes a mild upper
      respiratory infection, but severe lower respiratory symptoms have been associated
      with RV infections especially in asthmatic individuals. Wheezing is a symptom of
      airway obstruction, and preschool children wheezing with RV have been associated
      with increased risk of asthma at school age. There are, however, conflicting
      opinions as to whether there are differences in response to RV infection or
      whether wheezing with RV reveals a preexisting impairment that promotes asthma
      mainly in predisposed children. The advent of molecular diagnostics to detect
      respiratory viruses has led to new insights into the role of RV infections. This
      review will discuss recent information concerning the role of RV as an important
      respiratory pathogen related to early onset wheeze and exacerbation of
      established asthma in preschool children.

PMID- 28599067
TI  - External adjustment of unmeasured confounders in a case-control study of
      benzodiazepine use and cancer risk.
AB  - AIMS: Previous studies have reported diverging results on the association between
      benzodiazepine use and cancer risk. METHODS: We investigated this association in
      a matched case-control study including incident cancer cases during 2002-2009 in
      the Danish Cancer Registry (n = 94 923) and age- and sex-matched (1:8) population
      controls (n = 759 334). Long-term benzodiazepine use was defined as >=500 defined
      daily doses 1-5 years prior to the index date. We implemented propensity score
      (PS) calibration using external information on confounders available from a
      survey of the Danish population. Two PSs were used: The error-prone PS using
      register-based confounders and the calibrated PS based on both register- and
      survey-based confounders, retrieved from the Health Interview Survey. RESULTS:
      Register-based data showed that cancer cases had more diagnoses, higher
      comorbidity score and more co-medication then population controls. Survey-based
      data showed lower self-rated health, more self-reported diseases, and more
      smokers as well as subjects with sedentary lifestyle among benzodiazepine users.
      By PS calibration, the odds ratio for cancer overall associated with
      benzodiazepine use decreased from 1.16 to 1.09 (95% confidence interval 1.00
      1.19) and for smoking-related cancers from 1.20 to 1.10 (95% confidence interval
      1.00-1.21). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the increased risk observed in the
      solely register-based study could partly be attributed to unmeasured confounding.

PMID- 28599068
TI  - Methods of term labour induction for women with a previous caesarean section.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women with a prior caesarean delivery have an increased risk of
      uterine rupture and for women subsequently requiring induction of labour it is
      unclear which method is preferable to avoid adverse outcomes. This is an update
      of a review that was published in 2013. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and
      harms associated with different methods used to induce labour in women who have
      had a previous caesarean birth. SEARCH METHODS: We searched Cochrane Pregnancy
      and Childbirth's Trials Register (31 August 2016) and reference lists of
      retrieved studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      comparing any method of third trimester cervical ripening or labour induction,
      with placebo/no treatment or other methods in women with prior caesarean section
      requiring labour induction in a subsequent pregnancy. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion and
      trial quality, extracted data, and checked them for accuracy. MAIN RESULTS: Eight
      studies (data from 707 women and babies) are included in this updated review.
      Meta-analysis was not possible because studies compared different methods of
      labour induction. All included studies had at least one design limitation (i.e.
      lack of blinding, sample attrition, other bias, or reporting bias). One study
      stopped prematurely due to safety concerns. Vaginal PGE2 versus intravenous
      oxytocin (one trial, 42 women): no clear differences for caesarean section (risk
      ratio (RR) 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22 to 2.03, evidence graded low),
      serious neonatal morbidity or perinatal death (RR 3.00, 95% CI 0.13 to 69.70,
      evidence graded low), serious maternal morbidity or death (RR 3.00, 95% CI 0.13
      to 69.70, evidence graded low). Also no clear differences between groups for the
      reported secondary outcomes. The GRADE outcomes vaginal delivery not achieved
      within 24 hours, and uterine hyperstimulation with fetal heart rate changes were
      not reported. Vaginal misoprostol versus intravenous oxytocin (one trial, 38
      women): this trial stopped early because one woman who received misoprostol had a
      uterine rupture (RR 3.67, 95% CI 0.16 to 84.66) and one had uterine dehiscence.
      No other outcomes (including GRADE outcomes) were reported. Foley catheter versus
      intravenous oxytocin (one trial, subgroup of 53 women): no clear difference
      between groups for vaginal delivery not achieved within 24 hours (RR 1.47, 95% CI
      0.89 to 2.44, evidence graded low), uterine hyperstimulation with fetal heart
      rate changes (RR 3.11, 95% CI 0.13 to 73.09, evidence graded low), and caesarean
      section (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.92, evidence graded low). There were also no
      clear differences between groups for the reported secondary outcomes. The
      following GRADE outcomes were not reported: serious neonatal morbidity or
      perinatal death, and serious maternal morbidity or death. Double-balloon catheter
      versus vaginal PGE2 (one trial, subgroup of 26 women): no clear difference in
      caesarean section (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.32, evidence graded very low).
      Vaginal delivery not achieved within 24 hours, uterine hyperstimulation with
      fetal heart rate changes, serious neonatal morbidity or perinatal death, and
      serious maternal morbidity or death were not reported. Oral mifepristone versus
      Foley catheter (one trial, 107 women): no primary/GRADE outcomes were reported.
      Fewer women induced with mifepristone required oxytocin augmentation (RR 0.54,
      95% CI 0.38 to 0.76). There were slightly fewer cases of uterine rupture among
      women who received mifepristone, however this was not a clear difference between
      groups (RR 0.29, 95% CI 0.08 to 1.02). No other secondary outcomes were reported.
      Vaginal isosorbide mononitrate (IMN) versus Foley catheter (one trial, 80 women):
      fewer women induced with IMN achieved a vaginal delivery within 24 hours (RR
      2.62, 95% CI 1.32 to 5.21, evidence graded low). There was no difference between
      groups in the number of women who had a caesarean section (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.39
      to 2.59, evidence graded very low). More women induced with IMN required oxytocin
      augmentation (RR 1.65, 95% CI 1.17 to 2.32). There were no clear differences in
      the other reported secondary outcomes. The following GRADE outcomes were not
      reported: uterine hyperstimulation with fetal heart rate changes, serious
      neonatal morbidity or perinatal death, and serious maternal morbidity or death.
      80 mL versus 30 mL Foley catheter (one trial, 154 women): no clear difference
      between groups for the primary outcomes: vaginal delivery not achieved within 24
      hours (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.20, evidence graded moderate) and caesarean
      section (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.24, evidence graded moderate). However, more
      women induced using a 30 mL Foley catheter required oxytocin augmentation (RR
      0.81, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.98). There were no clear differences between groups for
      other secondary outcomes reported. Several GRADE outcomes were not reported:
      uterine hyperstimulation with fetal heart rate changes, serious neonatal
      morbidity or perinatal death, and serious maternal morbidity or death. Vaginal
      PGE2 pessary versus vaginal PGE2 tablet (one trial, 200 women): no difference
      between groups for caesarean section (RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.60, evidence
      graded very low), or any of the reported secondary outcomes. Several GRADE
      outcomes were not reported: vaginal delivery not achieved within 24 hours,
      uterine hyperstimulation with fetal heart rate changes, serious neonatal
      morbidity or perinatal death, and serious maternal morbidity or death. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: RCT evidence on methods of induction of labour for women with a
      prior caesarean section is inadequate, and studies are underpowered to detect
      clinically relevant differences for many outcomes. Several studies reported few
      of our prespecified outcomes and reporting of infant outcomes was especially
      scarce. The GRADE level for quality of evidence was moderate to very low, due to
      imprecision and study design limitations.High-quality, adequately-powered RCTs
      would be the best approach to determine the optimal method for induction of
      labour in women with a prior caesarean birth. However, such trials are unlikely
      to be undertaken due to the very large numbers needed to investigate the risk of
      infrequent but serious adverse outcomes (e.g. uterine rupture). Observational
      studies (cohort studies), including different methods of cervical ripening, may
      be the best alternative. Studies could compare methods believed to provide
      effective induction of labour with low risk of serious harm, and report the
      outcomes listed in this review.

PMID- 28599069
TI  - Plant mitochondria synthesize melatonin and enhance the tolerance of plants to
      drought stress.
AB  - Synthesis of melatonin in mitochondria was reported in animals. However, there is
      no report on whether plant mitochondria also produce melatonin. Herein, we show
      that plant mitochondria are a major site for melatonin synthesis. In an in vitro
      study, isolated apple mitochondria had the capacity to generate melatonin.
      Subcellular localization analysis documented that an apple SNAT isoform, MzSNAT5,
      was localized in the mitochondria of both Arabidopsis protoplasts and apple
      callus cells. The kinetic analysis revealed that the recombinant MzSNAT5 protein
      exhibited high enzymatic activity to catalyze serotonin to N-acetylserotonin with
      the Km and Vmax of 55 MUmol/L and 0.909 pmol/min/mg protein at 35 degrees C,
      respectively; this pathway functioned over a wide range of temperatures from 5 to
      75 degrees C. In an in vivo study, MzSNAT5 was drought inducible. The transgenic
      Arabidopsis ectopically expressing MzSNAT5 elevated the melatonin level and,
      hence, enhanced drought tolerance. The mechanistic study indicated that the
      ectopically expressing MzSNAT5 allows plant mitochondria to increase melatonin
      synthesis. As a potent free radical scavenger, melatonin reduces the oxidative
      stress caused by the elevated reactive oxygen species which are generated under
      drought stress in plants. Our findings provide evidence that engineered melatonin
      enriched plants exhibit enhanced oxidative tolerance.

PMID- 28599070
TI  - Serum microcystin levels positively linked with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma:
      A case-control study in southwest China.
AB  - : Microcystins have been reported to be carcinogenic by animal and cell
      experimentation, but there are no data on the linkage between serum microcystins
      and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in humans. We conducted a clinical case
      control study to investigate the association between serum microcystins and HCC
      risk after controlling several known risk factors, such as hepatitis B virus,
      alcohol, and aflatoxin. From December 2013 to May 2016, 214 patients newly
      diagnosed with HCC along with 214 controls (frequency-matched by age and sex)
      were recruited from three hospitals in Chongqing, southwest China. Basic
      information on lifestyle and history of disease was obtained by questionnaire.
      Blood samples were collected and analyzed for serum microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and
      aflatoxin-albumin adduct by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and for hepatitis B
      surface antigen status by chemiluminescence assay. Binary logistic regression
      analyses were performed to assess the independent effects of MC-LR and its joint
      effects with other factors on HCC risk. The adjusted odds ratio for HCC risk by
      serum MC-LR was 2.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-5.5) in all patients.
      Notably, a clear relationship between increased MC-LR level (Q2, Q3, and Q4) and
      HCC risk was observed with elevated adjusted odds ratios (1.3, 2.6, and 4.0,
      respectively). Positive interactions with the additive model were investigated
      between MC-LR and hepatitis B virus infection (synergism index = 3.0; 95% CI, 2.0
      4.5) and between MC-LR and alcohol (synergism index = 4.0; 95% CI, 1.7-9.5),
      while a negative interaction was found between MC-LR and aflatoxin (synergism
      index = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.3-0.7). Additionally, serum MC-LR was significantly
      associated with tumor differentiation (r = -0.228, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We
      provide evidence that serum MC-LR was an independent risk factor for HCC in
      humans, with an obvious positive interaction with hepatitis B virus and alcohol
      but a negative interaction with aflatoxin. (Hepatology 2017;66:1519-1528).

PMID- 28599071
TI  - Predator odor evokes sex-independent stress responses in male and female Wistar
      rats and reduces phosphorylation of cyclic-adenosine monophosphate response
      element binding protein in the male, but not the female hippocampus.
AB  - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by memory disturbances
      following trauma. Acute predator threat has emerged as an ethological model of
      PTSD, yet the effects of predator odor on signaling cascades associated with long
      term memory remain poorly understood. In this study, we exposed male and female
      Wistar rats to the synthetic predator odor 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline
      (TMT) to assess behavioral and physiological responses as well as rapid
      modulation of signal transduction cascades associated with learning and memory in
      the male and female hippocampus. During exposure to TMT in the homecage, both
      male and female animals displayed robust immobility, avoidance, and altered
      activity as a function of time. Physiologically, TMT exposure increased
      circulating corticosterone and blood glucose in both male and female rodents,
      suggesting that TMT evokes sex-independent behavioral and physiological
      responses. With respect to signal transduction, TMT exposure rapidly reduced
      phosphorylation of cyclic-adenosine monophosphate response element binding
      protein (CREB) in the male, but not the female hippocampus. Furthermore, TMT
      exposure reduced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and
      increased nuclear expression of the synapto-nuclear messenger protein Jacob in
      the male hippocampus, consistent with activation of the CREB shut-off pathway. In
      a follow-up behavioral experiment, post-training exposure to TMT did not affect
      spatial water maze performance of male rats. However, male rats re-introduced to
      the context in which TMT had previously been presented displayed avoidance and
      hyperactivity, but not freezing behavior or elevated corticosterone responses,
      suggesting that TMT exposure supports a form of contextual conditioning which is
      not characterized by immobility. Taken together, our findings suggest that TMT
      evokes similar behavioral and physiological responses in male and female Wistar
      rats, but affects distinct signaling cascades in the male and female hippocampus
      which may contribute to behavioral disruptions associated with predator exposure.

PMID- 28599072
TI  - Zooplankton community structure along a pollution gradient at fine geographical
      scales in river ecosystems: The importance of species sorting over dispersal.
AB  - The release of anthropogenic pollution into freshwater ecosystems has largely
      transformed biodiversity and its geographical distribution patterns globally.
      However, for many communities including ecologically crucial ones such as
      zooplankton, it is largely unknown how different communities respond to
      environmental pollution. Collectively, dispersal and species sorting are two
      competing processes in determining the structure and geographical distribution of
      zooplankton communities in running water ecosystems such as rivers. At fine
      geographical scales, dispersal is usually considered as the dominant factor;
      however, the relative role of species sorting has not been evaluated well, mainly
      because significant environmental gradients rarely exist along continuously
      flowing rivers. The Chaobai River in northern China represents a rare system,
      where a significant environmental gradient exists at fine scales. Here, we
      employed high-throughput sequencing to characterize complex zooplankton
      communities collected from the Chaobai River, and tested the relative roles of
      dispersal and species sorting in determining zooplankton community structure
      along the pollution gradient. Our results showed distinct patterns of zooplankton
      communities along the environmental gradient, and chemical pollutant-related
      factors such as total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a were identified as the major
      drivers for the observed patterns. Further partial redundancy analyses showed
      that species sorting overrode the effect of dispersal to shape local zooplankton
      community structure. Thus, our results reject the dispersal hypothesis and
      support the concept that species sorting caused by local pollution can largely
      determine the zooplankton community structure when significant environmental
      gradients exist at fine geographical scales in highly polluted running water
      ecosystems.

PMID- 28599073
TI  - A Monte Carlo model and its commissioning for the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion
      radiosurgery system.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop and commission a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation model for the
      Leksell Gamma Knife (LGK) Perfexion (PFX) radiosurgery system. METHOD: We
      previously established a source model for MC simulations of the LGK PFX for the
      purpose of the treatment planning system (TPS) dose verification and plan
      evaluation. To make practical and effective use of the model in clinic, several
      issues need to be addressed. First, thorough commissioning procedures are needed
      to ensure the validity of the model parameters, such as the source-to-focus (STF)
      distance, the source solid angle. Second, an efficient source particle sampling
      method is required to facilitate dose calculations for multitarget and multishot
      configurations in patient treatment plans. Third, inseparably, it is interesting
      to know the dose difference between the two GK TPS algorithms (TMR and
      convolution) and the MC method in extreme heterogeneous cases resulting from the
      inhomogeneous effect. We report our recent development in addressing these
      issues. Phantoms with the frame fiducials were manually created in the format of
      DICOM CT image to eliminate the uncertainties associated with scanner artifacts
      and image registration. The created homogeneous phantom was used to calibrate the
      model parameters to match the output factors with the manufacturer provided data,
      and the heterogeneous phantom with multilayer materials was used to study the
      inhomogeneous effect. RESULTS: The agreement between the MC calculation and TPS
      was very good for the homogeneous spherical phantom. The difference of the full
      width at half maximum (FWHM) of the profiles was less than 1 mm except for the
      profile for 16 mm collimator along z-axis (less than 2 mm). For the extreme
      heterogeneous test case, it was shown that the TMR algorithm can overestimate the
      target dose by up to 22% using the measure of dose volume parameter D95. The
      agreement between the MC method and the TPS convolution method was better (within
      3.6%) for the target near the center of phantom, however, discrepancy (up to
      10.7%) existed for the target close to the skull. The difference between the two
      TPS dose algorithms was about 11%. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable dose difference may
      result from the effect of heterogeneity, such as in the regions of the air
      cavities and bones. As the MC method has been extensively used in conventional
      external beams, it is worthwhile for further investigation in applying the MC
      method to accurate dose planning in the new GK PFX radiosurgery platform.

PMID- 28599075
TI  - Increased risk of asthma in overweight children born large for gestational age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Being born large for gestational age (LGA) is a marker of increased
      growth velocity in fetal life and a risk factor for childhood overweight. Both
      being born LGA and childhood overweight may influence the development of asthma,
      although the role of overweight in the association between LGA and childhood
      asthma is unclear. Importantly, recent studies have suggested that the
      association between overweight and asthma may be related to non-allergic
      pathways. If this also applies to the association between LGA and asthma, the
      association between being born LGA and asthma may be different for atopic and non
      atopic children. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association of being LGA with the
      prevalence of asthma at age 8 in atopic and non-atopic children and the role of
      overweight in this association. METHODS: Complete data on asthma, anthropometry
      and atopy at age of 8 years, and potential confounders were available for 1608
      participants of the PIAMA birth cohort. Odds ratios for the association between
      LGA and asthma in atopic and non-atopic children were estimated by logistic
      regression analysis adjusting for potential confounders. Overweight was assessed
      as a potential modifier of the association between LGA and asthma. RESULTS: Being
      born LGA was not significantly associated with asthma at age of 8 in atopic and
      non-atopic children. However, overweight at age of 8 years modified the
      association between asthma at age of 8 and LGA. In non-atopic children, children
      who were born LGA and were overweight at age of 8 years had a significantly
      increased odds of asthma compared to non-LGA, non-overweight children (adj OR
      7.04; 95% CI 2.2-24). CONCLUSIONS: We observed that non-atopic children born LGA,
      who were overweight by 8 years have an increased risk of asthma. If confirmed,
      these findings suggest that non-atopic children born LGA may be identified early
      in life as a high-risk group for asthma.

PMID- 28599074
TI  - Beyond epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition: Common suppression of
      differentiation programs underlies epithelial barrier dysfunction in mild,
      moderate, and severe asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epithelial barrier dysfunction is a central feature in the
      pathogenesis of allergic disease. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has
      been proposed as one mechanism afflicting barrier in asthma. However, genes and
      pathways involved in aberrant epithelial-mesenchymal signaling, and their
      relationship to asthma severity, are poorly understood. METHODS: We used unbiased
      gene network analysis to evaluate functional convergence in epithelial gene
      expression signatures across multiple public access transcriptomics datasets of
      human asthma, followed by text mining to evaluate functional marker relevance of
      discovered genes. We objectively confirmed these findings in epithelial brushings
      and primary asthmatic epithelial cells cultured in different biological contexts.
      RESULTS: We found a striking suppression of epithelial differentiation in asthma,
      overrepresented by insufficiency in insulin and Notch signaling, but with the
      absence of conventional EMT markers. We identified EFNB2, FGFR1, FGFR2, INSR,
      IRS2, NOTCH2, TLE1, and NTRK2 as novel markers central to dysregulation of
      epithelial-mesenchymal signaling, but surprisingly overlooked in asthma research.
      We found that this "core" signature of asthma is shared by mild, moderate, and
      severe forms of disease, progressing with severity. Loss of epithelial
      differentiation induced by insulin deprivation in normal human bronchial
      epithelial cells cultured in organotypic conditions closely approximated gene
      expression in asthmatic epithelial brushings. CONCLUSIONS: The comparative
      analysis of publically available transcriptomes demonstrated that epithelial
      barrier dysfunction in asthma is characterized by persistent underlying de
      differentiation program with complex etiology. The lasting alteration of the
      asthmatic epithelial cell transcriptome implicates regulation involving
      metabolism and epigenetics, beyond EMT driven by injury and repair in chronic
      inflammation.

PMID- 28599076
TI  - T-cell activation in two cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome after receiving
      amoxicillin-clavulanic acid.

PMID- 28599077
TI  - Protective efficacy of recombinant Cryptosporidium parvum CpPRP1 sushi domain
      against C. tyzzeri infection in mice.
AB  - Until now, there are no completely effective parasite-specific pharmaceuticals or
      immunotherapies for treatment against the zoonotic cryptosporidiosis. Sushi
      domain (CpSushi) is an important functional domain in Cryptosporidium parvum
      putative rhoptry protein-1 (CpPRP1), which is the only reported C. parvum rhoptry
      protein and may play key role in the course of invasion. Here, a 708-bp fragment
      encoding the CpSushi domain was amplified and expressed in E. coli.
      Immunofluorescence detection showed that CpSushi was located on the surface of C.
      parvum oocysts and the apical pole to the sporozoites that belonged to the
      position of rhoptry. Three-week-old female ICR mice were used for detecting the
      immunoreactions and immunoprotection of recombinant CpSushi (rCpSushi) to
      artificial C. tyzzeri infection. The results indicated that a significant
      increase of anti-CpSushi antibody response was induced by the recombinant
      protein. Compared to blank, Tris-EDTA (TE) buffer and adjuvant controls mice,
      rCpSushi-immunized mice produced specific spleen cell proliferation as well as
      enhanced IL4, IL5, IL12p70 and TNF-alpha production in vitro. The reduction rate
      of parasites shedding in stool in mice immunized with rCpSushi was 68.91% after
      challenging with C. tyzzeri. These results suggest that CpSushi could be a new
      promising cryptosporidiosis vaccine candidate antigen composition.

PMID- 28599079
TI  - Vascular endothelial growth factor protein expression is associated with a poor
      prognosis in patients with cutaneous extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28599078
TI  - Nonlesional atopic dermatitis skin shares similar T-cell clones with lesional
      tissues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by robust immune activation.
      Various T-cell subsets, including Th2/Th22 cells, are increased in lesional and
      nonlesional skin. However, there is conflicting literature on the diversity of
      the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in lesional AD, and its relation to
      nonlesional skin remains unclear. METHODS: We performed high-throughput deep
      sequencing of the beta-TCR repertoire in 29 lesional and 19 nonlesional AD
      biopsies, compared to six healthy control and six cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
      (CTCL) samples from previously published cohorts. RESULTS: While greater T-cell
      infiltrates were observed in lesional vs nonlesional AD, TCR repertoire diversity
      was similar in lesional and nonlesional tissues, and absolute numbers of unique T
      cell clones correlated with respective T-cell counts. Most (87%) top expanded
      lesional T-cell clones were shared with nonlesional tissues, and they were
      largely maintained after 16 weeks of successful treatment with topical
      triamcinolone. Nevertheless, both lesional and nonlesional AD showed a highly
      polyclonal TCR pattern, without evidence of oligoclonal expansion, or a preferred
      usage of certain V-beta genes in AD skin. Size of the overall T-cell infiltrate,
      but not the level of clonality, correlated with mRNA levels of key inflammatory
      mediators (e.g., IL-13, CCL17, IL23p19, CXCL10). CONCLUSION: While AD harbors a
      highly polyclonal T-cell receptor repertoire, and despite the lack of information
      on TCR antigen specificity, the sharing of top abundant clones between lesional
      and nonlesional skin, and their persistence after months of therapy, points to
      the continuous presence of potentially pathogenic skin resident memory T cells
      well beyond clinically inflamed lesions.

PMID- 28599082
TI  - The Effect of Solution Conditions on the Driving Forces for Self-Assembly of a
      Pyrene Molecule.
AB  - Fe(CO){CO(CH2 )5 CH2 -pyrene}(Cp)(PPh3 ) (Fp-pyrene) is soluble in DMSO and THF,
      but insoluble in water, methanol, and ethanol. The hydrophobic force drives the
      molecules' assembly into vesicles in THF/water. The pi-pi interaction of the
      pyrene groups subsequently occurred within the vesicular membrane. The assembly,
      however, is driven by the pi-pi interaction in DMSO/water (water content: 40-80
      vol %) into membranes, which is attributed to the relatively higher degree of de
      solvation (delta) of pyrene in DMSO. Further increase in delta (DMSO/90 vol %
      water) suppresses the pi-pi interaction and spherical particles are formed. On
      the other hand, the supersaturated solutions were prepared via a cycle of heating
      and cooling of Fp-pyrene in methanol or ethanol. Fp-pyrene aggregates into
      particles without the pi-pi interaction in the solutions with a lower degree of
      supersaturation (sigma). In contrast, a higher sigma induces the pi-pi
      interaction, which drives the assembly into nanotapes. The pi-pi interaction is a
      conditional effect depending on the solution conditions, which can be adjusted
      for the synthesis of nanostructures assembled from the same aromatic molecule.

PMID- 28599080
TI  - Bone morphogenetic protein signaling governs biliary-driven liver regeneration in
      zebrafish through tbx2b and id2a.
AB  - : Upon mild liver injury, new hepatocytes originate from preexisting hepatocytes.
      However, if hepatocyte proliferation is impaired, a manifestation of severe liver
      injury, biliary epithelial cells (BECs) contribute to new hepatocytes through BEC
      dedifferentiation into liver progenitor cells (LPCs), also termed oval cells or
      hepatoblast-like cells (HB-LCs), and subsequent differentiation into hepatocytes.
      Despite the identification of several factors regulating BEC dedifferentiation
      and activation, little is known about factors involved in the regulation of LPC
      differentiation into hepatocytes during liver regeneration. Using a zebrafish
      model of near-complete hepatocyte ablation, we show that bone morphogenetic
      protein (Bmp) signaling is required for BEC conversion to hepatocytes,
      particularly for LPC differentiation into hepatocytes. We found that severe liver
      injury led to the up-regulation of genes involved in Bmp signaling, including
      smad5, tbx2b, and id2a, in the liver. Bmp suppression did not block BEC
      dedifferentiation into HB-LCs; however, the differentiation of HB-LCs into
      hepatocytes was impaired due to the maintenance of HB-LCs in an undifferentiated
      state. Later Bmp suppression did not affect HB-LC differentiation but increased
      BEC number through proliferation. Notably, smad5, tbx2b, and id2a mutants
      exhibited similar liver regeneration defects as those observed in Bmp-suppressed
      livers. Moreover, BMP2 addition promoted the differentiation of a murine LPC line
      into hepatocytes in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Bmp signaling regulates BEC-driven liver
      regeneration through smad5, tbx2b, and id2a: it regulates HB-LC differentiation
      into hepatocytes through tbx2b and BEC proliferation through id2a; our findings
      provide insights into promoting innate liver regeneration as a novel therapy.
      (Hepatology 2017;66:1616-1630).

PMID- 28599081
TI  - Mechanisms of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in athletes: Current
      perspectives and future challenges.
AB  - The evidence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) without asthma (EIBwA
      ) occurring in athletes led to speculate about different endotypes inducing
      respiratory symptoms within athletes. Classical postulated mechanisms for
      bronchial obstruction in this population include the osmotic and the thermal
      hypotheses. More recently, the presence of epithelial injury and inflammation in
      the airways of athletes was demonstrated. In addition, neuronal activation has
      been suggested as a potential modulator of bronchoconstriction. Investigation of
      these emerging mechanisms is of major importance as EIB is a significant problem
      for both recreational and competitive athletes and is the most common chronic
      condition among Olympic athletes, with obvious implications for their competing
      performance, health and quality of life. Hereby, we summarize the latest
      achievements in this area and identify the current gaps of knowledge so that
      future research heads toward better defining the etiologic factors and mechanisms
      involved in development of EIB in elite athletes as well as essential aspects to
      ultimately propose preventive and therapeutic measures.

PMID- 28599083
TI  - Mixed cryoglobulinaemia: An important but frequently unrecognized and
      underestimated HCV-related condition in the real life practice.

PMID- 28599084
TI  - On the Importance of Nonbonding Donor-Acceptor Interactions Involving PO2.
      Radicals: An ab Initio Study.
AB  - In this study, several sigma-type and pi-hole bonding complexes between PO2.
      radicals and electron-rich entities have been optimized at the RI-MP2/aug-cc-pVQZ
      level of theory. We have used Cl- , Br- , I- anions, and ethene, ethyne, HCN, HF,
      and H2 O as Lewis bases. In addition, we have performed natural bond orbital
      (NBO) and Mulliken spin density analyses, highlighting the donor-acceptor nature
      of the interaction. Moreover, an interesting retro-donation from the single
      electron lone pair of the PO2. radical to the Lewis base also contributes to the
      stabilization of the complexes studied herein. Finally, the Bader's atoms-in
      molecules (AIM) analysis of several complexes has been performed to further
      characterize the interactions discussed herein.

PMID- 28599085
TI  - Exploring the putative role of TRPV1 -dependent CGRP release in remote hind
      preconditioning-induced cardioprotection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a phenomenon whereby
      transient nonlethal ischemia and reperfusion episodes confer protection against
      prolonged ischemia reperfusion-induced injury. However, the underlying
      intracellular signaling has not been extensively explored. OBJECTIVE: This study
      aimed to inspect the putative involvement of TRPV1 -dependent CGRP release in
      mediating remote hind limb preconditioning-induced cardioprotection. METHODS: In
      this study, remote hind limb preconditioning stimulus was delivered (four
      consecutive episodes of 5 minutes of ischemia reperfusion) using a blood pressure
      cuff tied at the inguinal level of the rat. The isolated rat hearts were perfused
      on the Langendorff's system and were subjected to 30-minutes global ischemia and
      120-minutes reperfusion. Prolonged ischemia and subsequent reperfusion led to
      myocardial injury that was evaluated in terms of infarct size, LDH release, CK
      release, LVDP, +dp/dtmax , -dp/dtmin , and coronary flow rate. The
      pharmacological agents used in this study included capsaicin as TRPV1 channel
      activator, sumatriptan and CGRP8-37 as CGRP blockers. RESULTS: Remote hind limb
      and capsaicin preconditioning (10 mg/kg-1 ) significantly reduced the infarct
      size, LDH release, CK release and significantly improved LVDP, +dp/dtmax , 
      dp/dtmin , and coronary flow rate. However, remote hind limb and capsaicin
      preconditioning-induced cardioprotective effects were remarkably reduced in the
      presence of sumatriptan (8 mg/kg-1 ) and CGRP8-37 (1 mg/kg-1 ). CONCLUSION: This
      indicates that remote hind limb preconditioning stimulus probably activates TRPV1
      channels which subsequently induces CGRP release to produce cardioprotective
      effects.

PMID- 28599086
TI  - In Silico Design of DNP Polarizing Agents: Can Current Dinitroxides Be Improved?
AB  - Numerical calculations of enhancement factors offered by dynamic nuclear
      polarization in solids under magic angle spinning (DNP-MAS) were performed to
      determine the optimal EPR parameters for a dinitroxide polarizing agent. We found
      that the DNP performance of a biradical is more tolerant to the relative
      orientation of the two nitroxide moieties than previously thought. Generally, any
      condition in which the gyy tensor components of both radicals are perpendicular
      to one another is expected to have near-optimal DNP performance. Our results
      highlight the important role of the exchange coupling, which can lessen the
      sensitivity of DNP performance to the inter-radical distance, but also lead to
      lower enhancements when the number of atoms in the linker becomes less than
      three. Lastly, the calculations showed that the electron T1e value should be near
      500 MUs to yield optimal performance. Importantly, the newest polarizing agents
      already feature all of the qualities of the optimal polarizing agent, leaving
      little room for further improvement. Further research into DNP polarizing agents
      should then target non-nitroxide radicals, as well as improvements in sample
      formulations to advance high-temperature DNP and limit quenching and reactivity.

PMID- 28599087
TI  - Growth charts for Australian children with achondroplasia.
AB  - Achondroplasia is an autosomal dominant disorder, the most common genetic cause
      of short stature in humans. Reference curves for head circumference, weight,
      height, and BMI are needed in clinical practice but none exist for the Australian
      population. This study aimed to produce head circumference, height, weight, and
      BMI reference percentile curves for Australian children and adolescents with
      achondroplasia. Measurements of head circumference, height and weight taken at
      clinical visits were retrospectively extracted from the electronic medical
      record. Age was corrected for prematurity. Patients were excluded from head
      circumference analysis if they had significant neurosurgical complications and
      from the weight and BMI analysis when they had a clinical diagnosis of
      overweight. Measurements were available on 138 individuals (69 males and 69
      females) taken between 1970 and 2015, with over 50% collected since 2005. A total
      of 3,352 data points were available. The LMS method was used to produce growth
      charts with estimated centiles (10, 25, 50, 75, and 90th) separately for males
      and females. For females birth weight was 3 kg (2.5-3.5 kg), birth length 48 cm
      (44-50 cm) and head circumference 37.5 cm (36-39 cm), adult height was 125 cm
      (116-132 cm), weight 42 kg (34-54 kg), and head circumference 58 cm (55.5-60.5
      cm) all 50th centile (10-90th). For males birth weight was 3.5 kg (3-4 kg),
      length 49 cm (46-52 cm) and head circumference 38.5 cm (36-41 cm), adult height
      was 134 cm (125-141 cm), weight 41 kg (24.5-57 kg) and head circumference 61 cm
      (58-64 cm). The curves are similar to previously published reference data from
      the USA and have expected population wide variation from curves from an
      Argentinian population. Despite limitations of our curves for adolescents (12
      years and older) due to data paucity, these Australian growth charts for children
      and adolescents with achondroplasia will be a useful reference in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28599088
TI  - Quantum-Assisted Metrology of Neutral Vitamins in the Gas Phase.
AB  - It has recently been shown that matter-wave interferometry can be used to imprint
      a periodic nanostructure onto a molecular beam, which provides a highly sensitive
      tool for beam displacement measurements. Herein, we used this feature to measure
      electronic properties of provitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin K1 in the gas phase
      for the first time. The shift of the matter-wave fringes in a static electric
      field encodes the molecular susceptibility and the time-averaged dynamic electric
      dipole moment. The dependence of the fringe pattern on the intensity of the
      central light-wave diffraction grating was used to determine the molecular
      optical polarizability. Comparison of our experimental findings with molecular
      dynamics simulations and density functional theory provides a rich picture of the
      electronic structures and dynamics of these biomolecules in the gas phase with
      beta-carotene as a particularly interesting example.

PMID- 28599089
TI  - Initial graft size and not the innate immune response limit survival of engrafted
      neural stem cells.
AB  - Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) appears to be a promising
      regenerative therapy for a variety of neurological disorders. Nevertheless, NSC
      engraftment is limited by the number of surviving cells. To maximize stem cell
      mediated effects, timing of implantation and cell number have to be precisely
      evaluated. Here, a transgenic murine NSC line was optimized for high expression
      levels of the imaging reporters Luc2 and copGFP. NSCs of 150 000, 75 000, 15 000
      or 1500 cells or Hanks buffered salt solution were implanted into the striatum of
      nude mice. The survival of NSCs was monitored with in vivo bioluminescence
      imaging (BLI) over 2 weeks and brain sections were histologically analysed for
      glial cells of the innate immune system. The longitudinal in vivo BLI data
      revealed a significantly reduced viability with the highest rate for 150 000
      engrafted NSCs. The cell loss was not correlated with the number of Iba-1+ immune
      cells nor GFAP+ astrocytes. Histological quantification of copGFP+ cells at 14
      days postimplantation confirmed the in vivo data with the highest density of
      copGFP+ cells in the 150 000-cell graft and the highest survival rate for 1500
      cells/graft. In conclusion, regenerative therapies should strictly evaluate the
      maximal number of stem cells to be transplanted in one location, as the results
      suggest that there is a critical limit of cells able to survive in the adult
      brain. Survival is limited by availability of oxygen and nutrients but not the
      inflammatory response induced by the implantation.

PMID- 28599090
TI  - Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Glycyrrhetic Acid Derivatives as Potential
      VEGFR2 Inhibitors.
AB  - Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) has been proven to play a
      major role in the regulation of tumor angiogenesis. A series of novel
      glycyrrhetic acid derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their VEGFR2
      inhibitory activity as well as their antiproliferative properties against four
      cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HeLa, HepG2, and A549). In vitro biological evaluations
      against these human tumor cell lines indicate that most of the prepared compounds
      have antiproliferative activities; compound 3 a (3beta-hydroxy-30-(4-phenyl-1
      piperazinyl)olean-12-ene-11,30-dione) exhibited the best inhibitory activity
      against MCF-7 cells, with an IC50 value of 1.08 MUm. Compound 3 a also showed the
      most potent inhibitory activity against VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase, with an IC50
      value of 0.35 MUm. Docking simulations were performed with the aim of discovering
      the binding mode of compound 3 a, and the results indicate that 3 a could bind at
      the VEGFR2 active site.

PMID- 28599091
TI  - Burden of cytomegalovirus disease in solid organ transplant recipients: a
      national matched cohort study in an inpatient setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the impact of early- (E-CMV) and late onset (L-CMV)
      cytomegalovirus disease on the probability of graft rejection, graft failure,
      mortality, and healthcare resource use, following solid organ transplantation
      (SOT) in France. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data from the French
      'Programme de Medicalisation des Systemes d'Information' database (2007-2011) was
      conducted to identify SOT recipients who developed CMV disease in an inpatient
      setting. Recipients were stratified by time to CMV disease onset: E-CMV (<=3
      months), L-CMV-3M (>3-24 months), and L-CMV-6M (>6-24 months). Data were analyzed
      by comparing recipients with CMV disease or without (controls) in a 1:2 ratio,
      matched according to age, gender, target organ, and previous/simultaneous
      occurrence of graft rejection. Graft failure, graft rejection, all-cause in
      hospital mortality, and resource utilization (including hospitalization costs)
      were assessed over 12 months following CMV disease diagnosis. RESULTS: Among 20
      473 SOT recipients, 2430 (11.86%) were reported to have CMV disease within 24
      months after transplantation. CMV disease was significantly associated with an
      increased risk of graft rejection and mortality, as indicated by logistic
      regression analysis. Odd ratios (ORs) for the risk of graft rejection were E
      CMV=1.43, L-CMV-3M=1.50, and L-CMV-6M=1.61 (all P<.05), while ORs for mortality
      were E-CMV=2.85, L-CMV-3M=4.22, and L-CMV-6M=4.77 (all P<.0001). Only L-CMV was
      significantly correlated with a higher risk of graft failure: E-CMV=1.18
      (P=.1906), L-CMV-3M=1.77 (P=.0013), and L-CMV-6M=3.12 (P<.0001). Hospitalization
      costs increased by ?7078 (range ?6270-?22 111), ?6523 (range ?5328-?10 295), and
      ?6311 (range ?5295-?9184) in recipients with E-CMV, L-CMV-3M, and L-CMV-6-M,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: This study, based on French national data, demonstrates
      the considerable burden of CMV disease in SOT recipients and highlights the
      importance of developing new strategies to prevent and manage CMV disease and
      improve clinical outcomes for SOT patients.

PMID- 28599092
TI  - Antioxidant and Proteinase Inhibitory Activities of Selected Poppy (Papaver
      somniferum L.) Genotypes.
AB  - Poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum L.) belong to tasty food ingredients however,
      they should be considered also as valuable source of biologically active
      compounds. Content of selected metabolites, antioxidant and proteinase inhibitory
      activities were analyzed in vitro in extracts from seeds of fifteen poppy
      genotypes. Considerable variation in all parameters was detected within the set
      of analyzed poppy genotypes. The genotype Major expressed the highest antioxidant
      activity determined by all four methodological approaches (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, RP).
      The genotype MS 423 exhibited the highest inhibitory activities against trypsin,
      thrombin and collagenase. Very specific position among all had the genotype Redy.
      Its grain extract reached significantly high levels in 9 out of 14 measured
      parameters (TPC, TFC, TTC, TAC, FRAP, RP, inhibitory activities against trypsin,
      thrombin, collagenase). Edible grains of poppy are valuable source of natural
      compounds which may be beneficial in pathological states associated with
      oxidative stress or increased proteinase activities.

PMID- 28599093
TI  - Clinical and molecular cytogenetic characterization of four unrelated patients
      carrying 2p14 microdeletions.
AB  - We report the clinical and molecular cytogenetic characterization of four
      unrelated patients from France and Spain, carrying 2p14 microdeletions and
      presenting with intellectual disability and dysmorphisms. 2p14 microdeletions are
      very rare. Seven patients have been reported so far harboring deletions including
      2p14p15 and encompassing OTX1, whose haploinsufficiency is frequently associated
      with genitourinary defects. To date, only one patient has been reported carrying
      a more proximal 2p14 microdeletion which does not include OTX1. Here, we report
      three further patients carrying proximal 2p14 microdeletions not including OTX1
      and one patient carrying a more distal 2p14p15 microdeletion including this gene,
      providing new insights into the associated phenotypic spectrum. First, our study
      and a review of the literature showed that 3/4 patients carrying proximal 2p14
      microdeletions had sensorineural hearing loss, suggesting the presence of a
      previously unreported deafness-causing gene in this chromosomal region. Second,
      one patient developed a progressive cardiomyopathy, suggesting that a cardiac
      follow-up should be systematically warranted even in the absence of congenital
      heart disease. We speculate that ACTR2 and MEIS1 might respectively play a role
      in the pathogenesis of the observed deafness and cardiomyopathy. Third, we
      observed other previously unreported features such as glaucoma, retinopathy, and
      mild midline abnormalities including short corpus callosum, hypospadias and
      anteriorly placed anus. Finally, the patient carrying a 2p14p15 deletion
      including OTX1 had normal kidneys and genitalia, thus confirming that OTX1
      haploinsufficiency is not invariably associated with genitourinary defects. In
      conclusion, our study contributes significantly to delineate the phenotypic
      spectrum of 2p14 microdeletions.

PMID- 28599094
TI  - Rational design of peptide derivatives for inhibition of MyD88-mediated toll-like
      receptor signaling in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and epithelial
      cells exposed to Francisella tularensis.
AB  - Small molecules were developed to attenuate proinflammatory cytokines resulting
      from activation of MyD88-mediated toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling by
      Francisella tularensis. Fifty-three tripeptide derivatives were synthesized to
      mimic a key BB-loop region involved in toll-like/interleukin-1 receptor
      recognition (TIR) domain interactions. Compounds were tested for inhibition of
      TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-6, and IL-1beta in human peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells (PBMCs) and primary human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to LPS
      extracts from F. tularensis. From 53 compounds synthesized and tested, ten
      compounds were identified as effective inhibitors of F. tularensisLPS-induced
      cytokines. Compound stability testing in the presence of human liver microsomes
      and human serum resulted in the identification of tripeptide derivative 7 that
      was a potent, stable, and drug-like small molecule. Target corroboration using a
      cell-based reporter assay and competition experiments with MyD88 TIR domain
      protein supported that the effect of 7 was through MyD88 TIR domain interactions.
      Compound 7 also attenuated proinflammatory cytokines in human peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells and bronchial epithelial cells challenged with a live vaccine
      strain of F. tularensis at a multiplicity of infection of 1:5. Small molecules
      that target TIR domain interactions in MyD88-dependent TLR signaling represent a
      promising strategy toward host-directed adjunctive therapeutics for inflammation
      associated with biothreat agent-induced sepsis.

PMID- 28599095
TI  - MucoJet: A novel oral microjet vaccination system.

PMID- 28599097
TI  - In-Plane Uniaxial Strain in Black Phosphorus Enables the Identification of
      Crystalline Orientation.
AB  - Identification of the crystalline axis of anisotropic black phosphorus (BP) is
      important for investigating its physical properties, as well as for optical and
      electronic applications. Herein, it is showed that by applying in-plane uniaxial
      strain and measuring the changes of the Raman shifts, the crystalline axis of BP
      can be reliably determined. The strain effects on the Raman shifts are angle
      dependent, and they can be expressed as a combination of the Raman responses
      under zigzag and armchair strain. Differing from previous polarized optical
      spectroscopic methods where the Raman intensity is analyzed, the proposed method
      uses the Raman frequency shift, which is less affected by laser polarization,
      excitation wavelength, the sample thickness, and the substrate. The effective
      strain applied on BP from the stretched substrate is estimated, and the results
      show that only 20 to 40% of the strain can be effectively transferred to BP
      flakes from a polyethylene terephthalate substrate. Our method provides not only
      an effective and robust approach to identify the crystalline orientation of
      layered BP, but it is also a model to extract additional information in strain
      related studies. It can also be extended to other 2D anisotropic materials.

PMID- 28599098
TI  - Angupyrones A - E, alpha-Pyrone Analogues with ARE-Activation from a Sponge
      Associated Fungus Truncatella angustata.
AB  - TLC-DPPH guided fractionation of a sponge-associated fungus Truncatella angustata
      with a solid culture resulted in the isolation of five new alpha-pyrone-based
      analogues namely angupyrones A - E (1 - 5), and 3-ethyl-4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2
      pyrone. Their structures were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic
      analyses, including the modified Mosher's method, bulkiness rule, and specific
      rotation for the configurational assignments. Angupyrones A - E exhibited
      moderate antioxidant response element activation in HepG2C8 cells, while the
      preliminary structure-activity relationship was discussed.

PMID- 28599096
TI  - Proteases as antimalarial targets: strategies for genetic, chemical, and
      therapeutic validation.
AB  - Malaria is a devastating parasitic disease affecting half of the world's
      population. The rapid emergence of resistance against new antimalarial drugs,
      including artemisinin-based therapies, has made the development of drugs with
      novel mechanisms of action extremely urgent. Proteases are enzymes proven to be
      well suited for target-based drug development due to our knowledge of their
      enzymatic mechanisms and active site structures. More importantly, Plasmodium
      proteases have been shown to be involved in a variety of pathways that are
      essential for parasite survival. However, pharmacological rather than target
      based approaches have dominated the field of antimalarial drug development, in
      part due to the challenge of robustly validating Plasmodium targets at the
      genetic level. Fortunately, over the last few years there has been significant
      progress in the development of efficient genetic methods to modify the parasite,
      including several conditional approaches. This progress is finally allowing us
      not only to validate essential genes genetically, but also to study their
      molecular functions. In this review, I present our current understanding of the
      biological role proteases play in the malaria parasite life cycle. I also discuss
      how the recent advances in Plasmodium genetics, the improvement of protease
      oriented chemical biology approaches, and the development of malaria-focused
      pharmacological assays, can be combined to achieve a robust biological, chemical
      and therapeutic validation of Plasmodium proteases as viable drug targets.

PMID- 28599099
TI  - Clinical and molecular genetic characterization of two siblings with trisomy
      2p24.3-pter and monosomy 5p14.3-pter.
AB  - Partial trisomy 2p syndrome is occasionally associated with neural tube defects
      (NTDs), such as anencephaly, encephalocele, and spina bifida, in addition to
      common features of intellectual disability, developmental delay, and
      characteristic facial appearance. The 2p24 region has been reported to be
      associated with NTDs. Here, we report the cases of 2 siblings with trisomy 2p24.3
      pter and monosomy 5p14.3-pter caused by the paternal translocation
      t(2;5)(p24.3;p14.3). Of the two siblings, the elder sister had spina bifida. We
      determined the nucleotide sequences of the chromosomal breakpoints and found that
      the sizes of trisomy 2p and monosomy 5p segments were 18.77 and 17.89 Mb,
      respectively. NTDs were present in four of seven previously reported patients
      with trisomy 2p and monosomy 5p as well as in one of the two patients examined in
      the present study. Although the monosomy 5p of the nine patients were similar in
      size, the two patients reported here had the smallest size of trisomy 2p. When
      the clinical features of the nine patients were compared to the present two
      patients, the elder sister had postaxial polydactyly of the left foot in addition
      to the characteristic facial appearance and spina bifida, indicating that these
      features were associated with trisomy 2p24.3-pter. To our knowledge, this is the
      first study on spina bifida to determine the nucleotide sequences of breakpoints
      for trisomy 2p24.3-pter and monosomy 5p14.3-pter. Increased gene dosages of
      dosage-sensitive genes or genes at the trisomy segment (2p24.3) of the presented
      patients could be associated with NTDs of patients with trisomy 2p.

PMID- 28599101
TI  - Stereoretentive Olefin Metathesis: An Avenue to Kinetic Selectivity.
AB  - Olefin metathesis is an incredibly valuable transformation that has gained
      widespread use in both academic and industrial settings. Lately, stereoretentive
      olefin metathesis has garnered much attention as a method for the selective
      generation of both E- and Z-olefins. Early studies employing ill-defined
      catalysts showed evidence for retention of the stereochemistry of the starting
      olefins at low conversion. However, thermodynamic ratios E/Z were reached as the
      reaction proceeded to equilibrium. Recent studies in olefin metathesis have
      focused on the synthesis of catalysts that can overcome the inherent
      thermodynamic preference of an olefin, providing synthetically useful quantities
      of a kinetically favored olefin isomer. These reports have led to the development
      of stereoretentive catalysts that not only generate Z-olefins selectively, but
      also kinetically produce E-olefins, a previously unmet challenge in olefin
      metathesis. Advancements in stereoretentive olefin metathesis using tungsten,
      ruthenium, and molybdenum catalysts are presented.

PMID- 28599102
TI  - Matthew Hutmacher, MS (1969-2017).

PMID- 28599104
TI  - Issue Information - TOC.

PMID- 28599103
TI  - The use of mechano growth factor to prevent cartilage degeneration in knee
      osteoarthritis.
AB  - Previous studies have attached more importance to growth factors in treating
      cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis (OA). Here, the capability of mechano
      growth factor-C24E (MGF) to prevent osteoarthritic cartilage degeneration was
      evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Using in vitro cultured human OA chondrocytes
      treated with 10-60-ng/ml MGF for 12 hr, we detected the cell proliferation,
      migration, and anabolism of OA chondrocytes. The unfolded protein response and
      the protein characteristic of OA pathology, such as transforming growth factor
      beta, SMAD family member 3, and hypoxia-inducible factor 2alpha of OA
      chondrocytes, were also detected by western blotting. Furthermore, protein kinase
      RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase was knocked down via small interfering RNA
      to illuminate the potential mechanism of MGF's treatment of OA. In a rabbit knee
      joint OA model, cartilage degeneration was inhibited after 2 weeks of treatment
      with 0.1-10-MUg/ml MGF. This study demonstrated that MGF treatment can inhibit
      the pathological apoptosis of OA chondrocytes and promote the proliferation,
      migration, and matrix synthesis of the chondrocytes. The results also demonstrate
      that the degeneration of OA cartilage can be delayed by MGF treatment partially
      via unfolded protein response regulated by protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic
      reticulum kinase and suggest a potential therapeutic application of MGF for OA
      treatment.

PMID- 28599100
TI  - EMT and inflammation: inseparable actors of cancer progression.
AB  - Tumors can be depicted as wounds that never heal, and are infiltrated by a large
      array of inflammatory and immune cells. Tumor-associated chronic inflammation is
      a hallmark of cancer that fosters progression to a metastatic stage, as has been
      extensively reviewed lately. Indeed, inflammatory cells persisting in the tumor
      establish a cross-talk with tumor cells that may result in a phenotype switch
      into tumor-supporting cells. This has been particularly well described for
      macrophages and is referred to as tumor-associated 'M2' polarization. Epithelial
      to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), the embryonic program that loosens cell-cell
      adherence complexes and endows cells with enhanced migratory and invasive
      properties, can be co-opted by cancer cells during metastatic progression. Cancer
      cells that have undergone EMT are more aggressive, displaying increased
      invasiveness, stem-like features, and resistance to apoptosis. EMT programs can
      also stimulate the production of proinflammatory factors by cancer cells.
      Conversely, inflammation is a potent inducer of EMT in tumors. Therefore, the two
      phenomena may sustain each other, in an alliance for metastasis. This is the
      focus of this review, where the interconnections between EMT programs and
      cellular and molecular actors of inflammation are described. We also recapitulate
      data linking the EMT/inflammation axis to metastasis.

PMID- 28599106
TI  - Iridium-Based Multimetallic Nanoframe@Nanoframe Structure: An Efficient and
      Robust Electrocatalyst toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction.
AB  - Nanoframe electrocatalysts have attracted great interest due to their inherently
      high active surface area per a given mass. Although recent progress has enabled
      the preparation of single nanoframe structures with a variety of morphologies,
      more complex nanoframe structures such as a double-layered nanoframe have not yet
      been realized. Herein, we report a rational synthetic strategy for a structurally
      robust Ir-based multimetallic double-layered nanoframe (DNF) structure,
      nanoframe@nanoframe. By leveraging the differing kinetics of dual Ir precursors
      and dual transition metal (Ni and Cu) precursors, a core-shell-type alloy@alloy
      structure could be generated in a simple one-step synthesis, which was
      subsequently transformed into a multimetallic IrNiCu DNF with a rhombic
      dodecahedral morphology via selective etching. The use of single Ir precursor
      yielded single nanoframe structures, highlighting the importance of employing
      dual Ir precursors. In addition, the structure of Ir-based nanocrystals could be
      further controlled to DNF with octahedral morphology and CuNi@Ir core-shell
      structures via a simple tuning of experimental factors. The IrNiCu DNF exhibited
      high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic
      media, which is better than Ir/C catalyst. Furthermore, IrNiCu DNF demonstrated
      excellent durability for OER, which could be attributed to the frame structure
      that prevents the growth and agglomeration of particles as well as in situ
      formation of robust rutile IrO2 phase during prolonged operation.

PMID- 28599107
TI  - Coarse-Grained Model of the Demixing of DNA and Non-Binding Globular
      Macromolecules.
AB  - The volume occupied by the unconstrained genomic DNA of prokaryotes in saline
      solutions is thousand times larger than the cell. Moreover, it is not separated
      from the rest of the cell by a membrane. Nevertheless, it occupies only a small
      fraction of the cell called the nucleoid. The mechanisms leading to such
      compaction are the matter of ongoing debates. The present work aims at exploring
      a newly proposed mechanism, according to which the formation of the nucleoid
      would result from the demixing of the DNA and nonbinding globular macromolecules
      of the cytoplasm, like ribosomes. To this end, a coarse-grained model of
      prokaryotic cells was developed, and demixing was analyzed as a function of the
      size and number of crowders. The model suggests that compaction of the DNA is
      actually governed by the volume occupancy ratio of the crowders and remains weak
      almost up to the jamming critical density. Strong compaction is however observed
      just before jamming, suggesting that crowding and electrostatic repulsion work
      synergetically in this limit. Finally, simulations performed with crowders with
      different sizes indicate that the DNA and the largest crowders demix
      preferentially. Together with the recent observation of the gradual compaction of
      long DNA molecules upon increase of the concentration of bovine serum albumin
      proteins and silica nanoparticles, this work supports the demixing mechanism as a
      key player for the formation of the nucleoid.

PMID- 28599108
TI  - Probing Gap Plasmons Down to Subnanometer Scales Using Collapsible Nanofingers.
AB  - Gap plasmonic nanostructures are of great interest due to their ability to
      concentrate light into small volumes. Theoretical studies, considering quantum
      mechanical effects, have predicted the optimal spatial gap between adjacent
      nanoparticles to be in the subnanometer regime in order to achieve the strongest
      possible field enhancement. Here, we present a technology to fabricate gap
      plasmonic structures with subnanometer resolution, high reliability, and high
      throughput using collapsible nanofingers. This approach enables us to
      systematically investigate the effects of gap size and tunneling barrier height.
      The experimental results are consistent with previous findings as well as with a
      straightforward theoretical model that is presented here.

PMID- 28599109
TI  - Viral Aggregation: Impact on Virus Behavior in the Environment.
AB  - Aggregates of viruses can have a significant impact on quantification and
      behavior of viruses in the environment. Viral aggregates may be formed in
      numerous ways. Viruses may form crystal like structures and aggregates in the
      host cell during replication or may form due to changes in environmental
      conditions after virus particles are released from the host cells. Aggregates
      tend to form near the isoelectric point of the virus, under the influence of
      certain salts and salt concentrations in solution, cationic polymers, and
      suspended organic matter. The given conditions under which aggregates form in the
      environment are highly dependent on the type of virus, type of salts in solution
      (cation, anion. monovalent, divalent) and pH. However, virus type greatly
      influences the conditions when aggregation/disaggregation will occur, making
      predictions difficult under any given set of water quality conditions. Most
      studies have shown that viral aggregates increase the survival of viruses in the
      environment and resistance to disinfectants, especially with more reactive
      disinfectants. The presence of viral aggregates may also result in overestimation
      of removal by filtration processes. Virus aggregation-disaggregation is a complex
      process and predicting the behavior of any individual virus is difficult under a
      given set of environmental circumstances without actual experimental data.

PMID- 28599110
TI  - Standardizing Size- and Shape-Controlled Synthesis of Monodisperse Magnetite
      (Fe3O4) Nanocrystals by Identifying and Exploiting Effects of Organic Impurities.
AB  - Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocrystals (MNCs) are among the most-studied magnetic
      nanomaterials, and many reports of solution-phase synthesis of monodisperse MNCs
      have been published. However, lack of reproducibility of MNC synthesis is a
      persistent problem, and the keys to producing monodisperse MNCs remain elusive.
      Here, we define and explore synthesis parameters in this system thoroughly to
      reveal their effects on the product MNCs. We demonstrate the essential role of
      benzaldehyde and benzyl benzoate produced by oxidation of benzyl ether, the
      solvent typically used for MNC synthesis, in producing monodisperse MNCs. This
      insight allowed us to develop stable formulas for producing monodisperse MNCs and
      propose a model to rationalize MNC size and shape evolution. Solvent polarity
      controls the MNC size, while short ligands shift the morphology from octahedral
      to cubic. We demonstrate preparation of specific assemblies with these MNCs. This
      standardized and reproducible synthesis of MNCs of well-controlled size, shape,
      and magnetic properties demonstrates a rational approach to stabilizing and
      expanding existing protocols for nanocrystal syntheses and may drive practical
      advances including enhanced MRI contrast, higher catalytic selectivity, and more
      accurate magnetic targeting.

PMID- 28599111
TI  - Corrigendum.
AB  - Krosshaug T, Steffen K, Kristianslund E, et al. The vertical drop jump is a poor
      screening test for ACL injuries in female elite soccer and handball players: a
      prospective cohort study of 710 athletes. Am J Sports Med. 2016;44(4):874-883.
      (Original DOI: 10.1177/0363546515625048).

PMID- 28599112
TI  - Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Image Classification: A Comprehensive
      Review.
AB  - Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been applied to visual tasks since the
      late 1980s. However, despite a few scattered applications, they were dormant
      until the mid-2000s when developments in computing power and the advent of large
      amounts of labeled data, supplemented by improved algorithms, contributed to
      their advancement and brought them to the forefront of a neural network
      renaissance that has seen rapid progression since 2012. In this review, which
      focuses on the application of CNNs to image classification tasks, we cover their
      development, from their predecessors up to recent state-of-the-art deep learning
      systems. Along the way, we analyze (1) their early successes, (2) their role in
      the deep learning renaissance, (3) selected symbolic works that have contributed
      to their recent popularity, and (4) several improvement attempts by reviewing
      contributions and challenges of over 300 publications. We also introduce some of
      their current trends and remaining challenges.

PMID- 28599113
TI  - Implementing a Bayes Filter in a Neural Circuit: The Case of Unknown Stimulus
      Dynamics.
AB  - In order to interact intelligently with objects in the world, animals must first
      transform neural population responses into estimates of the dynamic, unknown
      stimuli that caused them. The Bayesian solution to this problem is known as a
      Bayes filter, which applies Bayes' rule to combine population responses with the
      predictions of an internal model. The internal model of the Bayes filter is based
      on the true stimulus dynamics, and in this note, we present a method for training
      a theoretical neural circuit to approximately implement a Bayes filter when the
      stimulus dynamics are unknown. To do this we use the inferential properties of
      linear probabilistic population codes to compute Bayes' rule and train a neural
      network to compute approximate predictions by the method of maximum likelihood.
      In particular, we perform stochastic gradient descent on the negative log
      likelihood of the neural network parameters with a novel approximation of the
      gradient. We demonstrate our methods on a finite-state, a linear, and a nonlinear
      filtering problem and show how the hidden layer of the neural network develops
      tuning curves consistent with findings in experimental neuroscience.

PMID- 28599114
TI  - Population Vectors Can Provide Near Optimal Integration of Information.
AB  - Much attention has been paid to the question of how Bayesian integration of
      information could be implemented by a simple neural mechanism. We show that
      population vectors based on point-process inputs combine evidence in a form that
      closely resembles Bayesian inference, with each input spike carrying information
      about the tuning of the input neuron. We also show that population vectors can
      combine information relatively accurately in the presence of noisy synaptic
      encoding of tuning curves.

PMID- 28599115
TI  - Recurrent Information Optimization with Local, Metaplastic Synaptic Dynamics.
AB  - We consider the problem of optimizing information-theoretic quantities in
      recurrent networks via synaptic learning. In contrast to feedforward networks,
      the recurrence presents a key challenge insofar as an optimal learning rule must
      aggregate the joint distribution of the whole network. This challenge, in
      particular, makes a local policy (i.e., one that depends on only pairwise
      interactions) difficult. Here, we report a local metaplastic learning rule that
      performs approximate optimization by estimating whole-network statistics through
      the use of several slow, nested dynamical variables. These dynamics provide the
      rule with both anti-Hebbian and Hebbian components, thus allowing for
      decorrelating and correlating learning regimes that can occur when either is
      favorable for optimality. We demonstrate the performance of the synthesized rule
      in comparison to classical BCM dynamics and use the networks to conduct history
      dependent tasks that highlight the advantages of recurrence. Finally, we show the
      consistency of the resultant learned networks with notions of criticality,
      including balanced ratios of excitation and inhibition.

PMID- 28599116
TI  - Direct Estimation of the Derivative of Quadratic Mutual Information with
      Application in Supervised Dimension Reduction.
AB  - A typical goal of linear-supervised dimension reduction is to find a low
      dimensional subspace of the input space such that the projected input variables
      preserve maximal information about the output variables. The dependence
      maximization approach solves the supervised dimension-reduction problem through
      maximizing a statistical dependence between projected input variables and output
      variables. A well-known statistical dependence measure is mutual information
      (MI), which is based on the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence. However, it is
      known that the KL divergence is sensitive to outliers. Quadratic MI (QMI) is a
      variant of MI based on the [Formula: see text] distance, which is more robust
      against outliers than the KL divergence, and a computationally efficient method
      to estimate QMI from data, least squares QMI (LSQMI), has been proposed recently.
      For these reasons, developing a supervised dimension-reduction method based on
      LSQMI seems promising. However, not QMI itself but the derivative of QMI is
      needed for subspace search in linear-supervised dimension reduction, and the
      derivative of an accurate QMI estimator is not necessarily a good estimator of
      the derivative of QMI. In this letter, we propose to directly estimate the
      derivative of QMI without estimating QMI itself. We show that the direct
      estimation of the derivative of QMI is more accurate than the derivative of the
      estimated QMI. Finally, we develop a linear-supervised dimension-reduction
      algorithm that efficiently uses the proposed derivative estimator and demonstrate
      through experiments that the proposed method is more robust against outliers than
      existing methods.

PMID- 28599117
TI  - Cortical Spike Synchrony as a Measure of Input Familiarity.
AB  - Spike synchrony, which occurs in various cortical areas in response to specific
      perception, action, and memory tasks, has sparked a long-standing debate on the
      nature of temporal organization in cortex. One prominent view is that this type
      of synchrony facilitates the binding or grouping of separate stimulus components.
      We argue instead for a more general function: a measure of the prior probability
      of incoming stimuli, implemented by long-range, horizontal, intracortical
      connections. We show that networks of this kind-pulse-coupled excitatory spiking
      networks in a noisy environment-can provide a sufficient substrate for stimulus
      dependent spike synchrony. This allows for a quick (few spikes) estimate of the
      match between inputs and the input history as encoded in the network structure.
      Given the ubiquity of small, strongly excitatory subnetworks in cortex, we thus
      propose that many experimental observations of spike synchrony can be viewed as
      signs of input patterns that resemble long-term experience-that is, of patterns
      with high prior probability.

PMID- 28599118
TI  - Sensory Metrics of Neuromechanical Trust.
AB  - Today digital sources supply a historically unprecedented component of human
      sensorimotor data, the consumption of which is correlated with poorly understood
      maladies such as Internet addiction disorder and Internet gaming disorder.
      Because both natural and digital sensorimotor data share common mathematical
      descriptions, one can quantify our informational sensorimotor needs using the
      signal processing metrics of entropy, noise, dimensionality, continuity, latency,
      and bandwidth. Such metrics describe in neutral terms the informational diet
      human brains require to self-calibrate, allowing individuals to maintain trusting
      relationships. With these metrics, we define the trust humans experience using
      the mathematical language of computational models, that is, as a primitive
      statistical algorithm processing finely grained sensorimotor data from
      neuromechanical interaction. This definition of neuromechanical trust implies
      that artificial sensorimotor inputs and interactions that attract low-level
      attention through frequent discontinuities and enhanced coherence will
      decalibrate a brain's representation of its world over the long term by violating
      the implicit statistical contract for which self-calibration evolved. Our
      hypersimplified mathematical understanding of human sensorimotor processing as
      multiscale, continuous-time vibratory interaction allows equally broad-brush
      descriptions of failure modes and solutions. For example, we model addiction in
      general as the result of homeostatic regulation gone awry in novel environments
      (sign reversal) and digital dependency as a sub-case in which the decalibration
      caused by digital sensorimotor data spurs yet more consumption of them. We
      predict that institutions can use these sensorimotor metrics to quantify media
      richness to improve employee well-being; that dyads and family-size groups will
      bond and heal best through low-latency, high-resolution multisensory interaction
      such as shared meals and reciprocated touch; and that individuals can improve
      sensory and sociosensory resolution through deliberate sensory reintegration
      practices. We conclude that we humans are the victims of our own success, our
      hands so skilled they fill the world with captivating things, our eyes so
      innocent they follow eagerly.

PMID- 28599119
TI  - Dendrites Enable a Robust Mechanism for Neuronal Stimulus Selectivity.
AB  - Hearing, vision, touch: underlying all of these senses is stimulus selectivity, a
      robust information processing operation in which cortical neurons respond more to
      some stimuli than to others. Previous models assume that these neurons receive
      the highest weighted input from an ensemble encoding the preferred stimulus, but
      dendrites enable other possibilities. Nonlinear dendritic processing can produce
      stimulus selectivity based on the spatial distribution of synapses, even if the
      total preferred stimulus weight does not exceed that of nonpreferred stimuli.
      Using a multi-subunit nonlinear model, we demonstrate that stimulus selectivity
      can arise from the spatial distribution of synapses. We propose this as a general
      mechanism for information processing by neurons possessing dendritic trees.
      Moreover, we show that this implementation of stimulus selectivity increases the
      neuron's robustness to synaptic and dendritic failure. Importantly, our model can
      maintain stimulus selectivity for a larger range of loss of synapses or dendrites
      than an equivalent linear model. We then use a layer 2/3 biophysical neuron model
      to show that our implementation is consistent with two recent experimental
      observations: (1) one can observe a mixture of selectivities in dendrites that
      can differ from the somatic selectivity, and (2) hyperpolarization can broaden
      somatic tuning without affecting dendritic tuning. Our model predicts that an
      initially nonselective neuron can become selective when depolarized. In addition
      to motivating new experiments, the model's increased robustness to synapses and
      dendrites loss provides a starting point for fault-resistant neuromorphic chip
      development.

PMID- 28599120
TI  - A Case Report of Maternal Cerebral Hemorrhage in Preterm Pregnancy.
AB  - Intracerebral hemorrhage is a rare event during pregnancy that can result in
      serious morbidity and mortality for the mother and infant. In this article, we
      describe a case involving a multiparous woman at 34 weeks gestation who presented
      with a 5-cm intracerebral bleed. Within 2 hours of presenting, she underwent an
      emergency cesarean and craniotomy to remove the hematoma. The woman's altered
      mental status fully abated, and she was discharged with minimal neurologic
      deficits. The newborn was born healthy.

PMID- 28599121
TI  - Head or brain injuries and Alzheimer's disease: A nested case-control register
      study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Many previous studies have been limited by self- or proxy-reported
      injury or short follow-up. We investigated whether head or brain injuries are
      associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), possible modifying factors and dose
      response relationship. METHODS: Nested register-based case-control study of all
      community dwellers who received clinically verified AD diagnosis in Finland in
      2005 to 2011 (n = 70,719) and one to four matched controls for each case (n of
      controls = 282,862). RESULTS: The magnitude of association between hospital
      treated head and/or brain injuries was strongly dependent on the lag time between
      exposure and outcome. With a 5-year lag time, head injury (adjusted odds ratio;
      95% confidence interval 1.19; 1.15-1.23) or brain injury (1.23; 1.18-1.29) was
      associated with higher risk of AD. Dose-response relationship with number and
      severity of injuries was observed. Associations were stronger in those with
      earlier onset of AD. CONCLUSIONS: Stronger associations with shorter lag times
      indicate that head and/or brain injuries may also reflect the ongoing AD disease
      process.

PMID- 28599122
TI  - Respiratory Syncytial virus infection compromises asthma tolerance by recruiting
      interleukin-17A-producing cells via CCR6-CCL20 signaling.
AB  - Asthma tolerance can be induced by breast-feeding or oral feeding with ovalbumin
      (OVA). Anergy or deletion of specific T cells and generation of T regulatory
      cells might contribute to this process. However, whether respiratory syncytial
      virus (RSV) infection would affect asthma tolerance is not very clear. Here, we
      first established asthma and oral tolerance mouse models and then analyzed airway
      hypersensitivity and asthma-related genes in the lung, CCR6-expressing IL-17A+
      cells in the lungs, hilar or mesenteric lymph nodes (HLN or MLN) among control,
      asthmatic, tolerized, RSV infection, and RSV-infected asthmatic and tolerized
      groups. We also administrated CCL20 or IL-17A neutralizing antibody to RSV
      infected tolerized mice to test whether RSV infection would mobilize CCR6
      expressing IL-17A+ cells from MLN to the infected lungs. We found that tolerized
      mice infected with RSV developed asthma-like responses manifested by increasing
      airway hypersensitivity, exacerbating peribronchial inflammation, elevating lung
      asthma-related genes (Il17a, Mu5ac, and Gob5), accumulating CCR6-expressing IL
      17A+ cells in the lungs and HLN with a reduction of this cell population in MLN.
      CCL20-CCR6 co-expression in RSV-infected tolerized MLN was reduced.
      Neutralization of CCL20 reduced CD3+CD4+CCR6+ cells in the RSV-infected tolerized
      HLN. Neutralization of IL-17A mitigated the compromising effects of RSV infection
      on asthma tolerance. Taken together, RSV infection impairs asthma tolerance by
      recruiting IL-17A-producing cells via CCR6-CCL20 signaling. The findings provide
      novel insight into exacerbation and therapeutic strategy of asthma under RSV
      infection.

PMID- 28599123
TI  - Intraoperative Imaging Changes Management in Orbital Fracture Repair.
AB  - PURPOSE: Intraoperative imaging is gaining widespread use in the management of
      facial fracture repair. The aim of this study was to determine whether
      intraoperative imaging changes the management of orbital fracture repair.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective case series was performed of all cases of
      orbital fracture repair from 2008 to 2015 in which the intraoperative O-arm was
      used at Regions Hospital (St Paul, MN), a level I trauma center. The primary
      outcome variable was a change in management, ranging from orbital plate
      repositioning to proceeding with orbital floor exploration. RESULTS: The study
      sample was composed of 101 patients with a mean age of 40 +/- 15 years.
      Approximately 75% (76 of 101) of patients were male and 25% (25 of 101) were
      female. All cases were secondary to assault, motor vehicle accident, fall, or
      gunshot wounds. Use of the O-arm resulted in a change in management in 44% (44 of
      101) of cases. In 48% (21 of 44) of these cases in which intraoperative imaging
      resulted in a change in management, the orbital plate was repositioned to
      optimize repair. In 16% (7 of 44) of these cases, the orbital plate was exchanged
      for a different size or type of plate. In 7% (3 of 44) of these cases, the
      orbital plate was reshaped by bending to improve contour for the repair. In
      another 7% (3 of 44) of these cases, the orbital plate was reshaped by trimming
      the plate to optimize the length or width of the plate for repair. In 7% of these
      cases, the orbital floor required exploration based on intraoperative imaging. In
      5% of these cases, the orbital floor was found to be adequately reduced after
      zygoma reduction based on intraoperative imaging and did not require exploration.
      CONCLUSIONS: Use of intraoperative imaging allows the surgeon to make real-time
      changes in operative management ranging from orbital plate repositioning to
      deciding whether to proceed with orbital floor exploration. This not only allows
      for immediate optimization of repair but also could decrease the need for
      revision procedures, thus decreasing patient morbidity and improving patient
      outcomes.

PMID- 28599125
TI  - The impact of perceived childhood victimization and patriarchal gender ideology
      on intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among Korean immigrant women in
      the USA.
AB  - Childhood victimization experiences are common among intimate partner violence
      (IPV) victims. This study examines the link between childhood physical and sexual
      victimization experiences and adulthood IPV among Korean immigrant women in the
      USA. As Korean immigrants often use physical punishment to discipline their
      children, and reporting sexual abuse is discouraged due to stigmatization in this
      community, cultural factors (e.g. patriarchal values) related to childhood
      victimization and IPV were also examined. Survey data from Korean immigrant women
      in the USA were collected. Using a case-control design, we compared 64 Korean
      immigrant women who have experienced IPV in the past year with 63 Korean
      immigrant women who have never experienced IPV in their lifetime. The findings of
      this study reveal that IPV victims, compared with non-victims, experienced higher
      childhood victimization rates. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that
      childhood victimization and patriarchal gender ideology strongly predict IPV
      victimization among Korean immigrants. However, patriarchal values did not
      moderate the relationship between childhood victimization and IPV. To prevent IPV
      among Korean immigrant population, we need to make special efforts to prevent
      childhood abuse and change ingrained cultural attitudes about child physical and
      sexual abuse among immigrant communities through culturally sensitive programs.

PMID- 28599124
TI  - Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Post-Traumatic Deficient Anterior Maxilla.
AB  - PURPOSE: Maxillary retrognathism appears in 14.3% of patients exhibiting
      malocclusion after trauma treatment. This report describes the application of
      alveolar distraction osteogenesis (ADO) for treating the severely deficient
      anterior maxilla after trauma injuries in the vertical and anteroposterior
      planes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study of patients
      exhibiting severe vertical and anteroposterior maxillary bone deficiency after
      trauma injuries and treated by ADO as a first stage with additional Le Fort I
      advancement when required. Predictor variables included ADO for alveolar
      augmentation and Le Fort I advancement for anteroposterior discrepancy after ADO.
      Outcome variables included dental implant failure and anteroposterior maxillary
      relations. RESULTS: Twelve patients with severe atrophic anterior maxilla
      secondary to trauma injuries were included and treated using ADO. In accordance
      to the size of the horizontal deficiency, 1 or 2 distractors were used. Vertical
      alveolar distraction was performed and the transported segments were elongated at
      a rate of 0.5 mm/day to a mean total of 13.9 mm (12 to 15 mm). In 4 of 12 cases,
      there was a severe anteroposterior discrepancy larger than 8 mm that could not be
      fully corrected using an anterior inclination during the vertical elongation.
      Therefore, a second stage of conventional Le Fort I advancement was performed.
      Thirty-eight dental implants were inserted, with a survival rate of 97.37%
      (median follow-up, 6.2 yr). CONCLUSIONS: This report describes treatment of the
      deficient anterior maxilla after trauma injuries in the vertical and
      anteroposterior planes, including implant-based dental rehabilitation. The main
      advantages include simultaneous bone and mucosa augmentation, no donor site
      morbidity, considerably higher vertical augmentation compared with other methods,
      and minimal relapse. Using an additional Le Fort I advancement in severe cases
      permits a useful method for proper repositioning of the maxilla, thus resulting
      in superior intermaxillary relations.

PMID- 28599126
TI  - Effect of water management and silicon on germination, growth, phosphorus and
      arsenic uptake in rice.
AB  - Silicon (Si) is the 2nd most abundant element in soil which is known to enhance
      stress tolerance in wide variety of crops. Arsenic (As), a toxic metalloid enters
      into the human food chain through contaminated water and food or feed. To
      alleviate the deleterious effect of As on human health, it is a need of time to
      find out an effective strategy to reduce the As accumulation in the food chain.
      The experiments were conducted during September-December 2014, and 2016 to
      optimize Si concentration for rice (Oryza sativa L.) exposed to As stress.
      Further experiment were carried out to evaluate the effect of optimum Si on rice
      seed germination, seedling growth, phosphorus and As uptake in rice plant. During
      laboratory experiment, rice seeds were exposed to 150 and 300uM As with and
      without 3mM Si supplementation. Results revealed that As application, decreased
      the germination up to 40-50% as compared to control treatment. Arsenic stress
      also significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the seedling length but Si supplementation
      enhanced the seedlings length. Maximum seedling length (4.94cm) was recorded for
      3mM Si treatment while, minimum seedling length (0.60cm) was observed at day7 by
      the application of 300uM As. Silicon application resulted in 10% higher seedling
      length than the control treatment. In soil culture experiment, plants were
      exposed to same concentrations of As and Si under aerobic and anaerobic
      conditions. Irrigation water management, significantly (P?0.05) affected the
      plant growth, Si and As concentrations in the plant. Arsenic uptake was
      relatively less under aerobic conditions. The maximum As concentration (9.34 and
      27.70mgkg DW-1 in shoot and root, respectively) was found in plant treated with
      300uM As in absence of Si under anaerobic condition. Similarly, anaerobic
      condition resulted in higher As uptake in the plants. The study demonstrated that
      aerobic cultivation is suitable to decrease the As uptake and in rice exogenous
      Si supply is beneficial to decrease As uptake under both anaerobic and aerobic
      conditions.

PMID- 28599127
TI  - Sensitivity of two green microalgae to copper stress: Growth, oxidative and
      antioxidants analyses.
AB  - Depending on species, heavy metals, including copper (Cu), differentially affect
      algal growth and metabolism. Here, we aim to evaluate the differential responses
      of two green microalgae, Chlorella sorokiniana and Scenedesmus acuminatus,
      exposed to sub-lethal doses of Cu (25 and 50uM, respectively) for 7 days. The
      changes in growth, oxidative damage markers, and antioxidants were analysed. We
      found that S. acuminatus could acclimatise during long-term exposure to Cu
      stress. S. acuminatus accumulated lower Cu content and showed a slight decrease
      in H2O2 levels when compared to C. sorokiniana. Cu stress induced membrane damage
      in the two microalgae species, however, this increase was slightly lower in S.
      acuminatus. To mitigate Cu stress impact, C. sorkiniana markedly increased
      proline, polyphenols, flavonoids, tocopherols, glutathione levels, as well as the
      activities of GST, APX, GR and SOD enzymes, which could explain less-stress
      sensitivity. On the other hand, S. acuminatus exhibited significant increases in
      proline, polyphenol, and tocopherol contents. Activity levels of POX, APX, GR and
      SOD enzymes, were also increased. These results suggest that the two microalgae
      differentially induced the antioxidant defence system to neutralise the oxidative
      damage induced by Cu stress. This study also provided new data for Cu tolerance
      and Cu removal abilities of two microalgal species, which commonly exist in
      surface water bodies, where low Cu uptake and efficient antioxidant defence
      system protected S. acuminatus against oxidative stress induced by Cu stress.
      This makes it feasible for treatment of Cu contaminated waters.

PMID- 28599128
TI  - Acute and chronic sensitivity to copper of a promising ecotoxicological model
      species, the annual killifish Nothobranchius furzeri.
AB  - Nothobranchius furzeri is a promising model for ecotoxicological research due to
      the species' short life cycle and the production of drought-resistant eggs.
      Although the species is an emerging vertebrate fish model for several fundamental
      as well as applied research domains, its potential for ecotoxicological research
      has not yet been tested. The aim of this study was to characterise the acute and
      chronic sensitivity of this species to copper as compared to other model
      organisms. Effects of both acute and chronic copper exposure were tested on
      survival, life history and physiological traits. We report a 24h-LC50 of 53.93ug
      Cu/L, which is situated within the sensitivity range of other model species such
      as Brook Trout, Fathead Minnow and Rainbow Trout. Moreover, in the full life
      cycle exposure, we show that an exposure concentration of 10.27ug/L did not cause
      acute adverse effects (96h), but did cause mortality after prolonged exposure (3
      4 weeks). Also chronic, sublethal effects were observed, such as a reduction in
      growth rate, delayed maturation and postponed reproduction. Based on our results,
      we define the NOEC at 6.68ug Cu/L, making N. furzeri more sensitive to copper as
      compared to Brook Trout and Fathead Minnow. We found stimulatory effects on peak
      fecundity at subinhibitory levels of copper concentrations (hormesis). Finally,
      we found indications for detoxifying and copper-excreting mechanisms,
      demonstrating the ability of the fish to cope with this essential metal, even
      when exposed to stressful amounts. The successful application of current
      ecotoxicological protocols on N. furzeri and its sensitivity range comparable to
      that of other model organisms forms the basis to exploit this species in further
      ecotoxicological practices.

PMID- 28599129
TI  - Unfolding biological properties of a versatile dicopper(II) precursor and its two
      mononuclear copper(II) derivatives.
AB  - Synthesis, inter-conversions and biological study of the dichloro bridged
      dicopper(II) compound [CuLCl]2 (1) and its two mononuclear derivatives
      [CuLCl(H2O)].H2O (2) and [CuLCl(py)] (3) (HL=2-(2
      pyridylmethyleneamino)benzenesulfonic acid) are described. The dimeric compound 1
      collapses into monomers 2 and 3 in the presence of coordinating solvents, water
      and pyridine, respectively, and 1 is regenerated upon simple stirring of 2 or 3
      in methanol. The reactions of 1 with neutral (present study) and charged (earlier
      studies) ligands result in monomeric and multimeric compounds, respectively,
      attesting that it is a versatile dicopper(II) precursor. The anticancer activity
      of these copper complexes (1-3) was screened against lung (A-549) and breast (MDA
      MB-231) human cancer cell lines. The IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration)
      value for one (3) of the compounds suggests preferential cytotoxicity against
      breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line. Furthermore, the IC50 value obtained for
      complex 3 is found to be almost two-fold times cytotoxic than the standard drug
      cisplatin. In addition, the underlying possible mechanism of its apoptosis
      inducing efficacy in MDA-MB-231 cells has been rationalized by using flow
      cytometry (FACS) and Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide (PI) fluorescence staining.
      The stimulation of apoptotic induction for complex 3 has further been affirmed by
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and mitochondrial aggregations studies.

PMID- 28599131
TI  - Corrigendum to "How do men and women help? Validation of a multidimensional
      measure of prosocial behavior" [Journal of Adolescence 56 (2017) 91-106].

PMID- 28599130
TI  - Negligible interaction of [Ru(Phen)3]2+ with human serum albumin makes it
      promising for a reliable invivo assessment of the tissue oxygenation.
AB  - The interaction between a ruthenium - based water soluble oxygen probe
      ([Ru(Phen)3]2+, phen - phenanthroline) and human serum albumin (HSA) was
      investigated with the aim of describing the influence of HSA on the [Ru(Phen)3]2+
      luminescence properties. Nowadays, several oxygen sensitive luminescent probes
      are used to determine the oxygen level in different compartments of living
      organisms. However, they can interact, depending on their hydrophilic/hydrophobic
      characters, with various serum proteins, and/or lipids, during their utilization
      for invivo oxygen measurement. Since HSA is the most abundant serum protein in
      most biological organisms, its presence may affect the spectral properties of the
      employed probes and, consequently, the determination of the oxygen concentration.
      Having this in mind, we have applied several spectroscopic and calorimetric
      techniques to study [Ru(Phen)3]2+ - HSA mixtures. Only a negligible effect of HSA
      on the absorption and luminescence spectra of [Ru(Phen)3]2+ was observed. In
      addition, differential scanning calorimetric studies showed that [Ru(Phen)3]2+
      does not significantly influence HSA thermal stability. Importantly,
      [Ru(Phen)3]2+ retained a reliable luminescence lifetime sensitivity to the oxygen
      concentration in solutions supplemented with HSA and in U87 MG cancer cells.
      Finally, the biodistribution of [Ru(Phen)3]2+ in the presence of serum proteins
      in the blood stream of chick embryo's chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) was
      investigated. Fast [Ru(Phen)3]2+ and similar extravasations were observed in the
      presence or absence of CAM-serum. We can conclude that HSA-[Ru(Phen)3]2+ complex
      interaction does not significantly influence the potential of [Ru(Phen)3]2+ to be
      a suitable candidate for a reliable oxygen probe in living organisms.

PMID- 28599132
TI  - Comparison of seven structurally related coumarins on the inhibition of Quorum
      sensing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Chromobacterium violaceum.
AB  - Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell signaling communication system that
      controls the virulence behavior of a broad spectrum of bacterial pathogens,
      participating also in the development of biofilms, responsible of the antibiotic
      ineffectiveness in many infections. Therefore, QS system is an attractive target
      for antimicrobial therapy. In this study, we compare the effect of seven
      structurally related coumarins against bacterial growth, biofilm formation and
      elastase activity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, the anti-pathogenic
      capacity of the seven coumarins was evaluated on the wild type and the biosensor
      strain of Chromobacterium violaceum. The comparative study of coumarins showed
      that molecules with hydroxyl groups on the aromatic ring displayed higher
      activity on the inhibition of biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa over coumarins
      with substituents in positions 3 and 4 or without the double 3,4-bond. These 3 or
      4-hydroxylated positions caused a decrease in the anti-biofilm activity obtained
      for coumarin. However, the hydroxyl group in position 3 of the pyrone ring was
      important for the inhibition of C. violaceum QS and elastolytic activity of P.
      aeruginosa. The effects observed were active independently of any effect on
      growth. According to our results, coumarin and its hydroxylated derivatives
      represent an interesting group of compounds to use as anti-virulence agents
      against the human pathogen P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 28599134
TI  - Self-monitoring of driving speed.
AB  - In-vehicle data recorders (IVDR) have been found to facilitate safe driving and
      are highly valuable in accident analysis. Nevertheless, it is not easy to
      convince drivers to use them. Part of the difficulty is related to the "Big
      Brother" concern: installing IVDR impairs the drivers' privacy. The "Big Brother"
      concern can be mitigated by adding a turn-off switch to the IVDR. However, this
      addition comes at the expense of increasing speed variability between drivers,
      which is known to impair safety. The current experimental study examines the
      significance of this negative effect of a turn-off switch under two experimental
      settings representing different incentive structures: small and large fines for
      speeding. 199 students were asked to participate in a computerized speeding
      dilemma task, where they could control the speed of their "car" using "brake" and
      "speed" buttons, corresponding to automatic car foot pedals. The participants in
      two experimental conditions had IVDR installed in their "cars", and were told
      that they could turn it off at any time. Driving with active IVDR implied some
      probability of "fines" for speeding, and the two experimental groups differed
      with respect to the fine's magnitude, small or large. The results indicate that
      the option to use IVDR reduced speeding and speed variance. In addition, the
      results indicate that the reduction of speed variability was maximal in the small
      fine group. These results suggest that using IVDR with gentle fines and with a
      turn-off option maintains the positive effect of IVDR, addresses the "Big
      Brother" concern, and does not increase speed variance.

PMID- 28599133
TI  - Dose-on-demand production of diverse 18F-radiotracers for preclinical
      applications using a continuous flow microfluidic system.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The production of 18F-radiotracers using continuous flow
      microfluidics is under-utilized due to perceived equipment limitations. We
      describe the dose-on-demand principle, whereby the back-to-back production of
      multiple, diverse 18F-radiotracers can be prepared on the same day, on the same
      microfluidic system using the same batch of [18F]fluoride, the same microreactor,
      the same HPLC column and SPE cartridge to obtain a useful production yield.
      METHODS: [18F]MEL050, [18F]Fallypride and [18F]PBR111 were radiolabeled with
      [18F]fluoride using the Advion NanoTek Microfluidic Synthesis System. The outlet
      of the microreactor was connected to an automated HPLC injector and following the
      collection of the product, SPE reformulation produced the 18F-radiotracer in <10%
      ethanolic saline. A thorough automated cleaning procedure was implemented to
      ensure no cross-contamination between radiotracer synthesis. RESULTS: The
      complete productions for [18F]MEL050 and [18F]Fallypride were performed at total
      flow rates of 20MUL/min, resulting in 40+/-13% and 25+/-13% RCY respectively.
      [18F]PBR111 was performed at 200MUL/min to obtain 27+/-8% RCY. Molar activities
      for each 18F-radiotracer were >100GBq/MUmol and radiochemical purities were >97%,
      implying that the cleaning procedure was effective. CONCLUSIONS: Using the same
      initial solution of [18F]fluoride, microreactor, HPLC column and SPE cartridge,
      three diverse 18F-radiotracers could be produced in yields sufficient for
      preclinical studies in a back-to-back fashion using a microfluidic system with no
      detectable cross-contamination.

PMID- 28599135
TI  - Comparison of US metropolitan region pedestrian and bicyclist fatality rates.
AB  - Annual US pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities involving motor vehicles have each
      increased by 30% in just six years, reaching their highest levels in two decades.
      To provide information to reverse this trend, we quantified pedestrian and
      bicyclist fatality rates in 46 of the largest US metropolitan statistical areas
      (MSAs) during two five-year time periods: 1999-2003 and 2007-2011. We divided the
      annual average number of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities during 1999-2003
      from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System by the annual estimates of pedestrian
      and bicycle trips, kilometers traveled, and minutes traveled from the 2001
      National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and the annual average number of
      fatalities from 2007 to 2011 by similar estimates from the 2009 NHTS. The five
      most dangerous regions for walking during 2007-2011 averaged 262 pedestrian
      fatalities per billion trips while the five safest averaged 49 pedestrian
      fatalities per billion trips. The five most dangerous regions for bicycling
      averaged 458 bicyclist fatalities per billion trips while the five safest
      averaged 75 bicyclist fatalities per billion trips. Random-effects meta-analysis
      identified eight metropolitan regions as outliers with low pedestrian fatality
      rates, six with high pedestrian fatality rates, one with a low bicyclist fatality
      rate, and five with high bicyclist fatality rates. MSAs with low pedestrian and
      bicycle fatality rates tended to have central cities recognized as Walk Friendly
      Communities and Bicycle Friendly Communities for investing in pedestrian and
      bicycle projects and programs. Random-effects meta-regression showed that certain
      socioeconomic characteristics and high pedestrian and bicyclist mode shares were
      associated with lower MSA fatality rates. Results suggest that pedestrian and
      bicycle infrastructure and safety programs should be complemented with strategies
      to increase walking and bicycling. In particular, safety initiatives should be
      honed to reduce pedestrian and bicyclist fatality risk in immigrant communities
      and to make pedestrian travel safer for the growing senior-age population.

PMID- 28599136
TI  - Antenatal and postnatal care practices among mothers in rural Bangladesh: A
      community based cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: appropriate utilization of antenatal and postnatal care can prevent
      complications and ensures better maternal and child health care. Although under
      five mortality in South Asia, including Bangladesh, has reduced substantially,
      the rate of neonatal mortality is still high. The study aims to identify factors
      associated with the practice of antenatal and/or postnatal care amongst mothers
      of newborns from a healthcare facility in a selected area of rural Bangladesh.
      RESEARCH DESIGN/SETTING: a community-based cross-sectional study was conducted
      among 360 postnatal mothers, who were within 42 days of delivery. The study was
      conducted at Madhupur Upazila (sub-district) in Tangail district of Bangladesh
      from January 2012 to June 2012. A structured questionnaire was used to collect
      relevant information from the study subjects. FINDINGS: only one in seven (14.2%)
      of the mothers visited health care facility for 4 or more times to receive
      antenatal care. A higher proportion of mothers delivered at home, thirty-five
      percent of the respondents experienced post-delivery complications. About 18% of
      mothers received postnatal care from the health care facility. Several variables
      revealed significant associations in bivariate analyses; few variables remained
      significant for antenatal care and post-natal care categories in the multinomial
      logistic regression analysis. The likelihood of receiving either antenatal care
      or post-natal care (OR =0.30, 95% CI =0.10-0.96) was significantly lower among
      mothers who had either no education or less education (1-5 years of schooling);
      and was found significantly higher for women who watched TV (OR = 2.79; 95% CI =
      1.45-5.37); family income showed significant association for receiving both
      antenatal care and postnatal care services as well. CONCLUSION: mother's
      education appears to have a strong and significant association with antenatal
      care and postnatal care practices in rural Bangladesh. Community based
      intervention and regular home visits by health care providers could enhance care
      for women and newborns including delivery of specific health messages. Counseling
      could be integrated during antenatal care visits to increase the postnatal care
      service further.

PMID- 28599137
TI  - Management of advanced ovarian cancer in South West Wales - a comparison between
      primary debulking surgery and primary chemotherapy treatment strategies in an
      unselected, consecutive patient cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study represents the first reported outcomes for patients with
      advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) in South-West Wales undergoing treatment with
      primary debulking surgery or primary chemotherapy respectively. METHODS: This is
      a retrospective study of consecutive, unselected patients with advanced ovarian,
      fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer (FIGO III/IV) presenting to a
      regional cancer centre between October 2007 and October 2014. Patients were
      identified from Welsh Cancer Services records and relevant data was extracted
      from electronic National Health Service (NHS) databases. Main outcome measures
      were median overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and
      perioperative adverse events. Hazard ratio estimation was carried out with Cox
      Regression analysis and survival determined by Kaplan-Meier plots. RESULTS: Of
      220 women with AOC, 32.3% underwent primary debulking surgery (PDS) and 67.7%
      primary chemotherapy and interval debulking (PCT-IDS). Patients were often
      elderly (median age 67 years) with a poor performance status (26.5% PS >1).
      Complete cytoreduction (0cm residual) was achieved in 32.4% of patients in the
      PDS group and in 50.0% of patients undergoing IDS. Median OS for all patients was
      21.9 months (PDS: 27.0 and PCT-IDS: 19.2 months; p >0.05) and median PFS was 13.1
      months (PDS: 14.3 months and PCT-IDS: 13.0 months; p >0.05). Median overall and
      progression free survival for patients achieving complete cytoreduction were 48.0
      and 23.2 months respectively in the PDS group and 35.4 months and 18.6 months in
      the IDS group (p >0.05). CONCLUSION: This retrospective study of an unselected,
      consecutive cohort of women with AOC in South West Wales shows comparable
      survival outcomes with recently published trials, despite the relatively advanced
      age and poor performance status of our patient cohort. Over the seven-year study
      period, our data also demonstrated a non-significant trend towards improved
      survival following primary surgery in patients who achieved maximal
      cytoreduction. Our future aim therefore is to examine and develop the role of
      extended surgery in these patients.

PMID- 28599138
TI  - Colorectal cancer metastatic disease progression in Australia: A population-based
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No previous Australian population-based studies have described or
      quantified the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) to metastatic disease. We
      describe patterns of progression to metastatic disease for an Australian cohort
      diagnosed with localised or regional CRC. METHODS: All localised and regional CRC
      cases in the New South Wales Cancer Registry diagnosed during 2000-2007 were
      followed to December 2011 for subsequent metastases (identified by subsequent
      disease episode notifications) or CRC death. Cox regression was used to identify
      factors associated with metastatic progression. RESULTS: After a median 5.3 years
      follow-up, 26.4% of the 12757 cases initially diagnosed with localised or
      regional colon cancer had developed metastatic disease, as had 29.5% of the 7154
      rectal cancer cases. For both cancer sites, risk of metastatic progression was
      significantly higher for those initially diagnosed with regional disease
      (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 3.49 for colon, 2.66 for rectal cancer), and for
      older cases (e.g. aHR for >79years vs <60years: 1.38 for colon, 1.69 for rectal
      cancer). Risk of disease progression was significantly lower for females, and
      varied by histology type. For colon cancer, the risk of disease progression
      decreased over time. For rectal cancer, risk of metastatic progression was
      significantly higher for those living in more socioeconomically disadvantaged
      areas compared with those in the least disadvantaged area. CONCLUSIONS: An
      understanding of the variation in risk of metastatic progression is useful for
      planning health service requirements, and can help inform decisions about
      treatment and follow-up for colorectal cancer patients.

PMID- 28599139
TI  - Risk factors associated with residential aged care, respite and transitional aged
      care admission for older people following an injury-related hospitalisation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify factors associated with admission to residential aged
      care (RAC), respite RAC and transitional care (TC) for older individuals
      following an injury hospitalisation. METHOD: A retrospective analysis was
      conducted of individuals aged >=65 years who had an injury hospitalisation and
      who were admitted to RAC during 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2013 in New South Wales,
      Australia. Multinominal logistic regression was used to examine the factors
      associated with admissions to aged care services compared to returning to the
      community. RESULTS: Of 191,301 injury hospitalisations, 41,085 (21.5%)
      individuals either returned or were new admissions to long-term or respite RAC
      and 3,218 individuals were admitted to TC. Older individuals newly admitted to
      long-term RAC were four times more likely (OR: 4.36; 95%CI 4.15-4.57), those
      admitted to respite RAC were twice as likely (OR: 2.37; 95%CI 2.21-2.54) and
      people admitted to TC were less likely (OR: 0.60; 95%CI 0.53-0.68) to have
      dementia compared to individuals who returned to the community. Overall,
      individuals who were admitted to long-term or respite RAC had a higher likelihood
      of experiencing limitations associated with their physical, cognitive or social
      abilities, with individuals admitted to TC having a higher likelihood of issues
      with hygiene and mobility, compared to individuals returning to the community.
      CONCLUSION: Understanding the profile and predictive risk factors for injured
      older individuals using RAC (long-term, respite or TC services) can inform
      current and future aged care service resource use needs and can be used to
      understand factors associated with service use.

PMID- 28599140
TI  - Instruments to evaluate mobility capacity of older adults during hospitalization:
      A systematic review.
AB  - Independent mobility is a key factor in predicting morbidity and determining
      hospital discharge readiness for older patients. The main objective was identify
      and appraise relevant instruments for the measurement of mobility of hospitalized
      geriatric patients. A systematic review was performed in two consecutive steps.
      Based on the definition of mobility of the International Classification of
      Functioning (ICF). Step 1 identified mobility measurement instruments used to
      assess patients 60 years of age and over hospitalized in acute care or intensive
      geriatric rehabilitation unit. Aim of the instrument, coverage of mobility
      construct, applicability (format, training required, administration time and use
      of assistive devices) were extracted. For each included instrument, Step 2
      identified and appraised articles reporting about their measurement properties.
      Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement
      INstruments (COSMIN) was used by two independent reviewers to critically appraise
      and compare the measurement properties. Step 1 resulted in 6350 articles, of
      which 28 articles reported about 17 different instruments. Step 2 retained 11
      instruments with 70 articles reporting about their measurement properties in
      various settings. Judgement-based instruments (n=5) covered the ICF mobility
      construct more broadly than performance-based measures (n=6). Our results showed
      that 3 instruments (DEMMI, SPPB and Tinetti scale) had the most extensive and
      robust measurement properties, and from those, SPPB and DEMMI covered the
      mobility construct more broadly but SPPB had the longest administration (10
      15min). Conclusion SPPB presents the best balance between mobility coverage,
      measurement properties and applicability to acute care or intensive geriatric
      rehabilitation unit.

PMID- 28599141
TI  - Chinese Yellow Dust and Korean infant health.
AB  - Naturally-occurring Yellow Dust outbreaks, which are produced by winds flowing to
      Korea from China and Mongolia, create air pollution. Although there is a seasonal
      pattern of this phenomenon, there exists substantial variation in its timing,
      strength, and location from year to year. To warn residents about air pollution
      in general, and about these dust storms in particular, Korean authorities issue
      different types of public alerts. Using birth certificate data on more than 1.5
      million babies born between 2003 and 2011, we investigate the impact of air
      pollution, and the avoidance behavior triggered by pollution alerts on various
      birth outcomes. We show that air pollution rises during Yellow Dust outbreaks and
      that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy has a significant negative impact
      on birth weight, the gestation weeks of the baby, and the propensity of the baby
      being born low weight. Public alerts about air quality during pregnancy help
      mitigate the adverse effect of pollution on fetal health. The results provide
      evidence for the effectiveness of pollution alert systems in promoting public
      health. They also underline the importance of taking into account individuals'
      avoidance behavior when estimating the impact of air quality on birth outcomes.
      We show that when the preventive effect of public health warnings is not
      accounted for, the estimated relationship between air pollution and infant health
      is reduced by more than fifty percent. In summary, air pollution has a
      deteriorating impact on newborns' health, and public alerts that warn individuals
      about increased air pollution help alleviate the negative impact.

PMID- 28599143
TI  - Guaranteeing a captive audience: coordinated regulation of gene transfer agent
      (GTA) production and recipient capability by cellular regulators.
AB  - Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are bacteriophage-like particles produced by many
      prokaryotes. Several members of the Alphaproteobacteria produce a class of
      genetically-related GTAs that is best studied in Rhodobacter capsulatus. DNA
      transfer by the R. capsulatus GTA (RcGTA) combines aspects of both transduction
      and natural transformation, as recipient cells require a natural transformation
      like system to incorporate donated DNA. The genes involved in RcGTA production
      and recipient capability are located at multiple loci in the bacterial genome;
      however, a conserved phosphorelay containing the response regulator CtrA and a
      quorum sensing system regulate both RcGTA production and recipient capability.
      This review highlights recent discoveries in RcGTA biology, and focuses on the co
      regulation of genes involved in RcGTA production and recipient capability.

PMID- 28599142
TI  - Opioid pharmacovigilance: A clinical-social history of the changes in opioid
      prescribing for patients with co-occurring chronic non-cancer pain and substance
      use.
AB  - There is growing concern among US-based clinicians, patients, policy makers, and
      in the media about the personal and community health risks associated with
      opioids. Perceptions about the efficacy and appropriateness of opioids for the
      management of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) have dramatically transformed in
      recent decades. Yet, there is very little social scientific research identifying
      the factors that have informed this transformation from the perspectives of
      prescribing clinicians. As part of an on-going ethnographic study of CNCP
      management among clinicians and their patients with co-occurring substance use,
      we interviewed 23 primary care clinicians who practice in safety-net clinical
      settings. In this paper, we describe the clinical and social influences informing
      three historic periods: (1) the escalation of opioid prescriptions for CNCP; (2)
      an interim period in which the efficacy of and risks associated with opioids were
      re-assessed; and (3) the current period of "opioid pharmacovigilance,"
      characterized by the increased surveillance of opioid prescriptions. Clinicians
      reported that interpretations of the evidence-base in favor of and opposing
      opioid prescribing for CNCP evolved within a larger clinical-social context.
      Historically, pharmaceutical marketing efforts and clinicians' concerns about
      racialized healthcare disparities in pain treatment influenced opioid
      prescription decision-making. Clinicians emphasized how patients' medical
      complexity (e.g. multiple chronic health conditions) and structural vulnerability
      (e.g. poverty, community violence) impacted access to opioids within resource
      limited healthcare settings. This clinical-social history of opioid prescribing
      practices helps to elucidate the ongoing challenges of CNCP treatment in the US
      healthcare safety net and lends needed specificity to the broader, nationwide
      conversation about opioids.

PMID- 28599144
TI  - Making serine integrases work for us.
AB  - DNA site-specific recombinases are enzymes (often associated with mobile DNA
      elements) that catalyse breaking and rejoining of DNA strands at specific points,
      thereby bringing about precise genetic rearrangements. Serine integrases are a
      group of recombinases derived from bacteriophages. Their unusual properties,
      including directionality of recombination and simple site requirements, are
      leading to their development as efficient, versatile tools for applications in
      experimental biology, biotechnology, synthetic biology and gene therapy. This
      article summarizes our current knowledge of serine integrase structure and
      mechanism, then outlines key factors that affect the performance of these phage
      recombination systems. Recently published studies, that have expanded the
      repertoire of available systems and reveal system-specific characteristics, will
      help us to choose the best integrases for envisaged applications.

PMID- 28599145
TI  - Telomere length in alcohol dependence: A role for impulsive choice and childhood
      maltreatment.
AB  - Telomere shortening, a marker of cellular aging, has been considered to be linked
      with psychosocial stress as well as with chronic alcohol consumption, possibly
      mediated by oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Recent findings suggested
      that early life adversity on telomere dynamics may be related to impulsive
      choice. To further our understanding of the association of impulsive choice and
      childhood trauma on telomere length, we examined whether delayed discounting and
      childhood trauma or their interaction is related to leukocyte telomere length,
      while controlling for multiple potential confounding variables, in patients with
      alcohol dependence who are considered to have higher impulsive choice and shorter
      telomere length. We recruited 253 male patients with chronic alcohol dependence.
      All participants performed the delay discounting task, and the area under curve
      was used as a measure of delay discounting. Steeper delay discounting represents
      more impulsive choices. The modified Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale was used
      to measure childhood maltreatment. In addition, confounding factors, including
      socio-demographic characteristics, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test,
      the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Resilience Quotient, the Beck
      Depression Inventory, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, were also assessed.
      Hierarchical regression analyses showed a significant main effect of delay
      discounting (beta=0.161, t=2.640, p=0.009), and an interaction effect between
      delay discounting and childhood maltreatment on leukocyte telomere length
      (beta=0.173, t=2.138, p=0.034). In subsequent analyses stratified by childhood
      maltreatment, patients with alcohol dependence and high childhood trauma showed a
      significant relationship between delay discounting and leukocyte telomere length
      (beta=0.279, t=3.183, p=0.002), while those with low trauma showed no association
      between them. Our findings suggest that higher impulsive choice is associated
      with shorter telomere length, and childhood trauma may exert a moderating effect
      in the relationship between impulsive choice and telomere length.

PMID- 28599147
TI  - Integration of identity and emotion information in faces: fMRI evidence.
AB  - Separate neural systems have been implicated in the recognition of facial
      identity and emotional expression. A growing number of studies now provide
      evidence against this modular view by demonstrating that integration of identity
      and emotion information enhances face processing. Yet, the neural mechanisms that
      shape this integration remain largely unknown. We hypothesize that the presence
      of both personal and emotional expression target information triggers changes in
      functional connectivity between frontal and extrastriate areas in the brain. We
      report and discuss three important findings. First, the presence of target
      identity and emotional expression in the same face was associated with super
      capacity and violations of the independent processing of identity and expression
      cues. Second, activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was associated with the
      presence of redundant targets and changes in functional connectivity between a
      particular region of the right OFC (BA11/47) and bilateral visual brain regions
      (the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG)). Third, these changes in connectivity showed
      a strong link to behavioural measures of capacity processing. We suggest that the
      changes in functional connectivity between the right OFC and IOG reduce
      variability of BOLD responses in the IOG, enhancing integration of identity and
      emotional expression cues in faces.

PMID- 28599146
TI  - Maternal lipids in pregnancy are associated with increased offspring cortisol
      reactivity in childhood.
AB  - Prenatal programming of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity has
      long term implications for offspring health. Biological mechanisms underlying
      programming of the offspring HPA axis are poorly understood. We hypothesised that
      altered maternal metabolism including higher maternal obesity, glucose and lipids
      are novel programming factors for altered offspring HPA axis activity. Salivary
      cortisol levels were measured in 54 children aged 3-5 years under experimental
      conditions (before and after a delay of self-gratification test). Associations of
      child cortisol responses with maternal obesity in early pregnancy and with
      fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL and total cholesterol measured in each
      pregnancy trimester were tested. Higher levels of maternal triglycerides and
      total cholesterol throughout pregnancy were associated with increased offspring
      cortisol reactivity. The associations were independent of maternal obesity and
      other confounders, suggesting that exposure to maternal lipids could be a
      biological mechanism of in utero programming of the offspring's HPA axis.

PMID- 28599148
TI  - Memristor standard cellular neural networks computing in the flux-charge domain.
AB  - The paper introduces a class of memristor neural networks (NNs) that are
      characterized by the following salient features. (a) The processing of signals
      takes place in the flux-charge domain and is based on the time evolution of
      memristor charges. The processing result is given by the constant asymptotic
      values of charges that are stored in the memristors acting as non-volatile
      memories in steady state. (b) The dynamic equations describing the memristor NNs
      in the flux-charge domain are analogous to those describing, in the traditional
      voltage-current domain, the dynamics of a standard (S) cellular (C) NN, and are
      implemented by using a realistic model of memristors as that proposed by HP. This
      analogy makes it possible to use the bulk of results in the SCNN literature for
      designing memristor NNs to solve processing tasks in real time. Convergence of
      memristor NNs in the presence of multiple asymptotically stable equilibrium
      points is addressed and some applications to image processing tasks are presented
      to illustrate the real-time processing capabilities. Computing in the flux-charge
      domain is shown to have significant advantages with respect to computing in the
      voltage-current domain. One advantage is that, when a steady state is reached,
      currents, voltages and hence power in a memristor NN vanish, whereas memristors
      keep in memory the processing result. This is basically different from SCNNs for
      which currents, voltages and power do not vanish at a steady state, and batteries
      are needed to keep in memory the processing result.

PMID- 28599149
TI  - An optimized lentiviral vector system for conditional RNAi and efficient cloning
      of microRNA embedded short hairpin RNA libraries.
AB  - RNA interference (RNAi) and CRISPR-Cas9-based screening systems have emerged as
      powerful and complementary tools to unravel genetic dependencies through
      systematic gain- and loss-of-function studies. In recent years, a series of
      technical advances helped to enhance the performance of virally delivered RNAi.
      For instance, the incorporation of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) into endogenous
      microRNA contexts (shRNAmiRs) allows the use of Tet-regulated promoters for
      synchronous onset of gene knockdown and precise interrogation of gene dosage
      effects. However, remaining challenges include lack of efficient cloning
      strategies, inconsistent knockdown potencies and leaky expression. Here, we
      present a simple, one-step cloning approach for rapid and efficient cloning of
      miR-30 shRNAmiR libraries. We combined a human miR-30 backbone retaining native
      flanking sequences with an optimized all-in-one lentiviral vector system for
      conditional RNAi to generate a versatile toolbox characterized by higher
      doxycycline sensitivity, reduced leakiness and enhanced titer. Furthermore,
      refinement of existing shRNA design rules resulted in substantially improved
      prediction of powerful shRNAs. Our approach was validated by accurate
      quantification of the knockdown potency of over 250 single shRNAmiRs. To
      facilitate access and use by the scientific community, an online tool was
      developed for the automated design of refined shRNA-coding oligonucleotides ready
      for cloning into our system.

PMID- 28599150
TI  - The long-term impact of cefalexin on organic substrate degradation and microbial
      community structure in EGSB system.
AB  - In order to investigate long-term effect of cefalexin (CFX) on the performance of
      expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) system and microbial community structure, two
      1.47 L EGSB reactors E1 and E2 were designed and run for 224 days treating with
      synthetic antibiotic wastewater. For the purpose of comparison, E1 was fed with
      synthetic antibiotic industry wastewater with CFX added as the test reactor,
      while, E2 was fed without any CFX added as the control reactor (E2). The addition
      of CFX resulted in the continual increasing of soluble COD (sCOD) and
      accumulation of VFAs in the effluent of E1 system. Besides, it was found that the
      accumulation of CFX by-products D-1, D-2 and D-3 was negative correlation with
      sCOD removal efficiency. Furthermore, the microbial community structures were
      also investigated. For the bacterial community, Gelria and Syntrophorhabdus which
      can ferment propionate and other organic pollutants as their substrate were
      obviously enriched in E1 system. For the archaea, there was more functional
      diversity in E1 system than in E2 system. Furthermore, fungi also played an
      important role on the removal of complex organics in E1 system.

PMID- 28599151
TI  - Comparative evaluation of sea-urchin larval stage sensitivity to ocean
      acidification.
AB  - Changes in the marine carbonate system may affect various calcifying organisms.
      This study is aimed to compare the sensitivity of embryo-larval development of
      two species of sea urchins (Paracentrutos lividus and Lytechinus variegatus)
      collected and exposed to samples from different coastal zone (Spain and Brazil)
      to ocean acidification. The results showed that the larval stages are very
      sensitive to small changes in the seawater's pH. The larvae from P. lividus
      species showed to be more sensitive to acidified elutriate sediments than larvae
      from L. variegatus sea urchin. Furthermore, this study has demonstrated that the
      CO2 enrichment in aquatic ecosystems cause changes on the mobility of the metals:
      Zn, Cu, Fe, Al and As, which was presented different behavior among them.
      Although an increase on the mobility of metals was found, the results using the
      principal component analysis showed that the pH reduction show the highest
      correlations with the toxicity and is the main cause of embryo-larval development
      inhibition. In this comparative study it is demonstrated that both species are
      able to assess potential effects of the ocean acidification related to CO2
      enrichment by both near future scenarios and the risk associated with CO2
      leakages in the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) process, and the importance of
      comparative studies in different zones to improve the understanding of the
      impacts caused by ocean acidification.

PMID- 28599152
TI  - Investigation of heavy metals release from sediment with
      bioturbation/bioirrigation.
AB  - Bioturbation/bioirrigation can affect the remobilization of metals from
      sediments. In this study, experiments were performed to examine the effect of
      bioturbation/bioirrigation by different organisms on cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu),
      zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) releasing from the spiked sediment. The diffusive
      gradient in thin films technique (DGT) revealed that at the end of exposure time,
      the labile heavy metals concentrations in the pore water for all metal and
      organisms combinations except Cu and chironomid larvae were much lower than that
      in the control group. However, the concentrations of heavy metals detected by the
      DGT were virtually indistinguishable among the treatments with tubificid,
      chironomid larvae and loach. The correlation analysis of heavy metals with iron
      (Fe) and manganese (Mn) suggested that Cd, Zn and Pb were most likely bound as Fe
      Mn oxidation form in the pore water, but Cu was in other forms. After 28 d of
      exposure, bioturbation/bioirrigation produced a significant release of
      particulate heavy metals into the overlying water, especially in the treatment
      with loach. The bioturbation/bioirrigation impact on the Pb remobilization was
      less than the other three heavy metals. The effects of bioturbaiton/bioirrigation
      on the heavy metals remobilization in the sediment were complex that with
      studying the heavy metals remobilization in the sediment and water interface, the
      biological indicators should be recommended.

PMID- 28599153
TI  - Effects of repeated biaxial loads on the creep properties of cardinal ligaments.
AB  - The cardinal ligament (CL) is one of the major pelvic ligaments providing
      structural support to the vagina/cervix/uterus complex. This ligament has been
      studied mainly with regards to its important function in the treatment of
      different diseases such as surgical repair for pelvic organ prolapse and radical
      hysterectomy for cervical cancer. However, the mechanical properties of the CL
      have not been fully determined, despite the important in vivo supportive role of
      this ligament within the pelvic floor. To advance our limited knowledge about the
      elastic and viscoelastic properties of the CL, we conducted three consecutive
      planar equi-biaxial tests on CL specimens isolated from swine. Specifically, the
      CL specimens were divided into three groups: specimens in group 1 (n = 7) were
      loaded equi-biaxially to 1 N, specimens in group 2 (n = 8) were loaded equi
      biaxially to 2N, and specimens in group 3 (n = 7) were loaded equi-biaxially to
      3N. In each group, the equi-biaxial loads of 1N, 2N, or 3N were applied and kept
      constant for 1200s three times. The two axial loading directions were selected to
      be the main in-vivo loading direction of the CL and the direction that is
      perpendicular to it. Using the digital image correlation (DIC) method, the in
      plane Lagrangian strains in these two loading directions were measured throughout
      the tests. The results showed that CL was elastically anisotropic, as statistical
      differences were found between the mean strains along the two axial loading
      directions for specimens in group 1, 2, or 3 when the equi-biaxial load reached
      1N, 2N, or 3N, respectively. For specimens in group 1 and 2, no statistical
      differences were detected in the mean normalized strains (or, equivalently, the
      increase in strain over time) between the two axial loading directions for each
      creep test. For specimens in group 3, some differences were noted but, by the end
      of the 3rd creep test, there were no statistical differences in the mean
      normalized strains between the two axial loading directions. These findings
      indicated that the increase in strain over time by the end of the 3rd creep test
      were comparable along these directions. The greatest mean normalized strain (or,
      equivalently, the largest increase in strain over time) was measured at the end
      of the 1st creep test (t=1200s), regardless of the equi-biaxial load magnitude or
      loading direction. Mean normalized strains during the 2nd and 3rd creep tests (t
      = 100, 600, and 1200s), along each loading direction, were not statistically
      different. Isochronal data collected at 1N, 2N, or 3N equi-biaxial loads
      indicated that the CL may be a nonlinear viscoelastic material. Overall, this
      experimental study offers new knowledge of the mechanical properties of the CL
      that can guide the development of better treatment methods such as surgical
      reconstruction for pelvic organ prolapse and radical hysterectomy for cervical
      cancer.

PMID- 28599154
TI  - The importance of the relationship between mechanical analyses and rheometry of
      mucoadhesive thermoresponsive polymeric materials for biomedical applications.
AB  - Pluronic F127(r) was associated with a carbomer homopolymer type B, as a model
      polymer blend to evidence the information provided by rheological and mechanical
      analyses on the development of bioadhesive thermoresponsive systems. The
      mechanical analysis enabled to observe that 20% (w/w) Pluronic F127(r)-polymer
      blends were harder, more adhesive, more mucoadhesive, more compressive and less
      soft. In addition, continuous flow rheometry demonstrated that the systems were
      plastic with rheopexy (15%, w/w, Pluronic F127(r)) or thixotropic (20%, w/w,
      Pluronic F127(r)). Oscillatory rheometry exhibited the increase of temperature,
      and the polymeric concentration increases the elasticity of the formulations.
      Moreover, correlation index showed that softness and textural analysis can be
      correlated and complementary, whereas adhesiveness cannot be correlated to
      mucoadhesion and is less specific. Rheological interaction parameter and gelation
      temperature showed that 15/0.25-polymer blend is suitable for pharmaceutical and
      biomedical application, since it can be administered in the liquid form and be
      gelled in the application site with proper mucoadhesion that can suggest an
      improved clinical efficacy. Therefore, the mechanical and rheological analyses
      are useful to characterize and select the best bioadhesive thermoresponsive
      formulation for the proposed treatment with improved performance.

PMID- 28599155
TI  - Effect of acidic agents on the wear behavior of a polymer infiltrated ceramic
      network (PICN) material.
AB  - Polymer infiltrated ceramic network (PICN) materials exhibit desirable properties
      for replacement of tooth structure. However, their durability and their integrity
      in various oral environments, remain relatively unknown. The primary objective of
      this study is to investigate the effect of acidic agents on the wear behavior of
      PICNs. Twenty specimens were randomly assigned to four groups and then immersed
      in either deionized water (control) or acidic agents (2% acetic acid, citric acid
      or lactic acid solutions) at 37C for 4 weeks. Changes in the surface
      microhardness (SMH) and roughness were measured. Reciprocating wear tests were
      performed under artificial saliva to 10,000 cycles, and the coefficient of
      friction (COF) and wear depth were quantified to assess the wear behavior.
      Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the wear morphology. Acid
      erosion decreased the SMH and increased surface roughness of the PICN, especially
      in lactic acid solution. For less than 2800 cycles, the acetic acid and citric
      acid groups showed higher COF and wear depths due to combined ceramic and polymer
      wear; the lactic acid group showed smaller COF and wear depth, due to a wear
      debris layer that acted as solid lubricant. Beyond 2800 cycles, all four groups
      exhibited similar COF values, as well as wear depth and wear morphology. Overall,
      acid erosion had a significant effect on the surface wear history of the PICN,
      but no effect on its long-term wear properties. Overall, the depth of acidic
      degradation of the PICN was rather limited.

PMID- 28599156
TI  - Mechanical response of human female breast skin under uniaxial stretching.
AB  - Skin is a complex material covering the entire surface of the human body.
      Studying the mechanical properties of skin to calibrate a constitutive model is
      of great importance to many applications such as plastic or cosmetic surgery and
      treatment of skin-based diseases like decubitus ulcers. The main objective of the
      present study was to identify and calibrate an appropriate material constitutive
      model for skin and establish certain universal properties that are independent of
      patient-specific variability. We performed uniaxial tests performed on breast
      skin specimens freshly harvested during mastectomy. Two different constitutive
      models - one phenomenological and another microstructurally inspired - were used
      to interpret the mechanical responses observed in the experiments. Remarkably, we
      found that the model parameters that characterize dependence on previous maximum
      stretch (or preconditioning) exhibited specimen-independent universal behavior.

PMID- 28599157
TI  - Comparison in three dimensional gait kinematics between young and older adults on
      land and in shallow water.
AB  - This study investigated in three-dimensional space, firstly whether the aquatic
      medium and secondly ageing, had any effect on the lower limb's joint angles
      during aquatic-based gait. Three-dimensional joint kinematics of the lower limb
      of 51 healthy male participants [25 young group (24.6+/-4.9 years, 172.1+/-5.5cm,
      69.8+/-10.3kg) and 26 older group (58.5+/-5.1 years, 167.9+/-5.1cm, 70.8+/
      12.1kg)] were quantified during land and shallow water walking. Participants
      walked at their self-selected comfortable speed in both mediums. The results
      suggested that the properties of water - hydrodynamic drag, and buoyancy -
      affected the gait kinematics for both groups. Both age groups used more of their
      hip flexion in the aquatic environment to help them propel forward instead of
      using the ankle plantarflexion. The effect of age during the aquatic-based gait
      was identified in ankle adduction angle and knee abduction/adduction angle at
      initial contact. Only the older group elicited a significantly smaller ankle
      adduction angle during the aquatic-based gait when compared to the land-based
      gait. Only the young group elicited a significantly larger knee
      abduction/adduction angle at initial contact during the aquatic-based gait when
      compared to the land-based gait. These findings can facilitate professionals in
      the area of aquatic rehabilitation to better customise aquatic-based walking
      exercise programmes to suit their client's specific needs.

PMID- 28599158
TI  - Degradation of highly consumed fluoroquinolones, penicillins and cephalosporins
      in distilled water and simulated hospital wastewater by UV254 and
      UV254/persulfate processes.
AB  - In this work, three penicillins (ampicillin "AMP", oxacillin "OXA" and
      cloxacillin "CLO"), two cephalosporins (cephalexin "CPX" and cephadroxyl "CPD")
      and three fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin "LEV", norfloxacin "NOR" and
      ciprofloxacin "CIP") were initially treated by UV254 and persulfate activated by
      UV254 (UV/PS). Significant differences in degradation kinetics under UV254
      irradiation were found. Photodegradation followed the order: OXA > CPX > CPD >
      CLO > CIP > NOR > AMP ? LEV. Then, in order to study the participation of direct
      photolysis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in photodegradation a model
      antibiotic of each class (OXA, CPX and CIP) was considered. OXA and CPX were
      mainly degraded by direct photolysis, whereas the CIP removal involved ROS and
      photolysis. On the other hand, the persulfate addition (UV/PS process) improved
      the removals due to sulfate radical formation, especially, in the case of
      antibiotics with lower photodegradation levels (i.e. LEV, AMP and NOR).
      Computational calculations on the representative antibiotics were applied to
      determine the regions susceptible to electrophilic attacks by degrading agents.
      The functional groups of OXA and CPX followed the reactivity order: thioether ?
      beta-lactam ring > benzene ring. For CIP, the piperazyl moiety presented higher
      reactivity than the quinolone ring. Also, the antimicrobial activity (AA)
      evolution during the treatments was tested. In the cases of CPX and CIP, both
      UV254 and UV/PS removed the AA; which were associated with structural changes in
      their reactive moieties: beta-lactam ring and piperazyl ring, respectively.
      However, in the case of OXA only the UV/PS system decreased AA, which was
      attributed to transformations in its penicillin electron-rich nucleus (thioether
      + beta-lactam). Finally, the applicability of UV254 and UV/PS was assessed using
      synthetic hospital wastewater (HWW). The processes comparison showed that for
      practical purposes, OXA and CIP in HWW should be treated by UV/PS, while CPX in
      HWW could be treated by both UV254 and UV/PS.

PMID- 28599159
TI  - Biosorption of metal elements by exopolymer nanofibrils excreted from Leptothrix
      cells.
AB  - Leptothrix species, aquatic Fe-oxidizing bacteria, excrete nano-scaled exopolymer
      fibrils. Once excreted, the fibrils weave together and coalesce to form
      extracellular, microtubular, immature sheaths encasing catenulate cells of
      Leptothrix. The immature sheaths, composed of aggregated nanofibrils with a
      homogeneous-looking matrix, attract and bind aqueous-phase inorganics, especially
      Fe, P, and Si, to form seemingly solid, mature sheaths of a hybrid organic
      inorganic nature. To verify our assumption that the organic skeleton of the
      sheaths might sorb a broad range of other metallic and nonmetallic elements, we
      examined the sorption potential of chemically and enzymatically prepared protein
      free organic sheath remnants for 47 available elements. The sheath remnants were
      found by XRF to sorb each of the 47 elements, although their sorption degree
      varied among the elements: >35% atomic percentages for Ti, Y, Zr, Ru, Rh, Ag, and
      Au. Electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, electron and x-ray
      diffractions, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses of sheath
      remnants that had sorbed Ag, Cu, and Pt revealed that (i) the sheath remnants
      comprised a 5-10 nm thick aggregation of fibrils, (ii) the test elements were
      distributed almost homogeneously throughout the fibrillar aggregate, (iii) the
      nanofibril matrix sorbing the elements was nearly amorphous, and (iv) these
      elements plausibly were bound to the matrix by ionic binding, especially via OH.
      The present results show that the constitutive protein-free exopolymer
      nanofibrils of the sheaths can contribute to creating novel filtering materials
      for recovering and recycling useful and/or hazardous elements from the
      environment.

PMID- 28599160
TI  - The acid soluble extracellular polymeric substance of aerobic granular sludge
      dominated by Defluviicoccus sp.
AB  - A new acid soluble extracellular polymeric substance (acid soluble EPS) was
      extracted from an acetate fed aerobic granular sludge reactor operated at 35 
      degrees C. Acid soluble EPS dominated granules exhibited a remarkable and
      distinctive tangled tubular morphology. These granules are dominated by
      Defluviicoccus Cluster II organisms. Acetic acid instead of the usually required
      alkaline extraction medium was needed to dissolve the granules and solubilise the
      polymeric matrix. The extracted acid soluble EPS was analysed and identified
      using various instrumental analysis including 1H and 13C Nuclear Magnetic
      Resonance, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. In
      addition, the glycoconjugates were characterized by fluorescence lectin-binding
      analysis. The acid soluble EPS is alpha-(1 -> 4) linked polysaccharide,
      containing both glucose and galactose as monomers. There are OCH3 groups
      connected to the glucose monomer. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy
      (TEM, SEM) as well as confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that the
      acid soluble EPS was present as a tightly bound capsular EPS around bacterial
      cells ordered into a sarcinae-like growth pattern. The special granule morphology
      is decided by the acid soluble EPS produced by Defluviicoccus Cluster II
      organisms. This work shows that no single one method can be used to extract all
      possible extracellular polymeric substances. Results obtained here can support
      the elucidation of biofilm formation and structure in future research.

PMID- 28599161
TI  - Metabolism and ecological niche of Tetrasphaera and Ca. Accumulibacter in
      enhanced biological phosphorus removal.
AB  - Tetrasphaera and Candidatus Accumulibacter are two abundant polyphosphate
      accumulating organisms in full-scale enhanced biological phosphorus removal
      (EBPR) systems. However, little is known about the metabolic behaviour and
      ecological niche that each organism exhibits in mixed communities. In this study,
      an enriched culture of Tetrasphaera and Ca. Accumulibacter was obtained using
      casein hydrolysate as sole carbon source. This culture was able to achieve a high
      phosphorus removal efficiency (>99%), storing polyphosphate while consuming amino
      acids anaerobically. Microautoradiography and fluorescence in situ hybridisation
      confirmed that more than 90% Tetrasphaera cells were responsible for amino acid
      consumption while Ca. Accumulibacter likely survived on fermentation products.
      Tetrasphaera performed the majority of the P removal (approximately 80%) in this
      culture, and batch tests showed that the metabolism of some carbon sources could
      actually lead to anaerobic orthophosphate (Pi) uptake (9.0 +/- 2.1 mg-P/L)
      through energy generated by fermentation of glucose and amino acids. This
      anaerobic Pi uptake may lead to lower net Pi release to C uptake ratios and
      reduce the Pi needed to be removed aerobically in WWTPs. Intracellular
      metabolites such as amino acids, sugars, volatile fatty acids and small amines
      were observed as potential storage products, which may serve as energy sources in
      the aerobic phase. Evidence of the urea cycle was found, which could be involved
      in reducing the intracellular nitrogen content. This study improves our
      understanding of how phosphorus is removed in EBPR systems and can enable novel
      process optimisation strategies.

PMID- 28599162
TI  - Performance characterization and kinetic modeling of ozonation using a new
      method: ROH,O3 concept.
AB  - Ozonation is an effective treatment for removing various organic pollutants from
      aquatic systems. The Rct concept, which is defined as the ratio of OH exposure to
      O3 exposure, has been widely used to predict the removal efficiency of target
      compounds, but it has significant variations by water temperature and initial O3
      dose which are crucial parameters in drinking water plant. The ROH,O3 concept,
      which is defined as the OH exposure by O3 consumption, was proposed as a kinetic
      parameter for characterization and kinetic modeling for ozonation. The ROH,O3
      concept is independent of temperature and initial O3 dose. A higher ROH,O3 value
      indicates a higher OH formation when the same amount of O3 is consumed in
      different water samples; therefore, the OH yield from O3 decomposition of the
      water samples can be compared using the ROH,O3 values. The ROH,O3 concept can
      also be used to characterize and model the initial ozone demand phase, and it is
      more convenient method compared to Rct concept. Using the ROH,O3 concept, the
      dynamic O3 and OH kinetics and the removal efficiencies of iopromide and
      ibuprofen were well predicted (R2 = 0.98) over a wide range of experimental
      conditions (n = 124).

PMID- 28599163
TI  - Effects of combined flocculant - Lanthanum modified bentonite treatment on
      aquatic macroinvertebrate fauna.
AB  - A low dose flocculant (FeCl3), combined with lanthanum modified bentonite (LMB)
      as phosphate-binding agent, has been applied for eutrophication management in
      Lake De Kuil (The Netherlands). After the treatment, the state of the lake
      shifted from hypertrophic to mesotrophic. Although macroinvertebrate fauna is
      important for lake ecosystems, the knowledge of its response to this lake
      restoration method is fragmented and scarce. Because insight in the
      macroinvertebrate fauna response is important to assess future applications, pre
      and post application macroinvertebrate assemblages were identified in Lake De
      Kuil. The research was accompanied by a microcosm experiment in which the effects
      of LMB, FeCl3 and LMB + FeCl3 were studied on macroinvertebrate communities.
      Results show the reduction of macroinvertebrate numbers and taxa during the first
      month following the application. The number of Gastropoda was strikingly reduced
      one month after the application. One year after the application, the
      macroinvertebrate numbers and taxa exceeded the pre-application situation and
      Gastropoda and Oligochaeta prospered. The effects one month after the treatment
      are most likely due to the combination of physical impacts of the use of
      bentonite and chemical impacts of the use of FeCl3, while effects after one year
      are likely attributed to the shift in trophic state of the lake.

PMID- 28599164
TI  - Impact of power morcellator removal on hysterectomy practice patterns.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was a quality improvement project investigating patterns of
      hysterectomy practice including changes in surgical techniques and patient
      outcomes after manufacturer withdrawal of a laparoscopic power morcellator from
      our hospitals in July 2014. STUDY DESIGN: This time-series pre and post
      retrospective review examined data from electronic health records, comparing one
      year when a laparoscopic power morcellator was available (Year 1, mid-2013 to mid
      2014) to one year after withdrawal (Year 2, mid-2014 to mid-2015). Data were from
      patients of 8 gynecologists in a multispecialty group associated with a large,
      integrated care and coverage delivery system in Washington State. Analyzed were
      100 patients for Year 1 and 133 patients for Year 2. Analysis was by two-sided
      chi-square tests comparing practice patterns and outcomes in the two years.
      RESULTS: For hysterectomy route, no significant difference was seen between Years
      1 and 2 in percent surgeries that were abdominal or laparoscopic (including
      robotic). For minimally invasive hysterectomies, significantly more transvaginal
      hysterectomies were performed in Year 2 (22%) than Year 1 (14%) (p<0.05). In Year
      2, no laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomies occurred, with total laparoscopic
      or vaginal hysterectomies performed instead. Transvaginal uterus morcellation
      increased from 13% in Year 1 to 24% in Year 2 (p<0.05). Bilateral salpingectomies
      increased in Year 2 as well (p<0.05). Among patient factors, estimated blood
      loss, surgical site infection, total operative time, and hospital length of stay
      were not significantly different between Years 1 and 2. Body mass index,
      race/ethnicity, and age did not differ between years. No patients had occult
      uterine sarcoma. CONCLUSION: Surgical practice patterns changed for our group of
      8 gynecologists in the year after a laparoscopic power morcellator was withdrawn.
      Though open hysterectomies did not increase, no laparoscopic supracervical
      hysterectomies were performed. Total laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomies and
      bilateral salpingectomies increased, with reliance on transvaginal uterine tissue
      removal techniques. Patient outcomes including surgical infections, length of
      surgery, estimated blood loss and total hospital stay did not change. Our results
      suggest that experienced vaginal surgeons can adapt to removal of important
      surgical equipment and continue to provide minimally invasive hysterectomies
      without compromising patient outcomes and safety.

PMID- 28599165
TI  - Modelling the contribution of negative affect, outcome expectancies and
      metacognitions to cigarette use and nicotine dependence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both positive smoking outcome expectancies and metacognitions about
      smoking have been found to be positively associated with cigarette use and
      nicotine dependence. The goal of this study was to test a model including
      nicotine dependence and number of daily cigarettes as dependent variables,
      anxiety and depression as independent variables, and smoking outcome expectancies
      and metacognitions about smoking as mediators between the independents and
      dependents. METHODS: The sample consisted of 524 self-declared smokers who scored
      3 or above on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND: Uysal et al.,
      2004). RESULTS: Anxiety was not associated with either cigarette use or nicotine
      dependence but was positively associated with all mediators with the exception of
      stimulation state enhancement and social facilitation. Depression, on the other
      hand, was found to be positively associated with nicotine dependence (and very
      weakly to cigarette use) but was not associated with either smoking outcome
      expectancies or metacognitions about smoking. Only one smoking outcome expectancy
      (negative affect reduction) was found to be positively associated with nicotine
      dependence but not cigarette use. Furthermore one smoking outcome expectancy
      (negative social impression) was found to be positively associated with cigarette
      use (but not to nicotine dependence). All metacognitions about smoking were found
      to be positively associated with nicotine dependence. Moreover, negative
      metacognitions about uncontrollability were found to be positively associated
      with cigarette use. CONCLUSIONS: Metacognitions about smoking appear to be a
      stronger mediator than smoking outcome expectancies in the relationship between
      negative affect and cigarette use/nicotine dependence. The implications of these
      findings are discussed.

PMID- 28599166
TI  - The means/side-effect distinction in moral cognition: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Experimental research suggests that people draw a moral distinction between bad
      outcomes brought about as a means versus a side effect (or byproduct). Such
      findings have informed multiple psychological and philosophical debates about
      moral cognition, including its computational structure, its sensitivity to the
      famous Doctrine of Double Effect, its reliability, and its status as a universal
      and innate mental module akin to universal grammar. But some studies have failed
      to replicate the means/byproduct effect especially in the absence of other
      factors, such as personal contact. So we aimed to determine how robust the
      means/byproduct effect is by conducting a meta-analysis of both published and
      unpublished studies (k=101; 24,058 participants). We found that while there is an
      overall small difference between moral judgments of means and byproducts
      (standardized mean difference=0.87, 95% CI 0.67-1.06; standardized mean
      change=0.57, 95% CI 0.44-0.69; log odds ratio=1.59, 95% CI 1.15-2.02), the mean
      effect size is primarily moderated by whether the outcome is brought about by
      personal contact, which typically involves the use of personal force.

PMID- 28599167
TI  - Incremental generation of answers during the comprehension of questions with
      quantifiers.
AB  - The paper presents a study on the online interpretation of quantified questions
      involving complex domain restriction, for instance, are all triangles blue that
      are in the circle. Two probe reaction time (RT) task experiments were conducted
      to study the incremental nature of answer generation while manipulating visual
      contexts and response hand overlap between tasks. We manipulated the contexts in
      such a way that the incremental answer to the question changed from 'yes' to 'no'
      or remained the same before and after encountering the extraposed relative
      clause. The findings of both experiments provide evidence for incremental answer
      preparation but only if the context did not involve the risk of answer revision.
      Our results show that preliminary output from incremental semantic interpretation
      results in response priming that facilitates congruent responses in the probe RT
      task.

PMID- 28599168
TI  - Impurity profiling of liothyronine sodium by means of reversed phase HPLC, high
      resolution mass spectrometry, on-line H/D exchange and UV/Vis absorption.
AB  - For the first time, a comprehensive investigation of the impurity profile of the
      synthetic thyroid API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) liothyronine sodium
      (LT3Na) was performed by using reversed phase HPLC and advanced structural
      elucidation techniques including high resolution tandem mass spectrometry
      (HRMS/MS) and on-line hydrogen-deuterium (H/D) exchange. Overall, 39 compounds
      were characterized and 25 of these related substances were previously unknown to
      literature. The impurity classification system recently developed for the closely
      related API levothyroxine sodium (LT4Na) could be applied to the newly
      characterized liothyronine sodium impurities resulting in a wholistic thyroid API
      impurity classification system. Furthermore, the mass-spectrometric CID
      fragmentation of specific related substances was discussed and rationalized by
      detailed fragmentation pathways. Moreover, the UV/Vis absorption characteristics
      of the API and selected impurities were investigated to corroborate chemical
      structure assignments derived from MS data.

PMID- 28599169
TI  - Modifiers of clinical phenotype in severe congenital hemophilia.
AB  - Patients with inherited hemophilia A and B usually exhibit a bleeding tendency of
      a severity proportional to the degree of plasmatic deficiency of the coagulant
      activity of factor VIII (FVIII:C) and factor IX (FIX:C). Although patients with
      severe hemophilia (i.e., with FVIII:C and FIX:C levels <1IU/dL) are generally
      those with the most severe bleeding phenotype, it is common experience that a
      variable proportion of them experiences a milder bleeding tendency. In this
      review, we summarize the current knowledge on the possible mechanisms at the
      basis of the phenotypic heterogeneity of severe hemophilia, focusing in
      particular on the role of FVIII/FIX gene mutations and thrombophilic
      polymorphisms. Finally, the possible therapeutic implications of such modifiers
      will be analyzed.

PMID- 28599170
TI  - Developing transcriptional profiles in Orbicella franksi exposed to copper:
      Characterizing responses associated with a spectrum of laboratory-controlled
      environmental conditions.

PMID- 28599172
TI  - Influence of sodium chloride reduction and replacement with potassium chloride
      based salts on the sensory and physico-chemical characteristics of pork sausage
      patties.
AB  - This study evaluated the effects of sodium chloride reduction and replacement
      with potassium chloride or modified potassium chloride based salts using a weight
      or molar equivalent basis on the sensory and physico-chemical properties of pork
      sausage patties. Three independent replications of pork sausage patties were
      manufactured to compare five treatments: full sodium, reduced sodium, modified
      potassium chloride weight based replacement, modified potassium chloride molar
      based replacement, and standard potassium chloride weight based replacement. Salt
      replacement did not affect (P>0.05) moisture, protein, fat, textural properties,
      lipid oxidation, or redness. Sausage patties with modified potassium chloride
      were more acceptable than those with standard potassium chloride (P<0.001). Using
      modified potassium chloride replaced on a molar equivalent basis resulted in
      samples with more similar sensory characteristics to the full sodium control than
      replacement on a weight equivalent basis. The use of modified potassium chloride
      reduced sodium and improved sodium:potassium ratios while other changes in
      composition or physico-chemical characteristics were minimal.

PMID- 28599171
TI  - Peripubertal blood lead levels and growth among Russian boys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood blood lead levels (BLL) have been associated with growth
      impairment. OBJECTIVES: We assessed associations of peripubertal BLL with
      adolescent growth and near adult height in a longitudinal cohort of Russian boys.
      METHODS: 481 boys were enrolled at ages 8-9years and followed annually to age 18.
      At enrollment, BLL was measured, and height, weight, and pubertal staging were
      obtained annually during 10years of follow-up. Mixed effects models were used to
      assess the associations of BLL with longitudinal age-adjusted World Health
      OrganizationZ-scores for height (HT-Z) and body mass index (BMI-Z), and annual
      height velocity (HV). Interactions between boys' age and BLL on growth outcomes
      were evaluated. RESULTS: The median (range) BLL was 3.0 (0.5-31.0) MUg/dL. At age
      18years, 79% of boys had achieved near adult height (HV <1.0cm/year), and means
      (SD) for HT-Z and BMI-Z were 0.15 (0.92) and -0.32 (1.24). Over 10years of follow
      up, after covariate adjustment, boys with higher (>=5MUg/dL) BLL compared with
      lower BLL were shorter (adjusted mean difference in HT-Z=-0.43, 95% CI -0.60, 
      0.25, p-value <0.001), translating to a 2.5cm lower height at age 18years. The
      decrement in height for boys with higher BLL was most pronounced at 12 to 15years
      of age (interaction p=0.03). Boys with higher BLL were leaner (adjusted mean
      difference in BMI-Z=-0.22, 95% CI: -0.45, 0.01, p=0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Higher
      peripubertal BLLs were associated with shorter height through age 18years,
      suggesting a persistent effect of lead on linear growth.

PMID- 28599173
TI  - Attempts at memory control induce dysfunctional brain activation profiles in
      Generalized Anxiety Disorder: An exploratory fMRI study.
AB  - Suppression of aversive memories through memory control has historically been
      proposed as a central psychological defense mechanism. Inability to suppress
      memories is considered a central psychological trait in several psychiatric
      disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Yet, few studies have
      attempted the focused identification of dysfunctional brain activation profiles
      when patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorders attempt memory control. Using a
      well-characterized behavioral paradigm we studied brain activation profiles in a
      group of adult GAD patients and well-matched healthy controls (HC). Participants
      learned word-association pairs before imaging. During fMRI when presented with
      one word of the pair, they were instructed to either suppress memory of, or
      retrieve the paired word. Subsequent behavioral testing indicated both GAD and HC
      were able to engage in the task, but attempts at memory control (suppression or
      retrieval) during fMRI revealed vastly different activation profiles. GAD were
      characterized by substantive hypo-activation signatures during both types of
      memory control, with effects particularly strong during suppression in brain
      regions including the dorsal anterior cingulate and the ventral prefrontal
      cortex. Attempts at memory control in GAD fail to engage brain regions to the
      same extent HC, providing a putative neuronal signature for a well-established
      psychological characteristic of the illness.

PMID- 28599174
TI  - Persistent Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from mussel production
      facilities form more biofilm but are not linked to specific genetic markers.
AB  - Contamination of mussels with the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes occurs
      during processing in the factory, possibly from bacteria persisting in the
      factory's indoor and outdoor areas. In this study, a selection of persistent
      (n=8) and sporadic (n=8) L. monocytogenes isolates associated with mussel
      processing premises in New Zealand were investigated for their phenotypic and
      genomic characteristics. To identify traits that favour or contribute to
      bacterial persistence, biofilm formation, heat resistance, motility and recovery
      from dry surfaces were compared between persistent and sporadic isolates. All
      isolates exhibited low biofilm formation at 20 degrees C, however, at 30 degrees
      C persistent isolates showed significantly higher biofilm formation after 48h
      using cell enumeration and near significant difference using the crystal violet
      assay. All 16 isolates were motile at 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C and motility
      was fractionally higher for sporadic isolates, but no significant difference was
      observed. We found persistent isolates tend to exhibit greater recovery after
      incubation on dry surfaces compared to sporadic isolates. Two of the three most
      heat-resistant isolates were persistent, while four of five isolates lacking heat
      resistance were sporadic isolates. Comparison of genome sequences of persistent
      and sporadic isolates showed that there was no overall clustering of persistent
      or sporadic isolates, and that differences in prophages and plasmids were not
      associated with persistence. Our results suggest a link between persistence and
      biofilm formation, which is most likely multifactorial, combining subtle
      phenotypic and genotypic differences between isolates.

PMID- 28599175
TI  - Lactobacillus plantarum and Streptococcus thermophilus as starter cultures for a
      donkey milk fermented beverage.
AB  - Donkey milk is recently gaining attention due to its nutraceutical properties.
      Its low casein content does not allow caseification, so the production of a
      fermented milk would represent an alternative way to increase donkey milk shelf
      life. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of employing
      selected Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum isolates for the
      production of a novel donkey milk fermented beverage. Lysozyme resistance and the
      ability to acidify donkey milk were chosen as main selection parameters.
      Different fermented beverages (C1-C9) were produced, each with a specific
      combination of isolates, and stored at refrigerated conditions for 35days. The pH
      values and viability of the isolates were weekly assessed. In addition, sensory
      analysis was performed. Both S. thermophilus and L.plantarum showed a high degree
      of resistance to lysozyme with a Minimum Bactericidal Concentration>6.4mg/mL for
      100% of S. thermophilus and 96% of L. plantarum. S. thermophilus and L. plantarum
      showed the ability to acidify donkey milk in 24h at 37 degrees C, with an average
      DeltapH value of 2.91+/-0.16 and 1.78+/-0.66, respectively. Four L. plantarum and
      two S. thermophilus were chosen for the production of fermented milks. Those
      containing the association S. thermophilus/L. plantarum (C1-C4) reached a pH
      lower than 4.5 after 18h of fermentation and showed microbial loads higher than
      7.00logcfu/mL until the end of the storage period. Moreover, comparing the
      microbial loads of samples containing both species and those containing S.
      thermophilus alone (C5), we highlighted the ability of L. plantarum to stimulate
      S. thermophilus replication. This boosted replication of S. thermophilus allowed
      to reach an appropriate pH in a time frame fitting the production schedule. This
      was not observed for samples containing a single species (C5-C9). Thus, L.
      plantarum strains seem to be good candidates in the production of a novel type of
      fermented milk, not only for their probiotic potential, but also for the
      enhancing effect on S. thermophilus growth.

PMID- 28599176
TI  - A highly sensitive immunosensor based on ITO thin films covered by a new semi
      conductive conjugated polymer for the determination of TNFalpha in human saliva
      and serum samples.
AB  - A novel, ultrasensitive impedimetric immunosensor was constructed for the
      detection of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) by using Poly(3-thiophene
      acetic acid) (P3), a conjugated polymer as an immobilization matrix. The polymer
      P3 contains a lot of carboxylic acid groups on its surface that provide a larger
      biorecognition surface. This developed immunosensor was prepared on hydroxy
      bearing ITO surface via an ester bond linkage of polymer P3 to immobilize anti
      TNF alpha antibodies. The ITO electrode modification steps and interaction
      between anti-TNF alpha antibody and TNF alpha antigen were monitored by cyclic
      voltammetry (CV) and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method.
      After the analytical parameters optimization, a linear detection response from
      0.01pg/mL to 2pg/mL, a limit of detection LOD of 3.7 fg/mL and a limit of
      quantification (LOQ) of 12.4 fg/mL were achieved, which provided accurate results
      (relative standard deviation; 4.03%). The characterization of this developed
      immunosensor was performed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-energy dispersive X-ray (EDX)
      mapping and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The immunosensor allowed a simple and
      fast detection of TNF alpha antigen in human serum and satisfied recoveries
      (98.69-105.20%) were obtained by using standard addition method.

PMID- 28599177
TI  - Controlled carbon nanotube layers for impedimetric immunosensors: High
      performance label free detection and quantification of anti-cholera toxin
      antibody.
AB  - An original impedimetric immunosensor was developed based on carbon nanotube
      (CNT) deposits with controlled thicknesses for enhanced electroactive surface
      areas leading to improved sensor performances. Cholera monitoring was chosen as
      the model immune system for this setup. These CNT deposits were characterized
      using confocal laser microscopy and electrochemical methods. To form the sensor
      device, the CNT deposits were functionalized via electrocoating of polypyrrole
      nitrilotriacetic acid (poly(pyrrole-NTA)) followed by the formation of a Cu (II)
      complex with the NTA functions. The bioreceptor unit, cholera toxin B Subunit,
      modified with biotin, was then immobilized via coordination of the biotin groups
      with the NTA-Cu(II) complex. Each step of the formation of the immunosensor and
      the subsequent binding of the analyte antibody anti-cholera toxin were
      investigated with cyclic voltammetry and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.
      After optimization, the resulting impedimetric cholera sensor shows excellent
      reproducibility, increased sensitivities, a very satisfying detection limit of 10
      13gmL-1 and an exceptional linear range for anti-cholera detection of 8 orders of
      magnitude (10-13-10-5gmL-1) and a sensitivity of 24.7 +/- 0.4Omega per order of
      magnitude.

PMID- 28599178
TI  - Study of small-cell lung cancer cell-based sensor and its applications in
      chemotherapy effects rapid evaluation for anticancer drugs.
AB  - Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a smoking-related cancer disease. Despite
      improvement in clinical survival, SCLC outcome remains extremely poor. Cisplatin
      (DDP) is the first-line chemotherapy drug for SCLC, but the choice of second-line
      chemotherapy drugs is not clear. In this paper, a SCLC cell-based sensor was
      proposed, and its applications in chemotherapy effects rapid evaluation for
      anticancer drugs were investigated. SCLC cell lines lung adenocarcinoma cell
      (LTEP-P) and DDP-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cell (LTEP-P/DDP-1.0) are cultured
      on carbon screen-printed electrode (CSPE) to fabricate integrated cell-based
      sensor. Several chemotherapy anticancer drugs, including cisplatin, ifosmamide,
      gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, vinorelbine, etoposide, camptothecin, and
      topotecan, are selected as experimental chemicals. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)
      2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) tests are conducted to evaluate
      chemotherapy drug effects on LTEP-P and LTEP-P/DDP-1.0 cell lines. Electrical
      cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) responses to anti-tumor chemicals are
      measured and processed by double-layered cascaded stochastic resonance (DCSR).
      Cisplatin solutions in different concentrations measurement results demonstrate
      that LTEP-P cell-based sensor presents quantitative analysis abilities for
      cisplatin and topotecan. Cisplatin and its mixtures can also be discriminated.
      Results demonstrate that LTEP-P cell-based sensor sensitively evaluates
      chemotherapy drugs' apoptosis function to SCLC cells. LTEP-P/DDP-1.0 cell-based
      sensor responses demonstrate that gemcitabine, vinorelbine, and camptothecin are
      ideal second-line drugs for clinical post-cisplatin therapy than other drugs
      according to MTT test results. This work provides a novel way for SCLC second
      line clinical chemotherapy drug screening.

PMID- 28599179
TI  - A needle-type glucose biosensor based on PANI nanofibers and PU/E-PU membrane for
      long-term invasive continuous monitoring.
AB  - A minimally invasive glucose biosensor capable of continuous monitoring of
      subcutaneous glucose has been developed in this study. This sensor was prepared
      using electropolymerized conductive polymer polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers as an
      enzyme immobilization material and polyurethane (PU)/epoxy-enhanced polyurethane
      (E-PU) bilayer coating as a protective membrane. The sensor showed almost the
      same sensitivity (63nA/mM) and linearity (0-20mM with the correlation coefficient
      r2 of 0.9997) in both PBS and bovine serum tests. When stored in 37 degrees C
      bovine serum, the sensor's sensitivity gradually increased about 30% of the
      initial value within the first 13 days and then remained stable for the rest of
      the study period of 53 days. In vivo implantation experiments using mice models
      showed real-time response to the variation of blood glucose with an average
      signal delay of about 8min. Continuous monitoring showed that the sensor response
      increased for the first 12 days and then entered a stable period for 14 days. The
      sensor's baseline (530+/-10nA) and the total response to 1ml 50% dextrose
      injection were almost the same (267+/-15nA) in the stable period. The in vivo
      stable performances indicated that the sensor could be used as an implantable
      device for long-term invasive monitoring of blood glucose.

PMID- 28599181
TI  - Adsorption of cell-penetrating peptide Tat2 and polycation luviquat FC-370 to
      triticale microspore exine.
AB  - Microspores are the pre-gametophyte stage of pollen, and have proven to be a
      successful tissue culture material for the production of doubled haploid plants.
      Microspore culture has also been used as a platform for the production of
      transgenic plants. The use of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) as transfection
      agents in microspores has been previously demonstrated, but at low efficiencies.
      Here, the pH dependent adsorption of the cationic CPP Tat2 to the sporopollenin
      surface of the microspore (the exine) has been explored using electrophoretic
      light scattering (ELS). Furthermore the adsorption of a commercially available
      polycationic polymer; Luviquat FC-370 (polyquaternium D-16, PQ-D16) was similarly
      measured using ELS. It was found that a suspension media with a pH less than 7.0
      showed an approximately ten fold decrease in the amount of Tat2 that was required
      before apparent surface neutralization. This data suggests that a change in the
      surface chemistry of the microspore occurs in acidic pH conditions, that
      modulates the binding affinity of the CPP Tat2 in a non-trivially complex manner.

PMID- 28599180
TI  - Near infrared fluorescent dual ligand functionalized Au NCs based
      multidimensional sensor array for pattern recognition of multiple proteins and
      serum discrimination.
AB  - Here, a multidimensional sensor array capable of analyzing various proteins and
      discriminating between serums from different stages of breast cancer patients
      were developed based on six kinds of near infrared fluorescent dual ligand
      functionalized Au NCs (functionalized with different amino acids) as sensing
      receptors. These six kinds of different amino acids functionalized Au NCs were
      synthesized for the first time within 2h due to the direct donation of
      delocalized electrons of electron-rich atoms or groups of the ligands to the Au
      core. Based on this, ten proteins could be simultaneously and effectively
      discriminated by this "chemical nose/tongue" sensor array. Linear discrimination
      analysis (LDA) of the response patterns showed successful differentiation of the
      analytes at concentrations as low as 10nM with high identification accuracy.
      Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) experiment illustrates that Au NCs
      interacted with proteins mainly by hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces.
      Furthermore, the greatest highlight of this sensor array is demonstrated by
      successfully discriminating between serums from different stages of breast cancer
      patients (early, middle and late) and healthy people, suggesting great potential
      for auxiliary diagnosis.

PMID- 28599182
TI  - Mussel-inspired poly(L-DOPA)-templated mineralization for calcium phosphate
      assembled intracellular nanocarriers.
AB  - We developed a calcium phosphate (CaP)-assembled polymer nanocarrier for
      intracellular doxorubicin (DOX) delivery based on a mussel-inspired
      mineralization approach. A DOX-loaded core-shell polymer nanoparticle (DOX-NP)
      consisting of a poly(3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine) (PDOPA) core and a poly
      (ethylene glycol) (PEG) shell was utilized as a nanotemplate for CaP
      mineralization. The mean hydrodynamic diameter of the DOX-loaded CaP-mineralized
      polymer nanoparticles (DOX-CaP-NPs) was 154.3nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray
      spectroscopy confirmed that the DOX-CaP-NPs contained substantial amounts of Ca
      and P, elements found only in the CaP mineral. The loading efficiency and content
      of DOX, estimated by fluorescence spectroscopy, were 54.0% and 10.8wt%,
      respectively. The CaP deposited in the PDOPA core domain enabled the DOX-CaP-NPs
      to maintain a robust structure and effectively inhibit DOX release at
      extracellular pH, whereas at endosomal pH, the CaP core dissolved to trigger a
      facilitated DOX release. The DOX-CaP-NPs may serve as robust nanocarriers with a
      high delivery efficacy for cancer chemotherapy.

PMID- 28599183
TI  - Facile synthesis of biphasic calcium phosphate microspheres with engineered
      surface topography for controlled delivery of drugs and proteins.
AB  - Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) microspheres are of great interest due to their
      high stability and osteoinductive properties at specific compositions. However,
      the need for optimal performance at a unique composition limits their flexibility
      for tuning drug release by modulation of bulk properties and presents the
      question of engineering surface topography as an alternative. It is necessary to
      have a facile method to control surface topography at a defined bulk composition.
      Here, we have produced BCP microspheres with different surface topographies that
      have the capability to be used as tunable drug release systems. We synthesized
      calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) microparticles by precipitating calcium
      and phosphate ions onto ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) templates. The
      morphology and surface topography of CDHA microparticles were controlled using
      process parameters, which governed nucleation and growth. These parameters
      included template concentration, heat rate, and stirring speed. Under low heat
      rate and static conditions, we could obtain spherical microparticles with long
      and short nanosheets on their surfaces at low and high EDTA concentrations,
      respectively. These nanostructured microspheres were subsequently crystallized by
      thermal treatment to produce EDTA-free BCP microspheres with intact morphology.
      These biocompatible BCP microspheres were highly effective in loading and
      prolonged release of both small molecule [dexamethasone (Dex)] and protein
      [bovine serum albumin (BSA)] models. This strategy has enabled us to control the
      surface topography of BCP microspheres at defined compositions and holds
      tremendous promise for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.

PMID- 28599184
TI  - Plasma modified PLA electrospun membranes for actinorhodin production
      intensification in Streptomyces coelicolor immobilized-cell cultivations.
AB  - Most of industrially relevant bioproducts are produced by submerged cultivations
      of actinomycetes. The immobilization of these Gram-positive filamentous bacteria
      on suitable porous supports may prevent mycelial cell-cell aggregation and pellet
      formation which usually negatively affect actinomycete submerged cultivations,
      thus, resulting in an improved biosynthetic capability. In this work, electrospun
      polylactic acid (PLA) membranes, subjected or not to O2-plasma treatment (PLA
      plasma), were used as support for immobilized-cell submerged cultivations of
      Streptomyces coelicolor M145. This strain produces different bioactive compounds,
      including the blue-pigmented actinorhodin (ACT) and red-pigmented
      undecylprodigiosin (RED), and constitutes a model for the study of antibiotic
      producing actinomycetes. Wet contact angles and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
      analysis confirmed the increased wettability of PLA-plasma due to the formation
      of polar functional groups such as carboxyl and hydroxyl moieties. Scanning
      electron microscope observations, carried out at different incubation times,
      revealed that S. coelicolor immobilized-cells created a dense "biofilm-like"
      mycelial network on both kinds of PLA membranes. Cultures of S. coelicolor
      immobilized-cells on PLA or PLA-plasma membranes produced higher biomass (between
      1.5 and 2 fold) as well as higher levels of RED and ACT than planktonic cultures.
      In particular, cultures of immobilized-cells on PLA and PLA-plasma produced
      comparable levels of RED that were approximatively 4 and 5 fold higher than those
      produced by planktonic cultures, respectively. In contrast, levels of ACT
      produced by immobilized-cell cultures on PLA and PLA-plasma were different, being
      5 and 10 fold higher than those of planktonic cultures, respectively. Therefore,
      this is study demonstrated the positive influence of PLA membrane on growth and
      secondary metabolite production in S. coelicolor and also revealed that O2-plasma
      treated PLA membranes specifically promoted higher ACT production than not
      treated membranes.

PMID- 28599185
TI  - QSAR models for predicting acute toxicity of pesticides in rainbow trout using
      the CORAL software and EFSA's OpenFoodTox database.
AB  - Optimal (flexible) descriptors were used to establish quantitative structure -
      activity relationships (QSAR) for toxicity of pesticides (n=116) towards rainbow
      trout. A heterogeneous set of hundreds of pesticides has been used, taken from
      the EFSA's chemical Hazards Database: OpenFoodTox. Optimal descriptors are
      preparing from simplified molecular input-line entry system (SMILES). So-called,
      correlation weights of different fragments of SMILES are calculating by the Monte
      Carlo optimization procedure where correlation coefficient between endpoint and
      optimal descriptor plays role of the target function. Having maximum of the
      correlation coefficient for the training set, one can suggest that the optimal
      descriptor calculated with these correlation weights can correlate with endpoint
      for external validation set. This approach was checked up with three different
      distributions into the training (~85%) set and external validation (~15%) set.
      The statistical characteristics of these models are (i) for training set
      correlation coefficient (r2) ranges 0.72-0.81, and root mean squared error (RMSE)
      ranges 0.54-1.25; (ii) for external (validation) set r2 ranges 0.74-0.84; and
      RMSE ranges 0.64-0.75. Computational experiments have shown that presence of
      chlorine, fluorine, sulfur, and aromatic fragments is promoter of increase for
      the toxicity.

PMID- 28599186
TI  - Histological alterations in gills and liver of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus
      mykiss) after exposure to the antibiotic oxytetracycline.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the histopathological effects of
      oxytetracycline (OTC) on the gill and liver tissues of rainbow trouts
      (Oncorhynchus mykiss) following acute (96h: 0.005-50mg/L) and chronic (28days:
      0.3125-5MUg/L) exposures. Results suggest the existence of a cause-and-effect
      relationship between the exposure to OTC and tissue damage. Most predominant
      disorders observed in gills were progressive (e.g. hypertrophy of mucous cells
      and hyperplasia of epithelial cells) in acute exposure and regressive (e.g.
      lamellar fusion, epithelial lifting of lamellae and some changes in tissue
      architecture) in chronic exposure. However, only the acute exposure was
      responsible for a significant increase of the total gill pathological index. PAGE
      index, reflecting the extent of gill tissue available for gas exchanges in fish,
      remained unchanged for both exposures. In liver, circulatory (e.g. hemorrhage and
      increase of sinusoidal space), regressive (e.g. pyknotic nucleus, vacuolization
      and hepatocellular degenerations) and progressive (e.g. hypertrophy of
      hepatocytes) changes were observed, but just after acute exposure. After chronic
      exposure, only inflammatory changes (e.g. leucocytes infiltration) were observed.
      Following both exposures, a significant increase of the total liver pathological
      index was recorded. Despite the increase of the histological damage in
      individuals exposed to OTC, lesions observed were of minimal or moderate
      pathological importance, non-specific and reversible. The data gathered following
      acute and chronic exposures also suggest the onset of adaptive mechanisms of
      fish, namely for longer exposure periods. Furthermore the observed histological
      alterations appear to be result of several physio-metabolic disorders consequence
      of the biochemical and molecular modes of action of OTC.

PMID- 28599187
TI  - The impact of antecedent trauma exposure and mental health symptoms on the post
      deployment mental health of Afghanistan-deployed Australian troops.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both traumatic deployment experiences and antecedent traumas increase
      personnel's risk of developing PTSD and depression. However, only cross-sectional
      studies have assessed whether antecedent trauma moderates stress reactions to
      deployment experiences. This study prospectively examines whether antecedent
      trauma moderates the association between deployment trauma and post-deployment
      PTSD and depressive symptoms after accounting for antecedent mental health
      problems, in a large Australian Defence Force (ADF) sample. METHODS: In the ADF
      Middle East Area of Operations Prospective Study, currently-serving military
      personnel deployed to Afghanistan across 2010-2012 (n = 1122) completed self
      reported measures at pre-deployment and post-deployment. RESULTS: Within
      multivariable regressions, associations between deployment trauma and PTSD and
      depressive symptoms at post-deployment were stronger for personnel with greater
      antecedent trauma. However, once adjusting for antecedent mental health problems,
      these significant interaction effects disappeared. Instead, deployment-related
      trauma and antecedent mental health problems showed direct associations with post
      deployment mental health problems. Antecedent trauma was also indirectly
      associated with post-deployment mental health problems through antecedent mental
      health problems. Similar associations were seen with prior combat exposure as a
      moderator. LIMITATIONS: Antecedent and deployment trauma were reported
      retrospectively. Self-reports may also suffer from social desirability bias,
      especially at pre-deployment. CONCLUSIONS: Our main effects results support the
      pervasive and cumulative negative effect of trauma on military personnel,
      regardless of its source. While antecedent trauma does not amplify personnel's
      psychological response to deployment trauma, it is indirectly associated with
      increased post-deployment mental health problems. Antecedent mental health should
      be considered within pre-deployment prevention programs, and deployment-trauma
      within post-operational screening.

PMID- 28599189
TI  - Preclinical activity of FF-10501-01, a novel inosine-5'-monophosphate
      dehydrogenase inhibitor, in acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: FF-10501-01 is a selective inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase
      (IMPDH) inhibitor that has shown activity in cancer cell lines. We studied
      whether FF-10501-01 is effective in targeting a variety of hypomethylating agent
      (HMA)-sensitive and -resistant acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cell lines.
      METHODS: We treated multiple cell lines (including HMA-resistant cells) with FF
      10501-01 and analyzed proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle status. We also
      assessed HMA-FF-10501-01 combinations and the ability of extracellular guanosine
      to rescue cell proliferation in FF-10501-01-treated cells. We performed high
      performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to study guanine nucleotide levels in
      treated and untreated cells. Finally, we studied the effects of FF-10501-01 in
      fresh peripheral blood cells taken from AML patients. RESULTS: FF-10501-01 showed
      a strong dose-dependent effect on proliferation and induced apoptosis at
      approximately 30MUM. The effects of FF-10501-01 treatment on cell cycle status
      were variable, with no statistically significant trends. Guanosine rescued
      proliferation in FF-10501-01-treated cells, and HPLC results showed significant
      decreases in phosphorylated guanosine levels in MOLM13 cells. FF-10501-01
      effectively reduced proliferation at concentrations of 300MUM and above in 3
      primary AML samples. CONCLUSIONS: FF-10501-01 effectively induces AML cell death
      and reduces AML peripheral blood cell proliferation by targeting guanine
      nucleotide biosynthesis regardless of HMA resistance status.

PMID- 28599188
TI  - Mast cell leukemia (MCL): Clinico-pathologic and molecular features and survival
      outcome.
AB  - Mast cell leukemia (MCL) is a very rare subtype of systemic mastocytosis (SM). We
      have identified 13 such patients (5.9%) among 218 patients with SM seen at our
      institution between 1994 and 2016. Patients with MCL had poor survival (median
      31.6 months); response to various therapies was rare and not durable. Clinical
      course may be affected by concurrent associated hematologic neoplasm and
      different genetic profiles. More research is required to decipher this rare and
      enigmatic SM subtype.

PMID- 28599190
TI  - Sharing post-AML consolidation supportive therapy with local centers reduces
      patient travel burden without compromising outcomes.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is frequently treated with induction and
      consolidation chemotherapy. Consolidation chemotherapy can be delivered on an
      ambulatory basis, requiring some patients to travel long distances for treatment
      at specialized centers. We developed a shared care model where patients receive
      consolidation chemotherapy at a quaternary center, but post-consolidation
      supportive care at local hospitals. To evaluate the impact of our model on
      patient travel and outcomes we conducted a retrospective analysis of AML and
      acute promyelocytic leukemia patients receiving consolidation over four years at
      our quaternary center. 73 patients received post-consolidation care locally, and
      344 at the quaternary center. Gender, age and cytogenetic risk did not
      significantly differ between groups. Shared care patients saved mean round trip
      distance of 146.5km+/-99.6 and time of 96.7min+/-63.4 compared to travelling to
      quaternary center. There was no significant difference in overall survival
      between groups, and no increased hazard of death for shared care patients. 30,
      60, and 90day survival from start of consolidation was 98.6%, 97.2%, and 95.9%
      for shared care and 98.8%, 97.1%, and 95.3% for quaternary center patients. Thus,
      a model utilizing regional partnerships for AML post-consolidation care reduces
      travel burden while maintaining safety.

PMID- 28599191
TI  - Targeting autophagy in multiple myeloma.
AB  - Autophagy plays an important role in plasma cell ontogeny and in the
      pathophysiology of multiple myeloma. Autophagy is usually considered a pro
      survival mechanism, and cooperates with the ubiquitin proteasome system in
      maintaining the homeostasis of myeloma cells by degrading excessive and misfolded
      proteins for energy recycling. Therefore, the inhibition of autophagy could
      effectively induce death in myeloma cells, and could synergize with proteasome
      inhibitors. However, the excessive activation of autophagy could also lead to the
      extreme degradation of the organelles that induce autophagic cell death. Hence,
      the activation of autophagic cell death might also represent a promising approach
      for treating myeloma. Recent studies have demonstrated that autophagy also
      mediates drug resistance in myeloma cells and the complications of myeloma, while
      the inhibition of autophagy may reverse the response to drugs. In this study, we
      have mainly reviewed recent research on autophagy in relationship to the
      therapeutic effect, the reversal of drug resistance, and the mediation of
      complications.

PMID- 28599192
TI  - Psychophysiological and self-reported reactivity associated with social anxiety
      and public speaking fear symptoms: Effects of fear versus distress.
AB  - This study examines psychophysiological and subjective reactivity to anxiety
      provoking situations in relation to social anxiety and public speaking fear. We
      hypothesized that social anxiety symptoms would be associated with similar
      reactivity across types of imaginary anxiety scenes and not specifically to
      social anxiety-related scenes. This would be attributed to co-existing depression
      symptoms. Public speaking fear was expected to be associated with more
      circumscribed reactivity to survival-threat scenes, due to its association with
      fearfulness. Community participants imagined standardized anxiety situations,
      including social anxiety and animal fear scenes, while their physiological
      reactivity and self-reported emotions were assessed. Findings supported that
      social anxiety was associated with undifferentiated physiological reactivity
      across anxiety-provoking situations, except with regards to skin conductance
      level, which was higher during social anxiety imagery. Public speaking fear was
      associated with increased reactivity to animal phobia and panic scenes.
      Covariance analyses indicated that the lack of response specificity associated
      with social anxiety could be attributed to depression levels, while the
      specificity associated with public speaking fear could be explained by
      fearfulness. Findings highlight the need to assess not only primary anxiety
      symptoms but also depression and fearfulness, which likely predict discrepant
      reactions of individuals to anxiogenic situations.

PMID- 28599193
TI  - Organic and inorganic speciation of particulate matter formed during different
      combustion phases in an improved cookstove.
AB  - Residential solid fuel combustion in cookstoves has established health impacts
      including bladder and lung cancers, cataracts, low birth weight, and pneumonia.
      The chemical composition of particulate matter (PM) from 4 commonly-used solid
      fuels (coal, dung, ambient/dry applewood, and oakwood pellets), emitted from a
      gasifier cookstove, as well as propane, were examined. Temporal changes between
      the different cookstove burn-phases were also explored. Normalized concentrations
      of non-refractory PM1, total organics, chloride, ammonium, nitrate, sulfate, and
      41 particle-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured using a
      High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and a
      Thermal desorption Aerosol Gas chromatograph (TAG), respectively. Coal
      demonstrated the highest fraction of organic matter in its particulate emission
      composition (98%), followed by dung (94%). Coal and dung also demonstrated the
      highest numbers and concentrations of PAHs. While dry applewood emitted ten times
      lower organic matter compared to ambient applewood, a higher fraction of these
      organics was composed of PAHs, especially the more toxic ones such as
      benzo(a)pyrene (9.63ng/L versus 0.04ng/L), and benzo(b)fluoranthene (31.32ng/L
      versus 0.19ng/L). Data from the AMS demonstrated no clear trends for any of the
      combustion fuels over the different combustion phases unlike the previously
      reported trends observed for the physical characteristics. Of the solid fuels,
      pellets demonstrated the lowest emissions. Emissions from propane were below the
      quantification limit of the instruments. This work highlights the benefits of
      incorporating additional metrics into the cookstove evaluation process, thus
      enriching the existing PM data inventory.

PMID- 28599194
TI  - Spatiotemporal patterns and relationships among the diet, biochemistry, and
      exposure to flame retardants in an apex avian predator, the peregrine falcon.
AB  - Flame retardants (FR) are industrial chemicals and some are proven environmental
      contaminants that accumulate in predatory birds. Few studies have examined the
      influence of diet on FR profiles in nestling raptors and the possible
      physiological implications of such FR exposure. The objectives of this research
      were (1) to determine spatial patterns of <= 48 polybrominated diphenyl ether
      (PBDE) congeners and <= 26 non-PBDE FRs, including organophosphate esters (OPEs),
      in nestling peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) across the Canadian Great Lakes
      St. Lawrence River Basin (GL-SLR; 2010) and in the eastern Canadian Arctic
      (2007); (2) to identify temporal changes in FR concentrations from the mid-2000s
      to 2010 in GL-SLR peregrine nestlings; (3) to investigate the role of diet using
      stable isotopes on exposure patterns of quantifiable FRs; and (4) to assess
      possible associations between circulating FRs and total (T) thyroxine (TT4) and
      triiodothyronine (TT3), tocopherol, retinol and oxidative status (isoprostanes).
      The summed concentrations of the top 5 PBDEs (Sigma5) (BDE-47, -99, -100, -154, 
      153) were significantly higher in rural nestlings than urban nestlings in the GL
      SLR, followed by the eastern Arctic nestlings. The PBDE congener profile of rural
      nestlings was dominated by BDE-99 (340/00), whereas BDE-209 (310/00) became
      dominant in the 2010 urban PBDE profile marking a shift since the mid-2000s. Low
      (ppb) concentrations of 25 novel non-PBDE FRs (e.g., 1,2-bis-(2,4,6
      tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE)) were measured in
      the nestlings in at least one region, with the first report in peregrines of 15
      novel non-PBDE FRs (e.g., 2-ethyl-1-hyxyl 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EHTBB),
      pentabromo allyl ether (PBPAE), tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (alpha-, beta-DBE
      DBCH)) as well as of tris (2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) (0-7.5ng/g ww) >
      tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) (0.1-5.5ng/g ww) > tris(2-chloroethyl)
      phosphate (TCEP) (0.02-2.0ng/g ww) > tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate
      (TDCIPP) (0-1.0ng/g ww). Within the GL-SLR, the urban nestlings' diet had
      significantly more terrestrial sources (greater delta13C values) than the
      broader, more aquatic-based diet of rural peregrines. Dietary source (delta13C)
      was significantly associated with concentrations of Sigma5PBDE, BDE-209, EHTBB,
      and 2,2-4,4',5,5'-hexabromobiphenyl (BB-153), with trophic level (delta15N) also
      positively associated with BDE-209 levels. Compared to urban nestlings, the rural
      nestlings had significantly lower circulating concentrations of thyroxine (TT4),
      triiodothyronine (TT3), a greater proportion of TT3 relative to TT4 (TT3:TT4),
      tocopherol and oxidative status (isoprostanes), but higher retinol levels; the
      most recalcitrant PBDE congener, BDE-153, in combination with low concentrations
      of some novel FRs, particularly octabromotrimethylphenyllindane (OBIND), may
      influence circulating thyroid hormones, especially TT4, and retinol levels of
      peregrine falcon nestlings. These associations of FR-endocrine-biochemical
      measures suggest possible exposure-related changes in these birds and further
      study is warranted.

PMID- 28599195
TI  - Evaluation of a data fusion approach to estimate daily PM2.5 levels in North
      China.
AB  - PM2.5 air pollution has been a growing concern worldwide. Previous studies have
      conducted several techniques to estimate PM2.5 exposure spatiotemporally in
      China, but all these have limitations. This study was to develop a data fusion
      approach and compare it with kriging and Chemistry Module. Two techniques were
      applied to create daily spatial cover of PM2.5 in grid cells with a resolution of
      10km in North China in 2013, respectively, which was kriging with an external
      drift (KED) and Weather Research and Forecast Model with Chemistry Module (WRF
      Chem). A data fusion technique was developed by fusing PM2.5 concentration
      predicted by KED and WRF-Chem, accounting for the distance from the central of
      grid cell to the nearest ground observations and daily spatial correlations
      between WRF-Chem and observations. Model performances were evaluated by comparing
      them with ground observations and the spatial prediction errors. KED and data
      fusion performed better at monitoring sites with a daily model R2 of 0.95 and
      0.94, respectively and PM2.5 was overestimated by WRF-Chem (R2=0.51). KED and
      data fusion performed better around the ground monitors, WRF-Chem performed
      relative worse with high prediction errors in the central of study domain. In our
      study, both KED and data fusion technique provided highly accurate PM2.5. Current
      monitoring network in North China was dense enough to provide a reliable PM2.5
      prediction by interpolation technique.

PMID- 28599196
TI  - Understanding and addressing missed care in clinical placements - Implications
      for nursing students and nurse educators.
AB  - This paper addresses the issue of substandard care and its effects on healthcare
      practice. It explores some recent concerns about the problem in nursing, its
      potential effects on students, how it can be conceptualised and what action needs
      to be, by both nurses and educators to prevent it. Recent healthcare scandals
      have tarnished the public image of nursing, and are also likely to influence
      nursing students' images, expectations and experiences of nursing. While much
      attention has been paid to the examination of such lapses in care, and potential
      corrective actions, little attention has been paid to the potential or actual
      effect on nursing students in practice. While good resources and staffing levels
      are crucial to ensuring optimal nursing care, developing and encouraging nursing
      students' awareness of and openness about personal behaviours, reflecting
      critically on practice reflection and strengthening nurse educators'
      collaborative links with healthcare practice can all serve to positively
      influence care deficits.

PMID- 28599197
TI  - Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) or lycopene supplementation attenuates
      ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction through different mechanistic
      pathways.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of tomato or lycopene
      supplementation on cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Male
      Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: the sham group (animals that underwent
      simulated surgery) that received a standard chow (S; n=18), the infarcted group
      that received a standard chow (MI; n=13), the infarcted group supplemented with
      lycopene (1 mg of lycopene/kg body weight/day) (MIL; n=16) and the infarcted
      group supplemented with tomato (MIT; n=16). After 3 months, morphological,
      functional and biochemical analyses were performed. The groups MIL and MIT showed
      decreased interstitial fibrosis induced by infarction. Tomato supplementation
      attenuated the hypertrophy induced by MI. In addition, tomato and lycopene
      improved diastolic dysfunction evaluated by echocardiographic and isolated heart
      studies, respectively. The MI group showed higher levels of cardiac TNF-alpha
      compared to the MIL and MIT groups. Decreased nuclear factor E2-related factor 2
      was measured in the MIL group. Lipid hydroperoxide levels were higher in the
      infarcted groups; however, the MIT group had a lower concentration than did the
      MI group [S=223+/-20.8, MI=298+/-19.5, MIL=277+/-26.6, MIT=261+/-28.8 (nmol/g);
      n=8; P<.001]. We also examined left ventricle miRNA expression; when compared to
      the S group, the MIL group uniquely down-regulated the expression of eight
      miRNAs. No miRNA was found to be up-regulated uniquely in the MIT and MIL groups.
      In conclusion, tomato or lycopene supplementation attenuated the cardiac
      remodeling process and improved diastolic function after MI. However, the effect
      of lycopene and tomato supplementation occurred through different mechanistic
      pathways.

PMID- 28599198
TI  - Hypoalbuminemia, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and functional outcome
      in intracerebral hemorrhage.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hypoalbuminemia and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) are
      reported in critically-ill patients, but their relationship is unclear. We sought
      to determine the association of admission serum albumin and SIRS with outcomes in
      patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: We used a multicenter,
      multinational registry of ICH patients to select patients in whom SIRS parameters
      and serum albumin levels had been determined on admission. Hypoalbuminemia was
      defined as the lowest standardized quartile of albumin; SIRS according to
      standard criteria. Primary outcomes were modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at discharge
      and in-hospital mortality. Regression models were used to assess for the
      association of hypoalbuminemia and SIRS with discharge mRS and in-hospital
      mortality. RESULTS: Of 761 ICH patients included in the registry 518 met
      inclusion criteria; 129 (25%) met SIRS criteria on admission. Hypoalbuminemia was
      more frequent in patients with SIRS (42% versus 19%; p<0.001). SIRS was
      associated with worse outcomes (OR: 4.68, 95%CI, 2.52-8.76) and in-hospital all
      cause mortality (OR: 2.18, 95% CI, 1.60-2.97), while hypoalbuminemia was not
      associated with all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ICH,
      hypoalbuminemia is strongly associated with SIRS. SIRS, but not hypoalbuminemia,
      predicts poor outcome at discharge. Recognizing and managing SIRS early may
      prevent death or disability in ICH patients.

PMID- 28599199
TI  - The haemodynamic effects of bolus versus slower infusion of intravenous
      crystalloid in healthy volunteers.
AB  - PURPOSE: This pilot study aimed to characterise the haemodynamic effect of 1L of
      IV normal saline (NS) administered as a rapid versus slow infusion on cardiac
      output (CO), heart rate (HR), systemic blood pressures, and carotid blood flow in
      six healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six healthy male volunteers aged
      18-65years were randomized to receive 1L NS given over 30min or 120min. On a
      subsequent study session the alternate fluid regimen was administered.
      Haemodynamic data was gathered using a non-invasive finger arterial pressure
      monitor (Nexfin(r)), echocardiography and carotid duplex sonography. Time to
      micturition and urine volume was also assessed. RESULTS: Compared to baseline,
      rapid infusion of 1L of saline over 30min produced a fall in Nexfin(r)-measured
      CO by 0.62L/min (p<0.001), whereas there was a marginal but significant increase
      during infusion of 1L NS over 120min of 0.02L/min (p<0.001). This effect was
      mirrored by changes in HR and blood pressure (BP) (p<0.001). There were no
      significant changes in carotid blood flow, time to micturition, or urine volume
      produced. CONCLUSIONS: Slower infusion of 1L NS in healthy male volunteers
      produced a greater increase in CO, HR and BP than rapid infusion.

PMID- 28599200
TI  - Assessment of mechanically ventilated patients intoxicated with organophosphates
      by a novel surface electromyographic index.
AB  - PURPOSE: We present a new electromyographic index, named Engagement of
      Respiratory Muscle (ERM), for assessing the level of participation of respiratory
      muscles during spontaneous breathing test in patients poisoned with
      organophosphorus compound. METHODS: Diaphragm and sternocleidomastoid muscles
      activity was recorded by surface electromyography during spontaneous breathing
      test. A population of 23 patients poisoned with organophosphates and mechanically
      ventilated, and a control group of 28 healthy subjects were analyzed. RESULTS:
      All patients developed respiratory failure and 48% were diagnosed with
      intermediate syndrome by medical staff. The ERM index classified the patients in
      three clusters (p-value<0.005): Cluster I presented more engagement of the
      sternocleidomastoid compared to diaphragm, Cluster II had low muscle engagement
      of both muscles and also muscle weakness, Cluster III were characterized for the
      diaphragm recovery associated with higher engagement. The control group showed a
      similar muscle engagement to Cluster III. The capacity of ERM index for
      classifying patients with (sensitivity) and without (specificity) muscle weakness
      were 90.91% and 100% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The ERM is a promising index to
      assess the level of participation of respiratory muscle on spontaneous breathing
      test in patients poisoned with organophosphorus compounds, which could improve
      the extubation prognosis for these patients.

PMID- 28599201
TI  - Serum metabolome biomarkers associate low-level environmental perfluorinated
      compound exposure with oxidative /nitrosative stress in humans.
AB  - Previous in vivo and in vitro studies have linked perfluorinated compound (PFC)
      exposure with metabolic interruption, but the inter-species difference and high
      treatment doses usually make the results difficult to be extrapolated to humans
      directly. The best strategy for identifying the metabolic interruption may be to
      establish the direct correlations between monitored PFCs data and metabolic data
      on human samples. In this study, serum metabolome data and PFC concentrations
      were acquired for a Chinese adult male cohort. The most abundant PFCs are PFOA
      and PFOS with concentration medians 7.56 and 12.78 nM, respectively; in together
      they count around 81.6% of the total PFCs. PFC concentration-related serum
      metabolic profile changes and the related metabolic biomarkers were explored by
      using partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Respectively taking
      PFOS, PFOA and total PFC as the classifiers, serum metabolome can be
      differentiated between the lowest dose group (1st quartile PFCs) and the highest
      PFC dose group (4th quartile PFCs). Ten potential PFC biomarkers were identified,
      mainly involving in pollutant detoxification, antioxidation and nitric oxide (NO)
      signal pathways. These suggested that low-level environmental PFC exposure has
      significantly adverse impacts on glutathione (GSH) cycle, Krebs cycle, nitric
      oxide (NO) generation and purine oxidation in humans. To the best of our
      knowledge, this is the first report investigating the association of
      environmental PFC exposure with human serum metabolome alteration. Given the
      important biological functions of the identified biomarkers, we suggest that PFC
      could increase the metabolism syndromes risk including diabetes and
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28599202
TI  - Bioaccumulation mechanism of organophosphate esters in adult zebrafish (Danio
      rerio).
AB  - Although organophosphate esters (OPEs) have been detected with growing frequency
      in water ecosystems, the underlying accumulation mechanisms of these compounds in
      fish are still unknown. Here, we investigated the tissue-specific accumulation
      and depuration of seven OPEs in adult zebrafish at three levels (0, 1/150 LC50
      (environmentally relevant level), and 1/30 LC50 per OPE congener) in laboratory
      after 19 days exposure and 3 days depuration. The bioaccumulation of OPEs varied
      among tissues. Muscle contained the lowest level of OPEs and liver had the
      highest level of two (TPP and TCEP) of the seven OPEs at steady state. The high
      levels and slow depuration rates of TDCIPP, TPHP, and TCP observed in roe
      indicated that the accumulated OPEs were potentially stored in roe and
      transferred to the next generation. After examination of the major metabolites
      (organophosphate diesters) in selected tissues, a physiologically based
      toxicokinetic (PBTK) model used in fish was adopted to explore the key factors
      affecting the bioaccumulation of OPEs in zebrafish. Biotransformation of OPEs
      with polychlorinated alkyl moieties (i.e. TDCIPP) and aryl moieties (i.e. TPHP
      and TCP) has more significant impacts on the accumulation than those of OPEs with
      alkyl or short chain chlorinated alkyl moieties. Furthermore, the partition
      process between tissues and blood was also investigated, and was demonstrated to
      be the dominant process for OPEs accumulation in zebrafish. This study provides
      critical information on the bioaccumulation, tissue distribution, and
      metabolization of OPEs in relation with OPE structures in fish, as well as the
      underlying bioaccumulation mechanisms/pathways of OPEs in aquatic life.

PMID- 28599203
TI  - Molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance in cultivable multidrug
      resistant bacteria from livestock manure.
AB  - Diverse antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) are frequently reported to have high
      prevalence in veterinary manure samples due to extensive use of antibiotics in
      farm animals. However, the characteristics of the distribution and transmission
      of ARGs among bacteria, especially among different species of multiple antibiotic
      resistant bacteria (MARB), have not been well explored. By applying high
      throughput sequencing methods, our study uncovered a vast MARB reservoir in
      livestock manure. The genera Escherichia, Myroides, Acinetobacter, Proteus,
      Ignatzschineria, Alcaligenes, Providencia and Enterococcus were the predominant
      cultivable MARB, with compositions of 40.6%-85.7%. From chicken manure isolates,
      33 MARB were selected for investigation of the molecular characteristics of
      antibiotic resistance. A total of 61 ARGs and 18 mobile genetic elements (MGEs)
      were investigated. We found that 47 ARGs were widely distributed among the 33
      MARB isolates. Each isolate carried 27-36 genes responsible for resistance to
      eight classes of antibiotics frequently used in clinic or veterinary settings.
      ARGs to the six classes of antibiotics other than streptogramins and vancomycin
      were present in all 33 MARB isolates with a prevalence of 80%-100%. A total of 12
      MGEs were widely distributed among the 33 MARB, with intI1, IS26, ISaba1, and
      ISEcp1 simultaneously present in 100% of isolates. In addition, 9 gene cassettes
      within integrons and ISCR1 were detected among MARB isolates encoding resistance
      to different antibiotic classes. This is the first report revealing the general
      co-presence of multiple ARGs, various MGEs and ARG cassettes in different species
      of individual MARB isolates in chicken manure. The results highlight a much
      higher risk of ARGs spreading through livestock manure to humans than we
      expected.

PMID- 28599204
TI  - A new method to measure and model dynamic oxygen microdistributions in moving
      biofilms.
AB  - Biofilms in natural environments offer a superior solution to mitigate water
      pollution. Artificially intensified biofilm reactors represented by rotating
      biological contactors (RBCs) are widely applied and studied. Understanding the
      oxygen transfer process in biofilms is an important aspect of these studies, and
      describing this process in moving biofilms (such as biofilms in RBCs) is a
      particular challenge. Oxygen transfer in RBCs behaves differently than in other
      biological reactors due to the special oxygen supply mode that results from
      alternate exposure of the biofilm to wastewater and air. The study of oxygen
      transfer in biofilms is indispensable for understanding biodegradation in RBCs.
      However, the mechanisms are still not well known due to a lack of effective tools
      to dynamically analyze oxygen diffusion, reaction, and microdistribution in
      biofilms. A new experimental device, the Oxygen Transfer Modeling Device (OTMD),
      was designed and manufactured for this purpose, and a mathematical model was
      developed to model oxygen transfer in biofilm produced by an RBC. This device
      allowed the simulation of the local environment around the biofilm during normal
      RBC operation, and oxygen concentrations varying with time and depth in biofilm
      were measured using an oxygen microelectrode. The experimental data conformed
      well to the model description, indicating that the OTMD and the model were stable
      and reliable. Moreover, the OTMD offered a flexible approach to study the impact
      of a single-factor on oxygen transfer in moving biofilms. In situ environment of
      biofilm in an RBC was simulated, and dynamic oxygen microdistributions in the
      biofilm were measured and well fitted to the built model description.

PMID- 28599205
TI  - Comparative proteomic analysis reveals heart toxicity induced by chronic arsenic
      exposure in rats.
AB  - Arsenic is a widespread metalloid in the environment, which poses a broad
      spectrum of adverse effects on human health. However, a global view of arsenic
      induced heart toxicity is still lacking, and the underlying molecular mechanisms
      remain unclear. By performing a comparative quantitative proteomic analysis, the
      present study aims to investigate the alterations of proteome profile in rat
      heart after long-term exposure to arsenic. As a result, we found that the
      abundance of 81 proteins were significantly altered by arsenic treatment (35 up
      regulated and 46 down-regulated). Among these, 33 proteins were specifically
      associated with cardiovascular system development and function, including heart
      development, heart morphology, cardiac contraction and dilation, and other
      cardiovascular functions. It is further proposed that the aberrant regulation of
      14 proteins induced by arsenic would disturb cardiac contraction and relaxation,
      impair heart morphogenesis and development, and induce thrombosis in rats, which
      is mediated by the Akt/p38 MAPK signaling pathway. Overall, these findings will
      augment our knowledge of the involved mechanisms and develop useful biomarkers
      for cardiotoxicity induced by environmental arsenic exposure.

PMID- 28599206
TI  - Mercury flow through an Asian rice-based food web.
AB  - Mercury (Hg) is a globally-distributed pollutant, toxic to humans and animals.
      Emissions are particularly high in Asia, and the source of exposure for humans
      there may also be different from other regions, including rice as well as fish
      consumption, particularly in contaminated areas. Yet the threats Asian wildlife
      face in rice-based ecosystems are as yet unclear. We sought to understand how Hg
      flows through rice-based food webs in historic mining and non-mining regions of
      Guizhou, China. We measured total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in soil,
      rice, 38 animal species (27 for MeHg) spanning multiple trophic levels, and
      examined the relationship between stable isotopes and Hg concentrations. Our
      results confirm biomagnification of THg/MeHg, with a high trophic magnification
      slope. Invertivorous songbirds had concentrations of THg in their feathers that
      were 15x and 3x the concentration reported to significantly impair reproduction,
      at mining and non-mining sites, respectively. High concentrations in specialist
      rice consumers and in granivorous birds, the later as high as in piscivorous
      birds, suggest rice is a primary source of exposure. Spiders had the highest THg
      concentrations among invertebrates and may represent a vector through which Hg is
      passed to vertebrates, especially songbirds. Our findings suggest there could be
      significant population level health effects and consequent biodiversity loss in
      sensitive ecosystems, like agricultural wetlands, across Asia, and invertivorous
      songbirds would be good subjects for further studies investigating this
      possibility.

PMID- 28599207
TI  - Mercury and persistent organic pollutants in native and invading forage species
      of the Canadian Arctic: Consequences for food web dynamics.
AB  - Contaminant dynamics within Arctic marine food webs may be altered through the
      climate-driven northward invasions of temperate/boreal species. Here, we compare
      tissue concentrations of total mercury (THg) and legacy and emerging persistent
      organic pollutants (POPs) in native versus invading forage species sampled from
      2012 to 2014 near Arviat, Clyde River, and Resolute Bay, NU, representing, low,
      mid- and high eastern Canadian Arctic regions, respectively. Concentrations of
      THg, legacy Sigma-polychlorinated biphenyls (SigmaPCB) and Sigma-organochlorine
      (SigmaOC) pesticides were detected in all forage species, whereas emerging
      halogenated flame retardants were detected in only a few individuals.
      Concentrations of major contaminant groups among regions did not vary for Arctic
      cod (Boreogadus saida), while for sculpin (Cottoidea) there was no clear
      latitudinal trend. Thus, considering interspecific variation, native sculpin and
      northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) had the highest overall concentrations of THg
      (0.17 +/- 0.02 and 0.21 +/- 0.01 MUg g-1 wet weight, respectively), SigmaPCB (322
      +/- 35 and 245 +/- 25 ng g-1 lipid weight (lw), respectively), and SigmaOC (413
      +/- 38 and 734 +/- 64 ng g-1 lw, respectively). Comparing the keystone native
      species, Arctic cod, to its 'replacement' species, capelin (Mallotus villosus)
      and sandlance (Ammodytes spp.), THg concentrations were higher in Arctic cod
      compared to capelin (p < 0.001), which was partly explained by differences in
      fish length. Conversely, capelin and sandlance had higher concentrations of most
      POPs than Arctic cod (p < 0.02). Neither feeding habitat (based on delta13C),
      trophic position (based on delta15N), nor fish length significantly explained
      these differences in POPs between Arctic cod, capelin and sandlance. Higher POPs
      concentrations, as well as variation in congener/compound patterns, in capelin
      and sandlance relative to Arctic cod seem, therefore, more likely related to a
      more "temperate"-type contaminant signature in the invaders. Nevertheless, the
      relatively small (up to two-fold) magnitude of these differences suggested
      limited effects of these ecological changes on contaminant uptake by Arctic
      piscivores.

PMID- 28599208
TI  - Occurrence of pharmaceutical, recreational and psychotropic drug residues in
      surface water on the northern Antarctic Peninsula region.
AB  - Human presence in the Antarctic is increasing due to research activities and the
      rise in tourism. These activities contribute a number of potentially hazardous
      substances. The aim of this study is to conduct the first characterisation of the
      pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs present in the northern Antarctic
      Peninsula region, and to assess the potential environmental risk they pose to the
      environment. The study consisted of a single sampling of ten water samples from
      different sources, including streams, ponds, glacier drains, and a wastewater
      discharge into the sea. Twenty-five selected pharmaceuticals and 21 recreational
      drugs were analysed. The highest concentrations were found for the analgesics
      acetaminophen (48.74 MUg L-1), diclofenac (15.09 MUg L-1) and ibuprofen (10.05
      MUg L-1), and for the stimulant caffeine (71.33 MUg L-1). All these substances
      were detected in waters that were discharged directly into the ocean without any
      prior purification processes. The hazard quotient (HQ) values for ibuprofen,
      diclofenac and acetaminophen were far in excess of 10 at several sampling points.
      The concentrations of each substance measured and used as measured environmental
      concentration values for the HQ calculations are based on a one-time sampling.
      The Toxic Unit values indicate that analgesics and anti-inflammatories are the
      therapeutic group responsible for the highest toxic burden. This study is the
      first to analyse a wide range of substances and to determine the presence of
      pharmaceuticals and psychotropic drugs in the Antarctic Peninsula region. We
      believe it can serve as a starting point to focus attention on the need for
      continued environmental monitoring of these substances in the water cycle,
      especially in protected regions such as the Antarctic. This will determine
      whether pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs are hazardous to the environment
      and, if so, can be used as the basis for risk-assessment studies to prioritise
      the exposure to risk.

PMID- 28599209
TI  - Modelling toxin effects on protein biosynthesis in eukaryotic cells.
AB  - We present a rather generic model for toxin (ricin) inhibition of protein
      biosynthesis in eukaryotic cells. We also study reduction of the ricin toxic
      effects with application of antibodies against the RTB subunit of ricin
      molecules. Both species initially are delivered extracellularly. The model
      accounts for the pinocytotic and receptor-mediated toxin endocytosis and the
      intact toxin exocytotic removal out of the cell. The model also includes the
      lysosomal toxin destruction, the intact toxin motion to the endoplasmic reticulum
      (ER) for separation of its molecules into the RTA and RTB subunits, and the RTA
      chain translocation into the cytosol. In the cytosol, one portion of the RTA
      undergoes degradation via the ERAD. The other its portion can inactivate
      ribosomes at a large rate. The model is based on a system of deterministic ODEs.
      The influence of the kinetic parameters on the protein concentration and antibody
      protection factor is studied in detail.

PMID- 28599210
TI  - Long-term recall of social relationships related to addiction and HIV risk
      behaviors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social relationships have been demonstrated as a key predictor of
      relapse among addicted persons and are likely to be important determinants of HIV
      risk behaviors also. However, the degree to which this population can reliably
      and consistently identify important people (IPs) in retrospect has been
      understudied. METHODS: Using the modified Important People and Activities
      questionnaire, we investigated to what degree IPs were dropped, added, or
      retained, and whether data about individual IPs were reported accurately on 6-
      and 12-month follow up periods using a sample of 50 drug or alcohol abusing
      participants. RESULTS: We found that IPs were largely retained, and that those
      retained versus dropped/added differed by their reaction to participant
      alcohol/drug use, as well as frequency of contact. We further found that there
      were differences in reliability of data describing specific IPs. While both 6-
      and 12-month follow up periods led to reliabilities ranging from excellent to
      fair, we found poorer reliability on responses to recall of "frequency of
      contact" and "reactions to drinking", as well as "reactions to drug use".
      CONCLUSION: Future investigations of reliability of social relationships recalled
      retrospectively should attempt to examine possible systematic biases in addition
      to the reliability of specific IP data. More sophisticated studies are needed on
      factors associated with systematic variation in reporting of aspects of social
      relationships that are associated with addictions or HIV risk outcomes.

PMID- 28599211
TI  - Marijuana and tobacco co-use among a nationally representative sample of US
      pregnant and non-pregnant women: 2005-2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
      findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Marijuana and tobacco are the most commonly used illicit and licit
      drugs during pregnancy. This study aimed to examine a nationally representative
      sample of US pregnant women and to: (1) determine the prevalence of past month
      marijuana and tobacco co-use, (2) identify characteristics that distinguish
      marijuana and tobacco co-users from users of marijuana only, tobacco only, or
      neither, and (3) compare characteristics that differ between pregnant and non
      pregnant co-users of marijuana and tobacco. METHODS: Data were obtained from
      497,218 US women (8721 pregnant) ages 12-49 who participated in the 2005-2014
      National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Prevalence and demographic and substance
      use characteristics were compared across groups using weighted estimates and chi
      squared tests. Multinomial logistic regression identified demographic and
      substance use correlates of co-use. RESULTS: Co-use among pregnant and non
      pregnant women was significantly more prevalent than marijuana-only use but was
      less common than tobacco-only use. In unadjusted frequencies, pregnant co-users
      significantly differed from non-pregnant co-users across several domains. Among
      pregnant women, multivariate correlates of co-use of tobacco and marijuana vs.
      tobacco-only use were ages 12-17, non-Hispanic black race, Hispanic ethnicity,
      and past month polytobacco, any alcohol, and other drug use (all adjusted odds
      ratios>=2.0). CONCLUSIONS: In this first examination of the prevalence and
      correlates of co-use of marijuana and tobacco among a nationally representative
      group of pregnant women, pregnant co-users were more likely to report other high
      risk behaviors compared with non-pregnant co-users and users of a single
      substance, suggesting disparities worthy of further investigation.

PMID- 28599212
TI  - Dose-related effects of delta-9-THC on emotional responses to acute psychosocial
      stress.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cannabis smokers often report that they use the drug to relax or to
      relieve emotional stress. However, few clinical studies have shown evidence of
      the stress-relieving effects of cannabis or cannabinoid agonists. In this study,
      we sought to assess the influence of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a main
      active ingredient of cannabis, upon emotional responses to an acute psychosocial
      stressor among healthy young adults. METHODS: Healthy volunteers (N=42)
      participated in two experimental sessions, one with psychosocial stress (Trier
      Social Stress Test, TSST) and another with a non-stressful task, after receiving
      0 (N=13), 7.5mg (N=14) or 12.5mg (N=15) oral THC. Capsules were administered
      under randomized, double blind conditions, 2.5h before the tasks began. We
      measured subjective mood and drug effects, vital signs and salivary cortisol
      before and at repeated times after the capsule and tasks. Subjects also appraised
      the tasks, before and after completion. RESULTS: In comparison to placebo, 7.5mg
      THC significantly reduced self-reported subjective distress after the TSST and
      attenuated post-task appraisals of the TSST as threatening and challenging. By
      contrast, 12.5mg THC increased negative mood overall i.e., both before and
      throughout the tasks, and pre-task ratings of the TSST as threatening and
      challenging. It also impaired TSST performance and attenuated blood pressure
      reactivity to the stressor. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a low dose of
      THC produces subjective stress-relieving effects in line with those commonly
      reported among cannabis users, but that higher doses may non-specifically
      increase negative mood.

PMID- 28599213
TI  - Media alcohol advertising with drinking behaviors among young adolescents in
      Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate potential effects of alcohol ads in six major
      marketing channels on drinking behaviors among young adolescents in Taiwan.
      METHODS: The data were derived from the Alcohol-Related Experiences among
      Children study. The baseline sample was comprised of 1926 seventh-eighth graders
      from 11 public middle schools in Taipei in 2010; follow-up was conducted one year
      later (follow-up rate=97%). Information concerning individual sociodemographics,
      family characteristics, exposure to media portrayals of drinking and alcohol ads
      on major marketing channels, and drinking experience was collected through web
      based self-administered questionnaires. Complex survey analyses were used to
      evaluate the association estimates, with stratification by prior drinking
      experiences in childhood. RESULTS: Television, in-store displays, and websites
      are the three most common marketing channels for young adolescents to report past
      month alcohol advertising exposure. With statistical adjustment for potential
      confounders and six market channels, exposure to alcohol ads on television was
      associated with subsequent increased drinking initiation (adjusted odds ratio
      [aOR]=2.62; 95% CI=1.14-6.02). For those who have initiated alcohol use in
      childhood, the exposure to ads on the web (aOR=1.50; 95% CI=1.04-2.15) and radio
      (aOR=2.58; 95% CI=1.60-4.15) may elevate subsequent risk of occasional drinking.
      Exposure to media drinking portrayals was not related to subsequent drinking
      behaviors in this sample. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that the effects
      of alcohol advertising on drinking behaviors in early adolescence may differ by
      marketing channels. Preventive strategies targeting underage drinking should
      consider restraining marketing channels (e.g., websites and radio) from certain
      advertising content and placement.

PMID- 28599215
TI  - Mathematical modeling of diphtheria transmission in Thailand.
AB  - In this work, a mathematical model for describing diphtheria transmission in
      Thailand is proposed. Based on the course of diphtheria infection, the population
      is divided into 8 epidemiological classes, namely, susceptible, symptomatic
      infectious, asymptomatic infectious, carrier with full natural-acquired immunity,
      carrier with partial natural-acquired immunity, individual with full vaccine
      induced immunity, and individual with partial vaccine-induced immunity. Parameter
      values in the model were either directly obtained from the literature, estimated
      from available data, or estimated by means of sensitivity analysis. Numerical
      solutions show that our model can correctly describe the decreasing trend of
      diphtheria cases in Thailand during the years 1977-2014. Furthermore, despite
      Thailand having high DTP vaccine coverage, our model predicts that there will be
      diphtheria outbreaks after the year 2014 due to waning immunity. Our model also
      suggests that providing booster doses to some susceptible individuals and those
      with partial immunity every 10 years is a potential way to inhibit future
      diphtheria outbreaks.

PMID- 28599214
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of treatment utilization among adults with cannabis use
      disorder in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increase in cannabis potency may have treatment implications for
      cannabis use disorder (CUD). Given the reported increase in prevalence of
      cannabis use among adults, there is a need to understand substance use treatment
      needs for CUD. METHODS: We examined demographics and behavioral health indicators
      of adults aged >=18 years that met criteria for past-year CUD (n=10,943) in the
      2005-2013 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. We determined prevalence and
      correlates of past-year treatment use for alcohol/drug, any drug, and cannabis
      use related problems, to inform treatment efforts for CUD. RESULTS: The majority
      of adults with past-year CUD were young adults aged 18-25 or men, had low income,
      and did not attend college. Two-thirds of adults with CUD met criteria for
      cannabis dependence, which was comparatively common among younger adults, women,
      low-income or publicly insured adults, and college-educated adults. Nicotine
      dependence (40.92%) and alcohol (44.07%) or other drug use disorder (19.70%) were
      prevalent among adults with CUD. Overall, less than 13% of adults with CUD had
      received alcohol/drug use treatment the past year; only 7.8% received cannabis
      specific treatment. There was no significant yearly variation in treatment use
      prevalence over 9 years. In particular, Asian-Americans, women, and college
      educated adults underutilized cannabis-specific treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This
      large sample of adults with CUD reveals pervasive underutilization of cannabis
      related treatment, especially in women, married adults, and those with college
      education, despite a high proportion of comorbid behavioral health problems.

PMID- 28599216
TI  - Fuzzy risk stratification and risk assessment model for clinical monitoring in
      the ICU.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The decisions that clinicians make in intensive care units (ICUs)
      based on monitored parameters reflecting physiological deterioration are of major
      medical and biomedical engineering interest. These parameters have been
      investigated and assessed for their usefulness in risk assessment. METHODS:
      Totally, 127 ICU adult patients were studied. They were selected from a MIMIC II
      Waveform Database Matched Subset and had continuous monitoring of heart rate,
      invasive blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. The monitored data were dimension
      reduced using deep learning autoencoders and then used to train a support vector
      machine model (SVM). A combination of methods including fuzzy c-means clustering
      (FCM), and a random forest (RF) was used to determine the risk levels. RESULTS:
      When classifying patients into stable or deteriorating groups the main
      performance parameter was the receiver operating characteristics (ROC). The area
      under the ROC (AUROC) was 93.2 (95% CI (92.9-93.4)) with sensitivity and
      specificity values of 0.80 and 0.89, respectively. The suggested fuzzy risk
      levels using the combined method of the FCM clustering and RF achieved an
      accuracy of 1 (0.9999, 1), with both sensitivity and specificity values equal to
      1. CONCLUSIONS: The potential for using models in risk assessment to estimate a
      patient's physiological status, stable or deteriorating, within 4 h has been
      demonstrated. The study was based on retrospective analysis and further studies
      are needed to evaluate the impact on clinical outcomes using this model.

PMID- 28599218
TI  - Adaptation to climate change in agriculture in Bangladesh: The role of formal
      institutions.
AB  - Bangladesh is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and adaptation is
      emerging as a key policy response. Place based programs that build adaptive
      capacity are needed. This paper explores the effectiveness of formal institutions
      in climate change adaptation for agriculture from the perspectives of farmers and
      institutional communities of practice within two drought-prone areas in
      Bangladesh. Our findings show that formal institutions via their communities of
      practice play an important role in building place based capacity for mitigation
      and adaptation strategies in agriculture. Over-emphasis on technology, lack of
      acknowledgement of cultural factors and a failure of institutional communities of
      practice to mediate and create linkages with informal institutional communities
      of practice remain barriers. We argue that in order for formal institutions to
      play an ongoing and crucial role in building adaptive agriculture in Bangladesh,
      they must incorporate cultural mechanisms and build partnerships with more
      community based informal institutions.

PMID- 28599219
TI  - Phosphorous removal from aqueous solution can be enhanced through the calcination
      of lime sludge.
AB  - Water treatment plants generate an enormous amount of the sludge which is
      normally treated as waste. In the recent past, many investigations have been
      focused on developing an economical adsorbent using water treatment sludge to
      remove phosphorous (P) from aqueous solutions. However, the great extents of the
      studies have been limited in the use of alum- and iron-based sludges. This study,
      therefore, investigated the P removal performance of the calcined lime sludge.
      Calcined lime sludge at 700  degrees C significantly enhanced the P removal
      efficiency whereas marginal improvement was noted when the sludge calcined at 400
      degrees C was tested. With increase P removal efficiency, final pH values of the
      solution also significantly increased. P removal efficiency of the calcined
      sludge decreased with increasing the initial P concentrations. However, the
      removal efficiency could be improved by increasing the weight of the sludge.
      Further analysis demonstrated that P removal trend followed both pseudo-second
      order and diffusion-chemisorption kinetics signifying the P removal is
      potentially due to a multi-mechanistic reaction in which, the process is
      controlled by intra-particle diffusion followed by chemisorptions.

PMID- 28599217
TI  - Reduced dopamine receptors and transporters but not synthesis capacity in normal
      aging adults: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Many theories of cognitive aging are based on evidence that dopamine (DA)
      declines with age. Here, we performed a systematic meta-analysis of cross
      sectional positron emission tomography and single-photon emission-computed
      tomography studies on the average effects of age on distinct DA targets
      (receptors, transporters, or relevant enzymes) in healthy adults (N = 95 studies
      including 2611 participants). Results revealed significant moderate to large,
      negative effects of age on DA transporters and receptors. Age had a significantly
      larger effect on D1- than D2-like receptors. In contrast, there was no
      significant effect of age on DA synthesis capacity. The average age reductions
      across the DA system were 3.7%-14.0% per decade. A meta-regression found only DA
      target as a significant moderator of the age effect. This study precisely
      quantifies prior claims of reduced DA functionality with age. It also identifies
      presynaptic mechanisms (spared synthesis capacity and reduced DA transporters)
      that may partially account for previously unexplained phenomena whereby older
      adults appear to use dopaminergic resources effectively. Recommendations for
      future studies including minimum required samples sizes are provided.

PMID- 28599220
TI  - Coupling distributed stormwater collection and managed aquifer recharge: Field
      application and implications.
AB  - Groundwater is increasingly important for satisfying California's growing fresh
      water demand. Strategies like managed aquifer recharge (MAR) can improve
      groundwater supplies, mitigating the negative consequences of persistent
      groundwater overdraft. Distributed stormwater collection (DSC)-MAR projects
      collect and infiltrate excess hillslope runoff before it reaches a stream,
      focusing on 40-400 ha drainage areas (100-1000 ac). We present results from six
      years of DSC-MAR operation-including high resolution analyses of precipitation,
      runoff generation, infiltration, and sediment transport-and discuss their
      implications for regional resource management. This project generated significant
      water supply benefit over six years, including an extended regional drought,
      collecting and infiltrating 5.3 * 105 m3 (426 ac-ft). Runoff generation was
      highly sensitive to sub-daily storm frequency, duration, and intensity, and a
      single intense storm often accounted for a large fraction of annual runoff.
      Observed infiltration rates varied widely in space and time. The basin-average
      infiltration rate during storms was 1-3 m/d, with point-specific rates up to 8
      m/d. Despite efforts to limit sediment load, 8.2 * 105 kg of fine-grained
      sediment accumulated in the infiltration basin over three years, likely reducing
      soil infiltration capacity. Periodic removal of accumulated material, better
      source control, and/or improved sediment detention could mitigate this effect in
      the future. Regional soil analyses can maximize DSC-MAR benefits by identifying
      high-infiltration capacity features and characterizing upland sediment sources. A
      regional network of DSC-MAR projects could increase groundwater supplies while
      contributing to improved groundwater quality, flood mitigation, and stakeholder
      engagement.

PMID- 28599221
TI  - Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches driving isoprenoid
      production in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Isoprenoids comprise the largest family of natural organic compounds with many
      useful applications in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and industrial fields.
      Rapid developments in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology have
      facilitated the engineering of isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways in Escherichia
      coli to induce high levels of production of many different isoprenoids. In this
      review, the stem pathways for synthesizing isoprene units as well as the branch
      pathways deriving diverse isoprenoids from the isoprene units have been
      summarized. The review also highlights the metabolic engineering efforts made for
      the biosynthesis of hemiterpenoids, monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids,
      diterpenoids, carotenoids, retinoids, and coenzyme Q10 in E. coli. Perspectives
      and future directions for the synthesis of novel isoprenoids, decoration of
      isoprenoids using cytochrome P450 enzymes, and secretion or storage of
      isoprenoids in E. coli have also been included.

PMID- 28599222
TI  - Microbial community dynamics in a pilot-scale MFC-AA/O system treating domestic
      sewage.
AB  - To investigate the effluent concentrations of pollutants, electricity production
      and microbial community structure, a pilot-scale microbial fuel cell coupled
      anaerobic-anoxic-oxic system for domestic sewage treatment was constructed, and
      continuously operated for more than 1 year under natural conditions. The results
      indicated that the treatment system ran well most of the whole period, but both
      effluent qualities and electricity production deteriorated at low temperature.
      The results of MiSeq sequencing showed that the microbial community structures of
      both anode and cathode biofilms changed extensively during long-term operation
      and were correlated with changes in effluent qualities. Fifteen genera of
      electricigens were detected in the anode biofilm, mainly including Clostridium,
      Paracoccus, Pseudomonas, and Arcobacter. Partial Mantel test results showed that
      the temperature had significant effects on the microbial community structure. The
      electricity production was found to have higher relevance to the variation of the
      anodic community than that of the cathodic community.

PMID- 28599223
TI  - New insights into co-digestion of activated sludge and food waste: Biogas versus
      biofertilizer.
AB  - This study explored two holistic approaches for co-digestion of activated sludge
      and food waste. In Approach 1, mixed activated sludge and food waste were first
      hydrolyzed with fungal mash, and produced hydrolysate without separation was
      directly subject to anaerobic digestion. In Approach 2, solid generated after
      hydrolysis of food waste by fungal mash was directly converted to biofertilizer,
      while separated liquid with high soluble COD concentration was further co
      digested with activated sludge for biomethane production. Although the potential
      energy produced from Approach 1 was about 1.8-time higher than that from Approach
      2, the total economic revenue generated from Approach 2 was about 1.9-fold of
      that from Approach 1 due to high market value of biofertilizer. It is expected
      that this study may lead to a paradigm shift in biosolid management towards
      environmental and economic sustainability.

PMID- 28599224
TI  - Pretreatment optimization, process control, mass and energy balances and
      economics of anaerobic co-digestion of Arachis hypogaea (Peanut) hull and poultry
      manure.
AB  - The study explored biogas production from the co-digestion of Arachis hypogaea
      hull and poultry droppings. Mechanical and thermo-alkaline pretreatments were
      applied to a sample of the mixture. Another sample was treated mechanically but
      without thermo-alkaline methods. Optimization was done using the Response Surface
      Methodology (RSM) and the Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). The optimal values
      for each of the five major parameters optimized are Temperature of 32.00 degrees
      C, pH of 7.62, Retention time of 30.00 day, Total solids of 12.00g/kg and
      Volatile solids of 10.00g/kg and the predicted biogas yield for RSM was 3903.1510
      3m3/kg TSfed and 3338.310-3m3/kg TSfed for ANNs in the thermo-alkaline pretreated
      experiment. Gas chromatography show the CH4 and CO2 content of biogas generated
      to be 65.5+/-1.5%; 26+/-1% and 53+/-1%; 26+/-2% respectively. The co-digestion of
      peanut hull with poultry droppings and other energy-yielding substrates is
      further encouraged.

PMID- 28599225
TI  - Performance of autotrophic nitrogen removal from digested piggery wastewater.
AB  - The performance of an autotrophic nitrogen removal process to treat digested
      piggery wastewater (DPW) was investigated by gradually shortening the HRT and
      enhancing the DPW concentration during 390days of operation. The results showed
      that the total nitrogen removal rate and efficiency reached 3.9kg-Nm-3day-1 and
      73%, which were significantly higher than the levels reported previously. A high
      relative abundance of Nitrosomonas (4.2%) and functional microbes (12.15%)
      resulted in a high aerobic ammonium oxidizing activity (1.25+/-0.1g-NgVSS-1d-1),
      and a good settling ability (SVI, 78.42mLg-1SS) resulted in a high sludge
      concentration (VSS, 11.01gL-1), which laid a solid foundation for the excellent
      performance. High-throughput pyrosequencing indicated that, compared with
      synthetic wastewater, the DPW decreased the relative abundances of every
      functional group of nitrogen removal microbes, and increased relative abundances
      of anaerobes (15.7%), sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (9.4%) and methanogens (40.8%).

PMID- 28599226
TI  - Partial nitrification performance and mechanism of zeolite biological aerated
      filter for ammonium wastewater treatment.
AB  - A zeolite biological aerated filter (ZBAF) with continuous feeding was
      successfully applied for achieving stable partial nitrification. Excellent
      nitrite accumulation (higher than 98.0%) and high nitrite/nitrate production rate
      (NPR) (approximately 0.760kg/m3/d) were obtained with increase influent ammonium
      concentration from 250 to 550mg/L within a nitrogen loading rate (NLR) of 0.854
      1.200kg/m3/d. Owning to the adsorption of zeolite to ammonium, free ammonia (FA)
      concentration could remain at an appropriate range for inhibition of nitrite
      oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and dominance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which
      should be responsible for the excellent partial nitrification realized in ZBAF.
      Kinetic study showed that the production of nitrite in ZBAF followed the zero
      order kinetics model and high-throughput sequencing analysis further presented
      the enrichment of AOB and inhibition of NOB in ZBAF. All the results demonstrated
      that ZBAF hold a great potential in the application of partial nitrification for
      ammonium wastewater treatment.

PMID- 28599227
TI  - Assessment and estimation of 67Cu production yield via deuteron induced reactions
      on natZn and 70Zn.
AB  - 67Cu radioisotope is a beta particle-emitting nuclide used in radioimmunotherapy
      (RIT) as well as for imaging, tracer kinetic studies and dosimetry. 67Cu can be
      produced by bombarding natZn with deuterons. In this study, the physical yields
      of 67Cu via natZn(d,x)67Cu reaction channel as well as via subreactions of
      68Zn(d,2pn)67Cu, 67Zn(d,2p)67Cu, 70Zn(d,2p3n)67Cu, 68Zn(d,x)67Ni(T1/2=21s)->67Cu
      and 70Zn(d,x)67Ni(T1/2=21s)->67Cu in the natZn target have been calculated by
      using the MCNPX-2.6, TALYS-1.8 and SRIM codes. Also, the total cross sections for
      production of 67Cu from natZn(d,x)67Cu reaction channel in the energy range of 15
      45MeV have been estimated by TALYS code. The best reaction to produce 67Cu
      radionuclide in a carrier free form was chosen with deuteron energy around 30MeV
      on 70Zn thick target. Good agreement between the calculated results and the
      experimental values shows that the employed methods can be used for prediction
      and production estimation in cyclotron.

PMID- 28599228
TI  - A European multicientre study on the comparison of HIV-1 viral loads between
      VERIS HIV-1 Assay and Roche COBAS(r) TAQMAN(r) HIV-1 test, Abbott RealTime HIV-1
      Assay, and Siemens VERSANT HIV-1 Assay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viral load monitoring is essential for patients under treatment for
      HIV. Beckman Coulter has developed the VERIS HIV-1 Assay for use on the novel,
      automated DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostics System.Y OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the
      clinical performance of the new quantitative VERIS HIV-1 Assay at multiple EU
      laboratories. STUDY DESIGN: Method comparison with the VERIS HIV-1 Assay was
      performed with 415 specimens at 5 sites tested with COBAS(r) AmpliPrep/COBAS(r)
      TaqMan(r) HIV-1 Test, v2.0, 169 specimens at 3 sites tested with RealTime HIV-1
      Assay, and 202 specimens from 2 sites tested with VERSANT HIV-1 Assay. Patient
      monitoring sample results from 4 sites were also compared. RESULTS: Bland-Altman
      analysis showed the average bias between VERIS HIV-1 Assay and COBAS HIV-1 Test,
      RealTime HIV-1 Assay, and VERSANT HIV-1 Assay to be 0.28, 0.39, and 0.61 log10
      cp/mL, respectively. Bias at low end levels below 1000cp/mL showed predicted bias
      to be <0.3 log10 cp/mL for VERIS HIV-1 Assay versus COBAS HIV-1 Test and RealTime
      HIV-1 Assay, and <0.5 log10cp/mL versus VERSANT HIV-1 Assay. Analysis on 174
      specimens tested with the 0.175mL volume VERIS HIV-1 Assay and COBAS HIV-1 Test
      showed average bias of 0.39 log10cp/mL. Patient monitoring results using VERIS
      HIV-1 Assay demonstrated similar viral load trends over time to all comparators.
      CONCLUSIONS: The VERIS HIV-1 Assay for use on the DxN VERIS System demonstrated
      comparable clinical performance to COBAS(r) HIV-1 Test, RealTime HIV-1 Assay, and
      VERSANT HIV-1 Assay.

PMID- 28599229
TI  - Round ligament varicosities diagnosed as inguinal hernia during pregnancy: A case
      report and series from two regional hospitals in Japan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Round ligament varicosities (RLV) are not well-known and they are
      usually caused by pregnancy. Although the groin swelling of RLV mimics an
      inguinal hernia, it is difficult to distinguish between them through clinical
      examination alone, and there have been few published reports on this topic,
      especially from Asia. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old Japanese woman complained
      of left groin swelling for 2 weeks at her 28th week of gestation of her first
      pregnancy. According to a physical examination, she had a soft, painless swelling
      in the superficial inguinal ring of the left groin. An inguinal hernia was
      suspected and she was thus scheduled to undergo herniorrhaphy. However, since she
      had varicosities in the left labia majora, she first underwent color Doppler
      ultrasonography and a final diagnosis of round ligament varicosities was this
      made. Her symptoms resolved after delivery of her baby. DISCUSSION: We herein
      report 10 cases of RLV in pregnant Japanese women who were initially suspected of
      having an inguinal hernia. All of them were suspected to suffer from inguinal
      hernias after a clinical examination by their attending gynecologist. All of them
      were diagnosed using gray scale and color Doppler ultrasonography, treated with
      conservative management, and the symptoms resolved in all cases after the
      delivery. CONCLUSION: This is the largest report from Asia regarding RLV. To
      avoid unnecessary surgery in pregnant women, surgeons must be aware of this
      entity make an accurate diagnosis based of the findings of Doppler
      ultrasonography.

PMID- 28599230
TI  - A case of pancreatic schwannoma showing increased FDG uptake on PET/CT.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Schwannomas are neoplasms originating from Schwann cells in nerve
      sheath, but pancreatic schwannomas are rare. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 59-year-old
      female incidentally pointed out a 2-cm-sized solid mass in the pancreas head by
      computed tomography (CT) which was performed for other reasons. Magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) showed a mass with hypointensity on T1-weighted images
      and a heterogenous hyperintensity on T2-weighted images. Magnetic resonance
      cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) showed no abnormal findings in the main
      pancreatic duct. The mass of the pancreas head showed a significantly increased
      uptake on fluorin-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography CT (FDG
      PET/CT). Based on the radiological findings, a malignant potential tumor was
      preliminarily considered. Subtotal stomach-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy
      (SSSPD) was performed to make a definite diagnosis. The resected specimen showed
      a well-encapsulated circumscribed mass, measuring 2.0cm, in the pancreas head.
      Histopathological examination revealed proliferation of spindle cells showing
      interlacing and palisading patterns in the tumor. The proliferating cells showed
      no atypia and few mitoses. Immunohistochemically, the spindle cells were positive
      for S-100 protein. The Ki67 labeling index was approximately 2%. Based on these
      findings, a diagnosis of benign schwannoma of the pancreas was made. CONCLUSION:
      Although pancreatic schwannoma is a rare neoplasm, it is important to take into
      account this tumor in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic tumors. In
      addition, we should be aware that FDG-PET/CT shows abnormal accumulation in a
      benign pancreatic schwannoma.

PMID- 28599231
TI  - Open and contaminated pediatric pelvic ring injury case report: Fixation without
      metal.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic fractures are relatively uncommon in children, accounting
      for 0.3-7.5% of all pediatric injuries (Gansslen et al., 2013; Ismail et al.,
      1996; Peltier, 1965; Galano et al., 2005; Spiguel et al., 2006). This case report
      describes a pediatric open pelvic injury caused by a crush mechanism between a
      car and guardrail. CASE: A 13year old male presented with an open APC 3 pelvic
      injury after being pinned between a car and guardrail. His definitive treatment
      included bilateral SI screw placement, as well as a less invasive method for
      anterior pelvic ring disruption (Internal Brace suture anchor dynamic fixation).
      DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: A less invasive method for the anterior pelvic ring was
      used to avoid additional dissection due to extensive soft tissue loss, and to
      decrease hardware burden, which lessens the chance of complications such as
      infection. Suture fixation of the pubic symphysis provided stable fixation to
      allow healing in the current case of open pelvic fracture.

PMID- 28599232
TI  - The relationship between subjective experience of childhood abuse and neglect and
      depressive symptoms during pregnancy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Childhood abuse and neglect have devastating effects in adulthood
      such as depression. During pregnancy, depression's effects in women have great
      importance due to its serious consequences for both children and families. It is
      aimed to find out a relationship between childhood abuse/neglect and depression
      among pregnant women. METHOD: One-hundred-forty-four married and healthy
      volunteer pregnant women were recruited between February-May 2015 during their
      regular hospital visit. Beck Depression Inventory and Childhood Trauma
      Questionnaire were used to evaluate depression and childhood abuse experiences.
      RESULTS: The participants' mean age was 29.37 years (SD +/- 4.71) and the average
      duration gestation was 28.81 weeks (SD = 5.05). Depressed women tended to get
      marry earlier (M = 21.07, SD = 3.47) than the non-depressed group (M = 22.55, SD
      = 3.36) (p = 0.012) and they had higher number of lifetime gestations (M = 3.31,
      SD = 2.06) than their non-depressed counterparts (M = 2.33, SD = 1.26) (p =
      0.001). Each abuse and neglect score helped to predict the participants'
      depression scores. CONCLUSIONS: Scanning of pregnant women for both depression
      and childhood trauma will give change to health providers to support this
      vulnerable group and their prospective children.

PMID- 28599233
TI  - Enhancement of anaerobic lysine production in Corynebacterium glutamicum
      electrofermentations.
AB  - It has been suggested that application of electric potential can affect lysine
      producing fermentations, although experimental evidence is lacking. To study this
      hypothesis we used the lysine producer Corynebacterium glutamicum ZW04, and we
      exposed it to 12 different conditions regarding anaerobic gas environment,
      applied electrode potential (cathodic, open circuit, anodic), redox mediator and
      nitrate presence. The gas environment was found to play a major role, with CO2
      leading to double the lysine concentrations and yields when compared to N2.
      Electrode potentials also played a major role, with reductive conditions doubling
      the titers and increasing the yields of lysine up to 4 times. Addition of the
      redox mediator anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ2S) under the presence of CO2 and
      reductive conditions led to additional doubling of the titers, although the
      yields were not altered considerably. This study demonstrates for the first time
      that cathodic electrode conditions combined with CO2 and AQ2S as a redox mediator
      can significantly improve both the yields and the titers of lysine production of
      a C. glutamicum lysine producing strain, reaching levels that have only been
      achieved under aerobic conditions.

PMID- 28599234
TI  - Application of MCR-ALS to reveal intermediate conformations in the thermally
      induced alpha-beta transition of poly-l-lysine monitored by FT-IR spectroscopy.
AB  - Temperature-induced conformational transitions of poly-l-lysine were monitored
      with Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy between 10 degrees C and 70
      degrees C. Chemometric analysis of dynamic IR spectra was performed by
      multivariate curve analysis-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) of the amide I'
      and amide II' spectral region. With this approach, the pure spectral and
      concentration profiles of the conformational transition were obtained. Beside the
      initial alpha-helical, the intermediate random coil/extended helices and the
      final beta-sheet structure, an additional intermediate PLL conformation was
      identified and attributed to a transient beta-sheet structure.

PMID- 28599235
TI  - A digital image method of spot tests for determination of copper in sugar cane
      spirits.
AB  - In this work the development and validation of analytical methodology for
      determination of copper in sugarcane spirit samples is carried out. The digital
      image based (DIB) method was applied along with spot test from the colorimetric
      reaction employing the RGB color model. For the determination of copper
      concentration, it was used the cuprizone - a bidentate organic reagent - which
      forms with copper a blue chelate in an alkaline medium. A linear calibration
      curve over the concentration range from 0.75 to 5.00mgL-1 (r2=0.9988) was
      obtained and limits of detection and quantification of 0.078mgL-1 and 0.26mgL-1
      were acquired, respectively. For the accuracy studies, recovery percentages
      ranged from 98 to 104% were obtained. The comparison of cooper concentration
      results in sugar cane spirits using the DIB method and Flame Atomic Absorption
      Spectrometry as reference method showed no significant differences between both
      methods, which were performed using the paired t-test in 95% of confidence level.
      Thus, the spot test method associated with DIB allows the use of devices as
      digital cameras and smartphones to evaluate colorimetric reaction with low waste
      generation, practicality, quickness, accuracy, precision, high portability and
      low-cost.

PMID- 28599236
TI  - Raman and infrared spectroscopy of carbohydrates: A review.
AB  - Carbohydrates are widespread and naturally occurring compounds, and essential
      constituents for living organisms. They are quite often reported when biological
      systems are studied and their role is discussed. However surprisingly, up till
      now there is no database collecting vibrational spectra of carbohydrates and
      their assignment, as has been done already for other biomolecules. So, this paper
      serves as a comprehensive review, where for selected 14 carbohydrates in the
      solid state both FT-Raman and ATR FT-IR spectra were collected and assigned.
      Carbohydrates can be divided into four chemical groups and in the same way is
      organized this review. First, the smallest molecules are discussed, i.e.
      monosaccharides (d-(-)-ribose, 2-deoxy-d-ribose, l-(-)-arabinose, d-(+)-xylose, d
      (+)-glucose, d-(+)-galactose and d-(-)-fructose) and disaccharides (d-(+)
      sucrose, d-(+)-maltose and d-(+)-lactose), and then more complex ones, i.e.
      trisaccharides (d-(+)-raffinose) and polysaccharides (amylopectin, amylose,
      glycogen). Both Raman and IR spectra were collected in the whole spectral range
      and discussed looking at the specific regions, i.e. region V (3600-3050cm-1), IV
      (3050-2800cm-1) and II (1200-800cm-1) assigned to the stretching vibrations of
      the OH, CH/CH2 and C-O/C-C groups, respectively, and region III (1500-1200cm-1)
      and I (800-100cm-1) dominated by deformational modes of the CH/CH2 and CCO
      groups, respectively. In spite of the fact that vibrational spectra of
      saccharides are significantly less specific than spectra of other biomolecules
      (e.g. lipids or proteins), marker bands of the studied molecules can be
      identified and correlated with their structure.

PMID- 28599237
TI  - Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy study on the structure changes of 4
      Mercaptophenylboronic Acid under different pH conditions.
AB  - 4-Mercaptophenylboronic Acid (4-MPBA) plays pivotal role in various fields. The
      orientation and existing form of the 4-MPBA strongly depend on the pH value of
      the media. The general aim of this work is to obtain information about the
      structure changes of 4-MPBA absorbed on Ag nanoparticles in different pH
      environment. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique is a simple and
      rapid method to study adsorption phenomena at molecule level. The investigation
      is done by means of SERS. In order to interpret the experimental information, a
      series of SERS spectra is carried out. The relative intensities of the totally
      symmetric (a1 mode) and non-totally symmetric (b2 mode) bands in the SERS spectra
      of 4-MPBA change depend on the environmental pH values, which is a manifestation
      of charge transfer (CT) processes. The degree of charge transfer increases with
      the pH value of the media changing from acidity to alkalinity. The structure
      changes of MPBA had been carried out in different pH environment. We envision
      that this approach will be of great significance in related fields of 4-MPBA
      involved detection.

PMID- 28599238
TI  - Paederia foetida Linn. promoted biogenic gold and silver nanoparticles:
      Synthesis, characterization, photocatalytic and in vitro efficacy against
      clinically isolated pathogens.
AB  - Development of newer improved therapeutic agents with efficient antimicrobial
      activities continues to draw attention of researchers till date. Moreover,
      abatement of polluting dyes released from industry with enhanced efficiency is
      currently being considered as challenging task for people working on material
      sciences. In the present study, we report a facile biogenic synthesis of gold and
      silver nanoparticles (NPs) in which aqueous extracts of Paederia foetida Linn.
      was used as reducing as well as stabilizing agent. The biosynthesized Au and Ag
      NPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform
      infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic activity of these
      nanoparticles were tested against Rhodamine B (RhB). The antimicrobial activity
      of these biosynthesized NPs were investigated against four human pathogens viz.
      B. cereus, E. coli, S. aureus and A. niger. Biogenic silver nanoparticles
      presented a strong antimicrobial activity against B. cereus (26.13) followed by
      E. coli (26.02), S. aureus (25.43) and A. niger (22.69). Ag NPs owing to their
      small size (5-25nm) could have easily penetrate into the cell membrane, disturb
      the metabolism, cause irretrievable damage finally leading to the microbial cell
      death. Interestingly biogenic gold nanoparticles didn't show any antimicrobial
      activity.

PMID- 28599239
TI  - Synthesis, structural elucidation, antioxidant, CT-DNA binding and molecular
      docking studies of novel chloroquinoline derivatives: Promising antioxidant and
      anti-diabetic agents.
AB  - The synthesized novel chloroquinoline derivatives 1-(2-chloro-4-phenylquinolin-3
      yl)ethanone (CPQE), 1-(2,6-dichloro-4-phenylquinolin-3-yl)ethanone (DCPQE),
      methyl 2,6-dichloro-4-phenylquinoline-3-carboxylate (MDCPQC),methyl 2-chloro-4
      methylquinoline-3-carboxylate (MCMQC) were subjected to the elementary analysis
      like FT-IR, NMR and Mass spectra using GCMS. Also, single crystal X-ray
      diffraction study was executed for the compound MDCPQC. The crystal packing is
      stabilized by C-H...pi and pi-pi interactions and also Chlorine-Chlorine short
      intermolecular contacts generating a three-dimensional supramolecular network.
      The antioxidant activity reduces high glucose level in the human body and hence
      the synthesized compounds were subjected for the estimation of antioxidant
      activity using DPPH method which exhibited good percentage of inhibition in
      comparison with ascorbic acid, a well-known anti-oxidant. The binding interaction
      of the chloroquinoline derivatives with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) has been
      explored by fluorescence quenching studies and molecular docking analysis has
      been employed to confirm the nature of binding. The prediction of pharmacological
      properties such as drug-likeness, molecular properties like absorption,
      distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) was carried out by
      computational studies to compare chloroquinoline derivatives with standard drug.
      Owing to the various potential biological activities of the quinoline compounds,
      molecular docking studies were also further carried out for the chloroquinoline
      derivatives, showing that they may act as effective anti-diabetic agents by
      inhibiting Glycogen Phosphorylase a protein.

PMID- 28599240
TI  - Metal ion mediated photolysis reactions of riboflavin: A kinetic study.
AB  - The effect of metal ion complexation on the photolysis of riboflavin (RF) using
      various metal ions (Ag+, Ni2+, Co2+, Fe2+, Ca2+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Pb2+, Mg2+,
      Zn2+, Fe3+) has been studied. Ultraviolet and visible spectral and fluorimetric
      evidence has been obtained to confirm the formation of metal-RF complexes. The
      kinetics of photolysis of RF in metal-RF complexes at pH7.0 has been evaluated.
      The apparent first-order rate constant (kobs) for the photolysis of RF and the
      formation of lumichrome (LC) and lumiflavin (LF) (0.001M phosphate buffer) and
      LC, LF and cyclodehydroriboflavin (CDRF) (0.2-0.4M phosphate buffer) have been
      determined. The values of kobs indicate that the rate of photolysis of RF is
      promoted by divalent and trivalent metal ions. The second-order rate constants
      (k' ) for the interaction of metal ions with RF are in the order:
      Zn2+>Mg2+>Pb2+>Mn2+>Cu2+>Cd2+>Fe2+>Ca2+>Fe3+>Co2+>Ni2+>Ag+. In phosphate buffer
      (0.2-0.4M), an increase in the metal ion concentration leads to a decrease in the
      formation of LC compared to that of CDRF by different pathways. The photoproducts
      of RF have been identified and RF and the photoproducts have simultaneously been
      assayed by a multicomponent spectrometric method. The mode of photolysis of RF in
      metal-RF complexes has been discussed.

PMID- 28599241
TI  - Triterpene saponins from Billia rosea.
AB  - Five previously undescribed triterpene saponins, billiosides A-E, and a known
      analogue, were isolated from the seeds of Billia rosea (Planch. & Linden) C.
      Ulloa & P. Jorg. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive 1D
      and 2D NMR experiments (1H, 13C, DEPT, COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, ROESY, HSQC, and HMBC)
      and mass spectrometry as (3beta,21beta,22alpha)-3-[(2-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-O
      [alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 -> 4)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-21-[((2E,6S)-2,6
      dimethyl-6-hydroxyocta-2,7-dienoyl)oxy]-22-(acetyloxy)-24-hydroxyolean-12-en-28
      oic acid, (3beta,21beta,22alpha)-3-[(2-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-beta-D
      glucopyranosyl)oxy]-21,22-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-yl O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl
      (1 -> 4)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, (3beta,21beta,22alpha)-3-[(2-O-beta-D
      galactopyranosyl-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 -> 4)]-beta-D-xylopyranosyl)oxy]
      21,22-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-yl O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, (3beta,21beta,22alpha)
      3-[(2-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 -> 4)]-beta-D
      glucopyranosyl)oxy]-21,22-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-yl O-beta-D-glucopyranoside,
      (3beta,21beta,22alpha)-3-[(2-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-O-[alpha-L
      arabinopyranosyl-(1 -> 4)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-21,22-dihydroxyolean-12-en
      28-yl O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 -> 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and dipteroside A.
      Billiosides B and C exhibited moderate effects when tested as hepatic glucose-6
      phosphatase inhibitors and as glucose intestinal absorption inhibitors, using in
      situ rat intestinal segments.

PMID- 28599242
TI  - Ficusnotins A-F: Rare diarylbutanoids from the leaves of Ficus nota.
AB  - Six diarylbutanoids, designated as ficusnotins A-F, with a rare carbon skeleton
      consisting of two aromatic rings separated by an unbranched C4-chain have been
      isolated from the leaves of Ficus nota (Blanco) Merr. (Moraceae). The structures
      were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data, as well as X-ray
      crystallographic analysis. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their
      antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis.

PMID- 28599243
TI  - Colloidal lattices of environmentally responsive microgel particles at ionic
      liquid-water interfaces.
AB  - This work reports new evidence of the versatility of soft and environmentally
      responsive micron-sized colloidal gel particles as stabilizers at ionic liquid
      water droplet interfaces. These particles display a duality with properties
      ascribed typically to both polymeric and colloidal systems. The utilization of
      fluorescently labeled composite microgel particles allows in-situ and facile
      visualization without the necessity of invasive sample preparation. When the
      prepared particles form monolayers equilibrated at the ionic liquid-water
      interface on fully covered droplets, the colloidal lattice re-orders itself
      depending on the surface charge of these particles. Finally, we demonstrate that
      the spontaneously formed and densely packed layer of microgel particles can be
      employed for extraction applications, as the interface remains permeable to small
      active species.

PMID- 28599244
TI  - CB-1R and GLP-1R gene expressions and oxidative stress in the liver of diabetic
      rats treated with sitagliptin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is a major health problem affecting millions of
      people. Controlled eating and regular physical activity are important for the
      management of type 2 diabetes. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 enzyme (DPP-4) inhibitor
      sitagliptin is a potent agent for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. The aim of
      this study was to examine the effects of sitagliptin on the liver of rats with
      streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes, in terms of (i) the expression levels of
      the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB-1R) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R),
      (ii) alterations in the number and localization of these peptides, and (iii)
      changes in histological and oxidative damage. METHODS: Thirty-two neonatal (two
      day-old) rats, which were divided into four groups, were treated with saline
      (control), sitagliptin (control; 1.5mg/kg/day for 15 days starting from day 5 of
      the experimental period), STZ (diabetes; 100mg/kg single dose), STZ+sitagliptin
      (diabetes+sitagliptin). After 20 days, hepatic tissues were obtained from rats.
      RESULTS: The expressions of GLP-1R and CB-1R mRNA increased approximately 1.89-
      and 2.94-fold, respectively, in the diabetes+sitagliptin group as compared to the
      diabetic group. Additionally the number of GLP-1R immunopositive cells decreased
      and CB-1R immunopositive cells increased in comparison to the diabetic group;
      however, this was not statistically significant. Glutathione levels increased,
      but malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels decreased in the
      diabetes+sitagliptin group more than the diabetic group. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      indicate that sitagliptin treatment regulates GLP-1R and CB-1R gene expressions,
      which are associated with appetite regulation in diabetic rat, and may decrease
      oxidative stress and liver tissue damage.

PMID- 28599245
TI  - Anti-inflammatory and ameliorative effects of gallic acid on fluoxetine-induced
      oxidative stress and liver damage in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fluoxetine-induced liver damage is a cause of chronic liver disease.
      In the present study the hepatoprotective effects of gallic acid against
      fluoxetine-induced liver damage were examined. METHODS: Forty-eight male rats
      were divided into six groups as follow: group 1, the control group; group 2, rats
      receiving fluoxetine (24mg/kg bw daily, po) without treatment; group 3, rats
      receiving 24mg/kg bw fluoxetine, treated with 50mg/kg bw silymarin and groups 4,
      5, and 6 in which gallic acid (50, 100, and 200mg/kg bw, po, respectively) was
      prescribed after the consumption of fluoxetine. The histopathological changes of
      hepatic tissues were checked out. RESULTS: Fluoxetine caused a significant
      increase in the levels of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), serum
      glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), lipid profiles, urea, fasting blood sugar
      (FBS), creatinine (Cr), protein carbonyl (PC) content, malondialdehyde (MDA), and
      liver TNF-alpha as an inflammatory element. Also, the obtained results of group 2
      revealed a significant decline in ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), liver
      catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and vitamin C levels. The treatment
      with gallic acid showed significant ameliorations in abnormalities of fluoxetine
      induced liver injury as represented by the improvement of hepatic CAT, SOD
      activities, vitamin C levels, serum biochemical parameters, and histopathological
      changes, in addition to the recovery of antioxidant defense system status.
      CONCLUSIONS: Gallic acid has inhibitory effects on fluoxetine-induced liver
      damage. The effect of gallic acid is derived from free radical scavenging
      properties and the anti-inflammatory effect related to TNF-alpha.

PMID- 28599246
TI  - Ablation of IL-17 expression moderates experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis
      disease severity.
AB  - An array of cytokines influences the pathogenesis of early onset myasthenia
      gravis (MG) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis
      (EAMG). Patients with MG, in particular those with more severe weakness, have
      elevations of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17 in the blood. We assessed the
      role of IL-17A in autoimmunity by inducing EAMG in mice with knockout of IL-17
      and found a reduction of EAMG severity, but not a complete ablation of disease.
      The IL-17ko mice had no evidence of weakness, low levels of acetylcholine
      receptor antibodies, and retention of acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular
      junction. Splenic germinal center size was reduced in EAMG IL-17ko mice along
      with elevations of Foxp3 and BCL-6 gene expression, suggesting a shift away from
      pro-inflammatory signals. The results emphasize the importance of IL-17 in EAMG
      development and that IL-17 independent pathways drive the autoimmune reaction.

PMID- 28599247
TI  - Inflammasomes, the cardinal pathology mediators are activated by pathogens,
      allergens and mutagens: A critical review with focus on NLRP3.
AB  - Inflammation is a pivotal defense system of body. Unfortunately, when homeostasis
      falters, the same inflammatory mechanism acts as a double-edged sword, and turns
      offensive, paving the path for a broad array of pathologies. A multi-protein
      complex termed as inflammasome perceives the PAMPs (pathogen associated molecular
      patterns) and DAMPs (danger associated molecular patterns), executing immune
      responses. This activation predominantly encompasses the elaboration of effector
      cytokines IL-1beta, IL-18, and the cysteine proteases (caspase 1 and 11).
      Extensive study on an inflammasome NLRP3 has revealed its role in the onset and
      progression of pathogenic, metabolic, autoimmune, neural, and geriatric diseases.
      In this regard, this inflammasome's immune activation mechanisms and inhibition
      strategies have been discussed. Through this rigorous literature analysis, the
      superficial diversity between pathogens/allergens and mutagens, and NLRP3
      activity towards them has been emphasized. Though there is a scope for inhibition
      of aberrant inflammasomes, including that of NLRP3, given their complexity and
      unpredictability, prevention of their activation by lifestyle correction has been
      suggested.

PMID- 28599249
TI  - Important medicinal herbs in Parkinson's disease pharmacotherapy.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common progressive neurodegenerative
      movement disorder affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. The
      characteristic hallmark of PD involves progressive loss of dopaminergic (DA
      ergic) neuron in Substantia Nigra pars compacta (SNpc) region of the brain,
      however, aetiology of the disease still remains unclear. Mitochondrial
      dysfunction and oxidative insult are considered to be the key culprit. The
      current therapy available for PD primarily relies on Levodopa that offers the
      potential of slowing down disease progression to some extent but includes lot of
      side effects. Any potential drug capable of treating or halting the disease still
      remains to be identified. It is evident that redox stabilization and
      replenishment of mitochondrial function seem to be an important therapeutic
      approach against PD as both are required for optimal neuronal functioning.
      Enormous research done in this field has shown that some natural and synthetic
      products exhibit neuroprotective and anti-apoptotic potential by improving
      mitochondrial function and alleviating oxidative stress. Therefore, the present
      review aims to discuss some of the important medicinal natural herbs (Bacopa
      monnieri, Mucuna pruriens, Withania somnifera, Curcuma longa, Gingko Biloba, and
      Camellia sinensis) in context to their neuroprotective potential and also in the
      development of novel therapeutic strategies against PD.

PMID- 28599250
TI  - Evaluation of MiR-15a and MiR-16-1 as prognostic biomarkers in chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a B lineage neoplasm, characterized by the
      accumulation of B lymphocytes of great longevity, and usually develops as a
      result of the inhibition of apoptosis. Clinical evolution is extremely variable
      amongst affected individuals with survival ranging from a few months in
      aggressive cases, to a few decades in cases of indolent CLL. The identification
      of new prognostic factors, apart from clinical staging, has been an important
      research topic aiming at a better understanding of CLL. There are approximately
      one thousand miRNAs in the human genome. They are expressed in specific tissues
      and changes in this expression are associated with different pathologies. In
      recent years, several studies have focused on the role of regulatory miRNAs in
      the pathogenesis of various diseases, including CLL. It has become evident that
      the profiles of miRNAs have great potential for application in the evaluation of
      CLL prognosis, since changes in miRNA expression profiles contribute to cell
      survival, proliferation and development of the disease. The deletion 13q14, the
      most prevalent alteration in CLL, leads to the deletion of the human tumor
      suppressor genes miR-15a and miR-16-1, which act on cell proliferation and in the
      process of apoptosis. Therefore, in patients with 13q deletion, loss of miR-15a
      and miR-16-1 displaces the expression balance for higher levels of Bcl-2 anti
      apoptotic and pro-apoptotic p53 proteins. Regarding these microRNAs, the
      correlation of miR-15a and miR-16-1 with low-risk CLL is of particular interest.
      In this context, this mini review summarizes the current evidences on the role of
      regulatory miRNAs in the pathogenesis of CLL, particularly miR-15a and miR-16-1,
      involved on cell proliferation and apoptosis. In addition, it is our intention to
      highlight the potential role of micro RNAs as a marker of prognosis in this
      disease and to arouse interest in future studies addressing this interesting
      issue. Several current and future studies may shed light on the role of microRNAs
      in the pathogenesis of CLL, possibly leading to the development of new laboratory
      biomarkers.

PMID- 28599251
TI  - Trehalose enhances the antitumor potential of methotrexate against mice bearing
      Ehrlich ascites carcinoma.
AB  - Methotrexate (MTX) is commonly used as a standard chemotherapy for many cancers,
      however its usage required high doses thereby leading to severe adverse effects.
      In a trial to find a suitable neoadjuvant therapy to decrease MTX dosage without
      lowering its chemotherapeutic efficacy, we investigated the antitumor effect of
      trehalose (TRE) on mice bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) and checked
      whether TRE can enhance the antitumor potential of MTX. Treatment with TRE
      induced anti-tumor effects against EAC as reveled by a remarkable decrease in
      body weight, tumor volume, count of viable tumor cells, expression of the anti
      apoptotic gene Bcl2 as well as by a significant increase in mean survival time,
      life span and expression of the apoptotic gene caspase-3. TRE also caused a
      significant decrease in autophagic activity of EAC cells as evident by reduction
      in the expression of the autophagic gene Beclin 1 (Bec1) and the fluorescence
      intensity of autophagosome marker. Additionally, TRE restored the altered
      hematological and biochemical parameters and improved the disrupted hepatic
      tissues of EAC-bearing mice. Interestingly, co-administration of TRE and MTX
      showed highest anti-tumor effect against EAC. These data indicate that TRE
      enhances the antitumor potential of MTX and could be used as neoadjuvant drug to
      increase the efficacy of the antitumor drug, MTX.

PMID- 28599248
TI  - The multifaceted role of natriuretic peptides in metabolic syndrome.
AB  - Due to globalization and sophisticated western and sedentary lifestyle, metabolic
      syndrome has emerged as a serious public health challenge. Obesity is
      significantly increasing worldwide because of increased high calorie food intake
      and decreased physical activity leading to hypertension, dyslipidemia,
      atherosclerosis, and insulin resistance. Thus, metabolic syndrome constitutes
      cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD) and recently some cancers are also considered to be associated
      with this syndrome. There is increasing evidence of the involvement of
      natriuretic peptides (NP) in the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases. The
      natriuretic peptides are cardiac hormones, which are produced in the cardiac
      atrium, ventricles of the heart and the endothelium. These peptides are involved
      in the homeostatic control of body water, sodium intake, potassium transport,
      lipolysis in adipocytes and regulates blood pressure. The three known natriuretic
      peptide hormones present in the natriuretic system are atrial natriuretic peptide
      (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and c-type natriuretic peptide (CNP).
      These three peptides primarily function as endogenous ligands and mainly act via
      their membrane receptors such as natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A),
      natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPR-B) and natriuretic peptide receptor C (NPR-C)
      and regulate various physiological and metabolic functions. This review will shed
      light on the structure and function of natriuretic peptides and their receptors
      and their role in the metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 28599252
TI  - The Effect of microRNA-328 antagomir on erectile dysfunction in streptozotocin
      induced diabetic rats.
AB  - The study aimed at exploring the effect of microRNA-328 (miR-328) antagomir on
      erectile dysfunction (ED) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. A total
      of 120 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were selected for this study. Fifteen rats
      were assigned as the diabetic control group and 75 out of the remaining rats (105
      diabetic rat models) were divided into five groups with 15 rats in each group:
      diabetic ED, diabetic ED+negative control (NC), diabetic ED+miR-328 antagomir,
      diabetic ED+sildenafil and diabetic ED+miR-328 antagomir+sildenafil groups. The
      cGMP/AGEs production levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA) test. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and
      Western blotting were conducted for testing the expression level of miR-328,
      transcription and protein levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and
      dickkopf-3 (DKK3). The diabetic ED+miR-328 antagomir group had better erectile
      function, lower cGMP production level, transcription and protein levels of eNOS
      and DKK3 but higher AGEs production level than the diabetic control group. The
      diabetic control group showed higher cGMP production level transcription and
      protein levels of eNOS and DKK3 and lower production levels of AGEs and miR-328
      than the diabetic ED and diabetic ED+NC groups. Our results indicated that miR
      328 antagomir could improve ED in STZ-induced diabetic rats by regulating cGMP
      and AGEs.

PMID- 28599253
TI  - Alantolactone improves palmitate-induced glucose intolerance and inflammation in
      both lean and obese states in vitro: Adipocyte and adipocyte-macrophage co
      culture system.
AB  - Obesity is characterized by a massive infiltration of the adipose tissue by
      macrophages. Adipocytes, together with macrophages create a crosstalk between
      inflammation and insulin resistance. Excess saturated FFA, such as palmitate,
      absorbed via the portal system may cause glucose intolerance and inflammation,
      which leads to insulin resistance. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the
      potency of alantolactone (AL), a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Inula
      helenium in reducing palmitate-induced glucose intolerance, fat accumulation, and
      inflammation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and adipocyte-macrophage co-culture system (3T3
      L1-RAW264.7). We observed that palmitate reduced glucose uptake and increased fat
      accumulation, which indicated dysfunctional adipocytes with inadequate lipid
      storage. However, AL treatment reversed these changes in a dose-dependent manner
      (P<0.05). Palmitate activated c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and IkappaB kinase
      beta/alpha (IKKbeta/alpha) phosphorylation, and increased the levels of the
      proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 [IL-6])
      and chemokines (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [MCP-1]). AL treatment
      selectively reduced JNK-associated mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (JNK
      and extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation). However, it did not
      affect NF-kappaB pathway in adipocytes. In addition, AL decreased the gene
      expression of JNK upregulating factor, toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), suggesting
      inhibition of TLR4-JNK signaling. Moreover, it reduced inflammation-associated IL
      6 and MCP-1 mRNA levels in both adipocytes and adipocyte-macrophage system. Our
      study showed that palmitate treatment led to adipocyte dysfunction and macrophage
      infiltration; however, AL improved palmitate-induced glucose intolerance and
      inflammation. These findings suggest that AL may inhibit obesity-induced insulin
      resistance and improve glucose homeostasis and inflammation in insulin target
      tissues.

PMID- 28599254
TI  - Differences in patterns of physical participation in recreational activities
      between children with and without intellectual and developmental disability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) are at
      risk of experiencing limited participation in recreational activities, where they
      may be present but not physically engaged. AIM: To compare patterns of physical
      engagement in recreational activities between children with and without IDD.
      METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Fifty children with IDD (26 boys, 24 girls; mean age 8.7
      years) were matched for age and sex with 50 typically developing children.
      Parents completed a questionnaire which captured participation in 11 recreational
      activities involving hand use as an indication of physical engagement. OUTCOME
      AND RESULTS: More than 80% of children in both groups participated physically in
      eight recreational activities, but fewer children with IDD participated in six
      activities when compared with typically developing children. Children with IDD
      also participated less frequently in five activities and required more assistance
      to participate in all the 11 activities. Parents wanted their child with IDD to
      participate in 10 recreational activities with less assistance. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: The difference between the groups related to participation
      frequency, independence, and parents' desire for changes in their child's
      participation. Greater efforts are needed to address these differences and to
      support recreational participation in children with IDD.

PMID- 28599255
TI  - Research on two-port network of wavelet transform processor using surface
      acoustic wavelet devices and its application.
AB  - The goal of this research is to study two-port network of wavelet transform
      processor (WTP) using surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices and its application.
      The motive was prompted by the inconvenience of the long research and design
      cycle and the huge research funding involved with traditional method in this
      field, which were caused by the lack of the simulation and emulation method of
      WTP using SAW devices. For this reason, we introduce the two-port network
      analysis tool, which has been widely used in the design and analysis of SAW
      devices with uniform interdigital transducers (IDTs). Because the admittance
      parameters calculation formula of the two-port network can only be used for the
      SAW devices with uniform IDTs, this analysis tool cannot be directly applied into
      the design and analysis of the processor using SAW devices, whose input
      interdigital transducer (IDT) is apodized weighting. Therefore, in this paper, we
      propose the channel segmentation method, which can convert the WTP using SAW
      devices into parallel channels, and also provide with the calculation formula of
      the number of channels, the number of finger pairs and the static capacitance of
      an interdigital period in each parallel channel firstly. From the parameters
      given above, we can calculate the admittance parameters of the two port network
      for each channel, so that we can obtain the admittance parameter of the two-port
      network of the WTP using SAW devices on the basis of the simplification rule of
      parallel two-port network. Through this analysis tool, not only can we get the
      impulse response function of the WTP using SAW devices but we can also get the
      matching circuit of it. Large numbers of studies show that the parameters of the
      two-port network obtained by this paper are consistent with those measured by
      network analyzer E5061A, and the impulse response function obtained by the two
      port network analysis tool is also consistent with that measured by network
      analyzer E5061A, which can meet the accuracy requirements of the analysis of the
      WTP using SAW devices. Therefore the two-port network analysis tool discussed in
      this paper has comparatively higher theoretical and practical value.

PMID- 28599256
TI  - Cirrhosis patients' stroke risks and adverse outcomes: Two nationwide studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The association between liver cirrhosis (LC) and stroke is not
      completely understood. Our purpose was to evaluate stroke risk and post-stroke
      outcomes in patients with LC. METHODS: We identified 6944 adults aged 20 years
      and older, newly diagnosed with LC, using the Taiwan's National Health Insurance
      Research Database from 2000 to 2005. The comparison cohort consisted of 27,776
      adults without LC, randomly selected by frequency matching in age and sex. Events
      of new-onset stroke were identified from medical claims during the 2000-2013
      follow-up period. Adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
      of stroke associated with LC were calculated in the multiple Cox proportional
      hazard model. Another nested stroke cohort study of 21,267 hospitalized stroke
      patients analyzed adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs of adverse events after
      stroke, among patients with and without LC, between 2000 and 2009. RESULTS: The
      incidences of stroke for people with and without LC were 6.1 and 4.3 per 1000
      person-years, respectively. Compared with the non-cirrhotic cohort, the adjusted
      HR of stroke was 1.55 (95% CI 1.28-1.87) for LC patients. Previous LC was
      associated with risks of epilepsy (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.09-1.56), admission to
      intensive care unit (OR 1.23, 95% CI (1.14-1.32) and in-hospital mortality (OR
      1.83, 95% CI 1.63-2.05) after stroke. CONCLUSIONS: LC was associated with higher
      risk of stroke, and patients with LC had more complications and mortality after
      stroke. This susceptible population needs strategies to prevent stroke and post
      stroke adverse events.

PMID- 28599257
TI  - Effectiveness of adherence to lipid lowering therapy on LDL-cholesterol in
      patients with very high cardiovascular risk: A real-world evidence study in
      primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite management guidelines advocating statin/ezetimibe
      use in very high cardiovascular risk (CV) conditions, adherence to this therapy
      is still suboptimal and LDL-C target attainment unsatisfactory. We aimed to
      investigate the level of adherence to statin/ezetimibe and LDL-C target
      achievement rates in an unselected very high CV risk population in primary care
      setting in Italy. METHODS: We performed a retrospective population-based study
      using the Health Search IMS Health Longitudinal Patient Database (HSD), including
      adult patients at very high CV risk, newly treated with statin, ezetimibe or
      their combination, with 3 and 6 months of follow-up. RESULTS: Although the large
      majority of patients had previous major CV events (99.9%), only 61% and 55.14%
      resulted adherent (Proportion of Days Covered, PDC>=80%) after 3 and 6 months,
      respectively. High adherence entailed almost a three times higher probability to
      reach the therapeutic LDL-C target (3 months: OR = 2.26 [95% [CI]: 1.88 to 2.72];
      6-months: OR = 2.74 [95% CI: 2.27 to 3.31]). The odds to treat to LDL-C target
      was greater for simvastatin-ezetimibe fixed combination, simvastatin,
      atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, in decreasing order. Finally, poor adherence was
      slightly more prevalent among patients treated with less effective statins, and
      at both low and maximal dosage regimens. CONCLUSIONS: This population-based study
      showed that adherence to statin therapy is poor even among patients who have
      already experienced a CV event. Failure to achieve recommended LDL-C levels
      appears imputable to the use of moderate doses and low to standard efficacy
      statins.

PMID- 28599258
TI  - Prognostic impact of subclinical or manifest extracoronary artery diseases after
      acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), clinically
      overt extracoronary artery diseases (ECADs), including claudication or previous
      strokes, are associated with poor outcomes. Subclinical ECADs detected by
      screening are common among such patients. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic
      impact of subclinical versus symptomatic ECADs in patients with acute myocardial
      infarction (AMI). METHODS: In a prospective observational study, 654 consecutive
      patients diagnosed with AMI underwent ankle brachial index (ABI) measurements and
      ultrasonographic screening of the carotid arteries and abdominal aorta. Clinical
      ECADs were defined as prior strokes, claudication, or extracoronary artery
      intervention. Subclinical ECADs were defined as the absence of a clinical ECAD in
      combination with an ABI <=0.9 or >1.4, carotid artery stenosis, or an abdominal
      aortic aneurysm. RESULTS: At baseline, subclinical and clinical ECADs were
      prevalent in 21.6% and 14.4% of the patients, respectively. Patients with ECADs
      received evidence-based medication more often at admission but similar
      medications at discharge compared with patients without ECADs. During a median
      follow-up of 5.2 years, 166 patients experienced endpoints of hospitalization for
      AMI, heart failure, stroke, or cardiovascular death. With ECAD-free cases as
      reference and after adjustment for risk factors, a clinical ECAD (hazard ratio
      [HR] 2.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34-3.27, p=0.001), but not a
      subclinical ECAD (HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.89-2.05, p=0.164), was significantly
      associated with worse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Despite receiving similar evidence
      based medication at discharge, patients with clinical ECAD, but not patients with
      a subclinical ECAD, had worse long-term prognosis than patients without an ECAD
      after AMI.

PMID- 28599259
TI  - Predictive value of cystatin C in people with suspected or established coronary
      artery disease: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Circulating cystatin C has been recognized as an independent
      predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population. We
      aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of baseline circulating cystatin C levels
      in people with suspected or established coronary artery disease (CAD) by
      conducting a meta-analysis. METHODS: We searched Pubmed and Embase databases up
      to October 2016 for prospective observational studies investigating the
      predictive value of elevated circulating cystatin C levels in people with
      suspected or established CAD. Adverse vascular outcomes included all-cause
      mortality, cardiovascular mortality, or total adverse vascular events consisting
      of death, myocardial infarction, revascularization, stroke, and heart failure.
      RESULTS: Ten studies involving participants with known or suspected CAD were
      included in this meta-analysis. When comparing the highest with the lowest
      cystatin C levels, the pooled hazard ratio (HR) was 2.27 (95% confidence interval
      [CI] 1.86-2.78) for all-cause mortality, 2.24 (95% CI 1.69-2.97) for
      cardiovascular mortality, and 1.87 (95% CI 1.57-2.24) for total adverse vascular
      events, respectively. Subgroup analysis results showed that this association was
      not influenced by follow-up duration, region, or CAD type. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated
      circulating cystatin C is independently associated with adverse vascular outcomes
      in people with suspected or established CAD in terms of all-cause mortality,
      cardiovascular mortality, and total adverse vascular events. This increased risk
      is probably independent of creatinine/estimated glomerular filtration rate.

PMID- 28599260
TI  - Effects of structural modification of the daunosamine moiety of anthracycline
      antibiotics on pKa values determined by capillary zone electrophoresis.
AB  - The thermodynamic acid dissociation constants (pKa1 and pKa2) of 16 anthracycline
      antibiotics, including doxorubicin (DOX) and daunorubicin (DAU), their epimers,
      epidoxorubicin (EDOX) and epidaunorubicin (EDAU), as well as novel anthracycline
      derivatives containing piperidine (FPIP), morpholine (FMOR) and
      hexamethylenoimine (FHEX) rings in the formamidine group of the daunosamine
      moiety were determined by analysis of the dependence between measured
      electrophoretic mobility and the pH of the buffer using the capillary zone
      electrophoresis method. The results obtained confirmed the ampholytic character
      of anthracyclines with at least two ionization states. The determined values were
      in the range of 8.36-9.28 and 9.38-11.48 for pKa1 and pKa2 arising from
      ionization of amino and phenolic groups, respectively. Structural modifications
      in the daunosamine moiety of the studied anthracyclines affected their
      pharmacological properties, such as antiproliferative activity.

PMID- 28599261
TI  - Secretory immunoglobulin purification from whey by chromatographic techniques.
AB  - Secretory immunoglobulins (SIg) are a major fraction of the mucosal immune system
      and represent potential drug candidates. So far, platform technologies for their
      purification do not exist. SIg from animal whey was used as a model to develop a
      simple, efficient and potentially generic chromatographic purification process.
      Several chromatographic stationary phases were tested. A combination of two anion
      exchange steps resulted in the highest purity. The key step was the use of a
      small-porous anion exchanger operated in flow-through mode. Diffusion of SIg into
      the resin particles was significantly hindered, while the main impurities, IgG
      and serum albumin, were bound. In this step, initial purity was increased from
      66% to 89% with a step yield of 88%. In a second anion-exchange step using giga
      porous material, SIg was captured and purified by step or linear gradient elution
      to obtain fractions with purities >95%. For the step gradient elution step yield
      of highly pure SIg was 54%. Elution of SIgA and SIgM with a linear gradient
      resulted in a step yield of 56% and 35%, respectively. Overall yields for both
      anion exchange steps were 43% for the combination of flow-through and step
      elution mode. Combination of flow-through and linear gradient elution mode
      resulted in a yield of 44% for SIgA and 39% for SIgM. The proposed process allows
      the purification of biologically active SIg from animal whey in preparative
      scale. For future applications, the process can easily be adopted for
      purification of recombinant secretory immunoglobulin species.

PMID- 28599262
TI  - Relationship between acute and chronic toxicity for prevalent organic pollutants
      in Vibrio fischeri based upon chemical mode of action.
AB  - Chemicals show diverse modes of action (MOAs) in aquatic organisms depending upon
      acute and chronic toxicity evaluations. Here, toxicity data for Vibrio fischeri
      involving 52 compounds for acute and chronic toxicity were used to determine the
      congruence of acute and chronic toxicity for assessing MOAs. Using toxic ratios,
      most of the compounds categorized into MOAs that included baseline, less inert or
      reactive compounds with acute toxicity were also categorized as baseline, less
      inert or reactive compounds with chronic toxicity. However, significantly
      different toxic effects were observed with acute and chronic toxicity for the
      reactive and specific-acting compounds. The acute-chronic toxic ratios were
      smaller and less variable for the baseline and less inert compounds, but were
      greater and more variable for the reactive and specific-acting compounds.
      Baseline and less inert compounds share same MOAs, but reactive and specific
      acting compounds have different MOAs between acute and chronic toxicity.
      Bioconcentration processes cannot reach an equilibrium for highly hydrophilic and
      ionized compounds with short-term exposure, resulting in lower toxicity compared
      to long-term exposure. Pronounced differences for the antibiotics were not only
      due to the difference in bioconcentration, but also due to a predicted difference
      in MOAs during acute and chronic exposures.

PMID- 28599263
TI  - Environmental Exposures to Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium and Hearing Loss in Adults
      and Adolescents: KNHANES 2010-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of hearing loss increases rapidly with aging. Hearing
      loss is common in all age groups, even in young adults and adolescents. A growing
      body of evidence has suggested that heavy metals have ototoxic effects, yet few
      epidemiological studies have investigated the association between heavy metals
      and hearing loss in a general population that includes adults and adolescents.
      OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between environmental exposures to lead,
      mercury, and cadmium and the risk of hearing loss in adults and adolescents while
      controlling for potential confounding factors, including noise exposures and
      clinical factors. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data from 5,187 adults and
      853 adolescents in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
      2010-2012. Pure-tone average (PTA) of hearing thresholds at high frequency (3, 4,
      and 6 kHz) were computed, and hearing loss was defined as a PTA>25 dB in adults
      and PTA>15 dB in adolescents. RESULTS: In adults, the highest (vs. lowest)
      quartiles of blood lead and cadmium were associated with 1.70 (95% CI: 1.25,
      2.31) and 1.47 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.05) odds ratios for high-frequency hearing loss
      (p-trend<0.001 and=0.007), respectively. In adolescents, the highest quartile
      (vs. lowest) of blood cadmium had an odds ratio of 3.03 (95% CI: 1.44, 6.40) for
      high-frequency hearing loss (p-trend=0.003), but blood lead was not associated
      with hearing loss. No significant association between blood mercury and hearing
      loss was suggested in either adults or adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The results of
      the present study suggest that exposure to environmental lead and cadmium in
      adults and exposure to environmental cadmium in adolescents may play a role in
      the risk of hearing loss. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP565.

PMID- 28599264
TI  - Time-series Analysis of Heat Waves and Emergency Department Visits in Atlanta,
      1993 to 2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heat waves are extreme weather events that have been associated with
      adverse health outcomes. However, there is limited knowledge of heat waves'
      impact on population morbidity, such as emergency department (ED) visits.
      OBJECTIVES: We investigated associations between heat waves and ED visits for 17
      outcomes in Atlanta over a 20-year period, 1993-2012. METHODS: Associations were
      estimated using Poisson log-linear models controlling for continuous air
      temperature, dew-point temperature, day of week, holidays, and time trends. We
      defined heat waves as periods of consecutive days with temperatures beyond the
      98th percentile of the temperature distribution over the period from 1945-2012.
      We considered six heat wave definitions using maximum, minimum, and average air
      temperatures and apparent temperatures. Associations by heat wave characteristics
      were examined. RESULTS: Among all outcome-heat wave combinations, associations
      were strongest between ED visits for acute renal failure and heat waves defined
      by maximum apparent temperature at lag 0 [relative risk (RR) = 1.15; 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.29], ED visits for ischemic stroke and heat
      waves defined by minimum temperature at lag 0 (RR = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.02-1.17), and
      ED visits for intestinal infection and heat waves defined by average temperature
      at lag 1 (RR = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.00-1.21). ED visits for all internal causes were
      associated with heat waves defined by maximum temperature at lag 1 (RR = 1.02;
      95% CI: 1.00, 1.04). CONCLUSIONS: Heat waves can confer additional risks of ED
      visits beyond those of daily air temperature, even in a region with high air
      conditioning prevalence. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP44.

PMID- 28599265
TI  - House Dust Endotoxin and Peripheral Leukocyte Counts: Results from Two Large
      Epidemiologic Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The peripheral leukocyte count is a biomarker of inflammation and is
      associated with human all-cause mortality. Although causes of acute leukocytosis
      are well-described, chronic environmental determinants of leukocyte number are
      less well understood. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the relationship between house
      dust endotoxin concentration and peripheral leukocyte counts in human subjects.
      METHODS: The endotoxin-leukocyte relationship was evaluated by linear regression
      in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006
      (n=6,254) and the Agricultural Lung Health Study (ALHS; n=1,708). In the ALHS, we
      tested for a gene [Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4), encoding the endotoxin receptor]
      by-environment interaction in the endotoxin-leukocyte relationship using
      regression models with an interaction term. RESULTS: There is a statistically
      significant, positive association between endotoxin concentration and total
      leukocyte number [estimated change, 0.186*103/MUL (95% CI: 0.070, 0.301*103/MUL)
      per 10-fold change in endotoxin; p=0.004) in the NHANES. Similar positive
      associations were found for monocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils. Stratified
      analyses revealed possible effect modification by asthma and chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease. We observed similar associations in the ALHS. For total
      leukocytes, there was suggestive evidence in the ALHS of a gene-by-environment
      interaction for minor allele carrier status at the TLR4 haplotype defined by
      rs4986790 and rs4986791 (interaction p=0.15). CONCLUSIONS: This is, to our
      knowledge, the first report of an association between house dust endotoxin and
      leukocyte count in a national survey. The finding was replicated in a farming
      population. Peripheral leukocyte count may be influenced by residential endotoxin
      exposure in diverse settings. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP661.

PMID- 28599266
TI  - Expansion of the Lyme Disease Vector Ixodes Scapularis in Canada Inferred from
      CMIP5 Climate Projections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of studies have assessed possible climate change impacts on
      the Lyme disease vector, Ixodes scapularis. However, most have used surface air
      temperature from only one climate model simulation and/or one emission scenario,
      representing only one possible climate future. OBJECTIVES: We quantified effects
      of different Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) and climate model outputs
      on the projected future changes in the basic reproduction number (R0) of I.
      scapularis to explore uncertainties in future R0 estimates. METHODS: We used
      surface air temperature generated by a complete set of General Circulation Models
      from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) to hindcast
      historical (1971-2000), and to forecast future effects of climate change on the
      R0 of I. scapularis for the periods 2011-2040 and 2041-2070. RESULTS: Increases
      in the multimodel mean values estimated for both future periods, relative to 1971
      2000, were statistically significant under all RCP scenarios for all of Nova
      Scotia, areas of New Brunswick and Quebec, Ontario south of 47 degrees N, and
      Manitoba south of 52 degrees N. When comparing RCP scenarios, only the estimated
      R0 mean values between RCP6.0 and RCP8.5 showed statistically significant
      differences for any future time period. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the
      potential for climate change to have an effect on future Lyme disease risk in
      Canada even if the Paris Agreement's goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees
      C is achieved, although mitigation reducing emissions from RCP8.5 levels to those
      of RCP6.0 or less would be expected to slow tick invasion after the 2030s.
      https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP57.

PMID- 28599267
TI  - Human CYP2A13 and CYP2F1 Mediate Naphthalene Toxicity in the Lung and Nasal
      Mucosa of CYP2A13/2F1-Humanized Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The potential carcinogenicity of naphthalene (NA), a ubiquitous
      environmental pollutant, in human respiratory tract is a subject of intense
      debate. Chief among the uncertainties in risk assessment for NA is whether human
      lung CYP2A13 and CYP2F1 can mediate NA's respiratory tract toxicity. OBJECTIVES:
      We aimed to assess the in vivo function of CYP2A13 and CYP2F1 in NA bioactivation
      and NA-induced respiratory tract toxicity in mouse models. METHODS: Rates of
      microsomal NA bioactivation and the effects of an anti-CYP2A antibody were
      determined for lung and nasal olfactory mucosa (OM) from Cyp2abfgs-null, CYP2A13
      humanized, and CYP2A13/2F1-humanized mice. The extent of NA respiratory toxicity
      was compared among wild-type, Cyp2abfgs-null, and CYP2A13/2F1-humanized mice
      following inhalation exposure at an occupationally relevant dose (10 ppm for 4
      hr). RESULTS: In vitro studies indicated that the NA bioactivation activities in
      OM and lung of the CYP2A13/2F1-humanized mice were primarily contributed by,
      respectively, CYP2A13 and CYP2F1. CYP2A13/2F1-humanized mice showed greater
      sensitivity to NA than Cyp2abfgs-null mice, with greater depletion of nonprotein
      sulfhydryl and occurrence of cytotoxicity (observable by routine histology) in
      the OM, at 2 or 20 hr after termination of NA exposure, in humanized mice. Focal,
      rather than gross, lung toxicity was observed in Cyp2abfgs-null and CYP2A13/2F1
      humanized mice; however, the extent of NA-induced lung injury (shown as volume
      fraction of damaged cells) was significantly greater in the terminal bronchioles
      of CYP2A13/2F1-humanized mice than in Cyp2abfgs-null mice. CONCLUSION: CYP2F1 is
      an active enzyme. Both CYP2A13 and CYP2F1 are active toward NA in the CYP2A13/2F1
      humanized mice, where they play significant roles in NA-induced respiratory tract
      toxicity. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP844.

PMID- 28599268
TI  - Drinking Water Salinity and Raised Blood Pressure: Evidence from a Cohort Study
      in Coastal Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Millions of coastal inhabitants in Southeast Asia have been
      experiencing increasing sodium concentrations in their drinking-water sources,
      likely partially due to climate change. High (dietary) sodium intake has
      convincingly been proven to increase risk of hypertension; it remains unknown,
      however, whether consumption of sodium in drinking water could have similar
      effects on health. OBJECTIVES: We present the results of a cohort study in which
      we assessed the effects of drinking-water sodium (DWS) on blood pressure (BP) in
      coastal populations in Bangladesh. METHODS: DWS, BP, and information on personal,
      lifestyle, and environmental factors were collected from 581 participants. We
      used generalized linear latent and mixed methods to model the effects of DWS on
      BP and assessed the associations between changes in DWS and BP when participants
      experienced changing sodium levels in water, switched from "conventional" ponds
      or tube wells to alternatives [managed aquifer recharge (MAR) and rainwater
      harvesting] that aimed to reduce sodium levels, or experienced a combination of
      these changes. RESULTS: DWS concentrations were highly associated with BP after
      adjustments for confounding factors. Furthermore, for each 100 mg/L reduction in
      sodium in drinking water, systolic/diastolic BP was lower on average by 0.95/0.57
      mmHg, and odds of hypertension were lower by 14%. However, MAR did not
      consistently lower sodium levels. CONCLUSIONS: DWS is an important source of
      daily sodium intake in salinity-affected areas and is a risk factor for
      hypertension. Considering the likely increasing trend in coastal salinity, prompt
      action is required. Because MAR showed variable effects, alternative technologies
      for providing reliable, safe, low-sodium fresh water should be developed
      alongside improvements in MAR and evaluated in "real-life" salinity-affected
      settings. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP659.

PMID- 28599273
TI  - Targeting BCR-ABL+ stem/progenitor cells and BCR-ABL-T315I mutant cells by
      effective inhibition of the BCR-ABL-Tyr177-GRB2 complex.
AB  - Treatment of BCR-ABL+ human leukemia has been significantly improved by ABL
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), but they are not curative for most patients
      and relapses are frequently associated with BCR-ABL mutations, warranting new
      targets for improved treatments. We have now demonstrated that protein expression
      of human estrogen receptor alpha 36 (ERalpha36), an alternative splicing variant
      of human estrogen receptor alpha 66 (ERalpha66), is highly increased in TKI
      insensitive CD34+ chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells and BCR-ABL-T315I mutant
      cells, and is abnormally localized in plasma membrane and cytoplasm.
      Interestingly, new pre-clinically-validated analogs of Icaritin (SNG162 and
      SNG1153), which target abnormal ERalpha36 activity, inhibit cell growth and
      induce apoptosis of BCR-ABL+ leukemic cells, particularly BCR-ABL-T315I mutant
      cells. A combination of SNG inhibitors and TKI selectively eliminates treatment
      naive TKI-insensitive stem/progenitor cells while sparing healthy counterparts.
      Oral TKI dasatinib combined with potent SNG1153 inhibitor effectively eliminates
      infiltrated BCR-ABL+ blast cells and enhances survival of mice. Importantly, a
      unique mechanism of SNG inhibition was uncovered by demonstrating a marked
      interruption of the BCR-ABLTyr177-GRB2 interaction, leading to inhibition of the
      downstream RAS/MAPK pathway. This new combination therapy may lead to more
      effective disease eradication, especially in patients at high risk of TKI
      resistance and disease progression.

PMID- 28599281
TI  - HIF-2alpha promotes the formation of vasculogenic mimicry in pancreatic cancer by
      regulating the binding of Twist1 to the VE-cadherin promoter.
AB  - Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a blood supply modality that occurs independently of
      endothelial cell angiogenesis. Hypoxia and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) induce VM formation by remodeling the extracellular matrix. Our previous
      study demonstrated that hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2alpha) promotes
      the progress of EMT in pancreatic cancer; however, whether HIF-2alpha promotes VM
      formation in pancreatic cancer remains unknown. In this study, we investigated
      HIF-2alpha expression and VM by immunohistochemistry in 70 pancreatic cancer
      patients as well as the role of Twist1and Twist2 in HIF-2alpha-induced VM in
      vitro and in vivo. We found that the overexpression of HIF-2alpha and VM were
      correlated with poor tumor differentiation, late clinical stage and lymph node
      metastasis, and a poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer. Moreover, the upregulation
      of HIF-2alpha in SW1990 cells induced VM formation, whereas the opposite results
      were found after silencing HIF-2alpha in AsPC-1 cells. A mechanistic study
      indicated that HIF-2alpha might regulate the binding of twist1 to vascular
      endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) to promote VM formation in pancreatic cancer
      cells, and that the P1 (-421bp) and P4 (-2110bp) regions of the Twist1 binding
      sequences are positive regulatory elements for VE-cadherin. In addition, we
      confirmed that the overexpression of HIF-2alpha increased Twist1 expression and
      promoted tumor growth and VM formation in pancreatic cancer xenografts in nude
      mice. These findings indicated that HIF-2alpha might play a critical role in VM
      and that HIF-2alpha and the pathway of HIF-2alpha inducing VM formation are
      potential therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 28599282
TI  - Optimizing a machine learning based glioma grading system using multi-parametric
      MRI histogram and texture features.
AB  - Current machine learning techniques provide the opportunity to develop
      noninvasive and automated glioma grading tools, by utilizing quantitative
      parameters derived from multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.
      However, the efficacies of different machine learning methods in glioma grading
      have not been investigated.A comprehensive comparison of varied machine learning
      methods in differentiating low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and high-grade gliomas (HGGs)
      as well as WHO grade II, III and IV gliomas based on multi-parametric MRI images
      was proposed in the current study. The parametric histogram and image texture
      attributes of 120 glioma patients were extracted from the perfusion, diffusion
      and permeability parametric maps of preoperative MRI. Then, 25 commonly used
      machine learning classifiers combined with 8 independent attribute selection
      methods were applied and evaluated using leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV)
      strategy. Besides, the influences of parameter selection on the classifying
      performances were investigated. We found that support vector machine (SVM)
      exhibited superior performance to other classifiers. By combining all tumor
      attributes with synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE), the highest
      classifying accuracy of 0.945 or 0.961 for LGG and HGG or grade II, III and IV
      gliomas was achieved. Application of Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE)
      attribute selection strategy further improved the classifying accuracies.
      Besides, the performances of LibSVM, SMO, IBk classifiers were influenced by some
      key parameters such as kernel type, c, gama, K, etc. SVM is a promising tool in
      developing automated preoperative glioma grading system, especially when being
      combined with RFE strategy. Model parameters should be considered in glioma
      grading model optimization.

PMID- 28599299
TI  - Neoadjuvant radiation followed by resection versus upfront resection for locally
      advanced pancreatic cancer patients: a propensity score matched analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: To compare cancer-specific survival (CSS) between patients
      who received neoadjuvant radiation followed by resection (NRR) and those who
      received upfront resection (UR) for locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).
      METHODS: A total of 772 LAPC patients who underwent curative-intent surgical
      resection with or without neoadjuvant radiation from 2004 to 2013 were identified
      from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database. Propensity
      score matching (PSM) was conducted to eliminate possible bias. Kaplan-Meier
      method was used to analyze long-term outcome. Independent risk factors of CSS
      were predicted by Cox proportional hazards model. Subgroup analyses were done
      according to 5 variables. RESULTS: The propensity score model matched 196
      patients from the whole cohort. Neoadjuvant radiation was an independent
      predictor of CSS no matter before or after PSM. After PSM, the 1-, 3-, 5-year CSS
      rates of NRR group were 82.7%, 39.2% and 17.1%, while 64.3%, 19.9% and 12.4% for
      UR group. The median CSS for NRR group was 25 months, while 17 months for UR
      group. In subgroup analyses, CSS rates or median CSS of NRR group were still
      superior to those of UR group in married, unmarried, pancreatic adenocarcinoma,
      G1+G2, G3+G4, N0 stage, N1 stage and M0 stage subgroups, but no differences were
      found in other histological types and M1 stage subgroups. Other predictors of CSS
      included histological type, tumor grade and marital status. CONCLUSIONS:
      Neoadjuvant radiation followed by resection has a significant survival benefit
      compared with upfront resection in LAPC patients. Therapeutic strategy for LAPC
      patients should be further explored.

PMID- 28599307
TI  - Morin promotes prostate cancer cells chemosensitivity to paclitaxel through miR
      155/GATA3 axis.
AB  - Paclitaxel is a first-line microtubule-stabilizing drug in treating prostate
      cancer. However, most patients develop resistance and experience relapse. Morin
      (3,5,7,20,40-pentahydroxyflavone) is an anti-tumor flavonoid in a numerous types
      of cancer cells including breast, ovarian and lung cancers. We therefore
      researched the effects of morin as an adjuvant to paclitaxel in in treating DU145
      and PC-3 cells in vitro and DU145 derived prostate cancers in nude mice models.
      The chemosensitivities of these cells to the treatments of morin and paclitaxel
      were tested through viability assays utilizing cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) and
      apoptosis assays through flow cytometry analyses. MicroRNA (miRNA) microarray was
      employed to determine the changes in miRNA profile of morin treated DU145 cells.
      The results from microarrays were further certified by quantitative real-time
      reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). The underlying targets of miR-155 were
      verified using luciferase assays followed by Western blot assays. In the results,
      morin was capable of repressing the cell viabilities in the paclitaxel-treated
      cells. MiR-155might be an effective target that can be down-regulated in morin
      treated cells. We also discovered that GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) was
      directly repressed by miR-155, and the treatment of morin reversed the expression
      of GATA3. In conclusion, morin might be a potential adjuvant of paclitaxel in
      treating prostate cancer through regulating miR-155/GATA3 axis.

PMID- 28599308
TI  - An ultra-sensitive biophysical risk assessment of light effect on skin cells.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyze photo-dynamic and photo-pathology changes of
      different color light radiations on human adult skin cells. We used a real-time
      biophysical and biomechanics monitoring system for light-induced cellular changes
      in an in vitro model to find mechanisms of the initial and continuous
      degenerative process. Cells were exposed to intermittent, mild and intense (1-180
      min) light with On/Off cycles, using blue, green, red and white light. Cellular
      ultra-structural changes, damages, and ECM impair function were evaluated by
      up/down-regulation of biophysical, biomechanical and biochemical properties. All
      cells exposed to different color light radiation showed significant changes in a
      time-dependent manner. Particularly, cell growth, stiffness, roughness,
      cytoskeletal integrity and ECM proteins of the human dermal fibroblasts-adult
      (HDF-a) cells showed highest alteration, followed by human epidermal
      keratinocytes-adult (HEK-a) cells and human epidermal melanocytes-adult (HEM-a)
      cells. Such changes might impede the normal cellular functions. Overall, the
      obtained results identify a new insight that may contribute to premature aging,
      and causes it to look aged in younger people. Moreover, these results advance our
      understanding of the different color light-induced degenerative process and help
      the development of new therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28599310
TI  - Long non-coding RNAs could act as vectors for paternal heredity of high fat diet
      induced obesity.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in epigenetic regulation,
      and abnormalities may lead to male infertility. To investigate whether lncRNAs
      are involved in intergenerational inheritance of obesity and obesity-induced
      decline in fertility, we divided mice into obesity (F0 mice fed a high-fat diet,
      F0-HFD) and non-obese (F0 mice fed normal chow, F0-NC) model groups and their
      male offspring (F1-HFD and F1-NC, respectively). We examined the differences in
      the expression levels of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the F0-HFD/F0-NC and F1-HFD/F1-NC
      groups. The results revealed similar expression patterns in the F1-HFD/F0-HFD
      groups at both the lncRNA and mRNA levels. The maximum difference in the lncRNA
      expression was observed between the F0-HFD and F0-NC groups. The differentially
      expressed lncRNA targets and mRNAs identified in our study are mainly involved in
      GnRH signalling pathway, metabolic process, and Hippo signalling pathway;
      similarly expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs in F1-HFD/F0-HFD are closely linked with G
      protein coupled receptor signalling pathway, pancreatic polypeptide receptor
      activity, and lysine biosynthesis, which may play an important role in the
      molecular mechanism of intergenerational inheritance of obesity. Furthermore,
      potential genes that might play important roles in the pathogenesis of obesity
      related low fertility were revealed by lncRNA-and mRNA-interaction studies based
      on the microarray expression profiles. In conclusion, we found that lncRNA could
      be involved in obesity-induced infertility by expressing abnormalities, which
      could act as genetic vectors of paternal inheritance of obesity.

PMID- 28599321
TI  - First detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus O/Ind-2001d in Vietnam.
AB  - In recent years, foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype O, topotype Middle
      East-South Asia (ME-SA), lineage Ind-2001d has spread from the Indian
      subcontinent to the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. In the current
      report, we describe the first detection of this lineage in Vietnam in May, 2015
      in Dak Nong province. Three subsequent outbreaks caused by genetically related
      viruses occurred between May-October, 2015 after which the virus was not detected
      in clinical outbreaks for at least 15 subsequent months. The observed outbreaks
      affected (in chronological order): cattle in Dak Nong province, pigs in Dak Lak
      province and Dak Nong province, and cattle in Ninh Thuan province. The clinical
      syndromes associated with these outbreaks were consistent with typical FMD in the
      affected species. Overall attack rate on affected premises was 0.85 in pigs and
      0.93 in cattle over the course of the outbreak. Amongst 378 pigs at risk on
      affected premises, 85 pigs died during the outbreaks; there were no deaths among
      cattle. The manner in which FMDV/O/ME-SA/Ind-2001d was introduced into Vietnam
      remains undetermined; however, movement of live cattle is the suspected route.
      This incursion has substantial implications for epidemiology and control of FMD
      in Southeast Asia.

PMID- 28599312
TI  - Cullin 3SPOP ubiquitin E3 ligase promotes the poly-ubiquitination and degradation
      of HDAC6.
AB  - The histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) plays critical roles in human tumorigenesis and
      metastasis. As such, HDAC6-selective inhibitors have entered clinical trials for
      cancer therapy. However, the upstream regulator(s), especially ubiquitin E3
      ligase(s), responsible for controlling the protein stability of HDAC6 remains
      largely undefined. Here, we report that Cullin 3SPOP earmarks HDAC6 for poly
      ubiquitination and degradation. We found that the proteasome inhibitor MG132, or
      the Cullin-based E3 ligases inhibitor MLN4924, but not the autophagosome-lysosome
      inhibitor bafilomycin A1, stabilized endogenous HDAC6 protein in multiple cancer
      cell lines. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Cullin 3-based ubiquitin E3
      ligase(s) primarily reduced the stability of HDAC6. Importantly, we identified
      SPOP, an adaptor protein of Cullin 3 family E3 ligases, specifically interacted
      with HDAC6, and promoted its poly-ubiquitination and subsequent degradation in
      cells. Notably, cancer-derived SPOP mutants disrupted their binding with HDAC6
      and thereby failed to promote HDAC6 degradation. More importantly, increased
      cellular proliferation and migration in SPOP-depleted HCT116 colon cancer cells
      could be partly reversed by additional depletion of HDAC6, suggesting that HDAC6
      is a key downstream effector for SPOP tumor suppressor function. Together, our
      data identify the tumor suppressor SPOP as an upstream negative regulator for
      HDAC6 stability, and SPOP loss-of-function mutations might lead to elevated
      levels of the HDAC6 oncoprotein to facilitate tumorigenesis and metastasis in
      various human cancers.

PMID- 28599323
TI  - A Guideline for the Diagnosis of Pediatric Mitochondrial Disease: The Value of
      Muscle and Skin Biopsies in the Genetics Era.

PMID- 28599322
TI  - Monoamine oxidase A upregulated by chronic intermittent hypoxia activates
      indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and neurodegeneration.
AB  - Co-morbid depression is prevalent in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Here
      we report that monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) plays pathogenic roles in the
      comorbidity. We found that chronic intermittent hypoxia significantly increased
      the MAO-A expression in the rat hippocampus and markedly decreased the dendritic
      length and spine density in the pyramidal neurons with less pre- and post
      synaptic proteins. The MAO-A upregulation resulted in increased 5
      hydroxyindoleacetic acid/serotonin ratio, oxidative stress, leading to NF-kappaB
      activation, inflammation and apoptosis. Also, the expression of cytokine
      responsive indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1) was significantly augmented in
      hypoxia, resulting in increased kynurenine/tryptophan ratio and lowered serotonin
      level in the hippocampus. Moreover, depressive-like behaviors were observed in
      the hypoxic rat. Administration of M30, a brain-selective MAO-A inhibitor with
      iron-chelating properties, prior to hypoxic treatment prevented the aberrant
      changes in the hippocampus and depressive behavior. In human SH-SY5Y cells
      expressing MAO-A but not MAO-B, hypoxia significantly increased the MAO-A
      expression, which was blocked by M30 or clorgyline. Collectively, the MAO-A
      upregulation induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia plays significant pathogenic
      role in oxidative stress, inflammation and IDO-1 activation resulting in
      serotonin depletion and neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28599324
TI  - Morning Glory Disc Anomaly Associated with Ipsilateral Optic Nerve and Chiasm
      Thickening: Three Cases and Review of the Literature.

PMID- 28599325
TI  - Reliability of Roentgenographic Knee Alignment Measurements in Gonarthrosis.
AB  - A reliable method of measuring knee alignment is critical in the preoperative
      planning of high tibial osteotomy (HTO). This radiological study, based on the
      measurements of the mechanical and anatomical axes of the lower limb, aimed to
      determine which method would be more reliable and reproducible. From 2004 to
      2013, 50 consecutive patients (50 knees) with medial gonarthrosis were treated
      with valgus-producing HTO. Four independent investigators assessed preoperative
      standing lower limb radiography (including hip, knee, and ankle joints) to
      measure both anatomical and mechanical axes. We defined a response as a
      difference in the angle measured by the same investigator using the same method.
      The covariates were the investigators and methods. To account for both inter- and
      intraobserver variabilities, all data were evaluated using a generalized
      estimating equation model. The results revealed that the effect of the
      investigators was not statistically significant; however, the effect of the
      measurement method was highly significant (p < 0.0001). The estimated coefficient
      of the anatomical axis method was negative, indicating that the reproducibility
      of the anatomical axis method was better than that of the mechanical axis.

PMID- 28599326
TI  - Lower Limb Deformity Analysis and the Planning of an Osteotomy.

PMID- 28599327
TI  - [Influence of Sex and Age on Contrast Sensitivity Subject to the Applied Method].
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to detect gender and age differences in both
      photopic and mesopic contrast sensitivity with different methods in relation to
      German driver's license regulations (Fahrerlaubnisverordnung; FeV). METHODS: We
      examined 134 healthy volunteers (53 men, 81 women) with an age between 18 and 76
      years, that had been divided into two groups (AG I < 45 years old, AG II >= 45
      years old). Mesopic contrast sensitivity was determined with the Mesotest II.
      Optovist EU and Rodatest 302 as test devices and VISTECH and Mars charts under
      standardized illumination were applied for photopic contrast sensitivity.
      RESULTS: We could not find any gender differences. When evaluating age, there
      were no differences between the two groups for the Mars charts nor in the
      Rodatest. In all other tests, the younger volunteers achieved significantly
      better results. CONCLUSION: For contrast vision, there exists age-adapted cut-off
      values. Concerning the driving safety of traffic participants, sufficient
      photopic and mesopic contrast vision should be focused on, independent of age.
      Therefore, there is a need to reconsider the age-adapted cut-off-values.

PMID- 28599328
TI  - [Measurement of Quality with Routine Data].
AB  - There is a growing interest in quality measurement in the healthcare sector.
      Hospitals in Germany are obligated to participate in measures for external
      quality assurance and they must establish an internal quality management system.
      In addition to the legal requirements, measurement of quality is also possible
      with routine data. Suitable sources are the ICD system or unstandardized
      information from treatment documentation. The selection of suitable quality
      indicators is necessary to interpret the data. Complications or achievement of
      surgical objectives can be suitable quality indicators. Analysis of procedures or
      the assessment of waiting time are also possible indicators. Our first data
      concerning waiting time show that with increasing use of an electronic patient
      guidance system, the waiting time decreased in our outpatient department.
      Assessment of quality indicators from routine data enables a continuous
      measurement of quality over a long period. Measures to increase quality can
      easily be checked. Routine data also provide the possibility to participate in a
      public reporting of quality indicators.

PMID- 28599329
TI  - [Healthcare Research of Cataract Surgery - Analysis of Patient's Satisfaction
      Following Cataract Surgery in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Germany].
AB  - Background The collection of pre-, peri- and postoperative data took place
      between 2005 and 2008, based on a contract between the social insurance company,
      AOK Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the outpatient cataract surgeons/centers in
      Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The purpose of the contract was the monitoring
      of quality of cataract surgery in the outpatient healthcare system. Materials and
      Methods We analysed 2952 datasets of 2952 eyes, remaining after exclusion of 109
      datasets because of lack of plausibility and missing data (initially 3058 eyes
      with surgery in our centre). Visual acuity (VA), refraction, comorbidities and
      further data were correlated to patient satisfaction with cataract surgery.
      Results The average age of our patients was 74.5 years (Cataracta senilis 96.51%)
      and they had a mean VA increase from decimal 0.4 +/- 0.2 (LogMAR 0.5 +/- 0.3) to
      0.8 +/- 0.3 (LogMAR 0.2 +/- 0.2). The target refraction was reached by 78.9%
      (respectively 49.9%) of the eyes within +/- 1.0 D (respectively +/- 0.5 D).
      Factors correlating with a positive overall satisfaction of the patients with
      surgery were the postoperative increase of VA (Spearman, r = 0.404, p = 0.01),
      the absence of comorbidities (Spearman, r = - 0.168, p = 0.01) and absence of
      perioperative complications (Spearman, r = - 0.104, p = 0.01). 1.7% of our
      patients were dissatisfied despite an increase of VA >= 0.1, no comorbidities and
      no complications. We found the biggest percentage of not satisfied patients
      without objective reason (Patient-reported Outcome Measure negative/Clinical
      Outcome Measure positive, PROM-/COM+ 3.9%) in the sector of improvement of
      reading abilities. Conclusion With a not preselected patient cohort, we reached
      internationally comparable visual, refractive and satisfaction results. The
      overall satisfaction with cataract surgery is high. The majority of our patients
      (84.2%) were PROM+ combined with COM+ (VA increase >= 0.1). Dissatisfaction could
      be explained by the presence of comorbidities, perioperative complications and
      with a poor surgical outcome (no increase of VA >= 0.1). Nevertheless 1.7% of our
      patients remained unsatisfied without an objective reason (COM+, PROM-), which
      underlines the importance of general life satisfaction.

PMID- 28599330
TI  - [Improvement of Phaco Tip Geometry During Torsional Phacoemulsification].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advanced cataract with hard lens nuclei frequently challenge the
      ophthalmologic surgeon when doing phacoemulsification. In the present study, we
      examined the effect of a new phaco tip design during cataract surgery. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: 100 patients were assigned to two groups. In group 1 (50 patients),
      the Kelman(r) tip design (Alcon) was used during phacoemulsification, while in
      group 2 (50 patients), the Intrepid(r) Balanced Tip was applied. Trypan blue was
      used in both groups, if necessary, to stain the anterior lens capsule prior to
      capsulorhexis. RESULTS: Preoperative visual acuity was 0.11 +/- 0,16 (decimal
      equivalent; means +/- standard deviation) in the Kelman tip group and 0.10 +/-
      0.14 in the Intrepid Balanced Tip group (p > 0,05). Applied cumulative displaced
      energy was 43.38 +/- 21.84 s% in the Kelman tip group and 21.55 +/- 13.25 s% in
      the Intrepid Balanced Tip group (p < 0,001). No intraoperative or postoperative
      complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The improved Intrepid Balanced phaco tip
      design has led to a significant reduction in ultrasound energy required to
      successfully perform phacoemulsification in medium to hard lenses.

PMID- 28599331
TI  - [The Aging Retina in the Context of Cerebral Neurodegenerative Diseases].
AB  - Background Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) consist of divers affections of the
      central nervous system related to etiology, localization, and of course of the
      disease. Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias are best investigated
      together with socioeconomic conditions and play an important role in its high
      prevalence. This work will present ND diseases in the context of analogous
      retinal degeneration mechanisms and ophthalmological diseases. Methods Based on
      epidemiological data, the current neurological bibliography of ND has been
      considered. Additional ophthalmological data containing age-related retinal
      diseases were included in a comparative manner. Moreover, our own data dealing
      with similarities of cellular and molecular biomarkers in the retinal and
      cerebral aging process were included. Results AD is the most important
      neurological ND disease with increasing prevalence. Age-related macular
      degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma are the most common retinal diseases with ND
      background and have an increasing prevalence. Irreversible loss of neurons,
      together with glial, microglial, extracellular, and vascular reactions are found
      both in the brain and retina and can show atrophic signs with onsets of plaques
      (AD), drusen (AMD) or optic degenerations. Alterations of cellular conditions
      result in irreversible functional impairments. Current therapeutic options
      preserve only residual function and preventive possibilities are actually
      missing. Molecular biomarkers have been identified to endorse a better
      understanding of ND and to provide new therapeutic options. Conclusions
      Comparison of cerebral AD shows similarities with retinal AMD, and cerebral
      dementias are comparable with the physiological age-related impairment of visual
      acuity. Optic degeneration may be similar to cerebral atrophy associated with
      retroocular compression. Improved understanding of pathogenetic mechanisms of
      cerebral and retinal diseases may help to establish preventive and therapeutic
      concepts in the future.

PMID- 28599332
TI  - [Efficacy and Safety Profile of Ocriplasmin Treatment - an Update].
AB  - Pharmacological vitreolysis with ocriplasmin is an effective treatment option for
      eyes with vitreomacular traction. Pre-marketing and post-marketing clinical
      studies revealed an improvement of visual function in ocriplasmin treated eyes
      and showed a release of traction in up to 78% of cases. Treatment success is
      related to patient selection based on positive predictive factors. Adverse
      events, such as visual acuity loss, dyschromatopsia or photopsia are known to be
      self-limited in the majority of eyes. Structural outer retinal layer changes,
      such as ellipsoid zone disturbances or subretinal fluid accumulation on SD-OCT
      analysis, as well as ERG abnormalities, are transient and correlated to VMT
      release. Surgical outcomes in patients with a prior history of ocriplasmin
      injection have been shown to be comparable with patients who proceeded directly
      to surgery without ocriplasmin treatment.

PMID- 28599333
TI  - [Macular Edema in Uveitis - Steroids or VEGF Inhibitors?]
AB  - Macular edema in uveitis patients is certainly the most frequent complication
      leading to a permanent and irreversible reduction in vision during the course of
      the disease. Thanks to optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology and
      fluorescein angiography (FAG), significantly more macular edemas are detected.
      Macular edema can be found in various uveitis varieties and can show different
      clinical patterns. All macular edema should be treated. Macular edema with active
      inflammation usually reacts very well to general uveitis treatment. In the case
      of eyes without visible inflammation, however, the response to such therapy is
      usually less effective. According to the latest treatment recommendations,
      dexamethasone implants should be used as the first intravitreal therapy. Vascular
      endothelial growth factor inhibitors (VEGF inhibitors) are second-line treatment
      regimens. The choice of therapy is, therefore, primarily based on the degree of
      inflammation and the individual complications, such as glaucoma, lens situation
      or previous increase in IOP after steroid administration. These individual
      complications may allow using VEGF inhibitors as first line treatment. An
      improvement in the macular edema can be achieved with both groups of active
      substances.

PMID- 28599334
TI  - [Cyclodestructive Procedures to Lower Intraocular Pressure - A Review].
AB  - The only therapy for glaucoma, for which there is sufficient evidence, is the
      lowering of intraocular pressure. Intraocular pressure reduction can be achieved
      by an improvement in outflow or a reduction of aqueous humor production.
      Surgically, a reduction of aqueous humor production can be achieved by
      cyclodestructive procedures. This article provides a brief summary of the
      different cyclodestructive procedures. The efficacy of cyclophotocoagulation is
      well documented. The risk profile has been reduced by changes in the laser
      protocols. Serious complications described in early studies (e.g., visual loss)
      rarely occur nowadays. The indication spectrum of cyclophotocoagulation has
      expanded from end-stage glaucoma to glaucoma with good visual acuity. Even the
      use of cyclodestructive procedures in pediatric glaucoma has gained acceptance. A
      promising next generation of micropulsed diode lasers could further reduce the
      risk profile with the same effectiveness. The non-inferiority of micropulse
      cyclophotocoagulation versus the established procedures has been proven in early
      studies. However, studies with long-term follow-up and on side-effects are still
      lacking. Furthermore, a standardized laser protocol must be established.

PMID- 28599335
TI  - [Current Diagnosis of Choroidal Nevi].
AB  - Despite the diversity of techniques for documentation and diagnostics of
      choroidal nevi, the differential diagnosis, especially regarding small uveal
      melanomas, remains difficult. In many cases, frequent controls to exclude growth
      or for the detection of an unchanged appearance are recommended. This article
      reviews-under consideration of the actual literature-different diagnostic
      techniques for documentation and differentiation of choroidal nevi.

PMID- 28599336
TI  - [Intraoperative Optical Coherence Tomography in Vitreoretinal Surgery: Clinical
      Experiences and Future Developments].
AB  - PURPOSE: High resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables better
      visualization of ophthalmic microstructures than conventional imaging. When using
      an ophthalmic microscope, integrated optical coherence tomography (iOCT) high
      resolution real time visualization is possible. METHODS: We report on the first
      110 patients operated on using a microscope integrated OCT (iOCT) during surgical
      procedures for the treatment of various posterior segment pathologies. RESULTS:
      Microstructural changes that appeared during surgery were depicted precisely by
      iOCT, and the morphology visualized before and after each surgical step was used
      to help deciding how to adapt the surgical flow. The iOCT data and real-time
      imaging of retinal anatomy gives the surgeon the possibility of deploying patient
      and operation-specific interventional procedures. DISCUSSION: To date, iOCT is
      only available in standing microscopes with no measurement or tracking features.
      Moreover, metal instruments currently obscure the scanned images. In the future,
      non-metal, transparent instruments (OCT-friendly surgical tools), tracking
      features, an autofocus and higher resolution could enable full and immediate
      intraoperative SD-OCT diagnostics in real time.

PMID- 28599337
TI  - [Pediatric Retinal Detachment].
AB  - The number of retinal detachments in children is rarely compared to the number of
      retinal detachments in adults; only 3 - 7% occur in children. The main
      predisposing factors are trauma, myopia, hereditary vitreoretinopathies,
      retinopathy of prematurity, malformations and Coats' disease. The most frequent
      paediatric retinal detachments are trauma-associated and vitreoretinopathies are
      the most common cause of inherited retinal detachment. Disease-specific surgical
      treatments are discussed. Episcleral buckling surgery should be the preferred
      method in any case of clear lens, especially for treatment of oradialysis and
      well-defined localization of peripherally retinal tears. In those suffering from
      vitreoretinopathy, primary vitrectomy is necessary. The intravitreal use of VEGF
      inhibitors to treat vasoproliferative retinopathy in children is a new and
      effective tool, but we need further results about safety and side-effects in
      young patients. The functional and anatomical outcomes of retinal detachment in
      children are less successful than in adults. Further surgical innovations and
      etiology-specific treatment strategies are required to improve the outcome in
      this group.

PMID- 28599338
TI  - [Effects of a Phone-Based Follow-Up Care After Inpatient Rehabilitation for
      Breast Cancer Patients - A Randomized Controlled Trial].
AB  - Background Benefit and long-term effects of rehabilitation and psychoeducational
      interventions after cancer therapy are still controversial discussed. Aim of the
      study was to evaluate feasibility and effects of a telephone-based follow-up
      intervention after oncological rehabilitation. Methods 172 breast cancer patients
      (age 27-54 years) were randomized after inpatient rehabilitation to a telephone
      based intervention (phone calls every 4 weeks over 6 months) or control group.
      Patients were evaluated by standardized questionnaire (e. g. IRES-24, HADS, LZI,
      emotional thermometer, questionnaire "return to work") at T1 (start of
      rehabilitation), T2 (end of rehabilitation) and T3 (6 months after
      rehabilitation). Results 2-way-ANOVAs were performed to evaluate long-term
      effects. Main effects of IRES-24 and HADS were significant depending on time
      (IRES-24 F(2,116)=40.49, p<0.01 and HADS F(2,117)=31.50, p<0.01; (F(2,11
      6)=31.19, p<0.01) but no significant differences between the intervention and
      control group were seen. Conclusions Telephone-based follow-up care is feasible
      with high patient acceptance. However an improvement of therapeutic effects in
      the intervention group were not be detected by IRES-24 and HADS questionnaire.
      Potential explanations may be the low "dosage" (duration/quantity of phone calls)
      of the intervention or the fact that in the last years multimodal treatment
      interventions were established in German rehabilitation centers leading to a so
      called "ceiling effect" without significant effects of additional follow-up
      interventions.

PMID- 28599339
TI  - [Shared Decision Making (SDM) - Patient and Physician as a Team].
AB  - The article provides an overview on Shared Decision Making (SDM), which is
      considered as the ideal form of physician-patient-interaction by many
      stakeholders of the health care system. SDM is distinguished from other models of
      physician-patient-interaction such as the paternalistic model and the information
      model. Besides the degree of acceptance of SDM in the general population and
      among physicians, barriers for its implementation will be reported. Indications
      for SDM as well as strategies and support material for its use in individual
      consultations will be discussed and illustrated by an oncological case study.
      Effects of SDM for patients as well as for clinicians will be highlighted. After
      background information on origins of SDM, its significance with regard to health
      policy in Germany is discussed.

PMID- 28599340
TI  - 2016 President's Plenary International Psycho-Oncology Society: challenges and
      opportunities for growing and developing psychosocial oncology programmes
      worldwide.
AB  - Consistent with the International Psycho-Oncology Society's (IPOS) vision and
      goals, we are committed to improving quality cancer care and cancer policies
      through psychosocial care globally. As part of IPOS's mission, upon entering
      "Official Relations" for a second term with the World Health Organization (WHO),
      IPOS has dedicated much attention to reaching out to countries, which lack
      formalized psychosocial care programmes. One of IPOS's strategies to accomplish
      this goal has been to bring psycho-oncology training programmes to low- and
      middle-income countries and regions. To this end, the IPOS Board approved a new
      position on the Board of Directors for a member from a low- to middle-income
      country (LMIC). The IPOS 2016 President's Plenary focused on challenges and
      opportunities that exist in growing and developing psychosocial oncology
      programmes worldwide. The plenary presentations highlight how IPOS and WHO have
      aligned their goals to help LMICs support cancer patients as an essential element
      of cancer and palliative care. IPOS country representatives are strongly
      supported in liaising with national health authorities and with WHO Country
      Representatives in LMICs. The plenary speakers discussed the role IPOS Federation
      has taken in building a global network of psychosocial leaders and the impact
      this had in assisting LMICs in meeting IPOS's psychosocial care objectives. The
      plenary highlighted the challenges of expanding psychosocial reach into these
      countries. One significant question remains: Can psychosocial guidelines be
      adapted to LMICs and regions?

PMID- 28599343
TI  - Nomenclature for factors of the HLA system, update March 2017.

PMID- 28599342
TI  - Acrinol: Dye with potential for nuclear staining in confocal laser
      endomicroscopy.

PMID- 28599341
TI  - Case of colonic adenoma involving a diverticulum resected by a traction-assisted
      endoscopic submucosal dissection technique.

PMID- 28599344
TI  - Nomenclature for factors of the HLA system, update February 2017.

PMID- 28599345
TI  - Nomenclature for factors of the HLA system, update January 2017.

PMID- 28599346
TI  - Publication ethos in the immunogenetics community.

PMID- 28599347
TI  - Loving, L., Herrera, L., Banerjee, S., Heffernan, C., Nevelos, J., Markel, D. C.
      and Mont, M. A. (2015), Dual mobility bearings withstand loading from steeper cup
      inclinations without substantial wear. J. Orthop. Res., 33: 398-404. doi:
      10.1002/jor.22774.

PMID- 28599348
TI  - A pilot, open-label, 8-week study evaluating the efficacy, safety and
      tolerability of adjunctive minocycline for the treatment of bipolar I/II
      depression.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were to determine if adjunctive
      minocycline mitigates depressive symptom severity and improves cognitive function
      in individuals with bipolar I/II disorder (BD). The study also aimed to determine
      if changes in depressive and/or cognitive symptoms over the course of treatment
      were associated with changes in circulating inflammatory cytokine levels.
      METHODS: A total of 29 (intention-to-treat: n=27) adults meeting DSM-IV-TR
      criteria for a major depressive episode as part of bipolar I or II disorder (i.e.
      Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17-item [HAMD-17] >=20) were enrolled in an 8
      week, open-label study with adjunctive minocycline (100 mg bid). The primary
      outcome measure was the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The
      HAMD-17, Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S), cognitive test composite
      scores and plasma cytokines were secondary outcome measures. Plasma cytokines
      were measured with the 30 V-Plex Immunoassay from Meso Scale Discovery. RESULTS:
      Adjunctive minocycline was associated with a reduction in depressive symptom
      severity from baseline to week 8 on the MADRS (P<.001, d=0.835), HAMD-17 (P<.001,
      d=0.949) and CGI-S (P<.001, d=1.09). Improvement in psychomotor speed, but not
      verbal memory or executive function, was observed only amongst individuals
      exhibiting a reduction in depression severity (P=.007, d=0.826). Levels of
      interleukin (IL)-12/23p40 (P=.002) were increased, while levels of IL-12p70
      (P=.001) and C-C motif chemokine ligand 26 (CCL26) (P<.001) were reduced from
      baseline to week 8. A reduction in CCL26 levels was associated with a less
      favourable treatment response (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Results from the pilot study
      suggest that adjunctive minocycline may exert antidepressant effects in
      individuals with bipolar depression, possibly by targeting inflammatory
      cytokines.

PMID- 28599349
TI  - Defining melancholia: A core mood disorder.

PMID- 28599350
TI  - Unknown Intracardiac Electrogram.
AB  - Watch a video presentation of this article. For additional educational resources,
      please visit Medtronic Academy .

PMID- 28599351
TI  - Issue Information-Declaration of Helsinki.

PMID- 28599352
TI  - Haematological cancers in African children: progress and challenges.
AB  - Cancer is increasingly important in low and middle-income settings where
      infectious diseases are declining. Childhood cancers treated in well-resourced
      centres have excellent outcomes with more than 80% survival. This success is not
      reflected in low-income settings where challenges involve every step on the care
      pathway. Access to diagnosis, delayed presentation, advanced disease, co
      morbidities and underlying malnutrition make treatment difficult. Treatments are
      costly for impoverished families. Yet, the common haematological malignancies
      (Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, non Hodgkin lymphoma) are relatively easy to
      diagnose and, when managed with simple chemotherapy protocols, give limited but
      good results. As funding becomes available for cancer research we must ensure
      that the care and cure of these children is top of the agenda. There is already
      evidence of improved outcomes in middle-income countries. For others there is a
      long journey ahead.

PMID- 28599353
TI  - Restricting access to alcohol and public health: Evidence from electoral dry laws
      in Brazil.
AB  - We analyze the impact of short-term alcohol bans on road traffic accidents,
      traffic injuries, and hospital admissions. We focus on the 2012 Municipal
      Elections in Brazil, during which 11 out of 27 states imposed on its 2,733
      municipalities the decision to adopt alcohol bans. Using day-level data on
      municipalities, we find that alcohol bans caused substantial reductions in road
      crashes (19%), traffic injuries (43%), and traffic-related hospitalizations
      (17%). An analysis of traffic-related hospitalization costs allows us to estimate
      the lower bound of the negative externality associated with excessive alcohol
      consumption in this context, which reveals that electoral dry laws saved Brazil's
      public healthcare system $100,000 per day.

PMID- 28599354
TI  - A profile of auditory-responsive neurons in the larval zebrafish brain.
AB  - Many features of auditory processing are conserved among vertebrates, but the
      degree to which these pathways are established at early stages is not well
      explored. In this study, we have observed single cell activity throughout the
      brains of larval zebrafish with the goal of identifying the cellular responses,
      brain regions, and brain-wide pathways through which these larvae perceive and
      process auditory stimuli. Using GCaMP and selective plane illumination
      microscopy, we find strong responses to auditory tones ranging from 100 Hz to 400
      Hz. We also identify different categories of auditory neuron with distinct
      frequency response profiles. Auditory responses occur in the medial octavolateral
      nucleus, the torus semicircularis, the medial hindbrain, and the thalamus, and
      the flow of information among these regions resembles the pathways described in
      adult fish and mammals. The details of these patterns, however, indicate that
      auditory processing is still rudimentary in larvae. The range of frequencies
      detected is small, and while different neurons have distinct response profiles,
      most are sensitive to multiple frequencies, and distinct categories show
      substantial overlap in their responses. Likewise, while there are signs of
      nascent spatial representations of frequency in the larval brain, this only
      faintly resembles the clear tonotopy seen in adult fish and mammals. Overall, our
      results show that many fundamental properties of the auditory system are
      established early in development, and suggest that zebrafish will provide a good
      model in which to study the development and refinement of these pathways.

PMID- 28599355
TI  - Gender differences in colorectal cancer survival: A meta-analysis.
AB  - A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the influence of gender on overall
      survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in colorectal cancer patients.
      Major databases were searched for clinical trials, which compare survival
      differences between male and female for colorectal cancer patients. A list of
      these studies and references, published in English and Chinese from 1960 to 2017,
      was obtained independently by two reviewers from databases such as PubMed,
      Medline, ScienceDirect, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and
      Web of Science. Overall survival and cancer-specific survival were compared using
      Review Manager 5.3. Females had significantly better OS (hazard ratio [HR] =
      0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.85-0.89) and CSS (HR = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.89
      0.95) than males after meta-analysis. These results suggest that gender seems to
      be a significant factor influencing survival results among colorectal cancer
      patients.

PMID- 28599356
TI  - An In Vitro Model for Fibroblast Photoaging Comparing Single and Repeated UVA
      Irradiations.
AB  - The current method for efficient evaluation of antiphotoaging compounds is an in
      vitro skin culture model using a single ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation of
      fibroblasts. However, skin photoaging is caused by repeated exposure to UVA
      radiation. The objective of this study was to develop an appropriate model for in
      vitro skin photoaging by comparing the different effects of single (5 J cm-2 )
      and repeated exposures (5 J cm-2 * 3 times) of fibroblasts to UVA irradiation.
      Our results demonstrated that a single and repeated exposure to UVA irradiation
      had different effects on fibroblasts. In the single UVA-irradiated group,
      collagen lattice contraction and the protein levels of type I procollagen and
      matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) increased, while the levels of fibronectin and
      alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) were unchanged, compared to levels in the
      non-UVA-irradiated group (control). In contrast, repeated UVA exposure
      significantly induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, reduced collagen lattice
      contraction and type I procollagen and fibronectin expression, and increased MMP
      1 expression. There was no difference in alpha-SMA expression when comparing
      repeatedly irradiated and non-UVA-irradiated fibroblasts. Our findings clearly
      indicate that repeated UVA irradiation of cells induces malfunctions found in
      photoaged skin and is an appropriate in vitro skin model of photoaging.

PMID- 28599357
TI  - Advocacy for refugee children with disabilities.

PMID- 28599358
TI  - Understanding the autonomic nervous system in cerebral palsy.

PMID- 28599360
TI  - Lessons learned from Khartoum flash flood impacts: An integrated assessment.
AB  - This study aims at enabling the compilation of key lessons for decision makers
      and urban planners in rapidly urbanizing cities regarding the identification of
      representative, chief causal natural and human factors for the increased level of
      flash flood risk. To achieve this, the impacts of flash flood events of 2013 and
      2014 in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, were assessed using seven integrated
      approaches, i.e. rainfall data analysis, document analysis of affected people and
      houses, observational fieldwork in the worst flood affected areas, people's
      perception of causes and mitigation measures through household interviews,
      reported drinking water quality, reported water-related diseases and social risk
      assessment. Several lessons have been developed as follows. Urban planners must
      recognize the devastating risks of building within natural pathways of ephemeral
      watercourses. They must also ensure effective drainage infrastructures and physio
      geographical investigations prior to developing urban areas. The existing urban
      drainage systems become ineffective due to blockage by urban waste. Building of
      unauthorized drainage and embankment structures by locals often cause greater
      flood problems than normal. The urban runoff is especially problematic for
      residential areas built within low-lying areas having naturally low infiltration
      capacity, as surface water can rapidly collect within hollows and depressions, or
      beside elevated roads that preclude the free flow of floodwater. Weak housing and
      infrastructure quality are especially vulnerable to flash flooding and even to
      rainfall directly. Establishment of services infrastructure is imperative for
      flash flood disaster risk reduction. Water supply should be from lower aquifers
      to avoid contaminant groundwater. Regular monitoring of water quality and
      archiving of its indicators help identify water-related diseases and sources of
      water contamination in the event of environmental disasters such as floods.
      Though the understanding of risk perception by the locals is an important aspect
      of the decision making and planning processes, it should be advanced enough for
      proper awareness.

PMID- 28599359
TI  - Assessment of PM2.5 concentrations and exposure throughout China using ground
      observations.
AB  - Exposure to PM2.5 results in negative effects on human health. However, PM2.5
      exposure at the national scale is poorly known for China owing to limited spatial
      and temporal PM2.5 concentration data. In this study, we present analyses of
      PM2.5 exposure throughout China using high-resolution temporal and spatial ground
      level PM2.5 data from 2015. Our results indicated that the annual mean PM2.5
      concentration was 52.81MUg/m3, and that the highest annual mean PM2.5
      concentrations primarily appeared in the North China Plain. We also found the
      lowest and highest monthly mean PM2.5 concentrations appeared in August and
      January, respectively, while the lowest and highest diurnal mean PM2.5
      concentrations occurred at 16:00 and 10:00, respectively. Moreover, comparisons
      to data from 2013 indicated that the annual mean PM2.5 concentrations decreased
      by 12.31% from 2013 to 2015, which was likely due to the implementation of
      environmental protection laws in early 2015. Our findings provide new insights,
      for not only studies of PM2.5 exposure and human health, but also to inform the
      implementation of national and regional air pollution reduction policies.

PMID- 28599361
TI  - Hydraulic modelling of the spatial and temporal variability in Atlantic salmon
      parr habitat availability in an upland stream.
AB  - We show how spatial variability in channel bed morphology affects the hydraulic
      characteristics of river reaches available to Atlantic salmon parr (Salmo salar)
      under different flow conditions in an upland stream. The study stream, the
      Girnock Burn, is a long-term monitoring site in the Scottish Highlands. Six site
      characterised by different bed geometry and morphology were investigated.
      Detailed site bathymetries were collected and combined with discharge time series
      in a 2D hydraulic model to obtain spatially distributed depth-averaged velocities
      under different flow conditions. Available habitat (AH) was estimated for each
      site. Stream discharge was used according to the critical displacement velocity
      (CDV) approach. CDV defines a velocity threshold above which salmon parr are not
      able to hold station and effective feeding opportunities or habitat utilization
      are reduced, depending on fish size and water temperature. An average value of
      the relative available habitat (<RAH>) for the most significant period for parr
      growth - April to May - was used for inter-site comparison and to analyse
      temporal variations over 40years. Results show that some sites are more able than
      others to maintain zones where salmon parr can forage unimpeded by high flow
      velocities under both wet and dry conditions. With lower flow velocities, dry
      years offer higher values of <RAH> than wet years. Even though <RAH> can change
      considerably across the sites as stream flow changes, the directions of change
      are consistent. Relative available habitat (RAH) shows a strong relationship with
      discharge per unit width, whilst channel slope and bed roughness either do not
      have relevant impact or compensate each other. The results show that significant
      parr habitat was available at all sites across all flows during this critical
      growth period, suggesting that hydrological variability is not a factor limiting
      growth in the Girnock.

PMID- 28599362
TI  - Determination of phytoplankton abundances (Chlorophyll-a) in the optically
      complex inland water - The Baltic Sea.
AB  - A novel approach, termed Summed Positive Peaks (SPP), is proposed for determining
      phytoplankton abundances (Chlorophyll-a or Chl-a) and surface phytoplankton bloom
      extent in the optically complex Baltic Sea. The SPP approach is established on
      the basis of a baseline subtraction method using Rayleigh corrected top-of
      atmosphere data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS)
      measurements. It calculates the reflectance differences between phytoplankton
      related signals observed in the MERIS red and near infrared (NIR) bands, such as
      sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SICF) and the backscattering at 709nm, and
      considers the summation of the positive line heights for estimating Chl-a
      concentrations. The SPP algorithm is calibrated against near coincident in situ
      data collected from three types of phytoplankton dominant waters encountered in
      the Baltic Sea during 2010 (N=379). The validation results show that the
      algorithm is capable of retrieving Chl-a concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 3mgm
      3, with an RMSE of 0.24mgm-3 (R2=0.69, N=264). Additionally, the comparison
      results with several Chl-a algorithms demonstrates the robustness of the SPP
      approach and its sensitivity to low to medium biomass waters. Based on the red
      and NIR reflectance features, a flagging method is also proposed to distinguish
      intensive surface phytoplankton blooms from the background water.

PMID- 28599363
TI  - Ranking traditional and nano-enabled sorbents for simultaneous removal of arsenic
      and chromium from simulated groundwater.
AB  - Water from many municipal and private wells are treated to meet arsenic (As(V))
      regulations, and new regulations for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) are soon
      possible. Rather than adding costly capital infrastructure, we explored many
      types of sorbents' ability to remove both oxygenated anions simultaneously. In
      laboratory pseudo-equilibrium tests, metal (hydr)oxide sorbents demonstrated high
      affinity for As(V) but exhibited 30 to 100-fold lower capacities to remove
      Cr(VI). WBAX resins had some ability to sorb both Cr(VI) and As(V), but competing
      anions lowered their sorption capacity for As(V) by >90% compared to in a
      deionized water matrix. Nano-enabled sorbents with iron or titanium nanoparticles
      embedded inside the porous structure of an anion exchange resin demonstrated high
      ability to remove both pollutants simultaneously despite competition, with the
      tested sorbents showing 11MUmol/g capacity for Cr(VI) and 19MUmol/g for As(V) in
      simulated groundwater on average. To quantitatively rank sorbents' ability to
      remove multiple pollutants, a Simultaneous Removal Capacity scoring tool is
      proposed. This index uses both absolute removal capacity for each contaminant and
      relative capacity for multiple contaminants, and may be applied to simultaneous
      removal of any set of aqueous or atmospheric contaminants. Here, the five nano
      enabled sorbents ranked in the top seven out of twelve sorbents tested for
      simultaneous Cr(VI) and As(V) removal. This work demonstrated traditional and
      novel nano-enabled sorbents can reduce multiple contaminants of health concern,
      resulting in groundwater treated to drinking water standards.

PMID- 28599364
TI  - The true costs of participatory sanitation: Evidence from community-led total
      sanitation studies in Ghana and Ethiopia.
AB  - Evidence on sanitation and hygiene program costs is used for many purposes. The
      few studies that report costs use top-down costing methods that are inaccurate
      and inappropriate. Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) is a participatory
      behavior-change approach that presents difficulties for cost analysis. We used
      implementation tracking and bottom-up, activity-based costing to assess the
      process, program costs, and local investments for four CLTS interventions in
      Ghana and Ethiopia. Data collection included implementation checklists, surveys,
      and financial records review. Financial costs and value-of-time spent on CLTS by
      different actors were assessed. Results are disaggregated by intervention, cost
      category, actor, geographic area, and project month. The average household size
      was 4.0 people in Ghana, and 5.8 people in Ethiopia. The program cost of CLTS was
      $30.34-$81.56 per household targeted in Ghana, and $14.15-$19.21 in Ethiopia.
      Most program costs were from training for three of four interventions. Local
      investments ranged from $7.93-$22.36 per household targeted in Ghana, and $2.35
      $3.41 in Ethiopia. This is the first study to present comprehensive,
      disaggregated costs of a sanitation and hygiene behavior-change intervention. The
      findings can be used to inform policy and finance decisions, plan program scale
      up, perform cost-effectiveness and benefit studies, and compare different
      interventions. The costing method is applicable to other public health behavior
      change programs.

PMID- 28599365
TI  - The critical role of local policy effects in arid watershed groundwater resources
      sustainability: A case study in the Minqin oasis, China.
AB  - Designed as a watershed groundwater restoration policy (WGRP), the Comprehensive
      Treatment Program of the Shiyang River Basin (CTSRB) was launched in 2006 to
      restore the groundwater resources in the Minqin oasis, northwestern China. This
      study sought to verify the recovery effects of CTSRB implementation from the
      perspective of groundwater depth. We reconstructed the spatio-temporal
      distribution of groundwater depth at interannual and pixel scales by using
      digital groundwater depth models (DGDMs), based on the ordinary kriging
      interpolation method. Using DGDMs data, various measures of the groundwater table
      (e.g., regional depths, surface areas, depletion cones, and conditions in
      irrigated regions including Ba, Quanshan, and Hu) were quantitatively analyzed
      and compared for the pre-CTSRB (2001-2006), CTSRB I (2006-2010), and CTSRB II
      (2010-2015) periods, for which spatial trends in the annual amplitudes of
      groundwater depth were compared. Finally, strategies that impacted the
      groundwater behavior before and during the CTSRB periods, possible indirect and
      adverse effects, and long-term strategies and prospects were discussed. The
      results showed that groundwater depth first declined sharply, before increasing
      slowly and stabilizing after implementation of the CTSRB. Areas of greater
      groundwater depth (<-20m) and four groundwater depletion cones expanded during
      the pre-CTSRB period, whereas variable shrinking trends were detected during the
      CTSRB period. Spatial analysis showed that groundwater recovery mainly occurred
      along the periphery of the three irrigated regions, among which recovery effects
      in Hu were more obvious than those in Quanshan and Ba, with pumping-well
      densities the main reason for the difference. Therefore, various strategies
      (increasing the surface water supply, reducing groundwater mining, and some other
      auxiliary measures) of CTSRB together supported groundwater recovery in the
      Minqin oasis. Overall, this research demonstrates an innovative perspective to
      verify the effects of WGRPs in arid and semi-arid areas.

PMID- 28599366
TI  - A global examination of the response of ecosystem water-use efficiency to drought
      based on MODIS data.
AB  - Ecosystem water-use efficiency (WUE) plays an important role in carbon and water
      cycles. Currently, the response of WUE to drought disturbance remains
      controversial. Based on the global ecosystem gross primary productivity (GPP)
      product and the evapotranspiration product (ET), both of which were retrieved
      from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), as well as the
      drought index, this study comprehensively examined the relationship between
      ecosystem WUE (WUE=GPP/ET) and drought at the global scale. The response of WUE
      to drought showed large differences in various regions and biomes. WUE for arid
      ecosystems typically showed a negative response to drought, whereas WUE for humid
      ecosystems showed both positive and negative response to drought. Legacy effects
      of drought on ecosystem WUE were observed. Furthermore, ecosystems showed a
      sensitive response to abrupt changes in hydrological climatic conditions. The
      transition from wet to dry years should increase ecosystem WUE, and the opposite
      change in WUE should occur when an ecosystem experiences a transition from dry to
      wet years. This indicates the resilience of ecosystems to drought disturbance.
      Knowledge from this study should provide an in-depth understanding of ecosystem
      strategies for coping with drought.

PMID- 28599367
TI  - Integrative assessment of river damming impacts on aquatic fauna in a Portuguese
      reservoir.
AB  - The impacts of river damming on aquatic fauna are assessed and then integrated
      across hierarchical scales, portrayed as nested circles. The outer circles
      characterize the studied site for habitat disturbance and hydrologic regime
      during the construction and filling phases. The inner circles characterize the
      construction and filling phase zones for water quality parameters and aquatic
      fauna. The procedure for integrating the impacts comprises two consecutive
      stages: in the task stage, inner circles are characterized through field and
      laboratory work involving sampling and analyses of water aliquots and aquatic
      fauna; in the impact assessment stage, circle data are processed in ecological
      and statistical algorithms, which allow identification of changes in abundance
      and composition of aquatic fauna communities and their integration with changes
      in water quality parameters across the construction and filling phase zones. The
      integrative assessment of river damming impacts on aquatic fauna was carried out
      in the Sabor River dam (Portugal). This dam created two reservoirs: primary and
      secondary. Changes in water quality caused by dam construction and stream water
      impoundment were significant, marked by increases in temperature and electric
      conductivity downstream, accumulation of phosphorus and nitrogen in the
      reservoirs triggering the growth of algae and the increase of chlorophyll a, and
      drop of transparency. These changes were aggravated in the secondary reservoir.
      The consequences of water deterioration for aquatic fauna were severe, marked by
      abrupt declines of native fish species and invasion of exotic species even
      upwards the reservoirs. The ecological status determined from ecological quality
      ratios of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were also affected, changing from
      good-fair in the unaffected watercourses to fair-poor in the lakes.

PMID- 28599368
TI  - Burn effects on soil properties associated to heat transfer under contrasting
      moisture content.
AB  - The aim of this work is to investigate the topsoil thickness affected by burning
      under contrasting soil moisture content (field capacity versus air-dried
      conditions). A mollic horizon of an Aleppo pine forest was sampled and burned in
      the laboratory, recording the temperature continuously at the topsoil surface and
      at soil depths of 1, 2, and 3cm. Changes in soil properties were measured at 0-1,
      1-2, 2-3, and 3-4cm. Both the maximum temperature and the charring intensities
      were significantly lower in wet soils than in air-dried soils up to 3cm in depth.
      Moreover, soil heating was slower and cooling faster in wet soils as compared to
      dry soils. Therefore, the heat capacity increase of the soil moistened at field
      capacity plays a more important role than the thermal conductivity increase on
      heat transfer on burned soils. Burning did not significantly modify the pH, the
      carbonate content and the chroma, for either wet or dry soil. Fire caused an
      immediate and significant decrease in water repellency in the air-dried soil,
      even at 3cm depth, whereas the wet soil remained hydrophilic throughout its
      thickness, without being affected by burning. Burning depleted 50% of the soil
      organic C (OC) content in the air-dried soil and 25% in the wet soil at the upper
      centimeter, which was blackened. Burning significantly decreased the total N (TN)
      content only in the dry soil (to one-third of the original value) through the
      first centimeter of soil depth. Soluble ions, measured by electrical conductivity
      (EC), increased after burning, although only significantly in the first
      centimeter of air-dried soils. Below 2cm, burning had no significant effects on
      the brightness, OC, TN, or EC, for either wet or dry soil.

PMID- 28599369
TI  - Biochemical impacts of Hg in Mytilus galloprovincialis under present and
      predicted warming scenarios.
AB  - The interest in the consequences of climate change on the physiological and
      biochemical functioning of marine organisms is increasing, but the indirect and
      interactive effects resulting from warming on bioconcentration and responsiveness
      to pollutants are still poorly explored, particularly in terms of cellular
      responses. The present study investigated the impacts of Hg in Mytilus
      galloprovincialis under control (17 degrees C) and warming (21 degrees C)
      conditions, assessing mussels Hg bioconcentration capacity, metabolic and
      oxidative status after 14 and 28days of exposure. Results obtained showed greater
      impacts in mussels exposed for 28days in comparison to 14days of exposure.
      Furthermore, our findings revealed that the increase in temperature from 17 to 21
      degrees C reduced the bioconcentration of Hg by M. galloprovincialis, which may
      explain higher mortality rates at 17 degrees C in comparison to 21 degrees C.
      Lower Hg concentration at 21 degrees C in mussels tissue may result from valves
      closure for longer periods, identified by reduced energy reserves consumption at
      higher temperature, which in turn might also contributed to higher oxidative
      stress in organisms exposed to this condition. The highest LPO levels observed in
      mussels exposed to higher temperatures alone indicate that warming conditions
      will greatly affect M. galloprovincialis. Furthermore, the present study showed
      that the impacts induced by the combination of Hg and warming were similar to the
      ones caused by increased temperature acting alone, mainly due to increased
      antioxidant defenses in organisms under combined effects of Hg and warming,
      suggesting that warming was the factor that mostly contributed to oxidative
      stress in mussels. Although higher mortality was observed in individuals exposed
      to 17 degrees C and Hg compared to organisms exposed to Hg at 21 degrees C, the
      oxidative stress induced at higher temperature may generate negative consequences
      on mussels reproductive and feeding capacity, growth and, consequently, on
      population maintenance and dynamics.

PMID- 28599370
TI  - Comparisons of field and laboratory estimates of risk of DDTs from contaminated
      sediments to humans that consume fish in Palos Verdes, California, USA.
AB  - Calculating risk from seafood exposure to persistent organic pollutants continues
      to be problematic as estimates of exposure from diet require extensive monitoring
      of fish species and limited assessments of bioavailability from sediments where
      the contaminants tend to reside. Previous studies in our laboratory utilized a
      laboratory-based isotope dilution method (IDM) to estimate the bioavailability of
      DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2, 2-bis(p-chloro-phenyl)ethane] and its metabolites from
      sediment to biota from a superfund site on the shelf of the Palos Verdes (PVS)
      Peninsula in California (USA). Using a biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF)
      derived from IDM and biomagnification factors (BMF) calculated from previous
      studies as well as seafood-consumption data specific to anglers in the PVS area,
      we estimated cancer and non-cancer risks for anglers and nursing infants
      representing sensitive groups. Predicted cancer risks from consumption of White
      croaker (Genyonemus lineatus) to the 50th and 95th percentile to all shore mode
      anglers were, respectively, 2*10-7 and 7*10-7, which were similar to field
      studies using fish concentrations of all DDT isomers and their environmental
      degradates (SigmaDDT) from collected animals. The calculated non-cancer hazard
      quotient values for the 50th and 95th percentile shore mode anglers consuming
      White croaker from this study (0.008 and 0.023, respectively) were also of
      similar magnitude as those obtained from studies based on samples obtained solely
      from fish. For nursing infants, similar results were also observed. These results
      indicate that estimates of bioavailability using IDM from sediment could be used
      accurately to determine risk to SigmaDDT in humans from fish consumption.

PMID- 28599371
TI  - Variations in the susceptibility to landslides, as a consequence of land cover
      changes: A look to the past, and another towards the future.
AB  - Land cover is one of the most important conditioning factors in landslide
      susceptibility analysis. Usually it is considered as a static factor, but it has
      proven to be dynamic, with changes occurring even in few decades. In this work
      the influence of land cover changes on landslide susceptibility are analyzed for
      the past and for future scenarios. For the application, an area representative of
      the hilly-low mountain sectors of the Italian Southern Apennines was chosen (Rivo
      basin, in Molise Region). With this purpose landslide inventories and land cover
      maps were produced for the years 1954, 1981 and 2007. Two alternative future
      scenarios were created for 2050, one which follows the past trend (2050-trend),
      and another one more extreme, foreseeing a decrease of forested and cultivated
      areas (2050-alternative). The landslide susceptibility analysis was performed
      using the Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation method for different time steps,
      investigating changes to susceptibility over time. The results show that
      environmental dynamics, such as land cover change, affect slope stability in
      time. In fact there is a decrease of susceptibility in the past and in the future
      2050-trend scenario. This is due to the increase of forest or cultivated areas,
      that is probably determined by a better land management, water and soil control
      respect to other land cover types such as shrubland, pasture or bareland.
      Conversely the results revealed by the alternative scenario (2050-alternative),
      show how the decrease in forest and cultivated areas leads to an increase in
      landslide susceptibility. This can be related to the assumed worst climatic
      condition leading to a minor agricultural activity and lower extension of
      forested areas, possibly associated also to the effects of forest fires. The
      results suggest that conscious landscape management might contribute to determine
      a significant reduction in landslide susceptibility.

PMID- 28599372
TI  - A hybrid machine learning model to predict and visualize nitrate concentration
      throughout the Central Valley aquifer, California, USA.
AB  - Intense demand for water in the Central Valley of California and related
      increases in groundwater nitrate concentration threaten the sustainability of the
      groundwater resource. To assess contamination risk in the region, we developed a
      hybrid, non-linear, machine learning model within a statistical learning
      framework to predict nitrate contamination of groundwater to depths of
      approximately 500m below ground surface. A database of 145 predictor variables
      representing well characteristics, historical and current field and landscape
      scale nitrogen mass balances, historical and current land use,
      oxidation/reduction conditions, groundwater flow, climate, soil characteristics,
      depth to groundwater, and groundwater age were assigned to over 6000 private
      supply and public supply wells measured previously for nitrate and located
      throughout the study area. The boosted regression tree (BRT) method was used to
      screen and rank variables to predict nitrate concentration at the depths of
      domestic and public well supplies. The novel approach included as predictor
      variables outputs from existing physically based models of the Central Valley.
      The top five most important predictor variables included two oxidation/reduction
      variables (probability of manganese concentration to exceed 50ppb and probability
      of dissolved oxygen concentration to be below 0.5ppm), field-scale adjusted
      unsaturated zone nitrogen input for the 1975 time period, average difference
      between precipitation and evapotranspiration during the years 1971-2000, and 1992
      total landscape nitrogen input. Twenty-five variables were selected for the final
      model for log-transformed nitrate. In general, increasing probability of anoxic
      conditions and increasing precipitation relative to potential evapotranspiration
      had a corresponding decrease in nitrate concentration predictions. Conversely,
      increasing 1975 unsaturated zone nitrogen leaching flux and 1992 total landscape
      nitrogen input had an increasing relative impact on nitrate predictions. Three
      dimensional visualization indicates that nitrate predictions depend on the
      probability of anoxic conditions and other factors, and that nitrate predictions
      generally decreased with increasing groundwater age.

PMID- 28599373
TI  - The 99th percentile of reference population for cTnI and cTnT assay: methodology,
      pathophysiology and clinical implications.
AB  - According to recent international guidelines, including the 2012 Third Universal
      Definiton of Myocardial Infarction by the Joint ESC/ACCF/AHA/WHF Task Force, an
      increase in cardiac troponin (cTn) levels over the 99th percentile upper
      reference limit (99th URL) should be considered clinically relevant, this cut-off
      being measured with an imprecision <=10 CV%. In theory 99th URL values strongly
      depend not only on demographic and physiological variables (i.e. criteria for
      considering the reference population "healthy"), but also on the analytical
      performance of cTn methods and mathematical algorithms used for the calculation.
      The aim of the present article was therefore to review the methodological and
      pathophysiological factors affecting the evaluation and calculation of the 99th
      URL for cTn assay. The critical analysis made showed that no uniform procedure is
      followed, and nor have experts or regulatory bodies provided uniform guidelines
      for researchers or cTn assays manufacturers as an aid in "their quest to define
      normality". In particular, little attention has been paid to the way in which a
      healthy reference population is to be selected, or the criteria for calculating
      the 99th URL value for cTn assays, thus highlighting the need for international
      recommendations not only for demographic and physiological variables criteria for
      defining a healthy reference population, but also for calculating mathematical
      algorithms for establishing/calculating clinical decision values. An expert
      consensus group, comprising laboratory and clinical scientists, biomedical
      statisticians, industrial and regulatory representatives, should be responsible
      for drawing up these guidelines.

PMID- 28599374
TI  - Pharmacogenetics-based optimisation of atazanavir treatment: potential role of
      new genetic predictors.

PMID- 28599376
TI  - Pride, shame and health among adolescents - a cross-sectional survey.
AB  - Background Pride and shame are important emotions known to influence identity
      development and psychological well-being in adolescence. Research evidence
      indicates that self-rated health (SRH) is a strong predictor of future health.
      This cross-sectional study, conducted during 2008-2009, aimed to investigate the
      associations between pride, shame and SRH among adolescent boys and girls.
      Methods The study sample comprised 705 adolescents in Sweden aged 17-18 years
      (318 boys and 387 girls) who completed a questionnaire that included items on
      SRH, shame and pride (participation rate 67%). Logistic regression analyses
      (univariable and multivariable) were used to investigate the associations between
      pride and shame as separate and combined constructs on SRH, adjusting for
      potential confounders (country of birth, parental educational level, school
      experience, having enough friends, mood in family and being active in
      associations). Results Pride and shame separately were significantly associated
      with SRH in both genders. Logistic regression analysis of the pride-shame model
      showed that the odds of having lower SRH were highest in boys and girls with
      lower pride-higher shame. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis of the
      pride-shame model the odds of having lower SRH remained significant in boys and
      girls with lower pride-higher shame [boys: odds ratio (OR) 3.51, confidence
      interval (CI) 1.40-8.81; girls: OR 2.70, CI 1.22-5.96] and in girls with lower
      pride-lower shame (OR 2.16, CI 1.02-4.56). Conclusion The emotions of shame and
      pride are associated with SRH in adolescence. Experiencing pride seems to serve
      as a protective mechanism in SRH in adolescents exposed to shame. We believe that
      this knowledge should be useful in adolescent health promotion.

PMID- 28599377
TI  - Illicit substance use among Tunisian college students: prevalence and risk
      factors.
AB  - Background Illicit substance use among college students represents one of the
      most complicated social problems. Studying its predictors could help deal with
      this problem more efficiently. Aims To determine the prevalence of life time
      illicit substance use and its predictors among Tunisian college students. Methods
      A cross-sectional study was conducted in five colleges in the region of Sousse,
      Tunisia in the 2012-2013 school year. A sample of 556 college students responded
      to an anonymous self-administrated questionnaire. Collected data concerned socio
      demographic characteristics and substances use. Results The mean age of students
      was 21.8 +/- 2.2 years. Females represented 51.8% of participants. Among
      respondents: 31 (5.6%) had used illicit substance at least once. Cannabis was the
      main substance used by 26 (4.7%) students. The average age of the illicit
      substance use initiation was 19 (+/-2.5) years while it was almost 17 (+/-3)
      years for both tobacco and alcohol use initiations. Proportions of male students
      and academic failure were significantly more important among illicit substance
      users than among non users. While the most influential factors on illicit
      substance use were: alcohol use, tobacco use and low socioeconomic level.
      Conclusion This study highlights the strong association between the other risk
      behaviors and illicit drug use. Future interventions should focus on the whole
      risk behaviors simultaneously at late adolescence with regard to the
      environmental context.

PMID- 28599378
TI  - Work related musculoskeletal disorders among adolescent girls and young women
      employees of textile industries in Tamil Nadu, India - a comparative study.
AB  - Musculoskeletal disorders are common in those employed in the textile industry.
      The aim of the study is to assess musculoskeletal disorders among adolescent
      girls who are current employees of textile industries in comparison with the
      adolescent girls and young women who are past employees of textile industries and
      adolescent girls who have never been employed in the textile industry.
      Methodology This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 321 subjects, 107 in each
      study group were sampled. Standardized nordic questionnaires (SNQ) was used to
      assess musculoskeletal symptoms. Results More than half of the current employees
      (67.28%) and past employees (67.28%) reported musculoskeletal pain. Among the
      never been employed, 18.69% reported musculoskeletal pain. Neck and shoulder were
      the most common sites of musculoskeletal pain among the current employees (49.5%
      and 50.5%, respectively) and the past employees (45.8% and 49.5%, respectively).
      In the regression model, having ever been diagnosed for anemia (AOR 6.57, 95% CI
      1.4 to 30.76), working for more than 48 h in a week (AOR 3.37, 95% CI 1.53 to
      7.41) and the presence of depression (AOR 6.6, 95% CI 1.48 to 29.36) were
      significantly associated with the presence of musculoskeletal pain in the study
      participants. Conclusion Musculoskeletal disorders are a major occupational
      health problem among the adolescent and young women employees of textile
      industries. Working hours should be fixed at 48 h per week and anemia and
      depression should be treated to avert the work related musculoskeletal disorders
      in the study population.

PMID- 28599375
TI  - Multiple effects of probiotics on different types of diabetes: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to evaluate the
      effect of probiotics on diabetes and its associated risk factors. METHODS: We
      systematically searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science
      to June 2016. We also hand-searched the citation lists of included studies and
      previously identified systematic reviews to identify further relevant trials. Our
      primary outcome variables included glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and
      insulin. The pooled standardized mean difference was used to compare the effect
      between the probiotics and controlled groups, and the pooled standardized mean
      difference effect size with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated using a
      random-effect model. Heterogeneity was assessed with Cochran's Q and Higgins I2
      tests. Two reviewers assessed trial quality and extracted data independently. The
      analysis and bias for each included study was performed and assessed using Review
      Manager 5.2. RESULTS: Eighteen randomized, placebo-controlled studies (n=1056
      participants, 527 consuming probiotics, 529 not consuming probiotics) were
      included for analysis. Comparing the probiotics groups with the control groups,
      there were statistically significant pooled standardized mean differences on the
      reduction of glucose (-0.61, 95% CI -0.98, -0.24; p=0.001), insulin (-0.49, 95%
      CI -0.93, -0.04; p=0.03) and HbA1c (-0.39, 95% CI -0.60, -0.19%; p=0.0001).
      Subgroup analysis also indicated statistical significance on the reduction of low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in non-type 2 diabetes (non-T2DM)
      mellitus patients with diabetes, for the pooled standardized mean difference was 
      0.29 (95% CI -0.54, -0.04; p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Probiotics may have beneficial
      effects on the reduction of glucose, insulin and HbA1c for diabetes, especially
      for T2DM mellitus patients.

PMID- 28599379
TI  - The effects of a low-dose physical activity intervention on physical activity and
      body mass index in severely obese adolescents.
AB  - Background While severe obesity in childhood poses the greatest long-term health
      risks, access to treatment is a common barrier. The present pilot study examined
      the effect of a 7-week low-dose physical activity (PA) intervention on PA and
      body mass index (BMI) in severe obese adolescents delivered via telephone and
      mail. Methods Adolescents (n = 64) receiving care from a pediatric obesity
      medical clinic were randomized to a control (n = 30) or intervention (n = 34)
      group. Height and weight were measured and BMI z-scores were calculated. PA was
      assessed by a pedometer. All measurements were completed pre- and post
      intervention. The intervention group received weekly newsletters and telephone
      calls discussing various PA topics based on motivational interviewing for 7
      weeks. The control group received no contact. A series of 2 * 2 (group by time)
      repeated measures analysis of covariances (ANCOVAs) adjusting for length of time
      between visits were performed to examine the effect of the intervention on PA and
      BMI z-scores. Results The majority of adolescents were severely obese (77%, BMI:
      > 99th percentile). Intention-to-treat analysis revealed intervention effects
      were not observed for either pedometer steps or BMI z-score (p > 0.05). Among
      those with complete data, adolescents who successfully changed their BMI z-score
      had larger BMI z-score changes than those who did not change their BMI z-score (p
      = 0.0001). This improvement was due to something other than PA as the change in
      BMI z-score was similar among those who did and did not successfully increase PA
      levels (p > 0.05). Conclusions More intensive, comprehensive, and longer-term
      treatment is needed in this high risk population.

PMID- 28599380
TI  - Association between perceived parental style and depressive symptoms among
      adolescents in Hulu Langat District, Malaysia.
AB  - Depression among adolescents is increasing and worrying because of its morbidity
      and mortality from suicide. It has been found to be associated with negative
      parental styles. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship
      between perceived negative parental styles and depressive symptoms among
      adolescents in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study
      was carried out on 1769 secondary school students by using a multistage cluster
      sampling method. Data were collected by using a set of validated, pre-tested and
      standardized questionnaires which included the Measures of Parental styles (MOPS)
      and modified Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 12 (DASS-12) for adolescents.
      Data were analyzed by using the chi-square test, Pearson's correlation
      coefficient and independent t-tests. Out of 1800, 1769 completed the
      questionnaire giving a response rate of 98.3%. The prevalence of severe
      depressive symptoms was about 14% while 18.0% and 36.1% of respondents have
      moderate and mild depressive symptoms, respectively. There were significantly
      moderate and positive correlations between perceived indifferent parents (Father:
      r = 0.367; Mother: r = 0.340, p < 0.05), perceived abusive parents (Father: r =
      0.338; Mother: r = 0.331, p < 0.05) and depressive symptoms among the
      respondents. While perceived over control parents shows a significantly positive
      but weak correlation (Father: r = 0.206; Mother: r = 0.244, p < 0.05) with
      depressive symptoms among respondents. All types of parental styles in this study
      were significantly different among respondents with different categories of
      depressive symptoms (p < 0.008). Perceived negative parental styles have
      significant influence on adolescents' depressive symptoms. Intervention on
      modifying parental style is needed to reduce depressive symptoms.

PMID- 28599381
TI  - Exercise intervention on cardiovascular disease risk factors in a university
      population in the United Arab Emirates.
AB  - Objective 1) To assess the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors
      in a university population, and 2) to investigate the effects of an 8-week
      exercise intervention on CVD risk factors. Methods Forty-six students
      participated in this study. Baseline cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using
      maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max). Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL)-cholesterol and triglycerides were measured. Body mass index (BMI), waist
      to-hip circumference ratio (WHR), blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness were
      also assessed. Participants performed 8weeks of exercise consisting of 60 min of
      moderate-high intensity exercise three times a week, and all parameters were
      repeated following the 8-week program. Results Participants were divided into an
      apparently healthy control group (BMI < 25 kg/m2) and an overweight/obese
      experimental group (BMI >= 25 kg/m2). Both groups had low cardiorespiratory
      fitness and clear evidence of risk for CVD. Following the 8-week program,
      participants demonstrated significant improvement in biochemical parameters and
      in overall fitness (p < 0.05). WHRs decreased whilst peak oxygen volumes
      increased when comparing baseline and post-exercise values (p < 0.05). BMI
      decreased in both groups following exercise (p < 0.05). Systolic BP was
      surprisingly elevated in nearly 30% of participants, but was comparatively lower
      in the control group (p < 0.05). There was a clear increase in HDL-cholesterol
      values post-intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion Early detection of CVD risk
      factors, particularly in a young population, can lead to earlier prevention of
      disease through lifestyle changes. Moreover, short-term exercise can have
      important effects on reducing CVD risk factors, improving body composition and
      overall cardiorespiratory fitness.

PMID- 28599383
TI  - Self-care challenges in adolescents: a comprehensive literature review.
AB  - Background Adolescence is the period of accepting self-care responsibility. Many
      severe diseases that cause early mortality are rooted in adolescence. Hence,
      adolescence is the definitive time for preventive interventions such as self-care
      behaviors. In addition to the benefits of self-care behaviors, evidence shows
      that adolescents face barriers in performing self-care behaviors. Objective The
      aim of the current study to review the self-care challenges for adolescents.
      Methods Databases such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Web of Science,
      Scientific Information Database and Scopus were searched to extract papers
      published from 1994 to 2016 based on the inclusion criterion. The inclusion
      criterion was English language papers from famous authors on self-care behaviors
      in adolescents. Results The results of the current study showed that adolescents
      face cultural (two subcategories, beliefs and convictions, knowledge), socio
      economic (five subcategories, family, healthcare providers, peers, social
      support, economic status) and personal (three subcategories, mental health,
      gender, ethnicity) challenges. Conclusions Self-care behaviors in adolescents are
      influenced by biological, psychological, economic and social factors. As this is
      a multifactorial process, people who deal with adolescents should have enough
      knowledge regarding adolescent health status and also learn how to perceive the
      role of culture in self-care behaviors of the adolescents.

PMID- 28599382
TI  - Menarche as a predictor of risk-taking behavior in a sample of Hungarian
      adolescent girls.
AB  - Background The age at the time of the first sexual intercourse is declining, and
      the prevalence of smoking is increasing in adolescent girls in developed
      countries. Objective To assess the relationship between menarche and tobacco
      smoking and sexual activity in adolescent girls. Subjects Girls between 14 and 18
      years, attending primary or secondary school. Methods Socio-demographic
      characteristics (age, living place, educational level of parents, self-estimated
      financial background), onset and parameters of periods, and risk behaviors
      (smoking, sexual activity) were measured by self-administered questionnaires. A
      multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship
      between tobacco use and sexual activity and socio-demographic characteristics,
      menarche and presence of other risk behaviors. Results Adolescent girls who had
      an earlier onset of their periods were about twice as likely to smoke as girls
      with later onset of their first period [odds ratio (OR): 2.28, confidence
      interval (CI): 1.14-4.55]. Being sexually active meant more than 7-fold odds of
      being a regular tobacco user (OR: 7.24, CI: 4.39-11.94). Regarding sexual
      activity, increasing age (OR: 4.42, CI: 3.45-5.67) and regular smoking (OR: 7.07,
      CI: 4.24-11.80) increased, while poor financial status decreased (OR: 0.35, CI:
      0.13-0.97) the odds of being sexually active. Conclusion In light of these
      findings, the reconsideration of health and sexual education in Hungary is
      needed. Implementation of these programs at an earlier age should be desirable to
      avoid unfavorable consequences, such as early pregnancy.

PMID- 28599384
TI  - Adolescent and parent perspectives prior to involvement in a Fontan transition
      program.
AB  - Background Successful transition to adult healthcare is particularly important
      for congenital heart disease (CHD) patients who have undergone palliative
      surgery, as they risk adverse events if not followed closely. This study examines
      young people at the worst end of the CHD spectrum who are born with a single
      ventricle (pumping heart chamber), and who undergo a series of operations that
      culminate in the Fontan surgical procedure. Purpose To explore adolescents with a
      Fontan circulation, and their parents', readiness for transition to adult care
      and pre-implementation of a transition program. Methods Seventeen adolescents (15
      18 years) and 15 of their parents completed questionnaires at the start of their
      first transition clinic. Results Adolescents reported poor knowledge about their
      Fontan circulation, and 41% had a poor understanding of the purpose of their
      medications/treatments. Over half of the adolescents had poor knowledge around
      medical help-seeking (when, who, how). Most reported feeling comfortable with
      discussing their medical issues with their cardiologist, but considerably less so
      about sensitive adolescent issues, in particular, emotional wellbeing. Parents
      reported high levels of anxiety around transition to adult care services.
      Conclusion Findings pre-program indicate poor adolescent health knowledge, a lack
      of focus in health services on emotional wellbeing and high parental anxiety.
      These findings highlight the need for dedicated programs that focus on early
      preparation, parental involvement and acknowledgment, transition as a process,
      strong integration and prioritisation in the health system with a youth-friendly
      and holistic focus, in particular, around emotional wellbeing.

PMID- 28599385
TI  - Big Data, Small Sample.
AB  - Multiple comparisons and small sample size, common characteristics of many types
      of "Big Data" including those that are produced by genomic studies, present
      specific challenges that affect reliability of inference. Use of multiple testing
      procedures necessitates calculation of very small tail probabilities of a test
      statistic distribution. Results based on large deviation theory provide a formal
      condition that is necessary to guarantee error rate control given practical
      sample sizes, linking the number of tests and the sample size; this condition,
      however, is rarely satisfied. Using methods that are based on Edgeworth
      expansions (relying especially on the work of Peter Hall), we explore the impact
      of departures of sampling distributions from typical assumptions on actual error
      rates. Our investigation illustrates how far the actual error rates can be from
      the declared nominal levels, suggesting potentially wide-spread problems with
      error rate control, specifically excessive false positives. This is an important
      factor that contributes to "reproducibility crisis". We also review some other
      commonly used methods (such as permutation and methods based on finite sampling
      inequalities) in their application to multiple testing/small sample data. We
      point out that Edgeworth expansions, providing higher order approximations to the
      sampling distribution, offer a promising direction for data analysis that could
      improve reliability of studies relying on large numbers of comparisons with
      modest sample sizes.

PMID- 28599386
TI  - Amelioration of hyperglycemia and associated metabolic abnormalities by a
      combination of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seeds and onion (Allium
      cepa) in experimental diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seeds and onion (Allium cepa)
      are independently known to have antidiabetic effects through different
      mechanisms. The beeneficial influence of a combination of dietary fenugreek seeds
      and onion on hyperglycemia and its associated metabolic abnormalities were
      evaluated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was
      experimentally induced with streptozotocin and diabetic rats were fed with 10%
      fenugreek or 3% onion or their combination for 6 weeks. RESULTS: These dietary
      interventions significantly countered hyperglycemia, partially improved
      peripheral insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion, reduced beta-cell
      mass and markedly reversed the abnormalities in plasma albumin, urea, creatinine,
      glycated hemoglobin and advanced glycation end products in diabetic rats. These
      beneficial effects were highest in the fenugreek+onion group. Diabetic rats with
      these dietary interventions excreted lesser glucose, albumin, urea and
      creatinine, which were accompanied by improved body weights compared with the
      diabetic controls. These dietary interventions produced ameliorative effects on
      pancreatic pathology as reflected by near-normal islet cells, restored glycogen
      and collagen fiber deposition in diabetic rats. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      documented the hypoglycemic and insulinotropic effects of dietary fenugreek and
      onion, which were associated with countering of metabolic abnormalities and
      pancreatic pathology. It may be strategic to derive maximum nutraceutical
      antidiabetic benefits from these functional food ingredients by consuming them
      together.

PMID- 28599387
TI  - Antioxidant and antiproliferative potentials of methanol extract of Xylopia
      aethiopica (Dunal) A. Rich in PC-3 and LNCaP cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous studies showed that fruit methanol extract from Xylopia
      aethiopica (MEXA) exhibited antiproliferative activity in human cervical cancer
      cells via the induction of apoptosis. The present study was designed to assess
      the antiproliferative, antiangiogenic and antioxidant effects of MEXA on prostate
      cancer (PCa) cells (PC-3 and LNCaP). METHODS: PC-3 and LNCaP cells were cultured
      and treated with MEXA (10, 50 and 100 MUg/mL). The sodium 3'-[1
      (phenylaminocarbonyl)-3,4-tetrazolium]-bis (4-methoxy-6-nitro) benzene sulfonic
      acid hydrate (XTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays were used to evaluate
      cell viability and cytotoxicity, respectively. DNA fragmentation was determined
      by cell death detection ELISA plus, and angiogenesis was assessed by chicken
      chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. The antioxidant activities of MEXA were
      determined by DPPH and hydroxyl (OH) radicals' scavenging methods as well as
      through the inhibition of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in rats' liver homogenate.
      RESULTS: MEXA at 100, 250 and 500 MUg/mL scavenged DPPH by 48%, 62%, 70% and OH
      radical by 39%, 58%, 67%, respectively. MEXA significantly (p<0.05) inhibited LPO
      in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, MEXA had antiproliferative
      effects on PC-3 and LNCaP with IC50 of 62.1 and 73.6 MUg/mL, respectively, at 96
      h. The LDH assay showed that MEXA had low toxicity in vitro at its IC50 values.
      The extent of DNA fragmentation by MEXA showed higher values in PC-3 and LNCaP,
      suggesting the possible induction of apoptosis. In contrast, MEXA did not affect
      the network of vessels in CAM, thus lacking anti-angiogenic property.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that MEXA induces antiproliferative activity
      in PCa cells through a mechanism that involves apoptosis. Therefore, MEXA may be
      a potential therapeutic agent for PCa.

PMID- 28599389
TI  - Oral administration of diluted nasal desmopressin in managing neonatal central
      diabetes insipidus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal central diabetes insipidus (NCDI) remains a therapeutic
      challenge, as extremely low doses of enteral desmopressin cannot be titrated with
      current preparations. The aim of this study was to describe the use of orally
      administered dilute desmopressin in NCDI. METHODS: Nasal desmopressin (100
      MUg/mL) was diluted in 0.9% saline to 10 MUg/mL. Infants were treated with 1-5
      MUg and doses were titrated to a twice-daily regimen. The feed volume was 150
      mL/kg/day and titrated according to weight gain. RESULTS: Five infants aged 6-105
      days were included. Stabilizing treatment doses ranged from 2 to 5 MUg twice
      daily in neonates, and 12 MUg twice daily in the older infant who was diagnosed
      at 105 days. CONCLUSIONS: Dilution of nasal desmopressin with saline facilitates
      safe administration and dose titration in NCDI. We recommend considering this
      therapeutic approach to NCDI, particularly in small infants or where alternative
      treatment regimens have been unsuccessful.

PMID- 28599388
TI  - Assessment of stress levels in girls with central precocious puberty before and
      during long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment: a pilot
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to determine the stress levels of
      girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) before and during treatment with a
      long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa). METHODS: The Child
      Stress Scale (CSS) was used for 10 unrelated girls with CPP before and after the
      first year of GnRHa treatment. The CSS is divided into four subscales (physical,
      psychological, psychological with depressive component and psychophysiological
      reactions). Through a quantitative analysis, it is possible to classify stress
      into four stages: alarm, resistance, near-exhaustion and exhaustion. RESULTS: At
      diagnosis, 90% of the girls showed stress levels scores at the alarm or
      resistance stage on at least one subscale, mostly in terms of physical and
      psychological reactions. The mean total stress score was significantly higher
      before when compared to after GnRHa treatment (43.4+/-15.6 vs. 28.9+/-9.7;
      p<0.05). The mean stress scores obtained in all subscales, except the one on
      psychophysiological reactions, were significantly higher before GnRHa treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Higher stress levels were a common finding in girls with CPP before
      treatment. The significant stress level reduction after pubertal suppression
      reinforces the idea that sexual precocity is a stressful condition in children.
      The CSS might be a useful tool for psychological assessment of patients with CPP.

PMID- 28599390
TI  - Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase deficiency caused by a novel homozygous Alu element
      insertion in the FBP1 gene and delayed diagnosis.
AB  - Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) enzyme deficiency is one of the treatable
      autosomal recessive inherited metabolic disorders. If diagnosed early, FBPase
      deficiency has a favorable prognosis. We report the clinical and biochemical
      findings of a 9.5-year-old female child with FBPase deficiency. FBPase deficiency
      is caused by a homozygous Arthrobacter luteus (Alu) insertion in the FBP1 gene,
      reported for the first time.

PMID- 28599391
TI  - Association between genital mycoplasmas, acute chorioamnionitis and fetal
      pneumonia in spontaneous abortions.
AB  - AIM: Ureaplasma parvum, Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis are also
      known as genital mycoplasmas. Acute chorioamnionitis is an inflammation of the
      placenta associated with miscarriage. We retrospectively evaluated a possible
      association between genital mycoplasmas detection, acute chorioamnionitis and
      fetal pneumonia from second and third trimester spontaneous abortions. METHODS:
      One hundred and thirty placenta and fetal lung samples were evaluated for
      histological examination. The placenta samples, along with corresponding fetal
      tracheo-bronchial aspirates, also underwent bacterial and fungal culture and real
      time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of genital
      mycoplasmas. RESULTS: Acute chorioamnionitis and pneumonia were diagnosed in
      80/130 (61.5%) and 22/130 (16.9%) samples, respectively. Among samples positive
      for acute chorioamnionitis, the proportion of samples positive by real-time PCR
      and/or culture, was significantly higher than that of negative controls [54/80
      (67.5%) vs. 26/80 (32.5%); P<0.001]. Ureaplasma parvum detection was
      significantly associated with acute chorioamnionitis compared to controls [9/11
      (81.8%) vs. 2/11 (18.2%); P=0.019], as well as U. urealyticum [6/7 (85.7%) vs.
      1/7 (14.3%); P=0.039]. Among tracheo-bronchial aspirates from abortions with
      pneumonia, the proportion of real-time PCR and/or culture positive samples was
      significantly higher than that of controls [13/22 (59.1%) vs. 9/22 (40.9%);
      P=0.029]. CONCLUSIONS: A strong association was found between acute histologic
      chorioamnionitis and microbial invasion with U. parvum and/or U. urealyticum.

PMID- 28599393
TI  - Hepar uterinum: a history of ideas on fetal nutrition.
AB  - The means of fetal nutrition has been debated for over two millennia, with the
      controversy of oral versus parenteral nutrition already in the Corpus
      Hippocraticum. In 1587 Aranzio rejected connections between maternal and fetal
      blood vessels, and coined the term "hepar uterinum" for the placenta. From the
      16th to the 18th century, a fervent debate focused on the type and extent of
      connection between maternal and fetal vessels, which was finally settled by
      Hunter's injection experiment in 1774. But up to the middle of the 19th century,
      an important nutritive function was attributed to amniotic fluid. When with the
      discovery of oxygen the placenta's respiratory function became understood, its
      nutritional function fell from grace. Most scientists realized reluctantly that
      the organ had numerous functions. As late as in the 19th century, the advent of
      microscopy allowed cell theory to develop, and analytical chemistry furthered the
      understanding of the transport of nutrients across the placenta. The
      identification of the syncytiotrophoblast made passive diffusion unlikely.
      Radioisotopes, molecular biology and the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane
      revealed active transport mechanisms for nearly all macronutrients.

PMID- 28599394
TI  - Pulmo uterinus: a history of ideas on fetal respiration.
AB  - Theories about fetal respiration began in antiquity. Aristotle characterized
      pneuma as warm air, but also as the enabler of vital functions and instrument of
      the soul. In Galen's system of physiology, the vital spirit was carried by the
      umbilical arteries, the nutrients by the umbilical vein from the placenta to the
      fetus. In 1569 Aranzio postulated that the maternal and fetal vasculatures are
      distinct. From 1670 to 1690, a century before the discovery of oxygen,
      researchers understood that during respiration some form of exchange with the air
      must occur, naming the substance biolychnium, phlogiston, sal-nitro, or nitro
      aerial particles. An analogy of placental and pulmonary gas exchange was
      described in 1674 by Mayow. In 1779, Lavoisier understood the discovery of
      oxygen, discarded the phlogiston theory, and based respiration physiology on gas
      exchange. With the invention of the spectroscope, it became possible to measure
      hemoglobin oxygenation, and in 1876 Zweifel proved fetal oxygen uptake. Major
      progress in understanding fetal gas exchange was achieved in the 20th century by
      the physiologists Barcroft in Cambridge and Dawes in Oxford.

PMID- 28599392
TI  - The laboratory control of anticoagulant thromboprophylaxis during the early
      postpartum period after cesarean delivery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after cesarean
      section is up to 0.6%, and the widespread use of cesarean section draws attention
      to this group. The dosage and duration of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH)
      prophylaxis after delivery is estimated by anamnestic risk-scales; however, the
      predictive potency for an individual patient's risk can be low. Laboratory
      hemostasis assays are expected to solve this problem. The aim of this study was
      to estimate the potency of tests to reflect the coagulation state of patients
      receiving LMWH in the early postpartum period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      conducted an observational study on 97 women undergoing cesarean section.
      Standard coagulation tests (Fg, APTT, prothrombin, D-dimer), an anti-Xa assay,
      rotation thromboelastometry and thrombodynamics/thrombodynamics-4D were
      performed. Coagulation assay parameters were compared in groups formed in the
      presence or absence of LMWH to estimate the laboratory assays' sensitivity to
      anticoagulation. RESULTS: Coagulation assays revealed hypercoagulation after
      delivery and a tendency toward normalization of coagulation during early
      postpartum. The thromboprophylaxis results revealed a higher percentage of
      coagulation parameters within the normal range in the LMWH group. CONCLUSION:
      This research is potentially beneficial for the application of thrombodynamics
      and thrombodynamics-4D in monitoring coagulation among patients with high VTE
      risk who receive thromboprophylaxis with heparin.

PMID- 28599395
TI  - Fetal interventional procedures and surgeries: a practical approach.

PMID- 28599396
TI  - Five years' experience in an anesthesiology antenatal clinic for high-risk
      patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim, of this study is to describe our approach and outcomes in
      an outpatient anesthesia/analgesia antepartum clinic among ambulatory high-risk
      obstetric patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective evaluation of the activity
      of the anesthesiology antenatal clinic from its inception in 2010 until 2016 (a 5
      year period). The clinic works in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics
      and Gynecology. The catchment area of the study University Affiliated Hospital
      attends a multiethnic population characterized by high parity. RESULTS: There
      were 241 referrals over the 5 years, each of whom was discharged with a consult
      and a delivery management plan and 228 (95%) of which were performed as planned.
      Mean gestational age at consultation was 34.4 weeks (range: 20-37). There were no
      preconceptional consultation. No limitations regarding mode of
      anesthesia/analgesia was considered for 47% of the referrals. Nulliparous women
      accounted for 50% of the referrals and 17% were in their second pregnancy. The
      greatest number of referrals (30%) was for musculoskeletal conditions. No
      maternal death encountered. The mode of delivery was vaginal in 139 (65%) women;
      elective cesarean section in 44 (21%) women; and emergent cesarean section in 30
      (14%) women. The neonatal outcomes were unremarkable; 210 (87%) in hospital
      births, 97.1% had an a 5' Apgar score of 9. CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal the
      need for high-risk obstetric patients consult with a dedicated obstetric
      anesthesiologist to devise a management plan for labor and delivery that is
      tailored to their comorbidity and obstetric status, to ensure an optimum outcome
      for mother and child.

PMID- 28599398
TI  - Antepartum care.

PMID- 28599397
TI  - Infant mortality and causes of death by birth weight for gestational age in non
      malformed singleton infants: a 2002-2012 population-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the associations between birth weight for gestational age
      (GA) and infant mortality as well as causes of infant death. STUDY DESIGN: A
      population-based observational study conducted between 2002 and 2012 included
      203,620 non-malformed singleton live births from Slovenia. Poisson regression
      analyses were performed to estimate the crude relative risk (RR) and adjusted RR
      (aRR) for infant mortality by birth weight percentiles stratified by the GA
      subgroups term, moderate-to-late preterm, very preterm and extremely preterm.
      RESULTS: Compared with appropriate for GA (AGA) term infants (referent-AGA),
      infant mortality was significantly higher in small for GA (SGA) term infants
      [aRR=2.79 (1.41-5.50)], with significant cause-specific infant mortality risk for
      neuromuscular disorders [RR=10.48 (2.62-41.91)]. The differences in infant
      mortality and cause-specific infant mortality in preterm subgroups between
      referent-AGA and SGA were insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: In the Slovenian
      population, birth weight for GA is significantly associated with infant mortality
      only in infants born at term.

PMID- 28599399
TI  - Pulsed magnetic field treatment as antineuropathic pain therapy.
AB  - No satisfactory effective therapy is still available to treat trauma- or disease
      induced neuropathic pain, and current available treatment options have several
      side effects. Pulsed magnetic field (PMF) treatments are receiving growing
      interest as a therapeutic approach for several neuronal diseases. Although the
      exact mechanism of action of PMF treatments is unknown, reported findings
      represent a promising alternative therapeutic choice for the management of
      neuropathic pain. PMF treatments can supply new strategies for the therapy of
      life-threatening neuropathic pain due to its antihyperglycemic, anti
      inflammatory, antihyperalgesic, antiallodynic, and neuroimmunomodulatory actions.
      In this review, I summarized the several recent findings about antineuropathic
      actions of PMF treatment in experimental animals with neuropathic pain induced by
      disease and/or damage.

PMID- 28599400
TI  - The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
      therapy - a perspective on cell biological mechanisms.
AB  - Recent clinical trials of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation have
      demonstrated procedural safety and clinical proof of principle with a modest
      indication of benefit in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While
      replacement therapy remained unrealistic, the clinical efficacy of this
      therapeutic option could be potentially enhanced if we could better decipher the
      mechanisms underlying some of the beneficial effects of transplanted cells, and
      work toward augmenting or combining these in a strategic manner. Novel ways
      whereby MSCs could act in modifying disease progression should also be explored.
      In this review, I discuss the known, emerging and postulated mechanisms of action
      underlying effects that transplanted MSCs may exert to promote motor neuron
      survival and/or to encourage regeneration in ALS. I shall also speculate on how
      transplanted cells may alter the diseased environment so as to minimize non
      neuron cell autonomous damages by immune cells and astrocytes.

PMID- 28599401
TI  - The frequency of bone fractures among patients with chronic kidney disease not on
      dialysis: two-year follow-up.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Renal osteodystrophy is a severe complication of chronic kidney
      disease (CKD) that increases morbidity and mortality in these patients. Mineral
      and bone disorder starts early in CKD and affects the incidence of bone
      fractures. The aim of this study was to observe the frequency of diverse bone
      fractures in patients with CKD not on dialysis. METHODS: This cohort study
      included 68 patients that were followed during the two-year period. The patients
      were divided into two cohorts: one that developed bone fractures and the other
      that did not. There were 35 (51.5%) men and 33 (48.5%) women. The mean age of
      patients ranged 62.88+/-11.60 years. During follow-up serum values of chronic
      kidney disease - mineral and bone indicators were measured. The methods of
      descriptive and analytical statistics were used in order to analyze obtained
      data. RESULTS: During this two-year follow-up seven patients developed bone
      fractures. Among them, females dominated (6 patients) compared to males (only 1
      patient). The most common were fractures of forearm. The mean level of
      parathyroid hormone (PTH) at the beginning of the monitoring was higher in the
      group of patients with bone fractures (165.25 +/- 47.69 pg/mL) in regard to
      another group (103.96 +/- 81.55 pg/mL). After two-year follow-up, this difference
      became statistically significant at the level p < 0.05. Patients that developed
      bone fractures had higher FRAX (Fracture Risk Assessment) score compared to
      another group. CONCLUSION: In our study, about 10% of patients had bone fractures
      in the two-year follow-up period. Patients who developed fractures had a higher
      PTH level and FRAX score.

PMID- 28599402
TI  - Robin Hood: A cost-efficient two-stage approach to large-scale simultaneous
      inference with non-homogeneous sparse effects.
AB  - A classical approach to experimental design in many scientific fields is to first
      gather all of the data and then analyze it in a single analysis. It has been
      recognized that in many areas such practice leaves substantial room for
      improvement in terms of the researcher's ability to identify relevant effects, in
      terms of cost efficiency, or both. Considerable attention has been paid in recent
      years to multi-stage designs, in which the user alternates between data
      collection and analysis and thereby sequentially reduces the size of the problem.
      However, the focus has generally been towards designs that require a hypothesis
      be tested in every single stage before it can be declared as rejected by the
      procedure. Such procedures are well-suited for homogeneous effects, i.e. effects
      of (almost) equal sizes, however, with effects of varying size a procedure that
      permits rejection at interim stages is much more suitable. Here we present
      precisely such multi-stage testing procedure called Robin Hood. We show that with
      heterogeneous effects our method substantially improves on the existing multi
      stage procedures with an essentially zero efficiency trade-off in the homogeneous
      effect realm, which makes it especially useful in areas such as genetics, where
      heterogeneous effects are common. Our method improves on existing approaches in a
      number of ways including a novel way of performing two-sided testing in a multi
      stage procedure with increased power for detecting small effects.

PMID- 28599403
TI  - No counts, no variance: allowing for loss of degrees of freedom when assessing
      biological variability from RNA-seq data.
AB  - RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is widely used to study gene expression changes
      associated with treatments or biological conditions. Many popular methods for
      detecting differential expression (DE) from RNA-seq data use generalized linear
      models (GLMs) fitted to the read counts across independent replicate samples for
      each gene. This article shows that the standard formula for the residual degrees
      of freedom (d.f.) in a linear model is overstated when the model contains fitted
      values that are exactly zero. Such fitted values occur whenever all the counts in
      a treatment group are zero as well as in more complex models such as those
      involving paired comparisons. This misspecification results in underestimation of
      the genewise variances and loss of type I error control. This article proposes a
      formula for the reduced residual d.f. that restores error control in simulated
      RNA-seq data and improves detection of DE genes in a real data analysis. The new
      approach is implemented in the quasi-likelihood framework of the edgeR software
      package. The results of this article also apply to RNA-seq analyses that apply
      linear models to log-transformed counts, such as those in the limma software
      package, and more generally to any count-based GLM where exactly zero fitted
      values are possible.

PMID- 28599404
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer: Effects on cancer tissue and
      novel perspectives.
AB  - Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer has diversified following the addition of more
      treatment regimens; however, in spite of this, pancreatic cancer remains a fatal
      disease. Preoperative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy (NAC) or neoadjuvant
      chemoradiation therapy (NACRT) has been developed and implemented. For patients
      with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) and locally advanced
      pancreatic cancer (LAPC), a number of clinical trials have been conducted; NACRT
      was demonstrated to improve resectability, R0 resection rate, overall survival
      rate, disease-free survival rate and even an LAPC and BRPC survival advantage
      over NAC. However, from the knowledge obtained from resected specimens following
      preoperative treatment, residual pancreatic cancer tissues following NAC are rich
      in chemoresistant cancer stem-like cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) markers. Conversely, metformin, angiotensin receptor blocker, statins and
      low-dose paclitaxel are well-known as drugs that inhibit EMT, which is associated
      with cancer stem cell-like characteristics. Although clinical effectiveness is
      unlikely to be achieved using one of these as an anticancer agent, it is
      reasonable to use these drugs for patients with comorbidities in the treatment of
      pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, gemcitabine (GEM) affects antitumor immunity by
      stimulating the expression of major histocompatibility complex class I-related
      chain A on the surface of cancer cells to enhance the cytotoxicity of natural
      killer cells. Considering EMT and antitumor immunity, there is a possibility that
      GEM and nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel therapy is the most suitable
      regimen for treating pancreatic cancer. However, even as preoperative treatment
      progresses, R0 resection is the most important factor for the long-term survival
      of pancreatic cancer patients.

PMID- 28599405
TI  - Lunasin: A promising polypeptide for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
AB  - Strategies for the treatment of cancer remain unsatisfactory due to the poor
      understanding of the complicated underlying molecular mechanisms of
      carcinogenesis. A number of types of cancer exhibit a marked association with
      dietary habits and lifestyles. Therefore, the modulation of dietary habits or
      lifestyles may be an effective strategy for preventing the formation and
      progression of cancer. Proteins and polypeptides from soybean have been developed
      as healthcare products due to their marked activity in inhibiting the progression
      of cancer at various stages. Lunasin, containing 43 amino acid residues, is one
      such example of a soybean-derived polypeptide that has been demonstrated to
      exhibit marked anti-cancer activity. In the present review, studies of the
      underlying molecular mechanisms and potential advantages of lunasin in the
      prevention and treatment of cancer have been examined, to provide a theoretical
      reference for the development of natural product-based agents or healthcare
      products for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

PMID- 28599406
TI  - Ocoxin oral solution(r) as a complement to irinotecan chemotherapy in the
      metastatic progression of colorectal cancer to the liver.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an aggressive disease in which patients usually die
      due to its metastatic progression to the liver. Up to date, irinotecan is one of
      the most used chemotherapeutic agents to treat CRC metastasis with demonstrated
      efficacy. However, the severity of the side effects constitute the main
      limitation to its use in the treatment. Consequently, new complementary therapies
      are being developed to avoid these adverse effects while maintaining the efficacy
      of the antitumoral drugs. Ocoxin oral solution (OOS(r)) is a nutritional mixture
      containing biologically active compounds with demonstrated antitumoral and
      immunomodulatory effects. Thus, we aimed to analyze the effect of OOS(r) as a
      suitable complement to irinotecan therapy in the treatment of CRC metastasis to
      the liver. First, the effect of OOS(r), irinotecan and the combination of both on
      the viability of C26 cells was tested in vitro and in vivo. Second, the
      expression of caspase-3, Ki67 and the macrophage infiltration by F4/80 marker was
      quantified in liver tissue sections by immunohistochemistry. Finally, mRNA
      microarray study was carried out on tumor cells isolated from tumor-bearing
      livers collected from mice subjected to the above treatments. Our results show
      that OOS(r) administered as a complementary therapy to irinotecan reduced tumor
      cell viability in vitro. Moreover, irinotecan administered either alone or in
      combination with 100 ul OOS(r) from the 7th day after tumor cell inoculation
      decreased the metastatic growth in the liver. Besides, several genes with binding
      and catalytic activities showed to be deregulated by RNA microarray analysis. In
      conclusion, OOS(r), when administered as a complement to irinotecan, reduced the
      metastatic development of colorectal cancer to the liver. Additionally, the
      overall health state of the animals improved. These results point out OOS(r) as a
      potential supplement to the anti-tumoral treatments used in clinical settings in
      patients suffering from disseminated colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28599407
TI  - Application of three-dimensional wire localization and orientation in the
      resection of non-palpable breast lesions.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to compare the application value of the 3D
      stereo wire localization technique guided by a full digital breast X-ray machine,
      and general location technique in the resection of breast non-palpable lesions. A
      retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 80 patients with abnormal findings
      for non-palpable breast molybdenum target X-ray was conducted between June, 2011
      and July, 2014. The patients were divided into two groups: 40 cases with a
      general location of lesions identified by perturbation axial + standard lateral
      radiograph to guide the clinical operation biopsy (group A); and 40 cases with a
      general location of lesions identified by the 3D stereo wire localization method
      to guide the clinical operation biopsy (group B). The one-time success rate of
      the resection of breast lesions of the two groups of patients was compared. Both
      groups of patients completed the operation. Of the 40 cases in group A, 33 cases
      had one-time complete resection of lesions, 5 cases had incomplete resection with
      the second resection, and the lesions of 2 cases were not excised and the one
      time success rate of the breast lesion resection was 82.5%. Of the 40 cases in
      group B, lesions of 38 cases were one-time complete resection and 2 had vagal
      reaction; thus, the one-time success rate of breast lesion resection being 95%.
      Compared to group A, the one-time success rate of breast lesion resection of
      group B was statistically and significantly higher (chi2=3.638, P<0.05). In
      conclusion, the 3D stereo wire localization technique guided by the full digital
      breast X-ray machine for the excision of non-palpable breast lesions has high
      positioning accuracy with small operation excision scope. It is therefore an
      effective method that can be utilized for the qualitative diagnosis of non
      palpable breast lesions.

PMID- 28599408
TI  - Expression of PGC1alpha in glioblastoma multiforme patients.
AB  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1alpha (PGC1alpha)
      is a key modulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. It is a coactivator of multiple
      transcription factors and regulates metabolic processes. However, little is known
      about the expression and function of PGC1alpha in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM),
      the most prevalent and invasive type of brain tumor. The purpose of the present
      study was to investigate the biological function, localization and expression of
      PGC1alpha in GBM. It was observed that PGC1alpha expression is increased in the
      tumor cells, and a higher level of expression was observed in the mitochondria.
      Bioinformatics analyses identified that metabolic and mitochondrial genes were
      highly expressed in GBM cells, with a high PGC1alpha mRNA expression. Notably,
      mitochondrial function-associated genes were highly expressed in cells alongside
      high PGC1alpha expression. Collectively, the results of the present study
      indicate that PGC1alpha is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in GBM and
      may have a role in tumor pathogenesis and progression.

PMID- 28599409
TI  - Genomic analysis of drug resistant small cell lung cancer cell lines by combining
      mRNA and miRNA expression profiling.
AB  - Etoposide (VP16) combined with cisplatin (DDP), as the first-line chemotherapy
      for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), regularly confers drug resistance. The present
      study applied complementary (c)DNA and micro (mi)RNA microarray to identify gene
      and miRNA expression profiles associated with multidrug resistance (MDR) in SCLC.
      The VP16/DDP (VP16 combined with DDP) resistant SCLC H446/EP cell line was
      derived from the parental H446 cell line by continuous exposure to increasing
      concentrations of etoposide and cisplatin. The mRNA and miRNA expression profiles
      between the resistant and parental SCLC cells were analyzed by Phalanx OneArrayTM
      mRNA and miRNA microarray, and the results were confirmed by quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of 75 genes were downregulated
      whilst 40 genes were upregulated in the H446/EP cell line compared with the H446
      cell line. The expression levels of 16 miRNAs were upregulated whilst 15 were
      downregulated in the H446/EP cell line compared with the H446 cell line.
      Expression profile studies indicate that the particular mRNA and miRNA alteration
      demonstrated in MDR of SCLC may provide potential biomolecular targets for MDR
      reversion.

PMID- 28599410
TI  - Resistance to nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel is mediated by ABCB1 in
      urothelial cancer cells.
AB  - Nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel appears to exhibit better response
      rates in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer of the bladder whom are
      pretreated with nab-paclitaxel compared with conventional paclitaxel. Paclitaxel
      may induce multidrug resistance in patients with cancer, while the mechanisms of
      resistance against paclitaxel are manifold. These include reduced function of pro
      apoptotic proteins, mutations of tubulin and overexpression of the drug
      transporter adenosine 5'-triphosphate-binding cassette transporter subfamily B,
      member 1 (ABCB1). To evaluate the role of ABCB1 in nab-paclitaxel resistance in
      urothelial cancer cells, the bladder cancer cell lines T24 and TCC-SUP, as well
      as sub-lines with acquired resistance against gemcitabine (T24rGEMCI20 and TCC
      SUPrGEMCI20) and vinblastine (T24rVBL20 and TCC-SUPrVBL20) were examined. For the
      functional inhibition of ABCB1, multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitors with ABCB1
      inhibiting properties, including cabozantinib and crizotinib, were used.
      Additional functional assessment was performed with cell lines stably transduced
      with a lentiviral vector encoding for ABCB1, and protein expression was
      determined by western blotting. It was indicated that cell lines overexpressing
      ABCB1 exhibited similar resistance profiles to nab-paclitaxel and paclitaxel.
      Cabozantinib and crizotinib sensitized tumor cells to nab-paclitaxel and
      paclitaxel in the same dose-dependent manner in cell lines overexpressing ABCB1,
      without altering the downstream signaling of tyrosine kinases. These results
      suggest that the overexpression of ABCB1 confers resistance to nab-paclitaxel in
      urothelial cancer cells. Additionally, small molecules may overcome resistance to
      anticancer drugs that are substrates of ABCB1.

PMID- 28599411
TI  - Efficacy and tolerability of lacosamide for secondary epileptic seizures in
      patients with brain tumor: A multicenter, observational retrospective study.
AB  - The present observational, multicenter, retrospective study investigated the
      efficacy and tolerability of lacosamide in controlling secondary epileptic
      seizures in patients with brain tumors in Spain. Data from the medical records of
      patients >=18 years of age with brain tumors, who had received at least one dose
      of lacosamide for seizure management between July 2013 and November 2013, were
      collected. The primary and secondary objectives of the present study were to
      assess the effectiveness and tolerability of lacosamide. Data from 39 patients
      (mean age, 54.1 years; 66.7% male) were collected, where the two main reasons for
      initiation of lacosamide treatment were the lack of efficacy of other
      antiepileptic drugs (in 76.9% of patients) and the presence of adverse events
      (12.8%) associated with other antiepileptic drugs. At the initiation of
      treatment, patients received a mean lacosamide dose of 138.5+/-68.3 mg/day. At 6
      months, lacosamide had significantly reduced the mean number of seizures from
      26.4 (standard deviation [SD], 50.4) seizures for the 6 months prior to
      lacosamide initiation to a mean of 9.4 (SD, 22.8) seizures during the 6 months
      subsequent to lacosamide initiation; P<0.001. Lacosamide was generally well
      tolerated; of the 25 patients who had complete safety data available at a 6-month
      follow-up, 3 patients (12%) reported an adverse event, including dizziness,
      asthenia, instability and irritability. The present retrospective analysis
      suggested that lacosamide is an effective and well-tolerated treatment in
      patients experiencing seizures due to brain tumors. Additional prospective
      studies with a larger patient population and randomized trial design are
      warranted.

PMID- 28599412
TI  - DNA topoisomerase IIalpha and Ki67 are prognostic factors in patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The present study was designed to determine the significance of DNA topoisomerase
      IIa (TopoIIalpha) and Ki67 in hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCCs). The present
      study included 353 patients with HCC. The association of clinicopathological data
      with the expression of TopoIIalpha and Ki67 by immunohistochemistry was analyzed
      by chi2 test. Cox multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis and
      Kaplan-Meier analysis were performed with all the variables to derive risk
      estimates associated with overall survival (OS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS)
      and to control for confounders. TopoIIalpha and Ki67 were detected in the nuclei
      of the tumor cells. With TopoIIalpha, 35.7% of cells exhibited high expression,
      which was associated with tumor-node-metastasis stage, tumor size and alpha
      fetoprotein level. With Ki67, 37.1% of cells exhibited high expression, which was
      associated with tumor-node-metastasis stage, tumor size and alpha-fetoprotein
      level. Correlation was identified between the expression level of TopoIIalpha and
      Ki67 in HCCs (r=0.444). Multivariate analysis revealed that high TopoIIalpha
      expression is a prognostic indicator for RFS [hazard ratio (HR), 2.002; 95%
      confidence interval (CI), 1.429-2.806] and OS (HR, 2.749; 95% CI, 1.919-3.939),
      and high Ki67 expression is a prognostic indicator for OS (HR, 1.816; 95% CI,
      1.273-2.589). The TopoIIalpha-low group had a significantly increased RFS rate
      (55.6 vs. 31.7%) and OS rate (66.5 vs. 23.8%) compared with the TopoIIalpha-high
      group. The OS rate was increased in the Ki67-low group compared with the Ki67
      high group (67.0 vs. 26.5%). Expression of TopoIIalpha and Ki67 are independent
      prognostic factors for survival in HCCs. TopoIIalpha was positively associated
      with Ki67 expression.

PMID- 28599413
TI  - Expression of PRR11 protein and its correlation with pancreatic cancer and effect
      on survival.
AB  - This study aimed at finding the relationship between the level of expression of
      the PRR11 protein in pancreatic carcinoma, and the clinical characteristics of
      the tumor. PCR technique was used to analyze the expression levels of the PRR11
      gene in 38 samples from pancreatic cancer patients and 10 samples from normal
      pancreatic tissues. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry were used to
      measure the expression of the PRR11. Additionally, the migration ability of
      cancerous cells expressing PRR11 and those with inhibited expression were
      compared using a wound healing assay. Finally, the relationships between the
      expression level of PRR11 protein and variables such as tumor size, tumor
      invasion, TNM stages, and the overall survival time of patients with pancreatic
      cancer were calculated. Our results showed the expression level of the PRR11 gene
      in pancreatic cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in normal
      pancreatic tissues. The detection of PRR11 protein in cancer tissues versus
      normal tissues was 78.9 (30/38) vs. 0 (0/10), respectively. The western blot
      results confirmed this by showing a significantly higher level of expression of
      the PRR11 protein in pancreatic cancer tissues than in normal tissues (P<0.05).
      Inhibiting the expression of PRR11 in cancer cells reduced the migration ability
      of the cells. Finally, the expression of PRR11 was positively correlated with the
      invasion, disease and tissue differentiation stages of the pancreatic cancer. By
      comparing clinical data and expression patterns in patients, we found the
      survival rate in those expressing the PRR11 protein by immunohistochemistry to be
      lower than in those with tissues negative to the PRR11 protein. Our results show,
      the expression of PRR11 protein in pancreatic cancer is closely related to the
      development of the cancer and a poor prognosis. These findings provide a
      theoretical and experimental basis for approaching the diagnosis and treatment of
      pancreatic cancer using PRR11 as a molecular target.

PMID- 28599414
TI  - G9A performs important roles in the progression of breast cancer through
      upregulating its targets.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of malignancy in females worldwide,
      however, its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The present study
      aimed to investigate the mechanisms behind the development and progression of BC
      and identify potential biomarkers for it. The chromatin immunoprecipitation-DNA
      sequencing (ChIP-Seq) dataset GSM1642516 and gene expression dataset GSE34925
      were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Affy and oligo
      packages were used for the background correction and normalization of the gene
      expression dataset. Based on Limma package and the criteria of a fold change
      >1.41 or <0.71, and a false discovery rate adjusted P-value <0.05, differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) in euchromatic histone lysine methyltransferase 2 (G9A) 
      knockout (KO) breast samples compared with control samples were identified. The
      Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Analysis was used for the
      functional enrichment analysis of the DEGs. Bowtie 2 and model-based analysis of
      ChIP-Seq version 14 (macs14) were used for the mapping of raw reads and the
      identification of G9A binding sites (peaks), respectively. In addition,
      overlapping genes between the DEGs and genes in the peaks located in -3000 to
      3000 bp centered in the transcription start sites (conpeaks) were screened out
      and microRNAs (miRNAs) believed to regulate those overlaps were identified
      through the TargetScan database. A total of 217 DEGs were identified in G9A-KO
      samples, which were mainly involved in the biological processes and pathways
      associated with the inflammatory response and cancer progression. A total of
      10,422 peaks, containing 1,210 conpeaks involving 1,138 genes, were identified.
      Among the 1,138 genes, 15 were overlapped with the DEGs, and 35 miRNAs were
      identified to regulate those overlaps. Insulin-induced gene 1 was regulated by 9
      genes in the miRNA-gene regulation network, which may indicate its importance in
      the progression of BC. The present study identified potential biomarkers of BC
      that may be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with the disease.

PMID- 28599415
TI  - Value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in predicting World Health
      Organization grade in G1/G2 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the value of diffusion-weighted magnetic
      resonance imaging (DWI) in the grading of well-differentiated pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs). A total of 44 patients with histologically
      proven well-differentiated PanNET [grade 1 (G1) and grade 2 (G2) according to the
      World Health Organization (WHO) criteria] underwent pretreatment magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI), which was retrospectively analyzed. The location, size,
      cystic or solid appearance, boundary, presence or absence of tumor contrast
      enhancement, and MRI signal of the tumor were assessed. Apparent diffusion
      coefficients (ADCs) within the primary tumor were measured on ADC maps. Receiver
      operating characteristic curves were used to determine ADC cut-off values and the
      sensitivity and specificity of the grade prediction. Spearman's rank correlation
      was utilized to probe the association between ADC value and PanNET grade or
      pathological parameters. G1 tumors exhibited a well-circumscribed border more
      often than G2 tumors. No marked differences were observed between PanNET G1 and
      PanNET G2 for cystic or solid appearance, enhancement, and T1- and T2-weighted
      imaging signals. Marked hyperintensities were more common in PanNET G2 tumors
      than in PanNET G1 tumors (P<0.01). The mean ADC values were statistically
      different between the normal pancreas and G1 and G2 tumors (P<0.01), and between
      PanNET G1 and PanNET G2 (P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that ADC value was
      negatively correlated with PanNET grade, mitotic count and Ki-67 proliferation
      index (P<0.05). The cut-off ADC value was 0.930*10-3 mm2/sec, which identified G2
      tumors with 82.4% sensitivity and 79.5% selectivity. ADC value therefore
      represents a non-invasive and valuable imaging parameter in predicting the WHO
      grade of tumors in well-differentiated PanNET.

PMID- 28599416
TI  - Autophagy inhibition impairs the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and enhances
      cisplatin sensitivity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - Drug resistance restricts the efficacy of cisplatin in the treatment of
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Increasing evidence indicates that autophagy and
      the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) participate in cancer progression and
      drug sensitivity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the function of
      autophagy and EMT in cisplatin treatment, and to reveal the underlying impact of
      autophagy on the EMT process in NPC. Transmission electron microscopy assays and
      western blot analyses confirmed that cisplatin activates autophagy in NPC cells.
      Alterations in cell morphology and biomolecular markers confirmed that cisplatin
      induces the EMT phenotype in NPC cells. Cell viability assays showed that the
      combination of the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) increased the
      cytotoxicity of cisplatin in NPC cells and that the EMT inducer transforming
      growth factor beta1 promoted the resistance to cisplatin in NPC cells. Moreover,
      autophagy inhibition by CQ and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B
      knockdown reversed the EMT phenotype in NPC cells. In conclusion, autophagy and
      the EMT process promote cisplatin resistance in NPC cells, while the inhibition
      of autophagy impairs the EMT process.

PMID- 28599418
TI  - Acute promyelocytic leukemia with a cryptic insertion of RARA into PML on
      chromosome 15 due to uniparental isodisomy: A case report.
AB  - Acute promyelocytic leukemia is a myeloid disorder that is characterized by the
      specific t(15;17) variant in ~98% of cases. The typical hypergranular and
      microgranular or hypogranular types exist, and are frequently associated with
      disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Rare cases of promyelocytic leukemia
      retinoic acid receptor alpha (PML-RARA) fusion without the reciprocal RARA-PML
      have been reported in cytogenetically normal samples. Conversely, fluorescence in
      situ hybridization (FISH) analysis has revealed a cryptic insertion of the RARA
      gene into the PML gene on chromosome 15. The current study reports a unique case
      with a normal karyotype and molecular evidence of the PML-RARA short isoform 3
      fusion transcript, with FISH analysis revealing two fusion signals on the two
      copies of chromosome 15, but absence of the reciprocal on the two copies of
      chromosome 17. This finding raised the hypothesis of chromosome 15 uniparental
      isodysomy as consequence of normal chromosome 15 loss and duplication of the
      rearranged chromosome, as supported by polymorphic loci molecular analysis. The
      clinical, cytogenetic and molecular characterization of this case are presented
      and discussed in the present study.

PMID- 28599417
TI  - Overexpression of the anti-apoptotic protein BAG3 in human choroidal melanoma: A
      case report.
AB  - Bcl-2-associated athanogene 3 (BAG3), a co-chaperone of heat shock protein 70
      (HSP70), exerts anti-apoptotic effects in various malignant tumors. However,
      relationships between choroidal melanoma and BAG3 are poorly studied. This study
      investigated the expression of BAG3 in a case of human choroidal melanoma.
      Funduscopy, computed tomography, and single-photon emission computed tomography
      with the intravenous injection of N-isopropyl-p-[123I] iodoamphetamine strongly
      indicated choroidal melanoma in a 68-year-old woman. Accordingly, we carried out
      an enucleation and pathological diagnosis. Proteins and total RNA were extracted
      from normal retinochoroidal and tumor tissues. Proteins were also extracted from
      ocular nevus tissues of other patients. We examined the expression of BAG3
      protein and mRNA using Western blotting and the real-time quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction, respectively. Immunohistochemical stains were positive for melan
      A, HMB-45, and S-100. Histopathology confirmed a choroidal melanoma. The
      expression of BAG3 protein and mRNA in the choroidal melanoma tissue was
      upregulated with respect to both normal retinochoroidal tissue and ocular nevus
      tissues from other patients. Because BAG3 may inhibit apoptosis of choroidal
      melanoma and facilitate its survival, overexpression of this gene product may be
      a prognostic marker and therapeutic target.

PMID- 28599419
TI  - A conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing IL-24 acts synergistically with
      temozolomide to enhance apoptosis in melanoma cells in vitro.
AB  - Malignant melanoma is characterized by suppressed apoptosis in tumor cells and
      high levels of invasion. Temozolomide (TMZ) is one of the most effective single
      chemotherapeutic agents for patients with malignant melanoma, but resistance
      develops quickly and frequently. Therapeutic cytokines such as interleukin-24 (IL
      24) and conditionally replicating adenoviruses have exhibited promising results
      as complementary therapies. Thus, the present study hypothesized that a
      conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing IL-24 combined with TMZ may
      exhibit increased antitumor activity compared with either treatment alone in
      melanoma A375 and M14 cell lines in vitro. The present study constructed an E1B
      55 gene-deleted conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing the IL-24 gene
      (ZD55-IL-24). IL-24 was expressed at high levels in melanoma cells infected with
      ZD55-IL-24 in the presence of TMZ. The combination of ZD55-IL-24 + TMZ induced
      higher protein expression levels of the proapoptotic proteins B-cell lymphoma-2
      (Bcl-2)-like protein 4 and phosphorylated protein, gamma-H2A histone family
      member X (gamma-H2AX), and reduced the levels of the antiapoptotic proteins Bcl
      2, myeloid cell leukemia-1and nuclear factor-kappaB compared with either
      treatment individually. A dose-dependent increase in the cytopathic effects for
      the combination of ZD55-IL-24 and TMZ was also observed. The data of the present
      study suggest that the ZD55-IL-24 + TMZ combination induced increased levels of
      apoptosis, possibly by triggering DNA damage, in melanoma cells in vitro compared
      with either treatment alone. These findings suggest that this strategy may be a
      promising approach for the treatment of patients with malignant melanoma.

PMID- 28599420
TI  - Gene and miRNA expression profiles of mouse Lewis lung carcinoma LLC1 cells
      following single or fractionated dose irradiation.
AB  - In clinical practice ionizing radiation (IR) is primarily applied to cancer
      treatment in the form of fractionated dose (FD) irradiation. Despite this fact, a
      substantially higher amount of current knowledge in the field of radiobiology
      comes from in vitro studies based on the cellular response to single dose (SD)
      irradiation. In addition, intrinsic and acquired resistance to IR remains an
      issue in clinical practice, leading to radiotherapy treatment failure. Numerous
      previous studies suggest that an improved understanding of the molecular
      processes involved in the radiation-induced DNA damage response to FD irradiation
      could improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy. Therefore, the present study
      examined the differential expression of genes and microRNA (miRNA) in murine
      Lewis lung cancer (LLC)1 cells exposed to SD or FD irradiation. The results of
      the present study indicated that the gene and miRNA expression profiles of LLC1
      cells exposed to irradiation were dose delivery type-dependent. Data analysis
      also revealed that mRNAs may be regulated by miRNAs in a radiation-dependent
      manner, suggesting that these mRNAs and miRNAs are the potential targets in the
      cellular response to SD or FD irradiation. However, LLC1 tumors after FD
      irradiation exhibited no significant changes in the expression of selected genes
      and miRNAs observed in the irradiated cells in vitro, suggesting that
      experimental in vitro conditions, particularly the tumor microenvironment, should
      be considered in detail to promote the development of efficient radiotherapy
      approaches. Nevertheless, the present study highlights the primary signaling
      pathways involved in the response of murine cancer cells to irradiation. Data
      presented in the present study can be applied to improve the outcome and
      development of radiotherapy in preclinical animal model settings.

PMID- 28599421
TI  - Age-associated prognostic and predictive biomarkers in patients with breast
      cancer.
AB  - To date, no comprehensive prognostic or predictive marker profiling analysis has
      been performed in association with the age of patients with breast cancer. In the
      present study, 632 breast cancer tissue samples were analyzed for expression of
      estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor
      receptor 2 (HER2), B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 protein, HER2 gene amplification,
      proliferation [as evaluated by proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki
      67 index], tumor grade, histological type and molecular subtype. The data
      revealed correlations with the age of patients. A statistically significant
      positive correlation was identified between patient age and expression of ER
      (P<0.0001). There was no significant association between patient age and PR, HER2
      protein expression, HER2 gene amplification or PCNA. A significant negative
      correlation between age and Ki-67 expression (P<0.0001) as well as grade of tumor
      (P=0.007) was identified. The spectrum of molecular subtypes differed according
      to age (P=0.0003). The highest incidence of aggressive triple-negative and HER2
      positive breast cancer was present in patients aged between 20 and 39 years.
      Luminal A subtype was the most frequent cancer subtype in patients from age 40
      onwards, where proliferation activity declined with age and expression of hormone
      receptors increased along with Bcl-2 expression. Aggressive forms of breast
      cancer were more common in younger patients. Prognostic and predictive markers
      have a complex age-specific distribution. The findings of less aggressive luminal
      A and B subtypes in older patients, and the positive correlation with ER, PR and
      Bcl-2 expression reveal the potential efficacy of Bcl-2 as a marker of hormone
      responsiveness in these patients.

PMID- 28599422
TI  - A low serum Tat-interacting protein 30 level is a diagnostic and prognostic
      biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The present study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of Tat
      interacting protein 30 (HTATIP2/TIP30) levels alone and in combination with alpha
      fetoprotein (AFP) for the evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.
      ELISA and immunohistochemical measurements on the serum and tissue of
      HTATIP2/TIP30 protein from HCC patients and normal controls were made. Receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses of AFP and HTATIP2/TIP30 were
      performed, as well as logistic regression analysis of APF combined with
      HTATIP2/TIP30. Log-rank analysis was used to correlate the prognosis with various
      levels of HTATIP2/TIP30. HTATIP2/TIP30 levels were significantly lower in the HCC
      group compared with the control group (4.50+/-2.63 vs. 9.50+/-2.04 ng/ml,
      P<0.001). ROC analysis revealed an optimal cut-off point at 7.27 ng/ml
      HTATIP2/TIP30 for separating the HCC from the control groups. The sensitivity and
      specificity were 84.6 and 93.7% (P<0.001), respectively. ROC areas of
      HTATIP2/TIP30 (0.928, P<0.001) were significantly higher than those for AFP
      (P<0.001). The area under the curve of the HTATIP2/TIP30 and AFP combination was
      0.950 (P<0.001). Log-rank tests revealed that the recurrence-free survival time
      of the group with HTATIP2/TIP30>5.71 ng/ml was significantly higher than that of
      the control group (P<0.001). This is the first study to demonstrate that
      HTATIP2/TIP30 levels in serum may be an effective biomarker for the diagnosis and
      prognosis of HCC.

PMID- 28599423
TI  - Induction of cathepsin B by the CXCR3 chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10 in human breast
      cancer cells.
AB  - Cathepsin B (CTSB) is a lysosomal cysteine protease that has been linked to the
      progression of breast cancer, for example by activation of other proteases and
      tumor-promoting cytokines, thereby supporting tumor invasion and metastasis.
      Previously, it was shown that CTSB cleaves and inactivates C-X-C motif chemokine
      receptor 3 (CXCR3) chemokines. As CXCR3 ligands have been demonstrated to induce
      proteases in cancer cells, the present study hypothesized that they may also
      affect CTSB in breast cancer cells. The results demonstrated that the human
      breast cancer tumor cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 express the CXCR3 splice
      variants A and B and CTSB. Upon binding to CXCR3, the two chemokine ligands C-X-C
      motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) 9 and CXCL10 trigger upregulation of CTSB in these
      breast cancer cells, whereas the CXCR3-B-specific ligand CXCL4 has no such
      effect, suggesting the involvement of CXCR3-A in the regulation of CTSB. In early
      stage human breast cancer specimens (n=81), overexpression of CXCR3 is associated
      with statistically significant poorer overall survival, independent of lymph node
      status, tumor size and nuclear grading (hazard ratio=1.99; 95% confidence
      interval=1.00-3.97; P=0.050). In conclusion, the data from the current study
      propose a so far unknown mechanism by which breast cancer cells may exploit tumor
      suppressive chemokines to enhance their invasiveness and reduce immune cell
      infiltration by the degradation of these chemokines. This mechanism may support
      the established unfavorable prognostic feature of CXCR3 expression in breast
      cancer.

PMID- 28599424
TI  - Wnt10B is critical for the progression of gastric cancer.
AB  - The family of Wnt proteins have been implicated in embryogenesis by regulation of
      cell fate and pattern formation, and also in human carcinogenesis. Wnt10B was
      previously shown to be involved in breast cancer development. The present study
      assessed the association of Wnt10B expression in human gastric cancer tissue
      specimens with clinicopathological data from these patients. Wnt10B expression in
      the regulation of gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration capacity in
      vitro was then investigated. The data revealed that Wnt10B mRNA and protein were
      upregulated in gastric cancer tissue samples and the upregulated Wnt10B mRNA was
      associated with gastric cancer metastasizing to lymph nodes. Knockdown of Wnt10B
      expression reduced gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration, as well as
      expression of a cell proliferation marker Ki67. Knockdown of Wnt10B expression
      inhibited tumor cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition by upregulation of E
      cadherin and downregulation of N-cadherin. In addition, Wnt10B knockdown also
      suppressed tumor cell stemness by downregulation of octamer-binding transcription
      factor 4 and Nanog expression. The present data indicated that Wnt10B expression
      performs an important role in gastric cancer progression in vitro. Therefore,
      targeting of Wnt10B expression or activity may be investigated as a possible
      strategy for the control of gastric cancer.

PMID- 28599425
TI  - Decreased expression of CD63 tetraspanin protein predicts elevated malignant
      potential in human esophageal cancer.
AB  - The tetraspanin CD63 has been described to have critical roles in multiple
      biological processes, including tumorigenesis and metastasis in several types of
      cancer. However, its role in esophageal carcinoma (EC) has not been reported. In
      the current study, immunohistochemistry was used to investigate CD63 expression
      in 106 esophageal cancer samples, 49 adjacent esophagus tissues and 17 normal
      esophagus mucosa tissues. The results revealed that the overexpression of CD63
      was observed in esophageal cancer samples and negatively correlated with tumor
      stage and lymph node metastasis. To further evaluate the role of CD63 in
      esophageal carcinoma, the invasiveness of EC cells was analyzed using matrigel
      invasion assays and wound healing assays in vitro. Furthermore, it was found that
      CD63 knockdown increased the invasiveness of TE-1 cells through the upregulation
      of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression via promoting epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition. The current data therefore suggested that low levels of CD63
      expression may be involved in the tumor progression of esophageal carcinoma.

PMID- 28599426
TI  - Dynamic monitoring of circulating microRNAs as a predictive biomarker for the
      diagnosis and recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are considered to be potential biomarkers for
      numerous types of cancer. However, previous investigations into the expression of
      miRNAs in the serum of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) to predict
      diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence have reported conflicting results, and the
      role of miRNAs remains unclear. The present study dynamically assessed the
      circulating miRNA profile in patients with PTC and determined whether miRNAs in
      the serum could be used as biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence
      of PTC. The expression levels of 3 reportedly upregulated miRNAs (miR-222, miR
      221 and miR-146b) were analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction in 106 patients with PTC, 35 patients with benign
      thyroid nodules (BTN) and 40 paired controls. Patients with either newly
      diagnosed PTC or BTN who were undergoing thyroidectomies were recruited for a
      dynamic analysis of preoperative and postoperative serum miRNA levels. The
      results indicated that the expression levels of serum miR-222, miR-221 and miR
      146b were significantly increased in patients with newly diagnosed PTC compared
      with controls and patients with BTN. Receiver operating characteristic curve
      analysis indicated that these miRNAs had a high diagnostic sensitivity and
      specificity for PTC prior to surgery. The expression of these three miRNAs in
      serum was significantly associated with poorer prognostic variables, including
      extrathyroidal invasion, metastatic lymph nodes and high-risk or advanced tumor
      node metastasis stage. More notably, the present study identified 2.36-, 2.69-
      and 5.39-fold reductions in the serum levels of miR-222, miR-221 and miR-146b,
      respectively, subsequent to patients undergoing a thyroidectomy. In addition, miR
      222, miR-221 and miR-146b were overexpressed in the PTC with recurrence group
      compared with the PTC without recurrence group. Collectively, dynamic monitoring
      of circulating miRNAs may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of
      PTC and the postoperative monitoring of its progression and recurrence.

PMID- 28599428
TI  - Bosutinib as a fourth-line therapy for a patient with T315I-positive lymphoid
      blastic phase chronic myeloid leukemia: A case report.
AB  - A 35-year-old male was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic
      phase and was prescribed 100 mg daily dasatinib. However, dasatinib was
      discontinued due to thrombocytopenia, and within six months, the disease
      progressed to the lymphoid blastic phase. Hyper-cyclophosphamide, vincristine,
      adriamycin and dexamethasone chemotherapy combined with 140 mg dasatinib or 600
      mg imatinib was prescribed. The two inhibitors were soon discontinued due to
      severe thrombocytopenia and jaundice, respectively. Myelosuppression persisted
      subsequent to the nadir. Bone marrow (BM) aspiration and biopsy revealed
      hypercellular marrow filled with blasts. Sequencing of the leukemia cells
      revealed overlapping peaks for the wild-type sequence and the T315I mutant
      sequence. The patient was treated with 500 mg bosutinib (which was later reduced
      to 300 mg) for pretransplant cytoreduction. After 5 months, the patient's spleen
      exhibited a reduction in volume and the percentage of blasts in the BM decreased
      from 96.1 to 17.5%. The patient successfully underwent cord blood
      transplantation. The patient has been disease-free for 5 months subsequent to
      transplantation. This case suggests that bosutinib may be effective for
      cytoreduction prior to stem cell transplantation, unless the leukemia cells
      consistently harbor the T315I mutation.

PMID- 28599427
TI  - Periostin suppresses in vivo invasiveness via PDK1/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in
      a mouse orthotopic model of bladder cancer.
AB  - Periostin is an extracellular matrix protein involved in the regulation of
      intercellular adhesion. The present study investigated the in vivo tumor
      suppressor function of periostin in a mouse orthotopic model of bladder cancer.
      Retroviral vectors were used to transfect human bladder cancer UMUC-3 cell line
      with periostin. Bladders of nude mice that were transurethrally instilled with
      periostin-expressing UMUC-3 cells were revealed to weigh less compared with
      bladders instilled with vector control cells. In total, five (83.3%) of six
      vector control UMUC-3 bladder tumors exhibited histological evidence of muscle
      invasion. However, none of the five periostin-expressing UMUC-3 bladder tumors
      revealed muscle invasion. Thick edematous lesions were present in the submucosa
      of periostin-expressing UMUC-3 bladder tumors. The expression of periostin also
      suppressed in vitro cell invasiveness of UMUC-3 cells without affecting cellular
      proliferation. The level of phosphorylation of phosphoinositide-dependent kinase
      1 (PDK1), protein kinase B (Akt) and S6 ribosomal protein, a downstream protein
      of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) was decreased in periostin-expressing
      UMUC-3 cells compared with vector control cells. Treatment with 100 ng/ml
      recombinant human periostin protein also suppressed cell invasiveness and
      phosphorylation of PDK1, Akt and S6 in UMUC-3 cells, consistent with results
      using periostin-expressing UMUC-3 cells. Treatment with PDK1, Akt and mTOR
      inhibitors significantly suppressed UMUC-3 cell invasiveness. These results
      demonstrate that periostin suppresses in vivo and in vitro invasiveness of
      bladder cancer via the PDK1/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Periostin may be useful
      as a potent chemotherapeutic agent by suppressing bladder cancer invasiveness.

PMID- 28599429
TI  - Disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow with disseminated intravascular
      coagulation as the first symptom of recurrent rectal cancer successfully treated
      with chemotherapy: A case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow (DCBM) is a condition in which
      bone marrow (BM) metastases diffusely invade the BM, and is frequently
      accompanied by disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). While prostate,
      lung, breast and stomach malignancies, in addition to neuroblastoma, are the most
      prevalent non-hematological malignancies to metastasize frequently to the BM,
      colorectal cancer is a malignancy that rarely metastasizes to the BM. The present
      case describes a 65-year-old male patient treated by resection and one course
      adjuvant chemotherapy for stage IIIC rectal cancer who presented with nasal
      bleeding at 8 months post-surgery. A blood test exhibited DIC. A BM biopsy was
      performed and the definitive diagnosis was DCBM with DIC. Promptly, anti-DIC
      treatment and chemotherapy with a modified FOLFOX6 (folinic acid, leucovorin
      (LV), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaplatin) regimen was started. Following 1 cycle
      of chemotherapy, DIC was improved and subsequent to 2 cycles of modified FOLFOX6
      the patient was discharged. The patient was alive 263 days subsequent to the
      diagnosis of DIC, but succumbed to carcinomatous meningitis as a result of
      disease progression. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of
      DCBM with DIC of curatively resected rectal cancer as the first presentation of
      relapse that was successfully treated with aggressive therapy, including
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 28599430
TI  - Transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif overexpression promotes cell
      proliferation and transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif deficiency
      induces cell cycle arrest in neuroblastoma.
AB  - Transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) is a transcriptional co
      activator which binds to a variety of transcription factors. An increasing number
      of studies have provided evidence that TAZ may be a positive regulator of cell
      proliferation and tumorigenesis. To reveal the underlying mechanisms by which TAZ
      controls these cellular processes, the present study used lentivirus expression
      system, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence and subcutaneous xenograft assays. The
      present study demonstrated that TAZ promoted and was indispensable for
      neuroblastoma cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Additional mechanistic assays
      revealed that the downregulation of TAZ induced cell cycle arrest in the G1
      phase, which may be mediated through the inhibition of cyclin E2 expression.
      These findings indicated that TAZ may serve as a potential neuroblastoma
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 28599431
TI  - The expression of Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines by epithelial ovarian
      cancer decreases growth potential.
AB  - Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the main causes of cancer-associated
      mortality in females with gynecological malignancies. Duffy antigen receptor for
      chemokines (DARC) has previously been reported to be involved in tumor growth and
      the inhibition of tumor metastasis. However, the association between DARC and EOC
      remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression
      of DARC in the SKOV3 human epithelial ovarian cancer cell line with the
      establishment of a subcutaneous model in nude mice. To investigate the effects of
      DARC on the tumorigenesis of human epithelial ovarian cancer cells, GV287-DARC
      L.V lentiviral vectors containing a DARC overexpression construct were
      transfected into SKOV3 cells. The present study revealed that transfection with
      DARC reduced the viability of SKOV3 cells in vitro by performing an MTT assay.
      SKOV3-DARC and SKOV3-negative control (NC) cells cultured in vitro were injected
      into nude mice to establish a subcutaneous model. The ovarian tumor volumes and
      the tumor weights were observed. Immunohistochemistry to detect CD31 expression
      was used to determine the microvessel density (MVD) in SKOV3-DARC and SKOV3-NC
      tumors. The results of the present study revealed that DARC-induced inhibition of
      tumor growth was associated with MVD in xenograft tumors. This suggested that
      DARC was a negative regulator of tumor growth in EOC, primarily via the
      inhibition of tumor angiogenesis.

PMID- 28599433
TI  - CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha decreases the viability of gastric cancer
      cells.
AB  - CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) alpha, C/EBPbeta and C/EBPdelta are
      involved in inflammation and cell differentiation. In the present study, their
      roles in human gastric cancer cells were investigated. The human gastric cancer
      cell lines MKN45 and MKN74 were subjected to the reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to analyze the expression levels
      of C/EBPalpha, C/EBPbeta and C/EBPdelta. The cells were transfected with
      expression plasmids for either C/EBPalpha or C/EBPdelta, and subjected to a 3
      (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H
      tetrazolium inner salt (MTS) assay and RT-qPCR for analysis of cyclin D1
      expression. Expression levels of C/EBPalpha and C/EBPdelta were decreased in
      MKN45 and MKN74 cells compared with in normal gastric tissue. Expression levels
      of C/EBPbeta were decreased in MKN45 cells and increased in MKN74 cells.
      Viability of MKN45 cells was decreased by C/EBPalpha and C/EBPdelta. Viability of
      MKN74 cells was decreased by C/EBPalpha, but increased by C/EBPdelta. Expression
      levels of cyclin D1 were decreased in association with C/EBPalpha and C/EBPdelta
      overexpression in MKN45 cells. Expression levels of cyclin D1 were decreased in
      association with C/EBPalpha overexpression, but increased in association with
      C/EBPdelta overexpression, in MKN74 cells. The results of the present study
      indicate that C/EBPalpha is potentially useful for the treatment of gastric
      cancer.

PMID- 28599432
TI  - Efficacy and tolerability of nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel in combination
      with carboplatin as a late-phase chemotherapy for recurrent and advanced non
      small-cell lung cancer: A multi-center study of the Fukushima lung cancer
      association group of surgeons.
AB  - The present retrospective multi-center study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and
      feasibility of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel plus carboplatin as a
      second or late-phase chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). A total of 25 patients with recurrent or advanced NSCLC who had received
      previous chemotherapy were treated with nab-paclitaxel (70-100 mg/m2,
      intravenously) on days 1, 8 and 15 every 28 days with a carboplatin area under
      the concentration-time curve of 4-6 on day 1. The overall response rate, disease
      control rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and
      toxicities were statistically evaluated. Of the 25 patients, there were 9 cases
      of recurrent disease following surgery, 16 cases of advanced disease, 13 cases of
      adenocarcinoma, 11 cases of squamous cell carcinoma and 1 case of large cell
      carcinoma. A total of 13 patients received second-line chemotherapy and 12
      received fourth-line or later chemotherapy. One patient exhibited a complete
      response, 7 had a partial response, 10 exhibited stable disease and 7 had
      progressive disease. The overall response rate was 32.0% and the disease control
      rate was 72.0%. The median PFS and median OS following nab-paclitaxel treatment
      were 4.0 and 14.0 months, respectively. Frequent treatment-associated adverse
      events were myelosuppression, peripheral neuropathy, gastrointestinal symptoms
      and baldness, the majority of which were grade 1-2. Grade 3-4 neutropenia,
      thrombocytopenia and anemia occurred in 7 (28.0%), 3 (12.0%) and 2 (8.0%)
      patients, respectively. No patients experienced grade 3-4 sensory neuropathy and
      no grade 5 adverse effects were observed. Nab-paclitaxel plus carboplatin as
      second-phase or later chemotherapy provided a small but significant survival
      benefit for patients with recurrent or advanced NSCLC, with tolerable adverse
      effects. To the best of our knowledge, the results of the present study
      demonstrated for the first time that nab-paclitaxel plus carboplatin is a
      promising and feasible late-phase chemotherapeutic agent for NSCLC.

PMID- 28599434
TI  - The role of microvessel density, lymph node metastasis, and tumor size as
      prognostic factors of distant metastasis in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and metastasis. CD105 is reportedly a
      specific marker for tumor angiogenesis. It has been demonstrated that monoclonal
      antibodies to CD105 have high affinity for activated endothelial cells. A
      relationship between metastasis and microvessel density (MVD), as an indicator of
      neovascularization, has been identified in patients with colorectal cancer as
      shown by the presence of monoclonal antibodies to CD105. However, data on
      potentially confounding factors such as lymphatic and vascular infiltration and
      tumor size are lacking. We further investigated the relationship between MVD and
      distant metastasis, along with potentially confounding clinicopathological
      factors, to more precisely characterize this relationship. In this retrospective
      study, we analyzed colorectal cancer specimens surgically or endoscopically
      resected from January to September 2009. We defined MVD as the number of
      microvessels stained by monoclonal antibodies to CD105 per *400 field. Selected
      clinicopathological factors were analyzed and stepwise multivariate logistic
      regression was performed to identify independent risk factors for distant
      metastasis. We analyzed 129 lesions. The median follow-up time was 34 months
      (range, 6-85 months) in patients with distant metastasis and 61 months (range, 60
      86 months) in those without distant metastasis. At the time of resection or
      during subsequent follow-up, 32 patients had distant metastases. The MVD was
      significantly greater in patients with than without distant metastases (mean +/-
      standard deviation: 10.4+/-4.9 vs. 7.6+/-3.3, P=0.008; Welch's t-test). Stepwise
      multivariate logistic regression indicated that MVD, regional lymph node
      metastasis, and tumor size were independent risk factors for distant metastases.
      Combining assessment of monoclonal antibodies to CD105-positive MVD with
      assessment of regional lymph node metastasis and tumor size may help to identify
      patients who need more intensive surveillance after surgery for colorectal
      cancer.

PMID- 28599435
TI  - Expression of regulatory factor X1 can predict the prognosis of breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among women. Identifying novel
      biomarkers to predict prognosis accurately is important in managing this disease.
      The regulatory factor X1 (RFX1) gene is a member of the regulatory factor X gene
      family. Its protein reportedly downregulates the proto-oncogene c-myc, but its
      role in BC has been unclear. In this study, expression and methylation status of
      RFX1 were determined in BC cell lines. We then evaluated RFX1 mRNA expression
      levels with regard to clinicopathological factors including postoperative
      prognosis in 167 patients with BC. Expression of RFX1 was heterogeneous among
      cell lines, and we found no DNA methylation at the RFX1 promoter region. Patients
      were categorized into groups with high or low RFX1 expression, based on ratio of
      RFX1 mRNA expression in BC and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The high RFX1
      group was significantly associated with low T factor (P=0.028), earlier disease
      stage (P=0.015), positive expression of estrogen receptor (P=0.005) and
      progesterone receptor (P=0.011), negative expression of human epidermal growth
      factor receptor 2 (P=0.001). The high RFX1 group experienced more favorable
      disease-free survival (P=0.007) and overall survival (P=0.013). In multivariate
      analysis, RFX1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free
      survival. Our findings indicate that RFX1 may serve as a prognostic marker for
      BC.

PMID- 28599436
TI  - Upregulation of WEE1 is a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - WEE1 is a serine/threonine protein kinase that inactivates cell division cycle 2
      and is therefore a critical cell cycle regulator. Increased WEE1 expression has
      been observed in numerous types of human malignancies, including hepatocellular
      carcinoma and melanoma. WEE1 inhibition also results in evident anti-tumor
      effects in several human tumor cells including colon cancer cells, suggesting
      WEE1 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer. However, the
      expression pattern of WEE1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. In the
      present study, WEE1 mRNA expression in 43 cases of CRC tissues matched with
      adjacent normal tissues was determined by reverse-transcription quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. The results demonstrated that WEE1 mRNA expression was
      significantly increased in CRC tissues and that this upregulation correlated
      significantly with hepatic metastasis, distant metastasis and high tumor node
      metastasis (TNM) stage of CRC. Additionally, WEE1 protein in 102 CRC tissue
      samples was detected by immunohistochemistry, and positive staining of WEE1 was
      identified in more than half of patients with CRC. WEE1 staining scores were also
      observed to be associated with distant metastasis and high TNM stage of CRC. In
      addition, patients with CRC with high WEE1 staining score (2+ or 3+) exhibited
      either poorer overall survival or poorer disease-free survival compared with
      those with low WEE1 staining score (0 or 1+). The multivariable Cox model also
      identified a high WEE1 staining score as well as high TNM stage to be independent
      prognostic factors for CRC. In conclusion, WEE1 upregulation is associated with a
      high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis of CRC, suggesting WEE1 as a
      potential prognostic biomarker for CRC.

PMID- 28599437
TI  - B-cell specific Moloney leukemia virus insert site 1 and peptidyl arginine
      deiminase IV positively regulate carcinogenesis and progression of esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - High expression of B-cell specific Moloney leukemia virus insert site 1 (Bmi-1)
      and peptidyl arginine deiminase IV (PADI4) is associated with esophageal
      carcinoma. However, few studies have investigated the association between the Bmi
      1 and PADI4 genes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression of
      Bmi-1 and PADI4 and identify the association between the Bmi-1 and PADI4 genes in
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues. Bmi-1 and PADI4 gene
      expression levels were measured using immunohistochemistry, western blotting and
      reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction in ESCC tissues from
      86 patients who had not received pre-operative chemoradiation. The results
      revealed that the Bmi-1 and PADI4 genes had increased expression in carcinoma
      tissues compared with pericarcinous tissue (P<0.05). Bmi-1 gene expression was
      revealed to be associated with differentiation degree, clinical stage and lymph
      node metastasis (P<0.05), but had no association with gender, age or depth of
      invasion (P>0.05). The expression of PADI4 was associated with clinical stage,
      depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05), but was not associated with
      gender, age or differentiation degree (P>0.05). In addition, there was a positive
      association between Bmi-1 and PADI4 gene expression in ESCC (P<0.05). These
      results indicated that Bmi-1 and PADI4 positively regulate carcinogenesis and
      progression of ESCC.

PMID- 28599438
TI  - Androgen deprivation therapy has no effect on Pim-1 expression in a mouse model
      of prostate cancer.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to observe the dynamic changes of proto
      oncogene, serine/threonine kinase, Pim-1 at the gene and protein level in a mouse
      model of prostate cancer following surgical castration. Using LNCaP cells to
      establish a subcutaneous xenograft model and orthotopic prostate cancer BALB/c
      nude mouse models, the xenograft models were divided into an androgen-dependent
      prostate cancer group (ADPC), an androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) group and an
      androgen independent prostate cancer (AIPC) group. Reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), RT-quantitative PCR, ELISA and
      immunohistochemistry analyses were performed to compare the expression levels of
      Pim-1, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and androgen receptor (AR) in tumor tissue
      of three subgroups. Agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that the RT-PCR results
      of the ADPC (0.59+/-0.01) and AIPC groups (1.14+/-0.015) were significantly
      different when compared with the ADT group (0.62+/-0.026; P<0.05). As for RT
      qPCR, the DeltaCq of Pim-1 in the ADPC (6.15+/-0.34) and AIPC (4.56+/-0.23)
      groups were significantly different compared with the ADT group (5.11+/-0.21;
      P<0.05). Using 2-DeltaDeltaCq as a relative quantification method to analyze the
      data, the amplification products of Pim-1 increased by 2.05 and 3.01 times in the
      ADT and AIPC groups, respectively. ELISA demonstrated the following: The serum
      concentration of PSA was 0 ng/ml in the control group, 0.48+/-0.025 ng/ml in the
      ADPC group and 0.87+/-0.023 ng/ml in the AIPC group, which were significantly
      different compared with the ADT group (0.17+/-0.032 ng/ml; P<0.01). Upon
      immunohistochemical staining, the protein expression levels of Pim-1 and AR,
      respectively, were 0.017+/-0.0021 and 0.032+/-0.009 in the ADPC group, 0.024+/
      0.0019 and 0.040+/-0.011 in the AIPC group, and 0.018+/-0.0013 and 0.019+/-0.006
      in the ADT group. The protein levels of Pim-1 and AR in the ADPC and AIPC groups
      were significantly different compared with the ADT group (P<0.01). In addition,
      an orthotopic prostate cancer animal model of ADT was successfully established in
      the current study, and further investigation revealed that ADT did not affect the
      expression of Pim-1 at the gene or protein levels; thus, it is hypothesized that
      Pim-1 may be important in the proliferation and differentiation of prostate
      cancer during ADT.

PMID- 28599439
TI  - Anti-proliferative and anti-metastasis effects of ten oligostilbenes from the
      seeds of Paeonia suffruticosa on human cancer cells.
AB  - Paeonia suffruticosa from the section Moutan of the genus Paeonia is an important
      Chinese medicinal herb. In our previous study, 10 oligostilbenes from the seeds
      of P. suffruticosa, including trans-resveratrol and its dimers and trimers, were
      isolated and identified. In the present study, the anti-proliferative effects of
      these 10 oligostilbenes were systemically evaluated in a panel of human lung,
      breast and bone cancer cell lines, and their apoptotic effects were analyzed
      using a high-content multiplex apoptosis assay and a fluorescent caspase-3/7
      assay. Furthermore, their anti-metastasis effects were examined in an invasive
      breast cancer cell line. Among the ten compounds, two resveratrol dimers, trans-
      and cis-gnetin H, showed the most potent anti-proliferative and anti-metastasis
      effects. All trans-oligostilbenes were more effective than their cis-forms, and
      trimers of resveratrol were more effective than dimers and the resveratrol
      isomer. The structure-activity relationships revealed that the polymerization
      degree, the double bond in the stilbene skeleton, and the steric arrangement and
      conformation of oligostilbenes obviously affected their antitumor potential. The
      results from this study provide valuable information for future semi-synthesis of
      resveratrol derivatives to develop novel cancer chemopreventive agents.

PMID- 28599440
TI  - Identification of candidate drugs for the treatment of metastatic osteosarcoma
      through a subpathway analysis method.
AB  - Osteosarcoma (OS) is the third most frequent type of cancer in adolescents and
      represents >56% of all bone tumors. In addition, metastatic OS frequently
      demonstrates resistance to conventional chemotherapy; thus, the development of
      novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of patients with metastatic OS is
      warranted. In the present study, the metabolic mechanisms underlying OS
      metastasis were investigated using a subpathway analysis method and lead to the
      identification of candidate drugs for the treatment of metastatic OS. Using the
      GSE14827 microarray dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, 546
      differentially expressed genes were identified between samples from patients with
      OS who did or did not develop metastatic OS. Furthermore, nine significantly
      enriched metabolic subpathways were identified, which may be involved in OS
      metastasis. Finally, using an integrated analysis of metastatic OS-associated
      subpathways and drug-affected subpathways, 98 small molecule drug candidates
      capable of targeting the metastatic OS-associated subpathways were identified.
      This method identified existing anti-cancer drugs, including semustine, in
      addition to predicting potential drugs, such as lansoprazole, for the treatment
      of metastatic OS. Transwell and wound healing assays demonstrated that
      lansoprazole reduced the invasiveness and migration of U2OS cells. These small
      molecule drug candidates identified through a bioinformatics approach may provide
      insights into novel therapy options for the treatment of patients with metastatic
      OS.

PMID- 28599441
TI  - Effects of silencing endothelin-1 on invasion and vascular formation in lung
      cancer.
AB  - Endothelin-1 (ET-1), which exists not only in the vascular endothelium but is
      also widely present in various tissues and cells, is an important cardiovascular
      regulatory factor that serves an important role in maintaining the basal vascular
      tone and homeostasis in the cardiovascular system. In the present study, the ET-1
      gene was silenced by RNA interference, and the effects on lung cancer cell
      proliferation and tumor cell invasion were then detected by Cell Counting kit-8
      and Transwell assays. In addition, the expression of apoptosis, growth and
      invasion-associated proteins, including RhoA/C, vascular endothelial growth
      factor, pigment epithelium-derived factor, AKT, E-cadherin and cyclooxygenase-2
      was evaluated by western blotting upon silencing ET-1. In the present study,
      Endostar, a recombinant human endostatin injectable drug, was also used, and it
      was assessed whether the sensitivity of tumor cells to this drug could be
      increased by silencing ET-1. Both in vivo and in vivo tests were carried out in
      the present study. The experimental data indicated that ET-1 silencing can
      inhibit tumor cell proliferation and invasion, particularly in the presence of
      Endostar.

PMID- 28599442
TI  - Promoter methylation status of the tumor suppressor genes p16 and cadherin 1 in
      cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer worldwide. DNA
      methylation is one of a number of epigenetic regulation mechanisms leading to
      gene silencing in neoplastic cells. Aberrant methylation results in the silencing
      of tumor suppressor gene expression, and has been detected in a high percentage
      of human cancers. In the present study, the methylation status of three tumor
      suppressor genes, retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta), p16 and cadherin 1
      (CDH1), and the inflammatory-associated cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene, was
      examined at distinct stages of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The
      results of the present study revealed that the COX-2 gene was unmethylated
      between CIN I and carcinoma specimens. The RARbeta gene exhibited a minimal
      change in methylation frequency, whereas the CDH1 methylation level was increased
      <2-fold between CIN I and carcinoma. Notably, the methylation frequency of p16
      was 13.2% in normal specimens; 18.2% in CIN I; 35.7% in CIN II; 31.6% in CIN III;
      and 15.4% in carcinoma. By contrast, the methylation frequency of p16 increased
      between CIN I and carcinoma in the absence of high-risk group papillomaviruses.
      The results of bisulfite sequencing indicated that the 10 CpG sites were all
      methylated in p16 gene methylation-positive individuals. The results of the
      present study demonstrate that the methylation frequency of p16 and CDH1 was
      progressively increased during the development of malignant stages in CIN, and
      may be an additional tool for current cytomorphology-based screening of cervical
      cell specimens.

PMID- 28599443
TI  - Synthesis, characterization and antitumor activity of Ln(III) complexes with
      hydrazone Schiff base derived from 2-acetylpyridine and isonicotinohydrazone.
AB  - In the present study, two isostructural lanthanide (Ln)(III) complexes, namely
      Ln(HL)2(NO3)(CH3OH)2).CH3OH, where Ln = La in complex 1 and Ce in complex 2, and
      hydrogen ligand (HL) = (E)-N'-[1-(2-pyridinyl)ethylidene]isonicotinohydrazone,
      have been isolated and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectra and
      single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The results revealed that the
      acylhydrazone ligand HL in each complex was deprotonated as an anionic ligand and
      coordinated to the central La(III) ion via enolization of oxygen and nitrogen
      atoms. Furthermore, the antitumor effects and potential mechanisms of the two
      complexes were explored in the human lung cancer cell line A549 and in the human
      gastric cancer cell lines BGC823 and SGC7901. In the present study, the roles the
      two complexes on the proliferation and apoptosis of the above tumor cell lines
      were determined by MTT assay and Annexin V/propidium iodide flow cytometry,
      respectively. Furthermore, various apoptosis-associated key genes, including
      caspase 3, B cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2-associated X protein (Bax) and Bcl-2, were
      detected by western blotting to explore the possible antitumor mechanisms of the
      two complexes. The results revealed that the two complexes had comparable
      antitumor activities in terms of inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis
      in tumor cell lines. The changes in the protein expression levels of caspase 3,
      Bax and Bcl-2 further verified the apoptosis-promoting mechanisms of the two
      complexes in tumor cell lines. These findings have a great potential in
      biomedical applications of novel Ln(III) complexes.

PMID- 28599444
TI  - Sulforaphane sensitizes human breast cancer cells to paclitaxel-induced apoptosis
      by downregulating the NF-kappaB signaling pathway.
AB  - Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate present in cruciferous vegetables, has been
      demonstrated to inhibit the growth of various types of cancer cell. The aim of
      the present study was to investigate whether SFN sensitizes breast cancer cells
      to paclitaxel-induced apoptosis and to identify the signal pathway through which
      SFN mediates apoptosis. Combined treatment of breast cancer cells with SFN and
      paclitaxel resulted in increased activation of apoptotic signaling pathway
      members, including caspase-3, -8 and -9, and cytochrome c, compared with
      treatment with SFN or paclitaxel alone. In addition, treatment with SFN and
      paclitaxel resulted in downregulation of the nuclear factor kappa B signaling
      pathway, and reduced protein expression of apoptosis regulator Bcl-2 and
      phosphorylated AKT serine/threonine kinase. Furthermore, SFN-paclitaxel-induced
      apoptosis was inhibited by overexpression of Bcl-2. The results of the present
      study suggest that combined treatment with SFN and paclitaxel is a novel
      therapeutic strategy for the treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 28599446
TI  - Giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath: Magnetic resonance imaging findings in 38
      patients.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the value of magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) in the diagnosis of giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath (GCTTS),
      including localized (L-) and diffuse (D-) types. A total of 38 patients with
      GCTTS, including 31 with L-GCTTS and 7 with D-GCTTS, diagnosed by surgery and
      pathology, were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent MRI examination.
      Of the 31 patients with L-GCTTS, the tumors were located in the hand and wrist
      (18 patients), the ankle and foot (10 cases), the knee joint (2 cases) and the
      temporomandibular joint (1 case). All 31 lesions were either located in relation
      to a tendon or were partially/completely enveloping it and all were well
      marginated. With respect to the 7 D-GCTTS patients, the tumors were located in
      the ankle and foot (6 cases) or the hand and wrist (1 cases). All 7 lesions
      presented as an aggressive soft tissue mass infiltrating the tendon sheath and
      adipose tissue around the joint. The characteristic internal signal of GCTTS,
      including L-GCTTS and D-GCTTS, was demonstrated by MRI examination. MRI is
      currently the optimal modality for preoperative assessment of tumor size, extent
      and invasion of adjacent joint and tenosynovial space.

PMID- 28599445
TI  - Comparison of the effectiveness of erlotinib, gefitinib, and afatinib for
      treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in patients with common and rare EGFR
      gene mutations.
AB  - Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are
      routinely used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with
      common activating mutations of the EGFR gene. The aim of the study was to compare
      the efficacies of EGFR-TKIs in patients with common (exon 19 deletions and exon
      21 p.Leu858Arg) and rare EGFR mutations. A retrospective analysis of 180 NSCLC
      patients with common (n=167) and rare (n=13) EGFR mutations treated with
      erlotinib (n=98), gefitinib (n=66) and afatinib (n=16) was performed. EGFR
      mutations were determined using RT-PCR and the EntroGen EGFR Mutations Analysis
      kit. Partial and complete response (PR and CR), progression-free survival (PFS),
      and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Demographic and clinical factors had no
      impact on PFS or OS in patients treated with EGFR-TKIs. Erlotinib, gefitinib, and
      afatinib showed similar efficacies based on treatment response, median PFS, and
      OS. The type of EGFR mutation had no impact on median OS; however, median PFS was
      significantly longer in patients with the exon 19 deletion compared to patients
      with the exon 21 p.Leu858Arg substitution and rare EGFR gene mutations (P=0.013).
      Patients with common EGFR mutations showed significantly longer median PFS than
      those with rare EGFR mutations (10 vs. 5 months; P=0.009). Erlotinib, gefitinib,
      and afatinib show similar efficacies in NSCLC patients with both common and rare
      EGFR mutations. When undergoing EGFR-TKI treatment, patients with rare EGFR
      mutations showed similar OS but poorer PFS. Further investigation into the
      associations between particular rare EGFR mutations and EGFR-TKIs treatment
      outcomes is required.

PMID- 28599448
TI  - Overexpression of the androgen receptor in human hepatoma cells and its effect on
      fatty acid metabolism.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a predominantly male disease in which the
      androgen receptor (AR) serves an important pathogenic role in
      hepatocarcinogenesis. Fatty acid metabolism also contributes to
      hepatocarcinogenesis and is associated with the prognosis of cancer. The present
      study aimed to investigate the effects of the AR on fatty acid metabolism
      associated gene expression in human hepatoma cell lines. AR-expression plasmids
      or control plasmids were transiently transfected into the human HCC cell lines
      Huh7 and HepG2. After 48 h, cellular protein and RNA were extracted and the
      expression of AR was confirmed by western blotting. Complementary DNA was
      synthesized and subjected to a quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based array
      to examine the expression of 84 fatty acid metabolism-associated genes.
      Overexpression of AR significantly downregulated the expression of 11 fatty acid
      metabolism-associated genes in Huh7 cells and 35 in HepG2 cells. The
      overexpression of AR also resulted in the upregulation of 6 fatty acid metabolism
      genes in HepG2 cells; however, it had no effect in Huh7 cells. Acyl-coenzyme A
      (CoA) thioesterase 7 and acyl-CoA oxidase 3 were downregulated in both cell
      lines. In conclusion, upregulation of AR via overexpression led to the
      disturbance of fatty acid metabolism-associated gene expression in human HCC
      cells. Therefore, the AR may serve a role in hepatocarcinogenesis via the
      regulation of hepatocellular fatty acid metabolism.

PMID- 28599447
TI  - Recombinant fibromodulin and decorin effects on NF-kappaB and TGFbeta1 in the 4T1
      breast cancer cell line.
AB  - Constitutive activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) stimulates cell
      proliferation and metastasis, and inhibits apoptosis in breast cancer.
      Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling pathway is deregulated in
      breast cancer progression and metastasis. The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the inhibitory effects of the two small leucine rich proteoglycans
      fibromodulin (Fmod) and decorin (Dcn), overexpressed using adenovirus gene
      transfer, on NF-kappaB-activity and TGF-beta1-expression in the highly metastatic
      4T1 breast cancer cell line. The results demonstrate that Fmod and Dcn
      overexpression is associated with NF-kappaB and TGF-beta1 downregulation, and
      that Fmod promotes this effect more effectively compared with Dcn.

PMID- 28599449
TI  - Design and synthesis of novel N()-substituted thiosemicarbazones bearing a
      pyrrole unit as potential anticancer agents.
AB  - A series of N(4)-substituted thiosemicarbazones (TSCs) bearing pyrrole unit (1a
      1e) were synthesized and fully characterized by elemental analyses, infrared
      spectra, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The
      compounds were assessed as potential chemotherapeutic agents. All newly
      synthesized compounds were screened for their anticancer activity against lung
      cancer PC-9, esophageal cancer Eca-109 and gastric cancer SGC-7901 cell lines.
      The results of MTT, Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling
      and fluorescence-activated cell sorting assays indicated that all the prepared
      compounds exhibited cytotoxicity against PC-9, Eca-109 and SGC-7901 cells in
      vitro. All the compounds significantly induced cancer cell apoptosis accompanied
      by increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and activation of caspase-3. The structure
      activity association was discussed and the potential pre-clinical trials may be
      conducted. The present findings have a great potential in biomedical applications
      of novel N(4)-substituted TSCs.

PMID- 28599450
TI  - The distribution of human rectal aberrant crypt foci and criteria for defining
      the counting area.
AB  - Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are considered as a useful surrogate biomarker for
      colorectal cancer, although their biological significance still remains
      controversial. We conducted this study to clarify whether differences in the ACF
      counting area might have led to the discrepancies in the ACF counts among
      previous reports. A endoscopist proficient in ACF counting performed high
      magnification chromoscopic colonoscopy in 45 subjects and investigated the
      distribution of ACF in four bowel segments (middle Houston valve to the dentate
      line and distal rectum 0-5, 5-10 and 10-15 cm). We also investigated whether the
      patient physique might affect the distance from the middle Houston valve to the
      dentate line. The prevalence of ACF was 84% and most of the ACF (170/210, 81%)
      were located in the bowel segment from the middle Houston valve to the dentate
      line. The number of ACF was significantly correlated with the bowel segment in
      which the counting was performed: Dentate line to the middle Houston valve and
      distal rectum within 0-15 cm (r=0.94, P<0.001). The patient physique did not
      affect the distance from the middle Houston valve to the dentate line. In
      conclusion, the definition of the ACF counting area may not affect the results of
      ACF counting.

PMID- 28599451
TI  - Interleukin-24 inhibits osteosarcoma cell migration and invasion via the JNK/c
      Jun signaling pathways.
AB  - Approximately 25% of osteosarcoma patients present with clinically detectable
      metastatic disease at the time of initial diagnosis. High-dose chemotherapy
      and/or surgery for the treatment of primary metastatic osteosarcoma is
      ineffective, and <20% of patients will survive 5 years from diagnosis. Therefore,
      the treatment of metastases is critical for the improvement of the prognosis of
      primary metastatic osteosarcoma patients. We have previously observed that
      overexpression of interleukin-24 (IL-24) inhibits neuroblastoma cell
      proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. The present study investigated
      whether IL-24 may be a novel agent for osteosarcoma metastasis-suppressive
      treatment. It was observed that IL-24 is able to inhibit migration and invasion
      in spontaneously metastasizing human 143B osteosarcoma cells via the c-Jun N
      terminal kinase (JNK)/c-Jun signaling pathway. IL-24 was effective in inhibiting
      JNK and c-Jun phosphorylation to downregulate matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2
      and MMP-9, which contributed to the suppression of cell migration and invasion.
      It was concluded that IL-24 may be a potent agent in the inhibition of highly
      metastatic 143B osteosarcoma cells, and IL-24 may have translational potential as
      an effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of metastatic osteosarcoma.

PMID- 28599452
TI  - miR-125b is associated with renal cell carcinoma cell migration, invasion and
      apoptosis.
AB  - MicroRNA (miR)-125b has been identified as deregulated in a number of types of
      cancer. Previous studies have detected the expression of miR-125b in clear cell
      renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tissues by in situ hybridization and revealed that
      miR-125b was upregulated in ccRCC tissues, and was associated with recurrence and
      survival of patients with ccRCC. However, the function of miR-125b in RCC remains
      unclear. Thus, the expression of miR-125b was detected with quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in 24 paired RCC and adjacent normal tissues.
      The result of qPCR showed that miR-125b was upregulated in RCC tissues.
      Furthermore, the function of miR-125b in RCC (786-O and ACHN) cells was detected
      by transfecting miR-125 mimic or inhibitor to upregulate or downregulate miR-125b
      expression. Cell proliferation assays (MTT and Cell Counting Kit-8), cell
      mobility assays (cell scratch and Transwell assay) and a cell apoptotic assay
      (flow cytometry assay) were performed to assess the function of miR-125b on RCC
      cells. Results from the assays demonstrated that overexpression of miR-125b could
      promote cell migration and invasion, and reduce the cell apoptotic rate. It was
      also revealed that downregulation of miR-125b could reduce cell migration and
      invasion, and induce cell apoptosis. However, the results of the cell
      proliferation assay revealed that miR-125b had no significant effect on cell
      proliferation. Not only could miR-125b predict recurrence and survival of ccRCC;
      the present study revealed that miR-125b could regulate RCC cell migration,
      invasion and apoptosis. Additional studies are required to determine the
      mechanism of miR-125b in RCC cells and define the target genes of miR-125b in
      RCC.

PMID- 28599453
TI  - TUC338 promotes cell migration and invasion by targeting TIMP1 in cervical
      cancer.
AB  - Ultraconserved regions (UCRs) are non-protein-coding gene sequences that are
      strictly conserved across numerous distinct species. It has been demonstrated
      previously that UCRs encoding non-coding RNAs serve as regulators of gene
      expression. In recent decades, there has been increasing evidence for the
      involvement of UCRs in carcinogenesis. In previous studies, the non-coding RNA
      transcribed ultraconserved element 338 (TUC338) was identified to serve an
      oncogenic role in hepatocellular cancer; however, thus far, the role of TUC338 in
      cervical cancer (CC) remains undefined. The results of the present study revealed
      that TUC338 is significantly upregulated in CC tissues and cell lines, and that
      the upregulation of TUC338 is associated with lymph node metastasis. Transfection
      with small interfering RNA (siRNA) against TUC338 could markedly inhibit cell
      migration and invasion in HeLa and C33A CC cell lines. Using a dual-luciferase
      reporter assay, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1) was demonstrated
      to be negatively regulated by TUC338 at the post-transcriptional level, via a
      specific target site within the 3' untranslated region. The expression of TIMP1
      was also observed to be inversely associated with TUC338 expression in CC
      tissues. Overexpression of TIMP1 with MigRI-TIMP1-green fluorescent protein
      inhibited CC cell migration and invasion and downregulated matrix
      metalloproteinase 9, resembling the effects of TUC338 siRNA. Therefore, the
      results of the present study suggest that TUC338 acts as a novel oncogene by
      targeting the TIMP1 gene, and inhibiting CC cell migration and invasion.

PMID- 28599454
TI  - Differential expression of the Notch1 receptor, and its ligands Dll1, Dll3 and
      Dll4 in distinct human pituitary adenoma subtypes.
AB  - Pituitary adenoma (PA) is a common type of benign tumor of the pituitary gland
      that is characterized by specific signs and symptoms, primarily associated with
      hypersecretion of pituitary glycoprotein hormones (thyroid-stimulating, growth
      and adrenocorticotrophic hormones, and prolactin). Surgery is the first-line
      treatment, although postoperative residual tissues/cells and subsequent
      recurrence remain notable complications. Gene therapy is an effective approach
      for treatment, as previous studies have demonstrated that the Notch signaling
      pathway participates in the pathogenesis of PA. The focus of the present study
      was on the associations between the expression of the Notch1 receptor and its
      ligands delta-like canonical Notch ligand (Dll) 1, Dll3 and Dll4 in patients with
      PA. Using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and
      western blot analyses, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to
      provide a description of the differential expression of the Notch1 receptor and
      its ligands Dll1, Dll3, and Dll4 in various types of human PA at the mRNA and
      protein levels. The results of the present study demonstrated that Notch1 protein
      expression was positively correlated with Dll4 protein expression, but negatively
      correlated with Dll3 protein expression, indicating synergistic effects between
      the Notch1 receptor and Dll4 ligand. Furthermore, the Dll3 ligand may be an
      inhibitor of the Notch1 receptor, indicating an antagonistic association between
      Notch1 and the Dll3 ligand. These results have identified a potential target for
      the treatment of patients with PA.

PMID- 28599455
TI  - Downregulation of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 inhibits proliferation, cell
      cycle and migration of cholangiocarcinoma cells.
AB  - We previously reported that upregulation of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1
      (NQO1) in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA; a fatal bile duct cancer) was associated with
      poor prognosis. It was also demonstrated that the suppression of NQO1 was able to
      enhance the chemosensitivity of CCA cells. In the present study, in order to
      elucidate the biological role of NQO1 in CCA, the effects of small interfering
      RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of NQO1 on cell proliferation, cell cycle and
      migration were determined in KKU-100 CCA cells, which notably expressed NQO1. The
      cell proliferation ability and cell cycle distribution were identified by
      clonogenic cell survival assay and flow cytometric analysis, respectively. Wound
      healing and Transwell migration assays were performed to evaluate cell migration.
      The molecules involved in cell proliferation and migration were determined by
      western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction analysis. The results demonstrated that NQO1 siRNA-mediated knockdown
      effectively impaired colony formation capacity, induced cell cycle arrest at the
      G1 phase and suppressed migration of KKU-100 cells. CCA cells transfected with
      NQO1 siRNA exhibited increased expression levels of p21 and decreased cyclin D1
      protein expression levels. Furthermore, the ratio of matrix metalloproteinase
      9/tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP1) mRNA expression level was
      decreased in the NQO1-knockdown cells. Therefore, the present study provided
      evidence supporting the biological role of NQO1 in the regulation of cell
      proliferation, cell cycle and migration of CCA cells. Therefore, NQO1 may prove
      to be a potential molecular target to enhance CCA treatment.

PMID- 28599456
TI  - Dynamic monitoring of EGFR mutations in circulating cell-free DNA for EGFR-mutant
      metastatic patients with lung cancer: Early detection of drug resistance and
      prognostic significance.
AB  - Detecting genetic mutations in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a promising
      approach of liquid biopsy. Between June 2014 and May 2015, 168 plasma samples
      were collected monthly from 20 patients with metastatic lung adenocarcinoma with
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation receiving gefitinib therapy.
      Clinically relevant EGFR mutations, including exon 19 deletion, L858R and T790M,
      were quantified using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction. In baseline
      samples, 19 (95.0%) patients had the same mutation with the matched tumors, and
      pretreatment T790M mutations were also detected in 3 (15.0%) patients. The
      dynamics of EGFR mutations were generally associated with treatment response for
      patients with or without measurable disease. For patients with immeasurable tumor
      deposits, monitoring disease evolution using cfDNA-based mutation quantification
      appeared to be more reliable compared with measuring the diameters of target
      tumor lesions. In addition, molecular progressive disease, defined as a >=20%
      increase of EGFR mutation concentration compared with the lowest concentration
      recorded during treatment, was tracked up to 8 months prior to objective
      progression. In survival analysis, sex (P=0.005), pretreatment T790M mutation
      status (P=0.006), T790M mutation status at the disease progression (P=0.043) and
      growth rate of EGFR mutations (P=0.023), had a significant impact on median
      progression-free survival. In conclusion, dynamic monitoring of EGFR mutations in
      cfDNA is feasible and appears to be useful in early prediction of drug resistance
      for patients with lung cancer receiving EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

PMID- 28599457
TI  - Morusin induces apoptosis by regulating expression of Bax and Survivin in human
      breast cancer cells.
AB  - Morusin which has been isolated from the root bark of Morus alba L. (Moraceae)
      has previously demonstrated anticancer activity in various types of cancer cells
      such as hepatocellular carcinoma, glioma and prostate cancer. However, the effect
      of morusin on breast cancer cells remains unclear. In the present study, the
      potential of morusin as an anti-cancer agent in breast cancer was investigated.
      The results of the present study revealed that the treatment of morusin induced
      cell death in various human breast cancer cell lines, but exhibited little effect
      on normal human breast epithelial cells. In Annexin V-propidium iodide double
      staining assays, morusin significantly increased apoptosis in a dose-dependent
      manner in human breast cancer cells. The apoptosis marker proteins cleaved
      caspase 3 and 9 were consistently upregulated following treatment of cells with
      morusin in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, morusin was
      demonstrated to modulate the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Survivin
      and pro-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma 2-associated-x protein (Bax) in human
      breast cancer cells. These results indicate that morusin induces apoptosis by
      suppressing Survivin and inducing Bax proteins, suggesting that morusin is a
      potentially effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of patients with breast
      cancer.

PMID- 28599458
TI  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cancer: Role of the IL-8/IL-8R axis.
AB  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a biological process that is
      associated with cancer metastasis and invasion. In cancer, EMT promotes cell
      motility, invasion and distant metastasis. Interleukin (IL)-8 is highly expressed
      in tumors and may induce EMT. The IL-8/IL-8R axis has a vital role in EMT in
      carcinoma, which is regulated by several signaling pathways, including the
      transforming growth factor beta-spleen associated tyrosine kinase/Src
      AKT/extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p38/Jun N-terminal kinase-activating
      transcription factor-2, phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT, nuclear factor-kappaB and
      Wnt signaling pathways. Blocking the IL-8/IL-8R signaling pathway may be a novel
      strategy to reduce metastasis and improve patient survival rates. This review
      will cover IL-8-IL-8R signaling pathway in tumor epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition.

PMID- 28599459
TI  - Advances in recurrence and malignant transformation of sinonasal inverted
      papillomas.
AB  - Sinonasal inverted papilloma (SIP) is a benign tumor of the nasal cavity and
      sinus. SIP is characterized by aggressive malignant transformation and a high
      rate of recurrence. Inadequate removal of the tumor during surgery is one of the
      most significant contributors to SIP recurrence. A growing body of evidence
      suggests that molecular alteration in SIP, including human papilloma virus
      infections, single nucleotide polymorphisms of key genes, deregulation of
      signaling pathways and immunological changes, may lead to SIP occurrence and
      malignant transformation. However, the extent to which these molecular mechanisms
      contribute to SIP pathology and transformation remains unclear due to limited
      research. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the primary dependent
      factors that contribute to SIP etiology. The present article reviewed risk
      factors of progression and recurrence of SIP, including outdoor and industrial
      occupational exposure, smoking, septal deviation, SIP location, recurrent cases,
      stage of SIP-associated squamous cell carcinoma and choice of surgical method.

PMID- 28599461
TI  - SPARC overexpression suppresses radiation-induced HSP27 and induces the collapse
      of mitochondrial Deltapsi in neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - Neuroblastoma is the cause of >15% of cancer-associated mortality in children in
      the USA. Despite aggressive treatment regimens, the long-term survival rate for
      these children remains at <40%. The current study demonstrates that secreted
      protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) suppresses radiation-induced
      expression of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) in vivo and suppresses mitochondrial
      membrane potential (Deltapsi) in neuroblastoma cells. In the present study, the
      overexpression of SPARC in SK-N-BE(2) and NB1691 neuroblastoma cell lines
      suppresses radiation-induced G2M cell cycle arrest, proliferation, HSP27
      expression (in vitro and in vivo) and induces the collapse of the mitochondrial
      Deltapsi. Gene ontology analysis demonstrated that the overexpression of SPARC
      combined with irradiation, induces the expression of dissimilar molecular
      function genes in SK-N-BE(2) and NB1691 cells, providing evidence of a dissimilar
      response signaling pathway. These results demonstrate that overexpression of
      SPARC suppresses radiation-induced HSP27 expression in neuroblastoma cells and
      the combination of SPARC and radiation induces the expression of protein 21, but
      suppresses neuroblastoma tumor density in in vivo mouse models. SPARC also
      induces mitochondrial Deltapsi collapse in SK-N-BE(2) and NB1691 neuroblastoma
      cells.

PMID- 28599460
TI  - Effects of traditional oriental medicines as anti-cytotoxic agents in
      radiotherapy.
AB  - The primary goal of radiotherapy in oncology is to enhance the efficacy of tumor
      cell death while decreasing damage to surrounding normal cells. Positive
      therapeutic outcomes may be accomplished by improved targeting, precisely
      targeting tumor cells or protecting normal cells against radiation-induced
      damage. The potential for antioxidants to decrease normal tissue damage induced
      by radiation has been investigated in animal models for a number of decades. In
      attempts for radioprotection, certain synthetic chemicals are suggested as
      antioxidants and normal tissue protectors against radiation-induced damage, but
      they have exhibited limitations in pharmacological application due to undesirable
      effects and high toxicities at clinical doses. The present review focuses on the
      radioprotective efficacy of traditional oriental medicines with the advantage of
      low toxicity at pharmacological doses and how such treatments may influence
      various harmful effects induced by radiation in vitro and in vivo. In addition,
      medicinal plants and their active constituents with biological activities that
      may be associated with alleviation of radiation-induced damage through
      antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, wound healing and immunostimulatory properties
      are discussed.

PMID- 28599462
TI  - Detection of Tax-specific CTLs in lymph nodes of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma
      patients and its association with Foxp3 positivity of regulatory T-cell function.
AB  - Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type (HTLV)-1 Tax is a viral protein that has
      been reported to be important in the proliferation of adult T-cell
      leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) cells and to be a target of HTLV-1-specific cytotoxic T
      lymphocytes (CTLs). However, it is not clear how Tax-specific CTLs behave in
      lymph nodes of ATLL patients. The present study analyzed the immunostaining of
      Tax-specific CTLs. Furthermore, ATLL tumor cells are known to be positive for
      forkhead box P3 (Foxp3)and to have a regulatory T (Treg)-cell-like function. The
      association between T-reg function and number and activity of Tax-specific CTLs
      was also investigated. A total of 15 ATLL lymphoma cases with human leukocyte
      antigen (HLA)-A24, for which Tax has a high affinity, were selected from the
      files of the Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Kurume University
      (Kurume, Japan) using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Immunostaining
      was performed for cluster of differentiation (CD) 20, CD3, CD4, CD8, T-cell
      intracellular antigen-1 and Foxp3 in paraffin sections, and for Tax, interferon
      gamma and HLA-A24 in frozen sections. In addition, the staining of Tax-specific
      CTLs (HLA-A24-restricted) was analyzed by MHC Dextramer(r) assay in frozen
      sections. In addition, the messenger RNA expression of Tax and HTLV-1 basic
      leucine zipper factor were also evaluated by reverse transcription-PCR.
      Immunohistochemical staining of Tax protein in lymphoma tissue revealed the
      presence of positive lymphoma cells ranging from 5 to 80%, and
      immunohistochemical staining of HLA-A24 revealed the presence of positive
      lymphoma cells ranging from 1 to 95%. The expression of Tax and HLA-A24 was
      downregulated by viral function. Foxp3, a marker for Treg cells, was expressed in
      0-90% of cells. Several cases exhibited Tax-specific CTL (HLA-A24-restricted)
      positive cells, and there was an inverse correlation between Tax-specific CTLs
      and Foxp3. However, neither Tax nor HLA-A24 expression was associated with CTL or
      Foxp3. Our study indicated the possibility that ATLL cells, which expressed Tax,
      target of CTL, evade the CTL-mediated immune control by expression of Foxp3 as a
      Treg function.

PMID- 28599463
TI  - Cancer gene panel analysis of cultured circulating tumor cells and primary tumor
      tissue from patients with breast cancer.
AB  - Although numerous effective therapies have improved the survival rate of patients
      with breast cancer, a number of patients present with tumor recurrence and
      metastasis. A liquid biopsy of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is a non-invasive
      method to obtain tumor cells and may be used as substitute for a tumor tissue
      biopsy. The present study focuses on determining whether CTC culture is an
      optimal method of obtaining sufficient amounts of CTCs for molecular analysis.
      The current study demonstrates a method of isolating and culturing CTCs from
      patients with breast cancer and the construction of a molecular profile of
      cultured cells using the Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Gene Panel V2. Gene mutations that
      were observed in cultured CTCs were compared with those observed in primary tumor
      tissues. CTCs were isolated and cultured from the blood of six patients with
      breast cancer. Mutations from the Catalogue Of Somatic Mutation In Cancer
      (COSMIC) were detected in Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha, MET
      (also known as Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor), Phosphatase and Tensin
      Homolog, Harvey Rat Sarcoma Viral Oncogene Homolog, SWI/SNF Related, Matrix
      Associated, Actin Dependent Regulator of Chromatin Subfamily B Member 1, Cyclin
      Dependent Kinase Inhibitor 2A and MutL Homolog 1 genes in 5/6 samples. A
      comparison between mutations detected in cultured CTCs and mutations detected in
      primary tumor tissues demonstrated that a large number of mutations that were
      identified in CTCs were also detected in primary tumor tissues. The results from
      the current study describe a novel cell culture approach that may be used to
      obtain an optimal number of CTCs for molecular analysis. This novel approach is
      able to be used as a tool for liquid biopsy during breast cancer treatment.

PMID- 28599464
TI  - DNA repair genes polymorphisms and genetic susceptibility to Philadelphia
      negative myeloproliferative neoplasms in a Portuguese population: The role of
      base excision repair genes polymorphisms.
AB  - The role of base excision repair (BER) genes in Philadelphia-negative (PN)
      myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) susceptibility was evaluated by genotyping
      eight polymorphisms [apurinic/apyrimidinic endodeoxyribonuclease 1, mutY DNA
      glycosylase, earlier mutY homolog (E. coli) (MUTYH), 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase
      1, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1, PARP4 and X-ray repair cross
      complementing 1 (XRCC1)] in a case-control study involving 133 Caucasian
      Portuguese patients. The results did not reveal a correlation between individual
      BER polymorphisms and PN-MPNs when considered as a whole. However, stratification
      for essential thrombocythaemia revealed i) borderline effect/tendency to
      increased risk when carrying at least one variant allele for XRCC1_399 single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP); ii) decreased risk for Janus kinase 2-positive
      patients carrying at least one variant allele for XRCC1_399 SNP; and iii)
      decreased risk in females carrying at least one variant allele for MUTYH SNP.
      Combination of alleles demonstrated an increased risk to PN-MPNs for one specific
      haplogroup. These findings may provide evidence for gene variants in
      susceptibility to MPNs. Indeed, common variants in DNA repair genes may hamper
      the capacity to repair DNA, thus increasing cancer susceptibility.

PMID- 28599466
TI  - IL-6 and TNF-alpha promote metastasis of lung cancer by inducing epithelial
      mesenchymal transition.
AB  - The characteristics of cancer cells, such as invasiveness, are affected by the
      tumor microenvironment. Studies have shown that interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha regulate the proliferation of lung cancer. However,
      few studies have focused on the effects of IL-6 and TNF-alpha on metastasis of
      lung cancer. The present study was designed to investigate whether IL-6 and TNF
      alpha can promote metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Sixty-five
      tumor and matched adjacent tissue samples from patients with NSCLC and
      corresponding serum samples were collected. Thirty serum samples from healthy
      subjects were selected as controls. Real-time PCR and western blot analysis were
      used to measure IL-6, TNF-alpha, vimentin, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin expression
      in tissue samples; ELISA was used to measure IL-6 and TNF-alpha expression in
      serum samples. The correlation of serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha with the
      clinical stage was analyzed; the correlation of IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels in
      serum with these tissues was analyzed; the correlation of serum levels of IL-6
      and TNF-alpha with lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis was analyzed.
      Expression of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were significantly increased compared with
      controls in both serum and tissue; IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were positively
      correlated with lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis; IL-6 and TNF-alpha
      levels were negatively correlated with E-cadherin level and were positively
      correlated with N-cadherin and vimentin levels. In conclusion, IL-6 and TNF-alpha
      can induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and subsequently promote metastasis
      of lung cancer. Anti-inflammation should be considered for the treatment of lung
      cancer.

PMID- 28599467
TI  - Association between CXCL16/CXCR6 expression and the clinicopathological features
      of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Lung cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, therefore
      identifying biomarkers for the early detection, grading or postoperative follow
      up of lung cancer is of clinical significance. In the present study, expression
      of lung tissue (t)-CXCL16 and t-CXCR6 was examined in 58 patients with non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using immunohistochemical staining, and serum (s)-CXCL16
      levels were detected in 58 patients with NSCLC and in 32 normal volunteers using
      an ELISA. A follow-up was performed every 4 months between January 2014 and
      January 2015. Compared with the normal volunteers, the s-CXCL16 concentration in
      patients with NSCLC significantly increased (329.47+/-135.38 vs. 572.82+/-116.05
      pg/ml, respectively; P<0.001). When grouped according to TNM stage, the
      expression of t-CXCL16 (60 vs. 85.71%; P=0.029), t-CXCR6 (53.33 vs. 78.57%;
      P=0.043) and s-CXCL16 (26.67 vs. 57.14%, P=0.019) in the stage I-II subgroup was
      significantly lower compared with that of the stage III-IV subgroup. The positive
      expression rate of t-CXCL16 (91.18%) and t-CXCR6 (79.41%) in the lymph node
      metastasis subgroup was significantly higher compared with that of the
      corresponding non-lymph node metastasis subgroup (50 and 45.83%, respectively;
      P<0.01). Additionally, the positive expression rate of t-CXCL16 in the smoking
      subgroup was 100%, which was significantly higher compared with that of the non
      smoking subgroup (23.81%) (P<0.001). The follow-up and mortality rates were 100%
      (58/58) and 13.79% (8/58), respectively. Within the time period of the present
      study, the survival time was 4-18 months, and the mean survival time was 16.6
      months. In conclusion, the expression of t-CXCL16 and t-CXCR6 is positively
      correlated with the TNM stage and lymph node metastasis in patients with NSCLC.
      Additionally, there was a significant increase in s-CXCL16 levels in patients
      with NSCLC, suggesting that CXCL16 could be used as a supplementary biomarker for
      the early detection of NSCLC.

PMID- 28599465
TI  - Pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma with pancreatic metastasis: A case report.
AB  - Pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma is a markedly rare pathological type of lung
      adenocarcinoma. As the pancreas is a relatively uncommon site for metastasis, the
      present case is even more unusual. A 62-year-old male was admitted to hospital
      following the identification of masses in the left chest wall, right abdominal
      wall and right upper limb, but with no respiratory symptoms. Computed tomography
      (CT) of the chest revealed a lump in the lung and a mass in the left chest wall,
      and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake by the lumps was increased. An
      enhanced abdominal CT revealed a hypodense and homogeneous mass on the head of
      the pancreas, which was slightly enhanced compared with normal pancreatic tissue.
      In addition, the 18F-FDG uptake of the lesion was increased and the standardized
      uptake value (SUV) delayed was not evidently decreased compared with SUVearly. A
      number of other abnormal metabolic lesions were also identified using positron
      emission tomography/CT, whereas no abnormal 18F-FDG uptake was identified in the
      gastrointestinal organ. Furthermore, rectocolonoscopy was performed to exclude
      diagnosis of metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma. The hematoxylin- and eosin
      stained smears of the masses in the right lung and left chest demonstrated an
      enteric pattern, which shared morphological and immunohistochemical (IHC)
      features with those of colorectal adenocarcinoma. The IHC detection revealed that
      the lesions in the right lung were positive for cytokeratin 7 (CK7), and negative
      for CK20 and thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1), and the expression of caudal
      type homeobox 2 (CDX2) was weakly positive; the masses in the left chest wall
      were positive for CK7, negative for TTF-1, and CK20 and CDX2 were weakly
      expressed.

PMID- 28599469
TI  - Clinical analysis of bevacizumab targeting therapy in treating early colorectal
      carcinoma after operation.
AB  - Clinical effects of bevacizumab target therapy in treating early colorectal
      carcinoma (CRC) after resection were analyzed. Ninety-two patients diagnosed with
      early CRC and treated with endoscopic mucosal resection for the first time were
      selected for the study. They were randomly divided into the control group and the
      observation group with 46 cases in each group. Control group was administered the
      chemotherapy regimen with oxaliplatin, calcium folinate and 5-fluorouracil, while
      bevacizumab targeting therapy was given to the observation group. The follow-up
      median time in these two groups was 30 months. In the observation group,
      objective response rate and disease control rate were higher than those in the
      control group, the adverse reaction rate was lower, and the differences were
      statistically significant (p<0.05). In the observation group, disease-free
      survival was prolonged (38.6 vs. 30.5 months, p<0.05); the recurrence rate was
      lower (13.0 vs. 30.4%, p<0.05); the survival rate was improved (91.3 vs. 76.1%,
      p<0.05). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expressions of follow-up serum
      in these two groups were lower; VEGF expression in the observation group was
      lower than that in the control group, and the differences had statistical
      significance (p<0.05). There was no statistical significance in comparison of
      positive expression in tissue VEGF (p>0.05). In conclusion, after bevacizumab
      targeting therapy in treating early CRC, VEGF expression of serum was
      significantly lower; treatment effects improved; adverse drug reaction was
      reduced; survival time was prolonged; the recurrence rate was reduced; the
      survival rate improved. It has good application values.

PMID- 28599468
TI  - Clinical significance of coagulation factors in operable colorectal cancer.
AB  - Abnormal hemostasis in cancer patients has prev iously been studied. The primary
      objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between
      preoperative hemostasis markers and clinicopathological parameters, and to
      identify a hemostasis marker affecting survival in patients following curative
      resection for colorectal cancer. A total of 170 patients who underwent curative
      surgery for colorectal carcinoma were evaluated. Preoperative coagulation tests
      included platelet, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time
      (aPTT), fibrinogen, D-dimer and fibrinogen degradation product (FDP). The
      clinicopathological variables, including age, gender, tumor location
      (rectum/colon), tumor size (>=5 cm vs. <5 cm), depth of tumor invasion, lymph
      node metastasis, stage, lymphovascular invasion, margin involvement and
      histological differentiation were analyzed. The median age of analyzed patients
      was 63 years (range, 28-84). The male to female ratio was 62:38. Increased levels
      of plasma fibrinogen, PT and platelet count (PLT) were associated with larger
      tumor size (P<0.001, P=0.015 and P=0.002, respectively). Increased plasma
      fibrinogen levels were significantly associated with depth of tumor invasion and
      stage (P=0.014 and P=0.048, respectively). Increased plasma D-dimer and FDP
      levels were significantly associated with tumor node metastasis stage (P=0.031
      and P=0.002, respectively). Prolonged PT level (>=11.7 sec), hyper-fibrinogenemia
      (>=327 mg/dl), high D-dimer level (>=1.3 ug/ml) and increased FDP level (>=2.7
      ug/ml) were the prognostic factors associated with shorter survival. Preoperative
      plasma fibrinogen level was significantly associated with tumor size and depth of
      tumor invasion. Preoperative plasma prolonged PT level, hyperfibrinogenemia, high
      D-dimer level and increased FDP level may function as hemostasis markers that
      predict overall survival in operable patients with colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28599470
TI  - The lipid metabolism gene FTO influences breast cancer cell energy metabolism via
      the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.
AB  - The present study assessed the effect of the lipid metabolism, fat mass and the
      obesity-associated gene (FTO), on energy metabolism of breast cancer cells. The
      human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, and HCC1937 human breast
      cells were studied. Real-time PCR was used to measure the levels of FTO mRNA from
      breast cancer cells and normal breast cells. MDA-MB-231 cells were transfected
      with miFTO inhibitor or inhibitor control, and cells were assessed for levels of
      lactic acid, ATP, pyruvate kinase activity, and hexokinase activity assay using
      specific kits. Western blot analysis was used to measure the levels of
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), p-PI3K, protein kinase B (Akt) and p-Akt in
      transfected breast cancer cells. The expression of FTO was significantly
      increased in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells compared with HCC1937 cells (P<0.01). The
      lactic acid content of breast cancer cells transfected with the miFTO inhibitor
      was significantly lower compared with cells transfected with the miFTO inhibitor
      control and nontransfected cells (P<0.05). The ATP content of breast cancer cells
      transfected with the miFTO inhibitor was significantly lower compared with the
      control group and inhibitor control group (P<0.05). The pyruvate kinase activity
      and hexokinase activity of breast cancer cells transfected with the miFTO
      inhibitor were significantly lower compared with the control group and inhibitor
      control group (P<0.01). Western blot analysis showed that after breast cancer
      cells were transfected with the miFTO inhibitor, the levels of PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt
      and p-Akt were significantly lower than in the control group and inhibitor
      control group. In conclusion, the FTO gene is overexpressed in breast cancer
      cells. Overexpression of the FTO gene can promote breast cancer cell glycolysis
      and the mechanism is related to the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

PMID- 28599472
TI  - Nucleus accumbens-1/GADD45GIP1 axis mediates cisplatin resistance through
      cellular senescence in ovarian cancer.
AB  - Nucleus accumbens-1 (NAC1), a nuclear factor belonging to the bric-a-brac
      tramtrack-broad complex/pox virus and zinc finger gene family, is known to serve
      important roles in the proliferation and growth of tumor cells, and in
      chemotherapy resistance. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms through
      which NAC1 contributes to drug resistance remain unclear. In the present study,
      the role of NAC1 in drug resistance in ovarian cancer was investigated. NAC1
      expression was markedly negatively associated with growth arrest and DNA-damage
      inducible 45gamma-interacting protein 1 (GADD45GIP1) expression in ovarian
      cancer. Increased NAC1 expression or decreased GADD45GIP1 expression was
      significantly associated with decreased progression-free survival (P=0.0041).
      Multivariate analysis demonstrated that NAC1/GADD45GIP1 expression was an
      independent prognostic factor of progression-free survival (P=0.0405). It was
      investigated whether cellular senescence was involved in NAC1-mediated resistance
      to cisplatin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug in the treatment of ovarian
      cancer. Treatment with cisplatin activated cellular senescence in ovarian cancer
      cell lines (SKOV3 and TOV-21G cells). Furthermore, knockdown of NAC1 by RNA
      interference significantly increased GADD45GIP1 expression and inhibited
      cisplatin-induced cellular senescence, resulting in increased cisplatin
      cytotoxicity in SKOV3 cells, which express increased levels of NAC1. To
      investigate whether the sensitizing effect of NAC1 inhibition on cisplatin
      induced cytotoxicity may be attributed to the suppression of cellular senescence,
      the effects of NAC1 overexpression were assessed in TOV-21G cells, which do not
      express endogenous NAC1. Transfection with NAC1 in TOV-21G cells reduced the
      sensitivity of TOV-21G cells to cisplatin, indicating that suppression of
      cellular senescence was induced by GADD45GP1 activation. The results of the
      present study suggest that NAC1 is a negative regulator of cellular senescence
      and that NAC1-dependent suppression of senescence, mediated through GADD45GIP1,
      serves an important role in promoting cisplatin resistance. Therefore, the
      NAC1/GADD45GIP1 axis may be a potential target for the treatment of ovarian
      cancer, particularly in platinum-resistant cancers.

PMID- 28599471
TI  - miR-200b inhibits CD133+ glioma cells by targeting the AKT pathway.
AB  - MicroRNA-200b (miR-200b) is a tumor suppressor in multiple tumor types, including
      gastric cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and glioma. The biological
      significance of a known normal and cancer stem cell marker, CD133, remains
      elusive. The aim of the present study was to identify the function and mechinism
      of miR-200b in suppressing CD133+ glioma cells. CD133+ glioma cells were sorted
      by flow cytometry. The expression of miR-200b, Ki67, GAP43, GFAP and CD133 were
      tested by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The
      binding of miR-200b to prominin 1 (PROM1) was certificated by luciferase reporter
      assay. Cell proliferation was analyzed by bromodeoxyuridine staining. The protein
      level of CD133, p-AKT, AKT and Notch1 was detected by western blot analysis.
      Analysis of glioma samples revealed that CD133 expression is negatively
      associated with miR-200b. PROM1, which is the gene that codes CD133, was
      certified to be a target of miR-200b. miR-200b expression inhibited the stemness
      properties and division of the CD133+ glioma cells. Our results identified a miR
      200b/CD133/PI3K/Akt signaling axis, exploring the fundamental role of miR-200b
      and CD133 in glioma stem cell behavior.

PMID- 28599473
TI  - Colorectal cancer in cases of multiple primary cancers: Clinical features of 59
      cases and point mutation analyses.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the occurrence and clinical features of
      cases of multiple primary cancers including colorectal cancer (MPCC). The medical
      records of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who underwent surgery at the
      Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (Changsha, China) between
      August 2007 and August 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with MPCCs
      were identified and mutation analyses were performed on colon specimens. The
      results revealed that among 1,311 patients with CRC, 59 had MPCC (including 35
      cases of >=1 CRC with >=1 other cancer type, and 24 cases with multiple CRCs and
      no other primary cancers). Foci occurred on the right side of the colon (n=32),
      in the rectum (n=28), and on the left side of the colon (n=24). MPCCs were
      synchronous in 24 patients, metachronous in 32 patients, and both in 3 patients.
      Age of onset and presence of polyps were identified as significantly different
      between MPCC and CRC overall (P<0.05); however, sex or adenoma incidence were not
      observed to differ significantly between groups. Mutation incidence rates in 26
      specimens were 11.54% for KRAS proto-oncogene GTPase (KRAS) G13D, 3.85% for KRAS
      Q61R and 3.85% B-Raf proto-oncogene serine/threonine kinase V600E. Mutations of
      exon 21 of the epithelial growth factor receptor gene, including L858R and L861Q,
      and of KRAS G12V were not detected. In conclusion, the likelihood of occurrence
      of MPCC is closely associated with the age of onset and the presence of polyp(s).
      Routine examination of multiple systems is necessary for patients with CRC to
      avoid missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis. Further study is required to demonstrate
      the molecular mechanism of CRC in cases of multiple primary cancers.

PMID- 28599474
TI  - Reduction of miR-21 induces SK-N-SH cell apoptosis and inhibits proliferation via
      PTEN/PDCD4.
AB  - MicroRNA (miR/miRNA)-21 is a well-known oncogenic miRNA that is overexpressed in
      various types of tumors. The tumor-suppressor genes programmed cell death 4
      (PDCD4) and phosphatase tensin homologue (PTEN), are targets of miR-21, and are
      underexpressed in several types of cancer. However, the expression of miR-21 and
      its target genes in neuroblastoma (NB) remains unclear. In the present study, a
      miR-21 inhibitor oligonucleotide was transfected into the SK-N-SH cell line, and
      the expression of miR-21, PTEN and PDCD4 was detected through quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction analysis. Western blotting was used to examine levels
      of PTEN, PDCD4 and caspase-3 proteins. The expression of PTEN and PDCD4 in the SK
      N-SH cell line transfected with the miR-21 inhibitor was significantly increased
      compared with untransfected SK-N-SH and negative control-transfected cells. Cell
      proliferation was inhibited and the apoptotic ratio was significantly increased
      in miR-21 inhibitor-transfected cells compared with untransfected SK-N-SH and
      negative control-transfected cells. Western blot analysis revealed a significant
      increase in caspase-3 expression compared with untransfected SK-N-SH and negative
      control-transfected cells. The results of the present study indicate that miR-21
      may serve an oncogenic role in the cellular processes underlying NB development
      and thus may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with NB.

PMID- 28599475
TI  - Therapeutic results of a novel enzyme-targeting radiosensitization treatment,
      Kochi oxydol-radiation therapy for unresectable carcinomas II, in patients with
      stage I primary breast cancer.
AB  - Linac-based stereotactic radiotherapy has little effect on the majority of
      advanced neoplasms. Therefore, the novel radiosensitizer Kochi oxydol-radiation
      therapy for unresectable carcinomas (KORTUC) II, which contains hydrogen peroxide
      and sodium hyaluronate, was developed. The effectiveness of KORTUC II for the
      treatment of chemotherapy-resistant supraclavicular lymph node metastases,
      recurrent breast cancer and stage IV primary breast cancer has previously been
      demonstrated. The present study evaluated the safety and efficacy of KORTUC II
      for patients with stage I primary breast cancer. A total of 15 patients (age
      range, 40-76 years) were enrolled. The injection of 3 ml of KORTUC II agent was
      initiated from the sixth radiotherapy fraction and was performed twice a week,
      under ultrasonographic guidance. The therapeutic effects were evaluated by PET-CT
      and/or MRI examinations prior to and following KORTUC II treatment. All patients
      exhibited complete responses and the overall survival rate was 100% after a
      follow-up period of five years. The mean duration of follow-up at the end of
      March 2015 was 53 months. Based on these results, KORTUC II treatment exhibited
      marked therapeutic effects with satisfactory treatment outcomes and an acceptable
      extent of adverse events.

PMID- 28599477
TI  - Novel proapoptotic agent SM-1 enhances the inhibitory effect of 5-fluorouracil on
      colorectal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most important agents used to treat
      colorectal cancer. However, the therapeutic effect of 5-FU on colon cancer is
      limited. SM-1 is a novel type of proapoptotic agent that directly activates
      procaspase-3 to caspase-3, leading to apoptosis in human cancer cells. The aim of
      the present study was to evaluate the antitumor effects of 5-FU in combination
      with SM-1. The human colorectal cancer cell lines HCT116 and LoVo were cultured
      in the presence of SM-1 and 5-FU. The combination of SM-1 and 5-FU treatment
      exhibited increased proliferation inhibitory effects compared with 5-FU treatment
      alone in HCT116 and LoVo cells, as determined using an MTT assay. SM-1
      significantly decreased the half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 5-FU from
      8.07+/-0.49 to 2.55+/-0.41 umol/l in HCT116 cells, and from 7.90+/-0.98 to 3.14+/
      0.81 umol/l in LoVo cells. Similarly, the apoptotic activity was increased to
      47.95 and 35.19% in HCT116 and LoVo cells, respectively, as determined using
      Annexin V/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. The combination of SM-1
      and 5-FU treatment led to significantly increased caspase-3 activity compared
      with either compound alone. The reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis revealed the downregulation of
      B-cell lymphoma 2 and Survivin, and the upregulation of apoptosis regulator Bcl-2
      associated X protein and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in HCT116 and LoVo
      cells. In addition, RT-qPCR identified downregulation of X-linked inhibitor of
      apoptosis protein mRNA. 5-FU and SM-1 treatment in combination increased tumor
      proliferation inhibition in HCT116 and LoVo xenograft mouse models of colorectal
      cancer, compared with SM-1 or 5-FU treatment alone. SM-1 significantly enhanced
      the antitumor activity of 5-FU in colorectal cancer. These improved effects were
      due to increased activity of the apoptotic signaling pathway.

PMID- 28599476
TI  - Identification of gene markers associated with metastasis in clear cell renal
      cell carcinoma.
AB  - The present study aimed to screen potential target genes for the early diagnosis
      and treatment of early metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) using
      the microarray data of early metastatic and non-metastatic ccRCC samples. The DNA
      microarray dataset GSE47352 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus and
      included 4 early metastatic and 5 non-metastatic ccRCC samples. Differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) were screened using the limma package. Then, pheatmap
      package was used to conduct two-way clustering for the DEGs. Subsequently,
      MAPPFinder and GenMAPP were employed separately to perform functional and pathway
      enrichment analysis for the DEGs. Additionally, a protein-protein interaction
      (PPI) network was constructed using Cytoscape, and small drug molecules were
      searched using Connectivity map (cmap). In total, 196 upregulated and 163
      downregulated genes were identified. DEGs, including JUN, tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF), Ras homolog family member B (RHOB) and transforming growth factor beta2
      (TGFbeta2) were significantly enriched in the signaling pathway of renal cell
      carcinoma. Furthermore, nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (NR4A1) was
      significantly enriched in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway;
      in addition, laminin subunit alpha (LAMA) 1, LAMA2 and LAMA4 were significantly
      enriched in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction. JUN (degree=6) had the
      highest degree in the PPI network. Thapsigargin (score=-0.913) possessed the
      highest performance in terms of the treatment of early metastatic ccRCC. In the
      present study, it was discovered that certain DEGs, including JUN, TNF, RHOB,
      NR4A1, TGFbeta2, LAMA1, LAMA2 and LAMA4 were potential target genes associated
      with early metastatic ccRCC. In addition, thapsigargin could be used as an
      efficient small drug molecule for the treatment of early metastatic ccRCC.

PMID- 28599478
TI  - MicroRNA-375 suppresses esophageal cancer cell growth and invasion by repressing
      metadherin expression.
AB  - Accumulating evidence indicates that aberrant expression of microRNAs is involved
      in tumorigenesis, tumor progression and response to therapy. MicroRNA-375 (miR
      375) is an important cancer-associated RNA that is downregulated in multiple
      types of cancer. In the present study, the potential effects of and underlying
      molecular mechanism for miR-375 in esophageal cancer were investigated. The
      expression of miR-375 in paired esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and non
      tumor tissues from 10 patients was quantified using the reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The miR-375 levels in the ESCC cell line
      EC109 and a normal esophageal epithelial cell line, Het-1A, were also detected.
      The effect of miR-375 on ESCC cell growth and invasion was determined using Cell
      Counting kit-8, flow cytometry and invasion assays. A luciferase assay was
      conducted for target identification. The results of the present study revealed
      that miR-375 was downregulated in ESCC tumor tissue and EC109 cells compared with
      normal tissue and Het-1A cells (P<0.01). Overexpression of miR-375 inhibited
      EC109 cell growth and invasion, and induced cell cycle arrest. In addition,
      metadherin (MTDH) was demonstrated to be a direct target of miR-375 (P<0.01). The
      overexpression of miR-375 downregulated MTDH (P<0.01), cyclin D1 (P<0.05) and
      vascular endothelial growth factor (P<0.01) expression, while upregulating
      epithelial cadherin (P<0.01) expression, which may account for its effect on ESCC
      cell proliferation and invasion. The results of the present study suggest that
      the miR-375/MTDH axis represents a target for the treatment of ESCC.

PMID- 28599479
TI  - Dynamin 3 suppresses growth and induces apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma
      cells by activating inducible nitric oxide synthase production.
AB  - Dynamin 3 (DNM3) is candidate tumor suppressor against hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). Downregulation of DNM3 is more frequently identified in HCC tissues than
      in normal liver tissues. However, the mechanism underlying DNM3-mediated
      inhibition of HCC remains unclear. The present study demonstrated that DNM3
      expression was decreased in human HCC tissues and cell lines. The downregulation
      of DNM3 promoted cell proliferation by increasing cell cycle-associated proteins,
      including cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 2 and CDK4. The upregulation
      of DNM3 induced HCC cell apoptosis and inhibited tumor growth. The present study
      also revealed that overexpression of DNM3 induced nitric oxide (NO) production
      and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. DNM3 overexpression
      also increased the protein expression level of inducible nitric oxide synthase
      (iNOS) in HCC cells and subcutaneous HCC tumor xenografts. The inhibition of iNOS
      by L-canavanine attenuated the DNM3-induced ROS accumulation and apoptotic cell
      death. In conclusion, the results indicate that DNM3 overexpression may induce
      apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth of HCC by activating iNOS production and the
      subsequent NO-ROS signaling pathways.

PMID- 28599480
TI  - Downregulation of eIF4G by microRNA-503 enhances drug sensitivity of MCF-7/ADR
      cells through suppressing the expression of ABC transport proteins.
AB  - Overexpression of adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transport protein
      is emerging as a critical contributor to anticancer drug resistance. The
      eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 4F complex, the key modulator of
      mRNA translation, is regulated by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian
      target of rapamycin pathway in anticancer drug-resistant tumors. The present
      study demonstrated the roles of ABC translation protein alterations in the
      acquisition of the Adriamycin (ADM)-resistant phenotype of MCF-7 human breast
      cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were
      applied to examine the differences in mRNA and protein levels, respectively. It
      was found that the expression of the ABC sub-family B member 1, ABC sub-family C
      member 1 and ABC sub-family G member 2 transport proteins were upregulated in MCF
      7/ADR cells. An MTT assay was used to detect the cell viability, from the results
      MCF-7/ADR cells were less sensitive to ADM, tamoxifen (TAM) and taxol (TAX)
      treatment compared with MCF-7 cells. We predicted that the 3'-untranslated region
      of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4-gamma 1 (eIF4G) contains a
      potential miRNA binding site for microRNA (miR)-503 through using computational
      programs. These binding sites were confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. eIF4G
      mRNA degradation was accelerated in cells transfected with miR-503 mimics.
      Furthermore, it was demonstrated that eIF4G and ABC translation proteins were
      significantly downregulated in MCF-7/ADR cells after transfection with miR-503.
      It was found that miR-503 mimics could sensitize the cells to treatment with ADM,
      TAM and TAX. These findings demonstrated for the first time that eIF4G acted as a
      key factor in MCF-7/ADR cells, and may be an efficient agent for preventing and
      reversing multi-drug resistance in breast cancer.

PMID- 28599482
TI  - An unusual case of pseudomyxoma peritonei associated with synchronous primary
      mucinous tumors of the ovary and appendix: A case report.
AB  - Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare disease that usually originates from
      mucinous neoplasms of the appendix and, less commonly, from extra-appendiceal
      tumors, but it may also be caused by synchronous primary mucinous tumors of the
      ovary and appendix. The current study discusses the case of a 73-year-old female
      who presented with progressively worsening indigestion and abdominal distension.
      Magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvis revealed a large cystic mass with a thin
      enhancing septa arising from the right ovary and ascites with scalloping of the
      liver surface. On laparotomy, the patient was observed to have a large ruptured
      mass on the right ovary and a partially amputed distended appendix filled with
      mucin. The subsequent pathology report confirmed a borderline mucinous tumor of
      the right ovary and a low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm associated with
      PMP. Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated the ovarian tumor stained
      strongly positive for cytokeratin (CK)-7, and negatively for CK-20 and homeobox
      protein CDX-2 (CDX2), whereas the appendiceal tumor stained negative for CK-7 and
      positive for CK-20 and CDX2. This study presents a rare case of PMP caused by
      synchronous primary mucinous tumors of the ovary and appendix in a postmenopausal
      female.

PMID- 28599481
TI  - Prognostic impact of carbohydrate sulfotransferase 15 in patients with pancreatic
      ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) typically succumb to
      mortality early, even following surgical resection. Therefore, prognostic factors
      associated with early mortality are required to improve the survival of patients
      with PDA following surgical resection. Carbohydrate sulfotransferase 15 (CHST15)
      is responsible for the biosynthesis of sulfated chondroitin sulfate E (CS-E),
      which serves a pivotal function in cancer progression by cleaving CD44. CHST15
      and CD44 expression in PDA tissue were assessed as a prognostic factor in
      patients with PDA following surgical resection. A total of 36 consecutive
      patients with PDA were enrolled following surgical resection between January 2008
      and December 2014. The intensities of CHST15 and CD44 expression were analyzed by
      immunohistochemical staining. The recurrence period was significantly earlier in
      the strong CHST15 expression group compared with the negative-to-moderate CHST15
      expression group. Overall survival (OS) was also significantly decreased in the
      strong CHST15 expression group compared with the negative-to-moderate CHST15
      expression group. Multivariate analysis also indicated significant associations
      between CHST15 overexpression and disease-free survival (DFS) and OS. However,
      expression of CD44 in PDA tissue was not associated with DFS or OS. The present
      study has demonstrated for the first time that high CHST15 expression in PDA
      tissue may represent a potential predictive marker of DFS and OS in patients with
      PDA following surgical resection.

PMID- 28599483
TI  - Effects of programmed death-ligand 1 expression on OK-432 immunotherapy following
      transurethral resection in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the negative costimulatory
      molecule programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on immunotherapy with OK-432,
      following transurethral resection of bladder tumors in non-muscle invasive
      bladder cancer (NMIBC), and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. PD-L1 was
      detected by immunohistochemical staining in tumor specimens from 55 cases of
      NMIBC following postoperative immunotherapy with OK-432. The PD-L1 mRNA and
      protein expression levels were measured in the bladder cancer T24 cell line and
      the human uroepithelial SV-HUC-1 cell line, following treatment with interleukin
      (IL)-2, interferon (IFN)-alpha and IFN-gamma, by reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis,
      respectively. PD-L1 was widely expressed in the NMIBC tumors, with 56.4% (31/55)
      of specimens exhibiting positive staining. When compared with PD-L1-negative
      patients, PD-L1-positive patients exhibited significantly increased recurrence
      [48.4% (15/31) vs. 16.7% (4/24)] and progression [16.1% (5/31) vs. 4.2% (1/24)]
      rates (P<0.05). RT-qPCR and western blotting demonstrated that cytokines IL-2,
      IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma markedly upregulated PD-L1 mRNA expression rates and
      protein levels in bladder cancer T24 cells (P<0.05), but had no significant
      effect in non-tumor SV-HUC-1 cells. In conclusion, PD-L1 expression was
      negatively-associated with the efficacy of OK-432 intravesical immunotherapy in
      patients with NMIBC. The results indicated that the involved mechanism occurred
      via upregulation of PD-L1 by immune cytokines, which in turn suppressed the
      antitumor effectiveness of the immune system, thereby promoting tumor recurrence
      and progression.

PMID- 28599484
TI  - Anticancer effect of curcumin inhibits cell growth through miR-21/PTEN/Akt
      pathway in breast cancer cell.
AB  - Curcumin is a polyphenol extracted from turmeric, which that belongs to the
      Zingiberaceae family. Curcumin has numerous effects, including anti-inflammatory,
      antitumor, anti-oxidative and antimicrobial effects. However, the effects of
      curcumin on human breast cancer cells remain largely unknown. The aim of the
      present study was to investigate the anticancer effects and the mechanisms by
      which curcumin affects breast cancer cells. The anticancer effect of curcumin on
      cell viability and cytotoxicity on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells was analyzed
      using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide and
      lactate dehydrogenase assays, respectively. Cell apoptosis of MCF-7 cells was
      detected using flow cytometry, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindolestaining assay and
      caspase-3/9 activity kits. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction was used to analyze microRNA-21 (miR-21) expression in MCF-7 cells. The
      protein expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and phospho-protein
      kinase B (pAkt) was determined by western blot analysis. miR-21 was transfected
      into MCF-7 cells and the anticancer effect of curcumin on cell viability and the
      expression of PTEN and pAkt was analyzed. The present results demonstrated that
      curcumin inhibited cell viability and induced cytotoxicity of MCF-7 cells in a
      concentration- and time-dependent manner, by inducing apoptosis and increasing
      caspase-3/9 activities. In addition, curcumin downregulated miR-21 expression in
      MCF-7 cells by upregulating the PTEN/Akt signaling pathway. The present study has
      for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, revealed the anticancer effect
      of curcumin in suppressing breast cancer cell growth, and has elucidated that the
      miR-21/PTEN/Akt signaling pathway is a key mechanism for the anticancer effects
      of curcumin.

PMID- 28599485
TI  - miRNA-34a enhances the sensitivity of gastric cancer cells to treatment with
      paclitaxel by targeting E2F5.
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common types of malignant cancer
      worldwide, however improvements are required to the current therapies for GC.
      Although paclitaxel is one of the most promising chemotherapeutic agents in
      clinical use for GC, the resistance to paclitaxel that develops during treatment
      is a major obstacle to further treatments of GC. The present study reports that
      micro (mi) RNA-34a, a tumor suppressor in various types of cancer, may be an
      important regulator of chemoresistance in GC, as miRNA-34a mimics and inhibitors,
      enhance and inhibit the chemotherapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel, respectively. In
      addition, the present study identified that E2F transcription factor 5 (E2F5), a
      key oncogenic protein, is the direct target candidate of miRNA-34a. Previous
      studies have demonstrated that the inhibition of E2F5 by specific E2F5 small
      interfering RNA also increases the sensitivity of GC cells to paclitaxel. In
      conclusion, the present data suggest that miRNA-34a enhances the treatment of
      sensitive GC cells to paclitaxel by targeting E2F5. Therefore, the miRNA-34a/E2F5
      axis appears to be a potential promising therapeutic target for overcoming the
      chemotherapeutic resistance of GC.

PMID- 28599486
TI  - Knockout of kruppel-like factor 10 suppresses hepatic cell proliferation in a
      partially hepatectomized mouse model.
AB  - The liver has marked regenerative capabilities, and numerous signaling pathways
      are involved in liver regeneration. The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF
      beta)/Smad pathway, which is also involved in liver regeneration, regulates
      numerous biological processes. Kruppel-like factor 10 (KLF10) has been reported
      to activate the TGF-beta/Smad signaling pathway; however, the exact functions of
      KLF10 under various pathophysiological conditions remain unclear. In the present
      study, the role of KLF10 in liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy (PH)
      was investigated using KLF10-knockout (KO) mice. KLF10-KO mice exhibited lower
      liver/body weight ratios and 5-bromo-2-deoxy-uridine labeling indices compared
      with wild-type (WT) mice, and significant differences (P=0.028) were obtained at
      72 h after PH. To understand the causes of the gross and histopathological
      findings, the expression levels of the components of the TGF-beta/Smad pathway
      were examined using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction
      and western blot analysis. The mRNA and protein levels of Smad3, p15, TGF-beta1
      and TGF-beta receptor 1 were significantly increased, while those of cMyc and
      cyclin D1 (proliferation-associated genes) were significantly lower in the liver
      tissues of the KLF10-KO mice compared with those of the WT mice at 72 h post-PH.
      These results indicated that KLF10-KO may exhibit antiproliferative effects on
      liver regeneration following PH, through strengthening the TGF-beta/Smad
      signaling pathway in a delayed manner.

PMID- 28599487
TI  - Calreticulin is a novel independent prognostic factor for oral squamous cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - We focused on the expression of Calreticulin (CALR) in oral squamous cell
      carcinoma (OSCC) on the basis of proteomic differential display analysis data. We
      used QR-32 cells in this study which is a regressive murine fibrosarcoma cell
      clone; and QRsP-11, a progressive malignant tumor cell clone originated from QR
      32. CALR is an endoplasmic reticulum luminal Ca2+-binding chaperone protein,
      which is thought to affect the tumor behavior of various malignancies. This study
      was aimed to determine the usefulness of CALR as a prognostic factor in patients
      with OSCC. We investigated the expression of CALR in tissue samples taken from
      111 OSCC patients by immunohistochemistry, and we also analyzed the relationship
      between CALR expression and patients' clinicopathological characteristics as well
      as patient survival. Positive immunohistchemical staining of CALR was observed in
      the cancer cell cytoplasm. Among 111 patients, high expression of CALR was
      observed in 44 patients (39.6%), whereas low expression was observed in 67
      patients (60.4%). Significant association was found between CALR expression and T
      classification (P=0.0027), N classification (P=0.0219), stage (P=0.0013), and
      patient outcome (P=0.0014). Log-rank test showed that, there is a significant
      difference (P<0.0001) in 5-year survival rates between patients showing CALR high
      expression (59.1%) and CALR low-expression (86.6%). According to our Multivariate
      analysis, reduced term survival of patients was correlated to high levels of CALR
      expression (P<0.0001). Our findings suggest that elevated expression of CALR
      might play an important role in tumor progression in OSCC, and could be
      considered as a useful prognostic factor in OSCC patients.

PMID- 28599489
TI  - Maslinic acid suppresses the growth of human gastric cells by inducing apoptosis
      via inhibition of the interleukin-6 mediated Janus kinase/signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 3 signaling pathway.
AB  - The present study aimed to determine whether maslinic acid effectively inhibits
      the proliferation of MKN28 cells, and to investigate the mechanisms underlying
      its antitumor functions. MKN28 cell viability was evaluated using a Cell Counting
      Kit-8, cell proliferation was analyzed by a colony formation assay and flow
      cytometry was used to investigate the rate of apoptosis. Western blot analysis
      was performed in order to determine the differential expression levels of Janus
      kinase (JAK), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and
      apoptosis associated proteins B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X
      protein (Bax) and Bcl-2 associated agonist of cell death (Bad). Interleukin-6 (IL
      6) concentration was evaluated using ELISA. IL-6 and anti-IL-6 antibodies were
      used to investigate the role of IL-6 in MKN28 cells treated with maslinic acid
      proliferation, and the STAT3 phosphorylation rates. The results demonstrated that
      maslinic acid treatment significantly reduced cell proliferation, induced
      apoptosis and was accompanied by a significant decrease in Bcl-2, Bax and Bad
      expression levels. Maslinic acid treatment also resulted in the downregulation of
      phosphorylated-STAT3 and JAK2, and significantly inhibited the protein expression
      of IL-6. Maslinic acid is able to inhibit MKN28 cell proliferation and the
      phosphorylation of STAT3 by downregulating the expression of IL-6. These results
      suggest that maslinic acid suppresses the growth of MKN28 cells by inducing
      apoptosis via its inhibition of the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling cascade.

PMID- 28599488
TI  - Histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A enhances the antitumor effect of the
      oncolytic adenovirus H101 on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in vitro and in
      vivo.
AB  - Replication-selective oncolytic virotherapy provides a novel modality to treat
      cancer by inducing cell death in tumor cells but not in normal cells. However,
      the utilization of oncolytic viruses as a stand-alone treatment is problematic
      due to their poor transduction efficiency in vivo. H101 was the first oncolytic
      adenovirus (Ads) to be approved by the Chinese FDA, and exhibits modest antitumor
      effects when applied as a single agent. The multiple histone deacetylase
      inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) has been demonstrated to potently enhance the
      spread and replication of oncolytic Ads in several infection-resistant types of
      cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the antitumor effects of H101 in
      combination with TSA on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in vitro and in
      vivo, and determine the mechanisms underlying these effects. H101 and TSA in
      combination increased the survival of mice harboring human ESCC cell line-tumor
      xenografts, as compared with mice treated with these agents individually.
      Therefore, TSA may enhance the antitumor effects of H101 in ESCC.

PMID- 28599490
TI  - Circulating tumor cell detection: A direct comparison between negative and
      unbiased enrichment in lung cancer.
AB  - Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), isolated as a 'liquid biopsy', may provide
      important diagnostic and prognostic information. Therefore, rapid, reliable and
      unbiased detection of CTCs are required for routine clinical analyses. It was
      demonstrated that negative enrichment, an epithelial marker-independent technique
      for isolating CTCs, exhibits a better efficiency in the detection of CTCs
      compared with positive enrichment techniques that only use specific anti
      epithelial cell adhesion molecules. However, negative enrichment techniques incur
      significant cell loss during the isolation procedure, and as it is a method that
      uses only one type of antibody, it is inherently biased. The detection procedure
      and identification of cell types also relies on skilled and experienced
      technicians. In the present study, the detection sensitivity of using negative
      enrichment and a previously described unbiased detection method was compared. The
      results revealed that unbiased detection methods may efficiently detect >90% of
      cancer cells in blood samples containing CTCs. By contrast, only 40-60% of CTCs
      were detected by negative enrichment. Additionally, CTCs were identified in >65%
      of patients with stage I/II lung cancer. This simple yet efficient approach may
      achieve a high level of sensitivity. It demonstrates a potential for the large
      scale clinical implementation of CTC-based diagnostic and prognostic strategies.

PMID- 28599491
TI  - Multimodal treatment of Kasabach-Merritt syndrome arising from tufted angioma: A
      case report.
AB  - Kasabach-Merritt syndrome (KMS) is a rare type of vascular tumor associated with
      a severely decreased platelet count. No standard guidelines for the treatment of
      the disease have been established so far. In the present study, a 1-year-old
      pediatric patient with KMS arising from tufted angioma was successfully and
      variously treated with steroids, vincristine, surgery and propranolol for 18
      months. Systemic steroids stabilized the platelet count stable, while vincristine
      reduced the size of the tumor. Due to unpredictable response, the patient was
      operated. Combination of vincristine and propranolol was introduced post-surgery
      to improve the severely low platelet count of the patient. Following multimodal
      therapy for 18 months, there has been no evidence of recurrence or metastasis
      during 2 years of follow-up. Currently, the patient is alive and well. The
      management of KMS presents a challenge, and well-designed studies are required to
      clearly determine the benefits and risks of multidisciplinary treatment.

PMID- 28599492
TI  - Histological evaluations of primary lesions are independently associated with
      prognosis in patients with gastric cancer who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
AB  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy may improve outcomes for patients with locally advanced
      gastric cancer (GC). To explore useful predictive factors for the response of
      advanced GC to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, tumor responses were assessed using
      computed tomography (CT) with histological based criteria. A total of 78 patients
      with advanced GC undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy were included. CT-based
      response assessment was performed following 2 courses of treatment. Histological
      evaluation of resected specimens was also performed according to the Japanese
      classification of gastric carcinoma. Grade 1b, 2 and 3 (viable tumor cells
      remaining in <2/3 of the tumorous area) were defined as histological responders.
      The results were associated with overall survival (OS) and progression-free
      survival (PFS). The majority of the cases underwent tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil
      based preoperative chemotherapy as the first line of treatment (n=76, 96%). A
      total of 25 (32%) and 29 (37%) cases were considered to be CT and histological
      responders, respectively. CT-based evaluation was not associated with OS or PFS,
      while histological evaluation was significantly associated with OS and PFS.
      Histological based evaluation was not associated with CT and GI X-ray or
      endoscopy-based evaluation of primary lesions. Multivariate survival analysis
      using Cox's regression model demonstrated that histological non-response was an
      independent prognostic factor for predicting worse OS. Histological-based
      evaluation of primary lesions was independently associated with prognosis in
      patients with GC who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

PMID- 28599494
TI  - Cucurbitacin E induces apoptosis of human prostate cancer cells via cofilin-1 and
      mTORC1.
AB  - Cucurbitacin E is an important member of the cucurbitacin family and exhibits
      inhibitory effects in various types of cancer. Cucurbitacin is a potential
      antineoplastic drug; however, its anticancer effect in human prostate cancer (PC)
      remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the effect
      of cucurbitacin E on the cell viability and apoptosis of the human PC cell line,
      LNCaP, was mediated by cofilin-1- and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). The
      results of the present study demonstrated that cucurbitacin E significantly
      exhibited cytotoxicity, suppressed cell viability (P<0.0001) and induced
      apoptosis (P=0.0082) in LNCaP cells. In addition, it was demonstrated that
      treatment with cucurbitacin E significantly induced cofilin-1 (P=0.0031), p-mTOR
      (P=0.0022), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK; P=0.0048), cellular tumor antigen
      p53 (p53; P=0.0018) and caspase-9 (P=0.0026) protein expression in LNCaP cells,
      suggesting that cucurbitacin E exerts its effects on LNCaP cells through cofilin
      1, mTOR, AMPK, p53 and caspase-9 signaling. These results suggested that
      cucurbitacin E maybe used as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of human PC.

PMID- 28599493
TI  - Blueberries inhibit cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 activity in human
      epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - Ovarian cancer (OC) is the sixth and eighth leading cause of cancer mortality
      among women in developed and developing countries, respectively. Medical therapy
      is the main method for the treatment of OC. However, drug toxicity and the marked
      side effects of chemotherapy limit the usage and therapeutic results of the
      treatments. Therefore, the identification of multi-target agents with few side
      effects and high effectiveness is required. Traditional Chinese medicine has been
      used clinically to treat various types of cancer for thousands of years and is
      considered to possess multiple components and agents, which exert efficient
      therapeutic functions with few side effects. Although blueberries have previously
      been used to treat various types of cancer, the effect on OC and precise
      molecular mechanism of function of the fruit remains unknown. Cyclooxygenase
      (COX)-1 and COX-2 have been reported to be the biomarkers of OC. Blueberries may
      affect the progression of OC by affecting COX levels. To investigate the issue,
      COX-1 and COX-2 were overexpressed or silenced in ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells. The
      effect of blueberries on SKOV3 cell viability was determined by an MTT assay.
      Furthermore, a mouse model for OC was established. The results indicated that
      blueberries inhibited the proliferation of OC cells by downregulating the levels
      of COX-1 and COX-2. Blueberry (400 mg daily) consumption reduced tumor size
      significantly in mice with OC compared with the control without blueberry
      treatment (P<0.05). The results suggest that blueberries should be used to
      develop a potential non-pharmaceutical therapy for OC.

PMID- 28599495
TI  - Investigation of the relative biological effectiveness and uniform isobiological
      killing effects of irradiation with a clinical carbon SOBP beam on DNA repair
      deficient CHO cells.
AB  - Spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) C ions have been used clinically in charged particle
      radiation therapy for years. An SOBP beam consists of various monoenergetic Bragg
      peaks; however, the biological effect of irradiation with an SOBP beam track has
      not been well-studied. In order to determine the clinically prospective molecular
      targets, radiosensitivity to the beam track in DNA repair deficient cell lines
      was investigated. A total of four distinct Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell
      lines, including CHO10B2 (wild-type), V3 (protein kinase DNA-activated catalytic
      polypeptide deficient), 51D1 (RAD51 paralog D deficient) and PADR9 [poly(ADP
      ribose) polymerase (PARP) deficient], were irradiated with gamma-rays, C ions
      (290 MeV/n) and Fe ions (500 MeV/n), in order to compare cellular lethality. An
      OptiCellTM culture system was used to evaluate the lethality at distinct depths
      of SOBP C ions. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values of C ions (linear
      energy transfer (LET), 13 and 70 keV/um) and Fe ions (LET, 200 keV/um) were
      calculated from cell survival using colony formation assay with standard cell
      dishes. All cell lines exhibited similar sensitivity to 70 keV/um C ions and 200
      keV/um Fe ions. Furthermore, V3 cells did not exhibit increased sensitivity to
      high LET C ions and Fe ions, compared with low LET gamma-rays and C ions, and
      51D1 cells irradiated with 13 keV/um C ions exhibited relatively high RBE values
      among the tested cell lines. Conversely, PADR9 cells exhibited low RBE values for
      13 keV/um C ions and high RBE values for 70 keV/um C ions. Obtained using the
      OptiCell system, the survival fractions in the SOBP region were uniform for wild
      type and PADR9 cells. Conversely, V3 and 51D1 cells exhibited decreased cell
      death in the distal region of the SOBP. These results indicated that PARP is a
      more effective target for clinical beam therapy, compared with the non-homologous
      end joining repair and homologous recombination repair pathways. PARP deficiency
      may be an optimal target for C ion therapy and the results of the present study
      may contribute to the development of a more effective heavy ion radiation
      therapy.

PMID- 28599496
TI  - Use of gemcitabine as a second-line treatment following chemotherapy with
      folfirinox for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
AB  - There is a lack of prospective data about second-line treatments for metastatic
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients. This is partially due to recent
      changes in first-line chemotherapy treatments. Despite this dearth of
      information, 50.0% of the patients who experience failure with first-line folinic
      acid, 5-fluorouracil, irinotecan and oxaliplatin (folfirinox) treatment are
      eligible for additional chemotherapy. In this setting, gemcitabine is widely used
      without any standard recommendations available. The present study evaluated 42
      patients who received gemcitabine subsequent to a first-line treatment of
      folfirinox between January 2008 and December 2012 at the Centre Leon Berard
      (Lyon, France). Clinical data, biological data and tumor characteristics were
      retrospectively analyzed to identify prognostic factors for successful treatment
      with gemcitabine. In total, 11 patients (26.2%) experienced control of their
      cancer with gemcitabine treatment. However, there was no predictive marker for
      their response to the drug. The median overall survival was 3.6 months from
      gemcitabine initiation [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.1-5.1]. The median length
      of gemcitabine treatment was 1.5 months (95% CI, 0.3-13.3). Among the 11 patients
      who were successfully treated with gemcitabine, 6 were resistant to first-line
      folfirinox treatment. Patients who were non responsive to folfirinox had a higher
      probability of success with gemcitabine compared with patients that responded to
      folfirinox (54.5 vs. 21.4%, respectively; P=0.061). The present study did not
      identify any clinical or biological marker with a predictive value for successful
      gemcitabine treatment. Furthermore, successful gemcitabine treatment was not
      correlated with patients' response to first-line folfirinox treatment. This
      suggests an absence of cross-resistance in the chemotherapy protocols and
      provides evidence for effective cancer treatment with the second-line gemcitabine
      therapy.

PMID- 28599497
TI  - Monoclonal antibodies against autocrine motility factor suppress gastric cancer.
AB  - Autocrine motility factor (AMF), which is a secreted form of phosphoglucose
      isomerase, is mainly secreted by various tumors and has cytokine-like activity.
      AMF is known to stimulate proliferation, survival and metastasis of cancer cells,
      and angiogenesis within a tumor. The present study investigated whether
      inhibition of AMF using targeted-antibodies was able to suppress the growth of
      cancer. A migration assay using a Boyden chamber was utilized to measure the
      activity of AMF on the motility of cancer cells. A recombinant human AMF (rhAMF)
      prepared from E. coli transformed with the pET22b-AMF vector increased the
      motility of MDA-MB-231 and A549 cells, but it did not affect that of NCI-N87 or
      HepG2 cells, which exhibited the ability to secrete high amounts of their own
      endogenous AMF into the culture medium. The extent to which the AMF receptor was
      expressed on cancer cells did not correlate clearly with the cell motility
      stimulated by rhAMF. In A549-xenografted nude mice treated with sunitinib or
      cetuximab, a decrease in the plasma AMF concentration was accompanied by a
      reduction in tumor weight, suggesting an association between the plasma AMF
      concentration and anticancer activity. A monoclonal antibody (9A-4H), which
      revealed a high binding affinity for E. coli-derived rhAMF, significantly
      suppressed the growth of tumors in Balb/c nude mice transplanted with the human
      gastric cancer cell line NCI-N87, to the similar extent as trastuzumab, an
      anticancer antibody. The present study suggests, for the first time, that an
      antibody specific to AMF may be a therapeutic agent for gastric cancer.

PMID- 28599498
TI  - Sequential administration of XELOX and XELIRI is effective, feasible and well
      tolerated by patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
AB  - Sequential administration of the chemotherapy regimes capecitabine and
      oxaliplatin (XELOX) and capecitabine and irinotecan (XELIRI) in the first- to
      second-line treatment setting would allow patients to be managed more easily in
      an outpatient unit. However, a small number of studies have raised concerns of
      cumulative adverse events as a consequence of the continuous use of capecitabine.
      To investigate this, the present study conducted a retrospective review of 81
      consecutive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with the
      oxaliplatin, fluorouracil and leucovorin-irinotecan, fluorouracil and leucovorin
      (FOLFOX-FOFIRI/F-F) regimen (n=40) or the XELOX-XELIRI (X-X) regimen (n=41) in
      first- to second-line chemotherapy in Saitama Medical Center between 2006 and
      2012. The disease control rate (DCR), the progression free survival (PFS), the
      overall survival (OS) and the time to failure of strategy (TFS) from first to
      second-line chemotherapy, as well as adverse events, were assessed and compared
      between patients receiving X-X or F-F. A total of 10 and 20 patients were
      additionally treated with bevacizumab in the F-F and X-X regimens, respectively,
      during first or second-line chemotherapy. There was no significant difference in
      DCR and the median PFS between the two regimens for first or second-line
      chemotherapy. There was no significant difference in the median OS and TFS
      between the two regimens (OS=24.5 and TFS=14 months in the F-F vs. 23.2 and 12.0
      months in the X-X). Regarding adverse events, 45.0% of patients (18/40) exhibited
      grade 3-4 neutropenia throughout treatment with F-F. Whilst, 15.0% of patients
      (6/41) exhibited grade 3 hypertension throughout treatment with X-X, which was
      effectively controlled by a single antihypertensive drug. The results show that
      sequential administration of X-X is as effective and feasible as F-F treatment,
      while additionally reducing the frequency of infusion visits and eliminating the
      need for a central venous access device or home infusion pump, thereby offering a
      more convenient treatment option to patients with mCRC.

PMID- 28599500
TI  - Notable roles of EZH2 and DNMT1 in epigenetic dormancy of the SHP1 gene during
      the progression of chronic myeloid leukaemia.
AB  - Tumor development is associated with the methylation of cytosine-guanine (CpG)
      islands. The occurrence of methylation requires several factors, such as DNA
      methylation systems and polycomb group (PcG) proteins. At present, novel drugs
      are needed for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), particularly
      considering the current prognosis of CML. The methylation status of the Src
      homology 2 domain-containing tyrosine phosphatase 1 (SHP1) gene, a negative
      regulator of signal transduction, has been identified as being altered in
      numerous haematological malignancies. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and the PcG
      protein complex member enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) participate in a number
      of gene methylation processes. The present study investigated the methylation
      status of the SHP1 gene in CML, and examined the association between DNMT1 and
      EZH2 activity and the SHP1 gene methylation status to develop novel strategies
      for the treatment of CML. The results revealed that SHP1 gene methylation status
      was altered during the progression of CML. These data indicated that SHP1 gene
      methylation is associated with the progression of this disease. The associations
      of DNMT1 and EZH2 activities with the methylation status of the SHP1 gene were
      additionally investigated via chromatin immunoprecipitation. DNMT1 and EZH2 were
      revealed to be bound to the promoter region of the SHP1 gene, and were involved
      in the process of SHP1 methylation. Furthermore, DNMT1 and EZH2 were associated
      with disease progression. Thus, the findings of the present study suggest a new
      target for the treatment of CML, particularly for future drug development.

PMID- 28599499
TI  - Comparative secretome of ovarian serous carcinoma: Gelsolin in the spotlight.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is one of the most common types of reproductive cancer, and has
      the highest mortality rate amongst gynecological cancer subtypes. The majority of
      ovarian cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a five-year
      survival rate of ~30%. Early diagnosis of ovarian cancer has improved the five
      year survival rate to >=90%, thus the current imperative requirement is to
      identify biomarkers that would allow the early detection, diagnosis and
      monitoring of the progression of the disease, or of novel targets for therapy. In
      the present study, secreted proteins from purified ovarian control, benign and
      cancer cells were investigated by mass spectrometry, in order to identify novel
      specific markers that are easy to quantify in patients sera. A total of nine
      proteins revealed significant differential secretion from control and benign
      cells, in comparison with ovarian cancer cells. The mRNA expression levels of
      three of these proteins (Dickkopf protein 3, heat shock protein 10 kDa and
      gelsolin) were subsequently evaluated by reverse transcription-quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. Combined with the protein level in serum, the present
      study identified that gelsolin may be a useful marker of ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28599501
TI  - MicroRNA 217 inhibits cell proliferation and enhances chemosensitivity to
      doxorubicin in acute myeloid leukemia by targeting KRAS.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous malignant disorder derived from
      the myeloid hematopoietic cells that accounts for ~80% of all adult acute
      leukemia. Numerous studies have shown that drug resistance not only exists
      against conventional chemotherapeutic drugs, but also limits the efficacy of new
      biological agents. Therefore, it is important to identify the mechanisms behind
      chemoresistance and seek therapeutic strategies to enhance efficacy in AML
      chemotherapy. MicroRNA (miR)-217 has been recognized as a tumor suppressor that
      is downregulated in various types of cancer, however the mechanisms behind the
      expression and function of miR-217 in AML have not yet been recognized. The
      expression of miR-217 was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction
      (qPCR). Following transfection with miR-217 mimics, an MTT assay,
      chemosensitivity assay, cell apoptosis assay and western blot analysis were
      performed in AML cell lines. Functional assays were also performed to explore the
      effects of endogenous Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) in AML.
      The results revealed that miR-217 was downregulated in patients with AML.
      Overexpression of miR-217 inhibited cellular proliferation and enhanced cell
      chemosensitivity to doxorubicin by the cell apoptosis pathway in AML cells. A
      dual-luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that KRAS was a direct target gene of
      miR-217 in vitro. qPCR and western blot analysis revealed that miR-217 negatively
      regulated KRAS protein expression, but had no impact on KRAS mRNA expression.
      Knockdown of KRAS expression markedly suppressed AML cellular proliferation, and
      enhanced cell chemosensitivity to doxorubicin via the cell apoptosis pathway.
      These findings indicate that miR-217 functions as a tumor suppressor in AML by
      directly targeting KRAS. Therefore, miR-217-based therapeutic strategies may
      provide a novel strategy for the enhancement of efficacy in the treatment of AML.

PMID- 28599502
TI  - MicroRNA-10b inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion in cervical cancer
      cells via direct targeting of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor.
AB  - MicroRNAs are deregulated in numerous types of human cancers and have crucial
      roles in the carcinogenesis and progression of human cancers. MicroRNA-10b (miR
      10b) has been studied in several types of human cancer. However, the expression
      and roles of miR-10b in cervical cancer remain unknown. In the present study, the
      expression, functions and molecular mechanisms of miR-10b were explored in
      cervical cancer. The present data revealed that miR-10b was significantly
      downregulated in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines. In addition, miR-10b
      overexpression inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical
      cancer cells, while miR-10b under-expression had the opposite effect. Based on
      bioinformatics analysis, a luciferase reporter assay and western blot analysis,
      insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) was identified as a direct target
      of miR-10b in cervical cancer. In addition, IGF-1R small interfering RNA-mediated
      knockdown of IGF-1R also inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of
      the cervical cancer cells. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that miR
      10b serves an important role in cervical cancer progression by targeting IGF-1R.

PMID- 28599503
TI  - Effects of inflammatory factors including plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha in
      the clinical treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome.
AB  - The present study investigated the association between the levels of plasma tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, high-sensitivity C
      reactive protein and fibrinogen levels of patients with acute respiratory
      distress syndrome (ARDS) with ARDS treatment outcome and duration of mechanical
      ventilation, with the aim of improving the efficacy of ARDS therapy. A total of
      140 patients with ARDS were randomly divided into groups A and B, with 70
      patients in each group. The patients in group A received a combination of
      conventional treatment and comprehensive treatment (test group) and the patients
      in group B were treated with conventional therapy only (control group). Elbow
      venous blood was obtained from each patient in the morning prior to treatment, on
      the 3rd day of treatment and on the 5th day of treatment. The levels of
      inflammatory factors, the clinical effects and the duration of mechanical
      ventilation of the two groups were statistically analyzed. The levels of IL-6,
      TNF-alpha and IL-8 in patients from group A were significantly reduced compared
      with those from group B (P<0.05). Additionally, the oxygenation index and
      arterial partial oxygen pressure of patients in group A were significantly higher
      compared with group B patients (P<0.05), the duration of mechanical ventilation
      of group A was decreased compared with that of group B (P<0.05) and the overall
      response rate of group A was >90%, whereas group B had a response rate of 80.0%.
      These results indicate that the treatment administered to patients in group A
      exhibited an improved clinical efficacy. The combination of comprehensive and
      conventional therapy may effectively reduce the levels of inflammatory factors
      and the inflammatory response, and these levels may be important for the
      effective treatment of ARDS and in reducing treatment duration. Therefore the
      current study may improve upon current clinical practice.

PMID- 28599505
TI  - Photocatalytically Enhanced Cationic Dye Removal with Zn-Al Layered Double
      Hydroxides.
AB  - Calcined and organo-modified Zn-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were studied
      as adsorbents and photocatalysts for removal of cationic dye, as namely methylene
      blue (MB). Zn-Al LDHs with a cationic ratio of 2:4 were obtained by the
      coprecipitation method. As-synthesized samples were calcined at different
      temperatures and the phase transformations were investigated by XRD, TG/DTG, and
      UV-vis-DR methods. The activity of as-synthesized and calcined Zn-Al LDHs under
      UV light was attributed to the presence of ZnO phase. The amount of ZnO in LDHs
      can be regulated by varying of Zn/Al ratio and heating temperature. The impact of
      Zn/Al ratio on photocatalytic activity of LDHs was observed predominant. The
      calcined Zn-Al LDHs demonstrated low adsorption of MB. The modification of ZnAl
      LDHs by sodium dodecyl sulfate was performed using a reconstruction method. The
      organo/LDH nanohybrids demonstrated high adsorption capacity to MB. The removal
      of MB from solutions with organo/Zn-Al LDHs was enhanced by using UV light due to
      MB photodestruction.

PMID- 28599504
TI  - Combination of wogonin and sorafenib effectively kills human hepatocellular
      carcinoma cells through apoptosis potentiation and autophagy inhibition.
AB  - The small molecule multi-kinase inhibitor sorafenib has become the standard
      systemic treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and
      renal cell carcinoma. Similar to other kinase inhibitors, drug resistance hinders
      its clinical use; thus, combination therapy to improve sorafenib sensitivity is a
      promising approach. The present study shows for the first time that the
      combination of sorafenib and wogonin exerts a significant potentiation of
      cytotoxicity in a number of human HCC cell lines in a dose-dependent manner.
      Enhanced cell death was due to potentiation of apoptosis, which was demonstrated
      by increased apoptotic cell populations, caspase activation and suppression of
      cell death by the pan-caspase inhibitor carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl.
      Sorafenib induced autophagy activation, which was shown by autophagic flux.
      Suppression of autophagy with the autophagy inhibitors chloroquine or 3
      methyladenine significantly enhanced cytotoxicity, suggesting that sorafenib
      induced autophagy is cytoprotective. Notably, wogonin effectively inhibited
      sorafenib-induced autophagy. Altogether, our results indicate that the
      combination of wogonin and sorafenib effectively kills human HCC cells. This
      occurs, at least in part, through autophagy inhibition, which potentiates
      apoptosis. Thus, wogonin could be an ideal candidate for increasing sorafenibs
      activity in HCC therapy, which warrants further investigation in vivo.

PMID- 28599507
TI  - Dual nonlinearity Controlling of Mode and Dispersion Properties in Graphene
      Dielectric Plasmonic Waveguide.
AB  - We study the mode and dispersion properties of graphene-dielectric nonlinear
      plasmonic waveguide considering the dual nonlinearity of dielectric and graphene.
      For TM polarization, the mode distribution, the permittivity distribution, and
      dispersion relation were obtained by numerically solving the Maxwell equations.
      Compared with the case considering only the nonlinearity of dielectric, the
      initial field intensity to excite plasmon modes reduces obviously when
      introducing the dual nonlinearity. In addition, the influence of dual
      nonlinearity on dispersion relation is discussed, and we find that the graphene's
      nonlinearity affects strongly the dispersion properties. The introduction of dual
      nonlinearity leads to the decrease of the initial field intensity, which has
      potential application in all-optical switches with low threshold.

PMID- 28599506
TI  - A novel rhamnolipid-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa ZS1 isolate derived from
      petroleum sludge suitable for bioremediation.
AB  - Petroleum pollutants emulsified by biosurfactants facilitate uptake and
      biodegradation by environmental microbes. In this report, we show the
      characterization of an indigenous surfactant-producing crude-oil-eating microbe
      isolated from petroleum-sludge in Zhoushan islands, China, where one of the
      national strategic petroleum reservoirs is located. We examined biosurfactant
      activities using surface tension analysis on mixed culture originated from oil
      sludge microbes. In parallel, dynamics of individual microbial populations in
      cultures were monitored using the terminal fluorescence labeled (TFL)-RFLP
      method. Biosurfactant activity was found to be associated with a dominant
      microbial species designated as ZS1 (Zhou-Shan isolate 1). Cell-free supernatant
      from the ZS1 culture exhibited 100% emulsification index against crude oil and
      reduces surface tension to 26.5 mN/m. Sequence-based analysis suggested that the
      ZS1 belongs to the group of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. LC-MS/MS analysis indicated
      that the rhamnolipids produced by the ZS1 consisted of 7 monorhamnolipid and 11
      dirhamnolipid homologues (RL7-11), two of which were novel. Maximum yield of
      rhamnolipids in shake-flask ZS1 culture could reach 44 g/l. Furthermore, we
      showed that ZS1 was capable of growing in MS medium supplemented with 1% crude
      oil as sole carbon source, in which cell mass increase coincided with the
      formation of crude-oil emulsion. Half of the crude oil was consumed by the ZS1 in
      12 days. Taken together, our results show that ZS1 produces high level of
      rhamnolipids that effectively emulsify crude oil accelerating its uptake and
      degradation. Hence, it is suitable for bioremediation of petroleum pollutants in
      Zhoushan coastal areas.

PMID- 28599508
TI  - Preparation of Alumina Nanorods from Chromium-Containing Alumina Sludge.
AB  - Alumina nanorods were prepared from chromium-containing alumina sludge, and the
      effects of doping elements, such as Cr, Fe, and Mg, were researched. The results
      show that the crystal transformation of alumina is restricted by the doped Cr and
      facilitated by the doped Fe and Mg, which is transformed from theta-Al2O3 to
      alpha-Al2O3 in the calcination process. Meanwhile, the crystal transformation of
      alumina is strongly restrained by co-doped elements from the chromium-containing
      alumina sludge. The doped elements change the course of phase structure
      transformation and slightly transform the chemical bond of the alumina nanorods.
      The impure elements are doped in the alumina crystal and restrain the crystalline
      growth of alumina nanorods according to the rules. In the sample prepared from
      chromium-containing alumina sludge, more Cr and Mg but fewer Fe are doped, and
      most Cr are existed as Cr(III). It is possible that the Fe-doping is confined by
      the competition of Cr and Mg. Moreover, the lattice imperfection of alumina is
      caused by doped ions, such as Cr, Fe, and Mg, and the chemical state of O and Al
      are affected. The findings by these experiments provide essential information for
      eliminating pollution and promoting comprehensive utilization of the chromium
      containing alumina sludge.

PMID- 28599509
TI  - The Effect of a Small Amount SiO2 on Sintering Kinetics of Tetragonal Zirconia
      Nanopowders.
AB  - In the present paper the sintering behavior of 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia
      (3Y-TZP) with and without small amount (0.2 wt %) of SiO2 additive was
      investigated. It has been studied the silica impact which was added in two ways
      (co-precipitation and mechanical mixing) on sintering kinetics of 3Y-TZP
      nanopowders at the initial sintering stage. It was found the silica additive
      leads to the changing in the predominant sintering mechanism at the initial
      sintering stage from volume (VD) to the grain boundary diffusion (GBD) in
      nanopowders obtained by co-precipitation. It was shown that the way of silica
      addition also significantly influence the sintering kinetics of 3Y-TZP. In case
      of nanopowders with silica additive obtained by mixing method, sintering process
      occurred due to the predominance of VD mechanism. It was found that the silica
      additive and the mechanical activation leads to the acceleration of the sintering
      process.

PMID- 28599510
TI  - Experimental Research on Stability and Natural Convection of TiO2-Water Nanofluid
      in Enclosures with Different Rotation Angles.
AB  - The stability and natural convection heat transfer characteristics of TiO2-water
      nanofluid in enclosures with different rotation angles (alpha = -45 degrees ,
      alpha = 0 degrees , alpha = 45 degrees , and alpha = 90 degrees ) are
      experimentally investigated. The effects of different pH values and doses (m) of
      dispersant agent on the stability of TiO2-water nanofluid are investigated. It is
      found that TiO2-water nanofluid with m = 6 wt% and pH = 8 has the lowest
      transmittance and has the best stability. The effects of different rotation
      angles (alpha = -45 degrees , alpha = 0 degrees , alpha = 45 degrees , and alpha
      = 90 degrees ), nanoparticle mass fractions (wt% = 0.1%, wt% = 0.3%, and wt% =
      0.5%) and heating powers (Q = 1 W, Q = 5 W, Q = 10 W, Q = 15 W, and Q = 20 W) on
      the natural convection heat transfer characteristics are also studied. It is
      found that the enclosure with rotation angle alpha = 0 degrees  has the highest
      Nusselt number, followed by the enclosure with rotation angles alpha = 45 degrees
      and alpha = 90 degrees , the enclosure with rotation angle alpha = -45 degrees 
      has the lowest Nusselt number. It is also found that natural convection heat
      transfer performance increases with the nanoparticle mass fraction and heating
      power, but the enhancement ratio decreases with the heating power.

PMID- 28599511
TI  - Infrared Reflectance Analysis of Epitaxial n-Type Doped GaN Layers Grown on
      Sapphire.
AB  - Infrared (IR) reflectance spectroscopy is applied to study Si-doped multilayer
      n+/n0/n+-GaN structure grown on GaN buffer with GaN-template/sapphire substrate.
      Analysis of the investigated structure by photo-etching, SEM, and SIMS methods
      showed the existence of the additional layer with the drastic difference in Si
      and O doping levels and located between the epitaxial GaN buffer and template.
      Simulation of the experimental reflectivity spectra was performed in a wide
      frequency range. It is shown that the modeling of IR reflectance spectrum using 2
      * 2 transfer matrix method and including into analysis the additional layer make
      it possible to obtain the best fitting of the experimental spectrum, which
      follows in the evaluation of GaN layer thicknesses which are in good agreement
      with the SEM and SIMS data. Spectral dependence of plasmon-LO-phonon coupled
      modes for each GaN layer is obtained from the spectral dependence of dielectric
      of Si doping impurity, which is attributed to compensation effects by the
      acceptor states.

PMID- 28599512
TI  - Bipolar Resistive Switching Characteristics of HfO2/TiO2/HfO2 Trilayer-Structure
      RRAM Devices on Pt and TiN-Coated Substrates Fabricated by Atomic Layer
      Deposition.
AB  - The HfO2/TiO2/HfO2 trilayer-structure resistive random access memory (RRAM)
      devices have been fabricated on Pt- and TiN-coated Si substrates with Pt top
      electrodes by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The effect of the bottom electrodes
      of Pt and TiN on the resistive switching properties of trilayer-structure units
      has been investigated. Both Pt/HfO2/TiO2/HfO2/Pt and Pt/HfO2/TiO2/HfO2/TiN
      exhibit typical bipolar resistive switching behavior. The dominant conduction
      mechanisms in low and high resistance states (LRS and HRS) of both memory cells
      are Ohmic behavior and space-charge-limited current, respectively. It is found
      that the bottom electrodes of Pt and TiN have great influence on the
      electroforming polarity preference, ratio of high and low resistance, and
      dispersion of the operating voltages of trilayer-structure memory cells. Compared
      to using symmetric Pt top/bottom electrodes, the RRAM cells using asymmetric Pt
      top/TiN bottom electrodes show smaller negative forming voltage of -3.7 V,
      relatively narrow distribution of the set/reset voltages and lower ratio of high
      and low resistances of 102. The electrode-dependent electroforming polarity can
      be interpreted by considering electrodes' chemical activity with oxygen, the
      related reactions at anode, and the nonuniform distribution of oxygen vacancy
      concentration in trilayer-structure of HfO2/TiO2/HfO2 on Pt- and TiN-coated Si.
      Moreover, for Pt/HfO2/TiO2/HfO2/TiN devices, the TiN electrode as oxygen
      reservoir plays an important role in reducing forming voltage and improving
      uniformity of resistive switching parameters.

PMID- 28599514
TI  - A sound future for acoustic metamaterials.
AB  - The field of acoustic metamaterials borrowed ideas from electromagnetics and
      optics to create engineered structures that exhibit desired fluid or fluid-like
      properties for the propagation of sound. These metamaterials offer the
      possibility of manipulating and controlling sound waves in ways that are
      challenging or impossible with conventional materials. Metamaterials with zero,
      or negative, refractive index for sound offer new possibilities for acoustic
      imaging and for the control of sound at subwavelength scales. The combination of
      transformation acoustics theory and highly anisotropic acoustic metamaterials
      enables precise control over the deformation of sound fields, which can be used,
      for example, to hide or cloak objects from incident acoustic energy. And active
      acoustic metamaterials use external control and power to create effective
      material properties that are fundamentally not possible with passive structures.
      Challenges remain, including the development of efficient techniques for
      fabricating large-scale metamaterial structures and, critically, converting
      exciting laboratory experiments into practically useful devices. In this
      presentation, I will outline the recent history of the field, describe some of
      the designs and properties of materials with unusual acoustic parameters, discuss
      examples of extreme manipulation of sound, and finally, provide a personal
      perspective on future directions in the field.

PMID- 28599513
TI  - Flexible Supercapacitors Based on Polyaniline Arrays Coated Graphene Aerogel
      Electrodes.
AB  - Flexible supercapacitors(SCs) made by reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based aerogel
      usually suffer from the low energy density, short cycle life and bad flexibility.
      In this study, a new, synthetic strategy was developed for enhancing the
      electrochemical performances of rGO aerogel-based supercapacitor via
      electrodeposition polyaniline arrays on the prepared ultralight rGO aerogel. The
      novel hybrid composites with coated polyaniline (PANI) arrays growing on the rGO
      surface can take full advantage of the rich open-pore and excellent conductivity
      of the crosslinking framework structure of 3D rGO aerogel and high capacitance
      contribution from the PANI. The obtained hybrid composites exhibit excellent
      electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance of 432 F g-1 at the
      current density of 1 A g-1, robust cycling stability to maintain 85% after 10,000
      charge/discharge cycles and high energy density of 25 W h kg-1. Furthermore, the
      flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor have superior flexibility and outstanding
      stability under different bending states from the straight state to the 90
      degrees  status. The high-performance flexible all-solid-state SCs together with
      the lighting tests demonstrate it possible for applications in portable
      electronics.

PMID- 28599516
TI  - Acoustic evaluation of concrete delaminations using ball-chain impact excitation.
AB  - This letter presents an automated acoustic sensing device for rapid detection of
      delamination in concrete. The device consists of ball-chains for continual impact
      excitation and multi-channel microphones for acoustic sensing. A ball-chain is
      formed by multiple metal balls connected by flexible ropes and is dragged on
      concrete surface to excite vibration of delaminations. Compared to the
      conventional chain drag test, the ball-chain generates acoustic signals with
      higher signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) because the balls give isolated but continual
      impacts on concrete surface during dragging. The proposed method was validated on
      a concrete specimen with artificial delaminations.

PMID- 28599515
TI  - Multi-frequency sparse Bayesian learning for robust matched field processing.
AB  - The multi-snapshot, multi-frequency sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) processor is
      derived and its performance compared to the Bartlett, minimum variance
      distortionless response, and white noise constraint processors for the matched
      field processing application. The two-source model and data scenario of interest
      includes realistic mismatch implemented in the form of array tilt and data
      snapshots not exactly corresponding to the range-depth grid of the replica
      vectors. Results demonstrate that SBL behaves similar to an adaptive processor
      when localizing a weaker source in the presence of a stronger source, is robust
      to mismatch, and exhibits improved localization performance when compared to the
      other processors. Unlike the basis or matching pursuit methods, SBL automatically
      determines sparsity and its solution can be interpreted as an ambiguity surface.
      Because of its computational efficiency and performance, SBL is practical for
      applications requiring adaptive and robust processing.

PMID- 28599517
TI  - ACOUSTICAL STANDARDS NEWS.
AB  - American National Standards (ANSI Standards) developed by Accredited Standards
      Committees S1, S2, S3, S3/SC 1, and S12 in the areas of acoustics, mechanical
      vibration and shock, bioacoustics, animal bioacoustics, and noise, respectively,
      are published by the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). In addition to these
      standards, ASA publishes a catalog of Acoustical American National Standards. To
      receive a copy of the latest Standards catalog, please contact Neil
      Stremmel.Comments are welcomed on all material in Acoustical Standards News.This
      Acoustical Standards News section in JASA, as well as the national catalog of
      Acoustical Standards and other information on the Standards Program of the
      Acoustical Society of America, are available via the ASA home page:
      http://acousticalsociety.org.

PMID- 28599518
TI  - Neural representation of the self-heard biosonar click in bottlenose dolphins
      (Tursiops truncatus).
AB  - The neural representation of the dolphin broadband biosonar click was
      investigated by measuring auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to "self-heard"
      clicks masked with noise bursts having various high-pass cutoff frequencies.
      Narrowband ABRs were obtained by sequentially subtracting responses obtained with
      noise having lower high-pass cutoff frequencies from those obtained with noise
      having higher cutoff frequencies. For comparison to the biosonar data, ABRs were
      also measured in a passive listening experiment, where external clicks and
      masking noise were presented to the dolphins and narrowband ABRs were again
      derived using the subtractive high-pass noise technique. The results showed
      little change in the peak latencies of the ABR to the self-heard click from 28 to
      113 kHz; i.e., the high-frequency neural responses to the self-heard click were
      delayed relative to those of an external, spectrally "pink" click. The neural
      representation of the self-heard click is thus highly synchronous across the
      echolocation frequencies and does not strongly resemble that of a frequency
      modulated downsweep (i.e., decreasing-frequency chirp). Longer ABR latencies at
      higher frequencies are hypothesized to arise from spectral differences between
      self-heard clicks and external clicks, forward masking from previously emitted
      biosonar clicks, or neural inhibition accompanying the emission of clicks.

PMID- 28599519
TI  - Design of robust concentric circular differential microphone arrays.
AB  - Circular differential microphone arrays (CDMAs) have been extensively studied in
      speech and audio applications for their steering flexibility, potential to
      achieve frequency-invariant directivity patterns, and high directivity factors
      (DFs). However, CDMAs suffer from both white noise amplification and deep nulls
      in the DF and in the white noise gain (WNG) due to spatial aliasing, which
      considerably restricts their use in practical systems. The minimum-norm filter
      can improve the WNG by using more microphones than required for a given
      differential array order; but this filter increases the array aperture (radius),
      which exacerbates the spatial aliasing problem and worsens the nulls problem in
      the DF. Through theoretical analysis, this research finds that the nulls of the
      CDMAs are caused by the zeros in the denominators of the filters' coefficients,
      i.e., the zeros of the Bessel function. To deal with both the white noise
      amplification and deep nulls problems, this paper develops an approach that
      combines different rings of microphones together with appropriate radii. The
      resulting robust concentric circular differential microphone arrays (CCDMAs) can
      mitigate both problems. Simulation results justify the superiority of the robust
      CCDMA approach over the traditional CDMAs and robust CDMAs.

PMID- 28599520
TI  - Converging to the baseline: Corpus evidence for convergence in speech rate to
      interlocutor's baseline.
AB  - Speakers have been shown to alter their speech to resemble that of their
      conversational partner. Do speakers converge with their interlocutor's baseline,
      or does convergence stem from conversational properties that similarly affect
      both parties? Using the Switchboard corpus, this paper shows evidence for
      speakers' convergence in speech rate to the other party's baseline, not only to
      conversation-specific properties. Study 1 shows that the method for calculating
      speech rate used in this paper is powerful enough to replicate established
      findings. Study 2 demonstrates that speakers are mostly affected by their own
      behavior in other contexts, but that they also converge to their interlocutor's
      baseline, established using the interlocutor's behavior in other contexts. Study
      2 also shows that speakers change their speech rate in response to the
      interlocutor's characteristics: speakers speak more slowly with older speakers
      regardless of the interlocutor's speech rate, and male speakers speak faster with
      other male speakers.

PMID- 28599521
TI  - Using nonlinear time warping to estimate North Pacific right whale calling depths
      in the Bering Sea.
AB  - Calling depth distributions are estimated for two types of calls produced by
      critically endangered eastern North Pacific right whales (NPRWs) in the Bering
      Sea, using passive acoustic data collected with bottom-mounted hydrophone
      recorders. Nonlinear time resampling of 12 NPRW "upcalls" and 20 "gunshots"
      recorded in a critical NPRW habitat isolated individual normal mode arrivals from
      each call. The relative modal arrival times permitted range estimates between 1
      and 40 km, while the relative modal amplitudes permitted call depth estimates,
      provided that environmental inversions were obtained from high signal-to-noise
      ratio calls. Gunshot sounds were generally only produced at a few meters depth,
      while upcall depths clustered between 10 and 25 m, consistent with previously
      published bioacoustic tagging results from North Atlantic right whales. A
      Wilcoxon rank sum test rejected the null hypothesis that the mean calling depths
      of the two call types were the same (p = 2.9 * 10-5); the null hypothesis was
      still rejected if the sample set was restricted to one call per acoustic
      encounter (p = 0.02). Propagation modeling demonstrates that deeper depths
      enhance acoustic propagation and that source depth estimates impact both NPRW
      upcall source level and detection range estimates.

PMID- 28599523
TI  - Threshold of oscillation of a vocal fold replica with unilateral surface growths.
AB  - Among vocal fold diseases, the presence of a surface growth is often encountered
      and can be considered a public health issue. While more energy is required to
      achieve phonation than in healthy cases, this situation can lead to a wide range
      of voice perturbations, from a change of voice quality to aphonia. The present
      study aims at providing finer comprehension of the physical phenomena underlying
      this type of pathological phonation process. A vocal fold replica is used to
      perform measurements of mechanical responses of each vocal fold as well as of the
      subglottal pressure in both healthy and pathological configurations. Besides
      these physical measurements, a theoretical model is derived, using the one-mass
      delayed model involving asymmetry of mass and geometry in order to simulate
      pressure signals. The theoretical model parameters are determined according to
      mechanical measurements on the replica. Results from measurements and simulations
      show that this unique vocal fold replica behaves in a manner comparable to
      clinical observations. The energy required to produce sound increases in the
      presence of a growth as well as with the size of the growth. Further
      investigation tends to show that the contact of the growth on the opposite vocal
      fold, considered as additional damping, plays a critical role.

PMID- 28599522
TI  - Visualizing the movement of the contact between vocal folds during vibration by
      using array-based transmission ultrasonic glottography.
AB  - For the purpose of noninvasively visualizing the dynamics of the contact between
      vibrating vocal fold medial surfaces, an ultrasonic imaging method which is
      referred to as array-based transmission ultrasonic glottography is proposed. An
      array of ultrasound transducers is used to detect the ultrasound wave transmitted
      from one side of the vocal folds to the other side through the small-sized
      contact between the vocal folds. A passive acoustic mapping method is employed to
      visualize and locate the contact. The results of the investigation using tissue
      mimicking phantoms indicate that it is feasible to use the proposed method to
      visualize and locate the contact between soft tissues. Furthermore, the proposed
      method was used for investigating the movement of the contact between the
      vibrating vocal folds of excised canine larynges. The results indicate that the
      vertical movement of the contact can be visualized as a vertical movement of a
      high-intensity stripe in a series of images obtained by using the proposed
      method. Moreover, a visualization and analysis method, which is referred to as
      array-based ultrasonic kymography, is presented. The velocity of the vertical
      movement of the contact, which is estimated from the array-based ultrasonic
      kymogram, could reach 0.8 m/s during the vocal fold vibration.

PMID- 28599524
TI  - Three-dimensional sonar beam-width expansion by Japanese house bats (Pipistrellus
      abramus) during natural foraging.
AB  - Three-dimensional directivity patterns of sonar sounds emitted by Japanese house
      bats (Pipistrellus abramus) during natural foraging were measured by a 44-channel
      microphone array. Just before prey capture, the terminal frequency (TF) of
      emitted sounds decreased, and the beam width (mean +/- standard deviation)
      expanded from 40 +/- 10 degrees  to 63 +/- 9 degrees  (horizontal) and from 32 +/
      10 degrees  to 52 +/- 7 degrees  (vertical). P. abramus decrease the TF to
      simultaneously expand the beam width in both the horizontal and vertical planes,
      while retaining the target within the three-dimensional acoustic field of view at
      the final stage of capture.

PMID- 28599525
TI  - Analysis of Spanish consonant recognition in 8-talker babble.
AB  - This paper presents the results of a closed-set recognition task for 80 Spanish
      consonant-vowel sounds (16 C * 5 V, spoken by 2 talkers) in 8-talker babble (-6, 
      2, +2 dB). A ranking of resistance to noise was obtained using the signal
      detection d' measure, and confusion patterns were analyzed using a graphical
      method (confusion graphs). The resulting ranking indicated the existence of three
      resistance groups: (1) high resistance: /?, s, j/; (2) mid resistance: /r, l, m,
      n/; and (3) low resistance: /t, theta, x, g, b, d, k, f, p/. Confusions involved
      mostly place of articulation and voicing errors, and occurred especially among
      consonants in the same resistance group. Three perceptual confusion groups were
      identified: the three low-energy fricatives (i.e., /f, theta, x/), the six stops
      (i.e., /p, t, k, b, d, g/), and three consonants with clear formant structure
      (i.e., /m, n, l/). The factors underlying consonant resistance and confusion
      patterns are discussed. The results are compared with data from other languages.

PMID- 28599526
TI  - The relation between psychoacoustical factors and annoyance under different noise
      reduction conditions for railway noise.
AB  - The A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL) is commonly used to assess the effect
      of noise reduction measures on noise-induced annoyance. While for road traffic
      noise loudness seems to be a better descriptor of annoyance, for railway noise a
      systematic investigation seems to be lacking. Thus, in this study, the relation
      between annoyance and perceptually motivated descriptors was investigated for
      various conditions of binaural recordings of pass-bys of cargo and passenger
      trains. The conditions included free field and spectral mitigations caused by a 4
      m high noise barrier, a 1 m high noise barrier close to the track, and rail
      dampers. Forty listeners performed a free magnitude estimation of annoyance for
      different presentation levels and the ratings were fit to various models.
      Further, level changes required to evoke a noticeable change in annoyance
      (annoyance thresholds) were acquired. The models based on the A-weighted SPL
      explained the ratings and thresholds better when the reduction measure was
      explicitly provided as a parameter. However, the optimal models were loudness
      level-based models, which were able to better describe the annoyance, even
      independently of the reduction measure. Both experiments underline the
      effectiveness of loudness when describing the annoyance in the area of railway
      noise reduction.

PMID- 28599527
TI  - A method of velocity estimation using composite hyperbolic frequency-modulated
      signals in active sonar.
AB  - This paper proposes a method to estimate the target velocity using a combination
      of two hyperbolic frequency-modulated (HFM) signals. The Doppler-shifted time
      delay between the two signals compared with the original time-delay is used to
      estimate the target velocity. One finds that a HFM with an increasing frequency
      sweep (positive HFM) and one with a decreasing frequency sweep (negative HFM)
      yield a different time. And a better Doppler estimation can be obtained by using
      a negative HFM signal followed by a positive HFM signal than the other way
      around. The method is applied to real data and performance is demonstrated via
      simulated data.

PMID- 28599528
TI  - Estimating the remaining useful life of bearings using a neuro-local linear
      estimator-based method.
AB  - Estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of a bearing is required for
      maintenance scheduling. While the degradation behavior of a bearing changes
      during its lifetime, it is usually assumed to follow a single model. In this
      letter, bearing degradation is modeled by a monotonically increasing function
      that is globally non-linear and locally linearized. The model is generated using
      historical data that is smoothed with a local linear estimator. A neural network
      learns this model and then predicts future levels of vibration acceleration to
      estimate the RUL of a bearing. The proposed method yields reasonably accurate
      estimates of the RUL of a bearing at different points during its operational
      life.

PMID- 28599530
TI  - Approximate solutions to acoustic scattering from a ribbed finite plate.
AB  - Acoustic scattering from a finite plate reinforced by parallel ribs with
      arbitrary rib spacing is investigated by applying thin plate and beam theories.
      The modal component of the surface pressure is calculated by an asymptotic
      expression that is only valid for higher-order modes at high frequencies. An
      approximate expression is derived for the far field scattered pressure by
      inverting matrices the rank of which is equal to twice the number of ribs. When
      the ribs are regularly spaced, approximate analytical expressions are proposed to
      calculate Bragg and forward Bloch-Floquet waves scattering separately from
      backward Bloch-Floquet waves scattering. These solutions are useful to deal with
      scattering problems where flexural waves are strongly attenuated after reflection
      on the edges of the plate. Finally the relevancy of the approximate expressions
      is evaluated by comparing numerical simulations to experimental data.

PMID- 28599529
TI  - Relative contributions of acoustic temporal fine structure and envelope cues for
      lexical tone perception in noise.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that lexical tone perception in quiet relies on the
      acoustic temporal fine structure (TFS) but not on the envelope (E) cues. The
      contributions of TFS to speech recognition in noise are under debate. In the
      present study, Mandarin tone tokens were mixed with speech-shaped noise (SSN) or
      two-talker babble (TTB) at five signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs; -18 to +6 dB). The
      TFS and E were then extracted from each of the 30 bands using Hilbert transform.
      Twenty-five combinations of TFS and E from the sound mixtures of the same tone
      tokens at various SNRs were created. Twenty normal-hearing, native-Mandarin
      speaking listeners participated in the tone-recognition test. Results showed that
      tone-recognition performance improved as the SNRs in either TFS or E increased.
      The masking effects on tone perception for the TTB were weaker than those for the
      SSN. For both types of masker, the perceptual weights of TFS and E in tone
      perception in noise was nearly equivalent, with E playing a slightly greater role
      than TFS. Thus, the relative contributions of TFS and E cues to lexical tone
      perception in noise or in competing-talker maskers differ from those in quiet and
      those to speech perception of non-tonal languages.

PMID- 28599531
TI  - Physiological effects of railway vibration and noise on sleep.
AB  - This paper evaluates the relative contribution of vibration and noise from
      railway on physiological sleep outcomes. Vibration from railway freight often
      accompanies airborne noise, yet is almost totally absent in the existing
      literature. In an experimental investigation, 23 participants, each sleeping for
      six nights in the laboratory, were exposed to 36 simulated railway freight pass
      bys per night with vibration alone (aWd,max = 0.0204 ms-2), noise alone (LAF,max
      = 49.8 dB), or both vibration and noise simultaneously. A fourth exposure night
      involved 52 pass-bys with concurrent vibration and noise. Sleep was measured with
      polysomnography. Cardiac activity was measured with electrocardiography. The
      probability of cortical arousals or awakenings was greater following all
      exposures, including vibration alone, than spontaneous reaction probability (p <
      0.05). The effects of vibration exposure and noise exposure on changes of sleep
      stage and arousals were directly additive. Vibration and noise exposure both
      induced heart rate acceleration above spontaneously expected fluctuations at
      baseline. The results indicate that vibration and noise are processed in the
      brain separately yet in parallel, with both contributing towards the likelihood
      of sleep disruption. The findings show that vibration is of importance when
      considering the impact of railway freight on sleep.

PMID- 28599533
TI  - Sound-field measurement with moving microphones.
AB  - Closed-room scenarios are characterized by reverberation, which decreases the
      performance of applications such as hands-free teleconferencing and multichannel
      sound reproduction. However, exact knowledge of the sound field inside a volume
      of interest enables the compensation of room effects and allows for a performance
      improvement within a wide range of applications. The sampling of sound fields
      involves the measurement of spatially dependent room impulse responses, where the
      Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem applies in the temporal and spatial domains. The
      spatial measurement often requires a huge number of sampling points and entails
      other difficulties, such as the need for exact calibration of a large number of
      microphones. In this paper, a method for measuring sound fields using moving
      microphones is presented. The number of microphones is customizable, allowing for
      a tradeoff between hardware effort and measurement time. The goal is to
      reconstruct room impulse responses on a regular grid from data acquired with
      microphones between grid positions, in general. For this, the sound field at
      equidistant positions is related to the measurements taken along the microphone
      trajectories via spatial interpolation. The benefits of using perfect sequences
      for excitation, a multigrid recovery, and the prospects for reconstruction by
      compressed sensing are presented.

PMID- 28599532
TI  - Zero-group velocity modes in plates with continuous material variation through
      the thickness.
AB  - Lamb modes with zero group velocity at nonzero wave numbers correspond to local
      and stationary resonances in isotropic plates. Lamb modes can be utilized for
      nondestructive evaluation of the elastic properties and thickness. One example of
      an application is the testing of plate-like concrete structures. In this example,
      continuous variation in the material velocity through the thickness may occur.
      This is usually not accounted for in analyses, and with this as starting point,
      two inhomogeneous and nonsymmetric cases with continuous material variations are
      investigated using a semi-analytical finite element technique and a simulated
      measurement application. In a numerical study limited to the lowest zero-group
      velocity mode, results show that these modes for the inhomogeneous cases are
      generated with similar behavior and the same detectability as in the case of an
      isotropic plate. However, a complex relationship between mode frequency and
      material velocity exists for the inhomogeneous cases. This hinders the evaluation
      and interpretation of representative estimations such as those for a cross
      sectional mean value of the plate properties. This may lead to errors or
      uncertainties in practical applications.

PMID- 28599534
TI  - On the scattering of torsional waves from axisymmetric defects in buried
      pipelines.
AB  - This article develops a numerical model suitable for analysing elastic wave
      scattering in buried pipelines. The model is based on a previous so-called hybrid
      approach, where a nominally infinite length of pipe is split up into uniform and
      non-uniform regions. The key challenge for buried structures is in enforcing the
      appropriate boundary conditions in both the axial and radial directions, which
      must encompass the entire length of the structure, as well as the surrounding
      material. Accordingly, the focus of this article is on developing a model
      suitable for accurately applying these boundary conditions, and so the analysis
      is restricted here to the study of axisymmetric defects and to an incident sound
      field that consists of the fundamental torsional mode only. It is shown that this
      problem may be addressed in a numerically efficient way provided one carefully
      choses a perfectly matched layer for the surrounding material, and then
      integrates over this layer using a complex co-ordinate stretching function. This
      enables the use of mode matching to deliver a convergent system of equations that
      enforce the appropriate axial and radial boundary conditions.

PMID- 28599536
TI  - Effect of a serrated trailing edge on sound radiation from nearby quadrupoles.
AB  - A periodic boundary element technique is implemented to study the noise reduction
      capability of a plate with a serrated trailing edge under quadrupole excitation.
      It is assumed for this purpose that the quadrupole source tensor is independent
      of the trailing edge configuration and that the effect of the trailing edge shape
      is to modify sound radiation from prescribed boundary layer sources. The flat
      plate is modelled as a continuous structure with a finite repetition of small
      spanwise segments. The matrix equation formulated by the periodic boundary
      element method for this 3D acoustic scattering problem is represented as a block
      Toeplitz matrix. The discrete Fourier transform is employed in an iterative
      algorithm to solve the block Toeplitz system. The noise reduction mechanism for a
      serrated trailing edge in the near field is investigated by comparing contour
      plots obtained from each component of the quadrupole for unserrated and serrated
      trailing edge plate models. The noise reduction due to the serrated trailing edge
      is also examined as a function of the source location.

PMID- 28599535
TI  - Experimental investigation of trailing edge noise from stationary and rotating
      airfoils.
AB  - Trailing edge noise from stationary and rotating NACA 0012 airfoils is
      characterised and compared with a noise prediction based on the semi-empirical
      Brooks, Pope, and Marcolini (BPM) model. The NACA 0012 is symmetrical airfoil
      with no camber and 12% thickness to chord length ratio. Acoustic measurements
      were conducted in an anechoic wind tunnel using a stationary NACA 0012 airfoil at
      0 degrees  pitch angle. Airfoil self-noise emissions from rotating NACA 0012
      airfoils mounted at 0 degrees  and 10 degrees  pitch angles on a rotor-rig are
      studied in an anechoic room. The measurements were carried out using microphone
      arrays for noise localisation and magnitude estimation using beamforming post
      processing. Results show good agreement between peak radiating trailing edge
      noise emissions of stationary and rotating NACA 0012 airfoils in terms of the
      Strouhal number. Furthermore, it is shown that noise predictions based on the BPM
      model considering only two dimensional flow effects, are in good agreement with
      measurements for rotating airfoils, at these particular conditions.

PMID- 28599537
TI  - Using envelope modulation to explain speech intelligibility in the presence of a
      single reflection.
AB  - A single reflection is the simplest simulation of reverberation and provides
      insights into more complex scenarios of listening in rooms. This paper presents
      an analysis of the effects of a single reflection as its delay and intensity are
      systematically varied. The changes to the envelope modulations are analyzed using
      not only the traditional within-auditory-band analysis approach but also an
      across-band spectro-temporal analysis using cepstral correlation coefficients.
      The use of an auditory model allowed the extension of the simulations to include
      sensorineural hearing loss. Short delays did not interfere with the envelope
      modulations at low modulation rates (<16 Hz) and impact predicted
      intelligibility, while longer delays caused substantial distortion at these
      rates. The patterns of envelope modulation distortions caused by a single
      reflection were shown to be similar in models of normal hearing and hearing
      impairment.

PMID- 28599538
TI  - Children's and adults' perception of questions and statements from terminal
      fundamental frequency contours.
AB  - The present study compared children's and adults' identification and
      discrimination of declarative questions and statements on the basis of terminal
      cues alone. Children (8-11 years, n = 41) and adults (n = 21) judged utterances
      as statements or questions from sentences with natural statement and question
      endings and with manipulated endings that featured intermediate fundamental
      frequency (F0) values. The same adults and a different sample of children (n =
      22) were also tested on their discrimination of the utterances. Children's
      judgments shifted more gradually across categories than those of adults, but
      their category boundaries were comparable. In the discrimination task, adults
      found cross-boundary comparisons more salient than within-boundary comparisons.
      Adults' performance on the identification and discrimination tasks is consistent
      with but not definitive regarding categorical perception of statements and
      questions. Children, by contrast, discriminated the cross-boundary comparisons no
      better than other comparisons. The findings indicate age-related sharpening in
      the perception of statements and questions based on terminal F0 cues and the
      gradual emergence of distinct perceptual categories.

PMID- 28599539
TI  - The effects of click rate on the auditory brainstem response of bottlenose
      dolphins.
AB  - Rate manipulations can be used to study adaptation processes in the auditory
      nerve and brainstem. For this reason, rate effects on the click-evoked auditory
      brainstem response (ABR) have been investigated in many mammals, including
      humans. In this study, click-evoked ABRs were obtained in eight bottlenose
      dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) while varying stimulus rate using both conventional
      averaging and maximum length sequences (MLSs), which allow disentangling ABRs
      that overlap in time and thus permit the study of adaptation at high rates.
      Dolphins varied in age and upper cutoff frequency of hearing. Conventional
      stimulation rates were 25, 50, and 100 Hz and average MLS rates were
      approximately 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2500, and 5000 Hz. Click peak-equivalent
      sound pressure levels for all conditions were 135 dB re 1 MUPa. ABRs were
      observed in all dolphins, at all stimulus rates. With increasing rate, peak
      latencies increased and peak amplitudes decreased. There was a trend for an
      increase in the interwave intervals with increasing rate, which appeared more
      robust for the dolphins with a full range of hearing. For those rates where ABRs
      were obtained for both conventional and MLS approaches, the latencies of the mean
      data were in good agreement.

PMID- 28599540
TI  - The perception of emotion and focus prosody with varying acoustic cues in
      cochlear implant simulations with varying filter slopes.
AB  - This study aimed to find the optimal filter slope for cochlear implant
      simulations (vocoding) by testing the effect of a wide range of slopes on the
      discrimination of emotional and linguistic (focus) prosody, with varying
      availability of F0 and duration cues. Forty normally hearing participants judged
      if (non-)vocoded sentences were pronounced with happy or sad emotion, or with
      adjectival or nominal focus. Sentences were recorded as natural stimuli and
      manipulated to contain only emotion- or focus-relevant segmental duration or F0
      information or both, and then noise-vocoded with 5, 20, 80, 120, and 160
      dB/octave filter slopes. Performance increased with steeper slopes, but only up
      to 120 dB/octave, with bigger effects for emotion than for focus perception. For
      emotion, results with both cues most closely resembled results with F0, while for
      focus results with both cues most closely resembled those with duration, showing
      emotion perception relies primarily on F0, and focus perception on duration. This
      suggests that filter slopes affect focus perception less than emotion perception
      because for emotion, F0 is both more informative and more affected. The
      performance increase until extreme filter slope values suggests that much
      performance improvement in prosody perception is still to be gained for CI users.

PMID- 28599541
TI  - Prosodic exaggeration within infant-directed speech: Consequences for vowel
      learnability.
AB  - Perceptual experiments with infants show that they adapt their perception of
      speech sounds toward the categories of the native language. How do infants learn
      these categories? For the most part, acoustic analyses of natural infant-directed
      speech have suggested that phonetic categories are not presented to learners as
      separable clusters of sounds in acoustic space. As a step toward explaining how
      infants begin to solve this problem, the current study proposes that the
      exaggerated prosody characteristic of infant-directed speech may highlight for
      infants certain speech-sound tokens that collectively form more readily
      identifiable categories. A database is presented, containing vowel measurements
      in a large sample of natural American English infant-directed speech. Analyses of
      the vowel space show that prosodic exaggeration in infant-directed speech has the
      potential to support distributional vowel learning by providing the learner with
      a subset of "high-quality" tokens that infants might attend to preferentially.
      Categorization models trained on prosodically exaggerated tokens outperformed
      models that were trained on tokens that were not exaggerated. Though focusing on
      more prominent, exaggerated tokens does not provide a solution to the
      categorization problem, it would make it easier to solve.

PMID- 28599542
TI  - Vowel space density as an indicator of speech performance.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to develop a method for visualizing and assessing
      the characteristics of vowel production by measuring the local density of
      normalized F1 and F2 formant frequencies. The result is a three-dimensional plot
      called the vowel space density (VSD) and indicates the regions in the vowel space
      most heavily used by a talker during speech production. The area of a convex hull
      enclosing the vowel space at specific threshold density values was proposed as a
      means of quantifying the VSD.

PMID- 28599543
TI  - Annoyance by transportation noise: The effects of source identity and tonal
      components.
AB  - Aircraft noise is consistently rated as more annoying than noise from other
      sources with similar intensity. In three experiments, it was investigated whether
      this penalty is due to the source identity of the noise. In the first experiment,
      four samples were played to participants engaged in a working memory task: road
      traffic noise, an Airbus 320 flyover, and unidentifiable, transformed versions of
      these samples containing the same spectral content and envelope. Original,
      identifiable samples were rated as more annoying than the transformed samples. A
      second experiment tested whether these results were due to the absence of tonal
      components in the transformed samples. This was partly the case: an additional
      sample, created from the A320 flyover by filtering out major tonal components,
      was rated as less annoying than the original A320 sample, but as more annoying
      than the transformed sample. In a third experiment, participants either received
      full disclosure of the generation of the samples or no information to identify
      the transformed samples. The transformed sample was rated as most annoying when
      the A320 identity was disclosed, but as least annoying when it was not.
      Therefore, it was concluded that annoyance is influenced by both identifiability
      and the presence of tonal components.

PMID- 28599544
TI  - Noise exposure-response relationships established from repeated binary
      observations: Modeling approaches and applications.
AB  - Noise exposure-response relationships are used to estimate the effects of noise
      on individuals or a population. Such relationships may be derived from
      independent or repeated binary observations, and modeled by different statistical
      methods. Depending on the method by which they were established, their
      application in population risk assessment or estimation of individual responses
      may yield different results, i.e., predict "weaker" or "stronger" effects. As far
      as the present body of literature on noise effect studies is concerned, however,
      the underlying statistical methodology to establish exposure-response
      relationships has not always been paid sufficient attention. This paper gives an
      overview on two statistical approaches (subject-specific and population-averaged
      logistic regression analysis) to establish noise exposure-response relationships
      from repeated binary observations, and their appropriate applications. The
      considerations are illustrated with data from three noise effect studies,
      estimating also the magnitude of differences in results when applying exposure
      response relationships derived from the two statistical approaches. Depending on
      the underlying data set and the probability range of the binary variable it
      covers, the two approaches yield similar to very different results. The adequate
      choice of a specific statistical approach and its application in subsequent
      studies, both depending on the research question, are therefore crucial.

PMID- 28599545
TI  - Measurement of low-frequency tissue response of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica.
AB  - A one-dimensional acoustic resonator technique was used to study leaves of the
      Mediterranean seagrass species Posidonia oceanica collected from Crete and
      Sicily. The leaf blades were finely divided, mixed with artificial seawater, and
      degassed to create a suspension of tissue independent of leaf structure and free
      bubbles or internal voids. The low-frequency (1 to 8 kHz) bulk modulus of the
      leaf tissue was inferred from the acoustic measurements and independent density
      measurements. The measured density of the seagrass tissue was 960 +/- 20 kg/m3
      which agrees with previously published values. The inferred bulk modulus was 2.1
      GPa with 90% confidence limits 1.0-5.0 GPa.

PMID- 28599546
TI  - Cascade of blind deconvolution and array invariant for robust source-range
      estimation.
AB  - The array invariant proposed for robust source localization in shallow water is
      based on the dispersion characteristics in ideal waveguides. It involves
      conventional plane-wave beamforming using a vertical array, exploiting multiple
      arrivals separated in beam angle and travel time, i.e., beam-time migration. The
      approach typically requires either a short pulse emitted by a source or the
      Green's function that can be estimated from a probe signal to resolve distinct
      multipath arrivals. In this letter, the array invariant method is extended to
      unknown source waveforms by extracting the Green's function via blind
      deconvolution. The cascade of blind deconvolution and array invariant for robust
      source-range estimation is demonstrated using a 16-element, 56-m long vertical
      array at various ranges (1.5-3.5 km) from a towed source broadcasting broadband
      communication waveforms (0.5-2 kHz) in approximately 100-m deep shallow water.

PMID- 28599547
TI  - Audible sonar images generated with proprioception for target analysis.
AB  - Some blind humans have demonstrated the ability to detect and classify objects
      with echolocation using palatal clicks. An audible-sonar robot mimics human click
      emissions, binaural hearing, and head movements to extract interaural time and
      level differences from target echoes. Targets of various complexity are examined
      by transverse displacements of the sonar and by target pose rotations that model
      movements performed by the blind. Controlled sonar movements executed by the
      robot provide data that model proprioception information available to blind
      humans for examining targets from various aspects. The audible sonar uses this
      sonar location and orientation information to form two-dimensional target images
      that are similar to medical diagnostic ultrasound tomograms. Simple targets, such
      as single round and square posts, produce distinguishable and recognizable
      images. More complex targets configured with several simple objects generate
      diffraction effects and multiple reflections that produce image artifacts. The
      presentation illustrates the capabilities and limitations of target
      classification from audible sonar images.

PMID- 28599549
TI  - Electrical cross-talk subtraction for free-field reciprocity calibration of half
      inch laboratory standard microphones.
AB  - This paper presents a procedure for free-field calibration of half-inch
      laboratory standard microphones by reciprocity that allows the identification and
      removal of the electrical cross-talk, multiple backscattering, reflections,
      noise, and all harmonic distortion components when measuring the electrical
      transfer impedance between the microphones. Initially, the difficulties of free
      field calibration of condenser microphones by the reciprocity method are pointed
      out and the state of art is summarized. Following, the proposed procedure, which
      allows determining microphone sensitivities in the frequency range from 1 kHz to
      40 kHz, is described: The cross-talk is removed by subtraction while multiple
      backscattering, reflections, noise and all harmonic distortion components are
      removed by a time-selective technique. Measurements and results are presented and
      discussed. A comparison between the results obtained by the proposed procedure
      and the pressure field calibration results corrected to free-field shows the
      efficiency and accuracy of the technique.

PMID- 28599550
TI  - A domain decomposition method for analyzing a coupling between multiple
      acoustical spaces (L).
AB  - This letter presents a domain decomposition method to predict the acoustic
      characteristics of an arbitrary enclosure made up of any number of sub-spaces.
      While the Lagrange multiplier technique usually has good performance for
      conditional extremum problems, the present method avoids involving extra coupling
      parameters and theoretically ensures the continuity conditions of both sound
      pressure and particle velocity at the coupling interface. Comparisons with the
      finite element results illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present
      predictions and the effect of coupling parameters between sub-spaces on the
      natural frequencies and mode shapes of the overall enclosure is revealed.

PMID- 28599551
TI  - Microstructural characterization of trabecular bone using ultrasonic
      backscattering and diffusion parameters.
AB  - Finite differences time domain methods were utilized to simulate ultrasound
      propagation and scattering in anisotropic trabecular bone structures obtained
      from high resolution Computed Tomography (CT). The backscattered signals were
      collected and the incoherent contribution was extracted. The diffusion constant
      was calculated for propagations along and across the main direction of
      anisotropy, and was used to characterize the anisotropy of the trabecular
      microstructures. In anisotropic structures, the diffusion constant was
      significantly different in both directions, and the anisotropy of the diffusion
      constant was strongly correlated to the structural anisotropy measured on the CT
      images. These results indicate that metrics based on diffusion can be used to
      quantify the anisotropy of complex structures such as trabecular bone.

PMID- 28599553
TI  - Between-speaker variability in temporal organizations of intensity contours.
AB  - Intensity contours of speech signals were sub-divided into positive and negative
      dynamics. Positive dynamics were defined as the speed of increases in intensity
      from amplitude troughs to subsequent peaks, and negative dynamics as the speed of
      decreases in intensity from peaks to troughs. Mean, standard deviation, and
      sequential variability were measured for both dynamics in each sentence. Analyses
      showed that measures of both dynamics were separately classified and between
      speaker variability was largely explained by measures of negative dynamics. This
      suggests that parts of the signal where intensity decreases from syllable peaks
      are more speaker-specific. Idiosyncratic articulation may explain such results.

PMID- 28599552
TI  - The development of gaze to a speaking face.
AB  - When a speaker talks, the visible consequences of what they are saying can be
      seen. Listeners are influenced by this visible speech both in a noisy listening
      environment and even when auditory speech can easily be heard. While visible
      influence on heard speech has been reported to increase from early to late
      childhood, little is known about the mechanism that underlies this developmental
      trend. One possible account of developmental differences is that looking behavior
      to the face of a speaker changes with age. To examine this possibility, the gaze
      to a speaking face was examined in children from 5 to 10 yrs of age and adults.
      Participants viewed a speaker's face in a range of conditions that elicit
      looking: in a visual only (speech reading) condition, in the presence of auditory
      noise (speech in noise) condition, and in an audiovisual mismatch (McGurk)
      condition. Results indicate an increase in gaze on the face, and specifically, to
      the mouth of a speaker between the ages of 5 and 10 for all conditions. This
      change in looking behavior may help account for previous findings in the
      literature showing that visual influence on heard speech increases with
      development.

PMID- 28599554
TI  - Regular chondrocyte spacing is a potential cause for coherent ultrasound
      backscatter in human articular cartilage.
AB  - The potential of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) to assess the regular cellular
      spacing in the superficial cartilage zones was investigated experimentally and
      numerically. Nine osteochondral samples, extracted from two human cadaver knee
      joints, were measured using a 50-MHz ultrasound scanning device and evaluated
      using Mankin score. Simulated backscattered power spectra from models with an
      idealized cell alignment exhibited a pronounced frequency peak. From the peak,
      cell spacing in the range between 15 and 40 MUm between cell layers was detected
      with an average error of 0.2 MUm. The mean QUS-based cell spacing was 28.3 +/-
      5.3 MUm. Strong correlation (R2 = 0.59, p <= 0.001) between spacing estimates
      from light microscopy (LM) and QUS was found for samples with Mankin score <=3.
      For higher scores, QUS-based spacing was significantly higher (p <= 0.05)
      compared to LM-based spacing. QUS-based spacing estimates together with other QUS
      parameters may serve as future biomarkers for detecting early signs of
      osteoarthrosis.

PMID- 28599555
TI  - Sound propagation in a continuously stratified laboratory ocean model.
AB  - The propagation of sound in a density-stratified fluid is examined in an
      experiment with a tank of salty water whose density increases continuously from
      the fluid surface to the tank bottom. Measurements of the height dependence of
      the fluid density are used to calculate the height dependence of the fluid
      salinity and sound speed. The height-dependent sound speed is then used to
      calculate the refraction of sound rays. Sound propagation in the fluid is
      measured in three dimensions and compared with the ray analysis. This study
      provides a basis for laboratory modeling of underwater sound propagation in the
      fluctuating stratified oceans.

PMID- 28599557
TI  - Horseshoe bats and Old World leaf-nosed bats have two discrete types of pinna
      motions.
AB  - Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae) and the related Old World leaf-nosed bats
      (Hipposideridae) both show conspicuous pinna motions as part of their biosonar
      behaviors. In the current work, the kinematics of these motions in one species
      from each family (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Hipposideros armiger) has been
      analyzed quantitatively using three-dimensional tracking of landmarks placed on
      the pinna. The pinna motions that were observed in both species fell into two
      categories: In "rigid rotations" motions the geometry of the pinna was preserved
      and only its orientation in space was altered. In "open-close motions" the
      geometry of the pinna was changed which was evident in a change of the distances
      between the landmark points. A linear discriminant analysis showed that motions
      from both categories could be separated without any overlap in the analyzed data
      set. Hence, bats from both species have two separate types of pinna motions with
      apparently no transitions between them. The deformations associated with open
      close pinna motions in Hipposideros armiger were found to be substantially larger
      compared to the wavelength associated with the largest pulse energy than in
      Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (137% vs 99%). The role of the two different motions in
      the biosonar behaviors of the animals remains to be determined.

PMID- 28599556
TI  - Acoustic force measurements on polymer-coated microbubbles in a microfluidic
      device.
AB  - This work presents an acoustofluidic device for manipulating coated microbubbles,
      designed for the simultaneous use of optical and acoustical tweezers. A
      comprehensive characterization of the acoustic pressure in the device is
      presented, obtained by the synergic use of different techniques in the range of
      acoustic frequencies where visual observations showed aggregation of polymer
      coated microbubbles. In absence of bubbles, the combined use of laser vibrometry
      and finite element modelling supported a non-invasive measurement of the acoustic
      pressure and an enhanced understanding of the system resonances. Calibrated
      holographic optical tweezers were used for direct measurements of the acoustic
      forces acting on an isolated microbubble, at low driving pressures, and to
      confirm the spatial distribution of the acoustic field. This allowed quantitative
      acoustic pressure measurements by particle tracking, using polystyrene beads, and
      an evaluation of the related uncertainties. This process facilitated the
      extension of tracking to microbubbles, which have a negative acoustophoretic
      contrast factor, allowing acoustic force measurements on bubbles at higher
      pressures than optical tweezers, highlighting four peaks in the acoustic response
      of the device. Results and methodologies are relevant to acoustofluidic
      applications requiring a precise characterization of the acoustic field and, in
      general, to biomedical applications with microbubbles or deformable particles.

PMID- 28599558
TI  - Computational analysis of acoustic events in everyday environments.
AB  - Sounds carry a large amount of information about our everyday environment and
      physical events that take place in it. Recent advances in machine learning allows
      automatic methods to analyze this information, for example, by detecting and
      classifying acoustic events produced by various sources. This allows several
      applications, for example, in acoustic surveillance, context-aware devices, and
      multimedia indexing. This talk will present signal processing and machine
      learning methods that can be used to detect and classify everyday acoustic events
      originating, e.g., from vehicles, human activity, human and animal vocalizations,
      in everyday environments. It will describe the scientific challenges in such
      methods, for example, many sources having highly similar spectral characteristics
      and multiple sources being active simultaneously. It will explain how state-of
      the-art methods based on advanced deep neural network topologies deal with these
      challenges. The talk will also discuss the practical challenges related to the
      development of the methods, such as acquisition of data that is used to develop
      the methods. It will present results from recent evaluations of event detection
      systems and illustrate them using audio and video examples.

PMID- 28599559
TI  - Auditory recognition of surface texture with various scattering coefficients.
AB  - Human echolocation is a known ability of people to grasp the information about
      the surrounding environment from purely acoustic information. However, the extent
      to what normal sighted and blind people can auditorily recognize the surface
      texture, such as its roughness or other different sound scattering features, is
      not completely known. In this paper, we investigate the ability of people to
      distinguish different types of surfaces by their sound reflections. Reflection
      patterns from 24 types of surface textures at two different distances were
      calculated in finite difference method and convolved with "click sound" in order
      to be used for perception tests. Twenty normally sighted human subjects
      participated on the listening test experiment.

PMID- 28599560
TI  - Input-output functions of the nonlinear-distortion component of distortion
      product otoacoustic emissions in normal and hearing-impaired human ears.
AB  - Distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) arise in the cochlea in
      response to two tones with frequencies f1 and f2 and mainly consist of two
      components, a nonlinear-distortion and a coherent-reflection component. Wave
      interference between these components limits the accuracy of DPOAEs when
      evaluating the function of the cochlea with conventional continuous stimulus
      tones. Here, DPOAE components are separated in the time domain from DPOAE signals
      elicited with short stimulus pulses. The extracted nonlinear-distortion
      components are used to derive estimated distortion-product thresholds (EDPTs)
      from semi-logarithmic input-output (I/O) functions for 20 normal-hearing and 21
      hearing-impaired subjects. I/O functions were measured with frequency-specific
      stimulus levels at eight frequencies f2 = 1,..., 8 kHz (f2/f1 = 1.2). For
      comparison, DPOAEs were also elicited with continuous primary tones. Both
      acquisition paradigms yielded EDPTs, which significantly correlated with
      behavioral thresholds (p < 0.001) and enabled derivation of estimated hearing
      thresholds (EHTs) from EDPTs using a linear regression relationship. DPOAE
      component separation in the time domain significantly reduced the standard
      deviation of EHTs compared to that derived from continuous DPOAEs (p < 0.01). In
      conclusion, using frequency-specific stimulus levels and DPOAE-component
      separation increases the reliability of DPOAE I/O functions for assessing
      cochlear function and estimating behavioral thresholds.

PMID- 28599562
TI  - Measurements of inter-cochlear level and phase differences of bone-conducted
      sound.
AB  - Bone-anchored hearing aids are a widely used method of treating conductive
      hearing loss, but the benefit of bilateral implantation is limited due to
      interaural cross-talk. The present study measured the phase and level of pure
      tones reaching each cochlea from a single, mastoid placed bone transducer on
      normal hearing participants. In principle, the technique could be used to
      implement a cross-talk cancellation system in those with bilateral bone
      conductors. The phase and level of probe tones over two insert earphones was
      adjusted until they canceled sound from a bone transducer (i.e., resulting in
      perceived silence). Testing was performed in 50-Hz steps between 0.25 and 8 kHz.
      Probe phase and level results were used to calculate inter-cochlear level and
      phase differences. The inter-cochlear phase differences of the bone-conducted
      sound were similar for all three participants showing a relatively linear
      increase between 4 and 8 kHz. The attenuation characteristics were highly
      variable over the frequency range as well as between participants. This
      variability was thought to be related to differences in skull dynamics across the
      ears. Repeated measurements of cancellation phase and level of the same frequency
      produced good consistency across sessions from the same participant.

PMID- 28599561
TI  - Test-retest repeatability of human speech biomarkers from static and real-time
      dynamic magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Static anatomical and real-time dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (RT-MRI) of
      the upper airway is a valuable method for studying speech production in research
      and clinical settings. The test-retest repeatability of quantitative imaging
      biomarkers is an important parameter, since it limits the effect sizes and
      intragroup differences that can be studied. Therefore, this study aims to present
      a framework for determining the test-retest repeatability of quantitative speech
      biomarkers from static MRI and RT-MRI, and apply the framework to healthy
      volunteers. Subjects (n = 8, 4 females, 4 males) are imaged in two scans on the
      same day, including static images and dynamic RT-MRI of speech tasks. The inter
      study agreement is quantified using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and
      mean within-subject standard deviation (sigmae). Inter-study agreement is strong
      to very strong for static measures (ICC: min/median/max 0.71/0.89/0.98, sigmae:
      0.90/2.20/6.72 mm), poor to strong for dynamic RT-MRI measures of articulator
      motion range (ICC: 0.26/0.75/0.90, sigmae: 1.6/2.5/3.6 mm), and poor to very
      strong for velocities (ICC: 0.21/0.56/0.93, sigmae: 2.2/4.4/16.7 cm/s). In
      conclusion, this study characterizes repeatability of static and dynamic MRI
      derived speech biomarkers using state-of-the-art imaging. The introduced
      framework can be used to guide future development of speech biomarkers. Test
      retest MRI data are provided free for research use.

PMID- 28599563
TI  - Human echolocation in different situations and rooms.
AB  - People, especially when blind, use echolocation to detect obstacles, orient
      themselves, and get an awareness of their environment. I and coworkers have, with
      mostly psychophysical methods, studied perceptual aspects of how people
      accomplish echolocation. Echolocation with long canes while walking was possible
      but difficult. The effects of the spectral composition of the emitted sounds had
      no effects. Sound recordings in anechoic and conference rooms from non-walking,
      static situations, later presented in a laboratory showed a better performance in
      an ordinary room with reflections, than in an anechoic room. We also found that
      there was a higher performance with longer sounding sounds than for short clicks.
      Among the difficulties for the blind are how to avoid masking of sounds. A few
      blind are exceptionally high performing. An "information-surplus principle" has
      been proposed. Various information sources are used, but repetition pitch seems
      more important than loudness for echolocation. Among other sources, timbre may
      also provide information. There may exist a time gap, acoustic gaze, for how
      blind people use clicks. It is likely also that there are at least two processes
      taking place in the hearing system when listening for echoes, one attuned to
      short sounds and one to long sounds.

PMID- 28599564
TI  - Optical measurement of guided waves.
AB  - This paper demonstrates an optical method for measuring guided waves in plates
      that is much faster than traditional scanning approaches. By recording the
      wavefield with a high-speed camera and applying a post-processing method, the
      wavefield can be extracted from the static and noise components within the
      measured signal. This technique is demonstrated with a transient wave in a fiber
      glass plate. A comparison of the wavefield is made to data measured with a
      scanning laser Doppler velocimeter (SLDV). Good agreement is found between the
      measurements from the optical technique and the SLDV.

PMID- 28599565
TI  - Multichannel myopic deconvolution in underwater acoustic channels via low-rank
      recovery.
AB  - This paper presents a technique for solving the multichannel blind deconvolution
      problem. The authors observe the convolution of a single (unknown) source with K
      different (unknown) channel responses; from these channel outputs, the authors
      want to estimate both the source and the channel responses. The authors show how
      this classical signal processing problem can be viewed as solving a system of
      bilinear equations, and in turn can be recast as recovering a rank-1 matrix from
      a set of linear observations. Results of prior studies in the area of low-rank
      matrix recovery have identified effective convex relaxations for problems of this
      type and efficient, scalable heuristic solvers that enable these techniques to
      work with thousands of unknown variables. The authors show how a priori
      information about the channels can be used to build a linear model for the
      channels, which in turn makes solving these systems of equations well-posed. This
      study demonstrates the robustness of this methodology to measurement noises and
      parametrization errors of the channel impulse responses with several stylized and
      shallow water acoustic channel simulations. The performance of this methodology
      is also verified experimentally using shipping noise recorded on short bottom
      mounted vertical line arrays.

PMID- 28599567
TI  - The stochastic Cramer-Rao bound for source localization and medium tomography
      using vector sensors.
AB  - A direct version for the stochastic Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) for parameters of
      Gaussian signals with additive Gaussian noise is introduced. The formulation
      applies to passive and active radars/sonars/seismics/structures with vector
      observations from multiple sources. These sensors include pressure, vector
      velocity, and/or acceleration sensors for ocean and structural acoustics,
      seismometers, polarized receivers for electromagnetics, and vector current meters
      for oceanography. The observations may contain partially coherent signals such as
      multipath. The parameters represent (i) signal localization or (ii) tomographic
      ones. As such, their embedding is very general using a Green's function vector
      and is not limited to direction of arrival problems. This formulation leads to
      simplified expressions for the stochastic CRB using just three quadratic forms
      involving just the Green's function and its derivatives with the inverse of the
      noise matrix for the norm. The number of the parameters sets the dimensions of
      these quadratic forms, so performance studies over the parameter space can be
      done with much smaller matrices as the noise covariance is inverted just once.
      The formulas are applied to vector sensors in jamming with both analytical and
      numerical results. The results are also compared to often cited papers on the
      CRB.

PMID- 28599568
TI  - Relationship of scattering phase shifts to special radiation force conditions for
      spheres in axisymmetric wave-fields.
AB  - When investigating the radiation forces on spheres in complicated wave-fields,
      the interpretation of analytical results can be simplified by retaining the s
      function notation and associated phase shifts imported into acoustics from
      quantum scattering theory. For situations in which dissipation is negligible, as
      taken to be the case in the present investigation, there is an additional
      simplification in that partial-wave phase shifts become real numbers that vanish
      when the partial-wave index becomes large and when the wave-number-sphere-radius
      product vanishes. By restricting attention to monopole and dipole phase shifts,
      transitions in the axial radiation force for axisymmetric wave-fields are found
      to be related to wave-field parameters for traveling and standing Bessel wave
      fields by considering the ratio of the phase shifts. For traveling waves, the
      special force conditions concern negative forces while for standing waves, the
      special force conditions concern vanishing radiation forces. An intermediate step
      involves considering the functional dependence on phase shifts. An appendix gives
      an approximation for zero-force plane standing wave conditions. Connections with
      early investigations of acoustic levitation are mentioned and some complications
      associated with viscosity are briefly noted.

PMID- 28599566
TI  - Chinchilla middle ear transmission matrix model and middle-ear flexibility.
AB  - The function of the middle ear (ME) in transforming ME acoustic inputs and
      outputs (sound pressures and volume velocities) can be described with an acoustic
      two-port transmission matrix. This description is independent of the load on the
      ME (cochlea or ear canal) and holds in either direction: forward (from ear canal
      to cochlea) or reverse (from cochlea to ear canal). A transmission matrix
      describing ME function in chinchilla, an animal commonly used in auditory
      research, is presented, computed from measurements of forward ME function: input
      admittance YTM, ME pressure gain GMEP, ME velocity transfer function HV, and
      cochlear input admittance YC, in the same set of ears [Ravicz and Rosowski
      (2012b). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132, 2437-2454; (2013a). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133,
      2208-2223; (2013b). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134, 2852-2865]. Unlike previous
      estimates, these computations require no assumptions about the state of the inner
      ear, effectiveness of ME manipulations, or measurements of sound transmission in
      the reverse direction. These element values are generally consistent with
      physical constraints and the anatomical ME "transformer ratio." Differences from
      a previous estimate in chinchilla [Songer and Rosowski (2007). J. Acoust. Soc.
      Am. 122, 932-942] may be due to a difference in ME flexibility between the two
      subject groups.

PMID- 28599569
TI  - The effect of visual distraction on auditory-visual speech perception by younger
      and older listeners.
AB  - Visual distractions are present in real-world listening environments, such as
      conversing in a crowded restaurant. This study examined the impact of visual
      distractors on younger and older adults' ability to understand auditory-visual
      (AV) speech in noise. AV speech stimuli were presented with one competing talker
      and with three different types of visual distractors. SNR50 thresholds for both
      listener groups were affected by visual distraction; the poorest performance for
      both groups was the AV + Video condition, and differences across groups were
      noted for some conditions. These findings suggest that older adults may be more
      susceptible to irrelevant auditory and visual competition in a real-world
      environment.

PMID- 28599570
TI  - Erratum: Effects of age and hearing mechanism on spectral resolution in normal
      hearing and cochlear-implanted listeners [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 141(1), 613-623
      (2017)].

PMID- 28599571
TI  - Binaural timing information in electric hearing at low rates: Effects of
      inaccurate encoding and loudness.
AB  - Stimulation strategies for cochlear implants potentially impose timing
      limitations that may hinder the correct encoding and representation of interaural
      time differences (ITDs) in realistic bilateral signals. This study aimed to
      specify the tolerable room for inaccurate encoding of ITDs at low rates by
      investigating the perceptual degradation due to the removal of individual pulses
      at various levels of loudness. Unmodulated, 100-pulses-per-second pulse trains
      were presented at a single, interaurally pitch-matched electrode pair. In
      experiment I, ITD thresholds were measured applying different degrees of
      bilateral, interaurally-uncorrelated pulse removal. The ITD sensitivity
      deteriorated with increasing degree of pulse removal, with significant
      deterioration for degrees of 16% or greater. In experiment II, the interaction
      between loudness and pulse removal was investigated. Louder stimuli yielded
      better ITD sensitivity, however, no further improvement was found for stimuli
      louder than "medium." When removing 8% of the pulses, the ITD sensitivity
      deteriorated significantly across the entire loudness range tested. A loudness
      induced compensation for the deterioration of ITD sensitivity due to pulse
      removal seems to be feasible for soft stimuli but not for medium or loud stimuli.
      Overall, our findings suggest that the degree of pulse removal employed in low
      rate channels within coding strategies should not exceed 8%.

PMID- 28599572
TI  - Microphone array geometry optimization for traffic noise analysis.
AB  - This paper outlines an approach for obtaining microphone array geometry for use
      in traffic noise analysis. The designed array has a smaller number of microphones
      compared to existing solutions, thereby reducing the cost of system realization.
      The array geometry is irregular, consists of 24 microphones, and was obtained by
      an optimization procedure that minimizes beampatterns sidelobes. Microphone
      position optimization was performed in the frequency band from 300 Hz to 2000 Hz,
      defined by traffic noise characteristics. The designed array is used in ongoing
      research dedicated to the analysis of angular distribution of incident traffic
      noise sound energy impeding a facade in urban environment.

PMID- 28599573
TI  - A two-stage noise source identification technique based on a farfield random
      parametric array.
AB  - A farfield random array is implemented for noise source identification.
      Microphone positions are optimized, with the aid of the simulated annealing
      method. A two-stage localization and separation algorithm is devised on the basis
      of the equivalent source method (ESM). In the localization stage, the active
      source regions are located by using the delay-and-sum method, followed by a
      parametric localization procedure, stochastic maximum likelihood algorithm.
      Multidimensional nonlinear optimization is exploited in the bearing estimation
      process. In the separation stage, source amplitudes are extracted by formulating
      an inverse problem based on the preceding source bearings identified. The number
      of equivalent sources is selected to be less than that of microphones to render
      an overdetermined problem which can be readily solved by using the Tikhonov
      regularization. Alternatively, the separation problem can be augmented into an
      underdetermined problem which can be solved by using the compressive sensing
      technique. Traditionally, farfield arrays only give a relative distribution of
      source field. However, by using the proposed method, the acoustic variables
      including sound pressure, particle velocity, sound intensity, and sound power can
      be calculated based on ESM. Numerical and experimental results of several
      objective and subjective tests are presented.

PMID- 28599574
TI  - Speech production and sensory impairment in mild Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Little is known about speech-related sensory systems and the link to speech in
      Parkinson's disease (PD). This study investigates auditory and somatosensory
      acuity and their association to speech in PD, using /s/ and /?/ as speech
      targets. Ten adults with mild PD and ten age- and gender-matched healthy
      participants performed three tasks. In the auditory task, participants
      discriminated three aperiodic sounds acoustically modified from /s/ and /?/ and
      differing in spectral shapes. In the tactile task, they judged the orientation of
      a dome-shaped grating probe gently touching their tongue tip. Measures of
      auditory and tactile acuity were determined based on participants' responses. For
      the production task, participants read a passage and eight sentences with /s/-
      and /?/-initial words; acoustic contrast between the two sibilants was measured
      using difference between the average first spectral moments of /s/ and /?/. The
      PD participants showed reduced auditory acuity of spectral sibilant contrast and
      reduced tactile acuity of the tongue tip. For speech production, the PD group
      showed smaller sibilant contrast in the sentence readings, but the difference was
      not statistically significant. Correlation analyses showed significant
      correlations between tactile acuity and sibilant contrast for the PD group, but
      not for auditory task.

PMID- 28599576
TI  - Life as a deck of cards: A perspective on autistic females' experiences.

PMID- 28599575
TI  - Suppression of miR-34a Expression in the Myocardium Protects Against Ischemia
      Reperfusion Injury Through SIRT1 Protective Pathway.
AB  - MicroRNA-34a (miR-34a) is expressed in the myocardium and expression is altered
      after myocardial injury. We investigated the effects of miR-34a on heart function
      after ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Cardiomyocytes were isolated from
      neonatal rat hearts and simulated IR injury was induced in vitro. Following IR
      injury in rats, infarct size was measured and left ventricular (LV) function was
      evaluated using echocardiography. Protein expression of silent information
      regulator 1 (SIRT1), acetylated p53 (ac-p53), Bcl-2 and Bax, and miR-34a and
      SIRT1 gene levels were analyzed. miR-34a overexpression exacerbated myocardial
      injury by increasing apoptosis and infarct size and decreasing LV function.
      Suppression of miR-34a attenuated myocardial IR injury. SIRT1 was negatively
      regulated by miR-34a and the expression of downstream genes, such as ac-p53, Bcl
      2, and Bax were altered correspondingly. Increased expression of miR-34a
      aggravates injury after IR; miR-34a suppression therapy may represent a new line
      of treatment for myocardial IR injury.

PMID- 28599577
TI  - A retrospective comparison of pregnancy outcomes between women with alpha
      thalassaemia 1 trait and normal controls.
AB  - The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to compare pregnancy
      outcomes between low-risk pregnant women with alpha-thalassaemia-1 trait and
      normal controls. The database of the Maternal-Foetal Medicine unit was used to
      identify low-risk singleton pregnant women complicated by alpha-thalassaemia-1
      trait who gave birth between January 2002 and October 2014. The low-risk
      pregnancies with non-carrier status for thalassaemia were assigned into the
      control group, with a control-to-case ratio of 10:1. During the study period, 595
      women with alpha-thalassaemia-1 trait and 5950 normal controls were identified.
      There was no significant difference in the incidence of preterm birth and most
      obstetric outcomes between the two groups. However, a statistically significant
      difference was detected between them in terms of gestational age at delivery,
      37.76 +/- 2.81 vs. 38.11 +/- 2.50 weeks (p = .001), birth weight, 2876 +/- 581
      vs. 2948 +/- 527 g (p = .002) as well as the rate of low-birth weight, 17.1 vs.
      12.8% (p = .002). In conclusion, this study provides new insights that alpha
      thalassaemia-1 trait has minimal effect on gestational age at delivery and low
      birth weight whereas other common adverse pregnancy outcomes are not increased.
      Impact statement What is already known on this subject: Thalassaemia trait is
      associated with some degree of anaemia. What the results of this study add: The
      prevalence of common adverse outcomes such as preterm birth, stillbirth, low
      Apgar scores and pregnancy-induced hypertension were not significantly different
      between both the groups, possibly caused by too small sample size to gain enough
      power. However, the rate of low-birth weight was significantly increased among
      pregnancy with alpha-thalassaemia-1 trait. What the implications are of these
      findings for clinical practice and/or further research: The information may be
      provided for alpha thalassaemia-1 trait mothers and their families. Physicians
      should guard against the occurrence of adverse pregnancy in these mothers.
      Prospective control study should be conducted to overcome the limitation of
      retrospective nature.

PMID- 28599578
TI  - Antimicrobial and bone-forming activity of a copper coated implant in a rabbit
      model.
AB  - Current strategies in implant technology are directed to generate bioactive
      implants that are capable to activate the regenerative potential of the
      surrounding tissue. On the other hand, implant-related infections are a common
      problem in orthopaedic trauma patients. To meet both challenges, i.e. to generate
      a bone implant with regenerative and antimicrobial characteristics, we tested the
      use of copper coated nails for surgical fixation in a rabbit model. Copper
      acetate was galvanically deposited with a copper load of 1 ug/mm2 onto a porous
      oxide layer of Ti6Al4V nails, which were used for the fixation of a tibia
      fracture, inoculated with bacteria. After implantation of the nail the
      concentration of copper ions did not increase in blood which indicates that
      copper released from the implant was locally restricted to the fracture site.
      After four weeks, analyses of the extracted implants revealed a distinct
      antimicrobial effect of copper, because copper completely prevented both a weak
      adhesion and firm attachment of biofilm-forming bacteria on the titanium implant.
      To evaluate fracture healing, radiographic examination demonstrated an increased
      callus index in animals with copper coated nails. This result indicates a
      stimulated bone formation by releasing copper ions. We conclude that the use of
      implants with a defined load of copper ions enables both prevention of bacterial
      infection and the stimulation of regenerative processes.

PMID- 28599579
TI  - Forced-air pre-warming prevents peri-anaesthetic hypothermia and shortens
      recovery in adult rats.
AB  - General anaesthesia disrupts thermoregulation in mammals, which can cause
      hypothermia. Decreases in core body temperature of 1C cause significant
      postoperative complications in humans, and peri-anaesthetic hypothermia in mice
      increases data variability, which can potentially increase animal use. In rats,
      the impact of different temperature management strategies on the incidence and
      severity of hypothermia, and the accuracy of different temperature measurement
      methods, is unknown. Eighteen adult male and female SD rats were block-randomized
      to one of three treatment groups: no-warming (NW), limited-warming (LW, heat pad
      during anaesthesia), and pre-warming (PW, warm air exposure before anaesthesia,
      followed by heat pad). Anaesthesia (isoflurane) duration was for 40 min. Core
      body temperature (intra-abdominal telemetric temperature capsule) was recorded
      during anaesthesia and recovery. During anaesthesia, rectal, skin, and tail
      temperatures were also recorded. In the PW group, core temperature was maintained
      during anaesthesia and recovery. By contrast, the NW group was hypothermic (11%
      temperature decrease) during anaesthesia. The LW group showed a decrease in
      temperature during recovery. Recovery to sternal recumbency was significantly
      faster in the PW (125 [70-186] s, P = 0.0003) and the LW (188 [169-420] s, P =
      0.04) groups than in the NW group (525 [229-652] s). Rectal temperature
      underestimated core temperature (bias -0.90C, 95% limits of agreement -0.1 to
      1.9C). Skin and tail temperatures showed wide 95% limits of agreement, spanning 6
      to 15C, respectively. The novel strategy of PW was effective at maintaining core
      temperature during and after anaesthesia. Rectal temperature provided an
      acceptable proxy for core body temperature.

PMID- 28599580
TI  - Stability enhancement of mulberry-extracted anthocyanin using alginate/chitosan
      microencapsulation for food supplement application.
AB  - The stability of mulberry-extracted anthocyanin is a main concern in food
      supplement application. In this article, the alginate/chitosan beads were
      fabricated by spray drying and external gelation techniques using different
      processes: (1) dropping a sodium alginate solution into a CaCl2 solution
      containing chitosan and (2) incubating calcium alginate beads in a solution of
      chitosan. These beads were introduced as microcarrier to enhance the stability
      and bioavailability of anthocyanin. We showed that the beads fabricated by
      different processes could encapsulate the anthocyanin at different amounts. All
      alginate/chitosan beads had high swelling percentage under pH 6 and 7.4 but not
      completely swell at pH 1 and 4. The alginate/chitosan beads degraded in a
      simulated gastric fluid condition (SGF) in the faster rate than that in a
      simulated intestinal fluid condition (SIF). Under SGF condition, the release of
      anthocyanin seemed to be governed by electrostatic interaction while the release
      of anthocyanin under SIF condition may be manipulated by the beads' degradation.
      Herein, we showed that the beads produced by incubating calcium alginate beads in
      0.05% chitosan solution were the most appropriate microcarriers for encapsulation
      of mulberry-extracted anthocyanin which showed high encapsulation efficiency and
      had resistance to gastric condition.

PMID- 28599581
TI  - Changing management of gallstone-related disease in pregnancy - a retrospective
      cohort analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Gallstone-related disease is the second most common non-obstetric
      cause, following appendicitis, for acute abdomen in pregnancy. This study aimed
      to investigate treatment strategies, changes over time and outcome. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: All consecutive patients with symptomatic gallstone-related disease
      during pregnancy admitted to Skane University hospital in Lund and Malmo 2001
      2015 were analysed retrospectively. Information regarding the patient, pregnancy
      and fetus/child was recorded. The material was analysed by dividing it into two
      equal time periods and by comparing conservative management and surgical
      intervention. RESULTS: We included 96 patients with 97 pregnancies. The age was
      30 (26-34) years and BMI 28 (24-31). Median length of pregnancy at first
      admission was 23 (13-31) weeks. The three most common diagnoses were biliary
      colic (n = 63), cholecystitis (n = 22) and acute pancreatitis (n = 16).
      Conservative treatment was practiced in 62 (64%) patients and intervention in 35
      (36%). Conservatively treated patients were admitted later during pregnancy (week
      26 (20-33) versus 17 (10-22), p < .001). Surgically treated patients had a longer
      total length of stay (all admissions) than conservatively treated patients (p =
      .001), less readmissions (p = .001) and equal birth outcome. Surgical
      intervention was more common in the later time period (48% versus 22%, p = .011).
      Of the conservatively treated patients, 56% were subjected to surgical
      intervention within 2 years after delivery. CONCLUSIONS: We found that
      intervention was more common in the later time period, with good results
      concerning safety, and less readmissions. A majority of the conservatively
      treated patients had surgical intervention within two years after delivery. Our
      results support surgical intervention in pregnancy.

PMID- 28599582
TI  - Agreement of three interpretation systems of intrapartum foetal heart rate
      monitoring by different levels of physicians.
AB  - A prospective study was conducted in centre in Southern Thailand, to evaluate
      agreement in EFM interpretation among various physicians in order to find out the
      most practical system for daily use. We found strong agreement of very normal FHR
      tracings among the FIGO, NICHD 3-tier and 5-tier systems. The NICHD 3-tier was
      more compatible with the FIGO system than 5-tier system. Overall inter-observer
      agreement was moderate for the NICHD 3-tier system while inter-observer agreement
      of 5-tier system was fair also the intra-observer agreement was higher in the
      NICHD 3-tier system. So the 3-tier systems are more suitable than the 5-tier
      system in general obstetric practice. Impact statement What is already known on
      this subject: The 3-tier and 5-tier systems were widely used in general
      obstetrics practice. What the results of this study add: The inter- and intra
      observer agreement of NICHD 3-tier system was higher than the 5-tier system. What
      the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further
      research: The 3-tier systems were more suitable than the 5-tier systems in
      general obstetrics practice.

PMID- 28599583
TI  - Ruptured ectopic pregnancy with a negative urinary pregnancy test after
      methotrexate treatment - challenges of diagnosis in the emergency department.

PMID- 28599585
TI  - Transient intertwin membrane separation in dichorionic twin pregnancy associated
      with the development of growth discordance.

PMID- 28599584
TI  - Aging in Puerto Rico: A Comparison of Health Status Among Island Puerto Rican and
      Mainland U.S. Older Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the health status of older island Puerto Ricans, a
      segment of the U.S. population that has been largely overlooked in aging
      research. METHOD: Data from the 2002 Puerto Rican Elderly Health Conditions
      Project and the 2002 Health and Retirement Study are used to examine differences
      in disease, disability, and self-rated health among island Puerto Ricans and the
      mainland U.S.-born older adult population. Differences are further examined by
      gender. RESULTS: Island Puerto Ricans were less likely to have heart disease,
      stroke, lung disease, cancer, activities of daily living (ADL) limitations, and
      poor self-rated health, but more likely to have hypertension and diabetes. Island
      Puerto Rican women had worse health relative to island Puerto Rican men.
      DISCUSSION: Recent challenges in the funding and provision of health care in
      Puerto Rico are worrisome given the large number of aging island adults, many of
      whom have hypertension and diabetes, two conditions that require long-term
      medical care.

PMID- 28599586
TI  - How children with cerebral palsy master bimanual activities from a parental
      perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During childhood, children learn the daily life activities they want
      and need to do. Children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy often have
      difficulties performing activities requiring two hands. AIM: To describe parental
      reasoning on how children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy learn to master
      the performance of bimanual activities in everyday life. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Sixteen parents participated in focus groups, a qualitative research approach
      with its own methodological criteria and research methods. RESULTS: One overall
      theme emerged from the analysis: 'Finding harmony between pleasure and effort is
      the key to learning'. This overall theme arose as a synthesis of four themes:
      'awakening of the inner drive', 'trying on one's own', 'enabling things to work'
      and 'it must be worth the effort'. The parents described when an activity woke
      their children's inner drive to perform. Their children also strived to develop
      their own way to perform an activity, sometimes with the support of others,
      still, some activities were not possible to learn. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational
      therapists and others in the children's environment have an important mission to
      support the children to find their own harmony between pleasure and effort and
      their individual key to success in learning bimanual everyday activities.

PMID- 28599587
TI  - Primary immature teratoma of the uterus with peritoneal and lymph node
      involvement, case report.

PMID- 28599588
TI  - Teaching Parents About Responsive Feeding Through a Vicarious Learning Video: A
      Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - The American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization recommend
      responsive feeding (RF) to promote healthy eating behaviors in early childhood.
      This project developed and tested a vicarious learning video to teach parents RF
      practices. A RF vicarious learning video was developed using community-based
      participatory research methods. Fifty parents of preschoolers were randomly
      assigned to watch Happier Meals or a control video about education. Knowledge and
      beliefs about RF practices were measured 1 week before and immediately after
      intervention. Experimental group participants also completed measures of
      narrative engagement and video acceptability. Seventy-four percent of the sample
      was White, 90% had at least a college degree, 96% were married, and 88% made
      >$50,000/year. RF knowledge increased ( p = .03) and positive beliefs about some
      unresponsive feeding practices decreased ( ps < .05) more among experimental than
      control parents. Knowledge and belief changes were associated with video
      engagement ( ps < .05). Parents perceived Happier Meals as highly relevant,
      applicable, and informative. Community-based participatory research methods were
      instrumental in developing this vicarious learning video, with preliminary
      evidence of effectiveness in teaching parents about RF. Happier Meals is freely
      available for parents or community health workers to use when working with
      families to promote healthy eating behaviors in early childhood.

PMID- 28599589
TI  - Expressions of TRPVs in the cholesteatoma epithelium.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We have recently proposed a hypothesis that acid leakage through the
      cholesteatoma epithelium mediates bone resorption in middle ear cholesteatoma. In
      the present study, we investigated the expressions of transient receptor
      potential vanilloid (TRPV) channels, which have been shown to play roles in the
      regulation of epidermal barrier function, in the cholesteatoma epithelium in
      comparison with the normal skin. METHODS: Cholesteatoma epithelium and
      postauricular skin were collected from 17 patients with primary acquired middle
      ear cholesteatoma who underwent tympanomastoidectomy. Expressions of TRPV1,
      TRPV3, TRPV4, and TRPV6 were explored by fluorescence immunohistochemistry and
      quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS:
      TRPV1, TRPV3, TRPV4, and TRPV6 mRNAs were all detected by qRT-PCR both in the
      skin and cholesteatoma tissue. Immunohistochemical staining showed that TRPV1 and
      TRPV3 were positive in the viable cell layers of the epidermis of the skin, and
      only TRPV3 was positive in those of the cholesteatoma epithelium. The
      immunoreactivity for TRPV3 was significantly weaker in cholesteatoma than in the
      skin. CONCLUSIONS: The lower expression of TRPV3 in cholesteatoma may be one of
      the mechanisms underlying the increased permeability of this tissue. On the other
      hand, TRPV1, TRPV4, and TRPV6 are unlikely to be involved in the regulation of
      epithelial permeability in cholesteatoma.

PMID- 28599590
TI  - Predictors of quality-of-life after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis in patients with
      ulcerative colitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Predictors of the postoperative quality of life (QoL) following ileal
      pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) have not been thoroughly investigated. This study
      was planned to assess the postoperative QoL following IPAA and to identify its
      predictors using the 15D instrument. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      cohort study was conducted on IPAA-operated patients with ulcerative colitis in
      two Finnish tertiary hospitals during the period 1985-2014 (n = 485). Medical
      records were examined to collect data on baseline, operative and postoperative
      characteristics. Patients were surveyed using the 15D-instrument to assess their
      postoperative QoL. Linear regression analyses and receiver operating
      characteristic curve were applied to identify the predictors of postoperative
      QoL. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Of all patients, 61.5% experienced worse
      postoperative QoL, with significantly lower QoL level than that of an age and sex
      standardized general population in 12 dimensions of the 15D-instrument, with the
      highest mean difference QoL scores calculated for excretion, sexual activity and
      sleeping dimensions. Older age and preoperative hypertension were the only
      significant predictors of lower overall QoL (p = .003 and p = .03, respectively).
      A preoperative age of >=35 years was the most valid predictor of lower
      postoperative QoL (Sensitivity = 62.4% and Specificity = 49.6%, p = .04). In
      conclusion, postoperative QoL is generally low using the 15D-instrument after
      IPAA. Worse postoperative QoL is predicted after the age of 35.

PMID- 28599591
TI  - Recurrent alveolar soft part sarcoma of the uterine cervix.

PMID- 28599592
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of foetal cleft palate on the axial view in the first
      trimester with the higher frequency curved transducer.

PMID- 28599594
TI  - Stress as experienced by people with dementia: An interpretative phenomenological
      analysis.
AB  - Health and social care research on stress in dementia has predominantly
      considered the stress experienced by family and professional carers. Focus on the
      person with dementia has frequently laid emphasis on the impact of stress-related
      behaviour on others and how such behaviour might be 'managed'. This paper
      describes a qualitative study which gives voice to people with dementia on the
      subject of stress and responds to the need for a better understanding of stress
      as it is experienced by people with dementia themselves. An interpretative
      phenomenological analysis was conducted on data collected from a purposive sample
      of people diagnosed with varying types of dementia from across Scotland.
      Discussions across five focus groups consisting of 21 participants with dementia
      in total generated data which was audio and video recorded, and analysed
      thematically. Five key themes emerged, described in the participants' own words,
      which were: (1) 'Something's torn, your life's torn'; (2) 'Families can bring
      stress'; (3) 'It's the stress of living with dementia'; (4) 'A whole new set of
      rules'; and (5) 'It's our lives and we'll get it under control ourselves'. These
      themes reflect experiences of loss, challenges to one's sense of self,
      relationship dynamics, living with the symptoms of dementia, learning to do
      things differently and establishing coping mechanisms that provide control. Study
      participants illustrated individual potential for adapting and coping with some
      of the most stressful aspects of living with dementia, challenging assumptions of
      inevitable fixed decline and progressive vulnerability to stress. Participants
      describe a process of recovery in their perceptions of self-worth, purpose and
      value in life following diagnosis.

PMID- 28599593
TI  - A combined experimental and finite element approach to analyse the fretting
      mechanism of the head-stem taper junction in total hip replacement.
AB  - Fretting corrosion at the taper interface of modular hip implants has been
      implicated as a possible cause of implant failure. This study was set up to gain
      more insight in the taper mechanics that lead to fretting corrosion. The
      objectives of this study therefore were (1) to select experimental loading
      conditions to reproduce clinically relevant fretting corrosion features observed
      in retrieved components, (2) to develop a finite element model consistent with
      the fretting experiments and (3) to apply more complicated loading conditions of
      activities of daily living to the finite element model to study the taper
      mechanics. The experiments showed similar wear patterns on the taper surface as
      observed in retrievals. The finite element wear score based on Archard's law did
      not correlate well with the amount of material loss measured in the experiments.
      However, similar patterns were observed between the simulated micromotions and
      the experimental wear measurements. Although the finite element model could not
      be validated, the loading conditions based on activities of daily living
      demonstrate the importance of assembly load on the wear potential. These findings
      suggest that finite element models that do not incorporate geometry updates to
      account for wear loss may not be appropriate to predict wear volumes of taper
      connections.

PMID- 28599595
TI  - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants) in mother-infant pairs in the
      Southeastern U.S.
AB  - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are commonly used flame retardants in
      foams, building material, electronics, and textiles. These chemicals leach into
      the environment, where they persist, and are found today in virtually every
      population worldwide. Several studies in recent years have detected the presence
      of PBDEs in maternal and infant samples. However, few of these studies were
      conducted in the U.S., and few examined paired or matched mother blood-cord blood
      samples. We analyzed serum from 10 mother-infant pairs for the presence of PBDEs
      in a patient population in the Southeastern U.S. Out of 35 measured PBDE
      congeners, five (BDE-28, -47, -99, -100, and -153) were present, with detection
      frequencies of 65-100 %. The total PBDE concentrations in maternal and infant
      sera were highly correlated (r2 = 0.710, p = 0.0043). The levels of BDE-47, -99,
      and -100 and of total PBDEs were higher in the infant cord sera when compared
      with those in maternal sera (p < 0.017), suggesting that fetuses and neonates
      might have higher circulating concentrations of these potentially neurotoxic and
      endocrine disrupting chemicals compared with their mothers. The primary focus
      henceforward should be whether there are any deleterious effects from exposure to
      these chemicals on human health.

PMID- 28599596
TI  - Transitioning HIV-infected adolescents to adult care at 14 clinics across the
      United States: using adolescent and adult providers' insights to create multi
      level solutions to address transition barriers.
AB  - HIV-infected adolescents have disproportionately low rates of care retention and
      viral suppression. Approximately half disengage from care while transitioning to
      adult clinics, in part due to fragmented care systems and lack of streamlined
      protocols. We conducted 58 qualitative interviews with social service and health
      care providers across 14 Adolescent Trials Network clinics (n = 28) and 20 adult
      clinics that receive transitioning adolescents (n = 30) from August 2015-June
      2016. We used the constant comparative approach to examine processes, barriers,
      and facilitators of adult care transition. Transition barriers coalesced around
      three levels. Structural: insurance eligibility, transportation, and HIV-related
      stigma; Clinical: inter-clinic communication, differences in care cultures, and
      resource/personnel limitations; and Individual: adolescents' transition readiness
      and developmental capacity. Staff-initiated solutions (e.g., grant-funded
      transportation) were often unsustainable and applied individual-level solutions
      to structural-level barriers. Comprehensive initiatives, which develop
      collaborative policies and protocols that support providers' ability to match the
      solution and barrier level (i.e., structural-to-structural), are sorely needed.
      These initiatives should also support local systematic planning to facilitate
      inter-clinic structures and communication. Such approaches will help HIV-infected
      adolescents transition to adult care and improve long-term health outcomes.

PMID- 28599597
TI  - Simultaneous Knockout of CXCR4 and CCR5 Genes in CD4+ T Cells via CRISPR/Cas9
      Confers Resistance to Both X4- and R5-Tropic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1
      Infection.
AB  - Previous research has proven that disruption of either the CCR5 or the CXCR4 gene
      confers resistance to R5-tropic or X4-tropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1
      (HIV-1) infection, respectively. However, the urgent need to ablate both of the
      co-receptors in individual post-thymic CD4+ T cells for dual protection remains.
      This study ablated the CCR5 and CXCR4 genes in human CD4+ cell lines and primary
      CD4+ T cells simultaneously using clustered regularly interspaced short
      palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9, a well-developed, highly efficient genetic
      engineering tool. The efficiency of gene modification is as high as 55% for CCR5
      and 36% for CXCR4 in CD4+ cell lines through infection of a single lentiviral
      vector (LV-X4R5), which were markedly protected from both HIV-1NL4-3 (X4-using
      strain) and HIV-1YU-2 (R5-using strain) infection. Importantly, approximately 9%
      of the modified GHOST (3) CXCR4+CCR5+ cells harbor four bi-allelic gene
      disruptions in both the CXCR4 and CCR5 loci. Moreover, co-delivery of two single
      guide RNAs loaded with Cas9: ribonucleoprotein (sgX4&R5 Cas9RNP) disrupted >12%
      of CCR5 and 10% of CXCR4 in primary human CD4+ T cells, which were rendered
      resistant to HIV-1NL4-3 and HIV-1YU-2 in vitro. Further, the modified cells do
      not show discernible mutagenesis in top-ranked off-target genes by the Surveyor
      assay and Sanger sequencing analysis. The results demonstrate the safety and
      efficacy of CRISPR/Cas9 in multiplex gene modification on peripherally
      circulating CD4+ T cells, which may promote a functional cure for HIV-1
      infection.

PMID- 28599599
TI  - Measuring HIV-related stigma among healthcare providers: a systematic review.
AB  - In the United States, HIV-related stigma in the healthcare setting is known to
      affect the utilization of prevention and treatment services. Multiple HIV/AIDS
      stigma scales have been developed to assess the attitudes and behaviors of the
      general population in the U.S. towards people living with HIV/AIDS, but fewer
      scales have been developed to assess HIV-related stigma among healthcare
      providers. This systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate the measurement
      tools used to assess HIV stigma among healthcare providers in the U.S. The five
      studies selected quantitatively assessed the perceived HIV stigma among
      healthcare providers from the patient or provider perspective, included HIV
      stigma as a primary outcome, and were conducted in the U.S. These five studies
      used adapted forms of four HIV stigma scales. No standardized measure was
      identified. Assessment of HIV stigma among providers is valuable to better
      understand how this phenomenon may impact health outcomes and to inform
      interventions aiming to improve healthcare delivery and utilization.

PMID- 28599598
TI  - Uniform neural tissue models produced on synthetic hydrogels using standard
      culture techniques.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to test sample reproducibility for model neural
      tissues formed on synthetic hydrogels. Human embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived
      precursor cells were cultured on synthetic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels
      to promote differentiation and self-organization into model neural tissue
      constructs. Neural progenitor, vascular, and microglial precursor cells were
      combined on PEG hydrogels to mimic developmental timing, which produced
      multicomponent neural constructs with 3D neuronal and glial organization,
      organized vascular networks, and microglia with ramified morphologies. Spearman's
      rank correlation analysis of global gene expression profiles and a comparison of
      coefficient of variation for expressed genes demonstrated that replicate neural
      constructs were highly uniform to at least day 21 for samples from independent
      experiments. We also demonstrate that model neural tissues formed on PEG
      hydrogels using a simplified neural differentiation protocol correlated more
      strongly to in vivo brain development than samples cultured on tissue culture
      polystyrene surfaces alone. These results provide a proof-of-concept
      demonstration that 3D cellular models that mimic aspects of human brain
      development can be produced from human pluripotent stem cells with high sample
      uniformity between experiments by using standard culture techniques,
      cryopreserved cell stocks, and a synthetic extracellular matrix. Impact statement
      Pluripotent stem (PS) cells have been characterized by an inherent ability to
      self-organize into 3D "organoids" resembling stomach, intestine, liver, kidney,
      and brain tissues, offering a potentially powerful tool for modeling human
      development and disease. However, organoid formation must be quantitatively
      reproducible for applications such as drug and toxicity screening. Here, we
      report a strategy to produce uniform neural tissue constructs with reproducible
      global gene expression profiles for replicate samples from multiple experiments.

PMID- 28599600
TI  - Transcriptional Changes in the Mouse Retina after Ocular Blast Injury: A Role for
      the Immune System.
AB  - Ocular blast injury is a major medical concern for soldiers and explosion victims
      due to poor visual outcomes. To define the changes in gene expression following a
      blast injury to the eye, we examined retinal ribonucleic acid (RNA) expression in
      54 mouse strains 5 days after a single 50-psi overpressure air wave blast injury.
      We observe that almost 40% of genes are differentially expressed with a false
      discovery rate (FDR) of <0.001, even though the nominal changes in RNA expression
      are rather small. Moreover, we find through machine learning approaches that
      genetic networks related to the innate and acquired immune system are activated.
      Accompanied by lymphocyte invasion into the inner retina, blast injury also
      results in progressive loss of visual function and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).
      Collectively, these data demonstrate how systems genetics can be used to put
      meaning to the transcriptome changes following ocular blast injury that
      eventually lead to blindness.

PMID- 28599601
TI  - Effect of Pharmacy-Supported Transition-of-Care Interventions on 30-Day
      Readmissions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe pharmacy-supported transition-of-care (TOC) interventions
      and determine their effect on 30-day all-cause readmissions. DATA SOURCES:
      MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, ABI Inform
      Complete, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, CINHAL, Cochrane
      library, OIASTER, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, ClinicalTrials.gov , and
      relevant websites were searched from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2015. STUDY
      SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: PICOS+E criteria were utilized. Eligible studies
      reported pharmacy-supported TOC interventions compared with usual care in adult
      patients discharged to home within the United States. Studies were required to
      evaluate postdischarge outcomes (eg, rate of readmissions, hospital utilization).
      Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, or controlled before-and-after
      studies were included. Two reviewers independently extracted data and evaluated
      study quality. DATA SYNTHESIS: A total of 56 articles were included in the
      systematic review (n = 61 858), of which 32 reported 30-day all-cause
      readmissions and were included in the meta-analysis. A taxonomy was developed to
      categorize targeted patients, intervention types, and pharmacy personnel as sole
      intervener. The meta-analysis demonstrated about a 32% reduction in the odds of
      readmission (odds ratio [OR] = 0.68; 95% CI = 0.61 to 0.75) observed for pharmacy
      supported TOC interventions compared with usual care. Heterogeneity was
      identified ( I2 = 55%; P < 0.001). A stratified meta-analysis showed that
      interventions with patient-centered follow-up reduced 30-day readmissions
      relative to studies without follow-up (OR = 0.70; CI = 0.63 to 0.78).
      CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacy-supported TOC programs were associated with a significant
      reduction in the odds of 30-day readmissions.

PMID- 28599603
TI  - Effect of ear canal pressure and age on wideband absorbance in young infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study investigated the effect of ear canal pressure and age on
      wideband absorbance (WBA) in healthy young infants. DESIGN: Using a cross
      sectional design, WBA at 0.25 to 8 kHz was obtained from infants as the ear canal
      pressure was swept from +200 to -300 daPa. STUDY SAMPLE: The participants
      included 29 newborns, 9 infants each at 1 and 4 months and 11 infants at 6 months
      of age who passed distortion product otoacoustic emissions test. RESULTS: In
      general, negative-ear canal pressures reduced WBA across the frequency range,
      while positive-ear canal pressures resulted in reduced WBA from 0.25 to 2 kHz and
      above 4 kHz with an increase in absorbance between 2 and 3 kHz compared to WBA at
      ambient pressure. The variation in WBA below 0.5 kHz, as the pressure was varied,
      was the greatest in newborns. But, the variation was progressively reduced in
      older infants up to the age of 6 months, suggesting stiffening of the ear canal
      with age. CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes in WBA were observed as a function of
      pressure and age. In particular, developmental effects on WBA were evident during
      the first six months of life.

PMID- 28599602
TI  - Spinal Cord Injury Causes Systolic Dysfunction and Cardiomyocyte Atrophy.
AB  - Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) have been shown to exhibit systolic,
      and to a lesser extent, diastolic cardiac dysfunction. However, previous reports
      of cardiac dysfunction in this population are confounded by the changing loading
      conditions after SCI and as such, whether cardiac dysfunction per se is present
      is still unknown. Therefore, our aim was to establish if load-independent cardiac
      dysfunction is present after SCI, to understand the functional cardiac response
      to SCI, and to explore the changes within the cellular milieu of the myocardium.
      Here, we applied in vivo echocardiography and left-ventricular (LV) pressure
      volume catheterization with dobutamine infusions to our Wistar rodent model of
      cardiac dysfunction 5 weeks following high (T2) thoracic contusion SCI, while
      also examining the morphological and transcriptional alterations of
      cardiomyocytes. We found that SCI significantly impairs systolic function
      independent of loading conditions (end-systolic elastance in control: 1.35 +/-
      0.15; SCI: 0.65 +/- 0.19 mm Hg/MUL). The reduction in contractile indices is
      accompanied by a reduction in width and length of cardiomyocytes as well as
      alterations in the LV extracellular matrix. Importantly, we demonstrate that the
      reduction in the rate (dP/dtmax) of LV pressure rise can be offset with beta
      adrenergic stimulation, thereby experimentally implicating the loss of descending
      sympatho-excitatory control of the heart as a principle cause of LV dysfunction
      in SCI. Our data provide evidence that SCI induces systolic cardiac dysfunction
      independent of loading conditions and concomitant cardiomyocyte atrophy that may
      be underpinned by changes in the genes regulating the cardiac extracellular
      matrix.

PMID- 28599604
TI  - Coping together with hearing loss: a qualitative meta-synthesis of the
      psychosocial experiences of people with hearing loss and their communication
      partners.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychosocial experiences of hearing loss from the
      perspectives of both the person with hearing loss and their communication
      partner. DESIGN: A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature. STUDY SAMPLE:
      From 880 records, 12 qualitative papers met the inclusion criteria, (i) adults
      with hearing loss, communication partners, or both, and (ii) explored
      psychosocial issues. RESULTS: Four themes related to the psychosocial experience
      of hearing loss were found, (i) the effect of the hearing loss, (ii) the response
      to hearing aids, (iii) stigma and identity, and (iv) coping strategies. Hearing
      loss affected both people with hearing loss and communication partners. Hearing
      aids resulted in positive effects, however, these were often outnumbered by
      negative effects. Non-use of hearing aids was often influenced by stigma. Coping
      strategies used were related to how the person with hearing loss perceived their
      self and how the communication partner perceived the relationship. Aligned coping
      strategies appeared to have a positive effect. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing loss affects
      both people with hearing loss and their communication partners. Aligned coping
      strategies can facilitate adjustment to hearing loss.

PMID- 28599607
TI  - The accuracy of objective threshold determination at low frequencies: comparison
      of different auditory brainstem response (ABR) and auditory steady state response
      (ASSR) methods.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The hearing threshold at 500 Hz was estimated using five methods which
      are suitable for the low frequency range: Low-Chirp BERA (LCBERA), Notched-noise
      BERA (NNBERA), Narrow band CE-Chirp BERA (NBCBERA) and Narrow band CE-Chirp ASSR
      (NBCASSR) (40/90 Hz). The slope of the discrimination function of each method was
      used for determination of the most efficient method. The threshold values were
      compared and the corresponding odds ratios (OR) were calculated. DESIGN: All
      methods were applied to each subject. Stimulus levels were arranged individually.
      Response detection was carried out by visual inspection of the records in case of
      BERA and automatically in case of ASSR. Each individual series of recordings was
      converted to a dichotomous function indicating whether or not a response was
      discernible and a continuous method-specific discrimination function was
      constructed. This function was realised by a Boltzmann function whose slope in
      the inflection point serves as quality measure. Additionally, an OR evaluation
      was carried out in order to validate the significance of results. STUDY SAMPLE:
      Twenty five normal hearing adults (aged 18-30 years) were tested. RESULTS: LCBERA
      proved to have the highest reliability according to the slope of the Boltzmann
      function, the comparison of threshold values and OR. CONCLUSIONS: The LCBERA is
      recommended for use in routine clinical practice.

PMID- 28599608
TI  - A Brain Electrical Activity Electroencephalographic-Based Biomarker of Functional
      Impairment in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Multi-Site Validation Trial.
AB  - The potential clinical utility of a novel quantitative electroencephalographic
      (EEG)-based Brain Function Index (BFI) as a measure of the presence and severity
      of functional brain injury was studied as part of an independent prospective
      validation trial. The BFI was derived using quantitative EEG (QEEG) features
      associated with functional brain impairment reflecting current consensus on the
      physiology of concussive injury. Seven hundred and twenty adult patients (18-85
      years of age) evaluated within 72 h of sustaining a closed head injury were
      enrolled at 11 U.S. emergency departments (EDs). Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score
      was 15 in 97%. Standard clinical evaluations were conducted and 5 to 10 min of
      EEG acquired from frontal locations. Clinical utility of the BFI was assessed for
      raw scores and percentile values. A multinomial logistic regression analysis
      demonstrated that the odds ratios (computed against controls) of the mild and
      moderate functionally impaired groups were significantly different from the odds
      ratio of the computed tomography (CT) postive (CT+, structural injury visible on
      CT) group (p = 0.0009 and p = 0.0026, respectively). However, no significant
      differences were observed between the odds ratios of the mild and moderately
      functionally impaired groups. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated
      significant differences in BFI among normal (16.8%), mild TBI (mTBI)/concussed
      with mild or moderate functional impairment, (61.3%), and CT+ (21.9%) patients (p
      < 0.0001). Regression slopes of the odds ratios for likelihood of group
      membership suggest a relationship between the BFI and severity of impairment.
      Findings support the BFI as a quantitative marker of brain function impairment,
      which scaled with severity of functional impairment in mTBI patients. When
      integrated into the clinical assessment, the BFI has the potential to aid in
      early diagnosis and thereby potential to impact the sequelae of TBI by providing
      an objective marker that is available at the point of care, hand-held, non
      invasive, and rapid to obtain.

PMID- 28599609
TI  - Effects of integrated designs of alarm and process information on diagnosis
      performance in digital nuclear power plants.
AB  - In the main control rooms of nuclear power plants (NPPs), operators frequently
      switch between alarm displays and system-information displays to incorporate
      information from different screens. In this study, we investigated two integrated
      designs of alarm and process information - integrating alarm information into
      process displays (denoted as Alarm2Process integration) and integrating process
      information into alarm displays (denoted as Process2Alarm integration). To
      analyse the effects of the two integration approaches and time pressure on the
      diagnosis performance, a laboratory experiment was conducted with ninety-six
      students. The results show that compared with the non-integrated case,
      Process2Alarm integration yields better diagnosis performance in terms of
      diagnosis accuracy, time required to generate correct hypothesis and completion
      time. In contrast, the Alarm2Process integration leads to higher levels of
      workload, with no improvement in diagnosis performance. The diagnosis performance
      of Process2Alarm integration was consistently better than that of Alarm2Process
      integration, regardless of the levels of time pressure. Practitioner Summary: To
      facilitate operator's synthesis of NPP information when performing diagnosis
      tasks, we proposed to integrate process information into alarm displays. The
      laboratory validation shows that the integration approach significantly improves
      the diagnosis performance for both low and high time-pressure levels.

PMID- 28599610
TI  - Re: "Thyroglobulin as a Functional Biomarker of Iodine Status in a Cohort Study
      of Pregnant Women in the United Kingdom" by Bath et al. (Thyroid 2017;27:426
      433).

PMID- 28599611
TI  - Effects of storage temperature and repeated freeze-thaw cycles on stability of
      bovine plasma concentrations of haptoglobin and ceruloplasmin.
AB  - We evaluated the effects of storage temperature (-20 or -80 degrees C) and
      handling procedure on plasma concentrations of bovine haptoglobin and
      ceruloplasmin. Within each temperature, whole blood samples were: centrifuged
      within 2 h of collection and plasma kept frozen until analysis (control);
      refrigerated at 4 degrees C for 24 h before plasma harvest and freezing (24H); or
      plasma harvested and frozen within 2 h after collection, but then plasma samples
      were thawed and refrozen 1 wk (1X), 1 and 2 wk (2X), or 1, 2 and 3 wk (3X) before
      analyses. Haptoglobin concentrations were greatest at 24H, but similar among
      remaining treatments. Ceruloplasmin concentrations were not affected by the
      handling procedures. Storage temperature did not affect haptoglobin
      concentrations, but ceruloplasmin concentrations decreased when stored at -20
      versus -80 degrees C. Except for greater concentrations after 24 h storage at 4
      degrees C, haptoglobin concentrations remained stable at either freezing
      temperature and through freeze-thaw cycles. Ceruloplasmin concentrations
      decreased after 3 freeze-thaw cycles and required lower freezing temperatures to
      remain stable.

PMID- 28599612
TI  - Mycobacterioses in dogs and cats from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
AB  - Mycobacterioses can produce nonspecific clinical signs in dogs and cats that make
      diagnosis difficult. Furthermore, the full characterization of mycobacterial
      agents is not always possible or practical. We characterized mycobacteria
      detected through cytology in 12 dogs and 7 cats with generalized clinical signs
      from the province of Buenos Aires in Argentina. In dogs, molecular testing
      confirmed the presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) in 8 cases
      and M. fortuitum in 1 case. All dogs were Miniature Schnauzers, suggesting that
      this breed may be more susceptible to M. avium than other dog breeds. The cat
      isolates were 2 M. bovis, 1 M. fortuitum, and 1 MAH. Mycobacterial interspersed
      repetitive unit-variable-number tandem repeat patterns suggested possible links
      with cattle, swine, and humans studied previously in Argentina. The results show
      that pets may act as susceptible hosts with the potential risk of transmitting
      the infection to humans and other animals.

PMID- 28599613
TI  - Immunohistochemical analysis of canine and feline muscle disorders using formalin
      fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues.
AB  - Histochemical techniques used in examination of muscle biopsies typically require
      frozen sections. Given that most of the specimens submitted to a veterinary
      laboratory for diagnosis are formalin-fixed, the choice of staining methods is
      limited. We aimed to further advance the diagnostic capabilities of pathologists
      presented with formalin-fixed muscle samples and to describe the differences in
      immunohistopathologic findings between neurogenic and myogenic muscle disorders.
      Based on hematoxylin and eosin staining, we defined in dogs the histologic
      lesions in 4 neurogenic disorders (degenerative myelopathy and polyneuropathy)
      and 2 myogenic disorders (dystrophin-deficient muscular dystrophy). In cats, we
      defined the lesions in 2 neurogenic disorders (lymphoma of nerve roots and spinal
      cords) and 1 myogenic disorder (laminin alpha2-deficient muscular dystrophy).
      Immunohistochemistry for slow and fast myosins revealed angular and group atrophy
      of type 1 and type 2 fibers in dogs and cats, and fiber type grouping in dogs.
      These immunohistopathologic findings were specific to neurogenic muscle
      disorders. Immunohistochemistry for nestin and myogenin revealed nestin-positive
      fibers and myogenin-positive nuclei in dogs and cats. They were not specific, but
      these fibers in myogenic disorders can be interpreted as regenerating fibers. The
      immunohistochemical method described herein appears to be useful for
      discriminating neurogenic and myogenic disorders in formalin-fixed, paraffin
      embedded muscle tissue of dogs and cats.

PMID- 28599614
TI  - Iodine Contents in Prenatal Vitamins in the United States.

PMID- 28599615
TI  - Histopathology case definition of naturally acquired Salmonella enterica serovar
      Dublin infection in young Holstein cattle in the northeastern United States.
AB  - Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Dublin ( Salmonella Dublin) is a host
      adapted bacterium that causes high morbidity and mortality in dairy cattle
      worldwide. A retrospective search of archives at the New York Animal Health
      Diagnostic Center revealed 57 culture-confirmed Salmonella Dublin cases from New
      York and Pennsylvania in which detailed histology of multiple tissues was
      available. Tissues routinely submitted by referring veterinarians for histologic
      evaluation included sections of heart, lungs, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. Of
      the 57 S almonella Dublin-positive cases, all were Holstein breed, 53 were female
      (93%), and 49 (86%) were <6 mo of age. Specifically, in calves <6 mo of age, >90%
      (45 of 49) of lungs, 90% (28 of 31) of livers, 50% (11 of 22) of spleens, and 62%
      (18 of 29) of lymph nodes examined had moderate-to-severe inflammation with or
      without necrosis. Inconstant lesions were seen in 48% (10 of 21) of hearts
      examined, and consisted of variable inflammatory infiltrates and rare areas of
      necrosis. We propose a histopathology case definition of Salmonella Dublin in <6
      mo-old Holstein cattle that includes a combination of pulmonary alveolar
      capillary neutrophilia with or without hepatocellular necrosis and paratyphoid
      granulomas, splenitis, and lymphadenitis. These findings will assist in the
      development of improved protocols for the diagnosis of infectious diseases of
      dairy cattle.

PMID- 28599616
TI  - A survey of methods used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in veterinary
      diagnostic laboratories in the United States.
AB  - Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to animal and human health
      worldwide, requiring a collaborative, holistic approach. The U.S. Government has
      developed a national strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, with one
      component being to monitor antimicrobial resistance in agricultural settings. We
      developed a survey to collect information about antimicrobial susceptibility
      testing (AST) from the veterinary diagnostic laboratory community in the United
      States, assessing current practices and technologies and determining how AST
      information is shared. Of the 132 surveys administered, 52 (39%) were returned.
      Overall, responding laboratories conducted susceptibility tests on 98,788
      bacterial isolates in 2014, with Escherichia coli being the most common pathogen
      tested across all animal species. The 2 most common AST methods employed were the
      disk diffusion method (71%) and the Sensititre platform broth microdilution
      system (59%). Laboratories primarily used the Clinical Laboratory Standards
      Institute (CLSI) VET-01 standard (69%) and the automatically calculated
      interpretations provided by the commercial AST systems (61%) for interpreting
      their AST data. Only 22% of laboratories published AST data on a periodic basis,
      usually via annual reports published on the laboratory's website or through peer
      reviewed journals for specific pathogens. Our results confirm that disk diffusion
      and broth microdilution remain the standard AST methods employed by U.S.
      veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and that CLSI standards are commonly used for
      interpreting AST results. This information will help determine the most efficient
      standardized methodology for future surveillance. Furthermore, the current
      infrastructure within laboratories, once harmonized, will help provide a
      mechanism for conducting national surveillance programs.

PMID- 28599617
TI  - Insight into the key features for ligand binding in Y1230 mutated c-Met kinase
      domain by molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - c-Met kinase has been considered as an attractive target for developing antitumor
      agents. The strong interactions between Tyr1230 and the inhibitors emphasized its
      importance for ligand binding. The clinically related Tyr1230 mutations have made
      negative impacts on current c-Met kinase inhibitors, especially the exquisitely
      selective ones, like PF-04217903, while the multi-targeted inhibitors, like
      Crizotinib, were not affected so much. In this study, the protein-ligand
      interactions between c-Met kinase domain (wild, Y1230C and Y1230H) and these
      inhibitors were compared. The binding site was expanded and the post-mutated
      regions became solvent accessible. The heavy dependency of PF-04217903 on the
      interactions with Tyr1230 resulted in the steep decrease of its potency against
      the Y1230 mutants. It was found that the ligand entrance region contributed
      consistently to the binding of Crizotinib, but not PF-04217903. Additional groups
      substituted in the ligand entrance region with stable interactions should be
      beneficial for improving the inhibitory activity of PF-04217903 against the Y1230
      mutants. These findings will facilitate the discovery of potent inhibitors
      against Y1230 mutated c-Met kinase.

PMID- 28599618
TI  - HIV-coinfected patients respond worse to direct-acting antiviral-based therapy
      against chronic hepatitis C in real life than HCV-monoinfected individuals: a
      prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: HIV/HCV-coinfected patients and hepatitis C virus (HCV) monoinfected
      subjects are thought to respond equally to direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-based
      therapy despite the lack of data derived from clinical trials. This study is
      aimed to evaluate the impact of HIV coinfection on the response to DAA-based
      treatment against HCV infection in the clinical practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      In a prospective multicohort study, patients who initiated DAA-based therapy at
      the Infectious Disease Units of 33 hospitals throughout Spain were included. The
      primary efficacy outcome variables were the achievement of sustained virologic
      response 12 weeks after the scheduled end of therapy date (SVR12). RESULTS: A
      total of 908 individuals had reached the SVR12 evaluation time-point, 426 (46.9%)
      were HIV/HCV-coinfected, and 472 (52%) received interferon (IFN)-free therapy. In
      an intention-to-treat analysis, SVR12 rates in subjects with and without HIV
      coinfection were 55.3% (94/170 patients) versus 67.3% (179/266 subjects; p =
      0.012) for IFN-based treatment and 86.3% (221/256 subjects) versus 94.9% (205/216
      patients, p = 0.002) for IFN-free regimens. Relapse after end-of-treatment
      response to IFN-free therapy was observed in 3/208 (1.4%) HCV-monoinfected
      subjects and 10/231 (4.4%) HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals (p = 0.075). In a
      multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, transmission route, body-mass index,
      HCV genotype, and cirrhosis, the absence of HIV-coinfection (adjusted odds ratio:
      3.367; 95% confidence interval: 1.15-9.854; p = 0.027) was independently
      associated with SVR12 to IFN-free therapy. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-coinfection is
      associated with worse response to DAA-based therapy against HCV infection. In
      patients receiving IFN-free therapy, this fact seems to be mainly driven by a
      higher rate of relapses among HIV-coinfected subjects.

PMID- 28599619
TI  - A devastating case of diarrhea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome associated
      with extensive cerebral infarction; why we need to do better.
AB  - A 4-year-old girl with diarrhea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (D+HUS) was
      transferred to the PICU of our center due to deteriorating renal function and
      neurological involvement. On admission, a comatous child was seen with
      hypoventilation and she was placed on mechanical ventilation. Hemodialysis was
      commenced but plasma exchange was discontinued due to repeated hypersensitivity
      reactions. A trial of eculizumab was given in light of the worsening of her
      neurologic condition with development of a pyramidal syndrome and deepening of
      the coma. Hematological and renal improvement were noted but severe neurologic
      involvement persisted. MRI revealed extensive bilateral zones of corticocerebral
      infarction and neurological damage proved to be irreversible. Diarrhea-associated
      hemolytic uremic syndrome is a common cause of Acute Kidney Injury associated
      with severe short- and long-term complications. Neurologic involvement is
      frequent but often reversible. Currently, no effective treatment strategies are
      available and a paucity of data exists concerning the efficacy of potential
      treatment options such as early plasma exchange, eculizumab, and high dose
      corticosteroids. A concerted effort is needed to early identify patients at risk
      for poor outcome with trials aimed at evaluating the efficacy of potential
      treatment options for this subgroup.

PMID- 28599620
TI  - Blackleg in cattle: A case report of fetal infection and a literature review.
AB  - Clostridium chauvoei causes blackleg in cattle. The disease has been reported
      worldwide, and although it can be prevented by vaccination, sporadic cases and
      occasional outbreaks still occur. We describe a case of blackleg in a 2-y-old,
      pregnant Gyr cow with in utero transmission to the fetus. The cow had
      characteristic gross and microscopic lesions of blackleg including widespread
      necrohemorrhagic and emphysematous skeletal and myocardial myositis, and
      fibrinous pericarditis. Her uterus contained a near-term, markedly emphysematous
      fetus with skeletal muscle and myocardial lesions similar to those seen in the
      dam. Histopathology of dam and fetal tissues revealed numerous gram-positive
      bacilli, many of them with sub-terminal spores, in multiple tissues. These
      bacilli were identified as C. chauvoei by immunohistochemistry. Anaerobic culture
      and fluorescent antibody tests performed on skeletal muscle from both the dam and
      fetus were positive for C. chauvoei, confirming a diagnosis of blackleg. Blackleg
      is a so-called endogenous infection, and the currently accepted pathogenesis
      involves ingestion of spores that are transported to muscle tissues where they
      lie dormant until anaerobiosis prompts germination. Germinating bacteria are
      histotoxic, producing severe, local necrosis and ultimately lethal toxemia. This
      model, however, has not been confirmed experimentally and also fails to explain
      some cases of the disease. A presumptive diagnosis of blackleg is based on
      clinical, gross, and histologic findings. Diagnostic confirmation necessitates
      the detection of C. chauvoei by culture, PCR, or immunodetection methods.

PMID- 28599621
TI  - The comparative effectiveness and efficiency of cognitive behaviour therapy and
      generic counselling in the treatment of depression: evidence from the 2nd UK
      National Audit of psychological therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is the front-line psychological
      intervention for step 3 within UK psychological therapy services. Counselling is
      recommended only when other interventions have failed and its effectiveness has
      been questioned. METHOD: A secondary data analysis was conducted of data
      collected from 33,243 patients across 103 Improving Access to Psychological
      Therapies (IAPT) services as part of the second round of the National Audit of
      Psychological Therapies (NAPT). Initial analysis considered levels of pre-post
      therapy effect sizes (ESs) and reliable improvement (RI) and reliable and
      clinically significant improvement (RCSI). Multilevel modelling was used to model
      predictors of outcome, namely patient pre-post change on PHQ-9 scores at last
      therapy session. RESULTS: Counselling received more referrals from patients
      experiencing moderate to severe depression than CBT. For patients scoring above
      the clinical cut-off on the PHQ-9 at intake, the pre-post ES (95% CI) for CBT was
      1.59 (1.58, 1.62) with 46.6% making RCSI criteria and for counselling the pre
      post ES was 1.55 (1.52, 1.59) with 44.3% of patients meeting RCSI criteria.
      Multilevel modelling revealed a significant site effect of 1.8%, while therapy
      type was not a predictor of outcome. A significant interaction was found between
      the number of sessions attended and therapy type, with patients attending fewer
      sessions on average for counselling [M = 7.5 (5.54) sessions and a median (IQR)
      of 6 (3-10)] than CBT [M = 8.9 (6.34) sessions and a median (IQR) of 7 (4-12)].
      Only where patients had 18 or 20 sessions was CBT significantly more effective
      than counselling, with recovery rates (95% CIs) of 62.2% (57.1, 66.9) and 62.4%
      (56.5, 68.0) respectively, compared with 44.4% (32.7, 56.6) and 42.6% (30.0,
      55.9) for counselling. Counselling was significantly more effective at two
      sessions with a recovery rate of 34.9% (31.9, 37.9) compared with 22.2% (20.5,
      24.0) for CBT. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes for counselling and CBT in the treatment of
      depression were comparable. Research efforts should focus on factors other than
      therapy type that may influence outcomes, namely the inherent variability between
      services, and adopt multilevel modelling as the given analytic approach in order
      to capture the naturally nested nature of the implementation and delivery of
      psychological therapies. It is of concern that half of all patients, regardless
      of type of intervention, did not show reliable improvement.

PMID- 28599622
TI  - Alteration of gut microbiota in association with cholesterol gallstone formation
      in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The gut microbiome exerts extensive roles in metabolism of nutrients,
      pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals. Little has been known for the role of gut
      microbiota in regulating cholesterol and bile acids in association with gallstone
      formation. This study investigated the changes in the composition of gut
      microbiota in mice fed with lithogenic diet (LD). METHODS: Adult male C57BL/6 J
      mice were fed with either lithogenic diet (1.25% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic
      acid) or chow diet as control for 56 days. The fecal microbiota were determined
      by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. RESULTS: LD led to formation of cholesterol
      gallstone in mice. The richness and alpha diversity of gut microbial reduced in
      mice fed with LD. Firmicutes was significantly decreased from 59.71% under chow
      diet to 31.45% under LD, P < 0.01, as well as the ratio of Firmicutes to
      Bacteroidetes. Differences in gut microbiota composition were also observed at
      phylum, family and genus levels between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Our results
      suggested that gut microbiota dysbiosis might play an important role in the
      pathogenesis of cholesterol gallstone formation in mice.

PMID- 28599623
TI  - "Reliability of the Norwegian version of the short physical performance battery
      in older people with and without dementia".
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to establish the test-retest reliability
      of the Norwegian version of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB).
      METHODS: This was a cross- sectional reliability study. A convenience sample of
      61 older adults with a mean age of 88.4(8.1) was tested by two different
      physiotherapists at two time points. The mean time interval between tests was 2.5
      days. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient model 3.1 (ICC, 3.1) with 95%
      confidence intervals as well as the weighted Kappa (K) were used as measures of
      relative reliability. The Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) and Minimal
      Detectable Change (MDC) were used to measure absolute reliability. The results
      were also analyzed for a subgroup of 24 older people with dementia. RESULTS: The
      ICC reflected high relative reliability for the SPPB summary score and the 4 m
      walk test (4mwt), both for the total sample (ICC = 0.92, and 0.91 respectively))
      and for the subgroup with dementia (ICC = 0.84 and 0.90 respectively).
      Furthermore, weighted Ks for the SPPB subscales were 0.64 for the chair stand,
      0.80 for gait and 0.52 for balance for the total sample and almost identical for
      the subgroup with dementia. MDC-values at the 95% confidence intervals (MDC95)
      were calculated at 0.8 for the total score of SPPB and 0.39 m/s for the 4mwt in
      the total sample. For the subgroup with dementia MDC95 was 1.88 for the total
      score of SPPB and 0.28 m/s for 4mwt. CONCLUSIONS: The SPPB total score and the
      timed walking test showed overall high relative and absolute reliability for the
      total sample indicating that the Norwegian version of the SPPB is reliable when
      used by trained physiotherapists with older people. The reliability of the
      Norwegian SPPB in older people with dementia seems high, but due to a small
      sample size this needs further investigation.

PMID- 28599624
TI  - Prevalence and factors associated with depression among medical students in
      Cameroon: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression is an important contributor to the global burden disease
      that affects people of communities all over the world. With high level of demands
      in academics and psychosocial pressure, medical students during their course of
      training tend to become depressed, leading to problems later in professional life
      and compromising patient care. In Cameroon, there is lack of data on the
      prevalence of depression and its impact on medical students. To determine the
      prevalence and predisposing factors associated with depression among medical
      students in Cameroon (preclinical and clinical). We also evaluated the impact of
      depression on self-reported academic performance. METHODS: A cross sectional
      study was carried out in all 4 state medical schools in 4 different regions from
      December 2015 to January 2016. Diagnosis of depression, major depression and its
      associated factors were assessed using the 9-Item-Patient Health Questionnaire
      (PHQ-9) and a structured questionnaire respectively. We included 618 medical
      students (response rate: 90.4%). RESULTS: About a third of them (30.6%, 95% CI:
      22.8-36.7) were found to have major depressive disorder (PHQ Score >= 10). With
      regards to the severity of depression, 214 (34.6%), 163 (26.4%), 21 (3.4%), and 5
      (0.80%) students were classified as having mild, moderate, moderately severe and
      severe depression respectively. The presence of a chronic disease (OR: 3.70, 95%
      CI: 1.72-7.94, p = 0.001), major life events (OR: 2.17, 95%CI: 1.32-3.58, P =
      0.002), female gender (OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.06-2.37, p = 0.024) and being a
      student at the clinical level (OR: 4.26, 95% CI: 2.71-6.71, p < 0.001) were
      independently associated with depression. There was no association between
      depression and self-reported academic performance, (OR: 1.2, 95% CI: 0.9-1.7, p =
      0.080). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of major depressive disorders among medical
      students in Cameroon is high and is associated with the presence chronic disease,
      major life events, female gender and being a student at the clinical level. So we
      recommend clinicians attending to medical students with demographic features
      suggestive of greater risk of depression, to make an in depth investigation on
      the possible presence of depression. Despite this high prevalence of major
      depression among medical students, it was not associated with self-reported
      academic performance.

PMID- 28599625
TI  - Genetic variants of MICB and PLCE1 and associations with the laboratory features
      of dengue.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A previous genome-wide association study identified 2 susceptibility
      loci for severe dengue at MICB rs3132468 and PLCE1 rs3740360 and further work
      showed these mutations to be also associated with less severe clinical
      presentations. The aim of this study was to determine if these specific loci were
      associated with laboratory features of dengue that correlate with clinical
      severity with the aim of elucidating the functional basis of these genetic
      variants. METHODS: This was a case-only analysis of laboratory-confirmed dengue
      patients obtained from 2 prospective cohort studies and 1 randomised clinical
      trial in Vietnam (Trial registration: ISRCTN ISRCTN03147572. Registered 24th July
      2012). 2742 dengue cases were successfully genotyped at MICB rs3132468 and PLCE1
      rs3740360. Laboratory variables were compared between genotypes and stratified by
      DENV serotype. RESULTS: The analysis showed no association between MICB and PLCE1
      genotype and early viraemia level, platelet nadir, white cell count nadir, or
      maximum haematocrit in both overall analysis and in analysis stratified by
      serotype. DISCUSSION: The lack of an association between genotype and viremia
      level may reflect the sampling procedures within the included studies. The study
      findings mean that the functional basis of these mutations remains unclear. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ISRCTN ISRCTN03147572 . Registered 24th July 2012.

PMID- 28599626
TI  - Factors associated with general practitioners' awareness of depression in primary
      care patients with heart failure: baseline-results from the observational RECODE
      HF study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression is more prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF) than
      in those without, but its detection is complicated by the symptom overlap between
      the two diseases. General practitioners (GPs) are the first point of contact for
      patients with HF. Therefore, this study aims to investigate GPs' awareness of
      depression in their HF patients and factors associated with this awareness.
      METHODS: In this cross-sectional, observational study 3224 primary care patients
      with HF were screened for depressive symptomatology using an algorithm based on
      the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the 9-item subscale on Depression of
      the Patient Health Questionnaire, and selected items from the PROMIS Depression
      and Anxiety scales. The 272 GPs of all patients involved in the study were
      interviewed by telephone regarding their patients' somatic and psychological
      comorbidities. The awareness rates of depressive symptomatology by the patients'
      GPs are analyzed using descriptive statistics. Logistic regression analyses are
      applied to investigate the patient- and GP-based factors associated with the GPs'
      awareness of depressive symptomatology. RESULTS: GPs were aware of their
      patients' depressive symptomatology in 35% of all cases. Factors associated with
      the awareness of depressive symptomatology were: higher patient education levels,
      a history of depression known to the GP, GP-consultations due to emotional
      distress within the last 6 months, a higher frequency of GP-contacts within the
      last 6 months, a higher New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification and more
      severe depressive symptomatology. The GPs' characteristics, including further
      education in psychology/psychiatry, were not associated with GP awareness.
      CONCLUSIONS: Many aspects, including the definition of awareness and the
      practical issues in primary care, may contribute to the unexpectedly low
      awareness rates of depressive symptomatology in HF patients in primary care.
      Awareness rates might increase, if GPs encouraged their patients to talk about
      emotional distress, held detailed medical interviews including a patient's
      history of depression and payed special attention to HF patients with low
      education levels. However, it remains to be investigated whether GPs' judgement
      of depressive symptomatology is a better or worse indicator for the future
      prognosis and quality of life of HF patients than psychiatry based diagnostic
      criteria.

PMID- 28599627
TI  - Pre-Quaternary divergence and subsequent radiation explain longitudinal patterns
      of genetic and morphological variation in the striped skink, Heremites vittatus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many animal and plant species in the Middle East and northern Africa
      have a predominantly longitudinal distribution, extending from Iran and Turkey
      along the eastern Mediterranean coast into northern Africa. These species are
      potentially characterized by longitudinal patterns of biological diversity, but
      little is known about the underlying biogeographic mechanisms and evolutionary
      timescales. We examined these questions in the striped skink, Heremites vittatus,
      one such species with a roughly longitudinal distribution across the Middle East
      and northern Africa, by analyzing range-wide patterns of mitochondrial DNA
      (mtDNA) sequence and multi-trait morphological variation. RESULTS: The striped
      skink exhibits a basic longitudinal organization of mtDNA diversity, with three
      major mitochondrial lineages inhabiting northern Africa, the eastern
      Mediterranean coast, and Turkey/Iran. Remarkably, these lineages are of pre
      Quaternary origin, and are characterized by p-distances of 9-10%. In addition,
      within each of these lineages a more recent Quaternary genetic diversification
      was observed, as evidenced by deep subclades and high haplotype diversity
      especially in the Turkish/Iranian and eastern Mediterranean lineages. Consistent
      with the genetic variation, our morphological analysis revealed that the majority
      of morphological traits show significant mean differences between specimens from
      northern Africa, the eastern Mediterranean coast, and Turkey/Iran, suggesting
      lineage-specific trait evolution. In addition, a subset of traits exhibits clinal
      variation along the eastern Mediterranean coast, potentially indicating selection
      gradients at the geographic transition from northern Africa to Anatolia. The
      existence of allopatric, morphologically and genetically divergent lineages
      suggests that Heremites vittatus might represent a complex with several taxa.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our work demonstrates that early divergence events in the Pliocene,
      likely driven by both climatic and geological factors, established the
      longitudinal patterns and distribution of Heremites vittatus. Subsequent
      radiation during the Pleistocene generated the genetic and morphological
      diversity observed today. Our study provides further evidence that longitudinal
      diversity patterns and species distributions in the Middle East and northern
      Africa were shaped by complex evolutionary processes, involving the region's
      intricate geological history, climatic oscillations, and the presence of the
      Sahara.

PMID- 28599628
TI  - TRIBE-2: a phase III, randomized, open-label, strategy trial in unresectable
      metastatic colorectal cancer patients by the GONO group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy plus bevacizumab is a standard first-line treatment for
      unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Different chemotherapy
      backbones may be chosen, including one to three drugs, based on patients' general
      conditions and comorbidities, treatments' objectives, and disease
      characteristics. TRIBE trial demonstrated a significant advantage in terms of
      progression-free survival and overall survival for FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab as
      compared with FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab. Based on recent evidence, the de
      intensification of the upfront regimen after 4-6 months of treatment is nowadays
      regarded as a valuable option. Moreover, the prolonged inhibition of
      angiogenesis, and in particular the continuation of bevacizumab beyond the
      evidence of disease progression, is an efficacious strategy in the treatment of
      metastatic colorectal cancer patients. METHODS/DESIGN: TRIBE-2 is a prospective,
      open-label, multicentric phase III randomized trial in which unresectable and
      previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer patients are randomized to
      receive first-line FOLFOX plus bevacizumab followed by FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab
      after disease progression or FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab followed by the re
      introduction of the same regimen after disease progression. The primary endpoint
      is to compare the efficacy of the two proposed treatment strategies in terms of
      Progression Free Survival 2. DISCUSSION: The TRIBE-2 study aims at answering the
      question whether the upfront use of FOLFOXIRI improves the clinical outcome of
      metastatic colorectal cancer patients, when compared with the pre-planned,
      sequential use of oxaliplatin-based and irinotecan-based doublets. Both proposed
      treatment strategies are designed to exploit the effectiveness of the prolonged
      inhibition of angiogenesis, alternating short (up to 4 months) induction periods
      and less intensive maintenance phases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: TRIBE2 is registered
      at Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02339116 . January 12, 2015. TRIBE-2 is registered at
      EUDRACT 2014-004436-19, October 10, 2014.

PMID- 28599629
TI  - Dose-dependent effects of intravenous methoxamine infusion during hip-joint
      replacement surgery on postoperative cognitive dysfunction and blood TNF-alpha
      level in elderly patients: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), common in elderly
      patients, is thought to be closely associated with intraoperative instability of
      hemodynamics and excessive excretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).
      Methoxamine is a blood-pressure increasing drug commonly used for maintaining
      intraoperative hemodynamics. Methoxamine potentially promotes TNF-alpha
      expression, leading to an increased risk of POCD. This study aimed to investigate
      the dose-dependent effect of methoxamine on the incidence of early POCD and blood
      TNF-alpha level. METHODS: This single-center prospective double-blind controlled
      clinical trial included a total of 300 adult patients (75-90 years old, American
      Society of Anesthesiologists class II-III) who underwent unilateral hip-joint
      replacement surgery under epidural anesthesia. Patients were randomly divided
      into three methoxamine groups (M1, M2, and M3), and one control group (n = 75 per
      group). During surgery, M1, M2, and M3 patients received intravenous infusion of
      methoxamine at 2, 3, or 4 MUg.kg-1.min-1, respectively; the control group
      received saline of same volume at the same infusion rate. All patients received
      standard transfusion to maintain stable circulation. Hemodynamics, cardiovascular
      events, and serum TNF-alpha levels were monitored. Mini Mental State Examination
      was performed both before and after surgery to diagnose POCD. RESULTS: The
      primary outcome of this study was the incidence of POCD, which was higher in the
      M3 group (18.7%) than in the control group (5.3%), the M1 group (6.7%), or the M2
      group (6.7%) (all P < 0.05). The secondary outcomes were the postoperative blood
      TNF-alpha level and intraoperative hemodynamic parameters. The postoperative TNF
      alpha level was found to be higher than baseline in all groups and was highest in
      M3 patients (P < 0.05). The intraoperative hemodynamic parameters showed improved
      stability in the M1 and M2 groups compared with the control group. However, in
      the M3 group, abnormally increased intraoperative blood pressure, cardiac output,
      and systolic stroke volume were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous infusion of
      methoxamine at 2-3 MUg.kg-1.min-1 can maintain stable hemodynamics in elderly
      patients during epidural anesthesia for hip-joint replacement surgery, without
      increasing the incidence of POCD. Increasing the dose to 4 MUg.kg-1.min-1
      provided no further advantages but induced adverse effects on the intraoperative
      hemodynamics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Register (Unique
      identifier: ChiCTR-INR-15007607 , retrospectively registered 18 Dec 2015).

PMID- 28599630
TI  - Omega-3 supplementation from pregnancy to postpartum to prevent depressive
      symptoms: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) has been linked to
      depression, but the preventive effect of n-3PUFAs supplementation on maternal
      depression needs further investigation. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a
      daily dose of n-3 PUFAs supplementation (fish oil) on the prevention of
      postpartum depression (PPD). METHODS: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double
      blind trial was designed and nested into a cohort study conducted in Rio de
      Janeiro, Brazil. Sixty pregnant women identified as being at risk for PPD were
      invited and randomly assigned to receive fish oil capsules [1.8 g (1.08 g of
      Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and 0.72 g of Docosapentaenoic (DHA) acids)] or placebo
      (control). The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was scored at 5-13
      (T0, baseline), 22-24 (T1), 30-32 weeks of gestation (T2) and 4-6 weeks'
      postpartum (T3). Supplementation started at week 22-24 of gestation (T1) and
      lasted for 16 weeks. Serum fatty acids were assayed to evaluate compliance.
      Prevalence of EPDS >=11 was the primary outcome, and mean and changes in EPDS
      score, length of gestation, and birth weight the secondary outcomes. Linear mixed
      effect (LME) and random-intercept logistic regression models were performed to
      test the effect of fish oil supplementation on prevalence of EPDS >=11 and EPDS
      scores variation. RESULTS: In intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis, at 30-32 weeks'
      gestation women in the fish oil presented higher serum concentration of EPA, DHA
      and lower n-6/n-3 ratio comparing to the control group. There were no differences
      between intervention and control groups in the prevalence of EPDS >=11, EPDS
      scores over time, or in changes in EPDS scores from pregnancy to postpartum in
      either the ITT or per-protocol analyses. Women in the fish oil group with
      previous history of depression presented a higher reduction on the EPDS score
      from the second to the third trimester in the fish oil comparing to the control
      group in the ITT analyses [-1.0 (-3.0-0.0) vs. -0.0 (-1.0-3.0), P = 0.038). These
      results were confirmed on the LME model (beta = -3.441; 95%CI: -6.532- -0.350, P
      = 0.029). CONCLUSION: Daily supplementation of 1.8 g of n-3 PUFAs during 16 weeks
      did not prevent maternal depressive symptoms in a sample of Brazilian women.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01660165 . Retrospectively
      registered on 24 May 2012.

PMID- 28599631
TI  - Changes in perceived uselessness and risks for mortality: evidence from a
      National sample of older adults in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-perception of uselessness is associated with increased mortality
      risk in older adults. However, it is unknown whether and to what extent changes
      in perceived uselessness are associated with mortality risk. METHODS: Using four
      waves of national longitudinal data of older adults from China (2005, 2008, 2011,
      and 2014), this study examines the association between changes in perceived
      uselessness and risk of subsequent mortality. Perceived uselessness is classified
      into three major categories: high levels (always/often), moderate levels
      (sometimes), and low levels (seldom/never). Five categories are used to measure
      change over three-year intervals: (1) persistently high levels, (2) increases to
      moderate/high levels, (3) persistent moderate levels, (4) decreases to
      moderate/low levels, and (5) persistently low levels. Cox proportional hazard
      models were used to estimate mortality risk associated with changes in levels of
      perceived uselessness. RESULTS: Compared to those with persistently low levels of
      perceived uselessness, those with persistently high levels of feeling useless had
      80% increased hazard ratio (HR) in mortality [HR =1.80, 95% CIs: 1.57-2.08, p <
      0.001]; and those with increasing levels, persistently moderate levels, and
      decreasing levels of perceived uselessness had 42% [HR = 1.42, 95% CIs: 1.27-159,
      p < 0.001], 50% [HR = 1.50, 95% CIs: 1.32-1.71, p < 0.001], and 23% [HR = 1.23,
      95% CIs: 1.09-1.37, p < 0.001] increased hazard ratio in mortality, respectively,
      when background characteristics were taken into account. The associations were
      partially attenuated when socioeconomic, family/social support, behavioral, and
      health-related covariates were individually taken into account. Older adults with
      persistently high and moderate levels of perceived uselessness still exhibited
      significantly higher risks of mortality (16% [HR = 1.16, 95% CIs: 1.00-1.135, p <
      0.05] and 22% [HR = 1.16, 95% CIs: 1.06-1.139, p < 0.015], respectively) after
      adjusting for all covariates, although no significant mortality risks were found
      for either increasing to moderate/high levels or decreasing to moderate/low
      levels of perceived uselessness. CONCLUSIONS: Persistently high and moderate
      levels of perceived uselessness are associated with significant increases in
      mortality risk. These findings have important implications for promoting
      successful aging in China.

PMID- 28599632
TI  - Alcohol screening and brief interventions for adults and young people in health
      and community-based settings: a qualitative systematic literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews of alcohol screening and brief interventions
      (ASBI) highlight the challenges of implementation in healthcare and community
      based settings. Fewer reviews have explored this through examination of
      qualitative literature and fewer still focus on interventions with younger
      people. METHODS: This review aims to examine qualitative literature on the
      facilitators and barriers to implementation of ASBI both for adults and young
      people in healthcare and community-based settings. Searches using electronic data
      bases (Medline on Ovid SP, PsychInfo, CINAHL, Web of Science, and EMBASE), Google
      Scholar and citation searching were conducted, before analysis. RESULTS: From a
      total of 239 papers searched and screened, 15 were included in the final review;
      these were selected based on richness of content and relevance to the review
      question. Implementation of ASBI is facilitated by increasing knowledge and
      skills with ongoing follow-up support, and clarity of the intervention. Barriers
      to implementation include attitudes towards alcohol use, lack of structural and
      organisational support, unclear role definition as to responsibility in
      addressing alcohol use, fears of damaging professional/ patient relationships,
      and competition with other pressing healthcare needs. CONCLUSIONS: There remain
      significant barriers to implementation of ASBI among health and community-based
      professionals. Improving the way health service institutions respond to and co
      ordinate alcohol services, including who is most appropriate to address alcohol
      use, would assist in better implementation of ASBI. Finally, a dearth of
      qualitative studies looking at alcohol intervention and implementation among
      young people was noted and suggests a need for further qualitative research.

PMID- 28599633
TI  - Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection and associated risk factors among
      village health volunteers in rural communities of southern Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intestinal parasitic infections remain prevalent and constitute a
      public health problem in certain rural areas of Thailand. Village health
      volunteers (VHVs), who are members of a Thai healthcare alliance, function as key
      providers of health prevention measures, disease control, and health education
      and share national health promotion campaigns with community members. This study
      is aimed at evaluating the prevalence, intensity, and risk factors for intestinal
      parasitic infection in VHVs in order to design community awareness and health
      education campaigns for the target population. METHODS: This cross-sectional
      study was conducted between January to April 2016 among village health volunteers
      (VHVs) from four sub-districts of Nopphitam District, Nakhon Si Thammarat
      Province, southern Thailand. Subjects for the study were selected using a simple
      random sampling method. Socio-demographic variables and risk factors were
      collected by a structured questionnaire. Stool specimens were collected and
      processed using direct wet mount and formol-ether concentration techniques to
      determine the presence of parasites and modified Kato-Katz thick smear to
      determine the intensity of infection. RESULTS: A total of 324 VHVs were enrolled.
      The overall prevalence of intestinal helminths was 9.3% (95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 6.3-13.0). The prevalence of hookworm, Strongyloides stercoralis, and
      Trichuris trichiura were 8.0% (95% CI: 5.3-11.5), 0.9% (95% CI: 0.2-2.7), and
      0.3% (95% CI: 0-1.7), respectively. Mean intensity of hookworm infection was 1732
      eggs per gram of stool. The prevalence was lower for protozoan infection than for
      helminth infection. Blastocystis hominis accounted for the highest percentage of
      intestinal protozoan infections 4.0% (95% CI: 2.2-6.8), followed by Giardia
      intestinalis 0.6% (95% CI: 0-2.2). No statistically significant difference was
      observed in the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection among sub-districts
      (p > 0.05). Having dogs at home was associated with soil-transmitted helminth
      (STH) infection in study participants (Crude prevalence ratio [CPR]: 2.3; 95% CI:
      1.0-5.2). CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to describe the prevalence of
      intestinal parasitic infection VHVs from southern Thailand. Hookworm infection is
      more prevalent than other types of STH infection. The development of community
      awareness campaigns and appropriate control measures should be considered to
      reduce the prevalence of hookworm infection, especially among VHVs who are the
      key persons providing health education to the community.

PMID- 28599634
TI  - The Mayo conservative hip: complication analysis and management of the first 41
      cases performed at a University level 1 department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To prevent bone loss in hip arthroplasty, several short stem systems
      have been developed, including the Mayo conservative hip system. While there is a
      plethora of data confirming inherent advantages of these systems, only little is
      known about potential complications, especially when surgeons start to use these
      systems. METHODS: In this study, we present a retrospective analysis of the
      patients' outcome, complications and the complication management of the first 41
      Mayo conservative hips performed in 37 patients. For this reason, functional
      scores, radiographic analyses, peri- and postoperative complications were
      assessed at an average follow-up of 35 months. RESULTS: The overall HHS improved
      from 61.2 pre-operatively to 85.6 post-operatively. The German Extra Short
      Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Questionnaire (XSFMA-D) improved from 30.3
      pre-operatively to 12.2 post-operatively. The most common complication was an
      intraoperative non-displaced fracture of the proximal femur observed in 5 cases
      (12.1%). Diabetes, higher BMI and older ages were shown to be risk factors for
      these intra-operative periprosthetic fractures (p < 0.01). Radiographic analysis
      revealed a good offset reconstruction in all cases. CONCLUSION: In our series, a
      high complication rate with 12.1% of non-displaced proximal femoral fractures was
      observed using the Mayo conservative hip. This may be attributed to the flat
      learning curve of the system or the inherent patient characteristics of the
      presented cohort.

PMID- 28599635
TI  - Effects of peer health education on perception and practice of screening for
      cervical cancer among urban residential women in south-east Nigeria: a before and
      after study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective female education on cervical cancer prevention has been
      shown to increase awareness and uptake of screening. However, sustaining increase
      in uptake poses a challenge to control efforts. Peer health education has been
      used as an effective tool for ensuring sustained behavior change. This study was
      undertaken to assess the effectiveness of peer health education on perception,
      willingness to screen and uptake of cervical cancer screening by women. METHODS:
      A before and after intervention study was undertaken in 2 urban cities in Enugu
      state, Nigeria among women of reproductive age attending women's meeting in
      Anglican churches. Multistage sampling was used to select 300 women. Peer health
      education was provided once monthly for 3 consecutive sessions over a period of 3
      months. Data was collected at baseline and after the intervention using pre
      tested questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and tests of significance of
      observed differences and associations were done at p-value of <0.05. RESULTS:
      Statistical significant difference was observed in participants' individual risk
      perception for cervical cancer and perception of benefits of early detection
      through screening. Practice of screening for cervical cancer increased by 6.8%
      and the observed difference was statistically significant (p = 0.02). This was
      significantly associated with marital status, level of education, employment
      status and parity (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Peer health education is an effective
      strategy for increasing women's perception of benefits of early detection of
      cervical cancer through screening. It is also effective for increasing their
      practice of screening for cervical cancer.

PMID- 28599636
TI  - Health coaching to improve self-management and quality of life for low income
      patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): protocol for a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severely hinders quality
      of life for those affected and is costly to the health care system. Care gaps in
      areas such as pharmacotherapy, inhaler technique, and knowledge of disease are
      prevalent, particularly for vulnerable populations served by community clinics.
      Non-professionally licensed health coaches have been shown to be an effective and
      cost-efficient solution in bridging care gaps and facilitating self-management
      for patients with other chronic diseases, but no research to date has explored
      their efficacy in improving care for people living with COPD. METHOD: This is
      multi-site, single blinded, randomized controlled trial evaluates the efficacy of
      health coaches to facilitate patient self-management of disease and improve
      quality of life for patients with moderate to severe COPD. Spirometry, survey,
      and an exercise capacity test are conducted at baseline and at 9 months. A short
      survey is administered by phone at 3 and 6 months post-enrollment. The nine month
      health coaching intervention focuses on enhancing disease understanding and
      symptom awareness, improving use of inhalers; making personalized plans to
      increase physical activity, smoking cessation, or otherwise improve disease
      management; and facilitating care coordination. DISCUSSION: The results of this
      study will provide evidence regarding the efficacy and feasibility of health
      coaching to improve self-management and quality of life for urban underserved
      patients with moderate to severe COPD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier NCT02234284 . Registered 12 August 2014.

PMID- 28599638
TI  - Development of a consensus operational definition of child assent for research.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is currently no consensus from the relevant stakeholders
      regarding the operational and construct definitions of child assent for research.
      As such, the requirements for assent are often construed in different ways,
      institutionally disparate, and often conflated with those of parental consent.
      Development of a standardized operational definition of assent would thus be
      important to ensure that investigators, institutional review boards, and policy
      makers consider the assent process in the same way. To this end, we describe a
      Delphi study that provided consensus from a panel of expert stakeholders
      regarding the definitions of child assent for research. METHODS: Based on current
      guidelines, a preliminary definition of assent was generated and sent out for
      review to a Delphi panel including pediatric bioethicists and researchers,
      Institutional Review Board members, parents, and individuals with
      regulatory/legal expertise. For each subsequent review, the process of
      summarizing and revising responses was repeated until consensus was achieved.
      Panelists were also required to rank order elements of assent that they believed
      were most important in defining the underlying constructs of the assent process
      (e.g., capacity for assent, disclosure). In providing these rankings, panelists
      were asked to frame their responses in the contexts of younger (<= 11 yrs) and
      adolescents/older children (12-17 yrs) in non-therapeutic and therapeutic trials.
      Summary rankings of the most important identified elements were then used to
      generate written construct definitions which were sent out for iterative reviews
      by the expert panel. RESULTS: Consensus regarding the operational definition was
      reached by 14/18 (78%) of the panel members. Seventeen (94%) panelists agreed
      with the definitions of capacity for assent, elements of disclosure for younger
      children, and the requirements for meaningful assent, respectively. Fifteen (83%)
      members agreed with the elements of disclosure for adolescents/older children.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is hoped that this study will positively inform and effect change
      in the way investigators, regulators, and IRBs operationalize the assent process,
      respect children's developing autonomy, and in concert with parental permission,
      ensure the protection of children who participate in research.

PMID- 28599637
TI  - Recruitment of racial/ethnic minority older adults through community sites for
      focus group discussions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite a body of evidence on racial/ethnic minority enrollment and
      retention in research, literature specifically focused on recruiting
      racially/ethnically diverse older adults for social science studies is limited.
      There is a need for more rigorous research on methodological issues and the
      efficacy of recruitment methods. Cultural obstacles to recruitment of
      racial/ethnic minority older adults include language barriers, lack of cultural
      sensitivity of target communities on the part of researchers, and culturally
      inappropriate assessment tools. METHODS: Guided by the Consolidated Framework for
      Implementation Research (CFIR), this study critically appraised the recruitment
      of racial/ethnic minority older adults for focus groups. The initial approach
      involved using the physical and social infrastructure of the ElderSmile network,
      a community-based initiative to promote oral and general health and conduct
      health screenings in places where older adults gather, to recruit racial/ethnic
      minority adults for a social science component of an interdisciplinary
      initiative. The process involved planning a recruitment strategy, engaging the
      individuals involved in its implementation (opinion leaders in senior centers,
      program staff as implementation leaders, senior community-based colleagues as
      champions, and motivated center directors as change agents), executing the
      recruitment plan, and reflecting on the process of implementation. RESULTS: While
      the recruitment phase of the study was delayed by 6 months to allow for ongoing
      recruitment and filling of focus group slots, the flexibility of the recruitment
      plan, the expertise of the research team members, the perseverance of the
      recruitment staff, and the cultivation of change agents ultimately resulted in
      meeting the study targets for enrollment in terms of both numbers of focus group
      discussions (n = 24) and numbers of participants (n = 194). CONCLUSIONS: This
      study adds to the literature in two important ways. First, we leveraged the
      social and physical infrastructure of an existing program to recruit participants
      through community sites where older adults gather. Second, we used the CFIR to
      guide the appraisal of the recruitment process, which underscored important
      considerations for both reaching and engaging this underserved population. This
      was especially true in terms of understanding the disparate roles of the
      individuals involved in implementing and facilitating the recruitment plan.

PMID- 28599639
TI  - Seasonality of acquisition of respiratory bacterial pathogens in young children
      with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seasonal variations are often observed for respiratory tract
      infections; however, limited information is available regarding seasonal patterns
      of acquisition of common cystic fibrosis (CF)-related respiratory pathogens. We
      previously reported differential seasonal acquisition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      in young children with CF and no such variation for methicillin-susceptible
      Staphylococcus aureus acquisition. The purpose of this study was to describe and
      compare the seasonal incidence of acquisition of other respiratory bacterial
      pathogens in young children with CF. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study
      to describe and compare the seasonal incidence of methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Achromobacter
      xylosoxidans, and Haemophilus influenzae acquisition in young CF patients
      residing in the U.S. using the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation National Patient
      Registry, 2003-2009. Log-linear overdispersed Poisson regression was used to
      evaluate seasonal acquisition of each of these pathogens. RESULTS: A total of
      4552 children met inclusion criteria. During follow-up 910 (20%), 1161 (26%), 228
      (5%), and 2148 (47%) children acquired MRSA, S. maltophilia, A. xylosoxidans and
      H. influenzae, respectively. Compared to winter season, MRSA was less frequently
      acquired in spring (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR]: 0.79; 95% Confidence Interval
      [CI]: 0.65, 0.96) and summer (IRR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.84) seasons. Similarly,
      a lower rate of A. xylosoxidans acquisition was observed in spring (IRR: 0.59;
      95% CI: 0.39, 0.89). For H. influenzae, summer (IRR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.78, 0.99)
      and autumn (IRR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.88) seasons were associated with lower
      acquisition rates compared to winter. No seasonal variation was observed for S.
      maltophilia acquisition. CONCLUSION: Acquisition of CF-related respiratory
      pathogens displays seasonal variation in young children with CF, with the highest
      rate of acquisition for most pathogens occurring in the winter. Investigation of
      factors underlying these observed associations may contribute to our
      understanding of the aetiology of these infections and guide future infection
      control strategies.

PMID- 28599640
TI  - Dengue type 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: case characterization following its
      introduction in an endemic region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the populations' susceptibility, DENV-4 introduction in 2010
      led to the occurrence of explosive epidemics in the following years in Brazil. In
      2011, DENV-4 was identified in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and it was prevalent in 2012
      and 2013. Here, we aimed to characterize clinical, epidemiological and
      laboratorial aspects of DENV-4 cases after this serotype introduction in an
      endemic scenario. METHODS: Dengue suspected cases (n = 3727) were received and
      analyzed from January 2011 to December 2013, during outbreaks occurred in RJ,
      Brazil. Samples were submitted to virological, serological and molecular methods
      for case confirmation. DENV-4 cases (n = 705) were characterized according to the
      type of infection, disease severity and, viremia levels and NS1 antigenemia were
      accessed. Representative strains were partial sequenced for genotyping. RESULTS:
      DENV-4 was identified in 44.2% (705/1593) of dengue positive cases, virus
      isolated in 48.7% of the cases. Anti-DENV IgM was detected in 39.4% of the cases,
      however an increased detection was observed in cases with >=4 days of symptoms
      (57.0%). NS1 antigen was identified in 41.5% of DENV-4 cases however, after
      immune complexes dissociation, the detection significantly increased (87.6%).
      Females were more affected than males, so did children aged 11-15 years old.
      Primary cases were more frequently observed than secondary ones and most of them
      were classified as dengue. No differences on NS1 antigenemia and viraemia within
      the groups were observed. Despite the higher frequency of severe disease on
      individuals >65 years old, no differences were observed among the groups and type
      of infection. However, DENV-4 fatal cases were more frequent on secondary
      infections (57.1%). DENV-4 Genotype II was identified with a probable origin from
      Venezuela and Colombia. CONCLUSIONS: It has been shown that laboratorial
      diagnosis is still a reliable tool for the disease surveillance, detecting and
      confirming emerging epidemics. Despite the occurrence of secondary infections,
      most DENV-4 cases presented a mild disease. As RJ is endemic for dengue, high
      rates of secondary infections would be expected. Despite the existence of two
      genotypes, only Genotype II was identified in our study.

PMID- 28599641
TI  - Morphological modularity in the vertebral column of Felidae (Mammalia,
      Carnivora).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that the clear morphological
      differences among vertebrae across the presacral column are accompanied by
      heterogeneous functional signals in vertebral shape. Further, several lines of
      evidence suggest that the mammalian axial skeleton is a highly modular structure.
      These include its composition of serial units, a trade-off between high shape
      variance and strong conservation of vertebral count, and direct association of
      regions with anterior expression sites of Hox genes. Here we investigate the
      modular organisation of the presacral vertebral column of modern cats (Felidae,
      Carnivora, Mammalia) with pairwise comparisons of vertebral shape covariation
      (i.e. integration) and evaluate our results against hypotheses of developmental
      and functional modularity. We used three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to
      quantify vertebral shape and then assessed integration between pairs of vertebrae
      with phylogenetic two-block partial least square analysis (PLS). RESULTS: Six
      modules were identified in the pairwise analyses (vertebrae included are
      designated as 'C' for cervical, 'T' for thoracic, and 'L' for lumbar): an
      anterior module (C1 to T1); a transitional module situated between the last
      cervicals and first thoracics (C6 to T2); an anterior to middle thoracic set (T4
      to T8); an anticlinal module (T10 and T11); a posterior set composed of the last
      two thoracics and lumbars (T12 to L7); and a module showing covariation between
      the cervicals and the posterior set (T12 to L7). These modules reflect shared
      developmental pathways, ossification timing, and observed ecological shape
      diversification in living species of felids. CONCLUSIONS: We show here that
      patterns of shape integration reflect modular organisation of the vertebral
      column of felids. Whereas this pattern corresponds with hypotheses of
      developmental and functional regionalisation in the axial skeleton, it does not
      simply reflect major vertebral regions. This modularity may also have permitted
      vertebral partitions, specifically in the posterior vertebral column, to be more
      responsive to selection and achieve higher morphological disparity than other
      vertebral regions.

PMID- 28599642
TI  - Regional and hospital variations in the extent of decline in the proportion of
      percutaneous coronary interventions performed for nonacute indications - a
      nationwide population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The volume and percentage of percutaneous coronary interventions
      (PCIs) performed for nonacute indications have declined in the United States
      since 2007. However, little is known if similar trends occurred in Taiwan.
      METHODS: We used data from Taiwan National Health Insurance inpatient claims to
      examine the regional and hospital variations in the extent of decline in the
      percentage of nonacute indication PCIs from 2007 to 2012. RESULTS: The volume of
      total PCIs persistently increased from 29,032 in 2007 to 35,811 in 2010 and
      37,426 in 2012. However, the volume of nonacute indication PCIs first increased
      from 7916 in 2007 to 9143 in 2009 and then decreased to 8666 in 2012. The
      percentage of nonacute indication PCIs steadily decreased from 27% in 2007 to 26%
      in 2009 and then to 23% in 2012, a - 15% change. The extent of decline was
      largest in the North region (from 27% to 21 %, a - 22% change) and least in
      Kaopin region (from 20% to 18%, a - 13% change). Of the 71 hospitals studied, 14
      did not show a decreasing trend. Five of the 14 hospitals even showed an
      increasing trend, with a percentage change >10% between 2007 and 2012. In 2012, 6
      hospitals had a nonacute indication PCI percentage >35%. CONCLUSIONS: In Taiwan,
      four-fifths of the hospitals showed a decline in the percentage of nonacute
      indication PCIs from 2007 to 2012. It is plausible that Taiwanese cardiologists
      would have been influenced by the recommendations of crucial US trials and
      guidelines.

PMID- 28599644
TI  - Parent engagement and attendance in PEACHTM QLD - an up-scaled parent-led
      childhood obesity program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parenting, Eating and Activity for Child Health (PEACHTM) is a
      multicomponent treatment program delivered over ten group sessions to parents of
      overweight/obese primary school-aged children. It has been shown to be
      efficacious in an RCT and was recently translated to a large-scale community
      intervention funded by the Queensland (Australia) Government. Engagement
      (enrolment and attendance) was critical to achieving program outcomes and was
      challenging. The purpose of the present study was to examine sample
      characteristics and mediating factors that potentially influenced program
      attendance. METHODS: Data collected from parents who attended at least one
      PEACHTM Queensland session delivered between October 2013 and October 2015 (47
      programs implemented in 29 discrete sites), was used in preliminary descriptive
      analyses of sample characteristics and multilevel single linear regression
      analyses. Mediation analysis examined associations between socio-demographic and
      parent characteristics and attendance at group sessions and potential mediation
      by child and parent factors. RESULTS: 365/467 (78%) enrolled families (92%
      mothers) including 411/519 (79%) children (55% girls, mean age 9 +/- 2 years)
      attended at least one session (mean 5.6 +/- 3.2). A majority of families (69%)
      self-referred to the program. Program attendance was greater in: advantaged (5.9
      +/- 3.1 sessions) vs disadvantaged families (5.4 +/- 3.4 sessions) (p < 0.05);
      partnered (6.1 +/- 3.1 sessions) vs un-partnered parents (5.0 +/- 3.1 sessions)
      (p < 0.01); higher educated (6.1 +/- 3.0 sessions) vs lower educated parents (5.1
      +/- 3.3 sessions) (p = 0.02); and self-referral (6.1 +/- 3.1) vs professional
      referral (4.7 +/- 3.3) (p < 0.001). Child (age, gender, pre-program healthy
      eating) and parent (perceptions of child weight, self-efficacy) factors did not
      mediate these relationships. CONCLUSIONS: To promote reach and effectiveness of
      up-scaled programs, it is important to identify ways to engage less advantaged
      families who carry higher child obesity risk. Understanding differences in
      referral source and parent readiness for change may assist in tailoring program
      content. The influence of program-level factors (e.g. facilitator and setting
      characteristics) should be investigated as possible alternative mediators to
      program engagement.

PMID- 28599645
TI  - Associations between perceptions of care and women's childbirth experience: a
      population-based cross-sectional study in Rwanda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years Rwanda has achieved remarkable improvement in quality
      of maternity care services but there is evidence of deficiencies in care quality
      in terms of disrespectful care. Women's overall childbirth experience is an
      important outcome of childbirth and a factor in assessing quality of care. The
      aim of this study was to investigate how women's overall childbirth experience in
      Rwanda was related to their perceptions of childbirth care. METHODS: A cross
      sectional household study of women who had given birth 1-13 months earlier (n =
      921) was performed in the Northern Province and in the capital city. Data was
      collected via structured interviews following a questionnaire. Significant
      variables measuring perceptions of care were included in a stepwise forward
      selection logistic regression model with overall childbirth experience as a
      dichotomised target variable to find independent predictors of a good childbirth
      experience. RESULTS: The majority of women (77.5%) reported a good overall
      childbirth experience. In a logistic regression model five factors of perceived
      care were significant independent predictors of a good experience: confidence in
      staff (Adjusted OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.20-2.49), receiving enough information (AOR
      1.44, 95% CI 1.03-2.00), being treated with respect (AOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.18-2.43),
      getting support from staff (AOR 1.75, 95% CI 1.20-2.56), and having the baby skin
      to-skin after birth (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.52-3.19). CONCLUSIONS: To further improve
      childbirth care in Rwanda and care for women according to their preferences, it
      is important to make sure that the childbirth care includes the following quality
      aspects in national and clinical guidelines: build confidence, provide good
      information, treat women and families with respect, provide good professional
      support during childbirth and put the newborn baby skin-to-skin with its mother
      early after birth.

PMID- 28599643
TI  - Regulation of the reserve carbohydrate metabolism by alkaline pH and calcium in
      Neurospora crassa reveals a possible cross-regulation of both signaling pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glycogen and trehalose are storage carbohydrates and their levels in
      microorganisms vary according to environmental conditions. In Neurospora crassa,
      alkaline pH stress highly influences glycogen levels, and in Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae, the response to pH stress also involves the calcineurin signaling
      pathway mediated by the Crz1 transcription factor. Recently, in yeast, pH stress
      response genes were identified as targets of Crz1 including genes involved in
      glycogen and trehalose metabolism. In this work, we present evidence that in N.
      crassa the glycogen and trehalose metabolism is modulated by alkaline pH and
      calcium stresses. RESULTS: We demonstrated that the pH signaling pathway in N.
      crassa controls the accumulation of the reserve carbohydrates glycogen and
      trehalose via the PAC-3 transcription factor, which is the central regulator of
      the signaling pathway. The protein binds to the promoters of most of the genes
      encoding enzymes of glycogen and trehalose metabolism and regulates their
      expression. We also demonstrated that the reserve carbohydrate levels and gene
      expression are both modulated under calcium stress and that the response to
      calcium stress may involve the concerted action of PAC-3. Calcium activates
      growth of the Deltapac-3 strain and influences its glycogen and trehalose
      accumulation. In addition, calcium stress differently regulates glycogen and
      trehalose metabolism in the mutant strain compared to the wild-type strain. While
      glycogen levels are decreased in both strains, the trehalose levels are
      significantly increased in the wild-type strain and not affected by calcium in
      the mutant strain when compared to mycelium not exposed to calcium. CONCLUSIONS:
      We previously reported the role of PAC-3 as a transcription factor involved in
      glycogen metabolism regulation by controlling the expression of the gsn gene,
      which encodes an enzyme of glycogen synthesis. In this work, we extended the
      investigation by studying in greater detail the effects of pH on the metabolism
      of the reserve carbohydrate glycogen and trehalose. We also demonstrated that
      calcium stress affects the reserve carbohydrate levels and the response to
      calcium stress may require PAC-3. Considering that the reserve carbohydrate
      metabolism may be subjected to different signaling pathways control, our data
      contribute to the understanding of the N. crassa responses under pH and calcium
      stresses.

PMID- 28599646
TI  - Agility assessment using fuzzy logic approach: a case of healthcare dispensary.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Agile concepts are not only beneficial for manufacturing sector but
      also for service sector such as healthcare. However, assessment of agility has
      been predominantly done in manufacturing enterprises. This study demonstrates a
      means to measure agility of a healthcare organization by assessing agility of a
      university dispensary. Its contribution to the knowledge base is twofold. First,
      it proposes a means to measure the agility of a healthcare organization and
      second, it identifies the attributes that prevent agile performance and outlines
      the suggestive measure to enhance its agile capabilities. METHOD: A case study
      approach has been adopted and fuzzy logic has been employed to measure the
      agility of the case dispensary. At first, the measures of assessment which
      include four enablers, fifteen criteria and forty-five attributes have been
      identified from the literature and rated by the experts indicating the importance
      of the measures in the assessment. Then, the case dispensary has been assessed on
      those measures by collecting observed performance rating from decision makers. At
      last, Fuzzy logic has been applied on the performance rating data to analyze and
      interpret the agile capability of the dispensary. RESULTS: The findings suggest
      that transparent information flow, adequate salary and bonuses for caregivers,
      reading error in medical descriptions, in house/nearby pathology laboratory
      services, technical up-gradation of dispensary equipments and facilities,
      minimization of patient throughput time and adequate training programme for
      safety practices are the attributes that weakens agile capability of the
      University dispensary. The current agility of the dispensary was found to be
      'Agile' which is average in relation to the agility labels. CONCLUSION:
      Attributes such as transparent information flow, adequate salary and bonuses for
      caregivers, elimination of reading error in medical descriptions, in house/nearby
      pathology laboratory services, technical up-gradation of dispensary equipments
      and facilities, minimization of patient throughput time and adequate training
      programme for safety practices are extremely crucial for enhancing agile
      capability of a healthcare organization.

PMID- 28599648
TI  - Surgeons' knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer
      in China: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is rare but highly malignant. Studies have shown
      that surgeons' knowledge closely links to the correct diagnosis and treatment
      outcomes of pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study was to survey current
      surgeons' knowledge regarding pancreatic cancer. METHODS: A cross-sectional study
      was conducted among 705 surgeons who attended the 2011 China Surgical Week's
      meeting in Beijing. A questionnaire regarding the risk factors, clinical
      manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of pancreatic cancer was used. Surgeons'
      answers were analyzed and compared among different regions, levels of hospital,
      and professional ranks. RESULTS: Most surgeons had a correct knowledge toward the
      risk factors, diagnosis, and management of pancreatic cancer. However, several
      knowledge gaps were identified. They include "The association between type 2
      diabetes and pancreatic cancer", "The most common histologic type of pancreatic
      neoplasm", "the typical clinical symptoms of pancreatic cancer", "The accuracy of
      ultrasound in screening pancreatic cancer", "Enhanced CT in the diagnosis of
      pancreatic cancer", and "Which is more superior between MRI and CT in the
      diagnosis of pancreatic cancer". We also found that overall surgeons' responses
      did not depend on their geographic locations, but on hospital levels and
      professional ranks. Surgeons working at level three hospitals had better
      knowledge than others in certain areas and resident surgeons had fewer correct
      answers in some areas. CONCLUSIONS: Although most surgeons have a good knowledge
      in most areas related to the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer in
      China, certain knowledge gaps exist, particularly among trainees and those from
      low level hospitals. Continuing medical education programs to improve these
      knowledge gaps should be implemented.

PMID- 28599647
TI  - Association of lumbar spine stiffness and flexion-relaxation phenomenon with
      patient-reported outcomes in adults with chronic low back pain - a single-arm
      clinical trial investigating the effects of thrust spinal manipulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal manipulation (SM) is used commonly for treating low back pain
      (LBP). Spinal stiffness is routinely assessed by clinicians performing SM.
      Flexion-relaxation ratio (FRR) was shown to distinguish between LBP and healthy
      populations. The primary objective of this study was to examine the association
      of these two physiological variables with patient-reported pain intensity and
      disability in adults with chronic LBP (>12 weeks) receiving SM. METHODS: A single
      arm trial provided 12 sessions of side-lying thrust SM in the lumbosacral region
      over 6 weeks. Inclusion criteria included 21-65 years old, Roland-Morris
      Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) score >= 6 and numerical pain rating score >= 2.
      Spinal stiffness and FRR were assessed pre-treatment at baseline, after 2 weeks
      and after 6 weeks of treatment. Lumbar spine global stiffness (GS) were
      calculated from the force-displacement curves obtained using i) hand palpation,
      ii) a hand-held device, and iii) an automated indenter device. Lumbar FRR was
      assessed during trunk flexion-extension using surface electromyography. The
      primary outcomes were RMDQ and pain intensity measured by visual analog scale
      (VAS). Mixed-effects regression models were used to analyze the data. RESULTS:
      The mean age of the 82 participants was 45 years; 48% were female; and 84%
      reported LBP >1 year. The mean (standard deviation) baseline pain intensity and
      RMDQ were 46.1 (18.1) and 9.5 (4.3), respectively. The mean reduction (95%
      confidence interval) after 6 weeks in pain intensity and RMDQ were 20.1 mm (14.1
      to 26.1) and 4.8 (3.7 to 5.8). There was a small change over time in the
      palpatory GS but not in the hand-held or automated GS, nor in FRR. The addition
      of each physiologic variable did not affect the model-estimated changes in VAS or
      RMDQ over time. There was no association seen between physiological variables and
      LBP intensity. Higher levels of hand-held GS at L3 and automated GS were
      significantly associated with higher levels of RMDQ (p = 0.02 and 0.03,
      respectively) and lower levels of flexion and extension FRR were significantly
      associated with higher levels of RMDQ (p = 0.02 and 0.008, respectively) across
      the 3 assessment time points. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in pain and disability
      observed in study participants with chronic LBP was not associated with the
      measured GS or FRR. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01670292 on clinicaltrials.gov, August
      2, 2012.

PMID- 28599649
TI  - Parental supply of alcohol and adolescent drinking: a multilevel analysis of
      nationally representative data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Existing research on parental supply of alcohol analyses the effects
      of self-reported parental supply on adolescent drinking using individual level
      data. This study examined the contextual effect of parental supply of alcohol on
      adolescent alcohol use by examining the association between the prevalence of
      parental supply in each Australian state and adolescent alcohol use using a
      multilevel analytic framework. METHODS: Adolescent samples (Age: 12-17) were
      drawn from the four National Drug Strategy Household Surveys (2004, 2007, 2010
      and 2013; N = 6803). The prevalence of parental supply of alcohol, defined as the
      weighted percentage of sample who reported obtaining alcohol from their parents,
      was estimated in each state and territory across the four surveys. Three
      multilevel logistic regressions were used to examine the contextual effects of
      parental supply prevalence on adolescents' alcohol use in the past 12 months,
      weekly drinking and heavy drinking. RESULTS: Overall, adolescents' rates of past
      12 months alcohol use, heavy drinking and weekly drinking between 2004 and 2013
      were 40.1, 14.4 and 6.4% respectively. The prevalence of parental supply was
      significantly associated with past 12 months alcohol use (OR = 1.06, p < .001)
      and heavy drinking (OR = 1.04, p < .001) but not with weekly drinking (OR = 1.03,
      p = .189). The results were adjusted for gender, age, socio-economic index for
      area, place of birth, survey year and prevalence of peer supply. CONCLUSION: A
      high prevalence of parental supply in a region was associated with heavier
      adolescent drinking, regardless of whether adolescents primarily obtained their
      alcohol from their own parents.

PMID- 28599650
TI  - The role of extracellular vesicles in malaria biology and pathogenesis.
AB  - In the past decade, research on the functions of extracellular vesicles in
      malaria has expanded dramatically. Investigations into the various vesicle types,
      from both host and parasite origin, has revealed important roles for
      extracellular vesicles in disease pathogenesis and susceptibility, as well as
      cell-cell communication and immune responses. Here, work relating to
      extracellular vesicles in malaria is reviewed, and the areas that remain unknown
      and require further investigations are highlighted.

PMID- 28599651
TI  - Microtiter plate cultivation of oleaginous fungi and monitoring of lipogenesis by
      high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oleaginous fungi can accumulate lipids by utilizing a wide range of
      waste substrates. They are an important source for the industrial production of
      omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (gamma-linolenic and arachidonic acid) and
      have been suggested as an alternative route for biodiesel production. Initial
      research steps for various applications include the screening of fungi in order
      to find efficient fungal producers with desired fatty acid composition.
      Traditional cultivation methods (shake flask) and lipid analysis (extraction-gas
      chromatography) are not applicable for large-scale screening due to their low
      throughput and time-consuming analysis. Here we present a microcultivation system
      combined with high-throughput Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for
      efficient screening of oleaginous fungi. RESULTS: The microcultivation system
      enables highly reproducible fungal fermentations throughout 12 days of
      cultivation. Reproducibility was validated by FTIR and HPLC data. Analysis of
      FTIR spectral ester carbonyl peaks of fungal biomass offered a reliable high
      throughput at-line method to monitor lipid accumulation. Partial least square
      regression between gas chromatography fatty acid data and corresponding FTIR
      spectral data was used to set up calibration models for the prediction of
      saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids,
      unsaturation index, total lipid content and main individual fatty acids. High
      coefficients of determination (R2 = 0.86-0.96) and satisfactory residual
      predictive deviation of cross-validation (RPDCV = 2.6-5.1) values demonstrated
      the goodness of these models. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated in this study,
      that the presented microcultivation system combined with rapid, high-throughput
      FTIR spectroscopy is a suitable screening platform for oleaginous fungi. Sample
      preparation for FTIR measurements can be automated to further increase throughput
      of the system.

PMID- 28599653
TI  - Dynamics of transcriptional (re)-programming of syncytial nuclei in developing
      muscles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A stereotyped array of body wall muscles enables precision and
      stereotypy of animal movements. In Drosophila, each syncytial muscle forms via
      fusion of one founder cell (FC) with multiple fusion competent myoblasts (FCMs).
      The specific morphology of each muscle, i.e. distinctive shape, orientation, size
      and skeletal attachment sites, reflects the specific combination of identity
      transcription factors (iTFs) expressed by its FC. Here, we addressed three
      questions: Are FCM nuclei naive? What is the selectivity and temporal sequence of
      transcriptional reprogramming of FCMs recruited into growing syncytium? Is
      transcription of generic myogenic and identity realisation genes coordinated
      during muscle differentiation? RESULTS: The tracking of nuclei in developing
      muscles shows that FCM nuclei are competent to be transcriptionally reprogrammed
      to a given muscle identity, post fusion. In situ hybridisation to nascent
      transcripts for FCM, FC-generic and iTF genes shows that this reprogramming is
      progressive, beginning by repression of FCM-specific genes in fused nuclei, with
      some evidence that FC nuclei retain specific characteristics. Transcription of
      identity realisation genes is linked to iTF activation and regulated at levels of
      both transcription initiation rate and period of transcription. The generic
      muscle differentiation programme is activated independently. CONCLUSIONS:
      Transcription reprogramming of fused myoblast nuclei is progressive, such that
      nuclei within a syncytial fibre at a given time point during muscle development
      are heterogeneous with regards to specific gene transcription. This comprehensive
      view of the dynamics of transcriptional (re)programming of post-mitotic nuclei
      within syncytial cells provides a new framework for understanding the
      transcriptional control of the lineage diversity of multinucleated cells.

PMID- 28599655
TI  - Canine REIC/Dkk-3 interacts with SGTA and restores androgen receptor signalling
      in androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathological condition of canine prostate cancer resembles that
      of human androgen-independent prostate cancer. Both canine and human androgen
      receptor (AR) signalling are inhibited by overexpression of the dimerized co
      chaperone small glutamine-rich tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein alpha
      (SGTA), which is considered to cause the development of androgen-independency.
      Reduced expression in immortalised cells (REIC/Dkk-3) interferes with SGTA
      dimerization and rescues AR signalling. This study aimed to assess the effects of
      REIC/Dkk-3 and SGTA interactions on AR signalling in the canine androgen
      independent prostate cancer cell line CHP-1. RESULTS: Mammalian two-hybrid and
      Halo-tagged pull-down assays showed that canine REIC/Dkk-3 interacted with SGTA
      and interfered with SGTA dimerization. Additionally, reporter assays revealed
      that canine REIC/Dkk-3 restored AR signalling in both human and canine androgen
      independent prostate cancer cells. Therefore, we confirmed the interaction
      between canine SGTA and REIC/Dkk-3, as well as their role in AR signalling.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that this interaction might contribute to the
      development of a novel strategy for androgen-independent prostate cancer
      treatment. Moreover, we established the canine androgen-independent prostate
      cancer model as a suitable animal model for the study of this type of treatment
      refractory human cancer.

PMID- 28599654
TI  - Identification of nocamycin biosynthetic gene cluster from Saccharothrix syringae
      NRRL B-16468 and generation of new nocamycin derivatives by manipulating gene
      cluster.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nocamycins I and II, produced by the rare actinomycete Saccharothrix
      syringae, belong to the tetramic acid family natural products. Nocamycins show
      potent antimicrobial activity and they hold great potential for antibacterial
      agent design. However, up to now, little is known about the exact biosynthetic
      mechanism of nocamycin. RESULTS: In this report, we identified the gene cluster
      responsible for nocamycin biosynthesis from S. syringae and generated new
      nocamycin derivatives by manipulating its gene cluster. The biosynthetic gene
      cluster for nocamycin contains a 61 kb DNA locus, consisting of 21 open reading
      frames (ORFs). Five type I polyketide synthases (NcmAI, NcmAII, NcmAIII, NcmAIV,
      NcmAV) and a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NcmB) are proposed to be involved
      in synthesis of the backbone structure, a Dieckmann cyclase NcmC catalyze the
      releasing of linear chain and the formation of tetramic acid moiety, five enzymes
      (NcmEDGOP) are related to post-tailoring steps, and five enzymes (NcmNJKIM)
      function as regulators. Targeted inactivation of ncmB led to nocamycin production
      being completely abolished, which demonstrates that this gene cluster is involved
      in nocamycin biosynthesis. To generate new nocamycin derivatives, the gene ncmG,
      encoding for a cytochrome P450 oxidase, was inactivated. Two new nocamycin
      derivatives nocamycin III and nocamycin IV were isolated from the ncmG deletion
      mutant strain and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data
      analyses. Based on bioinformatics analysis and new derivatives isolated from gene
      inactivation mutant strains, a biosynthetic pathway of nocamycins was proposed.
      CONCLUSION: These findings provide the basis for further understanding of
      nocamycin biosynthetic mechanism, and set the stage to rationally engineer new
      nocamycin derivatives via combinatorial biosynthesis strategy.

PMID- 28599656
TI  - Transitional care for rheumatic conditions in Europe: current clinical practice
      and available resources.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess European pediatric rheumatology providers' current clinical
      practices and resources used in the transition from child-centered to adult
      oriented care. METHODS: European pediatric rheumatologists were invited to
      complete a 17-item anonymized e-survey assessing current transition practices,
      transition policy awareness, and needs in advance of the publication of
      EULAR/PReS recommendations on transition. RESULTS: The response rate was 121/276
      (44%), including responses from 115 centers in 22 European Union countries.
      Although 32/121 (26%) responded that their centers did not offer transition
      services, the majority (99%) agreed that a formalized process in transitioning
      patients to adult care is necessary. A minority (<30%) of respondents stated that
      they have a written transition policy although 46% have an informal transition
      process. Designated staff to support transitional care were available in a
      minority of centers: nurse (35%), physiotherapist (15%), psychologist (15%),
      social worker (8%), and occupational therapist (2%). The existence of a
      designated team member to coordinate transition was acknowledged in many centers
      (64% of respondents) although just 36% use a checklist for young people as part
      of individualized transitional care. CONCLUSION: This survey of European
      pediatric rheumatology providers regarding transitional care practices
      demonstrates agreement that transitional care is important, and wide variation in
      current provision of transition services exists.

PMID- 28599652
TI  - Regulatory T cells in multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating disease of the central nervous
      system primarily mediated by T lymphocytes with specificity to neuronal antigens
      in genetically susceptible individuals. On the other hand, myasthenia gravis (MG)
      primarily involves destruction of the neuromuscular junction by antibodies
      specific to the acetylcholine receptor. Both autoimmune diseases are thought to
      result from loss of self-tolerance, which allows for the development and function
      of autoreactive lymphocytes. Although the mechanisms underlying compromised self
      tolerance in these and other autoimmune diseases have not been fully elucidated,
      one possibility is numerical, functional, and/or migratory deficits in T
      regulatory cells (Tregs). Tregs are thought to play a critical role in the
      maintenance of peripheral immune tolerance. It is believed that Tregs function by
      suppressing the effector CD4+ T cell subsets that mediate autoimmune responses.
      Dysregulation of suppressive and migratory markers on Tregs have been linked to
      the pathogenesis of both MS and MG. For example, genetic abnormalities have been
      found in Treg suppressive markers CTLA-4 and CD25, while others have shown a
      decreased expression of FoxP3 and IL-10. Furthermore, elevated levels of pro
      inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-17, and IFN-gamma secreted by T effectors
      have been noted in MS and MG patients. This review provides several strategies of
      treatment which have been shown to be effective or are proposed as potential
      therapies to restore the function of various Treg subsets including Tr1, iTr35,
      nTregs, and iTregs. Strategies focusing on enhancing the Treg function find
      importance in cytokines TGF-beta, IDO, interleukins 10, 27, and 35, and ligands
      Jagged-1 and OX40L. Likewise, strategies which affect Treg migration involve
      chemokines CCL17 and CXCL11. In pre-clinical animal models of experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis
      (EAMG), several strategies have been shown to ameliorate the disease and thus
      appear promising for treating patients with MS or MG.

PMID- 28599658
TI  - 'Holding the line': a qualitative study of the role of evidence in early phase
      decision-making in the reconfiguration of stroke services in London.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health service reconfigurations are of international interest but
      remain poorly understood. This article focuses on the use of evidence by senior
      managerial decision-makers involved in the reconfiguration of stroke services in
      London 2008-2012. Recent work comparing stroke service reconfiguration in London
      and Manchester emphasises the ability of senior managerial decision-makers in
      London to 'hold the line' in the crucial early phases of the stroke
      reconfiguration programme. In this article, we explore in detail how these
      decision-makers 'held the line' and ask what the broader power implications of
      doing so are for the interaction between evidence, health policy and system
      redesign. METHODS: The research combined semi-structured interviews (n = 20) and
      documentary analysis of historically relevant policy papers and contemporary
      stroke reconfiguration documentation published by NHS London and other interested
      parties (n = 125). We applied a critical interpretive and reflexive approach to
      the analysis of the data. RESULTS: We identified two forms of power which senior
      managerial decision-makers drew upon in order to 'hold the line'. Firstly,
      discursive power, which through an emphasis on evidence, better patient outcomes,
      professional support and clinical credibility alongside a tightly managed
      consultation process, helped to set an agenda that was broadly receptive to the
      overall decision to change stroke services in the capital in a radical way.
      Secondly, once the essential parameters of the decision to change services had
      been agreed, senior managerial decision-makers 'held the line' through
      hierarchical New Public Management style power to minimise the traditional
      pressures to de-radicalise the reconfiguration through 'top down' decision
      making. CONCLUSIONS: We problematise the concept of 'holding the line' and
      explore the power implications of such managerial approaches in the early phases
      of health service reconfiguration. We highlight the importance of evidence for
      senior managerial decision-makers in agenda setting and the limitations of
      clinical research findings in guiding politically sensitive policy decisions
      which impact upon regional healthcare systems.

PMID- 28599657
TI  - Comparison of methods for calculating the health costs of endocrine disrupters: a
      case study on triclosan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic analysis is currently used in the Europe Union as part
      of the regulatory process in Regulation Registration, Evaluation and
      Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), with the aim of assessing and managing risks
      from dangerous chemicals. The political impact of the socio-economic analysis is
      potentially high in the authorisation and restriction procedures, however,
      current socio-economic analysis dossiers submitted under REACH are very
      heterogeneous in terms of methodology used and quality. Furthermore, the economic
      literature is not very helpful for regulatory purposes, as most published
      calculations of health costs associated with chemical exposures use
      epidemiological studies as input data, but such studies are rarely available for
      most substances. The quasi-totality of the data used in the REACH dossiers comes
      from toxicological studies. METHODS: This paper assesses the use of the
      integrated probabilistic risk assessment, based on toxicological data, for the
      calculation of health costs associated with endocrine disrupting effects of
      triclosan. The results are compared with those obtained using the population
      attributable fraction, based on epidemiological data. RESULTS: The results based
      on the integrated probabilistic risk assessment indicated that 4894 men could
      have reproductive deficits based on the decreased vas deferens weights observed
      in rats, 0 cases of changed T3 levels, and 0 cases of girls with early pubertal
      development. The results obtained with the Population Attributable Fraction
      method showed 7,199,228 cases of obesity per year, 281,923 girls per year with
      early pubertal development and 88,957 to 303,759 cases per year with increased
      total T3 hormone levels. The economic costs associated with increased BMI due to
      TCS exposure could be calculated. Direct health costs were estimated at ?5.8
      billion per year. CONCLUSIONS: The two methods give very different results for
      the same effects. The choice of a toxicological-based or an epidemiological-based
      method in the socio-economic analysis will therefore significantly impact the
      estimated health costs and consequently the political risk management decision.
      Additional work should be done for understanding the reasons of these significant
      differences.

PMID- 28599659
TI  - Zika vector transmission risk in temperate Australia: a vector competence study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zika virus is an emerging pathogen of global importance. It has been
      responsible for recent outbreaks in the Americas and in the Pacific region. This
      study assessed five different mosquito species from the temperate climatic zone
      in Australia and included Aedes albopictus as a potentially invasive species.
      METHODS: Mosquitoes were orally challenged by membrane feeding with Zika virus
      strain of Cambodia 2010 origin, belonging to the Asian clade. Virus infection and
      dissemination were assessed by quantitative PCR on midgut and carcass after
      dissection. Transmission was assessed by determination of cytopathogenic effect
      of saliva (CPE) on Vero cells, followed by determination of 50% tissue culture
      infectious dose (TCID50) for CPE positive samples. Additionally, the presence of
      Wolbachia endosymbiont infection was assessed by qPCR and standard PCR. RESULTS:
      Culex mosquitoes were found unable to present Zika virus in saliva, as
      demonstrated by molecular as well as virological methods. Aedes aegypti, was used
      as a positive control for Zika infection and showed a high level of virus
      infection, dissemination and transmission. Local Aedes species, Ae. notoscriptus
      and, to a lesser degree, Ae. camptorhynchus were found to expel virus in their
      saliva and contained viral nucleic acid within the midgut. Molecular assessment
      identified low or no dissemination for these species, possibly due to low virus
      loads. Ae. albopictus from Torres Strait islands origin was shown as an efficient
      vector. Cx quinquefasciatus was shown to harbour Wolbachia endosymbionts at high
      prevalence, whilst no Wolbachia was found in Cx annulirostris. The Australian Ae.
      albopictus population was shown to harbour Wolbachia at high frequency.
      CONCLUSIONS: The risk of local Aedes species triggering large Zika epidemics in
      the southern parts of Australia is low. The potentially invasive Ae. albopictus
      showed high prevalence of virus in the saliva and constitutes a potential threat
      if this mosquito species becomes established in mainland Australia. Complete risk
      analysis of Zika transmission in the temperate zone would require an assessment
      of the impact of temperature on Zika virus replication within local and invasive
      mosquito species.

PMID- 28599660
TI  - Does the location of placement of meniscal sutures have a clinical effect in the
      all-inside repair of meniscocapsular tears?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Meniscocapsular separation (MCS) is a lesion of the area which is
      attached from the peripheral section of the meniscus to the capsule and is seen
      less often than other meniscus injuries. The aim of this study was to investigate
      which of the different side applications of all-inside MCS repair of the meniscus
      was better in respect of clinical and functional results. METHODS: In this
      retrospective study, 53 patients with MCS pattern in their knee joints were
      treated with arthroscopic meniscus repair made with the all-inside method. The
      patients were separated into three groups according to the surface from which the
      fixation was applied: group 1, from the femoral joint surface of the meniscus (n
      = 17), group 2, from the tibial joint surface of the meniscus (n = 21) and group
      3, from the femoral and tibial joint surfaces of the meniscus (n = 15). The
      participants were assessed using the subjective International Knee Documentation
      Committee Scoring (IKDC), Lysholm Knee Scale, Tegner Activity Level Scale,
      Barrett criteria and Kellgren-Lawrence classification after a 45 +/- 12.1 months
      (range, 24-70 months) follow-up. RESULTS: Postoperatively, all the groups
      exhibited significantly increased subjective IKDC score, Lysholm score and Tegner
      activity score compared with their preoperative results (p < 0.001). At 6 months
      postoperatively, a statistically significant difference was determined between
      the groups in respect of the subjective IKDC score, Tegner activity score and
      Lysholm score with group 2 showing better results than the other groups (p <
      0.001). At the final follow-up examination, no statistically significant
      difference was determined between the groups in respect of the subjective IKDC
      score, Tegner activity score or Lysholm score. A statistically significantly
      lower level of pulling and stress sensation was determined in group 2 (p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MCS repair made with the all-inside method is successful
      clinically and functionally and in respect of MRI findings. In addition, it was
      seen that the fixation method applied from the tibial surface of the meniscus
      does not disturb the anatomic position of the meniscus in MCS repair. The tibial
      joint surface is the most appropriate area for suturation in all-inside repair of
      MCS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

PMID- 28599661
TI  - Poor performance of quick-SOFA (qSOFA) score in predicting severe sepsis and
      mortality - a prospective study of patients admitted with infection to the
      emergency department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of qSOFA as a risk
      stratification tool for patients admitted with infection compared to traditional
      SIRS criteria or our triage system; the Rapid Emergency Triage and Treatment
      System (RETTS). METHODS: The study was an observational cohort study performed at
      one Emergency Department (ED) in an urban university teaching hospital in Norway,
      with approximately 20,000 visits per year. All patients >16 years presenting with
      symptoms or clinical signs suggesting an infection (n = 1535) were prospectively
      included in the study from January 1 to December 31, 2012. At arrival in the ED,
      vital signs were recorded and all patients were triaged according to RETTS vital
      signs, presenting infection, and sepsis symptoms. These admission data were also
      used to calculate qSOFA and SIRS. Treatment outcome was later retrieved from the
      patients' electronic records (EPR) and mortality data from the Norwegian
      population registry. RESULTS: Of the 1535 admitted patients, 108 (7.0%) fulfilled
      the Sepsis2 criteria for severe sepsis. The qSOFA score >=2 identified only 33
      (sensitivity 0.32, specificity 0.98) of the patients with severe sepsis, whilst
      the RETTS-alert >= orange identified 92 patients (sensitivity 0.85, specificity
      0.55). Twenty-six patients died within 7 days of admission; four (15.4%) of them
      had a qSOFA >=2, and 16 (61.5%) had RETTS >= orange alert. Of the 68 patients
      that died within 30 days, only eight (11.9%) scored >=2 on the qSOFA, and 45
      (66.1%) had a RETTS >= orange alert. DISCUSSION: In order to achieve timely
      treatment for sepsis, a sensitive screening tool is more important than a
      specific one. Our study is the fourth study were qSOFA finds few of the sepsis
      cases in prehospital or at arrival to the ED. We add information on the RETTS
      triage system, the two highest acuity levels together had a high sensitivity
      (85%) for identifying sepsis at arrival to the ED - and thus, RETTS should not be
      replaced by qSOFA as a screening and trigger tool for sepsis at arrival.
      CONCLUSION: In this observational cohort study, qSOFA failed to identify two
      thirds of the patients admitted to an ED with severe sepsis. Further, qSOFA
      failed to be a risk stratification tool as the sensitivity to predict 7-day and
      30-day mortality was low. The sensitivity was poorer than the other warning
      scores already in use at the study site, RETTS-triage and the SIRS criteria.

PMID- 28599662
TI  - A randomized controlled pilot study to evaluate the effect of an enteral
      formulation designed to improve gastrointestinal tolerance in the critically ill
      patient-the SPIRIT trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is frequent in patients in intensive care units (ICU) and is
      associated with discomfort and complications and may increase the length of stay
      and nursing workload. METHODS: This was a prospective, double-blind, randomized,
      controlled single-center pilot study to assess the incidence and frequency of
      diarrhea and the respective effects of a modified enteral diet (intervention:
      Peptamen(r) AF, rich in proteins, medium chain triglycerides and fish oil)
      compared to a standard diet (control: Isosource(r) Energy) in 90 randomized adult
      patients (intervention, n = 46; control, n = 44) with an ICU stay >=5 days and
      tube feeding >=3 days. Tube feeding was initiated within 72 h of ICU admission
      and continued up to 10 days. The caloric goal was adjusted to needs by indirect
      calorimetry. Gastrointestinal function, nutritional intake, and nursing workload
      were recorded. Follow-up was until 28 days after randomization. RESULTS: Median
      age was 63.3 (interquartile range (IQR) 51.0-73.2) years and Simplified Acute
      Physiology Score (SAPS) II was 61.0 (IQR 47.8-74). Time to reach caloric goal
      (intervention: 2.2 (0.8-3.7) days (median, IQR); control: 2.0 (1.3-2.7) days; p =
      0.16), length of time on study nutrition (intervention: 5.0 (3.6-6.4) days;
      control: 7.0 (5.3-8.7) days; p = 0.26), and calorie intake (intervention: 18.0
      (12.5-20.9) kcal/kg/day; control 19.7 (17.3-23.1) kcal/kg/day; p = 0.08) did not
      differ between groups, with a higher protein intake for Peptamen(r) group (1.13
      (0.78-1.31) g/kg/day vs 0.80 (0.70-0.94); p < 0.001). No difference in diarrhea
      incidence (intervention group: 29 (64%); control group: 31 (70%); p = 0.652), use
      of fecal collectors (23 (51%) vs. 24 (55%); p = 0.83), or diarrhea-free days (161
      (64%) vs 196 (68%); p = 0.65) was found. Nursing workload and cost for diarrhea
      care were not different between the groups. In a post-hoc analysis, adjusted for
      treatment group, age, sex, and SAPS II score, diarrhea was associated with length
      of mechanical ventilation (9.5 (6.0-13.1) vs. 3.9 (3.2-4.6) days; p = 0.006) and
      length of ICU stay (11.0 (8.9-13.1) vs. 5.0 (3.8-6.2) days; p = 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, we found a high incidence of diarrhea, which
      was not attenuated by Peptamen(r) AF. Patients with diarrhea stayed longer in the
      ICU. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01581957 . Registered
      on 18 April 2012.

PMID- 28599663
TI  - Salvage robotic SBRT for local prostate cancer recurrence after radiotherapy:
      preliminary results of the Oscar Lambret Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no standard option for local salvage treatment
      for local prostate cancer recurrence after radiotherapy. Our objective was to
      investigate the feasibility and efficiency of Robotic Stereotactic Body Radiation
      Therapy (SBRT) in this clinical setting. METHODS/MATERIALS: We retrospectively
      reviewed patients who were treated at our institution with SBRT for local
      prostate cancer recurrence after External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) or
      brachytherapy. Multidisciplinary staff approved the treatment, and recurrence was
      biopsy-proven when feasible. A dose of 36 Gy was prescribed in six fractions.
      Treatment was delivered every other day. RESULTS: Between August 2011 and
      February 2014, 23 patients were treated with SBRT for intra-prostate cancer
      recurrence with a median follow up of 22 months (6 to 40). Twenty patients had
      biopsy-proven recurrence. For 19 patients, EBRT was the initial treatment and in
      four patients, brachytherapy was the initial treatment; the median relapse-time
      from initial treatment was 65 months (28 to 150). At relapse, 10 patients had an
      extra-capsular extension. Fourteen patients were treated with androgen
      deprivation that could be stopped after a median of 1 month after SBRT (range 0
      24). A PSA decrease occurred in 82.6% of the patients after SBRT. The 2-year
      disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 54 and 100%, respectively.
      Disease progression was observed for nine patients (39.1%) (five local, three
      metastatic and one nodal progression) after a median of 20 months (7-40 months).
      The median nadir PSA was 0.35 ng/ml and was achieved after a median of 8 months
      (1 to 30) after treatment. We observed no grade 4 or 5 toxicity. Two patients
      presented with grade 3 toxicities (two Cystitis and one neuralgia). Other
      toxicities included urinary toxicities (five grade 2 and nine grade 1) and rectal
      toxicities (two grade 2 and two grade 1). CONCLUSION: SBRT for local prostate
      cancer recurrence seems feasible and well tolerated with a short follow up.
      Prospective evaluation is needed.

PMID- 28599664
TI  - Angiotensin II type 2 receptor promotes apoptosis and inhibits angiogenesis in
      bladder cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (BCa) is the ninth most common form of cancer in the
      world. There is a continuing need not only for improving the accuracy of
      diagnostic markers but also for the development of new treatment strategies.
      Recent studies have shown that the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which include
      the angiotensin type 1 (AT1R), type 2(AT2R), and Mas receptors, play an important
      role in tumorigenesis and may guide us in meeting those needs. RESULTS: In this
      study, we first observed that AT1R and Mas expression levels were significantly
      upregulated in BCa specimens while AT2R was significantly downregulated. Viral
      vector mediated overexpression of AT2R induced apoptosis and dramatically
      suppressed BCa cell proliferation in vitro, suggesting a therapeutic effect.
      Investigation into the mechanism revealed that the overexpression of AT2R
      increases the expression levels of caspase-3, caspase-8, and p38 and decreases
      the expression level of pErk. AT2R overexpression also leads to upregulation of 2
      apoptosis-related genes (BCL2A1, TNFSF25) and downregulation of 8 apoptosis
      related genes (CASP 6, CASP 9, DFFA, IGF1R, PYCARD, TNF, TNFRSF21, TNFSF10, NAIP)
      in transduced EJ cells as determined by PCR Array analysis. In vivo, we observed
      that AT2R overexpression caused significant reduction in xenograft tumors sizes
      by downregulation VEGF and induction of apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together,
      the data suggest that AT1R, AT2R or Mas could be used as a diagnostic marker of
      BCa and AT2R is a promising novel target gene for BCa gene therapy.

PMID- 28599666
TI  - Access to and use of long-lasting insecticidal nets and factors associated with
      non-use among communities in malaria-endemic areas of Al Hudaydah governorate in
      the Tihama region, west of Yemen.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Universal coverage of the targeted malaria-endemic areas with long
      lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) is implemented as one of the key interventions
      for malaria control and elimination in Yemen. In 2013, through a mass campaign,
      LLINs were distributed to the targeted communities in Al Hudaydah governorate.
      This study aimed to assess the ownership of, access to, and use of LLINs. It also
      aimed to identify factors associated with not using LLINs in malaria-endemic
      areas of Al Hudaydah in the Tihama region, west of Yemen. METHODS: A cross
      sectional survey was conducted in four districts (Ad Durayhimi, Al Marawi'ah, Al
      Mansuriyah and Bayt Al Faqiah) in Al Hudaydah during February 2016. A total of
      701 households were included in this study. Data on socio-demographic
      characteristics and availability of LLINs were collected by interview and
      observation. Four indicators for malaria prevention using LLINs; proportion of
      households with at least one LLIN, proportion of households with at least one
      LLIN for every two people, proportion of population with access to LLINs in the
      surveyed households and proportion of population who slept under LLINs the
      previous night of the survey were calculated as indicated by Roll Back Malaria
      Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group. Use to access ratio was assessed.
      Factors associated with not using LLINs among people with access were also
      investigated. RESULTS: Of 701 households with 4900 de facto population, ownership
      of at least one LLIN was 90.6%, while 24.1% owned at least one for every two
      people during the survey in 2016. The overall proportion of people with access to
      LLINs was 51.5% (95% CI 50.1-52.9). Only 19.0% (95% CI 17.9-20.1) slept under
      LLINs the night before the survey and the overall use to access ratio was 0.37.
      The proportions of children under 5 years of age with access to and use of LLINs
      were 13.7 and 42.5%, respectively. On the other hand, the proportions of pregnant
      women with access to and use of LLINs were 16.4 and 20.0%, respectively.
      Multivariable analysis identified that people living in Al Mansuriyah district
      [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.29, 95% confidence interval (CI)  1.35-8.01; P =
      0.009)], having three or more damaged LLINs in the house (AOR = 2.76, 95% CI 1.79
      4.25; P < 0.001), aged between 16 and 45 years old (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.26-3.75;
      P = 0.005) or older (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.09-4.29; P = 0.026) and living in huts
      (AOR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.09-2.32; P = 0.015) were significantly less likely to use
      LLINs. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a low LLIN access rate among local
      communities targeted for universal LLIN coverage in Al Hudaydah, a malaria
      endemic area of high transmission. This finding necessitates additional
      distribution channels following mass campaigns to maintain the universal
      coverage. Reduced use of LLINs among people with access in these communities
      together with the identified risks of non-use highlight the importance of
      conducting behaviour change communication campaigns to enhance using LLINs in
      areas with universal coverage.

PMID- 28599665
TI  - Omega-3 supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with chronic Chagas
      cardiomyopathy: a randomized clinical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have been focusing on the effect of omega-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids on modulation of inflammatory markers in several
      cardiopathies. Although immunoregulatory dysfunction has been associated to the
      chronic cardiac involvement in Chagas disease, there is no study examining the
      effects of omega-3 supplementation in these patients. We investigated the effects
      of omega-3 PUFAs on markers of inflammation and lipid profile in chronic Chagas
      cardiomyopathy patients. METHODS: The present study was a single-center double
      blind clinical trial including patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy.
      Patients were randomly assigned to receive omega-3 PUFAs capsules (1.8g EPA and
      1.2g DHA) or placebo (corn oil) during an 8-week period. Cytokines, fasting
      glucose, lipid, and anthropometric profiles were evaluated. RESULTS: Forty-two
      patients (23 women and 19 men) were included in the study and there were only two
      losses to follow-up during the 8-week period. Most of sociodemographic and
      clinical characteristics were similar between the groups at baseline, except for
      the cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17alpha, and IFNgamma. The omega-3
      PUFAs group demonstrated greater improvements in serum triglycerides (-21.1 vs. 
      4.1; p = 0.05) and IL-10 levels (-10.6 vs. -35.7; p = 0.01) in comparison to
      controls after 8 weeks of intervention. No further differences were observed
      between groups. CONCLUSION: Omega-3 PUFAs supplementation may favorably affect
      lipid and inflammatory profile in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy patients,
      demonstrated by a decrease in triglycerides and improvements on IL-10
      concentration. Further studies examining the clinical effects of omega-3 fatty
      acids supplementation in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy are necessary. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: NCT01863576.

PMID- 28599668
TI  - Measurement of Creatine kinase and Aspartate aminotransferase in saliva of dogs:
      a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Muscle enzymes in saliva have been reported to be possible markers of
      heart and muscle damage in humans. The aim of this study was to assess if
      Creatine kinase (CK) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities could be
      measured in canine saliva, and to evaluate their possible changes in situations
      of muscle damage. RESULTS: The spectrophotometric assays for CK and AST
      measurement in saliva of dogs showed intra- and inter-assay imprecision lower
      than 1 and 16% and coefficients of correlation close to 1 in linearity under
      dilution tests. Healthy dogs showed activities in saliva of CK between 27 and 121
      U/L and AST between 46 and 144 U/L, whereas in saliva of dogs with muscle damage
      CK ranged between 132 and 3862 U/L and AST between 154 and 4340 U/L. Positive
      moderate correlations were found between saliva and serum activities of the two
      enzymes (CK, r = 0.579; P = 0.001; AST, r = 0.674; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CK
      and AST activities can be measured in canine saliva with commercially available
      spectrophotometric assays. In addition these enzymes show higher values in saliva
      of dogs with muscle damage and their values are moderately correlated with those
      of serum.

PMID- 28599667
TI  - Multipolar pacing by cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillators
      treatment in type 2 diabetes mellitus failing heart patients: impact on
      responders rate, and clinical outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a multi factorial disease,
      affecting clinical outcomes in failing heart patients treated by cardiac
      resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRT-d). METHODS: One hundred and
      ninety-five T2DM patients received a CRT-d treatment. Randomly the study
      population received a CRT-d via multipolar left ventricle (LV) lead pacing (n 99,
      multipolar group), vs a CRT-d via bipolar LV pacing (n 96, bipolar group). These
      patients were followed by clinical, and instrumental assessment, and telemetric
      device control at follow up. In this study we evaluated, in a population of
      failing heart T2DM patients, cardiac deaths, all cause deaths, arrhythmic events,
      CRT-d responders rate, hospitalizations for HF worsening, phrenic nerve
      stimulation (PNS), and LV catheter dislodgment events (and re-intervention for LV
      catheter re-positioning), comparing multipolar CRT-d vs bipolar CRT-d group of
      patients at follow up. RESULTS: At follow up there was a statistical significant
      difference about atrial arrhythmic events [7 (7%) vs 16 (16.7%), p value 0.019],
      hospitalizations for HF worsening [15 (15.2% vs 24 (25%), p value 0.046], LV
      catheter dislodgments [1 (1%) vs 9 (9.4%), p value 0018], PNS [5 (5%) vs 18
      (18.7%), p value 0.007], and LV re-positioning [1 (1%) vs 9 (9.4%), p value
      0.018], comparing multipolar CRT-d vs bipolar CRT-d group of patients. Multipolar
      pacing was an independent predictor of all these events. CONCLUSIONS: CRT-d
      pacing via multipolar LV lead vs bipolar LV lead may reduce arrhythmic burden,
      hospitalization rate, PNS, LV catheters dislodgments, and re-interventions in
      T2DM failing heart patients. Clinical trial number NCT03095196.

PMID- 28599669
TI  - Characterization of Schistosoma japonicum tetraspanning orphan receptor and its
      role in binding to complement C2 and immunoprotection against murine
      schistosomiasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis remains an important global public health problem, as
      millions of people are at risk of acquiring infection. An ideal method for
      sustainable control of schistosomiasis would be to develop an efficient vaccine.
      Schistosomes can survive in the host vascular system by immune evasion,
      regulating the host complement cascade. Schistosoma japonicum tetraspanning
      orphan receptor (SjTOR) is a complement regulator, which is a tegument membrane
      protein. To date there is no experimental evidence to explain the function of
      SjTOR. RESULTS: We cloned the first extracellular domain of the SjTOR (SjTOR-ed1)
      gene and expressed the gene in Escherichia coli. The expression level of SjTOR in
      different developmental stages of S. japonicum was assessed by quantitative real
      time RT-PCR. Western blotting showed that recombinant SjTOR-ed1 (rSjTOR-ed1)
      could be recognised by schistosome-infected mouse serum. Immunolocalization
      indicated that the protein was mainly distributed on the tegument of the
      parasite. Haemolytic assays and ELISA revealed that rSjTOR-ed1 could inhibit
      complement hemolysis and bind to complement C2. Purified rSjTOR-ed1 emulsified
      with ISA206 adjuvant could induce a significant reduction of worm burden from
      24.51 to 26.51%, and liver egg numbers from 32.92 to 39.62% in two independent
      trials in mice. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that rSjTOR-ed1
      could inhibit complement hemolysis and bind to complement C2, and it is a
      potential vaccine candidate that protects against S. japonicum infection.

PMID- 28599670
TI  - Whole genome sequencing of an ExPEC that caused fatal pneumonia at a pig farm in
      Changchun, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, highly frequent swine respiratory diseases have been
      caused by extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) in China. Due to
      this increase in ExPECs, this bacterial pathogen has become a threat to the
      development of the Chinese swine industry. To investigate ExPEC pathogenesis, we
      isolated a strain (named SLPE) from lesioned porcine lungs from Changchun in
      China, reported the draft genome and performed comparative genomic analyses.
      RESULTS: Based on the gross post-mortem examination, bacterial isolation, animal
      regression test and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the pathogenic bacteria was
      identified as an ExPEC. The SLPE draft genome was 4.9 Mb with a G + C content of
      51.7%. The phylogenomic comparison indicated that the SLPE strain belongs to the
      B1 monophyletic phylogroups and that its closest relative is Avian Pathogenic
      Escherichia coli (APEC) O78. However, the distribution diagram of the pan-genome
      virulence genes demonstrated significant differences between SLPE and APEC078. We
      also identified a capsular polysaccharide synthesis gene cluster (CPS) in the
      SLPE strain genomes using blastp. CONCLUSIONS: We isolated the ExPEC (SLPE) from
      swine lungs in China, performed the whole genome sequencing and compared the
      sequence with other Escherichia coli (E. coli). The comparative genomic analysis
      revealed several genes including several virulence factors that are ExPEC strain
      specific, such as fimbrial adhesins (papG II), ireA, pgtP, hlyF, the pix gene
      cluster and fecR for their further study. We found a CPS in the SLPE strain
      genomes for the first time, and this CPS is closely related to the CPS from
      Klebsiella pneumoniae.

PMID- 28599672
TI  - Erratum to: Telling our stories: heroin-assisted treatment and SNAP activism in
      the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

PMID- 28599671
TI  - Is there a difference in prevalence of helminths between households using
      ecological sanitation and those using traditional pit latrines? A latrine based
      cross sectional comparative study in Malawi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that households using sludge from human excreta
      for agriculture are at an increased risk of soil transmitted helminths. However,
      while use of ecological sanitation (EcoSan) latrines is increasing in most
      African countries including Malawi, few studies have been done to check whether
      use of such sludge could potentially increase the prevalence of helminthic
      infections among household members as a results of exposure to faecal
      sludge/compared to use of traditional latrines. METHODS: A cross sectional study
      was done targeting households using EcoSan and traditional pit latrines. Samples
      were collected from both types of latrines in Chikwawa (rural) and Blantyre
      (urban) districts. These two districts have a high number of EcoSan latrines in
      southern region of Malawi. 156 latrines were sampled (n = 95 traditional; n = 61
      EcoSan), and processed following standard guidelines using modified triple
      floatation method. Identification of helminth ova (Ascaris lumbricoides,
      hookworms, Trichuris trichiura, Taenia spp. and Diphyllobothrium latum) was done
      using standard microscopy methods. The difference between the prevalence and mean
      concentration of helminths between the two types of latrines was tested using Chi
      Square and t test respectively. RESULTS: Of the total latrines tested, 85.9% (n =
      134) had at least one species of helminth while 84.6% (n = 132) had at least a
      STH, with 82.0% (n = 50) in EcoSan and 86.3% (n = 82) in traditional pit
      latrines. There was no significant difference between the prevalence of helminths
      in EcoSan and traditional pit latrines [chi2 = 0.43 (1), P = 0.5]. The prevalence
      of Ascaris lumbricoides was significantly higher in EcoSan than in traditional
      pit latrines [chi2 = 5.44 (1) p = 0.02] while prevalence of hookworms was
      significantly higher in traditional pit latrines than in EcoSan latrines [chi2 =
      13.98 (1) p < 0.001]. The highest concentration of helminths per gram of faecal
      sludge was in traditional pit latrines [31.2 (95% CI 19.1-43.2)] than in EcoSan
      latrines [26.4 (95% CI 16.5-36.3)]. CONCLUSION: There was no significant
      difference between overall prevalence of helminths between households using
      EcoSan and those using traditional pit latrines. However, Ascaris lumbricoides
      was significantly higher in households using EcoSan latrines. EcoSan users need
      awareness on safe ways of handling faecal sludge in order to reduce chances of
      reinfection from Ascaris lumbricoides. Further research should be undertaken on
      household members to identify those infected and potential routes of infection to
      enable preventive targeting.

PMID- 28599673
TI  - Low HDL-cholesterol among HIV-1 infected and HIV-1 uninfected individuals in
      Nairobi, Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral treatment (ART) is associated with dyslipidemia yet
      little is known about the burden of dyslipidemia in the absence of ART in sub
      Saharan Africa. We compared the prevalence and risk factors for dyslipidemia
      among HIV-infected ART-naive adults and their uninfected partners in Nairobi,
      Kenya. METHODS: Non-fasting total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL) levels were measured by standard lipid spectrophotometry on
      thawed plasma samples obtained from HIV-infected participants and their
      uninfected partners. Dyslipidemia, defined by high TC (>200 mg/dl) or low HDL
      (<40 mg/dl) was compared between HIV-infected and uninfected men and women.
      RESULTS: Among 196 participants, median age was 32 years [IQR: 23-41]. Median CD4
      count among the HIV-infected was 393 cells/ MUl (IQR: 57-729) and 90% had a viral
      load >1000 copies/ml. Mean TC and HDL were comparable for HIV-infected and
      uninfected participants. Prevalence of dyslipidemia was 83.8% vs 78.4% (p =
      0.27). Among the HIV-infected, those with a viral load >1000 copies/ml were 1.5
      fold more likely to have dyslipidemia compared to those with <=1000 copies/ml
      (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 1.5, 95% CI: 1.22-30.99, p = 0.02). BMI, age,
      gender, blood pressure and smoking were not significantly associated with
      dyslipidemia. CONCLUSIONS: Among ART-naive HIV-infected adults, high viral load
      and low CD4 cell count were independent predictors of dyslipidemia, underscoring
      the importance of early initiation of ART for viral suppression.

PMID- 28599674
TI  - Cluster randomized trial of a mHealth intervention "ImTeCHO" to improve delivery
      of proven maternal, neonatal, and child care interventions through community
      based Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) by enhancing their motivation
      and strengthening supervision in tribal areas of Gujarat, India: study protocol
      for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To facilitate the delivery of proven maternal, neonatal, and child
      health (MNCH) services, a new cadre of village-based frontline workers, called
      the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), was created in 2005 under the
      aegis of the National Rural Health Mission in India. Evaluations have noted that
      coverage of selected MNCH services to be delivered by the ASHAs is low. Reasons
      for low coverage are inadequate supervision and support to ASHAs apart from
      insufficient skills, poor quality of training, and complexity of tasks to be
      performed. The proposed study aims to implement and evaluate an innovative
      intervention based on mobile phone technology (mHealth) to improve the
      performance of ASHAs through better supervision and support in predominantly
      tribal and rural communities of Gujarat, India. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a two
      arm, stratified, cluster randomized trial of 36 months in which the units of
      randomization will be Primary Health Centers (PHCs). There are 11 PHCs in each
      arm. The intervention is a newly built mobile phone application used in the
      public health system and evaluated in three ways: (1) mobile phone as a job aid
      to ASHAs to increase coverage of MNCH services; (2) mobile phone as a job aid to
      ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) to increase coverage of care among
      complicated cases by facilitating referrals, if indicated and home-based care;
      (3) web interface as a job aid for medical officers and PHC staff to improve
      supervision and support to the ASHA program. Participants of the study are
      pregnant women, mothers, infants, ASHAs, and PHC staff. Primary outcome measures
      are a composite index made of critical, proven MNCH services and the proportion
      of neonates who were visited by ASHAs at home within the first week of birth.
      Secondary outcomes include coverage of selected MNCH services and care sought by
      complicated cases. Outcomes will be measured by conducting household surveys at
      baseline and post-intervention which will be compared with usual practice in the
      control area, where the current level of services provided by the government will
      continue. The primary analysis will be intention to treat. DISCUSSION: This study
      will help answer some critical questions about the effectiveness and feasibility
      of implementing an mHealth solution in an area of MNCH services. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial Registry of India, CTRI/2015/06/005847 . Registered
      on 3 June 2015.

PMID- 28599675
TI  - YKL-40 (Chitinase 3-like I) is expressed in a subset of astrocytes in Alzheimer's
      disease and other tauopathies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The innate immune system is known to be involved early in the
      pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders.
      The inflammatory response in the central nervous system can be measured
      postmortem or through a series of inflammatory mediator surrogates. YKL-40 (also
      named Chitinase-3-like I) has been frequently investigated in body fluids as a
      surrogate marker of neuroinflammation in AD and other neurological disorders.
      However, the expression pattern of YKL-40 in the human brain with
      neurodegenerative pathology remains poorly investigated. Our aim was to study the
      cellular expression pattern of YKL-40 in the brain of patients with clinical and
      neuropathological criteria for AD (n = 11); three non-AD tauopathies: Pick's
      disease (PiD; n = 8), corticobasal degeneration (CBD; n = 8) and progressive
      supranuclear palsy (PSP; n = 9) and a group of neurologically healthy controls (n
      = 6). METHODS: Semiquantitative neuropathological evaluation and quantitative
      confocal triple immunofluorescence studies were performed. An in-house algorithm
      was used to detect and quantify pathology burden of random regions of interest on
      a full tissue-section scan. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's multiple comparison tests
      were performed for colocalization and quantification analyses. RESULTS: We found
      that brain YKL-40 immunoreactivity was observed in a subset of astrocytes in all
      four diseases and in controls. There was a strong colocalization between YKL-40
      and the astroglial marker GFAP but not with neuronal nor microglial markers.
      Intriguingly, YKL-40-positive astrocytes were tau-negative in PSP, CBD and PiD.
      The number of YKL-40-positive astrocytes was increased in tauopathies compared
      with that in controls. A positive correlation was found between YKL-40 and tau
      immunoreactivities. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that YKL-40 is expressed by
      a subset of astrocytes in AD and other tauopathies. YKL-40 expression is elevated
      in several neurodegenerative conditions and correlates with tau pathology.

PMID- 28599676
TI  - A randomized trial of supplemental parenteral nutrition in underweight and
      overweight critically ill patients: the TOP-UP pilot trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nutrition guidelines recommendations differ on the use of parenteral
      nutrition (PN), and existing clinical trial data are inconclusive. Our recent
      observational data show that amounts of energy/protein received early in the
      intensive care unit (ICU) affect patient mortality, particularly for inadequate
      nutrition intake in patients with body mass indices (BMIs) of <25 or >35. Thus,
      we hypothesized increased nutrition delivery via supplemental PN (SPN) + enteral
      nutrition (EN) to underweight and obese ICU patients would improve 60-day
      survival and quality of life (QoL) versus usual care (EN alone). METHODS: In this
      multicenter, randomized, controlled pilot trial completed in 11 centers across
      four countries, adult ICU patients with acute respiratory failure expected to
      require mechanical ventilation for >72 hours and with a BMI of <25 or >=35 were
      randomized to receive EN alone or SPN + EN to reach 100% of their prescribed
      nutrition goal for 7 days after randomization. The primary aim of this pilot
      trial was to achieve a 30% improvement in nutrition delivery. RESULTS: In total,
      125 patients were enrolled. Over the first 7 post-randomization ICU days,
      patients in the SPN + EN arm had a 26% increase in delivered calories and
      protein, whereas patients in the EN-alone arm had a 22% increase (both p <
      0.001). Surgical ICU patients received poorer EN nutrition delivery and had a
      significantly greater increase in calorie and protein delivery when receiving SPN
      versus medical ICU patients. SPN proved feasible to deliver with our prescribed
      protocol. In this pilot trial, no significant outcome differences were observed
      between groups, including no difference in infection risk. Potential, although
      statistically insignificant, trends of reduced hospital mortality and improved
      discharge functional outcomes and QoL outcomes in the SPN + EN group versus the
      EN-alone group were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of SPN + EN significantly
      increased calorie/protein delivery over the first week of ICU residence versus EN
      alone. This was achieved with no increased infection risk. Given feasibility and
      consistent encouraging trends in hospital mortality, QoL, and functional
      endpoints, a full-scale trial of SPN powered to assess these clinical outcome
      endpoints in high-nutritional-risk ICU patients is indicated-potentially focusing
      on the more poorly EN-fed surgical ICU setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01206166.

PMID- 28599677
TI  - Dry-heat inactivation of "Mycobacterium canettii".
AB  - OBJECTIVE: "Mycobacterium canettii" is responsible for non-transmissible lymph
      node and pulmonary tuberculosis in persons exposed in the Horn of Africa. In the
      absence of direct human transmission, contaminated water and foodstuffs could be
      sources of contamination. We investigated the dry-heat inactivation of "M.
      canettii" alone and mixed into mock-infected foodstuffs by inoculating agar
      cylinders and milk with 104 colony-forming units of "M. canettii" CIPT140010059
      and two "M. canettii" clinical strains with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv as a
      control. RESULTS: Exposed to 35  degrees C, M. tuberculosis H37Rv, "M canettii"
      CIPT140010059 and "M. canettii" 157 exhibited a survival rate of 108, 95 and 81%,
      which is significantly higher than that of "M. canettii" 173. However, all tested
      mycobacteria tolerated a 90-min exposure at 45  degrees C. In the foodstuff
      models set at 70  degrees C, no growing mycobacteria were visualized. This study
      supports the premise that "M. canettii" may survive up to 45  degrees C; and
      suggests that contaminated raw drinks and foodstuffs but not cooked ones may be
      sources of infection for populations.

PMID- 28599678
TI  - The prevalence of dengue virus serotypes in asymptomatic blood donors reveals the
      emergence of serotype 4 in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transmission of dengue virus (DENV) through blood transfusion has
      been documented and hence screening for DENV during blood donation has been
      recently recommended by the American Association of Blood Banks and Centres of
      Disease Control and Prevention. DENV is endemic in the Western province of the
      Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and serotypes 1, 2 and 3, but not 4, have been
      detected. However, little is known regarding the rates of DENV during blood
      donation in the kingdom. The aim of this study was therefore to measure the
      prevalence of dengue virus and its serotypes in eligible Saudi blood donors in
      the endemic Western region of KSA. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study and
      serum samples were collected from 910 eligible Saudi male blood donors. DENV IgM
      and IgG antibodies were measured serologically by ELISA while viral serotypes
      were detected by a single step IVD CE certified multiplex RT-PCR kit. RESULTS:
      The overall prevalence was 39 and 5.5% for IgG+ and IgM+, respectively. There
      were 12 (1.3%) with exclusively IgM+, 317 (34.8%) exclusively IgG+ and 38 (4.2%)
      with dual IgM+/IgG+ donors. The overall prevalence was 3.2% (n = 29) and 2.3% (n
      = 21) for primary and secondary infections. PCR was positive in 5.5% (n = 50)
      and, DENV-2 (n = 24; 48%) was the most frequent serotype and was significantly
      higher than DENV-1 (20%; P = 0.02) and DENV-3 (2%; P = 0.1 * 10-5) but not DENV-4
      (30%; P = 0.2). There was no significant difference between both DENV-4 and DENV
      1 (P = 0.4). The combination of the PCR and serology findings showed that 22
      (2.4%) and 28 (3.1%) donors had primary and secondary viremic infections,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The detected rates of DENV by PCR suggest a potential
      high risk of viral transmission by blood transfusion. To the best of our
      knowledge, this study is the first to report the detection of DENV-4 serotype in
      Saudi Arabia. More studies are required to measure the precise prevalence of DENV
      serotypes and their potential transmission rate during blood donation in the
      kingdom.

PMID- 28599679
TI  - Evaluation of bone marrow mononuclear cells as an adjunct therapy to minced
      muscle graft for the treatment of volumetric muscle loss injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The delivery of alternative myogenic cell sources to enhance the
      efficacy of minced muscle grafts (MG) for the treatment of volumetric muscle loss
      (VML) injuries is a promising strategy to overcome the demand on muscle-derived
      donor tissue that currently limits the translation of this therapy. METHODS:
      Using a rat model of VML, bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMNCs) were evaluated
      for their ability to directly contribute to de novo muscle fiber regeneration by
      transplanting MG in a collagen carrier at a dose of 50% of the VML injury both
      with and without concomitant delivery of 5 million BMNCs derived via density
      gradient centrifugation from the bone marrow of a syngeneic green fluorescent
      protein (GFP)+ donor. RESULTS: Histological, molecular, and functional analyses
      revealed that BMNCs can engraft with co-delivered MG and contribute to nascent
      myofiber, but do so at a low magnitude without resulting in significant changes
      to transcription of key myogenic genes or gains in whole muscle force generation
      relative to MG alone. CONCLUSION: As such, co-delivery of BMNCs with MG is a
      promising treatment paradigm to VML that will require further investigation to
      identify the phenotype and therapeutic dosing of the bone marrow-derived cell
      populations which engraft most efficiently.

PMID- 28599682
TI  - Bilateral ocular ischemia-induced blindness as a presenting manifestation of
      Takayasu arteritis: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Takayasu arteritis is a granulomatous panarteritis that predominantly
      affects the aorta and its major branches. The initial manifestations of this
      large-vessel vasculitis are usually nonspecific; however, as the disease
      progresses, typical symptoms of arterial occlusion, aneurysmal formation, and
      vascular pain become evident. Ischemic ocular complications of Takayasu arteritis
      which could lead to complete loss of vision are not uncommon and depend on the
      obliterated portion(s) of carotid(s), the intensity and rate of progression of
      ocular vascular insufficiency, and sufficiency of the collateral blood supply to
      the eye. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24-year-old woman of African descent with prior
      normal vision was referred to us with a 3-year history of gradual decline in
      visual acuity in both eyes and unintentional weight loss (17 kg) within the past
      1 year. A physical examination revealed feeble brachial and radial arterial
      pulses on her left side. She had sinus tachycardia (136 beats/minute) and her
      blood pressure was 85/59 mmHg on her left and 134/82 mmHg on her right side.
      Bilateral microaneurysms, dot and blot hemorrhages, and multiple ischemic areas
      of retina together with neovascularization in her right eye were noted during a
      funduscopic examination. Computed tomography angiography of her thoracic and
      abdominal aorta revealed irregular narrowing with variable degrees of stenosis,
      tapering, and corrugated appearance. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its rarity, Takayasu
      arteritis significantly impairs a patient's quality of life and has a life
      threatening potential. Early initiation of appropriate therapy could delay
      disease progression and reduce the associated complications.

PMID- 28599681
TI  - Brain-derived exosomes from dementia with Lewy bodies propagate alpha-synuclein
      pathology.
AB  - Proteins implicated in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease
      (AD) and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) have been identified in bodily fluids
      encased in extracellular vesicles called exosomes. Whether exosomes found in DLB
      patients can transmit pathology is not clear. In this study, exosomes were
      successfully harvested through ultracentrifugation from brain tissue from DLB and
      AD patients as well as non-diseased brain tissue. Exosomes extracted from brains
      diagnosed with either AD or DLB contained aggregate-prone proteins. Furthermore,
      injection of brain-derived exosomes from DLB patients into the brains of wild
      type mice induced alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) aggregation. As assessed through
      immunofluorescent double labeling, alpha-syn aggregation was observed in MAP2+,
      Rab5+ neurons. Using a neuronal cell line, we also identified intracellular alpha
      syn aggregation mediated by exosomes is dependent on recipient cell endocytosis.
      Together, these data suggest that exosomes from DLB patients are sufficient for
      seeding and propagating alpha-syn aggregation in vivo.

PMID- 28599680
TI  - Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) - Terminology Consensus Project
      process and outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prominence of sedentary behavior research in health science has
      grown rapidly. With this growth there is increasing urgency for clear, common and
      accepted terminology and definitions. Such standardization is difficult to
      achieve, especially across multi-disciplinary researchers, practitioners, and
      industries. The Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) undertook a
      Terminology Consensus Project to address this need. METHOD: First, a literature
      review was completed to identify key terms in sedentary behavior research. These
      key terms were then reviewed and modified by a Steering Committee formed by SBRN.
      Next, SBRN members were invited to contribute to this project and interested
      participants reviewed and provided feedback on the proposed list of terms and
      draft definitions through an online survey. Finally, a conceptual model and
      consensus definitions (including caveats and examples for all age groups and
      functional abilities) were finalized based on the feedback received from the 87
      SBRN member participants who responded to the original invitation and survey.
      RESULTS: Consensus definitions for the terms physical inactivity, stationary
      behavior, sedentary behavior, standing, screen time, non-screen-based sedentary
      time, sitting, reclining, lying, sedentary behavior pattern, as well as how the
      terms bouts, breaks, and interruptions should be used in this context are
      provided. CONCLUSION: It is hoped that the definitions resulting from this
      comprehensive, transparent, and broad-based participatory process will result in
      standardized terminology that is widely supported and adopted, thereby advancing
      future research, interventions, policies, and practices related to sedentary
      behaviors.

PMID- 28599684
TI  - In Pursuit of Quality Research: Editors' Perspective.

PMID- 28599683
TI  - Pain sensitivity and analgesic use among 10,486 adults: the Tromso study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased pain sensitivity is a putative risk factor for chronic pain
      and consequently for analgesic use. Conversely, analgesic use may be a cause of
      increased pain sensitivity, e.g., through opioid-induced hyperalgesia. We aimed
      to study the association between pain sensitivity and analgesic use in a general
      population, and to test the hypothesis that increased baseline pain sensitivity
      is a risk factor for future persistent analgesic use. METHODS: The Tromso Study
      (2007-08), a population-based health study, was linked with eight years of
      prescription data from the Norwegian Prescription Database. The cold pressor test
      was completed in 10,486 participants aged 30+ years, and we used cold pressor
      endurance time as a proxy measure of pain sensitivity. Cross-sectional
      associations with different measures of analgesic use were assessed. Furthermore,
      a cohort of 9,657 persons was followed for 4.5 years. RESULTS: In the cross
      sectional analysis, increased pain sensitivity was associated with analgesic use;
      regular users of opioids alone were more pain sensitive than regular users of non
      opioid analgesics. Increased baseline pain sensitivity was a risk factor for
      persistent analgesic use, i.e., using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,
      paracetamol, or opioids for >= 90 days and proportion-of-days-covered >= 40% (HR
      = 1.22, 95% CI 1.06-1.40), although not statistical significant after confounder
      adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Increased pain sensitivity was associated with analgesic
      use in general, and reduced pain tolerance was found for both opioid and non
      opioid analgesic users. The data suggest that hyperalgesia is an effect of
      analgesics, whereas pain tolerance has little impact on future analgesic use.

PMID- 28599685
TI  - Diagnostic Accuracy of Sonoelastography in the Non-Invasive Diagnosis of
      Malignant Breast Cancer Compared to Histopathology as a Gold Standard.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the diagnostic accuracy of elastography in detecting
      malignant breast lesion taking strain ratio of 4.8 and histopathology as gold
      standard. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF
      STUDY: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, from March to September 2015.
      METHODOLOGY: Atotal of 137 patients aged 20 to 60 years with clinically palpable
      breast lump of any size for at least one month duration were included in this
      study. Patients with purely cystic lesions and those on chemotherapy or hormonal
      therapy were excluded. Each patient was subjected to sonoelastography followed by
      ultrasound guided trucut biopsy. The strain ratio cut off value of 4.8 was used
      to differentiate benign from malignant lesion. Consultant histopathologist's
      report upon the biopsy specimens was obtained. Results of sonoelastography were
      compared with histopathology reports. RESULTS: Mean age was 38.20 +/-10.63 years.
      The size of the lesion ranged from 2.0 to 6.0 cm, a mean = 3.97 +/-1.26 cm. The
      duration since the lump was noticed ranged from 12 weeks (3 months) to 20 weeks
      (5 months) with a mean of 15.09 +/-2.56 weeks. Forty-one (29.9%) lesions were
      labelled malignant on sonoelastography while the actual number of malignant
      lesions was 35 (25.5%) on histopathology. When the results of sonoelastography
      were cross-tabulated with histopathology results, the number of TP(true
      positive), FN (false negative), FP(false positive) and TN (True negative) were
      31, 4, 10 and 92 cases, respectively. It yielded 88.57% sensitivity, 90.20%
      specificity, 75.61% positive predictive value, 95.83% negative predictive value,
      89.78% accuracy for sonoelastography in the diagnosis of malignant breast lesion
      taking histopathology as gold standard with an observed prevalence of malignant
      breast mass to be 25.55%. CONCLUSION: Using a strain ratio of 4.8,
      sonoelastography was found to be 88.57% sensitive, 90.20% specific, and 89.78%
      accurate in the diagnosis of malignant breast masses.

PMID- 28599686
TI  - Diagnostic Accuracy of CT Scan in Diagnosing Paranasal Fungal Infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of CTscan in detecting paranasal
      sinus fungal infections. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study.
      PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Radiology, Ziauddin University
      Hospital, Karachi, from April to September 2014. METHODOLOGY: Patients with
      clinical suspicion of fungal sinusitis were included in this study. Patients with
      already diagnosed or history of recurrent fungal infections were excluded. All
      these patients underwent CTscan examination of paranasal sinuses. Findings were
      recorded. Final diagnosis was based on smear analysis for fungal culture.
      Accuracy analysis was conducted for CTdiagnosis using smear analysis as the gold
      standard. Kappa analysis was conducted to determine agreement. RESULTS: Out of
      the 120 patients, 71 (59%) were male. The sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value and negative predictive value of CTwere 96.19%, 93.33%, 99.01%,
      77.77%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy was 95.83%. Kappa statistics showed
      82% agreement beyond chance. CONCLUSION: CTscan is highly accurate in diagnosing
      and characterizing fungal infection of paranasal sinuses. It also determines the
      extent of disease which eventually aids in deciding the surgical approach to be
      used.

PMID- 28599687
TI  - Diagnostic Accuracy of Multislice CT Scan in the Detection of Occult Cervical
      Lymph Node Metastasis in Head and Neck Cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of CECTin detecting occult
      cervical lymph node metastasis in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      (SCC) patients with clinically negative cervical nodes, keeping histopathology as
      gold standard. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION
      OF STUDY: Department of Radiology, Dow International Medical College, DUHS,
      Karachi from October 2015 till April 2016. METHODOLOGY: Two hundred patients of
      head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients with clinically negative cervical
      nodes were enrolled at Department of Radiology, Dow International Medical
      College, DUHS, Karachi from October 2015 till April 2016. Multidetector computed
      tomography (MDCT) was done and lesions were assessed for presence or absence of
      tumor to metastasis into cervical lymph nodes. Histopathology was used as gold
      standard. RESULTS: The mean age was 44.89 +/-9.82 years as majority of the
      patents were males (58.0%). CECTfindings showed 48.5% positive cases, while
      histopathology findings showed that there were 48.39% positive cases with
      sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV and overall diagnostic accuracy of 100%, 93%,
      93%, 100% and 96.21%. CONCLUSION: MDCTis a very effective modality in early
      diagnosis of cancerous involvement of SCC and its invasion into cervical lymph
      node metastasis promising early detection and treatment.

PMID- 28599688
TI  - Usefulness of Hemodynamically Distribution of Intranodal Vessels in
      Differentiating Metastatic Neck Lymph Nodes - Value of Color Doppler and Spectral
      Wave Sonogram.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic assessment of enlarged lymph nodes, based
      on its perfusion pattern by taking tissue diagnosis as gold standard. STUDY
      DESIGN: Analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Departments of Radiology
      and Pathology, PIMS Hospital, Islamabad, from February to May 2016. METHODOLOGY:
      Color sonography of patients with clinically, palpable cervical lymph nodes were
      carried by senior trainee under the supervision of senior radiologist. Ultrasound
      guided tissue diagnosis was obtained in all suspected malignant cases.
      Histopathology was taken as the gold standard for determining accuracy. RESULTS:
      Accuracy, sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values of
      color Doppler ultrasound in detecting malignant cervical lymphadenopathy was
      found to be 88.46%, 86.05%, 79.31% and 92.50%, respectively with diagnostic
      accuracy of 86.95%, when intranodal vascular pattern on color Doppler imaging was
      analyzed. Using spectral wave indexes, the same values were 92.31%, 90.70%,
      85.71%, 95.12%, respectively with overall diagnostic accuracy of 91.30%.
      CONCLUSION: Color Doppler sonography is much sensitive borderline than grey scale
      findings alone. Furthermore, lymph nodes appearing in the detection of malignant
      nodes on grey scale images can be reliably diagnosed on Doppler scan.

PMID- 28599689
TI  - Aspartic Acid Racemization with Correlation to Age: AForensic Perspective.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate age through aspartic acid racemization of human dentin for
      forensic analysis, and to calculate the margin of error between chronological age
      and estimated age by racemization method. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Dental Outpatients' Department,
      Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, from 2011 to 2014. METHODOLOGY: Patients from dental
      orthodontics department were selected. Verbal expressed consent was taken from
      the participants. Preliminary data was entered in a specially designed performa
      having name, chronological age, gender, socio-economic status. Land D ratio of
      aspartic acid were quantified in dentin for each tooth by High-Pressure Liquid
      Chromatography technique. Results of 100 samples with known age were used during
      study to estimate co-efficient of racemization. Regression equation was derived
      by plotting 85 samples of known age and KR as independent and dependent variables
      and least square equation was derived - Age = -4.391 +347.396 (co-efficient of
      racemization). RESULTS: The estimated co-efficient of determination was 0.74,
      meaning thereby that the regression equation was 74% correct for estimating age.
      The calculated correlation between chronological age and co-efficient of
      racemization was 0.834, which is interpreted as a very strong and positive
      correlation. The co-efficient of racemization increased with the age. The mean
      chronological age (38.44 +/-13.22) years were statistically similar to the mean
      calibrated age (37.52 +/-12.36) years. The median of actual and calibrated age
      was found to be 3.4 with inter-quantile value of 13. No statistically significant
      difference was observed among gender (p=0.837), or socioeconomic status (p=0.35).
      CONCLUSION: Racemization of human dentin could be used as one of the reliable
      method for estimating age. HPLC is a reliable technique to estimate the co
      efficient of racemization because it is highly reproducible, cost-effective and
      convenient. However, the procedure should be optimized and standardized within
      all laboratories for quality assurance.

PMID- 28599690
TI  - Comparison of Clinical Characteristics of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment in
      Pseudophakic and Phakic Eyes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical profile, systemic risk factors, and
      characteristics of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in pseudophakic and
      phakic eyes. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION
      OF STUDY: Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi from August 2013 to
      August 2015. METHODOLOGY: A total of 164 eyes (96 pseudophakic patients and 68
      phakic patients) with RRD were analyzed. Demographic data and associated known
      risk factors of study population were acquired. Retinal examination was done by
      single experienced retinal surgeon using indirect ophthalmoscopy for type of
      retinal break, location and number of retinal breaks, status of macula,
      morphological extent of RRD and retinal degenerations. All the findings were
      endorsed on a pre-devised proforma. RESULTS: Mean age of patients in pseudophakic
      and phakic groups was 61.18 +/-10.39 and 59.27 +/-9.57 years, respectively.
      Frequency of male patients in pseudophakic and phakic groups was 74% and 57.4%,
      respectively. Mean axial length in pseudophakic and phakic groups was 23.13 +/
      2.18 mm and 21.9 +/-2.01 mm, respectively. Difference in axial length and gender
      distribution between two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
      Difference in frequency of patients with history of hypertension and myopia
      between two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Characteristics of
      RRD (type, location and number of retinal breaks, macula status, and extent of
      RRD) between groups were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: RRD is more
      common in pseudophakic patients with male gender, increased axial length, myopia,
      and hypertension.

PMID- 28599691
TI  - Vitamin D Status, Lung Function and Atopy in Children with Asthma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the associations between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3
      levels and pulmonary function test outcomes and atopy in children with asthma.
      STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Pediatric
      pulmonology outpatient clinic and pediatric outpatient clinic, from December 2012
      to March 2013. METHODOLOGY: Atotal of 71 asthmatic children and 77 healthy
      controls aged 7-17 years were recruited. Vitamin D status was assessed by
      measuring the serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 levels and compared between two groups.
      The relationship between serum vitamin D levels and pulmonary function test
      outcomes and serum IgE levels and inhalant panels were also examined in asthmatic
      patients. RESULTS: The serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 were low in both the
      asthmatic and control participants (median = 11.8 and 9.8 ng/ml, respectively).
      Vitamin D levels were significantly low in the patients who had high IgE levels
      and high levels of specific IgE antibodies against inhalant allergens in
      asthmatic patients. No correlation was found between vitamin D levels and
      pulmonary function test outcomes in asthmatic patients (p>0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Vitamin D levels are not associated with pulmonary function test outcomes.
      However, low vitamin Dlevels are associated with atopy.

PMID- 28599693
TI  - Clinical Characteristics and Outcome of Budd-Chiari Syndrome at a Tertiary Care
      Hospital in Pakistan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical characteristics of Budd-Chiari syndrome
      (BCS), its causes and outcome at a tertiary care hospital. STUDY DESIGN: An
      observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Aga Khan University
      Hospital,Karachi, from 2004 to 2014. METHODOLOGY: Aretrospective analysis of data
      was conducted. Apredesigned questionnaire was filled from medical records of
      patients with BCS. Clinical features, etiology, management and outcome was noted
      from 2004 to 2014. Descriptive statistics were determined. RESULTS: Forty-five
      patients' charts were reviewed; 26 (57.8%) were male patients. The median (IQR)
      age at diagnosis was 26.0 (20.5 to 34.5) years. Primary BCS was seen in 27
      (60.0%) patients. The most frequent clinical features included ascites (82.2%),
      abdominal pain (55.6%), and hepatomegaly (31.1%). Acombined hepatic vein/inferior
      vena cava block was found in 25 (55.6%) patients. Out of the 28 tested patients
      protein C and protein S deficiencies were detected in 22 (78.6%) and 17 (60.7%)
      patients, respectively. Antithrombin III deficiency was detected in 14 (58.3%) of
      those tested patients. Anticoagulants were used in 24 (53.3%) patients. TIPS was
      done in 11 (24.4%) patients. Mortality was 6.7% (n=3). CONCLUSION: Congenital
      thrombophilia was a major causal factor. Age, clinical features, biochemistry and
      management are important factors in survival.

PMID- 28599692
TI  - Early Detection of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Apparently Healthy
      Attendants of Tertiary Care Hospital and Assessment of its Severity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Early detection of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in apparently
      healthy attendants of tertiary care hospital and assessment of its severity.
      STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY:
      Study was conducted from January 2015 to July 2015 at Dow University Hospital,
      Ojha campus. METHODOLOGY: Ascreening method was designed for apparently healthy
      individuals including attendants of patients, hospital staff, faculty and
      students, belonging to age group 18-60 years after excluding severe obesity and
      already diagnosed respiratory and cardiovascular diseases by means of history.
      Each participant performed pulmonary function tests via spirometer after filling
      a questionnaire based on various risk factors and symptoms of chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD). Data was entered and analysed by SPSS-20. RESULTS: Out
      of the 517 participants, 122 (23.6%) were found to have COPD diagnosed by means
      of spirometry. Out of these, 23 (4.4%) had COPD stage I, 42 (8.1%) had COPD II,
      34 (6.6%) had COPD III, and 23 (4.4%) had COPD IV. Exposure to smoking, wooden
      stoves, pesticides, biomass fuel, aerosol sprays, gas grill and vehicle exhaust
      were found to be statistically significant factors in relation to development of
      COPD. CONCLUSION: Apparently healthy individuals may have underlying COPD and
      active screening by means of spirometry plays vital role in early detection of
      COPD. Smoking and exposure to certain hazardous environmental pollutants are
      responsible for the development and progression of COPD.

PMID- 28599694
TI  - A Multiparous Woman with Lately Diagnosed Multilevel Left Ventricular
      Obstruction.
AB  - A 56-year hypertensive, multiparous woman presented to the cardiology unit with
      Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) class-III angina and worsening dyspnea for
      the past few weeks. Her clinical examination showed high blood pressure and mid
      systolic crescendo-decrescendo murmur radiating to carotids. However, there was
      no radio-femoral delay or significant blood pressure difference between her arms.
      Her transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed moderate aortic stenosis (AS)
      and mid cavity left ventricular outflow (LVO) obstruction. Left heart
      catheterization (LHC) showed coarctation of aorta with extensive collaterals, mid
      cavity LVO obstruction, and moderate AS. Thus, she was diagnosed as a case of
      multi-level LVO obstruction including mid cavity LVO obstruction AS and
      coarctation of aorta. She underwent stenting of aortic coarctation as the initial
      step of graded approach to her disease, and is doing well.

PMID- 28599695
TI  - Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa (Non-Herlitz Type).
AB  - Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is a recessively inherited skin blistering
      disease and is caused due to abnormalities in proteins that hold layers of the
      skin. Herlitz JEB is the severe form and non-Herlitz JEB is the milder form. This
      report describes a case of congenitally affected male child aged 5 years, with
      skin blistering. He has mitten-like hands and soft skin blistering on hands, legs
      and knees. Symptoms almost disappeared at the age of 3 years but reappeared with
      increased severity after 6 months. Histopathological examination showed epidermal
      detachment with intact basal cell layer and sparse infiltrate of lymphocytes with
      few eosinophils in the dermis. There was no blistering on the moist lining of the
      mouth and digestive tract. Localized symptoms with less lethality and
      histopathological examination indicated the presence of non-Herlitz type of JEB.
      This is the first report which confirms the presence of non-Herlitz junctional
      epidermolysis bullosa in Pakistan.

PMID- 28599696
TI  - Primary Sacral Hydatid Cyst Causing Cutaneous Fistula.
AB  - Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis are the causes of hydatid
      disease and the main characteristic is endemic. Generally, it affects the liver
      and lungs. Spinal hydatidosis accounts for less than 1% of the cases. Vertebral
      hydatidosis is usually silent and a slowly progressive disease with a long latent
      period. Another rare form is the primary sacral hydatid cyst. Generally, patients
      suffer from back pain and neural compression symptoms. A 43-year woman was
      admitted with left leg pain and a fluid leakage from a cutaneous fistula on the
      left hip. It was diagnosed on MRI as a bilateral cystic lesion which eroded the
      first sacral wing, extending to the paravertebral region and left intervertebral
      for a men. We present a case with fluid leakage from cutaneous fistula.

PMID- 28599697
TI  - Paraneoplastic Cushing Syndrome Due To Wilm's Tumor.
AB  - Paraneoplastic syndromes are rare disorders that are triggered by an altered
      immune system response to neoplasm. Paraneoplastic syndromes may be the first or
      the most prominent manifestations of cancer. Wilm's tumor is the most frequent
      pediatric renal malignancy and usually presents with abdominal mass. Unusual
      presentations like acquired von Willebrand disease, sudden death due to pulmonary
      embolism and Cushing syndrome have been described in the literature. Cushing
      syndrome, as the presenting symptom of a malignant renal tumor in children, is a
      very rare entity. Few case reports are available in the literature exploring the
      option of preoperative chemotherapy as well as upfront nephrectomy. We report a
      rare case of paraneoplastic Cushing syndrome due to a Wilm's tumor. Based on
      gradual decrease of postoperative weight, blood pressure, serum
      adrenocorticotropic hormone, and plasma cortisol levels, along with histological
      confirmation of Wilm's tumor, paraneoplastic Cushing syndrome due to Wilm's tumor
      was confirmed.

PMID- 28599698
TI  - Implementation of Ventilator Bundle in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a
      Developing Country.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of VAP(ventilator associated
      pneumonia) after strict implementation of ventilator bundle in PICU. Medical
      records of all children (age 1 month - 16 years) were retrospectively reviewed,
      who were on mechanical ventilation (MV) for more than 48 hours and received all
      key components of "ventilator bundle" from January 2012 to December 2014. Out of
      1050, 565 (54%) patients were enrolled. The mean age was 4.02 SD 4.29 years and
      62 (69%) were male. The indications of MV were respiratory illness (54%),
      neurological illness (31%), shock (9%), and postoperative care (6%). The mean
      duration of MV was 7.05 SD 5.4 days. Only 4 patients (0.7%) developed VAP. The
      incidence-density of VAP was 1.6 per 1000 ventilator days. The strict
      implementation of simple, inexpensive interventions (ventilator bundle) in care
      of mechanically ventilated children can decrease significantly VAP even in
      resource-limited country.

PMID- 28599699
TI  - Application of Functional Impression Technique and Use of Silicone as Bulb for
      Maxillary Obturator.

PMID- 28599700
TI  - Good News: Dentists are Competent in Diagnosing Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea.

PMID- 28599701
TI  - Disaster Management: Overhauling The System.

PMID- 28599702
TI  - A Rare Cause of Acute Appendicitis: Migration of an Intrauterine Device.

PMID- 28599703
TI  - Cellular Neurothakeoma in a Relatively Rare Site.

PMID- 28599704
TI  - New horizons in the extraction of bioactive compounds using deep eutectic
      solvents: A review.
AB  - With the rapid development of ionic liquid analogues, termed 'deep eutectic
      solvents' (DESs), and their application in a wide range of chemical and
      biochemical processes in the past decade, the extraction of bioactive compounds
      has attracted significant interest. Recently, numerous studies have explored the
      extraction of bioactive compounds using DESs from diverse groups of natural
      sources, including animal and plant sources. This review summarizes the-state-of
      the-art effort dedicated to the application of DESs in the extraction of
      bioactive compounds. The aim of this review also was to introduce conventional
      and recently-developed extraction techniques, with emphasis on the use of DESs as
      potential extractants for various bioactive compounds, such as phenolic acid,
      flavonoids, tanshinone, keratin, tocols, terpenoids, carrageenans, xanthones,
      isoflavones, alpha-mangostin, genistin, apigenin, and others. In the near future,
      DESs are expected to be used extensively for the extraction of bioactive
      compounds from various sources.

PMID- 28599705
TI  - Novel electrochemical immunoassay for human IgG1 using metal sulfide quantum dot
      doped bovine serum albumin microspheres on antibody-functionalized magnetic
      beads.
AB  - A new magneto-controlled electrochemical immunosensing system was developed for
      the sensitive detection of low-abundance protein (IgG1 used in this case) with a
      sandwich-type assay format on monoclonal mouse anti-human Fab-specific IgG1
      functionalized magnetic bead. Metal sulfide (CdS) quantum dot-doped bovine serum
      albumin (QD-BSA) was synthesized and functionalized with monoclonal Fc-specific
      anti-human antibody. In the presence of IgG1, the immobilized antibody on
      magnetic bead was selective to capture the Fab region of the analyte, followed to
      be sandwiched by the conjugated antibody onto QD-BSA. The subsequent anodic
      stripping voltammetric analysis of cadmium ion, released by acid from quantum
      dot, was conducted at an in situ prepared mercury film electrode. Under optimal
      conditions, the voltammetric current increased with the increasing of target IgG1
      within a dynamic working range from 10 pg mL-1 to 100 ng mL-1. The limit of
      detection of this immunosensor was evaluated to 3.4 pg mL-1 at 3sblank criterion.
      The precision, selectivity and method accuracy were acceptable. Analysis of human
      serum samples revealed good accordance with the results obtained by commercial
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Importantly, this concept offers
      promise for cost-effective analysis of low-abundance cancer biomarkers without
      the need of natural enzymes.

PMID- 28599706
TI  - Quantitative chiral analysis of amino acids in solution using enantiomer
      selective photodissociation of cold gas-phase tryptophan via chiral recognition.
AB  - To explore the origin of biomolecule homochirality in interstellar molecular
      clouds, enantiomer-selective photodissociation via chiral recognition between
      amino acids in the gas phase was examined using a tandem mass spectrometer
      containing an electrospray ionization source and a cold ion trap. Ultraviolet
      photodissociation mass spectra of cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes of
      sodiated l-tryptophan ion, Na+(l-Trp), with an amino acid such as serine (Ser),
      threonine (Thr), or alanine (Ala) were obtained by the photo-excitation of l-Trp
      in the noncovalent complexes. Dissociation of l-Trp via CO2 loss occurred when it
      was noncovalently complexed with d-Ser or d-Thr in the presence of Na+. For the l
      enantiomers, the energy absorbed by l-Trp was released through evaporation of l
      Ser or l-Thr, and dissociation of the amino acids was suppressed. In contrast,
      the enantiomer-selective phenomenon was not observed in the noncovalent complex
      with Ala, suggesting that a side-chain OH group plays an important role in chiral
      recognition and enantiomer-selective photodissociation. The enantiomer-selective
      photodissociation was applied to the quantitative chiral analysis of amino acids.
      The enantiomeric excess of Ser and Thr in solution could be determined by
      measuring the relative abundance ratio of the enantiomer-selective
      photodissociation of Trp to amino acid evaporation in a single photodissociation
      mass spectrum obtained by photo-excitation of l-Trp used as a chiral probe in
      cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes with the analyte amino acids, and by
      referring to the linear relationships established in this work.

PMID- 28599707
TI  - A multiplexed immunocapture liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay
      for the simultaneous measurement of myostatin and GDF-11 in rat serum using an
      automated sample preparation platform.
AB  - Myostatin, also known as growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8), is a protein
      acting as a negative regulator in skeletal muscle growth. Inhibition of myostatin
      by therapeutic agents provides opportunities for current unmet medical needs. In
      order to better understand drug engagement to aid the drug development, we have
      developed a hybrid LC-MS/MS method which can differentially measure myostatin and
      another protein from the same GDF family, GDF-11. Although the two proteins share
      high homology, the LC-MS/MS assay provided the specificity based on monitoring of
      unique surrogate peptide generated from enzymatic digestion. An automated sample
      preparation platform, Agilent AssayMap Bravo, was used for automated
      immunocapture. Capture antibody that is non-competing with our investigational
      drug and has similar binding affinity to both myostatin and GDF-11 was used.
      Therefore, total myostatin and GDF-11 including both free form and drug-bound
      form were captured and measured. The enriched sample was digested after reduction
      and alkylation. Two surrogate peptides (IPAMVVDR for myostatin and IPGMVVDR for
      GDF-11) were monitored and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was established
      at 1.0 ng/mL for myostatin and 0.1 ng/mL for GDF-11. The accuracy was
      demonstrated with recovery for IPAMVVDR between 99.2% and 103.1% and for IPGMVVDR
      between 90.3% and 114.5%. The developed hybrid assay exhibits sufficient
      sensitivity, accuracy and specificity to differentiate between the highly
      structurally similar myostatin and GDF-11. This analytical approach was
      successfully applied to a rat toxicology study, and was demonstrated to be a
      powerful tool for biomarker measurement in the present of a therapeutic agent.

PMID- 28599708
TI  - Quantification of metabolites in dried blood spots by direct infusion high
      resolution mass spectrometry.
AB  - Diagnosis and treatment of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) require the analysis
      of a variety of metabolites. These compounds are usually quantified by targeted
      platforms. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) has the potential to detect
      hundreds to thousands of metabolites simultaneously. A chip-based
      nanoelectrospray source (chip-based nanoESI) enables the direct infusion of
      biological samples. Major advantages of this system include high sample
      throughput, no sample carryover, and low sample consumption. The combination,
      chip-based nanoESI-HRMS enables untargeted metabolomics of biological samples but
      its potential for quantification of metabolites has not been reported. We
      investigated whether chip-based nanoESI-HRMS is suitable for quantification of
      metabolites in dried blood spots (DBS). After addition of internal standards,
      metabolites were extracted with methanol. Aliquots of each extract were analysed
      by chip-based nanoESI-HRMS operating in both positive and negative mode with an
      m/z window of 70-600 and a resolution of 140,000. Total run time was 4.5 min per
      sample and a full report could be generated within 40 min. Concentrations of all
      21 investigated diagnostic metabolites in DBS as quantified by chip-based nanoESI
      HRMS correlated well with those obtained by targeted liquid chromatography-tandem
      mass spectrometry. We conclude that chip-based nanoESI-HRMS is suitable for
      quantification.

PMID- 28599709
TI  - Electrochemical biosensing of influenza A subtype genome based on
      meso/macroporous cobalt (II) oxide nanoflakes-applied to human samples.
AB  - Meso/macroporous cobalt (II) oxide nanoflakes were electrodeposited in a one-step
      process in the presence of N-methylpyrrolidone. On the surface of nanoflakes, a
      specific single stranded DNA sequence from the genome of influenza A subtype was
      then immobilized to fabricate an electrochemical biosensor. Hybridization of the
      biosensor with complementary, non-complementary and base-mismatch sequences was
      electrochemically detected. The biosensor was also employed to detect
      complementary DNA of viral RNA in culture and human samples. The biosensor could
      detect the complementary sequence with a detection limit of 86.4 amol L-1 and a
      linear concentration range of 1.0 fmol L-1 to 1.0 nmol L-1. It also detected a
      complementary DNA sequence converted from viral RNA with a detection limit of
      0.28 ng MUL-1 in a linear concentration range of 0.5-10 ng MUL-1. Low detection
      limit, simple method of preparation of the transducer and no needing any DNA
      strand modification and tag are the principal advantages of the biosensor.

PMID- 28599710
TI  - Preparation of open tubular capillary columns by in situ ring-opening
      polymerization and their applications in cLC-MS/MS analysis of tryptic digest.
AB  - An open tubular (OT) column (25 MUm i.d.) was prepared by in situ ring-opening
      polymerization of octaglycidyldimethylsilyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes
      (POSS-epoxy) with 4-aminophenyl disulfide (APDS) in a binary porogenic system of
      ethanol/H2O. It was found that porogenic composition played an important role in
      the formation of OT stationary phases. The ratio of ethanol/H2O at 6/1 (v/v)
      would lead to the fabrication of hybrid monoliths, while the ratio of ethanol/H2O
      at 13/1 (v/v) would result in the synthesis of OT phases. In addition, the
      effects of precursor content and reaction duration on the thickness of OT
      stationary phases were investigated. Either lower precursor content or shorter
      reaction duration would produce thinner layer of OT column. The repeatability of
      OT columns was evaluated through relative standard deviation (RSD%) with benzene
      as the analyte. The run-to-run, column-to-column and batch-to-batch
      repeatabilities were 1.7%, 4.8% and 5.6%, respectively, exhibiting satisfactory
      repeatability of the OT column. Then tryptic digest of mouse liver proteins was
      used to evaluate the performance of the resulting OT columns (25 MUm i.d. * 2.5 m
      in length) by cLC-MS/MS analysis, demonstrating their potential in proteome
      analysis.

PMID- 28599712
TI  - Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on executive functions controlling self
      regulated behavior.
AB  - Alcohol consumption may lead to deficits in the executive functions that govern
      self-regulation. These deficits could lead to risk-taking behaviors; therefore,
      it is important to determine the magnitude of these deficits on executive
      functioning. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the acute effects
      of alcohol on three of the executive functions that are hypothesized to affect
      self-regulation, which are inhibition, set shifting, and working memory, using a
      mixed-methods study design. The participants were 75 moderate or heavy drinkers
      between the ages of 21 and 35 who were randomized into one of three beverage
      conditions (control, placebo, or 0.65-g alcohol dose/kg body weight). Performance
      on working memory, set shifting, and inhibition were measured pre- and post
      beverage consumption. The results showed only a significant interaction in the
      working memory data, as there was an increase in performance post-beverage
      relative to pre-beverage for the control participants as compared to the alcohol
      and placebo participants. It was concluded that the dose of alcohol (BAC =
      0.063%) given to moderate to heavy drinkers was not sufficient to cause
      significant impairment in the executive functions tested. The results were
      further discussed and methodological concerns were considered, such as the low
      BAC achieved, practice effects, and insensitivity of tasks.

PMID- 28599713
TI  - Working memory over a six-year period in young binge drinkers.
AB  - Adolescence and early adulthood are periods of particular vulnerability to the
      neurotoxic effects of alcohol. Young people with alcohol-use disorders display
      deficits in working memory (WM). This function is supported by the prefrontal
      cortex, a late-maturing brain region. However, little is known about the
      progression of cognitive dysfunctions associated with a binge-drinking (BD)
      pattern of alcohol consumption among non-clinical adolescents. The objective of
      this study was to analyze the relationship between BD trajectory and WM in
      university students. An initial sample of 155 male and female first-year
      university students was followed prospectively over 6 years. The participants
      were classified as stable non-BDs, stable BDs, and ex-BDs, according to the third
      item of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). WM was assessed
      using the Self-Ordered Pointing Task. Generalized linear mixed models were
      applied. The results showed that stable BDs committed more total perseverative
      errors and showed a lower WM span in the difficult blocks than stable non-BDs.
      Difficulties in WM span showed some improvement, whereas perseveration errors
      remained constant throughout the follow-ups in the stable BDs. There were no
      significant differences between ex-BDs and non-BDs. In conclusion, stable BD is
      associated with WM deficits, particularly perseverations and low WM span in
      demanding trials, when compensatory mechanisms may no longer be successful. The
      partial improvement in WM span may support the notion of a neuromaturational
      delay, whereas the temporal stability of perseveration deficits may reflect
      either neurotoxic effects of alcohol or premorbid characteristics. Abandoning the
      BD pattern of alcohol consumption may lead to partial recovery.

PMID- 28599715
TI  - Quantifying the contribution of alcohol to cardiomyopathy: A systematic review.
AB  - Alcohol has a direct toxic impact on the heart, and while there is an ICD code
      for alcoholic cardiomyopathy, the burden of alcohol-attributable cardiomyopathy
      is not clear. For the usual estimation of this burden via population-attributable
      fractions, one would need to determine the risk relationships, i.e., average risk
      associated with different dimensions of alcohol exposure. The most important
      among these risk relationships is the dose-response relationship with different
      levels of average alcohol consumption. To establish risk relationships, we
      systematically searched for all studies on dose-response relationships, directly
      and indirectly, via reviews. The results did not permit computation of pooled
      estimates through meta-analyses. There were clear indications that heavy drinking
      (>=80 g per day) over several years was linked to high risk of cardiomyopathy,
      with greater lifetime exposure of alcohol linked to higher risks. Some studies
      indicated potential effects of patterns of drinking as well. As such, the global
      quantification of alcohol-attributable cardiomyopathy will have to rely on other
      methods than those used conventionally.

PMID- 28599716
TI  - ?

PMID- 28599714
TI  - Effects of moderate alcohol consumption on gene expression related to colonic
      inflammation and antioxidant enzymes in rats.
AB  - Excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor associated with colorectal cancer;
      however, some studies have reported that moderate alcohol consumption may not
      contribute additional risk for developing colorectal cancer while others suggest
      that moderate alcohol consumption provides a protective effect that reduces
      colorectal cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of
      moderate voluntary alcohol (20% ethanol) intake on alternate days for 3 months in
      outbred Wistar rats on risk factors associated with colorectal cancer
      development. Colonic gene expression of cyclooxygenase-2, RelA, 8-oxoguanine DNA
      glycosylase 1, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase,
      glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase M1, and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2
      were determined. Blood alcohol content, liver function enzyme activities, and 8
      oxo-deoxyguanosine DNA adducts were also assessed. Alcohol-treated rats were
      found to have significantly lower 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine levels in blood, a marker
      of DNA damage. Alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase were both
      significantly lower in the alcohol group. Moderate alcohol significantly
      decreased cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression, an inflammatory marker associated
      with colorectal cancer risk. The alcohol group had significantly increased
      glutathione-S-transferase M1 expression, an antioxidant enzyme that helps
      detoxify carcinogens, such as acetaldehyde, and significantly increased aldehyde
      dehydrogenase 2 expression, which allows for greater acetaldehyde clearance.
      Increased expression of glutathione-S-transferase M1 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2
      likely contributed to reduce mucosal damage that is caused by acetaldehyde
      accumulation. These results indicate that moderate alcohol may reduce the risk
      for colorectal cancer development, which was evidenced by reduced inflammation
      activity and lower DNA damage after alcohol exposure.

PMID- 28599717
TI  - ?

PMID- 28599718
TI  - [Nurse-doctor relationships, reflection of our society].
AB  - Relations between nurses and doctors are a paradigmatic example of the tensions
      produced by the process of empowerment over the course of the 20th century. The
      techniques, health policies, organisation of care and the place of the patient
      within the health system together contribute to the reconfiguration of the
      partnership relationship between nurses and doctors. These relationships help to
      define those that these professionals establish with their patients.

PMID- 28599719
TI  - [Working together, how and for which care?]
AB  - The division and specialisation of the work of doctors and nurses is heightening
      the tensions in their professional relations. The increased interdependency of
      actions requires more collaboration between health professionals. 'Working
      together' can be facilitated by a reflected work organisation style, a shared
      vision of care and work between nursing managers and heads of department.

PMID- 28599720
TI  - [The positive aspects of nurse-doctor collaboration].
AB  - The perception of the quality of the collaboration between doctors and nurses
      varies depending on the sector of activity. The sharing of professional values
      and the coherence of this partnership determines the quality of care provided to
      the patient. An intensive care doctor shares his experience.

PMID- 28599721
TI  - [Nurse-doctor: a relationship of trust].
AB  - A 3rd-year student nurse has analysed nurse-doctor relations on the basis of his
      different practice placement experiences. The organisation seems to be a marker
      of the quality of these relationships. Respect and trust are also important.

PMID- 28599722
TI  - [Telemedicine, remote collaboration].
AB  - In the archipelago of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, the dialysis unit of Francois
      Dunan hospital is managed by a nurse. During haemodialysis sessions, she is
      supported by telemedicine thanks to a partnership established between this unit
      and that of the ECHO association based in Le Mans. Real remote collaboration has
      developed over time between the nurse and the nephrologist despite the 4 000 km
      between them.

PMID- 28599723
TI  - [Mobile learning in nurse training institutes, infinite pedagogical
      possibilities].
AB  - Riding on the digital wave, the Rouen nurse training institute is developing
      mobile learning. Students and trainers are finding benefits in terms of learning
      methods and pedagogical innovations.

PMID- 28599724
TI  - [Web TV, a tool favouring collaboration for quality care].
AB  - The Web TV of the EPSM Lille-Metropole is an innovative communication tool in
      mental health. Aiming to change the image of psychiatry among users as well as
      professionals, these programmes, posted online, enable viewers to see the care
      provided by mental health professionals. They are also an opportunity for those
      involved to get to know each other better to improve the way they work together.

PMID- 28599725
TI  - [Avoiding peristomal skin problems].
AB  - Peristomal irritation is one of the most common complications in patients with a
      stoma. In many cases, prevention is limited to the care provided during the post
      operative period. However, it can start before the operation by improving the
      physical condition of the patient. It continues during the perioperative period
      with the surgical technique. Prevention advice can be given during these three
      key stages of the patient's treatment.

PMID- 28599726
TI  - [Hygiene and care, when the wedding ring becomes nosocomial!]
AB  - In the care setting, hand washing constitutes an essential measure for preventing
      hand-transmitted infections. Best practices also recommend the principle of zero
      jewellery. Not so easy to implement, especially when it comes to the removal of
      wedding rings. A nurse shares her thoughts on this sensitive issue regarding the
      safety of care.

PMID- 28599727
TI  - ?

PMID- 28599728
TI  - At the Post-anaesthesia Care Unit.
AB  - Pierre is assigned to the Post-operational Recovery room. The care team comprises
      two anaesthetic nurses, a trainee anaesthetic nurse, a qualified registered
      nurse, and a healthcare assistant. In addition, an anaesthetist is available to
      intervene at any time.

PMID- 28599729
TI  - ?

PMID- 28599730
TI  - ?

PMID- 28599731
TI  - ?

PMID- 28599732
TI  - ORCID Is Not a Flower.

PMID- 28599733
TI  - Correction to "AWHONN position statement: Intimate partner violence".

PMID- 28599734
TI  - Correction to "A literature review of women's oral health across the life span".

PMID- 28599735
TI  - Neonatal Implications of Substance Use Treatment During Pregnancy.

PMID- 28599736
TI  - Authors' Response.

PMID- 28599737
TI  - Commentary on a Cochrane Review of Antidepressants for Postpartum Depression.
AB  - A 2014 Cochrane Review aimed to assess the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs
      compared with any other treatment (psychological, psychosocial, or
      pharmacologic), placebo, or treatment as usual for postpartum depression.
      Randomized controlled trials of women with depression with onset up to 6 months
      postpartum, which compared antidepressant treatment with any other treatment,
      placebo, or treatment as usual were included in the study. A very limited body of
      evidence was available for this review. Results of pooled estimates of responses
      showed that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were significantly more
      effective than placebo in treating postpartum depression.

PMID- 28599738
TI  - Bedside Safety Huddles to Manage a Complex Obstetric Case.
AB  - Multidisciplinary communication is essential to safety in health care. Safety
      huddles offer an opportunity to develop and implement a standardized care plan to
      improve outcomes. This is especially true for complex obstetric cases. By
      conducting huddles at the bedside, a health care team can receive useful input
      from women and their families. This article describes our team's use of safety
      huddles in the care of a woman with a complex health history and highlights the
      benefit of performing safety huddles at the bedside to improve team function and
      optimize outcomes.

PMID- 28599739
TI  - Development and Evaluation of an iPad Application to Promote Knowledge of Tobacco
      Use and Cessation by Pregnant Women.
AB  - We describe the development and evaluation of an iPad application to promote
      knowledge of tobacco risk and cessation resources for pregnant women. Pregnant
      women completed a survey on tobacco use in pregnancy, and clinicians reviewed
      their tobacco cessation practices and resources. The women reported that content
      was easy to understand (98%) and helped them understand tobacco risks (94%).
      Tobacco users reported that the information helped them want to quit smoking
      (75%) and provided ideas on how to quit (58%). Clinicians reported themes that
      reflected ease of use, support of pregnant women, and use of electronic
      resources. We conclude that iPad applications and other electronic health
      education delivery methods are useful tools that can augment coordinated and
      consistent tobacco cessation efforts in clinical settings.

PMID- 28599740
TI  - What Nurses Need to Know About Immediate Postpartum Initiation of Long-Acting
      Reversible Contraception.
AB  - Initiation of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in the immediate
      postpartum period is becoming more common, resulting in increased requests for
      early removal, primarily because of unpredictable bleeding patterns. Competing
      interests of healthful spacing of pregnancies, impact on breastfeeding, risks
      associated with pregnancy versus contraceptive method, potential adverse effects
      of LARC, and timing of informed consent make immediate postpartum initiation of
      LARC an important issue. Nearly 40% of women do not attend a postpartum visit at
      all, resulting in decreased initiation of contraception and increased risk of
      unplanned pregnancy. Nurses caring for women during the peripartum period can
      help women make informed decisions and can provide anticipatory guidance
      regarding this method of contraception. Evidence-based postpartum education and
      support can result in women's increased continuation of and satisfaction with
      LARC.

PMID- 28599741
TI  - Implications of Maple Syrup Urine Disease in Newborns.
AB  - Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is an inherited metabolic disorder that affects
      the body's ability to metabolize amino acids. If left untreated, it places
      newborns at risk for life-threatening health problems, including episodes of
      illness called metabolic crisis. Newborn screening for MSUD should ideally be
      done within the first 24 to 48 hours after birth. With proper screening, along
      with genetic counseling, nutritional counseling, primary care follow-up, and
      ongoing monitoring, newborns with MSUD can typically go on to live healthful
      lives. Nurses play a key role in supporting families with a diagnosis of MSUD.

PMID- 28599742
TI  - Assessing Marijuana Use During Pregnancy.
AB  - Recreational and medicinal marijuana uses have become more prevalent in recent
      years. Women's health nurses are increasingly likely to encounter pregnant women
      who use or have used marijuana. Research has found that inadequate screening for
      substance use, inadequate knowledge about the effects of marijuana use, and
      punitive counseling are barriers to women's understanding of the importance of
      seeking treatment for substance use. Provision of evidence-based counseling,
      education, and resources support women and strengthen the patient-provider
      relationship. Women's health nurses can gain a basic understanding of the effects
      of perinatal marijuana use and create a plan for women who have positive
      screening results. This article reviews two recent studies that examine marijuana
      use during pregnancy and suggest interventions that women's health nurses can
      implement.

PMID- 28599743
TI  - Pharmacologic Implications of Marijuana Use During Pregnancy.
AB  - Marijuana is the most commonly used recreational drug in the United States,
      including among women of childbearing age and women who are pregnant. Changing
      legal statutes that allow for the use of medical marijuana and the
      decriminalization of marijuana for personal use reflect more permissive societal
      views on the use of this drug. Active compounds in marijuana cross the placenta
      rapidly and are excreted in breast milk. Results of studies of the effects of
      marijuana on a developing fetus and neonate are conflicting, but researchers have
      identified chronic marijuana exposure as a risk factor for preterm birth and
      small-for-gestational-age infants. This article reviews the pharmacology of
      marijuana and discusses implications for nurses who work with women of
      childbearing age.

PMID- 28599744
TI  - Understanding the Risks Sitting and Carrying Devices Pose to Safe Infant Sleep.
AB  - There have been various campaigns and recommendations to decrease the incidence
      of sudden unexpected infant death. Despite this, caregivers continue to place
      infants in unsafe sleeping environments. These environments, such as sitting
      devices, slings, carriers, and car seats, pose a significant risk to an infant's
      safety because of the risk from suffocation and cardiorespiratory instability. It
      is important for health care providers to understand the appropriate use of car
      seats, slings, and other sitting devices, to model appropriate behaviors, and to
      educate parents and caregivers. All parents, hospital staff, and other caregivers
      should understand the potential dangers associated with the inappropriate use of
      sitting devices for routine sleep.

PMID- 28599745
TI  - Watching Alice From Afar.

PMID- 28599746
TI  - Scleroderma Induced by Pembrolizumab: A Case Series.
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors are approved for select cancer treatment and have
      shown survival benefit in patients with advanced melanoma. Adverse events,
      including immune-related adverse events, are common and potentially life
      threatening. We describe cases of 2 patients with scleroderma (patient 1 had
      diffuse scleroderma, and patient 2 had limited scleroderma) that developed while
      they were receiving pembrolizumab therapy for metastatic melanoma. Prompt
      recognition and treatment of immune-related adverse events may improve tolerance
      to immune checkpoint inhibitors and contribute to an understanding of the
      manifesting autoimmune disease.

PMID- 28599747
TI  - 54-Year-Old Woman With Progressive Dyspnea on Exertion and Syncopal Episodes.

PMID- 28599748
TI  - 59-Year-Old Man With Sore Throat and Fever.

PMID- 28599749
TI  - Statin prescribing for prevention of cardiovascular disease amongst people with
      severe mental illness: Cohort study in UK primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe mental illness (SMI) is associated with excess cardiovascular
      disease (CVD) morbidity, but little is known on provision of preventative
      interventions. We investigated statin initiation for primary CVD prevention in
      individuals with and without SMI. METHODS: We used primary care data from The
      Health Improvement Network from 2006 to 2015 for UK patients aged 30-99years with
      no pre-existing CVD conditions and selected individuals with schizophrenia
      (n=13,252) or bipolar disorder (n=11,994). In addition, we identified samples of
      individuals without schizophrenia (n=66,060) and bipolar disorder (n=59,765), but
      with similar age and gender distribution. Missing data on CVD covariates were
      estimated using multiple imputation. Statin prescribing differences between
      individuals with and without SMI were investigated using multivariable Poisson
      regression models. RESULTS: Initiation of statin prescribing was between 2 and 3
      fold higher in people aged 30-59years with SMI than in those without after
      adjusting for CVD covariates. The rates in those aged 60-74years with SMI were
      similar or slightly higher relative to those without SMI. The incidence rate
      ratio (IRR) was 1.15 (95% CI 1.03-1.28) for bipolar disorder and 1.00 (0.91-1.11)
      for schizophrenia. The rate of statin prescribing was lower (IRR 0.81 (0.66
      0.98)) amongst the oldest (aged 75+years) with schizophrenia relative to those
      without schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: Despite higher rates of new statin
      prescriptions to younger individuals with SMI relative to individuals without
      SMI, there was evidence of lower rates of statin initiation for older individuals
      with schizophrenia, and this group may benefit from additional measures to
      prevent CVD.

PMID- 28599750
TI  - The role of experiential and expressive negative symptoms on job obtainment and
      work outcome in individuals with schizophrenia.
AB  - Unemployment rates for schizophrenia are high across all age groups compared to
      the general population. Past studies have focused on neurocognition as a key
      determinant of unemployment and poor work outcome in schizophrenia. However,
      several recent studies suggest that clinical symptoms may be equally or more
      important than cognitive dysfunction for understanding employment difficulties.
      An enhanced understanding of the domains of negative symptoms that hinder job
      obtainment and work outcomes in people with schizophrenia is vital for developing
      treatments that translate into better employment outcomes. The purpose of this
      study was to determine whether 112 participants with schizophrenia or
      schizoaffective disorder receiving supported employment services differed on
      experiential and expressive negative symptoms based on whether they obtained a
      job or remained unemployed. Further, in a subset of workers, this study examined
      the relationship of experiential "motivational" negative symptoms with work
      outcomes (weeks worked, hours worked, wages earned). Neurocognition was assessed
      using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and clinical symptoms were assessed
      using the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and the Brief Psychiatric
      Rating Scale. Experiential, but not expressive, negative symptoms were related to
      job obtainment, hours worked, and wages earned. However, these findings were
      attenuated and non-significant after controlling for age. These results suggest
      that experiential negative symptoms are potentially key to better understanding
      employment outcomes of individuals with schizophrenia receiving supported
      employment services, but further work is needed to untangle its significance vis
      a-vis other individual, environmental, and program factors.

PMID- 28599751
TI  - Association between serum levels of glutamate and neurotrophic factors and
      response to clozapine treatment.
AB  - Clozapine is the only available therapy for about 30% of schizophrenia patients
      otherwise refractory to antipsychotics. Unfortunately, the mechanism of action of
      the drug is still unknown and there are no biomarkers that can predict a positive
      response to clozapine. We aimed to examine serum neurotrophins and glutamate
      levels as putative biomarkers for clozapine response based on the hypothesized
      mode-of-action of the compound. Blood samples of 89 chronic schizophrenia
      patients maintained on clozapine were analyzed in a cross-sectional design. Serum
      brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF), neurotrophic growth factor (NGF), glial derived neurotrophic factor
      (GDNF) and glutamate were determined. Differences between responders and non
      responders to clozapine and correlation between clinical and biological measures
      were analyzed. Our sample consisted of 54 (61%) responders and 35 (39%) non
      responders. Responders had higher mean BDNF levels than non-responders (2066+/
      814 vs. 1668+/-820pg/ml, p<0.05. respectively) and higher serum glutamate levels
      (1.61+/-2.2 vs. 0.66+/-0.9pg/ml, respectively, p<0.05). Furthermore, there was a
      significant correlation between serum glutamate levels and positive symptoms
      among the clozapine-responder group (rho=0.47, p<0.005). High serum levels of
      BDNF and glutamate were associated with response to clozapine, while glutamate
      levels correlated with the psychosis severity in clozapine responders only. Large
      scale, prospective longitudinal studies are needed to support these findings and
      the assumption that serum glutamate and BDNF can discriminate between clozapine
      responders and non-responders.

PMID- 28599752
TI  - The Effect of DUCOM's Mini-Medical School Summer Camp on Students' Interests in
      Medicine.
AB  - Drexel University College of Medicine hosts two, three-week long Mini-Medical
      School Summer Camps each summer. These programs offer high-school seniors and
      freshmen in college the opportunity to experience various aspects of medical
      school and the life of a physician: attending lectures, observing surgeries,
      shadowing clinical physicians, etc. The purpose of this study is to see if the
      program increases students' interest in pursuing a career in medicine, the
      aspects of the program that accomplish this, and assess general satisfaction of
      the program. Information was collected from surveys administered to students
      before and after completion of the program. The program failed to show a
      difference in students' interest of pursuing a career in medicine before and
      after the program. Experiences in the operating room and ambulatory care
      (shadowing) were shown to be most influential on a student's decision to pursue a
      career in medicine. Students indicated the most enjoyed activity for both
      sessions was observing surgeries in the operating room. The majority of students
      would do the program again and recommend the program to their friends. Future
      studies should be conducted on similar programs to look at variables such as
      different age groups or socioeconomic statuses, and the impact these factors have
      on pursuing careers in medicine.

PMID- 28599753
TI  - Communication Between Middle SES Black Women and Healthcare Providers About HIV
      Testing.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article explores the impact of patient and healthcare provider
      communication (PPC) on the HIV testing behaviors of middle socioeconomic status
      (SES) Black women in North Carolina. We explore how PPC about STIs and HIV (or
      the lack thereof) affects the provision of STI/HIV testing by either confirming
      the need for middle SES Black women to test routinely or potentially deterring
      women from feeling they need to be tested. METHODS/FINDINGS: After conducting 15
      qualitative interviews with middle SES Black women between 25 and 45 years of
      age, we uncovered the role of patient self-advocacy in promoting HIV testing
      among middle SES Black women when they communicate with their healthcare
      providers. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss the importance of healthcare providers
      engaging their middle SES Black female patients in routine discussions about
      sexual health and sexual risk reduction, regardless of providers' perceptions of
      their potential STI/HIV risk. We recommend including SES as a variable in data
      collection and research in order to better understand how social class, race, and
      gender affect sexual health behavior and the provision of STI and HIV/AIDS
      prevention to diverse populations.

PMID- 28599754
TI  - The Effects of Sex Protein Receptors and Sex Steroid Hormone Gene Polymorphisms
      on Breast Cancer Risk.
AB  - Breast cancer is a common disease and a major cause of death among women
      throughout the world. Various genes are believed to be involved in the initiation
      and progression of the disease. Some polymorphisms of these genes increase
      susceptibility to breast cancer in particular ethnicities. This study used
      electronic literature search to review the effects of different sex steroid
      hormone gene polymorphisms on breast cancer risk. Our findings indicated that
      some polymorphisms in estrogen receptor alpha (ER-alpha), ER-beta, progesterone
      receptor (PGR), pregnane X receptor (PXR), and cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs)
      affected breast cancer susceptibility, especially in African American women.

PMID- 28599755
TI  - Decreased Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus in Jamaica.
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to report the dramatic changes in the point
      prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the adult population of Jamaica following
      education intervention. The initial prevalence in the 15-and-over age group was
      determined by a two-stage stratified random sampling design in 1993. In 1997, the
      University of the West Indies Diabetes Outreach Project thru its public service
      arm, the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, developed and implemented a Peer
      Facilitators Diabetes Education Programme. This effort has realized an increased
      patient and public education as well as concomitant increased patient compliance
      and a reduction in related complications. The Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey
      2008 examined, using a stratified, random, two-stage cluster sample survey, and a
      nationally representative sample of 2848 Jamaicans aged 15-74. The most dramatic
      outcome is the decrease in the prevalence from 17.9% to 7.9% in the adult
      population, age 15+.

PMID- 28599757
TI  - The Need for Basic Science: An Editorial.

PMID- 28599756
TI  - Tripterygium wilfordii Inhibiting Angiogenesis for Rheumatoid Arthritis
      Treatment.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with a serious pre
      vascular inflammatory phase, followed by significant increase in vessel growth.
      Inhibition of angiogenesis is a novel therapeutic strategy against RA. The
      Chinese herbal remedy Tripterygium wilfordii, Hook. f. (TwHf) has been reported
      to be therapeutically efficacious in the treatment of RA. Recent studies have
      revealed that treatment with TwHf extracts inhibit angiogenesis of RA, thereby
      elaborately attenuation RA symptom. This review mainly addresses the anti
      angiogenesis effect of TwHf in treatment of RA.

PMID- 28599758
TI  - President's Message.

PMID- 28599759
TI  - Promoting Progress or Propagating Problems: Strategic Plans and the Advancement
      of Academic Faculty Diversity in U.S. Medical Schools.

PMID- 28599760
TI  - Motivators, Barriers, and Facilitators to Weight Loss and Behavior Change Among
      African American Adults in Baltimore City: A Qualitative Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African American adults achieve smaller amounts of weight loss than
      their white counterparts when exposed to the same intervention and are more
      likely to regain weight during long-term follow-up. OBJECTIVE: To identify
      perceived motivators, barriers, and facilitators to weight loss and behavior
      change among African American adults. METHODS: Two focus groups were conducted
      between April and May 2015 at an urban community health center in Baltimore City,
      Maryland. A total of 13 participants took part in the discussions. Eligible
      participants were obese (BMI 30+) African American adults aged 21-70 who had at
      least one obesity-related comorbidity. Discussion questions were designed to
      identify the personal, social, and environmental factors that influence weight
      loss and behavior change among urban minority populations. RESULTS: Statements
      were first classified as a motivator, barrier, or facilitator, then divided
      further as a personal, social, or environmental factor influencing weight loss
      and behavior change. Among the findings, several novel motivators (reducing or
      eliminating medication, improving physical intimacy) and barriers (personal
      transportation, lack of access to scales) emerged that were not previously
      characterized in the existing literature. CONCLUSIONS: This study was intended to
      provide preliminary evidence that may be used to guide the development of
      innovative and culturally relevant weight-loss interventions in the future.
      Results are applicable to similar urban minority populations.

PMID- 28599761
TI  - Racial Disparity in Localized Prostate Cancer Mortality.
AB  - This study aims to examine racial differences in all-cause mortality between
      African American (AA) and non-African American localized prostate cancer
      patients. This study advances academic discussion by being among the first to use
      a sample more representative of the general population that is different from
      certain subpopulations examined in literature. This study adopted a retrospective
      cohort study design using the Florida Cancer Data System. The hierarchical
      logistic regression was employed to analyze mortality in 2004 among living
      patients with localized prostate cancer from baseline 2000. Among 9617 patients,
      the odds of mortality in AAs were 57.6% higher than the non-AAs (Adjusted OR =
      1.576, 95% CI: 1.243-1.999). Among prostate cancer patients, AA, older age,
      unmarried status, conservative treatment, Medicaid, and tumor grade III diagnosis
      predicted higher mortality relative to the reference group. Screening programs at
      a younger age can be considered, family and community support and aggressive
      treatments are suggested to prevent AA against adverse health outcomes.

PMID- 28599762
TI  - Co-teaching: Exploring an Alternative for Integrated Curriculum.
AB  - PURPOSE: Currently, the curriculum of medical education is compartmentalized
      which makes achieving the expected outcome, a real challenge. Co-teaching, an
      existing concept in education, however, may be used in medical education for
      integrating the applied component while basic concepts are being taught. The
      hypothesis, "can co-teaching be an alternate for an integrated curriculum?" was
      explored in this study. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the
      outcomes of co-teaching with the existing teaching methodology owing to the
      absence of integrated curriculum. METHODS: Co-teaching and conventional modules
      of topics Diabetes mellitus (DM) and Alcohol and liver disease (AL), were
      prepared and validated. 100 under graduate medical students were randomly
      assigned to groups A and B. Group A was taught DM by Conventional teaching (CT)
      and AL by Integrated Co-teaching (ICT) and Group B was taught DM by ICT and AL by
      CT. A knowledge assessment tool of 20 multiple choice items was administered to
      assess the pre, post and retention knowledge scores. Change between knowledge
      scores was analyzed using inferential statistics. RESULTS: Both conventional and
      co-teaching were significantly effective in increasing the knowledge scores (p =
      0.0001) with no significant difference in learning outcomes (p = 0.59) between
      the two. However, co-teaching showed better knowledge retention compared to
      conventional teaching (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Co-teaching could be considered
      as a substitute for integrated curriculum as it enabled comparatively better
      retention of knowledge as revealed by the findings.

PMID- 28599763
TI  - Beliefs about Genetically Targeted Care in African Americans.
AB  - We examined beliefs about genetically targeted care (GTC) among African American
      men and women in a hospital-based sample and identified sociodemographic,
      cultural, and clinical factors having significant independent associations with
      these beliefs. Specifically, beliefs about GTC were evaluated after respondents
      were randomly primed with a racial or non-racial cue about race and genetics.
      Despite priming with a racial or non-racial cue, many respondents had positive
      beliefs about GTC. But, 49% believed that GTC would limit access to medical
      treatment, 46% believed that people will not trust GTC, and 20% believed that
      people like them would not benefit from GTC. Racial and non-racial priming did
      not have significant associations with negative beliefs about GTC. However,
      cultural beliefs related to temporal orientation were associated significantly
      with believing that genetically targeted care will limit access to medical
      treatment. Greater levels of future temporal orientation were associated with a
      reduced likelihood of endorsing this belief (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.49, 1.01, p =
      0.05). Respondents who had a chronic medical condition had an almost three-fold
      greater likelihood of believing that they would not benefit from GTC (OR = 2.90,
      95% CI = 1.00, 8.37, p = 0.05). Greater exposure to information about genetic
      testing for chronic conditions was also associated with a reduced likelihood of
      believing that they would not benefit from GTC (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.64, 0.91, p
      = 0.02). African Americans have diverse beliefs about GTC that should be
      considered as genetic and genomic services are offered.

PMID- 28599764
TI  - Different insulin concentrations in resuspended vs. unsuspended NPH insulin:
      Practical aspects of subcutaneous injection in patients with diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: This study measured the insulin concentration (Ins[C]) of NPH insulin in
      vials and cartridges from different companies after either resuspension (R+) or
      not (R-; in the clear/cloudy phases of unsuspended NPH). METHODS: Measurements
      included Ins[C] in NPH(R+) and in the clear/cloudy phases of NPH(R-), and the
      time needed to resuspend NPH and time for NPH(R+) to separate again into
      clear/cloudy parts. RESULTS: In vials of NPH(R+) (assumed to be 100%), Ins[C] in
      the clear phase of NPH(R-) was<1%, but 230+/-41% and 234+/-54% in the cloudy
      phases of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly NPH, respectively. Likewise, in pen
      cartridges, Ins[C] in the clear phase of NPH(R-) was<1%, but 182+/-33%, 204+/-22%
      and 229+/-62% in the cloudy phases of Novo, Lilly and Sanofi NPH. Time needed to
      resuspend NPH (spent in tipping) in vials was brief with both Novo (5+/-1s) and
      Lilly NPH (6+/-1s), but longer with all pen cartridges (50+/-8s, 40+/-6s and 30+/
      4s from Novo, Lilly and Sanofi, respectively; P=0.022). Time required for 50%
      separation into cloudy and clear parts of NPH was longer with Novo (60+/-7min)
      vs. Lilly (18+/-3min) in vials (P=0.021), and affected by temperature, but not by
      the different diameter sizes of the vials. With pen cartridges, separation into
      clear and cloudy parts was significantly faster than in vials (P<0.01).
      CONCLUSION: Ins[C] in NPH preparations varies depending on their resuspension or
      not. Thus, subcutaneous injection of the same number of units of NPH in patients
      with diabetes may deliver different amounts of insulin depending on its prior NPH
      resuspension.

PMID- 28599765
TI  - Don't ask or tell: Pay secrecy policies in U.S. workplaces.
AB  - How widespread are workplace rules against discussing wages and salaries in the
      U.S.? And what are the core correlates of whether or not an employer prohibits or
      discourages this type of speech? Using a unique dataset that includes a measure
      of whether workers are prohibited or discouraged from discussing pay, this
      article investigates the prevalence of pay secrecy policies, and what worker- and
      workplace-level characteristics are associated with these rules. Key findings
      reveal that these policies are commonplace, despite being illegal, and that they
      are concentrated in more "coercive" rather than "enabling" organizations. These
      more coercive workplaces are disproportionately in the private sector, lack union
      representation, and have managers that are generally punitive in their approach
      and unaccommodating of employees. Findings also indicate that the greater
      discretion pay secrecy provides managers does not result in discriminatory
      application of these rules to women, racial/ethnic minorities, or immigrants. The
      article concludes with a call for data collection efforts that would allow
      researchers to analyze the consequences of this widespread managerial practice.

PMID- 28599766
TI  - Plastic and immobile: Unequal intergenerational mobility by genetic sensitivity
      score within sibling pairs.
AB  - Contrary to traditional biological arguments, the differential susceptibility
      model suggests genotype may moderate rather than mediate parent-child economic
      similarity. Using family fixed effects models of Add Health sibling data, I
      investigate the relationship between an index of sensitive genotypes and
      intergenerational mobility. Full, same sex sibling comparisons hold constant
      parental characteristics and address the non-random distribution of genotype that
      reduces internal validity in nationally representative samples. Across multiple
      measures of young adult financial standing, those with more copies of sensitive
      genotypes achieve lower economic outcomes than their sibling if they are from a
      low income context but fare better from a high income context. This genetic
      sensitivity to parental income entails lower intergenerational mobility. Results
      support the differential susceptibility model and contradict simplistic genetic
      explanations for intergenerational inequality, suggesting sensitive genotypes are
      not inherently positive or negative but rather increase dependence on parental
      income and reduce mobility.

PMID- 28599767
TI  - Cultural capital, teacher bias, and educational success: New evidence from
      monozygotic twins.
AB  - In this paper we use new data on Danish monozygotic (MZ) twins to analyze the
      effect of cultural capital on educational success. We report three main findings.
      First, cultural capital has a positive direct effect on the likelihood of
      completing the college-bound track in Danish secondary education. Second,
      cultural capital leads teachers to form upwardly biased perceptions of children's
      academic ability, but only when their exposure to children's cultural capital is
      brief (as in oral and written exams) rather than long (as in grades awarded at
      the end of the school year). Third, we find that the positive direct effect of
      cultural capital on educational success is higher for children from high
      socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds than for those from low-SES backgrounds.
      This result suggests that high-SES children are more likely to be in schooling
      contexts that enable them to convert cultural capital into educational success.

PMID- 28599768
TI  - Exposure to science, perspectives on science and religion, and religious
      commitment in young adulthood.
AB  - Social scientists know very little about the consequences of exposure to
      scientific knowledge and holding different perspectives on science and religion
      for individuals' religious lives. Drawing on secularization and post-secular
      theories, we develop and test several hypotheses about the relationships among
      exposure to scientific knowledge, perspectives on religion and science, and
      religious commitment using panel data from the National Study of Youth and
      Religion. Our findings indicate that religious faith is strongest among young
      adults who: (1) accommodate scientific knowledge into their religious
      perspective, or (2) reject scientific knowledge that directly contradicts their
      religious beliefs about the origins of the world. Young adults are also more
      likely to have lower religious commitment when they view science and religion as
      independent institutions, lending support to secularization ideas about how
      social differentiation secularizes individuals. We further find that mere
      exposure to scientific knowledge, in terms of majoring in biology or
      acknowledging conflict between the teachings of religion and science, is usually
      not sufficient to undermine religious commitment.

PMID- 28599769
TI  - Implicit Black identification and stereotype threat among African American
      students.
AB  - This study detects statistically significant and substantively large stereotype
      threat effects that would remain hidden if Black identification were measured
      only explicitly. Three hundred and fifty-one students at Historically Black
      Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were tested on an implicit Black identification
      measure in an online survey, and stereotype threat was manipulated beforehand by
      randomly presenting one of three introductory screens: an all-White research team
      (high-threat condition), an all-Black research team (low-threat condition), or no
      team picture (control condition). The implicit Black identification measure
      predicted pro-Black political opinions (regarding affirmative action and
      government aid to Blacks, slavery reparations, and the Racial Resentment Scale),
      high performance on a political knowledge test, and high self-reported political
      participation. However, under the high-threat condition, Black students with the
      highest implicit Black identification scores answered 25% fewer political
      knowledge questions correctly, and reported 25% fewer acts of political
      participation, compared with students operating under the low-threat conditions.

PMID- 28599770
TI  - Decoupling reconsidered: Does world society integration influence the
      relationship between the environment and economic development?
AB  - This study advances scholarship on environment and development by examining
      whether nations more embedded in the pro-environmental world society are more or
      less likely to experience a relative decoupling between economic development and
      carbon emissions over time. The authors calculate a network centrality measure
      using national-level membership data on environmental international
      nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), and then employ the measure to create four
      subsamples of nations that are relatively more or less integrated in the
      environmental world society. The authors use interactions between measures of
      economic development and time in two-way fixed effects models to estimate the
      potentially changing effects of development on carbon emissions for the four
      subsamples of nations from 1970 to 2009. Results indicate that nations that are
      the most embedded in the environmental world society experienced a moderate
      decrease through time in the effect of development on carbon emissions, while the
      effect of development on emissions increased through time in the most peripheral
      nations.

PMID- 28599771
TI  - Adolescents' perception of peer groups: Psychological, behavioral, and relational
      determinants.
AB  - Adolescents' social cognitive understanding of their social world is often
      inaccurate and biased. Focusing on peer groups, this study examines how
      adolescents' psychological, behavioral, and relational characteristics influence
      the extent to which they accurately identify their own and others' peer groups.
      Analyses were conducted with a sample of 1481 seventh- and tenth-grade Chinese
      students who are embedded with 346 peer groups. Overall, females and older
      students had more accurate perceptions. In addition, lower self-esteem, higher
      indegree centrality, and lower betweenness centrality in the friendship network
      predicted more accurate perception of one's own groups, whereas higher academic
      performance and lower betweenness centrality in the friendship network predicted
      more accurate perception of others' groups. Implications for understanding the
      connection between adolescents' psychological and behavioral traits, social
      relationships, and social cognition are discussed.

PMID- 28599773
TI  - Workplace bullying, perceived job stressors, and psychological distress: Gender
      and race differences in the stress process.
AB  - A large body of empirical research documents the adverse mental health
      consequences of workplace bullying. However, less is known about gender and race
      differences in the processes that link workplace bullying and poor mental health.
      In the current study, we use structural equation modeling of survey data from the
      2010 Health and Retirement Study (N = 2292) and draw on stress process theory to
      examine coworker support as a buffering mechanism against workplace bullying, and
      gender and race differences in the relationships between bullying and
      psychological distress. The results of the analysis indicate that coworker
      support serves as a protective buffer against workplace bullying, although the
      buffering effect is relatively small. We also find that the effects of workplace
      bullying more heavily impact women and persons of color. Specifically, women and
      African American individuals in our sample were less protected from the buffering
      mechanism of co-worker social support.

PMID- 28599772
TI  - Do adolescent risk behaviors mediate health and school bullying? Testing the
      stress process and general strain frameworks.
AB  - Adolescent bullying is a significant public health issue in the United States.
      The health consequences of bullying may vary, however, according to the social
      position and characteristics of victims and bullies within the bullying
      subculture. For example, research suggests that bully involved youth are more
      likely to engage in risky health behaviors, including social withdrawal, tobacco,
      and alcohol use. Yet, the extent to which health outcomes are shaped by
      involvements in bullying or the risk behaviors associated with bullying remains
      unclear. In this study we assess the extent to which risk behaviors mediate the
      links between health outcomes of bully-involved youth using data from the Health
      Behavior of School Aged Children 2005-2006 Study (N = 8066). School-level fixed
      effects regression models assessed whether risk behaviors mediate relationships
      between bullying statuses and somatic and depressive symptoms. Results show that
      mediational risk behavior pathways vary across outcomes for youth situated
      differently in the bullying subculture, with substantially more mediation for
      bullies than victims. This study advances the current bullying and health
      research by accounting for risk behavior pathways linking bullying and health.

PMID- 28599774
TI  - Re-examining the relationship between Latino immigration and racial/ethnic
      violence.
AB  - Whether immigration increases crime has long been a source of political debate
      and scholarly interest. Despite widespread public opinion to the contrary, the
      weight of evidence suggests the most recent wave of U.S. immigration has not
      increased crime, and may have actually helped reduce criminal violence. However,
      with recent shifts in immigrant settlement patterns away from traditional
      receiving destinations, a series of contemporary studies suggests a more
      complicated immigration-crime relationship, whereby Latino immigration is said to
      increase violence in newer immigrant destinations (but not in established
      destinations) and has varied effects for different racial/ethnic groups. With few
      exceptions, these more recent studies rely on cross-sectional analyses, thus
      limiting their ability to examine the longitudinal nexus between Latino
      immigration and violent crime. This study brings to bear the first longitudinal
      data set to test the relationship between immigration and racial/ethnic homicide
      in U.S. metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2010. Results from bivariate
      longitudinal associations and multivariate fixed effects models are contrary to
      recent findings - Latino immigration is generally associated with decreases in
      homicide victimization for whites, blacks, and Hispanics in both established and
      non-established immigrant destinations, though these associations are not
      significant in all cases.

PMID- 28599775
TI  - The role of family relationships in the psychological wellbeing of interracially
      dating adolescents.
AB  - We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
      (Add Health) to examine the role of family relationships in explaining why
      interracially dating youth have poorer psychological wellbeing than youth with
      same-race partners. Results indicate that interracial daters experience more
      symptoms of depression and anxiety and poorer family relationships than do same
      race daters. The additive effects of their lower levels of family support and
      poorer quality parent-child relationships, however, do little to explain
      interracial daters' more negative wellbeing outcomes. The negative effects of
      interracial dating hold similarly for boys and girls and among White and Black
      youth. Interracial dating less negatively effects the depressive symptomatology
      of Hispanics, though, and actually appears to "protect" Asian youth from
      depressive symptoms. Our findings highlight the psychological wellbeing risks
      faced by many interracially dating youth and the protective benefits of close and
      supportive family relationships for romantically-involved adolescents in general.

PMID- 28599776
TI  - Educational differentials in cohabitors' marriage intentions at different
      childbearing stages in seven European countries.
AB  - Several studies have looked into the socio-economic gradients of cohabitation and
      non-marital fertility. According to the theory of the Second Demographic
      Transition, highly educated individuals can be considered as forerunners in the
      Western European spread of non-marital family forms after the 1970s. In Central
      and Eastern Europe (CEE), however, research has provided evidence for a Pattern
      of Disadvantage where those with the lowest education have been the most likely
      to adopt such family forms. Hitherto, few studies have considered the educational
      gradient of the intentions underlying these behaviors. This contribution uses
      information on marriage and fertility intentions from the Generations and Gender
      Surveys for seven European countries to assess educational differentials. In
      Western Europe we observe no strong educational gradients in marriage intentions
      at any childbearing stage (before, during or following). In CEE countries,
      however, less educated cohabitors more frequently choose for cohabitation during
      childbearing.

PMID- 28599777
TI  - Strength matters: Tie strength as a causal driver of networks' information
      benefits.
AB  - Studies of social networks have often taken the existence of a social tie as a
      proxy for the transmission of information. However, other studies of social
      networks in the labor market propose that the likelihood of information
      transmission might depend on strength of the tie; and that tie strength is a
      potentially important source of the tie's value. After all, even if job seekers
      have social ties to those who have valuable job information, the seekers will
      gain little information benefit when the ties do not actually transmit the
      information. This paper clarifies the conditions under which social ties might
      provide information benefits. We use a survey vignette experiment and ask MBA
      students about their likelihood of relaying job information via strong ties (to
      friends) or weak ties (to acquaintances), holding constant the structural
      locations spanned by the tie and job seekers' fit with the job. The results
      support the claim that strength of tie has a causal effect on the chances of
      information transmission: potential referrers are more likely to relay job
      information to their friends than to acquaintances. The larger implication of
      these findings is that whatever benefits there might be to using weak ties to
      reach distant non-redundant information during job search, these benefits need to
      be considered against the likely fact that people connected via weak ties are
      less likely to actually share information about job opportunities than are people
      to whom the job seeker is strongly tied.

PMID- 28599778
TI  - How social media matter: Repression and the diffusion of the Occupy Wall Street
      movement.
AB  - This study explores the role played by social media in reshaping the repression
      mobilization relationship. Drawing on the case of the Occupy Wall Street
      movement, we examine the impact of Facebook and Twitter on the spatial diffusion
      of protests during a period of heightened state repression. Results from event
      history analyses suggest that the effects of repression on protest diffusion are
      contingent on the presence of social media accounts supporting the movement. We
      find that state repression at earlier protest sites encouraged activists to
      create Facebook and Twitter accounts in their own cities, which then served as
      important vehicles for the initiation of new Occupy protests. Moreover, results
      suggest that repression incidents can directly facilitate future protests in
      cities that already have Occupy Facebook accounts. This study highlights the
      potential of social media to both mediate and moderate the influence of
      repression on the diffusion of contemporary movements.

PMID- 28599779
TI  - State investments in high-technology job growth.
AB  - Since the early 1970's state and local governments have launched an array of
      economic development programs designed to promote high-technology development.
      The question our analysis addresses is whether these programs promote long-term
      high-technology employment growth net of state location and agglomeration
      advantages. Proponents talk about an infrastructure strategy that promotes
      investment in public research and specialized infrastructure to attract and grow
      new high technology industries in specific locations, and a more decentralized
      entrepreneurial strategy that reinforces local agglomeration capacities by
      investing in new enterprises and products, promoting the development of local
      networks and partnerships. Our results support the entrepreneurial strategy,
      suggesting that state governments can accelerate high technology development by
      adopting market-supportive programs that complement private sector initiatives.
      In addition to positive direct benefits of technology deployment/transfer
      programs and SBIR programs, entrepreneurial programs affect change in high
      technology employment in concert with existing locational and agglomeration
      advantages. Rural (i.e. low population density) states tend to benefit by
      technology development programs. Infrastructure strategy programs also facilitate
      high technology job growth in places where local advantages already exist. Our
      results suggest that critics of industrial policy are correct that high
      technology growth is organic and endogenous, yet state governments are able to
      "pick winners and losers" in ways that grow their local economy.

PMID- 28599780
TI  - Why Do(n't) they leave?: Motherhood and women's job mobility.
AB  - Although the relationship between motherhood and women's labor market exits has
      received a great deal of popular and empirical attention in recent years, far
      less is known about the relationship between motherhood and women's job changes.
      In this paper, I use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
      (1979) (NLSY79) and Cox regression models to examine how motherhood influences
      the types of job changes and employment exits women make and how this varies by
      racial-ethnic group. I find preschool-age children are largely immobilizing for
      white women, as they discourage these women from making the types of voluntary
      job changes that are often associated with wage growth. No such effects were
      found for Black or Hispanic women.

PMID- 28599781
TI  - European top managers' support for work-life arrangements.

PMID- 28599782
TI  - The enduring importance of family wealth: Evidence from the Forbes 400, 1982 to
      2013.
AB  - The richest 1 percent in the United States is a largely unexplored group, despite
      its ever-increasing share of the national wealth. The Forbes roster of the
      richest Americans has often been used to demonstrate the fading of nineteenth
      century hereditary fortunes. Based on full panel data from the annual American
      Forbes 400 ranking (1982-2013), this article goes beyond previous work by
      examining not only the sources of the very wealthy but also the factors that
      increase or decrease the likelihood of remaining listed among the American super
      rich and the typical patterns of mobility. We find that heirs are more likely to
      remain listed in the Forbes 400 roster than self-made entrepreneurs, all other
      things being equal. While scions of great wealth are less likely to drop
      completely from the list, they are nevertheless more likely to fall gradually in
      ranking than are self-made multimillionaires. Even though entrepreneurship
      matters increasingly for becoming super-rich, we conclude that it is first and
      foremost the ability of rich family dynasties to retain control over corporations
      and to access sophisticated financial advice that makes fortunes last.

PMID- 28599783
TI  - Marketization, occupational segregation, and gender earnings inequality in urban
      China.
AB  - This article analyzes a large sample of the 2005 population mini-census data and
      prefecture-level statistics of China to investigate gender earnings inequality in
      the context of economic marketization, paying special attention to the changing
      role of occupational segregation in the process. We approximate marketization by
      employment sectors and also construct an index of marketization at the prefecture
      level. Results show that, despite the tremendous economic growth, marketization
      has exacerbated gender earnings inequality in urban China's labor markets. Gender
      earnings inequality is the smallest in government/public institutions, followed
      by public enterprises, and then private enterprises. The gender inequality also
      increases with the prefecture's level of marketization. Multilevel analyses show
      that occupational segregation plays an important role in affecting gender
      earnings inequality: the greater the occupational segregation, the more
      disadvantaged women are relative to men in earnings in a prefecture's labor
      market. Moreover, the impact of occupational segregation on gender earnings
      inequality increases with the prefectural level of marketization. These findings
      contribute to understanding the dynamics of gender earnings inequality and have
      important implications for policy to promote gender equality in urban China.

PMID- 28599784
TI  - New guidelines for acute COPD exacerbations.

PMID- 28599785
TI  - Cross-language dependency treebank-An effective approach for contrastive study of
      languages: Comment on "Dependency distance: A new perspective on syntactic
      patterns in natural languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

PMID- 28599786
TI  - Protein folding: Over half a century lasting quest: Comment on "There and back
      again: Two views on the protein folding puzzle" by Alexei V. Finkelstein et al.

PMID- 28599787
TI  - Anti-CD26 autoantibodies are involved in rheumatoid arthritis and show potential
      clinical interest.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients show low serum levels of the Ag
      dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV/CD26), both soluble CD26 (sCD26) concentration
      and its DPP-IV activity. The aim of this study was to test if anti-DPP-IV/CD26
      Abs (Anti-CD26) cleared sCD26. DESIGN & METHODS: Serum Anti-CD26 and Total titers
      (as comparison) of isotypes IgA, IgM and IgG as well as sCD26 concentration and
      DPP-IV activity were measured in a cohort of RA patients undergoing different
      biological and non-biological therapies (n=105) and controls (n=50). RESULTS:
      Anti-CD26 levels were increased approximately two-fold for each isotype in RA,
      were not related to the sCD26 clearance, showed several correlations with disease
      activity parameters, were significantly higher in smokers and they were not ACPA.
      Anti-CD26 Igs showed high diagnostic power (82% sensitivity and 96% specificity)
      and their levels differed amongst the different groups of patients stratified by
      the type of therapy. CONCLUSIONS: As DPP-IV/CD26 is associated to factors
      triggering RA in the lung and periodontal tissue, these results suggest that Anti
      CD26 isotypes may participate in pathogenesis and may be useful as biomarkers for
      earlier diagnosis and/or precision medicine.

PMID- 28599788
TI  - NR1D1 enhances oxidative DNA damage by inhibiting PARP1 activity.
AB  - Cancer cells exhibit an elevated intracellular level of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) because of their accelerated metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, and
      antioxidant deficit. The oxidative stress in cancer cells may provide clinical
      benefits, which can be associated with a better response to anticancer therapies.
      Therefore, identifying the regulatory pathway of oxidative stress in cancer cells
      is important in the development of therapeutic targets that enhance sensitivity
      to ROS-generating anticancer therapies. Here, we report that nuclear receptor
      subfamily 1, group D, member 1 (NR1D1; Rev-erbalpha) inhibited DNA repair of ROS
      induced DNA damage in breast cancer cells. NR1D1 interacted with poly(ADP-ribose)
      polymerase 1 (PARP1) and subsequently inhibited catalytic activity of PARP1.
      NR1D1 enhanced accumulation of DNA damage, which increased sensitivity of breast
      cancer cells to oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that NR1D1 could be a
      therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment, especially in those patients
      treated with ROS-inducing chemotherapeutic agents.

PMID- 28599789
TI  - MicroRNA-126 participates in lipid metabolism in mammary epithelial cells.
AB  - Lipids are a major component of milk and are important for infant growth and
      development. MicroRNA-126 (miR-126) has previously been observed in mammary
      glands and adipocytes and is known to be involved in lipid metabolism during the
      process of atherosclerosis. However, it remains unknown whether miR-126 also
      participates in lipid metabolism in mammary luminal epithelial cells (MECs). In
      the current investigation, miR-126-3p inhibition stimulated lipid synthesis in
      MECs in part through increasing levels of the lipid synthesis enzymes FASN,
      ACSL1, and Insig1. Overexpression of miR-126-3p decreased lipid content in MECs
      with a reduction in FASN and Insig1. Furthermore, the expression of miR-126-3p
      was diminished by the steroid hormones estradiol and progesterone with a
      subsequent elevation of lipid formation in MECs. We also noted that miR-126-3p
      was expressed differentially at various stages of murine mammary gland
      development, exhibiting a negative correlation with FASN. Together these findings
      suggest that miR-126-3 might be involved in lipid metabolism in mammary gland.

PMID- 28599790
TI  - Long-term outcomes of central neck dissection for cN0 papillary thyroid
      carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The risk-benefit ratio of central neck dissection (CND) in patients
      affected by papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) without clinical or
      ultrasonographic (US) evidence of neck lymph node metastasis (cN0) is currently
      debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term outcome of CND on
      locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis, survival, and postoperative
      complications in a large series of patients with cN0-PTC. STUDY DESIGN:
      Observational retrospective controlled study. METHODS: Clinical records of
      patients (n=610) surgically treated for cN0-PTC at the Otolaryngology Unit of the
      Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova-IRCCS, Reggio Emilia, Italy, from January 1984 to
      December 2008, were retrospectively reviewed. Study population was divided into
      three groups according to surgical treatment: Group A, total thyroidectomy
      (n=205); Group B, total thyroidectomy and elective ipsilateral CND (n=281); Group
      C, total thyroidectomy and bilateral CND (n=124). RESULTS: Of a total of 610
      patients, 305 (50%) were classified as low-risk, 278 (45.57%) as intermediate
      risk, and 27 (4.43%) as high-risk. Response to initial therapy was excellent in
      567 patients (92.95%), acceptable in 21 (3.44%), and incomplete in 22 (3.61%),
      with no significant differences among groups. Locoregional recurrence was
      detected in 32 (5.2%) out of 610 patients. Distant metastasis was found in 15
      patients (2.5%). Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in the
      rates of locoregional recurrence (p=0.890) or distant metastasis (p=0.538) among
      groups. Disease-specific mortality and overall survival did not significantly
      differ among groups (p=0.248 and 0.223, respectively). Rate of permanent
      hypoparathyroidism was significantly higher in Group C patients compared to those
      in Groups A and B. CONCLUSION: CND does not confer any clear advantage in the
      treatment of low-risk patients, regardless of surgical procedure. Instead,
      bilateral CND may be effective in limiting disease relapse and/or progression in
      patients at higher prognostic risk. Our data indicate that elective CND does not
      confer any clear advantage in terms of locoregional recurrence and long-term
      survival, as demonstrated by outcomes of the study Groups, regardless of their
      different prognostic risk. Elective CND allows a more accurate pathologic staging
      of central neck lymph nodes, despite its increasing the risk of permanent
      hypoparathyroidism. Intraoperative pathologic staging is a valuable tool to
      assess the risk of controlateral lymph node metastasis in the central neck
      compartment and to limit more aggressive surgery only to cases, otherwise
      understaged, with lymph node metastasis.

PMID- 28599792
TI  - A cross sectional survey measuring sero-incidence of pertussis infection among
      Japanese junior and senior high school students in 2013 and 2014.
AB  - Pertussis in adolescents has been increasingly documented in recent years, but
      diagnosis from the clinical symptoms is difficult. Serological diagnosis with IgG
      antibody to pertussis toxin (IgG PT) is useful for detecting pertussis cases in
      this population. However, no serological criterion for recent infection has been
      fully validated and large-scale, longitudinal serological data among Japanese
      junior and senior high school students are lacking. Paired serum samples of 3243
      junior and senior high school students, collected in 2013 and 2014, were analyzed
      for IgG PT and its relationship to possible risk factors. Regression analysis
      showed an average decrease of 35% in IgG PT between 2013 and 2014. In 2013, 4.4%
      of the students showed IgG PT levels >=100EU/mL, as did 3.7% in 2014. The
      seroincidence, defined as [IgG PT] change from <100 in 2013 to >=100EU/mL in
      2014, was 10.3 cases per 1000 person-years. A 4-fold rise in IgG PT was seen in
      2.1% of the students, with significant differences between schools and
      significant correlations to two risk factors, "over 2weeks coughing" and
      "exposure to a person with over 2weeks coughing". A substantial number of
      students had IgG PT >=100EU/mL despite the observed 35% yearly decrease in IgG PT
      level. The local foci of >=4-fold IgG PT increase in specific schools suggests
      the persistent circulation of B. pertussis in Japanese adolescents. The results
      also support a ">=4-fold rise in IgG PT" as a useful component of the sero
      epidemiological surveillance for pertussis.

PMID- 28599791
TI  - Characterization of HPV18 E6-specific T cell responses and establishment of HPV18
      E6-expressing tumor model.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been identified as the primary etiologic factor of
      cervical cancer, and subsets of anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. HPV18 is
      the second most prevalent high-risk HPV type after HPV16. Furthermore, HPV18 is
      responsible for approximately 12% of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 37% of
      cervical adenocarcinoma cases worldwide. In this study, we aimed to characterize
      the HPV18-E6-specific epitope and establish an HPV18 animal tumor model to
      evaluate the E6-specific immune response induced by our DNA vaccine. We
      vaccinated naive C57BL/6 mice with a prototype DNA vaccine, pcDNA3-HPV18-E6, via
      intramuscular injection followed by electroporation, and analyzed the E6-specific
      CD8+ T cell responses by flow cytometry using a reported T cell epitope. We then
      characterized the MHC restriction element for the characterized HPV18-E6 epitope.
      Additionally, we generated an HPV18-E6-expressing tumor cell line to study the
      antitumor effect mediated by E6-specific immunity. We observed a robust HPV18
      E6aa67-75 peptide-specific CD8+ T cell response after vaccination with pcDNA3
      HPV18-E6. Further characterization demonstrated that this epitope was mainly
      restricted by H-2Kb, but was also weakly presented by HLA-A*0201, as previously
      reported. We observed that vaccination with pcDNA3-HPV18-E6 significantly
      inhibited the growth of HPV18-E6-expressing tumor cells, TC-1/HPV18-E6, in mice.
      An antibody depletion study demonstrated that both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are
      necessary for the observed antitumor immunity. The characterization of HPV18-E6
      specific T cell responses and the establishment of HPV18-E6-expressing tumor cell
      line provide infrastructures for further development of HPV18-E6 targeted
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 28599793
TI  - A cross-reacting material CRM197 conjugate vaccine induces diphtheria toxin
      neutralizing antibody response in children and adolescents infected or not with
      HIV.
AB  - Anti-diphtheria antibody levels decrease with aging, and frequent booster
      vaccinations are required to maintain herd immunity. We analyzed the diphtheria
      toxin neutralizing antibody (DT-Nab) response induced by a conjugate vaccine
      (meningococcal C polysaccharide-CRM197) in HIV-vertically infected (HI) children
      and adolescents and healthy controls (HC) with matched age. We report the
      association of DT-Nab with the bactericidal antibodies to serogroup C
      meningococcus (MenC). Before vaccination, 21 HI patients (50%) had no protection
      against diphtheria (<=0.01IU/ml of antibody) and only 8 (19%) showed complete
      protection (>=0.1IU/ml). About half of the HC (56%) had complete protection
      before immunization and 6 subjects (12%) had no protection against diphtheria.
      After one and two vaccine injections, 96% of HC and 64% of HI vaccinees,
      respectively, showed full protection against diphtheria. These data indicate that
      CRM197 was able to induce primary and/or booster response in both groups of
      individuals.

PMID- 28599794
TI  - A novel combination adjuvant platform for human and animal vaccines.
AB  - Adjuvants are crucial components of many vaccines. They are used to improve the
      immunogenicity of vaccines with the aim of conferring long-term protection, to
      enhance the efficacy of vaccines in newborns, elderly or immunocompromised
      persons, and to reduce the amount of antigen or the number of doses required to
      elicit effective immunity. Novel combination adjuvants have been tested in both
      candidate animals and humans vaccines and have generated encouraging results.
      Recently, we developed a combination adjuvant platform (TriAdj) comprising of
      three components, namely a TLR agonist, either polyI:C or CpG
      oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN), host defense peptide and polyphosphazene. This
      adjuvant platform is stable and highly effective in a wide range of animal and
      human vaccines tested in mice, cotton rats, pigs, sheep, and koalas. TriAdj with
      various vaccines antigens induced effective long-term humoral and cellular
      immunity. Moreover, the adjuvant platform is suitable for maternal immunization
      and highly effective in neonates even in the presence of maternal antibodies.
      This novel vaccine platform, offers excellent opportunity for use in present and
      future generations of vaccines against multiple infectious agents and targets
      challenging populations.

PMID- 28599795
TI  - Metallic nanoparticles to eradicate bacterial bone infection.
AB  - Treatment of osteomyelitis by conventional antibiotics has proven to be
      challenging due to limited accessibility to this unique location. Inorganic
      routes against bacterial infection have been reported for external and topical
      applications, however in vivo application of these antimicrobials has not been
      fully explored. Targeted delivery of metallic nanoparticles with inherent
      antimicrobial activity represents an alternative means of overcoming the
      challenges posed by multidrug-resistant bacteria and may potentially reduce
      overall morbidity. In this study we utilized silver-copper-boron composite
      nanoparticles in an attempt to eradicate S. aureus bone infection in mice. Our
      results demonstrate effective response when nanoparticles were administered via
      i.v. or i.m. route (1mg/kg dose) where 99% of bacteria were eliminated in an
      induced osteomyelitis mouse model. The 1mg/kg dose was neither toxic nor produced
      any adverse immune response, hence it is believed that metallic nanoparticles
      present an alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of bone infection.

PMID- 28599796
TI  - Use of the electrocardiogram in pre-participation screening of athletes: For or
      against?

PMID- 28599797
TI  - Variability in interpretation of the electrocardiogram in athletes: Another
      limitation in pre-competitive screening.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Assessment of the electrocardiogram (ECG) in athletes remains
      controversial, with lack of standardization and difficulty in applying specific
      criteria in its interpretation. The purpose of this study was to assess
      variability in the interpretation of the ECG in athletes. METHODS: Twenty ECGs of
      competitive athletes were assessed by cardiologists and cardiology residents, 11
      of them normal or with isolated physiological changes and nine pathological. Each
      ECG was classified as normal/physiological or pathological, with or without the
      use of specific interpretation criteria. RESULTS: The study presents responses
      from 58 physicians, 42 (72.4%) of them cardiologists. Sixteen (27.6%) physicians
      reported that they regularly assessed athletes and 32 (55.2%) did not use
      specific ECG interpretation criteria, of which the Seattle criteria were the most
      commonly used (n=13). Each physician interpreted 15+/-2 ECGs correctly,
      corresponding to 74% of the total number of ECGs (variation: 45%-100%).
      Interpretation of pathological ECGs was correct in 68% (variation: 22%-100%) and
      of normal/physiological in 79% (variation: 55%-100%). There was no significant
      difference in interpretation between cardiologists and residents (74+/-10% vs.
      75+/-10%; p=0.724) or between those who regularly assessed athletes and those who
      did not (77+/-12% vs. 73+/-9%; p=0.286), but there was a trend for a higher rate
      of correct interpretation using specific criteria (77+/-10% vs. 72+/-10%;
      p=0.092). The reproducibility of the study was excellent (intraclass correlation
      coefficient=0.972; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A quarter of the ECGs were not
      correctly assessed and variability in interpretation was high. The use of
      specific criteria can improve the accuracy of interpretation of athletes' ECGs,
      which is an important part of pre-competitive screening, but one that is
      underused.

PMID- 28599798
TI  - Determination of optimal shoe fitting for children tennis players: Effects of
      inner-shoe volume and upper stiffness.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal inner-shoe volume for
      children tennis players. Sixteen participants, aged from 8 to 12 years old
      assessed comfort of 6 shoes, which were a combination of 3 lasts (thin, medium
      and wide) and 2 upper constructions (flexible and stiff), while a sock equipped
      with textile sensors was measuring the pressure applied on their foot. The thin
      last was based on the proportion of an adult last. The widest shoes produced the
      lowest pressure on the 1st and 5th metatarsal heads, the medial midfoot and the
      medial and lateral heel (p < 0.05), whilst they were perceived the most
      comfortable for the 3rd and 5th metatarsal heads, the 5th metatarsal base and the
      medial and lateral heel (p < 0.05). These outcomes indicated that footwear
      manufacturers should design wider shoes for children than for adults.

PMID- 28599799
TI  - Dry syngas purification process for coal gas produced in oxy-fuel type integrated
      gasification combined cycle power generation with carbon dioxide capturing
      feature.
AB  - Electricity production from coal fuel with minimizing efficiency penalty for the
      carbon dioxide abatement will bring us sustainable and compatible energy
      utilization. One of the promising options is oxy-fuel type Integrated
      Gasification Combined Cycle (oxy-fuel IGCC) power generation that is estimated to
      achieve thermal efficiency of 44% at lower heating value (LHV) base and provide
      compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) with concentration of 93 vol%. The proper
      operation of the plant is established by introducing dry syngas cleaning
      processes to control halide and sulfur compounds satisfying tolerate contaminants
      level of gas turbine. To realize the dry process, the bench scale test facility
      was planned to demonstrate the first-ever halide and sulfur removal with fixed
      bed reactor using actual syngas from O2-CO2 blown gasifier for the oxy-fuel IGCC
      power generation. Design parameter for the test facility was required for the
      candidate sorbents for halide removal and sulfur removal. Breakthrough test was
      performed on two kinds of halide sorbents at accelerated condition and on
      honeycomb desulfurization sorbent at varied space velocity condition. The results
      for the both sorbents for halide and sulfur exhibited sufficient removal within
      the satisfactory short depth of sorbent bed, as well as superior bed conversion
      of the impurity removal reaction. These performance evaluation of the candidate
      sorbents of halide and sulfur removal provided rational and affordable design
      parameters for the bench scale test facility to demonstrate the dry syngas
      cleaning process for oxy-fuel IGCC system as the scaled up step of process
      development.

PMID- 28599800
TI  - Proceedings of the Editorial Board Meeting of The American Journal of Cardiology
      on March 17, 2017.

PMID- 28599801
TI  - Relation of Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics to Asymptomatic Polyvascular
      Disease in a Chinese Population.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease with manifestations in multiple vascular
      beds. Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics relate to cardiovascular and
      cerebrovascular disease. However, the relation between ideal CVH metrics and
      asymptomatic polyvascular disease (polyVD) is unknown. We collected information
      on the 7 CVH metrics among 5,224 participants aged >=40 years from 2010 to 2011.
      Intracranial artery stenosis, extracranial artery stenosis, and lower extremity
      artery disease were detected by transcranial Doppler, duplex sonography, and by
      calculating ankle-brachial index. Ordinal logistic regression and linear models
      were used to analyze the relation between ideal CVH metrics and polyVD. PolyVD
      was identified in 158 (3%) participants. We observed a significant inverse
      gradient relation between the number of ideal CVH metrics and prevalence of
      polyVD after adjustment for potential confounders. The adjusted odds ratios and
      95% confidence intervals were 0.824 (0.657 to 1.032), 0.641 (0.511 to 0.804),
      0.538 (0.423 to 0.684), 0.583 (0.442 to 0.769), and 0.530 (0.348 to 0.808) for
      those having 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 or 7 ideal CVH metrics, respectively, compared
      with those having 0 or 1 ideal CVH metric (p-trend <0.0001). Similarly, a larger
      number of ideal CVH metrics was associated with a lower prevalence of polyVD in
      the linear models (adjusted beta coefficient -0.030, 95% confidence interval 
      0.041 to -0.020). Stratification for gender and age yielded consistent results in
      all subgroups except for women subgroup. In conclusion, we observed a significant
      inverse gradient association between the number of ideal CVH metrics and
      prevalence of asymptomatic polyVD.

PMID- 28599803
TI  - Long-Term Effects of the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on Incidence of Fatal
      and Nonfatal Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - This study aimed to examine the long-term effects of the 2011 Japan earthquake
      and tsunami on the incidence of fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). In
      the present study, the incidence of 2 types of cardiac events was comprehensively
      recorded. The study area was divided into 2 zones based on the severity of
      tsunami damage, which was determined by the percentage of the inundated area
      within the residential area (<10%, low-impact zone and >=10%, high-impact zone).
      The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and 95% CI for both types of cardiac
      events during the disaster year and the postdisaster years were determined in
      each zone. During the 4-year period after the disaster, the SIRs for nonfatal MI
      did not change to a statistically significant extent in either zones. For fatal
      MI, the SIR was stable during the study period in the low-impact zone. However,
      in the high-impact zone, the SIR was significantly elevated in the disaster year
      of 2011 (1.80 [95% CI 1.32 to 2.28]), and this increase was sustained for the
      following 3 years (2012, 2.06 [1.55 to 2.57]; 2013, 1.99 [1.49 to 2.48]; 2014,
      2.12 [1.62 to 2.63]). The SIRs for fatal MI for the 4 postdisaster years in the
      municipal areas were significantly correlated with the percentage of the
      inundated area (r = 0.83; p <0.001) and the number of deaths due to the tsunami
      (r = 0.77; p <0.005) but not with the maximum seismic intensity (r = 0.43; p =
      0.12). In conclusion, these results suggest that the devastating tsunami was
      associated with a continual increase in the incidence of fatal MI among disaster
      survivors.

PMID- 28599802
TI  - Prognostic Value of Serial N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide Testing in
      Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - Natriuretic peptides (NPs) are important predictors of outcomes in patients with
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI) but can change over time. The association of
      patterns of NP changes after AMI on outcomes is less clear. We measured N
      terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) during the AMI admission and
      at 1 month in a prospective AMI registry. Outcomes included 1-year readmission
      and 2-year mortality. An elevated NT-proBNP was defined using age-specific
      criteria. Patients were classified into 3 groups (low/low [referent group],
      high/low, high/high) based on NT-proBNP value at enrollment and 1 month. The
      incremental predictive value of NT-proBNP was determined after adjusting for 6
      month GRACE risk score, diabetes, and ejection fraction <40%. Among 773 patients,
      303 (38%) were low/low, 240 (30%), and were high/high, 230 (29%) were high/low.
      Two-year mortality was highest in high/high patients but similar in the high/low
      and low/low patients (13.1% vs 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively). Similarly,
      readmission was significantly more likely in the high/high versus the high/low
      and low/low groups. After adjustment, mortality was significantly higher in the
      high/high group (hazard ratio 4.02, 95% CI 1.67 to 9.66) compared with the
      low/low group, although readmission was no longer statistically different (hazard
      ratio 1.37, 95% CI 0.93 to 2.03). In conclusion, a persistently elevated NT
      proBNP assessed 1 month after discharge was associated with a higher risk of
      mortality in patient with AMI. Postdischarge risk stratification using NT-proBNP
      has the potential to identify higher risk patients after AMI.

PMID- 28599804
TI  - ST-Segment Elevation in Lead aVR and Duke Treadmill Score.

PMID- 28599805
TI  - Re: Single-incision versus 3-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy in symptomatic
      gallstones: A prospective randomized study.

PMID- 28599806
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of bupivacaine after bilateral ultrasound-guided transversus
      abdominis plane block following cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transversus abdominis plane block is an effective method of post
      cesarean analgesia. There are no data available about plasma bupivacaine levels
      after this block in adults. This study aimed to assess bupivacaine
      pharmacokinetic parameters after ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane
      blocks following cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia. METHODS: A
      prospective observational study in parturients undergoing elective cesarean
      delivery under hyperbaric bupivacaine spinal anesthesia was conducted. After
      surgery, patients received bilateral transversus abdominis plane block (50mg
      bupivacaine each side). Venous blood samples were collected immediately before
      performing the block and at 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 720 and
      1440minutes. High performance liquid chromatography was used to measure total
      plasma bupivacaine concentrations. Mean bupivacaine area under the curve (AUC)
      was calculated from 0 to 24hours. RESULTS: Data were collected from 17
      parturients. Mean age and body mass index were 31+/-6y and 30+/-4kg/m2
      respectively. Mean plasma bupivacaine concentration before the block was
      171ng/mL. Mean peak concentration was 802.36ng/mL (range 231.8 to 3504.5ng/mL).
      Mean time to peak concentration was 30min and mean area-under-the-curve (0-24h)
      was 4505.4h.ng/mL. Mean elimination half-life was 8.75h. Three subjects had
      concentrations above the quoted toxic threshold and mild symptoms suggestive of
      neurotoxicity were reported by two subjects, but no treatment was required.
      CONCLUSION: Single-dose bilateral transversus abdominis plane block using 100mg
      of bupivacaine, after spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery, can result in
      toxic plasma bupivacaine concentrations.

PMID- 28599807
TI  - Multiple Cavitary Pulmonary Nodules. Tuberculosis or Malignancy?

PMID- 28599808
TI  - Endobronchial actinomycosis associated with an inorganic foreign body.

PMID- 28599809
TI  - Hepatoprotective effect of chitosan-caffeic acid conjugate against ethanol
      treated mice.
AB  - The chitosan-caffeic acid (CCA) conjugate shows a hepatoprotective effect against
      oxidative stress-induced hepatic damage in cultured hepatocytes. The objective of
      this study is the verification of the hepatoprotective effect of the CCA in vivo
      against ethanol-induced liver injury in mice. The administration of ethanol
      resulted in the increase of the serum-aminotransferase activities (AST and ALT),
      triglycerides, total cholesterol, and lipid peroxidation. The CCA co
      administration, however, significantly (p<0.05) ameliorated these serum
      biomarkers. The antioxidant-enzyme activities in the liver tissue, including
      those of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase
      (GPx), were significantly decreased by a chronic ethanol administration, whereas
      the hepatic lipid-peroxidation level was increased. Moreover, the chronic ethanol
      administration elevated the gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as
      tumor-necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the liver
      tissue. The CCA co-administration, however, significantly (p<0.05) increased the
      activities of the SOD, CAT, and GPx and caused the down-regulation of the TNF
      alpha- and IL-6-gene expressions in the liver tissue. An histopathologic
      evaluation also supported the hepatoprotective effect of the CCA against ethanol
      induced hepatotoxicity in the mice.

PMID- 28599810
TI  - Comparative cost-benefit analysis of tele-homecare for community-dwelling elderly
      in Japan: Non-Government versus Government Supported Funding Models.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tele-homecare is gaining prominence as a viable care alternative, as
      evidenced by the increase in financial support from international governments to
      fund initiatives in their respective countries. The primary reason for the
      funding is to support efforts to reduce lags and increase capacity in access to
      care as well as to promote preventive measures that can avert costly emergent
      issues from arising. These efforts are especially important to super-aged and
      aging societies such as in Japan, many European countries, and the United States
      (US). However, to date and to our knowledge, a direct comparison of non
      government vs. government-supported funding models for tele-homecare is
      particularly lacking in Japan. The aim of this study is to compare these
      operational models (i.e., non-government vs. government-supported funding) from a
      cost-benefit perspective. This simulation study applies to a Japanese
      hypothetical cohort with implications for other super-aged and aging societies
      abroad. METHODS: We performed a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) on two operational
      models for enabling tele-homecare for elderly community-dwelling cohorts based on
      a decision tree model, which we created with parameters from published
      literature. The two models examined are (a) Model 1-non-government-supported
      funding that includes monthly fixed charges paid by users for a portion of the
      operating costs, and (b) Model 2-government-supported funding that includes
      startup and installation costs only (i.e., no operating costs) and no monthly
      user charges. We performed base case cost-benefit analysis and probabilistic cost
      benefit analysis with a Monte Carlo simulation. We calculated net benefit and
      benefit-to-cost ratios (BCRs) from the societal perspective with a five-year time
      horizon applying a 3% discount rate for both cost and benefit values. The cost of
      tele-homecare included (a) the startup system expense, averaged over a five-year
      depreciation period, and (b) operation expenses (i.e., labor and non-labor) per
      user per year. The benefit of tele-homecare was measured by annual willingness to
      pay (WTP) for tele-homecare by a user and medical expenditures avoided. Both
      costs and benefits were inflated using the relevant Japanese consumer price index
      (CPI) and converted into 2015 US dollars with purchasing power parity (PPP)
      adjusted. RESULTS: Base case net benefits of Model 1 and Model 2 were $417.00 and
      $97.30, respectively. Base case BCR of Model 1 tele-homecare was 1.63, while
      Model 2 was 1.03. The probabilistic analysis estimated mean (95%CI) for BCRs of
      Model 1 and Model 2 was 1.84 (1.89, 1.88) and 1.46 (1.43, 1.49), respectively.
      Sensitivity analysis showed robustness of Model 1 in 7 parameters but Model 2 was
      sensitive in all key parameters such as initial system cost, device cost, number
      of users, and medical expenditure saved. Break-even analysis showed that the
      system cost of Model 2 had to be under $187,500. CONCLUSIONS: Our results for
      each model collectively showed that tele-homecare in Japan is cost-saving to some
      extent. However, the government-funded model (i.e., Model 2), which typically
      requires use of all startup funding to be spent within the first year on system
      costs, was inferior to the monthly fee model (i.e., Model 1) that did not use the
      government funding for installation or continued operations, but rather
      incorporated a monthly fee from users to support the receipt of services via tele
      homecare. While the benefits of Model 1 outweighed the benefits of Model 2, the
      government-subsidized method employed in Model 2 could be more beneficial in
      general if some explicit prequalifying estimated metrics are instituted prior to
      funding. Thus, governments need to require applicants requesting funding to note,
      at a minimum, (a) estimated costs, (b) the expected number of tele-homecare
      users, and expected benefits such as (c) WTP by the user, or (d) medical
      expenditure saved by tele-homecare as a means of financing some of the
      operational costs.

PMID- 28599811
TI  - Using formal methods for content validation of medical procedure documents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We propose the use of a formal approach to support content validation
      of a standard operating procedure (SOP) for a therapeutic intervention. Such an
      approach provides a useful tool to identify ambiguities, omissions and
      inconsistencies, and improves the applicability and efficacy of documents in the
      health settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We apply and evaluate a methodology
      originally proposed for the verification of software specification documents to a
      specific SOP. The verification methodology uses the graph formalism to model the
      document. Semi-automatic analysis identifies possible problems in the model and
      in the original document. The verification is an iterative process that
      identifies possible faults in the original text that should be revised by its
      authors and/or specialists. RESULTS: The proposed method was able to identify 23
      possible issues in the original document (ambiguities, omissions, redundant
      information, and inaccuracies, among others). The formal verification process
      aided the specialists to consider a wider range of usage scenarios and to
      identify which instructions form the kernel of the proposed SOP and which ones
      represent additional or required knowledge that are mandatory for the correct
      application of the medical document. CONCLUSION: By using the proposed
      verification process, a simpler and yet more complete SOP could be produced. As
      consequence, during the validation process the experts received a more mature
      document and could focus on the technical aspects of the procedure itself.

PMID- 28599812
TI  - Making electronic health records support quality management: A narrative review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since the 1990s many hospitals in the OECD countries have introduced
      electronic health record (EHR) systems. A number of studies have examined the
      factors impinging on EHR implementation. Others have studied the clinical
      efficacy of EHR. However, only few studies have explored the (intermediary)
      factors that make EHR systems conducive to quality management (QM). OBJECTIVE:
      Undertake a narrative review of existing studies in order to identify and discuss
      the factors conducive to making EHR support three dimensions of QM: clinical
      outcomes, managerial monitoring and cost-effectiveness. METHOD: A narrative
      review of Web of Science, Cochrane, EBSCO, ProQuest, Scopus and three Nordic
      research databases. LIMITATION: most studies do not specify the type of EHR
      examined. RESULTS: 39 studies were identified for analysis. 10 factors were found
      to be conducive to make EHR support QM. However, the contribution of EHR to the
      three specific dimensions of QM varied substantially. Most studies (29) included
      clinical outcomes. However, only half of these reported EHR to have a positive
      impact. Almost all the studies (36) dealt with the ability of EHR to enhance
      managerial monitoring of clinical activities, the far majority of which showed a
      positive relationship. Finally, only five dealt with cost-effectiveness of which
      two found positive effects. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The findings resonates
      well with previous reviews, though two factors making EHR support QM seem new,
      namely: political goals and strategies, and integration of guidelines for
      clinical conduct. Lacking EHR type specification and diversity in study method
      imply that there is a strong need for further research on the factors that may
      make EHR may support QM.

PMID- 28599813
TI  - Google dengue trends: An indicator of epidemic behavior. The Venezuelan Case.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue Fever is a neglected increasing public health thread.
      Developing countries are facing surveillance system problems like delay and data
      loss. Lately, the access and the availability of health-related information on
      the internet have changed what people seek on the web. In 2004 Google developed
      Google Dengue Trends (GDT) based on the number of search terms related with the
      disease in a determined time and place. The goal of this review is to evaluate
      the accuracy of GDT in comparison with traditional surveillance systems in
      Venezuela. METHODS: Weekly epidemic data from GDT, Official Reported Cases (ORC)
      and Expected Cases (EC) according the Ministry of Health (MH) was obtained
      Monthly and yearly correlation between GDT and ORC from 2004 until 2014 was
      obtained. Linear regressions taking the reported cases as dependent variable were
      calculated. RESULTS: The overall Pearson correlation between GDT and ORC was
      r=0.87 (p <0.001), while between ORC and EC according the Ministry of Health (MH)
      was r=0.33 (p<0.001). After clustering data in epidemic and non-epidemic weeks in
      comparison with GDT correlation were r=0.86 (p<0.001) and r=0.65 (p <0.001)
      respectively. Important interannual variation of the epidemic was observed. The
      model shows a high accuracy in comparison with the EC, particularly when the
      incidence of the disease is higher. CONCLUSIONS: This early warning tool can be
      used as an indicator for other communicable diseases in order to apply effective
      and timely public health measures especially in the setting of weak surveillance
      systems.

PMID- 28599814
TI  - Translating research into practice through user-centered design: An application
      for osteoarthritis healthcare planning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the needs and requirements of the end users, to inform the
      development of a user-interface to translate an existing evidence-based decision
      support tool into a practical and usable interface for health service planning
      for osteoarthritis (OA) care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a user-centered
      design (UCD) approach that emphasized the role of the end-users and is well
      suited to knowledge translation (KT). The first phase used a needs assessment
      focus group (n=8) and interviews (n=5) with target users (health care planners)
      within a provincial health care organization. The second phase used a
      participatory design approach, with two small group sessions (n=6) to explore
      workflow, thought processes, and needs of intended users. RESULTS: The needs
      assessment identified five design recommendations: ensuring the user-interface
      supports the target user group, allowing for user-directed data explorations,
      input parameter flexibility, clear presentation, and provision of relevant
      definitions. The second phase identified workflow insights from a proposed
      scenario. Graphs, the need for a visual overview of the data, and interactivity
      were key considerations to aid in meaningful use of the model and knowledge
      translation. CONCLUSION: A UCD approach is well suited to identify health care
      planners' requirements when using a decision support tool to improve health
      service planning and management of OA. We believe this is one of the first
      applications to be used in planning for health service delivery. We identified
      specific design recommendations that will increase user acceptability and uptake
      of the user-interface and underlying decision support tool in practice. Our
      approach demonstrated how UCD can be used to enable knowledge translation.

PMID- 28599815
TI  - Why bother about health? A study on the factors that influence health information
      seeking behaviour among Malaysian healthcare consumers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The general improvement of socio-economic conditions has resulted in
      people becoming more educated to make better-informed decisions in health related
      matters. Individual's perspective on health increases with better understanding
      of ways to improve lifestyle for better health and living. With the increase in
      lifestyle related diseases that lead to health problems, there is an increase in
      the availability of healthcare information. Thus, it is important to identify the
      factors that influence information seeking behaviour in the area of healthcare
      and lifestyle. This exploratory study examines the relationship between the
      factors that affect online health information-seeking behaviour among healthcare
      product in the capital city of Malaysia. METHOD: Survey questionnaire was used to
      collect empirical data. A survey was conducted among 300 healthcare consumers in
      three main cities in Malaysia where questionnaires were personally distributed
      through snowball sampling. A total of 271 questionnaire forms were used in the
      analysis. RESULTS: Health Behaviour of the consumers influences Health
      Information Seeking Behaviour. And this relationship is strongly affected by
      Gender whereby the affect is strongly among females compared to males.
      CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that Health Behaviour influences Health
      Information Seeking Behaviour. Marketers can find out which target segment of
      population to target when devising information channels for consumers, especially
      through the Internet. However, message that promotes positive health behaviour to
      a target audience who already has positive Health Behaviour increase the
      motivation to Health Information Seeking Behaviour.

PMID- 28599816
TI  - Delivering healthcare at a distance: Exploring the organisation of calls to a
      health helpline.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health helplines are integral to contemporary healthcare, offering
      fast, low-cost, and geographically unrestricted access to health information and
      advice. Although some health helplines offer support services (e.g.,
      counselling), many function in ways that are similar to physically co-present
      (i.e., face-to-face) primary care consultations. However, due to the lack of
      physical presence, there are differences in the way health consultations are
      routinely managed on the telephone. This article explores some ways in which
      healthcare is managed at a distance, on a telephone helpline. METHODS: Data are
      196 recorded calls from the helpline, Healthdirect Australia. Using conversation
      analysis, this paper compares the delivery of healthcare over the telephone with
      what is known about physically co-present primary care consultations. RESULTS:
      Through an exploration of the overall structure of these helpline calls, we show
      how Healthdirect Australia calls are organised in terms of eight distinct phases:
      call opening, establishment of reason-for-calling, check of caller safety,
      creation of a confidential patient file, medical information-gathering, health
      advice, caller survey questions, and call closing. We demonstrate how
      interactants organise their talk around these phases, with a particular focus on
      the shift between mandated administrative tasks and traditional medical tasks.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study suggest that there are systematic
      differences between the overall structure of health helplines and physically co
      present primary care consultations. We demonstrate that the delivery of health
      information and advice via helplines can be challenging, but that service can be
      enhanced through continued efforts to inform understanding about how medical
      encounters routinely unfold in over-the-phone environments.

PMID- 28599818
TI  - Dealing with uncertainty when using a surveillance system.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Epidemiologists manage outbreak identification and confirmation by
      means of a "situation diagnosis", which involves validating (or invalidating) an
      alarm (signal identified as abnormal) as an alert (a real, characterized
      outbreak) and proposing the first countermeasures. This work investigates how
      uncertainty is materialized during this stage, and how experts develop strategies
      to address this uncertainty with the help of an early warning system. METHODS: We
      built an experiment using a simulation platform with a scenario involving both a
      natural and an intentional outbreak. Observations of expert activities were
      recorded and formalised using a specific task analysis method. These formatted
      data were then categorized by applying RAWFS (Reduction- Assumption - Weighing -
      Forestalling- Suppression) heuristics. RESULTS: We quantified uncertainty and the
      mechanisms involved. During the situation diagnosis, two sorts of uncertainty
      were characterized: practice-imposed uncertainty and situation-imposed
      uncertainty. We did not find either weighing pros and cons or suppression
      strategies in this area of expertise, but highlight the predominance of coping
      strategies that relied on reduction (66,4%) and assumption-based reasoning. We
      observed a predominance of the phone (89%) to cope with uncertainty and among
      electronic tools, the surveillance system plays a major role (69% of cases) and
      is mainly used in reduction strategies. We detail tools and systems used to
      support experts in their coping strategy. CONCLUSION: We confirmed that a
      surveillance system must include different features that provide relevant
      information to help users reduce uncertainty and thus support their decision
      making. In that perspective, the flow diagram and proposal presented in this
      study can help prioritize the necessary changes to surveillance system design.

PMID- 28599817
TI  - User-centered design to improve clinical decision support in primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A growing literature has demonstrated the ability of user-centered
      design to make clinical decision support systems more effective and easier to
      use. However, studies of user-centered design have rarely examined more than a
      handful of sites at a time, and have frequently neglected the implementation
      climate and organizational resources that influence clinical decision support.
      The inclusion of such factors was identified by a systematic review as "the most
      important improvement that can be made in health IT evaluations." OBJECTIVES: (1)
      Identify the prevalence of four user-centered design practices at United States
      Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care clinics and assess the perceived utility of
      clinical decision support at those clinics; (2) Evaluate the association between
      those user-centered design practices and the perceived utility of clinical
      decision support. METHODS: We analyzed clinic-level survey data collected in 2006
      2007 from 170 VA primary care clinics. We examined four user-centered design
      practices: 1) pilot testing, 2) provider satisfaction assessment, 3) formal
      usability assessment, and 4) analysis of impact on performance improvement. We
      used a regression model to evaluate the association between user-centered design
      practices and the perceived utility of clinical decision support, while
      accounting for other important factors at those clinics, including implementation
      climate, available resources, and structural characteristics. We also examined
      associations separately at community-based clinics and at hospital-based clinics.
      RESULTS: User-centered design practices for clinical decision support varied
      across clinics: 74% conducted pilot testing, 62% conducted provider satisfaction
      assessment, 36% conducted a formal usability assessment, and 79% conducted an
      analysis of impact on performance improvement. Overall perceived utility of
      clinical decision support was high, with a mean rating of 4.17 (+/-.67) out of 5
      on a composite measure. "Analysis of impact on performance improvement" was the
      only user-centered design practice significantly associated with perceived
      utility of clinical decision support, b=.47 (p<.001). This association was
      present in hospital-based clinics, b=.34 (p<.05), but was stronger at community
      based clinics, b=.61 (p<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are highly supportive of
      the practice of analyzing the impact of clinical decision support on performance
      metrics. This was the most common user-centered design practice in our study, and
      was the practice associated with higher perceived utility of clinical decision
      support. This practice may be particularly helpful at community-based clinics,
      which are typically less connected to VA medical center resources.

PMID- 28599819
TI  - Between "the best way to deliver patient care" and "chaos and low clinical
      value": General Practitioners' and Practice Managers' views on data sharing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the UK, General Practitioners and Practice Managers are key to
      enabling health information exchange (typically referred to as 'data sharing').
      This study aimed to survey GPs and PMs for familiarity, engagement with and
      perceptions of patient data sharing. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey. All 107
      general practices in England's second largest Clinical Commissioning Group,
      Cambridgeshire & Peterborough CCG. Descriptive statistics; hierarchical logistic
      regression; thematic analysis. RESULTS: 405 (64%) responses were received - from
      338 (62%) GPs and 67 (71%) PMs. Familiarity and engagement were highest for local
      frail elderly and end of life care projects (>76% had used). The greatest
      difference in use concerned the now suspended national care.data initiative: PMs
      had odds of reporting use 75 times higher than GP partners (95% CI 27-211).
      Patient confusion was the most pronounced challenge and improved coordination the
      most pronounced expected benefit. Frequency of discussions with patients varied
      with IT competence (OR 4.2 for most competent users relative to least, 95% CI 1.7
      10.7) and clinical system (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.5). Patient reservations were
      reported more frequently by respondents who rated their IT competence as highest
      (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5-7.6), perceived more data sharing challenges (OR for a 1
      point increase in challenges perception score 3.4, 95% CI 2.1-5.6) and by PMs
      (relative to GP partners, OR 18.0, 95% CI 7.9-41.3). CONCLUSIONS: Familiarity
      with and use of data sharing projects was high among GPs and PMs. Both their
      individual and organisational characteristics were associated with the reported
      frequency of discussions and patients' responses. Improved awareness of the
      impact of provider characteristics and attitudes on patients' decisions about
      data sharing may enhance the equity and autonomy of those decisions.

PMID- 28599820
TI  - Towards reinforcing telemedicine adoption amongst clinicians in Nigeria.
AB  - Telemedicine systems have been considered as a necessary measure to alleviate the
      shortfall in skilled medical specialists in developing countries. However, the
      obvious challenge is whether clinicians are willing to use this technological
      innovation, which has aided medical practice globally. One factor which has
      received little academic attention is the provision of suitable encouragement for
      clinicians to adopt telemedicine, in the form of rewards, motivation or
      incentives. A further consideration for telemedicine usage in developing
      countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria in particular, are to the
      severe shortage of available practising clinicians. The researchers therefore
      explore the need to positively reinforce the adoption of telemedicine amongst
      clinicians in Nigeria, and also offer a rationale for this using the UTAUT model.
      Data were collected using a structured paper-based questionnaire, with 252
      physicians and nurses from six government hospitals in Ondo state, Nigeria. The
      study applied SmartPLS 2.0 for analysis to determine the relationship between six
      variables. Demographic moderating variables, age, gender and profession, were
      included. The results indicate that performance expectancy (p<0.05), effort
      expectancy (p<0.05), facilitating condition (p<0.01) and reinforcement factor
      (p<0.001) have significant effects on clinicians' behavioural intention to use
      telemedicine systems, as predicted using the extended UTAUT model. Our results
      showed that the use of telemedicine by clinicians in the Nigerian context is
      perceived as a dual responsibility which requires suitable reinforcement. In
      addition, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating condition and
      reinforcement determinants are influential factors in the use of telemedicine
      services for remote-patient clinical diagnosis and management by the Nigerian
      clinicians.

PMID- 28599821
TI  - Review of successful hospital readmission reduction strategies and the role of
      health information exchange.
AB  - CONTEXT: The United States has invested substantially in technologies that enable
      health information exchange (HIE), which in turn can be deployed to reduce
      avoidable hospital readmission rates in many communities. With avoidable hospital
      readmissions as the primary focus, this study profiles successful hospital
      readmission rate reduction initiatives that integrate HIE as a strategy. We
      hypothesized that the use of HIE is associated with decreased hospital
      readmissions beyond other observed population health benefits. Results of this
      systematic review are used to describe and profile successful readmission
      reduction programs that integrate HIE as a tool. METHODS: A systematic review of
      literature provided an understanding of the use of HIE as a strategy to reduce
      hospital readmission rates. We conducted a review of 4,862 citations written in
      English about readmission reduction strategies from January 2006 to September
      2016 in the MEDLINE-PubMed database. Of these, 106 studies reported 30-day
      readmission rates as an outcome and only 13 articles reported using HIE. RESULTS:
      Only a very small number (12%) of hospitals incorporated HIE as a primary tool
      for evidence-based readmission reduction initiatives. Information exchange
      between providers has been suggested to play a key role in reducing avoidable
      readmission rates, yet there is not currently evidence supporting current HIE
      enabled readmission initiatives. Most successful readmission reduction programs
      demonstrate collaboration with primary care providers to augment transitions of
      care to existing care management functions without additional staff while using
      effective information exchange capabilities. CONCLUSIONS: This research confirms
      there is very little integration of HIE into health systems readmissions
      initiatives. There is a great opportunity to achieve population health targets
      using the HIE infrastructure. Hospitals should consider partnering with primary
      care clinics to implement multifaceted transitions of care programs to
      significantly reduce 30-day readmission rates.

PMID- 28599822
TI  - A large-scale peer teaching programme - acceptance and benefit.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The involvement of students in the embodiment of university
      teaching through peer-assisted learning formats is commonly applied. Publications
      on this topic exclusively focus on strictly defined situations within the
      curriculum and selected target groups. This study, in contrast, presents and
      evaluates a large-scale structured and quality-assured peer teaching programme,
      which offers diverse and targeted courses throughout the preclinical part of the
      medical curriculum. METHODS: The large-scale peer teaching programme consists of
      subject specific and interdisciplinary tutorials that address all scientific,
      physiological and anatomic subjects of the preclinical curriculum as well as
      tutorials with contents exceeding the formal curriculum. In the study year
      2013/14 a total of 1,420 lessons were offered as part of the programme. Paper
      based evaluations were conducted over the full range of courses. Acceptance and
      benefit of this peer teaching programme were evaluated in a retrospective study
      covering the period 2012 to 2014. Usage of tutorials by students who commenced
      their studies in 2012/13 (n=959) was analysed from 2012 till 2014. Based on the
      results of 13 first assessments in the preclinical subjects anatomy, biochemistry
      and physiology, the students were assigned to one of five groups. These groups
      were compared according to participation in the tutorials. To investigate the
      benefit of tutorials of the peer teaching programme, the results of biochemistry
      re-assessments of participants and non-participants of tutorials in the years
      2012 till 2014 (n=188, 172 and 204, respectively) were compared using Kolmogorov
      Smirnov- and Chi-square tests as well as the effect size Cohen's d. RESULTS:
      Almost 70 % of the students attended the voluntary additional programme during
      their preclinical studies. The students participating in the tutorials had
      achieved different levels of proficiency in first assessments. The acceptance of
      different kinds of tutorials appears to correlate with their performance in first
      assessments. 94% of the students participating in tutorials offered in the study
      year 2013/14 rated the tutorials as "excellent" or "good". An objective benefit
      has been shown by a significant increase in re-assessment scores with an effect
      size between the medium and large magnitudes for participants of tutorials
      compared to non-participants in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. In addition,
      significantly higher pass rates of re-assessments could be observed. CONCLUSION:
      Acceptance, utilisation and benefit of the assessed peer teaching programme are
      high. Beyond the support of students, a contribution to the individualisation of
      studies and teaching is made. Further studies are necessary to investigate
      possible influences of large-scale peer teaching programmes, for example on the
      reduction of study length and drop-off rates, as well as additional effects on
      academic achievements.

PMID- 28599823
TI  - Neuropathy and presence of emotional distress and depression in longstanding
      diabetes: Results from the Canadian study of longevity in type 1 diabetes.
AB  - AIM: To determine the association of neuropathy and other complications with
      emotional distress and depression among patients with longstanding type 1
      diabetes (T1DM). METHODS: Canadians with >=50years of T1DM completed a
      questionnaire including assessment of distress and depression by the Problem
      Areas in Diabetes Scale (PAID) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS),
      respectively. Complications were determined using the Michigan Neuropathy
      Screening Instrument (Questionnaire Component), fundoscopy reports, renal
      function tests, and self-reported peripheral-(PVD) and cardiovascular (CVD)
      disease. Associations were analyzed by Poisson regression. RESULTS: Among 323
      participants, 137 (42.4%) had neuropathy, 113 (36.5%) nephropathy, 207 (69.5%)
      retinopathy, 95 (29.4%) CVD, and 31 (9.8%) PVD. The neuropathy subgroup had
      higher prevalence of distress (13 (9.5%) vs. 6 (3.3%), p=0.029) and depression
      (34 (24.9%) vs. 12 (6.5%), p<0.001). Adjusting for diabetes complications,
      neuropathy was associated with higher PAID (adjusted RR 1.44 (95% CI 1.14-1.82),
      p=0.003) and GDS scores (adjusted RR1.57 (1.18-2.11), p=0.002). Independent of
      potential confounders, neuropathy remained associated with higher PAID (adjusted
      RR 1.39 (1.10-1.76), p=0.006) and GDS scores (adjusted RR 1.37 (1.03-1.83),
      p=0.032). Associations with neuropathy were not fully explained by neuropathic
      pain. CONCLUSION: Compared to other complications, neuropathy had the greatest
      association with distress and depression in longstanding T1DM, independent of
      pain. Strategies beyond pain management are needed to improve quality of life in
      diabetic neuropathy.

PMID- 28599824
TI  - The clinical characteristics of patients with mitochondrial tRNA Leu(UUR)m.3243A
      > G mutation: Compared with type 1 diabetes and early onset type 2 diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study presents nine patients with mitochondrial tRNA Leu (UUR)
      m.3243A>G mutation and compares the clinical characteristics and diabetes
      complications with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) or early onset type 2 diabetes (T2DM).
      METHODS: The study covers 9 patients with MIDD, 33 patients with T1DM and 86
      patients (age of onset <=35years) with early onset T2DM, matched for sex, age at
      onset of diabetes, duration of diabetes. All patients with MIDD were confirmed as
      carrying the m.3243A>G mitochondrial DNA mutation. Serum HbA1c, beta-cell
      function, retinal and renal complications of diabetes, bone metabolic markers,
      lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD bone mineral density were compared to
      characterize the clinical features of all patients. RESULTS: Nine patients were
      from five unrelated families, and the mean (SD) onset age of those patients was
      31.2+/-7.2year. Two patients required insulin at presentation, and six patients
      progressed to insulin requirement after a mean of 7.2years. beta-Cell function in
      the MIDD group was intermediate between T1DM and early-onset T2DM. In MIDD, four
      patients were diagnosed as diabetic retinopathy (4/9) and five patients (5/9) had
      macroalbuminuria. The number of patients with diabetic retinopathy and
      macroalbuminuria in the MIDD group was comparable to T1DM or early-onset T2DM.
      The rate of osteoporosis (BMD T-score<-2.5 SD) in the patient with MIDD was
      higher than the T1DM or early-onset T2DM group. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates
      that of the nine subjects with MIDD, three patients (1-II-1, 1-II-3, 1-II-4) who
      came from the same family had a history of acute pancreatitis. Compared with T1DM
      or early-onset T2DM matched for sex, age, duration of diabetes, MIDD patients had
      the highest rate of osteoporosis.

PMID- 28599825
TI  - Left Ventricular Rotational and Twist Mechanics in the Human Fetal Heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The authors investigated left ventricular (LV) rotational indices,
      twist, and torsion in a large cohort of fetuses using two-dimensional speckle
      tracking echocardiography. METHODS: Pregnant women (N = 102) were prospectively
      recruited for fetal two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography. Because of
      variable fetal position, ventricular orientation was established using the
      location of the liver and LV position in relation to the right ventricle. Twist
      measurements required correction to account for fetal position, reconciling
      directionality across all fetal orientations. Peak apical and basal rotations,
      global longitudinal strain, global circumferential strain (GCS), longitudinal
      strain rate, circumferential strain rate (CSR), twist, and torsion were reported
      and tested for associations with gestational age (GA) and estimated fetal weight
      (EFW). RESULTS: Measurement of rotational indices was feasible in 175
      examinations (73%). The mean maternal age was 31 +/- 6 years, the mean GA 24 +/-
      6 weeks, and the EFW 1.0 +/- 1.0 kg. Mean peak apical rotation, basal rotation,
      twist, and torsion were 9.5 +/- 2.0 degrees , -4.4 +/- 1.1 degrees , 13.1 +/- 2.3
      degrees , and 7.9 +/- 3.4 degrees /cm, respectively. Mean global longitudinal
      strain, GCS, longitudinal strain rate, and CSR were -22.3 +/- 4.3%, -25.0 +/-
      6.1%, -1.4 +/- 0.5 sec-1, and -1.6 +/- 0.5 sec-1, respectively. Absolute GCS,
      CSR, apical rotation, and twist declined moderately with GA and EFW (P < .05).
      There were strong negative nonlinear correlations of torsion with GA and EFW:
      torsion = 1,104 * GA-1.591 (r2 = 0.760, P < .001); torsion = 115.88 * EFW-0.427
      (r2 = 0.772, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Determination of fetal LV rotational
      mechanics is feasible and reproducible using two-dimensional speckle-tracking
      echocardiography. Basal rotation, longitudinal strain, and strain rate vary
      little with EFW and GA. Interpretation of LV apical rotation, twist, torsion,
      GCS, and CSR, however, must take GA or EFW into account. These data form the
      basis for comparison with findings in fetuses with abnormal cardiac anatomy and
      function.

PMID- 28599826
TI  - Prognostic Value of Left Ventricular Deformation Parameters in Patients with
      Severe Aortic Stenosis: A Pilot Study of the Usefulness of Strain
      Echocardiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with aortic stenosis, subtle alterations in myocardial
      mechanics can be detected by speckle-tracking echocardiography before reduction
      of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). METHODS: In this prospective study,
      162 patients with aortic stenosis with an average aortic valve area of 0.7 +/-
      0.2 cm2 and a mean LVEF of 60 +/- 11% were included. Global longitudinal strain
      (GLS) and mechanical dispersion (SD of time from Q/R on the electrocardiogram to
      peak strain in 16 left ventricular segments) were assessed using
      echocardiography, and all-cause mortality (n = 37) was recorded during 37 +/- 13
      months of follow-up. RESULTS: Overall, nonsurvivors had more pronounced
      mechanical dispersion and worse GLS compared with survivors (74 +/- 24 vs 61 +/-
      18 msec [P < .01] and -14.5 +/- 4.4% vs -16.7 +/- 3.6% [P < .01], respectively).
      In the 42 conservatively treated patients without surgical aortic valve
      replacement, a similar pattern was observed in nonsurvivors versus survivors
      (mechanical dispersion, 80 +/- 24 vs 57 +/- 14 msec [P < .01]; GLS, -14.0 +/-
      4.9% vs -17.1 +/- 3.8% [P = .04], respectively). Mechanical dispersion was
      significantly associated with mortality (hazard ratio per 10-msec increase, 1.23;
      95% CI, 1.07-1.42; P < .01) in a Cox model adjusted for LVEF and with aortic
      valve replacement treatment as a time-dependent covariate. Continuous net
      reclassification improvement showed that mechanical dispersion was incremental to
      LVEF, GLS, and valvulo-arterial impedance when adjusting for aortic valve
      replacement treatment in the total population. CONCLUSION: Increased mechanical
      dispersion may be a risk marker providing novel prognostic information in
      patients with aortic stenosis.

PMID- 28599827
TI  - Late Detection of Left Ventricular Dysfunction Using Two-Dimensional and Three
      Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Patients with History of
      Nonsevere Acute Myocarditis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute myocarditis (AM) often involves the left ventricular (LV)
      subepicardium that might be displayed by cardiac magnetic resonance even late
      after the acute phase. In the absence of global or regional LV dysfunction,
      conventional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) does not accurately identify
      tissue sequelae of AM. We sought to evaluate the diagnostic value of two
      dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography to
      identify patients with a history of AM with preserved LV ejection fraction
      (LVEF). METHODS: Fifty patients (group 1: age, 31.4 +/- 10.5 years; 76% males)
      with a history of cardiac magnetic resonance-confirmed diagnosis of AM (according
      to the Lake Louise criteria) were retrospectively identified and then (21.7 +/-
      23.4 months later) evaluated by complete echocardiography including 2D and 3D
      speckle-tracking analysis, as well as 50 age- and gender-matched healthy controls
      (group 2: age, 31.2 +/- 9.5 years: 76% males). Patients with a history of severe
      clinical presentation of AM (sudden death, ventricular arrhythmia, heart failure,
      alteration of LVEF) were excluded. RESULTS: At diagnosis, peak troponin and C
      reactive protein were 11.97 (interquartile range, 4.52-25.92) MUg/L and 32.3
      (interquartile range, 14.85-70.45) mg/L, respectively. Mean delay between acute
      phase and follow-up study TTE was 21.7 +/- 23.4 months. LVEF was not
      statistically different between groups (62.1% vs 63.5%, P = .099). Two
      dimensional global longitudinal strain (GLS) was lower in magnitude in group 1 (
      17.8% vs -22.1%, P < .0001) as were 2D layer-specific subepicardial GLS (-15.4%
      vs -19.7%, P < .0001) and subendocardial GLS (-20.71% vs -25.08%, P < .0001).
      Three-dimensional global longitudinal, circumferential, area, and radial strains
      were lower in magnitude in group 1 (-11.80% vs -14.98%, P < .0001; -12.57% vs 
      15.12%, P < .0001; -22.28% vs -25.87%, P < .0001; 31.47% vs 38.06%, P < .0001,
      respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that
      subepicardial GLS displayed a better diagnostic performance to detect sequelae of
      AM as compared with GLS (area under the curve = 0.97 vs 0.93, P = .045).
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with a history of AM, a subtle LV dysfunction can be
      detected by 2D and 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography, even though LVEF is
      conserved, adding incremental information over conventional TTE.

PMID- 28599828
TI  - A Doppler Echocardiographic Study of the Myocardial Inotropic Response to Peak
      Semisupine Exercise in Healthy Children: Development of a Simplified Index of
      Myocardial Reserve.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stress echocardiography has been advocated for the detection of
      abnormal myocardial function and unmasking diminished myocardial reserve in
      pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to create a simplified index of
      myocardial reserve, derived from the myocardial inotropic response to peak
      semisupine exercise in healthy children, and illustrate its applicability in a
      sample of pediatric oncology patients. METHODS: In this prospective analysis,
      children (7-18 years of age) with normal cardiac structure and function performed
      semisupine stress echocardiography to volitional fatigue. The quotient of wall
      stress at peak systole and heart rate-corrected velocity of circumferential fiber
      shortening were calculated at baseline and at peak exercise, the difference of
      which was termed the index of myocardial reserve (IMR). The IMR was also
      calculated in a retrospective sample of pediatric oncology patients with normal
      resting left ventricular function who had received anthracycline treatment and
      had performed the same exercise protocol to illustrate utility. RESULTS: Fifty
      healthy subjects (mean age, 13.2 +/- 2.6 years) and 33 oncology patients (mean
      age, 12.7 +/- 4.0 years) were assessed. In the healthy children at peak exercise,
      heart rate-corrected velocity of circumferential fiber shortening significantly
      increased (from 1.17 +/- 0.17 to 1.58 +/- 0.24 circ . sec-1, P < .001), while the
      quotient of wall stress at peak systole significantly decreased (from 75.3 +/-
      17.1 to 55.3 +/- 13.8 g . cm-2, P < .001), shifting the plot of the relationship
      between the two parameters upward and to the left. The mean IMR was -30.8 +/-
      17.8, and the normal distribution ranged from -4.7 (fifth percentile) to -67.3
      (95th percentile). The IMR was abnormal in 10 oncology patients who were treated
      with anthracyclines. CONCLUSIONS: The authors have developed a novel IMR.
      Relative to the normal distribution of this IMR in healthy subjects, it is
      possible to identify patients with abnormal myocardial reserve. Thus, this study
      demonstrates the application of the IMR to aid in clinical decision making in
      individual patients.

PMID- 28599829
TI  - Noninvasive Coronary Flow Reserve Predicts Response to Exercise in Asymptomatic
      Severe Aortic Stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS), exercise stress
      echocardiography (ESE) provides additional prognostic information beyond
      baseline. The coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) is impaired in AS, but its
      link with exertion is unknown in this setting. The aim of this study was to test
      the hypothesis that CFVR could predict exercise capacity and abnormal exercise
      test results in AS. METHODS: Noninvasive CFVR and symptom-limited semisupine ESE
      were prospectively performed the same day in 43 patients with asymptomatic
      isolated severe AS (mean age, 68.5 +/- 11 years; 26% women; mean aortic valve
      area, 0.8 +/- 0.16 cm2; mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 70 +/- 7%). CFVR
      was performed in the distal part of the left anterior descending coronary artery
      using intravenous adenosine infusion (140 MUg/kg/min over 2 min), and ESE was
      performed at an initial workload of 25 W with a 20- to 25-W increase at 2-min
      intervals. An abnormal result on ESE was defined as onset of symptoms at <75% of
      maximum predicted workload, electrocardiographic ST-segment depression >=2 mm
      during exercise, increase of systolic blood pressure < 20 mm Hg or decrease in
      blood pressure, and complex ventricular arrhythmia. Seventeen patients with
      isolated severe asymptomatic AS, unable to exercise because of extracardiac
      conditions, served as a comparative group. RESULTS: Resting, hyperemic left
      anterior descending coronary artery flow velocity and CFVR (2.45 +/- 0.8 vs 2.4
      +/- 0.8) were similar between the group unable to perform ESE and the ESE group
      (P = NS for all). Compared with patients with normal results on ESE, those with
      abnormal results on ESE (n = 22) were older, had higher E/e' ratios, had higher
      resting left anterior descending coronary artery flow velocities (39 +/- 12 vs 31
      +/- 8 cm/sec), and had lower CFVR (2.01 +/- 0.3 vs 2.85 +/- 0.7; P < .01 for
      all). Furthermore, CFVR was significantly correlated with age, changes in
      transvalvular pressure gradient and left ventricular ejection fraction with
      exercise, workload (in watts), and exercise duration (P < .05 for all). After
      adjusting for other variables, CFVR remained independently correlated with
      exercise duration, workload, and abnormal results on ESE (P < .01 for all). On
      receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, CFVR < 2.3 was the best cutoff
      to predict abnormal results on ESE (area under the curve = 0.88 +/- 0.06, P <
      .01). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with asymptomatic severe AS, noninvasive CFVR is
      correlated with exercise duration and workload, and low CFVR predicts abnormal
      results on ESE with good accuracy.

PMID- 28599831
TI  - Alterations in Cardiac Deformation, Timing of Contraction and Relaxation, and
      Early Myocardial Fibrosis Accompany the Apparent Recovery of Acute Stress-Induced
      (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy: An End to the Concept of Transience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Takotsubo syndrome is an increasingly recognized cause of chest pain
      and occasionally of cardiogenic shock. Despite rapid improvement of the left
      ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, recent registry data raise concerns about
      long-term prognosis. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that
      restoration of normal ejection fraction after acute takotsubo syndrome is not
      equivalent to full functional recovery. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with
      takotsubo syndrome (according to the Mayo Clinic criteria plus cardiac magnetic
      resonance imaging to exclude myocardial infarction) and 44 healthy control
      subjects of the same age, gender, and cardiovascular comorbidity distribution
      were prospectively recruited. The focus of the investigation was on patients with
      takotsubo syndrome presenting with ST-segment elevation-type electrocardiographic
      findings or malignant arrhythmias and with LV apical ballooning variant, and a 4
      month recovery endpoint was assessed. Patients underwent echocardiographic
      assessment of LV myocardial deformation (global longitudinal, radial, and
      circumferential strain; LV twist, torsion, and untwist; and time to peak twist
      and untwist) and assessment of LV myocardial structure by pre- and post-contrast
      enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance by T1 mapping acutely and at 4-month follow
      up. Control subjects underwent a single-time-point investigation. Data were
      analyzed using paired or unpaired tests, as appropriate for their distribution,
      and corrected for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: The patients' mean age was 66
      years (range, 28-87 years), and 92% were women. All abnormal echocardiographic
      indices observed acutely in patients with takotsubo syndrome improved (but did
      not necessarily normalize) at follow-up. Significant mechanotemporal alterations
      characterizing both systole (global longitudinal strain and apical
      circumferential strain, P < .01 for both; LV twist, twist rate, and torsion, P <
      .0001 for all) and diastole (untwist rate and time to peak untwisting, P < .001
      for both) persisted at 4-month follow-up compared with control subjects, despite
      normalization of LV ejection fraction and volumes. Although native T1 (which
      demonstrates edema) normalized at 4-months follow-up only in segments contracting
      normally during the acute phase (T1 = 1,180 +/- 40.6 msec [normally contracting
      segments, P = .20 vs control value of 1,189 +/- 16 msec] and T1 = 1,208 +/- 60.3
      msec [dysfunctional segments, P < .05 vs control]), the extracellular volume
      fraction (which demonstrates diffuse fibrosis) remained significantly abnormal in
      all LV segments (whether normally contracting [0.328 +/- 0.043, P < .001] or
      ballooning during acute presentation [0.320 +/- 0.044, P < .001], both vs control
      value of 0.273 +/- 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with the most clinically
      severe spectrum of takotsubo cardiomyopathy, regional LV systolic and diastolic
      deformation abnormalities persist beyond the acute event, despite normalization
      of global LV ejection fraction and size. In addition, although myocardial edema
      partly subsides, a process of global microscopic fibrosis develops in its place,
      detected as early as 4 months.

PMID- 28599832
TI  - Model-Based Control in Dimensional Psychiatry.
AB  - We use parallel interacting goal-directed and habitual strategies to make our
      daily decisions. The arbitration between these strategies is relevant to
      inflexible repetitive behaviors in psychiatric disorders. Goal-directed control,
      also known as model-based control, is based on an affective outcome relying on a
      learned internal model to prospectively make decisions. In contrast, habit
      control, also known as model-free control, is based on an integration of previous
      reinforced learning autonomous of the current outcome value and is implicit and
      more efficient but at the cost of greater inflexibility. The concept of model
      based control can be further extended into pavlovian processes. Here we describe
      and compare tasks that tap into these constructs and emphasize the clinical
      relevance and translation of these tasks in psychiatric disorders. Together,
      these findings highlight a role for model-based control as a transdiagnostic
      impairment underlying compulsive behaviors and representing a promising
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 28599830
TI  - Normative Left Ventricular M-Mode Echocardiographic Values in Preterm Infants up
      to 2 kg.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of normative echocardiographic data in preterm
      infants. The objectives of this study were to (1) derive left ventricular (LV) M
      mode reference values and (2) compare the performance of alternative methods of
      indexing LV dimensions and LV mass (LVM) in preterm infants. The authors propose
      that indexing LV measures to weight in preterm infants is a practical approach
      given the variability associated with tape-measure length measurement in infants.
      METHODS: In this retrospective study, LV M-mode echocardiographic measurements of
      end-diastolic interventricular septal thickness, end-diastolic LV posterior wall
      thickness, LV end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions, LVM, and relative wall
      thickness were remeasured in 503 hospitalized preterm infants <=2 kg (372 from a
      retrospective sample and 131 prospectively enrolled). Measures for all variables
      did not differ between retrospective and prospective samples, so results were
      pooled. LV dimensions and LVM indexed for weight, length, and body surface area
      sex-specific centile curves and corresponding Z scores were generated using
      Cole's lambda-mu-sigma method. Threshold limits (10th and 80th percentiles) were
      used to generate the normative range for relative wall thickness. RESULTS: Sex
      specific centile curves using LVM, end-diastolic interventricular septal
      thickness, end-diastolic LV posterior wall thickness, LV end-diastolic dimension,
      and LV end-systolic dimension indexed to weight were similar to the curves
      generated using length and body surface area. The mean normal range for relative
      wall thickness was 0.33 (10th percentile, 0.26; 80th percentile, 0.38).
      CONCLUSIONS: From this large cohort of preterm infants, LV M-mode dimension and
      LVM centile curves indexed to weight were developed as a practical method to
      assess LV morphology in preterm infants.

PMID- 28599833
TI  - The Effects of Methylphenidate on the Neural Signatures of Sustained Attention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although it is well established that methylphenidate (MPH) enhances
      sustained attention, the neural mechanisms underpinning this improvement remain
      unclear. We examined how MPH influenced known electrophysiological precursors of
      lapsing attention over different time scales. METHODS: We measured the impact of
      MPH, compared with placebo, on behavioral and electrocortical markers while
      healthy adults (n = 40) performed a continuous monitoring paradigm designed to
      elicit attentional lapses. RESULTS: MPH led to increased rates of target
      detection, and electrophysiological analyses were conducted to identify the
      mechanisms underlying these improvements. Lapses of attention were reliably
      preceded by progressive increases in alpha activity that emerged over periods of
      several seconds. MPH led to an overall suppression of alpha activity across the
      entire task but also diminished the frequency of these maladaptive pretarget
      increases through a reduction of alpha variability. A drug-related linear
      increase in the amplitude of the frontal P3 event-related component was also
      observed in the pretarget timeframe (3 or 4 seconds). Furthermore, during
      immediate target processing, there was a significant increase in the parietal P3
      amplitude with MPH, indicative of enhanced perceptual evidence accumulation
      underpinning target detection. MPH-related enhancements occurred without
      significant changes to early visual processing (visual P1 and 25-Hz steady-state
      visual evoked potential). CONCLUSIONS: MPH serves to reduce maladaptive
      electrophysiological precursors of lapsing attention by acting selectively on top
      down endogenous mechanisms that support sustained attention and target detection
      with no significant effect on bottom-up sensory excitability. These findings
      offer candidate markers to monitor the therapeutic efficacy of psychostimulants
      or to predict therapeutic responses.

PMID- 28599834
TI  - Effects of interleukin-1beta polymorphisms on brain function and behavior in
      healthy and psychiatric disease conditions.
AB  - A high level of Interleukin-1beta (IL1B), a key mediator of inflammation, is
      expressed in the brain, particularly in the hippocampus, which plays a pivotal
      role in memory and mood regulation. In the brain, IL1B exerts a myriad of effects
      such as neuronal proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and long-term
      potentiation. Considering its pleiotropic effects in the brain, IL1B has been
      implicated in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric disorders as well as
      cognitive function in normal individuals. Thus, IL1B has been considered a
      candidate gene for the study of psychiatric diseases as well as brain function in
      normal individuals. The polymorphisms of IL1B have been described in relation to
      various expression levels in response to stimulation. This review describes
      previous studies on the genetic effects of IL1B, which relate it to psychiatric
      diseases such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and
      Alzheimer's disease, as well as cognitive function in normal individuals.
      Although many reports have indicated a possible role of the genetic effects of
      IL1B or its phenotypes in psychiatric diseases, some reports were unable to
      confirm these findings. IL1B release is mediated by an inflammatory response or
      psychological stress, leading to a cascade of immune reactions involving numerous
      immune components. To further explore the genetic effects of IL1B on mental
      diseases and brain function, gene-gene and gene-environment interactions should
      also be considered.

PMID- 28599835
TI  - The appropriateness of 30-day mortality as a quality metric in colorectal cancer
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our study compares 30-day vs. 90-day mortality following colorectal
      cancer surgery (CRS), and examines hospital performance ranking based on this
      assessment. METHODS: Mortality rates were compared between 30 vs. 90 days
      following CRS for patients with stage I-III colorectal cancers from the National
      Cancer Database (2004-2012). Risk-adjusted hierarchical regression models
      evaluated hospital performance based on mortality. Hospitals were ranked into top
      (10%), middle (80%), and lowest (10%) performance groups. RESULTS: Among 185,464
      patients, 90-day mortality was nearly double the 30-day mortality (4.4% vs.
      2.5%). Following risk adjustment 176 hospitals changed performance ranking: 39%
      in the top 30-day mortality group changed ranking to the middle group; 37% of
      hospitals in the lowest 30-day group changed ranking to the middle 90-day group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of hospital performance based on 30-day mortality is
      associated with misclassification for 15% of hospitals. Ninety-day mortality may
      be a better quality metric in oncologic CRS.

PMID- 28599836
TI  - Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in combat casualties with traumatic
      amputations.

PMID- 28599837
TI  - Measurement of testosterone and cortisol metabolites and luteinising hormone in
      captive southern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) urine.
AB  - This study reports the validation and use of enzyme immunoassays (EIA) to measure
      changes in plasma and urinary luteinizing hormone, testosterone metabolites (UTM)
      and cortisol metabolites (UCM) in captive southern hairy-nosed wombats
      (Lasiorhinus latifrons). GnRH agonist and ACTH agonist challenges were conducted
      to validate urinary testosterone (male wombat only) and cortisol (male and female
      wombats) EIAs. Following intra-muscular injection of 8-12MUg buserelin (n=4
      males), there was a significant increase in both plasma (P<0.001) and urinary
      testosterone concentrations (P<0.001) 60min and 21h after administration,
      respectively. Plasma LH levels were elevated (p<0.05) at 20min but there was no
      significant increase found in urinary LH concentrations after injection. Intra
      muscular injection of Synacthen(r) Depot (250MUg) (n=3 males, 3 females) resulted
      in a significant increase (p<0.05) in plasma cortisol secretion 15min and in
      urinary cortisol concentrations 3h post injection, respectively. Sex-related
      differences in cortisol secretion were also reported in this study. These
      findings indicate that (1) urinary LH might not be an appropriate index for
      describing the reproductive status in captive male L. latifrons, and (2) the UTM
      and UCM assays appear to be suitable for the assessment of the testicular
      steroidogenic capacity and the adrenocortical activity in captive southern hairy
      nosed wombats, respectively.

PMID- 28599838
TI  - Attitudinal segmentaion of drivers in Pakistan: The potential for effective road
      safety campaigns.
AB  - Deviant driving behaviors are considered as the main cause of Road Traffic
      Accidents in Pakistan. This research is founded on the premise that driving
      behaviors are mediated by attitudinal and motivational factors. It advocates that
      rather than simply aggregating drivers' responses or a-priori classification of
      them based on their personal characteristics, adoption of segmentation technique
      is more useful to look at multiple factors provoking aberrant driving behavior in
      combination and not just in isolation. For this, the study generated an
      Attitudinal Questionnaire, inspired by the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior
      (TPB: Ajzen, 1991), and extended violation-scale of modified Driver Behavior
      Questionnaire (DBQ: Lawton et al., 1997). Attitudinal and behavioral items are
      first factor analyzed. Then, cluster analysis is performed on extracted
      attitudinal factors which classified sample driving population into four
      relatively homogenous and distinct groups of drivers. The results demonstrated
      the explanatory utility of the market segmentation approach to systematically
      relate the interaction between attitudes, behaviors and socio-demographic
      characteristics of drivers. It is concluded that the approach is successful in
      distinguishing safe drivers from unsafe driver and therefore, can legitimately
      form the basis of road safety interventions. Finally, the findings are used to
      recommend targeted information-based road safety solutions with a focus on the
      diverse characteristics of each of the identified segments.

PMID- 28599839
TI  - Evidence based effects of yoga in neurological disorders.
AB  - Though yoga is one of the widely used mind-body medicine for health promotion,
      disease prevention and as a possible treatment modality for neurological
      disorders, there is a lack of evidence-based review. Hence, we performed a
      comprehensive search in the PubMed/Medline electronic database to review relevant
      articles in English, using keywords "yoga and neurological disorder, yoga and
      multiple sclerosis, yoga and stroke, yoga and epilepsy, yoga and Parkinson's
      disease, yoga and dementia, yoga and cerebrovascular disease, yoga and Alzheimer
      disease, yoga and neuropathy, yoga and myelopathy, and yoga and Guillain-Barre
      syndrome". A total of 700 articles published from 1963 to 14th December 2016 were
      available. Of 700 articles, 94 articles were included in this review. Based on
      the available literature, it could be concluded that yoga might be considered as
      an effective adjuvant for the patients with various neurological disorders.

PMID- 28599840
TI  - Complications and operative spine fusion construct length in Parkinson's disease:
      A nationwide population-based analysis.
AB  - There remains a dearth of information regarding the surgical complications
      following multilevel spine surgery in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. This
      retrospective cohort study was performed to address this issue on a nationwide
      level using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2001 to 2012. More than 25
      postoperative variables were analyzed to assess the impact of fusion construct
      length on each variable. Subsequently, the same analysis was performed on
      admissions without PD. 4301 PD patients with spine fusion were identified, of
      whom 934 (21.7%) underwent fusion of at least three levels; the remaining 3367
      underwent fusion of 1-2 levels. Patients with 3+ level fusions were more likely
      to suffer paraplegia (P=.001; OR=3.0; 95%CI=1.5-6.1), hematoma/seroma (P=.009;
      OR=1.9; 95%CI=1.2-3.2), IVC filter placement (P=.018; OR=2.1; 95%CI=1.1-3.9), RBC
      transfusion (P<.001; OR=3.2; 95%CI=2.7-3.8), PE (P=.027; OR=4.5; 95%CI=1.2-16.9),
      postoperative shock (P=.023; OR=7.3; 95%CI=1.3-39.6), ARDS (P<.001; OR=4.1;
      95%CI=2.7-6.3), VTE (P=.006; OR=2.6; 95%CI=1.3-5.4), acute posthemorrhagic anemia
      (P<.001; OR=2.0; 95%CI=1.7-2.4), device-related complications (P<.001; OR=3.1;
      95%CI=2.3-4.2), and in-hospital mortality (P=.005; OR=3.4; 95%CI=1.5-7.4). 3+
      level fusions were also more likely to have LOS>1week (P<.001; OR=2.1; 95%CI=1.8
      2.5), and a nonroutine discharge (P=.005; OR=1.9; 95%CI=1.4-2.4). 692,173 non-PD
      patients with spine fusion were identified; 123,964 (17.9%) underwent 3+ level
      fusion. Differences between 3+ versus 1-2 level fusions were similar to those in
      PD patient, but unlike PD patients, postoperative infection was significant while
      in-hospital mortality, PE and VTE were not. Fusion of at least three levels
      increased morbidity, mortality, and adverse discharge disposition compared with 1
      2 level fusions. Nearly 80% of all spine fusions performed in the United States
      are fewer than three levels. These findings are worth considering during
      operative decision-making in both PD and non-PD patients.

PMID- 28599841
TI  - Changing paradigm in the management of elderly patients with intracranial
      aneurysms: An institutional review.
AB  - Optimal treatment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in elderly patients has not yet
      been well established. We have investigated the clinical and radiological
      outcomes and predictors of unfavorable outcome of IAs in elderly patients.
      Radiological and clinical data of 85 elderly patients from 2010 through 2015 were
      retrospectively reviewed. Significant differences between the groups were
      determined by a chi-square test. Regression analysis was performed to identify
      the predictors of unfavorable outcome. Among the 85 patients with IAs, the number
      of patients with >7mm size aneurysm (p=0.01), diabetes mellitus (DM) (p=0.02),
      smoking (0.009) and Hunt and Hess grade 4-5 (p=0.003) was significantly higher in
      the ruptured group compared to the unruptured group. Similarly, the number of
      patients who underwent clipping was higher in the ruptured aneurysm group
      (p=0.01). The overall clinical outcome was comparatively better in the unruptured
      group (p=0.03); however, microsurgical clipping of aneurysms provides a
      significantly higher rate of complete aneurysmal occlusion (p=0.008). Overall,
      there was no significant difference in outcome in respect to treatment approach.
      In regression analysis, hypertension (HTN), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), prior
      stroke, ruptured aneurysms and partial occlusion of aneurysms were identified as
      predictors of unfavorable outcome of IAs. Intracranial aneurysms in elderly
      patients reveals that endovascular treatment provides better clinical outcome;
      however, microsurgical clipping yields higher complete occlusion. Retreatment of
      residual aneurysms was comparatively more in the coiling group. Practice pattern
      has shifted from clipping to coiling for aneurysms in posterior circulation but
      not for aneurysms in anterior circulation.

PMID- 28599842
TI  - Composite breast reconstruction: Implant-based breast reconstruction with
      adjunctive lipofilling.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Options for breast reconstructions enclose autologous tissue
      transfers or implants. Fat grafting is gaining more interest in this specific
      field of breast surgery. This study concentrates on the technique and aesthetic
      results of breast reconstruction with fat grafts combined with implants, in women
      who have undergone total mastectomy. METHODS: Breast reconstructions (n = 23) was
      performed using a protocol of intratissular expansion with serial deflation
      lipofilling. In order to achieve the best aesthetic outcome, an additional small
      implant was placed. A retrospective data analysis was performed. In all patients
      a tissue expander was placed at the time of mastectomy or after removal of a
      previous breast reconstruction. The mean of lipoaspirate material for the
      reconstruction was 333 mL (range 120-715 mL). To create an adequate volume of the
      reconstructed breast, a supplementary small implant was placed, with a mean
      volume of 222 mL (range 125-375 mL). The mean follow-up was 33 months (range 19
      50 months). RESULTS: A MRI analysis was performed in eight patients at least 9
      months after the last lipofilling procedure, demonstrating a mean of 171 mL
      (range 64-538 mL) of transferred fat, a mean fat survival of 53% and a volume
      ratio of fat graft/implant of 0.97 (range 0,3-3,8). CONCLUSION: This composite
      technique of using autologous fat tissue and implants shows aesthetic pleasant
      results and must be considered as a valid alternative in a subset of patients.
      Further investigations to optimize the fat graft take must be encouraged.

PMID- 28599844
TI  - Somatoform and neurocognitive syndromes after HPV immunization are not associated
      to cell-mediated hypersensitivity to aluminum.
AB  - Vaccines against human papilloma virus (HPV) have been demonstrated to be very
      effective to prevent infection-related neoplasms. However, several reports
      describing heterogeneous post-vaccination phenomena have been published in last
      few years. The spectrum of these disorders includes both immune-mediated
      neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric functional disorders. Some researchers
      speculated about a genetic predisposition, but others hypothesized a role of
      adjuvants, including some metals and, particularly, aluminum. Here, we tested
      sixteen young girls developing somatoform and neurocognitive syndromes after the
      HPV immunization, through MELISA(r) test, detecting cell-mediated
      hypersensitivity to several metals. We found no association between these
      neurocognitive disorders and the results provided by this test; importantly, no
      patients showed hypersensitivity to aluminum, which is the inorganic adjuvant
      included in HPV vaccines. Thus, if aluminum played a role in the pathophysiology
      of musculoskeletal and neurocognitive disturbances occurring in some young girls
      after HPV immunization, that should recognize other mechanisms than the
      activation of aluminum-specific lymphocytes.

PMID- 28599843
TI  - Psychiatric Care of the Radiation Oncology Patient.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent decades, psychiatrists have become increasingly involved in
      the care of patients with cancer. Psychiatrists are often less familiar with the
      field of radiation oncology than with other medical specialties. OBJECTIVE:
      Therefore, it is beneficial for consulting psychiatrists to be familiar with the
      basic principles of radiation therapy (RT) and its potential neuropsychiatric
      sequelae. METHODS: We performed a PubMed search to identify articles describing
      neuropsychiatric symptoms resulting from RT, including anxiety, claustrophobia,
      posttraumatic stress disorder, and neurocognitive impairment. We also searched
      for other sequelae of RT that may produce psychiatric symptoms, such as radiation
      necrosis and endocrinopathies. We provide a basic introduction to the delivery of
      RT. RESULTS: Psychiatrists may be involved in the treatment of patients before,
      during, or after RT, and each phase of treatment produces unique considerations.
      Anxiety about the treatment, especially the need for immobilization with a mask,
      can be treatment-limiting. Adverse effects from treatment, including cognitive
      impairment and endocrinopathies, can result in psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:
      Consulting psychiatrists should be familiar with the basic principles of RT and
      the neuropsychiatric sequelae that may result from the treatment. Further
      research is needed to identify strategies to help patients tolerate RT and to
      identify additional preventive and therapeutic options for RT-induced cognitive
      impairment.

PMID- 28599845
TI  - Evaluating a novel oxygenating therapeutic for its potential use in the
      advancement of wound healing.
AB  - Non-gaseous oxygen therapeutics are emerging technologies in regenerative
      medicine that aim to sidestep the undesirable effects seen in traditional oxygen
      therapies, while enhancing tissue and wound regeneration. Using a novel
      oxygenating therapeutic (Ox66TM) several in vitro models including fibroblast and
      keratinocyte monocultures were evaluated for potential drug toxicity, the ability
      of cells to recover after chemical injury, and cell migration after scratch
      assay. It was determined that in both cell lines, there was no significant
      cytotoxicity found after independent treatment with Ox66TM. Similarly, after DMSO
      induced chemical injury, the health parameters of cells treated with Ox66TM were
      improved when compared to their untreated counterparts. Particles were also
      characterized using scanning electron microscopy and electron dispersive
      spectroscopy both individually and in conjunction with fibroblast growth. The
      data in this study showed that the novel wound healing therapeutic has potential
      in advancing the treatment of various types of acute and chronic wounds.

PMID- 28599846
TI  - Planar cell polarity-dependent and independent functions in the emergence of
      tissue-scale hair follicle patterns.
AB  - Hair follicles of the mammalian epidermis display local order and global
      alignment, a complex pattern instructed by the core planar cell polarity (PCP)
      pathway. Here we address the contributions of core PCP genes, Van Gogh-like and
      Frizzled, to the establishment, local refinement, and global order of embryonic
      and postnatal hair follicles. We find that, similar to Fz6 mutants, the
      disordered hair patterns of Vangl2 mutants are refined over time and eventually
      corrected. In both mutants, we find that tissue-level reorientation occurs
      through locally coordinated follicle rotation at stereotyped locations.
      Strikingly, Vangl2 and Fz6 mutant follicles collectively rotate with opposing
      directionalities, suggesting that redundant core PCP signals contribute to their
      directed realignment. Consistently, global follicle alignment is not restored
      upon conditional ablation of both Vangl1 and Vangl2 genes. Instead, spatially
      distinct patterns of whorls and crosses emerge and persist even after a complete
      cycle of hair follicle regeneration. Thus, local refinement of hair follicles
      into higher order patterns can occur independently of the core PCP system,
      however, their global alignment with the body axes requires PCP function
      throughout morphogenesis, growth and regeneration.

PMID- 28599849
TI  - The amyloid beta-precursor protein-The unappreciated cerebral anticoagulant.

PMID- 28599847
TI  - Development of wound healing models to study TGFbeta3's effect on SMA.
AB  - The goal of this study was to test the efficacy of transforming growth factor
      beta 3 (TGFbeta3) in reducing alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expression in two
      models-an ex vivo organ culture and an in vitro 3D cell construct-both of which
      closely mimic an in vivo environment. For the ex vivo organ culture system, a
      central 6.0 mm corneal keratectomy was performed on freshly excised rabbit globes
      The corneas were then excised, segregated into groups treated with 1.0 ng/ml
      TGFbeta1 or beta3 (T1 or T3, respectively), and cultured for 2 weeks. The corneas
      were assessed for levels of haze and analyzed for SMA mRNA levels. For the 3D in
      vitro model, rabbit corneal fibroblasts (RbCFs) were cultured for 4 weeks on poly
      transwell membranes in Eagle's minimum essential media (EMEM) + 10% FBS + 0.5 mM
      vitamin C +/- 0.1 ng/ml T1 or T3. At the end of 4 weeks, the constructs were
      processed for analysis by indirect-immunofluorescence (IF) and RT-qPCR. The RT
      qPCR data showed that SMA mRNA expression in T3 samples for both models was
      significantly lower (p < 0.05) than T1 treatment (around 3-fold in ex vivo and 2
      fold in constructs). T3 also reduced the amount of scarring in ex vivo corneas as
      compared with the T1 samples. IF data from RbCF constructs confirmed that T3
      treated samples had up to 4-fold (p < 0.05) lower levels of SMA protein
      expression than samples treated with T1. These results show that T3 when compared
      to T1 decreases the expression of SMA in both ex vivo organ culture and in vitro
      3D cell construct models. Understanding the mechanism of T3's action in these
      systems and how they differ from simple cell culture models, may potentially help
      in developing T3 as an anti-scarring therapy.

PMID- 28599848
TI  - Dynamic membrane interactions of antibacterial and antifungal biomolecules, and
      amyloid peptides, revealed by solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - A variety of biomolecules acting on the cell membrane folds into a biologically
      active structure in the membrane environment. It is, therefore, important to
      determine the structures and dynamics of such biomolecules in a membrane
      environment. While several biophysical techniques are used to obtain low
      resolution information, solid-state NMR spectroscopy is one of the most powerful
      means for determining the structure and dynamics of membrane bound biomolecules
      such as antibacterial biomolecules and amyloidogenic proteins; unlike X-ray
      crystallography and solution NMR spectroscopy, applications of solid-state NMR
      spectroscopy are not limited by non-crystalline, non-soluble nature or molecular
      size of membrane-associated biomolecules. This review article focuses on the
      applications of solid-state NMR techniques to study a few selected antibacterial
      and amyloid peptides. Solid-state NMR studies revealing the membrane inserted
      bent alpha-helical structure associated with the hemolytic activity of bee venom
      melittin and the chemical shift oscillation analysis used to determine the
      transmembrane structure (with alpha-helix and 310-helix in the N- and C-termini,
      respectively) of antibiotic peptide alamethicin are discussed in detail.
      Oligomerization of an amyloidogenic islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP, or also
      known as amylin) resulting from its aggregation in a membrane environment,
      molecular interactions of the antifungal natural product amphotericin B with
      ergosterol in lipid bilayers, and the mechanism of lipid raft formation by
      sphingomyelin studied using solid state NMR methods are also discussed in this
      review article. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Biophysical
      Exploration of Dynamical Ordering of Biomolecular Systems" edited by Dr. Koichi
      Kato.

PMID- 28599850
TI  - Tobacco and alcohol use during adolescence: Interactive mechanisms in animal
      models.
AB  - There is a strong association between tobacco smoking and the consumption of
      alcoholic beverages. When compared to the effects of either drug on its own, the
      combined use may lead to worsened outcomes, such as less successful quitting
      attempts and increased likelihood of developing mood disorders. Co-consumption
      most frequently begins during adolescence, a developmental period that is
      characterized by an increased risk for substance use disorders. However, to date,
      most studies that have contributed to the current state of knowledge on the
      mechanisms that underlie tobacco or alcohol use/abuse, and their consequences,
      adopted adult animal models. Besides, the available literature hardly addresses
      the effects of co-exposure, irrespective of age. Since adolescence is a period of
      transition between infancy and adulthood that is characterized by unique brain
      maturational events and behavioral traits, the mechanisms that drive drug
      use/abuse in adolescents differ in several aspects from those proposed to
      underlie adult consumption. This review summarizes and consolidates recent
      findings on common molecular targets and neuropharmacological mechanisms of
      action associated with nicotine/tobacco smoke and ethanol co-exposure in animal
      models, highlighting the effects that culminate in behavioral dysfunctions. To
      that effect, we discuss the role of mesocorticolimbic system maturation events,
      cross-tolerance and cross-reinforcement, stress, and sex differences in the
      context of adolescent co-exposure, identifying gaps in knowledge regarding the
      interactions between these habit-forming drugs. Finally, we suggest future
      directions for research on epigenetic mechanisms associated with nicotine and
      ethanol co-exposure as well as on potential pharmacological therapies for co
      addiction.

PMID- 28599851
TI  - Experimental evaluation of control performance of MPC as a regulatory controller.
AB  - Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control is widely practised as the base
      layer controller in the industry due to its robustness and design simplicity.
      However, a supervisory control layer over the base layer, namely a model
      predictive controller (MPC), is becoming increasingly popular with the advent of
      computer process control. The use of a supervisory layer has led to different
      control structures. In this study, we perform an objective investigation of
      several commonly used control structures such as 'Cascaded PI controller', 'DMC
      cascaded to PI' and 'Direct DMC'. Performance of these control structures are
      compared on a pilot-scale continuous stirred tank heater (CSTH) system. We used
      dynamic matrix control (DMC) algorithm as a representative of MPC. In the DMC
      cascaded to PI structure, the flow-loops are regulated by the PI controller. On
      top of that a DMC manipulates the set-points of the flow-loops to control the
      temperature and the level of water in the tank. The 'Direct DMC' structure, as
      its name suggests, uses DMC to manipulate the valves directly. Performance of all
      control structures were evaluated based on the integrated squared error (ISE)
      values. In this empirical study, the 'Direct DMC' structure showed a promise to
      act as regulatory controller. The selection of control frequency is critical for
      this structure. The effect of control frequency on controller performance of the
      'Direct DMC' structure was also studied.

PMID- 28599853
TI  - Post-obstructive cyst formation in pancreas and cystic acinar transformation: Are
      they same?
AB  - Pancreatic "acinar cell cystadenoma" (PACA) is a rare benign pancreatic cystic
      lesion showing acinar cell differentiation. The neoplastic nature of PACA has
      been questioned and its exact pathogenesis remains unclear. To investigate that
      acinar cell differentiation is a non-specific metaplastic phenomenon that can
      occur in pancreatic ductal system, especially when chronically inflamed and
      dilated, and doesn't necessarily imply an acinar cell neoplasm, we
      retrospectively analyzed cases diagnosed as PACA and cases with post-obstructive
      cystic dilatation of pancreatic ducts for acinar cell differentiation using
      immunohistochemistry for trypsin. The etiology of obstruction was microscopic
      periductal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) and pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinomas (PDAC). All cases of post-obstructive cystic dilatation showed
      multiple varying sized cysts distal to the obstruction with histologic findings
      virtually identical to PACAs. The cysts in both conditions were lined by a single
      layer of non-dysplastic flattened to columnar ductal-type epithelium with areas
      of acinar cell differentiation. Trypsin immunohistochemistry confirmed presence
      of acinar cell differentiation in all cases of post-obstructive cysts and PACAs.
      Our results suggest that acinar cell differentiation is common in post
      obstructive cyst formation, and changes are identical to PACAs. These findings
      further support the notion that PACA is a benign non-neoplastic cystic lesion
      with acinar cell differentiation. The findings also suggest that in cases with
      histology resembling "PACA" or showing diffuse ductal cystic dilation, careful
      gross examination should be carried out for a proximal obstructive lesion, which
      can be subtle and easily be missed on initial examination.

PMID- 28599854
TI  - Patient engagement in research with older adults with cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cancer is a disease that mostly affects older adults. Older adults
      have been under-represented in clinical cancer research. Around the world there
      is a push for patient engagement on study teams as it is anticipated to improve
      study design, recruitment and dissemination of findings. In the current overview
      we examined the evidence with regard to: 1) the history of patient engagement in
      research and frameworks developed; 2) impact of patient engagement on patient and
      research outcomes; 3) use of patient engagement in geriatrics and oncology, 4)
      recommendations for successful engagement; and 5) gaps in the literature that
      should be studied further. METHODS: A narrative review was conducted. Articles
      published in English were searched in Medline with the help of a librarian.
      RESULTS: Patient engagement has been shown to improve the conduct of studies by
      making the study design more relevant and feasible, and improving recruitment
      rates and uptake of research findings by patients. However, the best way to
      engage patients is not clear yet. Several resources have been developed to
      support researchers engaging older adults with cancer in research. CONCLUSIONS:
      While patient engagement in research seems promising to improve study outcomes,
      little evidence is available thus far in geriatric oncology settings. Several
      gaps in the literature are identified that should be further studied to determine
      the value of, and best approaches to, patient engagement with older adults with
      cancer.

PMID- 28599852
TI  - Non-coding Transcripts from Enhancers: New Insights into Enhancer Activity and
      Gene Expression Regulation.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained widespread interest in the past decade
      owing to their enormous amount and surprising functions implicated in a variety
      of biological processes. Some lncRNAs exert function as enhancers, i.e.,
      activating gene transcription by serving as the cis-regulatory molecules.
      Furthermore, recent studies have demonstrated that many enhancer elements can be
      transcribed and produce RNA molecules, which are termed as enhancer RNAs (eRNAs).
      The eRNAs are not merely the by-product of the enhancer transcription. In fact,
      many of them directly exert or regulate enhancer activity in gene activation
      through diverse mechanisms. Here, we provide an overview of enhancer activity,
      transcription of enhancer itself, characteristics of eRNAs, as well as their
      roles in regulating enhancer activity and gene expression.

PMID- 28599855
TI  - Impact of droplet evaporation rate on resulting in vitro performance parameters
      of pressurized metered dose inhalers.
AB  - Pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) are widely used for the treatment of
      pulmonary diseases. The overall efficiency of pMDI drug delivery may be defined
      by in vitro parameters such as the amount of drug that deposits on the model
      throat and the proportion of the emitted dose that has particles that are
      sufficiently small to deposit in the lung (i.e., fine particle fraction, FPF).
      The study presented examines product performance of ten solution pMDI
      formulations containing a variety of cosolvents with diverse chemical
      characteristics by cascade impaction with three inlets (USP induction port,
      Alberta Idealized Throat, and a large volume chamber). Through the data generated
      in support of this study, it was demonstrated that throat deposition, cascade
      impactor deposition, FPF, and mass median aerodynamic diameter of solution pMDIs
      depend on the concentration and vapor pressure of the cosolvent, and the
      selection of model throat. Theoretical droplet lifetimes were calculated for each
      formulation using a discrete two-stage evaporation process model and it was
      determined that the droplet lifetime is highly correlated to throat deposition
      and FPF indicating that evaporation kinetics significantly influences pMDI drug
      delivery.

PMID- 28599856
TI  - [Bilateral pulmonary embolism mimicking acute chest syndrome in an adolescent
      with sickle cell disease].
AB  - Pulmonary embolism is a life-threatening and potentially lethal disease. Its
      incidence in children with sickle cell disease is probably underestimated and
      pediatric case reports in the literature are rare. Moreover, symptoms can mimic
      an acute chest syndrome. We report on the case of a 17-year-old boy with SS
      sickle cell disease, admitted for chest pain with dyspnea and tachycardia.
      Pulmonary angiography revealed a partial bilateral obstructive pulmonary
      embolism. We did not find any deep venous thrombosis or thrombophilia. The
      progression was rapidly favorable with anticoagulant therapy. We recommend a
      pulmonary angiography for any chest pain that does not evolve favorably in a
      child with sickle cell disease. Large series of pediatric patients would be
      useful to establish diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines.

PMID- 28599857
TI  - Precise test of internal-conversion theory: alphaK measurements for transitions
      in nine nuclei spanning 45 <= Z <= 78.
AB  - We have been testing the theory used to calculate internal-conversion
      coefficients (ICCs) by making a series of measurements of alphaK values with
      precision better than +/-2%. So far we have measured E3 transitions in three
      nuclei, 103Rh, 111Cd and 134Cs; and M4 transitions in six nuclei, 119Sn, 125Te,
      127Te, 137Ba, 193Ir and 197Pt. Together, these span a wide range of A and Z
      values. In all cases, the results strongly favor Dirac-Fock calculations in which
      the final-state electron wave function has been computed in an atomic field that
      includes the vacancy created by the internal-conversion process.

PMID- 28599859
TI  - Simultaneous determination of the lipophilicity and dissociation constants of
      dialkyl phosphinic acids by negligible depletion hollow fiber membrane-protected
      liquid-phase microextraction.
AB  - Determination of the physicochemical properties, especially the lipophilicity
      (expressed as the logarithm of distribution coefficient, log D) and dissociation
      constant (pKa), is of great importance in the early stage of environmental risk
      assessment for an ionizable compound without these data. Currently, the log D and
      pKa values of dialkyl phosphinic acids (DPAs), the environmental hydrolysates of
      aluminum dialkyl phosphinates (ADPs) that is one class of emerging phosphorus
      containing flame retardants, are not available. In this study, the log D and pKa
      values of three DPAs including methylethylphosphinic acid (MEPA),
      diethylphosphinic acid (DEPA) and methylcyclohexyl phosphinic acid (MHPA), were
      simultaneously determined by negligible depletion hollow fiber supported liquid
      phase microextraction (nd-HF-LPME) followed by ultra-performance liquid
      chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The pKa and
      log D of DPAs were determined by curve-fitting the experimental data with
      equations derived on the basis of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and compared
      with model calculated data. For MEPA, DEPA and MHPA, the pKa values were close
      and around 3, but the log Ds were strongly pH-dependent with values from -5.01 to
      1.01. The log KOW of the neutral form (logKOW,HA) and ionic form (logKOW,A) were
      in the range of -0.67-1.02 and -3.86--1.33, respectively. The experimentally
      determined pKa values were highly in good agreement with ACD/pKa predicted values
      and the measured log KOW,HA values were closely related to KOWWIN calculated
      ones, suggesting ACD/pKa and KOWWIN are good alternative methods to estimate pKa
      and log KOW of DPAs, respectively. As far as we know, this is the first report on
      the pKa and log D data for DPAs, which are fundamental for the product design and
      evaluating the environmental behavior and effects of DPAs and ADPs.

PMID- 28599860
TI  - Molecularly imprinted nanoparticles grafted to porous silica as chiral selectors
      in liquid chromatography.
AB  - The work presented here explores the grafting of molecularly imprinted
      nanoparticles (MIN) on silica beads for the development of new chiral stationary
      phases (CSP). Both solid-phase imprinting and precipitation polymerisation were
      tested for MIN synthesis though the latter approach was the only one that
      provided efficient chiral selectors. MIN particles were prepared by iniferter
      polymerisation initiated by UV radiation, using itaconic acid as functional
      monomer and ethylene dimethacrylate as cross-linker. This resulted in particles
      with an average size of 249.0+/-4.0nm which were covalently immobilised onto
      chromatographic silica beads. The resultant CSP based on the composite silica
      beads-MIN was capable of resolving the racemate of the antidepressant drug
      citalopram and also separating its major metabolites by liquid chromatography,
      with better efficiency and peak symmetry than other MIP based CSP. The
      methodology presented here allowed for the quantification of the
      pharmacologically active enantiomer (+)-(S)-citalopram (SCIT) and its main
      metabolites (+)-(S)-desmethylcitalopram (SDCIT) and (+)-(S)-didesmethylcitalopram
      (SDDCIT) in urine, registering mean recoveries that ranged from 91.5 to 103.7%
      with RSD values that were below 10% in all tested concentration levels (0.1, 0.75
      and 5MUgmL-1), which confirmed method suitability for the intended application.

PMID- 28599858
TI  - Keeping the spotlight on cytochrome P450.
AB  - This review describes the recent advances utilizing photosensitizers and visible
      light to harness the synthetic potential of P450 enzymes. The structures of the
      photosensitizers investigated to date are first presented along with their
      photophysical and redox properties. Functional photosensitizers range from
      organic and inorganic complexes to nanomaterials as well as the biological
      photosystem I complex. The focus is then on the three distinct approaches that
      have emerged for the activation of P450 enzymes. The first approach utilizes the
      in situ generation of reactive oxygen species entering the P450 mechanism via the
      peroxide shunt pathway. The other two approaches are sustained by electron
      injections into catalytically competent heme domains either facilitated by redox
      partners or through direct heme domain reduction. Achievements as well as
      pitfalls of each approach are briefly summarized. This article is part of a
      Special Issue entitled: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity and biotechnology, edited by
      Erika Plettner, Gianfranco Gilardi, Luet Wong, Vlada Urlacher, Jared Goldstone.

PMID- 28599861
TI  - Polar silica-based stationary phases. Part II- Neutral silica stationary phases
      with surface bound maltose and sorbitol for hydrophilic interaction liquid
      chromatography.
AB  - Two neutral polyhydroxylated silica bonded stationary phases, namely maltose
      silica (MALT-silica) and sorbitol-silica (SOR-silica), have been introduced and
      chromatographically characterized in hydrophilic interaction liquid
      chromatography (HILIC) for a wide range of polar compounds. The bonding of the
      maltose and sorbitol to the silica surface was brought about by first converting
      bare silica to an epoxy-activated silica surface via reaction with gamma
      glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) followed by attaching maltose and
      sorbitol to the epoxy surface in the presence of the Lewis acid catalyst
      BF3.ethereate. Both silica based columns offered the expected retention
      characteristics usually encountered for neutral polar surface. The retention
      mechanism is majorly based on solute' differential partitioning between an
      organic rich hydro-organic mobile phase (e.g., ACN rich mobile phase) and an
      adsorbed water layer on the surface of the stationary phase although additional
      hydrogen bonding was also responsible in some cases for solute retention. The
      MALT-silica column proved to be more hydrophilic and offered higher retention,
      separation efficiency and resolution than the SOR-silica column among the tested
      polar solutes such as derivatized mono- and oligosaccharides, weak phenolic
      acids, cyclic nucleotide monophosphate and nucleotide-5'-monophosphates, and weak
      bases, e.g., nucleobases and nucleosides.

PMID- 28599863
TI  - Recent advances in capillary ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography.
AB  - In the twenty years since its initial demonstration, capillary ultrahigh pressure
      liquid chromatography (UHPLC) has proven to be one of most powerful separation
      techniques for the analysis of complex mixtures. This review focuses on the most
      recent advances made since 2010 towards increasing the performance of such
      separations. Improvements in capillary column preparation techniques that have
      led to columns with unprecedented performance are described. New stationary
      phases and phase supports that have been reported over the past decade are
      detailed, with a focus on their use in capillary formats. A discussion on the
      instrument developments that have been required to ensure that extra-column
      effects do not diminish the intrinsic efficiency of these columns during analysis
      is also included. Finally, the impact of these capillary UHPLC topics on the
      field of proteomics and ways in which capillary UHPLC may continue to be applied
      to the separation of complex samples are addressed.

PMID- 28599862
TI  - A simple and sensitive approach to quantify methyl farnesoate in whole arthropods
      by matrix-solid phase dispersion and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
AB  - Methyl farnesoate (MF) is an arthropod hormone that plays a key role in the
      physiology of several arthropods' classes being implicated in biological
      processes such as molting and reproduction. The development of an analytical
      technique to quantify the levels of this compound in biological tissues can be of
      major importance for the field of aquaculture/apiculture conservation and in
      endocrine disruption studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a
      simple and sensitive method to measure native levels of MF in the tissue of three
      representative species from different arthropods classes with environmental
      and/or economic importance. Thus, a new approach using whole organisms and the
      combination of matrix solid-phase dispersion with gas chromatography coupled to
      mass spectrometry was developed. This method allows quantifying endogenous MF at
      low levels (LOQs in the 1.2-3.1ng/g range) in three arthropod species, and could
      be expanded to additional arthropod classes. The found levels ranged between 2
      and 12ng/g depending on the studied species and gender. The overall recovery of
      the method was evaluated and ranged between 69 and 96%.

PMID- 28599864
TI  - The anorectic agent, lorcaserin, disturbs estrous cyclicity and produces
      endometrial hyperplasia without affecting ovarian population in female rats.
AB  - AIMS: The present study aims to investigate the effect of the new anorectic
      agent, lorcaserin, on estrous cyclicity, reproductive hormones and
      folliculogenesis in female mature rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were divided
      into four groups; Group i: control group. Group ii-iv: rats treated with
      lorcaserin (5, 10 or 30mg/kg/day, p.o.), respectively. The treatment continued
      for 28days. KEY FINDINGS: Lorcaserin (5 or 10mg/kg) caused estrous cycle
      disturbance in 40% of treated rats while the high dose (30mg/kg) produced
      disturbances in 100% of the treated rats. Lorcaserin (5-30mg/kg) altered some of
      female hormones where it enhanced estradiol but reduced luteinizing hormone.
      Minimal edema with congested vessels was observed in the medulla of ovarian
      sections. Further, epithelial and uterine sections showed hyperplasia.
      SIGNIFICANCE: Taken together, the present results demonstrated that lorcaserin
      affected some reproductive hormones, disturbed estrous cyclicity and induced
      histopathological changes in the ovaries and uteri without affecting the ovarian
      populations. Therefore, lorcaserin should be used with caution in women of child
      bearing potential until adequate clinical safety data are available.

PMID- 28599866
TI  - Escherichia coli ST167 carrying plasmid mobilisable mcr-1 and blaCTX-M-15
      resistance determinants isolated from a human respiratory infection.

PMID- 28599867
TI  - Macrolide therapy for community-acquired pneumonia due to atypical pathogens:
      outcome assessment at an early time point.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Therapy directed against atypical pathogens in patients with
      community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is often recommended. This post-hoc analysis
      evaluated the effect of addition of a macrolide to ceftaroline fosamil or
      ceftriaxone treatment in atypical CAP. METHODS: Two phase 3, double-blind,
      comparative safety and efficacy studies of ceftaroline fosamil vs. ceftriaxone,
      FOCUS 1 and FOCUS 2, enrolled adults with CAP. Only FOCUS 1 included 24-h
      adjunctive clarithromycin therapy for all patients on day 1. Day 4 and test-of
      cure (TOC) outcomes were compared for adjunctive vs. no adjunctive therapy.
      RESULTS: Of 1240 enrolled patients, 130 patients with CAP due to atypical
      pathogens alone were included (FOCUS 1, n = 64; FOCUS 2, n = 66). Among patients
      infected with Mycoplasma pneumoniae and/or Chlamydophila pneumoniae alone, a
      higher clinical response rate was observed with clarithromycin plus ceftaroline
      fosamil or ceftriaxone compared with treatment without additional clarithromycin
      at day 4 [38/49 (77.6%; FOCUS 1) vs. 24/43 (55.8%; FOCUS 2)], but not at the TOC
      assessment [42/49 (85.7%; FOCUS 1) vs. 41/43 (95.3%; FOCUS 2)]. In patients
      infected with Legionella pneumophila alone, a higher clinical response rate with
      adjunctive clarithromycin therapy was observed at the TOC assessment alone [12/12
      (100%; FOCUS 1) vs. 14/19 (73.7%; FOCUS 2)]. The unadjusted odds ratio of a
      favourable clinical response at day 4 with adjunctive clarithromycin vs. no
      adjunctive clarithromycin was 2.4 (95% confidence interval 1.1-5.1; P = 0.0299)
      for all pathogens combined. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that empirical
      antibiotic therapy against atypical pathogens may improve early clinical response
      rate. This hypothesis is best evaluated in a prospective trial.

PMID- 28599865
TI  - Estrogen receptor alpha activation enhances its cell surface localization and
      improves myocardial redox status in ovariectomized rats.
AB  - AIMS: Little is known about the role of subcellular trafficking of estrogen
      receptor (ER) subtypes in the acute estrogen (E2)-mediated alleviation of
      oxidative stress. We tested the hypothesis that ERalpha migration to the cardiac
      myocyte membrane mediates the acute E2-dependent improvement of cellular redox
      status. MAIN METHODS: Myocardial distribution of subcellular ERalpha, ERbeta and
      G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) was determined in proestrus sham
      operated (SO) and in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, acutely treated with E2 (1MUg/kg)
      or a selective ERalpha (PPT), ERbeta (DPN) or GPER (G1) agonist (10MUg/kg), by
      immunofluorescence and Western blot. We measured ROS and malondialdehyde (MDA)
      levels, and catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities to evaluate
      myocardial antioxidant/redox status. KEY FINDINGS: Compared with SO, OVX rats
      exhibited higher myocardial ROS and MDA levels, reduced catalase and SOD
      activities, along with diminished ERalpha, and enhanced ERbeta and GPER,
      localization at cardiomyocyte membrane. Acute E2 or an ERalpha (PPT), but not
      ERbeta (DPN) or GPER (G1), agonist reversed these responses in OVX rats and
      resulted in higher ERalpha/ERbeta and ERalpha/GPER ratios at the cardiomyocytes
      membrane. PPT or DPN enhanced myocardial Akt phosphorylation. We present the
      first evidence that preferential aggregation of ERalpha at the cardiomyocytes
      plasma membrane is ERalpha-dependent, and underlies E2-mediated reduction in
      oxidative stress, at least partly, via the enhancements of myocardial catalase
      and SOD activities in OVX rats. SIGNIFICANCE: The findings highlight ERalpha
      agonists as potential therapeutics for restoring the myocardial redox status
      following E2 depletion in postmenopausal women.

PMID- 28599868
TI  - A latent profile analysis on patient empowerment programme in a Hong Kong primary
      care setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study identified the profiles of subgroups of type 2 diabetic
      (T2DM) patients of the Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) by different levels of
      benefits gained in diabetic self-management behaviors, self-efficacy, and health
      literacy. METHODS: This study adopted a non-experimental repeated-measures design
      on T2DM patients who joined PEP, using structured questionnaires. Latent profile
      analysis (LPA) was used to identify patterns of participants' change on the
      outcome measures. RESULTS: Findings of LPA revealed that participants who were
      older, unemployed, weaker in diabetic self-management, and having a higher self
      perception in personal disease risk were more likely to join the empowerment
      sessions and gained more benefits from the program. Participants with lower
      impairment in energy function and lower autonomy in personal health care showed
      more improvement in the outcomes. CONCLUSION: The study identified significant
      factors associated with patients' participation on and benefits gained from a
      service delivery model integrating health education and patient empowerment in a
      primary care setting. PRACTICE IMPLICATION: Findings from this study shed light
      on strategies to improve the PEP design in order to meet the needs of individuals
      with different health-related profiles.

PMID- 28599870
TI  - Osteoarticular infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae since authorization
      of conjugate vaccines.

PMID- 28599869
TI  - A reflection on how we define, determine and interpret the finding of lupus
      anticoagulant.

PMID- 28599871
TI  - A case report of granulomatosis with polyangiitis with granulomas in bone marrow.

PMID- 28599872
TI  - Hepatotoxicity following systemic therapy for colorectal liver metastases and the
      impact of chemotherapy-associated liver injury on outcomes after curative liver
      resection.
AB  - Patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM) have remarkably benefited from
      the advances in medical multimodal treatment and surgical techniques over the
      last two decades leading to significant improvements in long-term survival. More
      patients are currently undergoing liver resection following neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy, which has been increasingly established within the framework of
      curative-indented treatment strategies. However, the use of several cytotoxic
      agents has been linked to specific liver injuries that not only impair the
      ability of liver tissue to regenerate but also decrease long-term survival. One
      of the most common agents included in modern chemotherapy regimens is
      oxaliplatin, which is considered to induce a parenchymal damage of the liver
      primarily involving the sinusoids defined as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome
      (SOS). Administration of bevacizumab, an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF), has been reported to improve response of CLM to chemotherapy in
      clinical studies, concomitantly protecting the liver from the development of SOS.
      In this review, we aim to summarize current data on multimodal treatment concepts
      for CLM, give an in-depth overview of liver damage caused by cytostatic agents
      focusing on oxaliplatin-induced SOS, and evaluate the role of bevacizumab to
      improve clinical outcomes of patients with CLM and to protect the liver from the
      development of SOS.

PMID- 28599874
TI  - Cisplatin induced arrhythmia; electrolyte imbalance or disturbance of the SA
      node?
AB  - Since its approval in 1979 cisplatin has become one of the most extensively used
      chemotherapeutics in the clinic and although cell resistance and toxicity hinder
      its efficacy it continues to be a gold standard regimen. Cisplatin's side effects
      primarily include nephrotoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, neurotoxicity and
      ototoxicity. Cardiotoxicity is generally not defined as a side effect of
      cisplatin. However, over the past decade there has been a surge in the amount of
      clinical cases reporting a vast array of cardio-toxic events occurring during or
      shortly after cisplatin infusion, these range from angina to cardiac ischemia and
      chronic heart failure. This review intends to discuss the clinical cardiac
      manifestations of cisplatin specifically tachycardia and bradycardia which can be
      lethal and the possible mechanisms of action.

PMID- 28599875
TI  - Statins in lung transplantation: A treatment option for every patient?

PMID- 28599873
TI  - Percutaneous MR Imaging-Guided Cryoablation of Small Renal Masses in a 3-T Closed
      Bore MR Imaging Environment: Initial Experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility of percutaneous magnetic resonance (MR)
      imaging-guided cryoablation of small renal masses (SRMs) in a 3-T environment and
      to evaluate intraprocedural imaging, procedural safety, and initial outcomes.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analysis included 9 patients (4 men; median age, 72 y;
      range, 70-82 y) with 9 SRMs (diameter, 12-30 mm). Lesions underwent biopsy, and
      cryoneedles were inserted under ultrasound guidance. Verification of needle
      positions and ice-ball monitoring were performed by T1-weighted volumetric
      interpolated breath-hold examination and T2-weighted half-Fourier acquired single
      shot turbo spin-echo sequences. On image analysis, needle positioning was
      considered appropriate if the target lesion border was visible, the needle tip
      was inside the target lesion, and the ice ball was expected to cover the target
      lesion with a 5-mm margin. If these criteria could not be assessed, imaging was
      considered inadequate. Technical success was defined as tumor coverage with a 5
      mm margin and no residual disease on 1-mo follow-up MR imaging. RESULTS: Median
      total procedure time was 170 min (range, 135-193 min). Intraoperative imaging
      allowed adequate needle visualization in 67% of acquired scans (4 of 7 T1
      weighted and 6 of 8 T2-weighted). Appropriate positioning of two or three needles
      used for each procedure was confirmed in all cases on T1- or T2-weighted imaging.
      Ice-ball formation was adequately visualized in all patients. Technical success
      rate was 100%. No local recurrences were detected on follow-up imaging at a
      median of 12 mo (range, 3-22 mo). CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous MR-guided
      cryoablation of SRMs in a 3-T MR imaging environment is safe and feasible,
      showing adequate intraoperative imaging capabilities with promising short-term
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28599876
TI  - Effects of different musical frequencies on NPY and Ghrelin secretion in the rat
      hypothalamus.
AB  - It is known that exists a relationship between listening to music and food
      intake. Hypothalamus appears to integrate the orexigenic properties of a novel
      peptide, ghrelin (Ghre) that induces food intake through neuropeptide Y (NPY).
      Ghre stimulates appetite by acting on the ventral hypothalamus, which controls
      food intake. Ghre is secreted from the stomach and circulates in the bloodstream
      under fasting conditions, sending a hunger signal from the periphery to the
      Central Nervous System. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in the rat, the
      effects of different musical frequencies (432 and 440Hz) on the Ghre and NPY
      expression in the hypothalamic neurons through immunohistochemistry; in addition,
      we investigated on the different production of Ghre in the serum through Western
      blot assay (Wb), in relation to the body weight of animals. Ghre-immunopositive
      cells were counted, showing a significant increase in music-treated compared to
      the control (CTR) group. Similarly, music-treated rats showed increased levels of
      Ghre in the serum compared to CTR animals. Finally, the body weight of animals
      was affected by music. In particular, music exposure was able to stimulate the
      body weight increase and, interestingly, the increase was higher when animals
      were exposed to music at 440Hz. Together, the results strongly support the
      hypothesis that different musical frequencies could affect food intake by
      modulating the hypothalamic Ghre expression and its release.

PMID- 28599877
TI  - Zeaxanthin improves diabetes-induced cognitive deficit in rats through activiting
      PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.
AB  - Published studies have shown that cognitive deficit is a characteristic
      manifestation of neurodegenerative disease in diabetes. However, there is no
      effective prevention and treatment for this diabetes-associated behavior
      disorder. In the present study, we attempted to elucidate the effect of
      zeaxanthin on cognitive deficit and the change in the hippocampus correlated with
      cognitive decline in diabetic rats. Diabetic rats in this study were induced by
      high-fat diet and low-dose streptozocin (STZ), cognitive ability of rats were
      evaluated use morris water maze (MWM) and morphology change in hippocampus was
      assessed by cresyl violet stain. Moreover, we detected the expression of
      phosphorylated serine/threonine kinase (p-AKT) and Cleaved caspase-3, and the
      activity of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) use western-blot (WB). Results
      displayed that supplementation with zeaxanthin reduce blood glucose, improve
      cognitive deficit, survive neural cell, increase p-AKT level, inhibit Cleaved
      caspase-3 level and NF-kappaB nuclear transcription in hippocampus. This study
      demonstrated that zeaxanthin ameliorate diabetes-related cognitive deficit may by
      means of protecting neural cell from hyperglycemia involved in AKT/NF-kappaB
      signaling pathway. This study may provide a potential therapeutic approach for
      the prevention of diabetes- associated cognitive deficit.

PMID- 28599878
TI  - Responsiveness of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and the
      Oxford Knee Score (OKS) in Japanese patients with high tibial osteotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess responsiveness of the Japanese Knee Injury and
      Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and the Oxford Knee Score (OKS) in patients
      undergoing open-wedge HTO to treat knee osteoarthritis and/or osteonecrosis.
      METHODS: Patients completed a set of questionnaires before HTO surgery (baseline)
      and 1 year after surgery. The questionnaires comprised the validated Japanese
      versions of the KOOS, the OKS, and the SF-36v2 and a visual analogue scale (VAS)
      for local knee pain and general pain. The treating surgeon completed the Japanese
      Orthopedic Association (JOA) score for osteoarthritic knees. The study included
      119 patients aged 64.7 +/- 8.3, 116 were followed at 1 year. 90 patients had knee
      osteoarthritis (OA) solely. 28 patients suffered from both OA and osteonecrosis
      (ON); one patient had ON only. Responsiveness to change was assessed using the
      effect size (ES) between the baseline and the 1-year postoperative assessment and
      standardized response mean. A distribution-based approach was used to determine
      the minimally detectable change (MDC95) for the KOOS subscales, and the OKS.
      RESULTS: All instruments demonstrated statistically significant changes between
      the preoperative assessments and one year after surgery. All changes showed an
      improvement in score, but the condition-specific measures revealed higher
      responsiveness than the generic measures. All KOOS subscales, the OKS, the local
      pain VAS, and the JOA score showed large ESs (ES > 1.24) and SRMs (SRM>1.04). At
      a 95% confidence level, the respective MDCs were 15.83, 18.94, 15.22, 18.99 and
      17.23 for the KOOS-Pain, KOOS-Symptoms, KOOS-ADL, KOOS-Sport/Rec, and KOOS-QOL
      subscales, respectively. The MDC95 for the OKS was 8.29. CONCLUSIONS: Both, the
      KOOS and OKS are responsive for use in Japanese-speaking patients with knee
      osteoarthritis and/or osteonecrosis who are undergoing HTO.

PMID- 28599879
TI  - Uncommon toxic microbial metabolite patterns in traditionally home-processed
      maize dish (fufu) consumed in rural Cameroon.
AB  - Toxins of microbial origin frequently contaminate foodstuffs worldwide and pose a
      serious hazard to humans. This study reports on LCMS/MS quantification of
      multiple fungal and bacterial toxins, from household sampling of 50 traditionally
      prepared maize-fufu samples from Bamunka village, western highlands of Cameroon.
      Seventy-four metabolites including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) (12/50: mean 0.9, range
      n.d-1.8 MUg kg-1), cereulide (50/50: mean 37; range 1-236 MUg kg-1),
      deoxynivalenol (DON) (50/50: mean 23, range 14-55 MUg kg-1), fumonisin B1 (FB1)
      (50/50: mean: 151, range 48-709 MUg kg-1), nivalenol (NIV) (50/50; mean 268,
      range 116-372 MUg kg-1), patulin (PAT) (15/50:mean 105, range 12-890 MUg kg-1)
      and zearalenone (ZEN) (50/50: mean 49, range 5-150) were detected; and of note
      every sample contained at least 27 toxic compounds. While individual toxin levels
      were mostly low there is always concern regarding mixtures, for which data are
      absent or limited. This study reports several novel observations of toxins not
      previously reported in maize, and the mixture of toxins, e.g. cereulide, PAT and
      ZEN derivatives (ZEN-cis and ZENsulfate-cis) are reported for the first time in
      Cameroonian food.

PMID- 28599880
TI  - RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, 3-methylbutyl valerate, CAS Registry
      Number 2050-09-1.

PMID- 28599881
TI  - RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, 4-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2
      butanone, CAS Registry Number 55418-52-5.

PMID- 28599882
TI  - Saponins from stems and leaves of Panax ginseng prevent obesity via regulating
      thermogenesis, lipogenesis and lipolysis in high-fat diet-induced obese C57BL/6
      mice.
AB  - In this study, high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mouse model was used to
      evaluate the dietary effect of saponins from stems and leaves of Panax ginseng
      (SLG), and to explore its mechanism of action in producing anti-obesity effects.
      The results indicate that SLG showed significant anti-obesity effects in diet
      induced obese mice, represented by decreased serum levels of free fatty acids
      (FFA), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
      cholesterol, glucose, leptin and insulin, as well as a reduction in overall body
      and liver weight, epididymal adipose tissue weight, and food efficiency, and
      inhibition of abnormal increases in acyl carnitine levels normally caused by an
      HFD. Additionally, the down-regulated expression of PPARgamma, FAS, CD36, FATP2
      and up-regulated expression of CPT-1, UCP-2, PPARalpha, HSL, and ATGL in liver
      tissue was induced by SLG. In addition, the SLG groups showed decreased
      PPARgamma, aP2 and leptin mRNA levels and increased expression of PPARalpha, PGC
      1alpha, UCP-1 and UCP-3 genes in adipose tissues, compared with the HFD group. In
      short, SLG may play a key role in producing anti-obesity effects in mice fed an
      HFD, and its mechanism may be related to regulation of thermogenesis, lipogenesis
      and lipolysis.

PMID- 28599883
TI  - Uterine-sparing Laparoscopic Resection of Accessory Cavitated Uterine Masses.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate surgical techniques utilized during uterine
      sparing laparoscopic resections of accessory cavitated uterine masses (ACUMs).
      ACUMs represent a rare uterine entity observed in premenopausal women suffering
      from dysmenorrhea and recurrent pelvic pain. The diagnosis is made when an
      isolated extra-cavitated uterine mass is resected from an otherwise normal
      appearing uterus with unremarkable endometrial lumen and adnexal structures.
      Pathologic confirmation requires an accessory cavity lined with endometrial
      epithelium (and corresponding glands and stroma) filled with chocolate-brown
      fluid. Adenomyosis must be absent. Although the origin of ACUMs is currently
      unknown, the most common presentation is a 2-4 cm lateral uterine wall mass at
      the level of the insertion of the round ligament. Hence it has been hypothesized
      that gubernaculum dysfunction may be responsible for duplication or persistence
      of paramesonephric tissue leading to ACUM formation as a new Mullerian anomaly.
      DESIGN: A stepwise surgical tutorial describing 2 laparoscopic ACUM resections
      using a narrated video (Canadian Task Force classification III). SETTING: An
      academic tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: In this video, we present 2 patients
      who underwent uterine-sparing laparoscopic resections of their ACUM in order to
      preserve fertility (Case 1) or avoid the complications and surgical recovery time
      of a total laparoscopic hysterectomy (Case 2). Case 1 is a 19-year-old, gravida
      0, para 0 woman with dysmenorrhea and recurrent pelvic pain who presented for
      multiple emergency room and outpatient evaluations. Transvaginal ultrasonography
      was unremarkable except for a 28*30*26mm left lateral uterine mass with
      peripheral vascular flow that was initially felt to be a leiomyoma or rudimentary
      uterine horn. MRI imaging, however, demonstrated this mass to be more consistent
      with an ACUM. This was based on the lack of communication between the lesion and
      the main uterine cavity exhibited by high T2 signal (compatible with endometrial
      tissue) surrounding low T2/high T1 signal in the dependent aspects (representing
      blood products). After counseling regarding treatment options including medical
      management with hormonal contraception, the patient elected for definitive
      fertility preserving laparoscopic resection. In contrast, case 2 is a 39-year
      old, gravida 3, para 3 woman with a 2 month history or left lower quadrant pain
      following her last vaginal delivery. Transvaginal ultrasonography showed a
      23*18*19mm cystic structure within the left uterine wall, which was confirmed to
      represent an ACUM on MRI. Although she had no desire for fertility preservation,
      the patient elected for surgical resection of the mass as opposed to a
      hysterectomy in order to minimize complications and recovery time. INTERVENTIONS:
      Laparoscopic resection of ACUMs in patients desiring uterine preservation.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Laparoscopic resection of the ACUMs was performed
      utilizing 2 different techniques. In both cases, dilute vasopressin was injected
      with a modified butterfly or spinal needle along the uterine-ACUM serosal
      interphase to aid with hemostasis. In patients desiring to preserve fertility
      (case 1) monopolar energy is utilized to make an incision along the ACUM serosa
      to help facilitate dissection. ACUM enucleation is then commenced in a
      circumferential manner along the ACUM and uterine myometrial interphase utilizing
      bipolar energy. In contrast to leiomyomas where dissection advances along the
      pseudocapsule, ACUM have poorly delineated borders with disorganized muscular
      fibers making dissection particularly difficult. A variety of instruments can be
      utilized to help in the sequential circumferential dissection in addition to a
      bipolar device including a single-tooth tenaculum, myoma hook, suction device or
      fine-needle grasper. Ultimately, the ACUM is transected off its uterine
      myometrial attachment and hemostasis is obtain before closing the uterine defect
      in at least 2 layers using a 2-0 barbed V-Loc (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN). If
      fertility preservation is no longer desired, the dissection can greatly be
      expedited by performing a salpingectomy and skeletonizing the ACUM from the
      leaves of the broad ligament (case 2). A monopolar L-hook can then be used to
      transect the ACUM from the remaining uterine body. While difficult, these cases
      can be completed laparoscopically in approximately 2 hours with minimal blood
      loss. CONCLUSIONS: ACUMs are hypothesized to represent a previously under
      recognized Mullerian anomaly linked to gubernaculum dysfunction that occurs in
      premenopausal women with dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain. Uterine and
      fertility sparing laparoscopic resection is possible but challenging due to
      poorly defined planes.

PMID- 28599884
TI  - Comparing Single-Site and Multiport Robotic Hysterectomy with Sentinel Lymph Node
      Mapping for Endometrial Cancer: Surgical Outcomes and Cost Analysis.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare operative times, surgical outcomes, and costs of
      robotic laparoendoscopic single-site (R-LESS) vs multiport robotic (MPR) total
      laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) with sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping for low
      risk endometrial cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force
      classification II-2). SETTING: Academic university hospital. PATIENTS: Patients
      with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of complex atypical hyperplasia (CAH) or low-grade
      (1 or 2) endometrial cancer with body mass index <30 kg/m2 and undergoing robotic
      TLH and SLN mapping between 2012 and 2016 were included. INTERVENTIONS: Surgical
      outcomes and cost data were collected retrospectively and analyzed based on the
      surgical approach with R-LESS vs MPR assistance. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      Twenty-seven patients who met the inclusion criteria were identified, including
      14 patients who underwent R-LESS TLH with SLN mapping and 13 patients who
      underwent MPR TLH with SLN mapping. Median uterine weight was comparable in the 2
      cohorts (111.3 g vs 83.8 g; p = .33). Operative and console times were equivalent
      with the R-LESS and MPR approaches (median, 175 minutes vs 184 minutes, p = .61
      and 136 vs 140 minutes, p = .12, respectively). Median estimated blood loss was
      50 mL in both cohorts. Successful bilateral SLN mapping occurred in 85.7% of the
      R-LESS procedures and 76.9% of MPR procedures. No intraoperative or 30-day
      complications were encountered, and all patients were discharged within 23 hours
      of surgery. MPR was associated with additional disposable instrument and drape
      costs of $460 to $660 compared with R-LESS, depending on the surgeon's instrument
      selection. Average total hospital charges were lower for R-LESS procedures
      ($13,410 vs $15,952; p < .05). CONCLUSION: In highly selected patients with CAH
      or low-grade endometrial cancer undergoing TLH and SLN mapping, R-LESS appears to
      result in equivalent perioperative outcomes as a MPR approach while offering a
      more cost-effective option. Further research is needed to determine the benefits
      of R-LESS procedures in the gynecologic oncology setting.

PMID- 28599885
TI  - Essure Removal for the Treatment of Device-Attributed Symptoms: An Expanded Case
      Series and Follow-up Survey.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate perioperative outcomes and symptom resolution in
      women undergoing removal of the Essure device for device-attributed symptoms.
      DESIGN: Retrospective case series and follow-up patient survey (Canadian Task
      Force classification III). SETTING: Large academic medical center. PATIENTS:
      Fifty-two women who underwent laparoscopic or hysteroscopic Essure removal
      between 2012 and 2016. INTERVENTIONS: Women underwent one of four procedures:
      laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) and bilateral salpingectomy (BS), laparoscopic BS
      and cornuectomy, laparoscopic Essure removal and BS, or hysteroscopic Essure
      removal and laparoscopic BS. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Fifty-two women who
      underwent Essure removal were asked to complete a survey regarding symptom
      resolution and quality of life following the procedure. Thirty-two women (61.5%)
      responded to the survey. Seventy-five percent (24/32) reported almost total or
      total improvement in quality of life, 56.3% (18/32) for sex life, 53.1% (17/32)
      for pelvic pain, and 65.6% (21/32) for daily activities. The majority of women
      reported some degree of improvement in all four domains queried (87.5%, 28/32).
      When asked about their symptoms in general, 31.3% (10/32) of women reported
      ongoing or worse symptoms after Essure removal. All procedures took approximately
      one hour (mean 65 min, SD 33 min), were associated with minimal blood loss (mean
      31 mL, SD 17), and had no perioperative complications. CONCLUSION: Essure removal
      is a procedure that may be effective for treating most women with symptoms
      attributed to the device. Patients should be counseled that some symptoms may
      persist or even worsen following surgery.

PMID- 28599886
TI  - Cesarean Scar Pregnancies: A Systematic Review of Treatment Options.
AB  - The objective of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy and safety of
      treatment options of cesarean scar pregnancies (CSPs). We searched MEDLINE,
      Embase, and the Cochrane Library from inception to June 2016 as well as reference
      lists. We included English publications reporting treatment outcomes of at least
      10 cases of CSPs. Two authors screened for eligibility, extracted data, and
      assessed the quality of the included studies. Treatment was considered successful
      if no subsequent intervention was required after the index treatment. Of the 1257
      citations identified, 63 studies were eligible. The overall success rate of
      systemic methotrexate (MTX) and/or local injection of MTX or potassium chloride
      was 62%. Dilation and curettage (D&C) was associated with a 28% risk of
      hemorrhage that dropped to 4% when combined with uterine artery embolization
      (UAE). Hysteroscopic resection of CSP was unsuccessful in 12% of cases, and
      inadequate human chorionic gonadotropin decay was the primary indication for
      additional intervention. Laparoscopic, vaginal, and open excision and repair of
      the defect were associated with a high success rate (>=96%) and a low risk of
      hemorrhage (<=4%). Expectant management resulted in a 57% live birth rate, but
      63% of women required hysterectomy because of placental implantation
      abnormalities or second trimester uterine rupture. Most studies were of low
      methodologic quality, and given the heterogeneity between the studies and groups,
      statistical comparison of treatment options was deemed inappropriate. In
      conclusion, the decision to allow the progression of CSPs exposes women to a high
      risk of life-threatening hemorrhage and hysterectomy. Medical treatment options
      alone are often insufficient. D&C is a reasonable option in well-selected women
      or when combined with UAE. The potential benefits of excision and repair of scar
      defect on further pregnancy outcomes need to be further assessed.

PMID- 28599888
TI  - Cardiopulmonary effects of pleural insufflation with CO2 during two-lung
      ventilation in dorsally recumbent anesthetized horses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To record the cardiopulmonary effects of pleural CO2 positive pressure
      insufflation in anesthetized horses. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS:
      Seven horses (mean +/- standard deviation, 530.9 +/- 68.1 kg) undergoing terminal
      surgery. METHODS: Horses were sedated with xylazine. Anesthesia was induced with
      ketamine-propofol and maintained with isoflurane, positive pressure ventilation,
      detomidine infusion, and butorphanol with the horses in dorsal recumbency.
      Baseline measurements were cardiac output, heart rate, pulmonary and systemic
      arterial and right atrial blood pressures, body temperature, expired and inspired
      gas concentrations, and arterial and mixed venous blood gases, electrolytes,
      glucose, and lactate concentrations. An 18 gauge 6.6 cm needle was inserted into
      the right pleural cavity midway between the sternum and dorsal midline in the
      sixth or seventh intercostal space for pleural pressure (PP) measurement. A 14
      gauge 18 cm needle placed 5 cm below the previous needle allowed CO2 insufflation
      into the pleural cavity. All measurements were repeated after: needle insertion,
      at 2, 5, and 8 mmHg PPs, and after pleural gas removal (GR). Data were compared
      with baseline using one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. p < 0.05
      was considered significant. RESULTS: Actual PPs were within 1.1 mmHg of the
      targeted PP. Pulmonary systolic and mean arterial pressures, alveolar dead space
      to tidal volume ratio, and isoflurane requirements increased at 8 mmHg PP and GR.
      Cardiac index decreased at 5 mmHg PP. Stroke index decreased at 2 mmHg PP to GR.
      PaO2 decreased at 5 mmHg PP to GR. PaCO2 increased at 8 mmHg PP and GR. Oxygen
      delivery decreased at 5 and 8 mmHg PP. Intrapulmonary shunt fraction and lactate
      concentration increased with GR. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Severe
      adverse cardiopulmonary effects arise from CO2 positive pressure insufflation
      into the right hemithorax in dorsally recumbent isoflurane-anesthetized horses.
      PP should be <=2 mmHg.

PMID- 28599889
TI  - Effects of thiopentone, propofol and alfaxalone on laryngeal motion during oral
      laryngoscopy in healthy dogs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of thiopentone, propofol and alfaxalone on
      arytenoid cartilage motion and establish the dose rates to achieve a consistent
      oral laryngoscopy examination. STUDY DESIGN: Randomised crossover study. ANIMALS:
      Six healthy adult Beagle dogs. METHODS: Each dog was randomly administered three
      induction agents with a 1-week washout period between treatments. Thiopentone
      (7.5 mg kg-1), propofol (3 mg kg-1) or alfaxalone (1.5 mg kg-1) was administered
      over 1 minute for induction of anaesthesia. If the dog was deemed inadequately
      anaesthetised, then supplemental boluses of 1.8, 0.75 and 0.4 mg kg-1 were
      administered, respectively. Continual examination of the larynx, using a
      laryngoscope, commenced once an adequate anaesthetic depth was reached until
      examination end point. The number of arytenoid motions and vital breaths were
      counted during three time periods and compared over time and among treatments.
      Data were analysed using Friedman and Mann-Whitney U tests, Spearman rho and a
      linear mixed model with post hoc pairwise comparison with Tukey correction.
      RESULTS: The median (range) induction and examination times were 2.8 (2.0-3.0),
      2.7 (2.0-3.3) and 2.5 (1.7-3.3) minutes (p = 0.727); and 14.1 (8.0-41.8), 5.4
      (3.3-14.8) and 8.5 (3.8-31.6) minutes (p = 0.016) for thiopentone, propofol and
      alfaxalone, respectively. The median dose rates required to achieve an adequate
      anaesthetic depth were 6.3 (6.0-6.6), 2.4 (2.4-2.4) and 1.2 (1.2-1.2) mg kg-1
      minute-1, respectively. There was no significant difference for the total number
      of arytenoid motions (p = 0.662) or vital breaths (p = 0.789) among induction
      agents. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The number of arytenoid motions were
      similar among the induction agents. However, at the dose rates used in this
      study, propofol provided adequate conditions for evaluation of the larynx with a
      shorter examination time which may be advantageous during laryngoscopy in dogs.

PMID- 28599887
TI  - Phase I Trial of Cediranib in Combination with Cisplatin and Pemetrexed in
      Chemonaive Patients with Unresectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (SWOG
      S0905).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In malignant pleural mesothelioma, targeting angiogenesis with
      cediranib, a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and platelet-derived
      growth factor receptor inhibitor, may have therapeutic potential. METHODS: S0905
      phase I combined cediranib (two dose cohorts [30 mg and 20 mg daily]) with
      cisplatin-pemetrexed for six cycles followed by maintenance cediranib in
      unresectable chemonaive patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma of any
      histologic subtype. The primary end point established the maximum tolerated dose
      in combination with cisplatin-pemetrexed in a dose deescalation scheme. RESULTS:
      A total of 20 patients were enrolled (seven to the 30-mg cohort and 13 to the 20
      mag cohort). In the cediranib 30-mg cohort, two of the initial six patients
      reported dose-limiting toxicities and the dose was deemed too toxic to continue.
      In the next cohort, two patients experienced dose-limiting toxicities, and thus,
      the maximum tolerated dose of cediranib was established as 20 mg. During the six
      cycles of cisplatin-pemetrexed-cediranib, 20 mg, there were grade 3 toxicities
      (neutropenia and gastrointestinal) and grade 4 thrombocytopenia. No patients had
      any significant episodes of bleeding. According to the Response Evaluation
      Criteria in Solid Tumors (n = 17 evaluable patients), the median progression-free
      survival was 12.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.9-17.2); according to
      the Modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (n = 19 evaluable
      patients), the median progression-free survival was 8.6 months (95% CI: 6.1
      10.9). For all patients, the disease control rate at 6 weeks was 90% and median
      overall survival time was 16.2 months (95% CI: 10.5-28.7). CONCLUSIONS: Cediranib
      combined with cisplatin-pemetrexed has a reasonable toxicity profile and
      preliminary promising efficacy. The phase II S0905 trial will evaluate the
      efficacy of the triplet regimen compared with the current standard of care,
      cisplatin-pemetrexed.

PMID- 28599890
TI  - The 'Epibox': a simple tool to train epidural injection technique in small
      animals.

PMID- 28599891
TI  - Non-senescent keratinocytes organize in plasma membrane submicrometric lipid
      domains enriched in sphingomyelin and involved in re-epithelialization.
AB  - Membrane lipid raft model has long been debated, but recently the concept of
      lipid submicrometric domains has emerged to characterize larger (micrometric) and
      more stable lipid membrane domains. Such domains organize signaling platforms
      involved in normal or pathological conditions. In this study, adhering human
      keratinocytes were investigated for their ability to organize such specialized
      lipid domains. Successful fluorescent probing of lipid domains, by either
      inserting exogenous sphingomyelin (BODIPY-SM) or using detoxified fragments of
      lysenin and theta toxins fused to mCherry, allowed specific, sensitive and
      quantitative detection of sphingomyelin and cholesterol and demonstrated for the
      first time submicrometric organization of lipid domains in living keratinocytes.
      Potential functionality of such domains was additionally assessed during
      replicative senescence, notably through gradual disappearance of SM-rich domains
      in senescent keratinocytes. Indeed, SM-rich domains were found critical to
      preserve keratinocyte migration before senescence, because sphingomyelin or
      cholesterol depletion in keratinocytes significantly alters lipid domains and
      reduce migration ability.

PMID- 28599892
TI  - Comparative analysis of learning curve in complex robot-assisted and laparoscopic
      liver resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no comparative analysis of the learning curves for robot
      assisted and laparoscopic liver resection. We aimed to compare learning curves in
      complex robotic and conventional laparoscopic liver resections with regards to
      estimation of the difficulty index score. METHODS: The results of 131 consecutive
      liver resections were analyzed retrospectively (40 robot-assisted and 91
      laparoscopic). The learning curve evaluation was based on calculation of
      procedures number before significant change of the difficulty index for minimally
      invasive liver resection or the rate of posterosuperior segments resection.
      Groups of early and late experience were compared in every type of approach
      (robot-assisted and laparoscopic). RESULTS: Significant increase of difficulty
      index (from 5.0 [3.0-7.7] to 7.3 [4.3-10.2]) of robotic procedures required 16
      procedures. It was necessary to perform 29 laparoscopic resections in order to
      significantly increase the rate of laparoscopic posterosuperior segments
      resection but without significant increase of difficulty index. The
      implementation of minimally invasive liver resection started with the robotic
      approach. CONCLUSION: The learning curve for robot-assisted liver resections is
      shorter in comparison with laparoscopic resections. The inclusion of robot
      assisted resections in a minimally invasive liver surgery program may be useful
      to rapidly increase the complexity of laparoscopic liver resections.

PMID- 28599893
TI  - The July phenomenon in current obstetric practice.

PMID- 28599894
TI  - Impact of aspirin on fetal growth in diabetic pregnancies according to White
      classification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current US Preventive Services Task Force and other guidelines
      recommend low-dose aspirin for all pregnant women with pregestational diabetes
      mellitus to prevent preeclampsia and small-for-gestational-age birth. The
      Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units High-Risk Aspirin trial did not show a reduction in
      either preeclampsia or small-for-gestational-age birth in diabetic women.
      OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to reassess the impact of aspirin on fetal growth in
      diabetic pregnancies overall and according to White classification. We
      hypothesized that aspirin improves fetal growth in pregnancies with vascular
      complications of diabetes at highest risk for poor fetal growth. STUDY DESIGN: We
      conducted secondary analysis of the cohort of diabetic women enrolled in the
      Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units High-Risk Aspirin trial. The impact of aspirin
      prophylaxis on birthweight was assessed in the overall cohort and in 2 groups
      categorized according to White classification as nonvascular (White class B, C,
      D) or vascular (White class R, F, RF). Birthweight was converted to Z-score
      normalized for gestational age at delivery and neonatal sex. Difference in
      birthweight Z-score between aspirin and placebo was tested with a 2-sample t
      test. The effect of vascular group, aspirin vs placebo randomization, and the
      interaction of the 2 on normalized birthweight percentile was estimated with
      linear regression with a multivariable model including covariates body mass
      index, tobacco use, race, and parity. The percentage of small and large-for
      gestational-age newborns born to aspirin- vs placebo-treated women was compared
      between groups using Pearson exact chi2 analysis, and an adjusted model was
      estimated by logistic regression. RESULTS: All 444 women with pregestational
      diabetes and complete outcome data were included (53 vascular, 391 nonvascular).
      Aspirin was significantly associated with a higher birthweight Z-score (0.283;
      95% confidence interval, 0.023-0.544) in the overall cohort (P = .03). In the
      adjusted model, the association of aspirin with higher birthweight Z-score was
      confined to neonates of women with nonvascular diabetes (0.341; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.677-0.006; P = .044). An opposite but nonsignificant effect was
      observed among neonates from women with vascular diabetes (-0.416; 95% confidence
      interval, -1.335 to 0.503; P = .6). This difference in the relationship of
      aspirin and birthweight Z-score by vascular group was significant at P = .046.
      Aspirin-randomized women with nonvascular diabetes had more large-for-gestational
      age births than those treated with placebo (40.2 vs 26.6%; P = .005). Small-for
      gestational-age births occurred at the same frequency with aspirin vs placebo
      randomization in the overall cohort (8% in each group) and in each vascular
      group. CONCLUSION: Inconsistent with our hypothesis, aspirin did not reduce small
      for-gestational-age births in the overall cohort or either group. The increased
      incidence of large-for-gestational-age infants in aspirin-treated diabetic
      gestations is of potential concern given the known increased maternal and
      neonatal morbidity associated with macrosomia.

PMID- 28599895
TI  - Variations in resting energy expenditure: impact on gestational weight gain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are significant variations in gestational weight gain, with
      many women gaining in excess of the Institute of Medicine guidelines.
      Unfortunately, efforts to improve appropriate gestational weight gain have had
      only limited success. To date, interventions have focused primarily on decreasing
      energy intake and/or increasing physical activity. Maternal resting energy
      expenditure, which comprises ~60% of total energy expenditure compared with the
      ~20% that comes from physical activity, may be an important consideration in
      understanding variations in gestational weight gain. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was
      to quantify the changes in resting energy expenditure during pregnancy and their
      relationship to gestational weight gain and body composition changes among
      healthy women. We hypothesized that greater gestational weight gain, and fat mass
      accrual in particular, are inversely related to variations in resting energy
      expenditure. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a secondary analysis of a prospective
      cohort studied before conception and late pregnancy (34-36 weeks). Body
      composition (estimated using hydrodensitometry) and resting energy expenditure
      (estimated using indirect calorimetry) were measured. The relationship between
      the changes in resting energy expenditure and gestational weight gain and the
      change in fat mass and fat-free mass were quantified. Resting energy expenditure
      was expressed as kilocalories per kilogram of fat-free mass per day (kilocalories
      per kilogram of fat-free mass-1/day-1) and kilocalories per day. Correlations are
      reported as r. RESULTS: Among 51 women, preconception body mass index was 23.0
      (4.7) kg/m2; gestational weight gain was 12.8 (4.7) kg. Preconception and late
      pregnancy resting energy expenditure (kilocalories per day) correlated positively
      with the change in fat-free mass (r = 0.37, P = .008; r = 0.51, P = .001). Late
      pregnancy resting energy expenditure (kilocalories per kilogram of fat-free mass
      1/day-1) was inversely associated with the change in fat mass (r = -0.34, P =
      .02) and gestational weight gain (r = -0.29, P = .04). From before pregnancy
      through late gestation, the increase in resting energy expenditure (kilocalories
      per day) correlated positively with the change in fat-free mass (r = 0.44, P =
      .002) and negatively with the change in fat mass (r = -0.27, P = .06).
      CONCLUSION: The change in resting energy expenditure from before conception
      through late gestation correlated positively with changes in fat-free mass but
      negatively with fat mass accrual. Women with smaller increases in resting energy
      expenditure across pregnancy had greater gestational weight gain, specifically
      more adipose tissue. These data suggest that resting energy expenditure is an
      important factor in gestational weight gain, particularly excess fat mass
      accrual. Future lifestyle intervention studies need to consider clinically
      feasible means of estimating resting energy expenditure and, in response, tailor
      nutrient intake and composition recommendations. Implementing and testing such
      interventions would be a novel approach to improve compliance with gestational
      weight gain guidelines.

PMID- 28599897
TI  - To the point: medical education, technology, and the millennial learner.
AB  - This article, from the "To The Point" series that was prepared by the Association
      of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Undergraduate Medical Education
      Committee, provides an overview of the characteristics of millennials and
      describes how medical educators can customize and reframe their curricula and
      teaching methods to maximize millennial learning. A literature search was
      performed to identify articles on generational learning. We summarize the
      importance of understanding the attitudes, ideas, and priorities of millennials
      to tailor educational methods to stimulate and enhance learning. Where relevant,
      a special focus on the obstetrics and gynecology curriculum is highlighted.

PMID- 28599896
TI  - Objectively measured short sleep duration and later sleep midpoint in pregnancy
      are associated with a higher risk of gestational diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experimental and epidemiologic data suggest that among nonpregnant
      adults, sleep duration may be an important risk factor for chronic disease.
      Although pregnant women commonly report poor sleep, few studies objectively
      evaluated the quality of sleep in pregnancy or explored the relationship between
      sleep disturbances and maternal and perinatal outcomes. OBJECTIVE: Our objective
      was to examine the relationship between objectively assessed sleep duration,
      timing, and continuity (measured via wrist actigraphy) and maternal
      cardiovascular and metabolic morbidity specific to pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: This
      was a prospective cohort study of nulliparous women. Women were recruited between
      16 0/7 and 21 6/7 weeks' gestation. They were asked to wear a wrist actigraphy
      monitor and complete a daily sleep log for a period of 7 consecutive days. The
      primary sleep exposure variables were the averages of the following over the
      total valid nights (minimum 5, maximum 7 nights): short sleep duration during the
      primary sleep period (<7 h/night), late sleep midpoint (midpoint between sleep
      onset and sleep offset >5 am), and top quartile of minutes of wake time after
      sleep onset and sleep fragmentation index. The primary outcomes of interest were
      a composite of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (mild, severe, or superimposed
      preeclampsia; eclampsia; or antepartum gestational hypertension) and gestational
      diabetes mellitus. We used chi2 tests to assess associations between sleep
      variables and categorical baseline characteristics. Crude odds ratios and 95%
      confidence intervals were estimated from univariate logistic regression models to
      characterize the magnitude of the relationship between sleep characteristics and
      hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and gestational diabetes. For associations
      significant in univariate analysis, multiple logistic regression was used to
      explore further the association of sleep characteristics with pregnancy outcomes.
      RESULTS: In all, 901 eligible women consented to participate; 782 submitted valid
      actigraphy studies. Short sleep duration and a later sleep midpoint were
      associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes (odds ratio, 2.24; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.11-4.53; and odds ratio, 2.58; 95% confidence interval,
      1.24-5.36, respectively) but not of hypertensive disorders. A model with both
      sleep duration and sleep midpoint as well as their interaction term revealed that
      while there was no significant interaction between these exposures, the main
      effects of both short sleep duration and later sleep midpoint with gestational
      diabetes remained significant (adjusted odds ratio, 2.06; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.01-4.19; and adjusted odds ratio, 2.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.13
      4.97, respectively). Additionally, after adjusting separately for age, body mass
      index, and race/ethnicity, both short sleep duration and later sleep midpoint
      remained associated with gestational diabetes. No associations were demonstrated
      between the sleep quality measures (wake after sleep onset, sleep fragmentation)
      and hypertensive disorders or gestational diabetes. CONCLUSION: Our results
      demonstrate a relationship between short sleep duration and later sleep midpoint
      with gestational diabetes. Our data suggest independent contributions of these 2
      sleep characteristics to the risk for gestational diabetes in nulliparous women.

PMID- 28599898
TI  - A randomized open-label controlled trial of chlorhexidine-alcohol vs povidone
      iodine for cesarean antisepsis: the CAPICA trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of optimal surgical site antisepsis preparations may
      reduce cesarean-related surgical site infections. Two recently published
      investigations examined efficacy of chlorhexidine-alcohol and iodine-alcohol
      preparations. No previous randomized controlled trial has compared chlorhexidine
      alcohol to povidone-iodine aqueous scrub and paint in reduction of cesarean
      related surgical site infection. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to
      determine if chlorhexidine-alcohol would result in fewer surgical site infections
      than povidone-iodine when used as skin antisepsis preparation prior to cesarean
      delivery. STUDY DESIGN: This study was a single-center pragmatic randomized
      controlled trial at an urban tertiary care institution to compare chlorhexidine
      alcohol 26-mL single-step applicator to povidone-iodine aqueous scrub and paint
      236-mL wet skin tray as preoperative skin antiseptic preparation for women
      undergoing cesarean delivery. Patients were eligible for study participation if
      they could provide informed consent in English or Spanish, were >=18 years of
      age, did not have clinical chorioamnionitis, were unlikely to be lost to follow
      up, and had no sensitivities to chlorhexidine, betadine, or iodine. Treatment was
      assigned by computer-generated simple 1:1 randomization immediately before skin
      preparation. The primary outcome was surgical site infection occurring within 30
      days of cesarean delivery including >=1 of: superficial or deep surgical site
      infection, or endometritis, according to Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention definitions. Analysis was by intent to treat. Categorical outcomes
      were compared using Fisher exact test. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed
      for continuous outcomes. This trial was institutional review board approved and
      registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02202577). RESULTS: In all, 932 subjects
      (461 assigned to chlorhexidine-alcohol, 471 assigned to povidone-iodine) were
      randomized from February 2013 through May 2016. Rate of follow-up evaluation
      after 30 days was 99% (455) in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group and 97% (455) in
      the povidone-iodine group. Surgical site infection occurred in 29 (6.3%) of the
      chlorhexidine-alcohol group and 33 (7.0%) in the povidone-iodine group (P = .38).
      The rates of individual components of the primary outcome were as follows:
      superficial surgical site infection (4.6% v 5.5%; P = .55), deep surgical site
      infection (0.0% v 0.4%; P = .50), and endometritis (1.7% v 1.1%; P = .42) in
      chlorhexidine-alcohol vs povidone-iodine arms, respectively. All results were
      similar in per protocol analysis. CONCLUSION: Preoperative antiseptic skin
      preparation with chlorhexidine-alcohol 26-mL single-step applicator before
      cesarean did not result in less frequent surgical site infection when compared
      with povidone-iodine aqueous scrub and paint 236-mL wet skin preparation tray.
      Povidone-iodine should still be considered as acceptable for preoperative
      surgical site antisepsis for cesarean delivery.

PMID- 28599899
TI  - Placenta accreta spectrum: pathophysiology and evidence-based anatomy for
      prenatal ultrasound imaging.
AB  - Placenta accreta spectrum is a complex obstetric complication associated with
      high maternal morbidity. It is a relatively new disorder of placentation, and is
      the consequence of damage to the endometrium-myometrial interface of the uterine
      wall. When first described 80 years ago, it mainly occurred after manual removal
      of the placenta, uterine curettage, or endometritis. Superficial damage leads
      primarily to an abnormally adherent placenta, and is diagnosed as the complete or
      partial absence of the decidua on histology. Today, the main cause of placenta
      accreta spectrum is uterine surgery and, in particular, uterine scar secondary to
      cesarean delivery. In the absence of endometrial reepithelialization of the scar
      area the trophoblast and villous tissue can invade deeply within the myometrium,
      including its circulation, and reach the surrounding pelvic organs. The cellular
      changes in the trophoblast observed in placenta accreta spectrum are probably
      secondary to the unusual myometrial environment in which it develops, and not a
      primary defect of trophoblast biology leading to excessive invasion of the
      myometrium. Placenta accreta spectrum was separated by pathologists into 3
      categories: placenta creta when the villi simply adhere to the myometrium,
      placenta increta when the villi invade the myometrium, and placenta percreta
      where the villi invade the full thickness of the myometrium. Several prenatal
      ultrasound signs of placenta accreta spectrum were reported over the last 35
      years, principally the disappearance of the normal uteroplacental interface
      (clear zone), extreme thinning of the underlying myometrium, and vascular changes
      within the placenta (lacunae) and placental bed (hypervascularity). The
      pathophysiological basis of these signs is due to permanent damage of the uterine
      wall as far as the serosa, with placental tissue reaching the deep uterine
      circulation. Adherent and invasive placentation may coexist in the same placental
      bed and evolve with advancing gestation. This may explain why no single, or set
      combination of, ultrasound sign(s) was found to be specific for the depth of
      abnormal placentation, and accurate for the differential diagnosis between
      adherent and invasive placentation. Correlation of pathological and clinical
      findings with prenatal imaging is essential to improve screening, diagnosis, and
      management of placenta accreta spectrum, and standardized protocols need to be
      developed.

PMID- 28599900
TI  - Clinicopathologic and molecular markers in cervical carcinoma: a prospective
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a major health problem worldwide. Identification
      of effective clinicopathologic and molecular markers is vital to improve
      treatment stratification. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to validate a
      set of well-defined clinicopathologic features in a large population-based,
      prospectively collected cervical cancer cohort to support their use in the
      clinic. Further, we explored p53 and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 as
      potential prognostic markers in cervical cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Tissue was
      collected from 401 patients with cervical cancer. Clinical data that included
      follow-up evaluations were collected from patient journals. Histopathologic data
      were evaluated and revised by an expert pathologist. The prognostic impact of
      selected clinicopathologic variables was analyzed in the whole cohort. Tissue
      microarrays were prepared from 292 carcinomas, and p53 and human epidermal growth
      factor receptor 2 protein levels were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Fresh
      frozen samples from overlapping cervical carcinomas previously were subjected to
      human papilloma virus typing (n=94), whole exome (n=100) and RNA (n=79)
      sequencing; the results were available for our analyses. RESULTS: Among the
      clinicopathologic variables, vascular space invasion, histologic type, and tumor
      size were verified as strong independent prognostic markers. High p53 protein
      levels were associated significantly with markers for aggressive phenotype and
      survival, also in multivariate survival analysis, but did not reflect TP53
      mutational status. High human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein levels
      were identified in 21% of all tumors. ERBB2 amplification was associated with
      poor outcome (P=.003); human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein level was
      not. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support that the Federation Internationale de
      Gynecologie et d'Obstetrique s guidelines should include vascular space invasion
      and tumor size 2-4 cm and that careful selection of histologic type is essential
      for stratification of patient risk groups. High p53 levels independently predict
      poor survival yet do not reflect mutational status in cervical cancer. Amplified
      ERBB2 significantly links to poor survival, while HercepTest does not. With
      optimal stratification, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-based therapy
      may improve cervical cancer treatment.

PMID- 28599901
TI  - ESRD After Heart Failure, Myocardial Infarction, or Stroke in Type 2 Diabetic
      Patients With CKD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: How cardiovascular (CV) events affect progression to end-stage renal
      disease (ESRD), particularly in the setting of type 2 diabetes, remains
      uncertain. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 4,022
      patients with type 2 diabetes, anemia, and chronic kidney disease from the Trial
      to Reduce Cardiovascular Events With Aranesp Therapy (TREAT). PREDICTOR:
      Postrandomization CV events. OUTCOMES: ESRD (defined as initiation of dialysis
      for >30 days, kidney transplantation, or refusal or nonavailability of renal
      replacement therapy) and post-ESRD mortality within 30 days and during overall
      follow-up after an intercurrent CV event. LIMITATIONS: Population limited to
      clinical trial participants with diabetes and anemia. RESULTS: 155 of 652 (23.8%)
      ESRD cases occurred after an intercurrent CV event; 110 (16.9%) cases followed
      heart failure, 28 (4.3%) followed myocardial infarction, 12 (1.84%) followed
      stroke, and 5 (0.77%) followed multiple CV events. ESRD rate was higher within 30
      days in individuals with an intercurrent CV event compared with those without an
      intercurrent event (HR, 22.2; 95% CI, 17.0-29.0). Compared to no intercurrent CV
      events, relative risks for ESRD were higher after the occurrence of heart failure
      overall (HR, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.7-4.2) and at 30 days (HR, 20.1; 95% CI, 14.5-27.9)
      than after myocardial infarction or stroke (P<0.001). Compared with individuals
      without pre-ESRD events, those with ESRD following intercurrent CV events were
      older, were more likely to have prior CV disease, and had higher (24.4 vs
      23.1mL/min/1.73m2; P=0.01) baseline estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs)
      and higher eGFRs at last measurement before ESRD (18.6 vs 15.2mL/min/1.73m2;
      P<0.001), whereas race, sex, and medication use were similar. Post-ESRD mortality
      was similar (P=0.3) with and without preceding CV events. CONCLUSIONS: Most ESRD
      cases occurred in individuals without intercurrent CV events who had lower eGFRs
      than individuals with intercurrent CV events, but similar post-ESRD mortality.
      Nevertheless, intercurrent CV events, particularly heart failure, are strongly
      associated with risk for ESRD. These findings underscore the need for kidney
      specific therapies in addition to treatment of CV risk factors to lower ESRD
      incidence in diabetes.

PMID- 28599902
TI  - Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Vascular Access Referral Policies in CKD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal timing of vascular access referral for patients with
      chronic kidney disease who may need hemodialysis (HD) is a pressing question in
      nephrology. Current referral policies have not been rigorously compared with
      respect to costs and benefits and do not consider patient-specific factors such
      as age. STUDY DESIGN: Monte Carlo simulation model. SETTING & POPULATION:
      Patients with chronic kidney disease, referred to a multidisciplinary kidney
      clinic in a universal health care system. MODEL, PERSPECTIVE, & TIMEFRAME: Cost
      effectiveness analysis, payer perspective, lifetime horizon. INTERVENTION: The
      following vascular access referral policies are considered: central venous
      catheter (CVC) only, arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or graft (AVG) referral upon HD
      initiation, AVF (or AVG) referral when HD is forecast to begin within 12 (or 3
      for AVG) months, AVF (or AVG) referral when estimated glomerular filtration rate
      is <15 (or <10 for AVG) mL/min/1.73m2. OUTCOMES: Incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratios (ICERs, in 2014 US dollars per quality-adjusted life-year [QALY] gained).
      RESULTS: The ICER of AVF (AVG) referral within 12 (3) months of forecasted HD
      initiation, compared to using only a CVC, is ~$105k/QALY ($101k/QALY) at a
      population level (HD costs included). Pre-HD AVF or AVG referral dominates
      delaying referral until HD initiation. The ICER of pre-HD referral increases with
      patient age. Results are most sensitive to erythropoietin costs, ongoing HD
      costs, and patients' utilities for HD. When ongoing HD costs are excluded from
      the analysis, pre-HD AVF dominates both pre-HD AVG and CVC-only policies.
      LIMITATIONS: Literature-based estimates for HD, AVF, and AVG utilities are
      limited. CONCLUSIONS: The cost-effectiveness of vascular access referral is
      largely driven by the annual costs of HD, erythropoietin costs, and access
      specific utilities. Further research is needed in the field of dialysis-related
      quality of life to inform decision making regarding vascular access referral.

PMID- 28599903
TI  - Metabolic Acidosis or Respiratory Alkalosis? Evaluation of a Low Plasma
      Bicarbonate Using the Urine Anion Gap.
AB  - Hypobicarbonatemia, or a reduced bicarbonate concentration in plasma, is a
      finding seen in 3 acid-base disorders: metabolic acidosis, chronic respiratory
      alkalosis and mixed metabolic acidosis and chronic respiratory alkalosis.
      Hypobicarbonatemia due to chronic respiratory alkalosis is often misdiagnosed as
      a metabolic acidosis and mistreated with the administration of alkali therapy.
      Proper diagnosis of the cause of hypobicarbonatemia requires integration of the
      laboratory values, arterial blood gas, and clinical history. The information
      derived from the urinary response to the prevailing acid-base disorder is useful
      to arrive at the correct diagnosis. We discuss the use of urine anion gap, as a
      surrogate marker of urine ammonium excretion, in the evaluation of a patient with
      low plasma bicarbonate concentration to differentiate between metabolic acidosis
      and chronic respiratory alkalosis. The interpretation and limitations of urine
      acid-base indexes at bedside (urine pH, urine bicarbonate, and urine anion gap)
      to evaluate urine acidification are discussed.

PMID- 28599904
TI  - YouTube as a Source of Information on Neurosurgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The importance of videos in social media communications in the
      context of health care and neurosurgery is becoming increasingly recognized.
      However, there has not yet been a systematic analysis of these neurosurgery
      related communications. Accordingly, this study was aimed at characterizing the
      online video content pertaining to neurosurgery. METHODS: Neurosurgery-related
      videos uploaded on YouTube were collected using a comprehensive search strategy.
      The following metrics were extracted for each video: number of views, likes,
      dislikes, comments, shares, date of upload, and geographic region of origin where
      specified. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation was performed on all videos
      included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 713 nonduplicate videos met the
      inclusion criteria. The overall number of views for all videos was 90,545,164.
      Videos were most frequently uploaded in 2016 (n = 348), with a 200% increase in
      uploads compared with the previous year. Of the videos that were directly
      relevant to clinical neurosurgery, the most frequent video categories were
      "educational videos" (25%), followed by "surgical and procedure overview" (20%),
      "promotional videos" (17%), and "patient experience" (16%). The remainder of the
      videos consisted primarily of unrealistic simulations of cranial surgery for
      entertainment purposes (20%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study highlight
      the increasing use of video communications related to neurosurgery and show that
      institutions, neurosurgeons, and patients are using YouTube as an educational and
      promotional platform. As online communications continue to evolve, it will be
      important to harness this tool to advance patient-oriented communication and
      knowledge dissemination in neurosurgery.

PMID- 28599906
TI  - An Affordable Microsurgical Training System for a Beginning Neurosurgeon: How to
      Realize the Self-Training Laboratory.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide detailed information about how to realize a self-training
      laboratory with cost-effective microsurgical instruments, especially pertinent
      for the novice trainee. METHODS: Our training model is designed to allow the
      practice of the microsurgery skills in an efficient and cost-effective manner. A
      used stereoscopic microscope is prepared for microsurgical training. A sufficient
      working distance for microsurgical practice is obtained by attaching an auxiliary
      objective lens. The minimum instrument list includes 2 jeweler's forceps, iris
      scissors, and alligator clips. The iris scissors and alligator clip provide good
      alternatives to micro-scissors and microvascular clamp. RESULTS: The short time
      needed to set up the microscope and suture the gauze with micro-forceps makes the
      training model suitable for daily practice. It takes about 15 minutes to suture
      10 neighboring fibers of the gauze with 10-0 nylon; thus, training can be
      completed more quickly. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed an inexpensive and
      efficient micro-anastomosis training system using a stereoscopic microscope and
      minimal micro-instruments. Especially useful for novice trainees, this system
      provides high accessibility for microsurgical training.

PMID- 28599905
TI  - Potential of New-Generation Double-Layer Micromesh Stent for Carotid Artery
      Stenting in Patients with Unstable Plaque: A Preliminary Result Using OFDI
      Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One disadvantage of carotid artery stenting (CAS) is a high incidence
      of distal embolism (DE) during or after the procedure. Patients with unstable
      plaque are considered at high risk for DE and plaque protrusion (PP) after stent
      placement, which can cause postprocedural ischemic complications. This study was
      conducted to compare the rate and size of PP between the CASPER stent, a new
      generation double-layer micromesh stent, and conventional stents as assessed by
      optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI), and also to evaluate the efficacy of CAS
      with the CASPER stent in cases with unstable plaque. METHODS: The study group
      comprised 46 consecutive patients with unstable plaque, identified on magnetic
      resonance imaging, undergoing CAS with OFDI image acquisition. Cross-sectional
      OFDI images within the stented segments were evaluated at 0.125-mm intervals, and
      the rate and size of PP were compared between the CASPER stent and conventional
      stents. RESULTS: The CASPER stent was used in 9 patients. No procedural
      complications occurred. On OFDI analysis, the presence of PP was apparently lower
      in CASPER stent group compared with the conventional stent group (44% vs. 88%; P
      = 0.022). In addition, mean PP area was significantly smaller in the CASPER stent
      group (mean PP area, 0.013 +/- 0.034 mm2 vs. 0.057 +/- 0.09 mm2; P = 0.006).
      CONCLUSIONS: On OFDI evaluation after CAS, the degree of PP was significantly
      smaller in the CASPER stent group compared with the conventional stent group.
      This result provides new insight into the use of CAS to treat carotid artery
      stenosis with unstable plaque.

PMID- 28599908
TI  - Fluorescein Angiography in Intracranial Aneurysm Surgery: A Helpful Method to
      Evaluate the Security of Clipping and Observe Blood Flow.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In cerebral aneurysm surgery, various tools are used to evaluate
      blood flow, including Doppler ultrasonography, conventional cerebral angiography,
      and electrophysiological monitoring. Fluorescein and indocyanine green are widely
      used in vascular and central nervous system tumor neurosurgery; however, their
      routine utilization in aneurysmal surgery is uncommon, despite the fact that they
      allow direct visualization of blood flow after aneurysmal sac occlusion, enabling
      the observation of vessel permeability and the effectiveness of aneurysmal
      obliteration. We report our initial experience using fluorescein video
      angiography as a control measure for proper clip placement and control of blood
      flow in aneurysm surgery, and review the relevant literature. METHODS: This pilot
      study presents an initial experience, with enrollment of 10 patients harboring a
      total of 12 cerebral aneurysms who underwent surgery via clipping and subsequent
      fluorescence videoangiography control. The intravenous injection was performed to
      demonstrate the patency of the arteries adjacent to the aneurysm. RESULTS:
      Following intravenous injection, fluorescein sodium remains in the cerebral
      vasculature for approximately 3 minutes, providing ample time to evaluate vessel
      patency and determine whether clip repositioning is needed. None of the patients
      experienced complications during intravenous injection of fluorescein sodium, and
      the patency of surrounding vessels was demonstrated in all cases. CONCLUSIONS:
      Fluorescein injection in itself does not present a risk of complications, is
      simple to use, and offers a clear image of the cerebral vasculature. Thus, this
      technique is useful for determining vessel patency and the degree of aneurysmal
      occlusion.

PMID- 28599907
TI  - Association of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 (SERPINE1) Polymorphisms and
      Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic variations of the serine proteinase inhibitor family E member
      1 (SERPINE1) gene, which encodes plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, correlate
      with serum levels of its product and are associated with thrombophilia and
      coronary atherosclerosis. Various SERPINE1 ;gene polymorphisms have been
      identified. However, only the functional 5G/4G polymorphism has been assessed in
      the context of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). We assessed
      associations of 6 SERPINE1 polymorphisms with the clinical sequelae of aSAH.
      METHODS: From 2012 to 2015, patients with aSAH were prospectively enrolled into
      the CARAS (Cerebral Aneurysm Renin Angiotensin System) study at 2 major academic
      institutions. Blood samples were used to evaluate 6 common SERPINE1 single
      nucleotide polymorphisms via 5' exonuclease (Taqman) genotyping assays. RESULTS:
      There was an association of the AA genotype of rs2227631 with the 4G/4G genotype
      and of the GG genotype of rs7242 with the AA genotype of rs2227684. In
      multivariable analysis, patients with the AA genotype of rs2227631 and 4G/4G
      genotype had an increased risk for developing delayed cerebral ischemia. Patients
      with the GG genotype of rs7242 and AA genotype of rs2227684 had a decreased risk
      for a poor functional outcome. CONCLUSIONS: SERPINE1 gene polymorphisms were
      associated with delayed cerebral ischemia and functional outcome after aSAH.
      These associations may arise from alterations of plasminogen activator inhibitor
      1 levels.

PMID- 28599909
TI  - Anterior Transthoracic Surgery with Motor Evoked Potential Monitoring for High
      Risk Thoracic Disc Herniations: Technique and Results.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present our experience with anterior transthoracic surgery for high
      risk thoracic disc herniations (TDHs) using motor evoked potential monitoring
      (MEPm). METHODS: We estimated surgical risk based on clinical and radiologic
      characteristics, including anteroposterior (AP) spinal canal occupation (SCO), AP
      spinal cord compression (SCC), residual AP spinal cord diameter (RSCD), and
      intramedullary signal changes (ISC). We analyzed Anand, ASIA, and Nurick scores,
      anesthesiologic, neurophysiological, and surgical reports. We considered >50% MEP
      signal deterioration significant. RESULTS: Out of 435 anterior transthoracic
      procedures, 77 concerned high-risk TDH(s): 69 single-level, 8 multilevel, 61 with
      clinical myelopathy, 6 with merely ISC. Mean SCO and SCC were 55.4% and 54.0% for
      single-level, 31.8% and 33.9% for multilevel cases. ISC were present in 64% of
      single-level and 50% of multilevel cases, calcifications in 87% of single-level
      and 84% of multilevel TDHs. We initially performed 23 mini-transthoracic
      approaches (mini-TTAs) and 24 thoracoscopic microdiscectomies (TMDs), more
      recently 29 TMDs (23 giant TDHs) and 1 transaxillary mini-TTA. Overall, 72
      patients had reliable MEP signals. Isolated lower extremity MEP signal
      deteriorations (n = 21) correlated with maximal TDH AP diameter, SCO, SCC, and
      ISC. ASIA and Nurick scores improved in 45% and 66% respectively. One patient
      became paraplegic. MEP signal deterioration had 100% sensitivity, 75%
      specificity, and 19% positive predictive value during and 44% at the end of
      surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Maximal TDH AP diameter, SCO, SCC, (sub)total
      calcification, and ISC correlate with lower extremity MEP signal deterioration.
      In experienced hands, TMD with MEPm support is a safe, efficient procedure for
      high-risk TDHs.

PMID- 28599910
TI  - Ruptured Distal Anterior Choroidal Artery Aneurysm Treated with Superselective
      Provocative Testing and Coil Embolization.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Aneurysms of the anterior choroidal artery are
      uncommon, and distal anterior choroidal artery aneurysms are even rarer, with
      only 34 cases reported in the medical literature. These lesions have been most
      commonly reported in association with moyamoya disease or arteriovenous
      malformations. Most published experience with these aneurysms involves open
      surgical approaches. Reports of endovascular treatment have been in patients with
      lesions distal to the plexal point and have employed vessel occlusion with liquid
      embolic agents in preference to coil embolization. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We
      present a case of a ruptured distal anterior choroidal artery aneurysm located on
      the cisternal segment of the artery. This lesion was successfully treated with
      endovascular coil embolization. Additionally, the patient underwent pre
      embolization superselective provocative testing with amobarbital to assess the
      safety of parent vessel occlusion. CONCLUSION: Endovascular coil embolization for
      distal anterior choroidal artery aneurysms is technically feasible and may be
      preferable to embolization with liquid embolic agents for lesions proximal to the
      plexal point. This case illustrates the utility of provocative testing and
      efficacy of endovascular coil embolization for lesions in this unique location.

PMID- 28599913
TI  - Re: Comparative Effectiveness of Treatment Strategies for Bladder Cancer with
      Clinical Evidence of Regional Lymph Node Involvement.

PMID- 28599911
TI  - Refraction during incipient presbyopia: The Aston Longitudinal Assessment of
      Presbyopia (ALAP) study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate non-cycloplegic changes in refractive error prior to the
      onset of presbyopia. METHODS: The Aston Longitudinal Assessment of Presbyopia
      (ALAP) study is a prospective 2.5 year longitudinal study, measuring objective
      refractive error using a binocular open-field WAM-5500 autorefractor at 6-month
      intervals in participants aged between 33 and 45 years. RESULTS: From the 58
      participants recruited, 51 participants (88%) completed the final visit. At
      baseline, 21 participants were myopic (MSE -3.25+/-2.28 DS; baseline age 38.6+/
      3.1 years) and 30 were emmetropic (MSE -0.17+/-0.32 DS; baseline age 39.0+/-2.9
      years). After 2.5 years, 10% of the myopic group experienced a hypermetropic
      shift (>=0.50 D), 5% a myopic shift (>=0.50 D) and 85% had no significant change
      in refraction (<0.50 D). From the emmetropic group, 10% experienced a
      hypermetropic shift (>=0.50 D), 3% a myopic shift (>=0.50 D) and 87% had no
      significant change in refraction (<0.50 D). In terms of astigmatism vectors,
      other than J45 (p<0.001), all measures remained invariant over the study period.
      CONCLUSION: The incidence of a myopic shift in refraction during incipient
      presbyopia does not appear to be as large as previously indicated by
      retrospective research. The changes in axis indicate ocular astigmatism tends
      towards the against-the-rule direction with age. The structural origin(s) of the
      reported myopic shift in refraction during incipient presbyopia warrants further
      investigation.

PMID- 28599912
TI  - Efficacy of vision therapy in children with learning disability and associated
      binocular vision anomalies.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the frequency of binocular vision (BV) anomalies in children
      with specific learning disorders (SLD) and to assess the efficacy of vision
      therapy (VT) in children with a non-strabismic binocular vision anomaly (NSBVA).
      METHODS: The study was carried out at a centre for learning disability (LD).
      Comprehensive eye examination and binocular vision assessment was carried out for
      94 children (mean (SD) age: 15 (2.2) years) diagnosed with specific learning
      disorder. BV assessment was done for children with best corrected visual acuity
      of >=6/9 - N6, cooperative for examination and free from any ocular pathology.
      For children with a diagnosis of NSBVA (n=46), 24 children were randomized to VT
      and no intervention was provided to the other 22 children who served as
      experimental controls. At the end of 10 sessions of vision therapy, BV assessment
      was performed for both the intervention and non-intervention groups. RESULTS:
      Binocular vision anomalies were found in 59 children (62.8%) among which 22%
      (n=13) had strabismic binocular vision anomalies (SBVA) and 78% (n=46) had a
      NSBVA. Accommodative infacility (AIF) was the commonest of the NSBVA and found in
      67%, followed by convergence insufficiency (CI) in 25%. Post-vision therapy, the
      intervention group showed significant improvement in all the BV parameters
      (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p<0.05) except negative fusional vergence.
      CONCLUSION: Children with specific learning disorders have a high frequency of
      binocular vision disorders and vision therapy plays a significant role in
      improving the BV parameters. Children with SLD should be screened for BV
      anomalies as it could potentially be an added hindrance to the reading difficulty
      in this special population.

PMID- 28599914
TI  - Long-term benefits of education by emergency care nurses at discharge of patients
      with atrial fibrillation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Health education improves the prognosis of many
      diseases. A previous study in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) showed that
      an educational intervention by nurses at discharge from the emergency room (ER)
      decreased AF-related complications at 3-month follow-up. Our objective was to
      determine whether this intervention had a long-term effect. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      A prospective study assessed the outcomes of an intervention carried out upon
      discharge from the ER. Patients with a diagnosis of AF were randomized into two
      groups: the intervention group and the control group. The intervention consisted
      of a basic explanation about the arrhythmia and its treatment, precautions and
      warning signs, a training to take their pulse, and an individualized
      informational leaflet. At one year of follow-up, the clinical records for all
      participants were reviewed. The primary variable was the combined endpoint of AF
      related or treatment-related complications and death. RESULTS: The study included
      240 patients (116 intervention and 124 control), mean age 76.1+/-10.9years. The
      primary variable was significantly lower in the intervention group (31.9% vs
      48.4%; p=0.005). CONCLUSION: Education by ER nurses at patient discharge helped
      to decrease AF-related complications at one year of follow-up.

PMID- 28599916
TI  - Elimination of white Gaussian noise in arterial phase CT images to bring adrenal
      tumours into the forefront.
AB  - Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography (DCE-CT) is applied to observe
      adrenal tumours in detail by utilising from the contrast matter, which generally
      brings the tumour into the forefront. However, DCE-CT images are generally
      influenced by noises that occur as the result of the trade-off between radiation
      doses vs. noise. Herein, this situation constitutes a challenge in the
      achievement of accurate tumour segmentation. In CT images, most of the noises are
      similar to Gaussian Noise. In this study, arterial phase CT images containing
      adrenal tumours are utilised, and elimination of Gaussian Noise is realised by
      fourteen different techniques reported in literature for the achievement of the
      best denoising process. In this study, the Block Matching and 3D Filtering (BM3D)
      algorithm typically achieve reliable Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratios (PSNR) and
      resolves challenges of similar techniques when addressing different levels of
      noise. Furthermore, BM3D obtains the best mean PSNR values among the first five
      techniques. BM3D outperforms to other techniques by obtaining better Total
      Statistical Success (TSS), CPU time and computation cost. Consequently, it
      prepares clearer arterial phase CT images for the next step (segmentation of
      adrenal tumours).

PMID- 28599915
TI  - Multiplex polymerase chain reaction for identification of Escherichia coli,
      Escherichia albertii and Escherichia fergusonii.
AB  - Escherichia coli, Escherichia albertii, and Escherichia fergusonii are closely
      related bacteria that can cause illness in humans, such as bacteremia, urinary
      tract infections and diarrhea. Current identification strategies for these three
      species vary in complexity and typically rely on the use of multiple phenotypic
      and genetic tests. To facilitate their rapid identification, we developed a
      multiplex PCR assay targeting conserved, species-specific genes. We used the
      DaydreamerTM (Pattern Genomics, USA) software platform to concurrently analyze
      whole genome sequence assemblies (WGS) from 150 Enterobacteriaceae genomes (107
      E. coli, 5 Shigella spp., 21 E. albertii, 12 E. fergusonii and 5 other species)
      and design primers for the following species-specific regions: a 212bp region of
      the cyclic di-GMP regulator gene (cdgR, AW869_22935 from genome K-12 MG1655,
      CP014225) for E. coli/Shigella; a 393bp region of the DNA-binding transcriptional
      activator of cysteine biosynthesis gene (EAKF1_ch4033 from genome KF1, CP007025)
      for E. albertii; and a 575bp region of the palmitoleoyl-acyl carrier protein
      (ACP)-dependent acyltransferase (EFER_0790 from genome ATCC 35469, CU928158) for
      E. fergusonii. We incorporated the species-specific primers into a conventional
      multiplex PCR assay and assessed its performance with a collection of 97
      Enterobacteriaceae strains. The assay was 100% sensitive and specific for
      detecting the expected species and offers a quick and accurate strategy for
      identifying E. coli, E. albertii, and E. fergusonii in either a single reaction
      or by in silico PCR with sequence assemblies.

PMID- 28599917
TI  - EUS core biopsy leading to duodenal brunneroma diagnosis.

PMID- 28599918
TI  - Hemobilia.

PMID- 28599919
TI  - 1,5-Diaminopentane production from xylooligosaccharides using metabolically
      engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum displaying beta-xylosidase on the cell
      surface.
AB  - Xylooligosaccharide-assimilating Corynebacterium glutamicum strains were
      constructed using metabolic engineering and cell surface display techniques.
      First, C. glutamicum was metabolically engineered to create lysine-producing
      strains. Beta-xylosidase BSU17580 derived from Bacillus subtilis was then
      expressed on the C. glutamicum cell surface using PorH anchor protein, and
      enzymes involved in the xylose assimilation pathway were also expressed.
      Metabolic engineering had no effect on the activity of beta-xylosidase. The
      engineered strains efficiently consumed xylooligosaccharides and produced 12.4mM
      of lysine from 11.9g/L of xylooligosaccharides as the carbon source. Finally, co
      expression of lysine decarboxylase enabled production of 11.6mM of 1,5
      diaminopentane (cadaverine) from 13g/L of consumed xylooligosaccharides.

PMID- 28599920
TI  - A self-recirculation electrolyte system for unbuffered microbial fuel cells with
      an aerated cathode.
AB  - A self-recirculation electrolyte system driven by air bubble buoyancy force is
      proposed for unbuffered microbial fuel cells (MFC) in this study. It was
      demonstrated that the electrolyte recirculation rate increased with the aeration
      rate in a certain range. Compared with buffer condition, buffer-less condition
      resulted in a 10%~20% lower voltage (14.2% lower maximum power density) but a
      9.1% higher Coulombic efficiency (CE) at an aeration rate of 92.0ml/min. Under
      buffer-less condition, increasing the aeration rate resulted in a higher voltage
      output, a higher COD removal, and a higher CE due to the enhanced proton transfer
      and increased oxygen for cathode reaction. However, an extra high aeration rate
      induced a rapid deterioration of anode performance due to the excessive oxygen
      transfer into anode. This study demonstrates that the self-recirculation
      electrolyte system could be helpful for future unbuffered MFC designs.

PMID- 28599921
TI  - Molecular advances in microbial aminopeptidases.
AB  - Aminopeptidases are exopeptidases that catalyze the hydrolysis of amino acid
      residues from the N terminus of peptides and proteins. They are widely and
      diversely used for protein hydrolysis in industrial and research applications.
      They form a large enzyme family in microorganisms and most of the sequenced
      microbial genomes contain several aminopeptidase coding genes. Various approaches
      are being used to enhance the yield and desired properties of these enzymes to
      make it more suited for industrial applications. Novel aminopeptidases are being
      developed by site directed mutagenesis and recombinant DNA technology with
      improved substrate specificity and stability. This review focuses on its
      classification and recent advancements in the molecular studies pertaining to
      this enzyme.

PMID- 28599922
TI  - Vitamin D improves functional outcomes in neonatal hypoxic ischemic male rats
      treated with N-acetylcysteine and hypothermia.
AB  - Hypothermia treatment neuroprotects approximately 50% of neonates who present
      with moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). N-acetylcysteine
      (NAC), a potent antioxidant, is neuroprotective in combination with hypothermia
      in neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) female rats, but less protective in males.
      Vitamin D is a neurosteroid, which may provide immunomodulation and improve
      outcomes for both sexes. We investigated the efficacy of this combination of
      drugs with hypothermia after severe HI, as well as potential mechanisms of
      vitamin D effects in the transition to chronic inflammation. DOL 7 rats were
      randomized to sham, or HI and hypothermia treated with either saline (HYPO), NAC
      (50 mg/kg/d, HNAC), or HNAC plus 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 (0.1 MUg/kg/d, HNAC +
      VitD) daily for 2 weeks. A second set of animals were randomized and treated for
      11 days to investigate vitamin D metabolism and inflammatory mediators. Rats
      treated with HNAC + VitD performed significantly better on tests of strength and
      use of affected limb, adaptive sensorimotor skills, motor sequence learning, and
      working memory than either HYPO or HNAC, particularly benefiting male rats.
      Significantly fewer rats in the HNAC + VitD group had severe hemispheric volume
      loss. HI injury decreased serum vitamin D at 11 days and induced the enzyme that
      deactivates vitamin D in the hippocampus, particularly in males. Persistent
      vitamin D dysregulation was seen in both hippocampi in males, which was not
      reversed by hypothermia. Vitamin D in combination with hypothermia and NAC
      supports functional recovery in both sexes of neonatal rats significantly better
      than hypothermia alone or hypothermia and NAC in this severe HI model.

PMID- 28599923
TI  - Silencing of the RNA-binding protein HuR attenuates hyperalgesia and motor
      disability in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central
      nervous system associated with progressive neuronal loss and axonal degeneration.
      Neuronal lesions and dysfunction lead often to neuropathic pain, the most
      prevalent and difficult to treat pain syndrome observed in MS patients. Despite
      its widespread occurrence, the underlying neural mechanisms for MS pain are not
      fully understood. For a better clarification of the pathophysiology of MS
      associated pain, we investigated the role of HuR, an RNA-binding protein that
      positively regulates the stability of many target mRNAs, including several
      cytokines. The influence of HuR in the generation of the hypernociceptive
      response in a mouse model of relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis (RR-EAE), an experimental model of MS, was investigated. HuR
      silencing, obtained through the repeated intrathecal administration of an
      antisense oligonucleotide (aODN) anti-HuR, completely attenuated hindpaw
      mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia developed by RR-EAE mice. Anti-HuR
      aODN also reduced severity of motor deficits as reflected by a reduction of
      clinical EAE score and improvement of rotarod performance. RR-EAE mice showed
      demyelination in spinal cord sections that was significantly reduced by HuR
      silencing. Double-staining immunofluorescence studies showed a neuronal
      localization of HuR within dorsal horn spinal cord, consistent with a neuronal
      mechanism of action. Our findings suggest the involvement of HuR in the
      hypernociceptive behaviour of RR-EAE mice providing the first pharmacological
      assessment of an antiallodynic and antihyperalgesic effect of HuR silencing.
      These data may provide support for HuR modulation as a therapeutic perspective
      for the management of MS-related neuropathic pain.

PMID- 28599924
TI  - How to Give Vitamin C a Cautious but Fair Chance in Severe Sepsis.

PMID- 28599925
TI  - The Answer for Inhaled Antibiotics in Pneumonia Is Still Blowing in the Wind.

PMID- 28599926
TI  - Bronchiectasis and COPD Overlap: A Case of Mistaken Identity?

PMID- 28599927
TI  - Improving the Diagnosis of Latent TB Infection: Tools for TB Elimination?

PMID- 28599928
TI  - Giants in Chest Medicine: Karlman Wasserman, MD, PhD, FCCP.

PMID- 28599929
TI  - Resuscitation.

PMID- 28599930
TI  - Polarity.

PMID- 28599931
TI  - Accuracy of COPD Diagnosis During an Admission: The European Perspective.

PMID- 28599932
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28599933
TI  - Sarcoidosis and Risk of VTE: Validation With Big Data.

PMID- 28599935
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28599934
TI  - Rethinking Inspiratory Pressure Augmentation in Spontaneous Breathing Trials.

PMID- 28599936
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28599937
TI  - Evaluation of Thoracentesis-Related Pneumothorax: A Community Clinician's
      Perspective.

PMID- 28599938
TI  - Declining National Annual IVC Filter Utilization: An Analysis on the Impact of
      Societal and Governmental Communications.

PMID- 28599939
TI  - Palliative Care, Spiritual Care, and Clinical Ethics: Widely Available, but
      Underused.

PMID- 28599940
TI  - Association Between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Asthma Among
      Adults: A Case-Control Study.

PMID- 28599941
TI  - Pretest Probability in the Assessment of Acute Dyspnea in the ED.

PMID- 28599943
TI  - Correction to Results, Table, and Figure in: Efficacy and Safety of
      Glycopyrrolate/Formoterol Metered Dose Inhaler Formulated Using Co-Suspension
      Delivery Technology in Patients With COPD.

PMID- 28599942
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28599944
TI  - A Woman in Her 20s With Cardiopulmonary Failure.

PMID- 28599945
TI  - A 3-Year-Old Child With a History of Persistent Dry Cough and Fever.

PMID- 28599946
TI  - A 58-Year-Old Man With Fatigue, Weight Loss, and Diffuse Miliary Pulmonary
      Opacities.
AB  - CASE PRESENTAION: A 58-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of profound
      fatigue and a weight loss of 35 to 40 pounds. He reported occasional night sweats
      and mildly painful knees and elbows without swelling or redness. He denied
      respiratory symptoms, rashes, or fevers. He had no respiratory symptoms. The
      patient's history was significant for rheumatoid arthritis (with arthralgias and
      joint involvement), paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and hypothyroidism. His
      medications included digoxin and metoprolol. He had been taking methotrexate and
      low-dose prednisone (5 mg) for approximately 10 years but discontinued taking
      these medications 2 years prior to current presentation. Originally from West
      Virginia, the patient had relocated to Arizona during the early 1980s. There was
      no history of international travel or TB. He had no exposure history to birds,
      bird feathers, or mold; however, he did report exposure to dust at his current
      job as a home building superintendent. He reported a 10 pack-year history of
      smoking, having quit 20 years ago. His family history was significant for renal
      sarcoidosis in his mother.

PMID- 28599947
TI  - An Elderly Man With Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor and a Cavitary Right Upper
      Lobe Lung Mass.
AB  - CASE PRESENTATION: An elderly man presented to the ED from a nursing care
      facility after transient loss of consciousness. Three weeks previously, the
      patient had been diagnosed with a high-grade pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor
      (NET) with metastases to the liver after being hospitalized for weakness. A chest
      radiograph at that time had revealed a right upper lobe mass that was presumed to
      represent a metastatic lesion (Fig 1); CT of the chest demonstrated similar
      findings (Fig 2). The patient had recovered consciousness on arrival to the ED
      and was diagnosed clinically as having had a syncopal episode from dehydration
      due to poor intake. On review of systems, the patient reported shortness of
      breath and a cough productive of scant mucoid sputum of 1 week's duration. He had
      no complaints of fever but complained of weakness and poor appetite. In addition,
      his medical history was significant for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and
      congestive heart failure with systolic dysfunction. He was a former smoker. Prior
      to his recent illness and hospitalization, he lived at home with his family and
      was independent in his activities of daily living.

PMID- 28599948
TI  - Fish pigmentation and the melanocortin system.
AB  - The melanocortin system is a complex neuroendocrine signaling mechanism involved
      in numerous physiological processes in vertebrates, including pigmentation,
      steroidogenesis and metabolic control. This review focuses at one of its most
      fascinating function in fish, its regulatory role in the control of pigmentation,
      in which the melanocortin 1 receptor (Mc1r), its agonist alpha-melanocyte
      stimulating hormone (alpha-Msh), and the endogenous antagonist agouti signaling
      protein (Asip1) are the main players. Functional control of Mc1r, which is highly
      expressed in fish skin and whose activation stimulates melanin production and
      melanosome dispersion in fish melanophores, is considered a key mechanism for
      vertebrate pigment phenotypes. The alpha-Msh peptide, the most documented Mc1r
      agonist involved in pigmentation, is produced in the pituitary gland, activating
      melanin synthesis by binding to Mc1r in fish melanophores. Finally, Asip1 is the
      putative factor for establishing the evolutionarily conserved dorso-ventral
      pigment pattern found across vertebrates. However, we are just starting to
      understand how other melanocortin system components are acting in this complex
      regulatory network.

PMID- 28599950
TI  - Changes in pre- and post-donation platelet function in plateletpheresis donors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the changes of platelet (PLT)
      function and coagulation time before and after plateletpheresis donation.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The healthy donors were divided into four groups according
      to the annual number of plateletpheresis donation: 20 times group, 15 times
      group, 10 times group and 5 times group. The healthy non-blood donors were
      selected as controls. The donation interval was 14 days. The blood samples were
      collected before plateletpheresis donation and after 30min, 7 d, and 14 d of
      donation for determination of coagulation time, PLT function, plasma protein,
      serum iron and blood routine change. RESULTS: After 30min of plateletpheresis
      donation, the PLT function decreased and the coagulation time was prolonged.
      However, PLT function recovered to the pre-collection after 7 d of
      plateletpheresis donation and coagulation time recovered to the pre-collection
      after 14 d of plateletpheresis donation. Additionally, there was no difference
      regarding blood coagulation time and PLT function among blood donors and
      controls. The plasma protein and serum iron levels in 20 times and 15 times
      groups were within the normal reference range. CONCLUSION: The frequency of
      plateletpheresis donation will not affect PLT function, coagulation time, plasma
      protein and serum iron in donors.

PMID- 28599949
TI  - Quetiapine extended release versus aripiprazole in children and adolescents with
      first-episode psychosis: the multicentre, double-blind, randomised tolerability
      and efficacy of antipsychotics (TEA) trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Head-to-head trials to guide antipsychotic treatment choices for
      paediatric psychosis are urgently needed because extrapolations from adult
      studies might not be implementable. In this superiority trial with two-sided
      significance testing, we aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of quetiapine
      extended release (quetiapine-ER) versus aripiprazole in children and adolescents
      with first-episode psychosis, to determine whether differences between the two
      treatments were sufficient to guide clinicians in their choice of one drug over
      the other. METHODS: In this multicentre, double-blind, randomised trial in seven
      Danish university clinics, we recruited children and adolescents aged 12-17 years
      with a diagnosis of ICD-10 schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, delusional disorder,
      or affective-spectrum psychotic disorder, and psychotic symptoms scoring at least
      4 on at least one of the following Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
      items: P1 (delusions), P2 (conceptual disorganisation), P3 (hallucinations), P5
      (grandiosity), P6 (suspiciousness/persecution), and G9 (unusual thought content),
      and a total PANSS score greater than 60. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to
      12 weeks of treatment with target doses of 600 mg/day of quetiapine-ER (starting
      from 50 mg/day) or 20 mg/day of aripiprazole (starting from 2.5 mg/day). The
      assigned drug was titrated over five levels, with 2 days at each dose, and the
      final dose achieved on day 9. Randomisation was done using a computer-generated
      concealed sequence with a block size of 8, and stratified by baseline PANSS
      positive score (<=20 points or >20 points) and age (12-14 years or 15-17 years).
      Study drugs were administered in identical capsules, and interventions,
      assessments, and data analysis were done masked. The primary outcome was PANSS
      positive score. Key adverse outcomes were bodyweight, homoeostatic model of
      insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), akathisia, and sedation. Analyses were by intention
      to treat. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01119014.
      FINDINGS: Between June 10, 2010, and Jan 29, 2014, 231 participants were assessed
      for elegibility, of whom 113 were randomly assigned to quetiapine-ER (n=55) or
      aripiprazole (n=58). PANSS positive score did not differ between groups after 12
      weeks (adjusted mean change -5.05 [5.46] for quetiapine-ER, -6.21 [5.42] for
      aripiprazole; p=0.98), but decreased over time in both groups (p<0.0001). Weight
      gain was more rapid with quetiapine-ER (p=0.0008), with an adjusted mean weight
      group difference at week 12 of 3.33 kg (SD 7.23; effect size 0.64; p<0.0001). The
      HOMA-IR group difference at week 12 favoured aripiprazole (adjusted mean log
      transformed group difference 0.259 [SD 0.906]; effect size 0.35; p=0.0060).
      Akathisia was more common with aripiprazole at week 2 (observed in 34 [60%] of 57
      patients; estimated 63.5%) than with quetiapine-ER (15 [30%] of 50; estimated
      31.3%; p=0.0021), but not at other timepoints. Sedation proportions did not
      change significantly over time with either intervention (observed at weeks 2, 4,
      and 12, respectively, for quetiapine-ER in 43 [83%] of 52, 40 [83%] of 48, and 34
      [72%] of 47 patients and for aripiprazole in 49 [89%] of 55, 52 [96%] of 54, and
      44 [92%] of 48 patients), and the overall estimated probability combining all
      timepoints was significantly higher for aripiprazole (97.1%) than for quetiapine
      ER (89.2%; p=0.012). In addition to sedation and akathisia, the most common
      adverse events were tremor (42 [79%] patients in the quetiapine-ER group vs 52
      [91%] patients in the aripiprazole group), increased duration of sleep (47 [92%]
      vs 39 [71%]), orthostatic dizziness (42 [78%] vs 46 [81%]), depression (43 [80%]
      vs 44 [77%]), tension/inner unrest (37 [69%] vs 50 [88%]), failing memory (41
      [76%] vs 44 [77%]), and weight gain (46 [87%] vs 38 [68%]). INTERPRETATION: This
      first head-to-head comparison of quetiapine-ER versus aripiprazole in early-onset
      psychosis showed no significant group differences in severity of psychopathology
      after 12 weeks of treatment. Quetiapine-ER was associated with more metabolic
      adverse events and aripiprazole with more initial akathisia and, unexpectedly,
      more sedation. The limited antipsychotic efficacy and high level of adverse
      events were noticeable. This trial provides novel information for the treatment
      of early-onset psychosis and highlights the importance of adverse event profiles
      when choosing among antipsychotics for children and adolescents who often require
      chronic treatment. FUNDING: The National Research Council for Health and Disease
      Foundation for Health Promotion, AP Moller Foundation, Rosalie Petersens
      Foundation, Stevn and Rindom Foundation, Foundation for the Promotion of Medical
      Science, The Capital Region Psychiatric Research Foundation, Tryg Foundation,
      Region of Southern Denmark Research Foundation, Danish Psychiatric Research
      Educational Fund, Psychiatry Foundation, Foundation of 17-12-1981, Psychiatric
      Research Foundation Region Zealand, Capital Region Strategic Research Foundation,
      Knud og Dagny Andresens Foundation, Psychiatric Research Foundation of 1967, The
      Capital Region Research Foundation, Dr Sofus Carl Emil Friis and Hustru Olga
      Friis Scholarship, Tomrerhandler Johannes Fogs Foundation, Brdr Hartmanns
      Foundation DKK, Aase and Ejnar Danielsens Foundation, Jacob Madsen and wife Olga
      Madsens Foundation, CC Klestrup and wife Scholarship, Lundbeck Foundation
      Scholarship, and Tomrermester Jorgen Holm and wife Elisas Scholarship.

PMID- 28599951
TI  - Age, gender, and percentage of circulating osteoprogenitor (COP) cells: The COP
      Study.
AB  - Circulating osteoprogenitor (COP) cells are blood-borne cells which express a
      variety of osteoblastic markers and are able to form bone nodules in vivo.
      Whereas a high percentage of COP cells (%COP) is associated with vascular
      calcification, low %COP has been associated with disability and frailty. However,
      the reference range of %COP in age- and gender-matching populations, and the age
      related changes in %COP remain unknown. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in
      144 healthy volunteers in Western Sydney (20-90year-old, 10 male and 10 female
      subjects per decade). %COP was quantified by flow cytometry. A high inter-and
      intra-rater reliability was found. In average, in this healthy population average
      of %COP was 0.42. There was no significant difference in %COP among the age
      groups. Similarly, no significant difference was found in %COP with gender,
      weight, height or BMI. In addition, we identified a normal reference range of
      %COP of 0.1-3.8%. In conclusion, in addition to the identification of steady
      levels of COP cells with age, we also identified a normal reference range of
      %COP, which could be used in future studies looking at musculoskeletal diseases
      in older populations.

PMID- 28599952
TI  - Risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea among women with polycystic ovarian
      syndrome: a nationwide longitudinal follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous cross-sectional studies have suggested a comorbid
      relationship between polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and obstructive sleep
      apnea (OSA). However, the temporal association between these two distinct
      diseases has not yet been investigated. METHODS: Using the Taiwan National Health
      Insurance Research Database, 4595 women with PCOS and 4595 (1:1) age-/sex-matched
      controls were enrolled into the present study between 1998 and 2009, and followed
      to the end of 2011. Those who developed OSA during the follow-up were identified.
      RESULTS: Women with PCOS had a greater incidence of developing OSA (1.71 vs 0.63
      1000 person-years, p < 0.001) than those without PCOS. The Cox regression
      analysis after adjusting for demographic data and medical comorbidities showed
      that women with PCOS had an elevated likelihood of subsequent OSA (hazard ratio:
      2.63, 95% CI 1.57-4.04) during the follow-up compared to the controls.
      DISCUSSION: Women with PCOS were associated with an increased risk of developing
      OSA in later life. Further studies would be required to investigate the
      underlying pathophysiology between PCOS and OSA, and to clarify whether prompt
      intervention for PCOS would reduce the risk of OSA.

PMID- 28599953
TI  - Naps improve new walkers' locomotor problem solving.
AB  - In this first study of the impact of sleep on infants' problem solving of a
      locomotor task, 28 newly walking infants who were within a week of having given
      up crawling trained to navigate a shoulder-height tunnel to reach a caregiver
      waiting at the end. During the transitional window between crawling and walking,
      infants are reluctant to return to crawling, making this task uniquely
      challenging. Infants were randomly assigned to either nap or stay awake during a
      delay between training and a later test session. For the Nap group, efficiency of
      problem solving improved from training to test, but there was no change for the
      No Nap group. These findings suggest that for newly walking infants, sleep
      facilitates learning to solve a novel motor problem.

PMID- 28599954
TI  - CMV-specific T-cell immunity in solid organ transplant recipients at low risk of
      CMV infection. Chronology and applicability in preemptive therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To characterize whether the CMV-specific cellular immune response can
      be used as a predictor of the control of CMV infection and disease and determine
      thresholds in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients seropositive for CMV (R+).
      METHODS: The CMV-specific T-cell response was characterized using intracellular
      cytokine staining and the evolution of clinical and virological parameters were
      recorded during the first year after transplantation. RESULTS: Besides having
      positive CMV serology, only 28.4% patients had positive immunity (CD8+CD69+IFN
      gamma+ >=0.25%) at 2 weeks after transplantation. These patients had less
      indication of preemptive treatment (p = 0.025) and developed less high grade
      (>=2000 IU/ml) CMV replication episodes (p = 0.006) than patients with no
      immunity. Of the 49 patients with a pretransplant sample, only 22.4% had positive
      immunity, and had a detectable immune response early after transplantation
      (median of 3.7 weeks). However, only 50% of patients with negative pretransplant
      immunity acquired a positive immune response and it was significantly later, at a
      median of 11 weeks (p < 0.001). Patients that developed CMV disease had no CMV
      specific immunity. CONCLUSIONS: Having CMV-specific CD8+IFN-gamma+ cells >=0.25%
      before transplant; 0.15% at two weeks or 0.25% at four weeks after
      transplantation, identifies patients that may spontaneously control CMV infection
      and may require less monitoring.

PMID- 28599956
TI  - Don't judge a book by its cover: the emerging challenge of diagnosing CF in non
      Caucasians.

PMID- 28599955
TI  - Inequities in visual health and health services use in a rural region in Spain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse perceived visual health and health services use in a rural
      population in relation to socioeconomic characteristics and compared with the
      general population in Spain. METHOD: Cross-sectional study in a rural population
      using a structured questionnaire including questions comparable to the Spanish
      National Health Survey (2012). A descriptive analysis was carried out through the
      calculation of frequencies and prevalence, the chi2 test for independent
      variables, contrasts of proportions and logistic regression to obtain
      associations between the rural and general populations and socioeconomic
      variables. RESULTS: For the rural population studied, the prevalence of poor
      perceptions of visual health is 40.8% in men and 39.4% in women, and is strongly
      associated with age, employment situation, income and presence of chronic
      diseases (p ?0.001). Compared with the general population, the rural population
      has a higher risk of presenting with serious difficulties related to
      farsightedness (OR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.32-4.95) and make less use of optical
      correction (OR: 0.57; 95%CI: 0.44-0.74). The use of health services is not
      sufficient for adequate prevention, particularly in diabetics. For those affected
      by poor vision, the distance to travel to receive an eye exam, the belief that
      eyesight problems come with age and the cost of glasses are the principal reasons
      used to explain why eyesight problems are not resolved. CONCLUSIONS: The rural
      population presents worse visual health that is influenced by social and economic
      factors. Improving accessibility and reducing barriers is essential to tackle
      avoidable visual disability and reduce health inequities.

PMID- 28599957
TI  - Pulmonary surfactant dysfunction in pediatric cystic fibrosis: Mechanisms and
      reversal with a lipid-sequestering drug.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Airway surfactant is impaired in cystic fibrosis (CF) and associated
      with declines in pulmonary function. We hypothesized that surfactant dysfunction
      in CF is due to an excess of cholesterol with an interaction with oxidation.
      METHODS: Surfactant was extracted from bronchial lavage fluid from children with
      CF and surface tension, and lipid content, inflammatory cells and microbial flora
      were determined. Dysfunctional surfactant samples were re-tested with a lipid
      sequestering agent, methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MbetaCD). RESULTS: CF surfactant
      samples were unable to sustain a normal low surface tension. MbetaCD restored
      surfactant function in a majority of samples.Mechanistic studies showed that the
      dysfunction was due to a combination of elevated cholesterol and an interaction
      with oxidized phospholipids and their pro-inflammatory hydrolysis products.
      CONCLUSION: We confirm that CF patients have impaired airway surfactant function
      which could be restored with MbetaCD. These findings have implications for
      improving lung function and mitigating inflammation in patients with CF.

PMID- 28599958
TI  - The meteorological influence on seasonal alterations in the course of acute
      appendicitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several diseases, including acute appendicitis (AA), have been known
      to undergo seasonal variations. Changes in the incidence and course of AA are
      attributed to seasonal weather differences, but this connection remains unproven.
      METHODS: In this retrospective, single-center analysis, we analyzed daily
      meteorological data over an 8-year period. A connection of day-by-day
      meteorological data with 680 consecutive appendectomies was performed. Patients'
      characteristics, intraoperative findings, and outcome parameters were analyzed.
      Seasons were classified meteorologically as 3-month periods (winter, spring,
      summer, and autumn). RESULTS: Nonambient temperature (unusual warm or cold
      weather) is correlated with a higher rate of complicated (gangrenous or
      perforated) AA (P = 0.018). In summer and winter, days with nonambient
      temperatures were more frequent (P < 0.0001). A higher rate of complicated AA was
      seen during summer and winter (P = 0.009). In addition, patients operated on in
      summer and accordingly after warm days suffer more complications (P < 0.0001),
      especially more superficial surgical site infections (P < 0.048). CONCLUSIONS:
      The concordant observation of more complicated AA and complications after AA with
      meteorological data and calendric seasonal variations makes it most likely that
      temperature is a cofactor in complicated AA and contributes to the seasonal
      variations in AA. Although an increase in the microbiome of the skin during warm
      seasons might explain the increase in surgical site infection, the functional
      connection between warmer temperatures and AA complications remains unclear.

PMID- 28599959
TI  - Photodynamic process induced by chloro-aluminum phthalocyanine nanoemulsion in
      glioblastoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a tumor characterized by rapid cell
      proliferation and migration. GBM constitutes the most aggressive and deadly type
      of brain tumor and is classified into several subtypes that show high resistance
      to conventional therapies. There are currently no curative treatments for
      malignant glioma despite the numerous advances in surgical techniques,
      radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Therefore, alternative approaches are required to
      improve GBM treatment. METHODS: Our study proposes the use of photodynamic
      therapy (PDT) for GBM treatment, which uses chloro-aluminum phthalocyanine
      (AlClPc) encapsulated in a new drug delivery system (DDS) and designed as a
      nanoemulsion (AlClPc/NE). The optimal dark non-cytotoxic AlClPc/NE concentration
      for the U87 MG glioma cell model and the most suitable laser light intensity for
      irradiation were determined. Experimental U87 MG cancer cells were analyzed via
      MTT cell viability assay. Cellular localization of AlClPc, morphological changes,
      and cell death via the necrotic and apoptotic pathways were also evaluated.
      RESULTS: AlClPc remained in the cytoplasmic region at 24h after administration.
      Additionally, treatment with 1.0MUmol/L AlClPc under light irradiation at doses
      lower than 140mJ/cm resulted in morphological changes with 50+/-6% cell death
      (p<0.05). Moreover, 20+/-2% of U87 MG cells underwent cell death via the necrotic
      pathway. Measurement of Caspase-9 and -3 activities also suggested that cells
      underwent apoptosis. Taken together, these results indicate that AlClPc/NE-PDT
      can be used in the treatment of glioblastoma by inducing necrotic and apoptotic
      cell death. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that AlClPc/NE-PDT induces cell
      death in U87 MG cells in a dose-dependent manner and could thus serve as an
      effective adjuvant treatment for malignant glioma. AlClPc/NE-PDT utilizes a low
      dose of visible light and can be used in combination with other classic GBM
      treatment approaches, such as a combination of chemotherapy and surgery.

PMID- 28599961
TI  - Charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices: A literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sales of charcoal dentifrices and powders have rapidly emerged into
      the Internet marketplace. The authors conducted a literature review to examine
      the efficacy and safety of charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices. METHODS: The
      authors searched the MEDLINE and Scopus databases for clinical studies on the use
      of charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices and laboratory investigations on the
      bioactivity or toxicity of charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices, published
      through February 2017. The authors used a defined search strategy to identify
      randomized, controlled clinical trials with a follow-up duration of 3 months or
      longer. In addition, the authors selected the first 50 consecutive charcoal
      dentifrices from Google.com and Amazon.com for ascertainment of product
      assortment and advertising promotions. RESULTS: The authors' literature search
      identified 118 potentially eligible articles. Thirteen studies reported brushing
      the teeth with raw charcoal or soot; however, none of these studies met the
      inclusion criteria. Two studies offered nonspecific caries reductions, 3 studies
      reported deleterious outcomes (increased caries, enamel abrasion, nonquantified
      negative impact), and 1 study indicated only that brushing with raw charcoal had
      no adverse effects on oral hygiene. Seven other studies reported only on the use
      of charcoal for oral hygiene. Internet advertisements included unsubstantiated
      therapeutic claims-such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and oral
      detoxification, as well as potentially misleading product assertions. One-third
      of the charcoal dentifrices contained bentonite clay, and 1 contained betel
      leaves. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this literature review showed insufficient
      clinical and laboratory data to substantiate the safety and efficacy claims of
      charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices. Larger-scale and well-designed studies
      are needed to establish conclusive evidence. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Dental
      clinicians should advise their patients to be cautious when using charcoal and
      charcoal-based dentifrices with unproven claims of efficacy and safety.

PMID- 28599960
TI  - Neuro-ophthalmological conditions: Study of the clinical care pathway.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neuro-ophthalmologic conditions require specialized
      multidisciplinary management, both medical and surgical, for patients affected by
      visual loss due to nervous system disease. The primary goal of this study is to
      define the specificity of neuro-ophthalmology within the realm of visual health.
      The secondary goal is to review clinical care pathways by studying the
      organization of management, in terms of accessibility to care and personalization
      of the care pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A field study was carried out from
      February to June 2015, within the ophthalmology service of the Pitie-Salpetriere
      University Medical Center in Paris. A 30-minute interview with the patient before
      or after his or her neuro-ophthalmology consultation was performed, to describe
      the clinical care pathway. The medical records of interviewed patients were also
      analyzed. RESULTS: Seventeen care pathways (10 women and 7 men) were reviewed.
      The mean age at appearance of visual involvement was 44.5 years (+/-8.4 years).
      If we exclude 3 patients over 66 years and retired, 35.71% were active, 35.71%
      were disabled, and 28.57% were on sick leave. Ten patients (58.82%) met the
      criteria for admission to long-term care. The first step had been carried out by
      local private practitioners. The first physician seen was the general medicine
      physician (59%), then the private ophthalmologist on an emergency basis (17%). On
      average, patients went through 8 steps during their care pathway (from 6 to 10
      steps) and 14 medical departments were involved. The study showed collaboration
      with the other services of the University Hospital Department of Vision and
      Disabilities (notably with the Fondation Rothschild, the Quinze-Vingts National
      Ophthalmology Hospital, and the Fondation Sainte-Marie). In addition to
      rehabilitation services, health care professionals participating in the
      outpatient care of the patients included an orthoptist (11.7%), a psychologist
      (11.7%), and an optician specializing in low vision for visual aids. Finally,
      patient support groups, AFM-Telethon (myasthenia) and the ARIBa association
      (visual disability) were solicited by 2 patients for their involvement. A
      disturbance in activities of daily living leading to disabilities with
      psychological repercussions was noted by a number of patients. The most frequent
      complaints involve mobility (29.41%) and reading (23.52%). In total, 77% of
      patients state that their well-being has been affected, and they are disturbed by
      the progression of their disease. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The review of the
      clinical care pathway of patients affected by neuro-ophthalmological conditions
      shows that these pathologies are, on the one hand, often poorly understood, and
      on the other hand complex, leading to an often significant number of steps for
      the patient. This also emphasizes the necessity of a care network, specialized
      and structured to improve the efficiency of this management. Finally, these
      results demonstrate the existence of a very frequent disability, which may affect
      all aspects of the patients' lives, highlighting the importance of rehabilitation
      services and individuals participating in the follow-up of these patients beyond
      their acute care.

PMID- 28599963
TI  - Prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus complications among palestinians with
      T2DM.
AB  - AIMS: To assess the prevalence of microvascular and macrovascular complications
      of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) among Palestinians. METHODS: 1308 diagnosed T2DM
      attending four main Primary Health Care Clinics on the Southern West Bank of
      Palestine examined by a Mobile Diabetes Clinic team. All diabetes patients
      visiting the clinics during a one-month period for each clinic were included.
      Interviews, anthropometric measurements, physical examination, and laboratory
      tests: HbA1c, lipid profile, and kidney function tests analyzed in a central
      laboratory were obtained RESULTS: 1308 diabetes patients, including 839 females
      (64%), with a mean age of 57 years (SD=8.7), and mean diabetes duration 7.1
      years(SD=6.25), participated. 95.3% presented as overweight (BMI >25kg/m2) or
      obese (BMI>30kg/m2) with mean BMI of 33.46 (SD=5.95). The mean HbA1c (tested in
      1221 patients) was 9.21(SD=2). Only 16.1% had HbA1c <7.0%. Hypertension (blood
      pressure>140/90mmHg) were found in 23%, and dyslipidemia (total
      cholesterol>200mg/dl) was present in 37.3% of patients. 213(16.3%) had a history
      of the macrovascular disease (previous myocardial infarction or stroke), and 290
      (25.9%) had microvascular complications. Moreover, 40 (4.9%) had advanced kidney
      disease with serum creatinine>1.4mg/dl. CONCLUSIONS: The present cross-sectional
      study shows poor glycemic control in Palestine, while blood pressure and lipids
      are less poorly controlled. The study emphasizes the need to optimize the glucose
      lowering treatment and to implement diabetes care program that could face the
      challenge of high uncontrolled diabetes as well as complications of diabetes.

PMID- 28599962
TI  - Regional Practice Patterns and Outcomes of Surgery for Acute Type A Aortic
      Dissection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The surgical management of acute type A aortic dissection is
      evolving, and many aortic centers of excellence are reporting superior outcomes.
      We hypothesize that similar trends exist in a multiinstitutional regional
      consortium. METHODS: Records for 884 consecutive patients who underwent aortic
      operations (2003 to 2015) for acute type A aortic dissection were extracted from
      a regional The Society of Thoracic Surgeons database. Patients were stratified
      into three equal operative eras. Differences in outcomes and risk factors for
      morbidity and mortality were determined. RESULTS: Surgical procedures for type A
      aortic dissection are increasing in extent and complexity. Aortic root repair was
      performed in 16% of early era cases compared with 67% currently (p < 0.0001).
      Similarly, aortic arch repair increased from 27% to 37% cases (p < 0.0001).
      Cerebral perfusion is currently used in 85% of circulatory arrest cases, most
      frequently antegrade (57%). Total circulatory arrest times increased (29 minutes
      vs 31 minutes vs 36 minutes; p = 0.005), but times without cerebral perfusion
      were stable (12 minutes vs 6 minutes; p = 0.68). Although the operative mortality
      rate remained stable at 18.9% during the 3 operative eras, there were significant
      decreases in pneumonia and reoperations (p < 0.05). Predictors of operative
      mortality and major morbidity are age (odds ratio [OR], 1.04; p < 0.0001),
      previous stroke (OR, 2.09; p = 0.03), and elevated creatinine (OR, 1.31; p =
      0.01). Importantly, the extent of aortic operation did not increase risk for
      morbidity or mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Operative morbidity and mortality remain
      significant for type A aortic dissection, but lower than historical outcomes. The
      extent of aortic surgery has increased, resulting in adaptive cerebral protection
      changes in contemporary "real-world" practice.

PMID- 28599965
TI  - Corrigendum to "Assay of superoxide dismutase activity in a plate assay using WST
      1" [Free Radic. Biol. Med. 103 (2017) 188-191].

PMID- 28599964
TI  - Resting-state fMRI correlations: From link-wise unreliability to whole brain
      stability.
AB  - The functional architecture of spontaneous BOLD fluctuations has been
      characterized in detail by numerous studies, demonstrating its potential
      relevance as a biomarker. However, the systematic investigation of its
      consistency is still in its infancy. Here, we analyze within- and between-subject
      variability and test-retest reliability of resting-state functional connectivity
      (FC) in a unique data set comprising multiple fMRI scans (42) from 5 subjects,
      and 50 single scans from 50 subjects. We adopt a statistical framework that
      enables us to identify different sources of variability in FC. We show that the
      low reliability of single links can be significantly improved by using multiple
      scans per subject. Moreover, in contrast to earlier studies, we show that spatial
      heterogeneity in FC reliability is not significant. Finally, we demonstrate that
      despite the low reliability of individual links, the information carried by the
      whole-brain FC matrix is robust and can be used as a functional fingerprint to
      identify individual subjects from the population.

PMID- 28599966
TI  - Effect of American College of Surgeons Trauma Center Designation on Outcomes:
      Measurable Benefit at the Extremes of Age and Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: American College of Surgeons (ACS) verification is believed to
      provide benefits for trauma patients, but is associated with direct costs. STUDY
      DESIGN: We performed a 1-year retrospective review of the National Trauma Data
      Bank (NTDB) for 2012. Patients were separated into 3 age groups; Pediatric
      (PEDS), 0 to 14 years; adult, 15 to 65 years; and elderly (ELD), older than 65
      years. We analyzed 2 injury severity cohorts, Injury Severity Score (ISS) 9 to 74
      (ALL) and ISS 25 to 74 (MAJ). Multiple logistic regression to determine
      significance of ACS verification on mortality and major complications,
      controlling for age, ISS, shock, Glasgow Coma Scale, sex, age, comorbidities, and
      mechanism. Patients were excluded with an ISS <8 or equal to 75, dead on arrival,
      emergency department transfers, and burns. RESULTS: There were 392,997 patients:
      262,644 in ACS centers and 130,353 in non-ACS centers. Distribution was: PEDS
      3.8%, adults 64.5%, ELD 31.7%. For ALL adults, no differences were observed for
      primary outcome in ACS vs non-ACS centers (p = 0.128 and 0.061, for mortality and
      complications, respectively). For ALL PEDS and ELD, complications were more
      likely in non-ACS centers: (p = 0.003, odds ratio [OR] 2.61 [95% CI 1.36 to 5.0],
      and p < 0.0001, OR 3.17 [95% CI 2.21 to 4.56]). For MAJ trauma, death was more
      likely in adults in ACS vs non-ACS centers (p = 0.013, OR 0.82 [95% CI 0.71 to
      0.96]). Complications for MAJ trauma were more likely in all age groups in non
      ACS centers (adult: p = 0.028, OR 1.48 [95% CI 1.04 to 2.1]; ELD: p < 0.0001, OR
      2.49 [95% CI 1.7 to 3.7]; PEDS: p < 0.0001, OR 4.29 [95% CI 2.13 to 8.69]).
      Length of stay was increased for all patients with complications (p < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Measurable benefits in complications were observed in all age groups
      with MAJ trauma and in PEDS and ELD for ALL injury severity in ACS vs non-ACS
      trauma centers.

PMID- 28599968
TI  - The possible role of AMH in shortening the gubernacular cord in testicular
      descent: A reappraisal of the evidence.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), also called Mullerian inhibiting
      substance (MIS), is glycoprotein hormone secreted by the fetal Sertoli cells to
      regulate regression of the Mullerian ducts, the anlagen of the uterus, fallopian
      tubes, and upper vagina. After its existence was predicted in 1946 and its
      isolation and purification in the 1970's, a huge amount of information has been
      gathered on its molecular biology and function in the last 30-40years. Once
      thought to be a locally acting factor in the male fetus during sexual
      differentiation, it is now recognized as an endocrine hormone present in both
      sexes and with functions throughout life. One of the remaining controversies is
      the possible role of AMH during fetal testicular descent. In the human with
      aberrant AMH function, the boy has cryptorchidism with persistent Mullerian duct
      syndrome (PMDS), where the testes are often intraabdominal and on an abnormally
      long gubernacular cord. By contrast, in rodent models knockout of the AMH gene
      does not cause cryptorchidism. METHODS/RESULTS: In this review we examined the
      evidence in the literature for and against a role for AMH in testicular descent
      and considered the implications of the different anatomy of the gubernacular cord
      in rodents versus children. CONCLUSION: We conclude that AMH may have a role in
      shortening the gubernacular cord in humans which is concealed in rodent models by
      differences in anatomy of the gubernacular cord in rodents. The controversy could
      be resolved by re-examination of the gubernacular cord in boys with PMDS and mice
      with AMHKO. TYPE OF STUDY: Review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V.

PMID- 28599969
TI  - Prolonged antibiotic treatment for infected low flow vascular malformations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infection in low flow malformations is difficult to diagnose and
      treat. Initial presentation can be followed by cycles of recurrent infection
      lasting several years. The optimal duration of antibiotic therapy to prevent
      recurrence of infection has not been established. METHODS: All cases of infection
      in low flow malformations at the Royal Children's Hospital over a ten-year period
      were reviewed. Clinical markers of infection and duration of initial antibiotic
      treatment were correlated with the development of recurrent episodes of
      infection. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients met criteria for inclusion. Nineteen were
      diagnosed as lymphatic malformations and two as venous malformations. The
      majority of patients (13 or 62%) received a prolonged course of six weeks or more
      of antibiotics. Eleven (52%) patients went on to have recurrent infections, but
      these were significantly less likely to be in those treated with a long course of
      antibiotics (Fisher's exact test, p=0.026). In only 12 of 21 cases could a
      bacterium be grown. Elevated CRP was the most consistent abnormal laboratory
      finding in infection. CONCLUSIONS: Longer courses of antibiotics reduce the risk
      of recurrent infection in low-flow vascular malformations. We recommend an
      antibiotic course of three months or more at the initial presentation of
      infection in a low flow malformation. Elevated CRP is the most sensitive test for
      diagnosis of infection in low-flow malformations. TYPE OF STUDY: Treatment study.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 28599967
TI  - Challenging surgical dogma in the management of proximal esophageal atresia with
      distal tracheoesophageal fistula: Outcomes from the Midwest Pediatric Surgery
      Consortium.
AB  - PURPOSE: Perioperative management of infants with esophageal atresia and
      tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) is frequently based on surgeon experience and
      dogma rather than evidence-based guidelines. This study examines whether commonly
      perceived important aspects of practice affect outcome in a contemporary multi
      institutional cohort of patients undergoing primary repair for the most common
      type of esophageal atresia anomaly, proximal EA with distal TEF. METHODS: The
      Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortium conducted a multicenter, retrospective study
      examining selected outcomes on infants diagnosed with proximal EA with distal TEF
      who underwent primary repair over a 5-year period (2009-2014), with a minimum 1
      year follow up, across 11 centers. RESULTS: 292 patients with proximal EA and
      distal TEF who underwent primary repair were reviewed. The overall mortality was
      6% and was significantly associated with the presence of congenital heart disease
      (OR 4.82, p=0.005). Postoperative complications occurred in 181 (62%) infants,
      including: anastomotic stricture requiring intervention (n=127; 43%); anastomotic
      leak (n=54; 18%); recurrent fistula (n=15; 5%); vocal cord paralysis/paresis
      (n=14; 5%); and esophageal dehiscence (n=5; 2%). Placement of a transanastomotic
      tube was associated with an increase in esophageal stricture formation (OR 2.2,
      p=0.01). Acid suppression was not associated with altered rates of stricture,
      leak or pneumonia (all p>0.1). Placement of interposing prosthetic material
      between the esophageal and tracheal suture lines was associated with an increased
      leak rate (OR 4.7, p<0.001), but no difference in the incidence of recurrent
      fistula (p=0.3). Empiric postoperative antibiotics for >24h were used in 193
      patients (66%) with no difference in rates of infection, shock or death when
      compared to antibiotic use <=24h (all p>0.3). Hospital volume was not associated
      with postoperative complication rates (p>0.08). Routine postoperative esophagram
      obtained on day 5 resulted in no delayed/missed anastomotic leaks or a difference
      in anastomotic leak rate as compared to esophagrams obtained on day 7.
      CONCLUSION: Morbidity after primary repair of proximal EA and distal TEF patients
      is substantial, and many common practices do not appear to reduce complications.
      Specifically, this large retrospective series does not support the use of
      prophylactic antibiotics beyond 24h and empiric acid suppression may not prevent
      complications. Use of a transanastomotic tube was associated with higher rates of
      stricture, and interposition of prosthetic material was associated with higher
      leak rates. Routine postoperative esophagram can be safely obtained on day 5
      resulting in earlier initiation of oral feeds. STUDY TYPE: Treatment study. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 28599971
TI  - The Ross operation: Are we doing enough?

PMID- 28599970
TI  - Cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy insensitively detects low cerebral venous
      oxygen saturations after stage 1 palliation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measurement of cerebral venous oxyhemoglobin saturation (ScvO2) is
      considered a gold standard in assessing the adequacy of tissue oxygen delivery
      (DO2) after the stage 1 palliation (S1P), with SvO2 <30% often representing
      severely compromised DO2. Regional oxygenation index (rSO2) based on near
      infrared resonance spectroscopy (NIRS) frequently is used to screen for
      compromised DO2, although its sensitivity to detect severe abnormalities in SvO2
      is uncertain. METHODS: ScvO2 was measured by co-oximetry from the internal
      jugular vein as clinically indicated in 73 neonates after S1P. These values were
      compared with cerebral rSO2 (FORE-SIGHT; CASMED) via mixed effects model linear
      regression, Bland-Altman analysis, and sensitivity analysis. Because NIRS devices
      measure a composite of arterial and venous blood, we calculated an rSO2-based
      ScvO2 designed to remove arterial contamination from the rSO2 signal: rSO2-based
      ScvO2 = (rSO2 - arterial oxygen saturation * 0.3)/0.7. RESULTS: Among 520 time
      matched pairs of ScvO2 and cerebral rSO2, the slope of the relationship between
      rSO2 and ScvO2 (after we adjusted for effects of hemoglobin) was 0.37 +/- 0.04
      with only modest correlation (r2 = 0.39), and mean bias of +8.26. When ScvO2 was
      <30%, cerebral rSO2 was <30 in less than 1%, <40 less than 1%, and <50 in 45.7%
      of data points; specificity of rSO2 in the same range is >99%. Correction of rSO2
      for arterial contamination significantly decreased mean bias (+3.03) and improved
      the sensitivity of rSO2 to detect ScvO2 <30 to 6.5% for rSO2 <30, 29% for rSO2
      <40, and 77.4% for rSO2 <50. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral rSO2 in isolation should not
      be used to detect low ScvO2, because its sensitivity is low, although correction
      of rSO2 for arterial contamination may improve sensitivity. Cerebral rSO2 of 50
      or greater should not be considered reassuring, though values below 30 are
      specific for low ScvO2.

PMID- 28599972
TI  - Discussion.

PMID- 28599973
TI  - To breathe or not to breathe: That is the question.

PMID- 28599974
TI  - Minimally invasive posterior basilar segmentectomy by a posterior approach:
      Should we start flipping?

PMID- 28599975
TI  - Setting out into practice: Preparing for the future, today.

PMID- 28599976
TI  - The adventurous way from feasibility to advisability.

PMID- 28599977
TI  - Fate of remnant sinuses of Valsalva in patients with bicuspid and trileaflet
      valves undergoing aortic valve, ascending aorta, and aortic arch replacement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In patients presenting with aortic valvulopathy with concomitant
      ascending aortic aneurysm, surgical management of the sinus of Valsalva segment
      remains undefined, especially for moderately dilated aortic roots. In patients
      with this pathology undergoing aortic valve replacement with supracoronary
      ascending aorta replacement, we assessed the fate of the remnant preserved sinus
      of Valsalva segment stratified by aortic valve morphology and pathology. METHODS:
      From 2002 to 2015, 428 patients underwent elective aortic valve replacement with
      supracoronary ascending aorta replacement. Patients were stratified on the basis
      of valvular morphology (bicuspid aortic valve [n = 254] and tricuspid aortic
      valve [n = 174]), valvular pathology (bicuspid aortic valve with aortic stenosis
      [n = 178], bicuspid aortic valve with aortic insufficiency [n = 76], tricuspid
      aortic valve with aortic stenosis [n = 61], tricuspid aortic valve with aortic
      insufficiency [n = 113]), and preoperative sinus of Valsalva dimensions (<40, 40
      45, >45 mm). RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed no significant difference in
      freedom from reoperation in tricuspid aortic valve versus bicuspid aortic valve
      (P = .576). Multivariable Cox regression model performed with sinus of Valsalva
      dimensions at baseline and follow-up as time-varying covariates did not adversely
      affect survival. A repeated-measure, mixed-effects model constructed to assess
      longitudinal sinus of Valsalva trends revealed that the retained sinus of
      Valsalva dimensions remain stable over long-term follow-up (discharge to >=10
      years), irrespective of valvular morphology/pathology (bicuspid aortic valve with
      aortic insufficiency, tricuspid aortic valve with aortic insufficiency, tricuspid
      aortic valve with aortic stenosis) and preoperative sinus of Valsalva groups
      (<40, 40-45, >45 mm). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with nonaneurysmal sinuses of
      Valsalva undergoing aortic valve replacement with supracoronary ascending aorta
      replacement, the sinus segment can be preserved irrespective of the type of
      valvular pathology (aortic stenosis vs aortic insufficiency) or valvular
      morphology (bicuspid aortic valve vs tricuspid aortic valve). Aortic valve
      replacement with supracoronary ascending aorta replacement may have a stabilizing
      effect on the sinus segment over long-term follow-up in patients with tricuspid
      aortic valves or bicuspid aortic valves.

PMID- 28599979
TI  - Relationship of energy and protein adequacy with 60-day mortality in mechanically
      ventilated critically ill patients: A prospective observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The effect of provision of full feeding or permissive
      underfeeding on mortality in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients in
      the intensive care unit (ICU) is still controversial. This study investigated the
      relationship of energy and protein intakes with 60-day mortality, and the extent
      to which ICU length of stay and nutritional risk status influenced this
      relationship. METHODS: This is a prospective observational study conducted among
      critically ill patients aged >=18 years, intubated and mechanically ventilated
      within 48 h of ICU admission and stayed in the ICU for at least 72 h. Information
      on baseline characteristics and nutritional risk status (the modified Nutrition
      Risk in Critically ill [NUTRIC] score) was collected on day 1. Nutritional intake
      was recorded daily until death, discharge, or until the twelfth evaluable days.
      Mortality status was assessed on day 60 based on the patient's hospital record.
      Patients were divided into 3 groups a) received <2/3 of prescribed energy and
      protein (both <2/3), b) received >=2/3 of prescribed energy and protein (both
      >=2/3) and c) either energy or protein received were >=2/3 of prescribed (either
      >=2/3). The relationship between the three groups with 60-day mortality was
      examined by using logistic regression with adjustment for potential confounders.
      Sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the influence of ICU length of stay
      (>=7 days) and nutritional risk status. RESULTS: Data were collected from 154
      mechanically ventilated patients (age, 51.3 +/- 15.7 years; body mass index, 26.5
      +/- 6.7 kg/m2; 54% male). The mean modified NUTRIC score was 5.7 +/- 1.9, with
      56% of the patients at high nutritional risk. The patients received 64.5 +/-
      21.6% of the amount of energy and 56.4 +/- 20.6% of the amount of protein
      prescribed. Provision of energy and protein at >=2/3 compared with <2/3 of the
      prescribed amounts was associated with a trend towards increased 60-day mortality
      (Adjusted odds ratio [Adj OR] 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-5.38; p =
      0.074). No difference in mortality status was found between energy and protein
      provision at either >=2/3 compared with <2/3 of the prescribed amounts (Adj OR
      1.61, 95% CI, 0.58-4.45; p = 0.357). Nutritional risk status, not ICU length of
      stay, influenced the relationship between nutritional adequacy and 60-day
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Energy and protein adequacy of >=2/3 of the prescribed
      amounts were associated with a trend towards increased 60-day mortality among
      mechanically ventilated critically ill patients. However, neither energy nor
      protein adequacy alone at >= or <2/3 adequacy affect 60-day mortality. Increased
      mortality was associated with provision of energy and protein at >=2/3 of the
      prescribed amounts, which only affected patients with low nutritional risk.

PMID- 28599978
TI  - 25-Hydroxycholesterol induces both P2X7-dependent pyroptosis and caspase
      dependent apoptosis in human skin model: New insights into degenerative pathways.
AB  - Degenerative diseases are characterized by both cell death and inflammation,
      which involve different pathways such as apoptosis and pyroptosis. Oxysterols,
      oxidized derivatives of cholesterol, are known to act as key actors in
      degenerative disorders such as skin photoaging. We hypothesize that oxysterols
      could be implicated in either apoptosis or pyroptosis, or both. The aim of our
      study was first to quantify oxysterol levels in keratinocytes as a function of
      aging and UV irradiation. Second, we evaluated the effects of 25-OH oxysterol on
      apoptosis and pyroptosis hallmarks in keratinocytes. Our results showed that 25
      OH exhibited an increasing after UV irradiation, highlighting the pivotal role of
      this oxysterol in skin degeneration. In our model, 25-OH induced not only
      caspases-dependent apoptosis associated to granzyme B release but also P2X7
      receptor-dependent pyroptosis in skin cells. 25-OH seems to be at the origin of
      the main toxic pathways responsible for degenerative disorders; therefore, it
      could be the target of antidegenerative treatments, opening new potential
      therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28599980
TI  - Generalized Hypermobility, Knee Hyperextension, and Outcomes After Anterior
      Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Prospective, Case-Control Study With Mean 6
      Years Follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether generalized hypermobility and contralateral knee
      hyperextension affect failure rates and patient-related outcomes after anterior
      cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). METHODS: A total of 226 consecutive
      patients presenting with acute ACL tears were prospectively evaluated for
      generalized hypermobility by a modified Beighton criteria. Minimum 2-year follow
      up was achieved for 183 knees (81%). Patients underwent ACLR with either bone
      patellar-tendon (BPTB) autograft (n = 46), quadrupled hamstring (HT) autograft (n
      = 85), or allograft tissue (n = 52). KT-1000 measurements, International Knee
      Documentation Committee (IKDC), Cincinnati, and Lysholm scores were obtained.
      RESULTS: Forty-one of 183 consecutive patients were categorized as hypermobile.
      At mean 6 years' follow-up (range 2-12.5 years), IKDC (P = .003), Cincinnati (P =
      .001), and Lysholm scores (P < .001) were significantly better in the Non
      Hypermobile group for patients with an intact graft. The failure rate was higher
      in the Hypermobile group (10 knees, 24.4% failure rate) compared with the
      Nonhypermobile group (11 knees, 7.7% failure rate) (P = .006). The overall ACL
      injury rate (ACL graft injury, excessive graft laxity, plus contralateral ACL
      tear) was higher in the Hypermobile group (34.1%) compared with the
      Nonhypermobile group (12.0%) (P = .002). Heel height >5 cm (P = .009) and fifth
      metacarpophalangeal (MCP) extension >90 degrees  (P = .006) were independently
      predictive of failure for the entire study population. CONCLUSIONS: Graft failure
      rates were higher and inferior subjective outcomes were observed after ACLR in
      patients with generalized hypermobility. Heel height and fifth MCP hyperextension
      were most predictive of ACL injury/reinjury and poorer outcome scores. Nearly one
      third of hypermobile patients sustained a contralateral ACL tear, ipsilateral
      graft failure, or had excessive graft laxity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, case
      control study.

PMID- 28599981
TI  - p90RSK Blockade Inhibits Dual BRAF and MEK Inhibitor-Resistant Melanoma by
      Targeting Protein Synthesis.
AB  - Despite improvements in survival in metastatic melanoma with combined BRAF and
      mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor
      treatment, the overwhelming majority of patients eventually acquire resistance to
      both agents. Consequently, new targets for therapy in resistant tumors are
      currently being evaluated. Previous studies have identified p90 subfamily of
      ribosomal S6 kinase (p90RSK) family kinases as key factors for growth and
      proliferation, as well as protein synthesis via assembly of the 7-methyl
      guanosine triphosphate cap-dependent translation complex. We sought to evaluate
      inhibitors of p90RSK family members: BI-D1870 and BRD7389, for their ability to
      inhibit both proliferation and protein synthesis in patient-derived melanoma cell
      lines with acquired resistance to combined treatment with the BRAF inhibitor
      vemurafenib and the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal
      regulated kinase inhibitor selumetinib. We found that the RSK inhibitors blocked
      cell proliferation and protein synthesis in multiple dual-resistant melanoma
      lines. In addition, single agent RSK inhibitor treatment was effective in drug
      naive lines, two of which are innately vemurafenib resistant. We also used
      Reverse Phase Protein Array screening to identify differential protein expression
      that correlates with BI-D1870 sensitivity, and identified prognostic biomarkers
      for survival in human melanoma patients. These findings establish p90RSK
      inhibition as a therapeutic strategy in treatment-resistant melanoma and provide
      insight into the mechanism of action.

PMID- 28599982
TI  - Radial scars without atypia in percutaneous biopsy specimens: can they obviate
      surgical biopsy?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the need for surgical biopsy in patients diagnosed with
      radial scars without atypia by percutaneous biopsy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this
      retrospective observational study, we selected patients with a histological
      diagnosis of radial scar in specimens obtained by percutaneous biopsy during an 8
      year period. The statistical analysis was centered on patients with radial scar
      without atypia (we assessed the radiologic presentation, the results of the
      percutaneous biopsy, and their correlation with the results of surgical biopsy
      and follow-up) and we added the patients with atypia and cancer in the
      elaboration of the diagnostic indices. RESULTS: We identified 96 patients with
      radial scar on percutaneous biopsy; 54 had no atypia, 18 had atypia, and 24 had
      cancer. Among patients with radial scar without atypia, there were no
      statistically significant differences between patients who underwent imaging
      follow-up and those who underwent surgical biopsy (p>0.05). The rate of
      underdiagnosis for percutaneous biopsy in patients without atypia was 1.9%. The
      rates of diagnosis obtained with percutaneous biopsy in relation to follow-up and
      surgical biopsy in the 96 cases were sensitivity 92.3%, specificity 100%,
      positive predictive value 100%, negative predictive value 97.2%, and accuracy
      97.9%. The area under the ROC curve was 0.96 (p<0.001), and the kappa concordance
      index was 0.95 (p<0.001) CONCLUSIONS: We consider that it is not necessary to
      perform surgical biopsies in patients with radial scars without atypia on
      percutaneous biopsies because the rate of underestimation is very low and the
      concordance between the diagnosis reached by percutaneous biopsy and the
      definitive diagnosis is very high.

PMID- 28599984
TI  - Prevention and management of postoperative seizures in neuro-oncology.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Epilepsy related to brain tumors is often difficult to treat and
      may impact the quality of life. We performed a review of current recommendations
      for the prevention of postoperative seizures and optimizing the anti-epileptic
      treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Based on studies performed since 2000 we
      conducted the review by (1) analyzing the incidence of tumoral epilepsy and
      mechanisms of epileptogenicity; (2) describing the current medical and surgical
      strategy according to oncologic treatments; (3) discussing the management of
      postoperative seizures; (4) considering the drug withdrawal after oncologic
      therapy. RESULTS: Epilepsy related to supra-tentorial brain tumors is frequent
      (40-60%) especially in low-grade gliomas, glioneuronal tumors, fronto-temporal
      and eloquent cortex locations. Seizures can occur as a presenting symptom or
      during the course of the tumor, including after surgery and oncological
      treatments. Maximal safe surgical resection is the more effective therapy, alone
      or combined with adjuvant therapy (chemotherapy, radiotherapy). Anti-epileptic
      drugs are not indicated for epilepsy prophylaxis in patients without seizures but
      only after the first seizure due to high risk of recurrence. As they may generate
      adverse effects and interfere with oncological treatments, the choice is based on
      efficacy, tolerability and potential interactions. New anti-epileptic non-enzyme
      inducing drugs are recommended in first-line monotherapy in association with
      adjuvant oncological therapies. Enzyme-inhibiting drugs could have a favorable
      effect on survival. Late seizures are often related to tumor progression or
      recurrence. Discontinuation of anti-epileptic drugs could be considered after
      successful oncological treatment and a stable medical condition. CONCLUSION:
      These guidelines are helpful for a rational therapy in tumoral epilepsy.

PMID- 28599983
TI  - Validity of the Berlin questionnaire in detecting obstructive sleep apnea: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - We aimed to systematically review the Berlin questionnaire as a screening tool
      for obstructive sleep apnea. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and
      Scopus databases, reviewed articles reporting the Berlin questionnaire's
      diagnostic utility as measured against type-1 polysomnography, and performed meta
      analyses where possible. Thirty five eligible articles showed that the Berlin
      questionnaire's diagnostic utility varied by study population, definition of
      hypopnea used, and apnea-hypopnea index threshold used. It had good sensitivity
      and specificity for detecting clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnea as well
      as any obstructive sleep apnea in the sleep clinic population. Despite limited
      evidence, it showed modest to high sensitivity for detecting clinically relevant
      obstructive sleep apnea or any obstructive sleep apnea in other clinical and
      general population subgroups. Its specificity was relatively low. Possible
      reasons for variability in reported diagnostic utility of the Berlin
      questionnaire are multifaceted. We conclude that the Berlin questionnaire is
      useful as a clinical screening test and epidemiological tool in the sleep clinic
      population. Despite limited evidence, it likely has potential clinical and
      research utility in other populations. Adopting more consistent methodological
      definitions and focussing more on the general population and specific clinical
      populations to determine its usefulness as a clinical or epidemiological
      screening tool are recommended.

PMID- 28599986
TI  - A call for new approaches to Alzheimer's disease research.

PMID- 28599985
TI  - Paying more attention on keeping eye health in dust-haze weather in China.

PMID- 28599987
TI  - Characterizing the time-course of antihypertensive activity and optimal dose
      range of fimasartan via mechanism-based population modeling.
AB  - Fimasartan is a novel angiotensin II receptor blocker. Our aims were to
      characterize the time-course of the antihypertensive activity of fimasartan via a
      new population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model and to define its optimal
      dose range. We simultaneously modelled all fimasartan plasma concentrations and
      24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) data from 39 patients with
      essential hypertension and 56 healthy volunteers. Patients received placebo, 20,
      60, or 180mg fimasartan every 24h for 28days and healthy volunteers received
      placebo or 20 to 480mg as a single oral dose or as seven doses every 24h.
      External validation was performed using data on 560 patients from four phase II
      or III studies. One turnover model each was used to describe diastolic and
      systolic blood pressure. The input rates into these compartments followed a
      circadian rhythm and were inhibited by fimasartan. The average predicted
      (observed) diastolic blood pressure over 24-h in patients decreased by 10.1+/-7.5
      (12.6+/-9.2; mean+/-SD)mmHg for 20mg, 14.2+/-7.0 (15.1+/-9.3) mmHg for 60mg, and
      15.9+/-6.8 (11.5+/-9.9)mmHg for 180mg daily relative to placebo. The model
      explained the saturation of antihypertensive activity by counter-regulation at
      high fimasartan concentrations. Drug effect was maximal at approximately 23ng/mL
      fimasartan for diastolic and 12ng/mL for systolic blood pressure. The proposed
      mechanism-based population model characterized the circadian rhythm of ABPM data
      and the antihypertensive effect of fimasartan. After internal and external model
      validation, 30 to 60mg oral fimasartan given once daily was predicted as optimal
      dose range.

PMID- 28599989
TI  - Corrigendum to "Inhibiting ROS-NF-kappaB-dependent autophagy enhanced brazilin
      induced apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma" [Food and Chem.
      Toxicol. 101 (2017 Mar) 55-66].

PMID- 28599988
TI  - Pharmacological evaluation and molecular docking of new di-tert-butylphenol
      compound, LQFM-091, a new dual 5-LOX/COX inhibitor.
AB  - Dual 5-LOX/COX inhibitors are potential new dual drugs to treat inflammatory
      conditions. This research aimed to design, synthesis and to evaluate the anti
      inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of the new compound, which is derived
      from nimesulide and darbufelone lead compounds. The new dual inhibitor 5-LOX/COX
      has the possible advantage of gastrointestinal safety. A voltammetric experiment
      was conducted to observe the drug's antioxidative effect. A formalin test, a hot
      plate test and carrageenan-induced mechanical hyperalgesia were employed to
      evaluate the analgesic nature of LQFM-091. To evaluate anti-inflammatory
      activity, we measured edema, leukocyte count, myeloperoxidase activity and
      cytokines levels in carrageenan-induced inflammation tests. We elucidated the
      underlying mechanisms by assessing the interaction the with COXs and LOX enzymes
      by colorimetric screening assay and molecular docking. The lethal dose (LD50) was
      estimated using 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake assay. Our results indicate that the LQFM
      091 prototype is a powerful antioxidant, as well as able to inhibit COX-1, COX-2
      and LOX activities. LQFM091 was classified in GHS category 4
      (300<LD50<2000mg/Kg). This prototype showed analgesic activity in the formalin
      test and decreased carrageenan-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. Furthermore, LQFM
      091 reduced the paw edema induced by carrageenan and reduced the leukocyte count,
      myeloperoxidase activity, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta levels in the pleural exudate.
      Another interesting finding was the absence of gastrointestinal lesions. These
      data indicate that LQFM-091 produced antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory
      effects while maintaining gastrointestinal safety. Furthermore, this compound
      presented a safe toxicological profile. Blocked COXs and LOX enzymes are
      important targets for manipulating the mechanism of this compound.

PMID- 28599990
TI  - Evaluation of the feasibility of average volume-assured pressure support
      ventilation in the treatment of acute hypercapnic respiratory failure associated
      with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A pilot study.

PMID- 28599991
TI  - Clinical perspective on diagnostic X-ray examinations of pregnant patients - What
      to take into account.
AB  - Imaging during pregnancy has increased in frequency. Radiation protection is
      extremely important although tissue reactions of the conceptus, requiring a
      threshold dose of around 100mGy, are unlikely in the diagnostic use of X-rays and
      stochastic effects of cancerogenesis have a rather low risk (around 10-4/mGy for
      childhood cancer due to in utero exposure). This article will review the risk
      depending on dose and phase of pregnancy and the exposure by frequent
      examinations; it will then concentrate on the duties of an imaging department:
      screening for pregnancy, examination justification, planning and optimization,
      patient information, counseling, involving the patient in the decisions, and
      managing the situation of pregnant staff members. Typical flowcharts of
      investigating frequent clinical questions will finally be presented and
      critically discussed.

PMID- 28599992
TI  - Natural history of skin prick test reactivity: A 20-year prospective study of a
      random population sample of children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic reactions to airborne allergens may have important
      consequences for affected individuals and are believed to be unstable through
      life, although evidence from longitudinal studies is limited. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess changes in skin prick reactivity during 20 years in a random population
      sample of children and adolescents in relation to symptoms of rhinitis. METHODS:
      A total of 983 individuals, aged 7 to 17 years, were randomly selected in 1986
      and invited to 4 examinations during a 20-year period. During each examination, a
      skin prick test was performed using common local aeroallergens (ie, birch, grass,
      mugwort, horse, dog, cat, house dust mite [Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and
      Dermatophagoides farinae] and 2 molds [Alternaria iridis and Cladosporium
      herbarum]). RESULTS: The prevalence of allergy to any tested allergen peaked at
      the ages of 13 to 23 years. Rates of sensitization were variable. In the group of
      individuals tested more than once (n = 592), 16% developed sensitization during
      the study period and 9% became desensitized. In the group of individuals tested
      at all 4 examinations (n = 148), 34% developed sensitization and 22% became
      desensitized. In the group who developed sensitization, 55% had rhinitis, 17% had
      asthma, and 70% had eczema. In the group who became desensitized, 30% had
      rhinitis, 10% had asthma, and 50% had eczema. CONCLUSION: This 20-year
      prospective study found that sensitization is common, but its prevalence in
      individuals is also variable over time. Furthermore, through puberty and early
      adulthood a large number of individuals develop sensitization and a smaller
      number become desensitized. In addition, we found that symptoms of rhinitis
      rarely preceded sensitization.

PMID- 28599993
TI  - Hiccups as Herald: Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder.

PMID- 28599994
TI  - Vocal Tract Discomfort and Voice-Related Quality of Life in Wind
      Instrumentalists.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate vocal tract discomfort and quality of
      life in the voice of wind instrumentalists. METHOD: It is a cross-sectional
      study. The sample was composed of 37 musicians of the orchestra of Caxias do Sul
      city, RS, Brazil. The participants answered a nonstandard questionnaire about
      demographic and professional information, the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V
      RQOL), the Vocal Tract Discomfort (VTD) scale, and additional items about fatigue
      after playing the instrument and pain in the cervical muscles. Correlation
      analyses were performed using Spearman correlation test. RESULTS: The most
      frequent symptoms mentioned by musicians in the VTD, for both frequency and
      intensity of occurrence, were dryness, ache, irritability, and cervical muscle
      pain, in addition to the frequency of occurrence of fatigue after playing. The
      musicians showed high scores in the V-RQOL survey. Several symptoms evaluated by
      the VTD had a negative correlation with the musicians' years of orchestra
      membership and with V-RQOL scores. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of vocal tract discomfort
      are present in wind instrumentalists in low frequency and intensity of
      occurrence. However, these symptoms affect the musicians' voice-related quality
      of life, and they occur more in musicians with fewer years of orchestra
      membership.

PMID- 28599995
TI  - Effects of Vertical Glottal Duct Length on Intraglottal Pressures and Phonation
      Threshold Pressure in the Uniform Glottis.
AB  - According to Titze's 1988 derivations for phonation threshold pressure (PTP),
      there are a number of important variables that PTP depends upon. A primary one is
      the vertical glottal duct length T: PTP decreases if T is increased. Changing the
      length of T, however, may have a significant effect on other variables that PTP
      depends upon. This study examined the effects of lengthening the vertical uniform
      glottal duct on the transglottal and intraglottal pressures, and the derived
      transglottal pressure coefficients, for five glottal diameters (0.01, 0.02, 0.04,
      0.08, and 0.16 cm) and three transglottal pressures (500, 1000, and 1500 Pa) for
      the uniform glottis by using the computational fluid dynamics code Fluent (for
      laminar, incompressible, two-dimensional flow). The results suggest the
      following: A longer vertical glottal duct length increases the intraglottal and
      transglottal pressures, and more so for smaller glottal diameters, and increases
      the transglottal pressure coefficient. In addition, unlike the transglottal
      pressure coefficient, the glottal entrance pressure coefficient is highly
      dependent on the vertical glottal duct length only for lower flows and Reynolds
      numbers, but is relatively independent of duct length, glottal diameter, and
      transglottal pressure above a flow value of approximately 50 cm3/s, suggesting
      that the entrance pressure coefficient is a relatively local phenomenon. These
      results suggest that the vertical glottal duct length and its effects need to be
      taken into consideration for vocal fold modeling, aeroacoustics purposes, and the
      estimation of PTP.

PMID- 28599996
TI  - A Training Model for Improving Journalists' Voice.
AB  - Voice education is a crucial aspect for professionals (journalists, teachers,
      politicians, actors, etc.) who use their voices as a working tool. The main
      concerns about such education are that, first, there is little awareness of the
      importance of voice education, and second there is little research devoted to it.
      The consequences of this lack of training are indeed visible in professionals who
      suffer voice pathologies or work with little effectiveness. This study seeks to
      overcome this deficiency by proposing a training model tested with a control
      group and a pilot study. Speech samples from a group of experimental participants
      journalism students-were collected before and after a training course designed to
      improve their main vocal and prosodic features. These samples were contrasted
      with a control group without training. Results indicated significant differences
      in all tested voice elements (breathing, articulation, loudness, pitch, jitter,
      speech rate, pauses, and stress) except for shimmer and harmonics. The
      participants were able to enhance their main vocal and prosodic elements, and
      therefore their expressiveness maintaining optimal vocal hygiene.

PMID- 28599997
TI  - Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Preliminary Evaluation of the Spanish
      Version of the Transgender Voice Questionnaire for Male-to-Female Transsexuals
      (TVQ MtF).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to perform translation, cross-cultural adaptation,
      and validation of the Spanish version of the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for
      Male-to-Female Transsexuals (TVQ MtF). STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective study.
      SETTING: The study was conducted by the Gender Identity Unit and the Voice Unit
      of a tertiary hospital referral center for surgical feminization of the voice.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study had two parts: translation and adaptation of the
      TVQ MtF with the following actions: translation (with authorization and consensus
      of the authors of the original questionnaire), back-translation, pretesting, and
      final version; and preliminary study of the psychometric properties (feasibility,
      internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, discriminant
      validity, and ceiling and floor effects). Thirty male-to-female transsexual women
      filled out the questionnaire, and 18 of the 30 filled out the questionnaire
      approximately 2 weeks after filling it out for the first time. RESULTS:
      Feasibility was 100%. Cronbach alpha was 0.976. The intraclass correlation
      coefficient was 0.885. The Spearman correlation coefficient between TVQ MtF and
      the physical component of SF-12 v2 was 0.102 (P value = 0.592) and between TVQ
      MtF and the mental component was -0.263 (P value = 0.161). A ceiling effect was
      not found. A floor effect was found in two questionnaires (6.7%). CONCLUSION:
      Feasibility, internal consistency, and reliability outcomes in our study support
      the validity of the authorized Spanish version of the TVQ MtF.

PMID- 28599998
TI  - [PET scan and NMR spectroscopy for the differential diagnosis between brain
      radiation necrosis and tumour recurrence after stereotactic irradiation of brain
      metastases: Place in the decision tree].
AB  - PURPOSE: After stereotactic radiation therapy for brain metastases, one of the
      complications is radionecrosis. Differential diagnosis with tumour recurrence can
      be helped by different methods of imaging, although histology remains the gold
      standard. According to the treatment centres, practice diverges. The objective of
      this single-centre retrospective study was to define the power of MRI, PET scan
      and NMR spectroscopy to establish a decision tree. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This
      study included patients who underwent stereotactic radiation therapy for brain
      metastases, and required, during follow-up, both a PET scan and NMR spectroscopy
      in order to differentiate a radiation necrosis and tumour recurrence. From 2010
      to 2015, 25 patients were consistent with these criteria. RESULTS: Conventional
      MRI technique, with the T1/T2 mismatch criterion, had a specificity of 75% and a
      sensitivity of only 44%. A lesion quotient greater than 0.3 diagnosed a
      recurrence with a sensitivity of 92%. PET scan combined the best sensitivity and
      specificity, respectively of 92% and 69%. Whatever the thresholds used in NMR
      spectroscopy for choline/N-acetylaspartate and choline/creatin ratios, the power
      of this imaging modality did not exceed that of PET scan. CONCLUSION: The
      criteria described in conventional MRI cannot by themselves establish the
      differential diagnosis. In first intention in case of doubt, PET scan should be
      done, combining the best sensitivity and specificity, whereas NMR spectroscopy
      used in combination does not improve these factors.

PMID- 28599999
TI  - 'Tell me exactly what's happened': When linguistic choices affect the efficiency
      of emergency calls for cardiac arrest.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clear and efficient communication between emergency caller and call
      taker is crucial to timely ambulance dispatch. We aimed to explore the impact of
      linguistic variation in the delivery of the prompt "okay, tell me exactly what
      happened" on the way callers describe the emergency in the Medical Priority
      Dispatch System(r). METHODS: We analysed 188 emergency calls for cases of
      paramedic-confirmed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We investigated the
      linguistic features of the prompt "okay, tell me exactly what happened" in
      relation to the format (report vs. narrative) of the caller's response. In
      addition, we compared calls with report vs. narrative responses in the length of
      response and time to dispatch. RESULTS: Callers were more likely to respond with
      a report format when call-takers used the present perfect ("what's happened")
      rather than the simple past ("what happened") (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 4.07;
      95% Confidence Interval [95%CI] 2.05-8.28, p<0.001). Reports were significantly
      shorter than narrative responses (9s vs. 18s, p<0.001), and were associated with
      less time to dispatch (50s vs. 58s, p=0.002). CONCLUSION: These results suggest
      that linguistic variations in the way the scripted sentences of a protocol are
      delivered can have an impact on the efficiency with which call-takers process
      emergency calls. A better understanding of interactional dynamics between caller
      and call-taker may translate into improvements of dispatch performance.

PMID- 28600000
TI  - Sex-specific effects of developmental alcohol exposure on cocaine-induced place
      preference in adulthood.
AB  - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is associated with high rates of drug addiction in
      adulthood. One possible basis for increased drug use in this population is
      altered sensitivity to drug-associated contexts. This experiment utilized a rat
      model of FASD to examine behavioral and neural changes in the processing of drug
      cues in adulthood. Alcohol was given by intragastric intubation to pregnant rats
      throughout gestation and to rat pups during the early postnatal period (ET
      group). Controls consisted of a non-treated group (NC) and a pair-fed group given
      the intubation procedure without alcohol (IC). On postnatal day (PD) 90, rats
      from all treatment groups were given saline, 0.3mg/kg, 3.0mg/kg, or 10.0mg/kg
      cocaine pairings with a specific context in the conditioned place preference
      (CPP) paradigm. While control animals of both sexes showed cocaine CPP at the 3.0
      and 10.0mg/kg doses, ET females also showed cocaine CPP at 0.3mg/kg. This was
      accompanied by a decrease in c-Fos/GAD67 cells in the nucleus accumbens (NAc)
      shell and GAD67-only cells in the NAc shell and PFC at this 0.3mg/kg dose. ET
      males failed to show cocaine CPP at the 3.0mg/kg dose. This was associated with
      an increase in c-Fos only-labeled cells in the NAc core and PFC at this 3.0mg/kg
      dose. These results suggest that developmental alcohol exposure has a sexually
      dimorphic effect on cocaine's conditioning effects in adulthood and the NAc.

PMID- 28600001
TI  - At least eighty percent of brain grey matter is modifiable by physical activity:
      A review study.
AB  - The human brain is plastic, i.e. it can show structural changes in response to
      the altered environment. Physical activity (PA) is a lifestyle factor which has
      significant associations with the structural and functional aspects of the human
      brain, as well as with the mind and body health. Many studies have reported
      regional/global brain volume increments due to exercising; however, a map which
      shows the overall extent of the influences of PAs on brain structure is not
      available. In this study, we collected all the reports on brain structural
      alterations in association with PA in healthy humans, and next, a brain map of
      the extent of these effects is provided. The results of this study showed that a
      large network of brain areas, equal to 82% of the total grey matter volume, were
      associated with PA. This finding has important implications in utilizing PA as a
      mediator factor for educational purposes in children, rehabilitation applications
      in patients, improving the cognitive abilities of the human brain such as in
      learning or memory, and preventing age-related brain deteriorations.

PMID- 28600002
TI  - Diagnostic yield of FDG-PET/CT in fever of unknown origin: a systematic review,
      meta-analysis, and Delphi exercise.
AB  - AIM: To perform a systematic review, meta-analysis and Delphi exercise to
      evaluate diagnostic yield of combined 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG)
      positron-emission tomography and computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in fever of
      unknown origin (FUO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four databases were searched for
      studies of FDG-PET/CT in FUO 1/1/2000-1/12/2015. Exclusions were non-English
      language, case reports, non-standard FDG radiotracer, and significant missing
      data. Quality was assessed by two authors independently using a standardised
      tool. Pooled diagnostic yield was calculated using a random-effects model. An
      iterative electronic and face-to-face Delphi exercise generated interspeciality
      consensus. RESULTS: Pooled diagnostic yield was 56% (95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 50-61%, I2=61%) from 18 studies and 905 patients. Only five studies
      reported results of previous imaging, and subgroup analysis estimated diagnostic
      yield beyond conventional CT at 32% (95% CI: 22-44%; I2=66%). Consensus was
      established that FDG-PET/CT is increasingly available with an emerging role, but
      there is prevailing variability in practice. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient
      evidence to support the value of FDG-PET/CT in investigative algorithms of FUO. A
      paradigm shift in research is needed, involving prospective studies recruiting at
      diagnosis of FUO, with updated case definitions and hard outcome measures.
      Although these studies will be a significant undertaking with multicentre
      collaboration, their completion is vital for balancing both radiation exposure
      and costs against the possible benefits of utilising FDG-PET/CT.

PMID- 28600004
TI  - The Sacroiliac Joint.
AB  - The sacroiliac joint moves 2.5 degrees . It is innervated with nociceptive
      fibers. It is a common cause of low back pain (15%-30%). Degenerative changes
      occur, especially after lumbosacral fusion. When performed in series, physical
      examination maneuvers are diagnostic. Confirmatory image-guided injections can
      aid the diagnosis. In randomized clinical trials, surgical treatment in
      appropriately selected patients has been demonstrated to be statistically and
      clinically superior to nonsurgical management.

PMID- 28600003
TI  - Novel insights into the expression pattern of anaphylatoxin receptors in mice and
      men.
AB  - The anaphylatoxins (AT) C3a and C5a play important roles as mediators of
      inflammation. Further, they regulate and control multiple innate and adaptive
      immune responses through binding and activation of their cognate G protein
      coupled receptors, i.e. C3a receptor (C3aR), C5a receptor 1 (C5aR1) and C5a
      receptor 2 (C5aR2), although the latter lacks important sequence motifs for G
      protein-coupling. Based on their pleiotropic functions, they contribute not only
      to tissue homeostasis but drive, perpetuate and resolve immune responses in many
      inflammatory diseases including infections, malignancies, autoimmune as well as
      allergic diseases. During the past few years, transcriptome expression data
      provided detailed insights into AT receptor tissue mRNA expression. In contrast,
      our understanding of cellular AT receptor expression in human and mouse tissues
      under steady and inflammatory conditions is still sketchy. Ligand binding
      studies, flow cytometric and immunohistochemical analyses convincingly
      demonstrated tissue-specific C5aR1 expression in various cells of myeloid origin.
      However, a detailed map for C3aR or C5aR2 expression in human or mouse tissue
      cells is still lacking. Also, reports about AT expression in lymphoid cells is
      still controversial. To understand the multiple roles of the ATs in the innate
      and adaptive immune networks, a detailed understanding of their receptor
      expression in health and disease is required. Recent findings obtained with novel
      GFP or tdTomato AT-receptor knock-in mice provide detailed insights into their
      expression pattern in tissue immune and stroma cells. Here, we will provide an
      update about our current knowledge of AT receptor expression pattern in humans
      and mice.

PMID- 28600005
TI  - Sacroiliac Fusion: Another "Magic Bullet" Destined for Disrepute.
AB  - Pain related to joint dysfunction can be treated with joint fusion; this is a
      long-standing principle of musculoskeletal surgery. However, pain arising from
      the sacroiliac (SI) joint is difficult to diagnose. Several implant devices are
      available that promote fusion by simply crossing the joint space. Evidence
      establishing outcomes is misleading because of vague diagnostic criteria, flawed
      methodology, bias, and limited follow-up. Because of nonstandardized indications
      and historically inferior reconstruction techniques, SI joint fusion should be
      considered unproven. The indications and procedure in their present form are
      unlikely to stand up to close scrutiny or weather the test of time.

PMID- 28600006
TI  - Is There Still a Role for Interspinous Spacers in the Management of Neurogenic
      Claudication?
AB  - Lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication is prevalent in the elderly
      population. Decompression for this condition is the operation most commonly used
      to treat older patients. Because of the risks associated with open decompression
      procedures, particularly in older patients with comorbidities, minimally invasive
      procedures with implantation of interspinous process devices have been developed.
      This article reviews the current role of interspinous spacers in the treatment of
      lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication and discusses the body of
      literature surrounding this treatment alternative.

PMID- 28600007
TI  - Bone Morphogenic Protein Use in Spinal Surgery.
AB  - Bone morphogenic protein (BMP) provides excellent enhancement of fusion in many
      spinal surgeries. BMP should be a cautionary tale about the use of industry
      sponsored research, perceived conflicts of interest, and holding the field of
      spinal surgery to the highest academic scrutiny and ethical standards. In the
      case of BMP, not having a transparent base of literature as it was approved led
      to delays in allowing this superior technology to help patients.

PMID- 28600008
TI  - Lumbar Radiculopathy in the Setting of Degenerative Scoliosis: MIS Decompression
      and Limited Correction are Better Options.
AB  - Surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD) has emerged as an efficient treatment
      alternative, but it is fraught with potential perioperative morbidity,
      incompletely mitigated by emerging minimally invasive surgical techniques. In
      mild-to-moderate ASD balanced in the sagittal plane, there are situations in
      which the counterintuitive simple decompression through a foraminotomy or
      laminectomy, or even a short-segment fusion may be an attractive treatment. This
      article presents a case example and the authors' treatment rationale and reviews
      the limited available literature supporting it.

PMID- 28600009
TI  - The Case for Deformity Correction in the Management of Radiculopathy with
      Concurrent Spinal Deformity.
AB  - The management of adult deformity varies significantly. Options range from
      nonoperative care to limited decompression to decompression with limited or
      extensive fusion. The appropriate surgical management is the approach that
      optimizes the likelihood of improvement in health-related quality of life, while
      limiting risks of complications and costs. Decompression alone is unreliable in
      the setting of significant deformity contributing to radiculopathy. Decompression
      with limited fusion is most appropriate for patients with age-appropriate global
      alignment of the spine, and decompression with more extensive fusion is most
      appropriate for patients with progressive deformity or with global sagittal or
      coronal malalignment.

PMID- 28600010
TI  - Hemicraniectomy for Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke: Facts and Controversies.
AB  - Malignant large artery stroke is associated with high mortality of 70% to 80%
      with best medical management. Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is a highly
      effective tool in reducing mortality. Convincing evidence has accumulated from
      several randomized trials, in addition to multiple retrospective studies, that
      demonstrate not only survival benefit but also improved functional outcome with
      DC in appropriately selected patients. This article explores in detail the
      evidence for DC, nuances regarding patient selection, and applicability of DC for
      supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage and posterior fossa ischemic and
      hemorrhagic stroke.

PMID- 28600011
TI  - Direct Versus Indirect Bypass for Moyamoya Disease.
AB  - Moyamoya disease is a progressive occlusive vasculopathy that involves the
      supraclinoid internal carotid arteries and Circle of Willis, and results in the
      formation of collateral vessels at the skull base. The progressive nature of this
      disease leads to cerebral ischemia and sometimes intracerebral hemorrhage. The
      treatment of moyamoya disease is mainly surgical revascularization, using
      revascularization techniques that include direct, indirect, and combined
      strategies. Here we discuss the available options for revascularization as well
      as our opinions regarding the surgical management of patients with moyamoya
      disease.

PMID- 28600012
TI  - Flow Diversion after Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.
AB  - Flow diversion after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is the last
      treatment option for aneurysm occlusion when other methods of aneurysm treatment
      cannot be used because of the need for dual antiplatelet therapy. The authors'
      general protocol for treatment selection after aneurysmal SAH is provided to
      share with readers our approach to securing the aneurysm before embarking flow
      diversion for primary treatment or delayed adjunctive treatment to primary
      coiling. The authors' experience with flow diversion after aneurysmal SAH, review
      of pertinent literature, and the future of flow diversion after aneurysmal SAH
      are discussed.

PMID- 28600013
TI  - Management of Small Incidental Intracranial Aneurysms.
AB  - Advances in neuroimaging and its widespread use for screening have increased the
      diagnosis of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs), including small-sized
      UIAs. The clinical management of these small-sized UIAs requires a patient
      specific judgment of the risk of aneurysm rupture, if not treated, versus the
      risk of complications from surgical or endovascular treatment. Experienced
      cerebrovascular teams recommend treating small UIAs in young patients or in
      patients with more than one aneurysm rupture risk factor who also have a
      reasonable life expectancy. However, individual overall assessment of risk is
      critical for patients with UIAs to decide the next steps of care.

PMID- 28600014
TI  - Surgical Management of Incidental Gliomas.
AB  - Detailed brain imaging studies discover gliomas incidentally before clinical
      symptoms or signs show. These tumors represent an early stage in the natural
      history of gliomas. Left untreated, they are likely to progress to a symptomatic
      stage and transform to malignant gliomas. A greater extent of resection delays
      the onset of malignant transformation and prolongs patient survival. Because
      incidental gliomas are typically smaller and less likely to be in eloquent brain
      locations, there is a strong case for early surgical intervention to maximize
      resection and improve outcomes. This article discusses developments in the
      surgical management of low-grade gliomas.

PMID- 28600015
TI  - Reoperation for Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme.
AB  - The role of reoperation for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) recurrence is currently
      unknown. However, multiple studies have indicated that survival and quality of
      life are improved with a repeat operation at the time of disease recurrence.
      Prognosis is likely interdependent on several factors, including age, functional
      status, initial resection status, disease location, and surgical efficacy.
      However, there are significant data indicating no survival benefit for
      reoperation. This comprehensive literature review considering the controversial
      question of whether to operate for progressive or recurrent GBM seeks to evaluate
      the current available evidence and report on its conclusions.

PMID- 28600016
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia.
AB  - Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by severe, episodic pain in the trigeminal
      nerve distribution. Medical therapy is the first line treatment. For patients
      with refractory pain, a variety of procedures including microvascular
      decompression, percutaneous radiofrequency rhizotomy, percutaneous glycerol
      rhizotomy, percutaneous balloon compression, and stereotactic radiosurgery are
      available. We review the literature and suggest that microvascular decompression
      remains the gold standard operative therapy. For patients with recurrent pain or
      who are poor operative candidates, percutaneous radiofrequency rhizotomy offers
      the best pain response rates and has the advantage of being able to selectively
      target affected trigeminal divisions.

PMID- 28600017
TI  - Comparison of Prenatal and Postnatal Management of Patients with
      Myelomeningocele.
AB  - Myelomeningocele (MMC) is a costly lifetime disease with many comorbidities,
      including sensory and motor lower limb disability, bladder/bowel dysfunction,
      scoliosis, club foot, and hydrocephalus. MMC treatment options have changed over
      time because routine use of fetal ultrasonography and MRI has provided prenatal
      diagnosis and the potential for fetal surgery. There is still no consensus on how
      to treat the MMC diagnoses prenatally, mainly related to the infrastructure
      required to operate on pregnant patients. This article provides an overview of
      prenatal and postnatal MMC repair and the features in the prenatal diagnosis.

PMID- 28600018
TI  - Current Controversies in Spinal and Cranial Surgery.

PMID- 28600019
TI  - Safety and efficacy outcomes of second-generation everolimus-eluting stents in
      octogenarians compared to non-octogenarians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients >=80 years of age, the use of second-generation cobalt
      chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES) versus bare-metal stents has been
      shown to reduce myocardial infarction (MI) and target vessel revascularization
      (TVR) rates, without an increase in bleeding. However, safety and efficacy of
      CoCr-EES in octogenarians compared to younger populations are less certain. We
      aimed to compare the clinical outcomes between octogenarian and non-octogenarian
      patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with CoCr-EES.
      METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 186 patients treated with CoCr-EES; 54
      octogenarians (63 lesions) and 132 non-octogenarians (152 lesions). The primary
      endpoint was a 1-year composite of all-cause death, MI, TVR, cerebrovascular
      accident (CVA), or major bleeding. Stent thrombosis (ST) was also evaluated.
      RESULTS: Radial approach was used in 70.4% of octogenarians versus 80.3% of non
      octogenarians (p = 0.18). Rates of dual antiplatelet therapy at 1 year were 90.7%
      for octogenarians and 90.9% for non-octogenarians (p = 1.00). The primary
      endpoint occurred in 14.8% of octogenarians and 11.4% of non-octogenarians (p =
      0.52). There were no significant differences with respect to the rates of 1-year
      all-cause death (7.4% vs. 3.8%, p = 0.30), MI (1.9% vs. 1.5%, p = 1.00), TVR
      (3.7% vs. 5.3%, p = 0.65), CVA (1.9% vs. 2.3%, p = 1.00), and definite/probable
      ST (1.9% vs. 1.5%, p = 1.00) between the 2 groups. Major bleeding was observed in
      only 1 of octogenarians. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that chronic kidney
      disease and intravascular ultrasound use were the only independent predictors of
      the primary endpoint. CONCLUSIONS: According to our series, 1-year safety and
      efficacy outcomes of CoCr-EES PCI in octogenarians were comparable to those in
      non-octogenarians. SUMMARY: We compared the clinical outcomes between
      octogenarian and non-octogenarian patients treated with second-generation cobalt
      chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES). In our series, 1-year safety and
      efficacy outcomes of CoCr-EES percutaneous coronary intervention in octogenarians
      were similar to those in younger counterparts.

PMID- 28600020
TI  - Transulnar recanalization of a chronic radial artery occlusion.
AB  - Trans-ulnar access is a viable alternative approach by experienced operators when
      the radial and femoral arteries cannot be accessed or used to preserve the
      contralateral radial artery as possible vascular graft for coronary bypass
      surgery, hemodynamic monitoring, or shunt creation for hemodialysis. We report a
      challenging case of ipsilateral trans-ulnar recanalization of a chronic radial
      artery occlusion, which allowed us to perform a complex trans-ulnar PCI.

PMID- 28600021
TI  - ST segment elevation myocardial infarction in patients hospitalized for non
      cardiac conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Timely use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the
      standard of care for patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction
      (STEMI). Most patients with STEMI present via emergency medical services or self
      transport to the emergency department (ED) and relatively little is known about
      the minority of patients that develop STEMI while hospitalized for non-cardiac
      conditions. The objective of this study was to analyze treatment times and
      clinical outcome for in-hospital STEMI patients. METHODS: Two-hundred fifty-five
      patients with STEMI treated at Keck Medical Center of USC and Los Angeles County
      USC Medical Center from January, 2009 to December, 2013 were retrospectively
      analyzed. Demographics, treatment time intervals and clinical outcome were
      collected. Patients arriving via the ED (ED STEMI Group, n=228; 89%) were
      compared to patients that developed in-hospital STEMI (In-hospital STEMI Group,
      n=27; 11%). RESULTS: Patients with in-hospital STEMI were similar in age, gender
      and associated medical conditions to ED STEMI patients. In-hospital STEMI
      patients were less likely to present with chest pain compared to ED STEMI
      patients, 5% vs. 79%, respectively, p<0.0001. Time from first abnormal
      electrocardiogram to device was 195+/-202min for in-hospital STEMI Group compared
      to door to device time of 88+/-64min for ED STEMI Group, p<0.001. Length of
      hospital stay was significantly longer for in-hospital STEMI Group compared to ED
      STEMI Group, 13+/-10 vs. 6.8+/-7.8days, respectively, p<0.001. In-hospital
      mortality was significantly higher for the in-hospital STEMI Group compared to
      the ED STEMI Group, 37% vs. 7%, respectively, p<0.001. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital
      STEMI patients have significant treatment delays and worse clinical outcome
      compared to STEMI patients that present via the emergency department. Additional
      efforts are required to promptly identify in-hospital patients that develop
      STEMI.

PMID- 28600022
TI  - Isolated Great Saphenous Vein Thrombus Is Associated with High Rates of
      Complications regardless of Management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Isolated great saphenous vein thrombus (GSVT) is generally regarded
      as benign, and treatment is heterogeneous. Complications include thrombus
      propagation, new saphenous vein thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary
      embolism (PE), and symptom persistence. Our objective was to review our
      institution's experience with isolated GSVT to understand its natural history,
      the frequency of complications, real-world treatment, and the impact of proximity
      to the saphenofemoral junction (SFJ), on the rate of complications. METHODS:
      Records of patients who had lower extremity venous duplex (LEVD) demonstrating
      GSVT without concomitant DVT between July 2008 and June 2014 were reviewed.
      Demographic, medical, management, outcomes, and follow-up LEVD data were
      collected. RESULTS: Of 605 patients with acute GSVT, 67 limbs in 61 patients with
      isolated GSVT were the study group; 14.8% of patients had a hypercoagulable
      state, 31.1% had prior GSVT or DVT, and 23.0% of patients had malignancy; 28.4%
      of GSVT were observed, 13.4% were treated with aspirin/NSAIDs, and 58.2% were
      anticoagulated; 38.8% of limbs remained symptomatic following treatment at a mean
      follow-up period of 761 days; 37 limbs had GSVT <5 cm of the SFJ (group 1), and
      30 had GSVT >5 cm from the SFJ (group 2). Seven patients developed PE, all in
      group 1 (P = 0.02). Twenty-nine limbs (43.3%) had follow-up LEVD at a mean of 23
      days. In this subset, 13 patients at the initial scan (44.8%) had thrombus <5 cm
      of the SFJ (group 1) and 16 (55.2%) had thrombus >5 cm from the SFJ (group 2).
      Five limbs (17.2%) had GSVT propagation/new superficial vein thrombosis (SVT),
      and 6 (20.7%) developed new DVT. There was no GSVT propagation/new SVT in group
      1, whereas 5 limbs (31.2%) had GSVT propagation/new SVT in group 2 (P = 0.048).
      DVT occurred in 2 limbs (15.3%) in group 1 and 4 limbs (25%) in group 2.
      CONCLUSIONS: Isolated GSVT tends to affect patients with hypercoagulable states,
      prior venous thromboembolism, malignancy, or recent surgery. Management is
      heterogeneous, and type of treatment does not seem to affect outcomes. Patients
      with GSVT have significant risk of persistent symptoms, recurrence, DVT, and PE.
      GSVT within 5 cm of the SFJ seemed to be associated with an increased rate of PE.
      GSVT more than 5 cm from the SFJ seemed to be associated with propagation/new
      SVT. Proximity to the SFJ did not impact occurrence of DVT.

PMID- 28600023
TI  - Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Vascular Surgery: Review and Update.
AB  - Accurate imaging methods associated with minimum patient risk are important tools
      for clinical decision-making in vascular surgery. Today, traditional imaging
      methods, such as computed tomography angiography, magnetic resonance angiography,
      and digital subtraction angiography are the preferred modalities. Ultrasound has
      only challenged these methods in assessment of carotid disease, aortic aneurysms,
      venous insufficiency, and thromboembolism and in surveillance of in situ
      bypasses. These practice patterns may change with the introduction of second
      generation ultrasound contrast agents which are easy to use, manageable, and
      safe. This topical review attempts to summarize and highlight the current
      evidence and future prospects for contrast-enhanced ultrasound in vascular
      surgery, with a particular focus on opportunities in carotid and lower limb
      arteriosclerotic disease and surveillance after endovascular aneurysm repair.

PMID- 28600024
TI  - Efficacy of CilostAzol for Below-the-Knee Artery Disease after Balloon
      AnGioplasty in PatiEnts with Severe Limb Ischemia (CABBAGE Trial).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optimal medical therapy after endovascular therapy in patients with
      critical limb ischemia (CLI) remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated whether
      cilostazol reduce restenosis after balloon angioplasty for infrapopliteal lesions
      in CLI patients. METHODS: This study was performed as a multicenter, prospective,
      randomized, open-label, blinded-end point study with independent angiographic
      core laboratory adjudication. Sixty patients were eligible and 53 patients were
      enrolled and allocated. The primary end point was 3-month angiographic
      restenosis. The main secondary end points included major adverse limb event (MALE
      defined as requirement of any reintervention or major amputation), perioperative
      complications, major amputation, all-cause death, and hemorrhagic events.
      RESULTS: A total of 53 patients were randomized and all received their allocated
      intervention. Two patients in the cilostazol plus aspirin group and 1 in the
      aspirin group did not undergo any angioplasty for infrapopliteal stenotic
      lesions, and therefore were excluded from analysis. Finally, 38 vessels in 25
      patients in the cilostazol plus aspirin group and as many cases in the aspirin
      group were included in the analysis. There were no significant differences in
      baseline characteristics between the 2 groups. The 3-month restenosis rate was
      82% in the cilostazol + aspirin group and 81% in the aspirin group, with no
      significant difference (P = 0.91). The MALE rate was 11% in the cilostazol plus
      aspirin group and 8% in the aspirin group (P = 0.73). In addition, no significant
      difference was observed in any secondary points. CONCLUSIONS: Cilostazol did not
      reduce 3-month angiographic restenosis after balloon angioplasty for below-the
      knee lesion in CLI patients.

PMID- 28600025
TI  - Creating a sustainable collaborative consumer health application for chronic
      disease self-management.
AB  - As the prevalence of chronic diseases increase, there is a need for consumer
      centric health informatics applications that assist individuals with disease self
      management skills. However, due to the cost of development of these applications,
      there is also a need to build a disease agnostic architecture so that they could
      be reused for any chronic disease. This paper describes the architecture of a
      collaborative virtual environment (VE) platform, LIVE(c), that was developed to
      teach self-management skills and provide social support to those individuals with
      type 2 diabetes. However, a backend database allows for the application to be
      easily reused for any chronic disease. We tested its usability in the context of
      a larger randomized controlled trial of its efficacy. The usability was scored as
      'good' by half of the participants in the evaluation. Common errors in the
      testing and solutions to address initial usability issues are discussed. Overall,
      LIVE(c) represents a usable and generalizable platform that will be adapted to
      other chronic diseases and health needs in future research and applications.

PMID- 28600026
TI  - MetabolitePredict: A de novo human metabolomics prediction system and its
      applications in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - : Human metabolomics has great potential in disease mechanism understanding,
      early diagnosis, and therapy. Existing metabolomics studies are often based on
      profiling patient biofluids and tissue samples and are difficult owing to the
      challenges of sample collection and data processing. Here, we report an
      alternative approach and developed a computation-based prediction system,
      MetabolitePredict, for disease metabolomics biomarker prediction. We applied
      MetabolitePredict to identify metabolite biomarkers and metabolite targeting
      therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a last-lasting complex disease with
      multiple genetic and environmental factors involved. MetabolitePredict is a de
      novo prediction system. It first constructs a disease-specific genetic profile
      using genes and pathways data associated with an input disease. It then
      constructs genetic profiles for a total of 259,170 chemicals/metabolites using
      known chemical genetics and human metabolomic data. MetabolitePredict prioritizes
      metabolites for a given disease based on the genetic profile similarities between
      disease and metabolites. We evaluated MetabolitePredict using 63 known RA
      associated metabolites. MetabolitePredict found 24 of the 63 metabolites (recall:
      0.38) and ranked them highly (mean ranking: top 4.13%, median ranking: top 1.10%,
      P-value: 5.08E-19). MetabolitePredict performed better than an existing
      metabolite prediction system, PROFANCY, in predicting RA-associated metabolites
      (PROFANCY: recall: 0.31, mean ranking: 20.91%, median ranking: 16.47%, P-value:
      3.78E-7). Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the abundant metabolites of gut
      microbiota in the fermentation of fiber, ranked highly (butyrate, 0.03%; acetate,
      0.05%; propionate, 0.38%). Finally, we established MetabolitePredict's potential
      in novel metabolite targeting for disease treatment: MetabolitePredict ranked
      highly three known metabolite inhibitors for RA treatments (methotrexate:0.25%;
      leflunomide: 0.56%; sulfasalazine: 0.92%). MetabolitePredict is a generalizable
      disease metabolite prediction system. The only required input to the system is a
      disease name or a set of disease-associated genes. The web-based
      MetabolitePredict is available at:http://xulab. CASE: edu/MetabolitePredict.

PMID- 28600027
TI  - Concurrent focal fat sparing and peritumoral fat sparing in diffuse fatty liver
      identified on 18F-FDG PETCT and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 28600028
TI  - Ethnic and racial disparities in hypertension management among women.
AB  - Hypertension is a major independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease for
      all ethnic and racial groups. Compared with other lifestyle and metabolic risk
      factors, hypertension is the leading cause of death in women. Women with
      preeclampsia are three times more likely to develop chronic hypertension and have
      an elevated risk of future cardiovascular disease. The objective of this article
      is to provide a review of the factors related to racial and ethnic disparities in
      blood pressure control. This is followed by a summary of contemporary clinical
      practice guidelines for the prevention, through lifestyle behavioral
      modification, and treatment of hypertension with pharmacotherapy.

PMID- 28600029
TI  - Racial and ethnic disparities in obstetric anesthesia.
AB  - Racial and ethnic disparities are prevalent within healthcare and have persisted
      despite advances in medicine and public health. Disparities have been described
      in the use of neuraxial labor analgesia, with minority women being less likely to
      use neuraxial labor analgesia than non-minority white women. Minority women are
      also more likely to have a general anesthetic for cesarean delivery than non
      minority women. The origins of these disparities are likely multi-factorial, with
      patient-, provider-, and systems-level contributors. The purpose of this article
      is to give an overview of disparities in obstetric anesthesia.

PMID- 28600030
TI  - Commentary on "Towards a Grand Unified Theory of sports performance".

PMID- 28600031
TI  - Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Myelodysplastic Syndromes after Treatment
      with Hypomethylating Agents.
AB  - The prognosis of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) after failure of
      hypomethylating agent (HMA) therapy is poor. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell
      transplantation (HCT) can be effective in curing patients who have failed therapy
      with HMA. However, published results have not addressed the outcomes with HCT in
      this setting. We identified 125 MDS patients who had been treated with HMA and
      underwent subsequent HCT. Among these, 68 were considered HMA failures and 57
      responders. Failure was defined as progression to higher grade MDS or acute
      myeloid leukemia, lack of hematologic improvement after at least 4 HMA cycles, or
      loss of response after initial improvement. Response was defined as showing at
      least hematologic improvement. Outcomes were compared using Cox regression.
      Overall, 73 of 125 HMA-treated patients (58%) had died by the time of last
      contact. Median follow-up of survivors, measured from HCT, was 41.9 months
      (range, 2.7 to 98.5). The estimated probability of relapse at 3 years was 56.6%
      and 34.2% among failing and responding patients, respectively (hazard ratio [HR],
      2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 3.66; P < .01). The estimated
      probability of relapse-free survival at 3 years was 23.8% and 42% in failing and
      responding patients, respectively (HR for relapse/death, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.19 to
      2.95; P < .01). The risk of nonrelapse mortality was similar for both groups (HR,
      1.12; 95% CI, .52 to 2.39; P = .77). Failure of treatment with HMA was associated
      with higher risk of post-HCT relapse than observed in patients responding to HMA.
      Prospective trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy of novel conditioning
      regimens and post-HCT maintenance strategies in patients who have failed HMA pre
      HCT.

PMID- 28600032
TI  - Carbetocin versus oxytocin for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in infertile
      women with twin pregnancy undergoing elective cesarean delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of carbetocin with those of
      oxytocin infusion in women with twin pregnancy undergoing elective cesarean
      delivery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present observational study conducted from
      January to December 2014 at a single center in Taiwan enrolled 64 women with twin
      pregnancy induced using in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer. The women were
      divided into a carbetocin group who received a single injection of 100 MUg
      carbetocin (n = 25) and a control group who received a continuous intravenous
      infusion of 10 IU oxytocin in 500 mL 0.9% NaCl solution (125 mL/h) for 24 h (n =
      39). Operative outcomes were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The mean
      estimated blood loss during surgery was lower in the carbetocin group compared
      with the control group (871 +/- 305 and 922.8 +/- 430 mL, respectively), but the
      difference was not significant (P = 0.06). There was also no significant
      difference in the drop in hemoglobin level between two groups. The mean operative
      time was significantly shorter in the carbetocin group compared with the control
      group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Carbetocin is as effective as oxytocin in
      preventing primary postpartum hemorrhage in infertile women with twin pregnancy
      undergoing elective cesarean delivery.

PMID- 28600033
TI  - Evaluation of HLA-G 14-bp ins/del and +3142G>C polymorphisms with susceptibility
      to recurrent spontaneous abortion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: HLA-G is critically important for successful implantation during
      pregnancy. Increasing evidence supposed that HLA-G plays a key role in tolerance
      of the semi-allogeneic graft in pregnancy by inhibiting the cytotoxic functions
      of T and NK cells. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of HLA-G
      rs1063320 (+3142G>C) and 14-bp insertion (ins)/deletion (del) polymorphisms on
      recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Genomic DNA from 93
      RSA patients and 93 normal fertile women was isolated using the salting out
      method. Genotyping of HLA-G +3142G>C and 14-bp ins/del variants was done by
      polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFP) and
      PCR method, respectively. RESULTS: The HLA-G +3142G>C polymorphism increased the
      risk of RSA in codominant (OR = 2.39, 95%CI = 1.27-4.49, p = 0.010, GC vs GG; OR
      = 3.28, 95%CI = 1.16-9.72, p = 0.040, CC vs GG) and dominant (OR = 2.52, 95%CI =
      1.37-4.64, p = 0.004, GC + CC vs GG) tested inheritance models. HLA-G rs1063320 C
      allele was associated with increased risk of RSA (OR = 1.84, 95%CI = 1.20-2.83, p
      = 0.007). The del/del genotype as well as del allele of 14-bp ins/del variant
      increased that risk of RSA (OR = 3.02, 95%CI = 1.23-7.41, p = 0.025 and OR =
      1.65, 95%CI = 1.09-2.50, p = 0.022, respectively). CONCLUSION: In summary, our
      results showed that HLA-G gene polymorphisms significantly increased the risk of
      RSA in a sample of the Iranian population.

PMID- 28600034
TI  - The video endoscopy inguinal lymphadenectomy for vulvar cancer: A pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This prospective pilot study aims to validate feasibility, efficacy
      and safeness of the innovative technique of video endoscopy inguinal
      lymphadenectomy (VEIL) and compare it to open inguinal lymphadenectomy (OIL) in
      the staging and treatment of vulvar cancer (VC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: All
      patients affected by VC suitable for bilateral inguinal-femoral lymphadenectomy
      were prospectively enrolled and submitted to VEIL on one side and OIL
      contralaterally, sparing the saphenous vein. The surgical and post-surgical data
      were collected. Univariate analysis included chi square analysis or Fisher's
      exact test, when appropriate for categorical variables, and the Student t test
      and Mann-Whitney test when appropriate for continuous variables. RESULTS: Between
      October 2014 and June 2015 fifteen patients were valuable for the study. Although
      nodal retrieval was comparable for both procedures, operative time was higher
      after VEIL. No intraoperative complications were observed in both techniques.
      Postoperative complications were observed in 3 and 2 cases for OIL and VEIL
      respectively. One patient needed reoperation after OIL for wound necrosis and
      infection. According to Campisi's stage, lymphedema resulted significantly to be
      lower after VEIL (p = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Waiting for larger series and longer
      follow-up data, the VEIL seems to be feasible allowing a radical removal of
      inguinal lymph nodes as well as OIL with lower morbidity.

PMID- 28600035
TI  - Predictors of perinatal outcomes and economic costs for late-term induction of
      labour.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to predict the perinatal outcomes and costs of health
      services following labour induction for late-term pregnancies. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of 245 women who underwent labour induction
      during their 41st week of gestation. The cervical condition was assessed upon
      admission using the Bishop score and ultrasound cervical length measurements. We
      estimated the direct costs of labour induction, and a predictive model for
      perinatal outcomes was constructed using the decision tree analysis algorithm and
      a logit model. RESULTS: A very unfavourable Bishop score at admission (Bishop
      score <2) (OR, 3.43 [95% CI, 1.77-6.59]), and a history of previous caesarean
      section (OR, 7.72 [95% CI, 2.43-24.43]) or previous vaginal delivery (OR, 0.24
      [95% CI, 0.09-0.58]) were the only variables with predictive capacity for
      caesarean section in our model. The mean cost of labour induction was ?3465.56
      (95% confidence interval [CI], 3339.53-3591.58). Unfavourable Bishop scores upon
      admission and no history of previous deliveries significantly increased the cost
      of labour induction. Both of these criteria significantly predicted the
      likelihood of a caesarean section in the decision tree analysis. CONCLUSION: The
      cost of labour induction mostly depends on the likelihood of successful trial of
      labour. Combined use of the Bishop score and previous vaginal or caesarean
      deliveries improves the ability to predict the likelihood of a caesarean section
      and the economic costs associated with labour induction for late-term
      pregnancies. This information is useful for patient counselling.

PMID- 28600036
TI  - Effects of liver depression and psychological stress on human uterine leiomyoma
      cells by an AR-cAMP-PKA signal transduction pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Based on the emotional theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and
      combined with the modern medicine theory of psychological stress, a research
      model of human uterine leiomyoma cells (ULM) was cultured in vitro to determine
      the effectiveness of adrenergic receptor (AR) agonists in human ULM cell growth.
      In addition, we studied the functional influence of "liver depression and
      psychological stress theory" on fibroid formation by intervening in the AR-cAMP
      PKA signaling pathway. The intention was to establish a new method to prevent and
      cure fibroids through "liver depression and psychological stress theory" and
      provide an experimental basis for the Traditional Chinese Medicine emotional
      theory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Primary human ULM cells were enriched by
      collagenase digestion. Immunohistochemistry and hematoxylin and eosin (HE)
      staining were used for cytological identification. Using this model, we studied
      intervention using specific AR agonists on ULM cells to observe the influence of
      "liver depression and psychological stress theory" on estrogen receptor (ER),
      progesterone receptor (PR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and
      fibroblast growth factors (FGF). RESULTS: Norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E)
      are adrenergic receptor agonists. They promoted ULM cell proliferation and
      increased the levels of ER, PR, VEGF and FGF. In contrast, isoproterenol (ISO)
      inhibited ULM cell proliferation and decreased the levels of ER, PR, VEGF and
      FGF. The protein expression of cAMP and PKA in ULM cells was reduced and the
      levels of ER, PR, VEGF and FGF were increased when co-treatment with the alpha-AR
      blocker (phentolamine). The beta-AR blocker (metoprolol) displayed an opposite
      effect. CONCLUSIONS: AR agonists modulated ER, PR, VEGF and FGF levels in ULM
      cells in an AR-cAMP-PKA-dependent signaling pathways to influence fibroid
      occurrence and development.

PMID- 28600037
TI  - Continuous oral cyclophosphamide as salvage or maintenance therapy in ovarian,
      primary peritoneal, and fallopian tube cancers: A retrospective, single institute
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Most patients with recurrent ovarian cancer are treated with multiple
      regimens of intravenous salvage chemotherapy. These anticancer agents often cause
      severe toxicities and offset their therapeutic effects. The present study
      assessed the experience of a single institute regarding the safety and treatment
      outcomes of continuous oral cyclophosphamide in patients with ovarian, primary
      peritoneal, and fallopian tube cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      review was conducted on patients who received oral cyclophosphamide as salvage or
      maintenance therapy. All the patients had received platinum plus paclitaxel as
      the front line chemotherapy before being enrolled in the study. Oral
      cyclophosphamide 50 or 100 mg daily was administered. The response rate,
      progression-free survival, and side effects were evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty
      patients were eligible for analysis, and 18 patients (90%) initially had FIGO
      stage IIIC disease. Most patients were heavily pretreated with the median number
      of previous chemotherapy regimens being 4 (range 1-8). Seventeen patients
      received oral cyclophosphamide as salvage therapy. Complete and partial responses
      were obtained in 3 and 2 patients, respectively. Five patients were classified as
      having stable disease. The median progression-free survival was 15 weeks (range 5
      60 weeks). Three patients received oral cyclophosphamide as maintenance therapy
      in the remission status. The remission duration was maintained for 18, 28, and 67
      weeks. Grade 2-3 myelosuppression was the only side effect. CONCLUSION:
      Continuous oral cyclophosphamide can be used as an alternative salvage therapy in
      recurrent ovarian cancer with an acceptable response rate and toxicity.
      Additional clinical trials are required to evaluate its efficacy as maintenance
      therapy.

PMID- 28600038
TI  - Potential differentiation of islet-like cells from pregnant cow-derived placental
      stem cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that destroys islet cells and
      results in insufficient insulin secretion by pancreatic beta-cells. Islet
      transplantation from donors is an approach used for treating patients with
      diabetes; however, this therapy is difficult to implement because of the lack of
      donors. Nevertheless, several stem cells have the potential to differentiate from
      islet-like cells and enable insulin secretion for treating diabetes in animal
      models. For example, placenta is considered a waste material and can be harvested
      noninvasively during delivery without ethical or moral concerns. To date, the
      differentiation of islet-like cells from cow-derived placental stem cells (CPSCs)
      has yet to be demonstrated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The investigation of potential
      differentiation of islet-like cells from CPSCs was conducted by supplementation
      with nicotinamide, exendin-4, glucose, and poly-d-lysine and was detected through
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, dithizone staining, and
      immunocytochemical methods. RESULTS: Our results indicated that CPSCs are
      established and express mesenchymal stem cell surface antigen markers, such as
      CD73, CD166, beta-integrin, and Oct-4, but not hematopoietic stem cell surface
      antigen markers, such as CD45. After induction, the CPSCs successfully
      differentiated into islet-like cells. The CPSC-derived islet-like cells expressed
      islet cell development-related genes, such as insulin, glucagon, pax-4, Nkx6.1,
      pax-6, and Fox. Moreover, CPSC-derived islet-like cells can be stained with zinc
      ions, which are widely distributed in the islet cells and enable insulin
      secretion. CONCLUSION: Altogether, islet-like cells have the potential to be
      differentiated from CPSCs without gene manipulation, and can be used in diabetic
      animal models in the future for preclinical and drug testing trial
      investigations.

PMID- 28600039
TI  - Comparison of sequential vaginal and sublingual misoprostol after a vaginal
      loading dose for second-trimester abortion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of sequential vaginal and sublingual
      misoprostol after a vaginal loading dose for second-trimester abortion. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: From January 2006 to December 2011, 173 women received an 800-MUg
      vaginal loading dose of misoprostol. After the loading dose, 103 patients
      received 800 mg of misoprostol vaginally and 70 patients received 400 mg of
      misoprostol sublingually every 12 h until the delivery of the fetus. RESULTS: In
      the vaginal group, the average abortion time was 1.07 +/- 1.29 days; that was
      0.82 +/- 0.66 days in the sublingual group. Sequential sublingual misoprostol
      after a vaginal loading dose of 800 mg with an administration interval of 12 h
      had a similar abortion rate and time to abortion. In addition, this protocol
      reduced unnecessary digital pelvic examinations and speculum examinations.
      CONCLUSION: This sequential sublingual misoprostol regimen might be a suitable
      regimen for mid-trimester abortion.

PMID- 28600040
TI  - Anti-N-Methyl-d-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis during pregnancy:
      Clinical analysis of reported cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical features of 13 pregnant patients with anti-N
      Methyl-d-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Retrospective review of thirteen reported cases was conducted for anti-NMDAR
      encephalitis patients during pregnancy. The clinical data were collected from
      papers published in PubMed prior to 16 February 2016. Statistical analysis of the
      data was performed, which encompasses the patients' age, past medical history,
      onset of symptoms, concomitant with ovarian teratomas, immunotherapy, outcomes of
      mothers and newborns. RESULTS: Thirteen cases were reported in 11 articles with a
      median age of 23 (interquartile range, 19-27) years old. There were eight cases
      in which the onset periods of gestation happened in the first trimester and five
      cases in the second trimester. Among 13 cases, five patients had a past medical
      history, one concomitant with autoimmune Graves' hyperthyroidism, one with
      bilateral ovarian teratomas removed history, one with anti-NMDAR encephalitis
      five years before pregnancy and two with psychiatric symptoms. Five patients were
      found with ovarian teratomas. Seven patients responded to first-line
      immunotherapy whereas all of two patients responded to second-line immunotherapy
      when the first-line immunotherapy failed. Following up all the 13 patients, most
      experienced a substantial recovery, except one had spasticity and dystonia in one
      hand, and one died of a superimposed infection. Three fetuses were miscarried or
      aborted in total. Most newborns were healthy, except two cases (2/10) with
      abnormal neurologic signs. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical analysis of the data indicates
      that most patients respond to first-line immunotherapy. A second-line
      immunotherapy is effective when first-line immunotherapy fails. It has also been
      found that most mothers and newborns can have good outcomes.

PMID- 28600041
TI  - Lessons from the MOHW compensation pilot program on birth incidents: First step
      and looking forward.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In Taiwan, the number of medical disputes and litigation has increased
      dramatically over the past 20 years. The seriousness of medical disputes
      continuing grows in clinical practice, especially in obstetricians. This study
      provided a possible solution to the medical dispute litigation issue. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) compensation program for
      birth incidents has been implemented since 2012 and it provided pecuniary
      compensation for mothers, newborns, and fetuses who got injured or died in birth
      related medical incidents. We analyzed the amount and distribution of
      compensation, and assessed the effect of compensation on the number of medical
      dispute litigation. RESULTS: From 2012 to 2015, a total of 348 applications was
      received, 322 of which were examined by the committee. Among the examined cases,
      278 were approved for compensation. The total amount of compensation had reached
      266.16 million NTD (8.32 million USD). For the medical dispute litigation, a
      dramatic decrease in number was observed after the implementation of this
      compensation pilot program. CONCLUSION: Prompt compensation provided instant
      economic and spiritual support for patients and families. Pecuniary compensation
      could be an alternative choice of justice, which might encourage the injured to
      receive economic compensation, instead of filing a lawsuit against the physician
      or hospital institution. As a result, the number of dispute litigation has
      decreased. This indicates that the compensation program is an efficient way to
      improve medical dispute litigation difficulties.

PMID- 28600042
TI  - The effectiveness of clinical problem-based learning model of medico
      jurisprudence education on general law knowledge for Obstetrics/Gynecological
      interns.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The effective education method of medico-jurisprudence for medical
      students is unclear. The study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of
      problem-based learning (PBL) model teaching medico-jurisprudence in clinical
      setting on General Law Knowledge (GLK) for medical students. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Senior medical students attending either campus-based law curriculum or
      Obstetrics/Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) clinical setting morning meeting from February to
      July in 2015 were enrolled. A validated questionnaire comprising 45 questions
      were completed before and after the law education. RESULTS: The interns attending
      clinical setting small group improvisation medico-jurisprudence problem-based
      learning education had significantly better GLK scores than the GLK of students
      attending campus-based medical law education course after the period studied.
      CONCLUSION: PBL teaching model of medico-jurisprudence is an ideal alternative
      pedagogy model in medical law education curriculum.

PMID- 28600043
TI  - Placenta associated pregnancy complications in pregnancies complicated with
      placenta previa.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of our study was to examine the hypothesis that
      pregnancies complicated with placenta previa have an increased risk of placental
      insufficiency associated pregnancy complications (IUGR, preeclampsia, placental
      abruption and perinatal mortality). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study included all
      deliveries that occurred at Soroka University Medical Center (Beer Sheva, Israel)
      between January 1998 and December 2013. Of them 1,249 were complicated by
      placenta previa and represented our study group. A composite outcome was created
      to include conditions associated with placental insufficiency. It included
      hypertensive disorders (i.e. gestational hypertension, mild and severe
      preeclampsia, HELLP and eclampsia), small for gestational age neonates and
      placental abruption. RESULTS: Patients with pregnancy complicated by placenta
      previa had significantly different obstetrical characteristics including bad
      obstetric history (8% vs. 4%, p < 0.001), recurrent abortions (11% vs. 5%, p <
      0.001). Patients with placenta previa had higher rates of vaginal bleeding in the
      second half of pregnancy (3% vs. 0%, p < 0.001), gestational diabetes (8% vs.
      5.5%, p < 0.001), placental abruption (10% vs. 1%, p < 0.001), adherent placenta
      (4% vs. 0.5%, p < 0.001), preterm delivery (52% vs. 8%, p < 0.001), with a median
      gestational age of 36 vs. 39 weeks, p < 0.001. The composite outcome was
      significantly more prevalent in the placenta previa group (21% vs. 13%, p <
      0,001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated an increased rate of placental
      insufficiency associated complications in women with placenta previa. This is of
      clinical relevance and suggests that a careful surveillance for women with
      placenta previa may help in minimizing maternal, fetal and neonatal
      complications.

PMID- 28600044
TI  - Transvaginal endoscopic surgery-assisted versus conventional laparoscopic
      adnexectomy (TVEA vs. CLA): A propensity-matched study and literature review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) may be useful
      in gynecologic endoscopic surgery. This study evaluated the efficacy, safety, and
      perioperative outcomes of combined NOTES and vaginal approach, transvaginal
      endoscopic surgery-assisted adnexectomy (TVEA), for the surgical treatment of
      presumed benign ovarian tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records were reviewed for
      33 consecutive TVEA procedures performed between May 2011 and March 2014. Patient
      age, body mass index, parity, mass size, and mass bilaterality were used to
      select comparable patients who had undergone conventional laparoscopic
      adnexectomy (CLA). RESULTS: A total of 236 patients were included in this study
      (203 CLAs and 33 TVEAs). No cases switched to abdominal laparotomy. Operating
      time and length of postoperative stay were significantly longer in the CLA group
      than in the TVEA group, while total hospital charges were higher in the TVEA
      group (p < 0.001). There was no difference in febrile morbidity between the two
      groups; while the estimated blood loss was higher in the TVEA group, the EBL was
      <30 mL in both groups. CONCLUSION: TVEA can be safely performed for benign and
      large ovarian tumors. In addition, TVEA offers superior operative efficiency
      compared to CLA.

PMID- 28600045
TI  - The use of fibrin sealant (Tisseel) in laparoscopic excision of ovarian
      endometrioma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of Tisseel, a 2-component fibrin sealant agent for
      the control of minor bleeding and repair of the ovarian defect at the end of
      laparoscopic cystectomy (LC) of endometriomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From
      January 2011 to December 2015, an observational study of all patients who
      underwent LC of endometrioma using Tisseel (group A) was performed. The
      demographic and operative data, including age, body mass index, operative
      indications, operative time, estimated blood loss, complications, and
      postoperative hospital stay duration were recorded. A contemporary cohort of
      patients, who underwent LC of endometrioma without Tisseel (group B) was also
      retrospectively compared. RESULTS: A total of 274 patients were recruited in this
      study (53 LCs with Tisseel and 221 LCs without Tisseel, respectively). Complete
      hemostasis was achieved in all patients. The mean size of main mass was
      significantly larger in the group A than in the group B (7.8 +/- 2.4 cm vs. 7.0
      +/- 2.3 cm, p = 0.033) but the mean operating time, operative blood loss, febrile
      morbidity, and length of hospitalization were not significantly different between
      the two groups. CONCLUSION: This preliminary series demonstrated the use of
      Tisseel in LC of endometriomas without any bipolar coagulation and/or suturing of
      ovarian tissue is clinically safe and feasible.

PMID- 28600046
TI  - A 52-month follow-up on the transvaginal mesh surgery in vaginal cuff eversion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Transvaginal mesh anterior-posterior (TVM-AP) provides better cure
      rates in the surgical treatment of vaginal cuff eversion than anterior
      transvaginal mesh combined with sacrospinous ligament fixation (TVM-A). We
      determine the outcomes after TVM-A and TVM-AP surgeries in advanced vaginal cuff
      prolapse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The charts of 796 women who underwent pelvic
      organ prolapse (POP) surgery from July 2006 to January 2012 in Chang Gung
      Memorial Hospitals were reviewed. We included women who presented with advanced
      cuff eversion and treated with TVM surgery. Data were analysed after three years
      post-surgery. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic and perioperative
      data. The paired-samples t test was used for comparison of preoperative and
      postoperative continuous data. The outcomes measured were objective cure (POP-Q
      stage <= 1) and subjective cure (negative response to question 2 and 3 on POPDI
      6). RESULTS: A total of 97 patients was analysed. 61 patients had TVM-A and 36
      patients had TVM-AP insertion. Mean follow-up was 52 months. The objective cure
      rate for TVM-AP was significantly higher than TVM-A, 94.4% versus 80.3%. TVM-AP
      also showed a higher subjective cure rate (91.7%) though there was no significant
      difference from TVM-A (p = 0.260). The mesh extrusion rate was low at 3.1% with
      no major complications seen. In TVM-A the blood loss was lesser and the operation
      time was shorter. CONCLUSION: TVM-AP showed better objective cure rate than TVM-A
      at 52 months. However, TVM-A is less invasive in comparison with an acceptably
      good cure rates.

PMID- 28600047
TI  - Maternal outcome after conservative management of abnormally invasive placenta.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe our preliminary experience
      of the efficacy and safety of a conservative strategy for abnormally invasive
      placenta. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of eight pregnant women
      with abnormally invasive placenta (one with placenta previa accrete, three with
      placenta previa increta, and four with previa percreta) was performed. The
      diagnosis was made by prenatal ultrasonography, and was confirmed by operative
      and histopathological findings. Patients who desired future fertility or who had
      extensive diseases were selected as candidates after panel meeting. Conservative
      management after obtaining informed consent was defined by a primary cesarean
      delivery before 35 weeks of gestation with the abnormally adherent placenta left
      in situ, partially or totally. The primary outcome was successful uterine
      preservation. The secondary outcome was severe maternal morbidity including
      sepsis, coagulopathy, immediate or delayed hemorrhage bladder injury, and
      fistula. RESULTS: Among the eight patients, the mean age was 34 +/- 3 years
      (range, 30-40 years). All women had risk factors, such as placental previa,
      previous cesarean delivery and/or dilation & curettage, for abnormally invasive
      placenta. Seven women underwent planned cesarean delivery at the mean gestation
      age of 34 weeks (range, 31-37 weeks). One woman received hysterotomy at 18 weeks.
      In our series, the uterus was preserved in only two cases (25%), one who received
      hysterotomy at a relatively young gestational age and another who had mild
      disease. Mean maternal blood loss during primary cesarean delivery was 528 +/-
      499 ml (range, 100 ml-1,500 ml). Severe maternal morbidity was recorded in seven
      out of eight patients (87.5%). CONCLUSION: In this small series, we observed a
      low successful uterine preservation rate and a high maternal complication rate.
      We recommend that primary cesarean hysterectomy should be used as the treatment
      of choice for mild to severe abnormally invasive placenta. Conservative
      management should be reserved for women with a strong fertility desire and women
      with extensive disease that precludes primary hysterectomy due to surgical
      difficulty.

PMID- 28600048
TI  - First trimester maternal serum analytes and second trimester uterine artery
      Doppler in the prediction of preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether pregnancy-associated plasma
      protein-A (PAPP-A), free beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG), a
      disintegrin and metalloprotease 12 (ADAM12), and placenta protein 13 (PP13) in
      the first trimester, and uterine artery Doppler (UAD) in the second trimester,
      predict preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction (FGR). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Maternal serum levels of PAPP-A, free beta-hCG, ADAM12, and PP13 at 11-13+6 weeks
      of gestation and bilateral uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) at 22-24 weeks
      of gestation were measured in a nested case-control study within a prospective
      cohort. The serum analytes and Doppler measurements were compared for
      uncomplicated pregnancies and pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and FGR.
      The efficacy of biochemical and Doppler measurements for the prediction of
      preelampsia and FGR was investigated. RESULTS: Compared with gestational age
      matched controls (n = 200), the mean PAPP-A and ADAM12 were lower (P < 0.001, P <
      0.05) in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia (n = 462) and FGR (n = 350). The
      median uterine artery mean PI was higher (P < 0.001) in preeclampsia and FGR
      groups. However, the median free beta-hCG and PP13 were not significantly
      different from normal (P > 0.05). In screening for preeclampsia and FGR, assuming
      a fixed false positive rate (FPR) of 10%, the detection rates were 72% and 68%
      for a combination of PAPP-A, ADAM12, and UAD, respectively. CONCLUSION: First
      trimester PAPP-A and ADAM12 levels and second trimester uterine artery PI are
      associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The combination of biochemical
      markers and UAD improves the screening efficiency for the prediction of
      preeclampsia and FGR.

PMID- 28600049
TI  - Intravenous leiomyomatosis of the uterus: A clinicopathological analysis of nine
      cases and literature review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Intravenous/intravascular leiomyomatosis is characterized by
      intravenous proliferation of a histologically benign smooth muscle cell tumor
      mass that is non-tissue-invasive. Although benign, intravenous leiomyomatosis may
      cause remarkable systematic complications, presents significant diagnostic
      difficulties, and also is characterized by a relatively increased possibility of
      recurrence. We determine patients' characteristics, and recurrence and treatment
      of intravenous leiomyomatosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prognostic factors are
      analyzed with univariate analysis. Differences in categorical data are evaluated
      by the X2 test. A P value below 0.05 is regarded as indicating a significant
      difference. RESULTS: The data results accord with the widely held view that
      complete excision of intravenous leiomyomata achieves favorable prognoses
      regarding remission. The efficacy of using Gonadotropin releasing hormone
      agonists to prevent growth or recurrence of tumors in unresected or incompletely
      resected intravenous leiomyomatosis foci. CONCLUSION: If complete surgical
      resection is not possible, partial resection followed by hormone therapy using
      gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists is recommended, which in this study
      achieved the same favorable prognosis with regard to remission.

PMID- 28600050
TI  - Labor induction just after external cephalic version with epidural analgesia at
      term.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the benefits of external cephalic version (ECV) with
      epidural analgesia at term and labor induction just after the procedure.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study with patients
      who did not want trying a breech vaginal delivery and decided trying an ECV with
      epidural analgesia at term and wanted labor induction or cesarean section after
      the procedure. We present the results of 40 ECV with epidural analgesia at term
      and labor induction or cesarean section just after the ECV. RESULTS: ECV
      succeeded in 26 out of 40 (65%) patients. Among the 26 successful ECV, 6
      delivered by cesarean (23.1%). 20 patients delivered vaginally (76.9%; 50% of all
      patients). CONCLUSION: Considering that a high number of cesarean deliveries can
      be avoided, induction of labor after ECV with epidural analgesia at term can be
      considered after being discussed in selected patient.

PMID- 28600051
TI  - Histological component quantification for the evaluation of endometrial
      receptivity in women with natural cycles undergoing in vitro
      fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the value of the volumetric fraction of
      vascular endothelial cells (EnVF) for determining endometrial receptivity in
      women undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection
      (IVF/ICSI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of women undergoing IVF/ICSI
      between 2006 and 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. An endometrial biopsy was
      performed in the cycle prior to IVF/ICSI. EnVF was calculated from endometrial
      biopsy staining. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients who did not become pregnant, 8
      who had a miscarriage, and 21 with a clinical pregnancy were included. The three
      groups were similar with respect to infertility and IVF characteristics. An EnVF
      <=3.85 was associated with not becoming pregnant, an EnVF >5.29 with miscarriage,
      and a level between 3.86 and 5.29 was associated with clinical pregnancy (p =
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: EnVF examined in the prior cycle may be a marker of
      endometrial receptivity and predict the chance of pregnancy in women undergoing
      IVF/ICSI.

PMID- 28600052
TI  - Does exist a correlation between endometriosis and thrombophilic disorders? A
      pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: At present, there is growing evidence of the existence of a genetic
      predisposition in both thrombophilic disorders and endometriosis. The aim of our
      study was to evaluate for the first time the prevalence of some thrombophilic
      disorders in patients with endometriosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective study on 138 patients with endometriosis and 278 healthy control
      women. All women were subjected to a blood examination testing for thrombophilic
      screening and the variables examinated were: hyperhomocysteinemia, factor V
      Leiden and factor II prothrombin G20210A mutations in heterozygosis and
      homozigosis. RESULTS: A significant reduced prevalence (p < 0.05) of factor V
      Leiden mutation in endometriosis patients was found, whereas no significant
      differences (p = NS) for factor II and hyperhomocysteinemia were observed.
      CONCLUSION: Our preliminary data do not show any association between
      thrombophilic condition and endometriosis. Before assuming hormonal therapies, a
      thrombophilic plasmatic screening seems to be unnecessary in patients affected by
      endometriosis.

PMID- 28600053
TI  - Can biparietal diameter-to-femur length ratio be a useful sonographic marker for
      screening thanatophoric dysplasia since the first trimester? A literature review
      of case reports and a retrospective study based on 10,293 routine fetal biometry
      measurements.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine whether the biparietal
      diameter/femur length (BPD/FL) ratio can be used to detect thanatophoric
      dysplasia in the first trimester of pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four
      reported cases of thanatophoric dysplasia diagnosed based on ultrasonographic
      results with molecular or radiographic diagnosis were included. All sonographic
      measurement records were extracted and reviewed, and the BPD/FL ratio was
      calculated for each gestational week. In addition, 10,293 routine fetal biometry
      measurements from 1395 cases of patients without skeletal dysplasia were
      compared. RESULTS: The BPD/FL ratio in the control group decreased to less than 3
      prior to gestational week 13, and to less than 2 prior to week 18. Of the 27
      BPD/FL ratios obtained from 24 cases of thanatophoric dysplasia, none was in the
      control range. CONCLUSION: The BPD/FL ratio may be used to detect lethal skeletal
      dysplasias such as thanatophoric dysplasia since the first trimester.

PMID- 28600054
TI  - Prenatal treatment of severe fetal hemolytic disease due to anti-M
      alloimmunization by serial intrauterine transfusions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Fetal hemolytic disease is a common cause of fetal hydrops and fetal
      morbidity and mortality. Despite its relatively low frequency, the anti-M IgG
      antibody is one of the causes of severe fetal anemia and intrauterine death; only
      a few cases have been reported. CASE REPORT: This is a case of a pregnant woman
      with a history of three intrauterine deaths. A diagnosis of severe fetal anemia
      attributed to anti-M alloimmunization was confirmed in her fifth pregnancy. She
      came to our center for regular monitoring at the beginning of the pregnancy. Five
      intrauterine transfusions were performed to correct moderate to severe fetal
      anemia throughout her pregnancy. A male infant, delivered at the 36th gestational
      week received two transfusions after birth, and no neurologic abnormalities were
      observed until the child was 6 months of age. CONCLUSION: Anti-M alloimmunization
      is an important cause of severe fetal hemolytic disease. The characteristics of
      fetal hemolytic disease due to anti-M alloimmunization may be somewhat different
      from those of disease due to anti-D alloimmunization.

PMID- 28600055
TI  - Recurrent female adnexal tumor of probably Wolffian origin: A case report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Wolffian adnexal tumors (WATs) are rare, and metastasis is uncommon.
      We present the case of a 53-year-old female with a recurrent WAT. CASE REPORT:
      The patient presented with abdominal distension, and ultrasound revealed
      heterogeneous echoes (130 * 93 * 116 mm3) around the uterus and ascites. Her
      cancer antigen 125 (CA125) and CA19-9 levels were elevated. Hysterectomy,
      bilateral oophorectomy, and tumor resection were performed. The histopathological
      diagnosis was a WAT. Two years later, multiple abdominal and pelvic masses were
      found on ultrasonography and computed tomography. Laparotomy revealed nodules in
      the omentum, mesentery, and pelvic peritoneum. Resection of the pelvic masses and
      partial resection of the omentum were performed. Immunohistochemistry revealed
      that the lesions were inhibin A, calretinin, estrogen receptor, progesterone
      receptor, cluster of differentiation 99, and Pax2 positive. Despite postoperative
      chemotherapy, she developed liver and renal failure 2 months after surgery, and
      died of the disease. CONCLUSION: This case further suggests that WATs have
      malignant potential, and close follow-up is necessary.

PMID- 28600056
TI  - Molecular genetic characterization of a prenatally detected 1.484-Mb Xq13.3-q21.1
      duplication encompassing ATRX and a literature review of syndromic intellectual
      disability and congenital abnormalities in males with a duplication at Xq13.3
      q21.1.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present prenatal diagnosis of dup(X)(q13.3q21.1) in a male fetus
      and molecular genetic analysis in three generations and a literature review of
      syndromic intellectual disability and congenital abnormalities in males with a
      duplication at Xq13.3-q21.1. CASE REPORT: A 35-year-old, primigravid woman
      underwent amniocentesis at 18 weeks of gestation because of advanced maternal
      age. The woman and her mother were phenotypically normal, and there was no
      intellectual disability in the maternal family. Cytogenetic analysis of cultured
      amniocytes revealed a karyotype of 46,XY. Simultaneous array comparative genomic
      hybridization (aCGH) analysis on uncultured amniotic fluid incidentally detected
      a 1.484-Mb microduplication of Xq13.3-q21.1 encompassing ATRX. Subsequent aCGH
      analysis on fetal blood, maternal blood and grandmother's blood revealed the same
      1.484-Mb dup(X)(q13.3q21.1). Prenatal ultrasound findings were unremarkable with
      no growth restriction and no short stature. After genetic counseling of syndromic
      intellectual disability in males with ATRX duplication, the woman elected to
      terminate the pregnancy. The fetus postnatally manifested hypoplastic male
      external genitalia, clinodactyly, hypertelorism, midface hypoplasia, epicanthic
      folds and micrognathia. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous aCGH analysis on uncultured
      amniotic fluid in addition to conventional cytogenetics at amniocentesis is
      practical and may help in detecting unknown familial inheritance of subtle X
      chromosome aberrations.

PMID- 28600057
TI  - Molecular genetic characterization of a prenatally detected de novo interstitial
      deletion of chromosome 20p (20p12-p13) encompassing JAG1 and a literature review
      of prenatal diagnosis of Alagille syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present prenatal diagnosis and molecular genetic characterization
      of a de novo interstitial deletion of chromosome 20p (20p12-p13) and a literature
      review of prenatal diagnosis of Alagille syndrome (ALGS). CASE REPORT: A 33-year
      old woman underwent amniocentesis at 17 weeks of gestation because of an abnormal
      result of combined first-trimester screening. Her husband was 35 years old, and
      there was no family history of congenital malformations. Amniocentesis revealed a
      karyotype of 46,XY,del(20)(p12p13), and array comparative genomic hybridization
      analysis on uncultured amniocytes revealed a 3.749-Mb deletion at 20p13-p12.3 and
      a 1.84-Mb deletion at 20p12.2 encompassing the gene of JAG1. The parental
      karyotypes were normal. Prenatal ultrasound findings were unremarkable. The fetus
      postnatally manifested characteristic facial features of ALGS. Postnatal
      molecular cytogenetic analysis of fetal tissues confirmed the prenatal diagnosis.
      Polymorphic DNA marker analysis revealed a paternal origin of the deletion.
      CONCLUSION: A de novo interstitial 20p deletion can be caused by a paternal
      effect. Pregnancy with a fetus affected with ALGS may be associated with an
      abnormal result of combined first-trimester screening and manifest no detectable
      ultrasound abnormalities.

PMID- 28600058
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis and molecular cytogenetic characterization of mosaicism for a
      small supernumerary marker chromosome derived from chromosome 11.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present prenatal diagnosis and molecular cytogenetic
      characterization of a small supernumerary marker chromosome (sSMC) derived from
      chromosome 11. CASE REPORT: A 37-year-old, gravida 3, para 2, woman underwent
      amniocentesis at 17 weeks of gestation because of advanced maternal age.
      Amniocentesis revealed a karyotype of 47,XX,+mar[18]/46,XX[4]. The parental
      karyotypes were normal. Level II ultrasound findings were unremarkable. Array
      comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) on the DNA extracted from cultured
      amniocytes revealed no genomic imbalance. The sSMC was characterized by spectral
      karyotyping (SKY) using 24-color SKY probes and fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) using a whole chromosome paint (wcp) probe and a CEP11
      (D11Z1) probe. The result was 47,XX,+mar.ish(11)(SKY+, wcp11+,
      D11Z1+)[16]/46,XX[4], indicating that the sSMC was derived from chromosome 11. A
      healthy female baby was delivered at 37 weeks of gestation with no phenotypic
      abnormalities. The cord blood had a karyotype of 47,XX,+mar[32]/46,XX[8].
      Polymorphic DNA marker analysis of the blood excluded uniparental disomy 11. The
      female infant was normal in growth and psychomotor development during follow-ups
      at two months of age. CONCLUSION: aCGH, SKY and FISH are useful in prenatal
      diagnosis of an sSMC derived from the centromeric region of a non-acrocentric
      chromosome.

PMID- 28600059
TI  - Molecular genetic characterization of a prenatally detected de novo interstitial
      deletion of chromosome 2q (2q31.1-q32.1) encompassing HOXD13, ZNF385B and ZNF804A
      associated with syndactyly and increased first-trimester nuchal translucency.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present prenatal diagnosis and molecular genetic characterization
      of a de novo interstitial deletion of 2q (2q31.1-q32.1) and discuss the genotype
      phenotype correlation. CASE REPORT: A 34-year-old, primigravid woman was referred
      to the hospital at 20 weeks of gestation for genetic counseling because of a
      prenatally detected de novo interstitial deletion of chromosome 2q (2q31.1
      q32.1). She underwent amniocentesis at 17 weeks of gestation because of advanced
      maternal age and an increased first-trimester nuchal translucency (NT) thickness
      of 3.6 mm. Amniocentesis revealed a karyotype of 46,XY. However, array
      comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) analysis on the DNA extracted from
      uncultured amniotic fluid and amniocytes revealed a 13.29-Mb deletion at
      chromosome 2q31.3-q32.1. The parents did not have such a deletion. Prenatal
      ultrasound findings were unremarkable. After counseling of the genotype-phenotype
      correlation of such a chromosome aberration with congenital malformations, the
      parents elected to terminate the pregnancy. The fetus postnataly manifested
      hypertelorism and syndactyly of the second and third toes of bilateral feet.
      Cytogenetic analysis of the umbilical cord revealed a karyotype of
      46,XY,del(2)(q31q32). aCGH analysis on the DNA extracted from the cord blood
      confirmed a 13.35-Mb deletion of 2q31.1-q32.1 encompassing HOXD13, ZNF385B,
      ITGA4, CERKL, PDE1A, FRZB and ZNF804A. Polymorphic DNA marker analysis revealed a
      paternal origin of the deletion. CONCLUSION: Fetuses with an interstitial
      deletion of 2q31.1-q32.1 may be associated with increased first-trimester NT.
      Haploinsufficiency of HOXD13 is associated with syndactyly. Genomic microarray is
      useful in detecting subtle chromosomal abnormalities in fetuses with increased NT
      and normal karyotype.

PMID- 28600061
TI  - An intrauterine fetal death due to horizontal uterine synechia.

PMID- 28600060
TI  - Complete resolution of hydrops by placement of double basket catheter in a case
      of macrocystic type multilocular pulmonary sequestration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We presented a fetus affected by macrocystic lung lesions with
      progressive hydropic changes during the second trimester, but experienced
      remarkable resolution of hydrops in the third trimester after a series of in
      utero interventions. CASE REPORT: A 19-year-old women, G1P0, presented with fetal
      multilocular thoracic mass and hydropic change at 23+4 weeks of gestation. After
      non-directive genetic counseling, she opted for intrauterine cyst aspiration
      followed by intra-cystic OK-432 injection at 24 weeks of pregnancy, as well as
      sequential thoracoamniotic shunts at 26 weeks and 27+3 weeks of pregnancy when we
      observed hydrops developed progressively. Finally, the hydrops resolved in the
      third trimester and a healthy baby was born at 33+3 weeks of pregnancy, in which
      further surgical intervention was performed at five-month old. CONCLUSION:
      Thoracoamniotic shunting is a preferred option for all hydropic fetuses resulted
      from large macrocystic lung lesions to enhance perinatal survival rate.

PMID- 28600062
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of Joubert syndrome by ultrasound and magnetic resonance
      imaging - report of three cases.

PMID- 28600063
TI  - Molecular cytogenetic characterization of mosaicism for a small supernumerary
      marker chromosome derived from chromosome 7 in the male partner of a
      phenotypically normal couple with repeated spontaneous abortions.

PMID- 28600064
TI  - Pfeiffer syndrome with FGFR2 C342R mutation presenting extreme proptosis,
      craniosynostosis, hearing loss, ventriculomegaly, broad great toes and thumbs,
      maxillary hypoplasia, and laryngomalacia.

PMID- 28600065
TI  - Misoprostol during cesarean delivery: At which time and by which route?

PMID- 28600066
TI  - Reply to: Misoprostol during cesarean delivery: At which time and by which route?

PMID- 28600067
TI  - What should we understand when one mentions preoperative bowel preparation?

PMID- 28600068
TI  - The birth weight of vaginal birth after cesarean section.

PMID- 28600069
TI  - Kisspeptin and preeclampsia.

PMID- 28600070
TI  - Colorectal cancer screening: Recommendations for physicians and patients from the
      U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer.

PMID- 28600071
TI  - Synthetic antimicrobial peptides of the halictines family disturb the membrane
      integrity of Candida cells.
AB  - We compared the potency of four derivatives of the antimicrobial peptide
      halictine-2 against six Candida species. Observed activity was peptide and
      species specific. Halictines rapidly permeabilized cell membranes and caused the
      leakage of cytosolic components. Their killing potential was enhanced by the
      commercial antimicrobial agent octenidine dihydrochloride. The effect on C.
      glabrata cells did not depend on the activity of Cdr pumps, but was influenced by
      their lipid composition. The pre-treatment of cells with myriocin, an inhibitor
      of sphingolipid synthesis, enhanced the peptides' activity, whereas pre-treatment
      with terbinafine and fluconazole, inhibitors of sterol synthesis, significantly
      weakened their efficacy. The killing efficacy of peptides increased in
      combination with amphotericin B. Thus the mode of action of halictines is likely
      to depend on the plasma-membrane sterols, which might explain the observed
      differences among the tested Candida species.

PMID- 28600072
TI  - Colorectal Cancer Screening: Recommendations for Physicians and Patients From the
      U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - This document updates the colorectal cancer (CRC) screening recommendations of
      the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force of Colorectal Cancer (MSTF), which represents
      the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Gastroenterological
      Association, and The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. CRC
      screening tests are ranked in 3 tiers based on performance features, costs, and
      practical considerations. The first-tier tests are colonoscopy every 10 years and
      annual fecal immunochemical test (FIT). Colonoscopy and FIT are recommended as
      the cornerstones of screening regardless of how screening is offered. Thus, in a
      sequential approach based on colonoscopy offered first, FIT should be offered to
      patients who decline colonoscopy. Colonoscopy and FIT are recommended as tests of
      choice when multiple options are presented as alternatives. A risk-stratified
      approach is also appropriate, with FIT screening in populations with an estimated
      low prevalence of advanced neoplasia and colonoscopy screening in high prevalence
      populations. The second-tier tests include CT colonography every 5 years, the FIT
      fecal DNA test every 3 years, and flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 to 10 years.
      These tests are appropriate screening tests, but each has disadvantages relative
      to the tier 1 tests. Because of limited evidence and current obstacles to use,
      capsule colonoscopy every 5 years is a third-tier test. We suggest that the
      Septin9 serum assay (Epigenomics, Seattle, Wash) not be used for screening.
      Screening should begin at age 50 years in average-risk persons, except in African
      Americans in whom limited evidence supports screening at 45 years. CRC incidence
      is rising in persons under age 50, and thorough diagnostic evaluation of young
      persons with suspected colorectal bleeding is recommended. Discontinuation of
      screening should be considered when persons up to date with screening, who have
      prior negative screening (particularly colonoscopy), reach age 75 or have <10
      years of life expectancy. Persons without prior screening should be considered
      for screening up to age 85, depending on age and comorbidities. Persons with a
      family history of CRC or a documented advanced adenoma in a first-degree relative
      age <60 years or 2 first-degree relatives with these findings at any age are
      recommended to undergo screening by colonoscopy every 5 years, beginning 10 years
      before the age at diagnosis of the youngest affected relative or age 40,
      whichever is earlier. Persons with a single first-degree relative diagnosed at
      >=60 years with CRC or an advanced adenoma can be offered average-risk screening
      options beginning at age 40 years.

PMID- 28600073
TI  - Serum sodium correction rate and the outcome in severe hyponatremia.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: We investigated the serum sodium correction rate on length of
      hospitalization and survival rate, in severe chronic hyponatremic patients at the
      Emergency Department (ED). DESIGN: An observational study using clinical chart
      review. SETTING: The ED of the University Hospital of Marcianise, Caserta, Italy
      with approximately 30,000 patients visits a year. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: We
      reviewed sixty-seven patients with severe hyponatremia subdivided in 2 subgroups:
      group A consisting of 35 patients with serum sodium correction rate<0.3mmol/h and
      group B consisting of 32 patients with serum sodium correction rate between <0.5
      and >=0.3mmol/h. INTERVENTION: Emergency patients were evaluated for serum sodium
      correction rate for hyponatremia by clinical chart review. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: Severe hyponatremia was defined as a serum sodium level<120mmol/l. Mean
      serum sodium correction rate of hyponatremia was of 0.17+/-0.09% in group A and
      0.41+/-0.05% in group B (p<0.001 vs group A). The length of hospital stay was
      10.7+/-3.7days for group A, and it was significantly decreased to 3.8+/-0.4days
      for group B (p<0.005 vs group A). In addition we observed that correction rate of
      hyponatremia in group A was associated with a significantly lower survival rate
      (25%) in comparison to group B (60%) (p<0.001 vs group A). CONCLUSION: We
      observed that serum sodium correction rate >=0.3 and <0.5mmol/h was associated
      with a shorter length of hospital stay and a major survival rate.

PMID- 28600074
TI  - Cellular distribution and interaction between extended renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone system pathways in atheroma.
AB  - The importance of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in the
      development of atherosclerotic has been experimentally documented. In fact, RAAS
      components have been shown to be locally expressed in the arterial wall and to be
      differentially regulated during atherosclerotic lesion progression. RAAS
      transcripts and proteins were shown to be differentially expressed and to
      interact in the 3 main cells of atheroma: endothelial cells, vascular smooth
      muscle cells, and macrophages. This review describes the local expression and
      cellular distribution of extended RAAS components in the arterial wall and their
      differential regulation during atherosclerotic lesion development.

PMID- 28600075
TI  - Corrigendum to "Optic nerve sheath fenestration for idiopathic intracranial
      hypertension: A seven year review of visual outcomes in a tertiary centre" [Clin.
      Neurol. Neurosurg. 137 (October) (2015) 94-101].

PMID- 28600076
TI  - Contribution and limits of clinical specimens for the screening of intestinal
      multi-drug-resistant bacteria in view of laboratory automation.
AB  - The detection of multi-drug-resistant bacteria carriers constitutes a race
      against time for infection preventionists. Alongside standard analysis for
      diagnostic purposes and a rectal screening strategy, the authors tested a heavy
      loaded selective method against 562 clinical specimens from 439 patients to
      detect extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL) or carbapenemase
      producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).
      The approach identified five more specimens positive for ESBL-producing
      Enterobacteriaceae than standard analysis, and six out of nine known VRE/CPE
      carriers (three new CPE/VRE strains were also identified in this cohort). In view
      of the ongoing automation of laboratories, this approach focusing on urine and
      stool specimens may be an alternative or complementary approach to dedicated
      rectal screening.

PMID- 28600077
TI  - National Surgical Site Infection (SSI) surveillance: response to Jenks et al.

PMID- 28600078
TI  - Is overcrowding a barrier to hand hygiene and how can it be addressed?

PMID- 28600079
TI  - Synthesis, antiviral evaluation and molecular docking studies of N4-aryl
      substituted/unsubstituted thiosemicarbazones derived from 1-indanones as potent
      anti-bovine viral diarrhea virus agents.
AB  - A series of N4-arylsubstituted thiosemicarbazones derived from 1-indanones and a
      set of compounds lacking such substitution in the N4 position of the
      thiosemicarbazone moiety were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-bovine
      viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) activity. Among these, derivatives 2 and 15 displayed
      high activity (EC50=2.7+/-0.4 and 0.7+/-0.1uM, respectively) as inhibitors of
      BVDV replication. Novel key structural features related to the anti-BVDV activity
      were identified by structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis. In a previous
      study, the thiosemicarbazone of 5,6-dimethoxy-1-indanone (5,6-TSC) was
      characterized as a non-nucleoside inhibitor (NNI) of the BVDV RNA-dependent RNA
      polymerase. In the present work, cross-resistance assays were performed with the
      most active compounds. Such studies were carried out on 5,6-TSC resistant BVDV
      (BVDV-TSCr T1) carrying mutations in the viral polymerase. This BVDV mutant was
      also resistant to compound 15. Molecular docking studies and MM/PBSA calculations
      were performed to assess the most active derivatives at the 5,6-TSC viral
      polymerase binding site. The differences in the interaction pattern and the
      binding affinity of derivative 15 either to the wild type or BVDV-TSCr T1
      polymerase were key factors to define the mode of action of this compound.

PMID- 28600080
TI  - Novel pyridyl nitrofuranyl isoxazolines show antibacterial activity against
      multiple drug resistant Staphylococcus species.
AB  - A novel series of pyridyl nitrofuranyl isoxazolines were synthesized and
      evaluated for their antibacterial activity against multiple drug resistant (MDR)
      Staphylococcus strains. Compounds with piperazine linker between the pyridyl
      group and isoxazoline ring showed better activity when compared to compounds
      without the piperazine linker. 3-Pyridyl nitrofuranyl isoxazoline with a
      piperazine linker was found to be more active than corresponding 2-and 4-pyridyl
      analogues with MICs in the range of 4-32ug/mL against MDR Staphylococcus strains.
      The eukaryotic toxicity of the compounds was tested by MTT assay and were found
      to be non-toxic against both non-tumour lung fibroblast WI-38 and cervical cancer
      cell line HeLa. The most active pyridyl nitrofuranyl isoxazoline compound showed
      improved activity against a panel of Staphylococcus strains compared to
      nitrofuran group containing antibiotic nitrofurantoin.

PMID- 28600081
TI  - A daily skincare regimen with a unique ceramide and filaggrin formulation rapidly
      improves chronic xerosis, pruritus, and quality of life in older adults.
AB  - A skin care regimen which significantly improved atopic dermatitis and pruritus
      was evaluated for its efficacy and acceptability in senior subjects diagnosed
      with xerosis who also suffer from pruritus. This was an open-label, single-center
      study, designed to evaluate the daily use of a skin care regimen for 15 days.
      Assessments were made at baseline, day 8 and day 15 for visual skin dryness,
      transepidermal water loss (TEWL), hydration, desquamation, subject-perceived itch
      and quality of life (QoL). Twenty-five subjects, ages 60-73 years, had
      significantly improved skin visual dryness, hydration, desquamation, itch and QoL
      at days 8 and 15, relative to baseline (P < .05). TEWL was improved, though not
      significantly. Subjects expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the results.
      This regimen provides geriatric patients with an easily incorporated skin routine
      to help improve a common symptom of aging skin which negatively affects QoL.

PMID- 28600082
TI  - Regulation of pyruvate kinase in skeletal muscle of the freeze tolerant wood
      frog, Rana sylvatica.
AB  - The wood frog (Rana sylvatica) can survive the winter in a frozen state, in which
      the frog's tissues are also exposed to dehydration, ischemia, and anoxia.
      Critical to wood frog survival under these conditions is a global metabolic rate
      depression, the accumulation of glucose as a cryoprotectant, and a reliance on
      anaerobic glycolysis for energy production. Pyruvate kinase (PK) catalyzes the
      final reaction of aerobic glycolysis, generating pyruvate and ATP from
      phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and ADP. This study investigated the effect of each
      stress condition experienced by R. sylvatica during freezing, including
      dehydration and anoxia, on PK regulation. PK from muscle of frozen and dehydrated
      frogs exhibited a lower affinity for PEP (Km = 0.098 +/- 0.003 and Km = 0.092 +/-
      0.008) than PK from control and anoxic conditions (Km = 0.065 +/- 0.003 and Km =
      0.073 +/- 0.002). Immunoblotting showed greater serine phosphorylation on muscle
      PK from frozen and dehydrated frogs relative to control and anoxic states,
      suggesting a reversible phosphorylation regulatory mechanism for PK activity
      during freezing stress. Furthermore, PK from frozen animals exhibited greater
      stability under thermal and urea-induced denaturing conditions than PK from
      control animals. Phosphorylation of PK during freezing may contribute to
      mediating energy conservation and maintaining intracellular cryoprotectant
      levels, as well as increase enzyme stability during stress.

PMID- 28600083
TI  - Evaluation of clinical target volume expansion required for involved site neck
      radiotherapy for lymphoma to account for the absence of a pre-chemotherapy PET-CT
      in the radiotherapy treatment position.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Involved site radiotherapy clinical target volume (CTV)
      for lymphoma requires an expansion to account for the absence of radiotherapy
      treatment-position pre-chemotherapy imaging, which is not widely implemented.
      This prospective imaging study aims to quantify CTV expansion required for neck
      radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 10 patients from a prospective single centre
      imaging study underwent a pre-chemotherapy FDG-PET-CT in both the diagnostic and
      radiotherapy treatment position, and subsequently received neck radiotherapy post
      chemotherapy. CTVINRT and CTVdiagPET were delineated on the planning CT,
      following co-registration of the radiotherapy position PET-CT and side-by-side
      assessment of diagnostic PET-CT respectively. RESULTS: Intra-observer variability
      was limited, with delineation of CTVINRT highly reproducible and slightly lower
      for CTVdiagPET (mean DICE 0.88 and 0.8 respectively). Superiorly, CTVdiagPET
      varied by -10 to +15mm from CTVINRT. Inferiorly, CTVdiagPET varied by -18 to +6mm
      from CTVINRT. Comparing CTVINRT and CTVdiagPET in the axial plane, the mean DICE
      was 0.74. Mean sensitivity index was 0.75 (range 0.59-0.91), showing that on
      average 75% of the CTVINRT was encompassed by the CTVdiagPET. CONCLUSIONS: In the
      absence of treatment-position PET-CT, CTV expansion cranially and caudally by
      10mm and 18mm respectively, along with generous contouring in the axial plane,
      was required to encompass pre-chemotherapy disease.

PMID- 28600085
TI  - Invasive Hemodynamics of Myocardial Disease: Systolic and Diastolic Dysfunction
      (and Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy).
AB  - Heart failure is a clinical diagnosis that is supported by various laboratory,
      imaging, and invasive hemodynamic measures. There is no single diagnostic test. A
      variety of structural and/or functional myocardial abnormalities can lead to the
      inability of the heart to fill or eject blood. Despite ejection fraction being
      the most commonly assessed measure of systolic function in clinical practice, it
      is a poor measure of contractility because it is susceptible to loading
      conditions and chamber size. Invasive hemodynamic assessment remains of great
      importance in the evaluation of patients with myocardial disease or hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28600084
TI  - Modelling duodenum radiotherapy toxicity using cohort dose-volume-histogram data.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Gastro-intestinal toxicity is dose-limiting in abdominal
      radiotherapy and correlated with duodenum dose-volume parameters. We aimed to
      derive updated NTCP model parameters using published data and prospective
      radiotherapy quality-assured cohort data. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic
      search identified publications providing duodenum dose-volume histogram (DVH)
      statistics for clinical studies of conventionally-fractionated radiotherapy.
      Values for the Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) NTCP model were derived through sum
      squared-error minimisation and using leave-one-out cross-validation. Data were
      corrected for fraction size and weighted according to patient numbers, and the
      model refined using individual patient DVH data for two further cohorts from
      prospective clinical trials. RESULTS: Six studies with published DVH data were
      utilised, and with individual patient data included outcomes for 531 patients in
      total (median follow-up 16months). Observed gastro-intestinal toxicity rates
      ranged from 0% to 14% (median 8%). LKB parameter values for unconstrained fit to
      published data were: n=0.070, m=0.46, TD50(1) [Gy]=183.8, while the values for
      the model incorporating the individual patient data were n=0.193, m=0.51, TD50(1)
      [Gy]=299.1. CONCLUSIONS: LKB parameters derived using published data are shown to
      be consistent to those previously obtained using individual patient data,
      supporting a small volume-effect and dependence on exposure to high threshold
      dose.

PMID- 28600086
TI  - Invasive Hemodynamics of Pericardial Disease.
AB  - Pericardial diseases can be classified broadly as 3 entities: acute pericarditis,
      cardiac tamponade, and constrictive pericarditis. These disorders can be
      diagnosed and managed with noninvasive studies following a comprehensive history
      and physical examination, without the need for cardiac catheterization in most
      patients. Despite the advances in noninvasive cardiac imaging, there are
      limitations to their diagnostic accuracy. The invasive hemodynamic study offers
      the advantage of simultaneous, direct pressure measurement across multiple
      chambers, with direct examination of blood flow. Herein, the authors review the
      techniques for obtaining and interpreting invasive hemodynamic data in patients
      with suspected pericardial disease.

PMID- 28600087
TI  - Invasive Hemodynamics of Valvular Heart Disease.
AB  - In the current era, diagnosis and follow-up of valvular heart disease is
      performed noninvasively using echocardiography. In some cases, the results of
      echocardiographic evaluation are inconclusive or discrepant with the patient's
      clinical symptoms. In such cases, a well-planned and executed cardiac
      catheterization is invaluable to clarify the clinical dilemma and assist in
      planning further management. This article reviews the indications, technique, and
      interpretation of cardiac catheterization in the setting of valvular stenosis and
      regurgitation.

PMID- 28600088
TI  - Invasive Hemodynamics of Pulmonary Disease and the Right Ventricle.
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension (PH) falls into 5 groups, as defined by the World Health
      Organization. Swan-Ganz catheters determine precapillary versus postcapillary PH.
      The hemodynamic values of PH at rest and with vasodilatory challenge categorize
      the etiology of PH and guide treatment. RV maladaptations to increased pulmonary
      vascular resistance (PVR) and the chronicity of the right ventricle's (RV)
      response to increased PH and/or increased PVR can be understood with pressure
      volume (PV) loops constructed with use of conductance catheters. These PV loops
      demonstrate the RV's ability to increase stroke volume in acutely and chronically
      increased PVR.

PMID- 28600089
TI  - Invasive Hemodynamics of Adult Congenital Heart Disease: From Shunts to
      Coarctation.
AB  - Adults with congenital heart disease are a growing population with increasingly
      more complex disease, in large part due to improvements in delivery of care to
      the pediatric population. Cardiac catheterization is an integral component of
      diagnosis and management in these patients. Careful attention to detail and a
      thorough understanding of intracardiac hemodynamics are critical to performing
      complete diagnostic evaluations. This article outlines the most commonly
      encountered lesions with guidelines for invasive assessment to help guide further
      therapy.

PMID- 28600090
TI  - Hemodynamics of Cardiogenic Shock.
AB  - Cardiogenic shock (CS) represents an advanced state of morbidity along the
      pathophysiologic pathway of end-organ hypoperfusion caused by reduced cardiac
      output and blood pressure. Acute coronary syndromes remain the most common cause
      of CS. The spectrum of hypoperfusion states caused by low cardiac output ranges
      from pre-CS to refractory CS and can be characterized by an array of hemodynamic
      parameters. This review provides the foundation for a hemodynamic understanding
      of CS including the use of hemodynamic monitoring for diagnosis and treatment,
      the cardiac and vascular determinants of CS, and a hemodynamic approach to risk
      stratification and management of CS.

PMID- 28600091
TI  - Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and MitraClip to Reverse Heart Failure.
AB  - Valvular heart diseases such as aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation are
      often associated with heart failure, which in turn increases patients' Surgical
      Thoracic Society (STS) score. A high STS score means the patient is high risk for
      surgical aortic valve replacement and mitral valve repair/replacement.
      Transcatheter aortic valve replacement and percutaneous mitral valve repair offer
      a minimally invasive alternative for the treatment of valvular heart disease in
      patients with severe heart failure. We aim to review the current evidence on the
      safety, efficacy, and outcomes of these devices in patients with severe heart
      failure.

PMID- 28600092
TI  - Mechanical Circulatory Support in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure and Shock.
AB  - An array of interventional therapeutics is available in the modern era, with uses
      depending on acute or chronic situations. This article focuses on support in
      acute decompensated heart failure and cardiogenic shock, including intra-aortic
      balloon pumps, continuous aortic flow augmentation, and extra-corporeal membrane
      oxygenation.

PMID- 28600093
TI  - Multivessel Revascularization in Shock and High-Risk Percutaneous Coronary
      Intervention.
AB  - This review explores the usefulness of multivessel revascularization with
      percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with multivessel obstructive
      coronary artery disease (CAD) presenting with and without cardiogenic shock. We
      also evaluate the literature regarding complete versus incomplete
      revascularization for patients with cardiogenic shock, acute coronary syndromes,
      and stable coronary artery disease.

PMID- 28600094
TI  - Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy for Heart Failure.
AB  - Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has emerged as a valued nonpharmacologic
      therapy in patients with heart failure, reduced ejection fraction (EF), and
      ventricular dyssynchrony manifest as left bundle branch block. The mechanisms of
      benefit include remodeling of the left ventricle leading to decreased dimensions
      and increased EF, as well as a decrease in the severity of mitral regurgitation.
      This article reviews the rationale, effects, and indications for CRT, and
      discusses the patient characteristics that predict response and considerations
      for nonresponders.

PMID- 28600095
TI  - Adult Congenital Interventions in Heart Failure.
AB  - Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, occurring in
      approximately 0.8% to 1.0% of neonates. Advances in medical and surgical
      therapies for children with CHD have resulted in a growing population of patients
      reaching adulthood, with survival rates exceeding 85%. Many of these patients,
      especially if managed inappropriately, face the prospect of future complications
      including heart failure and premature death. For adults with uncorrected or
      previously palliated CHD, percutaneous therapies have become the primary
      treatment for many forms of CHD. In this article, we discuss the role of
      transcatheter interventions in the treatment of adults with CHD.

PMID- 28600096
TI  - Alcohol Septal Ablation to Reduce Heart Failure.
AB  - Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a commonly encountered inheritable cardiac
      disorder with variable phenotypic expression. Although most patients will have no
      or mild symptoms, 10% will develop heart failure symptoms refractory to medical
      management. This article discusses the mechanisms through which hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy induces heart failure and how alcohol septal ablation can reverse
      each of these mechanisms to lead to clinical improvement.

PMID- 28600097
TI  - Renal Denervation to Modify Hypertension and the Heart Failure State.
AB  - Sympathetic overactivation of renal afferent and efferent nerves have been
      implicated in the development and maintenance of several cardiovascular disease
      states, including resistant hypertension and heart failure with both reduced and
      preserved systolic function. With the development of minimally invasive catheter
      based techniques, percutaneous renal denervation has become a safe and effective
      method of attenuating sympathetic overactivation. Percutaneous renal denervation,
      therefore, has the potential to modify and treat hypertension and congestive
      heart failure. Although future randomized controlled studies are needed to
      definitively prove its efficacy, renal denervation has the potential to change
      the way we view and treat cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28600098
TI  - Prioritizing and Combining Therapies for Heart Failure in the Era of Mechanical
      Support Devices.
AB  - Technological advances have promoted challenges to prioritizing and combining
      therapies for heart failure. The concept of prioritization implies distinct but
      inextricably linked considerations. They may be viewed from pathophysiologic,
      clinical, and procedural perspectives, encompassing analysis of hemodynamic
      status, anatomic considerations, and technical challenges. It is essential to
      consider factors, including conduction disease, renal and pulmonary function,
      hematological derangements, and so forth. These considerations allow
      determination of clinical goals, which determine prioritization and
      interventional strategies. These considerations then facilitate goal setting for
      medical and interventional therapies as definitive/destination,
      preservation/salvage, stepwise, bridge, or palliation.

PMID- 28600100
TI  - Operationalizing Interventional Heart Failure: Adding Substance to the Concept.

PMID- 28600099
TI  - Integrating Interventional Cardiology and Heart Failure Management for
      Cardiogenic Shock.
AB  - Cardiogenic shock remains one of the most common causes of in-hospital death.
      Recent data have identified an overall increase in patient complexity, with
      cardiogenic shock in the setting of acute myocardial infarction. The use of
      percutaneous acute mechanical circulatory support (AMCS) has steadily grown in
      the past decade. Guidelines and consensus statements addressing proper patient
      selection, timing of AMCS implantation, device choice, and postimplantation
      protocol are appearing. The emerging role of interventional heart failure
      specialists within the heart team includes integration and understanding of
      advanced hemodynamic and cathether-based therapies, with the goal of improving
      outcomes.

PMID- 28600101
TI  - Non-cardiac factors for prediction of response to cardiac resynchronization
      therapy: The value of baseline, and of serial changes, in red cell distribution
      width.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated
      with poor outcome after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). However, whether
      baseline RDW, and its serial changes after CRT implant, have incremental
      prognostic value is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 148 consecutive patients
      (age, 68+/-9years; 122 men) undergoing CRT, RDW was assessed before and 3months
      after implant. Patients were categorized according to baseline RDW (<=14.5% vs
      >14.5%); and as "stable", "decreased", "increased", relative to post-implant
      changes. Primary end-point was a composite of death/HF hospitalization during
      follow-up (median 21months). A reduction in left ventricular (LV) end-systolic
      volume by >=15% at 6-month identified LV reverse remodeling. By multivariable
      logistic regression analysis "increased" (OR:0.22, 95%CI: 0.07-0.69, P=0.010) and
      "stable-high" RDW at follow-up (OR: 0.39, 95%CI: 0.17-0.89, P=0.027) showed a
      lower likelihood to develop LV reverse remodeling, while baseline RDW was no
      longer predictive of LV remodeling. During follow-up, there were 57 events.
      Baseline RDW>14.5% (HR: 2.24, 95%CI: 1.05-4.77, P=0.036), "increased" (HR: 2.55,
      95% CI: 1.09-5.97, P=0.030) and "stable-high" RDW (HR: 2.95, 95% CI: 1.45-5.99,
      P=0.003) independently predicted outcome after adjusting for functional
      improvement after CRT, radial dyssynchrony, BNP, creatinine clearance, and left
      atrial volume index. However, integrated discrimination improvement and net
      reclassification improvement were not statistically significant when both
      baseline RDW and its changes were added to a base predictive model. CONCLUSION:
      Increased and stable-high values of RDW were independently associated with both
      LV reverse remodeling and outcome after CRT; however, RDW did not show any
      incremental predictive value.

PMID- 28600102
TI  - Physiologic mechanism of discordance between instantaneous wave-free ratio and
      fractional flow reserve: Insight from 13N-ammonium positron emission tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Invasive physiologic indices, such as fractional flow reserve (FFR)
      or instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), are used in clinical practice. We sought
      to evaluate the physiological mechanism of discordance between iFR and FFR using
      13N-ammonia positron emission tomography (PET)-derived quantitative parameters.
      METHODS: Data from 113 patients, who underwent both 13N-ammonia PET and invasive
      FFR and iFR measurement, were analyzed. Coronary circulatory indices, such as
      myocardial blood flow (MBF), coronary flow reserve (CFR), microvascular
      resistance, and trans-stenosis resistance were compared between patients with
      discordant results (low FFR despite high iFR) and those with concordant abnormal
      results (low FFR and low iFR), using cut-off values of FFR<=0.80 and iFR<0.90,
      respectively. RESULTS: Among the 113 patients, 39 (34.5%) showed concordant
      abnormal results in FFR and iFR measurement, and 17 (15.0%) showed discordant
      results between FFR and iFR (low FFR and high iFR). In comparison of coronary
      circulatory indices between discordant group and concordant abnormal group, both
      showed similar resting MBF (p=0.360), however, the discordant group showed higher
      hyperemic MBF and CFR, compared with the concordant abnormal group (p=0.003 and
      p<0.001, respectively). Trans-stenosis resistance was lower in the discordant
      group, in both resting and hyperemic status (p<0.001 for both). Although the
      discordant group showed higher resting microvascular resistance, these patients
      showed significantly higher reduction of microvascular resistance at hyperemia.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low FFR despite high iFR showed significant
      differences in microvascular resistance, trans-stenosis resistance, absolute MBF,
      and CFR compared to those with concordant abnormal results between FFR and iFR.

PMID- 28600103
TI  - Time-honored treatments for the initial management of acute coronary syndromes:
      Challenging the status quo.
AB  - Morphine, oxygen, and nitrates are time-honored therapies for the initial
      management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The traditional goal of these agents
      in ACS has been to (1) relieve symptoms, (2) prevent infarction or limit its
      size, and (3) improve outcomes, both acutely and during follow-up. Despite their
      ongoing use in routine ACS care, nitrates, morphine, and oxygen have no evidence
      of clinical outcomes benefit from randomized trials. Furthermore, emerging data
      have recently suggested that, in certain situations, morphine and oxygen may
      actually be associated with harm in the setting of ACS. In this review article,
      we thoroughly examine updated evidence for each of these acute-phase ACS agents
      with respect to their individual risks and benefits. We review guideline
      recommendations for these therapies and outline future directions for their use
      in clinical practice.

PMID- 28600104
TI  - Polarization microscopy imaging for the identification of unfertilized oocytes
      after short-term insemination.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a unique approach using polarization microscopy (PM) to
      determine whether the presence of a spindle can be used as an indicator
      associated with fertilization failure 5 hours after short-term insemination.
      DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Assisted reproduction center. PATIENT(S):
      Eighty-five patients undergoing short-term insemination. INTERVENTION(S): Oocytes
      imaged via PM at 4, 5, and 6 hours after standard insemination. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE(S): Spindle visualization and fertilization rate, with rescue
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) results determined by rates of normal
      fertilization, abnormal fertilization, and good-quality embryo formation.
      RESULT(S): After standard insemination, comparisons of spindle visualization at
      three time points indicated that the predictive accuracy rates were 84.30% at 5
      hours, 86.80% at 6 hours, and 62.20% at 4 hours, with the rates at 5 and 6 hours
      statistically significantly higher than at 4 hours. A spindle was present in 242
      of the 788 metaphase-II oocytes 5 hours after insemination, and there were 204
      failed fertilizations on day 1. The positive predictive value was 0.84. After
      rescue ICSI, the abnormal fertilization rate of the polar body group (assessed
      using the polar body visualization method) was statistically significantly higher
      than that of the PM group (assessed using the spindle visualization method) and
      the regular ICSI group (9.37%, 5.88%, and 4.87%, respectively). CONCLUSION(S):
      The presence of a spindle 5 hours after insemination in in vitro fertilization is
      an accurate indicator of unfertilized oocytes. Spindle imaging combined with
      rescue measures effectively prevents fertilization failure and decreases the
      polyspermy rate.

PMID- 28600105
TI  - Ovarian stimulation and risk of breast cancer in Swedish women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether ovarian stimulation for treating infertility is
      associated with the risk of breast cancer. DESIGN: Nationwide register-based
      cohort study. SETTING: Not applicable. PATIENT(S): In a cohort of 1,340,211 women
      who gave birth 1982-2012, we investigated the relationship between assisted
      reproductive technology (ART) and incidence of breast cancer. Associations
      between any ovarian stimulation since 2005 and breast cancer incidence were
      studied in a separate cohort of 1,877,140 women born 1960-92. Both cohorts were
      followed through 2012. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Hazard
      ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for breast cancer. RESULT(S):
      There was no increased risk of breast cancer in women who gave birth after ART
      compared with women who gave birth after spontaneous conception (adjusted HR,
      0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95). The incidence of breast cancer was not increased among
      women who received controlled ovarian stimulation or among women who received
      other hormonal fertility treatments since 2005, regardless of live birth
      (adjusted HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.69-1.07; and adjusted HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.60-1.05,
      respectively). CONCLUSION(S): No increased incidence of breast cancer was found
      among women who had gone through ovarian stimulations, including ART. These
      results are consistent with other studies and reassuring given the widespread and
      increasing use of ART.

PMID- 28600107
TI  - Remote Collection of Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Outpatient Hand Surgery:
      A Randomized Trial of Telephone, Mail, and E-Mail.
AB  - PURPOSE: Obtaining remote patient-reported outcomes (PRO) is limited by low
      patient response rates and resource-intensive collection methods. We hypothesized
      that an e-mail-delivered Web-based data collection tool would outperform the
      traditional methods of telephone and standard mail for collecting long-term
      Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) scores at a minimum of 1 year following
      carpal tunnel release (CTR). METHODS: We conducted a randomized trial of 969
      patients who underwent CTR at a tertiary medical center within the past 5 years.
      Participants were randomized to the PRO collection methods of mail, telephone,
      and e-mail. The primary outcome was survey response rate at 1 year after surgery.
      Secondary analyses included data completeness and the effect of time from
      surgery, mode effects, and patient modality preference. RESULTS: At 1 year from
      surgery, the response rates were 64% for telephone and 42% for both mail and e
      mail. Ninety-nine percent of telephone surveys were complete compared with 88%
      and 83% for mail and e-mail, respectively. There was no significant difference in
      the overall response rate at 1 or 5 years after surgery, nor in the BCTQ score
      between the modalities. CONCLUSIONS: A higher response rate and increased survey
      completeness was achieved by telephone contact methods compared with standard
      mailings or Web-based methods for PRO collection after CTR 1 to 5 years after
      surgery. A Web-based method demonstrated response rates equivalent to those of
      standard mail, was the most preferred modality, and offered logistical advantages
      such as automation and immediate integration with outcome databases. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Obtaining PRO routinely after treatment may increase in importance. A
      Web-based interface may assist clinicians in decreasing the resource utilization
      typically associated with more traditional methods used to obtain outcome data.

PMID- 28600108
TI  - Comparative Incidence of Patellofemoral Complications Between 2 Total Knee
      Arthroplasty Systems in a Multicenter, Prospective Clinical Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cumulative incidence rates (CIRs) of patellofemoral complications
      (PCCs) and patellofemoral symptomatic crepitus (SC) using a new knee system-total
      knee arthroplasty (NEW-TKA) were compared with those of a currently available
      product-total knee arthroplasty (CA-TKA). METHODS: Twenty-two investigators
      prospectively enrolled 704 patients into a study using CA-TKA; 364 received a
      posterior-stabilized configuration. Twenty-three investigators (19 from the CA
      TKA study) enrolled 1138 patients with NEW-TKA; 584 received a posterior
      stabilized configuration. CIRs were estimated with Kaplan-Meier methods. RESULTS:
      CA-TKA had 32 PCCs (6.15% CIR at 1 year and 8.26% at 2 years). NEW-TKA had 19
      PCCs (3.15% CIR at 1 year and 4.11% at 2 years). CA-TKA had 15 SCs, 12 before 2
      years (CIR = 3.67%); NEW-TKA had 5 SCs before 2 years (CIR = 1.21%). NEW-TKA had
      a statistically lower CIR of overall PCC and SC (log-rank P values = .018 for PCC
      and .017 for SC). CONCLUSION: Interim 1- and 2-year CIRs of PCC and SC in NEW-TKA
      were less than half of those for CA-TKA, which is a promising trend for this new
      implant.

PMID- 28600106
TI  - Genetic analysis of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome in a large cohort of
      families.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the genetic cause of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome
      (MRKH). Although a few candidate genes and genomic domains for have been reported
      for MRKH, the genetic underpinnings remain largely unknown. Some of the top
      candidate genes are WNT4, HNF1B, and LHX1. The goals of this study were to: 1)
      determine the prevalence of WNT4, HNF1B, and LHX1 point mutations, as well as new
      copy number variants (CNVs) in people with MRKH; and 2) identify and characterize
      MRKH cohorts. DESIGN: Laboratory- and community-based study. SETTING: Academic
      medical centers. PATIENT(S): A total of 147 MRKH probands and available family
      members. INTERVENTIONS(S): DNA sequencing of WNT4, HNF1B, and LHX1 in 100 MRKH
      patients, chromosomal microarray analysis in 31 North American MRKH patients, and
      characterization and sample collection of 147 North American and Turkish MRKH
      probands and their families. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): DNA sequence variants and
      CNVs; pedigree structural analysis. RESULT(S): We report finding CNVs in 6/31
      people (~19%) with MRKH, but no point mutations or small indels in WNT4, HNF1B,
      or LHX1 in 100 MRKH patients. Our MRKH families included 43 quads, 26 trios, and
      30 duos. Of our MRKH probands, 87/147 (59%) had MRKH type 1 and 60/147 (41%) had
      type 2 with additional anomalies. CONCLUSION(S): Although the prevalence of WNT4,
      HNF1B, and LHX1 point mutations is low in people with MRKH, the prevalence of
      CNVs was ~19%. Further analysis of our large familial cohort of patients will
      facilitate gene discovery to better understand the complex etiology of MRKH.

PMID- 28600109
TI  - The cardio-respiratory effects of intra-abdominal hypertension: Considerations
      for critical care nursing practice.
AB  - Intra-abdominal hypertension can be classified as either primary or secondary.
      Primary intra-abdominal hypertension is often associated through trauma or
      diseases of the abdominopelvic region such as pancreatitis or abdominal surgery,
      while secondary intra-abdominal hypertension is the result of extra-abdominal
      causes such as sepsis or burns. The critically ill patient offers some challenges
      in monitoring in particular secondary intra-abdominal hypertension because of the
      effects of fluid resuscitation, the use of inotropes and positive pressure
      ventilation. Recent work suggests that intensive care unit nurses are often
      unaware of the secondary effects of intra-abdominal pressure and therefore this
      is not monitored effectively. Therefore being aware of the cardio-respiratory
      effects may alert theintensive care nurse nurse to the development of intra
      abdominal hypertension. The aim of this paper is to discuss the pathophysiology
      associated with the cardio-respiratory effects seen with intra-abdominal
      hypertension in the critically ill. In particular it will discuss how intra
      abdominal hypertension can inadvertently be overlooked because of the low flow
      states that it produces which could be misconstrued as something else. It will
      also discuss how intra-abdominal hypertension impedes ventilation and respiratory
      mechanics which can often result in a non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema. To close,
      the paper will offer some implications for critical care nursing practice.

PMID- 28600111
TI  - Do active video games benefit the motor skill development of non-typically
      developing children and adolescents: A systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The use of interactive video gaming, known as 'exergames' or 'active
      video games (AVG)' may provide an opportunity for motor skill development. Youth
      with non-typical patterns of development may have deficits in gross motor skill
      capacities and are therefore an intervention target. The aim was to determine the
      effectiveness of AVG use on motor skill development in non-typically developing
      children and adolescents. DESIGN: Review article. METHODS: The PRISMA protocol
      was used to conduct a systematic review of EBSCOhost, Embase, Gale Cengage,
      Informit, Ovid, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases. A total of
      19 articles met inclusion criteria (non-typically developing participants such as
      those with a learning or developmental delay aged 3-18, use of an AVG console,
      assessed one or more gross motor skills). Studies were excluded if gross motor
      skill outcomes encompassed fine motor skills or reflected mobility related to
      daily living. RESULTS: Interventions included children and adolescents with eight
      different conditions. The Nintendo Wii was the most utilised gaming platform
      (14/19 studies). Studies examined a combination of skills, with most examining
      balance (15/19), five studies examining ball skills, and other gross motor skills
      such as coordination (3 studies), running (3 studies) and jumping (3 studies).
      There was strong evidence that AVG's improved balance. AVG's also appeared to
      benefit participants with Cerebral Palsy. CONCLUSIONS: AVG's could be a valuable
      tool to improve gross motor skills of non-typically developing children. There is
      scope for further exploration, particularly of ball, coordination and locomotor
      skills and varying platforms to draw more conclusive evaluations.

PMID- 28600112
TI  - The provision of medical care in English professional football: An update.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the current methods of appointment, qualifications and
      occupational experience of club doctors and physiotherapists in English
      professional football with (i) those outlined in a study published in 1999, and
      (ii) Football Association (FA) medical regulations. DESIGN: Qualitative. METHODS:
      Postal questionnaire survey of (head) doctors and physiotherapists at each of the
      clubs in the English Premiership, Championship and Football Leagues 1 and 2.
      Response rates of 35.8% and 45.6% respectively were obtained. RESULTS: The
      majority of football club doctors are GPs who have sports medicine qualifications
      and relevant occupational experience. Time commitments vary from full time to a
      few hours per week. Most are appointed through personal contacts rather than job
      advertisements and/or interview. Almost all football clubs have a chartered
      physiotherapist, many of whom have a postgraduate qualification. They work full
      time and long hours. Most are appointed through personal contacts rather than job
      advertisements. They are frequently interviewed but not always by someone
      qualified to judge their professional expertise. CONCLUSIONS: Football club
      medical provision has become more extensive and increasingly professional over
      the last 10-20years, with better qualified, more career-oriented and more
      formally contracted staff. It is likely that clinical autonomy has subsequently
      increased. However recruitment procedures still need to be improved, especially
      in relation to advertising vacancies, interviewing candidates, and including
      medical personnel on interview panels. In two aspects clubs appear not to be
      compliant with current FA medical regulations.

PMID- 28600110
TI  - RSPO2 suppresses colorectal cancer metastasis by counteracting the Wnt5a/Fzd7
      driven noncanonical Wnt pathway.
AB  - R-spondins play critical roles in development, stem cell survival, and
      tumorigenicity by modulating Wnt/beta-catenin signaling; however, the role of R
      spondins in noncanonical Wnt signaling regulation remains largely unknown. We
      demonstrate here that R-spondin 2 (RSPO2) has an inhibitory effect on colorectal
      cancer (CRC) cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. Reduced RSPO2 expression
      was associated with tumor metastasis and poor survival in CRC patients. The
      metastasis-suppressive activity of RSPO2 was independent of the Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway but dependent on the Fzd7-mediated noncanonical Wnt signaling
      pathway. The physical interaction of RSPO2 and Fzd7 increased the degradation of
      cell surface Fzd7 via ZNRF3-mediated ubiquitination, which led to the suppression
      of the downstream PKC/ERK signaling cascade. In late-stage metastatic cancer,
      Wnt5a promoted CRC cell migration by preventing degradation of Fzd7, and RSPO2
      antagonized Wnt5a-driven noncanonical Wnt signaling activation and tumor cell
      migration by blocking the binding of Wnt5a to the Fzd7 receptor. Our study
      reveals a novel RSPO2/Wnt5a-competing noncanonical Wnt signaling mechanism that
      regulates cellular migration and invasion, and our data suggest that secreted
      RSPO2 protein could serve as a potential therapy for Wnt5a/Fzd7-driven aggressive
      CRC tumors.

PMID- 28600114
TI  - Conversion of failed Roux-en-Y gastric bypass to biliopancreatic diversion with
      duodenal switch: outcomes of 9 case series.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Weight regain after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a
      frustrating long-term complication in some patients. Revision of RYGB to
      biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS) is an appealing option.
      There is a paucity of information in literature regarding this type of
      conversion. SETTING: Regional referral center and teaching hospital,
      Pennsylvania, United States; nonprofit. METHODS: Between 2013 and 2016, a
      retrospective chart review was performed on all our revision cases. Patients who
      underwent conversion from RYGB to BPD-DS were selected and analyzed. RESULTS:
      Conversion from RYGB to BPD-DS was performed on 9 patients (8 females, 1 male;
      mean age: 49.2+/-7.6 [36-61] years). The mean body mass index (BMI) before the
      initial RYGB was 54.2+/-14.2 (36.2-79) kg/m2. The lowest mean BMI reached before
      conversion was 33.9+/-6.2 (27.9-43.3) kg/m2 before it increased to 45.6+/-8.7
      (28.8-60.2) corresponding to excess weight loss (EWL) of 33.1%+/-17.7% (10.6%
      68.1%), before conversion. The average operative time was 402.6+/-65.8 (328-515)
      minutes for 1-stage conversions. No morbidities, reoperation, or readmission over
      30 days postoperatively were reported. No leaks or mortalities were identified.
      The mean duration of follow-up postconversion is 16.3+/-13.6 (3-42) months. After
      conversion surgery, the mean BMI was 35.8+/-8.2 (27.6-49.5) kg/m2, while mean EWL
      loss was 64.1%+/-18.8% (45.9%-88.7%). The BMI of the cohort decreased by a mean
      of 9.8+/-5.1 (0.5-16.8) and the EWL increased by 31%+/-23.1% (4%-76.6%).
      CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that conversion of failed RYGB to BPD-DS is
      laparoscopically or robotically safe and effective. A large cohort study with
      long-term follow-up is necessary to further assess the safety and efficacy of
      this method.

PMID- 28600113
TI  - Non-typhi Salmonella enterica urinary tract infections.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Non-typhi Salmonella enterica urinary tract infections (UTIs) are not
      frequent and rarely reported in the literature. We aimed to characterize clinical
      presentations and risk factors for the infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective study of non-typhi Salmonella enterica strains isolated
      from urine cytobacteriological examinations (UCBE) collected between January 1,
      1996 and October 30, 2014 and analyzed by the microbiology laboratories of the
      university hospitals of the western part of Ile-de-France and of Paris, France.
      RESULTS: Twenty UCBEs positive for non-typhi Salmonella enterica were analyzed.
      The sex ratio was 0.53 and the average age of patients was 57 years. Clinical
      presentations were acute pyelonephritis, acute cystitis, and prostatitis. Eight
      cases of bacteremia were identified. Diarrhea was observed in half of patients,
      either before the UTI or simultaneously. No patient required to be transferred to
      the intensive care unit. Immunodeficiency and/or diabetes were observed in eight
      patients. Three patients presented with a uropathy. Prescribed antibiotics were
      third generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones. The average treatment
      duration was 20 days. A spondylitis and a purulent pleurisy were observed and
      deemed related to the UTI. Patient outcome was always favorable following
      treatment prescription. CONCLUSION: Non-typhi Salmonella enterica UTIs are rare.
      They are mainly observed in elderly patients presenting with immunodeficiency or
      an underlying urological disorder.

PMID- 28600115
TI  - Examination of bariatric surgery Facebook support groups: a content analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Support following bariatric surgery is vital to ensure long-term
      postoperative success. Many individuals undergoing bariatric surgery are turning
      to online modalities, especially the popular social media platform Facebook, to
      access support groups and pages. Despite evidence suggesting that the majority of
      patients considering bariatric surgery are utilizing online groups, little is
      known about the actual content of these groups. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the
      present study was to conduct a content analysis of bariatric surgery support
      groups and pages on Facebook. SETTING: Online via Facebook, independent academic
      medical center, United States. METHODS: Data from bariatric surgery-related
      Facebook support groups and pages were extracted over a 1-month period in 2016.
      Salient content themes (e.g., progress posts, depression content, eating
      behaviors) were coded reliably (all kappa> .70). RESULTS: More than 6,800 posts
      and replies were coded. Results indicated that seeking recommendations (11%),
      providing information or recommendations (53%), commenting on changes since
      surgery (19%), and lending support to other members (32%) were the most common
      types of posts. Content surrounding anxiety, eating behaviors, depression, body
      image, weight bias, and alcohol was found less frequently. CONCLUSIONS: Online
      bariatric surgery groups can be used to receive support, celebrate physical and
      emotional accomplishments, provide anecdotal accounts of the "bariatric
      lifestyle" for preoperative patients, and comment on challenges with mental
      health and experiences of weight bias. Providers should become acquainted with
      the content commonly found in online groups and exercise caution in recommending
      these platforms to information-seeking patients.

PMID- 28600116
TI  - Features of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in severely obese children and
      adolescents undergoing sleeve gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an underrecognized co
      morbidity of obesity. The characteristic features and severity of NAFLD in severe
      childhood obesity remain unknown. OBJECTIVES: To investigate features of NAFLD in
      obese children and identify predictors of significant disease. SETTING: Academic
      center with a standardized pathway for pediatric bariatric surgery and a
      dedicated multidisciplinary team. DESIGN: This is a baseline cross-sectional
      analysis for a data set obtained from a prospective clinical outcome study that
      included severely obese children (<=14 yr of age) and adolescents (14-21 yr of
      age) who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy between March 2008 and March
      2015. Patients with syndromic obesity, history of alcohol intake, parenteral
      nutrition, liver disease, intake of medications that may affect NAFLD and weight,
      and insufficient tissue biopsy were excluded. Prevalence and features of
      nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and clinically significant liver fibrosis in
      different pediatric age groups and noninvasive predictors in severe childhood
      obesity were evaluated. RESULTS: The 296 patients in the study group (1:1 sex
      distribution) had a mean body mass index and age of 48.4+/-9.8 kg/m2 and 14.5+/
      3.6 years, respectively. According to histopathology assessment, 225 (76%)
      patients had NAFLD, of whom 118 patients (39.9% of the total cohort) had NASH.
      Additionally, 110 (37.2%) had clinically significant (stage 2+) fibrosis and 256
      (86.5%) had portal inflammation. Those with NASH were younger than those without
      NASH (P = .02; prevalence of NASH in children aged<=10 yr = 64.9%) and were more
      likely to be male (P = .003). Of children aged<=10 years, 60% had clinically
      significant fibrosis compared with 32% of older patients (P = .03). High-density
      lipoproteins, triglycerides, glycated hemoglobin, alanine transaminase, and
      systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were most predictive of fibrosis.
      For NASH, triglycerides, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance,
      glycated hemoglobin, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, and alanine
      transaminase were most predictive. CONCLUSIONS: In our setting, 65% of severely
      obese young children had NASH, and 60% had clinically significant liver fibrosis.
      Young age, male sex, and features of metabolic syndrome were significantly
      associated with NASH and liver fibrosis in severely obese pediatric patients.

PMID- 28600118
TI  - So Many Antihyperglycemics: How to Choose? A Practical Approach.
AB  - Guidelines from around the world have stressed the importance of glycemic control
      in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) to reduce the risk of
      developing complications. To achieve this goal, both lifestyle and pharmacologic
      therapies are available. There are 9 classes of antihyperglycemic therapies
      available in Canada and each class provides a different mechanism of action to
      address the pathophysiology of T2DM. Metformin remains the first choice for
      pharmacologic therapy. Thereafter, individualization is essential. If there is
      significant hyperglycemia at diagnosis, initial combination therapy should be
      considered. The choice of therapy after metformin depends on a number of factors
      with the first consideration being the presence or absence of cardiovascular
      disease. If present, an agent with proven cardiovascular benefit should be added.
      Otherwise, individualization should be based on desired glycemic lowering, risk
      of hypoglycemia, effect on weight, cardiovascular effects, other side effects and
      accessibility.

PMID- 28600117
TI  - Long-term effects of bariatric surgery in patients with obesity and chromosome 16
      p11.2 microdeletion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chromosome 16 p11.2 microdeletion is associated with early-onset
      obesity. Information is limited about the effect of bariatric surgery in patients
      with genetic obesity. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of bariatric surgery in
      obese patients with chromosome 16 p11.2 microdeletion. SETTING: Academic research
      institution. METHODS: The Swedish Obese Subjects study is a prospective study
      with 2010 participants receiving bariatric surgery. DNA was available for 1843
      participants. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification was used to
      identify 16 p11.2 microdeletion carriers. Follow-up time was 10 years. In
      carriers and noncarriers, follow-up rate was 86% and 82%, respectively, at 10
      years. RESULTS: Nine carriers of the chromosome 16 p11.2 microdeletion (9/1843,
      .49%) were found. At baseline, most risk factors were similar; however, carriers
      had higher body mass index (BMI), insulin levels, and systolic blood pressure
      compared to noncarriers. At the 1-year examination, the percent excess BMI lost
      (%EBMIL) in carriers and noncarriers was 71.9 and 62.2, respectively; P = .031
      (37.9 and 30.6 kg). This was followed by partial weight regain in both groups,
      and after 10 years %EBMIL was 25.5 and 41.5 (15.7 and 21.3 kg), respectively (P =
      .377). Changes in risk factors were similar in the carriers and noncarriers. Two
      carriers who had type 2 diabetes at baseline were both in remission at 2-year
      follow-up but relapsed at 10-year follow-up. Perceived health status was similar
      in carriers and noncarriers during follow-up (overall P = .198). CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite a small sample size, our results indicate that bariatric surgery is a
      treatment option for obese patients with chromosome 16 p11.2 microdeletion.

PMID- 28600119
TI  - Effects on Diabetes Medications, Weight and Glycated Hemoglobin Among Adult
      Patients With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: 6-Month Observations From a Full Meal
      Replacement, Low-Calorie Diet Weight Management Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A 6-month weight-management program with full meal replacement, low
      calorie diet (full MR-LCD) (900 kcal/day for 6 to 12 weeks) follows a protocol
      for patients with diabetes for decreasing or discontinuing weight-gaining
      diabetes medications first (Group WG) and then titrating weight-neutral
      medications (Group WN). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study (1992 to
      2009) of weight, glycemic control and diabetes medications changes in 317
      patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes who were taking medications. RESULTS:
      Group WG and Group WN were similar at baseline, except that glycated hemoglobin
      (A1C) levels were significantly lower in Group WN (7.5% vs. 6.6%; p<0.001). At 6
      months, both groups had lost 16% of their weight, and the decreases or
      discontinuations of medications were 92.1% sulfonureas, 86.5% insulins, 78.8%
      thiazolidinediones, 77.8% alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, 50% meglitinides, 33.3%
      dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and 32.8% metformin. At 6 months,
      compared with baseline, A1C levels improved in Group WG and Group WN (6-month A1C
      levels 6.7% and 5.8%, respectively; p<0.0001), and Group WN had significantly
      better A1C levels than Group WG. At 6 months, 30% of patients were no longer
      taking diabetes medications and had significantly better percentages of weight
      loss compared with those taking medications (18.6% vs. 16%; p=0.002); both groups
      had improved glycemic control at 6 months (A1C 6.0% vs. A1C 6.6%; NS).
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes taking medications, a
      full MR-LCD program appears to be safe and includes improvement in A1C levels. At
      6 months, the percentage of weight loss can be significantly better in patients
      who no longer require diabetes medications, and A1C levels are best controlled in
      patients who are on WN medications.

PMID- 28600120
TI  - Effects of cevimeline on excitability of parasympathetic preganglionic neurons in
      the superior salivatory nucleus of rats.
AB  - The superior salivatory nucleus (SSN) contains parasympathetic preganglionic
      neurons innervating the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands. Cevimeline,
      a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) agonist, is a sialogogue that
      possibly stimulates SSN neurons in addition to the salivary glands themselves
      because it can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In the present study, we
      examined immunoreactivities for mAChR subtypes in SSN neurons retrogradely
      labeled with a fluorescent tracer in neonatal rats. Additionally, we examined the
      effects of cevimeline in labeled SSN neurons of brainstem slices using a whole
      cell patch-clamp technique. Mainly M1 and M3 receptors were detected by
      immunohistochemical staining, with low-level detection of M4 and M5 receptors and
      absence of M2 receptors. Most (110 of 129) SSN neurons exhibited excitatory
      responses to application of cevimeline. In responding neurons, voltage-clamp
      recordings showed that 84% (101/120) of the neurons exhibited inward currents. In
      the neurons displaying inward currents, the effects of the mAChR antagonists were
      examined. A mixture of M1 and M3 receptor antagonists most effectively reduced
      the peak amplitude of inward currents, suggesting that the excitatory effects of
      cevimeline on SSN neurons were mainly mediated by M1 and M3 receptors. Current
      clamp recordings showed that application of cevimeline induced membrane
      depolarization (9/9 neurons). These results suggest that most SSN neurons are
      excited by cevimeline via M1 and M3 muscarinic receptors.

PMID- 28600121
TI  - Cryptotanshinone induces ROS-dependent autophagy in multidrug-resistant colon
      cancer cells.
AB  - The development of novel chemotherapeutic agents is highly desired for colon
      cancer treatment, in particular for the multidrug-resistant cancer types.
      Cryptotanshinone (CTS), an active quinoid diterpene isolated from Salvia
      miltiorrhiza Bunge, was previously reported to induce autophagy in various colon
      cancer cell lines. However, its mechanisms of action have not been fully
      understood. The current study aims to explore the mechanisms by which CTS induces
      autophagy in a multidrug-resistant human colon cancer cell line SW620 Ad300.
      Using MTT assay, CTS at 10 MUM exhibited no significant cytotoxicity on human
      normal colon fibroblasts CCD-18Co, but induced 45.67% and 48.35% cell death in
      SW620 and SW620 Ad300 cells, respectively. Further studies revealed that CTS
      induced weak apoptosis (9.37%) and significant caspase-independent cell death in
      SW620 Ad300 cells. In the same cell line, CTS also induced significant autophagy,
      which was found to promote cell death and to mediate the cytotoxicity of CTS in
      these multidrug-resistant cells. Moreover, activation of ROS-p38 MAPK-NF-kappaB
      signaling pathway was involved in autophagic cell death induced by CTS in SW620
      Ad300 cells. Interestingly, our results also demonstrated a complementary
      relationship between CTS-induced apoptosis and autophagic cell death in SW620
      Ad300 cells. Taken together, CTS induces autophagic cell death in SW620 Ad300
      cells via the ROS-p38 MAPK-NF-kappaB signaling pathway, and it might be a
      potential candidate as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of multidrug
      resistant colon cancer.

PMID- 28600122
TI  - Oxidative stress plays a key role in butyrate-mediated autophagy via Akt/mTOR
      pathway in hepatoma cells.
AB  - Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer,
      responsible for a number of deaths in humans. Butyrate, one of the short chain
      fatty acids produced by the gut microbiota during anaerobic fermentation, was
      shown to be beneficial for inhibiting cancer growth. In this study, we showed
      that sodium butyrate induced autophagy via reactive oxygen species (ROS) in
      hepatoma cells. Butyrate (0-6 mM) incubation significantly increased
      intracellular ROS levels (45.2% compared to control), which in turn inhibited
      phosphorylation of akt and mTOR, leading to the upregulation of autophagic
      proteins, such as beclin 1, ATG 5, LC3-II, followed by the increased
      autophagosome formation (34.4% compared to control cells). Addition of a known
      antioxidant, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), reversed these butyrate-induced ROS and
      autophagy. It was also found that butyrate-induced ROS enhanced MAPK activation,
      which was inhibited by NAC. In conclusion, our data showed that butyrate induced
      ROS, which in turn induced autophagy via inhibition of akt/mTOR pathway. Hence,
      butyrate could be considered as a potential candidate for HCC treatment.

PMID- 28600124
TI  - Editorial Comment: Is It Time to Take the "Sub" Out of Subsyndromal Depression?

PMID- 28600123
TI  - Multifunctional and Redundant Roles of Leptospira interrogans Proteins in
      Bacterial-Adhesion and fibrin clotting inhibition.
AB  - Pathogenic Leptopira is the etiological agent of leptospirosis, the most
      widespread zoonotic infection in the world. The disease represents a major public
      health problem, especially in tropical countries. The present work focused on two
      hypothetical proteins of unknown function, encoded by the genes LIC13059 and
      LIC10879, and predicted to be surface-exposed proteins. The genes were cloned and
      the proteins expressed using E. coli as a host system. We report that the
      recombinant proteins interacted with extracellular matrix (ECM) laminin, in a
      dose-dependent fashion and are novel potential adhesins. The recombinant proteins
      were called Lsa25.6 (rLIC13059) and Lsa16 (rLIC10879), for Leptospiral surface
      adhesins, followed by the respective molecular masses. The proteins attached to
      plasminogen (PLG), generating plasmin, in the presence of PLG-activator uPA. Both
      proteins bind to fibrinogen (Fg), but only Lsa25.6 inhibited fibrin clotting by
      thrombin-catalyzed reaction. Moreover, Lsa16 interacts with the mammalian cell
      receptor E-cadherin, and could contribute to bacterial attachment to epithelial
      cells. The proteins were recognized by confirmed leptospirosis serum samples,
      suggesting that they are expressed during infection. The corresponding
      leptospiral proteins are surface exposed based on proteinase K accessibility
      assay, being LIC10879 most probably exposed in its dimer form. The data of this
      study extend the spectrum of surface-exposed proteins of L. interrogans and
      indicate a possible role of the originally annotated hypothetical proteins in
      infection processes.

PMID- 28600125
TI  - Editorial Comment: Running Out of Time: Clock Copying as a Psychometric to
      Predict Mortality in Vulnerable Older Adults?

PMID- 28600126
TI  - Chemokine (CC-motif) receptor-like 2 mRNA is expressed in hepatic stellate cells
      and is positively associated with characteristics of non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis in mice and men.
AB  - Chemokine (CC-motif) receptor-like 2 (CCRL2) is a decoy receptor and regulates
      the local responses of the chemokine chemerin. Recently our group has shown that
      the functional chemerin receptor, chemokine-like receptor 1 (CMKLR1), correlates
      with fibrosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) score in males only. In
      our current study, we wanted to know whether CCRL2 shows similar correlations as
      CMKLR1. Therefore, we analyzed the hepatic expression of CCRL2 in murine NASH and
      in liver tissues obtained from 85 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
      (NAFLD) and 33 controls. CCRL2 mRNA was not significantly changed in murine and
      human NASH liver. CCRL2 mRNA levels were positively correlated with inflammation,
      fibrosis and NASH scores in the patients. Concordantly, CCRL2 was related to the
      mRNA levels of F4/80, transforming growth factor beta and alpha smooth muscle
      actin in murine NASH. In the human cohort, CCRL2 mRNA correlated with fibrosis
      score and CMKLR1 mRNA in both gender. CCRL2 mRNA was induced in the liver of type
      2 diabetes and hypercholesterolemic patients, but still positively correlated
      with fibrosis score when these patients were excluded from calculations. Human
      hepatic stellate cells (HSC), hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells and Kupffer
      cells (KC) express CCRL2 mRNA. TNF induces CCRL2 expression in HSC and
      lipopolysaccharide in KC suggesting that correlations identified in NAFLD
      patients are partly related to the activation of these cells.

PMID- 28600127
TI  - Detection and purification of backbone-cyclized proteins using a bacterially
      expressed anti-myc-tag single chain antibody.
AB  - A myc-tag and of which recognition by an antibody 9E10 has long been used for the
      detection and purification of recombinant proteins. We have previously expanded
      the application of the tag to the specific detection and purification of backbone
      cyclized proteins. Here we sought a more practical way to using the 9E10 antibody
      by expressing its single chain antibody (scAb) form in Escherichia coli. The
      combined use of a strong T7 promoter and auto-induction strategy rather than
      early to mid-log induction of a Lac promoter resulted in the soluble over
      expression of 9E10 scAb. However, the co-expression of a chaperone, Skp, was
      absolutely necessary for the activity even when the protein was expressed in a
      soluble manner. We could purify about 4 mg of 9E10 scAb from 1 l of culture, and
      the resulting scAb could be used to detect and purify the backbone-cyclized
      protein as the parental full-length 9E10. Moreover, the immunoaffinity resin
      prepared using 9E10 scAb could be regenerated several times after the elution of
      bound proteins using an acid, which added more value to the ready preparation of
      the active antibody in bacteria.

PMID- 28600128
TI  - Decellularized tongue tissue as an in vitro model for studying tongue cancer and
      tongue regeneration.
AB  - : The decellularization of tissues or organs provides an efficient strategy for
      preparing functional scaffolds for tissue engineering. The microstructures of
      native extracellular matrices and biochemical compositions retained in the
      decellularized matrices provide tissue-specific microenvironments for anchoring
      cells. Here, we report the tongue extracellular matrix (TEM), which showed
      favorable cytocompatibility for normal tongue-derived cells and tongue squamous
      cell carcinoma (TSCC) cells under static or stirring culture conditions. Our
      results show that TEM retained tongue-specific integrated microstructures and
      abundant matrix components, which offer mechanical support and spatial signals
      for regulating cell behavior and function. Reconstructed TSCC by TEM presented
      characteristics resembling clinical TSCC histopathology, suggesting the
      possibility for TSCC research. In addition, TEM might be capable of guiding
      tongue-derived cells to the niche, benefiting cell survival, proliferation and
      differentiation. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: In this study, we prepared
      decellularized tongue extracellular matrix (TEM) and evaluated the possibility
      for tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) research and tongue regeneration. TEM
      has six irreplaceable advantages: (1) tongue-specific intricate structures of
      TEM, which offer mechanical support for the cells; (2) abundant matrix components
      and spatial signals benefiting for cell attachment, survival, differentiation,
      and long-term viability of the highly functional phenotypes of tongue cells or
      TSCC cells; (3) reconstructed TSCC by TEM exhibited tumor heterogeneity,
      extremely resembling clinical TSCC histopathology; (4) ideal model to evaluate
      TSCC movement mode; (5) guiding tongue-derived cells to the site-appropriate
      niche; and (6) the possibility for static or stirred cell culture. These
      properties might be considered in TSCC research or tongue regeneration.

PMID- 28600129
TI  - Angiogenic peptide nanofibers repair cardiac tissue defect after myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - : Myocardial infarction remains one of the top leading causes of death in the
      world and the damage sustained in the heart eventually develops into heart
      failure. Limited conventional treatment options due to the inability of the
      myocardium to regenerate after injury and shortage of organ donors require the
      development of alternative therapies to repair the damaged myocardium. Current
      efforts in repairing damage after myocardial infarction concentrates on using
      biologically derived molecules such as growth factors or stem cells, which carry
      risks of serious side effects including the formation of teratomas. Here, we
      demonstrate that synthetic glycosaminoglycan (GAG) mimetic peptide nanofiber
      scaffolds induce neovascularization in cardiovascular tissue after myocardial
      infarction, without the addition of any biologically derived factors or stem
      cells. When the GAG mimetic nanofiber gels were injected in the infarct site of
      rodent myocardial infarct model, increased VEGF-A expression and recruitment of
      vascular cells was observed. This was accompanied with significant degree of
      neovascularization and better cardiac performance when compared to the control
      saline group. The results demonstrate the potential of future clinical
      applications of these bioactive peptide nanofibers as a promising strategy for
      cardiovascular repair. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: We present a synthetic
      bioactive peptide nanofiber system can enhance cardiac function and enhance
      cardiovascular regeneration after myocardial infarction (MI) without the addition
      of growth factors, stem cells or other biologically derived molecules. Current
      state of the art in cardiac repair after MI utilize at least one of the above
      mentioned biologically derived molecules, thus our approach is ground-breaking
      for cardiovascular therapy after MI. In this work, we showed that synthetic
      glycosaminoglycan (GAG) mimetic peptide nanofiber scaffolds induce
      neovascularization and cardiomyocyte differentiation for the regeneration of
      cardiovascular tissue after myocardial infarction in a rat infarct model. When
      the peptide nanofiber gels were injected in infarct site at rodent myocardial
      infarct model, recruitment of vascular cells was observed, neovascularization was
      significantly induced and cardiac performance was improved. These results
      demonstrate the potential of future clinical applications of these bioactive
      peptide nanofibers as a promising strategy for cardiovascular repair.

PMID- 28600130
TI  - Highly antibacterial polypeptide-based amphiphilic copolymers as multifunctional
      non-viral vectors for enhanced intracellular siRNA delivery and anti-infection.
AB  - : For next-generation regenerative medicine and cancer therapy applications, the
      development of multifunctional biodegradable biomaterials with good antibacterial
      activity, biocompatibility and gene delivery capability is showing increased
      interests. As a natural cationic polypeptide, poly(epsilon-l-lysine) (EPL) has
      been as attractive antibacterial agent and non-viral gene vectors, however, its
      gene therapy is still limited probably due to the cytotoxicity, low stability in
      physiological environment and poor transfection efficiency. Herein, series of EPL
      based amphiphilic copolymers composed of polyethylene glycol-block-poly(3
      hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate)-block-EPL (PEG-b-P3/4HB-b-EPL, EHE) was
      synthesized and evaluated for siRNA delivery and anti-infection applications. EHE
      copolymers could effectively condense siRNA, protect it from degradation by
      nucleases and easily release the siRNA under heparin competition. The EHE2
      copolymer displayed a good hemocompatibility, significantly high siRNA loading
      ability (N/P ratio of 1.5-3.0) and lower cytotoxicity compared to commercial
      branched polyethyleneimine (PEI 25kDa) and EPL, efficient cellular uptake of
      siRNA in MCF-7 cells. Additionally, EHE2 copolymers-mediated siRNA delivery
      revealed a significantly over 3 times high target gene silencing efficiency (62%)
      as compared to PEI (22%) and EPL (15%) in MCF-7 cells. The EHE2/siRNA also showed
      better capability than PEI/siRNA complex to drastically reduced VEGF mRNA level
      down to 46% in A549 cells. Furthermore, EHE copolymers exhibited excellent
      antimicrobial activity towards positive bacteria (S. aureus) in vitro and in
      vivo. The high gene transfection efficiency, low cytotoxicity and excellent
      antibacterial activity make EHE polymers highly promising applications in
      multifunctional gene therapy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: This paper reports a
      highly antibacterial polypeptides-based EHE copolymer for enhancing siRNA
      delivery and anti-infection applications. The EHE copolymer displayed a good
      hemocompatibility, significantly high siRNA loading ability and lower
      cytotoxicity compared to commercial branched polyethyleneimine (PEI 25kDa) and
      EPL, efficient cellular uptake of siRNA in various cancer cells. Additionally,
      EHE2 copolymers-mediated siRNA delivery revealed a significantly over 3 times
      high target gene silencing efficiency (62%) as compared to PEI (22%) and EPL
      (15%) in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, EHE copolymers exhibited excellent
      antimicrobial activity towards positive bacteria (S. aureus) in vitro and in
      vivo. The high gene transfection efficiency, low cytotoxicity and excellent
      antibacterial activity make EHE polymers highly promising applications in
      multifunctional gene therapy.

PMID- 28600131
TI  - A positive randomised trial in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28600133
TI  - Developing a Virtual Teach-To-GoalTM Inhaler Technique Learning Module: A Mixed
      Methods Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most hospitalized patients with asthma or chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease misuse respiratory inhalers. An in-person educational strategy,
      teach-to-goal (TTG), improves inpatients' inhaler technique. OBJECTIVE: To
      develop an effective, portable education intervention that remains accessible to
      hospitalized patients postdischarge for reinforcement of proper inhaler
      technique. METHODS: A mixed methods approach at an urban academic hospital was
      used to iteratively develop, modify, and test a virtual teach-to-goalTM (V-TTGTM)
      educational intervention using patient end-user feedback. A survey examined
      access and willingness to use technology for self-management education. Focus
      groups evaluated patients' feedback on access, functionality, and quality of V
      TTGTM. RESULTS: Forty-eight participants completed the survey, with most
      reporting having Internet access; 77% used the Internet at home and 82% used the
      Internet at least once every few weeks. More than 80% reported that they were
      somewhat or very likely to use V-TTGTM to gain skills to improve their health.
      Most participants reported smartphone access (73%); half owned laptop computers
      (52%). Participants with asthma versus chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were
      more likely to own a smartphone, have a data plan, and have daily Internet use (P
      < .05). Nine focus groups (n = 25) identified themes for each domain: access
      platform and delivery, Internet access, and technological literacy; functionality
      usefulness, content, and teaching strategy; and quality-clarity, ease of use,
      length, and likability. CONCLUSIONS: V-TTGTM is a promising educational tool for
      improving patients' inhaler technique, iteratively developed and refined with
      patient input. Patients in our urban, academic hospital overwhelmingly reported
      access to platforms and willingness to use V-TTGTM for health education.

PMID- 28600135
TI  - Human DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferases: a functional and structural
      perspective for epigenetic cancer therapy.
AB  - Epigenetic modifications modulate chromatin states to regulate gene expression.
      Among them, DNA methylation and histone modifications play a crucial role in the
      establishment of the epigenome. In cancer, these epigenetic events may act in
      concert to repress tumor suppressor genes or promote oncogenic pathways. In the
      context of cancer initiation and progression, recruitment of DNA (cytosine-5)
      methyltransferases to specific genomic regions is mainly mediated by histone
      epigenetic marks, transcription factors and co-regulators as part of a dynamic
      process. Herein, we will review these mechanisms and present state-of-the-art of
      DNA methylation, treatment and development of epigenetic cancer therapies
      targeting this epigenetic modification.

PMID- 28600134
TI  - Comparison of Subjective Global Assessment and Protein Energy Wasting Score to
      Nutrition Evaluations Conducted by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists in
      Identifying Protein Energy Wasting Risk in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the 7-point subjective global assessment (SGA) and the
      protein energy wasting (PEW) score with nutrition evaluations conducted by
      registered dietitian nutritionists in identifying PEW risk in stage 5 chronic
      kidney disease patients on maintenance hemodialysis. DESIGN AND METHODS: This
      study is a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study entitled "Development
      and Validation of a Predictive energy Equation in Hemodialysis". PEW risk
      identified by the 7-point SGA and the PEW score was compared against the
      nutrition evaluations conducted by registered dietitian nutritionists through
      data examination from the original study (reference standard). SUBJECTS: A total
      of 133 patients were included for the analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV),
      positive and negative likelihood ratio (PLR and NLR) of both scoring tools were
      calculated when compared against the reference standard. RESULTS: The patients
      were predominately African American (n = 112, 84.2%), non-Hispanic (n = 101,
      75.9%), and male (n = 80, 60.2%). Both the 7-point SGA (sensitivity = 78.6%,
      specificity = 59.1%, PPV = 33.9%, NPV = 91.2%, PLR = 1.9, and NLR = 0.4) and the
      PEW score (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 28.6%, PPV = 27.2%, NPV = 100%, PLR
      = 1.4, and NLR = 0) were more sensitive than specific in identifying PEW risk.
      The 7-point SGA may miss 21.4% patients having PEW and falsely identify 40.9% of
      patients who do not have PEW. The PEW score can identify PEW risk in all
      patients, but 71.4% of patients identified may not have PEW risk. CONCLUSIONS:
      Both the 7-point SGA and the PEW score could identify PEW risk. The 7-point SGA
      was more specific, and the PEW score was more sensitive. Both scoring tools were
      found to be clinically confident in identifying patients who were actually not at
      PEW risk.

PMID- 28600132
TI  - Brentuximab vedotin or physician's choice in CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell
      lymphoma (ALCANZA): an international, open-label, randomised, phase 3,
      multicentre trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas are rare, generally incurable, and
      associated with reduced quality of life. Present systemic therapies rarely
      provide reliable and durable responses. We aimed to assess efficacy and safety of
      brentuximab vedotin versus conventional therapy for previously treated patients
      with CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. METHODS: In this international,
      open-label, randomised, phase 3, multicentre trial, we enrolled adult patients
      with CD30-positive mycosis fungoides or primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell
      lymphoma who had been previously treated. Patients were enrolled across 52
      centres in 13 countries. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) centrally by an
      interactive voice and web response system to receive intravenous brentuximab
      vedotin 1.8 mg/kg once every 3 weeks, for up to 16 3-week cycles, or physician's
      choice (oral methotrexate 5-50 mg once per week or oral bexarotene 300 mg/m2 once
      per day) for up to 48 weeks. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients
      in the intention-to-treat population achieving an objective global response
      lasting at least 4 months per independent review facility. Safety analyses were
      done in all patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This trial was
      registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01578499. FINDINGS: Between Aug 13,
      2012, and July 31, 2015, 131 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to a
      group (66 to brentuximab vedotin and 65 to physician's choice), with 128 analysed
      in the intention-to-treat population (64 in each group). At a median follow-up of
      22.9 months (95% CI 18.4-26.1), the proportion of patients achieving an objective
      global response lasting at least 4 months was 56.3% (36 of 64 patients) with
      brentuximab vedotin versus 12.5% (eight of 64) with physician's choice, resulting
      in a between-group difference of 43.8% (95% CI 29.1-58.4; p<0.0001). Grade 3-4
      adverse events were reported in 27 (41%) of 66 patients in the brentuximab
      vedotin group and 29 (47%) of 62 patients in the physician's choice group.
      Peripheral neuropathy was seen in 44 (67%) of 66 patients in the brentuximab
      vedotin group (n=21 grade 2, n=6 grade 3) and four (6%) of 62 patients in the
      physician's choice group. One of the four on-treatment deaths was deemed by the
      investigator to be treatment-related in the brentuximab vedotin group; no on
      treatment deaths were reported in the physician's choice group. INTERPRETATION:
      Significant improvement in objective response lasting at least 4 months was seen
      with brentuximab vedotin versus physician's choice of methotrexate or bexarotene.
      FUNDING: Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc (a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda
      Pharmaceutical Company Ltd), Seattle Genetics Inc.

PMID- 28600136
TI  - An all-encompassing global convergence result for processive multisite
      phosphorylation systems.
AB  - Phosphorylation, the enzyme-mediated addition of a phosphate group to a molecule,
      is a ubiquitous chemical mechanism in biology. Multisite phosphorylation, the
      addition of phosphate groups to multiple sites of a single molecule, may be
      distributive or processive. Distributive systems, which require an enzyme and
      substrate to bind several times in order to add multiple phosphate groups, can be
      bistable. Processive systems, in contrast, require only one binding to add all
      phosphate groups, and were recently shown to be globally stable. However, this
      global convergence result was proven only for a specific mechanism of processive
      phosphorylation/dephosphorylation (namely, all catalytic reactions are
      reversible). Accordingly, we generalize this result to allow for processive
      phosphorylation networks in which each reaction may be irreversible, and also to
      account for possible product inhibition. We accomplish this by first defining an
      all-encompassing processive network that encapsulates all of these schemes, and
      then appealing to recent results of Marcondes de Freitas et al. that assert
      global convergence by way of monotone systems theory and network/graph reductions
      (corresponding to removing intermediate complexes). Our results form a case study
      into the question of when global convergence is preserved when reactions and/or
      intermediate complexes are added to or removed from a network.

PMID- 28600137
TI  - Alternative splicing of hepatitis B virus: A novel virus/host interaction
      altering liver immunity.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA can undergo alternative splicing,
      but the relevance of this post-transcriptional regulation remains elusive. The
      mechanism of HBV alternative splicing regulation and its impact on liver
      pathogenesis were investigated. METHODS: HBV RNA-interacting proteins were
      identified by RNA pull-down, combined with mass spectrometry analysis. HBV
      splicing regulation was investigated in chemically and surgically induced liver
      damage, in whole HBV genome transgenic mice and in hepatoma cells. Viral and
      endogenous gene expression were quantified by quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      Resident liver immune cells were studied by fluorescence-activated cell sorting.
      RESULTS: HBV pregenomic RNA-interacting proteins were identified and 15% were
      directly related to the splicing machinery. Expression of these splicing factors
      was modulated in HBV transgenic mice with liver injuries and contributed to an
      increase of the HBV spliced RNA encoding for HBV splicing-generated protein
      (HBSP). HBSP transgenic mice with chemically induced liver fibrosis exhibited
      attenuated hepatic damage. The protective effect of HBSP resulted from a decrease
      of inflammatory monocyte/macrophage recruitment through downregulation of C-C
      motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) expression in hepatocytes. In human hepatoma
      cells, the ability of HBSP to control CCL2 expression was confirmed and
      maintained in a whole HBV context. Finally, viral spliced RNA detection related
      to a decrease of CCL2 expression in the livers of HBV chronic carriers
      underscored this mechanism. CONCLUSION: The microenvironment, modified by liver
      injury, increased HBSP RNA expression through splicing factor regulation, which
      in turn controlled hepatocyte chemokine synthesis. This feedback mechanism
      provides a novel insight into liver immunopathogenesis during HBV infection. Lay
      summary: Hepatitis B virus persists for decades in the liver of chronically
      infected patients. Immune escape is one of the main mechanisms developed by this
      virus to survive. Our study highlights how the crosstalk between virus and liver
      infected cells may contribute to this immune escape.

PMID- 28600138
TI  - Beta adrenergic blockade and advanced cirrhosis: Does it really improve survival
      in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure?

PMID- 28600139
TI  - Change of target volume and its dosimetric impact during the course of
      accelerated partial breast irradiation using intraoperative multicatheter
      interstitial brachytherapy after open cavity surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the change of clinical target volume (CTV) and its
      dosimetric impact during the course of accelerated partial breast irradiation
      (APBI) using intraoperative multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy after open
      cavity surgery. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Twenty-two patients of APBI with
      intraoperative placement of catheters underwent computed tomography scans for the
      treatment planning before the first (CT1) and the last (CT2) treatment fraction.
      Delineation of lumpectomy cavity and CTV was done consistently on both CT data
      sets by one of the coauthors. Optimum plan (PCT1) was made on CT1. PCT1 was
      manually reproduced in CT2 which yielded plan PCT2. Plans were compared using
      coverage index (CI), dose homogeneity index (DHI), external volume index (EI),
      overdose volume index (OI) and conformal index (COIN). RESULTS: The mean +/- SD
      volume of lumpectomy cavity and CTV was 78.5 +/- 40.7 cm3, 156.4 +/- 69.0 cm3 for
      PCT1, and 84.7 +/- 50.1 cm3 (p = 0.11), 165.7 +/- 82.8 cm3 (p = 0.15) for PCT2,
      respectively. CTV volume increase by >= 10% was observed in 9 cases however
      decrease of >=10% was observed in 5 cases. Mean (SD) of absolute pairwise
      difference in CTV volume was found to be 13.2 (6.7) %. For cases with increase in
      CTV volume, significant (p < 0.05) decrease of 8.4%, 12.2%, and 5.5% was observed
      in CI, EI, and COIN of CTV respectively. However for cases with shrinkage of CTV,
      significant (p = 0.004) increase of 45% in EI was observed, whereas COIN reduced
      significantly (p = 0.001) by 13.5%. Overall 22 cases showed significant decrease
      of 5.8% and 8.1% in mean CI and COIN, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The change of
      CTV during the course of APBI using intraoperative multicatheter interstitial
      brachytherapy after open cavity surgery was found patient specific and showed a
      significant impact on coverage and conformity.

PMID- 28600140
TI  - Income generated by women treated with magnetic resonance imaging-based
      brachytherapy: A simulation study evaluating the macroeconomic benefits of
      implementing a high-end technology in a public sector healthcare setting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To estimate the difference in income generated if all women presenting
      in our institute over a 5-year period were treated with MRI-based image-guided
      brachytherapy (MR-IGBT) instead of conventional radiograph-based brachytherapy
      (CR-BT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Outcome data from 463 patients (94 treated with
      MR-IGBT) treated in our institute was used to simulate cumulative women-days of
      work and cumulative income over 5 years for 5526 patients expected to be treated
      in this period. The average daily income for a woman was derived from the
      National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) survey data. Outcomes from both
      unmatched and propensity score-matched data sets were simulated. RESULTS: The
      cumulative income in 5 years ranged between Rs 101-168 million if all patients
      presenting at our institute underwent MR-IGBT. The simulated excess income ranged
      from Rs 4-45 million after 5 years, which represented 6-66% of the expenditure
      incurred for acquiring the required equipment and manpower for practicing
      exclusive MR-IGBT. CONCLUSIONS: Using outcome data from a prospective cohort of
      patients treated with MR-IGBT in our institute, we demonstrated that significant
      economic gains may be realized if MR-IGBT was used instead of CR-BT.

PMID- 28600141
TI  - Chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos oxon impair the transport of membrane bound
      organelles in rat cortical axons.
AB  - Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is an extensively used organophosphorus pesticide that has
      recently come under increasing scrutiny due to environmental health concerns
      particularly its association with neurodevelopmental defects. While the
      insecticidal actions and acute toxicity of CPF are attributed to its oxon
      metabolite (CPO) which potently inhibits the cholinergic enzyme
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE), there is significant evidence that CPF, CPO, and
      other organophosphates may affect a variety of neuronal targets and processes
      that are not directly related to AChE. Previously, in adult rat sciatic nerves ex
      vivo and postnatal neurons from rats in vitro we observed that CPF and CPO
      impaired the movements of vesicles and mitochondria in axons. Here, in embryonic
      neurons from rats in culture, we evaluated 24h exposures to CPF and CPO across
      picomolar to micromolar concentrations for effects on fast axonal transport of
      membrane bound organelles (MBOs) that contained the amyloid precursor protein
      (APP) tagged with the fluorescent marker, Dendra2 (APPDendra2). The most notable
      observations of this study were concentration-dependent decreases in the velocity
      and percentage of MBOs moving in the anterograde direction, an increase in the
      number of stationary MBOs, and an increased frequency of pauses associated with
      both CPF and CPO. These effects occurred at concentrations that did not
      significantly inhibit AChE activity, they were not blocked by cholinergic
      receptor antagonists, and they were not associated with compromised cell
      viability. These effects of CPF and CPO may be significant given the importance
      of axonal transport to neuronal development as well the function of fully
      developed neurons.

PMID- 28600142
TI  - Nectin-4 is a breast cancer stem cell marker that induces WNT/beta-catenin
      signaling via Pi3k/Akt axis.
AB  - Nectin-4 is well known as a junction protein. Recent reports have implicated it
      in cancer, but there has been little exploration of its functional significance
      in metastasis and cancer stem cells. Here, using the breast cancer metastasis
      model system, we report Nectin-4 is a marker for breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs)
      and provide experimental evidence suggesting that it utilizes WNT/beta-Catenin
      signaling via Pi3k/Akt axis for self renewal of BCSCs. In vitro, in vivo, ex vivo
      and clinical pathological data showed upregulated Nectin-4 in breast cancer
      metastasis and WNT/beta-Catenin signaling. Nectin-4 depletion inhibited EMT,
      metastasis, invasion, and the WNT/beta-Catenin pathway; conversely, Nectin-4
      overexpression in null cells upregulated EMT and metastasis and also induced
      WNT/beta-Catenin signaling via Pi3k/Akt axis, which in turn, controls cancer stem
      cell proliferation. Induced Nectin-4 was observed in breast tumor patient samples
      and in breast tumor metastases to axillary lymph nodes, which indicated that
      Nectin-4 is not only a BCSC marker but also a breast cancer metastasis marker.
      The current study provides clear evidence that Nectin-4 is a BCSC marker and is
      responsible for breast cancer metastasis.

PMID- 28600143
TI  - Involvement of PI3K/Akt pathway in the inhibition of hepatocarcinoma cell
      invasion and metastasis induced by SASH1 through downregulating Shh-Gli1
      signaling.
AB  - The SASH1 gene is discovered as a tumor suppressor recently. However, the
      molecular mechanisms of SASH1 in hepatocarcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. In present
      studies, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of SASH1 on cell invasion and
      metastasis of hepatocarcinoma in vivo and in vitro. In this study, SASH1
      overexpression HCC cell lines were treated with purmorphamine (0, 0.5, 1,
      2MUmol/l). Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to examine the related gene
      expression of EMT markers and the Shh-Gli1 and PI3K/Akt-dependent pathway. Cell
      migration and invasion were assessed by Transwell assay. In addition, a mice
      SASH1 overexpression HCC orthotopic xenograft model was established and treated
      with purmorphamine or 740Y-P or PDGF. Tumor volume was assessed, and H&E staining
      was applied to histopathologic analysis. The results showed that purmorphamine
      exposure significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression levels of Shh
      and Gli1 in a dose-dependent manner in the SASH1 overexpression HepG2 and HCCLM3
      cells. Besides, purmorphamine promoted the migration and invasion of SASH1
      overexpression HCC cells, as well as the EMT progress. Moreover, purmorphamine
      significantly increased the synthesis of PI3K and pAkt in a dose-dependent
      manner. Furthermore, the invasion and migration abilities were also improved by
      treatment with 740Y-P or PDGF in the SASH1 overexpression HCC cells.
      Additionally, the agonists promoted tumor growth and intrahepatic and pulmonary
      metastasis of the orthotopic transplantation tumors grown from SASH1
      overexpression HCC cells in vivo. In conclusion, SASH1 may inhibit
      hepatocarcinoma cell invasion and metastasis through down-regulating the Shh-Gli1
      and PI3K-AKT pathways in vivo and in vitro.

PMID- 28600144
TI  - Targeting proteins to RNA transcription and processing sites within the nucleus.
AB  - Studies of the spatial organization of the highly compartmentalized eukaryotic
      nucleus and dynamics of transcription and RNA processing within it are
      fundamental for fully understanding how gene expression is regulated in the cell.
      Although some progress has been made in deciphering the functional consequences
      of this complex network of interacting molecules in the context of nuclear
      organization, how proteins and RNA move in the nucleus and how the transcription
      and RNA processing machineries find their targets are important questions that
      remain largely unexplored. Here, we review major hallmarks and novel insights
      regarding the movement of RNA and proteins in the context of nuclear organization
      as well as the mechanisms by which the proteins involved in RNA processing
      localize to specific nuclear compartments.

PMID- 28600145
TI  - Diabetes: Present and future.

PMID- 28600146
TI  - Surgical Staging of the Axilla: Is It on Its Way Out? A Retrospective Study and
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the reference standard for
      axillary staging in all patients with invasive breast cancer. Surgical practices
      are being reviewed for a more conservative approach to the axilla. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: In this audit, we studied the incidence of axillary disease in patients
      with ultrasound negative axilla. The selection criteria are similar to an ongoing
      national study: female patients, age > 50 years, primary breast lesion < 1.5 cm
      in size, and estrogen receptor-positive and HER-2 (human epidermal growth factor
      receptor 2)-negative disease. We studied the data of all breast cancer patients,
      January 2013 to December 2015, in a population of 350,000 with annual incidence
      of about 400 cancers. RESULTS: In our patient subset, we studied a total of 261
      patients. The average false-negative (FN) rate with axillary ultrasound (AUS) per
      year was noted to be 10.7% (P = .0052). This is comparable to SLNB, which has a
      FN rate of approximately 10%. The sensitivity of AUS to exclude axillary disease
      was 89.3% (95% confidence interval, 84.9-92.3). CONCLUSION: Because the FN rate
      of AUS and SLNB are comparable, the former can possibly replace the latter, at
      least in a subset of early breast cancer patients. This finding has wide
      implications.

PMID- 28600147
TI  - Chemoresistance and chemosensitization in cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - One of the main difficulties in the management of patients with advanced
      cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is their poor response to available chemotherapy. This
      is the result of powerful mechanisms of chemoresistance (MOC) of quite diverse
      nature that usually act synergistically. The problem is often worsened by altered
      MOC gene expression in response to pharmacological treatment. Since CCA includes
      a heterogeneous group of cancers their genetic signature coding for MOC genes is
      also diverse; however, several shared traits have been defined. Some of these
      characteristics are shared with other types of liver cancer, namely
      hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatoblastoma. An important goal in modern
      oncologic pharmacology is to develop novel strategies to overcome CCA
      chemoresistance either by increasing drug specificity, such as in targeted
      therapies aimed to inhibit receptors with tyrosine kinase activity, or to
      increase the amounts of active agents inside CCA cells by enhancing drug uptake
      or reducing efflux through export pumps. This article is part of a Special Issue
      entitled: Cholangiocytes in Health and Diseaseedited by Jesus Banales, Marco
      Marzioni, Nicholas LaRusso and Peter Jansen.

PMID- 28600148
TI  - Yellow Fever importation to China - a failure of pre- and post-travel control
      systems?

PMID- 28600149
TI  - Retinal Detachment Associated With Basketball-Related Eye Trauma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Basketball is a popular sport involving significant body contact, which
      may frequently result in ocular trauma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      characteristics and visual outcomes of retinal detachment associated with
      basketball-related injury. DESIGN: Retrospective, interventional case series.
      METHODS: We reviewed the course of patients who sustained traumatic retinal
      detachment from basketball-related ocular trauma between 2003 and 2015. RESULTS:
      Thirteen patients were evaluated for basketball-related traumatic retinal
      detachment. Twelve (92%) were male and 1 (8%) female, with an average age of 18.2
      years. The majority (9 of 13, 70%) of patients had moderate-to-high myopia, and
      none were using protective eyewear when they sustained the eye trauma.
      Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment was observed in all eyes. The preoperative mean
      visual acuity was 20/625 (range, hand motions to 20/20). Initial surgery using
      scleral buckling alone was performed in most (8 of 13, 62%) of the patients.
      Retinal reattachment was achieved in 10 (76%) eyes after the first operation and
      in 12 (92%) at the end of the intervention. The mean follow-up was 3.9 years
      (range, 4 months to 12 years). The visual acuity during last follow-up was 20/231
      (range, light perception to 20/20). In the multivariable analysis, initial visual
      acuity was an independent factor affecting the final visual outcome (P = .006).
      CONCLUSION: Retinal detachment associated with basketball-related injury may
      cause severe visual loss. In the current study, all retinal detachments were of
      rhegmatogenous type and commonly occurred in young individuals with myopia.
      Initial visual acuity was associated with the prognosis. Risk awareness for early
      detection and intervention are important in these traumas.

PMID- 28600150
TI  - Longitudinal patient-reported mobility assessment in fibrodysplasia ossificans
      progressiva (FOP).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare, disabling
      genetic disorder characterized by episodic soft tissue swelling (flare-ups) that
      leads to progressive heterotopic ossification and restricted joint mobility.
      METHODS: Here we present the first longitudinal patient-reported mobility
      assessment (PRMA) in FOP based on a simple evaluation tool. At initial
      presentation and follow-up (1-11year span; median: 6 year span), 64 patients (36
      females; 28 males) with classic FOP completed a questionnaire designed to rapidly
      assess mobility at 15 sites (three axial; six upper limb, and six lower limb). In
      order to validate this instrument, twenty-one of 64 patients (33%) underwent a
      cumulative analogue joint involvement scale (CAJIS) evaluation by two physicians
      within six months of their second self-assessment. RESULTS: We found that: 1)
      mobility changes were episodic and regional, occurring first in the neck and
      trunk, followed by the upper limbs and finally the lower limbs; 2) interval
      improvements in mobility did occur, most notably in the lower limbs (18%), and
      less so in the upper limbs (12%) and trunk (3%), and 3) patient-reported mobility
      assessments correlate highly (R2=0.81) with physician-reported CAJIS evaluations.
      CONCLUSION: This is the first longitudinal PRMA in FOP and provides a simple and
      valid tool that can be used in the design and evaluation of clinical trials in
      this progressively disabling disease.

PMID- 28600151
TI  - Splenomegaly, myeloid lineage expansion and increased osteoclastogenesis in
      osteogenesis imperfecta murine.
AB  - Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a disease caused by defects in type I collagen
      production that results in brittle bones. While the pathology is mainly caused by
      defects in the osteoblast lineage, there is also elevated bone resorption by
      osteoclasts resulting in high bone turnover in severe forms of the disease.
      Osteoclasts originate from hematopoietic myeloid cells, however changes in
      hematopoiesis have not been previously documented in OI. In this study, we
      evaluated hematopoietic lineage distribution and osteoclast progenitor cell
      frequency in bone marrow, spleen and peripheral blood of osteogenesis imperfecta
      murine (OIM) mice, a model of severe OI. We found splenomegaly in all ages
      examined, and expansion of myeloid lineage cells (CD11b+) in bone marrow and
      spleen of 7-9week old male OIM animals. OIM spleens also showed an increased
      frequency of purified osteoclast progenitors. This phenotype is suggestive of
      chronic inflammation. Isolated osteoclast precursors from both spleen and bone
      marrow formed osteoclasts more rapidly than wild-type controls. We found that
      serum TNFalpha levels were increased in OIM, as was IL1alpha in OIM females. We
      targeted inflammation therapeutically by treating growing animals with murine
      TNFR2:Fc, a compound that blocks TNFalpha activity. Anti-TNFalpha treatment
      marginally decreased spleen mass in OIM females, but failed to reduce bone
      resorption, or improve bone parameters or fracture rate in OIM animals. We have
      demonstrated that OIM mice have changes in their hematopoietic system, and form
      osteoclasts more rapidly even in the absence of OI osteoblast signals, however
      therapy targeting TNFalpha did not improve disease parameters.

PMID- 28600152
TI  - Computational reproducibility of "Goal relevance and goal conduciveness
      appraisals lead to differential autonomic reactivity in emotional responding to
      performance feedback" (Kreibig, Gendolla, & Scherer, 2012): A guide and new
      evidence.
AB  - The emerging field of the psychophysiology of motivation bears many new findings,
      but little replication. Using my own data (Kreibig, Gendolla, & Scherer, 2012), I
      test the reproducibility of this specific study, provide the necessary materials
      to make the study reproducible, and instantiate proper reproducibility practices
      that other researchers can use as a road map toward the same goal. In addition,
      based on re-analyses of the original data, I report new evidence for the
      motivational effects of emotional responding to performance feedback.
      Specifically, greater appraisal of goal relevance amplifies the emotional
      response to events appraised as conducive (i.e., effort mobilization), but not to
      those appraised as obstructive to a person's goals (i.e., effort withdrawal). I
      conclude by providing a ten-step road map of best practices to facilitate
      computational reproducibility for future studies.

PMID- 28600153
TI  - Improvement in Renal Cystic Disease of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex After Treatment
      with Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitor.
AB  - Renal cysts occur in approximately 50% of patients with tuberous sclerosis
      complex, but their clinical significance and response to treatment are unknown.
      Abdominal imaging of 15 patients with tuberous sclerosis complex-associated renal
      cystic disease who had received mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor therapy
      for other tuberous sclerosis complex-related indications was evaluated.
      Reductions in cyst number, sum diameter, and volume were observed.

PMID- 28600155
TI  - Changes in the Diagnosis and Management of Patent Ductus Arteriosus from 2006 to
      2015 in United States Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify changes in the diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, and surgical
      ligation of patent ductus arteriosus (PDAs) in infants born premature and report
      on temporal changes in mortality and morbidity from a large volume of neonatal
      intensive care units (NICUs) in the US. STUDY DESIGN: We queried the Pediatrix
      Clinical Data Warehouse for all inborn infants without major anomalies born
      between 23 and 30 weeks' gestation from 2006 to 2015 for a diagnosis of PDA, use
      of indomethacin or ibuprofen, history of ductal ligation, mortality, and major
      morbidities. RESULTS: There were 829 091 infants entered in the Clinical Data
      Warehouse; 61 520 infants from 280 NICUs met our inclusion criteria. The
      diagnosis of PDA declined from 51% to 38% (P < .001), use of indomethacin or
      ibuprofen decreased from 32% to 18%, and PDA ligation decreased from 8.4% to 2.9%
      (both P < .001). During the study period, mortality decreased with no increase in
      any measured morbidity. Of the 163 sites with data for both periods, 128 (79%)
      showed a decrease in the diagnosis of PDA, and 132 (81%) showed a decrease in the
      use indomethacin and/or ibuprofen when 2011-2015 was compared with 2006-2010. Of
      103 sites with at least 1 PDA ligation, 85 (83%) showed a decrease in PDA
      ligation in a similar comparison. CONCLUSIONS: In this large population of
      infants <30 weeks' gestation from 280 NICUs across the US, there were significant
      decreases in the diagnosis and treatment of the PDA. Although there was no
      evidence of increased morbidities, it remains uncertain how these changes may
      directly affect infant outcomes.

PMID- 28600156
TI  - Resting Heart Rate Percentiles and Associated Factors in Children and
      Adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To present population-based resting heart rate (RHR) percentiles and
      associated factors in children and adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: Standardized RHR
      measurements with an oscillometric device were obtained from 3- to 17-year-olds
      who participated in the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for
      Children and Adolescents (n = 11 986). Age- and sex-specific RHR percentiles were
      derived using flexible age-dependent modeling. Linear regression was used to test
      associations of RHR and associated factors. RESULTS: RHR decreased with age and
      mean RHR was on average 3.0 beats per minute (bpm) higher in girls than in boys
      (P < .01). The 95th RHR-KiGGS-percentile (P95) in boys and girls are up to 10 bpm
      lower than P95 based on pooled heterogeneous international studies and more
      similar to percentiles based on population data from NHANES (higher or lower by
      <=5 bpm, depending on age). Factors independently associated with RHR in both
      sexes were age, SBP and height in children aged 3-10 years; and age, systolic
      blood pressure, and high aerobic fitness in adolescents aged 11-17 years. In
      girls, we further found an association between RHR and underweight (OR 3.3 and
      4.7 for underweight girls aged 3-10 and 11-17, respectively, compared with normal
      weight girls). Associations between RHR and aerobic fitness, physical activity,
      and media use were stronger in boys than in girls. CONCLUSION: This study
      provides population-based RHR percentiles and evidence for sex-dependent
      associations of cardiovascular risk factors with RHR in children and adolescents,
      many of which are lifestyle related.

PMID- 28600157
TI  - Multichannel sleep spindle detection using sparse low-rank optimization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Automated single-channel spindle detectors, for human sleep EEG, are
      blind to the presence of spindles in other recorded channels unlike visual
      annotation by a human expert. NEW METHOD: We propose a multichannel spindle
      detection method that aims to detect global and local spindle activity in human
      sleep EEG. Using a non-linear signal model, which assumes the input EEG to be the
      sum of a transient and an oscillatory component, we propose a multichannel
      transient separation algorithm. Consecutive overlapping blocks of the
      multichannel oscillatory component are assumed to be low-rank whereas the
      transient component is assumed to be piecewise constant with a zero baseline. The
      estimated oscillatory component is used in conjunction with a bandpass filter and
      the Teager operator for detecting sleep spindles. RESULTS AND COMPARISON WITH
      OTHER METHODS: The proposed method is applied to two publicly available databases
      and compared with 7 existing single-channel automated detectors. F1 scores for
      the proposed spindle detection method averaged 0.66 (0.02) and 0.62 (0.06) for
      the two databases, respectively. For an overnight 6 channel EEG signal, the
      proposed algorithm takes about 4min to detect sleep spindles simultaneously
      across all channels with a single setting of corresponding algorithmic
      parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method attempts to mimic and utilize, for
      better spindle detection, a particular human expert behavior where the decision
      to mark a spindle event may be subconsciously influenced by the presence of a
      spindle in EEG channels other than the central channel visible on a digital
      screen.

PMID- 28600158
TI  - Lorcaserin plus lifestyle modification for weight loss maintenance: Rationale and
      design for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Few studies have examined the efficacy of recently approved
      medications for chronic weight management in facilitating the maintenance of lost
      weight. This paper provides an overview of the design and rationale for a trial
      investigating whether lorcaserin, when combined with behavioral weight loss
      maintenance sessions (WLM), will facilitate the maintenance of losses of >=5% of
      initial weight. METHODS: In this two-phase trial, participants with obesity will
      enroll in a 14-week run-in diet program consisting of weekly group lifestyle
      modification sessions and a 1000-1200kcal/d meal replacement diet. Participants
      who complete this weight induction phase and lose at least 5% of initial weight
      will then be randomized to 52weeks of WLM plus lorcaserin or WLM plus placebo. We
      hypothesize that at 52weeks post randomization, participants assigned to WLM plus
      lorcaserin will achieve significantly better maintenance of the prior 5% weight
      loss. RESULTS: We will recruit 182 adults with obesity to participate in the diet
      run-in, 136 of whom (75%) are expected to become eligible for the randomized
      controlled trial. Co-primary outcomes include the percentage of participants who
      maintain a loss of at least 5% of initial weight at week 52 and change in weight
      (kg) from randomization to week 52. CONCLUSIONS: This two-phase design will allow
      us to determine the potential efficacy of chronic weight management using
      lorcaserin for maintaining initial losses of at least 5% body weight, induced by
      the use of a structured meal-replacement diet. This combined approach holds
      promise of achieving larger long-term weight losses. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      NCT02388568 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

PMID- 28600159
TI  - Building research in diet and cognition: The BRIDGE randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Obesity has been linked to cognitive impairment, cognitive decline and dementia.
      Given that 38.5% of U.S. adults 60years and older are obese and these numbers are
      rapidly increasing, strategies to decouple obesity from cognitive decline are
      needed. Innovative lifestyle strategies that may postpone the onset of
      subclinical symptoms or even arrest the transition to overt dementia in at-risk
      individuals are critically needed. Poor diet is central to the development of
      obesity and diet may affect cognition. Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet
      (MedDiet) is associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.
      Furthermore, weight loss through caloric restriction improves cognitive function.
      This paper describes the Building Research in Diet and CoGnition (BRIDGE) study,
      a randomized trial examining the effect of the MedDiet, with and without weight
      loss, on cognitive functioning in obese older adults. Obese (BMI>=30 and
      <=50kg/m2) older adults (>=55years) (n=180) will be randomized in a 2:2:1
      allocation scheme to: Typical Diet Control; MedDiet alone, without weight loss;
      or MedDiet lifestyle intervention to promote weight loss and weight loss
      maintenance. Both MedDiet intervention groups will meet for one individual
      session and 27 group sessions over an 8-month period. Individuals in the control
      group will not receive instruction on changing lifestyle habits. Outcomes will be
      assessed at baseline, 8 and 14months. The primary outcome is cognitive
      functioning; secondary outcomes will include changes in body weight, diet,
      cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory biomarkers.

PMID- 28600154
TI  - Markers of Successful Extubation in Extremely Preterm Infants, and Morbidity
      After Failed Extubation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify variables associated with successful elective extubation,
      and to determine neonatal morbidities associated with extubation failure in
      extremely preterm neonates. STUDY DESIGN: This study was a secondary analysis of
      the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research
      Network's Surfactant, Positive Pressure, and Oxygenation Randomized Trial that
      included extremely preterm infants born at 240/7 to 276/7 weeks' gestation.
      Patients were randomized either to a permissive ventilatory strategy (continuous
      positive airway pressure group) or intubation followed by early surfactant
      (surfactant group). There were prespecified intubation and extubation criteria.
      Extubation failure was defined as reintubation within 5 days of extubation.
      RESULTS: Of 1316 infants in the trial, 1071 were eligible; 926 infants had data
      available on extubation status; 538 were successful and 388 failed extubation.
      The rate of successful extubation was 50% (188/374) in the continuous positive
      airway pressure group and 63% (350/552) in the surfactant group. Successful
      extubation was associated with higher 5-minute Apgar score, and pH prior to
      extubation, lower peak fraction of inspired oxygen within the first 24 hours of
      age and prior to extubation, lower partial pressure of carbon dioxide prior to
      extubation, and non-small for gestational age status after adjustment for the
      randomization group assignment. Infants who failed extubation had higher adjusted
      rates of mortality (OR 2.89), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (OR 3.06), and death/
      bronchopulmonary dysplasia (OR 3.27). CONCLUSIONS: Higher 5-minute Apgar score,
      and pH prior to extubation, lower peak fraction of inspired oxygen within first
      24 hours of age, lower partial pressure of carbon dioxide and fraction of
      inspired oxygen prior to extubation, and nonsmall for gestational age status were
      associated with successful extubation. Failed extubation was associated with
      significantly higher likelihood of mortality and morbidities. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00233324.

PMID- 28600161
TI  - A problem-solving intervention for cardiovascular disease risk reduction in
      veterans: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health behaviors related to diet, tobacco usage, physical activity,
      medication adherence, and alcohol use are highly determinative of risk for
      developing cardiovascular disease. This paper describes a study protocol to
      evaluate a problem-solving intervention that aims to help patients at risk for
      developing cardiovascular disease address barriers to adopting positive health
      behaviors in order to reduce cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Eligible patients are
      adults enrolled in Veterans Affairs (VA) health care who have not experienced a
      cardiovascular event but are at elevated risk based on their Framingham Risk
      Score (FRS). Participants in this two-site study are randomized to either the
      intervention or care as usual, with a target of 400 participants. The study
      intervention, Healthy Living Problem-Solving (HELPS), consists of six group
      sessions conducted approximately monthly interspersed with individualized
      coaching calls to help participants apply problem-solving principles. The primary
      outcome is FRS, analyzed at the beginning and end of the study intervention
      (6months). Participants also complete measures of physical activity, caloric
      intake, self-efficacy, group cohesion, problem-solving capacities, and
      demographic characteristics. CONCLUSION: Results of this trial will inform
      behavioral interventions to change health behaviors in those at risk for
      cardiovascular disease and other health conditions. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01838226.

PMID- 28600160
TI  - Family-based obesity prevention for infants: Design of the "Mothers & Others"
      randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to test the efficacy of a family-based, multi-component
      intervention focused on infants of African-American (AA) mothers and families, a
      minority population at elevated risk for pediatric obesity, versus a child safety
      attention-control group to promote healthy weight gain patterns during the first
      two years of life. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND METHODS: The design is a two-group
      randomized controlled trial among 468 AA pregnant women in central North
      Carolina. Mothers and study partners in the intervention group receive
      anticipatory guidance on breastfeeding, responsive feeding, use of non-food
      soothing techniques for infant crying, appropriate timing and quality of
      complementary feeding, age-appropriate infant sleep, and minimization of
      TV/media. The primary delivery channel is 6 home visits by a peer educator, 4
      interim newsletters and twice-weekly text messaging. Intervention families also
      receive 2 home visits from an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
      Assessments occur at 28 and 37weeks gestation and when infants are 1, 3, 6, 9,
      12, and 15months of age. RESULTS: The primary outcome is infant/toddler growth
      and likelihood of overweight at 15months. Differences between groups are expected
      to be achieved through uptake of the targeted infant feeding and care behaviors
      (secondary outcomes) and change in caregivers' modifiable risk factors
      (mediators) underpinning the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: If successful in
      promoting healthy infant growth and enhancing caregiver behaviors, "Mothers and
      Others" will have high public health relevance for future obesity-prevention
      efforts aimed at children younger than 2years, including interventional research
      and federal, state, and community health programs. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01938118, August 9, 2013.

PMID- 28600163
TI  - Involvement of tyrosine-specific protein kinase and protein kinase C in J774A.1
      macrophage functions activated by Tinospora cordifolia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Macrophages are the first line of defense and constitute important
      participant in the bi-directional interaction between innate and specific
      immunity. Macrophages are in a quiescent form and get activated when given a
      stimulus. In our previous studies we have reported that guduchi or LPS treatment
      of macrophages enhanced production of nitric oxide (NO) and increased tumoricidal
      activity against L929 fibroblast cells. OBJECTIVE: In the present study effect of
      Tinospora cordifolia commonly known as guduchi on macrophage activation and the
      mechanism of action i.e. involvement of protein kinase C inhibitor and tyrosine
      specific protein kinase inhibitor was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      present study was undertaken to determine whether H-7 (inhibitor of protein
      kinase C) and/or genistein (inhibitor of tyrosine-specific protein kinase) could
      inhibit guduchi or LPS-induced macrophage NO and TNF-alpha production or reduce
      the cytolysis of L929 fibroblast cells. RESULTS: It was observed that in vitro
      incubation with H-7 and/or genistein completely inhibited guduchi or LPS-induced
      NO and TNF-alpha production by macrophages (J774A.1). CONCLUSION: The inhibitory
      effects of H-7 and/or genistein, suggest that phosphorylation via these kinases
      may upregulate the NO synthase activity in macrophages.

PMID- 28600162
TI  - The effect of antioxidants on sperm motility activation in the Booroolong frog.
AB  - Motile sperm can generate high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) post
      activation, and ROS can quickly accumulate to levels that impair motility and
      fertilising ability. The addition of antioxidants to sperm suspensions has been
      suggested as a means of reducing oxidative stress and enhancing sperm motility
      during and after sperm storage. Despite this, very few studies have attempted to
      experimentally test the effects of antioxidants on sperm motility activation in
      animals that use an external mode of fertilisation, espcially in amphibians. The
      present study aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin C and vitamin E on sperm
      motility activation in the Booroolong frog. Spermatozoa were activated in media
      containing either vitamin C (0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25MUgMUL-1) or vitamin
      E (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 1.50, 1.75MUgMUL-1). Sperm performance
      parameters (percent motility and velocity) were assessed using CASA at 0, 1, 2,
      3, 4, 5 and 6h post-activation. Contrary to expectations, vitamin C
      supplementation was detrimental to sperm motility across all tested
      concentrations, while vitamin E had no effect. Further investigation on the
      endogenous antioxidant system of anuran sperm is required to ascertain whether
      alternative antioxidants may be more suitable at reducing ROS produced during
      sperm activation and improving sperm motility activation in vitro.

PMID- 28600164
TI  - Mercury based drug in ancient India: The red sulfide of mercury in nanoscale.
AB  - Mercury is one of the elements which had attracted the attention of the chemists
      and physicians of ancient India and China. Among the various metal based drugs
      which utilize mercury, we became interested in the red sulfide of mercury which
      is known in ancient Indian literature as rasasindur (alias rasasindura,
      rasasindoor, rasasinduram, sindur, or sindoor) and is used extensively in various
      ailments and diseases. Following various physico-chemical characterizations it is
      concluded that rasasindur is chemically pure alpha-HgS with Hg:S ratio as 1:1.
      Analysis of rasasindur vide Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed that
      the particles are in nanoscale. Bio-chemical studies of rasasindur were also
      demonstrated. It interacts with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) with an association
      constant of (9.76 +/- 0.56) * 103 M-1 and behaves as a protease inhibitor by
      inhibiting the proteolysis of BSA by trypsin. It also showed mild antioxidant
      properties.

PMID- 28600165
TI  - Ayurveda education reforms in India.

PMID- 28600166
TI  - Transrectal Ultra Sonography based evidence of Ksharasutra therapy for Fistula-in
      ano - A case series.
AB  - Ksharasutra (parasurgical procedure using a thread treated by alkalies) is being
      practiced in Indian system of medicine since ancient time for management of ano
      rectal disorders; particularly for Bhagandara, (fistula in ano), and generally
      difficult to treat. In this case series, standard Ksharasutra was prepared as per
      the Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia of India and used to treat the different cases of
      Bhagandara. In this case series total 6 patients of Bhagandara were treated with
      Ksharasutra and partial fistulectomy. The average Unit Cutting Time and healing
      (UCTH) was observed 7.86 days/cm. During treatment Panchawalkala Kwatha
      (decoction of five medicinal plant's bark), Shatdhautaghrita, Jatyaditaila and
      Erandabhrishtaharitaki Churna were used as adjuvant drugs. To generate quality
      evidence Transrectal Ultra Sonography (TRUS) was used in pre as well as post
      treatment and showed remarkable tool to assess effect of treatment. Substantial
      clinical result was observed at the end of treatment and all the patients were
      free of fistula. No recurrence was observed in any case during the 12 follow up
      of 12 months. The treatment was reported safe and well tolerated in all the
      patients.

PMID- 28600167
TI  - In-vivo study of tissue reaction to Crotalaria pallida and Sansevieria
      roxburghiana fibers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A suture material producing least tissue reaction is considered as
      ideal. Other characteristics like tensile strength, capacity to sustain
      sterilization process enhance its acceptability. In the present situation there
      is a need to reascertain the relevance and utility of these materials. Among the
      suture materials mentioned by Sushrutacharya, Moorva (Sansevieria roxburghiana)
      and Shana (Crotalaria pallida) have been showed insignificant tissue reaction in
      operated cases of inguinal hernia. An experimental study to confirm the extent of
      tissue reaction in deeper planes is needed before extending the use of materials
      in the deep tissues. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyze deep
      tissue reaction and tensile strengths of plant fibres extracted from Crotalaria
      pallida and Sansevieria roxburghiana. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was
      conducted on 18 albino rats, 3 groups of 6 rats each for a period of 21 days
      inserting the suture materials in deeper tissue, studying histopathology changes
      of the deeper connective tissues, hydroxyproline content and blood parameters on
      7th, 14th, 21st days of the study. The tensile strength of the two materials was
      also assessed on 7th day in three different conditions. Statistical analysis was
      carried out using paired and unpaired t tests. RESULTS: S. roxburghiana had least
      tissue reaction. C. pallida showed greater tensile strength in comparison to
      Moorva. CONCLUSION: C. pallida can be used for deep tissue approximation because
      of its moderate tissue reaction and tensile strength, successive increase in
      hydroxyproline content and its capacity to sustain sterilization.

PMID- 28600168
TI  - Case report: Cocaine-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28600169
TI  - Double-chambered left ventricle characterized by CMR.

PMID- 28600171
TI  - Dalbavancin treatment of prosthetic knee infection due to oxacillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus epidermidis.

PMID- 28600170
TI  - Effect of thrombolytic therapy in plaque inflammation and structural remodeling
      in acute myocardial infarction patients.

PMID- 28600172
TI  - Conditional knockout of microRNA-31 promotes the development of colitis
      associated cancer.
AB  - MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) is an evolutionarily conserved microRNA, and its biological
      function in colorectal cancer and other cancers is controversial. In this study,
      we identified the host gene of mouse miR-31 and found that miR-31 was over
      expressed in both human colorectal cancer and mouse colon cancer models. We here
      developed a miR-31 conditional knockout mouse model that allows for colon
      epithelium specific deletion of miR-31 to investigate its functionality in colon
      cancer development. We demonstrated that mice with miR-31 conditional deletion
      resulted in more severe colitis-associated cancer than wild-type, and we further
      identified Wdr5 as an important target of miR-31.

PMID- 28600173
TI  - Autophagy upregulation ameliorates cell injury in Sequestosome 1 knockout
      podocytes in vitro.
AB  - Autophagy is a catabolic process to maintain intracellular homeostasis that
      degrades damaged proteins and organelles in mammalian cells. Podocytes are
      crucial for maintaining the normal function of the glomerular filtration barrier.
      In the present study, we aimed to investigate the high glucose-induced cell
      injury in human podocytes and the protective role of autophagy in this process.
      Here we show that the autophagy activity was decreased under the high glucose
      conditions and 72 h of high glucose exposure inhibited the cell viablity and
      aggravated cell injury. Moreover, autophagy upregulation by Sequestosome 1
      (p62/SQSM1) knockdown ameliorated this cell injury and relieved insulin
      resistance. Collectively, the present study proposed a novel autophagy involved
      mechanism of high glucose-induced cell injury. The present study deepens our
      understanding of the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of diabetic
      nephropathy and provided potential therapeutic strategy for diabetic nephropathy.

PMID- 28600174
TI  - Titration with automatic continuous positive airway pressure in obstructive sleep
      apnea.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Autotitrating positive airway pressure (APAP) is an
      accepted titration method to determine the optimal positive airway pressure
      (PAP), for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The required duration
      of APAP monitoring to determine a fixed continuous positive airway pressure level
      still remains to be established. We aimed to evaluate the variation in PAP level,
      delivered by APAP devices, at different periods of treatment, to determine the
      APAP treatment duration required to reach an effective and stable PAP level.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 62 patients newly diagnosed with OSA were
      evaluated after 3 months of APAP therapy. APAP data corresponding to the first
      day (D1), first week (W1), seventh week (W7) and twelfth week (W12) under APAP
      therapy was collected. For the analysis of the pressure behaviour, the difference
      of P95th pressure level between W12 and W7 (P W12-W7), W12 and W1 (P W12-W1) and
      W12 and D1 (P W12-D1) was calculated. RESULTS: There was a high correlation in
      P95th pressure level between D1 and W12 (r=0.771; p>0.0001), W1 and W12 (r=0.817;
      p>0.0001), and W7 and W12 (r=0.926; p>0.0001). This correlation progressively
      increased with APAP use. A significance difference was found in concordance
      between P W12-W7 and P W12-D1 (p=0.046) within the pressure range +/-2cmH2O.
      However there was no significant difference in concordance between P W12-W7 and P
      W12-W1. CONCLUSIONS: One week of APAP therapy seems sufficient to determine an
      effective and stable PAP level, within the pressure range +/-2cmH2O.

PMID- 28600175
TI  - Overcoming immunosuppression in bone metastases.
AB  - Bone metastases are present in up to 70% of advanced prostate and breast cancers
      and occur at significant rates in a variety of other cancers. Bone metastases can
      be associated with significant morbidity. The establishment of bone metastasis
      activates several immunosuppressive mechanisms. Hence, understanding the tumor
      bone microenvironment is crucial to inform the development of novel therapies.
      This review describes the current standard of care for patients with bone
      metastatic disease and novel treatment options targeting the microenvironment.
      Treatments reviewed include immunotherapies, cryoablation, and targeted
      therapies. Combinatorial treatment strategies including targeted therapies and
      immunotherapies show promise in pre-clinical and clinical studies to overcome the
      suppressive environment and improve treatment of bone metastases.

PMID- 28600176
TI  - Molecular characterization and expression analysis of heat shock protein 70 and
      90 from Hermetia illucens reared in a food waste bioconversion pilot plant.
AB  - Two full-length cDNAs of heat shock protein (HSP) genes (Hihsp70 and Hihsp90)
      were cloned from the black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens larvae reared in a
      food waste bioconversion pilot plant. The Hihsp70 and Hihsp90 transcripts were
      2243 and 2507bp long, contained 1923 and 2166bp open reading frames encoding
      proteins of 640 and 721 amino acids with a molecular mass of 69.8 and 83kDa,
      respectively. Comparative analysis of protein sequences revealed the presence of
      the conserved HSP motifs in both proteins, showing high homology to their
      counterparts in other insect species from six different orders. Hihsp70 and
      Hihsp90 transcriptional expression profiles during two key developmental stages
      in the bioconversion process were evaluated by quantitative real time PCR showing
      that both genes were modulated during larval development. HiHsp70 mRNA expression
      levels during the II instar larvae was higher in respect to the V instar larvae.
      A similar difference in mRNA expression levels, but in a less extent, was found
      for the Hihsp90. Moreover, a diverse transcript level between the two genes at
      the V larval stage was observed where Hihsp90 was up-regulated compared to
      Hihsp70. These results suggested the involvement of Hsp70 and Hsp90 in H.
      illucens development and provide further evidences on the ecological and
      evolutionary importance of HSPs in the insect developmental processes together
      with valuable information on molecular features of adaptability to peculiar
      rearing conditions during food waste bioconversion.

PMID- 28600177
TI  - Compound heterozygous KCNQ1 mutations (A300T/P535T) in a child with sudden
      unexplained death: Insights into possible molecular mechanisms based on protein
      modeling.
AB  - Sudden death in a child is a devastating event with important medical
      implications for surviving relatives. Because it may be the first manifestation
      of unknown inherited cardiac disease, molecular autopsy can be helpful to
      determine the cause of death and identify at risk family members. The aim of the
      study was to perform a molecular autopsy in a seven year-old girl with sudden
      unexplained death, to find evidence supporting the possible pathogenicity of
      mutations identified in inherited cardiac disease genes, and to clinically and
      genetically assess first-degree relatives. DNA from the index case was extracted
      from umbilical cord cells stored at birth, and DNA of first-degree relatives from
      blood samples. Targeted sequencing was performed using a Haloplex design
      including 81 cardiogenes. Possible functional consequences of the mutations were
      analyzed using protein modeling and structural mobility analyses. The child was
      compound heterozygous for KCNQ1 variants p.Ala300Thr and p.Pro535Thr. Ala300Thr
      is known to cause long QT syndrome in the homozygous state, while Pro535Thr is
      novel and of unknown clinical significance. The father and sibling were Ala300Thr
      heterozygous, and had normal QTc intervals at rest and during exercise. The
      asymptomatic mother was heterozygous for Pro535Thr, and showed borderline QTc at
      rest, but prolonged QTc during exercise. Protein modeling predicted that
      Ala300Thr alters the mobility profile of the Kv7.1 tetramer and Thr535 disrupts a
      calmodulin-binding site, probably causing co-assembly or trafficking defects of
      the mutant monomer. Altogether, the evidence strongly suggests that this child
      was affected with a recessive form of Romano Ward syndrome.

PMID- 28600178
TI  - A novel GhBEE1-Like gene of cotton causes anther indehiscence in transgenic
      Arabidopsis under uncontrolled transcription level.
AB  - Male-sterile lines are very important for selective breeding, and anther
      dehiscence defect is an effective way to generate male-sterile lines. Although
      several bHLH-family proteins in Arabidopsis have been characterized, little is
      known about the role of bHLH-family proteins in cotton. Here, we isolated a novel
      bHLH protein from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), named GhBEE1-Like. Protein domain
      analysis showed that GhBEE1-Like contained a basic domain and an HLH domain.
      Subcellular localization analysis revealed that GhBEE1-Like was a nuclear
      localized protein. Expression pattern analysis showed GhBEE1-Like was highly
      expressed in floral organs, and its expression was induced by the active
      brassinosteroid (BR) substance 24-epi-BL. GhBEE1-Like overexpression in
      Arabidopsis resulted in two types of transgenic lines, one with normal anther
      dehiscence and the other with defective anther dehiscence. Semi-qRT-PCR and qRT
      PCR analyses revealed that GhBEE1-Like transcript levels acted as a check-point
      determining how anther dehiscence proceeds in these transgenic lines; regulated
      transcript levels result in normal anther dehiscence, whereas uncontrolled
      transcript levels lead to anther indehiscence. These results suggest that GhBEE1
      Like plays an important role via its accumulation in regulating anther
      dehiscence. Therefore, controlling the level of GhBEE1-Like expression in cotton
      could be a convenient tool for generating male-sterile lines to use in selective
      breeding.

PMID- 28600179
TI  - Isoforms of the nuclear envelope protein Nurim are differentially expressed
      during heart development in mice.
AB  - To date, transcript variants of the nuclear envelope protein Nurim and their
      expression profiles in mice have never been elucidated. In this study, we
      determined that the primary Nurim variant a was abundantly expressed in mouse
      heart, liver, spleen and kidney. The protein level of isoform a is initiated at
      an early stage of heart formation and demonstrated a significant increase in
      expression throughout embryonic heart development. Interestingly, Nurim b is also
      up-regulated from E12.5 to E18.5 in different individuals. Our research
      represents the first report on alternative splicing variants of mouse Nurim and
      their differential expression profile during embryonic development. These studies
      suggest a potential role for Nurim in early heart morphogenesis and should help
      further elucidate the function of Nurim.

PMID- 28600180
TI  - De novo transcriptome sequencing and comparative analysis of midgut tissues of
      four non-model insects pertaining to Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Diptera and
      Lepidoptera.
AB  - Despite the great morphological diversity of insects, there is a regularity in
      their digestive functions, which is apparently related to their physiology. In
      the present work we report the de novo midgut transcriptomes of four non-model
      insects from four distinct orders: Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera), Musca
      domestica (Diptera), Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera) and Dysdercus peruvianus
      (Hemiptera). We employed a computational strategy to merge assemblies obtained
      with two different algorithms, which substantially increased the quality of the
      final transcriptomes. Unigenes were annotated and analyzed using the eggNOG
      database, which allowed us to assign some level of functional and evolutionary
      information to 79.7% to 93.1% of the transcriptomes. We found interesting
      transcriptional patterns, such as: i) the intense use of lysozymes in digestive
      functions of M. domestica larvae, which are streamlined and adapted to feed on
      bacteria; ii) the up-regulation of orthologous UDP-glycosyl transferase and
      cytochrome P450 genes in the whole midguts different species, supporting the
      existence of an ancient defense frontline to counter xenobiotics; iii) evidence
      supporting roles for juvenile hormone binding proteins in the midgut physiology,
      probably as a way to activate genes that help fight anti-nutritional substances
      (e.g. protease inhibitors). The results presented here shed light on the
      digestive and structural properties of the digestive systems of these distantly
      related species. Furthermore, the produced datasets will also be useful for
      scientists studying these insects.

PMID- 28600181
TI  - A P-glycoprotein gene serves as a component of the protective mechanisms against
      2-tridecanone and abamectin in Helicoverpa armigera.
AB  - P-glycoprotein (P-gp) exists in animals, fungi and bacteria and likely evolved as
      a defense mechanism against harmful substances. Here a cDNA (4054bp) encoding a
      putative P-glycoprotein gene from Helicoverpa armigera was cloned and named
      HaPgp1. This putative HaPgp1 sequence encoded a protein of 1253 amino acids with
      a molecular mass of approximately 137kDa. qPCR analyses demonstrated that the
      expression of HaPgp1 was significantly higher in 4th instar larvae when compared
      to other developmental stages. HaPgp1 transcripts were more abundant in the head
      and fat bodies than in other tissues. Compared with the control, the expression
      of HaPgp1 reach a peak at 12h after the treatment by 2-tridecanone in all
      tissues. However, the expression of HaPgp1 increased from 12h to 48h after
      treatment with abamectin in all tissues. Immunohistochemistry analyses also
      verified that 2-tridecanone and abamectin can induce the increase of HaPgp1
      expression. RNAi of HaPgp1 significantly raised the mortality rate of larvae
      treated by 2-tridecanone and abamectin, as compared to control larvae fed with
      GFP dsRNA. These results illustrate the possible involvement of HaPgp1 as a
      component of the protective mechanisms to plant secondary chemicals such as 2
      tridecanone and to certain classes of insecticides, like abamectin.

PMID- 28600182
TI  - Mesenchymal stem cells can induce regulatory T cells via modulating miR-126a but
      not miR-10a.
AB  - Among the different immunosuppressive properties attributed to mesenchymal stem
      cells (MSCs), one relies on their ability to induce regulatory T cells (iTregs)
      from conventional T cells under particular inflammatory context. Stable Foxp3
      expression plays a major role in the phenotypic and functional stability of
      iTregs. However, the mechanism behind Foxp3 induction in iTregs by MSCs remains
      unknown. Here, we assessed the possible effect of MSCs on miR-126a and miR-10a
      expression in iTregs and, consequently on Foxp3 stability, a regulatory pathway
      that has not yet been explored. We first demonstrated that in vitro MSC-iTreg
      generation was directly associated with strong modifications of miR-126a. We next
      infused high doses of MSCs in a murine model of allogeneic skin transplantation
      (C57BL/6 into Balb/c). This treatment significantly prolonged skin allograft
      survival compared to PBS treated mice. When splenocytes from grafted mice were
      collected, we observed that the expression of Foxp3 gene was elevated at day 5
      and 10 post-graft merely in MSCs treated mice. Moreover, Foxp3 expression was not
      associated with modified miR-10a expression comparable to in vitro experiments.
      Thus, our data identify a solid mechanism where MSCs induce conversion of
      conventional T cells to iTregs through strong modifications of miR-126a. Although
      miR-10a expression level remains unchanged in vitro and in vivo, we observed
      expression of this miR in MSC-DC condition.

PMID- 28600184
TI  - A Case Report and Review of Postural Orthostatic Syndrome in an Adolescent.
AB  - Because there are many young women between the ages of 12 and 25 years who have
      been diagnosed with postural orthostatic syndrome (POTS), with the time to the
      diagnosis of about 5 years, it is important for health care providers to have an
      understanding of the clinical presentation of POTS to manage the diagnosis
      appropriately. The purpose of this article is to present a case study review of
      an adolescent woman who experienced POTS syndrome at age 16 years and to provide
      a clinical overview of POTS in the adolescent population.

PMID- 28600183
TI  - Integrative species delimitation of the widespread North American jumping mice
      (Zapodinae).
AB  - Delimiting species can be challenging, but is a key step for the critical
      examination of evolutionary history and for prioritizing conservation efforts.
      Because systematic relationships are often determined iteratively using tests
      based on taxonomy, such methods can fail to detect cryptic variation and result
      in biased conclusions. Conversely, discovery-based approaches provide a powerful
      way to define operational taxonomic units and test species boundaries. We compare
      both approaches (taxonomy-based delimitation - TBD and discovery-based
      delimitation - DBD) within North American jumping mice (Zapodinae) using broad
      sampling, multilocus analyses, and ecological tests. This group diversified
      through the dynamic glacial-interglacial periods of the Quaternary and
      phylogeographic tests reveal 28 lineages that correspond poorly with current
      taxonomy (4 species, 32 nominal subspecies). However, neither the 4-species or 28
      lineage hypotheses are optimal for species-level classification. Rather,
      information theoretic approaches (Bayes Factors) indicate a 15-species hypothesis
      is best for characterizing genetic variation in this group, with subsequent
      iterative pairwise ecological tests failing to confirm four species pairs. Taken
      together, evolutionary and ecological tests capture divergence among 11 putative
      species that, if upheld by additional tests, will lead to taxonomic revision and
      reevaluation of conservation plans.

PMID- 28600185
TI  - Paclitaxel Encapsulated in Halloysite Clay Nanotubes for Intestinal and
      Intracellular Delivery.
AB  - Naturally formed halloysite tubules have a length of 1 MUm and lumens with a
      diameter of 12-15 nm which can be loaded with drugs. Halloysite's
      biocompatibility allows for its safe delivering to cells at a concentration of up
      to 0.5 mg/mL. We encapsulated the anticancer drug paclitaxel in halloysite and
      evaluated the drug release kinetics in simulated gastric and intestinal
      conditions. To facilitate maximum drug release in intestinal tract, halloysite
      tubes were coated with the pH-responsive polymer poly(methacrylic acid-co-methyl
      methacrylate). Release kinetics indicated a triggered drug release pattern at
      higher pH, corresponding to digestive tract environment. Tablets containing
      halloysite, loaded with paclitaxel, as a compression excipient were formulated
      with drug release occurring at a sustained rate. In vitro anticancer effects of
      paclitaxel-loaded halloysite nanotubes were evaluated on human cancer cells. In
      all the treated cell samples, polyploid nuclei of different sizes and fragmented
      chromatin were observed, indicating a high therapeutic effect of halloysite
      formulated paclitaxel.

PMID- 28600186
TI  - Effect of Temperature on the Kinetics of the Activation of Treosulfan and
      Hydrolytic Decomposition of Its Active Epoxy Derivatives.
AB  - Treosulfan (TREO) is a prodrug applied in the treatment of ovarian cancer and a
      myeloablative conditioning prior to stem cell transplantation. A sequential
      activation of TREO to intermediate monoepoxide (S,S-EBDM) and then to (2S,3S)
      1,2:3,4-diepoxybutane (S,S-DEB) involves a nonenzymatic intramolecular
      nucleophilic substitution. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of
      temperature on the rate constants (k) for the activation of TREO and the
      hydrolysis of its epoxy derivatives in a phosphate buffer of pH 7.4 at an ionic
      strength of 0.16-0.17 M. Over the tested temperature range, the ln of k changed
      linearly with a reciprocal of absolute temperature. The mean activation energy
      (Ea) values for the TREO -> S,S-EBDM and S,S-EBDM -> S,S-DEB reactions were close
      to each other (122 and 118 kJ/mol, respectively). In opposition, the Ea for the
      hydrolysis of S,S-EBDM and S,S-DEB differed significantly (140 and 80 kJ/mol,
      respectively), which indicates that the structure of S,S-EBDM hampers a
      nucleophilic attack of water on the epoxide ring. The obtained results show that
      a temperature change by 1 degrees C, from 36.5 degrees C to 37.5 degrees C,
      entails a 17% increase in the k of TREO decay, which might lead to an increased
      TREO clearance in vivo.

PMID- 28600187
TI  - Vascular endothelial growth factor influences migration and focal adhesions, but
      not proliferation or viability, of human neural stem/progenitor cells derived
      from olfactory epithelium.
AB  - In humans, new neurons are continuously added in the olfactory epithelium even in
      the adulthood. The resident neural stem/progenitor cells (hNS/PCs-OE) in the
      olfactory epithelium are influenced by several growth factors and neurotrophins.
      Among these modulators the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has
      attracted attention due its implicated in cell proliferation, survival and
      migration of other type of neural/stem progenitor cells. Interestingly, VEGFr2
      receptor expression in olfactory epithelium has been described in amphibians but
      not in humans. Here we show that VEGFr is expressed in the hNS/PCs-OE. We also
      investigated the effect of VEGF on the hNS/PCs-OE proliferation, viability and
      migration in vitro. Additionally, pharmacological approaches showed that VEGF
      (0.5 ng/ml)-stimulated migration of hNS/PCs-OE was blocked with the compound
      DMH4, which prevents the activation of VEGFr2. Similar effects were found with
      the inhibitors for Rac (EHT1864) and p38MAPK (SB203850) proteins, respectively.
      These observations occurred with changes in focal adhesion contacts. However, no
      effects of VEGF on proliferation or viability were found in hNS/PCs-OE. Our
      results suggest that hNS/PCs-OE respond to VEGF involving VEGFr2, Rac and
      p38MAPK.

PMID- 28600188
TI  - Simvastatin and cognition in multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 28600190
TI  - Understanding the checkpoint blockade in lung cancer immunotherapy.
AB  - Immunotherapies have changed the treatment strategy of some types of tumor
      including melanoma and, more recently, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immune
      checkpoints are crucial for the maintenance of self-tolerance and it is known
      that some tumors use checkpoint systems to evade antitumor immune response. The
      treatment of advanced NSCLC by immune-checkpoint blockade targeting the
      programmed cell death protein-1 (PD1/PDL1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4
      (CTLA4) pathways has led to significant clinical benefit either as monotherapy or
      in combination therapy. Moreover, checkpoint receptors such as lymphocyte
      activation gene 3 protein (LAG3), T-cell immunoglobulin mucin domain 3 (TIM3) and
      killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are also being investigated as
      potential immunotherapeutic targets. This review focuses on the mechanisms of
      action of the main checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer and presents the most
      relevant results from preclinical and clinical studies on immune-based
      treatments.

PMID- 28600189
TI  - Effect of high-dose simvastatin on cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and health
      related quality-of-life measures in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis:
      secondary analyses from the MS-STAT randomised, placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the 24-month MS-STAT phase 2 trial, we showed that high-dose
      simvastatin significantly reduced the annualised rate of whole brain atrophy in
      patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). We now describe
      the results of the MS-STAT cognitive substudy, in which we investigated the
      treatment effect on cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and health-related quality-of
      life (HRQoL) outcome measures. METHODS: We did a secondary analysis of MS-STAT, a
      24-month, double-blind, controlled trial of patients with SPMS done at three
      neuroscience centres in the UK between Jan 28, 2008, and Nov 4, 2011. Patients
      were randomly assigned (1:1) to either 80 mg simvastatin (n=70) or placebo
      (n=70). The cognitive assessments done were the National Adult Reading Test,
      Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Graded Naming Test, Birt Memory and
      Information Processing Battery (BMIPB), Visual Object and Space Perception
      battery (cube analysis), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and Paced Auditory
      Serial Addition Test. Neuropsychiatric status was assessed using the Hamilton
      Depression Rating Scale and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire. HRQoL
      was assessed using the self-reported 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) version 2.
      Assessments were done at study entry, 12 months, and 24 months. Patients,
      treating physicians, and outcome assessors were masked to treatment allocation.
      Analyses were by intention to treat. MS-STAT is registered with
      ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00647348. FINDINGS: Baseline assessment revealed
      impairments in 60 (45%) of 133 patients on the test of frontal lobe function
      (FAB), and in between 13 (10%) and 43 (33%) of 130 patients in tests of non
      verbal and verbal memory (BMIPB). Over the entire trial, we noted significant
      worsening on tests of verbal memory (T score decline of 5.7 points, 95% CI 3.6
      7.8; p<0.0001) and non-verbal memory (decline of 6.8 points, 4.8-8.7; p<0.0001).
      At 24 months, the FAB score was 1.2 points higher in the simvastatin-treated
      group than in the placebo group (95% CI 0.2-2.3). The simvastatin group also had
      a 2.5 points better mean physical component score of the SF-36 (95% CI 0.3-4.8;
      p=0.028). A treatment effect was not noted for any other outcomes.
      INTERPRETATION: To our knowledge, this SPMS cohort is the largest studied to date
      with comprehensive longitudinal cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and HRQoL
      assessments. We found evidence of a positive effect of simvastatin on frontal
      lobe function and a physical quality-of-life measure. Although we found no effect
      of simvastatin on the other outcome measures, these potential effects warrant
      confirmation and underline the importance of fully assessing cognition and
      quality of life in progressive multiple sclerosis treatment trials. FUNDING: The
      Moulton Foundation, the Berkeley Foundation, the Multiple Sclerosis Trials
      Collaboration, the Rosetrees Trust, a personal contribution from A W Pidgley CBE,
      and the National Institute for Health Research University College London
      Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre and University College London.

PMID- 28600191
TI  - Lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticle-mediated therapeutics delivery: advances and
      challenges.
AB  - With rapid advances in nanomedicine, lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPHNPs)
      have emerged as promising nanocarriers for several biomedical applications,
      including therapeutics delivery and biomedical imaging. Significant research has
      been dedicated to biomimetic or targeting functionalization, as well as
      controlled and image-guided drug-release capabilities. Despite this research, the
      clinical translation of LPHNP-mediated therapeutics delivery has progressed
      incrementally. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in and challenges
      to the development and application of LPHNPs, present examples to demonstrate the
      advantages of LPHNPs in therapeutics delivery and imaging applications, and
      discuss the translational obstacles to LPHNP technology.

PMID- 28600192
TI  - Mast cells modulate proliferation, migration and stemness of glioma cells through
      downregulation of GSK3beta expression and inhibition of STAT3 activation.
AB  - Glioblastoma (GBM) heterogeneity is the main obstacle to efficient treatment due
      to the existence of subpopulation of cells with increased tumorigenicity and
      network of tumor associated parenchymal cells in the tumor microenvironment. We
      previously demonstrated that mast cells (MCs) infiltrate mouse and human gliomas
      in response to variety of signals in a glioma grade-dependent manner. However,
      the role of MCs in glioma development and the mechanisms behind MCs-glioma cells
      interaction remain unidentified. In the present study, we show that MCs upon
      activation by glioma cells produce soluble factors including IL-6, which are
      documented to be involved in cancer-related activities. We observe 'tumor
      educated' MCs decrease glioma cell proliferation and migration, reduce self
      renewal capacity and expression of stemness markers but in turn promote glioma
      cell differentiation. 'Tumor educated' MC derived mediators exert these effects
      via inactivation of STAT3 signaling pathway through GSK3beta down-regulation. We
      identified 'tumor educated' MC derived IL-6 as one of the contributors among the
      complex mixture of MCs mediators, to be partially involved in the observed MC
      induced biological effect on glioma cells. Thus, MC mediated abolition of STAT3
      signaling hampers glioma cell proliferation and migration by suppressing their
      stemness and inducing differentiation via down-regulation of GSK3beta expression.
      Targeting newly identified inflammatory MC-STAT3 axis could contribute to patient
      tailored therapy and unveil potential future therapeutic opportunities for
      patients.

PMID- 28600193
TI  - Functional and molecular responses of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis' hemocytes
      exposed to cadmium - An in vitro model and transcriptomic approach.
AB  - The bivalve mollusk, Mytilus edulis, is used as a sentinel species in several
      monitoring programs due to its ability to bio-accumulate contaminants. Its immune
      system consists of hemocytes and humoral components, which constitute the main
      part of the hemolymph. The present study is aimed at understanding the effects of
      Cd on the differentially expressed genes involved in the phagocytosis of M.
      edulis' hemocytes. Our approach focuses on an in vitro model by exposing
      hemocytes to different concentrations of Cd ranging from 10-9 M to 10-3 M.
      Phagocytosis and cell viability as functional markers were measured using flow
      cytometry. The molecular mechanisms regulated by Cd were investigated using RNA
      seq and DGE analysis. Results showed that viability and phagocytosis of hemocytes
      exposed to 10-3 M of Cd were significantly decreased after 21 h of exposure. RNA
      sequencing data showed that 1112 transcripts (out of 352,976 contigs) were
      differentially regulated by the highest concentration of Cd. Among these
      identified transcripts, 1028 and 84 were up and down-regulated respectively. The
      induction of super oxide dismutase (SOD), glutathion-s-transferase (GST),
      cytochrome P450 2C8 (CYP2C8), multidrug resistance protein (MRP1) and heat shock
      protein 70 (HSP70) suggests that Cd can regulate key molecular mechanisms. In
      addition, several toll-like receptors (TLR) as well as genes involved in
      phagocytosis (actin and CDC42) and apoptosis (caspase 8 and XIAP/IAP) were
      induced by Cd. Thus, our model highlights the effect of Cd on the phagocytic
      function of M. edulis' hemocytes along with the regulation of gene expression
      involved in innate immunity, detoxification and apoptosis. Further investigations
      need to be pursued to unravel the effects of Cd on the molecular mechanisms
      identified in this study.

PMID- 28600195
TI  - Identification and expression analysis of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF
      alpha and IL-8, in cobia (Rachycentron canadum L.) in response to Streptococcus
      dysgalactiae infection.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-8 (IL-8/CXCL8) play
      pivotal roles in mediating inflammatory responses to invading pathogens. In this
      study, we identified and analyzed expressions of cobia TNF-alpha and IL-8 during
      Streptococcus dysgalactiae infection. The cloned cDNA transcript of cobia TNF
      alpha comprised of 1281 base pairs (bp), with a 774 bp open reading frame (ORF)
      encoding 257 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of cobia TNF-alpha
      showed a close relationship (84% similarity) with TNF-alpha of yellowtail
      amberjack. The cloned IL-8 cDNA sequence was 828 bp long, including a 300-bp ORF
      encoding 99 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of cobia IL-8 shared 90%
      identity with IL-8 of striped trumpeter. Cobia challenged with a virulent S.
      dysgalactiae strain displayed an early significant up-regulation of TNF-alpha and
      IL-8 in head kidney, liver, and spleen. Notably, IL-8 expression level increased
      dramatically in the liver at the severe stage of infection (72 h). In conclusion,
      a better understanding of TNF-alpha and IL-8 allows more detailed investigation
      of immune responses in cobia and furthers study on controlling the infectious
      disease caused by S. dysgalactiae.

PMID- 28600194
TI  - Membrane vesicles from Piscirickettsia salmonis induce protective immunity and
      reduce development of salmonid rickettsial septicemia in an adult zebrafish
      model.
AB  - Infections caused by the facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen
      Piscirickettsia salmonis remains an unsolved problem for the aquaculture as no
      efficient treatments have been developed. As a result, substantial amounts of
      antibiotic have been used to limit salmonid rickettsial septicemia (SRS) disease
      outbreaks. The antibiotic usage has not reduced the occurrence, but lead to an
      increase in resistant strains, underlining the need for new treatment strategies.
      P. salmonis produce membrane vesicles (MVs); small spherical structures know to
      contain a variety of bacterial components, including proteins,
      lipopolysaccharides (LPS), DNA and RNA. MVs mimics' in many aspects their mother
      cell, and has been reported as alternative vaccine candidates. Here, MVs from P.
      salmonis was isolated and evaluated as a vaccine candidate against SRS in an
      adult zebrafish infection model. When zebrafish was immunized with MVs they were
      protected from subsequent challenge with a lethal dose of P. salmonis.
      Histological analysis showed a reduced bacterial load upon challenge in the MV
      immunized group, and the mRNA expression levels of several immune related genes
      altered, including mpeg1.1, tnfalpha, il1b, il10 and il6. The MVs induced the
      secretion of IgM upon immunization, indicating an immunogenic effect of the
      vesicles. Taken together, the data demonstrate a vaccine potential of MVs against
      P. salmonis.

PMID- 28600196
TI  - A truncated Sph12-38 with potent antimicrobial activity showing resistance
      against bacterial challenge in Oryzias melastigma.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent an efficient part of innate immunity and
      are found in a variety of life. Among them Histone 2A (H2A), as a promising class
      of AMPs, attracts great attention, but the in vivo mechanism of H2A derived AMP
      is still less known. Based on the acquisition of Sphistin, a synthetic 38-amino
      acid H2A derived peptide from Scylla paramamosain, as reported in our previous
      study, was truncated into three short fragments (Sph12-38, Sph20-38 and Sph30-38)
      and further investigated for its possible functional domains. The antimicrobial
      activities of these analogs against different Gram-positive bacteria, Gram
      negative bacteria and fungi were illustrated. Among the analogs, Sph12-38 showed
      a stronger activity with a much lower minimum inhibitory concentration (3 MUM)
      against Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Micrococcus
      lysodeikticus Fleming, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Aeromonas
      hydrophila and A. sobria in comparison with the reported Sphistin. A leakage of
      intracellular content was described in E. coli treated with Sph12-38. Unlike
      Sphistin which mainly disrupts the membrane integrity, Sph12-38 could also
      combine the A. sobria genomic DNA with a minimum concentration of 6 MUM and was
      located intracellularly in cells observed under confocal laser scanning
      microscope imaging. In comparison with the control group of Oryzias melastigma
      injected with A. sobria alone, the group treated with a mixture of Sph12-38 and
      A. sobria showed a higher survival rate 7 days post-injection. Furthermore, in a
      pretreatment assay at 6 h, a higher survival rate was observed in the group
      injected with the mixture of Sph12-38 and A. sobria. Taken together, the
      synthetic peptide of Sph12-38 had a potent antimicrobial activity against
      bacteria. However, Sph12-38 had no cytotoxicity towards the hemolymph of S.
      paramamosain. Our study suggested that, as with Sph12-38, the H2A derived
      peptides were more likely prone to exert their activities in vivo through the
      truncated fragments while defending against different species of pathogens.

PMID- 28600197
TI  - Dissemination and implementation sciences in pharmacy: A call to action for
      professional organizations.
AB  - There is a substantial gap between the generation of new knowledge and its
      widespread incorporation into routine clinical practice, including the medication
      use process. Principles of dissemination and implementation sciences, if fully
      embraced by clinicians and researchers, have the potential of improving
      healthcare effectiveness, efficiency, quality, and safety. This commentary is a
      call to action for member-driven professional organizations in pharmacy to serve
      their members and the profession by proactively and strategically leading efforts
      to develop pharmacist's abilities to incorporate principles of dissemination and
      implementation sciences into their practice. Additionally, these organizations
      should provide meaningful support for dissemination and implementation research
      that hastens the adoption, promotes intervention fidelity, and demonstrates the
      scaling and sustaining of evidence-based practices to optimize patient care
      delivery and medication therapy outcomes.

PMID- 28600198
TI  - Methylglyoxal-derived stress: An emerging biological factor involved in the onset
      and progression of cancer.
AB  - Cancer is a disease characterised by uncontrolled growth and proliferation of
      cells. Tumours primarily show a higher rate of glucose uptake for lactate
      production even in the presence of functional mitochondria. An important
      metabolic consequence is intracellular formation of glucose-derived carbonyl
      reactive species such as methylglyoxal (MG). It has become clear that MG is the
      most potent glycation agent in our body, leading to alterations of proteins and
      DNA, and cellular dysfunction. In recent years, emerging evidence indicates that
      MG plays a role in the development of cancer. This review will examine studies
      regarding the effects of MG on cancer onset and progression and discuss their
      controversies. Finally, the utilisation of inhibitors and MG scavengers will be
      addressed in the context of MG-mediated stress blockade for cancer therapy.

PMID- 28600199
TI  - Financing of Vaccine Delivery in Primary Care Practices.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vaccines represent a significant portion of primary care practice
      expenses. Our objectives were to determine among pediatric (Ped) and family
      medicine (FM) practices: 1) relative payment for vaccine purchase and
      administration and estimated profit margin according to payer type, 2) strategies
      used to reduce vaccine purchase costs and increase payment, and 3) whether
      practices have stopped providing vaccines because of finances. METHODS: A
      national survey conducted from April through September 2011 among Ped and FM
      practitioners in private, single-specialty practices. RESULTS: The response rate
      was 51% (221 of 430). Depending on payer type, 61% to 79% of practices reported
      that payment for vaccine purchase was at least 100% of purchase price and 34% to
      74% reported that payment for vaccine administration was at least $11. Reported
      strategies to reduce vaccine purchase cost were online purchasing (81% Ped, 36%
      FM), prompt pay (78% Ped, 49% FM), and bulk order (65% Ped, 49% FM) discounts.
      Fewer than half of practices used strategies to increase payment; in a
      multivariable analysis, practices with >=5 providers were more likely to use
      strategies compared with practices with fewer providers (adjusted odds ratio,
      2.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.51-4.62). When asked if they had stopped
      purchasing vaccines because of financial concerns, 12% of Ped practices and 23%
      of FM practices responded 'yes,' and 24% of Ped and 26% of FM practices responded
      'no, but have seriously considered.' CONCLUSIONS: Practices report variable
      payment for vaccination services from different payer types. Practices might
      benefit from increased use of strategies to reduce vaccine purchase costs and
      increase payment for vaccine delivery.

PMID- 28600201
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28600202
TI  - Pathophysiology of liver fibrosis and the methodological barriers to the
      development of anti-fibrogenic agents.
AB  - Liver fibrosis and cirrhosis resulting from long-standing liver damage represents
      a major health care burden worldwide. To date, there is no anti-fibrogenic agent
      available, making liver transplantation the only curative treatment for
      decompensated cirrhotic liver disease. Liver fibrosis can result from different
      underlying chronic liver disease, such as chronic viral infection, excessive
      alcohol consumption, fatty liver disease or autoimmune liver diseases. It is
      becoming increasingly recognised that as a result from different pathogenic
      mechanisms liver fibrosis must be considered as many different diseases for which
      individual treatment strategies need to be developed. Moreover, the pathogenic
      changes of both liver architecture and vascularisation in cirrhotic livers, as
      well as the lack of "true-to-life" in vitro models have impeded the development
      of an effective anti-fibrogenic drug. Thus, in order to identify an efficient
      anti-fibrogenic compound, novel in-vitro models mimicking the interplay between
      pro-fibrogenic cell populations, immune cells and, importantly, the extracellular
      matrix need to be developed.

PMID- 28600200
TI  - Applications of NMR to structure determination of RNAs large and small.
AB  - Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate
      the structure and dynamics of RNA, because many biologically important RNAs have
      conformationally flexible structures, which makes them difficult to crystallize.
      Functional, independently folded RNA domains, range in size between simple stem
      loops of as few as 10-20 nucleotides, to 50-70 nucleotides, the size of tRNA and
      many small ribozymes, to a few hundred nucleotides, the size of more complex RNA
      enzymes and of the functional domains of non-coding transcripts. In this review,
      we discuss new methods for sample preparation, assignment strategies and
      structure determination for independently folded RNA domains of up to 100 kDa in
      molecular weight.

PMID- 28600203
TI  - Chitosan based nanogels stepwise response to intracellular delivery kinetics for
      enhanced delivery of doxorubicin.
AB  - Chitosan based nanogels with pH/redox sensitivities tunable to stepwise response
      to intracellular delivery kinetics were developed. The nanogels were simply
      constructed by ionic gelation first, between O-Carboxymethyl-chitosan (CMCS) and
      thiolated chitosan (TCS), and then oxidation to form disulfide bonds for CMCS-TCS
      nanogels (CTNGs). Doxorubicin loaded nanogels (DOX/CTNGs) exhibited desirable
      stability under physiological pH with a mean size of 150.5nm, and quickly
      aggregated at pH 5.5 (mimic endo/lysosomes) due to protonation of the carboxyl
      groups on CMCS. DOX/CTNGs would maintain their TCS skeleton in acidic pH and
      compromised as treated with 10mM glutathione (mimic cytosol). In agreement with
      the structural variation, release of DOX was dramatically enhanced by the
      synergetic effects of acidic pH and reductive potential. Stepwise responses to
      intracellular delivery kinetics were evidenced by laser confocal images showing
      that DOX/CTNGs underwent efficient cellular internalization through endocytosis,
      endo/lysomse escape via self-precipitation, cleavage of disulfide linkage in
      cytosol and disintegration in nucleus, achieving enhanced nuclear delivery and
      rapid release of doxorubicin. DOX/CTNGs exerted comparable or higher anticancer
      efficacies than that of free DOX against hela cells. The simple construction of
      the nanogels and their capacity of enhancing anticancer activities of DOX are
      potential for translational applications in cancer chemotherapy.

PMID- 28600204
TI  - Antioxidant, antimicrobial, cell viability and enzymatic inhibitory of
      antioxidant polymers as biological macromolecules.
AB  - Polymeric antioxidants such as Catechinaldehyde Polycondensates, Catechin
      acelaldehydepolycondensates, Flavonoid-grafted chitosan fibers, Ferulate
      hydrogel, Dextran ferulate hydrogel, Starch-quercetin conjugate, Gallic acid- and
      Caffeic acid-functionalized chitosan, Gallic acid - chitosan conjugate,
      Poly(rutin), Gallic acid grafted chitosan, Dextran-Catechin Conjugate belong to
      biological macromolecules. These kinds of compounds have stronger antioxidant
      potential and pharmacokinetic activities, as compared to similar low molecular
      weight preservatives. Most of these compounds sources are either antioxidants
      with low molecules polymerization, or polymers conjugation such as synthetic or
      natural preservatives. Additives are well known as being an important ingredient
      of food products due to their strong preservative potential. Many researchers and
      industries attempt to find synthesize materials with the same antioxidant
      potential and higher stability than the similar compounds with low molecular
      weight. Recently, macromolecular antioxidants have received wide attention as
      food additives and dietary supplements in functional foods. It seems that the
      main usage of these compounds is in the food packaging industry. Most of these
      compounds have strong antioxidant, antimicrobial, cell viability and enzymatic
      inhibitory properties.

PMID- 28600205
TI  - Structural characterization of a pectic polysaccharide from Codonopsis pilosula
      and its immunomodulatory activities in vivo and in vitro.
AB  - A pectic polysaccharide (named as CPP1c) extracted from Codonopsis pilosula was
      evaluated for its structural features and potential of immune-modulating
      activities in an aging mouse model of senescence accelerated mouse prone 8
      (SAMP8) in vitro and in vivo. The relative molecular weight and the absolute
      molecular weight of CPP1c were 1.26*105Da and 1.49*105Da, respectively.
      Investigation of structural features by a combination of chemical and
      instrumental analysis showed CPP1c was composed of ->1)-alpha-l-Rhap-(2,4->, ->1)
      alpha-l-Araf-(5->, ->1)-alpha-d-Galp-(6-> and ->1)-alpha-d-GalpA-(4-> in a molar
      ratio of 3:1:2:33. CPP1c could promote lymphocyte proliferation, modulate the
      percentage of CD4+, CD8+, CD28+ and CD152+ T cells and enhance the production of
      IL-2, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. Moreover, PCR assay revealed CPP1c augmented the
      expressions of CD28, PI3K and p38MAPK mRNA, and the increase of protein
      expressions of the same genes was also confirmed by western blot analyses. In
      addition, CPP1c had the potential of promoting the homing of lymphocytes. Taking
      all factors into consideration, we deduced CPP1c might exert its
      immunostimulating potency via promoting T cell activation by TCR/CD28 signaling
      pathways.

PMID- 28600206
TI  - Chitosan-immobilized pectinolytics with novel catalytic features and fruit juice
      clarification potentialities.
AB  - Biological macromolecules are primarily composed of complex polysaccharides that
      strengthen microbial growth for the production of industrially relevant enzymes.
      The presence of polysaccharides in the form of the disrupted cell wall and cell
      materials are among major challenges in the fruit juice industry. The breakdown
      of such biological macromolecules including cellulose and pectin is vital for the
      juices processing. In this background, pectinolytic enzymes including
      polygalacturonase (PG), pectin lyase (PL), and pectin methylesterase (PME) were
      isolated from Aspergillus ornatus, statistically optimized and purified via
      ammonium sulfate fractionation (ASF), dialysis, and Sephadex G-100 gel permeation
      chromatography. After passing through Sephadex G-100 column, PG, PL, and PME were
      2.60-fold, 3.30-fold, and 4.52-fold purified with specific activities of
      475.2U/mg, 557.1U/mg, and 205.7U/mg. The active PG, PL, and PME, each separately,
      were surface immobilized using various concentrations of chitosan and dextran
      polyaldehyde as a macromolecular crosslinking agent. Prior to exploit for juice
      clarification purposes, various parameters including pH, thermal and Michaelis
      Menten kinetic constants of purified and chitosan-immobilized fractions were
      investigated. A considerable improvement in the pH and thermal profiles was
      recorded after immobilization. However, the negligible difference between the Km
      and Vmax values of purified free and chitosan-immobilized fractions revealed that
      the conformational flexibility of pectinolytics was retained as such. A
      significant color and turbidity reductions were recorded after 60min treatment
      with CTS-PG, followed by CTS-PME, and CTS-PL. It can be concluded that the
      clarification of apples, mango, peach, and apricot juices was greatly affected by
      CTS-PG, CTS-PME, and CTS-PL treatments rendering them as potential candidatures
      for food industry applications.

PMID- 28600207
TI  - Conformational behavior of alpha-2-macroglobulin: Aggregation and inhibition
      induced by TFE.
AB  - Alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha2M), a pan-proteinase inhibitor, inhibits a variety
      of endogenous and exogenous proteinases and constitutes an important part of
      body's innate defense system. In the present study, we explored how
      trifluoroethanol (TFE) may modulate the structure, antiproteinase activity and
      aggregation of alpha2M. TFE was sequentially added over a range of 0-20% (v/v)
      and the effects induced were studied by activity assay, intrinsic fluorescence,
      ANS fluorescence, circular dichroism, turbidity assay, Rayleigh scattering
      measurement and ThT fluorescence measurement. Decrease in activity and increase
      in fluorescence intensity of alpha2M upon addition of TFE shows structural
      deviation from the native structure and suggests aggregation of protein upon
      solvent addition. Increase in turbidity and Rayleigh scattering of modified
      alpha2M confirms the formation of aggregates. Insignificant ThT fluorescence
      intensity of TFE treated alpha2M is indicative of amorphous or non-amyloid
      aggregation. Further, circular dichroism results indicate the changes in
      secondary structure of native alpha2M as negative ellipticity decreased on
      addition of the polar solvent to the inhibitor. The turbidometric analysis,
      Rayleigh scattering, ThT fluorescence intensity of modified alpha2M suggests that
      the protein might be driven towards non-amyloid or amorphous aggregation. Our
      studies provide important mechanistic insight how alpha2M undergoes
      conformational and functional changes when exposed to TFE.

PMID- 28600208
TI  - Purification and partial characterization of a low molecular fibrinolytic serine
      metalloprotease C142 from the culture supernatant of Bacillus subtilis C142.
AB  - Novel serine metalloprotease-like enzyme, C142 was purified from the culture
      supernatant of Bacillus subtilis C142. The C142 was purified to homogeneity by a
      two-step procedure with a 20.7-fold increase in specific activity and 0.9%
      recovery. The molecular mass of C142 was approximately 23.5kDa based on SDS-PAGE.
      The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 21 amino acids of C142 was
      AQSVPYGISQIKAPALHSQGY. Its optimum pH, optimum temperature, pH stability, and
      thermal stability were pH 6, 40 degrees C, pH 6-8, and 20-35 degrees C,
      respectively. C142 was strongly inhibited by PMSF and EGTA, suggesting that C142
      was a serine metalloprotease-like enzyme. C142 showed the highest specificity
      toward the substrate for t-PA. The apparent Km, Vmax, and Kcat values of C142
      toward H-d-Ile-Pro-Arg-pNA were determined as 0.34mM, 0.25mmolmg-1min-1, and
      46.83s-1. C142 exhibited fibrinolytic activity, which is stronger than that of
      plasmin. C142 hydrolyzed Aalpha, and Bbeta-chains of fibrinogen, but did not
      cleave gamma-chains. C142 had antithrombotic effect in three animal models. C142
      was devoid of hemorrhagic activity at a dose of 20,000FU/kg. Taken together, our
      results indicate that B. subtilis C142 produces a serine metalloprotease-like
      enzyme/fibrinolytic enzyme and this enzyme might be used as a new thrombolytic
      agent.

PMID- 28600209
TI  - Phytochemical content, Fatty acids composition and antioxidant potential of
      different pomegranate parts: Comparison between edible and non edible varieties
      grown in Tunisia.
AB  - Few comparative studies were interested between edible and non-edible pomegranate
      varieties. In the present study, flowers, leaves, juice and peel of two
      pomegranate varieties, ornamental variety "Nana" (NV) and sweet variety "Tounsi"
      (TV) were compared for their phenolic contents and antioxidant activity. Seeds
      oils were compared also for their fatty acids (FA) composition.Results showed
      that peel and juice of NV contained higher content in tannins, Flavonoids and
      anthocyanins. In contrast, peel and juice of TV were more concentrated in
      carotenoids and polyphenols. Flowers extracts of TV contained more polyphenols
      and flavonoids. However leaves from NV provided more polyphenols, flavonoids and
      anthocyanins. Flowers and leaves proved to be the strongest antioxidants for both
      varieties. For FA composition, NV was more concentrated in Mono-unsaturated FA
      (MUFA) however TV contained more Di-unsaturated FA (DiUFA). cis-gamma-Linolenic
      acid was the major FA in NV. Contrariwise punicic acid was the predominant in TV.

PMID- 28600211
TI  - Association between dietary behavior and mortality among American adults with
      mobility limitations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited research has evaluated the relationship between dietary
      behavior and mortality among those with mobility limitations. OBJECTIVE: To
      examine the association between dietary behavior and mortality in a national
      sample of American adults with mobility limitations. METHODS: Data from the 2003
      2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were utilized. Participants
      were followed through 2011. Based on self-report, analyzed participants included
      those with mobility limitations (N = 1369). Dietary behavior was assessed from
      the alternate healthy eating index (AHEI). RESULTS: For the sample, 108,010
      person-months occurred with an all-cause mortality rate of 2.07 per 1000 person
      months. Dietary behavior was associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk
      when expressed both as a continuous variable and binary variable (i.e., meeting
      dietary guidelines). With regard to the latter, and after adjustments, those
      meeting dietary guidelines (vs. not) had a 40% reduced hazard of all-cause death
      (HR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.38-0.97; P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Among adults with mobility
      limitations, and thus, who unable to engage in sufficient physical activity,
      dietary behavior may have survival benefits.

PMID- 28600212
TI  - Retroperitoneal fibrosis following a long-standing etanercept treatment in a
      spondyloarthritis patient.

PMID- 28600213
TI  - A case of Hajdu-Cheney syndrome associated with psoriatic rheumatism, two causes
      of acro-osteolysis.

PMID- 28600210
TI  - Accelerated versus standard epirubicin followed by cyclophosphamide,
      methotrexate, and fluorouracil or capecitabine as adjuvant therapy for breast
      cancer in the randomised UK TACT2 trial (CRUK/05/19): a multicentre, phase 3,
      open-label, randomised, controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer has improved outcomes
      but causes toxicity. The UK TACT2 trial used a 2*2 factorial design to test two
      hypotheses: whether use of accelerated epirubicin would improve time to tumour
      recurrence (TTR); and whether use of oral capecitabine instead of
      cyclophosphamide would be non-inferior in terms of patients' outcomes and would
      improve toxicity, quality of life, or both. METHODS: In this multicentre, phase
      3, randomised, controlled trial, we enrolled patients aged 18 years or older from
      129 UK centres who had histologically confirmed node-positive or high-risk node
      negative operable breast cancer, had undergone complete excision, and were due to
      receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive four
      cycles of 100 mg/m2 epirubicin either every 3 weeks (standard epirubicin) or
      every 2 weeks with 6 mg pegfilgrastim on day 2 of each cycle (accelerated
      epirubicin), followed by four 4-week cycles of either classic cyclophosphamide,
      methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF; 600 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide intravenously on
      days 1 and 8 or 100 mg/m2 orally on days 1-14; 40 mg/m2 methotrexate
      intravenously on days 1 and 8; and 600 mg/m2 fluorouracil intravenously on days 1
      and 8 of each cycle) or four 3-week cycles of 2500 mg/m2 capecitabine (1250 mg/m2
      given twice daily on days 1-14 of each cycle). The randomisation schedule was
      computer generated in random permuted blocks, stratified by centre, number of
      nodes involved (none vs one to three vs four or more), age (<=50 years vs >50
      years), and planned endocrine treatment (yes vs no). The primary endpoint was
      TTR, defined as time from randomisation to first invasive relapse or breast
      cancer death, with intention-to-treat analysis of standard versus accelerated
      epirubicin and per-protocol analysis of CMF versus capecitabine. This trial is
      registered with ISRCTN, number 68068041, and with ClinicalTrials.gov, number
      NCT00301925. FINDINGS: From Dec 16, 2005, to Dec 5, 2008, 4391 patients (4371
      women and 20 men) were recruited. At a median follow-up of 85.6 months (IQR 80.6
      95.9) no significant difference was seen in the proportions of patients free from
      TTR events between the accelerated and standard epirubicin groups (overall hazard
      ratio [HR] 0.94, 95% CI 0.81-1.09; stratified p=0.42). At 5 years, 85.9% (95% CI
      84.3-87.3) of patients receiving standard epirubicin and 87.1% (85.6-88.4) of
      those receiving accelerated epirubicin were free from TTR events. 4358 patients
      were included in the per-protocol analysis, and no difference was seen in the
      proportions of patients free from TTR events between the CMF and capecitabine
      groups (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.85-1.14; stratified p=0.00092 for non-inferiority).
      Compared with baseline, significantly more patients taking CMF than those taking
      capecitabine had clinically relevant worsening of quality of life at end of
      treatment (255 [58%] of 441 vs 235 [50%] of 475; p=0.011) and at 12 months (114
      [34%] of 334 vs 89 [22%] of 401; p<0.001 at 12 months) and had worse quality of
      life over time (p<0.0001). Detailed toxicity and quality-of-life data were
      collected from 2115 (48%) of treated patients. The most common grade 3 or higher
      adverse events in cycles 1-4 were neutropenia (175 [16%]) and fatigue (56 [5%])
      of the 1070 patients treated with standard epirubicin, and fatigue (63 [6%]) and
      infection (34 [3%]) of the 1045 patients treated with accelerated epirubicin. In
      cycles 5-8, the most common grade 3 or higher adverse events were neutropenia
      (321 [31%]) and fatigue (109 [11%]) in the patients treated with CMF, and hand
      foot syndrome (129 [12%]) and diarrhoea (67 [6%]) in the 1044 patients treated
      with capcitabine. INTERPRETATION: We found no benefit from increasing the dose
      density of the anthracycline component of chemotherapy. However, capecitabine
      could be used in place of CMF without significant loss of efficacy and with
      improved quality of life. FUNDING: Cancer Research UK, Amgen, Pfizer, and Roche.

PMID- 28600214
TI  - Validation of onchocerciasis biomarker N-acetyltyramine-O-glucuronide (NATOG).
AB  - The Neglected Tropical Disease onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease. Despite
      many control programmes by the World Health Organization (WHO), large communities
      in West and Central Africa are still affected. Besides logistic challenges during
      biannual mass drug administration, the lack of a robust, point-of-care diagnostic
      is limiting successful eradication of onchocerciasis. Towards the implementation
      of a non-invasive and point-of-care diagnostic, we have recently reported the
      discovery of the biomarker N-acetyltyramine-O-glucuronide (NATOG) in human urine
      samples using a metabolomics-mining approach. NATOG's biomarker value was
      enhanced during an investigation in a rodent model. Herein, we further detail the
      specificity of NATOG in active onchocerciasis infections as well as the co
      infecting parasites Loa loa and Mansonella perstans. Our results measured by
      liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) reveal elevated
      NATOG values in mono- and co-infection samples only in the presence of the
      nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Metabolic pathway investigation of l
      tyrosine/tyramine in all investigated nematodes uncovered an important link
      between the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia and O. volvulus for the
      biosynthesis of NATOG. Based on these extended studies, we suggest NATOG as a
      biomarker for tracking active onchocerciasis infections and provide a threshold
      concentration value of NATOG for future diagnostic tool development.

PMID- 28600215
TI  - A new type of pharmacological chaperone for GM1-gangliosidosis related human
      lysosomal beta-galactosidase: N-Substituted 5-amino-1-hydroxymethyl
      cyclopentanetriols.
AB  - N-Functionalized amino(hydroxymethyl)cyclopentanetriols are potent inhibitors of
      beta-d-galactosidases and, for the first time, could be shown to act as
      pharmacological chaperones for GM1-gangliosidosis-associated lysosomal acid beta
      galactosidase thus representing a new structural type of pharmacological
      chaperones for this lysosomal storage disease.

PMID- 28600216
TI  - Molecular epidemiology and antibiotic resistance of methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus circulating in the Russian Federation.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of antimicrobial resistance
      and molecular features of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
      isolates in Russia. Isolates recovered from hospital patients (n=480), healthy
      medical personnel (n=25), and healthy carriers (n=13) were included in the study.
      Hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) demonstrated high resistance to ciprofloxacin,
      gentamicin, and chloramphenicol (76%-92%), moderate - to tetracycline,
      erythromycin, clindamycin, and rifampicin (38%-54%), and low - to fusidic acid,
      co-trimoxazole, mupirocin, and daptomycin (2%-7%). Elevated MIC (2.0MUg/ml) of
      vancomycin was detected in 26% of isolates. All isolates were susceptible to
      linezolid and tigecycline. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed that CC8
      isolates (ST8+ST239) constituted 83.1% of HA-MRSA and that this genetic lineage
      dominated in all regions from Krasnoyarsk to Saint Petersburg. A local ST239
      variant harboring the tst gene (ST239Kras) was detected in Krasnoyarsk. The other
      HA-MRSA isolates belonged to clonal complex 5 (CC5) (21 isolates, 12.2%) and CC22
      (2, 1.2%). The majority of CC5 isolates were affiliated with sequence type 228
      (ST228) and were characterized with decreased susceptibility to ceftaroline
      (MIC=2MUg/ml). We also detected, for the first time in Russia, livestock
      associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) from clusters CC398 and CC97 in humans. Among the 2053
      healthy persons screened for nasal carriage of S. aureus, the bacteria were
      isolated from 426 (21%); among them, 13 carried isolates identified as community
      associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). Eleven of 13 CA-MRSA isolates belonged to ST22 (spa
      types t223, t3243, and t3689; SCCmec types IVa and IVc, agr type I, tst-positive)
      and were similar to the EMRSA-15/Middle Eastern variant (Gaza strain).

PMID- 28600217
TI  - Limited genetic diversity in the global Plasmodium vivax Cell traversal protein
      of Ookinetes and Sporozoites (CelTOS) sequences; implications for PvCelTOS-based
      vaccine development.
AB  - Cell traversal protein of Ookinetes and Sporozoites (CelTOS) is a new malaria
      vaccine candidate antigen. Since one of the main challenges in malaria vaccine
      development is the extensive antigenic diversity of this parasite, local and
      global gene diversity analysis is of particular importance. Therefore, in this
      study, the genetic diversity of pvceltos gene was investigated among Iranian P.
      vivax isolates (n=46) and compared with available worldwide pvceltos sequences.
      One synonymous (C109A) and three amino acid replacements (V118L, K178T, and
      G179R) were observed in Iranian pvceltos sequences in compare with Sal-1 sequence
      leading to five haplotypes including PvCelt-A (GSVKGL, 13%), PvCelt-B (GSLKGL,
      50%), PvCelt-C (GSLTGL, 17.4%), PvCelt-D (GSVTGL, 13%) and PvCelt-E (GSLTRL,
      6.5%). However, amino acid replacements were observed in six positions (G10S,
      S40N, V118L/M, K178T, G179R/D and L181R) in PvCelTOS antigen of global isolates
      leading to 11 distinct haplotypes. PvCelt-A and PvCelt-B haplotypes were the most
      common haplotypes in the world. The overall nucleotide diversity for Iranian
      isolates was 0.00169, while, the level of nucleotide diversity was ranged from
      0.00252 for Thailand to 0.00022 for Peru populations in the world. The analysis
      of SNPs in relation with the predicted immunodominant regions revealed that only
      K178T and G179R SNPs are located in putative B-cell epitopes. All replacements
      were located in CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cell epitopes. However, the majority of
      epitopes are located in conserved regions. Knowing whether these changes may
      alter the affinity of the epitopes for antibodies and/or MHC molecules remains to
      be investigated in experimental studies. In conclusion, the present study showed
      a very limited genetic diversity in pvceltos gene among the global clinical
      isolates that can be regarded as a potential candidate antigen to apply for vivax
      based malaria vaccine development.

PMID- 28600218
TI  - Systematic Review of Patient-Specific Surgical Simulation: Toward Advancing
      Medical Education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Simulation-based education has been shown to be an effective tool to
      teach foundational technical skills in various surgical specialties. However,
      most of the current simulations are limited to generic scenarios and do not allow
      continuation of the learning curve beyond basic technical skills to prepare for
      more advanced expertise, such as patient-specific surgical planning. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the current medical literature with
      respect to the utilization and educational value of patient-specific simulations
      for surgical training. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of the
      literature using Pubmed, Embase, and Scopus focusing on themes of simulation,
      patient-specific, surgical procedure, and education. The study included
      randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies published
      between 2005 and 2016. Two independent reviewers (W.H.R. and N.D) conducted the
      study appraisal, data abstraction, and quality assessment of the studies.
      RESULTS: The search identified 13 studies that met the inclusion criteria; 7
      studies employed computer simulations and 6 studies used 3-dimensional (3D)
      synthetic models. A number of surgical specialties evaluated patient-specific
      simulation, including neurosurgery, vascular surgery, orthopedic surgery, and
      interventional radiology. However, most studies were small in size and primarily
      aimed at feasibility assessments and early validation. CONCLUSIONS: Early
      evidence has shown feasibility and utility of patient-specific simulation for
      surgical education. With further development of this technology, simulation-based
      education may be able to support training of higher-level competencies outside
      the clinical settingto aid learners in their development of surgical skills.

PMID- 28600219
TI  - A note on the roles of quantum and mechanical models in social biophysics.
AB  - Recent advances in the applications of quantum models into various disciplines
      such as cognitive science, social sciences, economics, and biology witnessed
      enormous achievements and possible future progress. In this paper, we propose one
      of the most promising directions in the applications of quantum models: the
      combination of quantum and mechanical models in social biophysics. The possible
      resulting discipline may be called as experimental quantum social biophysics and
      could foster our understandings of the relationships between the society and
      individuals.

PMID- 28600220
TI  - The Belgian national registry on chronic pancreatitis: A prospective multi-centre
      study covering more than 800 patients in one year.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The epidemiology, natural history, complications, and
      therapeutic management of chronic pancreatitis (CP) are not well described at the
      national level. This multi-centre prospective observational study involving eight
      Belgian hospitals aimed to improve the understanding of these aspects of CP in
      Belgium. METHODS: All patients with a diagnosis of CP based on imaging were
      eligible for this study. Data were gathered regarding epidemiology, etiology, CP
      complications, and treatment modalities. RESULTS: A total of 809 patients were
      included between 1/9/2014 and 31/8/2015. Most patients (794) were adults >=16
      years old, 74% were male, the median age at symptom onset was 47 (38-57) years,
      the median disease duration was 7 (3-13) years, and the median Izbicki pain score
      (IPS) was 96 (0-195). The main etiological risk factors according to the TIGAR-O
      classification were alcohol and tobacco (67%). Current drinkers had lower body
      mass index (BMI) (21.4 kg/m2 vs 24.1 kg/m2), higher IPS (110 vs 56), and longer
      inability to work than non-drinkers. Current smokers had lower BMI (21.5 kg/m2 vs
      25 kg/m2) and higher IPS (120 vs 30) than non-smokers. Endocrine insufficiency
      and/or clinical steatorrhea was recorded in 41% and 36% of patients,
      respectively. The highest IPS was reported in patients with ongoing endotherapy
      (166 vs 50 for patients who completed endoscopy). CONCLUSION: This multicentric
      study on CP patients showed that current alcohol drinking and smoking are
      associated with pain and malnutrition. Pain scores were higher in patients with
      ongoing endotherapy, independently of surgery.

PMID- 28600221
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel steroidal 5alpha,8alpha-endoperoxide
      derivatives with aliphatic side-chain as potential anticancer agents.
AB  - By inspiration of significant anti-cancer activity of our previously screened
      natural ergosterol peroxide (EP), a series of novel steroidal 5alpha,8alpha
      endoperoxide derivatives 5a-d and 14a-f were designed, synthesized, and
      biologically evaluated for their in vitro anti-proliferative inhibitory and
      cytotoxic activity. The results revealed that most of these compounds showed
      moderate-to-excellent anti-proliferative effects against the tested cancer cell
      lines (i.e. HepG2, SK-Hep1, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7). Among them, compound 5b and
      14d exhibited preferable inhibitory activities (IC50 of 5b and 14d are 8.07 and
      9.50MUM against HepG2, respectively). The structure-activity relationships
      indicated that incorporation the peroxidic bridge to the steroid scaffolds at C-5
      and C-8 positions together with the aliphatic side-chain at the C-17 position
      would provide synergistic effect for the bioactivity.

PMID- 28600222
TI  - Taste bud-derived BDNF maintains innervation of a subset of TrkB-expressing
      gustatory nerve fibers.
AB  - Taste receptor cells transduce different types of taste stimuli and transmit this
      information to gustatory neurons that carry it to the brain. Taste receptor cells
      turn over continuously in adulthood, requiring constant new innervation from
      nerve fibers. Therefore, the maintenance of innervation to taste buds is an
      active process mediated by many factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic
      factor (BDNF). Specifically, 40% of taste bud innervation is lost when Bdnf is
      removed during adulthood. Here we speculated that not all gustatory nerve fibers
      express the BDNF receptor, TrkB, resulting in subsets of neurons that vary in
      their response to BDNF. However, it is also possible that the partial loss of
      innervation occurred because the Bdnf gene was not effectively removed. To test
      these possibilities, we first determined that not all gustatory nerve fibers
      express the TrkB receptor in adult mice. We then verified the efficiency of Bdnf
      removal specifically in taste buds of K14-CreER:Bdnf mice and found that Bdnf
      expression was reduced to 1%, indicating efficient Bdnf gene recombination. BDNF
      removal resulted in a 55% loss of TrkB-expressing nerve fibers, which was greater
      than the loss of P2X3-positive fibers (39%), likely because taste buds were
      innervated by P2X3+/TrkB- fibers that were unaffected by BDNF removal. We
      conclude that gustatory innervation consists of both TrkB-positive and TrkB
      negative taste fibers and that BDNF is specifically important for maintaining
      TrkB-positive innervation to taste buds. In addition, although taste bud size was
      not affected by inducible Bdnf removal, the expression of the gamma subunit of
      the ENaC channel was reduced. So, BDNF may regulate expression of some molecular
      components of taste transduction pathways.

PMID- 28600223
TI  - 'Nano-in-nano' hybrid liposomes increase target specificity and gene silencing
      efficiency in breast cancer induced SCID mice.
AB  - Gene silencing has immense potential in the treatment of cancer. However,
      enhancement of its efficiency requires the development of specifically targeted
      and safe carrier systems. Cationic carriers are generally limited by their
      immunogenicity. Hence, in this study, we report hybrid liposomes encapsulating
      Poly (L-lysine)-siRNA complex to silence epithelial cell adhesion molecule
      (EpCAM), highly expressed in epithelial cancers. The hybrid liposomes LL1 (Egg
      PC:DSPE-PEG, 10:0) and hybrid immunoliposomes LL2 (Egg PC:DSPE-PEG, 8:2) linked
      with EpCAM antibody as the targeting ligand showed an encapsulation efficiency of
      70% and 86%, respectively. LL2 liposomes with a zeta potential of -26mV exhibited
      good colloidal stability in phosphate buffered saline containing bovine serum
      albumin and fetal bovine serum at 37 degrees C. Cell uptake studies showed
      increased uptake of the LL2 when compared to LL1 liposomes. Finally, the hybrid
      immunoliposomes were evaluated for their efficacy in regressing the tumor volume
      in SCID mice. Eight doses each of 0.15mg/kg, which is among the lowest reported
      siRNA concentrations, were administered to the animals. About 45% reduction in
      tumor volume was achieved after 28days in the mice treated with LL2 when compared
      with the positive control and LL1 treated groups. Thus, our results demonstrate
      that the 'nano-in-nano' concept of encapsulating poly (l-Lysine) complexed EpCAM
      siRNA in immunoliposomes may be a promising strategy to treat EpCAM-positive
      epithelial cancers, especially as an adjuvant therapy.

PMID- 28600224
TI  - Enhancement of transdermal protein delivery by photothermal effect of gold
      nanorods coated on polysaccharide-based hydrogel.
AB  - Transdermal protein delivery is a useful and attractive method for protein
      therapy and dermal vaccination. However, this delivery method is restricted by
      the low permeability of the stratum corneum. The purpose of this study was to
      develop a transdermal delivery system for enhancement of protein permeability
      into the skin. First, we prepared a transparent gel patch made of polysaccharides
      with gold nanorods on the gel surface and fluorescein isothiocyanate-modified
      ovalbumin (FITC-OVA) inside. Next, the gel patch was placed on mouse skin to
      allow contact with the coated gold nanorods, and irradiated by a continuous-wave
      laser. The laser irradiation heated the gold nanorods and the skin temperature
      increased to 43 degrees C, resulting in enhanced translocation of FITC-OVA into
      the skin. These results confirmed the capability of the transdermal protein
      delivery system to perforate the stratum corneum and thus facilitate the passage
      of proteins across the skin.

PMID- 28600225
TI  - B7-H4 is a prognostic biomarker for poor survival in patients with pancreatic
      cancer.
AB  - B7-H4 belongs to the immune costimulatory B7 family and is thought to negatively
      regulate T-cell-mediated immunity, and may contribute an important role in tumor
      immune evasion. Although the expression of B7-H4 has been observed in human
      pancreatic cancer, the prognostic significance of this expression is poorly
      understood. This present study explored the prognostic value of B7-H4 in
      pancreatic cancer. Patients with pancreatic cancer and healthy controls were
      recruited at the Second Affiliated Hospital to Zhejiang University from January
      2011 to December 2014. Expression of B7-H4 was assessed by immunohistochemistry.
      Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that B7-H4 was expressed in 100% (188/188)
      of the pancreatic cancer tumor tissue samples, while only in 68% (17/25) of
      normal pancreatic tissue samples. Furthermore, the expression levels of B7-H4 in
      pancreatic cancer patients were significantly higher than in controls (P<.01). A
      significant difference in B7-H4 expression was observed between patients with
      late tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (III and IV) and early TNM stage (I and
      II) (P<.01). The expression of B7-H4 was associated with distant metastasis
      (P<.01) and differentiation (P<.01). In addition, B7-H4 expression (P<.01),
      distant metastasis (P<.01), TNM stage (P<.01), differentiation (P<.01) and
      chemotherapy treatment (P<.05) were indicators of poor overall survival time.
      Multivariate survival analysis indicated that B7-H4 expression, distant
      metastasis, and chemotherapy treatment (P<.05) were independent prognostic
      indicators of poor overall survival. In conclusion, B7-H4 is highly expressed in
      pancreatic cancer, and is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients
      with pancreatic cancer. B7-H4 may represent an immunotherapeutic target in
      pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 28600226
TI  - Screening for small molecule inhibitors of HIV-1 Gag expression.
AB  - The control of RNA processing plays an important role in the nature and quantity
      of protein generated from mammalian genes. Consequently, efforts to manipulate
      RNA processing have the capacity to significantly impact gene function. Although
      multiple strategies have been developed to alter splice site selection using
      oligonucleotide occlusion of splice sites or splicing regulatory elements,
      systemic delivery of such agents remains problematic. Outlined in this chapter is
      a protocol to screen for small molecule inhibitors of HIV-1 Gag expression that
      have been subsequently determined to modulate viral RNA processing.
      Identification and characterization of such RNA processing modulators offers the
      potential for the development of therapeutic lead compounds or probes for
      investigating the mechanism underlying the regulation of select RNA processing
      events.

PMID- 28600227
TI  - miRTarVis+: Web-based interactive visual analytics tool for microRNA target
      predictions.
AB  - In this paper, we present miRTarVis+, a Web-based interactive visual analytics
      tool for miRNA target predictions and integrative analyses of multiple prediction
      results. Various microRNA (miRNA) target prediction algorithms have been
      developed to improve sequence-based miRNA target prediction by exploiting miRNA
      mRNA expression profile data. There are also a few analytics tools to help
      researchers predict targets of miRNAs. However, there still is a need for
      improving the performance for miRNA prediction algorithms and more importantly
      for interactive visualization tools for an integrative analysis of multiple
      prediction results. miRTarVis+ has an intuitive interface to support the analysis
      pipeline of load, filter, predict, and visualize. It can predict targets of miRNA
      by adopting Bayesian inference and maximal information-based nonparametric
      exploration (MINE) analyses as well as conventional correlation and mutual
      information analyses. miRTarVis+ supports an integrative analysis of multiple
      prediction results by providing an overview of multiple prediction results and
      then allowing users to examine a selected miRNA-mRNA network in an interactive
      treemap and node-link diagram. To evaluate the effectiveness of miRTarVis+, we
      conducted two case studies using miRNA-mRNA expression profile data of asthma and
      breast cancer patients and demonstrated that miRTarVis+ helps users more
      comprehensively analyze targets of miRNA from miRNA-mRNA expression profile data.
      miRTarVis+ is available at http://hcil.snu.ac.kr/research/mirtarvisplus.

PMID- 28600228
TI  - A bimetallic nanocoral Au decorated with Pt nanoflowers (bio)sensor for H2O2
      detection at low potential.
AB  - In this work, we have developed for the first time a method to make novel gold
      and platinum hybrid bimetallic nanostructures differing in shape and size. Au-Pt
      nanostructures were prepared by electrodeposition in two simple steps. The first
      step consists of the electrodeposition of nanocoral Au onto a gold substrate
      using hydrogen as a dynamic template in an ammonium chloride solution. After
      that, the Pt nanostructures were deposited onto the nanocoral Au organized in
      pores. Using Pt (II) and Pt (IV), we realized nanocoral Au decorated with Pt
      nanospheres and nanocoral Au decorated with Pt nanoflowers, respectively. The
      bimetallic nanostructures showed better capability to electrochemically oxidize
      hydrogen peroxide compared with nanocoral Au. Moreover, Au-Pt nanostructures were
      able to lower the potential of detection and a higher performance was obtained at
      a low applied potential. Then, glucose oxidase was immobilized onto the
      bimetallic Au-Pt nanostructure using cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The
      biosensor was characterized by chronoamperometry at +0.15V vs. Ag pseudo
      reference electrode (PRE) and showed good analytical performances with a linear
      range from 0.01 to 2.00mM and a sensitivity of 33.66uA/mMcm2. The good value of
      Kmapp (2.28mM) demonstrates that the hybrid nanostructure is a favorable
      environment for the enzyme. Moreover, the low working potential can minimize the
      interference from ascorbic acid and uric acid as well as reducing power
      consumption to effect sensing. The simple procedure to realize this nanostructure
      and to immobilize enzymes, as well as the analytical performances of the
      resulting devices, encourage the use of this technology for the development of
      biosensors for clinical analysis.

PMID- 28600230
TI  - Cytokine and chemokine profile changes in patients with lower segment lumbar
      degenerative spondylolisthesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS) develops as a result of
      inflammatory and remodeling processes in facet joints (FJs). Several inflammatory
      cytokines are involved in the osteoarthritic and remodeling changes that occur
      and in low-back and/or radicular pain, the most prevalent clinical symptom of
      disease. This study improves knowledge related to the roles that 27 cytokines,
      chemokines and growth factors play in the pathophysiology of lumbar DS. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Cytokine levels were examined using capture sandwich immunoassay
      using the Bio-Plex(r) 200 System and the Bio-PlexTM Human Cytokine Standard 27
      Plex, Group I (Bio-Rad, Hercules, California, USA) separately in intervertebral
      discs (IVDs) and FJ bone tissue. The samples were obtained during primary spinal
      surgery from 9 patients suffering from lower segment lumbar DS. The pain
      intensity was assessed using a visual analog scale. The controls were tissue
      samples collected from both lower lumbar segment levels of 6 male subjects during
      a multiorgan procurement procedure. RESULTS: The Bio-Plex(r) assay revealed
      significant differences between the patients and controls in cytokines,
      chemokines and growth factor profiles: i, The elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL
      7, IL-13, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon gamma and platelet
      derived growth factor levels in lumbar DS samples of subchondral FJ bone. These
      indicated ongoing inflammation, bone formation and increased fibroblasts activity
      in the FJ bone. ii, The elevated levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, granulocyte
      macrophage colony-stimulating factor and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in
      anulus fibrosus together with increased IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha and eotaxin and
      decreased IL-1-receptor antagonist in nucleus pulposus confirmed advanced IVD
      degeneration in the patient samples. CONCLUSION: This study identified, for the
      first time, protective levels of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors in
      healthy subjects and supported their significant involvement in the pathogenesis
      of lumbar DS. The control samples and analytical methods used avoided any false
      changes in the cytokine levels due to secondary factors (e.g., death of donor and
      limited cytokine stability).

PMID- 28600229
TI  - The structural basis of alpha-tropomyosin linked (Asp230Asn) familial dilated
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Recently, linkage analysis of two large unrelated multigenerational families
      identified a novel dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)-linked mutation in the gene
      coding for alpha-tropomyosin (TPM1) resulting in the substitution of an aspartic
      acid for an asparagine (at residue 230). To determine how a single amino acid
      mutation in alpha-tropomyosin (Tm) can lead to a highly penetrant DCM we
      generated a novel transgenic mouse model carrying the D230N mutation. The
      resultant mouse model strongly phenocopied the early onset of cardiomyopathic
      remodeling observed in patients as significant systolic dysfunction was observed
      by 2months of age. To determine the precise cellular mechanism(s) leading to the
      observed cardiac pathology we examined the effect of the mutation on Ca2+
      handling in isolated myocytes and myofilament activation in vitro. D230N-Tm
      filaments exhibited a reduced Ca2+ sensitivity of sliding velocity. This decrease
      in sensitivity was coupled to increase in the peak amplitude of Ca2+ transients.
      While significant, and consistent with other DCMs, these measurements are
      comprised of complex inputs and did not provide sufficient experimental
      resolution. We then assessed the primary structural effects of D230N-Tm.
      Measurements of the thermal unfolding of D230N-Tm vs WT-Tm revealed an increase
      in stability primarily affecting the C-terminus of the Tm coiled-coil. We
      conclude that the D230N-Tm mutation induces a decrease in flexibility of the C
      terminus via propagation through the helical structure of the protein, thus
      decreasing the flexibility of the Tm overlap and impairing its ability to
      regulate contraction. Understanding this unique structural mechanism could
      provide novel targets for eventual therapeutic interventions in patients with Tm
      linked cardiomyopathies.

PMID- 28600231
TI  - The "two-week wait" referral pathway is not associated with improved survival for
      patients with colorectal cancer.
AB  - AIM: To improve survival rates in patients diagnosed with cancer in the UK, a two
      week wait (2ww) referral to first appointment target and a 62 day referral to
      treatment target were introduced in 2004. This study analyses survival rates for
      patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) by mode of referral and referral
      to treatment time. METHOD: A prospectively maintained database of CRC outcomes at
      the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust was analysed. Data for patients
      diagnosed with CRC was analysed for survival. Comparisons were made by mode of
      referral (2ww, urgent, routine, emergency, national bowel cancer screening
      programme (NBCSP) and other screening pathways). In addition, this study assessed
      referral to initial treatment times for patients undergoing cancer resection
      (<62days group vs. >62days group). Inter-group comparisons were made using the
      Mann-Whitney-U-test. Kaplan-Meier survival probability estimates were calculated
      for overall survival and the log-rank test was used to compare the survival
      distributions in different groups. RESULTS: Overall survival (median time) was
      significantly lower for patients referred by the '2ww' pathway (3.5 years, 95%
      CI: 2.7-4.30), in comparison to the 'routine' (5.4 years, 95% CI: 4.5-6.6)
      pathway (p < 0.001). Patients referred on the '2ww' pathway were 1.34 times more
      likely to have stage IV disease at presentation in comparison to patients
      referred by the 'routine' pathway. Comparison of referral to initial treatment
      times showed there was no significant difference in survival between the <62days
      group and the >62days group (7.1 vs. 6.54, p = 0.620). CONCLUSION: Patients
      diagnosed with CRC by the 2ww pathway had shorter survival times than those
      referred by a routine pathway.

PMID- 28600232
TI  - Revision bariatric surgery: What technical choices should be taken depending on
      the first intervention?

PMID- 28600233
TI  - Effect of Tissue Heterogeneity on the Transmembrane Potential of Type-1 Spiral
      Ganglion Neurons: A Simulation Study.
AB  - Electric stimulation of the auditory nerve by cochlear implants has been a
      successful clinical intervention to treat the sensory neural deafness. In this
      pathological condition of the cochlea, type-1 spiral ganglion neurons in
      Rosenthal's canal play a vital role in the action potential initiation. Various
      morphological studies of the human temporal bones suggest that the spiral
      ganglion neurons are surrounded by heterogeneous structures formed by a variety
      of cells and tissues. However, the existing simulation models have not considered
      the tissue heterogeneity in the Rosenthal's canal while studying the electric
      field interaction with spiral ganglion neurons. Unlike the existing models, we
      have implemented the tissue heterogeneity in the Rosenthal's canal using a
      computationally inexpensive image based method in a two-dimensional finite
      element model. Our simulation results suggest that the spatial heterogeneity of
      surrounding tissues influences the electric field distribution in the Rosenthal's
      canal, and thereby alters the transmembrane potential of the spiral ganglion
      neurons. In addition to the academic interest, these results are especially
      useful to understand how the latest tissue regeneration methods such as gene
      therapy and drug-induced resprouting of peripheral axons, which probably modify
      the density of the tissues in the Rosenthal's canal, affect the cochlear implant
      functionality.

PMID- 28600234
TI  - ResCSRF: Algorithm to Automatically Extract Cheyne-Stokes Respiration Features
      From Respiratory Signals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) related features are significantly
      associated with cardiac dysfunction. Scoring of these features is labor intensive
      and time-consuming. To automate the scoring process, an algorithm (ResCSRF) has
      been developed to extract these features from nocturnal measurement of
      respiratory signals. METHODS: ResCSRF takes four signals (nasal flow, thorax,
      abdomen, and finger oxygen saturation) as input. It first detects CSR cycles and
      then calculates the respiratory features (cycle length, lung-to-periphery
      circulation time, and time to peak flow). It outputs nightly statistics (mean,
      median, standard deviation, and percentiles) of these features. It was developed
      and blindly tested on a group of 49 chronic heart failure patients undergoing
      overnight in-home unattended respiratory polygraphy recordings. RESULTS: The
      performance of ResCSRF was evaluated against manual expert scoring (ES)
      (consensus between two independent sleep scorers). In terms of percentage of CSR
      per recording, the mean difference [reproducibility coefficient (RPC)] between
      ResCSRF and ES was 0.5(6.4) and 0.5(8.1) for development and test set,
      respectively. The nightly statistics of CSR-related features output by ResCSRF
      showed high correlation with ES on the blind test set with the mean difference of
      less than 3 s and RPC of less than 7 s. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that
      ResCSRF is capable of automating the scoring of CSR-related features and could
      potentially be implemented into a remote monitoring system to regularly monitor
      patients' cardiac function.

PMID- 28600235
TI  - Semiautomatic Radiofrequency Ablation Planning Based on Constrained Clustering
      Process for Hepatic Tumors.
AB  - Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is currently one of the most effective methods for
      minimally invasive treatment of hepatic tumors. Planning the probe placements is
      an essential and challenging step in RFA treatment. To completely destroy the
      tumor with minimum amount of affected native tissue, a new RFA planning system is
      proposed in this paper. In the proposed planning system, the minimum number of
      ablations and a conical insertion region for each ablation session are determined
      automatically. Based on the geometric character of the tumor, a novel clustering
      algorithm is developed to allow a better layout of the overlapping ablations. For
      each case, we force the clustering process under the constraint of a manually
      defined puncture scope, such that all of the needle trajectories are gathered in
      a reasonable region. Moreover, the proposed planning system enables the clinician
      to manually choose a proper insertion path inside the conical insertion region to
      avoid penetrating large vessels or ribs, which is critical in RFA treatment. The
      proposed planning system was evaluated on 18 CT scan images and two clinical
      cases. Results implied that the planning system could provide feasible and
      accurate RFA treatment plans for hepatic tumors.

PMID- 28600236
TI  - Dermoscopic Image Segmentation via Multistage Fully Convolutional Networks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Segmentation of skin lesions is an important step in the automated
      computer aided diagnosis of melanoma. However, existing segmentation methods have
      a tendency to over- or under-segment the lesions and perform poorly when the
      lesions have fuzzy boundaries, low contrast with the background, inhomogeneous
      textures, or contain artifacts. Furthermore, the performance of these methods are
      heavily reliant on the appropriate tuning of a large number of parameters as well
      as the use of effective preprocessing techniques, such as illumination correction
      and hair removal. METHODS: We propose to leverage fully convolutional networks
      (FCNs) to automatically segment the skin lesions. FCNs are a neural network
      architecture that achieves object detection by hierarchically combining low-level
      appearance information with high-level semantic information. We address the issue
      of FCN producing coarse segmentation boundaries for challenging skin lesions
      (e.g., those with fuzzy boundaries and/or low difference in the textures between
      the foreground and the background) through a multistage segmentation approach in
      which multiple FCNs learn complementary visual characteristics of different skin
      lesions; early stage FCNs learn coarse appearance and localization information
      while late-stage FCNs learn the subtle characteristics of the lesion boundaries.
      We also introduce a new parallel integration method to combine the complementary
      information derived from individual segmentation stages to achieve a final
      segmentation result that has accurate localization and well-defined lesion
      boundaries, even for the most challenging skin lesions. RESULTS: We achieved an
      average Dice coefficient of 91.18% on the ISBI 2016 Skin Lesion Challenge dataset
      and 90.66% on the PH2 dataset. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: Our extensive
      experimental results on two well-established public benchmark datasets
      demonstrate that our method is more effective than other state-of-the-art methods
      for skin lesion segmentation.

PMID- 28600237
TI  - A Flexure-Guided Piezo Drill for Penetrating the Zona Pellucida of Mammalian
      Oocytes.
AB  - Mammalian oocytes such as mouse oocytes have a highly elastic outer membrane,
      zona pellucida (ZP) that cannot be penetrated without significantly deforming the
      oocyte, even with a sharp micropipette. Piezo drill devices leverage lateral and
      axial vibration of the micropipette to accomplish ZP penetration with greatly
      reduced oocyte deformation. However, existing piezo drills all rely on a large
      lateral micropipette vibration amplitude ( 20 ) and a small axial vibration
      amplitude (0.1 ). The very large lateral vibration amplitude has been deemed to
      be necessary for ZP penetration although it also induces larger oocyte
      deformation and more oocyte damage. This paper reports on a new piezo drill
      device that uses a flexure guidance mechanism and a systematically designed pulse
      train with an appropriate base frequency. Both simulation and experimental
      results demonstrate that a small lateral vibration amplitude (e.g., 2 ) and an
      axial vibration amplitude as large as 1.2 were achieved. Besides achieving 100%
      effectiveness in the penetration of mouse oocytes (n = 45), the new piezo device
      during ZP penetration induced a small oocyte deformation of 3.4 versus larger
      than 10 using existing piezo drill devices.

PMID- 28600238
TI  - Long-Term Temporal Convolutions for Action Recognition.
AB  - Typical human actions last several seconds and exhibit characteristic spatio
      temporal structure. Recent methods attempt to capture this structure and learn
      action representations with convolutional neural networks. Such representations,
      however, are typically learned at the level of a few video frames failing to
      model actions at their full temporal extent. In this work we learn video
      representations using neural networks with long-term temporal convolutions (LTC).
      We demonstrate that LTC-CNN models with increased temporal extents improve the
      accuracy of action recognition. We also study the impact of different low-level
      representations, such as raw values of video pixels and optical flow vector
      fields and demonstrate the importance of high-quality optical flow estimation for
      learning accurate action models. We report state-of-the-art results on two
      challenging benchmarks for human action recognition UCF101 (92.7%) and HMDB51
      (67.2%).

PMID- 28600239
TI  - Scene Segmentation with DAG-Recurrent Neural Networks.
AB  - In this paper, we address the challenging task of scene segmentation. In order to
      capture the rich contextual dependencies over image regions, we propose Directed
      Acyclic Graph-Recurrent Neural Networks (DAG-RNN) to perform context aggregation
      over locally connected feature maps. More specifically, DAG-RNN is placed on top
      of pre-trained CNN (feature extractor) to embed context into local features so
      that their representative capability can be enhanced. In comparison with plain
      CNN (as in Fully Convolutional Networks-FCN), DAG-RNN is empirically found to be
      significantly more effective at aggregating context. Therefore, DAG-RNN
      demonstrates noticeably performance superiority over FCNs on scene segmentation.
      Besides, DAG-RNN entails dramatically less parameters as well as demands fewer
      computation operations, which makes DAG-RNN more favorable to be potentially
      applied on resource-constrained embedded devices. Meanwhile, the class occurrence
      frequencies are extremely imbalanced in scene segmentation, so we propose a novel
      class-weighted loss to train the segmentation network. The loss distributes
      reasonably higher attention weights to infrequent classes during network
      training, which is essential to boost their parsing performance. We evaluate our
      segmentation network on three challenging public scene segmentation benchmarks:
      Sift Flow, Pascal Context and COCO Stuff. On top of them, we achieve very
      impressive segmentation performance.

PMID- 28600240
TI  - Neuron Segmentation With High-Level Biological Priors.
AB  - We present a novel approach to the problem of neuron segmentation in image
      volumes acquired by an electron microscopy. Existing methods, such as
      agglomerative or correlation clustering, rely solely on boundary evidence and
      have problems where such an evidence is lacking (e.g., incomplete staining) or
      ambiguous (e.g., co-located cell and mitochondria membranes). We investigate if
      these difficulties can be overcome by means of sparse region appearance cues that
      differentiate between pre- and postsynaptic neuron segments in mammalian neural
      tissue. We combine these cues with the traditional boundary evidence in the
      asymmetric multiway cut (AMWC) model, which simultaneously solves the
      partitioning and the semantic region labeling problems. We show that AMWC
      problems over superpixel graphs can be solved to global optimality with a cutting
      plane approach, and that the introduction of semantic class priors leads to
      significantly better segmentations.

PMID- 28600241
TI  - Automated Quantitative Bone Analysis in In Vivo X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography.
AB  - Measurement and analysis of bone morphometry in 3D micro-computed tomography
      volumes using automated image processing and analysis improve the accuracy,
      consistency, reproducibility, and speed of preclinical osteological research
      studies. Automating segmentation and separation of individual bones in 3D micro
      computed tomography volumes of murine models presents significant challenges
      considering partial volume effects and joints with thin spacing, i.e., 50 to
      [Formula: see text]. In this paper, novel hybrid splitting filters are presented
      to overcome the challenge of automated bone separation. This is achieved by
      enhancing joint contrast using rotationally invariant second-derivative
      operators. These filters generate split components that seed marker-controlled
      watershed segmentation. In addition, these filters can be used to separate
      metaphysis and epiphysis in long bones, e.g., femur, and remove the metaphyseal
      growth plate from the detected bone mask in morphometric measurements. Moreover,
      for slice-by-slice stereological measurements of long bones, particularly curved
      bones, such as tibia, the accuracy of the analysis can be improved if the planar
      measurements are guided to follow the longitudinal direction of the bone. In this
      paper, an approach is presented for characterizing the bone medial axis using
      morphological thinning and centerline operations. Building upon the medial axis,
      a novel framework is presented to automatically guide stereological measurements
      of long bones and enhance measurement accuracy and consistency. These image
      processing and analysis approaches are combined in an automated streamlined
      software workflow and applied to a range of in vivo micro-computed tomography
      studies for validation.

PMID- 28600243
TI  - Robust Non-Local TV- $L^{1}$ Optical Flow Estimation With Occlusion Detection.
AB  - In this paper, we propose a robust non-local TV-L1 optical flow method with
      occlusion detection to address the problem of weak robustness of optical flow
      estimation with motion occlusion. First, a TV-L1 form for flow estimation is
      defined using a combination of the brightness constancy and gradient constancy
      assumptions in the data term and by varying the weight under the Charbonnier
      function in the smoothing term. Second, to handle the potential risk of the
      outlier in the flow field, a general non-local term is added in the TV-L1 optical
      flow model to engender the typical non-local TV-L1 form. Third, an occlusion
      detection method based on triangulation is presented to detect the occlusion
      regions of the sequence. The proposed non-local TV-L1 optical flow model is
      performed in a linearizing iterative scheme using improved median filtering and a
      coarse-to-fine computing strategy. The results of the complex experiment indicate
      that the proposed method can overcome the significant influence of non-rigid
      motion, motion occlusion, and large displacement motion. Results of experiments
      comparing the proposed method and existing state-of-the-art methods by,
      respectively, using Middlebury and MPI Sintel database test sequences show that
      the proposed method has higher accuracy and better robustness.

PMID- 28600242
TI  - Advanced Fast 3-D Electromagnetic Solver for Microwave Tomography Imaging.
AB  - This paper describes a fast-forward electromagnetic solver (FFS) for the image
      reconstruction algorithm of our microwave tomography system. Our apparatus is a
      preclinical prototype of a biomedical imaging system, designed for the purpose of
      early breast cancer detection. It operates in the 3-6-GHz frequency band using a
      circular array of probe antennas immersed in a matching liquid; it produces image
      reconstructions of the permittivity and conductivity profiles of the breast under
      examination. Our reconstruction algorithm solves the electromagnetic (EM) inverse
      problem and takes into account the real EM properties of the probe antenna array
      as well as the influence of the patient's body and that of the upper metal screen
      sheet. This FFS algorithm is much faster than conventional EM simulation solvers.
      In comparison, in the same PC, the CST solver takes ~45 min, while the FFS takes
      ~1 s of effective simulation time for the same EM model of a numerical breast
      phantom.

PMID- 28600244
TI  - Illumination Decomposition for Photograph With Multiple Light Sources.
AB  - Illumination decomposition for a single photograph is an important and
      challenging problem in image editing operation. In this paper, we present a novel
      coarse-to-fine strategy to perform illumination decomposition for photograph with
      multiple light sources. We first reconstruct the lighting environment of the
      image using the estimated geometry structure of the scene. With the position of
      lights, we detect the shadow regions as well as the highlights in the projected
      image for each light. Then, using the illumination cues from shadows, we estimate
      the coarse illumination decomposed image emitted by each light source. Finally,
      we present a light-aware illumination optimization model, which efficiently
      produces the finer illumination decomposition results, as well as recover the
      texture detail under the shadow. We validate our approach on a number of
      examples, and our method effectively decomposes the input image into multiple
      components corresponding to different light sources.

PMID- 28600245
TI  - Ocular Recognition for Blinking Eyes.
AB  - Ocular recognition is expected to provide a higher flexibility in handling
      practical applications as oppose to the iris recognition, which only works for
      the ideal open-eye case. However, the accuracy of the recent efforts is still far
      from satisfactory at uncontrollable conditions, such as eye blinking which
      implies any poses of eyes. To address these issues, the skin texture, eyelids,
      and additional geometrical features are employed. In addition, to achieve higher
      accuracy, sequential forward floating selection is utilized to select the best
      feature combinations. Finally, the non-linear support vector machine is applied
      for identification purpose. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed
      algorithm achieves the best accuracy for both open eye and blinking eye
      scenarios. As a result, it offers greater flexibility for the prospective
      subjects during recognition as well as higher reliability for security.

PMID- 28600246
TI  - Single and Multiple Illuminant Estimation Using Convolutional Neural Networks.
AB  - In this paper, we present a three-stage method for the estimation of the color of
      the illuminant in RAW images. The first stage uses a convolutional neural network
      that has been specially designed to produce multiple local estimates of the
      illuminant. The second stage, given the local estimates, determines the number of
      illuminants in the scene. Finally, local illuminant estimates are refined by non
      linear local aggregation, resulting in a global estimate in case of single
      illuminant. An extensive comparison with both local and global illuminant
      estimation methods in the state of the art, on standard data sets with single and
      multiple illuminants, proves the effectiveness of our method.

PMID- 28600247
TI  - Multimodal Similarity Gaussian Process Latent Variable Model.
AB  - Data from real applications involve multiple modalities representing content with
      the same semantics from complementary aspects. However, relations among
      heterogeneous modalities are simply treated as observation-to-fit by existing
      work, and the parameterized modality specific mapping functions lack flexibility
      in directly adapting to the content divergence and semantic complicacy in
      multimodal data. In this paper, we build our work based on the Gaussian process
      latent variable model (GPLVM) to learn the non-parametric mapping functions and
      transform heterogeneous modalities into a shared latent space. We propose
      multimodal Similarity Gaussian Process latent variable model (m-SimGP), which
      learns the mapping functions between the intra-modal similarities and latent
      representation. We further propose multimodal distance-preserved similarity GPLVM
      (m-DSimGP) to preserve the intra-modal global similarity structure, and
      multimodal regularized similarity GPLVM (m-RSimGP) by encouraging
      similar/dissimilar points to be similar/dissimilar in the latent space. We
      propose m-DRSimGP, which combines the distance preservation in m-DSimGP and
      semantic preservation in m-RSimGP to learn the latent representation. The overall
      objective functions of the four models are solved by simple and scalable gradient
      decent techniques. They can be applied to various tasks to discover the nonlinear
      correlations and to obtain the comparable low-dimensional representation for
      heterogeneous modalities. On five widely used real-world data sets, our
      approaches outperform existing models on cross-modal content retrieval and
      multimodal classification.

PMID- 28600248
TI  - Unsupervised Sequential Outlier Detection With Deep Architectures.
AB  - Unsupervised outlier detection is a vital task and has high impact on a wide
      variety of applications domains, such as image analysis and video surveillance.
      It also gains long-standing attentions and has been extensively studied in
      multiple research areas. Detecting and taking action on outliers as quickly as
      possible are imperative in order to protect network and related stakeholders or
      to maintain the reliability of critical systems. However, outlier detection is
      difficult due to the one class nature and challenges in feature construction.
      Sequential anomaly detection is even harder with more challenges from temporal
      correlation in data, as well as the presence of noise and high dimensionality. In
      this paper, we introduce a novel deep structured framework to solve the
      challenging sequential outlier detection problem. We use autoencoder models to
      capture the intrinsic difference between outliers and normal instances and
      integrate the models to recurrent neural networks that allow the learning to make
      use of previous context as well as make the learners more robust to warp along
      the time axis. Furthermore, we propose to use a layerwise training procedure,
      which significantly simplifies the training procedure and hence helps achieve
      efficient and scalable training. In addition, we investigate a fine-tuning step
      to update all parameters set by incorporating the temporal correlation in the
      sequence. We further apply our proposed models to conduct systematic experiments
      on five real-world benchmark data sets. Experimental results demonstrate the
      effectiveness of our model, compared with other state-of-the-art approaches.

PMID- 28600249
TI  - Egocentric Mapping of Body Surface Constraints.
AB  - The relative location of human body parts often materializes the semantics of on
      going actions, intentions and even emotions expressed, or performed, by a human
      being. However, traditional methods of performance animation fail to correctly
      and automatically map the semantics of performer postures involving self-body
      contacts onto characters with different sizes and proportions. Our method
      proposes an egocentric normalization of the body-part relative distances to
      preserve the consistency of self contacts for a large variety of human-like
      target characters. Egocentric coordinates are character independent and encode
      the whole posture space, i.e., it ensures the continuity of the motion with and
      without self-contacts. We can transfer classes of complex postures involving
      multiple interacting limb segments by preserving their spatial order without
      depending on temporal coherence. The mapping process exploits a low-cost
      constraint relaxation technique relying on analytic inverse kinematics; thus, we
      can achieve online performance animation. We demonstrate our approach on a
      variety of characters and compare it with the state of the art in online
      retargeting with a user study. Overall, our method performs better than the state
      of the art, especially when the proportions of the animated character deviate
      from those of the performer.

PMID- 28600250
TI  - RCLens: Interactive Rare Category Exploration and Identification.
AB  - Rare category identification is an important task in many application domains,
      ranging from network security, to financial fraud detection, to personalized
      medicine. These are all applications which require the discovery and
      characterization of sets of rare but structurally-similar data entities which are
      obscured within a larger but structurally different dataset. This paper
      introduces RCLens, a visual analytics system designed to support user-guided rare
      category exploration and identification. RCLens adopts a novel active learning
      based algorithm to iteratively identify more accurate rare categories in response
      to user-provided feedback. The algorithm is tightly integrated with an
      interactive visualization-based interface which supports a novel and effective
      workflow for rare category identification. This paper (1) defines RCLens'
      underlying active-learning algorithm; (2) describes the visualization and
      interaction designs, including a discussion of how the designs support user
      guided rare category identification; and (3) presents results from an evaluation
      demonstrating RCLens' ability to support the rare category identification
      process.

PMID- 28600251
TI  - Image Structure Retrieval via Minimization.
AB  - Retrieving salient structure from textured images is an important but difficult
      problem in computer vision because texture, which can be irregular, anisotropic,
      non-uniform and complex, shares many of the same properties as structure.
      Observing that salient structure in a textured image should be piece-wise smooth,
      we present a method to retrieve such structures using an minimization of a
      modified form of the relative total variation metric. Thanks to the
      characteristics shared by texture and small structures, our method is effective
      at retrieving structure based on scale as well. Our method outperforms state-of
      art methods in texture removal as well as scale-space filtering. We also
      demonstrate our method's ability in other applications such as edge detection,
      clip art compression artifact removal, and inverse half-toning.

PMID- 28600252
TI  - Radiative Transport Based Flame Volume Reconstruction from Videos.
AB  - We introduce a novel approach for flame volume reconstruction from videos using
      inexpensive charge-coupled device (CCD) consumer cameras. The approach includes
      an economical data capture technique using inexpensive CCD cameras. Leveraging
      the smear feature of the CCD chip, we present a technique for synchronizing CCD
      cameras while capturing flame videos from different views. Our reconstruction is
      based on the radiative transport equation which enables complex phenomena such as
      emission, extinction, and scattering to be used in the rendering process. Both
      the color intensity and temperature reconstructions are implemented using the
      CUDA parallel computing framework, which provides real-time performance and
      allows visualization of reconstruction results after every iteration. We present
      the results of our approach using real captured data and physically-based
      simulated data. Finally, we also compare our approach against the other state-of
      the-art flame volume reconstruction methods and demonstrate the efficacy and
      efficiency of our approach in four different applications: (1) rendering of
      reconstructed flames in virtual environments, (2) rendering of reconstructed
      flames in augmented reality, (3) flame stylization, and (4) reconstruction of
      other semitransparent phenomena.

PMID- 28600253
TI  - Robust Granger Analysis in Lp Norm Space for Directed EEG Network Analysis.
AB  - Granger analysis (GA) is widely used to construct directed brain networks based
      on various physiological recordings, such as functional magnetic resonance
      imaging, and electroencephalogram (EEG). However, in real applications, EEGs are
      inevitably contaminated by unexpected artifacts that may distort the networks
      because of the L2 norm structure utilized in GAs when estimating directed links.
      Compared with the L2 norm, the Lp ( ) norm can compress outlier effects. In this
      paper, an extended GA is constructed by applying the Lp ( ) norm strategy to
      estimate robust causalities under outlier conditions, and a feasible iteration
      procedure is utilized to solve the new GA model. A quantitative evaluation using
      a predefined simulation network demonstrates smaller bias errors and higher
      linkage consistence for the Lp ( , 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, 0.2) -GAs compared with both
      the Lasso- and L2-GAs under various simulated outlier conditions. Applications in
      resting-state EEGs that contain ocular artifacts also show that the proposed GA
      can effectively compress the ocular outlier influence and recover the reliable
      networks. The proposed Lp-GA may be helpful in capturing the reliable network
      structure when EEGs are contaminated with artifacts in related studies.

PMID- 28600254
TI  - Short- and Long-Term Learning of Feedforward Control of a Myoelectric Prosthesis
      with Sensory Feedback by Amputees.
AB  - Human motor control relies on a combination of feedback and feedforward
      strategies. The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate artificial
      somatosensory feedback and feedforward control in the context of grasping with
      myoelectric prosthesis. Nine amputee subjects performed routine grasping trials,
      with the aim to produce four levels of force during four blocks of 60 trials
      across five days. The electrotactile force feedback was provided in the second
      and third block using multipad electrode and spatial coding. The first baseline
      and last validation block (open-loop control) evaluated the effects of long-
      (across sessions) and short-term (within session) learning, respectively. The
      outcome measures were the absolute error between the generated and target force,
      and the number of force saturations. The results demonstrated that the
      electrotactile feedback improved the performance both within and across sessions.
      In the validation block, the performance did not significantly decrease and the
      quality of open-loop control (baseline) improved across days, converging to the
      performance characterizing closed-loop control. This paper provides important
      insights into the feedback and feedforward processes in prosthesis control,
      contributing to the better understanding of the role and design of feedback in
      prosthetic systems.

PMID- 28600255
TI  - Effects of Electrical and Optogenetic Deep Brain Stimulation on Synchronized
      Oscillatory Activity in Parkinsonian Basal Ganglia.
AB  - Conventional deep brain stimulation of basal ganglia uses high-frequency regular
      electrical pulses to treat Parkinsonian motor symptoms but has a series of
      limitations. Relatively new and not yet clinically tested, optogenetic
      stimulation is an effective experimental stimulation technique to affect
      pathological network dynamics. We compared the effects of electrical and
      optogenetic stimulation of the basal gangliaon the pathologicalParkinsonian
      rhythmic neural activity. We studied the network response to electrical
      stimulation and excitatory and inhibitory optogenetic stimulations. Different
      stimulations exhibit different interactions with pathological activity in the
      network. We studied these interactions for different network and stimulation
      parameter values. Optogenetic stimulation was found to be more efficient than
      electrical stimulation in suppressing pathological rhythmicity. Our findings
      indicate that optogenetic control of neural synchrony may be more efficacious
      than electrical control because of the different ways of how stimulations
      interact with network dynamics.

PMID- 28600256
TI  - A Graphical Model for Online Auditory Scene Modulation Using EEG Evidence for
      Attention.
AB  - Recent findings indicate that brain interfaces have the potential to enable
      attention-guided auditory scene analysis and manipulation in applications, such
      as hearing aids and augmented/virtual environments. Specifically, noninvasively
      acquired electroencephalography (EEG) signals have been demonstrated to carry
      some evidence regarding, which of multiple synchronous speech waveforms the
      subject attends to. In this paper, we demonstrate that: 1) using data- and model
      driven cross-correlation features yield competitive binary auditory attention
      classification results with at most 20 s of EEG from 16 channels or even a single
      well-positioned channel; 2) a model calibrated using equal-energy speech
      waveforms competing for attention could perform well on estimating attention in
      closed-loop unbalanced-energy speech waveform situations, where the speech
      amplitudes are modulated by the estimated attention posterior probability
      distribution; 3) such a model would perform even better if it is corrected
      (linearly, in this instance) based on EEG evidence dependence on speech weights
      in the mixture; and 4) calibrating a model based on population EEG could result
      in acceptable performance for new individuals/users; therefore, EEG-based
      auditory attention classifiers may generalize across individuals, leading to
      reduced or eliminated calibration time and effort.

PMID- 28600257
TI  - Search for More Effective Microsatellite Markers for Forensics With Next
      Generation Sequencing.
AB  - Published by the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) program of the Federal Bureau
      of Investigation (FBI) in 1997, the 13 core short tandem repeat (STR) loci are
      widely adopted as genetic markers in forensic applications, e.g., identity
      testing and paternity testing. However, these loci may be biased and suffer from
      reduced sensitivities toward specific population groups. In addition, the rapid
      growth of entries in forensic databases raises the chance of random hits, which
      can cause false recognitions of criminal suspects. A solution to these problems
      is to introduce more effective STR markers. The availability of whole genome
      sequencing enables us to identify more reliable STRmarkers for forensic
      applicationscomputationally. In this paper, we proposed an algorithm to identify
      STR markers with high discriminative abilities from the next-generation
      sequencing data. Our algorithm could select a customized set of loci for a given
      population with pre-specified discriminative thresholds. We have applied the
      method to 320 Chinese individuals from the 1000 Genomes Project and obtained
      various numbers of loci, which were able to statistically identify an
      individualworldwide and had higher combined powers of discrimination and combined
      probabilities of exclusion than the existing CODIS 13 loci. For identity testing,
      themean frequencyofDNAprofile (FDP) with the selected 11 STRs was smaller than
      that with CODIS 13 STRs by student's t-test. With more loci, much smaller FDPs
      were obtained. The databasematching probabilities for selected loci were also
      lower than that for CODIS 13 STRs in a database with 10 billion entries.
      Moreover, the selected loci were able to provide considerably low chance of
      random profile matches so that statistically no false positives could occur. The
      selected loci also reduced the risk of random allele matches when doing the
      familial search, with lower random allele matching probabilities. In addition,
      the selected STRs were statistically better than CODIS STRs for paternity testing
      in our simulated data, with lower probabilities of false inclusions and
      exclusions.

PMID- 28600259
TI  - Local-Nearest-Neighbors-Based Feature Weighting for Gene Selection.
AB  - Selecting functional genes is essential for analyzing microarray data. Among many
      available feature (gene) selection approaches, the ones on the basis of the large
      margin nearest neighbor receive more attention due to their low computational
      costs and high accuracies in analyzing the high-dimensional data. Yet, there
      still exist some problems that hamper the existing approaches in sifting real
      target genes, including selecting erroneous nearest neighbors, high sensitivity
      to irrelevant genes, and inappropriate evaluation criteria. Previous pioneer
      works have partly addressed some of the problems, but none of them are capable of
      solving these problems simultaneously. In this paper, we propose a new local
      nearest-neighbors-based feature weighting approach to alleviate the above
      problems. The proposed approach is based on the trick of locally minimizing the
      within-class distances and maximizing the between-class distances with the
      nearest neighbors rule. We further define a feature weight vector, and construct
      it by minimizing the cost function with a regularization term. The proposed
      approach can be applied naturally to the multi-class problems and does not
      require extra modification. Experimental results on the UCI and the open
      microarray data sets validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the new
      approach.

PMID- 28600258
TI  - A Self-Training Subspace Clustering Algorithm under Low-Rank Representation for
      Cancer Classification on Gene Expression Data.
AB  - Accurate identification of the cancer types is essential to cancer diagnoses and
      treatments. Since cancer tissue and normal tissue have different gene expression,
      gene expression data can be used as an efficient feature source for cancer
      classification. However, accurate cancer classification directly using original
      gene expression profiles remains challenging due to the intrinsic high-dimension
      feature and the small size of the data samples. We proposed a new self-training
      subspace clustering algorithm under low-rank representation, called SSC-LRR, for
      cancer classification on gene expression data. Low-rank representation (LRR) is
      first applied to extract discriminative features from the high-dimensional gene
      expression data; the self-training subspace clustering (SSC) method is then used
      to generate the cancer classification predictions. The SSC-LRR was tested on two
      separate benchmark datasets in control with four state-of-the-art classification
      methods. It generated cancer classification predictions with an overall accuracy
      89.7 percent and a general correlation 0.920, which are 18.9 and 24.4 percent
      higher than that of the best control method respectively. In addition, several
      genes (RNF114, HLA-DRB5, USP9Y, and PTPN20) were identified by SSC-LRR as new
      cancer identifiers that deserve further clinical investigation. Overall, the
      study demonstrated a new sensitive avenue to recognize cancer classifications
      from large-scale gene expression data.

PMID- 28600260
TI  - Diving Into Research of Biomedical Engineering in Scuba Diving.
AB  - The physiologic response of the human body to different environments is a complex
      phenomenon to ensure survival. Immersion and compressed gas diving, together,
      trigger a set of responses. Monitoring those responses in real time may increase
      our understanding of them and help us to develop safety procedures and equipment.
      This review outlines diving physiology and diseases and identifies physiological
      parameters worthy of monitoring. Subsequently, we have investigated technological
      approaches matched to those in order to evaluated their capability for underwater
      application. We focused on wearable biomedical monitoring technologies, or those
      which could be transformed to wearables. We have also reviewed current safety
      devices, including dive computers and their underlying decompression models and
      algorithms. The review outlines the necessity for biomedical monitoring in scuba
      diving and should encourage research and development of new methods to increase
      diving safety.

PMID- 28600262
TI  - Policy Approximation in Policy Iteration Approximate Dynamic Programming for
      Discrete-Time Nonlinear Systems.
AB  - Policy iteration approximate dynamic programming (DP) is an important algorithm
      for solving optimal decision and control problems. In this paper, we focus on the
      problem associated with policy approximation in policy iteration approximate DP
      for discrete-time nonlinear systems using infinite-horizon undiscounted value
      functions. Taking policy approximation error into account, we demonstrate
      asymptotic stability of the control policy under our problem setting, show
      boundedness of the value function during each policy iteration step, and
      introduce a new sufficient condition for the value function to converge to a
      bounded neighborhood of the optimal value function. Aiming for practical
      implementation of an approximate policy, we consider using Volterra series, which
      has been extensively covered in controls literature for its good theoretical
      properties and for its success in practical applications. We illustrate the
      effectiveness of the main ideas developed in this paper using several examples
      including a practical problem of excitation control of a hydrogenerator.

PMID- 28600263
TI  - Stability Analysis of Continuous-Time and Discrete-Time Quaternion-Valued Neural
      Networks With Linear Threshold Neurons.
AB  - This paper addresses the problem of stability for continuous-time and discrete
      time quaternion-valued neural networks (QVNNs) with linear threshold neurons.
      Applying the semidiscretization technique to the continuous-time QVNNs, the
      discrete-time analogs are obtained, which preserve the dynamical characteristics
      of their continuous-time counterparts. Via the plural decomposition method of
      quaternion, homeomorphic mapping theorem, as well as Lyapunov theorem, some
      sufficient conditions on the existence, uniqueness, and global asymptotical
      stability of the equilibrium point are derived for the continuous-time QVNNs and
      their discrete-time analogs, respectively. Furthermore, a uniform sufficient
      condition on the existence, uniqueness, and global asymptotical stability of the
      equilibrium point is obtained for both continuous-time QVNNs and their discrete
      time version. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to substantiate the
      effectiveness of the proposed results.

PMID- 28600261
TI  - Haptic Orientation Guidance Using Two Parallel Double-Gimbal Control Moment
      Gyroscopes.
AB  - This paper presents a system of two double-gimbal control moment gyroscopes
      (CMGs) for providing ungrounded kinesthetic haptic feedback. By spinning a second
      flywheel opposite the first, and rotating them through opposite trajectories,
      undesired gyroscopic effects can be eliminated, isolating a single torque axis.
      This produces a moment pulse proportional to the flywheel spin speed and rotation
      speed. Rotating the CMG gimbals quickly in one direction, then resetting them
      more slowly generates repeated torque pulses indicating a clear direction cue. We
      present the mathematical model for moments produced by this system and verify
      that the performance of our device matches this model. Using these asymmetric
      moment pulses, we provide haptic cues to participants in two studies. In the
      first study, users simply identify the direction of torque cues. In the second
      study, we use the torque pulses to guide users to target orientations.
      Performance in both studies shows that this system has the potential to provide
      useful guidance for applications where ungrounded haptic feedback is desired.

PMID- 28600264
TI  - Generalized Self-Organizing Maps for Automatic Determination of the Number of
      Clusters and Their Multiprototypes in Cluster Analysis.
AB  - This paper presents a generalization of self-organizing maps with 1-D
      neighborhoods (neuron chains) that can be effectively applied to complex cluster
      analysis problems. The essence of the generalization consists in introducing
      mechanisms that allow the neuron chain-during learning-to disconnect into
      subchains, to reconnect some of the subchains again, and to dynamically regulate
      the overall number of neurons in the system. These features enable the network
      working in a fully unsupervised way (i.e., using unlabeled data without a
      predefined number of clusters)-to automatically generate collections of
      multiprototypes that are able to represent a broad range of clusters in data
      sets. First, the operation of the proposed approach is illustrated on some
      synthetic data sets. Then, this technique is tested using several real-life,
      complex, and multidimensional benchmark data sets available from the University
      of California at Irvine (UCI) Machine Learning repository and the Knowledge
      Extraction based on Evolutionary Learning data set repository. A sensitivity
      analysis of our approach to changes in control parameters and a comparative
      analysis with an alternative approach are also performed.

PMID- 28600265
TI  - Multilateral Telecoordinated Control of Multiple Robots With Uncertain
      Kinematics.
AB  - This paper addresses the telecoordinated control of multiple robots in the
      simultaneous presence of asymmetric time-varying delays, nonpassive external
      forces, and uncertain kinematics/dynamics. To achieve the control objective, a
      neuroadaptive controller with utilizing prescribed performance control and
      switching control technique is developed, where the basic idea is to employ the
      concept of motion synchronization in each pair of master-slave robots and among
      all slave robots. By using the multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method,
      the state-independent input-to-output practical stability of the closed-loop
      system is established. Compared with the previous approaches, the new design is
      straightforward and easier to implement and is applicable to a wider area.
      Simulation results on three pairs of three degrees-of-freedom robots confirm the
      theoretical findings.

PMID- 28600266
TI  - Improving Sparsity and Scalability in Regularized Nonconvex Truncated-Loss
      Learning Problems.
AB  - The truncated regular -loss support vector machine can eliminate the excessive
      number of support vectors (SVs); thus, it has significant advantages in
      robustness and scalability. However, in this paper, we discover that the
      associated state-of-the-art solvers, such as difference convex algorithm and
      concave-convex procedure, not only have limited sparsity promoting property for
      general truncated losses especially the -loss but also have poor scalability for
      large-scale problems. To circumvent these drawbacks, we present a general
      multistage scheme with explicit interpretation regarding SVs as well as outliers.
      In particular, we solve the general nonconvex truncated loss minimization through
      a sequence of associated convex subproblems, in which the outliers are removed in
      advance. The proposed algorithm can be regarded as a structural optimization
      attempt carefully considering sparsity imposed by the nonconvex truncated losses.
      We show that this general multistage algorithm offers sufficient sparsity
      especially for the truncated -loss. To further improve the scalability, we
      propose a linear multistep algorithm by employing a single iteration of
      coordinate descent to monotonically decrease the objective function at each stage
      and a kernel algorithm by using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions to cheaply find
      most part of the outliers for the next stage. Comparison experiments demonstrate
      that our methods have superiority in sparsity as well as efficiency in
      scalability.

PMID- 28600267
TI  - A Peak Price Tracking-Based Learning System for Portfolio Selection.
AB  - We propose a novel linear learning system based on the peak price tracking (PPT)
      strategy for portfolio selection (PS). Recently, the topic of tracking control
      attracts intensive attention and some novel models are proposed based on
      backstepping methods, such that the system output tracks a desired trajectory.
      The proposed system has a similar evolution with a transform function that
      aggressively tracks the increasing power of different assets. As a result, the
      better performing assets will receive more investment. The proposed PPT objective
      can be formulated as a fast backpropagation algorithm, which is suitable for
      large-scale and time-limited applications, such as high-frequency trading.
      Extensive experiments on several benchmark data sets from diverse real financial
      markets show that PPT outperforms other state-of-the-art systems in computational
      time, cumulative wealth, and risk-adjusted metrics. It suggests that PPT is
      effective and even more robust than some defensive systems in PS.

PMID- 28600268
TI  - Slow-Wave Sleep Estimation for Healthy Subjects and OSA Patients Using R-R
      Intervals.
AB  - We developed an automatic slow-wave sleep (SWS) detection algorithm that can be
      applied to groups of healthy subjects and patients with obstructive sleep apnea
      (OSA). This algorithm detected SWS based on autonomic activations derived from
      the heart rate variations of a single sensor. An autonomic stability, which is an
      SWS characteristic, was evaluated and quantified using R-R intervals from an
      electrocardiogram (ECG). The thresholds and the heuristic rule to determine SWS
      were designed based on the physiological backgrounds for sleep process and
      distribution across the night. The automatic algorithm was evaluated based on a
      fivefold cross validation using data from 21 healthy subjects and 24 patients
      with OSA. An epoch-by-epoch (30 s) analysis showed that the overall Cohen's
      kappa, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of our method were 0.56, 89.97%,
      68.71%, and 93.75%, respectively. SWS-related information, including SWS duration
      (min) and percentage (%), were also calculated. A significant correlation in
      these parameters was found between automatic and polysomnography scorings.
      Compared with similar methods, the proposed algorithm convincingly discriminated
      SWS from non-SWS. The simple method using only R-R intervals has the potential to
      be utilized in mobile and wearable devices that can easily measure this
      information. Moreover, when combined with other sleep staging methods, the
      proposed method is expected to be applicable to long-term sleep monitoring at
      home and ambulatory environments.

PMID- 28600269
TI  - Gait Recognition Based on Normal Distance Maps.
AB  - Gait is a commonly used biometric for human recognition. Its main advantage
      relies on its ability to identify people at distances at which other biometrics
      fail. In this paper, we develop a new approach for gait recognition that combines
      the distance transform with curvatures of local contours. We call our gait
      feature template the normal distance map. Our method encodes both body shapes and
      boundary curvatures into a novel feature descriptor that is more robust than
      existing gait representations. We evaluate our approach on the widely used and
      challenging USF and CASIA-B datasets. Furthermore, we evaluate it on the OU-ISIR
      gait dataset, the largest one available in the literature, to obtain
      statistically reliable results. We verify our approach is significantly superior
      to the current state-of-the-art under most conditions.

PMID- 28600270
TI  - An Iterated Greedy Heuristic for Mixed No-Wait Flowshop Problems.
AB  - The mixed no-wait flowshop problem with both wait and no-wait constraints has
      many potential real-life applications. The problem can be regarded as a
      generalization of the traditional permutation flowshop and the no-wait flowshop.
      In this paper, we study, for the first time, this scheduling setting with
      makespan minimization. We first propose a mathematical model and then we design a
      speed-up makespan calculation procedure. By introducing a varying number of
      destructed jobs, a modified iterated greedy algorithm is proposed for the
      considered problem which consists of four components: 1) initialization solution
      construction; 2) destruction; 3) reconstruction; and 4) local search. To further
      improve the intensification and efficiency of the proposal, insertion is
      performed on some neighbor jobs of the best position in a sequence during the
      initialization, solution construction, and reconstruction phases. After
      calibrating parameters and components, the proposal is compared with five
      existing algorithms for similar problems on adapted Taillard benchmark instances.
      Experimental results show that the proposal always obtains the best performance
      among the compared methods.

PMID- 28600271
TI  - A New Sensor Fault Isolation Method for T-S Fuzzy Systems.
AB  - This paper is concerned with the fault isolation problem for T-S fuzzy systems
      with sensor faults. With the help of a set theoretic description of T-S fuzzy
      models, a new fault isolation scheme is proposed. It consists of a set of fuzzy
      observers and each of them corresponds to a specified sensor, where the
      antecedent and consequent parts of the observer are independent on the sensor
      output. Different from the existing approaches, the premise variables, which do
      not depend on the specified sensor output but depend on the other sensor outputs,
      are used in the proposed observer, which has the potential to lead to a better
      fault isolation performance. In the end, an example is given to show the
      effectiveness of the fault isolation method.

PMID- 28600272
TI  - Interval Observer-Based Fault Isolation for Discrete-Time Fuzzy Interconnected
      Systems With Unknown Interconnections.
AB  - This paper is concerned with the fault isolation problem for discrete-time fuzzy
      interconnected systems with unknown interconnections. First, for each subsystem,
      a fault isolation interval observer is constructed by taking into account the
      bounds of the unknown interconnections and subsystem disturbances. Then, l1 and
      Hinfinity performances are introduced to improve the tightness of the residual
      intervals and the sensitivity to their own faults, respectively. Furthermore, the
      fault isolation decision is made by determining whether the zero value is
      excluded from each residual interval. By utilizing the piecewise Lyapunov
      functions and dilated linear matrix inequalities, the obtained observer design
      conditions are less conservative than the existing results with the common and
      diagonal Lyapunov functions. Finally, simulation results are presented for
      showing the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

PMID- 28600273
TI  - MST-GEN: An Efficient Parameter Selection Method for One-Class Extreme Learning
      Machine.
AB  - One-class classification (OCC) models a set of target data from one class to
      detect outliers. OCC approaches like one-class support vector machine (OCSVM) and
      support vector data description (SVDD) have wide practical applications.
      Recently, one-class extreme learning machine (OCELM), which inherits the fast
      learning speed of original ELM and achieves equivalent or higher data description
      performance than OCSVM and SVDD, is proposed as a promising alternative. However,
      OCELM faces the same thorny parameter selection problem as OCSVM and SVDD. It
      significantly affects the performance of OCELM and remains under-explored. This
      paper proposes minimal spanning tree (MST)-GEN, an automatic way to select proper
      parameters for OCELM. Specifically, we first build a n -round MST to model the
      structure and distribution of the given target set. With information from n 
      round MST, a controllable number of pseudo outliers are generated by edge pattern
      detection and a novel "repelling" process, which readily overcomes two
      fundamental problems in previous outlier generation methods: where and how many
      pseudo outliers should be generated. Unlike previous methods that only generate
      pseudo outliers, we further exploit n -round MST to generate pseudo target data,
      so as to avoid the time-consuming cross-validation process and accelerate the
      parameter selection. Extensive experiments on various datasets suggest that the
      proposed method can select parameters for OCELM in a highly efficient and
      accurate manner when compared with existing methods, which enables OCELM to
      achieve better OCC performance in OCC applications. Furthermore, our experiments
      show that MST-GEN can also be favorably applied to other prevalent OCC methods
      like OCSVM and SVDD.

PMID- 28600274
TI  - Finite-Horizon $H_?infty $ Consensus for Multiagent Systems With Redundant
      Channels via An Observer-Type Event-Triggered Scheme.
AB  - This paper is concerned with the finite-horizon consensus problem for a class of
      discrete time-varying multiagent systems with external disturbances and missing
      measurements. To improve the communication reliability, redundant channels are
      introduced and the corresponding protocol is constructed for the information
      transmission over redundant channels. An event-triggered scheme is adopted to
      determine whether the information of agents should be transmitted to their
      neighbors. Subsequently, an observer-type event-triggered control protocol is
      proposed based on the latest received neighbors' information. The purpose of the
      addressed problem is to design a time-varying controller based on the observed
      information to achieve the consensus performance in a finite horizon. By
      utilizing a constrained recursive Riccati difference equation approach, some
      sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the consensus performance, and
      the controller parameters are also designed. Finally, a numerical example is
      provided to demonstrate the desired reliability of redundant channels and the
      effectiveness of the event-triggered control protocol.

PMID- 28600276
TI  - Data Collection for Mental Health Studies Through Digital Platforms: Requirements
      and Design of a Prototype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental and behavioral disorders are the main cause of disability
      worldwide. However, their diagnosis is challenging due to a lack of reliable
      biomarkers; current detection is based on structured clinical interviews which
      can be biased by the patient's recall ability, affective state, changing in
      temporal frames, etc. While digital platforms have been introduced as a possible
      solution to this complex problem, there is little evidence on the extent of
      usability and usefulness of these platforms. Therefore, more studies where
      digital data is collected in larger scales are needed to collect scientific
      evidence on the capacities of these platforms. Most of the existing platforms for
      digital psychiatry studies are designed as monolithic systems for a certain type
      of study; publications from these studies focus on their results, rather than the
      design features of the data collection platform. Inevitably, more tools and
      platforms will emerge in the near future to fulfill the need for digital data
      collection for psychiatry. Currently little knowledge is available from existing
      digital platforms for future data collection platforms to build upon. OBJECTIVE:
      The objective of this work was to identify the most important features for
      designing a digital platform for data collection for mental health studies, and
      to demonstrate a prototype platform that we built based on these design features.
      METHODS: We worked closely in a multidisciplinary collaboration with
      psychiatrists, software developers, and data scientists and identified the key
      features which could guarantee short-term and long-term stability and usefulness
      of the platform from the designing stage to data collection and analysis of
      collected data. RESULTS: The key design features that we identified were
      flexibility of access control, flexibility of data sources, and first-order
      privacy protection. We also designed the prototype platform Non-Intrusive
      Individual Monitoring Architecture (Niima), where we implemented these key design
      features. We described why each of these features are important for digital data
      collection for psychiatry, gave examples of projects where Niima was used or is
      going to be used in the future, and demonstrated how incorporating these design
      principles opens new possibilities for studies. CONCLUSIONS: The new methods of
      digital psychiatry are still immature and need further research. The design
      features we suggested are a first step to design platforms which can adapt to the
      upcoming requirements of digital psychiatry.

PMID- 28600277
TI  - Response to "Development and Validation of the User Version of the Mobile
      Application Rating Scale (uMARS)".

PMID- 28600275
TI  - Interactive Voice Response System: Data Considerations and Lessons Learned During
      a Rectal Microbicide Placebo Adherence Trial for Young Men Who Have Sex With Men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rectal microbicides, if proven effective, may aid in reducing human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence; however, demonstration of efficacy and
      effectiveness is contingent on accurate measurement of product adherence. Delays
      in self-report, in particular, may affect the accuracy of behavioral data.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to capitalize on mobile phone use by young
      men who have sex with men (YMSM), and examine the use of an interactive voice
      response system (IVRS) by YMSM aged 18-30 years enrolled in a multisite, 12-week
      microbicide safety and acceptability trial. METHODS: YMSM (N=95) enrolled across
      3 sites (Boston, Pittsburgh, and San Juan) were asked to report their use of an
      applicator applied placebo rectal gel product during receptive anal intercourse
      (RAI) using the IVRS. IVRS was available in Spanish and English. After the 12
      week trial, we examined whether IVRS problems were associated with YMSM's
      sociodemographic characteristics (eg, age, race and ethnicity, and education),
      sexual behavior, or recruitment site. We used a multinomial logistic regression
      to compare YMSM who experienced no IVRS problems (n=40) with those who reported
      one IVRS problem (n=25) or two or more IVRS problems (n=30). RESULTS: We recorded
      1494 IVRS calls over 12 weeks. Over half of the participants (55/95; 58%)
      experienced challenges using the IVRS during the 12-week trial. YMSM reporting
      greater RAI occasions during the trial were more likely to experience one (odds
      ratio [OR]=1.08, 95% CI (1.02-1.14); P <=.01) or more (OR=1.10, 95% CI (1.03
      1.16); P <=.001) IVRS challenges. Greater educational attainment was associated
      with multiple IVRS challenges (OR=7.08, 95% CI (1.6-31.6); P <=.01). Participants
      in the Puerto Rico site were most likely to report multiple IVRS problems.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although IVRS was a useful data collection technology in our trial,
      several challenges experienced by English and Spanish speaking YMSM diminish its
      overall acceptability. We discuss strategies to optimize future development of
      IVRS data quality protocols based on lessons learned.

PMID- 28600280
TI  - Number of cases of syphilis continue to rise.

PMID- 28600278
TI  - Defining and Predicting Patterns of Early Response in a Web-Based Intervention
      for Depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Web-based interventions for individuals with depressive disorders
      have been a recent focus of research and may be an effective adjunct to face-to
      face psychotherapy or pharmacological treatment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study
      was to examine the early change patterns in Web-based interventions to identify
      differential effects. METHODS: We applied piecewise growth mixture modeling
      (PGMM) to identify different latent classes of early change in individuals with
      mild-to-moderate depression (n=409) who underwent a CBT-based web intervention
      for depression. RESULTS: Overall, three latent classes were identified (N=409):
      Two early response classes (n=158, n=185) and one early deterioration class
      (n=66). Latent classes differed in terms of outcome (P<.001) and adherence
      (P=.03) in regard to the number of modules (number of modules with a duration of
      at least 10 minutes) and the number of assessments (P<.001), but not in regard to
      the overall amount of time using the system. Class membership significantly
      improved outcome prediction by 24.8% over patient intake characteristics (P<.001)
      and significantly added to the prediction of adherence (P=.04). CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings suggest that in Web-based interventions outcome and adherence can
      be predicted by patterns of early change, which can inform treatment decisions
      and potentially help optimize the allocation of scarce clinical resources.

PMID- 28600279
TI  - Frequencies of Private Mentions and Sharing of Mammography and Breast Cancer
      Terms on Facebook: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most popular social networking site in the United States is
      Facebook, an online forum where circles of friends create, share, and interact
      with each other's content in a nonpublic way. OBJECTIVE: Our objectives were to
      understand (1) the most commonly used terms and phrases relating to breast cancer
      screening, (2) the most commonly shared website links that other women interacted
      with, and (3) the most commonly shared website links, by age groups. METHODS: We
      used a novel proprietary tool from Facebook to analyze all of the more than 1.7
      million unique interactions (comments on stories, reshares, and emoji reactions)
      and stories associated with breast cancer screening keywords that were generated
      by more than 1.1 million unique female Facebook users over the 1 month between
      November 15 and December 15, 2016. We report frequency distributions of the most
      popular shared Web content by age group and keywords. RESULTS: On average, each
      of 59,000 unique stories during the month was reshared 1.5 times, commented on
      nearly 8 times, and reacted to more than 20 times by other users. Posted stories
      were most often authored by women aged 45-54 years. Users shared, reshared,
      commented on, and reacted to website links predominantly to e-commerce sites
      (12,200/1.7 million, 36% of all the most popular links), celebrity news (n=8800,
      26%), and major advocacy organizations (n=4900, 15%; almost all accounted for by
      the American Cancer Society breast cancer site). CONCLUSIONS: On Facebook, women
      shared and reacted to links to commercial and informative websites regarding
      breast cancer and screening. This information could inform patient outreach
      regarding breast cancer screening, indirectly through better understanding of key
      issues, and directly through understanding avenues for paid messaging to women
      authoring and reacting to content in this space.

PMID- 28600281
TI  - Nine doctors are elected as MPs.

PMID- 28600284
TI  - Coroner calls for GPs to be allowed to order urgent CT scans after patient death.

PMID- 28600283
TI  - Inhibition of PCSK9 does not improve lipopolysaccharide-induced mortality in
      mice.
AB  - Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a secreted protein that
      targets LDL receptors (LDLRs) for degradation in liver. Blocking the interaction
      of PCSK9 with the LDLR potently reduces plasma LDL cholesterol levels and
      cardiovascular events. Recently, it has been suggested that inhibition of PCSK9
      might also improve outcomes in mice and humans with sepsis, possibly by
      increasing LDLR-mediated clearance of endotoxins. Sepsis is a complication of a
      severe microbial infection that has shared pathways with lipid metabolism. Here,
      we tested whether anti-PCSK9 antibodies prevent death from lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS)-induced endotoxemia. Mice were administered PCSK9 antibodies prior to, or
      shortly after, injecting LPS. In both scenarios, the administration of PCSK9
      antibodies did not alter endotoxemia-induced mortality. Afterward, we determined
      whether the complete absence of PCSK9 improved endotoxemia-induced mortality in
      mice with the germ-line deletion of Pcsk9 Similarly, PCSK9 knockout mice were not
      protected from LPS-induced death. To determine whether low LDLR expression
      increased LPS-induced mortality, Ldlr-/- mice and PCSK9 transgenic mice were
      studied after injection of LPS. Endotoxemia-induced mortality was not altered in
      either mouse model. In a human cohort, we observed no correlation between plasma
      inflammation markers with total cholesterol levels, LDL cholesterol, and PCSK9.
      Combined, our data demonstrate that PCSK9 inhibition provides no protection from
      LPS-induced mortality in mice.

PMID- 28600285
TI  - A Brazilian child with a nodule in the foot.

PMID- 28600286
TI  - Lipopolysaccharide/TLR4 Stimulates IL-13 Production through a MyD88-BLT2-Linked
      Cascade in Mast Cells, Potentially Contributing to the Allergic Response.
AB  - In an experimental asthma model, the activation of TLR4 by bacterial LPS
      occasionally exacerbates allergic inflammation through the production of Th2
      cytokines, and mast cells have been suggested to play a central role in this
      response. However, the detailed mechanism underlying how LPS/TLR4 stimulates the
      production of Th2 cytokines, especially IL-13, remains unclear in mast cells. In
      the current study, we observed that the expression levels of leukotriene B4
      receptor-2 (BLT2) and the synthesis of its ligands were highly upregulated in LPS
      stimulated bone marrow-derived mast cells and that BLT2 blockade with small
      interfering RNA or a pharmacological inhibitor completely abolished IL-13
      production, suggesting a mediatory role of the BLT2 ligand-BLT2 axis in LPS/TLR4
      signaling to IL-13 synthesis in mast cells. Moreover, we demonstrated that MyD88
      lies upstream of the BLT2 ligand-BLT2 axis and that this MyD88-BLT2 cascade leads
      to the generation of reactive oxygen species through NADPH oxidase 1 and the
      subsequent activation of NF-kappaB, thereby mediating IL-13 synthesis.
      Interestingly, we observed that costimulation of LPS/TLR4 and IgE/FcepsilonRI
      caused greatly enhanced IL-13 synthesis in mast cells, and blockading BLT2
      abolished these effects. Similarly, in vivo, the IL-13 level was markedly
      enhanced by LPS administration in an OVA-induced asthma model, and injecting a
      BLT2 antagonist beforehand clearly attenuated this increase. Together, our
      findings suggest that a BLT2-linked cascade plays a pivotal role in LPS/TLR4
      signaling for IL-13 synthesis in mast cells, thereby potentially exacerbating
      allergic response. Our findings may provide insight into the mechanisms
      underlying how bacterial infection worsens allergic inflammation under certain
      conditions.

PMID- 28600287
TI  - Enrichment of Human CCR6+ Regulatory T Cells with Superior Suppressive Activity
      in Oral Cancer.
AB  - Human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) constitutes an inflammatory
      microenvironment enriched with chemokines such as CCL20, which promote cancer
      cell invasion and tumor progression. We found that in OSCC there is a correlation
      between the expression of CCL20 and FOXP3 mRNA. Therefore, we hypothesized that
      OSCC may favor the recruitment and retention of regulatory T (Treg) cells that
      express the CCL20 receptor, CCR6. Interestingly, most (~60%) peripheral blood
      Treg cells express CCR6, and CCR6+ Treg cells exhibit an activated
      effector/memory phenotype. In contrast, a significant portion (>30%) of CCR6-
      Treg cells were found to be CD45RA+ naive Treg cells. Compared to CCR6- naive or
      memory Treg cells, CCR6+ Treg cells exhibit stronger suppressive activity and
      display higher FOXP3 expression along with lower methylation at the Treg-specific
      demethylated region of the FOXP3 gene. This predominance of CCR6+ Treg cells was
      also found in the draining lymph nodes and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of OSCC
      patients with early or late clinical staging. Moreover, CCR6+ Treg cells isolated
      from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes or draining lymph nodes maintained similar
      phenotypic and suppressive characteristics ex vivo as did their counterparts
      isolated from peripheral blood. These results suggest that CCR6 marks activated
      effector or memory Treg phenotypes with superior suppressive activity in humans.

PMID- 28600288
TI  - TCR Signal Strength Regulates Akt Substrate Specificity To Induce Alternate
      Murine Th and T Regulatory Cell Differentiation Programs.
AB  - The Akt/mTOR pathway is a key driver of murine CD4+ T cell differentiation, and
      induction of regulatory T (Treg) cells results from low TCR signal strength and
      low Akt/mTOR signaling. However, strong TCR signals induce high Akt activity that
      promotes Th cell induction. Yet, it is unclear how Akt controls alternate T cell
      fate decisions. We find that the strength of the TCR signal results in
      differential Akt enzymatic activity. Surprisingly, the Akt substrate networks
      associated with T cell fate decisions are qualitatively different. Proteomic
      profiling of Akt signaling networks during Treg versus Th induction demonstrates
      that Akt differentially regulates RNA processing and splicing factors to drive T
      cell differentiation. Interestingly, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein
      (hnRNP) L or hnRNP A1 are Akt substrates during Treg induction and have known
      roles in regulating the stability and splicing of key mRNAs that code for
      proteins in the canonical TCR signaling pathway, including CD3zeta and CD45.
      Functionally, inhibition of Akt enzymatic activity results in the dysregulation
      of splicing during T cell differentiation, and knockdown of hnRNP L or hnRNP A1
      results in the lower induction of Treg cells. Together, this work suggests that a
      switch in substrate specificity coupled to the phosphorylation status of Akt may
      lead to alternative cell fates and demonstrates that proteins involved with
      alternative splicing are important factors in T cell fate decisions.

PMID- 28600289
TI  - Profiles of Long Noncoding RNAs in Human Naive and Memory T Cells.
AB  - We employed whole-genome RNA-sequencing to profile mRNAs and both annotated and
      novel long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human naive, central memory, and effector
      memory CD4+ T cells. Loci transcribing both lineage-specific annotated and novel
      lncRNA are adjacent to lineage-specific protein-coding genes in the genome.
      Lineage-specific novel lncRNA loci are transcribed from lineage-specific typical-
      and supertranscriptional enhancers and are not multiexonic, thus are more similar
      to enhancer RNAs. Novel enhancer-associated lncRNAs transcribed from the IFNG
      locus bind the transcription factor NF-kappaB and enhance binding of NF-kappaB to
      the IFNG genomic locus. Depletion of the annotated lncRNA, IFNG-AS1, or one IFNG
      enhancer-associated lncRNA abrogates IFNG expression by memory T cells,
      indicating these lncRNAs have biologic function.

PMID- 28600290
TI  - High-Throughput Single-Cell Analysis of B Cell Receptor Usage among Autoantigen
      Specific Plasma Cells in Celiac Disease.
AB  - Characterization of Ag-specific BCR repertoires is essential for understanding
      disease mechanisms involving humoral immunity. This is optimally done by
      interrogation of paired H chain V region (VH) and L chain V region (VL) sequences
      of individual and Ag-specific B cells. By applying single-cell high-throughput
      sequencing on gut lesion plasma cells (PCs), we have analyzed the
      transglutaminase 2 (TG2)-specific VH:VL autoantibody repertoire of celiac disease
      (CD) patients. Autoantibodies against TG2 are a hallmark of CD, and anti-TG2 IgA
      producing gut PCs accumulate in patients upon gluten ingestion. Altogether, we
      analyzed paired VH and VL sequences of 1482 TG2-specific and 1421 non-TG2
      specific gut PCs from 10 CD patients. Among TG2-specific PCs, we observed a
      striking bias in IGHV and IGKV/IGLV gene usage, as well as pairing preferences
      with a particular presence of the IGHV5-51:IGKV1-5 pair. Selective and biased
      VH:VL pairing was particularly evident among expanded clones. In general, TG2
      specific PCs had lower numbers of mutations both in VH and VL genes than in non
      TG2-specific PCs. TG2-specific PCs using IGHV5-51 had particularly few mutations.
      Importantly, VL segments paired with IGHV5-51 displayed proportionally low
      mutation numbers, suggesting that the low mutation rate among IGHV5-51 PCs is
      dictated by the BCR specificity. Finally, we observed selective amino acid
      changes in VH and VL and striking CDR3 length and J segment selection among TG2
      specific IGHV5-51:IGKV1-5 pairs. Hence this study reveals features of a disease-
      and Ag-specific autoantibody repertoire with preferred VH:VL usage and pairings,
      limited mutations, clonal dominance, and selection of particular CDR3 sequences.

PMID- 28600291
TI  - Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Lyase Enhances the Activation of IKKepsilon To Promote
      Type I IFN-Mediated Innate Immune Responses to Influenza A Virus Infection.
AB  - Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) lyase (SPL) is an intracellular enzyme that
      mediates the irreversible degradation of the bioactive lipid S1P. We have
      previously reported that overexpressed SPL displays anti-influenza viral
      activity; however, the underlying mechanism is incompletely understood. In this
      study, we demonstrate that SPL functions as a positive regulator of IKKepsilon to
      propel type I IFN-mediated innate immune responses against viral infection.
      Exogenous SPL expression inhibited influenza A virus replication, which
      correlated with an increase in type I IFN production and IFN-stimulated gene
      accumulation upon infection. In contrast, the lack of SPL expression led to an
      elevated cellular susceptibility to influenza A virus infection. In support of
      this, SPL-deficient cells were defective in mounting an effective IFN response
      when stimulated by influenza viral RNAs. SPL augmented the activation status of
      IKKepsilon and enhanced the kinase-induced phosphorylation of IRF3 and the
      synthesis of type I IFNs. However, the S1P degradation-incompetent form of SPL
      also enhanced IFN responses, suggesting that SPL's pro-IFN function is
      independent of S1P. Biochemical analyses revealed that SPL, as well as the mutant
      form of SPL, interacts with IKKepsilon. Importantly, when endogenous IKKepsilon
      was downregulated using a small interfering RNA approach, SPL's anti-influenza
      viral activity was markedly suppressed. This indicates that IKKepsilon is crucial
      for SPL-mediated inhibition of influenza virus replication. Thus, the results
      illustrate the functional significance of the SPL-IKKepsilon-IFN axis during host
      innate immunity against viral infection.

PMID- 28600293
TI  - Bacterial and Viral Products Affect Differential Pattern Recognition Receptor
      Activation of Chicken Thrombocytes Evidenced through RNA Sequencing.
AB  - It is now well understood that thrombocytes (nucleated platelets) express TLRs
      and respond to both bacterial and viral products. Release of proinflammatory
      molecules can be expected following relatively short exposure times to LPS,
      lipoteichoic acid (LTA), thymidine homopolymer phosphorothioate oligonucleotide
      [Poly(dT)], and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [Poly(I:C)]. This study reports
      the varied expressions of genes encoded for components of the TLR, nucleotide
      binding oligomerization domain-like receptor, and retinoic acid-inducible gene
      RIG-like receptor signaling pathways in response to the TLR ligands listed above.
      Highly sensitive RNA-sequencing technologies were used to analyze the complete
      transcriptome of thrombocytes treated with all four microbial products for a
      period of 1 h. A total of 14,326 gene transcripts were found in chicken
      thrombocytes across all ligand exposures. After 1 h of stimulation with ligands,
      87, 138, 1013, and 22 genes were upregulated for LTA, LPS, Poly(dT), and
      Poly(I:C), and 12, 142, 249, and 16 genes were downregulated for LTA, LPS,
      Poly(dT), and Poly(I:C), respectively, with at least a 1-fold change relative to
      unexposed thrombocytes. Summarizations of biological processes, protein classes,
      and biochemical pathways reveal the role of chicken thrombocytes in
      proinflammatory responses linked to key signaling pathways. TLR, nucleotide
      binding oligomerization domain-like receptor, and retinoic acid-inducible gene
      RIG-like receptor pathways were mapped based on the transcriptome results with
      gene expression for common signal and proinflammatory mediators highlighted. The
      information reported in this study is useful for defining a limited set of
      proinflammatory molecules to evaluate in cases of either bacterial or viral
      disease monitoring.

PMID- 28600292
TI  - ADAM10-Interacting Tetraspanins Tspan5 and Tspan17 Regulate VE-Cadherin
      Expression and Promote T Lymphocyte Transmigration.
AB  - The recruitment of blood leukocytes across the endothelium to sites of tissue
      infection is central to inflammation, but also promotes chronic inflammatory
      diseases. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) is a ubiquitous
      transmembrane molecular scissor that is implicated in leukocyte transmigration by
      proteolytically cleaving its endothelial substrates. These include VE-cadherin, a
      homotypic adhesion molecule that regulates endothelial barrier function, and
      transmembrane chemokines CX3CL1 and CXCL16, which have receptors on leukocytes.
      However, a definitive role for endothelial ADAM10 in transmigration of freshly
      isolated primary leukocytes under flow has not been demonstrated, and the
      relative importance of distinct ADAM10 substrates is unknown. Emerging evidence
      suggests that ADAM10 can be regarded as six different molecular scissors with
      different substrate specificities, depending on which of six TspanC8 tetraspanins
      it is associated with, but TspanC8s remain unstudied in leukocyte transmigration.
      In the current study, ADAM10 knockdown on primary HUVECs was found to impair
      transmigration of freshly isolated human peripheral blood T lymphocytes, but not
      neutrophils or B lymphocytes, in an in vitro flow assay. This impairment was due
      to delayed transmigration rather than a complete block, and was overcome in the
      presence of neutrophils. Transmigration of purified lymphocytes was dependent on
      ADAM10 regulation of VE-cadherin, but not CX3CL1 and CXCL16. Tspan5 and Tspan17,
      the two most closely related TspanC8s by sequence, were the only TspanC8s that
      regulated VE-cadherin expression and were required for lymphocyte transmigration.
      Therefore endothelial Tspan5- and Tspan17-ADAM10 complexes may regulate
      inflammation by maintaining normal VE-cadherin expression and promoting T
      lymphocyte transmigration.

PMID- 28600294
TI  - Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in African women living with HIV: role
      and effect of rigorous histopathological review by a panel of pathologists in the
      HARP study endpoint determination.
AB  - AIMS: To analyse the effect of the expert end-point committee (EPC) review on
      histological endpoint classification of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).
      METHODS: A cohort of women living with HIV were recruited in Burkina Faso (BF)
      and South Africa (SA) and followed over 18 months. Four-quadrant cervical
      biopsies were obtained in women with abnormalities detected by at least one
      screening test. A central review by a panel of five pathologists was organised at
      baseline and at endline. RESULTS: At baseline the prevalence of high-grade CIN
      (CIN2+) was 5.1% (28/554) in BF and 23.3% (134/574) in SA by local diagnosis, and
      5.8% (32/554) in BF and 22.5% (129/574) in SA by the EPC. At endline the
      prevalence of CIN2+ was 2.3% (11/483) in BF and 9.4% (47/501) in SA by local
      diagnosis, and 1.4% (7/483) in BF and 10.2% (51/501) in SA by EPC. The prevalence
      of borderline CIN1/2 cases was 2.8% (32/1128) and 0.8% (8/984) at baseline and
      endline. Overall agreement between local diagnosis and final diagnosis for
      distinguishing CIN2+ from <=CIN1 was 91.2% (kappa=0.82) and 88.9% (kappa=0.71)
      for BF at baseline and endline, and 92.7% (kappa=0.79) and 98.7% (kappa=0.97) for
      SA at baseline and endline. Among the CIN1/2 cases, 12 (37.5%) were graded up to
      CIN2 and 20 (62.5%) were graded down to CIN1 at baseline, and 3 (37.5%) were
      graded up to CIN2 and 5 (62.5%) were graded down to CIN1 at endline. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study highlights the importance of a centralised rigorous re-reading with
      exchange of experiences among pathologists from different settings.

PMID- 28600296
TI  - Making the Case for Investment in Rural Cancer Control: An Analysis of Rural
      Cancer Incidence, Mortality, and Funding Trends.
AB  - : Estimates of those living in rural counties vary from 46.2 to 59 million, or
      14% to 19% of the U.S. POPULATION: Rural communities face disadvantages compared
      with urban areas, including higher poverty, lower educational attainment, and
      lack of access to health services. We aimed to demonstrate rural-urban
      disparities in cancer and to examine NCI-funded cancer control grants focused on
      rural populations. Estimates of 5-year cancer incidence and mortality from 2009
      to 2013 were generated for counties at each level of the rural-urban continuum
      and for metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan counties, for all cancers combined
      and several individual cancer types. We also examined the number and foci of
      rural cancer control grants funded by NCI from 2011 to 2016. Cancer incidence was
      447 cases per 100,000 in metropolitan counties and 460 per 100,000 in
      nonmetropolitan counties (P < 0.001). Cancer mortality rates were 166 per 100,000
      in metropolitan counties and 182 per 100,000 in nonmetropolitan counties (P <
      0.001). Higher incidence and mortality in rural areas were observed for cervical,
      colorectal, kidney, lung, melanoma, and oropharyngeal cancers. There were 48 R-
      and 3 P-mechanism rural-focused grants funded from 2011 to 2016 (3% of 1,655).
      Further investment is needed to disentangle the effects of individual-level SES
      and area-level factors to understand observed effects of rurality on cancer.
      Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(7); 992-7. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600298
TI  - Trematodal granulomatous uveitis in paediatric Egyptian patients: a case series.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the clinical presentations and results of laboratory
      analysis of waterborne ophthalmic granulomas of the anterior chamber (AC) in
      Egyptian patients. PARTICIPANTS: 110 patients with granulomatous anterior uveitis
      and distinctive AC nodules. DESIGN: Prospective, non-comparative, case series.
      METHODS: Demographic data including age, gender and place of residence were
      recorded. A full ophthalmic examination with emphasis on the inflammatory
      characteristics and systemic workup was performed. The nodules were surgically
      removed in selected cases and molecular and histopathological analyses were
      performed. RESULTS: 102 boys and 8 girls were recruited (mean age 11.5 years).
      All children came from villages along the basin of the River Nile in Egypt and
      were engaged in swimming in the local fresh water repertoires just prior to the
      development of the ocular lesions. 99 patients (103 eyes) showed active
      granulomatous anterior uveitis with distinct pearl-like white nodules in the AC
      measuring between 2 and 7 mm in diameter. Inactive scarred lesions were noted in
      11 patients (12 eyes). Structural complications including cataract, corectopia
      and phthisis were documented in 29 eyes. PCR detected digenic trematode DNA in 6
      out of 14 excised nodules. Histopathological examination showed aggregates of
      eosinophils and epithelioid cell granulomas. CONCLUSIONS: In Egypt, a unique
      pattern of granulomatous anterior uveitis in rural children attributable to a
      waterborne helminthic infection is reported. The River Nile and its fresh water
      fauna are implicated in our series, and the need for an environmental
      investigation to further outline best management options in the given endemic
      areas is highlighted.

PMID- 28600299
TI  - Evaluation of optical coherence tomography angiographic findings in Alzheimer's
      type dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To identify the retinal vascular pathologies in patients with
      Alzheimer's type dementia (ATD) through optical coherence tomography angiography
      (OCTA) imaging. METHODS: Our study included 26 patients in the patient group, and
      age-matched and sex-matched 26 subjects in the control group. A detailed
      ophthalmological and neurological examination was performed for all subjects
      included in the study. The retinal, choroidal vascular structures and choroidal
      thickness (CT) of all subjects were analysed in a detailed way with a commercial
      spectral domain OCTA. Moreover, all participants underwent detailed neurological
      examination including Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) test to evaluate
      cognitive function. RESULTS: In the group of patients with ATD, the MMSE score
      was significantly lower than that of the control group (p<0.001). The retinal
      vascular density was significantly lower than that of the control group in all
      zones (p<0.05). Foveal avascular zone (FAZ) was significantly enlarged compared
      with the control group (p=0.001). CT was significantly lower in the group of
      patients with ATD (p<0.001). Outer retinal and choroidal flow rates were lower in
      the group of patients with ATD, while the difference was not significant
      (p>0.05). Furthermore, significant correlation was found between the MMSE and all
      vascular density parameters, CT parameter and FAZ tested with OCTA imaging
      (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ATD, retinal and choroidal vascular
      pathologies detected through OCTA imaging can be used as a new biomarker in the
      early diagnosis of the disease, follow-up of its progression and in investigating
      the efficacy of the drugs.

PMID- 28600301
TI  - Features of optical coherence tomography predictive of choroidal
      neovascularisation treatment response in pathological myopia in association with
      fluorescein angiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of several
      optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings to estimate choroidal
      neovascularisation (CNV) activity in pathological myopia using fluorescein
      angiography (FA) as a reference. METHODS: This was a single-centre, retrospective
      study. The medical records of patients with active myopic CNV who received
      intravitreal bevacizumab treatment were reviewed. Parameters to monitor CNV
      activity were morphological features of CNV on OCT, such as CNV height, central
      foveal thickness, intraretinal cysts, subretinal fluid, fuzziness of the CNV
      border, CNV network area on FA, and haemorrhage or exudation on fundus photo.
      RESULTS: There were 46 patients with active CNV enrolled in this study. After
      intravitreal bevacizumab treatment, all the previously mentioned parameters of
      CNV were significantly improved. Using logistic regression analyses with backward
      elimination, the fuzzy border seen on OCT showed the most significant correlation
      with improvement of leakage on FA, when compared with other variables such as
      intraretinal cysts, subretinal fluid or central foveal thickness (R2=0.324,
      p=0.009). CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the fuzziness of the hyper-reflective
      CNV margin showed the most significant improvement and the strongest correlation
      with the improvement of CNV leakage on FA after intravitreal bevacizumab
      injections, suggesting its important role as an OCT parameter for the assessment
      of myopic CNV activity.

PMID- 28600300
TI  - Retinal vessels functionality in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyse static characteristics and dynamic functionality of retinal
      vessels in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) by means of Dynamic
      Vessel Analyzer (DVA). METHODS: Patients presenting with treatment-naive CSCR and
      normal subjects (controls) matched for age and sex between May 2015 and November
      2015 were enrolled in the study. Participants underwent a complete
      ophthalmological examination, including dynamic and static retinal vessels
      analysis by DVA. RESULTS: A total of 28 eyes of 28 subjects (14 eyes for each
      group) were included in the analysis. Dynamic analysis during stimulation by
      flickering light showed mean venous dilation of 3.3%+/-2.0% in patients with CSCR
      and 5.5%+/-2.6% in controls (p=0.0258); mean arterial dilation did not differ
      between patients and controls (3.2%+/-2.5% and 4.2%+/-1.5%, p=0.2). No
      differences were reported at static retinal analysis between patients with CSCR
      and control subjects. Subfoveal choroidal thickness as evaluated by optical
      coherence tomography was 438.6+/-86.1 um in CSCR eyes, significantly increased
      compared with control subjects (301.5+/-72.5 um, p=0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic
      analysis revealed a reduced retinal venous dilation in response to flicker light
      stimulation in CSCR eyes. The decreased retinal vein response to flicker light
      stimulation, possibly due to increased sympathetic tone and potentially leading
      to venous stasis, together with the increased choroidal thickness may help
      understand CSCR and give insights in its pathogenesis.

PMID- 28600297
TI  - The Premenopausal Breast Cancer Collaboration: A Pooling Project of Studies
      Participating in the National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium.
AB  - Breast cancer is a leading cancer diagnosis among premenopausal women around the
      world. Unlike rates in postmenopausal women, incidence rates of advanced breast
      cancer have increased in recent decades for premenopausal women. Progress in
      identifying contributors to breast cancer risk among premenopausal women has been
      constrained by the limited numbers of premenopausal breast cancer cases in
      individual studies and resulting low statistical power to subcategorize exposures
      or to study specific subtypes. The Premenopausal Breast Cancer Collaborative
      Group was established to facilitate cohort-based analyses of risk factors for
      premenopausal breast cancer by pooling individual-level data from studies
      participating in the United States National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium.
      This article describes the Group, including the rationale for its initial aims
      related to pregnancy, obesity, and physical activity. We also describe the 20
      cohort studies with data submitted to the Group by June 2016. The infrastructure
      developed for this work can be leveraged to support additional investigations.
      Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(9); 1360-9. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600302
TI  - Use of Ruthenium-106 Brachytherapy for Iris Melanoma: The Scottish Experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyse long-term outcomes of ruthenium-106 (106Ru) plaque
      brachytherapy for the treatment of iris melanoma. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed medical records of 19 consecutive patients with pure iris melanoma
      treated with 106Ru plaque brachytherapy between 1998 and 2016 at the Scottish
      Ophthalmic Oncology Service, Glasgow. The iris melanoma was treated with a
      ruthenium plaque placed on the corneal surface to deliver a surface dose of 555
      Gy. We analysed vision preservation, local tumour control, radiation-related
      complications, eye retention rates, symptomatic metastasis and melanoma-related
      mortality. RESULTS: The mean largest basal diameter of the lesions was 3.50+/
      1.42 mm (range 1.6-6.5 mm), and the mean maximum height was 1.47+/-0.65 mm (range
      0.7-2.8 mm). The tumour control and eye retention were 100% at a mean follow-up
      of 62 months (range 6-195 months). A 62% reduction in tumour height was observed
      on ultrasonography. Complications included cataract (68%), dry eye (47%), uveitis
      (37%) and scleral thinning (5%). At the final follow-up visit, the mean loss of
      Snellen visual acuity was 1.11+/-2.90 lines and vision of 6/9 or better was
      maintained in 53% of patients. None of the patients had evidence of symptomatic
      metastasis (non-imaged) or melanoma-related mortality. CONCLUSIONS: 106Ru plaque
      treatment for iris melanoma was highly effective a high tumour control, no tumour
      recurrences and a relatively a low complication rate.

PMID- 28600303
TI  - Stability of visual outcome between 2 and 5 years following corneal
      transplantation in the UK.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Many studies of corneal transplantation focus on graft
      failure or rejection as endpoints, or report visual outcomes at one postoperative
      time point. We aimed to study the stability of visual outcomes between 2 and 5
      years following corneal transplantation. METHODS: All patients with keratoconus
      (868) or Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (FED) (569) receiving their first corneal
      transplant for visual purposes in the UK between January 2003 and December 2009
      were included. The probability of visual improvement or deterioration (gain or
      loss of >=2 Snellen lines, respectively) between 2 and 5 years after keratoplasty
      was modelled by multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: The majority of
      keratoconus patients with a penetrating keratoplasty (PK) or deep anterior
      lamellar keratoplasty maintained their visual acuity (651/868; 75%) while 15%
      (133/868) improved and 10% (84/868) deteriorated. Similarly, most patients with
      FED who received a PK maintained their vision (395/569; 70%) while 18% (105/569)
      improved and 12% (68/569) deteriorated.

PMID- 28600304
TI  - Second primary malignancies in retinoblastoma patients treated with intra
      arterial chemotherapy: the first 10 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Survivors of retinoblastoma carry a lifetime risk of secondary
      malignancies. It is well established that external beam radiation increases this
      risk; however, the risk with ophthalmic artery chemosurgery (OAC) remains
      unknown. We report on 10 years of experience with OAC and the rate of second
      primary malignancy (SPM) development. METHODS: This is a single-centre
      retrospective review approved by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
      Institutional Review Board of all patients who received OAC over a 10-year
      period, from May 2006 to November 2016. The second tumour incidence and survival
      in patients with germline disease (bilateral and unilateral with family history
      or confirmed germline mutation) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
      Patients who received external beam radiotherapy were excluded from analyses.
      RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty-three patients with heritable retinoblastoma who
      received OAC were analysed. Nineteen patients were excluded for having received
      external beam radiation. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the likelihood for SPM
      development was 2.7% at 5 years (95% CI 0 to 25). All of the SPMs were
      pineoblastomas and all patients had bilateral disease in this cohort.
      CONCLUSIONS: In our 10-year experience, we have found that SPM development in
      patients with germline retinoblastoma treated with OAC alone is comparable to
      previously published rates. In the first 10 years, OAC did not increase the known
      incidence of SPMs. This cohort will continue to be followed to establish the rate
      of development with extended follow-up.

PMID- 28600305
TI  - Author's reply to Spitzer.

PMID- 28600307
TI  - A single-cell snapshot of cell-fate decisions.
AB  - Critical steps in the specification of embryonic cell lineages occur after
      implantation, but gaining insight into the molecular details of these cellular
      processes in vivo has been challenging. Jin and co-workers now report the
      transcriptomic signatures and molecular heterogeneity of more than 600 single
      cells from mouse embryos at days 5.5 and 6.5, advancing our understanding of how
      early embryonic cells make cell-fate decisions into mesoderm and endoderm
      lineages.

PMID- 28600306
TI  - Expression of Lewis-a glycans on polymorphonuclear leukocytes augments function
      by increasing transmigration.
AB  - PMN-expressed fucosylated glycans from the Lewis glycan family, including Lewis-x
      (Lex) and sialyl Lewis-x (sLex), have previously been implicated in the
      regulation of important PMN functions, including selectin-mediated trafficking
      across vascular endothelium. Although glycans, such as Lex and sLex, which are
      based on the type 2 sequence (Galbeta1-4GlcNAc-R), are abundant on PMNs, the
      presence of type 1 Galbeta1-3GlcNAc-R glycans required for PMN expression of the
      closely related stereoisomer of Lex, termed Lewis-A (Lea), has not, to our
      knowledge, been reported. Here, we show that Lea is abundantly expressed by human
      PMNs and functionally regulates PMN migration. Using mAbs whose precise epitopes
      were determined using glycan array technology, Lea function was probed using Lea
      selective mAbs and lectins, revealing increased PMN transmigration across model
      intestinal epithelia, which was independent of epithelial-expressed Lea Analyses
      of glycan synthetic machinery in PMNs revealed expression of beta1-3
      galactosyltransferase and alpha1-4 fucosyltransferase, which are required for Lea
      synthesis. Specificity of functional effects observed after ligation of Lea was
      confirmed by failure of anti-Lea mAbs to enhance migration using PMNs from
      individuals deficient in alpha1-4 fucosylation. These results demonstrate that
      Lea is expressed on human PMNs, and its specific engagement enhances PMN
      migration responses. We propose that PMN Lea represents a new target for
      modulating inflammation and regulating intestinal, innate immunity.

PMID- 28600308
TI  - ASBMB and JBC: A truly synergistic relationship.

PMID- 28600309
TI  - Dulce Digital: An mHealth SMS-Based Intervention Improves Glycemic Control in
      Hispanics With Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes is growing in epidemic proportions and
      disproportionately affects lower-income, diverse communities. Text messaging may
      provide one of the most rapid methods to overcome the "digital divide" to improve
      care. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A randomized, nonblinded, parallel-groups
      clinical trial design allocated N = 126 low-income, Hispanic participants with
      poorly controlled type 2 diabetes to receive the Dulce Digital intervention or
      usual care (UC). Dulce Digital participants received up to three motivational,
      educational, and/or call-to-action text messages per day over 6 months. The
      primary outcome was HbA1c; lipids, blood pressure, and BMI were secondary
      outcomes. Satisfaction and acceptability were evaluated via focus groups and self
      report survey items. RESULTS: The majority of patients were middle-aged (mean age
      48.43 years, SD 9.80), female (75%), born in Mexico (91%), and uninsured (75%)
      and reported less than a ninth-grade education level (73%) and mean baseline
      HbA1c 9.5% (80 mmol/mol), SD 1.3, and fasting plasma glucose 187.17 mg/dL, SD
      64.75. A statistically significant time-by-group interaction effect indicated
      that the Dulce Digital group achieved a significantly greater reduction in HbA1c
      over time compared with UC (P = 0.03). No statistically significant effects were
      observed for secondary clinical indicators. The number of blood glucose values
      texted in by participants was a statistically significant predictor of month 6
      HbA1c (P < 0.05). Satisfaction and acceptability ratings for the Dulce Digital
      intervention were high. CONCLUSIONS: Use of a simple, low-cost text messaging
      program was found to be highly acceptable in this sample of high-risk, Hispanic
      individuals with type 2 diabetes and resulted in greater improvement in glycemic
      control compared with UC.

PMID- 28600310
TI  - Environmental Transport of Emerging Human-Pathogenic Cryptosporidium Species and
      Subtypes through Combined Sewer Overflow and Wastewater.
AB  - The environmental transport of Cryptosporidium spp. through combined sewer
      overflow (CSO) and the occurrence of several emerging human-pathogenic
      Cryptosporidium species in developing countries remain unclear. In this study, we
      collected 40 CSO samples and 40 raw wastewater samples from Shanghai, China, and
      examined them by PCR and DNA sequencing for Cryptosporidium species (targeting
      the small subunit rRNA gene) and Giardia duodenalis (targeting the
      triosephosphate isomerase, beta-giardin, and glutamate dehydrogenase genes) and
      Enterocytozoon bieneusi (targeting the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer)
      genotypes. Human-pathogenic Cryptosporidium species were further subtyped by
      sequence analysis of the 60-kDa glycoprotein gene, with additional multilocus
      sequence typing on the emerging zoonotic pathogen Cryptosporidium ubiquitum.
      Cryptosporidium spp., G. duodenalis, and E. bieneusi were detected in 12 and 15,
      33 and 32, and 37 and 40 CSO and wastewater samples, respectively, including 10
      Cryptosporidium species, 3 G. duodenalis assemblages, and 8 E. bieneusi
      genotypes. In addition to Cryptosporidium hominis and Cryptosporidium parvum, two
      new pathogens identified in industrialized nations, C. ubiquitum and
      Cryptosporidium viatorum, were frequently detected. The two novel C. ubiquitum
      subtype families identified appeared to be genetic recombinants of known subtype
      families. Similarly, the dominant group 1 E. bieneusi genotypes and G. duodenalis
      subassemblage AII are known human pathogens. The similar distribution of human
      pathogenic Cryptosporidium species and E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis genotypes
      between wastewater and CSO samples reaffirms that storm overflow is potentially a
      significant contamination source of pathogens in surface water. The frequent
      identification of C. ubiquitum and C. viatorum in urban wastewater suggests that
      these newly identified human pathogens may be endemic in
      China.IMPORTANCECryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, and Enterocytozoon
      bieneusi are major waterborne pathogens. Their transport into surface water
      through combined sewer overflow, which remains largely untreated in developing
      countries, has not been examined. In addition, the identification of these
      pathogens to genotypes and subtypes in urban storm overflow and wastewater is
      necessary for rapid and accurate assessment of pathogen transmission in humans
      and transport in the environment. Data from this study suggest that, like
      untreated urban wastewater, combined sewer overflow is commonly contaminated with
      human-pathogenic Cryptosporidium, G. duodenalis, and E. bieneusi genotypes and
      subtypes, and urban storm overflow potentially plays a significant role in the
      contamination of drinking source water and recreational water with human
      pathogens. They also indicate that Cryptosporidium ubiquitum and Cryptosporidium
      viatorum, two newly identified human pathogens, may be common in China, and
      genetic recombination can lead to the emergence of novel C. ubiquitum subtype
      families.

PMID- 28600311
TI  - Laboratory Evolution of a Biotin-Requiring Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain for
      Full Biotin Prototrophy and Identification of Causal Mutations.
AB  - Biotin prototrophy is a rare, incompletely understood, and industrially relevant
      characteristic of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The genome of the haploid
      laboratory strain CEN.PK113-7D contains a full complement of biotin biosynthesis
      genes, but its growth in biotin-free synthetic medium is extremely slow (specific
      growth rate [MU] ~ 0.01 h-1). Four independent evolution experiments in repeated
      batch cultures and accelerostats yielded strains whose growth rates (MU <= 0.36 h
      1) in biotin-free and biotin-supplemented media were similar. Whole-genome
      resequencing of these evolved strains revealed up to 40-fold amplification of
      BIO1, which encodes pimeloyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase. The additional copies
      of BIO1 were found on different chromosomes, and its amplification coincided with
      substantial chromosomal rearrangements. A key role of this gene amplification was
      confirmed by overexpression of BIO1 in strain CEN.PK113-7D, which enabled growth
      in biotin-free medium (MU = 0.15 h-1). Mutations in the membrane transporter
      genes TPO1 and/or PDR12 were found in several of the evolved strains. Deletion of
      TPO1 and PDR12 in a BIO1-overexpressing strain increased its specific growth rate
      to 0.25 h-1 The effects of null mutations in these genes, which have not been
      previously associated with biotin metabolism, were nonadditive. This study
      demonstrates that S. cerevisiae strains that carry the basic genetic information
      for biotin synthesis can be evolved for full biotin prototrophy and identifies
      new targets for engineering biotin prototrophy into laboratory and industrial
      strains of this yeast.IMPORTANCE Although biotin (vitamin H) plays essential
      roles in all organisms, not all organisms can synthesize this vitamin. Many
      strains of baker's yeast, an important microorganism in industrial biotechnology,
      contain at least some of the genes required for biotin synthesis. However, most
      of these strains cannot synthesize biotin at all or do so at rates that are
      insufficient to sustain fast growth and product formation. Consequently, this
      expensive vitamin is routinely added to baker's yeast cultures. In this study,
      laboratory evolution in biotin-free growth medium yielded new strains that grew
      as fast in the absence of biotin as in its presence. By analyzing the DNA
      sequences of evolved biotin-independent strains, mutations were identified that
      contributed to this ability. This work demonstrates full biotin independence of
      an industrially relevant yeast and identifies mutations whose introduction into
      other yeast strains may reduce or eliminate their biotin requirements.

PMID- 28600312
TI  - Vibrio cholerae Colonization of Soft-Shelled Turtles.
AB  - Vibrio cholerae is an important human pathogen and environmental microflora
      species that can both propagate in the human intestine and proliferate in
      zooplankton and aquatic organisms. Cholera is transmitted through food and water.
      In recent years, outbreaks caused by V. cholerae-contaminated soft-shelled
      turtles, contaminated mainly with toxigenic serogroup O139, have been frequently
      reported, posing a new foodborne disease public health problem. In this study,
      the colonization by toxigenic V. cholerae on the body surfaces and intestines of
      soft-shelled turtles was explored. Preferred colonization sites on the turtle
      body surfaces, mainly the carapace and calipash of the dorsal side, were observed
      for the O139 and O1 strains. Intestinal colonization was also found. The
      colonization factors of V. cholerae played different roles in the colonization of
      the soft-shelled turtle's body surface and intestine. Mannose-sensitive
      hemagglutinin (MSHA) of V. cholerae was necessary for body surface colonization,
      but no roles were found for toxin-coregulated pili (TCP) or N-acetylglucosamine
      binding protein A (GBPA). Both TCP and GBPA play important roles for colonization
      in the intestine, whereas the deletion of MSHA revealed only a minor colonization
      promoting role for this factor. Our study demonstrated that V. cholerae can
      colonize the surfaces and the intestines of soft-shelled turtles and indicated
      that the soft-shelled turtles played a role in the transmission of cholera. In
      addition, this study showed that the soft-shelled turtle has potential value as
      an animal model in studies of the colonization and environmental adaption
      mechanisms of V. cholerae in aquatic organisms.IMPORTANCE Cholera is transmitted
      through water and food. Soft-shelled turtles contaminated with Vibrio cholerae
      (commonly the serogroup O139 strains) have caused many foodborne infections and
      outbreaks in recent years, and they have become a foodborne disease problem.
      Except for epidemiological investigations, no experimental studies have
      demonstrated the colonization by V. cholerae on soft-shelled turtles. The present
      studies will benefit our understanding of the interaction between V. cholerae and
      the soft-shelled turtle. We demonstrated the colonization by V. cholerae on the
      soft-shelled turtle's body surface and in the intestine and revealed the
      different roles of major V. cholerae factors for colonization on the body surface
      and in the intestine. Our work provides experimental evidence for the role of
      soft-shelled turtles in cholera transmission. In addition, this study also shows
      the possibility for the soft-shelled turtle to serve as a new animal model for
      studying the interaction between V. cholerae and aquatic hosts.

PMID- 28600313
TI  - Novel Microbial Assemblages Dominate Weathered Sulfide-Bearing Rock from Copper
      Nickel Deposits in the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA.
AB  - The Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota hosts economically significant
      deposits of copper, nickel, and platinum group elements (PGEs). The primary
      sulfide mineralogy of these deposits includes the minerals pyrrhotite,
      chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite, and weathering experiments show that
      most sulfide-bearing rock from the Duluth Complex generates moderately acidic
      leachate (pH 4 to 6). Microorganisms are important catalysts for metal sulfide
      oxidation and could influence the quality of water from mines in the Duluth
      Complex. Nevertheless, compared with that of extremely acidic environments, much
      less is known about the microbial ecology of moderately acidic sulfide-bearing
      mine waste, and so existing information may have little relevance to those
      microorganisms catalyzing oxidation reactions in the Duluth Complex. Here, we
      characterized the microbial communities in decade-long weathering experiments
      (kinetic tests) conducted on crushed rock and tailings from the Duluth Complex.
      Analyses of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts showed that differences among
      microbial communities correspond to pH, rock type, and experimental treatment.
      Moreover, microbial communities from the weathered Duluth Complex rock were
      dominated by taxa that are not typically associated with acidic mine waste. The
      most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were from the genera Meiothermus
      and Sulfuriferula, as well as from diverse clades of uncultivated Chloroflexi,
      Acidobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria Specific taxa, including putative sulfur
      oxidizing Sulfuriferula spp., appeared to be primarily associated with Duluth
      Complex rock, but not pyrite-bearing rocks subjected to the same experimental
      treatment. We discuss the implications of these results for the microbial ecology
      of moderately acidic mine waste with low sulfide content, as well as for kinetic
      testing of mine waste.IMPORTANCE Economic sulfide mineral deposits in the Duluth
      Complex may represent the largest undeveloped source of copper and nickel on
      Earth. Microorganisms are important catalysts for sulfide mineral oxidation, and
      research on extreme acidophiles has improved our ability to manage and remediate
      mine wastes. We found that the microbial assemblages associated with weathered
      rock from the Duluth Complex are dominated by organisms not widely associated
      with mine waste or mining-impacted environments, and we describe geochemical and
      experimental influences on community composition. This report will be a useful
      foundation for understanding the microbial biogeochemistry of moderately acidic
      mine waste from these and similar deposits.

PMID- 28600314
TI  - Nitrogen Source Stabilization of Quorum Sensing in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      Bioaugmentation Strain SD-1.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa SD-1 is efficient at degrading aromatic compounds and can
      therefore contribute to the bioremediation of wastewater. P. aeruginosa uses
      quorum sensing (QS) to regulate the production of numerous secreted "public
      goods." In wastewater bioaugmentation applications, there are myriad nitrogen
      sources, and we queried whether various nitrogen sources impact the stabilities
      of both QS and the bacterial populations. In a laboratory strain of P.
      aeruginosa, PAO1, the absence of a nitrogen source has been shown to destabilize
      these populations through the emergence of QS mutant "cheaters." We tested the
      ability of SD-1 to grow in casein broth, a condition that requires QS for growth,
      when the nitrogen source with either NH4Cl, NaNO3, or NaNO2 or with no added
      nitrogen source. There was great variability in susceptibility to invasion by QS
      mutant cheaters and, by extension, the stability of the SD-1 population. When
      grown with NH4Cl as an extra nitrogen source, no population collapse was
      observed; by contrast, two-thirds of cultures grown in the presence of NaNO2
      collapsed. In the populations that collapsed, the frequency of social cheaters
      exceeded 40%. NaNO3 and NaNO2 directly favor QS mutants of P. aeruginosa SD-1.
      Although the mechanism by which these nitrogen sources act is not clear, these
      data indicate that the metabolism of nitrogen can affect the stability of
      bacterial populations, an important observation for continuing industrial
      applications with this species.IMPORTANCE Bioaugmentation as a method to help
      remediate wastewater pollutant streams holds significant potential to enhance
      traditional methods of treatment. Addition of microbes that can catabolize
      organic pollutants can be an effective method to remove several toxic compounds.
      Such bioaugmented strains of bacteria have been shown to be susceptible to
      competition from the microbiota that are present in wastewater streams, limiting
      their potential effectiveness. Here, we show that bioaugmentation strains of
      bacteria might also be susceptible to invasion by social cheaters and that the
      nitrogen sources available in the wastewater might influence the ability of
      cheaters to overtake the bioaugmentation strains. Our results imply that control
      over the nitrogen sources in a wastewater stream or selective addition of certain
      nitrogen sources could help stabilize bioaugmentation strains of bacteria.

PMID- 28600315
TI  - RNA-Based Amplicon Sequencing Reveals Microbiota Development during Ripening of
      Artisanal versus Industrial Lard d'Arnad.
AB  - Valle d'Aosta Lard d'Arnad is a protected designation of origin (PDO) product
      produced from fat of the shoulder and back of heavy pigs. Its manufacturing
      process can be very diverse, especially regarding the maturation temperature and
      the NaCl concentration used for the brine; thereby, the main goal of this study
      was to investigate the impact of those parameters on the microbiota developed
      during curing and ripening. Three farms producing Lard d'Arnad were selected. Two
      plants, reflecting the industrial process characterized either by low maturation
      temperature (plant A [10% NaCl, 2 degrees C]) or by using a low NaCl
      concentration (plant B [2.5% NaCl, 4 degrees C]), were selected, while the third
      was characterized by an artisanal process (plant C [30% NaCl, 8 degrees C]). Lard
      samples were obtained at time 0 and after 7, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days of
      maturation. From each plant, 3 independent lots were analyzed. The diversity of
      live microbiota was evaluated by using classical plate counts and amplicon target
      sequencing of small subunit (SSU) rRNA. The main taxa identified by sequencing
      were Acinetobacter johnsonii, Psychrobacter, Staphylococcus equorum,
      Staphylococcus sciuri, Pseudomonas fragi, Brochothrix, Halomonas, and Vibrio, and
      differences in their relative abundances distinguished samples from the
      individual plants. The composition of the microbiota was more similar among
      plants A and B, and it was characterized by the higher presence of taxa
      recognized as undesired bacteria in food-processing environments. Oligotype
      analysis of Halomonas and Acinetobacter revealed the presence of several
      characteristic oligotypes associated with A and B samples.IMPORTANCE Changes in
      the food production process can drastically affect the microbial community
      structure, with a possible impact on the final characteristics of the products.
      The industrial processes of Lard d'Arnad production are characterized by a
      reduction in the salt concentration in the brines to address a consumer demand
      for less salty products; this can negatively affect the dynamics and development
      of the live microbiota and, as a consequence, can negatively impact the quality
      of the final product due to the higher abundance of spoilage bacteria. This study
      is an overview of the live microbiota that develop during lard manufacturing, and
      it highlights the importance of the use of traditional process to produce PDO
      from a spoilage perspective.

PMID- 28600316
TI  - An In Vitro Enzyme System for the Production of myo-Inositol from Starch.
AB  - We developed an in vitro enzyme system to produce myo-inositol from starch. Four
      enzymes were used, maltodextrin phosphorylase (MalP), phosphoglucomutase (PGM),
      myo-inositol-3-phosphate synthase (MIPS), and inositol monophosphatase (IMPase).
      The enzymes were thermostable: MalP and PGM from the hyperthermophilic archaeon
      Thermococcus kodakarensis, MIPS from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Archaeoglobus
      fulgidus, and IMPase from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima The
      enzymes were individually produced in Escherichia coli and partially purified by
      subjecting cell extracts to heat treatment and removing denatured proteins. The
      four enzyme samples were incubated at 90 degrees C with amylose, phosphate, and
      NAD+, resulting in the production of myo-inositol with a yield of over 90% at 2
      h. The effects of varying the concentrations of reaction components were
      examined. When the system volume was increased and NAD+ was added every 2 h, we
      observed the production of 2.9 g myo-inositol from 2.9 g amylose after 7 h,
      achieving gram-scale production with a molar conversion of approximately 96%. We
      further integrated the pullulanase from T. maritima into the system and observed
      myo-inositol production from soluble starch and raw potato with yields of 73% and
      57 to 61%, respectively.IMPORTANCEmyo-Inositol is an important nutrient for human
      health and provides a wide variety of benefits as a dietary supplement. This
      study demonstrates an alternative method to produce myo-inositol from starch with
      an in vitro enzyme system using thermostable maltodextrin phosphorylase (MalP),
      phosphoglucomutase (PGM), myo-inositol-3-phosphate synthase, and myo-inositol
      monophosphatase. By utilizing MalP and PGM to generate glucose 6-phosphate, we
      can avoid the addition of phosphate donors such as ATP, the use of which would
      not be practical for scaled-up production of myo-inositol. myo-Inositol was
      produced from amylose on the gram scale with yields exceeding 90%. Conversion
      rates were also high, producing over 2 g of myo-inositol within 4 h in a 200-ml
      reaction mixture. By adding a thermostable pullulanase, we produced myo-inositol
      from raw potato with yields of 57 to 61% (wt/wt). The system developed here
      should provide an attractive alternative to conventional methods that rely on
      extraction or microbial production of myo-inositol.

PMID- 28600317
TI  - Efficacy of Neutral Electrolyzed Water for Inactivation of Human Norovirus.
AB  - Human norovirus (NoV) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide.
      Persistence on surfaces and resistance to many conventional disinfectants
      contribute to widespread transmission of norovirus. We examined the efficacy of
      neutral electrolyzed water (NEW; pH 7) for inactivation of human NoV GII.4 Sydney
      in suspension (ASTM method 1052-11) and on stainless steel surfaces (ASTM method
      1053-11) with and without an additional soil load. The impact of the disinfectant
      on viral capsid was assessed using reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT
      qPCR; with an RNase pretreatment), SDS-PAGE, transmission electron microscopy,
      and a histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) receptor-binding assay. These studies were
      done in parallel with those using Tulane virus (TuV), a cultivable human NoV
      surrogate. Neutral electrolyzed water at 250 ppm free available chlorine produced
      a 4.8- and 0.4-log10 reduction in NoV genome copy number after 1 min in
      suspension and on stainless steel, respectively. Increasing the contact time on
      surfaces to 5, 10, 15, and 30 min reduced human NoV genomic copies by 0.5, 1.6,
      2.4, and 5.0 log10 and TuV infectious titers by 2.4, 3.0, 3.8, and 4.1 log10 PFU,
      respectively. Increased soil load effectively eliminated antiviral efficacy
      regardless of testing method and virus. Exposure to NEW induced a near complete
      loss of receptor binding (5 ppm, 30 s), degradation of VP1 major capsid protein
      (250 ppm, 5 min), and increased virus particle aggregation (150 ppm, 30 min).
      Neutral electrolyzed water at 250 ppm shows promise as an antinoroviral
      disinfectant when used on precleaned stainless steel surfaces.IMPORTANCE
      Norovirus is the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide.
      Transmission occurs by fecal-oral or vomitus-oral routes. The persistence of
      norovirus on contaminated environmental surfaces exacerbates its spread, as does
      its resistance to many conventional disinfectants. The purpose of this research
      was to evaluate the antinoroviral efficacy of neutral electrolyzed water (NEW), a
      novel chlorine-based disinfectant that can be used at reduced concentrations,
      making it more environmentally friendly and less corrosive than bleach. An
      industrial-scale electrochemical activation device capable of producing
      relatively stable electrolyzed water at a wide pH range was used in this study.
      Experiments showed that 250 ppm NEW effectively eliminated (defined as a 5-log10
      reduction) human norovirus GII.4 Sydney (epidemic strain) on clean stainless
      steel surfaces after a 30-min exposure. Supporting studies showed that, like
      bleach, NEW causes inactivation by disrupting the virus capsid. This product
      shows promise as a bleach alternative with antinoroviral efficacy.

PMID- 28600318
TI  - Colonization Habitat Controls Biomass, Composition, and Metabolic Activity of
      Attached Microbial Communities in the Columbia River Hyporheic Corridor.
AB  - Hydrologic exchange plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycling within the
      hyporheic zone (the interface between river water and groundwater) of riverine
      ecosystems. Such exchange may set limits on the rates of microbial metabolism and
      impose deterministic selection on microbial communities that adapt to dynamically
      changing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) sources. This study examined the response
      of attached microbial communities (in situ colonized sand packs) from
      groundwater, hyporheic, and riverbed habitats within the Columbia River hyporheic
      corridor to "cross-feeding" with either groundwater, river water, or DOC-free
      artificial fluids. Our working hypothesis was that deterministic selection during
      in situ colonization would dictate the response to cross-feeding, with
      communities displaying maximal biomass and respiration when supplied with their
      native fluid source. In contrast to expectations, the major observation was that
      the riverbed colonized sand had much higher biomass and respiratory activity, as
      well as a distinct community structure, compared with those of the hyporheic and
      groundwater colonized sands. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed a much
      higher proportion of certain heterotrophic taxa as well as significant numbers of
      eukaryotic algal chloroplasts in the riverbed colonized sand. Significant
      quantities of DOC were released from riverbed sediment and colonized sand, and
      separate experiments showed that the released DOC stimulated respiration in the
      groundwater and piezometer colonized sand. These results suggest that the
      accumulation and degradation of labile particulate organic carbon (POC) within
      the riverbed are likely to release DOC, which may enter the hyporheic corridor
      during hydrologic exchange, thereby stimulating microbial activity and imposing
      deterministic selective pressure on the microbial community
      composition.IMPORTANCE The influence of river water-groundwater mixing on
      hyporheic zone microbial community structure and function is an important but
      poorly understood component of riverine biogeochemistry. This study employed an
      experimental approach to gain insight into how such mixing might be expected to
      influence the biomass, respiration, and composition of hyporheic zone microbial
      communities. Colonized sands from three different habitats (groundwater, river
      water, and hyporheic) were "cross-fed" with either groundwater, river water, or
      DOC-free artificial fluids. We expected that the colonization history would
      dictate the response to cross-feeding, with communities displaying maximal
      biomass and respiration when supplied with their native fluid source. By
      contrast, the major observation was that the riverbed communities had much higher
      biomass and respiration, as well as a distinct community structure compared with
      those of the hyporheic and groundwater colonized sands. These results highlight
      the importance of riverbed microbial metabolism in organic carbon processing in
      hyporheic corridors.

PMID- 28600319
TI  - Microbiome and NAFLD: potential influence of aerobic fitness and lifestyle
      modification.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease with
      prevalence rates that are on the rise in the US and worldwide. NAFLD encompasses
      a spectrum of liver pathologies including simple steatosis to nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH) with inflammation and fibrosis. The gut microbiome has
      emerged as a potential therapeutic target in combating metabolic diseases
      including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and NAFLD/NASH. Diet-induced obesity/Western
      style diet feeding causes severe microbial dysbiosis initiating a microbiome
      signature that promotes metabolite production that directly impacts hepatic
      metabolism. Changes in lifestyle (i.e., diet, exercise, and aerobic fitness)
      improve NAFLD outcomes and can significantly influence the microbiome. However,
      directly linking lifestyle-induced remodeling of the microbiome to NAFLD
      pathogenesis is not well understood. Understanding the reshaping of the
      microbiome and the metabolites produced and their subsequent actions on hepatic
      metabolism are vital in understanding the gut-liver axis. In this review, we 1)
      discuss microbiome-derived metabolites that significantly contribute to the gut
      liver axis and are directly linked to NAFLD/NASH and 2) present evidence on
      lifestyle modifications reshaping the microbiome and the potential therapeutic
      aspects in combating the disease.

PMID- 28600320
TI  - Limited distal organelles and synaptic function in extensive monoaminergic
      innervation.
AB  - Organelles such as neuropeptide-containing dense-core vesicles (DCVs) and
      mitochondria travel down axons to supply synaptic boutons. DCV distribution among
      en passant boutons in small axonal arbors is mediated by circulation with
      bidirectional capture. However, it is not known how organelles are distributed in
      extensive arbors associated with mammalian dopamine neuron vulnerability, and
      with volume transmission and neuromodulation by monoamines and neuropeptides.
      Therefore, we studied presynaptic organelle distribution in Drosophila octopamine
      neurons that innervate ~20 muscles with ~1500 boutons. Unlike in smaller arbors,
      distal boutons in these arbors contain fewer DCVs and mitochondria, although
      active zones are present. Absence of vesicle circulation is evident by proximal
      nascent DCV delivery, limited impact of retrograde transport and older distal
      DCVs. Traffic studies show that DCV axonal transport and synaptic capture are not
      scaled for extensive innervation, thus limiting distal delivery. Activity-induced
      synaptic endocytosis and synaptic neuropeptide release are also reduced distally.
      We propose that limits in organelle transport and synaptic capture compromise
      distal synapse maintenance and function in extensive axonal arbors, thereby
      affecting development, plasticity and vulnerability to neurodegenerative disease.

PMID- 28600321
TI  - Importin-beta and CRM1 control a RANBP2 spatiotemporal switch essential for
      mitotic kinetochore function.
AB  - Protein conjugation with small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) is a post
      translational modification that modulates protein interactions and localisation.
      RANBP2 is a large nucleoporin endowed with SUMO E3 ligase and SUMO-stabilising
      activity, and is implicated in some cancer types. RANBP2 is part of a larger
      complex, consisting of SUMO-modified RANGAP1, the GTP-hydrolysis activating
      factor for the GTPase RAN. During mitosis, the RANBP2-SUMO-RANGAP1 complex
      localises to the mitotic spindle and to kinetochores after microtubule
      attachment. Here, we address the mechanisms that regulate this localisation and
      how they affect kinetochore functions. Using proximity ligation assays, we find
      that nuclear transport receptors importin-beta and CRM1 play essential roles in
      localising the RANBP2-SUMO-RANGAP1 complex away from, or at kinetochores,
      respectively. Using newly generated inducible cell lines, we show that
      overexpression of nuclear transport receptors affects the timing of RANBP2
      localisation in opposite ways. Concomitantly, kinetochore functions are also
      affected, including the accumulation of SUMO-conjugated topoisomerase-IIalpha and
      stability of kinetochore fibres. These results delineate a novel mechanism
      through which nuclear transport receptors govern the functional state of
      kinetochores by regulating the timely deposition of RANBP2.

PMID- 28600322
TI  - Rac1 switching at the right time and location is essential for Fcgamma receptor
      mediated phagosome formation.
AB  - Lamellipodia are sheet-like cell protrusions driven by actin polymerization
      mainly through Rac1, a GTPase molecular switch. In Fcgamma receptor-mediated
      phagocytosis of IgG-opsonized erythrocytes (IgG-Es), Rac1 activation is required
      for lamellipodial extension along the surface of IgG-Es. However, the
      significance of Rac1 deactivation in phagosome formation is poorly understood.
      Our live-cell imaging and electron microscopy revealed that RAW264 macrophages
      expressing a constitutively active Rac1 mutant showed defects in phagocytic cup
      formation, while lamellipodia were formed around IgG-Es. Because activated Rac1
      reduced the phosphorylation levels of myosin light chains, failure of the cup
      formation is probably due to inhibition of actin/myosin II contractility.
      Reversible photo-manipulation of the Rac1 switch in macrophages fed with IgG-Es
      could phenocopy two lamellipodial motilities: outward-extension and cup
      constriction by Rac1 ON and OFF, respectively. In conjunction with fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer imaging of Rac1 activity, we provide a novel
      mechanistic model of phagosome formation spatiotemporally controlled by Rac1
      switching within a phagocytic cup.

PMID- 28600323
TI  - Rab7 palmitoylation is required for efficient endosome-to-TGN trafficking.
AB  - Retromer is a multimeric protein complex that mediates endosome-to-trans-Golgi
      network (TGN) and endosome-to-plasma membrane trafficking of integral membrane
      proteins. Dysfunction of this complex has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and
      Parkinson's disease. The recruitment of retromer to endosomes is regulated by
      Rab7 (also known as RAB7A) to coordinate endosome-to-TGN trafficking of cargo
      receptor complexes. Rab7 is also required for the degradation of internalized
      integral membrane proteins, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).
      We found that Rab7 is palmitoylated and that this modification is not required
      for membrane anchoring. Palmitoylated Rab7 colocalizes efficiently with and has a
      higher propensity to interact with retromer than nonpalmitoylatable Rab7. Rescue
      of Rab7 knockout cells by expressing wild-type Rab7 restores efficient endosome
      to-TGN trafficking, while rescue with nonpalmitoylatable Rab7 does not.
      Interestingly, Rab7 palmitoylation does not appear to be required for the
      degradation of EGFR or for its interaction with its effector, Rab-interacting
      lysosomal protein (RILP). Overall, our results indicate that Rab7 palmitoylation
      is required for the spatiotemporal recruitment of retromer and efficient endosome
      to-TGN trafficking of the lysosomal sorting receptors.

PMID- 28600324
TI  - Reconstitution of the oocyte nucleolus in mice through a single nucleolar
      protein, NPM2.
AB  - The mammalian oocyte nucleolus, the most prominent subcellular organelle in the
      oocyte, is vital in early development, yet its key functions and constituents
      remain unclear. We show here that the parthenotes/zygotes derived from
      enucleolated oocytes exhibited abnormal heterochromatin formation around parental
      pericentromeric DNAs, which led to a significant mitotic delay and frequent
      chromosome mis-segregation upon the first mitotic division. A proteomic analysis
      identified nucleoplasmin 2 (NPM2) as a dominant component of the oocyte
      nucleolus. Consistently, Npm2-deficient oocytes, which lack a normal nucleolar
      structure, showed chromosome segregation defects similar to those in enucleolated
      oocytes, suggesting that nucleolar loss, rather than micromanipulation-related
      damage to the genome, leads to a disorganization of higher-order chromatin
      structure in pronuclei and frequent chromosome mis-segregation during the first
      mitosis. Strikingly, expression of NPM2 alone sufficed to reconstitute the
      nucleolar structure in enucleolated embryos, and rescued their first mitotic
      division and full-term development. The nucleolus rescue through NPM2 required
      the pentamer formation and both the N- and C-terminal domains. Our findings
      demonstrate that the NPM2-based oocyte nucleolus is an essential platform for
      parental chromatin organization in early embryonic development.

PMID- 28600325
TI  - HIRA deficiency in muscle fibers causes hypertrophy and susceptibility to
      oxidative stress.
AB  - Nucleosome assembly proceeds through DNA replication-coupled or replication
      independent mechanisms. For skeletal myocytes, whose nuclei have permanently
      exited the cell cycle, replication-independent assembly is the only mode
      available for chromatin remodeling. For this reason, any nucleosome composition
      alterations accompanying transcriptional responses to physiological signals must
      occur through a DNA replication-independent pathway. HIRA is the histone
      chaperone primarily responsible for replication-independent incorporation of
      histone variant H3.3 across gene bodies and regulatory regions. Thus, HIRA would
      be expected to play an important role in epigenetically regulating myocyte gene
      expression. The objective of this study was to determine the consequence of
      eliminating HIRA from mouse skeletal myocytes. At 6 weeks of age, myofibers
      lacking HIRA showed no pathological abnormalities; however, genes involved in
      transcriptional regulation were downregulated. By 6 months of age, myofibers
      lacking HIRA exhibited hypertrophy, sarcolemmal perforation and oxidative damage.
      Genes involved in muscle growth and development were upregulated, but those
      associated with responses to cellular stresses were downregulated. These data
      suggest that elimination of HIRA produces a hypertrophic response in skeletal
      muscle and leaves myofibers susceptible to stress-induced degeneration.

PMID- 28600326
TI  - Up-Frameshift Protein UPF1 Regulates Neurospora crassa Circadian and Diurnal
      Growth Rhythms.
AB  - Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) is a crucial post-transcriptional regulatory
      mechanism that recognizes and eliminates aberrantly processed transcripts, and
      mediates the expression of normal gene transcripts. In this study, we report that
      in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, the NMD factors play a conserved
      role in regulating the surveillance of NMD targets including premature
      termination codon (PTC)-containing transcripts and normal transcripts. The
      circadian rhythms in all of the knockout strains of upf1-3 genes, which encode
      the Up-frameshift proteins, were aberrant. The upf1 knockout strain displays a
      shortened circadian period, which can be restored by constantly expressing
      exogenous Up-frameshift protein 1 (UPF1). UPF1 regulates the circadian clock by
      modulating the splicing of the core clock gene frequency (frq) through
      spliceosome and spliceosome-related arginine/serine-rich splicing factors, which
      partly account for the short periods in the upf1 knockout strain. We also
      demonstrated that the clock genes including White Collar (WC)-1, WC-2, and FRQ
      are involved in controlling the diurnal growth rhythm, and UPF1 may affect the
      growth rhythms by mediating the FRQ protein levels in the daytime. These findings
      suggest that the NMD factors play important roles in regulating the circadian
      clock and diurnal growth rhythms in Neurospora.

PMID- 28600327
TI  - The Oxidative Stress Response in Caenorhabditis elegans Requires the GATA
      Transcription Factor ELT-3 and SKN-1/Nrf2.
AB  - Cellular damage caused by reactive oxygen species is believed to be a major
      contributor to age-associated diseases. Previously, we characterized the
      Caenorhabditis elegans Brap2 ortholog (BRAP-2) and found that it is required to
      prevent larval arrest in response to elevated levels of oxidative stress. Here,
      we report that C. elegans brap-2 mutants display increased expression of SKN-1
      dependent, phase II detoxification enzymes that is dependent on PMK-1 (a p38 MAPK
      C. elegans ortholog). An RNA-interference screen was conducted using a
      transcription factor library to identify genes required for increased expression
      of the SKN-1 target gst-4 in brap-2 mutants. We identified ELT-3, a member of the
      GATA transcription factor family, as a positive regulator of gst-4p::gfp
      expression. We found that ELT-3 interacts with SKN-1 to activate gst-4
      transcription in vitro and that elt-3 is required for enhanced gst-4 expression
      in the brap-2(ok1492) mutant in vivo Furthermore, nematodes overexpressing SKN-1
      required ELT-3 for life-span extension. Taken together, these results suggest a
      model where BRAP-2 acts as negative regulator of SKN-1 through inhibition of p38
      MAPK activity, and that the GATA transcription factor ELT-3 is required along
      with SKN-1 for the phase II detoxification response in C. elegans.

PMID- 28600328
TI  - Multicenter Experience Evaluating Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement in
      Bovine Jugular Vein (Contegra) Right Ventricle to Pulmonary Artery Conduits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Follow-up of transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) with
      the Melody valve has demonstrated good short-term and long-term outcomes, but
      there are no published studies focused on valve performance in the Contegra
      bovine jugular vein conduit. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a retrospective,
      multicenter study of the short- and intermediate-term outcomes of Melody TPVR
      within the Contegra conduit in the right ventricle to pulmonary artery position.
      Data from 13 centers were included in the analysis. During the study period, 136
      patients underwent 139 catheterizations for attempted Melody TPVR with a median
      follow-up of 3 years (1 day to 9.1 years). Of the 136 patients, 117 underwent
      successful Melody TPVR. Two patients underwent a second Melody TPVR. The majority
      of patients underwent placement of >=1 stents before transcatheter pulmonary
      valve implantation. There was a significant reduction in peak conduit pressure
      gradient acutely after transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (39 versus 10
      mm Hg; P<0.001). At most recent follow-up, the maximum pulmonary valve gradient
      by echocardiogram remained significantly reduced relative to prevalve implant
      measurements (65.9 versus 27.3 mm Hg; P<0.001). The incidence of Melody
      transcatheter pulmonary valve stent fracture (3.4%) and infectious endocarditis
      (4.3%) were both low. Serious adverse events occurred in 3 patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Melody TPVR in Contegra conduits is safe and effective and can be performed in a
      wide range of conduit sizes with preserved valve function and low incidence of
      stent fracture and endocarditis.

PMID- 28600329
TI  - Effect of electroacupuncture on thermal pain threshold and expression of
      calcitonin-gene related peptide, substance P and gamma-aminobutyric acid in the
      cervical dorsal root ganglion of rats with incisional neck pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Acupuncture therapy effectively reduces post-surgical pain, but its
      mechanism of action remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate
      whether expression of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the neuropeptides
      substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the primary
      sensory neurons of cervical dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are involved in
      electroacupuncture (EA)-induced analgesia in a rat model of incisional neck pain.
      METHODS: The pain model was established by making a longitudinal midline neck
      incision in 60 rats. Another 15 rats underwent sham surgery (normal group). Post
      incision, 15 rats remained untreated (model group) and 45 rats underwent EA
      (frequency 2/100 Hz, intensity 1 mA) at bilateral LI18, LI4-PC6 or ST36-GB34
      (n=15 each) for 30 min at 4 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours post-surgery, followed
      by thermal pain threshold (PT) measurement. 30 min later, the rats were
      euthanased and cervical (C3-6) DRGs removed for measurement of immunoreactivity
      and mRNA expression of SP/CGRP and the GABAergic neuronal marker glutamic acid
      decarboxylase 67 (GAD67). RESULTS: Thermal PT was significantly lower in the
      model group versus the normal group and increased in the LI18 and LI4-PC6 groups
      but not the ST36-GB34 group compared with the model group. Additionally, EA at
      LI18 and LI4-PC6 markedly suppressed neck incision-induced upregulation of
      mRNA/protein expression of SP/CGRP, and upregulated mRNA/protein expression of
      GAD67 in the DRGs of C3-6 segments. CONCLUSIONS: EA at LI18/LI4-PC6 increases PT
      in rats with incisional neck pain, which is likely related to downregulation of
      pronociceptive mediators SP/CGRP and upregulation of the inhibitory transmitter
      GABA in the primary sensory neurons of cervical DRGs.

PMID- 28600330
TI  - Grading evidence from test accuracy studies: what makes it challenging compared
      with the grading of effectiveness studies?
AB  - Guideline panels need to process a sizeable amount of information to issue a
      decision on whether to recommend a health technology or not. Grading of
      Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) is being
      frequently applied in guideline development to facilitate this task, typically
      for the synthesis of effectiveness research. Questions regarding the accuracy of
      medical tests are ubiquitous, and they temporally precede questions about
      therapy. However, literature summarising the experience of applying GRADE
      approach to accuracy evaluations is not as rich as one for effectiveness
      evidence. Type of study design (cross-sectional), two-dimensional nature of the
      performance measures (sensitivity and specificity), propensity towards a higher
      level of between-study heterogeneity, poor reporting of quality features and
      uncertainty about how best to assess for publication bias among other features
      make this task challenging. This article presents solutions adopted to addresses
      above challenges for judicious estimation of the strength of test accuracy
      evidence used to inform evidence syntheses for guideline development.

PMID- 28600332
TI  - Contaminated fingers: a potential cause of Chlamydia trachomatis-positive urine
      specimens.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The detection of an STI agent in a urogenital tract (UGT) specimen
      from a young child is regarded as being indicative of sexual abuse. However, the
      probabilities of contamination events that could conceivably lead to STI positive
      specimens in the absence of sexual contact are unclear. The objective was to
      estimate the potential for fingers that have come in contact with Chlamydia
      trachomatis-positive urine to detectably contaminate C. trachomatis-negative
      urine. METHODS: The study design was based on self-experimentation. Dilutions of
      C. trachomatis elementary bodies (EBs) were prepared. A participant contacted an
      EB dilution then a urine surrogate specimen. The experiment was performed by
      three participants using three C. trachomatis isolates, of genotype E, F and B.
      Two surrogate urine contact methods were used to mimic contamination of a carer
      assisting with a child's urine collection. All EB dilutions and urine surrogate
      specimens were subjected to C. trachomatis assay and quantification in a real
      time PCR-based diagnostic system. RESULTS: The amplimer crossing point (Cq) for
      EB dilutions was 10.0+/-1.6 less than for corresponding finger contacted urine
      specimens, which corresponds to ~10 uL of EB suspension transferred. This was
      largely independent of participant identity, C. trachomatis strain or EB
      dilution. Hand decontamination led to large reductions in EBs transferred, but
      transfer remained consistently detectable. Recent Cq data from C. trachomatis
      positive clinical urine specimens were collated, and 20% clearly contained
      sufficient C. trachomatis to detectably contaminate another specimen by finger
      mediated transfer, as in this experiment. CONCLUSIONS: This study directly
      demonstrated the potential for urine contaminated fingers to convert a C.
      trachomatis-negative urine specimen to C. trachomatis positive as a result of
      contact. Accordingly, procedures for urine specimen collection, particularly from
      children, need to be designed to prevent contamination.

PMID- 28600333
TI  - How I treat double-hit lymphoma.
AB  - The 2016 revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification for
      lymphoma has included a new category of lymphoma, separate from diffuse large B
      cell lymphoma, termed high-grade B-cell lymphoma with translocations involving
      myc and bcl-2 or bcl-6. These lymphomas, which occur in <10% of cases of diffuse
      large B-cell lymphoma, have been referred to as double-hit lymphomas (or triple
      hit lymphomas if all 3 rearrangements are present). It is important to
      differentiate these lymphomas from the larger group of double-expressor
      lymphomas, which have increased expression of MYC and BCL-2 and/or BCL-6 by
      immunohistochemistry, by using variable cutoff percentages to define positivity.
      Patients with double-hit lymphomas have a poor prognosis when treated with
      standard chemoimmunotherapy and have increased risk of central nervous system
      involvement and progression. Double-hit lymphomas may arise as a consequence of
      the transformation of the underlying indolent lymphoma. There are no published
      prospective trials in double-hit lymphoma, however retrospective studies strongly
      suggest that aggressive induction regimens may confer a superior outcome. In this
      article, I review my approach to the evaluation and treatment of double-hit
      lymphoma, with an eye toward future clinical trials incorporating rational
      targeted agents into the therapeutic armamentarium.

PMID- 28600331
TI  - Does maternal HSV-2 coinfection increase mother-to-child transmission of HIV? A
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reducing HIV mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is critical to
      ending the HIV pandemic. Reports suggest that herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), a
      common coinfection in HIV-infected individuals, is associated with increased
      MTCT, but results have been conflicting. We conducted a systematic review of
      observational studies to quantify the magnitude of this relationship (PROSPERO
      no. CRD42016043315). METHODS: We searched Medline (1981 to June week 3, 2016),
      EMBASE (1981 to week 26, 2016), relevant conferences (2013-2016) and
      bibliographies of identified studies for cohort and case-control studies
      enrolling HIV-positive women during pregnancy or peripartum that quantified the
      effect of HSV-2 infection on MTCT. The primary outcome was the risk of perinatal
      HIV transmission associated with maternal HSV-2 status. Risk of bias was
      evaluated using a standardised tool, and results were meta-analysed where
      appropriate using a random-effects model, with studies weighted using the inverse
      variance method. RESULTS: From 2103 hits, 112 studies were considered for
      inclusion, and 10 were ultimately included. Of the included studies, three used a
      case-control design, three were retrospective cohorts and four were prospective
      cohorts. Risk of bias was low in three studies, moderate in six and high in one.
      The median sample size was 278.5 mother-infant pairs (range: 48-1513). The most
      common strategy for classifying maternal HSV-2 status was type-specific serology
      (n=6), followed by genital shedding (n=3) or genital culture (n=3), clinical
      diagnosis of herpes (n=2) or genital ulcer disease (n=1). Results from five
      studies that provided quantitative estimates of the association between HSV-2
      seropositivity and MTCT were meta-analysed, yielding a pooled unadjusted OR=1.17
      (95% CI=0.69 to 1.96, I2=58%). Three of these studies further considered key
      confounding variables, specifically antiretroviral use and/or viral load (n=3),
      and mode of delivery (n=2), yielding a pooled adjusted OR=1.57 (95% CI=1.17 to
      2.11, I2=0). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal HSV-2 coinfection appears to be associated
      with increased perinatal HIV transmission. Further study of the effect of HSV-2
      treatment on MTCT is warranted.

PMID- 28600334
TI  - How I use laboratory monitoring of antiplatelet therapy.
AB  - Antiplatelet therapy is of proven benefit in coronary artery disease and a number
      of other clinical settings. This article reviews platelet function, molecular
      targets of antiplatelet agents, and clinical indications for antiplatelet therapy
      before focusing on a frequent question to hematologists about the 2 most commonly
      used antiplatelet therapies: Could the patient be aspirin "resistant" or
      clopidogrel "resistant"? If so, should results of a platelet function test be
      used to guide the dose or type of antiplatelet therapy? Whether such guided
      therapy is of clinical benefit to patients has been a source of controversy. The
      present article reviews this subject in the context of 2 prototypical clinical
      cases. Available evidence does not support the use of laboratory tests to guide
      the dose of aspirin or clopidogrel in patients with so-called aspirin or
      clopidogrel "resistance."

PMID- 28600335
TI  - Introduction to a review series on precision hematology.

PMID- 28600336
TI  - Diagnosis and classification of hematologic malignancies on the basis of
      genetics.
AB  - Genomic analysis has greatly influenced the diagnosis and clinical management of
      patients affected by diverse forms of hematologic malignancies. Here, we review
      how genetic alterations define subclasses of patients with acute leukemias,
      myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), non-Hodgkin
      lymphomas, and classical Hodgkin lymphoma. These include new subtypes of acute
      myeloid leukemia defined by mutations in RUNX1 or BCR-ABL1 translocations as well
      as a constellation of somatic structural DNA alterations in acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia. Among patients with MDS, detection of mutations in SF3B1 define a
      subgroup of patients with the ring sideroblast form of MDS and a favorable
      prognosis. For patients with MPNs, detection of the BCR-ABL1 fusion delineates
      chronic myeloid leukemia from classic BCR-ABL1- MPNs, which are largely defined
      by mutations in JAK2, CALR, or MPL In the B-cell lymphomas, detection of
      characteristic rearrangements involving MYC in Burkitt lymphoma, BCL2 in
      follicular lymphoma, and MYC/BCL2/BCL6 in high-grade B-cell lymphomas are
      essential for diagnosis. In T-cell lymphomas, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma is
      defined by mutually exclusive rearrangements of ALK, DUSP22/IRF4, and TP63
      Genetic alterations affecting TP53 and the mutational status of the
      immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region are important in clinical management
      of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Additionally, detection of BRAFV600E mutations
      is helpful in the diagnosis of classical hairy cell leukemia and a number of
      histiocytic neoplasms. Numerous additional examples provided here demonstrate how
      clinical evaluation of genomic alterations have refined classification of myeloid
      neoplasms and major forms of lymphomas arising from B, T, or natural killer
      cells.

PMID- 28600339
TI  - Genetic predisposition to hematologic malignancies: management and surveillance.
AB  - As individuals with germ line predisposition to hematologic malignancies are
      diagnosed with increasing frequency, the need for clinical surveillance has
      become apparent. Unfortunately, few prospective data are available, so
      recommendations are based on collective experience and expert consensus. There is
      general agreement to advocate for expert consultation or referral of patients to
      centers with expertise in these syndromes, since presentations and disease
      progression can be subtle, and treatment strategies must be tailored. Here, we
      summarize and integrate expert consensus recommendations and medical management
      considerations for the patient newly diagnosed with a leukemia predisposition
      disorder. Indications to consider additional studies and referral for allogeneic
      stem cell transplantation are also discussed.

PMID- 28600338
TI  - The relative utilities of genome-wide, gene panel, and individual gene sequencing
      in clinical practice.
AB  - Advances in technology that have transpired over the past 2 decades have enabled
      the analysis of cancer samples for genomic alterations to understand their
      biologic function and to translate that knowledge into clinical practice. With
      the power to analyze entire genomes in a clinically relevant time frame and with
      manageable costs comes the question of whether we ought to and when. This review
      focuses on the relative merits of 3 approaches to molecular diagnostics in
      hematologic malignancies: indication-specific single gene assays, gene panel
      assays that test for genes selected for their roles in cancer, and genome-wide
      assays that broadly analyze the tumor exomes or genomes. After addressing these
      in general terms, we review specific use cases in myeloid and lymphoid
      malignancies to highlight the utility of single gene testing and/or larger
      panels.

PMID- 28600337
TI  - High-throughput sequencing for noninvasive disease detection in hematologic
      malignancies.
AB  - Noninvasive monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) has led to significant
      advances in personalized management of patients with hematologic malignancies.
      Improved therapeutic options and prolonged survival have further increased the
      need for sensitive tumor assessment that can inform treatment decisions and
      patient outcomes. At diagnosis or relapse of most hematologic neoplasms,
      malignant cells are often easily accessible in the blood as circulating tumor
      cells (CTCs), making them ideal targets to noninvasively profile the molecular
      features of each patient. In other cancer types, CTCs are generally rare and
      noninvasive molecular detection relies on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) shed from
      tumor deposits into circulation. The ability to precisely detect and quantify
      CTCs and ctDNA could minimize invasive procedures and improve prediction of
      clinical outcomes. Technical advances in MRD detection methods in recent years
      have led to reduced costs and increased sensitivity, specificity, and
      applicability. Among currently available tests, high-throughput sequencing (HTS)
      based approaches are increasingly attractive for noninvasive molecular testing.
      HTS-based methods can simultaneously identify multiple genetic markers with high
      sensitivity and specificity without individual optimization. In this review, we
      present an overview of techniques used for noninvasive molecular disease
      detection in selected myeloid and lymphoid neoplasms, with a focus on the current
      and future role of HTS-based assays.

PMID- 28600341
TI  - The NCI Genomic Data Commons as an engine for precision medicine.
AB  - The National Cancer Institute Genomic Data Commons (GDC) is an information system
      for storing, analyzing, and sharing genomic and clinical data from patients with
      cancer. The recent high-throughput sequencing of cancer genomes and
      transcriptomes has produced a big data problem that precludes many cancer
      biologists and oncologists from gleaning knowledge from these data regarding the
      nature of malignant processes and the relationship between tumor genomic profiles
      and treatment response. The GDC aims to democratize access to cancer genomic data
      and to foster the sharing of these data to promote precision medicine approaches
      to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

PMID- 28600340
TI  - Ethical considerations in genomic testing for hematologic disorders.
AB  - As our technological capacities improve, genomic testing is increasingly
      integrating into patient care. The field of clinical hematology is no exception.
      Genomic testing carries great promise, but several ethical issues must be
      considered whenever such testing is performed. This review addresses these
      ethical considerations, including issues surrounding informed consent and the
      uncertainty of the results of genomic testing; the challenge of incidental
      findings; and possible inequities in access to and benefit from such testing.
      Genomic testing is likely to transform the practice of both benign and malignant
      hematology, but clinicians must carefully consider these core ethical issues in
      order to make the most of this exciting and evolving technology.

PMID- 28600342
TI  - Gastrointestinal manifestations of neuroendocrine tumours: their investigation
      and management.
AB  - The incidence of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) is on the rise in the UK. Patients
      with NETs need to be managed by a team of clinical specialties. There are a
      number of challenging gastrointestinal (GI) manifestations related to NETs that
      can occur in these patients, but a limited literature base exists to guide
      clinicians.Whilst life expectancy can be several years for patients with NETs,
      the GI symptoms can have a significant impact on their quality of life. It is
      therefore imperative to be familiar with the common GI manifestations associated
      with NETs, so symptoms can be appropriately managed with an overall aim of
      restoring the patient's quality of life.

PMID- 28600343
TI  - A longitudinal and multicentre study of burnout and error in Irish junior
      doctors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Junior doctors have been found to suffer from high levels of burnout.
      AIMS: To measure burnout in a population of junior doctors in Ireland and
      identify if: levels of burnout are similar to US medical residents; there is a
      change in the pattern of burnout during the first year of postgraduate clinical
      practice; and burnout is associated with self-reported error. METHODS: The
      Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey was distributed to Irish junior
      doctors from five training networks in the last quarter of 2015 when they were
      approximately 4 months into their first year of clinical practice (time 1), and
      again 6 months later (time 2). The survey assessed burnout and whether they had
      made a medical error that had 'played on (their) mind'. RESULTS: A total of 172
      respondents out of 601 (28.6%) completed the questionnaire on both occasions.
      Irish junior doctors at time 2 were more burned out than a sample of US medical
      residents (72.6% and 60.3% burned out, respectively; p=0.001). There was a
      significant increase in emotional exhaustion from time 1 to time 2 (p=0.007). The
      association between burnout and error was significant at time 2 only (p=0.03). At
      time 2, of those respondents who were burned out, 81/122 (66.4%) reported making
      an error. A total of 22/46 (47.8%) of the junior doctors who were not burned out
      at time 2 reported an error. CONCLUSION: Current levels of burnout are
      unsustainable and place the health of both junior doctors and their patients at
      risk.

PMID- 28600344
TI  - Root Tip Shape Governs Root Elongation Rate under Increased Soil Strength.
AB  - Increased soil strength due to soil compaction or soil drying is a major
      limitation to root growth and crop productivity. Roots need to exert higher
      penetration force, resulting in increased penetration stress when elongating in
      soils of greater strength. This study aimed to quantify how the genotypic
      diversity of root tip geometry and root diameter influences root elongation under
      different levels of soil strength and to determine the extent to which roots
      adjust to increased soil strength. Fourteen wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties
      were grown in soil columns packed to three bulk densities representing low,
      moderate, and high soil strength. Under moderate and high soil strength, smaller
      root tip radius-to-length ratio was correlated with higher genotypic root
      elongation rate, whereas root diameter was not related to genotypic root
      elongation. Based on cavity expansion theory, it was found that smaller root tip
      radius-to-length ratio reduced penetration stress, thus enabling higher root
      elongation rates in soils with greater strength. Furthermore, it was observed
      that roots could only partially adjust to increased soil strength. Root
      thickening was bounded by a maximum diameter, and root tips did not become more
      acute in response to increased soil strength. The obtained results demonstrated
      that root tip geometry is a pivotal trait governing root penetration stress and
      root elongation rate in soils of greater strength. Hence, root tip shape needs to
      be taken into account when selecting for crop varieties that may tolerate high
      soil strength.

PMID- 28600345
TI  - Transcription Factor AREB2 Is Involved in Soluble Sugar Accumulation by
      Activating Sugar Transporter and Amylase Genes.
AB  - Sugars play important roles in plant growth and development, crop yield and
      quality, as well as responses to abiotic stresses. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a
      multifunctional hormone. However, the exact mechanism by which ABA regulates
      sugar accumulation is largely unknown in plants. Here, we tested the expression
      profile of several sugar transporter and amylase genes in response to ABA
      treatment. MdSUT2 and MdAREB2 were isolated and genetically transformed into
      apple (Malus domestica) to investigate their roles in ABA-induced sugar
      accumulation. The MdAREB2 transcription factor was found to bind to the promoters
      of the sugar transporter and amylase genes and activate their expression. Both
      MdAREB2 and MdSUT2 transgenic plants produced more soluble sugars than controls.
      Furthermore, MdAREB2 promoted the accumulation of sucrose and soluble sugars in
      an MdSUT2-dependent manner. Our results demonstrate that the ABA-responsive
      transcription factor MdAREB2 directly activates the expression of amylase and
      sugar transporter genes to promote soluble sugar accumulation, suggesting a
      mechanism by which ABA regulates sugar accumulation in plants.

PMID- 28600346
TI  - Genetic Control of Plasticity in Root Morphology and Anatomy of Rice in Response
      to Water Deficit.
AB  - Elucidating the genetic control of rooting behavior under water-deficit stress is
      essential to breed climate-robust rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars. Using a diverse
      panel of 274 indica genotypes grown under control and water-deficit conditions
      during vegetative growth, we phenotyped 35 traits, mostly related to root
      morphology and anatomy, involving 45,000 root-scanning images and nearly 25,000
      cross sections from the root-shoot junction. The phenotypic plasticity of these
      traits was quantified as the relative change in trait value under water-deficit
      compared with control conditions. We then carried out a genome-wide association
      analysis on these traits and their plasticity, using 45,608 high-quality single
      nucleotide polymorphisms. One hundred four significant loci were detected for
      these traits under control conditions, 106 were detected under water-deficit
      stress, and 76 were detected for trait plasticity. We predicted 296 (control),
      284 (water-deficit stress), and 233 (plasticity) a priori candidate genes within
      linkage disequilibrium blocks for these loci. We identified key a priori
      candidate genes regulating root growth and development and relevant alleles that,
      upon validation, can help improve rice adaptation to water-deficit stress.

PMID- 28600347
TI  - The PEX1 ATPase Stabilizes PEX6 and Plays Essential Roles in Peroxisome Biology.
AB  - A variety of metabolic pathways are sequestered in peroxisomes, conserved
      organelles that are essential for human and plant survival. Peroxin (PEX)
      proteins generate and maintain peroxisomes. The PEX1 ATPase facilitates recycling
      of the peroxisome matrix protein receptor PEX5 and is the most commonly affected
      peroxin in human peroxisome biogenesis disorders. Here, we describe the isolation
      and characterization of, to our knowledge, the first Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis
      thaliana) pex1 missense alleles: pex1-2 and pex1-3pex1-2 displayed peroxisome
      related defects accompanied by reduced PEX1 and PEX6 levels. These pex1-2 defects
      were exacerbated by growth at high temperature and ameliorated by growth at low
      temperature or by PEX6 overexpression, suggesting that PEX1 enhances PEX6
      stability and vice versa. pex1-3 conferred embryo lethality when homozygous,
      confirming that PEX1, like several other Arabidopsis peroxins, is essential for
      embryogenesis. pex1-3 displayed symptoms of peroxisome dysfunction when
      heterozygous; this semidominance is consistent with PEX1 forming a heterooligomer
      with PEX6 that is poisoned by pex1-3 subunits. Blocking autophagy partially
      rescued PEX1/pex1-3 defects, including the restoration of normal peroxisome size,
      suggesting that increasing peroxisome abundance can compensate for the
      deficiencies caused by pex1-3 and that the enlarged peroxisomes visible in
      PEX1/pex1-3 may represent autophagy intermediates. Overexpressing PEX1 in wild
      type plants impaired growth, suggesting that excessive PEX1 can be detrimental.
      Our genetic, molecular, and physiological data support the heterohexamer model of
      PEX1-PEX6 function in plants.

PMID- 28600348
TI  - Loss of the Wnt receptor frizzled 7 in the mouse gastric epithelium is
      deleterious and triggers rapid repopulation in vivo.
AB  - The gastric epithelium consists of tubular glandular units, each containing
      several differentiated cell types, and populations of stem cells, which enable
      the stomach to secrete the acid, mucus and various digestive enzymes required for
      its function. Very little is known about which cell signalling pathways are
      required for homeostasis of the gastric epithelium. Many diseases, such as
      cancer, arise as a result of deregulation of signalling pathways that regulate
      homeostasis of the diseased organ. Therefore, it is important to understand the
      biology of how normal conditions are maintained in a tissue to help inform the
      mechanisms driving disease in that same tissue, and to identify potential points
      of therapeutic intervention. Wnt signalling regulates several cell functions,
      including proliferation, differentiation and migration, and plays a crucial role
      during homeostasis of several tissues, including the intestinal epithelium. Wnt3a
      is required in the culture medium of gastric organoids, suggesting it is also
      important for the homeostasis of the gastric epithelium, but this has not been
      investigated in vivo Here, we show that the Wnt receptor frizzled 7 (Fzd7), which
      is required for the homeostasis of the intestine, is expressed in the gastric
      epithelium and is required for gastric organoid growth. Gastric-specific loss of
      Fzd7 in the adult gastric epithelium of mice is deleterious and triggers rapid
      epithelial repopulation, which we believe is the first observation of this novel
      function for this tissue. Taken together, these data provide functional evidence
      of a crucial role for Wnt signalling, via the Fzd7 receptor, during homeostasis
      of the gastric epithelium.

PMID- 28600349
TI  - A mouse model of hereditary coproporphyria identified in an ENU mutagenesis
      screen.
AB  - A genome-wide ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis screen in mice was performed
      to identify novel regulators of erythropoiesis. Here, we describe a mouse line,
      RBC16, which harbours a dominantly inherited mutation in the Cpox gene,
      responsible for production of the haem biosynthesis enzyme, coproporphyrinogen
      III oxidase (CPOX). A premature stop codon in place of a tryptophan at amino acid
      373 results in reduced mRNA expression and diminished protein levels, yielding a
      microcytic red blood cell phenotype in heterozygous mice. Urinary and faecal
      porphyrins in female RBC16 heterozygotes were significantly elevated compared
      with that of wild-type littermates, particularly coproporphyrinogen III, whereas
      males were biochemically normal. Attempts to induce acute porphyric crises were
      made using fasting and phenobarbital treatment on females. While fasting had no
      biochemical effect on RBC16 mice, phenobarbital caused significant elevation of
      faecal coproporphyrinogen III in heterozygous mice. This is the first known
      investigation of a mutagenesis mouse model with genetic and biochemical parallels
      to hereditary coproporphyria.

PMID- 28600350
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis and polymyalgia rheumatica occurring after immune checkpoint
      inhibitor treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte
      associated protein 4 and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) have demonstrated
      improved survival for multiple cancers. However, these new drug classes have led
      to increased immune-related adverse events (IrAE). Rheumatic IrAEs have not been
      well described in clinical trials. We report here cases of rheumatoid arthritis
      (RA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) occurring after ICI treatment. METHODS:
      This was a retrospective study of patients receiving an ICI in whom symptoms of
      arthritis or arthralgia developed and revealed a diagnosis of RA or PMR. RESULTS:
      In 10 patients who received ICI therapy (all anti-PD-1 or anti-PDL1 antibodies),
      RA or PMR developed at a median of 1 month (1 to 9) after exposure. No patient
      had pre-existing rheumatic or autoimmune disease. RA developed in six patients;
      all six were positive for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies
      and four for rheumatoid factor. Anti-CCP antibodies were detected in two out of
      three patients tested before immunotherapy. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs
      were needed for three patients; the three others received corticosteroids or non
      steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. PMR was diagnosed in four patients, all
      responded to corticosteroids. Despite these IrAEs, immunotherapy was pursued for
      all but one patient until cancer progression. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first
      description of RA occurring after ICI therapy for cancer. PMR can also occur
      after ICI, particularly after anti-PD-1 therapy. All cases responded to
      corticosteroids or with immunosuppressive therapy. Collaboration between
      rheumatologists and oncologists is crucial and could lead to better recognition
      and care of these patients.

PMID- 28600351
TI  - Sensory and cognitive adaptations to social living in insect societies.

PMID- 28600352
TI  - Social determinants of health and the International Monetary Fund.

PMID- 28600353
TI  - Age or ischemia uncouples the blood flow response, tissue acidosis, and direct
      current potential signature of spreading depolarization in the rat brain.
AB  - Spreading depolarization (SD) events contribute to lesion maturation in the
      acutely injured human brain. Neurodegeneration related to SD is thought to be
      caused by the insufficiency of the cerebral blood flow (CBF) response; yet the
      mediators of the CBF response, or their deficiency in the aged or ischemic
      cerebral cortex, remain the target of intensive research. Here, we postulated
      that tissue pH effectively modulates the magnitude of hyperemia in response to
      SD, the coupling of which is prone to be dysfunctional in the aged or ischemic
      cerebral cortex. To test this hypothesis, we conducted systematic correlation
      analysis between the direct current (DC) potential signature of SD, SD-associated
      tissue acidosis, and hyperemic element of the CBF response in the isoflurane
      anesthetized, young or old, and intact or ischemic rat cerebral cortex. The data
      demonstrate that the amplitude of the SD-related DC potential shift, tissue
      acidosis, and hyperemia are tightly coupled in the young intact cortex; ischemia
      and old age uncouples the amplitude of hyperemia from the amplitude of the DC
      potential shift and acidosis; the duration of the DC potential shift, hyperemia
      and acidosis positively correlate under ischemia alone; and old age
      disproportionally elongates the duration of acidosis with respect to the DC
      potential shift and hyperemia under ischemia. The coincidence of the variables
      supports the view that local CBF regulation with SD must have an effective
      metabolic component, which becomes dysfunctional with age or under ischemia.
      Finally, the known age-related acceleration of ischemic neurodegeneration may be
      promoted by exaggerated tissue acidosis.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The hyperemic element of
      the cerebral blood flow response to spreading depolarization is effectively
      modulated by tissue pH in the young intact rat cerebral cortex. This coupling
      becomes dysfunctional with age or under ischemia, and tissue acidosis lasts
      disproportionally longer in the aged cortex, making the tissue increasingly more
      vulnerable.

PMID- 28600355
TI  - WHO targets antimicrobial resistance in new essential medicines list.

PMID- 28600354
TI  - Synergistic action of auxin and cytokinin mediates aluminum-induced root growth
      inhibition in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Auxin acts synergistically with cytokinin to control the shoot stem-cell niche,
      while both hormones act antagonistically to maintain the root meristem. In
      aluminum (Al) stress-induced root growth inhibition, auxin plays an important
      role. However, the role of cytokinin in this process is not well understood. In
      this study, we show that cytokinin enhances root growth inhibition under stress
      by mediating Al-induced auxin signaling. Al stress triggers a local cytokinin
      response in the root-apex transition zone (TZ) that depends on IPTs, which encode
      adenosine phosphate isopentenyltransferases and regulate cytokinin biosynthesis.
      IPTs are up-regulated specifically in the root-apex TZ in response to Al stress
      and promote local cytokinin biosynthesis and inhibition of root growth. The
      process of root growth inhibition is also controlled by ethylene signaling which
      acts upstream of auxin. In summary, different from the situation in the root
      meristem, auxin acts with cytokinin in a synergistic way to mediate aluminum
      induced root growth inhibition in Arabidopsis.

PMID- 28600356
TI  - Structural basis for ligand binding to the guanidine-II riboswitch.
AB  - The guanidine-II riboswitch, also known as mini-ykkC, is a conserved mRNA element
      with more than 800 examples in bacteria. It consists of two stem-loops capped by
      identical, conserved tetraloops that are separated by a linker region of variable
      length and sequence. Like the guanidine-I riboswitch, it controls the expression
      of guanidine carboxylases and SugE-like genes. The guanidine-II riboswitch
      specifically binds free guanidinium cations and functions as a translationally
      controlled on-switch. Here we report the structure of a P2 stem-loop from the
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa guanidine-II riboswitch aptamer bound to guanidine at 1.57
      A resolution. The hairpins dimerize via the conserved tetraloop, which also
      contains the binding pocket. Two guanidinium molecules bind near the dimerization
      interface, one in each tetraloop. The guanidinium cation is engaged in extensive
      hydrogen bonding to the RNA. Contacts include the Hoogsteen face of a guanine
      base and three nonbridging phosphate oxygens. Cation-pi interactions and ionic
      interactions also stabilize ligand binding. The guanidine-II riboswitch utilizes
      the same recognition strategies as the guanidine-I riboswitch while adopting an
      entirely different and much smaller RNA fold.

PMID- 28600357
TI  - The natural phosphoinositide derivative glycerophosphoinositol inhibits the
      lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory and thrombotic responses.
AB  - Inflammatory responses are elicited through lipid products of phospholipase A2
      activity that acts on the membrane phospholipids, including the
      phosphoinositides, to form the proinflammatory arachidonic acid and, in parallel,
      the glycerophosphoinositols. Here, we investigate the role of the
      glycerophosphoinositol in the inflammatory response. We show that it is part of a
      negative feedback loop that limits proinflammatory and prothrombotic responses in
      human monocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. This inhibition is exerted
      both on the signaling cascade initiated by the lipopolysaccharide with the
      glycerophosphoinositol-dependent decrease in IkappaB kinase alpha/beta, p38, JNK,
      and Erk1/2 kinase phosphorylation and at the nuclear level with decreased NF
      kappaB translocation and binding to inflammatory gene promoters. In a model of
      endotoxemia in the mouse, treatment with glycerophosphoinositol reduced TNF-alpha
      synthesis, which supports the concept that glycerophosphoinositol inhibits the de
      novo synthesis of proinflammatory and prothrombotic compounds and might thus have
      a role as an endogenous mediator in the resolution of inflammation. As indicated,
      this effect of glycerophosphoinositol can also be exploited in the treatment of
      manifestations of severe inflammation by exogenous administration of the
      compound.

PMID- 28600359
TI  - Ictal pain in focal non-convulsive status epilepticus.
AB  - We report an adult with acute unilateral pain as isolated manifestation of acute
      symptomatic focal non-convulsive status epilepticus. Pain is rarely a
      manifestation of epileptic seizures. Traditionally, painful seizures have been
      thought to originate in either the parietal or temporal lobes, but their
      localising value is debatable. Recent functional neuroimaging studies and
      electrophysiological findings obtained by using intracerebral recordings have
      shown the involvement of the insular cortex along with several other brain
      structures in the processing of painful inputs, comprising a more widespread
      anatomo-functional network. Despite their rarity as a distinct clinical entity,
      especially in adults, painful somatosensory seizures can be disabling and
      misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis is common; it is therefore essential to
      consider epilepsy as a possible cause of paroxysmal pain to ensure proper
      assessment and appropriate treatment.

PMID- 28600358
TI  - Cell adhesion controlled by adhesion G protein-coupled receptor GPR124/ADGRA2 is
      mediated by a protein complex comprising intersectins and Elmo-Dock.
AB  - Developmental angiogenesis and the maintenance of the blood-brain barrier involve
      endothelial cell adhesion, which is linked to cytoskeletal dynamics. GPR124 (also
      known as TEM5/ADGRA2) is an adhesion G protein-coupled receptor family member
      that plays a pivotal role in brain angiogenesis and in ensuring a tight blood
      brain barrier. However, the signaling properties of GPR124 remain poorly defined.
      Here, we show that ectopic expression of GPR124 promotes cell adhesion, additive
      to extracellular matrix-dependent effect, coupled with filopodia and lamellipodia
      formation and an enrichment of a pool of the G protein-coupled receptor at actin
      rich cellular protrusions containing VASP, a filopodial marker. Accordingly,
      GPR124-expressing cells also displayed increased activation of both Rac and Cdc42
      GTPases. Mechanistically, we uncover novel direct interactions between endogenous
      GPR124 and the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factors Elmo/Dock and intersectin
      (ITSN). Small fragments of either Elmo or ITSN1 that bind GPR124 blocked GPR124
      induced cell adhesion. In addition, Gbetagamma interacts with the C-terminal tail
      of GPR124 and promotes the formation of a GPR124-Elmo complex. Furthermore,
      GPR124 also promotes the activation of the Elmo-Dock complex, as measured by Elmo
      phosphorylation on a conserved C-terminal tyrosine residue. Interestingly, Elmo
      and ITSN1 also interact with each other independently of their GPR124-recognition
      regions. Moreover, endogenous phospho-Elmo and ITSN1 co-localize with GPR124 at
      lamellipodia of adhering endothelial cells, where GPR124 expression contributes
      to polarity acquisition during wound healing. Collectively, our results indicate
      that GPR124 promotes cell adhesion via Elmo-Dock and ITSN. This constitutes a
      previously unrecognized complex formed of atypical and conventional Rho guanine
      nucleotide exchange factors for Rac and Cdc42 that is putatively involved in
      GPR124-dependent angiogenic responses.

PMID- 28600360
TI  - Are self-reported unhealthy food choices associated with an increased risk of
      breast cancer? Prospective cohort study using the British Food Standards Agency
      nutrient profiling system.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: French authorities are considering the implementation of a simplified
      nutrition labelling system on food products to help consumers make healthier food
      choices. One of the most documented candidates (Five-Colour Nutrition Label/Nutri
      score) is based on the British Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System
      (FSA-NPS), a score calculated for each food/beverage using the 100 g amount of
      energy, sugar, saturated fatty acid, sodium, fibres, proteins, and fruits and
      vegetables. To assess its potential public health relevance, studies were
      conducted on the association between the nutritional quality of the diet,
      measured at the individual level by an energy-weighted mean of all FSA-NPS scores
      of foods usually consumed (FSA-NPS dietary index (FSA-NPS DI)), and the risk of
      chronic diseases. The present study aimed at investigating the relationship
      between the FSA-NPS DI and breast cancer risk. DESIGN: Prospective study.
      SETTING: Population based, NutriNet-Sante cohort, France. PARTICIPANTS: 46 864
      women aged >=35 years who completed >=3 24-hour dietary records during their
      first 2 year of follow-up. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Associations between FSA-NPS
      DI and breast cancer risk (555 incident breast cancers diagnosed between 2009 and
      2015) were characterised by multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard
      models. RESULTS: A higher FSA-NPS DI (lower nutritional quality of the diet) was
      associated with an increased breast cancer risk (HR1-point increment=1.06 (1.02
      1.11), p=0.005; HRQ5vs.Q1=1.52 (1.11-2.08), p trend=0.002). Similar trends were
      observed in premenopausal and postmenopausal women (HR1-point increment=1.09
      (1.01-1.18) and 1.05 (1.00-1.11), respectively).This study was based on an
      observational cohort using self-reported dietary data, thus residual confounding
      cannot be entirely ruled out. Finally, this holistic approach does not allow
      investigating which factors in the diet most specifically influence breast cancer
      risk. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that unhealthy food choices, as
      characterised by the FSA-NPS, may be associated with an increase in breast cancer
      risk, supporting the potential public health relevance of using this profiling
      system in the framework of public health nutritional measures.

PMID- 28600361
TI  - Coding of Barrett's oesophagus with high-grade dysplasia in national
      administrative databases: a population-based cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10)
      system used in the English hospital administrative database (Hospital Episode
      Statistics (HES)) does not contain a specific code for oesophageal high-grade
      dysplasia (HGD). The aim of this paper was to examine how patients with HGD were
      coded in HES and whether it was done consistently. SETTING: National population
      based cohort study of patients with newly diagnosed with HGD in England. The
      study used data collected prospectively as part of the National Oesophago-Gastric
      Cancer Audit (NOGCA). These records were linked to HES to investigate the pattern
      of ICD-10 codes recorded for these patients at the time of diagnosis.
      PARTICIPANTS: All patients with a new diagnosis of HGD between 1 April 2013 and
      31 March 2014 in England, who had data submitted to the NOGCA. OUTCOMES MEASURED:
      The main outcome assessed was the pattern of primary and secondary ICD-10
      diagnostic codes recorded in the HES records at endoscopy at the time of
      diagnosis of HGD. RESULTS: Among 452 patients with a new diagnosis of HGD between
      1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, Barrett's oesophagus was the only condition coded
      in 200 (44.2%) HES records. Records for 59 patients (13.1%) contained no
      oesophageal conditions. The remaining 193 patients had various diagnostic codes
      recorded, 93 included a diagnosis of Barrett's oesophagus and 57 included a
      diagnosis of oesophageal/gastric cardia cancer. CONCLUSIONS: HES is not suitable
      to support national studies looking at the management of HGD. This is one reason
      for the UK to adopt an extended ICD system (akin to ICD-10-CM).

PMID- 28600362
TI  - Social epidemiology of hypertension in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
      (BCMM): cross-sectional study of determinants of prevalence, awareness, treatment
      and control among South African adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and
      control and their determinants among adults attending health facilities in
      Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in the Eastern Cape. DESIGN: A
      cross-sectional analytical study. SETTINGS: The three largest outpatient clinics
      in BCMM. PARTICIPANTS: Ambulatory adults (aged 18 years and over) attending the
      study settings during the study period (n=998). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The
      prevalence of hypertension (systolic blood pressure (BP) of >=140 mm Hg and/or a
      diastolic BP of >=90 mm Hg or current medication for hypertension), the awareness
      of it (prior diagnosis of it) and its treatment and control (Eighth Joint
      National Committee Criteria of BP <140/90/90 mm Hg). SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Associated factors of hypertension, hypertension unawareness and uncontrolled
      hypertension. RESULTS: Of the 998 participants included, the prevalence of
      hypertension was 49.2%. Hypertension unawareness was reported by 152 participants
      (23.1%) with significant gender difference (p=0.005). Male sex, age <45 years,
      higher level of education, single status, current employment, higher monthly
      income, current smoking, alcohol usage, absence of diabetes and non-obese were
      significantly associated (p<0.05) with hypertension unawareness.Of the
      participants who were aware of having hypertension (n=339), nearly all (91.7%,
      n=311) were on antihypertensive medication and only 121 participants (38.9%)
      achieved the BP treatment target. In the multivariate logistic regression model
      analysis, ageing (95% CI 1.9 to 4.4), being married (95% CI 1.0 to 2.0), male sex
      (95% CI 1.2 to 2.3), concomitant diabetes (95% CI 1.9 to 3.9), lower monthly
      income (95% CI 1.2 to 2.2), being unemployed (95% CI 1.0 to 1.9) and central
      obesity (95% CI 1.5 to 2.8) were the significant and independent determinants of
      prevalent hypertension. CONCLUSION: The prevalence and awareness of hypertension
      was high in the study population. In addition, the suboptimal control of BP among
      treated individuals, as well as the significant cardiovascular risk factors,
      warrant the attention of health authorities of BCMM and the country.

PMID- 28600363
TI  - A self-efficacy education programme on foot self-care behaviour among older
      patients with diabetes in a public long-term care institution, Malaysia: a Quasi
      experimental Pilot Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A pilot self-efficacy education programme was conducted to assess the
      feasibility, acceptability and potential impact of the self-efficacy education
      programme on improving foot self-care behaviour among older patients with
      diabetes in a public long-term care institution. METHOD: A prequasi-experimental
      and postquasi-experimental study was conducted in a public long-term care
      institution in Selangor, Malaysia. Patients with diabetes aged 60 years and above
      who fulfilled the selection criteria were invited to participate in this
      programme. Four self-efficacy information sources; performance accomplishments,
      vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and physiological information were
      translated into programme interventions. The programme consisted of four visits
      over a 12-week period. The first visit included screening and baseline assessment
      and the second visit involved 30 min of group seminar presentation. The third and
      fourth visits entailed a 20-min one-to-one follow-up discussion and evaluation. A
      series of visits to the respondents was conducted throughout the programme. The
      primary outcome was foot self-care behaviour. Foot self-efficacy (efficacy
      expectation), foot care outcome expectation, knowledge of foot care, quality of
      life, fasting blood glucose and foot condition were secondary outcomes. Data were
      analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics (McNemar's test and Wilcoxon
      signed-rank test) using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences V.20.0.
      RESULTS: Fifty-two residents were recruited but only 31 met the inclusion
      criteria and were included in the analysis at baseline and at 12 weeks
      postintervention. The acceptability rate was moderately high. At
      postintervention, foot self-care behaviour (p<0.001), foot self-efficacy
      (efficacy-expectation), (p<0.001), foot care outcome expectation (p<0.001),
      knowledge of foot care (p<0.001), quality of life (physical symptoms) (p=0.003),
      fasting blood glucose (p=0.010), foot hygiene (p=0.030) and anhydrosis (p=0.020)
      showed significant improvements. CONCLUSION: Findings from this pilot study would
      facilitate the planning of a larger study among the older population with
      diabetes living in long-term care institutions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      ACTRN12616000210471; Pre-results.

PMID- 28600364
TI  - Cross-sectional study of factors associated with community health centre use in a
      recently urbanised community in Chengdu, China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Public investment in community health centres (CHCs) has been
      increasing as a response to rapid urbanisation in China. The objectives of this
      study were: (1) to examine factors associated with CHC use among residents from a
      recently urbanised community in western China and (2) to describe satisfaction
      with CHC among users. DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. SETTING: A community
      recently converted to urban status with a newly constructed CHC in Southwest
      China. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of 2259 adults in the Hezuo community in
      Chengdu, China, completed the survey in 2013. OUTCOME MEASURES: Trained staff
      interviewed study participants in their homes using structured questionnaires.
      The survey included questions regarding sociodemographics, health status, access
      to and usage of healthcare, health behaviours and CHC use. The Andersen's
      behavioural model of health service use was used to guide multivariable logistic
      regression modelling in identifying predisposing, enabling and need factors
      associated with the likelihood of using CHC. Descriptive statistics were used to
      describe residents' satisfaction with the CHC. RESULTS: A total of 71.8% of the
      respondents reported using the CHC during the past year. Factors influencing
      adults' CHC use included: gender, marital status, education level and knowledge
      of one's blood pressure (predisposing factors); annual household per capita
      income and walking time to the CHC (enabling factors) and self-rated health as
      well as physical activities (need factors). CHC users reported modest
      satisfaction across various aspects of the CHC. CONCLUSIONS: Neighbourhood CHC in
      urban areas provides important services to these residents living in a recently
      urbanised community. All three categories of factors in the Andersen model help
      explain the likelihood of CHC use. There is much room for improvement in CHC to
      enhance customer satisfaction. Future research is needed to improve access to
      CHCs and promote their use in urbanised populations with low to modest education.

PMID- 28600365
TI  - Effect of physical activity and dietary restriction interventions on weight loss
      and the musculoskeletal function of overweight and obese older adults with knee
      osteoarthritis: a systematic review and mixed method data synthesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the clinical recommendation of exercise and diet for people
      with knee osteoarthritis (OA), there are no systematic reviews synthesising the
      effectiveness of combining physical activity and dietary restriction
      interventions on the musculoskeletal function of overweight and obese older
      adults with knee OA. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of combined
      physical activity and dietary restriction programmes on body weight, body mass
      index (BMI) and the musculoskeletal function of overweight and obese older adults
      with knee OA. INFORMATION SOURCES: A detailed search strategy was applied to key
      electronic databases (Ovid, Embase, Web of Science andCumulative Index to Nursing
      and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)) for randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      published in English prior to 15 January 2017. PARTICIPANTS: Participants with
      BMI >=25 kg/m2, aged >=55 years of age and with radiographic evidence of knee OA.
      INTERVENTIONS: Physical activity plus dietary restriction programmes with usual
      care or exercise as the comparators. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures
      were body weight, BMI or musculoskeletal function. Secondary outcome measures
      were pain and quality of life. RESULTS: One pilot and two definitive trials with
      n=794 participants were included. Two articles reporting additional data and
      outcome measures for one of the RCTs were identified. All included RCTs had an
      unclear risk of bias. Meta-analysis was only possible to evaluate mobility (6 min
      walk test) at 6 months and the pooled random effect 15.05 (95% CI -11.77 to
      41.87) across two trials with n=155 participants did not support the combined
      intervention programme. Narrative synthesis showed clear differences in favour of
      a reduced body weight and an increased 6 min walk in the intervention group
      compared with control groups. CONCLUSION: The quality of evidence of benefit of
      combining exercise and dietary interventions in older overweight/obese adults
      with knee OA is unclear. TRAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42015019088 and ISRCTN,
      ISRCTN12906938.

PMID- 28600366
TI  - Optimal timing for elective caesarean delivery in a Chinese population: a large
      hospital-based retrospective cohort study in Shanghai.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between the timing of antepartum elective
      caesarean delivery (CD) at term and perinatal outcomes in a Chinese population.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of mode of delivery at a large
      obstetric centre in Shanghai, China between 2007 and 2014. Eligibility criteria
      included: term nulliparous women with a singleton gestation undergoing antepartum
      elective CD. RESULTS: There were 19 939 women delivered by antepartum CD without
      indications, with 5.9% performed at 37-37 6/7 weeks, 36.2% at 38-38 6/7 weeks,
      38.4% at 39-39 6/7 weeks, 15.4% at 40-40 6/7 weeks, 4.0% at >=41 weeks. As
      compared with births at 39-39 6/7 weeks, births at 37 weeks were associated with
      an increased odds of neonatal respiratory disease (adjusted odds ratian(aOR):
      4.82; 95% CI 3.35 to 6.94), neonatal infection (aOR: 3.68; 95% CI 1.80 to 7.52),
      hypoglycaemia (aOR: 3.85; 95%CI 2.29 to 6.48), hyperbilirubinaemia (aOR: 3.50;
      95%CI 2.12 to 5.68), neonatal intensive care admission (aOR: 3.73; 95% CI 2.84 to
      4.89) and prolonged hospitalisation (aOR: 7.51; 95% CI 5.10 to 11.07). Births at
      38 weeks, 40 weeks or >=41 weeks were also associated with an increased odds of
      neonatal respiratory disease with corresponding aORs (95% CI) of 2.26 (1.71 to
      3.00), 1.97 (1.33 to 2.94) and 2.91 (1.80 to 4.70), respectively. CONCLUSION: For
      women undergoing elective CD, neonatal outcome data suggest that delivery at 39
      39 6/7 complete weeks is optimal timing in a Chinese population.

PMID- 28600367
TI  - Development and validation of a risk stratification model for prediction of
      disability and hospitalisation in patients with heart failure: a study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic heart failure (CHF) reduces quality of life and causes
      hospitalisation and death. Identifying predictive factors of such events may help
      change the natural history of this condition. AIM: To develop and validate a
      stratification system for classifying patients with CHF, according to their
      degree of disability and need for hospitalisation due to any unscheduled cause,
      over a period of 1 year. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Prospective, concurrent, cohort
      type study in two towns in the Madrid autonomous region having a combined
      population of 1 32 851. The study will include patients aged over 18 years who
      meet the following diagnostic criteria: symptoms and typical signs of CHF
      (Framingham criteria) and left ventricular ejection fraction (EF)<50% or
      structural cardiac lesion and/or diastolic dysfunction in the presence of
      preserved EF (EF>50%).Outcome variables will be(a) Disability, as measured by the
      WHO Disability Assessment Schedule V.2.0 Questionnaire, and (b) unscheduled
      hospitalisations. The estimated sample size is 557 patients, 371 for predictive
      model development (development cohort) and 186 for validation purposes
      (validation cohort). Predictive models of disability or hospitalisation will be
      constructed using logistic regression techniques. The resulting model(s) will be
      validated by estimating the probability of outcomes of interest for each
      individual included in the validation cohort. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study
      protocol has been approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of La
      Princesa University Teaching Hospital (PI-705). All results will be published in
      a peer-reviewed journal and shared with the medical community at conferences and
      scientific meetings.

PMID- 28600368
TI  - Assessing the diagnostic accuracy of PCR-based detection of Streptococcus
      pneumoniae from nasopharyngeal swabs collected for viral studies in Canadian
      adults hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia: a Serious Outcomes
      Surveillance (SOS) Network of the Canadian Immunization Research (CIRN) study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Detection and serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae are important
      to assess the impact of pneumococcal vaccines. This study describes the
      diagnostic accuracy of PCR-based detection of S. pneumoniae directly from
      nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs collected for respiratory virus studies. METHODS:
      Active surveillance for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in hospitalised adults
      was performed from December 2010 to 2013. Detection of pneumococcal CAP (CAPSpn)
      was performed by urine antigen detection (UAD), identification of S. pneumoniae
      in sputum or blood cultures. S. pneumoniae was detected in NP swabs using lytA
      and cpsA real-time PCR, and serotyping was performed using conventional and real
      time multiplex PCRs. For serotyping, the Quellung reaction, PCR-based serotyping
      or a serotype-specific UAD was used. RESULTS: NP swab results were compared
      against CAP cases where all pneumococcal tests were performed (n=434), or where
      at least one test was performed (n=1616). CAPSpn was identified in 22.1% (96/434)
      and 14.9% (240/1616), respectively. The sensitivity of NP swab PCR for the
      detection of S. pneumoniae was poor for CAPSpn (35.4% (34/96) and 34.17%
      (82/240)), but high specificity was observed (99.4% (336/338) and 97.89%
      (1347/1376)). Of the positive NP swabs, a serotype could be deduced by PCR in
      88.2% (30/34) and 93.9% (77/82), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: While further
      optimisation may be needed to increase the sensitivity of PCR-based detection,
      its high specificity suggests there is a value for pneumococcal surveillance.
      With many laboratories archiving specimens for influenza virus surveillance, this
      specimen type could provide a non-culture-based method for pneumococcal
      surveillance.

PMID- 28600369
TI  - Timing of two versus three doses of quadrivalent HPV vaccine and associated
      effectiveness against condyloma in Sweden: a nationwide cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess incidence of condyloma after two doses of quadrivalent human
      papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine, by time since first vaccine dose, in girls and
      women initiating vaccination before age 20 years. DESIGN: Register-based
      nationwide open cohort study. SETTING: Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Girls and women
      initiating qHPV vaccination before age 20 years between 2006 and 2012. The study
      cohort included 264 498 girls, of whom 72 042 had received two doses of qHPV
      vaccine and 185 456 had received all three doses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incidence
      rate ratios (IRRs) of condyloma estimated by time between first and second doses
      of qHPV in months (m) and age at vaccination, adjusted for attained age. RESULTS:
      For girls first vaccinated with two doses before the age of 17 years, the IRR of
      condyloma for 0-3 months between the first and second doses was 1.96 (95% CI 1.43
      to 2.68) as compared with the standard three-dose schedule. The IRRs were 1.27
      (95% CI 0.63 to 2.58) and 4.36 (95% CI 2.05 to 9.28) after receipt of two doses
      with 4-7 months and 8+ months between doses, respectively. For women first
      vaccinated after the age of 17 years, vaccination with two doses of qHPV vaccine
      and 0-3 months between doses was associated with an IRR of 2.12 (95% CI 1.62 to
      2.77). For an interval of 4-7 months between doses, the IRR did not statistically
      significantly differ to the standard three-dose schedule (IRR=0.81, 95% CI 0.36
      to 1.84). For women with 8+ months between dose 1 and dose 2 the IRR was 3.16
      (95% CI 1.40 to 7.14). CONCLUSION: A two-dose schedule for qHPV vaccine with 4-7
      months between the first and second doses may be as effective against condyloma
      in girls and women initiating vaccination under 20 years as a three-dose
      schedule. Results from this nationwide study support immunogenicity data from
      clinical trials.

PMID- 28600370
TI  - Substituting physicians with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or nurses
      in nursing homes: protocol for a realist evaluation case study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In developed countries, substituting physicians with nurse
      practitioners, physician assistants and nurses (physician substitution) occurs in
      nursing homes as an answer to the challenges related to the ageing population and
      the shortage of staff, as well as to guarantee the quality of nursing home care.
      However, there is great diversity in how physician substitution in nursing homes
      is modelled and it is unknown how it can best contribute to the quality of
      healthcare. This study aims to gain insight into how physician substitution is
      modelled and whether it contributes to perceived quality of healthcare. Second,
      this study aims to provide insight into the elements of physician substitution
      that contribute to quality of healthcare. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study will
      use a multiple-case study design that draws upon realist evaluation principles.
      The realist evaluation is based on four concepts for explaining and understanding
      interventions: context, mechanism, outcome and context-mechanism-outcome
      configuration. The following steps will be taken: (1) developing a theory, (2)
      conducting seven case studies, (3) analysing outcome patterns after each case and
      a cross-case analysis at the end and (4) revising the initial theory. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: The research ethics committee of the region Arnhem Nijmegen in the
      Netherlands concluded that this study does not fall within the scope of the Dutch
      Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO) (registration number
      2015/1914). Before the start of the study, the Board of Directors of the nursing
      home organisations will be informed verbally and by letter and will also be asked
      for informed consent. In addition, all participants will be informed verbally and
      by letter and will be asked for informed consent. Findings will be disseminated
      by publication in a peer-reviewed journal, international and national
      conferences, national professional associations and policy partners in national
      government.

PMID- 28600371
TI  - The Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome (OSPRO) in patients
      with musculoskeletal pain conditions: a longitudinal validation cohort from the
      USA.
AB  - PURPOSE: There is an increased need for determining which patients with
      musculoskeletal pain benefit from additional diagnostic testing or
      psychologically informed intervention. The Optimal Screening for Prediction of
      Referral and Outcome (OSPRO) cohort studies were designed to develop and validate
      standard assessment tools for review of systems and yellow flags. This cohort
      profile paper provides a description of and future plans for the validation
      cohort. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (n=440) with primary complaint of spine, shoulder
      or knee pain were recruited into the OSPRO validation cohort via a national
      Orthopaedic Physical Therapy-Investigative Network. Patients were followed up at
      4 weeks, 6 months and 12 months for pain, functional status and quality of life
      outcomes. Healthcare utilisation outcomes were also collected at 6 and 12 months.
      FINDINGS TO DATE: There are no longitudinal findings reported to date from the
      ongoing OSPRO validation cohort. The previously completed cross-sectional OSPRO
      development cohort yielded two assessment tools that were investigated in the
      validation cohort. FUTURE PLANS: Follow-up data collection was completed in
      January 2017. Primary analyses will investigate how accurately the OSPRO review
      of systems and yellow flag tools predict 12-month pain, functional status,
      quality of life and healthcare utilisation outcomes. Planned secondary analyses
      include prediction of pain interference and/or development of chronic pain,
      investigation of treatment expectation on patient outcomes and analysis of
      patient satisfaction following an episode of physical therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION
      NUMBER: The OSPRO validation cohort was not registered.

PMID- 28600372
TI  - A mixed-methods evaluation of the Educational Supervision Agreement for Wales.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In a bid to promote high-quality postgraduate education and training
      and support the General Medical Council's (GMC) implementation plan for trainer
      recognition, the Wales Deanery developed the Educational Supervision Agreement
      (EdSA). This is a three-way agreement between Educational Supervisors, Local
      Education Providers and the Wales Deanery which clarifies roles, responsibilities
      and expectations for all. This paper reports on the formative evaluation of the
      EdSA after 1 year. DESIGN: Evaluation of pan-Wales EdSA roll-out (2013-2015)
      employed a mixed-methods approach: questionnaires (n=191), interviews (n=11) with
      educational supervisors and discussion with key stakeholders (GMC, All-Wales
      Trainer Recognition Group, Clinical Directors). Numerical data were analysed in
      SPSS V.20; open comments underwent thematic content analysis. PARTICIPANTS: The
      study involved Educational Supervisors working in different specialties across
      Wales, UK. RESULTS: At the point of data collection, survey respondents
      represented 14% of signed agreements. Respondents believed the Agreement
      professionalises the Educational Supervisor role (85%, n=159 agreed), increases
      the accountability of Educational Supervisors (87%; n=160) and health boards
      (72%, n=131), provides leverage to negotiate supporting professional activities'
      (SPA) time (76%, n=142) and continuing professional development (CPD) activities
      (71%, n=131). Factor analysis identified three principal factors:
      professionalisation of the educational supervisor role, supporting practice
      through training and feedback and implementation of the Agreement. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our evidence suggests that respondents believed the Agreement would
      professionalise and support their Educational Supervisor role. Respondents showed
      enthusiasm for the Agreement and its role in maintaining high standards of
      training.

PMID- 28600373
TI  - Evaluation of a physiatrist-directed prehabilitation intervention in frail
      patients with colorectal cancer: a randomised pilot study protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prehabilitation interventions have shown efficacy in the
      orthopaedic and cardiothoracic surgical populations, but there has been limited
      evidence for general surgical patients. We present the protocol for a pilot trial
      of a novel prehabilitation intervention, consisting of a physiatrist-directed
      preoperative assessment and treatment programme. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a
      single-centre pilot randomised controlled trial investigating physiatrist
      directed prehabilitation for a 4 to 6-week preoperative period. We will block
      randomise 40-50 participants awaiting surgery for colorectal cancer to
      prehabilitation versus control. Participants in the prehabilitation arm will
      undergo assessment by a physiatrist and enrol in a supervised exercise programme.
      The control group will not undergo any prehabilitation interventions in the
      preoperative period. Our primary outcome is feasibility, measured by examining
      recruitment, refusal, retention and adherence rates as well as participant
      satisfaction and feedback. Secondary outcomes include physical fitness,
      functional ability, health-related quality of life, postoperative complications,
      mortality, readmissions, length of stay, prehabilitation interventions performed
      and exercise complications. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been
      approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HIREB reference number
      2015-0090-GRA). The results of this pilot study will be used to design a full
      scale study and published in peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT02531620; Pre-results.

PMID- 28600374
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence of, and risk factors for,
      pelvic floor disorders in community-dwelling women in low and middle-income
      countries: a protocol study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) including urinary incontinence,
      faecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse are common debilitating conditions
      among women in high-income countries. However, PFDs in women in low/middle-income
      countries (LMICs) have not been studied extensively. We aim to conduct a
      systematic review and meta-analysis of the available literature to determine the
      prevalence of, and/or risk factors for, PFDs in women in LMIC. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: We will search electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      PsycINFO, CINAHL, Maternity & Infant Care and Google Scholar for eligible
      studies. Inclusion criteria will be observational studies of healthy women, which
      have collected data using validated or non-validated tools, are published in
      English and were conducted in community women in LMICs, defined by the World
      Bank. A standardised data extraction form will be developed and piloted, based on
      the template of the Cochrane good practice data extraction form. All included
      studies will be assessed based on a risk-of-bias tool specifically developed for
      prevalence studies. Pooled prevalence estimates of PFDs will be generated using
      RevMan V.5.2.1 software. Forest plots will be generated to display the overall
      random-effects pooled estimates with CIs. A metaregression will be conducted to
      identify sources of between-study heterogeneity in the pooled prevalence
      estimates. We will quantify heterogeneity using the I2 measure and its CI. We
      will use funnel plots to detect potential reporting biases and small-study
      effects. We will also conduct a sensitivity analysis to verify the robustness of
      the study conclusions, assessing the impact of methodological quality, study
      design, sample size and the effect of missing data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Our
      review is entirely based on published data. Thus, an ethics committee approval or
      written informed consent will not be required for this study as primary data will
      not be collected. The results will be disseminated by publication of the
      manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal and/or will be presented at relevant
      conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016043881.

PMID- 28600375
TI  - Night work and prostate cancer in men: a Swedish prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading
      cause of cancer-related deaths among men, but the contributing factors are
      unclear. One such may be night work because of the day/night alternation of work
      and the resulting disturbance of the circadian system. The purpose of the present
      study was to investigate the prospective relation between number of years with
      night work and prostate cancer in men. DESIGN: Cohort study comparing night and
      day working twins with respect to incident prostate cancer in 12 322 men.
      SETTING: Individuals in the Swedish Twin Registry. PARTICIPANTS: 12 322 male
      twins. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prostate cancer diagnoses obtained from the Swedish
      Cancer Registry with a follow-up time of 12 years, with a total number of
      cases=454. RESULTS: Multiple Cox proportional hazard regression analysis,
      adjusted for a number of covariates, showed no association between ever night
      work and prostate cancer, nor for duration of night work and prostate cancer.
      Analysis of twin pairs discordant for prostate cancer (n=332) showed no
      significant association between night work and prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results, together with previous studies, suggest that night work does not seem to
      constitute a risk factor for prostate cancer.

PMID- 28600376
TI  - Performance-based functional impairment and readmission and death: a prospective
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Readmission and death are frequent after a hospitalisation and
      difficult to predict. While many predictors have been identified, few studies
      have focused on functional status. We assessed whether performance-based
      functional impairment at discharge is associated with readmission and death after
      an acute medical hospitalisation. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We
      prospectively included patients aged >=50 years admitted to the Department of
      General Internal Medicine of a large community hospital. Functional status was
      assessed shortly before discharge using the Timed Up and Go test performed twice
      in a standard way by trained physiotherapists and was defined as a test duration
      >=15 s. Sensitivity analyses using a cut-off at >10 and >20 s were performed.
      PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary and secondary outcome
      measures were unplanned readmission and death, respectively, within 6 months
      after discharge. RESULTS: Within 6 months after discharge, 107/338 (31.7%)
      patients had an unplanned readmission and 31/338 (9.2%) died. Functional
      impairment was associated with higher risk of death (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.15 to
      5.18), but not with unplanned readmission (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.84 to 2.15). No
      significant association was found between functional impairment and the total
      number of unplanned readmissions (adjusted OR 1.59, 95% CI 0.95 to 2.67).
      CONCLUSIONS: Functional impairment at discharge of an acute medical
      hospitalisation was associated with higher risk of death, but not of unplanned
      readmission within 6 months after discharge. Simple performance-based assessment
      may represent a better prognostic measure for mortality than for readmission.

PMID- 28600377
TI  - Serious gaming during multidisciplinary rehabilitation for patients with complex
      chronic pain or fatigue complaints: study protocol for a controlled trial and
      process evaluation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Many individuals suffer from chronic pain or functional somatic
      syndromes and face boundaries for diminishing functional limitations by means of
      biopsychosocial interventions. Serious gaming could complement multidisciplinary
      interventions through enjoyment and independent accessibility. A study protocol
      is presented for studying whether, how, for which patients and under what
      circumstances, serious gaming improves patient health outcomes during regular
      multidisciplinary rehabilitation. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A mixed-methods design is
      described that prioritises a two-armed naturalistic quasi-experiment. An
      experimental group is composed of patients who follow serious gaming during an
      outpatient multidisciplinary programme at two sites of a Dutch rehabilitation
      centre. Control group patients follow the same programme without serious gaming
      in two similar sites. Multivariate mixed-modelling analysis is planned for
      assessing how much variance in 250 patient records of routinely monitored pain
      intensity, pain coping and cognition, fatigue and psychopathology outcomes is
      attributable to serious gaming. Embedded qualitative methods include unobtrusive
      collection and analyses of stakeholder focus group interviews, participant
      feedback and semistructured patient interviews. Process analyses are carried out
      by a systematic approach of mixing qualitative and quantitative methods at
      various stages of the research. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Ethics Committee of
      the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioural Sciences approved the research after
      reviewing the protocol for the protection of patients' interests in conformity to
      the letter and rationale of the applicable laws and research practice (EC
      2016.25t). Findings will be presented in research articles and international
      scientific conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: A prospective research
      protocol for the naturalistic quasi-experimental outcome evaluation was entered
      in the Dutch trial register (registration number: NTR6020; Pre-results).

PMID- 28600379
TI  - Practice patterns and outcomes associated with early sedation depth in
      mechanically ventilated patients: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mechanical ventilation is a commonly performed intervention in
      critically ill patients. Frequently, these patients experience deep sedation
      early in their clinical course. Emerging data suggest that the practice of early
      deep sedation may negatively impact patient outcomes. The purpose of this review
      is to assess the world's literature to describe and determine the impact of early
      deep sedation on the outcomes of mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: Randomised controlled trials and non-randomised studies will be
      eligible for inclusion in this systematic review. With the assistance of a
      medical librarian, we will comprehensively search MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus,
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews
      and Effects, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for peer-reviewed
      literature. Grey literature from appropriate professional society conferences,
      held from 2010 to 2017, will be reviewed manually. Two authors will independently
      review all search results, and disagreements will be resolved through arbitration
      by a third author. If appropriate, meta-analysis will be used for quantitative
      analysis of the data. Heterogeneity between studies will be assessed using the I2
      statistic. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The proposed systematic review will not
      collect data that are associated with individual patients and does not require
      ethical approval. Results of this study will contribute to the understanding of
      early sedation, identify future research targets and guide early care in
      mechanically ventilated patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This systematic
      review has been registered in the international prospective register of
      systematic reviews (PROSPERO #CRD42017057264).

PMID- 28600378
TI  - Association between preoperative anaemia with length of hospital stay among
      patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty in Singapore: a single-centre
      retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Studies in western healthcare settings suggest that preoperative
      anaemia is associated with poor outcomes after elective orthopaedic surgery. We
      investigated the prevalence of preoperative anaemia among patients with primary
      unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Singapore and its association with
      length of hospital stay (LOS), perioperative blood transfusion and hospital
      readmission rates. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study performed in a tertiary
      academic medical centre in Singapore, involving patients who underwent primary
      unilateral TKA between January 2013 and June 2014. Demographics, comorbidities,
      preoperative haemoglobin (Hb) level, LOS and 30-day readmission data were
      collected. Anaemia was classified according to WHO definition. Prolonged LOS was
      defined as more than 6 days, which corresponds to >75th centile LOS of the data.
      RESULTS: We analysed 2394 patients. The prevalence of anaemia was 23.7%. 403
      patients (16.8%) had mild anaemia and 164 patients (6.8%) had moderate to severe
      anaemia. Overall mean LOS was 5.4+/-4.8 days. Based on multivariate logistic
      regression, preoperative anaemia significantly increased LOS (mild anaemia,
      adjusted OR (aOR) 1.71, p<0.001; moderate/severe anaemia, aOR 2.29, p<0.001).
      Similar effects were seen when preoperative anaemia was defined by Hb level below
      13 g/dL, regardless of gender. Transfusion proportionately increased prolonged
      LOS (1 unit: aOR 2.12, p=0.006; 2 or more units: aOR 6.71, p<0.001). Repeat
      operation during hospital stay, previous cerebrovascular accidents, general
      anaesthesia and age >70 years were associated with prolonged LOS. Our 30-day
      related readmission rate was 1.7% (42) cases. CONCLUSION: Anaemia is common among
      patients undergoing elective TKA in Singapore and is independently associated
      with prolonged LOS and increased perioperative blood transfusion. We suggest
      measures to correct anaemia prior to surgery, including the use of non-gender
      based Hb cut-off for establishing diagnosis.

PMID- 28600380
TI  - Cohort profile: the Nordic Antireflux Surgery Cohort (NordASCo).
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a newly created all-Nordic cohort of patients with gastro
      oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), entitled the Nordic Antireflux Surgery Cohort
      (NordASCo), which will be used to compare participants having undergone
      antireflux surgery with those who have not regarding risk of cancers, other
      diseases and mortality. PARTICIPANTS: Included were individuals with a GORD
      diagnosis recorded in any of the nationwide patient registries in the Nordic
      countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) in 1964-2014 (with
      various start and end years in different countries). Data regarding cancer, other
      diseases and mortality were retrieved from the nationwide registries for cancer,
      patients and causes of death, respectively. FINDINGS TO DATE: The NordASCo
      includes 945 153 individuals with a diagnosis of GORD. Of these, 48 433 (5.1%)
      have undergone primary antireflux surgery. Median age at primary antireflux
      surgery ranged from 47 to 52 years in the different countries. The coding
      practices of GORD seem to have differed between the Nordic countries. FUTURE
      PLANS: The NordASCo will initially be used to analyse the risk of developing
      known or potential GORD-related cancers, that is, tumours of the oesophagus,
      stomach, larynx, pharynx and lung, and to evaluate the mortality in the short
      term and long-term perspectives. Additionally, the cohort will be used to
      evaluate the risk of non-malignant respiratory conditions that might be caused by
      aspiration of gastric contents.

PMID- 28600381
TI  - Adverse Drug reactions in an Ageing PopulaTion (ADAPT) study protocol: a cross
      sectional and prospective cohort study of hospital admissions related to adverse
      drug reactions in older patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Older people experience greater morbidity with a corresponding
      increase in medication use resulting in a potentially higher risk of adverse drug
      reactions (ADRs). The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and
      characteristics of ADR-related hospital admissions among older patients (>=65
      years) and their associated health and cost outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The
      proposed study will include a cross-sectional study of ADR prevalence in all
      patients aged >=65 years admitted acutely to a large tertiary referral hospital
      in Ireland over a 9-month period (2016-2017) and a prospective cohort study of
      patient-reported health outcomes and costs associated with ADR-related hospital
      admissions. All acute medical admissions will be screened for a suspected ADR
      related hospital admission. A number of validated algorithms will be applied to
      assess the type, causative medications, preventability and severity of each ADR.
      ADRs will be determined, using a consensus method, by an expert panel. Patients
      who provide consent will be followed up 3 months post-discharge to establish
      patient-reported health outcomes (health service use, health-related quality of
      life, adherence) and costs associated with ADR-related hospital admissions. A
      random sample of patients admitted to hospital without a suspected ADR will be
      invited to take part in the study as a control group. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:
      Ethical approval was obtained from Beaumont Hospital Ethics Committee. Findings
      will be disseminated through presentations and peer-reviewed publications.

PMID- 28600382
TI  - In vivo and clinical application of strontium-enriched biomaterials for bone
      regeneration: A systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to assess the in vivo and clinical
      effect of strontium (Sr)-enriched biomaterials in bone formation and/or
      remodelling. METHODS: A systematic search was performed in Pubmed, followed by a
      two-step selection process. We included in vivo original studies on Sr-containing
      biomaterials used for bone support or regeneration, comparing at least two groups
      that only differ in Sr addition in the experimental group. RESULTS: A total of
      572 references were retrieved and 27 were included. Animal models were used in 26
      articles, and one article described a human study. Osteoporotic models were
      included in 11 papers. All articles showed similar or increased effect of Sr in
      bone formation and/or regeneration, in both healthy and osteoporotic models. No
      study found a decreased effect. Adverse effects were assessed in 17 articles, 13
      on local and four on systemic adverse effects. From these, only one reported a
      systemic impact from Sr addition. Data on gene and/or protein expression were
      available from seven studies. CONCLUSIONS: This review showed the safety and
      effectiveness of Sr-enriched biomaterials for stimulating bone formation and
      remodelling in animal models. The effect seems to increase over time and is
      impacted by the concentration used. However, included studies present a wide
      range of study methods. Future work should focus on consistent models and
      guidelines when developing a future clinical application of this element.Cite
      this article: N. Neves, D. Linhares, G. Costa, C. C. Ribeiro, M. A. Barbosa. In
      vivo and clinical application of strontium-enriched biomaterials for bone
      regeneration: A systematic review. Bone Joint Res 2017;6:366-375. DOI:
      10.1302/2046-3758.66.BJR-2016-0311.R1.

PMID- 28600383
TI  - Validation of static and dynamic radiostereometric analysis of the knee joint
      using bone models from CT data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Static radiostereometric analysis (RSA) using implanted markers is
      considered the most accurate system for the evaluation of prosthesis migration.
      By using CT bone models instead of markers, combined with a dynamic RSA system, a
      non-invasive measurement of joint movement is enabled. This method is more
      accurate than current 3D skin marker-based tracking systems. The purpose of this
      study was to evaluate the accuracy of the CT model method for measuring knee
      joint kinematics in static and dynamic RSA using the marker method as the
      benchmark. METHODS: Bone models were created from CT scans, and tantalum beads
      were implanted into the tibia and femur of eight human cadaver knees. Each
      specimen was secured in a fixture, static and dynamic stereoradiographs were
      recorded, and the bone models and marker models were fitted to the
      stereoradiographs. RESULTS: Results showed a mean difference between the two
      methods in all six degrees of freedom for static RSA to be within -0.10 mm/
      degrees  and 0.08 mm/ degrees  with a 95% limit of agreement (LoA) ranging from
      +/- 0.49 to 1.26. Dynamic RSA had a slightly larger range in mean difference of 
      0.23 mm/ degrees  to 0.16 mm/ degrees  with LoA ranging from +/- 0.75 to 1.50.
      CONCLUSIONS: In a laboratory-controlled setting, the CT model method combined
      with dynamic RSA may be an alternative to previous marker-based methods for
      kinematic analyses.Cite this article: K. Stentz-Olesen, E. T. Nielsen, S. De
      Raedt, P. B. Jorgensen, O. G. Sorensen, B. L. Kaptein, M. S. Andersen, M.
      Stilling. Validation of static and dynamic radiostereometric analysis of the knee
      joint using bone models from CT data. Bone Joint Res 2017;6:376-384. DOI:
      10.1302/2046-3758.66.BJR-2016-0113.R3.

PMID- 28600385
TI  - Trends in Scottish newborn screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism 1980
      2014: strategies for reducing age at notification after initial and repeat
      sampling.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine ages at first capillary sampling and notification and
      age at notification after second sampling in Scottish newborns referred with
      elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Referrals
      between 1980 and 2014 inclusive were grouped into seven 5-year blocks and
      analysed according to agreed standards. RESULTS: Of 2 116 132 newborn infants
      screened, 919 were referred with capillary TSH elevation >=8 mU/L of whom 624 had
      definite (606) or probable (18) congenital hypothyroidism. Median age at first
      sampling fell from 7 to 5 days between 1980 and 2014 (standard 4-7 days), with
      22, 8 and 3 infants sampled >7 days during 2000-2004, 2005-2009 and 2010-2014.
      Median age at notification was consistently <=14 days, range falling during 2000
      2004, 2005-2009 and 2010-2014 from 6 to 78, 7-52 and 7-32 days with 12 (14.6%), 6
      (5.6%) and 5 (4.3%) infants notified >14 days. However 18/123 (14.6%) of infants
      undergoing second sampling from 2000 onwards breached the <=26-day standard for
      notification. By 2010-2014, the 91 infants with confirmed congenital
      hypothyroidism had shown favourable median age at first sample (5 days) with
      start of treatment (10.5 days) approaching age at notification. CONCLUSION: Most
      standards for newborn thyroid screening are being met by the Scottish programme,
      but there is a need to reduce age range at notification, particularly following
      second sampling. Strategies to improve screening performance include carrying out
      initial capillary sampling as close to 96 hours as possible; introducing 6-day
      laboratory reporting and use of electronic transmission for communicating repeat
      requests.

PMID- 28600384
TI  - Oxetane Substrates of Human Microsomal Epoxide Hydrolase.
AB  - Oxetanyl building blocks are increasingly used in drug discovery because of the
      improved drug-like properties they confer on drug candidates, yet little is
      currently known about their biotransformation. A series of oxetane-containing
      analogs was studied and we provide the first direct evidence of oxetane
      hydrolysis by human recombinant microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH). Incubations
      with human liver fractions and hepatocytes were performed with and without
      inhibitors of cytochrome P450 (P450), mEH and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH).
      Reaction dependence on NADPH was investigated in subcellular fractions. A full
      kinetic characterization of oxetane hydrolysis is presented, in both human liver
      microsomes and human recombinant mEH. In human liver fractions and hepatocytes,
      hydrolysis by mEH was the only oxetane ring-opening metabolic route, with no
      contribution from sEH or from cytochrome P450-catalyzed oxidation. Minimally
      altering the structural elements in the immediate vicinity of the oxetane can
      greatly modulate the efficiency of hydrolytic ring cleavage. In particular,
      higher pKa in the vicinity of the oxetane and an increased distance between the
      oxetane ring and the benzylic nitrogen improve reaction rate, which is further
      enhanced by the presence of methyl groups near or on the oxetane. This work
      defines oxetanes as the first nonepoxide class of substrates for human mEH, which
      was previously known to catalyze the hydrolytic ring opening of electrophilic and
      potentially toxic epoxide-containing drugs, drug metabolites, and exogenous
      organochemicals. These findings will be of value for the development of
      biologically active oxetanes and may be exploited for the biocatalytic generation
      of enantiomerically pure oxetanes and diols.

PMID- 28600387
TI  - Genetic Testing in the Evaluation of Unexplained Cardiac Arrest: From the CASPER
      (Cardiac Arrest Survivors With Preserved Ejection Fraction Registry).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unexplained cardiac arrest may be because of an inherited arrhythmia
      syndrome. The role of genetic testing in cardiac arrest survivors without a
      definite clinical phenotype is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: The CASPER (Cardiac
      Arrest Survivors with Preserved Ejection Fraction Registry) is a large registry
      of cardiac arrest survivors where initial assessment reveals normal coronary
      arteries, left ventricular function, and resting ECG. Of 375 cardiac arrest
      survivors in CASPER from 2006 to 2015, 174 underwent genetic testing. Patients
      were classified as phenotype-positive (n=72) or phenotype-negative (n=102).
      Genetic testing was performed at treating physicians' discretion in line with
      contemporary guidelines and availability. All genetic variants identified from
      original laboratory reports were reassessed by the investigators in line with
      modern criteria. Pathogenic variants were identified in 29 (17%) patients (60%
      channelopathy-associated and 40% cardiomyopathy-associated genes) and 70 variants
      of unknown significance were identified in 32 (18%) patients. Prior syncope (odds
      ratio, 4.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.6-9.7) and a family history of sudden
      death (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-9.4) were independently
      associated with the presence of a pathogenic variant. In phenotype-negative
      patients, broad multiphenotype genetic testing led to higher yields (21% versus
      8%; P=0.04) but was associated with more variants of unknown significance (55%
      versus 5%; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic testing identifies a pathogenic variant
      in a significant proportion of unexplained cardiac arrest survivors. Prior
      syncope and family history of sudden death are predictors of a positive genetic
      test. Both arrhythmia and cardiomyopathy genes are implicated. Broad,
      multiphenotype testing revealed the highest frequency of pathogenic variants in
      phenotype-negative patients. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT00292032.

PMID- 28600388
TI  - Genetic Causes in Cardiac Arrest Survivors: Fake News or the Real Deal?

PMID- 28600389
TI  - Marfan Syndrome: Always Evolving.

PMID- 28600386
TI  - Associations of Age and Sex With Marfan Phenotype: The National Heart, Lung, and
      Blood Institute GenTAC (Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and
      Cardiovascular Conditions) Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The associations of age and sex with phenotypic features of Marfan
      syndrome have not been systematically examined in a large cohort of both children
      and adults. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 789 Marfan patients enrolled in the
      National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute GenTAC (Genetically Triggered Thoracic
      Aortic Aneurysms and Cardiovascular Conditions) Registry (53% male; mean age 31
      [range: 1-86 years]). Females aged >=15 and males aged >=16 years were considered
      adults based on average age of skeletal maturity. Adults (n=606) were more likely
      than children (n=183) likely to have spontaneous pneumothorax, scoliosis, and
      striae but were comparable in revised Ghent systemic score, ectopia lentis, and
      most phenotypic features, including prevalence of aortic root dilatation.
      Prophylactic aortic root replacement and mitral valve surgery were rare during
      childhood versus adulthood (2% versus 35% and 1% versus 9%, respectively, both
      P<0.0001). Adult males were more likely than females to have aortic root
      dilatation (92% versus 84%), aortic regurgitation (55% versus 36%), and to have
      undergone prophylactic aortic root replacement (47% versus 24%), all P<0.001.
      Prevalence of previous aortic dissection tended to be higher in males than
      females (25% versus 18%, P=0.06); 44% of dissections were type B. Type B
      dissection was strongly associated with previous prophylactic aortic root
      replacement. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary, skeletal, and aortic complications, but not
      other phenotypic features, are more prevalent in adults than children in Marfan
      syndrome. Aortic aneurysms and prophylactic aortic surgery are more common in
      men. Aortic dissection, commonly type B, occurs in an appreciable proportion of
      Marfan patients, especially in men and after previous prophylactic aortic root
      replacement.

PMID- 28600391
TI  - An Emerging Paradigm? RxLR Cleavage before Effector Secretion.

PMID- 28600392
TI  - Physical stimulation of newborn infants in the delivery room.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Neonatal resuscitation guidelines recommend that newborn infants are
      stimulated to assist with the establishment of regular respirations. The mode,
      site of application and frequency of stimulations are not stipulated in these
      guidelines. The effectiveness of stimulation in improving neonatal transition
      outcomes is poorly described. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of
      video recordings of neonatal resuscitation at a tertiary perinatal centre. Four
      different types of stimulation (drying, chest rub, back rub and foot flick) were
      defined a priori and the frequency and infant response were documented. RESULTS:
      A total of 120 video recordings were reviewed. Seventy-five (63%) infants
      received at least one episode of stimulation and 70 (58%) infants were stimulated
      within the first minute after birth. Stimulation was less commonly provided to
      infants <30 weeks' gestation (median (IQR) number of stimulations: 0 (0-1)) than
      infants born >=30 weeks' gestation (1 (1-3); p<0.001). The most common response
      to stimulation was limb movement followed by infant cry and facial grimace.
      Truncal stimulation (drying, chest rub, back rub) was associated with more crying
      and movement than foot flicks. CONCLUSION: Less mature infants are stimulated
      less frequently compared with more mature infants and many very preterm infants
      do not receive any stimulation. Most infants were stimulated within the first
      minute as recommended in resuscitation guidelines. Rubbing the trunk may be most
      effective but this needs to be confirmed in prospective studies.

PMID- 28600393
TI  - Cell Junctions in Hippo Signaling.
AB  - The Hippo signal transduction pathway is an important regulator of organ growth
      and cell differentiation, and its deregulation contributes to the development of
      cancer. The activity of the Hippo pathway is strongly dependent on cell
      junctions, cellular architecture, and the mechanical properties of the
      microenvironment. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding
      of how cell junctions transduce signals from the microenvironment and control the
      activity of the Hippo pathway. We also discuss how these mechanisms may control
      organ growth during development and regeneration, and how defects in them
      deregulate Hippo signaling in cancer cells.

PMID- 28600390
TI  - Direct and Indirect Visualization of Bacterial Effector Delivery into Diverse
      Plant Cell Types during Infection.
AB  - To cause disease, diverse pathogens deliver effector proteins into host cells.
      Pathogen effectors can inhibit defense responses, alter host physiology, and
      represent important cellular probes to investigate plant biology. However,
      effector function and localization have primarily been investigated after
      overexpression in planta. Visualizing effector delivery during infection is
      challenging due to the plant cell wall, autofluorescence, and low effector
      abundance. Here, we used a GFP strand system to directly visualize bacterial
      effectors delivered into plant cells through the type III secretion system. GFP
      is a beta barrel that can be divided into 11 strands. We generated transgenic
      Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing GFP1-10 (strands 1 to 10). Multiple
      bacterial effectors tagged with the complementary strand 11 epitope retained
      their biological function in Arabidopsis and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).
      Infection of plants expressing GFP1-10 with bacteria delivering GFP11-tagged
      effectors enabled direct effector detection in planta. We investigated the
      temporal and spatial delivery of GFP11-tagged effectors during infection with the
      foliar pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and the vascular pathogen Ralstonia
      solanacearum Thus, the GFP strand system can be broadly used to investigate
      effector biology in planta.

PMID- 28600394
TI  - TGF-beta Family Signaling in Early Vertebrate Development.
AB  - TGF-beta family ligands function in inducing and patterning many tissues of the
      early vertebrate embryonic body plan. Nodal signaling is essential for the
      specification of mesendodermal tissues and the concurrent cellular movements of
      gastrulation. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling patterns tissues along
      the dorsal-ventral axis and simultaneously directs the cell movements of
      convergence and extension. After gastrulation, a second wave of Nodal signaling
      breaks the symmetry between the left and right sides of the embryo. During these
      processes, elaborate regulatory feedback between TGF-beta ligands and their
      antagonists direct the proper specification and patterning of embryonic tissues.
      In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the function and regulation
      of TGF-beta family signaling in these processes. Although we cover principles
      that are involved in the development of all vertebrate embryos, we focus
      specifically on three popular model organisms: the mouse Mus musculus, the
      African clawed frog of the genus Xenopus, and the zebrafish Danio rerio,
      highlighting the similarities and differences between these species.

PMID- 28600396
TI  - A 50-Year Personal Journey: Location, Gene Expression, and Circadian Rhythms.
AB  - I worked almost exclusively on nucleic acids and gene expression from the age of
      19 as an undergraduate until the age of 38 as an associate professor. Mentors
      featured prominently in my choice of paths. My friendship with influential
      Brandeis colleagues then persuaded me that genetics was an important tool for
      studying gene expression, and I switched my experimental organism to yeast for
      this reason. Several years later, friendship also played a prominent role in my
      beginning work on circadian rhythms. As luck would have it, gene expression as
      well as genetics turned out to be important for circadian timekeeping. As a
      consequence, background and training put my laboratory in an excellent position
      to contribute to this aspect of the circadian problem. The moral of the story is,
      as in real estate, "location, location, location."

PMID- 28600397
TI  - Semimechanistic Bone Marrow Exhaustion Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Model for
      Chemotherapy-Induced Cumulative Neutropenia.
AB  - Paclitaxel is a commonly used cytotoxic anticancer drug with potentially life
      threatening toxicity at therapeutic doses and high interindividual
      pharmacokinetic variability. Thus, drug and effect monitoring is indicated to
      control dose-limiting neutropenia. Joerger et al. (2016) developed a dose
      individualization algorithm based on a pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD)
      model describing paclitaxel and neutrophil concentrations. Furthermore, the
      algorithm was prospectively compared in a clinical trial against standard dosing
      (Central European Society for Anticancer Drug Research Study of Paclitaxel
      Therapeutic Drug Monitoring; 365 patients, 720 cycles) but did not substantially
      improve neutropenia. This might be caused by misspecifications in the PK/PD model
      underlying the algorithm, especially without consideration of the observed
      cumulative pattern of neutropenia or the platinum-based combination therapy, both
      impacting neutropenia. This work aimed to externally evaluate the original PK/PD
      model for potential misspecifications and to refine the PK/PD model while
      considering the cumulative neutropenia pattern and the combination therapy. An
      underprediction was observed for the PK (658 samples), the PK parameters, and
      these parameters were re-estimated using the original estimates as prior
      information. Neutrophil concentrations (3274 samples) were overpredicted by the
      PK/PD model, especially for later treatment cycles when the cumulative pattern
      aggravated neutropenia. Three different modeling approaches (two from the
      literature and one newly developed) were investigated. The newly developed model,
      which implemented the bone marrow hypothesis semiphysiologically, was superior.
      This model further included an additive effect for toxicity of carboplatin
      combination therapy. Overall, a physiologically plausible PK/PD model was
      developed that can be used for dose adaptation simulations and prospective
      studies to further improve paclitaxel/carboplatin combination therapy.

PMID- 28600399
TI  - Validation of PDE5 as a Chemoprevention Target.

PMID- 28600398
TI  - Unmetabolized Folic Acid, Tetrahydrofolate, and Colorectal Adenoma Risk.
AB  - In a randomized trial of folic acid supplementation for the prevention of
      colorectal adenomas, we previously found indications of increased risk during
      later treatment and follow-up. This could have been due to the unmetabolized
      folic acid (UFA) or natural reduced and methylated folates (mF) to which it is
      metabolized. In post hoc analyses, we measured mF (the sum of 5-methyl
      tetrahydrofolate and 4-alfa-hydroxy-5-methyl-THF) and UFA concentrations in the
      serum of 924 participants. Using binomial regression models with a log link, we
      assessed the associations between plasma mF or UFA and adenoma occurrence. We
      found no association between plasma mF or UFA and overall adenoma risk. However,
      during later follow-up, the prespecified, composite endpoint of high-risk
      findings (advanced or multiple adenomas) was positively associated with plasma mF
      (Plinear trend = 0.009), with a 58% increased risk for participants in the upper
      versus lowest quartile. An irregular association was seen with plasma UFA, with
      suggestions of an inverse trend (Plinear trend=0.049). A modest, significant
      inverse association was also seen between mF and risk of serrated lesions, with a
      39% lower risk for upper versus lower quartile participants (Plinear trend =
      0.03). In conclusion, during the later follow-up period in which folic acid
      supplementation was previously seen to increase the risk of advanced and multiple
      adenomas, higher serum mF was associated with a higher risk of multiple and/or
      advanced adenomas, but no clear indication that UFA played a direct role. There
      were indications that higher mF was associated with reduced risk of serrated
      polyps. Cancer Prev Res; 10(8); 451-8. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600395
TI  - Cell-Cell Junctions Organize Structural and Signaling Networks.
AB  - Cell-cell junctions link cells to each other in tissues, and regulate tissue
      homeostasis in critical cell processes that include tissue barrier function, cell
      proliferation, and migration. Defects in cell-cell junctions give rise to a wide
      range of tissue abnormalities that disrupt homeostasis and are common in genetic
      abnormalities and cancers. Here, we discuss the organization and function of cell
      cell junctions primarily involved in adhesion (tight junction, adherens junction,
      and desmosomes) in two different epithelial tissues: a simple epithelium
      (intestine) and a stratified epithelium (epidermis). Studies in these tissues
      reveal similarities and differences in the organization and functions of
      different cell-cell junctions that meet the requirements for the specialized
      functions of each tissue. We discuss cell-cell junction responses to genetic and
      environmental perturbations that provide further insights into their roles in
      maintaining tissue homeostasis.

PMID- 28600400
TI  - Association Between Modifiable Risk Factors and Pharmaceutical Expenditures Among
      Adults With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in the United States: 2012
      2013 Medical Expenditures Panel Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) causes most deaths in
      the United States and accounts for the highest healthcare spending. The
      association between the modifiable risk factors (MRFs) of ASCVD and
      pharmaceutical expenditures are largely unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined
      the association between MRFs and pharmaceutical expenditures among adults with
      ASCVD using the 2012 and 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. A 2-part model
      was used while accounting for the survey's complex design to obtain nationally
      representative results. All costs were adjusted to 2013 US dollars using the
      gross domestic product deflator. The annual total pharmaceutical expenditure
      among those with ASCVD was $71.6 billion, 33% of which was for medications for
      cardiovascular disease and 14% medications for diabetes mellitus. The adjusted
      relationship between MRFs and pharmaceutical expenditures showed significant
      marginal increase in average annual pharmaceutical expenditure associated with
      inadequate physical activity ($519 [95% confidence interval (CI), $12-918;
      P=0.011]), dyslipidemia ($631 [95% CI, $168-1094; P=0.008]), hypertension: ($1078
      [95% CI, $697-1460; P<0.001)], and diabetes mellitus ($2006 [95% CI, $1470
      2542]). Compared with those with optimal MRFs (0-1), those with average MRFs (2
      3) spent an average of $1184 (95% CI, $805-1564; P<0.001) more on medications,
      and those with poor MRFs (>=4) spent $2823 (95% CI, $2338-3307; P<0.001) more.
      CONCLUSIONS: Worsening MRFs were proportionally associated with higher annual
      pharmaceutical expenditures among patients with established ASCVD regardless of
      non-ASCVD comorbidity. In-depth studies of the roles played by other factors in
      this association can help reduce medication-related expenditures among ASCVD
      patients.

PMID- 28600404
TI  - Reducing lameness in sheep: new approach recommended.

PMID- 28600401
TI  - Comparison of a Drug-Free Early Programmed Dismantling PDLLA Bioresorbable
      Scaffold and a Metallic Stent in a Porcine Coronary Artery Model at 3-Year Follow
      Up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arterial Remodeling Technologies bioresorbable scaffold (ART-BRS),
      composed of l- and d-lactyl units without drug, has shown its safety in a porcine
      coronary model at 6 months. However, long-term performance remains unknown. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the ART-BRS compared to a bare metal stent
      (BMS) in a healthy porcine coronary model for up to 3 years. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Eighty-two ART-BRS and 66 BMS were implanted in 64 Yucatan swine, and animals
      were euthanatized at intervals of 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months to
      determine the vascular response using quantitative coronary angiography, optical
      coherence tomography, light and scanning electron microscopy, and molecular
      weight analysis. Lumen enlargement was observed in ART-BRS as early as 3 months,
      which progressively increased up to 18 months, whereas BMS showed no significant
      difference over time. Percentage area stenosis by optical coherence tomography
      was greater in ART-BRS than in BMS at 1 and 3 months, but this relationship
      reversed beyond 3 months. Inflammation peaked at 6 months and thereafter
      continued to decrease up to 36 months. Complete re-endothelialization was
      observed at 1 month following implantation in both ART-BRS and BMS. Scaffold
      dismantling started at 3 months, which allowed early vessel enlargement, and
      bioresorption was complete by 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: ART-BRS has the unique
      quality of early programmed dismantling accompanied by vessel lumen enlargement
      with mild to moderate inflammation. The main distinguishing feature of the ART
      BRS from other scaffolds made from poly-l-lactic acid may result in early and
      long-term vascular restoration.

PMID- 28600411
TI  - Kennel Club recognises achievements in canine health research.

PMID- 28600405
TI  - Were inspections 'overdue' at zoo where keeper was mauled to death by a tiger?

PMID- 28600413
TI  - Medicines update.
AB  - The following information has been produced for Veterinary Record by the
      Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to provide an update for veterinary
      surgeons on recent changes to marketing authorisations for veterinary medicines
      in the UK.

PMID- 28600415
TI  - Schmallenberg virus infection confirmed in Scotland.
AB  - Schmallenberg virus infection in malformed lambsFood chain issues after lead
      poisoning incidentSuspected ragwort poisoning in heifersEwe abortions due to
      Salmonella enterica serovar UrbanaCoxiella burnetii detected in aborted
      lambsThese are among matters discussed in the disease surveillance report for
      February 2017 from SAC Consulting: Veterinary Services (SAC C VS).

PMID- 28600416
TI  - Reducing the stress response of alpacas during shearing.

PMID- 28600418
TI  - Telehealth in India: helping to achieve health for all.
AB  - Telecommunication technologies, such as smartphones and digital cameras, are
      revolutionising both animal and human healthcare through the use of telehealth.
      This is particularly useful in developing countries, where there may be a lack of
      healthcare infrastructures and an increased risk from zoonotic diseases. In this
      article, Anubha Pathak and Deepak Kumar discuss how telemedicine is being used in
      zoonotic disease research in India.

PMID- 28600419
TI  - Holly leaf ingestion causing pharyngeal obstruction in lambs.

PMID- 28600420
TI  - Tail docking in Scotland.

PMID- 28600421
TI  - Infectious bronchitis virus in Romanian broiler farms.

PMID- 28600422
TI  - Transmission of livestock-associated MRSA to people.

PMID- 28600423
TI  - Digital dermatitis-associated treponemes in farm animals.

PMID- 28600424
TI  - Can zoo licensing be improved?

PMID- 28600431
TI  - Orthopaedics - not just for boys.
AB  - Despite an increasing number of women entering the veterinary profession, small
      animal orthopaedics is dominated by men. Orthopaedic surgeon Sorrel Langley-Hobbs
      says the profession needs to mentor and inspire young vets to become surgeons of
      the future.

PMID- 28600432
TI  - Diary of a parliamentary intern.
AB  - Parliamentary intern Anthony Ridge attends the World Organisation for Animal
      Health's annual conference in Paris.

PMID- 28600433
TI  - SR proteins: To shuttle or not to shuttle, that is the question.
AB  - Serine- and arginine-rich proteins play important roles in splicing, nuclear
      export, and translation. In this issue, Botti et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol
      https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201610051) show that SRSF2 and SRSF5, previously
      thought to be nuclear, shuttle with messenger RNA to the cytoplasm in pluripotent
      P19 cells, but not in differentiated cells.

PMID- 28600434
TI  - Concerted actions of distinct nonmuscle myosin II isoforms drive intracellular
      membrane remodeling in live animals.
AB  - Membrane remodeling plays a fundamental role during a variety of biological
      events. However, the dynamics and the molecular mechanisms regulating this
      process within cells in mammalian tissues in situ remain largely unknown. In this
      study, we use intravital subcellular microscopy in live mice to study the role of
      the actomyosin cytoskeleton in driving the remodeling of membranes of large
      secretory granules, which are integrated into the plasma membrane during
      regulated exocytosis. We show that two isoforms of nonmuscle myosin II, NMIIA and
      NMIIB, control distinct steps of the integration process. Furthermore, we find
      that F-actin is not essential for the recruitment of NMII to the secretory
      granules but plays a key role in the assembly and activation of NMII into
      contractile filaments. Our data support a dual role for the actomyosin
      cytoskeleton in providing the mechanical forces required to remodel the lipid
      bilayer and serving as a scaffold to recruit key regulatory molecules.

PMID- 28600437
TI  - Could steroid strength influence development of tinea incognito?

PMID- 28600436
TI  - Accurate quantification of chromosomal lesions via short tandem repeat analysis
      using minimal amounts of DNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytogenetic aberrations such as deletion of chromosome 5q (del(5q))
      represent key elements in routine clinical diagnostics of haematological
      malignancies. Currently established methods such as metaphase cytogenetics, FISH
      or array-based approaches have limitations due to their dependency on viable
      cells, high costs or semi-quantitative nature. Importantly, they cannot be used
      on low abundance DNA. We therefore aimed to establish a robust and quantitative
      technique that overcomes these shortcomings. METHODS: For precise determination
      of del(5q) cell fractions, we developed an inexpensive multiplex-PCR assay
      requiring only nanograms of DNA that simultaneously measures allelic imbalances
      of 12 independent short tandem repeat markers. RESULTS: Application of this
      method to n=1142 samples from n=260 individuals revealed strong intermarker
      concordance (R2=0.77-0.97) and reproducibility (mean SD: 1.7%). Notably, the
      assay showed accurate quantification via standard curve assessment (R2>0.99) and
      high concordance with paired FISH measurements (R2=0.92) even with subnanogram
      amounts of DNA. Moreover, cytogenetic response was reliably confirmed in del(5q)
      patients with myelodysplastic syndromes treated with lenalidomide. While the
      assay demonstrated good diagnostic accuracy in receiver operating characteristic
      analysis (area under the curve: 0.97), we further observed robust correlation
      between bone marrow and peripheral blood samples (R2=0.79), suggesting its
      potential suitability for less-invasive clonal monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: In
      conclusion, we present an adaptable tool for quantification of chromosomal
      aberrations, particularly in problematic samples, which should be easily
      applicable to further tumour entities.

PMID- 28600435
TI  - RASSF4 controls SOCE and ER-PM junctions through regulation of PI(4,5)P2.
AB  - RAS association domain family 4 (RASSF4) is involved in tumorigenesis and
      regulation of the Hippo pathway. In this study, we identify new functional roles
      of RASSF4. First, we discovered that RASSF4 regulates store-operated Ca2+ entry
      (SOCE), a fundamental Ca2+ signaling mechanism, by affecting the translocation of
      the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ sensor stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1)
      to ER-plasma membrane (PM) junctions. It was further revealed that RASSF4
      regulates the formation of ER-PM junctions and the ER-PM tethering function of
      extended synaptotagmins E-Syt2 and E-Syt3. Moreover, steady-state PM
      phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI[4,5]P2) levels, important for
      localization of STIM1 and E-Syts at ER-PM junctions, were reduced in RASSF4
      knockdown cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that RASSF4 interacts with and
      regulates the activity of adenosine diphosphate ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6), a
      small G protein and upstream regulator of type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate
      kinases (PIP5Ks) and PM PI(4,5)P2 levels. Overall, our study suggests that RASSF4
      controls SOCE and ER-PM junctions through ARF6-dependent regulation of PM
      PI(4,5)P2 levels, pivotal for a variety of physiological processes.

PMID- 28600438
TI  - Human RELA haploinsufficiency results in autosomal-dominant chronic mucocutaneous
      ulceration.
AB  - The treatment of chronic mucocutaneous ulceration is challenging, and only some
      patients respond selectively to inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF).
      TNF activates opposing pathways leading to caspase-8-mediated apoptosis as well
      as nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB)-dependent cell survival. We investigated the
      etiology of autosomal-dominant, mucocutaneous ulceration in a family whose
      proband was dependent on anti-TNF therapy for sustained remission. A heterozygous
      mutation in RELA, encoding the NF-kappaB subunit RelA, segregated with the
      disease phenotype and resulted in RelA haploinsufficiency. The patients'
      fibroblasts exhibited increased apoptosis in response to TNF, impaired NF-kappaB
      activation, and defective expression of NF-kappaB-dependent antiapoptotic genes.
      Rela+/- mice have similarly impaired NF-kappaB activation, develop cutaneous
      ulceration from TNF exposure, and exhibit severe dextran sodium sulfate-induced
      colitis, ameliorated by TNF inhibition. These findings demonstrate an essential
      contribution of biallelic RELA expression in protecting stromal cells from TNF
      mediated cell death, thus delineating the mechanisms driving the effectiveness of
      TNF inhibition in this disease.

PMID- 28600439
TI  - A High-Density Genetic Linkage Map and QTL Fine Mapping for Body Weight in
      Crucian Carp (Carassius auratus) Using 2b-RAD Sequencing.
AB  - A high-resolution genetic linkage map is essential for a wide range of genetics
      and genomics studies such as comparative genomics analysis and QTL fine mapping.
      Crucian carp (Carassius auratus) is widely distributed in Eurasia, and is an
      important aquaculture fish worldwide. In this study, a high-density genetic
      linkage map was constructed for crucian carp using 2b-RAD technology. The
      consensus map contains 8487 SNP markers, assigning to 50 linkage groups (LGs) and
      spanning 3762.88 cM, with an average marker interval of 0.44 cM and genome
      coverage of 98.8%. The female map had 4410 SNPs, and spanned 3500.42 cM (0.79
      cM/marker), while the male map had 4625 SNPs and spanned 3346.33 cM (0.72
      cM/marker). The average recombination ratio of female to male was 2.13:1, and
      significant male-biased recombination suppressions were observed in LG47 and
      LG49. Comparative genomics analysis revealed a clear 2:1 syntenic relationship
      between crucian carp LGs and chromosomes of zebrafish and grass carp, and a 1:1
      correspondence, but extensive chromosomal rearrangement, between crucian carp and
      common carp, providing evidence that crucian carp has experienced a fourth round
      of whole genome duplication (4R-WGD). Eight chromosome-wide QTL for body weight
      at 2 months after hatch were detected on five LGs, explaining 10.1-13.2% of the
      phenotypic variations. Potential candidate growth-related genes, such as an EGF
      like domain and TGF-beta, were identified within the QTL intervals. This high
      density genetic map and QTL analysis supplies a basis for genome evolutionary
      studies in cyprinid fishes, genome assembly, and QTL fine mapping for complex
      traits in crucian carp.

PMID- 28600440
TI  - Constraints on eQTL Fine Mapping in the Presence of Multisite Local Regulation of
      Gene Expression.
AB  - Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) detection has emerged as an important
      tool for unraveling of the relationship between genetic risk factors and disease
      or clinical phenotypes. Most studies use single marker linear regression to
      discover primary signals, followed by sequential conditional modeling to detect
      secondary genetic variants affecting gene expression. However, this approach
      assumes that functional variants are sparsely distributed and that close linkage
      between them has little impact on estimation of their precise location and the
      magnitude of effects. We describe a series of simulation studies designed to
      evaluate the impact of linkage disequilibrium (LD) on the fine mapping of causal
      variants with typical eQTL effect sizes. In the presence of multisite regulation,
      even though between 80 and 90% of modeled eSNPs associate with normally
      distributed traits, up to 10% of all secondary signals could be statistical
      artifacts, and at least 5% but up to one-quarter of credible intervals of SNPs
      within r2 > 0.8 of the peak may not even include a causal site. The Bayesian
      methods eCAVIAR and DAP (Deterministic Approximation of Posteriors) provide only
      modest improvement in resolution. Given the strong empirical evidence that gene
      expression is commonly regulated by more than one variant, we conclude that the
      fine mapping of causal variants needs to be adjusted for multisite influences, as
      conditional estimates can be highly biased by interference among linked sites,
      but ultimately experimental verification of individual effects is needed.
      Presumably similar conclusions apply not just to eQTL mapping, but to multisite
      influences on fine mapping of most types of quantitative trait.

PMID- 28600441
TI  - Unique Allelic eQTL Clusters in Human MHC Haplotypes.
AB  - The control of gene regulation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
      remains poorly understood, despite several expression quantitative trait loci
      (eQTL) studies revealing an association of MHC gene expression with independent
      tag-single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). MHC haplotype variation may exert a
      greater effect on gene expression phenotype than specific single variants. To
      explore the effect of MHC haplotype sequence diversity on gene expression
      phenotypes across the MHC, we examined the MHC transcriptomic landscape at
      haplotype-specific resolution for three prominent MHC haplotypes (A2-B46-DR9, A33
      B58-DR3, and A1-B8-DR3) derived from MHC-homozygous B-lymphoblastoid cell lines
      (B-LCLs). We demonstrate that MHC-wide gene expression patterns are dictated by
      underlying haplotypes, and identify 36 differentially expressed genes. By mapping
      these haplotype sequence variations to known eQTL, we provide evidence that
      unique allelic combinations of eQTL, embedded within haplotypes, are correlated
      with the level of expression of 17 genes. Interestingly, the influence of
      haplotype sequence on gene expression is not homogenous across the MHC. We show
      that haplotype sequence polymorphisms within or proximate to HLA-A, HLA-C, C4A,
      and HLA-DRB regions exert haplotype-specific gene regulatory effects, whereas the
      expression of genes in other parts of the MHC region are not affected by the
      haplotype sequence. Overall, we demonstrate that MHC haplotype sequence diversity
      can impact phenotypic outcome via the alteration of transcriptional variability,
      indicating that a haplotype-based approach is fundamental for the assessment of
      trait associations in the MHC.

PMID- 28600442
TI  - Tracking and predicting disease progression in progressive supranuclear palsy:
      CSF and blood biomarkers.
AB  - Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare and progressive neurodegenerative
      condition characterised pathologically by neuronal cell loss due to abnormal tau
      deposits. Clinically, the condition manifests as parkinsonism with the addition
      of progressive balance, speech, swallowing, eye movement and cognitive
      impairment, ultimately leading to death. Measuring change over time in
      neurodegenerative conditions is central to defining the effects of therapeutic
      intervention and disease biology. The current gold standard for measuring
      clinical disease progression in PSP is the PSP Rating Scale score. However, such
      scales may be affected by intrarater and inter-rater variability. In addition,
      their use in clinical trials may be hindered by differences in the time interval
      between pathological disease progression/response to therapeutics and change in
      clinical state. Therefore, the need for reliable disease progression biomarkers
      to complement clinical rating scales is clear. Here we discuss the benefits of
      using biomarkers to predict and track disease progression in both clinical and
      research settings. Through reviewing the literature to date on the role of
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood biomarkers, we highlight data that reveals
      the ability of CSF and plasma neurofilament light chain (NF-L) to predict and
      track clinical disease progression in PSP. We also discuss the need for large
      scale longitudinal studies to identify novel biomarkers.

PMID- 28600443
TI  - Prevalence, risk factors and consequences of cerebral small vessel diseases: data
      from three Asian countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) has been suggested to be more
      common in Asians compared with Caucasians. However, data from population-based
      studies in Asia are lacking. We report on the prevalence, risk factors and
      consequences of SVD from contemporary studies in three Asian countries using 3
      Tesla MRI for the evaluation of SVD. METHODS: Clinical, cognitive and 3-Tesla
      brain MRI assessments were performed among participants of three studies from
      Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea. SVD markers include white matter hyperintensities
      (WMHs) using the modified Fazekas scale, lacunes and microbleeds. Cognition was
      assessed using the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive
      Assessment (MoCA). Adjustments were made for age, sex and cardiovascular risk
      factors. RESULTS: A total of 1797 subjects were available for analysis (mean age:
      70.1+/-6.3 years and 57% women). The prevalence of confluent WMH was 36.6%,
      lacunes, 24.6% and microbleeds, 26.9%. Presence of all three SVD markers showed a
      steeper increase with increasing age rising from 1.9% in the lowest to 46.2% in
      the highest 5-year age strata. The major risk factors for the increased severity
      of SVD markers were advancing age and hypertension. Moreover, increasing severity
      of SVD markers was independently associated with worse performance on MMSE and
      MoCA. CONCLUSION: Elderly Asians have a high burden of SVD which was associated
      with cognitive dysfunction. This suggests that SVD markers should be a potential
      target for treatment in clinical trials so as to delay progression of
      cerebrovascular disease and potentially cognitive decline.

PMID- 28600444
TI  - Deconstructing psychosis and misperception symptoms in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with Lewy body disease develop a variety of psychotic and
      misperception symptoms, including visual hallucinations and delusions, as well as
      'minor hallucinations', that is, a sense of presence, passage hallucinations and
      visual illusions. Although these symptoms have been suggested to have common
      underlying mechanisms, the commonalities and differences among them have not been
      systematically investigated at the neural level. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients
      with Parkinson's disease underwent neuropsychological and behavioural
      assessments, volumetric MRI and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission
      tomography (FDG-PET). A factor analysis was performed to discover correlations
      among psychotic and misperception symptoms, other behavioural symptoms and
      neuropsychological performances. Partial least-squares correlation analysis was
      used to investigate the relationship between these symptoms and the joint
      features of MRI and FDG-PET. RESULTS: A sense of presence, passage hallucinations
      and visual illusions constituted a single behavioural factor (minor
      hallucinations/illusions). Visual hallucinations formed another behavioural
      factor along with delusions, depression and fluctuating cognition
      (psychosis/dysphoria). Three distinct brain-behaviour correlation patterns were
      identified: (1) posterior cortical atrophy/hypometabolism associated with minor
      hallucinations/illusions and visuospatial impairment; (2) upper brainstem and
      thalamic atrophy/hypometabolism associated with psychosis/dysphoria and (3)
      frontal cortical atrophy/hypometabolism associated with non-visual cognition. No
      significant differences in neuroimaging findings were identified between patients
      who had minor hallucinations/illusions alone and patients who also had visual
      hallucinations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that combined damage to the
      upper brainstem/thalamus and the posterior neocortex underlies both minor
      hallucinations/illusions and visual hallucinations and that the former pathology
      is more associated with visual hallucinations/frank psychosis and the latter is
      more associated with minor hallucinations/illusions.

PMID- 28600445
TI  - Acute fatal haemorrhagic pneumonia caused by Streptococcus equi zooepidemicus in
      greyhounds in Ireland with subsequent typing of the isolates.

PMID- 28600446
TI  - Long-term efficacy of imepitoin in the treatment of naive dogs affected by
      idiopathic epilepsy.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term (12 months) efficacy and
      tolerability of imepitoin as first-choice treatment in 56 dogs suffering from
      idiopathic epilepsy and identify possible factors affecting the outcome. Primary
      treatment success (PTS) was defined as the achievement of a seizure-free interval
      three times longer than the pretreatment interictal interval (at least three
      months). Secondary treatment success (STS) was achieved by a decrease in seizure
      frequency >=50 per cent compared with the pretreatment frequency. In the long
      term follow-up, PTS was recorded in 14 (25 per cent) dogs and responder-dogs
      (PTS+STS) were 30 (54 per cent) showing significant reduction in the monthly
      average number of seizures (P<0.001). Median seizure frequency per month was 1.69
      pretreatment and 0.3 at 12-month follow-up. Dogs with cluster seizures were
      significantly reduced (P=0.02). PTS at three and six months was associated with
      PTS (P=0.006 and <0.001, respectively) and with the status of responder dogs
      (P=0.002) at 12-month follow-up. Dogs aged >36 months at the start of imepitoin
      treatment had a positive association to become responder dogs (P<0.001) and
      achieve PTS (P=0.004). 16 dogs (29 per cent) discontinued imepitoin due to its
      inefficacy. The receiver operator curve highlighted >=19 mg/kg twice a day as the
      most effective minimal dosage. Mild and transient side effects were observed in
      16 dogs (29 per cent).

PMID- 28600448
TI  - Development of a Curricular Framework for Pediatric Hospital Medicine
      Fellowships.
AB  - Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) is an emerging field in pediatrics and one that
      has experienced immense growth and maturation in a short period of time.
      Evolution and rapid expansion of the field invigorated the goal of standardizing
      PHM fellowship curricula, which naturally aligned with the field's evolving
      pursuit of a defined identity and consideration of certification options. The
      national group of PHM fellowship program directors sought to establish curricular
      standards that would more accurately reflect the competencies needed to practice
      pediatric hospital medicine and meet future board certification needs. In this
      manuscript, we describe the method by which we reached consensus on a 2-year
      curricular framework for PHM fellowship programs, detail the current model for
      this framework, and provide examples of how this curricular framework may be
      applied to meet the needs of a variety of fellows and fellowship programs. The 2
      year PHM fellowship curricular framework was developed over a number of years
      through an iterative process and with the input of PHM fellowship program
      directors (PDs), PHM fellowship graduates, PHM leaders, pediatric hospitalists
      practicing in a variety of clinical settings, and other educators outside the
      field. We have developed a curricular framework for PHM Fellowships that consists
      of 8 education units (defined as 4 weeks each) in 3 areas: clinical care, systems
      and scholarship, and individualized curriculum.

PMID- 28600447
TI  - The Epidemiology, Management, and Outcomes of Bacterial Meningitis in Infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The pathogens that cause bacterial meningitis in infants and their
      antimicrobial susceptibilities may have changed in this era of increasing
      antimicrobial resistance, use of conjugated vaccines, and maternal antibiotic
      prophylaxis for group B Streptococcus (GBS). The objective was to determine the
      optimal empirical antibiotics for bacterial meningitis in early infancy. METHODS:
      This was a cohort study of infants <90 days of age with bacterial meningitis at 7
      pediatric tertiary care hospitals across Canada in 2013 and 2014. RESULTS: There
      were 113 patients diagnosed with proven meningitis (n = 63) or suspected
      meningitis (n = 50) presented at median 19 days of age, with 63 patients (56%)
      presenting a diagnosis from home. Predominant pathogens were Escherichia coli (n
      = 37; 33%) and GBS (n = 35; 31%). Two of 15 patients presenting meningitis on day
      0 to 6 had isolates resistant to both ampicillin and gentamicin (E coli and
      Haemophilus influenzae type B). Six of 60 infants presenting a diagnosis of
      meningitis from home from day 7 to 90 had isolates, for which cefotaxime would be
      a poor choice (Listeria monocytogenes [n = 3], Enterobacter cloacae, Cronobacter
      sakazakii, and Pseudomonas stutzeri). Sequelae were documented in 84 infants
      (74%), including 8 deaths (7%). CONCLUSIONS: E coli and GBS remain the most
      common causes of bacterial meningitis in the first 90 days of life. For empirical
      therapy of suspected bacterial meningitis, one should consider a third-generation
      cephalosporin (plus ampicillin for at least the first month), potentially
      substituting a carbapenem for the cephalosporin if there is evidence for Gram
      negative meningitis.

PMID- 28600449
TI  - Regional differences in use of endoscopic ultrasonography in Ontario: a
      population-based retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic ultrasonography is a safe and accurate modality for
      evaluating and managing hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal conditions (malignant
      and nonmalignant); its use is increasing. The aim of this study was to describe
      regional trends in the use of endoscopic ultrasonography in Ontario. METHODS: We
      conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study using health
      administrative databases. We identified all patients who underwent an endoscopic
      ultrasound procedure in Ontario from 2003 to 2011 using physician billing data.
      Patient, physician and institution characteristics were examined. The primary
      outcome was use of endoscopic ultrasonography. RESULTS: We identified 9076
      endoscopic ultrasound procedures performed in 8001 patients (3858 women [48.2%];
      median patient age at first procedure 59 years). A total of 3066 procedures
      (33.8%) involved fine-needle aspiration. Use of endoscopic ultrasonography
      increased 17-fold over the study period. In 2011, people living in the health
      region with the highest rate of use of endoscopic ultrasonography were more than
      4 times more likely to undergo the procedure than people living in the health
      region with the lowest rate of use (standardized rate 61.6 v. 12.9 per 100 000).
      About 7 in 10 endoscopic ultrasound procedures were performed in an academic
      institution or regional cancer centre. All 17 endoscopists performing endoscopic
      ultrasonography during the study period practised in urban areas. INTERPRETATION:
      Although the use of endoscopic ultrasonography increased over time in Ontario,
      there were marked regional differences in use. Provincial needs- and evidence
      based initiatives may be needed to narrow the regional gaps in provision of
      endoscopic ultrasound services in the province.

PMID- 28600450
TI  - Establishing a legal service for major trauma patients at a major trauma centre
      in the UK.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Major trauma causes unanticipated critical illness and patients have
      often made few arrangements for what are sudden and life-changing circumstances.
      This can lead to financial, housing, insurance, legal and employment issues for
      patients and their families.A UK law firm worked with the major trauma services
      to develop a free and comprehensive legal service for major trauma patients and
      their families at a major trauma centre (MTC) in the UK. METHODS: In 2013, a
      legal service was established at North Bristol NHS Trust. Referrals are made by
      trauma nurse practitioners and it operates within a strict ethical framework. A
      retrospective analysis of the activity of this legal service between September
      2013 and October 2015 was undertaken. RESULTS: 66 major trauma patients were seen
      by the legal teams at the MTC. 535 hours of free legal advice were provided on
      non-compensation issues-an average of 8 hours per patient. DISCUSSION: This
      initiative confirms a demand for the early availability of legal advice for major
      trauma patients to address a range of non-compensation issues as well as for
      identification of potential compensation claims. The availability of advice at
      the MTC is convenient for relatives who may be spending the majority of their
      time with injured relatives in hospital. More data are needed to establish the
      rehabilitation and health effects of receiving non-compensation advice after
      major injury; however, the utilisation of this service suggests that it should be
      considered at the UK MTCs.

PMID- 28600452
TI  - Are Facebook user ratings associated with hospital cost, quality and patient
      satisfaction? A cross-sectional analysis of hospitals in New York State.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospital care costs are high while quality varies across hospitals.
      Patient satisfaction may be associated with better clinical quality, and social
      media ratings may offer another opportunity to measure patient satisfaction with
      care. OBJECTIVES: To test if Facebook user ratings of hospitals are associated
      with existing measures of patient satisfaction, cost and quality. RESEARCH
      DESIGN: Data were obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
      Hospital Compare, the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System impact files
      and the Area Health Resource File for 2015. Information from hospitals' Facebook
      pages was collected in July 2016. Multivariate linear regression was used to test
      if there is an association between Facebook user ratings (star rating and
      adjusted number of 'likes') and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare
      Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient satisfaction measures, the 30-day all
      cause readmission rate, and the Medicare spending per beneficiary (MSPB) ratio.
      SUBJECTS: One hundred and thirty-six acute care hospitals in New York State in
      2015. RESULTS: An increase in the Facebook star rating is associated with
      significant increases in 21/23 HCAHPS measures (p<=0.003). An increase in the
      adjusted number of 'likes' is associated with very small increases in 3/23 HCAHPS
      measures (p<0.05). Facebook user ratings are not associated with the 30-day all
      cause readmission rate or the Medicare spending per beneficiary ratio.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate an association between HCAHPS patient
      satisfaction measures and Facebook star ratings. Adjusted number of 'likes' may
      not be a useful measure of patient satisfaction.

PMID- 28600451
TI  - Interactions between occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic
      fields and chemicals for brain tumour risk in the INTEROCC study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In absence of clear evidence regarding possible effects of
      occupational chemical exposures on brain tumour aetiology, it is worthwhile to
      explore the hypothesis that such exposures might act on brain tumour risk in
      interaction with occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields
      (ELF). METHODS: INTEROCC is a seven-country (Australia, Canada, France, Germany,
      Israel, New Zealand and UK), population-based, case-control study, based on the
      larger INTERPHONE study. Incident cases of primary glioma and meningioma were
      ascertained from 2000 to 2004. Job titles were coded into standard international
      occupational classifications and estimates of ELF and chemical exposures were
      assigned based on job-exposure matrices. Dichotomous indicators of cumulative ELF
      (>=50th vs <50th percentile, 1-4 year exposure time window) and chemical
      exposures (ever vs never, 5-year lag) were created. Interaction was assessed on
      both the additive and multiplicative scales. RESULTS: A total of 1939 glioma
      cases, 1822 meningioma cases and 5404 controls were included in the analysis,
      using conditional logistic regression. There was no clear evidence for
      interactions between ELF and any of the chemical exposures assessed for either
      glioma or meningioma risk. For glioma, subjects in the low ELF/metal exposed
      group had a lower risk than would be predicted from marginal effects. Results
      were similar according to different exposure time windows, to cut-points of
      exposure or in exposed-only analyses. CONCLUSIONS: There was no clear evidence
      for interactions between occupational ELF and chemical exposures in relation to
      glioma or meningioma risk observed. Further research with more refined estimates
      of occupational exposures is recommended.

PMID- 28600453
TI  - Engaging patients and the public in Choosing Wisely.

PMID- 28600455
TI  - Quantifying the Shift Toward Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk
      Patients: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement has
      expanded to include patients at intermediate- and low-risk cohorts. We sought to
      determine disease prevalence and treatment distribution including transcatheter
      aortic valve replacement eligibility in low-risk patients across 37 advanced
      economies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four systematic searches were conducted across
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane database for studies evaluating disease
      prevalence, severity, decision making, and survival in patients with aortic
      stenosis. Estimates of disease prevalence and treatment eligibility were
      calculated using stochastic simulation and population data for the 37 countries
      comprising the International Monetary Fund's advanced economies index. Fifty-six
      studies comprising 42 965 patients were included across 5 domains: prevalence,
      severity, symptom status, treatment modality, and outcome. The pooled prevalence
      in the general population aged 60 to 74 years and >75 years was 2.8% (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.4%-4.1%) and 13.1% (95% CI, 8.2%-17.9%), respectively
      corresponding to an estimated 16.1 million (95% CI, 12.2-20.3) people in 37
      advanced economies. Of these, an estimated 3.2 million (95% CI, 2.2-4.4) patients
      have severe aortic stenosis with 1.9 million (95% CI, 1.3-2.6) eligible for
      surgical aortic valve replacement. There are ~485 230 (95% CI, 284 550-66 7350)
      high-risk/inoperable patients, 152 690 (95% CI, 73 410-263 000) intermediate-risk
      patients, and 378 890 (95% CI, 205 130-610 210) low-risk patients eligible for
      transcatheter aortic valve replacement. CONCLUSIONS: With a prevalence of 4.5%,
      an estimated 16.1 million people aged >=60 years across 37 advanced economies
      have aortic stenosis. Of these, there are ~1.9 million patients eligible for
      surgical aortic valve replacement and 1.0 million patients eligible for
      transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

PMID- 28600456
TI  - Too Early to Tell: The Complexity of Decision Making for Aortic Stenosis Patients
      at Low Surgical Risk.

PMID- 28600457
TI  - Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in a Patient on Hemodialysis.

PMID- 28600459
TI  - Patients with ALS show highly correlated progression rates in left and right limb
      muscles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progresses at different rates
      between patients, making clinical trial design difficult and dependent on large
      cohorts of patients. Currently, there are few data showing whether the left and
      right limbs progress at the same or different rates. This study addresses rates
      of decline in specific muscle groups of patients with ALS and assesses whether
      there is a relationship between left and right muscles in the same patient,
      regardless of overall progression. METHODS: A large cohort of patients was used
      to assess decline in muscle strength in right and left limbs over time using 2
      different methods: The Tufts Quantitative Neuromuscular Exam and Accurate Test of
      Limb Isometric Strength protocol. Then advanced linear regression statistical
      methods were applied to assess progression rates in each limb. RESULTS: This
      report shows that linearized progression models can predict general slopes of
      decline with good accuracy. Critically, the data demonstrate that while overall
      decline is variable, there is a high degree of correlation between left and right
      muscle decline in ALS. This implies that irrespective of which muscle starts
      declining soonest or latest, their rates of decline following onset are more
      consistent. CONCLUSIONS: First, this study demonstrates a high degree of power
      when using unilateral treatment approaches to detect a slowing in disease
      progression in smaller groups of patients, thus allowing for paired statistical
      tests. These findings will be useful in transplantation trials that use muscle
      decline to track disease progression in ALS. Second, these findings discuss
      methods, such as tactical selection of muscle groups, which can improve the power
      efficiency of all ALS clinical trials.

PMID- 28600458
TI  - Structural MRI markers of brain aging early after ischemic stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between ischemic stroke, vascular risk
      factors, and MRI markers of brain aging. METHODS: Eighty-one patients (mean age
      67.5 +/- 13.1 years, 31 left-sided, 61 men) with confirmed first-ever (n = 66) or
      recurrent (n = 15) ischemic stroke underwent 3T MRI scanning within 6 weeks of
      symptom onset (mean 26 +/- 9 days). Age-matched controls (n = 40) completed
      identical testing. Multivariate regression analyses examined associations between
      group membership and MRI markers of brain aging (cortical thickness, total brain
      volume, white matter hyperintensity [WMH] volume, hippocampal volume), normalized
      against intracranial volume, and the effects of vascular risk factors on these
      relationships. RESULTS: First-ever stroke was associated with smaller hippocampal
      volume (p = 0.025) and greater WMH volume (p = 0.004) relative to controls.
      Recurrent stroke was in turn associated with smaller hippocampal volume relative
      to both first-ever stroke (p = 0.017) and controls (p = 0.001). These
      associations remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, education, and,
      in stroke patients, infarct volume. Total brain volume was not significantly
      smaller in first-ever stroke patients than in controls (p = 0.056), but the
      association became significant after further adjustment for atrial fibrillation
      (p = 0.036). Cortical thickness and brain volumes did not differ as a function of
      stroke type, infarct volume, or etiology. CONCLUSIONS: Brain structure is likely
      to be compromised before ischemic stroke by vascular risk factors. Smaller
      hippocampal and total brain volumes and increased WMH load represent proxies for
      underlying vascular brain injury.

PMID- 28600461
TI  - Cerebrovascular disease affects brain structural integrity long before clinically
      overt strokes.

PMID- 28600460
TI  - Standard operating procedures improve acute neurologic care in a sub-Saharan
      African setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Quality of neurologic emergency management in an under-resourced
      country may be improved by standard operating procedures (SOPs). METHODS:
      Neurologic SOPs were implemented in a large urban (Banjul) and a small rural
      (Brikama) hospital in the Gambia. As quality indicators of neurologic emergency
      management, performance of key procedures was assessed at baseline and in the
      first and second implementation years. RESULTS: At Banjul, 100 patients of the
      first-year intervention group exhibited higher rates of general procedures of
      emergency management than 105 control patients, such as neurologic examination
      (99.0% vs 91.4%; p < 0.05) and assessments of respiratory rate (98.0% vs 81.9%, p
      < 0.001), temperature (60.0% vs 36.2%; p < 0.001), and glucose levels (73.0% vs
      58.1%; p < 0.05), in addition to written directives by physicians (96.0% vs
      88.6%, p < 0.05), whereas assessments of other vital signs remained unchanged. In
      stroke patients, rates of stroke-related procedures increased: early CT scanning
      (24.3% vs 9.9%; p < 0.05), blood count (73.0% vs 49.3%; p < 0.01), renal and
      liver function tests (50.0% vs 5.6%, p < 0.001), aspirin prophylaxis (47.3% vs
      9.9%; p < 0.001), and physiotherapy (41.9% vs 4.2%; p < 0.001). Most effects
      persisted until the second-year evaluation. SOP implementation was similarly
      feasible and beneficial at the Brikama hospital. However, outcomes did not
      significantly differ in the hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing SOPs is a
      realistic, low-cost option for improving process quality of neurologic emergency
      management in under-resourced settings. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study
      provides Class IV evidence that, for patients with suspected neurologic
      emergencies in sub-Saharan Africa, neurologic SOPs increase the rate of
      performance of guideline-recommended procedures.

PMID- 28600462
TI  - Failure of alemtuzumab therapy to control MOG encephalomyelitis.

PMID- 28600454
TI  - The Slo(w) path to identifying the mitochondrial channels responsible for
      ischemic protection.
AB  - Mitochondria play an important role in tissue ischemia and reperfusion (IR)
      injury, with energetic failure and the opening of the mitochondrial permeability
      transition pore being the major causes of IR-induced cell death. Thus,
      mitochondria are an appropriate focus for strategies to protect against IR
      injury. Two widely studied paradigms of IR protection, particularly in the field
      of cardiac IR, are ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and volatile anesthetic
      preconditioning (APC). While the molecular mechanisms recruited by these
      protective paradigms are not fully elucidated, a commonality is the involvement
      of mitochondrial K+ channel opening. In the case of IPC, research has focused on
      a mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K+ channel (mitoKATP), but, despite recent
      progress, the molecular identity of this channel remains a subject of contention.
      In the case of APC, early research suggested the existence of a mitochondrial
      large-conductance K+ (BK, big conductance of potassium) channel encoded by the
      Kcnma1 gene, although more recent work has shown that the channel that underlies
      APC is in fact encoded by Kcnt2 In this review, we discuss both the pharmacologic
      and genetic evidence for the existence and identity of mitochondrial K+ channels,
      and the role of these channels both in IR protection and in regulating normal
      mitochondrial function.

PMID- 28600466
TI  - Alectinib Superior to Crizotinib for ALK+ NSCLC.
AB  - Findings from the global phase III ALEX trial unequivocally show that alectinib
      is superior to crizotinib as first-line therapy for ALK+ non-small cell lung
      cancer. Alectinib more than doubled progression-free survival, significantly
      reduced the incidence of brain and CNS metastases, and should be considered the
      new standard of care.

PMID- 28600469
TI  - Classic Spotlight, 1992 and 1993: Articles of Significant Interest Selected from
      the Journal of Virology Archives by the Editors.

PMID- 28600472
TI  - Precision Medicine in Pediatric Oncology: Translating Genomic Discoveries into
      Optimized Therapies.
AB  - Survival of children with cancers has dramatically improved over the past several
      decades. This success has been achieved through improvement of combined
      modalities in treatment approaches, intensification of cytotoxic chemotherapy for
      those with high-risk disease, and refinement of risk stratification incorporating
      novel biologic markers in addition to traditional clinical and histologic
      features. Advances in cancer genomics have shed important mechanistic insights on
      disease biology and have identified "driver" genomic alterations, aberrant
      activation of signaling pathways, and epigenetic modifiers that can be targeted
      by novel agents. Thus, the recently described genomic and epigenetic landscapes
      of many childhood cancers have expanded the paradigm of precision medicine in the
      hopes of improving outcomes while minimizing toxicities. In this review, we will
      discuss the biologic rationale for molecularly targeted therapies in genomically
      defined subsets of pediatric leukemias, solid tumors, and brain tumors. Clin
      Cancer Res; 23(18); 5329-38. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600473
TI  - Human Papillomavirus DNA Methylation Predicts Response to Treatment Using
      Cidofovir and Imiquimod in Vulval Intraepithelial Neoplasia 3.
AB  - Purpose: Response rates to treatment of vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN)
      with imiquimod and cidofovir are approximately 57% and 61%, respectively.
      Treatment is associated with significant side effects and, if ineffective, risk
      of malignant progression. Treatment response is not predicted by clinical
      factors. Identification of a biomarker that could predict response is an
      attractive prospect. This work investigated HPV DNA methylation as a potential
      predictive biomarker in this setting.Experimental Design: DNA from 167 cases of
      VIN 3 from the RT3 VIN clinical trial was assessed. HPV-positive cases were
      identified using Greiner PapilloCheck and HPV 16 type-specific PCR. HPV DNA
      methylation status was assessed in three viral regions: E2, L1/L2, and the
      promoter, using pyrosequencing.Results: Methylation of the HPV E2 region was
      associated with response to treatment. For cidofovir (n = 30), median E2
      methylation was significantly higher in patients who responded (P <= 0.0001); E2
      methylation >4% predicted response with 88.2% sensitivity and 84.6% specificity.
      For imiquimod (n = 33), median E2 methylation was lower in patients who responded
      to treatment (P = 0.03; not significant after Bonferroni correction); E2
      methylation <4% predicted response with 70.6% sensitivity and 62.5%
      specificity.Conclusions: These data indicate that cidofovir and imiquimod may be
      effective in two biologically defined groups. HPV E2 DNA methylation demonstrated
      potential as a predictive biomarker for the treatment of VIN with cidofovir and
      may warrant investigation in a biomarker-guided clinical trial. Clin Cancer Res;
      23(18); 5460-8. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600471
TI  - Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Contributes to the Impaired Response to
      Erythropoietin in CKD-Anemia.
AB  - Erythropoietin-resistant anemia is associated with adverse cardiovascular events
      in patients with ESRD, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we
      evaluated the role of the endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor asymmetric
      dimethylarginine (ADMA). In 54 patients with advanced CKD, erythrocyte but not
      plasma ADMA levels independently associated with low hemoglobin values, although
      levels of both types of ADMA were elevated compared with those in healthy
      volunteers. Furthermore, erythrocyte ADMA level associated with the
      erythropoietin resistance index in patients receiving a weekly injected dose of
      erythropoiesis-stimulating agents standardized for hemoglobin levels and body
      weight, whereas it correlated with the erythropoietin demand index (plasma
      erythropoietin units divided by the hemoglobin value) in patients not receiving
      erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Compared with sham-operated controls, wild
      type mice with 5/6 subtotal nephrectomy (Nx), a remnant kidney model with
      advanced CKD, had decreased hemoglobin, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular volume
      values but increased erythrocyte and plasma ADMA and plasma erythropoietin
      levels. In comparison, dimethylarginine dimethlaminohydrolase-1 transgenic (DDAH
      1 Tg) mice, which efficiently metabolized ADMA, had significant improvements in
      all of the values except those for erythropoietin after 5/6 Nx. Additionally,
      wild-type Nx mice, but not DDAH-1 Tg Nx mice, had reduced splenic gene expression
      of erythropoietin receptor and erythroferrone, which regulates iron metabolism in
      response to erythropoietin. This study suggests that erythrocyte ADMA
      accumulation contributes to impaired response to erythropoietin in predialysis
      patients and advanced CKD mice via suppression of erythropoietin receptor
      expression.

PMID- 28600475
TI  - Dual Inhibition of HDAC and Tyrosine Kinase Signaling Pathways with CUDC-907
      Inhibits Thyroid Cancer Growth and Metastases.
AB  - Purpose: There is currently no standard therapy for anaplastic thyroid cancer
      (ATC) and poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC), which account for two
      thirds of thyroid cancer-related deaths. Driver mutations in the PI3K/AKT and
      RAF/RAS/MEK/ERK pathways are common in ATC and PDTC. Histone deacetylases (HDAC)
      regulate cancer initiation and progression. Our aim was to determine the
      therapeutic efficacy of simultaneously targeting these pathways in thyroid cancer
      with a single agent and to evaluate biomarkers of treatment response.Experimental
      Design: CUDC-907 is a first-in-class compound, functioning as a dual inhibitor of
      HDACs and the PI3K/AKT pathway. We investigated its antiproliferative effect in
      vitro and in vivoResults: CUDC-907 significantly inhibited cellular proliferation
      in thyroid cancer cell lines, induced G2-M arrest with decreased levels of the
      checkpoint regulators cyclin B1, AURKA, AURKB, PLK1, and increased p21 and p27.
      Treatment induced apoptosis with increased caspase-3/7 activity and decreased
      survivin levels and decreased cellular migration and invasion. CUDC-907 treatment
      caused H3 hyperacetylation and decreased HDAC2 expression. HDAC2 was upregulated
      in ATC and other thyroid cancer histologic subtypes. CUDC-907 treatment reduced
      both p-AKT and p-ERK1/2 levels. Finally, CUDC-907 treatment, in a metastatic
      mouse model of thyroid cancer, showed significant inhibition of growth and
      metastases, and tumors from treated mice had decreased HDAC2 expression,
      suggesting that this may be a useful biomarker of response.Conclusions: Dual
      inhibition of HDAC and the tyrosine kinase signaling pathways with CUDC-907 is a
      promising treatment strategy for advanced, metastatic thyroid cancer. Clin Cancer
      Res; 23(17); 5044-54. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600474
TI  - Use of Angiotensin System Inhibitors Is Associated with Immune Activation and
      Longer Survival in Nonmetastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Purpose: Angiotensin system inhibitors (ASI) can improve prognosis in multiple
      cancer types, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, no
      study has examined the effect of ASIs alone or combined with adjuvant
      chemotherapy in resected PDAC patients.Experimental Design: We performed an
      analysis of the records of ASI users and nonuser patients with PDAC seen at
      Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA) between January 2006 and December
      2010. To identify mechanisms of ASIs in PDAC, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA
      Seq) of resected primary lesions.Results: A total of 794 consecutive patients
      were included. In 299 resected patients, ASI users experienced longer overall
      survival (OS) in both univariate (median OS, 36.3 vs. 19.3 months, P = 0.011) and
      adjusted multivariate [HR, 0.505; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.339-0.750; P =
      0.001] analyses. Propensity score-adjusted analysis also showed a longer median
      OS for chronic ASI users. In unresected patients, the beneficial effect of ASIs
      was significant in patients with locally advanced disease, but not in metastatic
      patients. RNA-Seq analysis revealed in tumors of ASI users (lisinopril) a
      normalized extracellular matrix, a reduced expression of genes involved in PDAC
      progression (e.g., WNT and Notch signaling), and an increased expression of genes
      linked with the activity of T cells and antigen-presenting cells. Finally,
      chronic use of ASI was associated with a gene expression signature that is
      predictive of survival in independent validation cohorts.Conclusions: In patients
      with nonmetastatic PDAC, chronic ASI use is associated with longer OS
      independently of chemotherapy. Our RNA-Seq analysis suggests that ASIs reduce the
      malignant potential of cancer cells and stimulate the immune microenvironment in
      primary PDAC. Clin Cancer Res; 23(19); 5959-69. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600476
TI  - Phase Ib Study of Lumretuzumab Plus Cetuximab or Erlotinib in Solid Tumor
      Patients and Evaluation of HER3 and Heregulin as Potential Biomarkers of Clinical
      Activity.
AB  - Purpose: This study investigated the safety, clinical activity, and target
      associated biomarkers of lumretuzumab, a humanized, glycoengineered, anti-HER3
      monoclonal antibody (mAb), in combination with the EGFR-blocking agents erlotinib
      or cetuximab in patients with advanced HER3-positive carcinomas.Experimental
      Design: The study included two parts: dose escalation and dose extension phases
      with lumretuzumab in combination with either cetuximab or erlotinib,
      respectively. In both parts, patients received lumretuzumab doses from 400 to
      2,000 mg plus cetuximab or erlotinib according to standard posology,
      respectively. The effect of HRG mRNA and HER3 mRNA and protein expression were
      investigated in a dedicated extension cohort of squamous non-small cell lung
      cancer (sqNSCLC) patients treated with lumretuzumab and erlotinib.Results:
      Altogether, 120 patients were treated. One dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) in the
      cetuximab part and two DLTs in the erlotinib part were reported. The most
      frequent adverse events were gastrointestinal and skin toxicities, which were
      manageable. The objective response rate (ORR) was 6.1% in the cetuximab part and
      4.2% in the erlotinib part. In the sqNSCLC extension cohort of the erlotinib
      part, higher tumor HRG and HER3 mRNA levels were associated with a numerically
      higher disease control rate but not ORR.Conclusions: The toxicity profile of
      lumretuzumab in combination with cetuximab and erlotinib was manageable, but only
      modest clinical activity was observed across tumor types. In the sqNSCLC cohort,
      there was no evidence of meaningful clinical benefit despite enriching for tumors
      with higher HRG mRNA expression levels. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5406-15. (c)2017
      AACR.

PMID- 28600477
TI  - Targeting the Wnt Pathway and Cancer Stem Cells with Anti-progastrin Humanized
      Antibodies as a Potential Treatment for K-RAS-Mutated Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer suffer from disease relapse
      mainly due to cancer stem cells (CSC). Interestingly, they have an increased
      level of blood progastrin, a tumor-promoting peptide essential for the self
      renewal of colon CSCs, which is also a direct beta-catenin/TCF4 target gene. In
      this study, we aimed to develop a novel targeted therapy to neutralize secreted
      progastrin to inhibit Wnt signaling, CSCs, and reduce relapses.Experimental
      Design: Antibodies (monoclonal and humanized) directed against progastrin were
      produced and selected for target specificity and affinity. After validation of
      their effectiveness on survival of colorectal cancer cell lines harboring B-RAF
      or K-RAS mutations, their efficacy was assessed in vitro and in vivo, alone or
      concomitantly with chemotherapy, on CSC self-renewal capacity, tumor recurrence,
      and Wnt signaling.Results: We show that anti-progastrin antibodies decrease self
      renewal of CSCs both in vitro and in vivo, either alone or in combination with
      chemotherapy. Furthermore, migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells are
      diminished; chemosensitivity is prolonged in SW620 and HT29 cells and
      posttreatment relapse is significantly delayed in T84 cells, xenografted nude
      mice. Finally, we show that the Wnt signaling activity in vitro is decreased,
      and, in transgenic mice developing Wnt-driven intestinal neoplasia, the tumor
      burden is alleviated, with an amplification of cell differentiation in the
      remaining tumors.Conclusions: Altogether, these data show that humanized anti
      progastrin antibodies might represent a potential new treatment for K-RAS-mutated
      colorectal patients, for which there is a crucial unmet medical need. Clin Cancer
      Res; 23(17); 5267-80. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600478
TI  - Clinical Implications of Monitoring Circulating Tumor DNA in Patients with
      Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: We investigated whether detection of ctDNA after resection of colorectal
      cancer identifies the patients with the highest risk of relapse and, furthermore,
      whether longitudinal ctDNA analysis allows early detection of relapse and informs
      about response to intervention.Experimental Design: In this longitudinal cohort
      study, we used massively parallel sequencing to identify somatic mutations and
      used these as ctDNA markers to detect minimal residual disease and to monitor
      changes in tumor burden during a 3-year follow-up period.Results: A total of 45
      patients and 371 plasma samples were included. Longitudinal samples from 27
      patients revealed ctDNA postoperatively in all relapsing patients (n = 14), but
      not in any of the nonrelapsing patients. ctDNA detected relapse with an average
      lead time of 9.4 months compared with CT imaging. Of 21 patients treated for
      localized disease, six had ctDNA detected within 3 months after surgery. All six
      later relapsed compared with four of the remaining patients [HR, 37.7; 95%
      confidence interval (CI), 4.2-335.5; P < 0.001]. The ability of a 3-month ctDNA
      analysis to predict relapse was confirmed in 23 liver metastasis patients (HR
      4.9; 95% CI, 1.5-15.7; P = 0.007). Changes in ctDNA levels induced by relapse
      intervention (n = 19) showed good agreement with changes in tumor volume (kappa =
      0.41; Spearman rho = 0.4).Conclusions: Postoperative ctDNA detection provides
      evidence of residual disease and identifies patients at very high risk of
      relapse. Longitudinal surveillance enables early detection of relapse and informs
      about response to intervention. These observations have implications for the
      postoperative management of colorectal cancer patients. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18);
      5437-45. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600479
TI  - Trabectedin Overrides Osteosarcoma Differentiative Block and Reprograms the Tumor
      Immune Environment Enabling Effective Combination with Immune Checkpoint
      Inhibitors.
AB  - Purpose: Osteosarcoma, the most common primary bone tumor, is characterized by an
      aggressive behavior with high tendency to develop lung metastases as well as by
      multiple genetic aberrations that have hindered the development of targeted
      therapies. New therapeutic approaches are urgently needed; however, novel
      combinations with immunotherapies and checkpoint inhibitors require suitable
      preclinical models with intact immune systems to be properly tested.Experimental
      Design: We have developed immunocompetent osteosarcoma models that grow
      orthotopically in the bone and spontaneously metastasize to the lungs, mimicking
      human osteosarcoma. These models have been used to test the efficacy of
      trabectedin, a chemotherapeutic drug utilized clinically for sarcomas and ovarian
      cancer.Results: Trabectedin, as monotherapy, significantly inhibited osteosarcoma
      primary tumor growth and lung metastases by both targeting neoplastic cells and
      reprogramming the tumor immune microenvironment. Specifically, trabectedin
      induced a striking differentiation of tumor cells by favoring the recruitment of
      Runx2, the master genetic regulator of osteoblastogenesis, on the promoter of
      genes involved in the physiologic process of terminal osteoblast differentiation.
      Differentiated neoplastic cells, as expected, showed reduced proliferation rate.
      Concomitantly, trabectedin enhanced the number of tumor-infiltrating T
      lymphocytes, with local CD8 T cells, however, likely post-activated or exhausted,
      as suggested by their high expression of the inhibitory checkpoint molecule PD-1.
      Accordingly, the combination with a PD-1-blocking antibody significantly
      increased trabectedin efficacy in controlling osteosarcoma
      progression.Conclusions: These results demonstrate the therapeutic efficacy of
      trabectedin in osteosarcoma treatment, unveiling its multiple activities and
      providing a solid rationale for its combination with immune checkpoint
      inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res; 23(17); 5149-61. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600481
TI  - Optimal thresholds for ischemic penumbra predicted by computed tomography
      perfusion in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with mechanical
      thrombectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Optimal thresholds for ischemic penumbra detected by CT
      perfusion (CTP) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) have not been
      elucidated. In this study we investigated optimal thresholds for salvageable
      ischemic penumbra and the risk of hemorrhagic transformation (HT). METHODS: A
      total of 156 consecutive patients with AIS treated with mechanical thrombectomy
      (MT) at our hospital were enrolled. Absolute (a) and relative (r) CTP parameters
      including cerebral blood flow (aCBF and rCBF), cerebral blood volume (aCBV and
      rCBV), and mean transit time (aMTT and rMTT) were evaluated for their value in
      detecting ischemic penumbra in each of seven arbitrary regions of interest
      defined by the major supplying blood vessel. Optimal thresholds were calculated
      by performing receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in 47 patients who
      achieved Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (TICI) grade 3 recanalization. The
      risk of HT after MT was evaluated in 101 patients who achieved TICI grade 2b-3
      recanalization. RESULTS: Absolute CTP parameters for distinguishing ischemic
      penumbra from ischemic core were as follows: aCBF, 27.8 mL/100 g/min (area under
      the curve 0.82); aCBV, 2.1 mL/100 g (0.75); and aMTT, 7.30 s (0.70). Relative CTP
      parameters were as follows: rCBF, 0.62 (0.81); rCBV, 0.83 (0.87); and rMTT, 1.61
      (0.73). CBF was significantly lower in areas of HT than in areas of infarction
      (aCBF, p<0.01; rCBF, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CTP may be able to predict treatable
      ischemic penumbra and the risk of HT after MT in patients with AIS.

PMID- 28600480
TI  - miR-193a-3p is a Key Tumor Suppressor in Ulcerative Colitis-Associated Colon
      Cancer and Promotes Carcinogenesis through Upregulation of IL17RD.
AB  - Purpose: Patients with ulcerative colitis are at increased risk for colorectal
      cancer, although mechanisms underlying neoplastic transformation are poorly
      understood. We sought to evaluate the role of microRNAs in neoplasia development
      in this high-risk population.Experimental Design: Tissue from 12 controls, 9
      ulcerative colitis patients without neoplasia, and 11 ulcerative colitis patients
      with neoplasia was analyzed. miRNA array analysis was performed and select miRNAs
      assayed by real-time PCR on the discovery cohort and a validation cohort. DNA
      methylation of miR-193a was assessed. Following transfection of miR-193a-3p,
      proliferation, IL17RD expression, and luciferase activity of the 3'UTR of IL17RD
      were measured. Tumor growth in xenografts as well as EGFR signaling were assessed
      in HCT116 cells expressing IL17RD with either a mutant 3' untranslated region
      (UTR) or wild-type (WT) 3'UTR.Results: miR-31, miR-34a, miR-106b, and miR-193a-3p
      were significantly dysregulated in ulcerative colitis-neoplasia and adjacent
      tissue. Significant down-regulation of miR-193a-3p was also seen in an
      independent cohort of ulcerative colitis cancers. Changes in methylation of miR
      193a or expression of pri-miR-193a were not observed in ulcerative colitis
      cancer. Transfection of miR-193a-3p resulted in decreased proliferation, and
      identified IL17RD as a direct target of miR-193a-3p. IL17RD expression was
      increased in ulcerative colitis cancers, and miR-193a-3p treatment decreased
      growth and EGFR signaling of HCT116 cells in xenografts expressing both IL17RD
      with WT 3'UTR compared with cells expressing IL17RD with mutant
      3'UTR.Conclusions: miR-193a-3p is downregulated in ulcerative colitis neoplasia,
      and its loss promotes carcinogenesis through upregulation of IL17RD. These
      findings provide novel insight into inflammation-driven colorectal cancer and
      could suggest new therapeutic targets in this high-risk population. Clin Cancer
      Res; 23(17); 5281-91. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28600482
TI  - A multicenter study evaluating the frequency and time requirement of mechanical
      thrombectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There are few published data evaluating the incidence of mechanical
      thrombectomy among stroke centers or the times at which they occur. METHODS: A
      multicenter retrospective study was performed to identify all patients undergoing
      emergent thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke during a 3-month period (June
      through August 2016). Consultations that did not undergo thrombectomy were not
      included. RESULTS: Ten institutions participated in the study. During the 92-day
      study period, a total of 189 patients underwent mechanical thrombectomy. The
      average number of procedures per hospital over the study period was 18.9 (average
      of 0.2 cases per day per or 75.6 cases per year). This ranged from 0.09 cases per
      day at the lowest volume center to 0.49 cases per day at the highest volume
      center. Procedures were more common on weekdays (p<0.001) and during non-work
      hours (p<0.001). The most common period for thrombectomy procedures was between
      20:00 and 21:00 hours. The median time from notification to groin puncture was 84
      min (IQR 56-145 min) and from puncture to closure was 57 min (IQR 33-80 min). The
      median time from imaging completion to procedural start was 52 min longer for non
      work hours than during work hours (p<0.001). There were no differences in
      procedural length based on day of the week or time of day. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings indicate that the majority of mechanical thrombectomy cases occur during
      non-work hours, with associated off-hours delays, which has important operational
      implications for hospitals implementing stroke call coverage.

PMID- 28600483
TI  - Extending the indications for transvenous approach embolization for superficial
      brain arteriovenous malformations.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Transarterial embolization is the standard endovascular treatment
      strategy for intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). The transvenous
      approach has been indicated for the embolization of deep AVMs meeting a set of
      strict eligibility criteria. The present study aims to assess the safety and
      efficacy of the transvenous approach for superficial AVMs. METHODS: A
      retrospective series of 12 patients presenting with cortical AVMs were treated by
      endovascular embolization using a transvenous approach with a curative intent.
      RESULTS: Nine patients (75%) had ruptured AVMs at admission. The mean nidus size
      was 1.9 cm, six patients (50%) had a nidus in eloquent areas and the median
      Spetzler-Martin grade was 2. The rate of immediate angiographic occlusion of the
      AVMs was 91.6% (11/12). One patient in whom immediate angiographic occlusion was
      not achieved showed spontaneous occlusion at the 6-month follow-up. No procedural
      or clinical complications were observed. The mean and median modified Rankin
      scale (mRS) scores at discharge were 1.7 and 2 (range 0-3, SD=0.96), and the mean
      and median mRS scores at 6 months were 1.6 and 2 (0-3, 1.16). Nine patients (75%)
      were independent (mRS <=2) at discharge and 11 patients (91.6%) were independent
      (mRS <=2) at the 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The curative transvenous
      embolization of superficial intracranial AVMs is feasible and appears safe and
      effective when strict anatomical selection is respected. This technique extends
      the current indications for transvenous embolization of intracranial AVMs and may
      improve cure rates while reducing embolization-related complications.

PMID- 28600484
TI  - Perinatal Case of Fatal Simpson-Golabi-Behmel Syndrome with Hyperplasia of
      Seminiferous Tubules.
AB  - BACKGROUND Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS) is a rare X-linked recessive
      syndrome characterized by fetal overgrowth. CASE REPORT We present a case of a
      male infant with SGBS. Abnormal prenatal ultrasound (including congenital
      diaphragmatic hernia) prompted microarray testing of amniotic fluid cells, which
      showed deletion on chromosome Xq26.2 affecting the glypican-3 gene consistent
      with SGBS type I. The infant died six hours after birth and at autopsy showed
      features of SGBS, including macrosomia, organomegaly, diaphragmatic hernia with
      consequent pulmonary hypoplasia, cleft palate, large tongue with a midline
      groove, a supernumerary nipple, Meckel's diverticulum, and abnormal phalanges.
      Additionally, we observed features that have previously not been described in
      SGBS, including testes with hyperplastic seminiferous tubules and Mullerian
      remnants, and placenta with incipient fetal thrombotic vasculopathy. CONCLUSIONS
      While most patients with SGBS type I survive into childhood or even adulthood,
      the severe course in our patient was ascribed to pulmonary hypoplasia secondary
      to the bilateral diaphragmatic hernia.

PMID- 28600485
TI  - Silencing of TRB3 Ameliorates Diabetic Tubule Interstitial Nephropathy via
      PI3K/AKT Signaling in Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND Nephropathy, a chronic progressive kidney disease often characterized
      by glomeruli scarring and sclerosis, is a major complication of diabetes
      mellitus. Development of nephropathologic lesions has been shown to be associated
      with suppressed AKT phosphorylation and elevated level of apoptosis. Moreover, it
      has been established that the TRB3 gene is capable of inhibiting AKT
      phosphorylation and promoting apoptosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, we
      injected TRB3 siRNA into Wistar rats with type 1 diabetes, and monitored
      development of nephropathy in the rats. Urinary albumin excretion and serum
      creatinine were used as primary indicators, and nephritic histology was also
      examined. We also measured the serum level of pro-inflammatory cytokines collagen
      expression, and phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT proteins in the kidneys. RESULTS
      By silencing the TRB3 gene with siRNA, diabetic-induced nephropathy symptoms were
      alleviated, such as increased serum creatinine level and urinary albumin
      secretion. Additionally, histological examination showed lower levels of
      nephropathic lesions, and samples of the kidneys showed less accumulation of
      collagen proteins. Levels of serum cytokines, including TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and
      IL-6, were also lowered, whereas phosphorylation levels of PI3K and AKT were
      increased. In summary, TRB3 silencing in diabetic rats had a significant
      ameliorative effect on their nephropathy. CONCLUSIONS Silencing of TRB3 has a
      significant ameliorative effect on diabetic nephropathy in rats.

PMID- 28600486
TI  - Neural Process of the Preference Cross-category Transfer Effect: Evidence from an
      Event-related Potential Study.
AB  - In business practice, companies prefer to find highly attractive commercial
      spokesmen to represent and promote their products and brands. This study mainly
      focused on the investigation of whether female facial attractiveness influenced
      the preference attitudes of male subjects toward a no-named and unfamiliar logo
      and determined the underlying reasons via neuroscientific methods. We designed
      two ERP (event-related potential) experiments. Experiment 1 comprised a formal
      experiment with facial stimuli. The purpose of experiment 2 was to confirm
      whether the logos that were used did not present a significant difference for the
      subjects. According to the behavioural results of experiment 1, when other
      conditions were not significantly different, the preference degree of the logos
      correlated with attractive female faces was increased compared with the logos
      correlated with unattractive faces. Reasons to explain these behavioural
      phenomena were identified via ERP measures, and preference cross-category
      transfer mainly caused the results. Additionally, the preference developed
      associated with emotion. This study is the first to report a novel concept
      referred to as the "Preference Cross-Category Transfer Effect". Moreover, a three
      phase neural process of the face evaluation subsequently explained how the cross
      category transfer of preference occurred and influenced subject preference
      attitude toward brand logos.

PMID- 28600487
TI  - Fluid viscoelasticity promotes collective swimming of sperm.
AB  - From flocking birds to swarming insects, interactions of organisms large and
      small lead to the emergence of collective dynamics. Here, we report striking
      collective swimming of bovine sperm in dynamic clusters, enabled by the
      viscoelasticity of the fluid. Sperm oriented in the same direction within each
      cluster, and cluster size and cell-cell alignment strength increased with
      viscoelasticity of the fluid. In contrast, sperm swam randomly and individually
      in Newtonian (nonelastic) fluids of low and high viscosity. Analysis of the fluid
      motion surrounding individual swimming sperm indicated that sperm-fluid
      interaction was facilitated by the elastic component of the fluid. In humans, as
      well as cattle, sperm are naturally deposited at the entrance to the cervix and
      must swim through viscoelastic cervical mucus and other mucoid secretions to
      reach the site of fertilization. Collective swimming induced by elasticity may
      thus facilitate sperm migration and contribute to successful fertilization. We
      note that almost all biological fluids (e.g. mucus and blood) are viscoelastic in
      nature, and this finding highlights the importance of fluid elasticity in
      biological function.

PMID- 28600488
TI  - Flexible Indium-Tin Oxide Crystal on Plastic Substrates Supported by Graphene
      Monolayer.
AB  - Flexible and crystallized indium-tin oxide (ITO) thin films were successfully
      obtained on plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films with monolayered
      graphene as a platform. The highly crystalline ITO (c-ITO) was first fabricated
      on a rigid substrate of graphene on copper foil and it was subsequently
      transferred onto a PET substrate by a well-established technique. Despite the
      plasma damage during ITO deposition, the graphene layer effectively acted as a Cu
      diffusion barrier. The c-ITO/graphene/PET electrode with the 60-nm-thick ITO
      exhibited a reasonable sheet resistance of ~45 Omega sq-1 and a transmittance of
      ~92% at a wavelength of 550 nm. The c-ITO on the monolayered graphene support
      showed significant enhancement in flexibility compared with the ITO/PET film
      without graphene because the atomically controlled monolayered graphene acted as
      a mechanically robust support. The prepared flexible transparent c
      ITO/graphene/PET electrode was applied as the anode in a bulk heterojunction
      polymer solar cell (PSC) to evaluate its performance, which was comparable with
      that of the commonly used c-ITO/glass electrode. These results represent
      important progress in the fabrication of flexible transparent electrodes for
      future optoelectronics applications.

PMID- 28600489
TI  - Enhancing formation rate of highly-oriented silicon nanowire arrays with the
      assistance of back substrates.
AB  - Facile, effective and reliable etching technique for the formation of uniform
      silicon (Si) nanowire arrays were realized through the incorporation of back
      substrates with metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE). In comparison with
      conventional MaCE process, a dramatic increase of etching rates upon MaCE process
      could be found by employing the conductive back substrates on p-type Si, while
      additionally prevented the creation of nanopores from catalytic etching reaction.
      Examinations on the involving etching kinetics, morphologies, wetting behaviors
      and surface structures were performed that validated the role of back substrates
      upon MaCE process. It was found that the involved two pathways for the extraction
      of electrons within Si favored the localized oxidation of Si at Si/Ag interfaces,
      thereby increasing the etching rate of MaCE process. This back-substrate involved
      MaCE could potentially meet the practical needs for the high-yield formation of
      Si nanowire arrays.

PMID- 28600491
TI  - Development and Evaluation of 18F-IRS for Molecular Imaging Mutant EGF Receptors
      in NSCLC.
AB  - To prepare and evaluate a new radiotracer 18F-IRS for molecular imaging mutant
      EGF Receptors in vitro and vivo. Uptake and efflux of 18F-IRS were performed with
      four NSCLC cell lines including HCC827, H1975, H358 and H520. In vivo tumor
      targeting and pharmacokinetics of the radiotracers were also evaluated in HCC827,
      H1975, H358 and H520 tumor-bearing nude mice by PET/CT imaging. Ex vivo
      biodistribution assays were performed to quantify the accumulation of 18F-IRS in
      vivo. We also performed 18F-IRS PET/CT imaging of three patients with NSCLC. We
      labeled this small molecule with QD620 for flow cytometry and confocal imaging
      analyses. The uptakes of 18F-IRS by HCC827 and HCC827 tumors were significantly
      higher than those of H358, H1975 and H520, and they were reduced by the addition
      of 100 MUM of gefitinib. Biodistribution experiments showed an accumulation of
      18F-IRS in tumors of HCC827 xenografts. Flow cytometry and confocal imaging with
      QD620-IRS further demonstrated that binding specifically to HCC827 cells. 18F-IRS
      accumulation was preferential in the tumor, which was NSCLC with responsive EGFR
      exon 19 deleted. 18F-IRS showed high binding stability and specificity to 19 exon
      deleted EGFR mutation in vitro and vivo.

PMID- 28600490
TI  - Treating tobacco dependence: guidance for primary care on life-saving
      interventions. Position statement of the IPCRG.
AB  - Tobacco smoking is the world's leading cause of premature death and disability.
      Global targets to reduce premature deaths by 25% by 2025 will require a
      substantial increase in the number of smokers making a quit attempt, and a
      significant improvement in the success rates of those attempts in low, middle and
      high income countries. In many countries the only place where the majority of
      smokers can access support to quit is primary care. There is strong evidence of
      cost-effective interventions in primary care yet many opportunities to put these
      into practice are missed. This paper revises the approach proposed by the
      International Primary Care Respiratory Group published in 2008 in this journal to
      reflect important new evidence and the global variation in primary-care
      experience and knowledge of smoking cessation. Specific for primary care, that
      advocates for a holistic, bio-psycho-social approach to most problems, the
      starting point is to approach tobacco dependence as an eminently treatable
      condition. We offer a hierarchy of interventions depending on time and available
      resources. We present an equitable approach to behavioural and drug
      interventions. This includes an update to the evidence on behaviour change,
      gender difference, comparative information on numbers needed to treat, drug
      safety and availability of drugs, including the relatively cheap drug cytisine,
      and a summary of new approaches such as harm reduction. This paper also extends
      the guidance on special populations such as people with long-term conditions
      including tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, cardiovascular disease and
      respiratory disease, pregnant women, children and adolescents, and people with
      serious mental illness. We use expert clinical opinion where the research
      evidence is insufficient or inconclusive. The paper describes trends in the use
      of waterpipes and cannabis smoking and offers guidance to primary-care clinicians
      on what to do faced with uncertain evidence. Throughout, it recognises that
      clinical decisions should be tailored to the individual's circumstances and
      attitudes and be influenced by the availability and affordability of drugs and
      specialist services. Finally it argues that the role of the International Primary
      Care Respiratory Group is to improve the confidence as well as the competence of
      primary care and, therefore, makes recommendations about clinical education and
      evaluation. We also advocate for an update to the WHO Model List of Essential
      Medicines to optimise each primary-care intervention. This International Primary
      Care Respiratory Group statement has been endorsed by the Member Organisations of
      World Organization of Family Doctors Europe.

PMID- 28600492
TI  - Genome-wide mapping and characterization of microsatellites in the swamp eel
      genome.
AB  - We described genome-wide screening and characterization of microsatellites in the
      swamp eel genome. A total of 99,293 microsatellite loci were identified in the
      genome with an overall density of 179 microsatellites per megabase of genomic
      sequences. The dinucleotide microsatellites were the most abundant type
      representing 71% of the total microsatellite loci and the AC-rich motifs were the
      most recurrent in all repeat types. Microsatellite frequency decreased as numbers
      of repeat units increased, which was more obvious in long than short
      microsatellite motifs. Most of microsatellites were located in non-coding
      regions, whereas only approximately 1% of the microsatellites were detected in
      coding regions. Trinucleotide repeats were most abundant microsatellites in the
      coding regions, which represented amino acid repeats in proteins. There was a
      chromosome-biased distribution of microsatellites in non-coding regions, with the
      highest density of 203.95/Mb on chromosome 8 and the least on chromosome 7
      (164.06/Mb). The most abundant dinucleotides (AC)n was mainly located on
      chromosome 8. Notably, genomic mapping showed that there was a chromosome-biased
      association of genomic distributions between microsatellites and transposon
      elements. Thus, the novel dataset of microsatellites in swamp eel provides a
      valuable resource for further studies on QTL-based selection breeding, genetic
      resource conservation and evolutionary genetics.

PMID- 28600494
TI  - Serum Lipid Levels and Risk Of Hand Osteoarthritis: The Chingford Prospective
      Cohort Study.
AB  - The development of hand osteoarthritis (HOA) could be linked to hyperlipidaemia.
      No longitudinal studies have addressed the relationship between serum lipid
      profile and HOA. The study aim was to determine the association between serum
      lipid profile and the incidence of radiographic hand osteoarthritis (RHOA). All
      women in a prospective population-based cohort from the Chingford study with
      available baseline lipid measurements and without RHOA on a baseline were
      included. Study outcome was the incidence of RHOA in year 11 of follow-up. Serum
      lipid profile variables were analysed as continuous variables and categorised
      into quartiles. The association between serum lipid profile and RHOA was modeled
      using multivariable logistic regression. Overall RHOA incidence was 51.6% (45.7
      57.4%). An inverse association between HDL cholesterol levels and the incidence
      of RHOA was observed by quartile: OR of 0.36 [95%CI 0.17-0.75], 0.52 [95%CI 0.26
      1.06], and 0.48 [95%CI 0.22-1.03]. Triglycerides levels showed a significant
      trend. No relationship was found with total or LDL cholesterol. Higher levels of
      HDL cholesterol appear to protect against RHOA after 11 years of follow-up. More
      research is needed to elucidate HOA risk factors, the mechanisms related to the
      lipid pathway, and the effects of lipid-lowering agents on reducing the incidence
      of OA.

PMID- 28600493
TI  - Adiponectin modulates oxidative stress-induced mitophagy and protects C2C12
      myoblasts against apoptosis.
AB  - Adiponectin (APN), also known as apM1, Acrp30, GBP28 and adipoQ, is a circulating
      hormone that is predominantly produced by adipose tissue. Many pharmacological
      studies have demonstrated that this protein possesses potent anti-diabetic, anti
      atherogenic and anti-inflammatory properties. Although several studies have
      demonstrated the antioxidative activity of this protein, the regulatory
      mechanisms have not yet been defined in skeletal muscles. The aim of the present
      study was to examine the cytoprotective effects of APN against damage induced by
      oxidative stress in mouse-derived C2C12 myoblasts. APN attenuated H2O2-induced
      growth inhibition and exhibited scavenging activity against intracellular
      reactive oxygen species that were induced by H2O2. Furthermore, treating C2C12
      cells with APN significantly induced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and nuclear factor
      erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2). APN also suppressed H2O2-induced mitophagy
      and partially inhibited the colocalization of mitochondria with
      autophagosomes/lysosomes, correlating with the expression of Pink1 and Parkin and
      mtDNA. Moreover, APN protected C2C12 myoblasts against oxidative stress-induced
      apoptosis. Furthermore, APN significantly reduced the mRNA and protein expression
      levels of Bax. These data suggest that APN has a moderate regulatory role in
      oxidative stress-induced mitophagy and suppresses apoptosis. These findings
      demonstrate the antioxidant potential of APN in oxidative stress-associated
      skeletal muscle diseases.

PMID- 28600495
TI  - Functional dissection of human targets for KSHV-encoded miRNAs using network
      analysis.
AB  - Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent of
      Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman's disease,
      etc. In this study, we firstly systematically constructed the KSHV-encoded miRNA
      regulated co-expressed protein-protein interaction network (CePPIN), which
      display the biological knowledge regarding the mechanism of miRNA-regulated KSHV
      pathogenesis. Then, we investigated the topological parameters for the proteins
      in CePPIN, especially for those miRNA targets and we found that cellular target
      genes of KSHV-encoded miRNAs tend to be hubs and bottlenecks in the network. Then
      the GO and KEGG pathway analysis suggests that miRNA targets are involved in
      various cellular processes mostly related to immune regulate and cell cycle.
      Enrichment analysis was also performed to identify the six important functional
      modules which are proven to be highly related to KSHV pathogenesis. Finally,
      difference analysis of common targets and specific targets shows that two kinds
      of targets are different in terms of both topological properties and enriched
      functions, thus we can extrapolate that the functions of KSHV-encoded miRNAs can
      be also classified into two generic groups, one can act as functional mimics of
      some oncogenic human miRNAs which contribute to tumorigenesis and the other can
      contribute to maintaining viral survival.

PMID- 28600496
TI  - Dysregulation of nuclear receptor COUP-TFII impairs skeletal muscle development.
AB  - Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) has been
      shown to inhibit myogenesis and skeletal muscle metabolism in vitro. However, its
      precise role and in vivo function in muscle development has yet to be clearly
      defined. COUP-TFII protein expression level is high in undifferentiated
      progenitors and gradually declines during differentiation, raising an important
      question of whether downregulation of COUP-TFII expression is required for proper
      muscle cell differentiation. In this study, we generated a mouse model
      ectopically expressing COUP-TFII in myogenic precursors to maintain COUP-TFII
      activity during myogenesis and found that elevated COUP-TFII activity resulted in
      inefficient skeletal muscle development. Using in vitro cell culture and in vivo
      mouse models, we showed that COUP-TFII hinders myogenic development by repressing
      myoblast fusion. Mechanistically, the inefficient muscle cell fusion correlates
      well with the transcriptional repression of Npnt, Itgb1D and Cav3, genes
      important for cell-cell fusion. We further demonstrated that COUP-TFII also
      reduces the activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), an integrin downstream
      regulator which is essential for fusion process. Collectively, our studies
      highlight the importance of down-regulation of COUP-TFII signaling to allow for
      the induction of factors crucial for myoblast fusion.

PMID- 28600497
TI  - On the nature of photoluminescence in Bismuth-doped silica glass.
AB  - We report on the investigation of Bismuth-doped pure silica glass without other
      co-dopant by the tech- nique of magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), which allows
      the direct probing of the ground state of optical centres. Taking into account
      the results of conventional optical spectroscopy, we show that the observed MCD
      bands belong to the centre responsible for the red photoluminescence in this
      material. Measurements of the temperature and field dependences indicate that the
      MCD effect is caused by the even-electron system. This, however, opposes the
      widespread opinion that Bi2+ ions are the origin of red photoluminescence in
      Bismuth-doped silica glasses. On the other hand, the lasing centre responsi- ble
      for the near infrared photoluminescence does not exhibit any magnetic optical
      activity connected to its ground state. As a consequence, we conclude that the
      ground state of lasing centre is a magnetic singlet with the effective spin S =
      0.

PMID- 28600499
TI  - Clinical on-site monitoring of beta-lactam antibiotics for a personalized
      antibiotherapy.
AB  - An appropriate antibiotherapy is crucial for the safety and recovery of patients.
      Depending on the clinical conditions of patients, the required dose to
      effectively eradicate an infection may vary. An inadequate dosing not only
      reduces the efficacy of the antibiotic, but also promotes the emergence of
      antimicrobial resistances. Therefore, a personalized therapy is of great interest
      for improved patients' outcome and will reduce in long-term the prevalence of
      multidrug-resistances. In this context, on-site monitoring of the antibiotic
      blood concentration is fundamental to facilitate an individual adjustment of the
      antibiotherapy. Herein, we present a bioinspired approach for the bedside
      monitoring of free accessible beta-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins
      (piperacillin) and cephalosporins (cefuroxime and cefazolin) in untreated plasma
      samples. The introduced system combines a disposable microfluidic chip with a
      naturally occurring penicillin-binding protein, resulting in a high-performance
      platform, capable of gauging very low antibiotic concentrations (less than 6 ng
      ml-1) from only 1 ul of serum. The system's applicability to a personalized
      antibiotherapy was successfully demonstrated by monitoring the pharmacokinetics
      of patients, treated with beta-lactam antibiotics, undergoing surgery.

PMID- 28600498
TI  - Deregulation of miRNAs in malignant pleural mesothelioma is associated with
      prognosis and suggests an alteration of cell metabolism.
AB  - Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive human cancer and miRNAs can
      play a key role for this disease. In order to broaden the knowledge in this
      field, the miRNA expression was investigated in a large series of MPM to discover
      new pathways helpful in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. We employed nanoString
      nCounter system for miRNA profiling on 105 MPM samples and 10 healthy pleura. The
      analysis was followed by the validation of the most significantly deregulated
      miRNAs by RT-qPCR in an independent sample set. We identified 63 miRNAs
      deregulated in a statistically significant way. MiR-185, miR-197, and miR-299
      were confirmed differentially expressed, after validation study. In addition, the
      results of the microarray analysis corroborated previous findings concerning miR
      15b-5p, miR-126-3p, and miR-145-5p. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to explore the
      association between miRNA expression and overall survival (OS) and identified a 2
      miRNA prognostic signature (Let-7c-5p and miR-151a-5p) related to hypoxia and
      energy metabolism respectively. In silico analyses with DIANA-microT-CDS
      highlighted 5 putative targets in common between two miRNAs. With the present
      work we showed that the pattern of miRNAs expression is highly deregulated in MPM
      and that a 2-miRNA signature can be a new useful tool for prognosis in MPM.

PMID- 28600500
TI  - Using nanoBRET and CRISPR/Cas9 to monitor proximity to a genome-edited protein in
      real-time.
AB  - Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) has been a vital tool for
      understanding G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) function. It has been used to
      investigate GPCR-protein and/or -ligand interactions as well as GPCR
      oligomerisation. However the utility of BRET is limited by the requirement that
      the fusion proteins, and in particular the donor, need to be exogenously
      expressed. To address this, we have used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed
      repair to generate protein-Nanoluciferase (Nluc) fusions under endogenous
      promotion, thus allowing investigation of proximity between the genome-edited
      protein and an exogenously expressed protein by BRET. Here we report BRET
      monitoring of GPCR-mediated beta-arrestin2 recruitment and internalisation where
      the donor luciferase was under endogenous promotion, in live cells and in real
      time. We have investigated the utility of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to create
      genome-edited fusion proteins that can be used as BRET donors and propose that
      this strategy can be used to overcome the need for exogenous donor expression.

PMID- 28600501
TI  - Hatching enzymes disrupt aberrant gonadal degeneration by the autophagy/apoptosis
      cell fate decision.
AB  - Environmental stressors, gonadal degenerative diseases and tumour development can
      significantly alter the oocyte physiology, and species fertility and fitness. To
      expand the molecular understanding about oocyte degradation, we isolated several
      spliced variants of Japanese anchovy hatching enzymes (AcHEs; ovastacin
      homologue) 1 and 2, and analysed their potential in oocyte sustenance.
      Particularly, AcHE1b, an ovary-specific, steroid-regulated, methylation
      dependent, stress-responsive isoform, was neofunctionalized to regulate
      autophagic oocyte degeneration. AcHE1a and 2 triggered apoptotic degeneration in
      vitellogenic and mature oocytes, respectively. Progesterone, starvation, and high
      temperature elevated the total degenerating oocyte population and AcHE1b
      transcription by hyper-demethylation. Overexpression, knockdown and intracellular
      zinc ion chelation study confirmed the functional significance of AcHE1b in
      autophagy induction, possibly to mitigate the stress effects in fish, via ion
      homeostasis. Our finding chronicles the importance of AcHEs in stress-influenced
      apoptosis/autophagy cell fate decision and may prove significant in reproductive
      failure assessments, gonadal health maintenance and ovarian degenerative disease
      therapy.

PMID- 28600502
TI  - Evaluating the repeatability of corneal elevation through calculating the
      misalignment between Successive topography measurements during the follow up of
      LASIK.
AB  - The study aims to evaluate, using the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm,
      the repeatability of successive corneal elevation measurements taken post-LASIK.
      Two topography maps of 98 LASIK participants were recorded preoperatively (Pre),
      1 month (Pos1M) and 3 months postoperatively (Pos3M). Elevation of the second
      measurement was fitted to the first measurement by calculating using ICP, and
      correcting for, both translational and rotational misalignment components. The
      RMS of elevation differences between anterior corneal measurements were
      statistically significant post-LASIK compared to preoperation (P < 0.05). A
      misalignment ratio used to describe the weighting of the elevation difference
      caused by misalignment relative to the total difference remained stable (0.40 and
      0.23 for anterior and posterior corneal surfaces, respectively) in different
      periods. The study also considered the combined misalignment parameter (CM),
      which represents the total effect of all individual misalignment components on
      the repeatability of corneal topography maps. CM was significantly greater post
      LASIK relative to pre-LASIK (P < 0.05). Overall, the contribution of misalignment
      to the total difference between successive corneal measurements remained stable
      pre and post operation, while the combined effect of refractive error correction
      and optical diameter appeared to have a significant influence on the elevation
      repeatability in the early stages of the follow up period.

PMID- 28600503
TI  - Transcriptome sequencing identifies ANLN as a promising prognostic biomarker in
      bladder urothelial carcinoma.
AB  - The prognosis of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) varies greatly even for
      patients with similar pathological characteristics. We conducted transcriptome
      sequencing on ten pairs of BLCA samples and adjacent normal tissues to identify
      differentially expressed genes. Anillin (ANLN) was identified as a transcript
      that was significantly up-regulated in BLCA samples compared with normal tissues.
      Prognostic power of candidate gene was studied using qRT-PCR and
      immunohistochemistry on 40 and 209 patients, respectively. Patients with elevated
      ANLN expression level was correlated with poorer cancer-specific (median, 22.4
      vs. 37.3 months, p = 0.001), progression-free (median, 19.7 vs. 27.9 months, p =
      0.001) and recurrence-free survival (median, 17.1 vs. 25.2 months, p = 0.011)
      compared with low ANLN expression. Public datasets TCGA and NCBI-GEO were
      analyzed for external validation. Knockdown of ANLN in J82 and 5637 cells using
      small interfering RNA significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and
      invasion ability. Moreover, knockdown of ANLN resulted in G2/M phase arrest and
      decreased expression of cyclin B1 and D1. Microarray analysis suggested that ANLN
      played a major role in cell migration and was closely associated with several
      cancer-related signaling pathways. In conclusion, ANLN was identified as a
      promising prognostic biomarker which could be used to stratify different risks of
      BLCA.

PMID- 28600504
TI  - Amphiregulin contained in NSCLC-exosomes induces osteoclast differentiation
      through the activation of EGFR pathway.
AB  - Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the leading cause of cancer-related
      deaths worldwide. The majority of patients are diagnosed in advanced disease
      stage. Bone metastasis is the most frequent complication in NSCLC resulting in
      osteolytic lesions. The perfect balance between bone-resorbing osteoclasts and
      bone-forming osteoblasts activity is lost in bone metastasis, inducing
      osteoclastogenesis. In NSCLC, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway
      is constitutively activated. EGFR binds Amphiregulin (AREG) that is overexpressed
      in several cancers such as colon, breast and lung. Its levels in plasma of NSCLC
      patients correlate with poor prognosis and AREG was recently found as a signaling
      molecule in exosomes derived from cancer cell lines. Exosomes have a key role in
      the cell-cell communication and they were recently indicated as important actors
      in metastatic niche preparation. In the present work, we hypothesize a role of
      AREG carried by exosomes derived from NSCLC in bone metastasis induction. We
      observed that NSCLC-exosomes, containing AREG, induce EGFR pathway activation in
      pre-osteoclasts that in turn causes an increased expression of RANKL. RANKL is
      able to induce the expression of proteolytic enzymes, well-known markers of
      osteoclastogenesis, triggering a vicious cycle in osteolytic bone metastasis.

PMID- 28600505
TI  - Malnutrition-sarcopenia syndrome predicts mortality in hospitalized older
      patients.
AB  - A new term, malnutrition-sarcopenia syndrome (MSS), was recently coined to
      describe the clinical presentation of both malnutrition and sarcopenia. The aim
      of this study was to investigate the association between MSS and long-term
      mortality in older inpatients. We conducted a prospective study in acute
      geriatric wards of two local hospitals in China. Muscle mass and malnutrition
      were estimated by anthropometric measures and the Mini Nutritional Assessment
      (MNA). Of the 453 participants, 14 (3.1%) had sarcopenia with normal nutrition,
      139 (30.7%) had malnutrition risk without sarcopenia, 48 (10.6%) had malnutrition
      risk with sarcopenia, 25 (5.5%) had malnutrition without sarcopenia, and 22
      (4.9%) had MSS at baseline. Compared with non-sarcopenic subjects with normal
      nutrition, subjects with MSS and subjects with malnutrition risk and sarcopenia
      were more than four times more likely to die (hazard ratio [HR], 4.78; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 2.09-10.97; and HR, 4.25; 95% CI, 2.22-8.12,
      respectively); non-sarcopenic subjects with malnutrition risk were more than two
      times more likely to die (HR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.32-4.39). In conclusion, MSS may
      serve as a prognostic factor in the management of hospitalized older patients.

PMID- 28600507
TI  - Global gene expression defines faded whorl specification of double flower
      domestication in Camellia.
AB  - Double flowers in cultivated camellias are divergent in floral patterns which
      present a rich resource for demonstrating molecular modifications influenced by
      the human demands. Despite the key principle of ABCE model in whorl
      specification, the underlying mechanism of fine-tuning double flower formation
      remains largely unclear. Here a comprehensive comparative transcriptomics
      interrogation of gene expression among floral organs of wild type and "formal
      double" and "anemone double" is presented. Through a combination of
      transcriptome, small RNA and "degradome" sequencing, we studied the regulatory
      gene expression network underlying the double flower formation. We obtained the
      differentially expressed genes between whorls in wild and cultivated Camellia. We
      showed that the formation of double flowers tends to demolish gene expression
      canalization of key functions; the faded whorl specification mechanism was
      fundamental under the diverse patterns of double flowers. Furthermore, we
      identified conserved miRNA-targets regulations in the control of double flowers,
      and we found that miR172-AP2, miR156-SPLs were critical regulatory nodes
      contributing to the diversity of double flower forms. This work highlights the
      hierarchical patterning of global gene expression in floral development, and
      supports the roles of "faded ABC model" mechanism and miRNA-targets regulations
      underlying the double flower domestication.

PMID- 28600506
TI  - Antibacterial cellulose paper made with silver-coated gold nanoparticles.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the antibacterial activity of silver-coated gold
      nanoparticles (Au-Ag NPs) immobilized on cellulose paper. Ag NPs are known to
      have strong antibacterial properties, while Au NPs are biocompatible and
      relatively simple to prepare. We made the Au-Ag NPs using a facile process called
      Ag enhancement, in which Au NPs serve as the nuclei for precipitation of a Ag
      coating, the thickness of which can be easily controlled by varying the ratio of
      the reactants. After synthesis, electron microscopy showed that the Au-Ag NPs
      displayed a core-shell structure, and that they could be successfully immobilized
      onto a cellulose membrane by heat treatment. We then investigated the
      antibacterial properties of this NP-coated cellulose paper against E. coli JM109.
      The inhibition rate, growth curve, and AATCC 100 activity test showed that
      cellulose paper coated with 15 nm Au-Ag NPs possessed excellent antibacterial
      activity against E. coli JM109. These results suggest that Au-Ag NPs immobilized
      on cellulose paper could be a valuable antibacterial technology for applications
      such as food packaging, clothing, wound dressings, and other personal care
      products.

PMID- 28600508
TI  - Improving Spatiotemporal Breast Cancer Assessment and Prediction in Hangzhou
      City, China.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) is the main cause of death of female cancer patients in China.
      Mainstream mapping techniques, like spatiotemporal ordinary kriging (STOK),
      generate disease incidence maps that improve our understanding of disease
      distribution. Yet, the implementation of these techniques experiences substantive
      and technical complications (due mainly to the different characteristics of space
      and time). A new spatiotemporal projection (STP) technique that is free of the
      above complications was implemented to model the space-time distribution of BC
      incidence in Hangzhou city and to estimate incidence values at locations-times
      for which no BC data exist. For comparison, both the STP and the STOK techniques
      were used to generate BC incidence maps in Hangzhou. STP performed considerably
      better than STOK in terms of generating more accurate incidence maps showing a
      closer similarity to the observed incidence distribution, and providing an
      improved assessment of the space-time BC correlation structure. In sum, the inter
      connections between space, time, BC incidence and spread velocity established by
      STP allow a more realistic representation of the actual incidence distribution,
      and generate incidence maps that are more accurate and more informative, at a
      lower computational cost and involving fewer approximations than the incidence
      maps produced by mainstream space-time techniques.

PMID- 28600509
TI  - Pwp2 mediates UTP-B assembly via two structurally independent domains.
AB  - The SSU processome constitutes a large ribonucleoprotein complex involved in the
      early steps of ribosome biogenesis. UTP-B is one of the first multi-subunit
      protein complexes that associates with the pre-ribosomal RNA to form the SSU
      processome. To understand the molecular basis of the hierarchical assembly of the
      SSU-processome, we have undergone a structural and functional analysis of the UTP
      B subunit Pwp2p. We show that Pwp2p is required for the proper assembly of UTP-B
      and for a productive association of UTP-B with pre-rRNA. These two functions are
      mediated by two distinct structural domains. The N-terminal domain of Pwp2p folds
      into a tandem WD-repeat (tWD) that associates with Utp21p, Utp18p, and Utp6p to
      form a core complex. The CTDs of Pwp2p and Utp21p mediate the assembly of the
      heterodimer Utp12p:Utp13p that is required for the stable incorporation of the
      UTP-B complex in the SSU processome. Finally, we provide evidence suggesting a
      role of UTP-B as a platform for the binding of assembly factors during the
      maturation of 20S rRNA precursors.

PMID- 28600510
TI  - Discordance in HER2 Status in Gastro-esophageal Adenocarcinomas: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - Trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy is standard of care for HER2 positive
      advanced gastro-esophageal cancers. The reported prevalence of HER2 discordance
      between primary tumors and corresponding metastases varies, hampering uniform
      patient selection for HER2 targeted therapy. This meta-analysis explores the
      influence of HER2 assessment methods on this discordance and investigates the
      prevalence of HER2 discordance in gastro-esophageal adenocarcinomas. PubMed,
      Embase and Cochrane databases were searched until January 2016. Differences in
      discordance rate between strict and broad(er) definitions of HER2 status were
      assessed using random-effect pair-wise meta-analysis. Random-effect single-arm
      meta-analyses were performed to assess HER2 discordance and the prevalence of
      positive and negative conversion. A significantly lower discordance rate in HER2
      status between primary tumors and corresponding metastases was observed using a
      strict vs. broad definition of HER2 status (RR = 0.58, 95%CI 0.41-0.82), with a
      pooled discordance rate of 6.2% and 12.2%, respectively. Using the strict
      definition of HER2 assessment pooled overall discordance was 7% (95%CI 5-10%).
      The lowest discordance rates between primary tumors and corresponding metastasis
      are observed when using a strict method of HER2 positivity. Treatment outcomes of
      different studies will be better comparable if selection of eligible patients for
      HER2 targeted therapy is based on this strict definition.

PMID- 28600511
TI  - A Metric on the Space of kth-order reduced Phylogenetic Networks.
AB  - Phylogenetic networks can be used to describe the evolutionary history of species
      which experience a certain number of reticulate events, and represent conflicts
      in phylogenetic trees that may be due to inadequacies of the evolutionary model
      used in the construction of the trees. Measuring the dissimilarity between two
      phylogenetic networks is at the heart of our understanding of the evolutionary
      history of species. This paper proposes a new metric, i.e. kth-distance, for the
      space of kth-order reduced phylogenetic networks that can be calculated in
      polynomial time in the size of the compared networks.

PMID- 28600512
TI  - Real-time imaging of intestinal bacterial beta-glucuronidase activity by
      hydrolysis of a fluorescent probe.
AB  - Intestinal bacterial beta-glucuronidase (betaG) hydrolyzes glucuronidated
      metabolites to their toxic form in intestines, resulting in intestinal damage.
      The development of a method to inhibit betaG is thus important but has been
      limited by the difficulty of directly assessing enzyme activity in live animals.
      Here, we utilized a fluorescent probe, fluorescein di-beta-D-glucuronide
      (FDGlcU), to non-invasively image the intestinal bacterial betaG activity in nude
      mice. In vitro cell-based assays showed that the detection limit is 104 colony
      forming units/well of betaG-expressing bacteria, and that 7.81 ng/mL of FDGlcU is
      enough to generate significant fluorescent signal. In whole-body optical images
      of nude mice, the maximum fluorescence signal for betaG activity in intestines
      was detected 3 hours after gavage with FDGlcU. Following pretreatment with a
      bacterial betaG inhibitor, the fluorescence signal was significantly reduced in
      abdomens and excised intestines images. For a 4-day antibiotic treatment to
      deplete intestinal bacteria, the FDGlcU-based images showed that the betaG
      activity was decreased by 8.5-fold on day 4 and then gradually increased after
      treatment stopped. The results suggested that FDGlcU-based imaging revealed the
      in vitro and in vivo activity of intestinal bacterial betaG, which would
      facilitate pharmacodynamic studies of specific bacterial betaG inhibitors in
      animal studies.

PMID- 28600513
TI  - TRPC5-induced autophagy promotes drug resistance in breast carcinoma via
      CaMKKbeta/AMPKalpha/mTOR pathway.
AB  - Adriamycin is a first-line chemotherapy agent against cancer, but the development
      of resistance has become a major problem. Although autophagy is considered to be
      an adaptive survival response in response to chemotherapy and may be associated
      with chemoresistance, its inducer and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain
      unclear. Here, we demonstrate that adriamycin up-regulates the both levels of
      TRPC5 and autophagy, and the increase in autophagy is mediated by TRPC5 in breast
      cancer cells. Blockade of TRPC5 or autophagy increased the sensitivity to
      chemotherapy in vitro and in vivo. Notably, we revealed a positive correlation
      between TRPC5 and the autophagy-associated protein LC3 in paired patients with or
      without anthracycline-taxane-based chemotherapy. Furthermore, pharmacological
      inhibition and gene-silencing showed that the cytoprotective autophagy mediated
      by TRPC5 during adriamycin treatment is dependent on the CaMKKbeta/AMPKalpha/mTOR
      pathway. Moreover, adriamycin-resistant MCF-7/ADM cells maintained a high basal
      level of autophagy, and silencing of TRPC5 and inhibition of autophagy
      counteracted the resistance to adriamycin. Thus, our results revealed a novel
      role of TRPC5 as an inducer of autophagy, and this suggests a novel mechanism of
      drug resistance in chemotherapy for breast cancer.

PMID- 28600514
TI  - Bactericidal metabolites from Phellinus noxius HN-1 against Microcystis
      aeruginosa.
AB  - Harmful algal blooms cause serious problems worldwide due to large quantities of
      cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacteria in eutrophic water. In this study, a new
      compound named 2-(3, 4-dihydroxy-2-methoxyphenyl)-1, 3-benzodioxole-5
      carbaldehyde (Compound 1), together with one known compound, 3, 4
      dihydroxybenzalacetone (DBL), was purified from Phellinus noxius HN-1 (CCTCC M
      2016242). Compound 1 and DBL displayed activity against the cyanobacteria
      Microcystis aeruginosa with a half maximal effective concentration of 21 and 5
      MUg/mL, respectively. Scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic
      observations showed that the compounds caused serious damage and significant
      lysis to M. aeruginosa cells. qRT-PCR assay indicated that compound 1 and DBL
      exposure up-regulated the expression of gene mcyB and down-regulated the
      expression of genes ftsZ, psbA1, and glmS in M. aeruginosa. This study provides
      the first evidence of bactericidal activity of a new compound and DBL. In
      summary, our results suggest that compound 1 and DBL might be developed as
      naturally-based biocontrol agents.

PMID- 28600516
TI  - Systematic Review and Cumulative Analysis of the Combination of Mitomycin C plus
      Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.
AB  - This systematic review and cumulative analysis aimed to explore the efficacy and
      safety of the combination of intravesical mitomycin C (MMC) plus bacillus
      Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients. A
      comprehensive literature search using Pubmed, Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library,
      CBM, CNKI and VIP databases was performed to identify studies applying
      intravesical MMC plus BCG therapy on NMIBC patients up to June 2016. Summarized
      unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated
      to assess the efficacy and safety of the combination therapy. A total of 25
      studies containing 2749 NMIBC patients were included in this systematic review.
      Compared with BCG monotherapy, the combination therapy could significantly reduce
      the tumor recurrence rate (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.44-0.94, P = 0.02) and cancer
      specific mortality (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.87, P = 0.01), without more
      toxicities (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.17-1.94, P = 0.37). The combination therapy
      could also lead to significant lower tumor recurrence rate than MMC monotherapy
      (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.24-0.69, P = 0.0009). Our study indicates that the
      combination of MMC plus BCG instillation is an effective and safe adjuvant
      treatment for NMIBC patients.

PMID- 28600515
TI  - Evaluation of intraretinal migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells in age
      related macular degeneration using polarimetric imaging.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the intraretinal migration of
      the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in age-related macular degeneration
      (AMD) using polarimetry. We evaluated 155 eyes at various AMD stages. Depolarized
      light images were computed using a polarization-sensitive scanning laser
      ophthalmoscope (PS-SLO), and the degree of polarization uniformity was calculated
      using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT). Each polarimetry
      image was compared with the corresponding autofluorescence (AF) images at 488 nm
      (SW-AF) and at 787 nm (NIR-AF). Intraretinal RPE migration was defined by the
      presence of depolarization at intraretinal hyperreflective foci on PS-SLO and PS
      OCT images, and by the presence of hyper-AF on both NIR-AF and SW-AF images. RPE
      migration was detected in 52 of 155 eyes (33.5%) and was observed in drusenoid
      pigment epithelial detachment (PED) and serous PED with significantly higher
      frequencies than in other groups (P = 0.015). The volume of the migrated RPE
      cluster in serous PED was significantly correlated with the volume of the PED (R2
      = 0.26; P = 0.011). Overall, our results showed that intraretinal RPE migrations
      occurred in various AMD stages, and that they occurred more commonly in eyes with
      serous and drusenoid PED.

PMID- 28600517
TI  - Investigation of the 2312 flexoelectric coefficient component of polyvinylidene
      fluoride: Deduction, simulation, and mensuration.
AB  - Flexoelectric effects hold promising applications in sensing, actuating, and
      energy capturing, and thus it is demanded to measure the flexoelectric
      coefficient tensors of dielectric materials accurately. In this work, an approach
      to measuring the effective flexoelectric coefficient tensor component MU 2312 of
      polymeric materials is developed by imposing a torque load upon a half
      cylindrical specimen. It is proven that MU 2312 can be calculated by assessing
      the electric charge on the axial plane and the strain gradient along the radial
      direction, both induced by the torque. To overcome the difficulty in experimental
      measurements, the relationship between the strain gradient and torque is deduced
      theoretically and further verified with finite element analysis. This approach is
      applied to testing bars machined from bulk polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF).
      Potential errors from the piezoelectric effects and the non-uniform strain
      gradient are discussed to verify the validity of the measurement. The
      experimental results show good reproducibility and agreement with other measured
      effective flexoelectric tensor components of PVDF. This work indicates a
      potential application of PVDF-based mechanical sensors and provides a method to
      investigate the effective flexoelectric coefficient component of polymers.

PMID- 28600518
TI  - Aberrant telomere length and mitochondrial DNA copy number in suicide completers.
AB  - Short telomere length (TL) occurs in individuals under psychological stress, and
      with various psychiatric diseases. Recent studies have also reported
      mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) alterations under several
      neuropsychiatric conditions. However, no study has examined whether aberrant TL
      or mtDNAcn occur in completed suicide, one of the most serious outcomes of mental
      illnesses. TL and mtDNAcn in post-mortem samples from 528 suicide completers
      without severe physical illness (508 peripheral bloods; 20 brains) and 560
      samples from control subjects (peripheral bloods from 535 healthy individuals; 25
      post-mortem brains) were analysed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
      Suicide completers had significantly shorter TL and higher mtDNAcn of peripheral
      bloods with sex/age-dependent differences (shorter TL was more remarkably in
      female/young suicides; higher mtDNAcn more so in male/elderly suicides). The
      normal age-related decline of TL and mtDNAcn were significantly altered in
      suicide completers. Furthermore, shorter TL and lower mtDNAcn of post-mortem
      prefrontal cortex were seen in suicide completers compared to controls. This
      study shows the first association of aberrant telomeres and mtDNA content with
      suicide completion. Our results indicate that further research on telomere
      shortening and mitochondrial dysfunction may help elucidate the molecular
      underpinnings of suicide-related pathophysiology.

PMID- 28600520
TI  - REG3beta modifies cell tumor function by impairing extracellular vesicle uptake.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes and microvesicles, are nano
      sized membrane vesicles containing proteins and nucleic acids, which act as
      intercellular messengers. They play an important role in a variety of
      physiological processes, as well as in pathological situations such as
      inflammation or cancer. Here, we show that in the case of pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the healthy pancreatic tissue surrounding the tumor
      releases REG3beta, a lectin that binds to the glycoproteins present in the
      surface of EVs, thus interfering with their uptake and internalization by target
      cells. In vitro, the disruption of the signaling mediated by EVs due to the
      presence of REG3beta, prevents the EV-induced phenotypic switch in macrophages,
      inhibits the increased cell migration of cancer cells and reverses a number of
      metabolomic changes promoted by EVs. In vivo, the uptake of REG3beta+ EVs by
      tumor cells is significantly impaired. Furthermore, it results in an increase of
      circulating REG3beta+ EVs in blood of pancreatic cancer patients. Our findings
      highlight the effect of a lectin released by the healthy pancreatic tissue
      surrounding the tumor in modulating the EV-mediated interactions between
      different cell types in PDAC.

PMID- 28600519
TI  - Alterations in the inflammatory cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      contribute to depression-like phenotype after spared nerve injury: improvement by
      ketamine.
AB  - Although pain is frequently accompanied with depression, little is known about
      the risk factors contributing to individual differences to the comorbidity of
      pain and depression. In this study, we examined whether cytokines and brain
      derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) might contribute to the individual differences
      in the development of neuropathic pain-induced depression. Rats were randomly
      subjected to spared nerved ligation (SNI) or sham surgery. The SNI rats were
      divided into two groups by the data from depression-related behavioral tests.
      Rats with depression-like phenotype displayed higher levels of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines (e.g., interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6) as well as imbalance of pro/anti
      inflammatory cytokines compared with rats without depression-like phenotype and
      sham-operated rats. Levels of BDNF in the prefrontal cortex of rats with
      depression-like phenotype were lower than those of rats without depression-like
      phenotype and sham-operated rats. A single dose of ketamine ameliorated
      depression-like behaviors in the rats with depression-like phenotype.
      Interestingly, higher serum levels of IL-1beta and IL-6 in the rat with
      depression-like phenotype were normalized after a single dose of ketamine. These
      findings suggest that alterations in the inflammatory cytokines and BDNF might
      contribute to neuropathic pain-induced depression, and that serum cytokines may
      be predictable biomarkers for ketamine's antidepressant actions.

PMID- 28600521
TI  - Application of sodium-ion-based solid electrolyte in electrostatic tuning of
      carrier density in graphene.
AB  - Using a solid electrolyte to tune the carrier density in thin-film materials is
      an emerging technique that has potential applications in both basic and applied
      research. Until now, only materials containing small ions, such as protons and
      lithium ions, have been used to demonstrate the gating effect. Here, we report
      the study of a lab-synthesised sodium-ion-based solid electrolyte, which shows a
      much stronger capability to tune the carrier density in graphene than previously
      reported lithium-ion-based solid electrolyte. Our findings may stimulate the
      search for solid electrolytes better suited for gating applications, taking
      benefit of many existing materials developed for battery research.

PMID- 28600522
TI  - Direct competition between DNA binding factors highlights the role of Kruppel
      like Factor 1 in the erythroid/megakaryocyte switch.
AB  - The Kruppel-like factor (KLF) family of transcription factors play critical roles
      in haematopoiesis. KLF1, the founding member of the family, has been implicated
      in the control of both erythropoiesis and megakaryopoiesis. Here we describe a
      novel system using an artificial dominant negative isoform of KLF1 to investigate
      the role of KLF1 in the erythroid/megakaryocytic switch in vivo. We developed
      murine cell lines stably overexpressing a GST-KLF1 DNA binding domain fusion
      protein (GST-KLF1 DBD), as well as lines expressing GST only as a control.
      Interestingly, overexpression of GST-KLF1 DBD led to an overall reduction in
      erythroid features and an increase in megakaryocytic features indicative of a
      reduced function of endogenous KLF1. We simultaneously compared in vivo DNA
      occupancy of both endogenous KLF1 and GST-KLF1 DBD by ChIP qPCR. Here we found
      that GST-KLF1 DBD physically displaces endogenous KLF1 at a number of loci,
      providing novel in vivo evidence of direct competition between DNA binding
      proteins. These results highlight the role of KLF1 in the erythroid/megakaryocyte
      switch and suggest that direct competition between transcription factors with
      similar consensus sequences is an important mechanism in transcriptional
      regulation.

PMID- 28600523
TI  - Wide Incidence Angle-Insensitive Metamaterial Absorber for Both TE and TM
      Polarization using Eight-Circular-Sector.
AB  - In this paper, a wide incidence angle-insensitive metamaterial absorber is
      proposed using eight-circular-sector (ECS). Under normal incidence, the proposed
      absorber shows high absorptivity at different polarizations due to its symmetric
      geometry. Under oblique incidence, zero-reflection conditions for transverse
      electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarization are different.
      Nevertheless, the proposed absorber shows high absorptivity under oblique
      incidence of both TE and TM polarization due to ECS. The performance of the
      proposed absorber was demonstrated with full-wave simulation and measurements.
      The simulated absorptivity at the specular angles exceed 90% and the frequency
      variation is less than 0.7% at approximately 9.26 GHz up to a 70 degrees 
      incidence angle in both TM and TE polarization. We built the proposed absorber on
      a printed-circuit board with 20 * 20 unit cells, and we demonstrated its
      performance experimentally in free space. The measured absorptivity at 9.26 GHz
      for the specular angles is close to 98% for all polarization angles under normal
      incidence. As the incidence angle is varied from 0 degrees  to 70 degrees , the
      measured absorptivity at 9.26 GHz for the specular angles remain above 92% in
      both TE and TM polarization.

PMID- 28600524
TI  - Disruption of retinal pigment epithelial cell properties under the exposure of
      cotinine.
AB  - Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for age-related macular degeneration
      (AMD), in which progressive retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell degeneration is
      a major pathological change. Nicotine is a major biologically active component in
      cigarette smoke. It is continuously catabolized into cotinine, which has longer
      half-life and higher concentration in tissue cells and fluids. Here we
      hypothesized that continuous exposure of cotinine has more potent effects on
      human RPE cell properties than nicotine. Human RPE cell line (ARPE-19) was
      treated continuously with 1-2 uM of nicotine and/or cotinine for 7 days. RPE
      cells treated with 2 MUM cotinine and nicotine-cotinine mixture has lower MTT
      signals without significant changes in cell apoptosis or integrity. Moreover, RPE
      cell migration was retarded under cotinine treatments, but not nicotine. Both
      nicotine and cotinine treatments attenuated the phagocytotic activity of RPE
      cells. In addition, cotinine and nicotine-cotinine mixture suppressed VEGF and IL
      8 expression and upregulated TIMP-2 expression. Expressions of autophagy genes
      were upregulated by the cotinine treatment, whereas expressions of epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition markers were downregulated. In conclusion, our study, for
      the first time, demonstrated that cotinine, rather than nicotine, affects the
      properties of RPE cells in vitro, which could explain the smoking-induced RPE
      pathology.

PMID- 28600525
TI  - Directing solar photons to sustainably meet food, energy, and water needs.
AB  - As we approach a "Full Earth" of over ten billion people within the next century,
      unprecedented demands will be placed on food, energy and water (FEW) supplies.
      The grand challenge before us is to sustainably meet humanity's FEW needs using
      scarcer resources. To overcome this challenge, we propose the utilization of the
      entire solar spectrum by redirecting solar photons to maximize FEW production
      from a given land area. We present novel solar spectrum unbundling FEW systems
      (SUFEWS), which can meet FEW needs locally while reducing the overall
      environmental impact of meeting these needs. The ability to meet FEW needs
      locally is critical, as significant population growth is expected in less
      developed areas of the world. The proposed system presents a solution to harness
      the same amount of solar products (crops, electricity, and purified water) that
      could otherwise require ~60% more land if SUFEWS were not used-a major step for
      Full Earth preparedness.

PMID- 28600526
TI  - Differential transcript profiling alters regulatory gene expression during the
      development of Gossypium arboreum, G.stocksii and somatic hybrids.
AB  - Polyploidy or genome doubling (i.e., the presence of two or more diploid parental
      genome sets within an organism) are very important in higher plants. Of
      particular interest are the mechanisms in the new microenvironment of the common
      nucleus, where doubled regulatory networks interact to generate a viable genetic
      system capable of regulating growth, development and responses to the
      environment. To determine the effects of whole genome merging and doubling on the
      global gene expression architecture of a new polyploid, derived from protoplast
      fusion of the A1A1 genome of Gossypium arboreum and the E1E1 genome of Gossypium
      stocksii, we monitored gene expression through cDNA-AFLP in the somatic hybrids
      (G. arboreum + G. stocksii). The genomic expression patterns of the somatic
      hybrids revealed that changes in expression levels mainly involved regulatory
      genes (31.8% of the gene expression profiles), and the AA and EE genomes
      contributed equally to genome-wide expression in the newly formed AAEE genome
      from additivity and dominance effects. These results provide a novel perspective
      on polyploid gene regulation and hint at the underlying genetic basis of
      allopolyploid adaption in the new microenvironmental nucleus.

PMID- 28600527
TI  - A possible pathogenetic factor of sickle-cell disease based on fluorescent
      analysis via an optofluidic resonator.
AB  - Waveguide based optofluidic resonator features high precision and high
      sensitivity in real-time fluorescent analysis. We present a novel optofluidic
      resonator following the hollow-core metal-cladding waveguide structure, which is
      then used to record the real-time binding process of Fe2+ and Fe3+ with
      protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in PBS solution, respectively. The central fluorescent
      wavelength of compound with Fe2+ is in good accordance with that of the normal
      hemoglobin, whilst the peaks of the Fe3+ compound match the hemoglobin specimen
      from sickle-cell disease (SCD) patients. Similar statement holds when we monitor
      the real-time oxidation processes of these products by injecting oxygen into the
      optofluidic chip. These observations lead to the speculation that the SCD is
      caused by replacing the Fe2+ in hemoglobin with Fe3+, which may be insightful in
      the discovery of new clinical routes to cure this disease.

PMID- 28600528
TI  - Overexpression of RASD1 inhibits glioma cell migration/invasion and inactivates
      the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.
AB  - The RAS signaling pathway is hyperactive in malignant glioma due to
      overexpression and/or increased activity. A previous study identified that RASD1,
      a member of the RAS superfamily of small G-proteins, is a significantly
      dysregulated gene in oligodendroglial tumors that responded to chemotherapy.
      However, the role and mechanism of RASD1 in the progression of human glioma
      remain largely unknown. In the present study, by analyzing a public genomics
      database, we found that high levels of RASD1 predicted good survival of
      astrocytoma patients. We thus established lentivirus-mediated RASD1
      overexpressing glioma cells and found that overexpressing RASD1 had no
      significant effects on glioma cell proliferation. However, the overexpression of
      RASD1 inhibited glioma cell migration and invasion. In the intracranial glioma
      xenograft model, the overexpression of RASD1 significantly reduced the number of
      tumor cells invading into the surrounding tissues without affecting the tumor
      size. An intracellular signaling array revealed that the phosphorylation of both
      AKT and the S6 ribosomal protein significantly decreased with RASD1
      overexpression in glioma cells. Interestingly, RASD1 protein levels were
      significantly higher in grade II and grade III astrocytoma tissues than in
      nontumorous brain tissues. These findings suggest that the upregulation of RASD1
      in glioma tissues may play an inhibitory role in tumor expansion, possibly
      through inactivating the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

PMID- 28600530
TI  - Global temporal patterns of pancreatic cancer and association with socioeconomic
      development.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer induces a substantial global burden. We examined its global
      incidence/mortality rates and their correlation with socioeconomic development
      (Human Development Index [HDI] and Gross Domestic Product [GDP] in 2000 as proxy
      measures). Data on age-standardized incidence/mortality rates in 2012 were
      retrieved from the GLOBOCAN database. Temporal patterns in 1998-2007 were
      assessed for 39 countries according to gender. The Average Annual Percent Change
      (AAPC) of the incidence/mortality trends was evaluated using joinpoint regression
      analysis. The age-standardized incidence ranged between 0.8-8.9/100,000. When
      compared among countries, Brazil (AAPC = 10.4, 95%C.I. = 0.8,21) and France (AAPC
      = 4.7, 95%C.I. = 3.6,5.9) reported the highest incidence rise in men. The
      greatest increase in women was reported in Thailand (AAPC = 7, 95%C.I. =
      2.1,12.1) and Ecuador (AAPC = 4.3, 95%C.I. = 1.3,7.3). For mortality, the
      Philippines (APCC = 4.3, 95%C.I. = 2,6.6) and Croatia (AAPC = 2, 95% C.I. =
      0,3.9) reported the biggest increase among men. The Philippines (AAPC = 5.8, 95%
      C.I. 4.5,7.2) and Slovakia (AAPC = 3.1, 95% C.I. 0.9,5.3) showed the most
      prominent rise among women. Its incidence was positively correlated with HDI
      (men: r = 0.66; women: r = 0.70) and GDP (men: r = 0.29; women: r = 0.28, all p <
      0.05), and similarly for mortality (men: r = 0.67; women: r = 0.72 [HDI]; men: r
      = 0.23; women: r = 0.28 [GDP]). In summary, the incidence and mortality of
      pancreatic cancer were rising in many countries, requiring regular surveillance.

PMID- 28600529
TI  - Synthesis, Chemical Characterization and Multiscale Biological Evaluation of a
      Dimeric-cRGD Peptide for Targeted Imaging of alpha V beta 3 Integrin Activity.
AB  - Cyclic peptides containing the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence have been shown to
      specifically bind the angiogenesis biomarker alpha V beta 3 integrin. We report
      the synthesis, chemical characterization, and biological evaluation of two novel
      dimeric cyclic RGD-based molecular probes for the targeted imaging of alpha V
      beta 3 activity (a radiolabeled version, 64Cu-NOTA-PEG4-cRGD2, for PET imaging,
      and a fluorescent version, FITC-PEG4-cRGD2, for in vitro work). We investigated
      the performance of this probe at the receptor, cell, organ, and whole-body
      levels, including its use to detect diabetes associated impairment of ischemia
      induced myocardial angiogenesis. Both versions of the probe were found to be
      stable, demonstrated fast receptor association constants, and showed high
      specificity for alpha V beta 3 in HUVECs (K d  ~ 35 nM). Dynamic PET-CT imaging
      indicated rapid blood clearance via kidney filtration, and accumulation within
      alpha V beta 3-positive infarcted myocardium. 64Cu-NOTA-PEG4-cRGD2 demonstrated a
      favorable biodistribution, slow washout, and excellent performance with respect
      to the quality of the PET-CT images obtained. Importantly, the ratio of probe
      uptake in infarcted heart tissue compared to normal tissue was significantly
      higher in non-diabetic rats than in diabetic ones. Overall, our probes are
      promising agents for non-invasive quantitative imaging of alpha V beta 3
      expression, both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 28600531
TI  - Bloch oscillations sustained by nonlinearity.
AB  - We demonstrate that nonlinearity may play a constructive role in supporting Bloch
      oscillations in a model which is discrete, in one dimension and continuous in the
      orthogonal one. The model can be experimentally realized in several fields of
      physics such as optics and Bose-Einstein condensates. We demonstrate that
      designing an optimal relation between the nonlinearity and the linear gradient
      strength provides extremely long-lived Bloch oscillations with little
      degradation. Such robust oscillations can be observed for a broad range of
      parameters and even for moderate nonlinearities and large enough values of linear
      potential. We also present an approximate analytical description of the wave
      packet's evolution featuring a hybrid Bloch oscillating wave-soliton behavior
      that excellently corresponds to the direct numerical simulations.

PMID- 28600532
TI  - Conserved amino acid networks modulate discrete functional properties in an
      enzyme superfamily.
AB  - In this work, we applied the sequence-based statistical coupling analysis
      approach to characterize conserved amino acid networks important for biochemical
      function in the pancreatic-type ribonuclease (ptRNase) superfamily. This
      superfamily-wide analysis indicates a decomposition of the RNase tertiary
      structure into spatially distributed yet physically connected networks of co
      evolving amino acids, termed sectors. Comparison of this statistics-based
      description with new NMR experiments data shows that discrete amino acid
      networks, termed sectors, control the tuning of distinct functional properties in
      different enzyme homologs. Further, experimental characterization of
      evolutionarily distant sequences reveals that sequence variation at sector
      positions can distinguish homologs with a conserved dynamic pattern and optimal
      catalytic activity from those with altered dynamics and diminished catalytic
      activities. Taken together, these results provide important insights into the
      mechanistic design of the ptRNase superfamily, and presents a structural basis
      for evolutionary tuning of function in functionally diverse enzyme homologs.

PMID- 28600533
TI  - Variation in Tree Species Ability to Capture and Retain Airborne Fine Particulate
      Matter (PM2.5).
AB  - Human health risks caused by PM2.5 raise awareness to the role of trees as bio
      filters of urban air pollution, but not all species are equally capable of
      filtering the air. The objectives of this current study were: (1) to determine
      the foliar traits for effective PM2.5-capture and (2) explore species-to-species
      differences in foliar PM2.5-recapture capacity following a rain event. The study
      concluded that overall, the acicular needle shape made conifers more efficient
      with PM2.5 accumulation and post-rainfall recapture than broadleaved species. The
      foliar shape and venation of broadleaved species did not appear to influence the
      PM2.5 accumulation. However, the number of the grooves and trichomes of
      broadleaved species were positively related to foliar PM2.5 accumulation,
      suggesting that they could be used as indicators for the effectiveness of tree
      PM2.5 capture. Furthermore, the amount of PM2.5 removal by rainfall was
      determined by the total foliar PM2.5. Not all PM2.5 remained on the foliage. In
      some species, PM2.5 was resuspended during the growing season, and thus reduced
      the net particular accumulation for that species. These findings contribute to a
      better understanding of tree species potential for reducing PM2.5 in urban
      environments.

PMID- 28600534
TI  - Intracranial Fluid Redistribution But No White Matter Microstructural Changes
      During a Spaceflight Analog.
AB  - The neural correlates of spaceflight-induced sensorimotor impairments are
      unknown. Head down-tilt bed rest (HDBR) serves as a microgravity analog because
      it mimics the headward fluid shift and axial body unloading of spaceflight. We
      investigated focal brain white matter (WM) changes and fluid shifts during 70
      days of 6 degrees  HDBR in 16 subjects who were assessed pre (2x), during (3x),
      and post-HDBR (2x). Changes over time were compared to those in control subjects
      (n = 12) assessed four times over 90 days. Diffusion MRI was used to assess WM
      microstructure and fluid shifts. Free-Water Imaging was used to quantify
      distribution of intracranial extracellular free water (FW). Additionally, we
      tested whether WM and FW changes correlated with changes in functional mobility
      and balance measures. HDBR resulted in FW increases in fronto-temporal regions
      and decreases in posterior-parietal regions that largely recovered by two weeks
      post-HDBR. WM microstructure was unaffected by HDBR. FW decreases in the post
      central gyrus and precuneus correlated negatively with balance changes. We
      previously reported that gray matter increases in these regions were associated
      with less HDBR-induced balance impairment, suggesting adaptive structural
      neuroplasticity. Future studies are warranted to determine causality and
      underlying mechanisms.

PMID- 28600535
TI  - Assessment of local treatment modalities for FIGO stage IB-IIB cervical cancer: A
      propensity-score matched analysis based on SEER database.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of local treatment modalities
      on the survival of patients with International Federation of Gynecology and
      Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IB-IIB cervical cancer, including cancer-directed surgery
      (CDS) alone and CDS combined with radiotherapy (RT). A total of 8,357 patients
      with cervical cancer between 1988 and 2013 were included in the final study
      cohort, including 4,298 (51.4%) patients who underwent CDS alone and 4,059
      (48.6%) patients who received combination therapy. Univariate and multivariate
      analyses showed that local treatment modalities were prognostic factors for cause
      specific survival (CSS). Patients who received combination therapy had worse CSS
      (HR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.20-1.59; P < 0.001). Subgroup analyses showed the
      prognostic effect of local treatment modalities was significantly influenced by
      FIGO stage. In the propensity-score matched (PSM) dataset, CDS was associated
      with better CSS (P < 0.001) for patients with IB-IIA cervical cancer;
      nevertheless, no differences were observed in CSS (P = 0.639) for patients with
      IIB cervical cancer. In conclusion, radical surgery was the preferred treatment
      for patients with IB-IIA cervical cancer, and there was no difference between
      radical surgery alone and combination therapy for patients with IIB cervical
      cancer.

PMID- 28600536
TI  - Imipramine Inhibits Chikungunya Virus Replication in Human Skin Fibroblasts
      through Interference with Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking.
AB  - Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging arbovirus of the Togaviridae family that
      poses a present worldwide threat to human in the absence of any licensed vaccine
      or antiviral treatment to control viral infection. Here, we show that compounds
      interfering with intracellular cholesterol transport have the capacity to inhibit
      CHIKV replication in human skin fibroblasts, a major viral entry site in the
      human host. Pretreatment of these cells with the class II cationic amphiphilic
      compound U18666A, or treatment with the FDA-approved antidepressant drug
      imipramine resulted in a near total inhibition of viral replication and
      production at the highest concentration used without any cytotoxic effects.
      Imipramine was found to affect both the fusion and replication steps of the viral
      life cycle. The key contribution of cholesterol availability to the CHIKV life
      cycle was validated further by the use of fibroblasts from Niemann-Pick type C
      (NPC) patients in which the virus was unable to replicate. Interestingly,
      imipramine also strongly inhibited the replication of several Flaviviridae family
      members, including Zika, West Nile and Dengue virus. Together, these data show
      that this compound is a potential drug candidate for anti-arboviral treatment.

PMID- 28600537
TI  - Reconfigurable all-dielectric metasurface based on tunable chemical systems in
      aqueous solution.
AB  - Dynamic control transmission and polarization properties of electromagnetic (EM)
      wave propagation is investigated using chemical reconfigurable all-dielectric
      metasurface. The metasurface is composed of cross-shaped periodical teflon tubes
      and inner filled chemical systems (i.e., mixtures and chemical reaction) in
      aqueous solution. By tuning the complex permittivity of chemical systems, the
      reconfigurable metasurface can be easily achieved. The transmission properties of
      different incident polarized waves (i.e., linear and circular polarization) were
      simulated and experimentally measured for static ethanol solution as volume ratio
      changed. Both results indicated this metasurface can serve as either tunable FSS
      (Frequency Selective Surface) or tunable linear-to-circular/cross Polarization
      Converter at required frequency range. Based on the reconfigurable laws obtained
      from static solutions, we developed a dynamic dielectric system and researched a
      typical chemical reaction with time-varying permittivity filled in the tubes
      experimentally. It provides new ways for realizing automatic reconfiguration of
      metasurface by chemical reaction system with given variation laws of
      permittivity.

PMID- 28600538
TI  - An innovative cell-laden alpha-TCP/collagen scaffold fabricated using a two-step
      printing process for potential application in regenerating hard tissues.
AB  - Cell-laden scaffolds are widely investigated in tissue engineering because they
      can provide homogenous cell distribution after long culture periods, and deposit
      multiple types of cells into a designed region. However, producing a bioceramic
      3D cell-laden scaffold is difficult because of the low processability of cell
      loaded bioceramics. Therefore, designing a 3D bioceramic cell-laden scaffold is
      important for ceramic-based tissue regeneration. Here, we propose a new strategy
      to fabricate an alpha-tricalcium-phosphate (alpha-TCP)/collagen cell-laden
      scaffold, using preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1), in which the volume fraction of the
      ceramic exceeded 70% and was fabricated using a two-step printing process. To
      fabricate a multi-layered cell-laden scaffold, we manipulated processing
      parameters, such as the diameter of the printing nozzle, pneumatic pressure, and
      volume fraction of alpha-TCP, to attain a stable processing region. A cell-laden
      pure collagen scaffold and an alpha-TCP/collagen scaffold loaded with cells via a
      simple dipping method were used as controls. Their pore geometry was similar to
      that of the experimental scaffold. Physical properties and bioactivities showed
      that the designed scaffold demonstrated significantly higher cellular activities,
      including metabolic activity and mineralization, compared with those of the
      controls. Our results indicate that the proposed cell-laden ceramic scaffold can
      potentially be used for bone regeneration.

PMID- 28600539
TI  - Genetic Determinants of Crop Timing and Quality Traits in Two Interspecific
      Petunia Recombinant Inbred Line Populations.
AB  - The rate at which plants develop new nodes (development rate) is a major
      determinant of crop production time, yet the genetic control of this process,
      including genetic interactions with crop quality parameters, is poorly
      understood. We employed a modified genotyping-by-sequencing approach and
      generated genetic linkage maps with 6,291 and 3,297 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) for the interspecific Petunia recombinant inbred line (RIL)
      population - P. axillaris * P. exserta (AE) and P. integrifolia * P. axillaris
      (IA), respectively. Comparative mapping between the populations revealed perfect
      collinearity of marker order but different recombination frequency at the
      corresponding linkage groups (LGs). Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping
      conducted for development traits and other important quality traits indicated QTL
      clustered on chromosome 1, 2, 4 and 6 for the AE population and chromosome 1, 2,
      5 and 6 for the IA population. Additionally, 209 differentially expressed unique
      transcripts were identified in shoot apex tissue between fast- and slow
      developing RILs, 13 of which mapped to within 1 cM of a development rate QTL.
      These results will facilitate the identification of novel genes controlling crop
      timing and quality traits in Petunia and highlight the power of using multiple
      interspecific populations to elucidate genetic determinants of natural variation.

PMID- 28600540
TI  - Electric-field assisted 3D-fibrous bioceramic-based scaffolds for bone tissue
      regeneration: Fabrication, characterization, and in vitro cellular activities.
AB  - Nano/microfibrous structure can induce high cellular activities because of the
      topological similarity of the extracellular matrix, and thus, are widely used in
      various tissue regenerative materials. However, the fabrication of a bioceramic
      (high weight percent)-based 3D microfibrous structure is extremely difficult
      because of the low process-ability of bioceramics. In addition, three-dimensional
      (3D) microfibrous structure can induce more realistic cellular behavior when
      compared to that of 2D fibrous structure. Hence, the requirement of a 3D fibrous
      ceramic-based structure is an important issue in bioceramic scaffolds. In this
      study, a bioceramic (alpha-TCP)-based scaffold in which the weight fraction of
      the ceramic exceeded 70% was fabricated using an electrohydrodynamic printing
      (EHDP) process. The fabricated ceramic structure consisted of layer-by-layered
      struts entangled with polycaprolactone microfibers and the bioceramic phase.
      Various processing conditions (such as applied electric field, flow rate, nozzle
      size, and weight fraction of the bioceramic) were manipulated to obtain an
      optimal processing window. A 3D printed porous structure was used as a control,
      which had pore geometry similar to that of a structure fabricated using the EHDP
      process. Various physical and cellular activities using preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1)
      helped confirm that the newly designed bioceramic scaffold demonstrated
      significantly high metabolic activity and mineralization.

PMID- 28600541
TI  - Induction of sirtuin-1 signaling by resveratrol induces human chondrosarcoma cell
      apoptosis and exhibits antitumor activity.
AB  - Chondrosarcoma is a malignant primary bone tumor. Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1), which is a
      member of sirtuin family, plays a dual role either in cancer promotion or
      suppression. There is no report about the role of SIRT1 in the human
      chondrosarcoma cells. Resveratrol is a potent activator of SIRT1. However, its
      effects on chondrosarcoma have not been extensively studied. Here, we
      investigated the role of SIRT1 induction by resveratrol in human chondrosarcoma
      cell growth and tumor progression. Resveratrol significantly decreased cell
      viability and induced cell apoptosis in human chondrosarcoma cells in a dose
      dependent manner. The protein expression and activity of SIRT1 were activated
      after treatment with resveratrol. Resveratrol significantly inhibited NF-kappaB
      signaling by deacetylating the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB complex, which could be
      reversed by siRNA-SIRT1 transfection or deacetylation inhibitor MS-275.
      Resveratrol induced-apoptosis involved a caspase-3-mediated mechanism. Both siRNA
      SIRT1 transfection and MS-275 significantly inhibited the resveratrol-induced
      caspase-3 cleavage and activity in human chondrosarcoma cells. Moreover, in vivo
      chondrosarcoma xenograft study revealed a dramatic reduction in tumor volume and
      the increased SIRT1 and cleaved caspase-3 expressions in tumors by resveratrol
      treatment. These results suggest that resveratrol induces chondrosarcoma cell
      apoptosis via a SIRT1-activated NF-kappaB deacetylation and exhibits anti
      chondrosarcoma activity in vivo.

PMID- 28600542
TI  - An effective molecular approach for assessing cereal aphid-parasitoid
      endosymbiont networks.
AB  - Molecular approaches are increasingly being used to analyse host-parasitoid food
      webs as they overcome several hurdles inherent to conventional approaches.
      However, such studies have focused primarily on the detection and identification
      of aphids and their aphidiid primary parasitoids, largely ignoring primary
      parasitoid-hyperparasitoid interactions or limiting these to a few common species
      within a small geographical area. Furthermore, the detection of bacterial
      secondary endosymbionts has not been considered in such assays despite the fact
      that endosymbionts may alter aphid-parasitoid interactions, as they can confer
      protection against parasitoids. Here we present a novel two-step multiplex PCR
      (MP-PCR) protocol to assess cereal aphid-primary parasitoid-hyperparasitoid
      endosymbiont interactions. The first step of the assay allows detection of
      parasitoid DNA at a general level (24 primary and 16 hyperparasitoid species) as
      well as the species-specific detection of endosymbionts (3 species) and cereal
      aphids (3 species). The second step of the MP-PCR assay targets seven primary and
      six hyperparasitoid species that commonly occur in Central Europe. Additional
      parasitoid species not covered by the second-step of the assay can be identified
      via sequencing 16S rRNA amplicons generated in the first step of the assay. The
      approach presented here provides an efficient, highly sensitive, and cost
      effective (~consumable costs of 1.3 ? per sample) tool for assessing cereal aphid
      parasitoid-endosymbiont interactions.

PMID- 28600544
TI  - Design of Acquisition Schemes and Setup Geometry for Anisotropic X-ray Dark-Field
      Tomography (AXDT).
AB  - Anisotropic X-ray Dark-field Tomography (AXDT) is a new imaging technique for
      reconstructing the three-dimensional scattering profile within a sample using the
      dark-field signal measured in an X-ray grating interferometry setup. As in any
      tomographic measurement, the acquisition geometry plays a key role in the
      accurate reconstruction of the scattering information. More- over, the
      anisotropic nature of the dark-field signal poses additional challenges for
      designing the acquisition protocols. In this work, we present an efficient
      approach to measure scattering orientations spread over the unit sphere and prove
      its efficacy using the knowledge from conventional tomography. In addition, we
      conclude (using analytical and experimental results) that placing the gratings
      such that the grating bars make an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the
      vertical direction is the optimal setup configuration for AXDT.

PMID- 28600543
TI  - Innate And Adaptive Immunity are Progressively Activated in Parallel with Renal
      Injury in the 5/6 Renal Ablation Model.
AB  - The mechanisms triggering renal inflammation in chronic kidney disease (CKD) are
      unclear. We performed a detailed analysis of the time course of innate and
      adaptive immunity activation in the 5/6 renal ablation (Nx) model. Munich-Wistar
      rats undergoing Nx were studied 15, 60 and 120 days after ablation. Hypertension,
      albuminuria, creatinine retention, interstitial expansion and infiltration by
      macrophages and T-lymphocytes were already evident 15 days after Nx. PCR-array
      was used to screen for altered gene expression, whereas gene and protein
      expressions of TLR4, CASP1, IL-1beta and NLRP3 were individually assessed. Tlr4,
      Tlr5, Lbp, Nlrp3, Casp1, Irf7 and Il1b were already upregulated 15 days after Nx,
      while activation of Tlr2, Tlr7, Tlr9, Nod2, Tnf and Il6 was seen after 60 days
      post-ablation. The number of genes related to innate or adaptive immunity grew
      steadily with time. These observations indicate that parallel activation of
      innate and adaptive immunity antecedes glomerular injury and involves a growing
      number of intricate signaling pathways, helping to explain the difficulty in
      detaining renal injury in Nx as CKD advances, and, stressing the need for early
      treatment. Additionally, these findings may contribute to the search of
      therapeutic targets specific for advanced phases of CKD.

PMID- 28600545
TI  - HOTAIR rs7958904 polymorphism is associated with increased cervical cancer risk
      in a Chinese population.
AB  - Previously, we have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs7958904
      and rs4759314 in long non-coding RNA HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) were
      significantly associated with risk of colorectal and gastric cancer,
      respectively. Here, we aimed to investigate the association between HOTAIR SNPs
      and cervical cancer (CC) susceptibility. A total of 1209 cases and 1348 controls
      were enrolled for association study and genotyped with TaqMan allelic
      discrimination method. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was utilized for
      in vivo analysis of allele-specific HOTAIR expression. MTT assay was employed for
      evaluation of allele-specific cell proliferation. The rs7958904 CC genotype was
      related to an increased risk of cervical cancer compared with the GG/GC genotypes
      (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.10-2.25). TCGA database showed the CC tissues with
      rs7958904 CC genotype had higher HOTAIR expression than those with GG genotype (P
      = 0.046). MTT assay demonstrated a growth-promoting role of rs7958904 C allele on
      CC cells. Further functional studies on the effect of rs7958904 on biological
      behavior of CC cells are needed to confirm and extend our findings. In
      conclusion, HOTAIR rs7958904 might influence CC susceptibility through modulation
      of CC cell proliferation, and could serve as a diagnostic biomarker.

PMID- 28600546
TI  - Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 and Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Expression in
      Osteoblasts.
AB  - It has been proposed that girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) tend
      to have a taller stature and a lower body mass index. Energy homeostasis, that is
      known to affect bone growth, could contribute to these characteristics. In
      circulation, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inactivates glucagon-like peptide-1
      (GLP-1), an incretin that promotes insulin secretion and sensitivity. Our
      objectives were to investigate DPP-4 status in plasma and in osteoblasts of AIS
      subjects and controls and to evaluate the regulatory role of metabolic effectors
      on DPP-4 expression. DPP-4 activity was assessed in plasma of 113 girls and 62
      age-matched controls. Osteoblasts were isolated from bone specimens of AIS
      patients and controls. Human cells were incubated with glucose, insulin, GLP-1
      and butyrate. Gene and protein expressions were evaluated by RT-qPCR and Western
      blot. Our results showed 14% inferior plasma DPP-4 activity in AIS patients when
      compared to healthy controls (P = 0.0357). Similarly, osteoblasts derived from
      AIS subjects had lower DPP-4 gene and protein expression than controls by 90.5%
      and 57.1% respectively (P < 0.009). DPP-4 expression was regulated in a different
      manner in osteoblasts isolated from AIS participants compared to controls. Our
      results suggest a role for incretins in AIS development and severity.

PMID- 28600547
TI  - Modeling Congenital Hyperinsulinism with ABCC8-Deficient Human Embryonic Stem
      Cells Generated by CRISPR/Cas9.
AB  - Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by
      excess insulin secretion, which results in hypoglycemia. Mutation of sulfonylurea
      receptor 1 (SUR1), encoded by the ABCC8 gene, is the main cause of CHI. Here, we
      captured the phenotype of excess insulin secretion through pancreatic
      differentiation of ABCC8-deficient stem cells generated by the CRISPR/Cas9
      system. ABCC8-deficient insulin-producing cells secreted higher insulin than
      their wild-type counterparts, and the excess insulin secretion was rescued by
      nifedipine, octreotide and nicorandil. Further, we tested the role of SUR1 in
      response to different potassium levels and found that dysfunction of SUR1
      decreased the insulin secretion rate in low and high potassium environments.
      Hence, pancreatic differentiation of ABCC8-deficient cells recapitulated the CHI
      disease phenotype in vitro, which represents an attractive model to further
      elucidate the function of SUR1 and to develop and screen for novel therapeutic
      drugs.

PMID- 28600548
TI  - Impact of Carboxyl Groups in Graphene Oxide on Chemoselective Alcohol Oxidation
      with Ultra-Low Carbocatalyst Loading.
AB  - A highly efficient and simple chemoselective aerobic oxidation of primary
      alcohols to either aldehydes or carboxylic acids in the presence of nitric acid
      was developed, utilising 5 wt% graphene oxide as a carbocatalyst under ambient
      reaction conditions. Carboxylic acid functional groups on graphene oxides played
      a vital role in carbocatalyst activity, greatly influencing both the reactivity
      and selectivity. We also applied this protocol to a variant of the Knoevenagel
      condensation for primary alcohols and malonates with a secondary amine co
      catalyst via cooperative catalysis.

PMID- 28600549
TI  - Effects of high CD4 cell counts on death and attrition among HIV patients
      receiving antiretroviral treatment: an observational cohort study.
AB  - Current WHO guidelines recommend initiating ART regardless of CD4+ cell count. In
      response, we conducted an observational cohort study to assess the effects of pre
      ART CD4+ cell count levels on death, attrition, and death or attrition in HIV
      treated patients. This large HIV treatment cohort study (n = 49,155) from 2010 to
      2015 was conducted in Guangxi, China. We used a Cox regression model to analyze
      associations between pre-ART CD4+ cell counts and death, attrition, and death or
      attrition. The average mortality and ART attrition rates among all treated
      patients were 2.63 deaths and 5.32 attritions per 100 person-years, respectively.
      Compared to HIV patients with <350 CD4+ cells/mm3 at ART initiation, HIV patients
      with >500 CD4+ cells/mm3 at ART initiation had a significantly lower mortality
      rate (Adjusted hazard ratio: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.40-0.79), but significantly higher
      ART attrition rate (AHR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.03-1.33). Results from this study
      suggest that HIV patients with high CD4+ cell counts at the time of ART
      initiation may be at greater risk of treatment attrition. To further reduce ART
      attrition, it is imperative that patient education and healthcare provider
      training on ART adherence be enhanced and account for CD4 levels at ART
      initiation.

PMID- 28600550
TI  - Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of
      prebiotic systems evolution.
AB  - The origin-of-life problem has been traditionally conceived as the chemical
      challenge to find the type of molecule and free-solution reaction dynamics that
      could have started Darwinian evolution. Different autocatalytic and 'self
      replicative' molecular species have been extensively investigated, together with
      plausible synthetic pathways that might have led, abiotically, to such a
      minimalist scenario. However, in addition to molecular kinetics or molecular
      evolutionary dynamics, other physical and chemical constraints (like
      compartmentalization, differential diffusion, selective transport, osmotic
      forces, energetic couplings) could have been crucial for the cohesion, functional
      integration, and intrinsic stability/robustness of intermediate systems between
      chemistry and biology. These less acknowledged mechanisms of interaction and
      molecular control might have made the initial pathways to prebiotic systems
      evolution more intricate, but were surely essential for sustaining far-from
      equilibrium chemical dynamics, given their functional relevance in all modern
      cells. Here we explore a protocellular scenario in which some of those additional
      constraints/mechanisms are addressed, demonstrating their 'system-level'
      implications. In particular, an experimental study on the permeability of
      prebiotic vesicle membranes composed of binary lipid mixtures allows us to
      construct a semi-empirical model where protocells are able to reproduce and
      undergo an evolutionary process based on their coupling with an internal
      chemistry that supports lipid synthesis.

PMID- 28600551
TI  - Epe1 contributes to activation of AMPK by promoting phosphorylation of AMPK alpha
      subunit, Ssp2.
AB  - AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a pivotal cellular energy sensor. It is
      activated by stresses that cause depletion of energy and initiates adaptive
      responses by regulating metabolism balance. AMPK forms alphabetagamma
      heterotrimer. In fission yeast, activation of AMPK mainly depends on the
      phosphorylation of AMPKalpha subunit Ssp2 at Thr189 by upstream kinase Ssp1.
      However, not much is known about the regulation of this process. In this study,
      we identified Epe1 as a novel positive regulator of AMPK. Epe1, a jmjC-domain
      containing protein, is best-known as a negative regulator of heterochromatin
      spreading. Although the novel role of Epe1 in regulation of AMPK relies on
      predicted iron- and 2-oxyglutarate-binding residues inside jmjC domain, it seems
      to be irrelevant to inhibition of heterochromatin spreading. Epe1 is associated
      with Ssp2 directly and promotes phosphorylation of Ssp2 upon various
      environmental stresses, including low-glucose, high-sodium, high-pH and oxidative
      conditions. Similar to Epe1, Jmj1 and Msc1 also contribute to phosphorylation of
      Ssp2. Deletion of epe1 + impairs downstream events following phosphorylation of
      Ssp2, including nuclear translocation of Ssp2, sexual differentiation and
      inhibition of fatty acid synthesis. Our study reveals a novel way in which a jmjC
      domain-containing protein regulates adaptive response by directly binding to a
      principal sensor.

PMID- 28600552
TI  - Association of Interleukin-12A rs568408 with Susceptibility to Asthma in Taiwan.
AB  - Asthma is an inflammatory disease and interleukin 12 (IL-12) may play a
      regulatory role in allergen-induced inflammation. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the association of polymorphisms in IL-12A/IL-12B with asthma. The
      asthma group included 198 adult patients and the control group included 453
      individuals without asthma that were frequency-matched by gender and age. The
      distribution of genotypic and allelic frequencies of IL-12A rs568408 demonstrated
      significant differences between case and control groups. Specifically, the
      percentages of AA genotype of IL-12A rs568408 was significantly higher among
      asthmatic patients in Taiwan than healthy controls, compared to GG genotype. No
      significant difference was observed among the IL-12A rs2243115 and IL-12B
      rs3212227 genotypes between case and control groups. In addition, the A allele at
      IL-12A rs568408 was associated with more severe symptoms (P = 0.0085) among
      asthmatic patients. These results suggest that IL-12A rs568408 may contribute to
      the etiology and symptoms severity of asthma, indicating its usefulness as a
      predictive and diagnostic biomarker of asthma.

PMID- 28600553
TI  - Topological Phase Transition in Single Crystals of (Cd1-xZnx)3As2.
AB  - Single crystals of (Cd1-xZnx)3As2 were synthesized from high-temperature
      solutions and characterized in terms of their structural and electrical
      properties. Based on the measurements of resistivity and Hall signals, we
      revealed a chemical-doping-controlled transition from a three-dimensional Dirac
      semimetal to a semiconductor with a critical point xc ~ 0.38. We observed
      structural transitions from a body-center tetragonal phase to a primitive
      tetragonal phase then back to a body-center tetragonal phase in the solid
      solutions as well, which are irrelevant to the topological phase transition. This
      continuously tunable system controlled by chemical doping provides a platform for
      investigating the topological quantum phase transition of three-dimensional Dirac
      electrons.

PMID- 28600554
TI  - Seroconversion to Lutzomyia intermedia LinB-13 as a biomarker for developing
      cutaneous leishmaniasis.
AB  - Sand flies inject saliva while feeding in the vertebrate host and anti-saliva
      antibodies can be used as biomarkers of exposure to Leishmania vectors. We
      expressed recombinant salivary proteins from Lutzomyia intermedia, a vector of
      Leishmania braziliensis, and evaluated the seroreactivity in exposed individuals
      in search for exposure markers. We found a strong correlation among positive
      serology to recombinant proteins LinB-13, 26, 15, 21 and to salivary proteins:
      rLinB-13 was the top performing molecule; IgG4 was the most predominant antibody
      subclass and antibodies to rLinB-13 did not cross react with Lu. longipalpis
      salivary proteins. By evaluating a cohort of contacts of CL patients, we
      confirmed that rLinB-13, an antigen 5-related protein, is a marker of exposure to
      Lu. intermedia with high degree of accuracy. In a 5-year follow up, we determined
      that individuals who developed CL presented higher anti-rLinB13 IgG responses,
      before the appearance of clinical symptoms. They also presented a lower frequency
      of cellular responses to the parasite (DTH). Our results show that seroconversion
      to a salivary molecule, rLinB-13, is a marker of risk for CL development caused
      by Leishmania braziliensis. This highlight the possibility of developing tools
      based on vector molecules to manage the disease in endemic areas.

PMID- 28600555
TI  - Effect of adapter duration on repetition suppression in inferior temporal cortex.
AB  - Many inferior temporal (IT) cortical neurons reduce their response when a
      stimulus is repeated. Proposed mechanisms underlying this repetition suppression
      range from "fatigue" to top-down expectations of repetition. Here we examine a
      prediction from simple fatigue-based models of adaptation: prolonging adapter
      duration will increase the adapter response, leading to more repetition
      suppression. To test this, we varied adapter duration from 300 to 3000 ms,
      keeping the test stimulus duration constant. We observed no effect of adapter
      duration on repetition suppression when averaging responses across the test
      presentation. This was not because of a ceiling effect, since repeated
      presentations of a short adapter increased repetition suppression. Examination of
      test stimulus responses showed increased repetition suppression with longer
      adapter durations during the initial response phase, which reversed at a later
      phase. Across neurons, we found that the degree of repetition suppression
      covaried with the ratio of the response during the initial transient and later
      sustained phase of the response during the long adapter presentation, suggesting
      overlapping mechanisms that underlie adaptation during the adapter and the
      delayed test. We propose a fatigue-based account in which fatigue increases non
      linearly with adapter duration to explain these unexpected findings.

PMID- 28600556
TI  - Aldose reductase inhibitor increases doxorubicin-sensitivity of colon cancer
      cells and decreases cardiotoxicity.
AB  - Anthracycline drugs such as doxorubicin (DOX) and daunorubicin remain some of the
      most active wide-spectrum and cost-effective drugs in cancer therapy. However,
      colorectal cancer (CRC) cells are inherently resistant to anthracyclines which at
      higher doses cause cardiotoxicity. Our recent studies indicate that aldose
      reductase (AR) inhibitors such as fidarestat inhibit CRC growth in vitro and in
      vivo. Here, we show that treatment of CRC cells with fidarestat increases the
      efficacy of DOX-induced death in HT-29 and SW480 cells and in nude mice
      xenografts. AR inhibition also results in higher intracellular accumulation of
      DOX and decreases the expression of drug transporter proteins MDR1, MRP1, and
      ABCG2. Further, fidarestat also inhibits DOX-induced increase in troponin-I and
      various inflammatory markers in the serum and heart and restores cardiac function
      in mice. These results suggest that fidarestat could be used as adjuvant therapy
      to enhance DOX sensitivity of CRC cells and to reduce DOX-associated
      cardiotoxicity.

PMID- 28600557
TI  - Regulatory Functions of Cellular Energy Sensor SNF1-Related Kinase1 for Leaf
      Senescence Delay through ETHYLENE- INSENSITIVE3 Repression.
AB  - Aging of living organisms is governed by intrinsic developmental programs, of
      which progression is often under the regulation of their cellular energy status.
      For example, calorie restriction is known to slow down aging of heterotrophic
      organisms from yeasts to mammals. In autotrophic plants cellular energy
      deprivation by perturbation of photosynthesis or sugar metabolism is also shown
      to induce senescence delay. However, the underlying molecular and biochemical
      mechanisms remain elusive. Our plant cell-based functional and biochemical assays
      have demonstrated that SNF1-RELATED KINASE1 (SnRK1) directly interacts,
      phosphorylates, and destabilizes the key transcription factor ETHYLENE
      INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3) in senescence-promoting hormone ethylene signaling. Combining
      chemical manipulation and genetic validation using extended loss-of-function
      mutants and gain-of-function transgenic lines, we further revealed that a SnRK1
      elicitor, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea enables to slow down senescence
      associated leaf degreening through the regulation of EIN3 in Arabidopsis. Our
      findings enlighten that an evolutionary conserved cellular energy sensor SnRK1
      plays a role in fine-tuning of organ senescence progression to avoid sudden death
      during the last step of leaf growth and development.

PMID- 28600558
TI  - Look me in the eyes: constraining gaze in the eye-region provokes abnormally high
      subcortical activation in autism.
AB  - Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) seem to have difficulties looking
      others in the eyes, but the substrate for this behavior is not well understood.
      The subcortical pathway, which consists of superior colliculus, pulvinar nucleus
      of the thalamus, and amygdala, enables rapid and automatic face processing. A
      specific component of this pathway - i.e., the amygdala - has been shown to be
      abnormally activated in paradigms where individuals had to specifically attend to
      the eye-region; however, a direct examination of the effect of manipulating the
      gaze to the eye-regions on all the components of the subcortical system
      altogether has never been performed. The subcortical system is particularly
      important as it shapes the functional specialization of the face-processing
      cortex during development. Using functional MRI, we investigated the effect of
      constraining gaze in the eye-region during dynamic emotional face perception in
      groups of participants with ASD and typical controls. We computed differences in
      activation in the subcortical face processing system (superior colliculus,
      pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus and amygdala) for the same stimuli seen freely
      or with the gaze constrained in the eye-region. Our results show that when
      constrained to look in the eyes, individuals with ASD show abnormally high
      activation in the subcortical system, which may be at the basis of their eye
      avoidance in daily life.

PMID- 28600559
TI  - Transcriptome of Pterospermum kingtungense provides implications on the mechanism
      underlying its rapid vegetative growth and limestone adaption.
AB  - Pterospermum kingtungense C.Y.Wu ex Hsue is a typical tree species living in the
      relatively adverse limestone habitat. Due to its excellent wood quality and big
      size, it is an important timber resource which caused its endangered. We firstly
      provide the data resources by reporting an annotated transcriptome assembly. 203
      million unique Illumina RNA-seq reads were produced with totally 50,333
      transcripts, among which 48,778 transcripts were annotated. By a global
      comparison of homology between P. kingtungense and cacao, we identified 9,507
      single copy orthologues and 990 P. kingtungense specific genes. GO enrichment
      analyses indicate that P. kingtungense specific genes are enriched in defense
      response, implying potential adaptation to limestone environment. As to cell
      compartment, the genes are enriched in thylakoid component. Consistently, KEGG
      enrichment indicates that genes are enriched in photosynthesis. In addition, we
      identified two genes under positive selection in P. kingtungense species. These
      results suggest that P. kingtungense have strong photosynthetic capacity, which
      related to vegetation growth. Our work provides the genomic resources of a
      limestone specific tree with economic importance to local society and suggests
      possible mechanism on its characteristics on the limestone adaption and excellent
      wood properties, which will be important for its conservation and sustainable
      utilization.

PMID- 28600560
TI  - Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of WS2 Film by Laser Drilling to Produce Porous
      WS2/WO3 Heterostructure.
AB  - Methods and mechanisms for improvement of photocatalytic activity, are important
      and popular research topics for renewable energy production and waste water
      treatment. Here, we demonstrate a facile laser drilling method for engineering
      well-aligned pore arrays on magnetron-sputtered WS2 nanofilms with increased
      active edge sites; the proposed method promotes partial oxidation to fabricate
      WS2/WO3 heterojunctions that enhance the separation of photogenerated electron
      hole pairs. The WS2 film after one, two, and three treatments exhibited
      photocurrent density of 3.9, 6.2, and 8 MUA/cm2, respectively, reaching up to 31
      times larger than that of pristine WS2 film along with greatly improved charge
      recombination kinetics. The unprecedented combinational roles of laser drilling
      revealed in this study in regards to geometric tailoring, chemical
      transformation, and heterojunction positioning for WS2-based composite
      nanomaterials create a foundation for further enhancing the performance of other
      2D transition metal dichalcogenides in photocatalysis via laser treatment.

PMID- 28600561
TI  - The ModA2 Phasevarion of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Regulates Resistance
      to Oxidative Stress and Killing by Human Neutrophils.
AB  - Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is the causative agent of multiple
      respiratory tract infections. Several human pathogens, including NTHI, possess a
      novel genetic system, termed the phasevarion, which mediates a rapid and
      reversible change in the expression of many genes throughout the chromosome. This
      occurs by phase variation of a single gene (modA) that encodes a DNA
      methyltransferase and results in two phenotypically distinct subpopulations, ON
      and OFF. NTHI encounters many pressures within the various microenvironments of
      its human host as the disease course evolves from one of asymptomatic
      nasopharyngeal carriage to overt disease. These include oxidative stresses, which
      are present throughout the respiratory tract. To persist in the human nasopharynx
      and as a pathogen throughout the airways, NTHI must be able to mitigate toxic
      levels of oxidative stress. Here we show that expression of ModA2, modA2 ON
      status, resulted in increased sensitivity to oxidative stress. Furthermore, the
      modA2 ON status resulted in decreased resistance to neutrophil-mediated killing,
      which resulted in selection for the modA2 OFF subpopulation in an ex vivo
      survival assay. These findings highlight the importance of the ModA2 phasevarion
      in adaptation to innate host defences and reveal an additional microenvironmental
      pressure that selected for a specific ModA2 subpopulation.

PMID- 28600562
TI  - Influence of W substitution on crystal structure, phase evolution and microwave
      dielectric properties of (Na0.5Bi0.5)MoO4 ceramics with low sintering
      temperature.
AB  - In this work, the (Na0.5Bi0.5)(Mo1-xWx)O4 (x = 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0) ceramics were
      prepared via solid state reaction method. All the samples can be well densified
      at sintering temperature about ~720  degrees C. Dense and homogeneous
      microstructure with grain size lying between 2~8 MUm can be observed from
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Microwave dielectric permittivity of the
      (Na0.5Bi0.5)(Mo0.5W0.5)O4 ceramic was found to be temperature-independent in a
      wide range between 25~120  degrees C with a temperature coefficient of frequency
      (TCF) ~-6 ppm/ degrees C, a permittivity ~28.9, and Qf values 12,000~14,000 GHz.
      Crystal structure was refined using Rietveld method and lattice parameters are a
      = b = 5.281 (5) A and c = 11.550 (6) A with a space group I 41/a (88). The
      (Na0.5Bi0.5)(Mo1-xWx)O4 ceramics might be good candidate for low temperature co
      fired ceramics (LTCC) technology.

PMID- 28600563
TI  - Multivariate classification of echellograms: a new perspective in Laser-Induced
      Breakdown Spectroscopy analysis.
AB  - In this work, we proposed a new data acquisition approach that significantly
      improves the repetition rates of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
      experiments, where high-end echelle spectrometers and intensified detectors are
      commonly used. The moderate repetition rates of recent LIBS systems are caused by
      the utilization of intensified detectors and their slow full frame (i.e.
      echellogram) readout speeds with consequent necessity for echellogram-to-1D
      spectrum conversion (intensity vs. wavelength). Therefore, we investigated a new
      methodology where only the most effective pixels of the echellogram were selected
      and directly used in the LIBS experiments. Such data processing resulted in
      significant variable down-selection (more than four orders of magnitude). Samples
      of 50 sedimentary ores samples (distributed in 13 ore types) were analyzed by
      LIBS system and then classified by linear and non-linear Multivariate Data
      Analysis algorithms. The utilization of selected pixels from an echellogram
      yielded increased classification accuracy compared to the utilization of common
      1D spectra.

PMID- 28600564
TI  - Unique copper and reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite toward the efficient
      electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide.
AB  - The electrochemical reduction of CO2 to useful chemicals and fuels has garnered a
      keen and broad interest. Herein, we report a unique nanocomposite consisting of
      Cu nanoparticles (NPs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported on a Cu
      substrate with a high catalytic activity for CO2 reduction. The nanocomposite was
      optimized in terms of the composition of Cu NPs and rGO as well as the overall
      amount. A gas chromatograph was employed to analyze the gaseous products, whereas
      a chemical oxygen demand (COD) method was proposed and utilized to quantify the
      overall liquid products. The optimized nanocomposite could effectively reduce CO2
      to CO, HCOOH and CH4 with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 76.6% at -0.4 V (vs. RHE)
      in a CO2 saturated NaHCO3 solution. The remarkable catalytic activity, high FE,
      and excellent stability make this Cu-rGO nanocomposite promising for the
      electrochemical reduction of CO2 to value-added products to address the pressing
      environmental and energy challenges.

PMID- 28600565
TI  - Action sequencing in the spontaneous swimming behavior of zebrafish larvae -
      implications for drug development.
AB  - All motile organisms need to organize their motor output to obtain functional
      goals. In vertebrates, natural behaviors are generally composed of a relatively
      large set of motor components which in turn are combined into a rich repertoire
      of complex actions. It is therefore an experimental challenge to investigate the
      organizational principles of natural behaviors. Using the relatively simple
      locomotion pattern of 10 days old zebrafish larvae we have here characterized the
      basic organizational principles governing the swimming behavior. Our results show
      that transitions between different behavioral states can be described by a model
      combining a stochastic component with a control signal. By dividing swimming
      bouts into a limited number of categories, we show that similar types of swimming
      behavior as well as stand-stills between bouts were temporally clustered,
      indicating a basic level of action sequencing. Finally, we show that
      pharmacological manipulations known to induce alterations in the organization of
      motor behavior in mammals, mainly through basal ganglia interactions, have
      related effects in zebrafish larvae. This latter finding may be of specific
      relevance to the field of drug development given the growing importance of
      zebrafish larvae in phenotypic screening for novel drug candidates acting on
      central nervous system targets.

PMID- 28600566
TI  - Comparative morphology and transcriptome analysis reveals distinct functions of
      the primary and secondary laticifer cells in the rubber tree.
AB  - Laticifers are highly specialized cells that synthesize and store natural rubber.
      Rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.) contain both primary and secondary
      laticifers. Morphological and functional differences between the two types of
      laticifers are largely unknown, but such information is important for breeding
      and cultivation practices. Morphological comparison using paraffin sections
      revealed only distribution differences: the primary laticifers were distributed
      randomly, while the secondary laticifers were distributed in concentric rings.
      Using isolated laticifer networks, the primary laticifers were shown to develop
      via intrusive "budding" and formed necklace-like morphology, while the secondary
      laticifers developed straight and smooth cell walls. Comparative transcriptome
      analysis indicated that genes involved in cell wall modification, such as pectin
      esterase, lignin metabolic enzymes, and expansins, were highly up-regulated in
      the primary laticifers and correspond to its necklace-like morphology. Genes
      involved in defense against biotic stresses and rubber biosynthesis were highly
      up-regulated in the primary laticifers, whereas genes involved in abiotic
      stresses and dormancy were up-regulated in the secondary laticifers, suggesting
      that the primary laticifers are more adequately prepared to defend against biotic
      stresses, while the secondary laticifers are more adequately prepared to defend
      against abiotic stresses. Therefore, the two types of laticifers are
      morphologically and functionally distinct.

PMID- 28600568
TI  - An aromatic noble-gas hydride: C6H5CCXeH.
AB  - We report on the aromatic noble-gas hydride, C6H5CCXeH, identified in a xenon
      matrix using infrared spectroscopy and extensive quantum chemical calculations.
      This molecule is prepared by 250-nm photolysis of phenylacetylene (C6H5CCH)
      isolated in a xenon matrix and subsequent thermal mobilization of hydrogen atoms
      at about 40 K. The characteristic H-Xe stretching mode of C6H5CCXeH is observed
      at about 1500 cm-1, and a number of other fundamentals also appear in the
      experimental spectra. The assignment is supported by deuteration experiments
      providing predictable shifts of the vibrational frequencies. The experimental and
      calculated spectra are in a good agreement. C6H5CCXeH is computationally lower in
      energy than the C6H5CC + Xe + H fragments by about 0.60 eV at the M06-2X/aug-cc
      pVTZ-PP level of theory, which allows its formation at low temperatures.
      C6H5CCXeH is the first aromatic noble-gas hydride and the first halogen-free
      aromatic noble-gas compound.

PMID- 28600567
TI  - Reference value of left and right atrial size and phasic function by SSFP CMR at
      3.0 T in healthy Chinese adults.
AB  - The size and function of the left atrium (LA) and right atrium (RA) are related
      closely with the prognosis of cardiovascular diseases. However, their normal
      reference values, as measured by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), are not well
      established in Chinese populations. Healthy Chinese subjects (n = 135, 66 males,
      age 23-83 years) without cardiovascular risk factors were recruited. We imaged
      the LA and RA of all subjects using short axis and long axis slices by steady
      state free precession (SSFP) sequences using a 3.0T scanner. The size and
      functional parameters were measured. Age and gender differences in LA were
      further explored. The normal reference values of atrial dimensions, volumes, and
      empty fractions (EFs) were provided by short axis (SAX) and area-length methods.
      Volumes and EFs derived by the area-length method showed correlated well with
      those derived by the by SAX method, but significantly underestimated the volumes
      (all P < 0.001) and overestimated the LA EFs (all P < 0.001). Atrial dimensions
      and volumes were generally larger in males. Conduit EFs and total EFs showed
      gender differences. Most atrial parameters correlated with age. In general, our
      results showed that gender and age have considerable impact on LA and RA size and
      function.

PMID- 28600569
TI  - FPR2 promotes invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cells and predicts the
      prognosis of patients.
AB  - Formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2), a classical chemoattractant receptor of G
      protein-coupled receptors, is reported to be involved in invasion and metastasis
      of some cancers, but the role of FPR2 in gastric cancer (GC) has not yet been
      elucidated. In this study, we found that the levels of FPR2 expression in GC were
      positively correlated with invasion depth, lymph node metastasis and negatively
      correlated with the patients' overall survival. Multivariate analysis indicated
      that FPR2 expression was an independent prognostic marker for GC patients. FPR2
      knockdown significantly abrogated the migration and invasion stimulated by Hp(2
      20) and Ac(2-26), two well-characterized ligands for FPR2 in GC cells. FPR2
      deletion also reduced the tumorigenic and metastatic capabilities of GC cells in
      vivo. Mechanistically, stimulation with FPR2 ligands resulted in down-regulation
      of E-cadherin and up-regulation of vimentin, which were reversed by FPR2 knock
      down, implying the involvement of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).
      Moreover, the activation of FPR2 was accompanied with ERK1/2 phosphorylation,
      which could be attenuated by FPR2 silencing or treatment with MEK inhibitor,
      PD98059. Altogether, our results demonstrate that FPR2 is functionally involved
      in invasion and metastasis, and potentially acts as a novel prognostic marker as
      well as a potential therapeutic target in human GC.

PMID- 28600570
TI  - Cross-Polarized Surface-Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy by Fano-Resonant
      Asymmetric Metamaterials.
AB  - Plasmonic metamaterials have overcome fundamental limitations in conventional
      optics by their capability to engineer material resonances and dispersions at
      will, holding great promise for sensing applications. Recent demonstrations of
      metamaterial sensors, however, have mainly relied on their resonant nature for
      strong optical interactions with molecules, but few examples fully exploit their
      functionality to manipulate the polarization of light. Here, we present cross
      polarized surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) by the Fano-resonant
      asymmetric metamaterial allowing for strong background suppression as well as
      significant field enhancement. The metamaterial is designed to exhibit the
      controlled Fano resonance with the cross-polarization conversion property at 1730
      cm-1, which spectrally overlaps with the C=O vibrational mode. In the cross
      polarized SEIRA measurement, the C=O mode of poly(methyl methacrylate) molecules
      is clearly observed as a distinct dip within a Fano-resonant transmission peak of
      the metamaterial. The vibrational signal contrast is then improved based on the
      cross-polarized detection scheme where only the light interacting with the
      metamaterial-molecular coupled system is detected by totally eliminating the
      unwanted background light. Our metamaterial approach achieves the zeptomole
      sensitivity with a large signal-to-noise ratio in the far-field measurement,
      paving the way toward the realization of ultrasensitive IR inspection
      technologies.

PMID- 28600571
TI  - Micro-scale heterogeneity of soil phosphorus depends on soil substrate and depth.
AB  - Soils comprise various heterogeneously distributed pools of lithogenic, free
      organic, occluded, adsorbed, and precipitated phosphorus (P) forms, which differ
      depending on soil forming factors. Small-scale heterogeneity of element
      distributions recently has received increased attention in soil science due to
      its influence on soil functions and soil fertility. We investigated the micro
      scale distribution of total P and different specific P binding forms in
      aggregates taken from a high-P clay-rich soil and a low-P sandy soil by combining
      advanced spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques to introduce new insights on
      P accessibility and availability in soils. Here we show that soil substrate and
      soil depth determine micro-scale P heterogeneity in soil aggregates. In P-rich
      areas of all investigated soil aggregates, P was predominantly co-located with
      aluminium and iron oxides and hydroxides, which are known to strongly adsorb P.
      Clay minerals were co-located with P only to a lesser extent. In the low-P
      topsoil aggregate, the majority of the P was bound organically. Aluminium and
      iron phosphate predominated in the quartz-rich low-P subsoil aggregate. Sorbed
      and mineral P phases determined P speciation in the high-P top- and subsoil, and
      apatite was only detected in the high-P subsoil aggregate. Our results indicate
      that micro-scale spatial and chemical heterogeneity of P influences P
      accessibility and bioavailability.

PMID- 28600572
TI  - Constructing a visible-light-driven photocatalytic membrane by g-C3N4 quantum
      dots and TiO2 nanotube array for enhanced water treatment.
AB  - Photocatalytic membranes that driven by visible light are highly desired for
      water treatment. Here g-C3N4 quantum dots (QDs) assembled into TiO2 nanotube
      array (TNA) membranes were fabricated for the first time as a visible-light
      driven g-C3N4/TNA membrane. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of membrane
      filtration and photocatalysis, more than 60% of rhodamine B could be removed from
      water under visible light irradiation. Meanwhile, the g-C3N4/TNA membrane
      presented an enhanced anti-fouling ability during filtering water containing
      Escherichia coli under visible light irradiation, and a permeate flux of 2 times
      higher than that of filtration alone was obtained by integrated process. This
      study offers a promising strategy for the potential application of the visible
      light-driven membranes in water treatment.

PMID- 28600573
TI  - Multisensory Perception of Contradictory Information in an Environment of Varying
      Reliability: Evidence for Conscious Perception and Optimal Causal Inference.
AB  - Two psychophysical experiments examined multisensory integration of visual
      auditory (Experiment 1) and visual-tactile-auditory (Experiment 2) signals.
      Participants judged the location of these multimodal signals relative to a
      standard presented at the median plane of the body. A cue conflict was induced by
      presenting the visual signals with a constant spatial discrepancy to the other
      modalities. Extending previous studies, the reliability of certain modalities
      (visual in Experiment 1, visual and tactile in Experiment 2) was varied from
      trial to trial by presenting signals with either strong or weak location
      information (e.g., a relatively dense or dispersed dot cloud as visual stimulus).
      We investigated how participants would adapt to the cue conflict from the
      contradictory information under these varying reliability conditions and whether
      participants had insight to their performance. During the course of both
      experiments, participants switched from an integration strategy to a selection
      strategy in Experiment 1 and to a calibration strategy in Experiment 2.
      Simulations of various multisensory perception strategies proposed that optimal
      causal inference in a varying reliability environment not only depends on the
      amount of multimodal discrepancy, but also on the relative reliability of stimuli
      across the reliability conditions.

PMID- 28600574
TI  - Promoter hypermethylation inactivates CDKN2A, CDKN2B and RASSF1A genes in
      sporadic parathyroid adenomas.
AB  - Cyclin D1, a G1-S phase regulator, is upregulated in parathyroid adenomas. Since
      cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors, CDKN2A and CDKN2B, and RASSF1A (Ras
      association domain family 1, isoform A) are involved in G1-S phase arrest and act
      as potential tumor suppressor genes, we aimed to study potential methylation
      mediated inactivation of these genes in parathyroid adenomas. Gene expressions of
      cyclin D1 (CCND1) and regulatory molecules (CDKN2A, CDKN2B and RASSF1A) was
      analysed in parathyroid adenoma tissues (n = 30). DNA promoter methylation of
      cyclin D1 regulators were assessed and correlated with clinicopathological
      features of the patients. Gene expression analysis showed a relative fold
      reductions of 0.35 for CDKN2A (p = 0.01), 0.45 for CDKN2B (P = 0.02), and 0.39
      for RASSF1A (p < 0.01) in adenomatous compared to normal parathyroid tissue.
      There was an inverse relationship between the expressions of CDKN2A and CDKN2B
      with CCND1. In addition, the promoter regions of CDKN2A, CDKN2B, and of RASSF1A
      were significantly hyper-methylated in 50% (n = 15), 47% (n = 14), and 90% (n =
      27) of adenomas respectively. In contrast, no such aberrant methylation of these
      genes was observed in normal parathyroid tissue. So, promoter hypermethylation is
      associated with down-regulation of CCND1 regulatory genes in sporadic parathyroid
      adenomas. This dysregulated cell cycle mechanism may contribute to parathyroid
      tumorigenesis.

PMID- 28600575
TI  - Altered humoral immunity to mycobacterial antigens in Japanese patients affected
      by inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system.
AB  - Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and Mycobacterium bovis (BCG)
      have been associated to several human autoimmune diseases such as multiple
      sclerosis (MS), but there are conflicting evidence on the issue. The objective of
      this study is to evaluate their role in Japanese patients affected by
      inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (IDDs). A
      total of 97 IDDs subjects including 51 MS and 46 neuromyelitis optica spectrum
      disorder (NMOSD) patients, and 34 healthy controls (HCs) were tested for the
      detection of IgG, IgM and IgA against mycobacterial antigens by indirect ELISA.
      The levels of anti-MAP IgG were higher in MS patients compared to NMOSD patients
      (AUC = 0.59, p = 0.02) and HCs (AUC = 0.67, p = 0.01), and the anti-MAP
      antibodies were more prevalent in MS patients treated with interferon-beta (OR =
      11.9; p = 0.004). Anti-BCG IgG antibodies were detected in 8% of MS, 32% of NMOSD
      and 18% of HCs, the difference between MS and NMOSD groups was statistically
      significant (AUC = 0.66, p = 0.005). Competition experiments showed that
      nonspecific IgM were elicited by common mycobacterial antigens. Our study
      provided further evidence for a possible association between MAP and MS, while
      BCG vaccination seemed to be inversely related to the risk of developing MS.

PMID- 28600576
TI  - Circulating angiopoietin-like 8 (ANGPTL8) is a marker of liver steatosis and is
      negatively regulated by Prader-Willi Syndrome.
AB  - ANGPTL8 is a liver-derived protein related to insulin-sensitivity. Its
      relationship with obesity and liver function in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is
      unknown. The present study investigated circulating ANGPTL8 in PWS and controls
      with common obesity, assessing its association to liver steatosis. For this
      purpose, 20 obese PWS and 20 controls matched for body mass index (BMI), sex and
      age underwent analysis of ANGPTL8 levels, glucose and lipid metabolism. Liver
      function tests and degree of liver steatosis by ultrasonography (US), fat-free
      mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) were also
      assessed. In comparison to controls, obese PWS showed lower values of FFM (p <
      0.0001) and higher FM (p = 0.01), while harbouring higher HDL cholesterol, lower
      triglycerides and OGTT-derived insulin levels, as well as a lower prevalence and
      severity of liver steatosis. With respect to obese controls, ANGPTL8 levels were
      significantly lower in PWS (p = 0.007) and overall correlated with transaminase
      levels and the severity of liver steatosis, as well as FFM (p < 0.05 for all). By
      a stepwise multivariable regression analysis, ANGPTL8 levels were independently
      predicted by PWS status (p = 0.01) and liver steatosis (p < 0.05). In conclusion,
      ANGPTL8 levels are lower in PWS than obese controls and are inversely associated
      with the severity of liver steatosis. Further studies should investigate the
      potential genetic basis for this observation.

PMID- 28600577
TI  - Rehabilitation Medicine - The Final Frontier.

PMID- 28600578
TI  - Transarterial Infusion Chemotherapy With and Without Embolisation in
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of
      transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) and iodised oil infusion chemotherapy
      without embolisation (TAI) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: We searched for randomised controlled trials, retrospective cohort
      studies, and two-arm prospective studies that compared the clinical outcomes in
      patients who received TACE and TAI treatment. Database search was performed
      through 14 December 2016. Rates of survival and therapy response were compared
      using odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Survival
      rates and therapy response rates were similar between patients who received TACE
      and TAI treatments (pooled OR: 1.278; 95% CI, 0.783 to 2.086, P = 0.327; and
      pooled OR: 1.502; 95% CI, 0.930 to 2.426, P = 0.096, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      Our results suggest that treatment intensification by adding embolisation did not
      increase overall survival and therapy response over TAI in patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28600579
TI  - Road Crashes in Older Persons and the Use of Comorbidity Polypharmacy Score in an
      Asian Population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Age-related physiological changes predispose older road users to
      higher mortality from traffic crashes. We aimed to describe the injury
      epidemiology of these patients, and explore the association between the
      comorbidity polypharmacy score (CPS) and outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      retrospective study utilised data from the Trauma Registry in the National
      University Hospital, Singapore, between January 2011 and December 2014. Patients
      involved in traffic crashes aged 45 years and above with injury severity scores
      (ISS) of 9 and higher were included. RESULTS: There were 432 patients; median age
      was 58 (interquartile range, 51 to 65.5) years with predominance of male patients
      (82.2%) and Chinese ethnicity (66%). Overall mortality was 9.95%, with lower odds
      associated with higher Glasgow Coma Scale (odds ratio [OR] 0.73; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.65 to 0.81, P <0.001), higher diastolic blood pressure (OR 0.98;
      95% CI, 0.97 to 1.00, P = 0.031), and lower ISS of 9 to 15 (OR 0.10; 95% CI, 0.02
      to 0.43, P = 0.002). The need for blood products was associated with higher
      mortality (OR 7.62; 95% CI, 2.67 to 21.7, P <0.001). CPS did not predict
      mortality. Independent predictors of discharge venue included length of stay,
      tier of injury and CPS group. Moderate CPS was statistically significant for
      nursing home placement (OR 10.7; 95% CI, 2.33 to 49.6, P = 0.002) but not for
      rehabilitation facility. CONCLUSION: CPS score is useful in predicting discharge
      to a nursing home facility for older patients with traffic crashes. Further
      larger studies involving other trauma types in the Asian population are needed to
      evaluate its utility.

PMID- 28600581
TI  - PAtient Safety in Surgical EDucation (PASSED): A Pilot Study Using iPad Game to
      Teach Patient Safety in Undergraduate Medical Curriculum.

PMID- 28600582
TI  - A Single Centre Experience with Selective Termination of Anomalous Foetus in
      Multifoetal Pregnancies.

PMID- 28600580
TI  - Outcomes of Dose-Attenuated Docetaxel in Asian Patients with Castrate-Resistant
      Prostate Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: High levels of toxicities have been observed when docetaxel is
      administered at the standard dose of 75 mg/m2 every 3 weeks (Q3W) in the real
      world treatment of Asian patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate
      cancer (CRPC). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of 2
      attenuated regimens more widely used in an Asian setting to minimise toxicity -
      60 mg/m2 Q3W and weekly docetaxel (20 mg/m2 to 35 mg/m2). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Medical records of 89 CRPC patients between December 2003 and April 2013 were
      reviewed. Pairwise statistical analysis was performed, comparing efficacy and
      safety outcomes of 75 mg/m2 Q3W and weekly docetaxel with 60 mg/m2 Q3W. Treatment
      endpoints used were prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response (decrease of >=50%
      from baseline), pain improvement after cycle 2, overall survival, time to disease
      progression and radiological response. RESULTS: Patients who received docetaxel
      at 75 mg/m2 Q3W were younger than those who received 60 mg/m2 Q3W (62 years and
      66 years, respectively; P = 0.0489). Both groups had similar response rates.
      Compared with patients on 60 mg/m2 Q3W, more patients on weekly regimens were
      symptomatic at baseline (63.2% and 87.5%, respectively; P = 0.0173). Longer
      overall survival was observed in the 60 mg/m2 Q3W arm than the weekly docetaxel
      arm (16.9 months and 10.6 months, respectively; P = 0.0131), though other
      measures of response did not differ significantly. CONCLUSION: Our data supports
      the use of 60 mg/m2 Q3W docetaxel which has similar efficacy and an acceptable
      toxicity profile compared to the standard 75 mg/m2 Q3W regimen. Weekly docetaxel
      has significant palliative benefits among symptomatic patients despite lower
      overall survival.

PMID- 28600583
TI  - Relation of Cardiac Arrhythmias to Hypoxic Time and Lowest Oxygen Saturation in
      Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in an Asian Context: A Singapore Sleep
      Centre Study.

PMID- 28600584
TI  - Sudden Flagellate Rash after Barbecue.

PMID- 28600585
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28600587
TI  - [Consideration of the habitus increases the accuracy of estimation in the
      application of cognitive aids in pediatric emergences].

PMID- 28600588
TI  - [Open reduction and internal fixation of lateral tibial plateau fractures with
      free subchondral 2.7 mm screws].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Exact reconstruction of the depressed articular surface and stable
      subchondral fixation of the lateral tibial plateau (ORIF, "open reduction and
      internal fixation"). INDICATIONS: Tibial plateau fractures with involvement of
      the lateral column and depression of the articular surface. CONTRAINDICATIONS:
      Critical soft tissue. Severe osteoporosis. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Supine position,
      classical anterolateral approach, lateral submeniscal arthrotomy, visualisation
      of the fracture, osteotomy of the lateral tibial condyle. Reconstruction of the
      articular surface under visual control and temporary fixation with Kirschner
      wires. One or more 2.7 mm locking screws are placed subchondral for permanent
      stable fixation of the articular surface. If needed, the metaphyseal bone defect
      is filled with autologous or allogenic bone graft. The lateral tibial condyle is
      reduced and a 3.5 mm (variable angle) locking compression plate applied. Closure
      of fascia and skin in layers. FOLLOW-UP MANAGEMENT: Free range of motion, in case
      of residual instability of the collateral ligaments varus-valgus stabilizing
      brace, partial weight-bearing of 10-15 kg for 8 weeks, control computed
      tomography (CT) scan after 3 months. RESULTS: Since February 2014, a total of 23
      lateral tibial plateau fractures were treated using the described technique; 4
      patients were lost to follow-up and the 3-month follow-up of 2 patients is not
      completed yet. After an average of 167 days, 11 patients had no complaints. At
      approximately 3 months postoperatively, 10 patients had full range of motion, 3
      had a flexion deficit of at least 30 degrees , and 2 patients had residual
      instability of the medial collateral ligament. One postoperative superficial
      infection was noted. At the 3 month CT, 10 of 17 patients showed successful
      reduction without significant articular steps or anatomical malalignment.

PMID- 28600589
TI  - [New aspects of minimally invasive hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery].

PMID- 28600590
TI  - Do Multi-year Applications of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis for
      Control of Mosquito Larvae Affect the Abundance of B. cereus Group Populations in
      Riparian Wetland Soils?
AB  - Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) is a soil-borne bacterium
      affiliated to the Bacillus cereus group (Bcg) and has been used in biocontrol
      products against nematoceran larvae for several decades. However, knowledge is
      limited on whether long-term Bti application can affect the structure of
      indigenous communities of Bcg and the overall abundance of Bti. Using species-
      and group-specific quantitative PCR assays, we measured the Bcg- and Bti
      abundances in riparian wetlands in the River Dalalven floodplains of central
      Sweden. On five occasions during one vegetative season, soil samples were
      collected in alder swamps and wet meadows which had been treated with Bti for
      mosquito larvae control during the preceding 11 years, as well as in untreated
      control sites and well-drained forests in the same area. The average abundance of
      Bcg in alder swamps was around three times higher than in wet meadows. Across all
      sites and habitats, the Bti treatments had no effect on the Bcg-abundance,
      whereas the Bti-abundance was significantly higher in the treated than in the
      control sites. However, for individual sampling sites, abundances of Bti and Bcg
      were not correlated with the number of Bti applications, indicating that added
      Bti possibly influenced the total population of Bti in the short term but had
      only a limited effect in the longer term. The findings of this study increase the
      understanding of the ecology of Bti applications for mosquito control, which can
      facilitate environmental risk assessment in connection with approval of
      microbiological control agents.

PMID- 28600591
TI  - [Renal cell carcinomas in childhood].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Renal cell carcinoma is a rare childhood disease. However, it should
      be considered in the differential diagnosis in the detection of a renal mass.
      OBJECTIVES: Incidence and mortality of renal cell carcinomas in childhood.
      Presentation of clinical symptoms, diagnostics, histology, therapy and course of
      the disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Evaluation of our own prospective data of a
      small patient population of 8 patients, as well as discussion of the current
      literature on this tumor entity. RESULTS: The average follow-up period was 27
      months. Preoperative staging studies showed no metastases. The histologically
      primary predominant subtype was papillary renal cell carcinoma. Tumor stage and
      lymph node status were the most important prognostic factors in our study.
      CONCLUSIONS: Renal cell carcinoma in childhood is a rare disease whose treatment
      is challenging and should be performed in an interdisciplinary team. Typical
      clinical symptoms, as in adults, are absent. The partial nephrectomy should be,
      if practicable, the surgical treatment of choice. The most important risk factors
      for survival are tumor stage and lymph node status. Data on adjuvant target
      therapy for metastatic disease in childhood are lacking. Further prospective,
      multicenter studies are necessary to generate more information on the biology and
      course of this disease and to obtain adjuvant treatment options in locally
      advanced disease.

PMID- 28600592
TI  - [Laparoscopic lavage in perforated diverticulitis].

PMID- 28600593
TI  - [Paradoxical sphincters and cardinal continence function of the gastric fundus].
AB  - Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a common disorder in humans and has been
      treated for the last 67 years using fundoplication. However, treatment results
      have generally not been satisfactory. Physiological and anatomic findings must be
      taken into account to improve the therapy technique. In this article, these are
      described using the example of paradoxical sphincters and the effect of NO signal
      molecules in the gastrointestinal tract.

PMID- 28600594
TI  - [Minimally invasive approaches for transanal surgery].
AB  - Since the introduction of transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) in the 1980 s,
      the minimally invasive transanal approach has been a treatment option for
      selected patients with colorectal diseases. Recently, transanal minimally
      invasive surgery (TAMIS) was introduced as an alternative technique. TAMIS is a
      hybrid between TEM and single-port laparoscopy and was followed by introduction
      of transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME). Although the TaTME experience
      remains preliminary, it appears to be an attractive minimally invasive procedure
      for carefully selected patients with resectable rectal cancer. The objective of
      this review is to describe the latest technologies which enhanced progress of
      minimally invasive transanal approaches for endo- and extraluminal surgery in
      this area of colorectal surgery.

PMID- 28600595
TI  - Assessing behavioural changes in ALS: cross-validation of ALS-specific measures.
AB  - The Beaumont Behavioural Inventory (BBI) is a behavioural proxy report for the
      assessment of behavioural changes in ALS. This tool has been validated against
      the FrSBe, a non-ALS-specific behavioural assessment, and further comparison of
      the BBI against a disease-specific tool was considered. This study cross
      validates the BBI against the ALS-FTD-Q. Sixty ALS patients, 8% also meeting
      criteria for FTD, were recruited. All patients were evaluated using the BBI and
      the ALS-FTD-Q, completed by a carer. Correlational analysis was performed to
      assess construct validity. Precision, sensitivity, specificity, and overall
      accuracy of the BBI when compared to the ALS-FTD-Q, were obtained. The mean score
      of the whole sample on the BBI was 11.45 +/- 13.06. ALS-FTD patients scored
      significantly higher than non-demented ALS patients (31.6 +/- 14.64, 9.62 +/-
      11.38; p < 0.0001). A significant large positive correlation between the BBI and
      the ALS-FTD-Q was observed (r = 0.807, p < 0.0001), and no significant
      correlations between the BBI and other clinical/demographic characteristics
      indicate good convergent and discriminant validity, respectively. 72% of overall
      concordance was observed. Precision, sensitivity, and specificity for the
      classification of severely impaired patients were adequate. However, lower
      concordance in the classification of mild behavioural changes was observed, with
      higher sensitivity using the BBI, most likely secondary to BBI items which
      endorsed behavioural aspects not measured by the ALS-FTD-Q. Good construct
      validity has been further confirmed when the BBI is compared to an ALS-specific
      tool. Furthermore, the BBI is a more comprehensive behavioural assessment for
      ALS, as it measures the whole behavioural spectrum in this condition.

PMID- 28600596
TI  - Relevance of early cervical cord volume loss in the disease evolution of
      clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis: a 2-year follow-up
      study.
AB  - : Upper cervical cord area (UCCA) atrophy is a prognostic marker for clinical
      progression in longstanding multiple sclerosis (MS). The objectives of the study
      were to quantify UCCA atrophy and evaluate its impact in clinically isolated
      syndrome (CIS) and relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS); to compare converting CIS
      patients with stable CIS, and to study changes of UCCA and brain white matter
      (WM) and grey matter (GM) at 2-year follow-up. 110 therapy-naive patients
      including 53 CIS [6 +/- 6 months after symptom onset (SO)] and 57 early RRMS (SO:
      12 +/- 9 months) underwent sagittal 3D-T1w brain MR (3T). Mean UCCA (C1-C3
      level), WM and GM, disability status (EDSS), pyramidal and sensory functional
      scores, motoric fatigue were assessed at baseline (BL), 12 and 24 months. Volumes
      were compared with 34 age- and gender-matched healthy controls to assess atrophy.
      RRMS (78.1 +/- 8.7 mm2, p = 0.011) and converting CIS (77.3 +/- 8.0 mm2, p =
      0.046) presented with baseline UCCA atrophy, when compared with controls (82.7 +/
      5.2 mm2), but not stable CIS (82.6 +/- 7.4 mm2, p = 0.998). Baseline WM was
      reduced in RRMS (509.3 +/- 25.7 ml vs. CONTROLS: 528.4 +/- 24.1 ml, p = 0.032).
      Baseline UCCA correlated negative with muscular weakness and fatigability in all
      patients and RRMS. EDSS exceeding 3 was associated with lower baseline UCCA.
      Longitudinal atrophy rates were higher in UCCA than in brain volumes. Early
      cervical cord atrophy in CIS and RRMS was confirmed and may represent a potential
      new risk marker for conversion from CIS to MS. Baseline atrophy and atrophy
      change rates were higher in UCCA compared to WM and GM, suggesting that cervical
      cord volumetry might become an additional MRI marker relevant in future clinical
      studies in CIS and early MS.

PMID- 28600597
TI  - Comparison of propofol with midazolam in endoscopic submucosal dissection for
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interruption of sedation due to a poor response to modified
      neuroleptanalgesia (m-NLA) with midazolam often occurs during endoscopic
      submucosal dissection (ESD) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) because
      most patients have a history of heavy alcohol intake. Recently, propofol has been
      used feasibly and safely during endoscopic procedures. The aim of this study was
      to clarify the efficacy and safety of propofol compared with that of midazolam
      during ESD for ESCC. METHODS: This was a single-blind, randomized controlled
      trial in a single center. Patients with ESCC scheduled for ESD were included in
      the study. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the propofol
      group and the midazolam group. The main outcome was the incidence of
      discontinuation of the procedure due to a poor response to sedation. Secondary
      outcomes included risk factors for a poor response to sedation. RESULTS: Between
      April 2014 and October 2015, 132 patients (n = 66 per group) who underwent ESD
      for ESCC were enrolled in this study. The incidence of discontinuation due to a
      poor response to sedation in the propofol and midazolam groups was 0% (0/66) and
      37.9% (25/66), respectively (p < 0.01). Multivariate analyses revealed that use
      of midazolam [Odds ratio (OR), 7.61; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.64-21.92; p
      < 0.01] and age (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.86-0.98; p < 0.01) were risk factors for a
      poor response to sedation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that, compared with
      midazolam, propofol is a more efficient sedative for m-NLA during ESD for ESCC.

PMID- 28600598
TI  - Recurrence of vocal fold leukoplakia after carbon dioxide laser therapy.
AB  - This work aims to analyze the recurrence of vocal fold leukoplakia after carbon
      dioxide (CO2) laser resection. In this retrospective study, all patients
      undergoing CO2 laser resection of vocal fold leukoplakia were followed up for at
      least 2 years. Recurrence was diagnosed as any presence of leukoplakia in the
      vocal cord subsequent to previous successful complete resection. A total of 326
      patients with complete resection of vocal fold leukoplakia and follow-up
      subsequent surveillance laryngoscopy were studied. The recurrence rate, the
      recurrence time, and risk factors were evaluated. Of these, 52 (16.0%) patients
      experienced recurrence with a mean follow-up time of 50.5 +/- 15.4 months. The
      mean time to recurrence was 16.2 +/- 14.1 months. Univariate analysis showed that
      the size of lesion (P < 0.001, Pearson chi 2 test; P < 0.001, log-rank test) and
      the pathological grade (P = 0.025, Pearson chi 2 test; P = 0.028, log-rank test)
      were significantly related to recurrence. The size of lesion was an independent
      prognostic factor for recurrence using multivariate analysis (P = 0.001, logistic
      regression; P = 0.001, Cox proportional hazards model). Considering the possible
      recurrence of vocal fold leukoplakia, long-term follow-up is required after CO2
      laser resection. In conclusion, the size of lesion combined with the pathological
      grade are important risk factors that predict vocal fold leukoplakia recurrence.

PMID- 28600599
TI  - Pattern of care and impact of prognostic factors in the outcome of ameloblastic
      carcinoma: a systematic review and individual patient data analysis of 199 cases.
AB  - Ameloblastic carcinoma is a rare locally aggressive odontogenic neoplasm. These
      tumors are most commonly found to arise from mandible. Because of rarity, there
      is limited information about the clinical behaviour of such patients. We intended
      to perform this review of published literature to assess the demographic profile,
      pattern of care and assess survival outcomes. Two authors independently searched
      PubMed, Google search, and Cochrane library for eligible studies from 1950 until
      July 1 2016 published in English language. Data of 199 patients were retrieved
      from 94 publications for statistical analysis. Median age of the entire cohort
      was 49 years (range 7-91 years). The analysis revealed that a clear twofold
      higher incidence in male with male-to-female ratio was 2.4:1 (140:57). Mandible
      was found to be the commonest tumor location in 66.7% (n = 132) cases followed by
      maxilla (31.8%) (n = 64). The present analysis revealed that median PFS of 57
      months (95% CI 39-120 months) with 5- and 10-year PFS was found to be 47.88 and
      29.48%, respectively. Median OS for the entire cohort which was 122 months (95%
      CI 96-153 months) with 2- and 5-year OS for the entire cohort was 87.16 and
      69.08%, respectively. In univariate analysis, patients with an R0 resection were
      found to have a favourable survival. In addition, patients with localized disease
      and younger age were found to have a better survival. Adjuvant radiation did not
      confer any survival advantage. The present analysis revealed excellent outcome
      for patients treated with an R0 resection. Older patients with high-risk factor
      may benefit from adjuvant radiation. Role of chemotherapy needs to be evaluated.

PMID- 28600601
TI  - Morphology and hydro-sensory role of superficial neuromasts in schooling
      behaviour of yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri).
AB  - The lateral line system is a mechanosensory organ found in all fish species and
      located on the skin or in subdermal canals. The basic functional units are
      superficial and canal neuromasts, which are involved in hydrodynamic sensing and
      cohesion in schooling fish. Yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri) are an
      obligate schooling species found commonly in shallow coastal areas of New Zealand
      and Australia. Schooling is a fundamental part of their behavioural repertoire,
      yet little is known about the structure or functionality of the lateral line in
      this species. We used scanning electron microscopy to characterise the morphology
      of trunk superficial neuromasts. We then took a multi-sensory approach and
      conducted behavioural experiments comparing school structure in groups of fish
      with and without fully functioning lateral lines, under photopic and scotopic
      conditions. A highly developed hydro-sensing system exists on the trunk of yellow
      eyed mullet consisting of superficial neuromasts containing hundreds of hair
      cells aligned, with respect to their most sensitive axis, in a rostrocaudal
      direction. Without functioning superficial neuromasts, schooling behaviour was
      disrupted under both photopic and scotopic conditions and the ability to detect
      stationary objects decreased. Results highlight the importance of this component
      of the lateral line system to schooling behaviour.

PMID- 28600600
TI  - The nervous and visual systems of onychophorans and tardigrades: learning about
      arthropod evolution from their closest relatives.
AB  - Understanding the origin and evolution of arthropods requires examining their
      closest outgroups, the tardigrades (water bears) and onychophorans (velvet
      worms). Despite the rise of molecular techniques, the phylogenetic positions of
      tardigrades and onychophorans in the panarthropod tree (onychophorans +
      tardigrades + arthropods) remain unresolved. Hence, these methods alone are
      currently insufficient for clarifying the panarthropod topology. Therefore, the
      evolution of different morphological traits, such as one of the most intriguing
      features of panarthropods-their nervous system-becomes essential for shedding
      light on the origin and evolution of arthropods and their relatives within the
      Panarthropoda. In this review, we summarise current knowledge of the evolution of
      panarthropod nervous and visual systems. In particular, we focus on the evolution
      of segmental ganglia, the segmental identity of brain regions, and the visual
      system from morphological and developmental perspectives. In so doing, we address
      some of the many controversies surrounding these topics, such as the homology of
      the onychophoran eyes to those of arthropods as well as the segmentation of the
      tardigrade brain. Finally, we attempt to reconstruct the most likely state of
      these systems in the last common ancestors of arthropods and panarthropods based
      on what is currently known about tardigrades and onychophorans.

PMID- 28600602
TI  - Early stage minor salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma has favourable
      prognosis.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to evaluate the long-term outcome of minor salivary
      and mucous gland (MiSG) adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the head and neck and
      to compare the results with earlier reports including our recently published
      series on major salivary gland (MaSG) ACC. The study comprised 68 MiSG ACCs
      operated during 1974-2012 at the Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
      Medical records and histological samples were reviewed. Our previously published
      cohort comprising 54 MaSG ACCs during the years from 1974 to 2009 was used for
      comparison. The most common locations were the oral cavity and sinonasal
      cavities. Most patients presented stages IV (33.8%) and I (23.5%) disease.
      Primary treatment with curative intent, mainly surgery, was offered for 64
      patients. Thirty-three (51.6%) of these patients developed a disease recurrence
      and 22 (66.7%) patients in less than 5 years. The difference in the length of
      recurrence-free time (<5 vs. >5 years) had an impact on OS and DSS (p < 0.001)
      showing worse prognosis for the earlier recurring group. T classes 2-4 (p =
      0.005, p < 0.001, and p = 0.001, respectively) and stages II-IV (p = 0.019, p <
      0.001, and p = 0.002, respectively) were associated with worse OS, DSS, and DFS.
      MiSG ACC had a similar long-term survival compared to MaSG ACC. Patients with
      stage I MiSG ACC seem to carry a favourable prognosis compared with those with
      stages II, III, and IV tumours. It is thus noteworthy that stage II tumours
      represent a truly advanced disease entity warranting a more aggressive treatment
      approach.

PMID- 28600603
TI  - HIV Stigma and Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among People Living with HIV in Russia.
AB  - Unhealthy alcohol use, highly prevalent in the Russian Federation (Russia), is
      associated with HIV risk behaviors among people living with HIV (PLWH). HIV
      stigma contributes to the HIV risk environment in Russia. To examine HIV stigma
      among Russian PLWH and to explore its association with unhealthy alcohol use, we
      conducted a longitudinal analysis of 700 PLWH in St. Petersburg, Russia. We
      assessed the association between alcohol dependence and HIV stigma measured at
      baseline and 12 months follow-up. Participants with alcohol dependence (n = 446)
      reported significantly higher HIV stigma scores over time than those without
      dependence (n = 254) (adjusted mean difference 0.60, 95% CI 0.03-1.17; p = 0.04).
      In secondary analyses, we examined recent risky alcohol use and did not detect an
      association with HIV stigma. Alcohol dependence is associated with high HIV
      stigma among Russian PLWH but the nature of the association is conjectural. HIV
      prevention efforts in Russia that address alcohol use disorders hold potential to
      mitigate HIV-related stigma and its possible adverse effects among PLWH.

PMID- 28600604
TI  - Dramatic improvement of impulsive aggressive behaviour following shunt surgery in
      a patient with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

PMID- 28600605
TI  - Solitude, Religious and Cultural Uniqueness in a Foreign Environment: Adjustments
      as an Arab Student.
AB  - Arab-Muslims have extremely religious-centered and restrictive cultural
      practices. Living in a foreign country where Islam is a minority religion and
      culture is categorically different entails a great deal of adjustment. This study
      explored how Arab-Muslim International Students live and cope in a non-Arab, non
      Muslim country. The authors used phenomenological approach with Colaizzi's method
      of analysis to (1) explore the lived experience of the Arab students' academic
      and social life and (2) come up with recommendations that can be supported by
      universities in Philippines and other countries with Arab students. Emergent
      themes include Hybrid vision and empowerment from education beyond borders
      "Tatallo at wa kudurat," Stigma in the Arab world "Hallah," Islam as way of life
      "Al Islam: Manhaj Hayyat," and Future of the Arab-Muslim students "Wahaa." The
      major concepts that emerged from the lived experience of these students focused
      on the practical reasons for quality education, challenges along the way, culture
      shock, the stigma, and misconceptions about Arabs and Muslims. They experienced
      discrimination, the impact of stereotyping and misconceptions about the Arab
      Muslims. Their tenacity of the Islam faith has become a coping mechanism and kept
      them enormously strong. They also strived to show the real meaning of being
      Muslim, and finally, looking forward to how they can become the oasis in the
      desert. The Arab-Muslim International Students experience difficult adjustments
      in a foreign country to acquire high quality education, while holding on to their
      Islam faith and keeping their culture intact.

PMID- 28600606
TI  - Performance and Tolerability of the Moisturizers Cetaphil(r) and Excipial(r) in
      Atopic Dermatitis: What is the Evidence Based on Randomized Trials?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Moisturizers play a prominent role in the management of atopic
      dermatitis by improving the impaired skin barrier function and enhancing skin
      hydration. Their efficacy was evaluated in a recently published Cochrane Review
      'Emollients and moisturizers for eczema'. OBJECTIVE: In the present review, we
      summarize the performance and safety of Cetaphil(r) and Excipial(r) moisturizing
      products. METHODS: This review was carried out in compliance with standard
      Cochrane methodological procedures, which means independent study selection, data
      extraction, assessment of risk of bias, and analyses by two review authors. The
      quality of evidence for the predefined outcomes was rated with the GRADE
      approach. The prespecified outcomes of the review included participant
      assessments, satisfaction, adverse events, investigator assessments, prevention
      of flares, change in use of topical active treatment, skin barrier function and
      quality of life. RESULTS: Four randomized controlled studies examining these
      moisturizers were included in the previously published Cochrane Review. For the
      performance and tolerability of these moisturizers, there was very low to
      moderate quality evidence for the prespecified outcomes. CONCLUSION: The results
      from these four studies are in line with those of the Cochrane Review that
      moisturizers themselves have beneficial effects, and that combining moisturizers
      with active topical treatment produced better results when compared to active
      topical treatment alone.

PMID- 28600607
TI  - [Osteotomies around the knee for ligament insufficiency].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The osseous geometry of the lower limb has a significant impact on
      knee instability after ligament injuries, and osseous malalignment has been shown
      to be a significant risk factor for the failure of ligament reconstruction
      procedures. Therefore, osteotomies around the knee have gained importance as a
      combined or isolated treatment option in the ligament deficient and malaligned
      knee. In addition to unloading of an arthritic knee compartment, osteotomies are
      also performed to protect a reconstructed ligament and to stabilize the joint
      without ligament surgery. PROCEDURE: In addition to the correction of varus or
      valgus malalignment, correction of sagittal imbalance by modifying the tibial
      slope is an emerging concept. Even small modifications of the tibial slope (<=5
      degrees ) have been shown to change the anterior-posterior translation in a
      clinically significant manner. Especially in the case of chronic posterior or
      posterolateral instability, a valgus-producing and slope-increasing high tibial
      osteotomy is usually the first treatment option, and ligament surgery is only
      performed optionally. Isolated modification of the tibial slope is performed
      infrequently, however, a slope-decreasing osteotomy should be considered in
      patients with multiple failed ACL reconstructions and a tibial slope of >12
      degrees .

PMID- 28600608
TI  - [Do I want to be senior consultant and what then? : Organizational development in
      hospitals].

PMID- 28600609
TI  - [Gerontologically oriented study programs in Germany : Critical review].
AB  - The objective of this article is a state-of-the-art analysis and critical
      reflection of the status quo of gerontologically oriented study programs in
      higher education in Germany. The major impulse for writing this article was
      provided by the newly established working group "Gerontological Education", which
      was inaugurated at the joint annual conference of sections III and IV of the
      German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Mannheim in 2015. A systematic
      review of gerontological study programs shows that the number of such programs
      has increased in Germany over the past decade. At the same time there has been a
      dynamic development across the country whereby well-established programs were
      closed and new ones were initiated. New study programs were primarily initiated
      at universities of applied sciences and private universities. A tendency away
      from explicit gerontology programs towards other academic disciplines (e.g.
      sociology, social work, psychology, sports, health and rehabilitation sciences)
      in combination with gerontological contents can be observed. These degree
      programs are rooted in their respective disciplines and focus primarily on health
      and social issues. Given the heterogeneity of study programs the working group
      "Gerontological Education" could become a new forum for leaders of such programs,
      students, alumni and employers of gerontologists for critical reflection and
      further development of gerontological quality benchmarks.

PMID- 28600610
TI  - [Associations between cognitive performance in a dementia screening test (SKT)
      and an intelligence test (WAIS IV) : Which deficits in cognitive performance in
      old age indicate a possible pathological deterioration process?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Which deficits in cognitive performance indicate the onset of a
      pathological deterioration process in older persons? AIM AND OBJECTIVES: Based on
      an established dementia screening test in elderly adults, a differentiation can
      be made between healthy cognitive performance and the onset of pathological
      deficits in performance (in the sense of mild cognitive impairment). The aim of
      the study was to investigate whether cognitive decline assessed with a dementia
      screening instrument is reflected in an intelligence test for adults. The
      dementia screening measured disorders in memory and attention, the intelligence
      testing battery measured information processing, working memory, perceptual
      reasoning, logical thinking and verbal comprehension. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      total of 253 cognitively healthy, self-dependent and non-dementia persons (129
      women and 124 men), aged between 60 and 91 years (M = 71.98 years; SD = +/-7.13)
      were tested with the complete Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-IV) and the
      short performance test (SKT), based on the new normalization from 2015. The SKT
      enables an assessment of the degree of cognitive deterioration based on coloring
      codes of traffic lights. Green indicates normal aging, yellow mild cognitive
      impairment and red stands for abnormal cognitive aging. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
      There were significant correlations between the total SKT score as a measure of
      total cognitive impairment and the indices of the WAIS-IV, such as information
      processing, working memory and perceptual reasoning. No significant covariation
      was found for verbal comprehension. The results suggest that in old age cognitive
      deterioration starts with reduced speed of information processing and impairment
      in the working memory log before deficits in memory are present. This finding was
      reflected in significant mean differences between the subjects in the category
      green versus yellow in the indices information processing and working memory.
      Under these aspects there were medium effect strengths (d = 0.60) and the second
      largest (insignificant) differences were shown in working memory (d = 0.39).

PMID- 28600614
TI  - Removing barriers to early CT scanning in emergency and inpatient radiology.
AB  - Over the last 5 years, several key trends have emerged which challenge the
      established paradigm of inpatient computed tomography (CT) services. Many
      widespread practices seem intuitive and have become dogmatic; these include pre
      hydration for renal injury, holding medications which predispose to metabolic
      acidosis, steroid administration for allergies, oral contrast administration, and
      fasting. The efficacy and cost-benefit of all of these measures have been
      challenged by recent publications. A common theme has emerged, delaying inpatient
      CT scans worsens patient outcomes and increases cost.

PMID- 28600615
TI  - Clinical study of blood purification therapy in critical care in Japan: results
      from the survey research of the Japan Society for Blood Purification in Critical
      Care in 2013.
AB  - To clarify the clinical status of blood purification therapy (BPT) in critical
      care in Japan, we conducted a cohort study using data from a nationwide registry
      of the Japan Society for Blood Purification in Critical Care in 2013. We enrolled
      2227 patients treated with BPT (female, 39.1%; mean age, 65.5 +/- 12.1 years) in
      the intensive care units of 43 facilities. Patient characteristics, modes of BPT,
      and survival rate for each disease were investigated. In total, BPT was performed
      3053 times. Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) (57.9%) was the most
      common mode of BPT, followed by intermittent renal replacement therapy (20.2%)
      and direct hemoperfusion with the polymyxin B-immobilized fiber column (PMX-DHP)
      (11.5%). Nafamostat mesilate (84.9%) was most frequently used as the
      anticoagulant. The 28-day survival rate was 56.8% in all patients. The most
      common mode for acute kidney injury (AKI) and multiple organ failure was CRRT,
      while PMX-DHP and CRRT were most common for sepsis. There was no significant
      difference in survival rates among AKI stages 1-3. Survival rate (38.3%) was
      significantly lower in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) than in those with
      multiple organ failure (41.8%) and those with sepsis (46.6%). Multivariate
      regression analysis revealed that the APACHE II score and the presence of acute
      ALI and acute hepatic failure were significantly associated with death. This
      large-scale cohort study showed the clinical status of BPT in Japan. Further
      investigations are required to clarify the efficacy of BPT for critically ill
      patients.

PMID- 28600616
TI  - Utilization of Body Contouring Procedures Following Weight Loss Surgery: A Study
      of 37,806 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery has substantial health benefits; however, some
      patients desire body contouring (BC) procedures following rapid weight loss.
      There is a paucity of data regarding the true rate of BC following bariatric
      procedures. The purpose of our study is to examine the utilization of two common
      procedures, abdominoplasty, and panniculectomy, following bariatric surgery in
      New York State. METHODS: The SPARCS longitudinal administrative database was used
      to identify bariatric procedures by using ICD-9 and CPT codes between 2004 and
      2010. Procedures included sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. Using a unique patient identifier, we
      tracked those patients who subsequently underwent either abdominoplasty or
      panniculectomy with at least a 4-year follow-up (until 2014). Multivariable Cox
      proportional hazard model was used to evaluate predictors of follow-up BC
      surgery. RESULTS: 37,806 patients underwent bariatric surgery between 2004 and
      2010. Only 5.58% (n = 2112) of these patients subsequently had a BC procedure,
      with 143 of them (6.8%) having >=1 plastic surgery. The average time to plastic
      surgery after band, bypass, or sleeve was 1134.83 +/- 671.09, 984.70 +/- 570.53,
      and 903.02 +/- 497.31 days, respectively (P < 0.0001). Following the
      multivariable Cox proportional hazard model, a female, SG patients, patients with
      Medicare or Medicaid, and patients in either <20 or >80%ile in yearly income were
      more likely to have plastic surgery after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity,
      comorbidities and complications (P values < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      shows that plastic surgery is completed by only 6% of patients following
      bariatric procedures. As insurance and income are associated with pursuing
      surgery, improved access may increase the number of patients who are able to
      undergo these reconstructive procedures.

PMID- 28600617
TI  - Erratum to: What Are the Real Procedural Costs of Bariatric Surgery? A Systematic
      Literature Review of Published Cost Analyses.

PMID- 28600619
TI  - Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome following GnRH agonist trigger-think ectopic.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to report a case of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
      (OHSS) following GnRH agonist trigger for final follicular maturation. METHODS:
      This study is a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: We report the first case of
      OHSS following GnRH agonist trigger for final follicular maturation and freeze
      all, masking extrauterine pregnancy (EUP). The present case report elucidates the
      feasibility of stimulating and recruiting ovarian follicles yielding mature
      oocytes during early pregnancy and the ability of GnRH agonist to trigger final
      follicular maturation during pregnancy, in the presence of high progesterone and
      hCG levels. CONCLUSIONS: Since OHSS almost always develops after hCG
      administration or in early pregnancy, its occurrence following GnRH agonist
      trigger should alert physician to search for either an inadvertent administration
      of exogenous hCG, or the endogenous secretion of hCG by pregnancy, e.g. EUP, or
      as part of a paraneoplastic syndrome.

PMID- 28600618
TI  - Application of omics in predicting anti-TNF efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by
      progressive joint erosion. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists are the most
      widely used biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug in RA. However,
      there continue to be one third of RA patients who have poor or no response to TNF
      antagonists. Following consideration of the uncertainty of therapeutic effects
      and the high price of TNF antagonists, it is worthy to predict the treatment
      responses before anti-TNF therapy. According to the comparisons between the
      responders and non-responders to TNF antagonists by omic technologies, such as
      genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, rheumatologists are
      eager to find significant biomarkers to predict the effect of TNF antagonists in
      order to optimize the personalized treatment in RA.

PMID- 28600620
TI  - National survey on use of time-lapse imaging systems in IVF laboratories.
AB  - PURPOSE: Several time-lapse imaging (TLI) systems for non-invasive continuous
      monitoring of developing embryos are currently available. The present study
      explored the prevalence, means of acquisition, and clinical application of TLI
      systems in USA in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratories. METHODS: An online
      cross-sectional survey of 294 USA IVF laboratory directors was conducted in
      February and March 2016. Those directing more than one laboratory were asked to
      complete the survey for their home program and for their smallest laboratory by
      number of IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle starts. Use of TLI
      was analyzed using logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (OR). RESULTS: Of
      294 directors surveyed, 162 (55%) reported data on 204 laboratories. Thirty-five
      laboratories (17%) possessed at least one TLI system (median 2, interquartile
      range 1-4, total range 1-11). The more oocyte retrievals a laboratory performed
      annually, the more likely the laboratory was to possess a TLI system. Fifteen
      laboratories (43%) purchased their own systems, while others leased, loaned, or
      received donated systems. Twenty-five laboratories (71%) reported using TLI for
      embryo selection; all used TLI always, or usually, in combination with standard
      morphology evaluation. Twenty laboratories (80%) offered TLI to all patients.
      Some laboratories charged patients for TLI. Directors with TLI systems were more
      inclined to believe that TLI has value for embryo selection in clinical IVF.
      CONCLUSIONS: TLI system possession in USA IVF laboratories is low, although
      positively associated with the number of retrievals performed and with directors'
      opinions on the technology's utility. Over 70% of laboratories with TLI systems
      use them clinically, and less than half purchased their systems.

PMID- 28600621
TI  - Newborn with transient macular rash and thrombocytopenia. Skeletal manifestations
      of congenital rubella syndrome.

PMID- 28600622
TI  - Functional popliteal artery entrapment syndrome: use of ultrasound guided Botox
      injection as a non-surgical treatment option.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ultrasound-guided injection of botulinum toxin
      type A (BTX-A) is a viable alternative to surgical intervention for the treatment
      of functional popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty-seven patients met diagnostic criteria confirming the presence of
      functional PAES and agreed to go ahead with ultrasound-guided BTX-A injection at
      the level of artery occlusion. Patients were assessed and treated at baseline and
      given the option for 'top-up' injections at 6 and 12 months. Patients provided
      subjective symptom reports at 6 and 12 months post intervention. RESULTS: No
      patients reported being worse off after the intervention; 59% of patients were
      categorized as having a good response (i.e., initial improvement that was
      maintained at 12 months), 22% a mixed response (i.e., an initial improvement that
      subsequently reduced over 12 months) and 19% a poor response (i.e., no
      difference) to treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound-guided BTX-A injection
      represents a viable alternative to surgery in the treatment of functional PAES.
      Further study will help determine the optimum dose and frequency of injection to
      prevent recurrence of symptoms.

PMID- 28600623
TI  - Fibrin-specific and effective clot lysis requires both plasminogen activators and
      for them to be in a sequential rather than simultaneous combination.
AB  - Thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has been a disappointment
      and has now been replaced by an endovascular procedure whenever possible.
      Nevertheless, thrombolysis remains the only means by which circulation in a
      thrombosed artery can be restored rapidly. In contrast to tPA monotherapy,
      endogenous fibrinolysis uses both tPA and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA),
      whose native form is a proenzyme, prouPA. This combination is remarkably
      effective as evidenced by the fibrin degradation product, D-dimer, which is
      invariably present in plasma. The two activators have complementary mechanisms of
      plasminogen activation and are synergistic in combination. Since tPA initiates
      fibrinolysis when released from the vessel wall and prouPA is in the blood, they
      induce fibrinolysis sequentially. It was postulated that this may be more
      effective and fibrin-specific. The hypothesis was tested in a model of clot lysis
      in plasma in which a clot was first exposed to tPA for 5 min, washed and
      incubated with prouPA. Lysis was compared with that of clots incubated with both
      activators simultaneously. The sequential combination was almost twice as
      effective and caused less fibrinogenolysis than the simultaneous combination (p <
      0.0001) despite having significantly less tPA, as a result of the wash. A
      mechanism is described by which this phenomenon can be explained. The findings
      are believed to have significant therapeutic implications.

PMID- 28600624
TI  - Desflurane usage during anesthesia with and without N2O using FLOW-i Automatic
      Gas Control with three different wash-in speeds.
AB  - AGC(r) (Automatic Gas Control) is the FLOW-i's automated low flow tool (Maquet,
      Solna, Sweden) that target controls the inspired O2 (FIO2) and end-expired
      desflurane concentration (FAdes) while (by design) exponentially decreasing fresh
      gas flow (FGF) during wash-in to a maintenance default FGF of 300 mL min-1. It
      also offers a choice of wash-in speeds for the inhaled agents. We examined AGC
      performance and hypothesized that the use of lower wash-in speeds and N2O both
      reduce desflurane usage (Vdes). After obtaining IRB approval and patient consent,
      78 ASA I-II patients undergoing abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to 1 of
      6 groups (n = 13 each), depending on carrier gas (O2/air or O2/N2O) and wash-in
      speed (AGC speed 2, 4, or 6) of desflurane, resulting in groups air/2, air/4,
      air/6, N2O/2, N2O/4, and N2O/6. The target for FIO2 was set at 35%, while the
      FAdes target was selected so that the AGC displayed 1.3 MAC (corrected for the
      additive affect of N2O if used). AGC was activated upon starting mechanical
      ventilation. Varvel's criteria were used to describe performance of achieving the
      targets. Patient demographics, end-expired N2O concentration, MAC, FGF, and Vdes
      were compared using ANOVA. Data are presented as mean +/- standard deviation,
      except for Varvel's criteria (median +/- quartiles). Patient demographics did not
      differ among the groups. Median performance error was -2-0% for FIO2 and -3-1%
      for FAdes; median absolute performance error was 1-2% for FIO2 and 0-3% for
      FAdes. MAC increased faster in N2O groups, but total MAC decreased 0.1-0.25 MAC
      below that in the O2/air groups after 60 min. The effect of wash-in speed on Vdes
      faded over time. N2O decreased Vdes by 62%. AGC performance for O2 and desflurane
      targeting is excellent. After 1 h, the wash-in speeds tested are unlikely to
      affect desflurane usage. N2O usage decreases Vdes proportionally with its
      reduction in FAtdes.

PMID- 28600625
TI  - An intravaginal ring that releases three antiviral agents and a contraceptive
      blocks SHIV-RT infection, reduces HSV-2 shedding, and suppresses hormonal cycling
      in rhesus macaques.
AB  - Women globally need access to multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) that
      prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted infections that
      increase HIV acquisition/transmission risk, and unintended pregnancy. Seeking an
      MPT with activity against HIV, herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), and human
      papillomavirus (HPV), we developed a prototype intravaginal ring (IVR), the MZCL
      IVR, which released the antiviral agents MIV-150, zinc acetate, and carrageenan
      (MZC for short) and the contraceptive levonorgestrel (LNG). Previously, we showed
      that an MZC gel has potent activity against immunodeficiency viruses, HSV-2, and
      HPV and that the MZCL (MZC with LNG) IVR releases all four components in macaques
      in vivo at levels associated with efficacy. Vaginal fluid from treated macaques
      has in vitro activity against HIV, HSV-2, and HPV. Herein, we assessed the
      ability of the MZCL IVR to protect macaques against repeated co-challenge with
      HSV-2 and SHIV-RT (simian immunodeficiency virus [SIV] containing the reverse
      transcriptase gene from HIV) and prevent hormonal cycling. We evaluated in vivo
      drug release in co-challenged macaques by measuring drug levels in blood and
      vaginal fluid and residual drug levels in used IVRs. The MZCL IVR significantly
      prevented SHIV-RT infection, reduced HSV-2 vaginal shedding, and prevented
      cycling. No non-nucleoside HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-resistant
      SHIV was detected in macaques that became infected after continuous exposure to
      MZC from the IVR. Macaques wearing the MZCL IVR also had carrageenan levels in
      vaginal fluid expected to protect from HPV (extrapolated from mice) and LNG
      levels in blood associated with contraceptive efficacy. The MZCL IVR is a
      promising MPT candidate that warrants further development.

PMID- 28600626
TI  - Mucosa-associated microbiota signature in colorectal cancer.
AB  - The aim of this study was to explore the gut microbiota profiles of colorectal
      cancer (CRC) patients and to examine the relationship between gut microbiota and
      other key molecular factors involved in CRC tumorigenesis. In this study, a 16S
      rDNA sequencing platform was used to identify possible differences in the
      microbiota signature between CRC and adjacent normal mucosal tissue. Differences
      in the microbiota composition in different anatomical colorectal tumor sites and
      their potential association with KRAS mutation were also explored. In this study,
      the number of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria decreased, while the number of
      Fusobacteria increased in the gut of CRC patients. In addition, at the genus
      level, Fusobacterium was identified as the key contributor to CRC tumorigenesis.
      In addition, a different distribution of gut microbiota in ascending and
      descending colon cancer samples was observed. Lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis
      associated microbial genes were enriched in tumor tissues. Our study suggests
      that specific mucosa-associated microbiota signature and function are
      significantly changed in the gut of CRC patients, which may provide insight into
      the progression of CRC. These findings could also be of value in the creation of
      new prevention and treatment strategies for this type of cancer.

PMID- 28600627
TI  - Ascorbic Acid to Manage Psychiatric Disorders.
AB  - Ascorbate has critical roles in the central nervous system (CNS); it is a
      neuromodulator of glutamatergic, cholinergic, dopaminergic, and gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic neurotransmission, provides support and structure
      to neurons, and participates in processes such as differentiation, maturation,
      and survival of neurons. Over the past decade, antioxidant properties of
      ascorbate have been extensively characterized and now it is known that this
      compound is highly concentrated in the brain and neuroendocrine tissues. All this
      information raised the hypothesis that ascorbate may be involved in neurological
      disorders. Indeed, the biological mechanisms of ascorbate in health and disease
      and its involvement in homeostasis of the CNS have been the subject of extensive
      research. In particular, evidence for an association of this vitamin with
      schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder has been provided.
      Considering that conventional pharmacotherapy for the treatment of these
      neuropathologies has important limitations, this review aims to explore basic and
      human studies that implicate ascorbic acid as a potential therapeutic strategy.
      Possible mechanisms involved in the beneficial effects of ascorbic acid for the
      management of psychiatric disorders are also discussed.

PMID- 28600629
TI  - Knockdown of long non-coding RNA KCNQ1OT1 depressed chemoresistance to paclitaxel
      in lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Lung cancer, with the highest morbidity and second highest death rates, is one of
      the most common cancers in both males and females worldwide. Lung adenocarcinoma
      (LAD) is the main lung cancer class. KCNQ1 Opposite Strand/Antisense Transcript 1
      (KCNQ1OT1) gene is an lncRNA which had been reported high-expression in
      colorectal cancer. In this study, the expression of KCNQ1OT1 was confirmed to be
      highly expressed in LAD tissues and cells contrast to control tissues and cells,
      and high KCNQ1OT1 expression correlated to malignant behaviors of LAD, including
      big tumor size, poor differentiation, positive lymphatic metastasis and high TNM
      stages. The transfection of si-KCNQ1OT1 could effectually knockdown the
      expression of KCNQ1OT1 in A549 and A549/PA cells. The KCNQ1OT1 knockdown
      depressed the proliferation and invasion of A549 cells, and advanced cellular
      apoptosis of A549 cells. The expression of KCNQ1OT1 in LAD patients insensitive
      to paclitaxel was much higher than that in LAD patients sensitive to paclitaxel;
      the KCNQ1OT1 expression in A549/PA cells was also much higher than that in
      control A549 cells. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of
      paclitaxel in A549/PA cells was depressed by KCNQ1OT1 knockdown, chemoresistance
      of A549/PA cells was inhibited significantly. KCNQ1OT1 knockdown also depressed
      the expression of multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) protein in A549/PA cells. In
      summary, lncRNA KCNQ1OT1 was highly expressed in LAD and functioned as a
      potential oncogene to inhibit malignancy and chemoresistance of LAD cells, which
      might be a novel potential therapeutic target for LAD.

PMID- 28600628
TI  - The interplay of intention maintenance and cue monitoring in younger and older
      adults' prospective memory.
AB  - The retention phase of a prospective memory (PM) task poses different challenges,
      including demands to store or maintain an intended action and to realize the
      right moment for action execution. The interplay of these processes in younger
      and older adults has not been explored so far. In this study, the authors
      examined the impact of maintenance load and task focality on PM in 84 younger and
      in 83 older adults. Results indicated that PM performance and ongoing task
      response times were strongly affected by maintenance load and age. However, a
      focality effect only emerged when maintenance load was low but not when
      attentional resources were deployed for maintaining a more demanding intention.
      These findings suggest that maintenance and monitoring requirements compete for
      similar attentional resources. Furthermore, maintenance load may affect
      postretrieval processes through its impact on working-memory resources, which can
      restrain the typical advantage of focal over nonfocal PM tasks.

PMID- 28600631
TI  - Acute pain management: acetaminophen and ibuprofen are often under-dosed.
AB  - : Most children with pain are managed by either acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
      However, no study has so far investigated if children are prescribed adequate
      doses of acetaminophen or ibuprofen in emergency department. Aim of this
      retrospective study was to investigate the prevalence of under-dosage of these
      drugs in children presenting with pain in emergency department. Children
      initially prescribed with acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain management were
      included. The chi 2 automatic interaction detection method was used considering
      the percentage variation from the minimum of the appropriate dose as dependent
      variable while prescribed drug, age, gender, body weight, type of hospital
      (pediatric or general), and availability of internal guidelines on pediatric pain
      management in the emergency department as independent variables. Data on 1471
      children managed for pain were available. Under-dosage was prescribed in 893
      subjects (61%), of whom 577 were prescribed acetaminophen and 316 ibuprofen. The
      use of acetaminophen suppositories, body weight <12 kg or >40 kg, and the use of
      oral ibuprofen identified clusters of children associated with under-dosage
      prescription. CONCLUSION: Prescription of acetaminophen and ibuprofen was
      frequently under-dosed. The use of suppositories, lower and higher body weight,
      and the use of ibuprofen were associated with under-dosage. Under-dosing may
      reflect prescription of anti-pyretic doses. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Agenzia
      Italiana del Farmaco-Observational Study Register (RSO). Registration code:
      PIERRE/1 What is Known: * Pain is frequent in children presented to emergency
      department. * International recommendations on pain management are often not
      implemented. What is New: * Acetaminophen and ibuprofen were frequently
      underdosed in children prescribed for pain in the Italian emergency departments.
      * Under-dosage may be related to the habit of using acetaminophen and ibuprofen
      in the recommended range for fever treatment.

PMID- 28600630
TI  - Arterial versus venous lactate: a measure of sepsis in children.
AB  - : This study assessed the agreement between arterial and venous blood lactate and
      pH levels in children with sepsis. This retrospective, three-year study involved
      60 PICU patients, with data collected from electronic or paper patient records.
      The inclusion criteria comprised of children (<=17 years old) with sepsis and
      those who had a venous blood gas taken first with an arterial blood gas taken
      after within one hour. The lactate and pH values measured through each method
      were analysed. There is close agreement between venous and arterial lactate up to
      2 mmol/L. As this value increases, this agreement becomes poor. The limits of
      agreement (LOA) are too large (+/-1.90 mmol/L) to allow venous and arterial
      lactate to be used interchangeably. The mean difference and LOA between both
      methods would be much smaller if derived using lactate values under 2.0 mmol/L.
      There is close agreement between arterial and venous pH (MD = -0.056, LOA +/-
      0.121). However, due to extreme variations in pH readings during sepsis, pH alone
      is an inadequate marker. CONCLUSION: A venous lactate <=2 mmol/L can be used as a
      surrogate for arterial lactate during early management of sepsis in children.
      However, if the value exceeds 2 mmol/L, an arterial sample must confirm the
      venous result. What is known: * In children with septic shock, a blood gas is an
      important test to show the presence of acidosis and high lactic acid.
      Hyperlactataemia on admission is an early predictor of outcome and is associated
      with a greater mortality risk. * An arterial sample is the standard for lactate
      measurement, however getting a sample may be challenging in the emergency
      department or a general paediatric ward. Venous samples are quicker and easier to
      obtain. Adult studies generally advise caution in replacing venous lactate values
      for the arterial standard, whilst paediatric studies are limited in this area.
      What is new: * This is the first study assessing the agreement between arterial
      and peripheral venous lactate in children with sepsis, with a significant sample
      of patients. * This study shows that a venous sample with a lactate of <= 2
      mmol/L can be used as a surrogate measurement for arterial lactate during early
      management of sepsis in children. However, if the venous lactate is above 2
      mmol/L, an arterial sample must be taken to confirm the result.

PMID- 28600632
TI  - Dynamic complexity measures and entropy paths for modelling and comparison of
      evolution of patients with drug resistant epileptic encephalopathy syndromes
      (DREES).
AB  - Epileptic encephalopathies (EE) is a term coined by the International League
      Against Epilepsy (ILAE) to refer to a group of epilepsies in which the ictal and
      interictal abnormalities may contribute to progressive cerebral dysfunction.
      Among them, two affect mainly children and are very difficult to deal with, Doose
      and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes, (DS and LGS, respectively). So far (Zavala-Yoe et
      al., J Integr Neurosci 15(2):205-223, 2015a and works of ours there),
      quantitative analysis of single case studies of EE have been performed. All of
      them are manifestations of drug resistant epileptic encephalopathies (DREES) and
      as known, such disorders require a lot of EEG studies through all patient's life.
      As a consequence, dozens of EEG records are stored by parents and neurologists as
      time goes by. However, taking into account all this massive information, our
      research questions (keeping colloquial wording by parents) arise: a) Which zone
      of the brain has been the most affected so far? b) On which year was the child
      better? c) How bad is our child with respect to others? We must reflect that
      despite clinical assessment of the EEG has undergone standardization by
      establishment of guidelines such as the recently published guidelines of the
      American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (Tsuchida et al., J Clin Neurophysiol
      4(33):301-302, 2016), qualitative EEG will never be as objective as quantitative
      EEG, since it depends largely on the education and experience of the conducting
      neurophysiologist (Grant et al., Epilepsy Behav 2014(32):102-107, 2014, Rating, Z
      Epileptologie, Springer Med 27(2):139-142, 2014). We already answered
      quantitatively the above mentioned questions in the references of ours given
      above where we provided entropy curves and an entropy index which encompasses the
      complexity of bunches of EEG making possible to deal with massive data and to
      make objective comparisons among some patients simultaneously. However, we have
      refined that index here and we also offer another two measures which are spatial
      and dynamic. Moreover, from those indices we also provide what we call a temporal
      dynamic complexity path which shows in a standard 10-20 system head diagram the
      evolution of the lowest complexity per brain zone with respect to the EEG period.
      These results make it possible to compare quantitatively/graphically the progress
      of several patients at the same time, answering the questions posed above. The
      results obtained showed that we can associate low spatio-temporal entropy indices
      to multiple seizures events in several patients at the same time as well as
      tracking seizure progress in space and time with our entropy path, coinciding
      with neurophysiologists observations.

PMID- 28600633
TI  - IgM-mediated autoimmune responses to oxidative specific epitopes, but not
      nitrosylated adducts, are significantly decreased in pregnancy: association with
      bacterial translocation, perinatal and lifetime major depression and the
      tryptophan catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway.
AB  - Immunoglubulin (Ig)M responses directed to oxidative specific epitopes (OSEs) and
      nitric oxide (NO)-adducts are significantly associated with major depression and
      physio-somatic symptoms. End of term serum IgM responses to OSEs and NO-adducts
      were assayed in pregnant women with (n = 24) and without prenatal depression (n =
      25) as well as in 24 non-pregnant women. Associations of IgM/IgA responses to
      Gram-negative gut commensal bacteria (leaky gut index) and IgA/IgM responses to
      tryptophan catabolites (TRYCATs) were analyzed. IgM responses to OSEs, but not NO
      adducts, were significantly reduced at the end of term. There were no significant
      associations between IgM responses to OSEs and perinatal depression, whilst IgM
      responses to NO-adducts, especially NO-cysteinyl, were significantly associated
      with a lifetime major depression. IgM responses to OSEs and NO-cysteinyl were
      significantly associated with IgA/IgM responses to Gram-negative bacteria,
      especially Morganella morganii, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Citrobacter koseri. IgM
      responses to NO-adducts and OSEs, especially malondialdehyde and myristic acid,
      and C-reactive protein (CRP) were inversely associated with TRYCAT pathway
      activity, whilst a lifetime depression and Pseudomonas putida were positively
      associated. The attenuation of natural IgM-mediated responses to OSEs at the end
      of term may indicate lowered activity of this part of the compensatory (anti
      )inflammatory reflex system and may be partly explained by lowered bacterial
      translocation. Increased IgM responses to NO-cysteinyl is a biomarker of lifetime
      depression and may be induced by bacterial translocation. Natural IgM-mediated
      autoimmune responses, increased nitrosylation and higher CRP levels may have
      negative regulatory effects on the TRYCAT pathway.

PMID- 28600634
TI  - Risk factors of postoperative pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy
      using a triple-row stapler.
AB  - PURPOSE: Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is one of the major
      complications in patients who undergo distal pancreatectomy (DP). Recently,
      dividing the pancreas by stapler is a commonly performed technique, however, POPF
      still occurs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the risk
      factors for POPF after DP using a triple-row stapler. METHODS: A total of 75
      patients underwent DP using a triple-row stapler (Endo GIATM Reloads with Tri
      StapleTM Technology 60 mm; COVIDIEN, North Haven, CT, USA) at Yamanashi
      University from December 2012 to December 2016. The clinical risk factors for
      POPF after DP using a triple-row stapler were identified based on univariate and
      multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Clinical POPF (ISGPF Grade B and C) was seen in 7
      of 75 patients (9.3%). The body mass index (BMI) was significantly higher in the
      patients with POPF (26.8 +/- 0.5 kg/m2) compared with the patients without POPF
      (21.4 +/- 0.4 kg/m2; a cut-off value; 25.7 kg/m2). In addition, the patients with
      POPF were significantly younger than the patients without POPF (56.4 +/- 5.6 vs
      67.0 +/- 1.5; a cut-off value was 57.0 years old). CONCLUSIONS: BMI and age were
      found to be significant risk factors for POPF after DP using a triple-row
      stapler.

PMID- 28600635
TI  - Altered expression of microRNAs in patients with pouchitis after restorative
      proctocolectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pouchitis is the most common long-term complication of
      restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. We investigated
      alterations in the expression of microRNAs, noncoding RNAs that act as potent
      negative regulators of gene expression, in pouchitis. METHODS: The subjects of
      this study were 16 patients with diagnosed pouchitis and 48 patients without
      pouchitis after restorative proctocolectomy, performed for ulcerative colitis.
      Total RNA was extracted from biopsies and microRNAs were quantified using a real
      time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The expression of microRNA 21 and 223
      was higher, whereas that of microRNA 192 and 196a was lower, in the inflamed
      mucosa from the pouchitis patients than in the mucosa from the non-pouchitis
      patients. The levels of 14 microRNAs were significantly lower in the mucosa from
      the pouchitis patients, than in the non-inflamed proximal ileal mucosal samples.
      The expression of microRNA 192 was remarkably reduced in pouchitis. A significant
      negative correlation was found between microRNA 192 and interleukin 17 receptor A
      mRNA levels. CONCLUSIONS: Significant alteration in miRNA expression in line with
      inflammatory bowel disease was evident in the mucosa from the pouchitis patients.
      Interleukin 17 receptor A may be involved in the pathogenesis of pouchitis
      through the downregulation of microRNA 192.

PMID- 28600636
TI  - Results of a nationwide questionnaire-based survey on nutrition management
      following gastric cancer resection in Japan.
AB  - PURPOSE: A study was conducted to clarify the actual status of nutrition
      management after gastric cancer surgery in Japan and obtain basic data for
      optimizing perioperative nutrition management. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent
      to 354 hospitals with at least 50 cases of gastric cancer surgery per year.
      Questions included the perioperative nutrition management and length of hospital
      stay for patients who underwent gastric cancer surgery within three months of the
      survey. RESULTS: Responses were obtained from 242 hospitals (68%; 20,858
      patients). Nutrition management was consistent between laparotomy and
      laparoscopic surgery for 84% of respondents. The number of postoperative days was
      the most commonly chosen index for starting oral feeding. The most commonly
      chosen index for hospital dischargeability was diet composition/amount consumed
      in 182 hospitals (44%), followed by laboratory data stabilization in 106
      hospitals (26%), and the number of postoperative days in 87 hospitals (21%). A
      positive correlation was found between the mean length of postoperative hospital
      stay and starting oral feeding (r = 0.23 for distal gastrectomy; r = 0.34 for
      total gastrectomy). The length of hospital stay tended to be shorter with an
      earlier start of oral feeding (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Early postoperative oral
      feeding may be a factor in reducing the length of hospital stay after gastric
      cancer surgery.

PMID- 28600637
TI  - Transfemoral Snare-Assisted Advancement of Stent Graft Across Acutely Angulated
      Aortic Arch.
AB  - Delivery of stent grafts during thoracic endovascular aortic replacement can be
      challenging, especially in aortic arches with severe angulation. Several
      techniques have been recommended to achieve this. We introduce a simple technical
      method, transfemoral snare-assisted device advance, which was successful in a 72
      year-old woman with an aneurysm in a severely angulated aortic arch and review
      various technical tips.

PMID- 28600638
TI  - Angling into the Future: Ten Commandments for Recreational Fisheries Science,
      Management, and Stewardship in a Good Anthropocene.
AB  - A new geological epoch, the "Anthropocene", has been defined as the period in
      which humans have had substantial geological and ecological influence on the
      planet. A positive future for this epoch can be referred to as the "good
      Anthropocene" and would involve effective management strategies and changes in
      human behavior that promote the sustainability and restoration of ecosystems.
      Recreational fisheries hold significant social, cultural, and economic value and
      can generate many benefits when managed sustainably and thus be an integral part
      of a "good Anthropocene". Here, we list ten commandments to facilitate
      persistence and long-term sustainability of recreational fisheries in the "good
      Anthropocene". This list includes fostering aquatic stewardship, promoting
      education, using appropriate capture gear, adopting evidence-based management
      approaches, promoting the concept of resilience, obtaining and using effort data
      in management, embracing the ecosystem approach, engaging in multilevel
      collaboration, enhancing accessibility, and embracing optimism. When used singly,
      or simultaneously, these ten commandments will contribute to the harmonization of
      sustainable fish populations and angling practices, to create recreational
      fisheries' "bright spots".

PMID- 28600640
TI  - Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Endotracheal Tube Position and X-ray Image
      Classification: Challenges and Opportunities.
AB  - The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of deep convolutional neural
      networks (DCNNs) in differentiating subtle, intermediate, and more obvious image
      differences in radiography. Three different datasets were created, which included
      presence/absence of the endotracheal (ET) tube (n = 300), low/normal position of
      the ET tube (n = 300), and chest/abdominal radiographs (n = 120). The datasets
      were split into training, validation, and test. Both untrained and pre-trained
      deep neural networks were employed, including AlexNet and GoogLeNet classifiers,
      using the Caffe framework. Data augmentation was performed for the
      presence/absence and low/normal ET tube datasets. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC), area under the curves (AUC), and 95% confidence intervals
      were calculated. Statistical differences of the AUCs were determined using a non
      parametric approach. The pre-trained AlexNet and GoogLeNet classifiers had
      perfect accuracy (AUC 1.00) in differentiating chest vs. abdominal radiographs,
      using only 45 training cases. For more difficult datasets, including the
      presence/absence and low/normal position endotracheal tubes, more training cases,
      pre-trained networks, and data-augmentation approaches were helpful to increase
      accuracy. The best-performing network for classifying presence vs. absence of an
      ET tube was still very accurate with an AUC of 0.99. However, for the most
      difficult dataset, such as low vs. normal position of the endotracheal tube,
      DCNNs did not perform as well, but achieved a reasonable AUC of 0.81.

PMID- 28600639
TI  - Double dissociation between the neural correlates of the general and specific
      factors of the Life Orientation Test-Revised.
AB  - In this article, we explore the neural correlates of the general and specific
      factors assessed by the Life Orientation Test-Revised. These factors have been
      shown to assess general optimism (GO) and a form of self-enhancement akin to
      unrealistic optimism (SP). Toward our aim, we used a standardized low-resolution
      brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA), which provides
      electroencephalographic (EEG) localization measures that are independent of
      recording reference. Resting-EEG and self-report measures of GO and SP were
      collected from 51 female undergraduates. EEGs were recorded across 29 scalp
      sites. Anterior and posterior source alpha asymmetries of cortical activation
      were obtained by using the sLORETA method. On the basis of previous research
      findings, ten frontal and six parietal regions of interest (ROIs) were derived.
      Alpha asymmetry in the posterior cingulate (i.e., BA31) was uniquely associated
      with GO. In contrast, SP was associated with areas of the inferior frontal gyrus
      (BA44, BA45) and with the left subcentralis area (BA43). Theoretical and
      practical implications of the findings are provided and discussed.

PMID- 28600641
TI  - Predicting Deletion of Chromosomal Arms 1p/19q in Low-Grade Gliomas from MR
      Images Using Machine Intelligence.
AB  - Several studies have linked codeletion of chromosome arms 1p/19q in low-grade
      gliomas (LGG) with positive response to treatment and longer progression-free
      survival. Hence, predicting 1p/19q status is crucial for effective treatment
      planning of LGG. In this study, we predict the 1p/19q status from MR images using
      convolutional neural networks (CNN), which could be a non-invasive alternative to
      surgical biopsy and histopathological analysis. Our method consists of three main
      steps: image registration, tumor segmentation, and classification of 1p/19q
      status using CNN. We included a total of 159 LGG with 3 image slices each who had
      biopsy-proven 1p/19q status (57 non-deleted and 102 codeleted) and preoperative
      postcontrast-T1 (T1C) and T2 images. We divided our data into training,
      validation, and test sets. The training data was balanced for equal class
      probability and was then augmented with iterations of random translational shift,
      rotation, and horizontal and vertical flips to increase the size of the training
      set. We shuffled and augmented the training data to counter overfitting in each
      epoch. Finally, we evaluated several configurations of a multi-scale CNN
      architecture until training and validation accuracies became consistent. The
      results of the best performing configuration on the unseen test set were 93.3%
      (sensitivity), 82.22% (specificity), and 87.7% (accuracy). Multi-scale CNN with
      their self-learning capability provides promising results for predicting 1p/19q
      status non-invasively based on T1C and T2 images. Predicting 1p/19q status non
      invasively from MR images would allow selecting effective treatment strategies
      for LGG patients without the need for surgical biopsy.

PMID- 28600642
TI  - Characterization and Comparison of Genetic Variation in Cotesia flavipes
      (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) Mass Reared for Biological Pest Control Using
      Microsatellite Markers.
AB  - The larval parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an
      important biological control agent of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis
      (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). This exotic parasitoid has been mass reared
      for field release since its introduction in the 1970s. Insects are exchanged
      between labs or introduced from the field, but without basic studies or criteria.
      Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic variability of
      insects from six Brazilian States (Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Parana, Goias,
      Maranhao, and Alagoas) using microsatellites. Analysis of five loci using at
      least 22 females from each location was performed. The molecular analysis made
      possible to verify that four out of the five loci analyzed were polymorphic. The
      allele frequencies of three loci were in agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg
      Equilibrium for all insects of all regions. It was also observed that five
      alleles were exclusively presented in only two loci. The variation among and
      within populations was 24.65 and 75.34%, respectively. The estimated shared
      genotypes between the C. flavipes individuals showed that K = 2 was the most
      likely number of genetic groups causing the current variation, as well as high
      shared genotypes from these groups of the individuals. Considering all the
      analyzed loci, the genetic differentiation was at a moderate level. We suggest a
      possible mixture of biological materials based on genetic distances and the
      degree of structuring displayed.

PMID- 28600643
TI  - A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Parent Training for Disruptive Behavior
      in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Parent training (PT) has emerged as a promising treatment for disruptive behavior
      in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This review summarizes the
      essential elements of PT for disruptive behavior in children with ASD and
      evaluates the available evidence for PT using both descriptive and meta-analytic
      procedures. We searched Medline, PsycINFO, and PubMed databases (1980-2016) in
      peer-reviewed journals for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of PT for
      disruptive behavior in children with ASD. The systematic search of 2023
      publications yielded eight RCTs involving a total of 653 participants. We
      calculated effect sizes using either raw post-treatment means and standard
      deviations for each treatment group (PT and control) or group mean differences
      with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Differences in post-treatment
      means were converted to a standardized difference in means (SMD) for each primary
      outcome. Results support the efficacy of PT for disruptive behavior in children
      with ASD, with a SMD of -0.59 [95% CI (-0.88, -0.30); p < 0.001]. Across these
      eight studies, there was significant heterogeneity in the effect of PT on
      disruptive behavior. This variability is likely due to differences in sample
      size, number of treatment sessions, study duration, and control condition
      employed. Current findings provide solid support for the efficacy of PT for
      disruptive behavior in children with ASD. Future studies should focus on
      effectiveness trials to promote wider implementation of PT in clinical settings.

PMID- 28600644
TI  - Women's experiences of participating in a prospective, longitudinal postpartum
      depression study: insights for perinatal mental health researchers.
AB  - Barriers to recruitment for research on mental illness include participant
      distrust of researchers and social stigma. Though these issues may be acutely
      important in perinatal mental health research, they remain unexplored in this
      context. In order to inform strategies to more fully engage women in perinatal
      mental health research, we explored the motivations and experiences of women with
      a history of major depressive disorder who participated in a prospective
      longitudinal research study on postpartum depression (PPD). Sixteen women with a
      history of depression who had either completed or recently made a decision about
      participation in a longitudinal research study about PPD were interviewed by
      telephone. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews explored participants'
      decision-making about, and experiences of, participation. Interviews were audio
      recorded, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed using elements of grounded
      theory methodology. Follow-up interviews were conducted with four participants to
      refine and clarify preliminary results. Foundational elements necessary for women
      to consider participating in PPD research included personal acceptance of illness
      and trust in the research team/institution. Other main motivators included
      perceived personal relevance, anticipated benefits (including access to
      support/resources, learning opportunities, and improved self-worth), altruism,
      and accessible study procedures. Our data suggest that participating in perinatal
      mental health research may help women make meaning of their mental illness
      experience and is perceived as providing support. The findings-particularly
      around the importance of participant-researcher rapport and accessibility of
      study design-may inform strategies that improve participation rates, decrease
      attrition, and maximize participant benefits in perinatal mental health research.

PMID- 28600645
TI  - Acceptance and commitment therapy for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders:
      development of an inpatient group intervention.
AB  - Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are a leading cause of morbidity and
      mortality for childbearing women. Current treatments, such as cognitive
      behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy, have demonstrated modest success in
      addressing perinatal psychiatric symptoms; however, additional treatment options
      are needed to address the limitations of current approaches, particularly for
      women experiencing moderate to severe perinatal mental illness during pregnancy
      or postpartum. We discuss the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a
      promising treatment approach that may be uniquely suited for perinatal women due
      to its emphasis of values, mindfulness, and acceptance; these psychological
      constructs notably address the significant psychiatric and behavioral health
      condition comorbidity, somatic symptoms, and stigma associated with perinatal
      mood and anxiety disorders. In addition, we describe the development of a four
      session ACT-based group intervention at the Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit
      at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sessions focus on core ACT
      processes of acceptance, cognitive defusion, present-moment awareness, value
      identification, and goal setting, and we describe how each of these processes is
      relevant to the perinatal population. Implications for future clinical
      applications and research investigations are discussed.

PMID- 28600646
TI  - Increased FDG uptake on late-treatment PET in non-tumour-affected oesophagus is
      prognostic for pathological complete response and disease recurrence in patients
      undergoing neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Early side effects including oesophagitis are potential prognostic
      factors in patients undergoing radiochemotherapy (RCT) for locally advanced
      oesophageal cancer (LAEC). We assessed the prognostic value of 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake within irradiated non-tumour-affected oesophagus
      (NTO) during restaging positron emission tomography (PET) as a surrogate for
      inflammation/oesophagitis. METHODS: This retrospective evaluation included 64
      patients with LAEC who had completed neoadjuvant RCT and had successful
      oncological resection. All patients underwent FDG PET/CT before and after RCT. In
      the restaging PET scan maximum and mean standardized uptake values (SUVmax,
      SUVmean) were determined in the tumour and NTO. Univariate Cox regression with
      respect to overall survival, local control, distant metastases and treatment
      failure was performed. Independence of clinically relevant parameters was tested
      in a multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Increased FDG uptake,
      measured in terms of SUVmean in NTO during restaging was significantly associated
      with complete pathological remission (p = 0.002) and did not show a high
      correlation with FDG response of the tumour (rho < 0.3). In the univariate
      analysis, increased SUVmax and SUVmean in NTO was associated with improved
      overall survival (p = 0.011, p = 0.004), better local control (p = 0.051, p =
      0.044), a lower rate of treatment failure (p < 0.001 for both) and development of
      distant metastases (p = 0.012, p = 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, SUVmax
      and SUVmean in NTO remained a significant prognostic factor for treatment failure
      (p < 0.001, p = 0.004) and distant metastases (p = 0.040, p = 0.011).
      CONCLUSIONS: FDG uptake in irradiated normal tissues measured on restaging PET
      has significant prognostic value in patients undergoing neoadjuvant RCT for LAEC.
      This effect may potentially be of use in treatment personalization.

PMID- 28600647
TI  - Hybrid 18F-FDG PET/MRI might improve locoregional staging of breast cancer
      patients prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our purpose in this study was to assess the added clinical value of
      hybrid 18F-FDG-PET/MRI compared to conventional imaging for locoregional staging
      in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: In
      this prospective study, primary invasive cT2-4 N0 or cT1-4 N+ breast cancer
      patients undergoing NAC were included. A PET/MRI breast protocol was performed
      before treatment. MR images were evaluated by a breast radiologist, blinded for
      PET images. PET images were evaluated by a nuclear physician. Afterwards, a
      combined PET/MRI report was written. PET/MRI staging was compared to conventional
      imaging, i.e., mammography, ultrasound and MRI. The proportion of patients with a
      modified treatment plan based on PET/MRI findings was analyzed. RESULTS: A total
      of 40 patients was included. PET/MRI was of added clinical value in 20.0% (8/40)
      of patients, changing the treatment plan in 10% and confirming the malignancy of
      suspicious lesions on MRI in another 10%. In seven (17.5%) patients radiotherapy
      fields were extended because of additional or affirmative PET/MRI findings being
      lymph node metastases (n = 5) and sternal bone metastases (n = 2). In one (2.5%)
      patient radiotherapy fields were reduced because of fewer lymph node metastases
      on PET/MRI compared to conventional imaging. Interestingly, all treatment changes
      were based on differences in number of lymph nodes suspicious for metastasis or
      number of distant metastasis, whereas differences in intramammary tumor extent
      were not observed. CONCLUSION: Prior to NAC, PET/MRI shows promising results for
      locoregional staging compared to conventional imaging, changing the treatment
      plan in 10% of patients and potentially replacing PET/CT or tissue sampling in
      another 10% of patients.

PMID- 28600648
TI  - Secretory expression of a novel human spermatozoa antigen in E. coli and its
      application to a protein chip.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To produce a recombinant spermatozoa antigen peptide using the E.
      coli: PhoA system on a protein chip for screening anti-sperm antibodies (ASA).
      RESULTS: The purity of the recombinant spermatozoa antigen exceeded 95% after two
      step purification, as assessed using SDS-PAGE and HPLC. The diagnostic
      performance of a protein chip coated with the recombinant antigen peptide was
      evaluated by examining ASA in 51 infertile patients in comparison with a
      commercial ELISA kit. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve
      (AUC) was 0.944, which indicated that the protein chip coated with recombinant
      spermatozoa antigen peptide was consistent with ELISA for ASA detection.
      CONCLUSION: A recombinant spermatozoa antigen was expressed in the E. coli PhoA
      secretory expression system and its potential application for clinical ASA
      detection was validated.

PMID- 28600649
TI  - Characterization of rhamnolipid biosurfactants produced by recombinant
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain DAB with removal of crude oil.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To improve rhamnolipid production and its potential application in
      removal of crude oil, the recombinant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain DAB was
      constructed to enhance yield of rhamnolipids. RESULTS: Strain DAB had a higher
      yield of 17.3 g rhamnolipids l-1 in the removal process with crude oil as the
      sole carbon source than 10 g rhamnolipids l-1 of wild-type strain DN1, where 1%
      crude oil was degraded more than 95% after 14 days cultivation. These
      rhamnolipids reduced the surface tension of water from 72.92 to 26.15 mN m-1 with
      CMC of 90 mg l-1. The predominant rhamnolipid congeners were Rha-C10-C10 and Rha
      Rha-C10-C10 detected by MALDI-TOF MS analysis with approx. 70% relative
      abundance, although a total of 21 rhamnolipid congeners were accumulated.
      CONCLUSION: Increasing the copy number of rhlAB genes efficiently enhanced the
      production of rhamnolipids by the recombinant P. aeruginosa DAB and thus presents
      a promising application for the bioremediation process.

PMID- 28600650
TI  - Cadmium Alters the Concentration of Fatty Acids in THP-1 Macrophages.
AB  - Fatty acid composition of human immune cells influences their function. The aim
      of this study was to evaluate the effects of known toxicant and immunomodulator,
      cadmium, at low concentrations on levels of selected fatty acids (FAs) in THP-1
      macrophages. The differentiation of THP-1 monocytes into macrophages was achieved
      by administration of phorbol myristate acetate. Macrophages were incubated with
      various cadmium chloride (CdCl2) solutions for 48 h at final concentrations of 5
      nM, 20 nM, 200 nM, and 2 MUM CdCl2. Fatty acids were extracted from samples
      according to the Folch method. The fatty acid levels were determined using gas
      chromatography. The following fatty acids were analyzed: long-chain saturated
      fatty acids (SFAs) palmitic acid and stearic acid, very long-chain saturated
      fatty acid (VLSFA) arachidic acid, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs)
      palmitoleic acid, oleic acid and vaccenic acid, and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty
      acids (PUFAs) linoleic acid and arachidonic acid. Treatment of macrophages with
      very low concentrations of cadmium (5-200 nM) resulted in significant reduction
      in the levels of arachidic, palmitoleic, oleic, vaccenic, and linoleic acids and
      significant increase in arachidonic acid levels (following exposure to 5 nM Cd),
      without significant reduction of palmitic and stearic acid levels. Treatment of
      macrophages with the highest tested cadmium concentration (2 MUM) produced
      significant reduction in the levels of all examined FAs: SFAs, VLSFA, MUFAs, and
      PUFAs. In conclusion, cadmium at tested concentrations caused significant
      alterations in THP-1 macrophage fatty acid levels, disrupting their composition,
      which might dysregulate fatty acid/lipid metabolism thus affecting macrophage
      behavior and inflammatory state.

PMID- 28600651
TI  - Physical activity and mental health: commentary on Suetani et al. 2016: common
      mental disorders and recent physical activity status: findings from a National
      Community Survey.

PMID- 28600652
TI  - Wallerian demyelination: chronicle of a cellular cataclysm.
AB  - Wallerian demyelination is characteristic of peripheral nerve degeneration after
      traumatic injury. After axonal degeneration, the myelinated Schwann cell
      undergoes a stereotypical cellular program that results in the disintegration of
      the myelin sheath, a process termed demyelination. In this review, we
      chronologically describe this program starting from the late and visible features
      of myelin destruction and going backward to the initial molecular steps that
      trigger the nuclear reprogramming few hours after injury. Wallerian demyelination
      is a wonderful model for myelin degeneration occurring in the diverse forms of
      demyelinating peripheral neuropathies that plague human beings.

PMID- 28600654
TI  - Functions of the subregions of the infraspinatus during lateral rotation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although recent morphological studies have revealed that the
      infraspinatus muscle is subdivided, the functions of the subregions remain
      unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the functions of the
      infraspinatus subregions during lateral rotation using real-time tissue
      elastography (RTE). METHODS: Ten young male volunteers participated in the study.
      In addition to the infraspinatus subregions, the teres minor and two of six
      subregions of the supraspinatus determined by Kim were examined. The muscle
      stiffness of these subregions was measured in six conditions during lateral
      rotation, i.e., at rest and during manual muscle testing (MMT) 3 contraction at 0
      degrees , 35 degrees , and 70 degrees  of lateral rotation. RESULTS: The middle
      and inferior subregions of the infraspinatus, teres minor, and the posterior deep
      supraspinatus acted as a lateral rotator. The inferior subregion of the
      infraspinatus was somewhat an abductor. The superior subregion of the
      infraspinatus was an abductor but did not contribute to the lateral rotational
      motion at 35 degrees  and 70 degrees  of rotation. The anterior superficial
      supraspinatus played an abduction role at neutral rotation but this role
      gradually decreased with an increasing lateral rotational angle. CONCLUSIONS:
      Three subregions of the infraspinatus are functionally distinct. The superior
      subregion contributes to abduction, the middle subregion acts as a lateral
      rotator, and the inferior subregion has both functions.

PMID- 28600655
TI  - Chronic Kidney Disease and H. pylori Prevalence: A Significant Association?

PMID- 28600656
TI  - Specialist Endoscopists Are Associated with a Decreased Risk of Incomplete Polyp
      Resection During Endoscopic Mucosal Resection in the Colon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic experience is known to correlate with outcomes of
      endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), particularly complete resection of the polyp
      tissue. Whether specialist endoscopists can protect against incomplete
      polypectomy in the setting of known risk factors for incomplete resection (IR) is
      unknown. AIMS: We aimed to characterize how specialist endoscopists may help to
      mitigate the risk of IR of large sessile polyps. METHODS: This is a retrospective
      cohort study of patients who underwent EMR at the University of Michigan from
      January 1, 2006, to November 15, 2015. The primary outcome was endoscopist
      reported polyp tissue remaining at the end of the initial EMR attempt. Specialist
      endoscopists were defined as endoscopists who receive tertiary referrals for
      difficult colonoscopy cases and completed at least 20 EMR colonic polyp
      resections over the study period. RESULTS: A total of 257 patients with 269
      polyps were included in the study. IR occurred in 40 (16%) cases. IR was
      associated with polyp size >= 40 mm [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.31, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 1.38-7.93], flat/laterally spreading polyps (aOR 2.61,
      95% CI 1.24-5.48), and difficulty lifting the polyp (aOR 11.0, 95% CI 2.66-45.3).
      A specialist endoscopist performing the initial EMR was protective against IR,
      even in the setting of risk factors for IR (aOR 0.13, 95% CI 0.04-0.41).
      CONCLUSIONS: IR is associated with polyp size >= 40 mm, flat and/or laterally
      spreading polyps, and difficulty lifting the polyp. A specialist endoscopist
      initiating the EMR was protective of IR.

PMID- 28600653
TI  - How order and disorder within paramyxoviral nucleoproteins and phosphoproteins
      orchestrate the molecular interplay of transcription and replication.
AB  - In this review, we summarize computational and experimental data gathered so far
      showing that structural disorder is abundant within paramyxoviral nucleoproteins
      (N) and phosphoproteins (P). In particular, we focus on measles, Nipah, and
      Hendra viruses and highlight both commonalities and differences with respect to
      the closely related Sendai virus. The molecular mechanisms that control the
      disorder-to-order transition undergone by the intrinsically disordered C-terminal
      domain (NTAIL) of their N proteins upon binding to the C-terminal X domain (XD)
      of the homologous P proteins are described in detail. By having a significant
      residual disorder, NTAIL-XD complexes are illustrative examples of "fuzziness",
      whose possible functional significance is discussed. Finally, the relevance of N
      P interactions as promising targets for innovative antiviral approaches is
      underscored, and the functional advantages of structural disorder for
      paramyxoviruses are pinpointed.

PMID- 28600657
TI  - Validation of Demographics, Etiology, and Risk Factors for Chronic Pancreatitis
      in the USA: A Report of the North American Pancreas Study (NAPS) Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to validate recent epidemiologic trends and
      describe the distribution of TIGAR-O risk factors in chronic pancreatitis (CP)
      patients. METHODS: The NAPS-2 Continuation and Validation (NAPS2-CV) study
      prospectively enrolled 521 CP patients from 13 US centers from 2008 to 2012. CP
      was defined by definitive changes in imaging, endoscopy, or histology. Data were
      analyzed after stratification by demographic factors, physician-defined etiology,
      participating center, and TIGAR-O risk factors. RESULTS: Demographics and
      physician-defined etiology in the NAPS2-CV study were similar to the original
      NAPS2 study. Mean age was 53 years (IQR 43, 62) with 55% males and 87% white.
      Overall, alcohol was the single most common etiology (46%) followed by idiopathic
      etiology (24%). Alcohol etiology was significantly more common in males, middle
      aged (35-65 years), and non-whites. Females and elderly (>=65 years) were more
      likely to have idiopathic etiology, while younger patients (<35 years) to have
      genetic etiology. Variability in etiology was noted by participating centers
      (e.g., alcohol etiology ranged from 27 to 67% among centers enrolling >=25
      patients). Smoking was the most commonly identified (59%) risk factor followed by
      alcohol (53%), idiopathic (30%), obstructive (19%), and hyperlipidemia (13%). The
      presence of multiple TIGAR-O risk factors was common, with 1, 2, >=3 risk factors
      observed in 27.6, 47.6, and 23.6% of the cohort, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our
      data validate the current epidemiologic trends in CP. Alcohol remains the most
      common physician-defined etiology, while smoking was the most commonly identified
      TIGAR-O risk factor. Identification of multiple risk factors suggests CP to be a
      complex disease.

PMID- 28600658
TI  - Clinical Ethics Support for Healthcare Personnel: An Integrative Literature
      Review.
AB  - This study describes which clinical ethics approaches are available to support
      healthcare personnel in clinical practice in terms of their construction,
      functions and goals. Healthcare personnel frequently face ethically difficult
      situations in the course of their work and these issues cover a wide range of
      areas from prenatal care to end-of-life care. Although various forms of clinical
      ethics support have been developed, to our knowledge there is a lack of review
      studies describing which ethics support approaches are available, how they are
      constructed and their goals in supporting healthcare personnel in clinical
      practice. This study engages in an integrative literature review. We searched for
      peer-reviewed academic articles written in English between 2000 and 2016 using
      specific Mesh terms and manual keywords in CINAHL, MEDLINE and Psych INFO
      databases. In total, 54 articles worldwide described clinical ethics support
      approaches that include clinical ethics consultation, clinical ethics committees,
      moral case deliberation, ethics rounds, ethics discussion groups, and ethics
      reflection groups. Clinical ethics consultation and clinical ethics committees
      have various roles and functions in different countries. They can provide
      healthcare personnel with advice and recommendations regarding the best course of
      action. Moral case deliberation, ethics rounds, ethics discussion groups and
      ethics reflection groups support the idea that group reflection increases insight
      into ethical issues. Clinical ethics support in the form of a "bottom-up"
      perspective might give healthcare personnel opportunities to think and reflect
      more than a "top-down" perspective. A "bottom-up" approach leaves the healthcare
      personnel with the moral responsibility for their choice of action in clinical
      practice, while a "top-down" approach risks removing such moral responsibility.

PMID- 28600659
TI  - A meta-analysis of clinical outcome of intestinal transplantation in patients
      with total intestinal aganglionosis.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Total intestinal aganglionosis (TIA) occurs in less than 1% of
      patients with Hirschsprung disease (HD), and TIA is the most severe form of HD.
      Survival has improved with the advent of parenteral nutrition and intestinal
      transplantation (ITx). The field of ITx has rapidly progressed in the last two
      decades and has now become an established treatment for patients with intestinal
      failure. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the clinical outcome
      of ITx in patients with TIA. METHODS: A systematic literature search for relevant
      articles was performed in four databases using the combinations of the following
      terms: "total intestinal aganglionosis", "intestinal transplantation", and
      "Hirschsprung disease/Hirschsprung's disease" for studies published between 2003
      and 2016. The relevant cohorts of ITx in patients with TIA were systematically
      searched for clinical outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: Thirteen studies met defined
      inclusion criteria, reporting a total of 63 patients who underwent ITx for TIA.
      Majority of patients were males (71.0%), and median age of ITx was 4.3 (range
      0.25-17.6) years. Isolated ITx was performed in 37% patients and multivisceral
      ITx in 63%. Mean follow-up period was 40 months (range 1-154). Overall survival
      rate was 66%; the longest survivor was 12.8-year-old after ITx. CONCLUSION: ITx
      appears promising in the management of TIA. ITx can be considered a feasible
      treatment option for patients with TIA who suffer from life-threatening
      complications of intestinal failure.

PMID- 28600660
TI  - Hirschsprung Disease - Current Diagnosis and Management.
AB  - Hirschsprung disease is a common cause of neonatal and infantile large gut
      obstruction. It is characterised by varying extent of contiguous aganglionosis
      extending from the anorectum proximally. Since its recognition, the diagnosis and
      management has continuously evolved with advances in histological evaluation and
      surgical techniques. This article summarizes the current modalities of
      investigation and optimal surgical management of Hirschsprung disease and
      concludes with a reference to the Indian scenario.

PMID- 28600661
TI  - Controversy of Single versus Staged Management of Anorectal Malformations.
AB  - Anorectal malformations' (ARMs) management has taken strides over the past few
      decades. The advent of Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) and its
      acceptance by most people across the globe as standard procedure has given way to
      a debate of single vs. three-staged repair. After initial hesitancy and lot of
      skepticism, single-staged repair has very well established its role because of
      its advantages over the staged procedure. There is enough evidence which suggests
      that single-staged repair has got equally good outcome as that of staged repair
      (if not better). Further, one-staged repair offers advantages of lesser
      morbidity, lesser cost, and lesser burden to the family. The initially thought
      disadvantages of higher chances of injuries, wound infection and stress to
      neonates have been countered by growing evidences. The authors agree that staged
      procedure will continue to stay around for few specific indications like
      perforation peritonitis, extreme prematurity and special anatomical entities.
      Further, it can have more important role with advent of laparoscopy and better
      health infrastructure in future. But with new developments in imaging, scopes and
      neonatal care, single-staged repair is a feasible and safe modality for treatment
      of these anomalies.

PMID- 28600662
TI  - MRI in Thoracic Tuberculosis of Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the utility of lung magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in
      children with thoracic tuberculosis (TB). METHODS: This prospective study of
      forty children (age range of 5 to 15 y) with thoracic TB was approved by the
      institutional ethics committee. Chest radiograph, lung MRI and computed
      tomography (CT) scan were performed in all children. Sensitivity, specificity,
      positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) of MRI were
      calculated and kappa test of agreement was used to determine the strength of
      agreement between the MRI and CT findings. RESULTS: MRI performed equivalent to
      CT scan in detection of mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy, pleural effusion
      and lung cavitation (considered typical for TB) with sensitivity and specificity
      of 100%. MRI also yielded a sensitivity of 88.2% and specificity of 95.7% for
      nodules, with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 92.9% for consolidation.
      Kappa agreement between CT and MRI in detection of each finding was almost
      perfect (k: 0.8-1). CONCLUSIONS: Although CT scan is still superior to MRI in
      detection of smaller nodules, MRI demonstrates a very high degree of correlation
      and agreement with CT scan for detecting lung and mediastinal pathology related
      to TB, in children with thoracic TB and can be particularly useful in select
      population and follow-up of these children to avoid repeated radiation exposures.

PMID- 28600663
TI  - Serum Hepcidin as a Diagnostic Marker of Severe Iron Overload in Beta-thalassemia
      Major.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate potential usefulness of serum hepcidin in the
      diagnosis of iron overload in children with beta-thalassemia. METHODS: A study
      was conducted on 30 thalassemia major (TM), 30 thalassemia intermedia (TI) and 60
      healthy children as controls. Serum hepcidin was measured by Human Hepcidin,
      ELISA Kit. RESULTS: beta-thalassemia patients had a higher serum hepcidin
      compared to the controls (p < 0.001). TM group had higher hepcidin and ferritin
      compared to the TI group (p = 0.034; < 0.001, respectively). Among controls,
      hepcidin did not correlate with age (r = 0.225, p = 0.084). Among beta
      thalassemia patients, it correlated positively with age (r = 0.4; p = 0.001),
      disease duration (r = 0.5; p < 0.001), transfusion frequency (r = 0.35; p =
      0.007), total number of transfusions (r = 0.4; p = 0.003), and ferritin (r = 0.3;
      p = 0.027). Total hemoglobin and serum ferritin were significantly related to
      hepcidin, which tended to increase by 0.514 ng/ml with each 1 g/dl rise in
      hemoglobin (p = 0.023) and by 0.002 ng/ml with each 1 ng/ml rise in serum
      ferritin (p = 0.002). Iron overload [serum ferritin (SF) >= 1500 ng/ml] was
      independently associated with TM (p = 0.001) and elevated serum hepcidin (p =
      0.02). The overall predictability of serum hepcidin in severe iron overload was
      statistically significant when compared to hepcidin to serum ferritin ratio.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum hepcidin is elevated in children with beta-thalassemia; but
      this elevation is more evident in TM patients with severe iron overload. Thus,
      hepcidin can be a potential marker of severe iron overload in patients with TM.
      Further studies are recommended to compare serum hepcidin and serum ferritin in
      the prediction of severe iron overload in steady state and during infection or
      inflammation.

PMID- 28600664
TI  - Optimizing Care and Outcome of Neonatal Cholestasis: Are We on the Right Track?

PMID- 28600665
TI  - Determination of Degradation Kinetics and Effect of Anion Exchange Resin on
      Dissolution of Novel Anticancer Drug Rigosertib in Acidic Conditions.
AB  - Rigosertib is a novel anticancer drug in clinical development by Onconova
      therapeutics, Inc. Currently, it is in pivotal phase III clinical trials for
      myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients. Chemically, it is a sodium salt of weak
      acid with low solubility in lower pH solutions. In the preliminary studies, it
      was found that rigosertib is unstable in acidic conditions and forms multiple
      degradation products. In this research, drug degradation kinetics of rigosertib
      were studied in acidic conditions. Rigosertib follows pseudo-first-order general
      acid catalysis reaction. Cholestyramine, which is a strong anion exchange resin,
      was used to form complex with drug to improve stability and dissolution in acidic
      conditions. Drug complex with cholestyramine showed better dissolution profile
      compared to drug alone. Effect of polyethylene glycol was investigated on the
      release of drug from the drug resin complex. Polyethylene glycol further improved
      dissolution profile by improving drug solubility in acidic medium.

PMID- 28600666
TI  - Papillary thyroid carcinoma metastasizing to anaplastic meningioma: an unusual
      case of tumor-to-tumor metastasis.
AB  - Tumor-to-tumor metastasis is a relatively uncommon entity, whereby the so-called
      'recipient' tumor is involved by another biologically unrelated 'donor' tumor.
      Intracranially, meningioma (WHO grade 1) is the most common recipient tumor,
      while breast and lung cancers are the most common donor tumors. We present an
      unusual case of intracranial tumor-to-tumor metastasis involving papillary
      thyroid carcinoma (PTC) believed to have metastasized to an anaplastic meningioma
      (WHO grade 3). The patient is a 64-year-old female with a history of PTC, whose
      neuroimaging, performed as part of her staging workup, revealed a right parietal
      scalp lesion. The lesion was resected to reveal metastatic PTC with spindle cell
      component believed to represent sarcomatoid differentiation. Follow-up
      neuroimaging 2 months later revealed regrowth of the lesion under the previous
      craniotomy site. PET scan showed increased uptake in this area consistent with
      metastasis. Resection of this lesion revealed primarily features of an anaplastic
      meningioma. The combination of pathologic findings from both resections in
      conjunction with findings from the PET scan led to the suggestion that the PTC
      had metastasized into the anaplastic meningioma. To the authors' knowledge, this
      is the first example in the literature of a donor tumor metastasizing to a high
      grade recipient tumor.

PMID- 28600667
TI  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha mediates C/EBP homologous
      protein to protect mice from acute liver failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha)
      activation has been reported to ameliorate liver injury in cases of acute liver
      failure (ALF). However, its intrinsic protective molecular mechanisms remain
      largely undetermined. C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) is an important mediator of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. The aim of the present study was
      to test the hypothesis that PPARalpha activation alleviates liver inflammation to
      protect mice from acute liver failure (ALF) mediated by CHOP. METHODS: In a
      murine model induced by D-galactosamine (D-GalN, 700 mg/kg) and LPS (10 MUg/kg),
      Wy-14643 (6 mg/kg) was administered to activate PPARalpha. The mice of different
      groups were killed 6 h after D-GalN/LPS injection, and the liver and blood were
      collected for analysis. To find out whether PPARalpha activation protects the
      liver from injury due to inflammation by regulating CHOP, we used expression
      plasmid to increase CHOP expression and demonstrated how PPARalpha mediated CHOP
      to regulate inflammation in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS: The expression of
      PPARalpha was downregulated and the expression of CHOP was upregulated with the
      development of D-GalN/LPS-induced liver injury. The protective molecular
      mechanisms of PPARalpha activation were dependent on the expression of CHOP.
      Indeed, (1) PPARalpha activation decreased the expression of CHOP; on the other
      hand, PPARalpha knockdown increased the expression of CHOP in vivo; (2) the
      depressed liver inflammation by PPARalpha activation was due to the
      downregulation of CHOP expression, because overexpression of CHOP by transfect
      plasmid reversed liver protection and increased liver inflammation again; (3) in
      vitro, PPARalpha inhibition by siRNA treatment increased the expression of
      proinflammatory cytokines, and CHOP siRNA co-transfection reversed the expression
      of proinflammatory cytokines. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we demonstrated that PPARalpha
      activation contributes to liver protection and decreases liver inflammation in
      ALF, particularly through regulating CHOP. Our findings may provide a rationale
      for targeting PPARalpha as a potential therapeutic strategy to ameliorate ALF.

PMID- 28600669
TI  - Erratum to: Longitudinal volumetric and 2D assessment of cerebellar atrophy in a
      large cohort of children with phosphomannomutase deficiency (PMM2-CDG).

PMID- 28600668
TI  - Role of the immune system in cardiac tissue damage and repair following
      myocardial infarction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The immune system plays a crucial role in the initiation,
      development, and resolution of inflammation following myocardial infarction (MI).
      The lack of oxygen and nutrients causes the death of cardiomyocytes and leads to
      the exposure of danger-associated molecular patterns that are recognized by the
      immune system to initiate inflammation. RESULTS: At the initial stage of post-MI
      inflammation, the immune system further damages cardiac tissue to clear cell
      debris. The excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by immune cells
      and the inability of the anti-oxidant system to neutralize ROS cause oxidative
      stress that further aggravates inflammation. On the other hand, the cells of both
      innate and adaptive immune system and their secreted factors are critically
      instrumental in the very dynamic and complex processes of regulating inflammation
      and mediating cardiac repair. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to decipher the
      balance between detrimental and beneficial effects of the immune system in MI.
      This enables us to identify better therapeutic targets for reducing the infarct
      size, sustaining the cardiac function, and minimizing the likelihood of heart
      failure. This review discusses the role of both innate and adaptive immune
      systems in cardiac tissue damage and repair in experimental models of MI.

PMID- 28600670
TI  - Management of blunt splenic injury in a UK major trauma centre and predicting the
      failure of non-operative management: a retrospective, cross-sectional study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review the management of patients >16 years with blunt splenic injury
      in a single, UK, major trauma centre and identify whether the following are
      associated with success or failure of non-operative management with selective use
      of arterial embolization (NOM +/- AE): age, Injury Severity Score (ISS), head
      injury, haemodynamic instability, massive transfusion, radiological hard signs
      [contrast extravasation or pseudoaneurysm on the initial computed tomography (CT)
      scan], grade, and presence of intraparenchymal haematoma or splenic laceration.
      METHODS: Retrospective, cross-sectional study undertaken between April 2012 and
      October 2015. Paediatric patients, penetrating splenic trauma, and iatrogenic
      injuries were excluded. Follow-up was for at least 30 days. RESULTS: 154 patients
      were included. Median age was 38 years, 77.3% were male, and median ISS was 22.
      14/87 (16.1%) patients re-bled following NOM in a median of 2.3 days (IQR 0.8-3.6
      days). 8/28 (28.6%) patients re-bled following AE in a median of 2.0 days (IQR
      1.3-3.7 days). Grade III-V injuries are a significant predictor of the failure of
      NOM +/- AE (OR 15.6, 95% CI 3.1-78.9, p = 0.001). No grade I injuries and only
      3.3% grade II injuries re-bled following NOM +/- AE. Age >=55 years, ISS,
      radiological hard signs, and haemodynamic instability are not significant
      predictors of the failure of NOM +/- AE, but an intraparenchymal or subcapsular
      haematoma increases the likelihood of failure 11-fold (OR 10.9, 95% CI 2.2-55.1,
      p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Higher grade injuries (III-V) and intraparenchymal or
      subcapsular haematomas are associated with a higher failure rate of NOM +/- AE
      and should be managed more aggressively. Grade I and II injuries can be
      discharged after 24 h with appropriate advice.

PMID- 28600671
TI  - Health care utilization among adenosine-sensitive supraventricular tachycardia
      patients presenting to the emergency department.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although adenosine-sensitive supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is
      generally curable, it remains an important cause of healthcare utilization. We
      sought to determine predictors of health care utilization among SVT patients
      presenting to the emergency department (ED). METHODS: We studied consecutive
      patients evaluated in an urban, academic ED for adenosine-sensitive SVT. The
      primary study outcomes were (1) ambulance transportation to the index ED visit,
      (2) hospital admission from the index ED encounter, and (3) recurrent SVT
      associated ED encounters. RESULTS: Among 100 patients with adenosine-sensitive
      SVT, 35 were transported to the ED by ambulance. Prior electrophysiologist
      evaluation was associated with a significant 87% reduced odds of ambulance
      utilization (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.03-0.67, p = 0.015). A total of 62 patients were
      subsequently admitted to the hospital. All patients with coronary artery disease,
      diabetes, syncope, and wide complex SVT were admitted. Similarly, individuals
      with an elevated troponin had a significantly greater odds of hospital admission
      (OR 16.8, 95% CI 1.9-148.4, p = 0.011). After the index ED visit, 60 patients
      were seen by an electrophysiologist, and 47 underwent catheter ablation.
      Individuals treated with catheter ablation had a significant 75% reduction in the
      risk of a recurrent ED visit for SVT (HR 0.25, 95% CI 0.10-0.62, p = 0.003).
      CONCLUSIONS: Readily modifiable clinical factors, including a previous visit to
      an electrophysiologist and treatment with catheter ablation, are associated with
      reduced health care utilization among patients presenting to the ED with SVT.

PMID- 28600673
TI  - Occupational driving assessment for late-stage ankylosing spondylitis.

PMID- 28600672
TI  - Significant reduction in procedure duration in remote magnetic-guided catheter
      ablation of atrial fibrillation using the third-generation magnetic navigation
      system.
AB  - PURPOSE: The magnetic navigation system (MNS) has shown to be safe and effective
      for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, longer procedure
      duration as compared to manual catheter ablation may limit its widespread use.
      This study aimed to assess the impact of the newest generation MNS using an
      optimized mapping and ablation protocol on the efficacy and safety of remote
      magnetic catheter (RMC)-guided pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). METHODS: This
      observational study included 52 patients with symptomatic AF who underwent RMC
      guided PVI using the second-generation MNS Niobe II (initial 28 patients, group
      I) or the third-generation MNS Niobe ES in combination with an optimized mapping
      and ablation protocol (24 patients, group II). RESULTS: Acute PVI was achieved in
      26/28 (93%) patients in group I and 24/24 patients (100%) in group II. Mean
      procedure time was 263.9 +/- 81.9 min in group I and significantly lower in group
      II (139.7 +/- 22.6 min, p < 0.01). Mean fluoroscopy time was 18.8 +/- 8.7 min in
      group I and decreased to 7.9 +/- 2.6 in group II (p < 0.01). After a median
      follow-up of 640.5 days (Q1 460.75; Q3 766.5), 16/24 (67%) patients undergoing
      RMC-guided PVI in group II remained in stable SR. No periprocedural complications
      were noted for either group. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the third-generation MNS for RMC
      guided PVI is safe, effective, and drastically reduced procedure times.

PMID- 28600674
TI  - [Value of cardiac CT in the diagnostic work-up of coronary artery disease :
      Update 2017].
AB  - The quantification of coronary calcifications using noncontrast-enhanced computed
      tomography (CT) as well as coronary CT angiography (cCTA) have rapidly evolved in
      the recent years. Nowadays, both techniques are increasingly clinically accepted
      regarding risk stratification and accurate exclusion of significant coronary
      artery disease (CAD). The higher acceptance of cCTA is mainly based on the higher
      robustness, lower radiation exposure through continuous technical innovations as
      well as by the growing scientific evidence. The poor predictive value of cCTA for
      predicting the hemodynamic significance of detected coronary artery stenosis may
      be improved by continuous technical developments in the area of functional
      imaging. The aim of this educational article is to summarize the current clinical
      status of calcium scoring and morphological cCTA and to provide an overview on
      novel functional CT techniques.

PMID- 28600676
TI  - The contributions of visual and central attention to visual working memory.
AB  - We investigated the role of two kinds of attention-visual and central attention
      for the maintenance of visual representations in working memory (WM). In
      Experiment 1 we directed attention to individual items in WM by presenting cues
      during the retention interval of a continuous delayed-estimation task, and
      instructing participants to think of the cued items. Attending to items improved
      recall commensurate with the frequency with which items were attended (0, 1, or 2
      times). Experiments 1 and 3 further tested which kind of attention-visual or
      central-was involved in WM maintenance. We assessed the dual-task costs of two
      types of distractor tasks, one tapping sustained visual attention and one tapping
      central attention. Only the central attention task yielded substantial dual-task
      costs, implying that central attention substantially contributes to maintenance
      of visual information in WM. Experiment 2 confirmed that the visual-attention
      distractor task was demanding enough to disrupt performance in a task relying on
      visual attention. We combined the visual-attention and the central-attention
      distractor tasks with a multiple object tracking (MOT) task. Distracting visual
      attention, but not central attention, impaired MOT performance. Jointly, the
      three experiments provide a double dissociation between visual and central
      attention, and between visual WM and visual object tracking: Whereas tracking
      multiple targets across the visual filed depends on visual attention, visual WM
      depends mostly on central attention.

PMID- 28600675
TI  - A novel capillary nano-immunoassay for assessing androgen receptor splice variant
      7 in plasma. Correlation with CD133 antigen expression in circulating tumor
      cells. A pilot study in prostate cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Androgen receptor (AR) splice variant 7 (AR-V7) has been related with
      both a higher risk of prostate cancer (PC) progression and differential
      responsiveness to hormonal agents versus chemotherapy. The objective of this
      study was to investigate the feasibility of a novel capillary nano-immunoassay in
      assessing AR-V7 in plasma from PC patients. METHODS: Patients with either
      localized or advanced PC were included in the study. Assessment of AR-V7 in
      plasma was performed through a capillary nano-immunoassay platform. Correlation
      with clinical data, stem cell biomarkers (such as CD133+), AR amplification and
      PTEN status was identified. RESULTS: The study included 72 PC patients. AR-V7
      signal was detected in 21 (29%) patients: 17 (81%) had a Gleason score >=7, 15
      (71%) castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), 18 (86%) metastatic disease
      and PSA (median) high than AR-V7 negative (p < 0.05). CD133 was expressed in 69
      (96%) patients. The median CD133+ expression in circulating tumor cells CTCs was
      higher among the 21 AR-V7 positive cases versus AR-V7 negative (7 vs. 3).
      Androgen Receptor and PTEN fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on CD133+
      captured cells were performed: 37 cases showed >=four CD133+ CTCs, of which 81%
      showed an increased AR copy number. This percentage was similar in both AR-V7
      positive and AR-V7-negative patients. A total of 68% of the cases showed deletion
      of PTEN: 70% were ARV-7 positive vs. 67%, which were AR-V7 negative. CONCLUSIONS:
      Assessing the presence of AR-V7 in plasma from PC patients is feasible by a novel
      capillary nano-immunoassay. AR-V7 was observed in 29% of the tumors and is more
      frequent in aggressive tumors.

PMID- 28600677
TI  - Ensemble coding remains accurate under object and spatial visual working memory
      load.
AB  - A number of studies have provided evidence that the visual system statistically
      summarizes large amounts of information that would exceed the limitations of
      attention and working memory (ensemble coding). However the necessity of working
      memory resources for ensemble coding has not yet been tested directly. In the
      current study, we used a dual task design to test the effect of object and
      spatial visual working memory load on size averaging accuracy. In Experiment 1,
      we tested participants' accuracy in comparing the mean size of two sets under
      various levels of object visual working memory load. Although the accuracy of
      average size judgments depended on the difference in mean size between the two
      sets, we found no effect of working memory load. In Experiment 2, we tested the
      same average size judgment while participants were under spatial visual working
      memory load, again finding no effect of load on averaging accuracy. Overall our
      results reveal that ensemble coding can proceed unimpeded and highly accurately
      under both object and spatial visual working memory load, providing further
      evidence that ensemble coding reflects a basic perceptual process distinct from
      that of individual object processing.

PMID- 28600679
TI  - Resting-state BOLD oscillation frequency predicts vigilance task performance at
      both normal and high environmental temperatures.
AB  - Hyperthermia may impair vigilance functions and lead to slower reaction times
      (RTs) in the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) and possibly disturbing cerebral
      hemodynamic rhythms. To test these hypotheses, we acquired the resting-state BOLD
      and cerebral blood flow (CBF) data, as well as PVTRTs from 15 participants in two
      simulated environmental thermal conditions (50  degrees C/25  degrees C). We
      adopted a data-driven method, frequency component analysis, to quantify the mean
      frequency of the BOLD series of each voxel. Across-subject correlation analysis
      was employed to detect the brain areas whose BOLD oscillation frequency was
      correlated with the RTs. Significant changes of BOLD frequency and CBF within
      these areas were compared between hyperthermia and normothermia conditions.
      Spatial correlations between BOLD frequency and CBF were calculated within
      different brain areas for each subject under both thermal conditions. Results
      showed that, under both thermal conditions, the RTs correlated with the BOLD
      frequency positively in the default mode network (DMN) and negatively in the
      sensorimotor network (SMN). The increase of BOLD frequency in the thalamus and
      ventral medial prefrontal cortex was correlated with the increase of RTs in
      hyperthermia compared with normothermia. Hyperthermia decreased BOLD frequency
      and CBF in the SMN, while it increased CBF in the thalamus and posterior
      cingulate. In both thermal conditions, the spatial distribution of CBF negatively
      correlated with the spatial distribution of BOLD oscillation frequency in most
      cortical areas, especially in cingulate cortices, precuneus, and primary visual
      cortex. These results suggest that hyperthermia might deteriorate task
      performance by interfering with the resting-state CBF, and with BOLD rhythms. The
      overlapping of the thermoregulatory and vigilance functions in the SMN and DMN
      might underlie the neural mechanisms of the cognitive-behavioral impairments
      induced by hyperthermia.

PMID- 28600678
TI  - Co-altered functional networks and brain structure in unmedicated patients with
      bipolar and major depressive disorders.
AB  - Bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) share similar clinical
      characteristics that often obscure the diagnostic distinctions between their
      depressive conditions. Both functional and structural brain abnormalities have
      been reported in these two disorders. However, the direct link between altered
      functioning and structure in these two diseases is unknown. To elucidate this
      relationship, we conducted a multimodal fusion analysis on the functional network
      connectivity (FNC) and gray matter density from MRI data from 13 BD, 40 MDD, and
      33 matched healthy controls (HC). A data-driven fusion method called mCCA+jICA
      was used to identify the co-altered FNC and gray matter components. Comparing to
      HC, BD exhibited reduced gray matter density in the parietal and occipital
      cortices, which correlated with attenuated functional connectivity within sensory
      and motor networks, as well as hyper-connectivity in regions that are putatively
      engaged in cognitive control. In addition, lower gray matter density was found in
      MDD in the amygdala and cerebellum. High accuracy in discriminating across groups
      was also achieved by trained classification models, implying that features
      extracted from the fusion analysis hold the potential to ultimately serve as
      diagnostic biomarkers for mood disorders.

PMID- 28600681
TI  - Responses to familiar and unfamiliar objects by belugas (Delphinapterus leucas),
      bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), and Pacific white-sided dolphins
      (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens).
AB  - Previous research with bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) demonstrated
      their ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. Dolphins
      gazed longer at unfamiliar stimuli. The current study attempted to extend this
      original research by examining the responses of three species of cetaceans to
      objects that differed in familiarity. Eleven belugas from two facilities, five
      bottlenose dolphins and five Pacific white-sided dolphins housed at one facility
      were presented different objects in a free-swim scenario. The results indicated
      that the animals gazed the longest at unfamiliar objects, but these gaze
      durations did not significantly differ from gaze durations when viewing familiar
      objects. Rather, the animals gazed longer at unfamiliar objects when compared to
      the apparatus alone. Species differences emerged with longer gaze durations
      exhibited by belugas and bottlenose dolphins and significantly shorter gaze
      durations for Pacific white-sided dolphins. It is likely that the animals
      categorized objects into familiar and unfamiliar categories, but the free-swim
      paradigm in naturalistic social groupings did not elicit clear responses. Rather
      this procedure emphasized the importance of attention and individual preferences
      when investigating familiar and unfamiliar objects, which has implications for
      cognitive research and enrichment use.

PMID- 28600680
TI  - Tight junctions of the proximal tubule and their channel proteins.
AB  - The renal proximal tubule achieves the majority of renal water and solute
      reabsorption with the help of paracellular channels which lead through the tight
      junction. The proteins forming such channels in the proximal tubule are claudin
      2, claudin-10a, and possibly claudin-17. Claudin-2 forms paracellular channels
      selective for small cations like Na+ and K+. Independently of each other, claudin
      10a and claudin-17 form anion-selective channels. The claudins form the
      paracellular "pore pathway" and are integrated, together with purely sealing
      claudins and other tight junction proteins, in the belt of tight junction strands
      surrounding the tubular epithelial cells. In most species, the proximal tubular
      tight junction consists of only 1-2 (pars convoluta) to 3-5 (pars recta)
      horizontal strands. Even so, they seal the tubule very effectively against leak
      passage of nutrients and larger molecules. Remarkably, claudin-2 channels are
      also permeable to water so that 20-25% of proximal water absorption may occur
      paracellularly. Although the exact structure of the claudin-2 channel is still
      unknown, it is clear that Na+ and water share the same pore. Already solved
      claudin crystal structures reveal a characteristic beta-sheet, comprising beta
      strands from both extracellular loops, which is anchored to a left-handed four
      transmembrane helix bundle. This allowed homology modeling of channel-forming
      claudins present in the proximal tubule. The surface of cation- and anion
      selective claudins differ in electrostatic potentials in the area of the proposed
      ion channel, resulting in the opposite charge selectivity of these claudins.
      Presently, while models of the molecular structure of the claudin-based
      oligomeric channels have been proposed, its full understanding has only started.

PMID- 28600682
TI  - Chironomidae traits and life history strategies as indicators of anthropogenic
      disturbance.
AB  - In freshwater ecosystems, Chironomidae are currently considered indicators of
      poor water quality because the family is often abundant in degraded sites.
      However, it incorporates taxa with a large ecological and physiological diversity
      and different sensitivity to impairment. Yet, the usual identification of
      Chironomidae at coarse taxonomic levels (family or subfamily) masks genus and
      species sensitivities. In this study, we investigate the potential of taxonomic
      and functional (traits) composition of Chironomidae to detect anthropogenic
      disturbance. In this context, we tested some a priori hypotheses regarding the
      ability of Chironomidae taxonomic and trait compositions to discriminate
      Mediterranean streams affected by multiple stressors from least-disturbed
      streams. Both taxonomic and Eltonian trait composition discriminated sites
      according to their disturbance level. Disturbance resulted in the predicted
      increase of Chironomidae with higher number of stages with hibernation/diapause
      and of taxa with resistance forms and unpredicted increase of the proportion of
      taxa with longer life cycles and few generations per year. Life history
      strategies (LHS), corresponding to multivoltine Chironomidae that do not invest
      in hemoglobin and lack strong spring synchronization, were well adapted to all
      our Mediterranean sites with highly changeable environmental conditions. Medium
      size animals favored in disturbed sites where the Mediterranean hydrological
      regime is altered, but the reduced number of larger-size/carnivore Chironomids
      suggests a limitation to secondary production. Results indicate that Chironomidae
      genus and respective traits could be a useful tool in the structural and
      functional assessment of Mediterranean streams. The ubiquitous nature of
      Chironomidae should be also especially relevant in the assessment of water bodies
      naturally poor in other groups such as the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and
      Trichoptera, such as the lowland rivers with sandy substrates, lakes, or
      reservoirs.

PMID- 28600684
TI  - Applying spatial analysis techniques to assess the suitability of multipurpose
      uses of spring water in the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region, Taiwan.
AB  - The Jiaosi Hot Spring Region is one of the most famous tourism destinations in
      Taiwan. The spring water is processed for various uses, including irrigation,
      aquaculture, swimming, bathing, foot spas, and recreational tourism. Moreover,
      the multipurpose uses of spring water can be dictated by the temperature of the
      water. To evaluate the suitability of spring water for these various uses, this
      study spatially characterized the spring water temperatures of the Jiaosi Hot
      Spring Region by integrating ordinary kriging (OK), sequential Gaussian
      simulation (SGS), and Geographic information system (GIS). First, variogram
      analyses were used to determine the spatial variability of spring water
      temperatures. Next, OK and SGS were adopted to model the spatial uncertainty and
      distributions of the spring water temperatures. Finally, the land use (i.e.,
      agriculture, dwelling, public land, and recreation) was determined using GIS and
      combined with the estimated distributions of the spring water temperatures. A
      suitable development strategy for the multipurpose uses of spring water is
      proposed according to the integration of the land use and spring water
      temperatures. The study results indicate that the integration of OK, SGS, and GIS
      is capable of characterizing spring water temperatures and the suitability of
      multipurpose uses of spring water. SGS realizations are more robust than OK
      estimates for characterizing spring water temperatures compared to observed data.
      Furthermore, current land use is almost ideal in the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region
      according to the estimated spatial pattern of spring water temperatures.

PMID- 28600683
TI  - Source characterisation and distribution of selected PCBs, PAHs and alkyl PAHs in
      sediments from the Klip and Jukskei Rivers, South Africa.
AB  - A study of the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and
      polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) utilising 16 priority PAHs, benzo(e)pyrene,
      perylene, 19 alkylated PAHs and 31 ortho substituted PCBs in South Africa is
      presented. It was aimed to (a) deduce characteristic contamination patterns for
      both PCBs and PAHs and (b) provide the first comprehensive dataset for
      establishment of source characterisation of PCBs and PAHs. This is in line with
      new South African legislation on mandatory monitoring of PCB and PAH emissions.
      Bar charts, principal component analysis (PCA) and biplots were utilised to
      identify signature contamination patterns and distribution of PCBs and PAHs
      within the Jukskei and Klip Rivers. Sediments from the Jukskei and Klip River
      catchments both showed distinct contamination signatures for hexa to
      nonachlorinated PCBs, characteristic of contamination by Aroclor 1254 and 1260
      technical mixtures. PCB signature patterns in order of abundance were 138 > 180 >
      206 > 153 > 187 > 149 and 138 > 153 > 180 > 149 > 187 > 110 > 170 for the Jukskei
      and Klip River sediments, respectively. The upstream Alberton point had the
      highest Sigma31 PCB and Sigma (parent+alkyl) PAH concentrations in the Klip River
      of 61 and 6000 MUg kg-1 dry weight (dw), respectively. In the Jukskei River, the
      upstream Marlboro point had the highest Sigma31 PCB concentration of 19 MUg kg-1
      dw and the N14 site recorded the highest Sigma (parent+alkyl) PAH concentration
      of 2750 MUg kg-1 dw. PAH concentrations in both the Jukskei and Klip Rivers were
      significantly higher than the PCB concentrations. Fluoranthene, phenanthrene and
      pyrene were found in the highest concentrations in both the Jukskei and Klip
      River sediments. Both the Jukskei and Klip River sediments showed trends of a
      mixed pyrogenic-petrogenic PAH source contamination.

PMID- 28600685
TI  - Aquidulcibacter paucihalophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of family
      Caulobacteraceae isolated from cyanobacterial aggregates in a eutrophic lake.
AB  - A bacterial strain, TH1-2T, was isolated from cyanobacterial aggregates in the
      eutrophic Lake Taihu, Jiangsu Province, China. Cells were observed to be Gram
      negative, slightly curved and rod-shaped. Optimal growth was obtained at pH 7.0
      (range 5.5-8.5) and 30  degrees C (range 20-37  degrees C) in trypticase soy
      broth (TSB) without NaCl. Growth was not observed in TSB with 1.0% (w/v) NaCl
      added. The cells were found to be positive for oxidase and catalase activities.
      The major fatty acids were identified as 3-hydroxy hexadecanoic acid (C16:0 3
      OH), C16:1 omega5c and summed feature 8 (consisting of C18:1 omega6c and cis-11
      Octadecenoic acid (C18:1 omega7c). The major polar lipids were identified as
      diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The
      16S rRNA gene sequence of strain TH1-2T was found to be phylogenetically related
      to those of Glycocaulis abyssi MCS 33T and Brevundimonas naejangsanensis BIO-TAS2
      2T (90.5 and 90.0% similarity, respectively). The genomic G+C content of strain
      TH1-2T was 55.6 mol% based on whole genome calculations. Average nucleotide
      identities (ANI) and the digital DNA-DNA hybridizations (DDH) for complete
      genomes ranged from 66.84  to 67.32  and 21.3 to 31.8% between strain TH1-2T and
      type strains within the family Caulobacteraceae, higher than those between strain
      TH1-2T and the strains within the family Hyphomonadaceae. The phenotypic,
      chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic properties, and genome analysis, indicate that
      strain TH1-2T (=CGMCC 1.12979T = LMG 28362T) represents a novel species in a new
      genus within the family Caulobacteraceae; thus, the name Aquidulcibacter
      paucihalophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed.

PMID- 28600686
TI  - A critical prognostic analysis of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio for patients
      undergoing nephroureterectomy due to upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine preoperative serum complete blood count parameters that
      affects survival of patients who underwent surgery for upper urinary tract
      urothelial cancer (UUT-UC). METHODS: Since 1990, 150 patients underwent
      nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff excision for UUT-UC at Hacettepe University.
      Patients with a history of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, adjuvant chemotherapy
      or metastasis at the time of diagnosis were excluded. One hundred and thirteen
      patients without infective symptoms and with a full set of serum data were
      evaluated retrospectively. Effects of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR),
      lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and leukocyte
      count on disease-free survival (DFS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were
      investigated. Threshold values for each parameter to predict PFS were calculated.
      RESULTS: The mean age and median follow-up were 63.7 +/- 11.1 years and 34 (3
      186) months, respectively. Male to female ratio was 86/27. The 5-years PFS
      (bladder recurrence was excluded) and DFS were 59.6 and 38.4%, respectively. In
      multivariate analysis, NLR was independent prognostic factor for PFS and DFS (p =
      0.006 and p = 0.021, respectively) while LMR was prognostic only for PFS (p =
      0.037). CONCLUSION: For UUT-UC, NLR is a prognostic factor for PFS and DFS, while
      LMR is a prognostic indicator for PFS in present series.

PMID- 28600687
TI  - Carnivore Attractant or Plant Elicitor? Multifunctional Roles of Methyl
      Salicylate Lures in Tomato Defense.
AB  - Synthetic plant volatile lures attract natural enemies, but may have non-target
      effects due to the multifunctional nature of volatile signals. For example,
      methyl salicylate (MeSA) is used to attract predators, yet also serves as a
      signaling hormone involved in plant pathogen defense. We investigated the
      consequences of deploying MeSA lures to attract predators for tomato (Solanum
      lycopersicum) defense against herbivores. To understand the spatial distribution
      of the lure's effect, we exposed tomatoes in the field to MeSA along a linear
      distance gradient and induced defenses by simulating feeding by hornworm
      caterpillars in a fully crossed factorial design (+/- MeSA, +/- herbivory).
      Subsequently, we analyzed activity of several defensive proteins (protease
      inhibitors, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase), development of hornworm larvae
      (Manduca sexta), growth of fungal pathogens (Cladosporium and Alternaria), and
      attractiveness to herbivores and predators. Overall, MeSA-exposed plants were
      more resistant to both insects and pathogens. Secondary pathogen infection was
      reduced by 25% in MeSA exposed plants, possibly due to elevated polyphenol
      oxidase activity. Interestingly, we found that lures affected plant pathogen
      defenses equivalently across all distances (up to 4 m away) indicating that
      horizontal diffusion of a synthetic volatile may be greater than previously
      assumed. While thrips avoided colonizing hornworm- damaged tomato plants, this
      induced resistance was not observed upon pre-exposure to MeSA, suggesting that
      MeSA suppresses the repellant effect induced by herbivory. Thus, using MeSA lures
      in biological control may inadvertently protect crops from pathogens, but has
      mixed effects on plant resistance to insect herbivores.

PMID- 28600689
TI  - Value-based Healthcare: Preoperative Assessment and Global Optimization (PASS
      GO): Improving Value in Total Joint Replacement Care.

PMID- 28600688
TI  - Endoscopic management of biliary strictures after living donor liver
      transplantation.
AB  - Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is an effective alternative to deceased
      liver transplantation (DDLT) for end-stage liver disease. Although advances in
      surgical techniques, immunosuppressive management, and post-transplant care have
      improved the overall outcomes of LDLT, biliary strictures remain the major
      unsolved problem. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is
      currently considered the first-line therapy for biliary strictures following LDLT
      with duct-to-duct reconstruction, with percutaneous and surgical interventions
      reserved for patients with unsuccessful management via ERCP. Endoscopic
      management of biliary strictures is technically more challenging in LDLT than in
      DDLT because of the complexity of the biliary anastomosis, in addition to the
      tortuous and angulated biliary system. Placement of one or more plastic stents
      after balloon dilation has been the standard strategy for post-LDLT stricture,
      but this requires multiple stent exchange to prevent stent occlusion until
      stricture resolution. Inside stents might prevent duodenobiliary reflux and thus
      have longer stent patency, obviating the need for multiple ERCPs. Newly developed
      covered self-expandable metallic stents with anti-migration systems are
      alternatives to the placement of multiple plastic stents. With the advent of deep
      enteroscopy, biliary strictures in LDLT patients with Roux-en-Y
      hepaticojejunostomy are now treatable endoscopically. In this review, we discuss
      the short- and long-term outcomes of endoscopic management of post-LDLT
      strictures as well as recent advances in this field.

PMID- 28600690
TI  - Patients Older Than 40 Years With Unilateral Occupational Claims for New Shoulder
      and Knee Symptoms Have Bilateral MRI Changes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minor events that occur in the workplace sometimes are evaluated with
      MRI, which may reveal age-related changes in the symptomatic body part. These age
      related changes are often ascribed to the event. However, evidence of similar or
      worse pathophysiology in the contralateral joint would suggest that the symptoms
      might be new, but the pathophysiology is not. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: Using a
      convenience sample of occupational injury claimants with bilateral MRI to
      evaluate unilateral knee or shoulder symptoms ascribed to a single event at work,
      we sought to determine whether MRI findings of the shoulder and knee are more
      often congruent or incongruent with new unilateral symptoms. METHODS: Two hundred
      ninety-four occupational injury claimants employed at companies throughout Texas
      that do not subscribe to workers' compensation insurance, who were older than 40
      years, and with unilateral shoulder or knee symptoms, were studied. Starting in
      2012, all patients seen by OccMD Group PA who present with unilateral symptoms
      ascribed to work undergo bilateral MRI, based on several previous occasions where
      bilateral MRI proved to be a compelling demonstration that perceived injuries are
      more likely age-related, previously well-adapted pathophysiology. MRI findings
      (anything described as abnormal by the radiologist; eg, defect size or signal
      change) was considered congruent if the abnormality of one or more structures on
      the symptomatic side was greater than that of the corresponding structures in the
      asymptomatic joint. Bivariate analysis was used to compare the frequency of MRI
      findings congruent and incongruent with symptoms. Logistic regression was used to
      evaluate factors associated with MRI findings of the shoulder or knee. RESULTS:
      Less than half of the patients with shoulder (90 of 189; 48%; p = 0.36) or knee
      (45 of 105; 43%; p = 0.038) symptoms had worse pathologic features on the
      symptomatic side. Older age was associated with disorders in the infraspinatus
      tendon (59 +/- 8 versus 56 +/- 8 years; p = 0.012), glenoid labrum (60 +/- 9
      versus 57 +/- 8 years; p = 0.025), and biceps tendon (60 +/- 8 versus 57 +/- 8
      years; p = 0.0038). Eighty-seven percent of patients (91 of 105) had structural
      changes in the medial meniscus described by the radiologist. CONCLUSIONS:
      Occupational injury claimants 40 years of age and older with unilateral knee and
      shoulder symptoms ascribed to a work event tend to have bilateral age-related MRI
      changes. Age-related disorders should be distinguished from acute injury. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, diagnostic study.

PMID- 28600691
TI  - In situ monitoring of molecular changes during cell differentiation processes in
      marine macroalgae through mass spectrometric imaging.
AB  - Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging (MALDI
      MSI) was employed to discriminate between cell differentiation processes in
      macroalgae. One of the key developmental processes in the algal life cycle is the
      production of germ cells (gametes and zoids). The gametogenesis of the marine
      green macroalga Ulva mutabilis (Chlorophyta) was monitored by metabolomic
      snapshots of the surface, when blade cells differentiate synchronously into
      gametangia and giving rise to gametes. To establish MSI for macroalgae,
      dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), a known algal osmolyte, was determined. MSI of
      the surface of U. mutabilis followed by chemometric data analysis revealed
      dynamic metabolomic changes during cell differentiation. DMSP and a total of 55
      specific molecular biomarkers, which could be assigned to important stages of the
      gametogenesis, were detected. Our research contributes to the understanding of
      molecular mechanisms underlying macroalgal cell differentiation. Graphical
      abstract Molecular changes during cell differentiation of the marine macroalga
      Ulva were visualized by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass
      spectrometric imaging (MALDI-MSI).

PMID- 28600692
TI  - Simultaneous determination of pyrethroids and pyrethrins by dispersive liquid
      liquid microextraction and liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass
      spectrometry in environmental samples.
AB  - A simple and environmentally friendly dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction
      (DLLME) method coupled with electrospray ionization liquid chromatography triple
      quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-QqQ-MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous
      determination of 17 synthetic and natural pyrethroids. A comparison of solid
      phase extraction (SPE) versus DLLME for water samples and only "dilute and shoot"
      versus the additional extract cleanup by DLLME for sediment samples is reported.
      Chloroform was the extracting solvent in the DLLME technique for both water and
      sediment samples. Ultrasonic energy was applied to fully extract the analytes
      into fine droplets, providing high recoveries in short times. Method detection
      limits (MDLs) ranged from 0.12 to 0.62 ng L-1 and recoveries from 70 to 119% with
      RSD values 2-15% (n = 5) for water samples. In sediment samples, MDLs ranged from
      0.50 to 2.50 ng g-1 and recoveries from 71 to 112% with RSDs 2-16% (n = 5). The
      proposed method showed a good linearity within the range of 10-500 ng mL-1, with
      coefficients of determination (R 2) higher than 0.99. Matrix effects were
      observed for most compounds in water and sediment (ME% < -10%). The proposed
      methodology was applied for the analysis of water and sediment samples from
      Albufera wetland and Turia River. Acrinathrin (48 ng g-1) and etofenprox (16 ng g
      1) were detected in sediment samples. Graphical abstract Pyrethrins and
      pyrethroid determination in water and sediments by DLLME and LC-MS/MS.

PMID- 28600693
TI  - Antioxidant Capacity Analysis of Blackberry Extracts with Different Phytochemical
      Compositions and Optimization of their Ultrasound Assisted Extraction.
AB  - High antioxidant capacity molecules, such as anthocyanins, occur naturally in
      blackberry (Rubus fruticosus). In particular, 'Dasha' blackberry cultivar has
      scarcely been studied and, it is becoming economically more important in Mexico.
      In this study, several blackberry extraction conditions, conferred different
      amounts of detectable phytochemical groups that in turn were analysed with a new
      approach to investigate their influence on antioxidant capacity (AC).
      Additionally, a central composite design (CCD) was proposed to study effects of
      temperature and acidification on AC. Finally, an original approach was used to
      disclose interactions between the phytochemical content and the AC. Changes in
      size of the particles during extraction were reported for the first time, and the
      results showed evidence of swelling and dissolving of particles. UAE of fine and
      thick powders achieved similar efficiencies in contrast with maceration which
      showed large differences for the extraction of the tested sizes. CCD showed that
      low levels of acidification and high levels of temperature resulted in higher
      extraction of phytochemicals and AC. HPLC show that the main anthocyanidin may
      represent 88% of the total anthocyanins. Due to its relatively high abundance,
      cyanidyn-3-glucoside showed evidence of being the main cause of the changes in AC
      in 'Dasha' extracts. The use of mild conditions resulted in no degradation of
      anthocyanins and, therefore, there are no AC losses. A correlation plane was
      proposed to study synergisms of the extracts with other anthocyanins or
      phenolics.

PMID- 28600694
TI  - STARR with Contour Transtar for Obstructed Defecation Syndrome: Long-Term
      Results.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS) is a widespread and disabling
      syndrome. With this study, we want to evaluate the long-term results of stapled
      transanal rectal resection (STARR) performed with Contour Transtar device in the
      treatment for ODS. A re-evaluation of 113 patients subjected to STARR from June
      2007 to January 2010 was conducted. METHODS: All the patients treated for
      symptomatic ODS with STARR with Contour Transtar were included in the study. We
      re-evaluate all patients treated in the study period with clinical examination
      and specific questionnaire to verify the stability of the functional results and
      the satisfaction at 5 years from surgery. Constipation was graded using the
      Agachan-Wexner constipation score; eventual use of aids to defecate and patient
      satisfaction were assessed preoperatively, 6 months and 5 years after surgery.
      Long-term complications were also investigated. RESULTS: Constipation intensity
      decreased from the preoperative value of 15.8 (+/-4.9) to 5.2 (+/-3.9) (p <
      0.0001) at 6 months and remained stable after 5 years (7.4 +/- 4.1; p < 0.01).
      Patients who use laxatives and enema decrease from 74 (77%) and 27 (28%) to only
      16 (17%; p < 0.001) and 5 (5%; p < 0.001), respectively, at 5-year follow-up.
      None continue to help themselves with digitations after surgery. Also the
      satisfaction rate remained stable (3.64 vs 3.81) during the 5 years of the study.
      CONCLUSION: The long-term results have demonstrated the efficacy of the STARR
      with Contour Transtar in treating ODS and the stability over time of the
      defecatory improvements. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov
      NCT02971332.

PMID- 28600695
TI  - Enteral Antibiotics are Non-inferior to Intravenous Antibiotics After Complicated
      Appendicitis in Adults: A Retrospective Multicentre Non-inferiority Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prolonging post-operative antibiotic treatment beyond 3 days does not
      seem to reduce the incidence of post-operative abscess formation or wound
      infection after surgery for complicated appendicitis. The route of administration
      seems to be based on an empirical basis. Using enteral antibiotics could reduce
      length of stay and reduce overall costs. We aimed to examine whether treatment
      with enteral antibiotics during the first three post-operative days is non
      inferior to intravenous antibiotics regarding intra-abdominal abscess formation
      or wound infection after surgery for complicated appendicitis. METHODS: A
      retrospective study of adult patients having surgery for complicated appendicitis
      within a period of 32 months in the Capital Region of Denmark. Primary outcome
      was the incidence of post-operative abscess formation, and secondary outcome was
      wound infections, both within 30 days of surgery. Route of antibiotic
      administration for the first three post-operative days was registered for all
      patients. RESULTS: A total of 1141 patients were included in the study. The
      overall risk of developing an intra-abdominal abscess was 6.7% (95% CI 5.2%;
      8.1%), and the risk of wound infection was 1.2% (95% CI 0.6%; 1.8%). In a
      multivariate intention-to-treat analysis, patients treated post-operatively with
      enteral antibiotics had an odds ratio of 0.78 (95% CI 0.41; 1.45, p = 0.429) for
      developing an intra-abdominal abscess and an odds ratio of 0.86 (95% CI 0.17;
      4.29, p = 0.851) for developing a wound infection compared to patients treated
      post-operatively with intravenous antibiotics. CONCLUSION: Treatment with enteral
      antibiotics was non-inferior compared to treatment with intravenous antibiotics
      during the first 3 days after surgery for complicated appendicitis.

PMID- 28600697
TI  - Neurotoxicity of cyclosporine A in children with steroid-resistant nephrotic
      syndrome: is cytotoxic edema really an unfavorable predictor of permanent
      neurological damage?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cyclosporine A-associated neurotoxicity has been reported mainly
      after organ transplantation. Only a small number of children with steroid
      resistant nephrotic syndrome and cyclosporine A-associated neurotoxicity have
      been reported. PATIENTS: We report three children, aged 4, 11, and 15, with
      steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome and cyclosporine A-associated neurotoxicity.
      In two of the patients, primary diagnosis was idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, and
      in one it was IgA nephropathy. Magnetic resonance with diffusion-weighted
      imaging, combined with quantification of apparent diffusion coefficient values,
      showed lesions caused by cytotoxic edema indicating irreversible brain damage.
      Nonetheless, the patients fully recovered clinically and radiologically after
      prompt discontinuation of cyclosporine A. CONCLUSIONS: Neurotoxic effects should
      be suspected in any child with nephrotic syndrome treated with cyclosporine A in
      whom sudden neurological symptoms occur. Cytotoxic edema is a rare finding in
      pediatric patients. However, even in such cases with seemingly irreversible brain
      damage, full recovery without permanent neurological sequels is possible with
      prompt cyclosporine A discontinuation and supportive therapy.

PMID- 28600696
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Switching from Innovator Rituximab to Biosimilar CT-P10
      Compared with Continued Treatment with CT-P10: Results of a 56-Week Open-Label
      Study in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CT-P10 is a biosimilar candidate of innovator rituximab (RTX) that
      demonstrated a comparable clinical profile to RTX in a phase I randomized
      controlled trial (RCT) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier: NCT01534884). OBJECTIVE: This open-label extension (OLE) study
      (NCT01873443) compared the efficacy and safety of CT-P10 in patients with RA who
      received CT-P10 from the outset (i.e., from the start of the RCT and also in the
      OLE; 'maintenance group') with those who received RTX during the RCT and switched
      to CT-P10 during the OLE ('switch group'). METHODS: Patients who completed the
      RCT were recruited. Based on the Disease Activity Score using 28 joints (DAS28)
      and predefined safety criteria, patients could receive up to two courses of CT
      P10 during the OLE. Efficacy [DAS28 and European League Against Rheumatism
      (EULAR) response], safety and immunogenicity were assessed. RESULTS: Eighty-seven
      patients were enrolled; 58 and 29 had previously received CT-P10 or RTX,
      respectively, in the RCT. Of these, 38 (65.5%) and 20 (69.0%) were treated with
      CT-P10 in the OLE and therefore comprised the maintenance and switch groups,
      respectively. The mean change in DAS28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) from
      baseline (week 0 of RCT) at week 24 of the first OLE treatment course in the
      maintenance and switch groups was -2.7 and -2.4, respectively. The proportion of
      patients with good/moderate EULAR responses was also comparable between groups.
      Antidrug antibodies were detected in 13.2 and 15.0% of patients in the
      maintenance and switch groups, respectively, at week 24 of the first OLE course.
      CT-P10 treatment was well-tolerated when administered for up to 2 years or after
      switching from RTX. CONCLUSION: In this study population, comparable efficacy and
      safety profiles were observed in patients who switched from RTX to CT-P10 and
      those maintained on CT-P10 throughout treatment.

PMID- 28600698
TI  - Treatment of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis by arthroscopic 'L' medial
      release procedure.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of an arthroscopic 'L' medial release
      (ALMR) procedure for the treatment of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis
      (MCKOA). METHODS: Between January 2012 and December 2013, 372 patients with MCKOA
      of Kellgren's radiographic grade I-III were diagnosed. Among them, 252 patients
      with MCKOA received ALMR performed by a single surgeon. The other 120 patients
      received supportive treatment and were regarded as the control group. The Knee
      Society Score (KSS) at baseline and 2 years, and the subjective visual analogue
      scale (VAS) at baseline and 1st, 2nd, 6th, 12th, and 24th months were used for
      outcome studies. RESULTS: There were 286 patients available for follow-up for
      more than 2 years and the mean follow-up period was 28 months. There were 202
      patients with unilateral MCKOA in the ALMR group and 84 in the control group. The
      mean subjective VAS showed a statistically significant improvement after 6
      months, and then remained relatively stable between the 6th and 24th month. The
      mean KSS for pain and function improved statistically at 2 years of follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: This ALMR appears to be an effective and safe treatment for mild and
      moderate MCKOA.

PMID- 28600699
TI  - A single visit multidisciplinary model for managing patients with mutations in
      moderate and high-risk genes in a community practice setting.
AB  - The introduction of screening for multiple high and moderate risk mutations in
      genes has resulted in a complex approach to patient care involving multiple
      disciplines. We sought to describe the feasibility of a single visit
      multidisciplinary approach to the management of patients with an identified
      high/moderate risk gene mutation. Patients who presented to our community
      hospital over a 1-year period who were found to have a high/moderate risk genetic
      mutation on a screening panel were referred to the High Risk Genetic Clinic.
      Thirty-five patients were included. The majority were female [34 (97.1%)],
      Hispanic [22 (62.9%)], with a family history of cancer [21 (60%)]. Mean age was
      40.3 years. Most of the participants had a BRCA1 gene mutation [10 (28.6%)].
      Patients were seen at the High Risk Genetic Clinic within a mean of 41.9 days
      from the day of genetic mutation diagnosis. Four patients did not show and were
      significantly younger (19.3 vs. 39.6 years, p = 0.014). In this community
      setting, we provided coordinated care within multiple disciplines related to a
      genetic mutation in a single clinic visit. Increased efforts at coordinating
      early care should be directed towards patients diagnosed at a younger age.

PMID- 28600700
TI  - Co-occurrence of Lynch syndrome and juvenile polyposis syndrome confirmed by
      multigene panel testing.
AB  - Through germline multigene panel testing, we discovered the co-occurrence of
      Lynch syndrome due to a PMS2 mutation and juvenile polyposis syndrome due to a
      BMPR1A mutation in a young man with synchronous bladder and colorectal cancers
      and a family history of colorectal polyps. To our knowledge, this is the first
      report of an individual having these two hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes.
      This discovery highlights the benefit of multigene testing over traditional
      stepwise genetic testing, particularly when a clinical presentation suggests more
      than one underlying genetic cause. This report adds to the growing body of
      literature of individuals with multiple inherited cancer gene defects being
      identified thanks to the increasing implementation of multigene panels with next
      generation sequencing technologies.

PMID- 28600701
TI  - The impact of exposure to antidepressant medications during pregnancy on neonatal
      outcomes: a review of retrospective database cohort studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Concerns with prescription antidepressant use in pregnant women
      have instigated the examination of potential associations between fetal exposure
      to antidepressant medication and outcomes including preterm delivery, congenital
      malformations, perinatal and post-natal adverse events, persistent pulmonary
      hypertension, and mortality. The retrospective cohort model is an often utilized
      study design. The objective of this review is to evaluate the literature on
      antidepressant use in pregnancy conducted as retrospective cohorts in
      national/regional medical, or claims databases that assess neonatal and infant
      outcomes for agreement between studies, ultimately providing a methodological and
      outcomes summary for future scientific endeavors. METHODS: PubMed was searched
      for literature relating to antidepressant use and infant outcomes from the
      earliest available date through July 15, 2016. Studies with a retrospective
      cohort design and conducted in national/regional medical or claims databases were
      included. Searched outcomes included preterm delivery, congenital malformations,
      low birth weight, small for gestational age, persistent pulmonary hypertension of
      the newborn, and other select adverse events comprising low Apgar score (5 min),
      convulsions/seizures, respiratory distress/problems, fetal mortality, and infant
      mortality. RESULTS: Of the 784 studies identified, 36 retrospective cohort
      studies met eligibility criteria. An increase in preterm delivery and respiratory
      distress/problems and no increase in congenital malformation or fetal and infant
      death were associated with prenatal use of prescription antidepressants by
      majority consensus (at least 2/3 [67%] of studies). CONCLUSIONS: While consensus
      indicates that perinatal prescription antidepressant use has consequences for the
      fetus and infant, there are notable inconsistencies in the literature. More
      investigations that address prenatal exposure to depression and other important
      covariates are needed.

PMID- 28600702
TI  - Hiccups in Parkinson's disease: an analysis of cases reported in the European
      pharmacovigilance database and a review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some reports have suggested an association between dopamine agonists
      and hiccups, involuntary contractions that merit full clinical attention because
      they can be very debilitating. Many drugs frequently used to treat hiccups are
      formally contraindicated in Parkinson's disease due to their liability to worsen
      motor symptoms, making the treatment of hiccups problematic in this disease. The
      objective of the present study was to analyze all spontaneous reports of hiccups
      from the European Pharmacovigilance Database in patients with Parkinson's disease
      and/or on dopaminergic drugs. Finally, we sought to identify evidence-based
      recommendations on the management of hiccups in Parkinson's disease. METHODS: We
      searched for all reports of hiccups in the European Pharmacovigilance Database
      (EudraVigilance) and calculated proportional reporting ratios for dopamine
      agonists and hiccups. We reviewed the literature on Parkinson's disease, dopamine
      agonists, and hiccups, searching for specific treatment recommendations for
      hiccups in this disease. RESULTS: Both rotigotine and pramipexole fulfilled the
      criteria to generate a safety signal. We found 32 and 13 cases of hiccups
      associated with dopamine agonists in EudraVigilance and the literature,
      respectively. There were no specific recommendations for the management of
      hiccups in Parkinson's disease in the clinical guidelines consulted. CONCLUSIONS:
      We have found evidence that rotigotine and pramipexole are associated with the
      appearance of hiccups and that this adverse reaction occurs predominantly in
      males. Given the scarce information available, specific recommendations are
      needed in clinical guidelines for the adequate management of hiccups in
      Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28600703
TI  - Prevalence of S gene mutations within the major hydrophilic region of hepatitis B
      virus in patients in Dongguan, southern China.
AB  - HBsAg point mutations within the major hydrophilic region (MHR) have frequently
      been reported to be associated with diagnostic failure, vaccine escape and
      immunotherapy escape. However, the prevalence of escape mutations in chronic
      hepatitis B (CHB) patients has not been systematically studied in patients from
      southern China within the past decade. This study aimed to determine the
      prevalence of escape mutations within the MHR of hepatitis B virus in patients in
      Dongguan, southern China. Between June 2015 and May 2016, 391 patients who were
      chronically infected with HBV were enrolled in the study, including 240 patients
      with the genotype B strain and 151 with the genotype C strain. The most frequent
      mutated position was s126 (4.3%), followed by s100 (3.3%), s101 (2.8%), s133
      (2.8%), s145 (2.3%), s120 (2.0%) and s129 (1.8%). Furthermore, the mutations
      sY100C, sQ101R/K, sS114A, sP120T, sT/I126A/N/S, sQ129R, sM133L/T/S and sG145R/A
      were prevalent in at least one genotype, with a frequency higher than 1%, which
      indicated that these mutations were relatively common. In addition, sQ101K/R was
      found only in genotype C isolates (P < 0.05), and sT126A was only discovered in
      genotype B isolates (P = 0.047), indicating that such mutations were genotype
      associated mutations. Notably, combinations of escape mutations within the MHR
      were also frequently discovered in genotypes B (5.0%) and C (6.6%), with no
      significant difference (P = 0.498). These results indicated that we should
      increase the surveillance HBsAg mutations among HBV-infected patients in China.

PMID- 28600704
TI  - Steering Clear of Driving After Drinking: a Tailored e-Health Intervention for
      Reducing Repeat Offending and Modifying Alcohol Use in a High-Risk Cohort.
AB  - PURPOSE: Digital interventions to reduce risk behaviours are emerging as
      effective public health measures; however, few have been applied to drink driving
      and associated alcohol use based on a harm reduction perspective. This paper
      reports on the design, development, and pilot of a novel intervention which aims
      to reduce repeat offending by first-time convicted drink driving offenders. It
      explores whether an online program is acceptable and user friendly and contains
      useful and relevant content, with a sample of first-time drink driving offenders
      recruited at the time of conviction. METHOD: Building upon existing research into
      interventions to reduce drink driving recidivism and problem alcohol use, a
      tailored program was designed to provide content specifically concerned with
      drink driving and with an additional component related to alcohol use. Following
      stakeholder and internal review, the 'Steering Clear First Offender Drink Driving
      Program' was subsequently piloted with 15 first-time drink driving offenders.
      Evaluative data was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. RESULTS: The
      pilot results indicate that the participants found the program to be user
      friendly, as demonstrated by high scores in relation to navigation, online
      delivery, engagement, avatar usage and straightforwardness. They reported that
      they found the content to be useful and relevant and that the key learning area
      was in relation to the consequences of drink driving. CONCLUSION: Online
      interventions for reducing risky behaviour such as drink driving may be useful
      and cost effective from a public health perspective. Potentially, they can
      directly address risky behaviours associated with alcohol use in high-risk
      cohorts that may not ordinarily receive intervention.

PMID- 28600705
TI  - Distress levels in patients with oropharyngeal vs. non-oropharyngeal squamous
      cell carcinomas of the head and neck over 1 year after diagnosis: a retrospective
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers have been associated with
      different demographic profiles and disease characteristics than HPV-unrelated
      cancers in head and neck patients, but distress and other symptoms have not been
      compared. The aim of this study was to assess whether distress levels, fatigue,
      pain, anxiety, depression, and common psychological and practical problems differ
      between head and neck cancer patients with HPV-related vs. HPV-unrelated
      carcinomas (using oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) and non-OPC cancers as surrogates
      for HPV status). METHODS: Distress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, pain, and
      common problems were examined in 56 OPC and 90 non-OPC patients at 4 timepoints
      during the first year following diagnosis. Two-level hierarchical linear modeling
      was used to examine effects. RESULTS: The HPV-related OPC group was more likely
      to be younger (p = 0.05), Caucasian (p = 0.001), non-smokers (p = 0.01), earn
      more (p = 0.04), and present with more advanced stage (p < 0.0001). At baseline,
      OPC patients reported only higher pain scores (p = 0.01) than non-OPC patients.
      Total problems decreased more in the OPC group (p = 0.08) than the non-OPC group
      from baseline to 12-month follow-up. In both groups, scores on distress,
      depression, psychosocial problems, and practical problems decreased similarly
      over time. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a difference in the clinico-demographic
      characteristics of HPV-related vs. HPV-unrelated patients, only baseline pain
      levels and total problems over time differed between the two groups.

PMID- 28600707
TI  - [Sepsis and septic shock : Overview after sepsis-3 and the requirements of the
      clinician regarding the autopsy of critically ill patients].
AB  - Sepsis and septic shock are frequent conditions of patients in the intensive care
      unit. Recent guidelines adjusted the diagnostic criteria for sepsis and septic
      shock as well as the recommendations for sepsis treatment, which together is
      important for the intensivist as well as for the pathologist. Patients who die
      from septic shock despite invasive and intense therapies display various
      pathological findings that have to be placed in a reasonable clinical context,
      which is challenging for the pathologist without close cooperation with the
      former caring clinician. This short review gives an overview of recent
      definitions, the pathophysiology and treatment recommendations for sepsis and
      septic shock and discusses the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation
      between the pathologist and intensivist in the autopsy of a patient.

PMID- 28600706
TI  - Effects of resistance exercise in prostate cancer patients: a meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the present meta-analysis was to quantify effects of
      resistance exercise (RE) on physical performance and function, body composition,
      health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and fatigue in patients with prostate
      cancer. METHODS: Trial data were obtained from the databases PubMed, MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Library as of inception to 31st of December
      2016. Thirty-two trials with 1199 patients were included. Results that were
      measured by using the same assessment method in five or more of the original
      studies were pooled in a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Pooled studies showed
      significant improvements of muscular strength in the upper and lower body (95% CI
      [2.52, 7.97] kg; p < 0.001 and 95% CI [10.51, 45.88] kg; p = 0.008, respectively)
      after RE. Furthermore, significant improvements were seen for body composition
      (body fat percentage 95% CI [-0.79, -0.53] %; p < 0.001; lean body mass 95% CI
      [0.15, 1.84] %; p = 0.028; trunk fat mass 95% CI [-0.73, -0.08] kg; p = 0.024).
      Additionally, the improvement of the 400-m walk time was significant (95% CI [
      21.55, -14.65] s; p < 0.001). Concerning fatigue and HRQoL, there were not
      sufficient data for analysis. CONCLUSIONS: RE seems to be a promising approach in
      order to counteract loss of muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical
      performance in patients suffering from prostate cancer and its treatment-related
      side effects. RE should play part in interdisciplinary cancer rehabilitation and
      care of this patient group. Nevertheless, further research should investigate RE
      further to determine which protocols are the most pragmatic, yet yielding best
      patient outcomes.

PMID- 28600708
TI  - Effect of refractive status on Valsalva-induced anterior segment changes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the Valsalva maneuver (VM) on anterior segment
      parameters and its association with refractive status. METHOD: In this
      prospective study, 120 eyes of 120 subjects were evaluated. Subjects were divided
      into three groups: myopic (n = 40 patients), hyperopic (n = 40 patients), and
      emmetropic (control group, n = 40 subjects). The anterior segment parameters,
      including keratometric, pachymetric, and anterior chamber parameters, were
      measured using the Sirius System (Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici, Florence,
      Italy) before and during VM. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant
      difference in corneal parameters including keratometric and pachymetric values at
      rest or during VM in myopic, hyperopic, and control groups (p > 0.05 for all). In
      the myopic and control groups, anterior chamber depth, anterior chamber volume
      (ACV), and anterior chamber angle (ACA) were significantly decreased during VM.
      In the hyperopic group, only anterior chamber depth was significantly decreased
      during VM, while ACV and ACA did not significantly change. CONCLUSION: The
      Valsalva maneuver may cause significant narrowing in anterior chamber depth,
      anterior chamber volume, and anterior chamber angle in the myopic and emmetropic
      groups, whereas it may affect only anterior chamber depth in the hyperopic group.

PMID- 28600709
TI  - Cysteinyl Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists Inhibit Migration, Invasion, and
      Expression of MMP-2/9 in Human Glioblastoma.
AB  - Glioblastoma is one of the most malignant and aggressive types of brain tumors. 5
      lipoxygenase and cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 (CysLT1) play a role in human
      carcinogenesis. Leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs), anti-asthmatic drugs
      with mild side effects, have anti-metastatic activity in epidermoid carcinoma,
      lung carcinoma, and colon cancers as well as neuroprotective effects. Herein,
      anti-migratory effects of two LTRAs, montelukast and zafirlukast, were
      investigated in glioblastoma cells. The level of CysLT1 in A172 cells was
      increased by 3.13 folds after IL-1beta treatment. The median toxic concentration
      of LTRAs in A172, U373, and primary astrocytes ranged from 7.17 to 26.28 MUM at
      24-h post-exposure. Both LTRAs inhibited migration and invasion of glioma.
      Additionally, both drugs significantly inhibited the expression and activities of
      MMP-2 and MMP-9 in A172 and U373 glioblastoma cells and primary human astrocytes,
      suggesting that CysLT1 plays a role in migration and invasion of glioma, and
      LTRAs are potential drugs to reduce migration and invasion.

PMID- 28600711
TI  - What's in a name? Tensions between formal and informal communities of practice
      among regional subspecialty cancer surgeons.
AB  - In 2007 the Cancer Care Ontario Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic (HPB) Community of
      Practice was formed during the wake of provincial regionalization of HPB services
      in Ontario, Canada. Despite being conceptualized within the literature as an
      educational intervention, communities of practice (CoP) are increasingly being
      adopted in healthcare as quality improvement initiatives. A qualitative case
      study approach using in-depth interviews and document analysis was employed to
      gain insight into the perceptions and attitudes of the HPB surgeons in the CoP.
      This study demonstrates how an engineered formal or idealized structure of a CoP
      was created in tension with the natural CoPs that HPB surgeons identified with
      during and after their training. This tension contributed to the inactive and/or
      marginal participation by some of the surgeons in the CoP. The findings of this
      study represent a cautionary tale for such future engineering attempts in two
      distinct ways: (1) a CoP in surgery cannot simply be created by regulatory
      agencies, rather they need to be supported in a way to evolve naturally, and (2)
      when the concept of CoPs is co-opted by governing bodies, it does not necessarily
      capture the power and potential of situated learning. To ensure CoP
      sustainability and effectiveness, we suggest that both core and peripheral
      members need to be more directly involved at the inception of the COP in terms of
      design, organization, implementation and ongoing management.

PMID- 28600710
TI  - The influence of systemic renin-angiotensin-inhibition on ocular cytokines
      related to proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The renin-angiotensin system is involved in the pathogenesis of fibrosis
      in several organs via induction of transforming growth factor (TGF) beta. In the
      pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) TGF-beta plays a pivotal
      role, promoting transition of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells into
      myofibroblasts. We studied the influence of angiotensin converting enzyme
      inhibition (ACEI) on cytokines and growth factors, related to PVR in aqueous
      humor. METHODS: We performed a post hoc analysis of a prospectively conducted
      interventional case series. From patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment
      (RRD) aqueous humor was obtained during primary surgery and analyzed using
      multiplex bead analysis for interferon gamma, tumor necrosis factor alpha, CC
      chemokine ligand (CCL) 2 / monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, interleukin
      (IL)-1 beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A,
      platelet derived growth factor (PDGF)-aa, TGF-beta 1, TGF-beta 2, TGF-beta 3,
      fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-aa, and FGF-bb. We recorded information about
      systemic ACEI from the medical history. RESULTS: In the primary study elevated
      levels of TGF-beta 1 and 2, IL 6 and 8 and CCL2/MCP-1 were a risk factor for
      later PVR development. Here, systemic ACEI neither influenced levels of these
      cytokines and growth factors, nor of any other tested in this study (p >= 0.438,
      respectively). Also the incidence of PVR development was unaffected (p = 0.201).
      CONCLUSION: The systemic intake of ACEI for arterial hypertension does not
      influence levels of profibrotic cytokines/growth factors in aqueous humor.
      Further studies need to clarify if relevant levels of ACEI accumulate in the eye,
      and if direct administration of ACEI in experimental PVR could be beneficial.

PMID- 28600712
TI  - From six thousand transaminases level to three hundred after liver
      transplantation: a new era seems to be open.

PMID- 28600713
TI  - Erratum to: The effect of character contextual diversity on eye movements in
      Chinese sentence reading.

PMID- 28600714
TI  - The importance of age-related differences in prospective memory: Evidence from
      diffusion model analyses.
AB  - Event-based prospective memory (PM) refers to relying on environmental cues to
      trigger retrieval of a deferred action plan from long-term memory. Considerable
      research has demonstrated PM declines with increased age. Despite efforts to
      better characterize the attentional processes that underlie these decrements, the
      majority of research has relied on measures of central tendency to inform
      theoretical accounts of PM that may not entirely capture the underlying dynamics
      involved in allocating attention to intention-relevant information. The purpose
      of the current study was to examine the utility of the diffusion model to better
      understand the cognitive processes underlying age-related differences in PM.
      Results showed that emphasizing the importance of the PM intention increased cue
      detection selectively for older adults. Standard cost analyses revealed that PM
      importance increased mean response times and accuracy, but not differentially for
      young and older adults. Consistent with this finding, diffusion model analyses
      demonstrated that PM importance increased response caution as evidenced by
      increased boundary separation. However, the selective benefit in cue detection
      for older adults may reflect peripheral target-checking processes as indicated by
      changes in nondecision time. These findings highlight the use of modeling
      techniques to better characterize the processes underlying the relations among
      aging, attention, and PM.

PMID- 28600715
TI  - Partition dependence in consumer choice: Perceptual groupings do not reliably
      shape decisions.
AB  - The partitioning of options into arbitrary categories has been shown to influence
      decisions about allocating choices or resources among those options; this
      phenomenon is called partition dependence. While we do not call into question the
      validity of the partition dependence phenomenon in the present work, we do
      examine the robustness of one of the experimental paradigms reported by Fox,
      Ratner, and Lieb (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134, 538-551,
      2005, Study 4). In three experiments (N = 300) conducted here, participants chose
      from a menu of perceptually partitioned options (varieties of candy distributed
      across bowls). We found no clear evidence of partition dependent choice in
      children (Experiment 1) and no evidence at all of partition dependence in adults'
      choices (Experiments 1-3). This was true even when methods were closely matched
      to those of Fox et al.'s Study 4 (Experiment 3). We conclude that the candy-bowl
      choice task does not reliably elicit partition dependence and propose possible
      explanations for the discrepancy between these findings and prior reports. Future
      work will explore the conditions under which partition dependence in consumer
      choice does reliably arise.

PMID- 28600716
TI  - Dissociating the time courses of the cross-modal semantic priming effects
      elicited by naturalistic sounds and spoken words.
AB  - The present study compared the time courses of the cross-modal semantic priming
      effects elicited by naturalistic sounds and spoken words on visual picture
      processing. Following an auditory prime, a picture (or blank frame) was briefly
      presented and then immediately masked. The participants had to judge whether or
      not a picture had been presented. Naturalistic sounds consistently elicited a
      cross-modal semantic priming effect on visual sensitivity (d') for pictures
      (higher d' in the congruent than in the incongruent condition) at the 350-ms
      rather than at the 1,000-ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). Spoken words mainly
      elicited a cross-modal semantic priming effect at the 1,000-ms rather than at the
      350-ms SOA, but this effect was modulated by the order of testing these two SOAs.
      It would therefore appear that visual picture processing can be rapidly primed by
      naturalistic sounds via cross-modal associations, and this effect is short lived.
      In contrast, spoken words prime visual picture processing over a wider range of
      prime-target intervals, though this effect was conditioned by the prior context.

PMID- 28600717
TI  - Reading and lexical-decision tasks generate different patterns of individual
      variability as a function of condition difficulty.
AB  - We reanalyzed previous experiments based on lexical-decision and reading-aloud
      tasks in children with dyslexia and control children and tested the prediction of
      the difference engine model (DEM) that mean condition reaction times (RTs) and
      standard deviations (SDs) would be linearly related (Myerson et al., 2003). Then
      we evaluated the slope and the intercept with the x-axis of these linear
      functions in comparison with previously reported values (i.e., slope of about
      0.30 and intercept of about 300 ms). In the case of lexical decision, the
      parameters were close to these values; by contrast, in the case of reading aloud,
      a much steeper slope (0.66) and a greater intercept (482.6 ms) were found.
      Therefore, interindividual variability grows at a much faster rate as a function
      of condition difficulty for reading than for lexical-decision tasks (or for other
      tasks reported in the literature). According to the DEM, the slope of the
      regression that relates means and SDs indicates the degree of correlation among
      the durations of the stages of processing. We propose that the need for a close
      coupling between orthographic and phonological processing in reading is what
      drives the particularly strong relationship between performance and
      interindividual variability that we observed in reading tasks.

PMID- 28600719
TI  - Can a single model account for both risky choices and inter-temporal choices?
      Testing the assumptions underlying models of risky inter-temporal choice.
AB  - There is growing interest in modelling how people make choices that involve both
      risks and delays, i.e., risky inter-temporal choices. We investigated an untested
      assumption underlying several proposed risky inter-temporal choice models: that
      pure risky choices and pure inter-temporal choices are special cases of risky
      inter-temporal choice. We tested this assumption by presenting a single group of
      participants with risky choices and inter-temporal choices. We then compared the
      performance of a model that is fit to both choice types simultaneously, with the
      performance of separate models fit to the risky choice and inter-temporal choice
      data. We find, using Bayesian model comparison, that the majority of participants
      are best fit by a single model that incorporates both risky and inter-temporal
      choices. This result supports the assumption that risky choices and inter
      temporal choices may be special cases of risky inter-temporal choice. Our results
      also suggest that, under the conditions of our experiment, interpretation of
      monetary value is very similar in risky choices and inter-temporal choices.

PMID- 28600718
TI  - "Compacted" procedures for adults' simple addition: A review and critique of the
      evidence.
AB  - We review recent empirical findings and arguments proffered as evidence that
      educated adults solve elementary addition problems (3 + 2, 4 + 1) using so-called
      compacted procedures (e.g., unconscious, automatic counting); a conclusion that
      could have significant pedagogical implications. We begin with the large-sample
      experiment reported by Uittenhove, Thevenot and Barrouillet (2016, Cognition,
      146, 289-303), which tested 90 adults on the 81 single-digit addition problems
      from 1 + 1 to 9 + 9. They identified the 12 very-small addition problems with
      different operands both <= 4 (e.g., 4 + 3) as a distinct subgroup of problems
      solved by unconscious, automatic counting: These items yielded a near-perfectly
      linear increase in answer response time (RT) yoked to the sum of the operands.
      Using the data reported in the article, however, we show that there are clear
      violations of the sum-counting model's predictions among the very-small addition
      problems, and that there is no real RT boundary associated with addends <=4.
      Furthermore, we show that a well-known associative retrieval model of addition
      facts-the network interference theory (Campbell, 1995)-predicts the results
      observed for these problems with high precision. We also review the other types
      of evidence adduced for the compacted procedure theory of simple addition and
      conclude that these findings are unconvincing in their own right and only
      distantly consistent with automatic counting. We conclude that the cumulative
      evidence for fast compacted procedures for adults' simple addition does not
      justify revision of the long-standing assumption that direct memory retrieval is
      ultimately the most efficient process of simple addition for nonzero problems,
      let alone sufficient to recommend significant changes to basic addition pedagogy.

PMID- 28600720
TI  - Comparisons of argatroban to lepirudin and bivalirudin in the treatment of
      heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - To prevent thromboembolic events associated with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
      (HIT), patients usually are treated with argatroban, lepirudin, and bivalirudin.
      Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies to comparing the treatment of HIT
      with the following direct thrombin inhibitor: argatroban versus lepirudin and
      argatroban versus bivalirudin. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and
      Cochrane Library database for relevant studies. The clinical outcomes were
      thromboembolic complication and bleeding. A total of 589 articles were found and
      9 of which were finally included in this meta-analysis. There were no
      significantly differences of thromboembolic complication between argatroban and
      hirudin analogues (lepirudin and bivalirudin) in the treatment of HIT (lepirudin:
      RR = 0.773, 95% CI = 0.449-1.331, P = 0.353; bivalirudin: RR = 0.768, 95% CI =
      0.386-1.527, P = 0.452). Moreover, the incidence of clinical bleeding of
      argatroban was similar to hirudin analogues (lepirudin: RR = 0.755, 95% CI =
      0.531-1.073, P = 0.117; bivalirudin: RR = 0.995, 95% CI = 0.673-1.472, P =
      0.981). Current evidences show that argatroban has the similar effectiveness and
      safety with lepirudin and bivalirudin for defending against HIT.

PMID- 28600721
TI  - A novel way to calculate the diffusivity of water in carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Theoretical studies on water diffusion in carbon nanotubes have been challenged
      because the diffusivities calculated by molecular simulations are much lower than
      what experiments show. This paper proposes a new way to estimate transport
      diffusivity in such systems directly by simply inspecting the long term behaviors
      of the velocity autocorrelation functions of water molecules. The results from
      simulation of molecular dynamics based on this method show that the new method
      can generate much higher diffusivities, in accordance with experimental
      measurements, and of the correct order of magnitude.

PMID- 28600722
TI  - Genetic dissection of plant growth habit in chickpea.
AB  - A combinatorial genomics-assisted breeding strategy encompassing association
      analysis, genetic mapping and expression profiling is found most promising for
      quantitative dissection of complex traits in crop plants. The present study
      employed GWAS (genome-wide association study) using 24,405 SNPs (single
      nucleotide polymorphisms) obtained with genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) of 92
      sequenced desi and kabuli accessions of chickpea. This identified eight
      significant genomic loci associated with erect (E)/semi-erect (SE) vs. spreading
      (S)/semi-spreading (SS)/prostrate (P) plant growth habit (PGH) trait
      differentiation regardless of diverse desi and kabuli genetic backgrounds of
      chickpea. These associated SNPs in combination explained 23.8% phenotypic
      variation for PGH in chickpea. Five PGH-associated genes were validated
      successfully in E/SE and SS/S/P PGH-bearing parental accessions and homozygous
      individuals of three intra- and interspecific RIL (recombinant inbred line)
      mapping populations as well as 12 contrasting desi and kabuli chickpea germplasm
      accessions by selective genotyping through Sequenom MassARRAY. The shoot apical,
      inflorescence and floral meristems-specific expression, including upregulation
      (seven-fold) of five PGH-associated genes especially in germplasm accessions and
      homozygous RIL mapping individuals contrasting with E/SE PGH traits was apparent.
      Collectively, this integrated genomic strategy delineated diverse non-synonymous
      SNPs from five candidate genes with strong allelic effects on PGH trait variation
      in chickpea. Of these, two vernalization-responsive non-synonymous SNP alleles
      carrying SNF2 protein-coding gene and B3 transcription factor associated with PGH
      traits were found to be the most promising in chickpea. The SNP allelic variants
      associated with E/SE/SS/S PGH trait differentiation were exclusively present in
      all cultivated desi and kabuli chickpea accessions while wild species/accessions
      belonging to primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools mostly contained
      prostrate PGH-associated SNP alleles. This indicates strong adaptive
      natural/artificial selection pressure (Tajima's D 3.15 to 4.57) on PGH-associated
      target genomic loci during chickpea domestication. These vital leads thus have
      potential to decipher complex transcriptional regulatory gene function of PGH
      trait differentiation and for understanding the selective sweep-based PGH trait
      evolution and domestication pattern in cultivated and wild chickpea accessions
      adapted to diverse agroclimatic conditions. Collectively, the essential inputs
      generated will be of profound use in marker-assisted genetic enhancement to
      develop cultivars with desirable plant architecture of erect growth habit types
      in chickpea.

PMID- 28600723
TI  - The 3D protein of duck hepatitis A virus type 1 binds to a viral genomic 3' UTR
      and shows RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity.
AB  - To explore the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) function of the 3D protein of
      duck hepatitis A virus type 1 (DHAV-1), the gene was cloned into the pET-32a(+)
      vector for prokaryotic expression. The 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of DHAV-1
      together with a T7 promoter was cloned into the pMD19-T vector for in vitro
      transcription of 3' UTR RNA, which was further used as a template in RNA
      dependent RNA polymerization. In this study, three methods were applied to
      analyze the RdRP function of the 3D protein: (1) ammonium molybdate
      spectrophotometry to detect pyrophosphate produced during polymerization; (2)
      quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) to investigate the changes in
      RNA quantity during polymerization; and (3) electrophoresis mobility shift assay
      to examine the interaction between the 3D protein and 3' UTR. The results showed
      the 3D protein was successfully expressed in bacteria culture supernatant in a
      soluble form, which could be purified by affinity chromatography. In 3D enzymatic
      activity assays, pyrophosphate and RNA were produced, the amounts of which
      increased based on approximative kinetics, and binding of the 3D protein to the
      3' UTR was observed. These results indicate that prokaryotically expressed
      soluble DHAV-13D protein can bind to a viral genomic 3' UTR and exhibit RdRP
      activity.

PMID- 28600724
TI  - Phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of dengue viruses isolated in Jakarta,
      Indonesia.
AB  - Dengue has affected Indonesia for the last five decades and become a major health
      problem in many cities in the country. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, reports
      dengue cases annually, with several outbreaks documented. To gain information on
      the dynamic and evolutionary history of dengue virus (DENV) in Jakarta, we
      conducted phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of DENV isolated in 2009. Three
      hundred thirty-three dengue-suspected patients were recruited. Our data revealed
      that dengue predominantly affected young adults, and the majority of cases were
      due to secondary infection. A total of 171 virus isolates were successfully
      serotyped. All four DENV serotypes were circulating in the city, and DENV-1 was
      the predominant serotype. The DENV genotyping of 17 isolates revealed the
      presence of Genotypes I and IV in DENV-1, while DENV-2 isolates were grouped into
      the Cosmopolitan genotype. The grouping of isolates into Genotype I and II was
      seen for DENV-3 and DENV-4, respectively. Evolutionary analysis revealed the
      relatedness of Jakarta isolates with other isolates from other cities in
      Indonesia and isolates from imported cases in other countries. We revealed the
      endemicity of DENV and the role of Jakarta as the potential source of imported
      dengue cases in other countries. Our study provides genetic information regarding
      DENV from Jakarta, which will be useful for upstream applications, such as the
      study of DENV epidemiology and evolution and transmission dynamics.

PMID- 28600725
TI  - Tolerability, Safety, and Effectiveness of Oxycodone DETERx in Elderly Patients
      >=65 Years of Age with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - TRIAL DESIGN: This was a phase III, randomized withdrawal, double-blind, placebo
      controlled, enriched enrollment, parallel-group, multicenter study intended to
      demonstrate the safety, tolerability, and analgesic efficacy of oxycodone
      DETERx(r) (XtampzaTM ER) compared with matching placebo. METHODS: This post hoc
      analysis was performed using data from a subpopulation of enrolled patients who
      were >=65 years of age. The study enrolled male and female patients with a
      clinical diagnosis of moderate-to-severe chronic low back pain for a minimum of 6
      months prior to screening who required around-the-clock opioid therapy. To be
      eligible for enrollment, patients were required to have an average 24-h pain
      intensity score of >=5 and <=9 on an 11-point (0-10) Pain Intensity-Numerical
      Rating Scale at the screening visit. The study enrolled both opioid-experienced
      and opioid-naive patients. The study consisted of an open-label titration phase
      followed by a 12-week double-blind maintenance phase. The dose range was 40-160
      mg oxycodone hydrochloride equivalent per day. This post hoc analysis evaluated
      the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of oxycodone DETERx among patients
      >=65 years of age. The effectiveness of oxycodone DETERx was evaluated based on
      average pain intensity scores, Patient Global Impression of Change, responder
      analysis, and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The safety and tolerability of
      oxycodone DETERx were also evaluated. Patients were randomized to either
      oxycodone DETERx or placebo using a blocked randomization scheme in a 1:1 ratio.
      Randomization was stratified by previous opioid use (naive or experienced). The
      study drug was coded in a manner that maintained the blinding. Study personnel
      and patients remained blinded to the assigned treatments throughout the study.
      RESULTS: For this post-hoc analysis, the intent-to-treat and randomized safety
      populations included 52 patients >=65 years old, 26 each in the oxycodone DETERx
      and placebo groups, who participated in the study during the titration phase and
      were randomized to the double-blind maintenance phase. Clinically important pain
      reduction from screening was achieved with oxycodone DETERx, with the median pain
      intensity score decreasing from 7.50 at screening to 2.69 at Week 12. A
      clinically meaningful treatment difference of -0.9 in pain score between
      oxycodone DETERx and placebo was observed. All 18 elderly patients who completed
      the study reported improvement in pain, with 62% showing >=30% improvement and
      54% showing >=50% improvement in pain intensity compared with patients on placebo
      (p = 0.0128 and p = 0.0501, respectively). Patients on oxycodone DETERx remained
      in the study longer than those on placebo. Of the 26 patients >=65 years old
      randomized to continue oxycodone DETERx during the double-blind maintenance
      phase, 18 (69%) completed the study; only two patients (8%) in the oxycodone
      DETERx group discontinued due to adverse events. The safety and tolerability
      profiles showed no new or unexpected safety concerns. The adverse event profiles
      were similar between the titration and double-blind maintenance phases.
      CONCLUSIONS: Oxycodone DETERx was efficacious and generally well tolerated in
      patients >=65 years old. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with
      ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01685684).

PMID- 28600727
TI  - Evaluation of acidity in late Permian outcrop coals and its association with
      endemic fluorosis in the border area of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan in China.
AB  - The junction area of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces is the heaviest coal
      burning endemic fluorosis zones in China. To better understand the pathogenicity
      of endemic fluorosis in this area, 87 coal samples from the late Permian outcrop
      or semi-outcrop coal seams were collected in eight counties of the junction area
      of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces. The total fluorine and sulfate
      content, etc. in the coal was determined using combustion-hydrolysis/fluoride-ion
      selective electrode method and ion chromatography, respectively. The results show
      that the total fluorine concentrations in the samples ranged from 44 to 382 ug g
      1, with an average of 127 ug g-1. The average pH of the coals is 5.03 (1.86
      8.62), and the sulfate content varied from 249 to 64,706 ug g-1 (average 7127 ug
      g-1). In addition, the coals were medium- and high-sulfur coals, with sulfur mass
      fraction ranging from 0.08 to 13.41%. By heating the outcrop coals, HF release
      from the coal was verified quantitatively without exception, while simulated
      combustion directly confirmed the release of sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The acid in
      coal may be in the form of acidic sulfate ([Formula: see text]/H2SO4) because of
      a positive relationship between pH and [Formula: see text] in the acidic coal.
      The possible reaction mechanism would be that a chemical reaction between the
      acid (H2SO4 or [Formula: see text]) and fluorine in the coal occurred, thereby
      producing hydrogen fluoride (HF), which would be the chemical form of fluorine
      released from coal under relatively mild conditions. The unique chemical and
      physical property of HF may bring new insight into the pathogenic mechanism of
      coal-burning endemic fluorosis. The phenomenon of coal-burning fluorosis is not
      limited to the study area, but is common in southwest China and elsewhere.
      Further investigation is needed to determine whether other endemic fluorosis
      areas are affected by this phenomenon.

PMID- 28600726
TI  - The influence of physicochemical parameters on bioaccessibility-adjusted hazard
      quotients for copper, lead and zinc in different grain size fractions of urban
      street dusts and soils.
AB  - When the hazard quotient for ingestion (HQI) of a trace element in soil and dust
      particles is adjusted for the element's bioaccessibility, the HQI is typically
      reduced as compared to its calculation using pseudo-total element concentration.
      However, those studies have mostly used bulk particles (<2 mm or <250 um), and
      the reduction in HQI when expressed as bioaccessible metal may not be similar
      among particle size fractions, the possibility probed by the present study of
      street dusts and soils collected in Tehran. The highest Cu, Pb and Zn near-total
      concentrations occurred in the finest particles of dusts and soils. Bioaccessible
      concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn in the particles (mg kg-1) were obtained using
      simple bioaccessibility extraction test (SBET). The bioaccessibility (%) did not
      vary much among near-total concentrations. In the bulk (<250 um) sample, the
      bioaccessible concentration of Cu and Pb increased as the pH of sample increased,
      while Zn bioaccessibility (%) in the bulk particles was influenced by organic
      matter and cation exchange capacity. X-ray diffraction identified sulfide and
      sulfate minerals in all of the size-fractionated particles, which are insoluble
      to slightly soluble in acidic conditions and included most of the Cu and Pb in
      the samples. The only Zn-bearing mineral identified was hemimorphite, which would
      be highly soluble in the SBET conditions. The calculated HQI suggested potential
      non-carcinogenic health risk to children and adults from ingestions of soils and
      dusts regardless of particle size consideration, in the order of Zn > Pb >= Cu.
      The HQI calculated from near-total metal was not much different for particle size
      classes relative to bulk particles; however, the bioaccessibility percent
      adjusted HQI for Pb was higher for the smaller particles than the bulk. This work
      is novel in its approach to compare HQI for a bulk sample of particles with its
      composite particle size fractions.

PMID- 28600728
TI  - The Critical Role of Notch1-TLR 4 Signaling in the Inflammatory and Fungicidal
      Activity of Macrophages Against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Strain Pb18.
AB  - Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis of deep nature that primarily
      affects the lung and can spread via lymphatic and hematogenous to other organs
      and tissues. It is mainly caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis fungus which
      exhibits thermal dimorphism. The innate immune system mediated by macrophages is
      extremely important for the control of infection and is involved in the induction
      and regulation of immune/inflammatory response. These cells are able to recognize
      pathogens through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as Toll-like
      receptors (TLR). Beyond these PRRs, the importance of Notch signaling has
      recently been demonstrated in the innate immune system and the regulation of
      macrophage activity. Our data demonstrate that the Pb18 strain of P. brasiliensis
      is able to activate the transcription of Notch1 receptor in J774 macrophages.
      Activation of this receptor with also activation of TLR 4 (via LPS) induces IL-6
      production, which favors the pathogenesis. By using a gamma-secretase
      pharmacological inhibitor (DAPT) for inhibiting the activation of Notch1 receptor
      on macrophages, it is possible to observe the decreased fungal burden, less
      production of IL-6, and increased TNF-alpha and phagocytosis. Taken together,
      these results showed that Pb18 is able to induce the transcription of Notch1
      receptor on macrophages and may provide a new immunity study approach in
      experimental paracoccidioidomycosis.

PMID- 28600729
TI  - Gradual remodelling of the vertebrobasilar circulation with reconstructive
      treatment of a symptomatic fusiform basilar artery aneurysm.

PMID- 28600730
TI  - Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and Immediate Breast Reconstruction in High
      Risk Women: The Importance of Health-Related Quality of Life in Decision Making.

PMID- 28600731
TI  - Lack of Efficacy of Radioiodine Remnant Ablation for Papillary Thyroid
      Microcarcinoma: Verification Using Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most of the increase in thyroid cancer in recent decades has been due
      to papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). We evaluated the efficacy of
      radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) in patients with PTMC. METHODS: This
      historical cohort study included 1932 PTMC patients without lateral cervical
      lymph node (LN) or distant metastasis who underwent total thyroidectomy (TT)
      during the median 8.3 years of follow-up. The clinical outcomes of patients with
      or without RRA were compared using weighted logistic regression models with the
      inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method and considering risk
      factors, including age, sex, primary tumor size, extrathyroidal extension,
      multifocality, and central cervical LN metastasis. RESULTS: The median primary
      tumor size of the RRA group was significantly larger than that of the no-RRA
      group (0.7 vs. 0.5 cm, P < 0.001). There were significantly more patients with
      multifocality, extrathyroidal extension, and cervical LN metastasis in the RRA
      group compared with the no-RRA group. There was no significant difference in
      recurrence-free survival between the two groups (P = 0.11). Cox proportional
      hazard analysis with IPTW by adjusting for clinicopathological risk factors
      demonstrated no significant difference in recurrence of PTMC according to RRA
      treatment (hazard ratio [HR] 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65-6.25; P =
      0.2). CONCLUSIONS: RRA had no therapeutic effect on the clinical outcomes of
      patients with PTMC who underwent TT. Surgical treatment without RRA could be
      applicable for patients with PTMC if there is no evidence of lateral cervical LN
      metastasis or distant metastasis.

PMID- 28600732
TI  - Time to Initiation of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Pancreas Cancer: A Multi
      Institutional Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite randomized trials addressing adjuvant therapy (AT) for
      pancreas cancer, the ideal time to initiate therapy remains undefined.
      Retrospective analyses of the ESPAC-3 trial demonstrated that time to initiation
      of AT did not impact overall survival (OS). Given the absence of confirmatory
      data outside of a clinical trial, we sought to determine if AT timing in routine
      clinical practice is associated with OS differences. METHODS: Perioperative data
      of pancreatectomies for ductal adenocarcinoma from five institutions (2005-2015)
      were assessed. Delay in AT was defined as initiation >12 weeks after surgery.
      Multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of mortality. RESULTS:
      Of 867 patients, 172 (19.8%) experienced omission of AT. Improved OS was observed
      in patients who received AT compared with patients who did not (24.8 vs. 19.1
      months, p < 0.01). Information on time to initiation of AT was available in 488
      patients, of whom 407 (83.4%) and 81 (16.6%) received chemotherapy <=12 and >12
      weeks after surgery, respectively. There were no differences in recurrence-free
      survival or OS (all p > 0.05) between the timely and delayed AT groups. After
      controlling for perioperative characteristics and tumor pathology, patients who
      initiated AT <= 12 or > 12 weeks after surgery had a 50% lower odds of mortality
      than patients who only underwent resection (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In a multi
      institutional experience of resected pancreas cancer, delayed initiation of AT
      was not associated with poorer survival. Patients who do not receive AT within 12
      weeks after surgery are still appropriate candidates for multimodal therapy and
      its associated survival benefit.

PMID- 28600733
TI  - Phytoceramide ameliorates beta-amyloid protein-induced memory impairment and
      neuronal death in mice.
AB  - The present study was performed to investigate the protective effect of
      phytoceramide against beta-amyloid protein (Abeta) (25-35)-induced memory
      impairment and its underlying mechanisms in mice. Memory impairment in mice was
      induced by intracerebroventricular injection of 15 nmol Abeta (25-35) and
      measured by the passive avoidance test and Morris water maze test. Chronic
      administration of phytoceramide (10, 25 and 50 mg/kg, p.o.) resulted in
      significantly less Abeta (25-35)-induced memory loss and hippocampal neuronal
      death in treated mice compared to controls. The decrease of glutathione level and
      increase of lipid peroxidation in brain tissue following injection of Abeta (25
      35) was reduced by phytoceramide. Alteration of apoptosis-related proteins,
      increase of inflammatory factors, and phosphorylation of mitogen activated
      proteins kinases (MAPKs) in Abeta (25-35)-administered mice hippocampus were
      inhibited by phytoceramide. Phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and
      phosphorylation of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) were
      suppressed, while phosphorylation of tau (p-tau) was increased in Abeta (25-35)
      treated mice brain; these effects were significantly inhibited by administration
      of phytoceramide. These results suggest that phytoceramide has a possible
      therapeutic role in managing cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's
      disease. The underlying mechanism might involve inhibition of p-tau formation via
      anti-apoptosis and anti-inflammation activity and promotion of PI3K/Akt/CREB
      signaling process.

PMID- 28600735
TI  - An adolescent boy progressing insidiously to end-stage renal disease: Questions.
AB  - Hinman syndrome (HS), or non-neurogenic neurogenic bladder, is a voiding
      dysfunction of the bladder of neuropsychological origin that is characterized by
      functional bladder outlet obstruction in the absence of neurologic deficits. The
      bladder-sphincter discoordination causes damage to the bladder and upper urinary
      tract if it is not timely diagnosed and adequately treated. This case emphasizes
      the following important message; nighttime wetting is not a benign condition in
      every child. Parental awareness should be raised about voiding disorders, so it
      may be possible to prevent some important renal diseases such as Hinman syndrome.

PMID- 28600734
TI  - Effects of varenicline on alcohol cue reactivity in heavy drinkers.
AB  - RATIONALE: Clinical trials and human laboratory studies have established that
      varenicline can reduce rates of alcohol use among heavy drinkers. Less is known
      about the mechanisms by which varenicline has this effect on drinking behavior.
      Reactivity to alcohol cues is often cited as the primary cause of relapse among
      those being treated for alcohol use disorder, and several front-line treatments
      for alcohol use disorder work, at least in part, by minimizing cue-induced
      alcohol craving. OBJECTIVE: The current double-blind, placebo-controlled human
      laboratory study tested the effects of varenicline on alcohol cue reactivity in a
      group of heavy-drinking adult smokers and nonsmokers. METHODS: As part of a
      larger series of sequential human laboratory experiments testing the effects of
      varenicline on drinking outcomes, participants were assigned (between
      participant) to receive either active varenicline (2 mg/day) or placebo.
      Following a titration period, participants (n = 77) attended a laboratory session
      during which they were exposed to alcohol and neutral cues using a standard cue
      reactivity paradigm. RESULTS: Alcohol cue exposure increased craving for alcohol
      in both medication groups. However, participants receiving varenicline showed a
      smaller increase in alcohol craving compared to participants receiving placebo.
      The medication effect did not differ between smokers and nonsmokers. Among
      smokers, alcohol cue exposure also increased tobacco craving. Varenicline did not
      attenuate this effect. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the use of varenicline for
      reducing alcohol use in heavy drinkers and identify a potential mechanism by
      which varenicline reduces drinking. Varenicline continues to show promise as a
      pharmacological treatment for alcohol use disorder.

PMID- 28600736
TI  - Blood pressure management in children on dialysis.
AB  - Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular complications in children on
      dialysis. Volume overload and activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone
      system play a major role in the pathophysiology of hypertension. The first step
      in managing blood pressure (BP) is the careful assessment of ambulatory BP
      monitoring. Volume control is essential and should start with the accurate
      identification of dry weight, based on a comprehensive assessment, including
      bioimpedance analysis and intradialytic blood volume monitoring (BVM). Reduction
      of interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) is critical, as higher IDWG is associated
      with a worse left ventricular mass index and poorer BP control: it can be
      obtained by means of salt restriction, reduced fluid intake, and optimized sodium
      removal in dialysis. Optimization of peritoneal dialysis and intensified
      hemodialysis or hemodiafiltration have been shown to improve both fluid and
      sodium management, leading to better BP levels. Studies comparing different
      antihypertensive agents in children are lacking. The pharmacokinetic properties
      of each drug should be considered. At present, BP control remains suboptimal in
      many patients and efforts are needed to improve the long-term outcomes of
      children on dialysis.

PMID- 28600737
TI  - Extendable supervised dictionary learning for exploring diverse and concurrent
      brain activities in task-based fMRI.
AB  - Recently, a growing body of studies have demonstrated the simultaneous existence
      of diverse brain activities, e.g., task-evoked dominant response activities,
      delayed response activities and intrinsic brain activities, under specific task
      conditions. However, current dominant task-based functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (tfMRI) analysis approach, i.e., the general linear model (GLM), might
      have difficulty in discovering those diverse and concurrent brain responses
      sufficiently. This subtraction-based model-driven approach focuses on the brain
      activities evoked directly from the task paradigm, thus likely overlooks other
      possible concurrent brain activities evoked during the information processing. To
      deal with this problem, in this paper, we propose a novel hybrid framework,
      called extendable supervised dictionary learning (E-SDL), to explore diverse and
      concurrent brain activities under task conditions. A critical difference between
      E-SDL framework and previous methods is that we systematically extend the basic
      task paradigm regressor into meaningful regressor groups to account for possible
      regressor variation during the information processing procedure in the brain.
      Applications of the proposed framework on five independent and publicly available
      tfMRI datasets from human connectome project (HCP) simultaneously revealed more
      meaningful group-wise consistent task-evoked networks and common intrinsic
      connectivity networks (ICNs). These results demonstrate the advantage of the
      proposed framework in identifying the diversity of concurrent brain activities in
      tfMRI datasets.

PMID- 28600738
TI  - Functional brain networks reconstruction using group sparsity-regularized
      learning.
AB  - Investigating functional brain networks and patterns using sparse representation
      of fMRI data has received significant interests in the neuroimaging community. It
      has been reported that sparse representation is effective in reconstructing
      concurrent and interactive functional brain networks. To date, most of data
      driven network reconstruction approaches rarely take consideration of anatomical
      structures, which are the substrate of brain function. Furthermore, it has been
      rarely explored whether structured sparse representation with anatomical guidance
      could facilitate functional networks reconstruction. To address this problem, in
      this paper, we propose to reconstruct brain networks utilizing the structure
      guided group sparse regression (S2GSR) in which 116 anatomical regions from the
      AAL template, as prior knowledge, are employed to guide the network
      reconstruction when performing sparse representation of whole-brain fMRI data.
      Specifically, we extract fMRI signals from standard space aligned with the AAL
      template. Then by learning a global over-complete dictionary, with the learned
      dictionary as a set of features (regressors), the group structured regression
      employs anatomical structures as group information to regress whole brain
      signals. Finally, the decomposition coefficients matrix is mapped back to the
      brain volume to represent functional brain networks and patterns. We use the
      publicly available Human Connectome Project (HCP) Q1 dataset as the test bed, and
      the experimental results indicate that the proposed anatomically guided structure
      sparse representation is effective in reconstructing concurrent functional brain
      networks.

PMID- 28600740
TI  - Functional reorganization during cognitive function tasks in patients with
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Cognitive deficits, especially in the domains of social cognition and executive
      function including verbal fluency, are common in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
      (ALS) patients. There is yet sparse understanding of pathogenesis of the
      underlying, possibly adaptive, cortical patterns. To address this issue, 65
      patients with ALS and 33 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls
      were tested on cognitive and behavioral deficits with the Edinburgh Cognitive and
      Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging
      (fMRI), cortical activity during social cognition and executive function tasks
      (theory of mind, verbal fluency, alternation) adapted from the ECAS was
      determined in a 3 Tesla scanner. Compared to healthy controls, ALS patients
      performed worse in the ECAS overall (p < 0.001) and in all of its subdomains (p <
      0.02), except memory. Imaging revealed altered cortical activation during all
      tasks, with patients consistently showing a hyperactivation in relevant brain
      areas compared to healthy controls. Additionally, cognitively high performing ALS
      patients consistently exhibited more activation in frontal brain areas than low
      performing patients and behaviorally unimpaired patients presented with more
      neuronal activity in orbitofrontal areas than behaviorally impaired patients. In
      conclusion, hyperactivation in fMRI cognitive tasks seems to represent an early
      adaptive process to overcome neuronal cell loss in relevant brain areas. The
      hereby presented cortical pattern change might suggest that, once this loss
      passes a critical threshold and no cortical buffering is possible, clinical
      representation of cognitive and behavioral impairment evolves. Future studies
      might shed light on the pattern of cortical pattern change in the course of ALS.

PMID- 28600739
TI  - Association of longitudinal white matter degeneration and cerebrospinal fluid
      biomarkers of neurodegeneration, inflammation and Alzheimer's disease in late
      middle-aged adults.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by substantial neurodegeneration,
      including both cortical atrophy and loss of underlying white matter fiber tracts.
      Understanding longitudinal alterations to white matter may provide new insights
      into trajectories of brain change in both healthy aging and AD, and fluid
      biomarkers may be particularly useful in this effort. To examine this, 151 late
      middle-aged participants enriched with risk for AD with at least one lumbar
      puncture and two diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans were selected for analysis
      from two large observational and longitudinally followed cohorts. Cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) was assayed for biomarkers of AD-specific pathology (phosphorylated
      tau/Abeta42 ratio), axonal degeneration (neurofilament light chain protein, NFL),
      dendritic degeneration (neurogranin), and inflammation (chitinase-3-like protein
      1, YKL-40). Linear mixed effects models were performed to test the hypothesis
      that biomarkers for AD, neurodegeneration, and inflammation, or two-year change
      in those biomarkers, would be associated with worse white matter health overall
      and/or progressively worsening white matter health over time. At baseline in the
      cingulum, phosphorylated-tau/Abeta42 was associated with higher mean diffusivity
      (MD) overall (intercept) and YKL-40 was associated with increases in MD over
      time. Two-year change in neurogranin was associated with higher mean diffusivity
      and lower fractional anisotropy overall (intercepts) across white matter in the
      entire brain and in the cingulum. These findings suggest that biomarkers for AD,
      neurodegeneration, and inflammation are potentially important indicators of
      declining white matter health in a cognitively healthy, late-middle-aged cohort.

PMID- 28600741
TI  - Erratum to: The relationship between dorsolateral prefrontal activation and
      speech performance-based social anxiety using functional near infrared
      spectroscopy.

PMID- 28600742
TI  - Does ventrolateral prefrontal cortex help in searching for the lost key? Evidence
      from an fNIRS study.
AB  - The Key Search Task (KST) is a neuropsychological test that requires strategies
      for searching a lost key in an imaginary field. This request may involve
      different cognitive processes as mental imagery and navigation planning. This
      study was aimed at investigating, by a twenty-channel functional near-infrared
      spectroscopy (fNIRS) system, the hemodynamic response (i.e., oxygenated
      hemoglobin (O2Hb) and deoxygenated-hemoglobin (HHb) changes) of the prefrontal
      cortex in navigation planning. A right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC)
      activation during the KST was hypothesized. Thirty-eight volunteers performed the
      KST and a Control Task (CT), the latter requiring the volunteers to mark the X
      letter. An activation (i.e., increase/decrease in O2Hb/HHb) of: 1) rVLPFC during
      the KST execution, and 2) bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during
      the CT execution was found. The present study provides a contribution in
      localizing the rVLPFC as the critically active region, within the frontal lobes,
      that was found maximally activated during mental navigation in the mind's eye of
      healthy participants while performing the KST. Considering the contribution of
      rVLPFC in spatial navigation, its activation suggests that the KST could be
      adopted in the clinical routine for investigating navigation planning. Compared
      to other neuroimaging techniques, fNIRS (with its relatively low physical
      constraints) contributes to better clarifying the role of rVLPFC in some aspects
      of human navigation. Therefore, the combined use of the fNIRS and the KST could
      be considered as an innovative and valid tool to evaluate fundamental functions
      for everyday life, such as spatial navigation planning.

PMID- 28600743
TI  - [Ataxias and hereditary spastic paraplegias].
AB  - Hereditary ataxias and spastic paraplegias are genetic disorders with age
      dependent nearly complete penetrance. The mostly monogenetic etiology allows one
      to establish the diagnosis, study pathogenesis and to develop new causative
      therapeutic approaches for these diseases. Both the causative genes as well as
      the clinical presentation overlap considerably between hereditary ataxias and
      spastic paraplegias. This strongly argues towards a united classification for
      these two groups of diseases. Next generation sequencing technologies have
      greatly expanded the number of genes known to be causative for hereditary ataxias
      and spastic paraplegias and allow simultaneous time- and cost-effective
      diagnostic testing of > 200 genes. However, repeat expansions and large genomic
      deletions must be considered separately. Here, we suggest a pragmatic algorithm
      for genetic testing in hereditary ataxias and spastic paraplegias that we have
      developed in our specialized outpatient clinics. Detailed phenotyping remains
      crucial to interpret the multitude of genetic variants discovered by high
      throughput sequencing techniques. Despite recent technical advances, a
      substantial proportion of ataxia and spastic paraplegia families are still
      without a molecular diagnosis. Beside new and so far undetected ataxia and
      spasticity genes, unusual mutation types including noncoding variants and
      polygenic inheritance patterns may contribute. Because of these clinical,
      genetic, and technological challenges, patients with hereditary ataxias and
      spastic paraplegias should be referred to specialized centers offering research
      and clinical studies. This will also help to recruit representative patient
      cohorts for upcoming interventional trials.

PMID- 28600744
TI  - Interleukin-17A Plays the Same Role on Mice Acute Lung Injury Respectively
      Induced by Lipopolysaccharide and Paraquat.
AB  - Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is involved in multiple inflammatory diseases. Our study
      was to investigate the role of IL-17A on acute lung injury (ALI) respectively
      induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and paraquat (PQ) on mice. We built ALI mouse
      models respectively by single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection with LPS or single
      gavage with PQ liquid. Two hours after the models were established, a dosage of
      neutralizing antibody was used to blockade IL-17A by i.p. injection. At 8, 24,
      and 48 h, the lung wet-to-dry ratio (W/D) was calculated and total protein in
      bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was measured; hematoxylin-eosin staining was
      used to observe lung tissue pathological changes; inflammatory cells in BALF were
      recorded with a hemocytometer; cytokines were measured with enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay kits; immunohistochemistry examined the expression of IL-17A
      and activation of nuclear factor-kappaB p65 (NF-kappaB p65); and qPCR determined
      the expression of IL-17A mRNA. After being administered with LPS or PQ, all mice
      presented ALI pathological change; expression of IL-17A increased significantly.
      When blocking IL-17A with antibody, lung injury in both LPS- and PQ-administrated
      mice was attenuated. All the above tests decreased. Compared with those in PQ
      mice, IL-17A levels in LPS mice were higher. IL-17A involves the ALI induced by
      LPS or PQ and promotes the pathological process by activating NF-kappaB P65 and
      recruiting neutrophils, which enlarges the cascade effect of inflammation and
      injures lung tissues. And when blockading IL-17A with antibody, the ALI is
      alleviated. The reaction of IL-17A in the ALI induced by LPS is stronger than
      that by PQ.

PMID- 28600746
TI  - Dopamine induces inhibitory effects on the circular muscle contractility of mouse
      distal colon via D1- and D2-like receptors.
AB  - Dopamine (DA) acts as gut motility modulator, via D1- and D2-like receptors, but
      its effective role is far from being clear. Since alterations of the dopaminergic
      system could lead to gastrointestinal dysfunctions, a characterization of the
      enteric dopaminergic system is mandatory. In this study, we investigated the role
      of DA and D1- and D2-like receptors in the contractility of the circular muscle
      of mouse distal colon by organ-bath technique. DA caused relaxation in carbachol
      precontracted circular muscle strips, sensitive to domperidone, D2-like receptor
      antagonist, and mimicked by bromocriptine, D2-like receptor agonist. 7-Chloro-8
      hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrochloride (SCH
      23390), D1-like receptor antagonist, neural toxins, L-NAME (nitric oxide (NO)
      synthase inhibitor), 2'-deoxy-N6-methyl adenosine 3',5'-diphosphate diammonium
      salt (MRS 2179), purinergic P2Y1 antagonist, or adrenergic antagonists were
      ineffective. DA also reduced the amplitude of neurally evoked cholinergic
      contractions. The effect was mimicked by (+/-)-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-(1H)-3
      benzazepine-7,8-diol hydrobromide (SKF-38393), D1-like receptor agonist and
      antagonized by SCH-23390, MRS 2179, or L-NAME. Western blotting analysis
      determined the expression of DA receptor proteins in mouse distal colon. Notably,
      SCH-23390 per se induced an increase in amplitude of spontaneous and neurally
      evoked cholinergic contractions, unaffected by neural blockers, L-NAME, MRS 2179,
      muscarinic, adrenergic, or D2-like receptor antagonists. Indeed, SCH-23390
      induced effects were antagonized by an adenylyl cyclase blocker. In conclusion,
      DA inhibits colonic motility in mice via D2- and D1-like receptors, the latter
      reducing acetylcholine release from enteric neurons, involving nitrergic and
      purinergic systems. Whether constitutively active D1-like receptors, linked to
      adenylyl cyclase pathway, are involved in a tonic inhibitory control of colonic
      contractility is questioned.

PMID- 28600745
TI  - Safety and effectiveness of gold glaucoma micro shunt for reducing intraocular
      pressure in Japanese patients with open angle glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the safety and effectiveness of the SOLX gold shunt (GS) in
      reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) in Japanese patients with open angle glaucoma
      (OAG). METHODS: 24 eyes of 24 subjects [mean age of 68.9 +/- 12.7 years; 13 (54%)
      women; 16 (67%) POAG, 7 (29%) pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, and 1 (4%) steroid
      response glaucoma] were implanted with the GS either with or without cataract
      surgery. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), IOP, corneal endothelial cell
      density (CECD), anterior chamber (AC) flare, surgical complications, and required
      interventions were monitored at baseline, and 1 day, 1 week, 1, 3 and 6 months,
      and 1 year postoperatively. RESULTS: Baseline IOP of 21.3 +/- 4.1 mmHg and
      glaucoma medications of 3.5 +/- 1.0 were significantly reduced at every follow-up
      visit. At 1 year postoperatively, IOP was 16.4 +/- 5.8 mmHg (23% reduction from
      baseline, p < 0.0001) with use of 2.1 +/- 1.1 medications (40% reduction from
      baseline, p = 0.0002). Intraoperative hyphema occurred in 5 (21%) eyes. Transient
      bleb formation occurred in 20 (83%) eyes, and AC cell was reported in 17 (71%)
      eyes. Inflammation-related complications such as posterior and anterior
      synechiae, or iritis/keratic precipitates tended to occur during late
      postoperative periods. At 1 year, BCVA was unchanged or improved in 23 (96%)
      eyes. AC flare was elevated at 1 week postoperatively and later. CECD declined at
      3 months and 1 year postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: The GS is effective in reducing
      IOP in Japanese patients with OAG. Chronic inflammation in AC might be associated
      with late onset complications.

PMID- 28600747
TI  - Sodium butyrate protects against oxidative stress in HepG2 cells through
      modulating Nrf2 pathway and mitochondrial function.
AB  - Sodium butyrate (NaBu) is a by-product of microbial fermentation of dietary fiber
      in the gastrointestinal tract and has been shown to increase the activity of
      antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase or heme oxidase-1, in vivo. However, the
      mechanism of this effect is still unclear. This study investigated the
      antioxidant effect of NaBu on HepG2 cells under H2O2-induced oxidative stress.
      NaBu (0.3 mM) attenuated cell death and accumulation of reactive oxygen species
      and improved multiple antioxidant parameters in H2O2-injured HepG2 cells. NaBu
      inhibited glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3beta) by increasing the p-GSK
      3beta (Ser9) level and promoted nuclear translocation of nuclear factor erythroid
      2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which increased the expression of downstream
      antioxidant enzymes. Together with promotion of peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha and mitochondrial DNA copy number, NaBu
      modulated energy metabolism and mitochondrial function, decreasing glycolysis,
      increasing beta-oxidation, and enhancing the tricarboxylic acid cycle and
      oxidative phosphorylation. NaBu increased mitochondrial manganese-superoxide
      dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity. In conclusion, NaBu protected
      HepG2 cells against oxidative stress by modulating Nrf2 pathway activity and
      mitochondrial function.

PMID- 28600749
TI  - Correlates of Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Use among Men Who Have Sex with Men
      (MSM) in Los Angeles, California.
AB  - We assessed socio-structural and behavioral correlates of preexposure prophylaxis
      (PrEP) for HIV infection among a sample of high-risk HIV-negative men who have
      sex with men (MSM) in Los Angeles, California. Participants from an ongoing 5
      year prospective cohort study investigating the direct impacts of substance use
      on HIV transmission dynamics were enrolled between February 2015 and January
      2017. All men completed a computer-assisted self-interview every 6 months that
      assessed recent (past 6 months) PrEP use and socio-structural and behavioral
      factors. Of the total 185 MSM (mean age = 29 years) included in the study,
      majority were African American (40%) or Hispanic (41%) and reported current
      health insurance coverage (80%). In multivariable analysis using log-binomial
      regression, having health insurance coverage [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)
      2.02; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 to 4.01, p = 0.04] was associated with
      recent PrEP use. Unstable housing (aPR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.90, p = 0.02) was
      associated with lower PrEP use. Behavioral factors associated with recent PrEP
      use include sex with a HIV-positive partner (aPR = 3.63, 95% CI 1.45 to 9.10, p =
      0.01), having six or more sex partners (aPR = 2.20, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.82, p =
      <0.01), and popper use (aPR = 2.76, 95% CI 1.58 to 4.84, p = <0.01). In this
      sample of predominantly racial/ethnic minority MSM, socio-structural and
      behavioral factors were important factors associated with recent PrEP use. These
      findings provide considerations for intervention development to promote PrEP use
      among key groups of MSM.

PMID- 28600748
TI  - Teacher respiratory health symptoms in relation to school and home environment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Few studies have evaluated teachers' respiratory health, especially its
      relationship with school/home environment, and school policies. This study
      assessed asthma and smoking prevalence among teachers in Romania, teacher's
      perception and knowledge of the school environment, policies and asthma
      management, and how school and home environment affected asthma, allergy, and
      respiratory infection symptoms. METHODS: This cross-sectional study obtained
      information from 104 Romanian teachers utilizing teacher questionnaire data for
      Romania only, as part of the Schools Indoor Pollution and Health: Observatory
      Network in Europe (SINPHONIE) study, a multicenter European research project
      conducted between 2010 and 2012. The SINPHONIE questionnaire collected
      comprehensive information on school and home environment, respiratory symptoms,
      smoking, and school policies. We used unconditional logistic regression analysis
      to examine environment-outcome relationships while controlling for socio
      demographics and co-exposures. RESULTS: Our results showed the prevalence of
      asthma-like symptoms and smoking among teachers in Romania was higher than in
      other SINPHONIE schools and among US teachers. Factors statistically associated
      with asthma, allergy, and respiratory infection (all p < 0.05) include perception
      of health related to poor air quality in school, inappropriate cleaning of
      ventilation systems, dwelling proximity to busy traffic, and multiple school/home
      exposures. We also found lack of asthma management and environmental policies in
      the investigated Romanian schools. CONCLUSION: We concluded that multiple school
      and home environmental factors were related to respiratory and allergic symptoms.
      High asthma burden and smoking are important public health problems in Romania.
      Future studies including larger sample size and exposure measurements are needed
      to confirm our findings.

PMID- 28600750
TI  - Intra-operative hemorrhage due to hyperperfusion during direct revascularization
      surgery in an adult patient with moyamoya disease: a case report.
AB  - Hemorrhagic complication is one of the notable surgical complications of the
      revascularization surgery for moyamoya disease (MMD). Cerebral hyperperfusion
      (CHP) has been considered as the underlying cause of this complication. It mostly
      occurs several days after surgery, but the intra-operative hemorrhage immediately
      after bypass has not been reported previously. A 21-year-old woman presented
      right thalamic hemorrhage and was diagnosed as having MMD by cerebral
      angiography. In light of the location of the hemorrhage at the vascular territory
      of posterior circulation and the manifestation of transient ischemic attack
      during the follow-up period, she underwent revascularization surgery to prevent
      future ischemic attack and rebleeding. Superficial temporal artery (STA) was
      uneventfully anastomosed to the temporal M4 branch of the middle cerebral artery
      in an end-to-side manner. A few minutes after the completion of the anastomosis,
      hemorrhage occurred in the fissure adjacent to the site of anastomosis.
      Indocyanine green (ICG) video angiography just before hemorrhage showed focal
      early filling through the STA graft with early venous filling around the site of
      the anastomosis. The bleeding was controlled by immediate hypotensive therapy
      (systolic blood pressure 117 to 91 mmHg). The mean blood flows of the STA graft
      measured by ultrasonic flowmetry before and after hypotensive therapy were 52.8
      and 24.2 ml/min, respectively. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
      on the next day after surgery showed focal hyperperfusion in the surgical side.
      Intra-operative ultrasonic flowmetry, ICG, and postoperative SPECT would explain
      that CHP was the potential cause of the hemorrhagic complication. This is the
      first case describing intra-operative hemorrhagic complication during
      revascularization surgery for MMD. Surgeons need to be aware of this rare
      complication and its management method.

PMID- 28600751
TI  - Central and Peripheral Nervous System Disorders Following Ivermectin Mass
      Administration: A Descriptive Study Based on the Democratic Republic of Congo
      Pharmacovigilance System.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The mainstay of onchocerciasis control currently is mass
      administration of ivermectin; however, this may be associated with serious
      adverse events, including deaths, when administered in areas where onchocerciasis
      and loiasis are co-endemic. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the current study was to
      describe the central and peripheral nervous system disorders that occurred after
      mass administration of ivermectin in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). METHODS:
      This is a retrospective descriptive study involving a review of data on adverse
      events related to mass administration of ivermectin. Data on reported serious
      adverse events following mass administration of ivermectin in the DRC were
      extracted from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global individual case safety
      report (ICSR) database (VigiBase). The review covered the period 2009-2013 and
      focused on central and peripheral nervous system disorders. Relevant demographic,
      clinical, and parasitological data, including age, sex, area of residence,
      adverse events, and parasite density were extracted. Descriptive statistics were
      analyzed using Stata 12. RESULTS: A total of 52 ICSRs related to ivermectin
      intake were available in VigiBase, with 51 (98.1%) from the Province of Equateur.
      All patients had central and peripheral nervous system disorders; 25 (48.1%) had
      altered mental status. Of these, 23 (92.0%) satisfied the criteria for
      "probable/possible Loa loa encephalopathy temporally related to mectizan(r)"
      (PLERM). The most frequent nervous system disorders among patients with PLERM
      were coma (74%), stupor (30%), headache (22%), and abnormal gait (22%). There
      were, on average, 2149.1 microfilariae per ml (mf/ml) in peripheral blood [95%
      confidence interval (CI) 463.6-3834.6; n = 23]. Post-treatment, 61% of PLERM
      cases had <1000 L. loa mf/ml of blood. One patient had microfilariae in the
      cerebrospinal fluid rather than the peripheral blood. We found 21.4% co-infection
      with Plasmodium falciparum and 4% mortality. CONCLUSION: PLERM may occur at even
      low peripheral blood concentrations of microfilaria.

PMID- 28600752
TI  - Rapamycin Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Suppressing
      the mTOR-STAT3 Pathway.
AB  - Rapamycin is a new immunosuppressant that has a primarily anti-inflammatory
      effect and selectively inhibits the activation of T helper (Th)-cell subsets. It
      is widely used to treat autoimmune disease. We studied the mechanism of rapamycin
      action against experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in C57BL/6 mice, a
      classic animal model of multiple sclerosis. Rapamycin significantly inhibited the
      development of EAE by decreasing both clinical scores and inflammatory cell
      infiltration into the spinal cord. Furthermore, rapamycin reversed EAE symptoms
      in mice showing the initial signs of paralysis. Rapamycin, is a mammalian target
      of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor. By measuring the downstream markers phospho-mTOR
      (p-mTOR)/mTOR and phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p
      STAT3)/STAT3, we showed that rapamycin suppressed the mTOR-STAT3 pathway in EAE
      mice. The mTOR-STAT3 signaling pathway is important for Th1 and Th17 cell
      responses. We found that rapamycin-treated mice had reduced proportions of Th1
      and Th17 cells, as well as lower mRNA expression for the transcription factors T
      bet and RoRgammat in EAE mouse splenocytes. To evaluate Th1 and Th17 cell
      function, we examined expression of their specific cytokines in the peripheral
      immune system and central nervous system. Rapamycin treatment reduced protein and
      mRNA levels of interferon (IFN)-gammaand interleukin (IL)-17 in splenocytes, and
      reduced IFN-gamma and IL-17 mRNA levels in the spinal cords of EAE mice. These
      findings suggest that rapamycin treatment inhibits the mTOR-STAT3 pathway in EAE
      mice, thereby promoting immunosuppression. This study may provide new insight
      into the mechanism controlling rapamycin effects in multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 28600753
TI  - Involving Medical Students in Providing Patient Education for Real Patients: A
      Scoping Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that involving students in patient education can
      contribute to the quality of care and medical education. Interventions and
      outcomes in this field, however, have not yet been systematically reviewed. The
      authors examined the scientific literature for studies on interventions and
      outcomes of student-provided patient education. METHODS: Four databases (MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, ERIC, PsycINFO) were searched for studies reporting patient education,
      undergraduate medical students, and outcomes of patient education, published
      between January 1990 and October 2015. Facilitators of and barriers to
      educational interventions were assessed using the Learning Transfer System
      Inventory. The learning yield, impact on quality of care, and practical
      feasibility of the interventions were rated by patients, care professionals,
      researchers, and education professionals. RESULTS: The search resulted in 4991
      hits. Eighteen studies were included in the final synthesis. Studies suggested
      that student-provided patient education improved patients' health knowledge,
      attitude, and behavior (nine studies), disease management (three studies),
      medication adherence (one study), and shared decision-making (one study). In
      addition, involving students in patient education was reported to enhance
      students' patient education self-efficacy (four studies), skills (two studies),
      and behavior (one study), their relationships with patients (two studies), and
      communication skills (two studies). DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that student
      provided patient education-specifically, student-run patient education clinics,
      student-provided outreach programs, student health coaching, and clerkships on
      patient education-has the potential to improve quality of care and medical
      education. To enhance the learning effectiveness and quality of student-provided
      patient education, factors including professional roles for students, training
      preparation, constructive supervision, peer support on organizational and
      individual levels, and learning aids should be taken into account. Future
      research should focus on further investigating the effects found in this study
      with high-level evidence.

PMID- 28600754
TI  - Substance Use Disorder Treatment Following Clinician-Initiated Discontinuation of
      Long-Term Opioid Therapy Resulting from an Aberrant Urine Drug Test.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is
      offered to, or utilized by, patients who are discontinued from long-term opioid
      therapy (LTOT) following aberrant urine drug tests (UDTs). OBJECTIVE: To describe
      the proportion of patients who were referred to, and engaged in, SUD treatment
      following LTOT discontinuation and to examine differences in SUD treatment
      referral and engagement based on the substances that led to discontinuation.
      DESIGN: From a sample of 600 patients selected from a national cohort of Veterans
      Health Administration patients who were discontinued from LTOT, we used manual
      chart review to identify 169 patients who were discontinued because of a UDT that
      was positive for alcohol, cannabis, or other illicit or non-prescribed controlled
      substances. MAIN MEASURES: We extracted sociodemographic, clinical, and health
      care utilization data from patients' electronic medical records. KEY RESULTS:
      Forty-three percent of patients (n = 73) received an SUD treatment referral
      following LTOT discontinuation and 20% (n = 34) engaged in a new episode of SUD
      treatment in the year following discontinuation. Logistic regression models
      controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables demonstrated that
      patients who tested positive for cannabis were less likely than patients who
      tested positive for non-cannabis substances to receive referrals for SUD
      treatment (aOR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.23-0.84, p = 0.01) or engage in SUD treatment
      (aOR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.19-0.94, p = 0.04). Conversely, those who tested positive
      for cocaine were more likely to receive an SUD treatment referral (aOR = 3.32,
      95% CI = 1.57-7.06, p = 0.002) and engage in SUD treatment (aOR = 2.44, 95% CI =
      1.00-5.96, p = 0.05) compared to those who did not have a cocaine-positive UDT.
      CONCLUSIONS: There may be substance-specific differences in clinician referrals
      to, and patient engagement in, SUD treatment. This suggests a need for more
      standardized implementation of clinical guidelines that recommend SUD care, when
      appropriate, following LTOT discontinuation.

PMID- 28600755
TI  - A Review of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: The Female Perspective.
AB  - When taken consistently, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with once daily tenofovir disoproxil fumarate
      emtricitabine (TDF-FTC) has been shown to safely reduce the incidence of HIV
      infection in high-risk individuals by more than 90%. Yet, according to the
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were about 2.1 million new
      cases of HIV reported worldwide in 2015. Undoubtedly, there is significant room
      for improvement to prevent the transmission of HIV. Research to date has been
      heavily focused on the high-risk men who have sex with men (MSM) population, yet,
      many women worldwide remain at high risk of HIV transmission. PrEP offers women a
      protection method that is discrete, does not require partner consent, and may be
      compatible with both contraception or conception as desired. However, women often
      remain under-represented in HIV prevention literature and are reported to have
      lower real-world uptake in comparison to men. Furthermore, clinical trials that
      do focus on the female population demonstrate mixed efficacy results that
      highlight the adherence challenges in this population. It is essential to
      identify factors that contribute to PrEP non-adherence as well as barriers to
      preventative treatment. This review will discuss the clinical evidence behind
      PrEP in women, current barriers to use afflicting this population,
      pharmacotherapy considerations for the female patient, alternative and future
      agents, and the current real-world application of PrEP.

PMID- 28600756
TI  - How to improve the care of patients with acute kidney injury.

PMID- 28600757
TI  - Obstetric fistula in Niger: 6-month postoperative follow-up of 384 patients from
      the Danja Fistula Center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The impoverished West African country of Niger has
      high rates of obstetric fistula. We report a 6-month postoperative follow-up of
      384 patients from the Danja Fistula Center and assess factors associated with
      operative success or failure. METHODS: The medical records of 384 women who had
      completed a 6-month follow-up after fistula surgery were reviewed. Cases were
      categorized as "easy," "of intermediate complexity," or "difficult" based on a
      preoperative points system. Data were analyzed using simple chi-squared
      statistics and logistic regression. RESULTS: The patients were predominantly of
      Hausa ethnicity (73%), married young (average 15.9 years), had teenage first
      pregnancies (average first delivery 16.9 years), and experienced prolonged labor
      (average 2.3 days) with poor outcomes (89% stillbirth rate). The average parity
      was four. Patients commonly developed their fistula during their first delivery
      (43.5%), but over half sustained a fistula during a subsequent delivery (56.5%).
      Prior fistula surgery elsewhere (average 1.75 operations) was common. The overall
      surgical success ("closed and dry") was 54%. When the 134 primary operations were
      analyzed separately, the overall success rate was 80%. Increasing success was
      seen with decreasing surgical difficulty: 92% success for "easy" cases, 68% for
      "intermediate" cases, and 57% success for "difficult" cases. Success decreased
      with increasing numbers of previous attempts at surgical repair. CONCLUSIONS:
      These data provide further evidence that clinical outcomes are better when
      primary fistula repair is performed by expert surgeons in specialist centers with
      the support of trained fistula nurses.

PMID- 28600758
TI  - Primary treatment of pelvic organ prolapse: pessary use versus prolapse surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to compare the
      functional outcomes after pessary treatment and after prolapse surgery as primary
      treatments for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). METHODS: This was a prospective
      cohort study performed in a Dutch teaching hospital in women with symptomatic POP
      of stage II or higher requiring treatment. Patients were treated according to
      their preference with a pessary or prolapse surgery. The primary endpoint was
      disease-specific quality of life at 12 months follow-up according to the prolapse
      domain of the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI) questionnaire. Secondary
      outcomes included adverse events and additional interventions. To show a
      difference of ten points in the primary outcome, we needed to randomize 80 women
      (power 80%, alpha 0.05, taking 10% attrition into account). RESULTS: We included
      113 women (74 in the pessary group, 39 in the surgery group). After 12 months,
      the median prolapse domain score was 0 (10th to 90th percentile 0-33) in the
      pessary group and 0 (10th to 90th percentile 0-0) in the surgery group (p <
      0.01). Differences in other domain scores were not statistically significant. In
      the pessary group, 28% (21/74) of the women had a surgical intervention versus 3%
      (1/39) reoperations in the surgery group (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In women with
      POP of stage II or higher undergoing surgery, prolapse symptoms were less severe
      than in those who were treated with a pessary, but 72% of women who were treated
      with a pessary did not opt for surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Dutch trial
      register NTR2856.

PMID- 28600759
TI  - Whole-Genome Enrichment Using RNA Probes and Sequencing of Chlamydia trachomatis
      Directly from Clinical Samples.
AB  - Whole-genome sequencing is a powerful, high-resolution tool that can be used to
      generate accurate data on bacterial population structure, phylogeography, and
      mutations associated with antimicrobial resistance. The ability to sequence
      pathogen genomes directly from clinical specimens, without the requirement for in
      vitro culturing, is attractive in terms of time- and labor-saving, especially in
      the case of slow-growing, or obligate intracellular pathogens, such as Chlamydia
      trachomatis. However clinical samples typically contain too low levels of
      pathogen nucleic acid, plus relatively high levels of human and natural
      microbiota DNA/RNA, to make this a viable option. Using a combination of whole
      genome enrichment and deep sequencing, which has been proven to be a non
      mutagenic approach, we can capture all known variations found within C.
      trachomatis genomes. The method is a consistent and sensitive tool that enables
      rapid whole-genome sequencing of C. trachomatis directly from clinical samples
      and has the potential to be adapted to other pathogens with a similar clonal
      nature.

PMID- 28600760
TI  - Characterization of Sinus Microbiota by 16S Sequencing from Swabs.
AB  - New culture-independent microbiology methods are leading to a paradigm shift in
      our understanding of how the microbial community at the mucosal surface impacts
      sinonasal health and disease. Whereas traditional culture-based protocols were
      designed to identify specific pathogens in order to direct antibiotic therapies
      and eradicate bacteria, newer molecular techniques allow for the identification
      of both culturable and nonculturable bacteria in diverse communities. As a result
      of the recent explosion in the use of molecular techniques, we are gaining an
      understanding of how commensal bacteria may help modulate the host immune
      response and promote homeostasis. Here, we describe the general workflow of
      microbiome sequencing including the detailed methods for extracting mixed
      community genomic DNA from sinonasal swabs, amplifying bacterial 16S rRNA genes
      using quantitative PCR, and preparing the samples for next-generation sequencing
      on the most commonly used sequencing platforms.

PMID- 28600761
TI  - Molecular Subtyping of Salmonella Typhimurium with Multiplex Oligonucleotide
      Ligation-PCR (MOL-PCR).
AB  - A multiplex oligonucleotide ligation-PCR (MOL-PCR) assay is a valuable high
      throughput technique for the detection of bacteria and viruses, for
      characterization of pathogens and for diagnosis of genetic diseases, as it allows
      one to combine different types of molecular markers in a high-throughput
      multiplex assay. A MOL-PCR assay starts with a multiplex oligonucleotide ligation
      reaction for detection of the molecular marker, followed by a singleplex PCR for
      signal amplification and analysis of the MOL-PCR products on a Luminex platform.
      This last step occurs through a liquid bead suspension array in which the MOL-PCR
      products are hybridized to MagPlex-TAG beads.In this chapter, we describe the
      complete procedure for a MOL-PCR assay for subtyping of Salmonella enterica
      subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) and its monophasic variant
      S. 1,4[5],12:i:- from DNA isolation through heat lysis up to data interpretation
      through a Godel Prime Product. The subtyping assay consists of 50 discriminative
      molecular markers and two internal positive control markers divided over three
      MOL-PCR assays.

PMID- 28600762
TI  - Detection of Helicobacter pylori DNA in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Gastric
      Biopsies Using Laser Microdissection and qPCR.
AB  - Molecular detection and analysis of virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori
      depends on the specificity of cell selection in the gastric biopsies. The laser
      microdissection (LM) instruments combine microscopy with laser cut sectioning.
      This combination allows one to choose only the bacteria that are in direct
      contact with epithelial cells in the gastric biopsy sample, avoiding those
      microorganisms attached to the mucus layer in the sample. The average
      concentration of DNA isolated from 25 cuts with selected bacteria is around 1.94
      ng/MUL, which is enough DNA to perform a qPCR protocol using real-time
      instruments to amplify 16sDNA or virulence factors like cagA or vacA.
      Consequently, the application of these technologies in the molecular analysis of
      Helicobacter pylori directly in contact with the surface of gastric epithelial
      cells is more precise and could yield better insights about the complex
      mechanisms of interactions between pathogen and host. Insights derived from
      research using the techniques described herein may in future facilitate
      prevention of infection or improved therapeutic options.

PMID- 28600763
TI  - Mycobacterial Load Assay.
AB  - Tuberculosis is a difficult disease to treat, a process made more harder as tools
      to monitor treatment response only provide a result long after the patient has
      provided a sample. The mycobacterial load assay (MBLA) provides a simple
      molecular test to quantify and determine the viability of M. tuberculosis in
      human or other samples.

PMID- 28600764
TI  - Defining Diagnostic Biomarkers Using Shotgun Proteomics and MALDI-TOF Mass
      Spectrometry.
AB  - Whole-cell MALDI-TOF has become a robust and widely used tool to quickly identify
      any pathogen. In addition to being routinely used in hospitals, it is also useful
      for low cost dereplication in large scale screening procedures of new
      environmental isolates for environmental biotechnology or taxonomical
      applications. Here, I describe how specific biomarkers can be defined using
      shotgun proteomics and whole-cell MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Based on MALDI-TOF
      spectra recorded on a given set of pathogens with internal calibrants, m/z values
      of interest are extracted. The proteins which contribute to these peaks are
      deduced from label-free shotgun proteomics measurements carried out on the same
      sample. Quantitative information based on the spectral count approach allows
      ranking the most probable candidates. Proteogenomic approaches help to define
      whether these proteins give the same m/z values along the whole taxon under
      consideration or result in heterogeneous lists. These specific biomarkers nicely
      complement conventional profiling approaches and may help to better define groups
      of organisms, for example at the subspecies level.

PMID- 28600765
TI  - Detection and Typing of "Candidatus Phytoplasma " spp. in Host DNA Extracts Using
      Oligonucleotide-Coupled Fluorescent Microspheres.
AB  - The use of oligonucleotide-coupled fluorescent microspheres is a rapid,
      sequencing-independent, and reliable way to diagnose bacterial diseases.
      Previously described applications of oligonucleotide-coupled fluorescent
      microspheres for the detection and identification of bacteria in human clinical
      samples have been successfully adapted to detect and differentiate "Ca.
      Phytoplasma" species using as a target the chaperonin 60-encoding gene. In this
      chapter, we describe in detail the design and validation of oligonucleotide
      capture probes, and their application in the assay aiming to differentiate
      phytoplasma strains infecting Brassica napus and Camelina sativa plants grown in
      the same geographic location at the same time.

PMID- 28600766
TI  - Detection of Helicobacter pylori in the Gastric Mucosa by Fluorescence In Vivo
      Hybridization.
AB  - In this chapter, we describe a fluorescence in vivo hybridization (FIVH)
      protocol, using nucleic acid probes, for the detection of the bacterium
      Helicobacter pylori in the gastric mucosa of an infected C57BL/6 mouse model.
      This protocol should be easily extended to other microorganisms not only as a way
      to identify in vivo important microorganisms and their patterns of distribution
      within specific or at different anatomic sites, but also to better understand
      interaction mechanisms involving the microbiome and the human body.

PMID- 28600767
TI  - Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing for Urinary Tract Infections.
AB  - Antibiotic susceptibility testing is important to guide clinicians in their
      choice of antibiotic used for treatment of bacterial infections. Current methods
      are time-consuming and more rapid alternatives are needed. Here, we describe a
      novel rapid method for antibiotic susceptibility testing which combines
      phenotypic and genotypic measurements. The use of padlock probes and rolling
      circle amplification allows for fast and precise determination of antibiotic
      susceptibilities as well as species identification.

PMID- 28600768
TI  - Detection and Differentiation of Lyme Spirochetes and Other Tick-Borne Pathogens
      from Blood Using Real-Time PCR with Molecular Beacons.
AB  - Real-time PCR assays have recently been implemented in diagnostics for many
      bacterial pathogens, allowing rapid and accurate detection, which ultimately
      results in improved clinical intervention. Here, we describe a sensitive method
      of detection for three common tick-borne pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi,
      Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Babesia microti since coinfections with these
      pathogens have started occurring with increasing frequency over the last several
      years in both North America and Europe. A shared geographic region, the same tick
      vectors, and similar transmission cycle all favor simultaneous transmission of
      these three tick-borne pathogens. Furthermore, early symptoms of the diseases are
      often similar and somewhat nonspecific leading to poor clinical identification.
      The multiplex real-time PCR assay we describe here utilizes gene-specific
      primers, molecular beacon probes tagged with different fluorophores, and
      optimized PCR conditions to detect even small amounts of specific pathogen DNA
      without interference. Application of this detection method will offer better
      diagnostics for acute and persistent infection compared to the two-tier
      serological tests that are currently approved in North America and Europe, which
      do not necessarily detect active infection.

PMID- 28600769
TI  - Methods for Real-Time PCR-Based Diagnosis of Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia
      psittaci, and Chlamydia abortus Infections in an Opened Molecular Diagnostic
      Platform.
AB  - The advances in molecular biology of the last decades have dramatically improved
      the field of diagnostic bacteriology. In particular, PCR-based technologies have
      impacted the diagnosis of infections caused by obligate intracellular bacteria
      such as pathogens from the Chlamydiacae family. Here, we describe a real-time PCR
      based method using the Taqman technology for the diagnosis of Chlamydia
      pneumoniae, Chlamydia psittaci, and Chlamydia abortus infection. The method
      presented here can be applied to various clinical samples and can be adapted on
      opened molecular diagnostic platforms.

PMID- 28600770
TI  - Real-Time PCR to Identify Staphylococci and Assay for Virulence from Blood.
AB  - The genus Staphylococcus includes pathogenic and non-pathogenic facultative
      anaerobes. Due to the plethora of virulence factors encoded in its genome, the
      species Staphylococcus aureus is known to be the most pathogenic. S. aureus
      strains harboring genes encoding virulence and antibiotic resistance are of
      public health importance. In clinical samples, however, pathogenic S. aureus is
      often mixed with putatively less pathogenic coagulase-negative staphylococci
      (CoNS), both of which can harbor mecA, the genetic driver for staphylococcal
      methicillin-resistance. In this chapter, the detailed practical procedure for
      operating a real-time pentaplex PCR assay in blood cultures is described. The
      pentaplex real-time PCR assay simultaneously detects markers for the presence of
      bacteria (16S rRNA), coagulase-negative staphylococcus (cns), S. aureus (spa),
      Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl), and methicillin resistance (mecA).

PMID- 28600771
TI  - Multiplex Peptide Nucleic Acid Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (PNA-FISH) for
      Diagnosis of Bacterial Vaginosis.
AB  - Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a molecular method used to identify
      and quantify microorganisms in a wide range of samples. This technique combines
      the simplicity of microscopic observation and the specificity of DNA/rRNA
      hybridization, allowing detection of selected bacterial species and morphologic
      visualization. Here, we describe a quantitative molecular diagnosis of bacterial
      vaginosis, based on the classical Nugent score. Our probes are able to
      differentiate Lactobacillus spp. and Gardnerella vaginalis from the other
      undefined bacterial species considered in the Nugent score.

PMID- 28600772
TI  - A Closed-tube Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay for the Visual
      Endpoint Detection of Brucella spp. and Mycobacterium avium subsp.
      paratuberculosis.
AB  - LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) is an isothermal nucleic acid
      amplification technique that is characterized by its efficiency, rapidity, high
      yield of final product, robustness, sensitivity, and specificity, with the
      blueprint that it can be implemented in laboratories of low technological
      complexity. Despite the conceptual complexity underlying the mechanistic basis
      for the nucleic acid amplification, the technique is simple to use and the
      amplification and detection can be carried out in just one step. In this chapter,
      we present a protocol based on LAMP for the rapid identification of isolates of
      Brucella spp. and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, two major
      bacterial pathogens in veterinary medicine.

PMID- 28600773
TI  - Highly Specific Ligation-dependent Microarray Detection of Single Nucleotide
      Polymorphisms.
AB  - The fast detection and characterization of pathogens are essential for an
      efficient treatment of infectious diseases. However, the development of improved
      and reliable diagnostic methods is still an ongoing process because not only
      pathogens but also their antibiotic resistances have to be identified. The gold
      standard today is, however, a cultivation-based characterization approach, which
      takes days until results can be evaluated. In patients with, for example, severe
      sepsis, the diagnostic test duration is a very critical parameter because a delay
      of treatment optimization increases the mortality rate significantly. In
      contrast, DNA-based molecular techniques can obtain results within a few hours. A
      further challenge in diagnostic laboratories is that patient samples have to be
      screened for hundreds of potential pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes, and
      virulence factors, which is achieved by using a number of specialized tests at
      the moment. Microarrays are outstandingly good for the simultaneous analysis of
      thousands of different genes and have become a popular tool in biological
      studies. Nevertheless, further optimizations of the microarray technology are
      required due to the obligatory DNA labeling and/or amplification steps and the
      effects of nonspecific DNA hybridization. Here, we describe a fast and highly
      specific solid-support-based DNA characterization method for pathogens and
      antibiotic resistance genes.

PMID- 28600774
TI  - Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) for Cronobacter spp.
AB  - MLST is a molecular typing technique that involves the identification and
      clustering of bacterial isolates based on the partial sequence analysis of
      multiple housekeeping genes (generally seven) which are distributed across the
      length of the genome of the organism. The Cronobacter whole genus MLST scheme can
      be successfully used for an accurate species level identification and
      classification of this complex genus.

PMID- 28600775
TI  - Diagnostic Bacteriology: Raman Spectroscopy.
AB  - Current clinical methodology for identification of bacterial infections relies
      predominantly on culturing microbes from patient material and performing
      biochemical tests. This can often be an inefficient and lengthy process, which
      has a significant detrimental effect upon patient care. Techniques used in other
      aspects of molecular research have the potential to revolutionize the way in
      which diagnostic tests are used and delivered in the clinical setting. The need
      for rapid, accurate, and cost-effective molecular techniques in the diagnostic
      laboratory is imperative to improving patient care, preventing the spread of drug
      resistance and decreasing the overall burden associated with nosocomial
      infections. Raman spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are
      powerful vibrational spectroscopy techniques that are being developed for highly
      sensitive pathogen identification in complex clinical samples. Raman spectroscopy
      is a molecular technique that is capable of probing samples noninvasively and
      nondestructively. It has been used with high specificity to assess tissue and
      bacterial samples at the molecular level with diverse clinical and diagnostic
      applications. SERS has recently developed out of the advances in the Raman
      spectroscopy arena. This technique is designed to amplify Raman scattering and
      allows for better differentiation of bacterial isolates. Although the current
      parameters for the use of SERS require a pure culture and are relatively
      monoparametric, current breakthroughs and testing are pushing the technology to
      new levels and thus changing the face of modern bacterial diagnostics.

PMID- 28600776
TI  - Erratum to: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy by transabdominal lateral approach: 20
      years of experience.

PMID- 28600777
TI  - Psychoneuroimmunology-developments in stress research.
AB  - Links between the central nervous stress system and peripheral immune cells in
      lymphoid organs have been detailed through 50 years of intensive research. The
      brain can interfere with the immune system, where chronic psychological stress
      inhibits many functions of the immune system. On the other hand, chronic
      peripheral inflammation-whether mild (during aging and psychological stress) or
      severe (chronic inflammatory diseases)-clearly interferes with brain function,
      leading to disease sequelae like fatigue but also to overt psychiatric illness.
      In recent years, it has been observed that psychological stress can be disease
      permissive, as in chronic inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases,
      acute and chronic viral infections, sepsis, asthma, and others. We recognized
      that stress reactivity is programmed for a lifetime during a critical period
      between fetal life and early childhood, which then influences stress behavior and
      stress responses in adulthood. First phase II clinical studies, e.g., on
      cognitive behavioral therapy and mind-body therapies (e. g., mindfulness-based
      stress reduction), are available that show some benefits in stressful human
      diseases such as breast cancer and others. The field of psychoneuroimmunology has
      reached a firm ground and invites therapeutic approaches based on Good Clinical
      Practice phase III multicenter randomized controlled trials to influence stress
      responses and outcome in chronic illness.

PMID- 28600778
TI  - Semisynthesis and biological evaluation of prenylated resveratrol derivatives as
      multi-targeted agents for Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - A series of prenylated resveratrol derivatives were designed, semisynthesized and
      biologically evaluated for inhibition of beta-secretase (BACE1) and amyloid-beta
      (Abeta) aggregation as well as free radical scavenging and neuroprotective and
      neuritogenic activities, as potential novel multifunctional agents against
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results showed that compound 4b exhibited good anti
      Abeta aggregation (IC50 = 4.78 uM) and antioxidant activity (IC50 = 41.22 uM) and
      moderate anti-BACE1 inhibitory activity (23.70% at 50 uM), and could be a lead
      compound. Moreover, this compound showed no neurotoxicity along with a greater
      ability to inhibit oxidative stress on P19-derived neuronal cells (50.59% cell
      viability at 1 nM). The neuritogenic activity presented more branching numbers
      (9.33) and longer neurites (109.74 um) than the control, and was comparable to
      the quercetin positive control. Taken together, these results suggest compound 4b
      had the greatest multifunctional activities and might be a very promising lead
      compound for the further development of drugs for AD.

PMID- 28600780
TI  - Meiotic Divisions: No Place for Gender Equality.
AB  - In multicellular organisms the fusion of two gametes with a haploid set of
      chromosomes leads to the formation of the zygote, the first cell of the embryo.
      Accurate execution of the meiotic cell division to generate a female and a male
      gamete is required for the generation of healthy offspring harboring the correct
      number of chromosomes. Unfortunately, meiosis is error prone. This has severe
      consequences for fertility and under certain circumstances, health of the
      offspring. In humans, female meiosis is extremely error prone. In this chapter we
      will compare male and female meiosis in humans to illustrate why and at which
      frequency errors occur, and describe how this affects pregnancy outcome and
      health of the individual. We will first introduce key notions of cell division in
      meiosis and how they differ from mitosis, followed by a detailed description of
      the events that are prone to errors during the meiotic divisions.

PMID- 28600781
TI  - Consequences of Centrosome Dysfunction During Brain Development.
AB  - Development requires cell proliferation, differentiation and spatial organization
      of daughter cells to occur in a highly controlled manner. The mode of cell
      division, the extent of proliferation and the spatial distribution of mitosis
      allow the formation of tissues of the right size and with the correct structural
      organization. All these aspects depend on cell cycle duration, correct chromosome
      segregation and spindle orientation. The centrosome, which is the main
      microtubule-organizing centre (MTOC) of animal cells, contributes to all these
      processes. As one of the most structurally complex organs in our body, the brain
      is particularly susceptible to centrosome dysfunction. Autosomal recessive
      primary microcephaly (MCPH), primordial dwarfism disease Seckel syndrome (SCKS)
      and microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II (MOPD-II) are often
      connected to mutations in centrosomal genes. In this chapter, we discuss the
      consequences of centrosome dysfunction during development and how they can
      contribute to the etiology of human diseases.

PMID- 28600782
TI  - Dividing with Extra Centrosomes: A Double Edged Sword for Cancer Cells.
AB  - The presence of supernumerary centrosomes is a hallmark of human tumours. Recent
      work in animal models suggests that extra centrosomes are not just bystanders in
      cancer but can accelerate tumourigenesis in the absence of the tumour suppressor
      p53. Centrosome amplification could indeed actively participate in tumour
      progression through the induction of chromosome instability, disruption of tissue
      architecture and promoting cell invasion. Paradoxically, however, centrosome
      amplification is rather poorly tolerated in normal cells and there are several
      hurdles cells need to overcome in order to efficiently proliferate in the
      presence of extra centrosomes. Here, we review the adaptation mechanisms that
      allow cells to efficiently divide in the presence of extra centrosomes and how
      these could be exploited to develop selective cancer therapies.

PMID- 28600783
TI  - Kinetochore Malfunction in Human Pathologies.
AB  - The cell cycle culminates in mitosis with the purpose of dividing the cell's DNA
      content equally over two daughter cells. Error-free segregation relies on correct
      connections between chromosomes and spindle microtubules. Kinetochores are
      complex multi-protein assemblies that mediate these connections and are the
      platforms for attachment-error-correction and spindle assembly checkpoint
      signaling. Proper kinetochore function is therefore key in preventing
      aneuploidization. Mutations in genes encoding kinetochore proteins are associated
      with several severe developmental disorders associated with microcephaly, and
      kinetochore defects contribute to chromosomal instability in certain cancers.
      This chapter gives an overview of the processes necessary for faithful chromosome
      segregation and how kinetochore malfunction causes various human pathologies.

PMID- 28600779
TI  - The landscape of genetic diseases in Saudi Arabia based on the first 1000
      diagnostic panels and exomes.
AB  - In this study, we report the experience of the only reference clinical next
      generation sequencing lab in Saudi Arabia with the first 1000 families who span a
      wide-range of suspected Mendelian phenotypes. A total of 1019 tests were
      performed in the period of March 2016-December 2016 comprising 972 solo (index
      only), 14 duo (parents or affected siblings only), and 33 trio (index and
      parents). Multigene panels accounted for 672 tests, while whole exome sequencing
      (WES) represented the remaining 347 tests. Pathogenic or likely pathogenic
      variants that explain the clinical indications were identified in 34% (27% in
      panels and 43% in exomes), spanning 279 genes and including 165 novel variants.
      While recessive mutations dominated the landscape of solved cases (71% of
      mutations, and 97% of which are homozygous), a substantial minority (27%) were
      solved on the basis of dominant mutations. The highly consanguineous nature of
      the study population also facilitated homozygosity for many private mutations
      (only 32.5% of the recessive mutations are founder), as well as the first
      instances of recessive inheritance of previously assumed strictly dominant
      disorders (involving ITPR1, VAMP1, MCTP2, and TBP). Surprisingly, however, dual
      molecular diagnosis was only observed in 1.5% of cases. Finally, we have
      encountered candidate variants in 75 genes (ABHD6, ACY3, ADGRB2, ADGRG7, AGTPBP1,
      AHNAK2, AKAP6, ASB3, ATXN1L, C17orf62, CABP1, CCDC186, CCP110, CLSTN2, CNTN3,
      CNTN5, CTNNA2, CWC22, DMAP1, DMKN, DMXL1, DSCAM, DVL2, ECI1, EP400, EPB41L5,
      FBXL22, GAP43, GEMIN7, GIT1, GRIK4, GRSF1, GTRP1, HID1, IFNL1, KCNC4, LRRC52,
      MAP7D3, MCTP2, MED26, MPP7, MRPS35, MTDH, MTMR9, NECAP2, NPAT, NRAP, PAX7, PCNX,
      PLCH2, PLEKHF1, PTPN12, QKI, RILPL2, RIMKLA, RIMS2, RNF213, ROBO1, SEC16A, SIAH1,
      SIRT2, SLAIN2, SLC22A20, SMDT1, SRRT, SSTR1, ST20, SYT9, TSPAN6, UBR4, VAMP4,
      VPS36, WDR59, WDYHV1, and WHSC1) not previously linked to human phenotypes and
      these are presented to accelerate post-publication matchmaking. Two of these
      genes were independently mutated in more than one family with similar phenotypes,
      which substantiates their link to human disease (AKAP6 in intellectual disability
      and UBR4 in early dementia). If the novel candidate disease genes in this cohort
      are independently confirmed, the yield of WES will have increased to 83%, which
      suggests that most "negative" clinical exome tests are unsolved due to
      interpretation rather than technical limitations.

PMID- 28600784
TI  - The Elephant in the Room: The Role of Microtubules in Cancer.
AB  - Microtubules are the backbone of all eukaryotic cells cytoskeleton. Their dynamic
      behaviour constitutes the basis for many biological processes such as cellular
      motility, cytoplasmic transport and cell division. Some the most effective
      chemotherapeutics, such as the taxanes, are microtubule interfering drugs.
      Moreover, many studies suggest that microtubule dynamics are altered in cancer
      cell divisions and linked to chromosomal instability, aneuploidy and development
      of drug resistances. The elephant in the room, however, is that despite all these
      evidences, the exact role of microtubules in malignancies remains elusive,
      partially due to the lack of clear genetic alterations linking microtubules to
      cancer. This review will discuss the molecular mechanisms that might alter
      microtubule dynamics in cancer cells, the pro and cons of the different theories
      linking these alterations to cancer progression, and the possible directions to
      address future key questions.

PMID- 28600785
TI  - Clinical Development of Anti-mitotic Drugs in Cancer.
AB  - Mitosis is one of the most fundamental processes of life by which a mammalian
      cell divides into two daughter cells. Mitosis has been an attractive target for
      anticancer therapies since fast proliferation was identified as one of the
      hallmarks of cancer cells. Despite efforts into developing specific inhibitors
      for mitotic kinases and kinesins, very few drugs have shown the efficiency of
      microtubule targeting-agents in cancer cells with paclitaxel being the most
      successful. A deeper translational research accompanying clinical trials of anti
      mitotic drugs will help in identifying potent biomarkers predictive for response.
      Here, we review the current knowledge of mitosis targeting agents that have been
      tested so far in the clinics.

PMID- 28600786
TI  - Mitotic Dysfunction Associated with Aging Hallmarks.
AB  - Aging is a biological process characterized by the progressive deterioration of
      physiological functions known to be the main risk factor for chronic diseases and
      declining health. There has been an emerging connection between aging and
      aneuploidy, an aberrant number of chromosomes, even though the molecular
      mechanisms behind age-associated aneuploidy remain largely unknown. In recent
      years, several genetic pathways and biochemical processes controlling the rate of
      aging have been identified and proposed as aging hallmarks. Primary hallmarks
      that cause the accumulation of cellular damage include genomic instability,
      telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations and loss of proteostasis (Lopez-Otin
      et al., Cell 153:1194-1217, 2013). Here we review the provocative link between
      these aging hallmarks and the loss of chromosome segregation fidelity during cell
      division, which could support the correlation between aging and aneuploidy seen
      over the past decades. Secondly, we review the systemic impacts of aneuploidy in
      cell physiology and emphasize how these include some of the primary hallmarks of
      aging. Based on the evidence, we propose a mutual causality between aging and
      aneuploidy, and suggest modulation of mitotic fidelity as a potential means to
      ameliorate healthy lifespan.

PMID- 28600787
TI  - Unbalanced Growth, Senescence and Aging.
AB  - Usually, cells balance their growth with their division. Coordinating growth
      inputs with cell division ensures the proper timing of division when sufficient
      cell material is available and affects the overall rate of cell proliferation. At
      a very fundamental level, cellular replicative lifespan-defined as the number of
      times a cell can divide, is a manifestation of cell cycle control. Hence, control
      of mitotic cell divisions, especially when the commitment is made to a new round
      of cell division, is intimately linked to replicative aging of cells. In this
      chapter, we review our current understanding, and its shortcomings, of how
      unbalanced growth and division, can dramatically influence the proliferative
      potential of cells, often leading to cellular and organismal aging phenotypes.
      The interplay between growth and division also underpins cellular senescence
      (i.e., inability to divide) and quiescence, when cells exit the cell cycle but
      still retain their ability to divide.

PMID- 28600788
TI  - The Spindle Orientation Machinery Beyond Mitosis: When Cell Specialization
      Demands Polarization.
AB  - Mitosis is a process requiring strict spatial organization of cellular
      components. In particular, the orientation of the mitotic spindle with respect to
      the tissue defines the division plane. In turn, the orientation of cell division
      can regulate tissue morphology or the fate of daughter cells. While we have
      learned much about the mechanisms of mitotic spindle orientation, recent studies
      suggest that the proteins implicated can also play important roles in post
      mitotic cells. Interestingly, post-mitotic protein function often involves
      polarizing the cell cytoskeleton during differentiation, mirroring its ability to
      orient the mitotic spindle during division. This review focuses on alternative
      functions of the spindle orientation machinery after division, when the cell
      undergoes a specialization process associated with differentiation or mature
      function, and discusses diseases associated to those alternative functions.

PMID- 28600790
TI  - Removal of Cr(VI) by surfactant modified Auricularia auricula spent substrate:
      biosorption condition and mechanism.
AB  - Auricularia auricula spent substrate (AASS) modified by didodecyldimethylammonium
      bromide(DDAB) was used as adsorbent to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. Based
      on a single-factor experiment and response surface methodology, the optimal
      conditions were adsorbent dosage of 1.5 g/L, pH value of 4.0, initial Cr(VI)
      concentration of 19 mg/L, temperature of 25  degrees C, biosorption time of 120
      min, rotational speed of 150 r/min, respectively, under which biosorption
      capacity could reach 12.16 mg/g compared with unmodified AASS (6.058 mg/g). DDAB
      modification could enlarge the specific surface area and porous diameter of the
      adsorbents, and supply hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups capable of adsorbing at
      the interfaces. In addition, DDAB increased ionic exchange and complex formation
      demonstrated by variations of elemental contents, shifts of carboxyl, amine
      groups, hydroxyl, alkyl chains, and phosphate groups as well as the crystal
      structure of the Cr-O compounds. Variations of peaks and energy in XPS analysis
      also testified the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III).The biosorption behavior of
      modified AASS was in line with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equation. The
      final regeneration efficiency was 62.33% after three biosorption-desorption
      cycles. Apparently, DDBA is a eximious modifier and DDBA-modified AASS was very
      efficient for Cr(VI) removal.

PMID- 28600791
TI  - Orientation behavior is a good biomarker of trace metal contamination in
      Parallelomorphus laevigatus (Coleoptera, Carabidae).
AB  - Behavioral ecotoxicology has become very important in the short time since a
      change in behavior is very often the first response to environmental altered
      conditions. We investigated the influence of trace metal intake on the spatial
      orientation performances of the carabid beetle Parallelomorphus laevigatus,
      fundamental ability for its survival. The aim of this study was to consider the
      solar orientation as behavioral biomarker for exposure to trace metal
      contamination. Therefore, we tested the ability of solar orientation of specimens
      of this species, fed with shrimps contaminated with three different
      concentrations of Cu, Zn, or Hg. We carried out the orientation tests after 1, 3,
      7, and 10 days of contaminated feeding. Subsequently, we fed these beetles with
      not contaminated shrimps and again tested them after 1, 3, 7, and 10 days. For
      all three metals considered and, regardless of the degree of contamination of the
      food, we have found a progressive and significant counterclockwise displacement
      of the angle of orientation and a corresponding progressive reduction in the
      precision in the directional choices by the animals. We also noticed a clear
      growing recovery in the normal orientation by these insects after returning to
      their feeding with uncontaminated food. In conclusion, we can consider the
      orientation in space of P. laevigatus as a behavioral biomarker for exposure to
      trace metal contamination. We believe that the intake of trace metals may induce
      the insects to make mistakes in their spatial orientation, due to an acceleration
      of their biological clock. Such a clock malfunction is not definitive, since the
      return to a normal diet restores P. laevigatus the ability to re-make the correct
      directional choices. Ultimately, our results confirm the usefulness of behavioral
      ecotoxicology investigations; moreover, they stimulate the opportunity to deepen
      the understanding of functioning of the biological clock in the animals.

PMID- 28600789
TI  - Improving the Management of Psoriatic Arthritis and Axial Spondyloarthritis:
      Roundtable Discussions with Healthcare Professionals and Patients.
AB  - Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) are both chronic,
      inflammatory conditions that result in a substantial burden of disease and
      reduced quality of life for patients. Patient involvement in developing optimal
      disease management strategies, including defining appropriate goals, therapies,
      and treatment options, as well as in setting policy priorities and agendas, is
      key. A working group of patient organization representatives and rheumatologists
      explored what patients consider to be unmet needs, important treatment gaps, and
      future priorities in PsA and AxSpA management. Reducing pain and fatigue, and
      improving physical and social functioning and work productivity were identified
      as important treatment goals for patients. Although the major treatment target
      for both PsA and AxSpA is remission, with low/minimal disease activity an
      alternative target for patients with established or long-standing disease, the
      meaning of remission from the patient's perspective needs to be explored further
      as it may differ considerably from the physician's perspective. Key
      recommendations from the working group to tackle unmet needs included reducing
      time to diagnosis, increasing patient and physician disease awareness, focusing
      on patients' priorities for treatment goals, and improving patient-physician
      communication. By addressing these key action points moving forward, the hope is
      that outcomes will continue to improve for patients with PsA and AxSpA.

PMID- 28600792
TI  - An enhancement of antimicrobial efficacy of biogenic and ceftriaxone-conjugated
      silver nanoparticles: green approach.
AB  - Of the various methods explored for the synthesis of nanoparticles, biogenesis of
      silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) received great attention due to their versatile
      properties. In this report, Daucus carota extract was used for the synthesis of
      AgNPs and ceftriaxone was conjugated with AgNPs to enhance their antimicrobial
      efficacy. The conjugated and unconjugated AgNPs were characterized by adopting UV
      Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, AFM, DLS, and TEM, which revealed the SPR peak at 420 nm
      and spherical shaped nanoparticles of 20 nm size, respectively. The antimicrobial
      efficacies of the unconjugated AgNPs and ceftriaxone-conjugated AgNPs were tested
      against ceftriaxone-resistant human pathogens, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus
      aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ceftriaxone
      conjugated AgNPs showed high inhibitory action (23 mm) than the unconjugated
      AgNPs (18 mm) at the concentration of 50 MUg/mL. Both the unconjugated and
      ceftriaxone-conjugated AgNPs were found to be non-toxic on EAC cells at 50
      MUg/mL. The dose-dependent cytotoxic activities were observed on increasing the
      concentration of the AgNPs. The ceftriaxone-conjugated AgNPs showed high activity
      than the unconjugated AgNPs. The enhanced activity could be useful to treat
      ceftriaxone-resistant human pathogens.

PMID- 28600793
TI  - Intelligent and integrated techniques for coalbed methane (CBM) recovery and
      reduction of greenhouse gas emission.
AB  - Coalbed methane (CBM) recovery is a crucial approach to realize the exploitation
      of a clean energy and the reduction of the greenhouse gas emission. In the past
      10 years, remarkable achievements on CBM recovery have been obtained in China.
      However, some key difficulties still exist such as long borehole drilling in
      complicated geological condition, and poor gas drainage effect due to low
      permeability. In this study, intelligent and integrated techniques for CBM
      recovery are introduced. These integrated techniques mainly include underground
      CBM recovery techniques and ground well CBM recovery techniques. The underground
      CBM recovery techniques consist of the borehole formation technique, gas
      concentration improvement technique, and permeability enhancement technique.
      According to the division of mining-induced disturbance area, the ground well
      arrangement area and well structure type in mining-induced disturbance developing
      area and mining-induced disturbance stable area are optimized to significantly
      improve the ground well CBM recovery. Besides, automatic devices such as drilling
      pipe installation device are also developed to achieve remote control of data
      recording, which makes the integrated techniques intelligent. These techniques
      can provide key solutions to some long-term difficulties in CBM recovery.

PMID- 28600794
TI  - Citric acid enhanced the antioxidant defense system and chromium uptake by Lemna
      minor L. grown in hydroponics under Cr stress.
AB  - Phytoextraction is a cost-effective and eco-friendly technique for the removal of
      pollutants, mainly heavy metal(loids) especially from polluted water and metal
      contaminated soils. The phytoextraction of heavy metals is, in general, limited
      due to the low availability of heavy metals in the growth medium. Organic
      chelators can help to improve the phytoextraction by increasing metal mobility
      and solubility in the growth medium. The present research was carried out to
      examine the possibility of citric acid (CA) in improving chromium (Cr)
      phytoextraction by Lemna minor (duckweed). For this purpose, healthy plants were
      collected from nearby marsh and grown in hydroponics under controlled conditions.
      Initial metal contents of both marsh water and plant were measured along with
      physico-chemical properties of the marsh water. Different concentrations of Cr
      and CA were applied in the hydroponics in different combinations after defined
      intervals. Continuous aeration was supplied and pH maintained at 6.5 +/- 0.1.
      Results showed that increasing concentration of Cr significantly decreased the
      plant biomass, photosynthetic pigments, leaf area, and antioxidant enzyme
      activities (like catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase,
      peroxidase). Furthermore, Cr stress increased the Cr concentrations, electrolyte
      leakage, hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde contents in plants. The addition
      of CA alleviated the Cr-induced toxicity in plants and further enhanced the Cr
      uptake and its accumulation in L. minor. The addition of CA enhanced the Cr
      concentration in L. minor by 6.10, 26.5, 20.5, and 20.2% at 0, 10, 100, and 200
      MUM Cr treatments, respectively, compared to the respective Cr treatments without
      CA. Overall, the results of the present study showed that CA addition may enhance
      the Cr accumulation and tolerance in L. minor by enhancing the plant growth and
      activities of antioxidant enzymes.

PMID- 28600795
TI  - Distribution of phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria in relation to fractionation and
      sorption behaviors of phosphorus in sediment of the Three Gorges Reservoir.
AB  - Phosphorus (P) fractionation and sorption behavior as well as the abundance and
      community composition of phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) in sediments,
      including inorganic phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (IPB) and organic phosphate
      mineralizing bacteria (OPB), were investigated in 27 sampling sites of five
      sections in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in December 2012. The calcium-bound
      phosphorus (CaCO3~P) accounted for the largest part for P fractions in the
      sediment of TGR, which was paralleled with IPB outnumbering OPB. Furthermore,
      some PSB isolates, such as Micromonospora sp., Aminobacter sp., and Arthrobacter
      sp., were shared by the IPB and OPB. Thus, some IPB species functioned as OPB and
      vise versa, which could be further reflected by a negative and significant
      relationship between PSB (IPB + OPB) number and content of CaCO3~P together with
      acid-soluble organic phosphorus (ASOP). Spatially, the highest ASOP content in
      the section Mudong and the highest CaCO3~P plus iron-bound phosphorus (Fe(OOH)~P)
      as well as equilibrium phosphorus concentration (EPC0) in the sections of Yunyang
      and Zigui due to sediment sequestration by the dam, as well as the positive
      relationship between EPC0 and the ratios of different phosphorus species and
      phosphorus sorption maximum (Q max), jointly indicated pathway diversification
      and potential risk of phosphorus release mediated by PSB in TGR.

PMID- 28600796
TI  - Efficacy of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens as biocontrol agent to fight fungal
      diseases of maize under tropical climates: from lab to field assays in south
      Kivu.
AB  - In the province of South Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo), warm and humid
      climatic conditions favor the development and spreading of phytopathogens. The
      resulting diseases cause important losses in production both in crop and after
      harvest. In this study, we wanted to evaluate the potential of Bacillus
      amyloliquefaciens as biocontrol agent to fight some newly isolated endemic fungal
      pathogens infesting maize. The strain S499 has been selected based on its high in
      vitro antagonistic activity correlating with a huge potential to secrete
      fungitoxic lipopeptides upon feeding on maize root exudates. Biocontrol activity
      of S499 was further tested on infected plantlets in growth chamber and on plants
      grown under field conditions over an entire cropping period. We observed a strong
      protective effect of this strain evaluated at two different locations with
      specific agro-ecological conditions. Interestingly, disease protection was
      associated with higher yields and our data strongly suggest that, in addition to
      directly inhibit pathogens, the strain may also act as biofertilizer through the
      solubilization of phosphorus and/or by producing plant growth hormones in the
      rhizosphere. This work supports the hope of exploiting such technologically
      advantageous bacilli for the sake of sustainable local production of this
      important crop in central Africa.

PMID- 28600798
TI  - Inhibition of p38MAPK signalling prevents epidermal blistering and alterations of
      desmosome structure induced by pemphigus autoantibodies in human epidermis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a skin blistering disease caused by
      autoantibodies targeting the desmosomal adhesion proteins desmoglein (Dsg) 3 and
      1. The mechanisms underlying pemphigus skin blistering are not fully elucidated
      but p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) activation is one of the
      signalling events necessary for full loss of cell cohesion. However, it is
      unclear whether ultrastructural hallmarks of desmosome morphology as observed in
      patients' lesions are mediated by p38MAPK signalling. OBJECTIVES: In this study,
      we tested the relevance of p38MAPK for blister formation and the ultrastructural
      changes induced by PV autoantibodies in human skin. METHODS: Human skin samples
      were injected with IgG fractions of one patient suffering from mucocutaneous PV
      (mcPV-IgG), one from mucosal-dominant PV (mdPV-IgG) or AK23, a pathogenic
      monoclonal Dsg3 antibody derived from a pemphigus mouse model. Samples were
      processed for histological and electron microscopy analyses. RESULTS: mcPV-IgG
      and AK23 but not mdPV-IgG reduced desmosome size, caused interdesmosomal widening
      and formation of split desmosomes, and altered keratin filament insertion. In
      contrast, full epidermal blister formation and lower desmosome number were
      evident in tissue samples exposed to mcPV-IgG only. Pharmacological inhibition of
      p38MAPK blunted the reduction of desmosome number and size, ameliorated
      interdesmosomal widening and loss of keratin insertion and prevented mcPV-IgG
      induced blister formation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that blistering can
      be prevented by inhibition of p38MAPK in the human epidermis. Moreover, typical
      morphological alterations induced by mcPV-IgG such as interdesmosomal widening
      and the reduction of desmosome size at least in part require p38MAPK signalling.

PMID- 28600797
TI  - The novel nitric oxide donor PDNO attenuates ovine ischemia-reperfusion induced
      renal failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury is a common cause of acute kidney
      injury in intensive care and surgery. Recently, novel organic mononitrites of 1,2
      propanediol (PDNO) were synthesized and shown to rapidly and controllably deploy
      nitric oxide in the circulation when administered intravenously. We hypothesized
      that intravenous infusion of PDNO during renal ischemia reperfusion would improve
      post-ischemic renal function and microcirculation. METHODS: Sixteen sheep were
      anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and surgically instrumented. The left
      renal artery was clamped for 90 min, and the effects of ischemia were studied for
      a total of 8 h. Fifteen minutes prior to the release of the clamp, intravenous
      infusions of PDNO (n = 8) or vehicle (1,2 propanediol + inorganic nitrite, n = 8)
      were initiated (180 nmol/kg/min for 30 min, thereafter 60 nmol/kg/min for the
      remainder of the experiment). RESULTS: Renal artery blood flow, cortical and
      medullary perfusion, and diuresis and creatinine clearance decreased in the left
      kidney post ischemia. However, in the sheep treated with PDNO, diuresis and
      creatinine clearance in the left kidney were significantly higher post ischemia
      compared to vehicle-treated animals (1.7 +/- 0.5 vs 0.7 +/- 0.3 ml/kg/h, p = 0.04
      and 7.5 +/- 2.1 vs 1.7 +/- 0.6 ml/min, p = 0.02, respectively). Left renal
      medullary perfusion and oxygen uptake were higher in the PDNO group (73 +/- 9 vs
      37 +/- 5% of baseline, p = 0.004 and 2.6 +/- 0.4 vs 1.6 +/- 0.3 ml/min, p = 0.02,
      respectively). PDNO significantly increased renal oxygen consumption and reduced
      the oxygen utilization for sodium reabsorption (p = 0.03 for both). Mean arterial
      blood pressure was significantly reduced by PDNO (83 +/- 3 vs 94 +/- 3 mmHg, p =
      0.02) but was still within normal limits. Total renal blood flow was not
      affected, and there were no signs of increased blood methemoglobin concentrations
      or tachyphylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: The novel nitric oxide donor PDNO improved renal
      function after ischemia. PDNO also prevented the persistent reduction in
      medullary perfusion during reperfusion and improved renal oxygen utilization
      without severe side effects.

PMID- 28600800
TI  - Women, weight, poverty and menopause: understanding health practices in a context
      of chronic disease prevention.
AB  - Socioeconomic inequalities in health persist despite major investments in illness
      prevention campaigns and universal healthcare systems. In this context, the
      increased risks of chronic diseases of specific sub-groups of vulnerable
      populations should be further investigated. The objective of this qualitative
      study is to examine the interaction between socioeconomic status (SES) and body
      weight in order to understand underprivileged women's increased vulnerability to
      chronic diseases after menopause. By drawing specifically on Pierre Bourdieu's
      sociocultural theory of practice, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted
      from May to December of 2013 to investigate the health practices of clinically
      overweight, postmenopausal women living an underprivileged life in Canada.
      Findings emphasise that poor life conditions undermine personal investment in
      preventive health and weight loss, showing the importance for policy makers to
      bring stronger consideration on upstream determinants of health.

PMID- 28600799
TI  - Extracellular matrix protein laminin enhances mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)
      paracrine function through alphavbeta3/CD61 integrin to reduce cardiomyocyte
      apoptosis.
AB  - Myocardial ischaemia (MI) results in extensive cardiomyocyte death and reactive
      oxygen species (ROS)-induced damage in an organ with little or no regenerative
      capacity. Although the use of adult bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs)
      has been proposed as a treatment option, the high cell numbers required for
      clinical use are difficult to achieve with this source of MSCs, and animal
      studies have produced inconsistent data. We recently demonstrated in small and
      large animal models of acute MI that the application of human term placenta
      derived multipotent cells (PDMCs), a foetal-stage MSC, resulted in reversal of
      cardiac injury with therapeutic efficacy. However, the mechanisms involved are
      unclear, making it difficult to strategize for therapeutic improvements. We found
      that PDMCs significantly reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and ROS production
      through the paracrine factors GRO-alpha, HGF and IL-8. Moreover, culturing PDMCs
      on plates coated with laminin, an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, resulted in
      significantly enhanced secretion of all three paracrine factors, which further
      reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The enhancement of PDMC paracrine function by
      laminin was mediated through alphavbeta3 integrin, with involvement of the
      signalling pathways of JNK, for GRO-alpha and IL-8 secretion, and PI3K/AKT, for
      HGF secretion. Our results demonstrated the utility of PDMC therapy to reduce
      cardiomyocyte apoptosis through modulation of ECM proteins in in vitro culture
      systems as a strategy to enhance the therapeutic functions of stem cells.

PMID- 28600801
TI  - Rates and predictors of psychotherapy utilization after psychosocial evaluation
      for stem cell transplant.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although standard of care prior to hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT) includes a psychosocial evaluation, little is known about
      the rate and predictors of psychotherapy utilization among patients presenting
      for pre-HSCT evaluations. This study aimed to examine the proportion of patients
      undergoing pre-HSCT evaluations who subsequently utilize psychotherapy services
      and to explore predictive factors, including distress, anxiety, depression, and
      quality of life (QoL). METHODS: Participants were a cross-sectional sample of 351
      HSCT candidates at an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. Questionnaires
      assessing distress, anxiety, depression, and QoL were administered using
      validated instruments. RESULTS: A subset of patients, representing 14% of the
      sample, utilized psychotherapy services. Relative to patients who did not utilize
      psychological services, patients who followed-up with psychotherapy reported
      significantly more depressive and anxious symptoms (P < .001) and endorsed worse
      QoL on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General. (P = .04). Of note, a
      subset of patients who utilized psychotherapy services reported low levels of
      distress (67%), depression (13%), or anxiety (13%); on the other hand, a subset
      of patients reported moderate-to-high levels of distress (25%), depression (71%),
      or anxiety (60%) but did not utilize services. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that
      only a small subset of patients presenting for pre-HSCT psychosocial evaluation
      subsequently utilized psychotherapy services. Most patients who reported
      psychosocial concerns and who could potentially benefit from intervention did not
      use psychotherapy services. Further research is necessary to help clarify
      barriers to psychotherapy service utilization among HSCT patients and to help
      improve uptake among high-need patients.

PMID- 28600802
TI  - mTORC1 and mTORC2 as regulators of cell metabolism in immunity.
AB  - The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is an evolutionarily conserved
      signaling pathway that senses intra- and extracellular nutrients, growth factors,
      and pathogen-associated molecular patterns to regulate the function of innate and
      adaptive immune cell populations. In this review, we focus on the role of the
      mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTORC2 in the regulation of the cellular energy
      metabolism of these immune cells to regulate and support immune responses. In
      this regard, mTORC1 and mTORC2 generally promote an anabolic response by
      stimulating protein synthesis, glycolysis, mitochondrial functions, and lipid
      synthesis to influence proliferation and survival, effector and memory responses,
      innate training and tolerance as well as hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and
      differentiation. Deactivation of mTOR restores cell homeostasis after immune
      activation and optimizes antigen presentation and memory T-cell generation. These
      findings show that the mTOR pathway integrates spatiotemporal information of the
      environmental and cellular energy status by regulating cellular metabolic
      responses to guide immune cell activation. Elucidation of the metabolic control
      mechanisms of immune responses will help to generate a systemic understanding of
      the immune system.

PMID- 28600804
TI  - Noninvasive pulmonary transit time: A new parameter for general cardiac
      performance.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary transit time (PTT) assessed with contrast-enhanced
      ultrasound (CEUS) is a novel tool to evaluate cardiac function. PTT represents
      the time for a bolus of contrast to pass from the right to the left ventricle,
      measured according to the indicator dilution principles using CEUS. We
      investigated the hypothesis that PTT is a measure of general cardiac performance
      in patient populations eligible for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).
      METHODS: The study population consisted of heart failure patients referred for
      CRT with NYHA class II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)<=35% and
      QRS>=120 ms. CEUS, ECG, and blood were analyzed, and participants completed a
      quality of life questionnaire at baseline and 3 months after CRT implantation.
      Normalized PTT (nPTT) was calculated to compensate for the heart rate.
      Correlations were assessed with Pearson's or Spearman's coefficients and
      stratified for rhythm and NYHA class. RESULTS: The study population consisted of
      94 patients (67 men) with a mean age of 70+/-8.9 years. (n)PTT was significantly
      correlated with left ventricular parameters (rs =-.487, P<.001), right
      ventricular parameters (r=-.282, P=.004), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic
      peptide (NT-proBNP) (rs =.475, P<.001), and quality of life (rs =.364, P<.001).
      Stronger significant correlations were found in patients in sinus rhythm.
      CONCLUSION: CEUS-derived PTT and nPTT correlate to a fair degree with measures of
      systolic and diastolic function, NT-pro-BNP, and quality of life. As CEUS-derived
      PTT can be obtained easily, noninvasively and at the bedside, it is a promising
      future measure of general cardiac performance.

PMID- 28600803
TI  - What drives productivity loss in chronic rhinosinusitis? A SNOT-22 subdomain
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Previous studies have shown declines in productivity due
      to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are correlated with disease-specific quality-of
      life (QOL) measures. However, it is unclear which symptom domains contribute
      primarily to productivity loss. This investigation sought to assess the
      association between CRS-specific QOL subdomain impairment and productivity loss.
      STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study.
      METHODS: There were 198 patients with refractory CRS enrolled between August 2012
      and June 2015. Baseline QOL measures were obtained across five subdomains of the
      22-item SinoNasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22). Lost productivity time was determined
      from patient-reported measures of annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost
      leisure time, and then monetized using annual daily wage rates from the 2012 US
      National Census and 2013 Department of Labor statistics. RESULTS: Productivity
      losses correlated with impairments in both SNOT-22 psychological dysfunction
      (Spearman correlation coefficient [Rs] = 0.428, P < .001), and sleep dysfunction
      domain scores (Rs = 0.355, P < .001). Higher SNOT-22 total scores also
      significantly correlated with increased monetized productivity losses (Rs =
      0.366, P < .001). The mean annual productivity cost was $11,820/patient, whereas
      patients with comorbid immunodeficiency ($23,285/patient), tobacco use
      ($23,195/patient), and steroid dependency ($18,910/patient) reported higher than
      average annual productivity costs. Multivariate linear regression found maximum
      annual productivity costs in adjusted psychological ($13,300/patient, P < .001)
      and sleep dysfunction ($9,275/patient, P < .001) domains. CONCLUSIONS:
      Impairments in sleep and psychological SNOT-22 domains correlate with
      productivity losses. Patients with comorbid immunodeficiency, smoking, and
      steroid dependency had higher than average productivity losses. Targeted
      management of psychological and sleep dysfunction in combination with standard
      symptom control may improve patient-centered care and reduce the annual economic
      burden of CRS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2c. Laryngoscope, 128:23-30, 2018.

PMID- 28600805
TI  - Assessing the impact of a temporary class drug order on ethylphenidate-related
      infections among people who inject drugs in Lothian, Scotland: an interrupted
      time-series analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In April 2015, the UK government enacted a temporary class
      drug order (TCDO) on ethylphenidate in response to reported harms associated with
      its use, in particular an outbreak of infections among people who inject drugs
      (PWID) in Lothian, Scotland. This study assesses the effect that the TCDO had on
      reducing the most common infections identified during the outbreak: Streptococcus
      pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. DESIGN: The outbreak was split into a pre
      intervention period (35 weeks) and a post-intervention period (26 weeks) based
      around the date of the TCDO. Segmented negative binomial regression models were
      used to compare trends in weekly counts of infections between the pre- and post
      intervention periods. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: PWID in the Lothian region of
      Scotland. MEASUREMENTS: Cases of S. pyogenes and S. aureus infections reported
      within the National Health Service, Lothian. FINDINGS: There were 251 S. pyogenes
      and/or S. aureus infections recorded among 211 PWID between February 2014 and
      December 2015: 171 infections in the pre-intervention period and 51 in the post
      intervention period. Significant trend changes in weekly S. pyogenes and/or S.
      aureus infections following the TCDO were found [relative risk (RR) = 0.88, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) = 0.82-0.94]. PWID who self-reported using novel
      psychoactive substances (NPS) were at higher risk of acquiring these infections
      (RR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.12-2.93), particularly when comparing the risk of
      infection with NPS use for a specific strain, S. pyogenes emm76.0, against the
      risk of infection with NPS use for S. pyogenes (emm types other than emm76.0) (RR
      = 3.49, 95% CI = 1.32-9.21). CONCLUSIONS: The UK government's 2015 temporary
      class drug order on ethylphenidate was effective in reducing infections among
      people who inject drugs during an outbreak situation in Lothian, Scotland.

PMID- 28600806
TI  - Steady-state pattern electroretinogram and short-duration transient visual evoked
      potentials in glaucomatous and healthy eyes.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: This study evaluates two rapid electrophysiological glaucoma
      diagnostic tests that may add a functional perspective to glaucoma diagnosis.
      BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the ability of two office-based
      electrophysiological diagnostic tests, steady-state pattern electroretinogram and
      short-duration transient visual evoked potentials, to discern between
      glaucomatous and healthy eyes. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study in a
      hospital setting. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-one patients with glaucoma and 41 healthy
      volunteers participated in the study. METHODS: Steady-state pattern
      electroretinogram and short-duration transient visual evoked potential testing
      was conducted in glaucomatous and healthy eyes. A 64-bar-size stimulus with both
      a low-contrast and high-contrast setting was used to compare steady-state pattern
      electroretinogram parameters in both groups. A low-contrast and high-contrast
      checkerboard stimulus was used to measure short-duration transient visual evoked
      potential parameters in both groups. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Steady-state pattern
      electroretinogram parameters compared were MagnitudeD, MagnitudeD/Magnitude
      ratio, and the signal-to-noise ratio. Short-duration transient visual evoked
      potential parameters compared were amplitude and latency. RESULTS: MagnitudeD was
      significantly lower in glaucoma patients when using a low-contrast (P = 0.001)
      and high-contrast (P < 0.001) 64-bar-size steady-state pattern electroretinogram
      stimulus. MagnitudeD/Magnitude ratio and SNR were significantly lower in the
      glaucoma group when using a high-contrast 64-bar-size stimulus (P < 0.001 and P =
      0.010, respectively). Short-duration transient visual evoked potential amplitude
      and latency were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS
      AND RELEVANCE: Steady-state pattern electroretinogram was effectively able to
      discern between glaucomatous and healthy eyes. Steady-state pattern
      electroretinogram may thus have a role as a clinically useful
      electrophysiological diagnostic tool.

PMID- 28600808
TI  - Lethal effects of selected novel pesticides on immature stages of Trichogramma
      pretiosum (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trichogramma pretiosum Riley is an important egg parasitoid and
      biological control agent of caterpillar pests. We studied the acute toxicity of
      20 pesticides (14 insecticides/miticides, three fungicides and three herbicides)
      exposed to recommended field rates. Egg, larval, and pupal stages of the
      parasitoid in their hosts were dipped in formulated solutions of the pesticides
      and evaluated 10 days later for percentage of host eggs with holes, number of
      parasitoids emerged per egg with holes, and stage-specific mortality of immature
      as well as adult wasps within the host eggs. RESULTS: Seven insecticides
      (buprofezin, chlorantraniliprole, spirotetramat, flonicamid, flubendiamide) and
      miticides (spiromesifen, cyflumetofen), one herbicide (nicosulfuron), and three
      fungicides (myclobutanil, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole) caused
      no significant mortality to immature stages or pre-emergent adult parasitoids
      relative to controls. By contrast, seven insecticides/miticides (abamectin,
      acetamiprid, dinotefuran, fipronil, novaluron, spinetoram, tolfenpyrad) adversely
      affected immature and pre-emergent adult T. pretiosum, with tolfenpyrad being
      particularly lethal. Two herbicides had moderate (glufosinate ammonium) to severe
      (s-metolachlor) acute lethal effects on the immature parasitoids. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study corroborates earlier findings with adult T. pretiosum. Over half of
      the pesticides - and all the fungicides - tested in the current study would
      appear to be compatible with the use of T. pretiosum in integrated pest
      management programs, with respect to acute parasitoid mortality. (c) 2017 Society
      of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28600807
TI  - Multi-layered silk film coculture system for human corneal epithelial and stromal
      stem cells.
AB  - With insufficient options to meet the clinical demand for cornea transplants, one
      emerging area of emphasis is on cornea tissue engineering. In the present study,
      the goal was to combine the corneal stroma and epithelium into one coculture
      system, to monitor both human corneal stromal stem cell (hCSSC) and human corneal
      epithelial cell (hCE) growth and differentiation into keratocytes and
      differentiated epithelium in these three-dimensional tissue systems in vitro.
      Coculture conditions were first optimized, including the medium, air-liquid
      interface culture, and surface topography and chemistry of biomaterial scaffold
      films based on silk protein. The silk was used as scaffolding for both stromal
      and epithelial tissue layers because it is cell compatible, can be surface
      patterned, and is optically clear. Next, the effects of proliferating and
      differentiating hCEs and hCSSCs were studied in this in vitro system, including
      the effects on cell proliferation, matrix formation by immunochemistry, and gene
      expression by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The
      incorporation of both cell types into the coculture system demonstrated more
      complete differentiation and growth for both cell types compared to the corneal
      stromal cells and corneal epithelial cells alone. Silk films for corneal
      epithelial culture were optimized to combine a 4.0-MUm-scale surface pattern with
      bulk-loaded collagen type IV. Differentiation of each cell type was in evidence
      based on increased expression of corneal stroma and epithelial proteins and
      transcript levels after 6 weeks in coculture on the optimized silk scaffolds.

PMID- 28600809
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of transient abnormal myelopoiesis in three fetuses with Down
      syndrome: heterogeneous ultrasonographic findings and outcomes.

PMID- 28600810
TI  - Infections from seven clinical trials of ixekizumab, an anti-interleukin-17A
      monoclonal antibody, in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infections are associated with biological therapies in psoriasis.
      OBJECTIVES: To summarize the incidence of infections in patients with moderate-to
      severe psoriasis treated with ixekizumab, an anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal
      antibody. METHODS: Infections are summarized from an integrated database of seven
      controlled and uncontrolled ixekizumab psoriasis trials. Data are presented from
      placebo-controlled induction (weeks 0-12; UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3) and
      maintenance periods (weeks 12-60; UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2), and all patients
      exposed to ixekizumab pooled from all seven trials. Comparisons with etanercept
      were made during the induction period of two trials (UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3).
      Incidence and exposure-adjusted incidence rates (IRs) per 100 patient-years (PYs)
      are reported. RESULTS: Overall, 4209 patients were treated with ixekizumab (6480
      PY). During induction (weeks 0-12), overall infection rates were higher in
      patients treated with ixekizumab (27%) vs. placebo (23%, P < 0.05); however,
      specific infection rates were comparable overall across treatment groups. IRs of
      infections did not increase with longer-term exposure. For all patients treated
      with ixekizumab (all seven trials), the incidence of serious infections was low
      (2%, IR 1.3). Candida infections, including eight cases of oesophageal
      candidiasis, were adequately managed with antifungal therapy, were noninvasive
      and did not lead to discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, infections occurred in
      a higher percentage of patients treated with ixekizumab vs. placebo during the
      first 12 weeks of treatment; however, specific infection rates were comparable
      overall across treatment groups. Incidences of serious infections were low and
      similar across treatment groups.

PMID- 28600811
TI  - Inducible knockdown of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A gene expression in
      adult female mice extends life span.
AB  - Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) knockout (KO) mice, generated
      through homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells, have a significantly
      increased lifespan compared to wild-type littermates. However, it is unknown
      whether this longevity advantage would pertain to PAPP-A gene deletion in adult
      animals. In the present study, we used tamoxifen (Tam)-inducible Cre recombinase
      mediated excision of the floxed PAPP-A (fPAPP-A) gene in mice at 5 months of age.
      fPAPP-A mice, which were either positive (pos) or negative (neg) for Tam-Cre,
      received Tam treatment with quarterly boosters. Only female mice could be used
      with this experimental design. fPAPP-A/neg and fPAPP-A/pos mice had similar
      weights at the start of the experiment and showed equivalent weight gain. We
      found that fPAPP-A/pos mice had a significant extension of life span (P = 0.005).
      The median life span was increased by 21% for fPAPP-A/pos compared to fPAPP-A/neg
      mice. Analysis of mortality in life span quartiles indicated that the proportion
      of deaths of fPAPP-A/pos mice were lower than fPAPP-A/neg mice at young adult
      ages (P = 0.002 for 601-800 days) and higher than fPAPP-A/neg mice at older ages
      (P = 0.004 for >1000 days). Thus, survival curves and age-specific mortality
      indicate that female mice with knockdown of PAPP-A gene expression as adults have
      an extended healthy life span.

PMID- 28600812
TI  - Temporomandibular disorders and dental occlusion. A systematic review of
      association studies: end of an era?
AB  - To answer a clinical research question: 'is there any association between
      features of dental occlusion and temporomandibular disorders (TMD)?' A systematic
      literature review was performed. Inclusion was based on: (i) the type of study,
      viz., clinical studies on adults assessing the association between TMD (e.g.,
      signs, symptoms, specific diagnoses) and features of dental occlusion by means of
      single or multiple variable analysis, and (ii) their internal validity, viz., use
      of clinical assessment approaches to TMD diagnosis. The search accounted for 25
      papers included in the review, 10 of which with multiple variable analysis.
      Quality assessment showed some possible shortcomings, mainly related with the
      unspecified representativeness of study populations. Seventeen (N = 17) articles
      compared TMD patients with non-TMD individuals, whilst eight papers compared the
      features of dental occlusion in individuals with TMD signs/symptoms and healthy
      subjects in non-patient populations. Findings are quite consistent towards a lack
      of clinically relevant association between TMD and dental occlusion. Only two
      (i.e., centric relation [CR]-maximum intercuspation [MI] slide and mediotrusive
      interferences) of the almost forty occlusion features evaluated in the various
      studies were associated with TMD in the majority (e.g., at least 50%) of single
      variable analyses in patient populations. Only mediotrusive interferences are
      associated with TMD in the majority of multiple variable analyses. Such
      association does not imply a causal relationship and may even have opposite
      implications than commonly believed (i.e., interferences being the result, and
      not the cause, of TMD). Findings support the absence of a disease-specific
      association. Based on that, there seems to lack ground to further hypothesise a
      role for dental occlusion in the pathophysiology of TMD. Clinicians are
      encouraged to abandon the old gnathological paradigm in TMD practice.

PMID- 28600814
TI  - Response to: M.F. Holick 'Can you have your cake and eat it too? The sunlight D
      lema'.

PMID- 28600813
TI  - Elucidation of Altered Pathways in Tumor-Initiating Cells of Triple-Negative
      Breast Cancer: A Useful Cell Model System for Drug Screening.
AB  - A limited number of cancer cells within a tumor are thought to have self-renewing
      and tumor-initiating capabilities that produce the remaining cancer cells in a
      heterogeneous tumor mass. Elucidation of central pathways preferentially used by
      tumor-initiating cells/cancer stem cells (CSCs) may allow their exploitation as
      potential cancer therapy targets. We used single cell cloning to isolate and
      characterize four isogenic cell clones from a triple-negative breast cancer cell
      line; two exhibited mesenchymal-like and two epithelial-like characteristics.
      Within these pairs, one, but not the other, resulted in tumors in immunodeficient
      NOD/Shi-scid/IL-2 Rgamma null mice and efficiently formed mammospheres.
      Quantitative proteomics and phosphoproteomics were used to map signaling pathways
      associated with the tumor-initiating ability. Signaling associated with apoptosis
      was suppressed in tumor-initiating versus nontumorigenic counterparts with pro
      apoptotic proteins, such as Bcl2-associated agonist of cell death (BAD), FAS
      associated death domain protein (FADD), and myeloid differentiation primary
      response protein (MYD88), downregulated in tumor-initiating epithelial-like
      cells. Functional studies confirmed significantly lower apoptosis in tumor
      initiating versus nontumorigenic cells. Moreover, central pathways, including
      beta-catenin and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells
      (NF-kappaB)-related signaling, exhibited increased activation in the tumor
      initiating cells. To evaluate the CSC model as a tool for drug screening, we
      assessed the effect of separately blocking NF-kappaB and Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling and found markedly reduced mammosphere formation, particularly for
      tumor-initiating cells. Similar reduction was also observed using patient-derived
      primary cancer cells. Furthermore, blocking NF-kappaB signaling in mice
      transplanted with tumor-initiating cells significantly reduced tumor outgrowth.
      Our study demonstrates that suppressed apoptosis, activation of pathways
      associated with cell viability, and CSCs are the major differences between tumor
      initiating and nontumorigenic cells independent of their epithelial
      like/mesenchymal-like phenotype. These altered pathways may provide targets for
      future drug development to eliminate CSCs, and the cell model may be a useful
      tool in such drug screenings. Stem Cells 2017;35:1898-1912.

PMID- 28600815
TI  - Neutral zone or conventional mandibular complete dentures: a randomised crossover
      trial comparing oral health-related quality of life.
AB  - There is widespread consensus that the neutral zone (NZ) concept contributes to
      improved stability for mandibular complete dentures (CDs). However, little is
      known about its impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of
      edentulous patients compared to conventionally (CV) manufactured dentures. In
      this prospective crossover trial, performed at the Oral Health Centre of the
      University of the Western Cape, CV and NZ mandibular dentures were made for each
      patient. Scores from the 20-item oral health impact profile (OHIP-20) for both
      types of dentures were compared with pre-treatment scores using paired t-tests.
      Treatment effect size (ES) was established. Associations of OHIP-20 scores and
      several patient variables (age, gender, period of edentulousness, quality of the
      denture-bearing tissue, denture dimensions, preference) were performed using the
      generalised linear model. Significance was set at P = 0.05. Records of thirty
      five participants were included in the study (mean age of 62.3 years, range 47-85
      years). There were highly significant differences between pre-treatment and both
      post-treatment OHIP-20 scores with t = 6.470 for CV and t = 6.713 for NZ.
      Treatment ES was large for both types of dentures (>0.8). Difference of ES
      between NZ and CV dentures was small (ES < 0.2). None of the patient variables
      showed significant associations with OHIP-20 scores of the two types of dentures,
      except for preference and NZ OHIP-20 scores. For this group of patients, both
      treatment methods improved OHRQoL significantly and patient-related factors did
      not influence impact on OHRQoL differently for both interventions.

PMID- 28600816
TI  - On the accuracy factors and computational cost of the GIAO-DFT calculation of 15
      N NMR chemical shifts of amides.
AB  - The main factors affecting the accuracy and computational cost of Gauge
      independent Atomic Orbital-density functional theory (GIAO-DFT) calculation of 15
      N NMR chemical shifts in the benchmark series of 16 amides are considered. Among
      those are the choice of the DFT functional and basis set, solvent effects,
      internal reference conversion factor and applicability of the locally dense basis
      set (LDBS) scheme. Solvent effects are treated within the polarizable continuum
      model (PCM) scheme as well as at supermolecular level with solvent molecules
      considered in explicit way. The best result is found for Keal and Tozer's KT3
      functional used in combination with Jensen's pcS-3 basis set with taking into
      account solvent effects within the polarizable continuum model. The proposed LDBS
      scheme implies pcS-3 on nitrogen and pc-2 elsewhere in the molecule. The
      resulting mean average error for the calculated 15 N NMR chemical shifts is about
      6 ppm. The application of the LDBS approach tested in a series of 16 amides
      results in a dramatic decrease in computational cost (more than an order of
      magnitude in time scale) with insignificant loss of accuracy.

PMID- 28600817
TI  - Brief Report: Interleukin-17A-Dependent Asymmetric Stem Cell Divisions Are
      Increased in Human Psoriasis: A Mechanism Underlying Benign Hyperproliferation.
AB  - The balance between asymmetric and symmetric stem cell (SC) divisions is key to
      tissue homeostasis, and dysregulation of this balance has been shown in cancers.
      We hypothesized that the balance between asymmetric cell divisions (ACDs) and
      symmetric cell divisions (SCDs) would be dysregulated in the benign
      hyperproliferation of psoriasis. We found that, while SCDs were increased in
      squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (human and murine), ACDs were increased in the
      benign hyperproliferation of psoriasis (human and murine). Furthermore, while
      sonic hedgehog (linked to human cancer) and pifithrinalpha (p53 inhibitor)
      promoted SCDs, interleukin (IL)-1alpha and amphiregulin (associated with benign
      epidermal hyperproliferation) promoted ACDs. While there was dysregulation of the
      ACD:SCD ratio, no change in SC frequency was detected in epidermis from psoriasis
      patients, or in human keratinocytes treated with IL-1alpha or amphiregulin. We
      investigated the mechanism whereby immune alterations of psoriasis result in
      ACDs. IL17 inhibitors are effective new therapies for psoriasis. We found that
      IL17A increased ACDs in human keratinocytes. Additionally, studies in the
      imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like mouse model revealed that ACDs in psoriasis are
      IL17A-dependent. In summary, our studies suggest an association between benign
      hyperproliferation and increased ACDs. This work begins to elucidate the
      mechanisms by which immune alteration can induce keratinocyte hyperproliferation.
      Altogether, this work affirms that a finely tuned balance of ACDs and SCDs is
      important and that manipulating this balance may constitute an effective
      treatment strategy for hyperproliferative diseases. Stem Cells 2017;35:2001-2007.

PMID- 28600818
TI  - Extension of ustekinumab maintenance dosing interval in moderate-to-severe
      psoriasis: results of a phase IIIb, randomized, double-blinded, active
      controlled, multicentre study (PSTELLAR).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phase III studies showed that some patients maintained response for
      >= 6 months following ustekinumab discontinuation. OBJECTIVES: To assess clinical
      responses with extended ustekinumab maintenance dosing intervals. METHODS: Adults
      with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis received ustekinumab at weeks 0, 4 and
      16 during open-label treatment. Patients achieving a week-28 Physician's Global
      Assessment (PGA) score of cleared/minimal (PGA = 0/1) were randomized 1 : 4 to
      group 1 [approved every 12 weeks (q12 wk) maintenance] or group 2 (q12-24 wk;
      response-based dosing determined by time to loss of PGA = 0/1). Key end points
      included the number of visits with PGA = 0/1 (primary end point) and >= 75%
      improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75) between weeks 88 and
      112, and PGA/PASI responses between weeks 28 and 112. RESULTS: Overall, 378
      patients achieved PGA = 0/1 at week 28 and were randomized to group 1 (n = 76) or
      group 2 (n = 302). Patients in group 1 had numerically greater mean numbers of
      visits with PGA = 0/1 than group 2 and also with PASI 75 from week 88 to 112. A
      higher proportion of patients in group 1 (55%) than group 2 (39%) had PGA = 0/1
      at all seven visits from week 88 to 112. Maintenance of response was observed
      with dose-interval extension beyond q12 wk in a subset of patients. Extending the
      dosing interval did not affect antibody development or safety. CONCLUSIONS:
      Efficacy was better maintained among week-28 PGA responders randomized to
      continue q12 wk ustekinumab vs. extending maintenance dosing based on clinical
      response, although some patients maintained high levels of efficacy with up to
      q24 wk dosing.

PMID- 28600819
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28600820
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28600821
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28600822
TI  - Diagnostic performance of 18 fluorodesoxyglucose positron emission/computed
      tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in detecting T1-T2 head and neck
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to assess and compare the
      diagnostic accuracy of 18 fluorodesoxyglucose positron emission/computed
      tomography (FDG-PET/CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect T1-T2 head
      and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective case series.
      METHODS: Thirty-five consecutive patients with histologically proven T1-T2 HNSCC
      were prospectively included. All patients underwent pretherapeutic FDG-PET/CT and
      MRI. Two nuclear medicine physicians and 2 radiologists blindly reviewed all FDG
      PET/CT and MRI, respectively. A five-point qualitative scale was used to estimate
      tumor detection ability. Sensitivity of each modality was compared together using
      a McNemar test. Interobserver variability was assessed by kappa index (kappa) of
      Cohen statistics. Maximal standardized uptake value (SUVMAX ), metabolic tumor
      volume (MTV) in FDG-PET/CT, and gadolinium enhancement (%GE) in MRI of each tumor
      were recorded and compared with T stage using a Mann-Whitney test. Tumor-to
      normal tissue ratios in FDG-PET/CT and MRI (TNRPET and TNRMRI ) were calculated
      and compared together using a Student t test. RESULTS: Among the 35 primary
      tumors, 29 were detected by FDG-PET/CT and 22 by MRI. MRI detected none of the
      six lesions incorrectly identified by FDG-PET/CT. FDG-PET/CT correctly identified
      seven of the 13 MRI false-negative results. Sensitivity of FDG-PET/CT to detect
      T1-T2 HNSCC was significantly higher than MRI (83% vs. 63%, P = .015). T stage
      was significantly correlated with MTV (P = .002) unlike with SUVMAX (P = .06) and
      %GE (P = .70). TNRPET was significantly higher than TNRMRI (3.5 +/- 3.2 vs. 1.2
      +/- 0.3, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a higher diagnostic accuracy
      of FDG-PET/CT than MRI to detect T1-T2 HNSCC with a good interobserver agreement.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 128:378-385, 2018.

PMID- 28600823
TI  - Can the Ni classification of vessels predict neoplasia? A systematic review and
      meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Ni classification of vascular change from 2011 is well documented
      for evaluating pharyngeal and laryngeal lesions, primarily focusing on cancer. In
      the planning of surgery it may be more relevant to differentiate neoplasia from
      non-neoplasia. We aimed to evaluate the ability of the Ni classification to
      predict laryngeal or hypopharyngeal neoplasia and to investigate if a changed
      cutoff value would support the recent European Laryngological Society (ELS)
      proposal of perpendicular vascular changes as indicative of neoplasia. DATA
      SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Scopus databases. REVIEW METHODS: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred
      Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement. We
      systematically searched for publications from 2011 until 2016. All retrieved
      studies were reviewed and qualitatively assessed. The pooled sensitivity and
      specificity of the Ni classification with two different cutoffs were calculated,
      and bubble and summary receiver operating characteristics plots were created.
      RESULTS: The combined sensitivity of five studies (n = 687) with Ni type IV-V
      defined as test-positive was 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.76-0.95), and
      specificity was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72-0.89). The equivalent combined sensitivity of
      four studies (n = 624) with Ni type V defined as test-positive was 0.82 (95% CI:
      0.75-0.87), and specificity was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.82-0.97). CONCLUSIONS: The
      diagnostic accuracy of the Ni classification in predicting neoplasia was high,
      without significant difference between the two analyzed cutoff values.
      Implementation of the proposed ELS classification of vascular changes seems
      reasonable from a clinical perspective, with comparable accuracy. Attention must
      be drawn to the accompanying risk of exposing patients to unnecessary surgery.
      Laryngoscope, 128:168-176, 2018.

PMID- 28600824
TI  - Preparation of 68 Ga-Mg-Ca-phytate colloid and its evaluation as a liver imaging
      agent.
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the radiosynthesis of 68 Ga-Mg-Ca
      phytate colloid and then characterise the formulation for radiochemical purity
      (RCP), radioactive particle size distribution, and biodistribution in normal
      rats. This radiocolloid was prepared by mixing an aqueous solution of phytic
      acid, 68 Ga3+ ions, a dispersant, Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions, and then heating the
      contents at 100 degrees C for 5 minutes. After cooling the vial to 5 degrees C,
      the solution was basified to pH 5 and stored in the cold. The resulting product
      contained 92+/-3% RCP 68 Ga-colloidal particles and a low level (8+/-3%) of
      soluble 68 Ga-Mg-Ca-phytate. Particle size experiments defined the radioactive
      particle population was 6+/-4% <20 nm, 90+/-6% 20 to 200 nm, and 4% were >200 nm
      in diameter. Intravenous injection of the 68 Ga-colloid dispersion to rats
      resulted in 93% uptake by the liver plus spleen, 1% lungs, 1% total blood, and 6%
      in the carcass after 20 minutes. This optimal formulation remained stable at 5
      degrees C for 11/2 hours in vitro, and it resulted in the same biodistribution as
      the formulation prepared at t = 0 hours. The preclinical data so far indicate
      that 68 Ga-Mg-Ca-colloid has excellent potential as a liver imaging agent.

PMID- 28600825
TI  - Temporomandibular dysfunction in adult patients with myotonic dystrophy (DM1).
AB  - Myotonic muscle dystrophy is a systemic disease with early engagement of the
      facial muscles. Our aim was to study dysfunction of the temporomandibular system
      in patients with 'classic' dystrophia myotonica (DM1) and compare it with TMD
      patients and healthy controls. The study included 27 referred patients with DM1,
      18 women and nine men, aged 30-62 years, and two matched control groups: patients
      with temporomandibular disorders symptoms (TMD) and healthy controls, both groups
      were consecutive patients. The patients answered questions regarding facial pain,
      jaw function and dysfunction. A clinical examination of the temporomandibular
      system including the occlusion was performed, and the maximum bite force and
      finger forces were measured. Among the DM1 patients, 33% reported difficulty
      biting off, and 22% had difficulty chewing, avoiding foods like meat and raw
      vegetables, and 37% of the DM1 patients scored their pain and discomfort as
      moderate to fairly severe. Their main complaints were TMJ clicking and locking,
      difficulty opening wide and tiredness. They had more clinical signs of
      dysfunction compared with the controls (P < 0.001), but no statistically
      significant difference to the TMD patients. The maximum bite force in DM1
      patients was impaired compared to both the TMD patients and the controls (P <
      0.001). Significantly more occlusal interferences were found in DM1 patients and
      were associated with chewing difficulties (P < 0.001). In conclusion, patients
      suffering from DM1 had an increased prevalence of TMD symptoms, reported impaired
      chewing function and had a decreased maximum bite force.

PMID- 28600827
TI  - Differences between time domain and Fourier domain optical coherence tomography
      in imaging tissues.
AB  - It has been numerously demonstrated that both time domain and Fourier domain
      optical coherence tomography (OCT) can generate high-resolution depth-resolved
      images of living tissues and cells. In this work, we compare the common points
      and differences between two methods when the continuous and random properties of
      live tissue are taken into account. It is found that when relationships that
      exist between the scattered light and tissue structures are taken into account,
      spectral interference measurements in Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT) is more
      advantageous than interference fringe envelope measurements in time domain OCT
      (TDOCT) in the cases where continuous property of tissue is taken into account.
      It is also demonstrated that when random property of tissue is taken into account
      FDOCT measures the Fourier transform of the spatial correlation function of the
      refractive index and speckle phenomena will limit the effective limiting imaging
      resolution in both TDOCT and FDOCT. Finally, the effective limiting resolution of
      both TDOCT and FDOCT are given which can be used to estimate the effective
      limiting resolution in various practical applications.

PMID- 28600826
TI  - Tinker-OpenMM: Absolute and relative alchemical free energies using AMOEBA on
      GPUs.
AB  - The capabilities of the polarizable force fields for alchemical free energy
      calculations have been limited by the high computational cost and complexity of
      the underlying potential energy functions. In this work, we present a GPU-based
      general alchemical free energy simulation platform for polarizable potential
      AMOEBA. Tinker-OpenMM, the OpenMM implementation of the AMOEBA simulation engine
      has been modified to enable both absolute and relative alchemical simulations on
      GPUs, which leads to a ~200-fold improvement in simulation speed over a single
      CPU core. We show that free energy values calculated using this platform agree
      with the results of Tinker simulations for the hydration of organic compounds and
      binding of host-guest systems within the statistical errors. In addition to
      absolute binding, we designed a relative alchemical approach for computing
      relative binding affinities of ligands to the same host, where a special path was
      applied to avoid numerical instability due to polarization between the different
      ligands that bind to the same site. This scheme is general and does not require
      ligands to have similar scaffolds. We show that relative hydration and binding
      free energy calculated using this approach match those computed from the absolute
      free energy approach. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28600828
TI  - Allogeneic MSCs and Recycled Autologous Chondrons Mixed in a One-Stage Cartilage
      Cell Transplantion: A First-in-Man Trial in 35 Patients.
AB  - MSCs are known as multipotent mesenchymal stem cells that have been found capable
      of differentiating into various lineages including cartilage. However, recent
      studies suggest MSCs are pericytes that stimulate tissue repair through trophic
      signaling. Aimed at articular cartilage repair in a one-stage cell
      transplantation, this study provides first clinical evidence that MSCs stimulate
      autologous cartilage repair in the knee without engrafting in the host tissue. A
      phase I (first-in-man) clinical trial studied the one-stage application of
      allogeneic MSCs mixed with 10% or 20% recycled defect derived autologous
      chondrons for the treatment of cartilage defects in 35 patients. No treatment
      related serious adverse events were found and statistically significant
      improvement in clinical outcome shown. Magnetic resonance imaging and second-look
      arthroscopies showed consistent newly formed cartilage tissue. A biopsy taken
      from the center of the repair tissue was found to have hyaline-like features with
      a high concentration of proteoglycans and type II collagen. DNA short tandem
      repeat analysis delivered unique proof that the regenerated tissue contained
      patient-DNA only. These findings support the hypothesis that allogeneic MSCs
      stimulate a regenerative host response. This first-in-man trial supports a
      paradigm shift in which MSCs are applied as augmentations or "signaling cells"
      rather than differentiating stem cells and opens doors for other applications.
      Stem Cells 2017;35:1984-1993.

PMID- 28600829
TI  - Small-for-gestational-age babies after 37 weeks: impact study of risk
      stratification protocol.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although no clear evidence exists, many international guidelines
      advocate early-term delivery of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses. The aim
      of this study was to determine whether a risk-stratification protocol in which
      low-risk SGA fetuses are managed expectantly beyond 37 weeks affects perinatal
      and maternal outcomes. METHODS: This was an impact study examining data collected
      over a 39-month period (1 January 2013 to 30 April 2016) at a tertiary referral
      unit. The study included women who were referred to the fetal medicine unit with
      a singleton non-anomalous fetus diagnosed antenatally as SGA (estimated fetal
      weight < 10th centile) from 36 + 0 weeks' gestation. In 2014, a protocol for
      management of SGA was introduced, which included risk stratification with
      surveillance and expectant management after 37 weeks for lower-risk babies
      (protocol group). This was compared with the previous strategy, which recommended
      delivery at around 37 weeks (pre-protocol group). Primary outcome was neonatal
      composite adverse outcome. RESULTS: In the pre-protocol group, there were 138 SGA
      babies; in the protocol group there were 143. Mean gestational ages at delivery
      were 37.4 weeks in the pre-protocol group and 38.2 weeks in the protocol group (P
      = 0.04). The incidence of neonatal composite adverse outcome was lower in the
      protocol group (9% vs 22%; P < 0.01), as was neonatal unit admission (13% vs 39%;
      P < 0.01). Induction of labor and Cesarean section rates were lower, and vaginal
      delivery rate (83% vs 60%; P < 0.01) was higher, in the protocol group. Most of
      the differences were as a result of delayed delivery of SGA babies that were
      stratified as low risk. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that
      protocol-based management of SGA babies may improve outcome, and that
      identification of moderate SGA should not in isolation prompt delivery. Larger
      numbers are required to assess any impact on perinatal mortality. Copyright (c)
      2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28600831
TI  - Absolute bacterial cell enumeration using flow cytometry.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate a flow cytometry protocol that uses reference beads for the
      enumeration of live and dead bacteria present in a mixture. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Mixtures of live and dead Escherichia coli with live:dead concentration ratios
      varying from 0 to 100% were prepared. These samples were stained using SYTO 9 and
      propidium iodide and 6-MUm reference beads were added. Bacteria present in live
      samples were enumerated by agar plate counting. Bacteria present in dead samples
      were enumerated by agar plate counting before treatment with isopropanol. There
      is a linear relationship between the presented flow cytometry method and agar
      plate counts for live (R2  = 0.99) and dead E. coli (R2  = 0.93) concentrations
      of c. 104 to 108 bacteria per ml within mixtures of live and dead bacteria.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reliable enumeration of live E. coli within a mixture of both live
      and dead was possible for concentration ratios of above 2.5% live and for the
      enumeration of dead E. coli the lower limit was c. 20% dead. SIGNIFICANCE AND
      IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The ability to obtain absolute cell concentrations is only
      available for selected flow cytometers, this study describes a method for
      accurate enumeration that is applicable to basic flow cytometers without
      specialized counting features. By demonstrating the application of the method to
      count E. coli, we raised points of consideration for using this FCM counting
      method and aim to lay the foundation for future work that uses similar methods
      for different bacterial strains.

PMID- 28600832
TI  - Investigation of drug products received for analysis in the Swedish STRIDA
      project on new psychoactive substances.
AB  - The web-based open sale of unregulated new psychoactive substances (NPS) has
      shown a steady increase in recent years. Analysis of drug products sold as NPS is
      useful to confirm the true chemical contents, for comparison with the substances
      detected in corresponding body fluids, but also to study drug trends. This work
      describes the examination of 251 drug products that were randomly submitted for
      analysis in 173 cases of suspected NPS-related intoxications in the Swedish
      STRIDA project in 2010-2015. Of the products, 39% were powders/crystals, 32%
      tablets/capsules, 16% herbal materials, 8% liquids, 1% blotters, and 4% others.
      The analysis involved tandem mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy. In 88 products (35%), classic psychoactive substances, prescription
      pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, or doping agents were found; however, in
      none of these cases had an NPS-related intoxication been indicated from product
      markings or patient self-reports. Another 12 products tested negative for
      psychoactive substances. The remaining 151 products contained 86 different NPS
      (30% contained >=2 substances). In 104 drug products, a specific NPS ingredient
      was indicated based on labelling (69%) or patient self-report; in 92 cases this
      was also analytically confirmed to be correct. Overall, the NPS products
      submitted for analysis in the STRIDA project showed a high degree of consistency
      between suspected and actual content (88%). The results of related urine and/or
      blood analysis further demonstrated that the patients commonly (89%) tested
      positive for the indicated NPS, but also revealed that polysubstance intoxication
      was common (83%), indicating use of additional drug products.

PMID- 28600830
TI  - Brief Report: External Beam Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Human
      Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Teratomas.
AB  - Human pluripotent stem cells, including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and
      human induced PSCs (hiPSCs), have great potential as an unlimited donor source
      for cell-based therapeutics. The risk of teratoma formation from residual
      undifferentiated cells, however, remains a critical barrier to the clinical
      application of these cells. Herein, we describe external beam radiation therapy
      (EBRT) as an attractive option for the treatment of this iatrogenic growth. We
      present evidence that EBRT is effective in arresting growth of hESC-derived
      teratomas in vivo at day 28 post-implantation by using a microCT irradiator
      capable of targeted treatment in small animals. Within several days of
      irradiation, teratomas derived from injection of undifferentiated hESCs and
      hiPSCs demonstrated complete growth arrest lasting several months. In addition,
      EBRT reduced reseeding potential of teratoma cells during serial transplantation
      experiments, requiring irradiated teratomas to be seeded at 1 * 103 higher doses
      to form new teratomas. We demonstrate that irradiation induces teratoma cell
      apoptosis, senescence, and growth arrest, similar to established radiobiology
      mechanisms. Taken together, these results provide proof of concept for the use of
      EBRT in the treatment of existing teratomas and highlight a strategy to increase
      the safety of stem cell-based therapies. Stem Cells 2017;35:1994-2000.

PMID- 28600834
TI  - Engineering crop nutrient efficiency for sustainable agriculture.
AB  - Increasing crop yields can provide food, animal feed, bioenergy feedstocks and
      biomaterials to meet increasing global demand; however, the methods used to
      increase yield can negatively affect sustainability. For example, application of
      excess fertilizer can generate and maintain high yields but also increases input
      costs and contributes to environmental damage through eutrophication, soil
      acidification and air pollution. Improving crop nutrient efficiency can improve
      agricultural sustainability by increasing yield while decreasing input costs and
      harmful environmental effects. Here, we review the mechanisms of nutrient
      efficiency (primarily for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and iron) and breeding
      strategies for improving this trait, along with the role of regulation of gene
      expression in enhancing crop nutrient efficiency to increase yields. We focus on
      the importance of root system architecture to improve nutrient acquisition
      efficiency, as well as the contributions of mineral translocation, remobilization
      and metabolic efficiency to nutrient utilization efficiency.

PMID- 28600833
TI  - The Dietary Intervention to Enhance Tracking with Mobile Devices (DIET Mobile)
      Study: A 6-Month Randomized Weight Loss Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of two different mobile dietary self-monitoring
      methods for weight loss. METHODS: Adults with overweight (n = 81; mean BMI 34.7
      +/- 5.6 kg/m2 ) were randomized to self-monitor their diet with a mobile app
      (App, n = 42) or wearable Bite Counter device (Bite, n = 39). Both groups
      received the same behavioral weight loss information via twice-weekly podcasts.
      Weight, physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and
      energy intake (two dietary recalls) were assessed at 0, 3, and 6 months. RESULTS:
      At 6 months, 75% of participants completed the trial. The App group lost
      significantly more weight (-6.8 +/- 0.8 kg) than the Bite group (-3.0 +/- 0.8 kg;
      group * time interaction: P < 0.001). Changes in energy intake (kcal/d) (-621 +/-
      157 App, -456 +/- 167 Bite; P = 0.47) or number of days diet was tracked (90.7 +/
      9.1 App, 68.4 +/- 9.8 Bite; P = 0.09) did not differ between groups, but the
      Bite group had significant increases in physical activity metabolic equivalents
      (+2015.4 +/- 684.6 min/wk; P = 0.02) compared to little change in the App group (
      136.5 +/- 630.6; P = 0.02). Total weight loss was significantly correlated with
      number of podcasts downloaded (r = -0.33, P < 0.01) and number of days diet was
      tracked (r = -0.33, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: While frequency of diet tracking was
      similar between the App and Bite groups, there was greater weight loss observed
      in the App group.

PMID- 28600835
TI  - "In-loop" [11 C]CO2 fixation: Prototype and proof of concept.
AB  - Carbon-11-labeled carbon dioxide is the most common feedstock for the synthesis
      of positron emission tomography radiotracers and can be directly used for 11 C
      carbonylation. Herein, we report the development of an apparatus that takes
      advantage of "in-loop" technologies to facilitate robust and reproducible
      syntheses of 11 C-carbonyl-based radiotracers by [11 C]CO2 -fixation. Our "in
      loop" [11 C]CO2 -fixation method is simple, efficient, and proceeds smoothly at
      ambient pressure and temperature. We selected model 11 C-carbonyl-labeled
      carbamates as well as symmetrical and unsymmetrical ureas based on their
      widespread use in radiotracer design and our clinical research interests for
      proof of concept. Utility of this method is demonstrated by the synthesis of a
      reversible radiopharmaceutical for monoamine oxidase B, [11 C]SL25.1188, and 2
      novel fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors. These radiotracers were isolated and
      formulated (>3.5 GBq; 100 mCi) with radiochemical purities (>99%) and molar
      radioactivity (>=80 GBq/MUmol; >=2162 mCi/MUmol).

PMID- 28600837
TI  - Single-cell analyses to reveal hematopoietic stem cell fate decisions.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the best studied adult stem cells with
      enormous clinical value. Most of our knowledge about their biology relies on
      assays at the single HSC level. However, only the recent advances in developing
      new single cell technologies allowed the elucidation of the complex regulation of
      HSC fate decision control. This Review will focus on current attempts to
      investigate individual HSCs at molecular and functional levels. The advantages of
      these technologies leading to groundbreaking insights into hematopoiesis will be
      highlighted, and the challenges facing these technologies will be discussed. The
      importance of combining molecular and functional assays to enlighten regulatory
      networks of HSC fate decision control, ideally at high temporal resolution,
      becomes apparent for future studies.

PMID- 28600836
TI  - An empirical examination of consumer effects across twenty degrees of latitude.
AB  - The strength and importance of consumer effects are predicted to increase toward
      low latitudes, but this hypothesis has rarely been tested using a spatially
      consistent methodology. In a consumer-exclusion experiment spanning twenty
      degrees of latitude along the east Australian coast, the magnitude of consumer
      effects on sub-tidal sessile assemblage composition was not greater at low than
      high latitudes. Across caged and control assemblages, Shannon's diversity,
      Pielou's evenness, and richness of functional groups decreased with increasing
      latitude, but the magnitude of consumer effects on these metrics did not display
      consistent latitudinal gradients. Instead, latitudinal gradients in consumer
      effects were apparent for individual functional groups. Solitary ascidians
      displayed the pattern consistent with predictions of greater direct effects of
      predators at low than high latitude. As consumers reduced the biomass of this and
      other competitive dominants, groups less prone to predation (e.g., hydroids,
      various groups of bryozoans) were able to take advantage of freed space in the
      presence of consumers and show increased abundances there. This large-scale
      empirical study demonstrates the complexity of species interactions, and the
      failure of assemblage-level metrics to adequately capture consumer effects over
      large spatial gradients.

PMID- 28600838
TI  - Usefulness of three-dimensional echocardiography in the assessment of valvular
      involvement in Loeffler endocarditis.
AB  - Loeffler endocarditis is a complication of hypereosinophilic syndrome resulting
      from eosinophilic infiltration of heart tissue. We report a case of Loeffler
      endocarditis in which three-dimensional transthoracic and transesophageal
      echocardiography provided additional information to what was found by two
      dimensional transthoracic echocardiography alone. Our case illustrates the
      usefulness of combined two- and three-dimensional echocardiography in the
      assessment of Loeffler endocarditis. In addition, a summary of the features of
      hypereosinophilic syndrome and Loeffler endocarditis is provided in tabular form.

PMID- 28600839
TI  - Social media presence of otolaryngology journals: The past, present, and future.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Evaluate the use of Twitter by otolaryngology journals and
      determine the relationship between social media altmetrics and measures of
      academic impact. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. METHODS: Twitter
      profiles from the top 50 otolaryngology journals per 2016 SCImago Journal &
      Country Rank (SJR) were included. Twitter activity for each profile was
      calculated using Twitonomy analytics and Riffle software. Social media influence
      was measured using Klout scores. Annual SJR rank and H-Index scores between 2008
      and 2016 were recorded for each journal. Associations between social media
      influence and academic indices were assessed using Wilcoxon rank sum test,
      Spearman's rank order test, and Pearson correlation coefficients (alpha = .05).
      RESULTS: Average SJR was 0.86 +/- 0.3 and H-Index was 50.9 +/- 24. Eighteen
      journals had Twitter profiles. Journals with social media accounts had
      significantly higher SJR (P = .03) and H-Index (P = .01) scores compared to those
      without. The average Klout score of Twitter profiles was 32.5 +/- 13. There was a
      significant association between a journal's Klout score and SJR rank (P = .004).
      Older Twitter profiles had higher Klout scores (P = .04). There was a direct
      relationship between a journal's total Twitter followers and H-Index score (P =
      .009), and a direct relationship between tweets and academic influence (P = .03
      and .01 for SJR and H-Index, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Social media is often
      underutilized and remains an untapped resource by many journals to increase
      readership and disseminate research. Journals with social media profiles had
      significantly higher academic metrics, and among journals with profiles,
      increased online activity was a predictor for academic influence. Future studies
      are warranted to elucidate causal relationships. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA.
      Laryngoscope, 128:363-368, 2018.

PMID- 28600840
TI  - The influence of oral health on patients' food perception: a systematic review.
AB  - Oral food perception depends on somatosensory information that includes taste and
      can be modified by oral components and/or functions such as mastication. The
      purpose of this study was to describe the interplay between oral health,
      mastication and taste. A review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for
      Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist was conducted on 615 publications
      found by both PubMed and backward research. Thirty-one studies have been
      included. The results showed that the decline in taste ability observed during
      the healthy ageing process could be potentiated by the deterioration of oral
      health and poor oral hygiene. Prosthetic treatment could modify taste ability and
      oral food perception. A palatal covering with removable dentures can have an
      impact on taste perception which may depend on taste modality. During the
      mastication sequence, taste is apparently scattered throughout the oral cavity,
      probably through saliva. The deterioration of masticatory function modifies taste
      perception. Oral health and oral care should consider factors influencing
      patients' food perception and relations between taste and mastication. Therefore,
      dentists may modulate these factors to improve food perception and patients'
      eating pleasure and quality of life.

PMID- 28600841
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Enantio-, Diastereo-, and Regioselective [2,3]-Rearrangements of
      Iodonium Ylides.
AB  - The first highly enantioselective, diastereoselective, and regioselective [2,3]
      rearrangement of iodonium ylides has been developed as a general solution to
      catalytic onium ylide rearrangements. In the presence of a chiral copper
      catalyst, substituted allylic iodides couple with alpha-diazoesters to generate
      metal-coordinated iodonium ylides, which undergo [2,3]-rearrangements with high
      selectivities (up to >95:5 r.r., up to >95:5 d.r., and up to 97 % ee). The
      enantioenriched iodoester products can be converted stereospecifically into a
      variety of onium ylide rearrangement products, as well as compounds that are not
      accessible by classical onium ylide rearrangements.

PMID- 28600842
TI  - A scoping review of epidemiologic risk factors for pediatric obesity:
      Implications for future childhood obesity and dental caries prevention research.
AB  - RESEARCH QUESTIONS: What are the non-modifiable (socioeconomic, genetic) and
      modifiable factors (physical activity, dietary behaviors) related to childhood
      (under age 12) obesity? How can this knowledge be applied to oral health
      professionals' efforts to prevent or manage dental caries in children?
      OBJECTIVES: Studies have identified risk factors for childhood obesity. The
      purpose of this scoping review was to develop a conceptual model to identify non
      modifiable and modifiable risk factors for childhood obesity and to illustrate
      how these findings are relevant in developing interventions aimed at preventing
      obesity and dental caries in children. METHODS: The authors searched PubMed and
      Embase and limited the study to English-language publications. A total of 2,572
      studies were identified. After de-duplication, 2,479 studies remained and were
      downloaded into a citation-management tool. Two authors screened the titles and
      abstracts for relevance. Two hundred and sixty studies remained and were
      retrieved for a full-text review, and 80 studies were excluded, resulting in 180
      studies included in the scoping review. An inductive content analytic methods was
      used to organize all statistically significant obesity risk factors into seven
      domains, which were classified as non-modifiable or modifiable; then a conceptual
      model of common risk factors associated with childhood obesity and dental caries
      was developed. RESULTS: Non-modifiable obesity risk factors include biological
      and developmental (e.g., genes, developmental conditions, puberty),
      sociodemographic and household (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status,
      parent education, unemployment), cultural (e.g., degree of acculturation), and
      community (e.g., neighborhood composition). Modifiable risk factors included
      behavioral (e.g., diet, physical activity, weight), psychosocial (e.g., maternal
      stress, family functioning, parenting practices, child temperament), and medical
      (e.g., parent smoking, maternal health, child health). CONCLUSIONS: Identifying
      common risk factors has important implications for future oral health research
      aimed at preventing childhood obesity and dental caries. Epidemiologic knowledge
      gleaned from the literature can be used to develop rigorous interventions and
      programs aimed at preventing these highly prevalent diseases and improving health
      outcomes for children.

PMID- 28600843
TI  - Mortality caused by intracranial bleeding in non-severe hemophilia A patients:
      comment.

PMID- 28600844
TI  - Pain in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity.
AB  - Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN) is a potentially dose
      limiting side effect of the treatment of several cancers. CIPN is predominantly
      or exclusively sensory, and it is frequently associated with unpleasant symptoms,
      overall referred to as "pain." However, given the markedly different clinical
      presentation and course of CIPN depending on the antineoplastic drug used, the
      broad term "pain" in the specific context of CIPN needs to be reconsidered and
      refined. In fact, a precise identification of the features of CIPN has relevant
      implication in the design of rational-based clinical trials and in the selection
      of possible active drugs.

PMID- 28600845
TI  - Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and placental growth factor kinetics during
      and after pregnancy in women with suspected or confirmed pre-eclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the evolution of the soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1
      (sFlt-1) to placental growth factor (PlGF) ratio in women with suspected or
      confirmed pre-eclampsia (PE), and to investigate the changes in sFlt-1 and PlGF
      levels in pre-eclamptic women after delivery. METHODS: This was an exploratory
      study in which secondary analysis was performed on a prospective cohort study
      that enrolled women with a singleton pregnancy and suspected or confirmed PE from
      18 weeks' gestation, carried out between December 2013 and April 2016 at the
      Department of Obstetrics of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. sFlt-1 and
      PlGF were determined using Roche Diagnostics Elecsys assays in two groups of
      patients. In the first group, patients with suspected or confirmed PE had sFlt-1
      and PlGF levels measured at least twice during their pregnancy. Changes in these
      biomarkers over the course of pregnancy were compared for patients in this group
      with a baseline sFlt-1/PlGF ratio of <= 38 and for those with a ratio > 38. In
      the second group, sFlt-1 and PlGF levels of women with PE or HELLP syndrome were
      measured before and after delivery. For this group, pre- and postpartum sFlt-1
      and PlGF levels were compared and half-lives were calculated. RESULTS: Women with
      suspected or confirmed PE for whom sFlt-1 and PlGF levels were measured at least
      twice during pregnancy (n = 46) had a median gestational age at inclusion of 26
      weeks (range, 18-40 weeks). In 27 of the 30 patients with sFlt-1/PlGF ratio <= 38
      at baseline, thereby ruling out PE, the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio remained stable for up
      to 100 days. In the remaining three patients with a ratio <= 38 and in most of
      the 16 patients with a ratio > 38, the ratio increased further. For women
      diagnosed with PE or HELLP syndrome for whom sFlt-1 and PlGF levels were measured
      before and after delivery (n = 26), median gestational age at inclusion was 29
      weeks (range, 16-37 weeks) and median time between antepartum measurement and
      delivery was 2 days (range, 1-17 days). In this group, after delivery, sFlt-1
      dropped to < 1% of its pre-delivery value, with a half-life of 1.4 +/- 0.3 days,
      while PlGF dropped to ~30% of its pre-delivery value, with a half-life of 3.7 +/-
      4.3 days. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this small cohort, up to 10% of pregnant women
      admitted with suspected or confirmed PE presenting with a sFlt-1/PlGF ratio of <=
      38 display a rise in sFlt-1/PlGF ratio in subsequent weeks, implying that repeat
      determination of the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio is required to exclude definitively a
      diagnosis of PE. Furthermore, the rapid and pronounced decline in sFlt-1 levels
      after delivery in patients with PE/HELLP syndrome suggests that sFlt-1, in
      contrast to PlGF, is almost entirely derived from the placenta. Copyright (c)
      2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28600846
TI  - Ectopic implantation of juvenile osteochondral tissues recapitulates endochondral
      ossification.
AB  - Subcutaneous implantation in a mouse can be used to investigate tissue maturation
      in vivo. Here we demonstrate that this simple model can recapitulate endochondral
      ossification associated with native skeletal development. By histological and
      micro-computed tomography analysis we investigated morphological changes of
      immature bovine osteochondral tissues over the course of subcutaneous
      implantation in immunocompromised mice for up to 10 weeks. We observed multiple
      similarities between the ectopic process and native endochondral ossification:
      (i) permanent cartilage retention in the upper zones; (ii) progressive loss of
      transient cartilage accompanied by bone formation at the interface; and (iii)
      remodelling of nascent endochondral bone into mature cancellous bone.
      Importantly, these processes were mediated by osteoclastogenesis and
      vascularization. Taken together, these findings advance our understanding of how
      the simple ectopic model can be used to study phenotypic changes associated with
      endochondral ossification of native and engineered osteochondral tissues in vivo.

PMID- 28600847
TI  - The fifth subunit of the (alpha4beta2)2 beta2 nicotinic ACh receptor modulates
      maximal ACh responses.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The fifth subunit in the (alpha4beta2)2 alpha4 nicotinic
      ACh receptor (nAChR) plays a determining role in the pharmacology of this nAChR
      type. Here, we have examined the role of the fifth subunit in the ACh responses
      of the (alpha4beta2)2 beta2 nAChR type. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The role of the
      fifth subunit in receptor function was explored using two-electrode voltage clamp
      electrophysiology, along with subunit-targeted mutagenesis and the substituted
      cysteine scanning method applied to fully linked (alpha4beta2)2 beta2 receptors.
      KEY RESULTS: Covalent modification of the cysteine-substituted fifth subunit with
      a thiol-reactive agent (MTS) caused irreversible inhibition of receptor function.
      ACh reduced the rate of the reaction to MTS, but the competitive inhibitor
      dihydro-beta-erythroidine had no effect. Alanine substitution of conserved
      residues that line the core of the agonist sites on alpha4(+)/beta2(-) interfaces
      did not impair receptor function. However, impairment of agonist binding to
      alpha4(+)/beta2(-) agonist sites by mutagenesis modified the effect of ACh on the
      rate of the reaction to MTS. The extent of this effect was dependent on the
      position of the agonist site relative to the fifth subunit. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: The fifth subunit in the (alpha4beta2)2 beta2 receptor isoform
      modulates maximal ACh responses. This effect appears to be driven by a
      modulatory, and asymmetric, association with the alpha4(+)/beta2(-) agonist
      sites. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Nicotinic
      Acetylcholine Receptors. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 28600848
TI  - DJ-1 Alleviates Angiotensin II-Induced Endothelial Progenitor Cell Damage by
      Activating the PPARgamma/HO-1 Pathway.
AB  - There is evidence that angiotensin II (Ang II) may impair the functions of
      endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). It was revealed that DJ-1 could resist
      oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated whether DJ-1 could protect EPCs
      against Ang II-induced cell damage. The proliferation and migration of EPCs were
      strongly reduced in the Ang II group and were increased by overexpression of DJ
      1. Western blotting indicated that the increased expression of the senescence
      marker beta-galactosidase and decreased expression of adhesion molecules (ICAM-1,
      VCAM-1) induced by Ang II were reversed after Ad-DJ-1 transfection. The reduced
      angiogenic capacity of EPCs caused by Ang II was also improved after Ad-DJ-1
      transfection. Moreover, Ang II significantly increased the levels of reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and inflammatory cytokines (TNF
      alpha and IL-1beta), reduced the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      glutathione (GSH), and these were reversed by Ad-DJ-1 transfection. Expression of
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) and heme oxygenase
      (HO-1) was increased by DJ-1. Therefore, HO-1 siRNA were constructed and
      transfected into EPCs, and the results showed that HO-1 siRNA transfection
      inhibited the effects of DJ-1 on EPC function. Thus, our study implies that DJ-1
      may protect EPCs against Ang II-induced dysfunction by activating the
      PPARgamma/HO-1. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 392-400, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 28600849
TI  - Modified ideal observer model (MIOM) for high-contrast and high-spatial
      resolution CT imaging tasks.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although a variety of mathematical observer models have been developed
      to predict human observer performance for low contrast lesion detection tasks,
      their predictive power for high contrast and high spatial resolution
      discrimination imaging tasks, including those in CT bone imaging, could be
      limited. The purpose of this work was to develop a modified observer model that
      has improved correlation with human observer performance for these tasks.
      METHODS: The proposed observer model, referred to as the modified ideal observer
      model (MIOM), uses a weight function to penalize components in the task function
      that have less contribution to the actual human observer performance for high
      contrast and high spatial resolution discrimination tasks. To validate MIOM, both
      human observer and observer model studies were performed, each using exactly the
      same CT imaging task [discrimination of a connected component in a high contrast
      (1000 HU) high spatial resolution bone fracture model (0.3 mm)] and experimental
      CT image data. For the human observer studies, three physicist observers rated
      the connectivity of the fracture model using a five-point Likert scale; for the
      observer model studies, a total of five observer models, including both
      conventional models and the proposed MIOM, were used to calculate the
      discrimination capability of the CT images in resolving the connected component.
      Images used in the studies encompassed nine different reconstruction kernels.
      Correlation between human and observer model performance for these kernels were
      quantified using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (rho). After the
      validation study, an example application of MIOM was presented, in which the
      observer model was used to select the optimal reconstruction kernel for a High
      Resolution (Hi-Res, GE Healthcare) CT scan technique. RESULTS: The performance of
      the proposed MIOM correlated well with that of the human observers with a
      Spearman rank correlation coefficient rho of 0.88 (P = 0.003). In comparison, the
      value of rho was 0.05 (P = 0.904) for the ideal observer, 0.05 (P = 0.904) for
      the non-prewhitening observer, -0.18 (P = 0.634) for the non-prewhitening
      observer with eye filter and internal noise, and 0.30 (P = 0.427) for the
      prewhitening observer with eye filter and internal noise. Using the validated
      MIOM, the optimal reconstruction kernel for the Hi-Res mode to perform high
      spatial resolution and high contrast discrimination imaging tasks was determined
      to be the HD Ultra kernel at the center of the scan field of view (SFOV), or the
      Lung kernel at the peripheral region of the SFOV. This result was consistent with
      visual observations of nasal CT images of an in vivo canine subject. CONCLUSION:
      Compared with other observer models, the proposed modified ideal observer model
      provides significantly improved correlation with human observers for high
      contrast and high spatial resolution CT imaging tasks.

PMID- 28600850
TI  - Eight-year follow-up in pediatric living donor kidney recipients receiving
      alemtuzumab induction.
AB  - Recipient lymphocytes are crucial for direct and indirect pathways of
      allorecognition. We proposed that the administration of alemtuzumab several weeks
      pretransplantation could eradicate peripheral lymphatic cells and promote donor
      specific acceptance. This was a single-center, retrospective review of 101
      consecutive living donor kidney transplantations in pediatric patients (age 7
      months-18 years), performed between September 2006 and April 2010. IS protocol
      included two 30 mg doses of alemtuzumab: The first was given 12-29 days prior to
      transplantation, and the second at the time of transplantation. Maintenance IS
      was based on combination of low-dose CNI and mycophenolate, with steroids tapered
      over the first 5 days post-transplantation. Patients were followed for 7.8+/-1.3
      years, and protocol biopsies were taken 1 month, 1, 3, and 5 years post
      transplant. The Kaplan-Meier 8-year patient and graft survival rates in the
      cyclosporine-treated patients were 82.0+/-7.3% and 71.6+/-7.3, and in the
      tacrolimus-treated patients were 97.2+/-5.4 and 83.8+/-6.0%. Biopsy-proven acute
      rejection developed in 35% of cyclosporine-treated patients and in 8% of
      tacrolimus-treated patients. Alemtuzumab pretreatment prior to LRD kidney
      transplantation, followed by maintenance immunosuppression with tacrolimus and
      MMF, is associated with reasonable long-term results in pediatric patients.

PMID- 28600851
TI  - Neonatal surgery in a developing country: Outcome of co-ordinated
      interdisciplinary collaboration.
AB  - AIM: Neonatal surgery in low-income and middle-income countries has a poorer
      outcome when compared with high-income countries. This study evaluated the
      management challenges and outcomes of neonatal surgery before and after the
      introduction of focused interdisciplinary team management in 2013. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analysed neonatal surgery undertaken at two referral hospitals in
      Enugu, south-eastern Nigeria from January 2011 to November 2015. Cases managed
      prior to July 2013 (group A) were compared with those managed from July 2013
      (group B). RESULTS: There were 91 cases (group A, 47; group B, 44). The common
      neonatal conditions were oesophageal atresia (21), anorectal malformation (18)
      and intestinal atresia (18). The surgical conditions, birthweight, age at
      presentation and associated anomalies did not differ in the two groups. The
      treatment was also similar except in oesophageal atresia, where cardiac banding
      was added to the temporary gastrostomy in late presenting cases with
      undernutrition in group B. Postoperative complications occurred in 43 (47.3%)
      cases (group A, 55.3%; group B, 38.6%; P > 0.05), and the overall mortality was
      33 (35.3%: group A, 48.9%; group B, 22.7%: P < 0.05). Causes of mortality were
      unremitting sepsis (group A, 11; group B, 5), anaesthesia complications (group A,
      5; group B, 0) and respiratory complication (group A, 7; group B, 5). Delayed
      presentation, inadequate facilities and defective health insurance scheme were
      challenges in the two groups. CONCLUSION: Despite the persisting challenges, co
      ordinated team management may result in the modest improvement of outcomes of
      neonatal surgery in our setting. Addressing these challenges may further improve
      outcomes.

PMID- 28600852
TI  - Extraction methods and food uses of a natural red colorant from dye sorghum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The interest in stable natural colorants for food applications
      continues to grow. A red pigment extracted from the leaf sheaths of a sorghum
      variety (Sorghum bicolor) with a high content of apigeninidin is widely used as a
      biocolorant in processed foods in West Africa. This study compared the colour and
      anthocyanin composition from traditional extraction methods to determine options
      for improvement and use of the red biocolorant from dye sorghum in the food
      sector. RESULTS: Sorghum biocolorant was commonly applied in fermented and heated
      foods. Traditional extraction methods predominantly differed in two aspects,
      namely the use of an alkaline rock salt (locally known as kanwu) and the
      temperature of the extraction water. Cool extraction using the alkaline
      ingredient was more efficient than hot alkaline and hot aqueous extractions in
      extracting anthocyanins. The apigeninidin content was three times higher in the
      cool and hot alkaline extracts than in the aqueous extract. CONCLUSION: Cool and
      hot alkaline extractions at pH 8-9 were the most efficient methods for extracting
      apigeninidin from dye sorghum leaf sheaths. Broader use of the sorghum
      biocolorant in foods requires further research on its effects on nutrient
      bioavailability and antioxidant activity. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28600853
TI  - Mixed methods study on the use of and attitudes towards safety checklists in
      interventional radiology.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of safety checklists in interventional radiology is an
      intervention aimed at reducing mortality and morbidity. Currently there is little
      known about their practical use in Australian radiology departments. The primary
      aim of this mixed methods study was to evaluate how safety checklists (SC) are
      used and completed in radiology departments within Australian hospitals, and
      attitudes towards their use as described by Australian radiologists. METHODS: A
      mixed methods approach employing both quantitative and qualitative techniques was
      used for this study. Direct observations of checklist use during radiological
      procedures were performed to determine compliance. Medical records were also
      audited to investigate whether there was any discrepancy between practice (actual
      care measured by direct observation) and documentation (documented care measured
      by an audit of records). A focus group with Australian radiologists was conducted
      to determine attitudes towards the use of checklists. RESULTS: Among the four
      participating radiology departments, overall observed mean completion of the
      components of the checklist was 38%. The checklist items most commonly observed
      to be addressed by the operating theatre staff as noted during observations were
      correct patient (80%) and procedure (60%). Findings from the direct observations
      conflicted with the medical record audit, where there was a higher percentage of
      completion (64% completion) in comparison to the 38% observed. The focus group
      participants spoke of barriers to the use of checklists, including the culture of
      radiology departments. CONCLUSION: This is the first study of safety checklist
      use in radiology within Australia. Overall completion was low across the sites
      included in this study. Compliance data collected from observations differed
      markedly from reported compliance in medical records. There remain significant
      barriers to the proper use of safety checklists in Australian radiology
      departments.

PMID- 28600854
TI  - Impact of intramammary tilmicosin infusion as a dry cow therapy.
AB  - Three hundred subclinically infected quarters of 259 Holstein cows infected with
      gram-positive bacteria were selected via quota sampling based on the California
      Mastitis Test (CMT) result and were divided randomly and equally into treatment
      and test groups. Quarters of test group (n = 150 in 128 cows) were treated with
      an intramammary infusion of tilmicosin, and quarters of the control group (n =
      150 in 131 cows) were treated with cloxacillin as a traditional intramammary
      infusion of dry cow (DC) ointment. Cows with more than one infected quarter were
      randomly assigned to the same group, and adjacent quarters were treated the same.
      The milk samples of all quarters were obtained, and bacterial cultures and
      somatic cell count (SCC) were tested before dry cow therapy (DCT) (50 +/- 15 days
      before parturition), and finally on day 2 of the next lactation. Results have
      shown that total bacteriological cure rates on day 2 of the next lactation were
      45% and 78%, (p = .01), new infection rates were 43.3% and 56.6%, and SCC was
      (6.732 * 105  +/- 3.124 * 105 ) and (5.025 * 105  +/- 2.935 * 105 ), (p > .05) in
      test and control groups, respectively. Tilmicosin had less effect on reducing IMI
      due to Corynebacterium bovis, and had no effect on Streptococcus agalactiae, but
      had a potent effect against Staphylococcus aureus. It was concluded that
      tilmicosin alone should not be infused as an alternative to conventional dry cow
      therapy. However, it had a significant effect against S. aureus, and the
      potential of tilmicosin to treat S. aureus IMI should be confirmed in further
      studies.

PMID- 28600855
TI  - Predicting future major depression and persistent depressive symptoms:
      Development of a prognostic screener and PHQ-4 cutoffs in breast cancer patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Create a brief, self-report screener for recently diagnosed breast
      cancer patients to identify patients at risk of future depression. METHODS:
      Breast cancer patients (N = 410) within 2 +/- 1 months after diagnosis provided
      data on depression vulnerability. Depression outcomes were defined as a high
      depressive symptom trajectory or a major depressive episode during 16 months
      after diagnosis. Stochastic gradient boosting of regression trees identified 7
      items highly predictive for the depression outcomes from a pool of 219 candidate
      depression vulnerability items. Three of the 7 items were from the Patient Health
      Questionnaire 4 (PHQ-4), a validated screener for current anxiety/depressive
      disorder that has not been tested to identify risk for future depression.
      Thresholds classifying patients as high or low risk on the new Depression Risk
      Questionnaire 7 (DRQ-7) and the PHQ-4 were obtained. Predictive performance of
      the DRQ-7 and PHQ-4 was assessed on a holdout validation subsample. FINDINGS: DRQ
      7 items assess loneliness, irritability, persistent sadness, and low acceptance
      of emotion as well as 3 items from the PHQ-4 (anhedonia, depressed mood, and
      worry). A DRQ-7 score of >=6/23 identified depression outcomes with 0.73
      specificity, 0.83 sensitivity, 0.68 positive predictive value, and 0.86 negative
      predictive value. A PHQ-4 score of >=3/12 performed moderately well but less
      accurately than the DRQ-7 (net reclassification improvement = 10%; 95% CI [0.5
      16]). INTERPRETATION: The DRQ-7 and the PHQ-4 with a new cutoff score are
      clinically accessible screeners for risk of depression in newly diagnosed breast
      cancer patients. Use of the screener to select patients for preventive
      interventions awaits validation of the screener in other samples.

PMID- 28600856
TI  - In vitro anti-LPS dose determination of ketorolac tromethamine and in vivo safety
      of repeated dosing in healthy horses.
AB  - Flunixin meglumine (FM) is a commonly used Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
      (NSAID) in horses, but clinical efficacy is often unsatisfactory. Ketorolac
      tromethamine (KT) demonstrates superior efficacy compared to other NSAIDs in
      humans, but its anti-inflammatory effects have not been investigated in the
      horse. Safety of repeated dosing of KT has not been evaluated. The first
      objective was to conduct a dose determination study to verify that a previously
      described dosage of KT would inhibit Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced eicosanoid
      production in vitro, and to compare KT effects of this inhibition to those of FM.
      Then, a randomized crossover study was performed using nine healthy horses to
      evaluate plasma concentrations of KT and FM following IV administration.
      Administered dosages of KT and FM were 0.5 mg/kg and 1.1 mg/kg, respectively.
      Safety following six repeated doses of KT was assessed. Ketorolac tromethamine
      and FM suppressed LPS-induced Thromboxane B2 (TXB2 ) and Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 )
      production in vitro for up to 12 hr. Intravenous administration produced plasma
      concentrations of KT and FM similar to previous reports. No adverse effects were
      observed. A KT dosage of 0.5 mg/kg IV inhibited LPS-induced eicosanoids in vitro,
      and repeated dosing for up to 3 days appears safe in healthy horses.
      Investigation of in vivo anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of KT is
      warranted.

PMID- 28600857
TI  - Quantitation of tumor uptake with molecular breast imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: We developed scatter and attenuation-correction techniques for
      quantifying images obtained with Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) systems. METHODS:
      To investigate scatter correction, energy spectra of a 99m Tc point source were
      acquired with 0-7-cm-thick acrylic to simulate scatter between the detector
      heads. System-specific scatter correction factor, k, was calculated as a function
      of thickness using a dual energy window technique. To investigate attenuation
      correction, a 7-cm-thick rectangular phantom containing 99m Tc-water simulating
      breast tissue and fillable spheres simulating tumors was imaged. Six spheres 10
      27 mm in diameter were imaged with sphere-to-background ratios (SBRs) of 3.5,
      2.6, and 1.7 and located at depths of 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 cm from the center of the
      water bath for 54 unique tumor scenarios (3 SBRs * 6 sphere sizes * 3 depths).
      Phantom images were also acquired in-air under scatter- and attenuation-free
      conditions, which provided ground truth counts. To estimate true counts, T, from
      each tumor, the geometric mean (GM) of the counts within a prescribed region of
      interest (ROI) from the two projection images was calculated as T=C1C2eMUtF,
      where C are counts within the square ROI circumscribing each sphere on detectors
      1 and 2, MU is the linear attenuation coefficient of water, t is detector
      separation, and the factor F accounts for background activity. Four unique F
      definitions-standard GM, background-subtraction GM, MIRD Primer 16 GM, and a
      novel "volumetric GM"-were investigated. Error in T was calculated as the
      percentage difference with respect to in-air. Quantitative accuracy using the
      different GM definitions was calculated as a function of SBR, depth, and sphere
      size. Sensitivity of quantitative accuracy to ROI size was investigated. We
      developed an MBI simulation to investigate the robustness of our corrections for
      various ellipsoidal tumor shapes and detector separations. RESULTS: Scatter
      correction factor k varied slightly (0.80-0.95) over a compressed breast
      thickness range of 6-9 cm. Corrected energy spectra recovered general
      characteristics of scatter-free spectra. Quantitatively, photopeak counts were
      recovered to <10% compared to in-air conditions after scatter correction. After
      GM attenuation correction, mean errors (95% confidence interval, CI) for all 54
      imaging scenarios were 149% (-154% to +455%), -14.0% (-38.4% to +10.4%), 16.8% (
      14.7% to +48.2%), and 2.0% (-14.3 to +18.3%) for the standard GM, background
      subtraction GM, MIRD 16 GM, and volumetric GM, respectively. Volumetric GM was
      less sensitive to SBR and sphere size, while all GM methods were insensitive to
      sphere depth. Simulation results showed that Volumetric GM method produced a mean
      error within 5% over all compressed breast thicknesses (3-14 cm), and that the
      use of an estimated radius for nonspherical tumors increases the 95% CI to at
      most +/-23%, compared with +/-16% for spherical tumors. CONCLUSION: Using DEW
      scatter- and our Volumetric GM attenuation-correction methodology yielded
      accurate estimates of tumor counts in MBI over various tumor sizes, shapes,
      depths, background uptake, and compressed breast thicknesses. Accurate tumor
      uptake can be converted to radiotracer uptake concentration, allowing three
      patient-specific metrics to be calculated for quantifying absolute uptake and
      relative uptake change for assessment of treatment response.

PMID- 28600858
TI  - Scale-dependent effects of post-fire canopy cover on snowpack depth in montane
      coniferous forests.
AB  - Winter snowpack in dry montane regions provides a valuable ecosystem service by
      storing water into the growing season. Wildfire in coniferous montane forests has
      the potential to indirectly affect snowpack accumulation and ablation (mass loss)
      rates by reducing canopy cover, which reduces canopy interception of snow but
      also increases solar radiation and wind speed. These counteracting effects create
      uncertainty regarding the canopy conditions that maximize post-fire snowpack
      duration, which is of concern as montane regions across the western United States
      experience increasingly warm, dry winters with below-average snowpack. The net
      effect of wildfire on snowpack depth and duration across the landscape is
      uncertain, and likely scale dependent. In this study, I tested whether
      intermediate levels of wildfire severity maximize snowpack depth by increasing
      accumulation while slowing ablation, using gridded, repeated snow depth
      measurements from three fires in the Sierra Nevada of California. Increasing fire
      severity had a strong negative effect on snowpack depth, suggesting that
      increased ablation after fire, rather than increased accumulation, was the
      dominant control over snowpack duration. Contrary to expectations, the unburned
      forest condition had the highest overall snowpack depth, and mean snow depth
      among all site visits was reduced by 78% from unburned forest to high-severity
      fire. However, at the individual tree scale, snowpack depth was greater under
      canopy openings than underneath canopy, controlling for effects of fire severity
      and aspect. This apparent paradox in snowpack response to fire at the stand vs.
      individual tree scales is likely due to greater variation in canopy cover within
      unburned and very low severity areas, which creates smaller areas for snow
      accumulation while reducing ablation via shading. Management efforts to maximize
      snowpack duration in montane forests should focus on retaining fine-scale
      heterogeneity in forest structure.

PMID- 28600859
TI  - Health status of marginalised young people in unstable accommodation.
AB  - AIM: More than 26 000 Australians aged 12-24 years experience homelessness, yet
      data on the health status of homeless youth remain limited. The aim of this study
      was to describe the health of young people attending a youth health service in
      Western Sydney who were experiencing homelessness. METHODS: Retrospective case
      note review for clients aged 12-25 years attending Youth Health Services in
      Western Sydney. Extracted data included: homelessness status; demographics;
      physical health issues; mental health issues; involvement with juvenile justice;
      and disengagement from education or employment. RESULTS: Just under half of the
      180 clients attending a Youth Health Service in Western Sydney were homeless, and
      an additional 15 young people who were not currently homeless nominated
      homelessness as a presenting issue. In comparison with currently domiciled young
      people, homeless youth were less likely to have a regular general practitioner
      and more likely to nominate a physical health concern as a presenting issue,
      although there was no difference between groups in terms of diagnosed mental or
      physical health conditions. Considered as a whole, the sample showed high rates
      of acute physical symptoms, physical trauma, psychological distress and self
      harm. CONCLUSIONS: Youth homelessness is associated with risk of both poor
      physical and mental health. As much of youth homelessness is hidden, health-care
      providers need to ensure that they inquire about homelessness status, and have an
      awareness of potentially complex multi-morbidities in the physical and mental
      health of young marginalised people presenting to health services.

PMID- 28600860
TI  - Estimating the accuracy of a reduced-order model for the calculation of
      fractional flow reserve (FFR).
AB  - Image-based noninvasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) is an emergent approach to
      determine the functional relevance of coronary stenoses. The present work aimed
      to determine the feasibility of using a method based on coronary computed
      tomography angiography (CCTA) and reduced-order models (0D-1D) for the evaluation
      of coronary stenoses. The reduced-order methodology (cFFRRO ) was kept as simple
      as possible and did not include pressure drop or stenosis models. The geometry
      definition was incorporated into the physical model used to solve coronary flow
      and pressure. cFFRRO was assessed on a virtual cohort of 30 coronary artery
      stenoses in 25 vessels and compared with a standard approach based on 3D
      computational fluid dynamics (cFFR3D ). In this proof-of-concept study, we sought
      to investigate the influence of geometry and boundary conditions on the agreement
      between both methods. Performance on a per-vessel level showed a good correlation
      between both methods (Pearson's product-moment R=0.885, P<0.01), when using
      cFFR3D  as the reference standard. The 95% limits of agreement were -0.116 and
      0.08, and the mean bias was -0.018 (SD =0.05). Our results suggest no appreciable
      difference between cFFRRO  and cFFR3D with respect to lesion length and/or aspect
      ratio. At a fixed aspect ratio, however, stenosis severity and shape appeared to
      be the most critical factors accounting for differences in both methods. Despite
      the assumptions inherent to the 1D formulation, asymmetry did not seem to affect
      the agreement. The choice of boundary conditions is critical in obtaining a
      functionally significant drop in pressure. Our initial data suggest that this
      approach may be part of a broader risk assessment strategy aimed at increasing
      the diagnostic yield of cardiac catheterisation for in-hospital evaluation of
      haemodynamically significant stenoses.

PMID- 28600861
TI  - Efficient Adsorptive Removal of Toxic Amaranth Dye from Water using a Zeolitic
      Imidazolate Framework.
AB  - Adsorbents reported to remove a toxic acidic azo dye, Amaranth (AMR) are very
      limited, and their typical adsorption capacities are quite low. Recently, a
      zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) has been proposed as a novel adsorbent as
      ZIF-67 possesses high surface area, superior chemical stability in water and
      positive charges, making it a promising adsorbent for AMR. Nevertheless, no
      studies have been conducted to investigate the adsorption of AMR to ZIF-67.
      Herein, ZIF-67 is employed for the first time to remove AMR from water via
      adsorption. Adsorption behaviors are investigated via determining the adsorption
      kinetics and isotherm. ZIF-67 also exhibits a significant higher maximum
      adsorption capacity (qmax = 121 mg g-1 at 30  degrees C) than most of the
      reported adsorbents. ZIF-67 can be also regenerated by washing it with NaCl
      solutions and the regeneration efficiency remains effective over multiple cycles,
      demonstrating that ZIF-67 is a promising adsorbent for AMR.

PMID- 28600862
TI  - Augmentation of Water Resources Potential and Cropping Intensification Through
      Watershed Programs.
AB  - This paper presents the biophysical impact of various interventions made under
      watershed development programs, in terms of the creation of additional water
      resources, and resultant changes in land use and cropping patterns in the
      Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh State, India. Both primary and secondary
      data gathered from randomly selected watersheds and their corresponding control
      villages were used in this study. Analysis revealed that emphasis was given
      primarily to the creation of water resources potential during implementation of
      the programs, which led to augmentation of surface and groundwater availability
      for both irrigation and non-agricultural purposes. In addition, other land based
      interventions for soil and moisture conservation, plantation activities, and so
      forth, were taken up on both arable and nonarable land, which helped to improve
      land slope and land use, cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, and
      vegetation cover.

PMID- 28600863
TI  - Silencing of lncRNA CCDC26 Restrains the Growth and Migration of Glioma Cells In
      Vitro and In Vivo via Targeting miR-203.
AB  - Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors with high mortality. The
      treatment for gliomas is largely limited due to its uncomprehending pathological
      mechanism. Here we aimed to investigate the effect of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)
      coiled-coil domain-containing 26 (CCDC26) in glioma progression. In our study,
      the expression of CCDC26 was found upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines
      compared with normal tissues and cell lines. Further exploration detected
      decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis in U-251 and M059J
      cells transfected with CCDC26-siRNA. In addition, the silencing of CCDC26
      strongly reduced the wound closing rate and the number of invasive cells compared
      with the scramble group. Simultaneously, the expression of miR-203 was found
      suppressed in glioma tissues and cells lines. Suppressed level of miR-203 was
      then elevated in U-251 and M059J cells transfected with CCDC26-siRNA. The result
      of the luciferase activity assay also showed that the luciferase activity was
      strongly strengthened by adding the miR-203 inhibitor into the CCDC26 WT group.
      Moreover, CDCC26-siRNA counteracted the effect of the miR-203 inhibitor in
      facilitating cell viability and mobility in U-251 cells. The in vivo experiment
      also revealed that CCDC26-siRNA inhibited glioma growth and metastasis. Taken
      together, our research indicated a CCDC26/miR-203 pathway in regulating the
      growth and metastasis of gliomas, providing new viewpoints and promising targets
      for glioma therapy.

PMID- 28600864
TI  - Co-utilization of hexoses by a microconsortium of sugar-specific E. coli strains.
AB  - Escherichia coli is an important commercial species used for production of
      biofuels, biopolymers, organic acids, sugar alcohols, and natural compounds.
      Processed biomass and agroindustrial byproducts serve as low-cost nutrient
      sources and contain a variety of hexoses available for bioconversion. However,
      metabolism of hexose mixtures by E. coli is inefficient due to carbon catabolite
      repression (CCR), where the transport and catabolic activity of one or more
      carbon sources is repressed and/or inhibited by the transport and catabolism of
      another carbon source. In this work, we developed a microconsortium of different
      E. coli strains, each engineered to preferentially catabolize a different hexose
      glucose, galactose, or mannose. We modified the specificity and preference of
      carbon source using a combination of rational strain design and adaptive
      evolution. The modifications ultimately resulted in strains that preferentially
      catabolized their specified sugar. Finally, comparative analysis in galactose-
      and mannose-rich sugar mixtures revealed that the consortium grew faster and to
      higher cell densities compared to the wild-type strain. Biotechnol. Bioeng.
      2017;114: 2309-2318. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28600865
TI  - Immune deficiency and autoimmunity in patients with CTLA-4 (CD152) mutations.
AB  - Immune deficiency disorders are a heterogeneous group of diseases of variable
      genetic aetiology. While the hallmark of immunodeficiency is susceptibility to
      infection, it is increasingly clear that autoimmunity is prevalent, suggestive of
      a more general immune dysregulation in some cases. With the increasing use of
      genetic technologies, the underlying causes of immune dysregulation are beginning
      to emerge. Here we provide a review of the heterozygous mutations found in the
      immune checkpoint protein CTLA-4, identified in cases of common variable
      immunodeficiency disorders (CVID) with accompanying autoimmunity. Study of these
      mutations provides insights into the biology of CTLA-4 as well as suggesting
      approaches for rational treatment of these patients.

PMID- 28600867
TI  - Reply to the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association Alternative Viewpoint on
      the 2016 ACCP Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit.

PMID- 28600866
TI  - Bone Mass Is Compromised by the Chemotherapeutic Trabectedin in Association With
      Effects on Osteoblasts and Macrophage Efferocytosis.
AB  - Macrophages have established roles supporting bone formation. Despite their
      professional phagocytic nature, the role of macrophage phagocytosis in bone
      homeostasis is not well understood. Interestingly, apoptosis is a pivotal feature
      of cellular regulation and the primary fate of osteoblasts is apoptosis.
      Efferocytosis (phagocytosis of apoptotic cells) is a key physiologic process for
      the homeostasis of many tissues, and is associated with expression of
      osteoinductive factors. To test effects of macrophage depletion and compromised
      phagocytosis on bone, 16-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were treated with
      trabectedin-a chemotherapeutic with established anti-macrophage effects.
      Trabectedin treatment reduced F4/80+ and CD68+ macrophages in the bone marrow as
      assessed by flow cytometry, osteal macrophages near the bone surface, and
      macrophage viability in vitro. Trabectedin treatment significantly reduced marrow
      gene expression of key phagocytic factors (Mfge8, Mrc1), and macrophages from
      treated mice had a reduced ability to phagocytose apoptotic mimicry beads.
      Macrophages cultured in vitro and treated with trabectedin displayed reduced
      efferocytosis of apoptotic osteoblasts. Moreover, efferocytosis increased
      macrophage osteoinductive TGF-beta production and this increase was inhibited by
      trabectedin. Long-term (6-week) treatment of 16-week-old C57BL/6J mice with
      trabectedin significantly reduced trabecular BV/TV and cortical BMD. Although
      trabectedin reduced osteoclast numbers in vitro, osteoclast surface in vivo was
      not altered. Trabectedin treatment reduced serum P1NP as well as MS/BS and
      BFR/BS, and inhibited mineralization and Runx2 gene expression of osteoblast
      cultures. Finally, intermittent PTH 1-34 (iPTH) treatment was administered in
      combination with trabectedin, and iPTH increased trabecular bone volume fraction
      (BV/TV) in trabectedin-treated mice. Collectively, the data support a model
      whereby trabectedin significantly reduces bone mass due to compromised
      macrophages and efferocytosis, but also due to direct effects on osteoblasts.
      This data has immediate clinical relevance in light of increasing use of
      trabectedin in oncology. (c) 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 28600868
TI  - DeepBipolar: Identifying genomic mutations for bipolar disorder via deep
      learning.
AB  - Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a brain disorder that
      affects the brain structure of a patient. It results in extreme mood swings,
      severe states of depression, and overexcitement simultaneously. It is estimated
      that roughly 3% of the population of the United States (about 5.3 million adults)
      suffers from bipolar disorder. Recent research efforts like the Twin studies have
      demonstrated a high heritability factor for the disorder, making genomics a
      viable alternative for detecting and treating bipolar disorder, in addition to
      the conventional lengthy and costly postsymptom clinical diagnosis. Motivated by
      this study, leveraging several emerging deep learning algorithms, we design an
      end-to-end deep learning architecture (called DeepBipolar) to predict bipolar
      disorder based on limited genomic data. DeepBipolar adopts the Deep Convolutional
      Neural Network (DCNN) architecture that automatically extracts features from
      genotype information to predict the bipolar phenotype. We participated in the
      Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) bipolar disorder challenge
      and DeepBipolar was considered the most successful by the independent assessor.
      In this work, we thoroughly evaluate the performance of DeepBipolar and analyze
      the type of signals we believe could have affected the classifier in
      distinguishing the case samples from the control set.

PMID- 28600869
TI  - Follow-up on the characterization of peptidic markers in hair and fur for the
      identification of common North American species.
AB  - RATIONALE: Species identification of hair is routinely done by microscopic
      analysis. Following previous studies that used protein analysis to characterize
      species markers in hair and wool, the present work aims at covering a larger
      number of species and to ultimately offer a method for rapid hair identification
      in forensics and archaeology. METHODS: Hair is mostly made of alpha-keratins;
      these proteins have only been sequenced in a handful of species and most animal
      families are under-represented. Using a methodology developed for the
      characterization of peptidic markers in tissues such as bone (peptide mass
      fingerprinting or PMF) and commonly applied on collagen, hair from common North
      American fur-bearing species was analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS to obtain peptidic
      profiles. RESULTS: Alpha-keratin peptides that are typically dominant on peptide
      mass profiles of hair were chosen as markers. Matching peaks were identified for
      each species tested and compared to known sequences from related organisms
      whenever possible. The markers were used to create a flowchart to narrow down
      identification to the family level. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology was developed on
      a limited numbers of markers chosen for their variability and reliability on the
      peptide mass fingerprint. In the absence of genetic sequences, this strategy is a
      quick way to compare species from a common geographic origin. The work presented
      here was focused on North American species but could be applied to other animal
      families.

PMID- 28600870
TI  - Selective Catalytic Performances of Noble Metal Nanoparticle@MOF Composites: The
      Concomitant Effect of Aperture Size and Structural Flexibility of MOF Matrices.
AB  - Noble metal nanoparticles embedded in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are
      composite catalysts with enhanced or novel properties compared to the pristine
      counterparts. In recent years, to determine the role of MOFs during catalytic
      process, most studies have focussed on the confinement effect of MOFs, but
      ignored the structural flexibility of MOFs. In this study, we use two composite
      catalysts, Pt@ZIF-8 [Zn(mIM)2 , mIM=2-methyl imidazole] with flexible structure
      and Pt@ZIF-71 [Zn(DClIM)2 , DClIM=4,5-dichloroimidazole] with rigid structure,
      and hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde as model reaction, to show the confinement
      effect and the structure flexibility of MOF matrices on the catalytic performance
      of composite catalysts. Both catalysts showed high selectivity for cinnamic
      alcohol with the confinement effect of the aperture. But, compared to Pt@ZIF-71,
      Pt@ZIF-8 exhibited higher conversion but lower selectivity owing to the flexible
      structure. The above results remind us that we will have to consider both the
      aperture size of MOFs and structure flexibility to select the proper MOF matrices
      for the composite materials to achieve the optimized performance.

PMID- 28600871
TI  - Substitution urethroplasty using oral mucosa graft for male anterior urethral
      stricture disease: Current topics and reviews.
AB  - Male anterior urethral stricture is scarring of the subepithelial tissue of the
      corpus spongiosum that constricts the urethral lumen, decreasing the urinary
      stream. Its surgical management is a challenging problem, and has changed
      dramatically in the past several decades. Open surgical repair using grafts or
      flaps, called substitution urethroplasty, has become the gold standard procedure
      for anterior urethral strictures that are not amenable to excision and primary
      anastomosis. Oral mucosa harvested from the inner cheek (buccal mucosa) is an
      ideal material, and is most commonly used for substitution urethroplasty, and
      lingual mucosa harvested from the underside of the tongue has recently emerged as
      an alternative material with equivalent outcome. Onlay augmentation of oral
      mucosa graft on the ventral side (ventral onlay) or dorsal side (dorsal onlay,
      Barbagli procedure) has been widely used for bulbar urethral stricture with
      comparable success rates. In bulbar urethral strictures containing obliterative
      or nearly obliterative segments, either a two-sided dorsal plus ventral onlay
      (Palminteri technique) or a combination of excision and primary anastomosis and
      onlay augmentation (augmented anastomotic urethroplasty) are the procedures of
      choice. Most penile urethral strictures can be repaired in a one-stage procedure
      either by dorsal inlay with ventral sagittal urethrotomy (Asopa technique) or
      dorsolateral onlay with one-sided urethral dissection (Kulkarni technique);
      however, staged urethroplasty remains the procedure of choice for complex
      strictures, including strictures associated with genital lichen sclerosus or
      failed hypospadias. This article presents an overview of substitution
      urethroplasty using oral mucosa graft, and reviews current topics.

PMID- 28600872
TI  - Anatomy of a decision II: Potential effects of changes to Tier I chemical
      approaches in Canadian Disposal at Sea program sediment assessment protocols.
AB  - The effects of possible changes to the Canadian 2-tiered assessment framework for
      dredged material based on outcomes of the 2006 Contaminated Dredged Material
      Management Decisions Workshop (CDMMD) are evaluated. Expanding on the "data
      mining" approach described in a previous paper, which focused solely on chemical
      lines of evidence, the efficacy of Tier 1 approaches (increases to the number of
      chemical analytes, use of mean hazard quotients, and the use of a screening
      bioassay) in predicting toxicity are evaluated. Results suggest value in
      additional work to evaluate the following areas: 1) further expanding minimum
      chemical requirements, 2) using more advanced approaches for chemical
      interpretation, and 3) using a screening-level bioassay (e.g., Canadian solid
      phase photoluminescent bacteria test) to determine whether it would complement
      Tier 1 chemistry as well as or better than the solvent-based MicrotoxTM test
      method evaluated in the present study. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:1072
      1085. (c) 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
      published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental
      Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

PMID- 28600873
TI  - Bone tissue bioprinting for craniofacial reconstruction.
AB  - Craniofacial (CF) tissue is an architecturally complex tissue consisting of both
      bone and soft tissues with significant patient specific variations. Conditions of
      congenital abnormalities, tumor resection surgeries, and traumatic injuries of
      the CF skeleton can result in major deficits of bone tissue. Despite advances in
      surgical reconstruction techniques, management of CF osseous deficits remains a
      challenge. Due its inherent versatility, bioprinting offers a promising solution
      to address these issues. In this review, we present and analyze the current state
      of bioprinting of bone tissue and highlight how these techniques may be adapted
      to serve regenerative therapies for CF applications. Biotechnol. Bioeng.
      2017;114: 2424-2431. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28600874
TI  - Loose regulation of medical marijuana programs associated with higher rates of
      adult marijuana use but not cannabis use disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Most US states have passed medical marijuana laws (MMLs),
      with great variation in program regulation impacting enrollment rates. We aimed
      to compare changes in rates of marijuana use, heavy use and cannabis use disorder
      across age groups while accounting for whether states enacted medicalized (highly
      regulated) or non-medical mml programs. DESIGN: Difference-in-differences
      estimates with time-varying state-level MML coded by program type (medicalized
      versus non-medical). Multi-level linear regression models adjusted for state
      level random effects and covariates as well as historical trends in use. SETTING:
      Nation-wide cross-sectional survey data from the US National Survey of Drug Use
      and Health (NSDUH) restricted use data portal aggregated at the state level.
      PARTICIPANTS: Participants comprised 2004-13 NSDUH respondents (n ~ 67 500/year);
      age groups 12-17, 18-25 and 26+ years. States had implemented eight medicalized
      and 15 non-medical MML programs. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome measures included
      (1) active (past-month) marijuana use; (2) heavy use (> 300 days/year); and (3)
      cannabis use disorder diagnosis, based on DSM-IV criteria. Covariates included
      program type, age group and state-level characteristics throughout the study
      period. FINDINGS: Adults 26+ years of age living in states with non-medical MML
      programs increased past-month marijuana use 1.46% (from 4.13 to 6.59%, P = 0.01),
      skewing towards greater heavy marijuana by 2.36% (from 14.94 to 17.30, P = 0.09)
      after MMLs were enacted. However, no associated increase in the prevalence of
      cannabis use disorder was found during the study period. Our findings do not show
      increases in prevalence of marijuana use among adults in states with medicalized
      MML programs. Additionally, there were no increases in adolescent or young adult
      marijuana outcomes following MML passage, irrespective of program type.
      CONCLUSIONS: Non-medical marijuana laws enacted in US states are associated with
      increased marijuana use, but only among adults aged 26+ years. Researchers and
      policymakers should consider program regulation and subgroup characteristics
      (i.e. demographics) when assessing for population level outcomes. Researchers and
      policymakers should consider program regulation and subgroup characteristics
      (i.e. demographics) when assessing for population level outcomes.

PMID- 28600875
TI  - Plant elicitor peptides promote plant defences against nematodes in soybean.
AB  - Plant elicitor peptides (Peps) are widely distributed among angiosperms, and have
      been shown to amplify immune responses in multiple plant families. Here, we
      characterize three Peps from soybean (Glycine max) and describe their effects on
      plant defences against two damaging agricultural pests, the root-knot nematode
      (Meloidogyne incognita) and the soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines). Seed
      treatments with exogenous GmPep1, GmPep2 or GmPep3 significantly reduced the
      reproduction of both nematodes. Pep treatment also protected plants from the
      inhibitory effects of root-knot nematodes on above-ground growth, and up
      regulated basal expression levels of nematode-responsive defence genes. GmPep1
      induced the expression of its propeptide precursor (GmPROPEP1), a nucleotide
      binding site leucine-rich repeat protein (NBS-LRR), a pectin methylesterase
      inhibitor (PMEI), Respiratory Burst Oxidase Protein D (RBOHD) and the
      accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in leaves. In addition, GmPep2 and
      GmPep3 seed treatments up-regulated RBOHD expression and ROS accumulation in
      roots and leaves. These results suggest that GmPeps activate plant defences
      through systemic transcriptional reprogramming and ROS signalling, and that Pep
      seed treatments represent a potential strategy for nematode management.

PMID- 28600876
TI  - Rerouting of carbon flux in a glycogen mutant of cyanobacteria assessed via
      isotopically non-stationary 13 C metabolic flux analysis.
AB  - Cyanobacteria, which constitute a quantitatively dominant phylum, have attracted
      attention in biofuel applications due to favorable physiological characteristics,
      high photosynthetic efficiency and amenability to genetic manipulations. However,
      quantitative aspects of cyanobacterial metabolism have received limited
      attention. In the present study, we have performed isotopically non-stationary 13
      C metabolic flux analysis (INST-13 C-MFA) to analyze rerouting of carbon in a
      glycogen synthase deficient mutant strain (glgA-I glgA-II) of the model
      cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. During balanced photoautotrophic
      growth, 10-20% of the fixed carbon is stored in the form of glycogen via a
      pathway that is conserved across the cyanobacterial phylum. Our results show that
      deletion of glycogen synthase gene orchestrates cascading effects on carbon
      distribution in various parts of the metabolic network. Carbon that was
      originally destined to be incorporated into glycogen gets partially diverted
      toward alternate storage molecules such as glucosylglycerol and sucrose. The rest
      is partitioned within the metabolic network, primarily via glycolysis and
      tricarboxylic acid cycle. A lowered flux toward carbohydrate synthesis and an
      altered distribution at the glucose-1-phosphate node indicate flexibility in the
      network. Further, reversibility of glycogen biosynthesis reactions points toward
      the presence of futile cycles. Similar redistribution of carbon was also
      predicted by Flux Balance Analysis. The results are significant to metabolic
      engineering efforts with cyanobacteria where fixed carbon needs to be re-routed
      to products of interest. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2298-2308. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28600877
TI  - Stepwise algorithm using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for
      diagnosis of fat-poor angiomyolipoma in small renal masses: Development and
      external validation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To develop a stepwise diagnostic algorithm for fat-poor
      angiomyolipoma in small renal masses. METHODS: Two cohorts of small renal masses
      <4 cm without an apparent fat component that was pathologically diagnosed were
      included: 153 cases (18 fat-poor angiomyolipomas/135 renal cell carcinomas) for
      model development and 71 cases (seven fat-poor angiomyolipomas/59 renal cell
      carcinomas/5 oncocytomas) for validation. Dynamic contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and clinical findings were analyzed. Based
      on multivariate analysis, we developed two prediction models for fat-poor
      angiomyolipoma, the computed tomography model and the computed tomography +
      magnetic resonance imaging model, and a stepwise algorithm that proposes the
      sequential use of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS:
      The computed tomography model, which was composed of female aged <50 years, high
      attenuation on unenhanced computed tomography, less enhancement than the normal
      renal cortex and homogeneity in the corticomedullary phase, differentiated tumors
      with none of the factors as the low angiomyolipoma-probability group, and the
      others were candidates for the computed tomography + magnetic resonance imaging
      model. The computed tomography + magnetic resonance imaging model, consisting of
      the first three factors of the computed tomography model, low signal intensity
      and absence of pseudocapsule on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, re
      stratified the tumors into low, intermediate and high angiomyolipoma-probability
      groups. The incidence of fat-poor angiomyolipoma in each group was 0%, 26% and
      93%, respectively (area under the curve 0.981). External validation by two
      readers showed a high area under the curve (0.912 and 0.924) for each. The
      interobserver agreement was good (kappa score 0.77). CONCLUSIONS: The present
      algorithm differentiates fat-poor angiomyolipoma in small renal masses with high
      accuracy by adding magnetic resonance imaging to computed tomography in selected
      patients.

PMID- 28600878
TI  - Non-targeted acquisition strategy for screening doping compounds based on GC-EI
      hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry: A focus on exogenous anabolic
      steroids.
AB  - This is a first look at a non-targeted screening method based on Orbitrap gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology for a large number of banned
      compounds in sports found in urine, including exogenous anabolic steroids, beta
      agonists, narcotics, stimulants, hormone modulators, and diuretics. A simple
      sample preparation was processed in four steps: an enzymatic hydrolysis, liquid
      liquid extraction, evaporation, and trimethylsilylation. All compounds were able
      to meet the World Anti-Doping Agency's sensitivity criteria with mass accuracies
      less than 1 ppm and with sufficient points across the peak by running the
      Orbitrap GC-MS in full-scan mode. In addition, we discuss our initial findings of
      using a full-scan selected ion monitoring-tandem mass spectrometry (SIM-MS/MS)
      approach as a way to obtain lower detection limits and reach desirable
      selectivity for some exogenous anabolic steroids.

PMID- 28600879
TI  - IFN-gamma priming of adipose-derived stromal cells at "physiological" hypoxia.
AB  - Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are considered cue regulators of
      tissue remodeling. Their activity is strongly governed by local milieu, where O2
      level is most important. The elevation of inflammatory mediators and acute O2
      lowering may additionally modulate MSC activity. In present paper the priming
      effects of IFN-gamma on adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ASCs) at tissue-related O2
      level (5%) and acute hypoxic stress (0.1% O2 ) were assessed as alterations of
      ASCs' CFU-F, proliferation, migration, osteo-commitment. IFN-gamma priming
      provoked ROS elevation, cell growth slowdown, attenuation of both spontaneous and
      induced osteodifferentiation of tissue O2 -adapted ASCs. The prominent changes in
      ASC cytoskeleton-related gene transcription was detected. IFN-gamma exposure
      shifted the ASC paracrine profile, suppressing the production of VEGF and IL-8,
      while MCP-1 and IL-6 were stimulated. Conditioned medium of IFN-gamma-primed ASCs
      did not activate vessel growth in the CAM assay, but induced endothelial cell
      migration in "wound closure." Short-term hypoxia suppressed CFU-F number, IFN
      gamma-induced elevation of IL-6 and endothelial cell migration, while it
      abolished IFN-gamma-provoked VEGF inhibition. After N-acetyl cysteine treatment
      ROS level was partly abolished providing additional enhancement of IL-6 and
      suppression of IL-8 and VEGF production. These findings demonstrated that
      paracrine activity of ASCs in part may be governed by ROS level. Thus, this study
      first demonstrated that IFN-gamma priming itself and in combination with acute O2
      deprivation could supply dual effects on ASC functions providing both stimulatory
      and hampering effects. The equilibrium of these factors is a substantial
      requirement for the execution of MSC remodeling functions.

PMID- 28600880
TI  - Klotho Lacks an FGF23-Independent Role in Mineral Homeostasis.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) is a bone-derived hormone regulating vitamin
      D hormone production and renal handling of minerals by signaling through an FGF
      receptor/alphaKlotho (Klotho) receptor complex. Whether Klotho has FGF23
      independent effects on mineral homeostasis is a controversial issue. Here, we
      aimed to shed more light on this controversy by comparing male and female triple
      knockout mice with simultaneous deficiency in Fgf23 and Klotho and a
      nonfunctioning vitamin D receptor (VDR) (Fgf23/Klotho/VDR) with double
      (Fgf23/VDR, Klotho/VDR, and Fgf23/Klotho) and single Fgf23, Klotho, and VDR
      mutants. As expected, 4-week-old Fgf23, Klotho, and Fgf23/Klotho knockout mice
      were hypercalcemic and hyperphosphatemic, whereas VDR, Fgf23/VDR, and Klotho/VDR
      mice on rescue diet were normocalcemic and normophosphatemic. Serum levels of
      calcium, phosphate, and sodium did not differ between 4-week-old triple
      Fgf23/Klotho/VDR and double Fgf23/VDR or Klotho/VDR knockout mice. Notably, 3
      month-old Fgf23/Klotho/VDR triple knockout mice were indistinguishable from
      double Fgf23/VDR and Klotho/VDR compound mutants in terms of serum calcium, serum
      phosphate, serum sodium, and serum PTH, as well as urinary calcium and sodium
      excretion. Protein expression analysis revealed increased membrane abundance of
      sodium-phosphate co-transporter 2a (NaPi-2a), and decreased expression of sodium
      chloride co-transporter (NCC) and transient receptor potential cation channel
      subfamily V member 5 (TRPV5) in Fgf23/Klotho/VDR, Fgf23/VDR, and Klotho/VDR mice,
      relative to wild-type and VDR mice, but no differences between triple and double
      knockouts. Further, ex vivo treatment of live kidney slices isolated from wild
      type and Klotho/VDR mice with soluble Klotho did not induce changes in
      intracellular phosphate, calcium or sodium accumulation assessed by two-photon
      microscopy. In conclusion, our data suggest that the main physiological function
      of Klotho for mineral homeostasis in vivo is its role as co-receptor mediating
      Fgf23 action. (c) 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 28600881
TI  - Ready, willing, and able: the role of cannabis use opportunities in understanding
      adolescent cannabis use.
AB  - AIMS: To examine adolescent cannabis use-both at national and individual levels
      by deconstructing it into its necessary conditions of realistic use opportunities
      and willingness to use the drug given such opportunities. DESIGN: Nationally
      representative, repeated cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Norway. PARTICIPANTS: A
      total of 8818 16-year-olds who participated in the European School Survey Project
      on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) in 2007, 2011, and 2015. MEASUREMENTS:
      Adolescent reports concerning their life-time 'cannabis use' and 'possibilities
      to use cannabis' were used to assess: (a) overall cannabis use, (b) exposure to
      realistic cannabis use opportunities, and (c) cannabis use among those exposed to
      use opportunities. Logistic regression models were used to estimate national
      trends since 2007 in these indicators, and to identify individual-level factors
      associated with cannabis use versus non-use among youth exposed to concrete use
      opportunities. FINDINGS: Prevalence of life-time cannabis use remained stably
      low, averaging 6.4% across the three surveys. Life-time exposure to cannabis use
      opportunities decreased [odds ratio (OR)ESPAD assessment  = 0.90, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) = 0.84-0.97, P = 0.006], yet cannabis use among adolescents with
      such opportunities increased significantly (ORESPAD assessment  = 1.17, 95% CI =
      1.03-1.34, P = 0.02) since 2007. After controlling for a range of other risk
      factors, abstinence from alcohol intoxication and cigarette use, as well as the
      perceptions of even minimal cannabis use as risky remained the factors most
      robustly associated with lower likelihood of cannabis use among youth with
      realistic use opportunities. CONCLUSIONS: Approaches accounting for realistic use
      opportunities proved critical in our understanding of underage cannabis use, both
      at the national and individual level, and may be informative for development of
      prevention strategies in the era of cannabis liberalization. In addition,
      delineation of realistic opportunities from behaviours conditioned upon such
      opportunities is generalizable to a range of public health issues.

PMID- 28600882
TI  - The impacts of minimum alcohol pricing on alcohol attributable morbidity in
      regions of British Colombia, Canada with low, medium and high mean family income.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Previous research indicates that minimum alcohol pricing
      (MAP) is associated negatively with alcohol-attributable (AA) hospitalizations.
      Modeling studies predict that this association will be stronger for people on
      lower incomes. The objective of this study was to test whether the association
      between MAP and AA hospitalizations is greater in low-income regions. DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional versus time-series analysis using multivariate multi-level effect
      models. SETTING: All 89 Local Health Areas in British Columbia (BC), Canada, 2002
      13 (48 quarters). PARTICIPANTS: BC population. MEASUREMENTS: Quarterly rates of
      AA hospital admissions, mean consumer price index-adjusted minimum dollars per
      standard alcoholic drink and socio-demographic covariates. FINDINGS: Family
      income was related inversely to the effect of minimum prices on rates of some
      types of AA morbidity. A 1% price increase was associated with reductions of
      3.547% [95% confidence interval (CI) = -5.719, -1.377; P < 0.01] in low family
      income regions and 1.64% (95% CI = -2.765, -0.519; P < 0.01) across all income
      regions for 100% acute AA hospital admissions. Delayed (lagged) effects on
      chronic AA morbidity were found 2-3 years after minimum price increases for low
      income regions and all regions combined; a 1% increase in minimum price was
      associated with reductions of 2.242% (95% CI = -4.097, -0.388; P < 0.05) for 100%
      chronic AA and 2.474% (95% CI = -3.937, -1.011; P < 0.01) for partially chronic
      AA admissions for low-income regions. CONCLUSION: In Canada, minimum price
      increases for alcohol are associated with reductions in alcohol attributable
      hospitalizations, especially for populations with lower income, both for
      immediate effects on acute hospitalizations and delayed effects on chronic
      hospitalizations.

PMID- 28600883
TI  - Association between elementary school personality and high school smoking and
      drinking.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Among US high school students, alcohol consumption and
      cigarette smoking are associated with numerous concurrent and future harms. We
      tested whether multiple elementary school personality dispositions to behave
      impulsively can predict these addictive behaviors invariably across gender and
      race. DESIGN AND SETTING: This longitudinal design involved testing whether
      individual differences on impulsigenic traits in elementary school predicted
      drinking and smoking 4 years later in high school in 23 public schools in
      Kentucky, USA. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1897 youth, mean age 10.33 at wave 1,
      drawn from urban, rural and suburban backgrounds. MEASUREMENTS: Drinking and
      smoking frequency were assessed by single-item questions. The key predictors were
      impulsigenic traits measured with the UPPS-P Child Version impulsive behavior
      scale. Important covariates included were pubertal status, depression, negative
      affect and positive affect; each was assessed by self-report. FINDINGS: Three
      personality traits measured in 5th grade, each representing different
      dispositions to engage in impulsive behavior, predicted drinking and smoking in
      9th grade above and beyond other risk factors and 5th grade drinking and smoking.
      Specifically, urgency (b = 0.10, 0.13), sensation-seeking (b = 0.13, 0.07) and
      low conscientiousness (b = 0.14, 0.11) each uniquely predicted both high school
      drinking and smoking, respectively. There was no evidence that any trait
      predicted either outcome more strongly than the other traits, nor was there
      evidence that predictive results varied by gender or race. CONCLUSIONS: Three
      personality traits (urgency, sensation-seeking and low conscientiousness), when
      measured in 11-year-old children, predict those children's drinking and smoking
      behavior individually at age 15. The effects are invariant across gender and
      race.

PMID- 28600884
TI  - Physiological effects of anterior repositioning splint on temporomandibular joint
      disc displacement: a quantitative analysis.
AB  - Anterior repositioning splints (ARS) are used primarily for the management of
      temporomandibular joint (TMJ) anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDwR).
      However, the exact physiological effects of ARS are still unclear. This study
      investigated the short and long-term effects of ARS on disc and condyle
      angles/positions by metric analysis. Twenty-two subjects diagnosed with ADDwR
      were recruited. Maxillary full-coverage ARS were fabricated, and MRI of TMJs was
      obtained before splint treatment, immediate post-insertion and 6 months after
      splint treatment. Disc-condyle relationship was determined by disc-condyle angle
      measurement. Disc and condyle positions were described as X-Y coordinates with
      the summit of glenoid fossa as the origin of the coordinates. Thirty-two TMJs
      were classified as ADDwR and 12 were normal. Upon ARS insertion, all TMJs with
      ADDwR got normal disc-condyle relationships. The condyles moved significantly
      forward and downward, while the discs moved significantly backward and upward.
      MRI at 6 months after treatment (without ARS insertion) indicated that only 40.6%
      (13/32) of the joints were maintained in the normal disc-condyle relationship.
      The majority of condyles returned to their pre-treatment positions, while the
      discs generally moved anteriorly again. The use of ARS resulted in forward and
      downward condyle movement, and a concurrent backward movement of the disc
      resulting in ideal spatial disc-condyle relationship. The stability of this
      relationship, however, could not be maintained in the majority of TMJs upon ARS
      removal. Findings explain the good short-term clinical outcomes with ARS and
      their relatively lower efficacy in the long term.

PMID- 28600885
TI  - Immunolocalization of TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) in mouse
      seminiferous epithelium.
AB  - TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) is an evolutionarily conserved,
      ubiquitously expressed, multi-functional DNA/RNA-binding protein with roles in
      gene transcription, mRNA splicing, stability, transport, micro RNA biogenesis,
      and suppression of transposons. Aberrant expression of TDP-43 in testis and sperm
      was recently shown to be associated with male infertility, which highlights the
      need to understand better the expression of TDP-43 in the testis. We previously
      cloned TDP-43 from a mouse testis cDNA library, and showed that it functions as a
      transcriptional repressor and regulates the precise spatiotemporal expression of
      the Acrv1 gene, which encodes the acrosomal protein SP-10, during
      spermatogenesis. Here, we performed immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry of
      the mouse testis using four separate antibodies recognizing the amino and
      carboxyl termini of TDP-43. TDP-43 is present in the nuclei of germ cells as well
      as Sertoli cells. TDP-43 expression begins in type B/intermediate spermatogonia,
      peaks in preleptotene spermatocytes, and becomes undetectable in leptotene and
      zygotene spermatocytes. Pachytene spermatocytes and early round spermatids again
      express TDP-43, but its abundance diminishes later in spermatids (at steps 5-8).
      Interestingly, two of the four antibodies showed TDP-43 expression in spermatids
      at steps 9-10, which coincides with the initial phase of the histone-to-protamine
      transition. Immunoreactivity patterns observed in the study suggest that TDP-43
      assumes different conformational states at different stages of spermatogenesis.
      TDP-43 pathology has been extensively studied in the context of neurodegenerative
      diseases; its role in spermatogenesis warrants further detailed investigation of
      the involvement of TDP-43 in male infertility.

PMID- 28600886
TI  - Progress in implementation of WHO FCTC Article 14 and its guidelines: a survey of
      tobacco dependence treatment provision in 142 countries.
AB  - AIMS: To (1) estimate the number of Parties to the Framework Convention on
      Tobacco Control (FCTC) providing tobacco dependence treatment in accordance with
      the recommendations of Article 14 and its guidelines; (2) assess association
      between provision and countries' income level; and (3) assess progress over time.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Online survey from December 2014 to July
      2015. PARTICIPANTS: Contacts in 172 countries were surveyed, representing 169 of
      the 180 FCTC Parties at the time of the survey. MEASUREMENTS: A 26-item
      questionnaire based on the Article 14 recommendations including tobacco treatment
      infrastructure and cessation support systems. Progress over time was assessed for
      those countries that also participated in our 2012 survey and did not change
      country income level classification. FINDINGS: We received responses from
      contacts in 142 countries, an 83% response rate. Overall, 54% of respondents
      reported that their country had an officially identified person responsible for
      tobacco dependence treatment, 32% an official national treatment strategy, 40%
      official national treatment guidelines, 25% a clearly identified budget for
      treatment, 17% text messaging, 23% free national quitlines and 26% specialized
      treatment services. Most measures were associated positively and significantly
      with countries' income level (P < 0.001). Measures not associated significantly
      with income level included mandatory recording of tobacco use (30% of countries),
      offering help to health-care workers (HCW) to stop using tobacco (44%), brief
      advice integrated into existing services (44%), and training HCW to give brief
      advice (81%). Reporting having an officially identified person responsible for
      tobacco cessation was the only measure with a statistically significant
      improvement over time (P = 0.0351). CONCLUSION: Fewer than half of countries that
      are Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control have implemented the
      recommendations of Article 14 and its guidelines, and for most measures,
      provision was greater the higher the country's income. There was little
      improvement in treatment provision between 2012 and 2015 in all countries.

PMID- 28600887
TI  - Therapeutic Effects of FGF23 c-tail Fc in a Murine Preclinical Model of X-Linked
      Hypophosphatemia Via the Selective Modulation of Phosphate Reabsorption.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is the causative factor of X-linked
      hypophosphatemia (XLH), a genetic disorder effecting 1:20,000 that is
      characterized by excessive phosphate excretion, elevated FGF23 levels and a
      rickets/osteomalacia phenotype. FGF23 inhibits phosphate reabsorption and
      suppresses 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) biosynthesis, analytes that
      differentially contribute to bone integrity and deleterious soft-tissue
      mineralization. As inhibition of ligand broadly modulates downstream targets,
      balancing efficacy and unwanted toxicity is difficult when targeting the FGF23
      pathway. We demonstrate that a FGF23 c-tail-Fc fusion molecule selectively
      modulates the phosphate pathway in vivo by competitive antagonism of FGF23
      binding to the FGFR/alpha klotho receptor complex. Repeated injection of FGF23 c
      tail Fc in Hyp mice, a preclinical model of XLH, increases cell surface abundance
      of kidney NaPi transporters, normalizes phosphate excretion, and significantly
      improves bone architecture in the absence of soft-tissue mineralization. Repeated
      injection does not modulate either 1,25D or calcium in a physiologically relevant
      manner in either a wild-type or disease setting. These data suggest that bone
      integrity can be improved in models of XLH via the exclusive modulation of
      phosphate. We posit that the selective modulation of the phosphate pathway will
      increase the window between efficacy and safety risks, allowing increased
      efficacy to be achieved in the treatment of this chronic disease. (c) 2017
      American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 28600889
TI  - A novel versatile precursor suitable for 18 F-radiolabeling via "click
      chemistry".
AB  - As an effort to improve 18 F-radiolabeling of biomolecules in method robustness
      and versatility, we report the synthesis and radiolabeling of a new azido
      precursor potentially useful for the so-called "click reaction," in particular
      the ligand-free version of the copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition.
      The new azido precursor may help to overcome problems sometimes exhibited by most
      of the currently used analogues, as it is safe to handle and it displays long
      term chemical stability, thus facilitating the development of new radiolabeling
      procedures. Moreover, the formed 18 F-labeled 1,2,3-triazole is potentially
      metabolically stable and could enhance the in vivo circulation time. The above
      azido precursor was successfully radiolabeled with 18 F, with 51% radiochemical
      yield (nondecay-corrected). As a proof of concept, the 18 F-labeled azide was
      then tested with a suitable alkyne functionalized aminoacid (l-propargylglycine),
      showing 94% of conversion, and a final radiochemical yield of 27% (>99%
      radiochemical purity), nondecay-corrected, with a total preparation time of 104
      minutes.

PMID- 28600888
TI  - Homeostatic control of START through negative feedback between Cln3-Cdk1 and
      Rim15/Greatwall kinase in budding yeast.
AB  - How cells coordinate growth and division is key for size homeostasis.
      Phosphorylation by G1-CDK of Whi5/Rb inhibitors of SBF/E2F transcription factors
      triggers irreversible S-phase entry in yeast and metazoans, but why this occurs
      at a given cell size is not fully understood. We show that the yeast Rim15-Igo1,2
      pathway, orthologous to Gwl-Arpp19/ENSA, is up-regulated in early G1 and helps
      promoting START by preventing PP2ACdc55 to dephosphorylate Whi5. RIM15
      overexpression lowers cell size while IGO1,2 deletion delays START in cells with
      low CDK activity. Deletion of WHI5, CDC55 and ectopic CLN2 expression suppress
      the START delay of igo1,2? cells. Rim15 activity increases after cells switch
      from fermentation to respiration, where Igo1,2 contribute to chromosome
      maintenance. Interestingly Cln3-Cdk1 also inhibits Rim15 activity, which enables
      homeostatic control of Whi5 phosphorylation and cell cycle entry. We propose that
      Rim15/Gwl regulation of PP2A plays a hitherto unappreciated role in cell size
      homeostasis during metabolic rewiring of the cell cycle.

PMID- 28600890
TI  - Pilot Study of a Software-Supported Protocol for Second-Trimester Ultrasound
      Screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility and impact of using a software-supported
      protocol for routine second-trimester ultrasound scanning. METHODS: We conducted
      a comparative observational study of 2 sets of 25 randomly selected normal
      routine second-trimester examinations performed by the same expert sonographer
      before and 1 year after the introduction of a software-supported protocol. The
      scanning protocol was identical during both periods and conformed to
      International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology guidelines. Two
      independent expert sonographers reviewed the temporal sequences of fetal anatomic
      visualization. The examination duration, number of images, time per stored image,
      and number of recorded anatomic features according to the International Society
      of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology guidelines were compared between the
      periods. RESULTS: The mean examination duration and the number of images stored
      +/- SD were both significantly higher during the period with the software
      supported protocol than during the previous period (18.9 +/- 5.3 versus 15.3 +/-
      2.8 minutes, respectively; P = .005; and 52.0 +/- 2.4 versus 35.2 +/- 3.4; P <
      .001). The mean time per image was also shorter with the software-supported
      protocol (19 +/- 7 versus 26 +/- 4 seconds; P < .001). Recording of the placental
      location, amniotic fluid quantification, cavum septi pellucidi, thoracic shape,
      both kidneys, both arms, and genitalia was significantly more consistent with the
      software-supported protocol (P < .001; P = .001; P = .022; P = .050; P = .022; P
      < .001; and P = .048). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that a software
      supported protocol standardizing image acquisition may improve operator
      efficiency during second-trimester ultrasound scans.

PMID- 28600893
TI  - Pregnancy, Marfan syndrome, and type-B aortic dissection.

PMID- 28600892
TI  - A novel free ammonia based pretreatment technology to enhance anaerobic methane
      production from primary sludge.
AB  - This study proposed a novel free ammonia (FA, i.e., NH3 ) pretreatment technology
      to enhance anaerobic methane production from primary sludge for the first time.
      The solubilization of primary sludge was substantially enhanced following 24 h FA
      pretreatment (250-680 mg NH3 -N/L), by which the release of soluble chemical
      oxygen demand (SCOD) (i.e., 0.4 mg SCOD/mg VS added; VS: volatile solids) was
      approximately 10 times as much as that without pretreatment (i.e., 0.03 mg
      SCOD/mg VS added). Then, biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests demonstrated
      that FA pretreatment of 250-680 mg NH3 -N/L was capable of enhancing anaerobic
      methane production while the digestion time was more than 7 days. Model based
      analysis indicated that the improved anaerobic methane production was due to an
      increased biochemical methane potential (B0 ) of 8-17% (i.e., from 331 to 357-387
      L CH4 /kg VS added), with the highest B0 achieved at 420 mg NH3 -N/L
      pretreatment. However, FA pretreatment of 250-680 mg NH3 -N/L decreased
      hydrolysis rate (k) by 24-38% compared with control (i.e., from 0.29 d-1 to 0.18
      0.22 d-1 ), which explained the lower methane production over the first 7 days'
      digestion period. Economic analysis and environmental evaluation demonstrated
      that FA pretreatment technology was environmentally friendly and economically
      favorable. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2245-2252. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 28600891
TI  - Spontaneous food allergy in Was-/- mice occurs independent of FcepsilonRI
      mediated mast cell activation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Food allergies are a growing health problem, and the development of
      therapies that prevent disease onset is limited by the lack of adjuvant-free
      experimental animal models. We compared allergic sensitization in patients with
      food allergy or Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and defined whether spontaneous
      disease in Was-/- mice recapitulates the pathology of a conventional disease
      model and/or human food allergy. METHODS: Comparative ImmunoCAP ISAC microarray
      was performed in patients with food allergy or WAS. Spontaneous food allergy in
      Was-/- mice was compared to an adjuvant-based model in wild-type mice (WT
      OVA/alum). Intestinal and systemic anaphylaxis was assessed, and the role of the
      high-affinity IgE Fc receptor (FcepsilonRI) in allergic sensitization was
      evaluated using Was-/- Fcer1a-/- mice. RESULTS: Polysensitization to food was
      detected in both WAS and food-allergic patients which was recapitulated in the
      Was-/- model. Oral administration of ovalbumin (OVA) in Was-/- mice induced low
      titers of OVA-specific IgE compared to the WT-OVA/alum model. Irrespectively, 79%
      of Was-/- mice developed allergic diarrhea following oral OVA challenge. Systemic
      anaphylaxis occurred in Was-/- mice (95%) with a mortality rate >50%. Spontaneous
      sensitization and intestinal allergy occurred independent of FcepsilonRI
      expression on mast cells (MCs) and basophils. CONCLUSIONS: Was-/- mice provide a
      model of food allergy with the advantage of mimicking polysensitization and low
      food-antigen IgE titers as observed in humans with clinical food allergy. This
      model will facilitate studies on aberrant immune responses during spontaneous
      disease development. Our results imply that therapeutic targeting of the
      IgE/FcepsilonRI activation cascade will not affect sensitization to food.

PMID- 28600894
TI  - Gluing Ionic Liquids to Oxide Surfaces: Chemical Anchoring of Functionalized
      Ionic Liquids by Vapor Deposition onto Cobalt(II) Oxide.
AB  - Ionic liquids (IL) hold a great potential as novel electrolytes for applications
      in electronic materials and energy technology. The functionality of ILs in these
      applications relies on their interface to semiconducting nanomaterials.
      Therefore, methods to control the chemistry and structure of this interface are
      the key to assemble new IL-based electronic and electrochemical materials. Here,
      we present a new method to prepare a chemically well-defined interface between an
      oxide and an IL film. An imidazolium-based IL, which is carrying an ester group,
      is deposited onto cobalt oxide surface by evaporation. The IL binds covalently to
      the surface by thermally activated cleavage of the ester group and formation of a
      bridging carboxylate. The anchoring reaction shows high structure sensitivity,
      which implies that the IL film can be adhered selectively to specific oxide
      surfaces.

PMID- 28600895
TI  - Metabolic modeling of energy balances in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae shows that
      pyruvate addition increases growth rate.
AB  - Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is cultured on large-scale to produce antigen for
      inactivated whole-cell vaccines against respiratory disease in pigs. However, the
      fastidious nutrient requirements of this minimal bacterium and the low growth
      rate make it challenging to reach sufficient biomass yield for antigen
      production. In this study, we sequenced the genome of M. hyopneumoniae strain 11
      and constructed a high quality constraint-based genome-scale metabolic model of
      284 chemical reactions and 298 metabolites. We validated the model with time
      series data of duplicate fermentation cultures to aim for an integrated model
      describing the dynamic profiles measured in fermentations. The model predicted
      that 84% of cellular energy in a standard M. hyopneumoniae cultivation was used
      for non-growth associated maintenance and only 16% of cellular energy was used
      for growth and growth associated maintenance. Following a cycle of model-driven
      experimentation in dedicated fermentation experiments, we were able to increase
      the fraction of cellular energy used for growth through pyruvate addition to the
      medium. This increase in turn led to an increase in growth rate and a 2.3 times
      increase in the total biomass concentration reached after 3-4 days of
      fermentation, enhancing the productivity of the overall process. The model
      presented provides a solid basis to understand and further improve M.
      hyopneumoniae fermentation processes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2339-2347.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28600896
TI  - Squamous cell carcinoma antigen as a prognostic marker and its correlation with
      clinicopathological features in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies investigate the prognostic value of squamous cell
      carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)
      patients, with contradicting findings. Considering this, the aim of this study
      was to evaluate the prognostic value of high SCC-Ag levels and its association
      with clinicopathological features of HNSCC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: PubMed, SCOPUS,
      and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies up to December 2015.
      English-language publications assessing clinicopathological features of HNSCC and
      the prognostic significance of SCC-Ag in this disease were included. A meta
      analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3 and STATA version 14 software to
      clarify a possible association between SCC-Ag and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: A
      total of 11 studies met inclusion criteria, comprising 1901 cases of HNSCC. The
      results of the meta-analysis showed that there was significant correlation
      between high SCC-Ag levels and males (odds ratio [OR]=2.99, 95% CI: 1.18-7.57,
      P=.02 fixed-effect), and advanced TNM stages (OR=3.18, 95% CI: 1.88-5.38, P<.0001
      random-effect). The survival meta-analysis showed a pooled hazard ratio for
      disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of 1.01 (95% CI: 0.70-1.31)
      and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.54-1.17), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis
      suggests that elevated SCC-Ag levels have a significant correlation with males
      and TNM stage, but may not be used as predictive marker for OS and DFS in HNSCC
      patients.

PMID- 28600897
TI  - Examination of cumulative effects of early adolescent depression on cannabis and
      alcohol use disorder in late adolescence in a community-based cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although they often co-occur, the longitudinal relationship
      between depression and substance use disorders during adolescence remains
      unclear. This study estimated the effects of cumulative depression during early
      adolescence (ages 13-15 years) on the likelihood of cannabis use disorder (CUD)
      and alcohol use disorder (AUD) at age 18. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of
      youth assessed at least annually between 6th and 9th grades (~ age 12-15) and
      again at age 18. Marginal structural models based on a counterfactual framework
      that accounted for both potential fixed and time-varying confounders were used to
      estimate cumulative effects of depressive symptoms over early adolescence.
      SETTING: The sample originated from four public middle schools in Seattle,
      Washington, USA. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 521 youth (48.4% female;
      44.5% were non-Hispanic White). MEASUREMENTS: Structured in-person interviews
      with youth and their parents were conducted to assess diagnostic symptom counts
      of depression during early adolescence; diagnoses of CUD and AUD at age 18 was
      based the Voice-Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. Cumulative depression
      was defined as the sum of depression symptom counts from grades 7-9. FINDINGS:
      The past-year prevalence of cannabis and alcohol use disorder at the age 18 study
      wave was 20.9 and 19.8%, respectively. A 1 standard deviation increase in
      cumulative depression during early adolescence was associated with a 50% higher
      likelihood of CUD [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.50; 95% confidence interval (CI) =
      1.07, 2.10]. Although similar in direction, there was no statistically
      significant association between depression and AUD (PR = 1.41; 95% CI = 0.94,
      2.11). Further, there were no differences in associations according to gender.
      CONCLUSIONS: Youth with more chronic or severe forms of depression during early
      adolescence may be at elevated risk for developing cannabis use disorder compared
      with otherwise similar youth who experience fewer depressive symptoms during
      early adolescence.

PMID- 28600898
TI  - Investigation of acid phosphatase variants for the synthesis of phosphate
      monoesters.
AB  - The major drawback of using phosphatases for transphosphorylation reactions lies
      in product depletion caused by the natural hydrolytic activity of the enzymes.
      Variants of PhoC-Mm from Morganella morganii and NSAP-Eb from Escherichia blattae
      were studied for their ability to maintain a high product level in the
      transphosphorylation of various primary alcohols. A single amino acid exchange
      delivered phosphatase variant PhoC-Mm G92D, which was able to catalyze the
      phosphorylation of primary alcohols without any major hydrolysis of the formed
      phosphate esters. The mutation mostly improved the affinity of the enzyme for
      alcohols, while rate constants of transphosphorylation and hydrolysis were
      decreased, overall resulting in a superior catalytic efficiency in
      transphosphorylation compared to hydrolysis. The presence of residual substrate
      alcohol at a given concentration was crucial to suppress phosphate ester
      hydrolysis. The present work extends the synthetic applicability of phosphatase
      variants beyond the previously reported nucleosides and allows preparative-scale
      production of various primary phosphate esters (yields up to 42%) with high
      enzyme productivity (TONs up to ~66,000). Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2187
      2195. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28600899
TI  - Inhibitory Effect of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound on the Expression of
      Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory Factors in U937 Cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (US) has been reported to promote
      periodontal tissue regeneration and reduce inflammation in soft tissues and in
      bone infectious diseases. Here we investigated the effect of low-intensity pulsed
      US on the expression of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory factors in
      U937 macrophage cells. METHODS: U937 cells were stimulated with different
      concentrations of LPS and exposed to different intensities of low-intensity
      pulsed US. Cell viability and apoptosis of U937 cells were determined by cell
      counting kit assays and flow cytometry. A real-time polymerase chain reaction and
      an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to test the expression of
      inflammatory factors. The expression levels of toll-like receptor 4, p65, p
      IkappaBalpha, and IkappaBalpha were assessed by western blots. RESULTS: Tumor
      necrosis factor alpha began to increase in U937 cells on induction with 1-MUg/mL
      LPS. Low-intensity pulsed US at the intensity of 60 mW/cm2 was more effective in
      reducing interleukin 8 (IL-8) expression. Furthermore, LPS inhibited the
      viability and increased apoptosis of U937 cells, whereas low-intensity pulsed US
      significantly reversed these effects (P < .05). Low-intensity pulsed US reduced
      the protein expression of IL-6 and IL-8 at both gene and protein levels in U937
      cells. The western blot and immunofluorescence showed that low-intensity pulsed
      US primarily suppressed the degradation and phosphorylation of IkappaBalpha and
      the translocation of p65 into the nuclei. CONCLUSIONS: Low-intensity pulsed US
      alleviated the expression of inflammatory factors induced by LPS in U937 cells.
      This process was modulated by suppressing the toll-like receptor 4-nuclear factor
      kappaB signaling pathway. Therefore, low-intensity pulsed US might be a potential
      immunomodulatory therapy for the treatment of periodontitis.

PMID- 28600900
TI  - Screening of duplicated loci reveals hidden divergence patterns in a complex
      salmonid genome.
AB  - A whole-genome duplication (WGD) doubles the entire genomic content of a species
      and is thought to have catalysed adaptive radiation in some polyploid-origin
      lineages. However, little is known about general consequences of a WGD because
      gene duplicates (i.e., paralogs) are commonly filtered in genomic studies; such
      filtering may remove substantial portions of the genome in data sets from
      polyploid-origin species. We demonstrate a new method that enables genome-wide
      scans for signatures of selection at both nonduplicated and duplicated loci by
      taking locus-specific copy number into account. We apply this method to RAD
      sequence data from different ecotypes of a polyploid-origin salmonid
      (Oncorhynchus nerka) and reveal signatures of divergent selection that would have
      been missed if duplicated loci were filtered. We also find conserved signatures
      of elevated divergence at pairs of homeologous chromosomes with residual
      tetrasomic inheritance, suggesting that joint evolution of some nondiverged gene
      duplicates may affect the adaptive potential of these genes. These findings
      illustrate that including duplicated loci in genomic analyses enables novel
      insights into the evolutionary consequences of WGDs and local segmental gene
      duplications.

PMID- 28600901
TI  - Influences of environmental bacteria and their metabolites on allergies, asthma,
      and host microbiota.
AB  - The prevalence of allergic diseases and asthma has dramatically increased over
      the last decades, resulting in a high burden for patients and healthcare systems.
      Thus, there is an unmet need to develop preventative strategies for these
      diseases. Epidemiological studies show that reduced exposure to environmental
      bacteria in early life (eg, birth by cesarean section, being formula-fed, growing
      up in an urban environment or with less contact to various persons) is associated
      with an increased risk to develop allergies and asthma later in life. Conversely,
      a reduced risk for asthma is consistently found in children growing up on
      traditional farms, thereby being exposed to a wide spectrum of microbes. However,
      clinical studies with bacteria to prevent allergic diseases are still rare and to
      some extent contradicting. A detailed mechanistic understanding of how
      environmental microbes influence the development of the human microbiome and the
      immune system is important to enable the development of novel preventative
      approaches that are based on the early modulation of the host microbiota and
      immunity. In this mini-review, we summarize current knowledge and experimental
      evidence for the potential of bacteria and their metabolites to be used for the
      prevention of asthma and allergic diseases.

PMID- 28600903
TI  - Oxidised protein metabolism: recent insights.
AB  - The 'oxygen paradox' arises from the fact that oxygen, the molecule that aerobic
      life depends on, threatens its very existence. An oxygen-rich environment
      provided life on Earth with more efficient bioenergetics and, with it, the
      challenge of having to deal with a host of oxygen-derived reactive species
      capable of damaging proteins and other crucial cellular components. In this
      minireview, we explore recent insights into the metabolism of proteins that have
      been reversibly or irreversibly damaged by oxygen-derived species. We discuss
      recent data on the important roles played by the proteasomal and lysosomal
      systems in the proteolytic degradation of oxidatively damaged proteins and the
      effects of oxidative damage on the function of the proteolytic pathways
      themselves. Mitochondria are central to oxygen utilisation in the cell, and their
      ability to handle oxygen-derived radicals is an important and still emerging area
      of research. Current knowledge of the proteolytic machinery in the mitochondria,
      including the ATP-dependent AAA+ proteases and mitochondrial-derived vesicles, is
      also highlighted in the review. Significant progress is still being made in
      regard to understanding the mechanisms underlying the detection and degradation
      of oxidised proteins and how proteolytic pathways interact with each other.
      Finally, we highlight a few unanswered questions such as the possibility of
      oxidised amino acids released from oxidised proteins by proteolysis being re
      utilised in protein synthesis thus establishing a vicious cycle of oxidation in
      cells.

PMID- 28600904
TI  - Using Docker Compose for the Simple Deployment of an Integrated Drug Target
      Screening Platform.
AB  - Docker virtualization allows for software tools to be executed in an isolated and
      controlled environment referred to as a container. In Docker containers,
      dependencies are provided exactly as intended by the developer and, consequently,
      they simplify the distribution of scientific software and foster reproducible
      research. The Docker paradigm is that each container encapsulates one particular
      software tool. However, to analyze complex biomedical data sets, it is often
      necessary to combine several software tools into elaborate workflows. To address
      this challenge, several Docker containers need to be instantiated and properly
      integrated, which complicates the software deployment process unnecessarily.
      Here, we demonstrate how an extension to Docker, Docker compose, can be used to
      mitigate these problems by providing a unified setup routine that deploys several
      tools in an integrated fashion. We demonstrate the power of this approach by
      example of a Docker compose setup for a drug target screening platform consisting
      of five integrated web applications and shared infrastructure, deployable in just
      two lines of codes.

PMID- 28600905
TI  - Omics Data Complementarity Underlines Functional Cross-Communication in Yeast.
AB  - Mapping the complete functional layout of a cell and understanding the cross-talk
      between different processes are fundamental challenges. They elude us because of
      the incompleteness and noisiness of molecular data and because of the
      computational intractability of finding the exact answer. We perform a simple
      integration of three types of baker's yeast omics data to elucidate the
      functional organization and lines of cross-functional communication. We examine
      protein-protein interaction (PPI), co-expression (COEX) and genetic interaction
      (GI) data, and explore their relationship with the gold standard of functional
      organization, the Gene Ontology (GO). We utilize a simple framework that
      identifies functional cross-communication lines in each of the three data types,
      in GO, and collectively in the integrated model of the three omics data types; we
      present each of them in our new Functional Organization Map (FOM) model. We
      compare the FOMs of the three omics datasets with the FOM of GO and find that GI
      is in best agreement with GO, followed COEX and PPI. We integrate the three FOMs
      into a unified FOM and find that it is in better agreement with the FOM of GO
      than those of any omics dataset alone, demonstrating functional complementarity
      of different omics data.

PMID- 28600906
TI  - Giuseppe Sergi. The portrait of a positivist scientist.
AB  - Giuseppe Sergi (1841-1936) was one of the most important anthropologists and
      psychologists of the age of positivism and this article focuses on three domains
      of his scientific research: degeneration, eugenics and race. His concept of
      degeneration is defined as the development of special forms of human adaptation
      to the environment. This issue is closely related to his theory of the
      "stratification of character", which had a profound impact on Italian psychiatry
      and criminal anthropology in the late nineteenth century. Thus, special emphasis
      is placed on the differences between Sergi and Cesare Lombroso regarding their
      definitions of criminality and genius. Concerning eugenics, the article analyzes
      Sergi's key role in the Italian context, discussing his eugenic program based on
      both repression and education. His remedies against the spread of degeneration
      included not only radical and repressive measures, but also the improvement of
      popular education and the living conditions of the working class. In the field of
      physical anthropology, the article examines Sergi's morphological method of
      classifying ethnic groups. Although sharply criticized in Italy and abroad, this
      method had two major effects. First, it led to the definitive split between Sergi
      and Paolo Mantegazza and to the foundation of the Societa Romana di Antropologia
      in 1893. Second, it was the starting point for Sergi's theory of Mediterranean
      "stock", which claimed that European populations were of African origin in
      contrast to contemporary theories of Aryan supremacy. The article ends with a
      look at the heated debate over Sergi's Mediterraneanism during the period of
      Fascism.

PMID- 28600908
TI  - A rapid qualitative assay for detection of Clostridium perfringens in canned food
      products.
AB  - Clostridium perfringens (MTCC 1349) is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, endospore
      forming, and rod-shaped bacterium. This bacterium produces a variety of toxins
      under strict anaerobic environment. C. perfringens can grow at temperatures
      ranging between 20 degrees C and 50 degrees C. It is the major causetive agent
      for gas gangrene, cellulitis, septicemia, necrotic enteritis and food poisoning,
      which are common toxin induced conditions noted in human and animals. C.
      perfringens can produce produce four major types of toxins that are used for the
      classification of strains, classified under type A-E. Across the globe many
      countries, including the United States, are affected by C. perfringens food
      poisonings where it is ranked as one of the most common causes of food borne
      infections. To date, no direct one step assay for the detection of C. perfringens
      has been developed and only few methods are known for accurate detection of C.
      perfringens. Long detection and incubation time is the major consideration of
      these reporter assays. The prensent study proposes a rapid and reliable
      colorimetric assay for the detection of C. perfringens. In principale, this assay
      detects the para nitrophenyl (yellow colour end product) liberated due to the
      hydrolysis of paranitrophenyl phosphetidyl choline (PNPC) through phospholipase C
      (lecithinase). Constitutive secretion of phospholipase C is a charactristic
      feature of C. perfringens. This assay detects the presence of the extracellular
      lecithinse through the PNPC impragnated impregnated probe. The probe is
      impregnated with peranitrophenyl phosphotidyl choline ester, which is colourless
      substrate used by lecithinase. The designed assay is specific towards PNPC and
      detectes very small quantites of lecithinase under conditions used. The reaction
      is substrate specific, no cross reaction was observed upon incubation with other
      substrates. In addition, this assay gave negative results with other clostridium
      strains, no cross reactions were observed with other experimental strains like C.
      tetani, C. botulinum, C. acetobutyricum, Bacillus subtilis, and Escherichia coli.
      This assay is extramly rapid and provides reliable and reproducible results
      within one hour of incubation at 37 degrees C.

PMID- 28600907
TI  - Effect of Hypokalemia on Functional Outcome at 3 Months Post-Stroke Among First
      Ever Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND Hypokalemia has been confirmed to be a predictor of adverse
      cardiovascular and renal outcomes. There is a paucity of studies focusing on the
      potential connection between the serum K+ level and the outcome after acute
      ischemic stroke (AIS). This study investigated whether hypokalemia in the acute
      stroke stage contributes to worse functional outcome in AIS patients. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS This retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients with
      first-ever AIS admitted between June 2015 and March 2016. Patients were divided
      into 2 groups: hypokalemia (K+ <3.5 mmol/L) and normokalemia (3.5 mmol/L <=K+
      <=5.5 mmol/L). Primary outcome measure was poor outcome at 3 months (modified
      Rankin scale >2). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were
      used to assess the association between hypokalemia and poor outcome. Receiver
      operating curve (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the optimal cutoff
      point of serum K+ level for predicting poor outcome. RESULTS The percent of
      patients with poor outcome at 3 months was higher in the hypokalemic group
      (62.9%) than in the normokalemic group (45.5%). Hypokalemic patients tended to
      have lower fasting glucose at admission, lower Glasgow coma scale score, and
      longer time from symptom onset to treatment compared with normokalemic patients.
      Hypokalemia was associated with poor outcome at 3 months after adjusting for
      potential confounders (odds ratio=2.42, 95% confidence interval=1.21-4.86,
      P=0.013). ROC analysis showed that the optimal threshold for serum K+ level was
      3.7 mmol/L. CONCLUSIONS Hypokalemia at the initial admission is associated with
      poor prognosis at 3 months in first-ever AIS patients.

PMID- 28600909
TI  - Expression of GPD1 and SIP18 genes during rehydration in active dry industrial
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae cider-making yeast strains (ADY).
AB  - In this study we determined the influence of different sugar concentration in
      media, time of rehydration and type of strain on relative expression level of
      GPD1 and SIP18 genes of active dry cider-making yeast strains, followed by the
      assessment of the impact of rehydration on the fermentation process. High
      expression of SIP18 at the beginning of rehydration was shown to be due to high
      transcription of the gene during the drying process. High sugar concentrations of
      media initiated transcription of the GPD1 gene and triggered the cellular
      glycerol biosynthesis pathway in examined strains. Rehydration time and type of
      strain showed to have no statistically significant impact on the course of the
      fermentation; RT qPCR results depended mainly on the time of rehydration and
      sugar concentration of the medium. This is the first attempt to confront
      rehydration time and molecular mechanisms acting upon rehydration with the course
      of the fermentation process.

PMID- 28600910
TI  - Dried human skin fibroblasts as a new substratum for functional culture of
      hepatic cells.
AB  - The primary hepatocytes culture is still one of the main challenges in toxicology
      studies in the drug discovery process, development of in vitro models to study
      liver function, and cell-based therapies. Isolated hepatocytes display a rapid
      decline in viability and liver-specific functions including albumin production,
      conversion of ammonia to urea, and activity of the drug metabolizing enzymes. A
      number of methods have been developed in order to maintain hepatocytes in their
      highly differentiated state in vitro. Optimization of culture conditions includes
      a variety of media formulations and supplements, growth surface coating with the
      components of extracellular matrix or with synthetic polymers, three-dimensional
      growth scaffolds and decellularized tissues, and coculture with other cell types
      required for the normal cell-cell interactions. Here we propose a new substratum
      for hepatic cells made by drying confluent human skin fibroblasts' culture. This
      growth surface coating, prepared using maximally simplified procedure, combines
      the advantages of the use of extracellular matrices and growth factors/cytokines
      secreted by the feeder layer cells. In comparison to the hepatoma cells grown on
      a regular tissue culture plastic, cells cultured on the dried fibroblasts were
      able to synthesize albumin in larger quantities and to form greater number of
      apical vacuoles. Unlike the coculture with the living feeder layer cells, the
      number of cells grown on the new substratum was not reduced after fourteen days
      of culture. This fact could make the dried fibroblasts coating an ideal candidate
      for the substrate for non-dividing human hepatocytes.

PMID- 28600911
TI  - Osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue
      and Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord.
AB  - Induced osteogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may provide an important
      tool for bone injuries treatment. Human umbilical cord and adipose tissue are
      routinely discarded as clinical waste and may be used as noncontroversial MSCs
      sources. It still remains to be verified which source of MSCs is the most
      suitable for bone regeneration. The aim of this research was to investigate the
      osteogenic potential of human MSCs derived from adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) and
      Wharton's jelly of the human umbilical cord (WJ-MSCs) differentiated under the
      same conditions. Osteogenic differentiation of MSCs was detected and quantified
      by alizarin red S (ARS) staining for calcium deposition and alkaline phosphatase
      (ALP) activity, osteoprotegerin (OPG), and osteocalcin (OC) secretion
      measurements. Under osteogenic conditions, after 21 days of differentiation, the
      measured ALP activity and calcium deposition were significantly higher in the AT
      MSCs than in the WJ-MSCs, while the OPG and OC secretion were higher in the WJ
      MSCs vs. AT-MSCs. Low concentrations of OPG and high levels of OC in AT-MSCs and
      WJ-MSCs, prove that these cells reached an advanced stage of the osteogenic
      differentiation. The levels of OC secreted by AT-MSCs were lower than by WJ-MSCs.
      Both cell types, AT-MSCs and WJ-MSCs possess a potential to differentiate towards
      the osteogenic lineage. The observed differences in the levels of osteogenic
      markers suggest that after 21-days of osteogenic differentiation, the AT-MSCs
      might have reached a more advanced stage of differentiation than WJ-MSCs.

PMID- 28600902
TI  - Transfer of innovation on allergic rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity in the
      elderly (MACVIA-ARIA) - EIP on AHA Twinning Reference Site (GARD research
      demonstration project).
AB  - The overarching goals of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and
      Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) are to enable European citizens to lead healthy,
      active and independent lives whilst ageing. The EIP on AHA includes 74 Reference
      Sites. The aim of this study was to transfer innovation from an app developed by
      the MACVIA-France EIP on AHA reference site (Allergy Diary) to other reference
      sites. The phenotypic characteristics of rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity in
      adults and the elderly will be compared using validated information and
      communication technology (ICT) tools (i.e. the Allergy Diary and CARAT: Control
      of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test) in 22 Reference Sites or regions across
      Europe. This will improve the understanding, assessment of burden, diagnosis and
      management of rhinitis in the elderly by comparison with an adult population.
      Specific objectives will be: (i) to assess the percentage of adults and elderly
      who are able to use the Allergy Diary, (ii) to study the phenotypic
      characteristics and treatment over a 1-year period of rhinitis and asthma
      multimorbidity at baseline (cross-sectional study) and (iii) to follow-up using
      visual analogue scale (VAS). This part of the study may provide some insight into
      the differences between the elderly and adults in terms of response to treatment
      and practice. Finally (iv) work productivity will be examined in adults.

PMID- 28600912
TI  - The Need to Test Strategies Based on Common Sense.

PMID- 28600914
TI  - Determination of occlusal vertical dimension for complete dentures patients: an
      updated review.
AB  - Determination of the occlusal vertical dimension (OVD) is an integral part of
      complete dentures fabrication. Due to the lack of teeth, the clinician faces the
      challenge of how to accurately establish the OVD of the new denture. Therefore,
      the purpose of this review article was to present, discuss and critique the
      available methods used in determining the OVD for complete dentures patients.
      This review identified two main streams to determine the OVD: (i) pre-extraction
      methods and (ii) post-extraction methods. For the pre-extraction methods, the OVD
      of the natural dentition is transferred to the new dentures mainly by intra-oral
      measurements, profile tracing and cephalometric analysis. The post-extraction
      methods rely on mandibular rest position, facial aesthetic appearance, swallowing
      pattern, craniofacial landmarks measurements, cephalometric analysis, phonetics
      and existing dentures. In general, all the available techniques have merits and
      are helpful for routine clinical use. However, they are empirical in nature,
      controversial and lack the scientific support. Further, there is no single
      accurate method for OVD determination. To overcome the limitations of the
      techniques, the clinician will benefit from applying combination of techniques to
      approximate the OVD.

PMID- 28600915
TI  - Sexual and Reproductive Health in Nursing Education.

PMID- 28600913
TI  - Glucose Self-monitoring in Non-Insulin-Treated Patients With Type 2 Diabetes in
      Primary Care Settings: A Randomized Trial.
AB  - Importance: The value of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) levels in
      patients with non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes has been debated. Objective: To
      compare 3 approaches of SMBG for effects on hemoglobin A1c levels and health
      related quality of life (HRQOL) among people with non-insulin-treated type 2
      diabetes in primary care practice. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Monitor
      Trial study was a pragmatic, open-label randomized trial conducted in 15 primary
      care practices in central North Carolina. Participants were randomized between
      January 2014 and July 2015. Eligible patients with type 2 non-insulin-treated
      diabetes were: older than 30 years, established with a primary care physician at
      a participating practice, had glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c) levels higher
      than 6.5% but lower than 9.5% within the 6 months preceding screening, as
      obtained from the electronic medical record, and willing to comply with the
      results of random assignment into a study group. Of the 1032 assessed for
      eligibility, 450 were randomized. Interventions: No SMBG, once-daily SMBG, and
      once-daily SMBG with enhanced patient feedback including automatic tailored
      messages delivered via the meter. Main Outcomes and Measures: Coprimary outcomes
      included hemoglobin A1c levels and HRQOL at 52 weeks. Results: A total of 450
      patients were randomized and 418 (92.9%) completed the final visit. There were no
      significant differences in hemoglobin A1c levels across all 3 groups (P = .74;
      estimated adjusted mean hemoglobin A1c difference, SMBG with messaging vs no
      SMBG, -0.09%; 95% CI, -0.31% to 0.14%; SMBG vs no SMBG, -0.05%; 95% CI, -0.27% to
      0.17%). There were also no significant differences found in HRQOL. There were no
      notable differences in key adverse events including hypoglycemia frequency,
      health care utilization, or insulin initiation. Conclusions and Relevance: In
      patients with non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes, we observed no clinically or
      statistically significant differences at 1 year in glycemic control or HRQOL
      between patients who performed SMBG compared with those who did not perform SMBG.
      The addition of this type of tailored feedback provided through messaging via a
      meter did not provide any advantage in glycemic control. Trial Registration:
      clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02033499.

PMID- 28600916
TI  - Corrigendum to "Low dose ouabain stimulates Na-K ATPase <alpha> 1 subunit
      association with angiotensin II type 1 receptor in renal proximal tubule cells"
      [Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1863/11 (2016) 2624-2636].

PMID- 28600918
TI  - Impact of customized growth curves on screening for small for gestational age
      twins.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The choice of a growth curve determines the screening for small-for
      gestational-age (SGA) fetuses and little data is available on SGA twins. Our aim
      was to evaluate small-for-gestational-age (SGA) detection rate in twin
      pregnancies and assess whether the use of a customized curve allowed better
      identification of SGA fetuses. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study including all
      twins between 2010 and 2013. Two groups were formed: the SGA and the non-SGA
      group. Four curves were compared: Hadlock's curve, a customized curve, EPOPe M0
      and EPOPe M1. We defined a composite neonatal complication criterion (transfer to
      intensive care unit, respiratory distress and death). RESULT: 472 fetuses were
      included with a 34.3% prevalence of SGA. Hadlock's curve showed better
      sensitivity for the detection of SGA <10th percentile (67.3% vs. 63%, 59.9% and
      57.4% respectively). Diagnostic Odd Ratio were comparable for the detection of
      SGA. For the composite variable, there was a significant difference between the 2
      groups using a customized curve adjusted for fetal sex (EPOPe M1). CONCLUSION:
      The EPOPe (M0 and M1) and customized curves do not improve screening for SGA
      infants below the 10th percentile. The reduced effectiveness of customized curves
      can be related to the greater impact of placentation or cord insertion on the
      potential for fetal growth.

PMID- 28600917
TI  - Application of Combined Osteotomy and Reconstruction Pre-Bent Plate Position
      (CORPPP) Technology to Assist in the Precise Reconstruction of Segmental
      Mandibular Defects.
AB  - PURPOSE: To introduce and evaluate the clinical effects of digital surgical guide
      plate technology in the combined osteotomy and reconstruction pre-bent plate
      position (CORPPP) technique during mandibular segmental resections. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Seven cases of mandibular segmental resection with simultaneous
      vascularized free fibula flap reconstruction by oral and maxillofacial surgery
      were selected (Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China; June 2015 through December
      2015). Cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) and spiral CT scans of mandibles and
      fibular donor sites, respectively, were collected. Surgical simulations were
      conducted after data collection. Pre-bent titanium plates were placed within the
      predicted mandibular models. The samples were scanned by CBCT to obtain the
      positional relations. Then, CORPPP surgical guide plates with location holes were
      designed and fabricated on pre-bent titanium plates. The CORPPP surgical guide
      plates were applied in osteotomy and the placement of pre-bent titanium plates
      during surgery. CBCT scans were obtained 2 weeks after surgery to examine the
      reconstructed composite models composed of mandibles and titanium plates. Then,
      the scans were compared with the preoperatively designed models. In addition, the
      deviation of the integral and characteristic structure loci was analyzed. RESULT:
      The 7 cases with placed pre-bent titanium plates exhibited good recovery in
      occlusal relations and the contour of the reconstructed mandibles. The absolute
      deviations in the integral analysis were 0.89 +/- 0.96 mm (mandibles) and 0.33 +/
      0.36 mm (titanium plates). The absolute deviations on the diseased side were
      1.78 +/- 0.35 mm (condylar head), 2.43 +/- 0.29 mm (gonion), 2.22 +/- 0.22 mm
      (gnathion), and 2.66 +/- 0.36 mm (mesial inferior margin of the fibula).
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that mandibular segmental
      resections and the precise orientation of pre-bent titanium plates could be
      simultaneously assisted by CORPPP digital surgical guide plates. The use of these
      guide plates should be expanded.

PMID- 28600919
TI  - Group A streptococci infection. A systematic clinical review exemplified by cases
      from an obstetric department.
AB  - : Group A streptococci infection has re-emerged since the 1980s and onward,
      despite the awareness of the etiology and the use of penicillin. It now accounts
      for more than 75,000 deaths worldwide every year. Postpartum women have a 20-fold
      increased incidence of group A streptococci disease compared to non-pregnant
      women. This review focuses on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical
      presentation, prevention and treatment of group A streptococcal infection in
      pregnancy. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the following electronic databases from
      1980-March 2016: PubMed-Medline, Embase, SveMed+, Bibliotek.dk, Cinahl and
      Cochrane database using following MESH terms or Emtree terms; (Fasciitis,
      Necrotizing), Soft Tissue Infection, Streptococcus Pyogenes, Postpartum Period,
      Pregnancy, (Shock, Septic), Microbiology, Epidemiology, Disease Management. We
      identified 439 records. After literature screening we ended up with 66 records.
      Group A streptococci infection, and in particular streptococcal toxic shock
      syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis, can be life threatening. Despite advanced
      surgery, antibiotics and supportive therapy, there is still a high mortality
      associated with these infections. The clinical picture can vary greatly and
      awareness of the condition and its ability to progress rapidly is crucial for
      prompt treatment. A profound review on the subject is presented in the paper.

PMID- 28600920
TI  - Frozen embryo transfer or fresh embryo transfer: Clinical outcomes depend on the
      number of oocytes retrieved.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish a safe and effective clinical transplantation strategy
      for determining when to prioritize frozen embryo transfers (FET) or fresh embryo
      transfers (ET) we conducted a retrospective analysis study, examining several key
      clinical outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: In a retrospective cohort study, 1423 patients
      (age<40) were categorized into four groups according to the number of oocytes
      retrieved (15-18, 19-21, 22-24 and  >=25 oocytes). The clinical outcomes of 1423
      in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles (896 fresh ET and 527 FET) were reviewed for
      each group. Data demonstrated that the clinical pregnancy rates (PR) and live
      birth rate (LBR) of the FET group was higher than those of the fresh ET group.
      RESULTS: Our study further indicates that the clinical benefits of FET become
      most meaningful when the number of oocytes retrieved >=19. When the number of
      oocytes retrieved >=20,this difference was more significant, with benefits in
      PR(odds ratio [OR]=2.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.74-3.46, P<0.001) and
      LBR (OR=2.27, 95% CI: 1.60-3.22, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: 20 oocytes retrieved may
      be the optimal cut-off point number for FET in order to achieve both a successful
      pregnancy and a live birth.

PMID- 28600921
TI  - An exploration of the spectrum of peri-ictal MRI change; a comprehensive
      literature review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this review was to identify published studies in the
      literature relating to ictal induced MRI change and to identify certain common
      themes, practical points for clinicians and areas for future research. METHODS:
      We identified 96 articles that satisfied our inclusion criteria yielding 575
      cases. All articles were analysed; number of subjects, spectrum of MRI and EEG
      change, aetiology, and follow-up (both clinical and imaging) were noted. RESULTS:
      The most frequent imaging changes were restricted diffusion, T2-hyperintensity
      and reduced ADC values. The mesial temporal structures and neocortex were most
      commonly affected locations though subcortical structures like the thalamus and
      pulvinar were also described. Practical clinical points included; the development
      of PLEDS concordant with ictal imaging change was associated with worse clinical
      prognosis, patients with seizures due to symptomatic aetiology may be more likely
      to develop ictal related imaging change and follow up is vitally important to
      ensure that ictal related oedema is not misidentified as a mass lesion or
      conversely that a mass lesion is not misidentified as ictal related change.
      CONCLUSION: Qualitative MRI studies have provided clinicians with useful in-vivo
      insights into the dynamic ictal neuronal environment. Changes are not only
      localised to the ictal focus but can be remote and irreversible. Small patient
      numbers varying study design and high numbers of symptomatic seizures makes
      comparison between studies problematic. Also there is possible microstructural
      quantitative MRI changes that are missed on qualitative MRI. There is a need for
      prospective quantitative MRI studies in patients with epilepsy peri-icatlly with
      a uniform period of follow up and comparison to control data.

PMID- 28600922
TI  - The object of my desire: Five-year-olds rapidly reason about a speaker's desire
      during referential communication.
AB  - Two experiments examined whether 5-year-olds draw inferences about desire
      outcomes that constrain their online interpretation of an utterance. Children
      were informed of a speaker's positive (Experiment 1) or negative (Experiment 2)
      desire to receive a specific toy as a gift before hearing a referentially
      ambiguous statement ("That's my present") spoken with either a happy or sad
      voice. After hearing the speaker express a positive desire, children (N=24)
      showed an implicit (i.e., eye gaze) and explicit ability to predict reference to
      the desired object when the speaker sounded happy, but they showed only implicit
      consideration of the alternate object when the speaker sounded sad. After hearing
      the speaker express a negative desire, children (N=24) used only happy prosodic
      cues to predict the intended referent of the statement. Taken together, the
      findings indicate that the efficiency with which 5-year-olds integrate desire
      reasoning with language processing depends on the emotional valence of the
      speaker's voice but not on the type of desire representations (i.e., positive vs.
      negative) that children must reason about online.

PMID- 28600923
TI  - Multicomponent view of vocabulary acquisition: An investigation with primary
      grade children.
AB  - The role of working memory in vocabulary acquisition has been well established in
      the literature. In this study, we proposed and empirically tested the
      multicomponent view of vocabulary acquisition, which states that multiple
      language and cognitive skills are involved to facilitate phonological and
      semantic representations needed for vocabulary acquisition. Working memory and
      attention were hypothesized to be directly and indirectly related to vocabulary,
      whereas inference and morphosyntactic knowledge were hypothesized to be directly
      related to vocabulary (measured by the Picture Vocabulary Test of the Woodcock
      Johnson III battery). Results from 262 kindergartners using path analysis
      revealed that all the multiple cognitive and language skills were directly
      related to vocabulary after controlling for age, gender, racial/ethnic
      backgrounds, socioeconomic status (as measured by free or reduced-price lunch
      eligibility), and each other. Furthermore, working memory and attention also made
      indirect contributions via inference and morphosyntactic knowledge. Total effects
      (beta weights), accounting for direct and indirect effects, were .33 for working
      memory, .23 for attention, .18 for inference, and .18 for morphosyntactic
      knowledge. These results indicate that although working memory is important,
      contributions of other language and cognitive skills should be considered in
      vocabulary acquisition. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

PMID- 28600924
TI  - "Only you can play with me!" Children's inclusive decision making, reasoning, and
      emotions based on peers' gender and behavior problems.
AB  - This study examined the development of children's decisions, reasoning, and
      emotions in contexts of peer inclusion/exclusion. We asked an ethnically diverse
      sample of 117 children aged 4years (n=59; 60% girls) and 8years (n=58; 49% girls)
      to choose between including hypothetical peers of the same or opposite gender and
      with or without attention deficit/hyperactivity problems and aggressive behavior.
      Children also provided justifications for, and emotions associated with, their
      inclusion decisions. Both 4- and 8-year-olds predominantly chose to include the
      in-group peer (i.e., the same-gender peer and peers without behavior problems),
      thereby demonstrating a normative in-group inclusive bias. Nevertheless, children
      included the out-group peer more in the gender context than in the behavior
      problem contexts. The majority of children reported group functioning-related,
      group identity-related, and stereotype-related reasoning after their in-group
      inclusion decisions, and they associated happy feelings with such decisions.
      Although most children attributed sadness to the excluded out-group peer, they
      attributed more anger to the excluded out-group peer in the aggression context
      compared with other contexts. We discuss the implications of our findings for
      current theorizing about children's social-cognitive and emotional development in
      contexts of peer inclusion and exclusion.

PMID- 28600925
TI  - Parental mind-mindedness but not false belief understanding predicts Hong Kong
      children's lie-telling behavior in a temptation resistance task.
AB  - Children can tell lies before they understand the concept of false belief. This
      study investigated the relationship between parental mind-mindedness, defined as
      the propensity of parents to view their children as mental agents with
      independent thoughts and feelings, and the lie-telling behavior of Hong Kong
      children aged 3-6years. The results confirmed earlier findings indicating that
      Hong Kong children's understanding of false belief is delayed; nevertheless, the
      participants appeared to lie just as well as children from other cultures. The
      lie-telling behavior of Hong Kong children was predicted by parental mind
      mindedness and children's age but was unrelated to children's false belief
      understanding. It is suggested that children of mind-minded parents are more
      likely to exercise autonomy in socially ambiguous situations. Future studies
      should focus on the roles of parenting and children's multifaceted autonomy when
      addressing children's adaptive lie telling.

PMID- 28600926
TI  - The role of cell walls and pectins in cation exchange and surface area of plant
      roots.
AB  - We aimed to assess role of cell walls in formation of cation exchange capacity,
      surface charge, surface acidity, specific surface, water adsorption energy and
      surface charge density of plant roots, and to find the input of the cell wall
      pectins to the above properties. Whole roots, isolated cell walls and the residue
      after the extraction of pectins from the cell walls of two Apiaceae L. species
      (celeriac and parsnip) were studied using potentiometric titration curves and
      water vapor adsorption - desorption isotherms. Total amount of surface charge, as
      well as the cation exchange capacity were markedly higher in roots than in their
      cell walls, suggesting large contribution of other cell organelles to the binding
      of cations by the whole root cells. Significantly lower charge of the residues
      after removal of pectins was noted indicating that pectins play the most
      important role in surface charge formation of cell walls. The specific surface
      was similar for all of the studied materials. For the separated cell walls it was
      around 10% smaller than of the whole roots, and it increased slightly after the
      removal of pectins. The surface charge density and water vapor adsorption energy
      were the highest for the whole roots and the lowest for the cell walls residues
      after removal of pectins. The results indicate that the cell walls and plasma
      membranes are jointly involved in root ion exchange and surface characteristics
      and their contribution depends upon the plant species.

PMID- 28600927
TI  - Diverging effects of nicotine on motor learning performance: Improvement in
      deprived smokers and attenuation in non-smokers.
AB  - Nicotine modulates cognition and neuroplasticity in smokers and non-smokers. A
      possible mechanism for its effect on learning and memory performance is its
      impact on long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). As
      neuroplasticity is closely connected to learning processes, we aimed to explore
      the effect of nicotine in healthy, young smokers and non-smokers on performance
      of the serial reaction time task (SRTT), a sequential motor learning paradigm. 20
      nicotine-deprived smokers and 20 non-smokers participated in the study and were
      exposed to nicotine or placebo medication. Deprived smokers under placebo
      medication displayed reduced performance in terms of reaction time and error
      rates compared to the non-smoking group. After application of nicotine,
      performance in smokers improved while it deteriorated in non-smokers. These
      results indicate a restituting effect of nicotine in smokers in terms of
      cognitive parameters. This sheds further light on the proposed mechanism of
      nicotine on learning processes, which might be linked to the addictive component
      of nicotine, the probability of relapse and thus needs also be addressed in
      cessation treatment.

PMID- 28600928
TI  - Development and initial validation of a marijuana cessation expectancies
      questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present research examines anticipated consequences of ceasing or
      reducing marijuana use with initial development and psychometric validation of a
      measure of marijuana cessation expectancies. METHODS: The 46-item Marijuana
      Cessation Expectancies Questionnaire (MCEQ) was initially developed from the
      content validity analysis of free responses about expected outcomes of stopping
      and decreasing marijuana use generated by 94 participants. The closed-ended MCEQ
      was subsequently administered to 151 non-treatment seeking regular marijuana
      users (used on M=64.7% of the prior 60days, SD=25.1%;Mage=21.4, SD=3.96; 38.4%
      female). RESULTS: Exploratory factor analyses identified six MCEQ factors that
      accounted for 61% of variance, which were related to expected improvement in: 1)
      performance/motivation, 2) problems with authority, and 3) interpersonal
      functioning, and expected worsening of 4) mood states and 5) fun experiences, and
      6) changes in appetite/weight from cessation/reduction of marijuana use. Internal
      consistency of full scale items was good (alpha=0.86) and moderate to high for
      all factors (alpha's=0.60-0.89). The MCEQ items showed good concurrent validity
      with key measures and incremental associations with change indices (prior history
      of cessation/reduction attempt, benefits of reduction, importance of change),
      beyond the effects of marijuana use expectancies. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide
      initial support for the MCEQ and suggest it is closely linked to
      reduction/cessation decisions in marijuana users. MCEQ may be used clinically to
      enhance existing behavioral treatments and motivational interventions for problem
      marijuana use.

PMID- 28600930
TI  - Explicating the structure and relations of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire:
      Implications for screening for bipolar and related disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ; Hirschfeld et al., 2000) is a
      widely used screening measure in bipolar disorder research. Although this measure
      assesses a heterogeneous range of content, only limited prior research utilizing
      relatively small sample sizes has examined its factor structure. METHODS: The
      MDQ's structure was examined in 700 participants reporting current psychiatric
      treatment. We extended prior structural work on the MDQ by explicating relations
      between factors and a wide range of psychopathology and personality measures.
      RESULTS: The MDQ items were best captured by a two-factor structure consisting of
      dimensions labeled Positive Activation and Negative Activation. These two factors
      showed very different patterns of associations with personality, other
      psychopathology, and ratings of significant impairment, the last of which is a
      requirement for a positive MDQ screen using traditional scoring methods.
      LIMITATIONS: Our study did not include clinician or informant ratings of bipolar
      disorder, preventing us from examining associations with such scores.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that although the MDQ items cohere to define a
      total score, their structure is best modeled by meaningful Positive Activation
      and Negative Activation factors. Researchers and clinicians should be aware of
      these distinct sets of MDQ content, as high scorers on Positive Activation are
      less likely to identify past symptoms as problematic and show distinct clinical
      profiles from high scorers on Negative Activation.

PMID- 28600929
TI  - Detrimental effects of self-administered methamphetamine during pregnancy on
      offspring development in the rat.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methamphetamine (METH) abuse by pregnant women is a commonly observed
      phenomenon. While the harmful effects of METH are well described for adults,
      there is only limited knowledge of the effects of METH use during pregnancy on
      the developing child. In the present study, we investigated how intraveneous (iv)
      METH self-administration throughout pregnancy affected rat dams and their
      offspring through weaning, compared to controls. METHODS: Female rats (n=16) were
      trained to self-administer METH iv; every drug infusion by a dam also resulted in
      a saline injection to a yoked control (n=16). When stable levels of self
      administration were reached, all females were mated. Daily, 2-h self
      administration sessions continued until litters were born. General health and
      weight was assessed daily in dams and pups. In addition, pups were evaluated for
      achievement of age-appropriate developmental milestones (i.e., righting reflex,
      negative geotaxis, pinna detachment, fur appearance, incisor eruption and eye
      opening). RESULTS: Dams self-administered 2-3mg/kg/day METH throughout gestation
      without consequence to dam health or weight gain during pregnancy. All females
      produced viable litters, and litter size and composition did not differ between
      saline and METH dams. Similarly, maternal pup-directed behavior was not affected
      by prior METH self-administration. However, despite a lack of weight difference
      in pups, METH-exposed pups were significantly delayed in reaching all assessed
      developmental milestones compared to controls. CONCLUSION: These results indicate
      that in utero exposure to moderate METH doses can profoundly and adversely affect
      offspring development, suggesting that even recreational METH use during
      pregnancy has potential for harm.

PMID- 28600931
TI  - Prospective memory deficits in patients with depression: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prospective memory (PM) can be impaired in patients with psychiatric
      disorders including depression. This meta-analysis systematically examined PM in
      patients with depression. METHODS: The meta-analysis was conducted according to
      the guidelines from Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in
      Epidemiology (STROBE). Case-control studies on PM in patients with depression
      were included. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence interval
      (CI) were calculated using random effect models. RESULTS: Ten case-control
      studies (n = 596) comparing patients with depression (n = 299) with healthy
      controls (n = 297) were included in the analyses. Compared with healthy controls,
      patients with depression had significant impairment in event-based PM (EBPM) [8
      trials, n = 436; SMD: -0.87 (95%CI: -1.43, -0.31), P = 0.002; I2 = 87%].
      Significance was observed after removing two outlier trials [SMD: -0.44 (95%CI: 
      0.69, -0.20), P = 0.0004; I2 = 23%] and also in 8 out of the 13 subgroup
      analyses. Similarly, time-based PM (TBPM) was significantly impaired in patients
      with depression [4 trials, n = 239; SMD: -0.89 (95%CI: -1.46, -0.31), P = 0.003;
      I2 = 78%] when compared with healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis
      showed that both TBPM and EBPM appeared to be impaired in patients with
      depression.

PMID- 28600932
TI  - Investigation of associations between attachment, parenting and schizotypy during
      the postnatal period.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parenting can be a stressful experience particularly for people with
      mental health problems or people who experienced abuse or attachment difficulties
      in their own childhoods. This study examined the relationships between earlier
      trauma, attachment, parenting and schizotypy in a non-clinical sample, with the
      specific hypothesis that parenting stress and competence would mediate any
      association between trauma, attachment and schizotypy. METHODS: One hundred and
      thirty-four first time parents with a child under 12 months old completed the
      following questionnaires online: the Experiences of Close Relationships Scale -
      Short Form (ECR-S), the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire - Brief, Revised
      (SPQ-BR) the Parenting Stress Scale, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale
      (PSOC) and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Questionnaire. RESULTS:
      Parenting stress mediated the association between attachment and schizotypy,
      though parenting competence did not have a significant effect as a mediator in a
      parallel model. Childhood trauma was associated with attachment and schizotypy
      but did not correlate with the parenting variables. LIMITATIONS: The study
      utilised a cross-sectional design and self-report measures which limits the
      ability to make causal inferences from the results. However, findings warrant
      replication in clinical samples with psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: The study adds to
      the understanding of what may exacerbate schizotypal symptoms in the first 12
      months postpartum as parental attachment insecurity and parental stress together
      predicted elevated self-reported experiences of schizotypal symptoms.

PMID- 28600933
TI  - Malondialdehyde: A novel predictive biomarker for post-stroke depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is evidence that stroke is accompanied by oxidative stress.
      However, the links between oxidative stress and depression in stroke patients are
      poorly understood. This study examines whether post-stroke depression (PSD) is
      associated with oxidative stress. METHODS: Overall, 216 acute stroke patients
      were consecutively recruited and followed up for 1 month. Blood specimens were
      collected within 24h after admission and measured for the following oxidative
      stress biomarkers: malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and
      glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX). All enrolled patients were divided into the PSD
      group or the non-PSD group according to an assessment of clinical depression. One
      hundred normal control subjects were also recruited. RESULTS: There was a
      positive correlation between serum MDA levels and HAMD scores in stroke patients
      (r=0.536, p<0.001). Based on the Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve,
      the optimal cutoff value of serum MDA levels as an indicator for an auxiliary
      diagnosis of PSD was projected to be 2.898 nmol/ml, which yielded a sensitivity
      of 77.9% and a specificity of 81.1%, with an area under the curve of 0.883 (95%
      CI, 0.836-0.929). Elevated MDA (>=2.898 nmol/ml) was an independent predictive
      marker of PSD (odds ratio OR=24.295; 95% CI, 9.461-62.388; p<0.001, adjusted for
      relevant confounders). LIMITATIONS: We excluded patients with severe aphasia or
      with serious conditions. In addition, the information for dietary intake was not
      recorded, which may influence oxidative stress levels. CONCLUSION: Our study
      demonstrated that an elevated serum MDA level at admission was positively
      associated with an increased risk of developing depression after acute stroke,
      especially minor stroke.

PMID- 28600934
TI  - One-pot synthesis of hollow AgPt alloyed nanocrystals with enhanced
      electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions.
AB  - Herein, a simple one-pot aqueous method was developed for the fabrication of
      uniform hollow bimetallic AgPt alloyed nanocrystals (H-AgPt NCs) by using 5
      aminoorotic acid (5-amino-2,6-dioxo-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyrimidine-4-carboxylic
      acid) as a growth-directing agent, without any seed, organic solvent or template
      involved. The prepared H-AgPt NCs displayed enhanced electrocatalytic activity
      for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a more positive onset overpotential
      (etaonset) of -28mV and a smaller Tafel slope of 40mVdec-1 relative to commercial
      Pt black (-34mV, 50mVdec-1) and Pt/C (20wt.%, -33mV, 33mVdec-1) in 0.5M H2SO4.
      Meanwhile, the obtained catalyst exhibited improved catalytic features toward
      oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with a positive etaonset (0.916V) and enhanced
      kinetic current density (243.23mAmg-1Pt) in 0.1M HClO4 at 0.850V compared with Pt
      black (0.876V, 25.85mAmg-1Pt).

PMID- 28600935
TI  - Electrochemical treatment of carwash wastewater using Fe and Al electrode: Techno
      economic analysis and sludge characterization.
AB  - The present study was conducted to investigate the electrochemical treatment of
      carwash wastewater using electrocoagulation (EC) process with Fe and Al
      electrodes. The effects of operating conditions such as initial pH (2-10),
      current density (0.1-5 mA/cm2) and operating time (5-50 min) on chemical oxygen
      demand (COD), oil-grease, chloride removal efficiencies as well as total
      operating costs were studied. The optimum conditions that achieve higher removal
      efficiencies were found as pH: 8, current density: 3 mA/cm2, operating time: 30
      min for Fe electrode and pH: 6, current density: 1 mA/cm2, operating time: 30 min
      for Al electrode. The removal efficiencies for COD, oil-grease and chloride were
      obtained as 88%, 90% and 50% for Fe and 88%, 68% and 33% for Al electrodes under
      the optimum conditions. The total operating costs at the optimum conditions were
      calculated as 0.6 $/m3 and 0.3 $/m3 for Fe and Al electrodes, respectively. The
      sludge samples generated after EC process were characterized with Fourier
      transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and zeta potential measurements for both
      electrodes. The analyses showed the presence of hydroxides and oxyhydroxides in
      the sludge samples and the surface of the sludge samples was negatively charged
      in the wide range of pH. As a conclusion, this study revealed that EC process
      using Fe electrode should be a feasible technology for higher COD and oil-grease
      removals from carwash wastewaters.

PMID- 28600936
TI  - A novel technique for establishing soil topographic index thresholds in defining
      hydrologically sensitive areas in landscapes.
AB  - Hydrologically sensitive areas (HSAs) are useful for analyzing a watershed.
      However, correct delineation of HSAs is critical for conducting such analysis.
      Scientifically defensible methods for delineating HSAs are lacking. The
      objectives of this study are to identify threshold soil topographic indices
      (STIs) based on the relationship between the observed soil moisture and the
      calculated STI in two sites using a trellis plot approach, and validate the
      identified threshold STIs in delineating HSAs in 15 watersheds in North Central
      New Jersey based on a linear mixed modeling of the relationship between land use
      and water quality at the watershed and HSA scales. Field soil moisture data are
      collected during April, May, June, July, August, and September for three years at
      Christie Hoffman Park and Fairview Farm in Central New Jersey. The linear mixed
      models assess the relationship between land use metrics in terms of percentages
      of land uses and three water quality indicators including total suspended solids,
      total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams at both watershed and HSA scales.
      Trellis plot analyses based on a polynomial regression model of order of two to
      four identify the threshold STIs ranging from nine to 15 for delineating HSAs.
      The linear mixed modeling results indicate that the relationships between land
      use and three water quality indicators at the HSA scales are similar to their
      relationships at the watershed scale. The predictive powers of these HSA and
      watershed scale models are very similar. These results suggest that it is
      appropriate for policymakers and watershed managers to use HSAs rather than
      entire watersheds to characterize watersheds and devise management strategies to
      optimize resource uses. The novel technique developed in this study can be used
      in other parts of the world.

PMID- 28600937
TI  - Consideration of rainwater quality parameters for drinking purposes: A case study
      in rural Vietnam.
AB  - Rainwater, which is used for drinking purposes near Hanoi, Vietnam, was analysed
      for water quality based on 1.5 years of monitoring data. In total, 23 samples
      were collected from different points within two rainwater harvesting systems
      (RWHSs). Most parameters met the standard except micro-organisms. Coliform and
      Escherichia coli (E. coli) were detected when the rainwater was not treated with
      ultraviolet (UV) light; however, analysis of rainwater after UV sterilisation
      showed no trace of micro-organisms. The RWHSs appear to provide drinking water of
      relatively good quality compared with surface water and groundwater. The superior
      quality of the rainwater suggests the necessity for new drinking rainwater
      standards because applying all of the drinking water quality standards to
      rainwater is highly inefficient. The traditionally implemented standards could
      cause more difficulties for developing countries using RWHSs installed
      decentralized as a source of drinking water, particularly in areas not well
      supplied with testing equipment, because such countries must bear the expense and
      time for these measures. This paper proposes the necessity of rainwater quality
      guideline, which could serve as a safe and cost-effective alternative to provide
      an access to safe drinking water.

PMID- 28600938
TI  - Highly synergistic antimicrobial activity of spherical and flower-like
      hierarchical titanium dioxide/silver composites.
AB  - A spherical titanium dioxide/silver (TiO2/Ag) composite and a flower-like
      hierarchical TiO2/Ag composite were prepared via a template-induced method and a
      solvothermal method based on the Ag/Carbon spheres templates followed by
      calcination treatment, respectively. The morphologies of the composites were
      controlled by changing the concentration of reactants and calcination
      temperature. The antibacterial efficiency of the composites was evaluated with
      both Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus,
      respectively. The minimal inhibitory concentration, morphological evolution of
      bacteria and fluorescent-based cell wall/membrane integrity were assayed. The
      synergistic effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and silver ions were
      observed, which lead to superior antibacterial activities of these TiO2/Ag
      composites with a bacteriostatic rate as high as 99% even in the absence of
      light. The morphological effect of the composites on the antibacterial efficacy
      was also investigated. In addition, a durable antimicrobial coating was also
      fabricated by incorporating the hierarchical TiO2/Ag composite into a commercial
      emulsion solution of polyvinyl acetate, which exhibited a promising application
      in bacterial sensitive locations.

PMID- 28600939
TI  - Mechanisms of soil humic acid adsorption onto montmorillonite and kaolinite.
AB  - To explore the adsorption mechanisms of a soil humic acid (HA) on purified
      kaolinite and montmorillonite, a combination of adsorption measurements,
      attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy
      and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was employed at pH 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0.
      The adsorption affinities and plateaus of HA on the two clays increased with
      decreasing pH, indicating the importance of electrostatic interaction. The
      effects were more significant for kaolinite than for montmorillonite. The
      substantial adsorption at pH 8.0 indicated hydrophobic interaction and/or H
      bonding also played a role. The ATR-FTIR results at pH 8.0 showed that the Si-O
      groups located at basal faces of the two clays were involved in the adsorption
      process. For kaolinite, at pH 4.0 and 6.0, HA adsorption occurred via OH groups
      on the edge faces and basal octahedral faces (both positively charged), plus some
      adsorption at Si-O group. The exothermic molar adsorption enthalpy decreased
      relatively dramatically with adsorption up to adsorption values of 0.7MUmol/g on
      montmorillonite and 1.0MUmol/g on kaolinite, but the decrease was attenuated at
      higher adsorption. The high exothermic molar enthalpy of HA binding to the clays
      was ascribed to ligand exchange and electrostatic binding, which are enthalpy
      driven. At high adsorption values, JGHA adsorption by hydrophobic attraction and
      H-bonding also occurs.

PMID- 28600940
TI  - The synthesis of novel LiNiPO4 core and Co3O4/CoO shell materials by combining
      them with hard-template and solvothermal routes.
AB  - Pure CoO and Co3O4 surface-modified LiNiPO4 nanoscale powders are successfully
      synthesized for the first time by newly elaborated hard-template and solvothermal
      methods. Using this extraordinary technique, LiNiPO4 particles are coated with a
      thin CoO or Co3O4 layer with a perfect core-shell morphology. The technique's
      positive contribution to electrochemistry is investigated in detail. The HR-TEM
      analysis proves that it possible to achieve a continuous surface coverage of
      about 5nm, a result that contributes towards solving the chronic electrochemical
      problems of high-voltage cathode material. Our data reveal that cobalt cannot be
      diffused into the LiNiPO4 crystal system during the calcination process and that
      the LiNiPO4@CoO cathode demonstrates superior cycle stability and specific
      capacity at relatively low rates. The LiNiPO4@CoO cathode exhibits the best
      electrochemical properties, achieving a discharge capacity of 149mAhg-1 at 0.1C
      rate, and shows almost 82% capacity retention after 80 charge-discharge cycles.
      It therefore achieves partial success in terms of improving the electrochemical
      properties of the LiNiPO4 cathode material. This is especially crucial for energy
      storage with regard to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric
      applications.

PMID- 28600941
TI  - Incorporation of the polarization point on the graphene aerogel to achieve strong
      dielectric loss behavior.
AB  - The preparation of nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide with loaded TiO2
      nanoparticles (TRGO) by a facile one-step hydrothermal treatment is reported. We
      have successfully increased the contact area of TiO2 and RGO to enhance
      polarization point, which is in favor of strengthening interfacial polarization.
      The interfaregioncial polarization has been regarded as an important role on the
      attenuation of high-frequency electromagnetic waves. Therefore, a good absorber
      is prepared by inserting the polarization point on the graphene aerogel, which
      shows excellent electromagnetic wave absorbing properties. In detail, the minimum
      reflection loss value at 2.1mm is up to -27.2dB for the TRGO-1.5 composite and
      the frequency bandwidth of 5.2GHz can be obtained. Thus, it demonstrates that the
      adjustment of interface polarization would play a key role in the microwave
      absorbing ability.

PMID- 28600942
TI  - Single and binary adsorption of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions using
      sugarcane cellulose-based adsorbent.
AB  - A high efficient and eco-friendly sugarcane cellulose-based adsorbent was
      prepared in an attempt to remove Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ from aqueous solutions. The
      effects of initial concentration of heavy metal ions and temperature on the
      adsorption capacity of the bioadsorbent were investigated. The adsorption
      isotherms showed that the adsorption of Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ followed the Langmuir
      model and the maximum adsorptions were as high as 558.9, 446.2 and 363.3mg.g-1,
      respectively, in single component system. The binary component system was better
      described with the competitive Langmuir isotherm model. The three dimensional
      sorption surface of binary component system demonstrated that the presence of
      Pb2+ decreased the sorption of Cu2+, but the adsorption amount of other metal
      ions was not affected. The result from SEM-EDAX revealed that the adsorption of
      metal ions on bioadsorbent was mainly driven by coordination, ion exchange and
      electrostatic association.

PMID- 28600943
TI  - Investigating hydrothermal pretreatment of food waste for two-stage fermentative
      hydrogen and methane co-production.
AB  - The growing amount of food waste (FW) in China poses great pressure on the
      environment. Complex solid organics limit the hydrolysis of FW, hence impairing
      anaerobic digestion. This study employed hydrothermal pretreatment (HTP) to
      facilitate the solubilization of FW. When HTP temperature increased from 100 to
      200 degrees C, soluble carbohydrate content first increased to a peak at 140
      degrees C and then decreased, whereas total carbohydrate content was negatively
      correlated with increasing temperature due to the enhanced degradation and
      Maillard reactions. Protein solubilization was dramatically promoted after HTP,
      whereas protein degradation was negligibly enhanced. The hydrogen and methane
      yields from hydrothermally pretreated FW under the optimum condition (140 degrees
      C, 20min) through two-stage fermentation were 43.0 and 511.6mL/g volatile solids,
      respectively, resulting in an energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of 78.6%. The
      ECE of pretreated FW was higher than that of untreated FW by 31.7%.

PMID- 28600944
TI  - Investigation of food waste valorization through sequential lactic acid
      fermentative production and anaerobic digestion of fermentation residues.
AB  - This work concerns the investigation of the sequential production of lactic acid
      (LA) and biogas from food waste (FW). LA was produced from FW using a
      Streptococcus sp. strain via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF)
      and separate enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). Via SHF a yield of
      0.33gLA/gFW (productivity 3.38gLA/L.h) and via SSF 0.29gLA/gFW (productivity
      2.08gLA/L.h) was obtained. Fermentation residues and FW underwent anaerobic
      digestion (3wt% TS). Biogas yields were 0.71, 0.74 and 0.90Nm3/kgVS for FW and
      residues from SSF and SHF respectively. The innovation of the approach is
      considering the conversion of FW into two different products through a
      biorefinery concept, therefore making economically feasible LA production and
      valorising its fermentative residues. Finally, a mass balance of three different
      outlines with the aim to assess the amount of LA and biogas that may be generated
      within different scenarios is presented.

PMID- 28600945
TI  - Effect of fluoride on photosynthesis, growth and accumulation of four widely
      cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties in India.
AB  - Long-term use of fluoride contaminated groundwater to irrigate crops; especially
      paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) has resulted in elevated soil fluoride levels in
      Eastern India. There is, therefore, growing concern regarding accumulation of
      fluoride in rice grown on these soils. A laboratory experiment was conducted to
      investigate the effect of F on germination and phytotoxicity of four varieties of
      rice (Orzya sativa L.) (MTU-1010; IET-4094; IET-4786 and GB-1) grown in petri
      dish in a green house with inorganic sodium fluoride (NaF). Three different
      levels (0, 5, 10 and 20mg/L) of NaF solution were applied. At the end of the
      experiment (28 days), biochemical analysis (pigment, sugar, protein, amino acid
      and phenol), lipid peroxidation, root ion leakage and catalase activity along
      with fluoride accumulation and fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots of four
      cultivars were measured. The results revealed that all the four studied varieties
      exhibited gradual decrease of germination pattern with increasing concentration
      of F. Pigment and growth morphological study clearly demonstrated that the
      variety IET-4094 was the least influenced by F compare to the other three
      varieties of rice. The translocation factor (TF) was recorded to be the highest
      for variety IET-4786 (0.215 +/- 0.03) at 5mg/L F concentration. All the four
      varieties showed higher level of fluoride accumulation in root than in shoot.
      Variable results were recorded for biochemical parameters and lipid peroxidation.
      Catalase activity and relative conductivity (root ion leakage) gradually
      increased with increasing F concentration for all the four varieties. It is
      speculated that fluoride accumulation in rice straw at very high levels will
      affect the feeding cattle and such contaminated straw could be a direct threat to
      their health and also, indirectly, to human health via presumably contaminated
      meat and milk.

PMID- 28600946
TI  - The completeness and timeliness of cancer registration and the implications for
      measuring cancer burden.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Population based cancer registration provides a critical role in
      disease surveillance in terms of incidence, survival, cancer cluster
      investigations and prevalence trends, and therefore high levels of completeness
      and timeliness are required. This study estimates completeness and variation
      between early and late registrations in the N. Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) and
      assesses the implications for reporting cancer incidence and for registry-based
      research. METHODS: Two main approaches assessed completeness. For the period 2010
      2012, incidence reported in the first year of data publication was compared to
      incidence reported in subsequent years until 2015. Demographic characteristics
      and survival of incident cases ascertained before the first publication year were
      compared to those ascertained in subsequent years. The flow method approach was
      used to estimate completeness annually after the incident year. RESULTS: Overall
      incidence for all cancers increased between the first year of data publication
      and subsequent years up to 2015, irrespective of year of diagnosis. Late
      registrations had poorer survival. The flow method approach estimated the
      completeness of case ascertainment of NICR data to be 96% complete at five years
      for all cancers combined. CONCLUSION: The estimated completeness levels for the
      NICR are comparable to other high quality cancer registries internationally.
      While data timeliness has little impact on incidence estimates, delays in
      registration may have implications for specific research studies into incidence
      and survival. This means that improvements in the timeliness of reporting should
      be a target for all registries but not at the expense of completeness.

PMID- 28600947
TI  - Incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer on a rapid rise in Taiwan, 1999
      2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accumulating data has revealed a rapidly rising incidence of
      pancreatic cancer in Western countries, but convincing evidence from the East
      remains sparse. We aimed to quantify how the incidence and mortality rates of
      pancreatic malignancy changed over time in Taiwan, and to develop future
      projection for the next decade. METHODS: This nationwide population-based study
      analyzed the Taiwan National Cancer Registry and the National Cause of Death
      Registry to calculate the annual incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic
      malignancy from 1999 to 2012 in this country. The secular trend of the incidence
      was also examined by data from the National Health Insurance Research Database.
      RESULTS: A total of 21,986 incident cases of pancreatic cancer and 20,720 related
      deaths occurred during the study period. The age-standardized incidence rate
      increased from 3.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 5.0 per 100,000 in 2012, with a
      significant rising trend (P<0.01). The increase was nationwide, consistently
      across subgroups stratified by age, gender, geographic region, and urbanization.
      Data from the National Health Insurance Research Database corroborated the rise
      of incident pancreatic cancer. Mortality also increased with time, with the age
      standardized rate rising from 3.5 per 100,000 in 1999 to 4.1 per 100,000 in 2012
      (P<0.01). In accordance with the incidence, the mortality trend was consistent in
      all subgroups. Both the incidence and mortality were projected to further
      increase by approximately 20% from 2012 to 2027. CONCLUSION: The incidence and
      mortality of pancreatic cancer have been rapidly rising and presumably will
      continue to rise in Taiwan.

PMID- 28600948
TI  - Corrigendum to "What do we know about regulatory T cells and endometriosis? A
      systematic review" [J. Reprod. Immunol. 120 (April) (2017) 48-55].

PMID- 28600949
TI  - Effect of genomic drift of influenza PCR tests.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nucleic acid amplification assays have become the method of choice
      for influenza (Flu) testing due to superior accuracy and faster turnaround time.
      Although assays are designed to detect highly conserved genomic targets,
      mutations can influence test sensitivity. Most of the circulating viruses in the
      United States during the 2014-2015 season were associated with significant
      genetic drift; however, the effect on testing was unknown. OBJECTIVES AND STUDY
      DESIGN: We compared the performance of Prodesse ProFlu+/ProFAST+ (PFlu/PFAST),
      FilmArray Respiratory Panel (RP), cobas(r) Influenza A/B test (cIAB), and
      Xpert(r) Flu (Xpt) in a retrospective analysis of consecutive nasopharyngeal
      specimens received for a two-week period during the winter of 2015. Furthermore,
      limits of detection (LOD) were determined with six isolates of Flu. RESULTS: Of
      the 275 specimens, 63 were positive for FluA by PFAST, 60 were positive by RP, 58
      were positive by cIAB and 52 were positive by Xpt. Only a subset of 135 specimens
      was tested by PFlu, of which 32 were positive. The sensitivity/specificity for
      PFAST, RP, cIAB, Xpt and PFlu was 100/99.1%, 96.7/99.5%, 91.8/99.1%, 85.2%/100%,
      and 75.6%/98.9%, respectively. LOD analyses demonstrated assay performance
      variations were strain associated. Specifically, PFlu's and cIAB's LODs were
      higher with A/Texas/50/2012-like and A/Switzerland/9715293/2013-like strains,
      while Xpt's highest LOD was with the Swiss strain. CONCLUSIONS: Strain-associated
      assay performance variation is known to occur with other Flu test methods; hence,
      it is not surprising that such variation would be observed with molecular tests.
      Careful monitoring and reporting for strain-associated variances are warranted
      for all test methods.

PMID- 28600950
TI  - Histamine promotes the differentiation of macrophages from CD11b+ myeloid cells
      and formation of foam cells through a Stat6-dependent pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The enzyme histidine decarboxylase (Hdc), which generates
      histamine, is highly expressed in CD11b+Gr-1+ myeloid cells that play a critical
      role in infection, inflammation and tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to
      explore the role of Hdc-expressing CD11b+ myeloid cells or histamine in
      atherogenesis. METHODS: Hdc-EGFP bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic
      reporter mice (Hdc-EGFP) were used to track Hdc expression during the development
      of atherosclerosis. The expression of EGFP fluorescence was examined by
      immunofluorescence staining in a variety of adult tissues. Wild-type (WT), Apoe
      knockout (Apoe-/-), Hdc knockout (Hdc-/-), and Stat6 knockout (Stat6-/-) mice
      were used. Serum concentration of histamine was determined with ELISA. Changes in
      subsets of immune cells were evaluated by flow cytometry (FACS). Non-invasive
      tracking of the expression of CD11b+ myeloid cells was tested using 125I-anti
      CD11b SPECT/CT imaging in the early stages of atherogenesis. Microarray analysis
      and RT-PCR were applied to detect gene expressions while Western blot was used to
      assess protein levels. RESULTS: Using Hdc-EGFP transgenic mice, we demonstrated
      that Hdc+CD11b+ myeloid cells increase in the circulation in response to
      hypercholesterolemia and contribute to foam cell formation in atherosclerosis.
      Histamine deficiency in Hdc knockout (Hdc-/-) mice repressed the differentiation
      of CD11b+Ly6Chigh classically activated M1-type macrophages and CD11b+CD11c+
      dendritic cells (DCs), which was associated with downregulation of signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 6 (Stat6) expression. Furthermore, the
      results of in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrated that histamine could promote
      macrophage differentiation and foam cell formation via the Stat6 signal.
      CONCLUSIONS: Modulation of histamine and Stat6-signaling may represent an
      attractive therapeutic strategy for the prevention or treatment of
      atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28600951
TI  - Structural mechanism of arrestin activation.
AB  - The large and multifunctional family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are
      regulated by a small family of structurally conserved arrestin proteins. In order
      to bind an active GPCR, arrestin must first be activated by interaction with the
      phosphorylated receptor C-terminus. Recent years have witnessed major
      developments in high-resolution crystal structures of pre-active arrestins and
      arrestin or arrestin-derived peptides in complex with an active GPCR. Although
      each structure individually offers only a limited snapshot, taken together and
      interpreted in light of recent complementary functional data, they offer valuable
      insight into how arrestin is activated by and couples to a phosphorylated active
      GPCR.

PMID- 28600952
TI  - Time course of Tau toxicity and pharmacologic prevention in a cell model of
      Tauopathy.
AB  - The aggregation of Tau protein is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases
      including Alzheimer's disease. Previously, we generated a cell model of tauopathy
      based on the 4-repeat domain with the FTDP-17 mutation DeltaK280 (Tau4RDDeltaK)
      which is expressed in a regulatable fashion (tet-on). The deletion variant
      DeltaK280 is highly amyloidogenic and forms fibrous aggregates in neuroblastoma
      N2a cells staining with the reporter dye Thioflavin S. The aggregation of
      Tau4RDDeltaK is toxic, contrary to wildtype or anti-aggregant variants of the
      protein. Using a novel approach for monitoring in situ Tau aggregation and
      toxicity by combination of microscopic analysis with FACS and biochemical
      analysis of cells enabled the dissection of the aggregating species which cause a
      time-dependent increase of toxicity. The dominant initiating step is the
      dimerization of Tau4RDDeltaK which leads to further aggregation and induces a
      strong increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cytoplasmic Ca2+ which
      damage the membranes and cause cell death. Tau-based treatments using Tau
      aggregation inhibitors reduce both soluble oligomeric and fully aggregated Tau
      species and decrease their toxicity.

PMID- 28600953
TI  - Manualized cognitive therapy versus cognitive-behavioral treatment-as-usual for
      social anxiety disorder in routine practice: A cluster-randomized controlled
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effectiveness of manualized cognitive therapy
      (mCT) following the Clark-Wells approach versus non-manualized cognitive
      behavioral treatment-as-usual (CBTAU) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) in
      routine practice. METHODS: Forty-eight private practitioners were recruited
      within a multi-center trial and either received training in manualized CT for SAD
      or no such training. Practitioners treated 162 patients with SAD in routine
      practice (N = 107 completers, n = 57 for mCT, n = 50 for CBTAU). Social anxiety
      symptoms (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale; LSAS) and secondary measures were
      assessed before treatment, at treatment-hour 8, 15, and 25, at end of treatment,
      as well as 6 and 12 months after treatment. RESULTS: Patients in both groups
      showed significant reductions of SAD severity after treatment (d = 1.91 [mCT] and
      d = 1.80 [CBTAU], within-group effect sizes, intent-to-treat analyses, LSAS
      observer ratings), which remained stable at follow-up. There were no differences
      between groups in terms of symptom reduction and treatment duration. CONCLUSIONS:
      The present trial confirms the high effectiveness of CBTAU and mCT for SAD when
      practitioners conduct the treatments in routine practice. Additional training in
      the CT manual did not result in significant between-group effects on therapy
      outcome. Explanations for this unexpected result are discussed.

PMID- 28600954
TI  - High-throughput thermofluor-based assays for inhibitor screening of STAT SH2
      domains.
AB  - The development of STAT protein-specific inhibitors has been the focus of a
      number of drug discovery programs. STAT activation occurs through phosphorylation
      at the STAT SH2 domain, resulting in dimerization, translocation to the nucleus,
      and transcription of proliferative genes. Due to the functional significance of
      the SH2 domain in mediating multiple components of the STAT signalling cascade,
      many libraries of inhibitors have been designed to target the SH2 domain. This
      has triggered the requirement for effective high-throughput screening platforms
      for analyzing binding by larger chemical libraries to STAT proteins. Herein, we
      present strategies for the development of a high-throughput thermal denaturation
      based assay for identifying STAT inhibitors as well as high-yielding recombinant
      expression and purification of untagged STAT1, STAT3, and STAT5 proteins. This
      assay reports changes in the fluorescence of a labelled peptide bound to the STAT
      protein as a function of increasing temperature. STAT inhibitors which displace
      the labelled peptide elicit a change in the melt profile, which is quantitatively
      determined as a change in the area under the curve. This assay offers an
      alternative, but complimentary, high-throughput screening strategy for
      identifying new inhibitors of STAT proteins as well as characterizing further,
      the mode of inhibition by existing libraries of compounds.

PMID- 28600955
TI  - PARP activity and inhibition in fetal and adult oligodendrocyte precursor cells:
      Effect on cell survival and differentiation.
AB  - Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) family members are ubiquitously expressed and
      play a key role in cellular processes, including DNA repair and cell
      death/survival balance. Accordingly, PARP inhibition is an emerging
      pharmacological strategy for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Consistent
      evidences support the critical involvement of PARP family members in cell
      differentiation and phenotype maturation. In this study we used an
      oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) enriched system derived from fetal and
      adult brain to investigate the role of PARP in OPCs proliferation, survival, and
      differentiation. The PARP inhibitors PJ34, TIQ-A and Olaparib were used as
      pharmacological tools. The main results of the study are: (i) PARP mRNA
      expression and PARP activity are much higher in fetal than in adult-derived OPCs;
      (ii) the culture treatment with PARP inhibitors is cytotoxic for OPCs derived
      from fetal, but not from adult, brain; (iii) PARP inhibition reduces cell number,
      according to the inhibitory potency of the compounds; (iv) PARP inhibition effect
      on fetal OPCs is a slow process; (v) PARP inhibition impairs OPCs maturation into
      myelinating OL in fetal, but not in adult cultures, according to the inhibitory
      potency of the compounds. These results have implications for PARP-inhibition
      therapies for diseases and lesions of the central nervous system, in particular
      for neonatal hypoxic/ischemic encephalopathy.

PMID- 28600956
TI  - Differentiating the pre-hydrolysis states of wild-type and A59G mutant HRas: An
      insight through MD simulations.
AB  - The most representative member of the Ras subfamily is its HRas isoform. Ras
      proteins being GTPases, possess an intrinsic activity to hydrolyze the GTP
      molecule to GDP. During the transition phases, between active and inactive
      states, P-loop and switch regions show maximum variations. Various hot-spot Ras
      mutants (G12V, A59G, Q61L etc) have been reported, that limit the protein's
      conformation in the permanent active state. In the present study, we aim to
      explore the structural dynamics of one such crucial mutant of Ras namely A59G
      which belongs to the conserved Switch II region of the protein. Approximately
      ~15MUs of Classical Molecular Dynamics (CMD) simulations have been carried out on
      the mutant and wild-type complexes. Further, a metadynamics simulation of 500ns
      was also carried out, which suggests an energy barrier of ~9.56kcal/mol between
      wild-type and mutant conformation. We demonstrate the role of water molecule in
      maintaining the required interaction networks in the pre-hydrolysis state, its
      impact on A59G mutation, distinct orientation of the Gln61 residue in two
      conformations, disruption of crucial Gly60 and gamma phosphate and the change in
      the Switch II region. The outcome of our study captures the pre-hydrolysis state
      of the HRas protein. It also establishes the fact that this mutation makes the
      movement of Switch II region and the conserved DXXGQ motif highly constrained,
      which is known to be an important requirement for hydrolysis. This suggests that
      the A59G mutation may decrease the rate of intrinsic hydrolysis as well as GAP
      mediated hydrolysis.

PMID- 28600957
TI  - A rarity in breast pathology: A male case of Rosai-Dorfman disease and literature
      review.
AB  - Rosai-Dorfman Disease (RDD) is a rare disease that normally presents with
      bilateral cervical lymph node enlargement. Systemic symptoms of fever and weight
      loss may be present but patients are usually asymptomatic. This benign disease
      tends to regress on its own without treatment but there have been cases that
      required treatment with steroids or chemotherapeutic regimes. Extranodal disease
      in the breast is extremely rare, with only three cases identified in the male
      breast. The patient in this study presented with an asymptomatic right breast
      lump identified incidentally. After excisional biopsy, a diagnosis of RDD was
      confirmed on immunochemistry and histopathology.

PMID- 28600958
TI  - The diagnostic accuracy and test-retest reliability of the Dutch PainDETECT and
      the DN4 screening tools for neuropathic pain in patients with suspected cervical
      or lumbar radiculopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is important to identify neuropathic pain early to guide treatment
      decisions and prevent chronicity. There is lack of evidence whether the Dutch
      painDETECT questionnaire and Douleure Neuropathique en 4 questions (DN4) can
      adequately assess neuropathic pain. METHODS: Patients suspected of cervical or
      lumbar radiculopathy were eligible for inclusion. The Dutch painDETECT and DN4
      were considered as the index tests and were compared to the reference test
      consisting of the consensus expert diagnosis by using the grading system for
      neuropathic pain. The index tests and neuropathic pain diagnosis were blindly
      performed. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by calculating sensitivity,
      specificity, predictive values and likely hood ratios. Test-retest reliability
      for the index tests was assessed using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC).
      RESULTS: A total of 180 patients were included, of which 110 for the reliability
      analysis. Fifty-nine patients (33%) had neuropathic pain according to the
      reference test. Both the painDETECT and DN4 had moderate sensitivity of
      respectively 75% (95% CI: 61.6-85.0) and 76% (95% CI: 63.4-86.4) and poor
      specificity of respectively 51% (95% CI: 42.0-60.4) and 42% (95% CI: 33.2-51.5).
      Combining negative test results for both screening tools increased the
      sensitivity up to 83% (95% CI: 71.0-91.6). The ICC for the painDETECT was 0.91
      (95% CI: 0.86-0.94) and for the DN4 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80-0.91). CONCLUSIONS: The
      use of the Dutch painDETECT and the DN4 in patients with suspected radiculopathy
      should not be recommended yet. A combination of both screening tools seems most
      suitable to rule out neuropathic pain in patients suspected of radiculopathy.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Diagnosis, Level 1B.

PMID- 28600959
TI  - Beyond the canonical strategies of horizontal gene transfer in prokaryotes.
AB  - Efforts to identify and characterize strategies for horizontal gene transfer
      (HGT) in prokaryotes could have overlooked some mechanisms that do not entirely
      fit in with the canonical ones most often described (conjugation of plasmids,
      phage transduction and transformation). The difficulty in distinguishing the
      different HGT strategies could have contributed to underestimate their real
      extent. Here we review non classical HGT strategies: some that require mobile
      genetic elements (MGEs) and others independent of MGE. Among those strategies
      that require MGEs, there is a range of newly reported, hybrid and intermediate
      MGEs mobilizing only their own DNA, others that mobilize preferentially bacterial
      DNA, or both. Considering HGT strategies independent of MGE, a few are even not
      restricted to DNA transfer, but can also mobilize other molecules. This review
      considers those HGT strategies that are less commonly dealt with in the
      literature. The real impact of these elements could, in some conditions, be more
      relevant than previously thought.

PMID- 28600960
TI  - Disability from pain directly correlated with depression in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressively debilitating disorder
      resulting in reduced quality of life (QoL). Along with the motor symptoms of PD,
      non-motor symptoms of PD such as pain, restless leg syndrome (RLS) depression
      also occur. These exacerbate the worsening QoL and must be promptly diagnosed and
      treated. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between
      pain severity, walking, general activity and work (WAW) and rapid eye movements
      (REM) dimensions of pain interference, and disability with depression and RLS in
      PD. PATIENTS & METHODS: 120 patients with PD and 120 controls were evaluated for
      depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D). Pain
      severity and interference was measured using Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). REM and
      WAW dimensions of pain were also measured. The Pain Disability Index (PDI) was
      used to assess the disabling effects from chronic pain. RESULTS: The study found
      a statistically significant direct correlation between the BPI, PDI and PD. A
      significant direct correlation was also found for depression and pain in PD. No
      association as found between RLS and PD; RLS was not a confounding factor.
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, we conclude that pain interference,
      severity of pain and disability from pain is directly correlated with depression
      in PD. We also discern that these symptoms of PD are not independent of each
      other. We cannot establish a causal relationship between any of these variables.
      Prompt recognition and treatment of pain and depression is valuable in preserving
      the quality of life in PD.

PMID- 28600961
TI  - UPLC-MS/MS assay for identification and quantification of brivaracetam in plasma
      sample: Application to pharmacokinetic study in rats.
AB  - Brivaracetam (BVR) is a novel antiepileptic drug (AED), approved clinically for
      the treatment of partial onset seizures in adults and adolescents. It has some
      abuse potential and assigned to Schedule V category under the Controlled
      Substance Act by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Being an AED and drug of
      abuse, a sensitive and robust assay is necessary for determination of BVR in
      biological fluids. Herein, we report a sensitive and validated UPLC-MS/MS assay
      for identification and quantification of BVR in plasma samples. The samples were
      prepared by one step liquid liquid extraction method using tert-Butyl methyl
      ether as extracting solvent. BVR and internal standard (carbamazepine) were
      separated on Aquity BEHTM C-18 column and eluted by using gradient mobile phase
      combination of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water. The precursor to
      product ion transition of m/z 213.12->54.95 (qualifier), 213.12->168.10
      (quantifier) for BVR, and m/z 237.06->193.25 for IS were used for MRM detection
      and quantification. The assay was validated according to USFDA and SWGTOX
      guidelines for method validation and all parameter results were within the
      acceptable limits. The calibration curves were found to be linear in
      concentration range of 1.98-2000ng/mL (r2>=0.995) having LOD and LLOQ of 0.80 and
      1.98ng/mL, respectively. The assay was successfully employed in BVR
      pharmacokinetic study in rats and can be suitable for therapeutic drug
      monitoring, pharmacokinetic study and forensic analysis.

PMID- 28600962
TI  - Determination of the binding site of 2-aminothiazole derivative with importin
      beta1 by UV-crosslinking experiment.
AB  - Importin beta1 (KPBN1) appears to be overexpressed in several cancer cells and
      siRNA-induced inhibition of KPNB1 shows significant inhibition of cancer cell
      proliferation, but do not affect normal cells. These results indicate that KPNB1
      is a potential target and inhibition of KPNB1 can be used as a novel therapeutic
      approach for the treatment of cancer. Recently, we identified the aminothiazole
      derivative 1 as a KPNB1-targeted anticancer agent. Herein, we report that
      compound 1 binds strongly to KPNB1, in a pocket centered around serine-476, as
      shown by UV-crosslinking and tandem mass spectrometry experiments, and supported
      using a model derived from molecular docking.

PMID- 28600963
TI  - Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based multiplex
      enzyme assay for six enzymes associated with hereditary hemolytic anemia.
AB  - Deficiencies in erythrocyte metabolic enzymes are associated with hereditary
      hemolytic anemia. Here, we report the development of a novel multiplex enzyme
      assay for six major enzymes, namely glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, pyruvate
      kinase, pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase, hexokinase, triosephosphate isomerase, and
      adenosine deaminase, deficiencies in which are implicated in erythrocyte
      enzymopathies. To overcome the drawbacks of traditional spectrophotometric enzyme
      assays, the present assay was based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The products of the six enzymes were
      directly measured by using ion pairing UPLC-MS/MS, and the precision, linearity,
      ion suppression, optimal sample amounts, and incubation times were evaluated.
      Eighty-three normal individuals and 13 patients with suspected enzymopathy were
      analyzed. The UPLC running time was within 5min. No ion suppression was observed
      at the retention time for the products or internal standards. We selected an
      optimal dilution factor and incubation time for each enzyme system. The intra-
      and inter-assay imprecision values (CVs) were 2.5-12.1% and 2.9-14.3%,
      respectively. The linearity of each system was good, with R2 values >0.97.
      Patient samples showed consistently lower enzyme activities than those from
      normal individuals. The present ion paring UPLC-MS/MS assay enables facile and
      reproducible multiplex evaluation of the activity of enzymes implicated in
      enzymopathy-associated hemolytic anemia.

PMID- 28600964
TI  - Regulation of postsynaptic signaling in structural synaptic plasticity.
AB  - Morphological changes of dendritic spines are strongly associated with synaptic
      development and synaptic plasticity, which underlies learning and memory. These
      changes are driven by alterations of F-actin dynamics under the control of Rho
      GTPases or by synaptic trafficking and insertion of glutamate receptors.
      Understanding the molecular events that occur during the formation and
      stabilization of dendritic spines, and the signaling pathways regulating these
      processes, provides insights into the mechanisms of learning and memory. In this
      review, we discuss the recent advances on these postsynaptic signaling pathways,
      in particular, we discuss the specific signaling events that couple the cell
      surface receptors to intracellular targets. In addition, we discuss the
      deregulation of these signaling pathways and their subsequent impact on synaptic
      dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 28600965
TI  - The mammary ridge-A case report of multiple ectopic breast masses.
AB  - Ectopic or accessory breasts describe residual breast tissue that fails to
      regress during normal embryologic development anywhere outside the expected
      locations. Ectopic breast tissue is seen in 2-6% of the population and is
      categorized into two types: supernumerary and aberrant breast tissue . The extent
      of development of this accessory tissue varies from rudimentary to complete with
      organized glandular and ductal development. Given this, it is possible for the
      same pathology that affects normally positioned breast tissue to also affect
      accessory breast tissue.

PMID- 28600966
TI  - Inflammatory cytokines in normal and irreversibly inflamed pulps: A systematic
      review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review the available literature in regard to the inflammatory
      process and pulpitis. Setting forth to evaluate if differences in the levels of
      various cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-8) can be observed in
      clinically diagnosed normal and irreversibly inflamed pulps that could serve as
      possible markers and/or diagnostic tools to predict and differentiate between
      certain states of inflammation. Methods used to measure and assess levels of
      cytokines have been limited to two protein quantification methods ELISA and/or
      Multiplex Array. DESIGN: The databases PubMed, EMBASE/Ovid, The Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Reviews and Scopus were consulted for the
      electronic literature search. Screening of titles and abstracts followed the
      PRISMA guidelines while data extraction and the assessment of the full texts were
      carried out in accordance to the GRADES assessment. RESULTS: The review showed
      that significant increases in levels of IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha
      in irreversible pulpitis samples exist, in comparison to normal pulp samples
      which serve as a good basis for potential markers. Due to larger discrepancies in
      available literature, IL-2 seems rather unsuitable at the moment, while IL-6 and
      TNF alpha seem to be more promising. CONCLUSION: It may be concluded that even by
      combining two protein quantification methods inconsistencies between studies
      exist. At the moment it is difficult to select just one specific cytokine
      suitable for testing, rather it supports the rationale that further high-quality
      clinical studies are needed.

PMID- 28600967
TI  - Mechanisms of cell competition emerging from Drosophila studies.
AB  - Cell competition was described in Drosophila as the loss from mosaic tissues of
      otherwise viable cells heterozygous for Ribosomal protein mutations ('Minutes').
      Cell competition has now been described to occur between multiple other
      genotypes, such as cells differing in myc expression levels, or mutated for
      neoplastic tumor suppressors. Recent studies implicate innate immunity
      components, and possibly mechanical stress, compression and cell intercalation as
      a consequence of differential growth rates in competitive cell death. Competition
      to eliminate pre-neoplastic tumors makes use of signals and receptors also used
      in patterning the nervous system including Slit/Robo2 and Sas/PTP10D to recognize
      and extrude clones of mutant cells, at least where local epithelial cyto
      architecture is favorable. Cell competition facilitates expansion of Drosophila
      tumors through host tissue, and in normal development may promote developmental
      robustness and longevity by selecting for optimal progenitor cells.

PMID- 28600968
TI  - Neural mechanisms underlying sound-induced visual motion perception: An fMRI
      study.
AB  - Studies of crossmodal interactions in motion perception have reported activation
      in several brain areas, including those related to motion processing and/or
      sensory association, in response to multimodal (e.g., visual and auditory)
      stimuli that were both in motion. Recent studies have demonstrated that sounds
      can trigger illusory visual apparent motion to static visual stimuli (sound
      induced visual motion: SIVM): A visual stimulus blinking at a fixed location is
      perceived to be moving laterally when an alternating left-right sound is also
      present. Here, we investigated brain activity related to the perception of SIVM
      using a 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging technique. Specifically, we
      focused on the patterns of neural activities in SIVM and visually induced visual
      apparent motion (VIVM). We observed shared activations in the middle occipital
      area (V5/hMT), which is thought to be involved in visual motion processing, for
      SIVM and VIVM. Moreover, as compared to VIVM, SIVM resulted in greater activation
      in the superior temporal area and dominant functional connectivity between the
      V5/hMT area and the areas related to auditory and crossmodal motion processing.
      These findings indicate that similar but partially different neural mechanisms
      could be involved in auditory-induced and visually-induced motion perception, and
      neural signals in auditory, visual, and, crossmodal motion processing areas
      closely and directly interact in the perception of SIVM.

PMID- 28600969
TI  - Prognostic factors and treatment outcomes in 444 patients with mucosal melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucosal melanoma (MM) is a rare but diverse cancer entity. Prognostic
      factors are not well established for Caucasians with MM. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      analysed the disease course of 444 patients from 15 German skin cancer centres.
      Disease progression was determined with the cumulative incidence function.
      Survival times were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic parameters
      were identified with multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Common
      anatomic sites of primary tumours were head and neck (MMHN, 37.2%), female
      genital tract (MMFG, 30.4%) and anorectal region (MMAN, 21.8%). MMAN patients
      showed the highest vertical tumour thickness (p = 0.001), had a more advanced
      nodal status (p = 0.014) and a higher percentage of metastatic disease (p =
      0.001) at diagnosis. Mutations of NRAS (13.8%), KIT (8.6%) and BRAF (6.4%) were
      evenly distributed across all tumour site groups. Local relapses were observed in
      32.4% and most commonly occurred in the MMHN group (p = 0.016). Male gender (p =
      0.047), advanced tumour stage (p = 0.001), nodal disease (p = 0.001) and
      incomplete resection status (p = 0.001) were independent risk factors for disease
      progression. Overall survival (OS) was highest in the MMFG group (p = 0.030) and
      in patients without ulceration (p = 0.004). Multivariate risk factors for OS were
      M stage at diagnosis (p = 0.002) and incomplete resection of the primary tumour
      (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: In this large series of MM patients in a European
      population, anorectal MM was associated with the poorest prognosis.

PMID- 28600971
TI  - Remote rural women's choice of birthplace and transfer experiences in rural Otago
      and Southland New Zealand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Birth in primary midwife-led maternity units has been demonstrated to
      be a safe choice for well women anticipating a normal birth. The incidence of
      serious perinatal outcomes for these women is comparable to similarly low risk
      women, who choose to birth in hospital. New Zealand women have a choice of Lead
      Maternity Carer (LMC) and birthplace; home, primary birthing unit, or a base
      hospital, though not all women may have all these choices available locally.
      Women in rural and rural remote areas can also choose to birth in their rural
      primary maternity unit. A percentage of these women (approx. 15-17%) will require
      transfer during labour, an event which can cause distress and often loss of
      midwifery continuity of care. OBJECTIVE: To explore retrospectively the choice of
      birth place decisions and the labour and birth experiences of a sample of women
      resident in remotely zoned, rural areas of the lower South Island of New Zealand.
      DESIGN: A purposive sample of women living in remote rural areas, recruited by
      advertising in local newspapers and flyers. Individual semi-structured interviews
      were digitally recorded using a pragmatic interpretive approach. The data
      (transcripts and field notes) were analysed using thematic and content analysis.
      Ethical approval was obtained from the Health and Disability Ethics Committee
      (HEDC) MEC/06/05/045. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen women consented to participate. Each
      was resident in a remote rural area having given birth in the previous 18 months.
      The women had been well during their pregnancies and at the onset of labour had
      anticipated a spontaneous vaginal birth. SETTING: Rural remote zoned areas in
      Otago and Southland in the South Island of New Zealand FINDINGS: Five women
      planned to birth in a regional hospital and eight chose their nearest rural
      primary maternity unit. All of the women were aware of the possibility of
      transfer and had made their decision about their birthplace based on their
      perception of their personal safety, and in consideration of their distance from
      specialist care. Themes included, deciding about the safest place to give birth;
      making the decision to transfer; experiencing transfer in labour, and reflecting
      on their birth experience and considering future birthplace choices. CONCLUSIONS
      AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND POLICY: The experiences of the women show that
      for some, distance from a base hospital influences their place of birth decisions
      in remote rural areas of New Zealand and increases the distress for those needing
      to transfer over large distances. These experiences can result in women choosing,
      or needing to make different choices for subsequent births; the consequences of
      which impact on the future sustainability of midwifery services in remote rural
      areas, a challenge which resonates with maternity service provision
      internationally. While choices about birth place cannot be reliably predicted,
      creative solutions are needed to provide rural midwifery care and birth options
      for women and more timely and efficient transfer services when required.

PMID- 28600970
TI  - THP-1 and human peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived macrophages differ in
      their capacity to polarize in vitro.
AB  - Macrophages (Mphi) undergo activation to pro-inflammatory (M1) or anti
      inflammatory (M2) phenotypes in response to pathophysiologic stimuli and
      dysregulation of the M1-M2 balance is often associated with diseases. Therefore,
      studying mechanisms of macrophage polarization may reveal new drug targets. Human
      Mphi polarization is generally studied in primary monocyte-derived Mphi (PBMC
      Mphi) and THP-1-derived Mphi (THP-1 Mphi). We compared the polarization profile
      of THP-1 Mphi with that of PBMC Mphi to assess the alternative use of THP-1 for
      polarization studies. Cellular morphology, the expression profiles of 18 genes
      and 4 cell surface proteins, and phagocytosis capacity for apoptotic cells and S.
      aureus bioparticles were compared between these Mphi, activated towards M1, M2a,
      or M2c subsets by stimulation with LPS/IFNgamma, IL-4, or IL-10, respectively,
      for 6h, 24h and 48h. The Mphi types are unique in morphology and basal expression
      of polarization marker genes, particularly CCL22, in a pre-polarized state, and
      were differentially sensitive to polarization stimuli. Generally, M1 markers were
      instantly induced and gradually decreased, while M2 markers were markedly
      expressed at a later time. Expression profiles of M1 markers were similar between
      the polarized Mphi types, but M2a cell surface markers demonstrated an IL-4
      dependent upregulation only in PBMC Mphi. Polarized THP-1 Mphi but not PBMC Mphi
      showed distinctive phagocytic capacity for apoptotic cells and bacterial
      antigens, respectively. In conclusion, our data suggest that THP-1 may be useful
      for performing studies involving phagocytosis and M1 polarization, rather than M2
      polarization.

PMID- 28600972
TI  - Separation based adsorption of ethanol-water mixture in azeotropic solution by
      single-walled carbon, boron-nitride and silicon-carbide nanotubes.
AB  - The separation of the azeotropic ethanol-water mixture (95.57wt% ethanol) over a
      wide range of pressures (100-100000kPa) was studied on armchair SWCNTs, SWSiCNTs
      and SWBNNTs with different diameters at 351.30K using GCMC simulations. The GCMC
      results demonstrated that ethanol and water molecules form a monolayer single
      file, chain together in the center of (6,6) SWCNT, while a spiral ring of ethanol
      and water is formed in the center of (8,8), (10,10) and (12,12) SWCNTs. It was
      found that in SWCNTs, the adsorption of ethanol reduces the function of pressure,
      while water adsorption increases its function. Water selectivity rises as a
      function of pressure. Also, in SWBNNTs, the adsorption of water increases as a
      function of pressure, while ethanol adsorption is almost constant. However, in
      the case of SWSiCNTs, ethanol and water adsorptions are very similar to those of
      SWBNNTs, whereas the adsorptivities of SWSiCNTs are more than those of SWBNNTs.
      Our findings regarding adsorption and slope of adsorption indicate that higher
      pressures are favorable for separating water and ethanol by SWCNTs, while SWBNNTs
      and SWSiCNTs are demonstrate higher ethanol adsorptivities in lower pressures.
      Also, MD simulations have been performed to study the microscopic structure and
      diffusion of binary mixtures of water and ethanol within SWCNTs, SWSiCNTs and
      SWBNNTs. The MD simulations imply that the oxygen atoms are highly well-organized
      around themselves. Also, the MD results illustrate a similar tendency for oxygen
      of water (OW) and oxygen of ethanol (OE) to the wall of the nanotubes in all the
      pressures. In addition, from the MD results, self-diffusion of water and ethanol
      in all nanotubes were calculated and discussed.

PMID- 28600974
TI  - Gait performance of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have demonstrated that children with sensorineural
      hearing loss (SNHL) may exhibit balance disorders, which can compromise the gait
      performance of this population. OBJECTIVE: Compare the gait performance of normal
      hearing (NH) children and those with SNHL, considering the sex and age range of
      the sample, and analyze gait performance according to degrees of hearing loss and
      etiological factors in the latter group. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study
      that assessed 96 students, 48 NH and 48 with SNHL, aged between 7 and 18 years.
      The Brazilian version of the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) was used to analyze gait
      and the Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The group with SNHL
      obtained lower average gait performance compared to NH subjects (p=0.000). This
      was also observed when the children were grouped by sex female and male
      (p=0.000). The same difference occurred when the children were stratified by age
      group: 7-18 years (p=0.000). The group with severe and profound hearing loss
      exhibited worse gait performance than those with mild and moderate loss (p=0.048)
      and children with prematurity as an etiological factor demonstrated the worst
      gait performance. CONCLUSION: The children with SNHL showed worse gait
      performance compared to NH of the same sex and age group. Those with severe and
      profound hearing loss and prematurity as an etiological factor demonstrated the
      worst gait performances.

PMID- 28600973
TI  - Understanding the molecular basis of stability in Kunitz (STI) family of
      inhibitors in terms of a conserved core tryptophan residue: A theoretical
      investigation.
AB  - beta-trefoil is one of the superfolds among proteins. Important classes of
      proteins like Interleukins (ILs), FibroblastGrowth Factors (FGFs), Kunitz (STI)
      family of inhibitors etc. belong to this fold. Kunitz (STI) family of inhibitors
      of proteins possess a highly conserved and structurally important Trytophan 91
      (W91) residue, which stitches the top layer of the barrel with the lid. In this
      article we have investigated the molecular insights of the involvement of this
      W91 residue in the stability and folding pathway of Kunitz (STI) family. Winged
      bean Chymotrypsin inhibitor (WCI), a member of Kunitz (STI) family was chosen as
      a model system for carrying out the work. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
      were run with a set of total six proteins, including wild type WCI (WT) & five
      mutants namely W91F, W91M, W91A, W91H and W91I. Among all of them the coordinates
      of four proteins were taken from their crystal structures deposited in the
      Protein Data Bank (PDB), where as the coordinates for the rest two was generated
      using in-silico modelling. Our results suggest that truly this W91 residue plays
      a determining role in stability and folding pathway of Kunitz (STI) family. The
      mutants are less stable and more susceptible to quicker unfolding at higher
      temperatures compared to the wild type WCI. These effects are most pronounced for
      the smallest mutants namely W91H and W91A, indicating more is the cavity created
      by mutation at W91 position more the proteins becomes unstable.

PMID- 28600975
TI  - Relationship and significance of gait deviations associated with limb length
      discrepancy: A systematic review.
AB  - Controversy still exists as to the clinical significance of leg length
      discrepancy (LLD) in spite of the fact that further evidence has been emerging
      regarding the relationship between several clinical conditions and LLD. The
      objectives of our study were to review the available research with regard to LLD
      as a cause of clinically significant gait deviations, to determine if there is a
      relationship between the magnitude of LLD and the presence of gait deviations and
      to identify the most common gait deviations associated with LLD. In line with the
      PRISMA guidelines, a literature search was carried out throughout the Medline,
      CINAHL and EMBASE databases. Twelve articles met the predetermined inclusion
      criteria and were included in the review. Quality assessment using the
      Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) scale was completed for
      all included studies. Two main methodologies were found in 4 studies evaluating
      gait asymmetry in patients or healthy participants with anatomic LLD and 8
      studies evaluating gait deviations while simulating LLD by employing artificial
      lifts of 1-5cm on healthy subjects. A significant relationship was found between
      anatomic LLD and gait deviation. Evidence suggests that gait deviations may occur
      with discrepancies of >1cm, with greater impact seen as the discrepancy
      increases. Compensatory strategies were found to occur in both the shorter and
      longer limb, throughout the lower limb. As the discrepancy increases, more
      compensatory strategies occur. Sagittal plane deviations seem to be the most
      effective deviations, although, frontal plane compensations also occur in the
      pelvis, hip and foot.

PMID- 28600976
TI  - Master-slave exponential synchronization of delayed complex-valued memristor
      based neural networks via impulsive control.
AB  - This paper investigates master-slave exponential synchronization for a class of
      complex-valued memristor-based neural networks with time-varying delays via
      discontinuous impulsive control. Firstly, the master and slave complex-valued
      memristor-based neural networks with time-varying delays are translated to two
      real-valued memristor-based neural networks. Secondly, an impulsive control law
      is constructed and utilized to guarantee master-slave exponential synchronization
      of the neural networks. Thirdly, the master-slave synchronization problems are
      transformed into the stability problems of the master-slave error system. By
      employing linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique and constructing an
      appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, some sufficient synchronization
      criteria are derived. Finally, a numerical simulation is provided to illustrate
      the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.

PMID- 28600977
TI  - Targeting epithelial-mesenchymal transition: Metal organic network nano-complexes
      for preventing tumor metastasis.
AB  - Tumor metastasis is the leading cause of death in cancer patients, and epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential step in tumor metastasis.
      Unfortunately, during the chemotherapy, EMT could be induced under the selective
      pressure of clinical cytotoxic drugs. Here, to solve this problem, we have
      synthesized multi-functional epigallocatechin gallate/iron nano-complexes (EIN)
      as a versatile coating material to improve conventional therapies. In vitro
      studies showed that this strategy could eliminate EMT-type cancer cells.
      Mechanism studies also revealed that EIN was able to down-regulate the downstream
      expression of metastasis-associated factors, decrease the migration ability of
      cancer cells and prevent cancer cells from gaining drug resistance. In vivo
      investigation revealed that EIN had superior ability to enhance the therapeutic
      effect of conventional nanomedicines and inhibit the EMT process. Our study
      indicates the promising use of EIN to make up for the deficiencies of
      chemotherapy may provide insights into systematic cancer therapy to overcome
      tumor metastasis and drug resistance.

PMID- 28600978
TI  - Long-term effects of total and source-specific particulate air pollution on
      incident cardiovascular disease in Gothenburg, Sweden.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Long-term exposure to air pollution increases
      cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality, but it is not clear which components of
      air pollution are the most harmful, nor which time window of exposure is most
      relevant. Further studies at low exposure levels have also been called for. We
      analyzed two Swedish cohorts to investigate the effects of total and source
      specific particulate matter (PM) on incident cardiovascular disease for different
      time windows of exposure. METHODS: Two cohorts initially recruited to study
      predictors of cardiovascular disease (the PPS cohort and the GOT-MONICA cohort)
      were followed from 1990 to 2011. We collected data on residential addresses and
      assigned each individual yearly total and source-specific PM and Nitrogen Oxides
      (NOx) exposures based on dispersion models. Using multivariable Cox regression
      models with time-dependent exposure, we studied the association between three
      different time windows (lag 0, lag 1-5, and exposure at study start) of
      residential PM and NOx exposure, and incidence of ischemic heart disease, stroke,
      heart failure and atrial fibrillation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: During the study
      period, there were 2266 new-onset cases of ischemic heart disease, 1391 of
      stroke, 925 of heart failure and 1712 of atrial fibrillation. The majority of
      cases were in the PPS cohort, where participants were older. Exposure levels
      during the study period were moderate (median: 13ug/m3 for PM10 and 9ug/m3 for
      PM2.5), and similar in both cohorts. Road traffic and residential heating were
      the largest local sources of PM air pollution, and long distance transportation
      the largest PM source in total. In the PPS cohort, there were positive
      associations between PM in the last five years and both ischemic heart disease
      (HR: 1.24 [95% CI: 0.98-1.59] per 10ug/m3 of PM10, and HR: 1.38 [95% CI: 1.08
      1.77] per 5ug/m3 of PM2.5) and heart failure. In the GOT-MONICA cohort, there
      were positive but generally non-significant associations between PM and stroke
      (HR: 1.48 [95% CI: 0.88-2.49] per 10ug/m3 of PM10, and HR: 1.50 [95% CI: 0.90
      2.51] per 5ug/m3 of PM2.5, in the last five years). Effect estimates were
      stronger for women, non-smokers, and higher socioeconomic classes. Exposure in
      the last five years seemed to be more strongly associated with outcomes than
      other exposure time windows. Associations between source-specific PM air
      pollution and outcomes were mixed and generally weak. High correlations between
      the main pollutants limited the use of multi-pollutant models. CONCLUSIONS: The
      main PM air pollutants were associated with ischemic heart disease and stroke (in
      women) at the relatively low exposure levels in Gothenburg, Sweden. The
      associations tended to be stronger for women than for men, for non-smokers than
      for smokers, and for higher socioeconomic classes than for lower. The
      associations could not be attributed to a specific PM source or type, and
      differed somewhat between the two cohorts. The results of this study confirm that
      further efforts to reduce air pollution exposure should be undertaken in Sweden
      to reduce the negative health effects in the general population.

PMID- 28600979
TI  - Circulating microvesicle number, function and small RNA content vary with age,
      gender, smoking status, lipid and hormone profiles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Characterization of circulating microvesicles (MV) in healthy
      subjects in relation to various biological factors is not well studied.
      OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the influence of age, gender, smoking status, lipid and
      hormone profiles on circulating MV in healthy subjects. METHODS: Platelet free
      plasma from 143 volunteer blood donors (males=80, females=63) was evaluated by
      standardized flow cytometry for MV expressing CD41 (platelet-derived), CD105
      (endothelial-derived), CD235 (red cell-derived), TF (tissue factor) and
      phosphatidylserine (PS) MV. Procoagulant function was measured by the Xa based
      assay (XaCT) and endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) using thrombin generation
      assay. RESULTS: Those <=29years and >=60years had higher levels of MV subsets
      (CD41, CD235, TF and PS) compared to those aged 30-59years. The median CD41,
      CD105, CD235, TF and PS expressing MV by flow cytometry were similar or lower in
      females, whilst procoagulant activity by the XaCT assay was higher (p=0.002). In
      smokers (n=21), certain MV subsets (CD41, TF and PS) and functional activity
      (ETP) was lower (p<0.05). Regression analysis showed that MV parameters of CD41,
      CD105, TF and ETP could be predicted independently by age, whilst smoking
      predicted for CD105, CD235, TF, PS and ETP. Certain MV parameters also correlated
      with BMI, lipid and hormone levels. The small RNA and miRNA levels did not differ
      by age group, smoking status or gender. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to recognize
      that differences may arise depending on age, gender, BMI, lipid, hormone levels
      and smoking status in apparently healthy subjects when evaluating MV for
      pathogenic potential.

PMID- 28600980
TI  - Structural insights into ligand recognition and regulation of nucleic acid
      sensing Toll-like receptors.
AB  - Toll-like receptors (TLRs) activate the innate immune system in response to
      invading pathogens. Although nucleic acids are one of the principal TLR ligands,
      they are not inherently pathogen-specific and, thus, carry the risk of triggering
      autoimmunity. There are multiple unique regulatory mechanisms aimed at preventing
      accidental activation of nucleic acid-sensing TLRs. Recent structural studies
      revealed that different nucleic acid-sensing TLRs have specific modes of
      recognizing nucleic acids as ligands regulated by diverse regulation mechanism
      both at the receptor and ligand levels. This review summarizes structural
      knowledge on the ligand recognition and regulation mechanism by nucleic acid
      sensing TLRs.

PMID- 28600981
TI  - Pharmacologic concentrations of linezolid modify oxidative phosphorylation
      function and adipocyte secretome.
AB  - The oxidative phosphorylation system is important for adipocyte differentiation.
      Therefore, xenobiotics inhibitors of the oxidative phosphorylation system could
      affect adipocyte differentiation and adipokine secretion. As adipokines impact
      the overall health status, these xenobiotics may have wide effects on human
      health. Some of these xenobiotics are widely used therapeutic drugs, such as
      ribosomal antibiotics. Because of its similarity to the bacterial one,
      mitochondrial translation system is an off-target for these compounds. To study
      the influence of the ribosomal antibiotic linezolid on adipokine production, we
      analyzed its effects on adipocyte secretome. Linezolid, at therapeutic
      concentrations, modifies the levels of apolipoprotein E and several adipokines
      and proteins related with the extracellular matrix. This antibiotic also alters
      the global methylation status of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells and,
      therefore, its effects are not limited to the exposure period. Besides their
      consequences on other tissues, xenobiotics acting on the adipocyte oxidative
      phosphorylation system alter apolipoprotein E and adipokine production,
      secondarily contributing to their systemic effects.

PMID- 28600982
TI  - Altered bioenergetics and enhanced resistance to oxidative stress in human
      retinal pigment epithelial cells from donors with age-related macular
      degeneration.
AB  - Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among
      older adults. It has been suggested that mitochondrial defects in the retinal
      pigment epithelium (RPE) underlies AMD pathology. To test this idea, we developed
      primary cultures of RPE to ask whether RPE from donors with AMD differ in their
      metabolic profile compared with healthy age-matched donors. Analysis of gene
      expression, protein content, and RPE function showed that these cultured cells
      replicated many of the cardinal features of RPE in vivo. Using the Seahorse
      Extracellular Flux Analyzer to measure bioenergetics, we observed RPE from donors
      with AMD exhibited reduced mitochondrial and glycolytic function compared with
      healthy donors. RPE from AMD donors were also more resistant to oxidative
      inactivation of these two energy-producing pathways and were less susceptible to
      oxidation-induced cell death compared with cells from healthy donors.
      Investigation of the potential mechanism responsible for differences in
      bioenergetics and resistance to oxidative stress showed RPE from AMD donors had
      increased PGC1alpha protein as well as differential expression of multiple genes
      in response to an oxidative challenge. Based on our data, we propose that
      cultured RPE from donors phenotyped for the presence or absence of AMD provides
      an excellent model system for studying "AMD in a dish". Our results are
      consistent with the ideas that (i) a bioenergetics crisis in the RPE contributes
      to AMD pathology, and (ii) the diseased environment in vivo causes changes in the
      cellular profile that are retained in vitro.

PMID- 28600983
TI  - HPW-RX40 prevents human platelet activation by attenuating cell surface protein
      disulfide isomerases.
AB  - Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) present at platelet surfaces has been
      considered to play an important role in the conformational change and activation
      of the integrin glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa) and thus enhances platelet
      aggregation. Growing evidences indicated that platelet surface PDI may serve as a
      potential target for developing of a new class of antithrombotic agents. In the
      present study, we investigated the effects of HPW-RX40, a chemical derivative of
      beta-nitrostyrene, on platelet activation and PDI activity. HPW-RX40 inhibited
      platelet aggregation, GPIIb/IIIa activation, and P-selectin expression in human
      platelets. Moreover, HPW-RX40 reduced thrombus formation in human whole blood
      under flow conditions, and protects mice from FeCl3-induced carotid artery
      occlusion. HPW-RX40 inhibited the activity of recombinant PDI family proteins
      (PDI, ERp57, and ERp5) as well as suppressed cell surface PDI activity of
      platelets in a reversible manner. Exogenous addition of PDI attenuated the
      inhibitory effect of HPW-RX40 on GPIIb/IIIa activation. Structure-based molecular
      docking simulations indicated that HPW-RX40 binds to the active site of PDI by
      forming hydrogen bonds. In addition, HPW-RX40 neither affected the cell viability
      nor induced endoplasmic reticulum stress in human cancer A549 and MDA-MB-231
      cells. Taken together, our results suggest that HPW-RX40 is a reversible and non
      cytotoxic PDI inhibitor with antiplatelet effects, and it may have a potential
      for development of novel antithrombotic agents.

PMID- 28600984
TI  - Impaired cross-talk between the thioredoxin and glutathione systems is related to
      ASK-1 mediated apoptosis in neuronal cells exposed to mercury.
AB  - Mercury (Hg) compounds target both cysteine (Cys) and selenocysteine (Sec)
      residues in peptides and proteins. Thus, the components of the two major cellular
      antioxidant systems - glutathione (GSH) and thioredoxin (Trx) systems - are
      likely targets for mercurials. Hg exposure results in GSH depletion and Trx and
      thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) are prime targets for mercury. These systems have a
      wide-range of common functions and interaction between their components has been
      reported. However, toxic effects over both systems are normally treated as
      isolated events. To study how the interaction between the glutathione and
      thioredoxin systems is affected by Hg, human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells were
      exposed to 1 and 5MUM of inorganic mercury (Hg2+), methylmercury (MeHg) or
      ethylmercury (EtHg) and examined for TrxR, GSH and Grx levels and activities, as
      well as for Trx redox state. Phosphorylation of apoptosis signalling kinase 1
      (ASK1), caspase-3 activity and the number of apoptotic cells were evaluated to
      investigate the induction of Trx-mediated apoptotic cell death. Additionally,
      primary cerebellar neurons from mice depleted of mitochondrial Grx2 (mGrx2D) were
      used to examine the link between Grx activity and Trx function. Results showed
      that Trx was affected at higher exposure levels than TrxR, especially for EtHg.
      GSH levels were only significantly affected by exposure to a high concentration
      of EtHg. Depletion of GSH with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) severely increased
      Trx oxidation by Hg. Notably, EtHg-induced oxidation of Trx was significantly
      enhanced in primary neurons of mGrx2D mice. Our results suggest that GSH/Grx acts
      as backups for TrxR in neuronal cells to maintain Trx turnover during Hg
      exposure, thus linking different mechanisms of molecular and cellular toxicity.
      Finally, Trx oxidation by Hg compounds was associated to apoptotic hallmarks,
      including increased ASK-1 phosphorylation, caspase-3 activation and increased
      number of apoptotic cells.

PMID- 28600985
TI  - Nox2 contributes to hyperinsulinemia-induced redox imbalance and impaired
      vascular function.
AB  - Insulin resistance promotes vascular endothelial dysfunction and subsequent
      development of cardiovascular disease. Previously we found that skeletal muscle
      arteriolar flow-induced dilation (FID) was reduced following a hyperinsulinemic
      clamp in healthy adults. Therefore, we hypothesized that hyperinsulinemia, a
      hallmark of insulin resistance, contributes to microvascular endothelial cell
      dysfunction via inducing oxidative stress that is mediated by NADPH oxidase (Nox)
      system. We examined the effect of insulin, at levels that are comparable with
      human hyperinsulinemia on 1) FID of isolated arterioles from human skeletal
      muscle tissue in the presence and absence of Nox inhibitors and 2) human adipose
      microvascular endothelial cell (HAMECs) expression of nitric oxide (NO),
      endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), and Nox-mediated oxidative stress. In six lean
      healthy participants (mean age 25.5+/-1.6 y, BMI 21.8+/-0.9), reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) were increased while NO and arteriolar FID were reduced following
      60min of ex vivo insulin incubation. These changes were reversed after co
      incubation with the Nox isoform 2 (Nox2) inhibitor, VAS2870. In HAMECs, insulin
      induced time-dependent increases in Nox2 expression and P47phox phosphorylation
      were echoed by elevations of superoxide production. In contrast, phosphorylation
      of eNOS and expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD2 and SOD3) isoforms showed a
      biphasic response with an increased expression at earlier time points followed by
      a steep reduction phase. Insulin induced eNOS uncoupling that was synchronized
      with a drop of NO and a surge of ROS production. These effects were reversed by
      Tempol (SOD mimetic), Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4; eNOS cofactor), and VAS2870.
      Finally, insulin induced nitrotyrosine formation which was reversed by inhibiting
      NO or superoxide generation. In conclusions, hyperinsulinemia may reduce FID via
      inducing Nox2-mediated superoxide production in microvascular endothelial cells
      which reduce the availability of NO and enhances peroxynitrite formation.
      Therefore, the Nox2 pathway should be considered as a target for the prevention
      of oxidative stress-associated endothelial dysfunction during hyperinsulinemia.

PMID- 28600987
TI  - Does gender moderate the association between intellectual ability and accidental
      injuries? Evidence from the 1953 Stockholm Birth Cohort study.
AB  - In this paper, we test for gender differences in the effects of intellectual
      ability on accidental injury risks using longitudinal data from the 1953
      Stockholm Birth Cohort study (n=14,294). Intellectual ability was measured using
      IQ tests issued during a school survey at age ~13, and outcome and covariate data
      was collected via record linkage to population and health registers, following
      the cohort from childhood to 55 years of age. We used ICD codes to identify
      accidental injuries resulting in hospital admissions and deaths, and shared
      frailty models to quantify the effects of IQ, while allowing for within
      individual dependencies and recurrent events. The models included tests for the
      moderating effects of gender, as well as childhood family variables (parental
      socioeconomic status), and cohort member mediators (highest achieved education,
      socioeconomic status and income at the time of the event). The results indicate
      an inverse association between childhood IQ and subsequent accidental injury
      events, where 1 SD decrease in IQ implies a 17.8% increase in injury risk. We
      also found evidence that gender moderates this relationship, where the effect
      size was twice as large for men than for women (21.8% vs 9.3% per 1 SD decrease).
      Adult socioeconomic status can explain roughly half of the observed association.
      Potential explanations for these results are discussed.

PMID- 28600986
TI  - Neonatal exposure to environmental pollutants and placental mitochondrial DNA
      content: A multi-pollutant approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Placental mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content can be indicative of
      oxidative damage to the placenta during fetal development and is responsive to
      external stressors. In utero exposure to environmental pollutants that may
      influence placental mtDNA needs further exploration. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated if
      placental mtDNA content is altered by environmental pollution in newborns and
      identified pollutants independently associated to alterations in placental mtDNA
      content. METHODS: mtDNA content was measured in placental tissue of 233 newborns.
      Four perfluoroalkyl compounds and nine organochlorine compounds were quantified
      in cord blood plasma samples and six toxic metals in whole cord blood. We first
      applied a LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) penalized
      regression model to identify independent associations between environmental
      pollutants and placental mtDNA content, without penalization of several
      covariates. Then adjusted estimates were obtained using an ordinary least squares
      (OLS) regression model evaluating the pollutants' association with placental
      mtDNA content, adjusted for several covariates. RESULTS: Based on LASSO penalized
      regression, oxychlordane, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, beta
      hexachlorocyclohexane, perfluorononanoic acid, arsenic, cadmium and thallium were
      identified to be independently associated with placental mtDNA content. The OLS
      model showed a higher placental mtDNA content of 2.71% (95% CI: 0.3 to 5.2%;
      p=0.03) and 1.41% (0.1 to 2.8%, p=0.04) for a 25% concentration increase of
      respectively cord blood beta-hexachlorocyclohexane and arsenic. For a 25%
      concentration increase of cord blood thallium, a 4.88% lower placental mtDNA
      content (95% CI: -9.1 to -0.5%, p=0.03) was observed. CONCLUSION: In a multi
      pollutant approach, low fetal exposure levels of environmental organic and
      inorganic pollutants might compromise placental mitochondrial function as
      exemplified in this study by alterations in mtDNA content.

PMID- 28600988
TI  - Angry thoughts in Spanish drivers and their relationship with crash-related
      events. The mediation effect of aggressive and risky driving.
AB  - Several studies have related aggressive and risky driving behaviours to
      accidents. However, the cognitive processes associated with driving aggression
      have received very little attention in the scientific literature. With the aim of
      shedding light on this topic, the present research was carried out on a sample of
      414 participants in order to validate the Driver's Angry Thoughts Questionnaire
      (DATQ) with a sample of Spanish drivers and to test the hypothesis of the
      mediation effect of aggressive and risky driving on the relationship between
      drivers' angry thoughts and crash-related events. The results showed a good fit
      with the five-factor model of the questionnaire (Judgmental and Disbelieving
      Thinking, Pejorative Labelling and Verbally Aggressive Thinking, Revenge and
      Retaliatory Thinking, Physically Aggressive Thinking, and Coping Self
      Instruction). Moreover, slight gender differences were observed in drivers' angry
      thoughts, with women scoring higher than men (eta2=0.03). However, younger
      drivers had higher scores than older drivers in general (eta2=0.06). Finally,
      several mediation effects of aggressive driving and risky driving on the
      relationship between aggressive thinking and the crash-related events were found.
      Implications of the results for research in traffic psychology and clinical
      assessment of aggressive drivers as well as limitations of the study are
      discussed.

PMID- 28600989
TI  - RETRACTED: Anisotropic (spherical/hexagon/cube) silver nanoparticle embedded
      magnetic carbon nanosphere as platform for designing of tramadol imprinted
      polymer.
AB  - This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal
      (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal).This
      article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief following
      concerns raised by a reader.The particles shown in Fig. 3F appear to be copies of
      each other as they share the identical arrangement of the characteristic speckles
      inside the particles.In addition, the extraordinary similarities observed between
      the data presented in Fig. 4C and in Fig. 3C in ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng., 2017, 3
      (9), pp 2120-2135, 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.7b00089, Fig. 4A in Colloids and
      Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Volume 142, 1 June 2016, Pages 248-258
      10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.02.053 and Fig. 1D in Biosensors and Bioelectronics,
      Volume 73, 15 November 2015, Pages 234-244, 10.1016/j.bios.2015.06.005 are highly
      unlikely.The problems with the data presented cast doubt on all the data, and
      accordingly also the conclusions based on that data, in this publication.As such
      this article represents a severe abuse of the scientific publishing system.The
      scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are
      offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the
      submission process.

PMID- 28600990
TI  - Dual signal amplification strategy of Au nanopaticles/ZnO nanorods hybridized
      reduced graphene nanosheet and multienzyme functionalized Au@ZnO composites for
      ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of tumor biomarker.
AB  - Herein, a dual signal amplification strategy was employed in fabricating
      ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor for alpha fetoprotein (AFP)
      detection, which was realized by utilizing of ZnO nanorods/Au nanopaticles
      hybridized reduced graphene nanosheet (Au/ZnO/RGO) and horseradish-peroxidase
      (HRP) bioconjugated detection antibody (Ab2) functionalized Au@ZnO (Ab2/HRP
      Au@ZnO). During the fabrication of the immunosensor, a new kind of multiple-head
      surfactants CxN3 with different alkyl chain length played important roles such as
      acting as the surfactants of Au/ZnO/RGO and the reductant agents of Au@ZnO
      composite. Due to the good adsorption property and large surface area of
      Au/ZnO/RGO, plenty of the capture antibodies (Ab1) were immobilized on the
      electrode surface, and trace AFP was sensitively monitored. Furthermore, Ab2/HRP
      Au@ZnO exhibited high affinity interaction with AFP through "sandwich"
      immunoreactions, along with the peroxidase-like catalytic activity of Au@ZnO,
      leading to a further enhancement in the sensitivity of the proposed immunosensor.
      The successful synthesis of the nanomaterials was characterized through a serious
      of techniques including Raman, XRD, FT-IR, SEM and UV-vis. Under the optimal
      conditions, two linear ranges of 0.02-10,000 and 10,000-100,000pgmL-1 AFP with a
      lower detection limit of 0.01pg mL-1 (S/N=3) was obtained. Especially, the
      proposed AFP immunosensor can be applied to detect human serum samples with
      satisfactory results, indicating a potential application in clinical monitoring
      of tumor biomarkers.

PMID- 28600991
TI  - Measurements of new absorption lines of acetylene at 1.53MUm using a tunable
      diode laser absorption spectrometer.
AB  - A new investigation of acetylene absorption lines between 6526.5 and 6531.5cm-1
      spectral region was performed by using a long-path absorption cell based tunable
      diode laser absorption spectrometer. The multi-spectrum fitting procedure has
      been applied to these intensive absorption lines of acetylene within the spectral
      range of particular interest to recover the line parameters. Line intensities and
      line positions of total 42 lines of acetylene were reported, including 22 new
      lines precisely identified for the first time. The reported results will be
      valuable to complete the spectroscopic databases of acetylene, and also be useful
      for upgrading our newly developed TDLAS sensor system for industrial C2H2 gas
      detection.

PMID- 28600992
TI  - A novel polydentate ligand chromophore for simultaneously colorimetric detection
      of trace Ag+ and Fe3.
AB  - A novel polydentate ligand chromophore, 3,6-di-(N-ethyl-N-ethoxyl phenylazo)
      acridine (EEPA), was identified and synthesized. After its structure was
      characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, mass spectra and element analyses, it was noted to
      find that there was a simultaneously colorimetric response to Ag+ and Fe3+
      accompanying with different color changes, i.e., from brown to light purple for
      Ag+ and further to purple-red for Fe3+, respectively. Their different action
      mechanisms, a 1:2 complex mode for EEPA-Ag+ and 1:1 for EEPA-Fe3+, were
      investigated and confirmed by means of Job's plot and theoretical calculation.
      EEPA would be a potential colorimetric chemo-dosimeter for simultaneous detection
      of Ag+ and Fe3+ with the detection limits of 1.6nmol.L-1 and 69nmol.L-1,
      respectively.

PMID- 28600993
TI  - Robust, sensitive and facile method for detection of F-, CN- and Ac- anions.
AB  - Sensing of F-, CN- and Ac- is important from the viewpoint of both medically and
      environmentally. Particularly, sensing of the anions in 100% water by a
      colorimetric chemical sensor is a highly difficult task as water molecules
      interfere the sensing mechanism. In this regard, sensor R1, having azo and
      nitrophenyl groups as signaling units and thiourea as a binding site was
      prepared. This sensor exclusively detected CN- ion over other testing anions in
      30% aq. DMSO solution by exhibiting distinct spectral and visual color changes.
      However, in 15% aq. DMSO solution, R1 exhibited obvious spectral and color
      changes in response to F-, CN- and Ac-. On the other hand, we have also designed
      sensor, R2, having same signaling units of R1, but a different binding site of
      urea group. Surprisingly, in contrast to R1, R2 exhibited obvious spectral and
      color changes in 5% aq. DMSO solution only. Further, economically viable "test
      stripes" were prepared in a facile mode to detect the CN- in 100% aqueous
      solution. Such stripes can serve as a practical colorimetric probe for "in the
      field" detection of the ions and thus avoid additional expensive equipment.

PMID- 28600994
TI  - Differences in lumbar spine and lower extremity kinematics during a step down
      functional task in people with and people without low back pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When functional movements are impaired in people with low back pain,
      they may be a contributing factor to chronicity and recurrence. The purpose of
      the current study was to examine lumbar spine, pelvis, and lower extremity
      kinematics during a step down functional task between people with and without a
      history of low back pain. METHODS: A 3-dimensional motion capture system was used
      to analyze kinematics during a step down task. Total excursion of the lumbar
      spine, pelvis, and lower extremity segments in each plane were calculated from
      the start to end of the task. Separate analysis of variance tests (alpha=0.05)
      were conducted to determine the effect of independent variables of group and
      plane on lumbar spine, pelvis, and lower extremity kinematics. An exploratory
      analysis was conducted to examine kinematic differences among movement-based low
      back pain subgroups. FINDINGS: Subjects with low back pain displayed less lumbar
      spine movement than controls across all three planes of movement (P-values=0.001
      0.043). This group difference was most pronounced in the sagittal plane. For the
      lower extremity, subjects with low back pain displayed more frontal and axial
      plane knee movement than controls (P-values=0.001). There were no significant
      differences in kinematics among movement-based low back pain subgroups.
      INTERPRETATION: People with low back pain displayed less lumbar region movement
      in the sagittal plane and more off-plane knee movements than the control group
      during a step down task. Clinicians can use this information when assessing
      lumbar spine and lower extremity movement during functional tasks, with the goal
      of developing movement-based interventions.

PMID- 28600995
TI  - High spatial resolution pressure distribution of the vaginal canal in Pompoir
      practitioners: A biomechanical approach for assessing the pelvic floor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pompoir is a technique poorly studied in the literature that claims
      to improve pelvic floor strength and coordination. This study aims to investigate
      the pelvic floor muscles' coordination throughout the vaginal canal among Pompoir
      practitioners and non-practitioners by describing a high resolution map of
      pressure distribution. METHODS: This cross-sectional, study included 40 healthy
      women in two groups: control and Pompoir. While these women performed both
      sustained and "waveform" pelvic floor muscle contractions, the spatiotemporal
      pressure distribution in their vaginal canals was evaluated by a non-deformable
      probe fully instrumented with a 10*10 matrix of capacitive transducers. FINDINGS:
      Pompoir group was able to sustain the pressure levels achieved for a longer
      period (40% longer, moderate effect, P=0.04). During the "waveform" contraction
      task, Pompoir group achieved lower, earlier peak pressures (moderate effect,
      P=0.05) and decreased rates of contraction (small effect, P=0.04) and relaxation
      (large effect, P=0.01). During both tasks, Pompoir group had smaller relative
      contributions by the mid-region and the anteroposterior planes and greater
      contributions by the caudal and cranial regions and the latero-lateral planes.
      INTERPRETATION: Results suggest that specific coordination training of the pelvic
      floor muscles alters the pressure distribution profile, promoting a more
      symmetric distribution of pressure throughout the vaginal canal. Therefore, this
      study suggests that pelvic floor muscles can be trained to a degree beyond
      strengthening by focusing on coordination, which results in changes in symmetry
      of the spatiotemporal pressure distribution in the vaginal canal.

PMID- 28600997
TI  - Genistein alleviates anxiety-like behaviors in post-traumatic stress disorder
      model through enhancing serotonergic transmission in the amygdala.
AB  - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder,
      characterized by intense fear, and increased arousal and avoidance of traumatic
      events. The current available treatments for PTSD have limited therapeutic value.
      Genistein, a natural isoflavone, modulates a variety of cell functions. In this
      study, we tested anti-anxiety activity and underlying mechanisms of genistein in
      a PTSD rat model. The rats were trained to associate a tone with foot shock
      delivery on day 0, then fear conditioning was performed on day 7, 14 and 21.
      Genistein (2-8mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally daily for 7 days. The anti
      anxiety effects of genistein were measured by contextual freezing behavior and
      elevated plus maze. By the end of the experiments, the amygdala was extracted and
      subject to neurochemistry analysis. Genistein alleviated contextual freezing
      behavior and improved performance in elevated plus maze dose-dependently in PTSD
      rats. Furthermore, in these rats, genistein enhanced serotonergic transmission in
      the amygdala, including upregulation of tryptophan hydroxylase, serotonin, and
      phosphorylated (p)-CaMKII and p-CREB, as well. Genistein exerts anti-anxiety
      effects on a PTSD model probably through enhancing serotonergic system and
      CaMKII/CREB signaling pathway in the amygdala.

PMID- 28600996
TI  - Lower limb alignment and laxity measures before, during and after total knee
      arthroplasty: A prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study compared knee alignment and laxity in patients before,
      during and after total knee arthroplasty, using methodologically similar
      procedures, with an aim to help inform pre-operative planning. METHODS: Eighteen
      male and 13 female patients were recruited, mean age 66years (51-82) and mean
      body mass index of 33 (23-43). All were assessed pre- and postoperatively using a
      non-invasive infrared position capture system and all underwent total knee
      arthroplasty using a navigation system. Knee kinematic data were collected and
      comparisons made between preoperative clinical and intraoperative measurements
      for osteoarthritic knees, and between postoperative clinical and intraoperative
      measurements for prosthetic knees. FINDINGS: There was no difference in
      unstressed coronal mechanical femoral-tibial angles for either osteoarthritic or
      prosthetic knees. However, for sagittal alignment the knees were in greater
      extension intraoperatively (osteoarthritic 5.2 degrees  p<0.001, prosthetic 7.2
      degrees  p<0.001). For osteoarthritic knees, both varus and valgus stress
      manoeuvres had greater angular displacements intraoperatively by a mean value of
      1.5 degrees  for varus (p=0.002) and 1.6 degrees  for valgus (p<0.001). For
      prosthetic knees, only valgus angular displacement was greater intraoperatively
      (0.9 degrees , p=0.002). INTERPRETATION: Surgeons performing total knee
      arthroplasties should be aware of potential differences in alignment and laxity
      measured under different conditions to facilitate more accurate operative
      planning and follow-up.

PMID- 28600998
TI  - Is the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy measuring two or five
      dimensions? Evidence in a French sample.
AB  - Although many instruments measure empathy, most of them focus on specific facets
      (e.g., Spreng et al., 2009) or specific contexts (e.g. Wang et al., 2003) of
      empathy. For this reason, the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy
      (QCAE; Reniers et al., 2011) was recently built to grasp the general construct of
      empathy through its Affective-Cognitive duality, although not providing clear-cut
      results about the bidimensionality of the scale. In this study, Confirmatory
      Factor Analyses were conducted on the responses of 418 adults on the French QCAE
      (backtranslated for this study). A total of 8 models were tested - including the
      models of the original investigation. The 5-correlated factors model had the best
      fit, and the pattern of correlations between the factors did not support the
      Cognitive-Affective distinction. The QCAE is discussed as showing signs of
      psychometrical robustness, but also as a tool that is more 5-dimensional than
      bidimensional.

PMID- 28600999
TI  - How do risk factors affect bereavement outcomes in later life? An exploration of
      the mediating role of dual process coping.
AB  - This study is an exploratory study that aims to examine the mediating role of
      dual process coping in the relationship between risk factors and bereavement
      outcomes. A total of 178 Hong Kong Chinese bereaved older adults reported their
      bereavement-related information, dual process coping (Dual Coping Inventory,
      DCI), complicated grief (Inventory of Complicated Grief; ICG), depression
      (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS) and loneliness (De Jong Gierveld Loneliness
      Scale, DJG) in face-to-face structured interviews. Results suggested that
      subjective traumatic death predicted complicated grief, depression, and
      loneliness via loss-orientated (LO) coping, whereas having lost a spouse rather
      than having lost a parent predicted loneliness via restoration-orientated (RO)
      coping. Future interventions may reconsider the use of LO coping and explore
      alternatives for traumatized bereaved older adults, and encourage RO coping for
      those experiencing spousal loss.

PMID- 28601000
TI  - Themes and trends in intentional self-poisoning: Perspectives from critical care
      toxicology.
AB  - This research investigated the substances employed by and experiences of patients
      who come to acute treatment after self-poisoning. A retrospective search of the
      Toxicology Investigators Consortium Registry was performed to characterize a
      large cohort of patients. A detailed prospective study of one inpatient
      toxicology service was also conducted. Patients chose readily available agents
      for self-poisoning. Most cases involved at least one substance that affects the
      central nervous system (CNS). The majority were prescription psychotropics and
      narcotics. When they had access to both CNS-active and CNS-inactive medications,
      patients almost invariably ingested a mind-altering agent. After recovering
      neurocognitive function, most patients were not actively experiencing suicidal
      thoughts. However, more than half of patients without CNS toxicity continued to
      have suicidal ideation after coming to care. These findings are consistent with
      the hypothesis that many suicidal patients may be seeking an altered
      psychosomatic state rather than death per se.

PMID- 28601001
TI  - Semantic search during divergent thinking.
AB  - Divergent thinking, as a method of examining creative cognition, has not been
      adequately analyzed in the context of modern cognitive theories. This article
      casts divergent thinking responding in the context of theories of memory search.
      First, it was argued that divergent thinking tasks are similar to semantic
      fluency tasks, but are more constrained, and less well structured. Next, response
      time distributions from 54 participants were analyzed for temporal and semantic
      clustering. Participants responded to two prompts from the alternative uses test:
      uses for a brick and uses for a bottle, for two minutes each. Participants'
      cumulative response curves were negatively accelerating, in line with theories of
      search of associative memory. However, results of analyses of semantic and
      temporal clustering suggested that clustering is less evident in alternative uses
      responding compared to semantic fluency tasks. This suggests either that
      divergent thinking responding does not involve an exhaustive search through a
      clustered memory trace, but rather that the process is more exploratory, yielding
      fewer overall responses that tend to drift away from close associates of the
      divergent thinking prompt.

PMID- 28601002
TI  - Hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia of Isabela, Galapagos, Ecuador: A pilot study of
      cardiovascular risk factors in an Isolated Island community.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in the
      population of Isabela, Galapagos, Ecuador, across gender and age (above or below
      50). METHODS: In this population-based retrospective cross-sectional study among
      individuals in Isabela, Galapagos, Ecuador, demographic and metabolic factors
      were evaluated based on World Health Organization (WHO) Global Guidelines.
      RESULTS: The population overall exceeded the WHO guidelines for cardiovascular
      health. As to be expected, there was significance in the trend of increasing
      dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia with age except postprandial glucose. In those
      individuals below the age of 50, 8.0%, 49% and 26% had hyperglycemia,
      hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia, respectively. However, in those
      above 50, they measured 24%, 68% and 36% respectively, showing a significant
      increase. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia appear to be prevalent in
      Isabela, Galapagos, Ecuador and this pilot study supports further research into
      metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Such data may help in healthcare planning and
      screening to ensure not only timely diagnosis, but prevention. The limitations of
      this data illustrate modalities that data collection can be improved, such as
      having a linked clinical history to the data itself and better patient follow up
      for such entities as post prandial glucose, for example. However, this pilot
      study presents a starting point for future directions of research, such as
      ascertaining prevalence of diabetes type II, metabolic syndrome and
      cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28601003
TI  - Finding the Optimal volume and intensity of Resistance Training Exercise for Type
      2 Diabetes: The FORTE Study, a Randomized Trial.
AB  - AIM: To compare different volumes and intensities of resistance training (RT)
      combined with aerobic training (AT) for improvements in glycemic control and
      cardiovascular health for persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). METHODS:
      Participants with T2DM were stratified by HbA1c and randomized: "usual care"
      (RT1), which consisted of moderate intensity (50% 1-repetition maximum [1-RM]),
      low volumeRT (initiated half-way through program); higher intensity (75% 1-RM)
      and higher volume (initiated at program onset) RT (RT2); or moderate intensity
      but higher volume RT (RT3). RT sets and repetitions were adjusted to maintain
      similar work and volume between RT2 and RT3. Walking or cycling (60-80% aerobic
      capacity)was prescribed 5 times/week, and RT was prescribed 2 times/week. An
      ANCOVA, adjusted for baseline and gender, assessed changes post-6months in
      glycemic control (HbA1c- primary outcome), aerobic capacity and anthropometrics.
      RESULTS: Sixty-two participants (52.3+/-1.2years, 48% female) were randomized
      (RT1, n=20; RT2, n=20; RT3, n=22). Only post-training fasting glucose, without
      significant HbA1c change, was different between groups (RT1-RT3=-1.7mmol/L,
      p=0.046). Pre-post differences were found in pooled HbA1c (7.4+/-0.2%[57+/
      2.2mmol/mol] vs. 6.7+/-0.2%[50+/-2.2mmol/mol], p<0.001), aerobic capacity (21.5+/
      0.8vs. 25.2+/-0.8ml/kg/min, p<0.001), body mass (84.0+/-2.7vs. 83.0+/-2.7kg,
      p=0.022[DXA]), body mass index (30.8+/-0.9vs. 30.3+/-0.8kg/m2, p=0.02) and body
      fat (32.3+/-1.1vs. 31.3+/-1.2%, p<0.001). The trial was discontinued early; no
      HbA1c advantage was found with either RT2 or RT3 over RT1. CONCLUSIONS: Combined
      AT+RT exercise improved glycemic control, cardiovascular risk factors and body
      composition after 6months for participants with T2DM, but differential effects
      between the prescribed intensities and volumes of RT were not found to effect
      HbA1c.

PMID- 28601004
TI  - Novel thioglycosyl analogs of glycosyltransferase substrates as antiviral
      compounds against classical swine fever virus and hepatitis C virus.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and classical swine fever virus (CSFV) are important
      pathogens for which new therapeutic approaches are in high demand. Herein, we
      report the synthesis of newly designed thioglycosyl analogs of
      glycosyltransferase substrates which were evaluated using cell-based assays for
      cytotoxicity and antiviral activity against both viruses. The antiviral activity
      of synthesized compounds against CSFV and HCV was confirmed using pseudo-plaque
      reduction assays where a significant arrest of viral growth was observed in the
      presence of selected compounds. We showed that compounds 13 and 14 exerted the
      most significant inhibitory effect on in vitro CSFV and HCV infections in the
      series. Glycoconjugates 13 and 14 not only inhibited both viral propagation with
      IC50 values in low micromolar range, but efficiently suppressed the production of
      viral proteins in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, studies using in vitro
      HCV infection and replication models have shown that both compounds are able to
      significantly reduce viral genomic replication. We demonstrated that compounds 13
      and 14 showed a strong inhibition, up to 90% of replication which inscribe them
      in the promising alternative approach for the development of new anti-CSFV and
      anti-HCV drugs.

PMID- 28601005
TI  - The isolated, twenty-three-residue-long, N-terminal region of the glutamine
      synthetase inactivating factor binds to its target.
AB  - Glutamine synthetase (GS) catalyzes the ATP-dependent formation of glutamine from
      glutamate and ammonia. The activity of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 GS type I is
      regulated by protein-protein interactions with a 65-residue-long protein (IF7).
      IF7 binds initially to GS through residues at its N terminus. In this work, we
      studied the conformational preferences of the N-terminal region of IF7 (IF7pep,
      residues Ala7-Ala29), its binding to GS and its functional properties. Isolated
      IF7pep populated a nascent helix in aqueous solution. IF7pep was bound to GS with
      an affinity constant of 0.4MUM, and a 1:1 stoichiometry. IF7pep did not
      inactivate GS, suggesting that there were other IF7 regions important to carry
      out the inactivating function. Binding of IF7pep to GS was electrostatically
      driven and it did not follow a kinetic two-state model.

PMID- 28601006
TI  - The dynamics of mercury near Idrija mercury mine, Slovenia: Horizontal and
      vertical distributions of total, methyl, and ethyl mercury concentrations in
      soils.
AB  - The distributions of the total mercury (T-Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), and
      ethylmercury (EtHg) concentrations in soil and their relationship to chemical
      composition of the soil and total organic carbon content (TOC, %) were
      investigated. Core samples were collected from hill slope on the right and left
      riverbanks of the Idrija River. Former smelting plant is located on the right
      bank. The T-Hg average in each of the core samples ranged from 0.25 to 1650 mg kg
      1. The vertical T-Hg variations in the samples from the left bank showed no
      significant change with depth. Conversely, the T-Hg varied with depth, with the
      surface, or layers several centimeters from the surface, tending to show the
      highest values in the samples from the right bank. Since the right and left bank
      soils have different chemical compositions, different pathways of mercury
      delivery into soils were suggested. The MeHg and EtHg concentrations ranged from
      n.d. (not detected) to 444 MUg kg-1 and n.d. to 17.4 MUg kg-1, respectively. The
      vertical variations of MeHg and EtHg were similar to those of TOC, except for the
      near-surface layers containing TOC greater than 20%. These results suggest that
      the decomposition of organic matter is closely related to organic mercury
      formation.

PMID- 28601007
TI  - Distribution and relevance of iodinated X-ray contrast media and iodinated
      trihalomethanes in an aquatic environment.
AB  - Distribution and relevance of iodinated X-ray contrast media (ICM) and iodinated
      disinfection byproducts (I-DBPs) in a real aquatic environment have been rarely
      documented. In this paper, some ICM were proven to be strongly correlated with I
      DBPs through investigation of five ICM and five iodinated trihalomethanes (I
      THMs) in surface water and two drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) of the
      Yangtze River Delta, China. The total ICM concentrations in Taihu Lake and the
      Huangpu River ranged from 88.7 to 131 ng L-1 and 102-252 ng L-1, respectively.
      While the total I-THM concentrations ranged from 128 to 967 ng L-1 in Taihu Lake
      and 267-680 ng L-1 in the Huangpu River. Iohexol, the dominant ICM, showed
      significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) with CHClI2 in Taihu Lake. Iopamidol
      and iomeprol correlated positively (p < 0.01) with some I-THMs in the Huangpu
      River. The observed pronounced correlations between ICM and I-THMs indicated that
      ICM play an important role in the formation of I-THMs in a real aquatic
      environment. Characteristics of the I-THM species distributions indicated that I
      THMs may be transformed by natural conditions. Both DWTPs showed negligible
      removal efficiencies for total ICM (<20%). Strikingly high concentrations of
      total I-THMs were observed in the finished water (2848 ng L-1 in conventional
      DWTP and 356 ng L-1 in advanced DWTP). Obvious transformation of ICM to I-THMs
      was observed during the chlorination and ozonization processes in DWTPs. We
      suggest that ICM is an important source for I-DBP formation in the real aquatic
      environment.

PMID- 28601008
TI  - Fate of triazoles in softwood upon environmental exposure.
AB  - Determining the fate of preservatives in commercial wood products is essential to
      minimize their losses and improve protective impregnation techniques. The fate of
      triazole fungicides in ponderosa pine wood was investigated in both outdoor and
      controlled-environment experiments using a representative triazole, tebuconazole
      (TAZ), which was accompanied by propiconazole (PAZ) in selected experiments. The
      study was designed to mimic industrial settings used in window frame
      manufacturing. To investigate the TAZ fate in detail, loosely and strongly bound
      fractions were differentiated using a multi-step extraction. The loosely bound
      TAZ fraction extracted through two sonications accounted for 85+/- 5% of the
      total TAZ, while the strongly bound TAZ was extracted only with an exhaustive
      Soxhlet extraction and corresponded to the remaining 15+/- 5%. A significant
      fraction (~80%) of the original TAZ remained in the wood despite a six-month
      exposure to harsh environmental conditions, maintaining wood preservation and
      assuring minimal environmental impact. Depletion of loosely bound TAZ was
      observed from cross-sectional surfaces when exposed to rain, high humidity and
      sunlight. Water leaching was deemed to be the major route leading to triazole
      losses from wood. Leaching rate was found to be slightly higher for TAZ than for
      PAZ. The contribution of bio-, photo- and thermal degradation of triazoles was
      negligible as both PAZ and TAZ sorbed in wood remained intact. Triazole
      evaporation was also found to be minor at the moderate temperature (20-25 
      degrees C) recorded throughout the outdoor study.

PMID- 28601010
TI  - Heavy metal fractions and ecological risk assessment in sediments from urban,
      rural and reclamation-affected rivers of the Pearl River Estuary, China.
AB  - Rapid urbanization and reclamation processes in coastal areas have resulted in
      serious pollution to the aquatic environment. Less is known on the geochemical
      fractions and ecological risks in river sediment under various human activities
      pressures, which is essential for addressing the connections between heavy metal
      pollution and anthropogenic influences. River sediments were collected from
      different landscapes (i.e., urban, rural and reclamation areas) to investigate
      the impacts of urbanization and reclamation on the metallic pollution levels and
      ecological risks in the Pear River Estuary of China. Results showed that Cd, Zn
      and Cu with high total contents and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) were the primary
      metals in the Peal River sediments. Generally, urban river sediments, especially
      the surface sediment layer (0-10 cm), exhibited higher metallic pollution levels.
      As for geochemical fractions, reducible and residual fractions were the dominant
      forms for six determined metals. And the percentage of heavy metals bound to Fe
      Mn oxides decreased with increasing soil depth but the reverse tendency was
      observed for residual fractions. Compared with rural river sediments, heavy
      metals were highly associated with the exchangeable and carbonate fractions in
      both urban and reclamation-affected river sediments, suggesting that
      anthropogenic activities mainly increased the active forms of metals.
      Approximately 80% of Cd existed in the non-residual fraction and posed medium to
      high ecological risk according to the risk assessment code (RAC) values. The
      redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that both urbanization and reclamation
      processes would cause similar metallic characteristics, and sediment organic
      matter (SOC) might be the prominent influencing factor.

PMID- 28601011
TI  - Developmental toxicity of hydroxylated chrysene metabolites in zebrafish embryos.
AB  - One of the primary sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in marine
      environments is oil. Photochemical oxidation and microbial transformation of PAH
      containing oils can result in the formation of oxygenated products. Among the
      PAHs in crude oil, chrysene is one of the most persistent within the water column
      and may be transformed to 2- and 6-hydroxychrysene (OHCHR). Both of these
      compounds have been shown to activate (2-OHCHR) and antagonize (6-OHCHR) the
      estrogen receptor (ER). Previous studies in our lab have shown that estrogen can
      significantly alter zebrafish development. However, little is known about the
      developmental toxicity of hydroxylated PAHs. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to
      0.5-10MUM of 2- or 6-OHCHR from 2h post-fertilization (hpf) until 76hpf. A
      significant decrease in survival was observed following exposure to 6-OHCHR - but
      not 2-OHCHR. Both OHCHRs significantly increased the percentage of overall
      deformities after treatment. In addition to cardiac malformations, ocular and
      circulatory defects were also observed in embryos exposed to both compounds,
      while 2-OHCHR generally resulted in a higher prevalence of effect. Moreover,
      treatment with 2-OHCHR resulted in a significant decrease in hemoglobin levels.
      ER nor G-Protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) antagonists and agonists did
      not rescue the observed defects. We also analyzed the expression of cardiac-, eye
      and circulation-related genes previously shown to be affected by oil. Rhodopsin
      mRNA expresssion was significantly decreased by both compounds equally. However,
      exposure to 2-OHCHR significantly increased the expression of the hematopoietic
      regulator, runx1 (runt related transcription factor 1). These results indicate
      the toxicity of oxygenated photoproducts of PAHs and suggest that other targets
      and signaling pathways may contribute to developmental toxicity of weathered oil.
      Our findings also demonstrate the regio-selective toxicity of hydroxy-PAHs in the
      effects on eye and circulatory development and raise the need to identify
      mechanisms and ecological risks of oxy-PAHs to fish populations.

PMID- 28601009
TI  - Results of an interlaboratory comparison of analytical methods for quantification
      of anhydrosugars and biosugars in atmospheric aerosol.
AB  - An interlaboratory comparison was performed to evaluate the analytical methods
      for quantification of anhydrosugars - levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan - and
      biosugars - arabitol, glucose and mannitol - in atmospheric aerosol. The
      performance of 10 laboratories in Italy currently involved in such analyses was
      investigated on twenty-six PM (particulate matter) ambient filters, three
      synthetic PM filters and three aqueous standard solutions. An acceptable
      interlaboratory variability was found, determined as the mean relative standard
      deviation (RSD%) of the results from the participating laboratories, with the
      mean RSD% values ranging from 25% to 46% and decreasing with increasing sugar
      concentration. The investigated methods show good accuracy, evaluated as the
      percentage error (epsilon%) related to mean values, since method biases ranged
      within +/-20% for most of the analytes measured in the different laboratories.
      The detailed investigation (ANOVA analysis at p < 0.05) of the contribution of
      each laboratory to the total variability and the measurement accuracy shows that
      comparable results are generated by the different methods, despite the great
      diversity in terms of extraction conditions, chromatographic separation - more
      recent LC (liquid chromatography) and EC (exchange chromatography) methods
      compared to more widespread GC (gas chromatography) - and detection systems,
      namely PAD (pulsed amperometric detection) or mass spectrometry.

PMID- 28601012
TI  - Diclofenac affects kidney histology in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus
      aculeatus) at low MUg/L concentrations.
AB  - Diclofenac, a commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is considered
      for regulation under the European water framework directive. This is because
      effects on fish have been reported at concentrations around those regularly found
      in treated sewage effluents (~1MUg/L). However, a recent publication reports no
      effects on fish at 320MUg/L. In this study, three-spined sticklebacks
      (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were exposed to 0, 4.6, 22, 82 and 271MUg/L diclofenac
      in flow-through systems for 28days using triplicate aquaria per concentration. At
      the highest concentration, significant mortalities were observed already after
      21days (no mortalities found up to 22MUg/L). Histological analysis revealed a
      significant increase in the proportion of renal hematopoietic tissue (renal
      hematopoietic hyperplasia) after 28days at the lowest concentration and at all
      higher concentrations, following a clear dose-response pattern. Skin ulcerations
      of the jaw were noted by macroscopic observations, primarily at the two highest
      concentrations. No histological changes were observed in the liver. There was an
      increase in the relative hepatic mRNA levels of c7 (complement component 7), a
      gene involved in the innate immune system, at 22MUg/L and at all higher
      concentrations, again following a clear dose-response. The bioconcentration
      factor was stable across concentrations, but lower than reported for rainbow
      trout, suggesting lower internal exposure to the drug in the stickleback. In
      conclusion, this study demonstrates that diclofenac causes histological changes
      in the three-spined stickleback at low MUg/L concentrations, which cause concern
      for fish populations exposed to treated sewage effluents.

PMID- 28601013
TI  - Atomic resolution elemental mapping using energy-filtered imaging scanning
      transmission electron microscopy with chromatic aberration correction.
AB  - This paper addresses a novel approach to atomic resolution elemental mapping,
      demonstrating a method that produces elemental maps with a similar resolution to
      the established method of electron energy-loss spectroscopy in scanning
      transmission electron microscopy. Dubbed energy-filtered imaging scanning
      transmission electron microscopy (EFISTEM) this mode of imaging is, by the
      quantum mechanical principle of reciprocity, equivalent to tilting the probe in
      energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) through a cone and
      incoherently averaging the results. In this paper we present a proof-of-principle
      EFISTEM experimental study on strontium titanate. The present approach, made
      possible by chromatic aberration correction, has the advantage that it provides
      elemental maps which are immune to spatial incoherence in the electron source,
      coherent aberrations in the probe-forming lens and probe jitter. The veracity of
      the experiment is supported by quantum mechanical image simulations, which
      provide an insight into the image-forming process. Elemental maps obtained in
      EFTEM suffer from the effect known as preservation of elastic contrast, which,
      for example, can lead to a given atomic species appearing to be in atomic columns
      where it is not to be found. EFISTEM very substantially reduces the preservation
      of elastic contrast and yields images which show stability of contrast with
      changing thickness. The experimental application is demonstrated in a proof-of
      principle study on strontium titanate.

PMID- 28601014
TI  - Dissolved organic nitrogen recalcitrance and bioavailable nitrogen quantification
      for effluents from advanced nitrogen removal wastewater treatment facilities.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine the composition of nitrogen (N) in
      the effluents of advanced N removal (ANR) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).
      This study also tested two different experimental protocols for determining
      dissolved N recalcitrance. An analysis of 15 effluent samples from five WWTPs,
      showed effluent concentrations and especially effluent composition varied greatly
      from one system to the other, with total nitrogen (TN) ranging between 1.05 and
      8.10 mg L-1. Nitrate (NO3-) accounted for between 38 +/- 32% of TN, and ammonium
      accounted for a further 29 +/- 28%. All of these samples were dominated by
      dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; NO3- + NH4+), and uptake experiments indicated
      the DIN fraction was as expected highly bioavailable. Dissolved organic N (DON)
      accounted for 20 +/- 11% for the total dissolved N in these effluents, and uptake
      experiments indicated the bioavailability of this fraction varied between 27 +/-
      26% depending on the WWTP assessed. These results indicate near complete DIN
      removal should be the primary goal of ANR treatment systems. The comparison of
      bioavailable nitrogen (BAN) quantification protocols showed that the dissolved
      nitrogen uptake bioassay approach was clearly a more reliable way to determine
      BAN concentrations compared to the conventional cell yield protocol. Moreover,
      because the nitrogen uptake experiment was much more sensitive, this protocol
      made it easier to detect extrinsic factors (such as biological contamination or
      toxicity) that could affect the accuracy of these bioassays. Based on these
      results, we recommend the nitrogen uptake bioassay using filtered and autoclaved
      samples to quantify BAN concentrations. However, for effluent samples indicating
      toxicity, algal bioassays will not accurately quantify BAN.

PMID- 28601015
TI  - Enantioselective bioaccumulation following exposure of adult zebrafish (Danio
      rerio) to epoxiconazole and its effects on metabolomic profile as well as genes
      expression.
AB  - Although epoxiconazole is the worldwidely used fungicide, limited information is
      known about its toxic effects and bioaccumulation behavior in freshwater
      ecosystems. In this study, zebrafish were exposed to epoxiconazole at
      concentrations of 100 and 1000 MUg L-1 for 21 d. 1H NMR-based metabolomics
      analysis showed that low- and high-dose epoxiconazole exposure resulted in two
      similar but not identical patterns for the change of endogenous metabolites
      related to energy, lipid and amino acid metabolism. The expression of genes
      associated with mitochondrial respiratory chain, ATP synthesis and fatty acid
      beta-oxidation were further measured to explore the reason for the disturbed
      energy metabolism, finding epoxiconazole had an inhibition effect on the genes
      expression of the above ways. Significant enantioselectivity was observed with
      (+)-epoxiconazole enrichment in the bioaccumulation process. These results will
      be of great importance in understanding the toxic effects induced by
      epoxiconazole and provide important basis for its comprehensive environmental
      assessment.

PMID- 28601016
TI  - Effects of oil dispersants on photodegradation of parent and alkylated anthracene
      in seawater.
AB  - This study investigated effects of three model oil dispersants on
      photodegradation of two model PAHs (anthracene and 9,10-dimethyanthracene (9,10
      DMA)) under simulated sunlight. All three dispersants, i.e. Corexit EC9500A,
      Corexit EC9527A and SPC 1000, promoted the photolysis rate of 9,10-DMA, following
      the order of Corexit EC9500A > Corexit EC9527A > SPC 1000. The photodegradation
      rate was well interpreted by a two-stage, first-order kinetic law with a faster
      initial photolysis rate in the presence of the dispersants. Span 80, Tween 85 and
      kerosene were found as the key dispersant components, of which Span 80 and Tween
      85 promoted the photodegradation by boosting absorbance of solar irradiation
      while kerosene by dispersing more PAHs in the upper layer of the water column.
      Dissolved oxygen (DO) inhibited photolysis of anthracene regardless of dispersant
      resulting from quenching the excited states of the PAH, while DO facilitated
      photolysis of 9,10-DMA due to the formation singlet oxygen (1O2) radicals in the
      presence of oil dispersants. The other ROS, i.e. *O2- and *OH, played a
      negligible role on the photodegradation of anthracene and 9,10-DMA. Fluorescence
      analysis showed that more anthracene was associated with dispersant than 9,10
      DMA, which favored the direct transfer of energy to anthracene, while energy is
      more likely transferred to oxygen to form 1O2 in the case of 9,10-DMA. Direct
      photolysis dominated the photodegradation of anthracene and 9,10-DMA. Both direct
      ionization of anthracene and the electron transfer from excited 9,10-DMA to
      oxygen can lead to formation of the corresponding PAH radical cations. Overall,
      the oil dispersants accelerated the photolysis rates of the PAHs without altering
      the degradation pathway. The findings are useful for understanding photochemical
      weathering of dispersed oil components in the environment.

PMID- 28601017
TI  - Effect of substituted phenylamine antioxidants on three life stages of the
      freshwater mussel Lampsilis siliquoidea.
AB  - Substituted phenylamines (SPAs) are incorporated into a variety of consumer
      products (e.g., polymers, lubricants) in order to increase the lifespan of the
      products by acting as a primary antioxidant. Based on their physicochemical
      properties, if SPAs were to enter the aquatic environment, they would likely
      partition into sediment. No studies to date have investigated the effect of
      sediment-associated SPAs on aquatic organisms. The current study examined the
      effect of four SPAs (diphenylamine (DPA); N-phenyl-1-napthylamine (PNA); N-(1,3
      dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (DPPDA); 4,4'-methylene-bis[N-sec
      butylaniline] (MBA)) on three different life stages of the freshwater mussel,
      Lampsilis siliquoidea. The viability of larvae (glochidia) of L. siliquoidea and
      Lampsilis fasciola was assessed after 48 h of exposure to SPAs in water. The 48-h
      EC50s for glochidia viability of L. siliquoidea were 5951, 606, 439, and 258
      MUg/L for DPA, PNA, DPPDA, and MBA, respectively, and 7946, 591, 137, and 47
      MUg/L, respectively, for L. fasciola. Juvenile (7-15 months) and adult L.
      siliquoidea were exposed to sediment-associated SPAs for 28 d. LC50s for juvenile
      mussels were 18, 55, 62, and 109 MUg/g dry weight (dw) of sediment for DPA, PNA,
      DPPDA, and MBA, respectively. Adult mussels were exposed to sub-lethal
      concentrations of sediment-associated SPAs in order to investigate reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation and total glutathione in the gill,
      gonad, and digestive gland tissue, and viability and DNA damage in hemocytes. No
      significant concentration-dependent trend in any of these biochemical and
      cellular endpoints relative to the concentration of sediment-associated SPAs was
      observed in any tissues. Investigations into the concentration of SPAs in the
      aquatic environment are required before a conclusion can be made on whether these
      compounds pose a hazard to the different life stages of freshwater mussels.

PMID- 28601018
TI  - Geospatial evaluation of lead bioaccessibility and distribution for site specific
      prediction of threshold limits.
AB  - Recent work identified the need for site-specific Pb bioaccessibility evaluation
      and scaled contaminant modeling. Pb heterogeneity has made bioaccessibility
      characterization difficult, and complicated distribution models. Using field
      testing, bioaccessibility measurement, Integrated Exposure Uptake and Biokinetic
      (IEUBK) modeling, and geospatial techniques, we propose a framework for
      conducting applied risk-based, multiscale assessment. This framework was tested
      and implemented in Burlington, VT, an area of old housing stock and high Pb
      burden (up to 15 000 mg kg-1) derived primarily from paint. After analyzing local
      soil samples for total and bioaccessible Pb, it was determined that bioaccessible
      and total Pb were well correlated in this area, through which an average
      bioaccessibility parameter was derived approximating Pb bioaccessibility for this
      soil type and Pb impact. This parameter was used with the IEUBK to recommend the
      local limit for residential soil Pb be reduced from 400 to 360 mg kg-1, taking
      into consideration the lowering of the blood lead level threshold for Pb
      poisoning from 10 to 5 MUg dL-1 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
      Geospatial investigation incorporated samples collected during this investigation
      and samples from a high school summer science academy, and relied on three
      techniques, used at different scales: kriging of total and background Pb alone,
      kriging of total and background Pb with housing age as a well-sampled, well
      correlated secondary variable (cokriging), and inverse distance weighting of
      total and bioaccessible Pb. Modeling at different scales allowed for
      characterization of Pb impact at single sites as well as citywide. Model maps
      show positive correlation between areas of older housing and areas of high Pb
      burden, as well as potential at different scales for reducing the effects of Pb
      heterogeneity.

PMID- 28601019
TI  - Endopolyploidy levels in barley vary in different root types and significantly
      decrease under phosphorus deficiency.
AB  - Increased endopolyploidy is important for plant growth and development as well as
      for adaptation to environmental stresses. However, little is known about the role
      of reduced endopolyploidy, especially in root systems. In this report,
      endopolyploidy variations were examined in different types of barley (Hordeum
      vulgare L.) roots, and the effects of phosphorus (P) deficiency and salinity
      (NaCl) stress on root endopolyploidy were also studied. The results showed that
      the endopolyploidy levels were lower in lateral roots than in either primary or
      nodal roots. The lower endopolyploidy in lateral roots was attributed to cortical
      cells. P deficiency reduced the endopolyploidy levels in lateral roots and mature
      zone of primary roots. By contrast, salinity had no effects on the endopolyploidy
      levels in either lateral or primary roots, but had a minor effect on nodal roots.
      Transcript analysis of cell cycle-related genes showed that multiple cell cycle
      related genes were more highly expressed in lateral roots than in primary roots,
      suggesting their roles in lowering endopolyploidy. P deficiency reduced HvCCS52A1
      transcripts in the mature zone of primary roots, but had little effect on the
      transcripts of 12 cell cycle-related genes in lateral roots, suggesting that
      endopolyploidy regulation differs between lateral roots and primary roots. Our
      results revealed that endopolyploidy reduction in root systems could be an
      integrated part of endopolyploidy plasticity in barley growth and development as
      well as in adaptation to a low P environment.

PMID- 28601020
TI  - Health-damaging policing practices among persons who inject drugs in Mexico: Are
      deported migrants at greater risk?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence-based public health and criminal justice policies aimed at
      addressing the structurally vulnerable population of persons who inject drugs
      (PWID) and who are involved in the immigrant enforcement and deportation system
      are lacking. Policing practices are critical structural determinants of HIV among
      PWID. PWID in Mexico who have been deported from the US are at elevated risk of
      HIV. METHODS: From 2011 to 2013, 733 PWID were recruited to complete structured
      questionnaires, including past 6-month experiences with police. Eligible PWID
      were 18 years or older, had injected in the past month, and resided in Tijuana,
      Mexico with no intentions of moving. To determine if deportation status was
      associated with experiences of arrests and problematic policing practices, we
      conducted separate multivariate logistic regression models for independent
      policing variables. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, deportation status was
      independently associated with higher odds of being arrested (Adjusted Odds Ratio
      (AOR): 1.45; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.02-2.05), being asked for a bribe
      (AOR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.05-2.04), and being forced to leave a place of residence
      (AOR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.08-3.70) in the past 6 months. CONCLUSION: Results
      highlight a previously poorly understood elements of the US-deportation
      experience: migrants' experiences with law enforcement post-deportation and the
      role of deportation policies and practices as structural drivers of public health
      risk in destination countries. We provide policy recommendations for Mexico and
      the US based on our findings, which have potential application in other countries
      seeking to improve enforcement and related policing practices from a public
      health perspective.

PMID- 28601021
TI  - Aspergillus fumigatus-induced early inflammatory response in pulmonary
      microvascular endothelial cells: Role of p38 MAPK and inhibition by silibinin.
AB  - Human invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a serious infectious disease
      mainly caused by Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus). Pulmonary microvascular
      endothelial cells (PMVECs) are important ones in the human lung tissue. However,
      it remains unclear about the role of PMVECs in IPA. In the present study, we
      cocultured PMVECs with A. fumigatus. We observed that A. fumigatus induced dose-
      and time-dependent increases of interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 1beta (IL
      1beta) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) concentration in the
      cultures. Significant increases in IL-6, IL-1beta, E-selectin, and ICAM-1 mRNA
      expression were also observed in the cultures treated with A. fumigatus. While
      preincubation with SB203580 (10MUM) did not cause significant changes in IL-6, IL
      1beta and ICAM-1 concentration in the cocultures, significant IL-6, IL-1beta and
      ICAM-1 concentration decreases were observed in the cocultures preincubated with
      SB203580 (20MUM). Neither SP600125 (10-20MUM) nor PD98059 (10-20MUM) caused
      significant changes in IL-6, IL-1beta and ICAM-1 concentration in the cocultures.
      PCR results also showed that SB203580 (20MUM) (neither SP600125 (20MUM) nor
      PD98059 (20MUM)) preincubation significantly decreased IL-6, IL-1beta, E-selectin
      and ICAM-1 mRNA expression in the cocultures. In addition, significant p38 MAPK
      phosphorylation increase was observed in the PMVECs cultures treated with A.
      fumigatus. Furthermore, silibinin pre-treatment and post-treatment were observed
      to significantly down-regulate mRNA and protein expression of proinflammatory
      factors and adhesion molecules in the cocultures. Finally, we observed that
      silibinin significantly inhibited A. fumigatus-induced p38 MAPK activation in
      PMVECs. Our results indicated that PMVECs might participate in IPA early
      inflammation which is mediated by p38 MAPK. Silibinin may inhibit A. fumigatus
      induced inflammation in PMVECs through p38 MAPK.

PMID- 28601022
TI  - Nrf2 induces lipocyte phenotype via a SOCS3-dependent negative feedback loop on
      JAK2/STAT3 signaling in hepatic stellate cells.
AB  - Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are universally acknowledged to play a core role in
      the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis. HSCs when activated are characterized by
      dramatic loss of intracellular lipid droplets. Accumulative evidence has
      suggested that recovery of lipid droplets could suppress HSC activation. However,
      the underlying molecular mechanisms still remain largely unclear. In this study,
      we found that the expression and activity of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)
      - like 2 (Nrf2) were decreased in activated HSCs and negatively correlated with
      hepatic fibrosis severity in human liver specimens. Nrf2 overexpression, in
      contrast to Nrf2 deficiency, induced the accumulation of lipid droplets via
      decreasing the expression of lipolytic gene peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor alpha (PPARalpha) and increasing the expression of genes involved in
      lipogenesis and retinoic acid responsiveness, including CCAAT/enhancer-binding
      protein alpha, PPARgamma, retinoid X receptor alpha, and retinoic acid receptor
      beta. Consequently, HSCs regained its lipocyte phenotype and expressed reduced
      alpha-smooth muscle actin and collagen type I. Consistently, disruption of Janus
      kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK2/STAT3)
      signaling by AG490 or Stattic could also induce lipocyte phenotype. Noticeably,
      Nrf2 overexpression by a genetic approach disrupted JAK2/STAT3 signaling and
      increased the expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) but not
      other protein inhibitors of activated STATs. Gain- or loss-of function of SOCS3
      revealed that Nrf2 inhibited JAK2/STAT3 signaling via inducing SOCS3 expression.
      In conclusion, Nrf2 activation induced lipocyte phenotype in HSCs via enhancing
      SOCS3-dependent feedback inhibition on JAK2/STAT3 cascade. Nrf2 could be a target
      molecule for antifibrotic strategy.

PMID- 28601024
TI  - An umbrella review of meta-analyses of interventions to improve maternal outcomes
      for teen mothers.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to perform an umbrella review of meta-analyses of
      intervention studies designed to improve outcomes of pregnant or parenting
      teenagers. An extensive search retrieved nine reports which provided 21 meta
      analyses analyses. Data were extracted by two reviewers. Methodological quality
      was assessed using the AMSTAR Instrument. Most effect sizes were small but high
      quality studies showed significant outcomes for reduced low birth weight (RR =
      0.60), repeat pregnancies/births (OR = 0.47-0.62), maternal education (OR = 1.21
      1.83), and maternal employment (OR = 1.26). Several parenting outcomes (parent
      child teaching interaction post-intervention [SMD = -0.91] and at follow-up [SMD
      = -1.07], and parent-child relationship post-intervention [SMD = -0.71] and at
      follow-up [SMD = -0.90]) were significant, but sample sizes were very small. Many
      reports did not include moderator analyses. Behavioral interventions offer
      limited resources and occur too late to mitigate the educational and social
      disparities that precede teen pregnancy. Future intervention research and
      policies that redress the social determinants of early childbearing are
      recommended.

PMID- 28601023
TI  - alpha-Mangostin ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis through
      inhibition of NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways.
AB  - Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of the
      colon as a target site. Previous reports regarding the efficacy of alpha
      mangostin (alphaMG) to inhibit nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) and mitogen
      activated protein kinases (MAPKs) as well as relatively high distribution to the
      colon suggested the therapeutic potential of this compound in UC model. In
      dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis mice (DSS mice), the disease
      activity index scores involving diarrhea, bloody stool, body weight reduction,
      and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities of the esophagus and colon increased with
      the reduced colon length. Also histologic disturbances and changes of NF-kappaB
      and MAPK pathways including phosphorylation of IkappaB kinase, ERK1/2, SAPK/JNK
      and p38 were observed in the colon of the DSS mice. However, all of these
      impaired conditions in the DSS mice were restored by alphaMG treatment, and the
      intestinal metabolism of alphaMG decreased, increasing its distribution to the
      colons in the DSS mice compared with the control mice. All of these results
      suggest that high distribution of alphaMG in the colon might attenuate DSS
      induced colitis by inhibiting NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways in the colon.

PMID- 28601025
TI  - Studies on the O-specific polysaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide from the
      Pseudomonas mediterranea strain C5P1rad1, a bacterium pathogenic of tomato and
      chrysanthemum.
AB  - An O-specific polysaccharide (OPS) was isolated from the lipopolysaccharide of
      Pseudomonas mediterranea strain C5P1rad1, the causal agents of tomato pith
      necrosis and Chrysanthemum stem rot, and studied by one- and two-dimensional 1H
      and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The following structure of the trisaccharide repeating
      unit of the OPS was established, which, to our knowledge, is unique among the
      known bacterial polysaccharide structures: ->4)-beta-d-ManpNAc3NAcA-(1 -> 4)-beta
      d-ManpNAc3NAcA-(1 -> 3)-alpha-d-QuipNAc4NAc-(1-> where QuiNAc4NAc and ManNAc3NAcA
      indicate 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxyglucose and 2,3-diacetamido-2,3
      dideoxymannuronic acid, respectively. Pre-treatment of leaves with LPS or OPS
      preparations at 250 and 50 MUg mL-1 did not inhibit development of a
      hypersensitivity reaction induced by P. mediterranea C5P1rad1 on tobacco, tomato
      and chrysanthemum plants. The same preparations at 250 MUg mL-1 partially
      prevented elicitation of the hypersensitivity reaction by Pseudomonas syringae
      KVPT7RC on chrysanthemum but not tobacco and tomato.

PMID- 28601026
TI  - The use of biologics in the management of cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - The use of biologic agents including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins,
      non-coding RNAs (miRNAs), gene therapy and, especially, stem cell therapy have
      revolutionized the treatment of a variety of diseases. Most notably, success in
      treating cancers have been achieved using hematopoietic stem cell therapy. Use of
      these agents in the treatment of cardiovascular disease is still in its infancy
      but recent advances have identified several new biologic agents. Current clinical
      trials are evaluating the success of stem cell therapy and fibroblast therapy as
      well as agents that either mimic or inhibit non-coding RNAs (miRNAs) as possible
      treatments for a several cardiac pathologies including heart failure, myocardial
      infarction, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease and ischemic heart disease. This
      review will focus on the use of stem cells and miRNA agents to characterize the
      current status of these agents and describe some of the nuances that have led to
      the extraordinary interest in them as therapeutic agents.

PMID- 28601028
TI  - QRS complex detection in ECG signals using locally adaptive weighted total
      variation denoising.
AB  - The QRS complex is the most prominent feature in the electrocardiogram (ECG),
      therefore, its detection is required for delineation of other waves and segments
      in the ECG and derivation of additional clinically useful information. QRS
      detection is complicated by factors like varying QRS morphologies, noise,
      artefacts and interference from tall and pointed P- and T-waves. In this paper,
      we propose a novel technique for QRS detection by preprocessing the ECG using
      weighted total variation (WTV) denoising. A local estimate of noise in the signal
      block under consideration is used to determine the regularization parameter in
      WTV minimization, which determines the amount of smoothing applied. This makes
      the denoising locally adaptive. The weights are chosen so as to give preference
      to preservation of QRS complexes over P- and T-waves while smoothing. Thus, the
      technique can simultaneously reduce the higher frequency noise as well as the
      lower frequency interference from P- and T-waves, in spite of the fact that they
      have overlapping spectra with the QRS complexes. The proposed method is evaluated
      on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and gives improved detection accuracy over
      established and state-of-the-art techniques. The technique has low computational
      load, therefore, it can be used for fast offline QRS detection in long duration
      ECG records, as well as real-time QRS detection in block-by-block processing
      mode. The average values of sensitivity, positive predictivity and detection
      error rate are 99.90%, 99.88% and 0.23%, for the offline implementation,
      respectively, and 99.86%, 99.85% and 0.29%, for the real-time mode, respectively.

PMID- 28601027
TI  - A semantic interoperability approach to support integration of gene expression
      and clinical data in breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The introduction of omics data and advances in technologies
      involved in clinical treatment has led to a broad range of approaches to
      represent clinical information. Within this context, patient stratification
      across health institutions due to omic profiling presents a complex scenario to
      carry out multi-center clinical trials. METHODS: This paper presents a standards
      based approach to ensure semantic integration required to facilitate the analysis
      of clinico-genomic clinical trials. To ensure interoperability across different
      institutions, we have developed a Semantic Interoperability Layer (SIL) to
      facilitate homogeneous access to clinical and genetic information, based on
      different well-established biomedical standards and following International
      Health (IHE) recommendations. RESULTS: The SIL has shown suitability for
      integrating biomedical knowledge and technologies to match the latest clinical
      advances in healthcare and the use of genomic information. This genomic data
      integration in the SIL has been tested with a diagnostic classifier tool that
      takes advantage of harmonized multi-center clinico-genomic data for training
      statistical predictive models. CONCLUSIONS: The SIL has been adopted in national
      and international research initiatives, such as the EURECA-EU research project
      and the CIMED collaborative Spanish project, where the proposed solution has been
      applied and evaluated by clinical experts focused on clinico-genomic studies.

PMID- 28601029
TI  - Continuous lung region segmentation from endoscopic images for intra-operative
      navigation.
AB  - Although preoperative Computed tomography images are widely used in
      intraoperative navigation, they can not provide precise information for organs
      such as the lungs, which deform severely during surgery because of deflation. By
      segmenting lung regions using intraoperative endoscopic images, a more accurate
      navigation can be obtained because endoscopic images directly provide real-time
      organ descriptions. However, satisfactory segmentation is rarely achieved with
      the algorithms in the literature due to the high deformability of the lungs and
      similarity between the background and object. This article addresses these
      problems by describing a novel approach for lung region segmentation based on
      endoscopic images. The proposed method leverages both GrabCut and optical flow
      for continuous segmentation. It also introduces a novel technique for quick user
      interaction, in which users are required to quickly provide a rough curve that
      shows the possible area of the boundary, and then a much more precise
      segmentation is deduced based on the rough curve. The effectiveness of the
      proposed approach was demonstrated by comparing it with conventional algorithms.
      The results show that the average F-measure of the proposed method is more than
      97%. The position, size, and boundary of the lungs obtained by the proposed
      method can provide useful intraoperative navigation for lung resection surgeries.

PMID- 28601030
TI  - Aggressive gastrointestinal food allergy in neonates and its possible
      relationship to necrotizing enterocolitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of gastrointestinal food allergy (FA) in neonates is
      increasing. Despite this, cases of patients with gastrointestinal FA who develop
      necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) requiring laparotomy are extremely rare.
      PRESENTATION OF CASE: We describe two cases that presented with bloody stool with
      a probable diagnosis of FA as eosinophils were positive in the stool at onset.
      Both cases failed conservative treatment. Jejunostomy and ileostomy were
      performed in both cases due to secondary NEC with underlying acute FA. Post
      surgery, raised peripheral blood eosinophil count, presence of cow's milk
      specific IgE antibody and positive allergen-specific lymphocyte stimulation test
      were found. Stoma closure were performed 3 and 1 months later in both cases.
      Postoperative recovery was uneventful. DISCUSSION: A few reports have not
      identified risk factors for NEC secondary to FA. Thrombocytopenia and rise in C
      reactive protein (CRP) levels 2days after the development of FA may be suggestive
      of FA with NEC. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was detected
      in the fecal culture of both patients at the time of the onset of NEC. The toxic
      antigen produced by MRSA may cause activation of milk-protein-primed T cells and
      exacerbate FA. CONCLUSION: The decrease of platelet levels and rise in CRP may
      indicate the development of secondary NEC in patients with FA. Additionally, MRSA
      detected in the fecal culture also may be a risk factor for NEC through the
      activation of cellular immunity reaction pathways.

PMID- 28601031
TI  - Delayed diagnosis of esophageal foreign body: A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Foreign body (FB) ingestion, a common and serious problem in
      children, can present with a wide variety of symptoms. This paper describes and
      discusses the case of an esophageal foreign body (EFB), in which the patient
      presented with primarily respiratory clinical signs causing delayed diagnosis.
      PRESENTATION OF CASE: A six month old boy presented with three months history of
      harsh cough, stridor and pulmonary congestion. He was repeatedly treated with
      steroids and antibiotics. His symptoms worsened progressively. On examination, he
      was tachypneic with suprasternal recession, scattered crepitations, diffuse
      wheeze and a continuous stridor. Chest X-ray was normal. The flexible
      bronchoscopy showed a posterior external compression on the middle wall of the
      trachea. The CT scan was normal. The contrast X-ray study of the esophagus
      revealed an endoluminal filling defect. The esophagoscopy revealed narrowing at
      12cm of dental arch, and a bourgeoning yellow mass easily bleeding on contact.
      Esophageal biopsies were obtained, and histology was inconclusive. A surgical
      exploration was planned, but the infant forced out a pistachio shell after a
      chest physiotherapy session. DISCUSSION: Ingestion of FB by small children is a
      common problem. The majority of EFBs pass harmlessly through the gastrointestinal
      tract; however, some EFBs can cause significant morbidities. The diagnosis may be
      delayed leading to several complications especially if the ingestion of the FB is
      unwitnessed and when the clinician does not think of FB ingestion as part of the
      differential diagnosis of chronic respiratory signs. CONCLUSION: This case
      highlights, the importance of recognizing, the rare and often forgotten
      respiratory symptoms of EFB body to avoid diagnostic delay especially in
      unwitnessed FB ingestion.

PMID- 28601032
TI  - Photoinduced transformation of pyridinium-based ionic liquids, and implications
      for their photochemical behavior in surface waters.
AB  - The photochemical reactivity of three ionic liquids (1-ethylpyridinium
      tetrafluoroborate, 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate, and 1-(3
      cyanopropyl)pyridinium chloride) was studied by combining laboratory experiments
      and photochemical modeling, to get insight into the possible behavior in surface
      water environments. Among the studied compounds, phototransformation in sunlit
      surface waters could be an important attenuation pathway for 1-butyl-4
      methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate (BMPOTFB). In this case the reaction with the
      carbonate radicals (CO3-) would prevail at low values of the dissolved organic
      carbon (DOC), while the direct photolysis would be important at intermediate to
      high DOC values. The sensitization by the triplet states of chromophoric
      dissolved organic matter could play a significant role at high DOC, especially in
      the presence of a considerable fraction of highly photoreactive pedogenic organic
      matter derived from soil runoff. The main processes that account for the
      phototransformation of BMPOTFB and produce the main detected transformation
      products (TPs) are hydroxylation, detachment/shortening of the butyl chain and
      double bond formation. Interestingly, there is a considerable overlap between the
      TPs formed by direct photolysis and those produced by indirect photochemistry.
      Some of the TPs formed from BMPOTFB are more toxic than the parent compound
      towards Vibrio fischeri bacteria, and account for the increase in toxicity of the
      irradiated mixtures. Differently from BMPOTFB, in the case of the other two
      studied ionic liquids the photodegradation would play a negligible role in
      environmental attenuation, with the possible exception of very shallow waters
      with low DOC.

PMID- 28601033
TI  - Comparing glow discharge plasma and ultrasound treatment for improving aerobic
      respiration of activated sludge.
AB  - In this paper, a new and innovative technique, glow discharge plasma, is
      introduced for the treatment of activated sludge, whereby its effect on sludge
      solubilization, settleability, floc structure and biomass activity for carbon
      removal and nitrification is investigated. The obtained results are compared to
      the use of ultrasound for activated sludge treatment, a technique known for its
      potential to enhancing biomass activity. Results indicate that ultrasound is up
      to 9 times more efficient in solubilizing activated sludge and disrupting the
      sludge floc. However, ultrasound has a detrimental effect on sludge settling,
      even the lowest treatment intensity of 180 kJ/kgMLSS induced a 12% increase in
      sludge volume index (SVI). Glow discharge plasma on the other hand, improved
      settleability up to 51%. Glow discharge plasma and ultrasound both positively
      affect the carbon removal rate. On the long term, extreme conditions even gave
      rise to a maximum improvement in respiration by 58.6% and 176.5% for a glow
      discharge plasma and ultrasound treatment. Nitrification, however, was never
      positively influenced by either of the treatments. Starting from 8297 kJ/kgMLSS
      for glow discharge plasma and 9000 kJ/kgMLSS for ultrasound, a negative effect on
      the nitrification rate was found.

PMID- 28601034
TI  - A sequential model to link contextual risk, perception and public support for
      flood adaptation policy.
AB  - The economic damage from coastal flooding has dramatically increased over the
      past several decades, owing to rapid development in shoreline areas and possible
      effects of climate change. To respond to these trends, it is imperative for
      policy makers to understand individuals' support for flood adaptation policy.
      Using original survey data for all coastal counties of the United States Gulf
      Coast merged with contextual data on flood risk, this study investigates coastal
      residents' support for two adaptation policy measures: incentives for relocation
      and funding for educational programs on emergency planning and evacuation.
      Specifically, this study explores the interactive relationships among contextual
      flood risks, perceived flood risks and policy support for flood adaptation, with
      the effects of social-demographic variables being controlled. Age, gender, race
      and partisanship are found to significantly affect individuals' policy support
      for both adaptation measures. The contextual flooding risks, indicated by
      distance from the coast, maximum wind speed and peak height of storm surge
      associated with the last hurricane landfall, and percentage of high-risk flood
      zone per county, are shown to impact one's perceptions of risk, which in turn
      influence one's support for both policy measures. The key finding -risk
      perception mediates the impact of contextual risk conditions on public support
      for flood management policies - highlights the need to ensure that the public is
      well informed by the latest scientific, engineering and economic knowledge. To
      achieve this, more information on current and future flood risks and options
      available for mitigation as well as risk communication tools are needed.

PMID- 28601035
TI  - Effects of dietary CLA supplementation, parity and different concentrate levels
      before calving on immunoglobulin G1, G2 and M concentrations in dairy cows.
AB  - Peripartal dairy cows exhibit a higher susceptibility for infectious diseases,
      which might be linked to the negative energy balance occurring at the onset of
      lactation. A dietary supplementation of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) may
      reduce milk fat yield and subsequently lower the energy deficit. The utilization
      of immunoglobulins (Ig) for colostrogenesis might impair humoral immunity in
      peripartal dairy cows; therefore this study investigated the effects of a CLA
      supplement, parity and different dietary energy levels on plasma and colostrum
      IgG1, IgG2 and IgM levels in dairy cows and their calves. Blood samples were
      collected from 64 cows from 21days before until 56days after parturition and
      colostrum samples for the first 3days of lactation. Plasma immunoglobulin
      concentrations of 19 calves were determined before colostrum uptake. Neither
      plasma IgG1, nor IgG2 levels were affected by CLA or dietary energy level.
      However, immunoglobulin levels were affected by parity. Heifers possessed the
      lowest IgG1 concentrations. IgG2 concentrations were highest in cows with 2
      lactations prior to parturition and in heifers after parturition. Plasma IgM
      levels were characterized by a sharp decrease 3days prior to parturition and were
      scarcely affected by the feeding regimen or parity. Generally, immunoglobulin
      levels appear to be mostly independent from the peripartal energy balance of the
      cows and are not influenced by dietary CLA. However, pronounced differences among
      parities for IgG1 and IgG2 were revealed which should be further evaluated.

PMID- 28601036
TI  - Light pollution affects nesting behavior of loggerhead turtles and predation risk
      of nests and hatchlings.
AB  - The introduction of artificial light into wildlife habitats is a rapidly
      expanding aspect of global change, which has many negative impacts on a wide
      range of taxa. In this experimental study, which took place on a beach located on
      the island of Boa Vista (Cabo Verde), three types of artificial light were tested
      on nesting loggerhead sea turtles as well as on ghost crabs, which intensively
      predate on nests and hatchlings, to determine the effects they would produce on
      the behavior of both species. Over the course of 36days, female loggerheads and
      ghost crabs were studied under yellow, orange and red lights, with observations
      also being made on dark nights that served as a control treatment. During this
      period, the frequencies of nesting attempts, the time taken by turtles to
      complete each phase of the nesting process, and ghost crab abundance and
      behaviors were carefully recorded. 1146 loggerhead nesting attempts were observed
      and recorded during the experiments, and results showed a decrease in nesting
      attempts of at least 20% when artificial lighting was present. A significant
      decline in successful attempts was also observed within the central sections of
      the beach, which corresponded to those that received more light. This artificial
      lighting significantly increased the time that turtles spent on the nesting
      process and forced them to do more extensive beach crawls. Despite this, the
      presence of light had no apparent effect on the final selection of the nesting
      site. Yellow and orange lights significantly disrupted the sea finding behavior
      and turtles were often unable to orient themselves seaward under these color
      lights. Disoriented turtles were observed crawling in circuitous paths in front
      of the light source for several minutes. In addition, artificial lights had the
      potential to increase the number of ghost crabs present within the illuminated
      stretches of the beach. However, only yellow lighting produced a significant
      change on aggressive and prey searching behaviors. These changes in abundance and
      behavior could cause a greater predation on loggerhead turtle nests. Red light
      had no significant impact on the behavior of either species. It should be a
      priority to enforce preventive measures and light mitigation strategies to ensure
      the conservation of important loggerhead rookeries.

PMID- 28601037
TI  - Enterococcus species for the one-pot biofabrication of gold nanoparticles:
      Characterization and nanobiotechnological applications.
AB  - In the current work, cell-free extracts of four strains of non-pathogenic
      Enterococcus species of food origin, were studied for the green synthesis of gold
      nanoparticles (AuNPs), and characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy,
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM). The AuNPs were evaluated for their Anopheles gambiae
      larvicidal, dye degradation, antioxidant and thrombolytic activities. The blue
      black colloidal AuNPs which absorbed maximally at 549-552nm were nearly spherical
      in shape, and crystalline in nature with size of 8-50nm. The EDX spectra showed
      formation of AuNPs to the tune of 89-94%. The prominent FTIR peaks obtained at
      3251-3410, 2088 and 1641-1643cm-1 alluded to the fact that proteins were involved
      in the biofabrication and capping of AuNPs. AuNPs degraded methylene blue and
      malachite green by 24.3-57.6%, and 88.85-97.36% respectively in 24h, whereas at
      12h, larvicidal activities with LC50 of 21.28-42.33MUg/ml were obtained. DPPH
      scavenging activities of 33.24-51.47% were obtained for the biosynthesized AuNPs.
      The AuNPs prevented coagulation of blood and also achieved 9.4-94.6% lysis of
      blood clot showing potential nanomedical applications. This study has presented
      an eco-friendly and economical synthesis of AuNPs by non-pathogenic strains of
      Enterococcus species for various nanobiotechnological applications.

PMID- 28601038
TI  - Investigation on intermolecular interaction between berberine and beta
      cyclodextrin by 2D UV-Vis asynchronous spectra.
AB  - The interaction between berberine chloride and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CyD) is
      investigated via 2D asynchronous UV-Vis spectrum. The occurrence of cross peaks
      around (420nm, 420nm) in 2D asynchronous spectrum reveals that specific
      intermolecular interaction indeed exists between berberine chloride and beta-CyD.
      In spite of the difficulty caused by overlapping of cross peaks, we manage to
      confirm that the 420nm band of berberine undergoes a red-shift, and its bandwidth
      decreases under the interaction with beta-CyD. The red-shift of the 420nm band
      that can be assigned to n-pi* transition indicates the environment of berberine
      becomes more hydrophobic. The above spectral behavior is helpful in understanding
      why the solubility of berberine is enhanced by beta-CyD.

PMID- 28601039
TI  - MRCI study of the spectroscopic parameters and transition properties of the 36
      low-lying electronic states of the B2 molecule.
AB  - This paper studied the spectroscopic and transition properties of 36 low-lying
      states, which came from the first two dissociation limits of B2 molecule. The
      potential energy curves were calculated with the complete active space self
      consistent field (CASSCF) method, which was followed by the internally contracted
      multireference configuration interaction (icMRCI) plus Davidson modification
      (icMRCI+Q) approach. Of these 36 states, the 25Sigmau-, 15Sigmau+, 25Piu, and
      15Deltau states were repulsive; the B3Deltau, E3Sigmau+, f1Sigmau-, g1Pig, 23Piu,
      33Sigmag-, 33Piu, 15Pig, and 33Sigmau+ states had double wells; the B3Deltau,
      E3Sigmau+, G3Sigmau+, f1Sigmau-, g1Pig, 33Sigmag-, 23Piu, 33Piu, 15Pig, 25Pig,
      25Sigmag-, and 33Sigmau+ states had one barrier; the 25Sigmag- state and the
      second wells of B3Deltau, E3Sigmau+, 15Pig, f1Sigmau-, g1Pig, and 23Piu states
      were weakly bound; and the 25Sigmag- state had no vibrational levels. The avoided
      crossings existed between the B3Deltau and 23Deltau states, the E3Sigmau+ and
      G3Sigmau+ states, the G3Sigmau+ and 33Sigmau+ states, the 33Sigmau+ and 43Sigmau+
      states, the 23Piu and 33Piu states, the g1Pig and 21Pig states, the 23Sigmag- and
      33Sigmag- states, the 15Pig and 25Pig states, the 25Pig and 35Pig states, the
      25Sigmag- and 35Sigmag- states, as well as the F3Pig and 33Pig states. Core
      valence correlation and scalar relativistic corrections were taken into account.
      The extrapolation to the complete basis set limit was done. The spectroscopic
      parameters and vibrational properties were obtained. The transition dipole
      moments were calculated. Franck-Condon factors of some transitions were
      evaluated. The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect on the spectroscopic parameters
      and vibrational properties is tiny and sometimes even can be negligible. The
      results determined in this paper can provide some powerful guidelines to observe
      these states, in particular the states which have not been studied in the
      experiment.

PMID- 28601040
TI  - Spectroscopic parameters of the low-lying electronic states and laser cooling
      feasibility of NH+ cation and NH- anion.
AB  - The potential energy curves and transition dipole moments of 12Sigma+, 22Sigma+,
      12Pi and 22Pi states of NH+ cation and NH- anion are calculated by using multi
      reference configuration interaction method and large all-electron basis sets.
      Based on the obtained potential energy curves, the rotational and vibrational
      energy levels of the states are obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation of
      nuclear movement. The calculated spectroscopic parameters for NH+ cation and NH-
      anion are in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental results.
      The spin orbit coupling effect of the 2Pi states for both NH+ cation and NH-
      anion are calculated. The feasibility of laser cooling of the two molecules is
      examined by using the results of the molecular structure and spectroscopy. The
      highly diagonal Franck-Condon factors for the 12Pi (v"=0)<->12Sigma+ (v'=0)
      transition of NH+ and NH- are 0.821 and 0.999, while the radiative lifetimes of
      the 12Sigma+ (v'=0) state for the two molecules are 384ns and 52.4ns,
      respectively. The results indicate that NH+ cation and NH- anion are good
      candidate molecules for laser cooling. The cooling scheme via Sisyphus process
      for the NH+ cation and NH- anion are proposed in the paper. The laser wavelengths
      for the close cycles of the absorption and radiation are also determined.
      Unfortunately, the potential energy curve of the ground state of the neutral NH
      molecule shows that the auto-detachment of NH- anion is possible, implying the
      optical scheme of laser cooling for NH- anion is not easy to achieve in the
      experiment although it has larger Franck-Condon factor.

PMID- 28601041
TI  - Results of domestic migration on juvenile delinquency in Adana, Turkey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of migration on
      children in the juvenile justice system. The study takes into account whether
      these children arrived in the city via migration or not, the types of crimes
      against property and persons committed by the children brought before the
      Juvenile Courts, and the types, frequency, and durations of punishments and
      precautionary decisions they received. In addition, the study examines the
      children's ability to realize the meaning and consequences of their crimes and to
      lead their future behaviors effectively. METHOD: Data gathered from children
      between 3 and 18 years of age who appeared before the 1, 2, and 3 numbered
      Juvenile Courts of Adana Courthouse after January 2004 on charges of committing a
      crime, and/or children who were sent to or who applied to the Provincial
      Directorate for National Education based on the decision of the Court has been
      evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: Six hundred and eighty children were studied.
      Of these, 602 (88.5%) were male and 78 (11.5) were female. The average age of the
      child at the time of the commitment of the crime was 13 years and 8 months +/-
      2.18 years. It has been observed that there are statistically meaningful
      differences for children involved in delinquency between cases whether they come
      via migration or regardless of migration and types of crimes committed (p =
      0.004). When cities faced with migration from other places and types of crime
      committed by children are compared, it has been observed that there are
      meaningful differences between the types of crimes committed by non-migrant
      versus migrant children (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: It is important to state the
      reasons for delinquency and to obtain data to prevent future delinquency and to
      put forward regional and local recommendations within the scope of the data.

PMID- 28601042
TI  - Rapid screening of the antimicrobial efficacy of Ag zeolites.
AB  - A semi-quantitative screening method was used to compare the killing efficacy of
      Ag zeolites against bacteria and yeast as a function of the zeolite type, crystal
      size and concentration. The method, which substantially reduced labor,
      consumables and waste and provided an excellent preliminary screen, was further
      validated by quantitative plate count experiments. Two pairs of zeolite X and
      zeolite beta with different sizes (ca. 200nm and 2MUm for zeolite X and ca. 250
      and 500nm for zeolite beta) were tested against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and
      Candida albicans (C. albicans) at concentrations in the range 0.05-0.5mgml-1.
      Reduction of the zeolite crystal size resulted in a decrease in the killing
      efficacy against both microorganisms. The semi-quantitative tests allowed
      convenient optimization of the zeolite concentrations to achieve targeted killing
      times. Zeolite beta samples showed higher activity compared to zeolite X despite
      their lower Ag content, which was attributed to the higher concentration of
      silver released from zeolite beta samples. Cytotoxicity measurements using
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) indicated that Ag zeolite X was more
      toxic than Ag zeolite beta. However, the trends for the dependence of
      cytotoxicity on zeolite crystal size at different zeolite concentrations were
      different for the two zeolites and no general conclusions about zeolite
      cytotoxicity could be drawn from these experiments. This result indicates a
      complex relationship, requiring the necessity for individual cytotoxicity
      measurements for all antimicrobial applications based on the use of zeolites.

PMID- 28601044
TI  - Mass spectrometry as a tool for biomarkers searching in gynecological oncology.
AB  - Tumors of the female reproductive tract are an important target for the
      development of diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic strategies. Recent research
      has turned to proteomics based on mass spectrometry techniques, to achieve more
      effective diagnostic results. Mass spectrometry (MS) enables identification and
      quantification of multiple molecules simultaneously in a single experiment
      according to mass to charge ratio (m/z). Several proteomic strategies may be
      applied to establish the function of a particular protein/peptide or to identify
      a novel disease and specific biomarkers related to it. Therefore, MS could
      facilitate treatment in patients with tumors by helping researchers discover new
      biomarkers and narrowly targeted drugs. This review presents a comprehensive
      discussion of mass spectrometry as a tool for biomarkers searching that may lead
      to the discovery of easily available diagnostic tests in gynecological oncology
      with emphasis on clinical proteomics over the past decade. The article provides
      an insight into different MS based proteomic approaches.

PMID- 28601043
TI  - Pediatric intermediate care and pediatric intensive care units: PICU metrics and
      an analysis of patients that use both.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine how intermediate care units (IMCUs) are used in relation to
      pediatric intensive care units (PICUs), characterize PICU patients that utilize
      IMCUs, and estimate the impact of IMCUs on PICU metrics. MATERIALS & METHODS:
      Retrospective study of PICU patients discharged from 108 hospitals from 2009 to
      2011. Patients admitted from or discharged to IMCUs were characterized. We
      explored the relationships between having an IMCU and several PICU metrics:
      physical length-of-stay (LOS), medical LOS, discharge wait time, admission
      severity of illness, unplanned PICU admissions from wards, and early PICU
      readmissions. RESULTS: Thirty-three percent of sites had an IMCU. After adjusting
      for known confounders, there was no association between having an IMCU and PICU
      LOS, mean severity of illness of PICU patients admitted from general wards, or
      proportion of PICU readmissions or unplanned ward admissions. At sites with an
      IMCU, patients waited 3.1h longer for transfer from the PICU once medically
      cleared (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There was no association between having an IMCU
      and most measures of PICU efficiency. At hospitals with an IMCU, patients spent
      more time in the PICU once they were cleared for discharge. Other ways that IMCUs
      might affect PICU efficiency or particular patient populations should be
      investigated.

PMID- 28601047
TI  - Role of Epigenetics in the Pathogenesis of Asthma.
AB  - Asthma is a complex, heterogeneous and chronic airway inflammatory disease with
      different clinical phenotypes caused by diverse triggers and pathophysiological
      mechanisms. Asthma heritability has been established in many genetic studies but
      it is evident that only genetic elements are not responsible for the development
      of asthma. Increasing rate of asthma incidence during past decades has implicated
      the role of epigenetics in development of asthma. Environmental factors perform
      as initiator signals through epigenetic mechanisms. Three epigenetic mechanisms
      have been identified, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and small
      noncoding RNAs. These mechanisms regulate the immune responses and inflammatory
      genes expression in asthma and allergy. This review explains the role of
      epigenetic modifications in controlling Th2 response and IgE production in asthma
      and also briefly overviews the role of environmental factors such as pollutions,
      allergens, prenatal exposures and diet in developing asthma. Recognizing
      environmental risk factors and their effects on epigenetic mechanisms would be of
      great interest for prognostic and preventive aspect in treatment of asthma.

PMID- 28601046
TI  - LSD1 knockdown reveals novel histone lysine methylation in human breast cancer
      MCF-7 cells.
AB  - Histone lysine methylation, which plays an important role in the regulation of
      gene expression, genome stability, chromosome conformation and cell
      differentiation, is a dynamic process that is collaboratively regulated by lysine
      methyltransferases (KMTs) and lysine demethylases (KDMs). LSD1, the first
      identified KDMs, catalyzes the demethylation of mono- and di-methylated H3K4 and
      H3K9. Here, we systematically investigated the effects of LSD1 knockdown on
      histone methylations. Surprisingly, in addition to H3K4 and H3K9, the methylation
      level on other histone lysines, such as H3K27, H3K36 and H3K79, are also
      increased. The expression of SOX2, E-cadherin and FoxA2 are increased upon LSD1
      knockdown, and the methylation level of H3K4, H3K27 and H3K36 in the promoter
      region of these genes are all changed after LSD1 knockdown. Our results show that
      LSD1 knockdown has a broad effect on histone lysine methylation, which indicates
      that LSD1 regulates histone lysine methylation in collaboration with other KMTs
      and KDMs.

PMID- 28601045
TI  - MicroRNA-494 improves functional recovery and inhibits apoptosis by modulating
      PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway in rats after spinal cord injury.
AB  - Multiple cellular, molecular, and biochemical changes contribute to the etiology
      and treatment outcome of contusion spinal cord injury (SCI). MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
      aberrant expression have been found after SCI in recent studies. However, little
      is known about the functional significance of the unique role of miRNAs in SCI.
      Here, we established a rat SCI model and performed the miRNA microarray to
      analyze miRNAs expression at different times post-SCI. Microarray data revealed
      that 14 miRNAs were upregulated and 46 miRNAs were downregulated by 2 times
      compared with sham rat spinal cords, and miR-494 was one of the miRNAs being most
      significantly downregulated. Subsequently, we investigated miR-494 function and
      found that upregulation of miR-494 by agomir-494 improves functional recovery,
      reduces lesion size and inhibits apoptotic cell in rats following SCI. Moreover,
      our data showed that miR-494 suppresses phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a
      negative regulator of AKT/mTOR pathway, through directly targeting its 3'-UTR in
      BV-2 cells. Most importantly, we demonstrated that overexpression of miR-494
      activates AKT/mTOR signaling pathway via inhibiting PTEN expression in rat SCI
      model. These findings suggested that miR-494 harbored the protective effect after
      SCI by modulating PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway in rats and it is a potential candidate
      for SCI therapeutics.

PMID- 28601048
TI  - Maternal Asthma, Pregnancy, Delivery and Birth Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort
      Study.
AB  - The aim of current study was to determine women's maternal asthma in pregnancy,
      delivery and birth outcomes. Using a retrospective cohort design, data of 580
      pregnant women were gathered form a large teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran. The
      medical records of pregnant women who had attended this hospital between 2009 and
      2011 were assessed. Data of delivery and birth outcomes were gathered by
      observation and medical records of women. Multiple logistic regression and
      adjusted odds ratio (OR) were used to assess the independent association of
      asthma and outcomes. 274 patients (47.2%) were in "asthmatic group" and 306
      patients (52.8%) were in the "non-asthmatic group". Basic and demographic
      variables showed the same distribution across two groups. Maternal asthma showed
      an adjusted relationship with gestational diabetes (OR=2.64), gestational
      hypertension (OR=3.79), cesarean delivery (OR=2.68), small for gestational age
      (OR=2.86), premature rupture of membrane (OR=2.18), preterm delivery (OR=1.74),
      abnormal vaginal bleeding (OR=3.75), and low birth weight (OR=1.78) significantly
      (p<0.05 for all associations). The majority of pregnancy, delivery and birth
      outcomes except fetal death, abortion, placenta previa and placenta abruption)
      were significantly associated with maternal asthma. The largest association of
      maternal asthma was with gestational hypertension and abnormal vaginal bleeding
      respectively.

PMID- 28601049
TI  - Silymarin (Livergol(r)) Decreases Disease Activity Score in Patients with
      Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Non-randomized Single-arm Clinical Trial.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease, which can lead to
      joint destruction and disability. Pannus formation due to chronic synovitis is
      the hallmark of RA. Oxidative stress as a consequence of immune cell activation
      and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs can prevent inflammation and tissue
      destruction. Silymarin, an antioxidant extract from Silybum marianum, has been
      traditionally used for the treatment of liver diseases for decades. In the
      present non-randomized single-arm clinical trial (NRSACT) study we evaluated the
      effects of silymarin tablet (Livergol(r)) on inflammatory markers in stable RA
      patients. Disease activity score (DAS-28) was measured before and after adding
      silymarin to standard drug regimen used for controlling inflammation in RA
      patients. Silymarin significantly reduced the DAS28 related symptoms in 44 RA
      patients after 90 days (3.02+/-0.98 versus 2.3+/-0.74, p<0.001). The exact
      mechanism of therapeutic effects of silymarin in RA patients is not clear but it
      could be as the results of its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties.
      Conducting the study on larger number of patients and also measuring cytokines
      levels including TNF-alpha and IL-1beta may clarify the underlying mechanisms of
      the anti-inflammatory effects of silymarin in RA patients.

PMID- 28601050
TI  - Inhibition of Apoptosis and Proliferation in T Cells by Immunosuppressive
      Silymarine.
AB  - Silybum marianum, is known to have anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective and
      anticarciogenic effects. The aim of this study was to compare effects of
      Silymarin, Rapamycin and FK506 on proliferation and apoptosis of human T cells
      stimulated with Con A. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were stimulated
      with concavalin A (Con A) (5ug/mL) and then treated with different inhibitors
      (silymarin, rapamycin and FK506) in various concentrations (5 days). Cells were
      examined using carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) assay for
      proliferation. Then cell apoptosis was analyzed by FITC annexin V/PI staining and
      flow cytometry. The effects of drugs on the activation of poly ADP ribose
      polymerase (PARP) pathway in PBMCs stimulated with Con A and treated with IC50
      dose of drugs for 5 days were evaluated using the PathScan cleaved PARP sandwich
      ELISA kit. The results indicated that silymarin inhibited T cell proliferation.
      In addition, our results pointed out that 100 MUM and 200 MUM of silymarin
      significantly have more inhibitory effect on T cells proliferation than FK506 and
      rapamycin. None of these drugs at IC50 concentration had affected the level of
      cleaved PARP. Overall, with superior efficacy and lesser toxicity in comparison
      with other immunosuppressive drugs, silymarin could be a suitable choice of
      therapy for certain diseases.

PMID- 28601051
TI  - Oryzatensin-stimulated PBMCs Increase Cancer Progression In-vitro.
AB  - Oryzatensin (ORZ) can reduce potentially IFN-gamma secretion by natural killer
      (NK) cells. Therefore, current study was designed to evaluate the effects of ORZ
      treatment on peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells (PBMCs) cytokine secretion,
      proliferation and also to evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and
      Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) expression in HEP-G2 cell line after culture
      with ORZ-stimulated PBMCs. In this ex-vivo study, PBMCs from apparently healthy
      male volunteers (n=25) aged 20-30 were isolated by ficoll density gradient.
      Tetrazolium colorimetric test (MTT assay), ELISA test and real time PCR were
      performed to evaluate PBMCs proliferation, PBMCs cytokine secretion and the genes
      expression accordingly. The results of MTT assay showed that ORZ significantly
      stimulated proliferation of the isolated PBMCs. The results also indicated that
      ORZ treatment significantly decrease and increase IFN-gamma and IL-4 secretion by
      isolated PBMCs, respectively. Also, VEGF and MMP-9 expression significantly
      increased in HEP-G2 cells after culture with ORZstimulated PBMCs. The previous
      studies have introduced ORZ-like peptide for pharmacological purpose and in this
      study we get to the conclusion that the administration of this peptide may change
      the immune system response and sensitize target populations to cancer.

PMID- 28601052
TI  - Evaluation of Food Allergy in Children by Skin Prick Tests with Commercial
      Extracts and Fresh Foods, Specific IgE and, Open Oral Food Challenge-Our Five
      Years Experience in Food Allergy Work-up.
AB  - IgE- mediated food allergy affects 6-8% of children. Our study aimed to define
      the correlations between the results obtained with skin prick tests (SPTs) using
      commercial extracts and fresh foods, and the correlations between these result
      and those obtained with specific IgE (sIgE) and/ or challenge. Children aged from
      2 months to 6 years were recruited prospectively. Overall 571 children were
      positive to one food. In all children we performed  SPT using commercial extracts
      of suspected food and fresh foods and sIgE. If SPT and sIgE test results did not
      correspond to the history, we performed open oral food challenge. Sensitivity of
      SPT with commercial extracts for all tested food was poor (3-35%), while 
      sensitivity of fresh food skin prick tests (FFSPT) was excellent (50-100%), and
      showed correlation with open oral food challenge (p<0.001). Our results suggest
      that fresh food extracts are more effective in detecting sensitization and with
      levels of sIgE greater than class 3 could predict clinical reactivity, without
      the need for potentially hazardous food challenges.

PMID- 28601053
TI  - Species Identification and Prevalence of House Dust Mites as Respiratory Allergen
      in Kindergartens of the Bandar Abbas City.
AB  - The aim of this study was to identify the species and prevalence of house dust
      mites (HDMs) in kindergartens in Bandar Abbas, south of Iran. In this study 10
      kindergartens were selected randomly in five areas of Bandar Abbas. Two dust
      samples were collected from each sampling place with a vacuum cleaner. Mites were
      isolated and mounted in Hoyer's medium and identified using a morphology-based
      key. In total, 1758 mites were collected and identified, whichconsisted of five
      species: Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (31.06%), D. evansi (23.49%), D. farinae
      (17.75%), Ornithonyssus bacoti (19.45%), and Cheyletus malaccensis (8.25%). Two
      main allergenic dust mite species D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae, coinhabited
      and were collected from all of kindergartens. Results of this study have revealed
      that D. pteronyssinus is the most prevalent HDMs in Bandar Abbas Kindergartens
      and all studied areas are contaminated by more than one dust mite Regarding the
      high prevalence of HDMs in Bandar Abbas kindergartens, implementation of strict
      control measures is necessary for reduction of mite population and prevention of
      children respiratory diseases and other allergic disorders in this city.

PMID- 28601054
TI  - Association of Serum Levels of Pentraxin-3, M-ficolin, and Surfactant Protein A
      with the Severity of Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - Stroke is one of the most leading causes of death and disability in the world.
      Complement system activation contributes to pathogenesis and neuronal damage
      following stroke. There are no defined biological serum markers to determine the
      severity of stroke in acute phases. The purpose of current study was to determine
      the association of three complement activators, namely Pentraxin-3 (PTX3),M
      ficolin, and Surfactant protein A (SPA) with the severity of ischemic stroke.
      This cross-sectional study was done on 82 patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke
      at 24-96 hours of initiation of the clinical symptoms during 2014-2015. The serum
      levels of PTX3, M-ficolin, and SPA were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay ( ELISA). The patients were divided in three stroke severity groups
      according to modified National Institute of Health Stroke Scale mNIHSS. The
      results showed that the more severity of the stroke was, the higher serum levels
      of three evaluated molecules (p<0.001) were. The correlation of serum level of
      PTX3, M-ficolin, and SPA with stroke severity was 0.732, 0.736, and 0.731,
      respectively. There is a strong association between serum levels of PTX3, M
      ficolin, and SPA with the severity of ischemic stroke. Clinically, such
      association may be considered to evaluate the severity of the ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28601055
TI  - The Effect of Lactobacillus actobacillus Peptidoglycan on Bovine beta
      Lactoglobulin-Sensitized Mice via TLR2/NF-kappaB Pathway.
AB  - Our previous study reported that Lactobacillus acidophilus(L.acidophilus)  key
      laboratory of dairy science  (KLDS) 1.0738 had an effective impact on inhibiting
      beta-lactoglobulin (beta-lg) allergy. This study further investigated the anti
      allergic activity of peptidoglycan (PGN) isolated from KLDS 1.0738. This study
      aimed to assess whether toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)/NF-kappaB (NF-kappaB)
      signaling activated by PGN was responsible for reducing allergic inflammation. 
      Our data showed that administration of  L. acidophilus PGN inhibited IgE
      production and improved the Treg/Th17 balance toward a Treg response in a mouse
      model of beta-lg allergy. In addition, treating different doses L. acidophilus
      PGN to sensitized mice significantly increased TLR2 levels, along with enhancing
      NF-kappaB expression, especially in medium and high concentration (p<0.05).
      Further analysis revealed that the mRNA expression of TLR2 and NF-kappaB were
      positively correlated with the Foxp3 mRNA expression (p<0.05), but were
      negatively correlated with the RORgammat mRNA expression in L. acidophilus PGN
      treated group compared to allergy group (p<0.05). This study suggests PGN was
      similar to probiotics in preventing beta-lg allergy through regulating Treg/Th17
      imbalance, and activation of TLR2/NF-kappaB signaling may be involved in this
      process.

PMID- 28601056
TI  - Eliciting Th1 Immune Response Using Casein- (Alpha S1) loaded Dendritic Cells.
AB  - Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) has been recently considered as an
      alternative approach to ameliorate the symptoms of allergen exposure and
      improvement the patients' quality of life. Dendritic cells (DC) in the forms of
      tolerogenic or Th1-induced cells have been investigated in several studies as one
      of the promising approaches of AIT in allergic diseases. The aim of this study
      was to evaluate the potency of casein-loaded DCs in eliciting the Th1 immune
      responses in Balb/c mice as a potential therapeutic approach in allergic
      condition. Immature bone marrow-derived DCs were loaded with casein (protein or
      mRNA) or green fluorescent protein (GFP) mRNA. DCs were evaluated based on the
      expression of specific markers and production of proinflammatory cytokines. 
      Expression of DC markers in all groups was significantly higher than immature
      DCs, but lower than LPS-activated DCs. Despite an increase in TNF-alpha and IL
      12, IL-6 was decreased in casein-DC treatments. Caseinloaded DCs could induce
      proliferation in lymphocytes and stimulate them to produce higher amounts of IFN
      gamma and in some extent IL-10 and TGF-beta, while they could not stimulate IL-4
      secretion. Casein-loaded DCs could partially elicit the Th1 responses; this would
      be a promising approach to use them as an allergic protective way for applying
      immune cell therapy in cow's milk allergy.

PMID- 28601057
TI  - Learning from the Molecular Profile of Blattella Germanica Allergens Identified
      from Allergic Patients in Tehran, Iran.
AB  - No Abstract.

PMID- 28601058
TI  - In vitro Study of SPIONs-C595 as Molecular Imaging Probe for Specific Breast
      Cancer (MCF-7) Cells Detection
AB  - Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an essential role in molecular
      imaging by delivering the contrast agent into targeted cancer cells. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the C595 monoclonal antibody-conjugated
      superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs-C595) for the detection of
      breast cancer cell (MCF-7). Methods: The conjugation of monoclonal antibody and
      nanoparticles was confirmed using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron
      microscopy, and photon correlation spectroscopy. The selectivity of the nanoprobe
      for breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was obtained by Prussian blue, atomic emission
      spectroscopy, and MRI relaxometry. Results: The in vitro MRI showed that T2
      relaxation time will be reduced 76% when using T2-weighed magnetic resonance
      images compared to the control group (untreated cells) at the dose of 200 MUg
      Fe/ml, as the optimum dose. In addition, the results showed the high uptake of
      nanoprobe into MCF-7 cancer cells. Conclusion: The SPIONs-C595 nanoprobe has
      potential for the detection of specific breast cancer.

PMID- 28601059
TI  - Endoparasites of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) (Linnaeus, 1758) from an enclosure of
      Western Pomeranian Nature Society in Jablonowo
AB  - The aim of this study was to describe parasites of three lynx living in an
      enclosure of Western Pomeranian Nature Society in Jablonowo. During analysis of 3
      gram faecal samples eggs of Toxascaris leonina, Toxocara cati, Ancylostoma sp.
      and oocysts of Cystoisospora felis were found. To our knowledge this is the first
      report of C. felis infection in lynx from Poland. Presented research show that
      wild cats in captivity are particularly exposed on parasitic infections and
      demand regular examination.

PMID- 28601061
TI  - Intestinal and external parasites of raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in
      western Poland
AB  - Parasites of an invasive species, the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) from
      western Poland were investigated to clarify poorly known ecological key aspects
      of the species. The research was conducted in two study areas: the Ujscie Warty
      National Park and the Bogdaniec Forestry District. Intestinal samples were
      collected from the intestinal tracks of 39 dead animals and 51 faecal samples
      were collected in all seasons from latrines of raccoon dogs. Macro-parasites,
      their eggs and protozoan parasites were investigated to assess the taxonomic
      composition of parasites, the level of infection and the risk of potential
      transfer of dangerous parasites from raccoon dogs to people and native species.
      Among parasites potentially dangerous for human and native mammal species,
      Toxocara canis was found in the intestines and T. canis eggs, Cryptosporidium sp.
      oocysts and Entamoeba sp. cysts were identified in faecal samples. Sarcoptic
      mange was observed in the skin of two animals, whereas Diptera larvae (probably
      from the family Gasterophilidae) were found in the intestines of two other
      animals. This latter finding is very interesting, because Gasterophilidae are the
      typical parasites in horses and ungulates, but so far were never found in raccoon
      dogs.

PMID- 28601062
TI  - Molecular detection of Neospora caninum infection in ovine aborted foetuses in
      the Mashhad area, Iran
AB  - N. caninum could cause abortion in small ruminants. The aim of the study was to
      detect N. caninum infection in ovine aborted foetuses in the Mashhad area by PCR
      examination. During the period 2009 to 2013, 71 ovine aborted foetuses were
      collected and their brain samples examined by PCR. Of the 71 brains of the
      aborted foetuses, N. caninum DNA was detected in seven (9.8%) samples. In
      conclusion, it seems that N. caninum may act as a causative agent of abortion in
      sheep in the Mashhad area.

PMID- 28601063
TI  - Molecular Mechanisms of Ovarian Carcinoma Metastasis: Key Genes and Regulatory
      MicroRNAs.
AB  - Metastasis of primary tumors progresses stepwise - from change in biochemistry,
      morphology, and migratory patterns of tumor cells to the emergence of receptors
      on their surface that facilitate directional migration to target organs followed
      by the formation of a specific microenvironment in a target organ that helps
      attachment and survival of metastatic cells. A set of specific genes and
      signaling pathways mediate this process under control of microRNA. The molecular
      mechanisms underlying biological processes associated with tumor metastasis are
      reviewed in this publication using ovarian cancer, which exhibits high metastatic
      potential, as an example. Information and data on the genes and regulatory
      microRNAs involved in the formation of cancer stem cells, epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition, reducing focal adhesion, degradation of extracellular matrix,
      increasing migration activity of cancer cells, formation of spheroids, apoptosis,
      autophagy, angiogenesis, formation of metastases, and development of ascites are
      presented. Clusters of microRNAs (miR-145, miR-31, miR-506, miR-101) most
      essential for metastasis of ovarian cancer including the families of microRNAs
      (miR-200, miR-214, miR-25) with dual role, which is different in different
      histological types of ovarian cancer, are discussed in detail in a section of the
      review.

PMID- 28601064
TI  - Types of Immune-Inflammatory Responses as a Reflection of Cell-Cell Interactions
      under Conditions of Tissue Regeneration and Tumor Growth.
AB  - Inflammatory infiltration of tumor stroma is an integral reflection of reactions
      that develop in response to any damage to tumor cells including immune responses
      to antigens or necrosis caused by vascular disorders. In this review, we use the
      term "immune-inflammatory response" (IIR) that allows us to give an integral
      assessment of the cellular composition of the tumor microenvironment. Two main
      types of IIRs are discussed: type 1 and 2 T-helper reactions (Th1 and Th2), as
      well as their inducers: immunosuppressive responses and reactions mediated by
      Th22 and Th17 lymphocytes and capable of modifying the main types of IIRs.
      Cellular and molecular manifestations of each IIR type are analyzed and their
      general characteristics and roles in tissue regeneration and tumor growth are
      presented. Since inflammatory responses in a tumor can also be initiated by
      innate immunity mechanisms, special attention is given to inflammation based on
      them. We emphasize that processes accompanying tissue regeneration are prototypes
      of processes underlying cancer progression, and these processes have the same
      cellular and molecular substrates. We focus on evidence that tumor progression is
      mainly contributed by processes specific for the second phase of "wound healing"
      that are based on the Th2-type IIR. We emphasize that the effect of various types
      of immune and stroma cells on tumor progression is determined by the ability of
      the cells and their cytokines to promote or prevent the development of Th1- or
      Th2-type of IIR. Finally, we supposed that the nonspecific influence on the tumor
      caused by the cytokine context of the Th1- or Th2-type microenvironment should
      play a decisive role for suppression or stimulation of tumor growth and
      metastasis.

PMID- 28601065
TI  - Mazes of Nrf2 Regulation.
AB  - Nrf2 transcription factor plays a key role in maintaining cellular redox balance
      under stress and is a perspective target for oxidative stress-associated
      diseases. Under normal conditions, Nrf2 transcriptional activity is low due to
      its rapid ubiquitination and degradation in the 26S proteasome, as well as
      through various modifications of amino acid residues of this transcription factor
      that regulate its transport to the nucleus and binding to DNA. Continuous
      activation of Nrf2 is possible due to autophagy and epigenetic regulation that
      may underlie the increased resistance of tumor cells to radiotherapy and
      chemotherapy. This review deals with the mechanisms of regulation of Nrf2
      transcriptional activity and its main elements, and pharmacological approaches to
      activation of the Keap1/Nrf2/ARE system.

PMID- 28601066
TI  - Induction of Transposon Silencing in the Drosophila Germline.
AB  - In this review we consider the role of the piRNA system in transposable element
      silencing in the Drosophila melanogaster germline. We focus on new data that
      demonstrate the mechanisms of initiation of piRNA biogenesis in ovarian germinal
      cells and the role of Piwi protein in this process, including our own results.

PMID- 28601067
TI  - Minicircle Kinetoplast Genome of Insect Trypanosomatid Leptomonas pyrrhocoris.
AB  - We present here the structure of a minicircle population based on transcriptome
      sequencing of Leptomonas pyrrhocoris. We show that minicircle DNA molecules are
      dimeric. As in dixenous species, the entire molecule of minicircle DNA is
      transcribed. This is the first minicircle transcriptome of monoxenous
      trypanosomatid species determined using NGS technology.

PMID- 28601068
TI  - Prevalence of Autoantibodies against 3-DG-Glycated H2A Protein in Type 2
      Diabetes.
AB  - Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) have been found to be critically involved
      in initiation or progression of diabetes secondary complications (nephropathy,
      retinopathy, neuropathy, and angiopathy). Various hyper-glycating carbonyl
      compounds such as 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG) are produced in pathophysiological
      conditions that form AGEs in high quantity both in vivo and in vitro. In the
      first stage of this study, we glycated histone H2A protein by 3-DG, and the
      results showed the formation of various intermediates and AGEs as well as
      structural changes in the protein. In the second stage, we studied the
      immunogenicity of native and 3-DG-glycated H2A protein in female rabbits. The
      modified H2A was highly immunogenic, eliciting high titer immunogen-specific
      antibodies, while the unmodified form was almost nonimmunogenic. Antibodies
      against standard carboxymethyllysine (CML) and pentosidine were detected in the
      immunized female rabbits, which demonstrates the immunogenic nature of AGEs (CML
      and pentosidine) as well. The results show both structural perturbation and AGEs
      have the capacity of triggering the immune system due to the generation of
      neoepitopes that render the molecule immunogenic. This study shows the presence
      of autoantibodies against 3-DG-modified H2A, CML, and pentosidine in the sera of
      type 2 diabetes patients having secondary complications. Autoantibodies against
      damaged H2A and AGEs may be significant in the assessment of
      initiation/progression of secondary complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus
      patients or may be used as a marker for early detection of secondary
      complications in diabetes.

PMID- 28601069
TI  - Acetate Metabolism in the Purple Non-sulfur Bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus.
AB  - The purple non-sulfur bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus B10 can grow on acetate as
      the sole carbon source under photoheterotrophic conditions. It is known that the
      bacterium can use the glyoxylate cycle and, in addition to it, or alternatively
      to it, an unknown pathway for acetate assimilation. We analyzed the genetic
      potential for functioning of additional metabolic pathways of oxaloacetic acid
      (OAA) pool replenishment in R. capsulatus. Using published microarray data of
      more than 4000 transcripts of genes for R. capsulatus, the genes necessary for
      acetate assimilation were analyzed. The results of the analysis showed the
      presence of all genes necessary for functioning of the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway,
      and also a combination of pathways of formation of pyruvic acid/phosphoenol
      pyruvate (PA/PEP) (from acetyl-CoA and formate, from acetyl-CoA and CO2, as well
      as from 3-phosphoglyceric acid formed in the Calvin-Benson cycle) with their
      subsequent carboxylation. Using expression analysis, we showed that OAA pool
      replenishment on acetate medium could be achieved via a combination of PA/PEP
      synthesis from Calvin-Benson cycle intermediates and their carboxylation (with
      participation of pyruvate carboxylase, two reversible malate dehydrogenases
      (decarboxylating) and PEP-carboxykinase) to tricarboxylic acid cycle
      intermediates, the glyoxylate cycle, and a modified ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway in
      R. capsulatus under these experimental conditions. It was found that analogs of
      ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway enzymes exist. These enzymes differ in their specificity
      for S-enantiomers.

PMID- 28601070
TI  - Sox9 Protects against Human Lung Fibroblast Cell Apoptosis Induced by LPS through
      Activation of the AKT/GSK3beta Pathway.
AB  - Sex-determining region Y-box 9 (Sox9) is an important transcription factor that
      has been identified as a key regulator of several types of diseases. In this
      study, we explored the correlation of Sox9 with cell proliferation, apoptosis,
      inflammatory factor expression, and the possible signaling pathway in human lung
      fibroblast cell line to investigate the possible mechanism of neonatal pneumonia.
      Therefore, in the present study, pc-Sox9 and si-Sox9 were transfected into MRC-5
      (human fetal lung fibroblast cell line) to promote or inhibit expression of Sox
      9. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot
      were used to determine the expression level of Sox-9 at mRNA and protein level.
      Then 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay
      and flow cytometry were used to explore, respectively, proliferation and
      apoptosis in vitro. We found that Sox9 could significantly upregulate the
      proliferation rate and inhibit apoptosis rate and inflammatory factor expression
      of MRC-5 cells compared with a control group. Moreover, the signaling pathway
      study confirmed that Sox9 protected MRC-5 from lipopolysaccharide injury through
      the AKT/GSK3beta pathway. All these findings suggest that Sox9 acts as a novel
      marker for neonatal pneumonia and could be a new therapeutic target for this
      disease.

PMID- 28601071
TI  - Two Variants of Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (rhBMP-2) with
      Additional Protein Domains: Synthesis in an Escherichia coli Heterologous
      Expression System.
AB  - Two variants of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) with
      additional N-terminal protein domains were obtained by expression in E. coli. The
      N-terminal domains were s-tag (15-a.a. oligopeptide from bovine pancreatic
      ribonuclease A) and lz (leucine zipper dimerization domain from yeast
      transcription factor GCN4). The s-tag-BMP-2 and lz-BMP-2 were purified by a
      procedure that excluded a long refolding stage. The resulting dimeric proteins
      displayed higher solubility compared to rhBMP-2 without additional protein
      domains. Biological activity of both proteins was demonstrated in vitro by
      induction of alkaline phosphatase in C2C12 cells, and the activity of s-tag-BMP-2
      in vivo was shown in various experimental animal models.

PMID- 28601072
TI  - Intermediate States of Apomyoglobin: Are They Parts of the Same Area of
      Conformations Diagram?
AB  - Several research teams have reported detection and characterization of various
      apomyoglobin intermediate states different in their accumulation mode, thus
      putting a natural question as to proportions of these intermediates. The current
      report presents spectral properties of sperm whale apomyoglobin studied over a
      wide range of conditions with the use of circular dichroism and fluorescence
      techniques. Based on the experimental data, a diagram of apomyoglobin
      conformational states has been constructed. It shows that though induced by
      various denaturants, all the observed intermediates belong to one and the same
      area in the diagram.

PMID- 28601073
TI  - Role of Na+/K+-ATPase in Natriuretic Effect of Prolactin in a Model of
      Cholestasis of Pregnancy.
AB  - Participation of Na+/K+-ATPase in the natriuretic effect of prolactin in a
      cholestasis of pregnancy model was investigated. The Na+/K+-ATPase activity in
      rat kidney medulla, where active sodium reabsorption occurs, decreased in the
      model of cholestasis of pregnancy and other hyperprolactinemia types compared
      with intact animals. This effect was not connected with the protein level of
      alpha1- and beta-subunits of Na+/K+-ATPase measured by Western blotting in the
      kidney medulla. Decrease in Na+/K+-ATPase activity in the kidney cortex was not
      significant, as well as decrease in the quantity of mRNA and proteins of the
      alpha1- and beta-subunits of Na+/K+-ATPase. There were no correlations between
      the Na+/K+-ATPase activity and sodium clearance, although sodium clearance
      increased significantly in the model of cholestasis of pregnancy and other
      hyperprolactinemia groups under conditions of stable glomerular filtration rate
      measured by creatinine clearance. We conclude that the Na+/K+-ATPase is not the
      only mediator of the natriuretic effect of prolactin in the model of cholestasis
      of pregnancy.

PMID- 28601074
TI  - Role of Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in DNA Repair.
AB  - Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is widely known as a glycolytic
      enzyme. Nevertheless, various functions of GAPDH have been found that are
      unrelated to glycolysis. Some of these functions presume interaction of GAPDH
      with DNA, but the mechanism of its translocation to the nucleus is not fully
      understood. When in the nucleus, GAPDH participates in the initiation of
      apoptosis and transcription of genes involved in antiapoptotic pathways and cell
      proliferation and plays a role in the regulation of telomere length. Several
      authors have shown that GAPDH displays the uracil-DNA glycosylase activity and
      interacts with some types of DNA damages, such as apurinic/apyrimidinic sites,
      nucleotide analogs, and covalent DNA adducts with alkylating agents. Moreover,
      GAPDH can interact with proteins participating in DNA repair, such as APE1,
      PARP1, HMGB1, and HMGB2. In this review, the functions of GAPDH associated with
      DNA repair are discussed in detail.

PMID- 28601076
TI  - The Centrosome as the Main Integrator of Endothelial Cell Functional Activity.
AB  - The centrosome is an intracellular structure of the animal cell responsible for
      organization of cytoplasmic microtubules. According to modern concepts, the
      centrosome is a very important integral element of the living cell whose
      functions are not limited to its ability to polymerize microtubules. The
      centrosome localization in the geometric center of the interphase cell, the high
      concentration of various regulatory proteins in this area, the centrosome
      organized radial system of microtubules for intracellular transport by motor
      proteins, the centrosome involvement in the perception of external signals and
      their transmission - all these features make this cellular structure a unique
      regulation and distribution center managing dynamic morphology of the animal
      cell. In conjunction with the tissue-specific features of the centrosome
      structure, this suggests the direct involvement of the centrosome in execution of
      cell functions. This review discusses the involvement of the centrosome in the
      vital activity of endothelial cells, as well as its possible participation in the
      implementation of barrier function, the major function of endothelium.

PMID- 28601075
TI  - Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as a Carrier Platform for Intracellular Delivery
      of Nucleic Acids.
AB  - Virus-mediated gene delivery has been, to date, the most successful and efficient
      method for gene therapy. However, this method has been challenged because of
      serious safety concerns. Over the past decade, mesoporous silica nanoparticles
      (MSNs) have attracted much attention for intracellular delivery of nucleic acids.
      Delivery of cellular plasmid DNA (pDNA) is designed to replace the function of a
      defective gene and restore its normal function in the cell. Delivery of small
      interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can selectively knockdown genes by targeting specific
      mRNAs. The biocompatibility and unique structures of MSNs make these
      nanoparticles ideal candidates to act as biomolecule carriers. This concise
      review highlights current progress in the field of nucleic acid delivery using
      MSNs, specifically for delivery of pDNA, siRNA, and combinatorial delivery of
      nucleic acids and drugs. The review describes important design parameters
      presently being applied to MSNs to administer drugs and therapeutic nucleic
      acids.

PMID- 28601077
TI  - Structure of Plastid Genomes of Photosynthetic Eukaryotes.
AB  - This review presents current views on the plastid genomes of higher plants and
      summarizes data on the size, structural organization, gene content, and other
      features of plastid DNAs. Special emphasis is placed on the properties of
      organization of land plant plastid genomes (nucleoids) that distinguish them from
      bacterial genomes. The prospects of genetic engineering of chloroplast genomes
      are discussed.

PMID- 28601078
TI  - An Alternative Pathway of Light-Induced Transmembrane Electron Transfer in
      Photosynthetic Reaction Centers of Rhodobacter sphaeroides.
AB  - In the absorption spectrum of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers, a minor
      absorption band was found with a maximum at 1053 nm. The amplitude of this band
      is ~10,000 times less and its half-width is comparable to that of the long
      wavelength absorption band of the primary electron donor P870. When the primary
      electron donor is excited by femtosecond light pulses at 870 nm, the absorption
      band at 1053 nm is increased manifold during the earliest stages of charge
      separation. The growth of this absorption band in difference absorption spectra
      precedes the appearance of stimulated emission at 935 nm and the appearance of
      the absorption band of anion-radical BA- at 1020 nm, reported earlier by several
      researchers. When reaction centers are illuminated with 1064 nm light, the
      absorption spectrum undergoes changes indicating reduction of the primary
      electron acceptor QA, with the primary electron donor P870 remaining neutral.
      These photoinduced absorption changes reflect the formation of the long-lived
      radical state PBAHAQA-.

PMID- 28601079
TI  - Variability of Methylation Profiles of CpG Sites in microrNA Genes in Leukocytes
      and Vascular Tissues of Patients with Atherosclerosis.
AB  - In this study, we for the first time described the variability of methylation
      levels of 71 CpG sites in microRNA genes in leukocytes and blood vessels
      (coronary artery atherosclerotic plaques, intact internal thoracic arteries, and
      great saphenous veins) in patients with atherosclerosis using the Infinium
      HumanMethylation27 BeadChip microarray. Most of the analyzed CpG sites were
      characterized by the low variability, and most of these low-variable sites were
      hypomethylated in all tissue samples. CpG sites in coronary artery
      atherosclerotic plaques and leukocytes were similar in their methylation status.
      The highest variability of CpG methylation levels between different tissues was
      found for the CpG sites of the MIR10B gene; the methylation levels of these sites
      in leukocytes and atherosclerotic arteries were lower than in intact blood
      vessels. We also found that several cardiovascular disease risk factors, as well
      as medications, might affect methylation levels of CpG sites in microRNAs.

PMID- 28601080
TI  - MicroRNA-630 Suppresses Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition by Regulating FoxM1
      in Gastric Cancer Cells.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated the functional role of microRNA (miR)-630
      in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of gastric cancer (GC) cells, as
      well as the regulatory mechanism. Cells of human GC cell line SGC 7901 were
      transfected with miR-630 mimic or miR-630 inhibitor. The transfection efficiency
      was confirmed by qRT-PCR. Cell migration and invasion were determined by
      Transwell assay. Protein expression of E-cadherin, vimentin, and Forkhead box
      protein M1 (FoxM1) was tested by Western blot. Moreover, the expression of FoxM1
      was elevated or suppressed, and then the effects of miR-630 abnormal expression
      on EMT and properties of migration and invasion were examined again, as well as
      protein expression of Ras/phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT related factors.
      The results showed that (i) the EMT and properties of migration and invasion were
      statistically decreased by overexpression of miR-630 compared to the control
      group but markedly increased by suppression of miR-630. However, (ii) abnormal
      expression of FoxM1 reversed these effects in GC cells. Moreover, (iii)
      expression of GTP-Rac1, p-PI3K, and p-AKT was decreased by miR-630 overexpression
      but increased by FoxM1 overexpression. (iv) The decreased levels of GTP-Rac1, p
      PI3K, and p-AKT induced by miR-630 overexpression were dramatically elevated by
      simultaneous overexpression of FoxM1. In conclusion, our results suggest that miR
      630 might be a tumor suppressor in GC cells. MiR-630 suppresses EMT by regulating
      FoxM1 in GC cells, supposedly via inactivation of the Ras/PI3K/AKT pathway.

PMID- 28601081
TI  - Histone Modifications on the Promoters of Human OCT4 and NANOG Genes at the Onset
      of Neural Differentiation of NT2/D1 Cells.
AB  - Transcription factors OCT4 and NANOG are main constituents of a functional
      network that controls proliferation and pluripotency maintenance of stem cells as
      well as early lineage decisions. We investigated expression profiles of OCT4 and
      NANOG during the early phases of neural differentiation using NT2/D1 cells
      induced by retinoic acid as an in vitro model system of human neurogenesis. We
      demonstrated decrease in OCT4 and NANOG mRNA and protein levels following
      exposure to retinoic acid. Next, by employing chromatin immunoprecipitation, we
      investigated profiles of selected H3 and H2B histone marks deposited on the
      promoters of the OCT4 and NANOG genes. We found decline in H3K4me3, H2BK5ac, and
      H2BK120ac on both promoters, which paralleled the decrease in OCT4 and NANOG
      expression. Moreover, we found that the H2BK16ac mark is differentially enriched
      on these two promoters, pointing to differences in epigenetic regulation of OCT4
      and NANOG gene expression. Finally, based on our data, we suggest that the early
      response of pluripotency genes OCT4 and NANOG to the differentiation-inducing
      stimuli is mediated by dynamic changes in chromatin marks, while DNA methylation
      is acquired in the later stages of neurogenesis.

PMID- 28601082
TI  - Thiamine Induces Long-Term Changes in Amino Acid Profiles and Activities of 2
      Oxoglutarate and 2-Oxoadipate Dehydrogenases in Rat Brain.
AB  - Molecular mechanisms of long-term changes in brain metabolism after thiamine
      administration (single i.p. injection, 400 mg/kg) were investigated. Protocols
      for discrimination of the activities of the thiamine diphosphate (ThDP)-dependent
      2-oxoglutarate and 2-oxoadipate dehydrogenases were developed to characterize
      specific regulation of the multienzyme complexes of the 2-oxoglutarate (OGDHC)
      and 2-oxoadipate (OADHC) dehydrogenases by thiamine. The thiamine-induced changes
      depended on the brain-region-specific expression of the ThDP-dependent
      dehydrogenases. In the cerebral cortex, the original levels of OGDHC and OADHC
      were relatively high and not increased by thiamine, whereas in the cerebellum
      thiamine upregulated the OGDHC and OADHC activities, whose original levels were
      relatively low. The effects of thiamine on each of the complexes were different
      and associated with metabolic rearrangements, which included (i) the brain-region
      specific alterations of glutamine synthase and/or glutamate dehydrogenase and
      NADP+-dependent malic enzyme, (ii) the brain-region-specific changes of the amino
      acid profiles, and (iii) decreased levels of a number of amino acids in blood
      plasma. Along with the assays of enzymatic activities and average levels of amino
      acids in the blood and brain, the thiamine-induced metabolic rearrangements were
      assessed by analysis of correlations between the levels of amino acids. The set
      and parameters of the correlations were tissue-specific, and their responses to
      the thiamine treatment provided additional information on metabolic changes,
      compared to that gained from the average levels of amino acids. Taken together,
      the data suggest that thiamine decreases catabolism of amino acids by means of a
      complex and long-term regulation of metabolic flux through the tricarboxylic acid
      cycle, which includes coupled changes in activities of the ThDP-dependent
      dehydrogenases of 2-oxoglutarate and 2-oxoadipate and adjacent enzymes.

PMID- 28601083
TI  - Disruption of Functional Activity of Mitochondria during MTT Assay of Viability
      of Cultured Neurons.
AB  - The MTT assay based on the reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5
      diphenyltetrazolium in the cell cytoplasm to a strongly light absorbing formazan
      is among the most commonly used methods for determination of cell viability and
      activity of NAD-dependent oxidoreductases. In the present study, the effects of
      MTT (0.1 mg/ml) on mitochondrial potential (DeltaPsim), intracellular NADH, and
      respiration of cultured rat cerebellum neurons and isolated rat liver
      mitochondria were investigated. MTT caused rapid quenching of NADH
      autofluorescence, fluorescence of MitoTracker Green (MTG) and DeltaPsim-sensitive
      probes Rh123 (rhodamine 123) and TMRM (tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester). The
      Rh123 signal, unlike that of NADH, MTG, and TMRM, increased in the nucleoplasm
      after 5-10 min, and this was accompanied by the formation of opaque aggregates of
      formazan in the cytoplasm and neurites. Increase in the Rh123 signal indicated
      diffusion of the probe from mitochondria to cytosol and nucleus due to DeltaPsim
      decrease. Inhibition of complex I of the respiratory chain decreased the rate of
      formazan formation, while inhibition of complex IV increased it. Inhibition of
      complex III and ATP-synthase affected only insignificantly the rate of formazan
      formation. Inhibition of glycolysis by 2-deoxy-D-glucose blocked the MTT
      reduction, whereas pyruvate increased the rate of formazan formation in a
      concentration-dependent manner. MTT reduced the rate of oxygen consumption by
      cultured neurons to the value observed when respiratory chain complexes I and III
      were simultaneously blocked, and it suppressed respiration of isolated
      mitochondria if substrates oxidized by NAD-dependent dehydrogenases were used.
      These results demonstrate that formazan formation in cultured rat cerebellum
      neurons occurs primarily in mitochondria. The initial rate of formazan formation
      may serve as an indicator of complex I activity and pyruvate transport rate.

PMID- 28601085
TI  - Validity of humerus fracture classification in the Swedish fracture register.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ability to correctly classify fractures is of importance for
      choosing the appropriate treatment and for providing appropriate data for
      research and quality registers. In the Swedish Fracture Register (SFR) fractures
      of all types are registered by the attending physician, often a junior doctor.
      For the majority of fractures, a modified AO/OTA classification is used. This
      study aimed to validate the accuracy of classification of humerus fractures in
      the SFR and also at providing insight into inherent classification uncertainties.
      METHODS: One hundred and sixteen humerus fractures (among them 90 proximal) were
      retrieved by computer randomisation from the SFR and reassessed independently at
      two occasions, 6 weeks apart, by three senior orthopaedic surgeons blinded to
      patient information and a consensus "gold standard" classification was
      established. This was compared with the classifications that had been entered
      into the register. RESULTS: The agreement between gold standard classification
      and original classification in the SFR was kappa = 0.57 for all humerus
      fractures. For proximal humerus fractures kappa-coefficient for intra-observer
      agreement was 0.593, 0.599 and 0.752 for the three observers respectively. Taking
      into account the similarities between certain fracture groups, a modified
      calculation of agreement was performed. With this modification the intra-observer
      agreement was 0.910-0.974 and inter-observer agreement was 0.912. CONCLUSION: The
      classification of humerus fractures in the Swedish Fracture Register was just as
      accurate as in previous studies, i.e. moderate as defined by Landis and Koch.
      However, when we introduced a modified analysis, that takes into account the
      similarities between certain fractures, the accuracy was "near perfect".

PMID- 28601084
TI  - Can psychobiotics intake modulate psychological profile and body composition of
      women affected by normal weight obese syndrome and obesity? A double blind
      randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence of probiotics effects on gut function, brain activity and
      emotional behaviour were provided. Probiotics can have dramatic effects on
      behaviour through the microbiome-gut-brain axis, through vagus nerve. We
      investigated whether chronic probiotic intake could modulate psychological state,
      eating behaviour and body composition of normal weight obese (NWO) and preobese
      obese (PreOB/OB) compared to normal weight lean women (NWL). METHODS: 60 women
      were enrolled. At baseline and after a 3-week probiotic oral suspension (POS)
      intake, all subjects underwent evaluation of body composition by anthropometry
      and dual X-ray absorptiometry, and psychological profile assessment by self
      report questionnaires (i.e. EDI-2, SCL90R and BUT). Statistical analysis was
      carried out using paired t test or a non-parametric Wilcoxon test to evaluate
      differences between baseline and after POS intake, one-way ANOVA to compare all
      three groups and, where applicable, Chi square or t test were used to assess
      symptoms. RESULTS: Of the 48 women that concluded the study, 24% were NWO, 26%
      were NWL and 50% were PreOB/OB. Significant differences in body composition were
      highlighted among groups both at baseline and after a POS (p < 0.05). After POS
      intake, a significant reduction of BMI, resistance, FM (kg and %) (p < 0.05), and
      a significant increase of FFM (kg and  %) (p < 0.05) were observed in all
      subjects in NOW and PreOB/OB. After POS intake, reduction of bacterial overgrowth
      syndrome (p < 0.05) and lower psychopathological scores (p < 0.05) were observed
      in NWO and PreOB/OB women. At baseline and after POS intake, all subjects tested
      were negative to SCL90R_GSI scale, but after treatment subjects positive to
      BUT_GSI scale were significantly reduced (8.33%) (p < 0.05) compared to the
      baseline (33.30%). In NWO and PreOB/OB groups significant differences (p < 0.05)
      in response to the subscales of the EDI-2 were observed. Significant improvement
      of the orocecal transit time was observed (p < 0.05) after POS intake.
      Furthermore, significant differences were observed for meteorism (p < 0.05) and
      defecation frequency (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A 3-week intake of selected
      psychobiotics modulated body composition, bacterial contamination,
      psychopathological scores of NWO and PreOB/OB women. Further research is needed
      on a larger population and for a longer period of treatment before definitive
      conclusions can be made. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Id: NCT01890070.

PMID- 28601086
TI  - Burden and characteristics of HIV infection among female sex workers in Kampala,
      Uganda - a respondent-driven sampling survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sex workers in Uganda are at significant risk for HIV infection. We
      characterized the HIV epidemic among Kampala female sex workers (FSW). METHODS:
      We used respondent-driven sampling to sample FSW aged 15+ years who reported
      having sold sex to men in the preceding 30 days; collected data through audio
      computer assisted self-interviews, and tested blood, vaginal and rectal swabs for
      HIV, syphilis, neisseria gonorrhea, chlamydia trachomatis, and trichomonas
      vaginalis. RESULTS: A total of 942 FSW were enrolled from June 2008 through April
      2009. The overall estimated HIV prevalence was 33% (95% confidence intervals [CI]
      30%-37%) and among FSW 25 years or older was 44%. HIV infection is associated
      with low levels of schooling, having no other work, never having tested for HIV,
      self-reported genital ulcers or sores, and testing positive for neisseria
      gonorrhea or any sexually transmitted infections (STI). Two thirds (65%) of
      commercial sex acts reportedly were protected by condoms; one in five (19%) FSW
      reported having had anal sex. Gender-based violence was frequent; 34% reported
      having been raped and 24% reported having been beaten by clients in the preceding
      30 days. CONCLUSIONS: One in three FSW in Kampala is HIV-infected, suggesting a
      severe HIV epidemic in this population. Intensified interventions are warranted
      to increase condom use, HIV testing, STI screening, as well as antiretroviral
      treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis along with measures to overcome gender
      based violence.

PMID- 28601087
TI  - Gene silencing by RNA interference in Sarcoptes scabiei: a molecular tool to
      identify novel therapeutic targets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scabies is one of the most common and widespread parasitic skin
      infections globally, affecting a large range of mammals including humans, yet the
      molecular biology of Sarcoptes scabiei is astonishingly understudied. Research
      has been hampered primarily due to the difficulty of sampling or culturing these
      obligatory parasitic mites. A further and major impediment to identify and
      functionally analyse potential therapeutic targets from the recently emerging
      molecular databases is the lack of appropriate molecular tools. METHODS: We
      performed standard BLAST based searches of the existing S. scabiei genome
      databases using sequences of genes described to be involved in RNA interference
      in Drosophila and the mite model organism Tetranychus urticae. Experimenting with
      the S. scabiei mu-class glutathione S-transferase (SsGST-mu1) as a candidate gene
      we explored the feasibility of gene knockdown in S. scabiei by double-stranded
      RNA-interference (dsRNAi). RESULTS: We provide here an analysis of the existing
      S. scabiei draft genomes, confirming the presence of a double stranded RNA
      (dsRNA) - mediated silencing machinery. We report for the first time experimental
      gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) in S. scabiei. Non-invasive immersion
      of S. scabiei in dsRNA encoding an S. scabiei glutathione S-transferase mu-class
      1 enzyme (SsGST-mu1) resulted in a 35% reduction in the transcription of the
      target gene compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: A series of experiments identified
      the optimal conditions allowing systemic experimental RNAi without detrimental
      side effects on mite viability. This technique can now be used to address the key
      questions on the fundamental aspects of mite biology and pathogenesis, and to
      assess the potential therapeutic benefits of silencing S. scabiei target genes.

PMID- 28601088
TI  - SIRT1 activation mediates heat-induced survival of UVB damaged Keratinocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to heat stress after UVB irradiation induces a reduction of
      apoptosis, resulting in survival of DNA damaged human keratinocytes. This heat
      mediated evasion of apoptosis appears to be mediated by activation of SIRT1 and
      inactivation of p53 signalling. In this study, we assessed the role of SIRT1 in
      the inactivation of p53 signalling and impairment of DNA damage response in UVB
      plus heat exposed keratinocytes. RESULTS: Activation of SIRT1 after multiple UVB
      plus heat exposures resulted in increased p53 deacetylation at K382, which is
      known to affect its binding to specific target genes. Accordingly, we noted
      decreased apoptosis and down regulation of the p53 targeted pro-apoptotic gene
      BAX and the DNA repair genes ERCC1 and XPC after UVB plus heat treatments. In
      addition, UVB plus heat induced increased expression of the cell survival gene
      Survivin and the proliferation marker Ki67. Notably, keratinocytes exposed to UVB
      plus heat in the presence of the SIRT1 inhibitor, Ex-527, showed a similar
      phenotype to those exposed to UV alone; i.e. an increase in p53 acetylation,
      increased apoptosis and low levels of Survivin. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrate that heat-induced SIRT1 activation mediates survival of DNA damaged
      keratinocytes through deacetylation of p53 after exposure to UVB plus heat.

PMID- 28601089
TI  - Rapid culture-based detection of living mycobacteria using microchannel
      electrical impedance spectroscopy (m-EIS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple techniques exist for detecting Mycobacteria, each having its
      own advantages and drawbacks. Among them, automated culture-based systems like
      the BACTEC-MGITTM are popular because they are inexpensive, reliable and highly
      accurate. However, they have a relatively long "time-to-detection" (TTD). Hence,
      a method that retains the reliability and low-cost of the MGIT system, while
      reducing TTD would be highly desirable. METHODS: Living bacterial cells possess a
      membrane potential, on account of which they store charge when subjected to an AC
      field. This charge storage (bulk capacitance) can be estimated using impedance
      measurements at multiple frequencies. An increase in the number of living cells
      during culture is reflected in an increase in bulk capacitance, and this forms
      the basis of our detection. M. bovis BCG and M. smegmatis suspensions with
      differing initial loads are cultured in MGIT media supplemented with OADC and
      Middlebrook 7H9 media respectively, electrical "scans" taken at regular intervals
      and the bulk capacitance estimated from the scans. Bulk capacitance estimates at
      later time-points are statistically compared to the suspension's baseline value.
      A statistically significant increase is assumed to indicate the presence of
      proliferating mycobacteria. RESULTS: Our TTDs were 60 and 36 h for M. bovis BCG
      and 20 and 9 h for M. smegmatis with initial loads of 1000 CFU/ml and 100,000
      CFU/ml respectively. The corresponding TTDs for the commercial BACTEC MGIT 960
      system were 131 and 84.6 h for M. bovis BCG and 41.7 and 12 h for M smegmatis,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Our culture-based detection method using multi
      frequency impedance measurements is capable of detecting mycobacteria faster than
      current commercial systems.

PMID- 28601090
TI  - Physical health-related quality of life in relation to metabolic health and
      obesity among men and women in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examined sex-specific differences in physical health
      related quality of life (HRQoL) across subgroups of metabolic health and obesity.
      We specifically asked whether (1) obesity is related to lower HRQoL independent
      of metabolic health status and potential confounders, and (2) whether
      associations are similar in men and women. METHODS: We used cross-sectional data
      from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey 2008-11. Physical HRQoL
      was measured using the Short Form-36 version 2 physical component summary (PCS)
      score. Based on harmonized ATPIII criteria for the definition of the metabolic
      health and a body mass index >= 30 kg/m2 to define obesity, individuals were
      classified as metabolically healthy non-obese (MHNO), metabolically unhealthy non
      obese (MUNO), metabolically healthy obese (MHO), and metabolically unhealthy
      obese (MUO). Sex-specific analyses including multivariable linear regression
      analyses were based on PCS as the dependent variable, metabolic health and
      obesity category as the independent variable with three categories and MHNO as
      the reference, and age, education, lifestyle and comorbidities as confounders.
      RESULTS: This study included 6860 participants (3298 men, 3562 women). Compared
      to MHNO, all other metabolic health and obesity categories had significantly
      lower PCS in both sexes. As reflected by the beta coefficients [95% confidence
      interval] from bivariable linear regression models, a significant inverse
      association with PCS was strongest for MUO (men: -7.0 [-8.2; -5.8]; women: -9.0 [
      10.2; -7.9]), intermediate for MUNO (men: -4.2 [-5.3; -3.1]; women: -5.6 [-6.8; 
      4.4]) and least pronounced for MHO (men: -2.2 [-3.6; -0.8]; women -3.9 [-5.4; 
      2.5]). Differences in relation to MHNO remained statistically significant for all
      groups after adjusting for confounders, but decreased in particular for MUNO
      (men:-1.3 [-2.3; -0.3]; women: -1.5 [-2.7; -0.3]. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity was
      significantly related to lower physical HRQoL, independent of metabolic health
      status. Potential confounders including age, educational status, health-related
      behaviors, and comorbidities explained parts of the inverse relationship.
      Associations were evident in both sexes and consistently more pronounced among
      women than men.

PMID- 28601091
TI  - An ELISA assay using a combination of recombinant proteins from multiple strains
      of Orientia tsutsugamushi offers an accurate diagnosis for scrub typhus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scrub typhus (ST) is a disease caused by an obligate intracellular
      bacterium, Orientia tsutsugamushi, an organism that requires a BSL3 laboratory
      for propagation. The disease is hallmarked by an eschar at the site of the
      chigger bite, followed by the development of fever, malaise, myalgia, anorexia,
      and papulomacular rash. Indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA) is the gold
      standard for scrub typhus diagnosis, however, the subjectivity of the assay, the
      need for a specialized laboratory and instruments has limited the wide use of the
      test in resource limited areas. METHODS: A recombinant-protein based enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the most abundant and immunodominant
      protein for the detection of Orientia specific antibodies in serum has been
      developed. The performance of the assay was evaluated using prospectively
      collected acute sera from 248 randomly selected patients in Thailand. The ELISA
      assay was evaluated using two different cutoff values. RESULTS: The receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve generated cutoff values gave slightly better
      consistency with diagnosis of ST than those cutoff values established by
      averaging ELISA optical density of known negatives at 99% confidence interval.
      Both cutoff values provided similar statistical parameters when compared with the
      diagnosis of ST, indicating the validity of both calculations to derive cutoff
      values. These results suggest that both IgG and IgM ELISA performed well to
      accurately diagnose scrub typhus cases in endemic areas using only acute serum
      samples. CONCLUSIONS: We have successfully developed an ELISA assay for the
      detection of Orientia-specific antibodies in serum that could provide effective
      screening of acute sera under clinical setup and it is also a useful assay to
      estimate seroprevalence in various endemic areas.

PMID- 28601092
TI  - Ischemic stroke complicating thrombolytic therapy with tenecteplase for ST
      elevation myocardial infarction: two case reports.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic complications are quite common in the rare cases where
      thrombolysis is performed. Ischemic stroke in the aftermath of thrombolysis for a
      ST elevation myocardial infarction is a very rare and paradoxical complication.
      With these observations in mind we report two interesting cases of ischemic
      stroke which occurred after fibrinolytic therapy with tenecteplase for a ST
      elevation myocardial infarction. CASE PRESENTATION: The first case was a 56-year
      old African man who presented with an acute infero-basal ST elevation myocardial
      infarction 6 hours after chest pain onset. Thrombolysis with tenecteplase was
      performed and few minutes later an ischemic stroke occurred. The second patient
      was a 65-year-old African man who presented with an acute infero-basal ST
      elevation myocardial infarction 5 hours after chest pain onset. Thrombolysis was
      performed and 10 hours later an ischemic stroke occurred. CONCLUSIONS:
      Hemorrhagic stroke is not the only complication of thrombolysis, ischemic stroke
      can occur even if it is an extremely rare complication. The two cases on which we
      report shed light on the association between fibrinolytic therapy and ischemic
      stroke, the pathophysiology of which is not well understood.

PMID- 28601093
TI  - Granulin-epithelin precursor interacts with 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein in
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Granulin-epithelin precursor (GEP) is a secretory growth factor,
      which has been demonstrated to control cancer growth, invasion, drug resistance
      and immune escape. Our previous studies and others also demonstrated its
      potential in targeted therapy. Comprehensive characterization of GEP partner on
      cancer cells are warranted. We have previously shown that GEP interacted with
      heparan sulfate on the surface of liver cancer cells and the interaction is
      crucial for GEP-mediated signaling transduction. This study aims to characterize
      GEP protein partner at the cell membrane with the co-immunoprecipitation and mass
      spectrometry approach. METHODS: The membrane fraction from liver cancer model
      Hep3B was used for capturing binding partner with the specific monoclonal
      antibody against GEP. The precipitated proteins were analyzed by mass
      spectrometry. After identifying the GEP binding partner, this specific
      interaction was validated in additional liver cancer cell line HepG2 by co
      immunoprecipitation using GRP78 and GEP antibodies, respectively, as the bait.
      GRP78 transcript levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) clinical samples (n =
      77 pairs) were examined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. GEP and GRP78 protein
      expressions were investigated by immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections.
      RESULTS: We identified the GEP-binding protein as 78-kDa glucose-regulated
      protein (GRP78, also named heat shock 70-kDa protein 5, HSPA5). This interaction
      was validated in independent HCC cell lines. Increased GRP78 mRNA levels were
      demonstrated in liver cancer tissues compared with the paralleled liver tissues
      (t-test, P = 0.002). GRP78 and GEP transcript levels were significantly
      correlated (Spearman's correlation, P = 0.001), and the proteins were also
      detectable in the cytoplasm of liver cancer cells by immunohistochemical
      staining. CONCLUSIONS: GRP78 and GEP are interacting protein partners in liver
      cancer cells and may play a role in GEP-mediated cancer progression in HCC.

PMID- 28601094
TI  - Prognostic factors for head and neck cancer of unknown primary including the
      impact of human papilloma virus infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer of unknown primary (HNCUP) is rare and
      prospective studies are lacking. The impact of different prognostic factors such
      as age and N stage is not completely known, the optimal treatment is not yet
      established, and the reported survival rates vary. In the last decade, human
      papilloma virus (HPV) has been identified as a common cause of and important
      prognostic factor in oropharyngeal cancer, and there is now growing interest in
      the importance of HPV for HNCUP. The aim of the present study on curatively
      treated HNCUP was to investigate the prognostic importance of different factors,
      including HPV status, treatment, and overall survival. METHODS: A search for
      HNCUP was performed in the Swedish Cancer Registry, Western health district,
      between the years 1992-2009. The medical records were reviewed, and only patients
      with squamous cell carcinoma or undifferentiated carcinoma treated with curative
      intent were included. The tumor specimens were retrospectively analyzed for HPV
      with p16 immunostaining. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients were included. The mean
      age was 59 years. The majority were males, and had N2 tumors. Sixty-nine percent
      of the tumors were HPV positive using p16 staining. Patients who were older than
      70 years, patients with N3-stage tumors, and patients with tumors that were p16
      negative had a significantly worse prognosis. The overall 5-year survival rate
      for patients with p16-positive tumors was 88% vs 61% for p16-negative tumors.
      Treatment with neck dissection and postoperative radiation or (chemo) radiation
      had 81 and 88% 5-year survival rates, respectively. The overall and disease-free
      5-year survival rates for all patients in the study were 82 and 74%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Curatively treated HNCUP had good survival. HPV infection was common. Independent
      prognostic factors for survival were age over 70 years, HPV status and N3 stage.
      We recommend that HPV analysis should be performed routinely for HNCUP. Treatment
      with neck dissection and postoperative radiation or (chemo) radiation showed
      similar survival rates.

PMID- 28601095
TI  - Reactive stepping with functional neuromuscular stimulation in response to
      forward-directed perturbations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implanted motor system neuroprostheses can be effective at increasing
      personal mobility of persons paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. However,
      currently available neural stimulation systems for standing employ patterns of
      constant activation and are unreactive to changing postural demands. METHODS: In
      this work, we developed a closed-loop controller for detecting forward-directed
      body disturbances and initiating a stabilizing step in a person with spinal cord
      injury. Forward-directed pulls at the waist were detected with three body-mounted
      triaxial accelerometers. A finite state machine was designed and tested to
      trigger a postural response and apply stimulation to appropriate muscles so as to
      produce a protective step when the simplified jerk signal exceeded predetermined
      thresholds. RESULTS: The controller effectively initiated steps for all
      perturbations with magnitude between 10 and 17.5 s body weight, and initiated a
      postural response with occasional steps at 5% body weight. For perturbations at
      15 and 17.5% body weight, the dynamic responses of the subject exhibited very
      similar component time periods when compared with able-bodied subjects undergoing
      similar postural perturbations. Additionally, the reactive step occurred faster
      for stronger perturbations than for weaker ones (p < .005, unequal varience t
      test.) CONCLUSIONS: This research marks progress towards a controller which can
      improve the safety and independence of persons with spinal cord injury using
      implanted neuroprostheses for standing.

PMID- 28601096
TI  - Coping Strategies and Benefit-finding in the Relationship between Non-disclosure
      and Depressive Symptoms among Breast Cancer Survivors in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Open communication about cancer diagnosis and relevant stress is
      frequently avoided among breast cancer survivors in China. Non-disclosure
      behavior may lead to negative psychological consequences. We aimed to examine the
      relationship between non-disclosure and depressive symptoms, and the role of
      coping strategies and benefit-finding in that relationship among Chinese breast
      cancer survivors. METHODS: Using convenience sampling, we recruited 148 women in
      an early survivorship phase (up to 6 years post-treatment) in Nanjing, China.
      Participants were asked to complete a set of questionnaires in Chinese language,
      regarding sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, disclosure
      views, coping strategies, and benefit-finding. RESULTS: A higher level of non
      disclosure was associated with more depressive symptoms. This relationship was
      mediated by self-blame and moderated by benefit-finding. Specifically, non
      disclosure was associated with depressive symptoms through self-blame. The impact
      of non-disclosure was minimized among the women with a higher level of benefit
      finding. CONCLUSION: Unexpressed cancer-related concern may increase self-blame,
      which leads to emotional distress among Chinese breast cancer survivors.
      Practicing benefit-finding may reduce the negative impact of non-disclosure. As a
      culturally appropriate way of disclosure, written expression may be beneficial to
      Chinese breast cancer patients.

PMID- 28601097
TI  - College Students' Health Behavior Clusters: Differences by Sex.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study purpose was to identify clusters of weight-related behaviors
      by sex in a college student populations. METHODS: We conducted secondary data
      analysis from online surveys and physical assessments collected in Project Young
      Adults Eating and Active for Health (YEAH) with a convenience sample of students
      on 13 college campuses in the United States. We performed 2-step cluster analysis
      by sex to identify subgroups with homogeneous characteristics and behaviors. We
      used 8 derivation variables: healthy eating; eating restraints; external cues;
      stress; fruit/vegetable intake; calories from fat; calories from sugar-sweetened
      beverages; and physical activity. Contribution of derivation variables to
      clusters was analyzed with a MANOVA test. RESULTS: Data from 1594 students were
      included. Cluster analysis revealed 2-clusters labeled "Healthful Behavior" and
      "At-risk" for males and females with an additional "Laid Back" cluster for males.
      "At-risk" clusters had the highest BMI, waist circumference, elevated health
      risk, and stress and least healthy dietary intake and physical activity. The
      "Laid Back" cluster had normal weights and the lowest restrained eating, external
      cues sensitivity, and stress. CONCLUSION: Identified differences in
      characteristics and attitudes towards weight-related behaviors between males and
      females can be used to tailor weight management programs.

PMID- 28601098
TI  - Emotional Appeals in HIV Prevention Campaigns: Unintended Stigma Effects.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether HIV/AIDS public
      service announcements (PSAs) that use emotional appeals have unintended effects
      of creating stigmatizing attitudes in their viewers. METHODS: We analyzed data
      for 240 respondents located in the United States who were recruited online.
      Respondents were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions, where they viewed a
      PSA with hope appeals, fear appeals, or non-emotional appeals. Respondents then
      answered a series of questions about their attitudes about HIV/AIDS; testing
      behavior; engagement with HIV/AIDS-related people, organizations, and issues; and
      HIV/AIDS knowledge. We then performed MANOVA analyses and Pearson correlations.
      RESULTS: There were no significant differences in stigmatizing attitudes and
      behavior across the 3 conditions. However, once the data were split by sex, men
      exposed to the hope condition had significantly higher stigmatizing attitudes
      towards people living with HIV/AIDS than men in the other 2 conditions.
      CONCLUSIONS: This result was unexpected and suggests that further research needs
      to be conducted with a more robust sample size to account for any moderating
      influences that might explain why a hopeful message that communicates
      togetherness would have a negative attitudinal impact on male viewers.

PMID- 28601099
TI  - Ambient Fine Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Physical Activity: A
      Longitudinal Study of University Retirees in Beijing, China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined the longitudinal relationship between ambient fine
      particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and physical activity-related health
      behaviors among university retirees in Beijing, China. METHODS: Annual health
      surveys of retirees were conducted at Tsinghua University during 2011-2016. We
      conducted linear individual fixed-effect regression analyses to estimate the
      impact of ambient PM2.5 concentration on physical activity-related health
      behaviors among survey participants, adjusting for various time-variant
      individual characteristics and environmental measures. RESULTS: An increase in
      ambient PM2.5 concentration by one standard deviation (56.6 MUg/m3) was
      associated with a reduction in weekly total hours of walking by 4.69 (95%
      confidence interval=1.30-8.08), a reduction in leisure-time Physical Activity
      Scale for the Elderly (PASE) score by 71.16 (28.91-113.41), and a reduction in
      total PASE score by 110.67 (59.25-162.08). An increase in ambient PM2.5
      concentration by one standard deviation was associated with an increase in daily
      average hours of nighttime/daytime sleeping by 1.75 (1.24-2.26). The impact of
      ambient PM2.5 concentration on weekly hours of walking tended to be greater among
      men than among women. CONCLUSIONS: Air pollution significantly discouraged
      Chinese older adults from engaging in daily physical activities. Policy
      interventions are needed to reduce air pollution in China's urban areas.

PMID- 28601100
TI  - Patterns of Sedentary Behavior in Older Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We measured the volume and patterns of sedentary behavior (including
      breaks from sedentary behavior) in a sample of older adults via accelerometry.
      METHODS: Inactive, older adults (>=50 years of age) were eligible to participate.
      A cut point of <100 counts/minute was used to estimate: (1) total volume; (2) >
      10-, > 30-, and > 60-minute bouts; and (3) patterns of sedentary behavior
      according to time of day and day of the week were computed. Total breaks in
      sedentary time also were calculated. RESULTS: Participants (N = 67) were
      sedentary 62% of the day, engaging in 73.3 total bouts of daily sedentary
      behavior, and each bout lasted, on average, 7.8 minutes. All participants engaged
      in >1 daily bout of sedentary behavior > 10 and > 30 minutes. Sedentary time was
      slightly greater during the evening and on weekdays. Participants averaged 72.9
      daily breaks from sedentary behavior, with each break lasting approximately 4.4
      minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings add valuable insights into the patterns of
      sedentary behaviors among older adults. Concentrated research efforts should be
      made to gain a clearer understanding of patterns and enablers to sedentary
      behaviors, which will allow for development of targeted interventions for this
      high-risk population.

PMID- 28601102
TI  - Food Insecurity and Pre-diabetes in Adults: Race/Ethnic and Sex Differences.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We examined sex and race/ethnicity differences in the association
      between food insecurity status and prediabetes among adults. METHOD: We used
      cross-sectional 2011 and 2012 National Health Interview Survey data on non
      Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic adults aged 18-59 years whose
      household income was <= 299% Federal Poverty Line (N = 19,048). Food insecurity
      status was determined by 3 or more affirmative responses on the 10-item USDA Food
      Security Scale. Pre-diabetes was self-reported. Logistic regression analyses were
      used to estimate associations of food insecurity with pre-diabetes and adjusted
      for several demographic characteristics. All models were stratified by sex and
      race/ethnicity. RESULTS: In adjusted models, food insecure non-Hispanic white
      women and non-Hispanic black women had 53% and over 200% higher odds of being pre
      diabetic, respectively. Food insecurity was not related to pre-diabetes for
      Hispanic women or men. CONCLUSION: Limited food resources appear to place non
      Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black women at risk for pre-diabetes. Linking
      food assistance programs with community-based health education programs may be a
      comprehensive approach to support those who are food insecure with diabetes
      prevention.

PMID- 28601101
TI  - Physical Activity and Quit Motivation Moderators of Adolescent Smoking Reduction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined participant characteristics as moderators of adolescents'
      smoking cessation outcomes as a function of intervention: Not-on-Tobacco (N-O-T),
      N-O-T with a physical activity (PA) module (N-O-T+FIT), or Brief Intervention
      (BI). METHODS: We randomly assigned youth (N = 232) recruited from public high
      schools to an intervention, and measured their baseline levels of PA and
      motivation to quit. The number of cigarettes/day for weekdays and weekends was
      obtained at baseline and 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Across timepoints, cigarette
      use declined for youth in N-O-T (p = .007) and N-O-T+FIT (ps < .02), but not BI
      (n.s.). For N-O-T+FIT youth, the steepest declines in weekday smoking occurred
      for those with high PA levels (p = .02). Weekend cigarette use decreased for N-O
      T+FIT youth with moderate-high levels of intrinsic motivation to quit (ps < .04).
      CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents may benefit from interventions designed to address the
      barriers faced during a quit attempt, including their motivation to make a change
      and their engagement in other healthy behaviors such as physical activity.

PMID- 28601103
TI  - Demographic Trends in Utah College Students' Vigorous Physical Activity, 2003
      2007.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This analysis of a large-scale survey of college students from 2003
      to 2007 explores relationships between meeting vigorous physical activity (VPA)
      recommendations and key demographic, lifestyle, and personal characteristics.
      METHODS: Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to analyze VPA data
      from the Utah Higher Education Health Behavior Survey, a descriptive cross
      sectional survey conducted in 2003 (N = 4574), 2005 (N = 9673) and 2007 (N =
      7938). RESULTS: Factors consistently associated with meeting VPA recommendations
      included involvement in extracurricular sports, being single, and daily
      consumption of fruits or vegetables. In contrast, factors such as older age (> 23
      years old), having a particularly low (<18.5 kgm2) or high BMI (> 34.9 kgm2), and
      being a current smoker were associated with not meeting the VPA recommendation.
      This corroborates paradoxical findings that binge alcohol consumption correlates
      with meeting VPA. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the need for targeted
      interventions among college students to support the establishment of long-term
      protective behavioral patterns against chronic disease risk throughout the life
      course.

PMID- 28601104
TI  - Health-promoting Lifestyles and Psychological Distress Associated with Well-being
      in Community Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We investigated the associations among health-promoting behaviors,
      psychological distress, and well-being among community residents. Well-being
      measurement was examined through health-promoting behaviors and psychological
      distress. METHODS: From March 1 to October 31, 2016, a total of 383 community
      residents were assessed in their health-promoting lifestyles (HPLP-II),
      psychological distress (K10) and wellbeing (SWLS and PWB). RESULTS: Stepwise
      regression analysis revealed that interpersonal relations, physical activity, and
      psychological distress accounted for 21% of the variance in life satisfaction
      (SWLS). Interpersonal relations, nutrition, stress management, spiritual growth
      and psychological distress accounted for 53% of the variance in psychological
      well-being (PWB). CONCLUSIONS: Findings may assist mental health professionals in
      enhancing health-promoting behaviors and reduce the psychological distress of
      community residents to improve well-being.

PMID- 28601105
TI  - Adolescent Energy Drink Use Related to Intake of Fried and High-sugar Foods.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We assessed the relationship between energy drinks, fried food, and
      high-sugar food consumption. METHODS: Secondary analyses including Mann-Whitney
      U, Cohen's d and effect sizes were used to examine 7-day intakes of energy
      drinks, fried foods, and high-sugar foods among teenagers (N = 1570) who
      participated in the 2014 FLASHE Study. RESULTS: Energy drink consumption during
      the past 7 days was reported by 14.4% (N = 226) of participants. Those who
      reported consumption of energy drinks in the past 7 days were more likely to eat
      various fried and high-sugar foods than those who did not report past 7-day
      energy drink consumption. These foods include candy (p < .001), cake (p = .011),
      desserts (p < .001), sugary cereal (p < .001), fried potatoes (p < .001), fried
      chicken (p < .001), and chips (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Energy drink consumption
      among adolescents may be linked to other high-risk nutrition intake behaviors,
      specifically increased consumption of fried and high-sugar foods. This study adds
      to the growing number of recent studies highlighting the multiple behavioral
      risks associated with early energy drink use. Health promotion and nutrition
      education efforts should focus on delaying early consumption of energy drinks
      among adolescents.

PMID- 28601106
TI  - Factors Associated with Korean Immigrants' Medical Tourism to the Homeland.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined factors associated with first-generation Korean
      immigrants' medical tours to the homeland, which has emerged as a field of study
      in immigrant medical transnationalism and immigrant healthcare behaviors.
      METHODS: This paper reports survey data from 507 Korean immigrants and indepth
      interviews with 120 Korean immigrants in the New York-New Jersey area. RESULTS:
      About one-fourth of survey respondents have visited their home country for
      medical care since their migration to the US. Of those with relatives in Korea,
      29% have experienced at least one medical tour, compared to only 9.2% of those
      without relatives in Korea. Having frequent contacts with relatives in the home
      country was positively associated with the number of medical tour visits.
      CONCLUSION: Except for social transnational ties, other types of transnational
      ties with the home country were marginally related to Korean immigrants' medical
      tourism. Surprisingly, their health insurance status itself, which is assumed to
      be important, was not statistically associated with medical tourism. Although
      this study has the limitation of analyzing a convenience sample, it contributes
      to the literature on immigrant transnationalism and immigrant healthcare
      behaviors by using a mixed-methods approach to focus on one ethnic group's
      medical transnationalism.

PMID- 28601107
TI  - The Effect of Smoking on Mental Health.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The disproportionately high smoking prevalence among persons with
      mental health problems has raised a concern that this population is at increased
      risk for smoking-related illness. We investigated the effect of smoking on mental
      health among US adults aged 18 and older using the 2000-2010 Behavioral Risk
      Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). METHODS: Whereas previous literature has
      reported a significant association between smoking and mental health, identifying
      the causal pathway is difficult. To address the plausible reverse causality from
      mental health to smoking and omitted unobserved factors, we employ the method of
      instrumental variables (IV) by using state cigarette excise tax as an instrument
      for smoking. RESULTS: Our findings show that smoking increases the number of days
      with poor mental health especially among individuals with more severe illness
      (more than 14 days in the past month). CONCLUSIONS: Our estimates suggest that
      smoking causes poor mental health and its effects are concentrated for measures
      that indicate more severe problems. Public health policies that aim to reduce
      smoking also may reduce poor mental health.

PMID- 28601108
TI  - African-American Women's Long-term Maintenance of Physical Activity Following a
      Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our purpose was to determine long-term maintenance of physical
      activity (PA) following the 48-week Women's Lifestyle PA program,
      targeted/tailored for African-American women. METHODS: The parent study consisted
      of a 3-arm randomized clinical trial with 3 assessment points: baseline (pre
      intervention); 24 weeks post-baseline (end active intervention); and 48 weeks
      post-baseline (end maintenance intervention). Present analyses supplement the
      original results by adding a long-term maintenance assessment that occurred 2 to
      4 years post-baseline. Participants were 288 African-American women aged 40 to 65
      without major signs/symptoms of pulmonary/cardiovascular disease. The active
      intervention included 5 group meetings, with 9 personal motivational calls, 9
      automated motivational calls, or no calls between meetings. The maintenance
      intervention included one group meeting and either 2 calls or no calls. PA was
      assessed with the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors.
      RESULTS: Retention was 90%. Over long-term maintenance, there was a decline in
      PA, but levels remained significantly higher than baseline for moderate/vigorous
      PA (p < .001), leisure moderate/vigorous PA (p < .001) and walking (p = .006).
      Variations by condition/site were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that long-term maintenance of PA increases resulting from group
      meetings in an active intervention occur when followed by a maintenance
      intervention.

PMID- 28601109
TI  - Support Buffers Financial Strain's Effect on Health-related Quality of Life.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Financial strain represents a perceived inability to meet financial
      needs and obligations and is associated with poorer health outcomes. Distinct
      facets of perceived social support may mitigate the deleterious effects of
      financial strain on health. In the present study, we examined the extent to which
      appraisal, belonging, and tangible social support ameliorate the effects of
      financial strain on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: A community
      sample (N = 238; 67.2% female; MAge = 43.4 years, SD = 13.1) completed inperson
      surveys as part of a larger study of health behaviors. RESULTS: Greater financial
      strain and less social support were associated with poorer HRQoL. Additionally,
      both appraisal and belonging support moderated the effects of financial strain on
      some HRQoL components, such that higher appraisal and belonging support were
      associated with diminished effects of financial strain on HRQoL. CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings suggest nuanced associations between financial strain and HRQoL.
      We discuss the implications for prevention and intervention programs.

PMID- 28601110
TI  - Health Behaviors Related to the Use of Drugs among Patients with Epilepsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We assessed self-medication behaviors and identified factors
      associated with self-treatment among adults with epilepsy. METHODS: We carried
      out this study on 380 patients with epilepsy using an author-designed
      questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients who took medication more than once a day were
      more likely to comply with times of taking medication (p = .009); people using
      polytherapy were more likely to forget to take their medication (p < .001).
      Married persons missed a dose of a drug considerably less often than other
      patients (p = .001). The youngest patients were the least likely to miss drug
      doses (p = .026). The oldest patients (p = .003) and divorced patients also were
      more likely to miss doses (p = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Persons experiencing epilepsy
      should be educated on the proper use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs); moreover,
      their preferences should be considered when types of therapy are prescribed.
      Patients who deviate from recommended use of medication should report these
      practices to medical personnel so that potential changes in health status can be
      addressed properly.

PMID- 28601111
TI  - Allometric Control of Affective Fluctuations in Early Adolescents: Their
      Association with Anxiety Symptoms and Temperament Traits.
AB  - Many physiological systems are multistable, i.e. they operate at different time
      scales under an allometric control process. The multistability of affective
      fluctuations has been clearly illustrated in a sample of adults, but little is
      known about their dynamics in adolescents. The main aim of this study was to
      determine whether affective fluctuations in adolescents show multistability and
      to explore their relationship with anxiety symptomatology and temperamental
      factors. Twenty-five early adolescents self-reported their daily mood, anxiety
      and worry levels twice a day over a 100-day period. The time series were analysed
      using the allometric aggregation method to obtain the scaling exponent h. Almost
      all the (Hurst) scaling exponents were 0.5 > h > 1. The worry exponents were
      related to temperament factors, whereas the anxiety exponents were related to
      social phobia symptoms. The results substantiate that affective fluctuations in
      adolescents are multistable, lending support to the presence of allometric
      control mechanisms.

PMID- 28601112
TI  - The Role of Dysfunctional Myths in a Decision-Making Process under Bounded
      Rationality: A Complex Dynamical Systems Perspective.
AB  - The present study examines the factors influencing a decision-making process,
      with specific focus on the role of dysfunctional myths (DM). DM are thoughts or
      beliefs that are rather irrational, however influential to people's decisions. In
      this paper a decision-making process regarding the career choice of university
      students majoring in natural sciences and education (N=496) is examined by
      analyzing survey data taken via Career Decision Making Difficulties Questionnaire
      (CDDQ). The difficulty of making the choice and the certainty about one's
      decision were the state variables, while the independent variables were factors
      related to the lack of information or knowledge needed, which actually reflect a
      bounded rationality. Cusp catastrophe analysis, based on both least squares and
      maximum likelihood procedures, showed that the nonlinear models predicting the
      two state variables were superior to linear alternatives. Factors related to lack
      of knowledge about the steps involved in the process of career decision-making,
      lack of information about the various occupations, lack of information about self
      and lack of motivation acted as asymmetry, while dysfunctional myths acted as
      bifurcation factor for both state variables. The catastrophe model, grounded in
      empirical data, revealed a unique role for DM and a better interpretation within
      the context of complexity and the notion of bounded rationality. The analysis
      opens the nonlinear dynamical systems (NDS) perspective in studying decision
      making processes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

PMID- 28601113
TI  - Attractor Dynamics of Dyadic Interaction: A Recurrence Based Analysis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate interpersonal coordination in young
      children during dyadic problem solving, by using Cross-Recurrence Quantification
      Analysis (CRQA). We examined the interactions of seven dyads of children (Mage=
      5.1 years) in a longitudinal design (6 sessions) with a sequence of problem
      solving tasks increasing in difficulty. An innovative implementation of CRQA is
      presented in order to study the attractor dynamics of dyadic coordination. The
      analysis consisted of distinguishing two recurrent states in the relationship
      between children and the task. In other words, the analysis is focused on how the
      dyadic interaction oscillates between two stable states that for their recurrent
      presence are considered to be attractors. The distributed dyadic interaction
      (DDI) state indicates that both children contribute equally to the solution of
      the task. The unequal dyadic interaction (UDI) state indicating that only one of
      the children contributes actively to the solution of the task. Results showed
      that the DDI was more frequent than the UDI but that the dynamics of these two
      attractor states were quite similar. The behaviors within these states increased
      in complexity over time, although they did so in DDI more strongly than UDI. The
      overall recurrence, which indicates the global level of coordination between the
      individuals in the dyad across all time points, was moderately correlated with
      the performance of the children.

PMID- 28601114
TI  - Turn Taking, Team Synchronization, and Non-stationarity in Physiological Time
      Series.
AB  - This study investigated the stationarity of electrodermal time series collected
      in situations where turn taking in human interactions are involved. In this
      context, the stationarity of the time series is the extent to which a simple
      model can be used to fit the entire time series. The experiment involved seven
      participants in an emergency response simulation against one opponent. They
      generated 48 time series across six simulations, which were split and re-spliced
      to separate the team's turns and the opponent's turns. Significant differences in
      R2 coefficients were found for both linear and nonlinear statistical models
      between experimental conditions, but the difference only amounted to 3% of the
      accuracy of those models relative to the original data. It was thus concluded
      that the impact of turn taking on stationarity was a small effect at most. A
      comparison of synchronization coefficients for the team data, which rely on the
      collective accuracy of the individual time series models, indicated stronger
      synchronization during periods when the team was watching the opponent's actions
      compared to when they took their own turns. It was thus concluded, furthermore,
      that the common focus of attention prevailed against any non-stationarity that
      was introduced by turn taking.

PMID- 28601115
TI  - Modeling Change in Project Duration and Completion: Scheduling Dynamics of NASA's
      Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) Activities.
AB  - In complex work domains and organizations, understanding schedule-ing dynamics
      can ensure objectives are reached and delays are mitigated. In the current paper,
      we examine the scheduling dynamics for NASA's Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1)
      activities. For this examination, we specifically modeled simultaneous change in
      percent complete and estimated duration for a given project as they were included
      in monthly reports over time. In short, we utilized latent change score mixture
      modeling to extract the attractor dynamics within the scheduling data. We found
      three primarily patterns: an attractor at low duration, low percent complete; a
      saddle that was attractive toward full completion and repelled duration away from
      five months, and an attractor at full completion and high duration. We replicated
      these three patterns using multilevel modeling. Then, we examined how task
      dependencies, in terms of the number of predecessors and successors, affected the
      probability of exhibiting a given pattern over time. Thus, we offer a flexible
      method for understanding the patterns that can characterize scheduling dynamics
      as well as other dynamical systems. Several recommendations for future directions
      are discussed.

PMID- 28601116
TI  - Nonlinearities in Behavioral Macroeconomics.
AB  - This article undertakes a journey across the literature on behavioral
      macroeconomics, with attention concentrated on the nonlinearities that the
      behavioral approach typically suggests or implies. The emphasis is placed on
      thinking the macro economy as a living organism, composed of many interacting
      parts, each one having a will of its own, which is in sharp contrast with the
      mechanism of the orthodox view (well represented by the neoclassical or new
      Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium - DSGE - model). The paper
      advocates that a thorough understanding of individual behavior in collective
      contexts is the only possible avenue to further explore macroeconomic phenomena
      and the often observed 'anomalies' that the benchmark DSGE macro framework is
      unable to explain or justify. After a reflection on the role of behavioral traits
      as a fundamental component of a new way of thinking the economy, the article
      proceeds with a debate on some of the most relevant frameworks in the literature
      that somehow link macro behavior and nonlinearities; covered subjects include
      macro models with disequilibrium rules, agent-based models that highlight
      interaction and complexity, evolutionary switching frameworks, and inattention
      based decision problems. These subjects have, as a fundamental point in common,
      the use of behavioral elements to transform existing interpretations of the
      economic reality, making it more evident how irregular fluctuations emerge and
      unfold on the aggregate.

PMID- 28601118
TI  - Determination of red blood cells in urinary sediment: Do pH and specific gravity
      of urine matter?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It has been postulated that erythrocyte cell lysis in urine is
      common in the case of low urine specific gravity and high urine pH. We aimed to
      verify the influence of urine dipstick pH and specific gravity on erythrocyturia
      in the urine sediment in the case of positive dipstick hemoglobinuria. METHODS:
      We retrospectively collected data on dipstick specific gravity, pH, and urine
      sediment analysis done by nephrologists in the clinical and research urine
      laboratory at the Department of Nephrology, University Medical Center Ljubljana.
      RESULTS: During the 6-year observation period, we analyzed 843 second morning
      midstream urine samples with positive dipstick hemoglobinuria. Erythrocyturia in
      urinary sediment was detected significantly less often in urine samples with
      concomitant hemoglobinuria 1+ and pH < 6.0, (odds ratio (OR) 0.40; 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.21 - 0.76, p = 0.005). The difference was maintained in
      multivariate analysis including patient age, gender, and specific gravity (OR
      0.32; 95% CI 0.15 - 0.65, p = 0.002). In samples with higher grade of
      hemoglobinuria (>= 2+), the impact of cell lysis in the case of low pH was
      negligible. Specific gravity did not have any influence on erythrocyte detection
      in urinary sediment. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary pH < 6.0 impaired the detection of
      erythrocytes in urinary sediment, while the dipstick measured urine specific
      gravity did not have any impact on it. Urine samples with low-grade
      hemoglobinuria and low pH without erythrocyte detection in urinary sediment
      should be evaluated again to avoid false-negative results.?.

PMID- 28601117
TI  - Tubular urinary indexes reliably distinguish between primary tubulointerstitial
      and primary glomerular diseases in patients referred for kidney biopsy.
AB  - AIMS: Kidney biopsy remains the gold standard for accurately diagnosing renal
      diseases. Urinalysis and assessment of renal function are the cornerstones for
      assessment of patients prior to biopsy. There is significant overlap in the
      results of routine urine parameters (proteinuria, erythrocyturia, leukocyturia)
      among different kidney diseases, which hinders the possibility of adequately
      estimating disease etiology prior to the biopsy. The aim of our study was to
      assess whether diverse markers of glomerular and tubular proteinuria - urinary
      albumin, IgG, alpha-1-microglobulin (alpha-1-m) and N-acetyl-beta-D
      glucosaminidase (NAG) - are capable of distinguishing between patients with
      primary tubulointerstitial (TID) and primary glomerular disease (GLOM). METHODS:
      Our study is a retrospective, single-center, consecutive case series of patients
      referred for kidney biopsy. We analyzed routine urinalysis results performed on a
      second morning urine sample immediately prior to the biopsy. RESULTS: Patients
      with TID had significantly higher values of alpha-1-m and NAG, with lower values
      of albumin and IgG in the urine compared to patients with GLOM. Three tubular
      urinary indexes had high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing TID from
      GLOM: NAG/albumin, alpha-1-m/proteinuria, and alpha-1-m/albumin, with the highest
      values in the latter index (96.6% and 98.2%, respectively, cut-off point >=
      0.33). CONCLUSIONS: Prior to kidney biopsy, tubular urinary indexes may present a
      valuable tool in distinguishing patients with TID from patients with GLOM.?.

PMID- 28601119
TI  - The predictive value of urinary vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on
      worsening kidney function in proteinuric chronic kidney disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the role of urinary vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) as an early predictor of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression in
      patients with glomerular diseases. METHODS: We prospectively included patients
      with proteinuria and CKD grade 1 - 5 due to glomerular disease at the time of
      kidney biopsy. At baseline, we collected demographics, comorbidities, smoking
      history, serum creatinine (sCr), proteinuria, and urinary VEGF in collected 24
      hour urine. The primary outcome was a 50% increase in sCr at last follow-up.
      Binary regression was used to explore the impact of urinary biomarkers adjusted
      for baseline patient characteristics on the outcome. RESULTS: From July 2011 to
      September 2012 we included 49 patients aged 45.2 +/- 14.8 years, 43% female, with
      different glomerular diseases. We followed them for 29 +/- 11 months. Twelve out
      of 49 (22%) patients met the primary outcome. The patients with a 50% increase in
      sCr at last follow-up had a significantly higher baseline sCr (193 +/- 101 vs.
      127 +/- 84; p = 0.014) and higher urinary VEGF/creatinine in 24-hour urine (7.7
      +/- 6.4 vs. 3.0 +/- 4.0; p = 0.005). When we added both sCr and urinary
      VEGF/creatinine to the binary regression model, the correlation with baseline sCr
      was not significant (OR 1.01; 95% CI 1.00 - 1.01; p = 0.184), while urinary
      VEGF/creatinine remained significant (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.04 - 1.35; p = 0.008).
      Baseline patient characteristics, such as age, gender, body mass index, sCr,
      proteinuria, smoking status, histopathologic diagnosis, concomitant arterial
      hypertension, and time to last follow-up did not influence the primary outcome.
      CONCLUSIONS: The urinary VEGF/creatinine ratio in 24-hour urine seems to
      independently predict worsening of chronic kidney disease in patients with
      glomerular diseases.?.

PMID- 28601120
TI  - Measurement of breath ammonia for detection of patients with chronic kidney
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a healthy individual, ammonia is converted to urea in the liver.
      Urea is then transported through the bloodstream and then excreted into the urine
      by the kidneys. In patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the accumulated
      urea is degraded by salivary urease into ammonia, which is then excreted by
      breathing. Breath ammonia can therefore be used for detecting the increased
      nitrogen-bearing wastes. In our pilot study, an electrochemical sensor was used
      to measure and analyze breath ammonia in healthy volunteers and patients with
      CKD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In our study, 8 patients with CKD (stages 4 and 5) and
      6 healthy volunteers were enrolled. All participants were nonsmokers and without
      pulmonary or liver disease. One controlled breath sample was collected from each
      participant. Immediately after the sample was collected, a gas analyzer was used
      for measuring breath ammonia in our participants. RESULTS: Mean creatinine value
      of CKD patients was 455.2 +/- 294.1 umol/L and 62.1 +/- 7.5 umol/L for healthy
      volunteers. Breath ammonia levels (3.32 +/- 2.19 ppm vs. 0.49 +/- 0.08 ppm; p =
      0.003) and measured electric current (4.33 +/- 0.25 mA vs. 4.01 +/- 0.01 mA; p =
      0.003) were significantly higher in the CKD group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of
      our pilot study show that breath monitoring of ammonia can be a simple, useful,
      fast, and noninvasive tool for detection of advanced kidney impairment.?.

PMID- 28601121
TI  - Relationship between subendocardial viability ratio and hemoglobin in patients
      with chronic kidney disease.
AB  - AIMS: Pulse wave analysis (PWA) uses the technique of applanation tonometry to
      obtain a peripheral pulse pressure waveform from which central hemodynamic
      information is derived. Using PWA, subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR) can be
      measured. SEVR represents a noninvasive measure of myocardial perfusion. It is
      related to the work of the heart, the oxygen consumption, and the energy supply
      of the heart. Anemia is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). A
      complex relationship exists between CKD, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and
      anemia. The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between SEVR and
      hemoglobin in non-dialysis CKD patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined the
      associations between PWA hemodynamic parameters, 24-hour ambulatory blood
      pressure (BP) measurements, and laboratory variables including hemoglobin,
      cardiac biomarkers troponin I, NT-proBNP, and hs-CRP in a cohort of 91
      nondialysis CKD patients. PWA was assessed by radial applanation tonometry
      (SphygmoCor, Atcor, Sydney, Australia). The patients were divided into two groups
      according to the median value of hemoglobin. RESULTS: Mean age of included
      patients was 60.2 years, 67% were men, 44% were smokers, 25.3% had diabetes. A
      significant correlation between hemoglobin and SEVR was found (r = 0.26; p =
      0.012). With multivariate regression analysis, SEVR as dependent variable turned
      out to be statistically significantly associated with hemoglobin (beta = 0.344, p
      = 0.013) and with troponin I (beta = -0.217, p = 0.037). Patients in the group
      with lower hemoglobin had statistically-significantly higher serum creatinine,
      cystatin C, NT-proBNP, and 24-hour ambulatory systolic BP and lower e-GFR, SEVR,
      and office diastolic BP. CONCLUSIONS: Results of our study show that SEVR is
      independently associated with hemoglobin in nondialysis CKD patients. CKD
      patients with lower hemoglobin have lower SEVR.?.

PMID- 28601122
TI  - Subendocardial viability ratio and ejection duration as parameters of early
      cardiovascular risk in children.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate subendocardial viability ratio
      (SEVR) and ejection duration (ED) in children and adolescents with common
      cardiovascular risk factors such as arterial hypertension, obesity, and
      hypercholesterolemia. METHODS: Four groups of pediatric patients were analyzed:
      31 children and adolescents had hypertension, 36 were overweight, 49 were
      overweight and had hypertension, and 70 had hypercholesterolemia. The patients
      were compared to a control group of 50 healthy individuals. Subjects were sampled
      by opportunity sampling at the Department of Pediatrics Maribor, Slovenia. In
      each patient, blood pressure, anthropometrical parameters, and pulse wave
      analysis (PWA) measurements using applanation tonometry technique were performed
      and calculated. RESULTS: The results show a statistically-significant difference
      in ED (p = 0.013) but not in SEVR (p = 0.074) in the hypercholesterolemia group
      in comparison to the control group. In other research groups, no statistically
      significant differences were found. In all study groups, SEVR correlated
      significantly with age (positive, moderate) and heart rate (negative, strong) as
      well as with central mean pressure (CMP). CONCLUSIONS: Our study does not show a
      significant role of SEVR and ED in early cardiovascular risk determination in
      children. However, some results do indicate a potential role of both, at least in
      hypercholesterolemia, and should be further investigated.?.

PMID- 28601123
TI  - Physical function and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in dialysis patients - lessons learned
      from the Slovenian DIAGIB study.
AB  - AIMS: Vitamin D stores in dialysis patients may be associated with their muscle
      function and physical performance. We analyzed associations of 25-hydroxyvitamin
      D levels with functional test results in prevalent hemodialysis patients and
      healthy controls. METHODS: Study sample included 54 dialysis patients and 81
      healthy controls who performed a 6-minute walk test, sit-to-stand test, handgrip
      strength measurement, and self-rated habitual adjusted activity score with Human
      Activity Profile questionnaire. Adjusted general linear models were used to
      analyze association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels with test results. RESULTS:
      Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was 73.1 +/- 35.4 nmol/L in dialysis
      patients and 64.6 +/- 22 nmol/L in controls (p = 0.12). When adjusted for age,
      sex, body height, spontaneous gait speed, and dialysis dependence, 25
      hydroxyitamin D was significantly positively associated with 6-minute walk test
      result, explaining 5% of variability in walked distance (B = 0.6 m/nmol/L, p =
      0.008) and 12% of variability in adjusted activity score (B = 0.1 point/nmol/L, p
      < 0.001). There was no significant association with handgrip strength or sit-to
      stand performance in adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      levels are significantly positively associated with submaximal aerobic physical
      performance and habitual activity level in dialysis patients.?.

PMID- 28601124
TI  - Impact of short-term nutritional supplementation on surrogate markers of
      undernutrition in hemodialysis patients - prospective real-life interventional
      study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are at increased risk for
      undernutrition, especially protein wasting. We present the results of a
      prospective study in HD patients after 4 months of intervention with oral
      nutritional supplements (ONS). METHODS: After a 3-month wash-out period, 92 HD
      patients were enrolled in the study. Patients were tested for undernutrition with
      composite parameters, laboratory tests, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA),
      and hand-grip strength test (HGS). All patients fulfilling criteria for, or at
      high risk of, undernutrition were given ONS in addition to their regular diet.
      The impact of short-term ONS on surrogate markers of undernutrition was
      statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Data for 84 patients, 45 (53.6%) male, average
      age 63.3 years, were available for analysis after 4 months. Patients were divided
      into three groups: group A (n = 28), patients with normal nutritional status
      (NUS) at baseline not necessitating ONS; group B (n = 43), patients entitled to
      receive ONS; group C (n = 13), patients entitled to receive but refused to take
      ONS. In group B patients, received on average 4.1 bottles of ONS (902 mL; 1,623.6
      kcal; 73.06 g protein) per week. Baseline results showed statistically
      significant differences between groups in serum albumin levels and phase angle
      (PhA) but not in HGS. After 4 months of ONS, we noticed stagnation of observed
      markers in group B. Interestingly, in group A, significant deterioration of serum
      albumin and PhA was observed, but HGS improved. There was a trend towards
      worsening of serum albumin levels and HGS in group C not reaching statistical
      significance. CONCLUSIONS: In undernourished HD patients after ONS we did not
      find statistically-significant improvement of NUS evaluating surrogate markers.
      Nevertheless, in undernourished patients not receiving ONS, serum albumin and HGS
      showed a trend towards worsening, and even in well-nourished patients,
      nutritional markers (serum albumin and PhA) declined. We speculate that a certain
      positive effect of ONS on nutritional status in undernourished HD patients could
      be observed already after short-term supplementation.?.

PMID- 28601125
TI  - Hyperuricemia and long-term survival in patients with chronic kidney disease
      undergoing hemodialysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Uric acid (UA), a breakdown product of purines, has been associated
      with mortality in different populations. Less is known about associations between
      hyperuricemia and mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, later
      undergoing hemodialysis (HD), during a long observation period. The aim of this
      study was to determine the impact of elevated UA levels on long-term (19.5 years)
      survival of CKD patients. METHODS: 120 CKD patients (49 female, 71 male) enrolled
      in our study were observed from their first visit at the patients' nephrology
      outpatient clinic (NOC). All patients later started HD and were followed until
      their death or January 1, 2016. UA was measured regularly from venous sampling
      during NOC visits and HD sessions. Patients with mean UA below 420 umol/L were
      defined as normouricemic, patients with mean UA above 420 umol/L as
      hyperuricemic. No patients were treated for hyperuricemia. Survival rates were
      analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Cox regression model was used to
      assess the influence of UA, age, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, total
      cholesterol, triglycerides, smoking, and body mass index on the survival of our
      patients. RESULTS: Mean UA was 383.6 +/- 83, range 220 to 710 umol/L. 86 (71.7%)
      patients were normouricemic, and 34 (28.3%) hyperuricemic. 43 (50.0%)
      normouricemic and 28 (82.4%) hyperuricemic patients died. Kaplan-Meier survival
      analysis showed the risk of death to be higher for hyperuricemic patients (log
      rank test; p < 0.0001). With Cox multivariable regression model, the mean UA
      still remained a predictor of mortality in our patients (p < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate an association between UA and long-term
      survival of CKD patients and show that hyperuricemia was directly associated with
      higher mortality among our patients.?.

PMID- 28601127
TI  - Increase in spot urine protein excretion is associated with late kidney graft
      rejection and predicts rejection phenotype.
AB  - AIMS: A noninvasive test that foretells kidney graft rejection before loss of
      kidney function would be desirable. We hypothesized that an increase in estimated
      protein excretion rate (ePER) from spot urine samples is associated with graft
      rejection and predicts rejection phenotype. METHODS: 151 patients who had
      undergone first-indication kidney biopsy due to graft dysfunction beyond 3 months
      after transplant were identified from a national cohort of 616 transplant
      recipients between 2000 and 2012 (25%). ePER were calculated from spot urine
      protein-to-creatinine ratios at baseline, 3 months before biopsy (ePER<sub>
      3m</sub>), and at the time of biopsy (ePER<sub>biopsy</sub>) and were correlated
      with histologic biopsy findings. RESULTS: Levels of ePER 3 months before biopsy
      and at the time of biopsy were greater in 32 patients with antibody-mediated
      rejection (ABMR) than in 77 patients with T-cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) and 42
      patients with other findings (median ePER<sub>-3m</sub> 912 vs. 320 vs. 232
      mg/day/1.73m<sup>2</sup>; and median ePER<sub>biopsy</sub> 1,672 vs. 356 vs. 268
      mg/day/1.73m<sup>2</sup>; p < 0.001). Receiver operator characteristics (ROC)
      analyses demonstrated that ePER<sub>-3m</sub> and ePER<sub>biopsy</sub> had good
      diagnostic accuracy to discriminate between biopsy specimens showing ABMR vs.
      those showing TCMR or other histologic findings (area under the ROC curve 0.84,
      95% CI 0.75 - 0.93 and 0.89, 95% CI 0.82 - 0.97, respectively; p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: An increase in ePER before kidney graft dysfunction appears to be
      associated with graft rejection and predicts ABMR phenotype.?.

PMID- 28601126
TI  - The impact of gene polymorphisms in angiotensin receptor 1 and aldosterone
      synthase in peritoneal dialysis patients.
AB  - AIM: Longevity of peritoneal membrane is an important issue in patients treated
      with peritoneal dialysis (PD). In our study, we studied the impact of angiotensin
      receptor 1 (AGT R1) and aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene polymorphism on
      peritoneal concentrations of interleukin-6 (PI-IL-6), vascular endothelial growth
      factor (PI-VEGF), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PI-PAI-1), transforming
      growth factor-beta (PI-TGF-beta), and cancer antigen-125 (PI-CA-125) as known
      markers of peritoneal fibrosis. The single nucleotide polymorphism rs5186
      (A1166C) in AGT R1 gene is located in 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the gene,
      while polymorphism rs1799998 (T -344 C) in CYP11B2 gene is located in the
      promoter region of the gene. METHODS: We compared marker concentrations in
      patients with genotype DD vs. Dd and dd for AGT R1 and patients with genotype HH
      vs. Hh and hh for CYP11B2. RESULTS: The results show that polymorphism of CYP11B2
      gene is associated with serum concentration of aldosterone. Patients with
      genotype HH had statistically significantly lower serum concentration of
      aldosterone (p = 0.04). These patients also showed a trend to a lower rate of
      production of I-IL-6 (p = 0.07), which correlated with lower concentrations of
      PAI-1 (p = 0.002) and VEGF (p = 0.005). AGT R1 gene polymorphism did not show any
      association with studied variables. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the
      possibility of genetic predisposition for development of peritoneal fibrosis that
      could be important for identification of patients with an "unfavorable" genotype,
      which could lead to customized prescription of appropriate therapy and
      personalized patient management.?.

PMID- 28601128
TI  - Expanded valganciclovir prophylaxis in kidney transplant recipients is associated
      with lower incidence of cytomegalovirus infection.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of two
      subsequent CMV prophylaxis regimens for prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV)
      infection and disease in our kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). METHODS: In an
      historic-cohort of KTRs, two CMV prophylaxis protocols were compared: short
      protocol in which CMV IgG seronegative recipients (R-) of CMV IgG seropositive
      donors (D+) received valganciclovir for 3 months post-transplant (group 1: 2005 -
      2010); and expanded protocol in which prophylaxis for high-risk recipients was
      extended to 6 months, and a 3-month prophylaxis for D+/R+ and D-/R+ was
      introduced (group 2: 2011 - 2016). Incidences of CMV viremia, disease, and
      adverse events were assessed 12 months after transplant. RESULTS: Of 457 KTRs,
      167 received short (group 1) and 290 expanded (group 2) CMV prophylaxis. The
      incidence of CMV viremia was significantly lower in group 2 than in group 1:
      17.6% vs. 29.2%, respectively (p = 0.001). The incidence of CMV disease was 5.2%
      in group 2 vs. 10.2% in group 1 (p = 0.04). After comparing group 2 and group 1
      according to the risk of CMV infection, incidences of CMV viremia were 50% vs.
      47.4% in D+/R- (p = 0.79), 3.1% vs. 5.7% in D-/R+ (p = 0.05), and 9.7% vs. 23.6%
      in D+/R+ (p = 0.0004). The incidence of neutropenia was 41.7% in group 2 and
      33.5% in group 1 (p = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: The results show a significant
      reduction of CMV viremia in D+/R+ and D-/R+ KTRs after introduction of 3-month
      prophylaxis with valganciclovir. Extension of CMV prophylaxis to 6 months in D+/R
      was not associated with reduction in CMV viremia at 12 months after
      transplant.?.

PMID- 28601129
TI  - Fabry disease: diagnostic methods in nephrology practice.
AB  - Fabry disease (FD; OMIM 301500) is a rare X-linked systemic disease caused by a
      mutation of the <italic>GLA</italic> gene. Consequently, there is very low, or
      even absent, activity of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal
      A), resulting in the progressive accumulation of glycosphingolipids
      (predominantly, globotriaosylceramide (GL-3)) in various cells of different
      organs. Chronic progressive proteinuric kidney disease is one of the hallmarks of
      this disease, and it constitutes an important component of this condition's
      clinical picture. Many patients with FD develop advanced chronic kidney disease,
      and half of them progress to end-stage renal disease. Most male patients die
      before the age of 60 years. Specific treatment with enzyme replacement therapy
      (ERT) has been shown to be effective when treatment is started early enough,
      before irreversible changes can occur. Therefore, the early diagnosis of FD has
      become very important. However, in nephrology practice, too many patients are
      still being diagnosed in late and very advanced stages of the disease. Also, the
      number of diagnosed patients varies among different countries and regions. The
      reasons for this are numerous and diverse, and they mostly depend on the
      knowledge, awareness, and availability of diagnostic procedures.?.

PMID- 28601130
TI  - Neurobehavioral Management of Traumatic Brain Injury in the Critical Care
      Setting: An Update.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an alteration in brain function, or other
      evidence of brain pathology, caused by an external force. TBI is a major cause of
      disability and mortality worldwide. Post-traumatic amnesia, or the interval from
      injury until the patient is oriented and able to form and later recall new
      memories, is an important index of TBI severity and functional outcome. This
      article will discuss the updates in the epidemiology, definition and
      classification, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of common acute
      neuropsychiatric sequelae of traumatic brain injury that the critical care
      specialist may encounter.

PMID- 28601131
TI  - Detection and Management of Preexisting Cognitive Impairment in the Critical Care
      Unit.
AB  - Older adults account for half of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and ICU
      days, and approximately 2 in 5 older adults in the ICU have preexisting cognitive
      impairment (PCI). PCI identification is important for risk stratification and may
      influence ICU utilization and decision-making surrogacy. PCI is overlooked in
      more than half of patients without screening; however, screening instruments can
      identify PCI in less than 5 minutes. Management of PCI in the ICU involves
      addressing associated neuropsychiatric symptoms. Nonpharmacological interventions
      should be considered the mainstay of treatment; psychotropics may be considered,
      although available data on their efficacy is limited.

PMID- 28601132
TI  - Acute Brain Failure: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management, and Sequelae of
      Delirium.
AB  - Delirium is the most common psychiatric syndrome found in the general hospital
      setting, with an incidence as high as 87% in the acute care setting. Delirium is
      a neurobehavioral syndrome caused by the transient disruption of normal neuronal
      activity secondary to systemic disturbances. The development of delirium is
      associated with increased morbidity, mortality, cost of care, hospital-acquired
      complications, placement in specialized intermediate and long-term care
      facilities, slower rate of recovery, poor functional and cognitive recovery,
      decreased quality of life, and prolonged hospital stays. This article discusses
      the epidemiology, known etiological factors, presentation and characteristics,
      prevention, management, and impact of delirium.

PMID- 28601133
TI  - Assessment and Management of Toxidromes in the Critical Care Unit.
AB  - The most important diagnostic factor in uncovering a toxic etiology for delirium
      or critical illness is the clinician's openness to the possibility of its
      existence. Therefore, a consulting psychiatrist, already prepared to perform the
      detail-oriented work of sorting out behavioral manifestations of disease, can be
      a vital asset at the bedside if also attuned to the role of purposeful,
      accidental, and iatrogenic exposures in the intensive care unit. This article
      summarizes the presentation, evaluation, and treatment of toxidromes relevant to
      the work of acute psychosomatic medicine.

PMID- 28601134
TI  - Substance Use, Intoxication, and Withdrawal in the Critical Care Setting.
AB  - Substance use is common among individuals admitted to the critical care setting
      and may complicate treatment of underlying disorders. Management issues include
      the effects of intoxication as well as the risk posed by substance-withdrawal
      syndromes in patients being treated for critical illness. This article reviews
      the epidemiology of substance use in this population and the identification and
      treatment of common intoxication and withdrawal syndromes. The authors stress the
      importance of long-term planning as part of the overall treatment protocol beyond
      the acute presentation.

PMID- 28601135
TI  - Novel Algorithms for the Prophylaxis and Management of Alcohol Withdrawal
      Syndromes-Beyond Benzodiazepines.
AB  - Benzodiazepine (BZDP) agents are the standard for the prophylaxis and treatment
      of all phases of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. However, BZDPs have their
      drawbacks: cognitive impairment, significant neurologic and medical side effects.
      There are data suggesting that the alcohol recidivism rate and abuse potential is
      higher for BZDPs treated patients, compared to alternatives. Clinical and
      research data demonstrate the efficacy and safety of various pharmacologic
      alternatives to benzodiazepines for the prevention and management of AWS. This
      article examines the available published evidence regarding the use of non-BZDP
      agents compared with conventional treatment modalities. The author's BZDP-sparing
      protocol is highlighted.

PMID- 28601136
TI  - Psychiatric Aspects of Lung Disease in Critical Care.
AB  - Respiratory conditions are some of the most common indications for admission to
      critical care units. Psychiatric disorders and symptoms are highly comorbid with
      lung disease. They can occur as a risk factor to lung disease, as a co-occurring
      condition, as a consequence of a pulmonary condition, or as a treatment side
      effect either from medications or assistive devices. Patients can experience a
      myriad of mood, anxiety, and cognitive disorder symptoms and conditions in
      critical care units. Intensivists and psychiatrists must be aware of the
      interplay between pulmonary and psychiatric symptoms as well as medication
      effects and interactions.

PMID- 28601138
TI  - Psychiatric Disorders and Suicidality in the Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - Suicidality is a general term that describes the continuum of suicidal ideation,
      intent, self-injurious behavior, attempts, and completed suicide. Suicidality
      across the entire spectrum is a public health concern with significant impact,
      including billions in work loss and medical costs. There are many challenges to
      managing suicidality in an intensive care unit setting, which will be reviewed
      here. Additionally, this article will review the prevalence of suicide attempts
      in different psychiatric diagnoses, conducting a suicide assessment, role of
      involuntary psychiatric holds, and most common challenges encountered in the ICU
      setting.

PMID- 28601137
TI  - Psychiatric Aspects of Heart Disease (and Cardiac Aspects of Psychiatric Disease)
      in Critical Care.
AB  - Strong emotional reactions are common in patients admitted to cardiac critical
      care; only some are pathological. Cardiac critical care and associated
      technologies are associated with predictable psychiatric problems. Many occur as
      secondary complications of the medical status of the patient, which must be
      carefully assessed. Depression is common in patients with coronary disease and
      also for patients with heart failure; treatment is helpful, but persistent
      depression is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality. Preexisting
      psychiatric disorders may predispose to heart disease, and they and their
      treatment may affect critical care management.

PMID- 28601139
TI  - Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Phenomena After Critical Illness.
AB  - This article focuses on a psychiatric morbidity in critical illness survivors,
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We present a case in the second person,
      because it is helpful to imagine what being critically ill can be like from the
      perspective of a patient without medical training. One-fifth of critical illness
      survivors have clinically relevant PTSD symptoms in the year after intensive
      care, and markers of risk include prior psychiatric illness, benzodiazepine
      administration in the intensive care unit (ICU), and early post-ICU memories of
      frightening, nightmare-like experiences during intensive care. ICU diaries are a
      low-tech, low-cost interventions that can supplement psychiatric care.

PMID- 28601140
TI  - Psychiatric Aspects of Organ Transplantation in Critical Care: An Update.
AB  - Transplant patients face challenging medical journeys, with many detours to the
      intensive care unit. Before and after transplantation, they have significant
      psychological and cognitive comorbidities, which decrease their quality of life
      and potentially compromise their medical outcomes. Critical care staff are
      essential in these journeys. Being cognizant of relevant psychosocial and mental
      health aspects of transplant patients' experiences can help critical care
      personnel take comprehensive care of these patients. This knowledge can empower
      them to understand their patients' psychological journeys, recognize patients'
      mental health needs, provide initial interventions, and recognize need for expert
      consultations.

PMID- 28601142
TI  - Medical Complications of Psychiatric Treatment: An Update.
AB  - Psychiatric medications are used commonly in hospitalized patients and are
      particularly indicated in patients who are critically ill to manage many
      conditions. Due to their many indications in the intensive care unit (ICU),
      psychiatric medications should be closely monitored in these medically
      compromised patients for adverse reactions and medical complications because they
      may affect essentially all organ systems. These range from life-threatening
      reactions to other less significant effects, such as sedation, to other
      detrimental complications, such as pancreatitis. Knowledge of psychopharmacology
      as well as the diagnosis and treatment of these complications is imperative in
      treating patients in the ICU.

PMID- 28601143
TI  - Psychiatric and Palliative Care in the Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on patients with serious
      illness and their families. In the intensive care unit (ICU), palliative care
      encompasses core skills to support patients and their families throughout their
      ICU course and post-ICU stays. Psychiatric symptoms are common among patients
      approaching the end of life and require particular attention in the setting of
      sedating medications, typically used when patients require ventilators and other
      life-sustaining treatments. For patients with preexisting severe mental illness
      who have a concurrent serious medical illness, a palliative psychiatric approach
      can address complex symptom management and support ethical and value-based shared
      decision making.

PMID- 28601144
TI  - Psychiatric Aspects of Critical Care Medicine: Update.

PMID- 28601141
TI  - Neuropsychiatric Aspects of Infectious Diseases: An Update.
AB  - Among the critically ill, infectious diseases can play a significant role in the
      etiology of neuropsychiatric disturbances. All critical care physicians are
      familiar with delirium as a secondary complication of systemic infection. This
      article focuses on key infectious diseases that commonly and directly produce
      neuropsychiatric symptoms, including direct infection of the central nervous
      system, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and AIDS.

PMID- 28601145
TI  - Ovarian development and the reproductive profile of Astyanax altiparanae
      (Teleostei, Characidae) over one year: Applications in fish farming.
AB  - Astyanax altiparanae is a Brazilian species of substantial commercial,
      environmental and scientific importance; however, existing studies on its
      reproduction do not seem to provide enough details. In light of the increasing
      use of this species in fish farming and the need for basic studies for the
      development of new production technologies, we describe the structural and
      ultrastructural characteristics of the ovaries of A. altiparanae, and
      characterize the species' reproductive cycle. Females were collected monthly from
      March 2013 to February 2014, and reproductive management began in October 2013.
      The ovaries were removed, fixed in Karnovsky's fixative, and prepared for light
      microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry anti-PCNA.
      These techniques enabled us to characterize the ovaries, the germ cells, and the
      somatic cells in detail, as well as their changes over time. The reproductive
      cycle was characterized based on the monthly variation in the gonadosomatic
      ratio, the proportion of germ cells, and the rate of oogonium proliferation. The
      macroscopic analysis of the ovaries suggests that the vascularization pattern and
      color of the ovaries vary according to development. There are new types of
      analyses that can be applied even in the fish farming industry, such as a
      comparison between ovaries staining and weight or the frequency distribution of
      these colors throughout the year. This study also provides details on microscopic
      characteristics that have never before been reported for species of Astyanax,
      such as the presence of annulate lamellae in oogonia, the development of the zona
      pellucida from oocytes in the one-nucleolus step, and the development of the
      micropylar apparatus in oocytes in the cortical alveolar step. When the
      reproductive cycle was analyzed, this species was found to have a long period of
      spawning, with a reproductive peak from October to February and multiple spawning
      events, confirming the period already described in the literature. Variations in
      reproductive periods and the ability to reproduce in lentic environments suggest
      that A. altiparanae has the ability to respond quickly to environmental changes
      and exhibits high reproductive flexibility. All of these characteristics confirm
      the great potential of this species in the fish farming industry.

PMID- 28601146
TI  - Genetic component of sensitivity to heat stress for nonreturn rate of Brazilian
      Holstein cattle.
AB  - The objectives of the present study were: 1) to investigate variation in the
      genetic component of heat stress for nonreturn rate at 56 days after first
      artificial insemination (NR56); 2) to identify and characterize the genotype by
      environment interaction (G * E) due to heat stress for NR56 of Brazilian Holstein
      cattle. A linear random regression model (reaction norm model) was applied to
      51,748 NR56 records of 28,595 heifers and multiparous cows. The decline in NR56
      due to heat stress was more pronounced in milking cows compared to heifers. The
      age of females at first artificial insemination and temperature-humidity index
      (THI) exerted an important influence on the genetic parameters of NR56. Several
      evidence of G * E on NR56 were found as the high slope/intercept ratio and
      frequent intersection of reaction norms. Additionally, the genetic correlation
      between NR56 at opposite extremes of the THI scale reached estimates below zero,
      indicating that few of the same genes are responsible for NR56 under conditions
      of thermoneutrality and heat stress. The genetic evaluation and selection for
      NR56 in Holstein cattle reared under (sub)tropical conditions should therefore
      take into consideration the genetic variation on age at insemination and G * E
      due to heat stress.

PMID- 28601147
TI  - Deep anestrous mares under natural photoperiod treated with recombinant equine
      FSH (reFSH) and LH (reLH) have fertile ovulations and become pregnant.
AB  - The most common equine breeding practice to decrease the time to the first
      ovulation of the year is to use artificial lights starting December 1 in the
      Northern Hemisphere. It can take 60-90 d for this lighting regimen to induce a
      fertile ovulation. The success rate for pharmaceutical compounds to carry out the
      same process has been variable. One compound that did induce an early ovulation
      was recombinant equine follicle stimulating hormone (reFSH), but neither
      pregnancy nor cyclicity was established in that study. Starting on December 1, 20
      deep-anestrous mares of light horse breeds (4-15 y old) with follicles <= 20 mm
      in diameter and progesterone < 1 ng/mL were maintained under natural photoperiod
      while 10 control mares were maintained under artificial photoperiod. Starting on
      February 6, treatment mares were randomly assigned to one of two groups: reFSH (n
      = 10) or reFSH/reLH (n = 10). Jugular blood samples were collected daily from all
      mares, and luteinizing hormone (LH), FSH, progesterone (P4), estradiol-17beta
      (E2) and immunoreactive (ir)-inhibin were analyzed by radioimmunoassay (RIA).
      When the largest follicle reached >=32 mm in diameter, reFSH treatment was
      discontinued in both groups while reLH treatment continued in the reFSH/reLH
      group until a cohort of follicles reached >=35 mm in diameter. Human chorionic
      gonadotropin (hCG) was administered intravenously (iv) to induce ovulation, and
      mares were bred to a fertile stallion every other day until ovulation. Mares
      receiving either reFSH or reFSH/reLH developed follicles >=35 mm within 5-6 d of
      treatment compared with 15.8 +/- 3.4 d in the control group. Both reFSH and
      reFSH/reLH induced ovulation in 100% of the mares within 10 d after treatment
      resulting in an 80% conception rate and a 70% pregnancy rate for both groups.
      Conception and pregnancy were designated as either presence of a 14 d old embryo
      (n = 16) or a fetal heartbeat at 24 d (n = 14), respectively. Only three mares in
      the control group ovulated within the same treatment period. Later ovulations in
      the control group resulted in 100% conception and pregnancy rates. At 25 d post
      conception, treated mares that were pregnant (n = 7 per group) were administered
      prostaglandin (PGF2alpha) to terminate the pregnancy and later returned to
      estrus. Treatment with reFSH or reFSH/reLH given to deep-anestrous mares under
      natural photoperiod induced fertile ovulations that resulted in pregnancy and
      cyclicity when pregnancies were terminated.

PMID- 28601148
TI  - Leptin supplementation in vitro improved developmental competence of buffalo
      oocytes and embryos.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to determine potential role of leptin on in
      vitro developmental competence of buffalo oocytes and embryos. Slaughterhouse
      derived culture grade buffalo cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were matured in
      vitro (IVM) with leptin (10 ng/ml) or without leptin (control). In each
      experiment, a pool of matured COCs was used for further in vitro embryo
      production and another pool of COCs was used for cumulus cells and mature oocytes
      isolation to study the relative mRNA expression of developmentally important
      genes. Presumptive zygotes were cultured in embryo culture (IVC) media
      supplemented with leptin (10 ng/ml) or without leptin (control). Cleavage rate
      was higher (p < 0.05) when leptin was supplemented during IVM + IVC, both, as
      compared to other groups. Higher cleavage rate was observed in leptin-treated
      groups, though it was non-significant. Blastocyst rate was higher (p < 0.05) in
      all the leptin treated groups. The relative mRNA expression of LEPR (Ob-Rb), HAS2
      and EGFR was significantly (p < 0.05) up-regulated and the expression of CASPASE3
      was down-regulated in cumulus cells of leptin-treated groups. The expression of
      GDF9, BMP15, GLUT1, LEPR and CASPASE3 transcripts in leptin and non-treated
      oocytes did not differ. The relative mRNA expression of POU5F1and LEPR
      transcripts in blastocysts was higher (p < 0.05) in leptin-treated groups; the
      change in expression of GLUT1, INF-tau and CASPASE3 transcripts was not
      significant (p > 0.05). Thus, it is concluded that leptin promotes developmental
      competence of bubaline oocytes by modulating cumulus enabling factors and genes
      regulating pluripotentcy in the blastocysts.

PMID- 28601149
TI  - Cells expressing CD4, CD8, MHCII and endoglin in the canine corpus luteum of
      pregnancy, and prepartum activation of the luteal TNFalpha system.
AB  - In the dog, knowledge about involvement of the immune system in controlling
      luteal function is restricted to observations showing a time-dependent invasion
      of immune cells into the corpus luteum (CL) of non-pregnant bitches. Therefore,
      this study investigated the presence of CD4-, CD8-, MHCII- and endoglin
      expressing cells in CL collected throughout pregnancy from pre-implantation until
      prepartum luteolysis. Immunohistochemistry and semi-quantitative RT-PCR were
      applied. The time-dependent expression of CD4, CD8 and endoglin was more strongly
      related to formation of the CL, whereas MHCII was induced during luteolysis.
      Next, the luteal expression of TNFalpha and its receptors, TNFR1 and TNFR2, was
      analyzed in non-pregnant dogs between days 5-65 after ovulation and during
      pregnancy. Moreover, the effects of progesterone withdrawal were investigated in
      mid-pregnant dogs treated with an antigestagen aglepristone. The TNFalpha system
      was induced in the early CL of non-pregnant dogs. In pregnant dogs, expression of
      TNFalpha did not vary much, contrasting with increased expression of both
      receptors in the post-implantation period and significantly decreased expression
      at mid-gestation; prepartum luteolysis was characterized by increased TNFR2
      expression. Apart from the downregulated expression of TNFR1, the changes
      observed following antigestagen treatment resembled those observed during normal
      prepartum luteolysis. A modulatory function of the TNFalpha system during
      formation of the canine CL is suggested, possibly related to the strong
      accompanying vascularization and luteal infiltration with activated macrophages.
      Contrasting with the slow luteal regression in non-pregnant dogs, in pregnant
      animals the upregulation of TNFR2 expression during prepartum luteolysis implies
      functional involvement of the TNFalpha system during that time.

PMID- 28601150
TI  - Progress and challenges of fish sperm vitrification: A mini review.
AB  - To survive low temperature is required for a long-term storage
      (cryopreservation), cells should be vitrified to a state in which intracellular
      water is solidified without ice crystal formation. Two different approaches are
      described for fish sperm cryopreservation: 1) sperm conventional
      cryopreservation, in which extracellular water is partially crystallized and 2)
      sperm vitrification, in which both intra- and extra-cellular liquids are
      vitrified. Sperm vitrification has been applied to some fish species with limited
      success. Traditional vitrification requires rapid cooling/warming rates, small
      sample carriers, and using high permeable cryoprotectant concentrations. The
      latter cause cytotoxic effects which must be well managed and will require
      continuous effort to match an appropriate cryoprotectant with suitable apparatus
      and warming methods. Novel cryoprotectant-free sperm vitrification approach has
      been applied to several fishes. This review summarizes development of basic
      procedures and discusses advantages and disadvantages of vitrification when
      applied it to fish sperm.

PMID- 28601151
TI  - Effect of season and age on scrotal circumference, testicular parameters and
      endocrinological profiles in mithun bulls.
AB  - Mithun is a domesticated free-range bovine species primarily used as a meat
      animal and is a pride of North Eastern Hilly regions of India. The present study
      was conducted to measure the effect of seasons on scrotal & testicular biometrics
      and endocrinological profiles for different age groups at different seasons in
      mithun bulls. A total of 30 mithun males were selected from the mithun breeding
      farm, ICAR-NRC on Mithun, Medziphema, Nagaland, India and were equally
      distributed into five groups based on their age. Each group consisted of six
      animals and the groups were Gr A (0.1-1.0 year), Gr B (1.1-2.0 years), Gr C (2.1
      3.0 years), Gr D (3.1-5.0 years) and Gr E (5.1-6.0 years). The seasons were
      grouped into winter, spring, summer and autumn based on the meteorological data
      such as temperature humidity index (THI) and sunshine hours. Scrotal
      circumference (SC) & testicular biometrics and endocrinological profiles such as
      follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone/interstitial cell
      stimulating hormone (LH/ICSH), testosterone, thyroxine (T4), cortisol and insulin
      like growth factor 1 (IGF 1) were estimated during different seasons for
      different age groups. Statistical results revealed that the SC & testicular
      biometrics and endocrinological profiles differed significantly (p < 0.05) among
      the different age groups for the same season whereas SC and endocrinological
      profiles significantly (p < 0.05) differed among the seasons for same age group.
      Significantly (p < 0.05) greater SC and testicular weight were observed in Gr E
      and D, lower in Gr A and B and intermediate in Gr C and increased as age
      advances. Significantly (p < 0.05) greater SC was observed in winter and spring
      and lowest was in summer season. The hormone profiles such as FSH, LH/ICSH,
      testosterone & thyroxine were significantly (p < 0.05) greater and IGF-1 &
      cortisol were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in spring & winter than in summer
      season. The hormones, FSH, LH/ICSH and thyroxine increased significantly in Gr A
      followed by reduced in Gr B and then increased to Gr D and E, whereas
      concentration of testosterone, cortisol and IGF-1 increased according to age
      advanced. It was concluded that the spring and winter seasons has significantly
      greater beneficial effects than summer season on reproduction and artificial
      breeding programme in semi-intensive management of mithun in the present
      location.

PMID- 28601152
TI  - Identification and expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein during
      follicular development in goat ovary.
AB  - X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), an endogenous of inhibitor of
      caspases, plays crucial roles in regulating ovarian granulosa cell apoptosis
      during follicular atresia. The aim of the present study was to determine the
      presence and localization of XIAP in the goat ovary and its expression level
      during follicular development. The full length cDNA of XIAP from goat ovary cells
      was cloned using reverse transcription PCR. A total of 497 amino acid residues
      were encoded by open reading frame and had high identity with homologous
      sequences from other mammals. XIAP was widely expressed in adult goat tissues as
      determined by real-time PCR and it demonstrated higher expression in propagative
      organs. High level of XIAP was detected in large healthy follicles and corpus
      luteum in comparison with that in small antral follicles, which was in accordance
      with the immunohistochemistry results and atretic follicles had very low
      expression. XIAP was localized in both granulosa and theca cells in antral
      follicles but not in primordial follicles. Furthermore, luteinizing hormone
      stimulated the proliferation of mRNA encoding XIAP in granulosa cells in vitro.
      The present study demonstrated that XIAP was expressed in a follicular-stage
      dependent manner in goat ovaries.

PMID- 28601153
TI  - Equine chorionic gonadotropin increases fertility of grazing dairy cows that
      receive fixed-time artificial insemination in the early but not later postpartum
      period.
AB  - This study evaluated effects of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on fertility
      of 679 crossbred (Bos taurus x Bos indicus) lactating grazing cows synchronized
      for fixed-time AI (FTAI). At a random day of the estrous cycle cows received an
      intravaginal progesterone (P4) implant, 2 mg estradiol benzoate (EB) and 100 MUg
      gonadorelin (D0-AM). On D7-AM, cows received 0.5 mg sodium cloprostenol and were
      randomly assigned into two treatments: eCG (n = 340; 400 IU eCG on D7), or
      Control (n = 339; no eCG). On D8-PM, P4 implants were removed and cows received
      0.5 mg sodium cloprostenol and 1 mg EB. Insemination was performed on D10-AM.
      Pregnancy was diagnosed 30 and 60 d after AI. Treatment with eCG tended to
      increase pregnancy per AI (P/AI) compared to Control at 30 (37.8 vs. 30.2%; P =
      0.06) and 60 (31.9 vs. 25.1%; P = 0.08) d. Pregnancy loss and twinning did not
      differ between groups. Treatment with eCG increased (P < 0.05) P/AI at 30 (39.0
      vs. 25.2%) and 60 (32.8 vs. 21.3%) d for cows inseminated at <= 70 d in milk
      (DIM) but had no effect in cows receiving AI after 70 DIM. Thus, eCG on D7 of a
      FTAI protocol increased fertility of crossbred dairy cows inseminated in the
      early postpartum period.

PMID- 28601154
TI  - Spermatozoal transcripts expression levels are predictive of semen quality and
      conception rate in bulls (Bos taurus).
AB  - Spermatozoal transcripts expression levels could be used to assess fertility
      potential of a male. The objective of the present study was to elucidate the
      predictive ability of the expression levels of growth, apoptosis and homeostasis
      regulating transcripts on sperm functions and fertility. The expression levels of
      spermatozoal RNA isolated from the neat semen samples were related to the good
      (discarded ejaculate, <25%; n = 7) and poor (discarded ejaculate, >40%, n = 6)
      quality semen producer and bulls (n = 12) with known conception rate. The
      relative fold expression levels of BMP2 were significantly (p < 0.01) higher in
      good than the poor semen producers and positively associated with post-thaw sperm
      velocity parameters (LIN and VAP). The NGF expressions fold levels had
      significant (p < 0.05) positive relationship with mitochondrial membrane
      potential of neat semen samples. The genes involved in the apoptotic, UBE2D3 (r =
      -0.61, p = 0.02), CASP3 (r = -0.57, p = 0.03) and homeostatic, HSFY2 (r = -0.61,
      p < 0.02) regulators had significant negative correlation with the percentage of
      post-thaw fast progressive motile spermatozoa. The expression level of TRADD had
      significant negative influence on the mitochondrial membrane potential (r = 
      0.54, p = 0.05) of neat semen samples and conception rate (r = -0.57, p < 0.05).
      The expression levels of BMP2 had highly significant positive correlation with
      NGF (r = 0.99, p < 0.01) and CASP3 (r = 0.56, p = 0.05). The BMP2 expression
      level might be used to predict the quality of the semen and TRADD determine the
      conception rate of the bull. The study provides ample evidence that the sperm
      transcripts expression levels might be used to predict quality semen production
      and bull fertility.

PMID- 28601155
TI  - Boar genotype as a factor shaping age-related changes in semen parameters and
      reproduction longevity simulations.
AB  - The aim of this study was a detailed analysis of the boar genotypes used in AI
      stations with an indication of their production capacity, including age and a
      precise analysis of their culling time and reason. The study included 334 boars:
      81 Polish Large White (PLW), 108 Polish Landrace (PL), 49 Pietrain (P), 56 Duroc
      * Pietrain (D * P) and 40 Hampshire * Pietrain (H * P). Semen volume, spermatozoa
      concentration, total number of spermatozoa, number of motile spermatozoa, and
      number of insemination doses were analyzed. Quadratic regression was used to
      illustrate the selected sperm parameters at specific ages. Among all the studied
      boars the lowest motilities of spermatozoa were identified in white breeds PLW
      and PL, and the difference between motility extremes was 3.53% (P <= 0.01). The
      highest number of insemination doses were produced from D * P crossbreed boars:
      about 0.7 portions more compared to PL, 1.13 to PLW, 1.18 to H * P and 1.8 to P
      (all differences P <= 0.01). It has been shown in the case of ejaculate volume
      that for PLW and H * P boars the culling moment was far too early in terms of
      production capacity and differences were, respectively, 16.35 ml for PLW and
      12.61 ml for H * P. Based on the developed regression equations, the earliest
      maximum number of motile sperm (73.82 * 109) was obtained by H * P crossbreed
      boars as early as at age 24 months. The highest values for this parameter were
      achieved, however, by other D * P crossbreed boars: 74.30 * 109 at the later age
      of 32 months. A consequence of the high number of motile sperm in young H * P
      boars was that the theoretical maximum value of the number of AI doses was
      produced as early as the 14th month (25.59 portions). Curves of similar shape
      were obtained for PL and D * P boars; the difference in maximal values was 0.54
      portions in favor of crossbreeds, at a later age of 7 months. It was noted that
      for PLW and D * P boars the highest number of cullings were due to reduced demand
      (24.47% and even 31.19%, respectively). Other boars - PL, P and H * P - were most
      frequently culled because of low semen values. Regardless of the genotype, high
      survival probabilities (over 0.96) were noted for the age of 12 months. The
      highest probabilities (still over 0.96) were noted in the longest time period (up
      to 18 months) for P boars. The results of our study can be used in AI stations as
      reference points for the exploitation and culling of boars with different
      genotypes.

PMID- 28601157
TI  - Protein based flushing related blood urea nitrogen effects on ovarian response,
      embryo recovery and embryo quality in superovulated ewes.
AB  - The present study is the first report that evaluates effects of nutritional
      effects of flushing with differing diet crude protein ratios on blood urea
      nitrogen (BUN) levels, related some reproductive parameters and embryo quality in
      ewe. During mating season, before synchronization protocol ewes were fed on
      alfalfa hay and additive concentrate feeding as flushing. Intra vaginal FGA
      containing sponges applied for 12 days for the purpose of synchronization and
      pFSH was administered by 8 declining doses for the purpose of superovulation.
      Uterus was flushed in the morning of the seventh day of mating and embryos were
      collected surgically. Collected embryos were qualified according to IETS
      criterion. There is no dependency found between BUN values measured at different
      days and at different diet crude protein concentrations. An increase in uterine
      pH levels due to increasing protein amounts was observed but this increase was
      not significant among groups. Ovarian function was evaluated by ovarian responses
      (CL + large follicle) showed difference between groups (p < 0.05) and the lowest
      protein intake group gave highest ovarian response. In addition, embryo recovery
      rates revealed difference between groups (p < 0.05) and it was observed that the
      lowest ovarian response group showed the highest rates of embryo recovery. It is
      concluded that, in some Anatolian native sheep breeds, the application of diet
      flushing with different crude protein concentrates influence ovarian responses
      and embryo recovery rates but has no effect on BUN levels; uterus physiology or
      embryonic quality.

PMID- 28601156
TI  - Ovopel and carp pituitary extract for the reproductive induction of Colossoma
      macropomum males.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate Ovopel and carp pituitary extract
      (CPE) in the reproductive induction of Colossoma macropomum males. Nine
      treatments were tested in triplicate, totaling 27 experimental units. C.
      macropomum breeders were subjected to the following treatments: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3,
      0.4, 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 Ovopel pellet/kg; 2.5 mg CPE/kg (traditional protocol);
      and a control treatment (no hormone). Breeders under hormone treatment produced a
      larger (P < 0.05) semen volume (2.4 +/- 0.7 to 4.2 +/- 0.3 mL) compared with the
      control (0.9 +/- 0.4 mL). Sperm concentration did not differ significantly among
      treatments (7.2 * 109 +/- 1.7 to 10.8 * 109 +/- 2.6 spermatozoa/mL). Total sperm
      count was higher (P < 0.05) after treatment with 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6 Ovopel
      pellet/kg (41.6 +/- 9.3 to 42.3 +/- 10.5 * 109 spermatozoa) than the other Ovopel
      treatments (20.0 +/- 2.4 to 26.9 +/- 8.2 * 109 spermatozoa) and control (6.6 +/-
      1.1 * 109 spermatozoa), but did not differ significantly from CPE (33.7 +/- 3.2 *
      109 spermatozoa). Sperm motility was higher (P < 0.05) in the CPE treated, and
      0.2, 0.3, and 0.7 Ovopel pellet/kg (88.3 +/- 2.9 to 90.0 +/- 5.0) breeders when
      compared with the other treatments (70.0 +/- 10.0 to 78.3 +/- 5.8), except for
      the 0.4 pellet/kg (81.7 +/- 2.9) treatment, which did not differ significantly
      from any of the treatments. The motility period of the spermatozoa did not differ
      significantly among treatments (93.5 +/- 15.7 to 120.0 +/- 7.6 s). For the sperm
      morphological analysis, occurrence of normal spermatozoa was similar across the
      treatments, with three sperm abnormalities (short tail, bent tail, and detached
      head) differing (P < 0.05) among the treatments. Ovopel efficiently induced
      reproduction of C. macropomum breeders, with treatment using 0.3 and 0.4 Ovopel
      pellet/kg and CPE providing the best semen characteristics.

PMID- 28601158
TI  - Effect of corifollitropin alfa supplemented with or without LH on ovarian
      stimulation and embryo viability in rabbit.
AB  - There is increasing interest in using rabbits for research as a laboratory model
      as well as for industrial production of meat, wool and fur. Superovulation in
      animals is used to produce a maximum number of transferable embryos per donor, in
      order to either support genetic improvement programs, ex situ conservation or to
      optimize other biotechnologies. Over time, the use of this biotechnology has
      shown variable outcomes as a consequence of several factors, such as the origin
      of exogenous hormone, posology and the effect of gonadotropins used
      simultaneously, the donor and the environment. The aim of this study was to
      compare the efficacy of a single injection of corifollitropin alfa (CTP), alone
      or supplemented with LH, versus a FSH standard protocol of five equal doses
      administered twice daily to superovulate rabbit does (20 per group and 29 control
      females). We determined: 1) the impact of this stimulation on in vitro
      development and mRNA expression at blastocyst stage and 2) in vivo embryo
      development and viability rate at birth of transferred embryos. Our outcomes
      showed that the ovulation rate was similar among the different ovarian
      stimulation groups, reaching more than fourfold the ovulation rate of a control
      doe. While rates of embryos developing to the blastocyst stage after 48 h of in
      vitro culture were similar between groups, the hatched blastocyst rate was higher
      for superovulated embryos from CTP group. Moreover, no significant differences
      among mRNA expression of OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG genes were detected. Nevertheless,
      embryos from ovarian stimulated does with CTP + LH showed significantly higher
      implantation rates and survival at birth among the different ovarian stimulation
      groups and similar to those in the control group. In conclusion, the results of
      this study suggest that a single injection of long acting corifollitropin alfa
      can be effectively used in rabbits to elicit a more than fourfold increase in
      ovulation rate compared to control animals. In addition, the LH supplementation
      allows us to obtain similar in vivo embryo development results as in the control
      group.

PMID- 28601159
TI  - Abnormal pregnancies associated with deviation in progestin and estrogen profiles
      in late pregnant mares: A diagnostic aid.
AB  - Measurement of progestines and estrogens in maternal plasma has been advocated as
      an indicator of foeto-placental function. The goals of the present study were as
      follows: to determine progestin and estrogen concentrations in mares with normal
      and abnormal pregnancies during late gestation, evaluate the diagnostic value of
      hormone concentrations, and investigate the relationship between hormone
      concentrations after treatment and the survival of foals. Blood samples were
      collected monthly from 459 pregnant mares between Day 201 of gestation and
      foaling. Progestin and estrogen concentrations were measured using a time
      resolved fluoroimmunoassay with anti-progesterone and anti-17beta-estradiol
      antibodies. The cutoff values of hormone concentrations that best discriminated
      between healthy foals and foal loss groups were determined using receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Mares with compromised pregnancies
      are treated with progestins, tocolytics and antibiotics according to clinical
      signs, ultrasonographic examination and hormonal test. We investigated the
      relationship between the restoration of hormone concentrations after treatment
      and the survival rate of the foals of 62 compromised mares. Maternal serum
      progestin and estrogen concentrations on Days 241-320 of gestation differed
      significantly between healthy foals and foal loss of each group. Predictions of
      pregnancy outcomes were based on ROC curve analysis that established cutoff
      values of serum progestin and estrogen concentrations for each 20-day interval
      during gestation. All mares with improved concentrations of progestins or
      estrogens after treatment delivered healthy foals. When hormone concentrations
      got worse after treatment, the rate of loss was higher when treatment was
      administered during Days 201-290 of gestation than after Day 290. Mares with high
      progestin and low estrogen concentrations were likely to deliver aborted/dead
      foals during mid-to-late gestation. These results suggest that measurement of
      progestin and estrogen concentrations may be useful for diagnosing abnormal
      pregnancy and implementing early treatment strategies.

PMID- 28601160
TI  - Sperm collection by transrectal ultrasound-guided massage of the accessory sex
      glands is less stressful than electroejaculation without altering sperm
      characteristics in conscious goat bucks.
AB  - In anesthetized non-domestic ruminants transrectal ultrasound-guided massage of
      the accessory sex glands (TUMASG) is an alternative method to collect semen
      slightly less stressful than electroejaculation (EE). However, some sperm
      characteristics are better when semen is collected with EE than with TUMASG. As
      anesthesia reduces the response to stressors, the advantages of TUMASG may be
      reduced in anesthetized animals, and thus, TUMASG may be even more advantageous
      in conscious animals. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the
      stress response and the characteristics of the sperm collected with TUMASG and EE
      in conscious goat bucks. Semen was collected in 10 bucks with both procedures.
      During each procedure, the time required for ejaculation, the number of electric
      pulses applied and the number of vocalizations were recorded. Rectal temperature,
      heart rate, serum cortisol concentration, biochemical and hematological
      parameters were measured before and after each procedure. Sperm characteristics
      [ejaculated volume, sperm concentration, sperm mass motility (scale 0-5), sperm
      vigor (scale 0-5), the percentages of motile and progressive motile sperm, of
      sperm vitality, of sperm with plasma membrane integrity, and with acrosome damage
      and morphological abnormalities] were also determined. Electroejaculation
      required more electric pulses than TUMASG (P < 0.0001), but TUMASG took more time
      than EE (P < 0.0001). The EE provoked more vocalizations (P = 0.02) and a greater
      increase of cortisol concentrations than TUMASG (P = 0.04). Heart rate also
      tended to be greater with EE than with TUMASG (P = 0.07). The sperm
      characteristics did not differ between TUMASG and EE. In conclusion, TUMASG was
      less stressful and probably less painful than EE without affecting the semen
      quality. Thus, although it required more time, TUMASG is an alternative procedure
      to decrease the welfare concerns raised by EE in conscious goat bucks.

PMID- 28601161
TI  - Effective use of SexedULTRATM sex-sorted semen for timed artificial insemination
      of beef heifers.
AB  - An experiment was designed to evaluate the relative fertility of SexedULTRATM sex
      sorted semen compared to conventional, non-sex-sorted semen when used among beef
      heifers in conjunction with split-time AI following the 14-d CIDR-PG protocol.
      Units of conventional semen were generated with 25.0 * 106 live cells per 0.5 ml
      straw prior to freezing, and units of sex-sorted semen were generated using the
      SexedULTRATM Genesis III sorting technology with 4.0 * 106 live cells per 0.25 ml
      straw prior to freezing. Sex-sorted units were sorted to contain X chromosome
      bearing sperm cells at an accuracy level of >90%. Estrus was synchronized in 851
      heifers at four locations using the 14-d CIDR-PG protocol: controlled internal
      drug release (CIDR) insert (1.38 g progesterone) on Day 0, CIDR removal on Day
      14, and administration of prostaglandin F2alpha (PG; 25 mg im) on Day 30. Estrus
      detection aids were applied at PG on Day 30 to evaluate estrous response rate,
      and split-time AI was performed based on estrous response. At 66 h after PG (Day
      33), heifers having expressed estrus received timed AI. Heifers failing to
      express estrus by 66 h received timed AI 24 h later (90 h after PGF2alpha on Day
      34). Heifers failing to express estrus by 90 h were administered gonadotropin
      releasing hormone (GnRH; 100 MUg im) concurrent with AI. Heifers were preassigned
      to treatment (insemination with either conventional or SexedULTRATM sex-sorted
      semen), and treatments were balanced within each location based on source,
      reproductive tract score, and weight. Heifers were exposed for natural service
      beginning 14 d after AI for the remainder of a 60 d breeding season. Pregnancy
      rates to AI across locations tended to be higher (P = 0.09) for heifers
      inseminated with conventional semen (60%; 257/429) compared to sex-sorted semen
      (52%; 218/422). Higher pregnancy rates to AI (P < 0.0001) were obtained among
      heifers that expressed estrus prior to AI than among heifers that failed to
      express estrus prior to AI at 90 h. Total pregnancy rates at the end of the 60 d
      breeding season did not differ between heifers that received sex-sorted semen at
      AI (89%; 376/422) and heifers that received conventional semen at AI (89%;
      382/429). In summary, the pregnancy rates observed suggest that SexedULTRATM sex
      sorted semen can be used effectively for timed AI of beef heifers when split-time
      AI is performed following the 14-d CIDR-PG protocol.

PMID- 28601162
TI  - Immature and mature sperm morphometry in fresh and frozen-thawed falcon
      ejaculates.
AB  - Sperm morphometry is one characteristic which may be useful in prediction of
      fertility and sperm freezability in a species. Knowledge of the sperm
      characteristics of the ejaculate and the morphometric descriptors is necessary to
      effectively develop sperm cryopreservation. The aim of the current study was to
      provide a general description of the sperm from two falcon species (Peregrine
      falcon Falco peregrinus peregrinus/brookei and Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus)
      including immature sperm, sperm head morphometric descriptors, and the existence
      of mature sperm subpopulations. Semen samples were collected by massage and
      voluntary false copulation and diluted with Lake and Ravie medium. Smears were
      prepared of the diluted samples, stained with Hemacolor(r), and subjected to: 1)
      morphological analysis (bright field optical microscopy), and 2) computerised
      morphometric analysis; each sperm head was measured for length, width, area and
      perimeter. In addition, in the Gyrfalcon, pooled semen was frozen in pellets
      using DMA as a cryoprotectant and the analyses repeated after thawing. The mean
      percentage of immature sperm (spermatocytes and spermatids) was similarly high in
      all species/subspecies: Brookei Peregrine falcon (F. p. brookei) 55.5%, European
      Peregrine falcon (F. p. peregrinus) 65.5% and Gyrfalcon 64.7%. Clustering
      analyses identified four subpopulations of mature spermatozoa with different
      morphometric characteristics (P < 0.001). The relative proportions of these
      subpopulations were similar in all three species. The mean values recorded for
      the morphometric variables of the four subpopulations were, however, lower (P <
      0.001) in the thawed Gyrfalcon samples than in fresh samples. The results support
      the idea of pleiomorphy as a characteristic of raptor mature sperm. This finding,
      plus that of the existence of four sperm subpopulations with different
      morphometric characteristics, may be important in the future development of
      cryopreservation protocols for falcon sperm.

PMID- 28601163
TI  - Cover Story: Nanoparticle properties affecting nuclear targeting in cancer and
      normal cells.

PMID- 28601164
TI  - How Radiologists Think: Understanding Fast and Slow Thought Processing and How It
      Can Improve Our Teaching.
AB  - Scholars have identified two distinct ways of thinking. This "Dual Process
      Theory" distinguishes a fast, nonanalytical way of thinking, called "System 1,"
      and a slow, analytical way of thinking, referred to as "System 2." In radiology,
      we use both methods when interpreting and reporting images, and both should
      ideally be emphasized when educating our trainees. This review provides practical
      tips for improving radiology education, by enhancing System 1 and System 2
      thinking among our trainees.

PMID- 28601165
TI  - Public Health Nutrition: Achieving Health Equity During SNEB's Next 50 Years.

PMID- 28601166
TI  - I'll Serve Myself: Perspectives on Meal Service.

PMID- 28601167
TI  - Evaluation of a Theory-Based Intervention Aimed at Reducing Intention to Use
      Restrictive Dietary Behaviors Among Adolescent Female Athletes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-based intervention to reduce
      the intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight among
      adolescent female athletes involved in aesthetic sports. DESIGN: Cluster
      randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Aesthetic sport teams of adolescent female
      athletes aged 12-17 years. PARTICIPANTS: Two teams (n = 37 athletes) in the
      intervention group and 3 teams (n = 33) in the comparison group. INTERVENTIONS:
      The 2 groups received nutrition education during 3 weekly 60-minute sessions. The
      intervention group was further exposed to a theory-based intervention targeting
      the specific determinant of intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors for
      losing weight, namely attitude. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Difference over time
      between groups in intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors for losing
      weight and in nutrition knowledge. ANALYSIS: Mixed models for repeated measures.
      RESULTS: The theory-based intervention contributed to maintaining a low intention
      of using restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight over time in the
      intervention group compared with the comparison group (P < .03). Nutrition
      knowledge score increased equally in both groups. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS:
      Complementing nutrition education with theory-based behavior change intervention
      may help maintain a low intention of using restrictive dietary behaviors for
      losing weight among female high school athletes involved in aesthetic sports.

PMID- 28601168
TI  - Directionality in the Relationship of Self-regulation, Self-efficacy, and Mood
      Changes in Facilitating Improved Physical Activity and Nutrition Behaviors:
      Extending Behavioral Theory to Improve Weight-Loss Treatment Effects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To improve understanding of directionality in the dynamic
      relationships among psychosocial predictors of behavioral changes associated with
      weight loss. METHODS: In women with obesity participating in a new behavioral
      weight-loss treatment that emphasizes physical activity (n = 53; body mass index
      = 34.7 +/- 3.3 kg/m2), mediation and moderated-mediation models were fit to
      assess directionality in the self-efficacy-self-regulation change relationship
      and additional effects of mood change and its basis on fruit/vegetable intake and
      physical activity behaviors through month 6 and from months 6 to 24. RESULTS:
      Self-regulation was a stronger predictor of change in self-efficacy than vice
      versa. Mood change did not moderate the relationships significantly between
      changes in self-efficacy and/or self-regulation, and weight loss behavior.
      Emotional eating significantly changed mediated relationships between changes in
      mood and fruit/vegetable intake through month 6 (95% confidence interval, -0.05
      to 0.00). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Findings clarified relationships of self
      efficacy, self-regulation, and mood in the prediction of weight loss behaviors,
      and informed behavioral treatments for improved outcomes.

PMID- 28601169
TI  - African American Women's Perceptions on Access to Food and Water in Flint,
      Michigan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the perceptions of food access by African American women in
      Flint, MI. METHODS: Using womanist theory, in which African American women's
      experiential knowledge centered the analysis, 8 focus groups were conducted
      during fall/spring, 2014-2015. Seventeen mothers aged 21-50 years with children
      aged <18 years and 13 women aged >60 years comprised the groups. RESULTS: The
      high cost of water, poor availability of healthy foods in inner-city stores, and
      limited transportation were barriers to accessing healthy food. Conversely,
      receiving food from food giveaways, friends, and family, as well as access to
      transportation facilitated food access. These women also reported discriminatory
      experiences and diet-related health concerns. Participants were keenly aware of
      available free community resources and gender, racial, and income barriers to
      accessing them. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Understanding these barriers and
      facilitators provides information to aid local food policy assistance decisions
      and inform community-based interventions, especially given the lead contamination
      of water and the purported importance of a healthy diet to sequester lead.

PMID- 28601170
TI  - VERTICAL: A Sensory Education Program for Australian Primary Schools to Promote
      Children's Vegetable Consumption.

PMID- 28601171
TI  - A Practical Approach to Supratentorial Brain Malformations: What Radiologists
      Should Know.
AB  - For general radiologists, congenital brain malformations pose substantial
      challenges in terms of recognition, description, and classification. This review
      describes a practical approach to imaging and classifying the most common
      supratentorial brain malformations. It begins with a discussion of embryology and
      optimal imaging technique and then summarizes distinguishing imaging features for
      several major categories of cerebral malformation, including holoprosencephaly,
      gray matter heterotopia, lissencephaly/pachygyria, focal cortical dysplasia,
      polymicrogyria, and cobblestone malformation. The importance of identifying
      abnormalities in the corpus callosum and basal ganglia is also discussed, both
      for detection and characterization of cerebral malformations.

PMID- 28601172
TI  - Respiratory Distress in Neonates: Underlying Causes and Current Imaging
      Assessment.
AB  - The imaging evaluation of the neonate in respiratory distress has been described
      since the most early days of pediatric radiology but advances in diagnosis and
      treatment have changed the patient population presenting with these conditions
      and altered the imaging findings. In this article, the range of conditions that
      cause neonatal respiratory distress is depicted, including congenital lung
      malformations and lung disease in both preterm and full-term infants. An updated
      approach to the imaging of these conditions is reviewed, with a focus on changes
      that have resulted from advances in treatment and diagnosis.

PMID- 28601173
TI  - Children with Cough and Fever: Up-to-date Imaging Evaluation and Management.
AB  - Cough and fever in infants and children are frequent but nonspecific symptoms.
      Several usual differential diagnoses are under consideration and imaging is often
      necessary to help arrive at an accurate diagnosis and ensure proper management. A
      broad spectrum of underlying disorders may be present. Radiologists must remain
      cognizant of the potential for immune dysfunction and underlying structural
      abnormalities. A clear understanding of up-to-date imaging evaluation
      recommendations and characteristic imaging features can assist radiologists and
      clinicians in arriving at the most accurate diagnosis in a timely manner and help
      ensure proper management and necessary follow-up imaging assessment.

PMID- 28601174
TI  - Thoracic Neoplasms in Children: Contemporary Perspectives and Imaging Assessment.
AB  - This article focuses on commonly encountered primary lung, airway, mediastinal,
      and chest wall neoplasms that occur in the pediatric population. Although primary
      pediatric thoracic neoplasms are rare, imaging is critical in their diagnostic
      work-up. An overview of the latest imaging techniques specific to evaluate these
      pediatric thoracic neoplasms is presented across the spectrum of modalities from
      radiography to PET/MR imaging. In addition, the characteristic imaging
      appearances of these pediatric primary thoracic neoplasms are discussed with an
      emphasis on what the radiologist needs to know in routine clinical practice.

PMID- 28601175
TI  - Pediatric Thoracic Anatomic Variants: What Radiologists Need to Know.
AB  - Anatomic variants are common incidental findings in pediatric chest imaging and
      can be mistaken for true underlying pathology, sometimes resulting in unnecessary
      additional imaging evaluation or invasive procedures. Clear understanding of the
      imaging characteristics and clinical significance of anatomic thoracic variants
      is important for accurate diagnosis and avoidance of unnecessary intervention.
      This article provides an up-to-date review of anatomic variants in the pediatric
      chest to increase knowledge and aide in timely, correct diagnosis.

PMID- 28601176
TI  - Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease: Essential Primer for the Practicing
      Radiologist.
AB  - The cyanotic congenital heart diseases are a rare and heterogeneous group of
      disorders, often requiring urgent neonatal management. Although echocardiography
      is the mainstay for imaging, continued technological advances have expanded the
      role for computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, helping to limit
      invasive cardiac catheterization. In this article, the authors review the broad
      spectrum of cyanotic congenital heart disease, focusing on the utility of
      advanced noninvasive imaging modalities while highlighting key clinical features
      and management considerations.

PMID- 28601177
TI  - Neonatal Gastrointestinal Emergencies: Step-by-Step Approach.
AB  - Neonatal gastrointestinal emergencies are caused by a diverse set of primarily
      congenital entities that may affect the upper or lower gastrointestinal tracts,
      and occasionally both. Although a diagnosis can sometimes be made on prenatal
      imaging, more commonly patients present after birth and require prompt diagnosis
      to facilitate timely treatment. Imaging plays a central role in the accurate
      diagnosis of these entities and typically consists of an initial abdominal series
      followed by either an upper gastrointestinal series or contrast enema. The
      authors review the most common neonatal gastrointestinal emergencies and provide
      a step-by-step approach to the accurate imaging diagnosis.

PMID- 28601178
TI  - Pediatric Hepatobiliary Neoplasms: An Overview and Update.
AB  - Recent developments regarding the treatment of pediatric liver tumors have
      significantly improved patient care. Stimulated by collaboration between
      international pediatric groups, advances have been made in surgical techniques,
      transplantation options, and chemotherapy schemas. In light of this progress,
      clear understanding of the state-of-the-art imaging evaluation of hepatobiliary
      tumors has become even more integral to the effective management of children with
      hepatic neoplasms. The unique imaging features of hepatic neoplasms in the
      pediatric population, when coupled with supportive demographic data and
      laboratory findings, can lead to accurate diagnosis and proper treatment of
      hepatobiliary tumors.

PMID- 28601179
TI  - Pediatric Urinary System Neoplasms: An Overview and Update.
AB  - Pediatric urinary system neoplasms are a diverse group of tumors that frequently
      overlap in their clinical and radiologic features. By contrast, the
      histopathologic classification and treatment of these entities have become
      increasingly refined, resulting in improved outcomes, with the overall survival
      of Wilms tumors now exceeding 90%. Significantly, many contemporary protocols
      rely on radiologic diagnosis in the absence of tissue confirmation. This review
      article provides up-to-date clinical, epidemiologic, and imaging findings of
      pediatric urinary system neoplasms and their mimics frequently encountered in
      daily clinical practice.

PMID- 28601180
TI  - Musculoskeletal Traumatic Injuries in Children: Characteristic Imaging Findings
      and Mimickers.
AB  - Musculoskeletal traumatic injuries in children demonstrate characteristic imaging
      findings. The physis is the most susceptible structure to traumatic injury. The
      periosteum in children plays a key role in rapid bone healing and stability. The
      main complications of fractures in children are premature physeal closure,
      potential limb length discrepancy, and angular deformities. Understanding the
      normal bone growth, healing, and complications of pediatric fractures is crucial
      for appropriate imaging diagnosis. This article discusses currently available
      imaging modalities with up-to-date techniques, underlying mechanisms, and
      characteristic imaging findings of musculoskeletal traumatic injuries and
      mimickers encountered in daily clinical practice.

PMID- 28601181
TI  - Practical Indication-Based Pediatric Nuclear Medicine Studies: Update and Review.
AB  - Pediatric nuclear medicine imaging presents unique challenges and requires a
      thorough understanding of the patients' developmental stages and physiology to
      optimize study protocols. This article provides an overview of the current
      practice of diagnostic pediatric nuclear medicine, including the common clinical
      applications and imaging protocol considerations.

PMID- 28601182
TI  - Practical Imaging Evaluation of Foreign Bodies in Children: An Update.
AB  - Foreign bodies (FBs) may be unintentionally ingested, inhaled, or inserted into a
      body cavity or tissue, or may be due to traumatic or iatrogenic injury. They are
      frequently detected in clinical practice and emergency rooms. Early detection and
      prompt management are mandatory to avoid severe and life-threatening
      complications. Imaging plays an important role in confirming the presence and
      characterization of the FB, and its relationship with any affected organs. This
      article reviews commonly encountered FBs with regard to incidence, risk factors,
      mechanisms of entry, clinical presentation, associated complications, and typical
      imaging appearance in children.

PMID- 28601183
TI  - Spectrum of Syndromic Disorders Associated with Pediatric Tumors: Evolving Role
      of Practical Imaging Assessment.
AB  - Although pediatric tumors are largely sporadic in cause, continued advancements
      in science have elucidated a growing body of tumors that are associated with
      syndromes. Early identification of these syndromic disorders associated with
      developing tumors can alter the course of disease and potentially save lives.
      Medical imaging has a pivotal role in screening surveillance, diagnosis, and
      management of these tumors. Understanding characteristic manifestations of these
      syndromes is important to optimize image utilization. This article discusses
      clinically important syndromes associated with pediatric tumors with brief
      overview of the background, genetics, and clinical features. Diagnosis, imaging,
      management, and treatment are also reviewed.

PMID- 28601185
TI  - Emerging Therapeutic Potential Targeting Genetics and Epigentics in Heart
      Failure.

PMID- 28601187
TI  - Editor's perspectives - June 2017.

PMID- 28601188
TI  - The quality of fixed prosthodontic impressions: An assessment of crown and bridge
      impressions received at commercial laboratories.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The authors evaluated and quantified clinically detectable errors
      commonly seen in impressions sent to commercial laboratories and determined
      possible relationships between finish line errors and other factors involved.
      METHODS: The authors visited 3 large and 1 small commercial dental laboratories
      over a 12-month period. Three calibrated examiners evaluated the impressions. The
      examiners evaluated all impressions for errors by using *2.5 magnification loupes
      under ambient room lighting without the aid of additional illumination. RESULTS:
      The authors evaluated 1,157 impressions; 86% of the examined impressions had at
      least 1 detectable error, and 55% of the noted errors were critical errors
      pertaining to the finish line. The largest single error categories evaluated were
      tissue over the finish line (49.09%), lack of unprepared stops in dual-arch
      impressions (25.63%), pressure of the tray on the soft tissue (25.06%), and void
      at the finish line (24.38%). The factors blood on the impression (odds ratio,
      2.31; P < .001) and tray type (odds ratio, 1.68; P < .001) were associated
      significantly with finish line errors. CONCLUSIONS: Marginal discrepancies made
      up the largest category of error noted in impressions evaluated. The authors
      noted an increase in errors at the finish line with dual-arch impression
      techniques and in the presence of blood. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Dentists have
      ethical, moral, and legal obligations bestowed on them by the profession and need
      to evaluate critically the work they send to laboratories. The authors strongly
      recommend an improvement in technique and reviewing of all impressions and
      working casts.

PMID- 28601189
TI  - Has survival improved following resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study was undertaken to determine if survival after resection
      of pancreatic adenocarcinoma has improved over the past two decades. METHODS: The
      SEER database was queried for patients who underwent pancreatectomy for
      pancreatic adenocarcinoma from 1992 to 2010. AJCC Stage and survival were
      determined for patients. Data were analyzed using Mantel-Cox test and linear
      regression. RESULTS: 15,604 patients underwent pancreatectomy from 1992 to 2010.
      Survival improved from 1992 to 2010 (p < 0.0001); specifically, median survival
      increased 1992-2010 (p < 0.0001). However, 5-year survival rates did not change
      1992-2010. More patients (p = 0.007) underwent resections of Stage I and
      relatively more patients (p = 0.004) underwent resections of Stage II cancers
      2004-2010 with commensurately smaller tumors (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: From 1992
      to 2010, progressively more patients underwent pancreatectomy for pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma with progressively smaller tumors and earlier stages. These
      patients lived more years (e.g., improved survival curves and median survival)
      but without improved 5-year survival, denoting better early and intermediate
      survival. Early detection, better perioperative care, more efficacious
      noncurative chemotherapy undoubtedly play a role, but better solutions for long
      term survival must be sought.

PMID- 28601190
TI  - Psychological and physiological human responses to simulated and real
      environments: A comparison between Photographs, 360 degrees  Panoramas, and
      Virtual Reality.
AB  - Psychological research into human factors frequently uses simulations to study
      the relationship between human behaviour and the environment. Their validity
      depends on their similarity with the physical environments. This paper aims to
      validate three environmental-simulation display formats: photographs, 360 degrees
      panoramas, and virtual reality. To do this we compared the psychological and
      physiological responses evoked by simulated environments set-ups to those from a
      physical environment setup; we also assessed the users' sense of presence.
      Analysis show that 360 degrees  panoramas offer the closest to reality results
      according to the participants' psychological responses, and virtual reality
      according to the physiological responses. Correlations between the feeling of
      presence and physiological and other psychological responses were also observed.
      These results may be of interest to researchers using environmental-simulation
      technologies currently available in order to replicate the experience of physical
      environments.

PMID- 28601191
TI  - [Health professionals and cancer prevention in France: The new Danaides?]

PMID- 28601192
TI  - Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder via Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused
      Ultrasound Surgery.

PMID- 28601193
TI  - Valproate-Induced Hyperammonemic Encephalopathy in a General Hospital.

PMID- 28601195
TI  - New Frontiers in Surgical Innovation.
AB  - It is an exciting time for head and neck surgical innovation with numerous
      advances in the perioperative planning and intraoperative management of patients
      with cancer, trauma patients, and individuals with congenital defects. The broad
      and rapidly changing realm of head and neck surgical innovation precludes a
      comprehensive summary. This article highlights some of the most important
      innovations from surgical planning with sentinel node biopsy and three
      dimensional, stereolithic modeling to intraoperative innovations, such as
      transoral robotic surgery and intraoperative navigation. Future surgical
      innovations, such as intraoperative optical imaging of surgical margins, are also
      highlighted.

PMID- 28601194
TI  - Relation Between Obesity and Survival in Patients Hospitalized for Pulmonary
      Arterial Hypertension (from a Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database 2003 to 2011).
AB  - There have been numerous studies reporting lower mortality rates in obese
      patients with various cardiovascular disorders than in nonobese patients, a
      phenomenon known as the "obesity paradox." Limited data exist regarding the
      effect of obesity on prognosis in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension
      (PAH). We used the National Inpatient Sample database for years 2003 to 2011 to
      identify all patient hospitalizations aged >=18 years with a primary diagnosis of
      PAH. Patients with a diagnosis of obesity were identified using Elixhauser co
      morbidity measure provided in Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, based on
      International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification,
      codes and the diagnosis-related groups. Multivariable logistic regression was
      used to compare in-hospital mortality between obese and nonobese patients with
      PAH. Of the 18,450 patients with a primary diagnosis of PAH, 14.7% were obese.
      Obese patients with PAH were younger, more often women, and more often black
      compared with nonobese white patients. After risk adjustment for demographics,
      hospital characteristics, and baseline co-morbidities, obese patients with PAH
      had lower observed in-hospital mortality compared with nonobese patients with PAH
      (3.5% vs 8.1%; adjusted odds ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.51 to 0.85, p
      = 0.001). In conclusion, from a 9-year nationwide cohort of patients with PAH, we
      observed significantly lower risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality in obese
      patients compared with nonobese patients.

PMID- 28601196
TI  - Pilot study into milk haptoglobin as an indicator of udder health in heifers
      after calving.
AB  - Mastitis, inflammation of the mammary gland, is often caused by intramammary
      infection with bacterial organisms. It impacts on dairy cattle welfare,
      production, udder health and longevity in the herd. Current detection methods for
      mammary inflammation and infection all have limitations, particularly for on-farm
      diagnosis of non-clinical mastitis after calving. Acute phase proteins have been
      suggested as alternative early indicators of the disease and can potentially be
      used as cow-side test with results in real time. In this study, milk haptoglobin
      concentrations were investigated over the first week postpartum to explore
      haptoglobin's potential as indicator of udder health in dairy heifers.
      Haptoglobin concentration was highest on day 3 of lactation, and was positively
      correlated with somatic cell count, a commonly used marker of inflammation
      (rs=0.68). Haptoglobin level was also associated with bacteriological culture
      results, a key indicator of infection status, whereby median haptoglobin
      concentration on days 3 and 5 was higher in quarters that were infected at
      calving than quarters that were non infected at calving. Sensitivity and
      specificity of haptoglobin concentration as indicator of infection were low, both
      for lenient and strict culture-based definitions of intramammary infection (57 or
      60% and 61 or 63%, respectively). Although haptoglobin was a poor biomarker for
      intramammary infection with coagulase negative staphylococci in heifers during
      the first week after calving, it may have value as an indicator of major pathogen
      infections, particularly in large scale dairy herds where pre-partum heifers are
      managed off-site.

PMID- 28601197
TI  - A Comparative Study to Evaluate Myogenic Differentiation Potential of Human
      Chorion versus Umbilical Cord Blood-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Musculodegenerative diseases threaten the life of many patients in the
      world. Since drug administration is not efficient in regeneration of damaged
      tissues, stem cell therapy is considered as a good strategy to restore the lost
      cells. Since the efficiency of myogenic differentiation potential of human
      Chorion- derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (C-MSCs) has not been addressed so far;
      we set out to evaluate myogenic differentiation property of these cells in
      comparison with Umbilical Cord Blood- derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (UCB-MSCs)
      in the presence of 5-azacytidine. MATERIALS & METHODS: To do that, neonate
      placenta Umbilical Cord Blood were transferred to the lab. After characterization
      of the isolated cells using flowcytometry and multilineage differentiation
      capacity, the obtained Mesenchymal Stem Cells were cultured in DMEM/F12
      supplemented with 2% FBS and 10MUM of 5-azacytidine to induce myogenic
      differentiation. Real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry were used to assess the
      myogenic properties of the cells. RESULTS: Our data showed that C-MSCs and UCB
      MSCs were spindle shape in morphology. They were positive for CD90, CD73 and CD44
      antigens, and negative for hematopoietic markers. They also differentiated into
      osteoblast and adipoblast lineages. Real-time PCR results showed that the cells
      could express MyoD, desmin and alpha-MHC at the end of the first week (P<0.05).
      No significant upregulation was detected in the expression of GATA-4 in both
      groups. Immunocytochemical staining revealed the expression of Desmin, cTnT and
      alpha-MHC. CONCLUSIONS: Results showed that these cells are potent to
      differentiate into myoblast- like cells. An upregulation in the expression of
      some myogenic markers (desmin, alpha- MHC) was observed in C-MSCs in comparison
      with UCB-MSCs.

PMID- 28601200
TI  - Advances in Cognitive Engineering Using Neural Networks.

PMID- 28601198
TI  - Recurrent glomerulonephritis after kidney transplantation: risk factors and
      allograft outcomes.
AB  - Recurrent glomerulonephritis after kidney transplantation is a feared
      complication because it is unpredictable and may have a negative impact on graft
      outcomes. To better understand this we collected data from the Australia and New
      Zealand Dialysis and Transplant (ANZDATA) Registry accumulated over 30 years. The
      incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of recurrent glomerulonephritis in
      transplant recipients were determined using adjusted Cox proportional hazard and
      competing risk modeling. A total of 6,597 recipients with biopsy-proven
      glomerulonephritis as the primary cause of end-stage kidney disease were followed
      for 51,871 person-years (median duration 7.7 years). The four most common types
      of glomerulonephritis were IgA nephropathy in 2501 patients, focal segmental
      glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in 1403, membranous in 376, and membranoproliferative
      (MPGN) nephropathy in 357 patients. Among these four types, recurrence was
      reported in 479 of 4637 patients, and of these, 212 lost their allograft due to
      recurrence. Older age at transplantation (adjusted hazard ratio [per year
      increase] 0.96 [95% confidence interval 0.95 - 0.97]) was associated with a lower
      risk of recurrence. Significantly, the five-year graft survival was 30% for
      recipients with recurrent MPGN and 57-59% for recipients with FSGS, IgA, and
      membranous nephropathy. Transplant recipients with recurrent disease were twice
      as likely to lose their allografts compared to those without recurrence (adjusted
      hazard ratio 2.04 [1.81-2.31]). Thus, recurrent glomerulonephritis remains a
      significant cause of graft loss in transplant recipients.

PMID- 28601201
TI  - Reprint of "Two-stage sparse coding of region covariance via Log-Euclidean
      kernels to detect saliency".
AB  - In this paper, we present a novel bottom-up saliency detection algorithm from the
      perspective of covariance matrices on a Riemannian manifold. Each superpixel is
      described by a region covariance matrix on Riemannian Manifolds. We carry out a
      two-stage sparse coding scheme via Log-Euclidean kernels to extract salient
      objects efficiently. In the first stage, given background dictionary on image
      borders, sparse coding of each region covariance via Log-Euclidean kernels is
      performed. The reconstruction error on the background dictionary is regarded as
      the initial saliency of each superpixel. In the second stage, an improvement of
      the initial result is achieved by calculating reconstruction errors of the
      superpixels on foreground dictionary, which is extracted from the first stage
      saliency map. The sparse coding in the second stage is similar to the first
      stage, but is able to effectively highlight the salient objects uniformly from
      the background. Finally, three post-processing methods-highlight-inhibition
      function, context-based saliency weighting, and the graph cut-are adopted to
      further refine the saliency map. Experiments on four public benchmark datasets
      show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in
      terms of precision, recall and mean absolute error, and demonstrate the
      robustness and efficiency of the proposed method.

PMID- 28601202
TI  - Faculty Biographies.

PMID- 28601203
TI  - The Care of Thermally Injured Patients in Operational, Austere, and Mass Casualty
      Situations.
AB  - Burn injury affects a half million people in the United States annually. The
      severe thermal injury can have long-term debilitating effects. The management of
      burn patients in austere and operational environments is more complex. Mass
      casualty incidents can result in a large number of patients with multiple
      traumatic injuries, which often include burn injury. Appropriate triage of
      casualties is essential. Severely burned patients should be evacuated to a burn
      center if possible. Airway management and fluid resuscitation of burn patients
      present unique challenges. Supplies, resources, and expertise to maintain a
      definitive airway may not be readily available. Airway adjuncts can be helpful
      but judicious use of resources is warranted in the austere setting. Traditional
      resuscitation of severe thermal injury is not practical in the austere
      environment. Oral resuscitation and in rare cases rectal hydration may be
      utilized until the patient can be transported to a medical facility. Much has
      been learned about the management of burn and polytraumatized patients after mass
      casualty incidents such as the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and the Pope Air
      Force Base disaster. A well-coordinated emergency preparedness plan is essential.
      The care of burn patients in austere, operational, and mass casualty situations
      can tax resources and manpower. The care of these patients will require
      creativity and ingenuity. Burn patients can be difficult to manage under normal
      circumstances but the care of these patients under the above situations
      complicates the management severalfold.

PMID- 28601204
TI  - Battlefield Analgesia in Tactical Combat Casualty Care.
AB  - At the start of the Afghanistan conflict, battlefield analgesia for US military
      casualties was achieved primarily through the use of intramuscular (IM) morphine.
      This is a suboptimal choice, since IM morphine is slow-acting, leading to delays
      in effective pain relief and the risk of overdose and death when dosing is
      repeated in order to hasten the onset of analgesia. Advances in battlefield
      analgesia, pioneered initially by Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), and the
      Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, have now been incorporated into the Triple-Option
      Analgesia approach. This novel strategy has gained wide acceptance in the US
      military. It calls for battlefield analgesia to be achieved using 1 or more of 3
      options depending on the casualty's status: 1) the meloxicam and acetaminophen in
      the combat wound medication pack (CWMP) for casualties with relatively minor pain
      that are still able to function effectively as combatants if their sensorium is
      not altered by analgesic medications; 2) oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate
      (OTFC) for casualties who have moderate to severe pain, but who are not in
      hemorrhagic shock or respiratory distress, and are not at significant risk for
      developing either condition; or 3) ketamine for casualties who have moderate to
      severe pain, but who are in hemorrhagic shock or respiratory distress or are at
      significant risk for developing either condition. Ketamine may also be used to
      increase analgesic effect for casualties who have previously been given opioid
      medication. The present paper outlines the evolution and evidence base for
      battlefield analgesia as currently recommended by TCCC. It is not intended to be
      a comprehensive review of all prehospital analgesic options.

PMID- 28601206
TI  - Prolonged Field Care: Beyond the "Golden Hour".
AB  - Prolonged field care (PFC) has emerged as a recent area of focus for US military
      Special Operations Forces (SOF) medical experts. Focused on the current reality
      of providing medical care to military forces often deployed in remote and austere
      locations far from medical support or a robust casualty evacuation chain, PFC
      encompasses evolving operational situations not unlike many wilderness medicine
      practice environments. SOF currently operates in all areas of the world and on a
      variety of different missions, which finds these small teams far from the
      accustomed practice environment of robust deployed medical infrastructure
      commonly seen during the last 15 years of military conflicts. In light of this
      evolving operational situation, the Prolonged Field Care Working Group has
      undertaken a comprehensive approach to better define and tackle this challenge.
      The approach to training and educating SOF medics on PFC is based on defined
      capabilities and operational situations that incorporate best medical practices
      and seeks to place advance resuscitative capabilities into the hands of providers
      closest to the point of injury. By transitioning from an approach solely driven
      by acute trauma aide, incorporating the best practices of Tactical Combat
      Casualty Care (TCCC), PFC builds upon best practices for the continuing
      management of both medical and trauma patients in wilderness environments. PFC
      incorporates best practices in generally hospital-based management of serious and
      critical casualties to decrease both mortality and morbidity in austere,
      prehospital operational settings.

PMID- 28601205
TI  - Remote Damage Control Resuscitation in Austere Environments.
AB  - Hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable military and civilian trauma
      death. Damage control resuscitation with concomitant mechanical hemorrhage
      control has become the preferred in-hospital treatment of hemorrhagic shock. In
      particular, plasma-based resuscitation with decreased volumes of crystalloids and
      artificial colloids as part of damage control resuscitation has improved outcomes
      in the military and civilian sectors. However, translation of these principles
      and techniques to the prehospital, remote, and austere environments, known as
      remote damage control resuscitation, is challenging given the resource
      limitations in these settings. Rapid administration of tranexamic acid and
      reconstituted freeze-dried (lyophilized) plasma as early as the point of injury
      are feasible and likely beneficial, but comparative studies in the literature are
      lacking. Whole blood is likely the best fluid therapy for traumatic hemorrhagic
      shock, but logistical hurdles need to be addressed. Rapid control of external
      hemorrhage with hemostatic dressings and extremity tourniquets are proven
      therapies, but control of noncompressible hemorrhage (ie, torso hemorrhage)
      remains a significant challenge.

PMID- 28601208
TI  - Bleeding Control With Limb Tourniquet Use in the Wilderness Setting: Review of
      Science.
AB  - The purpose of this review is to summarize tourniquet science for possible
      translation to wilderness settings. Much combat casualty data has been studied
      since 2005, and use of tourniquets in the military has changed from a last resort
      to first aid. The US Government has made use of tourniquets a health policy aimed
      to improve public access to bleeding control items. International authorities
      believe that education in first aid should be universal, as all can and should
      learn first aid. The safety record of tourniquet use is mixed, but users are
      reliably safe if trained well. Well-designed tourniquets can reliably attain
      bleeding control, may mitigate risk of shock progression, and may improve
      survival rates, but conclusive proof of a survival benefit remains unclear in
      civilian settings. Even a war setting has a bias toward survivorship by sampling
      mostly survivors in hospitals. Improvised tourniquets are less reliable than well
      designed tourniquets but may be better than none. The tourniquet model used most
      often in 2016 by the US military is the Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T),
      and civilians use an array of various models, including C-A-T. Evidence on
      tourniquet use to date indicates that most uses are safe and effective in
      civilian settings. Future directions for study relevant to the wilderness setting
      include consideration of research priorities, study of the burdens of injury or
      capability gaps in caregiving for various wilderness settings, determination of
      the skill needs of outdoor enthusiasts and wilderness caregivers, and survey of
      wilderness medicine stewards regarding bleeding control.

PMID- 28601209
TI  - Norman E. McSwain Jr., MD, FACS (1937-2015).

PMID- 28601211
TI  - The Symbiotic Relationship Between Operational Military Medicine, Tactical
      Medicine, and Wilderness Medicine: A View Through a Personal Lens.
AB  - There are direct and indirect linkages and a form of symbiosis between
      operational military medicine from World War II and present wilderness medicine,
      from the beginnings to contemporary practice, and the more recently evolved field
      of tactical emergency medical support. Each of these relationships will be
      explored from the historical perspective of the Department of Military &
      Emergency Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences from
      1982 to the present.

PMID- 28601210
TI  - Tranexamic Acid Use in Prehospital Uncontrolled Hemorrhage.
AB  - The use of tranexamic acid (TXA) in the treatment of trauma patients was
      relatively unexplored until the landmark Clinical Randomisation of an
      Antifibrinolytic in Significant Haemorrhage-2 (CRASH-2) trial in 2010
      demonstrated a reduction in mortality with the use of TXA. Although this trial
      was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study incorporating >20,000
      patients, numerous limitations and weaknesses have been described. As a result,
      additional studies have followed, delineating the potential risks and benefits of
      TXA administration. A systematic review of the literature to date reveals a
      mortality benefit of early (ideally <1 hour and no later than 3 hours after
      injury) TXA administration in the treatment of severely injured trauma patients
      (systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg, heart rate >110). Combined with abundant
      literature showing a reduction in bleeding in elective surgery, the most
      significant benefit may be administration of TXA before the patient goes into
      shock. Those trials that failed to show a mortality benefit of TXA in the
      treatment of hemorrhagic shock acknowledged that most patients received blood
      products before TXA administration, thus confounding the results. Although the
      use of prehospital TXA in the severely injured trauma patient will become more
      clear with the trauma studies currently underway, the current literature supports
      the use of prehospital TXA in this high-risk population. We recommend considering
      a 1 g TXA bolus en route to definitive care in high-risk patients and withholding
      subsequent doses until hyperfibrinolysis is confirmed by thromboelastography.

PMID- 28601212
TI  - Awake Cricothyrotomy: A Novel Approach to the Surgical Airway in the Tactical
      Setting.
AB  - Airway obstruction on the battlefield is most often due to maxillofacial trauma,
      which may include bleeding and disrupted airway anatomy. In many of these cases,
      surgical cricothyrotomy (SC) is the preferred airway management procedure. SC is
      an emergency airway procedure performed when attempts to open an airway using
      nasal devices, oral devices, or tracheal intubation have failed, or when the
      risks from intubation are unacceptably high. The aim of this overview is to
      describe a novel approach to the inevitably surgical airway in which SC is the
      first and best procedure to manage the difficult or failed airway. The awake SC
      technique and supporting algorithm are presented along with the limitations and
      future directions. Awake SC, using local anesthetic with or without ketamine,
      will allow the knowledgeable provider to manage patients with a compromised
      airway across the continuum of emergency care ranging from remote/en route care,
      austere settings, and prehospital to the emergency department.

PMID- 28601213
TI  - Treatment of Thoracic Trauma: Lessons From the Battlefield Adapted to All Austere
      Environments.
AB  - Severe thoracic trauma in the backcountry can be a formidable injury pattern to
      successfully treat. Traumatic open, pneumo-, and hemothoraces represent some of
      the most significant patterns for which advanced equipment and procedures may
      help leverage morbidity and mortality, particularly when evacuation is delayed
      and environmental conditions are extreme. This paper reviews the development of
      successful techniques for treating combat casualties with thoracic trauma,
      including the use of vented chest seals and the technique of needle
      thoracentesis. Recommendations are then given for applying this knowledge and
      skill set in the backcountry.

PMID- 28601214
TI  - Fluid Resuscitation in Tactical Combat Casualty Care: Yesterday and Today.
AB  - The prevailing wisdom for the prehospital fluid resuscitation of trauma victims
      in hemorrhagic shock in 1992 was to administer 2 L of crystalloid solution as
      rapidly as possible. A review of the fluid resuscitation literature found that
      this recommendation was not well supported by the evidence at the time.
      Prehospital fluid resuscitation strategies were reevaluated in the 1993-1996
      Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) research program. This article reviews the
      advances in prehospital fluid resuscitation as recommended by the original TCCC
      Guidelines and modified over the following 2 decades. These advances include
      hypotensive resuscitation, use of prehospital whole blood or blood components
      when feasible, and use of Hextend or selected crystalloids when logistical
      considerations make blood or blood component use not feasible.

PMID- 28601215
TI  - Field Wound Care: Prophylactic Antibiotics.
AB  - Adequate management of wounds requires numerous interventions, one of which is
      the appropriate use of antimicrobials to attempt to minimize the risk of excess
      morbidity or mortality without increasing toxicity or multidrug resistant
      bacterial acquisition. There are numerous recommendations and opinions for not
      only the use of systemic prophylactic antimicrobials, but also the agent, dose,
      route, and duration. To best address the implementation of systemic
      antimicrobials in a field scenario, one must weigh the factors that go into that
      decision and then determine the best agents possible. The epidemiologic triangle
      (ie, the host, the agent, and the environment) forms the basis for selecting the
      correct prophylactic antibiotic for field wound care. Extreme conditions can be
      encountered in both military and nonmilitary systems, requiring a unique
      selection process to make the right antibiotic choice. A modifiable weighted
      matrix, recommended previously for point of injury combat casualty care, assists
      in selecting the best oral and intravenous/intramuscular agent based on the
      epidemiologic risk determination.

PMID- 28601216
TI  - Usefulness of Ct value in acute respiratory infections caused by respiratory
      syncytial virus A and B and influenza virus A (H1N1)pdm09, A (H3N2) and B.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute respiratory infections of viral cause are very frequent
      entities. The difficulty in evaluating the detection of a virus in these entities
      could be solved by determining the viral load. METHODS: A prospective study on
      the mean Ct value (cycle threshold value) detected against RSV-A, RSV-B and
      influenza A (H1N1)pdm09, A (H3N2) and B viruses in patients of different origin
      and age was performed. Detection was performed using a commercial molecular
      amplification (RT-PCR) technique. RESULTS: Different mean Ct values were detected
      for each virus. In RSV infections, no differences were observed between those
      caused by RSV-A or RSV-B in children. Depending on the patient's age, the only
      statistical significance was observed in those included in the 0-4 month groups
      for RSV-A and this group and the 5-12 months group for RSV-B (higher values). A
      lower viral load was detected in adult patients than in paediatric patients. In
      influenza infections, no statistical significance was observed in the mean values
      detected in patients from the Red Centinela ("sentinel network", a Spanish
      network of doctors aimed at research and surveillance of diseases), those
      diagnosed in the adult emergency room or in hospital admissions. In the adult
      patients admitted to the ICU, only a slightly lower mean value was observed in
      those infected with influenza A (H1N1)pdm09, but without statistical
      significance. There were no patients admitted to the ICU with influenza B
      infection. CONCLUSION: The detection of viral load could be a good tool for the
      evaluation, monitoring and prognosis of acute viral respiratory infections. With
      the exception of those caused by RSV, no significant differences were observed in
      influenza infections except in younger paediatric patients.

PMID- 28601217
TI  - [HIV infection as a cause of accelerated aging and frailty].
AB  - The HIV-infected population is aging due to the success of combination
      antiretroviral therapy, which prolongs survival, as well as the growing number of
      newly diagnosed cases in adults 50 years old and over. HIV-infected individuals
      suffer from an accelerated aging due to the persistent and chronic activation of
      the immune system that leads to immune exhaustion and accelerated
      immunosenescence, even when on optimal immuno-virological control treatment. The
      clinical expression of the immunosenescence state is an increased prevalence of
      aging-related non-HIV associated comorbidities and a rising prevalence of frailty
      occurring earlier than in the general population. Thus, HIV-infected patients are
      biologically older than their chronological age, and they suffer from aging
      related problems, such as frailty, which should be assessed.

PMID- 28601218
TI  - [Edmonton Frail Scale in Colombian older people. Comparison with the Fried
      criteria].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Edmonton Frailty Scale was developed in Alberta (Canada). It
      has been applied in different scenarios, such as acute units, day hospitals, and
      outpatient care. There are no studies published describing the usefulness of this
      scale in Colombia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study and secondary
      diagnostic test analysis was designed with the objective of studying the
      criterion validity of the Edmonton Frail Scale using Fried's frailty criteria as
      standard. Patients 60 years old and over from the community were included.
      Patients with severe dementia, limited mobility, and unable to perform the tests
      were excluded. RESULTS: The study included 101 patients from the community in
      Floridablanca, Colombia. The mean age was 68.9 years, and 74% were women. The
      median walking speed was 1.1m/sec. According to the Fried's criteria, 46% were
      vigorous elderly, and the prevalence of frailty was 7.9%. Using the EFS, 78% were
      vigorous elderly, with a prevalence of frailty of 8.9%. Taking 6 or more points
      as a cut-off, the sensitivity of this scale was 75% and had a specificity of 88%.
      CONCLUSIONS: A similar frequency of frailty was found on applying the two
      measurement scales. It is important to highlight the multidimensional view of the
      Edmonton scale, complementing the data of the most physical and sarcopenia
      centred phenotype of Fried's criteria.

PMID- 28601219
TI  - The Importance of Being Modified: The Role of RNA Modifications in Translational
      Fidelity.
AB  - The posttranscriptional modifications of tRNA's anticodon stem and loop (ASL)
      domain represent a third level, a third code, to the accuracy and efficiency of
      translating mRNA codons into the correct amino acid sequence of proteins.
      Modifications of tRNA's ASL domain are enzymatically synthesized and site
      specifically located at the anticodon wobble position-34 and 3'-adjacent to the
      anticodon at position-37. Degeneracy of the 64 Universal Genetic Codes and the
      limitation in the number of tRNA species require some tRNAs to decode more than
      one codon. The specific modification chemistries and their impact on the tRNA's
      ASL structure and dynamics enable one tRNA to decode cognate and "wobble codons"
      or to expand recognition to synonymous codons, all the while maintaining the
      translational reading frame. Some modified nucleosides' chemistries prestructure
      tRNA to read the two codons of a specific amino acid that shares a twofold
      degenerate codon box, and other chemistries allow a different tRNA to respond to
      all four codons of a fourfold degenerate codon box. Thus, tRNA ASL modifications
      are critical and mutations in genes for the modification enzymes and tRNA, the
      consequences of which is a lack of modification, lead to mistranslation and human
      disease. By optimizing tRNA anticodon chemistries, structure, and dynamics in all
      organisms, modifications ensure translational fidelity of mRNA transcripts.

PMID- 28601220
TI  - Structures and Activities of the Elongator Complex and Its Cofactors.
AB  - Elongator is a highly conserved eukaryotic protein complex consisting of two sets
      of six Elp proteins, while homologues of its catalytic subunit Elp3 are found in
      all the kingdoms of life. Although it was originally described as a transcription
      elongation factor, cumulating evidence suggests that its primary function is
      catalyzing tRNA modifications. In humans, defects in Elongator subunits are
      associated with neurological disorders and cancer. Although further studies are
      still required, a clearer picture of the molecular mechanism of action of
      Elongator and its cofactors has started to emerge within recent years that have
      witnessed significant development in the field. In this review we summarize
      recent Elongator-related findings provided largely by crystal structures of
      several subunits of the complex, the electron microscopy structure of the entire
      yeast holoenzyme, as well as the structure of the Elongator cofactor complex
      Kti11/Kti13.

PMID- 28601222
TI  - Synthesis, Function, and Heterogeneity of snoRNA-Guided Posttranscriptional
      Nucleoside Modifications in Eukaryotic Ribosomal RNAs.
AB  - Ribosomal RNAs contain numerous 2'-O-methylated nucleosides and pseudouridines.
      Methylation of the 2' oxygen of ribose moieties and isomerization of uridines
      into pseudouridines are catalyzed by C/D and H/ACA small nucleolar
      ribonucleoprotein particles, respectively. We review the composition, structure,
      and mode of action of archaeal and eukaryotic C/D and H/ACA particles. Most rRNA
      modifications cluster in functionally crucial regions of the rRNAs, suggesting
      they play important roles in translation. Some of these modifications promote
      global translation efficiency or modulate translation fidelity. Strikingly,
      recent quantitative nucleoside modification profiling methods have revealed that
      a subset of modification sites is not always fully modified. The finding of such
      ribosome heterogeneity is in line with the concept of specialized ribosomes that
      could preferentially translate specific mRNAs. This emerging concept is supported
      by findings that some human diseases are caused by defects in the rRNA
      modification machinery correlated with a significant alteration of IRES-dependent
      translation.

PMID- 28601221
TI  - Posttranscriptional RNA Pseudouridylation.
AB  - Pseudouridine (Psi) is the most abundant posttranscriptional modification in
      noncoding RNAs. Pseudouridines are often clustered in important regions of rRNAs
      (ribosomal RNAs), snRNAs (small nuclear RNAs), and tRNAs (transfer RNAs),
      contributing to RNA function. Pseudouridylation is governed by two independent
      mechanisms. The first involves single protein enzymes called pseudouridine
      synthases (PUSs) that alone recognize the substrate and catalyze the
      isomerization of uridine to pseudouridine (RNA-independent pseudouridylation).
      The second is an RNA-guided pseudouridylation by a family of box H/ACA RNPs
      (ribonucleoproteins), each of which consists of a unique RNA (box H/ACA RNA) and
      four common core proteins (Cbf5/NAP57/Dyskerin, Nhp2/L7Ae, Nop10, and Gar1). The
      RNA component serves as a guide that base pairs with the substrate RNA and
      directs the enzyme (Cbf5) to carry out the pseudouridylation reaction at a
      specific site. The crystal structures of many PUSs have been solved in numerous
      organisms including E. coli and human. Several partial and complete crystal
      structures of archaea and yeast box H/ACA RNPs are available, providing a rich
      source of information regarding the molecular interactions between protein
      components and box H/ACA RNA. Over the years, several experimental systems have
      been developed to study the mechanism and function of pseudouridylation. Apart
      from noncoding RNA pseudouridylation, recent experiments have provided evidence
      of mRNA pseudouridylation as well. Despite remarkable progress, there is a need
      to accelerate efforts in order to understand the detailed mechanisms and
      functions of RNA pseudouridylation.

PMID- 28601223
TI  - Adenosine Deaminases That Act on RNA (ADARs).
AB  - Inosine is one of the most common modifications found in human RNAs and the
      Adenosine Deaminases that act on RNA (ADARs) are the main enzymes responsible for
      its production. ADARs were first discovered in the 1980s and since then our
      understanding of ADARs has advanced tremendously. For instance, it is now known
      that defective ADAR function can cause human diseases. Furthermore, recently
      solved crystal structures of the human ADAR2 deaminase bound to RNA have provided
      insights regarding the catalytic and substrate recognition mechanisms. In this
      chapter, we describe the occurrence of inosine in human RNAs and the newest
      perspective on the ADAR family of enzymes, including their substrate recognition,
      catalytic mechanism, regulation as well as the consequences of A-to-I editing,
      and their relation to human diseases.

PMID- 28601224
TI  - Reading the Epitranscriptome: New Techniques and Perspectives.
AB  - Ribonucleotides can be covalently modified with over 100 known chemical moieties,
      greatly expanding the potential coding and regulatory repertoire of RNA. Recent
      advances in applying high-throughput sequencing to the study of RNA modifications
      have generated transcriptome-wide modification maps and demonstrated that
      modifications are abundant features of multiple classes of RNAs, including
      messenger RNAs. In turn, new regulatory functions for RNA modifications have been
      elucidated. Here, we review both targeted and global methods for surveying RNA
      modification, with a focus on how transcriptome-wide methods have helped expand
      the understanding of modification-mediated regulation of the transcriptome.

PMID- 28601225
TI  - Impact of RNA Modifications and RNA-Modifying Enzymes on Eukaryotic
      Ribonucleases.
AB  - Constitutive and regulated turnover of RNAs is necessary to eliminate aberrant
      RNA molecules and control the level of specific mRNAs to maintain homeostasis or
      to respond to signals in living cells. Modifications of nucleosides in specific
      RNAs are important in modulating the functions of these transcripts, but they can
      also dramatically impact their fate and turnover. This chapter will review how
      RNA modifications impact the activities of ribonucleases that target these RNAs
      for degradation or cleavage, focusing more particularly on tRNAs and mRNAs in
      eukaryotic cells. Many nucleoside modifications are important to promote proper
      folding of tRNAs, and the absence of specific modifications makes them
      susceptible to degradation by quality control pathways that eliminate improperly
      folded species. Modifications in tRNAs can also modulate their cleavage during
      stress or by fungal toxins that target modified nucleosides. Modifications of the
      cap structure found at the 5'-end of eukaryotic mRNAs are essential to control
      the degradation of these mRNAs. In addition, internal modifications of eukaryotic
      mRNAs can change their secondary structures or provide binding sites for reader
      proteins, which can dramatically impact their stability. Recent examples show
      that mRNA modifications play important roles in regulating mRNA stability during
      development, cellular differentiation and physiological responses. Finally, many
      modifications can impact microRNA- and siRNA-mediated gene regulation by direct
      or indirect effects. With the growing number of genomic techniques able to
      identify modifications genome wide, it is anticipated that novel chemical
      modifications or new modification sites will be identified, which will play
      additional regulatory functions for RNA turnover.

PMID- 28601226
TI  - The Evolution of Substrate Specificity by tRNA Modification Enzymes.
AB  - All types of nucleic acids in cells undergo naturally occurring chemical
      modifications, including DNA, rRNA, mRNA, snRNA, and most prominently tRNA. Over
      100 different modifications have been described and every position in the purine
      and pyrimidine bases can be modified; often the sugar is also modified [1]. In
      tRNA, the function of modifications varies; some modulate global and/or local RNA
      structure, and others directly impact decoding and may be essential for
      viability. Whichever the case, the overall importance of modifications is
      highlighted by both their evolutionary conservation and the fact that organisms
      use a substantial portion of their genomes to encode modification enzymes, far
      exceeding what is needed for the de novo synthesis of the canonical nucleotides
      themselves [2]. Although some modifications occur at exactly the same nucleotide
      position in tRNAs from the three domains of life, many can be found at various
      positions in a particular tRNA and their location may vary between and within
      different tRNAs. With this wild array of chemical diversity and substrate
      specificities, one of the big challenges in the tRNA modification field has been
      to better understand at a molecular level the modes of substrate recognition by
      the different modification enzymes; in this realm RNA binding rests at the heart
      of the problem. This chapter will focus on several examples of modification
      enzymes where their mode of RNA binding is well understood; from these, we will
      try to draw general conclusions and highlight growing themes that may be
      applicable to the RNA modification field at large.

PMID- 28601228
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 28601229
TI  - [Health care for refugees or the history of a pending issue].

PMID- 28601227
TI  - TrmD: A Methyl Transferase for tRNA Methylation With m1G37.
AB  - TrmD is an S-adenosyl methionine (AdoMet)-dependent methyl transferase that
      synthesizes the methylated m1G37 in tRNA. TrmD is specific to and essential for
      bacterial growth, and it is fundamentally distinct from its eukaryotic and
      archaeal counterpart Trm5. TrmD is unusual by using a topological protein knot to
      bind AdoMet. Despite its restricted mobility, the TrmD knot has complex dynamics
      necessary to transmit the signal of AdoMet binding to promote tRNA binding and
      methyl transfer. Mutations in the TrmD knot block this intramolecular signaling
      and decrease the synthesis of m1G37-tRNA, prompting ribosomes to +1-frameshifts
      and premature termination of protein synthesis. TrmD is unique among AdoMet
      dependent methyl transferases in that it requires Mg2+ in the catalytic
      mechanism. This Mg2+ dependence is important for regulating Mg2+ transport to
      Salmonella for survival of the pathogen in the host cell. The strict conservation
      of TrmD among bacterial species suggests that a better characterization of its
      enzymology and biology will have a broad impact on our understanding of bacterial
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 28601230
TI  - The effects of pirfenidone on T helper cells in prevention of intraperitoneal
      adhesions.
AB  - Abdominal surgery is linked with peritoneal adhesions. We investigated that the
      anti-fibrotic agent pirfenidone (PFD) has immune modulating activities and
      evaluated its effects on the function of T helper type 1 (Th1), Th2 and T
      regulatory (Treg) cells, which may play important roles in peritoneal adhesions.
      Eighteen female Wistar rats underwent right-sided parietal peritoneal and right
      uterine horn adhesion model. Rats were randomized into 3 groups as group 1
      (control) (closure of midline abdominal incision without any agent
      administrations), group 2 (closure of incision after intraperitoneal
      administration of PFD) and group 3 (closure of incision and only oral
      administration of PFD for 14 days). Relaparotomy was performed 14 days after the
      first surgery. Effect of PFD on adhesion formation was assessed on Th1, Th2 and
      Treg cells counts using Anti-T-bet, Anti-GATA-3 Anti-FOXP3 antibodies
      respectively. Th1 counts were moderate in the control group, and didn't show a
      significant difference between all groups. Th2 cell counts were very high in the
      control group, but both intraperitoneal and oral administration of PFD resulted
      in a significant reduction in Th2 cell counts. Treg cell counts were low in
      number in the control group. In the intraperitoneal administration of PFD group,
      Treg cell counts were significantly lower than control group. There was no
      difference of the Treg cells between control groups and the oral administration
      of PFD group. PFD has prevention effect on intraperitoneal adhesions. This
      prevention effect seems to be related with the reduction in the numbers of Th2
      and Treg cells.

PMID- 28601231
TI  - Factors affecting therapeutic response to Rivastigmine in Alzheimer's disease
      patients in Taiwan.
AB  - Rivastigmine has been widely used in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD),
      but the therapeutic response rate varies from 20 to 60%. A dose-dependent effect
      has been suggested, but the plasma concentration of rivastigmine and its
      metabolite, NAP 226-90, were not measured in previous studies. The influencing
      factors of therapeutic response are complicated and discordant in various studies
      among different ethnic groups. Hence, we analyzed the therapeutic responses of
      rivastigmine, measured by neuropsychological assessments, among 63 clinically
      diagnosed AD patients taking a daily dosage of 6-9 mg in relation to their plasma
      concentration of rivastigmine and NAP 226-90, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype
      and demographic characteristics. Our reports revealed that 41.3% of recruited AD
      patients had improvement in cognition, measured by Mini-Mental Status Examination
      (MMSE), and 63.5% in global status, by Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of
      Boxes (CDR-SB) score. In cognition, the clinically improving group had a
      significantly higher rivastigmine concentration [p = 0.049, odds ratio (OR) =
      1.029, 95%CI = 1.000-1.058], lower initial MMSE score (p = 0.010, OR = 0.708,
      95%CI = 0.546-0.920), and lower initial CDR-SB score (p = 0.003, OR = 0.552,
      95%CI = 0.372-0.817). The patients with APOE epsilon4 allele had worsening
      cognition (p = 0.037, OR = 3.870, 95%CI = 1.082-13.840). In global status, only
      higher education (p = 0.043, OR = 1.222, 95%CI = 1.007-1.484) was significantly
      associated with clinical improvement. In conclusion, high concentrations of
      rivastigmine may benefit cognitive function of AD patients, especially in APOE
      epsilon4 (-) carriers.

PMID- 28601233
TI  - Computed tomography findings predicting the success of silodosin for medical
      expulsive therapy of ureteral stones.
AB  - Aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between non-contrast computed
      tomography (NCCT) findings and stone expulsion rate with medical expulsive
      therapy (MET) using silodosin for ureteral stones in male adults. Between January
      2014 and June 2015, we retrospectively reviewed the patient charts with
      uncomplicated ureteral stones on NCCT images, who were treated with silodosin for
      MET. Stone diameter, volume and hounsfield units (HU) measured by NCCT and
      treatment findings were noted at the end of treatment. Patients were divided into
      three groups according to the localization as distal, mid and proximal ureteral
      stones. NCCT and treatment findings were compared between MET success and failure
      groups in different localizations. Stone expulsion rate was 81.3% for 134 distal,
      45.5% for 22 mid and 27.7% for 47 proximal stones. Stone diameter, volume, and HU
      were significantly lower for success groups with distal and proximal stones (p <
      0.05). In ROC analysis the cut-off values for stone volume and HU were detected
      as 48.7 mm3 and 598 HU for success group with proximal stones. Stone expulsion
      rate was found to be 24 times more (OR = 24; p = 0.001) in patients with <598 HU
      and 14 times more (OR = 14; p = 0.002) in patients with <48.7 mm3 proximal
      stones. Lower stone diameter, volume and HU were significant predictors of
      success with silodosin for MET for ureteral stones. Patients with <598 HU and/or
      <48.7 mm3 proximal stones may be prescribed silodosin for MET.

PMID- 28601232
TI  - Pegylated interferon plus ribavirin combination therapy in postliver transplant
      recipients with recurrent hepatitis C virus infection.
AB  - Posttransplant hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence is universal in chronic
      hepatitis C recipients. Antiviral therapy is suggested after liver transplant to
      halt disease progression. Pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy remains the
      standard of care in many areas where direct antiviral agents are poorly
      accessible. This study aimed to assess the treatment efficacy and safety of the
      regimen for Taiwanese patients with post-transplant HCV recurrence. Nine patients
      with HCV recurrence postliver transplantation were allocated. Patients received
      either pegylated interferon alpha-2a 180 MUg/wk or pegylated interferon alpha-2b
      1.5 mg/kg/wk plus ribavirin for 24-48 weeks. The primary endpoint was the
      achievement of sustained virological response (SVR), defined as undetectable HCV
      RNA throughout 6 months of follow-up after the end of treatment. The safety
      profiles were also documented. The rates of rapid virological response, early
      virological response, end-of-treatment virological response, and SVR were 33%,
      63%, 75%, and 56% respectively. Of the four patients who failed antiviral
      treatment, the treatment responses were nonresponse (n = 1), loss of follow-up (n
      = 1), and relapse (n = 2). Three patients terminated therapy early due to severe
      adverse events, including severe anemia, intra-abdomen infection, and
      hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence. One of the three patients who terminated
      treatment early at Week 6 experienced rapid virological response followed by SVR.
      Pegylated interferon/ribavirin combination allowed a chance for cure with a fair
      SVR rate in Taiwanese chronic hepatitis C patients postliver transplantation.
      Early identification of side effects and careful monitoring during therapy might
      enhance the treatment efficacy.

PMID- 28601234
TI  - Comparison of echocardiographic findings in patients with nonfunctioning adrenal
      incidentalomas.
AB  - Adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) are usually discovered incidentally after imaging
      unrelated to adrenal glands. We aimed to evaluate standard risk factors for
      systemic atherosclerosis and echocardiographic changes in patients with
      nonfunctioning AIs and compare them with normal subjects. We evaluated 70
      patients diagnosed with AIs and 51 healthy controls. Mean levels were determined
      for HbA1c, LDL, uric acid, fasting plasma insulin, HOMA, and neutrophil-to
      lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and these values were found to be significantly higher in
      the patients than the controls. The mean left atrial diameter, interventricular
      septum thickness, posterior wall thickness, left ventricular mass, E-wave
      deceleration time, isovolumetric relaxation time, and the median ratio of the
      early transmittal flow velocity to the early diastolic tissue velocity (E/Em)
      were higher in patients with AIs compared to controls. The mitral annular early
      diastolic velocity was lower in patients with AIs. The mean aortic diastolic
      diameter, stiffness index (SI), and aortic strain were higher, and aortic
      distensibility was lower in the patients. The mean right ventricular diameter,
      right atrial major-axis diameter, and right atrial minor-axis diameter were
      statistically higher in the patient group than the controls. A negative
      correlation was found between the NLR and aortic strain and aortic
      distensibility, while a positive correction was found between the NLR and SI. We
      found altered left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) echocardiographic
      findings in patients with AIs without known cardiovascular disease. Aortic
      stiffness was also increased. These changes may be related to an increase in
      cardiovascular risk factors in AI patients.

PMID- 28601235
TI  - Correlation between change of tongue area and skeletal stability after correction
      of mandibular prognathism.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between
      postoperative stability and a change in tongue area after treatment of mandibular
      prognathism. Twenty-six patients, who were treated for mandibular prognathism
      using intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy, were evaluated cephalometrically. A set
      of three standardized lateral cephalograms were obtained from each participant
      preoperatively (T1), immediately postoperatively (T2), and after 2 years
      postoperatively (T3). Student t test and Pearson correlation coefficient were
      used for statistical analysis. Immediately after the surgery (T12), the setback
      of the menton (Me) was 12.9 mm (p<0.001) and the tongue area had significantly
      increased to 105.8 mm2 (p=0.047). At a 2-year follow-up to examine postsurgical
      stability (T23), the Me exhibited a forward movement of 0.6 mm (p=0.363) and the
      tongue area had significantly decreased to 124.3 mm2 (p=0.004). Pearson
      correlation coefficient test revealed no statistical significance between
      postoperative stability and change in tongue area. The tongue area significantly
      increased during the T12 period and decreased during the T23 period. There is no
      significant correlation between postoperative skeletal relapse and a change in
      tongue area.

PMID- 28601236
TI  - Role of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors in the survival outcome of colorectal cancer
      patients: A population-based cohort study.
AB  - The aim of this study is to investigate whether use of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)
      inhibitors as auxiliary drug in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients will lead to
      better survival outcome. This population-based retrospective cohort study was
      conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The
      cohort consisted of newly diagnosed CRC adult patients during 2003-2010 with at
      least one prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammation drugs. Analysis groups
      were defined as users or nonusers of COX-2 inhibitors based on their usage prior
      to or 1 year after diagnosis of CRC. The outcome measurement was overall
      survival. The application of propensity scores through the inverse probability of
      treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied to the study groups. Subgroup analyses
      included stratification of different cancer site, treatment modalities, and first
      chemotherapy regimens. Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox regressions were used to
      compare survival outcome. We identified 14,688 patients with newly diagnosed CRC.
      The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with IPTW was 0.91 [95% confidence interval (CI),
      0.86-0.96] in patients using COX-2 inhibitors in before and after diagnosis
      groups, and statistical significance was not reached for usages at only prior to
      or only after diagnosis. In subgroup analyses, patients with rectal cancer
      (adjusted HR with IPTW=0.86; 95% CI, 0.79-0.94) who received surgery followed by
      chemoradiation (adjusted HR with IPTW=0.57; 95% CI, 0.47-0.77) and with adjuvant
      chemotherapy of FOLFOX regimen (adjusted HR with IPTW=0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.99)
      had survival benefits in using COX-2 inhibitors both prior to and after
      diagnosis. Use of COX-2 inhibitors was found to be associated with reduction in
      mortality for CRC patients when taken both prior to and after cancer diagnosis.

PMID- 28601237
TI  - Primary cutaneous sarcomatoid carcinoma presenting as a rapidly-growing and
      ulcerative tumor of the skin.

PMID- 28601238
TI  - Is reflux symptom index reliable to assess the reflux status of chronic
      rhinosinusitis patients?

PMID- 28601239
TI  - Corrigendum to "Human GRP78 affinity towards its signaling partners Ire1alpha and
      PERK is differently modulated by an unfolded protein client" [Biochem. Biophys.
      Res. Commun. 487 (2) (2017) 375-380].

PMID- 28601240
TI  - First Episode of Hemiplegic Migraine.

PMID- 28601241
TI  - Daily Digital Technology Use Linked to Mental Health Symptoms for High-risk
      Adolescents.

PMID- 28601242
TI  - Kinematic models of lower limb joints for musculo-skeletal modelling and
      optimization in gait analysis.
AB  - Kinematic models of lower limb joints have several potential applications in
      musculoskeletal modelling of the locomotion apparatus, including the reproduction
      of the natural joint motion. These models have recently revealed their value also
      for in vivo motion analysis experiments, where the soft-tissue artefact is a
      critical known problem. This arises at the interface between the skin markers and
      the underlying bone, and can be reduced by defining multibody kinematic models of
      the lower limb and by running optimization processes aimed at obtaining estimates
      of position and orientation of relevant bones. With respect to standard methods
      based on the separate optimization of each single body segment, this technique
      makes it also possible to respect joint kinematic constraints. Whereas the hip
      joint is traditionally assumed as a 3 degrees of freedom ball and socket
      articulation, many previous studies have proposed a number of different kinematic
      models for the knee and ankle joints. Some of these are rigid, while others have
      compliant elements. Some models have clear anatomical correspondences and include
      real joint constraints; other models are more kinematically oriented, these being
      mainly aimed at reproducing joint kinematics. This paper provides a critical
      review of the kinematic models reported in literature for the major lower limb
      joints and used for the reduction of soft-tissue artefact. Advantages and
      disadvantages of these models are discussed, considering their anatomical
      significance, accuracy of predictions, computational costs, feasibility of
      personalization, and other features. Their use in the optimization process is
      also addressed, both in normal and pathological subjects.

PMID- 28601244
TI  - Response to Letter to the Editor on "Role of Periarticular Liposomal Bupivacaine
      Infiltration in Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Meta-Analysis of
      Comparative Trials".

PMID- 28601243
TI  - Accounting for spatial variation of trabecular anisotropy with subject-specific
      finite element modeling moderately improves predictions of local subchondral bone
      stiffness at the proximal tibia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previously, a finite element (FE) model of the proximal tibia was
      developed and validated against experimentally measured local subchondral
      stiffness. This model indicated modest predictions of stiffness (R2=0.77,
      normalized root mean squared error (RMSE%)=16.6%). Trabecular bone though was
      modeled with isotropic material properties despite its orthotropic anisotropy.
      The objective of this study was to identify the anisotropic FE modeling approach
      which best predicted (with largest explained variance and least amount of error)
      local subchondral bone stiffness at the proximal tibia. METHODS: Local stiffness
      was measured at the subchondral surface of 13 medial/lateral tibial compartments
      using in situ macro indentation testing. An FE model of each specimen was
      generated assuming uniform anisotropy with 14 different combinations of cortical-
      and tibial-specific density-modulus relationships taken from the literature. Two
      FE models of each specimen were also generated which accounted for the spatial
      variation of trabecular bone anisotropy directly from clinical CT images using
      grey-level structure tensor and Cowin's fabric-elasticity equations. Stiffness
      was calculated using FE and compared to measured stiffness in terms of R2 and
      RMSE%. RESULTS: The uniform anisotropic FE model explained 53-74% of the measured
      stiffness variance, with RMSE% ranging from 12.4 to 245.3%. The models which
      accounted for spatial variation of trabecular bone anisotropy predicted 76-79% of
      the variance in stiffness with RMSE% being 11.2-11.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Of the 16
      evaluated finite element models in this study, the combination of Synder and
      Schneider (for cortical bone) and Cowin's fabric-elasticity equations (for
      trabecular bone) best predicted local subchondral bone stiffness.

PMID- 28601245
TI  - The Impact of Discharge Disposition on Episode-of-Care Reimbursement After
      Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) accounts for more Medicare expenditure
      than any other inpatient procedure. The Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement
      model was introduced to decrease cost and improve quality in TJA. The largest
      portion of episode-of-care costs occurs after discharge. This study sought to
      quantify the cost variation of primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) according to
      discharge disposition. METHODS: The Medicare and Humana claims databases were
      used to extract charges and reimbursements to compare day-of-surgery and 91-day
      postoperative costs simulating episode-of-care reimbursements. Of the patients
      who underwent primary THA, 257,120 were identified (204,912 from Medicare and
      52,208 from Humana). Patients were stratified by discharge disposition: home with
      home health, skilled nursing facility, or inpatient rehabilitation facility.
      RESULTS: There is a significant difference in the episode-of-care costs according
      to discharge disposition, with discharge to an inpatient rehabilitation facility
      the most costly and discharge to home the least costly. CONCLUSION: Postdischarge
      costs represent a sizeable portion of the overall expense in THA, and optimizing
      patients to allow safe discharge to home may help reduce the cost of THA.

PMID- 28601247
TI  - Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip: Contemporary Concepts and Treatment
      Innovations.

PMID- 28601246
TI  - Clinical Outcome of Medial Pivot Compared With Press-Fit Condylar Sigma Cruciate
      Retaining Mobile-Bearing Total Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term clinical
      results, radiographic results, range of knee motion, patient satisfaction, and
      the survival rate of Medial-Pivot posterior cruciate-substituting, knee
      prosthesis and a press-fit condylar (PFC) Sigma cruciate-retaining mobile-bearing
      knee prosthesis in the same patients. METHODS: One hundred eighty-two patients
      received Medial-Pivot knee prosthesis in one knee and a PFC Sigma knee prosthesis
      in the contralateral knee. The minimum duration of follow-up was 11 years (range,
      11-12.6 years). RESULTS: The knees with a Medial-Pivot knee prosthesis had
      significantly worse results than those with a PFC Sigma knee prosthesis at the
      final follow-up with regard to the mean postoperative Knee Society knee scores
      (90 compared with 95 points), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
      Osteoarthritis Index score (25 compared with 18 points), and range of knee motion
      (117 degrees  compared with 128 degrees ). Patients were more satisfied with PFC
      Sigma knee prosthesis (93%) than with Medial-Pivot knee prosthesis (75%).
      Complication rates were significantly higher in the Medial-Pivot knee group (26%)
      than those in the PFC Sigma knee group (6.5%). Radiographic results and survival
      rates (99% compared with 99.5%) were similar between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION:
      Although the long-term fixation and survival rate of both Medial-Pivot and PFC
      Sigma prostheses were similar, we observed a worse knee score, worse range of
      knee motion, and patient satisfaction was less in the Medial-Pivot knee group
      than in the PFC Sigma knee group. Furthermore, complication rate was also higher
      in the Medial-Pivot knee group than the other group.

PMID- 28601248
TI  - Evaluation of bone turnover markers and serum minerals variations for predicting
      fracture healing versus non-union processes in adult sheep as a model for
      orthopedic research.
AB  - Bone turnover markers (BTMs) have been considered as an auxiliary method of
      following the fracture healing process and for early prediction of impaired bone
      healing. A better understanding of the potential of BTMs in this application
      could allow for earlier interventions and improved patient care. The aim of this
      study with a large animal experimental model was to assess the variation of bone
      formation markers - namely the total alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and its bone
      specific isoform (BALP), serum concentration of intact osteocalcin (OC), N
      terminal propeptide type III procollagen (PIIINP) and of bone resorption markers 
      namely tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and deoxypyridinoline
      crosslink (DPD) during the first stages of a normal fracture healing process and
      of a segmental critical size defect (CSD), which progresses to a non-union
      process. Thirty healthy female sheep (Portuguese Churra-da-Terra-Quente breed),
      approximately 4-years-old, were enrolled in this study. Jugular venous blood
      samples were collected pre-operatively and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 post
      operative weeks. The animals of the CSD group showed significant lower serum
      levels of BALP, OC and significant higher serum PIIINP levels at early stages of
      the fracture healing process, compared with animals that progressed in a normal
      fracture healing process. Serum BALP, OC and PIIINP levels could be useful as non
      invasive auxiliary tools with other complementary methods for predicting the
      outcome of traumatic bone fractures.

PMID- 28601249
TI  - The 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria are not sufficiently accurate in the early
      identification of autoantibody-negative rheumatoid arthritis: Results from the
      Leiden-EAC and ESPOIR cohorts.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria were derived to classify rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA) earlier in time. Previous studies indeed observed that the 2010
      criteria were fulfilled earlier than the 1987 criteria. This study determined
      whether the 2010 criteria perform equally in early classification of autoantibody
      positive and autoantibody-negative RA. METHODS: From the total Leiden-EAC (n =
      3448) and ESPOIR (n = 813) RA patients who fulfilled the 1987 RA criteria at 1
      year but not at presentation were selected (n = 463 and n = 53, respectively), as
      these patients were classified with delay with the 1987 criteria. These RA
      patients were studied on fulfilling the 2010 criteria at baseline (as 2010
      positivity indicated that these RA patients were earlier identified) and these
      analyses were stratified for patients with and without anti-citrullinated protein
      antibodies (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor (RF). Analyses were repeated for DMARD
      start within the first year as reference for RA (instead of fulfilling the 1987
      criteria). RESULTS: In the EAC, 75% of the selected RA patients did already
      fulfill the 2010 criteria at baseline. In ESPOIR this was 57%, indeed
      demonstrating early classification with the 2010 criteria. Among the selected
      autoantibody-positive RA patients of the EAC, 93% was already identified at
      baseline with the 2010 criteria. Within autoantibody-negative RA this was 51% (p
      < 0.001), indicating that 49% of autoantibody-negative RA patients were not early
      classified with the 2010 criteria. Similarly, within autoantibody-positive RA
      patients in ESPOIR 92% were 2010 positive at baseline, whereas this was only 25%
      within autoantibody-negative RA (p < 0.001), indicating that 75% of autoantibody
      negative RA patients were not early classified with the 2010 criteria. Similar
      results were obtained when DMARD start was the reference for RA. CONCLUSIONS: The
      2010 criteria perform well in the early identification of autoantibody-positive
      RA, but autoantibody-negative RA patients are still frequently missed with these
      criteria. This implies that other diagnostics are required for ACPA-negative
      patients.

PMID- 28601251
TI  - Reprint of Editiorial Commentary: Genomics and drug discovery: The next frontier
      in precision medicine.

PMID- 28601250
TI  - Efficacy, Safety, and Risk Factors for Failure of Standalone Ab Interno Gelatin
      Microstent Implantation versus Standalone Trabeculectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy, safety, and risk factors for failure of
      standalone ab interno gelatin microstent implantation with mitomycin C (MMC)
      versus trabeculectomy with MMC. DESIGN: International, multicenter, retrospective
      interventional cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred fifty-four eyes of 293
      patients (185 microstent and 169 trabeculectomy) with no prior incisional
      surgery. METHODS: Consecutive eyes with uncontrolled glaucoma underwent
      microstent or trabeculectomy surgery from January 1, 2011 through July 31, 2015
      at 4 academic ophthalmology centers: Toronto, Canada; Frankfurt, Germany;
      Salzburg, Austria; and Leuven, Belgium. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome
      measure was hazard ratio (HR) of failure, with failure defined as 2 consecutive
      intraocular pressure (IOP) readings of <6 mmHg with vision loss or >17 mmHg
      without glaucoma medications (complete success) at least 1 month after surgery
      despite in-clinic interventions (including needling). Secondary outcome measures
      included IOP thresholds of 6 to 14 mmHg and 6 to 21 mmHg and same thresholds
      allowing for medications (qualified success), interventions, complications, and
      reoperations. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar, except more men
      (56% vs. 43%), younger patients (average, by 3 years), better preoperative visual
      acuity (22% vs. 32% with 0.4 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution vision
      or worse), and more trabeculoplasty (52% vs. 30%) among microstent eyes. The
      adjusted HR of failure of the microstent relative to trabeculectomy was 1.2 (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 0.7-2.0) for complete success and 1.3 (95% CI, 0.6-2.8)
      for qualified success, and similar for other outcomes. Time to 25% failure was
      11.2 months (95% CI, 6.9-16.1 months) and 10.6 months (95% CI, 6.8-16.2 months)
      for complete success and 30.3 months (95% CI, 19.0-infinity months) and 33.3
      months (95% CI, 25.7-46.2 months) for qualified success. Overall, white ethnicity
      was associated with decreased risk of failure (adjusted HR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.25
      0.96), and diabetes was associated with increased risk of failure (adjusted HR,
      4.21; 95% CI, 2.10-8.45). There were 117 and 165 distinct interventions: 43% and
      31% underwent needling, respectively, and 50% of trabeculectomy eyes underwent
      laser suture lysis. There were 22 and 30 distinct complications, although most
      were transient. Ten percent and 5% underwent reoperation (P = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS:
      There was no detectable difference in risk of failure and safety profiles between
      standalone ab interno microstent with MMC and trabeculectomy with MMC.

PMID- 28601252
TI  - Building academic-military research collaborations to improve the health of
      service members.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Academic-military research collaborations are desirable for many
      reasons; however, little guidance in the literature exists to help researchers
      understand collaboration requirements. PURPOSE: To describe the process for
      establishing academic-military research collaborations. METHOD: Specific
      collaboration requirements researchers must be aware of are outlined, two case
      studies are provided, and opportunities for and challenges with collaborations
      are discussed. DISCUSSION: Academic-military collaborations made it possible to
      conduct studies of stigma and barriers with mental health care among military
      nursing personnel and the utilization of secure messaging for health concerns
      with service members and healthcare providers. Planning these efforts began in
      the earliest stages of developing research proposals, and additional time was
      required to complete regulatory requirements prior to study implementation.
      Understanding military-specific considerations and establishing clear
      expectations and responsibilities were essential. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the
      challenges involved, academic-military collaborations improve the quality of the
      research by enhancing access to funding, expertise, and resources.

PMID- 28601253
TI  - Lifestyle determinants of health: Isn't it all about genetics and environment?
AB  - PURPOSE: Drawn from one of the keynote addresses at the State of the Science
      Conference held by the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS), the
      purpose of this paper is to review the evidence from clinical trials about the
      importance of lifestyle behaviors in human health. METHODS: Evidence from trials
      on the impact of lifestyle interventions on outcomes in diabetes and prediabetes
      are presented. RESULTS: These findings suggest that lifestyle behaviors are
      important to diabetes prevention and outcomes in youth and adults. IMPLICATIONS:
      More research is needed on the factors that predict these outcomes, especially
      genetics and environment.

PMID- 28601254
TI  - Investigating the determinants of health: The role of nursing science.

PMID- 28601255
TI  - Policy brief: Improve coverage of newborn genetic screening to include the
      Recommended Uniform Screening Panel and newborn screening registry.

PMID- 28601256
TI  - Aurora A Kinase Is a Priority Pharmaceutical Target for the Treatment of Cancers.
AB  - Aurora kinases control multiple events during cell cycle progression and are
      essential for mitotic and meiotic bipolar spindle assembly and function. There
      are three Aurora kinases in mammals, some of which have oncogenic properties and
      all of which are overexpressed in multiple cancers. Pharmaceutical companies
      quickly made these kinases priority targets for the development of inhibitors to
      be used as cancer treatments. In this review, we focus on Aurora A, against which
      several inhibiting compounds have been discovered and made available; however,
      even though some of these compounds underwent clinical trials, none have yet gone
      beyond Phase III trials. The varying efficiencies and particularities of these
      drugs raise several questions that are explored in this review: is Aurora A even
      a good target? What biomarkers can we use to measure its activity in vivo? How
      can we improve the Aurora A-inhibiting drugs?

PMID- 28601257
TI  - Commentary on "Co-culture of infrapatellar fat pad derived MSCs and articular
      chondrocytes in plasma clot for cartilage tissue engineering".

PMID- 28601258
TI  - Computed Tomography Perfusion Abnormalities in Bilateral Thalamic Infarction Due
      to Artery of Percheron Occlusion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to report a novel case of hyperacute computed tomography (CT)
      perfusion imaging abnormalities in artery of Percheron infarction. METHODS: We
      described a case of a 74-year-old man who presented acutely to the emergency room
      with witnessed sudden onset altered level of consciousness. RESULTS: Although
      initial hyperacute CT brain imaging was reported as normal, subsequent magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed bilateral paramedian thalamic infarction. A
      retrospective review of CT perfusion imaging revealed perfusion mismatch in the
      bilateral thalami, which was not recognized in the hyperacute setting.
      CONCLUSION: Artery of Percheron occlusion is a well-described cause of bilateral
      paramedian thalamic infarction, but to date, we have not identified any reports
      of perfusion imaging abnormalities in the hyperacute setting. This case
      emphasizes the important role of perfusion imaging when clinical presentation is
      not typical for ischemic stroke, but is suspected, given an acute onset; its
      recognition may have led to the consideration of thrombolysis acutely in this
      case (stroke chameleon).

PMID- 28601259
TI  - Validation of Serial Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score as an Outcome
      Predictor in Thrombolyzed Stroke Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) on baseline
      imaging is an established predictor of functional outcome in anterior circulation
      acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We studied ASPECTS before intravenous thrombolysis
      (IVT) and at 24 hours to assess its prognostic value. METHODS: Data for
      consecutive anterior circulation AIS patients treated with IVT from 2006 to 2013
      were extracted from a prospectively managed registry at our tertiary center. Pre
      thrombolysis and 24-hour ASPECTS were evaluated by 2 independent
      neuroradiologists. Outcome measures included symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage
      (SICH), modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days, and mortality. Unfavorable
      functional outcome was defined by mRS >1. Dramatic ASPECTS progression (DAP) was
      defined as deterioration in ASPECTS by 6 points or more. RESULTS: Of 554 AIS
      patients thrombolyzed during the study period, 400 suffered from anterior
      circulation infarction. The median age was 65 years (interquartile range (IQR):
      59-70) and the median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 18
      points (IQR: 12-22). Compared with the pre-IVT ASPECTS (area under the curve
      [AUC] = .64, 95% confidence interval [CI]: .54-.65, P = .001), ASPECTS on the 24
      hour CT scan (AUC = .78, 95% CI: .73-.82, P < .001), and change in ASPECTS (AUC =
      .69, 95% CI: .64-.74, P < .001) were better predictors of unfavorable functional
      outcome at 3 months. DAP, noted in 34 (14.4%) patients with good baseline ASPECTS
      (8-10 points), was significantly associated with unfavorable functional outcome
      (odds ratio [OR]: 9.91, 95% CI: 3.37-29.19, P <= .001), mortality (OR: 21.99, 95%
      CI: 7.98-60.58, P < .001), and SICH (OR: 8.57, 95% CI: 2.87-25.59, P < .001).
      CONCLUSION: Compared with the pre-thrombolysis score, ASPECTS measured at 24
      hours as well as serial change in ASPECTS is a better predictor of 3-month
      functional outcome.

PMID- 28601260
TI  - Nephrotic syndrome, anti-PLA2R and membranous glomerulonephritis. Is the renal
      biopsy necessary?

PMID- 28601261
TI  - Second opinion in medical encounters - A study among breast cancer patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between whether physicians discuss the
      possibility of seeking a second opinion (SO) with patients and the patients'
      decision to seek an SO. We also investigated the impact of seeking such an
      opinion on patients' trust in physicians. METHODS: Newly diagnosed breast cancer
      patients were surveyed postoperatively with a mail survey. A patient survey is
      carried out annually to evaluate the breast cancer centers in North Rhine
      Westphalia, Germany. In 2016, survey data from 4517 patients in 87 hospitals were
      analyzed. RESULTS: Physicians were more likely to inform patients under the age
      of 75 years with higher education levels about the possibility of seeking an SO.
      Our results indicate that requesting another opinion is associated with less
      trust in the physician. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that physicians may
      selectively inform only a subset of patients about the possibility of seeking an
      SO. Patients who were informed about such a possibility are more likely to do so.
      PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Physicians may need to be careful to avoid inequalities
      based on the age and education of patients regarding giving information about the
      possibility of an SO. Moreover, breast cancer centers could provide material to
      patients regarding seeking an SO.

PMID- 28601262
TI  - Medical students' communication skills in clinical education: Results from a
      cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess students' communication skills during clinical medical
      education and at graduation. METHODS: We conducted an observational cohort study
      from 2007 to 2011 with 26 voluntary undergraduate medical students at Hamburg
      University based on video-taped consultations in year four and at graduation. 176
      consultations were analyzed quantitatively with validated and non-validated
      context-independent communication observation instruments (interrater reliability
      >=0.8). Based on observational protocols each consultation was also documented in
      free-text comments, salient topics were extracted afterwards. RESULTS: 26
      students, seven males, were enrolled in the survey. On average, graduates scored
      higher in differential-diagnostic questioning and time management but showed
      deficiencies in taking systematic and complete symptom-oriented histories, in
      communication techniques, in structuring consultations and in gathering the
      patients' perspectives. Patient-centeredness and empathy were rather low at
      graduation. Individual deficiencies could barely be eliminated. CONCLUSION:
      Medical students were able to enhance their clinical reasoning skills and their
      time management. Still, various communication deficiencies in final year students
      became evident regarding appropriate history taking, communication skills,
      empathy and patient-centeredness. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The necessity of
      developing a longitudinal communication curriculum with enhanced communication
      trainings and assessments became evident. A curriculum should ensure that
      students' communication competencies are firmly achieved at graduation.

PMID- 28601263
TI  - The perils of information giving: What an accidental incident taught us about
      messages and roles.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Occasionally mishaps in an investigation lead to new
      understandings. We report how a videotaped emotional discussion among a family
      after they had received information about their relative's state gave us insight
      into the minute sources of uncertainty that fueled their confusion. METHODS:
      Based on the themes of the family's discussion, we used a forensic approach to
      locate distinct sequences of interest in the video and transcript. Microanalysis
      of face-to-face dialogue was performed to understand the most critical sequence.
      The analysis was supported by questionnaire data. RESULTS: The family's
      disagreement about the patient's prognosis could be traced to minor differences
      in how the surgeon and the anesthesiologist had framed the information. In
      attempting to resolve apparent contradictions, the family realized they were
      uncertain about the physicians' roles, which amplified the emotional expressions
      in the discussions. Role confusion could be traced to subtle details in the
      surgeon's presentation of himself and the surgery. CONCLUSION: Minor
      discrepancies in how health care professionals frame information combined with
      not exploring relatives' emotions may lead to major differences in relatives'
      perceptions. Doubt about health providers' roles decontextualizes information and
      reassurance, magnifying uncertainty. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Health providers
      should present themselves clearly without haste. If more than one provider is
      involved, joint preparation of the main messages may be necessary.

PMID- 28601264
TI  - High-Flow Nasal Cannula Versus Conventional Oxygen Therapy in Emergency
      Department Patients With Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema: A Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: High-flow nasal cannula is a new method for delivering high-flow
      supplemental oxygen for victims of respiratory failure. This randomized
      controlled trial compares high-flow nasal cannula with conventional oxygen
      therapy in emergency department (ED) patients with cardiogenic pulmonary edema.
      METHODS: We conducted an open-label randomized controlled trial in the ED of
      Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. Patients aged 18 years or older with
      cardiogenic pulmonary edema were randomly assigned to receive either conventional
      oxygen therapy or high-flow nasal cannula. The primary outcome was the
      respiratory rate 60 minutes postintervention. RESULTS: We enrolled 128
      participants (65 in the conventional oxygen therapy and 63 in the high-flow nasal
      cannula groups). Baseline high-flow nasal cannula and conventional oxygen therapy
      mean respiratory rates were 28.7 breaths/min (SD 3.2) and 28.6 breaths/min (SD
      3.5). Mean respiratory rates at 60 minutes postintervention were lower in the
      high-flow nasal cannula group (21.8 versus 25.1 breaths/min; difference 3.3; 95%
      confidence interval 1.9 to 4.6). No significant differences were found in the
      admission rate, ED and hospital lengths of stay, noninvasive ventilation,
      intubation, or mortality. CONCLUSION: In patients with cardiogenic pulmonary
      edema in the ED, high-flow nasal cannula therapy may decrease the severity of
      dyspnea during the first hour of treatment.

PMID- 28601265
TI  - What Baseline Clinical Features Are Associated With Survival or Good Neurologic
      Outcome After Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?

PMID- 28601266
TI  - Emergency Physician Use of Cognitive Strategies to Manage Interruptions.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine whether emergency
      physicians use strategies to manage interruptions during clinical work.
      Interruption management strategies include immediately engaging the interruption
      by discontinuing the current task and starting the interruption, continuing the
      current task while engaging the interruption, rejecting the interruption, or
      delaying the interruption. METHODS: An observational time and motion study was
      conducted in 3 different urban, academic emergency departments with 18 attending
      emergency physicians. Each physician was observed for 2 hours, and the number of
      interruptions, source of interruptions, type of task being interrupted, and use
      of interruption management strategies were documented. RESULTS: Participants were
      interrupted on average of 12.5 times per hour. The majority of interruptions were
      in person from other staff, including nurses, residents, and other attending
      physicians. When participants were interrupted, they were often working on their
      computer. Participants almost always immediately engaged the interruption task
      (75.4% of the time), followed by multitasking, in which the primary task was
      continued while the interrupting task was performed (22.2%). Physicians rejected
      or delayed interruptions less than 2% of the time. CONCLUSION: Our results
      suggest there is an opportunity to introduce emergency physicians to the use of
      interruption management strategies as a method of handling the frequent
      interruptions they are exposed to. Use of these strategies when high-risk primary
      tasks are performed may reduce the disruptiveness of some interruptions and
      improve patient safety.

PMID- 28601267
TI  - Hypotension in Traumatic Brain Injury: Describing the Depth of the Problem.

PMID- 28601269
TI  - The Bougie and First-Pass Success in the Emergency Department.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: The bougie may improve first-pass intubation success in
      operating room patients. We seek to determine whether bougie use is associated
      with emergency department (ED) first-pass intubation success. METHODS: We studied
      consecutive adult ED intubations at an urban, academic medical center during
      2013. Intubation events were identified by motion-activated video recording. We
      determined the association between bougie use and first-pass intubation success,
      adjusting for neuromuscular blockade, video laryngoscopy, abnormal airway
      anatomy, and whether the patient was placed in the sniffing position or the head
      was lifted off the bed during intubation. RESULTS: Intubation with a Macintosh
      blade was attempted in 543 cases; a bougie was used on the majority of initial
      attempts (80%; n=435). First-pass success was greater with than without bougie
      use (95% versus 86%; absolute difference 9% [95% confidence interval {CI} 2% to
      16%]). The median first-attempt duration was higher with than without bougie (40
      versus 27 seconds; difference 14 seconds [95% CI 11 to 16 seconds]). Bougie use
      was independently associated with greater first-pass success (adjusted odds ratio
      2.83 [95% CI 1.35 to 5.92]). CONCLUSION: Bougie was associated with increased
      first-pass intubation success. Bougie use may be helpful in ED intubation.

PMID- 28601268
TI  - The Efficacy of Crotalidae Polyvalent Immune Fab (Ovine) Antivenom Versus Placebo
      Plus Optional Rescue Therapy on Recovery From Copperhead Snake Envenomation: A
      Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Clinical Trial.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix) envenomation causes
      limb injury resulting in pain and disability. It is not known whether antivenom
      administration improves limb function. We determine whether administration of
      antivenom improves recovery from limb injury in patients envenomated by
      copperhead snakes. METHODS: From August 2013 through November 2015, we performed
      a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial to
      evaluate the effect of ovine Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab (ovine) (CroFab;
      FabAV) antivenom therapy on recovery of limb function in patients with copperhead
      snake envenomation at 14 days postenvenomation. The study setting was 18
      emergency departments in regions of the United States where copperhead snakes are
      endemic. Consecutive patients aged 12 years or older with mild- to moderate
      severity envenomation received either FabAV or placebo. The primary outcome was
      limb function 14 days after envenomation, measured by the Patient-Specific
      Functional Scale. Additional outcomes included the Patient-Specific Functional
      Scale at other points; the Disorders of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand, Lower
      Extremity Functional Scale, and Patient's Global Impression of Change
      instruments; grip strength; walking speed; quality of life (Patient-Reported
      Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Fucntion-10); pain; and
      analgesic use. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients received study drug (45 FabAV, 29
      placebo). Mean age was 43 years (range 12 to 86 years). Fifty-three percent were
      men, 62% had lower extremity envenomation, and 88% had mild initial severity. The
      primary outcome, the least square mean Patient-Specific Functional Scale score at
      14 days postenvenomation, was 8.6 for FabAV-treated subjects and 7.4 for placebo
      recipients (difference 1.2; 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 2.3; P=.04).
      Additional outcome assessments generally favored FabAV. More FabAV-treated
      subjects experienced treatment-emergent adverse events (56% versus 28%), but few
      were serious (1 in each group). CONCLUSION: Treatment with FabAV reduces limb
      disability measured by the Patient-Specific Functional Scale 14 days after
      copperhead envenomation.

PMID- 28601270
TI  - Comparative Effectiveness of Patient-Controlled Analgesia for Treating Acute Pain
      in the Emergency Department.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: We assess the effectiveness of patient-controlled analgesia in
      the emergency department (ED). We hypothesized that decline in pain intensity
      from 30 to 120 minutes after initial intravenous opioid administration is greater
      in patients receiving morphine by patient-controlled analgesia compared with
      usual care and would differ by a clinically significant amount. METHOD: This was
      a pragmatic randomized controlled trial of patient-controlled analgesia and usual
      care (opioid and dose at physician's discretion) in 4 EDs. Entry criteria
      included age 18 to 65 years and acute pain requiring intravenous opioids. The
      primary outcome was decline in numeric rating scale pain score 30 to 120 minutes
      postbaseline. Secondary outcomes included satisfaction, time to analgesia,
      adverse events, and patient-controlled analgesia pump-related problems. We used a
      mixed-effects linear model to compare rate of decline in pain (slope) between
      groups. A clinically significant difference between groups was defined as a
      difference in slopes equivalent to 1.3 numeric rating scale units. RESULTS: Six
      hundred thirty-six patients were enrolled. The rate of decline in pain from 30 to
      120 minutes was greater for patients receiving patient-controlled analgesia than
      usual care (difference=1.0 numeric rating scale unit; 95% confidence interval
      [CI] 0.6 to 1.5; P<.001) but did not reach the threshold for clinical
      significance. More patients receiving patient-controlled analgesia were satisfied
      with pain management (difference=9.3%; 95% CI 3.3% to 15.1%). Median time to
      initial analgesia was 15 minutes longer for patient-controlled analgesia than
      usual care (95% CI 11.4 to 18.6 minutes). There were 7 adverse events in the
      patient-controlled analgesia group and 1 in the usual care group
      (difference=2.0%; 95% CI 0.04% to 3.9%), and 11 pump-programming errors.
      CONCLUSION: The findings of this study do not favor patient-controlled analgesia
      over usual ED care for acute pain management.

PMID- 28601271
TI  - Does Spontaneous Cardiac Motion, Identified With Point-of-Care Echocardiography
      During Cardiac Arrest, Predict Survival?

PMID- 28601272
TI  - Safety Considerations and Guideline-Based Safe Use Recommendations for "Bolus
      Dose" Vasopressors in the Emergency Department.
AB  - The use of intermittently administered doses of vasopressors to correct
      hypotension in the emergency department (ED), commonly referred to as bolus-dose
      pressors, push-dose pressors, Neo-sticks, or phenyl sticks, has been widely
      advocated outside of the traditional printed medical literature. No outcomes data
      of this practice exist to demonstrate benefits over traditional continuous
      infusion of vasopressors. Use of bolus-dose vasopressors in the ED setting raises
      a number of patient safety concerns, and misuse and errors in the preparation and
      administration of bolus-dose vasopressors may result in patient harm. A systems
      based approach should be implemented to maximize safety and patient benefits if
      bolus-dose vasopressors are used. This article discusses the wide range of issues
      to consider when evaluating the role of bolus-dose vasopressors in the ED and
      provides recommendations based on current safe medication practices guidelines.

PMID- 28601274
TI  - Rocuronium Should Be the Default Paralytic in Rapid Sequence Intubation.

PMID- 28601275
TI  - Practical Application of Educational Theory for Learning Technical Skills in
      Emergency Medicine.

PMID- 28601276
TI  - Managing Patients With Nontraumatic, Severe, Rapid-Onset Headache.

PMID- 28601277
TI  - Late onset neuromyelitis optica mimicking an acute stroke in an elderly patient.
AB  - Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) was recently proposed as a
      unifying term for Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and related syndromes to incorporate
      patients with NMO antibody but without the full clinical spectrum. NMO is a rare,
      demyelinating condition which predominantly affects females with a peak incidence
      in the third and fourth decade of life. We report a case of NMOSD in an elderly
      patient with extremely late onset (>80years) of disease. The patient presented
      with findings of sudden onset unilateral symptoms, which is extremely unusual for
      NMOSD. She had frequent relapses which were treated with high dose steroids and
      plasmapheresis but has not had any relapse since being started on
      immunosuppressive therapy and continues to do well. Our case also highlights the
      varied clinical presentations of NMOSD and we believe that the diagnosis of NMOSD
      should be considered in elderly patients in the appropriate clinical setting
      despite the presence of unconventional symptoms.

PMID- 28601273
TI  - Potential Impact of the 2016 Consensus Definitions of Sepsis and Septic Shock on
      Future Sepsis Research.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: The influence of the Third International Consensus Definitions
      for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) on the conduct of future sepsis research
      is unknown. We seek to examine the potential effect of the new definitions on the
      identification and outcomes of patients enrolled in a sepsis trial. METHODS: This
      was a post hoc analysis of the Australasian Resuscitation in Sepsis Evaluation
      (ARISE) trial of early goal-directed therapy that recruited 1,591 adult patients
      presenting to the emergency department (ED) with early septic shock diagnosed by
      greater than or equal to 2 systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria and
      either refractory hypotension or hyperlactatemia. The proportion of participants
      who would have met the Sepsis-3 criteria for quick Sequential Organ Failure
      Assessment (qSOFA) score, sepsis (an increased Sequential Organ Failure
      Assessment score >=2 because of infection) and septic shock before randomization,
      their baseline characteristics, interventions delivered, and mortality were
      determined. RESULTS: There were 1,139 participants who had a qSOFA score of
      greater than or equal to 2 at baseline (71.6% [95% confidence interval {CI} 69.4%
      to 73.8%]). In contrast, 1,347 participants (84.7% [95% CI 82.9% to 86.4%]) met
      the Sepsis-3 criteria for sepsis. Only 1,010 participants were both qSOFA
      positive and met the Sepsis-3 criteria for sepsis (63.5% [95% CI 61.1% to
      65.8%]). The Sepsis-3 definition for septic shock was met at baseline by 203
      participants (12.8% [95% CI 11.2% to 14.5%]), of whom 175 (86.2% [95% CI 81.5% to
      91.0%]) were also qSOFA positive. Ninety-day mortality for participants
      fulfilling the Sepsis-3 criteria for sepsis and septic shock was 20.4% (95% CI
      18.2% to 22.5%) (274/1,344) and 29.6% (95% CI 23.3% to 35.8% [60/203]) versus
      9.4% (95% CI 5.8% to 13.1%) (23/244) and 17.1% (95% CI 15.1% to 19.1%
      [237/1,388]), respectively, for participants not meeting the criteria (risk
      differences 11.0% [95% CI 6.2% to 14.8%] and 12.5% [95% CI 6.3% to 19.4%],
      respectively). CONCLUSION: Most ARISE participants did not meet the Sepsis-3
      definition for septic shock at baseline. However, the majority fulfilled the new
      sepsis definition and mortality was higher than for participants not fulfilling
      the criteria. A quarter of participants meeting the new sepsis definition did not
      fulfill the qSOFA screening criteria, potentially limiting its utility as a
      screening tool for sepsis trials with patients with suspected infection in the
      ED. The implications of the new definitions for patients not eligible for
      recruitment into the ARISE trial are unknown.

PMID- 28601278
TI  - Laquinimod has no effects on brain volume or cellular CNS composition in the F1
      3xTg-AD/C3H mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laquinimod is an anti-inflammatory agent with good central nervous
      system (CNS) bioavailability, and neuroprotective and myelorestorative
      properties. A clinical trial in patients with multiple sclerosis demonstrated
      that laquinimod significantly reduced loss of brain volume. The cellular
      substrate or molecular events underlying that treatment effect are unknown. In
      this study, we aimed to explore laquinimod's potential effects on brain volume,
      animal behavior, cellular numbers and composition of CNS-intrinsic cells and
      mononuclear cells within the CNS, amyloid beta (Abeta) accumulation and tau
      phosphorylation in the F1 3xTg-AD/C3H mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
      METHODS: Utilizing a dose response study design, four months old F1 3xTg-AD/C3H
      mice were treated for 10months between ages 4 and 14months with laquinimod (5,
      10, or 25mg/kg), or PBS administered by oral gavage. Brain volumes were measured
      in a 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imager (MRI) at ages 4 and 14months. Behavioral
      testing included locomotor and rearing activity and the Morris water maze task.
      Cell numbers and immunophenotypes were assessed by multiparameter flow cytometry.
      Abeta deposition and tau phosphorylation were determined by immunohistochemistry.
      RESULTS: In the F1 3xTg-AD/C3H animal model of AD, there was no detectable
      reduction of brain volume over a period of 10months of treatment, as there was
      not brain atrophy in any of the placebo or treatment groups. Laquinimod had no
      detectable effects on most neurobehavioral outcomes. The number or composition of
      CNS intrinsic cells and mononuclear subsets isolated from the CNS were not
      altered by laquinimod. CONCLUSION: This is the first demonstration that there are
      no age-associated brain volume changes in the F1 3xTg-AD/C3H mouse model of
      Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, laquinimod had no effect on that outcome of
      this study. Most secondary outcomes on the effects of laquinimod on behavior and
      the number and composition of CNS-intrinsic cells and mononuclear cells within
      the CNS were also negative.

PMID- 28601279
TI  - Escitalopram or novel herbal treatments differentially alter cytokine and
      behavioral responses to immune challenge.
AB  - Studies suggest that inflammation is involved in the pathophysiology of
      depression. The present study examined the effects of the commonly used
      antidepressant escitalopram, in comparison with a novel herbal treatment (NHT)
      consisted of Crataegus pinnatifida, Triticum aestivum, Lilium brownii and Fructus
      Ziziphus jujuba, on cytokine and behavioral responses to an immune challenge.
      Escitalopram augmented lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      alpha peripheral secretion and induced a faster kinetics of interleukin-1beta
      secretion, while marginally reducing sickness behavior. NHT, on the other hand,
      completely abolished lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-1beta and TNFalpha
      peripheral secretion and diminished sickness behavior. These findings may have
      implications for the treatment of depressive symptoms associated with immune
      activation.

PMID- 28601280
TI  - Staining of HLA-DR, Iba1 and CD68 in human microglia reveals partially
      overlapping expression depending on cellular morphology and pathology.
AB  - HLA-DR, Iba1 and CD68 are widely used microglia markers in human tissue. However,
      due to differences in gene regulation, they may identify different activation
      stages of microglia. Here, we directly compared the expression of HLA-DR, Iba1
      and CD68 in microglia with different phenotypes, ranging from ramified to
      amoeboid, to foamy phagocytizing macrophages, in adjacent sections
      immunocytochemically double stained for two of the markers. Material was used
      from patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      patients and control subjects because together they contain all the microglia
      activation stages in an acute and a chronic inflammatory setting. We found a
      similar, yet not identical, overall expression pattern. All three markers were
      expressed by ramified/amoeboid microglia around chronic active MS lesions, but
      overlap between HLA-DR and Iba1 was limited. Foamy macrophages in the
      demyelinating rims of active MS lesions of MS expressed more HLA-DR and CD68 than
      Iba1. All markers were expressed by small microglia accumulations (nodules) in MS
      NAWM. Dense core AD plaques in the hippocampus were mostly associated with
      microglia expressing HLA-DR. Diffuse AD plaques were not specifically associated
      with microglia at all. These results indicate that microglia markers have
      different potential for neuropathological analysis, with HLA-DR and CD68
      reflecting immune activation and response to tissue damage, and Iba1 providing a
      marker more suited for structural studies in the absence of pathology.

PMID- 28601281
TI  - Association of CD58 gene polymorphisms with NMO spectrum disorders in a Han
      Chinese population.
AB  - This study aimed to perform a comprehensive assessment of the association between
      CD58 polymorphisms and the risk of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders
      (NMOSD) in a Han Chinese population. Nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      were genotyped in 230 NMOSD patients and 487 healthy controls. Five SNPs were
      significantly associated with an increased risk of NMOSD (rs2300747, rs1335532,
      rs56302466, rs1016140, and rs12044852). The haplotype TAGCCCAA significantly
      increased the risk of NMOSD, while TATTACGG reduced the risk. In conclusion, this
      study identified a new NMOSD susceptibility variant, rs56302466, and suggested
      that CD58 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of NMOSD in Han Chinese.

PMID- 28601282
TI  - KFLC Index utility in multiple sclerosis diagnosis: Further confirmation.
AB  - The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis is based on dissemination of focal lesions
      in time and space. The free light chains (FLCs) determination might be a
      sensitive alternative to oligoclonal bands assay. The study aim was to redefine
      sensitivity, specificity of the kFLC Index cut-off. We analyzed serum and
      cerebrospinal fluid of 176 patients, with different neurological disorders. We
      obtained a cut off of 12,3 for kFLC Index with a sensitivity and specificity of
      93% and 100% respectively. Our data confirm that the kFLC Index is a valid tool
      in the diagnosis of MS.

PMID- 28601283
TI  - The vitamin D receptor gene FokI polymorphism and Multiple Sclerosis in a
      Northern Portuguese population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cause of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) remains poorly understood, but
      it is widely believed to be an autoimmune disease occurring in genetically
      susceptible individuals after exposure to as-yet undefined environmental factors.
      One of these environmental factors is vitamin D, a well-known immune modulator.
      The biologically active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, has been
      shown to exert its immune modulatory properties through its nuclear receptor
      (VDR) namely by inhibiting the proliferation of Th cells. The purpose of this
      study was to evaluate the influence of FokI VDR polymorphism in MS development
      and progression. METHODS: A group of 533 unrelated Portuguese patients with a
      definitive diagnosis of MS and 446 ethnically matched healthy controls were
      included in the study. FokI was genotyped using a PCR-based TaqMan Genotyping
      Assay and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was also assessed. RESULTS: A
      statistically significant higher frequency of the ff genotype was observed in MS
      patients (15.6% vs. 10.1%, p=0.012, OR (95% CI)=1.687(1.120-2.541)). No
      differences were observed in the frequencies of the FokI polymorphism according
      to disease course or with progression of disability. None of the genotypes was
      significantly associated with 25(OH)D serum levels. CONCLUSIONS: An association
      between FokI ff genotype and MS susceptibility was found, but not with disease
      form or progression. Additional clinical and experimental studies should take the
      FokI VDR polymorphism into account, and further clarify the role of vitamin D,
      its metabolites and its receptor in MS.

PMID- 28601284
TI  - Aquaporin-4 antibody positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder associated
      with esophageal cancer.
AB  - Autoimmune diseases are sometimes associated with neoplasms. A 70-year-old
      Japanese woman with myelitis, seropositive for aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody, was
      diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD); thereafter an
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was identified. Immunohistochemically, her
      cancer was anti-AQP4 antibody negative. Her symptoms, imaging findings and AQP4
      titer markedly improved with corticosteroid and anti-cancer therapies. Although
      AQP4 may be a paraneoplastic antigen, paraneoplastic syndrome could not be
      definitively diagnosed in this case. Nevertheless, this is the first report of an
      association between AQP4 antibody-seropositive NMOSD and esophageal cancer. The
      possibility of underlying malignancy should be considered in patients diagnosed
      with NMOSD.

PMID- 28601285
TI  - Cytomegalovirus and varicella zoster virus seropositivity of Iranian patients
      with multiple sclerosis: A population-based study.
AB  - Multiple Sclerosis is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS)
      affecting young individuals with age range of 20-40years of age. The precise
      mechanism underlying the disease is still unclear. Some viruses have been
      proposed to play roles in disease causation. In this study, we recruited 800 MS
      patients along with 1000 healthy individuals to determine the seropositivity of
      anti-CMV and anti-VZV IgG titers using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
      Our results showed significant higher titers of anti-CMV and anti-VZV IgG titers
      in serum of MS patients with respect to healthy individuals (for both p<0.001).
      It seems that CMV and VZV play a key role in MS pathogenesis.

PMID- 28601286
TI  - Autoantibody responses to nodal and paranodal antigens in chronic inflammatory
      neuropathies.
AB  - Autoantibodies to nodal/paranodal proteins have been reported in patients with
      chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor
      neuropathy (MMN). To determine the frequency of anti-paranodal antibodies in our
      cohort of CIDP patients and to validate the presence anti-nodal antibodies in
      MMN, sera were screened for IgG against human neurofascin 155, contactin-1,
      neurofascin 186 and gliomedin using ELISA. In CIDP patients, 7% were anti-NF155
      IgG4 positive and 7% were anti-CNTN1 IgG4 positive. Positive results were
      confirmed using cell based assays and indirect immunofluorescence on teased nerve
      fibres. We did not detect IgG autoantibodies against these nodal/paranodal
      antigens in MMN patients.

PMID- 28601287
TI  - CD4/CD8 ratio during natalizumab treatment in multiple sclerosis patients.
AB  - Although improved, the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy is a
      constant threat for patient affected by multiple sclerosis treated with
      natalizumab. We performed a 24months longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the
      total WBC and lymphocytes subsets modifications and their correlations with anti
      JCV antibody index after 1 and 2years of natalizumab treatment. Natalizumab
      induced an increase of WBC, total and C19+ lymphocytes together with a decrease
      of CD3+, CD4+ T lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 ratio, which was positively related to
      anti-JCV antibodies index at month 0, 12 and 24. Our study confirms that
      lymphocytes subsets are modified under NAT therapy. Implications of lymphocyte
      subsets alterations in the pathogenesis of PML are under analyses.

PMID- 28601288
TI  - Autoantibodies as diagnostic biomarkers for the detection and subtyping of
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - The goal of this preliminary proof-of-concept study was to use human protein
      microarrays to identify blood-based autoantibody biomarkers capable of diagnosing
      multiple sclerosis (MS). Using sera from 112 subjects, including 51 MS subjects,
      autoantibody biomarkers effectively differentiated MS subjects from age- and
      gender-matched normal and breast cancer controls with 95.0% and 100% overall
      accuracy, but not from subjects with Parkinson's disease. Autoantibody biomarkers
      were also useful in distinguishing subjects with the relapsing-remitting form of
      MS from those with the secondary progressive subtype. These results demonstrate
      that autoantibodies can be used as noninvasive blood-based biomarkers for the
      detection and subtyping of MS.

PMID- 28601289
TI  - Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory potential of human immunoglobulin applied
      intrathecally in Lewis rat experimental autoimmune neuritis.
AB  - Intravenous human immunoglobulins dominate in the treatment of autoimmune
      neuropathies. We introduce intrathecal application as a new option for
      experimental autoimmune neuritis in Lewis rats. After immunisation with
      neuritogenic P2 peptide, we show a therapeutic and preventive effect of
      intrathecal human immunoglobulins (5-40mg/kg) on clinical and
      electrophysiological neuritis signs. Histology corroborated a lower degree of
      inflammation, demyelination, ICAM-1-dependent blood-nerve-barrier permeability
      and complement activation in the sciatic nerve. After preventive application,
      immunoglobulins induced a Th2 cytokine shift in the peripheral nerves already
      before clinical neuritis signs. Intrathecal immunoglobulin application could be a
      novel immunomodulatory option for autoimmune neuropathies.

PMID- 28601290
TI  - Suspected bacterial meningomyelitis: The first presenting clinical feature of
      neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
AB  - A rare case of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, suspected to be bacterial
      meningomyelitis as the initial manifestation, is reported. The patient presented
      with initial symptoms of meningomyelitis and fever. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis
      revealed pleocytosis (1280*106/L [98% lymphocytes]) and glucose level of
      1.8mmol/L. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed >3 vertebral, longitudinally
      extensive transverse myelitis and area postrema lesions. Right optic neuritis was
      experienced 20months after the first attack. Serum anti-aquaporin-4 antibody was
      positive, and a diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder was made,
      supporting the hypothesis that the pathogenesis of neuromyelitis optica is
      triggered by infection.

PMID- 28601291
TI  - Absence of autoreactive CD4+ T-cells targeting HLA-DQA1*01:02/DQB1*06:02
      restricted hypocretin/orexin epitopes in narcolepsy type 1 when detected by
      EliSpot.
AB  - Narcolepsy type 1, a neurological sleep disorder strongly associated with Human
      Leukocyte Antigen (HLA-)DQB1*06:02, is caused by the loss of hypothalamic neurons
      producing the wake-promoting neuropeptide hypocretin (hcrt, also known as
      orexin). This loss is believed to be caused by an autoimmune reaction. To test
      whether hcrt itself could be a possible target in the autoimmune attack, CD4+ T
      cell reactivity towards six different 15-mer peptides from prepro-hypocretin with
      high predicted affinity to the DQA1*01:02/DQB1*06:02 MHC class II dimer was
      tested using EliSpot in a cohort of 22 narcolepsy patients with low CSF hcrt
      levels, and 23 DQB1*06:02 positive healthy controls. Our ELISpot assay had a
      detection limit of 1:10,000 cells. We present data showing that autoreactive CD4+
      T-cells targeting epitopes from the hcrt precursor in the context of MHC
      DQA1*01:02/DQB1*06:02 are either not present or present in a frequency is
      <1:10,000 among peripheral CD4+ T-cells from narcolepsy type 1 patients.

PMID- 28601292
TI  - Hematopoietic stem progenitor cells prevent chronic stress-induced lymphocyte
      apoptosis.
AB  - Physical or psychological chronic stress can suppress the immune system. However,
      the mechanisms remain to be elucidated. We investigated the effect of
      hematopoietic stem-progenitor cells (HSPCs) on chronic stress-induced the
      alterations of immune responses. We demonstrate that HSPCs prevents stress
      induced lymphocyte apoptosis. Moreover, we also demonstrate that the protective
      effect of HSPCs on stress-induced lymphocyte reduction exerts by steroid
      hormones. Furthermore, we reveal that chronic stress-induced T cell-mediated
      immune responses contributes to the protective effect of HSPCs. These results
      indicate that HPSCs might offer a novel therapeutic strategy against the
      deleterious effects of chronic stress on the immune system.

PMID- 28601293
TI  - From dizziness to severe ataxia and dysarthria: New cases of anti-Ca/ARHGAP26
      autoantibody-associated cerebellar ataxia suggest a broad clinical spectrum.
AB  - In 2010, a novel anti-neuronal autoantibody, termed anti-Ca, was described in a
      patient with subacute cerebellar ataxia, and Rho GTPase-activating protein 26
      (ARHGAP26) was identified as the target antigen. Recently, three additional cases
      of anti-Ca-positive cerebellar ataxia have been published. In addition to ataxia,
      cognitive decline and depression have been observed in some patients. Here, we
      report two new cases of anti-Ca-associated autoimmune cerebellar ataxia. Patient
      1 presented with dizziness and acute yet mild limb and gait ataxia. Symptoms
      stabilized with long-term oral corticosteroid therapy but transiently worsened
      when steroids were tapered. Interestingly, both initial occurrence and worsening
      of the patient's neurological symptoms after steroid withdrawal were accompanied
      by spontaneous cutaneous hematomas. Patient 2 initially presented with an
      increased startle response and myoclonic jerks, and subsequently developed severe
      limb and gait ataxia, dysarthria, oculomotor disturbances, head and voice tremor,
      dysphagia, cognitive symptoms and depression. Steroid treatment was started five
      years after disease onset. The symptoms then responded only poorly to
      corticosteroids. At most recent follow-up, 19 years after disease onset, the
      patient was wheelchair-bound. These cases extend the clinical spectrum associated
      with anti-ARHGAP26 autoimmunity and suggest that early treatment may be important
      in patients with this rare syndrome.

PMID- 28601294
TI  - The c-Abl inhibitor, nilotinib, as a potential therapeutic agent for chronic
      cerebellar ataxia.
AB  - Nilotinib is a potent inhibitor of tyrosine kinase BCR-ABL that penetrates the
      blood-brain barrier. To evaluate the effect of nilotinib in chronic cerebellar
      ataxia, twelve patients with chronic cerebellar ataxia nonresponsive to other
      treatment options (modified Rankin scale [mRS] scores: >2) and received nilotinib
      therapy (daily doses: 150-300mg) for >4 (range 5-16) weeks were reviewed. At
      follow-up, improved mRS scores were found in 7/12 (58.3%) patients and favorable
      mRS scores (<=2) were found in 6/12 (50.0%) patients. No severe adverse event was
      observed. Atrophy in the cerebellar vermis appeared to be negatively associated
      with favorable outcomes.

PMID- 28601295
TI  - B cells from patients with multiple sclerosis induce cell death via apoptosis in
      neurons in vitro.
AB  - B cells mediate multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis by mechanisms unrelated to
      immunoglobulin (Ig). We reported that supernatants (Sup) from cultured B cells
      from blood of relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) patients, but not normal controls
      (NC), were cytotoxic to rat oligodendrocytes (OL). We now show that RRMS blood B
      cells, not stimulated in vitro, secrete factor/s toxic to rat and human neurons.
      Cytotoxicity is independent of Ig and multiple cytokines, not complement
      mediated, and involves apoptosis. The factor/s have an apparent mw of >300kDa. B
      cells could contribute to damage within the central nervous system by secreting
      molecules toxic to OL and neurons.

PMID- 28601296
TI  - Calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor: An updated analysis of 339 cases
      reported in the literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to integrate the available data published on
      calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumors (CEOT) into a comprehensive analysis of
      its clinical and radiologic features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search
      was undertaken in May 2016. Eligibility criteria were publications having enough
      clinical, radiological and/or histological information to confirm definite
      diagnosis. RESULTS: A total of 362 lesions were found, 339 with enough
      information were analyzed. Variants clear cells (n = 33) and Langerhans cells (n
      = 10) were rarely described in the literature, as well as lesions with malignant
      transformation (n = 8). Central lesions (n = 264) were more prevalent than their
      peripheral counterparts (n = 24). A higher prevalence characterized the mandible,
      posterior region, and third and fourth decades. About 40% of the peripheral
      lesions showed signs of underlying bone erosion, and about half of the central
      ones showed signs of cortical bone perforation. Recurrence was found in all
      lesions (12.6%), peripheral lesions (18.8%), central lesions (11.6%), clear cell
      (10.7%), Langerhans cell (0%), and those with malignant transformation (42.9%).
      Excision or curettage was associated with the highest recurrence rate. None of
      the variables showed a statistically significant influence on the recurrence
      rate. CONCLUSIONS: The possible locally aggressive behavior of the lesions
      recommends a less conservative management than simple curettage. The clear cell
      variant shows similar demographic data and biological behavior compared to the
      non-variant lesions, suggesting that the presence of clear cells does not have an
      important clinical significance.

PMID- 28601297
TI  - Outcomes of multimodal management for sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor prognosis of sinonasal cancers (SNC) is usually due to the non
      specific symptoms leading to late diagnosis with locally advanced disease.
      However, previous prognostic studies were often based on heterogeneous cohorts
      because of the scarcity of SNC. With squamous cell carcinoma being the main
      histological subgroup, the study aimed to perform a prognostic analysis on
      sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC) particularly, and to evaluate the
      oncological results of a multimodal therapy. METHODS: A retrospective review of
      68 cases involving SNSCC treatment between 1998 and 2012 at Gustave Roussy Cancer
      Campus was performed. Clinical, pathological, and treatment characteristics were
      evaluated as prognostic markers for oncological outcomes. RESULTS: The 5-year
      overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 58.1% and
      52.6% respectively. Tumor downsizing under neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) was
      observed in 82.5% of cases. The main pattern of recurrence was local with a 2-
      and 5-year rate of 37.3%. Decreased OS, PFS and local control were associated
      with involvement of the orbit, the soft tissue, and the suprastructure (p <
      0.005). CONCLUSION: Prognosis of surgically treated SNSCC remains poor.
      Multimodal treatment combining NACT followed by wide resection requiring complex
      reconstruction and adjuvant radiation therapy seems to provide promising results.

PMID- 28601298
TI  - The effect of chronic dental inflammation on development of Stage 0 medication
      related osteonecrosis of the jaw.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The pathogenesis of medication-related osteonecrosis of jaw (MRONJ) is
      poorly understood. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the effect
      of chronic dental inflammation on the development of Stage 0 MRONJ based on
      histopathological findings. METHODS: The study involved patients with a history
      of bisphosphonate use and an indication for tooth extraction. Before surgery, C
      terminal telopeptide test (CTX) values were collected from all patients. All
      tooth extractions were performed according to a determined protocol. To detect
      whether any medication-related osteonecrotic changes were present in the non
      exposed bone, biopsy samples were taken from the alveolar bone. RESULTS: A total
      of 50 patients were included in the study (39 women and 11 men). The patients
      were mean age of 57.4 +/- 12.1 years. In total, 74 teeth were extracted (29
      maxillary and 45 mandibular). Histologic examination of three patients (6%)
      revealed Stage 0 MRONJ. Postoperatively, the complete mucosal healing success
      rate was 96%. MRONJ risk was not significantly correlated with low CTX value (p =
      0.285). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic inflammation may contribute to Stage 0 MRONJ;
      however, its role may not be sufficient alone for its development. Application of
      a predetermined protocol for dentoalveolar processes will help to prevent MRONJ
      development.

PMID- 28601299
TI  - Possible effects of some agents on the injured nerve in obese rats: A
      stereological and electron microscopic study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The main aim of this study was to research new treatments following
      peripheral nerve injury involving melatonin (Mel), acetyl-l-carnitine (ALCAR),
      and leptin (Lep) using updated unbiased methods at the stereological and electron
      microscopic levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wistar albino rats were randomly
      divided into nine equal groups; control (Cont), obese control (OG), obese group
      exposed to sciatic nerve resection (Gap) (OGG), obese group injected
      intraperitoneally (i.p.) with Mel (OMG), obese group injected with Mel i.p. with
      gap (OMGG), obese group injected with Lep i.p. (OLG), obese group injected with
      Lep i.p. with gap (OLGG), obese group injected with ALCAR i.p. (OAG), and obese
      group injected with ALCAR i.p. with gap (OAGG). Electromyography (EMG) procedures
      were performed. Following routine histological procedures, stereological analysis
      was performed for each group. RESULTS: In terms of the number of myelinated
      axons, high significant increase in OGG was observed compared to OG and Cont (p <
      0.01). In addition, a highly significant increase in axon surface area and myelin
      thickness of OGG compared to OG and Cont (p < 0.01) was noted. A significant
      decrease in myelin thickness/axon diameter ratio of OGG was found in comparison
      with the other groups. In terms of latency, there was a highly significant
      decrease in OGG compared to Cont and OG (p < 0.01). Myelinated axon numbers in
      OAGG, OMGG and OLGG increased highly significantly compared to other groups (p <
      0.01). Latency in OMGG, a highly significant increase, was determined in OMG
      compared to Cont (p < 0.01). In addition, latency values in OGG were highly
      significantly greater than in OAC and OAGG (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In particular,
      administration of Lep, Mel and ALCAR as neuroprotective agents may make a
      positive contribution to regeneration and myelination in obese rats.

PMID- 28601300
TI  - Patient-specific biodegradable implant in pediatric craniofacial surgery.

PMID- 28601301
TI  - A team approach to effectively discharge trauma patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trauma patients represent a high-volume and high-acuity population.
      This makes discharge planning difficult. Discharged by noon is a metric shown to
      correlate with hospital throughput. Improvements in efficiency will be needed to
      improve resource utilization and increase discharge by noon rate. This study
      aimed to evaluate the impact of a standardized discharge team on length of stay
      and discharge by noon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A university level I trauma center
      implemented a discharge team composed of a trauma attending and an advanced
      practice provider. This team is tasked with evaluating patients on the discharge
      list daily. This allowed patients ready for discharge to be evaluated and
      discharged before noon. A retrospective review was performed to analyze discharge
      by noon rates before and after implementation of the discharge team. RESULTS: A
      total of 3053 patients were discharged before the implementation of the discharge
      team and 3801 after. Discharges by noon increased from 25.5% to 51.2% in the
      post. For patients with an injury severity score >15, this same improvement was
      seen, 22.5% to 51.9%. Similar improvements were seen when controlling for final
      discharge disposition and primary payer status. CONCLUSIONS: By establishing a
      separate discharge team, large improvements can be seen in the discharge by noon
      rate. These improvements were maintained when controlling for injury severity
      score, final discharge disposition, and insurance status. Significant savings are
      possible in both charges to the patient and direct costs to the facility. The
      utilization of a discharge team should be considered at similar facilities.

PMID- 28601302
TI  - Traumatic brain injury impairs sensorimotor function in mice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Understanding the extent to which murine models of traumatic brain
      injury (TBI) replicate clinically relevant neurologic outcomes is critical for
      mechanistic and therapeutic studies. We determined sensorimotor outcomes in a
      mouse model of TBI and validated the use of a standardized neurologic examination
      scoring system to quantify the extent of injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a
      lateral fluid percussion injury model of TBI and compared TBI animals to those
      that underwent sham surgery. We measured neurobehavioral deficits using a
      standardized 12-point neurologic examination, magnetic resonance imaging, a
      rotating rod test, and longitudinal acoustic startle testing. RESULTS: TBI
      animals had a significantly decreased ability to balance on a rotating rod and a
      marked reduction in the amplitude of acoustic startle response. The neurologic
      examination had a high inter-rater reliability (87% agreement) and correlated
      with latency to fall on a rotating rod (Rs = -0.809). CONCLUSIONS: TBI impairs
      sensorimotor function in mice, and the extent of impairment can be predicted by a
      standardized neurologic examination.

PMID- 28601303
TI  - Device-specific evaluation of intraventricular left ventricular assist device
      position by quantitative coaxiality analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient-specific anatomy may influence the final intraventricular
      positioning of inflow cannula in left ventricular assist device (LVAD)
      recipients. An association exists between such positioning and clinical outcomes
      (specifically, orientation toward the interventricular septum has negative
      prognostic implications). Alternative commercially available LVADs are
      characterized by markedly different design, with potential consequences on
      intrathoracic fitting among individual patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cohort
      of 13 LVAD recipients (either HeartMate II-group A or Jarvik 2000 Flowmaker-group
      B) was evaluated. On postoperative computed tomography scans, we reconstructed
      the implanted LVAD (semiautomatic segmentation), defined the target mitral
      orifice (3D Slicer software), and built a coordinate system to quantify the
      coaxiality of the cannula with the mitral valve axis (angles phi and theta,
      expressed as percentage variation from the ideal value phi = theta = 0 degrees ).
      RESULTS: Group A presented significantly greater average percentage variation of
      the phi angle (significantly greater orientation of the intraventricular cannula
      toward the interventricular septum; 33.2% +/- 32.1% versus 1.9% +/- 0.9%, P =
      0.001). Group A presented significantly greater average percentage variation of
      the theta angle (52.7% +/- 23.6% versus 14.5% +/- 6.3%, P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS:
      The device assessed in group B showed in the present series better average
      coaxiality with the mitral orifice. Such finding is related with its design
      (total intraventricular placement) and interaction with thoracic structures. The
      present method is being integrated in the development of LVAD virtual
      implantation tools and may help physicians in patient-specific selection among
      alternative devices.

PMID- 28601304
TI  - A practical guide for small bowel transplantation in rats-review of techniques
      and models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Animal models are a central aspect in research on small bowel
      transplantation (SBTx). Among them, rats are the preferred species because of
      their widespread availability and cost effectiveness. Because the complexity of
      the surgical procedure could per se influence the outcome of an experiment, a
      standardized and comparable technique is important. Based on of the vast amount
      of different models and surgical techniques published to this point, a review
      seemed necessary to guide investigators when choosing the suitable model.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature search of original articles
      published between 1965 and 2016 using the Medline Database regarding techniques
      of SBTx in rats was conducted according to the Preferred reporting Items for
      Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Articles describing a new
      technique or evaluating different techniques were considered. RESULTS: A total of
      38 publications fulfilled the selection criteria and were included. Data from
      these publications were regarded as too heterogeneous for statistical analysis.
      Depending on graft length and placement, full-length and reduced length
      heterotopic and orthotopic models were differentiated. Important factors
      concerning a good survival rate are the chosen model (heterotopic has a better
      outcome compared with orthotopic), a vascular flush of the graft in situ, a
      careful luminal flush of the graft, adequate fluid resuscitation, and a warm
      ischemia time of less than 40 min. CONCLUSIONS: SBTx in rats remains a complex
      and challenging procedure, which necessitates a standardized technique as well as
      sufficient training. By choosing the optimal experimental model, applying
      established strategies, and proven techniques, a standardized and scientifically
      reliable model can be achieved.

PMID- 28601305
TI  - Survival benefits of remote ischemic conditioning in sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sepsis remains the leading cause of death in the surgical intensive
      care unit. Prior studies have demonstrated a survival benefit of remote ischemic
      conditioning (RIC) in many disease states. The aim of this study was to determine
      the effects of RIC on survival in sepsis in an animal model and to assess
      alterations in inflammatory biochemical profiles. We hypothesized that RIC alters
      inflammatory biochemical profiles resulting in decreased mortality in a septic
      mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight to 12 week C57BL/6 mice received intra
      peritoneal injection of 12.5-mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Septic animals in
      the experimental group underwent RIC at 0, 2, and 6 h after LPS by surgical
      exploration and alternate clamping of the femoral artery. Six 4-min cycles of
      ischemia-reperfusion were performed. Primary outcome was survival at 5-d after
      LPS injection. Secondary outcome was to assess the following serum cytokine
      levels: interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin (IL)-10, IL-1beta, and tumor
      necrosis factoralpha (TNFalpha) at the baseline before LPS injection, 0 hour
      after LPS injection, and at 2, 4, 24 hours after induction of sepsis (RIC was
      performed at 2 h after LPS injection). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log
      rank test were used. ANOVA test was used to compare cytokine measurements.
      RESULTS: We performed experiments on 44 mice: 14 sham and 30 RIC mice (10 at each
      time point). Overall survival was higher in the experimental group compared to
      the sham group (57% versus 21%; P = 0.02), with the highest survival rate
      observed in the 2-hour post-RIC group (70%). On Kaplan-Meier analysis, 2-h post
      RIC group had increased survival at 5 days after LPS (P = 0.04) with hazard ratio
      of 0.3 (95% confidence interval = 0.09-0.98). In the RIC group, serum
      concentrations of IFN-gamma, IL-10, IL-1beta, and TNFalpha peaked at 2 h after
      LPS and then decreased significantly over 24 hours (P < 0.0001) compared to the
      baseline. CONCLUSIONS: RIC improves survival in sepsis and has the potential for
      implementation in the clinical practice. Early implementation of RIC may play an
      immune-modulatory role in sepsis. Further studies are necessary to refine
      understanding of the observed survival benefits and its implications in sepsis
      management.

PMID- 28601306
TI  - Disparities in access to care and outcomes in patients with adrenocortical
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment for patients
      with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). The aim of the present study is to examine
      disparities in access to surgical resection and identify factors associated with
      overall survival following surgical resection. METHODS: The National Cancer
      Database was queried for patients with ACC (2004-2013). Patient characteristics
      and disease details were abstracted. Logistic regression analysis was performed
      to examine the factors associated with surgical resection, and a multivariate Cox
      proportional hazards model was used to identify predictors of survival in the
      surgical cohort. RESULTS: Surgical resection was performed in 2007/2946 (68%) ACC
      patients. On multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for
      clinicodemographic factors, surgery was less likely to be performed in patients
      >=56 y, males, African-Americans, patients with government insurance, or those
      treated at community cancer centers (P < 0.05). On a multivariate Cox
      proportional hazards model adjusting for clinicodemographic and treatment
      variables, older age (>=56 y) and presence of comorbidities were associated with
      worse overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that there are
      demographic and socioeconomic disparities in access to surgical resection for
      ACC. However, after adjusting for patient and clinical characteristics, only
      patient age and presence of comorbidities were predictors of worse survival in
      patients undergoing surgery for ACC. More data are needed to determine the
      factors driving these disparities.

PMID- 28601307
TI  - Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion. The switch from Steinmann pins to Omni
      tract assisted isolation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) represents an alternative
      to amputation for patients with either in-transit melanoma or unresectable soft
      tissue sarcoma, entailing delivery of high-dose chemotherapy after isolation of
      the extremity, under hyperthermic conditions. Stabilization of the Esmarch
      elastic bandage is so far performed with the use of Steinmann pins. In this
      study, we presented our experience with HILP and demonstrated an alternative
      technique for limb isolation using an Omni-tract retractor instead of the
      traditional Steinmann pin, while comparing the two methods. METHODS: Forty
      patients, 28 with recurrent in-transit melanoma and 12 with locally
      advanced/recurrent sarcoma of the limbs, underwent HILP in a single institution
      and were included in the study. The Steinmann pin was applied in the first 23
      cases, whereas the Omni-tract retractor was applied in the latter 17 patients.
      RESULTS: The median follow-up for the whole study group was 17.5 mo, whereas the
      overall response rate was 92.9% for melanoma and 75% for sarcoma patients. Both
      overall survival and local progression-free survival differed significantly
      between patients with complete response and those with partial response, stable
      disease or progressive disease. The use of the Omni-tract retractor was
      advantageous in every examined field, with the overall complication rate,
      duration of analgesic administration, and total opioid and paracetamol dose,
      being significantly less in the Omni-tract patient group. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      this study was not a randomized trial, we consider that the noninvasive
      application of the Omni-tract retractor will gain significant acceptance, by
      contributing to the reduction of HILP complications.

PMID- 28601308
TI  - Red blood cell transfusion in premature infants leads to worse necrotizing
      enterocolitis outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe intestinal disease of
      premature infants with high mortality. Studies suggest a causative relationship
      between red blood cell (RBC) transfusion and NEC; however, whether RBC
      transfusion leads to worse outcomes in NEC is unknown. We sought to determine
      whether RBC transfusion was associated with an increased risk of surgical NEC and
      mortality. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 115 patients were enrolled with
      NEC Bell's stage 2A or greater from 2010-2015. Patients were classified based on
      the timing of RBC transfusion before NEC: <=72 h, >72 h, and no transfusion.
      Variables including gestational age (GA), birth weight (BW), feedings, and
      hematocrit levels were analyzed. Outcomes were surgical intervention for NEC
      following RBC transfusion and mortality. RESULTS: Twenty-three (20%) infants
      developed NEC <= 72 h after RBC transfusion, 16 (69.6%) required surgery with a
      mortality rate of 21.7% (n = 5). Seventeen (15%) infants developed NEC > 72 h
      after RBC transfusion, 12 (70.6%) required surgery with a mortality rate of 23.5%
      (n = 4). 75 (65%) patients developed NEC without RBC transfusion, 17 (22.7%)
      required surgery with a mortality rate of 4% (n = 3). Lower GA and BW were
      significantly associated with RBC transfusion and the need for surgical
      intervention. RBC transfusion <=72 h before NEC was associated with surgical NEC
      (pairwise adjusted P < 0.001) and mortality (pairwise adjusted P = 0.048).
      However, multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed RBC transfusion is
      not an independent risk factor for surgical NEC. CONCLUSIONS: Infants of lower GA
      and BW were more likely to receive an RBC transfusion before NEC, which was
      significantly associated with surgical intervention and an increasing risk of
      mortality. Judicious use of transfusions in premature infants may improve NEC
      outcomes.

PMID- 28601309
TI  - The aryl hydrocarbon receptor as an antitumor target of synthetic curcuminoids in
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Curcumin has proven to be a potent antitumor agent in both
      preclinical and clinical models of colorectal cancer (CRC). It has also been
      identified as a ligand of the transcription factor known as the aryl hydrocarbon
      receptor (AHR). Our laboratory has identified the AHR as a mechanism which
      contributes to both tumorigenesis in a mouse model of inflammatory CRC as well an
      apoptotic target in vitro. Curcumin's role as an AHR ligand may modulate its
      effects to induce colon cancer cell death, and this role may be enhanced via
      structural modification of the curcumin backbone. We sought to determine if the
      two piperidone analogs of curcumin, RL66 and RL118, exhibit more robust antitumor
      actions than their parent compound in the context of colorectal cancer in vitro.
      Moreover, to ascertain the ability of curcumin, RL66 and RL118 to activate the
      AHR and evaluate if this activation has any effect on CRC cell death. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: DLD1, HCT116, LS513, and RKO colon cell lines were propagated in
      vitro. Natural curcumin was obtained commercially, whereas RL66 and RL118 were
      synthesized and characterized de novo. Multiwell fluorescent/luminescent signal
      detection was used to simultaneously ascertain cell viability, cell cytonecrosis,
      and relative amounts of apoptotic activity. AHR activity was measured with a dual
      luciferase reporter gene system. Stable expression of small interfering RNA
      interference was established in the HCT116 cell lines to create AHR "knock down"
      cell lines. RESULTS: Both RL66 and RL118 proved to be more potent antitumor
      agents than their parent compound curcumin in all cell lines tested. The majority
      of this cell death was due to induction of apoptosis, which occurred earlier and
      to a greater degree following RL66 and RL118 treatment as opposed to curcumin.
      Also, RL66 and RL118 were found to be activators of AHR, and a portion of their
      ability to cause cell death was dependent on this induction. Curcumin was found
      unable to activate the AHR, and levels of AHR messenger RNA did not change their
      effects on cell death. CONCLUSIONS: Piperidone analogs of curcumin exhibited
      enhanced antitumor effects in vitro as opposed to their parent compound. Even
      more, this enhanced cell death profile may be partially attributed to the ability
      of these compounds to activate the AHR. Further study of synthetic curcumin
      analogs as chemopreventives and chemoadjuncts in CRC is warranted. Also, more
      generally, the AHR may represent a potential putative target for novel anticancer
      agents for CRC.

PMID- 28601310
TI  - Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers promote systemic hyperfibrinolysis that is both
      dependent and independent of plasmin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperfibrinolysis plays an integral role in the genesis of trauma
      induced coagulopathy. Recent data demonstrate that red blood cell lysis promotes
      fibrinolysis; however, the mechanism is unclear. Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers
      (HBOCs) have been developed for resuscitation and have been associated with
      coagulopathy. We hypothesize that replacement of whole blood (WB) using an HBOC
      results in a coagulopathy because of the presence of free hemoglobin. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: WB was sampled from healthy donors (n = 6). The clotting profile of
      each citrated sample was evaluated using native thromboelastography. Serial
      titrations were performed using both HBOC (PolyHeme) and normal saline (NS; 5%,
      25%, and 50%) and evaluated both with and without a 75-ng/mL tissue plasminogen
      activator (tPA) challenge. Tranexamic acid (TXA) was added to inhibit plasmin
      dependent fibrinolysis. Fibrinolysis was measured and recorded as lysis at 30 min
      (LY30), the percentage of clot LY30 after maximal clot strength. Dilution of WB
      with NS or HBOC was correlated using LY30 via Spearman rho coefficients. Groups
      were also compared using a Friedman test and post hoc analysis with a Bonferroni
      adjustment. RESULTS: tPA-provoked fibrinolysis was enhanced by both HBOC (median
      LY30 at 5%, 25%, and 50% titrations: 11%, 21%, and 44%, respectively; Spearman =
      0.94; P < 0.001) and NS (11%, 28%, and 58%, respectively; Spearman = 0.790; P <
      0.001). However, HBOC also enhanced fibrinolysis without the addition of tPA (1%,
      4%, 5%; Spearman = 0.735; P = 0.001) and NS did not (1%, 2%, 1%; r = 0.300; P =
      0.186. Moreover, addition of TXA did not alter or inhibit this fibrinolysis (WB
      versus 50% HBOC: 1.8% versus 5.7%, P = 0.04). There was no significant difference
      in fibrinolysis of HBOC with or without TXA (50% HBOC versus 50% HBOC + TXA: 5.6%
      versus 5.7%, P = 0.92). In addition, the increased fibrinolysis seen with NS was
      reversed when TXA was present (WB versus 50% NS: 1.8% versus 1.7%, P = 1.0).
      CONCLUSIONS: HBOCs enhance fibrinolysis both with and without addition of tPA;
      moreover, this mechanism is independent of plasmin as the phenomenon persists in
      the presence of TXA. Our findings indicate the hemoglobin molecule or its
      components stimulate fibrinolysis by both tPA-dependent and innate mechanisms.

PMID- 28601311
TI  - The prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses and associated mortality in hospitalized
      US trauma patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that psychiatric diagnoses would be common in
      hospitalized trauma patients in the United States and when present, would be
      associated with worse outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient
      Sample (NIS, 2012) was used to determine national estimates for the number of
      patients admitted with an injury. Psychiatric diagnoses were identified using
      diagnosis codes according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders, Fifth Edition. RESULTS: A total of 36.5 million patients were admitted
      to hospitals in the United States in 2012. Of these, 1.3 million (4%) were due to
      trauma. Psychiatric conditions were more common in patients admitted for trauma
      versus those admitted for other reasons (44% versus 34%, P < 0.001). Trauma
      patients who had a psychiatric diagnosis compared to trauma patients without a
      psychiatric diagnosis were older (mean age: 61 versus 56 y, P < 0.001), more
      often female (52% versus 50%, P < 0.001), and more often white (73% versus 68%, P
      < 0.001). For ages 18-64, drug and alcohol abuse predominated (41%), whereas
      dementia and related disorders (48%) were the most common in adults >=65 y.
      Mortality was lower for trauma patients with a psychiatric diagnosis compared to
      those who did not in both unadjusted and adjusted analysis (1.9% versus 2.8%;
      odds ratio: 0.56, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric conditions are present in
      almost half of all hospitalized trauma patients in the United States; however,
      the types of conditions varied with age. The frequency of psychiatric conditions
      in the trauma population suggests efforts should be made to address this
      component of patient health.

PMID- 28601312
TI  - Improving staff perception of a safety climate with crew resource management
      training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Communication failure is one of the top root causes in patient safety
      adverse events. Crew resource management (CRM) is a team building communication
      process intended to improve patient safety by improving team dynamics. First, to
      describe implementation of CRM in a Veterans Affair (VA) surgical service.
      Second, to assess whether staff CRM training is related to improvement in staff
      perception of a safety climate. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Mandatory CRM training was
      implemented for all surgical service staff at a VA Hospital at 0 and 12 mo.
      Safety climate questionnaires were completed by operating room staff at a
      baseline, 6 and 12 mo after the initial CRM training. RESULTS: Participants
      reported improvement on all 27 points on the safety climate questionnaire at 6 mo
      compared with the baseline. At 12 mo, there was sustained improvement in 23 of
      the 27 areas. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first published report about the effect of
      CRM training on staff perception of a safety climate in a VA surgical service. We
      demonstrate that CRM training can be successfully implemented widespread in a
      surgical program. Overall, there was improvement in 100% of areas assessed on the
      safety climate questionnaire at 6 mo after CRM training. By 1 y, this improvement
      was sustained in 23 of 27 areas, with the areas of greatest improvement being the
      performance of briefings, collaboration between nurses and doctors, valuing
      nursing input, knowledge about patient safety, and institutional promotion of a
      patient safety climate.

PMID- 28601313
TI  - A propensity score analysis of two methods of hepatic vascular occlusion in
      hepatectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The key points in hepatectomy are reducing blood loss and
      preservation of hepatic function. The aim of this study was to compare the
      perioperative outcomes of partial hepatectomy using two techniques of hepatic
      vascular inflow occlusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1817 patients were
      selected from our multi-institutional hepatectomy database in China and
      classified into two groups: the hemihepatic inflow occlusion (HIO) group (n =
      1693) and the ipsilateral portal vein branch occlusion (IPVBO) group (n = 124).
      Propensity score matching of patients in a ratio of 1:1 was conducted. The
      primary outcome was intraoperative blood loss. Secondary outcomes were
      postoperative liver function, postoperative morbidity and mortality, and duration
      of hospital stay after surgery. RESULTS: After propensity score matching, there
      were 124 patients in the IPVBO group and the HIO group, respectively. There were
      no significant differences between the two groups regarding intraoperative blood
      loss, blood transfusion requirement, operating time, postoperative morbidity and
      mortality, and duration of hospital stay after surgery (P > 0.05). However, The
      IPVBO group was associated with significantly lower peak in postoperative ALT
      level than the HIO group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that
      IPVBO did not lead to more intraoperative blood loss compared with HIO, and it
      decreased the peak of postoperative ALT level. In terms of postoperative
      morbidity and mortality, duration of hospital stay after surgery, IPVBO was also
      equal to HIO. Thus, IPVBO could be an alternative method of hepatic inflow
      occlusion.

PMID- 28601314
TI  - Surgical informed consent in children: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of the article was to analyze current literature on
      surgeon and parents' understanding and role in the informed consent process for
      children undergoing surgery. METHODS: A systematic database search (MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, PsycINFO, and EBM Reviews) was performed to identify articles concerning
      any aspect of the surgical informed consent for children undergoing an invasive
      procedure. Articles analyzing informed consent in research studies, non-English
      language articles, review articles, case reports and/or series, letters
      commentaries, and dentistry and/or nursing-related articles were excluded.
      Articles meeting inclusion criteria were analyzed to identify common themes
      related to the process of informed consent. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-eight
      articles were identified on primary search, after removing duplicates and
      screening titles for relevance, 83 abstracts were reviewed. Thirty-two additional
      abstracts were identified by secondary search. Twelve of 115 articles met
      inclusion criteria. Analysis identified five different study themes. Information
      delivered during consent (Content) was studied in five articles (42%), three
      (25%) studied the mechanics or delivery of the information (Delivery), three
      (25%) studied parent participation and discussion (Interchange), six articles
      (50%) discussed surgeons' perceptions or the parents' ability to understand or
      recall the information (Comprehension), and five articles (42%) evaluated surgeon
      or parent satisfaction or anxiety (Satisfaction). None of the articles studied
      all five categories. CONCLUSIONS: Studies of the surgical informed consent
      process in children are scarce. Prospective studies evaluating surgeon and parent
      perception regarding the Content, Delivery, and Interchange of information as
      well as Comprehension and Satisfaction are needed to understand barriers to the
      surgeon-patient relationship and to optimize the informed consent process in
      children undergoing surgery.

PMID- 28601315
TI  - Age-related mortality in blunt traumatic hemorrhagic shock: the killers and the
      life savers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are sparse data on the association between age and mortality in
      hemorrhagic shock (HS). We examined this association in this study. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The Glue Grant database was analyzed. Patients aged >=16 y with blunt
      traumatic HS were stratified into eight age groups (16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54,
      55-64, 65-74, 75-84, and >=85 y) to identify the mortality inflection point.
      Subsequently, patients were restratified into young age (16-44 y), middle age (45
      64 y), and elderly (>=65 y). Multivariate analysis was used to determine
      predictors of mortality by group. RESULTS: A total of 1976 patients were
      included, with mortality of 16%. Mortality by initial age group is as follows: 16
      24 (13.0%), 25-34 (11.9%), 35-44 (11.9%), 45-54 (15.6%), 55-64 (15.7%), 65-74
      (20.3%), 75-84 (38.2%), and >=85 y (51.6%), delineating 65 y as the mortality
      inflection point. Overall, 55% were young, 30% middle age, and 15% elderly.
      Predictors of mortality in the young include multiple-organ dysfunction score
      (MODS; odds ratio [OR]: 1.93, confidence interval [CI]: 1.62-2.30), emergency
      room lactate (OR: 1.14, CI: 1.02-1.27), injury severity score (OR: 1.06, CI: 1.03
      1.09), and cardiac arrest (OR: 10.60, CI: 3.05-36.86). Predictors of mortality in
      the middle age include MODS (OR: 1.38, CI: 1.24-1.53), cardiac arrest (OR: 12.24,
      CI: 5.38-27.81), craniotomy (OR: 5.62, CI: 1.93-16.37), and thoracotomy (OR:
      2.76, CI: 1.28-5.98). In the elderly, predictors of mortality were age (OR: 1.07,
      CI: 1.02-1.13), MODS (OR: 1.47, CI: 1.26-1.72), laparotomy (OR: 2.04, CI: 1.02
      4.08), and cardiac arrest (OR: 11.61, CI: 4.35-30.98). Open fixation of
      nonfemoral fractures was protective against mortality in all age groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: In blunt HS, mortality parallels increasing age, with the inflection
      point at 65 y. MODS and cardiac arrest uniformly predict mortality across all age
      groups. Craniotomy and thoracotomy are associated with mortality in the middle
      age, whereas laparotomy is associated with mortality in the elderly.

PMID- 28601316
TI  - Oral administration of cilostazol improves survival rate after rat liver
      ischemia/reperfusion injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cilostazol is a type III phosphodiesterase inhibitor used to treat
      the symptoms of intermittent claudication. Recent studies have shown that
      cilostazol decreases ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in several organs.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the effects of cilostazol in a rat model of
      liver I/R injury. Thirty male Wistar rats with liver I/R injury were divided into
      a cilostazol or saline (control) group (n = 15 each). Each rat was orally
      administered cilostazol or saline for 3 d before I/R injury. Liver I/R injury was
      induced via 1 h of warm ischemia of the median and left lateral liver lobes,
      followed by 3 h of reperfusion. The rats were then euthanized. Serum aspartate
      aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels were measured. The Mann-Whitney U test was
      used to compare the differences between the treatment groups. Histologic
      examination was performed on the liver tissues. We also conducted a survival
      study to confirm the effect of cilostazol on the mortality rate in rats. For the
      survival study, a liver I/R injury model with an ischemia time of 1.5 h was used,
      and the rats were observed for 1 wk. RESULTS: Serum aspartate aminotransferase,
      alanine aminotransferase, IL-1beta, and IL-6 levels were significantly lower in
      the cilostazol group than in the saline group. Treatment with cilostazol
      significantly improved pathological findings associated with liver I/R injury and
      increased survival rate compared to that in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Cilostazol
      reduced mortality and alleviated the effects of liver I/R injury in Wistar rats.

PMID- 28601317
TI  - Iatrogenic injuries of the extrahepatic biliary system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iatrogenic traumatic extrahepatic biliary tract injuries though
      rarely occur; they can lead to exceedingly morbid complications. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the management strategies and outcomes of patients
      presented with iatrogenic bile duct injuries. METHODS: This is a retrospective
      study. Over 19 y, 124 patients were managed for iatrogenic biliary injuries at
      our institution. The data related to the etiology of biliary tract injury,
      symptoms of injury, laboratory and radiologic studies, injury-to-diagnosis time,
      type of biliary tract injury, injury management, hospitalization time, and
      postoperative complications were reviewed. RESULTS: The main clinical
      presentations were jaundice or recurrent cholangitis in 64 (51.61%) patients,
      followed by bile peritonitis in 34 (56.67%) and biliary fistula in 26 (43.33%)
      patients. Only in 23 (18.54%) cases, the injury was recognized intraoperatively.
      The most frequent surgical procedure was open cholecystectomy in 81 (65.32%) of
      124 patients. The remaining patients were operated on laparoscopically. Good
      results were achieved in 99 of 101 patients with direct suture repair including
      hepaticojejunostomy, choledocoduodenostomy, and choledochocholedochostomy (98.02%
      success rate) at the first attempt. Three cases (2.97%) of biliary strictures
      after direct suture technique and four (3.96%) cases of postoperative mortalities
      were detected. The mortality rate was mostly affected by male gender, advanced
      age, and existence of bile peritonitis. Totally, 111 (89.52%) patients are still
      alive with a mean follow-up time of 78 +/- 38 (2-230) mo. CONCLUSIONS: Biliary
      injuries can be sometimes life-threatening complications. A successful repair may
      provide patients with a lifelong relief from symptoms, whereas a failed repair
      may result in recurrent biliary obstruction, reoperation, and even death.

PMID- 28601318
TI  - Debriefing: the forgotten phase of the surgical safety checklist.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The debriefing phase of the surgical safety checklist (SSC) provides
      the operative team an opportunity to share pertinent intraoperative information
      and communicate postoperative plans. Prior quality improvement initiatives at our
      institution focused on the preincision phase of the SSC; however, the debriefing
      phase has not been evaluated. We aimed to assess adherence to the debrief
      checklist at our institution and identify areas for improvement. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: An observational study was conducted from 2014 to 2016 with a
      convenience sample of pediatric surgery cases at an academic children's hospital
      over 8-wk periods annually to evaluate the debriefing checklist across 14
      subspecialties. Intraoperative team members' adherence to eight prespecified
      checkpoints was assessed. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi square, Kruskal
      Wallis rank test, and Cohen's kappa for interrater reliability were used (P <
      0.05 was significant). RESULTS: A total of 603 cases were observed (2014 n = 191;
      2015 n = 195; 2016 n = 217). The debriefing checklist was conducted in 90.6%,
      90.3%, and 94.9% of observed cases each year respectively with the median number
      of checklist items completed relatively unchanged (8, 7, and 7, range 0-8).
      However, the checklist was only fully completed in 55%, 48%, and 50% of cases
      over the study period (P = 0.001) with no debriefing at all in approximately 9%
      of cases in 2014 and 2015 versus 5% in 2016 (P < 0.001). Interrater reliability
      annually was >0.65. CONCLUSIONS: Despite slight increases annually in overall
      compliance to the debriefing checklist, only half of all checklists were
      completed in full. Future efforts to augment adherence are needed and will
      include interventions targeting the debriefing phase and increasing operating
      room efficiency.

PMID- 28601319
TI  - A carboxymethylcellulose-heparin combination for the prevention of surgical
      adhesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adhesions are a major clinical problem after abdominal surgery.
      Despite decades of research, therapies to prevent adhesion formation are
      suboptimal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have investigated combinations of
      carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and heparin at preventing surgical adhesions in two
      rat models of adhesion formation. The first was the well-established cecal
      abrasion model, and the second was a model developed in our laboratory, the
      avascular mesenteric knot model. This model consistently produced adhesions at
      the knot in 90% of experiments and causes little or no tissue injury. RESULTS:
      Topical administration of CMC 4% gave optimal results in the avascular knot
      model, but was less effective in the cecal abrasion model. This concentration of
      CMC was combined with a range of heparin doses between 0.5 and 160 IU/mL in the
      cecal abrasion model. These heparin doses, apart from the lowest (0.5 IU/mL),
      were effective in preventing adhesion formation in combination with CMC, as was
      the commercially available topical product Lipactin. The optimal dose was 30
      IU/mL, that abolished adhesions, but there was little difference at doses between
      2 and 160 IU. Heparin was effective in doses as low as 2 IU/mL when in
      combination with CMC. Heparin 160 IU/mL, but not heparin 30 IU/mL or Lipactin,
      significantly increased the degree of bleeding post cecal abrasion surgery.
      CONCLUSIONS: Topical application of tiny doses of heparin, in combination with
      CMC 4% gel, significantly reduces adhesion formation in experimental models. We
      suggest that this cheap and, as far as we know, safe intervention should be
      evaluated in human clinical trials.

PMID- 28601320
TI  - Protective role of erdosteine pretreatment on oleic acid-induced acute lung
      injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erdosteine is a mucolytic agent with antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory effects. We evaluated the protective effect of erdosteine
      pretreatment on oleic acid (OA)-induced acute lung injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty-four male Wistar Albino rats were assigned to four treatments: control
      (oral saline + 50 MUL intravenous [i.v.] saline), OA (oral saline + 50 MUL i.v.
      OA), erdosteine (150 mg/kg oral erdosteine + 50 MUL i.v. saline), and OA +
      erdosteine (150 mg/kg oral erdosteine + 50 MUL i.v. OA). Four hours after OA
      injection, lung tissues were excised for biochemical and histopathologic
      evaluation. RESULTS: OA treatment increased lung weight and tissue
      malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels, but erdosteine pretreatment
      significantly suppressed these changes (0.57 +/- 0.1 g, 3.27 +/- 0.48 nmol/mg
      protein, and 33.57 +/- 4.6 nmol/mg protein, respectively, for OA versus 0.36 +/-
      0.02 g, 1.84 +/- 0.15 nmol/mg protein, and 22.10 +/- 2.55 nmol/mg protein,
      respectively, for OA + erdosteine; P < 0.05 for all). Erdosteine pretreatment
      increased the activities of the antioxidant enzymes, catalase, and glutathione
      peroxidase (0.16 +/- 0.03 k/g and 0.3 +/- 0.01 U/mg protein, respectively, for OA
      versus 0.33 +/- 0.05 k/g and 0.34 +/- 0.01 U/mg protein, respectively, for OA +
      erdosteine; P < 0.05 for both). Erdosteine pretreatment also significantly
      decreased the median numbers of intra-alveolar macrophages and intra-alveolar and
      interstitial neutrophils (29.0, 17.0, and 15.0, respectively, for OA versus 12.5,
      4.0, and 6.5, respectively, for OA + erdosteine; P < 0.001 for all). CONCLUSIONS:
      Erdosteine pretreatment increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes and
      decreased macrophage and neutrophil accumulation, thereby ameliorating the
      inflammatory effects of OA treatment. Erdosteine pretreatment prevents OA-induced
      oxidative stress and inflammation and protects the lung tissue against acute lung
      injury.

PMID- 28601321
TI  - Lysophosphatidylcholine activates the Akt pathway to upregulate extracellular
      matrix protein production in human aortic valve cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overproduction of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein by aortic valve
      interstitial cells (AVICs) plays an important role in valvular sclerosis
      (thickening) associated with the early pathobiology of aortic stenosis.
      Accumulation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is observed in sclerotic
      aortic valve and may have a mechanistic role in valvular disease progression.
      Lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC) is a component of oxLDL and has multiple
      biological activities. This study was to test the hypothesis that oxLDL and
      LysoPC upregulate ECM protein production in human AVICs. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      AVICs were isolated from normal human aortic valves. Cells were treated with
      oxLDL (40 MUg/mL) or LysoPC (40 MUmol/L). Immunoblotting was applied to analyze
      ECM proteins (collagens I and III and biglycan) in cell lysate and Picrosirius
      red staining was used to examine collagen deposition. Both oxLDL and LysoPC
      upregulated the production of biglycan and collagen I. The upregulation of ECM
      proteins by LysoPC was preceded by the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2.
      Inhibition of Akt markedly reduced the effect of LysoPC on ECM protein production
      and collagen deposition. However, inhibition of ERK1/2 had no effect.
      CONCLUSIONS: LysoPC upregulates the production of biglycan and collagen I in
      human AVICs and may mediate the effect of oxLDL on ECM protein production. The
      Akt pathway appears to be critical in mediating the effect of LysoPC. oxLDL
      accumulation and generation of LysoPC in the aortic valve tissue may contribute
      to the mechanism of valvular sclerosis associated with the development and
      progression of aortic stenosis.

PMID- 28601322
TI  - The center volume-outcome effect in pancreas transplantation: a national
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although increased hospital volume has been correlated with improved
      outcomes in certain surgical procedures, the effect of center volume on pancreas
      transplantation (PT) is less understood. Our study aims to establish whether a
      volume-outcome effect exists for PT. METHODS: Through an established linkage
      between the University HealthSystem Consortium and the Scientific Registry of
      Transplant Recipients (SRTR) databases, we performed a retrospective cohort
      analysis of adult PT recipients between 2009 and 2012. Surgical volume was
      divided equally into low volume (LV), middle volume (MV), and high volume (HV)
      tertiles for each year that was studied. Hospital outcomes were measured through
      University HealthSystem Consortium, and long-term outcomes were measured through
      Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. Statistical analysis was performed
      using regression analyses and the Kaplan-Meier method. Median follow-up period
      was 2 y. RESULTS: Among the 2309 PT recipients included, 815 (35.3%) were
      performed at LV centers, 755 (32.7%) at MV centers, and 739 (32.0%) at HV
      centers. Compared with MV and LV centers, organs transplanted at HV centers were
      more frequently donation after cardiac death (5.1% versus 2.4% versus 3.3%, P =
      0.01) and from older donors (2.8% [>50 y] versus 0.8% versus 0.1%, P < 0.001). In
      addition, HV recipients were older (31.5% [>50 y] versus 20.9% versus 19.7%, P <
      0.001) and had worse functional status (39.5% dependent versus 9.7% versus 9.9%,
      P < 0.001). Patient and graft survival were similar across hospital volume
      tertiles. Center volume was not predictive of readmission rates, total length of
      stay, intensive care unit length of stay, or total direct cost on multivariate
      analysis (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Short- and long-term outcomes after PT are
      not affected by hospital volume. Although LV centers confine their cases to low
      risk patients, HV centers transplant a higher percentage of high-risk donor and
      recipient combinations with equivalent outcomes.

PMID- 28601323
TI  - Readability, complexity, and suitability analysis of online lymphedema resources.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over 72% of Americans use online health information to assist in
      health care decision-making. Previous studies of lymphedema literature have
      focused only on reading level of patient-oriented materials online. Findings
      indicate they are too advanced for most patients to comprehend. This, more
      comprehensive study, expands the previous analysis to include critical elements
      of health materials beyond readability using assessment tools to report on the
      complexity and density of data as well as text design, vocabulary, and
      organization. METHODS: The top 10 highest ranked websites on lymphedema were
      identified using the most popular search engine (Google). Website content was
      analyzed for readability, complexity, and suitability using Simple Measure of
      Gobbledygook, PMOSE/iKIRSCH, and Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM),
      respectively. PMOSE/iKIRSCH and SAM were performed by two independent raters.
      Fleiss' kappa score was calculated to ensure inter-rater reliability. RESULTS:
      Online lymphedema literature had a reading grade level of 14.0 (SMOG). Overall
      complexity score was 6.7 (PMOSE/iKIRSCH) corresponding to "low" complexity and
      requiring a 8th-12th grade education. Fleiss' kappa score was 80% (P = 0.04,
      "substantial" agreement). Overall suitability score was 45% (SAM) correlating to
      the lowest level of "adequate" suitability. Fleiss' kappa score was 76% (P =
      0.06, "substantial" agreement). CONCLUSIONS: Online resources for lymphedema are
      above the recommended levels for readability and complexity. The suitability
      level is barely adequate for the intended audience. Overall, these materials are
      too sophisticated for the average American adult, whose literacy skills are well
      documented. Further efforts to revise these materials are needed to improve
      patient comprehension and understanding.

PMID- 28601324
TI  - Predictive factors for recurrence of high transsphincteric anal fistula after
      placement of seton.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal surgical treatment for high transsphincteric fistula-in
      ano (FIA) should attain complete eradication of the fistulous track and, in the
      same time, not compromising the anal sphincters. The present study aimed to
      investigate the predictive factors for recurrence of high transsphincteric FIA
      after placement of draining seton and to evaluate the efficacy and complications
      of seton treatment for high cryptoglandular anal fistula. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This is a retrospective case-control study of patients with high transsphincteric
      FIA who were treated with seton placement. Variables analyzed were the
      characteristics of FIA, incidence of recurrence, postoperative complications
      including fecal incontinence (FI), and the predictive factors for recurrence.
      RESULTS: A total of 251 patients (232 males) with high transsphincteric FIA were
      treated with loose seton placement. Patients were followed for a median period of
      16 mo. Recurrence of FIA was recorded in 26 of patients (10.3%) after a mean
      duration of 12.2 +/- 3.9 mo of seton removal. Previously recurrent fistula (odds
      ratio [OR] = 2.81, P = 0.02), supralevator extension (OR = 3.19, P = 0.01) and
      anterior fistula (OR = 3.36, P = 0.004), and horseshoe fistula (OR = 5.66, P =
      0.009) were the most significant predictors of recurrence. FI was detected in
      eight patients (3.2%). Female gender (OR = 15.2, P = 0.0003) and horseshoe
      fistula (OR = 8.66, P = 0.01) were the significant risk factors for FI after the
      procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Significant risk factors for recurrence of FIA were
      previous fistula surgery, anterior anal fistula, and presence of secondary tracks
      or branches as supralevator extension, and horseshoe fistula.

PMID- 28601325
TI  - Adoption of robotics in a general surgery residency program: at what cost?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robotic technology is increasingly being utilized by general
      surgeons. However, the impact of introducing robotics to surgical residency has
      not been examined. This study aims to assess the financial costs and training
      impact of introducing robotics at an academic general surgery residency program.
      METHODS: All patients who underwent laparoscopic or robotic cholecystectomy,
      ventral hernia repair (VHR), and inguinal hernia repair (IHR) at our institution
      from 2011-2015 were identified. The effect of robotic surgery on laparoscopic
      case volume was assessed with linear regression analysis. Resident participation,
      operative time, hospital costs, and patient charges were also evaluated. RESULTS:
      We identified 2260 laparoscopic and 139 robotic operations. As the volume of
      robotic cases increased, the number of laparoscopic cases steadily decreased.
      Residents participated in all laparoscopic cases and 70% of robotic cases but
      operated from the robot console in only 21% of cases. Mean operative time was
      increased for robotic cholecystectomy (+22%), IHR (+55%), and VHR (+61%).
      Financial analysis revealed higher median hospital costs per case for robotic
      cholecystectomy (+$411), IHR (+$887), and VHR (+$1124) as well as substantial
      associated fixed costs. CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of robotic surgery had
      considerable negative impact on laparoscopic case volume and significantly
      decreased resident participation. Increased operative time and hospital costs are
      substantial. An institution must be cognizant of these effects when considering
      implementing robotics in departments with a general surgery residency program.

PMID- 28601326
TI  - Direct peritoneal resuscitation improves mesenteric perfusion by nitric oxide
      dependent pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Direct peritoneal resuscitation (DPR) has been shown to increase
      survival after intestinal ischemia and reperfusion injury (I/R). We have
      previously appreciated that minimum essential medium (MEM), a synthetic cell
      culture medium with bovine serum, glutamine, and antibiotics, contributes to
      these benefits. We hypothesized that (1) DPR using MEM as a dialysate would
      increase mesenteric perfusion, improve intestinal mucosal injury, and limit
      intestinal and hepatic inflammation after intestinal I/R and (2) these
      improvements would be dependent on endothelial nitric oxide pathways. METHODS:
      Eight-week-old C57Bl6J wild-type (WT) and eNOS Knock Out (eNOS KO) male mice were
      anesthetized and intestinal ischemia was induced for 60 min. After ischemia, 1 mL
      of phosphate buffered saline vehicle or MEM was injected into the abdominal
      cavity. Intestinal perfusion was reassessed after 48 h. Animals were then
      euthanized, and intestines and livers explanted for histologic and molecular
      analyses. RESULTS: DPR with MEM significantly improved mesenteric perfusion
      compared with vehicle (phosphate buffered saline) as measured by Laser Doppler
      Imaging (WT + MEM 91.58 +/- 13.74%, WT + Vehicle 44.27 +/- 11.93%, P < 0.05);
      however, these benefits were lost when endothelial nitric oxide signaling
      pathways were ablated (eNOS KO + MEM 21.72 +/- 5.67 %, eNOS KO + Vehicle 45.24+/-
      11.31%). WT mice treated with MEM also had significantly better preservation of
      their mucosal architecture (WT + MEM Mdn = 1.0, interquartile range [IQR] = 1.25,
      WT + Vehicle Mdn = 3.0, IQR = 2.0, P < 0.05). When we compared eNOS KO mice
      treated with either MEM or vehicle the protective effect of MEM disappeared (eNOS
      KO + MEM Mdn = 2.0, IQR = 2.25, eNOS KO + Vehicle Mdn = 2.0, IQR = 1.0 P > 0.05).
      Intestinal levels of interleukin (IL)-1beta were increased in WT animals treated
      with MEM compared with eNOS KOs, whereas concentrations of intestinal IL-6 were
      similar between groups. Hepatic levels of both IL-1beta and IL-6 were
      significantly elevated in eNOS KOs compared with WT treated with MEM.
      CONCLUSIONS: DPR with MEM has significant therapeutic potential for improving
      mesenteric perfusion, intestinal injury, and the local inflammatory response
      after intestinal I/R. These benefits appear to be dependent on nitric oxide
      signaling within the endothelium.

PMID- 28601328
TI  - Correlation between fecal calprotectin and inflammation in the surgical specimen
      of Crohn's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An accurate assessment of the inflammatory activity is crucial to
      establish the most appropriate treatment in Crohn's disease (CD). The present
      study aimed to evaluate the utility of preoperative fecal calprotectin (FC)
      measurement in small bowel CD and its relationship with inflammatory activity in
      surgical pathology specimens. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study
      including all the patients with small bowel CD operated on at our center between
      March 2011 and September 2013. Preoperative laboratory and stool tests were
      performed. A meticulous exploration of entire small bowel was performed during
      surgery, and the resected bowel (or a sample of whole intestinal wall, if
      strictureplasty) was submitted for pathologic analyses. Chiorean's score was used
      to grade pathologic features (inflammation or fibrosis). In case of multiple
      lesions, the most inflammatory component was considered. RESULTS: Thirty-eight
      consecutive patients were included in the study, and 81 small bowel lesions were
      identified. Among inflammatory markers, only FC was significantly associated with
      the degree of histologic inflammation in the surgical specimen (P < 0.003). FC
      reflected histologic inflammatory activity with an area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve of 0.85 (CI: 0.70-0.99; P < 0.001). A cutoff value
      of 170 MUg/g had 81% sensitivity and 85% specificity for diagnosis of moderate or
      severe inflammation. Ordinal regression analysis showed the probability of a
      greater or lesser degree of inflammation based on the value of preoperative FC.
      CONCLUSIONS: FC is an excellent biomarker of inflammatory activity in small bowel
      CD as it correlates with histologic inflammation in the surgical specimen.

PMID- 28601327
TI  - Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor-factor VIII attenuates sepsis-induced
      acute kidney injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is most commonly caused by sepsis in
      critically ill patients, and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality.
      The pathophysiology of sepsis-induced AKI is generally accepted to include direct
      inflammatory injury, endothelial cell dysfunction, and apoptosis. Milk fat
      globule-epidermal growth factor-factor VIII (MFG-E8) is a secretory glycoprotein
      with a known role in the enhancement of apoptotic cell clearance and regulation
      of inflammation. We hypothesize that administration of recombinant mouse MFG-E8
      (rmMFG-E8) can protect mice from kidney injuries caused by sepsis. METHODS:
      Sepsis was induced in 8-wk-old male C57BL/6 mice by cecal ligation and puncture
      (CLP). rmMFG-E8 or phosphate-buffered saline (vehicle) was injected intravenously
      at a dosage of 20 MUg/kg body weight at time of CLP (n = 5-8 mice per group).
      After 20 h, serum and renal tissue were harvested for various analyses. The renal
      injury markers blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were determined by
      enzymatic and chemical reactions, respectively. The gene expression analysis was
      carried out by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: At 20 h
      after CLP, serum levels of BUN and creatinine were both significantly increased
      in the vehicle group compared with the sham group, whereas the mice treated with
      rmMFG-E8 had a significant reduction in BUN and creatinine levels by 28% and
      24.1%, respectively (BUN: 197.7 +/- 23.6 versus 142.3 +/- 20.7 mg/dL; creatinine:
      0.83 +/- 0.12 versus 0.63 +/- 0.06 mg/dL; P < 0.05). Expressions of novel
      biomarkers of renal tissue injury neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and
      kidney injury molecule-1 were also significantly downregulated by 58.2% and 95%,
      respectively, after treatment with rmMFG-E8. Proinflammatory cytokine interleukin
      6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha messenger RNA (mRNA) were significantly reduced
      by 50.8% and 50.3%, respectively, in rmMFG-E8-treated mice compared with vehicle
      treated mice. The mRNA levels of the chemokines keratinocyte chemoattractant and
      macrophage inhibitory protein-2 were reduced by 85.1% and 78%, respectively, in
      mice treated with rmMFG-E8 compared with the vehicle mice. In addition, the
      expression of intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 and platelet endothelial
      cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31) mRNA was downregulated by 35.6% and
      77.8%, respectively, in rmMFG-E8-treated mice compared with the vehicle animals
      (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with rmMFG-E8 reduces renal tissue injury
      induced by sepsis through inhibiting the production of proinflammatory cytokines
      and chemokine, as well as through the activation of endothelial cells. Thus, MFG
      E8 may have a therapeutic potential for treating AKI induced by sepsis.

PMID- 28601329
TI  - Predictors of readmission in nonagenarians: analysis of the American College of
      Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project dataset.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased longevity has led to more nonagenarians undergoing elective
      surgery. Development of predictive models for hospital readmission may identify
      patients who benefit from preoperative optimization and postoperative transition
      of care intervention. Our goal was to identify significant predictors of 30-d
      readmission in nonagenarians undergoing elective surgery. METHODS: Nonagenarians
      undergoing elective surgery from January 2011 to December 2012 were identified
      using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement
      Project participant use data files. This population was randomly divided into a
      70% derivation cohort for model development and 30% validation cohort. Using
      multivariate step-down regression, predictive models were developed for 30-d
      readmission. RESULTS: Of 7092 nonagenarians undergoing elective surgery, 798
      (11.3%) were readmitted within 30 d. Factors significant in univariate analysis
      were used to develop predictive models for 30-d readmissions. Diabetes (odds
      ratio [OR]: 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24-1.84), dialysis dependence
      (OR: 2.97, CI: 1.77-4.99), functional status (OR: 1.52, CI: 1.29-1.79), American
      Society of Anesthesiologists class II or higher (American Society of
      Anesthesiologist physical status classification system; OR: 1.80, CI: 1.42-2.28),
      operative time (OR: 1.05, CI: 1.02-1.08), myocardial infarction (OR: 5.17, CI:
      3.38-7.90), organ space surgical site infection (OR: 8.63, CI: 4.04-18.4), wound
      disruption (OR: 14.3, CI: 4.80-42.9), pneumonia (OR: 8.59, CI: 6.17-12.0),
      urinary tract infection (OR: 3.88, CI: 3.02-4.99), stroke (OR: 6.37, CI: 3.47
      11.7), deep venous thrombosis (OR: 5.96, CI: 3.70-9.60), pulmonary embolism (OR:
      20.3, CI: 9.7-42.5), and sepsis (OR: 13.1, CI: 8.57-20.1), septic shock (OR:
      43.8, CI: 18.2-105.0), were included in the final model. This model had a c
      statistic of 0.73, indicating a fair association of predicted probabilities with
      observed outcomes. However, when applied to the validation cohort, the c
      statistic dropped to 0.69, and six variables lost significance. CONCLUSIONS: A
      reliable predictive model for readmission in nonagenarians undergoing elective
      surgery remains elusive. Investigation into other determinants of surgical
      outcomes, including social factors and access to skilled home care, might improve
      model predictability, identify areas for intervention to prevent readmission, and
      improve quality of care.

PMID- 28601330
TI  - Acute retrograde type A aortic dissection: morphologic analysis and clinical
      implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study compares the morphology and outcomes of acute retrograde
      type A dissections (RTADs) with acute antegrade type A dissections (ATADs), and
      acute type B dissections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2000 to 2016, there were 12
      acute RTADs, 96 ATADs, and 92 type B dissections with available imaging.
      Dissections were characterized using computerized tomography angiography images.
      We examined clinical features, tear characteristics, and various morphologic
      measurements. RESULTS: Compared with acute type B dissections, RTAD primary tears
      were more common in the distal arch (75% versus 43%, P = 0.04), and the false-to
      true lumen contrast intensity ratio at the mid-descending thoracic aorta was
      lower (0.46 versus 0.71, P = 0.020). RTAD had less false lumen decompression
      because there were fewer aortic branch vessels distal to the subclavian that were
      perfused through the false lumen (0.40 versus 2.19, P < 0.001). Compared with
      ATAD, RTAD had less root involvement where root true-to-total lumen area ratio
      was higher (0.88 versus 0.76, P = 0.081). Furthermore, RTAD had a lower false-to
      true lumen contrast intensity ratio at the root (0.25 versus 0.57, P < 0.05),
      ascending aorta (0.25 versus 0.72, P < 0.001), and proximal arch (0.39 versus
      0.67, P < 0.05). RTAD were more likely to undergo aortic valve resuspension (100%
      versus 74%, P = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS: RTAD tends to occur when primary tears occur
      in close proximity to the aortic arch and when false lumen decompression through
      the distal aortic branches are less effective. Compared with ATAD, RTAD has less
      root involvement, and successful aortic valve resuspension is more likely.

PMID- 28601331
TI  - Risk factors for delayed gastric emptying in patients undergoing esophagectomy
      without pyloric drainage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of delayed gastric emptying (DGE) after esophagectomy
      is 10%-50%, which can interfere with postoperative recovery in the short-term and
      result in poor quality of life in the long term. Pyloric drainage is routinely
      performed to prevent DGE, but its role is highly controversial. The aim of this
      study was to report the rate of DGE after esophagectomy without pyloric drainage
      and to investigate its risk factors and the potential effect on recovery.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2010 and January 2015, we analyzed 285
      consecutive patients who received an esophagectomy without pyloric drainage.
      Possible correlations between the incidence of DGE and its potential risk factors
      were examined in univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively. The outcomes
      of DGE were reviewed with a follow-up of 3 mo. RESULTS: The overall rate of DGE
      after esophagectomy was 18.2% (52/285). Among perioperative factors, gastric size
      (gastric tube versus the whole stomach) was the only significant factor affecting
      the incidence of DGE in the univariate analysis. The patients who received a
      whole stomach as an esophageal substitute were more likely to develop DGE than
      were patients with a gastric tube (13.2% versus 22.4%; P = 0.05). No independent
      risk factor for DGE was found in the multivariate analysis. The incidence of
      major postoperative complications, including anastomotic leak, respiratory
      complications, and cardiac complications, was also not significantly different
      between both groups, with or without DGE. Within 3 mo of follow-up, most patients
      could effectively manage their DGE through medication (39/52) or endoscopic
      pyloric dilation (12/52), with only one patient requiring surgical intervention.
      CONCLUSIONS: In our study, the overall incidence of DGE is about 20% for patients
      undergoing esophagectomy without pyloric drainage. Compared with prior findings,
      this does not result in a significantly increased incidence of DGE. In patients
      with symptoms of DGE after esophagectomy, prokinetic agents and endoscopic
      balloon dilation of the pylorus can be effective, as indicated by the high
      success rate and lack of significant complications.

PMID- 28601333
TI  - Variability in CT imaging of blunt trauma among ED physicians, surgical
      residents, and trauma surgeons.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trauma triage decisions can be influenced by both knowledge and
      experience. Consequently, there may be substantial variability in computed
      tomography (CT) scans desired by emergency medicine physicians, surgical chief
      residents, and attending trauma surgeons. We quantified this difference and
      studied the effects of each group's decisions on missed injuries, cost, and
      radiation exposure. METHODS: All blunt trauma activations at an urban level 1
      trauma center were studied over a 6-mo period. Three months into the study, a pan
      scan protocol was introduced. Prior to CT imaging, providers separately completed
      a survey that asked which CT scans were desired for each patient. Based on the
      completed surveys, hypothetical missed injuries, radiation exposure, and cost
      were determined. RESULTS: The variability in the number of CT scans desired by
      each of the three providers and the resulting cost and radiation exposure were
      not statistically significant. Substantial variability was predominantly seen in
      the indications for the desired scans, with the difference between proportions
      ranging from 3.1%-68.7%. Agreement among the three providers was highest for head
      and c-spine scans (80%-100%) and lowest for maxillary face (57%-80%) and chest
      scans (52%-74%). Overall, the missed injury rate was similar for all the
      providers; chief residents missed significantly more major injuries than trauma
      attendings during the pan-scan period (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Trauma training
      and level of training did not have a substantial effect on radiological decisions
      during the initial trauma assessment. This study sheds light on the growing
      uniformity among providers with regard to medical decision-making in the initial
      work-up of trauma.

PMID- 28601332
TI  - The surgeon-performed ultrasound: a curriculum to improve residents' basic
      ultrasound knowledge.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the development of ultrasound courses by the American College
      of Surgeons two decades ago, many residencies lack formal ultrasound training.
      The aim of this study was to assess the previous ultrasound experience of
      residents and the efficacy of a new ultrasound curriculum by comparing pre- and
      post-course tests. METHODS: A pre-course survey and test were sent to all
      residents at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Pre-interns and
      junior residents received a didactic lecture on ultrasound basics and the
      extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma and were given hands-on
      practice. Finally, a post-course test and survey were sent to the pre-interns and
      junior residents. RESULTS: Only 11.3% of the residents reported having previous
      exposure to a formal ultrasound curriculum, and only 12.7% were taught by
      faculty. On the pre-course test, there was no difference in performance among
      senior residents, junior residents, and pre-interns (P = 0.114). After taking the
      course, the pre-interns improved their performance, and their average increased
      from 44.3% (standard deviation = 12.4%) to 66.1% (standard deviation = 12.2%; P <
      0.001). The junior residents also had an improvement in their performance on the
      test after the course (P < 0.001). Junior residents performed better than pre
      interns on the post-course test (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of
      surgical residents in ultrasound basics and extended focused assessment with
      sonography for trauma can be improved with the establishment of an ultrasound
      curriculum. We believe that such an educational endeavor should be encouraged by
      all surgical residencies.

PMID- 28601334
TI  - Variation in readmission expenditures after high-risk surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program reduces payments to
      hospitals with excess readmissions for three common medical conditions and
      recently extended its readmission program to surgical patients. We sought to
      investigate readmission intensity as measured by readmission cost for high-risk
      surgeries and examine predictors of higher readmission costs. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State Inpatient
      Database to perform a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing major
      chest (aortic valve replacement, coronary artery bypass grafting, lung resection)
      and major abdominal (abdominal aortic aneurysm repair [open approach],
      cystectomy, esophagectomy, pancreatectomy) surgery in 2009 and 2010. We fit a
      multivariable logistic regression model with generalized estimation equations to
      examine patient and index admission factors associated with readmission costs.
      RESULTS: The 30-d readmission rate was 16% for major chest and 22% for major
      abdominal surgery (P < 0.001). Discharge to a skilled nursing facility was
      associated with higher readmission costs for both chest (odds ratio [OR]: 1.99;
      95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.60-2.48) and abdominal surgeries (OR: 1.86; 95%
      CI: 1.24-2.78). Comorbidities, length of stay, and receipt of blood or imaging
      was associated with higher readmission costs for chest surgery patients.
      Readmission >3 wk after discharge was associated with lower costs among abdominal
      surgery patients. CONCLUSIONS: Readmissions after high-risk surgery are common,
      affecting about one in six patients. Predictors of higher readmission costs
      differ among major chest and abdominal surgeries. Better identifying patients
      susceptible to higher readmission costs may inform future interventions to either
      reduce the intensity of these readmissions or eliminate them altogether.

PMID- 28601335
TI  - "Take-home" box trainers are an effective alternative to virtual reality
      simulators.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Practice on virtual reality simulators (VRSs) has been shown to
      improve surgical performance. However, VRSs are expensive and usually housed in
      surgical skills centers that may be inaccessible at times convenient for surgical
      trainees to practice. Conversely, box trainers (BT) are inexpensive and can be
      used anywhere at anytime. This study assesses "take-home" BTs as an alternative
      to VRS. METHODS: After baseline assessments (two simulated laparoscopic
      cholecystectomies, one on a VRS and one on a BT), 25 surgical trainees were
      randomized to two groups. Trainees were asked to practice three basic
      laparoscopic tasks for 6 wk (BT group using a "take-home" box trainer; VR group
      using VRS in clinical skills centers). After the practice period, all performed
      two laparoscopic cholecystectomy, one on a VRS and one on a BT; (i.e.,
      posttraining assessment). VRS provided metrics (total time [TT], number of
      movements instrument tip path length), and expert video assessment of
      cholecystectomy in a BT (Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills
      [GOALS] score) were recorded. Performance during pretraining and posttraining
      assessment was compared. RESULTS: The BT group showed a significant improvement
      for all VRS metrics (P = 0.008) and the efficiency category of GOALS score (P =
      0.03). Only TT improved in the VRS group, and none of the GOALS categories
      demonstrated a statistically significant improvement after training. Finally, the
      improvement in VRS metrics in the BT group was significantly greater than in the
      VR group (TT P = 0.005, number of movements P = 0.042, path length P = 0.031),
      although there were no differences in the GOALS scores between the groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a basic "take-home" BT is a suitable
      alternative to VRS.

PMID- 28601336
TI  - Lipid-rich enteral nutrition controls intestinal inflammation, improves
      intestinal motility and mucosal barrier damage in a rat model of intestinal
      ischemia/reperfusion injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been reported that lipid-rich enteral nutrition (EN) could
      ameliorate inflammation in various diseases. In this study, we investigated
      whether lipid-rich EN could control intestinal inflammation, improve intestinal
      motility and mucosal barrier injury after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)
      injury. METHODS: Male adult rats received saline, conventional EN, or lipid-rich
      EN via gavage before and after intestinal I/R injury. The superior mesenteric
      artery was occluded for 60 min. The sham group underwent laparotomy without
      superior mesenteric artery occlusion and was administrated saline. Intestinal
      motility was measured 4 h after intestinal I/R injury by fluorescein
      isothiocyanate-dextran transit assay; the intestinal and systemic inflammation
      were assessed by analyzing intestinal and serum concentrations of tumor necrosis
      factor alpha, interleukin (IL)- 6, and IL-10, separately. The intestinal mucosal
      barrier injury was assessed by analyzing the serum levels of intestinal fatty
      acid-binding protein (I-FABP) and intestinal mucosal tight junction (TJ)
      proteins. RESULTS: The intestinal I/R injury decreased intestinal motility and
      intestinal mucosal TJs expression significantly when compared with the sham group
      (P < 0.05). The intestinal and systemic inflammatory parameters and the serum I
      FABP were also significantly higher in the I/R groups than those in the sham
      group (P < 0.05). Both conventional and lipid-rich EN increased the intestinal
      motility and the intestinal mucosal TJs expression and decreased the intestinal
      and systemic inflammatory parameter and serum I-FABP levels to different degrees
      when compared with the I/R group (P < 0.05). However, lipid-rich EN significantly
      improved the negative alterations in these biochemical parameters when compared
      with the conventional EN (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that
      lipid-rich EN might be able to control intestinal inflammation, improve
      intestinal motility and mucosal barrier injury after intestinal I/R injury. Thus,
      the administration of lipid-rich EN may be an effective treatment for promoting
      gastrointestinal function recovery after intestinal I/R injury.

PMID- 28601337
TI  - Hospital text paging communication as a surgical quality improvement initiative.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies on medicine wards have shown that numeric pages can be
      disruptive of workflow and patient care. We created a quality improvement program
      among surgical ward nurses and residents and hypothesized that a text-based,
      urgency-stratified initiative would improve communication at no detriment to
      patient care. METHODS: Surgery residents recorded preintervention data for 1 mo
      including number of total pages, text pages, and numeric pages received from
      surgical floors. Nurses and residents completed surveys to assess preintervention
      satisfaction with communication, responsiveness, and workflow. Nurses were then
      instructed to use text paging for nonurgent issues. Paging data were again
      recorded for 1 mo, surveys repeated, and patient safety and satisfaction data
      collected. Primary endpoints evaluated included patient safety and satisfaction
      data. Secondary endpoints included communication satisfaction of nurses and
      residents. RESULTS: After text paging implementation, 40.1% of nonurgent pages
      sent from nurses to resident physicians were alphanumeric texts versus only 17.9%
      before implementation (P < 0.0001). There was a 19.5% reduction in the number of
      nonurgent numeric pages sent (P < 0.0001). Overall, 70% of nurses responded
      postintervention that text paging was the preferred method of contacting a
      physician and that the text paging initiative improved efficiency. After
      implementation, 62% of nurses thought that overall communication with clinicians
      improved. In addition, there was no change in patient safety issues or patient
      satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Our text paging initiative for all nonurgent pages
      from nurses to residents improved physician-nurse workflow and communication on
      the surgical ward with no decrease in patient satisfaction or safety.

PMID- 28601338
TI  - Circulating platelet aggregates damage endothelial cells in culture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presence of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in systemic
      circulation may be an indicator of endothelial damage and/or denudation, and the
      body's response to repair and revascularization. Thus, we hypothesized that
      aggregated platelets (AgPlts) can disrupt/denude the endothelium and contribute
      to the presence of CEC and EC-derived particles (ECDP). METHODS: Endothelial
      cells were grown in glass tubes and tagged with/without 0.5 MUm fluorescent
      beads. These glass tubes were connected to a mini-pump variable-flow system to
      study the effect of circulating AgPlts on the endothelium. ECs in glass tube were
      exposed to medium alone, nonaggregated platelets (NAgPlts), AgPlts, and 90 micron
      polystyrene beads at a flow rate of 20 mL/min for various intervals. Collected
      effluents were cultured for 72 h to analyze the growth potential of dislodged but
      intact ECs. Endothelial damage was assessed by real time polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) for inflammatory genes and Western blot analysis for von
      Willebrand factor. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: No ECs and ECDP were observed in
      effluents collected after injecting medium alone and NAgPlts, whereas AgPlts and
      Polybeads drastically dislodged ECs, releasing ECs and ECDP in effluents as the
      time increased. Effluents collected when endothelial cell damage was seen showed
      increased presence of von Willebrand factor as compared to control effluents.
      Furthermore, we analyzed the presence of ECs and ECDPs in heart failure subjects,
      as well as animal plasma samples. Our study demonstrates that circulating AgPlts
      denude the endothelium and release ECs and ECDP. Direct mechanical disruption and
      shear stress caused by circulating AgPlts could be the underlying mechanism of
      the observed endothelium damage.

PMID- 28601339
TI  - Early detection by non-invasive methods of predisposition to atrial remodeling in
      hypertension.

PMID- 28601340
TI  - Pilot-scale evaluation of semi-passive treatment technologies for the treatment
      of septage under temperate climate conditions.
AB  - Population growth in rural Canada has resulted in an increase in municipal
      septage generation, which could overload existing treatment facilities that rely
      on biological treatment approaches. To address concerns associated with potential
      shock loading of these systems, three semi-passive wastewater treatment
      technologies were compared at the pilot-scale to identify a suitable approach to
      augment the capacity of an existing wastewater stabilization pond facility in
      rural Ontario. Two of these technologies, the BioDome and BioCord systems, were
      commercially available systems that make use of biofilm technology to improve
      treatment performance and enhance the robustness to temperature and hydraulic
      loading fluctuations. The third approach involved the use of the natural
      filtration capacity of zebra mussels to improve effluent quality. The three
      technologies were assessed against a control for reductions in regulated
      wastewater parameters with an emphasis on nutrient (ammonia/ammonium,
      orthophosphate) reductions, air cycling, energy consumption, and performance
      following exposure to anoxic conditions. The BioCord system was the only
      technology that was found to significantly outperform the control, exhibiting
      reductions of 69%, 47%, 77% and 81% for NH3/NH4+, TN, COD and TSS, respectively.
      The BioCord system also had the lowest maintenance and energy requirements,
      likely due to its design, which provided the biofilm with optimal oxygen and
      substrate contact. Consequently, the BioCord system could develop a more stable,
      heterogeneous microbial population and maintain high levels of activity in its
      biofilm, even during periods of extended anaerobic conditions. This also
      suggested that the BioCord system would require less aeration, and hence a lower
      energy expenditure, than the other systems. Furthermore, the BioCord system
      showed the fastest rates of recovery, reaching significant levels of parameter
      reductions within one week of system re-initiation.

PMID- 28601341
TI  - Improving quality of life after treatment for rectal cancer.

PMID- 28601343
TI  - Troublesome Throat Awareness (tTA) as a contemporary alternative to 'globus
      pharyngeus'.

PMID- 28601342
TI  - Organ preservation for rectal cancer (GRECCAR 2): a prospective, randomised, open
      label, multicentre, phase 3 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Organ preservation is a concept proposed for patients with rectal
      cancer after a good clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, to potentially
      avoid morbidity and side-effects of rectal excision. The objective of this study
      was to compare local excision and total mesorectal excision in patients with a
      good response after chemoradiotherapy for lower rectal cancer. METHODS: We did a
      prospective, randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial at 15 tertiary
      centres in France that were experts in the treatment of rectal cancer. Patients
      aged 18 years and older with stage T2T3 lower rectal carcinoma, of maximum size 4
      cm, who had a good clinical response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (residual
      tumour <=2 cm) were centrally randomly assigned by the surgeon before surgery to
      either local excision or total mesorectal excision surgery. Randomisation, which
      was done via the internet, was not stratified and used permuted blocks of size
      eight. In the local excision group, a completion total mesorectal excision was
      required if tumour stage was ypT2-3. The primary endpoint was a composite outcome
      of death, recurrence, morbidity, and side-effects at 2 years after surgery, to
      show superiority of local excision over total mesorectal excision in the modified
      intention-to-treat (ITT) population (expected proportions of patients having at
      least one event were 25% vs 60% for superiority). This trial was registered with
      ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00427375. FINDINGS: From March 1, 2007, to Sept 24,
      2012, 186 patients received chemoradiotherapy and were enrolled in the study. 148
      good clinical responders were randomly assigned to treatment, three were excluded
      (because they had metastatic disease, tumour >8 cm from anal verge, and withdrew
      consent), and 145 were analysed: 74 in the local excision group and 71 in the
      total mesorectal excision group. In the local excision group, 26 patients had a
      completion total mesorectal excision. At 2 years in the modified ITT population,
      one or more events from the composite primary outcome occurred in 41 (56%) of 73
      patients in the local excision group and 33 (48%) of 69 in the total mesorectal
      excision group (odds ratio 1.33, 95% CI 0.62-2.86; p=0.43). In the modified ITT
      analysis, there was no difference between the groups in all components of the
      composite outcome, and superiority was not shown for local excision over total
      mesorectal excision. INTERPRETATION: We failed to show superiority of local
      excision over total mesorectal excision, because many patients in the local
      excision group received a completion total mesorectal excision that probably
      increased morbidity and side-effects, and compromised the potential advantages of
      local excision. Better patient selection to avoid unnecessary completion total
      mesorectal excision could improve the strategy. FUNDING: National Cancer
      Institute of France, Sanofi, Roche Pharma.

PMID- 28601344
TI  - Predictability of SMILE over four years in high myopes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the visual outcomes of the refractive surgery
      technique small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE), are stable, effective, and
      predictable for high myopia over a four-year period. RESEARCH DESIGN: This is a
      retrospective study. The data were collected between March 2012 and July 2016.
      PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and forty-eight patients participated in the study;
      that is, 496 eyes: 140 eyes of 70 patients (52 women/18 men) were classified into
      the highly myopic group (refraction measured in spherical equivalent (RMSE)>-6
      D), and 356 eyes of 178 patients (98 women/80 men) into the control group (RMSE<
      6 D). Follow-up tests were conducted immediately following the procedure (D+1),
      after three months, after one year, and after four years. Refraction, uncorrected
      visual acuity (UCVA), and best visual corrected acuity (BCVA) were measured. The
      highly myopic group (HMG) contained more women, and astigmatism was higher for
      this group than for the control group (CG). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY STUDY CRITERIA:
      These were BCVA, refractive stability, the index of safety (SI: BCVA
      preoperatively D+1/BCVA postoperatively), and predictability (the percentage of
      eyes within+/-0.5 D of the target). RESULTS: In both groups, UCVA was better
      after the fourth year than it was immediately after the procedure (HMG: P=0.001;
      CG: P=0.001). Although it differed at one year (P=0.01), the groups' refractive
      stability tended to converge over four years (P=0.138). The groups' SI was found
      to be identical in the four follow-up tests (P=0.734 at D+1; P=0.07 at M+1;
      P=0.160 at M3 and Y1; and P=0.274 at Y4). For the HMG, SI stability was attained
      after three months (1.00+/-0.1); whereas it was attained after one month (0.91+/
      0.11) for the CG. Four years after the surgery, we observed that 87% of the
      operated-upon eyes in the HMG were within 0.5 D of the target. CONCLUSION: SMILE
      is a good refractive surgery technique for treating high myopia. It yields
      stable, safe, effective, and predictable results over four years.

PMID- 28601345
TI  - Comparison of 12-month anatomic and functional results between Z6 femtosecond
      laser-assisted and manual trephination in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for
      advanced keratoconus.
AB  - The management of severe keratoconus requires corneal transplantation, for which
      the gold standard is deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), preserving the
      healthy Descemet's membrane and endothelium. The safety and reproducibility of
      corneal cuts have been improved by the evolution of femtosecond lasers in
      refractive surgery, and femtosecond laser in DALK would seem to provide the same
      advantages over the manual method. In our retrospective study, we compare
      functional and anatomical results of femtosecond-assisted DALK versus manual
      trephination DALK in patients with keratoconus in stage 4 of the Krumeich
      classification. It is a retrospective study including all patients with stage 4
      keratoconus who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted DALK between November 2012
      and November 2015 in Nantes university medical center. We compared those patients
      to a group of patients who underwent manual DALK in the same period, paired by
      age and maximal keratometry. We assessed visual acuity, pachymetry, endothelial
      cell density (specular microscopy), and keratometry before surgery and at 4, 8
      and 12 months of follow-up. Laser settings and intraoperative complications were
      recorded. Nineteen patients underwent surgery by femtosecond-assisted DALK, 6
      women and 12 men with average age 30.2+/-10.8 years at transplantation. They were
      paired with a group of 17 patients who underwent manual DALK in order to compare
      results. Before surgery, mean visual acuity in the femtosecond group was 0.90
      logMAR versus 0.89 logMAR in the manual group, showing no statistically
      significant difference (P=0.96). Both groups were similar in terms of
      preoperative age, mean keratometry, pachymetry and endothelial cell density.
      Average visual acuity post-surgery was 0.27; 0.26; and 0.14 logMAR for
      femtosecond DALK versus 0.27; 0.17 et 0.25 for manual DALK at 4, 8 and 12 months
      follow-up respectively, showing no statistically significant difference. After
      surgery, at 4, 8 and 12 months, mean pachymetry was similar in both groups, and
      average endothelial cell density was 2390 cells/mm2 for femto DALK versus 2531
      cells/mm2 for manual DALK at 12 months of follow-up, showing no statistically
      significant difference (P=0.5726). The rate of Descemet's membrane
      microperforations during the procedure was low and similar for both groups. Our
      study allows for a 12-month follow-up, with assessment of visual recovery,
      anatomic result and endothelial safety in a series of 19 femtosecond laser
      assisted DALK with no statistical significant difference versus the manual
      trephination group. Femtosecond laser allows for increased reproducibility of the
      DALK procedure without reducing adverse effects during surgery. Femtosecond laser
      seems to improve the technique of the DALK procedure, and future developments
      could improve the reproducibility of DALK even further. A medical economics study
      would be necessary to determine the cost-effectiveness of femtosecond laser
      assisted DALK.

PMID- 28601346
TI  - Hepatic transcriptomic profiles from barramundi, Lates calcarifer, as a means of
      assessing organism health and identifying stressors in rivers in northern
      Queensland.
AB  - Resource managers need to differentiate between sites with and without
      contaminants and those where contaminants cause impacts. Potentially,
      transcriptomes could be used to evaluate sites where contaminant-induced effects
      may occur, to identify causative stressors of effects and potential adverse
      outcomes. To test this hypothesis, the hepatic transcriptomes in Barramundi, a
      perciforme teleost fish, (Lates calcarifer) from two reference sites, two
      agriculturally impacted sites sampled during the dry season, and an impacted site
      sampled during the wet season were compared. The hepatic transcriptome was
      profiled using RNA-Seq. Multivariate analysis showed that transcriptomes were
      clustered based on site and by inference water quality, but not sampling time.
      The largest differences in transcriptomic profile were between reference sites
      and a site sampled during high run-off, showing that impacted sites can be
      identified via RNA-Seq. Transcripts with altered abundance were linked to
      xenobiotic metabolism, peroxisome proliferation and stress responses, indicating
      putative stressors with the potential for adverse outcomes in barramundi.

PMID- 28601347
TI  - Taxonomic and functional distinctness of the fish assemblages in three coastal
      environments (bays, coastal lagoons and oceanic beaches) in Southeastern Brazil.
AB  - Several species of marine fish use different coastal systems especially during
      their early development. However, these habitats are jeopardized by anthropogenic
      influences threatening the success of fish populations, and urgent measures are
      needed to priorize areas to protect their sustainability. We applied taxonomic
      (Delta+) and functional (X+) distinctiveness indices that represent taxonomic
      composition and functional roles to assess biodiversity of three different costal
      systems: bays, coastal lagoons and oceanic beaches. We hypothesized that
      difference in habitat characteristics, especially in the more dynamism and
      habitat homogeneity of oceanic beaches compared with more habitat diversity and
      sheltered conditions of bays and coastal lagoons results in differences in fish
      richness and taxonomic and functional diversity. The main premise is that
      communities phylogenetically and functionally more distinct have more interest in
      conservation policies. Significant differences (P < 0.004) were found in the
      species richness, Delta+ and X+ among the three systems according to PERMANOVA.
      Fish richness was higher in bays compared with the coastal lagoons and oceanic
      beaches. Higher Delta+ was found for the coastal lagoons compared with the bays
      and oceanic beaches, with the bays having some values below the confidence limit.
      Similar patterns were found for X+, although all values were within the
      confidence limits for the bays, suggesting that the absence of some taxa does not
      interfere in functional diversity. The hypothesis that taxonomic and functional
      structure of fish assemblages differ among the three systems was accepted and we
      suggest that coastal lagoons should be priorized in conservation programs because
      they support more taxonomic and functional distinctiveness.

PMID- 28601348
TI  - Genetic diagnostics of male infertility in clinical practice.
AB  - Approximately 15% of couples are infertile. Male factors contribute to
      infertility in over 50% of cases. Identifiable genetic abnormalities contribute
      to 15%-20% of the most severe forms of male infertility, azoospermia. In this
      chapter, we explore known genetic causes of male infertility such as Klinefelter
      syndrome, XYY men, Kallmann syndrome, y-microdeletions, Robertsonian
      translocations, autosomal inversions, mixed gonadal dysgenesis, x-linked and
      autosomal gene mutations, and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator
      abnormalities. We also briefly comment on novel biomarkers for male infertility.

PMID- 28601349
TI  - Error without trials: Safe SpO2 threshold levels may not be derivable from SpO2
      PaO2 relationships.

PMID- 28601350
TI  - Response to the letter to the editor.

PMID- 28601351
TI  - Re: Giovanni Corona, Giulia Rastrelli, Abraham Morgentaler, Alessandra Sforza,
      Edoardo Mannucci, Mario Maggi. Meta-analysis of Results of Testosterone Therapy
      on Sexual Function Based on International Index of Erectile Function Scores. Eur
      Urol 2017;72:1000-11.

PMID- 28601352
TI  - Comprehensive Genomic Characterization of Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Upper urinary tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) may have unique
      etiologic and genomic factors compared to bladder cancer. OBJECTIVE: To
      characterize the genomic landscape of UTUC and provide insights into its biology
      using comprehensive integrated genomic analyses. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: We collected 31 untreated snap-frozen UTUC samples from two
      institutions and carried out whole-exome sequencing (WES) of DNA, RNA sequencing
      (RNAseq), and protein analysis. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:
      Adjusting for batch effects, consensus mutation calls from independent pipelines
      identified DNA mutations, gene expression clusters using unsupervised consensus
      hierarchical clustering (UCHC), and protein expression levels that were
      correlated with relevant clinical variables, The Cancer Genome Atlas, and other
      published data. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: WES identified mutations in FGFR3
      (74.1%; 92% low-grade, 60% high-grade), KMT2D (44.4%), PIK3CA (25.9%), and TP53
      (22.2%). APOBEC and CpG were the most common mutational signatures. UCHC of
      RNAseq data segregated samples into four molecular subtypes with the following
      characteristics. Cluster 1: no PIK3CA mutations, nonsmokers, high-grade <pT2
      tumors, high recurrences. Cluster 2: 100% FGFR3 mutations, low-grade tumors,
      tobacco use, noninvasive disease, no bladder recurrences. Cluster 3: 100% FGFR3
      mutations, 71% PIK3CA, no TP53 mutations, five bladder recurrences, tobacco use,
      tumors all <pT2. Cluster 4: KMT2D (62.5%), FGFR3 (50%), TP53 (50%) mutations, no
      PIK3CA mutations, high-grade pT2+ disease, tobacco use, carcinoma in situ,
      shorter survival. We identified a novel SH3KBP1-CNTNAP5 fusion. CONCLUSIONS:
      Mutations in UTUC occur at differing frequencies from bladder cancer, with four
      unique molecular and clinical subtypes. A novel SH3KBP1 fusion regulates RTK
      signaling. Further studies are needed to validate the described subtypes, explore
      their responses to therapy, and better define the novel fusion mutation. PATIENT
      SUMMARY: We conducted a comprehensive study of the genetics of upper urinary
      tract urothelial cancer by evaluating DNA, RNA and protein expression in 31
      tumors. We identified four molecular subtypes with distinct behaviors. Future
      studies will determine if these subtypes appear to have different responses to
      treatments.

PMID- 28601353
TI  - Re: Inhibition of Cholinergic Neurotransmission by beta3-adrenoceptors Depends on
      Adenosine Release and A1 Receptors Activation in Human and Rat Urinary Bladders.

PMID- 28601354
TI  - Studies on wound healing potential of polyherbal formulation using in vitro and
      in vivo assays.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of herbal plant extracts in wound healing is known through
      decades, but it is necessary to provide scientific data through reverse
      pharmacology. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to find the mechanism
      behind the healing of wounds using in vitro and in vivo assays. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The study was designed to determine proliferation and mobilization of
      fibroblast and keratinocytes at the site of injury, angiogenesis at the site of
      healing and reduction in oxidative stress while healing. In our earlier studies
      it was observed that herbal extract of Vitex negundo L. (VN), Emblica officinalis
      Gaertn (EO), and Tridax procumbens L. (TP) showed rapid regeneration of skin,
      wound contraction and collagen synthesis at the site of injury in excision wound
      model. In the present study the cell mobilization was monitored in the scratch
      assay on L929 fibroblastic cell line and HaCaT keratinocytes cell line under the
      influence of aqueous plant extracts and its formulation. This formulation was
      also assessed for its angiogenic potential using CAM assay. Study was carried out
      to probe synergistic effect of polyherbal formulation using excision model in
      rat. RESULTS: The formulation was found to contain high amount of flavonoids,
      tannins and phenols which facilitate wound healing. At 20 MUg/ml concentration of
      formulation, significant increase in tertiary and quaternary vessels were
      observed due to angiogenic potential of formulation. Formulation at the
      concentration of 3 MUg/ml and 5 MUg/ml showed significant mobilization of
      keratinocytes and fibroblasts respectively at the site of injury. Polyherbal
      formulation showed rapid regeneration of skin and wound contraction. Biochemical
      parameters like hydroxyproline, hexosamine and collagen turnover was increased in
      test drug treated animals as compared to untreated, whereas antioxidants such as
      catalase and GSH were increased significantly and decreased amount of tissue MDA
      was observed. CONCLUSION: Polyherbal formulation prepared from the plant extracts
      accelerates wound healing process by proliferation and mobilization of fibroblast
      and keratinocytes, and angiogenesis at the site of injury. It also shows fast
      contraction of wound with its beneficial improvement in tissue biochemical and
      antioxidant parameters.

PMID- 28601355
TI  - Yogic breathing practices improve lung functions of competitive young swimmers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resistive breathing practices are known to improve endurance and
      performance in competitive swimmers. However, the effect of Pranayama or Yogic
      Breathing Practices (YBP) in improving respiratory endurance and performance of
      competitive swimmers remains un-investigated. OBJECTIVES: To study effects of
      yogic breathing practices on lung functions of swimmers. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Twenty seven national and international competitive swimmers of the age range 13
      20 years, with 8.29 +/- 2.9 years of competitive swimming experience and
      practicing swimming for 9.58 +/- 1.81 km everyday, were assigned randomly to
      either an experimental (YBP) or to wait list control group (no intervention).
      Outcome measures were taken on day 1 and day 30 and included (1) spirometry to
      measure lung function, (2) Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2) to measure the
      antecedents and consequences of cognitive and somatic trait anxiety of sport
      performance and (3) number of strokes per breath to measure performance. The YBP
      group practiced a prescribed set of Yogic Breathing Practices - Sectional
      Breathing (Vibhagiya Pranayama), Yogic Bellows Breathing (Bhastrika Pranayama)
      and Alternate Nostril Breathing with Voluntary Internal Breath Holding (Nadi
      Shodhana with Anthar kumbhaka) for half an hour, five days a week for one month.
      RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in the YBP group as compared to
      control group in maximal voluntary ventilation (p = 0.038), forced vital capacity
      (p = 0.026) and number of strokes per breath (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The
      findings suggest that YBP helps to enhance respiratory endurance in competitive
      swimmers.

PMID- 28601356
TI  - School readiness of maltreated preschoolers and later school achievement: The
      role of emotion regulation, language, and context.
AB  - Guided by bio-ecological theory, this study aimed to: (1) identify heterogeneity
      in the developmental patterns of emotion regulation for maltreated preschool-aged
      children; (2) examine the role of gender, language, placement instability,
      cognitive stimulation, and emotional support on patterns of stability and change
      of emotion regulation over time; and (3) elucidate the role of emotion
      regulation/dysregulation patterns on later academic achievement. This study
      utilized data from the first cohort of the National Survey of Child and
      Adolescent Well-Being. Results using LCA and LTA models indicated stability and
      change in emotionally regulated vs. emotionally dysregulated latent classes
      across 4, 5, and 6 1/2 years of age. Placement instability significantly
      increased the likelihood of being classified as emotionally dysregulated at wave
      1. Moreover, children classified as emotionally dysregulated by age 6 1/2 scored
      significantly lower than children who were classified as emotionally regulated on
      measures of reading and math achievement by age 10. Based on these findings,
      placement stability at first contact with CPS should be promoted in order to
      prevent cascading negative effects on emotion regulation. Additionally, children
      who are more emotionally dysregulated by the time they transition to formal
      schooling should receive increased socioemotional and socioemotional learning
      supports.

PMID- 28601357
TI  - Intracellular complement - the complosome - in immune cell regulation.
AB  - The complement system was defined over a century ago based on its ability to
      "complement" the antibody-mediated and cell-mediated immune responses against
      pathogens. Today our understanding of this ancient part of innate immunity has
      changed substantially and we know now that complement plays an undisputed pivotal
      role in the regulation of both innate and adaptive immunity. The complement
      system consists of over 50 blood-circulating, cell-surface expressed and
      intracellular proteins. It is key in the recognition and elimination of invading
      pathogens, also in the removal of self-derived danger such as apoptotic cells,
      and it supports innate immune responses and the initiation of the general
      inflammatory reactions. The long prevailing classic view of complement was that
      of a serum-operative danger sensor and first line of defence system, however,
      recent experimental and clinical evidences have demonstrated that "local" tissue
      and surprisingly intracellular complement (the complosome) activation impacts on
      normal cell physiology. This review will focus on novel aspects of intracellular
      complement activation and its unexpected roles in basic cell processes such as
      metabolism. We also discuss what the existence of the complosome potentially
      means for how the host handles intracellular pathogens such as viruses.

PMID- 28601359
TI  - Osteopontin exacerbates Pseudomonas aeruginosa-induced bacteremia in mice.
AB  - Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional protein involved in various
      pathophysiological processes. However, the role of OPN in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      related sepsis is not yet clear. Here, we found that OPN expression was elevated
      in plasma and spleen samples from P. aeruginosa-infected mice. To determine the
      function of OPN in sepsis, we used wild-type (WT) and OPN-knockout (KO) mice with
      P. aeruginosa-induced bacteremia. We found that OPN-KO mice exhibited reduced
      mortality compared with WT mice and that OPN exacerbated spleen bleeding and
      functional impairment. OPN-KO mice exhibited reduced secretion of pro
      inflammatory cytokines, such as interferon-gamma, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-12,
      and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, whereas levels of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL
      10 and the leukocyte trafficking mediator macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2
      were not altered. Additionally, the percentages and absolute numbers of B cells
      were elevated in the spleens of OPN-KO mice. Thus, OPN promoted sepsis in P.
      aeruginosa-infected mice and potentially blocked B cell-dependent immunity.

PMID- 28601360
TI  - Rethinking the Use of Body Mass Index z-Score in Children and Adolescents with
      Severe Obesity: Time to Kick It to the Curb?

PMID- 28601361
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28601358
TI  - C1q: A fresh look upon an old molecule.
AB  - Originally discovered as part of C1, the initiation component of the classical
      complement pathway, it is now appreciated that C1q regulates a variety of
      cellular processes independent of complement activation. C1q is a complex
      glycoprotein assembled from 18 polypeptide chains, with a C-terminal globular
      head region that mediates recognition of diverse molecular structures, and an N
      terminal collagen-like tail that mediates immune effector mechanisms. C1q
      mediates a variety of immunoregulatory functions considered important in the
      prevention of autoimmunity such as the enhancement of phagocytosis, regulation of
      cytokine production by antigen presenting cells, and subsequent alteration in T
      lymphocyte maturation. Furthermore, recent advances indicate additional roles for
      C1q in diverse physiologic and pathologic processes including pregnancy, tissue
      repair, and cancer. Finally, C1q is emerging as a critical component of neuronal
      network refinement and homeostatic regulation within the central nervous system.
      This review summarizes the classical functions of C1q and reviews novel
      discoveries within the field.

PMID- 28601362
TI  - Maternal Parenting Stress and Child Perception of Family Functioning Among
      Families Affected by HIV.
AB  - Mothers living with HIV (MLWH) experience stressors inherent to parenting, often
      within a context characterized by poverty, stigma, and/or limited social support.
      Our study assessed the relationship between parenting stress and child
      perceptions of family functioning in families with MLWH who have healthy school
      age children. MLWH and their children (N = 102 pairs) completed measures
      addressing parenting stress and perceptions of family functioning (i.e., parent
      child communication, family routines, and family cohesion). We used covariance
      structural modeling to evaluate the relationship between these factors, with
      results showing greater maternal parenting stress associated with poorer family
      functioning outcomes (reported by both the child and the mother). Findings offer
      support for the parenting stress-family functioning relationship by providing the
      child perspective along with the maternal perspective, and point to the need for
      interventions aimed at minimizing the impact of maternal parenting stress on
      family functioning.

PMID- 28601363
TI  - Evaluation of uncertainty sources in the determination of testosterone in urine
      by calibration-based and isotope dilution quantification using ultra high
      performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Three quantification methodologies, namely calibration with internal standard
      (Cal-IS, non-weighted), weighted calibration with internal standard (wCal-IS) and
      isotope pattern deconvolution (IPD) have been used for the determination of
      testosterone in urine by LC-MS/MS. Uncertainty has been calculated and compared
      for the three methodologies through intra- and inter-laboratory reproducibility
      assays. IPD showed the best performance for the intra-laboratory reproducibility,
      with RSD and combined uncertainty values below 4% and 9% respectively. wCal-IS
      showed similar performance, while Cal-IS where not constant and clearly worse at
      the lowest concentration assayed (2ng/mL) reaching RSD values up to 16%. The
      inter-laboratory assay indicated similar results although wCal-IS RSD (20%) was
      higher than IPD (10%) and Cal-IS get worse with RSD higher than 40% for the
      lowest concentration level. Uncertainty budgets calculated for the three
      procedures revealed that intercept and slope were the most important factors
      contributing to uncertainty for Cal-IS. The main factors for wCal-IS and IPD were
      the volumes of sample and/or standard measured.

PMID- 28601364
TI  - Continuous protein concentration via free-flow moving reaction boundary
      electrophoresis.
AB  - In this work, we developed the model and theory of free-flow moving reaction
      boundary electrophoresis (FFMRB) for continuous protein concentration for the
      first time. The theoretical results indicated that (i) the moving reaction
      boundary (MRB) can be quantitatively designed in free-flow electrophoresis (FFE)
      system; (ii) charge-to-mass ratio (Z/M) analysis could provide guidance for
      protein concentration optimization; and (iii) the maximum processing capacity
      could be predicted. To demonstrate the model and theory, three model proteins of
      hemoglobin (Hb), cytochrome C (Cyt C) and C-phycocyanin (C-PC) were chosen for
      the experiments. The experimental results verified that (i) stable MRBs with
      different velocities could be established in FFE apparatus with weak acid/weak
      base neutralization reaction system; (ii) proteins of Hb, Cyt C and C-PC were
      well concentrated with FFMRB; and (iii) a maximum processing capacity and
      recovery ratio of Cyt C enrichment were 126mL/h and 95.5% respectively, and a
      maximum enrichment factor was achieved 12.6 times for Hb. All of the experiments
      demonstrated the protein concentration model and theory. In contrast to other
      methods, the continuous processing ability enables FFMRB to efficiently enrich
      diluted protein or peptide in large volume solution.

PMID- 28601365
TI  - Antibody-mediated protection against Staphylococcus aureus dermonecrosis and
      sepsis by a whole cell vaccine.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is a very important human pathogen that causes significant
      morbidity and mortality worldwide. Several vaccine clinical trials based on
      generating antibody against staphylococcal surface polysaccharides or proteins
      have been unsuccessful. A killed whole cell lysate preparation (SaWCA) was made
      by lysing a USA 300 strain with lysostaphin followed by sonication and harvest of
      the supernatant fraction. Immunization with SaWCA and cholera toxin (CT)
      generated robust IL-17A but relatively modest antibody responses, and provided
      protection in the skin abscess but not in the dermonecrosis or invasive infection
      model. In contrast, parenteral immunization with SaWCA and alum produced robust
      antibody and IL-17A responses and protected mice in all three models. Sera
      generated after immunization with SaWCA had measurable antibodies directed
      against six tested conserved surface proteins, and promoted opsonophagocytosis
      activity (OPA) against two S. aureus strains. Passive transfer of SaWCA-immune
      serum protected mice against dermonecrosis and invasive infection but provided no
      demonstrable effect against skin abscesses, suggesting that antibodies alone may
      not be sufficient for protection in this model. Thus, immunization with a SA
      lysate preparation generates potent antibody and T cell responses, and confers
      protection in systemic and cutaneous staphylococcal infection models.

PMID- 28601366
TI  - Peri-apneic hemodynamic reactions in obstructive sleep apnea.
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
      Little is known on acute peri-apneic hemodynamic alterations due to apneas. We
      assessed these rapid changes and how duration of apnea might contribute to them.
      Eight patients with severe OSA were studied with polysomnography including
      continuous blood pressure monitoring. Peri-apneic hemodynamic alterations, heart
      rate, blood pressure, stroke volume, cardiac output and peripheral resistance,
      were assessed in short (<20s) and long (>27s) apneas. Systolic and diastolic
      blood pressure along with heart rate elevated significantly in both apneas. These
      changes occurred within first 10 beats immediately after apnea. In contrast to
      short apneas long apneas caused sudden increase of 0.7l in cardiac output. Acute
      and pronounced peri-apneic hemodynamic alterations were seen during both short
      and long apneas. These described rapid hemodynamic changes might escape
      autoregulatory mechanisms of several organs, thus making OSA patients vulnerable
      to acute cardiovascular events.

PMID- 28601367
TI  - Breast cancer biomarkers at Niger delta university hospital: Comparisons with
      national and international trends and clinical significance.
AB  - Breast cancer biology is heterogeneous and patients with the same diagnostic
      profile have markedly different clinical outcomes. Gene expression profiling and
      its surrogate IHC markers classified breast cancer into four molecular subtypes
      with different prognosis, targeted therapies, and/or clinical outcomes. The
      present study was conducted to investigate breast cancer subtypes among women in
      NDUTH Bayelsa state and compared them with similar studies in other populations
      of international and national origin. Archived formalin fixed paraffin embedded
      tissue blocks were retrieved from January 2010-December 2014 provided 20 cases of
      microscopically confirmed invasive ductal breast carcinoma that were evaluable
      for histology and IHC (ER, PR, HER2, and Cytokeratin 5/6) immunostain. All the
      patients were females and most of them were under 50 years at presentation. The
      molecular subtypes were luminal A (54.1%), luminal B (25.0%), HER2 (12.5%), basal
      like (4.2%), and unclassified (4.2%). Triple negative carcinoma (basal-like and
      unclassified combined) was 4.2%, ER+ (65%) and (PR+70%).Breast carcinoma in
      Bayelsa state women presents at a younger age. We note that the prevalence of the
      molecular subtypes of breast carcinoma appears to have variation in geographical
      distribution. The reasons for these differences could be technical, quality of
      fixation and processing, varying staining techniques, and different criteria in
      scoring and reporting. This study indicates that the majority of breast cancer in
      NDUTH lies at the two ends of the molecular spectrum, that is, luminal A (54.1%),
      sensitive to hormonal therapy and with a good prognosis, and "triple negative"
      (4.2%) not hormonally sensitive and with a poor prognosis.

PMID- 28601368
TI  - Quality and Content of Patient-Provider Communication About Contraception:
      Differences by Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Research in family planning has shown that contraceptive counseling
      has an influence on women's family planning outcomes, but also that women are
      often dissatisfied with the counseling they receive. Little is known about how
      contraceptive counseling is conducted in the United States. We describe both the
      content and interpersonal quality of provider communication during family
      planning visits, as well as assess whether disparities in counseling exist by
      patient race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. METHODS: We obtained audio
      recordings of contraceptive counseling clinic visits for 339 women ages 15-45,
      which were coded for content and quality of communication, and collected surveys
      regarding demographics, contraceptive preferences, and experience with care. We
      performed descriptive analyses of the content and quality of provider-patient
      communication, and conducted multivariate logistic regression to assess for
      racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in care. RESULTS: Providers
      frequently did not communicate with patients about issues relevant to their
      family planning needs, including their pregnancy intention (assessed in 51% of
      visits) and their preferences for birth control (64% of visits). Providers also
      inconsistently offered patients a chance to ask questions (53% of visits). For
      most measures, there were no differences by patient race/ethnicity and highest
      level of parental education achieved. Patients whose parents had a high school
      education or less were significantly less likely to have long-acting reversible
      contraceptive methods mentioned during the visit (adjusted odds ratio, 0.42; p =
      .03). CONCLUSIONS: Several deficiencies in contraceptive counseling were found,
      suggesting areas for further emphasis in training. Differences by race/ethnicity
      and socioeconomic states were not marked.

PMID- 28601369
TI  - Body representation difficulties in children and adolescents with autism may be
      due to delayed development of visuo-tactile temporal binding.
AB  - Recent research suggests visuo-tactile binding is temporally extended in autism
      spectrum disorders (ASD), although it is not clear whether this specifically
      underlies altered body representation in this population. In the current study
      children and adolescents with ASD, and typically developing controls, placed
      their hand into mediated reality system (MIRAGE) and saw two identical live video
      images of their own right hand. One image was in the proprioceptively correct
      location (veridical hand) and the other was displaced to either side. While visuo
      tactile feedback was applied via brushstroke to the participant's (unseen) right
      finger, they viewed one hand image receiving synchronous brushstrokes and the
      other receiving brushstrokes with a temporal delay (60, 180 and 300ms). After
      brushing, both images disappeared from view and participants pointed to a target,
      with direction of movement indicating which hand was embodied. ASD participants,
      like younger mental aged-matched controls, showed reduced embodiment of the
      spatially incongruent, but temporally congruent, hand compared to chronologically
      age-matched controls at shorter temporal delays. This suggests development of
      visuo-tactile integration may be delayed in ASD. Findings are discussed in
      relation to atypical body representation in ASD and how this may contribute to
      social and sensory difficulties within this population.

PMID- 28601371
TI  - Empagliflozin in the management of diabetes mellitus after cardiac
      transplantationResearch Correspondenceretain-->.

PMID- 28601370
TI  - Impact of periodontal treatment on hospitalization for adverse respiratory events
      in asthmatic adults: A propensity-matched cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periodontal disease is prevalent in asthmatics, but it is unclear
      whether periodontal treatment plays a role in adverse respiratory events in these
      patients. We evaluated risk of hospitalization for adverse respiratory events
      (acute exacerbation, pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure) and mortality in
      asthmatic adults with and without periodontal treatment. METHODS: We used
      National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data of Taiwan to identify 4771 asthmatic
      adults with periodontal disease who underwent periodontal treatment during 2000
      2006. The control group consisted of asthmatic adults without periodontal disease
      at a 1:1 ratio matched by the propensity score. Both groups were followed up for
      5years to estimate the risk of hospitalization for adverse respiratory events and
      mortality. RESULTS: Compared with controls, the periodontal treatment group had
      lower overall incidence of hospitalization for adverse respiratory events [5.41
      vs. 6.07 per 100 person-years, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.78-0.92] and
      intensive care unit admissions (1.14 vs. 1.25 per 100 person-years, 95% CI=0.79
      0.99). In addition, the all-cause mortality rate was significantly lower in the
      periodontal treatment group than in the control group during the follow-up period
      (1.86 vs. 2.79 per 100 person-years, 95% CI=0.59-0.71). CONCLUSION: Asthmatic
      adults who underwent periodontal treatment were at lower risk of hospitalization
      for adverse respiratory events and mortality than those without periodontal
      disease. Asthmatic adults should adopt more precautionary oral hygiene and ensure
      that they undergo regular periodontal health checkups.

PMID- 28601372
TI  - A randomized controlled study in reducing procedural pain and anxiety using high
      concentration nitrous oxide.

PMID- 28601373
TI  - Evaluating the association between adjuvant chemotherapy and function-related
      adverse events among older patients with early stage breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The incidence of treatment-related toxicity for adjuvant chemotherapy in
      breast cancer is well documented in clinical trials. However, the effect of
      chemotherapy on functional outcomes in older patients is less well known. We
      identified a cohort of older women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer to
      examine the association between exposure to chemotherapy and a claims-based
      measure of function-related adverse events (FAE). METHODS: Using the
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare dataset, we
      identified women aged >=66 diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer from 2004
      to 2011. FAE were defined as one or more claims suggestive of functional
      impairment within 24months following chemotherapy including claims for durable
      medical equipment and skilled care. Women who did not receive chemotherapy were
      weighted to reflect the covariate distribution of chemotherapy recipients using
      propensity score weighting for age, stage, baseline healthcare utilization, and
      comorbidities. RESULTS: The cohort included 44,626 patients, 6892 (15%) received
      chemotherapy. 19% of the population experienced >=1 FAE. After propensity
      weighting, chemotherapy was associated with a small increased risk of FAEs (HR
      1.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.20). Results were similar in patients
      75years and older versus younger patients. In the chemotherapy group, the highest
      risk of FAE occurred in the first 3months, but persisted through follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to chemotherapy was associated with a small increased risk
      of FAE which did not vary by age. These data can be used to inform treatment
      decision making for older patients with breast cancer who are eligible for
      adjuvant chemotherapy.

PMID- 28601374
TI  - Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and R2* in the human brain at 3T:
      Evaluation of intra-scanner repeatability.
AB  - Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and the effective transverse relaxation
      rate (R2*) can be used to monitor iron and myelin content in brain tissue, which
      are both subject to changes in many neurological diseases but also during healthy
      aging. In this study, we quantitatively assessed the repeatability of QSM and R2*
      by applying four independent scans in eight young healthy, female subjects on a
      3T MRI scanner. Since QSM does not yield absolute values for bulk magnetic
      susceptibilities, we additionally investigated the influence of the choice of a
      reference brain region for susceptibility by computing susceptibility differences
      with respect to five different brain structures (whole brain, frontal white
      matter (fWM), internal capsule (IC), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the lateral
      ventricle, cortical gray matter (cGM)). The intra-class correlation coefficient
      (ICC), variance ratio (VR) and repeatability coefficient (RC) were used to
      evaluate the repeatability of the calculated susceptibility differences and the
      R2* values in six different subcortical brain structures. Linear regression was
      used to analyze the correlation between susceptibility differences and R2*. We
      found that the susceptibility differences with respect to each investigated
      reference region (0.868<=mean ICC<=0.914) and the R2* values (mean ICC=0.923)
      were highly repeatable across the four times repeated scans. With consistently
      higher ICC, higher VR and lower RC, whole brain and cGM appeared to be the two
      most suitable reference regions for QSM with respect to repeatability.

PMID- 28601375
TI  - Quality of life in glaucoma patients and normal subjects related to the severity
      of damage in each eye.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of life in glaucoma patients and normal
      subjects, and to assess its relationship with the severity of damage in each eye.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with prospective selection of
      cases. The study included 464 subjects and were distributed into 4categories.
      Subjects included in group 1 had both eyes normal, that is with a normal
      intraocular pressure (IOP), optic disk and visual fields (VF), or mild glaucoma,
      defined as untreated IOP>21mmHg and abnormal VF with mean defect (MD) over -6dB.
      Group 2 consisted of patients with both eyes with mild or moderate glaucoma,
      defined as untreated IOP>21mmHg and abnormal VF with MD between -6 and -12dB.
      Group 3 included patients with moderate to severe glaucoma, that is, untreated
      IOP>21mmHg and abnormal VF with MD of less than -12dB in both eyes. Group 4
      consisted of patients with asymmetric glaucoma damage, that is, they had one eye
      with severe glaucoma and the other eye normal or with mild glaucoma. All subjects
      completed 3 different questionnaires. Global quality of life was evaluated with
      EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D). Vision related quality of life was assessed with Visual
      Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25). Quality of life related to ocular surface
      disease was measured with Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). RESULTS: VFQ-25
      showed that group 3 had significantly lower scores than group 1 in mental health
      (P=.006), dependence (P=.006), colour vision (P=.002), and peripheral vision
      (P=.002). EQ-5D showed no significant differences between any group, but a trend
      was found to greater difficulty in group 3 than in groups 1 and 2, and in all
      dimensions. OSDI showed a higher score, or which was the same as a major
      disability, in groups 2 and 3 than group 1 (P=.021 and P=.014, respectively). VFQ
      25 only found significant differences between group 1 and group 4. Dimensions
      with significant differences were found between group 1 and 3 (both eyes with
      advanced or moderate glaucoma). These were not found between group 1 and group 4
      (the group in which one eye has only mild glaucoma or no glaucoma). This finding
      confirms that the eye with less glaucoma damage determines the quality of life.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that quality of life is impaired in patients
      with glaucoma, and this alteration is greater the more advanced is glaucoma
      damage in the best or both eyes.

PMID- 28601376
TI  - Response to comment on "Assessment of population exposure to PM2.5 for mortality
      in China and its public health benefit based on BenMAP".

PMID- 28601377
TI  - Obstetric and perinatal outcomes of singletons after single blastocyst transfer:
      is there any difference according to blastocyst morphology?
AB  - A strong correlation between blastocyst morphology and implantation has been
      shown by many studies. The consequences and effects of assisted reproductive
      techniques on children's short and long-term health have always been a source of
      discussion. The obstetric and perinatal outcome of singletons according to
      blastocyst morphology has rarely been evaluated. The aim of this observational
      study is to determine whether a relationship exists between blastocyst morphology
      and obstetric and perinatal outcomes. A total of 799 singleton clinical
      pregnancies were analysed after transfer of a single fresh blastocyst on day 5
      between 2006 and 2013. Blastocysts were divided into four groups based on their
      morphology on day 5: group 1 = good morphology blastocysts; group 2 = fair
      morphology blastocysts; group 3 = poor morphology blastocysts and group 4 = early
      (B1/B2) blastocysts. Obstetric and perinatal outcomes were compared between the
      four groups. After adjustment for some confounding variables, main obstetric and
      perinatal outcomes after transfer of blastocysts with poor morphological
      characteristics were not associated with increased adverse obstetric and
      perinatal events. Sex ratio was significantly higher in group 1 compared with
      groups 2, 3 and 4, and in Group 2 compared with Group 3 (P < 0.001) even after
      adjustment (P < 0.05).

PMID- 28601378
TI  - GnRH agonist administration prior to embryo transfer in freeze-all cycles of
      patients with endometriosis or aberrant endometrial integrin expression.
AB  - Prolonged gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) administration before
      IVF with fresh embryo transfer to patients with endometriosis or aberrant
      endometrial integrin expression (-integrin) improves outcomes but may suppress
      ovarian response and prevents elective cryopreservation of all embryos. This
      retrospective cohort pilot study evaluates freeze-all cycles with subsequent
      prolonged GnRHa before embryo transfer in these populations. Patients from 2010
      to 2015 who met inclusion criteria and received a long-acting GnRHa every 28 days
      twice before FET were evaluated. A subset underwent comprehensive chromosomal
      screening (CCS) after trophectoderm biopsy. Three groups were identified: Group
      1: + CCS, +endometriosis (20 patients, 20 transfers); Group 2: +CCS, -integrin
      (12 patients, 13 transfers); Group 3: no CCS, +endometriosis or -integrin (10
      patients, 12 transfers); Group 4: all transfers after CCS for descriptive
      comparison only (n = 2809). Baseline characteristics were similar among Groups 1
      3 except that the mean surgery to oocyte aspiration interval was longer for Group
      1 than Group 3. Implantation and ongoing pregnancy rates were statistically
      similar among the three groups and compared favourably to Group 4. A non
      significant trend towards improved outcomes was noted in Group 1. Prolonged GnRHa
      after freeze-all in these patients avoids excessive ovarian suppression and
      results in excellent outcomes.

PMID- 28601379
TI  - A systematic review of patient values, preferences and expectations for the
      treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It is our belief that patient preference should play a
      significant role in disease management of recurrent ovarian cancer. Since cure is
      seldom an endpoint in this circumstance, patients' attitudes toward the risks and
      benefits of chemotherapy versus palliation are relevant. METHODS: Medline,
      Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO from were searched from January 1, 2000 to December
      13, 2016 for studies of values, preferences or expectations of women with
      platinum-sensitive recurrent or refractory ovarian cancer. RESULTS: Ten studies
      representing five countries met inclusion criteria. Although there was regional
      variation in preference for palliation over treatment, certain themes emerged. 1)
      Patients, even in the context of counselling overestimated the curative
      capability of chemotherapy. In one study 92% of patients had high expectations of
      healing after completing an expectation of treatment checklist. Another study
      observed that patients are often overwhelmed by information provided at diagnosis
      and there can be a discrepancy between what patients report to have heard and
      what the clinicians said. 2) Patients who had previously tolerated chemotherapy
      well were more likely to be accepting of the side-effects of chemotherapy. 3)
      Patients were more willing to accept chemotherapy and the related side effects
      when treatment was of curative intent or when overall survival was increased. 4)
      Patients valued both overall and progression free survival. 5) A significant
      minority (24%) consistently chose treatment over palliation. 6) Patients were
      more willing to accept the side effects of chemotherapy than were their health
      care providers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, in aggregate, highlight the
      importance of communication with patients regarding prognosis, adverse effects
      and symptom management to help negotiate the decision making process.
      Chemotherapy in the recurrent setting should be managed on a case by case basis,
      combining both medical constraints and consideration to patient preferences.

PMID- 28601380
TI  - Reprint of: Trouble on takeoff: Crude oil on feathers reduces escape performance
      of shorebirds.
AB  - The ability to takeoff quickly and accelerate away from predators is crucial to
      bird survival. Crude oil can disrupt the fine structure and function of feathers,
      and here we tested for the first time how small amounts of oil on the trailing
      edges of the wings and tail of Western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) affected
      takeoff flight performance. In oiled birds, the distance travelled during the
      first 0.4s after takeoff was reduced by 29%, and takeoff angle was decreased by
      10 degrees  compared to unoiled birds. Three-axis accelerometry indicated that
      oiled sandpipers produced less mechanical power output per wingbeat during the
      initial phase of flight. Slower and lower takeoff would make oiled birds more
      likely to be targeted and captured by predators, reducing survival and
      facilitating the exposure of predators to oil. Whereas the direct mortality of
      heavily-oiled birds is often obvious and can be quantified, our results show that
      there are significant sub-lethal effects of small amounts crude oil on feathers,
      which must be considered in natural resource injury assessments for birds.

PMID- 28601381
TI  - Optimal reconstruction matrix and PET image filtration for point-spread function
      and time-of-flight reconstruction - A phantom study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine the optimal image matrix and
      half-width of the Gaussian filter after iterative reconstruction of the PET image
      with point-spread function (PSF) and time-of-flight (TOF) correction, based on
      measuring the recovery coefficient (RC) curves. The measured RC curves were
      compared to those from an older system which does not use PSF and TOF
      corrections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The measurements were carried out on a NEMA
      IEC Body Phantom. We measured the RC curves based on SUVmax and SUVA50 in source
      spheres with different diameters. The change in noise level for different
      reconstruction parameter settings and the relation between RC curves and the
      administered activity were also evaluated. RESULTS: With an increasing size of
      image matrix and reduction in the half-width of the post-reconstruction Gaussian
      filter, there was a significant increase in image noise and overestimation of the
      SUV. The local increase in SUV, observed for certain filtrations and objects with
      a diameter below 13mm, was caused by PSF correction. The decrease in administered
      activity, while maintaining the same conditions of acquisition and
      reconstruction, also led to overestimation of readings of the SUV and
      additionally to deterioration in reproducibility. CONCLUSION: This study proposes
      a suitable size for the image matrix and filtering for displaying PET and SUV
      measurements. The benefits were demonstrated as improved image parameters for the
      newer instrument, these even being found using relatively strong filtration of
      the reconstructed images.

PMID- 28601382
TI  - Long-Term Follow-Up of Node-Negative Breast Cancer Patients Evaluated via
      Sentinel Node Biopsy After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is used to accurately assess axillary
      lymph node status in patients with node-negative breast cancer. However, its use
      after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is controversial. We retrospectively
      assessed the usefulness of SNB after NAC by comparing axillary recurrence rates
      and other parameters in patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer who
      underwent SNB after NAC or without NAC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: At our hospital,
      1179 patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer underwent SNB from
      April 2007 to December 2013. The clinicopathological and survival data of
      patients who underwent SNB after NAC (the NAC group) and those who underwent SNB
      without NAC (the control group) were compared. Patients with a metastatic
      sentinel node underwent axillary lymph node dissection. RESULTS: The number of
      patients in the NAC and control groups was 183 (15.5%) and 996 (84.5%),
      respectively. At diagnosis, tumors were significantly larger in the NAC group (P
      < .0001). Sentinel nodes were identified in almost all patients in both groups
      (99.5% in the NAC group vs. 99.8% in the control group). They were nonmetastatic
      in 147 (80.8%) patients in the NAC group and 849 (85.5%) patients in the control
      group. At the median follow-up time of 51.1 months, 6 patients (0.6%) in the
      control group had axillary lymph node recurrence compared with no patients in the
      NAC group. CONCLUSION: SNB after NAC was as accurate as SNB without NAC in
      patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer. Axillary recurrence-free
      survival rates were excellent regardless of whether NAC was performed before SNB.

PMID- 28601383
TI  - Pretreatment Serum Concentration of Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Characteristics:
      A Prospective Observational Mediterranean Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies of the correlation between breast cancer (BC) and
      vitamin D yielded contrasting results. Although preclinical and clinical evidence
      has implicated vitamin D in BC prevention and outcome, little is known about the
      link between vitamin D and specific BC histologically defined subtypes. In the
      attempt to clarify this association we correlated vitamin D levels with BC
      characteristics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 220 pre- and postmenopausal
      women with early BC in this prospective observational trial. Data on the
      patients' clinical and specific BC pathological characteristics were collected
      and related to vitamin D levels, stratified in deficient (< 20 ng/mL),
      insufficient (20-30 ng/mL), and sufficient (> 30 ng/mL). BC subtypes were defined
      according to the 14th St Gallen Breast Cancer Conference. RESULTS: Deficient
      vitamin D levels were correlated with Grade 3 (P = .015) and node-positive (P =
      .043) BC, and with a higher body mass index (P = .017). Insufficient vitamin D
      levels were associated with estrogen receptor expression in the primary tumor (P
      = .033). Vitamin D levels were unrelated to the histological molecular subtypes
      of BC. CONCLUSION: Deficient vitamin D levels were correlated with more
      aggressive disease, namely, node-positive high grade BC, and with obesity. Should
      our findings be confirmed in larger prospective studies, nutritional programs
      designed to reduce body weight, and vitamin D supplementation might be considered
      a BC prevention strategy.

PMID- 28601385
TI  - Echocardiographic-Fluoroscopic Fusion Imaging in Transseptal Puncture: A New
      Technology for an Old Procedure.
AB  - In an era of catheter-based structural heart disease and left-side
      electrophysiologic interventions, transseptal puncture (TSP) is probably the most
      common transcatheter procedure. Experienced interventional cardiologists and
      electrophysiologists may safely perform TSP using fluoroscopic guidance alone.
      However, at present TSP is usually the first step in complex percutaneous
      catheter-based structural heart disease procedures and necessitate a precise site
      specific TSP. Thus, in these procedures most interventional cardiologists perform
      TSP under fluoroscopic and two- or three-dimensional transesophageal
      echocardiographic guidance. The EchoNavigator system may provide a solution by
      fusing fluoroscopic and transesophageal echocardiographic images. In this review,
      the authors describe advantages and limitations of this new imaging system in
      guiding TSP and suggest specific echocardiographic-fluoroscopic fusion imaging
      perspectives that may facilitate TSP, making it potentially easier and safer.

PMID- 28601384
TI  - Polycystin and calcium signaling in cell death and survival.
AB  - Mutations in polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2) result in a commonly
      occurring genetic disorder, called Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease
      (ADPKD), that is characterized by the formation and development of kidney cysts.
      Epithelial cells with loss-of-function of PC1 or PC2 show higher rates of
      proliferation and apoptosis and reduced autophagy. PC1 is a large multifunctional
      transmembrane protein that serves as a sensor that is usually found in complex
      with PC2, a calcium (Ca2+)-permeable cation channel. In addition to decreased
      Ca2+ signaling, several other cell fate-related pathways are de-regulated in
      ADPKD, including cAMP, MAPK, Wnt, JAK-STAT, Hippo, Src, and mTOR. In this review
      we discuss how polycystins regulate cell death and survival, highlighting the
      complexity of molecular cascades that are involved in ADPKD.

PMID- 28601386
TI  - Detection of ALK and KRAS Mutations in Circulating Tumor DNA of Patients With
      Advanced ALK-Positive NSCLC With Disease Progression During Crizotinib Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC), disease progression occurs after a median of 9 to 10
      months of crizotinib treatment. Several mechanisms of resistance have been
      identified and include ALK mutations and amplification or the activation of
      bypassing signaling pathways. Rebiopsy in NSCLC patients represents a critical
      issue and the analysis of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has a promising role
      for the identification of resistance mechanisms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty
      patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC were enrolled after disease progression
      during crizotinib treatment; cfDNA was analyzed using digital droplet polymerase
      chain reaction (BioRad, Hercules, CA) for ALK (p.L1196M, p.G1269A, and p.F1174L)
      and Kirsten rat sarcoma (KRAS) (codons 12 and 13) mutations. RESULTS: ALK
      secondary mutations (p.L1196M, p.G1269A, and p.F1174L) were identified in 5
      patients; 1 patient had 2 ALK mutations (p.L1196M and p.G1269A). Overall, 10
      patients presented KRAS mutations (7 p.G12D, 2 p.G12V, and 1 p.G12C mutations,
      respectively). In 3 patients KRAS mutations were associated with ALK mutations.
      cfDNA was monitored during the treatment with second-generation ALK inhibitors
      and the amount of ALK as well as KRAS mutations decreased along with tumor
      regression. CONCLUSION: ALK and KRAS mutations are associated with acquired
      resistance to crizotinib in ALK-positive NSCLC. In particular, ALK acquired
      mutations can be detected in plasma and could represent a promising tumor marker
      for response monitoring.

PMID- 28601387
TI  - Guideline-concordant Care Improves Overall Survival for Locally Advanced Non
      Small-cell Lung Carcinoma Patients: A National Cancer Database Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current evidence-based guideline-concordant care (GCC) for locally
      advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with good performance status
      is concurrent chemoradiation. In this study we evaluated factors associated with
      lack of GCC and its effects on overall survival (OS). PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Unresectable stage III NSCLC patients, diagnosed from 2005 to 2013 with a
      Charlson-Deyo score of 0, were identified from the National Cancer Database.
      Primary outcomes were receipt of GCC, defined as concurrent chemoradiation
      (thoracic radiotherapy, starting within 2 weeks of chemotherapy, to at least 60
      Gy), and OS. Multivariable logistic regression modeling identified variables
      associated with non-GCC. Cox proportional hazard modeling was used to examine OS.
      RESULTS: Twenty-three percent of patients (n = 10,476) received GCC. Uninsured
      patients were more likely to receive non-GCC (odds ratio [OR], 1.54; P < .001)
      compared with privately insured patients. Other groups with greater odds of
      receiving non-GCC included: patients treated in the western, southern, or
      northeastern United States (ORs, 1.39, 1.37, and 1.19, respectively; all Ps <
      .001) compared with the Midwest; adenocarcinoma histology (OR, 1.48; P < .001)
      compared with squamous cell carcinoma; and women (OR, 1.08; P = .002). Those who
      received non-GCC had higher death rates compared with those who received GCC
      (hazard ratio [HR], 1.42; P < .001). The uninsured (HR, 1.53; P < .001), patients
      treated in the western, southern, or northeastern United States (HRs, 1.56, 1.41,
      and 1.34, respectively; P < .001), adenocarcinomas (HR, 1.39; P < .001), and
      women (HR, 1.44; P < .001) also all had lower OS for non-GCC versus GCC.
      CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic factors, including lack of insurance and geography, are
      associated with non-GCC. Patient- and disease-specific factors, including
      increasing adenocarcinoma histology and sex, are also associated with non-GCC.
      Non-GCC diminishes OS.

PMID- 28601388
TI  - A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 1b/2 Study of Rilotumumab or Ganitumab in
      Combination With Platinum-Based Chemotherapy as First-Line Treatment for
      Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
      phase 1b/2 study we assessed the efficacy/safety of rilotumumab or ganitumab
      combined with etoposide and carboplatin or cisplatin as first-line treatment in
      patients with extensive stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: In the phase 1b study, patients received rilotumumab 15 mg/kg or
      ganitumab 18 mg/kg with etoposide and carboplatin or cisplatin. In the phase 2
      study, patients were randomly assigned 1:1:1 to receive placebo, rilotumumab, or
      ganitumab with etoposide and carboplatin or cisplatin. Chemotherapy was
      administered for <= 6 cycles; rilotumumab, ganitumab, or placebo was then
      continued as maintenance therapy. The primary end points were incidence of dose
      limiting toxicities (DLTs; phase 1b) and overall survival (OS; phase 2).
      Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS) and safety.
      RESULTS: In the phase 1b study (n = 28), 1 patient treated with ganitumab
      experienced a DLT (Grade 4 neutropenia/thrombocytopenia lasting >= 7 days). In
      the phase 2 study, 185 patients were enrolled (placebo, n = 61; rilotumumab, n =
      62; ganitumab, n = 62). Median OS was 10.8, 12.2 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.84; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 0.56-1.25; P = .384), and 10.7 (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.63
      1.41; P = .787) months, in placebo, rilotumumab, or ganitumumab arms,
      respectively. Median PFS was 5.4, 5.4 (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.71-1.54; P = .797),
      and 5.5 (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.72-1.55; P = .780) months, respectively. Adverse
      events resulting in treatment discontinuation occurred in 11 (19%), 10 (16%), and
      7 (12%) patients, respectively. Serum biomarker analysis showed improved survival
      for patients with baseline hepatocyte growth factor levels below the median in
      the rilotumumab arm. CONCLUSION: Although the combination of rilotumumab or
      ganitumab with chemotherapy was tolerable, overall outcomes were not improved in
      patients with ES-SCLC.

PMID- 28601389
TI  - Effects of lentivirus-mediated silencing of Periostin on tumor microenvironment
      and bone metastasis via the integrin-signaling pathway in lung cancer.
AB  - The study aims to investigate the effects of Periostin gene silencing on tumor
      microenvironment and bone metastasis via the integrin-signaling pathway in lung
      cancer (LC). LC patients were divided into bone metastasis and non-bone
      metastasis groups; Healthy volunteers were selected as normal group. ELISA was
      performed to detect serum Periostin levels and plasma calcium ion concentration.
      SBC-5 cells were assigned into blank group (without transfection), negative
      control (NC) group (transfected with empty plasmid), si-Periostin group
      (transfected with si-Periostin plasmid), si-Integrin-alphavbeta3 group
      (transfected with Integrin-alphavbeta3 siRNA plasmid) and si-Periostin+si
      Integrin-alphavbeta3 group (transfected with si-Periostin and si-Integrin
      alphavbeta3 plasmid). qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to determine
      mRNA and protein expression of Periostin, metastasis-associated factors of tumor
      microenvironment and integrin signaling pathway-related proteins. CCK-8, scratch
      test and transwell assay were applied to detect cell proliferation, migration and
      invasion respectively. Nude mouse models of LC bone metastasis were established.
      TRAP Staining was employed to measure the number of osteoclasts. Bone metastasis
      group exhibited higher levels of Periostin compared to normal and non-bone
      metastasis groups. Si-Periostin, si-Integrin-alphavbeta3 and si-Periostin+si
      Integrin-alphavbeta3 groups showed decreased Periostin expression, proliferation
      rate, migration distance, invasive cells, and expressions of metastasis
      associated factors of tumor microenvironment and integrin signaling pathway
      related proteins compared to blank and NC groups. Similarly, number of
      osteoclasts and expression of integrin signaling pathway-related proteins were
      decreased, and bone injury and calcium ion concentration were reduced. The study
      demonstrated that down-regulation of Periostin expression modulated tumor
      microenvironment and inhibited bone metastasis by blocking integrin-signaling
      pathway in LC.

PMID- 28601390
TI  - Frequency of and risk factors for tumor upstaging after wide local excision of
      primary cutaneous melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detecting a more advanced stage of the primary melanoma after wide
      local excision and reconstruction can complicate patient counseling about
      prognosis, management of surgical margins, and indications for sentinel lymph
      node biopsy. OBJECTIVE: To identify the frequency of and risk factors associated
      with upstaging after wide local excision of primary melanoma. METHODS:
      Retrospective, single center, cross-sectional study of 1332 consecutive in situ
      to stage T4a melanomas treated with wide local excision. RESULTS: The overall
      rate of upstaging of melanoma was 3.9% (52/1332). After multivariate analysis,
      the greatest risk factor for upstaging was anatomic location on the head, neck,
      hands, feet, genitals, or pretibial leg (odds ratio [OR] 7.06, P < .001) followed
      by extension of the melanoma to the base of the biopsy specimen (OR 3.42, P <
      .001); the need for multiple preoperative scouting biopsies (OR 1.89, P = .004);
      older age (OR 1.03 per year, P = .002); and nonlentigo maligna histologic subtype
      (OR 3.6, P = .002). LIMITATIONS: This was a single-site, retrospective
      observational study. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicopathologic characteristics, particularly
      anatomic location on the head, neck, hands, feet, genitals, or pretibial leg and
      subtotal diagnostic biopsies, identify melanomas with an increased risk for
      upstaging.

PMID- 28601391
TI  - Incidence, prevalence, and risk of selected ocular disease in adults with atopic
      dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ocular comorbidities are common in atopic dermatitis (AD) as the
      result of the disease itself or the use of medication. No large-scale
      epidemiologic data exist on the prevalence of ocular comorbidities in adults with
      AD. OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine the prevalence and risk of selected ocular
      comorbidities in adult patients with AD. METHODS: All Danish individuals >=18
      years of age were linked in nationwide registries. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs)
      were estimated by means of Cox regression. RESULTS: A total of 5766 and 4272
      adults were categorized as having mild and severe AD, respectively. At least 1
      prescription of anti-inflammatory ocular agents was claimed in 12.0% and 18.9% of
      patients with mild and severe AD, respectively. In adjusted analysis, the HR of
      conjunctivitis was 1.48 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.90) for mild AD and
      1.95 (95% CI, 1.51-2.51) for severe AD. The HR of keratitis was 1.66 (95% CI,
      1.15-2.40) for mild AD and 3.17 (95% CI, 2.31-4.35) for severe AD. For adults
      with severe AD, the HR for keratoconus was 10.01 (95% CI, 5.02-19.96). AD was
      associated with "cataract only" in individuals <50 years of age. LIMITATIONS: A
      limitation of the study is that observational studies cannot establish causality.
      CONCLUSIONS: Adults with AD had a significant and disease severity-dependent
      increased risk of development of conjunctivitis, keratitis, and keratoconus
      compared with that of the general population.

PMID- 28601392
TI  - Histopathologic features of melanoma in difficult-to-diagnose lesions: A case
      control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dermatopathology is considered the gold standard for melanoma
      diagnosis, but a subset of cases is difficult to diagnose by histopathology.
      OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were to measure the accuracy of
      histopathologic features in difficult-to-diagnose melanocytic tumors and the
      interobserver agreement of those features. METHODS: This is a case-control study
      of histopathologic features of melanoma in 100 difficult-to-diagnose melanocytic
      neoplasms (40 melanomas and 60 nevi). Slides were blindly evaluated by 5
      dermatopathologists. Frequencies, predictive values, and interobserver agreement
      were calculated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were
      performed to identify the most influential features in arriving at a diagnosis of
      melanoma. RESULTS: Asymmetry, single-cell melanocytosis, solar elastosis,
      pagetoid melanocytosis, and broad surface diameter were most influential in
      arriving at a diagnosis of melanoma. Asymmetry and single-cell melanocytosis were
      most predictive of melanoma. Fleiss kappa was <0.6 for interobserver agreement in
      9/10 histopathologic features of melanoma. LIMITATIONS: This study is limited by
      the small sample size, selection bias, and binary classification of melanocytic
      lesions. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate histopathologic features of melanoma in
      difficult-to-diagnose lesions vary in accuracy and reproducibility.

PMID- 28601393
TI  - Oxidized zirconium versus cobalt-chromium against the native patella in total
      knee arthroplasty: Patellofemoral outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oxidized zirconium (OxZr) has demonstrated excellent mechanical
      properties in vitro when used against articular cartilage; less coefficient of
      friction and less chondral damage have been found when compared with cobalt
      chromium (CoCr) implants. However, controversy exists as to whether implants with
      a zirconium femoral component articulate safely with a native patella in total
      knee arthroplasty (TKA). To answer this question, the clinical and radiographic
      results were analysed from a group of patients who underwent a TKA with patella
      retention; the OxZr versus CoCr femoral components were compared. METHODS: The
      present study prospectively evaluated 83 knees of 74 patients from 2009 to 2010.
      Each patient was evaluated clinically (visual analogue scale, Knee Society score,
      patellar score) and radiographically (long leg standing radiograph, anterior
      posterior and latero-lateral projections, axial view of the patella) pre
      operatively and postoperatively with a mean follow-up of 4.47years. The patellar
      tilt and shift, and progression of patellofemoral osteoarthritis were calculated
      with the axial view. RESULTS: There were no patient reported adverse reactions
      and none of the evaluated prostheses failed. Both the clinical and radiographic
      evaluations showed no statistically significant between-group differences.
      CONCLUSION: No adverse events were observed clinically or radiologically. These
      results justify pursuing the use of oxidized zirconium as an alternative bearing
      surface for a femoral component associated with patellar retention in TKA.

PMID- 28601394
TI  - Engineering of Klebsiella oxytoca for production of 2,3-butanediol via
      simultaneous utilization of sugars from a Golenkinia sp. hydrolysate.
AB  - The Klebsiella oxytoca was engineered to produce 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO)
      simultaneously utilizing glucose and galactose obtained from a Golenkinia sp.
      hydrolysate. For efficient uptake of galactose at a high concentration of
      glucose, Escherichia coli galactose permease (GalP) was introduced, and the
      expression of galP under a weak-strength promoter resulted in simultaneous
      consumption of galactose and glucose. Next, to improve the sugar consumption, a
      gene encoding methylglyoxal synthase (MgsA) known as an inhibitor of multisugar
      metabolism was deleted, and the mgsA-null mutant showed much faster consumption
      of both sugars than the wild-type strain did. Finally, we demonstrated that the
      engineered K. oxytoca could utilize sugar extracts from a Golenkinia sp.
      hydrolysate and successfully produces 2,3-BDO.

PMID- 28601395
TI  - Manipulating environmental stresses and stress tolerance of microalgae for
      enhanced production of lipids and value-added products-A review.
AB  - Microalgae have promising potential to produce lipids and a variety of high-value
      chemicals. Suitable stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation and high
      salinity could stimulate synthesis and accumulation of lipids and high-value
      products by microalgae, therefore, various stress-modification strategies were
      developed to manipulate and optimize cultivation processes to enhance
      bioproduction efficiency. On the other hand, advancements in omics-based
      technologies have boosted the research to globally understand microalgal gene
      regulation under stress conditions, which enable further improvement of
      production efficiency via genetic engineering. Moreover, integration of multi
      omics data, synthetic biology design, and genetic engineering manipulations
      exhibits a tremendous potential in the betterment of microalgal biorefinery. This
      review discusses the process manipulation strategies and omics studies on
      understanding the regulation of metabolite biosynthesis under various stressful
      conditions, and proposes genetic engineering of microalgae to improve
      bioproduction via manipulating stress tolerance.

PMID- 28601396
TI  - Constructing xylose-assimilating pathways in Pediococcus acidilactici for high
      titer d-lactic acid fermentation from corn stover feedstock.
AB  - Xylose-assimilating pathway was constructed in a d-lactic acid producing
      Pediococcus acidilactici strain and evolutionary adapted to yield a co
      fermentation strain P. acidilactici ZY15 with 97.3g/L of d-lactic acid and xylose
      conversion of 92.6% obtained in the high solids content simultaneous
      saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of dry dilute acid pretreated and
      biodetoxified corn stover feedstock. The heterologous genes encoding xylose
      isomerase (xylA) and xylulokinase (xylB) were screened and integrated into the P.
      acidilactici chromosome. The metabolic flux to acetic acid in phosphoketolase
      pathway was re-directed to pentose phosphate pathway by substituting the
      endogenous phosphoketolase gene (pkt) with the heterologous transketolase (tkt)
      and transaldolase (tal) genes. The xylose-assimilating ability of the newly
      constructed P. acidilactici strain was significantly improved by adaptive
      evolution. This study provided an important strain and process prototype for high
      titer d-lactic acid production from lignocellulose feedstock with efficient
      xylose assimilation.

PMID- 28601397
TI  - PTEN, a negative regulator of PI3K/Akt signaling, sustains brain stem
      cardiovascular regulation during mevinphos intoxication.
AB  - Activation of PI3K/Akt signaling, leading to upregulation of nitric oxide
      synthase II (NOS II)/peroxynitrite cascade in the rostral ventrolateral medulla
      (RVLM), the brain stem site that maintains blood pressure and sympathetic
      vasomotor tone, underpins cardiovascular depression induced by the
      organophosphate pesticide mevinphos. By exhibiting dual-specificity protein- and
      lipid-phosphatase activity, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) directly
      antagonizes the PI3K/Akt signaling by dephosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol
      3,4,5-trisphosphate, the lipid product of PI3K. Based on the guiding hypothesis
      that PTEN may sustain brain stem cardiovascular regulation during mevinphos
      intoxication as a negative regulator of PI3K/Akt signaling in the RVLM, we aimed
      in this study to clarify the mechanistic role of PTEN in mevinphos-induced
      circulatory depression. Microinjection bilaterally of mevinphos (10 nmol) into
      the RVLM of anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats induced a progressive hypotension
      and a decrease in baroreflex-mediated sympathetic vasomotor tone. There was
      progressive augmentation in PTEN activity as reflected by a decrease in the
      oxidized form of PTEN in the RVLM during mevinhpos intoxication, without
      significant changes in the mRNA or protein level of PTEN. Loss-of-function
      manipulations of PTEN in the RVLM by immunoneutralization, pharmacological
      blockade or siRNA pretreatment significantly potentiated the increase in Akt
      activity or NOS II/peroxynitrite cascade in the RVLM, enhanced the elicited
      hypotension and exacerbated the already reduced baroreflex-mediated sympathetic
      vasomotor tone. We conclude that augmented PTEN activity via a decrease of its
      oxidized form in the RVLM sustains brain stem cardiovascular regulation during
      mevinphos intoxication via downregulation of the NOS II/peroxynitrite cascade as
      a negative regulator of PI3K/Akt signaling.

PMID- 28601398
TI  - GABA receptors and T-type Ca2+ channels crosstalk in thalamic networks.
AB  - Although the thalamus presents a rather limited repertoire of GABAergic cell
      types compare to other CNS area, this structure is a privileged system to study
      how GABA impacts neuronal network excitability. Indeed both glutamatergic
      thalamocortical (TC) and GABAergic nucleus reticularis thalami (NRT) neurons
      present a high expression of T-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels whose
      activation that shapes the output of the thalamus critically depends upon a
      preceding hyperpolarisation. Because of this strict dependence, a tight
      functional link between GABA mediated hyperpolarization and T-currents
      characterizes the thalamic network excitability. In this review we summarize a
      number of studies showing that the relationships between the various thalamic
      GABAA/B receptors and T-channels are complex and bidirectional. We discuss how
      this dynamic interaction sets the global intrathalamic network activity and its
      long-term plasticity and highlight how the functional relationship between GABA
      release and T-channel-dependent excitability is finely tuned by the T-channel
      activation itself. Finally, we illustrate how an impaired balance between T
      channels and GABA receptors can lead to pathologically abnormal cellular and
      network behaviours. This article is part of the "Special Issue Dedicated to
      Norman G. Bowery".

PMID- 28601399
TI  - Erratum to "Lasso plate - An original implant for fixation of type I and II Regan
      Morrey coronoid fractures" [Orthop. Traumatol. Surg. Res. 103 (2017) 447-51].

PMID- 28601400
TI  - Omega 3 fatty acids in cardiovascular disease risk factors: An updated systematic
      review of randomised clinical trials.
AB  - Several studies and reviews regarding the supplementation of omega-3 LC-PUFAs
      have been developed during the last years. Indeed, the evidence states that high
      doses omega-3 LC-PUFAs produce a small but significant decrease in blood pressure
      in older and hypertensive subjects. Due to the increasing interest in the
      benefits of LC-PUFAs, we aimed to evaluate the scientific evidence provided in
      the past five years (2012-2016) on the effects of the intake of omega-3 LC-PUFAs
      on cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and oxidative stress, through
      a systematic review in PubMed database. Twenty-eight articles were related to
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) and are included in this systematic review. The
      studies included healthy subjects and CVD patients; we included the number of
      subjects, type of study, type and doses of omega-3 LC-PUFAs, primary outcomes,
      and results. The use of omega-3 LC-PUFAs for ameliorating CVD risk factors can be
      recommended. However, the administration of omega-3 does not seem to show any
      benefit for the management of CVD or associated complications.

PMID- 28601402
TI  - Corrigendum to: 'Preoperative Volumetric Assessment Matched with High-Field
      Intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Stereotactic Evacuation of Brain
      Abscesses' [World Neurosurg. 91 (2016) 238-244].

PMID- 28601401
TI  - Orbital magnetic resonance imaging is useful in age-related distance esotropia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe findings for orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in
      patients with age-related distance esotropia (ARDE). METHODS: We compared 31
      orbital MRI from patients with ARDE (77+/-7 SD years) with 2 control groups: 32
      orbits from individuals aged 18-50 years (33+/-8 SD years) and 16 orbits from
      individuals aged >60 years (77+/-7 SD years). MRI scans were acquired using 3D
      fast field echo in T1 sequence without fat saturation. Exclusion criteria for all
      groups were neurological or thyroid disease and a relevant ophthalmological
      history (e.g., high myopia, diplopia from another etiology, complicated cataract
      surgery, etc.). Muscle displacement and characteristics of the lateral rectus
      superior rectus (LR-SR) intermuscular band were analyzed. RESULTS: The analysis
      of the muscles and angles revealed a series of statistically significant
      differences (p<0.07) between the groups. Subjects with ARDE had LR pulley
      positions 1.32+/-0.19mm lower than in younger controls, and the medial rectus
      (MR) pulley positions were 0.68+/-0.19mm lower than in younger. Older controls
      had LR and MR pulley positions 0.85+/-0.20mm and 0.49+/-0.23mm lower than in
      younger. ARDE subjects had LR pulley positions 0.46+/-0.26mm lower than in older
      control group. The LR-SR band was absent in 35.5% of ARDE patients and in 12.5%
      of older control group (p=0.168). CONCLUSIONS: MRI showed that displacements of
      LR and LR-SR band degeneration could facilitate the diagnosis of patients with
      ARDE.

PMID- 28601403
TI  - [Activity of amphotericin B and anidulafungin, alone and combined, against
      Candida tropicalis biofilms developed on Teflon(r) and titanium].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current therapeutic strategies have a limited efficacy against
      Candida biofilms that form on the surfaces of biomedical devices. Few studies
      have evaluated the activity of antifungal agents against Candida tropicalis
      biofilms. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the activity of amphotericin B (AMB) and
      anidulafungin (AND), alone and in combination, against C. tropicalis biofilms
      developed on polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon -PTFE) and titanium surfaces using
      time-kill assays. METHODS: Assays were performed using the CDC Biofilm Reactor
      equipped with PTFE and titanium disks with C. tropicalis biofilms after 24h of
      maturation. The concentrations assayed were 40mg/l for AMB and 8mg/l for AND,
      both alone and combined. After 24, 48 and 72h of exposure to the antifungals, the
      cfu/cm2 was determined by a vortexing-sonication procedure. RESULTS: AMB reduced
      biofilm viable cells attached to PTFE and titanium by >=99% and AND by 89.3% on
      PTFE and 96.8% on titanium. The AMB+AND combination was less active than AMB
      alone, both on PTFE (decrease of cfu/cm2 3.09 Log10vs. 1.08 when combined) and
      titanium (4.51 vs. 1.53 when combined), being the interaction irrelevant on both
      surfaces. CONCLUSIONS: AMB is more active than AND against C. tropicalis
      biofilms. Yeast killing rates are higher on titanium than on PTFE surfaces. The
      combination of AMB plus AND is less effective than AMB alone on both surfaces.

PMID- 28601404
TI  - Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines: The Role of Personal Networks Among
      Residents of Low-Income Communities.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite known benefits of regular physical activity (PA), residents
      of low-income communities have disproportionately high rates of physical
      inactivity. Mounting evidence suggests that social network characteristics may be
      associated with health behaviors, including PA. The purpose of the current study
      was to examine associations between egocentric network characteristics and
      meeting PA guidelines among residents of low-income and predominantly African
      American communities. METHODS: Data from the Greenville Healthy Neighborhoods
      Project (2014), a cross-sectional study, examined social network characteristics,
      including the PA behavior of social ties, and whether participants met PA
      guidelines (150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise). Respondent-driven sampling
      (non-random) was utilized to recruit participants (n=430) within eight low-income
      communities. Logistic regression analyses, performed in 2016, included robust
      sandwich estimation to account for clustering (non-independence) of observations.
      RESULTS: Participants were predominantly older (M=54.4 years, SD=15.1 years),
      African American (88.0%), and female (70.7%). More than one third of participants
      had an annual household income <$15,000 (41.6%) or reported meeting the current
      aerobic PA guidelines (45.8%). Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics,
      greater network extensity (based on the occupation of ego's network ties;
      OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.03, 1.20, p=0.02) and a higher percentage of physically active
      network members (OR=1.97, 95% CI=1.02, 3.82, p=0.04) were associated with higher
      odds of meeting PA guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Social network characteristics are
      associated with individual PA behavior among residents of low-income communities.
      Interventions to increase PA among low-income and predominantly African-American
      communities should leverage personal networks, including the implementation of
      walking groups or buddy systems.

PMID- 28601405
TI  - Leisure Time Physical Activity Among U.S. Adults With Arthritis, 2008-2015.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 2016, leisure time physical activity among U.S. adults aged >=18
      years with and without arthritis was studied to provide estimates using
      contemporary guidelines (2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans) and
      population-based data (U.S. National Health Interview Survey). METHODS: Estimated
      prevalence of: (1) meeting aerobic, muscle strengthening, and both aerobic and
      muscle strengthening guidelines, by arthritis status, from 2008 to 2015; and (2)
      meeting guidelines across selected sociodemographic characteristics and health
      status and behaviors, among adults with arthritis, in 2015. RESULTS: In 2015,
      36.2%, 17.9%, and 13.7% of adults with arthritis met aerobic, muscle
      strengthening, and both guidelines, respectively; age-standardized prevalence of
      meeting each guideline was significantly lower among those with arthritis versus
      those without (e.g., 41.9% [95% CI=39.5%, 44.3%] and 52.2% [95% CI=51.2%, 53.2%]
      met the aerobic guideline, respectively; p<0.001). From 2008 to 2015, meeting
      aerobic guideline rose modestly (3 percentage points) among those with arthritis
      compared with larger gains (7 percentage points) among those without arthritis;
      the percentage of adults with arthritis meeting muscle strengthening and both
      guidelines remained the same in contrast to modest (statistically significant)
      increases among those without arthritis. Among adults with arthritis, age
      standardized percentage meeting each guideline was highest among those with at
      least a university degree. CONCLUSIONS: Percentage meeting each guideline was
      persistently low among adults with arthritis. The lower prevalence among adults
      with arthritis versus those without suggests that adults with arthritis need
      additional strategies to address potential barriers (e.g., pain, psychological
      distress, inadequate medical support) to physical activity.

PMID- 28601406
TI  - Kidney Function, Proteinuria, and Cancer Incidence: The Korean Heart Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reported associations of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
      with cancer risk are inconsistent, and data for the proteinuria-cancer
      relationship are sparse. We sought to quantify the associations of cancer
      incidence with eGFR and with proteinuria in a large population-based cohort.
      STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 242,583 adults
      (30-74 years old) without a diagnosis of cancer at baseline in the Korean Heart
      Study, based on health checkups in 1996 to 2004 with follow-up until 2012.
      PREDICTORS: Creatinine-based eGFR (>=90, 60-89, 45-59, and <45mL/min/1.73m2) and
      dipstick proteinuria (undetectable/trace, 1+, 2+, and >=3+). OUTCOMES: Overall
      and site-specific cancer incidence based on ICD-10 codes. RESULTS: 15,165 cases
      of cancer were detected. The relationship between eGFR and incidence of any
      cancer was J shaped, with the lowest risk at 45 to 59mL/min/1.73m2. There was 44%
      higher risk for any cancer among those with eGFRs<45mL/min/1.73m2 compared with
      those with eGFRs>=90mL/min/1.73m2 (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.11-1.87). High proteinuria
      was also associated with cancer risk, showing a dose-response relationship (HRs
      of 1.24 [95% CI, 1.13-1.35], 1.38 [95% CI, 1.17-1.63], and 1.66 [95% CI, 1.30
      2.12] for 1+, 2+, and >=3+ vs undetectable/trace). Examining site-specific
      cancer, eGFR<45 (vs >=45) mL/min/1.73m2 was significantly associated with kidney
      and ureteral cancer, multiple myeloma, and leukemia, whereas proteinuria >= 1+
      (vs undetectable/trace) was related to a broader set of cancers (ie, stomach,
      rectal, liver, lung, ovarian, kidney, bladder, and multiple myeloma). After
      excluding study participants with follow-up less than 3 years, the associations
      remained consistent for kidney cancer and myeloma with eGFR and for rectal,
      liver, lung, and ovarian cancer with proteinuria. LIMITATIONS: Relatively small
      number of participants with severely reduced eGFR or 70 years or older.
      CONCLUSIONS: Kidney measures, particularly proteinuria, were associated with
      increased incidence of cancer. Future studies are needed to better understand the
      pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying these associations.

PMID- 28601407
TI  - Relationships between long-term observations of motor milestones and genotype
      analysis results in childhood-onset Japanese spinal muscular atrophy patients.
AB  - AIM: To clarify the long-term natural history of SMA in Japanese patients by
      investigating the peak motor milestones of cases 7months through 57years of age,
      in efforts to contribute to evaluating outcomes of new therapeutic interventions.
      METHODS: We sub-classified 112 SMA type I-III cases into type Ia, type Ib, type
      IIa, type IIb, type IIIa and type IIIb, according to peak motor milestone
      achieved, and analyzed the SMN1, SMN2 and NAIP genes in relation to clinical
      subtypes. RESULTS: In type I cases, there was a significant difference
      (p<0.0001), depending on whether or not head control was obtained, in the time of
      ventilation support being required. In type II cases as well, the time at which
      the ability to maintain the sitting position independently was lost also differed
      significantly (p<0.01) between those acquiring the ability to sit unaided within
      eight months after birth and those acquiring this ability after eight months of
      age. In type III cases, being able versus unable to climb stairs was associated
      with a significant difference (p=0.02) in the median time until loss of walking
      independently. Positive correlations were also seen between copy numbers and the
      clinical severity of SMA. CONCLUSION: Our long-term results show peak motor
      milestone evaluations distinguishing between subtypes to be useful not only as
      outcome measures for assessing treatment efficacy in clinical trials but also for
      predicting the clinical courses of Japanese SMA patients.

PMID- 28601408
TI  - Expression of ciliated bronchial epithelium 1 during human spermatogenesis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To define the precise cellular localization of ciliated bronchial
      epithelium 1 (CBE1) in the human testis and test its relationship to impaired
      spermatogenesis. DESIGN: Gene expression analysis, and histologic and
      immunohistochemical evaluation. SETTING: University research laboratories and
      andrologic outpatient clinic. PATIENT(S): Forty-three human testicular biopsies:
      12 biopsies showing normal spermatogenesis (NSP), 8 with maturation arrest at
      level of spermatocytes (STA), 8 with maturation arrest at level of spermatids
      (SDA), 4 with scattered elongating spermatids, and 12 with Sertoli cell-only
      syndrome, with an additional 5 semen samples from healthy donors.
      INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Evaluation of CBE1 expression in
      normal as well as impaired spermatogenesis on mRNA (quantitative reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization) and protein
      level (immunohistochemistry, Western blot analysis). RESULT(S): In normal
      spermatogenesis, CBE1 mRNA was expressed in late pachytene spermatocytes, and the
      protein was localized within the flagellum of elongating spermatids from stage V
      up to the spermiation in stage II. Immunoelectron microscopy showed CBE1 clearly
      associated with microtubules at the manchette, the head-tail coupling apparatus,
      and the flagellum, but the protein was absent in spermatozoa. Compared with
      normal spermatogenesis, CBE1 mRNA was statistically significantly reduced in
      samples with a maturation arrest at the level of round spermatids and primary
      spermatocytes, and was absent in samples showing Sertoli cell-only syndrome. CBE1
      protein was completely missing in SDA samples showing few elongating spermatids.
      CONCLUSION(S): Our data strongly suggest an influence of CBE1 in ciliogenesis in
      spermatids due to the localization at the microtubules of the elongating
      spermatids, indicating a role in the intramanchette and/or intraflagellar
      transport mechanism. The absence of CBE1 in spermatozoa suggests that CBE1 is
      important for the spermatid development but not for the maintenance of mature
      spermatozoa as a component of the flagellum.

PMID- 28601409
TI  - Introduction: Endometrial function: facts, urban legends, and an eye to the
      future.
AB  - The embryo alone, though very important, is not sufficient to explain successful
      or failed implantation. Human embryonic implantation is less efficient than in
      nonmenstruating species. The main difference lies in the decidual control of
      early implantation events and the subsequent course of pregnancy versus embryo
      control in nonmenstruating species. In this article, we introduce the facts
      behind the low efficiency of this crucial process, address urban legends
      routinely considered without high clinical quality evidence, and provide a vision
      of how the endometrial field will develop in the near future.

PMID- 28601411
TI  - Miniaccess Heart Surgery. A Spanish Multicenter Registry.

PMID- 28601410
TI  - Total number of oocytes and zygotes are predictive of live birth pregnancy in
      fresh donor oocyte in vitro fertilization cycles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of oocyte donor-recipient characteristics,
      oocyte donor response, and live birth pregnancy rate following fresh donor oocyte
      IVF-ET. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Academic reproductive
      medicine practice. PATIENT(S): Two hundred thirty-seven consecutive fresh donor
      oocyte IVF-ET cycles from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2013 at the
      Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Live birth rate per cycle initiated. RESULT(S): The mean (+/
      SD) age of oocyte donors and recipients was 27.0 +/- 3.7 and 41.4 +/- 4.6 years,
      respectively. Oocyte donor demographic/reproductive characteristics, ovarian
      reserve testing, and peak serum E2 during ovarian stimulation were similar among
      cycles which did and did not result in live birth, respectively. Overall
      implantation, clinical pregnancy, and live birth pregnancy rates per cycle
      initiated were 40.5%, 60.8%, and 54.9%, respectively. The greatest probability of
      live birth was observed in cycles with >10 oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes,
      oocytes with normal fertilization (zygote-two pronuclear stage), and cleaved
      embryos. CONCLUSION(S): The number of oocytes (total and mature), zygotes, and
      cleaved embryos are associated with live birth following donor oocyte IVF cycles.
      These findings suggest that specific peri-fertilization factors may be predictive
      of pregnancy outcomes following donor oocyte IVF cycles.

PMID- 28601412
TI  - Cardiac Manifestations of Neuromuscular Disease.

PMID- 28601413
TI  - Causes and Predictors of Death in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Initiating
      Treatment With Direct Oral Anticoagulants.

PMID- 28601414
TI  - Computed Tomography Diagnosis of Terson Syndrome.

PMID- 28601415
TI  - Brain Autoimmunity and Intestinal Microbiota: 100 Trillion Game Changers.
AB  - T cells play a critical role in autoimmune diseases in the brain, particularly in
      multiple sclerosis (MS). Since T cells are normally prevented from crossing the
      blood-brain barrier (BBB), autoimmunity requires prior activation of naturally
      occurring autoreactive T cells in peripheral tissue. Recently, a critical role
      for the microbiota in this activation process has emerged. Here, we review the
      role of gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT) as a major site for the phenotypic
      changes that allow the migration of autoreactive T cells to the brain.
      Additionally, we examine the involvement of the microbiota in clinical MS as well
      as other brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), stroke, and
      psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 28601416
TI  - Statistics of soft-tissue sarcoma in Japan: Report from the Bone and Soft Tissue
      Tumor Registry in Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No previous reports to date have characterized the national profiles
      of soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs). In the present study, we reviewed current
      practice for STSs in Japan using data from a nationwide organ-specific cancer
      registry for bone and soft-tissue tumors in Japan, the Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor
      (BSTT) Registry. METHODS: In the registry, we identified 8228 patients with STSs
      during the period 2006-2012, and extracted data on patient demographics,
      treatment, and outcome at the last follow-up for each patient. Disease-specific
      survival was analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: STSs
      showed a slight male predilection. The age distribution had a single peak in the
      seventh decade, the proportion of elderly patients aged >60 years being
      approximately 53%. For most of the histologic subtypes, the most frequent tumor
      location was the lower extremity, whereas it was the trunk in patients with
      malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, dedifferentiated liposarcoma, and
      primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Based on data for 2432 patients with STSs, we
      found significant associations between disease-specific survival and age, sex,
      histologic subtype, tumor size, tumor depth, tumor location, additional surgery,
      limb salvage status, and surgical margin; elderly patients showed the poorest
      disease-specific survival. CONCLUSIONS: Using the BSTT Registry, this study has
      clarified the epidemiology, treatment, and prognosis of patients with STSs in
      Japan. Our experiences with the BSTT Registry will be of help to other countries
      where aging of the population is occurring. Continuous accumulation of clinical
      data in the BSTT Registry should provide more informative data on STSs, thus
      improving both the level of medical care offered by clinicians and the outcomes
      for patients through sharing of such data and promotion of clinical research.

PMID- 28601417
TI  - BMI May Be the Risk Factor for Arytenoid Dislocation Caused by Endotracheal
      Intubation: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for postoperative
      arytenoid dislocation caused by endotracheal intubation. METHODS: From September
      2014 to September 2016, the records of 28 patients with a history of
      postoperative arytenoid dislocation were reviewed. Patients matched in type of
      anesthesia and surgery were chosen as the control (n = 56). Recorded data for all
      patients were demographics, smoking status, alcoholic status, operation time, and
      anesthesia procedures. For arytenoid dislocation cases, we further analyzed the
      incidences of the left and right arytenoid dislocations. Categorical variables
      were presented as frequencies and percentages, and were compared using the chi
      square test. Continuous variables were expressed as means +/- standard deviation
      and compared using the Student unpaired t test. To determine the predictors of
      arytenoid dislocation, a logistic regression model was used for multivariate
      analysis. Statistical significance was indicated by P < 0.05. RESULTS: Twenty
      eight patients demonstrating postoperative arytenoid dislocation (10 women and 18
      men) were included, with a mean age of 55 +/- 12 years. Sixteen patients (57.14%)
      had left arytenoid dislocation and 12 (42.86%) had right arytenoid dislocation.
      Univariate analysis indicated that body mass index (BMI) was associated with
      arytenoid dislocation (P < 0.01), and logistic regression analysis showed that
      BMI (P = 0.025) was an independent risk factor for postoperative arytenoid
      dislocation. CONCLUSIONS: BMI might be the independent risk factor for
      postoperative arytenoid dislocation.

PMID- 28601418
TI  - PSENEN Mutation Carriers with Co-manifestation of Acne Inversa (AI) and Dowling
      Degos Disease (DDD): Is AI or DDD the Subphenotype?

PMID- 28601419
TI  - How Plant Root Exudates Shape the Nitrogen Cycle.
AB  - Although the global nitrogen (N) cycle is largely driven by soil microbes, plant
      root exudates can profoundly modify soil microbial communities and influence
      their N transformations. A detailed understanding is now beginning to emerge
      regarding the control that root exudates exert over two major soil N processes -
      nitrification and N2 fixation. We discuss recent breakthroughs in this area,
      including the identification of root exudates as nitrification inhibitors and as
      signaling compounds facilitating N-acquisition symbioses. We indicate gaps in
      current knowledge, including questions of how root exudates affect newly
      discovered microbial players and N-cycle components. A better understanding of
      these processes is urgent given the widespread inefficiencies in agricultural N
      use and their links to N pollution and climate change.

PMID- 28601420
TI  - Filling evidence gaps on the impact of pneumococcal vaccines.

PMID- 28601422
TI  - Exposure to Surgery and Anesthesia After Concussion Due to Mild Traumatic Brain
      Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of surgical and anesthetic procedures in
      patients recently diagnosed as having a concussion due to mild traumatic brain
      injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Study patients presented to a tertiary care center
      after a concussion due to mild traumatic brain injury from July 1, 2005, through
      June 30, 2015, and underwent a surgical procedure and anesthesia support under
      the direct or indirect care of a physician anesthesiologist. RESULTS: During the
      study period, 1038 patients met all the study inclusion criteria and subsequently
      received 1820 anesthetics. In this population of anesthetized patients, rates of
      diagnosed concussions due to sports injuries, falls, and assaults, but not motor
      vehicle accidents, increased during 2010-2011. Concussions were diagnosed in 965
      patients (93%) within 1 week after injury. In the 552 patients who had surgery
      within 1 week after concussive injury, 29 (5%) had anesthesia and surgical
      procedures unrelated to their concussion-producing traumatic injury. The highest
      use of surgery occurred early after injury and most frequently required general
      anesthesia. Orthopedic and general surgical procedures accounted for 57% of
      procedures. Nine patients received 29 anesthetics before a concussion diagnosis,
      and all of these patients had been involved in motor vehicle accidents and
      received at least 1 anesthetic within 1 week of injury. CONCLUSION: Surgical and
      anesthesia use are common in patients after concussion. Clinicians should have
      increased awareness for concussion in patients who sustain a trauma and may need
      to take measures to avoid potentially injury-augmenting cerebral physiology in
      these patients.

PMID- 28601423
TI  - Crohn Disease: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management.
AB  - Crohn disease is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease condition
      characterized by skip lesions and transmural inflammation that can affect the
      entire gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus. For this review
      article, we performed a review of articles in PubMed through February 1, 2017, by
      using the following Medical Subject Heading terms: crohns disease, crohn's
      disease, crohn disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and inflammatory bowel
      diseases. Presenting symptoms are often variable and may include diarrhea,
      abdominal pain, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, and in certain cases fevers or
      chills. There are 3 main disease phenotypes: inflammatory, structuring, and
      penetrating. In addition to the underlying disease phenotype, up to a third of
      patients will develop perianal involvement of their disease. In addition, in some
      cases, extraintestinal manifestations may develop. The diagnosis is typically
      made with endoscopic and/or radiologic findings. Disease management is usually
      with pharmacologic therapy, which is determined on the basis of disease severity
      and underlying disease phenotype. Although the goal of management is to control
      the inflammation and induce a clinical remission with pharmacologic therapy, most
      patients will eventually require surgery for their disease. Unfortunately,
      surgery is not curative and patients still require ongoing therapy even after
      surgery for disease recurrence. Importantly, given the risks of complications
      from both Crohn disease and the medications used to treat the disease process,
      primary care physicians play an important role in optimizing the preventative
      care management to reduce the risk of complications.

PMID- 28601421
TI  - Impact of the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination on pneumonia in
      The Gambia: population-based surveillance and case-control studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are used in many low-income
      countries but their impact on the incidence of pneumonia is unclear. The Gambia
      introduced PCV7 in August, 2009, and PCV13 in May, 2011. We aimed to measure the
      impact of the introduction of these vaccines on pneumonia incidence. METHODS: We
      did population-based surveillance and case-control studies. The primary endpoint
      was WHO-defined radiological pneumonia with pulmonary consolidation. Population
      based surveillance was for suspected pneumonia in children aged 2-59 months
      (minimum age 3 months in the case-control study) between May 12, 2008, and Dec
      31, 2015. Surveillance for the impact study was limited to the Basse Health and
      Demographic Surveillance System (BHDSS), whereas surveillance for the case
      control study included both the BHDSS and Fuladu West Health and Demographic
      Surveillance System. Nurses screened all outpatients and inpatients at all health
      facilities in the surveillance area using standardised criteria for referral to
      clinicians in Basse and Bansang. These clinicians recorded clinical findings and
      applied standardised criteria to identify patients with suspected pneumonia. We
      compared the incidence of pneumonia during the baseline period (May 12, 2008, to
      May 11, 2010) and the PCV13 period (Jan 1, 2014, to Dec 31, 2015). We also
      investigated the effectiveness of PCV13 using case-control methods between Sept
      12, 2011, and Sept 31, 2014. Controls were aged 90 days or older, and were
      eligible to have received at least one dose of PCV13; cases had the same
      eligibility criteria with the addition of having WHO-defined radiological
      pneumonia. FINDINGS: We investigated 18 833 children with clinical pneumonia and
      identified 2156 cases of radiological pneumonia. Among children aged 2-11 months,
      the incidence of radiological pneumonia fell from 21.0 cases per 1000 person
      years in the baseline period to 16.2 cases per 1000 person-years (23% decline,
      95% CI 7-36) in 2014-15. In the 12-23 month age group, radiological pneumonia
      decreased from 15.3 to 10.9 cases per 1000 person-years (29% decline, 12-42). In
      children aged 2-4 years, incidence fell from 5.2 to 4.1 cases per 1000 person
      years (22% decline, 1-39). Incidence of all clinical pneumonia increased by 4% (
      1 to 8), but hospitalised cases declined by 8% (3-13). Pneumococcal pneumonia
      declined from 2.9 to 1.2 cases per 1000 person-years (58% decline, 22-77) in
      children aged 2-11 months and from 2.6 to 0.7 cases per 1000 person-years (75%
      decline, 47-88) in children aged 12-23 months. Hypoxic pneumonia fell from 13.1
      to 5.7 cases per 1000 person-years (57% decline, 42-67) in children aged 2-11
      months and from 6.8 to 1.9 cases per 1000 person-years (72% decline, 58-82) in
      children aged 12-23 months. In the case-control study, the best estimate of the
      effectiveness of three doses of PCV13 against radiological pneumonia was an
      adjusted odds ratio of 0.57 (0.30-1.08) in children aged 3-11 months and vaccine
      effectiveness increased with greater numbers of doses (p=0.026). The analysis in
      children aged 12 months and older was underpowered because there were few
      unvaccinated cases and controls. INTERPRETATION: The introduction of PCV in The
      Gambia was associated with a moderate impact on the incidence of radiological
      pneumonia, a small reduction in cases of hospitalised pneumonia, and substantial
      reductions of pneumococcal and hypoxic pneumonia in young children. Low-income
      countries that introduce PCV13 with reasonable coverage can expect modest
      reductions in hospitalised cases of pneumonia and a marked impact on the
      incidence of severe childhood pneumonia. FUNDING: GAVI's Pneumococcal vaccines
      Accelerated Development and Introduction Plan, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
      and UK Medical Research Council.

PMID- 28601425
TI  - The changing face of nutrition in cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 28601424
TI  - A Diagnostic Approach to Recurrent Orofacial Swelling: A Retrospective Study of
      104 Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify patients evaluated in an outpatient setting at our
      institution with a presentation of recurrent orofacial swelling and to review the
      spectrum of causes to outline a diagnostic approach. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective study of 104 patients with more than 1 episode of orofacial
      swelling lasting for more than 5 days identified through a keyword search of the
      electronic health record from January 2, 2000, through July 5, 2011. RESULTS:
      Patients were categorized according to final cause of orofacial swelling:
      idiopathic orofacial granulomatosis, solid facial edema due to rosacea and acne
      vulgaris, Crohn disease, contact dermatitis, sarcoidosis, exfoliative cheilitis,
      lichen planus, actinic cheilitis, cheilitis glandularis, lymphedema,
      miscellaneous, and multifactorial. Granulomatous inflammation was noted on biopsy
      in 40 of 85 patients (47%). Oral involvement was associated with Crohn disease
      (P<.001), and facial and periorbital swelling was associated with solid facial
      edema in the setting of rosacea and acne vulgaris (P<.001). CONCLUSION: The broad
      range of diagnoses responsible for recurrent orofacial swelling underscores the
      diagnostic challenge and importance of a thorough multidisciplinary evaluation to
      identify underlying causes.

PMID- 28601426
TI  - Corrigendum to "Risk stratification and pattern of cardiotoxicity in pediatric
      Ewing sarcoma" [J. Egypt Natl. Cancer Instit. 29 (2017) 53-56].

PMID- 28601427
TI  - Games of corruption in preventing the overuse of common-pool resources.
AB  - Maintaining human cooperation in the context of common-pool resource management
      is extremely important because otherwise we risk overuse and corruption. To
      analyse the interplay between economic and ecological factors leading to
      corruption, we couple the resource dynamics and the evolutionary dynamics of
      strategic decision making into a powerful analytical framework. The traits of
      this framework are: (i) an arbitrary number of harvesters share the
      responsibility to sustainably exploit a specific part of an ecosystem, (ii)
      harvesters face three strategic choices for exploiting the resource, (iii) a
      delegated enforcement system is available if called upon, (iv) enforcers are
      either honest or corrupt, and (v) the resource abundance reflects the choice of
      harvesting strategies. The resulting dynamical system is bistable; depending on
      the initial conditions, it evolves either to cooperative (sustainable
      exploitation) or defecting (overexploitation) equilibria. Using the domain of
      attraction to cooperative equilibria as an indicator of successful management, we
      find that the more resilient the resource (as implied by a high growth rate), the
      more likely the dominance of corruption which, in turn, suppresses the
      cooperative outcome. A qualitatively similar result arises when slow resource
      dynamics relative to the dynamics of decision making mask the benefit of
      cooperation. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of
      managing common-pool resources.

PMID- 28601428
TI  - VEGF production and signaling in Muller glia are critical to modulating vascular
      function and neuronal integrity in diabetic retinopathy and hypoxic retinal
      vascular diseases.
AB  - Muller glia (MG) are major retinal supporting cells that participate in retinal
      metabolism, function, maintenance, and protection. During the pathogenesis of
      diabetic retinopathy (DR), a neurovascular disease and a leading cause of
      blindness, MG modulate vascular function and neuronal integrity by regulating the
      production of angiogenic and trophic factors. In this article, I will (1) briefly
      summarize our work on delineating the role and mechanism of MG-modulated vascular
      function through the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and
      on investigating VEGF signaling-mediated MG viability and neural protection in
      diabetic animal models, (2) explore the relationship among VEGF and neurotrophins
      in protecting Muller cells in in vitro models of diabetes and hypoxia and its
      potential implication to neuroprotection in DR and hypoxic retinal diseases, and
      (3) discuss the relevance of our work to the effectiveness and safety of long
      term anti-VEGF therapies, a widely used strategy to combat DR, diabetic macular
      edema, neovascular age-related macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity,
      and other hypoxic retinal vascular disorders.

PMID- 28601429
TI  - OCT angiography and visible-light OCT in diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - In recent years, advances in optical coherence tomography (OCT) techniques have
      increased our understanding of diabetic retinopathy, an important microvascular
      complication of diabetes. OCT angiography is a non-invasive method that
      visualizes the retinal vasculature by detecting motion contrast from flowing
      blood. Visible-light OCT shows promise as a novel technique for quantifying
      retinal hypoxia by measuring the retinal oxygen delivery and metabolic rates. In
      this article, we discuss recent insights provided by these techniques into the
      vascular pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy. The next milestones for these
      modalities are large multicenter studies to establish consensus on the most
      reliable and consistent outcome parameters to study diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 28601430
TI  - Imiquimod-induced autophagy is regulated by ER stress-mediated PKR activation in
      cancer cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular catabolic pathway for
      degradation and recycling of intracellular components in response to nutrient
      starvation or environmental stress. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis can be
      disturbed by physiological and pathological influences, resulting in accumulation
      of misfolded and unfolded proteins in the ER lumen, a condition referred to as ER
      stress. Imiquimod (IMQ), a Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 ligand, possesses anti
      tumor and anti-viral activities in vitro and in vivo. OBJECTIVE: IMQ has been
      reported to promote the apoptosis of THP-1-derived macrophages through an ER
      stress-dependent pathway. However, the role of ER stress in IMQ-induced autophagy
      is unknown. In this study, we investigated the relationship between ER stress and
      IMQ-induced autophagy. METHODS: The expression of LC3, P62, p-PERK, Grp78, p
      elF2alpha and IRE1alpha proteins were determined by immunoblotting. The
      relationship between ER stress and IMQ-induced autophagy were analyzed by ER
      stress inhibitors, a PERK inhibitor and the genetic silencing of PERK. The role
      of double-strand RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) activation in IMQ-induced
      autophagy was assessed by inhibiting PKR and genetically silencing PKR. The IMQ
      induced autophagy was evaluated by immunoblotting and EGFP-LC3 puncta formation.
      RESULTS: IMQ induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in cancer cells.
      Additionally, IMQ markedly induced ER stress via ROS production and increased
      autophagosome formation in a dose- and time-dependent manner in both TLR7/8
      expressing and TLR7/8-deficient cancer cells. Pharmacological or genetic
      inhibition of ER stress dramatically reduced LC3-II expression and EGFP-LC3
      puncta formation in IMQ-treated cancer cells. IMQ-induced autophagy was markedly
      reduced by depletion and/or inhibition of PKR, a downstream effector of ER
      stress. CONCLUSION: IMQ-induced autophagy is dependent on PKR activation, which
      is mediated by ROS-triggered ER stress. These findings might provide useful
      information for basic research and for the clinical application of IMQ.

PMID- 28601431
TI  - Serine and Functional Metabolites in Cancer.
AB  - Folate metabolism functions to supply one-carbon units that are vital for a range
      of biochemical reactions. Cancer cells can utilise serine as a major source of
      one-carbon units, rendering them dependent upon extracellular serine uptake or de
      novo serine synthesis for maximal growth and proliferation. One-carbon units are
      required for the production of critical cellular components, such as nucleotides,
      which enable cancer cells to maintain high proliferate rates. Of recent interest,
      one-carbon metabolism contributes to the biosynthesis and recycling of functional
      metabolites, such as ATP, S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM), and NAD(P)H, with
      important downstream consequences for cancer cell survival. In this review, we
      describe recent advances in our understanding of the importance of one-carbon
      metabolism in cancer, focussing upon the routes through which cancer cells obtain
      and use one-carbon units.

PMID- 28601432
TI  - Stability and surgical complications in segmental Le Fort I osteotomy: a
      systematic review.
AB  - This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the stability and surgical
      complications of segmental Le Fort I osteotomy. The search was divided into a
      main search (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library), grey literature search
      (Google Scholar), and manual search. Twenty-three studies were included: 14
      evaluating stability as the outcome and nine evaluating surgical complications.
      The level of agreement between the authors was considered excellent (kappa=0.893
      for study selection and kappa=0.853 for study eligibility). The segmental Le Fort
      I osteotomy provides stable outcomes in the sagittal plane, is less stable
      dentally than skeletally in the transverse plane, and provides little stability
      in the posterior segment after downward movement. The most frequent complications
      are oral fistula (six studies) and damage to the adjacent teeth (five studies),
      but the most prevalent complication is postoperative infection (32.62%). Four
      studies evaluating stability as the outcome showed a medium potential risk of
      bias, whereas all studies addressing surgical complications showed a high
      potential risk of bias. The segmental Le Fort I osteotomy should not be excluded
      from the technical armamentarium in orthognathic surgery. On the contrary, the
      literature consulted suggests it to be a useful tool for the three-dimensional
      surgical correction of maxillary malposition.

PMID- 28601433
TI  - Characterization of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes of a reconstructed human
      epidermal model from adult hair follicles.
AB  - In this study, a comprehensive characterization of xenobiotic metabolizing
      enzymes (XMEs) based on gene expression and enzyme functionality was made in a
      reconstructed skin epidermal model derived from the outer root sheath (ORS) of
      hair follicles (ORS-RHE). The ORS-RHE model XME gene profile was consistent with
      native human skin. Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) consistently reported to be detected
      in native human skin were also present at the gene level in the ORS-RHE model.
      The highest Phase I XME gene expression levels were observed for alcohol/aldehyde
      dehydrogenases and (carboxyl) esterases. The model was responsive to the CYP
      inducers, 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) and beta-naphthoflavone (betaNF) after
      topical and systemic applications, evident at the gene and enzyme activity level.
      Phase II XME levels were generally higher than those of Phase I XMEs, the highest
      levels were GSTs and transferases, including NAT1. The presence of functional
      CYPs, UGTs and SULTs was confirmed by incubating the models with 7
      ethoxycoumarin, testosterone, benzo(a)pyrene and 3-MC, all of which were rapidly
      metabolized within 24h after topical application. The extent of metabolism was
      dependent on saturable and non-saturable metabolism by the XMEs and on the
      residence time within the model. In conclusion, the ORS-RHE model expresses a
      number of Phase I and II XMEs, some of which may be induced by AhR ligands.
      Functional XME activities were also demonstrated using systemic or topical
      application routes, supporting their use in cutaneous metabolism studies. Such a
      reproducible model will be of interest when evaluating the cutaneous metabolism
      and potential toxicity of innovative dermo-cosmetic ingredients.

PMID- 28601434
TI  - An Open-label, Single-dose, Pharmacokinetic Study of Factor VIII Activity After
      Administration of Moroctocog Alfa (AF-CC) in Male Chinese Patients With
      Hemophilia A.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hemophilia A represents up to 80% of all hemophilia cases in China. In
      patients with this condition, bleeding can be prevented and controlled by
      administering clotting factor VIII (FVIII). Since their initial availability,
      recombinant FVIII products have undergone several iterations to enhance their
      safety. Moroctocog alfa albumin-free cell culture (AF-CC) is among the third
      generation of recombinant FVIII products and received regulatory approval in
      China in August 2012. The present study characterizes the single-dose
      pharmacokinetic parameters of FVIII activity (FVIII:C) after administration of
      moroctocog alfa (AF-CC) in male Chinese patients with hemophilia A. METHODS: This
      multicenter, open-label, single-dose study enrolled 13 male Chinese patients
      diagnosed with severe hemophilia A (FVIII:C <1%) and a history of at least 150
      exposure-days to any FVIII-containing product. Eligible patients received a
      single dose of moroctocog alfa (AF-CC) 50 IU/kg IV within 10 minutes. Blood
      samples were collected within 2 hours before administration and through 72 hours
      after dosing. FINDINGS: Pharmacokinetic parameters were assessed based on FVIII:C
      and were analyzed by age groups: ages 6 to <12 years (n = 3) and >=12 years (n =
      10). The mean plasma concentration-time profile for FVIII:C activity was
      consistently lower in patients aged 6 to <12 years compared with those aged >=12
      years. Geometric AUC0-infinity and Cmax were approximately 57% and 28% lower in
      the younger patients relative to the older patients, respectively. A total of 4
      adverse events occurred in 4 patients. Low-titer, transient FVIII inhibitors were
      observed in 2 patients and were considered serious adverse events. Neither case
      resulted in clinical manifestations nor required treatment. IMPLICATIONS: This is
      the first report of the pharmacokinetic parameters of FVIII:C after moroctocog
      alfa (AF-CC) in an all-Chinese population of males with hemophilia A. The
      pharmacokinetic profile in older patients was similar to that previously reported
      with recombinant FVIII products in studies with a predominantly white population;
      younger patients had reduced exposure to FVIII:C. The single doses of moroctocog
      alfa (AF-CC) were well tolerated; 2 cases of transient, low-titer FVIII inhibitor
      development were observed. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02461992.

PMID- 28601435
TI  - Contrasting approaches to primary care performance governance in Denmark and New
      Zealand.
AB  - In high-income countries, the arena of primary health care is becoming
      increasingly subject to 'performance governance' - the harnessing of performance
      information to the broader task of governance. Primary care presents many
      governance challenges because it is predominantly provided by sole practitioners
      or small organisations. In this article we compare Denmark and New Zealand, two
      small countries with tax-funded health systems which have adopted quite different
      instruments for performance governance in primary care. Denmark has adopted a
      'soft hierarchy' approach to primary care performance based on accreditation
      processes but few strong sanctions, whilst New Zealand has relied on a
      combination of explicit hierarchical targets and financial incentives. These
      differences are attributable to: primary care institutional arrangements, -
      specifically, the presence or absence of 'intermediate organisations'- ; the
      degree to which policy processes are corporatist or pluralist; and the mix of
      objectives of primary care policies. We conclude that New Zealand's approach has
      relied heavily on 'extrinsic' incentives, whereas Denmark exhibits the opposite
      problem of overreliance on intrinsic motivation to improve quality, without
      'extrinsic' instruments to address other important goals such as population
      health and equity. Our comparative framework has the potential to be applied
      across a wider range of countries.

PMID- 28601436
TI  - Evaluating trace element bioavailability and potential transfer into marine food
      chains using immobilised diatom model species Phaeodactylum tricornutum, on King
      George Island, Antarctica.
AB  - In order to evaluate trace element bioavailability and potential transfer into
      marine food chains in human impacted areas of the Fildes Peninsula (King George
      Island, South Shetland Islands Archipelago), element levels (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd,
      and Pb) were determined in water, sediments, phytoplankton, and in diatom
      Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin (Bacillariophyceae) cells immobilised in
      alginate and exposed to water and sediments, from the Bellingshausen Dome
      (reference site) and Ardley Cove (human impacted area), during January 2014. High
      element concentrations in exposed P. tricornutum indicated element mobilisation
      from sediments into the water. Levels in exposed cells reflected the sediment
      element content pattern, comparable to those found in phytoplankton, supporting
      phytoplankton as an important path of trace element entry into marine food
      chains. This study clearly shows immobilised P. tricornutum as good proxy of
      phytoplankton concerning element accumulation efficiency, and an effective tool
      to monitor trace element contamination in polar coastal ecosystems.

PMID- 28601437
TI  - Natural resource damage assessment for the Hebei Spirit oil spill: An application
      of Habitat Equivalency Analysis.
AB  - Sixteen oil spills occurred in Korea between 1995 and 2010, including the Hebei
      Spirit oil spill (HSOS) in 2007, the largest (77,857 barrels) in Korean history.
      Yet compensation for environmental damages has never been claimed under the
      International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund for any of these accidents, because
      there is no adequate natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) procedure and
      there are no internationally-admissible economic quantification methods
      established in Korea. The objective of this study is to propose a methodology to
      overcome these shortcomings. We propose the use of Habitat Equivalency Analysis,
      which has dominated the US NRDA process for oil spills, and apply it to the HSOS
      as a case study. A Base Case analysis estimates the compensatory costs of fishery
      habitat damages (34,703.5ha) with a 10-year recovery rate at $119.4 million. We
      also conduct sensitivity analyses under several alternative assumptions.

PMID- 28601438
TI  - The impact of increased oxygen conditions on heavy metal flocculation in the
      Sefidrud estuary.
AB  - Similar to natural filters, estuaries are capable of removing considerable
      amounts of heavy metal from rivers that flow into saline water environments by
      turning the metal into flocs. The research objective was to investigate the self
      purification potential of estuaries in removal of metal by flocculation
      processes. Hence, flocculation of metal was studied experimentally in 5 aquaria
      with varying salinity levels. Subsequently, experiment was repeated while
      dissolved oxygen increased. Results indicated that at higher dissolved oxygen,
      the flocculation rates of Mn, Ni, and Pb increased by 9%, 20%, and 26%,
      respectively. However, Zn and Cu showed 23% and 26% of decrease in flocculation
      rate, respectively. In the analysis of the relationship between oxidation
      reduction potential and estuarine water quality it was found that ORP escalated
      with an increase in the dissolved oxygen. This finding suggests that ORP can be
      used to govern the potential of flocculation processes at estuarine zone.

PMID- 28601439
TI  - Bioaccumulation of sulfadiazine and subsequent enzymatic activities in Chinese
      mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis).
AB  - The bioaccumulation of sulfadiazine and subsequent enzymatic activities in
      Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) were studied in microcosms, by exposing
      to 50, 100, 500 and 1000ng/L of sulfadiazine for 44days. An effective method for
      extracting sulfadiazine in crab tissues was established by modifying the cleanup
      method after ultrasound extraction, with improved recoveries of 61.8%, 93.7% and
      100.5% in gill, muscle and liver samples. The results showed that sulfadiazine
      residues were all <3ng/g dry weight in different tissues, and that sulfadiazine
      bioaccumulation in crab was not dose-dependent. A significantly negative
      correlation was observed between acetylcholinesterase activity and the residue
      concentration of sulfadiazine during exposure to 50ng/L and 1000ng/L, and between
      alkaline phosphatase and sulfadiazine residues in the 100ng/L exposure group in
      the gill, suggesting that the two enzymes played an important role in the
      metabolism of sulfadiazine in crab.

PMID- 28601440
TI  - A transcriptomic resource for the northern krill Meganyctiphanes norvegica based
      on a short-term temperature exposure experiment.
AB  - The northern krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, is an important component of the
      pelagic food web across the North Atlantic. Widespread from the Mediterranean to
      the Subarctic Atlantic, populations appear to be strongly adapted to local
      temperatures, and seem to have very little plasticity. The goal of this study was
      to create and annotate a de novo transcriptome assembly to allow for comparative
      and physiological studies and to explore the gene expression response of M.
      norvegica from the Gulf of Maine to two different temperature conditions. Our
      Trinity assembly produced 405,497 transcripts with ~16% annotation success versus
      nr with a stringent cutoff (>1e-10), and substantial cross-annotation versus
      FlyBase and other published pelagic crustacean transcriptomes. There were 122
      transcripts that were differentially expressed based on our 2-day 9 versus 12
      degrees C temperature exposure, and their annotation suggested changes in
      energetic metabolism and molting. These results generate a useful molecular
      resource for further more directed studies as well as provide initial insight
      into the physiological processes that may shape the temperature response of the
      northern krill.

PMID- 28601441
TI  - Evaluation and handling of constipation in critical patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of nursing care against constipation and
      to identify, analyze and evaluate causes and consequences. METHODOLOGY:
      Observational, descriptive and prospective study in polyvalent ICU tertiary
      hospital (2013-2015). INCLUSION CRITERIA: >18 years, stay >7 days, connected to
      respiratory support, with nasogastric tube and enteral or mixed nutrition.
      Patients with gastrointestinal pathology, encephalopathic and
      jejunostomy/ileostomy were excluded. The studied variables (age, sex, weight,
      height, pathology, medical treatment, nutrition and volume type, depositional
      characteristics, quantity and frequency, corrective measures and complications)
      were collected by ad hoc grill. It is authorized by the CEIC. RESULTS: 139
      patients with a mean age of 62 years and average stay of 11 days were analyzed;
      63% suffered from constipation. Opiates and antacid were the drugs administered
      most frequently (99%), even though patients who took muscle relaxants, iron
      supplements and/or calcium and anti-hypertensive were the ones who suffered most
      from constipation (77%; 75%; 70%) The fiber free diet was the most widely used
      (60% constipated), followed by dietary fiber (51% constipated), and the
      combination of both (85% constipated). 56% used laxatives as a corrective
      measure, Magnesium Hydroxide being the most widely used; 54% began the first day.
      Gastric retention was the most relevant complication (49%). CONCLUSION:
      Constipation is a real multifactorial problem. We recommend: * Intensified
      surveillance in patients with drugs that promote constipation. * Use high-fiber
      diets from the outset. * Apply laxatives and prokinetics early and in
      combination. We need to create a protocol for prophylaxis and management of
      constipation.

PMID- 28601442
TI  - Grazing intensity affects the environmental impact of dairy systems.
AB  - Dairy products are major components of the human diet but are also important
      contributors to global environmental impacts. This study evaluated greenhouse gas
      (GHG) emissions, net energy intensity (NEI), and land use of confined dairy
      systems with increasing levels of pasture in the diet. A Wisconsin farm was
      modeled to represent practices adopted by dairy operations in a humid continental
      climate typical in the Great Lakes region and other climates that have large
      differences in seasonal temperatures. Five grazing scenarios (all of which
      contained some portion of confinement) were modeled based on different
      concentrations of dry matter intake from pasture and feed supplementation from
      corn grain, corn silage, and soybean meal. Scenarios that incorporate grazing
      consisted of 5 mo of pasture feeding from May to September and 7 mo of confined
      feeding from October to April. Environmental impacts were compared within the 5
      scenarios that incorporate grazing and across 2 entirely confined scenarios with
      and without on-farm electricity production through anaerobic digestion (AD). To
      conduct a fair comparison, all scenarios were evaluated based on the same total
      amount of milk produced per day where resource inputs were adjusted according to
      the characteristics of each scenario. A cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment
      evaluated the environmental burdens that were partitioned by allocation between
      milk and meat and by system expansion when biogas-based electricity was produced.
      Overall, results for all scenarios were comparable. Enteric methane was the
      greatest contributor to GHG emissions, and the production of crops was the most
      energy-intense process. For the confined scenario without AD, GHG emissions were
      0.87 kg of CO2 equivalents, NEI was 1.59 MJ, and land use was 1.59 m2/kg of fat-
      and protein-corrected milk (FPCM). Anaerobic digestion significantly reduced
      emissions to 0.28 kg of CO2 equivalents/kg of FPCM and reduced NEI to -1.26 MJ/kg
      of FPCM, indicating a net energy producing system and highlighting the potential
      of AD to improve the sustainability of confined systems. For scenarios that
      combined confinement and grazing, GHG emissions ranged from 0.84 to 0.92 kg of
      CO2 equivalents, NEI ranged from 1.42 to 1.59 MJ, and land use ranged from 1.19
      to 1.26 m2/kg of FPCM. All environmental impacts were minimized in scenarios that
      supplemented enough feed to increase milk yield but maintained dry matter intake
      from pasture at a level high enough to reduce material and energy use.

PMID- 28601443
TI  - A cohort study of the effect of winter dysentery on herd-level milk production.
AB  - Winter dysentery (WD) is a contagious disease caused by bovine coronavirus. It is
      characterized by acute onset of diarrhea, fever, depression, and reduced milk
      yield in adult cattle. Although production loss is a well-known consequence of
      WD, large-scale studies estimating the effect on milk production are lacking. The
      objective of this study was to estimate the effect of farmer-reported WD on herd
      level milk production and milk composition. A cohort study was performed based on
      reports of herd outbreaks of winter dysentery during a regional epidemic in
      Norway during the winter of 2011-2012. Reports were made by farmers, and
      diagnosis was based on a herd outbreak of acute diarrhea in adults. Milk shipment
      data were retrieved from the dairy company, and information on herd size and
      milking system were retrieved from the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System. We
      compared milk production in herds with reported outbreaks of WD (n = 224) with
      all herds in the same area without a reported outbreak (n = 2,093) during the
      same period. The outcome variable in the analysis was milk volume per cow per
      day, and the main predictor was whether the herd had a reported outbreak of WD or
      not. We assessed the effect of WD on milk production by fitting a linear mixed
      model, adjusting for milk production in the herd before the outbreak. Similarly,
      we assessed the effect of WD on milk composition using linear regression,
      adjusting for the levels of milk components before the outbreak. This study
      estimated a total loss of 51 L/cow during the study period, from 7 d before to 19
      d after a reported outbreak. The lowest estimated production was 2 d after the
      outbreak was reported, when the average milk yield was 19.4 L/cow per day,
      compared with 23.0 L/cow per day 7 days before notification (i.e., a difference
      of 3.6 L/cow, or 15%). The effect gradually declined with time. The estimated
      effect on milk composition was modest, but an increase of 11% in free fatty acids
      and a small increase in fat/protein ratio indicated that WD might put cows into
      negative energy balance. Descriptive analysis indicated that herd milk yield was
      still reduced 4 mo after an outbreak. This cohort study showed that WD causes
      considerable decreases in milk production, and it alters milk composition. These
      findings highlight the important negative consequences of WD, and should motivate
      actions to prevent between-herd spread of bovine coronavirus.

PMID- 28601444
TI  - Nitrogen efficiency of eastern Canadian dairy herds: Effect on production
      performance and farm profitability.
AB  - Nitrogen efficiency (milk N/dietary N; NE) can be used as a tool for the
      nutritional, economic, and environmental management of dairy farms. The aim of
      this study was to identify the characteristics of herds with varying NE and
      assess the effect on farm profitability. One hundred dairy herds located in
      Quebec, Canada, comprising on average 42 +/- 18 cows in lactation were visited
      from October 2014 to June 2015. Feed intake was measured over 24 h. Samples of
      each feedstuff were taken and sent to a commercial laboratory for analysis of
      chemical composition. Feeding management and feed prices were recorded. Milk
      yield was recorded and milk samples were collected over 2 consecutive milkings.
      Fat, protein, and milk urea N were analyzed. Balances of metabolizable protein
      (MP; MP supply - MP requirements) and rumen degradable protein (RDP; RDP supply -
      RDP requirement) were calculated. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted
      and allowed grouping the farms by their NE. Four clusters were identified with an
      average NE of 22.1 (NE22), 26.9 (NE27), 30.0 (NE30), and 35.8% (NE36). Herds in
      clusters NE30 and NE36 were fed diets with greater concentrations of starch, net
      energy for lactation, and nonfiber carbohydrates than those in the other 2
      clusters. Moreover, the average proportion of corn silage was lower for herds in
      cluster NE22 compared with NE30 and NE36 (8.23 vs. 31.8 and 31.3% of total
      forages, respectively). In addition, crude protein of the diets declined from an
      average of 16.0 to 14.9% with increasing NE among clusters. Average dry matter
      intake declined from 26.1 to 22.5 kg/d as NE of clusters increased. Herds in
      cluster NE22 had lower yields of milk (28.7 vs. 31.8 kg/d), fat (1.15 vs. 1.29
      kg/d), and protein (0.94 vs. 1.05 kg/d) than the other clusters. Also, milk urea
      N was greater for farms in cluster NE22 (13.2 mg/dL) than for farms in the other
      clusters (11.4 mg/dL). Furthermore, MP and RDP balances decreased from 263.2 to 
      153.7 g/d and from 594.7 to 486.9 g/d, respectively, with increasing NE among
      clusters. Income over feed cost increased from $14.3 to $17.3/cow per day (Can$)
      as NE among clusters augmented. Results from this study showed that some farms
      were able to achieve high NE by using lower levels of dietary N and having cows
      with lower DMI while maintaining milk performance. These farms had a potentially
      lower environmental impact, and they were more profitable.

PMID- 28601445
TI  - Production and nitrogen utilization in lactating dairy cows fed ground field peas
      with or without ruminally protected lysine and methionine.
AB  - Previous research has shown that cows fed >=24% of the diet dry matter (DM) as
      field peas decreased milk yield as well as concentration and yield of milk
      protein, possibly due to reduced DM intake and limited supply of Lys and Met.
      Twelve multiparous and 4 primiparous lactating Holstein cows were randomly
      assigned to 1 of 4 diets in a replicated 4 * 4 Latin square design. The diets
      contained (DM basis) 34.8% corn silage, 15.2% grass-legume silage, 5.9% roasted
      soybean, 2.4% mineral-vitamin premix, 2.0% alfalfa pellets, and either (1) 36%
      ground corn, 2.4% soybean meal, and 1.3% urea (UR), (2) 29.7% ground corn, 9.8%
      soybean meal, 0.13% ruminally protected (RP) Lys, and 0.07% RP-Met (CSBAA), (3)
      25% ground field peas, 12.3% ground corn, and 2.4% soybean meal (FP), or (4) FP
      supplemented with 0.15% RP-Lys and 0.05% RP-Met (FPAA). Our objective was to test
      the effects of FP versus UR, FPAA versus CSBAA, and FPAA versus FP on milk yield
      and composition, N utilization, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation
      profile, and plasma concentration of AA. Milk yield did not differ across diets.
      Compared with cows fed UR, those fed FP had greater DM intake, concentration and
      yield of milk true protein, apparent total-tract digestibility of fiber, urinary
      excretion of purine derivatives, and concentrations of total volatile fatty acids
      in the rumen and Lys in plasma, and less milk urea N and ruminal NH3-N. The
      concentration of milk urea N, as well as the concentration and yield of milk fat
      increased in cows fed FPAA versus CSBAA. Moreover, cows fed FPAA had greater
      ruminal concentration of total volatile fatty acids, increased proportions of
      acetate and isobutyrate, and decreased proportions of propionate and valerate
      than those fed CSBAA. The plasma concentrations of His, Leu, and Phe decreased,
      whereas plasma Met increased and plasma Lys tended to increase in cows fed FPAA
      versus CSBAA. Concentration of milk true protein, but not yield, was increased in
      cows fed FPAA versus FP. However, cows fed FPAA showed decreased concentrations
      of His and Leu in plasma compared with those fed FP. Overall, compared with the
      CSBAA diet, feeding FPAA did not negatively affect milk yield and milk protein
      synthesis. Furthermore, RP-Lys and RP-Met supplementation of the FP diet did not
      improve milk yield or milk protein synthesis, but decreased urinary urea N
      excretion.

PMID- 28601446
TI  - Strategies for implementing genomic selection for feed efficiency in dairy cattle
      breeding schemes.
AB  - Alternative genomic selection and traditional BLUP breeding schemes were compared
      for the genetic improvement of feed efficiency in simulated Norwegian Red dairy
      cattle populations. The change in genetic gain over time and achievable selection
      accuracy were studied for milk yield and residual feed intake, as a measure of
      feed efficiency. When including feed efficiency in genomic BLUP schemes, it was
      possible to achieve high selection accuracies for genomic selection, and all
      genomic BLUP schemes gave better genetic gain for feed efficiency than BLUP using
      a pedigree relationship matrix. However, introducing a second trait in the
      breeding goal caused a reduction in the genetic gain for milk yield. When using
      contracted test herds with genotyped and feed efficiency recorded cows as a
      reference population, adding an additional 4,000 new heifers per year to the
      reference population gave accuracies that were comparable to a male reference
      population that used progeny testing with 250 daughters per sire. When the test
      herd consisted of 500 or 1,000 cows, lower genetic gain was found than using
      progeny test records to update the reference population. It was concluded that to
      improve difficult to record traits, the use of contracted test herds that had
      additional recording (e.g., measurements required to calculate feed efficiency)
      is a viable option, possibly through international collaborations.

PMID- 28601447
TI  - Phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Streptococcus
      spp. isolated from cases of clinical mastitis in dairy cattle in Poland.
AB  - Mastitis of dairy cattle is one of the most frequently diagnosed diseases
      worldwide. The main etiological agents of mastitis are bacteria of the genus
      Streptococcus spp., in which several antibiotic resistance mechanisms have been
      identified. However, detailed studies addressing this problem have not been
      conducted in northeastern Poland. Therefore, the aim of our study was to analyze,
      on phenotypic and genotypic levels, the antibiotic resistance pattern of
      Streptococcus spp. isolated from clinical cases of mastitis from dairy cattle in
      this region of Poland. The research was conducted using 135 strains of
      Streptococcus (Streptococcus uberis, n = 53; Streptococcus dysgalactiae, n = 41;
      Streptococcus agalactiae, n = 27; other streptococci, n = 14). The investigation
      of the antimicrobial susceptibility to 8 active substances applied in therapy in
      the analyzed region, as well as a selected bacteriocin (nisin), was performed
      using the minimum inhibitory concentration method. The presence of selected
      resistance genes (n = 14) was determined via PCR. We also investigated the
      correlation between the presence of resistance genes and the antimicrobial
      susceptibility of the examined strains in vitro. The highest observed resistance
      of Streptococcus spp. was toward gentamicin, kanamycin, and tetracycline, whereas
      the highest susceptibility occurred toward penicillin, enrofloxacin, and
      marbofloxacin. Additionally, the tested bacteriocin showed high efficacy. The
      presence of 13 analyzed resistance genes was observed in the examined strains
      [gene mef(A) was not detected]. In most strains, at least one resistance gene,
      mainly responsible for resistance to tetracyclines [tet(M), tet(K), tet(L)], was
      observed. However, a relationship between the presence of a given resistance gene
      and antimicrobial susceptibility on the phenotypic level was not always observed.

PMID- 28601448
TI  - Invited review: Inbreeding in the genomics era: Inbreeding, inbreeding
      depression, and management of genomic variability.
AB  - Traditionally, pedigree-based relationship coefficients have been used to manage
      the inbreeding and degree of inbreeding depression that exists within a
      population. The widespread incorporation of genomic information in dairy cattle
      genetic evaluations allows for the opportunity to develop and implement methods
      to manage populations at the genomic level. As a result, the realized proportion
      of the genome that 2 individuals share can be more accurately estimated instead
      of using pedigree information to estimate the expected proportion of shared
      alleles. Furthermore, genomic information allows genome-wide relationship or
      inbreeding estimates to be augmented to characterize relationships for specific
      regions of the genome. Region-specific stretches can be used to more effectively
      manage areas of low genetic diversity or areas that, when homozygous, result in
      reduced performance across economically important traits. The use of region
      specific metrics should allow breeders to more precisely manage the trade-off
      between the genetic value of the progeny and undesirable side effects associated
      with inbreeding. Methods tailored toward more effectively identifying regions
      affected by inbreeding and their associated use to manage the genome at the herd
      level, however, still need to be developed. We have reviewed topics related to
      inbreeding, measures of relatedness, genetic diversity and methods to manage
      populations at the genomic level, and we discuss future challenges related to
      managing populations through implementing genomic methods at the herd and
      population levels.

PMID- 28601449
TI  - Fatty acid profile of goat milk in diets supplemented with chia seed (Salvia
      hispanica L.).
AB  - Chia seed (Salvia hispanica L.) is the greatest known plant source of n-3 alpha
      linolenic acid. The present study evaluated the effects of 3 inclusion levels of
      chia seed [zero (control); low, 2.7% (CLow); and high, 5.5% (CHigh)] in diets of
      dairy goats on milk yield and fatty acid profile. Nine Saanen dairy goats in the
      last third of lactation period, live weight 38 +/- 8.7 kg, housed in metabolic
      cages, were fed iso-proteic and iso-energetic (160 g of crude protein/d and 11 MJ
      of metabolizable energy/d) diets. Gas chromatography was used to analyze fatty
      acid profile and total conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Silver ion HPLC was used
      to analyze the isomeric profile of CLA. The results were subjected to variance
      analysis using a Latin square design repeated 3 * 3. The CHigh treatment was
      higher for dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber intake
      compared with CLow and control diets. Digestibility was not affected by the
      inclusion of chia seeds. The CHigh diet improved N intake with respect to the
      control and CLow diet. Milk yield and chemical composition were not affected by
      the treatment. The milk fatty acid profile of C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, and C:20 was
      higher for CHigh than the other treatments. The in vitro gas production (mL of
      gas/g of dry matter) was lower in CHigh than the control diet. In conclusion, the
      addition of chia seeds at the CHigh level in dairy goat diets negatively affected
      in vitro rumen fermentation, but increased the milk fatty acid profile of C18:0,
      C18:1n-9 cis, and C:20, monounsaturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty
      acids. The total CLA content increased from 0.33 to 0.73% with the
      supplementation of chia to the diet, as well as the isomers cis-9,trans-11, trans
      7,cis-9, trans-11,cis-13, and trans-12,trans-14.

PMID- 28601450
TI  - Season of conception is associated with future survival, fertility, and milk
      yield of Holstein cows.
AB  - Environmental influences during different stages of pregnancy can induce lifelong
      changes in the structure, physiology, and metabolism of the offspring. Our
      hypothesis was that season of conception (when the offspring was conceived),
      associated with heat stress conditions at conception and during the initial
      stages of embryonic development, affects the lifetime performance and survival of
      the female offspring after birth. The objective was to analyze the association
      between month of conception and subsequent survival, fertility, and milk yield in
      cows maintained on dairy farms in Florida, where the climate during the summer is
      hot and humid but winters are mild. Initial data consisted of 667,104 Dairy Herd
      Improvement lactation records from cows calving between 2000 and 2012 in 152
      herds. Dates of conception were estimated as birth date minus 280 d. The
      magnitude of heat stress in each herd was quantified by comparing milk yield
      during summer and winter. Wood's lactation curves were fitted to adjust milk
      yields for effects of days in milk, and residuals were obtained for each calendar
      month. A sine function was fitted on the 12 residuals per farm. The difference
      between the highest and lowest points on the sine function was termed the
      seasonality index, a measure of the direct effect of heat stress on milk
      production. Herds were categorized in 3 levels of seasonality [low (seasonality
      index values less than the 25th percentile value; <2.84), medium (values within
      the interquartile range), and high (values greater than the 75th percentile
      value; >5.22)]. Cows were grouped by their month of conception: summer (July
      September) and winter (December-February), and comparisons were performed by
      parity using logistic regression, ANOVA, and survival analysis. Two models were
      developed. Model A included the complete population of cows (n = 337,529
      lactation records) conceived in winter or summer. Model B included cows (n =
      228,257 lactation records) that had parent-average genetic information available
      to be able to correct for farmer's use of lower genetic merit of sires in summer.
      Other variables included in the models were month and year of calving, age at
      first calving, and herd. Models were run per parity group (1, 2, and >=3). In
      both models, age at first calving was lower for cows conceived during winter
      versus summer. The odds (95% confidence interval) of survival to a second calving
      for cows conceived in winter were 1.21 and 1.15 times the odds of survival for
      cows conceived in summer for models A and B, respectively. Numbers of days from
      calving to first breeding and from calving to conception were consistently
      smaller for winter versus summer months of conception across all parity
      categories. Milk yields (305 d and by 70 d in milk) were greater for cows
      conceived in winter versus summer. In conclusion, cows that were conceived in the
      winter had better subsequent survival and performance than cows that were
      conceived in the summer. There is evidence that season of conception may have
      lifelong consequences for the offspring.

PMID- 28601451
TI  - Effect of uncertainty in composition and weight measures in control of cheese
      yield and fat loss in large cheese factories.
AB  - Our objective was to develop a computer-based cheese yield, fat recovery, and
      composition control performance measurement system to provide quantitative
      performance records for a Cheddar and mozzarella cheese factory. The system can
      be used to track trends in performance of starter cultures and vats, as well as
      systematically calculate theoretical yield. Yield equations were built into the
      spreadsheet to evaluate cheese yield performance and fat losses in a cheese
      factory. Based on observations in commercial cheese factories, sensitivity
      analysis was done to demonstrate the sensitivity of cheese factory performance to
      analytical uncertainty of data used in the evaluation. Analytical uncertainty in
      the accuracy of milk weight and milk and cheese composition were identified as
      important factors that influence the ability to manage consistency of cheese
      quality and profitability. It was demonstrated that an uncertainty of +/-0.1%
      milk fat or milk protein in the vat causes a range of theoretical Cheddar cheese
      yield from 10.05 to 10.37% and an uncertainty of yield efficiency of +/-1.5%.
      This equates to +/-1,451 kg (3,199 lb) of cheese per day in a factory processing
      907,185 kg (2 million pounds) of milk per day. The same is true for uncertainty
      in cheese composition, where the effect of being 0.5% low on moisture or fat is
      about 484 kg (1,067 lb) of missed revenue opportunity from cheese for the day.
      Missing the moisture target causes other targets such as fat on a dry basis and
      salt in moisture to be missed. Similar impacts were demonstrated for mozzarella
      cheese. In analytical performance evaluations of commercial cheese quality
      assurance laboratories, we found that analytical uncertainty was typically a bias
      that was as large as 0.5% on fat and moisture. The effect of having a high bias
      of 0.5% moisture or fat will produce a missed opportunity of 484 kg of cheese per
      day for each component. More accurate rapid methods for determination of
      moisture, fat, and salt contents of cheese in large cheese factories will improve
      the accuracy of yield performance evaluation and control of consistency of cheese
      composition and quality.

PMID- 28601452
TI  - Technical note: Assessing lameness in tie-stalls using live stall lameness
      scoring.
AB  - Video stall lameness scoring (SLS) has been shown to be comparable to video
      locomotion scoring for evaluating lameness in dairy cows housed in tie-stalls and
      may be a more practical and easier method to measure lameness in a herd. We
      compared live SLS to video SLS and to live locomotion scoring. A total of 685
      lactating cows subsampled from 27 commercial dairy herds were examined for
      lameness through live and video SLS. Cows scored with the live or video SLS
      system were scored for 4 behavioral indicators while still in their stall: weight
      shifting (shift), standing on the edge of the stall (edge), uneven weight bearing
      while standing (rest), and uneven weight bearing while moving from side to side
      (uneven). Two observers live scored and video scored for SLS. Lameness prevalence
      from video SLS and live SLS were similar (31 vs. 30%, respectively). Prevalence
      of the behavioral indicators varied from 0.59 to 58.2%. Sensitivity and
      specificity of live SLS was calculated using video SLS as the gold standard for
      lameness detection in tie-stalls. Sensitivity of live SLS was 0.83 and
      specificity was 0.94. False positives and false negatives for lameness were 14.4
      and 16.8%, respectively. When comparing the prevalence of lameness measured
      through video or live SLS at the herd level, live SLS for lameness was correlated
      to video SLS (r = 0.91) with a Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.79 (95% confidence
      limit = 0.73-0.84). Average exact agreement in the behavior indicators observed
      ranged from 80 to 100%. A subsample of 250 cows from 5 herds were scored for live
      SLS and live locomotion by a third observer. Intra- and interobserver reliability
      for live SLS and live locomotion scoring were found to have a kappa coefficient
      of 0.53 (95% confidence limit = 0.43-0.64) when determining a cow as lame through
      SLS or locomotion scoring. Live SLS was correlated with live locomotion scoring
      (r = 0.92). However, lameness prevalence was lower when using live SLS (28.4%)
      compared with locomotion scoring (38%). In summary, live SLS may be an acceptable
      method to replace video SLS to identify lame cows and rank tie-stall herds in
      terms of lameness prevalence without having to remove the cows from their stalls
      or view videos to score; however, it may underestimate lameness prevalence
      compared with locomotion scoring methods.

PMID- 28601453
TI  - Efficacy and clinical safety of pegbovigrastim for preventing naturally occurring
      clinical mastitis in periparturient primiparous and multiparous cows on US
      commercial dairies.
AB  - Periparturient dairy cows experience impaired immune function, exhibited as a
      transient decrease in neutrophil function. This decrease in immune competence is
      associated with an increase in susceptibility to bacterial infections, including
      mastitis and metritis. Bovine granulocyte colony stimulating factor (bG-CSF) is
      an endogenous protein that enhances neutrophil bactericidal functions and
      increases the production of neutrophils from bone marrow precursors.
      Administration of pegbovigrastim (recombinant bG-CSF covalently bound to
      polyethylene glycol) around the time of calving has been shown to reduce the
      incidence of new clinical mastitis cases in a natural disease model system. To
      further explore the application of pegbovigrastim under herd management systems
      typical of those found in the US dairy industry, we conducted a multicenter field
      study to evaluate the efficacy and clinical safety of pegbovigrastim administered
      to multiparous cows and heifers approximately 7 d before calving and within 24 h
      of calving. Responses of treated cows were compared with those of animals treated
      with sterile saline. Animals treated with pegbovigrastim exhibited 4- to 5-fold
      increases in circulating neutrophil numbers within 24 h of treatment initiation,
      and this increase persisted at least a week beyond the second dose.
      Pegbovigrastim-treated animals exhibited a 35% decrease in the incidence of
      clinical mastitis relative to the controls during the first 30 d of lactation.
      Animals treated with pegbovigrastim also exhibited a 52% reduction in failure to
      return to visual estrus within 80 d of calving. We observed no differences in
      somatic cell count or milk composition between treated and control animals. We
      also found no differences in the duration of pregnancy or proportion of viable
      calves in treated cows relative to control animals. These results indicate that
      administration of pegbovigrastim provides a well-tolerated, novel approach to
      overcoming periparturient immune suppression, resulting in reduced susceptibility
      to clinical mastitis during early lactation.

PMID- 28601454
TI  - Milking time and risk of over-milking can be decreased with early teat cup
      removal based on udder quarter milk flow without loss in milk yield.
AB  - Increasing the milk flow rate at which milking is terminated can shorten milking
      time and increase milking efficiency. The effects on milk yield and composition
      have not been fully investigated when the take-off is set at the udder quarter
      level and independent of feeding during milking. The objective of this study was
      to investigate the effect of 3 take-off levels at the udder quarter level (0.06,
      0.3, and 0.48 kg/min) applied with or without feeding during milking on milking
      time, milk yield, the degree of udder emptying, milk composition, and free fatty
      acids. In this study, 30 cows were allocated into 6 groups, balanced by lactation
      number, lactation stage, and milk yield, and subjected to a 3 * 2 factorial
      arrangement of treatments using a Latin square design. Treatments were applied
      for 1 wk each. This study demonstrated milking time could be reduced by applying
      up to a take-off level of 0.48 kg/min on udder quarter level without losing milk
      yield or compromising milk composition or udder health.

PMID- 28601455
TI  - Within-herd prevalence of intramammary infection caused by Mycoplasma bovis and
      associations between cow udder health, milk yield, and composition.
AB  - Subclinical mastitis is one of the major health problems in dairy herds due to
      decreased milk production and reduced milk quality. The aim of this study was to
      examine the within-herd prevalence of subclinical intramammary infection caused
      by Mycoplasma bovis and to evaluate associations between M. bovis and cow daily
      milk yield, udder health, and milk composition. Individual cow composite milk
      samples (n = 522) were collected from all lactating dairy cows in 1 Estonian
      dairy farm in November 2014. Daily milk yield, days in milk, and parity were
      recorded. Collected milk samples were analyzed for somatic cell count, milk
      protein, fat, and urea content. The presence of M. bovis, Staphylococcus aureus,
      Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus uberis in the milk samples was
      confirmed by quantitative PCR analysis. The within-herd prevalence of M. bovis
      was 17.2% in the study herd. No association was observed between days in milk and
      parity to the presence of M. bovis in milk. According to linear regression
      analysis, the daily milk yield from cows positive for M. bovis was on average 3.0
      kg lower compared with cows negative for M. bovis. In addition, the presence of
      M. bovis in milk samples was significantly associated with higher somatic cell
      count and lower fat and urea content compared with milk samples negative for M.
      bovis. In conclusion, subclinical M. bovis intramammary infection is associated
      with decreased milk yield and lower milk quality.

PMID- 28601456
TI  - Inclusion of wheat and triticale silage in the diet of lactating dairy cows.
AB  - The objective of this experiment was to partially replace corn silage with 2
      alternative forages, wheat (Triticum aestivum) or triticale (X Triticosecale)
      silages at 10% of the diet dry matter (DM), and investigate the effects on dairy
      cow productivity, nutrient utilization, enteric CH4 emissions, and farm income
      over feed costs. Wheat and triticale were planted in the fall as cover crops and
      harvested in the spring at the boot stage. Neutral- and acid-detergent fiber and
      lignin concentrations were higher in the wheat and triticale silages compared
      with corn silage. The forages had similar ruminal in situ effective degradability
      of DM. Both alternative forages had 1% starch or less compared with the
      approximately 35% starch in corn silage. Diets with the alternative forages were
      fed in a replicated 3 * 3 Latin square design experiment with three 28-d periods
      and 12 Holstein cows. The control diet contained 44% (DM basis) corn silage. In
      the other 2 diets, wheat or triticale silages were included at 10% of dietary DM,
      replacing corn silage. Dry matter intake was not affected by diet, but both wheat
      and triticale silage decreased yield of milk (41.4 and 41.2 vs. 42.7 +/- 5.18
      kg/d) and milk components, compared with corn silage. Milk fat from cows fed the
      alternative forage diets contained higher concentrations of 4:0, 6:0, and 18:0
      and tended to have lower concentrations of total trans fatty acids. Apparent
      total-tract digestibility of DM and organic matter was decreased in the wheat
      silage diet, and digestibility of neutral-and acid-detergent fiber was increased
      in the triticale silage diet. The wheat and triticale silage diets resulted in
      higher excretion of urinary urea, higher milk urea N, and lower milk N efficiency
      compared with the corn silage diet. Enteric CH4 emission per kilogram of energy
      corrected milk was highest in the triticale silage diet, whereas CO2 emission was
      decreased by both wheat and triticale silage. This study showed that, at milk
      production of around 42 kg/d, wheat silage and triticale silage can partially
      replace corn silage DM and not affect DM intake, but milk yield may decrease
      slightly. For dairy farms in need of more forage, triticale or wheat double
      cropped with corn silage may be an appropriate cropping strategy.

PMID- 28601457
TI  - Short communication: Weak associations between mastitis control measures and bulk
      milk somatic cell counts in Swedish dairy herds.
AB  - Despite the fact that control programs have been available for several decades,
      mastitis remains an important problem in dairy herds around the world. Possible
      reasons for this include poor uptake and application of recommended mastitis
      control measures; poor or variable compliance; or variability in the effects of
      these measures. The objective of this study was to evaluate the associations
      between implemented mastitis control measures and bulk milk somatic cell count
      (BMSCC) in Swedish dairy herds. Data for this study were collected primarily from
      an extensive self-administered postal questionnaire about the herds, the people
      responsible for udder health, and details of udder health and mastitis
      management. A total of 898 questionnaires were distributed, and 428
      questionnaires were returned (overall response rate of 48%), but we used the
      information from only 395 herds in this study. For all herds, we collected data
      on herd size and geometric average calculated BMSCC from the Swedish Official
      Milk Recording Scheme. We used logistic regression to assess the association
      between mastitis control measures and BMSCC, dichotomized as low (<200,000
      cells/mL) or high (>200,000 cells/mL). We investigated 21 measures that have been
      suggested for mastitis control, but found only 2 to be associated with udder
      health as measured by BMSCC. Not providing dry cows with a specialized mineral
      feed was significantly associated with increased risk of high BMSCC, and not
      using post-milking teat disinfectant tended to be associated with increased risk.
      The lack of association for all other measures was not likely due to low power
      (because most of these measures had variable implementation rates) but could be
      due to the relatively narrow range of BMSCC in our study (range 61,000-524,000
      cells/mL). However, our results agreed well with those of other recent studies,
      supporting the call for a thorough review of the current knowledge of mastitis
      control and for wider application of intervention studies to verify the actual
      effects of suggested control measures.

PMID- 28601459
TI  - In vitro response to EPA, DPA, and DHA: Comparison of effects on ruminal
      fermentation and biohydrogenation of 18-carbon fatty acids in cows and ewes.
AB  - The modulation of milk fat nutritional quality through fish oil supplementation
      seems to be largely explained by the action of n-3 very long chain
      polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on ruminal biohydrogenation (BH) of C18 fatty
      acids (FA). However, relationships among this action, disappearance of those PUFA
      in the rumen, and potential detrimental consequences on ruminal fermentation
      remain uncertain. This study compared the effect of 20:5n-3 (eicosapentaenoic
      acid; EPA), 22:5n-3 (docosapentaenoic acid; DPA), and 22:6n-3 (docosahexaenoic
      acid; DHA) on rumen fermentation and BH of C18 FA and was conducted
      simultaneously in cows and sheep to provide novel insights into interspecies
      differences. The trial was performed in vitro using batch cultures of rumen
      microorganisms with inocula collected from cannulated cows and ewes. The PUFA
      were added at a dose of 2% incubated dry matter, and treatment effects on ruminal
      C18 FA concentrations, PUFA disappearances, and fermentation parameters (gas
      production, ammonia and volatile FA concentrations, and dry matter and neutral
      detergent fiber disappearances) were examined after 24 h of incubation. A
      principal component analysis suggested that responses to PUFA treatments
      explained most of the variability; those of ruminant species were of lower
      relevance. Overall, EPA and DHA were equally effective for inhibiting the
      saturation of trans-11 18:1 to 18:0 and had a similar influence on ruminal
      fermentation in cows and sheep (e.g., reductions in gas production and
      acetate:propionate ratio). Nevertheless, DHA further promoted alternative BH
      pathways that lead to trans-10 18:1 accumulation, and EPA seemed to have specific
      effects on 18:3n-3 metabolism. Only minor variations attributable to DPA were
      observed in the studied parameters, suggesting a low contribution of this FA to
      the action of marine lipids. Although most changes due to the added PUFA were
      comparable in bovine and ovine, there were also relevant specificities, such as a
      stronger inhibition of 18:0 formation in cows and a greater increase in 18:3n-3
      metabolites in sheep. No direct relationship between in vitro disappearance of
      the incubated PUFA and effect on BH (in particular, inhibition of the last step)
      was found in either cows or ewes, calling into question a putative link between
      extent of disappearance and toxicity for microbiota. Conversely, an association
      between the influence of these PUFA on ruminal lipid metabolism and fermentation
      may exist in both species. In vivo verification of these findings would be
      advisable.

PMID- 28601458
TI  - Ad libitum milk replacer feeding, but not butyrate supplementation, affects
      growth performance as well as metabolic and endocrine traits in Holstein calves.
AB  - The enhanced growth performance of calves fed a higher plane of nutrition pre
      weaning is well documented, and the effect of butyrate on the development of the
      gastrointestinal tract in calves has been evaluated. The aim of this study was to
      examine the synergistic effects of ad libitum milk replacer (MR) feeding and
      butyrate supplementation on growth performance and energy metabolism in calves.
      Sixty-four (32 male, 32 female) Holstein calves were examined from birth until wk
      11 of life. Calves received MR either ad libitum (Adl) or restrictively (Res)
      with (AdlB+, ResB+) or without (AdlB-, ResB-) 0.24% butyrate supplementation.
      Colostrum and transition milk were fed in predefined amounts (Res or Adl) for the
      first 3 d postpartum. Ad libitum and restrictive MR feeding with or without
      butyrate was performed from d 4 until wk 8 of age. From wk 9 to 10, all calves
      were gradually weaned and were fed 2 L/d until the end of the trial. Concentrate
      (CON), hay, and water were freely available. Intakes of MR and CON were measured
      daily. Calves were weighed at birth and weekly thereafter. Blood was drawn on d 1
      before the first colostrum intake; on d 2, 4, and 7; and weekly thereafter until
      the end of the study to measure plasma concentrations of metabolites and
      hormones. Liver samples were taken at d 50 and at the end of the study to
      determine gene expression related to glucose metabolism. Milk, MR, and total
      nutrient intake were greater, but CON intake was lower in Adl than in Res calves,
      resulting in a greater body weight, but partially lower gain to feed ratio in Adl
      than in Res. Plasma concentrations of glucose and insulin were higher during the
      ad libitum milk-feeding period, whereas plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate was lower in
      Adl than in Res. Plasma concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids, lactate,
      total bilirubin, and cortisol were lower, but triglyceride and cholesterol
      concentrations were higher in Adl than in Res at specific time points. Feed
      intake, growth performance, and metabolic and endocrine changes were
      insignificantly affected by butyrate, and hepatic gene expression of enzymes
      related to endogenous glucose production was barely influenced by ad libitum MR
      feeding and butyrate supplementation. Intensive MR feeding indicated greater
      stimulation of growth and anabolic metabolism, but butyrate supplementation did
      not further improve postnatal growth or anabolic processes either in intensive or
      restrictive MR-fed calves.

PMID- 28601460
TI  - Production and economic responses to intensification of pasture-based dairy
      production systems.
AB  - Production from pasture-based dairy farms can be increased through using N
      fertilizer to increase pasture grown, increasing stocking rate, importing feeds
      from off farm (i.e., supplementary feeds, such as cereal silages, grains, or co
      product feeds), or through a combination of these strategies. Increased
      production can improve profitability, provided the marginal cost of the
      additional milk produced is less than the milk price received. A multiyear
      production system experiment was established to investigate the biological and
      economic responses to intensification on pasture-based dairy farms; 7
      experimental farmlets were established and managed independently for 3 yr.
      Paddocks and cows were randomly allocated to farmlet, such that 3 farmlets had
      stocking rates of 3.35 cows/ha (LSR) and 4 farmlets had stocking rates of 4.41
      cows/ha (HSR). Of the LSR farmlets, 1 treatment received no N fertilizer, whereas
      the other 2 received either 200 or 400 kg of N/ha per year (200N and 400N,
      respectively). No feed was imported from off-farm for the LSR farmlets. Of the 4
      HSR farmlets, 3 treatments received 200N and the fourth treatment received 400N;
      cows on 2 of the HSR-200N farmlet treatments also received 1.3 or 1.1 t of DM/cow
      per year of either cracked corn grain or corn silage, respectively. Data were
      analyzed for consistency of farmlet response over years using mixed models, with
      year and farmlet as fixed effects and the interaction of farmlet with year as a
      random effect. The biological data and financial data extracted from a national
      economic database were used to model the statement of financial performance for
      the farmlets and determine the economic implications of increasing milk
      production/cow and per ha (i.e., farm intensification). Applying 200N or 400N
      increased pasture grown per hectare and milk production per cow and per hectare,
      whereas increasing stocking rate did not affect pasture grown or milk production
      per hectare, but reduced milk production per cow. Importing feed in the HSR
      farmlets increased milk production per cow and per hectare. Marginal milk
      production responses to additional feed (i.e., either pasture or imported
      supplementary feed) were between 0.8 and 1.2 kg of milk/kg of DM offered (73 to
      97 g of fat and protein/kg of feed DM) and marginal response differences between
      feeds were explained by metabolizable energy content differences (0.08 kg of
      milk/MJ of metabolizable energy offered). The marginal milk production response
      to additional feed was quadratic, with the greatest milk production generated
      from the initial investment in feed; 119, 99, and 55 g of fat and protein were
      produced per kilogram of feed DM by reducing the annual feed deficit from 1.6 to
      1.0, 1.0 to 0.5, and 0.5 to 0 t of DM, respectively. Economic modeling indicated
      that the marginal cost of milk produced from pasture resulting from applied N
      fertilizer was less than the milk price; therefore, strategic use of N fertilizer
      to increase pasture grown increased farm operating profit per hectare. In
      comparison, operating profit declined with purchased feed, despite high marginal
      milk production responses. The results have implications for the strategic
      direction of grazing dairy farms, particularly in export-oriented industries,
      where the prices of milk and feed inputs are subject to the considerable
      volatility of commodity markets.

PMID- 28601461
TI  - Effects of changing freestall area on lameness, lying time, and leg injuries on
      dairy farms in Alberta, Canada.
AB  - Cow comfort is of increasing importance in the dairy industry, due to an
      increased focus on animal welfare. However, whether producer changes to the cows'
      environment affect cow comfort has not been well characterized. Our objectives
      were to: (1) quantify the effect of freestall area changes on the prevalence of
      lameness, leg injuries, and average lying time; and (2) compare cow comfort
      outcomes on farms that had never had an assessment of cow comfort to farms that
      had had a previous assessment of cow comfort. A sample of 60 Holstein-Friesian
      cows were selected on each of 15 farms that made changes to the freestall area
      after an assessment of cow comfort (change, CHG); 15 farms that did not make
      changes to the freestall area after an assessment of cow comfort (no change, NC);
      and 14 farms that had yet to be evaluated (new farms, NF). Cows in NC and NF were
      lame 1.50 and 1.71 times more often, respectively, than cows on CHG farms.
      Additionally, daily lying time was 0.33 and 0.62 h/d lower in NC and NF,
      respectively, than on CHG farms. The prevalence of hock and knee injuries was not
      different among the 3 groups of farms. No differences were detected in the
      parameters of interest when comparing NF with NC farms; therefore, we concluded
      that the NC group was not biased by a previous assessment of cow comfort. Farms
      in the CHG group had a lower prevalence of lame cows and greater lying time than
      the NC and NF groups.

PMID- 28601462
TI  - Addition of glycerol to lactating cow diets stimulates dry matter intake and milk
      protein yield to a greater extent than addition of corn grain.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine if the addition of glycerol to the
      diet of dairy cows would stimulate milk protein yield in the same manner as the
      addition of corn grain. Twelve multiparous lactating dairy cows at 81 +/- 5 d in
      milk were subjected to 3 dietary treatments in a replicated 3 * 3 Latin square
      design for 28-d periods. The diets were a 70% forage diet considered the basal
      diet, the basal diet with 19% ground and high-moisture corn replacing forages,
      and the basal diet with 15% refined glycerol and 4% added protein supplements to
      be isocaloric and isonitrogenous with the corn diet. Cows were milked twice a day
      and samples were collected on the last 7 d of each period for compositional
      analysis. Within each period, blood samples were collected on d 26 and 27, and
      mammary tissue was collected by biopsy on d 28 for Western blot analysis. Dry
      matter intake increased from 23.7 kg/d on the basal diet to 25.8 kg/d on the corn
      diet and 27.2 kg/d on the glycerol diet. Dry matter intake tended to be higher
      with glycerol than corn. Milk production increased from 39.2 kg/d on the basal
      diet to 43.8 kg/d on the corn diet and 44.2 kg/d on the glycerol diet. However,
      milk yield did not differ between corn and glycerol diets. Milk lactose yields
      were higher on the corn and glycerol diets than the basal diet. Milk fat yield
      significantly decreased on the glycerol diet compared with the basal diet and
      tended to decrease in comparison with the corn diet. Mean milk fat globule size
      was reduced by glycerol feeding. Milk protein yield increased 197 g/d with
      addition of corn to the basal diet and 263 g/d with addition of glycerol, and the
      glycerol effect was larger than the corn effect. The dietary treatments had no
      effects on plasma glucose concentration, but plasma acetate levels decreased 27%
      on the glycerol diet. Amino acid concentrations were not affected by dietary
      treatments, except for branched-chain amino acids, which decreased 22% on the
      glycerol diet compared with the corn diet. The decreases in plasma acetate and
      branched-chain amino acid concentrations with glycerol and the larger effects of
      glycerol than corn on milk protein and fat yields suggest that glycerol is more
      glucogenic for cows than corn grain.

PMID- 28601463
TI  - Evaluation of the capillary electrophoresis method for measurement of
      immunoglobulin concentration in ewe colostrum.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a technique routinely used in clinical
      laboratories that allows the separation and quantification of blood serum
      proteins in a rapid, precise, accurate, and inexpensive manner. Recently, CE has
      been proposed to separate and measure colostral proteins, but an evaluation of
      the agreement between CE and radial immunodiffusion (RID) method, currently used
      to quantify IgG in colostrum, is still lacking. The purpose of this study was to
      test the ability of a CE instrument, normally used in blood serum protein
      analysis, to realize the correct quantification of total Ig concentration in ewe
      colostrum, using RID assay as reference. Colostrum samples (n = 68) were
      collected from 35 multiparous Sarda ewes at first milking (n = 33) and at 24 h
      postpartum (n = 35). The mean +/- standard deviation of IgG concentration
      measured by RID and whey colostrum total Ig concentration measured by CE were
      54.76 +/- 41.82 g/L and 54.70 +/- 41.43 g/L, respectively. Lin's concordance
      correlation coefficient (r = 0.993; 95% confidence interval = 0.989 to 0.996) and
      linear regression analysis results (RID = 1.0022CE - 0.063; R2 = 0.986) showed an
      excellent agreement between these 2 methods. Bland-Altman analysis confirmed that
      CE method can be a suitable alternative to RID: the mean of the differences
      between CE and RID was -0.055 +/- 4.95 g/L (95% confidence interval = -1.25 to
      1.14 g/L) and the agreement limits were -9.75 to 9.60 g/L (low limit 95%
      confidence interval = -11.82 to -7.68 g/L; high limit 95% confidence interval =
      7.57 to 11.72 g/L). In conclusion, the current study indicates that CE method may
      be a reliable tool for the quantification of the total Ig concentration in ewe
      colostrum.

PMID- 28601464
TI  - Methane emissions from dairy lagoons in the western United States.
AB  - Methane generation from dairy liquid storage systems is a major source of
      agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. However, little on-farm research has been
      conducted to estimate and determine the factors that may affect these emissions.
      Six lagoons in south-central Idaho were monitored for 1 yr, with CH4 emissions
      estimated by inverse dispersion modeling. Lagoon characteristics thought to
      contribute to CH4 emissions were also monitored over this time period. Average
      emissions from the lagoons ranged from 30 to 126 kg/ha per day or 22 to 517 kg/d.
      Whereas we found a general trend for greater emissions during the summer, when
      temperatures were greater, events such as pumping, rainfall, freeze or thaw of
      lagoon surfaces, and wind significantly increased CH4 emissions irrespective of
      temperature. Lagoon physicochemical characteristics, such as total solids,
      chemical oxygen demand, and volatile solids, were highly correlated with
      emission. Methane prediction models were developed using volatile solids, wind
      speed, air temperature, and pH as independent variables. The US Environmental
      Protection Agency methodology for estimating CH4 emissions from manure storage
      was used for comparison of on-farm CH4 emissions from 1 of the lagoon systems.
      The US Environmental Protection Agency method underestimated CH4 emissions by
      48%. An alternative methodology, using volatile solids degradation factor,
      provided a more accurate estimate of annual emissions from the lagoon system and
      may hold promise for applicability across a range of dairy lagoon systems in the
      United States.

PMID- 28601465
TI  - Evaluation of an automated milk leukocyte differential test and the California
      Mastitis Test for detecting intramammary infection in early- and late-lactation
      quarters and cows.
AB  - Study objectives were to (1) describe the diagnostic test characteristics of an
      automated milk leukocyte differential (MLD) test and the California Mastitis Test
      (CMT) to identify intramammary infection (IMI) in early- (EL) and late-lactation
      (LL) quarters and cows when using 3 different approaches to define IMI from milk
      culture, and (2) describe the repeatability of MLD test results at both the
      quarter and cow level. Eighty-six EL and 90 LL Holstein cows were sampled from 3
      Midwest herds. Quarter milk samples were collected for a cow-side CMT test, milk
      culture, and MLD testing. Quarter IMI status was defined by 3 methods: culture of
      a single milk sample, culture of duplicate samples with parallel interpretation,
      and culture of duplicate samples with serial interpretation. The MLD testing was
      completed in duplicate within 8 h of sample collection; MLD results
      (positive/negative) were reported at each possible threshold setting (1-18 for
      EL; 1-12 for LL) and CMT results (positive/negative) were reported at each
      possible cut-points (trace, >=1, >=2, or 3). We created 2 * 2 tables to compare
      MLD and CMT results to milk culture, at both the quarter and cow level, when
      using each of 3 different definitions of IMI as the referent test. Paired MLD
      test results were compared with evaluate repeatability. The MLD test showed
      excellent repeatability. The choice of definition of IMI from milk culture had
      minor effects on estimates of MLD and CMT test characteristics. For EL samples,
      when interpreting MLD and CMT results at the quarter level, and regardless of the
      referent test used, both tests had low sensitivity (MLD = 11.7-39.1%; CMT = 0
      52.2%) but good to very good specificity (MLD = 82.1-95.2%; CMT = 68.1-100%),
      depending on the cut-point used. Sensitivity improved slightly if diagnosis was
      interpreted at the cow level (MLD = 25.6-56.4%; CMT = 0-72.2%), though
      specificity generally declined (MLD = 61.8-100%; CMT = 25.0-100%) depending on
      the cut-point used. For LL samples, when interpreted at the quarter level, both
      tests had variable sensitivity (MLD = 46.6-84.8%; CMT = 9.6-72.7%) and variable
      specificity (MLD = 59.2-79.8%; CMT = 52.5-97.3%), depending on the cut-point
      used. Test sensitivity improved if interpreted at the cow level (MLD = 59.6
      86.4%; CMT = 19.1-86.4%), though specificity declined (MLD = 32.4-56.8%; CMT =
      14.3-92.3%). Producers considering adopting either test for LL or EL screening
      programs will need to carefully consider the goals and priorities of the program
      (e.g., whether to prioritize test sensitivity or specificity) when deciding on
      the level of interpretation (quarter or cow) and when selecting the optimal cut
      point for interpreting test results. Additional validation studies and large
      randomized field studies will be needed to evaluate the effect of adopting either
      test in selective dry cow therapy or fresh cow screening programs on udder
      health, antibiotic use, and economics.

PMID- 28601466
TI  - Survey of work processes on German dairy farms.
AB  - The objective of this study was to conduct a survey to gain insight into the
      organization of work processes on commercial German dairy farms analyzing the use
      of standard operating procedures (SOP). Practices and routines were surveyed
      regarding the existence, creation, and use of SOP. A total of 250 survey forms
      were returned, and 248 could be used for final analysis. The existence of SOP was
      indicated by 82% of all respondents, but only 54% stated that these SOP were
      written down. Existence of SOP correlated with farm size such that larger farms
      were more likely to implement SOP than smaller farms. However, many farmers
      lacked the time (41%) or ability (42%) to create SOP to provide the employees
      with detailed instructions on how to perform a specific task. The majority of
      respondents (59%) were interested in using ready-made SOP that could be adjusted
      to their farm. An obvious discrepancy exists between the motivation of the
      farmers to improve the performance on their farm and their expertise in attaining
      these goals and intentions.

PMID- 28601467
TI  - Recurrent acute coronary syndrome and mechanisms of plaque instability.
AB  - Patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) due to plaque rupture had a worse
      prognosis when compared with those without plaque rupture with a higher rate of
      target vessel revascularization and readmission for unstable angina, suggesting
      that both stent failure and disease progression occur more frequently. However,
      it is not known whether recurrent episodes of coronary instability in the same
      patient are caused by the same pathogenetic mechanism. Thus, we sought to
      investigate the mechanisms of coronary instability imaged by optical coherence
      tomography in patients with recurrent ACS events. The present case series, with 4
      patients having recurrent ACS, shows that the same mechanism of coronary
      instability is present during both first and recurrent instability. This
      hypothesis-generating finding may support further studies targeted at assessing
      the mechanisms of coronary instability recurrence and how to tailor preventive
      measures to the underlying mechanism of instability.

PMID- 28601468
TI  - Letter to "A randomized, controlled comparison of different intensive lipid
      lowering therapies in Chinese patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary
      syndrome (NSTE-ACS)" by Ran Dan et al.

PMID- 28601469
TI  - Clinical course of tricuspid regurgitation in repaired tetralogy of Fallot.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known on the clinical course of tricuspid regurgitation
      (TR) in patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) and which patients are
      at particular risk. This study aims to determine TR course, characteristics
      associated with TR progression, and the prognostic relevance of TR in rTOF
      patients. METHODS: In this dualcenter cohort study, rTOF patients from a
      prospective national registry with >=1 cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study
      and >=2 echocardiograms available were included. Clinical and imaging data were
      collected. Cox hazards regression analysis was used to assess patient
      characteristics associated with progression to severe TR and whether severe TR
      was associated with the combined clinical endpoint of tachyarrhythmia, heart
      failure, and death, as time-dependent factor. RESULTS: A total of 216 patients
      were included (57% men, age 34+/-12years); 11 patients (5%) had severe TR at
      baseline. During 7.6+/-3.5years of follow-up, progression to severe TR occurred
      in 15 patients (7%). NYHA class >=2 (HR 5.38, 95%-C.I. 1.91-15.16, p=0.001) and
      moderate baseline TR (HR 13.10, 95%-C.I. 2.95-58.21, p=0.001) were independently
      associated with progression to severe TR. Adverse events occurred in 47 patients
      (22%). The occurrence of severe TR was independently associated with adverse
      events (HR 3.48, 95%-C.I. 1.68-7.21, p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, severe
      TR was present in 12% of adult rTOF patients during 7.6years, and progression to
      severe TR was most likely in symptomatic patients with moderate baseline TR. In
      these patients, close surveillance is warranted, because the occurrence of severe
      TR was associated with worse prognosis.

PMID- 28601470
TI  - Tissue and serum mRNA profile of MMPs-2/9 as a potential novel biomarker for the
      most individual approach in infantile hemangiomas and cancer disease.
AB  - : Propranolol is a widely-known beta-blocker approved for treating infantile
      hemangiomas (IH). The mechanisms behind the spectacular IH involution after
      propranolol treatment remain unclear. Recently, there is strong evidence of
      overexpression of numerous angiogenic factors in IH tissues, and it is reported
      that propranolol influences their pathways. However, a number of MMPs studies is
      highly limited. Here, for the first time, we propose a comprehensive approach by
      analyzing the expression levels of metalloproteinases-2/9 (MMPs-2/9) and tissue
      metalloproteinase inhibitor-2 (TIMP-2) in vivo on both, molecular and
      immunohistochemical levels, and in both, IH tissues and in the serum of IH
      patients, and relates the obtained results to the tumor's biology and systemic
      propranolol treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: MMPs-2/9 and TIMP-2 were analyzed in
      71 IH tissue samples using immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR, and in 50
      serum samples of IH patients by ELISA. RESULTS: Significantly lower MMPs-2/9 and
      higher TIMP-2 levels were observed in IH tissues on the mRNA level as well as
      lower serum MMP-2 concentration among the treated individuals. CONCLUSION: MMPs
      2/9 and TIMP-2 are both involved in the biology of IH and the propranolol
      pathways enabling their antiangiogenic properties. The most reliable method of IH
      examination appears to be direct MMPs-2/9 mRNA evaluation in tumor tissue; and
      MMP-2 evaluation in patients' serum is a valuable complement to it. Tissue and
      serum mRNA MMPs assessment may represent a suitable novel biomarker identifying
      tumor progression and involution processes with potential clinical impact in IH
      as well as in cancer disease.

PMID- 28601471
TI  - Surgical Management Algorithm for Caesarean Scar Pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report our experience with the management of Caesarean scar
      pregnancy (CSP) in the first trimester and to develop a unique treatment
      algorithm allowing physicians to customize their management based on clinical
      patient characteristics. METHODS: A retrospective review of 12 patients diagnosed
      with CSP between December 2012 and June 2016 was conducted in a tertiary care
      hospital in Toronto. All patients were diagnosed with CSP by transvaginal
      ultrasound using radiologic criteria. Patients were initially treated with an
      ultrasound-guided embryocidal injection when fetal heart activity was present.
      Next, patients underwent medical management with systemic multidose methotrexate
      (MTX) or surgical management using a laparoscopic or transcervical approach
      depending on CSP characteristics. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 35.6
      years. The median number of previous CSs was one. The mean serum human chorionic
      gonadotropin level was 59 938 IU/L. The mean GA at presentation was 8+1 weeks.
      Two-thirds of patients received medical management with systemic multidose
      methotrexate. Of these, 50% required additional surgical treatment for the
      resolution of their CSP. One-third of patients underwent primary surgical
      treatment, resulting in complete resolution of CSP with no complications. Given
      the improved outcomes of surgical management in our series, we suggest a
      treatment algorithm that tailors the surgical approach, either laparoscopic or
      transcervical, to the characteristics of the CSP. CONCLUSION: This constitutes
      the largest case series of CSP in Canada. Based on our results, CSP can be safely
      and effectively managed using the suggested surgical algorithm, which accounts
      for individual patient characteristics.

PMID- 28601472
TI  - Detection and phylogenetic characterisation of novel Anaplasma and Ehrlichia
      species in Amblyomma triguttatum subsp. from four allopatric populations in
      Australia.
AB  - Anaplasma and Ehrlichia spp. are tick-borne pathogens that can cause severe
      disease in domestic animals, and several species are responsible for emerging
      zoonoses in the northern hemisphere. Until recently, the only members of these
      genera reported in Australia (A. marginale, A. centrale, and A. platys) were
      introduced from other continents, through the importation of domestic animals and
      their associated ticks. However, unique Anaplasma and Ehrlichia 16S rRNA gene
      sequences were recently detected for the first time in native Australian ticks,
      particularly in Amblyomma triguttatum subsp. ticks from southwest Western
      Australia (WA). We used molecular techniques to survey Am. triguttatum subsp.
      ticks from four allopatric populations in southern and western Australia for
      Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species, and described here the phylogeny of these novel
      organisms. An A. bovis variant (genotype Y11) was detected in ticks from two
      study sites; Yanchep National Park (12/280, 4.3%) and Barrow Island (1/69, 1.4%).
      Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and groEL gene sequences concluded that A.
      bovis genotype Y11 is a unique genetic variant, distinct from other A. bovis
      isolates worldwide. Additionally, a novel Ehrlichia species was detected in Am.
      triguttatum subsp. from three of the four study sites; Yanchep National Park
      (18/280, 6.4%), Bungendore Park (8/46, 17.4%), and Innes National Park (9/214,
      4.2%), but not from Barrow Island. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S, groEL, gltA, and
      map1 gene sequences revealed that this Ehrlichia sp. is most closely related to,
      but clearly distinct from, E. ruminantium and Ehrlichia sp. Panola Mountain. We
      propose to designate this new species 'Candidatus Ehrlichia occidentalis'.
      Anaplasma bovis genotype Y11 and 'Candidatus E. occidentalis' are the first
      Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species to be recorded in native Australian ticks.

PMID- 28601474
TI  - Potential biomarker breakthrough for Huntington's disease.

PMID- 28601473
TI  - Neurofilament light protein in blood as a potential biomarker of
      neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease: a retrospective cohort analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood biomarkers of neuronal damage could facilitate clinical
      management of and therapeutic development for Huntington's disease. We
      investigated whether neurofilament light protein NfL (also known as NF-L) in
      blood is a potential prognostic marker of neurodegeneration in patients with
      Huntington's disease. METHODS: We did a retrospective analysis of healthy
      controls and carriers of CAG expansion mutations in HTT participating in the 3
      year international TRACK-HD study. We studied associations between NfL
      concentrations in plasma and clinical and MRI neuroimaging findings, namely
      cognitive function, motor function, and brain volume (global and regional). We
      used random effects models to analyse cross-sectional associations at each study
      visit and to assess changes from baseline, with and without adjustment for age
      and CAG repeat count. In an independent London-based cohort of 37 participants
      (23 HTT mutation carriers and 14 controls), we further assessed whether
      concentrations of NfL in plasma correlated with those in CSF. FINDINGS: Baseline
      and follow-up plasma samples were available from 97 controls and 201 individuals
      carrying HTT mutations. Mean concentrations of NfL in plasma at baseline were
      significantly higher in HTT mutation carriers than in controls (3.63 [SD 0.54]
      log pg/mL vs 2.68 [0.52] log pg/mL, p<0.0001) and the difference increased from
      one disease stage to the next. At any given timepoint, NfL concentrations in
      plasma correlated with clinical and MRI findings. In longitudinal analyses,
      baseline NfL concentration in plasma also correlated significantly with
      subsequent decline in cognition (symbol-digit modality test r=-0.374, p<0.0001;
      Stroop word reading r=-0.248, p=0.0033), total functional capacity (r=-0.289,
      p=0.0264), and brain atrophy (caudate r=0.178, p=0.0087; whole-brain r=0.602,
      p<0.0001; grey matter r=0.518, p<0.0001; white matter r=0.588, p<0.0001; and
      ventricular expansion r=-0.589, p<0.0001). All changes except Stroop word reading
      and total functional capacity remained significant after adjustment for age and
      CAG repeat count. In 104 individuals with premanifest Huntington's disease, NfL
      concentration in plasma at baseline was associated with subsequent clinical onset
      during the 3-year follow-up period (hazard ratio 3.29 per log pg/mL, 95% CI 1.48
      7.34, p=0.0036). Concentrations of NfL in CSF and plasma were correlated in
      mutation carriers (r=0.868, p<0.0001). INTERPRETATION: NfL in plasma shows
      promise as a potential prognostic blood biomarker of disease onset and
      progression in Huntington's disease. FUNDING: Medical Research Council,
      GlaxoSmithKline, CHDI Foundation, Swedish Research Council, European Research
      Council, Wallenberg Foundation, and Wolfson Foundation.

PMID- 28601475
TI  - Pancreatic stellate cells in pancreatic cancer: In focus.
AB  - Pancreatic stellate cells are stromal cells that have multiple physiological
      functions such as the production of extracellular matrix, stimulation of amylase
      secretion, phagocytosis and immunity. In pancreatic cancer, stellate cells
      exhibit a different myofibroblastic-like morphology with the expression of alpha
      smooth muscle actin, the activated form is engaged in several mechanisms that
      support tumorigenesis and cancer invasion and progression. In contrast to the
      aforementioned observations, eliminating the stromal cells that are positive for
      alpha-smooth muscle actin resulted in immune-evasion of the cancer cells and
      resulted in worse prognosis in animal models. Understanding the cancer-stromal
      signaling in pancreatic adenocarcinoma will provide novel strategies for therapy.
      Here we provide an updated review of studies that handle the topic "pancreatic
      stellate cells in cancer" and recent experimental approaches that can be the base
      for future directions in therapy.

PMID- 28601476
TI  - The Mediating and Moderating Effect of Volunteering on Pain and Depression, Life
      Purpose, Well-Being, and Physical Activity.
AB  - To improve function and quality of life in patients with chronic pain, a
      prevalent and costly condition, an understanding of the relationships among well
      being, physical activity, depression, and life purpose with pain is needed.
      Because of the role loss experienced by people with chronic pain, activities such
      as volunteering could have an important role in improving health and well-being.
      In one study, chronic pain patients who participated in volunteer activities
      reported both decreased pain and "a sense of purpose." The aim of this study is
      to test the relationships among pain and well-being, physical activity,
      depression, and life purpose and then to determine if volunteering activities
      mediated or moderated these relationships. This observational study was conducted
      in a large university setting in Kentucky and used a sample of 200 women older
      than age 50. We found that people with higher pain were more depressed and had
      lower life purpose and well-being. People who volunteered less had more pain,
      lower perceived life purpose, more depressive symptoms, and decreased physical
      activity. Volunteer activities did have a significant mediating effect on the
      relationship between pain and depression; approximately 9% of the relationship
      between pain and depression can be accounted for by volunteering. Moderation by
      volunteering was found between pain and life purpose. We identified important
      relationships among pain, volunteering, and health outcomes and found that
      volunteering has a role in improving depressive symptoms and life purpose in
      women with pain.

PMID- 28601477
TI  - Family Perspectives of Traumatically Brain-Injured Patient Pain Behaviors in the
      Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - Behavioral scales allow for the pain assessment of vulnerable critically ill
      patients who are unable to self-report. However, validity of the use of such
      scales is limited in traumatic brain injury patients with an altered level of
      consciousness as a result of the different way that these patients express pain.
      Family participation is considered as an important component of pain assessment
      for those unable to self-report, but research in this area is minimal so far.
      This study aimed to describe what behaviors family caregivers deemed relevant to
      pain for patients with a traumatic brain injury with an altered level of
      consciousness in the intensive care unit. Using a mixed-method descriptive
      design, semistructured interviews were conducted and behaviors' relevance was
      quantitatively rated by seven family caregivers of nonverbal patients with
      traumatic brain injury in the intensive care unit of a tertiary trauma center in
      Montreal, Canada. Family caregivers were able to provide rich descriptions of a
      number of behaviors they observed in their loved ones that were perceived to be
      relevant indicators of pain, such as muscle tension and key facial expressions
      and body movements. Several factors influenced how behaviors were interpreted by
      family, including personal medical beliefs and intimate knowledge of the
      patient's history. The pain behaviors determined by family caregivers can be
      useful in the pain assessment process of traumatic brain injury patients with an
      altered level of consciousness. Their input could also be helpful in further
      development of pain assessment tools.

PMID- 28601478
TI  - Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes about Pain: Personal and Professional
      Characteristics and Patient Reported Pain Satisfaction.
AB  - Pain is a nursing sensitive indicator and yet pain is often not well managed in
      both hospital and ambulatory settings. Improving nurse knowledge and attitudes
      about pain may translate to improved patient outcomes. The objective of this
      study was to investigate knowledge and attitudes about pain (KAP) in nurses who
      work in diverse settings, professional and personal characteristics that predict
      KAP, and whether KAP correlated with patient satisfaction according to Hospital
      Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAHPS). Descriptive, cross
      sectional, correlational study. A large integrated health care facility in the
      northwest. A total of 217 registered nurses working in acute, ambulatory, and
      long-term care. A Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Survey was administered to
      registered nurses in diverse settings. Scores were examined for personal and
      professional predictors of KAP and correlated with HCAHPS patient satisfaction
      surveys. Nurses scored an average of 72%; nurses in long-term care scored the
      highest. Having more than 5 years of nursing experience, being a certified nurse,
      and receiving pain education in the last year were predictive of a higher score
      on the KAP survey, which explained only 9.8% of the variance. Unit mean KAP
      scores were highly correlated with unit-based HCAHPS scores (r = 0.917, p = .01).
      Certified nurses scored higher on the KAP survey, consistent with other studies.
      This study suggests that having more knowledge and better attitudes about pain
      may improve patient satisfaction of pain. Further studies are needed that link
      knowledge and attitudes about pain to patient outcomes.

PMID- 28601479
TI  - Effect of the Use of Buzzy(r) during Phlebotomy on Pain and Individual
      Satisfaction in Blood Donors.
AB  - Phlebotomy causes pain and discomfort to adults. The objective of this study was
      to investigate the effect of the use of Buzzy(r) on phlebotomy satisfaction and
      pain relating to the phlebotomy process in healthy adult blood donors voluntarily
      donating blood. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled experimental
      study. The research sample was made up of 90 healthy adult men. These individuals
      were randomly assigned to an experimental group (Buzzy group), a placebo control
      group, and a nonintervention control group. For the individuals in the
      experimental group, the ice wings of the Buzzy device, frozen solid in the
      refrigerator, were placed approximately 5 centimeters above the intervention site
      from 1 minute before the procedure until the end of the needle location process.
      When the device was operated, it applied vibration and cold to the site. For
      individuals in the placebo control group, the Buzzy device was also located
      approximately 5 centimeters above the intervention site from 1 minute before the
      procedure until the end of the needle location process, but with the ice wings at
      room temperature (unfrozen) and with the vibration switch remaining off. For the
      nonintervention control group, no intervention was implemented before the
      procedure. Immediately after entry to the vein, pain levels and levels of
      phlebotomy satisfaction were assessed in individuals in all groups. A
      statistically significant difference was determined between the mean pain and
      phlebotomy satisfaction scores of individuals in the experimental and control
      groups (p < .05). Results indicate that use of the Buzzy device was an effective
      method of reducing the pain of phlebotomy and increasing phlebotomy satisfaction
      in healthy adult male blood donors.

PMID- 28601480
TI  - The Trajectory of Postoperative Pain Following Mastectomy with and without
      Paravertebral Block.
AB  - Evidence to support the argument that general anesthesia (GA) with paravertebral
      block (PVB) provides better pain relief for mastectomy patients than GA alone is
      contradictory. The aim of this study was to explore pain and analgesia after
      mastectomy with or without PVB during acute inpatient recovery. A retrospective
      study was conducted in a single hospital providing specialist cancer services in
      metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. We explored pain and concomitant analgesic
      administration in 80 consecutive women recovering from mastectomy who underwent
      GA with (n = 40) or without (n = 40) PVB. A pain management index (PMI) was
      derived to illustrate the efficacy of management from day of surgery (DOS) to
      postoperative day (POD) 3. Patients who reported no pain progressively increased
      from DOS (n = 12, 15%) to POD 3 (n = 54, 67.5%). Most patients were administered
      analgesics as a combination of acetaminophen and a strong opioid on DOS (n = 53,
      66.2%), POD 1 (n = 45, 56.2%), POD 2 (n = 33, 41.2%), and POD 3 (n = 21, 26.2%).
      Less than 6% of patients on any POD were administered multimodal anlagesics. PMI
      scores indicate some pain in the context of receiving weak and strong opioids for
      GA patients and more frequent use of nonopioid analgesics in PVB patients during
      recovery. These findings highlight the need for data describing patterns of
      analgesic administration in addition to reports of postoperative pain to
      determine the most effective means of avoiding postoperative pain in patients who
      require mastectomy.

PMID- 28601481
TI  - Endoscopic Ultrasound Imaging Detection of Gastric Cancer in Familial Adenomatous
      Polyposis.

PMID- 28601482
TI  - Impaired Intestinal Permeability Contributes to Ongoing Bowel Symptoms in
      Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Mucosal Healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Many patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have
      ongoing bowel symptoms of diarrhea or abdominal pain despite mucosal healing. We
      investigated whether impaired intestinal permeability contributes to these
      symptoms. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of intestinal permeability,
      measured by endoscopic confocal laser endomicroscopy in 110 consecutive subjects
      (31 with ulcerative colitis [UC], 57 with Crohn's disease [CD], and 22 healthy
      individuals [controls]) in Sydney, Australia from May 2009 and September 2015.
      Symptomatic CD was defined by a CD Activity Index score of 150 or more and
      symptomatic UC by a partial Mayo score of 2 or more. Mucosal healing was defined
      as CD Endoscopic Index of Severity of 0 in CD or Mayo endoscopic sub-score of 0-1
      for patients with UC. Intestinal permeability was quantified by the Confocal Leak
      Score (CLS; range: 0=no impaired permeability to 100=complete loss of barrier
      function). The primary endpoint was intestinal permeability in patients with
      symptomatic IBD in mucosal healing vs patients with asymptomatic IBD in mucosal
      healing. We determined the sensitivity and specificity of CLS in determining
      symptoms based on receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Ongoing
      bowel symptoms were present in 16.3% of patients with IBD and mucosal healing
      (15.4% of patients with CD, 17.4% with UC). Patients with symptomatic IBD had a
      significantly higher median CLS (19.0) than patients with asymptomatic IBD (7.3;
      P < .001) or controls (5.9, P < .001). There were no significant differences
      between patients with IBD in remission vs controls (P = .261). Median CLS was
      significantly higher in patients with symptomatic than asymptomatic CD (17.7 vs
      8.1; P = .009) and patients with symptomatic than asymptomatic UC (22.2 vs 6.9; P
      = .021). A CLS of 13.1 or more identified ongoing bowel symptoms in patients with
      IBD and mucosal healing with 95.2% sensitivity and 97.6% specificity; the
      receiver operating characteristic area under curve value was 0.88. Based on this
      cutoff, 36.2% of patients with IBD in mucosal healing have increased intestinal
      permeability. On regression analysis, every increase in CLS of 1.9 correlated
      with an additional diarrheal motion per day (P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: In a
      prospective study of intestinal permeability in patients with IBD and mucosal
      healing, we associated impaired intestinal permeability with ongoing bowel
      symptoms; increases in permeability correlated with increased severity of
      diarrhea. Resolution of mucosal permeability beyond mucosal healing might improve
      outcomes of patients with IDB (ANZCTR.org.au: ACTRN12613001248752).

PMID- 28601483
TI  - Reshaping Darwin's Tree: Impact of the Symbiome.
AB  - Much of the undescribed biodiversity on Earth is microbial, often in mutualistic
      or pathogenic associations. Physically associated and coevolving life forms
      comprise a symbiome. We propose that systematics research can accelerate progress
      in science by introducing a new framework for phylogenetic analysis of symbiomes,
      here termed SYMPHY (symbiome phylogenetics).

PMID- 28601484
TI  - Resuscitation using less fluid has no negative impact on hydration status in
      children with moderate sized scalds: a prospective single-centre UK study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After a burn, optimal fluid resuscitation is critical for positive
      patient outcome. Although national guidelines advocate using resuscitation fluids
      of 4mL per kg body weight and percent body surface area (%BSA) for paediatric
      burns of >10% BSA, evidence in adults suggest that such volumes lead to over
      resuscitation and related complications. Our aim was to investigate whether
      children managed with biosynthetic dressings (BiobraneTM) and reduced fluid
      volumes remain well hydrated, as determined by clinical and laboratory
      parameters. METHODS: At a single UK Burn Centre, children with scalds of 10
      19%BSA managed with Biobrane were given 80% maintenance fluids and no formal burn
      resuscitation (permissive hypovolaemia [PH] group). Urine output (UO), serum
      sodium, urea, and creatinine were used as 24h markers of hydration and
      concentrations compared to those in a patient cohort treated within the same
      centre when traditional resuscitation was used (TR group). RESULTS: Serum sodium
      concentrations and UO in the PH group were similar to those in the TR group
      (median sodium: PH=136, TR=136, P=1.00; median UO: PH=1.5, TR=1.8, P=0.25). Urea
      concentrations were lower and creatinine concentrations higher in the TR group
      compared to the PH group (median urea: PH=3.2, TR=2.3, P=0.04; median creatinine:
      PH=21, TR=30, P<0.001). A higher proportion of TR patients than PH patients fell
      outside the reference ranges for urea (61% vs. 23%; P=0.04) and creatinine (44%
      vs. 8%; P=0.03). CONCLUSION: Based on markers of hydration, children with
      moderate-sized scalds managed with Biobrane can be safely managed with less
      fluid.

PMID- 28601485
TI  - Surgical treatment of shoulder infections: a comparison between arthroscopy and
      arthrotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Management of bacterial shoulder infections includes antibiotic
      therapy and surgical joint decompression. Arthroscopy and open arthrotomy are
      recommended treatment options. Whether 1 of the 2 surgical options is superior
      remains unclear. The present study aimed (1) to compare the reinfection rates
      after arthroscopy and open arthrotomy and (2) to identify risk factors of
      reinfection after surgical intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 59
      consecutive patients were available for final analysis. All patients received
      arthroscopy or open arthrotomy at our institution between 2001 and 2015. The
      reinfection rates between the 2 distinct interventions were compared. We also
      evaluated the influence of potential confounders, such as age, sex,
      comorbidities, microbiological findings, duration of symptoms, osteoarthritis,
      Gachter score, and preoperative inflammatory parameters, on the recurrence of
      infections and compared the functional outcome between the 2 surgery groups.
      RESULTS: From 59 included patients, 38 (64.4%) underwent open arthrotomy, and 21
      (35.6%) were treated arthroscopically. Reinfection was documented in 18 patients
      (30.5%). The reinfection rate was significantly higher in arthroscopically
      treated patients (11 [52.4%]) than in patients who underwent open arthrotomy (7
      [18.4%]; P = .007). An infection with Staphylococcus aureus negatively influenced
      the treatment success (P = .034). CONCLUSION: According to our data, open
      arthrotomy is the more effective treatment method in septic arthritis of the
      shoulder, with lower reinfection rates and a comparable functional outcome.
      Furthermore, we could identify Staphylococcus aureus as an independent risk
      factor for the recurrence of infections.

PMID- 28601486
TI  - The development of the Patient Expectations of Shoulder Surgery survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction after a surgical procedure is dependent on
      meeting preoperative expectations. There is currently no patient expectations
      survey available for patients undergoing shoulder surgery that is validated,
      reliable, and easy to use in daily practice. The aim of this study was to develop
      a Patient Expectations of Shoulder Surgery (PESS) survey. METHODS: In 315
      patients, answers to an open-ended question about patient expectations were
      collected before shoulder surgery to develop the PESS survey. Patients'
      expectations of the PESS survey were associated with clinical outcome (change of
      Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score). Content validity was assessed
      by a panel of 10 patients scheduled for shoulder surgery, and test-retest
      reliability was evaluated. RESULTS: Six items were included in the PESS survey:
      pain relief, improved range of motion, improved ability to perform daily
      activities, improved ability to perform work, improved ability to participate in
      recreational activities and sports, and stop shoulder from dislocating. Three of
      the 6 expectations were significantly associated with clinical outcome after
      shoulder surgery. Test-retest reliability was high with an intraclass correlation
      coefficient of 0.52-0.92. DISCUSSION: The PESS survey is a valid and reliable
      survey that can be used in future clinical research and in daily orthopedic
      practice. We believe that the preoperative evaluation of patient expectations
      should be a standard procedure before shoulder surgery.

PMID- 28601487
TI  - Results of cementless total elbow arthroplasty using the Discovery elbow system
      at a mean follow-up of 61.8 months.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The available literature on the use of a cementless total elbow
      arthroplasty (TEA) design and its results are limited. This clinical study
      reports the outcome of the cementless Discovery elbow system. METHODS: Patients
      were operated on by a single surgeon between 2007 and 2014. Nineteen patients (20
      elbows) were available for review, 2 women (1 bilateral TEA) and 17 men. The age
      of the patients ranged from 27 to 75 years (mean, 48 years). The mean follow-up
      was 61.8 months (range, 12-156 months). Patients were assessed for range of
      motion, pain, and satisfaction level. Outcome scores included the Mayo Elbow
      Performance Score, the Liverpool Elbow Score, and the 12-Item Short Form Health
      Survey (version 1). Radiographs were reviewed to evaluate for loosening. RESULTS:
      The mean Mayo Elbow Performance Score was 77.25, and the mean Liverpool Elbow
      Score was 6.76. The mean flexion range was 123 degrees , and the mean extension
      lag was 35 degrees . The mean pronation was 59 degrees , and the mean supination
      was 58 degrees . On radiologic evaluation, there were no signs of loosening;
      however, in 2 cases, nonprogressive radiolucent lines were observed. No signs of
      infection were detected at final follow-up, and no elbows were revised. More than
      90% of patients were satisfied with the overall outcome. CONCLUSION: The
      cementless TEA seems to be a reliable option for treatment of varying elbow
      diseases. Long-term results are needed to assess the survivorship of this design.

PMID- 28601488
TI  - Ten-year clinical and anatomic follow-up after repair of anterosuperior rotator
      cuff tears: influence of the subscapularis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterosuperior rotator cuff tears are more frequent than expected. We
      report the results of a 10-year follow-up study after repair. Our hypothesis was
      that the extent of the subscapularis tear influenced the prognosis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study population consisted of all 138 patients who underwent surgery
      in 14 participating centers in 2003 for full-thickness tears of the rotator cuff
      with lesions in the subscapularis and supraspinatus tendons. The patients were
      divided into 2 groups, depending on whether the subscapularis lesion affected
      only the superior half of the tendon (group A) or extended into the lower half
      (group B). Ninety-two patients (56 +/- 7 years; 71 in group A and 21 in group B)
      were available for follow-up after 10 years (127 +/- 16 months) with magnetic
      resonance imaging to evaluate tendon healing and muscle condition. RESULTS: The
      mean Constant scores were 59 +/- 16 before surgery and 77 +/- 14 at follow-up (P
      = 1.7 * 10-12). The retear rates were 25% for the supraspinatus and 13.5% for the
      subscapularis tendon. The clinical results for group A patients were better than
      those for group B. Severe fatty infiltration was observed more frequently in the
      subscapularis than in the supraspinatus muscle (27% vs. 12% of cases).
      Supraspinatus healing influenced subscapularis healing and fatty infiltration.
      CONCLUSIONS: Repair of anterosuperior rotator cuff tears is satisfactory at 10
      years, particularly if the subscapularis tear is not extensive. An extensive
      subscapularis tear is a negative prognosis factor. Postoperatively, fatty
      infiltration of the subscapularis muscle was frequently observed despite tendon
      healing.

PMID- 28601489
TI  - Is the subscapularis normal after the open Latarjet procedure? An isokinetic and
      magnetic resonance imaging evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Latarjet procedure is considered to be a violation of the
      subscapularis muscle. This study evaluated the postoperative status of the
      subscapularis through isokinetic and magnetic resonance imaging analysis after
      splitting. We hypothesized that compared with a healthy contralateral shoulder,
      there would be satisfactory recovery of subscapularis strength at the cost of
      some fatigability and some mild fatty infiltration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      was a case-control retrospective study of patients who underwent a Latarjet
      procedure between January 2013 and January 2015. A total of 20 patients were
      reviewed at 1 year postoperatively. With the patient seated, strength testing of
      both shoulders was done (concentric, eccentric, and fatigability) with a
      dynamometer. Trophicity and fatty infiltration were analyzed by magnetic
      resonance imaging. RESULTS: Strength of the internal rotators (IRs) and external
      rotators (ERs) of the injured shoulder was significantly lower compared with the
      healthy shoulder in concentric testing at 180 degrees /s and 60 degrees /s (13%
      for IR and 20% for E, P < .05) and in eccentric testing at 60 degrees /s (19% for
      IR and 16% for ER, P < .05). A peak torque ratio (ER/IR) of the operated-on
      shoulder was maintained. The difference in muscular endurance was significant (P
      < .001). There was no muscle atrophy and minimal or no fatty infiltration of the
      subscapularis in any patient. CONCLUSION: At 1 year after the open Latarjet
      procedure, isokinetic testing showed a combined strength deficit in both internal
      and external rotation with a conserved muscle balance. Although no significant
      subscapularis fatty infiltration or atrophy was noted, there was a significant
      deficit in endurance compared with the healthy shoulder.

PMID- 28601490
TI  - Is the Simple Shoulder Test a valid outcome instrument for shoulder arthroplasty?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Simple Shoulder Test (SST) is a brief, inexpensive, and widely
      used patient-reported outcome tool, but it has not been rigorously evaluated for
      patients having shoulder arthroplasty. The goal of this study was to rigorously
      evaluate the validity of the SST for outcome assessment in shoulder arthroplasty
      using a systematic review of the literature and an analysis of its properties in
      a series of 408 surgical cases. METHODS: SST scores, 36-Item Short Form Health
      Survey scores, and satisfaction scores were collected preoperatively and 2 years
      postoperatively. Responsiveness was assessed by comparing preoperative and 2-year
      postoperative scores. Criterion validity was determined by correlating the SST
      with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. Construct validity was tested through
      5 clinical hypotheses regarding satisfaction, comorbidities, insurance status,
      previous failed surgery, and narcotic use. RESULTS: Scores after arthroplasty
      improved from 3.9 +/- 2.8 to 10.2 +/- 2.3 (P < .001). The change in SST
      correlated strongly with patient satisfaction (P < .001). The SST had large
      Cohen's d effect sizes and standardized response means. Criterion validity was
      supported by significant differences between satisfied and unsatisfied patients,
      those with more severe and less severe comorbidities, those with workers'
      compensation or Medicaid and other types of insurance, those with and without
      previous failed shoulder surgery, and those taking and those not taking narcotic
      pain medication before surgery (P < .005). CONCLUSION: These data combined with a
      systematic review of the literature demonstrate that the SST is a valid and
      responsive patient-reported outcome measure for assessing the outcomes of
      shoulder arthroplasty.

PMID- 28601491
TI  - A validation of the Nottingham Clavicle Score: a clavicle, acromioclavicular
      joint and sternoclavicular joint-specific patient-reported outcome measure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) and sternoclavicular
      joint (SCJ) injuries and with clavicle fractures are typically younger and more
      active than those with other shoulder pathologies. We developed the Nottingham
      Clavicle Score (NCS) specifically for this group of patients to improve
      sensitivity for assessing the outcomes of treatment of these conditions compared
      with the more commonly used Constant Score (CS) and Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cohort study in which the preoperative and 6
      month postoperative NCS evaluations of outcome in 90 patients were compared with
      the CS, OSS, Imatani Score (IS), and the EQ-5D scores. Reliability was assessed
      using the Cronbach alpha. Reproducibility of the NCS was assessed using the
      test/retest method. Effect sizes were calculated for each score to assess
      sensitivity to change. Validity was examined by correlations between the NCS and
      the CS, OSS, IS, and EQ-5D scores obtained preoperatively and postoperatively.
      RESULTS: Significant correlations were demonstrated preoperatively with the OSS
      (P = .025) and all subcategories of the EQ-5D (P < .05) and postoperatively with
      the OSS (P < .001), CS (P = .008), IS (P < .001), and all subcategories of EQ-5D
      (P < .02). The NCS had the largest effect size (1.92) of the compared scores.
      Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach alpha = 0.87). CONCLUSION: The NCS
      has been proven to be a valid, reliable and sensitive outcome measure that
      accurately measures the level of function and disability in the ACJ, SCJ and
      clavicle after traumatic injury and in degenerative disease.

PMID- 28601492
TI  - New Agents in Multiple Myeloma: An Examination of Safety Profiles.
AB  - Numerous treatments are available for relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma
      (MM), with safety profiles varying across drug classes and across agents within
      the same class. Thus, it is important to understand the toxicities of each
      antimyeloma agent when making treatment decisions. Neutropenia is commonly
      associated with lenalidomide and pomalidomide, and may be common with histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, but is relatively unusual with thalidomide,
      bortezomib, and carfilzomib. Infection was common in trials of lenalidomide and
      pomalidomide, and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia have been seen
      with carfilzomib. Cardiac toxicity was observed with thalidomide and may occur
      with proteasome inhibition. Thromboembolic complications occur with thalidomide
      and its derivatives, but are less common with bortezomib. Peripheral neuropathy
      (PN), an important complication of MM, may be exacerbated by bortezomib and
      thalidomide, and was also observed with lenalidomide. In contrast, PN is rarely
      observed with carfilzomib and pomalidomide. Renal impairment reduces the
      clearance of lenalidomide but does not seem to affect substantially the
      pharmacokinetics of pomalidomide, carfilzomib, or bortezomib. Several therapies
      have recently been approved, such as the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib, the
      HDAC inhibitor panobinostat, and the monoclonal antibodies elotuzumab and
      daratumumab. Others are still in clinical development, including the HDAC
      inhibitors romidepsin and vorinostat, with safety data continuing to emerge.
      Therapy decisions should consider safety profiles in association with pre
      existing comorbidities and toxicities from previous therapeutic regimens. Optimal
      treatment selection and the management of toxicities will result in fewer
      patients requiring dose reductions and treatment discontinuations, ultimately
      leading to improved outcomes.

PMID- 28601493
TI  - Expression of Peripheral Blood miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 Can Be Used as a
      Predictor for Outcome in Multiple Myeloma Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disorder, encompassing
      several related entities that share the common characteristic of being composed
      of monoclonal plasma cells (PCs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs
      that control the expression of many target messenger RNAs involved in normal cell
      functions. Two serum microRNAs, miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246, were found to have
      potential as diagnostic biomarkers in myeloma. Therefore, we investigated a
      possible correlation of peripheral blood (PB) miRNA expression with diagnosis and
      prognosis. METHODS: We measured the expression of PB miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 in
      60 newly diagnosed MM patients by quantitative real-time PCR analyses. And
      analysed the relationship about the expression levels of miRNAs with other
      clinical features. RESULTS: The expression levels of PB miRNAs are significantly
      higher in myeloma patients compared to controls and do not change with age,
      gender, disease stage, hemoglobin, bone marrow PC percentage, beta2
      microglobulin, serum albumin, calcium serum, serum creatinine, and myeloma
      protein, and independent of the deletion of chromosome 13, suggesting that the
      expression levels of PB miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 can be used as a diagnostic test
      for myeloma. We first discovered that increased expression of PB miRNA-720 and
      miRNA-1246 were associated with shorter progression-free survival, indicating
      poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that PB miRNA-720 and miRNA
      1246 might act as a promoting factor in the development of MM and could be a
      diagnostic factor, therapeutic effect evaluator, and prognostic indicator in the
      prognosis of MM. The miRNAs have a significant value of appreciation of
      individual patients' behavior during the chemotherapy and evaluation the
      therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28601494
TI  - A Comparative Analysis of Translesion DNA Synthesis Catalyzed by a High-Fidelity
      DNA Polymerase.
AB  - Translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) is the ability of DNA polymerases to incorporate
      nucleotides opposite and beyond damaged DNA. TLS activity is an important risk
      factor for the initiation and progression of genetic diseases such as cancer. In
      this study, we evaluate the ability of a high-fidelity DNA polymerase to perform
      TLS with 8-oxo-guanine (8-oxo-G), a highly pro-mutagenic DNA lesion formed by
      reactive oxygen species. Results of kinetic studies monitoring the incorporation
      of modified nucleotide analogs demonstrate that the binding affinity of the
      incoming dNTP is controlled by the overall hydrophobicity of the nucleobase.
      However, the rate constant for the polymerization step is regulated by hydrogen
      bonding interactions made between the incoming nucleotide with 8-oxo-G. Results
      generated here for replicating the miscoding 8-oxo-G are compared to those
      published for the replication of the non-instructional abasic site. During the
      replication of both lesions, binding of the nucleotide substrate is controlled by
      energetics associated with nucleobase desolvation, whereas the rate constant for
      the polymerization step is influenced by the physical nature of the DNA lesion,
      that is, miscoding versus non-instructional. Collectively, these studies
      highlight the importance of nucleobase desolvation as a key physical feature that
      enhances the misreplication of structurally diverse DNA lesions.

PMID- 28601495
TI  - Structural and Enzymatic Characterization of a cAMP-Dependent Diguanylate Cyclase
      from Pathogenic Leptospira Species.
AB  - Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni is a human pathogen that causes
      leptospirosis, a worldwide zoonosis. The L. interrogans genome codes for a wide
      array of potential diguanylate cyclase (DGC) enzymes with characteristic GGDEF
      domains capable of synthesizing the cyclic dinucleotide c-di-GMP, known to
      regulate transitions between different cellular behavioral states in bacteria.
      Among such enzymes, LIC13137 (Lcd1), which has an N-terminal cGMP-specific
      phosphodiesterases, adenylyl cyclases, and FhlA (GAF) domain and a C-terminal
      GGDEF domain, is notable for having close orthologs present only in pathogenic
      Leptospira species. Although the function and structure of GGDEF and GAF domains
      have been studied extensively separately, little is known about enzymes with the
      GAF-GGDEF architecture. In this report, we address the question of how the GAF
      domain regulates the DGC activity of Lcd1. The full-length Lcd1 and its GAF
      domain form dimers in solution. The GAF domain binds specifically cAMP (KD of
      0.24MUM) and has an important role in the regulation of the DGC activity of the
      GGDEF domain. Lcd1 DGC activity is negligible in the absence of cAMP and is
      significantly enhanced in its presence (specific activity of 0.13s-1). The
      crystal structure of the Lcd1 GAF domain in complex with cAMP provides valuable
      insights toward explaining its specificity for cAMP and pointing to possible
      mechanisms by which this cyclic nucleotide regulates the assembly of an active
      DGC enzyme.

PMID- 28601496
TI  - Operative technique: Superficial temporal artery biopsy.

PMID- 28601497
TI  - Comparison of long-acting and oral antipsychotic treatment effects in patients
      with schizophrenia, comorbid substance abuse, and a history of recent
      incarceration: An exploratory analysis of the PRIDE study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Comorbid substance abuse is known to blunt response to treatment
      for underlying psychiatric disorders, but it has not been investigated in
      schizophrenia when comparing the effects of long-acting injectable antipsychotics
      with those of oral antipsychotics. METHODS: This exploratory analysis compared
      once-monthly paliperidone palmitate (PP1M) with daily oral antipsychotics on time
      to treatment failure in patients with schizophrenia and a history of
      incarceration. Subjects were stratified into substance abuse (reported substance
      or alcohol misuse in the past 30days on the baseline Addiction Severity Index
      Lite Version and/or met criteria for a current MINI diagnosis of a substance
      abuse disorder) and nonabuse cohorts. RESULTS: In the substance abuse cohort,
      treatment failure was observed in 56.2% (73/130) and 64.2% (86/134) of subjects
      in the PP1M and oral antipsychotic groups, respectively. For the nonabuse cohort,
      treatment failure was observed in 36.5% (35/96) and 53.6% (45/84) of subjects in
      the PP1M and oral antipsychotic groups, respectively. Median (95% confidence
      interval [CI]) time to first treatment failure was 291 (179-428) days and 186 (94
      296) days in the PP1M and oral antipsychotic groups, respectively. Median (95%
      CI) time to first treatment failure was >450 and 284 (147 to >450) days in the
      respective treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Greater treatment effects were evident
      with PP1M compared with oral antipsychotics in both cohorts. The observed
      beneficial effect of PP1M was attenuated in the substance-abuse cohort, further
      reinforcing both the need for and value of continued research to optimize patient
      care in these complex patient populations.

PMID- 28601498
TI  - Self-reported cognitive distortions in the psychosis continuum: A Polish 18-item
      version of the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS-18).
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to provide a short version of the Davos Assessment
      of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS), which is a self-report tool to assess
      cognitive distortions related to psychosis. METHODS: A principal component
      analysis (PCA) was conducted on a large non-clinical sample (n=1207) and cross
      validated with a confirmatory factor analysis on an independent non-clinical
      sample (n=653). Discriminative validity was performed by contrasting the high
      risk for psychosis non-clinical sample (n=63), low risk for psychosis non
      clinical sample (n=152), patients with schizophrenia (n=105), and patients with
      depression (n=56). Correlations between symptoms, cognitive functions, source
      monitoring deficits, and jumping to conclusions were performed among a subgroup
      of patients with schizophrenia. RESULTS: An 18-item scale (DACOBS-18) with a four
      factor solution was established. Internal consistency (alpha=0.84) and test
      retest reliability (r=0.84, p<0.001) were good. The DACOBS-18 has satisfactory
      discriminative power, with 99.1% sensitivity and 74.3% specificity in
      discriminating low risk for psychosis from schizophrenia patients. The DACOBS-18
      subscales correlate significantly with psychotic symptoms and psychotic-like
      experiences. After Bonferroni correction, significant correlations between Safety
      Behaviors and neuropsychological functioning were found. CONCLUSIONS: The DACOBS
      18 is a reliable scale with satisfactory discriminative power and thus may be a
      valuable self-report screening tool for use in everyday clinical practice with
      psychotic patients and with people at risk for psychosis. Further research on its
      relationship to objective cognitive measures is needed.

PMID- 28601499
TI  - Multisite generalizability of schizophrenia diagnosis classification based on
      functional brain connectivity.
AB  - Our objective was to assess the generalizability, across sites and cognitive
      contexts, of schizophrenia classification based on functional brain connectivity.
      We tested different training-test scenarios combining fMRI data from 191
      schizophrenia patients and 191 matched healthy controls obtained at 6 scanning
      sites and under different task conditions. Diagnosis classification accuracy
      generalized well to a novel site and cognitive context provided data from
      multiple sites were used for classifier training. By contrast, lower
      classification accuracy was achieved when data from a single distinct site was
      used for training. These findings indicate that it is beneficial to use multisite
      data to train fMRI-based classifiers intended for large-scale use in the clinical
      realm.

PMID- 28601500
TI  - Early neglect associated to prefrontal structural disconnectivity in
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 28601501
TI  - Is a guideline based treatment cost-effective for a middle income country?
      Results from a study with Mexican adolescents.

PMID- 28601502
TI  - Neighbourhood deprivation is positively associated with detection of the ultra
      high risk (UHR) state for psychosis in South East London.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals are defined as being at ultra-high risk (UHR) for
      psychosis based on a combination of attenuated psychotic symptoms, help-seeking
      behaviour, genetic risk, and social/occupational deterioration. Limited evidence
      is available on whether UHR detection differs by neighbourhood, and potential
      explanations. AIMS: To examine neighbourhood distribution of detected UHR using
      cases from the OASIS service in South East London, investigating neighbourhood
      deprivation as an explanatory variable. METHODS: Geographic data were collected
      on patients who met UHR criteria over a fourteen-year period, at the
      neighbourhood (lower super output area, LSOA) level. Rates were calculated based
      on cases and age-specific population estimates. Poisson regression assessed
      associations between UHR rate and neighbourhood deprivation, and with particular
      deprivation domains, adjusting for referrals for UHR assessment, population
      density, and proportions of non-White people, and young single people. RESULTS:
      Rate of UHR detection was statistically related to neighbourhood deprivation, but
      referral rate was not: compared to the least deprived neighbourhoods, the most
      deprived neighbourhoods had a greater than two-fold increase in incidence rate of
      detected UHR (adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR): 2.11, 95% confidence interval
      (CI): 1.21,3.67). In contrast, a small, imprecise association was observed for
      referral for assessment for UHR (adjusted IRR: 1.26 (95%CI: 0.84,1.89)). Evidence
      was also found for associations of UHR detection rate with domains of deprivation
      pertaining to health and barriers to services. CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of
      UHR detection rates by neighbourhood is not random and may be explained in part
      by differences in the social environment between neighbourhoods.

PMID- 28601503
TI  - Cortical magnetization transfer abnormalities and connectome dysconnectivity in
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Macroscale dysconnectivity in schizophrenia is associated with neuropathological
      abnormalities. The extent to which alterations in cortical myelination as
      revealed in vivo by magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) are related to macroscale
      dysconnectivity remains unknown. We acquired magnetization transfer imaging (MTI)
      data and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) data from 78 schizophrenia patients and
      93 healthy controls for MTR extraction and connectome reconstruction to examine
      the possible link between cortical myelination and macroscale dysconnectivity.
      Our findings showed significant cortical MTR disruptions in several prefrontal
      areas in schizophrenia patients, including bilateral rostral middle frontal
      areas, right pars orbitalis, and right frontal pole. Furthermore, cortical MTR
      alterations between patients and controls were significantly correlated with the
      level of regional disconnectivity. Together, our findings provide evidence that
      microstructural neuropathological abnormalities in schizophrenia are
      predominately present in prefrontal areas of the cortex and are associated with
      alterations in structural connectome architecture at the whole brain network
      level.

PMID- 28601504
TI  - [Changes in behaviors and indicators of mental health between 2006 and 2010 in
      the French working population].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 2008 economic crisis may have had an impact on mental health but
      the studies on this topic are sparse, in particular among the working population.
      However, mental health at work is a crucial issue involving substantial costs and
      consequences. The aim of the study was to assess changes in behaviors and
      indicators of mental health in the French working population between 2006 and
      2010, and to explore the differential changes according to age, origin,
      occupation, activity sector, public/private sector, self-employed/employee status
      and work contract. METHODS: The data came from the prospective national
      representative Sante et itineraire professionnel (SIP) survey, including a sample
      of 5600 French workers interviewed in 2006 and 2010. The behaviors and indicators
      of mental health studied were excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, sleep
      problems (sleep disorders and/or insufficient sleep duration), psychotropic drug
      use (antidepressants, anxiolytics and/or hypnotics), and poor self-reported
      health. Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze changes in
      behaviors and indicators of mental health, and the analyses were adjusted for
      age. Covariates (age, origin, occupation, activity sector, public/private sector,
      self-employed/employee status and type of contract) were added separately to
      assess differential changes. RESULTS: Increases in excessive alcohol consumption
      among women, sleep problems among men, and smoking, insufficient sleep duration
      and poor self-reported health for both genders were observed in the French
      working population between 2006 and 2010. Some differential changes were
      observed, negative changes being more likely to affect young workers and workers
      with a permanent contract. CONCLUSION: Prevention policies should consider that
      behavior and indicators of mental health may deteriorate in times of economic
      crisis, especially among some sub-groups of the working population, such as young
      workers and workers with a permanent contract. These changes might foreshadow a
      forthcoming increase in mental disorders.

PMID- 28601505
TI  - Heat and chemical treatments in adult Cyprinus carpio (Pisces cypriniformes)
      rapidly produce sterile gonads.
AB  - Several options have been proposed for eradication of germ cells (GCs) in mammals
      such as treatment with cytotoxic drugs, irradiation, cold ischemia and
      hyperthermic treatment. Some of these methods have been also tried in fish but
      conditions for complete sterilisation of gonads have not been established. Here,
      we report the production of sterile adult common carp Cyprinus carpio in 10 weeks
      by the heat and chemical treatments. The cytotoxic drug busulfan (40mg/kg) was
      intraperitoneally injected into the animals at 2-week intervals (5 doses in
      total), and they were maintained in water at 38 degrees C between Weeks 1 and 10.
      The effectiveness of the treatments was assessed using gonadal index, histology,
      and vasa gene expression. At the end of Week 10, very severe gonadal degeneration
      was observed in fish treated with the heat-chemical combination, and 100% of male
      and female fish were devoid of endogenous GCs. The average levels of vasa
      transcript were 0.01+/-0.005 and 0.02+/-0.016 for males and females,
      respectively. By contrast, high temperature alone caused minor gonadal
      degeneration and the gene transcript were 0.59+/-0.131 for male and 0.62+/-0.13
      for female. In Week 20, after the recovery period of 10 weeks at 25 degrees C,
      the gonadal germ cell did not recover from the sterile condition in any of the
      sampled individuals. The change in colouration of gonads was an additional useful
      index of the degree of gonadal sterility.

PMID- 28601506
TI  - Effects of Sex Education and Kegel Exercises on the Sexual Function of
      Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The sex lives of women are strongly affected by menopause. Non
      pharmacologic approaches to improving the sexual function of postmenopausal women
      might prove effective. AIM: To compare two methods of intervention (formal sex
      education and Kegel exercises) with routine postmenopausal care services in a
      randomized clinical trial. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial was conducted of
      145 postmenopausal women residing in Chalus and Noshahr, Iran. Their sexual
      function statuses were assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI)
      questionnaire. After obtaining written informed consents, they were randomly
      assigned to one of three groups: (i) formal sex education, (ii) Kegel exercises,
      or (iii) routine postmenopausal care. After 12 weeks, all participants completed
      the FSFI again. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the participants'
      sexual function before and after the interventions, and multiple linear
      regression analysis was used to determine the predictive factors for variation in
      FSFI scores in the postintervention stage. OUTCOMES: Sexual function was assessed
      using the FSFI. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in
      demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and FSFI total scores among the
      three study groups at the outset of the study. After 12 weeks, the scores of
      arousal in the formal sex education and Kegel groups were significantly higher
      compared with the control group (3.38 and 3.15 vs 2.77, respectively). The scores
      of orgasm and satisfaction in the Kegel group were significantly higher compared
      with the control group (4.43 and 4.88 vs 3.95 and 4.39, respectively). CLINICAL
      IMPLICATIONS: Formal sex education and Kegel exercises were used as two non
      pharmacologic approaches to improve the sexual function of women after menopause.
      STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: The main strength of this study was its design: a well
      organized randomized trial using precise eligibility criteria with a small sample
      loss. The second strength was the methods of intervention used, namely non
      pharmacologic approaches that are simple, easily accessible, and fairly
      inexpensive. The main limitation of the study was our inability to objectively
      assess the participants' commitment to exercise and the sexual function of their
      partners. CONCLUSION: Sex education programs and Kegel exercises could cause
      improvements in some domains of sexual function-specifically arousal, orgasm, and
      satisfaction-in postmenopausal women. Nazarpour S, Simbar M, Tehrani FR, Majd HA.
      Effects of Sex Education and Kegel Exercises on the Sexual Function of
      Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Sex Med 2017;14:959-967.

PMID- 28601507
TI  - Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of glycine amide derivatives as novel
      vascular adhesion protein-1 inhibitors without CYP3A4 and CYP2C19 inhibition.
AB  - Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a promising therapeutic target for the
      treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Here, we conducted optimization studies of our
      lead compound 1, which we previously reported as a novel VAP-1 inhibitor, to
      enhance the inhibition of human VAP-1 and to reduce CYP3A4 and CYP2C19
      inhibition. As a result, we identified 3-chloro-4-{4-[5-(3
      {[glycyl(methyl)amino]methyl}phenyl)pyrimidin-2-yl]piperazin-1-yl}benzoic acid
      (17h) as a novel orally active VAP-1 inhibitor, with 14-fold increased human VAP
      1 inhibitory activity compared to 1, without CYP3A4 and CYP2C19 inhibition. Oral
      administration of 17h significantly inhibited the progression of proteinuria in
      streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats at 0.3 and 1mg/kg, suggesting that
      this compound has potential to be a therapeutic agent for the treatment of
      diabetic nephropathy.

PMID- 28601508
TI  - Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of renin inhibitors guided by
      simulated annealing of chemical potential simulations.
AB  - We have applied simulated annealing of chemical potential (SACP) to a diverse set
      of ~150 very small molecules to provide insights into new interactions in the
      binding pocket of human renin, a historically difficult target for which to find
      low molecular weight (MW) inhibitors with good bioavailability. In one of its
      many uses in drug discovery, SACP provides an efficient, thermodynamically
      principled method of ranking chemotype replacements for scaffold hopping and
      manipulating physicochemical characteristics for drug development. We introduce
      the use of Constrained Fragment Analysis (CFA) to construct and analyze ligands
      composed of linking those fragments with predicted high affinity. This technique
      addresses the issue of effectively linking fragments together and provides a
      predictive mechanism to rank order prospective inhibitors for synthesis. The
      application of these techniques to the identification of novel inhibitors of
      human renin is described. Synthesis of a limited set of designed compounds
      provided potent, low MW analogs (IC50s<100nM) with good oral bioavailability
      (F>20-58%).

PMID- 28601509
TI  - Olaparib hydroxamic acid derivatives as dual PARP and HDAC inhibitors for cancer
      therapy.
AB  - Olaparib was the first PARP inhibitor approved by the FDA for patients with BRCA
      mutated ovarian cancer. Recent studies have demonstrated enhanced anticancer
      effects of combination therapy consisting of olaparib and HDAC inhibitors.
      Herein, based on rational drug design strategy, hydroxamic acid derivatives of
      olaparib were constructed as dual PARP and HDAC inhibitors. These hybrid
      compounds showed potent inhibitory activities against PARP1/2 and HDAC1/6 with
      IC50 values in the nanomolar range. Furthermore, compound P1 exhibited broad
      spectrum antiproliferative activities in selected human cancer cell lines.
      Specially, P1 showed more potent activity than olaparib and SAHA in cancer cells
      MDA-MB-231, HCC1937 and Raji, and 4.1-fold less cytotoxicity compared with SAHA
      to normal cells MCF-10A. Further mechanism study indicated that P1 could induce
      the cleavage of PARP and the hyperacetylation of histones, increase the
      expression of DNA damage biomarker gamma-H2AX, decrease the level of BRCA1 and
      RAD51, and regulate tumor cell growth and apoptosis through modulating both
      mitochondrial- and death receptor-mediated pathways. Therefore, our study
      suggested that compounds targeting PARP and HDAC concurrently might be a
      practical approach for cancer therapy.

PMID- 28601510
TI  - Synthesis and evaluation of symmetric acyclic nucleoside bisphosphonates as
      inhibitors of the Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax and human 6-oxopurine
      phosphoribosyltransferases and the antimalarial activity of their prodrugs.
AB  - Two new series of symmetric acyclic nucleoside bisphosphonates (ANbPs) have been
      synthesised as potential inhibitors of the Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and vivax
      (Pv) 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferases. The structural variability between
      these symmetric ANbPs lies in the number of atoms in the two acyclic linkers
      connecting the N9 atom of the purine base to each of two phosphonate groups and
      the branching point of the acyclic moiety relative to the purine base, which
      occurs at either the alpha or beta positions. Within each series, six different 6
      oxopurine bases have been attached. In general, the ANbPs with either guanine or
      hypoxanthine have lower Ki values than for those containing either the 8-bromo or
      7-deaza 6-oxopurine bases. The lowest Ki values obtained for the two parasite
      enzymes were 0.1MUM (Pf) and 0.2MUM (Pv) for this series of compounds. Two
      phosphoramidate prodrugs of these inhibitors exhibited antimalarial activity
      against Pf in infected erythrocyte cell culture with IC50 values of 0.8 and
      1.5MUM. These two compounds exhibited low cytotoxicity in human A549 cells having
      CC50 values of >300MUM resulting in an excellent selectivity index.

PMID- 28601511
TI  - Synthesis, molecular modelling and CYP24A1 inhibitory activity of novel of (E)-N
      (2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2-(phenylethyl)-3/4-styrylbenzamides.
AB  - CYP24A1 (25-hydroxyvitamin D-24-hydroxylase) is a useful enzyme target for a
      range of medical conditions including cancer, cardiovascular and autoimmune
      disease, which show elevated CYP24A1 levels and corresponding reduction of
      calcitriol (the biologically active form of vitamin D). A series of (E)-N-(2-(1H
      imidazol-1-yl)-2-(phenylethyl)-3/4-styrylbenzamides have been synthesised using
      an efficient synthetic route and shown to be potent inhibitors of CYP24A1 (IC50
      0.11-0.35MUM) compared with the standard ketoconazole. Molecular modelling using
      our CYP24A1 homology model showed the inhibitors to fill the hydrophobic binding
      site, forming key transition metal interaction between the imidazole nitrogen and
      the haem Fe3+ and multiple interactions with the active site amino acid residues.

PMID- 28601512
TI  - Epidemiology of fentanyl-involved drug overdose deaths: A geospatial
      retrospective study in Rhode Island, USA.

PMID- 28601513
TI  - A Biomechanical Comparison of Distal Fixation for Bridge Plating in a Distal
      Radius Fracture Model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the biomechanical properties of second versus third
      metacarpal distal fixation when using a radiocarpal spanning distraction plate in
      an unstable distal radius fracture model. METHODS: Biomechanical evaluation of
      the radiocarpal spanning distraction plate comparing second versus third
      metacarpal distal fixation was performed using a standardized model of an
      unstable wrist fracture in 10 matched-pair cadaveric specimens. Each fixation
      construct underwent a controlled cyclic loading protocol in flexion and
      extension. The resultant displacement and stiffness were calculated at the
      fracture site. After cyclic loading, each specimen was loaded to failure. The
      stiffness, maximum displacement, and load to failure were compared between the 2
      groups. RESULTS: Cyclic loading in flexion demonstrated that distal fixation to
      the third metacarpal resulted in greater stiffness compared with the second
      metacarpal. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups with regards
      to maximum displacement at the fracture site in flexion. Cyclic loading in
      extension demonstrated no significant difference in stiffness or maximum
      displacement between the 2 groups. The average load to failure was similar for
      both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Fixation to the third metacarpal resulted in greater
      stiffness in flexion. All other biomechanical parameters were similar when
      comparing distal fixation to the second or third metacarpal in distal radius
      fractures stabilized with a spanning internal distraction plate. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: The treating surgeon should choose distal metacarpal fixation
      primarily based on fracture pattern, alignment, and soft tissue integrity. If a
      stiffer construct is desired, placement of the radiocarpal spanning plate at the
      third metacarpal is preferred.

PMID- 28601514
TI  - Does diabetes mellitus impact prognosis after transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation? Insights from a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is well known to increase mortality in several
      cardiovascular diseases. However, the prognostic impact of DM following
      transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains controversial. We sought
      to assess the impact of DM on perioperative (in-hospital or 30-day) complications
      and mid-term (>=1 year) all-cause mortality after TAVI through meta-analysis.
      METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of PUBMED and EMBASE was conducted
      through January 1st 2002 to May 15th 2016. Articles that reported adjusted
      hazards ratio (HRs) or unadjusted HR for mid-term all-cause mortality with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) of DM or insulin dependent DM (IDDM) on mid-term all
      cause mortality post TAVI were included in the analysis. A meta-analysis was
      performed with combination of both adjusted HR and un-adjusted HR. Sensitivity
      analysis was performed with only the adjusted HR. Random-effects model was used
      to calculate the pooled effect size. RESULTS: A total of 22 observational cohort
      studies were identified with 28,440 (8998 DM and 19,442 non-DM) patients. The
      risk of perioperative complications (myocardial infarction, bleeding, major
      vascular complications, stroke, and new-onset atrial fibrillation) was similar
      between DM and non-DM cohorts. A meta-analysis of all-cause mortality of DM (19
      studies after excluding 3 studies that only reported HR of IDDM on mid-term all
      cause mortality, 8808 DM and 17,829 non-DM patients) resulted in significantly
      worse outcome (HR 1.21, 95%CI 1.10-1.34, p=0.0002, I2=53%) in DM patients
      compared to non-DM patients post-TAVI. Sensitivity analysis showed consistent
      results. Subgroup analysis (4 studies with 267 IDDM versus 2161 non-IDDM)
      demonstrated that IDDM was associated with higher all-cause mortality (HR 2.05,
      95%CI 1.54-2.73, p<0.00001, I2=0%) following TAVI. CONCLUSIONS: DM was associated
      with similar perioperative complications but was associated with increased mid
      term all-cause mortality after TAVI. Further study of the causes of increased
      mortality during the follow-up may lead to improved outcome.

PMID- 28601515
TI  - Repeated pulse exposures to lambda-cyhalothrin affect the behavior, physiology,
      and survival of the damselfly larvae Ischnura graellsii (Insecta; Odonata).
AB  - Damselflies form an essential part of the aquatic and terrestrial food web.
      Pesticides may, however, negatively affect their behavior, physiology, and
      survival. To assess this, a 42-day-lasting bioassay was conducted, during which
      damselfly larvae (Ischnura graellsii; n = 20) were repeatedly exposed to lambda
      cyhalothrin (3 days at; 0, 10, 50, 250, 1250, and 6250ng LCH L-1), followed by
      recovery phases (4 days) in pesticide-free medium for six weeks. This exposure
      design was used to simulate frequent runoff events in the field. Variables
      related to the behavior (strikes against prey and capture success), growth,
      physiology (lipid content and fatty acid composition), as well as mortality were
      assessed throughout the experiment. The two highest LCH concentrations induced
      100% mortality within the first 48h, whereas 85% of the test organisms survived
      28 days under control conditions. The number of strikes against prey was not
      affected by LCH. In contrast, prey capture success decreased significantly (up to
      ~50% at 250ng LCH L-1, for instance, after the third pulse exposure) following
      LCH-exposures compared to the control. This difference was not observed after
      recovery phases, however, which did not counteract the enhanced energy demand for
      detoxification and defense mechanisms indicated by a lower growth rate (up to
      ~20%) and lipid content (up to ~30%) of damselflies at 50 and 250ng LCH L-1. In
      addition, two essential fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid and arachidonic acid)
      and two precursors (linolenic acid and alpha-linolenic acid) decreased in their
      concentrations upon exposure towards 250ng LCH L-1. Thus the results of this
      study indicate that long-term exposure towards LCH pulses can affect damselfly
      behavior, physiology and survival. Given the essential role of damselflies in
      food web dynamics, these effects may potentially translate into local population
      impairments with subsequent bottom-up directed effects within and across
      ecosystem boundaries.

PMID- 28601516
TI  - Exposure to E2 and EE2 environmental concentrations affect different components
      of the Brain-Pituitary-Gonadal axis in pejerrey fish (Odontesthes bonariensis).
AB  - The present study focuses on the effects of E2 and EE2 environmental
      concentrations on different components of the reproductive axis of pejerrey
      (Odontesthes bonariensis), a native fish species from Pampas lakes of Argentina.
      The results obtained demonstrated that E2 and EE2 separate or mixed, could
      disrupt key pathways of the pejerrey Brain-Pituitary-Gonadal axis. First, it was
      observed that at the brain level, gnrh-III and cyp19a1b mRNA expression increased
      significantly in the exposed fish. Secondly, in the pituitary fshb and lhb mRNA
      expression levels, the study did not show any differences between treated and
      control groups. Thirdly, fshr and lhcgr transcript levels showed a significant
      decrease at testicular level. Nevertheless, testosterone plasmatic levels
      remained unchanged in exposed fish. In addition, in a histological analysis, it
      was possible to find pyknotic nuclei in estrogen only on treated fish testis
      linked to a reduction in the GSI index and a decrease in the length of
      spermatogenic lobules. All these findings highlighted the fact that environmental
      concentrations of E2, EE2 and their mixture disrupted the endocrine-reproductive
      axis of pejerrey, being the testis the main direct target.

PMID- 28601517
TI  - Pre-acclimation to low copper mitigated immunotoxic effects in spleen and head
      kidney of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) when exposed subsequently
      to high copper.
AB  - The hypothesis tested in this study was that Cu pre-acclimation would mitigate
      high Cu induced immunotoxic effects in large yellow croaker Pseudosciaena crocea.
      To the end, fish were pre-acclimation to 0 and 84MUg CuL-1 for 48h and then
      exposed to 0 and 420MUg CuL-1 for another 48h. Survival rate, Cu content, ROS,
      NO, activities and mRNA levels of inflammatory genes (iNOS and COX-2), and gene
      expressions of transcription factor NF-kappaB and its inhibitor IkappaBalpha were
      determined in spleen and head-kidney of large yellow croaker. Cu pre-acclimation
      significantly reduced mortality of fish exposed to 420MUg CuL-1. Cu pre
      acclimation triggered the up-regulation of both enzyme activities and express
      levels of iNOS and COX-2 in spleen under 420MUg CuL-1 exposure, resulting in
      remarkable reduction of Cu content and ROS in this tissue. Contrast to spleen,
      iNOS activity remained unchanged but the mRNA level of iNOS increased, and the
      mRNA level of COX-2 remained constant though COX-2 activity enhanced in head
      kidney, suggesting iNOS and COX-2 may be modulated by Cu at a post
      transcriptional level. In this process, NF-kappaB/IkappaBalpha signaling
      molecules may play a vital role in the transcriptional activation of inflammatory
      genes in both spleen and head-kidney. In conclusion, low Cu pre-acclimation
      alleviated high Cu induced immunotoxicity in spleen and head-kidney of large
      yellow croaker by enhancing the activities and mRNA levels of inflammatory genes.

PMID- 28601518
TI  - Biochemical responses and ultrastructural changes in ethylene insensitive mutants
      of Arabidopsis thialiana subjected to bisphenol A exposure.
AB  - Bisphenol A (BPA), an important raw material in plastic industry, has become a
      serious environmental contaminant due to its wide spread use in different
      products and increasing release into the environment. BPA is known to cause
      adverse effects in living organisms including plants. Several studies reported
      that BPA affects growth and development in plants, mainly through oxidative
      stress. Plants are known to generally cope with stress mainly through hormonal
      regulation and adaptation, but little is known about the role of plant hormones
      in plants under BPA stress. The present study was conducted to investigate the
      role of ethylene in BPA induced oxidative stress in plants using Arabidopsis
      thaliana as a test plant. The response of ethylene insensitive mutants of
      Arabidopsis (ein2-1 and etr1-3) to BPA exposure was studied in comparison to the
      wild type Arabidopsis (WT). In all three genotypes, exposure to BPA adversely
      affected cellular structures, stomata and light-harvesting pigments. An increase
      in reactive oxygen species (ROS) lipid peroxidation and other oxidative stress
      markers indicated that BPA induced toxicity through oxidative stress. However,
      the overall results revealed that WT Arabidopsis had more pronounced BPA induced
      damages while ein2-1 and etr1-3 mutants withstood the BPA induced stress more
      efficiently. The activity of antioxidant enzymes and expression of antioxidants
      related genes revealed that the antioxidant defense system in both mutants was
      more efficiently activated than in WT against BPA induced oxidative stress, which
      further evidenced the involvement of ethylene in regulating BPA induced oxidative
      stress. It is concluded that ethylene perception and signaling may be involved in
      BPA induced oxidative stress responses in plants.

PMID- 28601519
TI  - Cytotoxic and genotoxic affects of acid mine drainage on fish Channa punctata
      (Bloch).
AB  - The investigation deals with the effects of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) of coal mine
      on fish Channa punctata (Bloch) by examining the incidence of haematological,
      morphological, histological changes and DNA fragmentation in tissues of C.
      punctata in laboratory condition. For this study fishes were exposed to 10% of
      AMD for a period of 30 days. The fusion of the primary and secondary gill
      lamellae, distortion, loss of alignment, deposition of worn out tissues and
      mucous on the surface of the lamella in the gills; degeneration of morphological
      architecture, loss of alignment of tubules, mucous deposition in the kidney;
      cellular damage, cellular necrosis, extraneous deposition on the surface, pore
      formation in the liver are some important changes detected by scanning electron
      microscopy. Fishes of AMD treated group showed gradual significant decrease in
      TEC, Hb and, increase in TLC and DLC as compared to that of the control. DNA
      fragmentation observed in kidney of fishes from treated group indicates an
      intricate pollutant present in the AMD. The high incidence of morphological and
      histological alterations, haematological changes along with DNA breakage in C.
      punctata is an evidence of the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of AMD of coal
      mines.

PMID- 28601520
TI  - Aquatic toxicity of several textile dye formulations: Acute and chronic assays
      with Daphnia magna and Raphidocelis subcapitata.
AB  - Dyes are widely used in various sectors and can be released into the environment
      where they persist for a long time because of their high stability to light or
      temperature and their resistance to environmental degradation. Dyes are often
      poorly characterized and toxicological/ecotoxicological data are available only
      for a few. These features, coupled with their toxicity, make dyes a possible
      source of ecological concern, particularly for freshwater aquatic ecosystems.
      Therefore, new data may be very useful for their risk assessment. In the present
      study, we investigated the aquatic toxicity of 42 commercial dye formulations
      using the application of in silico tools and ecological bioassays. The in silico
      approach was used to assess the similarities among the dyes, highlighting that
      dyes from the same chemical class are generally similar. No correlation was found
      among dyes with the same color. Acute and long-term ecotoxicological assays with
      daphnids and algae were applied to evaluate the potential impact of these
      products, according to the OECD guidelines 201 and 202. The bioassays were able
      to identify structures with potential ecotoxicity: only 9 formulations showed
      toxicity lower than 100mg/L for daphnids while 30 dyes were toxic for algae. In
      our experimental conditions, algae were more sensitive to dye toxicity,
      particularly when the effects on cell number were considered.

PMID- 28601521
TI  - Modulation of cadmium-induced phytotoxicity in Cabomba caroliniana by urea
      involves photosynthetic metabolism and antioxidant status.
AB  - Urea is a widespread organic pollutant, which can be a nitrogen source, playing
      different roles in the growth of submerged macrophytes depending on
      concentrations, while high cadmium (Cd) concentrations are often toxic to
      macrophytes. In order to evaluate the combined effect of urea and Cd on a
      submerged macrophyte, Cabomba caroliniana, the morphological and physiological
      responses of C. caroliniana in the presence of urea and Cd were studied. The
      results showed that high concentrations of urea (400mgL-1) and Cd (500umolL-1)
      had negative effects on C. caroliniana. There were strong visible symptoms of
      toxicity after 4 days of exposure under Cd-alone, 400mgL-1 urea, and Cd+400mgL-1
      urea treatments. In addition, 400mgL-1 urea and Cd had adverse effects on C.
      caroliniana's pigment system. Significant losses in chlorophyll fluorescence and
      photosynthetic rates, as well as Rubisco activity were also observed under Cd
      alone, 400mgL-1 urea, and Cd+400mgL-1 urea treatments. 400mgL-1 urea markedly
      enhanced Cd toxicity in C. caroliniana, reflected by a sharp decrease in
      photosynthetic activity and more visible toxicity symptoms. The results of
      thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) pointed to extreme oxidative
      stress in C. caroliniana induced under Cd or 400mgL-1 urea exposure. Exogenous
      ascorbate (AsA) protected C. caroliniana from adverse damage in 400mgL-1 urea,
      which further corroborated the oxidative stress claim under 400mgL-1 urea.
      However, results also demonstrated that lower urea concentration (10mgL-1)
      alleviated Cd-induced phytotoxicity by stimulating chlorophyll synthesis and
      photosynthetic activity, as well as activating the activity of catalase (CAT) and
      glutathione-S-transferase (GST), which may explain the alleviating effect of urea
      on C. caroliniana under Cd stress.

PMID- 28601522
TI  - Comparative toxicological effects of two antifouling biocides on the marine
      diatom Chaetoceros lorenzianus: Damage and post-exposure recovery.
AB  - Antifouling biocides are commonly used in coastal electric power stations to
      prevent biofouling in their condenser cooling systems. However, the environmental
      impact of the chemical biocides is less understood than the thermal stress
      effects caused by the condenser effluents. In this study, Chaetoceros
      lorenzianus, a representative marine diatom, was used to analyse the toxicity of
      two antifouling biocides, chlorine and chlorine dioxide. The diatom cells were
      subjected to a range of concentrations of the biocides (from 0.05 to 2mg/L, as
      total residual oxidants, TRO) for contact time of 30min. They were analysed for
      viability, genotoxicity, chlorophyll a and cell density endpoints. The cells were
      affected at all concentrations of the biocides (0.05-2mg/L), showing dose
      dependent decrease in viability and increase in DNA damage. The treated cells
      were later incubated in filtered seawater devoid of biocide to check for
      recovery. The cells were able to recover in terms of overall viability and DNA
      damage, when they had been initially treated with low concentrations of the
      biocides (0.5mg/L of Cl2 or 0.2mg/L of ClO2). Chlorophyll a analysis showed
      irreparable damage at all concentrations, while cell density showed increasing
      trend of reduction, if treated above 0.5mg/L of Cl2 and 0.2mg/L of ClO2. The data
      indicated that in C. lorenzianus, cumulative toxic effects and recovery potential
      of ClO2 up to 0.2mg/L were comparable with those of Cl2, up to 0.5mg/L
      concentration in terms of the studied endpoints. The results indicate that at the
      biocide levels currently being used at power stations, recovery of the organism
      is feasible upon return to ambient environment. Similar studies should be carried
      out on other planktonic and benthic organisms, which will be helpful in the
      formulation of future guidelines for discharge of upcoming antifouling biocides
      such as chlorine dioxide.

PMID- 28601523
TI  - Effect of Grinding on the Solid-State Stability and Particle Dissolution of
      Acyclovir Polymorphs.
AB  - The present work investigated the solid state change of 4 acyclovir polymorphs
      when ground at room temperature (Method A) and under cryo-grinding in the
      presence of liquid nitrogen (Method B). Modifications in particle size and shape
      (evaluated by scanning electron microscopy) and in the water content (evaluated
      by thermal analysis) were related to transitions at the solid state, as confirmed
      by X-ray powder diffractometry. Anhydrous Form I was stable under grinding by
      both Methods A and B. The anhydrous Form II was stable during grinding under
      Method A, whereas it was progressively converted to the hydrate Form V during
      grinding under Method B. The hydrate Form V was stable under Method A, whereas it
      was converted to the anhydrous Form I after 15 min and then to the hydrate Form
      VI after 45 min of grinding. The hydrate Form VI proved to be stable under
      grinding by both Methods A and B. Thus, Form I and VI were the only forms that
      yielded a sizeable decrease in particle size under grinding, with a consequent
      increase in particle dissolution rate, while maintaining solid state
      physicochemical stability. Form I treated under Method B grinding gave the best
      dissolution rate.

PMID- 28601524
TI  - Rifampin Stability and Solution Concentration Enhancement Through Amorphous Solid
      Dispersion in Cellulose omega-Carboxyalkanoate Matrices.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is a deadly infectious disease; approximately 2 billion people
      are currently latently infected with the causative agent Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis. Approximately 8 million new active cases and 2 million deaths due
      to TB are recorded annually.1 Rifampin (Rif) is a vital first-line TB treatment
      drug. Its effectiveness is hampered by the high dose required (600 mg 1*/day) and
      by its moderate, variable bioavailability. These issues can be explained by Rif
      instability at gastric pH, limited solubility at neutral pH, polymorphism, and
      stimulation of its own metabolism. To overcome these obstacles, we developed new
      cellulose-based oral drug delivery systems aiming to increase and make more
      consistent Rif solubility and bioavailability. Amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs)
      of Rif with cellulose omega-carboxyalkanoates (cellulose acetate suberate,
      cellulose acetate propionate adipate, and cellulose acetate butyrate sebacate)
      were prepared and compared with crystalline Rif (negative) and carboxymethyl
      cellulose acetate butyrate ASD (positive) controls. Cellulose omega
      carboxyalkanoate ASDs prevented acid-catalyzed degradation in conditions
      mimicking the acidic stomach and provided complete release of intact Rif at
      intestinal pH. Rif incorporation into ASD in these novel cellulose derivative
      matrices creates the potential for convenient, robust, consistent, and high Rif
      oral bioavailability for treatment of TB.

PMID- 28601525
TI  - Anti-mycobacterial alkaloids, cyclic 3-alkyl pyridinium dimers, from the
      Indonesian marine sponge Haliclona sp.
AB  - Three new dimeric 3-alkyl pyridinium alkaloids, named haliclocyclamines A-C (1
      3), were isolated together with five known congeners, cyclostellettamines A (4),
      B (5), C (6), E (7), and F (8), from the Indonesian marine sponge Haliclona sp.
      The structures of 1-3 were assigned based on their spectroscopic data (1D and 2D
      NMR, HRFABMS, ESIMS/MS, UV, and IR). Compounds 1-8 exhibited antimicrobial
      activities against Mycobacterium smegmatis with inhibition zones of 17, 10, 13,
      14, 8, 8, 12, and 12mm, respectively, at 10MUg/disc. Compounds 3 and 8 also
      modestly inhibited the activity of vaccinia H-1-related phosphatase (VHR), a dual
      specificity phosphatase, at 17-18MUM.

PMID- 28601526
TI  - In vitro studies on the inhibition of colon cancer by amino acid derivatives of
      bromothiazole.
AB  - The investment in cancer research is critical to find more and better treatments,
      but essentially to save lives. Here, we describe the synthesis and
      characterization on new bromothiazole derivatives with amino acids and with core
      of nitazoxanide, an FDA-approved antiprotozoal drug. Using a human adenocarcinoma
      derived cell line (the Caco-2 cell line), we then investigated the
      antiproliferative (3H-thymidine incorporation) and cytotoxic (extracellular
      lactate dehydrogenase activity) effect of these derivatives. All the derivatives
      caused a concentration-dependent decrease in cell proliferation and viability. At
      their highest concentration, all compounds were able to reduce 3H-thymidine
      incorporation by more than 80%, corresponding to a more marked antiproliferative
      effect than butyrate. As to their cytotoxic effect, it was comparable to that of
      butyrate. The ability of bromo substituent in thiazole ring with new sequences of
      amino acids in inducing cell death and apoptosis in Caco-2 cells (and other cell
      lines) is now being studied.

PMID- 28601527
TI  - Spatial distortion related to time compression during spatiotemporal production
      in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - To produce coordinated manual actions within specific space and time, their
      relationship must be properly dealt with in a sensorimotor system. This study
      examined how such a coordination system might be impaired in normal aging and in
      Parkinson's disease (PD). Using a tablet device, young participants, elderly
      participants, and patients with PD were tested for concurrent production of
      distance and duration as well as single production of distance or duration alone.
      Results were analyzed in relation to deficiency of presynaptic dopamine
      transporter (DaT) in the striatum. We observed different patterns of impairment
      between normal aging and PD. Elderly participants exhibited duration
      overproduction when they had to produce distance and duration concurrently, but
      were normal in single production of either distance or duration. In contrast, PD
      patients exhibited normal distance production and marked underproduction of
      duration when either distance or duration was produced alone, but both duration
      and distance were underproduced when they were concurrently produced. These
      findings suggest that aging yields impaired performances in both elderly people
      and PD patients, but that temporal underproduction in PD patients entrains
      spatial production as if the distance to be produced were made consistent with
      their duration underproduction. We also observed that striatal DaT deficit was
      correlated with the extent of duration underproduction in PD patients. The
      deficit may be associated with the severe time compression and the entrainment
      during spatiotemporal production in PD patients.

PMID- 28601528
TI  - Novel Areas for Prevention and Control of Canine Leishmaniosis.
AB  - There have been multiple recent advances regarding tools for the control and
      prevention of canine leishmaniosis (CanL), including new preventative vaccines.
      In this review, these advances are evaluated based on control targets, including
      vector and parasite. Leishvet recommendations are provided for control practices
      based on the dog's risk of infection. New topical insecticide formulations have
      proven to be effective in preventing sand fly bites, and subsequently infection.
      Parasite control occurs through chemotherapeutic or immunologic means, which
      decrease or prevent transmission to other animals, including humans.
      Leishmaniosis control programs that include a combination of coordinated
      measures, either in individuals or for prevention across reservoir populations,
      are required.

PMID- 28601531
TI  - Sheep as a large animal ear model: Middle-ear ossicular velocities and
      intracochlear sound pressure.
AB  - Animals are frequently used for the development and testing of new hearing
      devices. Dimensions of the middle ear and cochlea differ significantly between
      humans and commonly used animals, such as rodents or cats. The sheep cochlea is
      anatomically more like the human cochlea in size and number of turns. This study
      investigated the middle-ear ossicular velocities and intracochlear sound pressure
      (ICSP) in sheep temporal bones, with the aim of characterizing the sheep as an
      experimental model for implantable hearing devices. Measurements were made on
      fresh sheep temporal bones. Velocity responses of the middle ear ossicles at the
      umbo, long process of the incus and stapes footplate were measured in the
      frequency range of 0.25-8 kHz using a laser Doppler vibrometer system. Results
      were normalized by the corresponding sound pressure level in the external ear
      canal (PEC). Sequentially, ICSPs at the scala vestibuli and tympani were then
      recorded with custom MEMS-based hydrophones, while presenting identical acoustic
      stimuli. The sheep middle ear transmitted most effectively around 4.8 kHz, with a
      maximum stapes velocity of 0.2 mm/s/Pa. At the same frequency, the ICSP
      measurements in the scala vestibuli and tympani showed the maximum gain relative
      to the PEC (24 dB and 5 dB, respectively). The greatest pressure difference
      across the cochlear partition occurred between 4 and 6 kHz. A comparison between
      the results of this study and human reference data showed middle-ear resonance
      and best cochlear sensitivity at higher frequencies in sheep. In summary, sheep
      can be an appropriate large animal model for research and development of
      implantable hearing devices.

PMID- 28601530
TI  - Spectro-temporal cues enhance modulation sensitivity in cochlear implant users.
AB  - Although speech understanding is highly variable amongst cochlear implants (CIs)
      subjects, the remarkably high speech recognition performance of many CI users is
      unexpected and not well understood. Numerous factors, including neural health and
      degradation of the spectral information in the speech signal of CIs, likely
      contribute to speech understanding. We studied the ability to use spectro
      temporal modulations, which may be critical for speech understanding and
      discrimination, and hypothesize that CI users adopt a different perceptual
      strategy than normal-hearing (NH) individuals, whereby they rely more heavily on
      joint spectro-temporal cues to enhance detection of auditory cues. Modulation
      detection sensitivity was studied in CI users and NH subjects using broadband
      "ripple" stimuli that were modulated spectrally, temporally, or jointly, i.e.,
      spectro-temporally. The spectro-temporal modulation transfer functions of CI
      users and NH subjects was decomposed into spectral and temporal dimensions and
      compared to those subjects' spectral-only and temporal-only modulation transfer
      functions. In CI users, the joint spectro-temporal sensitivity was better than
      that predicted by spectral-only and temporal-only sensitivity, indicating a
      heightened spectro-temporal sensitivity. Such an enhancement through the combined
      integration of spectral and temporal cues was not observed in NH subjects. The
      unique use of spectro-temporal cues by CI patients can yield benefits for use of
      cues that are important for speech understanding. This finding has implications
      for developing sound processing strategies that may rely on joint spectro
      temporal modulations to improve speech comprehension of CI users, and the
      findings of this study may be valuable for developing clinical assessment tools
      to optimize CI processor performance.

PMID- 28601529
TI  - Functional studies on the role of Notch signaling in Hydractinia development.
AB  - The function of Notch signaling was previously studied in two cnidarians, Hydra
      and Nematostella, representing the lineages Hydrozoa and Anthozoa, respectively.
      Using pharmacological inhibition in Hydra and a combination of pharmacological
      and genetic approaches in Nematostella, it was shown in both animals that Notch
      is required for tentacle morphogenesis and for late stages of stinging cell
      maturation. Surprisingly, a role for Notch in neural development, which is well
      documented in bilaterians, was evident in embryonic Nematostella but not in adult
      Hydra. Adult neurogenesis in the latter seemed to be unaffected by DAPT, a drug
      that inhibits Notch signaling. To address this apparent discrepancy, we studied
      the role of Notch in Hydractinia echinata, an additional hydrozoan, in all life
      stages. Using CRISPR-Cas9 mediated mutagenesis, transgenesis, and pharmacological
      interference we show that Notch is dispensable for Hydractinia normal
      neurogenesis in all life stages but is required for the maturation of stinging
      cells and for tentacle morphogenesis. Our results are consistent with a conserved
      role for Notch in morphogenesis and nematogenesis across Cnidaria, and a lineage
      specific loss of Notch dependence in neurogenesis in hydrozoans.

PMID- 28601532
TI  - Genetics of Atrial Fibrillation: State of the Art in 2017.
AB  - Genetic variation is an important determinant of atrial fibrillation (AF)
      susceptibility. Numerous rare variants in protein-coding sequences of genes have
      been associated with AF in families and in early-onset cases, and chromosomal
      loci harbouring common risk variants have been mapped in AF cohorts. Many of
      these loci are in non-coding regions of the human genome and are thought to
      contain regulatory sequences that modulate gene expression. Disease genes
      implicated to date have predominantly encoded cardiac ion channels, with
      predicted mutation effects on the atrial action potential duration. More recent
      studies have expanded the spectrum of disease-associated genes to include
      myocardial structural components and have highlighted an unsuspected role for
      cardiac transcription factors. These paradigm-shifting discoveries suggest that
      abnormalities of atrial specification arising during cardiac development might
      provide a template for AF in later adult life. With the escalating pace of
      variant discovery, there is an increasing need for mechanistic studies not only
      to evaluate single variants, but also to determine the collective effects of each
      person's burden of rare and common genetic variants, co-morbidities and lifestyle
      factors on the atrial substrate for arrhythmogenesis. Elucidation of an
      individual's genetic predisposition and modifiable environmental risk factors
      will facilitate personalised approaches to AF treatment.

PMID- 28601533
TI  - NSAID Use and Cardiovascular Disease - A Cautionary Tale.

PMID- 28601534
TI  - Perioperative complications following bariatric surgery according to the clavien
      dindo classification. Score validation, literature review and results in a single
      centre series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no unified system for reporting surgical complications after
      bariatric surgery. One increasingly used system for notifying postoperative
      complications is the Clavien-Dindo classification, which focuses on their
      therapeutic implications. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to validate and
      apply the Clavien-Dindo scale to a series of cases of bariatric surgery and
      systematically review its use worldwide. SETTING: University hospital. METHODS: A
      cohort of 321 patients with morbid obesity (Mean BMI: 45.4+/-5.5 kg/m2) underwent
      surgery by the same team of surgeons, fundamentally using a laparoscopic gastric
      bypass. Initially, the Clavien-Dindo scale was translated and validated for its
      acceptability and reproducibility using the Kappa index. The scale was then
      applied to the whole of the bariatric series. A systematic review was also
      conducted in the literature regarding the use of the Clavien-Dindo classification
      after bariatric surgery. Lastly, a comparison was made with our results. RESULTS:
      The classification was validated without any difficulty. Most of the
      postoperative complications are grades I (8.4%) and III (7.8%). We found it used
      in 15 series (including our own), which accounts for 10,347 patients. The overall
      results are analogous to our series. CONCLUSIONS: The Clavien-Dindo scale has
      been validated and translated into Spanish. Application is quick and simple and
      enables comparisons to be made between centers and series. Our results are
      similar to those reported by other authors.

PMID- 28601535
TI  - Origins of the Belief in Good True Selves.
AB  - Despite differences in beliefs about the self across cultures and relevant
      individual differences, recent evidence suggests that people universally believe
      in a 'true self' that is morally good. We propose that this belief arises from a
      general tendency: psychological essentialism (PE).

PMID- 28601536
TI  - Leaps of Faith: A Reply to Everaert et al.

PMID- 28601537
TI  - Trigeminocardiac Reflex as the Presentation of Maxillary Sinus Adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 28601538
TI  - More than a Mite Contagious: Crusted Scabies.

PMID- 28601539
TI  - It's Complicated: Parvovirus B19 in Thalassemia.

PMID- 28601540
TI  - Atrial Fibrillation in Anaphylaxis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between anaphylaxis and cardiovascular events has
      been reported in the past. While skin and respiratory symptoms are usually the
      most common and the first to appear, cardiovascular complications play a key role
      and represent the leading cause of death in anaphylaxis. METHODS: We report 3
      episodes of atrial fibrillation triggered by anaphylaxis. Allergy and cardiology
      studies were performed. In both patients, the etiological agent was identified:
      Anisakis simplex hypersensitivity and food allergy. RESULTS: The heart is the
      source and target of chemical mediators released during an allergic reaction. In
      the heart, there are plenty of mast cells, and they are predominantly located
      around the coronary adventitia and in close contact with small vessels in the
      muscle wall. The release of mediators can influence ventricular function, heart
      rate, and coronary artery tone. Anaphylaxis can trigger any kind of arrhythmia.
      In these cases, the very interesting point of discussion was: which should be
      first, treating anaphylaxis or cardiac events? The other controversial point was
      the use of epinephrine, the first line of treatment for anaphylaxis.
      Recommendations about epinephrine in cardiac patients during an anaphylactic
      event are still a major dilemma. CONCLUSIONS: We emphasize the importance of the
      priority of establishing protocols between cardiologist and allergist in
      treatment of cardiac complications during anaphylaxis, and we warn about the
      correct diagnosis of arrhythmias in anaphylaxis in order to treat them as soon as
      possible, to prevent other consequences and complications.

PMID- 28601541
TI  - Long-Term Peritoneal Dialysis May Result in Vascular Changes Within the
      Peritoneal Cavity, Leading to Reduced Efficacy of Intravenous Antibiotics in
      Treatment of Bacterial Peritonitis.

PMID- 28601542
TI  - The Signs Aligned: Nonuremic Calciphylaxis.

PMID- 28601543
TI  - Smoke and Mirrors: Moyamoya Syndrome.

PMID- 28601544
TI  - Not so Obvious: Acute Herpes Esophagitis.

PMID- 28601545
TI  - Red Yeast Rice Preparations: Are They Suitable Substitutions for Statins?
AB  - Red yeast rice, a commercially available food supplement known to reduce serum
      cholesterol, has been repeatedly advocated as alternative therapy for
      hypercholesterolemic patients that refuse statins, cannot tolerate statin
      therapy's side effects, or request a "naturopathic" medicine. Red yeast rice
      contains a fungus (Monascus purpureus), which was utilized in the original
      production of lovastatin (MEVACOR, Merck & Co, Whitehouse Station, NJ), the first
      marketed pharmaceutical statin, and is chemically identical to such product.
      Their identical properties account for the similarity in therapeutic and side
      effects of red yeast rice and lovastatin. The red yeast rice ingredient that
      blocks cholesterol production is monacolin K. Because red yeast rice preparations
      have large variability in monacolin K content, predicting or understanding dose
      related efficacy and side-effect risks of red yeast rice is practically
      impossible. The lipid-regulating potency of red yeast rice in commercial
      preparations was found to be extensively different according to the number or
      concentration of monacolin K they possess. Furthermore, more than one type of
      monacolin was found in different preparations (or batches) of red yeast rice.
      Other ingredients found in red yeast rice are also known to be potentially toxic.
      The US Food and Drug Administration issued warnings to consumers in 2007 and in
      2013 against taking red yeast rice products due to the lack of assurance about
      its efficacy, safety, and lack of standardized preparation methods. This article
      discusses my clinical trial results with red yeast rice, reviews the literature
      on its therapeutic and side effects, and discusses why red yeast rice is not an
      acceptable substitution for statins.

PMID- 28601546
TI  - Influences of Obesity and Bariatric Surgery on the Clinical and Pharmacologic
      Profile of Rivaroxaban.
AB  - The health implications of obesity are myriad and multifaceted. Physiologic
      changes associated with obesity can affect the absorption, distribution,
      metabolism, and excretion of administered drugs, thereby altering their
      pharmacologic profiles. In 2016, the Scientific and Standardization Committee of
      the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis published recommendations
      about the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in obese patients. This
      guidance provides uniform recommendations for all DOACs, yet data suggest that
      individual agents may be affected to different degrees by obesity. Moreover,
      there are no recommendations currently available to guide DOAC use in bariatric
      surgery patients, in whom anatomic and physiologic changes to the digestive
      system can influence drug pharmacokinetics. Our review of the available
      literature indicates that the clinical profile of the DOAC rivaroxaban is not
      affected by high weight or bariatric surgery; hence, it does not appear that
      rivaroxaban dosing needs to be altered in these patient populations.

PMID- 28601547
TI  - Intranasal Condyloma Acuminatum with Malignant Transformation.

PMID- 28601548
TI  - Comparative study between different simple methods manipulating ratio spectra for
      the analysis of alogliptin and metformin co-formulated with highly different
      concentrations.
AB  - Different simple spectrophotometric methods were developed for simultaneous
      determination of alogliptin and metformin manipulating their ratio spectra with
      successful application on recently approved combination, Kazano(r) tablets.
      Spiking was implemented to detect alogliptin in spite of its low contribution in
      the pharmaceutical formulation as low quantity in comparison to metformin.
      Linearity was acceptable over the concentration range of 2.5-25.0MUg/mL and 2.5
      15.0MUg/mL for alogliptin and metformin, respectively using derivative ratio,
      ratio subtraction coupled with extended ratio subtraction and spectrum
      subtraction coupled with constant multiplication. The optimized methods were
      compared using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and proved to be accurate for
      assay of the investigated drugs in their pharmaceutical dosage form.

PMID- 28601549
TI  - How to prevent type 2 diabetes in women with previous gestational diabetes? A
      systematic review of behavioural interventions.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Women with previous gestational diabetes (GDM) have a seven times
      higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) than women without. We aimed to
      review the evidence of effective behavioural interventions seeking to prevent
      T2DM in this high-risk group. METHODS: A systematic review of RCTs in several
      databases in March 2016. RESULTS: No specific intervention or intervention
      components were found superior. The pooled effect on diabetes incidence (four
      trials) was estimated to: -5.02 per 100 (95% CI: -9.24; -0.80). CONCLUSIONS: This
      study indicates that intervention is superior to no intervention in prevention of
      T2DM among women with previous GDM.

PMID- 28601550
TI  - Treating 'Devil's Breath' intoxication: Use of rivastigmine in six patients with
      toxic psychoses due to non pharmaceutical scopolamine.

PMID- 28601551
TI  - Patients with post-essential thrombocythemia and post-polycythemia vera differ
      from patients with primary myelofibrosis.
AB  - Prognostic scoring systems for primary myelofibrosis (PMF) are not accurate in
      patients with post-essential thrombocythemia and post-polycythemia vera
      myelofibrosis (PET-MF; PPV-MF). Given the paucity of data describing the clinical
      characteristics, disease course and outcomes of these patients, we sought to
      describe and compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of 755 patients
      with PMF, 181 with PPV-MF, and 163 with PET-MF referred to our institution
      between 1984 and 2013. The median follow-up was 31 months, and 56% (n=616)
      patients had died. Over an observation period of 3502 person-years, 11% of
      patients had progression to AML, with similar rates among groups. The proportion
      of patients with transfusion dependency (higher in PMF), leukocytosis and
      systemic symptoms (higher in PPV-MF), and thrombocytopenia (higher in PMF, PPV
      MF) differed among groups. Median overall survival (OS) was longest in PET-MF
      patients (73 mo vs 45 mo (PMF) vs 48 mo (PPV-MF), p <0.001). Stratification of OS
      by DIPSS was only discriminatory in patients with PMF, and it failed to
      distinguish higher risk patients with PPV/PET-MF. In multivariate analysis,
      predictors of inferior OS were higher age, anemia, systemic symptoms,
      thrombocytopenia, and high peripheral blasts in PMF; age, anemia, and systemic
      symptoms for PPV-MF; and anemia, peripheral blasts and thrombocytopenia in PET
      MF. Although the clinical characteristics of PPV/PET-MF patients are not
      substantially different from those with PMF, their outcomes differ and prognostic
      scoring systems for PET/PPV-MF should be improved.

PMID- 28601552
TI  - Deletion of P2 promoter of GJB1 gene a cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
AB  - X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is the second most common cause of
      CMT, and is usually caused by mutations in the gap junction protein beta 1 (GJB1)
      gene. This gene has nerve specific P2 promoter that work synergistically with
      SOX10 and EGR2 genes to initiate transcription. Mutation in this region is known
      to cause Schwann cell dysfunction. A single large family of X linked peripheral
      neuropathy was identified in our practice. Next generation sequencing for
      targeted panel assay identified an upstream exon-splicing deletion identified
      extending from nucleotide c.-5413 to approximately - c.-49. This matches the
      sequence of 32 nucleotides at positions c.*218-*249 in the 3'UTR downstream of
      the GJB1 gene. The deleted fragment included the entire P2 promoter region. The
      deletion segregated with the disease. To our knowledge a deletion of the P2
      promoter alone as a cause of CMT has not been reported previously.

PMID- 28601554
TI  - Eosinophils in COPD: just another biomarker?
AB  - Eosinophils are innate immune cells that, under certain conditions, can be
      recruited to the lungs, where they have an incompletely understood role in health
      and disease. Eosinophils have been found in the airways, tissues, and circulation
      of patients with COPD, during both stable disease and exacerbations.
      Epidemiological studies and post-hoc analyses of clinical trials of
      corticosteroid treatment for COPD have shown that the blood eosinophil count is
      associated with the risk of COPD exacerbations, mortality, decline in FEV1, and
      response to both inhaled and systemic corticosteroids. Further studies are
      urgently needed to explore the contribution of eosinophils to the mechanism of
      disease in COPD and to identify their association with levels of clinical risk.
      In this review, we explore the role of the eosinophil as a biomarker and mediator
      of disease in COPD.

PMID- 28601553
TI  - Skeletal muscle water T2 as a biomarker of disease status and exercise effects in
      patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine exercise effects on muscle water T2 in
      patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In 12 DMD subjects and 19
      controls, lower leg muscle fat (%) was measured by Dixon and muscle water T2 and
      R2 (1/T2) by the tri-exponential model. Muscle water R2 was measured again at 3
      hours after an ankle dorsiflexion exercise. The muscle fat fraction was higher in
      DMD participants than in controls (p < .001) except in the tibialis posterior
      muscle. Muscle water T2 was measured independent of the degree of fatty
      degeneration in DMD muscle. At baseline, muscle water T2 was higher in all but
      the extensor digitorum longus muscles of DMD participants than controls (p <
      .001). DMD participants had a lower muscle torque (p < .001) and exerted less
      power (p < .01) during exercise than controls. Nevertheless, muscle water R2
      decreased (T2 increased) after exercise from baseline in DMD subjects and
      controls with greater changes in the target muscles of the exercise than in ankle
      plantarflexor muscles. Skeletal muscle water T2 is a sensitive biomarker of the
      disease status in DMD and of the exercise response in DMD patients and controls.

PMID- 28601555
TI  - Comparison of skin decontamination efficacy of commercial decontamination
      products following exposure to VX on human skin.
AB  - The decontamination efficacy of four commercially available skin decontamination
      products following exposure to the nerve agent VX was evaluated in vitro
      utilizing a diffusion cell and dermatomed human skin. The products included were
      Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL), the Swedish decontamination powder
      104 (PS104), the absorbent Fuller's Earth and the aqueous solution alldecontMED.
      In addition, various decontamination procedures were assessed to further
      investigate important mechanisms involved in the specific products, e.g.
      decontamination removal from skin, physical removal by sponge swabbing and
      activation of degradation mechanisms. The efficacy of each decontamination
      product was evaluated 5 or 30 min after dermal application of VX (neat or diluted
      to 20% in water). The RSDL-lotion was superior in reducing the penetration of VX
      through human skin, both when exposed as neat agent and when diluted to 20% in
      water. Swabbing with the RSDL-sponge during 2 min revealed decreased efficacy
      compared to applying the RSDL-lotion directly on the skin for 30 min.
      Decontamination with Fuller's Earth and alldecontMED significantly reduced the
      penetration of neat concentration of VX through human skin. PS104-powder was
      insufficient for decontamination of VX at both time-points, independently of the
      skin contact time of PS104. The PS104-slurry (a mixture of PS104-powder and
      water), slightly improved the decontamination efficacy. Comparing the time-points
      for initiated decontamination revealed less penetrated VX for RSDL and Fuller's
      Earth when decontamination was initiated after 5 min compared to 30 min post
      exposure, while alldecontMED displayed similar efficacy at both time-points.
      Decontamination by washing with water only resulted in a significant reduction of
      penetrated VX when washing was performed 5 min after exposure, but not when
      decontamination was delayed to 30 min post-exposure of neat VX. In conclusion,
      early initiated decontamination with the RSDL-lotion, containing both absorption
      and degrading properties, allowed to act on skin for 30 min was superior in
      preventing VX from penetrating human skin. Adding water during decontamination
      resulted in increased penetration of neat VX, however, water in the decontaminant
      removal process did not influence the decontamination efficacy. From our study on
      commercially available decontaminants, it is recommended that future product
      developments should include both strong absorbents and efficient nerve agent
      degrading components.

PMID- 28601556
TI  - Cannabidiol upregulates melanogenesis through CB1 dependent pathway by activating
      p38 MAPK and p42/44 MAPK.
AB  - Melanogenesis plays a critical role in the protection of skin against external
      stresses such as ultraviolet irradiation and oxidative stressors. This study was
      aimed to investigate the effects of cannabidiol on melanogenesis and its
      mechanisms of action in human epidermal melanocytes. We found that cannabidiol
      increased both melanin content and tyrosinase activity. The mRNA levels of
      microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, tyrosinase
      related protein (TRP) 1, and TRP2 were increased following cannabidiol treatment.
      Likewise, cannabidiol increased the protein levels of MITF, TRP 1, TRP 2, and
      tyrosinase. Mechanistically, we found that cannabidiol regulated melanogenesis by
      upregulating MITF through phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
      (MAPK) and p42/44 MAPK, independent of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)
      protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. In addition, the melanogenic effect of
      cannabidiol was found to be mediated by cannabinoid CB1 receptor, not by CB2
      receptor. Taken together, these findings indicate that cannabidiol-induced
      melanogenesis is cannabinoid CB1 receptor-dependent, and cannabidiol induces
      melanogenesis through increasing MITF gene expression which is mediated by
      activation of p38 MAPK and p42/44 MAPK. Our results suggest that cannabidiol
      might be useful as a protective agent against external stresses.

PMID- 28601557
TI  - Emamectin benzoate induces ROS-mediated DNA damage and apoptosis in Trichoplusia
      Tn5B1-4 cells.
AB  - Emamectin benzoate (EMB), a novel macrocyclic lactone insecticide, possesses high
      efficacy and beneficial selective toxicity in agriculture, but so far the EMB
      induced cytotoxic action in arthropod insect remains unclear. The present studies
      were carried out to characterize the property of EMB on the induction of reactive
      oxygen species (ROS)-mediated DNA damage and apoptosis in Trichoplusia Tn5B1-4
      cell model. Following the exposure to EMB at 2.5, 5, 10 or 15 MUM, the cells
      changed to be round, suspended and aggregated, and the decline of cell
      proliferating ability and cell viability was positively related with the exposure
      time. Median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of EMB on cell viability was 3.72
      MUM during 72 h exposure. Apoptosis was induced in 29.8% (24 h) and 39.5% (48 h)
      of the cells by EMB at 15 MUM, showing chromatin condensation in nuclei. The
      content of ROS in the cells increased rapidly as the concentration of EMB
      increased, and the pre-incubation of the cells with vitamin E significantly
      reduced the ROS accumulation. In the treatment of 15 MUM EMB, the migrated cell
      nucleus with DNA strand breaks appeared a teardrop, pear-shaped, or large fan
      like tail, and 63.1% of gammaH2AX-positive cells contained more than four foci,
      accompanying with high expression level of caspase-3 in time-dependent manner,
      which consequently led to cell apoptotic death. These evidences in ROS-mediated
      DNA damage and cell apoptosis induced by EMB may be helpful for deep
      understanding the cytotoxic action of EMB based on cell model.

PMID- 28601558
TI  - Systematic Quantification of Population Cell Death Kinetics in Mammalian Cells.
AB  - Cytotoxic compounds are important drugs and research tools. Here, we introduce a
      method, scalable time-lapse analysis of cell death kinetics (STACK), to quantify
      the kinetics of compound-induced cell death in mammalian cells at the population
      level. STACK uses live and dead cell markers, high-throughput time-lapse imaging,
      and mathematical modeling to determine the kinetics of population cell death over
      time. We used STACK to profile the effects of over 1,800 bioactive compounds on
      cell death in two human cancer cell lines, resulting in a large and freely
      available dataset. 79 potent lethal compounds common to both cell lines caused
      cell death with widely divergent kinetics. 13 compounds triggered cell death
      within hours, including the metallophore zinc pyrithione. Mechanistic studies
      demonstrated that this rapid onset lethal phenotype was caused in human cancer
      cells by metabolic disruption and ATP depletion. These results provide the first
      comprehensive survey of cell death kinetics and analysis of rapid-onset lethal
      compounds.

PMID- 28601560
TI  - Stochastic Modeling Yields a Mechanistic Framework for Spindle Attachment Error
      Correction in Budding Yeast Mitosis.
AB  - Proper segregation of the replicated genome requires that kinetochores form and
      maintain bioriented, amphitelic attachments to microtubules from opposite spindle
      poles and eliminate erroneous, syntelic attachments to microtubules from the same
      spindle pole. Phosphorylation of kinetochore proteins destabilizes low-tension
      kinetochore-microtubule attachments, yet tension stabilizes bioriented
      attachments. This conundrum for forming high-tension amphitelic attachments is
      recognized as the "initiation problem of biorientation (IPBO)." A delay before
      kinetochore-microtubule detachment solves the IPBO, but it lacks a mechanistic
      framework. We developed a stochastic mathematical model for kinetochore
      microtubule error correction in yeast that reveals: (1) under low chromatin
      tension, requiring a large number of phosphorylation events at multiple sites to
      achieve detachment provides the necessary delay; and (2) kinetochore-induced
      microtubule depolymerization generates tension in amphitelic, but not syntelic,
      attachments. With these requirements, the model provides a mechanistic framework
      for the delay before detachment to solve the IPBO and demonstrates the high
      degree of amphitely observed experimentally for wild-type spindles under optimal
      conditions.

PMID- 28601559
TI  - An Optimized Shotgun Strategy for the Rapid Generation of Comprehensive Human
      Proteomes.
AB  - This study investigates the challenge of comprehensively cataloging the complete
      human proteome from a single-cell type using mass spectrometry (MS)-based shotgun
      proteomics. We modify a classical two-dimensional high-resolution reversed-phase
      peptide fractionation scheme and optimize a protocol that provides sufficient
      peak capacity to saturate the sequencing speed of modern MS instruments. This
      strategy enables the deepest proteome of a human single-cell type to date, with
      the HeLa proteome sequenced to a depth of ~584,000 unique peptide sequences and
      ~14,200 protein isoforms (~12,200 protein-coding genes). This depth is comparable
      with next-generation RNA sequencing and enables the identification of post
      translational modifications, including ~7,000 N-acetylation sites and ~10,000
      phosphorylation sites, without the need for enrichment. We further demonstrate
      the general applicability and clinical potential of this proteomics strategy by
      comprehensively quantifying global proteome expression in several different human
      cancer cell lines and patient tissue samples.

PMID- 28601561
TI  - The 3DBiopsy Prostate Biopsy System: Preclinical Investigation of a Needle,
      Actuator, and Specimen Collection Device Allowing Sampling of Individualized
      Prostate Lengths Between 20 and 60 mm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To increase the likelihood of detecting anterior cancers within the
      prostate and provide a specimen that spans the length of the gland. Newly
      designed 17- and 15-gauge (G) biopsy needles, a variable actuator, and an
      integrated pathology system intended for the longer cores were developed and
      tested for this purpose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Testing was performed comparing 2
      common cannula tip grinds, a Vet-point (sharp tip) and a Menghini-point
      (atraumatic tip), and were tested against 18-G Bard Monopty in porcine kidney. A
      variable actuator was developed to fire the needle 20-60 mm and tested in cadaver
      prostates. RESULTS: The aggregate firings for 3 different shot lengths comparing
      the Vet- with the Menghini-tip cannulas demonstrated 91% vs 85.2% fill (length of
      specimen/length of core bed, P = .007). A 15-G trocar needle with the Vet-tip
      cannula also had the best performance, with an aggregate standard deviation of
      6.4% across 3 firing ranges and a minimum to maximum specimen length of 81%-105%
      of potential fill. Cadaver testing with the Vet-tip needles in the actuator for
      the transrectal (17-G) and transperineal (15-G) biopsies demonstrated mean fills
      of 93.3% and 76.5%, respectively. The new transrectal ultrasound needle obtained
      a 2-fold increase in specimen length over the standard Bard device (P <.001).
      CONCLUSION: Longer and consistent cores were obtained using the new biopsy
      needles. Combined with an adjustable actuator, the physician can obtain specimens
      that include peripheral and anterior zone tissue in 1 core. Determination of
      cancer location on the longer specimens could enhance focal therapy planning.

PMID- 28601562
TI  - Patterns of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Are
      Correlated With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Continence in Men Undergoing a
      Robot-assisted Radical Prostatectomy for Prostate Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between benign prostatic hyperplasia
      (BPH) patterns, classified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with lower
      urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) or continence, preoperatively and after robot
      assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      retrospective study included 49 prostate cancer patients, with prostate size >47
      cm3, who underwent an endorectal MRI followed by RARP. Five BPH patterns were
      identified according to Wasserman, and additional prostate measurements were
      recorded. LUTS were assessed using the International Prostate Symptom Score and
      the PR25-LUTS-Questionnaire score. Continence was assessed using the
      International Consultation of Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form. RESULTS: BPH
      pattern 3 (44.9%) was identified most common, followed by pattern 5 (26.6%), 1
      (24.5%), and 2 and 4 (both 2%). BPH patterns were significant predictors of
      preoperative LUTS, with pedunculated with bilateral transition zone (TZ) and
      retrourethral enlargement (pattern 5) causing more severe symptoms compared with
      bilateral TZ and retrourethral enlargement (pattern 3) and bilateral TZ
      enlargement (pattern 1), whereas pattern 3 was additionally associated with more
      voiding symptoms compared with pattern 1. None of the BPH patterns was predictive
      of postoperative LUTS and continence. Independent predictors of continence at 12
      months were lower preoperative PR25-LUTS score (P = .022) and longer membranous
      urethral length (P = .025). CONCLUSION: MRI is useful for classifying patients in
      BPH patterns which are strongly associated with preoperative LUTS. However, BPH
      patterns did not predict remnant LUTS or postoperative incontinence.
      Postoperative continence status was only associated with preoperative LUTS and
      membranous urethra length.

PMID- 28601563
TI  - Biophysical characterization of influenza A virions.
AB  - Antigenic drift of the influenza A virus requires that vaccine production is
      targeted to the strains circulating each year. Live-attenuated influenza A
      vaccine manufacturing is used to produce intact virions with the surface antigens
      of the circulating strains. Influenza A typically contains a large percentage
      (>90%) of non-infective virions. The ribonucleoprotein (RNP) content, virion
      structure, and aggregation are factors that are thought to have an impact on
      infectivity. However, these factors are difficult to study because of the
      intrinsic variability in virion size, shape and overall structural integrity.
      Negative stain TEM for total particle counts and cryoTEM for detailed
      size/structural analysis are established benchmark techniques for virus
      characterization. Other methods may be valuable for certain sample types or
      circumstances. The aim of this work is to establish a benchmark comparison
      between orthogonal biophysical techniques for particle counts, population size
      distribution, structural integrity, and aggregate levels. NTA and FFF-MALS
      rapidly provided total counts, size distribution, and aggregate/elongated virion
      content. CryoTEM with size analysis and fraction counting yielded detailed
      information about the pleomorphism of the sample. The structural integrity of
      virions was inferred from multi-signal AUC-SV and CryoTEM. The current work
      provides a comparative assessment and a baseline for the selection of biophysical
      tools for the determination of particle counts, aggregation and pleomorphic
      characteristics of influenza A virus.

PMID- 28601564
TI  - Angle of gaze and optic flow direction modulate body sway.
AB  - Optic flow is a crucial signal in maintaining postural stability. We sought to
      investigate whether the activity of postural muscles and body sway was modulated
      by eye position during the view of radial optic flow stimuli. We manipulated the
      spatial distribution of dot speed and the fixation point position to simulate
      specific heading directions combined with different gaze positions. The
      experiments were performed using stabilometry and surface electromyography (EMG)
      on 24 right-handed young, healthy volunteers. Center of pressure (COP) signals
      were analyzed considering antero-posterior and medio-lateral oscillation, COP
      speed, COP area, and the prevalent direction of oscillation of body sway. We
      found a significant main effect of body side in all COP parameters, with the
      right body side showing greater oscillations. The different combinations of optic
      flow and eye position evoked a non-uniform direction of oscillations in females.
      The EMG analysis showed a significant main effect for muscle and body side. The
      results showed that the eye position modulated body sway without changing the
      activity of principal leg postural muscles, suggesting that the extraretinal
      input regarding the eye position is a crucial signal that needs to be integrated
      with perceptual optic flow processing in order to control body sway.

PMID- 28601565
TI  - Gait analysis of young male patients diagnosed with primary bladder neck
      obstruction.
AB  - Primary bladder neck obstruction (PBNO) represents an inappropriate or inadequate
      relaxation of the bladder neck during micturition. Based on the observation of an
      increased rate of postural imbalances in male patients with PBNO, we hypothesized
      a possible role of an unbalanced biomechanics of the pelvis on urethral
      sphincters activity. Our aim was to identify kinematic imbalances, usually
      disregarded in PBNO patients, and which could eventually be involved in the
      etiopathogenesis of the disease. Seven male adult patients (39.6+/-7.1years) were
      recruited; in all patients, PBNO was suspected at bladder diary and uroflowmetry,
      and was endoscopically confirmed with urethroscopy. Participants gait was
      recorded with a motion capture system (BTS Spa, Italy) to obtain three
      dimensional joint angles and gait parameters. Multivariate statistics based on a
      Principal Component model allowed to assess the similarity of patients' gait
      patterns with respect to control subjects. The main finding is that patients with
      PBNO showed significant discordance in the observations at the ankle and pelvis
      level. Additionally, 6/7 patients demonstrated altered trunk positions compared
      to normal curves. We suggest that the identified postural imbalances could
      represent the cause for an anomalous activation of pelvic floor muscles
      (hypertonia). The consequent urinary sphincters hypercontraction may be
      responsible for the development of voiding dysfunction in male patients with no
      significant morphological alterations. Results reinforced the hypothesis of an
      etiopathogenetic role of postural imbalances on primary bladder neck obstruction
      in male patients.

PMID- 28601566
TI  - Larvae act as a transient transmission hub for the prevalent bumblebee parasite
      Crithidia bombi.
AB  - Disease transmission networks are key for understanding parasite epidemiology.
      Within the social insects, structured contact networks have been suggested to
      limit the spread of diseases to vulnerable members of their society, such as the
      queen or brood. However, even these complex social structures do not provide
      complete protection, as some diseases, which are transmitted by workers during
      brood care, can still infect the brood. Given the high rate of feeding
      interactions that occur in a social insect colony, larvae may act as disease
      transmission hubs. Here we use the bumblebee Bombus terrestris and its parasite
      Crithidia bombi to determine the role of brood in bumblebee disease transmission
      networks. Larvae that were artificially inoculated with C. bombi showed no signs
      of infection seven days after inoculation. However, larvae that received either
      an artificial inoculation or a contaminated feed from brood-caring workers were
      able to transmit the parasite to naive workers. These results suggest that the
      developing brood is a potential route of intracolonial disease transmission and
      should be included when considering social insect disease transmission networks.

PMID- 28601569
TI  - Epidemiology of traumatic brain injury older inpatients in Chinese military
      hospitals, 2001-2007.
AB  - The incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among older people has been
      significantly increased. Understanding the epidemiological characteristics, the
      causes of injury and the outcomes of TBI among older people provides value
      evidence for designing preventative measures and therapeutic interventions for
      TBI. In this study, using ICD-9-CM codes in the Chinese Trauma Database, we
      identified inpatients aged 65years and older diagnosed with TBI between 2001 and
      2007 in Chinese military hospitals. Demographic characteristics, admission time,
      injury cause, injury severity, length of stay, hospitalization costs, and
      outcomes were systematically described. In total, 13,802 inpatients with TBI
      (63.13% males and 36.87% females) were identified from over 200 Chinese military
      hospitals. TBI diagnoses increased by a mean yearly rate of 7.78%; the annual
      admission peaked during the third quarter of the year, October in particular. The
      leading causes of TBI were motor vehicle traffic (48.37%) and fall-related
      incidents (38.89%). The severity of TBI in older inpatients was classified by the
      Abbreviated Injury Scale as minor (24.31%), serious (19.37%), severe (37.95%),
      and critical (18.37%). The mean length of stay was 17.87+/-23.31days, the median
      hospitalization cost was US$795, and the case fatality rate was 9.38%. These data
      substantiate that the design and implementation of proven and cost-effective
      preventive measures focusing on the leading causes of TBI in this population is
      essential.

PMID- 28601568
TI  - Intraoperative serum lactate is not a predictor of survival after glioblastoma
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer cells can produce lactate in high concentrations. Two previous
      studies examined the clinical relevance of serum lactate as a biomarker in
      patients with brain tumors. Patients with high-grade tumors have higher serum
      concentrations of lactate than those with low-grade tumors. We hypothesized that
      serum lactic could be used of biomarker to predictor of survival in patients with
      glioblastoma (GB). METHODS: This was a retrospective study. Demographic, lactate
      concentrations and imaging data from 275 adult patients with primary GB was
      included in the analysis. The progression free survival (PFS) and overall
      survival (OS) rates were compared in patients who had above and below the median
      concentrations of lactate. We also investigated the correlation between lactate
      concentrations and tumor volume. Multivariate analyses were conducted to test the
      association lactate, tumor volume and demographic variables with PFS and OS.
      RESULTS: The median serum concentration of lactate was 2.3mmol/L. A weak
      correlation was found between lactate concentrations and tumor volume. Kaplan
      Meier curves demonstrated similar survival in patients with higher or lower than
      2.3mmol/L of lactate. The multivariate analysis indicated that the intraoperative
      levels of lactate were not independently associated with changes in survival. On
      another hand, a preoperative T1 volume was an independent predictor PFS (HR
      95%CI: 1.41, 1.02-1.82, p=0.006) and OS (HR 95%CI: 1.47, 1.11-1.96, p=0.006).
      CONCLUSION: This retrospective study suggests that the serum concentrations of
      lactate cannot be used as a biomarker to predict survival after GB surgery. To
      date, there are no clinically available serum biomarkers to determine prognosis
      in patients with high-grade gliomas. These tumors may produce high levels of
      lactic acid. We hypothesized that serum lactic could be used of biomarker to
      predictor of survival in patients with glioblastoma (GB). In this study, we
      collected perioperative and survival data from 275 adult patients with primary
      high-grade gliomas to determine whether intraoperative serum acid lactic
      concentrations can serve as a marker of prognosis. The median serum concentration
      of lactate was 2.3mmol/L. Our analysis indicated the intraoperative levels of
      lactate were not independently associated with changes in survival. This
      retrospective study suggests that the serum concentrations of lactate cannot be
      used as a biomarker to predict survival after GB surgery.

PMID- 28601567
TI  - Impact of evidence-based interventions on wound complications after cesarean
      delivery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of evidence-based interventions have been proposed to reduce
      post-cesarean delivery wound complications. Examples of such interventions
      include appropriate timing of preoperative antibiotics, appropriate choice of
      skin antisepsis, closure of the subcutaneous layer if subcutaneous depth is >=2
      cm, and subcuticular skin closure with suture rather than staples. However, the
      collective impact of these measures is unclear. OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate
      the impact of a group of evidence-based surgical measures (prophylactic
      antibiotics administered before skin incision, chlorhexidine-alcohol for skin
      antisepsis, closure of subcutaneous layer, and subcuticular skin closure with
      suture) on wound complications after cesarean delivery and to estimate residual
      risk factors for wound complications. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a secondary
      analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial of chlorhexidine-alcohol vs
      iodine-alcohol for skin antisepsis at cesarean delivery from 2011-2015. The
      primary outcome for this analysis was a composite of wound complications that
      included surgical site infection, cellulitis, seroma, hematoma, and separation
      within 30 days. Risk of wound complications in women who received all 4 evidence
      based measures (prophylactic antibiotics within 60 minutes of cesarean delivery
      and before skin incision, chlorhexidine-alcohol for skin antisepsis with 3
      minutes of drying time before incision, closure of subcutaneous layer if >=2 cm
      of depth, and subcuticular skin closure with suture) were compared with those
      women who did not. We performed logistic regression analysis limited to patients
      who received all the evidence-based measures to estimate residual risk factors
      for wound complications and surgical site infection. RESULTS: Of 1082 patients
      with follow-up data, 349 (32.3%) received all the evidence-based measures, and
      733 (67.7%) did not. The risk of wound complications was significantly lower in
      patients who received all the evidence-based measures compared with those who did
      not (20.3% vs 28.1%; adjusted relative risk, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.58
      0.95). The impact appeared to be driven largely by a reduction in surgical site
      infections. Among patients who received all the evidence-based measures,
      unscheduled cesarean delivery was the only significant risk factor for wound
      complications (27.5% vs 16.1%; adjusted relative risk, 1.71; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.12-2.47) and surgical site infection (6.9% vs 1.6%; relative risk,
      3.74; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-11.92). Other risk factors, which include
      obesity, smoking, diabetes mellitus, chorioamnionitis, surgical experience, and
      skin incision type, were not significant among patients who received all of the 4
      evidence-based measures. CONCLUSION: Implementation of evidence-based measures
      significantly reduces wound complications, but the residual risk remains high,
      which suggests the need for additional interventions, especially in patients who
      undergo unscheduled cesarean deliveries, who are at risk for wound complications
      even after receiving current evidence-based measures.

PMID- 28601571
TI  - Intrasellar dermoid cyst mimicking pituitary apoplexy: A case report and review
      of the literature.
AB  - Intrasellar dermoid cysts are extremely unusual lesions, with only four cases
      reported to date, and have not been previously reported in association with
      sudden-onset symptoms. Here, we present the case of an intrasellar dermoid cyst
      with sudden-onset symptoms mimicking pituitary apoplexy in an elderly woman. A
      69year-old woman presented with sudden onset of headache, dizziness, and
      decreased visual acuity. Magnetic resonance imaging of the sellar region showed
      an intrasellar lesion, which showed mixed hyper- and hypointense signal on T1
      weighted and T2-weighted images and enhanced peripherally. Endocrine workup
      showed pituitary hormones within normal levels. According to these findings, the
      initial diagnosis of nonsecreting pituitary macroadenoma apoplexy was made.
      Intraoperatively, a large amount of whitish-yellow purulent material was found in
      the mass and the lesion was partially removed, owing to tight adhesion between
      remanent mass and surrounding neurovascular structures. Pathology showed a
      dermoid cyst with abundant neutrophil infiltrations.

PMID- 28601570
TI  - Agreement among neuropsychological and behavioral data and PiB findings in
      diagnosing Frontotemporal Dementia.
AB  - Diagnostic inaccuracies have been reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and
      Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) using clinical data alone. The [11C]-PiB PET scan
      offers a new method of identifying AD based on the detection of amyloid deposits.
      Our study investigated whether there was an agreement between neuropsychological
      and behavioral data and PiB findings in the diagnosis of FTD. Participants were
      32 patients diagnosed with suspected FTD by clinical consensus. All participants
      underwent neuropsychological testing and PiB imaging. In addition, caregivers
      completed behavioral ratings of participants' memory, frontal behaviors, and
      mood. Seventeen participants were classified as PiB positive (+). Results of
      MANOVA and subsequent ANOVA analyses showed a significant difference on memory
      performance between the PiB- and PiB+groups, with the PiB- group performing
      better than the PiB+group. There were no significant differences between the
      groups on cognitive or behavioral measures of executive/frontal impairment, mood.
      Both groups showed similar severity of dementia. These findings provide evidence
      for the utility of the [11C]-PiB PET scan in distinguishing between AD and FTD,
      with evaluation of memory at clinical diagnosis serving as a valuable indicator
      of the absence of FTD and consideration for an AD diagnosis. Our results would
      support the concern that patients who may present with primary behavioral or
      executive dysfunction may not necessarily have FTD, particularly if memory
      deficits are evident.

PMID- 28601572
TI  - Corpus callosum atrophy as a marker of clinically meaningful cognitive decline in
      secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Impact on employment status.
AB  - Cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is more frequent and pronounced
      in secondary progressive MS (SPMS). Cognitive decline is an important predictor
      of employment status in patients with MS. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
      markers have been used to associate tissue damage with cognitive dysfunction. The
      aim of the study was to designate the MRI marker that predicts cognitive decline
      in SPMS and explore its effect on employment status. 30 SPMS patients and 30
      healthy participants underwent neuropsychological assessment using the Trail
      Making Test (TMT) parts A and B, semantic and phonological verbal fluency task
      and a computerized cognitive screening battery (Central Nervous System Vital
      Signs). Employment status was obtained as a quality of life measure. Brain MRI
      was performed in all participants. We measured total lesion volume, third
      ventricle width, thalamic and corpus callosum atrophy. The frequency of cognitive
      decline for our SPMS patients was 80%. SPMS patients differed significantly from
      controls in all neuropsychological measures. Corpus callosum area was correlated
      with cognitive flexibility, processing speed, composite memory, executive
      functions, psychomotor speed, reaction time and phonological verbal fluency task.
      Processing speed and composite memory were the most sensitive markers for
      predicting employment status. Corpus callosum area was the most sensitive MRI
      marker for memory and processing speed. Corpus callosum atrophy predicts a
      clinically meaningful cognitive decline, affecting employment status in our SPMS
      patients.

PMID- 28601573
TI  - Upregulation of cyclin B1 plays potential roles in the invasiveness of pituitary
      adenomas.
AB  - Predicting aggressive or malignant behavior of pituitary adenomas (PAs) remains
      challenging. Aberrant expression of cyclin B1 (CCNB1) occurred in various tumors
      including PAs. Our study was aimed to explore its roles in the development of PAs
      aggressiveness. According to the integrated analysis, the expression of CCNB1 was
      evaluated. Following bioinformatics analysis was performed to uncover the
      pathways CCNB1 involved in and the upstream transcriptional regulation factors.
      The mRNA expression of CCNB1 was verified by qRT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry
      analysis was conducted to examine the expression of CCNB1 protein in three groups
      of PAs (non-invasive, invasive and aggressive-invasive). In this study, CCNB1 was
      up-regulated in PAs versus normal pituitary. Functional annotation revealed CCNB1
      was mainly involved in p53 signaling pathway and cell cycle, which affected
      proliferation and contributed to tumorigenesis. The constructed transcriptional
      regulatory network contained 22 upstream transcriptional factors for CCNB1.
      Moreover, the network also suggested the interactions between CCNB1 and other
      genes implicated in proliferation (BUB1, CDC25C and TTK). Immunohistochemistry
      showed staining of CCNB1 was positive in PAs, and its expression was gradually
      enhanced with the increased invasiveness. In conclusion, up-regulation of CCNB1,
      together with other regulatory molecules in cell cycle, may play roles in the PAs
      pathology and could be an indicator for invasiveness of PAs.

PMID- 28601574
TI  - Localization of the trunk muscles using musculoskeletal ultrasound guidance for
      pedicle screw stimulation during spine surgery.
AB  - The precise placement of recording electrodes at the relevant myotome is
      mandatory while performing pedicle screw stimulation (PSS) during spine surgery;
      however, their placement at trunk muscles is challenging. This study aimed to
      determine whether ultrasound guidance is useful for trunk muscle localization for
      PSS during spine surgery. A retrospective clinical study was conducted from a
      prospective database. Eighty-four patients eligible for spine surgery were
      recruited. Ultrasound was used to localize the intercostal, rectus abdominis, and
      internal oblique and psoas muscles if pedicle screw placement was performed at T3
      to L1. After the operation, patients were examined for any new neurological
      deficits related to this procedure, and computed tomography was performed to
      check screw position if indicated. Four to 22 pedicle screws were used for spinal
      fixation. The threshold of stimulus to obtain a compound muscle action potential
      ranged from 1.29 to >20mA during PSS. Six of our patients sustained new
      postoperative deficits, and only one case was related directly to pedicel screw
      misplacement. Loss of motor evoked potential (MEP) over both the lower limbs was
      noted during pedicle screw placement, and the stimulus threshold during PSS were
      1.29mA at the left T9 and 3.8mA at the right T5 level. MEP remained absent at the
      end of surgery despite removal of those two screws. The patient woke with
      significant weakness in both lower limbs (muscle power 0/0) and voiding
      difficulty. Fortunately, he regained walking ability 4.5months later after
      intensive rehabilitation therapy.

PMID- 28601575
TI  - A novel mutation in ABCD1 unveils different clinical phenotypes in a family with
      adrenoleukodystrophy.
AB  - X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is the most common peroxisomal disorder.
      The disease is the consequence of mutations in the ABCD1 gene that encodes the
      peroxisomal membrane protein ALDP which is involved in the transmembrane
      transport of very long-chain fatty acids. We describe a family with six members
      carrying a novel heterozygous mutation IVS4+2T>A (c.1393+2T>A) of the ABCD1 gene,
      highlighting the wide range of phenotypic manifestations of ALD and the
      importance of genetic screening before any pregnancy in asymptomatic women whose
      carrier status is unknown.

PMID- 28601576
TI  - Real-time monitoring of microdistribution of antibody-photon absorber conjugates
      during photoimmunotherapy in vivo.
AB  - Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is an emerging low side effect cancer therapy based on a
      monoclonal antibody (mAb) conjugated with a near-infrared (NIR) phthalocyanine
      dye IRDye 700DX. IR700 is fluorescent, can be used as an imaging agent, and also
      is phototoxic. It induces rapid cell death after exposure to NIR light. PIT
      induces highly selective cancer cell death, while leaving most of tumor blood
      vessels unharmed, leading to an effect called super-enhanced permeability and
      retention (SUPR). SUPR significantly improves the effectiveness of the anticancer
      drug. Currently, the therapeutic effects of PIT are monitored using the IR700
      fluorescent signal based on macroscopic fluorescence reflectance imagery. This
      technique, however, lacks the resolution and depth information to reveal the
      intratumor heterogeneity of mAb-IR700 distribution. We applied a minimally
      invasive two-channel fluorescence fiber imaging system by combining the
      traditional fluorescence imaging microscope with two imaging fiber bundles
      (~0.85mm). This method monitored mAb-IR700 distribution and therapeutic effects
      during PIT at different intratumor locations (e.g., tumor surface vs. deep tumor)
      in situ and in real time simultaneously. This enabled evaluation of the
      therapeutic effects in vivo and treatment regimens. The average IR700
      fluorescence intensity recovery after PIT to the tumor surface is 91.50%, while
      it is 100.63% in deep tumors. To verify the results, two-photon microscopy
      combined with a microprism was also used to record the mAb-IR700 distribution and
      fluorescence intensity of green fluorescent protein (GFP) at different tumor
      depths during PIT. After PIT treatment, there was significantly higher IR700
      fluorescence recovery in deep tumor than in the tumor surface. This phenomenon
      can be explained by increased vascular permeability immediately after NIR-PIT.
      Fluorescence intensity of GFP at the tumor surface decreased significantly more
      compared to that of deep tumor and in controls (no PIT).

PMID- 28601577
TI  - Impact of faecal microbiota transplantation to eradicate vancomycin-resistant
      enterococci (VRE) colonization in humans.

PMID- 28601578
TI  - Impact of different catalysis supported by oyster shells on the pyrolysis of tyre
      wastes in a single and a double fixed bed reactor.
AB  - The treatment and disposal of tyres from vehicles has long been of considerable
      environmental importance. Studies have been undertaken to reduce their
      environmental impact. In this study, an alternative gas was produced from
      automobile tyre wastes by the means of a controlled pyrolysis. To do so, a novel
      catalytic system was designed with the aim of increasing the rate of conversion
      and improving the quality of the pyrolysis products. This work aimed also to
      reduce the severity of the overall reactions, by using powder catalysts (MgO,
      Al2O3, CaCO3, and zeolite ZSM-5) uniformly distributed on two layers of oyster
      shells (OS) particles. The catalyst/tyres mass ratio was kept for all the tests
      at 1/30. The pyrolysis reactor was maintained at 500 degrees C and the influence
      of each catalyst and of the number of shell beds (0, 1 or 2), on the yield and
      composition of the derived products, was examined. The gas yields could
      contribute by 1.2% of total consumption in Tunisia. Furthermore, some
      combinations could upgrade the derived gas and made it possible to use it as such
      or with the minimum of post-treatment. It was found that, with the use of
      supported catalyst, the gas produced is 45% greater compared to classical thermal
      pyrolysis. The Heating value of the produced gas was also improved by the use of
      supported catalysts; it was found 16% greater with the use of Al2O3/OS compared
      to non-catalytic pyrolysis. When compared to the gas obtained from only one
      catalytic supported bed, the sulfur content was reduced by 80% with the use of
      CaCO3/OS on two catalytic beds.

PMID- 28601579
TI  - Screw pyrolysis technology for sewage sludge treatment.
AB  - Sewage sludge quantities have grown continuously since the introduction of the
      European Directive (UWWTD 91/271/EEC) relating to the treatment of urban
      wastewater. In the present, most of the sewage sludge is combusted in single
      fuels incineration plants or is co-fired in waste incineration or coal power
      plants. The combustion of sewage sludge is a proven technology. Other treatments,
      such as fluidized bed gasification, were successfully adopted to produce suitable
      syngas for power production. Besides, the number of large wastewater treatment
      plants is relatively small compared to the local rural ones. Moreover,
      alternative technologies are arising with the main target of nutrients recovery,
      with a special focus on phosphorus. The aforementioned issues, i.e. the small
      scale (below 1MW) and the nutrients recovery, suggest that pyrolysis in screw
      reactors may become an attractive alternative technology for sewage sludge
      conversion, recovery and recycling. In this work, about 100kg of dried sewage
      sludge from a plant in Germany were processed at the newly developed STYX
      Reactor, at KIT. The reactor combines the advantages of screw reactors with the
      high temperature filtration, in order to produce particle and ash free vapors and
      condensates, respectively. Experiments were carried out at temperatures between
      350 degrees C and 500 degrees C. The yield of the char decreased from 66.7wt.% to
      53.0wt.%. The same trend was obtained for the energy yield, while the maximum
      pyrolysis oil yield of 13.4wt.% was obtained at 500 degrees C. Besides mercury,
      the metals and the other minerals were completely retained in the char. Nitrogen
      and sulfur migrated from the solid to the condensate and to the gas,
      respectively. Based on the energy balance, a new concept for the decentral
      production of char as well as heat and power in an externally fired micro gas
      turbine showed a cogeneration efficiency up to about 40%.

PMID- 28601580
TI  - Protein recovery from solubilized sludge by hydrothermal treatments.
AB  - New alternatives for sludge management have been developed in recent years, with
      hydrothermal treatments being one of the most attractive ones. Even though many
      studies have been made on the application of hydrothermal treatments as pre
      treatment or end-line technologies for sludge stabilisation and/or minimization,
      there is a lack of knowledge about the products generated during the process and
      its characteristics. This information is a crucial step for the assessment of the
      recovery of valuable products of the sludge, mainly proteins, humic acids and
      carbohydrates, which can considerably improve the economic balance of the
      hydrothermal treatment. This work assesses, for the first time, the potential of
      hydrothermally hydrolysed sludge as renewable source for proteins recovery. For
      this purpose, firstly, the concentrations and properties of the main soluble
      biopolymers generated during the hydrothermal treatment, either in presence (wet
      oxidation, WO) or absence (thermal hydrolysis, TH) of oxygen, were measured,
      determining the reaction time necessary for a maximum solubilisation. Peak
      concentrations of 7.7g/l (0.291g/gVSSo) of proteins for WO and 7.2g/l
      (0.272g/gVSSo) for TH, were achieved at 87min of experiment. Afterwards,
      different separation methods, usually applied at industrial scale, were assessed
      for the separation of protein from the hydrolysed sludge, in terms of protein
      recovery and selectivity. Ammonium sulphate addition was found to be the best
      separation method, achieving 87% and 86% of protein recovery for TH and WO
      samples respectively, and the highest selectivity. Although further studies are
      required in order to achieve complete protein purification, a new perspective in
      sludge management is now open, by recovering valuable compounds.

PMID- 28601581
TI  - Characterization of organic compounds in biochars derived from municipal solid
      waste.
AB  - Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has been growing in many countries, which
      has led to numerous environmental problems. Converting MSW into a valuable
      biochar-based by-product can manage waste and, possibly, improve soil fertility,
      depending on the soil properties. In this study, MSW-based biochars, collected
      from domestic waste materials and kerbsides in two Sydney's regions, were
      composted and pyrolysed at 450 degrees C, 550 degrees C and 650 degrees C. The
      characteristics of the organic components and their interactions with mineral
      phases were investigated using a range of analytical techniques, with special
      attention given to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metal
      concentrations. The MSW biochar prepared at 450 degrees C contained the most
      complex organic compounds. The highest concentration of fixed C, indicating the
      stability of biochar, was detected in the high-temperature-biochar. Microscopic
      analysis showed development of pores and migration of mineral phases, mainly
      Ca/P/O-rich phases, into the micro-pores and Si/Al/O-rich phases on the surface
      of the biochar in the MSW biochar produced at 550 degrees C. Amalgamation of
      organic phases with mineral compounds was observed, at higher pyrolysis
      temperatures, indicating chemical reactions between these two phases at 650
      degrees C. XPS analysis showed the main changes occurred in C and N bonds. During
      heat treatment, N-C/C=N functionalities decomposed and oxidized N configurations,
      mainly pyridine-N-oxide groups, were formed. The majority of the dissolved
      organic carbon fraction in both MSW biochar produced at 450 degrees C and 550
      degrees C was in the form of building blocks, whereas LMW acids was the main
      fraction in high-temperature-biochar (59.9%).

PMID- 28601582
TI  - Research digest: topical trials in thyroid disease.

PMID- 28601583
TI  - Should we officially recognise obesity as a disease?

PMID- 28601584
TI  - The need for improved diabetes care in India.

PMID- 28601586
TI  - Evaluating Structural Progression of Retinitis Pigmentosa After Cataract Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether cataract surgery accelerates disease progression in
      retinitis pigmentosa (RP). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Seventy
      eyes of 40 patients with RP were categorized as having had phacoemulsification
      with intraocular lens implantation vs no cataract surgery at a single tertiary
      level institution. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) was used
      to measure the ellipsoid zone (EZ) width, which has been demonstrated to be a
      reliable marker of RP severity, at baseline and throughout follow-up (median 768
      days). RP progression was calculated as the loss of EZ width over time for all
      patients. Additional postoperative data were collected for the cataract surgery
      group, including preoperative and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity,
      incidence of macular edema, posterior capsular opacification, epiretinal
      membrane, and intraocular lens subluxation. RESULTS: Multivariable analysis
      including age, baseline EZ width, mode of inheritance, and cataract surgery
      status showed that there was no significant difference in RP progression between
      the cataract surgery and control groups (P = .23). Mode of inheritance was
      associated with RP progression, with autosomal recessive RP progressing at 148
      MUm/year and autosomal dominant RP progressing at 91 MUm/year (P = .003). Visual
      acuity improved in almost all eyes that underwent surgery (17/19, 89%) and
      remained stable in remaining eyes (2/19, 11%). There was a high incidence of
      postsurgical posterior capsular opacification (18/19, 95%). There were no serious
      complications, such as lens subluxation or endophthalmitis. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that cataract surgery is a safe and effective means of improving
      visual acuity in RP patients and that it does not seem to be associated with
      faster disease progression as measured using SDOCT.

PMID- 28601587
TI  - Cholinergic input to the hippocampus is not required for a model of episodic
      memory in the rat, even with multiple consecutive events.
AB  - Previous work has shown that depletion of the cholinergic input to the
      hippocampus produces no impairment in an episodic (what-where-which) memory task
      in rats. However, in contrast a where-which task was significantly impaired.
      Models of acetylcholine function related to pattern separation were used to
      explain this result. Recent development of spontaneous recognition tasks to
      assess multiple trials consecutively in the same testing session allow an
      opportunity to assess whether an increase in interference produces an impairment
      in the episodic memory task using the same cholinergic lesion. By increasing the
      number of trials happening consecutively the proactive interference between
      events being remembered increases, with the prediction that a reduction in
      pattern separation as a result of reduced acetylcholine in the hippocampus would
      now produce an impairment in this task. We show that a continual trials approach
      to the episodic memory task has no impact on the effects of cholinergic depletion
      of the hippocampus, with effects mirroring those from using just one trial a day
      approaches to these tasks. We suggest that pattern separation models of
      acetylcholine function can still explain our findings, but with an apparent
      emphasis on context-specific locations rather than all types of memory.

PMID- 28601588
TI  - Identifying high risk loading conditions for in-season injury in elite Australian
      football players.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine different timeframes for calculating acute to chronic
      workload ratio (ACWR) and whether this variable is associated with intrinsic
      injury risk in elite Australian football players. DESIGN: Prospective cohort
      study. METHODS: Internal (session rating of perceived exertion: sRPE) and
      external (GPS distance and sprint distance) workload and injury data were
      collected from 70 players from one AFL club over 4 seasons. Various acute (1-2
      weeks) and chronic (3-8 weeks) timeframes were used to calculate ACWRs: these and
      chronic load categories were then analysed to determine the injury risk in the
      subsequent month. Poisson regression with robust errors within a generalised
      estimating equation were utilised to determine incidence rate ratios (IRR).
      RESULTS: Altering acute and/or chronic timeframes did not improve the ability to
      detect high injury risk conditions above the commonly used 1:4 week ACWR. Twenty
      seven ACWR/chronic load combinations were found to be "high risk conditions"
      (IRR>1, p<0.05) for injury within 7 days. Most (93%) of these conditions occurred
      when chronic load was low or very low and ACWR was either low (<0.6) or high
      (>1.5). Once a high injury risk condition was entered, the elevated risk
      persisted for up to 28 days. CONCLUSIONS: Injury risk was greatest when chronic
      load was low and ACWR was either low or high. This heightened risk remained for
      up to 4 weeks. There was no improvement in the ability to identify high injury
      risk situations by altering acute or chronic time periods from 1:4 weeks.

PMID- 28601589
TI  - SHARPSports mental Health Awareness Research Project: Prevalence and risk factors
      of depressive symptoms and life stress in elite athletes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our study aims to estimate the prevalence of symptoms of depression
      and daily life hassles in elite athletes. DESIGN: A cross-sectional prospective
      epidemiological study design. METHODS: An online anonymous survey was
      administered during a 2-month period from May to July 2015. Athletes 18 years of
      age (or older) who were members of the High Performance Sport New Zealand
      programme were invited to participate. Of 370 potential participants, 187
      completed responses were received (51%). Symptoms of depression were measured by
      the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R). Life
      stress was measured by the Daily Hassles Questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall 21%
      (n=39) of participants reported symptoms consistent with depression. Only 2 of
      the 39 athletes were currently taking an anti-depressant medication. Those
      contemplating retirement, partaking in individual sport, and who were less than
      25 years old had significantly increased odds of experiencing depression.
      Reported life stressors were higher in females, in those who play an individual
      sport and those in a centralised programme. There was a significant correlation
      between higher levels of life stress and experiencing depressive symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that depressive symptoms are prevalent in
      elite athletes with multiple potential risk factors identified including high
      life stress. These variables warrant further exploration to enable the early
      identification of athletes with depressive symptoms, screening and support for
      elite athletes.

PMID- 28601585
TI  - Prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes in 15 states of India: results from the
      ICMR-INDIAB population-based cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have not adequately captured the heterogeneous
      nature of the diabetes epidemic in India. The aim of the ongoing national Indian
      Council of Medical Research-INdia DIABetes study is to estimate the national
      prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes in India by estimating the prevalence by
      state. METHODS: We used a stratified multistage design to obtain a community
      based sample of 57 117 individuals aged 20 years or older. The sample population
      represented 14 of India's 28 states (eight from the mainland and six from the
      northeast of the country) and one union territory. States were sampled in a
      phased manner: phase I included Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, and
      Maharashtra, sampled between Nov 17, 2008, and April 16, 2010; phase II included
      Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Punjab, sampled between Sept 24,
      2012, and July 26, 2013; and the northeastern phase included Assam, Mizoram,
      Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur, and Meghalaya, with sampling done between
      Jan 5, 2012, and July 3, 2015. Capillary oral glucose tolerance tests were used
      to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes in accordance with WHO criteria. Our methods
      did not allow us to differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The
      prevalence of diabetes in different states was assessed in relation to
      socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals and the per-capita gross domestic
      product (GDP) of each state. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to
      examine the association of various factors with the prevalence of diabetes and
      prediabetes. FINDINGS: The overall prevalence of diabetes in all 15 states of
      India was 7.3% (95% CI 7.0-7.5). The prevalence of diabetes varied from 4.3% in
      Bihar (95% CI 3.7-5.0) to 10.0% (8.7-11.2) in Punjab and was higher in urban
      areas (11.2%, 10.6-11.8) than in rural areas (5.2%, 4.9-5.4; p<0.0001) and higher
      in mainland states (8.3%, 7.9-8.7) than in the northeast (5.9%, 5.5-6.2;
      p<0.0001). Overall, 1862 (47.3%) of 3938 individuals identified as having
      diabetes had not been diagnosed previously. States with higher per-capita GDP
      seemed to have a higher prevalence of diabetes (eg, Chandigarh, which had the
      highest GDP of US$ 3433, had the highest prevalence of 13.6%, 12.8-15.2). In
      rural areas of all states, diabetes was more prevalent in individuals of higher
      SES. However, in urban areas of some of the more affluent states (Chandigarh,
      Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu), diabetes prevalence was higher in people with lower
      SES. The overall prevalence of prediabetes in all 15 states was 10.3% (10.0
      10.6). The prevalence of prediabetes varied from 6.0% (5.1-6.8) in Mizoram to
      14.7% (13.6-15.9) in Tripura, and the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose was
      generally higher than the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance. Age, male
      sex, obesity, hypertension, and family history of diabetes were independent risk
      factors for diabetes in both urban and rural areas. INTERPRETATION: There are
      large differences in diabetes prevalence between states in India. Our results
      show evidence of an epidemiological transition, with a higher prevalence of
      diabetes in low SES groups in the urban areas of the more economically developed
      states. The spread of diabetes to economically disadvantaged sections of society
      is a matter of great concern, warranting urgent preventive measures. FUNDING:
      Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Health Research, Ministry of
      Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

PMID- 28601591
TI  - Diagnostic yield of capsule endoscopy in premenopausal and menopausal women with
      obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.

PMID- 28601590
TI  - Hepatoprotective effects of ethyl pyruvate against CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis
      via inhibition of TLR4/NF-kappaB signaling and up-regulation of MMPs/TIMPs ratio.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Liver fibrosis is a worldwide clinical issue. It has been
      well established that liver fibrosis is characterized of excessive extracellular
      matrix (ECM) deposition in chronically damaged livers. Accumulating evidences
      have suggested that ethyl pyruvate (EP) is a potential useful agent for
      preventing from hepatic injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      protective effects of the EP against liver fibrosis induced by carbon
      tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats. METHOD: Rats were randomly divided into control
      group, CCl4 group and CCl4+EP group, which with and without EP administration.
      Liver fibrosis was evaluated by serum biochemical parameters levels, Masson's
      trichromic staining and immunohistochemistry. Q-RTPCR was used to indicate genes
      expression. ELISA was used to detect proteins level. RESULTS: This study
      demonstrates that Toll-like receptors 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB)
      signal is an important regulator of liver fibrosis while TLR4/NF-kappaB mRNA and
      protein levels reduced during HSCs activation. In addition, down-regulated high
      mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) expression reduced NF-kappaB transcription and
      phosphorylation, which inhibited HSCs activation by blocking the TLR4 signal.
      Moreover, EP contributed to an increase in the ratio of matrix metalloproteinase
      (MMPs) to tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMPs), which might
      facilitate the degradation of the ECM. In CCl4-induced liver fibrosis rats,
      additional EP injection resulted in decreased ECM deposition and improved liver
      function. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the present findings indicated that EP might
      be an effective agent for anti-fibrotic therapy.

PMID- 28601592
TI  - Both men and women with functional gastrointestinal disorders suffer from a high
      incidence of sexual dysfunction.

PMID- 28601593
TI  - Detection of over 100 selenium metabolites in selenized yeast by liquid
      chromatography electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
AB  - The characterization of the selenometabolome of Selenized(Se)-yeast, that is the
      fraction of water soluble low-molecular weight Se-metabolites produced in Se
      yeast is of paramount interest to expand the knowledge on the composition of this
      food supplement. In this work, we have applied liquid chromatography electrospray
      time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS) to search for Se-species from the low
      molecular weight range fraction of the selenized yeast used for food supplements.
      Prior to LC-TOFMS, sample treatment consisted of ultrasound assisted water
      extraction followed by size exclusion fractionation assisted with off-line
      inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection of isotope 82Se. The
      fraction corresponding to low-molecular weight species was subjected to LC-TOFMS
      using electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode. The detection of the
      suspected selenized species has been based on the information obtained from
      accurate mass measurements of both the protonated molecules and fragments from in
      source CID fragmentation; along with the characteristic isotope pattern exhibited
      by the presence of Se. The approach enables the detection of 103 selenized
      species, most of them not previously reported, in the range from ca. 300-650Da.
      Besides the detection of selenium species, related sulphur derivate metabolites
      were detected based on the accurate mass shift due to the substitution of sulphur
      and selenium.

PMID- 28601594
TI  - Zinc oxide crystal whiskers as a novel sorbent for solid-phase extraction of
      flavonoids.
AB  - As a novel solid-phase extraction material, zinc oxide crystal whiskers were used
      to extract flavonoid compounds and showed good extraction abilities. X-ray
      diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray
      spectroscopy and surface area/pore volume characterized the sorbent. The zinc
      oxide was packed into a solid-phase extraction micro-column and its extraction
      ability was evaluated by four model flavonoid compounds. The sample loading and
      elution parameters were optimized and the zinc oxide based analytical method for
      flavonoids was established. It showed that the method has wide linearities from 1
      to 150MUg/L and low limits of detection at 0.25MUg/L. The relative standard
      deviations of a single column repeatability and column to column reproducibility
      were less than 6.8% and 10.6%. Several real samples were analyzed by the
      established method and satisfactory results were obtained. The interactions
      between flavonoids and zinc oxide were calculated and proved to be from the Van
      der Waals' forces between the 4p and 5d orbitals from zinc atom and the
      neighboring pi orbitals from flavonoid phenyl groups. Moreover, the zinc oxide
      crystal whiskers showed good stability and could be reused more than 50 times
      under the operation conditions. This work proves that the zinc oxide crystal
      whiskers are a good candidate for flavonoids enrichment.

PMID- 28601596
TI  - Isolated palatal tremor as unique clinical manifestation of SCA 18 due to a new
      mutation of IFRD1.

PMID- 28601595
TI  - Can quantum approaches benefit biology of decision making?
AB  - Human decision making has recently been focused in the emerging fields of quantum
      decision theory and neuroeconomics. The former discipline utilizes mathematical
      formulations developed in quantum theory, while the latter combines behavioral
      economics and neurobiology. In this paper, the author speculates on possible
      future directions unifying the two approaches, by contrasting the roles of
      quantum theory in the birth of molecular biology of the gene.

PMID- 28601597
TI  - In vitro studies on cytotoxicity of delaminated Ti3C2 MXene.
AB  - MXenes are a novel family of 2D materials, the biological activity of which has
      been largely unexplored. The present study, for the first time, shows some
      aspects of the in vitro toxicity of 2D sheets of Ti3C2 MXene. The Ti3AlC2 MAX
      phase was used in an expansion and delamination process to obtain Ti3C2 material
      in the form of 2D sheets. The obtained 2D material was characterized using SEM,
      TEM, DLS, XPS, and zeta potential. The biological activity of the MXene was
      determined on two normal (MRC-5 and HaCaT) and two cancerous (A549 and A375) cell
      lines. The cytotoxicity results indicated that the observed toxic effects were
      higher against cancerous cells compared to normal ones. The mechanisms of
      potential toxicity were also elucidated. It was shown that MXene may affect the
      occurrence of oxidative stress and, in consequence, the generation of reactive
      oxygen species (ROS). The results of the present study provide the principal
      knowledge to date regarding the biological activity of the MXenes; the lack of
      such knowledge is the major obstacle on the MXenes' road to further research and
      development on their applications in bioscience and biotechnology, e.g. as drug
      delivery systems.

PMID- 28601598
TI  - Deep sequencing reveals a global reprogramming of lncRNA transcriptome during
      EMT.
AB  - : Several studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may play an
      essential role in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), which is an important
      step in tumor metastasis; however, little is known about the global change of
      lncRNA transcriptome during EMT. To investigate how lncRNA transcriptome
      alterations contribute to EMT progression regulation, we deep-sequenced the whole
      transcriptome of MCF10A as the cells underwent TGF-beta-induced EMT. RESULTS:
      Deep-sequencing results showed that the long RNA transcriptome of MCF10A had
      undergone global changes as early as 8h after treatment with TGF-beta. The
      expression of 3403 known and novel lncRNAs, and 570 known and novel circRNAs were
      altered during EMT. To identify the key lncRNA-regulator, we constructed the co
      expression network and found all junction nodes in the network are lncRNAs. One
      junction node, RP6-65G23.5, was further verified as a key regulator of EMT.
      Intriguingly, we identified 216 clusters containing lncRNAs which were located in
      "gene desert" regions. The expressions of all lncRNAs in these clusters changed
      concurrently during EMT, strongly suggesting that these clusters might play
      important roles in EMT. Our study reveals a global reprogramming of lncRNAs
      transcriptome during EMT and provides clues for the future study of the molecular
      mechanism of EMT.

PMID- 28601599
TI  - Innervated dorsoradial perforator free flap: A reliable supermicrosurgery
      fingertip reconstruction technique.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study demonstrates the use of a modified free innervated DRAP
      flap utilizing the supermicrosurgery technique for fingertip reconstruction.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2010 to February 2014, 20 cases of fingertip
      reconstruction were performed using a short pedicle mini innervated transverse
      DRAP flap. The patients demographics, the mechanism of injury, the defect size
      and anatomical location, the source of pedicle vessels, the recipient vessels,
      the nerve branch used for innervation, the follow-up and sensation outcomes are
      reported. Three cases are presented demonstrating different anatomical fingertip
      injury reconstructions. RESULTS: 20 consecutive traumatic fingertip injuries (M:F
      14:6) were reconstructed with a free DRAP flap from the same hand. 6 index, 6
      middle, 5 ring and 3 little finger defects were included in this study. All
      procedures were performed under regional anaesthesia and sedation. There were no
      intra- or post-operative complications. The average operative time was 105 (85
      120) minutes. Each flap size was matching the size of the defects. All donor
      sites achieved primary closure and good cosmesis. The average follow-up was 12.8
      (6-28) months. Follow-up demonstrated a static two-point discrimination of the
      flaps with an average distance of 5.5 (4-7) mm. CONCLUSION: The innervated DRAP
      flap has proven to be an easy, reliable and effective sensate fingertip
      reconstruction option, utilizing the supermicrosurgery technique. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level IV, retrospective series.

PMID- 28601600
TI  - Preventing the complications of tissue expansion using fat grafting under
      expanded skin.

PMID- 28601601
TI  - Commentary on "Does intramuscular gluteal augmentation using implants affect
      sensitivity in the buttocks?"

PMID- 28601602
TI  - Abstinence environment contributes to age differences in reinstatement of cocaine
      seeking between adolescent and adult male rats.
AB  - RATIONALE: Extinction responding and cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking
      after 60-days of forced abstinence are attenuated in male rats that self
      administered cocaine during adolescence, compared with adults. Given that
      environmental enrichment during abstinence decreases reinstatement among adults,
      a possible explanation for attenuated reinstatement among adolescents is that
      standard pair-housing in prior studies creates a more stimulating environment for
      younger rats. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, we tested whether standard pair-housing is
      necessary for the attenuated reinstatement among adolescents by determining
      whether an impoverished environment during abstinence would increase
      reinstatement among adolescents, up to adult levels. Conversely, we also tested
      whether environmental enrichment could further decrease reinstatement among
      adolescents, and whether we could replicate effects of environmental enrichment
      to decrease reinstatement among adults down to adolescent levels (positive
      controls). METHODS: Adolescent and adult male Wistar rats self-administered
      cocaine intravenously for 12days (fixed ratio 1; 0.36mg/kg per infusion; 2h
      sessions). Rats were then moved into enriched (grouped, large cages, novel toys),
      standard (pair-housed, shoebox cages), or impoverished (isolated, hanging cages)
      housing conditions. After 60days, extinction and cue-induced reinstatement of
      cocaine seeking were tested, followed by drug-primed reinstatement (0, 5, 10mg/kg
      cocaine, i.p.). RESULTS: Consistent with previous results, extinction and cue
      induced reinstatement were attenuated in adolescent-onset groups compared with
      adults; this age difference also extended to drug-primed reinstatement. In
      support of the present hypothesis, an impoverished environment during abstinence
      increased reinstatement among adolescents to levels that were not different from
      adult standard-housing levels. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that abstinence
      environment influences the enduring effects of cocaine among adolescents as well
      as adults.

PMID- 28601603
TI  - Enhanced classical complement pathway activation and altered phagocytosis
      signaling molecules in human epilepsy.
AB  - Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation is widely associated with seizures and
      epilepsy. Although microglial cells are professional phagocytes, less is known
      about the status of this phenotype in epilepsy. Recent evidence supports that
      phagocytosis-associated molecules from the classical complement (C1q-C3) play
      novel roles in microglia-mediated synaptic pruning. Interestingly, in human and
      experimental epilepsy, altered mRNA levels of complement molecules were reported.
      Therefore, to identify a potential role for complement and microglia in the
      synaptodendritic pathology of epilepsy, we determined the protein levels of
      classical complement proteins (C1q-C3) along with other phagocytosis signaling
      molecules in human epilepsy. Cortical brain samples surgically resected from
      patients with refractory epilepsy (RE) and non-epileptic lesions (NE) were
      examined. Western blotting was used to determine the levels of phagocytosis
      signaling proteins such as the complements C1q and C3, MerTK, Trem2, and Pros1
      along with cleaved-caspase 3. In addition, immunostaining was used to determine
      the distribution of C1q and co-localization to microglia and dendrites. We found
      that the RE samples had significantly increased protein levels of C1q (p=0.034)
      along with those of its downstream activation product iC3b (p=0.027), and
      decreased levels of Trem2 (p=0.045) and Pros1 (p=0.005) when compared to the NE
      group. Protein levels of cleaved-caspase 3 were not different between the groups
      (p=0.695). In parallel, we found C1q localization to microglia and dendrites in
      both NE and RE samples, and also observed substantial microglia-dendritic
      interactions in the RE tissue. These data suggest that aberrant phagocytic
      signaling occurs in human refractory epilepsy. It is likely that alteration of
      phagocytic pathways may contribute to unwanted elimination of cells/synapses
      and/or impaired clearance of dead cells. Future studies will investigate whether
      altered complement signaling contributes to the hyperexcitability that result in
      epilepsy.

PMID- 28601604
TI  - Axonal dystrophy in the brain of mice with Sanfilippo syndrome.
AB  - Axonal dystrophy has been described as an early pathological feature of
      neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis. Axonal inclusions have also been reported to occur in several
      neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders including Mucopolysaccharidosis
      type IIIA (MPS IIIA; Sanfilippo syndrome). This disorder results from a mutation
      in the gene encoding the lysosomal sulphatase sulphamidase, and as a consequence
      heparan sulphate accumulates, accompanied by secondarily-stored gangliosides. The
      precise basis of symptom generation in MPS IIIA has not been elucidated, however
      axonal dystrophy may conceivably lead to impaired vesicular trafficking, neuronal
      dysfunction and/or death. We have utilised a faithful murine model of MPS IIIA to
      determine the spatio-temporal profile of neuronal inclusion formation and
      determine the effect of restoring normal lysosomal function. Dopaminergic
      (tyrosine hydroxylase-positive), cholinergic (choline acetyltransferase-positive)
      and GABAergic (glutamic acid decarboxylase65/67-positive) neurons were found to
      exhibit axonal dystrophy in MPS IIIA mouse brain. Axonal lesions present by
      ~seven weeks of age were Rab5-positive but lysosomal integral membrane protein-2
      negative, suggesting early endosomal involvement. By 9-12-weeks of age,
      immunoreactivity for the autophagosome-related proteins LC3 and p62 and the
      proteasomal subunit 19S was noted in the spheroidal structures, together with
      wildtype alpha-synuclein, phosphorylated Thr-181 Tau and amyloid precursor
      protein, indicative of impaired axonal trafficking. Sulphamidase replacement
      reduced but did not abrogate the axonal lesions. Therefore, if axonal dystrophy
      impairs neuronal activity and ultimately, neuronal function, its incomplete
      resolution warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28601605
TI  - Rapid focal cooling attenuates cortical seizures in a primate epilepsy model.
AB  - Rapid focal cooling is an attractive nondestructive strategy to control and
      possibly prevent focal seizures. However, the temperature threshold necessary to
      abort seizures in primates is still unknown. Here, we explored this issue in a
      primate epilepsy model and observed the effect of rapid cooling on different
      electroencephalogram frequency bands, aiming at providing necessary experimental
      data for future clinical translational studies and exploring the mechanism of
      focal cooling in terminating seizures. We induced focal neocortical seizures
      using microinjection of 4-aminopyridine into premotor cortex in five anesthetized
      cynomolgus monkeys. The rapid focal cooling was implemented by using a
      thermoelectric (Peltier) device. As a result, the average durations of seizures
      and interictal intervals before cooling were 94.3+/-4.0s and 62.3+/-6.9s,
      respectively. When the cortex was cooled to 20 degrees C or 18 degrees C, there
      was no effect on seizure duration (109.4+/-30.0s, 91.3+/-19.3s) or interictal
      duration (99.4+/-26.8s, 83.2+/-11.5s, P>0.05). But when the cortex was cooled to
      16 degrees C, the seizure duration was reduced to 54.1+/-4.9s and the interictal
      duration was extended to 175.0+/-16.7s (P<0.05). Electroencephalogram spectral
      analysis showed that the power of delta, alpha, beta, gamma and ripples bands in
      seizures were significantly reduced at 20 degrees C and 18 degrees C. At 16
      degrees C, the power of theta band in seizures was also significantly reduced
      along with the other bands. Our data reveal that the temperature threshold in
      rapid focal cooling required to significantly shorten neocortical seizures in
      nonhuman primates is 16 degrees C, and inhibition of electroencephalogram
      broadband spectrum power, especially power of theta band, may be the underlying
      mechanism to control seizures.

PMID- 28601606
TI  - Size- and time-dependent growth properties of human induced pluripotent stem
      cells in the culture of single aggregate.
AB  - Aggregate culture of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is a promising
      method to obtain high number of cells for cell therapy applications. This study
      quantitatively evaluated the effects of initial cell number and culture time on
      the growth of hiPSCs in the culture of single aggregate. Small size aggregates
      ((1.1 +/- 0.4) * 101-(2.8 +/- 0.5) * 101 cells/aggregate) showed a lower growth
      rate in comparison to medium size aggregates ((8.8 +/- 0.8) * 101-(6.8 +/- 1.1) *
      102 cells/aggregate) during early-stage of culture (24-72 h). However, when small
      size aggregates were cultured in conditioned medium, their growth rate increased
      significantly. On the other hand, large size aggregates ((1.1 +/- 0.2) * 103-(3.5
      +/- 1.1) * 103 cells/aggregate) showed a lower growth rate and lower expression
      level of proliferation marker (ki-67) in the center region of aggregate in
      comparison to medium size aggregate during early-stage of culture. Medium size
      aggregates showed the highest growth rate during early-stage of culture.
      Furthermore, hiPSCs proliferation was dependent on culture time because the
      growth rate decreased significantly during late-stage of culture (72-120 h) at
      which point collagen type I accumulated on the periphery of aggregate, suggesting
      blockage of diffusive transport of nutrients, oxygen and metabolites into and out
      of the aggregates. Consideration of initial cell number and culture time are
      important to maintain balance between autocrine factors secretion and
      extracellular matrix accumulation on the aggregate periphery to achieve optimal
      growth of hiPSCs in the culture of single aggregate.

PMID- 28601607
TI  - Anaerobic hydrogen production from unhydrolyzed mushroom farm waste by indigenous
      microbiota.
AB  - The cultivation of mushrooms generates large amounts of waste polypropylene bags
      stuffed with wood flour and bacterial nutrients that makes the mushroom waste
      (MW) a potential feedstock for anaerobic bioH2 fermentation. MW indigenous
      bacteria were enriched using thermophilic temperature (55 degrees C) for use as
      the seed inoculum without any external seeding. The peak hydrogen production rate
      (6.84 mmol H2/L-d) was obtained with cultivation pH 8 and substrate concentration
      of 60 g MW/L in batch fermentation. Hydrogen production yield (HY) is pH and
      substrate concentration dependent with an HY decline occurring at pH and
      substrate concentration increasing from pH 8 to 10 and 60 to 80 g MW/L,
      respectively. The fermentation bioH2 production from MW is in an acetate-type
      metabolic path.

PMID- 28601608
TI  - Activation of unfolded protein response pathway is important for valproic acid
      mediated increase in immunoglobulin G productivity in recombinant Chinese hamster
      ovary cells.
AB  - Process engineering to improve product quality and titers is gaining importance
      at late-stage cell culture process development. Valproic acid, a US Food and Drug
      Administration-approved histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has been shown to
      improve cell culture performance with higher productivities and minimal effect on
      the product quality. However, the wider physiological impact of valproic acid on
      recombinant cells has not been investigated till date. In this study, we
      investigate the role of unfolded protein response pathway when immunoglobulin G
      (IgG)-secreting Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are treated with valproic acid,
      resulting in a 3-fold increase in product titers and productivity. It is found
      that cells undergo an early transient endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress on
      treatment with valproic acid, and subsequently adapt to perform as high
      producers. Induction of chaperones through enhanced XBP1 splicing activity and
      ATF6 activation suggests an increase in protein processing activity in these
      cells. We show that in addition to the enhanced recombinant mRNA expression of
      IgG heavy chain and light chain, the activation of unfolded protein response
      (UPR) pathway is critical to the increase in productivity of cells on valproic
      acid treatment. Further, upregulation of the UPR pathway is not through HDAC
      inhibition alone. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to arrive at a
      phenotype-genotype mechanistic understanding of how valproic acid treatment
      enhances productivity in recombinant CHO cells.

PMID- 28601609
TI  - Evaluation of method bias for determining bacterial populations in bacterial
      community analyses.
AB  - Various methods are used for analyzing a bacterial community. We recently
      developed a method for quantifying each bacterium constituting the microbiota by
      combining a next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis with a quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (NGS-qPCR) assay. Our NGS-qPCR method is useful for
      analyzing a comprehensive bacterial community because it is enables the easy
      calculation of the amounts of each bacterium constituting the microbiota.
      However, it has not been confirmed whether the estimated bacterial community
      obtained using this NGS-qPCR method corresponds to the results obtained using
      conventional methods. Accordingly, we prepared model bacterial community samples
      and analyzed them by several methods (NGS-qPCR, species-specific qPCR, flow
      cytometry, total direct counting by epifluorescent microscopy [TDC], and plate
      count). The total bacterial cell densities determined by the PCR-based methods
      were largely consistent with those determined by the TDC method. There was a
      difference between the amounts of each bacterium analyzed by NGS-qPCR and species
      specific qPCR, although the same trend was shown by both species-specific qPCR
      and NGS-qPCR. Our findings also demonstrated that there is a strong positive
      correlation between the cell densities of a specific bacterial group in craft
      beer samples determined by group-specific qPCR and NGS-qPCR, and there were no
      significant differences among quantification methods (we tested two bacterial
      groups: lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria). Thus, the NGS-qPCR method
      is a practical method for analyzing a comprehensive bacterial community based on
      a bacterial cell density.

PMID- 28601611
TI  - Evaluation of the "Angelina Jolie Effect" on Screening Mammography Utilization in
      an Academic Center.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to understand the impact on screening
      mammography at our institution, comparing weekly utilization in the 2 years
      before and the 2 years after Ms Angelina Jolie disclosed in the New York Times on
      May 13, 2013, that she had had a prophylactic double mastectomy. METHODS: All
      48,110 consecutive screening mammograms conducted at our institution between May
      16, 2011, and May 16, 2015, were selected from our electronic medical record
      system. We used interrupted time series statistical models and graphical methods
      on utilization data to understand utilization changes before and after Ms Jolie's
      news. RESULTS: The graphed trend of weekly screening mammogram utilization failed
      to show changes around the time of interest. Analytical models and statistical
      tests also failed to show a step change increase or acceleration of utilization
      around May 2013. However, graphical and time series analyses showed a flattening
      of utilization in the middle of 2014. CONCLUSIONS: In our well-powered analysis
      in a large regional breast imaging center, we found no support for the hypothesis
      that this celebrity news drove increased screening.

PMID- 28601610
TI  - Therapeutic success with bismuth-containing sequential and quadruple regimens in
      Helicobacter pylori eradication.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: The success rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)
      eradication with the classical triple therapy is gradually declining. In this
      study, we aimed to compare and assess the efficacies of six different eradication
      regimens including sequential protocols. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Endoscopically
      confirmed nonulcer dyspepsia patients were enrolled. H. pylori presence was
      determined either histologically or by a rapid urease test. Treatment-naive
      patients were randomly assigned to an either one of three 10-day (OAC, OTMB, and
      OACB) or one of three sequential protocols (OA+OCM, OA+OCMB, and OA+OMDB)
      (O=omeprazole, A=amoxicillin, C=clarithromycin, T=tetracycline, M=metronidazole,
      B=bismuth, D=doxycycline). The eradication was assessed 6-8weeks after the
      completion of the treatment by a 14C-urea breath test. RESULTS: In total, 301
      patients were included. Fifty-two percent of the participants (n=157) were
      female, and the mean age was 44.9years (range=18-70). The intention to treat
      (ITT) and per protocol (PP) eradication rate for each regimen is as follows: OAC
      (ITT=61.2%, PP=75%), OTMB (83.3%, 87%), OACB (76.5%, 79.6%), OA+OCM (72.3%,
      73.9%), OA+OCMB (82.7%, 89.6%), and OA+OMDB (59.3%, 65.3%). Smoking significantly
      affected the eradication rate (P=0.04). CONCLUSION: In this study, OTMB and
      OA+OCMB were significantly superior to the triple therapy and succeeded to reach
      the eradication rate proposed by the Maastricht consensus (over 80%). These two
      bismuth-containing regimens could be considered for first-line therapy in the
      regions with high clarithromycin resistance.

PMID- 28601612
TI  - Improving Pediatric Breast Ultrasound Reporting and Recommendations.

PMID- 28601614
TI  - Implementing the SAVI SCOUT System in Community Radiology Practice.
AB  - SAVI SCOUT is a new localization system approved by the FDA to aid in the
      surgical excision of nonpalpable breast lesions. This article provides a
      practical overview of the technical details of SAVI SCOUT use and presents
      important clinical and operational factors for radiologists to consider before
      implementation of SAVI SCOUT in community practice.

PMID- 28601613
TI  - Accuracy of Self-Reported Specialty and Practice Location Among Radiologists.

PMID- 28601615
TI  - Psychometric Analysis and Qualitative Review of an Outpatient Radiology-Specific
      Patient Satisfaction Survey: A Call for Collaboration in Validating a Survey
      Instrument.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to perform a psychometric analysis of the
      constructs and reliability of an outpatient radiology-specific patient
      satisfaction survey and identify factors that drive patient experience so that
      radiology practices can improve the quality of their diagnostic imaging services.
      METHODS: This retrospective study examined responses to eight patient
      satisfaction questions from a survey originally developed by a nascent marketing
      team and then administered at five outpatient imaging centers from January 7,
      2013, to November 11, 2015. Patients' responses were reviewed to identify factors
      that affected patient experience, and a psychometric analysis of the survey
      instrument itself was performed, including exploratory factor analyses and
      reliability testing. Patient responses were compared among sites, examination
      types, and questions. Free-text comments were qualitatively categorized and
      compared by examination type. RESULTS: In total, 6,512 surveys were completed
      among 137,059 patient encounters. Using exploratory factor analyses of the eight
      survey questions, three relevant patient experience constructs were derived: (1)
      front office experience, (2) intake experience, and (3) examination experience.
      Overall, good scale reliability was observed. Perceived quality of care had the
      most positive ratings; wait time had the most nonpositive ratings. Of 2,024 free
      text comments, 1,859 were positive (most pertaining to staff), and 155 were
      negative (most pertaining to convenience). MRI patients were most likely to share
      negative comments, typically regarding the examination experience itself.
      CONCLUSIONS: Psychometric analysis of a patient survey derived three core patient
      experience constructs: front office experience, intake experience, and
      examination experience. The survey indicates the need to decrease wait times,
      streamline the registration process, and improve patient comfort during MRI
      examinations.

PMID- 28601616
TI  - Fructose-rich diet and insulin action in female rat heart: Estradiol friend or
      foe?
AB  - Increased intake of fructose in humans and laboratory animals is demonstrated to
      be a risk factor for development of metabolic disorders (insulin resistance,
      metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes) and cardiovascular diseases. On the other
      hand, estradiol is emphasized as a cardioprotective agent. The main goal of this
      review is to summarize recent findings on damaging cardiac effects of fructose
      rich diet in females, mostly experimental animals, and to evaluate protective
      capacity of estradiol. Published results of our and other research groups
      indicate mostly detrimental effects of fructose-rich diet on cardiac insulin
      signaling molecules, glucose and fatty acid metabolism, nitric oxide production
      and ion transport, as well as renin-angiotensin system and inflammation. Some of
      these processes are involved in cardiac insulin signal transmission, others are
      regulated by insulin or have an influence on insulin action. Administration of
      estradiol to ovariectomized female rats, exposed to increased intake of fructose,
      was mostly beneficial to the heart, but sometimes it was ineffective or even
      detrimental, depending on the particular processes. We believe that these data,
      carefully translated to human population, could be useful for clinicians dealing
      with postmenopausal women susceptible to metabolic diseases and hormone
      replacement therapy.

PMID- 28601617
TI  - Intentional outdoor tanning in the United States: Results from the 2015 Summer
      ConsumerStyles survey.
AB  - There is limited literature about adults in the United States who usually or
      always spend time outdoors for the purpose of developing a tan, defined as
      intentional outdoor tanning. Using data from the 2015 Summer ConsumerStyles, an
      online cross-sectional survey weighted to the US adult population (n=4,127), we
      performed unadjusted and adjusted multivariable logistic regressions to examine
      the associations between demographic characteristics, behaviors, and belief
      factors related to skin cancer risk and intentional outdoor tanning. Nearly 10%
      of the study population intentionally tanned outdoors. Outdoor tanning was more
      prevalent among women (11.4%), non-Hispanic white individuals (11.5%), those aged
      18-29years (14.1%), those without a high school diploma (12.7%), and those in the
      northeast United States (13.2%). The adjusted odds of outdoor tanning were
      significantly higher among women than men (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.51, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 1.12-2.04); those with a history of indoor tanning or
      recent sunburn than those without (AOR 2.61, CI 1.94-3.51; AOR 1.96, CI 1.46
      2.63, respectively); those who agreed they looked better with a tan than those
      who did not (AOR 6.69, CI 3.62-12.35); and those who did not try to protect their
      skin from the sun when outdoors than those who did (AOR 2.17, CI 1.56-3.04).
      Adults who engaged in other risky behaviors that expose a person to ultraviolet
      (UV) radiation were more likely to tan outdoors, further increasing their risk of
      skin cancer. These findings may guide potential interventions to reduce UV
      exposure from outdoor tanning.

PMID- 28601618
TI  - Diet quality is associated with reduced incidence of cancer and self-reported
      chronic disease: Observations from Alberta's Tomorrow Project.
AB  - The objective of this study was to assess diet quality using the Healthy Eating
      Index-2005 Canada (HEI-2005-Canada) and its association with risk of cancer and
      chronic disease in a sample of Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP) participants.
      Food frequency questionnaires completed by 25,169 participants (38% men; mean age
      50.3 (9.2)) enrolled between 2000 and 2008 were used to calculate HEI-2005-Canada
      scores. Data from a subset of participants (n=10,735) who reported no chronic
      disease at enrollment were used to investigate the association between HEI-2005
      Canada score and development of self-reported chronic disease at follow-up
      (2008). Participants were divided into HEI-2005-Canada score quartiles. Cox
      proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) for cancer and chronic disease incidence. In this
      cohort, mean HEI-2005-Canada scores for men and women were 50.9 and 55.5 (maximum
      range 0-100), respectively. In men, higher HEI-2005-Canada score (Q4 vs. Q1) was
      associated with lower cancer risk (HR (95% CI) 0.63 (0.49-0.83)) over the course
      of follow-up (mean (SD)=10.4 (2.3) years); the same was not observed in women. In
      contrast, higher overall HEI-2005-Canada score (Q4 vs. Q1) was associated with
      lower risk of self-reported chronic disease (0.85 (0.75-0.97)) in both men and
      women over follow-up (4.2 (2.3) years). In conclusion, in this cohort better diet
      quality was associated with a lower risk of cancer in men and lower risk of
      chronic disease in both sexes. Future studies with longer follow-up and repeated
      measures of diet may be helpful to elucidate sex-specific associations between
      dietary quality and disease outcomes.

PMID- 28601619
TI  - Family-focussed interventions to reduce harm from smoking in primary school-aged
      children: A systematic review of evaluative studies.
AB  - Children living in families where adults smoke are exposed to harmful effects of
      tobacco smoke and risk a predisposition to smoking initiation. Interventions to
      support families to reduce risk of harm from smoking have been developed and
      tested. The purpose of this review is to identify effective family-based
      interventions used to promote smoke-free home environments in families with
      primary school age children (aged 5-12years). A systematic search of MEDLINE,
      Cochrane and CINAHL electronic databases was conducted. Narrative synthesis of
      included articles was completed. Guidelines for reporting behaviour change
      interventions were used to summarise and compare intervention timing, content,
      intensity and delivery. Quality of included studies was critiqued using United
      States Preventative Services Taskforce (USPST) procedures for internal and
      external validity. Narrative synthesis was based on methods described by Popay
      and colleagues. Nineteen articles that evaluated 14 intervention studies focussed
      on child smoking prevention (n=5), parent smoking cessation (n=4) and
      environmental tobacco smoke reduction (n=6). Interventions and outcomes were
      heterogeneous, and were rarely informed by theoretical frameworks relating to
      family, parenting or child development. Family based interventions may be an
      important strategy to reduce the effects of smoking for children. There is a need
      for interventions to be informed by theory relevant to children, parenting and
      families.

PMID- 28601620
TI  - Sexual orientation health inequality: Evidence from Understanding Society, the UK
      Longitudinal Household Study.
AB  - Few studies from the United Kingdom have fully investigated inequalities between
      members of different sexual minority groups and heterosexuals over range of
      health outcomes. Using data from over 40,000 individuals, this study explores the
      health inequalities of sexual minority UK adults. We include respondents who
      identify as other and those who prefer not to say (PNS). Data come from wave
      three (2011-2012) of the nationally-representative Understanding Society, the UK
      Household Longitudinal Study. Sexual orientation was asked in the self-completion
      portion of the study. Markers of health include physical and mental functioning,
      minor psychological distress, self-rated health, substance use and disability.
      Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses tested for differences in
      markers of health between sexual orientation groups. Overall, heterosexual
      respondents had the best health while bisexual respondents had the worst. Gay and
      lesbian respondents reported poorer health than heterosexuals, specifically with
      regards to mental functioning, distress and illness status. The other and PNS
      respondents were most similar to each other and generally experienced fewer
      health inequalities than gay and lesbian respondents; they were less likely to
      use tobacco or alcohol. In sum, sexual minorities experience health inequality.
      The inclusion of other and PNS respondents has not been done in other studies and
      shows that while they may be healthier than gay/lesbian and bisexual respondents
      they still experiences poorer health than heterosexuals. Health promotion
      interventions are needed for these other and PNS individuals, who might not
      participate in interventions targeted toward known sexual minority groups.

PMID- 28601621
TI  - A systematic review of peer-supported interventions for health promotion and
      disease prevention.
AB  - : Prior research has examined peer programs with respect to specific peer roles
      (e.g.; peer support) or specific health/wellness domains (e.g.; exercise/diet),
      or have aggregated effects across roles and domains. We sought to conduct a
      systematic review that categorizes and assesses the effects of peer interventions
      to promote health and wellness by peer role, intervention type, and outcomes. We
      use evidence mapping to visually catalog and synthesize the existing research. We
      searched PubMed and WorldCat databases (2005 to 2015) and New York Academy of
      Medicine Grey Literature Report (1999 to 2016) for English-language randomized
      control trials. We extracted study design, study participants, type of
      intervention(s), peer role(s), outcomes assessed and measures used, and effects
      from 116 randomized controlled trials. Maps were created to provide a visual
      display of the evidence by intervention type, peer role, outcome type, and
      significant vs null or negative effects. There are more null than positive
      effects across peer interventions, with notable exceptions: group-based
      interventions that use peers as educators or group facilitators commonly improve
      knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions; peer educators also commonly
      improved social health/connectedness and engagement. Dyadic peer support
      influenced behavior change and peer counseling shows promising effects on
      physical health outcomes. Programs seeking to use peers in public health
      campaigns can use evidence maps to identify interventions that have previously
      demonstrated beneficial effects. Those seeking to produce health outcomes may
      benefit from identifying the mechanisms by which they expect their program to
      produce these effects and associated proximal outcomes for future evaluations.
      PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: Although we attempted to register our protocol with
      PROSPERO, we did not meet eligibility criteria because we were past the data
      collection phase. The full PROSPERO-aligned protocol is available from the
      authors.

PMID- 28601623
TI  - The role of neighborhood economic context on physical activity among children:
      Evidence from the Geographic Research on Wellbeing (GROW) study.
AB  - Less than half of young children in the U.S. meet physical activity
      recommendations. While neighborhood economic context has been shown to be
      associated with physical activity, it is unknown whether this association varies
      according to family economic context. This study thus investigates whether
      neighborhood economic context, measured by poverty concentration and income
      inequality, are associated with physical activity among poor and non-poor
      children using data from the Geographic Research on Wellbeing study, California,
      2012-2013 (N=2670). Poor children who resided in (a) poor and equal neighborhoods
      or (b) non-poor and equal neighborhoods were more likely to engage in sufficient
      physical activity than were children residing in non-poor and unequal
      neighborhoods. Poor children in (a) non-poor and equal neighborhoods, (b) poor
      and equal neighborhoods, or (c) poor and unequal neighborhoods were less likely
      to report insufficient physical activity than those in non-poor and unequal
      neighborhoods. Neighborhood economic context was not associated with physical
      activity among non-poor children. Findings suggest that neighborhood economic
      context presents a social barrier to physical activity among poor children.
      Increasing physical activity among poor children in non-poor and unequal
      neighborhoods should be a high policy priority. Perceived social cohesion,
      perceived neighborhood safety, and park and walkability indicators did not
      mediate the associations between neighborhood economic context and physical
      activity. Further research needs to explore the mechanisms by which neighborhood
      economic context affects physical activity among children.

PMID- 28601622
TI  - A school-based rope skipping program for adolescents: Results of a randomized
      trial.
AB  - : Despite physical education's health enhancing potential, students' activity
      levels in lessons are low. We evaluated a school-based intervention that involved
      rope skipping on students' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in
      physical education. The intervention was evaluated using a clustered randomized
      controlled trial in 24 classes (N=731 students; M=14.38years; all from Secondary
      2) from 12 Hong Kong schools during September to December 2013. The primary
      outcome was percentage of lesson time spent in MVPA. Secondary outcomes included
      students' vigorous activity, counts per minute, perceived autonomy support and
      motivation for physical education. Accelerometer-based activity measures were
      taken from a sub-sample of 168 students during lessons 1 to 3 (baseline) and
      lessons 5 to 7 (treatment phase). Participants self-reported motivation variables
      at lessons 4 and 8. Teachers allocated to the experimental group included an
      intervention during treatment phase; those in the control group continued usual
      practices. The intervention involved a 15-minute rope skipping activity where
      students completed intervals of skipping with rests in between. Using multilevel
      modeling, we examined the intervention effects on measured outcomes, and whether
      effects differed for boys and girls. Overall intervention effects were not found.
      However, girls in the intervention group spent more time in MVPA (beta=0.25) and
      had higher counts per minute (beta=0.32) than control group counterparts at
      treatment phase. Perceived autonomy support and motivation variables were similar
      across groups. The intervention increased activity levels of girls, but not boys.
      Implementation of the intervention may reduce differences between boys' and
      girls' physical education activity levels. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ANZCTR:
      ACTRN12613000968774.

PMID- 28601624
TI  - Age at menarche and cardiovascular risk factors using Mendelian randomization in
      the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.
AB  - Observational studies show earlier age at menarche associated with higher risk of
      cardiovascular disease although these studies could be confounded by childhood
      obesity or childhood socioeconomic position. We tested the hypothesis that
      earlier age at menarche is associated with poorer cardiovascular risk factors
      using a Mendelian randomization design. We conducted a Mendelian randomization
      study in a large Southern Chinese cohort, the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study
      (n=12,279), to clarify the causal role of menarche in cardiovascular disease risk
      factors including blood pressure, lipids, fasting glucose, adiposity and type 2
      diabetes. A genetic allele score was obtained from single nucleotide
      polymorphisms associated with age at menarche using stepwise regression and with
      cross validation. Estimates of the association of age at menarche with
      cardiovascular disease risk factors were obtained using two stage least squares
      regression. Height was included as a positive control outcome. The F-statistic
      for the allele score (rs17268785, rs1859345, rs2090409, rs4452860 and rs4946651)
      was 19.9. Older age at menarche was associated with lower glucose (-0.39mmol/L
      per year older menarche, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.78 to -0.001) but not
      clearly with any other cardiovascular risk factors. Older age at menarche was
      also associated with taller height. Age at menarche did not appear to affect
      cardiovascular disease risk factors except for glucose in an inverse manner.
      However, these results need to be confirmed in larger Mendelian randomization
      studies.

PMID- 28601625
TI  - Routine echocardiography in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is an autosomal-dominant disease. One
      third of DM1 patients die suddenly, most of them due to the heart conduction
      abnormalities and arrhythmias. The aim of this study was to analyze
      echocardiographic findings in a large cohort of DM1 patients. METHODS: This
      retrospective study comprised 111 patients and 71 healthy controls (HCs) matched
      for gender and age. RESULTS: Mitral valve (MV) prolapse was observed in 23% of
      our DM1 patients vs. 8.5% of HCs (p < 0.05). Left ventricle (LV) systolic
      dysfunction was observed in 6% of patients and none of the HCs (p < 0.05).
      Frequency of diastolic dysfunction showed no significant difference between DM1
      patients and HCs (8.1% vs. 15.5%, p > 0.05). Systolic dysfunction was more common
      in patients with severe electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormality (18.8% vs. 2.7%, p
      < 0.01). CONCLUSION: One fourth of DM1 patients have MV prolapse. Approximately
      15% of DM1 patients have systolic or diastolic LV dysfunction. These patients
      should have benefit from medical therapy. Furthermore, it seems that treatment of
      conduction defects might prevent development of the heart failure (HF).

PMID- 28601626
TI  - Outcomes of 23-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy for acute
      postoperative endophthalmitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To report our 3-year experience of 23-gauge transconjunctival
      sutureless vitrectomy (TSV) for acute postoperative endophthalmitis at a tertiary
      referral center in southern Taiwan. METHODS: This retrospective chart review
      study included 19 patients with acute postoperative endophthalmitis who underwent
      23-gauge TSV from January 2011 to January 2015 at Kaohsiung Veterans General
      Hospital, Taiwan. Bacterial and fungal cultures from aqueous samples, vitreous
      samples, or both were performed. RESULTS: Nineteen patients (12 male; 7 female)
      were included. The mean age was 72.4 +/- 8.29 years. Acute postoperative
      endophthalmitis was noted in 18 patients after cataract surgery and in 1 patient
      after 23-gauge vitrectomy for a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Upon
      presentation, visual acuity was less than hand movement for 80% of the patients.
      Chief complaints included blurred vision (19 patients, 100%), followed by pain
      (10 patients, 52.6%) and red eye (4 patients, 21%). All patients were
      administered an intravitreal injection (IVI) of antibiotics and 23-gauge TSV, and
      the average number of IVIs was 2.68 +/- 1.73 (1-9 IVIs). The interval between
      their initial eye symptoms and vitrectomy was 4.11 +/- 4.73 days (0-2 days), and
      the interval between diagnosis with endophthalmitis and a vitrectomy was 1.11 +/-
      1.52 days (0-6 days). The final visual acuity was no light perception for 1
      patient (5.3%), between 6/60 and 6/12 for 8 patients (42.1%), and 6/12 or better
      for 9 patients (47.4%). No retinal detachment or hypotony was noted
      postoperatively in any case. CONCLUSION: 23-gauge vitrectomy is safe and
      effective for the management of acute postoperative endophthalmitis. Early
      diagnosis and treatment with 23-gauge vitrectomy may provide a good visual
      outcome.

PMID- 28601627
TI  - Effects of small-dose dexmedetomidine on hyperdynamic responses to
      electroconvulsive therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute hemodynamic responses to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may
      increase the risk of cardiovascular complications in vulnerable patients. The aim
      of the current study was to assess the effect of small-dose dexmedetomidine on
      hyperdynamic responses to ECT. METHODS: Seventy-eight patients were enrolled and
      randomly allocated to receive either 0.2 MUg/kg dexmedetomidine (Dex group, n =
      39) or saline (Control group, n = 39) prior to ECT. Heart rate (HR) and mean
      arterial pressure (MAP) were recorded immediately after the administration of
      dexmedetomidine (T1), and 0, 1, 3, 5 and 10 min after the electrical stimuli
      ended (T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6). In addition, the peak HR after ECT, seizure
      duration, recovery time, and incidence rates of post-ECT adverse effects
      (agitation, headache and nausea) were also recorded. RESULTS: HR and MAP in the
      Dex group were significantly lower than those in the Control group from T2 to T5.
      In addition, peak HR was significantly lower in the Dex group compared with that
      in the Control group. Seizure length and time to spontaneous breathing, eye
      opening, and obeying commands in the Dex group were similar to those in the
      Control group. The incidence rates of post-ECT agitation and headache in the Dex
      group were significantly lower than that in the Control group. CONCLUSION: The
      administration of 0.2 MUg/kg dexmedetomidine to patients receiving ECT leads to a
      significant reduction in HR, MAP, and peak HR responses to ECT without altering
      seizure duration or delaying recovery. Furthermore, dexmedetomidine effectively
      reduced the incidence rates of post-ECT adverse effects such as agitation and
      headache.

PMID- 28601628
TI  - Vitamin D and jaundiced newborns.

PMID- 28601629
TI  - Nasogastric tube placement with video-guided laryngoscope: A manikin simulator
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate video-guided laryngoscopy for
      nasogastric tube placement. METHODS: This was an observational comparative study
      performed in a hospital. The participants included volunteers from the medical
      staff (physicians and nurses) experienced with nasogastric intubation, and non
      medical staff (medical students, pharmacists and emergent medical technicians)
      with knowledge of nasogastric intubation but lacking procedural experience.
      Medical and non-medical hospital staff performed manual, laryngoscope-assisted
      and video-guided laryngoscope nasogastric intubation both in the presence and in
      the absence of an endotracheal tube, using a manikin. Nasogastric intubation
      times were compared between groups and methods. RESULTS: Using the video-guided
      laryngoscope resulted in a significantly shorter intubation time compared to the
      other 2 methods, both with and without an endotracheal tube, for the medical and
      non-medical staff alike (all p < 0.05). For the medical staff, mean nasogastric
      intubation time was significantly shorter using video-guided laryngoscope without
      endotracheal intubation, direct laryngoscope with endotracheal intubation and
      video-guided laryngoscope with endotracheal intubation compared to manual
      intubation without endotracheal intubation (0.49, 0.63 and 0.72 vs. 5.63,
      respectively, p <= 0.008). For non-medical staff, nasogastric intubation time was
      significantly shorter using video-guided laryngoscope without endotracheal
      intubation, direct laryngoscope with endotracheal intubation and video-guided
      laryngoscope with endotracheal intubation compared to manual intubation without
      endotracheal intubation (1.67, 1.58 and 0.95 vs. 6.9, respectively, p <= 0.002).
      And mean nasogastric intubation time for video-guided laryngoscope endotracheal
      intubation was significantly shorter for medical staff than for non-medical staff
      (0.49 vs. 1.67 min, respectively, p = 0.041). CONCLUSION: Video-guided
      laryngoscope reduces nasogastric intubation time compared to manual and direct
      laryngoscope intubation, which promotes a consistent technique when performed by
      experienced medical and previously untrained non-medical staff.

PMID- 28601630
TI  - Risk factors for cut-out failure of Gamma3 nails in treating unstable
      intertrochanteric fractures: An analysis of 176 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cut-out failure is one of the most common complications in the Gamma3
      nail fixation system. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine
      pre-operative or intra-operative risk factors for cut-out failure of lag screws
      in unstable, intertrochanteric fractures fixed with short Gamma3 nails. METHODS:
      One hundred and seventy-six patients over 60 years of age, with unstable
      intertrochanteric fractures (AO/OTA 31-A2, 31-A3) treated with short Gamma3 nails
      were included in this study. All patients completed a minimum of 1-year follow
      up. Analysis of post-operative radiographs included assessment for cut-out
      failure of lag screw, appropriateness of the entry point, posterior lag screw
      axis, fracture gaps, posterior displacement of the proximal fragment, and tip
      apex distance. RESULTS: Of the 176 patients in this study, 22 patients were
      identified with cut-out failure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis
      revealed that improper entry point in an antero-posterior projection (odds ratio
      10.39, 95% confidence interval 1.74-78.4), posterior displacement distance of the
      proximal fragment in a lateral projection (odds ratio 1.35, 95% confidence
      interval 1.17-1.59), and female sex (odds ratio 17.14, 95% confidence interval
      1.88-876.11) were correlated with cut-out failure. CONCLUSION: This study
      emphasizes the importance of an optimal position of reduction in the lateral
      projection in reducing the risk of cut-out failure. In addition, sex difference
      in bone mineral density, proximal femur geometry, and the bone strength in
      elderly females may explain why female sex is a risk factor.

PMID- 28601631
TI  - IBT-based quantitative proteomics identifies potential regulatory proteins
      involved in pigmentation of purple sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus.
AB  - Sea cucumbers are an important economic species and exhibit high yield value
      among aquaculture animals. Purple sea cucumbers are very rare and beautiful and
      have stable hereditary patterns. In this study, isobaric tags (IBT) were first
      used to reveal the molecular mechanism of pigmentation in the body wall of the
      purple sea cucumber. We analyzed the proteomes of purple sea cucumber in early
      pigmentation stage (Pa), mid pigmentation stage (Pb) and late pigmentation stage
      (Pc), resulting in the identification of 5580 proteins, including 1099
      differentially expressed proteins in Pb: Pa and 339 differentially expressed
      proteins in Pc: Pb. GO and KEGG analyses revealed possible differentially
      expressed proteins, including"melanogenesis", "melanosome", "melanoma", "pigment
      biosynthetic process", "Epidermis development", "Ras-signaling pathway", "Wnt
      signaling pathway", "response to UV light", and "tyrosine metabolism", involved
      in pigment synthesis and regulation in purple sea cucumbers. The large number of
      differentially expressed proteins identified here should be highly useful in
      further elucidating the mechanisms underlying pigmentation in sea cucumbers.
      Furthermore, these results may also provide the base for further identification
      of proteins involved in resistance mechanisms against melanoma, albinism, UV
      damage, and other diseases in sea cucumbers.

PMID- 28601632
TI  - Intraspecific gestural laterality in chimpanzees and gorillas and the impact of
      social propensities.
AB  - A relevant approach to address the mechanisms underlying the emergence of the
      right-handedness/left-hemisphere language specialization of humans is to
      investigate both proximal and distal causes of language lateralization through
      the study of non-human primates' gestural laterality. We carried out the first
      systematic, quantitative comparison of within-subjects' and between-species'
      laterality by focusing on the laterality of intraspecific gestures of chimpanzees
      (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) living in six different captive
      groups. We addressed the following two questions: (1) Do chimpanzees and gorillas
      exhibit stable direction of laterality when producing different types of gestures
      at the individual level? If yes, is it related to the strength of laterality? (2)
      Is there a species difference in gestural laterality at the population level? If
      yes, which factors could explain this difference? During 1356 observation hours,
      we recorded 42335 cases of dyadic gesture use in the six groups totalling 39
      chimpanzees and 35 gorillas. Results showed that both species could exhibit
      either stability or flexibility in their direction of gestural laterality. These
      results suggest that both stability and flexibility may have differently
      modulated the strength of laterality depending on the species social structure
      and dynamics. Furthermore, a multifactorial analysis indicates that these
      particular social components may have specifically impacted gestural laterality
      through the influence of gesture sensory modality and the position of the
      recipient in the signaller's visual field during interaction. Our findings
      provide further support to the social theory of laterality origins proposing that
      social pressures may have shaped laterality through natural selection.

PMID- 28601633
TI  - Leptomycin B attenuates neuronal death via PKA- and PP2B-mediated ERK1/2
      activation in the rat hippocampus following status epilepticus.
AB  - Leptomycin B (LMB), originally developed as an anti-fungal agent, has potent
      neuroprotective properties against status epilepticus (SE, a prolonged seizure
      activity). However, the pharmacological profiles and mechanisms of LMB for
      neuroprotection remain elusive. In the present study, we found that LMB increased
      phosphorylation levels of protein kinase A (PKA) catalytic subunits, protein
      phosphatase 2B (PP2B, calcineurin) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2
      (ERK1/2) under normal condition, and abolished SE-induced neuronal death. Co
      treatment of H-89 (a PKA inhibitor) with LMB could not affect the seizure latency
      and its severity in response to pilocarpine. However, H-89 co-treatment abrogated
      the protective effect of LMB on SE-induced neuronal damage. Cyclosporin A (CsA, a
      PP2B inhibitor) co-treatment effectively prevented SE-induced neuronal death
      without altered seizure susceptibility in response to pilocarpine more than LMB
      alone. H-89 co-treatment inhibited LMB-mediated ERK1/2 phosphorylation, but CsA
      enhanced it. U0126 (an ERK1/2 inhibitor) co-treatment abolished the protective
      effect of LMB on SE-induced neuronal death without alterations in PKA and PP2B
      phosphorylations. To the best of our knowledge, the present data demonstrate a
      previously unreported potential neuroprotective role of LMB against SE via PKA-
      and PP2B-mediated ERK1/2 activation.

PMID- 28601634
TI  - Synthesis and assembly of Hepatitis B virus envelope protein-derived particles in
      Escherichia coli.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope particles have been synthesized in eukaryotic
      cells (e.g., mammalian cells, insect cells, and yeast cells) as an HB vaccine
      immunogen and drug delivery system (DDS) nanocarrier. Many researchers had made
      attempts to synthesize the particles in Escherichia coli for minimize the cost
      and time for producing HBV envelope particles, but the protein was too
      deleterious to be synthesized in E. coli. In this study, we generated deletion
      mutants of HBV envelope L protein (389 amino acid residues (aa)) containing three
      transmembrane domains (TM1, TM2, TM3). The DeltaNC mutant spanning from TM2 to N
      terminal half of TM3 (from 237 aa to 335 aa) was found as a shortest form showing
      spontaneous particle formation. After the N-terminal end of DeltaNC mutant was
      optimized by the N-end rule for E. coli expression, the modified DeltaNC mutant
      (mDeltaNC) was efficiently expressed as particles in E. coli. The molecular mass
      of mDeltaNC particle was approx. 670 kDa, and the diameter was 28.5 +/- 6.2 nm
      (mean +/- SD, N = 61). The particle could react with anti-HBV envelope S protein
      antibody, indicating the particles exhibited S antigenic domain outside as well
      as HBV envelope particles. Taken together, the E. coli-derived mDeltaNC particles
      could be used as a substitute of eukaryotic cell-derived HBV envelope particles
      for versatile applications.

PMID- 28601635
TI  - Silencing HIF-1alpha induces TET2 expression and augments ascorbic acid induced 5
      hydroxymethylation of DNA in human metastatic melanoma cells.
AB  - Expression and function of Ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes, which initiate
      DNA demethylation by catalyzing the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine to 5
      hydroxymethylcytosine (5 hmC) on methylated DNA, are frequently lost in malignant
      tissue. This ultimately results in lost expression of methylated tumor suppressor
      genes. Many malignancies, including melanoma, also aberrantly overexpress the
      oncogenic hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) transcription factor,
      however the association between HIF-1alpha and TET enzyme expression is largely
      uninvestigated. Interestingly, ascorbic acid, a critical cofactor for optimal TET
      enzyme function and normoxic regulation of HIF-1alpha protein stability, is
      frequently depleted in malignant tissue, and may further contribute to the
      malignant phenotype. In our studies, we found supplementation of WM9 human
      metastatic melanoma cells with ascorbic acid significantly increased 5 hmC
      content, which was abrogated by TET2 knockdown. Moreover, knockdown of HIF-1alpha
      increased TET2 gene and protein expression, and further augmented ascorbic acid
      induced TET2 dependent 5-hydroxymethylation in both WM9 and T98G glioblastoma
      cells. Our data provides novel evidence that HIF-1alpha is involved in regulating
      TET expression and 5 hmC status of malignant cells. Furthermore, therapeutic
      intervention to inhibit HIF-1alpha in conjunction with adjuvant ascorbic acid may
      promote DNA demethylation and reexpression of critical tumor suppressor genes in
      malignant cells and warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28601636
TI  - The angiogenic factor Egfl7 alters thymogenesis by activating Flt3 signaling.
AB  - Thymic regeneration is a crucial function that allows for the generation of
      mature T cells after myelosuppression like irradiation. However molecular drivers
      involved in this process remain undefined. Here, we report that the angiogenic
      factor, epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 (Egfl7), is expressed on steady
      state thymic endothelial cells (ECs) and further upregulated under stress like
      post-irradiation. Egfl7 overexpression increased intrathymic early thymic
      precursors (ETPs) and expanded thymic ECs. Mechanistically, we show that Egfl7
      overexpression caused Flt3 upregulation in ETPs and thymic ECs, and increased
      Flt3 ligand plasma elevation in vivo. Selective Flt3 blockade prevented Egfl7
      driven ETP expansion, and Egfl7-mediated thymic EC expansion in vivo. We propose
      that the angiogenic factor Egfl7 activates the Flt3/Flt3 ligand pathway and is a
      key molecular driver enforcing thymus progenitor generation and thereby directly
      linking endothelial cell biology to the production of T cell-based adaptive
      immunity.

PMID- 28601637
TI  - Necl-4 enhances the PLCgamma-c-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway without affecting
      internalization of VEGFR2.
AB  - We have reported that knockdown of Necl-4 decreases vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF)-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      (ERK) without affecting phosphorylation of VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) in sparsely
      cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). However, the underlying
      molecular mechanism is unknown. Compared with control HUVECs, VEGF-induced
      phosphorylation of phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma), c-Raf, mitogen-activated
      protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK) and ERK were all inhibited in Necl-4-knockdown
      HUVECs. However, VEGF-induced internalization of VEGFR2 was not different between
      control and Necl-4-knockdown HUVECs. We have reported that protein-tyrosine
      phosphatase, non-receptor type 13 (PTPN13) and Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) are
      involved in the Necl-4-knockdown-induced inhibition of the VEGF-induced
      activation of Rac1. However, the effects of Necl-4-knockdown on VEGF-induced
      phosphorylation of VEGFR2 and ERK were not affected either by knockdown of PTPN13
      or by ROCK inhibitors. These results suggest that Necl-4 enhances VEGF-induced
      activation of PLCgamma-c-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway without affecting the
      phosphorylation and internalization of VEGFR2.

PMID- 28601638
TI  - WITHDRAWN: The anti-growth and anti-metastasis effects of Schisandrin B on
      hepatocarcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo.
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 https://www.elsevier.com/about/our
      business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28601639
TI  - Tofacitinib ameliorates atherosclerosis and reduces foam cell formation in apoE
      deficient mice.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory cardiovascular disease with high
      mortality worldwide. Tofacitinib (CP-690,550), an oral small-molecule Janus
      kinase inhibitor, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of rheumatoid
      arthritis, autoimmune encephalomyelitis and ulcerative colitis. However, its
      protective effect against atherosclerosis remains poorly understood. The aim of
      the present study was to evaluate the effects of Tofacitinib on atherogenic diet
      (ATD)-induced atherosclerosis using apolipoprotein E deficient (apoE-/-) mice.
      Atherosclerosis-prone apoE-/- mice were fed with ATD and treated with or without
      Tofacitinib through intragastrical administration (10 mg kg-1 day-1) for 8 weeks.
      Our results showed that Tofacitinib did not change plasma lipids, while
      significantly reduced the levels of plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and
      TNF-alpha. It also significantly attenuated atherosclerotic plaque lesion in the
      aortic root and macrophages contained in plaque as shown with Mac2 immuno
      staining. Peritoneal macrophages (PMC) were separated from apoE-/- mice fed with
      8-week ATD, and then subjected to inflammation tests. Flow cytometry analysis of
      F4/80 and CD206 and mRNA levels of M1 and M2 macrophages markers showed that M1
      macrophages decreased while M2 macrophages increased in Tofacitinib treated
      group. Expressions of other inflammatory genes also indicated an anti
      inflammatory status in mice treated with Tofacitinib. Ox-LDL was used to induce
      foam cell formation from PMC in wild type mice, and the results displayed a
      reduced formation of foam cells and decreased inflammation in mice with
      Tofacitinib administration (1 MUM). The mRNA and protein levels of ATP binding
      cassette subfamily A member 1 (ABCA1), a key gene involved in cholesterol efflux,
      remarkably increased, while it was absence of alterations in scavenger receptors
      expression. Therefore, we demonstrated that Tofacitinib could attenuate
      atherosclerosis and foam cells formation by inhibiting inflammation and
      upregulating ABCA1 expression.

PMID- 28601640
TI  - Functional evidence that the self-renewal gene NANOG regulates esophageal
      squamous cancer development.
AB  - Cancer cell molecular mimicry of stem cells (SC) follows with enhanced
      proliferative and renewal capacities. In support, numerous mediators of SC self
      renewal have been evinced to exhibit oncogenic potential. More and more
      researches showed that the embryonic stem cell self-renewal genes express in
      various cancer cells. In this study, we sought to test the tumorigenic functions
      of NANOG, particularly, in esophageal cancer (EC). Using quantitative RT-PCR and
      western blotting, we confirmed that EC cells highly express NANOG mRNA and
      protein. We then constructed a shRNA-mediated plasmid to knockdown of NANOG mRNA.
      We observed that NANOG deficiency in Eca109 cells decreased clone formation, cell
      proliferation, and showed G1 arrest. To further investigate the functions and
      mechanisms of NANOG in Eca109 cells, we detected the changes of multiple
      signaling molecules when NANOG deficiency. We foud that NANOG deficiency affected
      multiple genes, particularly, supressed drug-resistance via down-regulated ABCG2
      in Eca109 cells, and caused G1 arrest by down-regulated cyclin D1 (CCND1)
      expression. The present loss-of-function work, establish the integral role for
      NANOG in Eca109 cell proliferation, drug resistance, and shed light on its
      mechanisms of action.

PMID- 28601642
TI  - Comparison of citrated and fresh whole blood for viscoelastic coagulation testing
      during elective neurosurgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous viscoelastic haemostatic tests studies have often indicated
      a hypercoagulative test signal with citrated blood, which could influence
      clinical decision makings. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare fresh
      and citrated whole blood using two non-automated viscoelastic ROTEM and Sonoclot
      tests. Our hypothesis was that citrated blood would demonstrate a
      hypercoagulative response in this setting, not tested before. METHODS:
      Perioperative viscoelastic coagulation changes were evaluated with a ROTEM and
      Sonoclot in 38 patients undergoing elective brain tumor surgery. The citrated
      samples were recalcified with CaCl2. Wilcoxon nonparametric-paired tests and
      Bland-Altman plots were performed to compare the fresh and citrated blood
      analyses. RESULTS: The citrated blood showed a hypercoagulative response in ROTEM
      NATEM-clot formation time and alpha-angle, Sonoclot-clot rate and platelet
      function, as compared to fresh blood (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Fresh whole blood
      may theoretically reflect in vivo haemostasis more closely than citrated
      analyses, which indicated a hypercoagulative response as compared to the fresh
      whole blood analyses Bland-Altman plots also indicated that ROTEM reference
      ranges in patients undergoing brain surgery should be redefined. Future studies
      must establish the correlation between viscoelastic test results using fresh or
      citrate anticoagulated blood and clinical outcomes, such as bleeding, transfusion
      or reoperation for postoperative haematoma.

PMID- 28601641
TI  - Treatment Effect and Safety of Icatibant in Pediatric Patients with Hereditary
      Angioedema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical manifestations of hereditary angioedema with C1 inhibitor
      deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) usually begin in childhood, often intensifying during
      puberty. Currently there are insufficient efficacy/safety data for HAE therapies
      in children and adolescents due to the small number of pediatric patients
      enrolled in studies. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this phase 3 study was to
      evaluate the efficacy/safety of a single subcutaneous dose of icatibant (0.4
      mg/kg; maximum 30 mg) in pediatric patients with C1-INH-HAE. METHODS: Patients
      aged 2 years to younger than 18 years were categorized as prepubertal (children)
      and pubertal/postpubertal (adolescents). The primary end point was time to onset
      of symptom relief-earliest time posttreatment to 20% or more improvement in
      composite symptom score. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients received icatibant (safety
      population: 11 children with attack, 10 adolescents without attack, and 11
      adolescents with attack). The efficacy population consisted of 11 children and 11
      adolescents with edematous attacks. Most attacks in the efficacy population (16
      [72.7%]) were cutaneous, 5 (22.7%) were abdominal, and 1 (4.5%) was both
      cutaneous and abdominal; none was laryngeal. Overall, the median time to onset of
      symptom relief was 1.0 hour, the same for children and adolescents. Thirty-two
      treatment-emergent adverse events (all mild or moderate) occurred in 9 (28.1%)
      patients. Gastrointestinal symptoms were most common (9 events in 3 [9.4%]
      patients). Injection-site reactions affected most (90.6%) patients (particularly
      erythema and swelling), but almost all resolved by 6 hours postdose. Icatibant
      demonstrated a monophasic plasma concentration-time profile. Time to peak
      concentration was approximately 0.5 hours postdose. CONCLUSIONS: Symptom relief
      was rapid, and a single icatibant injection in pediatric patients with C1-INH-HAE
      was well tolerated (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01386658).

PMID- 28601644
TI  - Functional characteristics, wettability properties and cytotoxic effect of starch
      film incorporated with multi-walled and hydroxylated multi-walled carbon
      nanotubes.
AB  - Two types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT and CNT-OH) at different levels
      (0.1-0.9wt%) were introduced into starch matrix in order to modify its functional
      properties. The optimum concentration of each nanotube was selected based on the
      results of water solubility, water permeability and mechanical experiments. The
      physico-mechanical data showed that CNT up to 0.7wt% led to a notable increase in
      water resistance, water barrier property and tensile strength, whilst regarding
      CNT-OH, these improvements found at 0.9wt%. Therefore, effects of optimized level
      of each nanotube on the starch film were evaluated by XRD, surface
      hydrophobicity, wettability and surface energy tests. XRD revealed that the
      position of starch characteristic peak shifted to higher degree after nanotubes
      introducing. The hydrophobic character of the film was greatly increased with
      incorporation of nanoparticles, as evidenced by increased contact angle with
      greatest value regarding CNT-OH. Moreover, CNT-OH notably decreased the surface
      free energy of the starch film. Finally, the conformity of both nanocomposites
      with actual food regulations on biodegradable materials was tested by
      cytotoxicity assay to evaluate the possibility of application in food packaging
      sector. Both nanocomposite films had potential of cytotoxic effects, since they
      could increase cytoplasmic lactate dehydrogenase release from L-929 fibroblast
      cells in contact with their surface.

PMID- 28601643
TI  - Heterogeneous Cadherin Expression and Multicellular Aggregate Dynamics in Ovarian
      Cancer Dissemination.
AB  - Epithelial ovarian carcinoma spreads via shedding of cells and multicellular
      aggregates (MCAs) from the primary tumor into peritoneal cavity, with subsequent
      intraperitoneal tumor cell:mesothelial cell adhesion as a key early event in
      metastatic seeding. Evaluation of human tumor extracts and tissues confirms that
      well-differentiated ovarian tumors express abundant E-cadherin (Ecad), whereas
      advanced lesions exhibit upregulated N-cadherin (Ncad). Two expression patterns
      are observed: "mixed cadherin," in which distinct cells within the same tumor
      express either E- or Ncad, and "hybrid cadherin," wherein single tumor cell(s)
      simultaneously expresses both cadherins. We demonstrate striking cadherin
      dependent differences in cell-cell interactions, MCA formation, and aggregate
      ultrastructure. Mesenchymal-type Ncad+ cells formed stable, highly cohesive solid
      spheroids, whereas Ecad+ epithelial-type cells generated loosely adhesive cell
      clusters covered by uniform microvilli. Generation of "mixed cadherin" MCAs using
      fluorescently tagged cell populations revealed preferential sorting into cadherin
      dependent clusters, whereas mixing of cell lines with common cadherin profiles
      generated homogeneous aggregates. Recapitulation of the "hybrid cadherin"
      Ecad+/Ncad+ phenotype, via insertion of the CDH2 gene into Ecad+ cells, resulted
      in the ability to form heterogeneous clusters with Ncad+ cells, significantly
      enhanced adhesion to organotypic mesomimetic cultures and peritoneal explants,
      and increased both migration and matrix invasion. Alternatively, insertion of
      CDH1 gene into Ncad+ cells greatly reduced cell-to-collagen, cell-to-mesothelium,
      and cell-to-peritoneum adhesion. Acquisition of the hybrid cadherin phenotype
      resulted in altered MCA surface morphology with increased surface projections and
      increased cell proliferation. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that
      MCA cadherin composition impacts intraperitoneal cell and MCA dynamics and
      thereby affects ultimate metastatic success.

PMID- 28601645
TI  - Synthesis, in vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and molecular
      docking of new acridine-coumarin hybrids.
AB  - A novel series of acridine-coumarin hybrids was synthesized and biologically
      evaluated for their potential inhibitory effect on both acetylcholinesterase
      (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The newly synthesized derivatives 9a-d
      have shown higher activity against human AChE (hAChE) compared with 7-MEOTA as
      the standard drug. Among them derivative 9b exhibited the most potent
      acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, with an IC50 value of 5.85MUM compared
      with 7-MEOTA (IC50=15MUM). Molecular modelling studies were performed to predict
      the binding modes of compounds 9b, 9c and 9f with hAChE/hBuChE.

PMID- 28601646
TI  - Effect of degumming methods on structural characteristics and properties of
      regenerated silk.
AB  - In the present study, the effects of different degumming methods on the
      structural characteristics and properties of regenerated silk fibroin (SF) were
      examined. The crystallinity index of the degummed silk increased with the
      degumming ratio. The crystallinity index at any given degumming ratio differed
      depending on the degumming method. The soda method and the soap/soda method using
      sodium carbonate resulted in a higher crystallinity index than the other methods
      The degumming method strongly affects the molecular weight (MW) and solution
      viscosity of the regenerated SF. The MW and viscosity of the regenerated SF,
      according to the degumming method, was in the order of urea method>HTHP
      method~acid method>soap/soda method~soda method. The turbidity of a silk formic
      acid solution decreased as a result of increasing the degumming ratio and was a
      minimum at a degumming ratio of around 26%. However, it was not affected by the
      degumming method. The mechanical properties of a regenerated SF film were
      strongly affected by the degumming method and the trend in the strength and
      elongation with the various degumming methods was the same as that of the MW and
      viscosity of the regenerated SF.

PMID- 28601647
TI  - Metalloproteomic and differential expression in plasma in a rat model of type 1
      diabetes.
AB  - Type 1 diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia, which in the chronic stage is
      associated with abnormalities in lipids, protein and, carbohydrate metabolism, as
      well as oxidative stress. New strategies for prevention and treatment are needed,
      as type 1 diabetes affects life quality and survival, and involves high-cost
      treatment. Proteomic and metalloproteomic studies can elucidate the functional
      and physiological aspects of biomolecules. In the present study, differential
      proteomics was used to identify potential biomarkers of diabetes in rat plasma
      associated with copper, selenium, zinc, and magnesium fractionation in control
      and diabetic rats, as well as diabetic rats treated with insulin. 2D-PAGE was
      used in the plasma protein fractionation; graphite furnace atomic absorption
      spectrometry (GFAAS) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) were used
      for quantitative determination of copper, magnesium, selenium, and zinc in the
      spots that showed different expression; and protein spots were characterized by
      electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) after tryptic
      digestion. ESI-MS/MS analysis characterized 35 different proteins, indicating
      alpha-1-macroglobulin and haptoglobulin as potential candidates as biomarkers for
      diabetes treated with insulin; also, 2'-deoxynucleoside 5'-phosphate N-hydrolase
      1, transmembrane protein 11, serum amyloid P component, vitamin D-binding
      protein, and biliverdin reductase were identified as potential candidates as
      biomarkers for uncontrolled diabetes.

PMID- 28601648
TI  - Sequential IGF-1 and BMP-6 releasing chitosan/alginate/PLGA hybrid scaffolds for
      periodontal regeneration.
AB  - The goal of periodontal tissue engineering is to repair or regenerate the
      destructed or lost periodontium by improving functions of cells in the remaining
      tissue. For continuty of cell growth process, two group of growth factors, i.e.
      competence factors and progression factors, are needed to act together. However,
      the short biological half-life of these factors limits their effects on cells and
      their clinical efficacy. The purpose of this study is to develop different
      microparticles-loaded chitosan carriers/scaffolds for controlled and sequential
      delivery of a competence factor, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), and
      progression factor, bone morphogenetic factor-6 (BMP-6). Alginate and poly
      (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles provided release of IGF-1 and BMP
      6 for early short period and for long period, respectively. The cell culture
      studies showed that, chitosan/alginate/PLGA hybrid scaffolds induced
      proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation of cementoblasts when compared
      with IGF-1 and BMP-6 free chitosan scaffold.

PMID- 28601649
TI  - Gum ghatti mediated, one pot green synthesis of optimized gold nanoparticles:
      Investigation of process-variables impact using Box-Behnken based statistical
      design.
AB  - Due to unique inherent catalytic characteristics of different size, shape and
      surface functionalized gold nanoparticles, their potential applications, are
      being explored in various fields such as drug delivery, biosensor, diagnosis and
      theranostics. However conventional process for synthesis of these metallic
      nanoparticles utilizes toxic reagents as reducing agents, additional capping
      agent for stability as well as surface functionalization for drug delivery
      purposes. Hence, in this work suitability of gum Ghatti for reducing, capping and
      surface functionalization during the synthesis of stable Gold nanoparticles were
      duly explored. Role and impact of key process variables i.e. volume of
      chloroauric acid solution, gum solution and temperature at their respective three
      different levels, as well as mechanism of formation of optimized gold
      nanoparticles were also investigated using Box- Behnken design. These novel
      synthesized optimized Gold nanoparticles were further characterized by UV
      spectrophotometer for its surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at around ~530nm,
      dynamic light scattering (DLS) for its hydrodynamic size (112.5nm), PDI (0.222)
      and zeta potential (-21.3mV) while, transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
      further revealed surface geometry of these nanoparticles being spherical in
      shape.

PMID- 28601650
TI  - Tough chitosan hydrogel based on purified regeneration and alkaline solvent as
      biomaterials for tissue engineering applications.
AB  - The chitosan based on purified regeneration could be dissolved in 6wt% aqueous
      NaOH without freeze-thawing cycles and acetylation processing, and such a
      solution system was effective and different from other dissolving methods Upon
      heating, a tough hydrogel was constructed from the chitosan (purified
      regeneration) alkaline solution. The results of XRD, TEM, SEM and rheology
      analysis proved that chitosan easily aggregated in the solution and formed a
      nanofibers network to gelate at elevated temperature and concentration. The
      merely chitosan hydrogel had a uniform network structure and its (5wt%)
      compressive fracture stress could reach 0.2MPa. Furthermore, the hydrogels
      exhibited excellent biodegradability, blood compatibility and cellular
      compatibility. Therefore, the tough chitosan hydrogels may have a wide range of
      applications in biomedicine.

PMID- 28601651
TI  - Plant carbon nourishment of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
AB  - Reciprocal nutrient exchange between the majority of land plants and arbucular
      mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is the cornerstone of a stable symbiosis. To date, a dogma
      in the comprehension of AM fungal nourishment has been delivery of host organic
      carbon in the form of sugars. More recently a role for lipids as alternative
      carbon source or as a signalling molecule during AM symbiosis was proposed. Here
      we review the symbiotic requirement for carbohydrates and lipids across
      developmental stages of the AM symbiosis. We present a role for carbohydrate
      metabolism and signalling to maintain intraradical fungal growth, as opposed to
      lipid uptake at the arbuscule as an indispensible requirement for completion of
      the AM fungal life cycle.

PMID- 28601652
TI  - Social exclusion impairs distractor suppression but not target enhancement in
      selective attention.
AB  - Social exclusion has been thought to weaken one's ability to exert inhibitory
      control. Existing studies have primarily focused on the relationship between
      exclusion and behavioral inhibition, and have reported that exclusion impairs
      behavioral inhibition. However, whether exclusion also affects selective
      attention, another important aspect of inhibitory control, remains unknown.
      Therefore, the current study aimed to explore whether social exclusion impairs
      selective attention, and to specifically examine its effect on two hypothesized
      mechanisms of selective attention: target enhancement and distractor suppression.
      The Cyberball game was used to manipulate social exclusion. Participants then
      performed a visual search task while event-related potentials were recorded. In
      the visual search task, target and salient distractor were either both presented
      laterally or one was presented on the vertical midline and the other laterally.
      Results showed that social exclusion differentially affected target and
      distractor processing. While exclusion impaired distractor suppression, reflected
      as smaller distractor-positivity (Pd) amplitudes for the exclusion group compared
      to the inclusion group, it did not affect target enhancement, reflected as
      similar target-negativity (Nt) amplitudes for both the exclusion and inclusion
      groups. Together, these results extend our understanding of the relationship
      between exclusion and inhibitory control, and suggest that social exclusion
      affects selective attention in a more complex manner than previously thought.

PMID- 28601653
TI  - Evaluation of the BACTEC MGIT 960 system and the resazurin microtiter assay for
      susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to second-line drugs.
AB  - Drug resistance in tuberculosis is a major threat to public health and control of
      the disease worldwide. Given the need of a rapid and accurate detection of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to second-line drugs, this study evaluated
      the performance of the BACTEC MGIT 960 for second-line, drug susceptibility
      testing in comparison with the resazurin microtiter assay (REMA), in order to
      implement the automated methodology in the diagnostic routine of a reference
      laboratory. Drug susceptibility testing (DST) for second-line drugs of 151 MDR M.
      tuberculosis clinical isolates was performed by both BACTEC MGIT 960 and REMA,
      and a panel of 26 M. tuberculosis reference isolates from a proficiency test was
      tested by the BACTEC MGIT 960. DST for second-line drugs by the BACTEC MGIT 960
      system was more rapid, highly reproducible and showed 100% of proficiency. After
      these results, this methodology was successfully implemented in our diagnostic
      routine for all MDR-TB patients.

PMID- 28601654
TI  - Natural radionuclides in plants, soils and sediments affected by U-rich coal
      mining activities in Brazil.
AB  - Mining activities can increase the mobility of metals by accelerating the
      dissolution and leaching of minerals from the rocks and tailing piles to the
      environment and, consequently, their availability for plants and subsequent
      transfer to the food chain. The weathering of minerals and the disposal of coal
      waste in tailing piles can accelerate the generation of acid mine drainage (AMD),
      which is responsible for the higher dissolution of metals in mining areas. In
      this context, the behavior of U, Th and K in soils and sediment, and the transfer
      factor (TF) of 238U, 234U and 210Po for soybean, wheat, pine and eucalyptus
      cultivated around a coal mine in southern Brazil was evaluated. Alpha and gamma
      spectrometry were used for the measurements of the activity concentration of the
      radioelements. 210Po was the radionuclide that is most accumulated in the plants,
      especially in the leaves. When comparing the plant species, pine showed the
      highest TF values for 234U (0.311 +/- 0.420) for leaves, while eucalyptus showed
      the highest TF for 238U (0.344 +/- 0.414) for leaves. In general, TF were higher
      for the leaves of soybean and wheat when compared to the grains, and grains of
      wheat showed higher TF for 210Po and 238U than grains of soybean. Deviations from
      the natural U isotopic ratio were recorded at all investigated areas, indicating
      possible industrial and mining sources of U for the vegetables. A safety
      assessment of transport routes and accumulation of radionuclides in soils with a
      potential for cultivation is important, mainly in tropical areas contaminated
      with solid waste and effluents from mines and industry.

PMID- 28601655
TI  - Regulation of p27 by ubiquitin ligases and its pathological significance in human
      lung carcinomas.
AB  - Down-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor protein p27, due to enhanced
      degradation, is frequently observed in various cancers. The ubiquitin ligases
      that mediate this degradation have been identified as S-phase kinase-associated
      protein-2 (Skp2), Kip1 ubiquitylation-promoting complex (KPC), and p53-inducible
      protein with RING-H2 domain (Pirh2) as well. We investigated the correlation
      among expression of these 3 ligases and p27 status in surgical specimens of human
      lung carcinomas by immunohistochemical analysis. Among 93 cases, expressions of
      p27, Skp2, KPC, and Pirh2 were found in 89.2%, 59.1%, 59.1%, and 67.7%,
      respectively. Down-regulation of p27 in cancer cells was frequently observed in
      adenocarcinoma (AC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but not in small cell
      carcinoma (SmCC). Overexpression of ubiquitin ligases was variously observed
      among histological types: Skp2 was more frequently observed in SCC and SmCC, KPC
      in SCC and Pirh2 in AC, followed by SCC. Several novel findings were obtained:
      (i) cytoplasmic p27 was observed in 8.6%, most frequently in SCC (13.3%), and
      correlated with nodal metastasis (P=.0044), (ii) significant inverse correlation
      between nuclear p27 and Pirh2 expression was observed by statistical analysis and
      at the cellular level, and (iii) cytoplasmic Pirh2 and total (cytoplasmic and/or
      nuclear) Pirh2 were significantly correlated with the nodal status (P=.0225,
      0.0314), the pathological stage (P=.0213, 0.0475) and recurrence-free survival
      (P=.0194, 0.0482, respectively) in AC. Altogether, our data suggests that p27 and
      its cognate ubiquitin ligases are specifically involved in the clinical profiles,
      and thus, molecular targeting of these ubiquitin ligases, in particular, Pirh2,
      may have therapeutic value for human lung carcinomas.

PMID- 28601656
TI  - Prognostic relevance of Src activation in stage II-III colon cancer.
AB  - Src belongs to a family of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases that play a key role in
      tumor initiation and progression. Src activation has been associated with a more
      aggressive neoplastic phenotype and induces resistance to platinum agents in
      preclinical models. The aim of our study was to assess the prognostic and/or
      predictive value of Src activation in patients with stage II-III colon cancer.
      pSrc expression was assessed in paraffin-embedded tumor samples by
      immunohistochemistry (phospho-Y418, ab4816; Abcam). Cases were classified by
      staining intensity in 4 categories: no staining (0), weak (1+), moderate (2+),
      and intense (3+) staining. A total of 487 patients were evaluated (240 stage II,
      247 stage III), of whom 298 (61%) had received adjuvant chemotherapy. Staining
      was absent in 78 (16%), weak in 262 (54%), moderate in 103 (21%), and intense in
      44 (9%). High pSrc expression was significantly associated with decreased 5-year
      disease-free survival (39% versus 63% for patients with high versus low pSrc
      expression; hazard ratio, 0.56; P=.005) and overall survival (58% versus 74%;
      hazard ratio, 0.55; P=.02). Multivariate analysis confirmed pSrc expression as a
      significant prognostic factor both for disease-free survival and overall
      survival, independent of age, sex, tumor stage, bowel obstruction/perforation, or
      adjuvant chemotherapy. These findings illustrate the relevance of Src activation
      in colon cancer biology, conferring a poor prognosis to patients with early stage
      colon cancer regardless of adjuvant chemotherapy. Our findings may help improve
      prognostic stratification of patients for clinical decisions and open new avenues
      for potential pharmacologic manipulation that may eventually improve patients'
      outcomes.

PMID- 28601657
TI  - Significance of positive and inhibitory regulators in the TGF-beta signaling
      pathway in colorectal cancers.
AB  - Inactivation of genes in the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta/SMAD signaling
      pathway is a well-known step for the progression of colorectal cancers (CRCs).
      Genetic mutations can occur in the precursors, and the combined prevalence of
      SMAD4, SMAD2, and SMAD3 mutations was seen in up to 50% of CRCs. High levels of
      serum TGF-beta1 were reported in patients with CRC and were associated with poor
      clinical outcome. PPM1A is an important inhibitory regulator in the TGF-beta
      signaling pathway and contributes to terminating the TGF-beta/SMAD signaling
      activity. We recently showed that PPM1A expression was lost in approximately 45%
      of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas and loss of PPM1A was associated with worse
      overall survival. Genome-wide analyses from The Cancer Genome Atlas revealed that
      abnormal TGF-beta signaling pathway is among the most common molecular changes in
      CRC. The complexity of the TGF-beta signaling pathway is its dual function as a
      tumor suppressor and tumor-promoting factor, depending on the cellular and
      molecular context. In this study, we simultaneously investigated the protein
      expression pattern of 3 regulators in the TGF-beta/SMAD signaling pathway,
      including SMAD4, PPM1A, and TGF-beta1, and their clinicopathological correlations
      in CRCs by immunohistochemistry. We observed that loss of SMAD4 and PPM1A was
      seen in 37.8% and 7.3% of CRCs, respectively. Loss of SMAD4, lymphovascular
      invasion, and distant metastasis were independently associated with worse overall
      survival in multivariate analysis. However, loss of PPM1A was associated with
      worse overall survival with less statistical strength. Our findings would provide
      new insights into the pathophysiological function of different components in the
      TGF-beta signaling pathway in CRC.

PMID- 28601658
TI  - Thyroid-like low-grade nasopharyngeal papillary adenocarcinoma with squamous
      differentiation: a novel histological finding.
AB  - Thyroid-like low-grade nasopharyngeal papillary adenocarcinoma (TL-LGNPPA) is an
      extremely rare neoplasm originating from the nasopharyngeal surface epithelium.
      Histopathologically, TL-LGNPPA is characterized by cuboidal/columnar tumor cells
      forming papillary fronds and thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) expression
      resembling papillary thyroid carcinoma. To date, the recorded histological
      features of TL-LGNPPA have been almost uniform, and the range of histological
      variations in this tumor type has not been sufficiently understood. Here, we
      report on a 68-year-old man with TL-LGNPPA. Microscopic examination of the
      resected tumor revealed findings typical of papillary adenocarcinoma of this
      type, and moreover, this case showed scattered squamous cell foci as a hitherto
      unreported finding. The squamous cells showed no obvious nuclear atypia or
      proliferating activity, and their presence was similar to the "squamous
      metaplasia" of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Immunohistochemically, p40 and TTF-1
      coexpression was observed in the squamous cell nuclei, indicating their origin
      from the glandular tumor cells of TL-LGNPPA.

PMID- 28601659
TI  - Endometrioid endometrial carcinomas with microcystic, elongated, and fragmented
      (MELF) type of myoinvasion: role of immunohistochemistry in the detection of
      occult lymph node metastases and their clinical significance.
AB  - In endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (EECs), microcystic, elongated, and
      fragmented (MELF) myoinvasion is associated with easily overlooked lymph node
      metastases; however, the role of immunohistochemistry in their detection and
      their clinical significance have not been addressed. We identified MELF in 43 of
      101 (43%) myoinvasive EECs. Nodes were removed in 49 (49%), 25 with MELF and 24
      without MELF. Metastases were initially reported in 3 of the former (12%) and 2
      of the latter (8%). All negative nodes were reviewed, and cytokeratin
      immunohistochemistry was performed. Three metastases were identified in the MELF
      group but none in the EECs without MELF. By immunohistochemistry, metastatic
      nodal isolated tumor cells (ITCs) were found in 6 of the remaining 19 MELF
      positive cases. In contrast, lymph node metastases were detected in only 2 of the
      22 EECs without MELF. MELF-positive cases had more lymph node metastases (P=.03)
      than myoinvasive EECs without MELF. At follow-up, all 6 patients with grade 1-2
      EECs and nodal ITCs/micrometastases were alive (5 no evidence of disease and 1
      with perineal disease). In contrast, 3 of 4 patients with grade 3 EECs and nodal
      ITCs/micrometastases died of disease, and the other patient was alive with tumor.
      In MELF, the frequency of ITCs/micrometastases in apparently negative lymph nodes
      is high. In patients with grade 1-2 EEC who had not received chemotherapy, the
      presence of nodal ITCs/micrometastases did not affect survival. In contrast, in
      high-grade tumors, ITCs/micrometastases were associated with unfavorable
      prognosis. Immunohistochemistry should be done in MELF-positive cases to detect
      occult lymph node metastases, especially in high-grade tumors.

PMID- 28601660
TI  - SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcoma: report of a case and insights into how to
      reach the diagnosis using limited samples and resources.
AB  - SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcoma is a recently proposed new entity of soft
      tissue sarcomas with an undifferentiated round cell morphology that is
      diagnostically challenging. Here we report a case of this tumor where the
      diagnosis was established using limited samples and resources. A woman in her
      early 30s developed two intrathoracic masses. Biopsies for these lesions showed
      sheets of undifferentiated round/rhabdoid cells that retained SMARCB1 expression.
      Further analysis revealed a reduced SMARCA4 expression and a complete loss of
      SMARCA2 expression in tumor cells. Subsequent Sanger sequencing identified a
      nonsense c.1546A>T (p.516Lys>Ter) mutation in SMARCA4 and confirmed the
      diagnosis. Our case highlighted clinicopathological correlation and rational use
      of tissue sections for immunohistochemistry may enable to diagnose this tumor
      even when only limited samples are available. Recognition of this new entity is
      important for further understanding of the disease and the future development of
      specific therapies.

PMID- 28601662
TI  - Inhibition of miR-32 activity promoted EMT induced by PM2.5 exposure through the
      modulation of the Smad1-mediated signaling pathways in lung cancer cells.
AB  - Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial morphological event during
      tumor progression. The present study reported that EMT could be triggered by
      airborne fine particulate matter (PM) with a mean diameter of less than 2.5 MUm
      (PM2.5) in human lung cancer cells. We also aimed to elucidate the possible
      mechanisms of these processes. The results showed that treatment with PM2.5
      promoted the activity of the SMAD family member 1 (Smad1)-mediated signaling
      pathway and downregulated the expression of the inhibitory Smad proteins Smad6
      and Smad7 in lung cancer cells. Moreover, the knockdown of Smad1 suppressed the
      EMT process induced by PM2.5 exposure. Our data further revealed that miR-32 has
      a negative effect on PM2.5-induced EMT. The results showed that the expression
      level of miR-32 was significantly upregulated in the PM2.5-induced EMT process.
      The knockdown of miR-32 enhances the activity of the Smad1-mediated signaling
      pathway, which promotes the EMT process induced by PM2.5. Thus, these findings
      indicate that PM2.5 can induce the EMT process through the Smad1-mediated
      signaling pathway, and miR-32 may act as an EMT inhibitor in lung cancer cells.

PMID- 28601661
TI  - DIMT1 overexpression correlates with progression and prognosis in gastric
      carcinoma.
AB  - We investigated the expression of dimethyladenosine transferase 1 homolog (DIMT1)
      in human gastric carcinoma (GC) tissues, pericarcinoma histologically normal
      tissues, and normal gastric tissues and explored its clinical significance.
      Immunohistochemistry staining was used to detect the expression of DIMT1, and the
      findings were compared with clinicopathological features of patients with GC. The
      result also was ascertained by Western blotting. The Kaplan-Meier method and log
      rank test were used to compare the overall survival rate and time in the DIMT1
      low-level and high-level expression groups. Immunohistochemical staining
      indicated that the expression of DIMT1 in GC tissues (65/75; 86.7%) was
      significantly more common (P<.001) than that in pericarcinoma histologically
      normal tissues (14/75; 18.7%) and normal gastric tissues (2/12; 16.7%). High
      expression of DIMT1 correlated closely with differentiation (P=.023), invasion
      (P=.042), lymph node metastasis (P=.008), distant metastasis (P=.006), and TNM
      stage (P=.013). Western blotting showed that DIMT1 expression correlated
      positively with TNM stage and implied that more advanced TNM stage was
      accompanied by higher expression of DIMT1 (P<.001). Kaplan-Meier survival
      analysis showed that high DIMT1 expression correlated significantly (P<.001) with
      a poor prognosis. Our data suggest that DIMT1 is a useful molecular biomarker to
      predict tumor progression and prognosis in patients with GC.

PMID- 28601663
TI  - Temporal patterns of phyto- and bacterioplankton and their relationships with
      environmental factors in Lake Taihu, China.
AB  - Phytoplankton and bacterioplankton are integral components of aquatic food webs
      and play essential roles in the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems.
      However, little is known about how phyto- and bacterioplankton may respond
      synchronously to changing environmental conditions. Thus, we analyzed
      simultaneously the composition and structure of phyto- and bacterioplankton on a
      monthly basis over 12 months in cyanobacteria-dominated areas of Lake Taihu and
      compared their responses to changes in environmental factors. Metric multi
      dimensional scaling (mMDS) revealed that the temporal variations of phyto- and
      bacterioplankton were significant. Time lag analysis (TLA) indicated that the
      temporal pattern of phytoplankton tended to exhibit convergent dynamics while
      bacterioplankton showed highly stable or stochastic variation. A significant
      directional change was found for bacterioplankton at the genus level and the
      slopes (rate of change) and regression R2 (low stochasticity or stability) were
      greater if Cyanobacteria were included, suggesting a higher level of instability
      in the bacterial community at lower taxonomy level. Consequently, phytoplankton
      responded more rapidly to the change in environmental conditions than
      bacterioplankton when analyzed at the phylum level, while bacterioplankton were
      more sensitive at the finer taxonomic resolution in Lake Taihu. Redundancy
      analysis (RDA) results showed that environmental variables collectively explained
      51.0% variance of phytoplankton and 46.7% variance of bacterioplankton,
      suggesting that environmental conditions have a significant influence on the
      temporal variations of phyto- and bacterioplankton. Furthermore, variance
      partitioning indicated that the bacterial community structure was largely
      explained by water temperature and nitrogen, suggesting that these factors were
      the primary drivers shaping bacterioplankton.

PMID- 28601664
TI  - Effects of humic acids from landfill leachate on plants: An integrated approach
      using chemical, biochemical and cytogenetic analysis.
AB  - Biological process treatment of landfill leachate produces a significant amount
      of sludge, characterized by high levels of organic matter from which humic acids
      are known to activate several enzymes of energy metabolism, stimulating plant
      growth. This study aimed to characterize humic acids extracted from landfill
      sludge and assess the effects on plants exposed to different concentrations (0.5,
      1, 2 and 4 mM C L-1) by chemical and biological analysis, to elucidate the
      influence of such organic material and minimize potential risks of using sludge
      in natura. Landfill humic acids showed high carbon and nitrogen levels, which may
      represent an important source of nutrients for plants. Biochemical analysis
      demonstrated an increase of enzyme activity, especially H+-ATPase in 2 mM C L-1
      landfill humic acid. Additionally, cytogenetic alterations were observed in
      meristematic and F1 cells, through nuclear abnormalities and micronuclei.
      Multivariate statistical analysis provided integration of physical, chemical and
      biological data. Despite all the nutritional benefits of humic acids and their
      activation of plant antioxidant systems, the observed biological effects showed
      concerning levels of mutagenicity.

PMID- 28601665
TI  - Bisphenol analogues in surface water and sediment from the shallow Chinese
      freshwater lakes: Occurrence, distribution, source apportionment, and ecological
      and human health risk.
AB  - Compared to Bisphenol A (BPA), current knowledge on the spatial distribution,
      potential sources and environmental risk assessment of other bisphenol analogues
      (BPs) remains limited. The occurrence, distribution and sources of seven BPs were
      investigated in the surface water and sediment from Taihu Lake and Luoma Lake,
      which are the Chinese shallow freshwater lakes. Because there are many industries
      and living areas around Taihu Lake, the total concentrations of ?BPs were much
      higher than that in Luoma Lake, which is away from the industry-intensive areas.
      For the two lakes, BPA was still the dominant BPs in both surface water and
      sediment, followed by BPF and BPS. The spatial distribution and principal
      component analysis showed that BPs in Luoma Lake was relatively homogeneous and
      the potential sources were relatively simple than that in Taihu Lake. The spatial
      distribution of BPs in sediment of Taihu Lake indicated that ?BPs positively
      correlated with the TOC content. For both Taihu Lake and Luoma Lake, the risk
      assessment at the sampling sites showed that no high risk in surface water and
      sediment (RQt < 1.0, and EEQt < 1.0 ng E2/L).

PMID- 28601666
TI  - A conditioning model of delusion.
AB  - "Delusions" are beliefs that are false and persistent. It is suggested here that
      these characteristics can emerge from interplays between two fundamental learning
      processes: (1) the allocation of attentional resources among stimuli; and (2) the
      effects of feedback on learning. The former of these has been operationalized in
      the learned irrelevance and latent inhibition paradigms; the latter in studies of
      the effects of persistence-training. Normally, the attentional process functions
      to constrain persistence-training effects so that only valid associations acquire
      persistence. But when persistence-training is less influenced in this way, its
      mechanisms can interact with a noisy environment to gradually insulate
      maladaptive associations from disconfirming feedback. When unchecked, these
      dynamics likely lead to a systematic distortion of beliefs that can become
      increasingly persistent regardless of their validity. Delusions are therefore
      predicted to tend to arise whenever the balance of (1) is weakened in favour of
      (2), whether by experimental manipulation, trait-related factors, cultural causes
      or evolutionary history. Existing evidence is consistent with the model and
      further implications are discussed.

PMID- 28601667
TI  - Association between childhood trauma and accelerated telomere erosion in
      adulthood: A meta-analytic study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood trauma has long-term sequelae on health status and
      contributes to numbers of somatic and mental disorders in later life. Findings
      from experimental studies in animals suggest that telomere erosion may be a
      mediator of this relationship. However, results from human studies are
      heterogeneous. To address these inconsistencies, we performed a meta-analysis
      regarding the association between childhood trauma and telomere length in
      adulthood. METHOD: Articles were identified by systematically searching the
      Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science databases. Twenty four studies, which include
      twenty six sample sets and 30,919 participants, met the inclusion criteria for
      meta-analyses. RESULTS: This meta-analyses revealed that individuals experienced
      childhood trauma have accelerated telomere erosion in adulthood, with a small
      effect size (r = -0.05, 95% CI = -0.08-0.03, p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses by
      type of childhood trauma revealed a trend in difference between groups (Q = 5.24,
      p = 0.07). Analyses for individual trauma types revealed a significant
      association between childhood separation and telomere erosion (r = -0.09, p <
      0.001), but not for physical abuse, sexual abuse and loss of a parent.
      CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis demonstrated a significant association between
      childhood trauma and accelerated telomere erosion in adulthood, and further
      revealed that different trauma types have various impacts on telomere. Additional
      research on the mechanism that links the individual types of childhood trauma
      with telomere is needed in the future.

PMID- 28601668
TI  - Developmental and clinical predictors of comorbidity for youth with obsessive
      compulsive disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To date, few studies of childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
      have been adequately powered to examine patterns and predictors of comorbidity,
      despite the frequency with which it occurs. We address this gap, drawing on a
      large sample of youth with OCD who were systematically assessed through research
      and clinical programs in a university-based specialty program for children and
      adolescents with OCD. We examine patterns of comorbidity across different epochs
      of development and predict specific classes of OCD (comorbidity
      internalizing/externalizing/both) from key demographic and clinical variables
      that may be useful in guiding individualized treatment. METHOD: A total of 322
      youths (mean age = 12.28, 53% male) were assessed using the Anxiety Disorders
      Interview Schedule (ADIS; Silverman and Albano, 1996), the Children's Yale Brown
      Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CYBOCS; Scahill et al., 1997) and other standardized
      measures. RESULTS: Consistent with prior research, 50% of youth met criteria for
      a co-occurring anxiety or depressive disorder. Rates of externalizing disorders
      were lower (16%). Developmental differences emerged such that older youth met
      criteria for a higher number of co-occurring disorders. As expected, adolescents
      in particular were more likely to have a co-occurring internalizing disorder
      compared to early or pre-adolescent peers. Surprisingly, they were also more
      likely to have a comorbid externalizing disorder. Developmental trends were
      particularly striking with respect to depression, with adolescents with OCD
      demonstrating a six-fold greater likelihood of co-occurring depressive disorder
      compared to younger counterparts. DISCUSSION: Clinical implications are discussed
      with eye toward tailoring interventions, particularly during the transition to
      adolescence when youth are at heightened risk for depression.

PMID- 28601669
TI  - The diagnostic value of rescaled renal biomarkers serum creatinine and serum
      cystatin C and their relation with measured glomerular filtration rate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum creatinine (Scr) is the major contributing variable in
      glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimating equations. Serum cystatin C (ScysC)
      based GFR estimating (eGFR)-equations have also been developed. The present study
      investigates the relation between 'rescaled' levels of these renal biomarkers
      (with reference interval of [0.67-1.33]) and measured GFR (mGFR). METHODS: We
      evaluated the diagnostic ability to detect impaired kidney function of the
      rescaled renal biomarkers in 8584 subjects from 12 cohorts with measured GFR,
      standardized Scr and ScysC. We calculated sensitivity and specificity of the
      rescaled biomarkers to identify kidney disease, with reference to a fixed
      (60mL/min/1.73m2) as well as an age-dependent threshold for mGFR. RESULTS: The
      upper reference limit of 1.33 for rescaled renal biomarkers is closely related to
      the age-dependent threshold for defining kidney status by mGFR with sensitivity
      and specificity for the rescaled biomarkers close to 90% for all ages. If the
      fixed threshold of 60mL/min/1.73m2 for mGFR is used, then lower specificity in
      children and sensitivity in older adults are observed. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired
      kidney function can be diagnosed by rescaled renal biomarkers instead of eGFR
      equations using the fixed threshold of 1.33 for all ages, consistent with an age
      dependent threshold of mGFR.

PMID- 28601670
TI  - Oxidized LDL but not total LDL is associated with HbA1c in individuals without
      diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the association between HbA1c, LDL and oxi-LDL
      in individuals without diabetes (DM). METHODS: One hundred and ninety-six
      individuals, without DM, were enrolled and divided into three groups according to
      HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose values. HbA1c, oxi-LDL, LDL, and other
      biochemical measurements of lipid profile were also carried out. RESULTS: oxi-LDL
      levels showed significant differences among all groups and group 3 presented
      higher values [34U/L (27-46); 44U/L (37-70); and 86U/L (49-136); p<0.001; for
      groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively]. There was also a significant difference in oxi
      LDL/HDL and oxi-LDL/LDL ratios among all groups (p<0.001). There was no
      significant difference in total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides and LDL values
      among groups. HbA1c showed moderate positive associations with oxi-LDL (r=0.431;
      p<0.001), oxi-LDL/HDL ratio (r=0.423, p<0.001), and oxi-LDL/LDL ratio (r=0.359,
      p<0.001). There were lower associations between HbA1c and TC (r=0.142; p=0.048),
      triglycerides (r=0.155; p=0.030), LDL (r=0.148; p=0.039), non-HDL (r=0.192;
      p=0.007) and Apo B (r=0.171, p<0.001). The positive associations between HbA1c
      and oxi-LDL, oxi-LDL/HDL and oxi-LDL/LDL ratios remained significant even after
      adjustment by multiple linear regression analysis for the variables alcohol
      consumption, use of medicine, BMI, and age. CONCLUSIONS: oxi-LDL levels are
      significantly associated with HbA1c in non-diabetic individuals. However, the
      levels of traditional atherogenic lipids only showed a weak association with
      HbA1c levels. Those at high risk of developing DM or cardiovascular disease have
      higher levels of oxi-LDL. These data favor to the use of HbA1c as a biomarker to
      identify individuals at risk of developing complications even in non-diabetic
      glycemic levels.

PMID- 28601671
TI  - EBV infection and MSI status significantly influence the clinical outcomes of
      gastric cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and microsatellite instability (MSI) are
      associated with the carcinogenesis of many kinds of tumors, including gastric
      cancer (GC). However, the impact of EBV and MSI status on the prognosis of stage
      II and III GC is still unclear. The aim of this study was to find out the
      prognostic value of EBV and MSI status in a population of GC patients from
      Southern China. METHODS: Patients were genotyped for EBV infection based on the
      detection of EBV DNA from the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens.
      Sequentially, MSI status was measured by direct sequencing. Clinical
      characteristics and overall survival (OS) were analyzed in 202 GC patients.
      Additionally, the association of EBV and MSI status with chemotherapy-based
      toxicity was analyzed in 324 GC patients. RESULTS: The survival analysis revealed
      EBV+ patients had a poorer OS than EBV- patients (HR=1.75, 95% CI: 1.08-2.82, FDR
      p=0.04). This survival advantage for EBV- patients was also found in patients
      <60y (FDR p=0.04) and patient with stage III disease (FDR p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS:
      EBV infection and MSI status are associated with overall survival of gastric
      cancer patients. However, traditional chemotherapy showed no difference on
      outcome of patients in EBV and MSI subgroups.

PMID- 28601672
TI  - Oxidation of 3,5-di-C-(per-O-acetylglucopyranosyl)phloroacetophenone in the
      synthesis of hydroxysafflor yellow A.
AB  - In the synthesis of the main yellow pigment hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), that
      is present in safflower petals, the key compound 4-(S)-2-acetyl-4,6-di-C-(per-O
      acetyl-beta-D-glucosyl)-3,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxycyclohexa-2,5-dienone (11b) was
      diastereoselectively synthesized in an overall yield of 18% from di-C-beta-D
      glucosylphloroacetophenone per-O-acetate (8).

PMID- 28601673
TI  - Histopathological and biomechanical properties of the aortic wall in 2 patients
      with chronic type A aortic dissection.
AB  - Type A aortic dissection is an acute condition that requires urgent surgical
      intervention. However, in a subset of patients, aortic dissections go undiagnosed
      and become chronic, thereby allowing the dissected wall to undergo a distinct
      remodeling process from that of the surrounding intact wall. Here, we observe the
      biomechanical and histological changes in the aortic wall of two patients with
      chronic Type A aortic dissection. Partial or complete disruption of the elastic
      structure of the medial layer was observed in the dissected wall of both
      patients; however, aortic stiffness in the region of dissection covaried with a
      change in collagen content. A ~50% increase in viscous energy loss was observed
      in the region of dissection of both patients which suggests an impaired elastic
      recoil and Windkessel function of the proximal aorta. MMP expression (2 and 9)
      differed between the dissected and intact wall and was distinct between the two
      patients. Our observations suggest that an active remodeling process occurs in
      the dissected aortic wall resulting in a vastly different biomechanical behavior.

PMID- 28601674
TI  - The relationship between age and fat infiltration in liver and muscle.

PMID- 28601675
TI  - Reply to: "Beta adrenergic blockade and advanced cirrhosis: Does it really
      improve survival in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure?"

PMID- 28601676
TI  - Hormonal contraceptive methods and HIV: research gaps and programmatic
      priorities.

PMID- 28601677
TI  - Impact of stem cell graft on early viral infections and immune reconstitution
      after allogeneic transplantation in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viral infections are well-known complications after allogeneic stem
      cell transplant (allo-SCT). OBJECTIVES: We compared prospectively incidences of
      DNAemia and active infections (AI) for five opportunistic viruses (Human
      Herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), BK polyomavirus (BKPyV),
      Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Adenovirus (ADV)) and kinetics of immune reconstitution
      (IR) in adults receiving either double umbilical cord blood (dUCB group) or
      unrelated peripheral blood stem cell (uPBSC group) allo-SCT after a reduced
      intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen. STUDY DESIGN: Whole blood samples were
      collected at transplant, every 15days during the first 3 months and at 4, 5 and 6
      months post-transplant. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were enrolled (uPBSC n=34;
      dUCB n=31). Incidences of HHV-6 and BKPyV DNAemia were significantly higher for
      dUCB (97% vs 23.5% and 58% vs 32%, respectively) while EBV DNAemia was more
      frequently detected in uPBSC (71% vs 26%). The incidence of CMV DNAemia was
      similar between both groups. ADV AI developed only in dUCB. HHV-6 AI were also
      higher in dUCB (84% vs 21%). In multivariate analysis, dUCB graft was the only
      independent factor associated with HHV-6 DNAemia (OR: 19.0; 95%CI: 5.2-69.1;
      p<0.0001) while EBV DNAemia were significantly associated with uPBSC (OR: 29.9;
      95%CI: 5.68-158; p <0.0001). dUCB graft was also the only factor associated with
      HHV-6 AI. Finally, higher counts and faster recoveries of B lymphocytes
      (p<0.0001) and monocytes (p=0.0007) were observed in the dUCB group. CONCLUSION:
      We demonstrate a strong correlation between sources of graft and patterns of
      viral DNAemia and AI and IR after RIC allo-SCT.

PMID- 28601678
TI  - An investigation of two dimensions of impulsivity as predictors of loss-of
      control eating severity and frequency.
AB  - Loss-of-control (LOC) eating episodes represent one form of dysregulated eating
      common to full- and sub-threshold eating disorders. Extensive evidence suggests
      that impulsivity, particularly in the context of negative affect and/or
      depression, may play an important etiological role in the development and
      maintenance of LOC eating. However, most prior studies have considered LOC eating
      as a dichotomous rather than dimensional construct, and few studies have
      considered the interaction of multiple dimensions of impulsivity while also
      accounting for the role of depressive symptoms. The present study examined the
      independent and interacting effects of two facets of impulsivity-response
      inhibition and negative urgency-on LOC eating episode severity and frequency
      among college women (N = 102). Depressive symptom severity was included as a
      covariate. Results indicated that greater negative urgency was associated with
      greater LOC severity; this effect was moderated by response inhibition, such that
      the effect of urgency was particularly pronounced for individuals with higher
      response inhibition capacity. Negative urgency was the only significant predictor
      of LOC frequency. Depression had no significant effect on either LOC severity or
      frequency (ps >= 0.16). Results support the importance of considering multiple
      facets of impulsivity in predicting LOC eating behavior, and further indicate
      that factors influencing subjective severity and frequency of LOC may be
      distinct.

PMID- 28601679
TI  - The rural school meal as a site for learning about food.
AB  - The aim of the article is to contribute to the understanding of the school meal
      as a site for learning about food, nutrition and the wider determinants of health
      in three small rural schools of Ecuador. Based on a year-long qualitative
      fieldwork, the multiple case study associates Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of
      learning with Noddings' theory of care to analyze the findings. In the study,
      elements of care in the relationships between children and adults seemed to
      promote dialogue and, in this way, adults were able to model what is required to
      care for others and oneself. This entails that a focus solely on food or
      limitations on social interaction during the school meal may reduce its learning
      opportunities. The study concurs with the research that the food is better
      received when it is more aligned with the students' expectations. In addition,
      the findings support the view that rural school meal programs should address the
      views of parents and teachers because of their influence on how the meal is
      prepared and provided. The article proposes that schools work within a flexible
      framework emphasizing attention to the caring aspects of the meal, as a means to
      develop this dimension of the school meal. The study also contends that a
      collaborative reshaping of conditions formally set by school food policy is
      consistent with a critical approach to food and nutrition. In connection with
      this, the study concludes by highlighting the value of revisiting Noddings'
      perspective of care as deriving from the practice of opening up and meeting the
      other.

PMID- 28601680
TI  - Nitric oxide induces human CLA+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells with skin-homing
      potential.

PMID- 28601681
TI  - Mutation of the angiopoietin-1 gene (ANGPT1) associates with a new type of
      hereditary angioedema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic disease usually caused
      by mutation in the C1 inhibitor or the coagulation Factor XII gene. However, in a
      series of patients with HAE, no causative variants have been described, and the
      pathophysiology of the disease remains unknown (hereditary angioedema with yet
      unknown genetic defect [U-HAE]). Identification of causative genes in patients
      with U-HAE is valuable for understanding the cause of the disease. OBJECTIVE: We
      conducted genetic studies in Italian patients with U-HAE to identify novel
      causative genes. METHODS: Among patients belonging to 10 independent families and
      unrelated index patients with U-HAE recruited from the Italian Network for C1-INH
      HAE (ITACA), we selected a large multiplex family with U-HAE and performed whole
      exome sequencing. The angiopoietin-1 gene (ANGPT1) was investigated in all
      patients with familial or sporadic U-HAE. The effect of ANGPT1 variants was
      investigated by using in silico prediction and plasma and transfected cells from
      both patients and control subjects. RESULTS: We identified a missense mutation
      (ANGPT1, c.807G>T, p.A119S) in a family with U-HAE. The ANGPT1 p.A119S variant
      was detected in all members of the index family with U-HAE but not in
      asymptomatic family members or an additional 20 patients with familial U-HAE, 22
      patients with sporadic U-HAE, and 200 control subjects. Protein analysis of the
      plasma of patients revealed a reduction of multimeric forms and a reduced ability
      to bind the natural receptor tunica interna endothelial cell kinase 2 of the
      ANGPT1 p.A119S variant. The recombinant mutated ANGPT1 p.A119S formed a reduced
      amount of multimers and showed reduced binding capability to its receptor.
      CONCLUSION: ANGPT1 impairment is associated with angioedema, and ANGPT1 variants
      can be the basis of HAE.

PMID- 28601682
TI  - Flow cytometric measurement of STAT1 and STAT3 phosphorylation in CD4+ and CD8+ T
      cells-clinical applications in primary immunodeficiency diagnostics.

PMID- 28601683
TI  - Prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal factors are associated with pediatric
      eosinophilic esophagitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple lines of evidence point to the potential importance of early
      life environmental factors in the rapid increase in the incidence of eosinophilic
      esophagitis (EoE), but potential exposures have not been extensively studied.
      OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess the association between prenatal, intrapartum, and
      postnatal factors and the development of pediatric EoE using a case-control
      study. METHODS: Patients with EoE were recruited from an existing registry at
      Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC). Population-based community
      control subjects were identified from a separate CCHMC registry. Mothers of study
      subjects were contacted and completed a Web-based questionnaire. Crude and
      adjusted models were used to estimate associations. RESULTS: Mothers of 127 cases
      and 121 control subjects were included. We observed a positive association
      between several early-life factors and EoE, including prenatal (maternal fever:
      adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.18; 95% CI, 1.27-7.98; preterm labor: aOR, 2.18; 95%
      CI, 1.06-4.48), intrapartum (cesarean delivery: aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.01, 3.09),
      and infancy (antibiotic use: aOR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.21-4.38; use of an acid
      suppressant: aOR, 6.05; 95% CI, 2.55-14.40) factors. We observed an inverse
      association between having a furry pet in infancy and EoE (aOR, 0.58; 95% CI,
      0.34-0.97). No associations were observed for breast-feeding or maternal
      multivitamin or folic acid supplement use. CONCLUSION: Early-life factors,
      including maternal fever, preterm labor, cesarean delivery, and antibiotic or
      acid suppressant use in infancy, were associated with risk of pediatric EoE;
      having a pet in the home was protective. These results add to growing evidence
      that implicate early-life exposures in EoE pathogenesis.

PMID- 28601684
TI  - B cells control maternofetal priming of allergy and tolerance in a murine model
      of allergic airway inflammation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic asthma is a chronic lung disease resulting from
      inappropriate immune responses to environmental antigens. Early tolerance
      induction is an attractive approach for primary prevention of asthma. OBJECTIVE:
      We analyzed the mechanisms of perinatal tolerance induction to allergens, with
      particular focus on the role of B cells in preconception and early intrauterine
      immune priming. METHODS: Wild-type (WT) and B cell-deficient mice received
      ovalbumin (OVA) intranasally before mating. Their offspring were analyzed in a
      murine model of allergic airway inflammation. RESULTS: Although antigen
      application before conception protected WT progeny from allergy, it aggravated
      allergic airway inflammation in B cell-deficient offspring. B-cell transfer
      restored protection, demonstrating the crucial role of B cells in perinatal
      tolerance induction. Effective diaplacentar allergen transfer was detectable in
      pregnant WT mice but not in pregnant B-cell knockout dams, and antigen
      concentrations in WT amniotic fluid (AF) were higher than in IgG-free AF of B
      cell-deficient dams. Application of OVA/IgG immune complexes during pregnancy
      boosted OVA uptake by fetal dendritic cells (DCs). Fetal DCs in human subjects
      and mice expressed strikingly higher levels of Fcgamma receptors compared with
      DCs from adults and were highly efficient in taking up OVA/IgG immune complexes.
      Moreover, murine fetal DCs effectively primed antigen-specific forkhead box P3+
      regulatory T cells after in vitro coincubation with OVA/IgG-containing AF.
      CONCLUSION: Our data support a decisive role for B cells and immunoglobulins
      during in utero tolerance priming. These findings improve the understanding of
      perinatal immunity and might support the development of effective primary
      prevention strategies for allergy and asthma in the future.

PMID- 28601685
TI  - Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with gain-of-function signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 1 mutations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in signal transducer and activator
      of transcription 1 (STAT1) cause susceptibility to a range of infections,
      autoimmunity, immune dysregulation, and combined immunodeficiency. Disease
      manifestations can be mild or severe and life-threatening. Hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation (HSCT) has been used in some patients with more severe
      symptoms to treat and cure the disorder. However, the outcome of HSCT for this
      disorder is not well established. OBJECTIVE: We sought to aggregate the worldwide
      experience of HSCT in patients with GOF-STAT1 mutations and to assess outcomes,
      including donor engraftment, overall survival, graft-versus-host disease, and
      transplant-related complications. METHODS: Data were collected from an
      international cohort of 15 patients with GOF-STAT1 mutations who had undergone
      HSCT using a variety of conditioning regimens and donor sources. Retrospective
      data collection allowed the outcome of transplantation to be assessed. In vitro
      functional testing was performed to confirm that each of the identified STAT1
      variants was in fact a GOF mutation. RESULTS: Primary donor engraftment in this
      cohort of 15 patients with GOF-STAT1 mutations was 74%, and overall survival was
      only 40%. Secondary graft failure was common (50%), and posttransplantation event
      free survival was poor (10% by 100 days). A subset of patients had hemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis before transplant, contributing to their poor outcomes.
      CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that HSCT for patients with GOF-STAT1 mutations is
      curative but has significant risk of secondary graft failure and death.

PMID- 28601686
TI  - Exaggerated follicular helper T-cell responses in patients with LRBA deficiency
      caused by failure of CTLA4-mediated regulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LPS-responsive beige-like anchor protein (LRBA) and cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) deficiencies give rise to overlapping
      phenotypes of immune dysregulation and autoimmunity, with dramatically increased
      frequencies of circulating follicular helper T (cTFH) cells. OBJECTIVE: We sought
      to determine the mechanisms of cTFH cell dysregulation in patients with LRBA
      deficiency and the utility of monitoring cTFH cells as a correlate of clinical
      response to CTLA4-Ig therapy. METHODS: cTFH cells and other lymphocyte
      subpopulations were characterized. Functional analyses included in vitro
      follicular helper T (TFH) cell differentiation and cTFH/naive B-cell cocultures.
      Serum soluble IL-2 receptor alpha chain levels and in vitro immunoglobulin
      production by cultured B cells were quantified by using ELISA. RESULTS: cTFH cell
      frequencies in patients with LRBA or CTLA4 deficiency sharply decreased with
      CTLA4-Ig therapy in parallel with other markers of immune dysregulation,
      including soluble IL-2 receptor alpha chain, CD45RO+CD4+ effector T cells, and
      autoantibodies, and this was predictive of favorable clinical responses. cTFH
      cells in patients with LRBA deficiency were biased toward a TH1-like cell
      phenotype, which was partially reversed by CTLA4-Ig therapy. LRBA-sufficient but
      not LRBA-deficient regulatory T cells suppressed in vitro TFH cell
      differentiation in a CTLA4-dependent manner. LRBA-deficient TFH cells supported
      in vitro antibody production by naive LRBA-sufficient B cells. CONCLUSIONS: cTFH
      cell dysregulation in patients with LRBA deficiency reflects impaired control of
      TFH cell differentiation because of profoundly decreased CTLA4 expression on
      regulatory T cells and probably contributes to autoimmunity in patients with this
      disease. Serial monitoring of cTFH cell frequencies is highly useful in gauging
      the clinical response of LRBA-deficient patients to CTLA4-Ig therapy.

PMID- 28601687
TI  - Increased IL-13 expression is independently associated with neo-osteogenesis in
      patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

PMID- 28601689
TI  - Epilepsy management in older people: Lessons from National Audit of Seizure
      management in Hospitals (NASH).
AB  - PURPOSE: Epilepsy is the third most common diagnosis in older people, however
      management in this group remains variable. National Audit of Seizure management
      in Hospitals (NASH) set out to assess care provided to patients attending
      hospitals in England following a seizure. METHOD: 154 Emergency Departments (EDs)
      across the UK took part. 1256 patients aged 60 years or over were included for
      analysis (median age 74 years, 54% men). 51% were known to have epilepsy, 17% had
      history of previous seizure or blackout and 32% presented with a suspected first
      seizure. RESULTS: 14% of older patients with epilepsy were not on treatment, 59%
      were on monotherapy. Sodium valproate was the most commonly used antiepileptic,
      28%. 35% of patients with epilepsy, aged 60 and over, had a CT during admission
      compared to only 17% of those under 60. 80% of patients aged 60 and over
      presenting with a likely first seizure were admitted to hospital, compared to 65%
      of those under 60. 34% of those with suspected first seizure were referred to a
      neurologist on discharge compared to 68% of patients under the age of 60. 52% of
      60-69year olds with a suspected first seizure were referred to neurology compared
      to 25% of patients aged 80-89. CONCLUSIONS: Older patients presenting with
      seizures are more likely to be admitted to hospital and have imaging. They are
      less likely to be referred to specialist services on discharge. There appears to
      be significant disparity in patient age and rate of referral.

PMID- 28601688
TI  - Structure and organization of paramyxovirus particles.
AB  - The paramyxovirus family comprises major human and animal pathogens such as
      measles virus (MeV), mumps virus (MuV), the parainfluenzaviruses, Newcastle
      disease virus (NDV), and the highly pathogenic zoonotic hendra (HeV) and nipah
      (NiV) viruses. Paramyxovirus particles are pleomorphic, with a lipid envelope,
      nonsegmented RNA genomes of negative polarity, and densely packed glycoproteins
      on the virion surface. A number of crystal structures of different paramyxovirus
      proteins and protein fragments were solved, but the available information
      concerning overall virion organization remains limited. However, recent studies
      have reported cryo-electron tomography-based reconstructions of Sendai virus
      (SeV), MeV, NDV, and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) particles and a
      surface assessment of NiV-derived virus-like particles (VLPs), which have yielded
      innovative hypotheses concerning paramyxovirus particle assembly, budding, and
      organization. Following a summary of the current insight into paramyxovirus
      virion morphology, this review will focus on discussing the implications of these
      particle reconstructions on the present models of paramyxovirus assembly and
      infection.

PMID- 28601690
TI  - Parental ADHD symptoms and parenting behaviors: A meta-analytic review.
AB  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists throughout the lifespan,
      and there are known impairments associated with adult ADHD. Understanding ADHD
      related impairments in the parenting domain is particularly important given that
      the children of adults with ADHD also are likely to have ADHD, and there is
      potential for parenting to alter the developmental outcomes of these children.
      The present study quantitatively synthesizes evidence regarding the associations
      between parental ADHD symptoms and parenting behaviors. Across 32 studies, this
      meta-analysis found that parental ADHD symptoms accounted for 2.9%, 3.2%, and
      0.5% of the variance of harsh, lax, and positive parenting, respectively. Greater
      parental ADHD symptoms were associated with less positive and more harsh and lax
      parenting behaviors. Variables, such as the proportion of children in the sample
      diagnosed with ADHD, child gender, and method/rater variance, moderated the
      strength of these relations. Results also suggest more similarities than
      differences in the associations between parenting behaviors and the two
      dimensions of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms. Overall,
      parental ADHD symptoms are significantly associated with parenting behaviors with
      effect sizes similar to the associations found between other parental
      psychopathologies and parenting, although the associations remain relatively
      small. The paper concludes with comments regarding remaining gaps in the
      literature that warrant further research and the clinical implications of the
      associations between parental ADHD symptoms and parenting.

PMID- 28601692
TI  - The effects of family-centered affective stimulation on brain-injured comatose
      patients' level of consciousness: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the well-defined effects of sensory stimulation, the
      knowledge of the pure effects of affective stimulation is scarce. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the effects of family-centered affective stimulation on the level of
      consciousness among comatose patients with brain injuries. DESIGN: This study was
      designed as a three-group double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. METHODS:
      Ninety consecutive patients with traumatic brain injuries and a Glasgow Coma
      Scale score of 5-8 were selected. Patients were randomly allocated to an
      experimental, a placebo, and a control group using permuted block randomization.
      Affective stimulation intervention was provided to patients in the experimental
      group by their family members twice a day during the first seven days of their
      hospitalization. In the placebo group, a sensory stimulation program was
      implemented by a fixed trained person who was not familiar with the patients.
      Patients in the control group solely received sensory stimulation which was
      routinely provided to all patients. The level of consciousness among the patients
      using the Glasgow Coma Scale and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised were measured both
      before and after a family visit. The SPSS software (version 17.0) was used to
      analyze the data through running the one-way and the repeated measure analyses of
      variance. RESULTS: Despite an insignificant difference among the groups regarding
      baseline level of consciousness, the results of the one-way analysis of variance
      revealed at the seventh day of this study, however, the level of consciousness in
      the experimental group was significantly higher (9.1+/-2.1) than the placebo
      (7.2+/-1.1), the control groups (6.6+/-1.7) (P<0.001), subsequently. Moreover, at
      the seventh day of the study, the Coma Recovery Scale score in the experimental
      group (11.9+/-3.7) was significantly greater than the placebo (9.0+/-2.0) and the
      control (6.6+/-1.6) groups (P<0.001). Recovery rate and effect size values also
      confirmed the greater effectiveness of affective stimulation compared with pure
      sensory stimulation. CONCLUSION: Our findings in this study indicate that early
      family-centered affective stimulation is more effective than sensory stimulation
      in improving the level of consciousness among comatose patients with brain
      injuries. Family-centered affective stimulation is recommended to be integrated
      into the nursing curricula and routine care plans for comatose trauma patients in
      intensive care units.

PMID- 28601691
TI  - Effects of a nurse-led transitional care program on clinical outcomes, health
      related knowledge, physical and mental health status among Chinese patients with
      coronary artery disease: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality
      among adults worldwide, including China. After a hospital stay, transitional care
      could help to ensure improved patient care and outcomes, and reduce Medicare
      costs. Nevertheless, the results of the existing transitional care are not always
      satisfactory and our knowledge of how to perform effective transitional care for
      patients with coronary artery disease is limited in mainland China. OBJECTIVES:
      To examine the effectiveness of a nurse-led transitional care program on clinical
      outcomes, health-related knowledge, and physical and mental health status among
      Chinese patients with coronary artery disease. DESIGN: Randomized controlled
      trial. METHODS: The Omaha system and Pender's health promoting model were
      employed in planning and implementing this nurse-led transitional care program.
      The sample was comprised of 199 Chinese patients with coronary artery disease.
      The experimental group (n=100) received nurse-led transitional care intervention
      in addition to routine care. The nurse-led transitional care intervention
      included a structured assessment and health education, followed by 7 months of
      individual teaching and coaching (home visits, telephone follow-up and group
      activity). The control group (n=99) received a comparable length routine care and
      follow-up contacts. Evaluations were conducted at baseline and completion of the
      interventions using the perceived knowledge scale for coronary heart disease, the
      medical outcomes study 36-item short-form health survey and clinical measures
      (blood pressure, blood glucose, lipids, body mass index). Data were collected
      between March and October 2014. RESULTS: Compared with the control group,
      participants in the experimental group showed significant better clinical
      outcomes (systolic blood pressure, t=5.762, P=0.000; diastolic blood pressure,
      t=4.250, P=0.000; fasting blood glucose, t=2.249, P=0.027; total cholesterol,
      t=4.362, P=0.000; triglyceride, t=3.147, P=0.002; low density lipoprotein
      cholesterol, t=2.399, P=0.018; and body mass index, t=3.166, P=0.002), higher
      knowledge scores for coronary artery disease (total knowledge score, t=-7.099,
      P=0.000), better physical health status (t=-2.503, P=0.014) and mental health
      status (t=-2.950, P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the
      value of a nurse-led transitional care program using both the Omaha system and
      Pender's health promoting model as its theoretical framework. The structured
      interventions in this nurse-led transitional care program facilitate the use of
      this program in other settings.

PMID- 28601693
TI  - Causal role for inverse reasoning on obsessive-compulsive symptoms: Preliminary
      evidence from a cognitive bias modification for interpretation bias study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The inference-based approach (IBA) is a cognitive
      account of the genesis and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
      According to the IBA, individuals with OCD are prone to using inverse reasoning,
      in which hypothetical causes form the basis of conclusions about reality. Several
      studies have provided preliminary support for an association between features of
      the IBA and OCD symptoms. However, there are currently no studies that have
      investigated the proposed causal relationship of inverse reasoning in OCD.
      METHODS: In a non-clinical sample (N = 187), we used an interpretive cognitive
      bias procedure to train a bias towards using inverse reasoning (n = 64), healthy
      sensory-based reasoning (n = 65), or a control condition (n = 58). Participants
      were randomly allocated to these training conditions. This manipulation allowed
      us to assess whether, consistent with the IBA, inverse reasoning training
      increased compulsive-like behaviours and self-reported OCD symptoms. RESULTS:
      Results indicated that compared to a control condition, participants trained in
      inverse reasoning reported more OCD symptoms and were more avoidant of
      potentially contaminated objects. Moreover, change in inverse reasoning bias was
      a small but significant mediator of the relationship between training condition
      and behavioural avoidance. Conversely, training in a healthy (non-inverse)
      reasoning style did not have any effect on symptoms or behaviour relative to the
      control condition. LIMITATIONS: As this study was conducted in a non-clinical
      sample, we were unable to generalise our findings to a clinical population.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings generally support the IBA model by providing preliminary
      evidence of a causal role for inverse reasoning in OCD.

PMID- 28601694
TI  - Feeling happy when feeling down: The effectiveness of positive mental imagery in
      dysphoria.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mental imagery can evoke strong emotional responses,
      but imagery perspective can influence the response, with observer perspective
      reducing emotionality. This is important provided that positive imagery can be an
      effective mood repair strategy in healthy individuals. However, (sub-clinical)
      depressed individuals tend to spontaneously adopt an observer perspective. We
      investigated whether positive imagery would result in a similar emotional
      response in dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals when instructed and trained
      to use field perspective imagery. Additionally, we compared the emotional
      response in dysphoric individuals who received instructions to dysphoric
      individuals who received no instructions on processing mode during positive
      memory recall. METHODS: Dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals completed a mood
      induction procedure imagining positive or neutral memories. They received
      instructions and practice in the use of field perspective imagery. An additional
      control group of dysphoric individuals recalled positive memories without
      receiving instructions on processing mode. RESULTS: Dysphoric and non-dysphoric
      individuals who received instructions on field perspective imagery reported
      similar use of field and observer perspective imagery, and a similar positive
      emotional response. Dysphoric individuals who did not receive specific
      instructions, as compared to those who did, reported greater use of observer
      perspective and lower levels of positive affect afterwards. LIMITATIONS: A
      dysphoric sample limits generalization to clinically depressed individuals,
      although these individuals are at risk for developing depression. However, mental
      imagery used in relapse prevention is likely targeting sub-clinical populations.
      CONCLUSIONS: Providing practice in field perspective imagery could potentially
      improve the effectiveness of positive memory recall as a mood repair strategy in
      (sub-clinically) depressed individuals, and may therefore have important
      therapeutic benefits.

PMID- 28601695
TI  - Thoughts, images, and appraisals associated with acting and not acting on the
      urge to self-injure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the frequency, content, and
      appraisals of thoughts and images occurring during urges to engage in non
      suicidal self-injury (NSSI). METHOD: Undergraduates (N = 154) with a history of
      NSSI completed an online survey of their thoughts, images, and appraisals when
      they acted on urges to engage in NSSI as well as when they resisted urges to self
      injure. RESULTS: Most (>90%) participants reported experiencing both thoughts and
      images during urges to engage in NSSI. During urges that resulted in self-injury,
      self-critical and hopeless thoughts were most distressing, and thoughts about
      relief from emotional distress were most comforting. Images of the anticipated
      injury were most common. During urges that did not result in self-injury themes
      of the futility of NSSI, positive self-talk, and the impact on others were most
      common. Images were most frequently of the negative impact on self and others,
      and the anticipated injury. Appraisals encouraging NSSI occurred when individuals
      did and did not act on their urges, but concurrent strong discouraging appraisals
      appeared to be protective on occasions when urges did not result in self-injury.
      LIMITATIONS: Retrospective self-report was used to assess cognitive content.
      Generalisability of findings to non-student samples needs to be assessed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study may inform comprehensive assessment of
      thoughts and images associated with urges to engage in NSSI. NSSI interventions
      may need to promote thoughts, imagery and appraisals that discourage NSSI whilst
      simultaneously modifying cognitions that encourage NSSI.

PMID- 28601696
TI  - Anticipatory processing in social anxiety: Investigation using attentional
      control theory.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD)
      emphasize anticipatory processing as a prominent maintaining factor occurring
      before social-evaluative events. While anticipatory processing is a maladaptive
      process, the cognitive mechanisms that underlie ineffective control of attention
      are still unclear. The present study tested predictions derived from attentional
      control theory in a sample of undergraduate students high and low on social
      anxiety symptoms. METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to either engage
      in anticipatory processing prior to a threat of a speech task or a control
      condition with no social evaluative threat. After completing a series of
      questionnaires, participants performed pro-saccades and antisaccades in response
      to peripherally presented facial expressions presented in either single-task or
      mixed-task blocks. RESULTS: Correct antisaccade latencies were longer than
      correct pro-saccade latencies in-line with attentional control theory. High
      socially anxious individuals who anticipated did not exhibit impairment on the
      inhibition and shifting functions compared to high socially anxious individuals
      who did not anticipate or low socially anxious individuals in either the
      anticipatory or control condition. Low socially anxious individuals who
      anticipated exhibited shorter antisaccade latencies and a switch benefit compared
      to low socially anxious individuals in the control condition. LIMITATIONS: The
      study used an analogue sample; however findings from analogue samples are
      generally consistent with clinical samples. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest
      that social threat induced anticipatory processing facilitates executive
      functioning for low socially anxious individuals when anticipating a social
      evaluative situation.

PMID- 28601697
TI  - Approaching contamination-related stimuli with an implicit Approach-Avoidance
      Task: Can it reduce OCD symptoms? An online pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dual-process models suggest that automatic behavioral
      tendencies contribute to the development and maintenance of Obsessive Compulsive
      Disorder (OCD) symptoms. The aim of the present study was to investigate the
      potential of the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) to reduce OCD symptoms and
      associated distress. METHODS: The study was set up as an online intervention.
      Participants with OCD symptoms (N = 101) were randomly assigned either to one of
      two experimental conditions or a waitlist control group upon completion of an
      online baseline survey. Participants were instructed to respond to contamination
      related and neutral pictures by pulling or pushing a computer mouse,
      respectively. In one AAT condition, contamination-relevant pictures remained on
      the screen one second after pulling (lock condition), while pictures disappeared
      immediately after pulling in the standard AAT. Participants completed an online
      re-assessment four weeks after baseline. RESULTS: For analyses, only data of
      patients with contamination-related OCD symptoms were analyzed. A significant
      reduction in distress caused by OCD symptoms was found for both AAT training
      groups. Furthermore, a reduction in compulsions occurred for the group using the
      standard AAT. No significant effect was found for the control group. LIMITATIONS:
      Implicit behavioral tendencies prior to and after training were not assessed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings tentatively suggest that the AAT might be effective in
      reducing washing-/contamination-related OCD symptoms.

PMID- 28601699
TI  - Apoptotic induction mediated p53 mechanism and Caspase-3 activity by novel
      promising cyanoacrylamide derivatives in breast carcinoma.
AB  - New cyanoacrylamide derivatives were theoretically examined for their binding
      abilities to a protein model of apoptosis inhibitor proteins x-IAP and c-IAP1
      using molecular modeling. The two compounds 5a and 5b proved promising IAP
      antagonists, where they have good binding affinity toward the selected active
      domains. Anticancer activity of all derivatives was performed on different human
      cancer cell lines (HCT116, Caco2, and MCF7) as well as normal line (HBF4). Data
      revealed that breast carcinoma was more sensitive to the novel compounds than
      other lines especially compounds 5a and 5b, but all derivatives lost their
      cytotoxic effect in case of Caco2 cell line and they showed low cytotoxic effect
      toward HCT116 cells except compound 3. The flow cytometric analysis revealed that
      the two compounds 5a and 5b induced apoptosis to 46.5% and 54.8% respectively,
      relative to control 8.06%. In addition, PCR results indicated that the two
      compounds 5a and 5b induced the expression of p53 gene and decreased induction of
      BCL2 (anti-apoptotic gene), while the two compounds have no effect on the protein
      expression of Caspase-9. By monitoring the presence of Caspase-3 which was a mean
      to detect apoptotic death in breast carcinoma, the two compounds have stimulated
      the induction of apoptosis by increasing the production of Caspase-3 protein.
      Finally, it was concluded that the two compounds 5b and 5a have the most
      promising anti-cancer activity against human breast carcinoma (MCF7), and it is
      believed that the anticancer activities of these two compounds were due to being
      the most effective in the inhibition of a member of IAPs groups, leading to
      activation of p53 gene and the Caspase-3 dependent apoptosis.

PMID- 28601698
TI  - Associations of tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor type 1 with kidney function
      decline, cardiovascular events, and mortality risk in persons with coronary
      artery disease: Data from the Heart and Soul Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Tumor necrosis factor receptor type 1 (TNFR1) is associated
      with kidney disease and mortality risk in various populations. Whether or not
      kidney function mediates mortality risk is unknown. We evaluated associations of
      TNFR1 levels with measures of kidney function, cardiovascular events, and
      mortality in a population of veterans with stable ischemic heart disease.
      METHODS: TNFR1 was measured from baseline serum samples in the Heart and Soul
      Study; elevated levels were defined by the highest quartile (Q4, >3.4 ng/ml). We
      evaluated associations of high TNFR1 with baseline estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) and with
      longitudinal changes in eGFR (rapid loss), as well as with incident myocardial
      infarction (MI), heart failure hospitalizations (HF), and mortality over a median
      follow-up time of 8.9 years. Covariates included demographics and comorbid
      conditions. RESULTS: Among 985 participants who had TNFR1 measurements, median
      TNFR1 was 2.33 ng/ml (IQR 1.8-3.1). Relative to Q1, Q4 had higher risk of eGFR
      <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (RR 11.71 [95% CI 5.46, 25.11]); ACR >= 30 mg/g (2.44 [1.15,
      5.19]); and rapid loss in kidney function (2.10 [1.12, 3.92]). Although TNFR1 Q4
      was associated with MI, HF, and mortality after demographic adjustment, there
      were no associations in fully-adjusted models (1.04 [0.44, 2.49]; 1.02 [0.48,
      2.15]; 1.42 [0.88, 2.28], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Levels of TNFR1 are
      associated longitudinally with kidney function decline but not with MI, HF or
      mortality risk after adjustment. Kidney disease may mediate the risk of MI, HF,
      and mortality associated with TNFR1.

PMID- 28601700
TI  - Engineering and application of polymerases for synthetic genetics.
AB  - Organic chemistry has systematically probed the chemical determinants of function
      in nucleic acids by variation to the nucleobase, sugar ring and backbone moieties
      to build synthetic genetic polymers. Concomitantly, protein engineering has
      advanced to allow the discovery of polymerases capable of utilizing modified
      nucleotide analogs. A conjunction of these two lines of investigation in
      nucleotide chemistry and molecular biology has given rise to a new field of
      synthetic genetics dedicated to the exploration of the capacity of these novel,
      synthetic nucleic acids for the storage and propagation of genetic information,
      for evolution and for crosstalk, that is, information exchange with the natural
      genetic system. Here we summarize recent progress in synthetic genetics,
      specifically in the design of novel unnatural basepairs to expand the genetic
      alphabet as well as progress in engineering polymerases capable of templated
      synthesis, reverse transcription and evolution of synthetic genetic polymers.

PMID- 28601701
TI  - Repressive coping among British college women: A potential protective factor
      against body image concerns, drive for thinness, and bulimia symptoms.
AB  - Repressive coping, as a means of preserving a positive self-image, has been
      widely explored in the context of dealing with self-evaluative cues. The current
      study extends this research by exploring whether repressive coping is associated
      with lower levels of body image concerns, drive for thinness, bulimic symptoms,
      and higher positive rational acceptance. A sample of 229 female college students
      was recruited in South London. Repressive coping was measured via the interaction
      between trait anxiety and defensiveness. The results of moderated regression
      analysis with simple slope analysis show that compared to non-repressors,
      repressors reported lower levels of body image concerns, drive for thinness, and
      bulimic symptoms while exhibiting a higher use of positive rational acceptance.
      These findings, in line with previous evidence, suggest that repressive coping
      may be adaptive particularly in the context of body image.

PMID- 28601702
TI  - An assessment of the association between asset ownership and intimate partner
      violence in Pakistan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the association between women's reports of asset
      ownership (home and land) and experience of three types of intimate partner
      violence (IPV): physical violence, emotional violence, and husbands' controlling
      behaviors. STUDY DESIGN: Population-based secondary analysis. METHOD: This cross
      sectional study used data from a sub-sample of 658 women from the nationally
      representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Logistic
      regression analyses were used to estimate the association between asset ownership
      and IPV. RESULTS: Results from logistic regressions indicated that when women
      owned assets their husbands were 2.3 times more likely to use controlling tactics
      (P < 0.001) which was mitigated only when women had a say in household decisions.
      Physical or emotional violence, however, was not significantly associated with
      women's asset ownership. CONCLUSION: The study findings highlight the importance
      of culture and context in policy implementation.

PMID- 28601704
TI  - A new simple phthalimide-based fluorescent probe for highly selective cysteine
      and bioimaging for living cells.
AB  - A new turn-on phthalimide fluorescent probe has designed and synthesized for
      sensing cysteine (Cys) based on excited state intramolecular proton transfer
      (ESIPT) process. It is consisted of a 3-hydroxyphthalimide derivative moiety as
      the fluorophore and an acrylic ester group as a recognition receptor. The acrylic
      ester acts as an ESIPT blocking agent. Upon addition of cystein, intermolecular
      nucleophilic attack of cysteine on acrylic ester releases the fluorescent 3
      hydroxyphthalimide derivative, thereby enabling the ESIPT process and leading to
      enhancement of fluorescence. The probe displays high sensitivity, excellent
      selectivity and with large Stokes shift toward cysteine. The linear interval
      range of the fluorescence titration ranged from 0 to 1.0*10-5M and detection
      limit is low (6*10-8M). In addition, the probe could be used for bio-imaging in
      living cells.

PMID- 28601703
TI  - Controlled and sustained delivery of siRNA/NPs from hydrogels expedites bone
      fracture healing.
AB  - Despite great potential, delivery remains as the most significant barrier to the
      widespread use of siRNA therapeutics. siRNA has delivery limitations due to
      susceptibility to RNase degradation, low cellular uptake, and poor tissue
      specific localization. Here, we report the development of a hybrid nanoparticle
      (NP)/hydrogel system that overcomes these challenges. Hydrogels provide localized
      and sustained delivery via controlled release of entrapped siRNA/NP complexes
      while NPs protect and enable efficient cytosolic accumulation of siRNA. To
      demonstrate therapeutic efficacy, regenerative siRNA against WW domain-containing
      E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (Wwp1) complexed with NP were entrapped within
      poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels and implanted at sites of murine mid
      diaphyseal femur fractures. Results showed localization of hydrogels and
      controlled release of siRNA/NPs at fractures for 28 days, a timeframe over which
      fracture healing occurs. siRNA/NP sustained delivery from hydrogels resulted in
      significant Wwp1 silencing at fracture callus compared to untreated controls.
      Fractures treated with siRNA/NP hydrogels exhibited accelerated bone formation
      and significantly increased biomechanical strength. This NP/hydrogel siRNA
      delivery system has outstanding therapeutic promise to augment fracture healing.
      Owing to the structural similarities of siRNA, the development of the hydrogel
      platform for in vivo siRNA delivery has myriad therapeutic possibilities in
      orthopaedics and beyond.

PMID- 28601706
TI  - Long-term outcome of cardiac function in a population-based cohort of breast
      cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer may lead to cardiac
      dysfunction, but the prevalence of long-term echocardiographic evidence of
      cardiac dysfunction is unknown among survivors. METHODS: In a cross-sectional
      study in primary care, we included 350 women who survived breast cancer for at
      least 5 years after diagnosis (treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy) and
      350 matched women (age and primary care physician). The primary outcome was
      cardiac dysfunction, defined as a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 54%
      and an age-corrected decreased left ventricular (LV) diastolic function.
      Secondary outcomes included serum N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT
      proBNP) levels, newly diagnosed cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular
      medication. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 63 (interquartile range
      (IQR) 57-68) years for the breast cancer survivors. Median follow-up after
      diagnosis was 10 (IQR 7-14) years. LVEF < 54% was present in 52 (15.3%) survivors
      and 24 (7%) controls (OR 2.4, 95%CI 1.4-4.0), but there was no significant
      increased prevalence of either LVEF < 50% or LV diastolic dysfunction. Serum NT
      proBNP levels were increased, cardiovascular disease was more frequently
      diagnosed and cardiovascular medication use was more frequent among survivors
      compared with controls. These associations remained after adjustment for relevant
      covariates at diagnosis and at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In the long term, breast
      cancer survivors are at increased risk of mild LV systolic dysfunction, increased
      NT-proBNP levels, and cardiovascular disease compared with matched controls, even
      after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. Previous breast cancer
      treatment with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or both should be considered when
      assessing a patient's cardiovascular risk profile.

PMID- 28601707
TI  - Enhancement of biocompatibility and photoacoustic contrast activity of metal
      clusters.
AB  - Organometallic carbonyl clusters (OMCC) of group VIII elements are water soluble,
      bio-compatible and stable high-contrast photoacoustic agents for live cell
      imaging. But, they have limited application due to weak absorption within 700
      1000nm wavelength which is known as the biological window of absorption. In this
      article, we report that hexa-nuclear iron (Fe6) carbonyl cluster derivatized with
      sodium thio-propanoate has very good absorption within 700-1600nm wave length.
      This modeled compound is water soluble and bio-compatible. The bio-compatibility
      of this compound is tested through cytotoxicity, LogP and metabolic probability
      at CYP450-2D6 enzyme.

PMID- 28601705
TI  - ABVD or BEACOPPbaseline along with involved-field radiotherapy in early-stage
      Hodgkin Lymphoma with risk factors: Results of the European Organisation for
      Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte
      (GELA) H9-U intergroup randomised trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: For early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), optimal chemotherapy regimen and
      the number of cycles to be delivered remain to settle down. The H9-U trial
      compared three modalities of chemotherapy followed by involved-field radiotherapy
      (IFRT) in patients with stage I-II HL and risk factors (NCT00005584). PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Patients aged 15-70 years with untreated supradiaphragmatic HL with
      at least one risk factor (age >= 50, involvement of 4-5 nodal areas,
      mediastinum/thoracic ratio >= 0.35, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) >= 50
      without B-symptoms or ESR >= 30 and B-symptoms) were eligible for the randomised,
      open label, multicentre, non-inferiority H9-U trial. The limit of non-inferiority
      was set at 10% for the difference between 5-year event-free survival (EFS)
      estimates. From October 1998 to September 2002, 808 patients were randomised to
      receive either the control arm 6-ABVD-IFRT (n = 276), or one of the two
      experimental arms: 4-ABVD-IFRT (n = 277) or 4-BEACOPPbaseline-IFRT (n = 255).
      RESULTS: Results in the 4-ABVD-IFRT (5-year EFS, 85.9%) and the 4-BEACOPPbaseline
      IFRT (5-year EFS, 88.8%) were not inferior to 6-ABVD-IFRT (5-year EFS, 89.9%):
      difference of 4.0% (90%CI, -0.7%-8.8%) and of 1.1% (90%CI,-3.5%-5.6%)
      respectively. The 5-year overall survival estimates were 94%, 93%, and 93%,
      respectively. Patients treated with combined modality treatment chemotherapeutic
      regimen comprising doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin, vincristine (Oncovin),
      cyclophosphamide, procarbazine, etoposide and prednisone (BEACOPP)baseline more
      often developed serious adverse events requiring supportive measures and
      hospitalisation compared with patients receiving the chemotherapeutic regimen
      comprising doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine
      (ABVD). CONCLUSIONS: The trial demonstrates that 4-ABVD followed by IFRT yields
      high disease control in patients with early-stage HL and risk factors responding
      to chemotherapy. Although non-inferior in terms of efficacy, four cycles of
      BEACOPPbaseline were more toxic than four or six cycles of ABVD.

PMID- 28601708
TI  - Development of efficient docking strategies and structure-activity relationship
      study of the c-Met type II inhibitors.
AB  - c-Met is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase and an important therapeutic
      target for anticancer drugs. In the present study, we systematically investigated
      the influence of a range of parameters on the correlation between experimental
      and calculated binding free energies of type II c-Met inhibitors. We especially
      focused on evaluating the impact of different force fields, binding energy
      calculation methods, docking protocols, conformation sampling strategies, and
      conformations of the binding site captured in several crystallographic
      structures. Our results suggest that the force fields, the protein flexibility,
      and the selected conformation of the binding site substantially influence the
      correlation coefficient, while the sampling strategies and ensemble docking only
      mildly affect the prediction accuracy. Structure-activity relationship study
      suggests that the structural determinants to the high binding affinity of the
      type II inhibitors originate from its overall linear shape, hydrophobicity, and
      two conserved hydrogen bonds. Results from this study will form the basis for
      establishing an efficient computational docking approach for c-Met type II
      inhibitors design.

PMID- 28601709
TI  - From information processing to decisions: Formalizing and comparing
      psychologically plausible choice models.
AB  - Decision strategies explain how people integrate multiple sources of information
      to make probabilistic inferences. In the past decade, increasingly sophisticated
      methods have been developed to determine which strategy explains decision
      behavior best. We extend these efforts to test psychologically more plausible
      models (i.e., strategies), including a new, probabilistic version of the take-the
      best (TTB) heuristic that implements a rank order of error probabilities based on
      sequential processing. Within a coherent statistical framework, deterministic and
      probabilistic versions of TTB and other strategies can directly be compared using
      model selection by minimum description length or the Bayes factor. In an
      experiment with inferences from given information, only three of 104 participants
      were best described by the psychologically plausible, probabilistic version of
      TTB. Similar as in previous studies, most participants were classified as users
      of weighted-additive, a strategy that integrates all available information and
      approximates rational decisions.

PMID- 28601710
TI  - Evolution of word meanings through metaphorical mapping: Systematicity over the
      past millennium.
AB  - One way that languages are able to communicate a potentially infinite set of
      ideas through a finite lexicon is by compressing emerging meanings into words,
      such that over time, individual words come to express multiple, related senses of
      meaning. We propose that overarching communicative and cognitive pressures have
      created systematic directionality in how new metaphorical senses have developed
      from existing word senses over the history of English. Given a large set of pairs
      of semantic domains, we used computational models to test which domains have been
      more commonly the starting points (source domains) and which the ending points
      (target domains) of metaphorical mappings over the past millennium. We found that
      a compact set of variables, including externality, embodiment, and valence,
      explain directionality in the majority of about 5000 metaphorical mappings
      recorded over the past 1100years. These results provide the first large-scale
      historical evidence that metaphorical mapping is systematic, and driven by
      measurable communicative and cognitive principles.

PMID- 28601711
TI  - Identification of QRS complex in non-stationary electrocardiogram of sick
      infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the high-frequency of routine interventions in an intensive
      care setting, electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings from sick infants are highly non
      stationary, with recurrent changes in the baseline, alterations in the morphology
      of the waveform, and attenuations of the signal strength. Current methods lack
      reliability in identifying QRS complexes (a marker of individual cardiac cycles)
      in the non-stationary ECG. In the current study we address this problem by
      proposing a novel approach to QRS complex identification. METHOD: Our approach
      employs lowpass filtering, half-wave rectification, and the use of instantaneous
      Hilbert phase to identify QRS complexes in the ECG. We demonstrate the
      application of this method using ECG recordings from eight preterm infants
      undergoing intensive care, as well as from 18 normal adult volunteers available
      via a public database. We compared our approach to the commonly used approaches
      including Pan and Tompkins (PT), gqrs, wavedet, and wqrs for identifying QRS
      complexes and then compared each with manually identified QRS complexes. RESULTS:
      For preterm infants, a comparison between the QRS complexes identified by our
      approach and those identified through manual annotations yielded sensitivity and
      positive predictive values of 99% and 99.91%, respectively. The comparison
      metrics for each method are as follows: PT (sensitivity: 84.49%, positive
      predictive value: 99.88%), gqrs (85.25%, 99.49%), wavedet (95.24%, 99.86%), and
      wqrs (96.99%, 96.55%). Thus, the sensitivity values of the four methods
      previously described, are lower than the sensitivity of the method we propose;
      however, the positive predictive values of these other approaches is comparable
      to those of our method, with the exception of the wqrs approach, which yielded a
      slightly lower value. For adult ECG, our approach yielded a sensitivity of
      99.78%, whereas PT yielded 99.79%. The positive predictive value was 99.42% for
      both our approach as well as for PT. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a novel method for
      identifying QRS complexes that outperforms common currently available tools for
      non-stationary ECG data in infants. For stationary ECG our proposed approach and
      the PT approach perform equally well. The ECG acquired in a clinical environment
      may be prone to issues related to non-stationarity, especially in critically ill
      patients. The approach proposed in this report offers superior reliability in
      these scenarios.

PMID- 28601712
TI  - Supporting inter-topic entity search for biomedical Linked Data based on
      heterogeneous relationships.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The keyword-based entity search restricts search space based on the
      preference of search. When given keywords and preferences are not related to the
      same biomedical topic, existing biomedical Linked Data search engines fail to
      deliver satisfactory results. This research aims to tackle this issue by
      supporting an inter-topic search-improving search with inputs, keywords and
      preferences, under different topics. METHODS: This study developed an effective
      algorithm in which the relations between biomedical entities were used in tandem
      with a keyword-based entity search, Siren. The algorithm, PERank, which is an
      adaptation of Personalized PageRank (PPR), uses a pair of input: (1) search
      preferences, and (2) entities from a keyword-based entity search with a keyword
      query, to formalize the search results on-the-fly based on the index of the
      precomputed Individual Personalized PageRank Vectors (IPPVs). RESULTS: Our
      experiments were performed over ten linked life datasets for two query sets, one
      with keyword-preference topic correspondence (intra-topic search), and the other
      without (inter-topic search). The experiments showed that the proposed method
      achieved better search results, for example a 14% increase in precision for the
      inter-topic search than the baseline keyword-based search engine. CONCLUSION: The
      proposed method improved the keyword-based biomedical entity search by supporting
      the inter-topic search without affecting the intra-topic search based on the
      relations between different entities.

PMID- 28601713
TI  - A laplace transform-based technique for solving multiscale and multidomain
      problems: Application to a countercurrent hemodialyzer model.
AB  - An integral-based method was employed to evaluate the behavior of a
      countercurrent hemodialyzer model. Solute transfer from the blood into the
      dialysate was described by writing mass balance equations over a section of the
      device. The approach provided Laplace transform concentration profiles on both
      sides of the membrane. Applications of the final value theorem led to the
      development of the effective time constants and steady-state concentrations in
      the exit streams. Transient responses were derived by a numerical inversion
      algorithm. Simulations show that the period elapsed, before reaching equilibrium
      in the effluents, decreased when the blood flow rate increased from 0.25 to 0.30
      ml/s. The performance index decreased from 0.80 to 0.71 when the blood-to
      dialysate flow ratio increased by 20% and increased from 0.80 to 0.85 when this
      fraction was reduced by 17%. The analytical solution predicted methadone removal
      in patients undergoing dialysis. Clinicians can use these findings to predict the
      time required to achieve a target extraction ratio.

PMID- 28601714
TI  - The importance of strengthening competence and control beliefs in patients with
      psychosis to reduce treatment hindering self-stigmatization.
AB  - Different aspects of self-stigmatization represent barriers for recovery in
      patients with psychosis disorders. It is unclear whether addressing patient's
      competence and control beliefs could attenuate the extent of self-stigmatization.
      The major aim of this study was to identify predictors of self-stigmatization
      derived from competence and control beliefs in patients (N = 80).
      Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical variables, competence and control
      beliefs and self-stigmatization were assessed among 80 patients with psychosis
      disorders. The cross-sectional data was analyzed by correlation and regression
      analyses. Results indicate deficits in self-concept of own competences, i.e. the
      capability of acting in new, difficult or ambiguous situations, resulting in also
      impaired self-efficacy and relatively increased externality in patients compared
      to a general population sample. Subjective well-being under neuroleptics, trait
      anxiety and defining oneself as religious were the most influential predictors of
      competence and control beliefs. A weaker self-concept of own competences was also
      revealed as the strongest predictor of overall high self-stigmatization. Our
      results stress the importance of orienting treatment strategies towards
      strengthening the self-concept of own competences in patients in order to reduce
      self-stigmatization and enhance resilience.

PMID- 28601715
TI  - The association of personal importance of religion and religious service
      attendance with suicidal ideation by age group in the National Survey on Drug Use
      and Health.
AB  - Religiosity has been shown to be inversely associated with suicidal ideation, but
      few studies have examined associations by age group. This study aimed to examine
      the association between religiosity with suicidal ideation by age group. This
      study used a large nationally representative sample of 260,816 study participants
      from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Religiosity was defined as self
      reported importance of religious beliefs and frequency of religious service
      attendance. The association between religiosity and suicidal ideation was
      assessed by multivariable logistic regression analysis stratified by age group
      (18-25, 26-34, 35-49, 50-64, 65 or older). The importance of religious beliefs
      was inversely associated with suicidal ideation in all age groups. The
      association was the strongest in people aged 65 or older, followed by people aged
      18-25. Religious service attendance was also inversely associated with suicidal
      ideation in people aged 65 or more when attendance was more than 25 times per
      year. These findings may be helpful to understand age in relation to the
      relationship between religiosity and suicidal ideation. Particular attention to
      religiosity among older adults as a protective factor for suicidal ideation may
      be helpful in clinical settings.

PMID- 28601716
TI  - Longitudinal impact of anxiety on depressive outcomes in patients with acute
      coronary syndrome: Findings from the K-DEPACS study.
AB  - This study investigated the impact of anxiety evaluated within 2 weeks of an
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) episode on depressive outcomes at a 1-year follow
      up assessment. In 828 ACS patients, anxiety was determined by Hospital Anxiety
      and Depression Scale-anxiety subscale at baseline, and DSM-IV depressive
      disorders and depressive symptoms were evaluated both at baseline and follow-up.
      Anxiety at baseline was significantly associated with depressive disorder at the
      follow-up and less improvement in depressive symptoms over 1-year. Anxiety had
      negative longitudinal impacts on depressive outcomes of ACS, and therefore
      evaluation of anxiety could be recommended in recently developed ACS patients.

PMID- 28601717
TI  - Duration of untreated psychosis/illness and brain volume changes in early
      psychosis.
AB  - The time period during which patients manifest psychotic or unspecific symptoms
      prior to treatment (duration of untreated psychosis, DUP, and the duration of
      untreated illness, DUI) has been found to be moderately associated with poor
      clinical and social outcome. Equivocal evidence exists of an association between
      DUP/DUI and structural brain abnormalities, such as reduced hippocampus volume
      (HV), pituitary volume (PV) and grey matter volume (GMV). Thus, the goal of the
      present work was to examine if DUP and DUI are associated with abnormalities in
      HV, PV and GMV. Using a region of interest (ROI) based approach, we present data
      of 39 patients from the Basel FePsy (Fruherkennung von Psychosen, early detection
      of psychosis) study for which information about DUP, DUI and HV, PV and GMV data
      could be obtained. Twenty-three of them were first episode psychosis (FEP) and 16
      at-risk mental state (ARMS) patients who later made the transition to frank
      psychosis. In unadjusted analyses, we found a significant positive correlation
      between DUP and PV in FEP patients. However, when adjusted for covariates, we
      found no significant correlation between DUP or DUI and HV, PV or GMV anymore.
      There only was a trend for decreasing GMV with increasing DUI in FEP. Our results
      do not comprehensively support the hypothesis of a "toxic" effect of the
      pathogenic mechanism underlying untreated psychosis on brain structure. If there
      is any effect, it might rather occur very early in the disease process, during
      which patients experience only unspecific symptoms.

PMID- 28601718
TI  - The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale: Associations between interrupted,
      aborted, and actual suicide attempts among adolescent inpatients.
AB  - The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale divides suicide attempt behaviors into
      actual, interrupted, and aborted attempts, but limited data have been reported
      regarding associations between interrupted, aborted, and actual attempts. This
      study provided initial data on the ability of interrupted and aborted attempts to
      estimate the frequency of actual suicide attempts. Participants were adolescent
      psychiatric inpatients (59.9% female), 12-17 years (mean = 14.73, SD = 1.62).
      Results suggest that interrupted and aborted suicide attempts are associated with
      the frequency of actual suicide attempts, controlling for suicidal ideation and
      depressive symptoms. Future research should evaluate whether interrupted and
      aborted attempts prospectively predicting actual suicide attempts.

PMID- 28601719
TI  - Suicidality, psychopathology, and the internet: Online time vs. online behaviors.
AB  - This study investigated whether several psychopathology variables, including
      suicidality, could predict the time people spend using the internet (hours
      online). Next, we examined a specific at-risk population (suicidal individuals)
      by their online behaviors, comparing suicidal individuals who went online for
      suicide-related purposes with suicidal individuals who did not go online for
      suicide-related purposes. An anonymous online sample of 713 (aged 18-71) reported
      hours online, psychiatric histories, and completed several standardized scales.
      After accounting for age and education, hierarchical regression modeling showed
      that the assessed psychopathology variables, including suicidality, did not
      explain significant variance in hours online. Hours online were better predicted
      by younger age, greater willingness to develop online relationships, higher
      perceived social support, higher curiosity, and lower extraversion. Suicidal
      participants, who did or did not go online for suicide-related purposes, did not
      differ on hours online. Multiple regression modeling showed that those who went
      online for suicide-related purposes were likely to be younger, more suicidal, and
      more willing to seek help from online mental health professionals. These findings
      revealed that hours online are not a valid indicator of psychopathology. However,
      studying online behaviors of specific at-risk groups could be informative and
      useful, including for suicide prevention efforts.

PMID- 28601721
TI  - A universal bias in adult vowel perception - By ear or by eye.
AB  - Speech perceivers are universally biased toward "focal" vowels (i.e., vowels
      whose adjacent formants are close in frequency, which concentrates acoustic
      energy into a narrower spectral region). This bias is demonstrated in phonetic
      discrimination tasks as a directional asymmetry: a change from a relatively less
      to a relatively more focal vowel results in significantly better performance than
      a change in the reverse direction. We investigated whether the critical
      information for this directional effect is limited to the auditory modality, or
      whether visible articulatory information provided by the speaker's face also
      plays a role. Unimodal auditory and visual as well as bimodal (auditory-visual)
      vowel stimuli were created from video recordings of a speaker producing variants
      of /u/, differing in both their degree of focalization and visible lip rounding
      (i.e., lip compression and protrusion). In Experiment 1, we confirmed that
      subjects showed an asymmetry while discriminating the auditory vowel stimuli. We
      then found, in Experiment 2, a similar asymmetry when subjects lip-read those
      same vowels. In Experiment 3, we found asymmetries, comparable to those found for
      unimodal vowels, for bimodal vowels when the audio and visual channels were
      phonetically-congruent. In contrast, when the audio and visual channels were
      phonetically-incongruent (as in the "McGurk effect"), this asymmetry was
      disrupted. These findings collectively suggest that the perceptual processes
      underlying the "focal" vowel bias are sensitive to articulatory information
      available across sensory modalities, and raise foundational issues concerning the
      extent to which vowel perception derives from general-auditory or speech-gesture
      specific processes.

PMID- 28601720
TI  - Asymmetric 1,5-diarylpenta-1,4-dien-3-ones: Antiproliferative activity in
      prostate epithelial cell models and pharmacokinetic studies.
AB  - To further engineer dienones with optimal combinations of potency and
      bioavailability, thirty-four asymmetric 1,5-diarylpenta-1,4-dien-3-ones (25-58)
      have been designed and synthesized for the evaluation of their in vitro anti
      proliferative activity in three human prostate cancer cell lines and one non
      neoplastic prostate epithelial cell line. All these asymmetric dienones are
      sufficiently more potent than curcumin and their corresponding symmetric
      counterparts. The optimal dienone 58, with IC50 values in the range of 0.03-0.12
      MUM, is 636-, 219-, and 454-fold more potent than curcumin in three prostate
      cancer cell models. Dienones 28 and 49 emerged as the most promising asymmetric
      dienones that warrant further preclinical studies. The two lead compounds
      demonstrated substantially improved potency in cell models and superior
      bioavailability in rats, while exhibiting no acute toxicity in the animals at the
      dose of 10 mg/kg. Dienones 28 and 46 can induce PC-3 cell cycle regulation at the
      G0/G1 phase. However, dienone 28 induces PC-3 cell death in a different way from
      46 even though they share the same scaffold, indicating that terminal
      heteroaromatic rings are critical to the action of mechanism for each specific
      dienone.

PMID- 28601722
TI  - Simplifying profiles of comorbidity in bipolar disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Comorbid psychiatric symptoms in bipolar disorder (BD) predict poorer
      course of illness and treatment outcome. The sheer number of comorbid symptoms
      has thwarted developing treatments to address these comorbid concerns. The goal
      of this study was to develop a more parsimonious approach to understanding
      clusters of comorbid symptoms within BD. METHOD: Data were collected as part of
      the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Structured
      diagnostic interviews were conducted with 43,093 participants using the Alcohol
      Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV (AUDADIS-IV).
      Analyses were conducted on lifetime symptom counts for the most common 14
      comorbid disorders among the 1411 persons who met lifetime criteria for bipolar I
      disorder. RESULTS: An exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation as well as
      confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-factor solution of Externalizing,
      Anxiety, and Mood syndromes, with a higher order Internalizing factor comprised
      of the Mood and Anxiety factors. LIMITATIONS: Further research is needed in a
      clinical sample. CONCLUSIONS: Comorbid symptoms in BD tend to cohere into
      Internalizing and Externalizing disorders, which could simplify research and
      treatment on comorbidity in BD.

PMID- 28601723
TI  - Terpyridyl oxovanadium(IV) complexes for DNA crosslinking and mito-targeted
      photocytotoxicity.
AB  - Oxovanadium(IV) complexes [VO(L1/L2)Cl2]n+ (1,2) of (anthracenyl)terpyridine (An
      tpy as L1 in 1, n=0) and triphenylphosphonium-appended (anthracenyl)terpyridine
      (An-tpy-TPP+ as L2 in 2, n=1) were synthesized, characterized and their DNA
      crosslinking ability, photocytotoxicity in visible light and cellular
      localization in cancer cells studied. The bromide derivative of 2, viz. [VO(An
      tpy-TPP)Br2]Br (3) is structurally characterized. The structure showed trans
      disposition of two halides in the coordination sphere and the TPP+ unit is a
      pendant to the terpyridyl ligand. The DNA melting and comet assay studies on the
      complexes suggest the formation of DNA crosslinks. Complexes 1 and 2 displayed
      ~10 fold increase in cytotoxicity on exposure to visible light (400-700nm) when
      compared to those in dark in HeLa and MCF-7 cells. FACScan (Fluorescence
      Associated Cell Sorter Scan) analysis showed cellular apoptosis when treated with
      the complex in visible light in comparison to their dark controls. Fluorescence
      microscopic studies using complex 2 revealed its mitochondrial localization
      within the cancer cells.

PMID- 28601724
TI  - IFNA approved Chinese Anaesthesia Nurse Education Program: A Delphi method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous nurses work in operating rooms and recovery rooms or
      participate in the performance of anaesthesia in China. However, the scope of
      practice and the education for Chinese Anaesthesia Nurses is not standardized,
      varying from one geographic location to another. Furthermore, most nurses are not
      trained sufficiently to provide anaesthesia care. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to
      develop the first Anaesthesia Nurse Education Program in Mainland China based on
      the Educational Standards of the International Federation of Nurse Anaesthetists.
      METHODS: The Delphi technique was applied to develop the scope of practice,
      competencies for Chinese Anaesthesia Nurses and education program. In 2014 the
      Anaesthesia Nurse Education Program established by the hospital applied for
      recognition by the International Federation of Nurse Anaesthetists. The Program's
      curriculum was evaluated against the IFNA Standards and recognition was awarded
      in 2015. RESULTS: The four-category, 50-item practice scope, and the three
      domain, 45-item competency list were identified for Chinese Anaesthesia Nurses.
      The education program, which was established based on the International
      Federation of Nurse Anaesthetists educational standards and Chinese context,
      included nine curriculum modules. In March 2015, 13 candidates received and
      passed the 21-month education program. The Anaesthesia Nurse Education Program
      became the first program approved by the International Federation of Nurse
      Anaesthetists in China. CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers and hospital leaders can be
      confident that anaesthesia nurses graduating from this Chinese program will be
      prepared to demonstrate high level patient care as reflected in the recognition
      by IFNA of their adoption of international nurse anaesthesia education standards.

PMID- 28601725
TI  - Morphogenesis and molecular phylogeny of the soil ciliate Rigidohymena
      quadrinucleata (Dragesco and Njine, 1971) Berger, 2011 (Ciliophora, Hypotricha,
      Oxytrichidae).
AB  - Morphogenesis in the soil hypotrich ciliate, Rigidohymena quadrinucleata
      (Dragesco and Njine, 1971) Berger, 2011; was investigated using protargol
      staining. The main events during binary fission are as follows: (1) the proter
      retains the parental adoral zone of membranelles entirely, whereas the old
      undulating membranes dedifferentiate into an anlage that gives rise to the
      leftmost frontal cirrus and the new undulating membranes of the proter; (2) six
      streaks of frontoventral-transverse cirral anlagen are segmented in the pattern
      1:3:3:3:4:4 from left to right, which form three frontal, four frontoventral, one
      buccal, five ventral and five transverse cirri, respectively; (3) the postoral
      ventral cirrus V/3 is not involved in primordia formation demonstrating that this
      species belongs to the stylonychines; (4) marginal anlagen are formed
      intrakinetally and the right marginal anlagen develop much earlier than the left
      ones; (5) the generation of the dorsal kineties is of typical Oxytricha-pattern
      and three caudal cirri are formed, one at the posterior end of each of dorsal
      kineties 1, 2 and 4. Phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rDNA sequence data
      indicate that Rigidohymena is polyphyletic and that R. quadrinucleata clusters
      with R. candens with full support.

PMID- 28601726
TI  - Identification and quantification of synthetic cannabinoids in 'spice-like'
      herbal mixtures: Update of the German situation in early 2017.
AB  - In February 2017, eleven "Spice-like" products (14 individual packages including
      replicates) from German language internet shops were analyzed. In total, three
      different synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) were identified by gas-chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS), namely MDMB-CHMICA and two, so far only partially described
      compounds, 5F-Cumyl-P7AICA and Cumyl-PeGACLONE. All analyzed products contained
      only one synthetic cannabinoid as active ingredient. 5F-Cumyl-P7AICA and Cumyl
      PeGACLONE were subject to an in-depth characterization by nuclear magnetic
      resonance spectroscopy (NMR), electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI-MS),
      electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS), infrared and
      ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (IR and UV/Vis). Cumyl-PeGACLONE shows a rather
      unexpected structure compared to conventional SCs of the past. Hence a global
      minima calculation was conducted to demonstrate structural similarity of Cumyl
      PeGACLONE to JWH-018, a classical SC. In addition, all SCs were quantified by a
      GC-MS method using JWH-018 as internal standard and corresponding response
      factors. While MDMB-CHMICA was detected in six out of 14 tested products (ranging
      from 6 to 20mg/g; average 10mg/g), 5F-Cumyl-P7AICA and Cumyl-PeGACLONE were
      detected in three (109-153mg/g; average 131mg/g) and five products (15-74mg/g;
      average 39mg/g), respectively.

PMID- 28601727
TI  - Does serial 3rd trimester ultrasound improve detection of small for gestational
      age babies: Comparison of screening policies in 2 European maternity units.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Methods for the antenatal detection of small for gestational age
      babies (SGA) differ between countries. The aim of this study was to compare the
      diagnostic accuracy of routine versus selective small for gestational age babies
      screening policy using data from two European Maternity Units. STUDY DESIGN: This
      was a retrospective cohort study from Liverpool Women's Hospital, UK, that uses
      selective third trimester sonography and from the University Hospital Centre
      Zagreb, Croatia, that uses routine third trimester sonography for SGA detection.
      Screen positive cases were defined as pregnancies with estimated fetal weight
      (EFW) <10th centile at the last 3rd trimester scan. True positives had both EFW
      and birth weight <10th centile. Pregnancy management data and perinatal outcomes
      were retrieved from hospital electronic data and special care baby unit (SCBU)
      reports. RESULTS: The proportion of small for gestational age babies was higher
      in Liverpool (7.8%) compared with Zagreb (4%); P<0.001. Sensitivity for detection
      of SGA babies in Zagreb was 27% (95%CI 15%-44%) and 33% (95%CI 23%-45%) in
      Liverpool. The specificity was high in both centres (Zagreb 100% (95%CI);
      Liverpool 98% (95%CI)). The induction of labour for antenatally diagnosed SGA
      babies was more common in Liverpool (38.5%) than in Zagreb (9.1%). In both
      centres, all antenatally diagnosed SGA babies admitted to SCBU were preterm
      babies. Their indications for admission to SCBU were complications related to
      prematurity. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of selective SGA screening policy is
      comparable to universal third trimester ultrasound screening. Further prospective
      evaluations of SGA screening policies are warranted and they should include full
      cost-effectiveness analysis and assessment of possible harm from increased
      interventions leading to more preterm births.

PMID- 28601728
TI  - Do tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes really indicate favorable prognosis in
      epithelial ovarian cancer?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of lymphocyte
      infiltration on prognostic parameters, recurrence and survival in ovarian cancer.
      STUDY DESIGN: Sixty-two patients who were primarily operated for epithelial
      ovarian carcinoma between 1997 and 2008 were included. CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20 and
      FoxP3 expressions were evaluated immunohistochemically on sections obtained from
      paraffin-embedded tissues. RESULTS: Median follow up was 87 months. In whole
      cohort, CD3+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte infiltrations were significantly higher in
      patients with high-grade tumors, advanced stage tumors and the patients with
      omental metastasis (for CD3 p=0.0001, p=0.029, p=0.016; for CD8 p=0.044, p=0.002,
      p=0.046, respectively). DFS was significantly lower among patients with CD8+ T
      lymphocytes with regard to patients who did not have CD8+ T lymphocyte
      infiltration (p=0.028). In univariate analysis, presence of CD8 cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte infiltration (p=0.03), stage (0.0001), tumor grade (p=0.007), omental
      metastasis (p=0.0001) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.0001) were significant risk
      factors for recurrence. But in multivariate analysis, only stage [HR: 116.6 (95%
      CI: 13.09-1039.45) (p=0.0001)] was found as an independent risk factor for
      recurrence. CONCLUSION: CD3+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte infiltrations were related
      with advanced stage, high-grade tumor and the omental metastasis in ovarian
      cancer. DFS was significantly shorter in patients with CD8+ T lymphocyte
      infiltration. CD3+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte infiltrations were related with poor
      prognosis in ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28601729
TI  - Small for gestational age and perinatal mortality at term: An audit in a Dutch
      national cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the underlying risk factors for perinatal mortality in term
      born small for gestational age infants. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a population
      based nationwide cohort study in the Netherlands of 465,532 term born infants
      from January 2010 to January 2013. Logistic regression analyses were performed.
      Also audit results were studied for detailed care information. RESULTS: We
      studied 162 small for gestational age infants who died in the perinatal period.
      Risk factors were: gestational age at 37completed weeks (adjusted Odds Ratio
      (aOR) 2.6, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.6-4.3), male gender (aOR 1.4, 95% CI
      1.01-1.9), South Asian ethnicity (aOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.6-8.4), African (aOR 3.5, 95%
      CI 1.9-6.5) and other non-Western ethnicity (aOR 1.9, CI 1.2-3.1). At 37
      completed weeks gestation audit results showed that 26% of the women smoked, 91%
      were boys and in all but one case death occurred before birth. In 61% of all
      deceased SGA infants born at 37 completed weeks gestation referral from primary
      care by independent midwives to the obstetrician took place because of antepartum
      death before labor. CONCLUSIONS: Gestational age of 37 completed weeks, male
      gender, South Asian, African or other non-Western ethnicity and smoking are
      associated with perinatal mortality in SGA infants. These risk factors concern
      the complete term population starting at 37 weeks or even earlier. Therefore, it
      is of utmost importance to develop accurate diagnostic tests to screen for SGA
      before 36 weeks gestation to prevent perinatal mortality at term in SGA infants.

PMID- 28601730
TI  - Antenatal depressive symptoms and subjective birth experience in association with
      postpartum depressive symptoms and acute stress reaction in mothers and fathers:
      A longitudinal path analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) and acute stress reactions (ASR)
      after childbirth are frequently documented in mothers, but research is scarce in
      fathers. In a longitudinal path analysis, the interplay of depressive symptoms in
      pregnancy and the subjective childbirth experience of mothers and fathers are
      examined with regard to the development of PDS and ASR postpartum. STUDY DESIGN:
      One hundred eighty nine expectant couples were recruited between August 2006 and
      September 2009. They completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in
      the last trimester of pregnancy. In the first week postpartum, they answered the
      Salmon's Item List (subjective birth experience), and four weeks after birth the
      EPDS and the Impact of Event Scale - revised (IES-r). The data were evaluated in
      a longitudinal path analysis. RESULTS: Compared with fathers, mothers reported
      more depressive symptoms (pregnancy: p<0.001; postpartum: p<0.001), higher ASR
      (p<0.001), and lower 'positive birth experience' (p<0.001). The association
      between depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers was not significant during
      pregnancy (r=0.107, p>0.10), but moderately correlated four weeks after birth
      (r=0.387, p<0.001). Depressive symptoms during pregnancy and a negative
      subjective birth experience were independently predictive of PDS and ASR after
      childbirth in mothers and fathers controlling for age, mode of delivery, parity,
      epidural anaesthesia, infant gender and birth weight. Antenatal depressive
      symptoms were related to subjective childbirth experience only in fathers.
      CONCLUSION: Parental prenatal depressive symptoms and subjective birth experience
      are important predictors of postnatal psychological adjustment in mothers and
      fathers.

PMID- 28601731
TI  - Methamphetamine-alcohol interactions in murine models of sequential and
      simultaneous oral drug-taking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A high degree of co-morbidity exists between methamphetamine (MA)
      addiction and alcohol use disorders and both sequential and simultaneous MA
      alcohol mixing increases risk for co-abuse. As little preclinical work has
      focused on the biobehavioral interactions between MA and alcohol within the
      context of drug-taking behavior, we employed simple murine models of voluntary
      oral drug consumption to examine how prior histories of either MA- or alcohol
      taking influence the intake of the other drug. METHODS: In one study, mice with a
      10-day history of binge alcohol-drinking [5,10, 20 and 40% (v/v); 2h/day] were
      trained to self-administer oral MA in an operant-conditioning paradigm (10
      40mg/L). In a second study, mice with a 10-day history of limited-access oral MA
      drinking (5, 10, 20 and 40mg/L; 2h/day) were presented with alcohol (5-40% v/v;
      2h/day) and then a choice between solutions of 20% alcohol, 10mg/L MA or their
      mix. RESULTS: Under operant-conditioning procedures, alcohol-drinking mice
      exhibited less MA reinforcement overall, than water controls. However, when drug
      availability was not behaviorally-contingent, alcohol-drinking mice consumed more
      MA and exhibited greater preference for the 10mg/L MA solution than drug-naive
      and combination drug-experienced mice. Conversely, prior MA-drinking history
      increased alcohol intake across a range of alcohol concentrations. DISCUSSION:
      These exploratory studies indicate the feasibility of employing procedurally
      simple murine models of sequential and simultaneous oral MA-alcohol mixing of
      relevance to advancing our biobehavioral understanding of MA-alcohol co-abuse.

PMID- 28601732
TI  - Intermittent compressive stress regulates Notch target gene expression via
      transforming growth factor-beta signaling in murine pre-osteoblast cell line.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Different mechanical stimuli regulate behaviors of various cell types,
      including osteoblasts, osteocytes, and periodontal ligament fibroblasts. Notch
      signaling participates in the mechanical stress-regulated cell responses. The
      present study investigated the regulation of Notch target gene and sclerostin
      (Sost) expression in murine pre-osteoblast cell line (MC3T3-E1) under
      intermittent compressive stress. METHODS: MC3T3-E1 were subjected to the
      intermittent compressive force under the computerized controlled machine. In some
      experiments, cells were pretreated with chemical inhibitors for Notch and
      transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling prior to mechanical stimuli. To
      evaluate role of Notch signaling in MC3T3-E1 cells under unloaded condition,
      cells were seeded on indirect immobilized Notch ligand (Jagged1). Gene expression
      was determined using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS:
      The intermittent compressive stress significantly upregulated Notch target gene
      expression (Hes Family BHLH transcription factor 1; Hes1 and Hairy/enhancer-of
      split related with YRPW motif protein1; Hey1). The intermittent stress-induced
      Hes1 and Hey1 mRNA expression could be inhibited by a gamma-secretase inhibitor
      (DAPT) or a TGF-beta superfamily type I activing receptor-like kinase receptors
      inhibitor (SB431542). The results imply that intermittent compressive stress
      regulates Notch signaling via TGF-beta pathway. Further, the intermittent
      compressive stress reduced Sost mRNA expression and this phenomenon could be
      rescued by a DAPT pretreatment, implying the involvement of Notch signaling.
      However, activation of Notch signaling under the unloaded condition resulted in
      the increase of Sost expression and the reduction of osteogenic marker genes.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results imply the involvement of Notch signaling in the
      homeostasis maintaining of osteogenic cells under mechanical stress stimuli.

PMID- 28601733
TI  - Effect of 1.2% of simvastatin gel as a local drug delivery system on Gingival
      Crevicular Fluid interleukin-6 & interleukin-8 levels in non surgical treatment
      of chronic periodontitis patients.
AB  - AIM: The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of 1.2% simvastatin
      gel as local drug delivery (LDD) system on Gingival Crevicular Fluid (GCF)
      Interleukin -6 (IL-6) and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels in chronic periodontitis
      patients, in addition to scaling and root planing (SRP). METHODS: A total of 46
      chronic periodontitis patients were equally divided into two groups. Group I
      patients were treated by SRP; Group II patients were treated by SRP followed by
      LDD of 1.2% simvastatin (SMV) gel. Plaque index (PI), Gingival index(GI), Sulcus
      Bleeding Index (SBI), Probing pocket depth (PPD) and Relative clinical attachment
      level (CAL) were recorded & GCF samples were collected at baseline (0day) and at
      45th day from both the groups. The collected GCF samples were analysed for IL-6
      and IL-8 levels with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Both the
      groups showed significant reduction in all the clinical parameters scores and IL
      6 and IL-8 levels after non-surgical periodontal therapy (SRP for group
      I/SRP+1.2% SMV gel for group II) in contrast to baseline values. However, a
      greater reduction was observed in group II. A non-significant positive
      correlation was observed between clinical parameters and IL-6 and IL-8 levels
      except at baseline, a significant correlation was observed between PPD &IL 6
      levels in group II. CONCLUSIONS: In adjunct to SRP, 1.2% Simvastatin gel acts as
      an effective local drug delivery agent for the management of chronic
      periodontitis.

PMID- 28601734
TI  - Effect of interocclusal appliance on bite force, sleep quality, salivary cortisol
      levels and signs and symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in adults with
      sleep bruxism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to evaluate the effect interocclusal appliance therapy
      on bite force (BF), sleep quality and salivary cortisol levels in adults with SB
      diagnosed by polysomnography. As a secondary aim, signs and symptoms of
      temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) were evaluated. DESIGN: Forty-three adults
      (19-30 y/o) were divided into two groups: experimental group (GSB), composed of
      28 subjects with SB, and control group (GC), without SB and TMD (n=15). GSB was
      treated with stabilization interocclusal splint and evaluated at time intervals:
      before (baseline), one month (T1) and two months (T2) after therapy began, to
      collect data related to BF, sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index),
      salivary cortisol levels and TMD. GC was also examined three times and received
      no therapy. Data were analysed by means of normality tests, t-test/Mann-Whitney
      and One-way ANOVA repeated measures (Tukey post-test). Two-way ANOVA test for
      repeated measures was applied to verify the effect time*group interaction on the
      variance of each dependent variable (alpha=0.05). RESULTS: GSB showed an increase
      in BF and a positive effect on muscular symptomatology, range of mandibular
      movements and sleep quality; in GC these parameters did not differ. Cortisol
      concentration decreased between baseline and T1 in GSB (F(1,31)=4.46; test
      power=62%; p=0.017). The variance observed for BF, TMD and sleep quality among
      time points was dependent on the group (moderate effect size: partial Eta square
      >0.16; test power >80%). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that short-term
      interocclusal appliance therapy had a positive effect on BF, temporomandibular
      symptomatology, sleep quality and salivary cortisol levels in adults with SB.

PMID- 28601735
TI  - Clinical utility for diffusion MRI sequence in emergency and inpatient spine
      protocols.
AB  - Diffusion imaging of the spine has the potential to change clinical management,
      but is challenging due to the small size of the cord and susceptibility artifacts
      from adjacent structures. Reduced field-of-view (rFOV) diffusion can improve
      image quality by decreasing the echo train length. Over the past 2 years, we have
      acquired a rFOV diffusion sequence for MRI spine protocols on most inpatients and
      emergency room patients. We provide selected imaging diagnoses to illustrate the
      utility of including diffusion spine MRI in clinical practice. Our experiences
      support using diffusion MRI to improve diagnostic certainty and facilitate prompt
      treatment or clinical management.

PMID- 28601736
TI  - Upper extremity non-contrast magnetic resonance venography (MRV) compared to
      contrast enhanced MRV and ultrasound.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess feasibility, image quality and measured venous caliber of non
      contrast MRV (NC-MRV) of central and upper extremity veins, compared to contrast
      enhanced MRV (CE-MRV) and ultrasound (US) in healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: 10 subjects underwent NC-MRV and CE-MRV at 1.5 T, with comparison to US.
      Two radiologists evaluated MRI for image quality (IQ) and venous caliber. RESULTS
      AND CONCLUSIONS: NC-MRV is feasible, with inferior IQ but comparable venous
      caliber measurements CE-MRV (mean 7.9+/-4.58 mm vs. 7.83+/-4.62, p=0.13).
      Slightly larger upper limb caliber measurements were derived for NC-MRV and CE
      MRV compared to US (NC-MRV 5.2+/-1.8 mm, CE-MRV 4.9+/-1.6 mm, US 4.5+/-1.8 mm,
      both p<0.001).

PMID- 28601737
TI  - Contextual influence on evaluation capacity building in a rapidly changing
      environment under new governmental policies.
AB  - Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is a context-dependent process. Contextual
      factors affecting ECB implementation have been explored theoretically and
      practically, but their influence within a changing environment has seldom been
      discussed. This study examined essential context-sensitive parameters,
      particularly those involved in implementing new governmental policies regarding
      higher education. Taiwan was used as a case study for exploring the effect of
      contextual change on ECB attributes from the perspectives of training receivers
      and providers. Surveys and interviews were used for data collection and
      importance-performance analysis was applied for data analysis. Four prominent
      features were identified. First, the ECB attributes perceived as important by
      receivers were performed adequately, whereas those perceived as less important
      were performed less well. Second, under new policies, training provider designed
      training covering a wide range of ECB, whereas receivers focused on those can be
      directly applied in evaluation process. Third, in a small education system such
      as Taiwan's, the complexity of peer review is high and ethical issues become
      important. Fourth, because the evaluation structure has been changed from single-
      to dual-track, receivers expect more training for institution staff, whereas
      providers insist on hierarchical training. Aligning ECB supply and needs is
      paramount for adaptation to new policies.

PMID- 28601738
TI  - Evaluation of a women group led health communication program in Haryana, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sakshar Mahila Smooh (SMS) program was launched in rural areas of
      Haryana in India during 2008. A total of 6788 SMSs, each having 5-10 literate
      women, were equipped to enhance health communication. We carried out process
      evaluation of this program as an external agency. METHODOLOGY: After a review of
      program documents, a random sample survey of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), SMS
      members, and village women was conducted. Out of four divisions of the state, one
      was randomly chosen, which had five districts. From 330 randomly chosen villages,
      283 ANMs, 1164 SMS members, and 1123 village women were interviewed using a semi-
      structured interview schedule. Program inputs, processes, and outputs were
      compared in the five districts. Chi square was used for significance test.
      RESULTS: In the sampled division, out of 2009 villages, 1732 (86%) had functional
      SMS. In three years, SMS conducted 15036 group meetings, 2795 rallies, 2048 wall
      writings, and 803 competitions, and 44.5% of allocated budget was utilized. Most
      ANMs opined that SMSs are better health communicators. SMS members were aware
      about their roles and responsibilities. Majority of village women reported that
      SMS carry out useful health education activities. The characteristics of SMS
      members were similar but program performance was better in districts where health
      managers were proactive in program planning and monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: SMS
      Program has communicated health messages to majority of rural population,
      however, better planning & monitoring can improve program performance.

PMID- 28601739
TI  - Application of random forest, radial basis function neural networks and central
      composite design for modeling and/or optimization of the ultrasonic assisted
      adsorption of brilliant green on ZnS-NP-AC.
AB  - Two machine learning approach (i.e. Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBF-NN)
      and Random Forest (RF) was developed and evaluated against a quadratic response
      surface model to predict the maximum removal efficiency of brilliant green (BG)
      from aqueous media in relation to BG concentration (4-20mgL-1), sonication time
      (2-6min) and ZnS-NP-AC mass (0.010-0.030g) by ultrasound-assisted. All three
      (i.e. RBF network, RF and polynomial) model were compared against the
      experimental data using four statistical indices namely, coefficient of
      determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and
      absolute average deviation (AAD). Graphical plots were also used for model
      comparison. The obtained results using RBF network and RF exhibit a better
      performance in comparison to classical statistical model for both dyes. The
      significant factors were optimized using desirability function approach (DFA)
      combined central composite design (CCD) and genetic algorithm (GA) approach. The
      obtained optimal point was located in the valid region and the experimental
      confirmation tests were conducted showing a good accordance between the predicted
      optimal points and the experimental data. The properties of ZnS-NPs-AC were
      identified by X-ray diffraction; field emission scanning electron microscopy,
      energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transformation infrared
      spectroscopy. Various isotherm models for fitting the experimental equilibrium
      data were studied and Langmuir model was chosen as an efficient model. Various
      kinetic models for analysis of experimental adsorption data were studied and
      pseudo second order model was chosen as an efficient model. Moreover, ZnS
      nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon efficiently were regenerated using
      methanol and after five cycles the removal percentage do not change
      significantly.

PMID- 28601740
TI  - Prediction and control of drop formation modes in microfluidic generation of
      double emulsions by single-step emulsification.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Predicting formation mode of double emulsion drops in microfluidic
      emulsification is crucial for controlling the drop size and morphology.
      EXPERIMENTS AND MODELLING: A three-phase Volume of Fluid-Continuum Surface Force
      (VOF-CSF) model was developed, validated with analytical solutions, and used to
      investigate drop formation in different regimes. Experimental investigations were
      done using a glue-free demountable glass capillary device with a true
      axisymmetric geometry, capable of readjusting the distance between the two inner
      capillaries during operation. FINDINGS: A non-dimensional parameter (zeta) for
      prediction of double emulsion formation mode as a function of the capillary
      numbers of all fluids and device geometry was developed and its critical values
      were determined using simulation and experimental data. At logzeta>5.7, drops
      were formed in dripping mode; the widening jetting occurred at 5<logzeta<5.7;
      while the narrowing jetting was observed at logzeta<5. The zeta criterion was
      correlated with the ratio of the break-up length to drop diameter. The transition
      from widening to narrowing jetting was achieved by increasing the outer fluid
      flow rate at the high capillary number of the inner fluid. The drop size was
      reduced by reducing the distance between the two inner capillaries and the
      minimum drop size was achieved when the distance between the capillaries was
      zero.

PMID- 28601741
TI  - Uniformity dispersive, anti-coking core@double-shell-structured Co@SiO2@C: Effect
      of graphitic carbon modified interior pore-walls on C5+ selectivity in Fischer
      Tropsch synthesis.
AB  - Highly dispersed Co nanoparticles with proper interaction with mesoporous support
      are benefit for the suppression of self-aggregation, which enhances its Fischer
      Tropsch synthesis (FTs) activity. However, construct such Co based supported
      catalysts with high activity and stability in FTs by conventional mesoporous
      support, especially the common used mesoporous SiO2, has proven challenging due
      to their undesirable hydrothermal stability and poor reducibility. Herein, we
      developed a unique core@double-shell Co@SiO2@C structure with optimized interface
      of the mesoporous catalyst by introducing graphitic carbon layer which can weaken
      the interaction between metallic Co and silica. Transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM) images, together with Nitrogen adsorption-desorption characterization
      result, proved the well-defined core@double-shell structure of graphitic carbon
      modified catalyst. The Co@SiO2@C-2 material produced after optimizing the
      calcination temperature to 600 degrees C process large surface area and pore
      volume, and show higher CO conversion (62.2%) and C5+ selectivity (62.2%) than
      Co3O4@SiO2 in a period of 100h. The significant improvement in the FTS
      performance of Co@SiO2@C is not only attributed to a good synergistic effect by a
      combination of the Co dispersion and reducibility. The unique core@double-shell
      structure with graphitic carbon modified interior pore-walls also contributes to
      the formation of heavy hydrocarbon, as well as the protecting with the metallic
      Co particles away from oxidation and aggregation.

PMID- 28601742
TI  - Protein-tannic acid multilayer films: A multifunctional material for
      microencapsulation of food-derived bioactives.
AB  - The benefits of various functional foods are often negated by stomach digestion
      and poor targeting to the lower gastrointestinal tract. Layer-by-Layer assembled
      protein-tannic acid (TA) films are suggested as a prospective material for
      microencapsulation of food-derived bioactive compounds. Bovine serum albumin
      (BSA)-TA and pepsin-TA films demonstrate linear growth of 2.8+/-0.1 and 4.2+/
      0.1nm per bi-layer, correspondingly, as shown by ellipsometry. Both multilayer
      films are stable in simulated gastric fluid but degrade in simulated intestinal
      fluid. Their corresponding degradation constants are 0.026+/-0.006 and 0.347+/
      0.005nm-1min-1. Milk proteins possessing enhanced adhesion to human intestinal
      surface, Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and beta-Lactoglobulin (BLG), are explored to
      tailor targeting function to BSA-TA multilayer film. BLG does not adsorb onto the
      multilayer while IgG is successfully incorporated. Microcapsules prepared from
      the multilayer demonstrate 2.7 and 6.3 times higher adhesion to Caco-2 cells when
      IgG is introduced as an intermediate and the terminal layer, correspondingly.
      This developed material has a great potential for oral delivery of numerous
      active food-derived ingredients.

PMID- 28601743
TI  - Highly antifouling and antibacterial performance of poly (vinylidene fluoride)
      ultrafiltration membranes blending with copper oxide and graphene oxide
      nanofillers for effective wastewater treatment.
AB  - Innovation and effective wastewater treatment technology is still in great demand
      given the emerging contaminants frequently spotted from the aqueous environment.
      By blending with poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), the strong hydrophilic
      graphene oxide (GO) and antibacterial copper oxide (CuxO) were used as
      nanofillers to develop the novel, highly antifouling composite membranes via
      phase inversion process in our latest work. The existence and dispersion of GO
      and CuxO posed a significant role on morphologies, structures, surface
      composition and hydrophilicity of the developed composite membranes, confirmed by
      SEM, TEM, FTIR and XPS in depth characterization. The SEM images showed that the
      modified membranes presented a lower resistant structure with developed finger
      like macrovoids and thin-walled even interconnected sponge-like pores after
      adding nanofillers, much encouraging membrane permeation. The XPS results
      revealed that CuxO contained Cu2O and CuO in the developed membrane and the Cu2O
      nanoparticles were dominant accounting for about 79.3%; thus the modified
      membrane specifically exhibited an efficient antibacterial capacity. Due to the
      hydrophilic and bactericidal membrane surface, the composite membranes
      demonstrated an excellent antifouling performance, including higher flux recovery
      rate, more resistant against accumulated contaminants and lower filtration
      resistance, especially lower irreversible resistance. The antifouling property,
      especially anti-irreversible fouling, was significantly improved, showing a
      significant engineering potential.

PMID- 28601744
TI  - Preparation of polyamidoamine dendrimers functionalized magnetic graphene oxide
      for the adsorption of Hg(II) in aqueous solution.
AB  - In this study, using graphene oxide supported Fe3O4 nanoparticles as carriers,
      ethylenediamine and methyl acrylate as functional monomer, different generations
      of polyamidoamine dendrimers functionalized magnetic graphene oxide (MGO-PAMAM),
      up to generation 4.0, were successfully synthesized via step by step growth
      chemical grafting approach and magnetic separation technology. In the process of
      synthesizing dendrimers, the generation of dendrimers was increased with the
      increasing of reaction cycles. In other words, the dendrimers generation is
      determined from the number of branch iterations. The obtained MGO-PAMAM were
      characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD),
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis, X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrating
      sample magnetometer (VSM), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm and Zeta
      potential analysis. The adsorption properties of the synthesized products for
      Hg(II) in aqueous solution were investigated by batch experiments. The results
      showed that the MGO-PAMAM with generation 3.0 of dendrimers (MGO-PAMAM-G3.0) has
      the maximum adsorption capacity of 113.71mg.g-1. The adsorption process of MGO
      PAMAM-G3.0 for Hg(II) was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetics
      model and the Langmuir isotherm model. The Hg(II) adsorbed on the surface of MGO
      PAMAM-G3.0 was reduced to Hg(I) in the adsorption process. In addition, the MGO
      PAMAM possesse good magnetic separation performance.

PMID- 28601745
TI  - Synthesis of poly(diallyldimethylammonium) capped copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF)
      nanoparticles: An efficient stabiliser for Pickering emulsions.
AB  - Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) capped copper hexacyanoferrate
      nanoparticles (CuHCF NPs) with the controlled size are prepared following a
      precipitation method. While PDDA and CuHCF are not active at the
      cyclohexane/water interface, PDDA capped CuHCF NPs present synergistic property
      permitting them to stabilise oil-in-water emulsions for weeks. These latter can
      be considered as promising precursors for the development of new porous materials
      considering the fact that the NPs present some interests in the field of nuclear
      decontamination.

PMID- 28601746
TI  - Insight into the localized surface plasmon resonance property of core-satellite
      nanostructures: Theoretical prediction and experimental validation.
AB  - Regulation of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of nanoparticles by
      changing the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium has been exploited in
      many practical applications. In this study, using Ag-nanodot-decorated SiO2
      nanoparticles (Ag-decorated SiO2NPs) with different solvents, we investigated the
      potential of using such core-satellite nanostructures as a liquid sensor for the
      determination of melamine. The dielectric constant effect of the surrounding
      medium on the LSPR property was given particular attention. It was found that
      colloids with water as solvent display a LSPR shift of 14nm, and this value was
      18nm for ethanol. For colloids with methanol and glycol as solvents, the peak
      shifts are negligible. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations were used
      to assign the LSPR peaks of Ag-decorated SiO2NPs and to monitor the effect of the
      substrate and solvent on the LSPR properties. In the calculations, the wavelength
      positions of the LSPR peaks for Ag-decorated SiO2NPs in various solvents were
      successfully predicted in the order methanol<water<ethanol<glycol, as also
      verified by experiments. The separation distance of Ag nanodots and their
      relative positions on the SiO2 substrate with respect to the incident light were
      also found to be crucial to the characteristic LSPR peak positions. The LSPR peak
      undergoes a shift in the presence of different concentrations of melamine. We
      proposed a multi-mode absorption model to describe the effect of melamine
      absorption on the LSPR peak shifts of Ag-decorated SiO2NPs. Based on this model,
      we were able to quantitatively explain the LSPR peak shift of Ag-decorated
      SiO2NPs in the presence of various concentrations of melamine. Our work is
      expected to be valuable for theoretical guidance in design of new materials and
      devices based on LSPR effects.

PMID- 28601747
TI  - Road traffic crash risk associated with prescription of hydroxyzine and other
      sedating H1-antihistamines: A responsibility and case-crossover study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: H1 antihistamines differ from each other by their ability to cross
      the blood-brain barrier. The resulting sedating effect can be sought in therapy
      but may be a driving hazard. The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of
      sedating H1-antihistamines on the risk of road traffic crash, with a particular
      focus on hydroxyzine which is also indicated as an anxiolytic in France. METHODS:
      The study consisted in extracting and matching data from three French nationwide
      databases: the national healthcare insurance database, police reports and the
      police national database of injurious crashes. All sedating H1-antihistamines,
      including hydroxyzine, were considered in the study. A case-control analysis, in
      which responsible drivers were cases and non-responsible were controls was
      performed. A case-crossover analysis, comparing for the same subject exposure
      during a period immediately before the crash with exposure during an earlier
      period, was also conducted. RESULTS: The extraction and matching procedures over
      the July 2005-December 2011 period led to the inclusion of 142,771 drivers
      involved in an injurious road traffic crash. The responsibility study found an
      increased risk of being responsible for an injurious road traffic crash in
      hydroxyzine users who were registered with a long-term chronic disease (mostly
      psychiatric disorders) on the day of the crash (OR=1.67 [1.22-2.30]). Among them,
      the risk was even higher in drivers with highest exposure levels (OR=2.60 [1.23
      5.50]). There was no impact of sedating H1 antihistamine treatment initiation on
      the risk of crash. CONCLUSION: Even if it is difficult to disentangle the part of
      the increased risk that would be causally related to hydroxyzine and the part
      related to behaviours of patients with a heavy psychiatric disorder, our study
      raises the alarm on the crash risk linked to hydroxyzine utilization in countries
      in which the anxiolytic indication is widespread.

PMID- 28601748
TI  - Development of thoracic injury risk functions for the THOR ATD.
AB  - The Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint (THOR) 50th percentile male
      anthropomorphic test device (ATD) aims to improve the ability to predict the risk
      of chest injury to restrained automobile occupants by measuring dynamic chest
      deflection at multiple locations. This research aimed to describe the methods for
      developing a thoracic injury risk function (IRF) using the multi-point chest
      deflection metrics from the 50th percentile male THOR Metric ATD with the SD-3
      shoulder and associating to post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) outcomes that were
      matched on identical frontal and frontal-oblique impact sled testing conditions.
      Several deflection metrics were assessed as potential predictor variables for AIS
      3+ injury risk, including a combined metric, called PC Score, which was generated
      from a principal component analysis. A parametric survival analysis
      (specifically, accelerated failure time (AFT) with Weibull distribution) was
      assessed in the development of the IRF. Model fit was assessed using various
      modeling diagnostics, including the area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve (AUC). Models based on resultant deflection consistently
      exhibited improved fit compared to models based on x-axis deflection or chord
      deflection. Risk functions for the THOR PC Score and Cmax (maximum resultant
      deflection) were qualitatively equivalent, producing AUCs of 0.857 and 0.861,
      respectively. Adjusting for the potential confounding effects of age, AFT
      survival models with Cmax or PC Score as the primary deflection metric resulted
      in the THOR injury risk models with the best combination of biomechanical
      appropriateness, potential utility and model fit, and may be recommended as
      injury predictors.

PMID- 28601750
TI  - Sex-specific effects of intranasal oxytocin on thermal pain perception: A
      randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study.
AB  - : Chronic neck and shoulder pain (CNSP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder in
      adults, which is linked to hypersensitivity to noxious stimuli. The hormone
      oxytocin has been implicated as a potential therapeutic for the management of
      chronic pain disorders, and has been suggested to have sex-specific effects on
      the salience of threatening stimuli. This study investigated the influence of
      intranasal oxytocin on the perception of noxious thermal stimuli. Participants
      were 24 individuals with CNSP lasting >12months (eight women), and 24 age- and
      sex-matched healthy, pain-free controls. In a randomised double-blind, placebo
      controlled, cross-over study, participants attended two sessions, self
      administering intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) in one session, and placebo in another.
      Participants rated intensity and unpleasantness of thermal heat stimuli at three
      body sites: the cervical spine, deltoid, and tibialis anterior, on 11-point
      numerical rating scales. Compared with placebo, intranasal oxytocin increased the
      perceived intensity of noxious heat stimuli in women with CNSP (Cohen's d=0.71),
      but not in men with CNSP, or healthy, pain-free controls. Men and women displayed
      divergent sensitivity across target sites for ratings of pain intensity (partial
      eta squared=0.12) and pain unpleasantness (partial eta squared=0.24),
      irrespective of drug condition. Men were more sensitive at the cervical spine and
      deltoid, whereas women were more sensitive at the tibialis. These findings
      suggest that oxytocin and endogenous sex hormones may interact to influence the
      salience of noxious stimuli. The hyperalgesic effects of oxytocin in women
      suggest that caution should be taken when considering oxytocin in the management
      of chronic pain. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CT-2016-CTN-01313-1; ACTRN12616000532404.

PMID- 28601749
TI  - Waterpipe tobacco smoking among sexual minorities in the United States: Evidence
      from the National Adult Tobacco Survey (2012-2014).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The current study examined differences in waterpipe smoking (both
      lifetime and current) comparing sexual minority populations - those identifying
      with lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity - to their heterosexual counterparts
      using a nationally representative dataset. METHODS: The current study used pooled
      data from the 2012-2013 & 2013-2014 National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS). Log
      Poisson multivariable regression models were deployed to determine the prevalence
      of waterpipe smoking behavior among sexual minority individuals controlling for
      sociodemographic characteristics and stratified by current gender status.
      RESULTS: In fully-adjusted models assessing lifetime WTS, lesbian/gay and
      bisexual respondents reported higher prevalence of WTS compared to their
      heterosexual counterparts. This trend held true in gender-stratified models among
      gay men [gay men: PR 1.25, 95%CI [1.06, 1.47] and women ([lesbians: PR 1.38,
      95%CI [1.12, 1.69] and bisexual women: 1.69, 95%CI [1.45, 1.97]). In fully
      adjusted models assessing current WTS, lesbian/gay and bisexual respondents
      reported higher risk of WTS compared to their heterosexual counterparts. This
      trend held true in gender-stratified models, only for among gay men [gay men: PR
      1.56, 95%CI [1.18, 2.05] and bisexual women: 2.38, 95%CI [1.84, 3.09]).
      CONCLUSIONS: Among the US general adult population, sexual minorities exhibited
      increased prevalence of current waterpipe smoking compared to their heterosexual
      counterparts. This pattern is also shaped by gender and variation of sexual
      orientation identification (e.g., lesbian/gay vs. bisexual). This warrants
      development of tailored interventions aimed at decreasing waterpipe smoking among
      sexual minority populations.

PMID- 28601751
TI  - Error consciousness predicts physiological response to an acute psychosocial
      stressor in men.
AB  - There are substantial individual differences in the response towards acute
      stressor. The aim of the current study was to examine how the neural activity
      after an error response during a non-stressful state, prospectively predicts the
      magnitude of physiological stress response (e.g., cortisol response and heart
      rate) and negative affect elicited by a laboratory stress induction procedure in
      nonclinical participants. Thirty-seven healthy young male adults came to the
      laboratory for the baseline neurocognitive measurement on the first day during
      which they performed a Go/Nogo task with their electroencephalogram recorded. On
      the second day, they came again to be tested on their stress response using an
      acute psychosocial stress procedure (i.e., the Trier Social Stress Test, the
      TSST). Results showed that the amplitude of error positivity (Pe) significantly
      predicted both the heart rate and cortisol response towards the TSST. Our results
      suggested that baseline cognitive neural activity reflecting error consciousness
      could be used as a biological predictor of physiological response to an acute
      psychological stressor in men.

PMID- 28601753
TI  - Insights from spectroscopic and in-silico techniques for the exploitation of
      biomolecular interactions between Human serum albumin and Paromomycin.
AB  - The study of molecular interactions of drug-protein are extremely important from
      the biological aspect in all living organisms, and therefore such type of
      investigation hold a tremendous significance in rational drug design and
      discovery. In the present study, the molecular interactions between paromomycin
      (PAR) and human serum albumin (HSA) have been studied by different biophysical
      techniques and validated by in-silico approaches. The results obtained from
      Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      (FT-IR) demonstrated a remarkable change upon the complexation of PAR with HSA.
      Circular Dichroism (CD), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Resonance Rayleigh
      scattering (RRS) results revealed a significant secondary structure alteration
      and reduction of hydrodynamic radii upon the conjugation of PAR with HSA. The
      fluorescence spectroscopy results also apparently revealed the static quenching
      mechanism. The number of binding sites, binding constants, and Gibbs free energy
      values were calculated to illustrate the nature of intermolecular interactions.
      Similarly, the in-silico docking and molecular dynamics simulation clearly
      explain the theoretical basis of the binding mechanism of PAR with HSA. The
      experimental and docking approaches suggested that PAR binds to the hydrophobic
      cavity site I of HSA. The finding of present investigation will provide binding
      insight of PAR and associated alterations in the stability and conformation of
      HSA.

PMID- 28601754
TI  - Characterization of fullerenol-protein interactions and an extended investigation
      on cytotoxicity.
AB  - Fullerenols, known as polyhydroxylated derivatives of fullerene, have attracted
      great attention due to their distinctive material properties and potential
      applications in biology and medicine. As a step toward the elucidation of basic
      behavior in biological systems, a variety of spectroscopic measurements as well
      as isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) were applied to study the interaction
      between fullerenol (C60(OH)44) and serum proteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA) and
      gamma-globulins). The results of fluorescence spectra indicated that the
      intrinsic fluorescence of proteins could be effectively quenched by the dynamic
      mechanism. The affinity values of both proteins bound to fullerenol were of the
      same order of magnitude. Meanwhile, ITC results showed that the interaction
      between fullerenol and BSA was enthalpy favorable, while the interaction with
      gamma-globulins was enthalpy unfavorable. Furthermore, fullerenol had little
      influence on the secondary structure of both proteins. Additional cytotoxicity
      tests showed that the presence of proteins attenuated the toxic effect of
      fullerenol on human normal gastric epithelial cell line (GES-1). Thus, the
      interaction between fullerenol and proteins is indispensable to evaluate the
      biosafety of fullerenol, which may in turn promotes the development of its
      biological applications.

PMID- 28601752
TI  - Daily positive events and diurnal cortisol rhythms: Examination of between-person
      differences and within-person variation.
AB  - Growing evidence from field studies has linked daily stressors to dysregulated
      patterns of diurnal cortisol. Less is known about whether naturally-occurring
      positive events in everyday life are associated with diurnal cortisol. The
      objectives of this study were to evaluate daily positive events as predictors of
      between-person differences and within-person (day-to-day) variations in diurnal
      cortisol parameters, in addition to daily positive events as buffers against the
      associations between daily stressors and cortisol. In the National Study of Daily
      Experiences, 1657 adults ages 33-84 (57% female) reported daily experiences
      during telephone interviews on 8 consecutive evenings. Saliva samples were
      collected 4 times per day on 4 interview days and assayed for cortisol.
      Multilevel models were used to estimate associations of daily positive events
      with cortisol awakening response (CAR), diurnal cortisol slope, and area under
      the curve (AUC). At the between-person level, people who experienced more
      frequent positive events exhibited a steeper diurnal cortisol slope, controlling
      for daily stressors, daily affect, and other covariates. At the within-person
      level, positive events in the morning (but not prior-night or afternoon/evening
      events) predicted steeper decline in cortisol across that day; positive events
      were also marginally associated with lower same-day AUC. Associations were not
      mediated by daily positive affect, and positive events did not buffer against
      stressor-related cortisol alterations. These findings indicate that individual
      differences and day-to-day variations in daily positive events are associated
      with diurnal cortisol patterns, independent of stressors and affect.

PMID- 28601755
TI  - In vitro and in vivo anti-tumor efficiency comparison of phosphorylcholine
      micelles with PEG micelles.
AB  - Polymer micelles for anticancer drug delivery have shown many advantages. In this
      study, poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-b-poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl
      phosphorylcholine) (PCL-PMPC) with bio-inspired structure self-assembled into
      small and uniform micelles as traditional poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-b
      poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL-PEG). The in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor efficiency
      of PCL-PMPC and PCL-PEG micelles were detailedly evaluated. The both micelles
      were able to load DOX with high efficiency. PCL-PMPC micelles exhibited faster
      drug release at pH 5.5 than that of PCL-PEG micelles. Confocal laser scanning
      microscopy and flow cytometry results showed that PCL-PMPC micelles were more
      effectively internalized by tumor cells. DOX-loaded PCL-PMPC micelles presented
      higher cytotoxicity to tumor cells. PCL-PMPC micelles displayed not only longer
      circulation time in pharmacokinetics investigation, but also higher accumulation
      at the tumor site in in vivo imaging study in comparison with PCL-PEG micelles.
      More importantly, in a tumor model DOX-loaded PCL-PMPC micelles showed better
      therapeutic efficacy than DOX-loaded PCL-PEG micelles along with mild side
      effects. Therefore, PCL-PMPC micelles are deemed to be promising drug carriers
      for cancer therapy.

PMID- 28601756
TI  - Using atmospheric plasma to increase wettability, imbibition and germination of
      physically dormant seeds of Mimosa Caesalpiniafolia.
AB  - In this study, we analyzed seed wettability as well as imbibition and germination
      after treatment with atmospheric pressure cold plasma (APCP) using dielectric
      barrier discharge (DBD) in seeds that have very low germination rates. To aid
      industrial applications, several seeds were simultaneously treated with plasma
      within a space between two coaxial glass tubes sandwiched by two metal mesh
      screens that produced high-voltage pulses at 17.5kV with a frequency of 990Hz.
      Three treatment times (3min, 9min and 15min) as well as untreated seeds were used
      to conduct the wettability, imbibition and germination tests. The wettability and
      imbibition were found to be directly related to the treatment duration, but
      saturation of the imbibition was found for treatment durations greater than 9min.
      Plasma treatment was also effective in improving germination, but shorter
      treatment duration presented greater germination. This apparent contradiction is
      explained by the cell damage caused by the increased exposure to plasma, as
      observed in other studies. The results suggest that there must be an optimal
      wettability and imbibition condition that ensures that excessive moisture does
      not harm the germination process.

PMID- 28601757
TI  - Antioxidant flavone analog functionalized fluorescent silica nanoparticles:
      Synthesis and exploration of their possible use as biomolecule sensor.
AB  - For the first time, a synthetic fluorescent antioxidant flavone analog was
      successfully anchored onto the surface of the APTES-modified mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles (NPs) through sulfonamide linkage. The surface chemistry and
      morphology of the flavone modified fluorescent silica (FMFS) NPs were studied in
      detail. The flavone moiety when attached onto the FMFS NP surface, imparted its
      characteristic fluorescence and antioxidant activities to these NPs. Moreover,
      the NPs are highly biocompatible as evidenced from their cytotoxicity assay on
      normal lung cell (L132). The fluorescence activity of these biocompatible NPs was
      further utilized to study their interaction with a biomolecule, BSA (Bovine Serum
      Albumin). It was interesting to note that the fluorescence behavior of FMFS NPs
      completely changed on their binding with BSA. On the other hand, the intrinsic
      fluorescence activity of BSA was also significantly modified due to its
      interaction with FMFS NPs. Thus, the sensing and detection of biomolecules like
      BSA in presence of FMFS NPs can be accomplished by monitoring changes in the
      fluorescence behavior of either FMFS NPs or BSA. Furthermore, these FMFS NPs
      retained their intrinsic fluorescence behavior in the cellular medium which opens
      up their possible use as biocompatible cell imaging agents in future.

PMID- 28601758
TI  - Recent advances in mechanism-based chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs in co-delivery
      systems for cancer: A review.
AB  - Co-delivery of chemotherapy drugs and siRNA for cancer therapy has achieved
      remarkable results according to synergistic/combined antitumor effects, and is
      recognized as a promising therapeutic modality. However, little attention has
      been paid to the extremely complex mechanisms of chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs
      during co-delivery process. Proper selection of chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs is
      beneficial for achieving desirable cancer therapeutic effects. Exploring the
      inherent principles during chemotherapy drug-siRNA pair selection for co-delivery
      would greatly enhanced therapeutic efficiency. To achieve ideal results, this
      article will systematically review current different mechanism-based chemotherapy
      drug-siRNA pairs for co-delivery in cancer treatment. Large-scale library
      screening of recent different chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs for co-delivery would
      help to establish the chemotherapy drug-siRNA pair selection principle, which
      could pave the way for co-delivery of chemotherapy drugs and siRNA for cancer
      treatment in clinic. Following the inherent principle of chemotherapy drug-siRNA
      pair, more effective co-delivery vectors can be designed in the future.

PMID- 28601759
TI  - Cell-compatible conducting polyaniline films prepared in colloidal dispersion
      mode.
AB  - Conducting polyaniline can be prepared and modified using several procedures, all
      of which can significantly influence its applicability in different fields of
      biomedicine or biotechnology. The modifications of surface properties are crucial
      with respect to the possible applications of this polymer in tissue engineering
      or as biosensors. Innovative technique for preparing polyaniline films via in
      situ polymerization in colloidal dispersion mode using four stabilizers (poly-N
      vinylpyrrolidone; sodium dodecylsulfate; Tween 20 and Pluronic F108) was
      developed. The surface energy, conductivity, spectroscopic features, and cell
      compatibility of thin polyaniline films were determined using contact-angle
      measurement, the van der Pauw method, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,
      and assay conducted on mouse fibroblasts, respectively. The stabilizers
      significantly influenced not only the surface and electrical properties of the
      films but also their cell compatibility. Sodium dodecylsulfate seems
      preferentially to combine both the high conductivity and good cell compatibility.
      Moreover, the films with sodium dodecylsulfate were non-irritant for skin, which
      was confirmed by their in-vitro exposure to the 3D-reconstructed human tissue
      model.

PMID- 28601760
TI  - Synthesis of imidazolium-containing mono-methacrylates as polymerizable
      antibacterial agents for acrylic bone cements.
AB  - With the aim to prepare antibacterial acrylic bone cements, a series of
      imidazolium-containg mono-methacrylates with N-alkyl chain length varied from 10
      to 18 (MEIM-x) were synthesized as polymerizable antibacterial agents through a
      two-step reaction. The structures of the monomers were confirmed by 1H NMR.
      Methyl methacrylate in the liquid compoent of cements was partially replaced by
      MEIM-x to prepare bone cements with 5wt% of MEIM-x. Properties of prepared
      cements like antibacterial activity, doughing time, curing parameters including
      maximum temperature (Tmax) and setting time (tset), flexual strength (FS) and
      modulus (FM), compressive strength (CS) and fluid uptake (FU) in Ringer's
      solution were investigated. Acrylic bone cement without any MEIM-x was used as
      control. Compared with the control cement, MEIM-x-containing cements had shorter
      doughing time, lower Tmax, same or longer tset, and higher FU. Though MEIM-x
      could endow cements with strong antibacterial activity, it could reduce
      mechanical properties of bone cements. Therefore, further study should be taken
      to optimize the content of MEIM-x in cement which could supply sufficient
      antibacterial activity and maintain mechanical performance.

PMID- 28601761
TI  - Improving virtual screening predictive accuracy of Human kallikrein 5 inhibitors
      using machine learning models.
AB  - The readily available high throughput screening (HTS) data from the PubChem
      database provides an opportunity for mining of small molecules in a variety of
      biological systems using machine learning techniques. From the thousands of
      available molecular descriptors developed to encode useful chemical information
      representing the characteristics of molecules, descriptor selection is an
      essential step in building an optimal quantitative structural-activity
      relationship (QSAR) model. For the development of a systematic descriptor
      selection strategy, we need the understanding of the relationship between: (i)
      the descriptor selection; (ii) the choice of the machine learning model; and
      (iii) the characteristics of the target bio-molecule. In this work, we employed
      the Signature descriptor to generate a dataset on the Human kallikrein 5 (hK 5)
      inhibition confirmatory assay data and compared multiple classification models
      including logistic regression, support vector machine, random forest and k
      nearest neighbor. Under optimal conditions, the logistic regression model
      provided extremely high overall accuracy (98%) and precision (90%), with good
      sensitivity (65%) in the cross validation test. In testing the primary HTS
      screening data with more than 200K molecular structures, the logistic regression
      model exhibited the capability of eliminating more than 99.9% of the inactive
      structures. As part of our exploration of the descriptor-model-target
      relationship, the excellent predictive performance of the combination of the
      Signature descriptor and the logistic regression model on the assay data of the
      Human kallikrein 5 (hK 5) target suggested a feasible descriptor/model selection
      strategy on similar targets.

PMID- 28601763
TI  - The enantioselective toxicity and oxidative stress of beta-cypermethrin on
      zebrafish.
AB  - Although the toxicity of beta-cypermethrin (beta-CYP) to aquatic organisms has
      become a significant concern in recent years, its enantioselective effects on non
      target organisms is poorly understood. To investigate the enantioselective
      toxicity of beta-CYP on zebrafish, adult zebrafish were exposed to a series of
      isometric concentrations of four beta-CYP enantiomers and the beta-CYP racemate
      for 96 h. In addition, the activities of four antioxidant enzymes and the
      malondialdehyde (MDA) content in zebrafish liver and brain were tested after 15
      and 30 days beta-CYP enantiomers and racemate exposure under environmentally
      relevant dosages (0.01 and 0.1 MUg/L). According to the acute toxicity results,
      the 1R-cis-alphaS and 1R-trans-alphaS enantiomers were more lethal than 1S-cis
      alphaR and 1S-trans-alphaR. At 0.1 MUg/L, the 1R-cis-alphaS and 1R-trans-alphaS
      enantiomers, and the beta-CYP racemate could significantly induce a hepatic MDA
      content at 30 days post exposure (dpe), while only 1R-cis-alphaS caused brain
      lipid peroxidation. An apparent regulation of antioxidase levels was observed in
      zebrafish liver and brain after exposure to the 1R-cis-alphaS and 1R-trans-alphaS
      enantiomers, and the beta-CYP racemate. In contrast, no significant oxidative
      stress was observed in zebrafish exposed to 1S-cis-alphaR and 1S-trans-alphaR
      enantiomers under the test concentrations. This work demonstrated the occurrence
      of enantioselectivity in toxicity and oxidative stress of beta-CYP to adult
      zebrafish, which should be considered in environmental risk assessments.

PMID- 28601762
TI  - Warming modulates the effects of the endocrine disruptor progestin levonorgestrel
      on the zebrafish fitness, ovary maturation kinetics and reproduction success.
AB  - Interactive effects between multiple stressors, namely climate drivers (e.g.,
      temperature) and chemical pollution (e.g., endocrine disruptors) are poorly
      studied. Here, it was for the first time evaluated the combinatory effects of
      temperature and a synthetic progestin, levonorgestrel (LNG), on the fitness and
      reproductive-related endpoints of zebrafish (Danio rerio). A multi-factorial
      design was implemented by manipulating both temperature [setting as baseline an
      ambient temperature of 27  degrees C, against warming (+3  degrees C)] and LNG
      levels (10 ngL-1 and 1000 ngL-1). Groups of males and females were exposed sub
      acutely, for 21-days. Increased temperature caused an overall decrease in the
      females' gonadosomatic index (GSI), during the pre-reproduction phase, LNG did
      not affect GSI. In addition, fecundity (number of ovulated eggs) was negatively
      affected by both temperature and LNG, being the effect of the latter more
      intense. Fish exposed to the highest LNG concentration (at both temperatures) did
      not reproduce, but also in those exposed to the lowest dose of progestin at a
      higher temperature, a complete reproductive failure occurred. These results
      reflect what was observed in the stereological analysis of the ovary maturation
      stages prior to reproduction. Accordingly, the higher the LNG concentration, the
      lower the degree of maturation of the ovary. This was exacerbated by the higher
      temperature. As to embryonated eggs, they hatched significantly faster at higher
      temperatures, but exposure to 10 ngL-1 of LNG (at 27  degrees C) reduced
      significantly the hatching rate, comparing to control. Further, the recrudescence
      of the ovary 48 h after spawning seems to be not affected by both stressors. Our
      data suggest that in a future scenario of global warming and synthetic hormones
      exposure, the reproduction of fish species, such as the zebrafish, can be
      endangered, which can put at risk their success, and consequently affect the
      structure and functioning of associated aquatic ecosystems.

PMID- 28601765
TI  - Application of volumetric absorptive microsampling device for quantification of
      tacrolimus in human blood as a model drug of high blood cell partition.
AB  - Volumetric absorptive microsampling device (VAMS) was evaluated for bioanalysis
      of tacrolimus, which was used as a model drug with high blood cell partition.
      Aliquots of blood (ca. 10MUL) with different hematocrits and fortified with
      tacrolimus were wicked up by VAMS and tacrolimus was extracted with a methanol
      water mixture (1:1, v/v) via sonication. After chromatography on an AQUITY UPLC
      HSS T3 column (100*2.1 i.d., mm, 1.8MUm), tacrolimus and the internal standard
      ascomycin, were detected in the positive ion mode with electrospray ionization by
      monitoring of transitions m/z 826.6->616.4 and m/z 814.6->604.0, respectively. An
      assay method to quantify tacrolimus from 1 to 250ng/mL in whole blood was
      qualified by ensuring that linearity, selectivity, intra- and inter-batch
      reproducibility, and stability were within the acceptance criteria. Consistent
      and high extraction recovery of tacrolimus was ensured from blood with low-
      (20%), mid- (45%), and high-hematocrit (65%) levels with minimal matrix effects.
      Apparent instability at ambient temperature or 4 degrees C possibly due to
      reduced recovery suggests that tacrolimus in VAMS should be stored at -25 degrees
      C until assay. Potential reduced recovery over time from VAMS should be taken
      into consideration in method optimization.

PMID- 28601764
TI  - Maternal perchlorate exposure in pregnancy and altered birth outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: At high medicinal doses perchlorate is known to decrease the
      production of thyroid hormone, a critical factor for fetal development. In a
      large and uniquely exposed cohort of pregnant women, we recently identified
      associations between environmental perchlorate exposures and decreased maternal
      thyroid hormone during pregnancy. Here, we investigate whether perchlorate might
      be associated with birthweight or preterm birth in the offspring of these women.
      METHODS: Maternal urinary perchlorate, serum thyroid hormone concentrations,
      birthweight, gestational age, and urinary nitrate, thiocyanate, and iodide were
      collected in 1957 mother-infant pairs from San Diego County during 2000-2003, a
      period when the county's water supply was contaminated with perchlorate.
      Associations between perchlorate exposure and birth outcomes were examined using
      linear and logistic regression analyses adjusted for maternal age, weight,
      race/ethnicity, and other factors. RESULTS: Perchlorate was not associated with
      birth outcomes in the overall population. However, in analyses confined to male
      infants, log10 maternal perchlorate concentrations were associated with
      increasing birthweight (beta=143.1gm, p=0.01), especially among preterm births
      (beta=829.1g, p<0.001). Perchlorate was associated with male preterm births
      >=2500g (odds ratio=3.03, 95% confidence interval=1.09-8.40, p-trend=0.03).
      Similar associations were not seen in females. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first
      study to identify associations between perchlorate and increasing birthweight.
      Further research is needed to explore the differences we identified related to
      infant sex, preterm birth, and other factors. Given that perchlorate exposure is
      ubiquitous, and that long-term impacts can follow altered birth outcomes, future
      research on perchlorate could have widespread public health importance.

PMID- 28601766
TI  - Trace level determination of 5-hydroxytryptamine and its related indoles in
      amniotic fluid by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
AB  - 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and its derivatives are endogenously active substances
      involved in multiple physiological and pathological processes. A novel method of
      detetermining 5-hydroxyindole ethanol (5-HTOL), 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5
      HIAA), 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and 5-HT in amniotic fluid by gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was established based on a modified
      method of derivatization by silanization, in combination with solid-phase
      extraction pretreatment. Good linearity was achieved in the tested calibration
      range. The limits of detection (LOD) were 0.05, 0.08, 0.56, 0.43MUg/L for 5-HTOL,
      5-HIAA, 5-HTP and 5-HT, respectively. Accuracy (92.4-103.3) and precision (RSD
      <5.4%) for all analytes was also determined. Then the method was used to analyze
      samples of amniotic fluid from 12 patients carrying foetuses with trisomy 21 and
      12 healthy controls. Compared with normal fetuses, the levels of 5-HTOL, 5-HTP
      and 5-HT in the amniotic fluid were significantly altered in the fetuses with
      trisomy 21 (P<0.01); the level of 5-HIAA showed no significant difference between
      the two groups (P>0.05). This is a rapid, sensitive and reliable method for the
      determination of 5-HTOL, 5-HIAA, 5-HTP and 5-HT, and the study provide both
      potential trisomy 21 markers and elucidation of the physiological and
      pathological roles of 5-HT.

PMID- 28601767
TI  - Pooled human liver preparations, HepaRG, or HepG2 cell lines for metabolism
      studies of new psychoactive substances? A study using MDMA, MDBD, butylone,
      MDPPP, MDPV, MDPB, 5-MAPB, and 5-API as examples.
AB  - Metabolism studies play an important role in clinical and forensic toxicology.
      Because of potential species differences in metabolism, human samples are best
      suitable for elucidating metabolism. However, in the case of new psychoactive
      substances (NPS), human samples of controlled studies are not available. Primary
      human hepatocytes have been described as gold standard for in vitro metabolism
      studies, but there are some disadvantages such as high costs, limited
      availability, and variability of metabolic enzymes. Therefore, the aim of our
      study was to investigate and compare the metabolism of six methylenedioxy
      derivatives (MDMA, MDBD, butylone, MDPPP, MDPV, MDPB) and two bioisosteric
      analogues (5-MAPB, 5-API) using pooled human liver microsomes (pHLM) combined
      with cytosol (pHLC) or pooled human liver S9 fraction (pS9) all after addition of
      co-substrates for six phase I and II reactions. In addition, HepaRG and HepG2
      cell lines were used. Results of the different in vitro tools were compared to
      each other, to corresponding published data, and to metabolites identified in
      human urine after consumption of MDMA, MDPV, or 5-MAPB. Incubations with pHLM
      plus pHLC showed similar results as pS9. A more cost efficient model for
      prediction of targets for toxicological screening procedures in human urine
      should be identified. As expected, the incubations with HepaRG provided better
      results than those with HepG2 concerning number and signal abundance of the
      metabolites. Due to easy handling without special equipment, incubations with
      pooled liver preparations should be the most suitable alternative to find targets
      for toxicological screening procedures for methylenedioxy derivatives and
      bioisosteric analogues.

PMID- 28601769
TI  - Simultaneous removal of organic matter and salt ions from coal gasification
      wastewater RO concentrate and microorganisms succession in a MBR.
AB  - A lab-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) with intermittent aeration was operated to
      treat the reverse osmosis concentrate derived from coal gasification wastewater.
      Results showed intermittent aeration represented slight effect on organic matter
      reduction but significant effect on nitrite and nitrate reduction, with 6h
      aeration and 6h non-aeration, removal efficiencies of organic matter, chloride,
      sulfate, nitrite and nitrate reached 48.35%, 40.91%, 34.28%, -36.05% and 64.34%,
      respectively. High-throughput sequencing showed a microorganisms succession from
      inoculated activated sludge (S1) to activated sludge in MBR (S2) with high
      salinity. Richness and diversity of microorganisms in S2 was lower than S1 and
      the community structure of S1 exhibited more even than S2. The most relative
      abundance of genus in S1 and S2 were unclassified_Desulfarculaceae (9.39%) and
      Roseibaca (62.1%), respectively. High salinity and intermittent aeration
      represented different influence on the denitrifying genus, and non-aeration phase
      provided feasible dissolved oxygen condition for denitrifying genera realizing
      denitrification.

PMID- 28601768
TI  - Heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification by Diaphorobacter
      polyhydroxybutyrativorans SL-205 using poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3
      hydroxyvalerate) as the sole carbon source.
AB  - A new strain of Diaphorobacter polyhydroxybutyrativorans (strain SL-205) was
      recently isolated and identified. SL-205 can utilize nitrate and nitrite for
      denitrification and ammonium for nitrification using poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3
      hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) as the carbon source under aerobic conditions. SL-205
      removed 99.11% of NH4+-derived N (83.90mg/L), 95.02% of NO3--N (308.24mg/L), and
      84.13% of NO2--N (211.70mg/L), with average removal rates of 1.73mg NH4+-N/(L.h),
      6.10mg NO3--N/(L.h), and 4.95mg NO2--N/(L.h). Nitrogen gas was the primary end
      product, with negligible nitrous oxide accumulation during ammonium removal,
      accounting for 57.85% of the removed NH4+-N and 52.30% of the initial NH4+-N.
      Moreover, hydroxylamine oxidoreductase, nitrate reductase, and nitrite reductase
      were detected, further indicating that strain SL-205 underwent heterotrophic
      nitrification coupled with aerobic denitrification (NH4+->NH2OH->NO2-->NO3-->NO2-
      >N2O->N2). These results support the use of PHBV as a carbon source for nitrogen
      removal from water and wastewater by strain SL-205.

PMID- 28601770
TI  - Bio-hythane production from microalgae biomass: Key challenges and potential
      opportunities for algal bio-refineries.
AB  - The interest in microalgae for wastewater treatment and liquid bio-fuels
      production (i.e. biodiesel and bioethanol) is steadily increasing due to the
      energy demand of the ultra-modern technological world. The associated biomass and
      by-product residues generated from these processes can be utilized as a feedstock
      in anaerobic fermentation for the production of gaseous bio-fuels. In this
      context, dark fermentation coupled with anaerobic digestion can be a potential
      technology for the production of hydrogen and methane from these residual algal
      biomasses. The mixture of these gaseous bio-fuels, known as hythane, has superior
      characteristics and is increasingly regarded as an alternative to fossil fuels.
      This review provides the current developments achieved in the conversion of algal
      biomass to bio-hythane (H2+CH4).

PMID- 28601771
TI  - Green and chemical-free process of enzymatic xylooligosaccharide production from
      corncob: Enhancement of the yields using a strategy of lignocellulosic
      destructuration by ultra-high pressure pretreatment.
AB  - In this study, the pressures at 50-500MPa were evaluated at different time to
      pretreat and further enzyme hydrolysis. The ultra-high pressure (UHP)
      pretreatment at 100MPa for 10min led to improved accessibility of enzyme for
      conversion of xylan to xylooligosaccharide (XOS). The maximum XOS yield of
      35.6mg/g substrate was achieved and firstly reported at 10% (w/v) of substrate,
      100U of endo-xylanase/g corncobs and incubation time of 18h. The enzymatic
      hydrolysis efficiency was increased by 180.3% and released a high amount of
      xylobiose. The UHP pretreatment relatively did not affect to the composition of
      corncob, but decreased 34.3% of lignin. Interestingly, antioxidant activities of
      XOS using UHP pretreatment were higher than untreated corncob. The UHP
      pretreatment improved lignocellulosic destructuration and XOS yields in a shorter
      time without the need of chemicals, implying that UHP could be an effective
      pretreatment of biomass with a chemical-free process.

PMID- 28601773
TI  - Nitrate removal, spatiotemporal communities of denitrifiers and the importance of
      their genetic potential for denitrification in novel denitrifying bioreactors.
AB  - Nitrate treatment performance and denitrification activity were compared between
      denitrifying biological filters (DNBFs) based on dewatered alum sludge (DAS) and
      neutralized used acid (NUA). The spatiotemporal distribution of denitrifying
      genes and the genetic potential associated with denitrification activity and
      nitrate removal in both DNBFs were also evaluated. The removal efficiency of NUA
      DNBF increased by 8% compared with that of DAS-DNBF, and the former NUA-DNBF
      emitted higher amount of N2O. Analysis of abundance and composition profiles
      showed that denitrifying gene patterns varied more or less in two matrices with
      different depths at three sampling times. Burkholderiales, Rhodocyclales, and
      Rhizobiales were the most commonly detected in both media during stable periods.
      Denitrification was determined by the abundance of specific genes or their ratios
      as revealed by controlling factors. The enhanced nitrate removal could be due to
      increasing qnosZ or decreasing ?qnir/qnosZ. Furthermore, NUA-DNBF solely reduced
      nitrate by increasing the denitrification enzyme activity.

PMID- 28601772
TI  - Mechanism and optimization for plasma electrolytic liquefaction of sawdust.
AB  - In this work, plasma electrolytic technology was successfully employed to achieve
      fast liquefaction of sawdust when polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG 200) and glycerol
      were used as liquefacient in the presence of the catalyst sulfuric acid. Results
      showed that H ions could heat the solution effectively during the plasma
      electrolytic liquefaction (PEL) process. The influence of some key parameters
      including liquefaction time, catalyst percentage, liquefacient/sawdust mass
      ratio, and PEG 200/glycerol molar ratio on the liquefaction yield were
      investigated. Based on the results of single factor experiments, response surface
      methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the liquefaction process. Under the
      optimal conditions that is liquefaction time of 5.10min, catalyst percentage of
      1.05%, liquefacient/sawdust mass ratio of 7.12/1 and PEG 200/glycerol molar ratio
      of 1.40/1, the liquefaction yield reached 99.48%. Hence, it could be concluded
      that PEL has good application potential for biomass fast liquefaction.

PMID- 28601774
TI  - Pyrolysis of oil palm mesocarp fiber and palm frond in a slow-heating fixed-bed
      reactor: A comparative study.
AB  - Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) and palm frond (PF) were respectively
      devolatilized by pyrolysis to OPMF-oil and PF-oil bio-oils and biochars, OPMF
      char and PF-char in a slow-heating fixed-bed reactor. In particular, the OPMF-oil
      and PF-oil were produced to a maximum yield of 48wt% and 47wt% bio-oils at 550
      degrees C and 600 degrees C, respectively. The high heating values (HHVs) of OPMF
      oil and PF-oil were respectively found to be 23MJ/kg and 21MJ/kg, whereas
      24.84MJ/kg and 24.15MJ/kg were for the corresponding biochar. The HHVs of the bio
      oils and biochars are associated with low O/C ratios to be higher than those of
      the corresponding biomass. The Fourier transform infrared spectra and peak area
      ratios highlighted the effect of pyrolysis temperatures on the bio-oil
      compositions. The bio-oils are pervaded with numerous oxygenated carbonyl and
      aromatic compounds as suitable feedstocks for renewable fuels and chemicals.

PMID- 28601775
TI  - Profiles and drivers of antibiotic resistance genes distribution in one-stage and
      two-stage sludge anaerobic digestion based on microwave-H2O2 pretreatment.
AB  - Three anaerobic digestion (AD) processes of waste activated sludge (WAS) were
      established including the control (mono-WAS), one-stage AD and two-stage AD along
      with microwave-H2O2 pre-treatment (MW-H2O2) to investigate the profiles and
      drivers of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) distribution concerning co
      selection from heavy metals, intI1 and microbial community through qPCR and high
      throughput sequencing method. Results showed that MW-H2O2 could reduce the
      absolute gene copies of all ARGs while increased the relative abundance of most
      ARGs. After subsequent AD, both total ARGs quantities and relative abundance were
      enriched while two-stage AD showed some advantages over ARGs abundance reduction.
      Besides, AD was more effective on the potential pathogens reduction than MW-H2O2.
      AD could reduce the role of intI1 on the spread of ARGs, while mantel test and
      procrustes analysis indicated that the variation of ARGs abundance was closely
      associated with the discrepancy of bacterial community.

PMID- 28601776
TI  - Demand-driven biogas production from sugar beet silage in a novel fixed bed disc
      reactor under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions.
AB  - A newly developed fixed bed disc reactor (FBDR) which combines biofilm formation
      on biofilm carriers and reactor agitation in one single system was assessed for
      its applicability to demand-driven biogas production by variable feeding of sugar
      beet silage. Five different feeding patterns were studied at an organic loading
      of 4gVSL-1d-1 under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. High methane yields
      of 449-462LNkgVS were reached. Feeding variable punctual loadings caused
      immediate response with 1.2- to 3.5-fold increase in biogas production rates
      within 15min. Although variable feeding did not induce process instability, a
      temporary decrease in pH-value and methane concentration below 40% occurred.
      Thermophilic temperature was advantageous as it resulted in a more rapid, higher
      methane production and less pronounced decrease in methane content after feeding.
      The FBDR was demonstrated to be well-suited for flexible biogas production, but
      further research and comparison with traditional reactor systems are required.

PMID- 28601777
TI  - Recovery of lactic acid from the pretreated fermentation broth based on a novel
      hyper-cross-linked meso-micropore resin: Modeling.
AB  - An innovative benign process for recovery lactic acid from its fermentation broth
      is proposed using a novel hyper-cross-linked meso-micropore resin and water as
      eluent. This work focuses on modeling the competitive adsorption behaviors of
      glucose, lactic acid and acetic acid ternary mixture and explosion of the
      adsorption mechanism. The characterization results showed the resin had a large
      BET surface area and specific pore structure with hydrophobic properties. By
      analysis of the physicochemical properties of the solutes and the resin, the
      mechanism of the separation is proposed as hydrophobic effect and size-exclusion.
      Subsequently three chromatographic models were applied to predict the competitive
      breakthrough curves of the ternary mixture under different operating conditions.
      The pore diffusion was the major limiting factor for the adsorption process,
      which was consistent with the BET results. The novel HD-06 resin can be a good
      potential adsorbent for the future SMB continuous separation process.

PMID- 28601778
TI  - Determination of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin content using visible and
      near infrared spectroscopy in Miscanthus sinensis.
AB  - Lignocellulosic components including hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin are the
      three major components of plant cell walls, and their proportions in biomass
      crops, such as Miscanthus sinensis, greatly impact feed stock conversion to
      liquid fuels or bio-products. In this study, the feasibility of using visible and
      near infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy to rapidly quantify hemicellulose, cellulose
      and lignin in M. sinensis was investigated. Initially, prediction models were
      established using partial least squares (PLS), least squares support vector
      machine regression (LSSVR), and radial basis function neural network (RBF_NN)
      based on whole wavelengths. Subsequently, 23, 25 and 27 characteristic
      wavelengths for hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin, respectively, were found to
      show significant contribution to calibration models. Three determination models
      were eventually built by PLS, LS-SVM and ANN based on the characteristic
      wavelengths. Calibration models for lignocellulosic components were successfully
      developed, and can now be applied to assessment of lignocellulose contents in M.
      sinensis.

PMID- 28601779
TI  - Determining oxygen relaxations at an interface: A comparative study between
      transmission electron microscopy techniques.
AB  - Nowadays, aberration corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a
      popular method to characterise nanomaterials at the atomic scale. Here,
      atomically resolved images of nanomaterials are acquired, where the contrast
      depends on the illumination, imaging and detector conditions of the microscope.
      Visualization of light elements is possible when using low angle annular dark
      field (LAADF) STEM, annular bright field (ABF) STEM, integrated differential
      phase contrast (iDPC) STEM, negative spherical aberration imaging (NCSI) and
      imaging STEM (ISTEM). In this work, images of a NdGaO3-La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (NGO
      LSMO) interface are quantitatively evaluated by using statistical parameter
      estimation theory. For imaging light elements, all techniques are providing
      reliable results, while the techniques based on interference contrast, NCSI and
      ISTEM, are less robust in terms of accuracy for extracting heavy column
      locations. In term of precision, sample drift and scan distortions mainly limits
      the STEM based techniques as compared to NCSI. Post processing techniques can,
      however, partially compensate for this. In order to provide an outlook to the
      future, simulated images of NGO, in which the unavoidable presence of Poisson
      noise is taken into account, are used to determine the ultimate precision. In
      this future counting noise limited scenario, NCSI and ISTEM imaging will provide
      more precise values as compared to the other techniques, which can be related to
      the mechanisms behind the image recording.

PMID- 28601780
TI  - SIRT1 inhibition causes oxidative stress and inflammation in patients with
      coronary artery disease.
AB  - Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the primary critical cardiovascular event.
      Endothelial cell and monocyte dysfunction with subsequent extravagant
      inflammation are the main causes of vessel damage in CAD. Thus, strategies that
      repress cell death and manage unsuitable pro-inflammatory responses in CAD are
      potential therapeutic strategies for improving the clinical prognosis of patients
      with CAD. SIRT1 (Sirtuin 1) plays an important role in regulating cellular
      physiological processes. SIRT1 is also thought to protect the cardiovascular
      system by means of its antioxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis
      activities. In the present study, we found that the SIRT1 expression levels were
      repressed and the acetylated p53 expression levels were enhanced in the monocytes
      of patients with CAD. LOX-1/oxidative stress was also up-regulated in the
      monocytes of patients with CAD, thereby increasing pro-apoptotic events and pro
      inflammatory responses. We also demonstrated that monocytes from CAD patients
      caused endothelial adhesion molecule activation and the adherence of monocytes
      and endothelial cells. Our findings may explain why CAD patients remain at an
      increased risk of long-term recurrent ischemic events and provide new knowledge
      regarding the management of clinical CAD patients.

PMID- 28601782
TI  - Neuropraxia following resection of a retroperitoneal liposarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This is a unique case of neuropraxia of femoral nerve seen after
      resection of retroperitoneal liposarcoma which has not been reported before in
      the literature. INTRODUCTION: Neuropraxia, a transient paralysis due to blockage
      of nerve conduction, commonly associated with athletes and orthopedic procedures,
      has not been previously reported as a complication following resection of
      retroperitoneal sarcoma. CASE: This is an 81-year-old female who, on CT for
      evaluation of her atherosclerosis, was found to have an incidental right-sided
      retroperitoneal mass extending from the right renal capsule inferiorly through
      the inguinal canal. At this point, the patient reported mild right sided
      abdominal pain and right lower back pain, but reported no neuromotor deficits of
      the right lower extremity. Given the symptoms of the patient as well as the size,
      location and the density of the lesion, surgical intervention was pursued. On
      exploration, the lipomatous lesion, suggestive of liposarcoma, was invading the
      right genitofemoral nerve and ilioinguinal nerve which were sacrificed to ensure
      a complete oncologic resection. Following complete removal of the mass, she
      developed right side femoral nerve neuropraxia, suffering complete loss of motor
      function in the femoral distribution. Pathology revealed the mass to be a low
      grade liposarcoma. DISCUSSION: The patient required only physical therapy and
      oral prednisone following surgery for treatment of the neuropraxia. She responded
      well and has regained significant neuromotor function of the affected limb. Cases
      presenting with post-resection neurological sequelae without any known
      intraoperative nerve injury may respond very well to conservative treatment.
      Hence, it is very important to collaborate with Neurology and Physical Therapy to
      achieve best possible outcome.

PMID- 28601781
TI  - Cysteine residues 244 and 458-459 within the catalytic subunit of Na,K-ATPase
      control the enzyme's hydrolytic and signaling function under hypoxic conditions.
AB  - Our previous findings suggested that reversible thiol modifications of cysteine
      residues within the actuator (AD) and nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of the Na,K
      ATPase may represent a powerful regulatory mechanism conveying redox- and oxygen
      sensitivity of this multifunctional enzyme. S-glutathionylation of Cys244 in the
      AD and Cys 454-458-459 in the NBD inhibited the enzyme and protected cysteines'
      thiol groups from irreversible oxidation under hypoxic conditions. In this study
      mutagenesis approach was used to assess the role these cysteines play in
      regulation of the Na,K-ATPase hydrolytic and signaling functions. Several
      constructs of mouse alpha1 subunit of the Na,K-ATPase were produced in which
      Cys244, Cys 454-458-459 or Cys 244-454-458-459 were replaced by alanine. These
      constructs were expressed in human HEK293 cells. Non-transfected cells and those
      expressing murine alpha1 subunit were exposed to hypoxia or treated with oxidized
      glutathione (GSSG). Both conditions induced inhibition of the wild type Na,K
      ATPase. Enzymes containing mutated mouse alpha1 lacking Cys244 or all four
      cysteines (Cys 244-454-458-459) were insensitive to hypoxia. Inhibitory effect of
      GSSG was observed for wild type murine Na,K-ATPase, but was less pronounced in
      Cys454-458-459Ala mutant and completely absent in the Cys244Ala and Cys 244-454
      458-459Ala mutants. In cells, expressing wild type enzyme, ouabain induced
      activation of Src and Erk kinases under normoxic conditions, whereas under
      hypoxic conditions this effect was inversed. Cys454-458-459Ala substitution
      abolished Src kinase activation in response to ouabain treatment, uncoupled Src
      from Erk signaling, and interfered with O2-sensitivity of Na,K-ATPase signaling
      function. Moreover, modeling predicted that S-glutathionylation of Cys 458 and
      459 should prevent inhibitory binding of Src to NBD. Our data indicate for the
      first time that cysteine residues within the AD and NBD influence hydrolytic as
      well as receptor function of the Na,K-ATPase and alter responses of the enzyme to
      hypoxia or upon treatment with cardiotonic steroids.

PMID- 28601783
TI  - Potential impact of the Affordable Care Act's preventive services provision on
      breast cancer stage: A preliminary assessment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Affordable Care Act's (ACA) preventive services provision (PSP)
      removes copayments for preventive services such as cancer screening. We examined:
      1) whether a shift in breast cancer stage occurred, and 2) the impact of the
      provision on racial/ethnic disparities in stage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from
      the National Cancer Database were used. The pre- and post-PSP periods were
      identified as 2007-2009 and 2011-2013, respectively. Proportion differences (PDs)
      and 95% confidence Intervals (CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: All three
      racial/ethnic groups experienced a statistically significant shift toward Stage I
      breast cancer. Pre-PSP, the black:white disparity in Stage I cancer was -9.5 (95%
      CI: -8.9, -10.4) and the Latina:white disparity was -5.2 (95% CI: -4.0, -6.1).
      Post-PSP, the disparities improved slightly. DISCUSSION: Preliminary data suggest
      that the ACA's PSP may have a meaningful impact on cancer stage overall and by
      race/ethnicity. However, more time may be needed to see reductions in
      disparities.

PMID- 28601784
TI  - Socioeconomic measures influence survival in osteosarcoma: an analysis of the
      National Cancer Data Base.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While previous studies have identified low socioeconomic status as a
      risk factor for metastatic disease in patients with high-grade osteosarcoma, the
      influence of socioeconomic status on overall survival remains unclear. The
      present study aims to investigate the relationship between survival and
      socioeconomic status in patients with high-grade conventional osteosarcoma.
      METHODS: The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried from 1998-2012 to
      identify all patients <40years of age with a diagnosis of high-grade conventional
      osteosarcoma. A total of 3,503 patients were identified that met inclusion and
      exclusion criteria. Univariate relationships were investigated using Kaplan-Meier
      survival analysis and associated log-rank tests in order to determine patient,
      socioeconomic, tumor, and treatment variables associated with overall survival.
      Multivariate analysis was performed to determine independent predictors of
      survival. RESULTS: In order of decreasing magnitude, metastatic disease (Hazard
      Ratio [HR] 3.28, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 2.82-3.82), primary site in the
      pelvis or spine (HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.79-2.59), positive surgical margins (HR 1.82,
      95% CI 1.46-2.27), tumor size >8cm (HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.24-1.74), age >=18 years
      (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.14-1.48), lowest quartile of composite socioeconomic status
      (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.02-1.51), and Medicaid insurance (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.02-1.38)
      were predictors of decreased survival at 5 years. CONCLUSION: Treating providers
      should be aware that some of their patients may have challenges unrelated to
      their diagnosis that make timely presentation, adherence to treatment, and
      continued close surveillance difficult. This investigation suggests that
      socioeconomic variables influence overall survival for osteosarcoma in the United
      States, although not as dramatically as established tumor- and treatment-related
      risk factors.

PMID- 28601785
TI  - Pollution and regional variations of lung cancer mortality in the United States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aims of this study were to identify counties in the United
      States (US) with high rates of lung cancer mortality, and to characterize the
      associated community-level factors while focusing on particulate-matter
      pollution. METHODS: We performed a descriptive analysis of lung cancer deaths in
      the US from 2004 through 2014. We categorized counties as "clustered" or "non
      clustered" - based on whether or not they had high lung cancer mortality rates -
      using novel geospatial autocorrelation methods. We contrasted community
      characteristics between cluster categories. We performed logistic regression for
      the association between cluster category and particulate-matter pollution.
      RESULTS: Among 362 counties (11.6%) categorized as clustered, the age-adjusted
      lung cancer mortality rate was 99.70 deaths per 100,000 persons (95%CI: 99.1
      100.3). Compared with non-clustered counties, clustered counties were more likely
      in the south (72.9% versus 42.1%, P<0.01) and in non-urban communities (73.2%
      versus 57.4, P<0.01). Clustered counties had greater particulate-matter
      pollution, lower education and income, higher rates of obesity and physical
      inactivity, less access to healthcare, and greater unemployment rates (P<0.01).
      Higher levels of particulate-matter pollution (4th quartile versus 1st quartile)
      were associated with two-fold greater odds of being a clustered county (adjusted
      OR: 2.10; 95%CI: 1.23-3.59). CONCLUSION: We observed a belt of counties with high
      lung mortality ranging from eastern Oklahoma through central Appalachia; these
      counties were characterized by higher pollution, a more rural population, lower
      socioeconomic status and poorer access to healthcare. To mitigate the burden of
      lung cancer mortality in the US, both urban and rural areas should consider
      minimizing air pollution.

PMID- 28601786
TI  - Clinical outcomes of female breast cancer according to BRCA mutation status.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate breast cancer prognosis (disease-free (DFS) and
      overall survival (OS)) among carriers of germline BRCA mutations (BRCAm) in
      Denmark. METHODS: We identified all women in Central and Northern Denmark
      diagnosed with breast cancer during 2004-2011. We retrieved information on
      germline BRCAm testing from Clinical Genetics departments and clinical/treatment
      characteristics from population-based medical registries. Follow-up for
      recurrence, new primary cancer, and mortality extended from 180days after
      diagnosis until 31/12/2012. We estimated median DFS and OS and five-year
      cumulative incidence and incidence rates (IR/1000 person-years), and 95%
      confidence intervals (95% CI), for each outcome. RESULTS: Among 9874 patients,
      523 (5%) underwent BRCA testing-90 were BRCAm carriers, 433 were BRCA wildtype
      (BRCAwt). Compared with BRCAwt women, BRCAm carriers were younger, had lower
      stage, and ER- and HER2- tumors. Median time from diagnosis to BRCA testing was
      0.91 years and 1.3 years in BRCAm and BRCAwt women; median follow-up to first
      event was 3.9 and 3.4 years, respectively. Five-year DFS and OS were higher in
      BRCAm than BRCAwt women: 88% (95%CI=78.3-93.5) vs. 75.3% (95%CI=70.2-79.6) and
      97.8% (95%CI=91.4-99.4) vs 92.2% (95%CI=88.5-94.7), respectively. Five-year IRs
      of recurrence were 36.7/1000 person-years (95%CI=15.8-72.2) in the BRCAm cohort
      vs. 58.4 (95%CI=42.9-77.6) in the BRCAwt cohort. CONCLUSIONS: BRCAm carriers may
      have a better prognosis than BRCAwt women. However, limited testing conducted
      mainly during follow-up, yielded low numbers for precise estimations, and may be
      attributable to selection bias.

PMID- 28601787
TI  - Getting out of (self-) harm's way: A study of factors associated with self-harm
      among asylum seekers in Australian immigration detention.
AB  - The monitoring of self-harm among asylum seekers in Australian immigration
      detention has not occurred routinely or transparently. Thus whilst concerns
      regarding rates of self-harm among asylum seekers have been frequently raised, a
      paucity of systematic information regarding key factors associated with self-harm
      among asylum seekers exists. The present study was designed therefore to fill a
      number of gaps in government monitoring by examining the government's own
      archived self-harm data. Via a descriptive analysis of self-harm incident reports
      from all operational Australian immigration detention facilities over a 20-month
      period to May 2011, obtained under Freedom of Information, the present study
      identified that 959 incidents of self-harm occurred during this period. A gender
      bias towards men was also found. In addition to this, 10 different methods of
      self-harm were identified, the four most common being: cutting (47%), attempted
      hanging (19%), head hitting (12%) and self-poisoning by medication (6%). Seven
      different precipitating factors for self-harm were also identified, the four most
      common were: detention conditions (39%), processing arrangements (27%), negative
      decisions (24%) and family separation (3%). These findings point strongly to the
      health benefits of considering alternatives to held immigration detention, such
      as community based processing.

PMID- 28601788
TI  - Carbon nanostructures as immobilization platform for DNA: A review on current
      progress in electrochemical DNA sensors.
AB  - Development of a sensitive, specific and cost-effective DNA detection method is
      motivated by increasing demand for the early stage diagnosis of genetic diseases.
      Recent developments in the design and fabrication of efficient sensor platforms
      based on nanostructures make the highly sensitive sensors which could indicate
      very low detection limit to the level of few molecules, a realistic possibility.
      Electrochemical detection methods are widely used in DNA diagnostics as it
      provide simple, accurate and inexpensive platform for DNA detection. In addition,
      the electrochemical DNA sensors provide direct electronic signal without the use
      of expensive signal transduction equipment and facilitates the immobilization of
      single stranded DNA (ssDNA) probe sequences on a wide variety of electrode
      substrates. It has been found that a range of nanomaterials such as metal
      nanoparticles (MNPs), carbon based nanomaterials, quantum dots (QDs), magnetic
      nanoparticles and polymeric NPs have been introduced in the sensor design to
      enhance the sensing performance of electrochemical DNA sensor. In this review, we
      discuss recent progress in the design and fabrication of efficient
      electrochemical genosensors based on carbon nanostructures such as carbon
      nanotubes, graphene, graphene oxide and nanodiamonds.

PMID- 28601789
TI  - Hydroxyapatite/chemically reduced graphene oxide composite: Environment-friendly
      synthesis and high-performance electrochemical sensing for hydrazine.
AB  - It is unexpectedly found that, the in-situ growth of hydroxyapatite (HAP) on
      graphene oxide (GO) under a moderate temperature (85 degrees C) can effectively
      trigger the reduction of GO, which needs neither extra reducing agents nor high
      temperature thermal treatment. The transmission electron microscope (TEM)
      experiment demonstrates that the rod-like HAP particles are well attached on the
      surface of reduced GO (rGO) to form the composite. Electrochemical sensing assays
      show that the synthesized HAP-rGO nanocomposite presents excellent
      electrocatalytic capacity for the oxidation of a toxic chemical of hydrazine.
      When the HAP-rGO modified electrode was utilized as an electrochemical sensor for
      hydrazine detection, outstanding performances in the indexes of low fabrication
      cost, short response time (~2s), wide linear range, low detection limit
      (0.43MUM), and good selectivity were achieved. The developed sensor also shows
      satisfactory results for the detection of hydrazine in real industrial wastewater
      sample were achieved.

PMID- 28601790
TI  - The feasibility study of autotrophic denitrification with iron sludge produced
      for sulfide control.
AB  - Ferric iron is widely dosed in wastewater treatment plants dealing with sulfide
      for septicity control, which generates a great amount of iron-rich chemical
      sludge that is challenging and costly to dispose. This study investigates the
      feasibility of using this iron sludge as the electron donor for autotrophic
      denitrification, not only realizing high nitrogen removal efficiency without
      additional carbon source requirement, but also partially mitigating iron-rich
      chemical sludge disposal and reduce sludge production by enriching low-yield
      autotrophic denitrifiers in the system. Both batch tests and performance
      monitoring of a lab-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor with a more
      than 300 days of operation were conducted. All the results confirmed the
      feasibility of using iron sludge as electron donor for autotrophic
      denitrification. The nitrate reduction rate with iron sludge was highly
      influenced by the type of ferrous electron donor and the electron donor/acceptor
      ratio. Ferrous hydroxide had significantly higher nitrate reduction rate than
      ferrous sulfide at the same electron donor/acceptor ratio. The nitrate reduction
      rate also accelerated with the increase of the electron donor/acceptor ratio.
      However, if the total surface area of the iron sludge is considered for
      comparison, it was shown that ferrous hydroxide and ferrous sulfide provided
      similar nitrate reduction rates of around 0.02 mmol N/m2/d in this study,
      indicating total surface area would be the key parameter for denitrification
      efficiency for the solid phase electron donor.

PMID- 28601791
TI  - Effect of operational and water quality parameters on conventional ozonation and
      the advanced oxidation process O3/H2O2: Kinetics of micropollutant abatement,
      transformation product and bromate formation in a surface water.
AB  - The efficiency of ozone-based processes under various conditions was studied for
      the treatment of a surface water (Lake Zurich water, Switzerland) spiked with 19
      micropollutants (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, industrial chemical, X-ray contrast
      medium, sweetener) each at 1 MUg L-1. Two pilot-scale ozonation reactors (4-5 m3
      h-1), a 4-chamber reactor and a tubular reactor, were investigated by either
      conventional ozonation and/or the advanced oxidation process (AOP) O3/H2O2. The
      effects of selected operational parameters, such as ozone dose (0.5-3 mg L-1) and
      H2O2 dose (O3:H2O2 = 1:3-3:1 (mass ratio)), and selected water quality
      parameters, such as pH (6.5-8.5) and initial bromide concentration (15-200 MUg L
      1), on micropollutant abatement and bromate formation were investigated. Under
      the studied conditions, compounds with high second-order rate constants kO3>104 M
      1 s-1 for their reaction with ozone were well abated (>90%) even for the lowest
      ozone dose of 0.5 mg L-1. Conversely, the abatement efficiency of sucralose,
      which only reacts with hydroxyl radicals (OH), varied between 19 and 90%.
      Generally, the abatement efficiency increased with higher ozone doses and higher
      pH and lower bromide concentrations. H2O2 addition accelerated the ozone
      conversion to OH, which enables a faster abatement of ozone-resistant
      micropollutants. Interestingly, the abatement of micropollutants decreased with
      higher bromide concentrations during conventional ozonation due to competitive
      ozone-consuming reactions, except for lamotrigine, due to the suspected reaction
      of HOBr/OBr- with the primary amine moieties. In addition to the abatement of
      micropollutants, the evolution of the two main transformation products (TPs) of
      hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) and tramadol (TRA), chlorothiazide (CTZ) and tramadol
      N-oxide (TRA-NOX), respectively, was assessed by chemical analysis and kinetic
      modeling. Both selected TPs were quickly formed initially to reach a maximum
      concentration followed by a decrease of their concentrations for longer contact
      times. For the studied conditions, the TP's concentrations at the outlet of the
      reactors ranged from 0 to 61% of the initial parent compound concentration, CTZ
      being a more persistent TP against further oxidation than TRA-NOX. Finally, it
      was demonstrated in both reactors that the formation of bromate (BrO3-), a
      potentially carcinogenic oxidation by-product, could be controlled by H2O2
      addition with a general improvement on micropollutant abatement. Post-treatment
      by granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration enabled the reduction of
      micropollutants and TPs concentrations but no changes in bromate were observed.
      The combined algae assay showed that water quality was significantly improved
      after oxidation and GAC post-treatment, driven by the abatement of the spiked
      pesticides (diuron and atrazine).

PMID- 28601792
TI  - Talking about homosexuality: lessons learned from 1949.

PMID- 28601793
TI  - Anal cancer in women: are we appropriately identifying the risks?

PMID- 28601794
TI  - Obstacles, Opportunities and Priorities for Advancing Metastatic Breast Cancer
      Research.
AB  - In January 2016, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance (the Alliance) convened a
      think tank of stakeholders from academia, government, industry, and patient
      advocacy to discuss gaps and opportunities in clinical and translational research
      in metastatic breast cancer. Priorities that emerged from the meeting included
      the following: the need for innovative preclinical model systems to study
      metastatic disease; increased sharing of resources and data; collaboration across
      cancer care teams and scientists; biorepositories for studies to identify
      biomarkers for treatment response; creation of patient registries to increase
      access to clinical trials and tissue procurement; and redesign of clinical trials
      in metastatic breast cancer. Cancer Res; 77(13); 3386-90. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28601795
TI  - The role of nurses' clinical impression in the first assessment of children at
      the emergency department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic value and determinants of nurses' clinical
      impression for the recognition of children with a serious illness on presentation
      to the emergency department (ED). DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a prospective
      cohort. SETTING AND PATIENTS: 6390 consecutive children <16 years of age
      presenting to a paediatric ED with a non-surgical chief complaint and complete
      data available. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diagnostic accuracy of nurses' clinical
      impression for the prediction of serious illness, defined by intensive care unit
      (ICU) and hospital admission. Determinants of nurses' impression that a child
      appeared ill. RESULTS: Nurses considered a total of 1279 (20.0%) children
      appearing ill. Sensitivity of nurses' clinical impression for the recognition of
      patients requiring ICU admission was 0.70 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.76) and specificity
      was 0.81 (95% CI 0.80 to 0.82). Sensitivity for hospital admission was 0.48 (95%
      CI 0.45 to 0.51) and specificity was 0.88 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.88). When adjusted
      for age, gender, triage urgency and abnormal vital signs, nurses' impression
      remained significantly associated with ICU (OR 4.54; 95% CI 3.09 to 6.66) and
      hospital admission (OR 4.00; 95% CI 3.40 to 4.69). Ill appearance was positively
      associated with triage urgency, fever and abnormal vital signs and negatively
      with self-referral and presentation outside of office hours. CONCLUSION: The
      overall clinical impression of experienced nurses at the ED is on its own, not an
      accurate predictor of serious illness in children, but provides additional
      information above some well-established and objective predictors of illness
      severity.

PMID- 28601797
TI  - Ptosis as a complication of Kawasaki disease.
AB  - Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile exanthematous disease that affects children
      younger than 5 years of age. It is regarded as the most common cause of childhood
      acquired heart disease, but ocular and neurological problems are among the other
      important clinical findings. We present a 3-year-old boy who developed bilateral
      ptosis on day 21, 5 days after intravenous immunoglobulin. The ptosis was due to
      bilateral paralysis of the levator palpebrae superioris muscles and resolved
      spontaneously on day 25. There were no cardiac sequelae.

PMID- 28601796
TI  - A rare case of Ludwig's angina after viper bite.

PMID- 28601798
TI  - Extensive cutaneous involvement due to herpes simplex virus infection.

PMID- 28601799
TI  - The effectiveness of oral dextrose gel for the treatment of neonatal
      hypoglycaemia remains unclear.

PMID- 28601800
TI  - Simple variations to traditional models of care can dramatically improve
      emergency department performance.

PMID- 28601801
TI  - Is it time for a review of the way that NICE guidelines are developed, presented
      and used to inform policy and practice?
AB  - Catherine Lowenhoff emphasises the need to share the uncertainties inherent in
      the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines with policy
      makers, commissioners, regulators, managers and clinicians to facilitate the
      paradigm shift from evidence-based practice to evidence-informed practice. 

PMID- 28601802
TI  - Intravenous paracetamol or intravenous propacetamol can provide effective
      postoperative analgesia for some patients.

PMID- 28601803
TI  - Community-based exercise interventions during pregnancy are perceived as a
      satisfactory and motivating form of exercise engagement.

PMID- 28601804
TI  - Pain-related palliative care challenges in people with advanced dementia call for
      education and practice development in all care settings.

PMID- 28601805
TI  - Measures of depression and anxiety in women with hyperemesis gravidarum are
      flawed.

PMID- 28601806
TI  - The effectiveness of protected mealtimes in hospital remains unclear.

PMID- 28601807
TI  - Antidepressant use associated with increased risk of hip fracture in the older
      population.

PMID- 28601809
TI  - The perspectives of patients and their families remain largely unheard in
      mealtime assistance research.

PMID- 28601808
TI  - High-dose monthly vitamin D3 can help to prevent acute respiratory infections in
      older long-term care residents, but may increase risk of falls.

PMID- 28601810
TI  - Pattern of ocular involvement in myasthenia gravis with MuSK antibodies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG) with antibodies to the muscle-specific kinase
      (MuSK) has a characteristic phenotype. Ocular manifestations have not been
      systematically evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the features of extrinsic
      ocular muscle involvement in patients with MuSK-MG. METHODS: We retrospectively
      evaluated the prevalence, time of onset, clinical pattern and outcome of ocular
      symptoms in 82 patients with a clinical follow-up >=2 years. RESULTS: Ocular
      manifestations were observed in 79 patients (96.4%) and were the presenting
      symptoms in 48 (58.5%). Intermittent diplopia with subtle ophthalmoparesis was
      the most common complaint, ptosis was generally symmetrical and conjugated gaze
      paresis occurred in 35% of the patients. Ocular manifestations responded well to
      prednisone and partially to symptomatic treatment. A few patients developed
      chronic symmetrical ophthalmoparesis, associated with persistent weakness in
      other muscle groups. All patients with ocular presentation progressed to
      generalised disease, though weakness spread to other muscle groups was
      considerably delayed in a few cases. CONCLUSIONS: In MG with antibodies to MuSK,
      ocular manifestations were as frequent as in other disease subtypes. Symmetrical
      ophthalmoparesis with conjugated gaze limitation was rather common and associated
      with low functional disability. A proportion of these patients developed chronic
      eye muscle paresis.

PMID- 28601811
TI  - Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein in the ectoparasitic crustacean salmon
      louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis).
AB  - The salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, is an endemic ectoparasite on salmonid
      fish that is challenging for the salmon farming industry and wild fish. Salmon
      lice produce high numbers of offspring, necessitating sequestration of large
      amounts of lipids into growing oocytes as a major energy source for larvae, most
      probably mediated by lipoproteins. The microsomal triglyceride transfer protein
      (MTP) is essential for the assembly of lipoproteins. Salmon lice have three L.
      salmonis MTP (LsMTP) transcript variants encoding two different protein isoforms,
      which are predicted to contain three beta-sheets (N, C, and A) and a central
      helical domain, similar to MTPs from other species. In adult females, the LsMTPs
      are differently transcribed in the sub-cuticular tissues, the intestine, the
      ovary, and in the mature eggs. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of LsMTP in
      mature females gave offspring with significantly fewer neutral lipids in their
      yolk and only 10-30% survival. The present study suggests the importance of LsMTP
      in reproduction and lipid metabolism in adult female L. salmonis, a possible
      metabolic bottleneck that could be exploited for the development of new anti
      parasitic treatment methods.

PMID- 28601812
TI  - Cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes morbidity and all-cause mortality among
      diverse chronic inflammatory disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to assess the relationship between
      inflammatory disorders with cardiometabolic diseases and mortality within a
      community-based population. METHODS: The UK Biobank data were used to conduct two
      investigations: a cross-sectional study to estimate cardiometabolic risk and a
      prospective cohort study to estimate mortality risk. Binary regression analyses
      were used to model the association between coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2
      diabetes, venous thromboembolism and peripheral artery disease diagnoses with
      seven inflammatory disorders (eg, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE), psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), systemic vasculitis,
      Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC)). Cox proportional hazards was used
      to estimate all-cause and cardiovascular-related mortality. RESULTS: About 4%
      (n=19, 082) of the study population (n=5 02 641) were diagnosed with a chronic
      inflammatory disorder. The most common inflammatory disorder was psoriasis
      (n=6286), and the least common was SLE (n=654). SLE showed the strongest
      association with multiple (relative risk (RR) 6.36, 95% CI 4.37 to 9.25) risk of
      cardiometabolic diseases, followed by the RA (RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.59 to 1.83), UC
      (RR 1.69, 95% CI 1.51 to 1.89), AS (RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.52), vasculitis (RR
      1.64, 95% CI 1.42-1.90) and psoriasis (RR 1.25, 95% 1.16 to 1.35) disorders. The
      magnitude of the association was higher among participants prescribed non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids drugs, with multiple
      cardiometabolic risk being greater within SLE (RR 12.35, 95% CI 7.18 to 21.24),
      followed by UC (RR 3.81, 95% CI 2.69 to 5.38), Crohn's disease (RR 3.07, 95% CI
      1.85 to 5.11), RA (RR 3.06, 95% CI 2.44 to 3.85), psoriasis (RR 2.36, 95% CI 1.88
      to 2.95), AS (RR 2.25, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.41) and vasculitis (RR 1.89, 95% CI 1.28
      to 2.79). Similar pattern was observed with respect to the cumulative
      cardiometabolic risk. CONCLUSION: Inflammatory disorders are associated with
      heightened risk of cardiometabolic events, which may vary by anti-inflammatory
      therapy and duration. All-cause mortality was also higher among specific
      inflammatory disorders compared with the absence of inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 28601813
TI  - Dyspnoea on exertion in a 53-year-old woman.
AB  - CLINICAL INTRODUCTION: A 53-year-old woman with no previous medical history
      complained of easy fatigue over the last 6 months. She had a positive family
      history for coronary artery disease but no other risk factors. On physical
      examination, a 3/6 pansystolic murmur was heard over the apex, and the lung
      auscultation was unremarkable. Her ECG showed a left anterior fascicular block,
      with poor R wave progression in the anterior leads (see online supplementary
      image A). A subsequent echocardiogram revealed a slightly dilated for the
      patient's body surface area (BSA) (1.73 m2) left ventricle (55/35 mm), with
      preserved systolic function and a moderate functional mitral regurgitation. The
      estimated pulmonary artery pressure was 45 mm Hg. During treadmill radionuclide
      scintigraphy, her exercise tolerance was normal, with good inotropic response,
      and 96% oxygen saturation at rest and at peak exercise. A 2 mm ST segment
      depression was noted at peak effort, which persisted well into recovery (see
      online supplementary image B). The scintigraphy scan showed extensive reversible
      anteroapical wall ischaemia (see online supplementary image C). At this point she
      was referred to us for right and left heart catheterisation. Intracardiac
      pressures and saturations were: right atrium (RA)RA=3 mm Hg, right ventricle
      (RV)=26/3 mm Hg, Pulmonary artery (PA)=26/10/mean 16 mm Hg, pulmonary capillary
      wedge pressure (PCWP)=11 mm Hg, left ventricle (LV)=110/10 mm Hg, Aorta
      (Ao)=110/60/mean 80 mm Hg, Superior vena cava saturation (SVCsat)=62%, RAsat=62%,
      PAsat=78%, Aosat=96% and estimated pulmonary to systematic flow ratio
      (Qp/Qs)=1.8. Her coronary angiography and CT angiography are shown in figure
      1A,B.DC1SP110.1136/heartjnl-2017-311256.supp1Supplementary material 1
      DC2SP210.1136/heartjnl-2017-311256.supp2Supplementary material 2
      DC3SP310.1136/heartjnl-2017-311256.supp3Supplementary material 3
      heartjnl;103/17/1390/F1F1F1Figure 1Coronary and CT angiograms. QUESTION: What is
      the most likely diagnosis?Right coronary fistula to right ventricleKawasaki
      disease with fistulaAnomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the
      pulmonary arteryPersistent truncus arteriosus.

PMID- 28601814
TI  - Hearing loss associated with repeated MRI acquisition procedure-related acoustic
      noise exposure: an occupational cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of repeated exposure to MRI-related acoustic
      noise during image acquisition procedures (scans) on hearing. METHODS: A
      retrospective occupational cohort study was performed among workers of an MRI
      manufacturing facility (n=474). Longitudinal audiometry data from the facility's
      medical surveillance scheme collected from 1973 to 2010 were analysed by studying
      the association of cumulative exposure to MRI-related acoustic noise from
      voluntary (multiple) MRI scans and the hearing threshold of the volunteer.
      RESULTS: Repeated acoustic noise exposure during volunteer MRI scans was found to
      be associated with a small exposure-dependent increased rate change of hearing
      threshold level (dB/year), but the association was only found related to the
      number of voluntary MRI scans and not to modelled cumulative noise exposure
      (dB*hour) based on MRI-system type. The increased rate change of hearing
      threshold level was found to be statistically significant for the frequencies
      500, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz in the right ear. CONCLUSIONS: From our
      longitudinal cohort study, it appeared that exposure to noise from voluntarily
      MRI scans may have resulted in a slight amount of hearing loss. Mandatory use of
      hearing protection might have prevented more severe hearing loss. Lack of
      consistency in findings between the left and right ears and between the two
      exposure measures prohibits definitive conclusions. Further research that
      addresses the study's methodological limitations is warranted to corroborate our
      findings.

PMID- 28601815
TI  - Practice makes perfect: establishing reasonable minimum thrombectomy volume
      requirements for stroke centers.

PMID- 28601816
TI  - Associations between self-rated health and health behaviour among older adults in
      Estonia: a cross-sectional analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The population of Estonia has one of the lowest life expectancies and
      health statuses in Europe. This is reflected in a lower perception of health
      among older adults. This study focuses on the role of health behaviour (smoking,
      alcohol consumption, physical activity and nutrition) in self-rated health,
      accounting for sociodemographic characteristics, activity limitations and long
      term illnesses as well as satisfaction with life of older Estonian men and women.
      DESIGN: We use representative cross-sectional data from Wave 4 of the Estonian
      Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, conducted mainly in 2011.
      PARTICIPANTS: Frequencies, chi2 tests and logistic regression models include
      respondents aged 50 years and older, with no upper age limit (n=6660). RESULTS:
      Men have 20% higher odds (CI 1.02 to 1.43) of poor self-rated health. Being of
      foreign origin (OR 1.48; CI 1.24 to 1.77), having a basic (2.50; CI 2.06 to 3.00)
      or secondary (1.71; CI 1.43 to 2.04) education, being retired (2.00; CI 1.65 to
      2.44) or staying at home (1.49; CI 1.16 to 1.93) and having activity limitations
      (3.25; CI 2.77 to 3.80) or long-term illnesses (4.78; CI 4.08 to 5.60) are
      related to poor self-rated health. Never being involved in vigorous (2.30; CI
      1.90 to 2.79) or moderate physical activity (1.41; CI 1.02 to 1.94), and
      consuming legumes and eggs less frequently (1.25; CI 1.08 to 1.45) is associated
      with poorer self-rated health. Lower satisfaction with life accounts for some of
      the variation (2.28; CI 1.92 to 2.71). CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong cumulative
      effect of one's previous life course on the self-rated health of older adults in
      Estonia, suggesting that public health policies have long-term consequences
      rather than immediate consequences. Health services supporting health behaviours
      and targeting vulnerable population groups with specific sociodemographic
      characteristics and health problems may influence self-rated health for some.
      Public health services emphasising social activities or psychological aspects may
      be most successful in improving self-rated health of older Estonians through
      satisfaction with life.

PMID- 28601817
TI  - The organisational value of diagnostic strategies using high-sensitivity troponin
      for patients with possible acute coronary syndromes: a trial-based cost
      effectiveness analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate hospital-specific health economic implications of
      different protocols using high-sensitivity troponin I for the assessment of
      patients with chest pain. DESIGN: A cost prediction model and an economic
      microsimulation were developed using a cohort from a single centre recruited as
      part of the (ADAPT) trial, a prospective observational trial conducted from 2008
      to 2011. The model was populated with 40 000 bootstrapped samples in five high
      sensitivity troponin I-enabled algorithms versus standard care. SETTING: Adult
      emergency department (ED) of a tertiary referral hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Data
      were available for 938 patients who presented to the ED with at least 5 min of
      symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome. The analyses included 719
      patients with complete data. MAIN OUTCOMES/MEASURES: This study examined direct
      hospital costs, number of false-negative and false-positive cases in the
      assessment of acute coronary syndrome. RESULTS: High-sensitivity troponin I
      supported algorithms increased diagnostic accuracy from 90.0% to 94.0% with an
      average cost reduction per patient compared with standard care of $490. The
      inclusion of additional criteria for accelerated rule-out (limit of detection and
      the modified 2-hour ADAPT trial rules) avoided 7.5% of short-stay unit admissions
      or 25% of admissions to a cardiac ward. Protocols using high-sensitivity troponin
      I alone or high-sensitivity troponin I within accelerated diagnostic algorithms
      reduced length of stay by 6.2 and 13.6 hours, respectively. Overnight stays
      decreased up to 43%. Results were seen for patients with non-acute coronary
      syndrome; no difference was found for patients with acute coronary syndrome.
      CONCLUSIONS: High-sensitivity troponin I algorithms are likely to be cost
      effective on a hospital level compared with sensitive troponin protocols. The
      positive effect is conferred by patients not diagnosed with acute coronary
      syndrome. Implementation could improve referral accuracy or facilitate safe
      discharge. It would decrease costs and provide significant hospital benefits.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: The original ADAPT trial was registered with the Australia
      New Zealand Clinical trials Registry, ACTRN12611001069943.

PMID- 28601818
TI  - Protocol for a qualitative synthesis of barriers and facilitators in implementing
      guidelines for diagnosis of tuberculosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite the introduction of new tests and guidelines for diagnosis
      of tuberculosis (TB), worldwide case detection rate of TB is still suboptimal.
      This could be in part explained by the poor implementation of TB diagnostic
      guidelines. We aim to identify, appraise and synthesise qualitative evidence
      exploring the barriers and facilitators to implementing TB diagnostic guidelines.
      METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A systematic review of qualitative studies will be
      conducted. Relevant electronic databases will be searched and studies included
      based on predefined inclusion criteria. We will also search reference lists, grey
      literature, conduct forward citation searches and contact relevant content
      experts. An adaptation of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool will be
      used to assess the methodological quality of included studies. Two authors will
      review the search output, extract data and assess methodological quality
      independently, resolving any disagreements by consensus. We will use the thematic
      framework analysis approach based on the Supporting the Use of Research Evidence
      thematic framework to analyse and synthesise our data. We will apply the
      Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research approach to
      transparently assess our confidence in the findings of the systematic review.
      ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol has been registered with the
      International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), registration
      number CRD42016039790 TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO 2016: CRD42016039790.
      Available from http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/.

PMID- 28601819
TI  - Prevalence characteristics of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in
      the Taizhou area, China: a cross-sectional study of 37 967 women from the general
      population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: High-risk human papillomaviruses (hrHPVs) are highly prevalent
      worldwide, and HPV genotypes differ between geographical regions; however,
      sexually transmitted HPV may lead to cervical carcinogenesis. The objective of
      this cross-sectional study was to estimate the prevalence characteristics of
      cervical HPV genotypes in Taizhou, Southeast China. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A
      population-based sample of 37 967 eligible women (median age: 41.6; range: 15-90
      years) visiting the Taizhou ENZE Medical Center in Taizhou (2012-2016) was
      analysed. HPV genotyping was performed on the collected specimens using a
      GP5+/bioGP6+-PCR/MPG assay by Luminex 200, which simultaneously identifies 27
      different HPV genotypes and the beta-globin gene (internal control). RESULTS: The
      overall HPV infection rate was 22.8% in the Taizhou-based population, and the
      prevalence of high-risk HPV, low-risk HPV and mixed high-risk and low-risk HPV
      infection was 14.2%, 5.7% and 3.0%, respectively. The most prevalent genotypes
      were HPV52 (19.7%), 16 (11.9%), 58 (11.5%), 39 (7.2%), 18 (6.6%) and 56 (5.6%).
      The rate of multiple-type HPV infection was 5.7% in the whole population, and the
      HPV52+58, HPV16+52 and HPV16+18 mixed genotypes were most common in women with
      multiple infections. The age-specific HPV prevalence showed a bimodal curve, with
      a first peak below the age of 21 years (41.6%), followed by a second peak in the
      age group of 56-60 years (28.5%). Moreover, the HPV infection rate differed
      significantly between the outpatient and physical examination groups (24.0% vs
      19.5%, p<0.0001). Further data comparisons showed that the distribution of HPV
      genotypes varied markedly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Data from this
      study could be valuable for HPV-based cervical cancer screening efforts in
      certain areas, support the local vaccination programme in the Taizhou region and
      facilitate future diagnosis and treatment of HPV diseases.

PMID- 28601820
TI  - Axillary versus innominate artery cannulation for antegrade cerebral perfusion in
      aortic surgery: design of the Aortic Surgery Cerebral Protection Evaluation (ACE)
      CardioLink-3 randomised trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neurological injury remains the major cause of morbidity and
      mortality following open aortic arch repair. Systemic hypothermia along with
      antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) is the accepted cerebral protection approach,
      with axillary artery cannulation being the most common technique used to
      establish ACP. More recently, innominate artery cannulation has been shown to be
      a safe and efficacious method for establishing ACP. Inasmuch as there is a lack
      of high-quality data comparing axillary and innominate artery ACP, we have
      designed a randomised, multi-centre clinical trial to compare both cerebral
      perfusion strategies with regards to brain morphological injury using diffusion
      weighted MRI (DW-MRI). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 110 patients undergoing elective
      aortic surgery with repair of the proximal arch requiring an open distal
      anastamosis will be randomised to either the innominate artery or the axillary
      artery cannulation strategy for establishing unilateral ACP during systemic
      circulatory arrest with moderate levels of hypothermia. The primary safety
      endpoint of this trial is the proportion of patients with new radiologically
      significant ischaemic lesions found on postoperative DW-MRI compared with
      preoperative DW-MRI. The primary efficacy endpoint of this trial is the
      difference in total operative time between the innominate artery and the axillary
      artery cannulation group. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study protocol and
      consent forms have been approved by the participating local research ethics
      boards. Publication of the study results is anticipated in 2018 or 2019. If this
      study shows that the innominate artery cannulation technique is non-inferior to
      the axillary artery cannulation technique with regards to brain morphological
      injury, it will establish the innominate artery cannulation technique as a safe
      and potentially more efficient method of antegrade cerebral perfusion in aortic
      surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02554032.

PMID- 28601821
TI  - Study protocol: COmparison of the effect of treatment with Nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs added to anti-tumour necrosis factor a therapy versus anti
      tumour necrosis factor a therapy alone on progression of StrUctural damage in the
      spine over two years in patients with ankyLosing spondylitis (CONSUL) - an open
      label randomized controlled multicenter trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is some evidence that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
      (NSAIDs), in particular celecoxib, might possess not only a symptomatic efficacy
      but also disease-modifying properties in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), retarding
      the progression of structural damage in the spine if taken continuously. In
      contrast, this remains controversial for tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)
      inhibitors, despite their good clinical efficacy. The impact of a combined
      therapy (a TNF inhibitor plus an NSAID) on radiographic spinal progression in AS
      is unclear. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact
      of treatment with an NSAID (celecoxib) when added to a TNF inhibitor (golimumab)
      compared with TNF inhibitor (golimumab) alone on progression of structural damage
      in the spine over 2 years in patients with AS. The study consists of a 6-week
      screening period, a 12-week period (phase I: run-in phase) of treatment with
      golimumab for all subjects followed by a 96-week controlled treatment period
      (phase II: core phase) with golimumab plus celecoxib versus golimumab alone, and
      a safety follow-up period of 4 weeks. At week 108, the primary study endpoint
      radiographic spinal progression (as assessed by the change in the modified Stoke
      Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score after 2 years) will be evaluated. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: The study will be performed according to the principles of good
      clinical practice and the German drug law. The written approval of the
      independent ethics committee and of the German federal authority have been
      obtained. On study completion, results are expected to be published in a peer
      reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov register
      (NCT02758782) and European Union Clinical Trials Register (EudraCT No 2016-000615
      33).

PMID- 28601822
TI  - Effectiveness of a 'Workshop on Decluttering and Organising' programme for teens
      and middle-aged adults with difficulty decluttering: a study protocol of an open
      label, randomised, parallel-group, superiority trial in Japan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hoarding disorder can cause problems with work performance,
      personal hygiene, health and well-being. The disorder is a growing social problem
      in Japan. Having difficulty discarding rubbish, decluttering and organising can
      signal a future hoarding disorder, and early intervention is important. We
      developed an educational workshop on decluttering and organising for teens and
      adults with difficulty organising. The objective of this study is to evaluate the
      effectiveness of a workshop for reducing clutter and improving quality of life
      among younger people with difficulty decluttering and organising. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: An open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial will be
      conducted among volunteers aged 12-55 years with mild difficulty decluttering and
      organising. Those in the intervention group will attend the workshop and receive
      a visit from a professional cleaning company to declutter their living space. The
      control group will have only the latter. The primary outcome will be the score on
      the Japanese version of the Saving Inventory-Revised. Secondary outcomes will be
      scores on the Clutter Image Rating Scale, the Japanese version of the Rosenberg
      Self-Esteem Scale and the Roles of Private Space Scale. The results will be
      examined for differences between the two groups in changes from baseline to 7
      months. We will examine crude effects and adjust for gender and age using a
      general linear model for continuous variables and a logistic regression model for
      dichotomous variables. Sample size was calculated assuming a significance level
      of 5% (two tailed), a power of 80% and an effect size of 0.75. In total, 60
      subjects (30 in each group) will be required. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study
      protocol has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of Teikyo University
      (No. 15-065). The findings will be disseminated widely through peer-reviewed
      publication and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      UMIN000020568. Issue date: 16 January 2016.

PMID- 28601823
TI  - Diagnostic value of the antiglycoprotein-2 antibody for Crohn's disease: a PRISMA
      compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic performance of
      the antiglycoprotein-2 (GP2) antibody for Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS: Three
      databases (EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge and PubMed) were systematically searched.
      There were 17 eligible studies included in the meta-analysis. A total of 2439
      patients with CD and 3184 controls were involved in these studies. STATA V.11.2
      and Meta-DiSc V.1.4 were used to perform the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The area
      under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.68-0.72. The
      pooled diagnostic sensitivity of the anti-GP2 antibody ranged from 14% to 24%,
      and the specificity was 96%-98%. CONCLUSIONS: The anti-GP2 antibody is a specific
      biomarker for CD, and further exploration of its prevalence among different
      clinical phenotypes of CD will provide a better understanding of its diagnostic
      performance.

PMID- 28601824
TI  - A systematic review of economic evaluations of seasonal influenza vaccination for
      the elderly population in the European Union.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Council of the European Union (EU) has recommended that action
      should be taken to increase influenza vaccination in the elderly population. The
      aims were to systematically review and critically appraise economic evaluations
      for influenza vaccination in the elderly population in the EU. METHODS:
      Electronic searches of the NHS Economic Evaluation, Health Technology Assessment,
      MEDLINE and Embase databases were run to identify full economic evaluations. Two
      levels of screening were used, with explicit inclusion criteria applied by two
      independent reviewers at each stage. Prespecified data extraction and critical
      appraisal were performed on identified studies. Results were summarised
      qualitatively. RESULTS: Of the 326 search results, screening identified eight
      relevant studies. Results varied widely, with the incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratio ranging from being both more effective and cheaper than no intervention to
      costing ?4 59 350 per life-year gained. Cost-effectiveness was most sensitive to
      variations in influenza strain, vaccination type and strategy, population and
      modelling characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Most studies suggest that vaccination is
      cost-effective (seven of eight studies identified at least one cost-effective
      scenario). All but one study used economic models to synthesise data from
      different sources. The results are uncertain due to the methods used and the
      relevance and robustness of the data used. Sensitivity analysis to explore these
      aspects was limited. Integrated, controlled prospective clinical and economic
      evaluations and surveillance data are needed to improve the evidence base. This
      would allow more advanced modelling techniques to characterise the epidemiology
      of influenza more accurately and improve the robustness of cost-effectiveness
      estimates.

PMID- 28601825
TI  - Defining and measuring suspicion of sepsis: an analysis of routine data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To define the target population of patients who have suspicion of
      sepsis (SOS) and to provide a basis for assessing the burden of SOS, and the
      evaluation of sepsis guidelines and improvement programmes. DESIGN: Retrospective
      analysis of routinely collected hospital administrative data. SETTING: Secondary
      care, eight National Health Service (NHS) Acute Trusts. PARTICIPANTS: Hospital
      Episode Statistics data for 2013-2014 was used to identify all admissions with a
      primary diagnosis listed in the 'suspicion of sepsis' (SOS) coding set. The SOS
      coding set consists of all bacterial infective diagnoses. RESULTS: We identified
      47 475 admissions with SOS, equivalent to a rate of 17 admissions per 1000 adults
      in a given year. The mortality for this group was 7.2% during their acute
      hospital admission. Urinary tract infection was the most common diagnosis and
      lobar pneumonia was associated with the most deaths. A short list of 10 diagnoses
      can account for 85% of the deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SOS can be
      identified in routine administrative data. It is these patients who should be
      screened for sepsis and are the target of programmes to improve the detection and
      treatment of sepsis. The effectiveness of such programmes can be evaluated by
      examining the outcomes of patients with SOS.

PMID- 28601827
TI  - Socioeconomic status and geographical factors associated with active listing in
      primary care: a cross-sectional population study accounting for multimorbidity,
      age, sex and primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic status and geographical factors are associated with
      health and use of healthcare. Well-performing primary care contributes to better
      health and more adequate healthcare. In a primary care system based on patient's
      choice of practice, this choice (listing) is a key to understand the system.
      OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between population and practices in a
      primary care system based on listing. METHODS: Cross-sectional population-based
      study. Logistic regressions of the associations between active listing in primary
      care, income, education, distances to healthcare and geographical location,
      adjusting for multimorbidity, age, sex and type of primary care practice. SETTING
      AND SUBJECTS: Population over 15 years (n=123 168) in a Swedish county, Blekinge
      (151 731 inhabitants), in year 2007, actively or passively listed in primary
      care. The proportion of actively listed was 68%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Actively
      listed in primary care on 31 December 2007. RESULTS: Highest ORs for active
      listing in the model including all factors according to income had quartile two
      and three with OR 0.70 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.70), and those according to education
      less than 9 years of education had OR 0.70 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.70). Best odds for
      geographical factors in the same model had municipality C with OR 0.85 (95% CI
      0.85 to 0.86) for active listing. Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) was 124
      801 for a model including municipality, multimorbidity, age, sex and type of
      practice and including all factors gave AIC 123 934. CONCLUSIONS: Higher income,
      shorter education, shorter distance to primary care or longer distance to
      hospital is associated with active listing in primary care.Multimorbidity, age,
      geographical location and type of primary care practice are more important to
      active listing in primary care than socioeconomic status and distance to
      healthcare.

PMID- 28601826
TI  - Study protocol of a phase IB/II clinical trial of metformin and chloroquine in
      patients with IDH1-mutated or IDH2-mutated solid tumours.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: High-grade chondrosarcoma, high-grade glioma and intrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinoma are aggressive types of cancer with a dismal outcome. This is
      due to the lack of effective treatment options, emphasising the need for novel
      therapies. Mutations in the genes IDH1 and IDH2 (isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and
      2) occur in 60% of chondrosarcoma, 80% of WHO grade II-IV glioma and 20% of
      intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. IDH1/2-mutated cancer cells produce the
      oncometabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG) and are metabolically vulnerable to
      treatment with the oral antidiabetic metformin and the oral antimalarial drug
      chloroquine. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We describe a dose-finding phase Ib/II
      clinical trial, in which patients with IDH1/2-mutated chondrosarcoma, glioma and
      intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma are treated with a combination of metformin and
      chloroquine. Dose escalation is performed according to a 3+3 dose-escalation
      scheme. The primary objective is to determine the maximum tolerated dose to
      establish the recommended dose for a phase II clinical trial. Secondary
      objectives of the study include (1) determination of pharmacokinetics and toxic
      effects of the study therapy, for which metformin and chloroquine serum levels
      will be determined over time; (2) investigation of tumour responses to metformin
      plus chloroquine in IDH1/2-mutated cancers using CT/MRI scans; and (3) whether
      tumour responses can be measured by non-invasive D-2HG measurements (mass
      spectrometry and magnetic resonance spectroscopy) of tumour tissue, serum, urine,
      and/or bile or next-generation sequencing of circulating tumour DNA (liquid
      biopsies). This study may open a novel treatment avenue for IDH1/2-mutated high
      grade chondrosarcoma, glioma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma by repurposing
      the combination of two inexpensive drugs that are already approved for other
      indications. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the
      medical-ethical review committee of the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The
      Netherlands. The report will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: This article was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov identifier
      (NCT02496741): Pre-results.

PMID- 28601828
TI  - Colorectal cancer with Synchronous liver-limited Metastases: the protocol of an
      Inception Cohort study (CoSMIC).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and an
      important cause of cancer-related death. In 20% of patients, there is metastasis
      to the liver or beyond at the time of diagnosis. The management of synchronous
      disease is complex. Conventional surgery removes the colorectal primary first,
      followed by chemotherapy, with resection of liver metastases as a final step.
      Advances in the availability and safety of liver surgery, anaesthesia and
      critical care have made two alternative options feasible. The first is
      synchronous resection of the primary and liver metastases. The second is
      resection of the metastatic disease as the first step, termed the reverse or
      liver-first approach. Currently, evidence is inadequate to inform the selection
      of care pathway for patients with colorectal cancer and synchronous liver-limited
      metastases. Specifically, optimal pathways are not defined and there is a dearth
      of prospectively recorded cohort-defining factors influencing treatment selection
      or outcome. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Colorectal cancer with Synchronous liver
      limited Metastases: an Inception Cohort (CoSMIC) is an inception cohort study of
      patients with a new diagnosis of colorectal cancer with synchronous liver-limited
      metastases. The sequence of treatment received, and factors influencing treatment
      decisions, will be evaluated against European Society of Medical Oncology
      guidelines. Clinical data will be collected, and quality of life, morbidity,
      mortality and long-term outcome compared for different treatment sequences
      adjusted for prognostic factors. Disease-free survival or progression will be
      measured at 1, 2 and 5 years. A nested qualitative study will ascertain patient
      experiences and clinician perspectives on delivery of care. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: The full study protocol was independently peer reviewed by
      Professor Kees de Jong (University of Maastricht, Holland). CoSMIC has ethical
      approval from the National Health Service Research Ethics Committee (14/NW/1397).
      Results will be disseminated to healthcare professionals and patient groups, and
      may be used to design a definitive trial addressing areas of equipoise in
      treatment pathways, as well as optimising current pathways to improve outcomes
      and experiences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02456285, pre-results.

PMID- 28601829
TI  - Serum fibrinogen and cardiovascular events in Chinese patients with type 2
      diabetes and stable coronary artery disease: a prospective observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of serum
      fibrinogen with cardiovascular events (CVE) in Chinese patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and stable coronary artery disease (CAD). DESIGN: An
      observational study. SETTING: FuWai Hospital in Beijing, China. PARTICIPANTS: A
      cohort of 1466 patients with T2DM and angiographic-proven stable CAD was
      evaluated. OUTCOME MEASURES: Baseline serum fibrinogen levels were measured and
      trisected into 'low', 'middle' and 'high'. Their association with CVE was
      explored using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: With 20.2 months
      (average) follow-up, 44 (3%) were lost to follow-up and 96 patients developed
      CVE. Compared with the patients without CVE, the ones who developed CVE had
      higher levels of fibrinogen. Univariable regression revealed a significant
      relation of fibrinogen to CVE (HR (HR) 1.25, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.47, p=0.010) per SD
      increase of fibrinogen at baseline. After adjusting for multiple established
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, the association persisted (HR 1.30,
      95% CI 1.02 to 1.66, p=0.037). Moreover, after adjusting for CVD risk factors,
      the HRs for middle-serum and high-serum fibrinogen concentration, using 'low'
      group as reference, were 1.23 (95% CI 0.69 to 2.20) and 2.20 (95% CI 1.11 to
      3.36, p=0.049). CONCLUSIONS: We first indicated that elevated fibrinogen level
      was independently associated with increased CVE in Chinese patients with T2DMand
      stable CAD.

PMID- 28601830
TI  - Interfacility transfer of pregnant women using publicly funded emergency call
      centre-based ambulance services: a cross-sectional analysis of service logs from
      five states in India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the proportion of interfacility transfers (IFTs)
      transported by '108' ambulances and to compare the characteristics of the IFTs
      and non-IFTs to understand the pattern of use of '108' services for pregnant
      women in India. DESIGN: A cross-sectional analysis of '108' ambulance records
      from five states for the period April 2013 to March 2014. Data were obtained from
      the call centre database for the pregnant women, who called '108'. MAIN OUTCOMES:
      Proportion of all pregnancies and institutional deliveries in the population who
      were transported by '108', both overall and for IFT. Characteristics of the women
      transported; obstetric emergencies, the distances travelled and the time taken
      for both IFT and non-IFT. RESULTS: The '108' ambulances transported 6 08 559
      pregnant women, of whom 34 993 were IFTs (5.8%) in the five states. We estimated
      that '108' transferred 16.5% of all pregnancies and 20.8% of institutional
      deliveries. Only 1.2% of all institutional deliveries in the population were
      transported by '108' for IFTs-lowest 0.6% in Gujarat and highest 3.0% in Himachal
      Pradesh. Of all '108' IFTs, only 8.4% had any pregnancy complication. For all
      states combined, on adjusted analysis, IFTs were more likely than non-IFTs to be
      for older and younger women or from urban areas, and less likely to be for women
      from high-priority districts, from backward or scheduled castes, or women below
      the poverty line. Obstetric emergencies were more than twice as likely to be IFTs
      as pregnant women without obstetric emergencies (OR=2.18, 95% CI 2.09 to 2.27).
      There was considerable variation across states. CONCLUSION: Only 6% institutional
      deliveries made use of the '108' ambulance for IFTs in India. The vast majority
      did not have any complication or emergency. The '108' service may need to
      consider strategies to prioritise the transfer of women with obstetric emergency
      and those requiring IFT, over uncomplicated non-IFT.

PMID- 28601831
TI  - Risk factor modifications and depression incidence: a 4-year longitudinal
      Canadian cohort of the Montreal Catchment Area Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Few studies have examined the effect of risk factor modifications on
      depression incidence. This study was to explore psychosocial risk factors for
      depression and quantify the effect of risk factor modifications on depression
      incidence in a large-scale, longitudinal population-based study. METHODS: Data
      were from the Montreal Longitudinal Catchment Area study (N=2433). Multivariate
      modified Poisson regression was used to estimate relative risk (RR). Population
      attributable fractions were also used to estimate the potential impact of risk
      factor modifications on depression incidence. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence
      rate of major depressive disorder at the 2-year follow-up was 4.8%, and 6.6% at
      the 4-year follow-up. Being a younger adult, female, widowed, separated or
      divorced, Caucasian, poor, occasional drinker, having a family history of mental
      health problems, having less education and living in areas with higher
      unemployment rates and higher proportions of visible minorities, more cultural
      community centres and community organisations, were consistently associated with
      the increased risk of incident major depressive disorder. Although only 5.1% of
      the disease incidence was potentially attributable to occasional drinking (vs
      abstainers) at the 2-year follow-up, the attribution of occasional drinking
      doubled at the 4-year follow-up. A 10% reduction in the prevalence of occasional
      drinking in this population could potentially prevent half of incident cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: Modifiable risk factors, both individual and societal, could be the
      targets for public depression prevention programmes. These programmes should also
      be gender-specific, as different risk factors have been identified for men and
      women. Public health preventions at individual levels could focus on the better
      management of occasional drinking, as it explained around 5%~10% of incident
      major depressive disorders. Neighbourhood characteristics could also be the
      target for public prevention programmes. However, this could be very challenging.
      A cost-effectiveness analysis of a variety of prevention efforts is warranted.

PMID- 28601832
TI  - Global prevalence of diabetes mellitus in patients with tuberculosis: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important risk factor for active
      tuberculosis (TB), which also adversely affect TB treatment outcomes. The
      escalating global DM epidemic is fuelling the burden of TB and should therefore
      be a major target in the strategy for ending TB. This review aims to estimate the
      global prevalence of DM in patients with TB. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This
      systematic review will include cross-sectional, case-control or cohort studies of
      populations including patients diagnosed with TB that have reported the
      prevalence of DM using one of the fourth standard recommendations for screening
      and diagnosis. This protocol is written in accordance with recommendations from
      the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols
      2015 statement. Relevant abstracts published in English/French from inception to
      31 December 2016 will be searched in PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database and online
      journals. Two investigators will independently screen, select studies, extract
      data and assess the risk of bias in each study. The study-specific estimates will
      be pooled through a random-effects meta-analysis model to obtain an overall
      summary estimate of the prevalence of diabetes across the studies. Heterogeneity
      will be assessed, and we will pool studies judged to be clinically homogenous. On
      the other hand, statistical heterogeneity will be evaluated by the chi2 test on
      Cochrane's Q statistic. Funnel-plots analysis and Egger's test will be used to
      investigate publication bias. Results will be presented by continent or
      geographic regions. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study is based on published
      data. An ethical approval is therefore not required. This systematic review and
      meta-analysis is expected to inform healthcare providers as well as general
      population on the co-occurrence of DM and TB. The final report will be published
      as an original article in a peer-reviewed journal, and will also be presented at
      conferences and submitted to relevant health authorities. We also plan to update
      the review every 5 years. PROTOCOLREGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO International
      Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42016049901).

PMID- 28601833
TI  - Targeted simplification versus antipseudomonal broad-spectrum beta-lactams in
      patients with bloodstream infections due to Enterobacteriaceae (SIMPLIFY): a
      study protocol for a multicentre, open-label, phase III randomised, controlled,
      non-inferiority clinical trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Within the context of antimicrobial stewardship programmes, de
      escalation of antimicrobial therapy is one of the proposed strategies for
      reducing the unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (BSA). The empirical
      treatment of nosocomial and some healthcare-associated bloodstream infections
      (BSI) frequently includes a beta-lactam with antipseudomonal activity as
      monotherapy or in combination with other drugs, so there is a great opportunity
      to optimise the empirical therapy based on microbiological data. De-escalation is
      assumed as standard of care for experts in infectious diseases. However, it is
      less frequent than it would desirable. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The SIMPLIFY trial
      is a multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority phase III randomised controlled
      clinical trial, designed as a pragmatic 'real-practice' trial. The aim of this
      trial is to demonstrate the non-inferiority of de-escalation from an empirical
      beta-lactam with antipseudomonal activity to a targeted narrow-spectrum
      antimicrobial in patients with BSI due to Enterobacteriaceae. The primary outcome
      is clinical cure, which will be assessed at the test of cure visit. It will be
      conducted at 19 Spanish public and university hospitals. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: Each participating centre has obtained the approval of the ethics
      review committee, the agreement of the directors of the institutions and
      authorisation from the Spanish Regulatory Agency (Agencia Espanola del
      Medicamento y Productos Sanitarios). Data will be presented at international
      conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. DISCUSSION: Strategies to
      reduce the use of BSA should be a priority. Most of the studies that support de
      escalation are observational, retrospective and heterogeneous. A recent Cochrane
      review stated that well-designed clinical trials should be conducted to assess
      the safety and efficacy of de-escalation. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: The European
      Union Clinical Trials Register: EudraCT number 2015-004219-19. Clinical
      trials.gov: NCT02795949. Protocol version: V.2.0, dated 16 May 2016. All items
      from the WHO Trial Registration Data Set are included in the registry.

PMID- 28601834
TI  - Screening for cancer in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism: protocol
      for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Occult cancer is present in 4%-9% of patients with unprovoked
      venous thromboembolism (VTE). Screening for cancer may be considered in these
      patients, with the aim to diagnose cancers in an early, potentially curable
      stage. Information is needed about the risk of occult cancer, overall and in
      specific subgroups, additional risk factors and on the performance of different
      screening strategies. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL databases
      were searched from November 2007 to January 2016 for prospective studies that had
      evaluated protocol-mandated screening for cancer in patients with unprovoked VTE
      and with at least 12 months' follow-up. Two reviewers independently assessed
      articles for eligibility. Ten eligible studies were identified and individual
      patient data were obtained from each of them. Study quality was assessed using
      the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool . Generalised linear
      mixed-effects models was used to calculate estimates in a one-stage meta-analytic
      approach, overall and in a number of subgroups, including patients undergoing
      limited screening only, elderly patients, patients with previous VTE, smokers and
      patients using oestrogens. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not
      required for this systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.
      Findings have been submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and
      presentations at national and international conferences to provide clinicians and
      other decision-makers with valid and precise risk estimates of occult cancer,
      overall and in specific clinical subgroups, with risk factors for occult cancer,
      with estimates of the diagnostic performance of limited screening and with an
      exploration of the benefit of extensive screening strategies.

PMID- 28601835
TI  - Cohort profile: the Right to Care Clinical HIV Cohort, South Africa.
AB  - PURPOSE: The research objectives of the Right to Care Clinical HIV Cohort
      analyses are to: (1) monitor treatment outcomes (including death, loss to follow
      up, viral suppression and CD4 count gain among others) for patients on
      antiretroviral therapy (ART); (2) evaluate the impact of changes in the national
      treatment guidelines around when to initiate ART on HIV treatment outcomes; (3)
      evaluate the impact of changes in the national treatment guidelines around what
      ART regimens to initiate on drug switches; (4) evaluate the cost and cost
      effectiveness of HIV treatment delivery models; (5) evaluate the need for and
      outcomes on second-line and third-line ART; (6) evaluate the impact of
      comorbidity with non-communicable diseases on HIV treatment outcomes and (7)
      evaluate the impact of the switch to initiating all patients onto ART regardless
      of CD4 count. PARTICIPANTS: The Right to Care Clinical HIV Cohort is an open
      cohort of data from 10 clinics in two provinces within South Africa. All clinics
      include data from 2004 onwards. The cohort currently has data on over 115 000
      patients initiated on HIV treatment and patients are followed up every 3-6 months
      for clinical and laboratory monitoring. FINDINGS TO DATE: Cohort data includes
      information on demographics, clinical visit, laboratory data, medication history
      and clinical diagnoses. The data have been used to identify rates and predictors
      of first-line failure, to identify predictors of mortality for patients on second
      line (eg, low CD4 counts) and to show that adolescents and young adults are at
      increased risk of unsuppressed viral loads compared with adults. FUTURE PLANS:
      Future analyses will inform national models of HIV care and treatment to improve
      HIV care policy in South Africa.

PMID- 28601836
TI  - Contextual and individual inequalities of multimorbidity in Brazilian adults: a
      cross-sectional national-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study aims to evaluate the magnitude of multimorbidity in
      Brazilian adults, as well to measure their association with individual and
      contextual factors stratified by Brazilian states and regions. METHODS: A
      national-based cross-sectional study was carried out in 2013 with Brazilian
      adults. Multimorbidity was evaluated by a list of 22 physical and mental
      morbidities (based on self-reported medical diagnosis and Patient Health
      Questionnaire-9 for depression). The outcome was analysed taking >=2 and >=3
      diseases as cut-off points. Factor analysis (FA) was used to identify disease
      patterns and multilevel models were used to test association with individual and
      contextual variables. RESULTS: The sample comprised 60 202 individuals.
      Multimorbidity frequency was 22.2% (95% CI 21.5 to 22.9) for >=2 morbidities and
      10.2% (95% CI 9.7 to 10.7) for >=3 morbidities. In the multilevel adjusted
      models, females, older people, those living with a partner and having less
      schooling presented more multiple diseases. No linear association was found
      according to wealth index but greater outcome frequency was found in individuals
      with midrange wealth index. Living in states with higher levels of education and
      wealthier states was associated with greater multimorbidity. Two patterns of
      morbidities (cardiometabolic problems and respiratory/mental/muscle-skeletal
      disorders) explained 92% of total variance. The relationship of disease patterns
      with individual and contextual variables was similar to the overall
      multimorbidity, with differences among Brazilian regions. CONCLUSIONS: In Brazil,
      at least 19 million adults had multimorbidity. Frequency is similar to that found
      in other Low and and Middle Income Countries. Contextual and individual social
      inequalities were observed.

PMID- 28601838
TI  - Are dietary vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and folate associated with treatment
      results in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis? Data from a Swedish
      population-based prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dietary intake of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids (FA) may be
      associated with superior response to antirheumatic treatments. In addition,
      dietary folate intake may be associated with worse response to methotrexate
      (MTX). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary
      vitamin D, omega-3 FA, folate and treatment results of disease-modifying
      antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS:
      This prospective study was based on data from the Epidemiological Investigation
      of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA) study, and included 727 patients with early RA
      from 10 hospitals in Sweden. Data on dietary vitamin D, omega-3 FA and folate
      intake based on food frequency questionnaires were linked with data on European
      League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response after 3 months of DMARD treatment.
      Associations between vitamin D, omega-3 FA, folate and EULAR response were
      analysed with logistic regression adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS:
      The majority of patients (89.9%) were initially treated with MTX monotherapy and
      more than half (56.9%) with glucocorticoids. Vitamin D and omega-3 FA were
      associated with good EULAR response (OR 1.80 (95% CI 1.14 to 2.83) and OR 1.60
      (95% CI 1.02 to 2.53), respectively). Folate was not significantly associated
      with EULAR response (OR 1.20 (95% CI 0.75 to 1.91)). Similar results were seen in
      a subgroup of patients who were initially treated with MTX monotherapy at
      baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Higher intake of dietary vitamin D and omega-3 FA during
      the year preceding DMARD initiation may be associated with better treatment
      results in patients with early RA. Dietary folate intake was not associated with
      worse or better response to treatment, especially to MTX. Our results suggest
      that some nutrients may be associated with enhanced treatment results of DMARDs.

PMID- 28601837
TI  - Development of a core outcome set for clinical trials in inflammatory bowel
      disease: study protocol for a systematic review of the literature and
      identification of a core outcome set using a Delphi survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), the main forms of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are chronic, progressive and disabling
      disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Although data from randomised controlled
      trials (RCTs) provide the foundation of evidence that validates medical therapy
      for IBD, considerable heterogeneity exists in the measured outcomes used in these
      studies. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in IBD
      treatment targets, moving from symptom-based scoring to improvement or
      normalisation of objective measures of inflammation such as endoscopic
      appearance, inflammatory biomarkers and histological and radiographic end points.
      The abundance of new treatment options and evolving end points poses
      opportunities and challenges for all stakeholders involved in drug development.
      Accordingly, there exists a need to harmonise measures used in clinical trials
      through the development of a core outcome set (COS). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The
      development of an IBD-specific COS includes four steps. First, a systematic
      literature review is performed to identify outcomes previously used in IBD RCTs.
      Second, semistructured qualitative interviews are conducted with key
      stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, researchers, pharmaceutical
      industry representatives, healthcare payers and regulators to identify additional
      outcomes of importance. Using the outcomes generated from literature review and
      stakeholder interviews, an international two-round Delphi survey is conducted to
      prioritise outcomes for inclusion in the COS. Finally, a consensus meeting is
      held to ratify the COS and disseminate findings for application in future IBD
      trials. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Given that over 30 novel therapeutic compounds
      are in development for IBD treatment, the design of robust clinical trials
      measuring relevant and standardised outcomes is crucial. Standardising outcomes
      through a COS will reduce heterogeneity in trial reporting, facilitate valid
      comparisons of new therapies and improve clinical trial quality.

PMID- 28601840
TI  - Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccination at or shortly before weaning under field
      conditions: a randomised efficacy trial.
AB  - This study assessed the efficacy of two different Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae
      vaccination programmes in relation to the time of weaning. Eight hundred and
      twenty-eight piglets were randomly divided into three groups: group V1 was
      vaccinated three days before weaning, group V2 at weaning (21 days of age) and
      group NV was left non-vaccinated. Vaccinations were performed using Ingelvac
      MycoFLEX. After the nursery period, 306 pigs were allocated to fattening unit
      (F1) and 501 pigs to a second unit (F2). Efficacy was evaluated using performance
      parameters and pneumonia lesions at slaughter. Statistically significant
      differences were obtained in F2 where group V1 had a higher average daily weight
      gain compared to groups V2 and NV for the entire study period (17 and 18 g/day,
      respectively) and the fattening period (26 and 36 g/day, respectively) (P<0.05).
      Considering respiratory disease scores for both fattening units, group V1 was the
      only group where coughing severity did not increase significantly between
      placement and the end of the fattening period (P>0.05). Between groups, there
      were no statistically significant differences for the average lung lesion scores
      (V1=3.44; V2=4.61; NV=4.55, P>0.05) and the prevalence of pneumonia (V1=35.0 per
      cent; V2=38.0 per cent; NV=41.4 per cent, P>0.05). Overall, vaccination against M
      hyopneumoniae before weaning provided numerically better performance than
      vaccination at weaning, but did not reach statistical significance. An influenza
      outbreak in F1 and the presence of coexisting mixed respiratory infections in
      both F1 and F2 could have possibly influenced the performance of both vaccinated
      groups across all measured parameters.

PMID- 28601839
TI  - The quality of reports of medical and public health research from Palestinian
      institutions: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Over the past decade, there has been an increase in reports of health
      research from Palestine, but no assessment of their quality. We have assessed the
      quality of reports of Palestinian health research and factors associated with it.
      DESIGN: This is a systematic review. INCLUSION CRITERIA: We searched Medline and
      Scopus for reports of original research relevant to human health or healthcare
      authored by researchers affiliated with Palestinian institutions and published
      between January 2000 and August 2015 inclusive. OUTCOMES: We used international
      guidelines to assess report quality, classifying as adequate those with >=50% of
      items completely addressed. RESULTS: Of 2383 reports identified, 497 met our
      inclusion criteria. Just over half (264; 55%) of these were published after 2010.
      354 (71%) of first authors were affiliated with Palestinian institutions; 261
      (53%) reports had coauthors from outside Palestine. The majority of the reports
      in our study were inadequately reported (342; 69%), and none had adequately
      reported all items. Of 439 observational studies, 11 (2.5%) reports provided
      adequate descriptions of eligibility criteria and selection procedures; 35 (8%)
      reported efforts to address potential sources of bias; 50 (11.4%) reported the
      basis for the study sample size; and funding sources were mentioned in 74 reports
      (17%). Higher reporting quality was associated with international affiliation of
      the first author (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.6 (95% CI 1.2 to 2.1)), international
      collaboration (PR 2.9 (95% CI 1.7 to 5.0)), international funding (PR 1.9 (95%
      CI1.5 to 2.5)), publication after 2005 (PR 3.9 (95% CI 1.8 to 8.5)) and four or
      more coauthors (PR 1.5 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.1)). CONCLUSION: Although the quality of
      reports of Palestinian research has improved in recent years, it remains well
      below an acceptable standard. International reporting guidelines should be used
      to guide research design and improve the quality of reports of research. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: The systematic review protocol was registered in the
      International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registery
      (registration number: CRD42015027553).

PMID- 28601841
TI  - Electronic cigarette use in restaurants and workplaces where combustible tobacco
      smoking is not allowed: an Internet survey in Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to examine the experience of actual
      electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use in smoke-free areas of restaurants and
      workplaces and to explore the determinants associated with such use among
      Japanese adults who reported any experience using e-cigarettes (e-cigarette ever
      users). METHODS: An Internet-based self-reported questionnaire survey was
      conducted in 2015 on Japanese e-cigarette ever-users. The proportion of the
      respondents who had ever used or frequently used e-cigarettes in smoke-free
      restaurants and/or workplaces was calculated. Potential factors associated with e
      cigarette use in those smoke-free areas were also examined by using multivariable
      logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: In total, 1243 e-cigarette ever-users (662
      current and 581 former e-cigarette users) were analysed. The majority of them
      (1020/1243, 82.1%) were male and their mean age +/- SD was 47.0+/-10.4 years. The
      proportion of those who had ever used e-cigarettes in smoke-free restaurants was
      28.8% (358/1243) and that in smoke-free workplaces was 25.5% (317/1243),
      respectively. The proportion of those who had frequently used e-cigarettes in
      smoke-free restaurants was 18.5% (230/1243) and that in smoke-free workplaces was
      16.3% (202/1243), respectively. In general, the proportion of e-cigarette use in
      those smoke-free areas was higher among those having a higher educational level
      than those having a lower educational level. CONCLUSION: Among adult Japanese e
      cigarette ever-users, approximately 26%-29% had ever used and 16%-19% had
      frequently used e-cigarettes in restaurants and/or workplaces where combustible
      tobacco smoking is not allowed. Policy-makers may need to establish explicit
      rules as to e-cigarette use in smoke-free environments.

PMID- 28601842
TI  - Adalimumab in Crohn's disease and symptomatic small bowel strictures.

PMID- 28601843
TI  - PRSS1 copy number variants and promoter polymorphisms in pancreatitis: common
      pathogenetic mechanism, different genetic effects.

PMID- 28601844
TI  - The role of hepatokines in NAFLD-related extrahepatic diseases: culprit or
      accomplice?

PMID- 28601845
TI  - Randomised controlled trial of long-term maintenance corticosteroid therapy in
      patients with autoimmune pancreatitis.

PMID- 28601847
TI  - Incidence of irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue following GI infection:
      a population-level study using routinely collected claims data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the occurrence of postinfectious IBS in routine
      outpatient care, comparing different types of GI infection and its interaction
      with psychosomatic comorbidity. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using
      routinely collected claims data covering statutorily insured patients in Bavaria,
      Germany. Cases were defined as patients without prior record of functional
      intestinal disorder with a first-time diagnosis of GI infection between January
      2005 and December 2013 and classed according to the type of infection. Each case
      was matched by age, sex and district of residence to a patient without history of
      GI infection. Prior psychological disorder (depression, anxiety or stress
      reaction disorder) was assessed in the 2 years prior to inclusion. Proportional
      hazards regression models were used to estimate the HRs for GI infection and
      psychological disorder. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was assessed as a
      comparator outcome. RESULTS: A total of 508 278 patients with first diagnosis of
      GI infection were identified, resulting in a matched cohort of 1 016 556
      patients. All infection types were associated with an increased risk of IBS (HR:
      2.19-4.25) and CFS (HR 1.35-1.82). Prior psychological disorder was a distinct
      risk factor for IBS (HR: 1.73) and CFS (HR: 2.08). Female sex was a further risk
      factor for both conditions. CONCLUSION: Psychological disorder and GI infections
      are distinct risk factors for IBS. The high incidence of non-specific GI
      infection suggests that postinfectious IBS is a common clinical occurrence in
      primary care. Chronic fatigue is a further significant sequela of GI infection.

PMID- 28601848
TI  - Longitudinal analysis indicates symptom severity influences immune profile in
      irritable bowel syndrome.

PMID- 28601846
TI  - NADPH oxidase depletion in neutrophils from patients with cirrhosis and
      restoration via toll-like receptor 7/8 activation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cirrhosis downregulates phagocyte oxidant production via their
      antibacterial superoxide-generating system, NADPH oxidase (NOX2) and increases
      patients' susceptibility to infection and mortality rate. To explore novel
      biochemical parameters that explain susceptibility to infections, we investigated
      the expression of NOX2 and partners in neutrophils of patients with severe
      alcoholic cirrhosis and have provided a novel approach to restore superoxide
      production capacity in patients' neutrophils and blood. DESIGN: Neutrophils were
      isolated from patients with decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis. NOX2 activity was
      assessed after stimulation of purified neutrophils or whole blood with the
      bacterial-derived peptide fMet-Leu-Phe. The expression of NOX2 and partners was
      studied by western blot analysis, flow cytometry and reverse transcription-PCR.
      RESULTS: The impaired superoxide production by patients' neutrophils was
      associated with a severe deficient expression of the NADPH oxidase catalytic core
      flavocytochrome-b558 (gp91 phox /NOX2 and p22 phox ), its cytosolic partner p47
      phox but not p67 phox . NOX2 expression decreased rapidly by protein degradation
      involving elastase released during degranulation of healthy neutrophils
      stimulated with fMet-Leu-Phe, or highly present in patients' plasma.
      Interestingly, the deficient superoxide production was reversed by treatment of
      patients' neutrophils and whole blood with toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8)
      agonists. This treatment stimulated a rapid NOX2 transcription and translation
      through a process involving mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) whose expression
      was also deficient in patients' neutrophils. NOX2 expression was also increased
      by the TLR4 agonist lipopolysaccharide but with only a modest improvement of
      reactive oxygen species production. CONCLUSION: Impairment of neutrophil oxidants
      production in alcoholic cirrhosis is associated with NOX2 degradation and
      deficient mTOR-dependent translational machinery. The NOX2 depletion can be
      reversed via TRL7/8 activation and might be used to restore antimicrobial
      responses of immunocompromised patients.

PMID- 28601849
TI  - Vaccination: Perfect Gift for Our Babies.

PMID- 28601850
TI  - Probiotics for Preterm Infants - The Story Searching for an End.

PMID- 28601851
TI  - Novel Automated Hematology Parameters in Clinical Pediatric Practice.
AB  - Blood sampling in children is a challenging task, and to extract maximum possible
      information from these 'precious' samples, the modern-day automated hematology
      analyzers have been aided with much technological advancement. Various novel
      blood cell parameters are now available to narrow down the differential
      diagnoses. However, only few of these are available for routine clinical
      reporting. Knowledge about their interpretation and reference ranges can prove
      useful in challenging situations.

PMID- 28601852
TI  - Diphtheria Revisited.

PMID- 28601853
TI  - Incomplete Miller-Fisher Syndrome with Advanced Stage Burkitt Lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphoma-associated incomplete Miller-Fisher syndrome is very rare.
      CASE CHARACTERISTICS: An 11-year-old boy who initially presented with headache,
      left ptosis, diplopia and weakness. Neurologic examination indicated left sided
      ptosis with ophthalmoplegia. OBSERVATIONS: Cerebral imaging and cerebrospinal
      fluid examinations were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen showed
      a mass lesion in the ileal loops. A bone marrow biopsy showed infiltration by
      Burkitt's lymphoma. MESSAGE: Burkitt lymphoma may present with incomplete Miller
      Fisher syndrome.

PMID- 28601854
TI  - Idiopathic Epilepsy with Myoclonic-Absences.

PMID- 28601855
TI  - Methodological Issues in Association of Allergic Rhinitis and Sinusitis with
      Childhood Asthma.

PMID- 28601856
TI  - Methodological Issues in Association of Allergic Rhinitis and Sinusitis with
      Childhood Asthma: Authors Reply.

PMID- 28601857
TI  - Reducing Diagnostic Errors - A Practical Perspective.

PMID- 28601858
TI  - Acquired Hypothyroidism in a Newborn Treated with Amiodarone in the First Week of
      Life.

PMID- 28601859
TI  - Media and Measles-Rubella Vaccination Campaign - Musings from Pondicherry.

PMID- 28601860
TI  - Characteristics and Long-Term Outcome of Neurosarcoidosis: A Population-Based
      Study from 1976-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Neurosarcoidosis is a rare condition with serious health
      consequences. However, little is known about clinical characteristics and outcome
      of neurosarcoidosis in the community setting. METHODS: Patients with
      neurosarcoidosis were identified from a previously described cohort of patients
      with incident sarcoidosis from Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States from 1976
      to 2013 using individual medical record review. Data on clinical characteristics,
      treatment, and outcome were collected. RESULTS: Neurological involvement by
      sarcoidosis occurred in 11 patients (3% of all patients with sarcoidosis).
      Cranial neuropathy was the most common type of neurological disease (5 patients;
      45%) followed by peripheral neuropathy (3 patients; 27%), and meningitis (3
      patients; 27%). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis and elevated CSF protein
      levels were observed in patients with meningitis, intramedullary spinal cord
      sarcoidosis, intracranial mass lesion and some patients with cranial neuropathy
      but were normal in patients with peripheral neuropathy. All patients received
      high-dose glucocorticoids as initial treatment and almost all responded to this
      therapy. Relapse after glucocorticoid dose reduction necessitated subsequent
      treatment with steroid-sparing agents in 4 patients. CONCLUSION: Neurosarcoidosis
      is an uncommon manifestation of sarcoidosis. Neurosarcoidosis manifestations
      generally responded well to high-dose glucocorticoids in the majority of
      patients, but relapse was common.

PMID- 28601861
TI  - Electrical Grounding Improves Vagal Tone in Preterm Infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low vagal tone (VT) is a marker of vulnerability to stress and the
      risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants. Electric fields
      produced by equipment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) induce an
      electric potential measurable on the skin in reference to ground. An electrical
      connection to ground reduces the skin potential and improves VT in adults.
      OBJECTIVES: We aimed to measure the electric field strengths in the NICU
      environment and to determine if connecting an infant to electrical ground would
      reduce the skin potential and improve VT. We also wished to determine if the skin
      potential correlated with VT. METHODS: Environmental magnetic flux density (MFD)
      was measured in and around incubators. Electrical grounding (EG) was achieved
      with a patch electrode and wire that extended to a ground outlet. We measured the
      skin potential in 26 infants and heart rate variability in 20 infants before,
      during, and after grounding. VT was represented by the high-frequency power of
      heart rate variability. RESULTS: The background MFD in the NICU was below 0.5 mG,
      but it ranged between 1.5 and 12.7 mG in the closed incubator. A 60-Hz
      oscillating potential was recorded on the skin of all infants. With EG, the skin
      voltage dropped by about 95%. Pre-grounding VT was inversely correlated with the
      skin potential. VT increased by 67% with EG. After grounding, the VT fell to the
      pre-grounding level. CONCLUSION: The electrical environment affects autonomic
      balance. EG improves VT and may improve resilience to stress and lower the risk
      of neonatal morbidity in preterm infants.

PMID- 28601862
TI  - Management of Anterior Urethral Strictures in Adults: A Survey of Contemporary
      Practice in Germany.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Treatment methods of anterior urethral strictures in adults have
      undergone considerable changes in the recent past. Our goal was to determine
      national practice patterns among German urologists and to compare results with
      the results of prior international surveys. METHODS: We conducted a survey on the
      management of urethral strictures among German urologists. RESULTS: Eight hundred
      forty-five urologists, representing about 14.6% of German urologists, answered
      the survey. Most common procedures were direct vision internal urethrotomy (DVIU;
      87.2%), blind internal urethrotomy (57.5%), dilatation (56.3%), ventral buccal
      mucosa graft urethroplasty (31.6%) and excision and primary anastomosis (28.9%).
      In case of a 3.5-cm bulbar stricture and in the case of a 1-cm bulbar stricture
      after 2 failed DVIUs, a consecutive urethroplasty was significantly more often
      favoured compared to transurethral treatment options (44.9 vs. 21.3% and 59.4 vs.
      8.3%, both p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Open urethral reconstruction reveals to be a
      more common method in practice nowadays. Adherence to recommended treatment
      algorithms improved in comparison to prior surveys.

PMID- 28601863
TI  - The Curvilinear Effect of BMI on Functional Health - Evidence of the Long-Running
      German Ageing Survey.
AB  - AIMS: We aimed at determining the effect of BMI on functional health among older
      Germans longitudinally. METHODS: Data from four waves (2002-2014) of the German
      Ageing Survey ('Deutscher Alterssurvey'; DEAS), a representative sample of
      community-dwelling individuals aged 40 years and above, were used. Functional
      health was quantified by the subscale 'physical functioning' of the 36-Item Short
      Form Health Survey (SF-36). Fixed effects regressions were used to estimate the
      predictors of functional health. Linear, quadratic, and cubic terms were included
      for BMI (self-reported). RESULTS: Fixed effects regressions showed significant
      linear, quadratic, and cubic effects of BMI on functional health in the total
      sample and in both sexes. Furthermore, regressions revealed that functional
      health decreased with increasing age in the total sample and in both sexes. In
      addition, changes in marital and employment status were significantly associated
      with changes in functional health in men, but not in women. CONCLUSION: Our data
      indicate that the greater the extreme of BMI (either higher or lower), the
      greater the risk for functional decline. Nutrition programs aimed at preventing
      changes to extreme BMI might be productive.

PMID- 28601864
TI  - Effect of a High-Protein Diet versus Standard-Protein Diet on Weight Loss and
      Biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some studies have shown that protein-enriched diets can lead to
      greater weight loss and improvements in biomarkers of metabolic syndrome (MeS)
      than standard protein diets. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine
      the effect of increased protein intake on weight loss in Mexican adults with MeS.
      METHODS: Randomized controlled trial in 118 adults aged 47.4 +/- 11.5 years and
      meeting the established criteria for MeS were randomized to prescribed
      hypocaloric diets (500 kcal less than resting metabolic rate) providing either
      0.8 g/kg body weight (standard protein diet (SPD)) or 1.34 g/kg body weight
      (higher protein diet (HPD)) for 6 months. Body weight, waist circumference,
      percent body fat by bioimpedance analysis, fasting blood glucose, fasting
      insulin, hemoglobin A1c, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
      cholesterol, very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, C
      reactive protein, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, alanine aminotransferase,
      aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase were measured at
      baseline, 3 months and at 6 months. RESULTS: There were 105 subjects (51 for SPD
      and 54 for HPD) who completed the trial. Overall weight loss was 5.1 +/- 3.6 kg
      in the SPD group compared to 7.0 +/- 3.7 kg in the in HPD group. Both groups lost
      a significant percent of centimeters of waist circumference (SPD -6.5 +/- 2.6 cm
      and HPD -8.8 +/- 2.6 cm). There was no statistical difference Except for the
      varying weight losses the two groups did not show any further differences
      overall. However in the subgroup judged to be adherent more than 75% of the time
      with the prescribed diets, there was a significant difference in mean weight loss
      (SPD -5.8% vs. HPD -9.5%) after adjusting for baseline BMI. Both groups
      demonstrated significant decreases in waist circumference, glucose, insulin,
      triglycerides, and VLDL cholesterol, but there were no differences between the
      groups. There were no changes in blood tests for liver or renal function.
      CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant differences in weight loss and biomarkers
      of MeS when the overall group was examined, but the participants with more
      adherence rate in the HPD group lost significantly more weight than adherent
      participants in the SPD group.

PMID- 28601865
TI  - Neonatal Vitamin D Levels in Relation to Risk of Overweight at 7 Years in the
      Danish D-Tect Case-Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D level in pregnancy may be associated with risk of
      overweight in the offspring later in life. METHODS: In a case-cohort study based
      on Danish biobanks and registers we examined the association between 25-hydroxy
      vitamin D (25(OH)D) level at birth and overweight at 7 years. Cases of overweight
      (n = 871) were randomly selected among 7-year-old children from the Copenhagen
      School Health Records Register (CSHRR) with a BMI above the 90th percentile. The
      cohort (n = 1,311) was a random sample selected among all Danish children born
      during the same period. Neonatal 25(OH)D was measured in dried blood spots.
      RESULTS: 25(OH)D3 exhibited the expected seasonal variation. Median level of
      25(OH)D3 was 20.6 (11.9-33.3) nmol/l in the overweight group and 23.4 (13.5-34.3)
      nmol/l in the cohort. We found no association between neonatal 25(OH)D3 level and
      risk of overweight at age 7 years, neither in the crude model (OR (CI) 1.00
      (0.99; 1.00)) nor in a model adjusted for maternal ethnicity, educational level,
      civil status, parity, season and year of birth, and offspring ponderal index (OR
      (CI) 1.00 (0.99; 1.01)). CONCLUSION: Risk of overweight at 7 years of age was not
      associated with vitamin D level at birth.

PMID- 28601867
TI  - Novel Insights into the Direct Removal of Endotoxin by Polymyxin B Hemoperfusion.
AB  - AIM: To demonstrate the capacity of polymyxin B-direct hemoperfusion (PMX-DHP)
      column Toraymyxin(r) 20R (PMX-20R) in removing endotoxin (LPS) from perfused
      blood, serum and plasma. METHODS: Endotoxin-spiked bovine serum was perfused in
      PMX-20R as per the recommended performance testing protocol. Samples were taken
      at various time points to assess the amount of endotoxin removed during a 4-h
      session. In another set of experiments, FITC-labelled LPS (FITC-LPS) was spiked
      into a pool of human whole blood, followed by perfusion with the spiked blood for
      2 h in order to allow FITC-LPS to bind PMX-20R. The amount of LPS was extracted
      from the columns and the amount of specifically bound LPS was determined by
      fluorometry. RESULTS: PMX-20R columns perfused with bovine serum had an average
      binding rate of 88%, equivalent to approximately 12 ug of LPS. When PMX-20R was
      perfused with human whole blood, the columns bound an average of 20 ug of FITC
      LPS. CONCLUSION: PMX-20R can bind LPS in all the biological fluids tested. The
      calculated binding capacity of 12-20 ug LPS suggests that in septic cases where
      endotoxin is present in the circulation, PMX-20R is able to adsorb clinically
      significant levels of endotoxin.

PMID- 28601868
TI  - Pulmonary Rehabilitation Outcomes after Single or Double Lung Transplantation in
      Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Interstitial Lung Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) following lung transplantation (LTx)
      has been shown to be effective with regard to exercise capacity and health
      related quality of life (HRQL). However, outcome data is limited with respect to
      LTx as a population. Differences concerning the effects of PR in patients with
      single LTx (SLTx) or double LTx (DLTx) have not been studied yet. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim was to compare possible differences concerning PR outcomes between SLTx and
      DLTx. METHODS: In a retrospective analysis (period: 1997-2016), data from 722
      patients with either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; SLTx: n = 129,
      FEV1 51 +/- 17% pred.; DLTx: n = 204, FEV1 74 +/- 20% pred.) or interstitial lung
      disease (ILD; SLTx: n = 135, FVC 58 +/- 18% pred.; DLTx: n = 254, FVC 63 +/- 18%
      pred.) after LTx were included. All patients underwent a specialized inpatient PR
      program. The data of the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and HRQL (physical [PCS]
      and mental [MCS] component summary of the SF- 36 questionnaire) were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Independently from the procedure and pretransplant diagnosis, patients
      significantly (p < 0.05) improved the 6MWD without any differences between SLTx
      and DLTx (COPD: SLTx: +109 +/- 68 m, DLTx: +117 +/- 82 m; ILD: SLTx: +115 +/- 80
      m, DLTx: +132 +/- 77 m). The PCS (COPD: SLTx: +9 +/- 9 points, DLTx: +7 +/- 9
      points; ILD: SLTx: +6 +/- 9 points, DLTx: +9 +/- 9 points) and MCS (COPD: SLTx:
      +8 +/- 15 points, DLTx: +7 +/- 15 points; ILD: SLTx: +10 +/- 13 points, DLTx: +8
      +/- 12 points) also improved significantly without any group differences.
      CONCLUSIONS: LTx patients with a pretransplant diagnosis of COPD or ILD all
      benefitted significantly and with clinical relevance with regard to exercise
      capacity and HRQL from an inpatient PR performed within 1 year postoperatively.
      PR outcomes were similar regardless of SLTx or DLTx.

PMID- 28601866
TI  - Cost-Utility Analysis of Bariatric Surgery in Italy: Results of Decision-Analytic
      Modelling.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery in Italy from
      a third-party payer perspective over a medium-term (10 years) and a long-term
      (lifetime) horizon. METHODS: A state-transition Markov model was developed, in
      which patients may experience surgery, post-surgery complications, diabetes
      mellitus type 2, cardiovascular diseases or die. Transition probabilities, costs,
      and utilities were obtained from the Italian and international literature. Three
      types of surgeries were considered: gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and
      adjustable gastric banding. A base-case analysis was performed for the
      population, the characteristics of which were obtained from surgery candidates in
      Italy. RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, over 10 years, bariatric surgery led
      to cost increment of EUR 2,661 and generated additional 1.1 quality-adjusted life
      years (QALYs). Over a lifetime, surgery led to savings of EUR 8,649, additional
      0.5 life years and 3.2 QALYs. Bariatric surgery was cost-effective at 10 years
      with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of EUR 2,412/QALY and dominant over
      conservative management over a lifetime. CONCLUSION: In a comprehensive decision
      analytic model, a current mix of surgical methods for bariatric surgery was cost
      effective at 10 years and cost-saving over the lifetime of the Italian patient
      cohort considered in this analysis.

PMID- 28601869
TI  - Rejoinder to Commentary: "Panic, Self-Disorder, and EASE Research: Methodological
      Considerations".

PMID- 28601870
TI  - Restricted Ventilation Associated with Reduced Neurodevelopmental Impairment in
      Preterm Infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Restrictive use of invasive mechanical ventilation
      (IMV) in preterm infants reduces the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).
      Our objective was to determine its effect on neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI)
      at 24 months' corrected age (CA). METHODS: This retrospective single-center
      cohort study included all patients with a gestational age <30 weeks born in
      2004/2005 (epoch 1) and 2010/2011 (epoch 2). In epoch 2, we introduced a policy
      of restriction on IMV and liberalized the use of respiratory stimulants in the
      delivery room and neonatal intensive care. Data on patient characteristics,
      respiratory management, short-term outcomes, mortality, BPD, and NDI at 24
      months' CA were collected. RESULTS: Four hundred and four preterm infants were
      included. Compared to those in epoch 1, infants in epoch 2 were less likely to be
      intubated and the duration of IMV was shorter. Other noninvasive adjuvant
      therapies such as caffeine, doxapram, and nasal ventilation were more often used
      during epoch 2. There was a trend to less BPD in epoch 2 compared to epoch 1 (17
      vs. 23%, adjusted OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.48, 1.16). Mortality did not change over
      time. The combined outcome death or NDI at 24 months' CA was significantly lower
      in epoch 2 compared to epoch 1 (24.7 vs. 33.9%, adjusted OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53,
      0.97). CONCLUSIONS: Restricted use of IMV is feasible in preterm infants and
      might be associated with a reduced risk of the combined outcome death or NDI at
      24 months' CA. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 28601871
TI  - Perinatal Factors Affecting Serum Hepcidin Levels in Low-Birth-Weight Infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepcidin, an iron-regulatory hormone, plays a key role in preventing
      iron overload. Few studies have investigated the regulation of hepcidin in low
      birth-weight (LBW) infants who are vulnerable to iron imbalance. OBJECTIVES: To
      identify perinatal factors associated with serum hepcidin levels in LBW infants.
      METHODS: Ninety-two LBW infants with a median gestational age (GA) of 32.6 weeks
      and birth weight of 1,587 g were prospectively enrolled. Serum hepcidin-25
      (Hep25) levels were measured from umbilical cord blood using liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The relationship between Hep25 levels
      and prematurity or other possible hepcidin-regulatory factors was evaluated.
      RESULTS: The median Hep25 level was 7.3 ng/mL (interquartile range: 2.85-16.38).
      log(Hep25) correlated with birth weight (r = 0.229, p = 0.028), log(interleukin-6
      [IL-6]) (r = 0.408, p < 0.001), log(erythropoietin) (r = -0.302, p = 0.004),
      transferrin saturation (r = 0.29, p = 0.005), soluble transferrin receptor (r = 
      0.500, p < 0.001), and log(ferritin) (r = 0.696, p < 0.001). Serum iron and
      hemoglobin levels did not correlate with log(Hep25). Hep25 levels were higher
      among infants with chorioamnionitis and infants born vaginally and lower among
      infants born to mothers with pregnancy-induced hypertension than among infants
      without the respective characteristics. Stepwise multiple linear regression
      analysis confirmed the significant association of log(Hep25) with GA, log(IL-6),
      log(erythropoietin), and soluble transferrin receptor. CONCLUSIONS: Among LBW
      infants, GA, IL-6, erythropoietin, and soluble transferrin receptor were
      associated with Hep25 levels. Therefore, prematurity, inflammation, hypoxia, and
      erythropoietic activity may be important perinatal factors that affect hepcidin
      levels.

PMID- 28601872
TI  - IL-37 Causes Excessive Inflammation and Tissue Damage in Murine Pneumococcal
      Pneumonia.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae infections can lead to severe complications with
      excessive immune activation and tissue damage. Interleukin-37 (IL-37) has gained
      importance as a suppressor of innate and acquired immunity, and its effects have
      been therapeutic as they prevent tissue damage in autoimmune and inflammatory
      diseases. By using RAW macrophages, stably transfected with human IL-37, we
      showed a 70% decrease in the cytokine levels of IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta,
      and a 2.2-fold reduction of the intracellular killing capacity of internalized
      pneumococci in response to pneumococcal infection. In a murine model of infection
      with S. pneumoniae, using mice transgenic for human IL-37b (IL-37tg), we observed
      an initial decrease in cytokine expression of IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta in
      the lungs, followed by a late-phase enhancement of pneumococcal burden and
      subsequent increase of proinflammatory cytokine levels. Additionally, a marked
      increase in recruitment of alveolar macrophages and neutrophils was noted, while
      TRAIL mRNA was reduced 3-fold in lungs of IL-37tg mice, resulting in necrotizing
      pneumonia with augmented death of infiltrating neutrophils, enhanced bacteremic
      spread, and increased mortality. In conclusion, we have identified that IL-37
      modulates several core components of a successful inflammatory response to
      pneumococcal pneumonia, which lead to increased inflammation, tissue damage, and
      mortality.

PMID- 28601873
TI  - Disappearance of the Hemorrhagic Component of the Frontal Contusion Possibly due
      to Redistribution of the Hematoma within the Subarachnoid Space: A Case Report.
AB  - Posttraumatic hemorrhagic contusions are a common sequel of traumatic brain
      injuries. They occur in around 8% of all traumatic brain injuries. Spontaneous
      resolution of acute subdural and acute extradural hematomas, although rare, is a
      recognized entity, but spontaneous resolution of the hemorrhagic component of a
      contusion within 24 h has not been reported in the literature. We present a
      patient in whom the hemorrhagic component of her contusion resolved spontaneously
      over a period of 24 h after injury. The rarity of this case prompted us to this
      study.

PMID- 28601874
TI  - Accuracy of Intraoperative Computed Tomography during Deep Brain Stimulation
      Procedures: Comparison with Postoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of intraoperative computed tomography (iCT)
      in localizing deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes by comparing this modality
      with postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). BACKGROUND: Optimal lead
      placement is a critical factor for the outcome of DBS procedures and preferably
      confirmed during surgery. iCT offers 3-dimensional verification of both
      microelectrode and lead location during DBS surgery. However, accurate electrode
      representation on iCT has not been extensively studied. METHODS: DBS surgery was
      performed using the Leksell stereotactic G frame. Stereotactic coordinates of 52
      DBS leads were determined on both iCT and postoperative MRI and compared with
      intended final target coordinates. The resulting absolute differences in X
      (medial-lateral), Y (anterior-posterior), and Z (dorsal-ventral) coordinates
      (DeltaX, DeltaY, and DeltaZ) for both modalities were then used to calculate the
      euclidean distance. RESULTS: Euclidean distances were 2.7 +/- 1.1 and 2.5 +/- 1.2
      mm for MRI and iCT, respectively (p = 0.2). CONCLUSION: Postoperative MRI and iCT
      show equivalent DBS lead representation. Intraoperative localization of both
      microelectrode and DBS lead in stereotactic space enables direct adjustments.
      Verification of lead placement with postoperative MRI, considered to be the gold
      standard, is unnecessary.

PMID- 28601875
TI  - Activities of MSCs Derived from Transgenic Mice Seeded on ADM Scaffolds in Wound
      Healing and Assessment by Advanced Optical Techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Bone marrow Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising for
      promoting cutaneous wound healing through reinforcing cellular processes. We
      evaluated the effect of GFP-tagged MSCs transplantation on skin regeneration in
      excisional wounds in mice. METHODS: MSCs from GFP-labeled transgenic mice were co
      cultured with acellular dermal matrix (ADM) scaffolds, and MSC-ADM scaffolds were
      transplanted into surgical skin wounds of BALB/c mice. After implantation, the
      survival and behavior of MSCs were examined by second harmonic generation and two
      photon excitation fluorescence imaging, western blotting and DNA amplification
      and sequencing. RESULTS: GFP-tagged MSCs were retained inside the regenerating
      skin until day 14 post-transplantation. Alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and
      vimentin (VIM) were detected at 3, 5, 7, and 14 days post-transplantation by
      immunofluorescence double labeling. Although the GFP+/alpha-SMA+- and GFP+/VIM+
      cell numbers decreased gradually with healing time, alpha-SMA+- and VIM+-cell
      numbers significantly increased, most of them were endogenous functional cells
      which were related to angiogenesis and collagen fiber structural remodeling.
      CONCLUSION: Therefore, in the initial stage of wound healing, transplanted MSCs
      differentiated into functional cells and played paracrine roles to recruit more
      endogenous cells for tissue remodeling. With the disappearance of exogenous
      cells, endogenous cells were responsible for the latter stage of cutaneous wound
      healing.

PMID- 28601876
TI  - Interstitial Lung Disease Associated with Adult Niemann-Pick Disease Type B.

PMID- 28601877
TI  - [Successful Treatment of Neonatal Respiratory Transitional Disorder with
      Pulmo/Vivianit comp. in 2 Cases].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disorders of the respiratory transition at birth are major reasons
      for neonates being admitted to intensive care units and separated from their
      mothers. This has potential long-lasting consequences for the mother-infant
      interaction as well as the long-term development of the child. There is an urgent
      need for effective preventive and therapeutic measures for this frequent
      disorder. CASE REPORT: We report the cases of 2 newborn infants with respiratory
      transitional disorder treated off-label with the anthroposophic medicament
      Pulmo/Vivianit comp. based on pathophysiological considerations and on particular
      parental request. In both cases, an immediate and sustainable response could be
      documented without adverse effects. CONCLUSION: This new therapeutic approach
      merits further attention in clinical research but cannot be recommended for
      routine practice before more high-level evidence is available.

PMID- 28601879
TI  - Outcomes in Melanoma Patients Treated with BRAF/MEK-Directed Therapy or Immune
      Checkpoint Inhibition Stratified by Clinical Trial versus Standard of Care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Since 2011, metastatic melanoma treatment has evolved with commercial
      approval of BRAF- and MEK-targeted therapy and CTLA-4- and PD-1-blocking
      antibodies (immune checkpoint inhibitors, ICI). While novel therapies have
      demonstrated improved prognosis in clinical trials, few studies have examined the
      evolution of prognosis and toxicity of these drugs among an unselected
      population. We assess whether survival and toxicity reported in trials, which
      typically exclude most patients with brain metastases and poor performance
      status, are recapitulated within a commercial access population. METHODS: 182
      patients diagnosed with stage IV melanoma from July 2006 to December 2013 and
      treated with BRAF- and/or MEK-targeted therapy or ICI were prospectively studied.
      Outcomes and clinicopathologic differences between trial and commercial cohorts
      were assessed. RESULTS: Patients receiving commercial therapy (vs. on trial) had
      poorer prognostic features (i.e., brain metastases) and lower median overall
      survival (mOS) when assessed across all treatments (9.2 vs. 17.5 months, p =
      0.0027). While toxicity within trial and commercial cohorts did not differ,
      patients who experienced toxicity had increased mOS (p < 0.001), irrespective of
      stratification by trial status or therapy. CONCLUSION: Metastatic melanoma
      patients receiving commercial treatment may represent a different clinical
      population with poor prognostic features compared to trial patients. Toxicity may
      prognosticate treatment benefit.

PMID- 28601878
TI  - Role of Immune Cells in Acute Kidney Injury and Repair.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant problem in both native and transplant
      kidneys. There have been significant advances in understanding the role of immune
      cells in the early injury and repair from AKI. In this brief review, we aim to
      update information on the pathophysiologic impact of various immune cells in AKI,
      with special emphasis on repair. An improved understanding of the AKI
      immunopathology will lead to new therapies that prevent AKI, accelerate repair,
      and prevent the progression of AKI to chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 28601880
TI  - Accelerated Coasting Does Not Affect Oocyte Maturation.
AB  - AIMS: The study aimed to assess the efficacy of accelerating the process of
      coasting through adding gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist (GnRH
      ant) on the day of triggering of oocyte maturation without withholding the GnRH
      agonist (GnRHa) in women at risk for developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
      (OHSS). METHODS: Retrospective case-control study of the outcomes of GnRHa cycles
      in which women were at risk to develop OHSS. Women who underwent acceleration of
      coasting (n = 50) were compared with a control group of women who underwent usual
      coasting (n = 57). RESULTS: The oocyte maturation and fertilization rates were
      significantly higher in the accelerated coasting group than in the usual coasting
      group (83.05 vs. 67.62%; p < 0.001 and 79.85 vs. 65.84%; p < 0.001,
      respectively). The pregnancy rates were higher in the accelerated coasting group
      than in the usual coasting group but without statistically significant
      difference. The incidences of mild, moderate, and severe OHSS were not
      significantly different between both groups. CONCLUSION: Acceleration of coasting
      in cases of OHSS through treatment with GnRH-ant after pituitary suppression with
      GnRHa offered a novel approach to reduce estradiol level, avoid cycle
      cancellation, and maintain excellent oocyte maturation rate and thus high
      pregnancy rate with prevention of OHSS.

PMID- 28601881
TI  - Third-Trimester Conditional Reference Values for Longitudinal Fetal Growth
      Assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to derive longitudinal reference values of
      fetal growth (estimated fetal weight [EFW] and abdominal circumference [AC])
      during the third trimester and to develop coefficients for conditional growth
      assessment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted
      involving consecutive singleton pregnancies in a low-risk population for a
      routine third-trimester scan at 30+0-34+6 weeks and follow-up at 37+0-38+6 weeks
      for an additional ultrasound. Statistical analysis was based on multilevel
      modeling using MLwiN software. Unconditional centiles were calculated from z
      values at each gestational age, and conditional centiles were calculated from z
      values at a given measurement (30-34 weeks) and the expected measurement (37-38
      weeks). RESULTS: At 30-34 weeks, 8 and 9.3% of the fetuses had an unconditional
      EFW below the 10th and above the 90th centile, respectively. At 37-38 weeks,
      these figures were 10.3 and 9.3%, respectively. Regarding the unconditional AC,
      at the first scan, 8.9 and 9.6% had values below the 10th and above the 90th
      centile, while at the second scan 10.5 and 10.5% had values below the 10th and
      above the 90th centile, respectively. The proportion with a conditional EFW below
      the 10th and above the 90th centile was 10.2 and 9.4% at the second scan,
      respectively. For conditional AC, these figures were 10.7 and 10.3%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: We have produced reference centiles for EFW and AC
      growth during the third trimester as a useful tool for quantifying growth.

PMID- 28601882
TI  - Bioabsorbable Scaffolds: Can the Problems of Dissolution Be Overcome?

PMID- 28601883
TI  - Skin-Homing IL-13-Producing T Cells Expand in the Circulation of Patients with
      Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), also known
      as drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome, is characterized by severe drug
      induced reactions with extensive cutaneous lesions and visceral involvement.
      Although T cell-mediated hypersensitivity reactions to drugs may be involved in
      the pathogenesis of DRESS, there is limited data regarding the T-cell phenotypes
      responsible for the pathogenesis of DRESS. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: Using flow
      cytometry, we investigated the cytokine profiles and cutaneous lymphocyte antigen
      (CLA) expression in circulating T cells in patients with DRESS. RESULTS: The
      proportions of circulating IL-4- and IL-13-producing CD4+ T cells, but not CD8+ T
      cells, were significantly higher in patients with DRESS during the active stage
      of the disease than in healthy subjects, and these proportions declined during
      the recovery stage. No differences in the proportions of circulating IFN-gamma-,
      IL-17-, and IL-22-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were observed between patients
      with DRESS and healthy subjects. A strong correlation between the proportion of
      IL-13-producing CD4+ T cells and serum levels of thymus and activation-regulated
      chemokine was observed. The proportion of CLA-expressing CD4+ T cells was
      significantly higher during the active stage of the disease. Moreover, the
      proportion of IL-13-producing CD4+ T cells was higher in the CLA+ subset than in
      the CLA- subset. CONCLUSIONS: Skin-homing IL-13-producing CD4+ T cells may be
      involved in the pathogenesis of DRESS.

PMID- 28601884
TI  - Push-Out Bond Strength of Calcium Silicate-Based Materials.

PMID- 28601885
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin Immunotherapy in
      Patients with Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Presenting with Asymptomatic
      Bacteriuria: A Systematic Review.
AB  - Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy in bladder cancer
      patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) remains a matter of debate. The aim
      of this systematic review was to present available evidence on the safety and
      efficacy of BCG immunotherapy in patients with ABU. A literature search within
      the Medline and the Embase databases was conducted with the following search
      terms: adverse events, bacteriuria, BCG, bladder cancer, cystitis, infection,
      pyuria, side effects and urinary tract infection (UTI). Sixteen relevant original
      articles were identified, including 6 articles directly presenting the safety or
      efficacy of BCG therapy in patients with ABU. None of them was a randomized
      controlled trial. Intravesical BCG instillations in patients with ABU were not
      associated with the increased risk of symptomatic UTI and did not affect
      negatively the recurrence- or progression-free survival. Routine urine analysis
      before BCG instillation created increased cost and potentially unnecessary delays
      in BCG therapy. ABU does not affect negatively the safety and efficacy of
      intravesical BCG immunotherapy. There is no evidence to support routine screening
      and treatment of ABU in patients scheduled for intravesical BCG instillations due
      to bladder cancer. However, this issue was not addressed adequately and needs
      further research.

PMID- 28601886
TI  - AUNA2: A Novel Type of Non-Syndromic Slowly Progressive Auditory
      Synaptopathy/Auditory Neuropathy with Autosomal-Dominant Inheritance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Auditory synaptopathy/neuropathy (AS/AN) is a heterogeneous disorder,
      which may be caused by environmental factors like postnatal hyperbilirubinemia or
      by genetic factors. The genetic forms are subdivided into syndromic and non
      syndromic types, and show different inheritance patterns with a strong
      preponderance of autosomal-recessive forms. To date, only a single locus for non
      syndromic autosomal-dominant AS/AN (AUNA1) has been reported in a single family,
      in which a non-coding DIAPH3 mutation was subsequently described as causative.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here, we report detailed clinical data on a large German
      AS/AN family with slowly progressive postlingual hearing loss. Affected family
      members developed their first symptoms in their second decade. Moderate hearing
      loss in the fourth decade then progressed to profound hearing impairment in older
      family members. Comprehensive audiological and neurological tests were performed
      in the affected family members. Genetic testing comprised linkage analyses with
      polymorphic markers and a genome-wide linkage analysis using the Affymetrix
      GeneChip(r) Human Mapping 250K. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We identified a large
      family with autosomal-dominant AS/AN. By means of linkage analyses, the AUNA1
      locus was excluded, and putatively linked regions on chromosomal bands 12q24 and
      13q34 were identified as likely carrying the second locus for autosomal-dominant
      AS/AN (AUNA2). AUNA2 is associated with a slowly progressive postlingual hearing
      loss without any evidence for additional symptoms in other organ systems.

PMID- 28601887
TI  - Comparative Retinal Vessel Size Study of Intravitreal Ranibizumab and Bevacizumab
      in Eyes with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this paper was to assess and compare the effects of
      intravitreal ranibizumab and bevacizumab on retinal vessel diameter in eyes with
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Patients with
      neovascular AMD who underwent intravitreal injection of either ranibizumab or
      bevacizumab were included. Noninjected fellow eyes served as a control. The main
      outcome measures were central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE), central retinal
      vein equivalent (CRVE), and the artery-vein ratio (AVR). RESULTS: In the
      ranibizumab group, the mean CRAE value decreased significantly at 1 week and 1
      month (p = 0.002). The AVR value decreased significantly at 1 month (p = 0.028).
      CRVE values did not change at 1 week and 1 month (p = 0.083). In the bevacizumab
      group, the preinjection CRAE, CRVE, and AVR values did not change through the
      study period (p = 0.128, p = 0.600, and p = 0.734, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      These results suggest that intravitreal ranibizumab led to significant retinal
      arteriolar vasoconstriction in eyes with neovascular AMD.

PMID- 28601888
TI  - Weight Bias: A Systematic Review of Characteristics and Psychometric Properties
      of Self-Report Questionnaires.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People living with overweight and obesity often experience weight
      based stigmatization. Investigations of the prevalence and correlates of weight
      bias and evaluation of weight bias reduction interventions depend upon
      psychometrically-sound measurement. Our paper is the first to comprehensively
      evaluate the psychometric properties, use of people-first language within items,
      and suitability for use with various populations of available self-report
      measures of weight bias. METHODS: We searched five electronic databases to
      identify English-language self-report questionnaires of weight bias. We rated
      each questionnaire's psychometric properties based on initial validation reports
      and subsequent use, and examined item language. RESULTS: Our systematic review
      identified 40 original self-report questionnaires. Most questionnaires were
      brief, demonstrated adequate internal consistency, and tapped key cognitive and
      affective dimensions of weight bias such as stereotypes and blaming. Current
      psychometric evidence is incomplete for many questionnaires, particularly with
      regard to the properties of test-retest reliability, sensitivity to change as
      well as discriminant and structural validity. Most questionnaires were developed
      prior to debate surrounding terminology preferences, and do not employ people
      first language in the items administered to participants. CONCLUSIONS: We provide
      information and recommendations for clinicians and researchers in selecting
      psychometrically sound measures of weight bias for various purposes and
      populations, and discuss future directions to improve measurement of this
      construct.

PMID- 28601889
TI  - RNA-Sequence Analysis Reveals Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) in Patients
      Exhibiting Different Risks of Tumor Metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. In a
      previous study, we found that for two patients who had a high risk of lymphatic
      metastasis, lymphatic metastasis did not occur; whereas, for two patients who had
      a low risk of lymphatic metastasis, lymphatic metastasis did occur. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS We analyzed the differential gene expressions of these four patients by
      RNA-sequence. The data (HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, LRYM_T versus LRYM_N, and HRNM_T
      versus LRYM_T) was then processed using differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
      analysis, functional analysis for DEGs, and PPI network construct. RESULTS For
      HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, there were 224 DEGs. There were 504 DEGs for LRYM_T versus
      LRYM_N, and 88 DEGs for LRYM_T versus LRYM_N. For HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, DEGs were
      up-regulated mainly in the cell cycle, the IL-17 signaling pathway, and the
      progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation; DEGs were down-regulated mainly in the
      IL-17 signaling pathway. For LRYM_T versus LRYM_N, DEGs were up-regulated mainly
      in protein digestion and absorption, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction;
      DEGs were down-regulated mainly in ECM-receptor interaction. For HRNM_T versus
      LRYM_T, DEGs were up-regulated mainly in the PPAR signaling pathway; DEGs were
      downregulated mainly in the adipocytokine signaling pathway. The DEGs were
      screened to construct PPI networks. CONCLUSIONS The GO and KEGG functional
      enrichments of HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, and LRYM_T versus LRYM_N were consistent
      with earlier studies. For HRNM_T versus LRYM_T, DEGs were up-regulated mainly in
      PPAR signaling; DEGs were down-regulated mainly in the adipocytokine pathway.

PMID- 28601890
TI  - Risk Score for Detecting Dysglycemia: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Working-Age
      Population in an Oil Field in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND Dysglycemia (pre-diabetes or diabetes) in young adults has increased
      rapidly. However, the risk scores for detecting dysglycemia in oil field staff
      and workers in China are limited. This study developed a risk score for the early
      identification of dysglycemia based on epidemiological and health examination
      data in an oil field working-age population with increased risk of diabetes.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS Multivariable logistic regression was used to develop the
      risk score model in a population-based, cross-sectional study. All subjects
      completed the questionnaires and underwent physical examination and oral glucose
      tolerance tests. The performance of the risk score models was evaluated using the
      area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS The study
      population consisted of 1995 participants, 20-64 years old (49.4% males), with
      undiagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes who underwent periodic health examinations
      from March 2014 to June 2015 in Dagang oil field, Tianjin, China. Age, sex, body
      mass index, history of high blood glucose, smoking, triglyceride, and fasting
      plasma glucose (FPG) constituted the Dagang dysglycemia risk score (Dagang DRS)
      model. The performance of Dagang DRS was superior to m-FINDRISC (AUC: 0.791; 95%
      confidence interval (CI), 0.773-0.809 vs. 0.633; 95% CI, 0.611-0.654). At the cut
      off value of 5.6 mmol/L, the Dagang DRS (AUC: 0.616; 95% CI, 0.592-0.641) was
      better than the FPG value alone (AUC: 0.571; 95% CI, 0.546-0.596) in participants
      with FPG <6.1 mmol/L (n=1545, P=0.028). CONCLUSIONS Dagang DRS is a valuable tool
      for detecting dysglycemia, especially when FPG <6.1 mmol/L, in oil field workers
      in China.

PMID- 28601892
TI  - Variability, stability, and resilience of fecal microbiota in dairy cows fed
      whole crop corn silage.
AB  - The microbiota of whole crop corn silage and feces of silage-fed dairy cows were
      examined. A total of 18 dairy cow feces were collected from six farms in Japan
      and China, and high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region
      of 16S rRNA genes was performed. Lactobacillaceae were dominant in all silages,
      followed by Acetobacteraceae, Bacillaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae. In feces, the
      predominant families were Ruminococcaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Clostridiaceae,
      Lachnospiraceae, Rikenellaceae, and Paraprevotellaceae. Therefore,
      Lactobacillaceae of corn silage appeared to be eliminated in the gastrointestinal
      tract. Although fecal microbiota composition was similar in most samples,
      relative abundances of several families, such as Ruminococcaceae,
      Christensenellaceae, Turicibacteraceae, and Succinivibrionaceae, varied between
      farms and countries. In addition to the geographical location, differences in
      feeding management between total mixed ration feeding and separate feeding
      appeared to be involved in the variations. Moreover, a cow-to-cow variation for
      concentrate-associated families was demonstrated at the same farm; two cows
      showed high abundance of Succinivibrionaceae and Prevotellaceae, whereas another
      had a high abundance of Porphyromonadaceae. There was a negative correlation
      between forage-associated Ruminococcaceae and concentrate-associated
      Succinivibrionaceae and Prevotellaceae in 18 feces samples. Succinivibrionaceae,
      Prevotellaceae, p-2534-18B5, and Spirochaetaceae were regarded as highly variable
      taxa in this study. These findings help to improve our understanding of variation
      and similarity of the fecal microbiota of dairy cows with regard to individuals,
      farms, and countries. Microbiota of naturally fermented corn silage had no
      influence on the fecal microbiota of dairy cows.

PMID- 28601891
TI  - Effect of Liraglutide Treatment on Prediabetes and Overweight or Obesity in
      Clozapine- or Olanzapine-Treated Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: A
      Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Compared with the general population, patients with schizophrenia
      have a 2- to 3-fold higher mortality rate primarily caused by cardiovascular
      disease. Previous interventions designed to counteract antipsychotic-induced
      weight gain and cardiometabolic disturbances reported limited effects.
      Objectives: To determine the effects of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor
      agonist liraglutide added to clozapine or olanzapine treatment of schizophrenia
      spectrum disorders. Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized clinical
      double-blind trial enrolled participants at 2 clinical sites in Denmark. Of 214
      eligible participants with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, 103 were randomized
      to liraglutide or placebo. Participants received stable treatment with clozapine
      or olanzapine, were overweight or obese, and had prediabetes. Data were collected
      from May 1, 2013, through February 25, 2016. Interventions: Treatment for 16
      weeks with once-daily subcutaneous injection of liraglutide or placebo. Trial
      drug therapy was titrated during the first 2 weeks of the study. Main Outcomes
      and Measures: The primary end point was change in glucose tolerance estimated by
      a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test result. Secondary end points included change
      in body weight and cardiometabolic parameters. Results: Of the 103 patients
      undergoing randomization (60 men [58.3%] and 43 women [41.7%]), 97 were included
      in the efficacy analysis, with a mean (SD) age of 42.5 (10.5) years and mean (SD)
      body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters
      squared) of 33.8 (5.9). The liraglutide and placebo groups had comparable
      characteristics (mean [SD] age, 42.1 [10.7] vs 43.0 [10.5] years; 30 men in each
      group; mean [SD] body mass index, 33.7 [5.1] vs 33.9 [6.6]). A total of 96
      randomized participants (93.2%) completed the trial. Glucose tolerance improved
      in the liraglutide group compared with the placebo group (P < .001). Altogether,
      30 liraglutide-treated participants (63.8%) developed normal glucose tolerance
      compared with 8 placebo-treated participants (16.0%) (P < .001; number needed to
      treat, 2). Body weight decreased with liraglutide compared with placebo (-5.3 kg;
      95% CI, -7.0 to -3.7 kg). Reductions in waist circumference (-4.1 cm; 95% CI, 
      6.0 to -2.3 cm), systolic blood pressure (-4.9 mm Hg; 95% CI, -9.5 to -0.3 mm
      Hg), visceral fat (-250.19 g; 95% CI, -459.9 to -40.5 g), and low-density
      lipoprotein levels (-15.4 mg/dL; 95% CI, -23.2 to -7.7 mg/dL) occurred with
      liraglutide compared with placebo. Adverse events with liraglutide affected
      mainly the gastrointestinal tract. Conclusions and Relevance: Liraglutide
      significantly improved glucose tolerance, body weight, and cardiometabolic
      disturbances in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with
      clozapine or olanzapine. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT01845259.

PMID- 28601893
TI  - Characterization of an Lrp/AsnC family regulator SCO3361, controlling
      actinorhodin production and morphological development in Streptomyces coelicolor.
AB  - Lrp/AsnC family regulators have been found in many bacteria as crucial regulators
      controlling diverse cellular processes. By genomic alignment, we found that
      SCO3361, an Lrp/AsnC family protein from Streptomyces coelicolor, shared the
      highest similarity to the SACE_Lrp from Saccharopolyspora erythraea. Deletion of
      SCO3361 led to dramatic reduction in actinorhodin (Act) production and delay in
      aerial mycelium formation and sporulation on solid media. Dissection of the
      mechanism underlying the function of SCO3361 in Act production revealed that it
      altered the transcription of the cluster-situated regulator gene actII-ORF4 by
      directly binding to its promoter. SCO3361 was an auto-regulator and
      simultaneously activated the transcription of its adjacent divergently
      transcribed gene SCO3362. SCO3361 affected aerial hyphae formation and
      sporulation of S. coelicolor by activating the expression of amfC, whiB, and
      ssgB. Phenylalanine and cysteine were identified as the effector molecules of
      SCO3361, with phenylalanine reducing the binding affinity, whereas cysteine
      increasing it. Moreover, interactional regulation between SCO3361 and SACE_Lrp
      was discovered for binding to each other's target gene promoter in this work. Our
      findings indicate that SCO3361 functions as a pleiotropic regulator controlling
      secondary metabolism and morphological development in S. coelicolor.

PMID- 28601894
TI  - Lichenysin production is improved in codY null Bacillus licheniformis by addition
      of precursor amino acids.
AB  - Lichenysin is categorized into the family of lipopeptide biosurfactants and has a
      variety of applications in the petroleum industry, bioremediation,
      pharmaceuticals, and the food industry. Currently, large-scale production is
      limited due to the low yield. This study found that lichenysin production was
      repressed by supplementation of extracellular amino acids. The global
      transcriptional factor CodY was hypothesized to prevent lichenysin biosynthesis
      under an amino acid-rich condition in Bacillus licheniformis. Thus, the codY null
      strain was constructed, and lichenysin production was increased by 31.0% to 2356
      mg/L with the addition of precursor amino acids, and the lichenysin production
      efficiency was improved by 42.8% to 98.2 mg/L* h. Correspondingly, the
      transcription levels of the lichenysin synthetase gene lchAA, and its
      corresponding regulator genes comA, degQ, and degU, were upregulated. Also, the
      codY deletion enhanced biosynthesis of lichenysin precursor amino acids (Gln,
      Ile, Leu, and Val) and reduced the formation of byproducts, acetate, acetoin, and
      2,3-butanediol. This study firstly reported that lichenysin biosynthesis was
      negatively regulated by CodY and lichenysin production could be further improved
      with the precursor amino acid amendment in the codY null strain.

PMID- 28601895
TI  - Site-saturation mutagenesis library construction and screening for specific broad
      spectrum single-domain antibodies against multiple Cry1 toxins.
AB  - Potential ecological environmental and food safety risks of various Cry toxins of
      Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in transgenic food have received gradually increasing
      attention, which urged to establish an efficient and broad-spectrum detection
      technology for Cry toxins. Based on the single-domain antibody (sdAb) A8 against
      Bt Cry1Ab toxin screened from the humanized domain antibody library, the key
      amino acids of sdAb (A8) binding five kinds of Cry1 toxins were predicted using
      homology modeling and molecular docking technology, and the results showed that
      105th asparagine, 106th arginine, 107th valine, and 114th arginine, respectively,
      located in heavy-chain complementarity-determining region 3 were common key amino
      acid sites. Subsequently, site-saturation cooperative mutagenesis of the four key
      sites was performed using overlap extension PCR, and multiple site-saturation
      mutagenesis sdAb library with the capacity of 1.2 * 105 colony-forming units
      (CFU) was successfully constructed. With alternating five Cry1 toxins as coating
      antigen, two generic sdAbs (2-C1, 2-C9) were screened out from the mutagenesis
      library, which could detect six kinds of Cry1 toxins at least. Through ELISA
      analysis, the binding activity of 2-C9 was significantly enhanced, and its OD
      values versus Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1B, Cry1C, and Cry1E increased to 1.34, 1.53,
      1.82, 2.39, and 2.7 times, respectively, compared with maternal antibody A8. The
      IC50 values of 2-C9 against Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1B, and Cry1C were lower than that
      of A8, which showed that the affinity of 2-C9 against Cry1 toxins was enhanced.
      The results were beneficial to developing high-throughput and high-sensitive
      immune-detecting technology for Cry toxins.

PMID- 28601896
TI  - Influence of TNF and IL6 gene polymorphisms on the severity of cytopenias in
      Argentine patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.
AB  - Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) represent a heterogeneous group of hematologic
      disorders characterized by cytopenia(s) and predisposition to leukemic
      progression. An immune dysregulation and an aberrant bone marrow microenvironment
      seem to be key elements in the physiopathological process of MDS. In order to
      evaluate a possible association between susceptibility and clinic-pathologic
      features, we genotyped 153 MDS patients for functional cytokine polymorphisms:
      TNF (-308 G/A), IFNG (+874 A/T and +875 CAn), IL6 (-174 G/C), and TGFB1 (+869 C/T
      and +915 G/C). The frequency of TNF and IL6 polymorphisms was different between
      patients and healthy controls (n = 131), suggesting a relatedness to MDS
      susceptibility in our population. Furthermore, the presence of each or both high
      producing genotypes [TNF: p = 0.048, odds ratio (OR): 3.979; IL6: p = 0.001, OR:
      6.835; both: p = 0.010, OR: 6.068] and thrombocytopenia at platelet counts of
      <50,000/MUL (p = 0.004, OR: 4.857) were independently associated with an
      increased risk of manifesting a hemoglobin level of <8 g/dL at diagnosis. In
      particular, a severe bicytopenia was more frequently observed in patients with
      the TNF (high)_IL6 (high) combined genotype (p = 0.004, OR: 8.357), who
      consistently became transfusion dependent earlier (2.9 vs. 34.6 months; p =
      0.001); and this likelihood was more evident in patients with lower bone marrow
      blast counts. The contribution of the remaining functional polymorphisms to the
      disease phenotype was less relevant. Our results demonstrate that TNF and IL6
      gene polymorphisms, as underlying host features, are likely to play a key role in
      influencing the severity of the cytopenias in MDS and they may be instrumental
      for tailoring cytokine-target therapies.

PMID- 28601898
TI  - Varied facets of rectal atresia and rectal stenosis.
AB  - Rectal atresia (RA) and rectal stenosis (RS) are rare anomalies with varied
      treatment options. A thorough literature review was done on reported cases/series
      of RA and RS. Based on evidence from cases managed over last 15 years, new
      insights into embryology were hypothesized. A comprehensive review was compiled
      with updated knowledge on diagnosis and management. RA is classified into five
      types I: II: III: IV: V as RS: RA with septal defect: RA with a fibrous cord
      between two atretic ends: RA with a gap: Multiple RA and/or RS. Current
      definitive surgical repair of these anomalies preserves the anal canal, dentate
      line, and sphincter complex. Most neonates with RA undergo sigmoid colostomy
      except few with RS who can rarely decompress adequately. Membranous RS and septal
      RA may seldom respond to dilatation or be amenable to transanal repair. Posterior
      sagittal anorectoplasty with an end-to-end/side repair is recommended for RA and
      most intramural RS. RS may be associated with a presacral mass and colonic/rectal
      motility disorders. The expected postoperative outcome is good if the normally
      developed anal sphincter complex is retained undamaged. Early recognition of the
      type of anomaly is necessary for appropriate management.

PMID- 28601897
TI  - Histone methylation in the freeze-tolerant wood frog (Rana sylvatica).
AB  - Freeze-tolerant animals survive sub-zero temperatures and long-term starvation
      associated with the winter by lowering their metabolic rate using a variety of
      transcriptional, translational, and post-translational regulatory methods.
      Histone methylation is one mechanism that is known to regulate gene expression at
      the transcriptional level. Here, we measured relative protein levels of seven
      histone methyltransferases (SMYD2, SETD7, ASH2L, RBBP5, SUV39H1, EHMT2, and
      SET8), four methylated histone H3 residues (H3K4me1, H3K9me3, H3K27me1, and
      H3K36me2), the methyltransferase activity on H3K4, and methylation of p53
      (p53K370me2 and p53K372me1) in the skeletal muscle and liver of the freeze
      tolerant wood frog (Rana sylvatica) during the freeze-thaw cycle. Overall, the
      results reveal a tissue-specific expression of histone methyltransferases and the
      methylation sites on histone H3 during freezing and thaw. In liver, H3K4me1
      significantly decreased during freezing, H3K9me3 remained constant across
      conditions, H3K27me1 increased only during thaw, and H3K36me2 increased during
      freezing and then decreased during thaw (p < 0.05, n = 4). In skeletal muscle,
      H3K4me1 and H3K27me1 both decreased during freezing, whereas H3K9me3 and H3K36me2
      were maintained across freezing and thaw (p < 0.05, n = 4). Methylation of p53
      was also tissue-specific, where no changes were seen in liver tissue; however,
      p53 in skeletal muscle was differentially methylated. Overall, these results
      provide an evidence for the potential role methylation of histones and non
      histone proteins play in freezing survival and entrance into a hypometabolic
      state.

PMID- 28601899
TI  - Sensory innervation of the anal canal and anorectal line in Hirschsprung's
      disease: histological evidence from mouse models.
AB  - AIM: We used non-Hirschsprung's disease (HD) Sox10-Venus Transgenic mice (non
      HDSV-mice), an endothelin receptor-B knockout mouse model of HD (HD-mice), and
      C57B6C3 wild controls (C-mice) to identify the correlation between the anorectal
      line (ARL) and successful transanal pull-through (TAPT). METHODS: In non-HDSV
      mice, intestinal neural crest-derived cells can be visualized with Venus,-a green
      fluorescent protein-without histochemical staining. We exposed the anal canal in
      each non-HDSV-mouse and marked the ARL directly with red ink. Specimens of anus
      and rectum from HD- and C-mice were immunostained with sensory nerve markers
      substance P and calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and Hematoxylin and Eosin.
      RESULTS: Stereoscopic microscopy confirmed a squamous-columnar epithelial
      junction corresponding to the red ink in non-HDSV-mice. Fluorescence microscopy
      showed intense Venus expression proximal to the ARL and little enteric nerve
      expression distally. Substance P and CGRP expression were strong in the basal
      layer of the anal transitional zone (ATZ) in both HD- and C-mice; i.e., distal
      sensory innervation was normal in HD-mice. CONCLUSIONS: The ARL delineated a
      distinct demarcation in sensory innervation that is normal even in HD-mice. Thus,
      the initial incision during TAPT should be based on the ARL because it is readily
      identifiable and intimately involved with bowel function.

PMID- 28601900
TI  - Embryological and clinical implications of the association between anorectal
      malformations and spinal dysraphisms.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the association of anorectal malformation (ARM) and spinal
      dysraphism (SD) in terms of impact on the management of SD and embryogenetic
      implications. METHODS: Patients with SD associated with (A) or without (B) ARM
      were included. The two groups were further divided into operated on (A1/B1) or
      not (A2/B2) for SD. Groups A and B were compared for type of SD (embryogenetic
      classification) and prevalence of neurosurgery; Groups A1 vs. A2 for type of ARM
      (Wingspread classification); Groups A1 vs. B1 for age at neurosurgery,
      neurophysiology, and clinical symptoms. MAIN RESULTS: One hundred twenty-one
      patients with SD, 83 with and 38 without ARM were consecutively treated (1999
      2015). Group A was associated only with SDs developing after primary neurulation,
      corresponding to the period of cloacal septation and organogenesis (p = 0.0007).
      Untethering surgery was significantly less frequent in Group A (p < 0.0001 and p
      = 0.04, respectively). Higher ARMs were not associated with increased risk for
      neurosurgery. No other significant differences were detected. CONCLUSIONS: In our
      series, ARMs were associated only with SD developing after primary neurulation,
      suggesting a single insult leading to both SD and the associated ARM.
      Neurosurgery is indicated less frequently in patients with ARM-associated SD,
      despite the similar preoperative clinical features.

PMID- 28601901
TI  - Hirschsprung's disease in twins: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is known to occur in families.
      The reported overall incidence of familial cases is 7.6%, with a higher incidence
      of 15-21% in total colonic aganglionosis and 50% in the rare total intestinal
      aganglionosis. HSCR is extremely rare in twins. The aim of this study was to
      systematically analyse the patterns of HSCR in twins published in the literature.
      METHODS: Electronic databases Pubmed and Medline were screened for relevant
      articles using the keywords "Hirschsprung's disease", "aganglionosis", "twins",
      "monozygotic", and "dizygotic". Examining reference lists identified further
      relevant papers. MAIN RESULTS: Twelve studies with a total of 18 twin pairs were
      included in this analysis. 67% twins were discordant. HSCR was found in 24 out of
      36 twin subjects (67%), of which 83% affected were male. Rectosigmoid type was
      reported in 71% of patients, long-segment disease in 21, and 8% presented with a
      total aganglionosis. Three twin pairs had at least one family member affected
      with HSCR. CONCLUSION: HSCR was found in two-thirds of twin subjects with a male
      predominance. Rectosigmoid aganglionosis was the most common variant. Disease
      discordance was identified, where environmental insults were postulated to be
      predisposing factors to disease expression. Future studies investigating the
      disease-associated mutations in the already identified HSCR genes should provide
      insights into the genetic basis of HSCR in twins.

PMID- 28601902
TI  - Titanium incus interposition ossiculoplasty: audiological outcomes and extrusion
      rates.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the benefit but also the extrusions, dislocations,
      and failures of a titanium incus prosthesis along with the long-term audiological
      outcomes. We prospectively collected data from 139 patients undergoing
      ossiculoplasty using the Fisch titanium incus prosthesis between 2001 and 2016.
      Overall, 126 patients with at least 6 months of follow-up (mean 4.5 years, range
      6-155 months) were analyzed. Patients were grouped as "extrusion" (n = 9, 7%) if
      the prosthesis extruded, "failure" (n = 22, 18%) if a reoperation was needed
      concerning the prosthesis, and "stable" (n = 95, 75%) if the prosthesis remained
      functional in the middle ear. Mean postoperative air bone gaps (ABG) for 0.5-3
      kHz for the overall group and the stable group were 19.8 (+/-11.9) and 15.3 (+/
      7.5), respectively. Long-term results of stable group revealed an ABG (0.5-3 kHz)
      below 10 dB in 25% and below 20 dB in 81% of the patients. Atelectasis was the
      most frequent cause of extrusion, which occurred after a mean time of 28.7 months
      (range 15-48 months). Mean timing for reoperation was 30.7 months (range 5-131
      months) in the failure group. There was no significant difference in mean
      postoperative ABG among patients with or without cholesteatoma, primary or staged
      ossiculoplasty in cholesteatoma, presence or absence of malleus head at the time
      of ossiculoplasty, open or closed cavity surgeries, or the degree of
      pneumatization of the temporal bone. The Fisch titanium incus prosthesis is a
      reliable alternative to using autologous incus for interposition ossiculoplasty,
      with similar hearing outcomes. Using this prosthesis, a 15 dB ABG should be
      expected.

PMID- 28601904
TI  - Disease modeling in genetic kidney diseases: mice.
AB  - The mouse still represents arguably the most important mammal organism in
      research for modeling human genetic kidney diseases in vivo. Compared with many
      other mammal species, the breeding and maintenance of mice in the laboratory is
      relatively simple and cheap and reproduction cycles are short. In addition to
      classic gene knockout mouse lines, new molecular biological technologies have led
      to the development of a plethora of other, more sophisticated, mouse models,
      allowing the targeting of genes or gene function in a cell-specific, tissue
      specific and time-dependent fashion. With the refinement of more recently
      developed genome-editing technologies, including the clustered regularly
      interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas system and other engineered
      nucleases such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like
      effector nucleases (TALENs), our "tool set" of mouse models is expected to
      rapidly expand. These technological advances hold great promise and should enable
      us to study and hence understand the biology of inherited kidney diseases in
      greater detail. By analogy, we may be able to answer questions regarding the
      impact of individual proteins on the development of human kidney disorders, the
      underlying mechanisms governing the evolution of the disease and the predicted
      responsiveness to therapeutic interventions. Moreover, knockout and transgenic
      mouse models can be highly informative with respect to the effects of genetic
      variations on renal phenotypes. This review focuses on mouse models that have
      been devised primarily to study monogenic human kidney diseases, which are
      typically caused by a single abnormal gene and passed on in a Mendelian pattern.
      Despite the large number of human hereditary kidney disorders and the multitude
      of mouse models described in the literature, we attempt to give a balanced
      overview of several well-known renal pathologies, a few of which are addressed in
      some detail.

PMID- 28601903
TI  - Can complications in febrile neutropenia be predicted? Report from a developing
      country.
AB  - PURPOSE: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is an important cause of morbidity and
      mortality in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We aimed to look
      at complications in febrile neutropenia and to derive a risk model for developing
      complications from the variables predicting complications. METHODS: Children on
      treatment for ALL, presenting with FN, were prospectively enrolled over a period
      of 1 year. Their clinical presentation, course during hospital stay, and outcomes
      were recorded. Complications recorded included septic shock, pneumonia requiring
      invasive or non-invasive ventilation, renal failure, neutropenic enterocolitis,
      encephalopathy, congestive heart failure, and bleeding manifestations. RESULTS:
      There were 320 episodes of FN among 176 patients. Complications occurred during
      73 (22.8%) episodes. Time since last chemotherapy <=7 days [OR 2.2 (1-4.5)],
      clinical focus of infection [OR 2.7 (1.3-5.5)], undernutrition [OR 2.5 (1.1
      5.5)], absolute neutrophil count (ANC) <= 100/MUL [OR 2.8 (1.3-5.9)], and C
      reactive protein (CRP) > 60 mg/L at admission [OR 13.3 (5.2-33.8)] were
      independent predictors of complications. A risk model (total score = 13) was
      developed based on these predictors. Children with score of >=7 had 17.2 (7.7
      38.6) odds of developing complications as compared to those with score <7. Score
      of <7 predicted children at lower risk of complications [sensitivity 88% (78.2
      93.8%), specificity 72.5% (65.7-78.4%), PPV 53.6% (44.3-62.6%), NPV 94.4% (89.3
      97.1%)]. CONCLUSIONS: Complications during febrile neutropenia are high in a
      developing country setup. A risk score model based on identified risk factors can
      possibly help in recognizing low-risk febrile neutropenic children at admission.

PMID- 28601905
TI  - Effect of the genetic group, production system and sex on the meat quality and
      sensory traits of beef from crossbred animals.
AB  - The crossbreeding of two or more breeds from the Bos taurus and Bos indicus
      species is an alternative for obtaining high-quality meat from animals adapted to
      tropical climates. Quality and sensory attributes of beef, mainly its tenderness
      and flavour, are very important with regard to the consumer's point of view. This
      study aimed to evaluate the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of
      crossbred young bulls and heifers, the offspring of Angus or Limousin bulls and
      1/2 Angus + 1/2 Nellore or 1/2 Simental + 1/2 Nellore cows that were finished on
      feedlot or pasture. Meat quality traits (pH, colour, cooking loss, water holding
      capacity and shear force) and sensory parameters (characteristic beef
      aroma/flavour intensity, strange aroma/flavour intensity, tenderness and
      juiciness descriptive attributes, flavour, texture (tenderness) and overall
      acceptance) were evaluated. The genetic group had an effect on the beef pH, but
      it was not as relevant as the effect of the combination between the production
      system and the sex or genetic group, which affected many of the quality and
      sensory traits.

PMID- 28601906
TI  - Unravelling the regulation of insulin transport across the brain endothelial
      cell.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: For circulating insulin to act on the brain it must cross the
      blood-brain barrier (BBB). Remarkably little is known about how circulating
      insulin crosses the BBB's highly restrictive brain endothelial cells (BECs).
      Therefore, we examined potential mechanisms regulating BEC insulin uptake,
      signalling and degradation during BEC transcytosis, and how transport is affected
      by a high-fat diet (HFD) and by astrocyte activity. METHODS: 125I-TyrA14-insulin
      uptake and transcytosis, and the effects of insulin receptor (IR) blockade,
      inhibition of insulin signalling, astrocyte stimulation and an HFD were tested
      using purified isolated BECs (iBECs) in monoculture and co-cultured with
      astrocytes. RESULTS: At physiological insulin concentrations, the IR, not the IGF
      1 receptor, facilitated BEC insulin uptake, which required lipid raft-mediated
      endocytosis, but did not require insulin action on phosphoinositide-3-kinase
      (PI3K) or mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK). Feeding rats an HFD for
      4 weeks decreased iBEC insulin uptake and increased NF-kappaB binding activity
      without affecting insulin PI3K signalling, IR expression or content, or insulin
      degrading enzyme expression. Using an in vitro BBB (co-culture of iBECs and
      astrocytes), we found insulin was not degraded during transcytosis, and that
      stimulating astrocytes with L-glutamate increased transcytosis, while inhibiting
      nitric oxide synthase decreased insulin transcytosis. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION:
      Insulin crosses the BBB intact via an IR-specific, vesicle-mediated transport
      process in the BECs. HFD feeding, nitric oxide inhibition and astrocyte
      stimulation can regulate BEC insulin uptake and transcytosis.

PMID- 28601907
TI  - High glucose increases the formation and pro-oxidative activity of endothelial
      microparticles.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Individuals with diabetes exhibit increases in circulating
      endothelial microparticles (eMPs, also referred to as endothelial microvesicles),
      which are associated with endothelial dysfunction and a heightened risk of
      cardiovascular complications. We have shown that eMPs are markers and mediators
      of vascular injury although their role in diabetes is unclear. We hypothesised
      that the composition and biological activity of eMPs are altered in response to
      high glucose exposure. We assessed the effects of high glucose on eMP formation,
      composition and signalling in cultured HUVECs. METHODS: eMPs were isolated from
      the media of HUVECs cultured under conditions of normal glucose (eMPNG), high
      glucose (eMPHG) or osmotic control of L-glucose (eMPLG). eMP size, concentration
      and surface charge were assessed by nanoparticle tracking analysis and flow
      cytometry. eMP protein composition was assessed by liquid chromatography-tandem
      mass spectrometry, and eMP-mediated effects on coagulation, reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) production and vessel function were assessed. RESULTS: Exposure of
      HUVECs to high glucose for 24 h caused a threefold increase in eMP formation,
      increased mean particle size (269 +/- 18 nm vs 226 +/- 11 nm) and decreased
      surface charge. Compared with eMPNG or eMPLG, eMPHG possessed approximately
      threefold greater pro-coagulant activity, stimulated HUVEC ROS production to a
      greater extent (~250% of eMPNG) and were more potent inhibitors of endothelial
      dependent relaxation. Proteomic analysis of eMPs identified 1212 independent
      proteins of which 68 were exclusively found in eMPHG. Gene ontology analysis
      revealed that eMPHG-exclusive proteins were associated with signalling pathways
      related to blood coagulation, cell signalling and immune cell activation.
      CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our results indicate that elevated glucose is a
      potent stimulus for eMP formation that also alters their molecular composition
      leading to increased bioactivity. Such effects may contribute to progressive
      endothelial injury and subsequent cardiovascular complications in diabetes.

PMID- 28601908
TI  - Urinary liver-type fatty acid binding protein is an independent predictor of
      stroke and mortality in individuals with type 1 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: In type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetic
      nephropathy progress in parallel, thereby potentiating the risk of premature
      death during their development. Since urinary liver-type fatty acid binding
      protein (L-FABP) predicts the progression of diabetic nephropathy, the aim of
      this study was to investigate whether urinary L-FABP also predicts cardiovascular
      outcomes and mortality. METHODS: We tested our hypothesis in a Finnish cohort of
      2329 individuals with type 1 diabetes and a median follow-up of 14.1 years. The L
      FABP to creatinine ratio was determined from baseline urine samples. The
      predictive value of urinary L-FABP was evaluated using Cox regression models,
      while its added predictive benefit for cardiovascular outcomes and mortality was
      evaluated using a panel of statistical indexes. RESULTS: Urinary L-FABP predicted
      incident stroke independently of traditional risk factors (HR 1.33 [95% CI 1.20,
      1.49]) and after further adjustment for eGFR (HR 1.28 [95% CI 1.14, 1.44]) or AER
      (HR 1.24 [95% CI 1.06, 1.44]). In addition, it predicted mortality independently
      of traditional risk factors (HR 1.34 [95% CI 1.24, 1.45]), and after adjustment
      for eGFR (HR 1.29 [95% CI 1.18, 1.39]) or AER (HR 1.22 [95% CI 1.09, 1.36]).
      Urinary L-FABP was as good a predictor as eGFR or AER, and improved the AUC for
      both outcomes on top of traditional risk factors, with no reclassification
      benefit (integrated discrimination improvement/net reclassification improvement)
      for stroke or mortality when AER or eGFR were added to traditional risk factors.
      However, urinary L-FABP was not a predictor of other cardiovascular endpoints
      (coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease and overall CVD events)
      when adjusted for the AER. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Urinary L-FABP is an
      independent predictor of stroke and mortality in individuals with type 1
      diabetes.

PMID- 28601909
TI  - Study of conjunctival flora in anophthalmic patients: influence on the comfort of
      the socket.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between conjunctival flora and comfort
      of the socket in anophthalmic patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional clinical study
      including 60 patients with unilateral anophthalmia who wear a prosthetic eye.
      From each patient three microbiological samples were taken from the lower
      conjunctival sac (healthy eye, pre-prosthesis, and retro-prosthesis space of
      socket). The 180 samples obtained were cultured. Samples from a randomized
      subgroup of 29 patients were measured by spectrophotometry at 540 nm after 48 h
      of growth, to determine their microbial density (MD). The grade of comfort of the
      socket (GCS) of each patient was established by a questionnaire. Epidemiological
      and clinical data of the anophthalmic socket and artificial eye care of each
      patient were also collected. RESULTS: MD decreased in healthy eyes (0.213 +/-
      0.201, P = 0.004) compared with the pre-prosthesis (0.402 +/- 0.323) and retro
      prosthesis (0.438 +/- 0.268) samples. Pre-prosthesis MD correlated with retro
      prosthesis MD (R = 0.401, P = 0.031) and healthy eye MD (R = 0.482, P = 0.008),
      and it was also related to poor GCS (P = 0.017). Aerobic Gram-negative bacteria
      in retro-prosthesis samples of patients with poor GCS was higher than in patients
      with good or fair GCS (P = 0.008). In the same samples, coagulase-negative
      staphylococci proportion (excluding S. epidermidis) increased in patients with
      good GCS (P = 0.030). CONCLUSIONS: Socket microflora is related to GCS. Increased
      pathogenic flora, especially Gram-negative bacteria, and high MD are related to
      discomfort, while coagulase-negative staphylococci (other than S. epidermidis)
      are associated with comfort.

PMID- 28601910
TI  - The clinical outcomes of surgical management of anterior chamber migration of a
      dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex(r)).
AB  - PURPOSE: Our purpose was to describe the clinical course, and individualized
      management approaches, of patients with migration of a dexamethasone implant into
      the anterior chamber. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of four patients
      with seven episodes of anterior chamber migration of a dexamethasone implant.
      RESULTS: After 924 intravitreal dexamethasone injections, anterior migration of
      the implant occurred in four eyes of four patients (0.43%). All four eyes were
      pseudophakic: one eye had a posterior chamber intraocular lens in the capsular
      bag but in a post-laser posterior capsulotomy state, two eyes had a sulcus
      intraocular lens (IOL), and one eye had an iris-fixated retropupillary IOL. All
      eyes had a prior vitrectomy and no lens capsule. The time interval from injection
      to detection of the implant migration ranged from 2 to 6 weeks. Of the four eyes
      with corneal edema, only one eye required a corneal transplantation, although it
      was unclear whether the implant migration was the direct cause of the corneal
      decompensation because the patient had a history of bullous keratopathy resulting
      from an extended history of uveitis. All patients underwent surgical
      intervention: two patients with a repositioning procedure, and the other two
      patients with removal due to repeated episodes, although surgical removal was not
      always necessary to reverse the corneal complications. CONCLUSIONS: In our study,
      not all patients required surgical removal of the implants. Repositioning the
      implant back into the vitreous cavity may be considered as an option in cases
      involving the first episode with no significant corneal endothelial
      decompensation. Considering potential anterior segment complications and the loss
      of drug effectiveness together, an individualized approach is recommended to
      obtain the best treatment outcomes and to minimize the risk of corneal
      complications.

PMID- 28601911
TI  - Repeatability of ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness measurements using
      spectral-domain OCT in branch retinal vein occlusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the repeatability of thickness measurements of the central
      macula, ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL), and retinal nerve fiber
      layer (RNFL) using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) before
      and after treatment of macular edema in branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
      METHODS: We analyzed patients with BRVO who visited our retinal clinic. The
      repeatability of the thickness measurements were compared using the intraclass
      correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (COV) of affected
      versus normal fellow eyes. RESULTS: The average thicknesses of the central
      macula, RNFL, and GC-IPL were 371.28 MUm, 105.60 MUm, and 61.88 MUm,
      respectively, in affected eyes with macular edema before treatment, and the ICCs
      were 0.978, 0.919, and 0.705, respectively. The average thicknesses were 244.98
      MUm, 96.70 MUm, and 82.70 MUm, respectively, in affected eyes without macular
      edema after treatment, and the ICCs were 0.999, 0.975, and 0.928, respectively.
      After resolution of macular edema, the average thickness of the GC-IPL increased,
      whereas that of the central macula and RNFL significantly decreased (P < 0.05);
      all of the ICCs increased compared to pretreatment values. In normal fellow eyes,
      the average thicknesses were 250.98 MUm, 93.50 MUm, and 83.84 MUm, respectively,
      and the ICCs were 0.996, 0.995, and 0.994, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: After
      treatment of macular edema, the repeatability and thickness of the GC-IPL
      increased, along with reduction in the central macular thickness. This resulted
      from auto-segmentation errors following macular contour changes and unstable
      gazes of the patients due to decreased visual acuities in BRVO with macular
      edema.

PMID- 28601912
TI  - Effects of photodynamic therapy plus intravitreal aflibercept with subtenon
      triamcinolone injections for aflibercept-resistant polypoidal choroidal
      vasculopathy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcome of triple therapy of photodynamic therapy
      combined with injections of intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) and subtenon
      triamcinolone acetonide for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) resistant to
      IVA. METHODS: A retrospective chart review at a single institution was conducted
      to identify patients with PCV resistant to treatment with IVA who were switched
      to treatment with triple therapy. In total, 13 eyes from 13 patients were
      included in the study. Demographic data, visual acuities, central retinal
      thickness (CRT) and height of pigment epithelial detachment (PED) on optical
      coherence tomography (OCT), complications, and number of injections were
      reviewed. RESULTS: The patients had a mean age of 68 years (range 53-83). The
      number of prior injections with IVA ranged from 5 to 10. At 12 months follow-up
      after triple therapy, there was a significant improvement in visual acuity (P =
      0.0039), a significant decrease in CRT (P = 0.003), and a significant reduction
      of the height of PED (P = 0.015). Only one patient had retinal pigment epithelium
      tear. CONCLUSIONS: Triple therapy improved visual and anatomical outcomes in
      patients with PCV with recurrent or resistant retinal fluid and PED after
      multiple injections with IVA.

PMID- 28601913
TI  - The effects of a non-cognitive versus cognitive admission procedure within
      cohorts in one medical school.
AB  - In medical school selection, non-cognitive performance in particular correlates
      with performance in clinical practice. It is arguable, therefore, that selection
      should focus on non-cognitive aspects despite the predictive value of prior
      cognitive performance for early medical school performance. The aim of this study
      at Radboud University Medical Center, the Netherlands, is to determine the
      effects of admitting students through an autonomous non-cognitive procedure on
      early medical school performance. We compared their performance to the
      performance of students selected through an autonomous cognitive selection
      procedure, enrolling in the Bachelor's curriculum simultaneously. 574 students
      (2013 and 2014 cohorts), admitted through non-cognitive selection (based on
      portfolio, CASPer and MMI, n = 135) or cognitive selection (curriculum sample
      selection, n = 439) were included in the study. We compared dropout rates, course
      credits and grades, using logistic and linear regression. The dropout rate was
      the highest in the non-cognitive selection group (p < 0.001). Students admitted
      through non-cognitive selection more often obtained the highest grade for the
      nursing attachment (p = 0.02) and had a higher mean grade for the practical
      clinical course in year 3 (p = .04). No differences in course grades were found.
      The results indicate that students perform best on the elements of the curriculum
      that are represented most strongly in the selection procedure they had
      participated in. We recommend the use of curriculum sample procedures, resembling
      the early medical school curriculum,-whether it has a more cognitive or a more
      non-cognitive focus-, to select the students who are likely to be successful in
      the subsequent curriculum.

PMID- 28601916
TI  - Thyroid Carcinoma in a Child with Activated Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase delta
      Syndrome: Somatic Effect of a Germline Mutation.

PMID- 28601915
TI  - Volatile organic compounds in the breath of oral candidiasis patients: a pilot
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate whether specific volatile
      organic compounds (VOCs) can be detected in oral candidiasis patients using
      breath analysis in order to develop a point-of-care diagnostic tool.
      PATIENTS/METHODS: Breath samples of 10 diseased patients and 10 subjects carrying
      no Candida spp. were analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. In
      infected patients, breath tests were performed before and after antifungal
      therapy. RESULTS: Breath testing was positive for 143 volatiles in both healthy
      subjects and diseased patients. Among those, specific signature volatiles known
      to be emitted by Candida spp. in vitro were not detected. Even though no specific
      signature was retrieved from the diseased patients, a pattern containing nine
      compounds (2-methyl-2-butanol, hexanal, longifolene, methyl acetate, 1-heptene,
      acetophenone, decane, 3-methyl-1-butanol, chlorbenzene) was identified, which
      showed characteristic changes after antifungal therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Focusing on
      the identified pattern, breath analysis may be applied to confirm the absence of
      Candida spp. after therapy in terms of a confirmatory test supplementing clinical
      examination, thereby replacing microbial testing. However, microbial testing will
      still be needed to initially confirm clinical diagnoses, as no specific signature
      was found. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A breath test may help in avoiding extended
      antifungal administration resulting in resistance development and might be useful
      in the monitoring of disease recurrences in vulnerable groups.

PMID- 28601914
TI  - Left ventricular ejection fraction as therapeutic target: is it the ideal marker?
AB  - Heart failure (HF) consists the fastest growing clinical cardiac disease. HF
      patients are categorized on the basis of underlying left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF) into HF with preserved EF (HFpEF), reduced LVEF (HFrEF), and mid
      range LVEF (HFmrEF). While LVEF is the most commonly used surrogate marker of
      left ventricular (LV) systolic function, the implementation of two-dimensional
      echocardiography in estimating this parameter imposes certain caveats on current
      HF classification. Most importantly, LVEF could fluctuate in repeated
      measurements or even recover after treatment, thus blunting the borders between
      proposed categories of HF and enabling upward classification of patients. Under
      this prism, we sought to summarize possible procedures to improve systolic
      function in patients with HFrEF either naturally or by the means of pharmacologic
      and non-pharmacologic treatment and devices. Therefore, we reviewed established
      pharmacotherapy, including beta-blockers, inhibitors of renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone axis, statins, and digoxin as well as novel treatments like
      sacubitril-valsartan, ranolazine, and ivabradine. In addition, we assessed
      evidence in favor of cardiac resynchronization therapy and exercise training
      programs. Finally, innovative therapeutic strategies, including stem cells,
      xanthine oxidase inhibitors, antibiotic regimens, and omega-3 polyunsaturated
      fatty acids, were also taken into consideration. We concluded that LVEF is
      subject to changes in HF after intervention and besides the aforementioned HFrEF,
      HFpEF, and HFmrEF categories, a new entity of HF patients with recovered LVEF
      should be acknowledged. An improved global and refined LV function assessment by
      sophisticated imaging modalities and circulating biomarkers is expected to render
      HF classification more accurate and indicate patients with viable-yet
      dysfunctional-myocardium and favorable characteristics as the ideal candidates
      for LVEF recovery by individualized HF therapy.

PMID- 28601917
TI  - Hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer survival: a systematic review and
      meta-analysis of observational studies.
AB  - Previous studies on the association between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and
      breast cancer survival have yielded mixed results. We aimed to perform a meta
      analysis to assess the association with all available studies. Relevant studies
      were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE to April 2017. We calculated the
      summary hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using random
      effects models. The dose-response relationship was assessed by random-effects
      meta-analysis and dose-response meta-regression models. Forty cohort studies and
      two case-control studies involving 1,756,833 participants were included. The
      results showed that prediagnosis HRT use was associated with decreased risk of
      dying from breast cancer (HR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.81-0.97) or any cause (HR = 0.79,
      95% CI 0.69-0.90). Postdiagnosis HRT use also showed a beneficial effect on
      breast cancer survival. In the subgroup analyses, we found that patients who were
      current users at diagnosis or who received combined hormone therapy before
      diagnosis seemed to show more benefit from HRT use. In dose-response analysis, we
      observed a linear relationship between prediagnosis HRT and breast cancer
      specific mortality and a 1-year increment in duration of exposure to HRT
      conferred an HR of 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-1.00) for death from breast cancer. In
      conclusion, the average effect of HRT use seems not harmful to breast cancer
      survival. Nevertheless, this effect of HRT use is needed for further assessment.

PMID- 28601918
TI  - Osimertinib reactivated immune-related colitis after treatment with anti-PD1
      antibody for non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - We reported a case of relapsing immune-related colitis (initially caused by
      nivolumab) following osimertinib therapy for lung adenocarcinoma. A 45-year-old
      female who had never smoked was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung and
      underwent surgical resection. Four years after surgical resection, she was
      diagnosed with recurrent disease and was eventually treated with nivolumab as
      third-line therapy. One month after the completion of nivolumab therapy, the
      patient reported abdominal pain and frequent diarrhea. We diagnosed immune
      related colitis and started oral prednisolone. However, the steroid therapy was
      ineffective, so the patient was administered infliximab and an increased dose of
      prednisolone. Her symptoms subsequently resolved, and her mucosal lesions
      improved. Six months after the last administration of nivolumab, osimertinib was
      initiated as fourth-line therapy, but 3 days later, the patient developed blood
      in the stool and frequent diarrhea. Osimertinib treatment was discontinued, given
      the possibility that it had reactivated the patient's immune-related colitis. We
      subsequently re-administered oral prednisolone (2 mg/kg/day), and the colitis
      resolved within a few weeks.

PMID- 28601920
TI  - Human dignity as a basis for providing post-trial access to healthcare for
      research participants: a South African perspective.
AB  - This paper discusses the need to focus on the dignity of human participants as a
      legal and ethical basis for providing post-trial access to healthcare. Debate
      about post-trial benefits has mostly focused on access to products or
      interventions proven to be effective in clinical trials. However, such access may
      be modelled on a broad fair benefits framework that emphasises both collateral
      benefits and interventional products of research, instead of prescribed post
      trial access alone (Legal and ethical regulation of biomedical research in
      developing countries p. 134, 2016). The wording of the current version of the
      Declaration of Helsinki could in fact be interpreted to broaden the scope to
      include other collateral benefits by applying such a broad fair benefits
      framework. We argue that this possibility should be utilised by low and middle
      income countries' (LMICs) health research ethics committees (RECs) in order to
      ensure that research participants who enrol in clinical trials so as to receive
      medical care continue to access care after the trial is concluded, as befits
      their dignity. Although each LMIC has unique concerns, nonetheless there are
      common challenges based especially on emerging issues, such as post-trial access
      to healthcare. Accordingly, the South African perspective is used to draw lessons
      that can benefit other LMICs.

PMID- 28601919
TI  - Cerebellar Exposure to Cell-Free Hemoglobin Following Preterm Intraventricular
      Hemorrhage: Causal in Cerebellar Damage?
AB  - Decreased cerebellar volume is associated with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
      in very preterm infants and may be a principal component in neurodevelopmental
      impairment. Cerebellar deposition of blood products from the subarachnoid space
      has been suggested as a causal mechanism in cerebellar underdevelopment following
      IVH. Using the preterm rabbit pup IVH model, we evaluated the effects of IVH
      induced at E29 (3 days prior to term) on cerebellar development at term
      equivalent postnatal day 0 (P0), term-equivalent postnatal day 2 (P2), and term
      equivalent postnatal day 5 (P5). Furthermore, the presence of cell-free
      hemoglobin (Hb) in cerebellar tissue was characterized, and cell-free Hb was
      evaluated as a causal factor in the development of cerebellar damage following
      preterm IVH. IVH was associated with a decreased proliferative (Ki67-positive)
      portion of the external granular layer (EGL), delayed Purkinje cell maturation,
      and activated microglia in the cerebellar white matter. In pups with IVH,
      immunolabeling of the cerebellum at P0 demonstrated a widespread presence of cell
      free Hb, primarily distributed in the white matter and the molecular layer.
      Intraventricular injection of the Hb scavenger haptoglobin (Hp) resulted in a
      corresponding distribution of immunolabeled Hp in the cerebellum and a partial
      reversal of the damaging effects observed following IVH. The results suggest that
      cell-free Hb is causally involved in cerebellar damage following IVH and that
      blocking cell-free Hb may have protective effects.

PMID- 28601921
TI  - The history of autonomy in medicine from antiquity to principlism.
AB  - Respect for Autonomy (RFA) has been a mainstay of medical ethics since its
      enshrinement as one of the four principles of biomedical ethics by Beauchamp and
      Childress' in the late 1970s. This paper traces the development of this modern
      concept from Antiquity to the present day, paying attention to its Enlightenment
      origins in Kant and Rousseau. The rapid C20th developments of bioethics and RFA
      are then considered in the context of the post-war period and American socio
      political thought. The validity and utility of the RFA are discussed in light of
      this philosophical-historical account. It is concluded that it is not necessary
      to embrace an ethic of autonomy in order to guard patients from coercion or
      paternalism, and that, on the contrary, the dominance of autonomy threatens to
      undermine those very things which have helped doctors come to view and respect
      their patients as persons.

PMID- 28601922
TI  - The landscape and structural diversity of LTR retrotransposons in Musa genome.
AB  - Long terminal repeat retrotransposons represent a major component of plant
      genomes and act as drivers of genome evolution and diversity. Musa is an
      important fruit crop and also used as a starchy vegetable in many countries. BAC
      sequence analysis by dot plot was employed to investigate the LTR
      retrotransposons from Musa genomes. Fifty intact LTR retrotransposons from
      selected Musa BACs were identified by dot plot analysis and further BLASTN
      searches retrieved 153 intact copies, 61 truncated, and a great number of partial
      copies/remnants from GenBank database. LARD-like elements were also identified
      with several copies dispersed among the Musa genotypes. The predominant elements
      were the LTR retrotransposons Copia and Gypsy, while Caulimoviridae
      (pararetrovirus) were rare in the Musa genome. PCR amplification of reverse
      transcriptase (RT) sequences revealed their abundance in almost all tested Musa
      accessions and their ancient nature before the divergence of Musa species. The
      phylogenetic analysis based on RT sequences of Musa and other retrotransposons
      clustered them into Gypsy, Caulimoviridae, and Copia lineages. Most of the Musa
      related elements clustered in their respective groups, while some grouped with
      other elements indicating homologous sequences. The present work will be helpful
      to understand the LTR retrotransposons landscape, giving a complete picture of
      the nature of the elements, their structural features, annotation, and
      evolutionary dynamics in the Musa genome.

PMID- 28601923
TI  - The accessory tendon of extensor hallucis longus muscle and its correlation to
      hallux valgus deformity: a cadaveric study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The accessory tendon (AT) of the extensor hallucis longus (EHL) is a
      common anatomic variation, whose clinical significance remains debatable. The
      purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and morphology of
      accessory EHL tendons in cadavers and to examine any possible correlation to the
      occurrence and severity of hallux valgus (HV) deformity. METHODS: We examined any
      possible correlation between the AT presence and the cadavers' age and the HV
      deformity in 98 female adult cadaveric feet. The HV and intermetatarsal (IMA)
      angles were measured and compared with the relative angle between the primary EHL
      tendon and AT as well as the length of the AT. RESULTS: AT was present in 26.5%
      and HV deformity existed in 36.7% of all feet. There was a high prevalence
      (65.4%) of HV deformity in feet with AT, but the HV angle and IMA were similar in
      feet with AT and without AT. No significant correlations were found between AT
      morphological characteristics and the cadavers' age or the HV angle and IMA.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, there is a high incidence of HV deformity in
      cadaveric feet with AT of EHL (almost 2/3), but there is no correlation between
      the severity of the HV deformity and the presence or characteristics of the AT.

PMID- 28601924
TI  - TGF-beta1-silenced leukemia cell-derived exosomes target dendritic cells to
      induce potent anti-leukemic immunity in a mouse model.
AB  - Tumor-derived exosomes (TEX) can induce a specific antitumor immune response and
      have been developed as a promising tumor vaccine. Despite promising preclinical
      data, TEX exhibit relatively low efficacy and limited clinical benefit in
      clinical trials. In the present study, we investigated whether exosomes from the
      TGF-beta1 silenced L1210 cells (LEXTGF-beta1si) can enhance the efficacy of DC
      based vaccines. We silenced TGF-beta1 in L1210 cells with a lentiviral shRNA
      vector and prepared the LEXTGF-beta1si. It was shown that LEXTGF-beta1si can
      significantly decrease TGF-beta1 expression of dendritic cells (DC) and
      effectively promote their maturation and immune function. In addition, DC pulsed
      with LEXTGF-beta1si (DCLEX-TGF-beta1si) more effectively promoted CD4+ T cell
      proliferation in vitro and Th1 cytokine secretion and induced tumor-specific CTL
      response. This response was higher in potency compared to that noted by the other
      two formulations. Moreover, DCLEX-TGF-beta1si inhibited tumor growth more
      efficiently than other formulations did as the preventive or therapeutic tumor
      vaccine. Accordingly, these findings revealed that DCLEX-TGF-beta1si induced a
      more potent antigen-specific anti-leukemic immunity than DC pulsed with exosomes
      from non-manipulated L1210 cells. This indicated that the targeting of DC by
      LEXTGF-beta1si may be used as a promising approach for leukemia immunotherapy.

PMID- 28601926
TI  - Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Oral Enterococcus
      faecalis Isolates Compared to Isolates from Hospitalized Patients and Food.
AB  - Enterococcus faecalis, a commensal of the intestinal tract of humans and animals
      is of great significance as leading opportunistic pathogen, and also prevalent in
      oral diseases, such as endodontic infections, as well as the healthy oral cavity.
      To investigate the potential of oral E. faecalis to constitute a reservoir of
      antibiotic resistance, isolates from supragingival plaque/saliva and from
      endodontic infections were screened regarding their resistance to selected
      antibiotics in comparison to nosocomial and food isolates.70 E. faecalis isolates
      were analyzed with PCR regarding their equipment with the resistance genes tetM,
      tetO, ermB, ermC, vanA, vanB and blaTEM. Additionally, they were tested for their
      phenotypic resistance to doxycycline, azithromycin, rifampicin, amoxicillin and
      streptomycin using the Etest.High percentages of the plaque/saliva, nosocomial
      and food isolates were resistant to doxycycline and azithromycin, particularly
      plaque/saliva isolates (81%) and nosocomial isolates (73.3%) showed resistance to
      doxycycline, significantly more than among the food and endodontic isolates.
      Rifampicin resistance was widespread among isolates from plaque/saliva (52.4%),
      endodontic infections (50%) and nosocomial infections (40%); all isolates were
      susceptible to amoxicillin and all oral isolates to high-level streptomycin. TetM
      genes were detected in the majority of all isolates and ermB genes were present
      in many nosocomial and plaque/saliva isolates. Thirty percent of the endodontic
      isolates and 53% of the nosocomial isolates were equipped with blaTEM genes.The
      results suggest that the oral cavity can harbor E. faecalis strains with multiple
      resistances against different antibiotics and thus be regarded as a potential
      source of resistance traits.

PMID- 28601925
TI  - Enhanced stimulation of human tumor-specific T cells by dendritic cells matured
      in the presence of interferon-gamma and multiple toll-like receptor agonists.
AB  - Dendritic cell (DC) vaccines have been demonstrated to elicit immunological
      responses in numerous cancer immunotherapy trials. However, long-lasting clinical
      effects are infrequent. We therefore sought to establish a protocol to generate
      DC with greater immunostimulatory capacity. Immature DC were generated from
      healthy donor monocytes by culturing in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF and were
      further differentiated into mature DC by the addition of cocktails containing
      different cytokines and toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. Overall, addition of
      IFNgamma and the TLR7/8 agonist R848 during maturation was essential for the
      production of high levels of IL-12p70 which was further augmented by adding the
      TLR3 agonist poly I:C. In addition, the DC matured with IFNgamma, R848, and poly
      I:C also induced upregulation of several other pro-inflammatory and Th1-skewing
      cytokines/chemokines, co-stimulatory receptors, and the chemokine receptor CCR7.
      For most cytokines and chemokines the production was even further potentiated by
      addition of the TLR4 agonist LPS. Concurrently, upregulation of the anti
      inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was modest. Most importantly, DC matured with
      IFNgamma, R848, and poly I:C had the ability to activate IFNgamma production in
      allogeneic T cells and this was further enhanced by adding LPS to the cocktail.
      Furthermore, epitope-specific stimulation of TCR-transduced T cells by peptide-
      or whole tumor lysate-loaded DC was efficiently stimulated only by DC matured in
      the full maturation cocktail containing IFNgamma and the three TLR ligands R848,
      poly I:C, and LPS. We suggest that this cocktail is used for future clinical
      trials of anti-cancer DC vaccines.

PMID- 28601927
TI  - What Makes You So Sure? Dogmatism, Fundamentalism, Analytic Thinking, Perspective
      Taking and Moral Concern in the Religious and Nonreligious.
AB  - Better understanding the psychological factors related to certainty in one's
      beliefs (i.e., dogmatism) has important consequences for both individuals and
      social groups. Generally, beliefs can find support from at least two different
      routes of information processing: social/moral considerations or
      analytic/empirical reasoning. Here, we investigate how these two psychological
      constructs relate to dogmatism in two groups of individuals who preferentially
      draw on the former or latter sort of information when forming beliefs about the
      world-religious and nonreligious individuals. Across two studies and their pooled
      analysis, we provide evidence that although dogmatism is negatively related to
      analytic reasoning in both groups of individuals, it shares a divergent
      relationship with measures of moral concern depending on whether one identifies
      as religious or not. Study 1 showed that increasing levels of dogmatism were
      positively related to prosocial intentions among the religious and negatively
      related to empathic concern among the nonreligious. Study 2 replicated and
      extended these results by showing that perspective taking is negatively related
      to dogmatism in both groups, an effect which is particularly robust among the
      nonreligious. Study 2 also showed that religious fundamentalism was positively
      related to measures of moral concern among the religious. Because the current
      studies used a content-neutral measure to assess dogmatic certainty in one's
      beliefs, they have the potential to inform practices for most effectively
      communicating with and persuading religious and nonreligious individuals to
      change maladaptive behavior, even when the mode of discourse is unrelated to
      religious belief.

PMID- 28601928
TI  - Association of Islamic Prayer with Psychological Stability in Bosnian War
      Veterans.
AB  - To compare the outcomes among war veterans who pray/do not pray and who were not
      suffering mental disorders after the Bosnia-Herzegovina war (1992-95). The sample
      consists of 100 healthy Bosnian war veterans divided in two equal groups-one, a
      highly religious group inside which were individuals who perform five obligatory
      prayers every day, and another group of individuals who do not practice any daily
      prayer. We used Minnesota Multiphase Personal Inventory (MMPI), Profile Index of
      Emotions (PIE) and Life Style Questionnaire (LSQ). War veterans who prayed had
      significantly higher levels for: incorporation, self-protection, and for reactive
      formation; but significantly lower levels for regression, compensation, transfer,
      no-controlling, oppositional and aggressiveness than their peers who did not
      pray. Practicing religion (regular performing daily prayers) is associated with
      reduction of tendencies towards the tendency for risk, impulsiveness, and
      aggression. It is also associated with successful overcoming of emotional
      conflicts in war veterans who practiced religion than their peers who did not
      practice religion.

PMID- 28601929
TI  - The prognostic effect of estrogen receptor status differs for younger versus
      older breast cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To estimate the prognostic impact of estrogen receptor (ER)-status among
      women with primary invasive breast cancer, according to age at diagnosis.
      METHODS: We studied 1910 women with primary invasive breast cancer (stages I-III)
      who were treated at Women's College Hospital between 1987 and 2000. For each
      patient, we obtained information on age at diagnosis, tumour size, lymph node
      status, ER-status, treatments received (radiotherapy, chemotherapy and tamoxifen)
      and dates and causes of death. Patients were followed from the date of diagnosis
      until the date of death from breast cancer or the date of last follow-up. We used
      the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate the 15-year actuarial rates of breast cancer
      specific survival for women with ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer,
      according to age at diagnosis (categories). We used the Cox proportional hazards
      model to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios for death from breast cancer
      associated with positive ER-status (compared to negative ER-status), stratified
      by age at diagnosis. RESULTS: We identified 1347 women with ER-positive breast
      cancer (70.5%) and 563 women with ER-negative breast cancer (29.5%). Among all
      1910 women in the cohort, the actuarial rate of breast cancer-specific survival
      at 15 years was 77% for those with ER-positive breast cancer compared to 70% for
      those with ER-negative breast cancer (adjusted HR = 0.69; 95% CI 0.56-0.85; p =
      0.0006). The prognostic impact of ER-status differed according to age at
      diagnosis. Among 213 women diagnosed before age 40, breast cancer-specific
      survival at 15 years was worse for those with ER-positive breast cancer than for
      those with ER-negative breast cancer (55 vs. 61%; adjusted HR = 0.90; 95% CI 0.57
      1.41; p = 0.64). In contrast, among 1697 women diagnosed between ages 40 and 75,
      breast cancer-specific survival at 15 years was better for those with ER-positive
      breast cancer than for those with ER-negative breast cancer (78 vs. 72%; adjusted
      HR = 0.60; 95% CI 0.47-0.76; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Positive ER-status is a
      favourable prognostic factor among women diagnosed with breast cancer at or above
      age 40, but not among women diagnosed before age 40.

PMID- 28601930
TI  - Survival improvement in hormone-responsive young breast cancer patients with
      endocrine therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the oncologic outcomes by intrinsic subtype and age in
      young breast cancer patients and whether survival differences were related to
      treatment changes over time. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on
      9633 invasive breast cancer patients treated at Asan Medical Center from January
      1989 to December 2008. We also enrolled a matched cohort adjusting for tumor
      size, lymph node metastasis, subtypes, and tumor grade. Patients aged <35 years
      were included in the younger group (n = 602) and those aged >=35 years were
      included in the older group (n = 3009). RESULTS: The younger patients showed a
      significantly higher T stage, a more frequent axillary node presentation, higher
      histologic grade, and higher incidence of triple-negative subtype tumors than
      older patients and also received more chemotherapy and were less likely to
      undergo hormone therapy. The younger patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive
      tumors showed significantly poorer disease-free survival (DFS), loco-regional
      recurrence-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and breast cancer
      specific survival outcomes than older patients. Younger patients with HR-positive
      and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative tumor subtypes had a
      significantly improved DFS over time (p = 0.032). Within the HR-positive/Her2
      negative subtype, more women received gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist and
      tamoxifen treatment from 2003 to 2008 compared with 1989 to 2002 (p = 0.001 and p
      = 0.075, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: HR-positive young breast cancer patients
      have a poorer survival compared with older patients, even with more frequent
      chemotherapy, but more recent use of tamoxifen and ovarian suppression might
      improve this outcome in these patients.

PMID- 28601931
TI  - Cardiotrophin-1 stimulates the neural differentiation of human umbilical cord
      blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells and survival of differentiated cells through
      PI3K/Akt-dependent signaling pathways.
AB  - Cardiotrophin-1 (CT1) plays an important role in the differentiation,
      development, and survival of neural stem cells. In this study, we analyzed its
      effects on the stimulation of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem
      cells in terms of their potential to differentiate into neuron-like cells, their
      survival characteristics, and the molecular mechanisms involved. The treatment of
      cells with neural induction medium (NIM) and CT1 generated more cells that were
      neuron-like and produced stronger expression of neural-lineage markers than cells
      treated with NIM and without CT1. Bcl-2 and Akt phosphorylation (p-Akt)
      expression levels increased significantly in cells treated with both NIM and CT1.
      This treatment also effectively blocked cell death following neural induction and
      decreased Bax, Bak and cleaved-caspase 3 expression compared with cells treated
      with NIM without CT1. In addition, the inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3
      kinase (PI3K) abrogated p-Akt and Bcl-2 expression. Thus, PI3K/Akt contribute to
      CT1-stimulated neural differentiation and to the survival of differentiated
      cells.

PMID- 28601932
TI  - The Value of Using Multiple Metrics to Evaluate PCB Exposure.
AB  - Current methods for evaluating exposure in ecosystems contaminated with
      hydrophobic organic contaminants typically focus on sediment exposure. However, a
      comprehensive environmental assessment requires a more holistic approach that not
      only estimates sediment concentrations, but also accounts for exposure by
      quantifying other pathways, such as bioavailability, bioaccumulation, trophic
      transfer potential, and transport of hydrophobic organic contaminants within and
      outside of the aquatic system. The current study evaluated the ability of
      multiple metrics to estimate exposure in an aquatic ecosystem. This study
      utilized a small lake contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to
      evaluate exposure to multiple trophic levels as well as the transport of these
      contaminants within and outside of the lake. The PCBs were localized to sediments
      in one area of the lake, yet this area served as the source of PCBs to aquatic
      invertebrates, emerging insects, and fish and terrestrial spiders in the riparian
      ecosystem. The Tenax extractable and biota PCB concentrations indicated tissue
      concentrations were localized to benthic invertebrates and riparian spiders in a
      specific cove. Fish data, however, demonstrated that fish throughout the lake had
      PCB tissue concentrations, leading to wider exposure risk. The inclusion of PCB
      exposure measures at several trophic levels provided multiple lines of evidence
      to the scope of exposure through the aquatic and riparian food web, which aids in
      assessing risk and developing potential future remediation strategies.

PMID- 28601933
TI  - Successful transcatheter repair of severe aortic valve stenosis with a fishhook
      like calcification.

PMID- 28601934
TI  - Salvage endoscopic nasopharyngectomy for local recurrent or residual
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a 10-year experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our aim was to review the outcomes of endoscopic nasopharyngectomy
      performed on a large series of patients with residual or recurrent nasopharyngeal
      carcinomas and to identify the prognostic factors. METHODS: Ninety-one patients
      with residual (10) and recurrent (81) nasopharyngeal carcinomas who underwent
      endoscopic nasopharyngectomy were enrolled in our study. Clinical information
      including gender, age, medical history, symptoms, radiographic findings, tumor
      stage, treatment, recurrence time, postoperative pathological examination,
      complications, and outcomes at last follow-up visit was collected. The survival
      curves and multivariate survival analysis were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier
      and Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Our study included 71 men and 20
      women with a median age of 51 years. The lesions were staged as follows: rT1, 30;
      rT2, 13; rT3, 29; and rT4, 19. No serious operative or postoperative complication
      was observed. The median follow-up period was 23 months (range, 4-109 months).
      Tumor necrosis was identified in 40 of 91 patients. At the last follow-up, 42
      patients were free of disease, 10 were alive with disease, and 39 had died. At 2-
      and 5-year follow-up, the overall survival rates were 64.8% and 38.3%,
      respectively; the disease-free survival rates were 57.5% and 30.2%, respectively,
      for the two periods. Multivariate analysis showed that T classification (P =
      0.02) and tumor necrosis (P = 0.024) were independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS:
      Endoscopic nasopharyngectomy is a feasible and effective surgical treatment for
      recurrent and residual nasopharyngeal carcinomas.

PMID- 28601935
TI  - A novel systemic immune-inflammation index predicts survival and quality of life
      of patients after curative resection for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: A novel systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) based on platelet (P),
      neutrophil (N), and lymphocyte (L) counts has been reported to be associated with
      clinical outcomes in several solid tumors. We aimed to investigate its prognostic
      value in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and the potential relationship
      with quality of life (QOL). METHODS: A total of 280 ESCC patients who underwent
      esophagectomy were enrolled. SII (SII = P * N/L) was calculated on the basis of
      data obtained within 1 week before surgery. An optimal cut-off value stratified
      patients into high (>=560) and low (<560) preoperative SII groups. The widely
      used EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OES18 were utilized to assess QOL at cancer diagnosis
      and 36 months after surgery. Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to
      evaluate the association of SII with QOL. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox
      proportional regression were used to analyze the prognostic value of SII.
      RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed that higher SII correlated significantly
      with poorer overall survival (OS) (p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (p
      < 0.001) in patients with ESCC. Multivariate analysis identified SII as an
      independent prognostic factor for OS (p < 0.001; HR 2.578; 95% CI 1.625-4.088)
      and DFS (p < 0.001; HR 2.699; 95% CI 1.726-4.223). In addition, patients with
      high SII exhibited notably deteriorating QOL (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The
      preoperative SII is a promising biomarker for predicting survival and QOL of
      patients with ESCC. It may help to identify the high-risk patients for treatment
      strategy decisions.

PMID- 28601936
TI  - Acute kidney injury: emerging pharmacotherapies in current clinical trials.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality in
      pediatric patients, affecting more than one quarter of critically ill children.
      Despite significant need, there are no targeted therapies to reliably prevent or
      treat AKI. Recent advances in our understanding of renal injury and repair
      signaling pathways have enabled the development of several targeted
      pharmaceuticals. Here we review emerging pharmacotherapies for AKI that are
      currently in clinical trials. Categorized by their general mechanism of action,
      the therapies discussed include anti-inflammatory agents (recAP, AB103, ABT-719),
      antioxidants (iron chelators, heme arginate), vasodilators (levosimendan),
      apoptosis inhibitors (QPI-1002), and repair agents (THR-184, BB-3, mesenchymal
      stem cells).

PMID- 28601937
TI  - Nerve-perivascular fat communication as a potential influence on the performance
      of blood vessels used as coronary artery bypass grafts.
AB  - Perivascular fat, the cushion of adipose tissue surrounding blood vessels,
      possesses dilator, anti-contractile and constrictor actions. The majority of
      these effects have been demonstrated in vitro and may depend on the vessel and/or
      the experimental method or species used. In general, the relaxant effect of
      perivascular adipose tissue is local and may be either endothelium-dependent or
      endothelium-independent. However, nerve stimulation studies show that, in
      general, perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) has an anti-contractile vascular
      effect likely to involve an action of the autonomic vascular nerves. Apart from a
      direct effect of perivascular fat-derived factors on bypass conduits, an
      interaction with a number of neurotransmitters and other agents may play an
      important role in graft performance. Although the vascular effects of PVAT are
      now well-established there is a lack of information regarding the role and/or
      involvement of peripheral nerves including autonomic nerves. For example, are
      perivascular adipocytes innervated and does PVAT affect neuronal control of
      vessels used as grafts? To date there is a paucity of electrophysiological
      studies into nerve-perivascular fat control. This review provides an overview of
      the vascular actions of PVAT, focussing on its potential relevance on blood
      vessels used as bypass grafts. In particular, the anatomical relationship between
      the perivascular nerves and fat are considered and the role of the perivascular
      nerve/fat axis in the performance of bypass grafts is also discussed.

PMID- 28601938
TI  - Enhanced gap junction intercellular communication inhibits catabolic and pro
      inflammatory responses in tenocytes against heat stress.
AB  - Elevation of tendon core temperature during severe activity is well known.
      However, its effects on tenocyte function have not been studied in detail. The
      present study tested a hypothesis that heat stimulation upregulates tenocyte
      catabolism, which can be modulated by the inhibition or the enhancement of gap
      junction intercellular communication (GJIC). Tenocytes isolated from rabbit
      Achilles tendons were subjected to heat stimulation at 37  degrees C, 41  degrees
      C or 43  degrees C for 30 min, and changes in cell viability, gene expressions
      and GJIC were examined. It was found that GJIC exhibited no changes by the
      stimulation even at 43  degrees C, but cell viability was decreased and catabolic
      and proinflammatory gene expressions were upregulated. Inhibition of GJIC
      demonstrated further upregulated catabolic and proinflammatory gene expressions.
      In contrast, enhanced GJIC, resulting from forced upregulation of connexin 43
      gene, counteracted the heat-induced upregulation of catabolic and proinflammatory
      genes. These findings suggest that the temperature rise in tendon core could
      upregulate catabolic and proinflammatory activities, potentially leading to the
      onset of tendinopathy, and such upregulations could be suppressed by the
      enhancement of GJIC. Therefore, to prevent tendon injury at an early stage from
      becoming chronic injury, tendon core temperature and GJIC could be targets for
      post-activity treatments.

PMID- 28601939
TI  - n-Pentacosane Acts as both Contact and Volatile Pheromone in the tea Weevil,
      Myllocerinus aurolineatus.
AB  - Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) play important roles in chemical
      communication, as well as having ecological and physiological roles. The use of
      CHCs for mate recognition has been shown in many insect genera, but little is
      known about their use in the tea weevil Myllocerinus aurolineatus. Here, we
      provide evidence that CHCs on the surface of sexually mature M. aurolineatus
      females act as contact sex pheromones, facilitating mate recognition and
      eliciting copulatory behavior in male weevils. Using gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry, we identify n-pentacosane and n-heptacosane as two potential
      contact pheromone components. Results from arena bioassays showed that n
      pentacosane is a component of a contact pheromone of M. aurolineatus. Further
      results from the Y-tube olfactometer bioassays showed that n-pentacosane also
      acts as a volatile attractant. Our results greatly improve our understanding of
      the chemical ecology of M. aurolineatus.

PMID- 28601940
TI  - The Male Produced Aggregation Pheromone of a Strawberry Sap Beetle, Lobiopa
      insularis (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).
AB  - The nitidulid beetle Lobiopa insularis is an important pest of strawberry crops
      in the United States and Brazil. Both larvae and adults feed on ripe
      strawberries, causing 20-70% loss in production during serious infestations.
      Aiming at the development of efficient, clean, and highly specific pest
      management systems, semiochemicals, especially pheromones, are particularly
      useful. Analyses of the extracts of both males and females obtained from aeration
      of live beetles showed the presence of three male specific compounds, 2-nonanone,
      2-undecanone, and 2-undecanol (in an enantiomeric ratio of S:R = 3.5:1). This is
      the first record of ketones and an alcohol as pheromone components in
      Nitidulidae. These compounds were emitted by males in amounts of 0.3:6:1.5 ng per
      insect within 24 h (1:30:3), respectively, during the scotophase, indicating
      nocturnal sexual activity. Field tests with pitfall traps containing different
      mixtures of compounds and ripe strawberries as a co-attractant summed up to five
      treatments with 25 replications. As a result, 59% males and 41% females (1:0.7)
      were caught, indicating the L. insularis pheromone to cause aggregation of both
      sexes. Results of the field tests showed that the attractivity of the binary
      mixture of ketones (T3) differed from the control (T5), from traps with 2
      undecanone alone (T4), and from the mixture of 2-undecanone and racemic 2
      undecanol (T2). Moreover, the activity of the ternary mixture of compounds (T1)
      was not different from that of T3, indicating that the racemic alcohol did not
      positively influence trap catches. In future applications, a mixture of synthetic
      strawberry-derived compounds that are attractive to L. insularis may substitute
      rapidly decaying fruit in the field, maintaining catches for longer periods.
      Because of its efficiency and low cost, a mixture of 2-undecanone and 2-nonanone
      is recommended to catch adult L. insularis in the field.

PMID- 28601941
TI  - Chitosan-based hybrid immobilization in bienzymatic reactions and its application
      to the production of laminaribiose.
AB  - A hybrid-immobilization method was developed to improve the long-term stability
      of laminaribiose phosphorylase immobilized on epoxy supports Sepabeads EC-EP/S.
      Entrapment in chitosan retained all of the enzyme activity depending on the
      amount of entrapped solid materials and increased half-life by a factor of 10
      94.4 h. No enzyme activity loss was determined during 12 times reuse. The
      immobilization method is also applicable to sucrose phosphorylase immobilized on
      Sepabeads EC-EP/S. Up to 31.9 g/L laminaribiose were produced in bienzymatic
      batch experiments with reaction-integrated product separation by adsorption on
      zeolites.

PMID- 28601942
TI  - Anatomic reconstruction of the medial patellofemoral ligament in children and
      adolescents using a pedicled quadriceps tendon graft shows favourable results at
      a minimum of 2-year follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: In adults, reconstruction of the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL)
      has shown good results. Treatment for recurrent patellar instability in children
      and adolescents with open growth plates, however, requires alternative MPFL
      reconstruction techniques. This study presents the outcomes of a minimally
      invasive technique for anatomic reconstruction of the MPFL in children using a
      pedicled superficial quadriceps tendon graft, hardware-free patellar graft
      attachment, and anatomic femoral fixation that spares the distal femoral physis.
      METHODS: Twenty-five consecutive patients with patellofemoral instability and
      open growth plates underwent anatomic reconstruction of the MPFL using a pedicled
      superficial quadriceps tendon graft. Preoperative radiographic examination
      included AP and lateral views to assess patella alta and limb alignment. Magnetic
      resonance imaging was performed to evaluate trochlear dysplasia and tibial
      tubercle-trochlear groove distance. Evaluation included pre- and post-operative
      physical examination, Kujala score, visual analog scale (VAS), and Tegner
      activity score. RESULTS: The average age at the time of operation was 12.8 years
      (9.5-14.7). The average follow-up after operation was 2.6 years (2.0-3.4). No
      recurrent dislocation occurred. Twenty patients were very satisfied (80%), four
      patients were satisfied (16%), and one patient was partially satisfied with the
      surgical procedure (4%). No patient was dissatisfied. The median Kujala score
      significantly improved from 63 (44-81) preoperatively to 89 (77-100) post
      operatively (P < 0.01), and the median VAS score improved significantly from 4 (1
      7) to 1 (0-4) (P < 0.01). The Tegner activity score increased, but not
      significantly, from 4 (3-8) preoperatively to 5 (3-8) post-operatively (non
      significant). CONCLUSION: The described technique for MPFL reconstruction with a
      pedicled quadriceps tendon is a safe and effective technique with good clinical
      results and allows patients to return to sports without redislocation of the
      patella. It might therefore be a valuable alternative to more extensive
      procedures in paediatric and adolescent patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prospective
      study, Level III.

PMID- 28601943
TI  - Examining the impact of migrant status on ethnic differences in mental health
      service use preceding a first diagnosis of schizophrenia.
AB  - PURPOSE: Some ethnic groups have more negative contacts with health services for
      first-episode psychosis, likely arising from a complex interaction between
      ethnicity, socio-economic factors, and immigration status. Using population-based
      health administrative data, we sought to examine the effects of ethnic group and
      migrant status on patterns of health service use preceding a first diagnosis of
      schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder among people aged 14-35 over a 10-year
      period. METHODS: We compared access to care and intensity of service use for
      first-generation ethnic minority groups to the general population of Ontario. To
      control for migrant status, we restricted the sample to first-generation migrants
      and compared service use indicators for ethnic minority groups to the European
      migrant group. RESULTS: Our cohort included 18,080 people with a first diagnosis
      of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, of whom 14.4% (n = 2607) were the
      first-generation migrants. Our findings suggest that the magnitude of ethnic
      differences in health service use is reduced and no longer statistically
      significant when the sample is restricted to first-generation migrants. Of
      exception, nearly, all migrant groups have lower intensity of primary care use,
      and Caribbean migrants are consistently less likely to use psychiatric services.
      CONCLUSIONS: We observed fewer ethnic differences in health service use preceding
      the first diagnosis of psychosis when patterns are compared among first
      generation migrants, rather than to the general population, suggesting that the
      choice of reference group influences ethnic patterning of health service use. We
      need a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms behind observed differences
      for minority groups to adequately address disparities in access to care.

PMID- 28601944
TI  - Glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper expression is associated with response to
      treatment and immunoregulation in systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder in which cytokine
      balance is disturbed. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are shown to balance immune response
      by transcriptional regulation of glucocorticoid receptor target genes such as
      Glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ) which has been introduced as an
      endogenous anti-inflammatory mediator. In the present study, we assessed the
      expression of GILZ in association with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukine
      10 (IL-10), and B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) plasma levels in SLE patients. A
      total of 40 female patients (18 under treatment and 22 newly diagnosed) were
      recruited in this study. Real-time RT PCR was conducted to quantify the mRNA
      expression of GILZ. The plasma levels of IFN-gamma, IL-10, and BLyS were
      evaluated using ELISA method. GILZ was overexpressed among under treatment SLE
      patients. The mRNA expression of GILZ was significantly correlated with Systemic
      Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score. IFN-gamma and BLyS
      were downregulated in response to therapies with negative correlations to GILZ.
      Moreover, IL-10 was upregulated among treated patients. The levels of IFN-gamma
      and BLyS were correlated with the severity of disease, while IL-10 was negatively
      correlated with SLEDAI score. GILZ could be introduced as one of the acting
      molecules in mediating the regulatory effects of GCs on producing pro- and anti
      inflammatory cytokines in SLE.

PMID- 28601946
TI  - Clinical Management of Patients with Ebola Virus Disease in High-Resource
      Settings.
AB  - Like most viral illnesses in humans, supportive care of the patient is the
      mainstay of clinical care for patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD). The goal
      is to maintain and sustain the patient until a specific immune response develops
      and clears the viral infection. Clearly, antiviral therapy may eventually help
      speed recovery, but supportive care will likely always be the centerpiece of care
      of the patient with EVD. While terrible in terms of human suffering and loss, the
      EVD outbreak of 2014-2016 provided an unheralded opportunity to advance our
      understanding in the care of patients (WHO 2016). Regardless of the care setting,
      resource-rich or resource-constrained, it is beneficial to have an established
      team of care providers. This team should consist of nurses and physicians who are
      familiar with clinical care of patients with EVD and have demonstrated competency
      using necessary personal protective equipment (PPE). Consideration should be
      given to having several physician specialties on the team, including critical
      care, infectious diseases, and anesthesiology. Additional individuals in other
      medical specialties should be identified in case needed during the course of
      caring for a patient. The National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC)
      has detailed guidance on preparations for developing a high-containment unit and
      care team (NETEC 2016).

PMID- 28601947
TI  - Mechanisms of Filovirus Entry.
AB  - Filovirus entry into cells is complex, perhaps as complex as any viral entry
      mechanism identified to date. However, over the past 10 years, the important
      events required for filoviruses to enter into the endosomal compartment and fuse
      with vesicular membranes have been elucidated (Fig. 1). Here, we highlight the
      important steps that are required for productive entry of filoviruses into
      mammalian cells.

PMID- 28601945
TI  - CADASIL mutant NOTCH3(R90C) decreases the viability of HS683 oligodendrocytes via
      apoptosis.
AB  - Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and
      leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is the most common hereditary cerebral small vessel
      disease caused by mutations in NOTCH3. Prevailing models suggest that
      demyelination occurs secondary to vascular pathology. However, in zebrafish,
      NOTCH3 is also expressed in mature oligodendrocytes. Thus, we hypothesized that
      in addition to vascular defects, mutant NOTCH3 may alter glial function in
      individuals with CADASIL. The aim of this study was to characterize the direct
      effects of a mutant NOTCH3 protein in HS683 oligodendrocytes. HS683
      oligodendrocytes transfected with wild-type NOTCH3, mutant NOTCH3(R90C), and
      empty control vector were used to study the impact of the NOTCH3(R90C) mutant on
      its protein hydrolytic processing, cell viability, apoptosis, autophagy,
      oxidative stress, and the related upstream events using immunoblotting,
      immunofluorescence, RT-PCR, and flow cytometry. We determined that HS683
      oligodendrocytes transfected with mutant NOTCH3(R90C), which is the hotspot
      mutation site-associated with CADASIL, exhibited aberrant NOTCH3 proteolytic
      processing. Compared to cells overexpressing wild-type NOTCH3, cells
      overexpressing NOTCH3(R90C) were less viable and had a higher rate of apoptosis.
      Immunoblotting revealed that cells transfected with NOTCH3(R90C) had higher
      levels of intrinsic mitochondrial apoptosis, extrinsic death receptor path
      related apoptosis, and autophagy compared with cells transfected with wild-type
      NOTCH3. This study suggests that in patients with CADASIL, early defects in glia
      influenced by NOTCH3(R90C) may directly contribute to white matter pathology in
      addition to secondary vascular defects. This study provides a potential
      therapeutic target for the future treatment of CADASIL.

PMID- 28601948
TI  - Inside the Cell: Assembly of Filoviruses.
AB  - This chapter reviews our current knowledge about the spatiotemporal assembly of
      filoviral particles. We will follow particles from nucleocapsid entry into the
      cytoplasm until the nucleocapsids are enveloped at the plasma membrane. We will
      also highlight the currently open scientific questions surrounding filovirus
      assembly.

PMID- 28601949
TI  - Autosomal dominant brachyolmia: transient metaphyseal striations.
AB  - We report transient proximal and distal femoral metaphyseal striations that have
      not previously been described in autosomal dominant brachyolmia. The pelvis/hip
      radiograph of a 13-year-old boy demonstrated bilaterally symmetrical proximal
      femoral metaphyseal vertical striations. Additional vertical striations were also
      observed at the distal femur and proximal tibia metaphysis. Radiography of the
      thoracolumbar spine demonstrated platyspondyly with irregular endplates and
      overfaced pedicles. TRPV4 mutations were confirmed in this patient. Similar
      proximal femoral metaphyseal vertical striations were noted in the patient's
      sibling. Those streaks disappeared on the follow-up radiographs, and we
      considered it a unique radiologic finding transiently observed in autosomal
      dominant brachyolmia.

PMID- 28601950
TI  - Increase in carbon dioxide accelerates the performance of endurance exercise in
      rats.
AB  - Endurance exercise generates CO2 via aerobic metabolism; however, its role
      remains unclear. Exogenous CO2 by transcutaneous delivery promotes muscle fibre
      type switching to increase endurance power in skeletal muscles. Here we
      determined the performance of rats running in activity wheels with/without
      transcutaneous CO2 exposure to clarify its effect on endurance exercise and
      recovery from muscle fatigue. Rats were randomised to control, training and CO2
      groups. Endurance exercise included activity-wheel running with/without
      transcutaneous CO2 delivery. Running performance was measured after exercise
      initiation. We also analysed changes in muscle weight and muscle fibres in the
      tibialis anterior muscle. Running performance improved over the treatment period
      in the CO2 group, with a concomitant switch in muscle fibres to slow-type. The
      mitochondrial DNA content and capillary density in the CO2 group increased. CO2
      was beneficial for performance and muscle development during endurance exercise:
      it may enhance recovery from fatigue and support anabolic metabolism in skeletal
      muscles.

PMID- 28601951
TI  - Acupuncture stimulation at GB34 suppresses 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6
      tetrahydropyridine-induced oxidative stress in the striatum of mice.
AB  - Recent studies have suggested that increased oxidative stress is a potential
      etiology in Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we investigated whether
      acupuncture regulates antioxidants in the striatum (ST) of a PD mouse model. Male
      C57BL/6 mice were administered 30 mg/kg of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6
      tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intraperitoneally once a day for 5 days and given
      acupuncture stimulation at SI3 or GB34 (Yanglingquan) was for 12 consecutive
      days. Dopaminergic neuronal survival in the nigrostriatal pathway and DJ-1
      expression in the ST was evaluated by immunostaining, and the activities of
      superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the ST was by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. MPTP administration induced dopaminergic neuronal death in
      the nigrostriatal pathway, which was suppressed by acupuncture stimulation at
      GB34. MPTP administration also suppressed DJ-1 expression and SOD and CAT
      activities in the ST, which were restored by acupuncture stimulation at GB34.
      These results indicate that the neuroprotective effect of acupuncture stimulation
      is due to regulation of the antioxidants.

PMID- 28601952
TI  - An in vitro experimental model for analysis of central control of sympathetic
      nerve activity.
AB  - Newborn rat brainstem-spinal cord preparations are useful for in vitro analysis
      of various brainstem functions including respiratory activity. When studying the
      central control of sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), it is important to record
      peripheral outputs of the SNA. We developed an in vitro preparation in which
      neuronal connections between the cardiovascular center in the medulla and SNA
      peripheral outputs are preserved. Zero- to 1-day-old rats were deeply
      anesthetized with isoflurane, and the brainstem and spinal cord were isolated
      with a partial right thoracic cage to record sympathetic nerve discharge from the
      right thoracic sympathetic nerve trunk (T9-T11). SNA in this preparation was
      strongly modulated by inspiratory activity. Single-shot electrical stimulation of
      the ipsilateral rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) induced a transient increase
      of SNA. Bath application of angiotensin II induced an increase of SNA, and local
      ipsilateral microinjection of angiotensin II to the RVLM induced a transient
      increase of SNA. This preparation allows analysis of the central control of the
      SNA in vitro.

PMID- 28601953
TI  - Fludarabine inhibits STAT1-mediated up-regulation of caspase-3 expression in
      dexamethasone-induced osteoblasts apoptosis and slows the progression of steroid
      induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head in rats.
AB  - Steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head (SANFH) is a major
      limitation of long-term or excessive clinical administration of glucocorticoids.
      Fludarabine, which is a compound used to treat various hematological
      malignancies, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acts by down-regulating
      signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) by inhibiting STAT1
      phosphorylation in both normal and cancer cells. This study assessed the effects
      of fludarabine in vitro (primary murine osteoblasts) and in vivo (rat SANFH
      model). In vitro, pretreatment with fludarabine significantly inhibited
      Dexamethasone (Dex)-induced apoptosis in osteoblasts, which was examined by TUNEL
      staining. Treatment with Dex caused a remarkable decrease in the expression of
      Bcl-2; an increase in cytochrome c release; activation of BAX, caspase-9, and
      caspase-3; and an obvious enhancement in STAT1 phosphorylation. However,
      treatment resulted in the up-regulation of caspase-3 expression. Enhanced P-STAT1
      activity and up-regulation of caspase-3 expression were also observed in
      osteoblasts. In vivo, the subchondral trabeculae in fludarabine-treated rats
      exhibited less bone loss and a lower ratio of empty lacunae. Taken together, our
      results suggest that STAT1-mediated up-regulation of caspase-3 is involved in
      osteoblast apoptosis induced by Dex and indicates that fludarabine may serve as a
      potential agent for the treatment of SANFH.

PMID- 28601954
TI  - Perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic partial cystectomy.
AB  - Reports of surgical outcomes after robotic partial cystectomy are limited. The
      objective of this study is to review surgical outcomes after robotic partial
      cystectomy at a large tertiary referral center and compare outcomes with patients
      undergoing open partial cystectomy. Patients undergoing robotic partial
      cystectomy between 2003 and 2014 were identified. Patients were matched 2:1 based
      on gender, age, and Charlson Comorbidity Score with patients undergoing open
      partial cystectomy during the same time period. Patient charts were reviewed for
      surgical outcomes. Conditional logistic regression adjusted for matching was used
      to compare outcomes. At our institution, 11 patients underwent robotic partial
      cystectomy between 2003 and 2014. Median operative time was significantly longer
      in the robotic group, 214 (IQR 93, 230) minutes, than the open group, 93 (IQR 58,
      143) minutes (p = 0.01). There was no difference in median estimated blood loss
      (p = 0.1). No patient required transfusion. There were no intraoperative
      complications. Median hospital stay was significantly shorter in the robotic
      partial cystectomy group, 1 (IQR 1, 2) day, than the open partial cystectomy
      group, 2 (IQR 2, 4) days (p = 0.01). Median duration of catheterization and
      complications within 30 days of surgery were not statistically different between
      the two groups. Median follow-up was 15.5 (IQR 8.6, 19.7) months for the robotic
      partial cystectomy group and 40.7 (IQR 6.5, 69.4) months for the open partial
      cystectomy group. Robotic partial cystectomy is safe, effective, and is
      associated with minimal morbidity when performed in properly selected patients
      for benign and malignant indications. When compared with open partial cystectomy,
      robotic partial cystectomy is associated with a longer operative time, but
      results in a shorter postoperative hospital stay.

PMID- 28601956
TI  - Subjective Distress Associated with Adult ADHD: evaluation of a new self-report.
AB  - The current study aims at documenting the psychometric properties of the
      Subjective Distress Associated with Adult ADHD-Self-Report (SDAAA-SR), a newly
      developed instrument for the assessment of psychological suffering in ADHD
      adults. The SDAAA-SR was administered to 247 students and 142 ADHD adults. Factor
      structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity and
      discriminant validity were assessed. Sensitivity to change was examined in a
      subsample of 25 ADHD patients who participated in a 1-year therapy. The initial
      pool of 62 items was reduced to 33 items distributed in a three-component
      structure. Internal consistency was excellent for the "distress due to
      inattention/disorganization" subscale and good for the "distress due to
      hyperactivity/impulsivity" and "distress due to self-esteem deficit" subscales.
      Test-retest reliability in a subsample of 98 students was substantial for all
      three subscales. ADHD patients scored significantly higher than students on
      distress due to "inattention/disorganization" and "hyperactivity/impulsivity,"
      but no difference was observed for "self-esteem deficit." The components
      "inattention/disorganization" and "hyperactivity/impulsivity" displayed moderate
      to large correlations with the corresponding dimensions of the Adult Self-Report
      Scale for ADHD (ASRS-V1.1). Distress due to "inattention/disorganization" and
      "self-esteem deficit" was significantly associated with lower satisfaction with
      social behaviors (QFS, social functioning questionnaire) and quality of life
      (WHOQOL-BREF). Distress due to "inattention/disorganization" and "self-esteem
      deficit" significantly decreased after a 1-year therapy. The SDAAA-SR represents
      a reliable and valid measure of adult ADHD-associated distress, an important but
      often undocumented parameter in the clinical setting. Its use as an outcome
      variable in psychological interventions deserves further investigation.

PMID- 28601955
TI  - Suksdorfin Promotes Adipocyte Differentiation and Improves Abnormalities in
      Glucose Metabolism via PPARgamma Activation.
AB  - Although the Apiaceae herb family has been traditionally used for the management
      of type 2 diabetes, its molecular mechanism has not been clarified. Coumarin
      derivatives, which are abundant in plants of the Apiaceae family, were evaluated
      for their effects on adipogenesis. We found that suksdorfin significantly
      promoted adipocyte differentiation and enhanced production of adiponectin, an
      anti-diabetic adipokine. We also demonstrated that suksdorfin activates
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), a master regulator
      of adipogenesis. Furthermore, we showed metabolic disorders in obese diabetic KK
      Ay mice were attenuated by suksdorfin feeding. Suksdorfin intake induced
      adipocyte miniaturization and increased expression levels of PPARgamma target
      genes related to adipocyte differentiation. These results indicated that
      suksdorfin induces adipogenesis in white adipose tissue (WAT) via the activation
      of PPARgamma, leading to improvement of obesity-induced metabolic disorders.
      Therefore, suksdorfin-mediated amelioration of WAT dysfunctions might be
      responsible for the anti-diabetic effects of traditional herbal medicine therapy
      with Apiaceae.

PMID- 28601957
TI  - Examining the effect of peer helping in a coping skills intervention: a
      randomized controlled trial for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and
      their family caregivers.
AB  - PURPOSE: At the end of life, spiritual well-being is a central aspect of quality
      of life for many patients and their family caregivers. A prevalent spiritual
      value in advanced cancer patients is the need to actively give. To address this
      need, the current randomized trial examined whether adding a peer helping
      component to a coping skills intervention leads to improved meaning in life and
      peace for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and their caregivers.
      Feasibility and acceptability outcomes were also assessed. METHODS: Advanced
      gastrointestinal cancer patients and caregivers (n = 50 dyads) were randomly
      assigned to a 5-session, telephone-based coping skills intervention or a peer
      helping + coping skills intervention. One or both dyad members had moderate
      severe distress. Peer helping involved contributing to handouts on coping skills
      for other families coping with cancer. Patients and caregivers completed measures
      of meaning in life/peace, fatigue, psychological symptoms, coping self-efficacy,
      and emotional support. Patient pain and caregiver burden were also assessed.
      RESULTS: Small effects in favor of the coping skills group were found regarding
      meaning in life/peace at 1 and 5 weeks post-intervention. Other outcomes did not
      vary as a function of group assignment, with both groups showing small decreases
      in patient and caregiver fatigue and caregiver distress and burden. High
      recruitment and retention rates supported feasibility, and high participant
      satisfaction ratings supported acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: Although a telephone
      based intervention is feasible and acceptable for this population, peer helping
      in the context of a coping skills intervention does not enhance spiritual well
      being relative to coping skills alone.

PMID- 28601959
TI  - Visibility analysis of fire lookout towers in the Boyabat State Forest Enterprise
      in Turkey.
AB  - For a successful fire suppression, it is essential to detect and intervene forest
      fires as early as possible. Fire lookout towers are crucial assets in detecting
      forest fires, in addition to other technological advancements. In this study, we
      performed a visibility analysis on a network of fire lookout towers currently
      operating in a relatively fire-prone region in Turkey's Western Black Sea region.
      Some of these towers had not been functioning properly; it was proposed that
      these be taken out of the grid and replaced with new ones. The percentage of
      visible areas under the current network of fire lookout towers was 73%; it could
      rise to 81% with the addition of newly proposed towers. This study was the first
      research to conduct a visibility analysis of current and newly proposed fire
      lookout towers in the Western Black Sea region and focus on its forest fire
      problem.

PMID- 28601958
TI  - Mapping of the DLQI scores to EQ-5D utility values using ordinal logistic
      regression.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the European Quality of
      Life-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) are separate measures that may be used to gather health
      related quality of life (HRQoL) information from patients. The EQ-5D is a generic
      measure from which health utility estimates can be derived, whereas the DLQI is a
      specialty-specific measure to assess HRQoL. To reduce the burden of multiple
      measures being administered and to enable a more disease-specific calculation of
      health utility estimates, we explored an established mathematical technique known
      as ordinal logistic regression (OLR) to develop an appropriate model to map DLQI
      data to EQ-5D-based health utility estimates. METHODS: Retrospective data from
      4010 patients were randomly divided five times into two groups for the derivation
      and testing of the mapping model. Split-half cross-validation was utilized
      resulting in a total of ten ordinal logistic regression models for each of the
      five EQ-5D dimensions against age, sex, and all ten items of the DLQI. Using
      Monte Carlo simulation, predicted health utility estimates were derived and
      compared against those observed. This method was repeated for both OLR and a
      previously tested mapping methodology based on linear regression. RESULTS: The
      model was shown to be highly predictive and its repeated fitting demonstrated a
      stable model using OLR as well as linear regression. The mean differences between
      OLR-predicted health utility estimates and observed health utility estimates
      ranged from 0.0024 to 0.0239 across the ten modeling exercises, with an average
      overall difference of 0.0120 (a 1.6% underestimate, not of clinical importance).
      CONCLUSIONS: This modeling framework developed in this study will enable
      researchers to calculate EQ-5D health utility estimates from a specialty-specific
      study population, reducing patient and economic burden.

PMID- 28601960
TI  - An optical remote sensing approach for ecological monitoring of red and green
      Noctiluca scintillans.
AB  - An ecosystem disruptive bloom of red Noctiluca scintillans (hereafter Noctiluca)
      was observed in coastal waters of the north-western Bay of Bengal during April
      2014. Based on the principle of phytoplankton group/species specific remote
      sensing reflectance (Rrs), a technique of detecting green Noctiluca and diatom
      was developed earlier using Rrs at 443, 488, and 531 nm of Moderate Imaging
      Spectroradiometer-Aqua (MODIS). This was appropriately modified to detect bloom
      of red Noctiluca in coastal waters of the Bay of Bengal. Additional Rrs data at
      longer wavelengths viz. 667 and 678 nm were included in the existing algorithm,
      and the spectral shapes were accounted to detect the bloom of red Noctiluca. The
      classification scheme discriminates red Noctiluca from the green form of the same
      species and diatom. Phytoplankton group/species products were generated using the
      modified approach and validated with the reported events of red and green
      Noctiluca blooms in the Indian coastal waters. The present study also highlights
      two specific results based on MODIS retrieved time-series phytoplankton
      group/species image analysis: first, the observation of coexistence of diatom,
      red, and green Noctiluca in coastal waters of the north-western Bay of Bengal,
      and the second, phytoplankton community shift resulting in red/green Noctiluca
      proliferation following diatom.

PMID- 28601962
TI  - Patient-specific image denoising for ultra-low-dose CT-guided lung biopsies.
AB  - PURPOSE: Low-dose CT screening of the lungs is becoming a reality, triggering
      many more CT-guided lung biopsies. During these biopsies, the patient is
      submitted to repeated guiding scans with substantial cumulated radiation dose.
      Extension of the dose reduction to the biopsy procedure is therefore necessary.
      We propose an image denoising algorithm that specifically addresses the setup of
      CT-guided lung biopsies. It minimizes radiation exposure while keeping the image
      quality appropriate for navigation to the target lesion. METHODS: A database of
      high-SNR CT patches is used to filter noisy pixels in a non-local means
      framework, while explicitly enforcing local spatial consistency in order to
      preserve fine image details and structures. The patch database may be created
      from a multi-patient set of high-SNR lung scans. Alternatively, the first scan,
      acquired at high-SNR right before the needle insertion, can provide a convenient
      patient-specific patch database. RESULTS: The proposed algorithm is compared to
      state-of-the-art denoising algorithms for a dataset of 43 real CT-guided biopsy
      scans. Ultra-low-dose scans were simulated by synthetic noise addition to the
      sinogram, equivalent to a 96% reduction in radiation dose. The feature similarity
      score for the proposed algorithm outperformed the compared methods for all the
      scans in the dataset. The benefit of the patient-specific patch database over the
      multi-patient one is demonstrated in terms of recovered contrast for a tiny
      porcine lung nodule, following denoising with both approaches. CONCLUSIONS: The
      proposed method provides a promising approach to the denoising of ultra-low-dose
      CT-guided biopsy images.

PMID- 28601961
TI  - Basal ganglia, movement disorders and deep brain stimulation: advances made
      through non-human primate research.
AB  - Studies in non-human primates (NHPs) have led to major advances in our
      understanding of the function of the basal ganglia and of the pathophysiologic
      mechanisms of hypokinetic movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and
      hyperkinetic disorders such as chorea and dystonia. Since the brains of NHPs are
      anatomically very close to those of humans, disease states and the effects of
      medical and surgical approaches, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), can be
      more faithfully modeled in NHPs than in other species. According to the current
      model of the basal ganglia circuitry, which was strongly influenced by studies in
      NHPs, the basal ganglia are viewed as components of segregated networks that
      emanate from specific cortical areas, traverse the basal ganglia, and ventral
      thalamus, and return to the frontal cortex. Based on the presumed functional
      domains of the different cortical areas involved, these networks are designated
      as 'motor', 'oculomotor', 'associative' and 'limbic' circuits. The functions of
      these networks are strongly modulated by the release of dopamine in the striatum.
      Striatal dopamine release alters the activity of striatal projection neurons
      which, in turn, influences the (inhibitory) basal ganglia output. In
      parkinsonism, the loss of striatal dopamine results in the emergence of
      oscillatory burst patterns of firing of basal ganglia output neurons, increased
      synchrony of the discharge of neighboring basal ganglia neurons, and an overall
      increase in basal ganglia output. The relevance of these findings is supported by
      the demonstration, in NHP models of parkinsonism, of the antiparkinsonian effects
      of inactivation of the motor circuit at the level of the subthalamic nucleus, one
      of the major components of the basal ganglia. This finding also contributed
      strongly to the revival of the use of surgical interventions to treat patients
      with Parkinson's disease. While ablative procedures were first used for this
      purpose, they have now been largely replaced by DBS of the subthalamic nucleus or
      internal pallidal segment. These procedures are not only effective in the
      treatment of parkinsonism, but also in the treatment of hyperkinetic conditions
      (such as chorea or dystonia) which result from pathophysiologic changes different
      from those underlying Parkinson's disease. Thus, these interventions probably do
      not counteract specific aspects of the pathophysiology of movement disorders, but
      non-specifically remove the influence of the different types of disruptive basal
      ganglia output from the relatively intact portions of the motor circuitry
      downstream from the basal ganglia. Knowledge gained from studies in NHPs remains
      critical for our understanding of the pathophysiology of movement disorders, of
      the effects of DBS on brain network activity, and the development of better
      treatments for patients with movement disorders and other neurologic or
      psychiatric conditions.

PMID- 28601963
TI  - Frailty, polypharmacy, and potentially inappropriate medications in old people:
      findings in a representative sample of the French population.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study analyses the relationship between medication use and frailty
      by considering the quantity of medications prescribed (polypharmacy) and the
      quality of medication prescribing (according to French criteria for Potentially
      Inappropriate Medications-PIMs) in people aged 65 and over. METHODS: This is a
      cross-sectional study based on the data from a nationally representative study
      about health and use of healthcare resources in France (ESPS 2012). The number of
      frailty criteria was assessed among exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, muscle
      weakness, impaired mobility, and low level of physical activity. Polypharmacy and
      PIMs were assessed from the data of reimbursement by the National Health
      Insurance over the whole year 2012. PIMs were defined according to the Laroche
      list plus additional criteria dealing with inappropriate prolonged use of
      medications. The analyses used Poisson regression models, with the number of
      frailty criteria as dependent variable. RESULTS: The study population was
      composed of 1003 women and 887 men, of mean age 74.7 +/- 7.4 years. Polypharmacy
      (5 to 9 drugs) and excessive polypharmacy (>=10 drugs) were reported in 42.9 and
      27.4% of the study population, respectively, while 46.7% of the study population
      received at least one PIM during the year 2012. Polypharmacy and PIMs were both
      associated with the number of frailty criteria in models adjusted for socio
      demographic and health characteristics of the participants. The prescription of
      anticholinergic medications was the only PIM that remained significantly
      associated with the number of frailty criteria after adjustment for polypharmacy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Polypharmacy and use of anticholinergic medications are
      independently associated with frailty in old people.

PMID- 28601964
TI  - Choice between variable and fixed cocaine injections in male rhesus monkeys.
AB  - RATIONALE: The schedule of drug availability may enhance choice of a drug. In non
      human subjects, reinforcers are chosen more often when available under variable
      schedules of reinforcement relative to fixed schedules. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      whether variable-drug access is an important determinant of cocaine choice by
      manipulating the schedule, drug dose, and combination of schedule + dose. METHOD:
      Four male rhesus monkeys chose between cocaine doses (0.025-0.4 mg/kg/injection).
      In control conditions, the schedule and dose of each drug delivery were fixed. In
      other conditions, the reinforcement schedule (i.e., variable-ratio schedule),
      dose of each cocaine delivery, or both were variable on one lever while all
      aspects on the other lever remained fixed. RESULTS: When cocaine dose was equal
      on average (0.1 mg/kg/injection), 2 of 4 subjects chose cocaine associated with
      the variable schedule more than the fixed schedule. All subjects chose the
      variable dose that was equal on average to the fixed dose, and this difference
      was statistically significant. Three of 4 subjects chose cocaine associated with
      the variable combination over the fixed option (when the dose was equal on
      average). During dose-response determinations (when dose on the variable and
      fixed options were not equal), making the schedule, dose, or both variable
      generally did not alter cocaine's potency as a reinforcer. CONCLUSION: While many
      factors contribute to drug choice, unpredictable drug access is a feature that
      may be common in the natural environment and could play a key role in the
      allocation of behavior to drug alternatives by patients with substance-use
      disorders.

PMID- 28601966
TI  - Boron and its compounds: current biological research activities.

PMID- 28601967
TI  - Bradyrhizobium sacchari sp. nov., a legume nodulating bacterium isolated from
      sugarcane roots.
AB  - Members of the genus Bradyrhizobium are well-known as nitrogen-fixing
      microsymbionts of a wide variety of leguminous species, but they have also been
      found in different environments, notably as endophytes in non-legumes such as
      sugarcane. This study presents a detailed polyphasic characterization of four
      Bradyrhizobium strains (type strain BR 10280T), previously isolated from roots of
      sugarcane in Brazil. 16S rRNA sequence analysis, multilocus sequence analysis
      (MLSA) and analysis of the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer showed that
      these strains form a novel clade close to, but different from B. huanghuaihaiense
      strain CCBAU 23303T. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) analyses confirmed that BR
      10280T represents a novel species. Phylogenetic analysis based on nodC gene
      sequences also placed the strains close to CCBAU 23303T, but different from this
      latter strain, the sugarcane strains did not nodulate soybean, although they
      effectively nodulated Vigna unguiculata, Cajanus cajan and Macroptilium
      atropurpureum. Physiological traits are in agreement with the placement of the
      strains in the genus Bradyrhizobium as a novel species for which the name
      Bradyrhizobium sacchari sp. nov. is proposed.

PMID- 28601965
TI  - Event-related potentials reflect impaired temporal interval learning following
      haloperidol administration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Signals carried by the mesencephalic dopamine system and conveyed to
      anterior cingulate cortex are critically implicated in probabilistic reward
      learning and performance monitoring. A common evaluative mechanism purportedly
      subserves both functions, giving rise to homologous medial frontal negativities
      in feedback- and response-locked event-related brain potentials (the feedback
      related negativity (FRN) and the error-related negativity (ERN), respectively),
      reflecting dopamine-dependent prediction error signals to unexpectedly negative
      events. Consistent with this model, the dopamine receptor antagonist,
      haloperidol, attenuates the ERN, but effects on FRN have not yet been evaluated.
      METHODS: ERN and FRN were recorded during a temporal interval learning task
      (TILT) following randomized, double-blind administration of haloperidol (3 mg; n
      = 18), diphenhydramine (an active control for haloperidol; 25 mg; n = 20), or
      placebo (n = 21) to healthy controls. Centroparietal positivities, the Pe and
      feedback-locked P300, were also measured and correlations between ERP measures
      and behavioral indices of learning, overall accuracy, and post-error compensatory
      behavior were evaluated. We hypothesized that haloperidol would reduce ERN and
      FRN, but that ERN would uniquely track automatic, error-related performance
      adjustments, while FRN would be associated with learning and overall accuracy.
      RESULTS: As predicted, ERN was reduced by haloperidol and in those exhibiting
      less adaptive post-error performance; however, these effects were limited to ERNs
      following fast timing errors. In contrast, the FRN was not affected by drug
      condition, although increased FRN amplitude was associated with improved
      accuracy. Significant drug effects on centroparietal positivities were also
      absent. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a functional and neurobiological
      dissociation between the ERN and FRN.

PMID- 28601968
TI  - Characteristics and diversity of endophytic bacteria in moso bamboo
      (Phyllostachys edulis) based on 16S rDNA sequencing.
AB  - To understand the diversity and distribution of endophytic bacteria in moso
      bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), we used 16S rDNA sequencing to investigate the
      characteristics and diversity of endophytic bacteria in different moso bamboo
      tissues. After 454 pyrosequencing, we obtained 141,269 sequences from seven moso
      bamboo tissue samples. The taxonomic origins of unique sequences were identified
      using RDP classifier. The results showed that these sequences belonged to 26
      bacterial orders, including the Actinomycetales, Rickettsiales, Burkholderiales,
      Enterobacteriales, and Rhizobiales. Among these, Enterobacteriales was widely
      found in all bamboo tissues. Endophytic bacterial communities differed between
      the moso bamboo shoot and pole. With continuous growth and development, the
      number of endophytic species in the moso bamboo pole increased gradually.

PMID- 28601969
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Multiple Novel QTL Associated with Low
      Oxygen Tolerance in Hybrid Catfish.
AB  - Hypoxic condition is common in aquaculture, leading to major economic losses.
      Genetic analysis of hypoxia tolerance, therefore, is not only scientifically
      significant, but also economically important. Catfish is generally regarded as
      being highly tolerant to low dissolved oxygen, but variations exist among various
      populations, strains, and species. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide
      association study (GWAS) using the catfish 250 K SNP array to identify
      quantitative trait locus (QTL) associated with tolerance to low dissolved oxygen
      in the channel catfish * blue catfish interspecific system. Four linkage groups
      (LG2, LG4, LG23, and LG29) were found to be associated with low oxygen tolerance
      in hybrid catfish. Multiple significant SNPs were found to be physically linked
      in genomic regions containing significant QTL for low oxygen tolerance on LG2 and
      LG23, and in those regions containing suggestively significant QTL on LG2, LG4,
      LG23, and LG29, suggesting that the physically linked SNPs were genuinely
      segregating and related with low oxygen tolerance. Analysis of genes within the
      associated genomic regions suggested that many of these genes were involved in
      VEGF, MAPK, mTOR, PI3K-Akt, P53-mediated apoptosis, and DNA damage checkpoint
      pathways. Comparative analysis indicated that most of the QTL at the species
      level, as analyzed by using the interspecific system, did not overlap with those
      identified from six strains of channel catfish, confirming the complexity of the
      genetic architecture of hypoxia tolerance in catfish.

PMID- 28601970
TI  - Suppressing the CRISPR/Cas adaptive immune system in bacterial infections.
AB  - Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) coupled with
      CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins (CRISPR/Cas) are the adaptive immune system of
      eubacteria and archaebacteria. This system provides protection of bacteria
      against invading foreign DNA, such as transposons, bacteriophages and plasmids.
      Three-stage processes in this system for immunity against foreign DNAs are
      defined as adaptation, expression and interference. Recent studies suggested a
      correlation between the interfering of the CRISPR/Cas locus, acquisition of
      antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity island. In this review article, we
      demonstrate and discuss the CRISPR/Cas system's roles in interference with
      acquisition of antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity island in some eubacteria.
      Totally, these systems function as the adaptive immune system of bacteria against
      invading foreign DNA, blocking the acquisition of antibiotic resistance and
      virulence factor, detecting serotypes, indirect effects of CRISPR self-targeting,
      associating with physiological functions, associating with infections in humans
      at the transmission stage, interfering with natural transformation, a tool for
      genome editing in genome engineering, monitoring foodborne pathogens etc. These
      results showed that the CRISPR/Cas system might prevent the emergence of
      virulence both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, this system was shown to be a
      strong selective pressure for the acquisition of antibiotic resistance and
      virulence factor in bacterial pathogens.

PMID- 28601971
TI  - Genetic variability in the regulation of the expression cluster of MDR genes in
      patients with breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the association between the polymorphism and
      expression patterns of multiple drug resistance genes (MDR) in breast cancer
      (BC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MDR gene expression levels were measured in
      tumor tissues of 106 breast cancer patients using quantitative real-time PCR.
      Affymetrix CytoScanTM HD Array chips were used to assess genotypes. Pairwise
      correlation analysis for ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCC2 and ABCG2 gene expression levels was
      carried out to reveal co-expression clusters. Associations between SNPs of MDR
      genes and their preoperative expression levels were assessed using analysis of
      covariance adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: The SNPs associated with the
      expression of the ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCC2 and ABCG2 genes before NAC were detected.
      In addition, 21 SNPs associated with the expression of four ABC-transporter genes
      and involved in the expression regulation were identified. Validation in an
      independent sample confirmed the association between the MDR cluster genes and 11
      SNPs. CONCLUSIONS: Four MDR genes: ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCC2 and ABCG2 were shown to
      form the functional expression cluster in breast tumor. Further studies are
      required to discover precise mechanisms of the cluster regulation, thereby
      providing new approaches and targets to combat the development of the MDR
      phenotype during chemotherapy.

PMID- 28601972
TI  - TAK-228 (formerly MLN0128), an investigational dual TORC1/2 inhibitor plus
      paclitaxel, with/without trastuzumab, in patients with advanced solid
      malignancies.
AB  - PURPOSE: This phase I trial evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetic profile, and
      antitumor activity of investigational oral TORC1/2 inhibitor TAK-228 plus
      paclitaxel, with/without trastuzumab, in patients with advanced solid
      malignancies. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients received TAK-228 6-40 mg via three
      dosing schedules; once daily for 3 days (QDx3d QW) or 5 days per week (QDx5d QW),
      and once weekly (QW) plus paclitaxel 80 mg/m2 (dose-escalation phase, n = 47) and
      with/without trastuzumab 2 mg/kg (expansion phase, n = 20). Doses were escalated
      using a modified 3 + 3 design, based upon dose-limiting toxicities in cycle 1.
      RESULTS: TAK-228 pharmacokinetics exhibited dose-dependent increase in exposure
      when dosed with paclitaxel and no apparent differences when administered with or
      24 h after paclitaxel. Dose-limiting toxicities were dehydration, diarrhea,
      stomatitis, fatigue, rash, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, leukopenia, and nausea.
      The maximum tolerated dose of TAK-228 was determined as 10-mg QDx3d QW; the
      expansion phase proceeded with 8-mg QDx3d QW. Overall, the most common grade >=3
      drug-related toxicities were neutropenia (21%), diarrhea (12%), and hyperglycemia
      (12%). Of 54 response-evaluable patients, eight achieved partial response and six
      had stable disease lasting >=6 months. CONCLUSION: TAK-228 demonstrated a safety
      profile consistent with other TORC inhibitors and promising preliminary antitumor
      activity in a range of tumor types; no meaningful difference was noted in the
      pharmacokinetics of TAK-228 when administered with or 24 h after paclitaxel.
      These findings support further investigation of TAK-228 in combination with other
      agents including paclitaxel, with/without trastuzumab, in patients with advanced
      solid tumors. CLINICALTRIALS. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01351350.

PMID- 28601973
TI  - Attack-Phase Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus Responses to Extracellular Nutrients Are
      Analogous to Those Seen During Late Intraperiplasmic Growth.
AB  - Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a predatory bacterium which lives by invading the
      periplasm of gram-negative bacteria and consuming them from within. This predator
      was thought to be dependent upon prey for nutrients since it lacks genes encoding
      for critical enzymes involved in amino acid biosynthesis. This study, however,
      found that planktonic attack-phase predators are not just dependent upon prey for
      nutrients, but rather, they respond to nutrients in the surrounding medium and,
      subsequently, synthesize and secrete proteases in a nutrient-dependent manner.
      The major secreted proteases were identified through mass spectrometry analyses.
      Subsequent RT-qPCR analyses found that the nutrient-induced proteases are similar
      to those expressed within the prey periplasm during the late intraperiplasmic
      growth phase. Furthermore, RNA sequencing found that incubating the planktonic
      attack-phase cells in a nutritious environment for a short period of time (4 h)
      changes its gene expression pattern to a status that is akin to the late
      intraperiplasmic phase, with more than 94% of the genes previously identified as
      being late intraperiplasmic-specific also being induced by nutrient broth in this
      study. This strong correlation between the gene expression patterns hints that
      the availability of hydrolyzed prey cell components to the predator is likely the
      stimulus controlling the expression of late intraperiplasmic B. bacteriovorus
      genes during predation.

PMID- 28601974
TI  - Essential trace elements in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Results in a
      population of a risk area of Italy.
AB  - Sardinian (Italy) island population has a uniquely high incidence of amyotrophic
      lateral sclerosis (ALS). Essential trace element levels in blood, hair, and urine
      of ALS Sardinian patients were investigated in search of valid biomarkers to
      recognize and predict ALS. Six elements (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Se, and Zn) were
      measured in 34 patients compared to 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls by a
      validated method. Levels of Ca and Cu in blood and of Se and Zn in hair were
      significantly higher in ALS than in controls, while urinary excretion of Mg and
      Se was significantly decreased. The selected cut-off concentrations for these
      biomarkers may distinguish patients with or without ALS with sufficient
      sensitivity and specificity. Many positive (as Se-Cu and Se-Zn) and negative
      associations (as Ca-Mg and Ca-Zn) between elements suggested that multiple metals
      involved in multiple mechanisms have a role in the ALS degeneration.

PMID- 28601975
TI  - Dissecating aneurysm of extracranial internal carotid artery presenting with
      Tapia syndrome in patient with essential thrombocythemia.

PMID- 28601977
TI  - Neuroglobin Protects Rats from Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy via a
      PI3K/Akt/Bax-Dependent Mechanism.
AB  - Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is a common complication of sepsis, and
      has no generally accepted treatment due to its complicated pathophysiology.
      Previously, we demonstrated the protective role of neuroglobin (Ngb) in SAE rats,
      but the exact mechanism has not been determined. To investigate the potential
      neuroprotective roles and mechanisms of Ngb, Sprague-Dawley rats were used.
      Overexpression of Ngb via intracerebroventricular injection with Ngb plasmids
      attenuated brain damage assessed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and
      neurological dysfunction assessed by Morris water maze test. Western blot
      analysis also showed that the phosphorylation of Akt increased and the protein
      level of Bax decreased. Furthermore, the protective effect can be abolished by
      PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor LY294002. Our results demonstrate that Ngb can protect
      rats from SAE via a PI3K/Akt/Bax-dependent mechanism.

PMID- 28601978
TI  - Recurrent or symptomatic residual posterior fossa hemangioblastomas: how are they
      different from their primary counterparts?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Posterior fossa hemangioblastomas are WHO grade I benign lesions with
      a surprisingly high recurrence rate. This study determines the factors
      responsible for recurrence and the clinico-radiological and histopathological
      differences between primary (group A; n = 60) and recurrent/symptomatic residual
      (group B; n = 24) tumors. METHODS: Radiologically, tumors were differentiated
      into cystic, cystic with a mural nodule, solid-cystic/microcystic and solid.
      Surgery was undertaken via a midline or lateral suboccipital approach.
      Histopathology differentiated them into reticular, cellular or mixed subtypes.
      RESULTS: Truncal-appendicular ataxia in group A and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)
      disease and raised intracranial pressure in group B were the predominant
      presentations. VHL patients in group B had a longer duration of symptoms (median
      72 months) than those with non-VHL recurrences (median: 36 months). Multicentric
      mural nodules (n = 9/24, 37.50%, P = 0.0001) and bilateral cerebellar hemispheric
      involvement (n = 6/24, 25%, P = 0.0003) were exclusively seen in the preoperative
      radiology of group B tumors. Brainstem involvement was seen in the tumors of ten
      (16.67%) patients in group A and six (25.00%) patients in group B. One subset of
      patients required several resurgeries for repeated recurrences. Abnormal vascular
      proliferation and papillary projections into adjacent brain, and highly cellular
      stroma were unique histological features at recurrence. Total resection was
      achieved in 45 group A and 19 group B patients. The outcome based on the
      Karnofsky performance scale (KPS) was assessed at follow-up at 6 weeks (A: n =
      60, B: n = 24): KPS0: A = 4, B = 1; KPS10-40 (dependent): A: 4, B = 5; KPS50-70
      (independent for daily needs): A = 36, B = 16; KPS80-100 (fully independent): A =
      16; B = 2. CONCLUSIONS: In recurrent/residual tumors, the radiological as well as
      histopathological features showed a distinctive change toward a more aggressive
      nature. Higher incidences of multiple mural nodules, bilateral spread, remote
      recurrence and VHL disease at preoperative radiology; as well as proliferative
      angioarchitecture, an irregular brain tumor interface and highly cellular stroma
      at histology were found in these patients compared to their primary counterparts.

PMID- 28601979
TI  - Young people's awareness on biobanking and DNA profiling: results of a
      questionnaire administered to Italian university students.
AB  - Current policy approaches to social and ethical issues surrounding biobanks
      manifest lack of public information given by researchers and government, despite
      the evidence that Italian citizens are well informed about technical and other
      public perspectives of biotechnologies. For this reason, the focus of our survey
      was to interview our University's students on these aspects. The sample consisted
      of Padua University students (N = 959), who were administered a questionnaire
      comprising eight questions covering their knowledge about biobanks, their
      perception of the related benefits and risks, their willingness to donate samples
      to a biobank for research purposes, their attitude to having their own DNA
      profile included in a forensic DNA database, and the reasons behind their
      answers. The vast majority of the students invited to take part in the survey
      completed the questionnaire, and the number of participants sufficed to be
      considered representative of the target population. Despite the respondents'
      unfamiliarity with the topics explored, suggested by the huge group of
      respondents answering "I don't know" to the questions regarding Itaian regulation
      and reality, their answers demonstrate a general agreement to participate in a
      biobanking scheme for research purposes, as expressed by the 91% of respondents
      who were reportedly willing to donate their samples. As for the idea of a
      forensic DNA database, 35% of respondents said they would agree to having their
      profile included in such a database, even if they were not fully aware of the
      benefits and risks of such action.This study shows that Italian people with a
      higher education take a generally positive attitude to the idea of donating
      biological samples. It contributes to empirical evidence of what Italy's citizens
      understand about biobanking, and of their willingness to donate samples for
      research purposes, and also to have their genetic profiles included in a national
      forensic DNA database. Our findings may have clear implications for the policy
      discussion on biobanks in Italy, in particular it is important to take into
      account the Italian population's poor consciousness of forensic DNA database, in
      order to ensure a better interaction between policy makers and citizens and to
      make them more aware of the need to balance the individual's rights and the
      security of society.

PMID- 28601980
TI  - Plicae palmatae in neonates: tumor mimic on sonography.
AB  - Plicae palmatae are uterine cervical folds that can be misdiagnosed as a uterine
      septum on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Previous studies in the literature
      generally tend to include only adults and are limited to MRI findings. Here, we
      present the case of a 6-day-old girl with a tumorous lesion in her uterine
      isthmus on sonography. Although we considered uterine tumor as a differential
      diagnosis, the smooth surface and continuity with a cervical fold on the caudal
      side suggested that the lesion was, in fact, the tip of plicae palmatae. MRI was
      subsequently performed, and no restricted diffusion was found, which was useful
      in ruling out a malignant tumor. Our case highlights that plicae palmatae in
      neonates can mimic a tumor on sonography. Meticulous observation of a continuity
      with a cervical fold is essential for correct diagnosis.

PMID- 28601981
TI  - Social media for breast cancer survivors: a literature review.
AB  - PURPOSE: Social media may offer support to individuals who are navigating the
      complex and challenging experience of cancer. A growing body of literature has
      been published over the last decade exploring the ways cancer survivors utilize
      social media. This study aims to provide a systematic synthesis of the current
      literature in order to inform cancer health communication practice and cancer
      survivorship research. METHODS: Using PRISMA guidelines, four electronic
      databases were searched to retrieve publications on breast cancer and social
      media published between 2005 and 2015. The final sample included 98 publications
      (13 commentaries and reviews, 47 descriptive studies, and 38 intervention
      studies). Intervention studies were assessed for key features and outcome
      measures. Studies utilizing content analysis were further evaluated
      qualitatively. RESULTS: Online support groups were the most commonly studied
      platform, followed by interactive message boards and web forums. Limited research
      focuses on non-Caucasian populations. Psychosocial well-being was the most
      commonly measured outcome of interest. While social media engagement was
      assessed, few standardized measures were identified. Content analyses of social
      media interactions were prevalent, though few articles linked content to health
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The current literature highlights the impact and potential
      utility of social media for breast cancer survivors. Future studies should
      consider connecting social media engagement and content to psychosocial,
      behavioral, and physical health outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS:
      Online groups and communities may improve the well-being of breast cancer
      survivors by providing opportunities to engage with wider social networks,
      connect with others navigating similar cancer experiences, and obtain cancer
      related information. Researchers should consider the potential role of social
      media in addressing the unmet needs of breast cancer survivors, and particularly
      the implications for clinical and public health practice.

PMID- 28601976
TI  - Zika Virus as an Emerging Neuropathogen: Mechanisms of Neurovirulence and Neuro
      Immune Interactions.
AB  - Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus of the genus Flaviviridae, which
      causes a febrile illness and has spread from across the Pacific to the Americas
      in a short timeframe. Convincing evidence has implicated the ZIKV to incident
      cases of neonatal microcephaly and a set of neurodevelopmental abnormalities
      referred to as the congenital Zika virus syndrome. In addition, emerging data
      points to an association with the ZIKV and the development of the so-called
      Guillain-Barre syndrome, an acute autoimmune polyneuropathy. Accumulating
      knowledge suggests that neurovirulent strains of the ZIKV have evolved from less
      pathogenic lineages of the virus. Nevertheless, mechanisms of neurovirulence and
      host-pathogen neuro-immune interactions remain incompletely elucidated. This
      review provides a critical discussion of genetic and structural alterations in
      the ZIKV which could have contributed to the emergence of neurovirulent strains.
      In addition, a mechanistic framework of neuro-immune mechanisms related to the
      emergence of neuropathology after ZIKV infection is discussed. Recent advances in
      knowledge point to avenues for the development of a putative vaccine as well as
      novel therapeutic strategies. Nevertheless, there are unique unmet challenges
      that need to be addressed in this regard. Finally, a research agenda is proposed.

PMID- 28601982
TI  - Collision-induced dissociation pathways of H1-antihistamines by electrospray
      ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
AB  - Over the past decades, mass spectrometry technologies have been developed to
      obtain mass accuracies of one ppm or less. Of the newly developed technologies,
      quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS) has emerged as being well
      suited to routine and high-throughput analyses of pharmaceuticals. Dietary
      supplements and functional foods have frequently been found to be contaminated
      with pharmaceuticals. In our continuous efforts to develop methodologies to
      protect public health against adulterated dietary supplements, we have
      constructed a mass spectral database for 21 H1-antihistamines encountered as
      adulterants by using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization (LC-ESI)/Q-TOF
      MS, and have proposed their possible collision-induced dissociation pathways.
      This database will be very useful for the rapid and accurate detection of H1
      antihistamines (known) and their analogues (unknown) illegally added to dietary
      supplements as well as in other sample matrices.

PMID- 28601984
TI  - Persistent coxsackievirus B4 infection induces microRNA dysregulation in human
      pancreatic cells.
AB  - Enterovirus infections are implicated in the development of type 1 diabetes
      (T1D). MicroRNAs as regulators of gene expression are involved in many
      physiological and pathological processes. Given that viral infections dysregulate
      cellular microRNAs, we investigated the impact of persistent coxsackievirus B4
      infection on microRNA expression of human pancreatic cells. Next-generation
      sequencing was used to determine microRNA expression in PANC-1 cells persistently
      infected (for several weeks) with coxsackievirus B4 and uninfected control cells.
      Target prediction restricted to T1D risk genes was performed with miRWalk2.0.
      Functional annotation analysis was performed with DAVID6.7. Expression of
      selected microRNAs and T1D risk genes was measured by quantitative reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction. Eighty-one microRNAs were dysregulated
      in persistently infected PANC-1 cells. Forty-nine of the known fifty-five T1D
      risk genes were predicted as putative targets of at least one of the dysregulated
      microRNAs. Most functional annotation terms that were enriched in these 49
      putative target genes were related to the immune response or autoimmunity. mRNA
      levels of AFF3, BACH2, and IL7R differed significantly between persistently
      infected cells and uninfected cells. This is the first characterization of the
      microRNA expression profile changes induced by persistent coxsackievirus B4
      infection in pancreatic cells. The predicted targeting of genes involved in the
      immune response and autoimmunity by the dysregulated microRNAs as well as the
      dysregulated expression of diabetes risk genes shows that persistent
      coxsackievirus B4 infection profoundly impacts the host cell. These data support
      the hypothesis of a possible link between persistent coxsackievirus B4 infection
      and the development of T1D.

PMID- 28601985
TI  - Poor early childhood outcomes attributable to maternal depression in Mexican
      women.
AB  - We aimed to estimate the population fraction of poor early child health and
      developmental outcomes attributable to maternal depressive symptoms (DS)
      contrasting it between low- and middle/high-income households. We used a
      nationally representative probabilistic sample of 4240 children younger than 5
      years old and their mothers, derived from the Mexican National Health and
      Nutrition Survey Data (ENSANUT 2012). Complex survey design, sampling, and
      analytic weights were taken into account in analyses. DS was measured by CESD-7.
      Child outcomes were as follows: breastfeeding, attending well-child check-ups,
      respiratory disease, diarrhea and general health problems, immunization,
      accidents, growth, obesity, and food insecurity. Prevalence of DS among mothers
      was 21.36%. In low-SES households, DS was associated with higher risk of never
      being breastfed (RR = 1.77; p < .05), health problems (RR = 1.37; p < .05), acute
      respiratory disease (RR = 1.51; p < .05), accidents requiring child
      hospitalization (RR = 2.16; p < .01), and moderate or severe food insecurity (RR
      = 1.58; p < .001). In medium- or high-SES households, DS was associated with
      higher risk of never attending a developmental check-up (RR = 2.14; p < .05) and
      moderate or severe food insecurity (RR = 1.75; p < .01). Population risks
      attributable to DS ranged from 2.30 to 17.45%. Prevention of DS could lead to
      reduction of problematic early childhood outcomes in both low and medium/high
      SES.

PMID- 28601986
TI  - Increased Trimethylamine-N-Oxide (TMAO) Levels After Roux-en Y Gastric Bypass
      Surgery-Should We Worry About It?

PMID- 28601983
TI  - Functions of intrinsic disorder in transmembrane proteins.
AB  - Intrinsic disorder is common in integral membrane proteins, particularly in the
      intracellular domains. Despite this observation, these domains are not always
      recognized as being disordered. In this review, we will discuss the biological
      functions of intrinsically disordered regions of membrane proteins, and address
      why the flexibility afforded by disorder is mechanistically important.
      Intrinsically disordered regions are present in many common classes of membrane
      proteins including ion channels and transporters; G-protein coupled receptors
      (GPCRs), receptor tyrosine kinases and cytokine receptors. The functions of the
      disordered regions are many and varied. We will discuss selected examples
      including: (1) Organization of receptors, kinases, phosphatases and second
      messenger sources into signaling complexes. (2) Modulation of the membrane
      embedded domain function by ball-and-chain like mechanisms. (3) Trafficking of
      membrane proteins. (4) Transient membrane associations. (5) Post-translational
      modifications most notably phosphorylation and (6) disorder-linked isoform
      dependent function. We finish the review by discussing the future challenges
      facing the membrane protein community regarding protein disorder.

PMID- 28601987
TI  - The Association of SNP276G>T at Adiponectin Gene with Insulin Resistance and
      Circulating Adiponectin in Morbid Obese Patients After a Biliopancreatic
      Diversion Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of rs1501299 variant of ADIPO gene on weight loss after
      bariatric surgery have not been evaluated. We decided to investigate the role of
      this genetic variant on anthropometric and biochemical outcomes such as serum
      adiponectin levels after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) surgery in morbidly
      obese patients during 3 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A sample of 64 patients with
      morbid obesity without diabetes mellitus was operated. Biochemical and
      anthropometric evaluation were realized at basal visit and at each visit during 3
      years (1, 2, and 3 years). RESULTS: Percent excess weight loss, body mass index,
      weight, waist circumference, fat mass, blood pressure, fasting glucose, LDL
      cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides levels improved in both
      genotype groups. Fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR decreased significantly only
      in non-T allele carriers. The decrease of fasting insulin levels at 3 years
      (delta -9.2 +/- 3.4 vs -2.9 +/- 2.2 mUI/L; p = 0.01) and HOMA-IR (delta -1.3 +/-
      0.3 vs -0.8 +/- 0.4 units; p = 0.03) were higher in non-T allele carriers than T
      carriers. Adiponectin levels increased in all times after surgery in non-T allele
      carriers, too. The increase of adiponectin levels at 3 years (delta 12.2 +/- 3.6
      vs 1.8 +/- 1.2 ng/mL; p = 0.01) was higher in non-T allele carriers than T
      carriers. CONCLUSION: Non-T allele of ADIPOQ gene variant (rs1501299) is
      associated with increases in adiponectin levels and better improvements of
      insulin and HOMA-IR after BPD massive weight loss. These parameters remained
      unchanged in T allele carriers.

PMID- 28601988
TI  - Surgical and Advanced Medical Therapy for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in
      Class I Obese Patients: a Short-Term Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery, incretin-based therapy (glucagon-like peptide-1
      analogues), and sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have
      antidiabetic properties in morbidly obese patients. However, their comparative
      efficacy in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in class I obese patients
      specifically in Indian has not been studied yet. This study evaluates and
      compares the efficacy and side effect of surgical and advanced medical management
      of T2DM in class I obese patients. METHODS: T2DM patients with body mass index
      ranging from 30 to 35 kg/m2 and with a median duration of 3 years and HbA1c level
      >7.5% were recruited for the study. Selection of treatment option that is
      bariatric surgery, GLP-1 analogues and SGLT2 inhibitor, was kept on patient's
      choice. Each group had 30 patients after 12 months of follow-up. Fasting plasma
      glucose (FPG), HbA1c, and lipid profile levels were assessed at baseline and
      after 12 months of follow-up. RESULTS: There was statistically significant
      lowering of HbA1c and FPG after 12 months in all the three groups. However, this
      lowering was clinically insignificant in GLP-1 and SGLT2 groups. There was also
      improvement in lipid profile values in all the three groups with significantly
      higher percentage change in bariatric surgery group when compared to other
      modalities. CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric surgery is a safe and effective procedure to
      treat T2DM in class I obese patients. It is also superior to advance medical
      treatment modalities such as GLP-1 analogues and SGLT2 inhibitors.

PMID- 28601989
TI  - Selective thoracic fusion of a left decompensated main thoracic curve: proceed
      with caution?
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous research has shown that with certain idiopathic scoliosis curve
      types, performing a selective thoracic fusion (STF) is associated with an
      increased risk of coronal decompensation post-operatively. The purpose of the
      current study was to determine the influence of curve correction and fusion level
      on post-operative balance in STF for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients
      with pre-operative coronal decompensation. METHODS: A multicenter database was
      queried for subjects with right Lenke 1-4C curves, pre-operative left coronal
      imbalance, and 2-year follow-up who underwent STF (caudal fusion level of L1 or
      proximal). Rates of decompensation were compared between groups with different
      levels of fusion. Thoracic and lumbar curve correction as well as Scoliosis
      Research Society-22 outcome scores were compared between groups that were post
      operatively balanced or persistently decompensated. RESULTS: 121 patients were
      identified with average thoracic and lumbar curves of 53 degrees  and 41 degrees
      . Mean pre- and post-operative decompensations were 2.4 +/- 1.0 and 1.8 +/- 1.1
      cm, respectively. Eighteen patients were fused short, 62 to, and 41 were fused
      past the stable vertebra. Ten patients were fused short, 32 to, and 78 were fused
      past the neutral vertebra. Incidence of post-operative decompensation was 41%. No
      differences in post-operative decompensation relative to the stable or neutral
      vertebra were noted (p = 0.66, p = 0.74). Post-operatively, those patients who
      were balanced had similar thoracic curve correction (58%) to those decompensated
      (54%, p = 0.11); however, patients balanced post-operatively had greater SLCC (45
      vs 40%, p = 0.04). No differences in SRS-22 outcome scores were noted between
      groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There was a high rate of post-operative
      decompensation in patients with pre-operative coronal decompensation undergoing
      STF. Fusion to or past the stable or neutral vertebra did not affect the risk of
      persistent decompensation. Attempts to improve SLCC could reduce post-operative
      decompensation.

PMID- 28601990
TI  - Application of a novel 3D drill template for cervical pedicle screw tunnel
      design: a cadaveric study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop and validate the efficacy and accuracy of a three-dimensional
      (3D) computed tomography (CT) reconstructive rapid prototyping drill template for
      cervical pedicle screw placement. METHODS: CT thin-layer scans were obtained from
      12 adult cadaveric cervical specimens and reconstructed. The ideal screw channels
      were chosen by analyzing the cross sections of the reconstructed 3D images. The
      navigation templates were designed and printed based on the optimal screw
      channels. The pedicle screws were placed on the cadaver specimens under template
      guidance, and the cadaver specimens were scanned and reconstructed. The pre- and
      post-operative models were compared. Entry point and exit point data of these two
      models were collected and compared using the Chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of
      164 cervical pedicle screws were placed; among them, six punctured the cortical
      bone of the vertebral pedicle reaching an accuracy of 96.3%. Among the outside
      screws, all of the deviation distances were <2 mm. The Chi-square test results
      showed that when a deviation of 1.2 mm was used as a standard for the entry
      point, there was no difference between the two groups (chi 2 = 1.346, p = 0.248);
      when a deviation of 2.2 mm was used as a standard for the exit point, there was
      no difference between the two groups (chi 2 = 3.250, p = 0.061). CONCLUSION: The
      3D CT reconstructive rapid prototyping drill template combined with the screw
      tunnel design based on 3D cutting technique can help facilitate accurate cervical
      pedicle screw insertion.

PMID- 28601991
TI  - The mechanisms underlying the variety of preoperative directionalities of
      shoulder tilting in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients with double thoracic
      curve.
AB  - PURPOSE: Preoperative directionality of shoulder tilting seems to be independent
      of the radiographic features of proximal thoracic (PT) curve in adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. To date, no study had investigated the
      mechanisms underlying the variety of preoperative directionalities of shoulder
      tilting in AIS patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
      differences of radiographic features between Lenke type 2 (double thoracic curve)
      AIS patients with different preoperative directionalities of shoulder tilting.
      METHODS: A total of 130 Lenke type 2 AIS patients were included in this study and
      were divided into two groups according to the value of radiographic shoulder
      height (RSH). There were 78 cases (71 females and 7 males) with RSH less than 0
      cm in Group A and 52 cases (44 females and 8 males) with RSH equal to or more
      than 0 cm in Group B. Preoperative standing anteroposterior X-ray films of the
      spine were obtained in all these subjects and were analyzed with respect to the
      following parameters: T1 tilt, PT Cobb angle, main thoracic (MT) Cobb angle, the
      apical level of PT curve, the apical level of MT curve, and RSH. These parameters
      were compared between these two groups and the correlations between RSH and the
      other parameters were analyzed in all of these subjects. RESULTS: No significant
      difference was found between these two groups with respect to PT Cobb angle or
      the apical level of PT curve (P > 0.05). The apical level of MT curve was
      significantly more proximal in Group A compared with Group B (P < 0.05). The MT
      Cobb angle was significantly larger in Group A compared with Group B (P < 0.05).
      Both the T1 tilt and the PT Cobb angle/MT Cobb angle ratio in Group A were
      significantly smaller than those in Group B (P < 0.05). The RSH was positively
      associated with T1 tilt, the apical level of MT curve, and the PT Cobb angle/MT
      Cobb angle ratio, but was negatively associated with MT Cobb angle (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: The directionality of shoulder tilting is diverse in Lenke type 2 AIS
      patients. The preoperative directionality of shoulder mainly depends on the
      profile of MT curve rather than that of PT curve. The RSH should be carefully
      evaluated before making a surgical plan in these patients.

PMID- 28601992
TI  - Prevalence of idiopathic scoliosis in anorexia nervosa patients: results from a
      cross-sectional study.
AB  - PURPOSE: A long debate exists about the connection between anorexia nervosa (AN)
      and scoliosis due to conflicting evidence. No study so far has evaluated the
      prevalence of scoliosis in patients with AN. The aim of the study is to evaluate
      the prevalence of idiopathic scoliosis in patients with AN. METHODS: Design:
      cross-sectional study. STUDY GROUP: convenience sample of all patients matching
      the inclusion criteria. CONTROL GROUP: female participants coming from an
      epidemiological screening for scoliosis. INCLUSION CRITERIA: patients had a
      diagnosis of AN during adolescence according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. We
      applied a two-level screening using a Bunnell scoliometer and a radiograph. We
      calculated the odds ratio compared with participants coming from a school
      screening. RESULTS: Seventy-seven females with AN were compared to 816 females
      screened for scoliosis. The prevalence of scoliosis in the AN group was 16.9% (OR
      5.77, 95% CI 3.12-10.67) with respect to the control group. If we consider as
      positive only those who received a scoliosis diagnosis during adolescence, the OR
      would be 3.15 (95% CI 1.55-6.42). DISCUSSION: This is the first study performed
      on patients with AN showing a sixfold greater odds of presenting with scoliosis.
      A cause-effect relationship cannot be determined due to the design.

PMID- 28601993
TI  - Expert's comment concerning Grand Rounds case entitled "Tailor made management of
      thoracic scoliosis with cervical hyperextension in muscular dystrophy" by A.
      Angelliaume et al. (Eur Spine J; 2017: doi:10.1007/s00586-017-5113-8).

PMID- 28601994
TI  - Radiologic features of dropped head syndrome in the overall sagittal alignment of
      the spine.
AB  - PURPOSE: Dropped head syndrome (DHS) is a rare clinical entity which is defined
      as a chin-on-chest deformity in the standing or sitting position, resulting from
      sagittal imbalance of the cervical region. The purpose of the present study was
      to clarify the radiologic features of DHS in the overall sagittal alignment of
      the spine. We also investigated the changes in sagittal alignment after
      correction surgery for DHS. METHODS: Twenty DHS patients [1 male and 19 female,
      with an average age of 78.9 years (range 59-88)] with a main complaint of
      horizontal gaze disorder were enrolled in this study. Spino-pelvic lateral
      radiographs in the free-standing clavicle position were taken of all patients.
      Parameters such as sagittal vertical axis (SVA), C2-7 angle, clivo-axial angle
      (CAA), C2-7 SVA, T1 slope, thoracic kyphosis (TK), lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic
      incidence (PI), sacral slope (SS), and pelvic tilt (PT) were measured, and the
      radiologic features of DHS in the overall sagittal alignment of the spino-pelvis
      were investigated. Eight patients underwent correction surgery, and the parameter
      changes between pre- and post-operative radiographs were also examined. RESULTS:
      DHS appeared to have two distinct types: SVA+ and SVA-. Seven of 20 cases were
      SVA+, and 13 were SVA-. The radiologic parameters in which we found statistically
      significant differences between the groups were: 80.2 +/- 68 and -44.5 +/- 40
      (SVA), 42.1 +/- 16.8 and 18.4 +/- 11.4 (T1 slope), and 21.1 +/- 19.2 and 44.2 +/-
      19.8 (LL) in SVA+ and SVA-, respectively. After surgical intervention, T1 slope
      and LL appeared to approach normal in the SVA- group, because compensation at
      downward spine was no longer necessary. In SVA+ group, although the patients
      gained horizontal gaze after surgery, abnormality of the sagittal alignment in
      the whole spine remained, because compensation in the thoracic and lumbar spine
      was still insufficient. CONCLUSIONS: The present study has indicated that
      radiologic feature of DHS in the sagittal alignment of the overall spino-pelvis
      can be categorized into two types: SVA+ and SVA-.

PMID- 28601996
TI  - Risk assessment for human health in a seleniferous area, Shuang'an, China.
AB  - Shuang'an in Ziyang is a typical high-selenium (Se) area in China, where human
      selenium (Se) poisoning was reported 30 years ago. To assess the risk of Se
      poisoning in the area, the Se content in agricultural soil, plant, and water in
      Naore, Shuang Hekou, and Lin Benhe villages of Ziyang was systematically
      investigated. The probable daily intake (PDI) was calculated on the basis of Se
      contents in food, water, and dietary habits to evaluate the risk of selenosis. Se
      content in hair from local habitants (32 men and 34 women) was determined to
      further verify the risk. Results showed that Se content in the soil ranged from
      0.21 to 36.07 mg/kg, with a geometric means of 3.02 +/- 5.16 mg/kg, respectively.
      Approximately 60% of soil reached the Se toxicity threshold (>3 mg/kg). The Se
      content in plants ranged from 0.02 to 17 mg/kg, with an average of 0.76 +/- 2.51
      mg/kg. Approximately 40% of the plant reached the toxicity standard (1 mg/kg). Se
      content in soil and plant of Naore village was significantly higher than that
      from two adjacent villages. The Se content in vegetables (on fresh weight basis)
      was higher than that in cereals. Se contents were 3.73 +/- 9.08 and 1.32 +/- 3.50
      mg/kg in eggplant and pepper, respectively. The Se content in drinking water was
      7.85 +/- 6.04 MUg/L, lower than the upper tolerable limit (40 MUg/L) set by WHO.
      The Se content in stream water (18.5 MUg/L) was significantly higher than that in
      drinking water because of soil erosion. The calculated PDI of habitants in Naore
      village (1801 MUg/day) was significantly higher than that in Lin Benhe (666
      MUg/day) and Shuang Hekou (686 MUg/day), all of which was higher than the
      tolerable upper Se intake (400 MUg/day) set by WHO. The calculated blood Se
      content was relatively high, especially for habitants of Naore village (2783-2824
      MUg/L). Moreover, the Se content in the hair of local habitants reached as high
      as 12.72 +/- 13.81 mg/kg, and 78.79% exceeded hair Se toxicity threshold (>3
      mg/kg), which further verified the potential selenosis risk. Our study provides
      significant implications of the potential Se intoxication of local residents.
      Therefore, governments and other institutions should implement various measures
      to reduce the daily Se intake and to mitigate the associated health risks.

PMID- 28601995
TI  - Harmful impact on presynaptic glutamate and GABA transport by carbon dots
      synthesized from sulfur-containing carbohydrate precursor.
AB  - Carbon nanoparticles that may be potent air pollutants with adverse effects on
      human health often contain heteroatoms including sulfur. In order to study in
      detail their effects on different physiological and biochemical processes,
      artificially produced carbon dots (CDs) with well-controlled composition that
      allows fluorescence detection may be of great use. Having been prepared from
      different types of organic precursors, CDs expose different atoms at their
      surface suggesting a broad variation of functional groups. Recently, we
      demonstrated neurotoxic properties of CDs synthesized from the amino acid beta
      alanine, and it is of importance to analyze whether CDs obtained from different
      precursors and particularly those exposing sulfur atoms induce similar neurotoxic
      effects. This study focused on synthesis of CDs from the sulfur-containing
      precursor thiourea-CDs (TU-CDs) with a size less than 10 nm, their
      characterization, and neuroactivity assessment. Neuroactive properties of TU-CDs
      were analyzed based on their effects on the key characteristics of glutamatergic
      and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission in isolated rat brain nerve
      terminals. It was observed that TU-CDs (0.5-1.0 mg/ml) attenuated the initial
      velocity of Na+-dependent transporter-mediated uptake and accumulation of L
      [14C]glutamate and [3H]GABA by nerve terminals in a dose-dependent manner and
      increased the ambient level of the neurotransmitters. Starting from the
      concentration of 0.2 mg/ml, TU-CDs evoked a gradual dose-dependent depolarization
      of the plasma membrane of nerve terminals measured with the cationic
      potentiometric dye rhodamine 6G. Within the concentration range of 0.1-0.5 mg/ml,
      TU-CDs caused an "unphysiological" step-like increase in fluorescence intensity
      of the rN-sensitive fluorescent dye acridine orange accumulated by synaptic
      vesicles. Therefore, despite different surface properties and fluorescent
      features of CDs prepared from different starting materials (thiourea and beta
      alanine), their principal neurotoxic effects are analogous but displayed at a
      different level of efficiency. Sulfur-containing TU-CDs exhibit lower effects (by
      ~30%) on glutamate and GABA transport in the nerve terminals in comparison with
      sulfur-free beta-alanine CDs. Our results suggest considering that an
      uncontrolled presence of carbon-containing particulate matter in the human
      environment may pose a toxicity risk for the central nervous system.

PMID- 28601997
TI  - Degradation and regeneration of feather keratin in NMMO solution.
AB  - Chicken feather, a potential source of keratin, is often disposed as waste
      material. Although some methods, i.e., hydrolysis, reduction, and oxidation, have
      been developed to isolate keratin for composites, it has been limited due to the
      rising environmental concerns. In this work, a green solvent N-methylmorpholine N
      oxide (NMMO) was used to extract keratin from chicken feather waste. Eighty-nine
      percent of keratin was extracted using 75% NMMO solution. However, the result
      from size exclusion HPLC showed that most of the keratin degraded into
      polypeptide with molecular weight of 2189 and only 25.3% regenerated keratin was
      obtained with molecular weight of 14,485. Analysis of amino acid composition
      showed a severe damage to the disulfide bonds in keratin during the extraction
      procedure. Oxidization had an important effect on the reconstitution of the
      disulfide bonds, which formed a stable three-dimensional net structure in the
      regenerated keratins. Besides, Raman spectra, NMR, FT-IR, XRD, and TGA were used
      to characterize the properties of regenerated keratin and raw chicken feather. In
      the end, a possible mechanism was proposed based on the results.

PMID- 28601998
TI  - Side effects of spirotetramat on pupae and adults of a Neotropical strain of
      Eretmocerus mundus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae): Effects on the life parameters and
      demography.
AB  - The negative impact of conventional pesticides on the environment is already
      extensively discussed worldwide. Although the use of chemical agents for
      controlling agricultural pests remains as first-line strategy for pest control,
      novel biorational active insecticides, such as spirotetramat, have appeared in
      the pesticide market during recent years in Argentina. The aim of this study was
      to assess the toxicity of spirotetramat on two developmental stages of a
      Neotropical strain of Eretmocerus mundus, with the conventional insecticide
      cypermethrin as a positive control, and to determine spirotetramat's side effects
      on parasitoid demographic parameters. Lethal effects of both insecticides on
      pupae and adults were evaluated by adult emergency and survival, respectively;
      whereas sublethal effects on both development stages were assessed by adult
      longevity, reproduction capacity, sex ratio, and longevity of the first progeny.
      Spirotetramat proved less harmful than cypermethrin at both developmental stages
      studied, corroborating once more the high toxicity of this pyrethroid to natural
      enemies. Although spirotetramat did not affect the emergence and reproductive
      capacity of adults surviving pupal exposure, the longevity of the first progeny
      was reduced as was adult survival and longevity after exposure to residues.
      Spirotetramat also reduced all demographic parameters in the population
      evaluation. This work is the first report of spirotetramat toxicity at the
      population level and demonstrates the need to assess the total effect of
      pesticides on natural enemies.

PMID- 28601999
TI  - Evaluation of mercury and physicochemical parameters in different depths of
      aquifer water of Thar coalfield, Pakistan.
AB  - In the current study, mercury (Hg) and physicochemical parameters have been
      evaluated in aquifer water at different depths of Thar coal field. The water
      samples were collected from first aquifer (AQ1), second aquifer (AQ2), and third
      aquifer (AQ3) at three depths, 50-60, 100-120, and 200-250 m, respectively. The
      results of aquifer water of three depths were interpreted by using different
      multivariate statistical techniques. Validation of desired method was checked by
      spiking standard addition method in studied aquifer water samples. The content of
      Hg in aquifer water samples was measured by cold vapor atomic absorption
      spectrometer (CV-AAS). These determined values illustrate that the levels of Hg
      were higher than WHO recommended values for drinking water. All physicochemical
      parameters were higher than WHO permissible limits for drinking water except pH
      and SO42- in aquifer water. The positive correlation of Hg with other metals in
      aquifer water samples of AQ1, AQ2, and AQ3 of Thar coalfield except HCO3- was
      observed which might be caused by geochemical minerals. The interpretation of
      determined values by the cluster technique point out the variations within the
      water quality parameter as well as sampling location of studied field. The
      aquifer water AQ2 was more contaminated with Hg as compared to AQ1 and AQ3; it
      may be due to leaching of Hg from coal zone. The concentration of Hg in aquifer
      water obtained from different depths was found in the following decreasing order:
      AQ2 < AQ1 < AQ3.

PMID- 28602000
TI  - Integrated waste load allocation for river water pollution control under
      uncertainty: a case study of Tuojiang River, China.
AB  - This paper presents a bi-level optimization waste load allocation programming
      model under a fuzzy random environment to assist integrated river pollution
      control. Taking account of the leader-follower decision-making in the water
      function zones framework, the proposed approach examines the decision making
      feedback relationships and conflict coordination between the river basin
      authority and the regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) based on the
      Stackelberg-Nash equilibrium strategy. In the pollution control system, the river
      basin authority, as the leader, allocates equitable emissions rights to different
      subareas, and the then subarea EPA, as the followers, reallocates the limited
      resources to various functional zones to minimize pollution costs. This research
      also considers the uncertainty in the water pollution management, and the
      uncertain input information is expressed as fuzzy random variables. The proposed
      methodological approach is then applied to Tuojiang River in China and the bi
      level linear programming model solutions are achieved using the Karush-Kuhn
      Tucker condition. Based on the waste load allocation scheme results and various
      scenario analyses and discussion, some operational policies are proposed to
      assist decision makers (DMs) cope with waste load allocation problem for
      integrated river pollution control for the overall benefits.

PMID- 28602001
TI  - Effect of phosphate additive on the nitrogen transformation during pig manure
      composting.
AB  - Previous studies revealed that phosphate, as an additive to composting, could
      significantly reduce NH3 emission and nitrogen loss through change of pH and
      nitrogen fixation to form ammonium phosphate. However, few studies have explored
      the influence of pH change and phosphate additive on NO x--N, NH4+-N, NH3, and
      N2O, which are dominate forms of nitrogen in composting. In this study, the
      equimolar H3PO4, H2SO4, and K2HPO4 were added into pig manure composting to
      evaluate the effect of H+ and PO43- on nitrogen transformation. As a result, we
      reached the conclusion that pH displays significant influence on adsorption from
      PO43- to NH4+. The NH4+-N concentration in H3PO4 treatment kept over 3 g kg-1DM
      (dry matter) which is obviously higher than that in H2SO4 treatment, and NH4+-N
      concentration in K2HPO4 treatment (pH>8.5) is lower than 0.5 g kg-1DM because
      adsorption capacity of PO43- is greatly weakened and NH4+-N rapidly transformed
      to NH3-N influenced by high pH value. The N2O emission of composting is
      significantly correlated with incomplete denitrification of NO x--N, and PO43-
      addition could raise NO x--N contents to restrict denitrification and further to
      promote N2O emission. The study reveals the influence mechanism of phosphate
      additive to nitrogen transformation during composting, presents theoretical basis
      for additive selection in nitrogen fixation, and lays foundation for study about
      nitrogen circulation mechanism during composting.

PMID- 28602002
TI  - Enhanced removal of ethanolamine from secondary system of nuclear power plant
      wastewater by novel hybrid nano zero-valent iron and pressurized ozone initiated
      oxidation process.
AB  - Monoethanolamine (shortly ethanolamine (ETA)), usually used as a corrosion
      inhibitor, is a contaminant of wastewater from the secondary cooling system of
      nuclear power plants (NPPs) and is not readily biodegradable. We conducted
      various experiments, including treatments with nano zero-valent iron (nZVI), nano
      iron/calcium, and calcium oxide (nFe/Ca/CaO) with ozone (O3) or hydrogen peroxide
      (H2O2) to reduce the concentration of ETA and to decrease the chemical demand of
      oxygen (COD) of these wastewaters. During this study, wastewater with ETA
      concentration of 7465 mg L-1 and COD of 6920 mg L-1 was used. As a result, the
      ETA concentration was reduced to 5 mg L-1 (a decrease of almost 100%) and COD was
      reduced to 2260 mg L-1, a reduction of 67%, using doses of 26.8 mM of nZVI and
      1.5 mM of H2O2 at pH 3 for 3 h. Further treatment for 48 h allowed a decrease of
      COD by almost 97%. Some mechanistic considerations are proposed in order to
      explain the degradation pathway. The developed hybrid nano zero-valent iron
      initiated oxidation process with H2O2 is promising in the treatment of ETA
      contaminated wastewaters.

PMID- 28602003
TI  - Evaluation of ethyl lactate as solvent in Fenton oxidation for the remediation of
      total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)-contaminated soil.
AB  - Due to the health and environmental risks posed by the presence of petroleum
      contaminated areas around the world, remediation of petroleum-contaminated soil
      has drawn much attention from researchers. Combining Fenton reaction with a
      solvent has been proposed as a novel way to remediate contaminated soils. In this
      study, a green solvent, ethyl lactate (EL), has been used in conjunction with
      Fenton's reagents for the remediation of diesel-contaminated soil. The main aim
      of this research is to determine how the addition of EL affects Fenton reaction
      for the destruction of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) within the diesel
      range. Specifically, the effects of different parameters, including liquid phase
      volume-to-soil weight (L/S) ratio, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration and EL%
      on the removal efficiency, have been studied in batch experiments. The results
      showed that an increase in H2O2 resulted in an increase in removal efficiency of
      TPH from 68.41% at H2O2 = 0.1 M to 90.21% at H2O2 = 2 M. The lowest L/S, i.e. L/S
      = 1, had the highest TPH removal efficiency of 85.77%. An increase in EL% up to
      10% increased the removal efficiency to 96.74% for TPH, and with further increase
      in EL%, the removal efficiency of TPH decreased to 89.6%. EL with an optimum
      value of 10% was found to be best for TPH removal in EL-based Fenton reaction.
      The power law and pseudo-first order equations fitted well to the experimental
      kinetic data of Fenton reactions.

PMID- 28602004
TI  - Removal of cationic pollutants from water by xanthated corn cob: optimization,
      kinetics, thermodynamics, and prediction of purification process.
AB  - The removal of Cr(III) ions and methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions by
      xanthated corn cob (xCC) in batch conditions was investigated. The sorption
      capacity of xCC strongly depended of the pH, and increase when the pH rises. The
      kinetics was well fitted by pseudo-second-order and Chrastil's model. Sorption of
      Cr(III) ions and MB on xCC was rapid during the first 20 min of contact time and,
      thereafter, the biosorption rate decrease gradually until reaching equilibrium.
      The maximum sorption capacity of 17.13 and 83.89 mg g-1 for Cr(III) ions and MB,
      respectively, was obtained at 40  degrees C, pH 5, and sorbent dose 4 g dm-3 for
      removal of Cr(III) ions and 1 g dm-3 for removal of MB. The prediction of
      purification process was successfully carried out, and the verification of
      theoretically calculated amounts of sorbent was confirmed by using packed-bed
      column laboratory system with recirculation of the aqueous phase. The wastewater
      from chrome plating industry was successfully purified, i.e., after 40 min
      concentration of Cr(III) ions was decreased lower than 0.1 mg dm-3. Also, removal
      of MB from the river water was successfully carried out and after 40 min, removal
      efficiency was about 94%.

PMID- 28602005
TI  - The contribution of component variation and phytoplankton growth to the
      distribution variation of chromophoric dissolved organic matter content in a mid
      latitude subtropical drinking water source reservoir for two different seasons.
AB  - The distribution variation in chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM)
      content in mid-latitude subtropical drinking water source reservoirs (MDWSRs) has
      great significance in the security of aquatic environments and human health. CDOM
      distribution is heavily influenced by biogeochemical processes and anthropogenic
      activity. However, little is known regarding the impact of component variation
      and phytoplankton growth on CDOM distribution variation in MDWSR. Therefore,
      samples were collected from a representative MDWSR (the Shanzai Reservoir) for
      analysis. CDOM absorption and fluorescence coupling with parallel factor analysis
      were measured and calculated. The results indicated that only two CDOM components
      were found in the surface water of Shanzai Reservoir, fulvic acid, and high
      excitation tryptophan, originating from terrestrial and autochthonous sources,
      respectively. The types of components did not change with the season. The average
      molecular weight of CDOM increased in proportion to its fulvic acid content. The
      distribution variation in CDOM content mainly resulted from the variation in two
      CDOM components in summer and from high-excitation tryptophan in winter.
      Phytoplankton growth strongly influenced the distribution variation of CDOM
      content in summer; the metabolic processes of Cyanobacteria and Bacillariophyta
      consumed fulvic acid, while that of Cryptophyta produced high-excitation
      tryptophan.

PMID- 28602007
TI  - A middle-aged man with lying-down headache: an unusual presentation of sphenoid
      sinus mucocele.

PMID- 28602006
TI  - Sex-specific association between serum uric acid and self-reported snoring in
      rural China: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Until now, information has been rare on the association of serum uric
      acid (SUA) with self-reported snoring. Therefore, the purpose of this study was
      to explore the sex-specific relationship between SUA and self-reported snoring in
      a general Chinese population. METHODS: A large cross-sectional study of 10,912
      participants aged >=35 years old were recruited from rural areas of Liaoning
      Province in China during 2012 to 2013. SUA were divided into quartiles separated
      for males and females. Anthropometric measurements and blood biochemical indexes
      were examined according to standard protocols. Sleep duration and self-reported
      snoring status were investigated by trained personnel using a structured
      questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of self-reported snoring was 37.9% (n =
      2197) among females and 47.4% (n = 2420) among males, respectively. The
      proportion of self-reported snoring presented a significant linear increase
      across the quartile of SUA level in both sexes. In multivariate logistic
      regression analysis adjusted for possible confounders, the odds ratio (OR) for
      SUA with regard to self-reported snoring was significantly higher in females. The
      OR of self-reported snoring associated with per 1 SD increase in SUA was 1.208
      (95%CI 1.118-1.305, P<0.001). The highest quartile of SUA (>293 MUmol/L)
      conferred an independently increased risk for self-reported snoring with OR of
      1.643 (95%CI 1.384-1.950, p < 0.001) compared to the lowest quartile of SUA (<209
      MUmol/L). However, there were no significant relationships between SUA and self
      reported snoring among males in all the models. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed
      that in rural China, SUA was positively correlated with an increased risk for
      self-reported snoring in females but not in males. The strong association of SUA
      levels with self-reported snoring in females emphasizes the necessity of
      stratifying the sex in investigations of self-reported snoring and encourages
      exploration of SUA as an effective clinical tool of self-reported snoring risk.

PMID- 28602008
TI  - Lower limb muscle atrophy on MRI as a guide in the diagnosis of muscle diseases.

PMID- 28602010
TI  - Closed-loop regulation of arterial pressure after acute brain death.
AB  - The purpose of this concept study was to investigate the possibility of automatic
      mean arterial pressure (MAP) regulation in a porcine heart-beating brain death
      (BD) model. Hemodynamic stability of BD donors is necessary for maintaining
      acceptable quality of donated organs for transplantation. Manual stabilization is
      challenging, due to the lack of vasomotor function in BD donors. Closed-loop
      stabilization therefore has the potential of increasing availability of
      acceptable donor organs, and serves to indicate feasibility within less demanding
      patient groups. A dynamic model of nitroglycerine pharmacology, suitable for
      controller synthesis, was identified from an experiment involving an anesthetized
      pig, using a gradient-based output error method. The model was used to synthesize
      a robust PID controller for hypertension prevention, evaluated in a second
      experiment, on a second, brain dead, pig. Hypotension was simultaneously
      prevented using closed-loop controlled infusion of noradrenaline, by means of a
      previously published controller. A linear model of low order, with variable
      (uncertain) gain, was sufficient to describe the dynamics to be controlled. The
      robustly tuned PID controller utilized in the second experiment kept the MAP
      within a user-defined range. The system was able to prevent hypertension,
      exceeding a reference of 100 mmHg by more than 10%, during 98% of a 12 h
      experiment. This early work demonstrates feasibility of the investigated
      modelling and control synthesis approach, for the purpose of maintaining
      normotension in a porcine BD model. There remains a need to characterize
      individual variability, in order to ensure robust performance over the expected
      population.

PMID- 28602009
TI  - Update on Intranasal Medications in Rhinosinusitis.
AB  - This review describes beneficial effects and adverse events of various intranasal
      medications in treating rhinosinusitis. Application of intranasal steroids has
      been described in treating all subtypes of adult rhinosinusitis, but reports are
      limited in pediatrics and mostly in acute pediatric subgroups resulted in
      benefits While saline irrigation is effective for patients with chronic
      rhinosinusitis without polyps and in pediatric acute rhinosinusitis, there is no
      evidence yet for saline drips and sprays. Application of intranasal antifungals
      and nasal irrigation with surfactant brings more harm than benefits. There is no
      evidence supporting the use of intranasal antibiotics. We also review influence
      of devices, methods, and patient head position on nasal and paranasal sinus drug
      delivery.

PMID- 28602011
TI  - Differences in the fruit structure and the location and content of bioactive
      substances in Viburnum opulus and Viburnum lantana fruits.
AB  - Many Viburnum species are popular ornamental shrubs and, simultaneously, highly
      valued medicinal plants as a source of many bioactive compounds, including
      antioxidants. Viburnum bark, flowers, and fruits are widely used in traditional
      and folk medicine, and the fruits of some species are used as cooking
      ingredients. The knowledge of the microstructure of Viburnum fruits and the
      accumulation sites of bioactive substances in these organs is rather poor.
      Comparative analyses of the microstructure of ripe Viburnum opulus and Viburnum
      lantana drupes were carried out using light, scanning, and transmission electron
      microscopes. The location of various groups of metabolites in the fruits of both
      species was determined with the use of histochemical tests and fluorescence
      microscopy. Additionally, the major antioxidants, i.e. carotenoids, polyphenols,
      and flavonoids, were quantified and a number of morphometric traits of the drupes
      were presented. The V. opulus and V. lantana fruits were found to differ in some
      morphological traits and in many characteristics of the pericarp anatomy and
      ultrastructure. It was shown that the Viburnum fruits contained lipids and lipid
      compounds (carotenoids, essential oils, steroids, and saponins), polyphenols
      (tannins, flavonoids, and anthocyanins), pectins, and proteins. The fruits of V.
      opulus contained greater quantities of carotenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids,
      steroids, and pectins than the V. lantana drupes, whereas the latter were
      characterised by higher contents of essential oils, saponins, and proteins. The
      metabolites were located in different pericarp layers, but the greatest amounts
      were identified in the drupe skin.

PMID- 28602012
TI  - Plasma levels of soluble amyloid precursor protein beta in symptomatic
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - The established biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) require invasive
      endeavours or presuppose sophisticated technical equipment. Consequently, new
      biomarkers are needed. Here, we report that plasma levels of soluble amyloid
      precursor protein beta (sAPPbeta), a protein of the initial phase of the amyloid
      cascade, were significantly lower in patients with symptomatic AD (21 with mild
      cognitive impairment due to AD and 44 with AD dementia) with AD-typical cerebral
      hypometabolic pattern compared with 27 cognitively healthy elderly individuals
      without preclinical AD. These findings yield further evidence for the potential
      of sAPPbeta in plasma as an AD biomarker candidate.

PMID- 28602013
TI  - Efficacy and safety of 0.1% lodoxamide for the long-term treatment of superior
      limbic keratoconjunctivitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the therapeutic efficacy and safety of topical 0.1% lodoxamide
      in the long-term treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis. METHODS:
      Sixty-seven eyes of 34 patients with active SLK were studied. Therapeutic
      response was analyzed according to modified-Ohashi parameters. All eyes were
      treated with 0.1% lodoxamide twice daily, and those with moderate or severe
      inflammation received a short course (7-14 days) of 0.1% fluorometholone acetate
      at presentation and during a relapse. Patients were evaluated at regular
      intervals and followed up for >=3 months on continuous therapy. Primary endpoints
      included inflammatory response; rates of inflammatory control and remission;
      relapses while on therapy or on remission; and therapeutic failure rate. RESULTS:
      The mean follow-up time on lodoxamide therapy was 15.3 months. The majority of
      eyes (82.0%) achieved control of inflammation in a mean time of 2.2 months. Of
      these, 42 (76.3%) eyes remained under control while on therapy for 13.8 months.
      There was a significant improvement of SLK-related signs by the third month on
      therapy (p < 0.05). A total of 24 (35.8%) eyes achieved remission. Relapses
      presented in 12 (18.0%) treated eyes and in 4 (16.6%) eyes on remission. Only 5
      (7.4%) eyes failed to respond to therapy. In the majority of cases (95.3%),
      lodoxamide 0.1% was well tolerated and minor adverse effects not requiring
      stopping the medication were reported in only 4.7% of patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Lodoxamide 0.1% is an efficacious therapeutic alternative for the treatment of
      active and chronic SLK. This medication has proved to be safe and well tolerated.

PMID- 28602014
TI  - Correlation between morphological changes and functional outcomes of recent-onset
      macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: prognostic factors in
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess correlation between preoperative and postoperative findings
      and surgical factors, and postoperative functional outcomes after successful
      repair of acute macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS:
      Forty-four eyes of 44 patients with recent-onset macula-off RRD who had primary
      pars plana vitrectomy were included in this retrospective study. Best-corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) and retinal and choroidal changes on spectral-domain optical
      coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were evaluated before and after surgery.
      Correlation between preoperative and postoperative variables such as demographic
      and clinical data, SD-OCT findings and surgical factors, and postoperative
      functional outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Eighteen women and 26 men, whose mean
      age at the onset of RRD was 51.7 +/- 14.4 years, were evaluated. The mean
      preoperative and postoperative logMAR BCVA were 1.1 +/- 0.5 (20/250) and 0.14 +/-
      0.1 (20/30), respectively, after a mean of 16.7 +/- 7.2 months. Although all
      factors were evaluated as prognostic factors for functional outcome after
      surgical treatment of recent-onset macula-off RRD, epiretinal membrane formation
      was found as the only factor affecting postoperative visual acuity. CONCLUSION:
      Satisfactory visual recovery can be achieved after a successful surgery in
      patients with acute RRD without any association with morphological changes such
      as increased subretinal fluid, central foveal thickness, subfoveal choroidal
      thickness, cystic spaces in the inner nuclear layer and/or outer nuclear layer,
      undulation of separated outer retina, and disruption of the photoreceptor layer.
      Epiretinal membrane formation may affect visual outcome in these patients.

PMID- 28602015
TI  - Clinical and genetic analysis of Indian patients with NDP-related retinopathies.
AB  - PURPOSE: NDP-related retinopathies are a group of X-linked disorders
      characterized by degenerative and proliferative changes of the neuroretina,
      occasionally accompanied with varying degrees of mental retardation and
      sensorineural hearing loss. NDP is the predominant gene associated with NDP
      related retinopathies. The purpose of this study was to report the clinical and
      genetic findings in three unrelated patients diagnosed with NDP-related
      retinopathies. METHODS: The patients underwent complete ophthalmic examination
      followed by genetic analyses. NDP gene was screened by direct sequencing
      approach. Targeted resequencing of several other ocular genes was carried out in
      patient samples that either indicated NDP gene deletion or tested negative for
      NDP mutation. Gene quantitation analysis was performed using real-time PCR.
      RESULTS: The whole NDP gene was deleted in patient I, while a missense NDP
      mutation, c.205T>C, was identified in patient II, and both had classical Norrie
      disease ocular phenotype (with no other systemic defects). Patient III who was
      diagnosed with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy did not show any mutation in
      the known candidate genes as well as in other ocular genes tested. CONCLUSIONS:
      The patient with whole NDP gene deletion did not exhibit any apparent extraocular
      defects (like mental retardation or sensorineural hearing loss) during his first
      decade of life, and this is considered to be a notable finding. Our study also
      provides evidence emphasizing the need for genetic testing which could eliminate
      ambiguities in clinical diagnosis and detect carrier status, thereby aiding the
      patient and family members during genetic counseling.

PMID- 28602016
TI  - Long-term results of cataract surgery in patients with anterior uveitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was aimed to assess the long-term results of
      phacoemulsification and posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation in
      patients with anterior uveitis. METHODS: Patients with complicated cataract
      secondary to anterior uveitis who underwent phacoemulsification and posterior
      chamber intraocular lens implantation were included in this study. Long-term
      results and all complications were evaluated throughout the postoperative 4
      years. RESULTS: A total of 55 eyes of 48 patients were identified in this study.
      Cases with anterior uveitis were categorised into four aetiologic groups. Of the
      55 eyes, 22 (19 patients) had idiopathic anterior uveitis, 10 (9 patients) had
      viral anterior uveitis, 10 (9 patients) had Fuchs' anterior uveitis and 13 (11
      patients) had anterior uveitis associated with collagen vascular diseases.
      Preoperative macular oedema was more frequent (63.6%) in the idiopathic group
      than in the other groups (p < 0.001). The success rates of the best corrected
      visual acuity of 20/40 or better ranged from 80.0 to 100.0% in the groups. While
      postoperative increased intraocular pressure rate was statistically significantly
      higher in the Fuchs' group (p = 0.047), there was no statistically significant
      difference in other complication rates between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The long
      term outcomes of phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation in
      patients with uveitic cataract were satisfactory with excellent visual acuity and
      relatively low complication rates.

PMID- 28602017
TI  - Design and evaluation of artificial cornea with core-skirt design using
      polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate and graphite.
AB  - PURPOSE: Artificial cornea is the effective treatment option for corneal
      blindness. One of the challenges with the artificial cornea is limited, or no
      tissue integration necessitates reimplantation due to necrosis or corneal
      melting. We propose here a new formulation approach for core-skirt incorporating
      graphite in the outer skirt region to improve cell adhesion. METHODS:
      Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate were procured
      from Sigma-Aldrich. Polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA) was synthesized by free
      radical polymerization of HEMA. PHEMA hydrogel core with graphite incorporated
      skirt was developed with the help of mould and spacer. Pores were introduced into
      the skirt by salt leaching technique using sodium chloride as porogen. The porous
      skirt was improved for its aesthetic appeal of black colour and mechanical
      strength to sustain intraocular pressure by incorporating graphite. The material
      properties of the newly developed design were evaluated in terms of wetting
      behaviour, mechanical strength, water vapour permeability, degradation profile
      and cell adhesion. RESULTS: The polymerization of HEMA was confirmed by thin
      layer chromatography and FTIR. Water content of the polymeric film was optimized
      at 50% where maximum transparency with required refractive index of 1.4 was
      obtained. The concentration of salt vital for the essential porosity was also
      optimized using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Other
      properties, namely mechanical strength, water vapour transmission rate and
      degradation behaviour, showed that the developed design is suitable for ocular
      applications. Furthermore, cell adhesion study confirmed tissue adhesion in the
      skirt region but absent in the core. CONCLUSION: The core-skirt design may offer
      an efficient cornea replacement alternative with enhanced tissue integration in
      addition to desired mechanical behaviour with a clear and aesthetic vision.

PMID- 28602018
TI  - Postoperative Complications and Long-Term Results after Primary Cardiac Sarcoma
      Resection.

PMID- 28602019
TI  - Cardiac Surgery in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Retrospective Analysis of
      a High-Risk Cohort.

PMID- 28602020
TI  - Techniques of monitoring blood glucose during pregnancy for women with pre
      existing diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is recommended as a key
      component of the management plan for diabetes therapy during pregnancy. No
      existing systematic reviews consider the benefits/effectiveness of various
      techniques of blood glucose monitoring on maternal and infant outcomes among
      pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes. The effectiveness of the various
      monitoring techniques is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To compare techniques of blood
      glucose monitoring and their impact on maternal and infant outcomes among
      pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the
      Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (30 November 2016),
      searched reference lists of retrieved studies and contacted trial authors.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs comparing
      techniques of blood glucose monitoring including SMBG, continuous glucose
      monitoring (CGM) or clinic monitoring among pregnant women with pre-existing
      diabetes mellitus (type 1 or type 2). Trials investigating timing and frequency
      of monitoring were also included. RCTs using a cluster-randomised design were
      eligible for inclusion but none were identified. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
      Two review authors independently assessed study eligibility, extracted data and
      assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Data were checked for accuracy.
      The quality of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS:
      This review update includes at total of 10 trials (538) women (468 women with
      type 1 diabetes and 70 women with type 2 diabetes). The trials took place in
      Europe and the USA. Five of the 10 included studies were at moderate risk of
      bias, four studies were at low to moderate risk of bias, and one study was at
      high risk of bias. The trials are too small to show differences in important
      outcomes such as macrosomia, preterm birth, miscarriage or death of baby. Almost
      all the reported GRADE outcomes were assessed as being very low-quality evidence.
      This was due to design limitations in the studies, wide confidence intervals,
      small sample sizes, and few events. In addition, there was high heterogeneity for
      some outcomes.Various methods of glucose monitoring were compared in the trials.
      Neither pooled analyses nor individual trial analyses showed any clear advantages
      of one monitoring technique over another for primary and secondary outcomes. Many
      important outcomes were not reported.1. Self-monitoring versus standard care (two
      studies, 43 women): there was no clear difference for caesarean section (risk
      ratio (RR) 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.40 to 1.49; one study, 28 women)
      or glycaemic control (both very low-quality), and not enough evidence to assess
      perinatal mortality and neonatal mortality and morbidity composite. Hypertensive
      disorders of pregnancy, large-for-gestational age, neurosensory disability, and
      preterm birth were not reported in either study.2. Self-monitoring versus
      hospitalisation (one study, 100 women): there was no clear difference for
      hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and hypertension) (RR 4.26,
      95% CI 0.52 to 35.16; very low-quality: RR 0.43, 95% CI 0.08 to 2.22; very low
      quality). There was no clear difference in caesarean section or preterm birth
      less than 37 weeks' gestation (both very low quality), and the sample size was
      too small to assess perinatal mortality (very low-quality). Large-for-gestational
      age, mortality or morbidity composite, neurosensory disability and preterm birth
      less than 34 weeks were not reported.3. Pre-prandial versus post-prandial glucose
      monitoring (one study, 61 women): there was no clear difference between groups
      for caesarean section (RR 1.45, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.28; very low-quality), large-for
      gestational age (RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.85; very low-quality) or glycaemic
      control (very low-quality). The results for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy:
      pre-eclampsia and perinatal mortality are not meaningful because these outcomes
      were too rare to show differences in a small sample (all very low-quality). The
      study did not report the outcomes mortality or morbidity composite, neurosensory
      disability or preterm birth.4. Automated telemedicine monitoring versus
      conventional system (three studies, 84 women): there was no clear difference for
      caesarean section (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.48; one study, 32 women; very low
      quality), and mortality or morbidity composite in the one study that reported
      these outcomes. There were no clear differences for glycaemic control (very low
      quality). No studies reported hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, large-for
      gestational age, perinatal mortality (stillbirth and neonatal mortality),
      neurosensory disability or preterm birth.5.CGM versus intermittent monitoring
      (two studies, 225 women): there was no clear difference for pre-eclampsia (RR
      1.37, 95% CI 0.52 to 3.59; low-quality), caesarean section (average RR 1.00, 95%
      CI 0.65 to 1.54; I2 = 62%; very low-quality) and large-for-gestational age
      (average RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.41 to 1.92; I2 = 82%; very low-quality). Glycaemic
      control indicated by mean maternal HbA1c was lower for women in the continuous
      monitoring group (mean difference (MD) -0.60 %, 95% CI -0.91 to -0.29; one study,
      71 women; moderate-quality). There was not enough evidence to assess perinatal
      mortality and there were no clear differences for preterm birth less than 37
      weeks' gestation (low-quality). Mortality or morbidity composite, neurosensory
      disability and preterm birth less than 34 weeks were not reported.6. Constant CGM
      versus intermittent CGM (one study, 25 women): there was no clear difference
      between groups for caesarean section (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.33 to 1.79; very low
      quality), glycaemic control (mean blood glucose in the 3rd trimester) (MD -0.14
      mmol/L, 95% CI -2.00 to 1.72; very low-quality) or preterm birth less than 37
      weeks' gestation (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.08 to 15.46; very low-quality). Other primary
      (hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, large-for-gestational age, perinatal
      mortality (stillbirth and neonatal mortality), mortality or morbidity composite,
      and neurosensory disability) or GRADE outcomes (preterm birth less than 34 weeks'
      gestation) were not reported. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review found no evidence
      that any glucose monitoring technique is superior to any other technique among
      pregnant women with pre-existing type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The evidence base for
      the effectiveness of monitoring techniques is weak and additional evidence from
      large well-designed randomised trials is required to inform choices of glucose
      monitoring techniques.

PMID- 28602022
TI  - Recurrence of melanocytic lesions after laser treatment: benign vs. malignant
      upon dermoscopy.

PMID- 28602021
TI  - Evaluation of Mollicutes Microorganisms in Respiratory Disease of Cattle and
      Their Relationship to Clinical Signs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is an important problem in cattle
      production that is responsible for economic losses in dairy herds. Mycoplasma
      spp. are described as an important etiological agent of BRD. HYPOTHESIS: To
      evaluate the occurrence of the most important mycoplasmas in the lower
      respiratory tract of healthy and BRD cattle in relationship to clinical signs of
      BRD. ANIMALS: Sixty young dairy cattle were classified as healthy (n = 32) or
      cattle showing clinical signs of BRD (n = 28). METHODS: Tracheal lavage samples
      were collected and added to tubes containing Hayflick media. Mycoplasma spp. were
      identified by the presence of "fried egg" like colonies, biochemical tests and
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Occurrence of Mollicutes, M. bovis, M. mycoides
      subsp. mycoides SC and M. dispar was evaluated. The association between clinical
      signs of BRD and the presence of Mycoplasma spp. also was evaluated. RESULTS:
      Colonies were obtained from a 1-year-old BRD calf only. However, species
      identification was not possible. Mollicutes (P = .035) and M. dispar (P = .036)
      were more common in BRD cattle. The relationship between Mollicutes and crackle
      (P = .057) was not significant. M. dispar was associated to tachypnea (P = .045)
      and mixed dyspnea (P = .003). Relationships to heart rate (P = .062) and crackle
      (P = .062) were not significant. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The results
      confirmed the importance of mycoplasma as an etiologic agent of BRD and suggested
      M. dispar as part of the respiratory microbiota and its possible role in the
      development of BRD.

PMID- 28602023
TI  - Increased expression of the interleukin-36 cytokines in lesions of hidradenitis
      suppurativa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a recalcitrant chronic skin disease
      with poorly understood immunopathogenic mechanisms. Previous studies reported
      that the interleukin-36 (IL-36) cytokines [IL-36alpha, IL-36beta, IL-36gamma and
      IL-36 receptor antagonists (IL-36RA)] are important players in the pathogenesis
      of psoriasis (PS). OBJECTIVE: We aim to determine whether the IL-36 cytokines are
      upregulated in patients with HS. For this purpose, we analysed local expression
      and systemic levels of the IL-36 cytokines in patients with HS and compared the
      results to healthy donors and patients with PS. METHODS: Skin biopsies from
      healthy donors and HS and PS patients were analysed for expression of the IL-36
      cytokines by immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative real-time PCR. The enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure systemic levels of the IL
      36 cytokines in the serum of the three donor groups. RESULTS: The agonists IL
      36alpha, IL-36beta and IL-36gamma were found to be upregulated in HS both
      systemically and lesionally, while the IL-36RA was not differently regulated in
      comparison to healthy donors. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the agonistic
      IL-36 isoforms are upregulated in HS. The relevance of the enhanced production of
      IL-36 cytokines in HS pathogenesis remains to be determined.

PMID- 28602024
TI  - Self-diagnosed drug allergies: the belief of patients.

PMID- 28602025
TI  - A method to assess the protective efficacy of sunscreens against visible light
      induced pigmentation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Until now, photoprotection of human skin has involved the development
      of sunscreens effective in the ultraviolet (UV) domain. During the last ten
      years, several studies have shown that besides the well-known damaging effects of
      UV, visible (400-700 nm) and even infrared light (> 700 nm) can induce damage
      which contributes to photoaging. Furthermore, many photodermatoses are also known
      to be triggered by visible light (VL). OBJECTIVE/METHOD: An in vivo method is
      proposed to assess the protective efficacy of sunscreens in the VL domain. This
      method is based on the intensity of pigmentation induced by four repeated daily
      doses of VL, each equivalent to about one hour of midday sun. Exposures are
      performed using a solar simulator (xenon lamp) equipped with appropriate filters,
      and pigmentation is measured both clinically and by chromametry. Three
      commercially available sunscreens designed to protect in the visible range were
      evaluated. RESULTS: The results indicate that the VL-induced pigmentation was
      already significantly detectable visually and by chromametry 24 hours after the
      first exposure on the unprotected zone. Two products with moderate protective
      activity could be differentiated from the untreated zone from Day 3 to Day 5 and
      were also significantly less effective than a third tested product within the
      same study period. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, based on a clinical end
      point of VL-induced skin pigmentation, and can be performed within a 5-day
      period. It allows discrimination between products of different protective
      capacities. VL protection factor is also discussed.

PMID- 28602026
TI  - Treating ion distribution with Gaussian-based smooth dielectric function in
      DelPhi.
AB  - The standard treatment of ions in the framework of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation
      relies on molecular surfaces, which are commonly constructed along with the Stern
      layer. The molecular surface determines where ions can be present. In the
      Gaussian-based smooth dielectric function in DelPhi, smooth boundaries between
      the solute and solvent take the place of molecular surface. Therefore, this
      invokes the question of how to model mobile ions in the water phase without a
      definite solute-solvent boundary. This article reports a natural extension of the
      Gaussian-based smooth dielectric function approach that treats mobile ions via
      Boltzmann distribution with an added desolvation penalty. Thus, ion concentration
      near macromolecules is governed by the local electrostatic potential and the
      desolvation penalty (from being partially desolvated). The approach is tested
      against the experimental salt dependence of binding free energy on 7 protein
      protein complexes and 12 DNA-protein complexes, resulting in Pearson correlations
      of 0.95 and 0.88, respectively. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28602027
TI  - Assistive technology for memory support in dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The sustained interest in electronic assistive technology in dementia
      care has been fuelled by the urgent need to develop useful approaches to help
      support people with dementia at home. Also the low costs and wide availability of
      electronic devices make it more feasible to use electronic devices for the
      benefit of disabled persons. Information Communication Technology (ICT) devices
      designed to support people with dementia are usually referred to as Assistive
      Technology (AT) or Electronic Assistive Technology (EAT). By using AT in this
      review we refer to electronic assistive devices. A range of AT devices has been
      developed to support people with dementia and their carers to manage their daily
      activities and to enhance safety, for example electronic pill boxes, picture
      phones, or mobile tracking devices. Many are commercially available. However, the
      usefulness and user-friendliness of these devices are often poorly evaluated.
      Although reviews of (electronic) memory aids do exist, a systematic review of
      studies focusing on the efficacy of AT for memory support in people with dementia
      is lacking. Such a review would guide people with dementia and their informal and
      professional carers in selecting appropriate AT devices. OBJECTIVES: Primary
      objectiveTo assess the efficacy of AT for memory support in people with dementia
      in terms of daily performance of personal and instrumental activities of daily
      living (ADL), level of dependency, and admission to long-term care. Secondary
      objectiveTo assess the impact of AT on: users (autonomy, usefulness and user
      friendliness, adoption of AT); cognitive function and neuropsychiatric symptoms;
      need for informal and formal care; perceived quality of life; informal carer
      burden, self-esteem and feelings of competence; formal carer work satisfaction,
      workload and feelings of competence; and adverse events. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched ALOIS, the Specialised Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive
      Improvement Group (CDCIG), on 10 November 2016. ALOIS is maintained by the
      Information Specialists of the CDCIG and contains studies in the areas of
      dementia prevention, dementia treatment and cognitive enhancement in healthy
      people. We also searched the following list of databases, adapting the search
      strategy as necessary: Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) Databases, up
      to May 2016; The Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies; DBLP Computer
      Science Bibliography; HCI Bibliography: Human-Computer Interaction Resources; and
      AgeInfo, all to June 2016; PiCarta; Inspec; Springer Link Lecture Notes; Social
      Care Online; and IEEE Computer Society Digital Library, all to October 2016; J
      STAGE: Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic; and
      Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library (NCSTRL), both to November
      2016; Computing Research Repository (CoRR) up to December 2016; and OT seeker;
      and ADEAR, both to February 2017. In addition, we searched Google Scholar and
      OpenSIGLE for grey literature. SELECTION CRITERIA: We intended to review
      randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and clustered randomised trials with blinded
      assessment of outcomes that evaluated an electronic assistive device used with
      the single aim of supporting memory function in people diagnosed with dementia.
      The control interventions could either be 'care (or treatment) as usual' or non
      technological psychosocial interventions (including interventions that use non
      electronic assistive devices) also specifically aimed at supporting memory.
      Outcome measures included activities of daily living, level of dependency,
      clinical and care-related outcomes (for example admission to long-term care),
      perceived quality of life and well-being, and adverse events resulting from the
      use of AT; as well as the effects of AT on carers. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
      Two review authors independently screened all titles and abstracts identified by
      the search. MAIN RESULTS: We identified no studies which met the inclusion
      criteria. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the current lack of high
      quality evidence to determine whether AT is effective in supporting people with
      dementia to manage their memory problems.

PMID- 28602028
TI  - Maternal-infant interaction as an influence on infant adiposity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research is to identify whether specific aspects of
      the early life psychosocial environment such as quality of home and maternal
      infant interaction are associated with increased infant adiposity, in a
      disadvantaged population in the United States. METHODS: Data on 121 mother-infant
      pairs from the Albany Pregnancy and Infancy Lead Study were analyzed using three
      multiple linear regression models with subscapular skinfold thickness (SST),
      triceps skinfold thickness (TST), and weight z-scores at 12 months of age as
      outcome variables. Maternal-infant interaction was indexed by the Nursing Child
      Assessment Teaching Scales (NCATS) and home environment quality was indexed by
      the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME). RESULTS: In
      models including infant birth weight, cigarette use in second trimester, infant
      caloric intake at 9-12 months, size at birth for gestational age, infant sex, and
      mother's prepregnancy BMI, specific subscales of NCATs predicted infant adiposity
      z-scores. Poorer mother's response to infant distress was associated with greater
      SST ( beta = -0.20, P = .02), TST ( beta = -0.19, P = .04), and weight ( beta = 
      0.14, P = .05). Better maternal sensitivity to infant cues was associated with
      larger SST ( beta = 0.25, P < .01), while mother's poorer social-emotional growth
      fostering predicted greater SST ( beta = -0.23, P < .01) and weight ( beta = 
      0.16, P = .03). Better scores on HOME Organization of the Environment were
      associated with greater SST ( beta = 0.34, P = .02) and TST ( beta = 0.33, P =
      .04). CONCLUSIONS: Emotionally relevant aspects of the maternal-infant
      interaction predicted infant adiposity, though in different directions. This
      indicates that the psychosocial environment, through maternal behavior, may
      influence infant adiposity. However, the general home environment was not
      consistently related to infant adiposity.

PMID- 28602030
TI  - Variable expressivity of a likely pathogenic variant in KCNQ2 in a three
      generation pedigree presenting with intellectual disability with childhood onset
      seizures.
AB  - KCNQ2 has been reported as a frequent cause of autosomal dominant benign familial
      neonatal seizures. De novo likely pathogenic variants in KCNQ2 have been
      described in neonatal or early infantile onset epileptic encephalopathy patients.
      Here, we report a three-generation family with six affected patients with a novel
      likely pathogenic variant (c.628C>T; p.Arg210Cys) in KCNQ2. Four family members,
      three adults and a child, presented with a childhood seizure onset with
      variability in the severity of seizures and response to treatment, intellectual
      disability (ID) as well as behavioral problems. The two youngest affected
      patients had a variable degree of global developmental delay with no seizures at
      their current age. This three-generation family with six affected members expands
      the phenotypic spectrum of KCNQ2 associated encephalopathy to KCNQ2 associated ID
      and or childhood onset epileptic encephalopathy. We think that KCNQ2 associated
      epileptic encephalopathy should be included in the differential diagnosis of
      childhood onset epilepsy and early onset global developmental delay, cognitive
      dysfunction, or ID. Furthermore, whole exome sequencing in families with ID and
      history of autosomal dominant inheritance pattern with or without seizures, may
      further broaden the phenotypic spectrum of KCNQ2 associated epileptic
      encephalopathy or encephalopathy.

PMID- 28602029
TI  - The prognostic impact of programmed cell death ligand 1 and human leukocyte
      antigen class I in pancreatic cancer.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is associated with an immunosuppressive
      tumor-microenvironment (TME) that supports the growth of tumors and mediates
      tumors enabling evasion of the immune system. Expression of programmed cell death
      ligand 1 (PD-L1) and loss of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I on tumor cells
      are methods by which tumors escape immunosurveillance. We examined immune cell
      infiltration, the expression of PD-L1 and HLA class I by PDA cells, and the
      correlation between these immunological factors and clinical prognosis. PDA
      samples from 36 patients were analyzed for HLA class I, HLA-DR, PD-L1, PD-1, CD4,
      CD8, CD56, CD68, and FoxP3 expression by immunohistochemistry. The correlations
      between the expression of HLA class I, HLA-DR, PD-L1 or PD-1 and the pattern of
      tumor infiltrating immune cells or the patients' prognosis were assessed. PD-L1
      expression correlated with tumor infiltration by CD68+ and FoxP3+ cells. Low HLA
      class I expression was an only risk factor for poor survival. PD-L1 negative and
      HLA class I high-expressing PDA was significantly associated with higher numbers
      of infiltrating CD8+ T cells in the TME, and a better prognosis. Evaluation of
      both PD-L1 and HLA class I expression by PDA may be a good predictor of prognosis
      for patients. HLA class I expression by tumor cells should be evaluated when
      selecting PDA patients who may be eligible for treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 immune
      checkpoint blockade therapies.

PMID- 28602031
TI  - Audit and feedback using the Robson classification to reduce caesarean section
      rates: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In most regions worldwide, caesarean section (CS) rates are
      increasing. In these settings, new strategies are needed to reduce CS rates.
      OBJECTIVES: To identify, critically appraise and synthesise studies using the
      Robson classification as a system to categorise and analyse data in clinical
      audit cycles to reduce CS rates. SEARCH STRATEGY: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and
      LILACS were searched from 2001 to 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies reporting use
      of the Robson classification to categorise and analyse data in clinical audit
      cycles to reduce CS rates. DATA COLLECTION: Data on study design, interventions
      used, CS rates, and perinatal outcomes were extracted. RESULTS: Of 385 citations,
      30 were assessed for full text review and six studies, conducted in Brazil,
      Chile, Italy and Sweden, were included. All studies measured initial CS rates,
      provided feedback and monitored performance using the Robson classification. In
      two studies, the audit cycle consisted exclusively of feedback using the Robson
      classification; the other four used audit and feedback as part of a multifaceted
      intervention. Baseline CS rates ranged from 20 to 36.8%; after the intervention,
      CS rates ranged from 3.1 to 21.2%. No studies were randomised or controlled and
      all had a high risk of bias. CONCLUSION: We identified six studies using the
      Robson classification within clinical audit cycles to reduce CS rates. All six
      report reductions in CS rates; however, results should be interpreted with
      caution because of limited methodological quality. Future trials are needed to
      evaluate the role of the Robson classification within audit cycles aimed at
      reducing CS rates. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Use of the Robson classification in
      clinical audit cycles to reduce caesarean rates.

PMID- 28602032
TI  - Comparative evaluation of efficacy and safety of calcipotriol versus tacalcitol
      ointment, both in combination with NBUVB phototherapy in the treatment of stable
      plaque psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D analogues and NBUVB phototherapy are both well-established
      modalities of treatment in psoriasis. The objective of this open label,
      intraindividual, left right study was to compare two different vitamin D
      analogues, calcipotriol and tacalcitol, in combination with NBUVB phototherapy in
      chronic stable plaque psoriasis. METHODS: Thirty patients with stable plaque
      psoriasis were enrolled for a 12-week clinical trial. The target lesion on left
      side was treated topically with tacalcitol ointment once daily, while that on the
      right side was treated with calcipotriol ointment twice daily. NBUVB phototherapy
      was given thrice weekly. Efficacy was assessed by target plaque scoring. RESULTS:
      Both therapies resulted in statistically significant reduction in erythema,
      scaling, thickness and target plaque score, seen as early as 2 weeks into
      therapy. However, calcipotriol combination led to an earlier clearance of plaques
      and a lesser relapse rate than tacalcitol combination. The number of treatment
      sessions and cumulative NBUVB doses were significantly lower in the calcipotriol
      treated group. CONCLUSION: Both vitamin D analogues appear to be safe, effective
      and cosmetically acceptable, calcipotriol being more efficacious, well tolerated
      with a rapid onset of action and a better maintenance of response.

PMID- 28602033
TI  - A cross-sectional study exploring the incidence of and indications for second
      stage cesarean delivery over three decades.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the incidence of, indications for, and complications
      associated with second-stage cesarean delivery in 10-year intervals over 30
      years. METHODS: The present analysis of prospectively collected data compared
      cesarean deliveries during 1976, 1986, 1996, and 2006 at John Radcliffe Hospital
      in Oxford, UK (n=3222). Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal details were reviewed.
      RESULTS: The proportion of deliveries by cesarean in the second stage of labor
      increased from 0.5% (22/4464) in 1976 to 2.1% (124/5998) in 2006 (P<0.001). The
      proportion of cesarean deliveries during the second stage because of failed
      instrumental delivery also increased over the study period from 59.1% (13/22) in
      1976 to 71.0% (88/124) in 2006. Compared with cesareans at other stages, uterine
      trauma (P<0.001), blood loss greater than 1000 mL (P=0.002), and blood
      transfusion (P=0.001) were more frequent in second-stage cesarean delivery.
      Neonates delivered by second-stage cesarean had lower Apgar scores (P<0.001 for 1
      min and 5-min scores) and cord arterial pH values (P<0.001) than did those
      delivered by cesarean earlier in labor. A trend towards an increase in neonatal
      trauma with second-stage cesarean compared with cesarean delivery before labor or
      during the first stage did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The
      proportion of deliveries by cesarean in the second stage of labor increased;
      these deliveries were associated with greater maternal and neonatal morbidity,
      but were not influenced by the indication for cesarean.

PMID- 28602034
TI  - Blood pressure in adolescent patients with pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare variables among adolescent and adult patients diagnosed
      with severe pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. METHODS: The present cross-sectional
      study enrolled patients with severe pre-eclampsia or eclampsia treated at an
      intensive care unit in Neiva, Colombia, between January 1 and November 30, 2014.
      Patients were stratified using age (younger than 20 years [adolescents] and aged
      at least 20 years [adults]) and patient variables were compared between groups.
      Maternal age, pregnancy duration at delivery, eclampsia, blood pressure, severe
      hypertension, maternal organ damage, HELLP syndrome, obstetric hemorrhage,
      laboratory findings, need for blood transfusion and fetal data were analyzed by
      group. RESULTS: There were 171 patients enrolled; 154 (90.1%) with severe pre
      eclampsia and 17 (9.9%) with eclampsia. There were 46 (26.9%) adolescent patients
      and 125 (73.1%) adults, and 13 (28.3%) and 4 (3.2%) patients had eclampsia in the
      adolescent and adult groups, respectively (P=0.001). The systolic (P=0.081),
      diastolic (P=0.174), and mean (P=0.102) blood pressure did not differ
      significantly between the groups but were higher in the adult group. The
      incidence of severe hypertension was significantly higher among adult patients
      (P=0.037). CONCLUSION: The blood pressure used in defining pre-eclampsia and
      eclampsia should differ for adolescent patients in comparison with the rest of
      the population.

PMID- 28602035
TI  - Severe root resorption of the upper central incisors as a consequence of playing
      the flute.
AB  - This study presents a case of severe root resorption of the maxillary central
      incisors in an 18-year-old woman who was referred for orthodontic treatment of
      irregular dental arches. A detailed history revealed that she used to play the
      block flute on an everyday basis during childhood. Against all warnings, she
      continued to firmly press her teeth into the mouthpiece of the instrument.
      Impressions of the upper central incisors were clearly visible on the instrument.
      Although it is well known that excessive occlusal forces can result in root
      resorption, to the authors' knowledge, this case involves one of the first
      reported occurrences of extensive root resorption that was most likely caused by
      playing a wind instrument during childhood.

PMID- 28602036
TI  - Circulating Adiponectin Levels Differ Between Patients with Multiple Myeloma and
      its Precursor Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An increased risk of multiple myeloma (MM) has been observed among
      individuals with low prediagnostic circulating levels of adiponectin, a metabolic
      hormone that is typically underexpressed among those with overweight or obesity.
      To assess whether adiponectin may influence myeloma development or progression to
      frank MM, circulating adiponectin levels were compared across patients with
      different stages of MM and its precursor, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined
      significance (MGUS). METHODS: Adiponectin was measured in 213 patients with MGUS,
      smoldering MM, or fully developed MM. Differences in adiponectin levels across
      patient groups were assessed using multivariate linear regression. RESULTS:
      Relative to MGUS patients, adiponectin levels were statistically significantly
      lower among those with smoldering and fully developed MM, both overall (16%-20%
      decrease; P = 0.048) and among those with IgG/IgA isotypes (26%-28% decrease; P =
      0.004). Among MGUS patients, adiponectin levels were significantly lower for
      those with the higher-risk IgM isotype compared with those who had IgG/IgA
      isotypes (42% decrease; P = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study, the
      largest to investigate adiponectin levels in patients with different stages of MM
      and the first to evaluate associations with clinical characteristics, suggest
      that reduced expression of adiponectin may be associated with progression from
      MGUS to MM.

PMID- 28602037
TI  - Determining the accuracy of pregnancy-length dating among women presenting for
      induced abortions in Ghana.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of women presenting for an induced
      abortion in Ghana who could use a gestational wheel to determine if they had
      reached at least 13 weeks or fewer than 13 weeks of pregnancy accurately.
      METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was conducted at four facilities in
      Ghana between February 1, and July 31, 2014. Women aged at least 18 years seeking
      induced abortions who had not previously been informed of the length of their
      pregnancy by a clinician were enrolled. Women self-assessed pregnancy duration
      using a gestational wheel before a clinician assessed the length via clinical
      assessment and bimanual exam for use as a respective reference point. The
      proportion of participants who used the wheel successfully was calculated.
      RESULTS: The study enrolled 780 participants, 770 of whom used the gestational
      wheel. Of these, 221 (28.7%) could use the wheel without verbal instructions, and
      465 (60.4%) described it as easy to use. Agreement in pregnancy-length
      assessments was recorded for 728 (94.5%) patients. There were 10 (1.3%) and 28
      (3.6%) participants who made evaluations with "low-risk disagreement" and "high
      risk disagreement" with the clinician assessment, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Almost all participants could use the gestational wheel to date their pregnancies
      correctly. This tool could help women perform medical abortions safely in the
      community, reducing morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortions.

PMID- 28602038
TI  - A meta-analysis of pelvic floor muscle training for the treatment of urinary
      incontinence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symptoms associated with urinary incontinence (UI) frequently affect
      quality of life. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of pelvic floor muscle
      training (PFMT) among women with UI. SEARCH STRATEGY: The Cochrane Library,
      PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched using relevant terms for all
      English-language studies published up to August 15, 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Studies that evaluated the effects of PFMT on UI symptoms, PFM function, and
      quality of life were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were screened
      and collected by two independent investigators. Pooled effect sizes and 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. MAIN RESULTS: Twelve studies were
      included, involving 763 patients. Use of PFMT increased PFM strength when
      measured by digital palpation and the Muscle Strength Oxford Scale (standardized
      mean difference [SMD] 1.18, 95% CI 0.56-1.80). The PFM pressure was increased by
      PFMT when measured using a perineometer (SMD 0.40, 95% CI 0.07-0.73). Finally,
      PFMT improved quality of life (SMD 1.67, 95% CI 0.41-2.94). CONCLUSIONS: Regular
      use of PFMT provided symptom relief and improved quality of life among women with
      UI.

PMID- 28602040
TI  - The impact of a head and neck microvascular fellowship program on otolaryngology
      resident training.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a microvascular head and neck (H&N) fellowship
      on senior residents' surgical experience. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of
      Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-generated operative case log
      reports, retrospective chart review, and electronic survey. METHODS: A
      retrospective review of one institution's residents' H&N operative case logs and
      free flap operative reports was performed to determine changes in key indicator
      cases (KICs) after the addition of a H&N fellowship. An electronic survey was
      distributed to senior residents at all U.S. otolaryngology residency programs to
      determine residents' perceptions of a H&N fellow's impact on their surgical
      experience. An electronic survey was distributed to senior medical students
      applying to surgical residencies to explore the perceived impact that a
      fellowship has on the desirability of a residency program. RESULTS: The average
      number of each postgraduate year (PGY)5's H&N KIC before and after the addition
      of the fellowship were: parotidectomy, 19 versus 17.8; neck dissection, 33.2
      versus 40.6; oral cavity resection, 15.3 versus 12.6; thyroid/parathyroid, 45.5
      versus 45.6; and flaps/grafts, 56.7 versus 42. PGY5 participation as first
      assistant in free flaps dropped from 78% to 17%; however, residents still
      participated in some aspect of 45% of the cases. Seventy percent of senior
      residents reported a positive perception of the H&N fellow on their H&N operative
      experience. Eighty-nine percent of senior medical student respondents reported a
      nonnegative perception of a fellowship in their applied field. CONCLUSION: The
      addition of a H&N fellowship did not decrease senior residents' H&N KIC, and most
      senior residents at programs with fellowships report that the fellow has a
      positive impact on their H&N operative experience. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.
      Laryngoscope, 128:52-56, 2018.

PMID- 28602039
TI  - Secukinumab demonstrates greater sustained improvements in daily activities and
      personal relationships than ustekinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe
      plaque psoriasis: 52-week results from the CLEAR study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psoriasis can greatly impact patients' lives by influencing clothing
      worn as well as by impairing sexual functioning. Secukinumab, a human monoclonal
      antibody selectively neutralizing interleukin-17A, has demonstrated good efficacy
      and safety in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis and psoriatic
      arthritis with a rapid onset of action and sustained response. OBJECTIVE: This
      analysis using the CLEAR study, a phase 3b double-blind study comparing the
      efficacy and safety of secukinumab vs. ustekinumab in adults with moderate-to
      severe plaque psoriasis, evaluated the treatment effects on patient's daily
      activities and personal relationships. METHODS: Impact on daily activities
      (interference with home/shopping/garden, and influence on clothes worn) and
      impact on personal relationships (problems with partner/others, and sexual
      difficulties) as well as their corresponding subscales were selected from the
      Dermatology Life Quality Index scale and evaluated for patients treated with
      secukinumab vs. ustekinumab from the CLEAR study. Treatment differences in mean
      scores and proportions of responders (score = 0, indicating no impact) were
      evaluated through 52 weeks. Time to response was evaluated through Week 16.
      RESULTS: Significant differences between secukinumab and ustekinumab were
      observed for daily activities and personal relationships at Week 16 and sustained
      through Week 52 (Week 52 response rates for daily activities: 82.9% vs. 73.5%,
      including interference with home/shopping/garden: 88.5% vs. 78.2%, and influence
      on clothes worn: 85.6% vs. 74.4%; personal relationships: 86.1% vs. 73.7%,
      including problems with partner/others: 86.6% vs. 74.8%, and sexual difficulties:
      88.5% vs. 74.3%; all P < 0.01). The median time to response was 4 weeks for
      secukinumab vs. 8 weeks for ustekinumab for daily activities and personal
      relationships (both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Secukinumab treatment helps patients
      with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis have a more normal life faster when
      compared to ustekinumab, by providing greater and sustained improvement in
      clothing choice and sexual functioning.

PMID- 28602041
TI  - Long non-coding RNAs in aging organs and tissues.
AB  - The aging process directly impacts bodily functions on multiple levels, including
      a reduced ability to resist stress, damage and disease. Besides changes in
      metabolic control, the aging process coincides with the altered long non-coding
      RNAs (lncRNAs) expression, which are >=200nt long class of non-protein coding
      RNAs. The majority of non-coding transcripts of mammalian organs and tissues are
      expressed in developmentally regulated and cell-type specific manners. Specific
      altered lncRNA level has been involved in induction and maintenance of the whole
      human body aging with highly specific spatial andtemporal expression patterns.
      Furthermore, many lncRNAs are transcribed in sense, antisense and bidirectional
      manners in the mammalian genome. They play a vital role in regulating organ or
      tissue differentiation during aging by binding with miRNA or proteins to act as a
      decoy. Recently, the correlation between lncRNAs and aging has been studied
      intensely. Here, we have summarized some examples of known and novel lncRNAs that
      have been implicated in the aging process in the whole mammalian body and we
      discuss these patterns, conservation and characters during aging. This may
      further promote the development of research on lncRNAs and the aging process.

PMID- 28602042
TI  - Clinical indications for cesarean delivery among women living with female genital
      mutilation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare primary indications for cesarean delivery among patients
      with different female genital mutilation (FGM) status. METHODS: The present
      secondary analysis included data from women who underwent trial of labor
      resulting in cesarean delivery at 28 obstetric centers in six African countries
      between November 1, 2001, and March 31, 2003. Associations between cesarean
      delivery indications and FGM status were assessed using descriptive statistics
      and multivariable multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Data from 1659 women
      (480 patients with no type of FGM and 1179 patients with FGM [any type]) were
      included; cesarean delivery indications were collapsed into five categories
      (fetal indications, maternal factors, stage 1 arrest, stage 2 arrest, and other).
      The incidence of a clear medical indication for cesarean delivery did not differ
      between the groups (P=0.320). Among patients without a clear indication for
      cesarean delivery, women with FGM were more likely to have undergone cesarean
      delivery for maternal factors (adjusted relative risk ratio [aRRR] 3.92, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 1.3-11.71), stage 1 arrest (aRRR 7.74, 95% CI 1.33
      45.07), stage 2 arrest (aRRR 6.63, 95% CI 3.74-11.73), or other factors (aRRR
      2.41, 95% CI 1.04-5.60) rather than fetal factors compared with women who had no
      type of FGM. CONCLUSION: Among women with unclear medical indications, FGM was
      associated with cesarean delivery being performed for maternal factors or arrest
      disorders.

PMID- 28602043
TI  - Efficacy of first-trimester ultrasound parameters for prediction of early
      spontaneous abortion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess first-trimester ultrasound measurements for the prediction
      of early spontaneous abortion. METHODS: In a prospective observational study in
      Jamshedpur, India, women with singleton pregnancies of 42-76 days were enrolled
      between November 2014 and April 2016. Inclusion criteria were spontaneous
      conception, embryonic cardiac activity, and regular menstrual cycle. Fetal crown
      to-rump length (CRL), gestational sac diameter (GSD), yolk sac diameter (YSD),
      and fetal heart rate (FHR) were measured by transvaginal ultrasonography.
      Ultrasonography was repeated at 12 weeks and beyond to determine pregnancy
      continuation. RESULTS: Among 800 women, 140 (17.5%) experienced early spontaneous
      abortion. CRL, GSD, and FHR values below the 5th percentile (odds ratio [OR]
      26.48, 26.94, and 100.63, respectively), and YSD above the 95th percentile (OR
      1.04) were predictors of early abortion. Normal YSD did not reduce the risk of
      abortion if the other three parameters were below the 5th percentile (OR 34.27).
      For every 10-bpm decrease in FHR below 130, there was 26.7% increased risk of
      abortion. GSD-CRL difference of less than 5 mm was associated with a higher
      likelihood of abortion (OR 4.88). CONCLUSION: First-trimester ultrasound
      measurements are predictors of early abortion. Risk assessment tables based on
      combinations of abnormal measures might improve prediction rates.

PMID- 28602045
TI  - Compression therapy for venous leg ulcers: risk factors for adverse events and
      complications, contraindications - a review of present guidelines.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The adequate use of compression in venous leg ulcer treatment is
      equally important to patients as well as clinicians. Currently, there is a lack
      of clarity on contraindications, risk factors, adverse events and complications,
      when applying compression therapy for venous leg ulcer patients. METHODS: The
      project aimed to optimize prevention, treatment and maintenance approaches by
      recognizing contraindications, risk factors, adverse events and complications,
      when applying compression therapy for venous leg ulcer patients. A literature
      review was conducted of current guidelines on venous leg ulcer prevention,
      management and maintenance. RESULTS: Searches took place from 29th February 2016
      to 30th April 2016 and were prospectively limited to publications in the English
      and German languages and publication dates were between January 2009 and April
      2016. Twenty Guidelines, clinical pathways and consensus papers on compression
      therapy for venous leg ulcer treatment and for venous disease, were included.
      Guidelines agreed on the following absolute contraindications: Arterial occlusive
      disease, heart failure and ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) <0.5, but gave
      conflicting recommendations on relative contraindications, risks and adverse
      events. Moreover definitions were unclear and not consistent. CONCLUSIONS:
      Evidence-based guidance is needed to inform clinicians on risk factor, adverse
      effects, complications and contraindications. ABPI values need to be specified
      and details should be given on the type of compression that is safe to use.
      Ongoing research challenges the present recommendations, shifting some
      contraindications into a list of potential indications. Complications of
      compression can be prevented when adequate assessment is performed and clinicians
      are skilled in applying compression.

PMID- 28602044
TI  - The dynamic interaction between pain and opioid misuse.
AB  - : In 2014, drug overdose surpassed automobile accidents as the number one cause
      of accidental death for the first time in the history of the United States. The
      overdose epidemic is largely driven by opioids, and genuine prescription opioid
      analgesics play the biggest role in this phenomenon. Despite advancements in
      abuse deterrent formulations, prescription drug monitoring programmes and
      clinical assessments for the detection of abuse potential, drug overdoses
      continue to escalate. The Center for Disease Control has recently issued new
      guidelines for opioid prescription, yet even these recommendations have their
      shortcomings. Furthermore, undertreated pain in patients with comorbid substance
      use disorder poses a major clinical challenge, particularly for patients on
      opioid replacement therapy. Despite the seemingly obvious interaction between the
      presence of pain and the abuse of pain-relieving opioids, there is surprisingly
      little mechanistic data to further our understanding of this vitally important
      topic. The need for novel pain interventions that minimize abuse liability is
      critical. Without a fundamental characterization of pain neurobiology and the
      interaction between chronic pain and the brain's reward system, we are unlikely
      to make progress in the alleviation of the opioid epidemic. LINKED ARTICLES: This
      article is part of a themed section on Emerging Areas of Opioid Pharmacology. To
      view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.14/issuetoc.

PMID- 28602046
TI  - Exercise interventions for cerebral palsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from
      an injury to the developing brain. It is the most common form of childhood
      disability with prevalence rates of between 1.5 and 3.8 per 1000 births reported
      worldwide. The primary impairments associated with CP include reduced muscle
      strength and reduced cardiorespiratory fitness, resulting in difficulties
      performing activities such as dressing, walking and negotiating stairs.Exercise
      is defined as a planned, structured and repetitive activity that aims to improve
      fitness, and it is a commonly used intervention for people with CP. Aerobic and
      resistance training may improve activity (i.e. the ability to execute a task) and
      participation (i.e. involvement in a life situation) through their impact on the
      primary impairments of CP. However, to date, there has been no comprehensive
      review of exercise interventions for people with CP. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      effects of exercise interventions in people with CP, primarily in terms of
      activity, participation and quality of life. Secondary outcomes assessed body
      functions and body structures. Comparators of interest were no treatment, usual
      care or an alternative type of exercise intervention. SEARCH METHODS: In June
      2016 we searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, nine other databases and four trials
      registers. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      and quasi-RCTs of children, adolescents and adults with CP. We included studies
      of aerobic exercise, resistance training, and 'mixed training' (a combination of
      at least two of aerobic exercise, resistance training and anaerobic training).
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened titles,
      abstracts and potentially relevant full-text reports for eligibility; extracted
      all relevant data and conducted 'Risk of bias' and GRADE assessments. MAIN
      RESULTS: We included 29 trials (926 participants); 27 included children and
      adolescents up to the age of 19 years, three included adolescents and young
      adults (10 to 22 years), and one included adults over 20 years. Males constituted
      53% of the sample. Five trials were conducted in the USA; four in Australia; two
      in Egypt, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and the UK; three in
      Greece; and one apiece in India, Italy, Norway, and South Africa.Twenty-six
      trials included people with spastic CP only; three trials included children and
      adolescents with spastic and other types of CP. Twenty-one trials included people
      who were able to walk with or without assistive devices, four trials also
      included people who used wheeled mobility devices in most settings, and one trial
      included people who used wheeled mobility devices only. Three trials did not
      report the functional ability of participants. Only two trials reported
      participants' manual ability. Eight studies compared aerobic exercise to usual
      care, while 15 compared resistance training and 4 compared mixed training to
      usual care or no treatment. Two trials compared aerobic exercise to resistance
      training. We judged all trials to be at high risk of bias overall.We found low
      quality evidence that aerobic exercise improves gross motor function in the short
      term (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02
      to 1.04, N = 65, 3 studies) and intermediate term (mean difference (MD) 12.96%,
      95% CI 0.52% to 25.40%, N = 12, 1 study). Aerobic exercise does not improve gait
      speed in the short term (MD 0.09 m/s, 95% CI -0.11 m/s to 0.28 m/s, N = 82, 4
      studies, very low-quality evidence) or intermediate term (MD -0.17 m/s, 95% CI 
      0.59 m/s to 0.24 m/s, N = 12, 1 study, low-quality evidence). No trial assessed
      participation or quality of life following aerobic exercise.We found low-quality
      evidence that resistance training does not improve gross motor function (SMD
      0.12, 95% CI -0.19 to 0.43, N = 164, 7 studies), gait speed (MD 0.03 m/s, 95% CI 
      0.02 m/s to 0.07 m/s, N = 185, 8 studies), participation (SMD 0.34, 95% CI -0.01
      to 0.70, N = 127, 2 studies) or parent-reported quality of life (MD 12.70, 95% CI
      -5.63 to 31.03, n = 12, 1 study) in the short term. There is also low-quality
      evidence that resistance training does not improve gait speed (MD -0.03 m/s, 95%
      CI -0.17 m/s to 0.11 m/s, N = 84, 3 studies), gross motor function (SMD 0.13, 95%
      CI -0.30 to 0.55, N = 85, 3 studies) or participation (MD 0.37, 95% CI -6.61 to
      7.35, N = 36, 1 study) in the intermediate term.We found low-quality evidence
      that mixed training does not improve gross motor function (SMD 0.02, 95% CI -0.29
      to 0.33, N = 163, 4 studies) or gait speed (MD 0.10 m/s, -0.07 m/s to 0.27 m/s, N
      = 58, 1 study) but does improve participation (MD 0.40, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.67, N =
      65, 1 study) in the short-term.There is no difference between resistance training
      and aerobic exercise in terms of the effect on gross motor function in the short
      term (SMD 0.02, 95% CI -0.50 to 0.55, N = 56, 2 studies, low-quality
      evidence).Thirteen trials did not report adverse events, seven reported no
      adverse events, and nine reported non-serious adverse events. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: The quality of evidence for all conclusions is low to very low. As
      included trials have small sample sizes, heterogeneity may be underestimated,
      resulting in considerable uncertainty relating to effect estimates. For children
      with CP, there is evidence that aerobic exercise may result in a small
      improvement in gross motor function, though it does not improve gait speed. There
      is evidence that resistance training does not improve gait speed, gross motor
      function, participation or quality of life among children with CP.Based on the
      evidence available, exercise appears to be safe for people with CP; only 55% of
      trials, however, reported adverse events or stated that they monitored adverse
      events. There is a need for large, high-quality, well-reported RCTs that assess
      the effectiveness of exercise in terms of activity and participation, before
      drawing any firm conclusions on the effectiveness of exercise for people with CP.
      Research is also required to determine if current exercise guidelines for the
      general population are effective and feasible for people with CP.

PMID- 28602047
TI  - Relationship between skin color and solar elastosis in aged Asian skin: A
      colorimetric-pathologic correlation.
AB  - Aged skin is reported to be associated with unattractive skin color changes and
      solar elastosis. However, comparative studies have not documented the possible
      correlation between the two factors. This study investigated the plausible
      relationship between the facial skin color of elderly Asians and solar elastosis.
      A total of 22 skin specimens were collected from 22 Korean patients who underwent
      cheek skin biopsies. Skin color was quantitatively measured using colorimetric
      photography techniques to produce CIE L*a*b* values; the degree of solar
      elastosis was quantifiably assessed using a histologic grading scale. These
      values were used to investigate a correlation between the CIE L*a*b* coordinates
      and solar elastosis grade. The solar elastosis grade increased according to
      patient age (r = 0.67, p = .0006). However, the extent of solar elastosis was not
      statistically correlated with the CIE L*a*b* values, including L*, a*, and b* (r
      = 0.02, p = .95; r = 0.15, p = 0.50; r = -0.07, p = 0.76, respectively). The
      results showed that the solar elastosis grade increased, according to patient
      age, because of cumulative actinic damage. However, colorimetric skin color data
      did not correlate with the degree of solar elastosis. Therefore, cutaneous color
      changes and solar elastosis are separate, age-related phenomena. Physicians
      should be aware of the possible histologic changes in actinically damaged facial
      skin, regardless of the skin color.

PMID- 28602049
TI  - Baldness and scalp melanoma.

PMID- 28602048
TI  - Injected corticosteroids for treating plantar heel pain in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plantar heel pain, commonly resulting from plantar fasciitis, often
      results in significant morbidity. Treatment options include nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), orthoses, physical therapy, physical agents (e.g.
      extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), laser) and invasive procedures
      including steroid injections. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects (benefits and
      harms) of injected corticosteroids for treating plantar heel pain in adults.
      SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group
      Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (the
      Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, clinical trials registries and
      conference proceedings. Latest search: 27 March 2017. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of corticosteroid injections in the
      treatment of plantar heel pain in adults were eligible for inclusion. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: At least two review authors independently selected
      studies, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We calculated risk ratios
      (RRs) for dichotomous outcomes and mean differences (MDs) for continuous outcome
      measures. We used a fixed-effect model unless heterogeneity was significant, when
      a random-effects model was considered. We assessed the overall quality of
      evidence for individual outcomes using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS: We
      included a total of 39 studies (36 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and 3
      quasi-RCTs) that involved a total of 2492 adults. Most studies were small (median
      = 59 participants). Participants' mean ages ranged from 34 years to 59 years.
      When reported, most participants had heel pain for several months. The trials
      were usually conducted in outpatient specialty clinics of tertiary care hospitals
      in 17 countries. Steroid injection was given with a local anaesthetic agent in 34
      trials. Follow-up was from one month to over two years. With one exception,
      trials were assessed at high risk of bias in one or more domains, mostly relating
      to lack of blinding, including lack of confirmation of allocation concealment.
      With two exceptions, we rated the available evidence as very low quality,
      implying in each case that we are 'very uncertain about the estimate'.The 39
      trials covered 18 comparisons, with six of the seven trials with three or four
      groups providing evidence towards two comparisons.Eight trials (724 participants)
      compared steroid injection versus placebo or no treatment. Steroid injection may
      lead to lower heel pain visual analogue scores (VAS) (0 to 100; higher scores =
      worse pain) in the short-term (< 1 month) (MD -6.38, 95% CI -11.13 to -1.64; 350
      participants; 5 studies; I2 = 65%; low quality evidence). Based on a minimal
      clinically significant difference (MCID) of 8 for average heel pain, the 95% CI
      includes a marginal clinical benefit. This potential benefit was diminished when
      data were restricted to three placebo-controlled trials. Steroid injection made
      no difference to average heel pain in the medium-term (1 to 6 months follow-up)
      (MD -3.47, 95% CI -8.43 to 1.48; 382 participants; 6 studies; I2 = 40%; low
      quality evidence). There was very low quality evidence for no effect on function
      in the medium-term and for an absence of serious adverse events (219
      participants, 4 studies). No studies reported on other adverse events, such as
      post-injection pain, and on return to previous activity. There was very low
      quality evidence for fewer treatment failures (defined variously as persistent
      heel pain at 8 weeks, steroid injection at 12 weeks, and unrelieved pain at 6
      months) after steroid injection.The available evidence for other comparisons was
      rated as very low quality. We are therefore very uncertain of the estimates for
      the relative effects on people with heel pain of steroids compared with other
      interventions in:1. Tibial nerve block with anaesthetic (2 trials); orthoses (4
      trials); oral NSAIDs (2 trials); and intensive physiotherapy (1 trial).2.
      Physical modalities: ESWT (5 trials); laser (2 trials); and radiation therapy (1
      trial).3. Other invasive procedures: locally injectable NSAID (1 trial); platelet
      rich plasma injections (5 trials); autologous blood injections (2 trials);
      botulinum toxin injections (2 trials); cryopreserved human amniotic membrane
      injection (1 trial); localised peppering with a needle (1 trial); dry needling (1
      trial); and mini scalpel needle release (1 trial).We are also uncertain about the
      estimates from trials testing different techniques of local steroid injection:
      ultrasonography-guided versus palpation-guided (5 trials); and scintigraphy
      guided versus palpation-guided (1 trial).An exploratory analysis involving
      pooling data from 21 trials reporting on adverse events revealed two ruptures of
      plantar fascia (reported in 1 trial) and three injection site infections
      (reported in 2 trials) in 699 participants allocated to steroid injection study
      arms. Five trials reported a total of 27 participants with less serious short
      term adverse events in the 699 participants allocated steroid injection study
      arms. Reported treatments were analgesia, ice or both. Given the high risk of
      selective reporting for these outcomes and imprecision, this evidence was rated
      at very low quality. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found low quality evidence that
      local steroid injections compared with placebo or no treatment may slightly
      reduce heel pain up to one month but not subsequently. The available evidence for
      other outcomes of this comparison was very low quality. Where available, the
      evidence from comparisons of steroid injections with other interventions used to
      treat heel pain and of different methods of guiding the injection was also very
      low quality. Although serious adverse events relating to steroid injection were
      rare, these were under-reported and a higher risk cannot be ruled out.Further
      research should focus on establishing the effects (benefits and harms) of
      injected steroids compared with placebo in typical clinical settings, subsequent
      to a course of unsuccessful conservative therapy. Ideally, this should be
      preceded by research, including patient involvement, aimed to obtain consensus on
      the priority questions for treating plantar heel pain.

PMID- 28602050
TI  - Effect of HIV infection on outcomes after surgical repair of genital fistula.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare outcomes following surgical repair of genital fistula among
      Nigerian women with or without HIV. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted
      of all genital fistula repair surgeries performed at Evangel Vesicovaginal
      Fistula Center in Jos, Nigeria, between January 1, 2004, and April 30, 2014.
      Patient characteristics, HIV status, genital fistula characteristics, and
      postoperative outcomes were assessed for between-group variance. The odds ratio
      (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were the primary measures used for
      determining the association between HIV status and surgical outcomes. RESULTS: Of
      the 3313 surgeries recorded, 201 (6.1%) were performed among patients with HIV
      infection. No statistically significant between-group differences were found for
      patient or fistula characteristics. By contrast, failed vesicovaginal failure
      (VVF) closure was significantly more common among women infected with HIV than
      among their HIV-negative counterparts (OR 0.629, 95% CI 0.443-0.894). No between
      group differences in failure rates were found for ureterovaginal or rectovaginal
      fistulas. CONCLUSION: Determining HIV status before surgery could aid prediction
      of outcomes among Nigerian women undergoing repair of VVF. Further studies are
      required to examine factors that might improve outcomes for women with HIV
      infection.

PMID- 28602051
TI  - Yes-Associated Protein Expression Is Correlated to the Differentiation of
      Prostate Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Yes-associated protein (YAP) in the Hippo signaling pathway is a
      growth control pathway that regulates cell proliferation and stem cell functions.
      Abnormal regulation of YAP was reported in human cancers including liver, lung,
      breast, skin, colon, and ovarian cancer. However, the function of YAP is not
      known in prostate adenocarcinoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      the role of YAP in tumorigenesis, differentiation, and prognosis of prostate
      adenocarcinoma. METHODS: The nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of YAP was
      examined in 188 cases of prostate adenocarcinoma using immunohistochemistry. YAP
      expression levels were evaluated in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the prostate
      adenocarcinoma and the adjacent normal prostate tissue. The presence of
      immunopositive tumor cells was evaluated and interpreted in comparison with the
      patients' clinicopathologic data. RESULTS: YAP expression levels were not
      significantly different between normal epithelial cells and prostate
      adenocarcinoma. However, YAP expression level was significantly higher in
      carcinomas with a high Gleason grades (8-10) than in carcinomas with a low
      Gleason grades (6-7) (p < .01). There was no statistical correlation between YAP
      expression and stage, age, prostate-specific antigen level, and tumor volume.
      Biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free survival was significantly lower in patients
      with high YAP expressing cancers (p = .02). However high YAP expression was not
      an independent prognostic factor for BCR in the Cox proportional hazards model.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that YAP is not associated with prostate
      adenocarcinoma development, but it may be associated with the differentiation of
      the adenocarcinoma. YAP was not associated with BCR.

PMID- 28602052
TI  - Multicenter Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Characteristics, Treatment
      Patterns, and Outcomes in Very Elderly Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell
      Lymphoma: The Korean Cancer Study Group LY16-01.
AB  - PURPOSE: The treatment strategy for elderly patients older than 80 years with
      diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has not been established because of poor
      treatment tolerability and lack of data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This multicenter
      retrospective study was conducted to investigate clinical characteristics,
      treatment patterns and outcomes of patients older than 80 years who were
      diagnosed with DLBCL at 19 institutions in Korea between 2005 and 2016. RESULTS:
      A total of 194 patients were identified (median age, 83.3 years). Of these, 114
      patients had an age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (aaIPI) score of 2-3
      and 48 had a Charlson index score of 4 or more. R-CHOP was given in 124 cases, R
      CVP in 13 cases, other chemotherapy in 17 cases, radiation alone in nine cases,
      and surgery alone in two cases. Twenty-nine patients did not undergo any
      treatment. The median number of chemotherapy cycles was three. Only 37 patients
      completed the planned treatment cycles. The overall response rate from 105
      evaluable patientswas 90.5% (complete response, 41.9%). Twentynine patients died
      due to treatment-related toxicities (TRT). Thirteen patients died due to TRT
      after the first cycle. Median overall survival was 14.0 months. The main causes
      of death were disease progression (30.8%) and TRT (27.1%). In multivariate
      analysis, overall survival was affected by aaIPI, hypoalbuminemia, elevated
      creatinine, and treatment. CONCLUSION: Age itself should not be a
      contraindication to treatment. However, since elderly patients show higher rates
      of TRT due to infection, careful monitoring and dose modification of
      chemotherapeutic agents is needed.

PMID- 28602053
TI  - Effectiveness of Gastric Cancer Screening on Gastric Cancer Incidence and
      Mortality in a Community-Based Prospective Cohort.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of gastric
      cancer (GC) screening methods in a community-based prospective cohort of the
      Korean Multi-center Cancer Cohort (KMCC) with over a 10-year follow-up. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A total 10,909 and 4,773 subjects from the KMCC with information on
      gastroendoscopy (GE) and upper gastrointestinal series (UGIS) were included in
      this study. Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for age, sex, Helicobacter
      pylori infection, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking was used to estimate
      the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The GE
      screened subjects had almost half the risk of GC-specific death than that of
      unscreened subjects (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.94). Among the GC patients, GE
      screenees had a 2.24-fold higher survival rate than that of the non-screenees
      (95% CI, 1.61 to 3.11). In particular, GE screenees who underwent two or more
      screening episodes had a higher survival rate than that of the non-screenees (HR,
      13.11; 95% CI, 7.38 to 23.30). The effectiveness of GE screening on reduced GC
      mortality and increased survival rate of GC patients was better in elderly
      subjects (>= 65 years old) (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.95 and HR, 8.84; 95% CI,
      3.63 to 21.57, respectively) than that in younger subjects (< 65 years old) (HR,
      0.66; 95% CI, 0.34 to 1.29 and HR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.68, respectively). In
      contrast, UGIS screening had no significant relation to GC mortality and
      survival. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that a decreased GC
      specific mortality and improved survival rate in GC patients can be achieved
      through GE screening.

PMID- 28602055
TI  - Evaluation of the Benefit of Radiotherapy in Patients with Occult Breast Cancer:
      A Population-Based Analysis of the SEER Database.
AB  - PURPOSE: Few studies for occult breast cancer (OBC) have evaluated the effect of
      radiotherapy (RT) after mastectomy or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND)
      with/without breast surgery. Therefore, we investigated clinicopathologic factors
      of OBC with the impact of postoperative RT to determine its prognostic
      significance using large population-based data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and
      End Results (SEER) database from 1983 to 2013. A total of 1,045 eligible patients
      with OBC were identified. We compared overall survival (OS) using Cox
      proportional hazards regression with propensity score matching after verifying an
      imbalance of prognosticators between RT group (n=518) and non-RT group (n=479).
      RESULTS: Patients with age < 70 (p=0.033), married marital status (p < 0.001),
      undergoing ALND (p < 0.001), more examined lymph nodes (LNs) (p < 0.001), and
      more metastatic LNs (p < 0.001) were more likely to receive RT. Multivariate
      analysis after propensity score matching (n=798) showed that patients treated
      with RT survived significantly longer than those without RT (5-year OS, 81.5% vs.
      78.3%; p=0.014). A significantly prolonged OS was observed when RT was given to
      patients treated with mastectomy (p=0.033), those treated with ALND (p=0.036), or
      those with more than seven metastatic LNs (p=0.016). CONCLUSION: RT may offer
      survival benefit in OBC even after mastectomy or ALND, especially in patients
      with more than seven metastatic LNs. Further prospective studies are needed to
      validate these findings.

PMID- 28602054
TI  - The Role of Consolidation Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
      Receiving Chemotherapy: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of consolidation chemoradiation (CCRT) after systemic
      chemotherapy in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) is still controversial.
      We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of CCRT in LAPC using systematic review and
      meta-analysis of prospective studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective clinical
      trials of LAPC receiving chemotherapy with or without subsequent CCRT were
      included in the analysis. We systematically searched in PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase,
      and Web of Science. The primary outcome of interest was 1-year survival.
      Secondary endpoints were median overall survival, progression-free survival,
      toxicity, and resection rate. RESULTS: Forty-one studies with 49 study arms were
      included with a total of 1,018 patients receiving CCRT after induction
      chemotherapy (ICT) and 954 patients receiving chemotherapy alone. CCRT after ICT
      did not improve 1-year survival significantly in LAPC patients compared with
      chemotherapy alone (58% vs. 52%). ICT lasted for at least 3 months revealed
      significantly improved survival of additional CCRT to LAPC patients compared to
      chemotherapy alone (65% vs. 52%). A marginal survival benefit of consolidation
      CCRT was noted in studies using maintenance chemotherapy (59% vs. 52%), and
      fluorouracil-based CCRT (64% vs. 52%), as well as in studies conducted after the
      2010 (64% vs. 55%). CONCLUSION: The survival benefit of ICT+CCRT over
      chemotherapy alone in treating LAPC was noted when ICT lasted for at least 3
      months. Fluorouracil-based CCRT, and maintenance chemotherapy were associated
      with improved clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28602056
TI  - Declined Preoperative Aspartate Aminotransferase to Neutrophil Ratio Index
      Predicts Poor Prognosis in Patients with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma after
      Hepatectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Various inflammation-based prognostic biomarkers such as the platelet to
      lymphocyte ratio and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, are related to poor survival
      in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). This study aims to
      investigate the prognostic value of the aspartate aminotransferase to neutrophil
      ratio index (ANRI) in ICC after hepatic resection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of
      184 patients with ICC after hepatectomy were retrospectively reviewed. The cut
      off value of ANRIwas determined by a receiver operating characteristic curve.
      Preoperative ANRI and clinicopathological variables were analyzed. The predictive
      value of preoperative ANRI for prognosis of ICC was identified by univariate and
      multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The optimal cut-off value of ANRI was 6.7. ANRI
      was associated with tumor size, tumor recurrence, white blood cell, neutrophil
      count, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine transaminase. Univariate analysis
      showed that ANRI, sex, tumor number, tumor size, tumor differentiation, lymph
      node metastasis, resection margin, clinical TNM stage, neutrophil count, and
      carcinoembryonic antigen were markedly correlated with overall survival (OS) and
      disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with ICC. Multivariable analyses revealed
      that ANRI, a tumor size > 6 cm, poor tumor differentiation, and an R1 resection
      margin were independent prognostic factors for both OS and DFS. Additionally,
      preoperative ANRI also had a significant value to predict prognosis in various
      subgroups of ICC, including serum hepatitis B surface antigen-negative and
      preoperative elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 patients. CONCLUSION:
      Preoperative declined ANRI is a noninvasive, simple, and effective predictor of
      poor prognosis in patients with ICC after hepatectomy.

PMID- 28602057
TI  - Body Composition Predicts Survival in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
      Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization.
AB  - PURPOSE: The prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing
      transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is often uncertain. We aimed to utilize
      analytic morphomics, a high-throughput imaging analysis, to assess if body
      composition is predictive of post-TACE survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      included patients from a single center (Ann Arbor VA)who had TACE as the primary
      treatment forHCC and had a pre-treatment computed tomography scans. Univariate
      analysis and multivariate conditional inference tree analysis were utilized to
      identify the morphomic characteristics predictive of 1-year survival. Results
      were validated in an external cohort(University of MichiganHealth System) ofHCC
      patientswho underwent TACE as their primary treatment. RESULTS: In the 75
      patients in the derivation cohort, median survival was 439 (interquartile range,
      377 to 685) days from receipt of TACE, with 1-year survival of 61%. Visceral fat
      density (VFD) was the only morphomic factor predictive of overall and 1-year
      survival (p < 0.001). Patients with VFD above the 56th percentile had a 1-year
      survival of 39% versus 78% for those below the 56th percentile. VFD also
      correlated with 1-year survival in the external validation cohort (44% vs. 72%, p
      < 0.001). In a secondary analysis, patients with higher VFD were significantly
      more likely to experience hepatic decompensation after TACE (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: VFD served as an objective predictor of mortality in patients
      undergoing TACE, possibly through its ability to predict hepatic decompensation.
      VFD may serve as a radiographic biomarker in predicting TACE outcomes.

PMID- 28602058
TI  - Development and Evaluation of a Korean Version of a Thyroid-Specific Quality-of
      Life Questionnaire Scale in Thyroid Cancer Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a Korean version of the self
      reported thyroid-specific quality of life (QoL) questionnaire for thyroid cancer
      patients (KT-QoL), and to evaluate its reliability and validity. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Two hundred seventy-two patients who underwent thyroidectomy from
      January to December 2010 were recruited in this study. The original version of
      the thyroid QoL was translated into Korean and evaluated for its reliability and
      validity. Using the developed KT-QoL, the postoperative QoL was evaluated until
      postoperative 1 year. RESULTS: At the preoperative baseline, the item internal
      consistency (IIC) ranged from -0.19 to 0.76, with low IIC values for items 2, 17,
      and 27. Item discriminant validity ranged from 86% to 97%. These values were
      similar at the postoperative periods. The internal consistency reliability
      (Cronbach's alpha) was high for all dimensions, ranging from 0.90 to 0.95. The
      test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) was acceptable (0.74
      0.82). The external validity examined by the correlation between the item 1j
      (voice changes) of KT-QoL and the voice handicap index-30 ranged from 0.51 to
      0.75. Patients' QoL scores decreased after surgery, which demonstrated the
      sensitivity of the questionnaire. The QoL scores in patients with lobectomy
      showed best QoL scores postoperatively and those with receiving radioactive
      iodine still showed decreased QoL scores along the postoperative periods.
      CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that KT-QoL is a valid instrument for
      evaluating QoL of Korean patients with thyroid cancer.

PMID- 28602059
TI  - Depth and combined infection is important predictor of lower extremity
      amputations in hospitalized diabetic foot ulcer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: As the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its complications
      increase rapidly, diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), which are a major diabetic
      complication, are expected to increase. For prevention and effective treatment,
      it is important to understand the clinical course of DFUs. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the natural course and predictors of amputation in patients
      with DFUs who required hospitalization. METHODS: A total of 209 patients with
      type 2 diabetes, aged 30 to 85 years, who visited emergency department or needed
      hospitalization due to DFUs were consecutively enrolled from May 2012 to January
      2016, by retrospective medical record review. The main outcome was lower
      extremity amputation (LEA). RESULTS: Among 192 patients who completed follow-up,
      113 patients (58.9%) required LEAs. Compared to patients without amputation,
      baseline levels of white blood cell counts and C-reactive protein were higher in
      patients with amputation. In addition, bone and joint involvement was more
      frequently observed in patients with amputation. Multivariable regression
      analysis revealed that combined infection (odds ratio [OR], 11.39; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 2.55 to 50.93; p = 0.001) and bone or joint involvement (OR, 3.74;
      95% CI, 1.10 to 12.70; p = 0.035) were significantly associated with an increased
      risk of LEA. CONCLUSION: The depth of the wound and combined infection of DFU,
      rather than the extent of the wound, were significant prognostic factors of LEAs
      in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28602060
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of manual office blood pressure measurement in ambulatory
      hypertensive patients in Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Currently, office blood pressure (OBP) is the most widely used
      method of measuring blood pressure (BP) in daily clinical practice. However, data
      on the diagnostic accuracy of OBP in reference to ambulatory blood pressure (ABP)
      are scarce in Korea. METHODS: In retrospective and prospective cohorts, manual
      OBP and ABP measurements were compared among ambulatory hypertensive patients.
      Hypertension was defined as systolic OBP >= 140 mmHg and/or diastolic OBP >= 90
      mmHg, and systolic ABP >= 130 mmHg and/or diastolic ABP >= 80 mmHg. RESULTS: In
      the retrospective cohort (n = 903), the mean OBP1 (before ABP measurement) was
      higher than ABP in both systolic (138 +/- 17 mmHg vs. 123 +/- 13 mmHg, p < 0.001)
      and diastolic (84 +/- 12 mmHg vs. 78 +/- 11 mmHg, p < 0.001) measurements.
      Interestingly, there was only a weak correlation between OBP and ABP (r2 = 0.038,
      p < 0.001). The overall discordance rate of OBP compared to ABP, which is the
      reference method for measuring BP, was 43.9%. The prospective cohort (n = 57)
      showed similar results. In a subgroup analysis, male patients had higher false
      negative results (masked or under-treated hypertension) than did female patients
      (26.1% vs. 17.8%, p = 0.003), whereas female patients had a higher false positive
      rate (white-coat or over-treated hypertension) than did male patients (28.7% vs.
      15.2%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy of manual OBP is low in
      reference to ABP. Men and women have different patterns of discordance. These
      findings indicate that management of hypertensive patients with manual OBP
      measurements may be suboptimal and encourages the use of ABP in ambulatory
      hypertensive patients.

PMID- 28602061
TI  - Factors associated with low-level physical activity in elderly patients with
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
      the extent of physical activity (PA) is correlated with disease severity and
      prognosis. However, factors associated with low-level PA in elderly COPD patients
      are not known. We assessed the levels of PA and clinical factors associated with
      low-level of PA in elderly COPD patients. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis
      of a multicenter, prospective study of 245 patients with COPD. Among them, 160
      patients with 65 years or more were included. Three PA groups were defined with
      respect to daily activity time (low, moderate, and high). Health related quality
      of life (HRQL) was measured using St. George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ)
      and 36-item short-form health survey. Anxiety and depression status were assessed
      employing the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). Multivariate logistic
      regression was performed to identify independent predictors of low-level PA in
      elderly COPD patients. RESULTS: Of all the 160 patients, 103 (64.4%) engaged in
      low-level PA. Upon univariate analysis, a decreased exercise capacity (6-minute
      walk test < 250 m), an increased dyspnea (the modified medical research council
      [MMRC] dyspnea scale >= 2), a decreased HRQL (total SGRQ score), and a presence
      of depression (HADS-D >= 8) were significantly associated with low-level PA. Upon
      multivariate analysis, an MMRC grade >= 2 (hazard ratio [HR], 2.550; p = 0.034),
      and HADS-D >= 8 (HR, 2.076; p = 0.045) were independently associated with low
      level PA in elderly COPD patients. CONCLUSIONS: Two-thirds of elderly patients
      with COPD reported low-level of PA. More severe dyspnea and a presence of
      depression were independently associated with low-level PA in elderly COPD
      patients.

PMID- 28602063
TI  - Risk factors for poor prognosis in nosocomial infective endocarditis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of our study was to compare the characteristics of
      nosocomial infective endocarditis (NIE) with community-acquired infective
      endocarditis (CIE) and to determine independent risk factors for in-hospital
      death. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 560 patients
      diagnosed with infective endocarditis. NIE was defined by a diagnosis made > 72
      hours after hospital admission or within 2 months of hospital discharge. RESULTS:
      Among the 560 cases reviewed, 121 were classified as NIE. Compared with patients
      with CIE, patients with NIE were older (mean +/- SD, 51.30+/-18.01 vs. 59.76+/
      14.87, p < 0.001). The in-hospital death rate of the NIE group was much higher
      than that of the CIE group (27.3% vs. 5.9%, p < 0.001). More patients with NIE
      had central intravenous catheters, and were undergoing hemodialysis (p < 0.001).
      Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was the most common causal
      microorganism of NIE, and MRSA (p < 0.001) and fungus (p = 0.002) were more
      common in NIE compared with CIE. On multiple analysis, age, liver cirrhosis,
      cancer chemotherapy, central intravenous catheter, hemodialysis, and
      genitourinary tract manipulation were independent clinical risk factors for NIE.
      Among the patients with NIE, 33 died during their hospital admission. The
      independent risk factors for in-hospital death were older age (adjusted odds
      ratio [OR], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.07; p = 0.037) and
      chemotherapy for malignancy (adjusted OR, 3.89; 95% CI, 1.18 to 12.87; p =
      0.026). CONCLUSIONS: Because of the considerable incidence of NIE and its poor
      prognosis, we should pay attention to early diagnosis and active management of
      NIE, especially for older patients and patients receiving chemotherapy.

PMID- 28602062
TI  - Metabolically healthy obesity: a friend or foe?
AB  - Obesity is associated with a reduced life expectancy, largely because obese
      individuals are at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
      and several types of cancer. Much interest has recently focused on the concept of
      "all obesity is not created equally." Obese individuals without the metabolic
      abnormalities that commonly accompany excess adiposity, a condition known as
      metabolically healthy obesity (MHO), account for a substantial proportion of the
      obese adult population. Numerous possible mechanisms underlying MHO have been
      suggested, including adipose tissue distribution and inflammation. However, the
      prognostic value of MHO is controversial and considerably challenging. The lack
      of a standard definition for metabolic health and obesity as well as the dynamic
      properties of MHO may have contributed to these inconsistent results. This review
      aimed to present several current issues regarding MHO including its definition,
      epidemiology, natural course, suggested mechanisms, and clinical implications in
      the context of patient prognosis.

PMID- 28602064
TI  - Notch signaling in the collecting duct regulates renal tubulointerstitial
      fibrosis induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction in mice.
AB  - Background/Aims: Mind bomb-1 (Mib1) encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase, which is
      required for the initiation of Notch signaling. Recently, it was demonstrated
      that the renal collecting duct plays an important role in renal fibrosis. Here,
      we investigated the role of Notch signaling in renal fibrosis using conditional
      knockout mice with the specific ablation of Mib1 in renal collecting duct
      principal cells. METHODS: Mib1-floxed mice (Mib1f/f) were crossed with aquaporin
      2 (AQP2)-Cre mice in order to generate principal cell-specific Mib1 knockout mice
      (Mib1f/f :AQP2-Cre+). Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) was performed, and
      mice were sacrificed 7 days after UUO. RESULTS: After performing the UUO, renal
      tubulointerstitial fibrosis and the expression of transforming growth factor beta
      were markedly enhanced in the obstructed kidneys of Mib1f/f mice compared with
      the sham-operated kidney of Mib1f/f mice. These changes were shown to be even
      more pronounced in the obstructed kidneys of Mib1f/f :AQP2-Cre+ mice than in
      those of the Mib1f/f mice . Furthermore, the number of TUNNEL-positive cells in
      renal collecting duct was higher in the obstructed kidneys of Mib1f/f :AQP2-Cre+
      mice than in the kidneys of Mib1f/f mice. Conclusions: Notch signaling in the
      renal collecting duct plays an important role in the regulation of renal
      tubulointerstitial fibrosis and apoptosis after UUO.

PMID- 28602065
TI  - Corrective Septorhinoplasty in Acute Nasal Bone Fractures.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Closed reduction is generally recommended for acute nasal bone
      fractures, and rhinoplasty is considered in cases with an unsatisfactory outcome.
      However, concomitant rhinoplasty with fracture reduction might achieve better
      surgical outcomes. This study investigated the surgical techniques and outcomes
      in patients who underwent rhinoplasty and fracture reduction concomitantly,
      during the acute stage of nasal bone fracture. METHODS: Forty-five patients who
      underwent concomitant rhinoplasty and fracture reduction were enrolled. Nasal
      bone fractures were classified into three major types (type I, simple fracture;
      type II, fracture line that mimics nasal osteotomy; and type III, comminuted
      fracture) based on computed tomography images and preoperative facial images. Two
      independent otolaryngology-head and neck surgeons evaluated the surgical outcomes
      and telephone based survey were made to evaluate patients satisfaction. RESULTS:
      Among 45 patients, there were 39 males and 6 females. Type I was the commonest
      type of fracture with 18 patients (40%), while the most frequently used surgical
      technique for corrective surgery was dorsal augmentation with 44 patients
      (97.8%). The mean visual analogue scale satisfaction score of the surgeons and
      patients were 7.62 and 8, respectively, with no significant differences between
      fracture types. CONCLUSION: Concomitant rhinoplasty with fracture reduction can
      be performed for acute nasal bone fracture patients, and it might lead to better
      aesthetic outcomes.

PMID- 28602066
TI  - Analysis of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction by Dynamic Slow Motion Video Endoscopy
      and Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire in Chronic Otitis Media.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Eustachian tube dysfunction has been associated with most cases of
      middle-ear disease. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of dynamic slow motion
      video endoscopy (DSVE) as a test of eustachian tube dysfunction. Furthermore, we
      assessed the correlation of the test with the Valsalva maneuver, the seven-item
      Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ-7), and intraoperative findings
      of the eustachian tube. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records from
      April to September 2014 to identify patients who were diagnosed with chronic
      otitis media (COM) at Korea University Ansan Hospital. They all underwent surgery
      because of COM without cholesteatoma and were assessed via the DSVE and ETDQ-7 to
      determine eustachian tube function. RESULTS: We reviewed 46 COM patients and
      examined 46 ears with COM and 46 ears on the contralateral side to COM that were
      thought to be normal. The mean DSVE grade in COM ears was 1.57+/-0.96, while the
      mean DSVE grade in contralateral ears was 1.15+/-0.94. The difference in DSVE
      between COM ears and normal ears was statistically significant (P=0.006). In the
      ETDQ-7, a higher score was related to intraoperative obstruction of the
      eustachian tube (P=0.012). CONCLUSION: DSVE and ETDQ-7 can provide information
      regarding preoperative status of eustachian tube dysfunction by measuring dynamic
      structural changes of the eustachian tube in combination with other diagnostic
      tests.

PMID- 28602067
TI  - Bacterial Ball as an Unusual Finding in Patients With Chronic Rhinosinusitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is very complex and
      has not yet been clearly understood. To date, various factors have been
      researched to have relations with the pathogenesis of CRS, such as superantigens
      and biofilms. Recently, we found an unusual pathological finding in patients with
      CRS, and we called this new entity as bacteria ball (or bioball). In this study,
      we analyze the clinical characteristics of bacteria ball occurred in CRS.
      METHODS: This study enrolled consecutive 247 patients with CRS who underwent
      functional endoscopic sinus surgery from January 2015 to August 2016. The
      diagnosis of bacterial ball was made when negative in Gomori-methenamine-silver
      stain and positive in Gram stain. Histologically, bacterial ball was defined as
      acellular mucous materials with bacterial colonies and inflammatory cell
      infiltrates. We compared clinical data and computed tomography (CT) findings
      between fungal and bacterial balls. RESULTS: Six cases (2.4%) of CRS were
      confirmed histologically as bacterial ball. Most of them were found in the
      maxillary sinus of CRS without nasal polyposis (66.7%). Bacterial ball was green
      or brown colored materials similar to fungal ball which was harder and tightly
      adherent to the antral mucosa. Compared to fungal ball, patients with bacterial
      ball showed significantly less peripheral eosinophils (P=0.011) and calcification
      in CT scans (P=0.003). CONCLUSION: Bacterial ball is unusual findings occurred in
      patient with CRS which is different from fungal ball and biofilm. For diagnosis
      of bacterial ball, Gram stain is essentially required to identify bacterial
      colonies. Bacterial ball might appear to be evidence of a new strategy for living
      in the paranasal sinuses.

PMID- 28602068
TI  - Radiographic Changes of the Nasal Septal Body Among Patients With Sinonasal
      Diseases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine the anatomical changes occurring in the
      nasal septal body (NSB) among patients with sinonasal disease and compares the
      measurements obtained from patients without sinonasal disease. METHODS: This was
      a retrospective study involving review of 405 (93 without and 212 with sinonasal
      disease) plain paranasal sinus computed tomography (PNS CT) on coronal view at a
      tertiary training hospital, which was done consecutively from January 2014 to
      December 2015. NSB measurements from 3 areas were done: anterior part (A),
      located anterior and superior to inferior turbinate; middle or widest (M) part,
      located anterior to middle turbinate and superior to inferior turbinate and
      posterior (P) part, located within the anterior 1/3 of middle turbinate not going
      beyond the crista galli. Posterior part of septum (sP) was measured at the area
      of horizontal attachment of middle turbinate to the lateral nasal wall and
      superior turbinate to represent the less vasoactive part of the septum.
      Demographic data and NSB diameters were also analyzed. RESULTS: The mean NSB
      diameter measurements were significantly larger among the diseased group (disease
      vs. control; A: 6.88 mm vs. 5.92 mm, P=0.001; M: 12.74 mm vs. 10.47 mm, P=0.001;
      P: 8.35 mm vs. 6.79 mm, P=0.001). A similar observation in sP part (3.35 mm vs.
      2.54 mm, P=0.014) was noted. When grouped by age, among the control group, older
      subjects had considerable decrease in NSB size in all points of measurements
      except for sP (P>0.05). Such reduction in size is noticeable for those in their
      4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th decades of life. For the diseased group, a trend of
      increasing NSB and sP size was noted as the subjects are getting older. However,
      only the anterior part (A) of NSB reached statistical significance (P=0.016).
      CONCLUSION: With aging we expect nasal mucosal atrophy among normal subjects.
      However, patients with chronic sinonasal disease showed thickened nasal mucosa.
      Further study for the reversibility of thickened mucosa is needed.

PMID- 28602069
TI  - The study to estimate the floating population in Seoul, Korea.
AB  - Traffic-related pollutants have been reported to increase the morbidity of
      respiratory diseases. In order to apply management policies related to motor
      vehicles, studies of the floating population living in cities are important. The
      rate of metro rail transit system use by passengers residing in Seoul is about
      54% of total public transportation use. Through the rate of metro use, the people
      flow ratios in each administrative area were calculated. By applying a people
      flow ratio based on the official census count, the floating population in 25
      regions was calculated. The reduced level of deaths among the floating population
      in 14 regions having the roadside monitoring station was calculated as assuming a
      20% reduction of mobile emission based on the policy. The hourly floating
      population size was calculated by applying the hourly population ratio to the
      regional population size as specified in the official census count. The number of
      people moving from 5 a.m. to next day 1 a.m. could not be precisely calculated
      when the population size was applied, but no issue was observed that would
      trigger a sizable shift in the rate of population change. The three patterns of
      increase, decrease, and no change of population in work hours were analyzed. When
      the concentration of particulate matter less than 10 MUm in aerodynamic diameter
      was reduced by 20%, the number of excess deaths varied according to the
      difference of the floating population. The effective establishment of directions
      to manage the pollutants in cities should be carried out by considering the
      floating population. Although the number of people using the metro system is only
      an estimate, this disadvantage was supplemented by calculating inflow and outflow
      ratio of metro users per time in the total floating population in each region.
      Especially, 54% of metro usage in public transport causes high reliability in
      application.

PMID- 28602071
TI  - Sub-1 nm Nanowire Based Superlattice Showing High Strength and Low Modulus.
AB  - Polymers possess special dimension-dependent processing flexibility which is
      always absent in inorganic materials. Traditional inorganic nanowires own similar
      dimensions to polymers, but usually lack near-molecular diameters and the related
      properties. Here we report that inorganic nanowires with sub1 nm diameter and
      microscale length can be electrospinningly processed into superstructures
      including smooth fibers and large-area mat by tuning the viscosity and surface
      tension of the colloidal nanowires solution. These superstructures have shown
      both flexible texture and excellent mechanical properties (712.5 MPa for tensile
      strength, 10.3 GPa for elastic modulus) while retaining properties arising from
      inorganic components.

PMID- 28602070
TI  - A prognostic evaluation and management of alcoholic hepatitis.
AB  - Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is an acute and severe form of alco1holic liver disease
      associated with high morbidity and mortality of 30-50% worldwide, severity
      ranging from asymptomatic derangement of liver biochemistries to fulminant liver
      failure or death. Rapidly progressing jaundice and coagulopathy in prolonged
      excessive alcohol abusers with or without fever, malnutrition, and tender liver
      are the clinical hallmarks. The prognostic models (Model for end-stage liver
      disease, Maddrey's discriminant function [MDF], age, serum bilirubin, INR,
      creatinine [ABIC], Glasgow Alcoholic Hepatitis Score [GAHS], Lille's Score) not
      only predict the short term mortality, but also guide the clinicians to choose
      appropriate specific therapy (corticosteroid or pentoxifylline) and as a stopping
      rule if there is no significant benefits of it. MDF Score is commonly followed in
      clinical practice, score of >32 would predict short term mortality of around 20
      30% at 1 month and 30-40% within 6 months after presentation. The GAHS on day 1
      can predict 28 day overall survival outcome accuracy of 81%, which is
      comparatively higher than MDF Score. Moreover, ABIC Score categorizes risk of
      deaths (based on 90 days) into low risks (0%), intermediate risk (30%), and high
      risk (75%). Corticosteroid and pentoxifylline have significant benefits in
      decreasing mortality (corticosteroid improves survival on 28 day and 84 day of
      78% and 59%) in severe disease state (MDF >32 or Lille's Score >0.45 or GAHS >9).
      Corticosteroid is the initial treatment of choice with infections screening
      before initiating; however, pentoxifylline is better preferred in case of AH with
      severe infections and hepatorenal syndrome. Additionally, combination of
      corticosteroids and N-acetylcysteine decreases development of hepatorenal
      syndrome, infections, and short-term mortality. However, the Lille Score after
      corticosteroid therapy of >0.45 after day 7 indicates poor responders or >0.56
      indicates null responders. Therefore, in these cases, either therapy has to be
      stopped or changed to pentoxifylline. In treatment failure cases, liver
      transplantation is the ultimate option. However, the facilitating of this service
      in most transplant centers is a challenge. Beside these specific therapies,
      alcohol abstinence and recommendation of nutritional supplements with high
      calorie, protein diet and vitamin E, C, thiamine regardless of other treatment
      plays a prime role in preventing disease progression and survival benefits even
      in pre and post-transplant cases.

PMID- 28602072
TI  - Influence of Surface Functional Groups on Deposition and Release of TiO2
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - A clear understanding of the factors governing the deposition and release
      behaviors of engineered nanoparticles (NPs), such as TiO2 NPs, is necessary for
      predicting their transport and fate in both natural and engineered aquatic
      environments. In this study, impacts of specific chemistries on TiO2 NP
      deposition, as a function of TiO2 NP concentration and ionic strength/valence,
      were investigated using self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with five different
      ending chemical functionalities (-CH3, -OH, -COOH, -NH2, and -CONH2). The fastest
      deposition and maximum deposition mass were observed on -NH2, followed by -COOH, 
      CONH2, -CH3, and -OH, showing that contact angle and zeta potential of surfaces
      were not good indicators for predicting the deposition. Specific interactions,
      for instance, between -COOH and -CONH2 and TiO2, significantly affected their
      deposition. Deposition rate increased linearly with TiO2 NP concentration;
      however, specific deposition rate was dependent on the type of SAMs. The increase
      of monovalent (Na+) and divalent (Ca2+) led to different changes in deposition
      rates for the SAMs due to different functionalities. Results also showed that
      favorable SAM (e.g., -NH2) had lowered release of NPs compared to unfavorable
      surface (e.g., -OH). The obtained deposition and release behaviors will support
      more accurate prediction of the environmental fate of nanoparticles.

PMID- 28602073
TI  - Cell-Free Synthetic Biology Chassis for Nanocatalytic Photon-to-Hydrogen
      Conversion.
AB  - We report on an entirely man-made nano-bio architecture fabricated through
      noncovalent assembly of a cell-free expressed transmembrane proton pump and TiO2
      semiconductor nanoparticles as an efficient nanophotocatalyst for H2 evolution.
      The system produces hydrogen at a turnover of about 240 MUmol of H2 (MUmol
      protein)-1 h-1 and 17.74 mmol of H2 (MUmol protein)-1 h-1 under monochromatic
      green and white light, respectively, at ambient conditions, in water at neutral
      pH and room temperature, with methanol as a sacrificial electron donor.
      Robustness and flexibility of this approach allow for systemic manipulation at
      the nanoparticle-bio interface toward directed evolution of energy transformation
      materials and artificial systems.

PMID- 28602074
TI  - Binary Compound Bilayer and Multilayer with Vertical Polarizations: Two
      Dimensional Ferroelectrics, Multiferroics, and Nanogenerators.
AB  - Vertical ferroelectricity in two-dimensional (2D) materials is desirable for high
      density data storage without quantum tunneling or high power
      consumption/dissipation, which still remains elusive due to the surface
      depolarizing field. Herein, we report the first-principles evidence of 2D
      vertical ferroelectricity induced by interlayer translation, which exists
      extensively in the graphitic bilayer of BN, AlN, ZnO, MoS2, GaSe, etc.; the
      bilayer of some 2D ferromagnets like MXene, VS2, and MoN2 can be even
      multiferroics with switchable magnetizations upon ferroelectric switching,
      rendering efficient reading and writing for high-density data storage. In
      particular, the electromechanical coupling between interlayer translation and
      potential can be used to drive the flow of electrons as nanogenerators for
      harvesting energy from human activities, ocean waves, mechanical vibration, etc.
      A ferroelectric superlattice with spatial varying potential can be formed in a
      bilayer Moire pattern upon a small twist or strain, making it possible to
      generate periodic n/p doped-domains and shape the periodicity of the potential
      energy landscape. Finally, some of their multilayer counterparts with wurtzite
      structures like a ZnO multilayer are revealed to exhibit another type of vertical
      ferroelectricity with greatly enhanced polarizations.

PMID- 28602075
TI  - A Synthetic Recombinase-Based Feedback Loop Results in Robust Expression.
AB  - Accurate control of a biological process is essential for many critical functions
      in biology, from the cell cycle to proteome regulation. To achieve this, negative
      feedback is frequently employed to provide a highly robust and reliable output.
      Feedback is found throughout biology and technology, but due to challenges posed
      by its implementation, it is yet to be widely adopted in synthetic biology. In
      this paper we design a synthetic feedback network using a class of recombinase
      proteins called integrases, which can be re-engineered to flip the orientation of
      DNA segments in a digital manner. This system is highly orthogonal, and
      demonstrates a strong capability for regulating and reducing the expression
      variability of genes being transcribed under its control. An excisionase protein
      provides the negative feedback signal to close the loop in this system, by
      flipping DNA segments in the reverse direction. Our integrase/excisionase
      negative feedback system thus provides a modular architecture that can be tuned
      to suit applications throughout synthetic biology and biomanufacturing that
      require a highly robust and orthogonally controlled output.

PMID- 28602077
TI  - Lewis Acid Catalyzed Cyclization Reactions of Ethenetricarboxylates via
      Intramolecular Hydride Transfer.
AB  - Catalytic cyclization of amides of ethenetricarboxylate bearing ether and acetal
      groups has been examined. The reaction of the amides bearing cyclic ether and
      acetal groups in the presence of Lewis acid such as Sc(OTf)3 gave spirocyclic
      piperidine derivatives as major products. The cyclized products may be formed via
      intramolecular hydride transfer. The reaction mechanism was examined by the DFT
      calculations. The scope and limitations of the hydride transfer/cyclization
      reactions of amides of ethenetricarboxylates was investigated, and morpholine
      formation by intramolecular oxy-Michael addition was also found.

PMID- 28602076
TI  - Rapid Generation of Universal Synthetic Promoters for Controlled Gene Expression
      in Both Gas-Fermenting and Saccharolytic Clostridium Species.
AB  - Engineering solventogenic clostridia, a group of important industrial
      microorganisms, to realize their full potential in biorefinery application is
      still hindered by the absence of plentiful biological parts. Here, we developed
      an effective approach for rapid generation of a synthetic promoter library in
      solventogenic clostridia based on a dual-reporter system (catP-lacZ) and a widely
      used strong thl promoter. The yielded artificial promoters, spanning 2 orders of
      magnitude, comprised two modular components (the core promoter region and the
      spacer between RBS and the translation-initiating code), and the strongest
      promoter had an over 10-fold-higher activity than the original expression part
      Pthl. The test of these synthetic promoters in controlled expression of sadh and
      danK in saccharolytic C. acetobutylicum and gas-fermenting C. ljungdahlii,
      respectively, gave the expected phenotypes, and moreover, showed good correlation
      between promoter activities and phenotypic changes. The presented wide-strength
      range promoters here will be useful for synthetic biology application in
      solventogenic clostridia.

PMID- 28602078
TI  - Ordered Superstructures of a Molecular Electron Donor on Au(111).
AB  - The molecular donor tetraphenyldibenzoperiflanthene (DBP) forms coverage
      dependent superstructures on Au(111). At submonolayer coverage, the molecules
      align parallel to each other. They arrange in row-like structures, which exhibit
      a nearly rectangular primitive unit cell. By contrast, the molecular monolayer is
      characterized by a herringbone-type DBP arrangement spanned by an almost square
      unit cell containing two molecules. Both superstructures occur simultaneously in
      a narrow coverage range close to completion of the molecular monolayer. The
      adsorbate-substrate interaction is similar to other physisorbed molecular films
      on Au(111), but differs for the two adsorption phases as inferred from the
      different modification of the Au(111) surface reconstruction. Structural
      properties were consistently probed in real and reciprocal space by scanning
      tunneling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction, respectively.

PMID- 28602079
TI  - Ultrathin and Ion-Selective Janus Membranes for High-Performance Osmotic Energy
      Conversion.
AB  - The osmotic energy existing in fluids is recognized as a promising "blue" energy
      source that can help solve the global issues of energy shortage and environmental
      pollution. Recently, nanofluidic channels have shown great potential for
      capturing this worldwide energy because of their novel transport properties
      contributed by nanoconfinement. However, with respect to membrane-scale porous
      systems, high resistance and undesirable ion selectivity remain bottlenecks,
      impeding their applications. The development of thinner, low-resistance
      membranes, meanwhile promoting their ion selectivity, is a necessity. Here, we
      engineered ultrathin and ion-selective Janus membranes prepared via the phase
      separation of two block copolymers, which enable osmotic energy conversion with
      power densities of approximately 2.04 W/m2 by mixing natural seawater and river
      water. Both experiments and continuum simulation help us to understand the
      mechanism for how membrane thickness and channel structure dominate the ion
      transport process and overall device performance, which can serve as a general
      guiding principle for the future design of nanochannel membranes for high-energy
      concentration cells.

PMID- 28602080
TI  - Trends in Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Exposure and Preterm Birth: Use of
      Smoking Bans and Direct ETS Exposure Assessments in Study Designs.
AB  - For decades, many studies have linked maternal smoking to an increased risk of
      preterm birth. As a result, the scientific community has long hypothesized that
      exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), commonly referred to as second
      hand smoke, is also associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. Multiple
      studies have examined this proposed association through different strategies and
      approaches. Recently, a small number of epidemiology studies have examined
      preterm birth trends before and after the implementation of antismoking
      legislation in various jurisdictions. We found that these studies have largely
      revealed a significant trend of decreasing population-level preterm birth rates
      after the implementation of smoking bans. However, most of the studies reviewed
      did not distinguish the impact of maternal smoking from ETS in their analyses,
      making it difficult to specifically evaluate the effects of smoking bans on ETS
      exposure. Other studies have taken the approach of directly measuring maternal
      ETS exposure and associations with preterm birth within particular study
      populations. In contrast to smoking ban studies, the latter group of studies had
      more inconclusive results. The use of a variety of exposure assessment methods
      ranging from different self-reporting techniques to biomarker measurements posed
      a challenge to compare studies. We evaluate current scientific literature for
      evidence of an association between maternal ETS exposure and risk of preterm
      birth. We also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches
      to study this association as well as methods used for ETS exposure assessment. We
      propose that more studies, specifically, evaluating rates of preterm birth among
      nonsmoking women before and after smoking bans, are needed as well as using
      better ETS exposure assessments methods in studies measuring maternal ETS
      exposure.

PMID- 28602081
TI  - Spectroscopic Studies of the Interactions between a Cationic Cyanine Dye and a
      Synthetic Phyllosilicate: From Photophysics to Hybrid Materials.
AB  - The interaction of the cationic organic dye Astrazon orange R (AO-R) with the
      synthetic phyllosilicate Laponite leads to very interesting hybrid materials.
      Indeed, the Laponite nanoparticles modify the photophysical properties of AO-R,
      inducing a stabilization of its excited emissive state by preventing ultrafast
      isomerization. The long-lived emissive clay-dye hybrid complex can be used to
      develop efficient photoinitiating systems, leading to organic-inorganic hybrid
      crosslinked polymer materials.

PMID- 28602083
TI  - Free Energy Reconstruction from Logarithmic Mean-Force Dynamics Using Multiple
      Nonequilibrium Trajectories.
AB  - Efficient and reliable estimation of the mean force (MF), the derivatives of the
      free energy with respect to a set of collective variables (CVs), has been a
      challenging problem because free energy differences are often computed by
      integrating the MF. Among various methods for computing free energy differences,
      logarithmic mean-force dynamics (LogMFD) [ Morishita et al., Phys. Rev. E 2012 ,
      85 , 066702 ] invokes the conservation law in classical mechanics to integrate
      the MF, which allows us to estimate the free energy profile along the CVs on-the
      fly. Here, we present a method called parallel dynamics, which improves the
      estimation of the MF by employing multiple replicas of the system and is
      straightforwardly incorporated in LogMFD or a related method. In the parallel
      dynamics, the MF is evaluated by a nonequilibrium path-ensemble using the
      multiple replicas based on the Crooks-Jarzynski nonequilibrium work relation.
      Thanks to the Crooks relation, realizing full-equilibrium states is no longer
      mandatory for estimating the MF. Additionally, sampling in the hidden subspace
      orthogonal to the CV space is highly improved with appropriate weights for each
      metastable state (if any), which is hardly achievable by typical free energy
      computational methods. We illustrate how to implement parallel dynamics by
      combining it with LogMFD, which we call logarithmic parallel dynamics (LogPD).
      Biosystems of alanine dipeptide and adenylate kinase in explicit water are
      employed as benchmark systems to which LogPD is applied to demonstrate the effect
      of multiple replicas on the accuracy and efficiency in estimating the free energy
      profiles using parallel dynamics.

PMID- 28602084
TI  - Evaluation of the Interaction between Pesticides and a Cell Membrane Model by
      Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy Analysis.
AB  - A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy analysis was used for the
      characterization of the interaction between pesticides and a cell membrane model.
      A liposome was immobilized onto the surface of the SPR sensor chip (L1), and the
      lipid bilayer membrane formed on the sensor chip was regarded as the cell
      membrane model. The solution containing a pesticide was flowed onto the sensor
      chip, and an SPR sensorgram, which reflected the interaction between the
      pesticide and the lipid bilayer membrane, was obtained. As the results, the
      pattern and strength of the interaction of the pesticides with the cell membrane
      model were visualized and quantified. Triflumizole, hexythiazox, and
      pentachlorophenol showed a strong interaction with the lipid bilayer. It is well
      known that triflumizole and pentachlorophenol interact with the membrane and
      reveal toxicities for cell membranes. In addition, there was a tendency for
      higher residual ratios to be observed when the no observable adverse effect level
      (NOAEL) values for chronic toxicity (1 year toxicity study in dogs) were lower.
      We suggest that a novel parameter for the evaluation or presumption of the
      behaviors and chronic toxicities of pesticides is obtained by the presented
      method.

PMID- 28602085
TI  - Implementation of Online Preconcentration and Microsecond Time Resolution to
      Capillary Electrophoresis Single Particle Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
      Spectrometry (CE-SP-ICP-MS) and Its Application in Silver Nanoparticle Analysis.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to single particle inductively coupled
      plasma mass-spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) was used for the first time with a prototype
      data acquisition (MUsDAQ) system that features 5 MUs time resolution (100% duty
      cycle) to separate and quantify mixtures of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs).
      Additionally, an online preconcentration technique, reversed electrode polarity
      stacking mode (REPSM), was applied for Ag NPs analysis with CE-SP-ICP-MS for the
      first time. After optimization, best results were achieved using a injection time
      of 110 s and a constant pressure of 50 mbar in hydrodynamic injection mode. It
      was possible to detect 14.3 +/- 1.5* more 20 nm sized, 21.0 +/- 4.2* more 40 nm
      sized, and 27.7 +/- 4.9* more 60 nm sized Ag NPs compared to the standard
      injection time of only 3 s. The effect of applied voltage on the NPs separation
      was studied, and a CE separation at 20 kV was found to be optimal for the present
      setup. The capability of CE-SP-ICP-MS for quantification of particle number
      concentration was investigated, and detection limits in the submicrogram-per
      liter range were achieved. The possibility to separate 20, 40, and 60 nm sized Ag
      NPs simultaneously present in a mixture was demonstrated over a broad
      concentration range.

PMID- 28602082
TI  - Linking Genes to Microbial Biogeochemical Cycling: Lessons from Arsenic.
AB  - The biotransformation of arsenic is highly relevant to the arsenic biogeochemical
      cycle. Identification of the molecular details of microbial pathways of arsenic
      biotransformation coupled with analyses of microbial communities by meta-omics
      can provide insights into detailed aspects of the complexities of this biocycle.
      Arsenic transformations couple to other biogeochemical cycles, and to the fate of
      both nutrients and other toxic environmental contaminants. Microbial redox
      metabolism of iron, carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen affects the redox and
      bioavailability of arsenic species. In this critical review we illustrate the
      biogeochemical processes and genes involved in arsenic biotransformations. We
      discuss how current and future metagenomic-, metatranscriptomic-, metaproteomic-,
      and metabolomic-based methods will help to decipher individual microbial arsenic
      transformation processes, and their connections to other biogeochemical cycle.
      These insights will allow future use of microbial metabolic capabilities for new
      biotechnological solutions to environmental problems. To understand the complex
      nature of inorganic and organic arsenic species and the fate of environmental
      arsenic will require integrating systematic approaches with biogeochemical
      modeling. Finally, from the lessons learned from these studies of arsenic
      biogeochemistry, we will be able to predict how the environment changes arsenic,
      and, in response, how arsenic biotransformations change the environment.

PMID- 28602086
TI  - Tunable Diastereoselective Desymmetrization of Cyclohexadienones Triggered by
      Copper-Catalyzed Three-Component Coupling Reaction.
AB  - Catalytic tandem diastereoselective desymmetrization of cyclohexadienone
      containing 1,6-enynes has been achieved through copper-catalyzed [3 + 2]
      cycloaddition followed by ketenimine formation and subsequent intramolecular
      conjugate addition. The cascade reaction provides cis-hydrobenzofurans in good
      yields with excellent diastereoselectivity. The exo- or endo-selectivity of
      bicyclic scaffolds depends on the selection of the base in the reaction. In
      addition, N-tethered bicyclic products further transformed into tricyclic
      compounds via intramolecular Michael addition.

PMID- 28602087
TI  - Nanodiamonds as Nucleating Agents for Protein Crystallization.
AB  - Nanodiamond (ND) is a carbon-based nanomaterial with potential for a wide range
      of biological applications. One of such applications is to facilitate the
      nucleation of protein crystals in aqueous solution. Here, we show that NDs
      (nominal diameters of 30 and 100 nm) after surface oxidation in air and
      subsequent treatment in strong acids are useful as heterogeneous nucleating
      agents for protein crystallization. Tested with lysozyme, ribonuclease A,
      proteinase K, and catalase, the nanomaterials in either aggregate or film form
      are found to be able to increase the crystallization efficiency of all proteins.
      Particularly, for 30 nm NDs, the films with an area of ~2 mm2 can effectively
      induce the crystallization of lysozyme at a concentration as low as 5 mg/mL. The
      efficiency can be further improved by adding preformed protein clusters (~300 nm
      in diameter) as inherent nucleation precursors, as demonstrated for ribonuclease
      A. This combined approach is easy to implement, highly compatible with existing
      technologies, and can be applied to other protein samples as well.

PMID- 28602088
TI  - Extension of the SAFT-VR Mie EoS To Model Homonuclear Rings and Its
      Parametrization Based on the Principle of Corresponding States.
AB  - The statistical associating fluid theory of variable range employing a Mie
      potential (SAFT-VR-Mie) proposed by Lafitte et al. (J. Chem Phys. 2013, 139,
      154504) is one of the latest versions of the SAFT family. This particular version
      has been shown to have a remarkable capability to connect experimental
      determinations, theoretical calculations, and molecular simulations results.
      However, the theoretical development restricts the model to chains of beads
      connected in a linear fashion. In this work, the capabilities of the SAFT-VR Mie
      equation of state for modeling phase equilibria are extended for the case of
      planar ring compounds. This modification proposed replaces the Helmholtz energy
      of chain formation by an empirical contribution based on a parallelism to the
      second-order thermodynamic perturbation theory for hard sphere trimers. The
      proposed expression is given in terms of an extra parameter, chi, that depends on
      the number of beads, ms, and the geometry of the ring. The model is used to
      describe the phase equilibrium for planar ring compounds formed of Mie isotropic
      segments for the cases of ms equals to 3, 4, 5 (two configurations), and 7 (two
      configurations). The resulting molecular model is further parametrized, invoking
      a corresponding states principle resulting in sets of parameters that can be used
      indistinctively in theoretical calculations or in molecular simulations without
      any further refinements. The extent and performance of the methodology has been
      exemplified by predicting the phase equilibria and vapor pressure curves for
      aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, hexafluorobenzene, toluene), heterocyclic
      molecules (2,5-dimethylfuran, sulfolane, tetrahydro-2H-pyran, tetrahydrofuran),
      and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene, pyrene, anthracene, pentacene,
      and coronene). An important aspect of the theory is that the parameters of the
      model can be used directly in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to calculate
      equilibrium phase properties and interfacial tensions with an accuracy that
      rivals other coarse grained and united atom models, for example, liquid
      densities, are predicted, with a maximum absolute average deviation of 3% from
      both the theory and the MD simulations, while the interfacial tension is
      predicted, with a maximum absolute average of 8%. The extension to mixtures is
      exemplified by considering a binary system of hexane (chain fluid) and tetrahydro
      2H-pyran (ring fluid).

PMID- 28602089
TI  - Carbon Nanodots-Based Fluorescent Turn-On Sensor Array for Biothiols.
AB  - Biothiols play important roles in biological processes. In this study, a novel
      sensor array-based method was proposed to detect and differentiate biothiols. The
      sensor array was constructed using three kinds of Ag+-sensitive carbon nanodots
      (CDs). The CDs were synthesized with amino acids and urea as carbon sources via a
      simple microwave method. Results revealed that Ag+ can bind with CDs and depress
      the fluorescence of CDs, while the subsequently joined biothiols can take Ag+
      away from CDs and recover the fluorescence of CDs. Due to the different binding
      ability between Ag+ and various CDs, as well as Ag+ and various biothiols, the CD
      Ag+ array exhibits a unique pattern of fluorescence variations when interacting
      with six biothiol samples (cysteamine, dithiothreitol, mercaptosuccinic acid,
      glutathione, mercaptoacetic acid, and mercaptoethanol). Principal component
      analysis (PCA) was applied to analyze the pattern and generate a clustering map
      for a clearer identification of these biothiols. PCA can also be employed to
      simplify the established three-sensor array into a two-sensor array. Both the
      three- and two-sensor arrays can identify these biothiols in a wide biothiol
      concentration range (>10 MUM).

PMID- 28602090
TI  - Sulfoxide Synthase versus Cysteine Dioxygenase Reactivity in a Nonheme Iron
      Enzyme.
AB  - The sulfoxide synthase EgtB represents a unique family of nonheme iron enzymes
      that catalyze the formation of a C-S bond between N-alpha-trimethyl histidine and
      gamma-glutamyl cysteine, which is the key step in the biosynthesis of
      ergothioneine, an important amino acid related to aging. A controversy has arisen
      regarding its catalytic mechanism related to the function of the active-site
      Tyr377 residue. The biosynthesis of ergothioneine in EgtB shows structural
      similarities to cysteine dioxygenase which transfers two oxygen atoms to the
      thiolate group of cysteine. The question, therefore, is how do EgtB enzymes
      catalyze the C-S bond-formation reaction, while also preventing a dioxygenation
      of its cysteinate substrate? In this work we present a quantum
      mechanics/molecular mechanics study into the mechanism of sulfoxide synthase
      enzymes as compared to cysteine dioxygenase enzymes and present pathways for both
      reaction channels in EgtB. We show that EgtB contains a conserved tyrosine
      residue that reacts via proton-coupled electron transfer with the iron(III)
      superoxo species and creates an iron(III)-hydroperoxo intermediate, thereby
      preventing the possible thiolate dioxygenation side reaction. The nucleophilic C
      S bond-formation step happens subsequently concomitant to relay of the proton of
      the iron(II)-hydroperoxo back to Tyr377. This is the rate-determining step in the
      reaction cycle and is followed by hydrogen-atom transfer from the CE1-H group of
      trimethyl histidine substrate to iron(II)-superoxo. In the final step, a quick
      and almost barrierless sulfoxidation leads to the sulfoxide product complexes.
      The work highlights a unique machinery and active-site setup of the enzyme that
      drives the sulfoxide synthase reaction.

PMID- 28602091
TI  - Assessing Spatial Variability of Grape Skin Flavonoids at the Vineyard Scale
      Based on Plant Water Status Mapping.
AB  - Plant water stress affects grape (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon) berry
      composition and is variable in space due to variations in the physical
      environment at the growing site. We monitored the natural variability of
      grapevine water stress by stem water potential (Psistem) and leaf gas exchange in
      an equi-distant grid in a commercial vineyard. Spatial differences were measured
      and related to topographical variation by modeling. Geospatial analysis and
      clustering allowed researchers to differentiate the vineyard block into two
      distinct zones having severe and moderate water stress where it varied by 0.2
      MPa. Differences in stem water potential affected stomatal conductance, net
      carbon assimilation, and intrinsic water use efficiency that were different in
      all measurement dates. The two zones were selectively sampled at harvest for
      measurements of berry chemistry. The water status zones did not affect berry mass
      or yield per vine. Significant difference in total soluble solids was observed
      (3.56 Brix), and in titratable acidity, thus indicating a direct effect of water
      stress on ripening acceleration. Berry skin flavonol and anthocyanin composition
      and concentration were measured by C18 reversed-phased high-performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC). The anthocyanins were most affected by the two water
      stress zones. The dihydroxylated anthocyanins were more affected than
      trihydroxylated; therefore, the ratio of the two forms increased. Flavonols were
      different in total amounts, but hydroxylation patterns were not affected.
      Proanthocyanidin isolates were characterized by acid catalysis in the presence of
      excess phloroglucinol followed by reversed-phase HPLC. Proanthocyanidins showed
      the least significant difference, although (+)-catechin terminal subunits were
      important predictors in a partial least square model used to summarize the
      multivariate relationships, predicting Psistem or the management zone. The
      results provide fundamental information on vineyard water status to discriminate
      harvest or direction to vineyard operators to modify irrigation management to
      equilibrate berry composition at harvest.

PMID- 28602092
TI  - In Situ Observation of Oxygen Vacancy Dynamics and Ordering in the Epitaxial
      LaCoO3 System.
AB  - Vacancy dynamics and ordering underpin the electrochemical functionality of
      complex oxides and strongly couple to their physical properties. In the field of
      the epitaxial thin films, where connection between chemistry and film properties
      can be most clearly revealed, the effects related to oxygen vacancies are
      attracting increasing attention. In this article, we report a direct, real-time,
      atomic level observation of the formation of oxygen vacancies in the epitaxial
      LaCoO3 thin films and heterostructures under the influence of the electron beam
      utilizing scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). In the case of
      LaCoO3/SrTiO3 superlattice, the formation of the oxygen vacancies is shown to
      produce quantifiable changes in the interatomic distances, as well as qualitative
      changes in the symmetry of the Co sites manifested as off-center displacements.
      The onset of these changes was observed in both the [100]pc and [110]pc
      orientations in real time. Additionally, annular bright field images directly
      show the formation of oxygen vacancy channels along [110]pc direction. In the
      case of 15 u.c. LaCoO3 thin film, we observe the sequence of events during beam
      induced formation of oxygen vacancy ordered phases and find them consistent with
      similar processes in the bulk. Moreover, we record the dynamics of the
      nucleation, growth, and defect interaction at the atomic scale as these
      transformations happen. These results demonstrate that we can track dynamic
      oxygen vacancy behavior with STEM, generating atomic-level quantitative
      information on phase transformation and oxygen diffusion.

PMID- 28602093
TI  - Particle Deposition Kinetics of Colloidal Suspensions in Microchannels at High
      Ionic Strength.
AB  - Despite its considerable practical importance, the deposition of real Brownian
      particles transported in a channel by a liquid, at small Reynolds numbers, has
      never been described at a comprehensive level. Here, by coupling microfluidic
      experiments, theory, and numerics, we succeed in unravelling the problem for the
      case of straight channels at high salinity. We discover a broad regime of
      deposition (the van der Waals regime) in which particle-wall van der Waals
      interactions govern the deposition mechanism. We determine the range of existence
      of the regime, for which we calculate the concentration profiles, retention
      profiles, and deposition kinetics analytically. The retention profiles decay as
      the inverse of the square root of the distance from the entry, and the deposition
      kinetics are given by the expression [Formula: see text], where S is a
      dimensionless deposition function, A is the Hamaker constant, and xiL is a
      dimensionless parameter characterizing fluid flow properties. These findings are
      well supported by numerics. Experimentally, we find that the retention profiles
      behave as x-0.5+/-0.1 (where x is the distance from the channel entry) over three
      decades in scale, as predicted theoretically. By varying the flow conditions
      (speed, geometry, surface properties, and concentration) so as to cover four
      decades in xiL and taking the Hamaker constant as a free parameter, we accurately
      confirm the theoretical expression for the deposition kinetics. Operating in the
      van der Waals regime enables control of the deposition rates via surface
      chemistry. From a surface science perspective, working in the van der Waals
      regime enables us to measure the Hamaker constants of thousands of particles in a
      few minutes, a task that would take a much longer time to perform with standard
      AFM.

PMID- 28602094
TI  - Stochastic Simulation of Isotopic Exchange Mechanisms for Fe(II)-Catalyzed
      Recrystallization of Goethite.
AB  - Understanding Fe(II)-catalyzed transformations of Fe(III)-(oxyhydr)oxides is
      critical for correctly interpreting stable isotopic distributions and for
      predicting the fate of metal ions in the environment. Recent Fe isotopic tracer
      experiments have shown that goethite undergoes rapid recrystallization without
      phase change when exposed to aqueous Fe(II). The proposed explanation is
      oxidation of sorbed Fe(II) and reductive Fe(II) release coupled 1:1 by electron
      conduction through crystallites. Given the availability of two tracer exchange
      data sets that explore pH and particle size effects (e.g., Handler et al.
      Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014 , 48 , 11302 - 11311 ; Joshi and Gorski Environ. Sci.
      Technol. 2016 , 50 , 7315 - 7324 ), we developed a stochastic simulation that
      exactly mimics these experiments, while imposing the 1:1 constraint. We find that
      all data can be represented by this model, and unifying mechanistic information
      emerges. At pH 7.5 a rapid initial exchange is followed by slower exchange,
      consistent with mixed surface- and diffusion-limited kinetics arising from
      prominent particle aggregation. At pH 5.0 where aggregation and net Fe(II)
      sorption are minimal, that exchange is quantitatively proportional to available
      particle surface area and the density of sorbed Fe(II) is more readily evident.
      Our analysis reveals a fundamental atom exchange rate of ~10-5 Fe nm-2 s-1,
      commensurate with some of the reported reductive dissolution rates of goethite,
      suggesting Fe(II) release is the rate-limiting step in the conduction mechanism
      during recrystallization.

PMID- 28602095
TI  - Hollow Rodlike MgF2 with an Ultralow Refractive Index for the Preparation of
      Multifunctional Antireflective Coatings.
AB  - Antireflective coatings with superhydrophobic, self-cleaning, and wide-spectrum
      high-transmittance properties and good mechanical strength have important
      practical value. In this research, hollow nanorod-like MgF2 sols with different
      void volumes were prepared by a template-free solvothermal method to further
      obtain hollow nanorod-like MgF2 crystals with an ultralow refractive index of
      1.14. Besides, a MgF2 coating with an adjustable refractive index of 1.10-1.35
      was also prepared by the template-free solvothermal method. Then through the
      combination of base/acid two-step-catalyzed TEOS and hydroxyl modification on the
      surface of nanosilica spheres, the SiO2 coating with good mechanical strength, a
      flat surface, and a refractive index of 1.30-1.45 was obtained. Double-layer
      broadband antireflective coatings with an average transmittance of 99.6% at 400
      1400 nm were designed using the relevant optical theory. After the coating
      thickness was optimized by the dip-coating method, the double-layer
      antireflective coatings, whose parameters were consistent with those designed by
      the theory, were obtained. The bottom layer was a SiO2 coating with a refractive
      index of 1.34 and a thickness of 155 nm, and the top layer was a hollow rodlike
      MgF2 coating with a refractive index of 1.10 and a thickness of 165 nm. The
      average transmittance of the obtained MgF2-SiO2 antireflective coatings was 99.1%
      at 400-1400 nm, which was close to the theoretical value. The hydrophobic angle
      of the coating surface reached 119 degrees  at first, and the angle further
      reached 152 degrees  after conducting surface modification by PFOTES. In
      addition, because the porosity of the coating surface was only 10.7%, the pencil
      hardness of the coating surface was 5 H and the critical load Lc was 27.05 N. In
      summary, the obtained antireflective coatings possessed superhydrophobic, self
      cleaning, and wide-spectrum high-transmittance properties and good mechanical
      strength.

PMID- 28602096
TI  - Access to Palliative Care for Patients Undergoing Mechanical Ventilation With
      Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in the United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The utilization of palliative care (PC) in patients with end-stage
      idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is not well understood. METHODS: The
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) was utilized to examine the use of PC in
      mechanically ventilated (MV) patients with IPF. The NIS captures 20% of all US
      inpatient hospitalizations and is weighted to estimate 95% of all inpatient care.
      RESULTS: A total of 55 208 382 hospital admissions from the 2006 to 2012 NIS
      samples were examined. There were 21 808 patients identified with pulmonary
      fibrosis, of which 3166 underwent mechanical ventilation and were included in the
      analysis. Of the 3166 patients in the main cohort, 408 (12.9%) had an encounter
      with PC, whereas 2758 (87.1%) did not. After multivariate logistic regression
      modeling, variables associated with increased access to PC referral were age
      (odds ratio [OR]: 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.03, P < .01),
      treatment in an urban teaching hospital (OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.27-3.58, P < .01),
      and do-not-resuscitate status (OR: 9.86, 95% CI: 7.48-13.00, P < .01). Factors
      associated with less access to PC were Hispanic race (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41
      0.99, P = .04) and missing race (OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.34-0.79, P < .01), with
      white race serving as the reference. The use of PC has increased almost 10-fold
      from 2.3% in 2006 to 21.6% in 2012 ( P < .01). CONCLUSION: The utilization of PC
      in patients with IPF who undergo MV has increased dramatically between 2006 and
      2012.

PMID- 28602097
TI  - A new epipolythiodioxopiperazine with antibacterial and cytotoxic activities from
      the endophytic fungus Chaetomium sp. M336.
AB  - A new compound 6-formamide-chetomin (1) together with chetomin (2) was isolated
      from solid fermentation products of the endophytic fungus Chaetomium sp. M336,
      which were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D
      NMR, and HR-ESI-MS experiments. The bioassay result showed that compound 1 had
      strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus,
      Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 6539 and Enterococcus faecalis with minimum
      inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 0.78 MUg/mL; meanwhile it exhibited
      strong cytotoxicity with IC50 values of 21.6-27.1 nM against cell lines HeLa, SGC
      7901 and A549.

PMID- 28602098
TI  - Antibacterial constituents from Antarctic fungus, Aspergillus sydowii SP-1.
AB  - One new alkaloid, named as acremolin C (1), was isolated from static culture of
      Antarctic fungus, Aspergillus sydowii SP-1, in an investigation of the
      antimicrobial constituents of this Antarctic microorganism, and its structure was
      determined by spectroscopic methods. Additionally, four known compounds, cyclo-(L
      Trp-L-Phe) (2), 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (3), (7S)-(+)-hydroxysydonic acid (4)
      and (7S, 11S)-(+)-12-hydroxysydonic acid (5), were isolated and identified.
      Biological studies disclosed that compounds 2, 4 and 5 showed moderate
      inhibitions against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) as comparing to
      tigecycline, while compound 1 displayed weak inhibition activities against MRSA
      and MRSE.

PMID- 28602099
TI  - Zerumbone Regulates DNA Repair Responding to Ionizing Radiation and Enhances
      Radiosensitivity of Human Prostatic Cancer Cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Radiation therapy using ionizing radiation is widely used for the
      treatment of prostate cancer. The intrinsic radiation sensitivity of cancer cells
      could be enhanced by modulating multiple factors including the capacity to repair
      DNA damage, especially double-strand breaks (DSBs). We aimed to examine the
      effect of zerumbone on radiation sensitivity and its protective effects against
      ionizing radiation-induced DSB in human prostate cancer cells. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The human prostate cancer PC3 and DU145 cell lines were used. A colony
      formation assay was performed to analyze the radiation survival of cells. DNA
      histogram and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were examined using
      flow cytometry. Western blotting was used to examine the expression of regulatory
      molecules related to DNA damage repair. RESULTS: Pretreatment with zerumbone
      enhanced the radiation effect on prostate cancer cells. Zerumbone delayed the
      abrogation of radiation-induced expression of gamma-H2AX, an indicator of DNA
      DSB. Zerumbone pretreatment markedly reduced ionizing radiation-induced
      upregulated expression of phosphorylated ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated),
      which was partially reversed by the ATM agonist methyl methanesulfonate. Ionizing
      radiation augmented and zerumbone pretreatment reduced the expression of Jak2 and
      Stat3, which are involved in DNA damage repair signaling. No significant effect
      on the generation of ROS and expression of ATR was noted after zerumbone
      treatment. CONCLUSION: Zerumbone sensitized DU145 and PC3 prostatic cancer cells
      to ionizing radiation by modulating radiation-induced ATM activation during
      repair of DNA DSBs.

PMID- 28602100
TI  - Using ChEMBL web services for building applications and data processing workflows
      relevant to drug discovery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: ChEMBL is a manually curated database of bioactivity data on small
      drug-like molecules, used by drug discovery scientists. Among many access
      methods, a REST API provides programmatic access, allowing the remote retrieval
      of ChEMBL data and its integration into other applications. This approach allows
      scientists to move from a world where they go to the ChEMBL web site to search
      for relevant data, to one where ChEMBL data can be simply integrated into their
      everyday tools and work environment. Areas covered: This review highlights some
      of the audiences who may benefit from using the ChEMBL API, and the goals they
      can address, through the description of several use cases. The examples cover a
      team communication tool (Slack), a data analytics platform (KNIME), batch job
      management software (Luigi) and Rich Internet Applications. Expert opinion: The
      advent of web technologies, cloud computing and micro services oriented
      architectures have made REST APIs an essential ingredient of modern software
      development models. The widespread availability of tools consuming RESTful
      resources have made them useful for many groups of users. The ChEMBL API is a
      valuable resource of drug discovery bioactivity data for professional chemists,
      chemistry students, data scientists, scientific and web developers.

PMID- 28602102
TI  - Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Masquerading as Jugular Foramen Paraganglioma: A
      Role for Novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe a case of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC)
      masquerading as a jugular foramen paraganglioma (JP). To compare imaging findings
      between skull base metastatic RCC and histologically proven paraganglioma.
      METHODS: A case of unexpected metastatic skull base RCC is reviewed. Computed
      tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were compared between 3
      confirmed cases of JP and our case of metastatic RCC. Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW
      MRI) sequences and computed apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were
      compared between these entities. RESULTS: A 55-year-old man presents with what
      appears clinically and radiographically to be JP. The tumor was resected, then
      discovered on postoperative pathology to be metastatic RCC. Imaging was
      retrospectively compared between 3 histologically confirmed cases of JP and our
      case of skull base RCC. The RCC metastasis was indistinguishable from JP on CT
      and traditional MRI but distinct by ADC values calculated from DW-MRI.
      CONCLUSIONS: Metastatic RCC at the skull base may mimic the clinical presentation
      and radiographic appearance of JP. The MRI finding of flow voids is seen in both
      paraganglioma and metastatic RCC. Diffusion-weighted MRI is able to distinguish
      these entities, highlighting its potential utility in distinguishing skull base
      lesions.

PMID- 28602101
TI  - Expert panel on practice patterns in the management of cow's milk protein allergy
      and associated economic burden of disease on health service in Turkey.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate practice patterns in the management of cow's milk protein
      allergy (CMPA) and associated economic burden of disease on health service in
      Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was based on experts' views on the
      practice patterns in management of CMPA manifesting with either proctocolitis or
      eczema symptoms and, thereby, aimed to estimate economic burden of CMPA. Practice
      patterns were determined via patient flow charts developed by experts using the
      modified Delphi method for CMPA presented with proctocolitis and eczema. Per
      patient total 2-year direct medical costs were calculated, including cost items
      of physician visits, laboratory tests, and treatment. RESULTS: According to the
      consensus opinion of experts, 2-year total direct medical cost from a payer
      perspective and societal perspective was calculated to be $US2,116.05 and
      $US2,435.84, respectively, in an infant with CMPA presenting with proctocolitis
      symptoms, and $US4,001.65 and $US4,828.90, respectively, in an infant with CMPA
      presenting with eczema symptoms. Clinical nutrition was the primary cost driver
      that accounted for 89-92% of 2-year total direct medical costs, while the highest
      total direct medical cost estimated from a payer perspective and societal
      perspective was noted for the management of an exclusively formula-fed infant
      presenting either with proctocolitis ($US3,743.85 and $US4,025.63, respectively)
      or eczema ($US6,854.10 and $US7,917.30, respectively). The first line use of
      amino acid based formula (AAF) was associated with total direct cost increment
      $US1,848.08 and $US3,444.52 in the case of proctocolitis and eczema,
      respectively. LIMITATIONS: Certain limitations to this study should be
      considered. First, being focused only on direct costs, the lack of data on
      indirect costs or intangible costs of illness seems to be a major limitation of
      the present study, which likely results in a downward bias in the estimates of
      the economic cost of CMPA. Second, given the limited number of studies concerning
      epidemiology and practice patterns in CMPA in Turkey, use of expert clinical
      opinion of the panel members rather than real-life data on practice patterns that
      were used to identify direct medical costs might raise a concern with the
      validity and reliability of the data. Also, while this was a three-step study
      with six experts included in the first stage (developing local guidelines for
      diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of infants with CMPA in Turkey) and 410
      pediatricians included in the second stage (a cross-sectional questionnaire
      survey to determine pediatricians' awareness and practice of CMPA in infants and
      children), only four members were included in the present Delphi panel, which
      allows a limited discussion. Third, lack of sensitivity analyses and exclusion of
      indirect costs and costs related to alterations in quality of life, behavior of
      infants, and general well-being of infants and their parents from the cost
      analysis seems to be another limitation that may have caused under-estimation of
      relative cost-effectiveness of the formulae. Fourth, calculation of costs per
      local guidelines rather than real-life practice patterns is another limitation
      that, otherwise, would extend the knowledge achieved in the current study.
      Notwithstanding these limitations, the present expert panel provided practice
      patterns in the management of CMPA and an estimate of the associated costs,
      depending on the symptom profile at initial admission for the first time in
      Turkey. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, in providing the first health economic data
      on CMPA in Turkey, the findings revealed that CMPA imposes a substantial burden
      on the Turkish healthcare system from both a payer perspective and societal
      perspective, and indicated clinical nutrition as a primary cost driver.
      Management of infants presenting with eczema, exclusively formula-fed infants,
      and first line use of AAF were associated with higher estimates for 2-year direct
      medical costs.

PMID- 28602103
TI  - Advances in small molecule therapy for treating metastatic thyroid cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Multi kinase inhibitors (MKIs) are new drugs, which show activity
      against receptors of different growth factors leading to the inhibition of tumor
      cells growth and proliferation. This review summarizes a 10-year experience with
      the use of MKIs in thyroid cancer (TC). It focuses not only on sorafenib,
      lenvatinib, vandetanib and cabozantinib, already approved in TC, but also
      presents an overview of the results of different trials with distinct MKIs so far
      carried out in TC. Areas covered: Published results of phase I, II and III
      studies and other reports evaluated the efficacy of different targeted drugs in
      TC. Expert opinion: Despite numerous clinical trials with distinct MKIs, only
      four of them unequivocally demonstrated a beneficial effect on progression free
      survival in radioiodine refractory differentiated or medullary TC. In contrast to
      other solid tumors, we are still lacking in convincing evidences of their impact
      on overall survival. We still do not have any strong proof fulfilling evidence
      based medicine criteria, when to start MKIs and which drug to use. The questions
      whether we really have to wait for disease progression in patients with a large
      tumor burden and/or aggressive types TC or when to stop MKIs treatment remain
      open.

PMID- 28602104
TI  - Reproductive outcome following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in the
      UK.
AB  - In 2013, the National Health Service Commissioning board centralized the funding
      in England for up to three cycles of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for
      couples who have, or are carriers of, a specific genetic disorder. This study
      presents the historical data of PGD cycles and their clinical outcomes in UK as
      extrapolated from the national data registry. Retrospective analysis of outcome
      of cycles undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis in the UK over the past
      20 years was performed from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
      database (n = 2974). Binary logistic regression was used to determine trends over
      time and adjusted for maternal age. Briefly, the number of PGD cycles has risen
      127-fold from 1991 to 2012 with 3.6-fold increase (360% rise) from 2004 to 2012.
      A total of one in four embryos following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis did
      not reach embryo transfer and 92% of these were due to a failure to survive. The
      live birth rate has risen over 20 years and there has been a steady decline in
      reported incidence of congenital abnormalities (p < 0.07). PGD has thus emerged
      as a safe and effective alternative to prenatal diagnosis but with ever evolving
      technological advances, a robust system of data collection that incorporates
      techniques used and reporting of mutation-specific clinical outcomes is
      suggested.

PMID- 28602105
TI  - A new aromatic glycoside and its anti-proliferative activities from the leaves of
      Bergenia purpurascens.
AB  - Chemical investigation of the ethanolic extracts of the dried leaves of Bergenia
      purpurascens led to the isolation and identification of a new aromatic glycoside,
      1-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2-methoxy-3-hydroxyl-phenylethene (1), along with other
      19 known compounds (2-20). The structure of compound 1 was determined by a
      detailed analysis using various analytical techniques, including 1D and 2D NMR.
      In vitro anti-proliferative activities of compound 1 on five human cancer cell
      lines were evaluated. The results showed that compound 1 possessed the most
      potent effects with the IC50 values of 14.36 +/- 1.04 MUM against T24 cells. The
      further bioactivity analysis showed that compound 1 induced apoptosis of T24
      cells, and altered anti- and pro-apoptotic proteins, leading to mitochondrial
      dysfunction and activation of caspase-3 for causing cell apoptosis. The present
      investigation illustrated compound 1 might be used as a potential antitumour
      chemotherapy candidate.

PMID- 28602106
TI  - A comparison of performance on the Keitel Functional Test by persons with
      systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare lower extremity impairments in
      persons with systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and healthy controls.
      METHODS: The participants were a convenience sample of 64 persons with systemic
      sclerosis, 58 persons with rheumatoid arthritis, and 30 healthy controls. The
      Keitel Functional Test was used to assess lower extremity joint motion and
      strength. Demographic information on age, disease duration, employment, and
      perceived overall health was also collected. RESULTS: Significant differences
      were found between the healthy control group and both the systemic sclerosis and
      rheumatoid arthritis groups in rising from a chair, squatting, walking 30 m,
      walking up and downstairs, and the total score. For hip external rotation, there
      were significant differences between all three groups for the right hip; for the
      left hip, the systemic sclerosis group had significantly less motion than the
      other two groups. For standing on toes, there was only a significant difference
      between the systemic sclerosis and the healthy control groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Persons with systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis have similar levels of
      lower extremity impairments but greater impairments compared to the healthy
      controls. These impairments may lead to decreased mobility paired with
      difficulties with activities of daily living such as lower extremity dressing,
      bathing, and feet care. Implications for Rehabilitation Persons with systemic
      sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis have similar levels of lower extremity
      impairments but greater impairments compared to the healthy controls. Findings
      from this study indicate a need for rehabilitation for persons with systemic
      sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis as the lower extremity impairments may lead to
      decreased mobility paired with difficulties with daily living activities such as
      lower extremity dressing, bathing, and feet care. The Keitel Functional Test
      could be used as a quick screening test for lower extremity impairments.

PMID- 28602107
TI  - Synergistic effects and related bioactive mechanisms of Potentilla fruticosa
      Linn. leaves combined with green tea polyphenols studied with microbial test
      system (MTS).
AB  - Previous research found Potentilla fruticosa leaf extracts (PFE) combined with
      green tea polyphenols (GTP) showed obvious synergistic effects based on chemical
      mechanisms. This study further confirmed the synergy of PFE + GTP viewed from
      bioactivities using the microbial test system (MTS). The MTS antioxidant activity
      results showed the combination of PFE + GTP exhibited synergistic effect and the
      ratio 3:1 showed the strongest synergy, which were in accordance with the results
      in H2O2 production rate. The combination of PFE + GTP promoted CAT and SOD enzyme
      activity and their gene expression especially at the ratio 3:1. Therefore, the
      synergism of PFE + GTP may be due to the promotion of CAT and SOD genes
      expression which enhanced the CAT and SOD enzyme activities. These results
      confirmed the synergy of PFE + GTP and could provide theoretical basis to produce
      a compounded tea made of a mixture of leaves from Potentilla species.

PMID- 28602108
TI  - Pharmacotherapy for community-acquired pneumonia in the elderly.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an increasing problem in the
      elderly that is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality. Given the
      expected increased life expectancy, this problem is only likely to worsen, so it
      has been considered that treatment effects must be examined separately in elderly
      adults with CAP. Areas covered: In this narrative review, we give an update of
      the available data of antibiotics for elderly patients with CAP. Clinical
      features, drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, adverse effects, and
      outcomes differ in CAP depending on patient age. Older age, for example, can
      affect the effect of specific antibiotic regimens on important CAP clinical
      outcomes. Current guidelines do not offer specific recommendations for the
      management of CAP in elderly patients. Expert opinion: Most of our knowledge
      about the treatment of CAP in elderly patients has been gained from studies in
      young populations. However, elderly patients with CAP deserve special attention
      because there are several factors in this population that could influence their
      response to antibiotic regimens in CAP.

PMID- 28602109
TI  - Air and Water Processes Do Not Produce the Same High-Quality Pasteurization of
      Donor Human Milk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Holder pasteurization is the most commonly used technique in milk
      banks worldwide, but higher temperatures and longer pasteurization time have been
      associated with damage to the immune components of human milk. Research aim: This
      study aimed to assess the detailed pattern of pasteurization temperature using
      two water pasteurizers (WP1 and WP2) and one air pasteurizer (AP). METHODS: The
      milk temperature during each phase of the pasteurization cycle was recorded using
      6 to 9 probes, depending on the number of bottles, in the pasteurizers. We used
      90 to 200 ml bottles to assess the effect of volume on milk temperature. RESULTS:
      The time to heat the milk from room temperature to 58 degrees C was 12.4, 12.9,
      and 64.5 min, respectively, for WP1, WP2, and the AP ( p < .0001). The duration
      of the plateau was 35.5, 35.2, and 45.8 min ( p < .0001). The duration of
      exposure to a temperature above 58 degrees C was 49.6, 40.7, and 76.2 min ( p <
      .0001). The total duration of a full cycle was 79, 66, and 182 min ( p < .0001).
      The duration of exposure above 58 degrees C for the different volumes of milk
      treated showed no difference when using WP1 but was significantly longer in small
      volumes when using WP2. CONCLUSION: Human milk treated using the air pasteurizer
      in our study was exposed to higher temperatures and for longer periods of time
      than the water pasteurizers we employed. Regular qualification of pasteurizers is
      requested when evaluating the effect of pasteurization on milk components and for
      routine treatment of human milk in milk banks.

PMID- 28602110
TI  - Using a Music Video Parody to Promote Breastfeeding and Increase Comfort Levels
      Among Young Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: North Americans are not meeting the World Health Organization's
      breastfeeding recommendations. Young adults understand that breastfeeding is
      healthy but are uncomfortable seeing breastfeeding. Research aim: The aim of the
      current project was to determine if a music video parody promoting breastfeeding
      is perceived by young adults to be an effective means of promotion and if
      exposure to such a video could increase comfort levels. METHODS: Young adults
      rated how comfortable they felt looking at breastfeeding and bottle-feeding
      images (pretest). Two months later, a subset of participants watched the music
      video parody "Breastfeeding My Baby." In Phase 1, participants completed the
      picture-rating task again (posttest) after a 2-month delay, plus a survey to
      assess memory and perception of the video. In Phase 2, participants were reminded
      of the video before completing the comfort ratings, and in the final phase,
      posttest measures were administered only 1 week after exposure to the video.
      RESULTS: Across all phases, the video was perceived to be effective and was
      memorable. Breastfeeding comfort ratings were comparable at pretest across
      participant groups; comfort ratings improved at posttest for participants who saw
      the video but only if they were reminded of seeing it before providing their
      ratings. At shorter intervals between seeing the video and completing the
      posttests, comfort ratings for breastfeeding images increased for all
      participants, highlighting the general importance of exposure to breastfeeding.
      CONCLUSION: Young adults are receptive to using a music video parody to promote
      breastfeeding, which can help to increase comfort levels with breastfeeding.

PMID- 28602111
TI  - Genetics of polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal and metabolic
      disorder affecting 5 to 20% of reproductive-aged women worldwide that results in
      androgen excess, menstrual dysfunction and oligo-ovulatory subfertility, with
      increased risks for type 2 diabetes, endometrial adenocarcinoma, and potentially
      vascular disease, among other morbidities. PCOS is a complex genetic trait with
      strong heritability accounting for as high as 70% of the development of the
      disorder. Areas covered: The authors summarize the historical and recent findings
      of genetic studies of PCOS, such as familial studies, twin studies, and molecular
      genetic studies, including the results of recent genome wide associated studies.
      PubMed, Medline and Embase database were used to search relevant articles.
      Included studies were predominately conducted in Asia, North Africa, North
      America, and Europe. Expert commentary: Current studies aim to establish the role
      and function of identified genes; such efforts could serve as potential platforms
      for novel diagnostic and treatments for PCOS patients. The etiology of PCOS will
      be better understood as more data is gathered systematically, subjects are better
      phenotyped larger populations are recruited, and a better understanding of the
      role of genetic architecture, genetic variation, epigenetics, and gene-gene, gene
      environment, and gene-phenotype interaction is obtained.

PMID- 28602112
TI  - The Role of Social-Cognitive and Emotional Factors on Exclusive Breastfeeding
      Duration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that exclusive breastfeeding is
      likely to be predicted by social-cognitive variables and fear. However, there is
      little research assessing the role of regret and self-conscious emotions (e.g.,
      pride and guilt) in promoting exclusive breastfeeding. Research aim: The primary
      aim of this research was to determine whether social-cognitive variables, fear,
      regret, and self-conscious emotions predict exclusive breastfeeding duration. The
      secondary aim of this research was to assess whether these factors predict infant
      feeding choice (i.e., exclusively breastfed, combination fed, or generally
      formula fed). METHODS: In this nonexperimental one-group self-report survey, 375
      mothers rated social-cognitive variables toward breastfeeding (attitude,
      subjective norm, perceived control, and self-efficacy), their fear toward
      inadequate nutrition from breastfeeding and breastfeeding damaging their physical
      appearance, and the extent to which mothers may feel pride toward breastfeeding
      and negative self-conscious emotions (guilt and shame) and regret for not
      breastfeeding their infant. RESULTS: Exclusive breastfeeding duration was
      positively predicted by self-efficacy, pride, and regret but negatively predicted
      by the fear toward inadequate nutrition. We also found that in contrast with
      exclusive breastfeeding, generally formula feeding an infant was associated with
      lower self-efficacy, pride, and regret but higher subjective norm and fear toward
      inadequate nutrition through breastfeeding. CONCLUSION: The authors argue that it
      is important to consider the role of self-conscious emotions and regret on
      exclusive breastfeeding.

PMID- 28602113
TI  - Primary Arthrodesis versus Open Reduction and Internal Fixation for Low-Energy
      Lisfranc Injuries in a Young Athletic Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are 2 Level I studies comparing open reduction and internal
      fixation (ORIF) and primary arthrodesis (PA) in high-energy Lisfranc injuries.
      There are no studies comparing ORIF and PA in young athletic patients with low
      energy injuries. METHODS: All operatively managed low-energy Lisfranc injuries
      sustained by active duty military personnel at a single institution were
      identified from 2010 to 2015. The injury pattern, method of treatment, and
      complications were reviewed. Implant removal rates, fitness test scores, return
      to military duty rates, and Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) scores were
      compared. Thirty-two patients were identified with the average age of 28 years.
      PA was performed in 14 patients with ORIF in 18. RESULTS: The PA group returned
      to full duty at an average of 4.5 months whereas the ORIF group returned at an
      average of 6.7 months ( P = .0066). The PA group ran their fitness test an
      average of 9 seconds per mile slower than their preoperative average whereas the
      ORIF group ran it an average of 39 seconds slower per mile ( P = .032). There
      were no differences between the 2 groups in the FAAM scores at an average of 35
      months. Implant removal was performed in 15 (83%) in the ORIF group and 2 (14%)
      in the PA group ( P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: Low-energy Lisfranc injuries treated
      with primary arthrodesis had a lower implant removal rate, an earlier return to
      full military activity, and better fitness test scores after 1 year, but there
      was no difference in FAAM scores after 3 years. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III,
      comparative cohort study.

PMID- 28602114
TI  - Combination of Chimneys and Fenestrated Endografts in the Treatment of Complex
      Aortic Aneurysms.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present early results of fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair
      (FEVAR) combined with chimney grafts in a high-volume center. METHODS: From July
      2011 to July 2016, 45 patients (mean age 73.0+/-8.8 years; 39 men) with complex
      aneurysms who were poor candidates for open repair and anatomically ineligible
      for standard or custom-made FEVAR were treated with chimney FEVAR (chFEVAR).
      Eight (18%) cases were treated in emergency. In all, 130 target vessels
      (2.9/patient) were addressed using 21 scallops, 42 open/18 covered chimneys, and
      27 custom-made/22 homemade fenestrations. RESULTS: Successful aneurysm exclusion,
      successful reconstruction, and technical success rates were 97.8% (44/45), 98.2%
      (107/109 vessels excluding the scallops), and 93.3% (42/45). Six (13.3%) patients
      died within 30 days (5 in hospital). Estimated overall survival, freedom from
      aneurysm-related death, and freedom from aneurysm-related reintervention were
      85.9%, 88.5%, and 59.2%, respectively, at 12 months. The target vessel patency
      rate was 96.0%. At latest follow-up, 1 type Ia and 3 type II endoleaks were
      present. Sac shrinkage occurred in 18 (54%) patients. CONCLUSION: Combined
      chFEVAR showed good technical feasibility and could be an effective approach in
      emergent settings and highly selective cases when FEVAR is not feasible. Thirty
      day mortality, target vessel patency, and type Ia endoleak rates were acceptable.

PMID- 28602115
TI  - Total Endovascular Treatment of Aortic Arch Disease Using an Arch Endograft With
      3 Inner Branches.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report early experience with a new endovascular graft developed for
      aortic arch aneurysm repair in patients unfit for open surgery. CASE REPORT:
      Three consecutive men (62, 74, and 69 years old) at high risk for open repair
      were treated for postdissection aortic arch aneurysms using a custom-made 3 inner
      branched endovascular graft. The 2 proximal branches are antegrade and perfuse
      the innominate artery and the left common carotid artery; the third branch is
      retrograde and perfuses the left subclavian artery. The latter is preloaded with
      a catheter and wire to aid cannulation. Technical success was achieved in each
      case. The mean procedure time, fluoroscopy duration, and contrast volume were 180
      minutes, 35 minutes, and 145 mL, respectively. The perioperative period was
      uneventful. All branches were patent on 6-month computed tomography and duplex
      ultrasound imaging. CONCLUSION: This new patient-specific device allows total
      endovascular revascularization of the supra-aortic trunks during arch repair.
      These encouraging results support its more widespread use.

PMID- 28602116
TI  - Rehabilitation goal setting with community dwelling adults with acquired brain
      injury: a theoretical framework derived from clinicians' reflections on practice.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore clinicians' experiences of
      implementing goal setting with community dwelling clients with acquired brain
      injury, to develop a goal setting practice framework. METHOD: Grounded theory
      methodology was employed. Clinicians, representing six disciplines across seven
      services, were recruited and interviewed until theoretical saturation was
      achieved. A total of 22 clinicians were interviewed. RESULTS: A theoretical
      framework was developed to explain how clinicians support clients to actively
      engage in goal setting in routine practice. The framework incorporates three
      phases: a needs identification phase, a goal operationalisation phase, and an
      intervention phase. Contextual factors, including personal and environmental
      influences, also affect how clinicians and clients engage in this process.
      Clinicians use additional strategies to support clients with impaired self
      awareness. These include structured communication and metacognitive strategies to
      operationalise goals. For clients with emotional distress, clinicians provide
      additional time and intervention directed at new identity development.
      CONCLUSIONS: The goal setting practice framework may guide clinician's
      understanding of how to engage in client-centred goal setting in brain injury
      rehabilitation. There is a predilection towards a client-centred goal setting
      approach in the community setting, however, contextual factors can inhibit
      implementation of this approach. Implications for Rehabilitation The theoretical
      framework describes processes used to develop achievable client-centred goals
      with people with brain injury. Building rapport is a core strategy to engage
      clients with brain injury in goal setting. Clients with self-awareness impairment
      benefit from additional metacognitive strategies to participate in goal setting.
      Clients with emotional distress may need additional time for new identity
      development.

PMID- 28602117
TI  - Spousal caregivers' experiences of participation in everyday life when living in
      shifting contexts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To promote health and well-being, and to meet the desires of the
      growing elderly population to age in place, elderly spousal caregivers need
      adequate support such as respite care services. More knowledge is needed about
      elderly spousal caregivers' experiences in relation to participation, which is an
      aspect of health that remains relatively unexplored for this group. AIM: To
      explore and describe how elderly spousal caregivers experience and discuss
      participation in everyday life when living in shifting contexts due to the use of
      respite care. METHOD: A grounded theory approach was used during data generation
      and analysis, which involved repeated focus group interviews with 12 spousal
      caregivers. RESULTS: Complexity and ambiguity was understood to imbue
      participation in everyday life. Being in charge of everyday life was challenging
      for spousal caregivers, and created a need for personal time. Respite care and
      home care service gave them time, although when interacting with social contexts
      other issues arose that influenced their own recovery. CONCLUSIONS: A holistic
      'situation centered' approach that focuses on the elderly couple's life story and
      needs might capture a wider perspective and enable adequate support that
      influences their health, well-being, and participation in everyday life.

PMID- 28602118
TI  - Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Epigenetic Modifications in Ovarian
      Cancer: A Review.
AB  - Ovarian cancer (OC) is a relatively fatal female reproductive malignancy. Since
      the underlying causes are uncertain, it brings us to believe that both genetic
      and external factors contribute toward development of this lethal disorder.
      Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the form of occupational
      usage of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, plasticizers, cosmetics, and so on
      is potentially carcinogenic and their ability to cause epigenetic modifications
      has led us to hypothesize that they may play a catalytic role in OC progression.
      In response to synthetic chemicals, animal models have demonstrated disturbances
      in the development of ovaries and steroid hormonal levels but in humans, more
      research is required. The present review is an attempt to address the impact of
      EDCs on the hormonal system and gene methylation levels that may lead to
      malfunctioning of the ovaries which may consequently develop in the form of
      cancer. It can be concluded that endocrine disruptors do have a potential
      carcinogenicity and their high proportions in human body may cause epigenetic
      modifications, prompting ovarian surface epithelium to grow in an abnormal
      manner.

PMID- 28602119
TI  - Improving the Quality of End-of-Life Care in Pediatric Oncology Patients Through
      the Early Implementation of Palliative Care.
AB  - Providing end-of-life care to children with cancer is most ideally achieved by
      initiating palliative care at the time of diagnosis, advocating for supportive
      care throughout the treatment trajectory, and implementing hospice care during
      the terminal phase. The guiding principles behind offering palliative care to
      pediatric oncology patients are the prioritization of providing holistic care and
      management of disease-based symptoms. Pediatric hematology-oncology nurses and
      clinicians have a unique responsibility to support the patient and family unit
      and foster a sense of hope, while also preparing the family for the prognosis and
      a challenging treatment trajectory that could result in the child's death. In
      order to alleviate potential suffering the child may experience, there needs to
      be an emphasis on supportive care and symptom management. There are barriers to
      implementing palliative care for children with cancer, including the need to
      clarify the palliative care philosophy, parental acknowledgement and acceptance
      of a child's disease and uncertain future, nursing awareness of services,
      perception of availability, and a shortage of research guidance. It is important
      for nurses and clinicians to have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of
      palliative and end-of-life care for pediatric oncology patients to receive the
      best care possible.

PMID- 28602120
TI  - Breastfeeding Support: A Geographic Perspective on Access and Equity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical lactation professionals, breastfeeding peer counseling, and
      mother-to-mother support are important sources of information and guidance for
      helping mothers initiate and maintain breastfeeding in the early weeks, months,
      and years postpartum. However, there is limited information concerning the
      geographic barriers that mothers face when seeking this support. Research aim:
      This study aimed to identify the geographic barriers to breastfeeding support,
      delineate gaps in access, assess inequities in the distribution of local support,
      and highlight the underlying differences in access and equity for different
      demographic and socioeconomic groups. METHODS: The locations of formal
      breastfeeding support resources were collected for the state of Ohio for 2016 and
      were combined with demographic and socioeconomic estimates and derived
      transportation catchment areas to conduct an analysis of spatial access and
      equity. RESULTS: Significant geographic gaps in formal breastfeeding support
      exist within the state of Ohio. Although urban areas benefit from a higher
      density of support options, including a wide variety of clinical experts and
      mother-to-mother support groups, inequities in exurban and rural areas were more
      strongly aligned with socioeconomic status than geography. In particular, the
      Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children offices
      in rural Ohio offer breastfeeding support to income-qualifying mothers but cannot
      address the needs of mothers who do not qualify. CONCLUSION: Spatial analytical
      approaches facilitate a more nuanced view of access and equity to breastfeeding
      support options, helping to both decompose important structural differences in
      the state of Ohio and identify locations that could benefit from additional
      breastfeeding support resources.

PMID- 28602121
TI  - Frailty and Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Older Persons: The Age,
      Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study.
AB  - Frailty is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but the studies
      available have not considered the presence of subclinical atherosclerotic disease
      as potential confounders. We investigated the association between frailty and the
      onset of CVD independently of subclinical atherosclerotic disease. For this
      reason, a sample of 3818 older participants participating in the Age,
      Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study without CVD at baseline was
      followed for a median of 8.7 years. Frailty was defined as the presence of >=3
      among five Fried's criteria (unintentional weight loss, low physical activity
      level, weakness, exhaustion, and slow gait speed). Incident CVD was defined as
      onset of coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and CVD-related
      mortality identified using hospital, medical, and death records. Subclinical
      atherosclerotic disease was evaluated as the maximum value of carotid intima
      media thickness, presence of carotid plaque (moderate or high), and total
      coronary calcifications (CACs). At baseline, frail participants (n = 300) were
      more frequently obese, diabetic, and had a greater presence of metabolic syndrome
      than the nonfrail (n = 3518). Frail participants also showed a higher presence of
      carotid plaques and CACs. Using a Cox's regression analysis, adjusted for
      clinical, biochemical, and subclinical atherosclerosis estimates, frailty
      increased the risk of CVD (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.35; 95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 1.05-1.74), with results stronger for women than men (HR = 1.51, p = 0.006
      and 1.19, p = 0.44, respectively). Among Fried's criteria, exhaustion was the
      only criterion significantly associated with the onset of new CVD events (HR =
      1.30; 95% CI: 1.00-1.73). In conclusion, frailty was associated with the onset of
      CVD in older people even after adjusting for subclinical atherosclerotic disease.

PMID- 28602122
TI  - Transcriptome-Wide Analyses of Human Neonatal Articular Cartilage and Human
      Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Cartilage Provide a New Molecular Target for
      Evaluating Engineered Cartilage.
AB  - Cellular differentiation comprises a progressive, multistep program that drives
      cells to fabricate a tissue with specific and site distinctive structural and
      functional properties. Cartilage constitutes one of the potential differentiation
      lineages that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can follow under the guidance of
      specific bioactive agents. Single agents such as transforming growth factor beta
      (TGF-beta) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 in unchanging culture conditions have
      been historically used to induce in vitro chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs.
      Despite the expression of traditional chondrogenic biomarkers such as type II
      collagen and aggrecan, the resulting tissue represents a transient cartilage
      rather than an in vivo articular cartilage (AC), differing significantly in
      structure, chemical composition, cellular phenotypes, and mechanical properties.
      Moreover, there have been no comprehensive, multicomponent parameters to define
      high-quality and functional engineered hyaline AC. To address these issues, we
      have taken an innovative approach based on the molecular interrogation of human
      neonatal articular cartilage (hNAC), dissected from the knees of 1-month-old
      cadaveric specimens. Subsequently, we compared hNAC-specific transcriptional
      regulatory elements and differentially expressed genes with adult human bone
      marrow (hBM) MSC-derived three-dimensional cartilage structures formed in vitro.
      Using microarray analysis, the transcriptome of hNAC was found to be globally
      distinct from the transient, cartilage-like tissue formed by hBM-MSCs in vitro.
      Specifically, over 500 genes that are highly expressed in hNAC were not expressed
      at any time point during in vitro human MSC chondrogenesis. The analysis also
      showed that the differences were less variant during the initial stages (first 7
      days) of the in vitro chondrogenic differentiation program. These observations
      suggest that the endochondral fate of hBM-MSC-derived cartilage may be rerouted
      at earlier stages of the TGF-beta-stimulated chondrogenic differentiation
      program. Based on these analyses, several key molecular differences
      (transcription factors and coded cartilage-related proteins) were identified in
      hNAC that will be useful as molecular inductors and identifiers of the in vivo AC
      phenotype. Our findings provide a new gold standard of a molecularly defined AC
      phenotype that will serve as a platform to generate novel approaches for AC
      tissue engineering.

PMID- 28602123
TI  - Paraoxonase-1 and myeloperoxidase correlate with vascular biomarkers in
      overweight patients with newly diagnosed untreated hyperlipidaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In hyperlipidaemic state, increased levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO)
      and decreased paraoxonase-1 (PON1) activity have been reported; however, their
      relationships with other atherosclerotic biomarkers have not been completely
      clarified. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Serum concentrations of lipid and inflammatory
      parameters, MPO levels, and PON1 activities were investigated in 167 untreated
      hyperlipidaemic patients with and without vascular complications and in 32
      healthy controls. Additionally, levels of CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and asymmetric
      dimethyl arginine (ADMA), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1),
      soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and oxidized LDL were determined.
      RESULTS: We found elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), ADMA, sCD40L, sICAM-1
      concentrations, and higher MPO levels in patients with vascular complications
      compared to those without. The PON1 arylesterase activity correlated negatively
      with sCD40L, ADMA, and sICAM-1 levels, respectively. In contrast, MPO
      concentrations showed positive correlations with sCD40L, ADMA, and sICAM-1
      levels, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: It can therefore be stated that PON1 activity
      and MPO level correlate strongly with the vascular biomarkers, highlighting the
      importance of the HDL-associated pro- and antioxidant enzymes in the development
      of endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis.

PMID- 28602124
TI  - Composite Scaffolds of Mineralized Natural Extracellular Matrix on True Bone
      Ceramic Induce Bone Regeneration Through Smad1/5/8 and ERK1/2 Pathways.
AB  - A stem cell-derived mineralized extracellular matrix (ECM) may be a good strategy
      to endow scaffolds with a bone microenvironment, thus inducing bone regeneration.
      However, it also faces some challenges, such as limited number of cells,
      additional wound for autologous cell isolation, and time consumption of cell
      expansion. In this study, we designed a novel tissue-derived ECM scaffold
      fabricated by depositing porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) ECM on true
      bone ceramic (TBC), which was followed by mineralization treatment (mSIS/TBC). In
      vitro, compared with pure TBC, mSIS/TBC promoted cell proliferation, cell
      viability, and osteoblastic differentiation of the newly seeded rat bone marrow
      mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), and upregulation of the messenger RNA (mRNA)
      level of osteogenesis-related genes. Western blot assay revealed that mSIS/TBC
      enhanced osteoblastic differentiation through activation of phosphorylated
      Smad1/5/8 and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), as an
      underlying mechanism. In vivo, in a rat cranial critical size defect model,
      mSIS/TBC scaffolds induced greater bone formation than pure TBC scaffolds.
      Meanwhile, a comparative study on the capacity of bone regeneration was also
      carried out between mSIS/TBC and BMSC-derived ECM deposited on TBC scaffold in
      vivo and in vitro. The results demonstrated that mSIS/TBC scaffolds acquired a
      comparable bone regeneration efficacy to that of BMSC-derived ECM deposited on
      TBC scaffolds. Collectively, our results demonstrated that mSIS/TBC enhanced bone
      regeneration by supporting cell proliferation and cell viability, and by
      activating Smad1/5/8 and ERK1/2 signal pathways of BMSC in vitro and in vivo;
      thus, mSIS/TBC is an excellent alternative to stem cell-derived ECM scaffold for
      bone regeneration.

PMID- 28602125
TI  - Modification of the use of the extensor retinaculum for reducible distal
      radioulnar joint instability: technique and results.
AB  - : Different surgical techniques have been described for chronic distal radioulnar
      joint instability: they are often complicated, quite invasive and may not be
      recommended for bidirectional instability. We describe a procedure using a radial
      based extensor retinaculum strip and a capsular plication. This is a simple
      technique and less invasive than 'anatomic' radioulnar ligament reconstructions.
      We report the results of 38 patients (38 wrists) who we treated. After a minimum
      of 8 months we quantified the outcomes of the patients objectively by assessing
      ranges of motion, grip strength and clinical assessment of stability, and
      subjectively using questionnaires. Overall, 36 out of 38 patients were stable
      after surgery. The operated forearm and wrist had approximately 3 degrees  less
      range of motion in all planes and 3 kgf less grip strength compared with the
      unoperated side. The median Mayo modified wrist score was 90; the median visual
      analogue scale score was 2. This surgical technique appears to successfully treat
      patients with chronic reducible distal radioulnar joint instability. Anatomic
      reconstruction of both radioulnar ligaments is not always necessary. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28602126
TI  - Clinical and Prognostic Significance of Lupus Anticoagulant Measurement in
      Patients With Lung Cancer.
AB  - Lupus anticoagulants is related to both recurrent thrombosis and cancer.
      Thrombotic complications occur more frequently in patients with lung cancer. The
      aim of this study is to investigate the association of lupus anticoagulants with
      hypercoagulability and thrombotic complications, as well as prognostic
      significance of lupus anticoagulants for patients with lung cancer. The study
      comprised 205 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Plasma normalized LAC
      ratio, D-dimer, fibrinogen, activities of antithrombin, and FVIII before
      treatment were analyzed by coagulation analyzer, and routine hematologic and
      biochemical parameters were also evaluated. In patients, normalized LAC ratio, D
      dimer, fibrinogen, and procoagulant activity of coagulating factor VIII levels
      significantly increased, whereas antithrombin activity significantly decreased
      compared with healthy controls ( P < .001). Normalized LAC ratio was positively
      correlated with D-dimer, fibrinogen, and procoagulant activity of coagulating
      factor VIII, and negatively correlated with antithrombin activity, respectively (
      P < .01). D-dimer, procoagulant activity of coagulating factor VIII, and
      antithrombin levels revealed statistical difference in non-deep venous thrombosis
      patients with elevated or normal normalized LA ratio ( P < .05). The incidence of
      deep venous thrombosis and tumor metastasis was higher, and 1-year survival rate
      was lower in elevated normalized LAC ratio patients than in normal ones,
      respectively ( P < .01). There was higher normalized LAC ratio level in patients
      with deep venous thrombosis and/or metastasis ( P < .05). In 1-year deceased
      patients, normalized LAC ratio level and the incidence of deep venous thrombosis
      and metastasis were higher than those in survivors, respectively ( P < .05).
      Hazard regression analysis demonstrated normalized LAC ratio was independently
      associated with short survival time in patients with non-small cell lung cancer
      (hazard regression: 2.871, 95%confidence interval: 1.704-4.835; chi2: 19.130; P <
      .01). Our study suggests that lupus anticoagulants is a useful marker to predict
      thrombotic complications and prognosis in patient with lung cancer.

PMID- 28602127
TI  - Sensitive Detection of Immunoglobulin G Stability Using in Real-Time Isothermal
      Differential Scanning Fluorimetry: Determinants of Protein Stability for Antibody
      Based Therapeutics.
AB  - Protein instability is a major obstacle in the production and delivery of
      monoclonal antibody-based therapies for cancer. This study presents real-time
      isothermal differential scanning fluorimetry as an emerging method to evaluate
      the stability of human immunoglobulin G protein with high sensitivity. The
      stability of polyclonal human immunoglobulin G against urea-induced denaturation
      was assessed following: (1) oxidation by the free-radical generator 2,2-Azobis[2
      amidinopropane]dihydrochloride and (2) in selected storage buffers. Significant
      differences in immunoglobulin G stability were detected by real-time isothermal
      differential scanning fluorimetry when the immunoglobulin G was stored in 1,4
      Piperazinediethanesulfonic acid buffer compared to phosphate-buffered saline,
      with half-maximal rate of denaturation occurring at a higher urea concentration
      in 1,4-Piperazinediethanesulfonic acid than phosphate-buffered saline ( Knd;PIPES
      = 3.56 +/- 0.09 M, Knd;PBS = 2.94 +/- 0.08 M; P < .01), but differential scanning
      fluorimetry did not detect differences in unfolding temperature ( Tm;PIPES = 70.5
      +/- 0.3 degrees C, Tm;PBS = 69.7 +/- 0.2 degrees C). The effects of 2,2-Azobis[2
      amidinopropane]dihydrochloride-induced oxidation on immunoglobulin G stability
      were analyzed by real-time isothermal differential scanning fluorimetry; the
      oxidized protein showed greater sensitivity to urea ( Knd;CNTRL = 3.96 +/- 0.19
      M, Knd;AAPH = 3.49 +/- 0.07 M; P < .05). Similarly, differential scanning
      fluorimetry indicated greater thermal sensitivity of oxidized immunoglobulin G (
      Tm;CNTRL = 70.5 +/- 0.3 degrees C, Tm;AAPH = 62.9 +/- 0.1 degrees C; P < .001).
      However, a third method for assessing protein stability, pulse proteolysis,
      proved to be substantially less sensitive and did not detect significant effects
      of 2,2-Azobis[2-amidinopropane]dihydrochloride on the half-maximal concentration
      of urea needed to denature immunoglobulin G ( Cm;CNTRL= 6.8 +/- 0.1 M; Cm;AAPH =
      6.4 +/- 0.7 M). Overall these results demonstrate the merit of using real-time
      isothermal differential scanning fluorimetry as a rapid and sensitive technique
      for the evaluation of protein stability in solution using a quantitative real
      time thermocycler.

PMID- 28602128
TI  - Effect of Energy Equalization on the Intelligibility of Speech in Fluctuating
      Background Interference for Listeners With Hearing Impairment.
AB  - The masking release (MR; i.e., better speech recognition in fluctuating compared
      with continuous noise backgrounds) that is evident for listeners with normal
      hearing (NH) is generally reduced or absent for listeners with sensorineural
      hearing impairment (HI). In this study, a real-time signal-processing technique
      was developed to improve MR in listeners with HI and offer insight into the
      mechanisms influencing the size of MR. This technique compares short-term and
      long-term estimates of energy, increases the level of short-term segments whose
      energy is below the average energy, and normalizes the overall energy of the
      processed signal to be equivalent to that of the original long-term estimate.
      This signal-processing algorithm was used to create two types of energy-equalized
      (EEQ) signals: EEQ1, which operated on the wideband speech plus noise signal, and
      EEQ4, which operated independently on each of four bands with equal logarithmic
      width. Consonant identification was tested in backgrounds of continuous and
      various types of fluctuating speech-shaped Gaussian noise including those with
      both regularly and irregularly spaced temporal fluctuations. Listeners with HI
      achieved similar scores for EEQ and the original (unprocessed) stimuli in
      continuous-noise backgrounds, while superior performance was obtained for the EEQ
      signals in fluctuating background noises that had regular temporal gaps but not
      for those with irregularly spaced fluctuations. Thus, in noise backgrounds with
      regularly spaced temporal fluctuations, the energy-normalized signals led to
      larger values of MR and higher intelligibility than obtained with unprocessed
      signals.

PMID- 28602131
TI  - So what really is user experience? An experimental study of user needs and
      emotional responses as underlying constructs.
AB  - This driving simulator study extended knowledge on user experience using a
      strategy to mitigate distraction resulting from the use of in-vehicle information
      systems (IVISs). It examined the impact of system restrictions on users' needs,
      emotions and consequences of users' experience in terms of psychological
      reactance. In a repeated measures design, we asked 53 participants to perform
      secondary tasks with an IVIS while driving. Three versions of the system varied
      with respect to the number of operable functionalities. The more functionalities
      that were disabled while driving, the more negatively users rated the systems.
      Multilevel regression analyses of at least n = 155 data points revealed that
      drivers' need fulfilment predicted their emotions. Reactance depended on users'
      need fulfilment and emotions. Experienced autonomy mediated the relation between
      functional limitations and reactance. When developing interactive systems, one
      should focus on needs and be aware of potential unwanted consequences such as
      psychological reactance. Practitioner Summary: This driving simulator study
      highlights the importance of considering need fulfilment and users' emotions when
      developing an interactive system that provides high user experience. System
      restrictions could have negative consequences as users might show psychological
      reactance.

PMID- 28602129
TI  - From the Children's Oncology Group: Evidence-Based Recommendations for PEG
      Asparaginase Nurse Monitoring, Hypersensitivity Reaction Management, and
      Patient/Family Education.
AB  - PEG-aspariginase is a backbone chemotherapy agent in pediatric acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia and in some non-Hodgkin lymphoma therapies. Nurses lack
      standardized guidelines for monitoring patients receiving PEG-asparaginase and
      for educating patients/families about hypersensitivity reaction risks. An
      electronic search of 6 databases using publication years 2000-2015 and multiple
      professional organizations and clinical resources was conducted. Evidence sources
      were reviewed for topic applicability. Each of the final 23 sources was appraised
      by 2 team members. The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development
      and Evaluation) system was used to assign a quality and strength rating for each
      recommendation. Multiple recommendations were developed: 4 relating to nurse
      monitoring of patients during and after drug administration, 8 guiding
      hypersensitivity reaction management, and 4 concerning patient/family educational
      content. These strong recommendations were based on moderate, low, or very-low
      quality evidence. Several recommendations relied on generalized drug
      hypersensitivity guidelines. Additional research is needed to safely guide PEG
      asparaginase monitoring, hypersensitivity reaction management, and patient/family
      education. Nurses administering PEG-asparaginase play a critical role in the
      early identification and management of hypersensitivity reactions.

PMID- 28602130
TI  - A Method for the Activation of Platelet-Rich Plasma via Bead Mill Homogenizer for
      Mesenchymal Stem Cell Culture.
AB  - Activated platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been studied as a replacement for fetal
      bovine serum (FBS) in stem cell culture. However, current methods are time
      consuming or require addition of exogenous substances to activate PRP, which have
      disadvantages in clinical applications. In this study, we developed a new method
      for PRP activation using a bead mill homogenizer and compared it with previous
      methods of PRP activation. PRP was prepared via a two-step centrifugation process
      and activated via calcium (Ca-PRP), freeze-thaw cycles (FT-PRP), or bead mill
      homogenizer processing (BM-PRP). Quantification of growth factors in PRP revealed
      that all forms of activated PRP released higher levels of platelet-derived growth
      factor-AB and transforming growth factor-beta1 than those in platelet-poor
      plasma; however, BM-PRP resulted in significantly higher levels of growth factors
      than those from Ca-PRP and FT-PRP. Next, we analyzed the ability of the various
      forms of PRP to stimulate proliferation, migration, and differentiation of
      umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCB-MSCs). Our results
      showed that BM-PRP significantly increased proliferation and migration rates of
      UCB-MSCs while maintaining the phenotypical properties and stem cell abilities of
      MSCs. Therefore, the developed method could be suitable for PRP activation, and
      the BM-activated PRP could be an adequate replacement for FBS in stem cell
      culture.

PMID- 28602132
TI  - Treatment of congenital clasped thumb in arthrogryposis.
AB  - : We report the result of treatment of 69 complex clasped thumbs in 39 patients
      with distal arthrogryposis. The mean age at surgery was 30 months. Surgical
      reconstruction included skin augmentation of the first web using modified dorsal
      rotation advancement flap (Abdel-Ghani flap), a la Carte release of tight
      structures of the first web, and chondrodesis of the thumb metacarpophalangeal
      joint. The mean follow-up was 4 years. We prefer chondrodesis because of the
      presence of global instability, abnormal joint structure, abnormal articular
      surfaces, and inefficient muscles for transfer. Also, chondrodesis shortens the
      thumb and may alleviate the need for release of deficient palmar skin and
      lengthening of a short flexor pollicis longus. The Abdel-Ghani flap provides
      ample skin that gives a wide rounded web. It is a simple procedure with minimal
      donor site morbidity. Surgical reconstruction significantly improved the cosmetic
      appearance and function of the thumb. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28602133
TI  - Nutritional and environmental factors in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
      (ADHD): A cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been related to
      nutrient deficiencies and 'unhealthy' diets, and to date there is only one study
      that examined the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and ADHD. The aim
      was to determine the association between those environmental, nutritional, and
      body composition factors that may affect the pathogenesis and symptomatology of
      patients with ADHD in Spain. METHODS: A total of 89 children and adolescents (41
      with diagnosed ADHD and 48 controls) were studied in an observation case-control
      study. Anthropometry, nutritional status, adherence to a Mediterranean diet,
      sedentary behaviour, and sleep were measured. RESULTS: Lower adherence to a
      Mediterranean diet was associated with ADHD diagnosis. Individuals with ADHD more
      often missed having a second serving of vegetables daily and showed reduced
      intakes of fish, pulses, and pasta or rice almost every day when compared with
      controls. Statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) were found for fish,
      cereal, no breakfast and commercially baked goods consumption. There were also
      statistically significant differences between ADHD individuals and controls when
      analysing sedentary behaviours and BMI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Low adherence to a
      Mediterranean diet might play a role in ADHD development. Not only specific
      nutrients but also the whole diet should be considered in ADHD. No clear
      association was found for anthropometry and sedentary behaviours.

PMID- 28602134
TI  - The effects of early auditory-based intervention on adult bilateral cochlear
      implant outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this exploratory study was to determine the types of
      improvement that sequentially implanted auditory-verbal and auditory-oral adults
      with prelingual and childhood hearing loss received in bilateral listening
      conditions, compared to their best unilateral listening condition. METHODS: Five
      auditory-verbal adults and five auditory-oral adults were recruited for this
      study. Participants were seated in the center of a 6-loudspeaker array. BKB-SIN
      sentences were presented from 0 degrees  azimuth, while multi-talker babble was
      presented from various loudspeakers. BKB-SIN scores in bilateral and the best
      unilateral listening conditions were compared to determine the amount of
      improvement gained. RESULTS: As a group, the participants had improved speech
      understanding scores in the bilateral listening condition. Although not
      statistically significant, the auditory-verbal group tended to have greater
      speech understanding with greater levels of competing background noise, compared
      to the auditory-oral participants. DISCUSSION: Bilateral cochlear implantation
      provides individuals with prelingual and childhood hearing loss with improved
      speech understanding in noise. A higher emphasis on auditory development during
      the critical language development years may add to increased speech understanding
      in adulthood. However, other demographic factors such as age or device
      characteristics must also be considered. CONCLUSION: Although both auditory
      verbal and auditory-oral approaches emphasize spoken language development, they
      emphasize auditory development to different degrees. This may affect cochlear
      implant (CI) outcomes. Further consideration should be made in future auditory
      research to determine whether these differences contribute to performance
      outcomes. Additional investigation with a larger participant pool, controlled for
      effects of age and CI devices and processing strategies, would be necessary to
      determine whether language learning approaches are associated with different
      levels of speech understanding performance.

PMID- 28602135
TI  - Development of an Effective Cell Seeding Technique: Simulation, Implementation,
      and Analysis of Contributing Factors.
AB  - Cell seeding in a biomaterial is an important process for tissue engineering
      applications. It helps to modulate tissue formation or to control initial
      conditions for mechanobiological studies. The compression release-induced suction
      (CRIS) seeding technique leads to active infiltration of the cell suspension
      toward the central region of the scaffold. Its effectiveness, however, may
      significantly vary depending on several controlling factors such as the rate of
      loading and unloading or scaffold architecture. We utilized a 2D axisymmetric
      finite element model to numerically evaluate the influence of a seeding loading
      regime on suction pressure and infiltration velocity of the cell suspension. The
      in vitro application of optimized CRIS seeding obtained from simulation showed
      significant effectiveness over a static seeding method. As simulation results
      predicted, the permeability of the scaffold directly influenced CRIS seeding
      effectiveness in vitro. By supplementing an optimized CRIS loading regime with
      slow rotation after seeding treatment, cell distribution through thickness was
      improved especially for scaffolds showing low permeability. Finally, we
      systematically analyzed the relative importance of permeability, thickness, or
      coating on cell seeding efficiency and uniformity using a full factorial design
      of experiments. We observed that permeability has a higher impact on the CRIS
      seeding than scaffold coating and thickness.

PMID- 28602136
TI  - In situ forming hydrogels with long-lasting miR-21 enhances the therapeutic
      potential of MSC by sustaining stimulation of target gene.
AB  - Regulating stem cells by microRNA (miRNA) is promising in regenerative medicine.
      However, non-viral transfection is usually transient while stably lentiviral
      transfection is accompanied with oncogenic risk. In the study, we explored the
      feasibility to retain the microRNAs within biopolymer hydrogels for their long
      lasting working and sustaining stimulation of target gene. miRNA-21 (MiR-21), a
      reported microRNA enhancing the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells
      (MSCs) was used. We demonstrated that miR-21 could be efficiently retained within
      collagen hydrogel after forming complex with cationic polymer polyethylenimine
      (PEI). Due to the electronic interaction with positively charged PEI, the release
      of miR-21 was largely prevented during 2 week incubation (<20%), while free miR
      21 encapsulated in hydrogels was largely released (>50%). When MSCs were
      cultivated in the PEI/miR-21-incorporated hydrogels, the sustained activation of
      targeted gene HIF-1alpha was observed, resulting in the sustaining up-regulation
      of several downstream therapeutic cytokines. Then, the hydrogels encapsulating
      miR-21/PEI were coated onto tissue plate for MSC cultivation, which further
      confirmed the long-lasting retention and efficacy of miR-21 on the plate surface.
      In addition, under H2O2-simulated stress condition, we also demonstrated that the
      anti-apoptotic capacity of MSCs was significantly improved when growing on miR-21
      retained hydrogels. Our study provided a safe and promising method for long
      lasting stem cell regulation with miRNAs.

PMID- 28602137
TI  - Immediate and short-term effects of phototherapy on pain, muscle activity, and
      joint mobility in women with temporomandibular disorder: a randomized, double
      blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the immediate and short
      term effects of phototherapy on pain intensity, the pressure pain threshold
      (PPT), maximum vertical mandibular movement, and the electrical activity of the
      masseter and temporal muscles in women with temporomandibular disorder (TMD).
      METHODS: Sixty women were randomly allocated to four different groups and
      submitted to phototherapy with a combination of super-pulsed laser (905 nm), red
      (640 nm), and infrared (875 nm) light emitting diodes in the same equipment on
      the masseter (three points) and temporal (two points) muscles bilaterally in a
      single session. The following doses were used in each point of application: Group
      1 - 2.62 J; Group 2 - 5.24 J; Group 3 - 7.86 J; placebo group. Pain intensity was
      determined using the visual analog scale. The PPT was analyzed using a digital
      algometer. Vertical mandibular movement was measured using digital calipers.
      Myoelectrical activity of the masseter and temporal muscles was measured using
      electromyography. Four evaluations were performed: pre-intervention, immediately
      after, 24 and 48 hours after phototherapy. OUTCOMES: A significant reduction in
      pain intensity during the post-treatment evaluations in comparison to the
      pretreatment evaluation was observed in group 1 (Median difference = 2.60 [95% CI
      = 1.35-3.85]) and group 2 (Median difference = 2.2 [95% CI = 0.98-3.42])
      especially after 48 hours and group 3 (Median difference = 2.50 [95% CI: 0.56
      4.46]) especially after 24 hours, with a moderate effect size, but no effect was
      found regarding the other variables. CONCLUSIONS: A single session of combined
      phototherapy was capable of reducing pain intensity in individuals patients with
      TMD. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02018770). Implications for Rehabilitation
      Phototherapy device combining two light sources (LED and laser), and different
      densities in the same device is a novelty in the rehabilitation market, and has
      proved to be a useful intervention for people with temporomandibular disorders.
      This mode of phototherapy is another option that assists in the rapid
      intervention in pain symptoms, promoting a considerable degree of comfort to the
      patient moments after its application.

PMID- 28602138
TI  - Validation of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System
      Computerized Adaptive Tests Against the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score for 6 Common
      Foot and Ankle Pathologies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The field of foot and ankle surgery lacks a widely accepted gold
      standard patient-reported outcome instrument. With the changing infrastructure of
      the medical profession, more efficient patient-reported outcome tools are needed
      to reduce respondent burden and increase participation while providing consistent
      and reliable measurement across multiple pathologies and disciplines. The primary
      purpose of the present study was to validate 3 Patient-Reported Outcomes
      Measurement Information System computer adaptive tests (CATs) most relevant to
      the foot and ankle discipline against the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) and
      the Short Form 12 general health status survey in patients with 6 common foot and
      ankle pathologies. METHODS: Patients (n = 240) indicated for operative treatment
      for 1 of 6 common foot and ankle pathologies completed the CATs, FAOS, and Short
      Form 12 at their preoperative surgical visits, 1 week subsequently (before
      surgery), and at 6 months postoperatively. The psychometric properties of the
      instruments were assessed and compared. RESULTS: The Patient-Reported Outcomes
      Measurement Information System CATs each took less than 1 minute to complete,
      whereas the FAOS took 6.5 minutes, and the Short Form 12 took 3 minutes. CAT
      scores were more normally distributed and had fewer floor and ceiling effects
      than those on the FAOS, which reached as high as 24%. The CATs were more precise
      than the FAOS and had similar responsiveness and test-retest reliability. The
      physical function and mobility CATs correlated strongly with the activities
      subscale of the FAOS, and the pain interference CAT correlated strongly with the
      pain subscale of the FAOS. The CATs and FAOS were responsive to changes with
      operative treatment for 6 common foot and ankle pathologies. CONCLUSIONS: The
      CATs performed as well as or better than the FAOS in all aspects of psychometric
      validity. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System CATs show
      tremendous potential for improving the study of patient outcomes in foot and
      ankle research through improved precision and reduced respondent burden. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level II, prospective comparative study.

PMID- 28602139
TI  - A new diaryl 1, 2-diketone from the heartwood of Dalbergia latifolia.
AB  - A new diaryl 1,2-diketone, named 1-(2,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-phenylethane
      1,2-dione (1), along with eight known compounds (2-9), were isolated from the
      heartwood of Dalbergia latifolia. They were identified on the basis of spectral
      data. Compounds 1-7 were obtained from the Dalbergia genus for the first time.
      Compounds 8 and 9 were firstly isolated from the plant. Compound 1 exhibited
      inactive against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Escherichia coli ATCC 21530
      with the minimum inhibitory concentrations of 10.0 and 10.0 mg/mL, respectively.

PMID- 28602140
TI  - Enterovaginal Fistula After Tofacitinib Administration.

PMID- 28602141
TI  - Cardiac Hematological Malignancies: Typical Growth Patterns, Imaging Features,
      and Clinical Outcome.
AB  - Cardiac hematological malignancies (CHMs) are rare entities and comprise
      lymphoma, leukemic infiltration, and extramedullary manifestation of multiple
      myeloma. The aim of this work is to summarize typical growth patterns, imaging
      features, and outcome parameters of CHM. Overall, 12 cases from 4 centers were
      reviewed retrospectively together with 604 cases from the literature. Cardiac
      hematological malignancies were mainly represented by B-cell lymphoma (70.0%).
      Other entities were rarer. Almost half of the patients showed involvement of
      multiple cardiac structures. Most commonly right atrium, right ventricle,
      pericardium, left atrium, and left ventricle were affected in decreased order of
      frequency. Cardiac hematological malignancies manifested with 3 growth patterns:
      intracaval masses, heart wall infiltration, and pericardial effusion. Several
      subtypes of CHM tended to present with different patterns. Clinical presentation
      is unspecific-frequent signs were dyspnea (54.6%), arrhythmias (30.5%), and
      thoracic pain (18.5%). Outcome of CHM is poor with mean survival of 283.6 days
      for leukemias, 260.1 days for T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), 217.9 days for B
      cell NHL, and 155.5 days for multiple myeloma.

PMID- 28602142
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention via Transradial Versus
      Transfemoral Approach in Bypass Grafts.
AB  - We compared the efficacy and safety of the transradial approach percutaneous
      coronary intervention (TRA-PCI) and transfemoral approach percutaneous coronary
      intervention (TFA-PCI) for bypass grafts lesions. Patients (n = 184) were
      retrospectively enrolled. Less contrast was used during the procedure in the TRA
      group than in the TFA group, 201.5 (45.5) mL versus 221.5 (49.1) mL, P = .004,
      although fluoroscopy time was longer in the TRA group, 22.5 (6.3) minutes versus
      20.3 (6.1) minutes; P = .017. The incidence of net adverse clinical events
      (NACEs) was lower in the TRA group than in the TFA group (3.1% vs 8.8%,
      respectively, P = .111). The incidence of Bleeding Academic Research Consortium
      type 3 and 5 bleeding (0% vs 5.5%, respectively, P = .022) was significantly
      lower in the TRA group than in the TFA group. For 1-year outcomes, there was no
      difference in the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (7.5% vs 9.9%,
      respectively, P = .569). In conclusion, TRA-PCI was associated with a lower rate
      of in-hospital NACEs mainly attributed to lower rates of major bleeding. The TRA
      PCI showed comparable feasibility and efficacy in bypass grafts as compared with
      TFA-PCI when carried out by experienced operators.

PMID- 28602143
TI  - Mutation in the beta3 subunit of Guanine nucleotide-binding protein (GNB3) gene
      is not associated with Type II diabetes mellitus risk: a case-control study of a
      North Indian population.
AB  - CONTEXT: Genetics play a major role in development and pathophysiology of Type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM). OBJECTIVE: To asses the association of Guanine
      nucleotide-binding protein (GNB3) (C825T) gene's polymorphism with T2DM.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case-control study including 400 North Indians was
      performed using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length
      Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) approach to analyze genetic polymorphism. RESULTS: No
      significant difference was observed in genotype and allele frequencies of GNB3
      gene on comparing cases with controls. DISCUSSION: Our study is in agreement with
      studies on Polish, Japanese, Hispanic-American and Danish populations who
      observed no significant association between GNB3 (C825T) polymorphism and T2DM.
      CONCLUSION: GNB3 (C825T) polymorphism is not associated with T2DM.

PMID- 28602144
TI  - Antipsychotic treatment: experiences of fully recovered service users.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is lack of long-term controlled studies evaluating treatment
      effects of antipsychotic medication. A complete investigation should include the
      service user perspective. AIMS: To investigate experiences of clinically
      recovered service users of antipsychotic medications during and after a first
      episode of psychosis. METHOD: We used a thematic analytic approach within an
      interpretative-phenomenological framework. 20 clinically recovered service users
      were interviewed. RESULTS: Themes: (1) Antipsychotic drugs reduce mental chaos
      during the acute phase, (2) Non-stigmatizing environments were perceived to
      increase chances of successful use, (3) Antipsychotic drugs beyond the acute
      phase - considered to compromise the contribution of individual effort in
      recovery, (4) Prolonged use - perceived to reduce likelihood of functional
      recovery, (5) Antipsychotic medication was considered as a supplement to trustful
      relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Acute phase antipsychotic treatment was mostly
      perceived as advantageous by this sample, who was in clinical recovery. However,
      costs were often seen as outweighing benefits beyond the acute stage. Findings
      clearly emphasize the need for a collaborative approach to be integrated across
      all phases of care. This study underscores the need to investigate sub-group
      differences with regard to long-term antipsychotic treatment.

PMID- 28602145
TI  - Neural correlate of Internet use in patients undergoing psychological treatment
      for Internet addiction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The new version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders (DSM-5th) proposed the Internet Gaming Disorder for the diagnosis of
      Internet addiction (IA) considering the neurobiological evidence of the craving.
      AIMS: The aim was to test the neural correlate in response to the Internet cue in
      patients with IA. METHODS: Sixteen males with IA diagnosis (clinical group) and
      14 healthy male (control group) were recruited for an experimental visual task
      composed of Internet images and emotional images. During the visual presentation
      of Internet cue, electroencefalographic data were recorded using Net Station
      4.5.1 with a 256-channels HydroCel Geodesic Sensor Net. Event-related potential
      (ERP) components and low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLoreta) were
      analysed. RESULTS: sLoreta analyses showed that patients from the clinical group
      presented a higher primary somatosensorial cortex and lower paralimbic, temporal
      and orbito-frontal activation in response to both Internet and emotional images
      compared to those of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that
      clinically recognized pathological use of Internet could be linked to
      dissociative symptoms.

PMID- 28602146
TI  - Impact of purchasing the CPAP device on acceptance and long-term adherence: a
      Belgian model.
AB  - RATIONALE: In Belgium, patients with moderate to severe OSA (AHI > 20) who show
      less than 30 micro-arousals per hour slept (MAI) cannot benefit from CPAP refund
      by the social security (SS). OBJECTIVES: To assess the influence of reimbursement
      on CPAP acceptance, and long-term adherence. METHODS: OSA patients (AHI > 20)
      were included regardless of MAI. All patients were offered a CPAP trial of 3-5
      days for habituation. Two groups were defined and compared: "Out of pocket money"
      patients (OOP) with MAI < 30 that were invited to purchase their device and
      "reimbursed group" that were offered a CPAP reimbursed by the social security.
      RESULTS: 812 patients were found: 59 in the OOP group, mostly females, sleepier
      and using more hypnotics. Out of the reimbursed group, 183 patients were matched
      to the OOP patients on the grounds of age, AHI and BMI. 90% of OOP and 94% of
      reimbursed patients (p 0.379) accepted a CPAP trial; 74% of OOP and 90% of
      reimbursed patients acquired a CPAP device (p 0.005) thereafter, whereas 82% and,
      respectively, 84% of those (p 0.254) were still on CPAP after a mean follow-up of
      711 and 604 days with a mean +/- SD daily compliance of 5.3 +/- 3 and 6.1 +/- 2
      h, respectively (p 0.159). Only fatigue scale seems to influence the purchase of
      CPAP by OOP patients. CONCLUSION: CPAP reimbursement influences the purchase of
      CPAP but once the device becomes available there is no difference with reimbursed
      patients in long-term adherence.

PMID- 28602147
TI  - Compliance With WHO/UNICEF BFHI Standards in Croatia After Implementation of the
      BFHI.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primary goal of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is
      to create conditions in maternity facilities that enable women to initiate and
      sustain the practice of breastfeeding exclusively. Research aim: This study aimed
      to determine hospital practices and breastfeeding rates before and after BFHI
      implementation and assess compliance with UNICEF/World Health Organization (WHO)
      standards for seven of the BFHI's Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding ( Ten
      Steps). METHODS: Mothers of healthy, term infants ( N = 1,115) were recruited
      from the postnatal ward of the University Hospital of Split, Croatia, between
      February 2008 and July 2011 and followed for 12 months in a repeated-measures,
      prospective, longitudinal, three-group, nonequivalent, cohort study.
      Breastfeeding rates, hospital practices-including seven of the Ten Steps-and
      maternal sociodemographic data were collected. RESULTS: Parts of all seven Ten
      Steps that were assessed improved significantly post-BFHI. Step 3 ("antenatal
      education") showed the least improvement, whereas Step 7 ("rooming-in"; 2.6% pre
      BFHI vs. 98.5% post-BFHI) and Step 9 ("no pacifiers/teats"; 21.8% pre-BFHI vs.
      99.4% post-BFHI) showed the greatest improvement. Six months after Baby-Friendly
      designation, only Steps 7 and 9 were in full compliance with UNICEF/WHO
      standards. In-hospital, exclusive-breastfeeding rates rose markedly ( p < .001),
      but no change occurred in breastfeeding rates at 3, 6, or 12 months. CONCLUSION:
      Full implementation of the BFHI was associated with significant improvement in
      hospital practices and in-hospital, exclusive-breastfeeding rates, but it did not
      affect breastfeeding rates postdischarge, emphasizing the vital role of community
      support. Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative standards declined rapidly post
      hospital designation, indicating the need for regular monitoring and reassessment
      as well as ongoing, effective training for hospital staff.

PMID- 28602149
TI  - About Research: Is It Effect or Affect? Why Does It Matter?

PMID- 28602148
TI  - Emotion differentiation and its relation with emotional well-being in
      adolescents.
AB  - Emotion differentiation (ED) refers to the precision with which people can
      identify and distinguish their emotions and has been associated with well-being
      in adults. This study investigated ED and its relation with emotional well-being
      (i.e. depressive symptoms, positivity and negativity intensity and propensity,
      implicit theories of emotions) in adolescents. We used an experience sampling
      method with 72 participants (Mage = 14.00, 71% girls) to assess adolescents'
      positive and negative emotions at different time points over the course of two
      weekends and a baseline questionnaire to assess emotional well-being.
      Differentiating negative emotions was related to less negativity intensity and
      propensity, and to the belief that emotions are malleable. Differentiating
      positive emotions was not related to any of the assessed well-being variables.
      Together, these results suggest that a detailed awareness of one's negative
      emotional states is an important dimension of well-being, also in adolescence.

PMID- 28602150
TI  - Translabyrinthine vestibular schwannoma resection with simultaneous cochlear
      implantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: (1) Report a rare case of translabyrinthine resection of a sporadic
      vestibular schwannoma (VS) and concurrent cochlear implantation (CI). (2) Discuss
      pre-, intra-, and post-operative considerations in this unique patient
      population. (3) Describe surgical and audiologic outcomes reported in this
      population. METHODS: Case report and review of the literature. PubMed search
      'Cochlear Implantation'[Mesh] AND ('Neuroma, Acoustic'[Mesh] OR 'VESTIBULAR
      SCHWANNOMA'[All Fields] OR 'SCHWANNOMA'[All Fields]) limited to humans and
      English language. Returned 64 search results, abstracts and references of
      relevant papers reviewed. RESULTS: A 75-year-old male with longstanding history
      of slowly progressive severe hearing loss and tinnitus presented for evaluation
      of worsening imbalance, vertigo, and nausea. Workup revealed a 7 mm right
      intracanalicular mass on MRI concerning for vestibular schwannoma. Audiogram
      showed bilateral, symmetric, severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss, with
      poor open-set speech comprehension while bilaterally aided. He underwent
      successful concurrent right translabyrinthine resection of his VS with complete
      preservation of the cochlear nerve and uncomplicated cochlear implantation.
      DISCUSSION: Literature review revealed few previous reports of simultaneous VS
      and CI. The vast majority of these were in patients with neurofibromatosis Type 2
      in whom auditory outcomes were poor. This patient represents one of the few cases
      of concurrent translabyrinthine tumor removal and CI for a spontaneous VS.
      CONCLUSION: Single-stage cochlear implantation and translabyrinthine tumor
      resection is a feasible and safe option to consider for auditory rehabilitation
      in rare situations.

PMID- 28602151
TI  - Assessment of Human Acellular Dermis Graft in Porcine Models for Ventral Hernia
      Repair.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Preclinical evaluation of hernia meshes is commonly performed in
      porcine models. We recently developed two surgically induced porcine hernia
      models-an incisional and an excisional model-that formed persistent hernias in
      the absence of graft repair. Herein, we investigate if these models will continue
      to form a hernia after graft repair. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten pigs were used to
      create two hernia models-a 10-cm partial-thickness incisional defect (n = 5) and
      an 8 * 8-cm full-thickness excisional defect (n = 5). The defects were repaired
      using a 12 * 12-cm human acellular dermis graft placed in a
      preperitoneal/retrorectus sublay position and fixed using transfascial sutures.
      Postoperative management included the use of suction drainage for 1 week and an
      abdominal binder for 4 weeks in the more severe excisional model. Hernia
      development was assessed clinically, and hernia defect size and volume were
      measured using postoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging over 12 weeks.
      Radiographic inflation testing (2 L inflation), biaxial mechanical testing, and
      histological evaluation were also performed at 12 weeks. RESULTS: All pigs with
      the excisional model, but none with the incisional model, developed a clinically
      relevant hernia. At the end of 12 weeks, the excisional model had a significantly
      greater hernia defect size (259 +/- 51 cm2 vs. 47 +/- 16 cm2) and repair volume
      (865 +/- 414 cm3 vs. 85 +/- 52 cm3) compared with the incisional model. The
      excisional model also showed an order of magnitude greater increase in repair
      volume (280 cm3 vs. 47 cm3) compared with the incisional model upon 2 L
      inflation. Furthermore, the excisional model showed a trend of having higher
      dilatational strain at average biaxial load of 250 N and lower stiffness compared
      with the incisional model. The excisional model had a thin, hypercellular hernia
      sac spanning the defect, whereas the incisional model had a thick densely
      fibrotic scar bridging the defect. CONCLUSION: The 8 * 8-cm excisional defect
      model, together with appropriate postoperative wound management, in the pig model
      is recommended for preclinical investigation of different grafts for hernia
      repair. Novel CT imaging and biomechanical testing methods are recommended to
      measure functional outcomes of hernia repair in preclinical models.

PMID- 28602152
TI  - Physical Activity and Cognitive Function of Long-Distance Walkers: Studying Four
      Days Marches Participants.
AB  - Studies show physical activity to be beneficial for cognitive function. However,
      studies usually included individuals who were not particularly inclined to
      exercise. Following research among master athletes, we examined associations
      between physical activity and cognitive function in participants of the
      International Nijmegen Four Days Marches. These individuals are also inclined to
      exercise. On 4 consecutive days >40,000 participants walk a daily distance of 30
      50 km (120-200 km or 75-125 miles in total). Four Days Marches participants and
      less active or inactive control participants from the Nijmegen Exercise Study
      were examined. Self-reported current and lifelong physical activities were
      quantified in Metabolic Equivalent of Task minutes/day, and training walking
      speed was estimated in km/h. Cognitive functioning in the domains of working
      memory, executive function, and visuospatial short-term memory was assessed using
      the validated Brain Aging Monitor. Data from 521 participants (mean age 54.7,
      standard deviation 12.9) showed neither positive associations between lifelong
      physical activity and working memory, executive function, and visuospatial short
      term memory nor positive associations between current physical activity and
      cognitive functioning in these domains (p-values >0.05). However, a positive
      association between training walking speed and working memory was revealed (age
      adjusted beta = 0.18, p-value <0.01). Walking speed as a surrogate marker of
      fitness, but not lifelong and current physical activity levels was associated
      with cognitive function. Therefore, walking speed deserves more attention in
      research aimed at unraveling associations between physical activity and cognitive
      function.

PMID- 28602154
TI  - Tissue necrosis under a Nance palatal arch: a case report.
AB  - A Nance palatal arch is a method of reinforcing anchorage to help prevent mesial
      movement of maxillary first permanent molars. It is recognised that it is
      difficult to maintain oral hygiene around the appliance and that iatrogenic
      damage can occur. We present a case of a 22-year-old male patient in whom the
      palatal mucosa became necrotic, palatal bone became exposed and long-term
      periodontal damage occurred. We describe the case, his treatment and the
      resolution of the inflammation as well as exploring the causes for the damage and
      alternate treatment options.

PMID- 28602153
TI  - Frailty as a predictor of mortality in the elderly emergency general surgery
      patient.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of surgical procedures performed in elderly and frail
      patients has greatly increased in the last decades. However, there is little
      research in the elderly emergency general surgery patient. The aim of this study
      was to assess the prevalence of frailty in the emergency general surgery
      population in Belgium. Secondly, we examined the length of hospital stay,
      readmission rate and mortality at 30 and 90 days. METHODS: We conducted a
      prospective observational study at Ghent University Hospital. All patients older
      than 65 admitted to a general surgery ward from the emergency department were
      eligible for inclusion. Primary endpoint was mortality at 30 days. Secondary
      outcomes were mortality at 90 days, readmissions and length of stay. Cross
      sectional observations were performed using the Fisher exact test, Mann-Whitney U
      test, or one-way ANOVA. We performed a COX multivariable analysis to identify
      independent variables associated with mortality at 30 and 90 days as well as the
      readmission risk. RESULTS: Data were collected from 98 patients in a four-month
      period. 23.5% of patients were deemed frail. 79% of all patients underwent
      abdominal surgery. Univariate analyses showed that polypharmacy, multimorbidity,
      a history of falls, hearing impairment and urinary incontinence were
      statistically significantly different between the non-frail and the group. Frail
      patients showed a higher incidence for mortality within 30 days (9% versus 1.3%
      (p = .053)). There were no differences between the two groups for mortality at 90
      days, readmission, length of stay and operation. Frailty was a predictor for
      mortality at 90 days (p= .025) (hazard ratio (HR) 10.83 (95%CI 1.34-87.4)).
      Operation (p= .084) (HR 0.16 (95%CI 0.16-1.29)) and the presence of chronic
      cardiac failure (p= .049) (HR 0.38 (95%CI 0.14-0.99)) were protective for
      mortality at 90 days. CONCLUSION: Frailty is a significant predictor for
      mortality for elderly patients undergoing emergency abdominal/general surgery.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II therapeutic study.

PMID- 28602155
TI  - Should One Study Change Practice?

PMID- 28602156
TI  - Fractured Superior Mesenteric Artery Stent With Stent Displacement Leading to
      Recurrent Symptoms of Superior Mesenteric Ischemia.
AB  - We report a case of a patient with recurrent symptoms of superior mesenteric
      ischemia 7 months after successful percutaneous angioplasty and implantation of a
      stent in the superior mesenteric artery (SMA). Stent fracture and stent
      displacement were observed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      report of SMA stent fracture with stent displacement.

PMID- 28602157
TI  - Thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma - a rare and aggressive tumor: a case
      report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuroendocrine tumors are a large group of tumors with a wide
      spectrum of behavior, affecting mainly the digestive system and the lung. The
      thymus is very rarely affected. CASE PRESENTATION: A 28-year-old Arab woman
      presented with chronic chest pain and dyspnea. A computed tomography scan showed
      a huge anterior mediastinal mass invading neighboring structures. A
      mediastinotomy was performed with biopsies of the mass. Pathological findings
      were consistent with a thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS:
      The occurrence of a large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma in the thymus, especially
      in young people, is extremely rare. In this current report, we discuss the
      clinicopathological issues of this rare tumor according to recent literature
      data.

PMID- 28602158
TI  - Effect of perioperative goal-directed hemodynamic therapy on postoperative
      recovery following major abdominal surgery-a systematic review and meta-analysis
      of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Goal-directed hemodynamic therapy (GDHT) has been used in the
      clinical setting for years. However, the evidence for the beneficial effect of
      GDHT on postoperative recovery remains inconsistent. The aim of this systematic
      review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of perioperative GDHT in
      comparison with conventional fluid therapy on postoperative recovery in adults
      undergoing major abdominal surgery. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
      in which researchers evaluated the effect of perioperative use of GDHT on
      postoperative recovery in comparison with conventional fluid therapy following
      abdominal surgery in adults (i.e., >16 years) were considered. The effect sizes
      with 95% CIs were calculated. RESULTS: Forty-five eligible RCTs were included.
      Perioperative GDHT was associated with a significant reduction in short-term
      mortality (risk ratio [RR] 0.75, 95% CI 0.61-0.91, p = 0.004, I 2 = 0), long-term
      mortality (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.64-0.99, p = 0.04, I 2 = 4%), and overall
      complication rates (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.68-0.85, p < 0.0001, I 2 = 38%). GDHT also
      facilitated gastrointestinal function recovery, as demonstrated by shortening the
      time to first flatus by 0.4 days (95% CI -0.72 to -0.08, p = 0.01, I 2 = 74%) and
      the time to toleration of oral diet by 0.74 days (95% CI -1.44 to -0.03, p <
      0.0001, I 2 = 92%). CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review of available evidence
      suggests that the use of perioperative GDHT may facilitate recovery in patients
      undergoing major abdominal surgery.

PMID- 28602159
TI  - Micro-drinking behaviours and consumption of wine in different wine glass sizes:
      a laboratory study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tableware size may influence how much food and non-alcoholic drink is
      consumed. Preliminary evidence of the impact of glass size on purchasing of
      alcoholic drinks shows an increase in wine sales of almost 10% when the same
      portion of wine is served in a larger glass. The primary aim of the current study
      is to test if micro-drinking behaviours act as a mechanism that could underlie
      this effect, through an increase in drinking rate, sip duration and/or number of
      sips from a larger glass. METHODS: In a between-subjects experimental design, 166
      young women were randomised to drink a 175 ml portion of wine from either a
      smaller (250 ml) or larger (370 ml) wine glass. Primary outcomes were three micro
      drinking behaviours, assessed observationally using video recordings: drinking
      rate, sip number and sip duration. Other possible mechanisms examined were
      satisfaction with the perceived amount of wine served and pleasure of the
      drinking experience, assessed using self-report measures. RESULTS: Wine drunk
      from the larger, compared with the smaller glass, was consumed more slowly and
      with shorter sip duration, counter to the hypothesised direction of effect. No
      differences were observed in any of the other outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings provide no support for the hypothesised mechanisms by which
      serving wine in larger wine glasses increases consumption. While micro-drinking
      behaviours may still prove to be a mechanism explaining consumption from
      different glass sizes, cross-validation of these results in a more naturalistic
      setting is needed.

PMID- 28602160
TI  - Kahweol inhibits lipid accumulation and induces Glucose-uptake through activation
      of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
AB  - Weight loss >= 5 percent is sufficient to significantly reduce health risks for
      obese people; therefore, development of novel weight loss compounds with reduced
      toxicity is urgently required. After screening of natural compounds with
      antiadipogenesis properties in 3T3-L1 cells, we determined that kahweol, a coffee
      specific diterpene, inhibited adipogenesis. Kahweol reduced lipid accumulation
      and expression levels of adipogenesis and lipid accumulation-related factors.
      Levels of phosphorylated AKT and phosphorylated JAK2, that induce lipid
      accumulation, decreased in kahweol-treated cells. Particularly, kahweol treatment
      significantly increased AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation. We
      revealed that depletion of AMPK alleviated reduction in lipid accumulation from
      kahweol treatment, suggesting that inhibition of lipid accumulation by kahweol is
      dependent on AMPK activation. We detected more rapid reduction in blood glucose
      levels in mice administrated kahweol than in control mice. We suggest that
      kahweol has anti-obesity effects and should be studied further for possible
      therapeutic applications. [BMB Reports 2017; 50(11): 566-571].

PMID- 28602161
TI  - Cytoprotective effect exerted by geraniin in HepG2 cells is through microRNA
      mediated regulation of BACH-1 and HO-1.
AB  - Geraniin, a hydrolysable tannin, used in traditional medicine in Southeast Asia,
      is known to exhibit various biological activities. As an antioxidant it is known
      to up-regulate phase II enzyme Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). However its mechanism is
      not clearly understood. Nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2 related factor 2 (Nrf
      2) is transcriptionally up-regulated by Extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      (ERK) 1/2 and retained in nucleus due to inactivated Glycogen synthase kinase 3
      beta (GSK-3beta). Geraniin additionally down-regulates expression of microRNA 217
      and 377 (miR-217 and miR-377) which target HO-1 mRNA. Expression of BTB and CNC
      homolog 1 (BACH-1), another regulator of HO-1, is also down-regulated by up
      regulating microRNA 98 (miR-98), a negative regulator of BACH-1. Thus, geraniin
      up-regulates HO-1 expression both through activating its positive regulator Nrf-2
      and by down-regulating its negative regulator BACH-1. Up-regulation of HO-1 also
      confers protection to HepG2 cells from tertiary butyl hydroperoxide (TBH) induced
      cytotoxicity. [BMB Reports 2017; 50(11): 560-565].

PMID- 28602162
TI  - Endothelial miR-26a regulates VEGF-Nogo-B receptor-mediated angiogenesis.
AB  - The Nogo-B receptor (NgBR) is necessary for not only Nogo-B-mediated angiogenesis
      but also vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) -induced angiogenesis.
      However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulatory role of the VEGF-NgBR
      axis in angiogenesis are not fully understood. Here, we report that miR-26a
      serves as a critical regulator of VEGF-mediated angiogenesis through directly
      targeting NgBR in endothelial cells (ECs). Stimulation of ECs by VEGF increased
      the expression of NgBR and decreased the expression of miR-26a. In addition, miR
      26a decreased the VEGF-induced migration and proliferation of ECs. Moreover, miR
      26a overexpression in ECs decreased the VEGF-induced phosphorylation of the
      endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and the production of nitric oxide,
      which is important for angiogenesis. Overall, our data suggest that miR-26a plays
      a key role in VEGF-mediated angiogenesis through the modulation of eNOS activity,
      which is mediated by its ability to regulate NgBR expression by directly
      targeting the NgBR 3'-UTR. [BMB Reports 2017; 50(7): 384-389].

PMID- 28602163
TI  - Investigation of a food-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis in a school canteen
      revealed a variant of sapovirus genogroup V not detected by standard PCR,
      Sollentuna, Sweden, 2016.
AB  - A food-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis with more than 650 suspected cases
      occurred in April 2016 in Sollentuna, Sweden. It originated in a school kitchen
      serving a total of 2,700 meals daily. Initial microbiological testing (for
      Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Giardia, Cryptosporidium,
      Entamoeba histolytica, adeno-, astro-, noro-, rota- and sapovirus) of stool
      samples from 15 symptomatic cases was negative, despite a clinical presentation
      suggestive of calicivirus. Analyses of the findings from both the Sollentuna
      municipality environmental team and a web-based questionnaire suggested that the
      source of the outbreak was the salad buffet served on 20 April, although no
      specific food item could be identified. Subsequent electron microscopic
      examination of stool samples followed by whole genome sequencing revealed a
      variant of sapovirus genogroup V. The virus was not detected using standard PCR
      screening. This paper describes the epidemiological outbreak investigation and
      findings leading to the discovery.

PMID- 28602164
TI  - Second-line chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer: Which is the best
      option?
AB  - Despite recent biological insight and therapeutic advances, the prognosis of
      advanced pancreatic cancer still remains poor. For more than 15 years,
      gemcitabine monotherapy has been the cornerstone of first-line treatment.
      Recently, prospective randomized trials have shown that novel upfront combination
      regimens tested in prospective randomized trials have resulted in improved
      patients' outcome increasing the proportion of putative candidate to second-line
      therapy. There is no definite standard of care after disease progression. A novel
      formulation in which irinotecan is encapsulated into liposomal-based
      nanoparticles may increase the efficacy of the drug without incrementing its
      toxicity. NAPOLI-1 was the first randomized trial to compare nanoliposomal
      irinotecan and fluorouracil-leucovorin (5-FU/LV) to 5-FU/LV alone after a
      gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. This review focuses on the current data for the
      management of second-line treatment for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma,
      presents the most interesting ongoing clinical trials and illustrates the
      biologically-driven future options beyond disease progression.

PMID- 28602165
TI  - Aberrant cancer metabolism in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer
      metastasis: Mechanisms in cancer progression.
AB  - Cancer metastasis is a prominent feature of cancer cells, which is responsible
      for most cancer -associated mortality. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)
      plays an essential role in the initiation and development of cancer metastasis.
      Studies have shown that EMT can induce cancer metastasis by promoting tumor
      malignances, reprograming cancer metabolism, and disrupting extracellular matrix.
      Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that aberrant cancer metabolism can induce
      EMT through multiple pathological pathways. Conversely, EMT exacerbates
      dysregulation of glucose metabolism by EMT transcriptional factors such as Snail
      and Twist. Furthermore, the crosstalk network between aberrant glucose metabolism
      and EMT synergistically triggers cancer metastasis. Therefore, aberrant cancer
      metabolism can be used for the prediction, diagnosis, monitoring, and
      intervention of EMT, as well as cancer metastasis. To conclude, aberrant cancer
      metabolism plays a key role in the development of EMT and cancer metastasis,
      suggesting its clinical promise for the management of EMT and cancer metastasis.

PMID- 28602166
TI  - Mast cells in breast cancer angiogenesis.
AB  - Mast cells, accumulate in the stroma surrounding certain tumors and take part to
      the inflammatory reaction occurring at the periphery of the tumor. Mast cell
      secreted angiogenic cytokines facilitate tumor vascularization not only by a
      direct effect but also by stimulating other inflammatory cells of the tumor
      microenvironment to release other angiogenic mediators. An increased number of
      mast cells have been demonstrated in angiogenesis associated with solid tumors,
      including breast cancer. Mast cells might act as a new target for the adjuvant
      treatment of breast cancer through the selective inhibition of angiogenesis,
      tissue remodeling and tumor promoting molecules, allowing the secretion of
      cytotoxic cytokines and preventing mast cell mediated immune-suppression.

PMID- 28602167
TI  - Mechanism behind the anti-tumour potential of saffron (Crocus sativus L.): The
      molecular perspective.
AB  - Cancer is a disorder which has noted a significant rise in incidence worldwide
      and continues to be the largest cause of mortality. It has a dramatic impact on
      human life expectancy and quality of life in spite of the increase in technology
      and the treatments available for cancer patients. These new therapeutic options
      being chemotherapy, radiotherapy, photolytic therapy and catalytic therapy are
      known to have many adverse reactions and also no better positive outcomes than
      before. Hence, research is now focused more on utilizing the vast repertoire of
      traditional medicinal knowledge i.e. the use of flora for treatment of cancer
      rather than the use of chemicals. One such herb is the Crocus sativus L.,
      commonly known as Saffron, rich in carotenoids - crocin, crocetin and safranal.
      Various studies have been carried out over the past few years to confirm the anti
      cancer properties of saffron, both in vivo using animal models and in vitro using
      human malignant cell lines on various types of cancers with positive results. The
      proposed mechanism of actions has also been worked upon. This review is aimed to
      provide a brief overview on the anti-tumor potential of saffron focusing on the
      molecular mechanism involved.

PMID- 28602168
TI  - Melanoma antigens and related immunological markers.
AB  - Melanoma is a highly lethal cancer deriving from transformed dermal melanocytes.
      Early diagnosed primary melanoma may be curable, but the cure-rate of more
      advanced stages is limited, with high mortality rate. With the progression of the
      tumor, the melanocytes overexpress intracellular or cell-surface molecules,
      including ectopic normal and tumor-specific proteins. Some of these induce a
      specific immune response by T and B lymphocytes. Antibodies raised against
      melanoma antigens were proposed for differential disease diagnosis, staging,
      prognosis and evaluation of treatment efficiency. Nevertheless, treatments based
      on stimulation of specific anti-melanoma immune responses have had only limited
      success. It seems that efficient immunotherapy should become more feasible
      pending on finding new adequate antigens to target. New insights into immune
      regulation of the tumor microenvironment and its progression may help the
      development of more successful treatments. We present here up-to-date information
      on known major melanoma-associated antigens, which could serve as tools for
      diagnosis as well as for clinical immunotherapy. This approach with promising
      results for treating some other selected malignancies is still experimental with
      a very limited success in melanoma. The development of new immune modulators of
      the tumor microenvironment and neo-antigens may be additional promising
      directions and may open new opportunities for the immunotherapy of melanoma.

PMID- 28602169
TI  - Toxicities of systemic agents in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
      (SCCHN); A new perspective in the era of immunotherapy.
AB  - Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is a difficult to treat
      malignancy and represents the seventh most common cancer worldwide. Systemic
      therapy has a critical role in the treatment of locally advanced and
      recurrent/metastatic disease. Cytotoxic chemotherapy has been primarily used
      along with radiation and surgery, with cisplatin being the standard of care
      choice of therapy. When contraindications to cisplatin exist, other agents such
      as carboplatin, taxanes, 5-fluorouracil, and cetuximab are used. Similarly, in
      the advanced or metastatic setting, platinum agents, taxanes and cetuximab have
      been predominantly utilized. With the recent approval of novel agents such as
      pembrolizumab and nivolumab, and their distinct toxicity profiles, an
      understanding of the potential sequelae of the different systemic agents is
      essential to the careful selection of agents in the advanced disease setting.
      Going forward, choosing novel agents will be weighed against traditional
      chemotherapy, and understanding the toxicities at stake is critical in this
      process. In addition to providing an overview of the toxicity profile of the
      different systemic agents, we also provide a perspective into the future of SCCHN
      treatment.

PMID- 28602170
TI  - Treatment options for metastatic colorectal cancer in patients with liver
      dysfunction due to malignancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The survival of colorectal cancer patients is frequently determined
      by the extent of metastatic invasion to the liver; in cases of major involvement,
      therapeutic strategies are limited because the liver is necessary for drug
      metabolism. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have reviewed articles about the
      pharmacokinetic profiles of each drug used in colorectal cancer patients with
      hepatic dysfunction to determine which of these treatments are most feasible.
      RESULTS: Some drugs appear to be feasible options for patients with hepatic
      insufficiency. Agents such as 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin, as well as
      monoclonal antibodies such as bevacizumab, cetuximab, and panitumumab, can
      potentially be used in these cases. On the other hand, irinotecan and regorafenib
      cannot be recommended because of the risk of increased toxicity. CONCLUSION:
      Treatment of patients with colorectal cancer and liver dysfunction represents a
      major challenge because the prognosis is usually very poor and alteration of
      liver function is normally an exclusion criterion in clinical trials. In this
      review, we present evidence regarding the use of each drug in patients with
      colorectal cancer and hepatic impairment.

PMID- 28602171
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis on the proportion of patients with breast
      cancer who develop bone metastases.
AB  - A systematic literature review was conducted to quantify populations of patients
      with primary breast cancer in whom bone metastases were detected at study start
      or during follow-up. Searches were performed in PubMed and EMBASE using terms
      related to breast cancer and bone metastases. Articles had to have been published
      01/01/99-31/12/13, and to report data on the proportion of patients with bone
      metastases among patients with breast cancer. In total, 156 articles were
      included in the meta-analysis. A median of 12% of patients with stage I-III
      breast cancer developed bone metastases during a median follow-up of 60 months.
      Of patients who developed metastatic disease during follow-up, 55% (median) had
      bone metastases. Of those with metastatic breast cancer at study start, 58%
      (median) had bone metastases. These data help to inform on the global burden of
      bone metastases by defining patient populations that are at risk of developing
      bone metastases.

PMID- 28602172
TI  - Robustness testing of an in-situ caesium extraction unit.
AB  - Following on from the successful development and validation of a prototype
      automated unit for the extraction of radiocaesium from seawater, the unit was
      redesigned to be smaller, easier to transport and better suited for field work.
      An extension of the validation process was undertaken to include robustness
      testing. Robustness testing evaluates the behaviour of a procedure when
      deliberate small changes are made. This requires the identification and testing
      of experimental factors which could have an impact on the results. The Plackett
      Burman approach was adopted to minimise the number of experiments needed for
      testing. The study showed that the analytical method was not sensitive to any of
      the factors tested, indicating that the method is robust.

PMID- 28602173
TI  - Clinical significance and prognostic value of femoral lymph node metastasis in
      FIGO stage III vulvar carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the clinical significance and prognostic value of
      femoral lymph node metastasis (FLNM) in patients with International Federation of
      Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III vulvar carcinoma. METHODS: The medical
      records of patients with vulvar carcinoma who underwent inguinofemoral
      lymphadenectomy between 1990 and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Of
      66 patients with stage III vulvar carcinoma, 42 had superficial lymph node
      metastasis (SLNM) only and 24 had FLNM. Significantly higher rates of
      extracapsular invasion (P = 0.008), multiple nodal metastasis (P = 0.042), and
      advanced FIGO substage (P = 0.026) as well as a larger tumor diameter (>=4 cm, P
      = 0.023) and greater depth of invasion (>=5 mm, P = 0.020) were observed among
      patients with FLNM compared to those with SLNM only. After a median follow-up of
      46 months (range, 6-172 months), 35 patients experienced relapse and 30 died from
      disease. The 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were 70.1% and 30.8% for
      patients with SLNM only and FLNM, respectively (P = 0.001). In multivariate
      analysis, only FLNM was found to be an independent risk factor for reduced
      recurrence-free survival (RFS) and CSS among patients with stage III vulvar
      cancer (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.277, P = 0.037 for RFS; HR = 2.360, P = 0.042 for
      CSS). When the FLNM cases were considered together as stage IIIC, significant
      differences emerged in the RFS (P = 0.002) and CSS (P = 0.004) among the re
      divided FIGO substages. CONCLUSIONS: FLNM represented an unfavorable status of
      node metastasis with a worse prognosis compared to that of SLNM alone, and this
      should be considered in a future FIGO staging system for vulvar cancer.

PMID- 28602174
TI  - Reliability Statistics.

PMID- 28602175
TI  - Should This Patient With Global Aphasia After a Left Cerebral Stroke Be Admitted
      to Your Hospital-Based Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit?

PMID- 28602177
TI  - Fixation of quadrilateral plate fractures of the acetabulum using the buttress
      screw: A novel technique.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Quadrilateral plate fractures constitute one of the most
      challenging components of acetabular fractures. The objective of this study is to
      describe and evaluate the novel technique of buttress screw fixation of the
      quadrilateral plate component of the acetabular fractures. PATIENTS & METHODS:
      Forty cases of acetabular fracture with associated quadrilateral plate component
      were included in the study. Mean age was 35 years (range, 16-68years), with a
      mean follow-up 16.4 months (range, 9-36months). Fixation of the quadrilateral
      plate was achieved by one or more buttress screws. The screws were inserted
      through the reconstruction plate, and placed close to the edge of the pelvic
      brim. To effectively achieve the 3-point fixation principle, the screw was
      inserted through the plate hole then outside the bone rubbing on the pelvic
      surface of the quadrilateral plate. RESULTS: Anatomical reduction of the
      quadrilateral plate component of the fractures was achieved in all but one
      patient. The modified Merle D'Aubigne and Postel score was excellent in 13 cases,
      good in 23 cases, fair in three cases, and poor in one case. No screw
      displacement or failures were observed during follow-up evaluation. No major
      complications related to this technique were observed in this series. CONCLUSION:
      Buttress screw fixation of the quadrilateral plate fracture component in
      associated acetabular fractures is a safe and effective technique for reduction
      and fixation of these challenging fractures with no major complications related
      to this novel technique.

PMID- 28602176
TI  - Calpainopathy with macrophage-rich, regional inflammatory infiltrates.
AB  - Mutations in calpain-3 cause limb girdle muscular dystrophy 2A. Biopsy pathology
      is typically dystrophic, sometimes characterized by frequent lobulated fibres.
      More recently calpain mutations have been shown in association with eosinophilic
      myositis, suggesting that calpain mutations may render muscle susceptible to
      inflammatory change. We present the case of a 33-year old female with mild
      proximal muscle weakness and high CK levels (6698 IU/L at presentation). Muscle
      biopsy showed clusters of fibre necrosis associated with very dense macrophage
      infiltrates and small numbers of lymphocytes, raising the possibility of an
      inflammatory myopathy. No eosinophils were observed. Immunosuppressive treatment
      was started without clinical improvement. MRI demonstrated bilateral fatty
      replacement in posterior thigh and calf muscles. Western blot results prompted
      Sanger sequencing of the calpain-3 gene revealing compound heterozygous mutations
      c.643_663del and c.1746-20C>G. Our case widens the myopathological spectrum of
      calpainopathies to include focal macrophage rich inflammatory change.

PMID- 28602178
TI  - Differential effects of the Glasgow Coma Scale Score and its Components: An
      analysis of 54,069 patients with traumatic brain injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is widely used in the assessment of
      clinical severity and prediction of outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI).
      The sum score is frequently applied, but the differential influence of the
      components infrequently addressed. We aimed to investigate the contribution of
      the GCS components to the sum score, floor and ceiling effects of the components,
      and their prognostic effects. METHODS: Data on adult TBI patients were gathered
      from three data repositories: TARN (n=50,064), VSTR (n=14,062), and CRASH
      (n=9,941). Data on initial hospital GCS-assessment and discharge mortality were
      extracted. A descriptive analysis was performed to identify floor and ceiling
      effects. The relation between GCS and outcome was studied by comparing case
      fatality rates (CFR) between different component-profiles adding up to identical
      sum scores using Chi2-tests, and by quantifying the prognostic value of each
      component and sum score with Nagelkerke's R2 derived from logistic regression
      analyses across TBI severities. RESULTS: In the range 3-7, the sum score is
      primarily determined by the motor component, as the verbal and eye components
      show floor-effects at sum scores 7 and 8, respectively. In the range 8-12, the
      effect of the motor component attenuates and the verbal and eye components become
      more relevant. The motor, eye and verbal scores reach their ceiling-effects at
      sum 13, 14 and 15, respectively. Significant variations were exposed in CFR
      between different component-profiles despite identical sum scores, except in sum
      scores 6 and 7. Regression analysis showed that the motor score had highest R2
      values in severe TBI patients, whereas the other components were more relevant at
      higher sum scores. The prognostic value of the three components combined was
      consistently higher than that of the sum score alone. CONCLUSION: The GCS
      components contribute differentially across the spectrum of consciousness to the
      sum score, each having floor and ceiling effects. The specific component-profile
      is related to outcome and the three components combined contain higher prognostic
      value than the sum score across different TBI severities. We, therefore,
      recommend a multidimensional use of the three-component GCS both in clinical
      practice, and in prognostic studies.

PMID- 28602179
TI  - Surgical results and factors influencing outcome in patients with posterior wall
      acetabular fracture.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of open reduction and
      internal fixation in a large series of posterior wall fractures of the acetabulum
      and to identify the factors that affect the outcomes in this case series. One
      hundred twenty-one patients who had undergone open reduction and internal
      fixation of a fracture of the posterior wall of the acetabulum were assessed at a
      mean of 53 months (range, 24-163) after surgery. The functional outcome was
      evaluated with use of the modified Merle d'Aubigne scoring system, the Harris Hip
      Score (HHS), and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Final
      follow-up radiographs were graded according to Matta's radiologic criteria.
      Patient, fracture, and radiographic variables were analyzed to identify possible
      associations with functional and radiographic outcome. The quality of fracture
      reduction on postoperative radiographs was anatomical in 115 hips (95.0%),
      satisfactory in 6 cases (5.0%), and unsatisfactory in none. Final modified
      d'Aubigne scores were excellent in 45 hips (40.2%), good in 52 (46.4%), fair in 7
      (6.3%), and poor in 8 (7.1%). Mean HHS was 91.5+/-8.9 (48-100). The SF-36 scores
      were similar with respect to age and sex-matched norms, but physical domains in
      males remained lower in comparison with the normal population. The early
      reduction of an associated hip dislocation and quality of surgical reduction were
      strong positive predictors of functional and radiographic outcomes at follow-up,
      whereas associated injuries and the existence of pre-operative nerve palsy were
      negative predictors of patients' functionality. This study of surgically treated
      fractures of the posterior wall of the acetabulum has shown that functional and
      radiographic results are satisfactory in most patients, provided that prompt
      reduction of an associated hip dislocation and anatomical reduction of the
      fracture are carried out. Associated injuries and nerve lesions affect the final
      functional outcome.

PMID- 28602180
TI  - Evaluation of Monaldi's approach with regard to needle decompression of the
      tension pneumothorax-A cadaver study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although needle decompression of tension pneumothorax through the
      second intercostal space in the midclavicular line (Monaldi's approach) is a life
      saving procedure, severe complications have been reported after its
      implementation. We evaluated the procedure by comparing how it was performed on
      cadavers by study participants with different training levels. METHODS: Six
      participants including one thoracic surgeon performed bilateral thoracic drainage
      after Monaldi on 82 torsos. After the thoraces were opened, the distances from
      the internal thoracic artery (A), the site of the puncture (B) and the
      midclavicular line (C) were measured bilaterally with reference to the median of
      the sternum. Further, it was determined whether the participants had correctly
      identified the second intercostal space. The differences between B-A and C-B were
      analysed. RESULTS: The needle was placed in the second intercostal space in 136
      hemithoraces (83%). The thoracic surgeon showed a hit rate of 0% laceration of
      adjacent vessels. All the other participants had hit rates between 10% and 15%.
      The interval B-A ranged from 2.88 to 5.06cm in right and from 3.00 to 5.00cm in
      left hemithoraces. The distance C-B lay between 1.03cm and 1.87cm (right side),
      and 0.84cm and 2.02cm (left side). CONCLUSION: In our collective, the main
      problem was failure to assess correctly the lateral extension of the clavicle. If
      this fact is emphasized during training, Monaldi's approach is a safe method for
      needle decompression of pneumothorax.

PMID- 28602181
TI  - Health outcomes and costs for injured young people hospitalised with and without
      chronic health conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of chronic health conditions such as diabetes among
      young people is increasing. Limited information is known about the impact of
      these conditions on young people who have been traumatically injured. Injury is
      the global leading cause of death and disability in young people. The aim of this
      study is to compare health outcomes for injured young people with and without
      chronic health conditions. METHOD: A retrospective examination of injury in young
      people aged<=25years with and without a chronic health condition using linked
      hospitalisation and mortality records during 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2014 in
      New South Wales, Australia. Health outcomes, including hospital length of stay
      (LOS), 28-day unplanned hospital readmission, hospital treatment costs, and 30
      day and 12-month mortality were examined. A 1:1 matched design was used to
      determine excess mean hospital LOS and cost for young people with a chronic
      health conditions versus no health condition. RESULTS: There were 184,819 injury
      related hospitalisations of young people; 13.8% had a chronic health condition.
      Compared to young people who did not have a chronic health condition, those with
      one were found to have double the mean hospital cost, higher unplanned hospital
      readmission, and a higher rate of mortality. Injured young people had a three
      times higher likelihood of having a prolonged LOS if they had a chronic health
      condition (Adjusted odds ratio: 3.89; 95% CI: 3.69-4.11). Renal conditions,
      anaemia, coagulation defects, hypertension, and mental health conditions had the
      highest excess LOS and anaemia, hypertension, coagulation defects and renal
      conditions had the highest excess mean cost for matched injured individuals with
      and without the health condition. CONCLUSIONS: Health outcomes following injury
      are worse for young people with a chronic health condition. The increasing
      prevalence of young people with a chronic health condition has implications for
      treatment, resource use, provision of support services, and survival following
      traumatic injury.

PMID- 28602182
TI  - Electrochemical oxidation mechanism of eugenol on graphene modified carbon paste
      electrode and its analytical application to pharmaceutical analysis.
AB  - Electrochemical properties of eugenol were investigated on a graphene modified
      carbon paste electrode (CPE) by using voltammetric methods, which exhibited a
      well-defined irreversible peak at about 0.7V vs Ag/AgCl, NaCl (3M) in Britton
      Robinson buffer at pH 2.0. Mechanism of the electrochemical reaction of eugenol
      was studied by performing density functional theory (DFT) computations and mass
      spectroscopic analysis. (CPCM:water)-wB97XD/aug-cc-PVTZ//(CPCM:water)-wB97XD/6
      31G(d) level calculations predicted that the formation of product P2, possessing
      a para-quinoid structure, is preferred rather than the product P1, suggested in
      the literature, having an ortho-quinoid system. Determination of eugenol in a
      pharmaceutical sample was realized in the light of the electrochemical findings,
      and a validated voltammetric method for quantitative analysis of eugenol in a
      pharmaceutical formulation was proposed. The differential pulse voltammogram
      (DPV) peak currents were found to be linear in the concentration range of 1.0 *
      10-7 to 1.7 * 10-5M. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification
      (LOQ) were obtained to be 7.0 * 10-9 and 2.3 * 10-8, respectively.

PMID- 28602183
TI  - Analysis of trace microcystins in vegetables using matrix solid-phase dispersion
      followed by high performance liquid chromatography triple-quadrupole mass
      spectrometry detection.
AB  - A selective and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of five
      common microcystins (MC-LR, -RR, -YR, -LW, -LF) in various vegetables was
      established using Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion (MSPD) followed by high
      performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry detection. To optimize the
      pretreatment procedure for extracting the microcystins from three vegetable
      matrices (tomato, cucumber and spinacia, which represented different colors), Box
      Behnken design was employed to optimize the main factors affecting the extraction
      efficiency, including sample/dispersant mass ratio, as well as the proportion
      mixture dispersant and the volumes of solvent. Based on the optimum conditions,
      the intra-day and inter-day variability for each microcystins in all vegetable
      samples were less than 8.6%, with the recoveries ranging from 71.9% to 96.5%. The
      limits of detection and quantitation of the method were 13.0MUg/kg (dw) and
      43.0MUg/kg (dw), respectively. The established method was successfully applied to
      the analysis of MCs in vegetable samples which were collected by Lake Taihu. The
      procedure promising to be relative small sample size and short pretreatment time
      for the assay that can be used for monitoring MCs concentrations in vegetables.

PMID- 28602184
TI  - Nucleobase chemosensor based on carbon nanodots.
AB  - A facile and sensitive fluorescence protocol for nucleobase detection was
      developed based on carbon nanodot (CD) chemosensors. The novel fluorescent CDs
      were prepared using four kinds of nucleobases (including adenine, guanine,
      thymine and cytosine) as separate carbon sources via simple hydrothermal
      strategy. The quantum yield of adenine CDs (A-CDs), guanine CDs (G-CDs), thymine
      CDs (T-CDs) and cytosine CDs (C-CDs) was checked as 15.1%, 28.3%, 10.6% and
      11.7%, respectively. Four CDs can recognize their complementary nucleobases based
      on the principle of complementary base pairing. Their fluorescence was linearly
      quenched with the increase of nucleobase concentrations under optimal conditions.
      Combining the calibration curve, quantitative assay of nucleobase in solution can
      be realized. For example, A-CDs could determine thymine in the concentration
      range of 2-20mM with a detection limit of ca. 0.053mM, and the linear equation is
      fitting as (I0-I) / I = 0.01961 * CT(mM) + 0.01756 (R2 = 0.994). Thymine can
      induce the fluorescence lifetime of A-CDs decreasing from 5.58 to 3.34ns,
      indicating a dynamic quenching mechanism. The novel nucleobase sensors were also
      evaluated in specific solution environment. A-CDs showed a relatively minor
      relative standard deviation (< 4.0%) in fetal calf serum solution, indicating a
      high accuracy and credibility of the sensing system. In view of the excellent
      sensitivity, preferable biocompatibility as well as simple constructing method,
      the sensing platform derived from the nucleobase-based CDs present great
      potential in biological sensing applications.

PMID- 28602185
TI  - The synthesis of Gemini-type sulfobetaine based hybrid monolith and its
      application in hydrophilic interaction chromatography for small polar molecular.
AB  - In this work, a novel Gemini-type sulfobetaine-based hybrid monolith was
      fabricated by co-polymerization of a homemade Gemini-type sufobetaine, 1,3-bis (N
      (3-sulfopropyl)-N-(methacrylic acid-2-hydroxy propyl ester)-N-methyl ammonium)
      propane (BSMMP) with vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS)
      in the presence of 2'-azobis (2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (V50) as
      initiator. The recipe of pre-copolymerization solution for monolith preparation
      was optimized carefully, and the resulting monolith was characterized by scan
      electron microscope (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and
      thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA). The results indicated that the optimized
      monolith possess homogeneous bio-continue pore structure, and a relatively high
      proportion of the sulfobetaine groups was successfully introduced into the
      monolith. The results from permeability test shows that the proposed monoliths
      have excellent permeability within both water rich mobile phase and acetonitrile
      rich mobile phase, due to the rigid inorganic framework of hybrid monolith.
      Results showed that the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of run-to-run, column
      to-column and batch-to-batch were less than 1.9%, 3.7% and 6.2%, respectively.
      The lowest plate height value of the column for thiourea was less than 10um.
      Furthermore, separating the polar small molecules including nucleosides, the base
      species, the phenols and the amides were performed within 14min, 22min 18min and
      9min on the prepared monolith, respectively, good separation effect on these
      polar small molecules was found, and remarkable hydrophilic retention behavior
      was observed when an acetonitrile rich mobile phase was applied, attributing to
      the existence of strong polar Gemini-type sulfobetaine groups. Finally, the
      potential application of the resulting monolith in complex sample was
      successfully demonstrated by separating a BSA digest in gradient elution mode.

PMID- 28602186
TI  - Two-phase hollow fiber-liquid microextraction based on reverse micelle for the
      determination of quercetin in human plasma and vegetables samples.
AB  - A new two-phase hollow fiber-liquid microextraction based on reverse micelle as
      sensitive and efficient method for the extraction of quercetin in human plasma,
      onion and tomato samples was developed for the first time. The extraction is
      based on the solubilization of analyte in the aqueous core of the reverse micelle
      of cationic cethyltrimethyl ammonium bromide surfactant, CTAB, which are present
      in the organic phase and are used as acceptor phase in hollow fiber-liquid phase
      microextraction. Experimental results show that the electrostatic interaction
      between the oppositely charged surfactant head group present in the reverse
      micelles and the analyte molecule has a key role in the extraction. Extraction
      parameters including the organic phase, pH, surfactant concentrations, stirring
      rate, extraction time, temperature and ionic strength were optimized. The optimum
      condition is obtained when the variables are set to: pH= 7.5, organic solvent= 1
      octanol, CTAB concentration= 7mmolL-1, stirring rate= 900rpm at room temperature
      and extraction time= 30min. Under the mentioned condition, the calibration range
      was found to be linear over 0.5-1000ngmL-1 with the limit of detection of 0.1ngmL
      1. The extraction recovery of 97.4%, with relative standard deviation of 3.5%,
      was obtained via tree replicated measurements on a 15ngL-1 quercetin standard
      solution. Finally, the newly developed method was successfully used for the
      preconcentration and determination of quercetin in plasma, onion and tomato
      samples.

PMID- 28602187
TI  - DESI-MS imaging and NMR spectroscopy to investigate the influence of biodiesel in
      the structure of commercial rubbers.
AB  - Biodiesel has been introduced as an energetic matrix in several countries around
      the world. However, the affinity of biodiesel with the components of petrodiesel
      engines is a growing concern. In order to obtain information regarding the effect
      of biodiesel on the rubber structure, nuclear magnetic resonance technics under a
      new technology named as comprehensive multiphase (CMP NMR) and the imaging
      through desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS imaging)
      were used. The 1H CMP-DOSY NMR showed the entrapped fuel into the rubber
      cavities, which the higher constraint caused by the rubber structure is related
      to the smaller diffusion coefficient. The less affected type of rubber by
      biodiesel was ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM), and the most affected was
      synthetic rubber nitrile (NBR). The 13C CMP MAS-SPE experiments also confirmed
      that the internal region of EPDM was less accessible to the biodiesel molecules
      (no fuels detected) while other rubbers were more susceptible to the penetration
      of the fuel. DESI-MS imaging revealed for the first time the topography of the
      rubbers exposed to fuels. The biodiesel molecules entrapped at the EPDM and NBR
      pores were in oxidized form, which might degrade the rubber structure at long
      exposure time. The employed technics enabled the study of dynamic and molecular
      structure of the mixing complex multiphase. The DOSY under CMP used in this study
      could prove helpful in assessing the interactions throughout all physical phases
      (liquid, solid, and gel or semi-solid) by observing swellability caused by the
      fuel in the rubber. In addition, the DESI-MS was especially valuable to detect
      the degradation products of biodiesel entangled at the rubber structure. In our
      knowledge, this was the first report in which chemical changes of commercial
      rubbers induced by biodiesel and petrodiesel were investigated by means of DESI
      MS and DOSY NMR.

PMID- 28602188
TI  - Mapping of the spatial distribution of silver nanoparticles in root tissues of
      Vicia faba by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).
AB  - The manuscript presents a procedure for optimal sample preparation and the
      mapping of the spatial distribution of metal ions and nanoparticles in plant
      roots using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in a double-pulse
      configuration (DP LIBS) in orthogonal reheating mode. Two Nd:YAG lasers were
      used; the first one was an ablation laser (UP-266 MACRO, New Wave, USA) with a
      wavelength of 266nm, and the second one (Brilliant, Quantel, France), with a
      fundamental wavelength of 1064nm, was used to reheat the microplasma. Seedlings
      of Vicia faba were cultivated for 7 days in CuSO4 or AgNO3 solutions with a
      concentration of 10umoll-1 or in a solution of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with
      a concentration of 10umoll-1 of total Ag, and in distilled water as a control.
      The total contents of the examined metals in the roots after sample
      mineralization as well as changes in the concentrations of the metals in the
      cultivation solutions were monitored by ICP-OES. Root samples embedded in the
      TissueTek medium and cut into 40um thick cross sections using the Cryo-Cut
      Microtome proved to be best suited for an accurate LIBS analysis with a 50um
      spatial resolution. 2D raster maps of elemental distribution were created for the
      emission lines of Cu(I) at 324.754nm and Ag(I) at 328.068nm. The limits of
      detection of DP LIBS for the root cross sections were estimated to be 4pg for Cu,
      18pg for Ag, and 3pg for AgNPs. The results of Ag spatial distribution mapping
      indicated that unlike Ag+ ions, AgNPs do not penetrate into the inner tissues of
      Vicia faba roots but stay in their outermost layers. The content of Ag in roots
      cultivated in the AgNP solution was one order of magnitude lower compared to
      roots cultivated in the metal ion solutions. The significantly smaller
      concentration of Ag in root tissues cultivated in the AgNP solution also supports
      the conclusion that the absorption and uptake of AgNPs by roots of Vicia faba is
      very slow. LIBS mapping of root sections represents a fast analytical method with
      sufficient precision and spatial resolution that can provide very important
      information for researchers, particularly in the fields of plant science and
      ecotoxicology.

PMID- 28602189
TI  - One step electro-oxidative preparation of graphene quantum dots from wood
      charcoal as a peroxidase mimetic.
AB  - In present study, we highlight one-step electrochemical synthesis of nearly
      uniform size (~ 5nm) of graphene quantum dots (E-GQDs) from wood charcoal and
      their further application as a peroxidase enzyme mimetic. The structural and
      optical properties of as-synthesized E-GQDs were probed by TEM, AFM, and
      spectroscopic techniques. Peroxidase enzyme mimetic potential of E-GQDs were
      examined for colorimetric detection of H2O2 and glucose. E-GQDs allowed a rapid
      and sensitive detection of glucose with a detection limit of 0.006mM for dynamic
      response range of 0.01-0.6mM. The calculated higher value of Vmax (7.2 * 10-7Ms
      1) along with lower Km (0.012mM) corroborate enhanced the peroxidase-like
      activity of E-GQDs. Study introduces a cheap and widely available raw material
      for the electrochemical synthesis of graphene quantum dots with commendable
      enzyme mimetic activity which may have a huge impact in developing calorimetric
      bioanalysis systems.

PMID- 28602190
TI  - Probing amylin fibrillation at an early stage via a tetracysteine-recognising
      fluorophore.
AB  - Amyloid fibrillation is a nucleation-dependent process known be involved in the
      development of more than 20 progressive and chronic diseases. The detection of
      amyloid formation at the nucleation stage can greatly advance early diagnoses and
      treatment of diseases. In this work, we developed a new assay for the early
      detection of amylin fibrillation using the biarsenical dye 4,5-bis(1,3,2
      dithiarsolan-2-yl)fluorescein (FlAsH), which could recognise tetracysteine motifs
      and transform from non-fluorescent form into strongly fluorescent complexes. Due
      to the close proximity of two cysteine residues within the hydrophilic domain of
      amylin, a non-contiguous tetracysteine motif can form upon amylin dimerisation or
      oligomerisation, which can be recognised by FlAsH and emit strong fluorescence.
      This enables us to report the nucleation-growth process of amylin without
      modification of the protein sequence. We showed that the use of this assay not
      only allowed the tracking of initial nucleation events, but also enabled imaging
      of amyloid fibrils and investigation of the effects of amyloid
      inhibitor/modulator toward amylin fibrillation.

PMID- 28602191
TI  - An improved SPE-LC-MS/MS method for multiclass endocrine disrupting compound
      determination in tropical estuarine sediments.
AB  - Estuary sediments are one of the important components of coastal ecosystems and
      have been regarded as a sink for various types of organic pollutants. Organic
      pollutants such as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) which have been
      associated with various environmental and human health effects were detected in
      the estuary sediment at trace level. Considering various interferences that may
      exist in the estuarine sediment, a sensitive and selective method, capable of
      detecting multiclass EDC pollutants at the trace levels, needs to be developed
      and optimized to be applied for environmental analysis. A combination of Soxhlet
      extraction followed by offline solid phase extraction (SPE) cleaned up with
      detection based on LC triple quadrupole MS was optimized and validated in this
      study. The targeted compounds consisted of ten multiclass EDCs, namely,
      diclofenac, primidone, bisphenol A, estrone (E1), 17beta-estradiol (E2), 17alpha
      ethynylestradiol (EE2), 4-octylphenol (4-OP), 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), progesterone,
      and testosterone. The method showed high extraction efficiency with percentage of
      recovery from 78% to 108% and excellent sensitivity with detection limit between
      0.02ngg-1 and 0.81ngg-1. Excellent linearity from 0.991 to 0.999 was achieved for
      the developed compounds and the relative standard deviation was less than 18%, an
      indication of good precision analysis. Evaluation of the matrix effects showed
      ionization suppression for all the developed compounds. Verification of the
      method was carried out by analyzing the estuarine sediment collected from Langat
      River. The analyzed estuarine sediments showed a trace concentration of
      diclofenac, bisphenol A, progesterone, testosterone, primidone, and E1. However,
      E2, EE2, 4-OP, and 4-NP were below the method's detection limit. Diclofenac
      exhibited the highest concentration at 2.67ngg-1 followed by bisphenol A (1.78ngg
      1) while E1 showed the lowest concentration at 0.07ngg-1.

PMID- 28602192
TI  - Mediated electrochemical method for the determination of indigo carmine levels in
      food products.
AB  - In this paper, we have studied the electrochemical behavior of indigo carmine
      (IC) in the presence and absence of mediator molecules. We have used three azo
      dyes as mediators in our studies and the effect of mediator molecules on the
      electron transfer between the IC solution and the electrode surface was explained
      from the cyclic voltammograms data. Among these dyes, 4-(4-nitrophenilazo)N
      benzyl,N-ethylaniline (NBE) showed good performance as an electron transfer
      mediator. The NBE/carbon paste was characterized with Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy methods. The redox peak currents of
      IC were enhanced significantly compared with those obtained at the unmodified
      electrode. Some parameters affecting sensor response were optimized and then the
      calibration curve was plotted. The oxidation peak current was proportional to the
      concentration of IC from 1 to 100MUmolL-1. The detection limit was 0.36MUmolL-1.
      The proposed electrode was successfully applied to the determination of IC in
      various real samples without complex sample pretreatment.

PMID- 28602193
TI  - Rapid extraction and assay of uranium from environmental surface samples.
AB  - Environmental sampling to detect trace nuclear signatures is key component of
      international nuclear treaty enforcement. Herein, we explored rapid chemical
      extraction methods coordinated with measurement systems to provide faster,
      simpler assay of low level uranium from environmental samples. A key problem with
      the existing analytical method for processing environmental surface samples is
      the requirement for complete digestion of sample and sampling material. This is a
      time-consuming and labor-intensive process that limits laboratory throughput,
      elevates analytical costs, and increases background levels. Promising extraction
      methods were competitively evaluated for their potential to quickly and
      efficiently remove different chemical species of uranium from standard surface
      sampling material. A preferred combination of carbonate and peroxide solutions is
      shown to give rapid and complete form of uranyl compound extraction and
      dissolution. This simplified and accelerated extraction process is demonstrated
      with standard sampling material to be compatible with standard inductive coupled
      plasma mass spectrometry methods for uranium isotopic assay as well as rapid
      screening techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Rapid extraction of the
      entire swipe is shown to allow efficient XRF assay of all collected material for
      simple, fast, nanogram-level XRF assay of the sample. The new methods have direct
      application in the support of nuclear safeguards treaty enforcement efforts as
      well as health and safety monitoring. The general approach described may have
      applications beyond uranium to other trace analytes of nuclear forensic interest
      (e.g., rare earth elements and plutonium) as well as heavy metals for
      environmental and industrial hygiene monitoring.

PMID- 28602194
TI  - Online coupling of fully automatic in-syringe dispersive liquid-liquid
      microextraction with oxidative back-extraction to inductively coupled plasma
      spectrometry for sample clean-up in elemental analysis: A proof of concept.
AB  - A proof of concept of a novel automatic sample cleanup approach for metal assays
      in troublesome matrixes as a front-end sample pre-treatment to inductively
      coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy - ICP-OES - is herein presented.
      Target metals, namely, copper, lead, and cadmium were complexed in-system
      quantitatively using ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) and transferred
      into a minute volume of toluene as extractant employing lab-in-syringe magnetic
      stirring-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (LIS-MSA-DLLME). After
      discharge of the sample, the analytes were back-extracted into nitric acid and
      injected on-line into ICP-OES. To promote and expedite this process in-syringe,
      advantage was taken from oxidative decomposition of the chelate by potassium
      iodate, reported in this article for the first time. Experimental conditions for
      LIS-MSA-DLLME were optimized by Box-Benkhen multivariate analysis using the
      geometric mean of analyte recoveries as the desirability function. Times of
      extraction and back-extraction of 300s and 100s, respectively, pH 5.5 at 30mmol/L
      acetate, 300uL of extraction solvent, and 600umol/L of APDC were finally applied.
      Online interfacing to ICP-OES for back-extract analysis yielded average
      repeatabilities for Cd, Cu, and Pb of 2.9%, 3.5%, and 3.5% with limits of
      detections (3s) of 1.9, 1.4, and 5.6ng/mL, respectively. Oxidative back
      extraction was proven reliable for the determination of metal species in coastal
      seawater, surrogate digestive fluids and soil leachates with recovery values for
      Cd, Cu, and Pb ranging from 90% to 118%, 68% to 104%, and 86% to 112%,
      respectively.

PMID- 28602195
TI  - A portable solution cathode glow discharge-atomic emission spectrometer for the
      rapid determination of thallium in water samples.
AB  - A novel and high performance method for rapid determination of thallium in water
      samples was established by using a portable solution cathode glow discharger with
      a fiber-optical spectrometer. The operating conditions including the solution
      acidity, the electrolyte cathode, etc were optimized with 1.0mgL-1 thallium
      standard solution. The resolution of the fiber-optical spectrometer investigated
      with the peak width at half height of thallium was tested to be about 1.8nm,and
      thallium was determined at the emission wavelength of 535.0nm. The caliberation
      curve was favorably linear when the concentrations of thallium standard solutions
      were in the range of 0.1mgL-1 ~ 5.0mgL-1. Under the optimized conditions, the
      limit of detection (LOD) for thallium was 11.8ngmL-1, and the precision evaluated
      by relative standard deviation was 3.2% for six times 1.0mgL-1 standard solution
      replicates. This method was used for detection of thallium in water samples. The
      results were satisfying, and the average recoveries for thallium spiked samples
      were found to be in the range of 91.3~107.5%,which showed this method was
      applicable for real samples analysis. Besides,this method is suitable for field
      tests due to the portable instrumental size and weight as well as the less
      consumption of time and reagent.

PMID- 28602196
TI  - Sequence specific recognition of HIV-1 dsDNA in the large amount of normal dsDNA
      based upon nicking enzyme signal amplification and triplex DNA.
AB  - A sensitive fluorescent strategy for sequence specific recognition of HIV dsDNA
      was established based upon Nicking Enzyme Signal Amplification (NESA) and triplex
      formation. dsDNA sequence from the site 7960 to site 7991 of the HIV1 dsDNA gene
      was designed as target dsDNA, which was composed of two complementary strands
      Oligonucleotide 1 with the sequence of 3'-CTT CCT TAT CTT CTT CTT CCA CCT CTC TCT
      CT-5' (Oligo-1) and Oligonucleotide 2 with the sequence of 5'-GAA GGA ATA GAA GAA
      GAA GGT GGA GAG AGA GA-3' (Oligo-2). As a proof of concept, Oligonucleotide 5'-6
      FAM-GAG GTG GAG CTG CGC GAC TCC TCC TCT CTC TCT CTC CAC CTC-BHQ-1-3'(Oligo-4)
      acted as molecular beacon(MB) probe, Oligonucleotide 5'-CTT CCT TAT CTT CTT CTT
      CCA AAA GGA GTC GCG-3' (Oligo-7) acted as assistant probe. In the presence of
      target dsDNA, Oligo-4 and Oligo-7 hybridized with target dsDNA through triplex
      formation and formed Y-shaped structure, NESA occurred with further addition of
      Nt.BbvCI, accompanied with the release of fluorescent DNA fragment circularly,
      resulted in the increase of fluorescence intensity. Under the optimum conditions,
      the fluorescence intensity was linear with the concentration of target dsDNA over
      the range from 100pM to 200nM, the linear regression equation was I = 1.266 C +
      84.3 (C: nmol/L, R2 = 0.991), with a detection limit of 65pM. Moreover, the
      effect of coexisted other dsDNA was investigated as well, and satisfactory
      results were obtained.

PMID- 28602198
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28602197
TI  - Electrochemical sensor for discrimination tyrosine enantiomers using graphene
      quantum dots and beta-cyclodextrins composites.
AB  - An electrochemical sensor using the composites of graphene quantum dots (GQDs)
      and beta-cyclodextrins (beta-CDs) functionalized glassy carbon electrode (GCE)
      was developed for determination and recognition of tyrosine (Tyr) enantiomers
      which are biomarker of depression. The modified electrode is simple to fabricate
      and rapid, sensitive, selective to detect the Tyr enantiomers. In order to
      further validate the feasibility of the electrochemical sensor in real samples,
      the sensor was applied to the detection of L-Tyr in blood serum samples of
      healthy people and depression patients, and found that the quantities of L-Tyr of
      depression patients in serum is less than healthy people. The beta-CDs-GQDs
      composites were fabricated as modification layer of electrodes. GQDs were used as
      substrate and functionalized with beta-CDs. The beta-CDs-GQDs composites utilized
      nanosize of GQDs and enantioselectivity of beta-CDs to realize chiral recognition
      of Tyr. The beta-CDs-GQDs modified electrode presented significant difference in
      the oxidation peak current with ratio of L to D-Tyr reaching 2.35. The detection
      limits of L-Tyr and D-Tyr were 6.07*10-9 M and 1.03*10-7 M, respectively and
      superior to detection limits of the reported methods. In addition, the stability
      and reproducibility of the prepared modified electrode were investigated, and
      achieved good results.

PMID- 28602199
TI  - Guest Editorial.

PMID- 28602200
TI  - Re: Treatment Duration of Febrile Urinary Tract Infection: A Pragmatic
      Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Non-inferiority Trial in Men and
      Women.

PMID- 28602201
TI  - Re: Erik Bovinder Ylitalo, Elin Thysell, Emma Jernberg, et al. Subgroups of
      Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases Defined Through an Inverse
      Relationship Between Androgen Receptor Activity and Immune Response. Eur Urol
      2017;71:776-87.

PMID- 28602202
TI  - Re: 10-Year Outcomes After Monitoring, Surgery or Radiotherapy for Localized
      Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 28602203
TI  - Re: Women with Symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection but a Negative Urine
      Culture: PCR-based Quantification of Escherichia coli Suggests Infection in Most
      Cases.

PMID- 28602204
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Detection of Metastases in Prostate Cancer:
      Learning Lessons from History.

PMID- 28602205
TI  - Chitosan-gelatin-platelet gel composite scaffold for bone regeneration.

PMID- 28602207
TI  - Transesophageal Echocardiography for the Detection of Patent Foramen Ovale.

PMID- 28602206
TI  - Strain Rate in Children and Young Piglets Mirrors Changes in Contractility and
      Demonstrates a Force-Frequency Relationship.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In adult humans and pig models, strain rate (SR) correlates strongly
      with invasive measures of contractility but does not demonstrate a force
      frequency relationship, which is a fundamental behavior of myocardial
      contraction. Given the considerable maturational changes of the myocardium from
      fetal stages to adulthood, extrapolation of adult findings to the young heart may
      not be appropriate. We sought to evaluate the SR response of the immature heart
      to increased heart rate (HR) and inotropic stimulation. METHODS: The study
      consisted of two parts. In part 1, children without obvious structural or
      functional cardiac abnormalities were evaluated following successful
      radiofrequency ablation. Echocardiography was performed at baseline HR and then
      with atrial pacing and isoprenaline infusion titrated to achieve 130% of baseline
      HR. Left ventricular (LV) speckle tracking-derived SR and tissue Doppler
      isovolumic acceleration (IVA, a load-independent marker of contractility) were
      measured. In part 2, young piglets were submitted to atrial pacing at 200, 230,
      and 260 bpm. Invasive LV dP/dt was assessed, and speckle tracking-derived SR was
      measured at all stages. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used for
      comparison with baseline values. RESULTS: In part 1, the LV SR and IVA (septal
      and lateral) in 23 children (ages 7.8-17.5 years) increased significantly with
      pacing and isoprenaline infusion (P < .001). In part 2, SR and invasive dP/dt
      increased significantly with increasing HR in young piglets (1-17 days; P < .01
      and P < .001, respectively). Both LV SR and dP/dt plateaued at highest HRs
      concurrent with the decrease in LV end-diastolic dimension from baseline (73.0%
      +/- 9.9% of the baseline value at 260 bpm; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: SR in children
      is augmented with chronotropic and inotropic stimulation and in young infant
      piglets with chronotropic stimulation; in both children and piglets it has a
      force-frequency relationship, a behavior that is consistent with a measure of
      contractility.

PMID- 28602209
TI  - Update on GLUT4 Vesicle Traffic: A Cornerstone of Insulin Action.
AB  - Glucose transport is rate limiting for dietary glucose utilization by muscle and
      fat. The glucose transporter GLUT4 is dynamically sorted and retained
      intracellularly and redistributes to the plasma membrane (PM) by insulin
      regulated vesicular traffic, or 'GLUT4 translocation'. Here we emphasize recent
      findings in GLUT4 translocation research. The application of total internal
      reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) has increased our understanding of
      insulin-regulated events beneath the PM, such as vesicle tethering and membrane
      fusion. We describe recent findings on Akt-targeted Rab GTPase-activating
      proteins (GAPs) (TBC1D1, TBC1D4, TBC1D13) and downstream Rab GTPases (Rab8a,
      Rab10, Rab13, Rab14, and their effectors) along with the input of Rac1 and actin
      filaments, molecular motors [myosinVa (MyoVa), myosin1c (Myo1c), myosinIIA
      (MyoIIA)], and membrane fusion regulators (syntaxin4, munc18c, Doc2b).
      Collectively these findings reveal novel events in insulin-regulated GLUT4
      traffic.

PMID- 28602208
TI  - Liposomes and lipid bilayers in biosensors.
AB  - Biosensors for the rapid, specific, and sensitive detection of analytes play a
      vital role in healthcare, drug discovery, food safety, and environmental
      monitoring. Although a number of sensing concepts and devices have been
      developed, many longstanding challenges to obtain inexpensive, easy-to-use, and
      reliable sensor platforms remain largely unmet. Nanomaterials offer exciting
      possibilities for enhancing the assay sensitivity and for lowering the detection
      limits down to single-molecule resolution. In this review, we present an overview
      of liposomes and lipid bilayers in biosensing applications. Lipid assemblies in
      the form of spherical liposomes or two-dimensional planar membranes have been
      widely used in the design of biosensing assays; in particular, we highlight a
      number of recent promising developments of biosensors based on liposomes in
      suspension, liposome arrays, and lipid bilayers arrays. Assay sensitivity and
      specificity are discussed, advantages and drawbacks are reviewed, and possible
      further developments are outlined.

PMID- 28602210
TI  - Renal Allograft Outcome After Simultaneous Heart and Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease frequently accompanies end-stage heart failure and may
      result in consideration of simultaneous heart and kidney transplantation (SHKT).
      In recent years, there has been a significant increase in SHKT. This single
      center cohort consisted of 35 patients who underwent SHKT during 1996 to 2015.
      The aim of this study was to review factors that may predict better long-term
      outcome after SKHT. Thirteen patients (37%) had delayed graft function (DGF)
      after transplant (defined as the need for dialysis during the first 7 days after
      transplant), which was significantly associated with mechanical circulatory
      support device therapy and high right ventricular systolic pressure before
      transplant. Most of the recipients had glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >=50
      ml/min/1.73 m2 at 1 and 3 years after transplant (21 of 26 [81%] and 20 of 21
      [95%], respectively). Higher donor age was associated with reduced 1-year GFR (p
      = 0.017), and higher recipient pretransplant body mass index was associated with
      reduced 3-year GFR (p = 0.008). There was a significant association between DGF
      and reduced median GFR at 1 and 3 years after transplant (p <0.005). Patient
      survival rates at 6 months, 1, and 3 years after transplant were 97%, 91%, and
      86% respectively. In conclusions, our data support good outcomes after SHKT.
      Mechanical circulatory support device therapy and pulmonary hypertension before
      transplant are associated with DGF, which is a risk factor for poor long-term
      renal allograft function.

PMID- 28602211
TI  - High-dose daptomycin together with rifampin as salvage therapy for prosthetic
      joint infections.

PMID- 28602212
TI  - Differences between agalsidase alpha and agalsidase beta in the treatment of
      Fabry disease.

PMID- 28602213
TI  - Biofilm-producing fungi as emergent cause of bloodstream infections in patients
      with inflammatory bowel disease.

PMID- 28602214
TI  - "Obesity and diabetes in Spanish adults, 1987-2012" Do we consider foreigners?

PMID- 28602215
TI  - Transient antiphospholipid syndrome and splenic infarction in a patient with
      parvovirus B19 acute infection.

PMID- 28602216
TI  - Desquamating collarette.

PMID- 28602217
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28602218
TI  - Search for compounds contributing to onion-like off-flavor in beer and
      investigation of the cause of the flavor.
AB  - Onion-like off-flavor is a highly undesirable property in beer. Although several
      compounds that impart onion-like odors have been identified, the individual
      contribution of these compounds to the onion-like off-flavor in beer is not
      clear. In the present study, we searched for compounds that impart an onion-like
      odor by gas chromatography (GC)-olfactometry. The analysis of several types of
      beer revealed that 2-mercapto-3-methyl-1-butanol (2M3MB) and 3-mercapto-3-methyl
      1-butanol (3M3MB) were possible causative compounds. Based on the difference
      threshold values in beer (0.13 ng/mL for 2M3MB and 17.5 ng/mL for 3M3MB) and the
      quantification values of these compounds in beer samples, only 2M3MB was
      considered to contribute to the onion-like off-flavor in beer. A further
      formation factor analysis of 2M3MB revealed that 2M3MB was formed in hopped wort
      after fermentation, and that the concentration of 2M3MB increased following the
      hot aeration treatment of wort. These results suggest that preventing the hot
      aeration of wort is a key factor for reducing 2M3MB levels in beer. In a previous
      report, 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol (3MBol) was speculated to be the precursor of 2M3MB
      and 3M3MB; however, the results of the present quantification analysis and wort
      addition tests indicate that 3MBol did not contribute to the formation of 2M3MB
      in the brewing process and that unknown precursors of 2M3MB originated in wort.
      Identifying the precursor of 2M3MB may facilitate elucidation of the mechanism of
      2M3MB formation.

PMID- 28602219
TI  - Tranexamic acid leads to paradoxical coagulation changes during cardiac surgery:
      a pilot rotational thromboelastometry study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tranexamic acid (TXA) is increasingly used during major surgery with
      the goal to reduce excessive bleeding, transfusion requirements, and
      reexploration. Our aim was to examine the effect of TXA on coagulation at
      different times during cardiac surgery using rotational thromboelastometry.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nineteen adult males (EuroSCORE 4-5) were recruited
      consecutively for first-time cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery. Ten patients
      received TXA at anesthesia and nine received no TXA. Rotational
      thromboelastometry analysis occurred before anesthesia (baseline), after
      sternotomy, after CPB-heparinization and surgery, and after protamine
      administration-sternal closure. RESULTS: A median sternotomy had no effect on
      clot time (CT), formation, amplitude, or lysis in non-TXA patients. In contrast,
      TXA patients had twofold prolonged clotting time (all-tests) and ~30% reduced
      FIBTEM (A5-30) and maximum clot firmness, indicating reduced thrombin generation
      and lower clot fibrinogen. After CPB, CTs in both groups were prolonged, possibly
      linked to overheparinization. In addition, TXA patients had significantly
      decreased EXTEM (A5-30), suggesting lower clot strength. After protamine-sternal
      closure, clotting time remained prolonged in both groups, and TXA patients had a
      persistently 25%-33% lower FIBTEM (A5-30) and maximum clot firmness. TXA patients
      also had significantly reduced platelet numbers (37% from baseline), which
      continued Days 1 and 2. Maximum clot lysis was <10% indicating little or no
      hyperfibrinolysis during cardiac surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In this nonrandomized,
      nonblinded, observational trial, patients in the TXA group displayed prolonged
      CTs and clot fibrinogen (FIBTEM A5-30) after sternotomy, decreased clot strength
      (EXTEM) after CPB/surgery, and acute thrombocytopenia after protamine-sternal
      closure. There was no significant decrease in clot lysis, questioning the need
      for TXA in this medium-risk group.

PMID- 28602220
TI  - Inhibition of microRNA-24 increases liver fibrosis by enhanced menin expression
      in Mdr2-/- mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation remains the primary treatment for primary
      sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Mdr2-/- mice provide a reliable in vivo model of
      PSC and develop characteristic biliary inflammation and fibrosis. We tested the
      hypothesis that the tumor suppressor protein menin is implicated in the
      progression of liver fibrosis and that menin expression can be regulated in the
      liver via microRNA-24 (miR-24). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Menin expression was
      measured in human PSC and Mdr2-/- mice. Twelve-week-old FVB/NJ wild-type (WT) and
      Mdr2-/- mice were treated with miR-24 Vivo-Morpholino to knockdown miR-24
      expression levels. Liver fibrosis was evaluated by Sirius Red staining and
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for genes associated with liver
      fibrosis, such as fibronectin 1, collagen type 1 alpha 1, transforming growth
      factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), and alpha-smooth muscle actin. Studies were also
      performed in vitro using immortalized murine cholangiocyte lines treated with miR
      24 hairpin inhibitor and mimic. RESULTS: Menin gene expression was increased in
      Mdr2-/- mice and late-stage human PSC samples. Treatment of FVB/NJ WT and Mdr2-/-
      mice with miR-24 Vivo-Morpholino increased menin expression, which correlated
      with increased expression of fibrosis genes. In vitro, inhibition of miR-24 also
      significantly increased the expression of fibrosis genes. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition
      of miR-24 increases menin and TGF-beta1 expression, subsequently increasing
      hepatic fibrosis in FVB/NJ WT and Mdr2-/- mice. Modulation of the menin/miR-24
      axis may provide novel targeted therapies to slow the progression of hepatic
      fibrosis into cirrhosis in PSC patients by altering TGF-beta1 expression.

PMID- 28602221
TI  - Violent reinjury risk assessment instrument (VRRAI) for hospital-based violence
      intervention programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Violent injury is the second most common cause of death among 15- to
      24-year olds in the US. Up to 58% of violently injured youth return to the
      hospital with a second violent injury. Hospital-based violence intervention
      programs (HVIPs) have been shown to reduce injury recidivism through intensive
      case management. However, no validated guidelines for risk assessment strategies
      in the HVIP setting have been reported. We aimed to use qualitative methods to
      investigate the key components of risk assessments employed by HVIP case managers
      and to propose a risk assessment model based on this qualitative analysis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: An established academic hospital-affiliated HVIP served as
      the nexus for this research. Thematic saturation was reached with 11 semi
      structured interviews and two focus groups conducted with HVIP case managers and
      key informants identified through snowball sampling. Interactions were analyzed
      by a four-member team using Nvivo 10, employing the constant comparison method.
      Risk factors identified were used to create a set of models presented in two
      follow-up HVIP case managers and leadership focus groups. RESULTS: Eighteen key
      themes within seven domains (environment, identity, mental health, behavior,
      conflict, indicators of lower risk, and case management) and 141 potential risk
      factors for use in the risk assessment framework were identified. The most
      salient factors were incorporated into eight models that were presented to the
      HVIP case managers. A 29-item algorithmic structured professional judgment model
      was chosen. CONCLUSIONS: We identified four tiers of risk factors for violent
      reinjury that were incorporated into a proposed risk assessment instrument,
      VRRAI.

PMID- 28602222
TI  - Diabetes and hyperglycemia as risk factors for postoperative outcome in
      maxillofacial surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of complications
      in maxillofacial surgery in-patients in correlation to diabetes mellitus or a
      pathologically altered glucose metabolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients'
      electronic health records were analyzed retrospectively. Diabetes mellitus
      anamnesis, the treatment regime, blood glucose levels, and the duration of
      inpatient treatment were recorded. Glucose readings >=200 mg/dL measured at any
      time and fasting glucose levels of >=110 mg/dL were defined as hyperglycemic.
      Noted complications were infection, dehiscence, swelling, and necrosis. RESULTS:
      8.7% out of 1374 patients had a known diabetes diagnosis. 13.0% had high fasting
      glucose and 11.4% aberrant maximum glucose readings. Complications did not occur
      more often in patients with a previously known diabetes but more often in
      patients with high maximum blood glucose levels. Of these patients, only 56.3%
      were known diabetics. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes mellitus does not necessarily lead to
      higher frequency of complications in surgical patients. Moreover, patients with
      well-controlled diabetes seem to have a similar outcome compared to nondiabetics.
      Hyperglycemia however has an important impact on treatment outcome.

PMID- 28602223
TI  - Is enhanced recovery enough for reducing 30-d readmissions after surgery?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) include processes related to
      the hospital to home transfer. Little has been reported regarding readmissions in
      enhanced recovery programs. This study evaluates readmissions and identifies
      areas to optimize ERPs to prevent readmissions. METHODS: We conducted an
      observational, retrospective study at a single tertiary care center. Patients in
      an ERP for colorectal surgery were compared with a similar cohort who underwent
      surgery before protocol implementation. We evaluated 30-d readmission, compliance
      to enhanced recovery protocol, and diagnoses and patient care experiences related
      to transition of care. RESULTS: Readmission rates (17.6% versus 19.4%; P = 0.55)
      were similar. There was significant reduction in index hospitalization length of
      stay (5.3 versus 7.0 d; P < 0.001) and postoperative surgical site infection
      (7.3% versus 16.6%; P = 0.01). Although enhanced recovery was associated with
      reduced readmissions for surgical site infections (31% versus 50.7%, P = 0.02),
      there was a trend toward increased readmissions for small bowel obstruction-ileus
      (31% versus 19.1%, P = 0.13). ERPs did not impact perceptions of care
      transitions; however, those who were readmitted rated their transition lower than
      those that were not. CONCLUSIONS: Although ERPs did not reduce readmissions, the
      program was associated with reduced length of stay and surgical site infections.
      ERPs did not influence perceptions of the transition to home. Transition process
      measures aimed at reducing readmission and improving patient outcomes, including
      use of transition guides, remote vital sign and symptom monitoring, and early
      clinical follow-up have not traditionally been part of ERP protocols but should
      be considered.

PMID- 28602225
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28602224
TI  - General surgeon management of complex hepatopancreatobiliary trauma at a level I
      trauma center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of general surgeons (GS) taking trauma call on patient
      outcomes has been debated. Complex hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) injuries present
      a particular challenge and often require specialized care. We predicted no
      difference in the initial management or outcomes of complex HPB trauma between GS
      and trauma/critical care (TCC) specialists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective review of patients who underwent operative intervention for complex
      HPB trauma from 2008 to 2015 at an ACS-verified level I trauma center was
      performed. Chart review was used to obtain variables pertaining to demographics,
      clinical presentation, operative management, and outcomes. Patients were grouped
      according to whether their index operation was performed by a GS or TCC provider
      and compared. RESULTS: 180 patients met inclusion criteria. The GS (n = 43) and
      TCC (n = 137) cohorts had comparable patient demographics and clinical
      presentations. Most injuries were hepatic (73.3% GS versus 72.6% TCC) and TCC
      treated more pancreas injuries (15.3% versus GS 13.3%; P = 0.914). No significant
      differences were found in HPB-directed interventions at the initial operation
      (41.9% GS versus 56.2% TCC; P = 0.100), damage control laparotomy with temporary
      abdominal closure (69.8% versus 69.3%; P = 0.861), LOS, septic complications or
      30-day mortality (13.9% versus 10.2%; P = 0.497). TCC were more likely to place
      an intraabdominal drain than GS (52.6% versus 34.9%; P = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: We
      found no significant differences between GS and TCC specialists in initial
      operative management or clinical outcomes of complex HPB trauma. The frequent and
      proper use of damage control laparotomy likely contribute to these findings.

PMID- 28602226
TI  - Subsidies in waste management: Effective instruments or a cul-de-sac of European
      structural policies?

PMID- 28602227
TI  - Reply to the Letter to the Editor: "Quinolone-induced hypersensitivity reactions
      and the Kounis syndrome".

PMID- 28602228
TI  - Universal response to cardiac resynchronization therapy: A challenge still to be
      overcome.

PMID- 28602229
TI  - Diagnosis and following up of Meniere's disease using multifrequency tympanometry
      Cutoff values and temporal changes in measurements.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to verify cutoff values for G width (the width of
      bimodal peaks for the waveform obtained when measuring conductance at 2000Hz) in
      Japanese individuals diagnosed with Meniere's disease (MD) using multifrequency
      tympanometry (MFT) and to determine the relationship between the G width and
      ability to hear low-pitched sounds using measurements over time. METHODS: The
      study included 51 patients with clinically diagnosed MD, who had not undergone
      endolymphatic sac surgery, but had no other known ear disease (57 ears in
      patients aged 22-80 years were affected, and 45 ears in patients aged 18-83 years
      were unaffected; mean age: 53.3+/-16.9 years). We also enlisted 80 healthy
      controls with no prior history of ear disease (160 ears, aged 22-76 years, mean
      age: 40.8+/-15.7 years). MFT was used to measure the bimodal peak width of the
      waveform obtained when measuring conductance at resonance frequency of 2000Hz.
      For patients who had G width measured several times over multiple outpatient
      visits, we used initial test data to analyze cutoff values. In nine cases with
      four or more measurements over time, we evaluated a possible correlation between
      G width and the sum of the hearing threshold for three low-pitched frequencies
      (125Hz, 250Hz, and 500Hz). We used Student's t-test to determine significance.
      RESULTS: The both ears in the MD patients had a G width wider than the
      distribution in the control group. There was a significant difference between G
      width in the control group and in affected ears with MD (p=0.00026) and there was
      also a significant difference between G width in the control group and in
      unaffected ears of MD patients (p=0.0056). The cutoff value set with a
      specificity of 95% was 200daPa, with a sensitivity of 35.1% and specificity of
      95.6%. The cutoff value set with a sensitivity of 50% was 140daPa, with
      sensitivity of 50.9% and specificity of 78.8%. There was no significant
      difference between resonance frequency of ears in the control group and ears with
      MD (p=0.41). In nine cases with four or more measurements over time, a case
      showed a statistically significant positive correlation between the G width and
      hearing ability threshold for low-pitched sounds (125Hz, 250Hz, and 500Hz)
      (p=0.03), while an another case showed a tendency toward a positive correlation,
      which was not statistically significant (p=0.08). Further, there were cases that
      did not show significant differences in the present study, but might have shown a
      negative correlation if the number of measurements had been increased.
      CONCLUSION: Measurement of G width using MFT may have accuracy as the traditional
      endolymphatic hydrops test. MFT is non-invasive, causes little discomfort for
      patients, requires little time to perform, and can be performed by paramedics.
      MFT was shown to be useful in screening for MD and it is effective in diagnosing
      MD to measure the change over time of G width using MFT.

PMID- 28602230
TI  - Relationships between natural enemy diversity and biological control.
AB  - Natural enemy diversity generally strengthens biological control, but individual
      studies have found everything from positive to negative effects. We discuss the
      factors that promote these different outcomes. We argue that a trait-based
      approach is helpful to improve our understanding of the relationship between
      enemy diversity and biological control, and suggest that enemy diversity is
      likely to be particularly important as an insurance against effects of climate
      change. Future research should increase the scale and ecological realism of enemy
      diversity studies, and consider both the strength and stability of biological
      control. Such research is likely to reveal even stronger evidence that conserving
      enemy biodiversity will improve biological pest control.

PMID- 28602231
TI  - The impacts of spatial and temporal complexity across landscapes on biological
      control: a review.
AB  - Biological control is affected by the composition of landscapes surrounding
      agricultural fields. Natural enemy communities are typically more diverse, and
      effective at providing biological control services, in complex compared to simple
      landscapes. However, the use of simple metrics to characterize landscapes, such
      as the proportion of agricultural habitat, obscures the mechanisms by which
      landscapes affect biological control. Studies that evaluate the overall
      complexity of agricultural landscapes, and their temporal variability, allow for
      a greater mechanistic understanding of the impacts of landscape composition on
      biological control. From an applied perspective, decision support systems, which
      deliver real-time information about pest and natural enemy populations, are an
      effective tool for delivering recommendations to strengthen biological control
      across space and time.

PMID- 28602232
TI  - The neurobiology of gustation in insect disease vectors: progress and potential.
AB  - For insect vectors of human diseases, mealtimes are a key moment of infection.
      Understanding how and when such species decide on what to feed is both an
      interesting problem in sensory neurobiology and a source of information for
      intervention of these behaviors to control spread of infectious agents. Here I
      review the current knowledge of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of
      gustation in insect disease vectors, covering blood-feeders as well as scavengers
      that spread pathogens indirectly. I also consider how these behaviors are
      modulated over short and long timescales, and describe efforts to artificially
      modulate them. Though a relatively nascent field, gustatory neurobiology in
      insect vectors has much promise for future fundamental discoveries and practical
      applications.

PMID- 28602234
TI  - Climate change and biological control: the consequences of increasing
      temperatures on host-parasitoid interactions.
AB  - The relative thermal requirements and tolerances of hymenopteran parasitoids and
      their hosts were investigated based on published data. The optimal temperature
      (Topt) for development of parasitoids was significantly lower than that for their
      hosts. Given the limited plasticity of insect responses to high temperatures and
      the proximity of Topt to critical thermal maxima, this suggests that host
      parasitoid interactions could be negatively affected by increasing global
      temperatures. A modelling study of the interactions between the diamondback moth
      and its parasitoid Diadegma semiclausum in Australia indicated that predicted
      temperature increases will have a greater negative impact on the distribution of
      the parasitoid than on its host and that they could lead to its exclusion from
      some agricultural regions where it is currently important.

PMID- 28602233
TI  - Immunity, host physiology, and behaviour in infected vectors.
AB  - When infection alters host behaviour such that the pathogen benefits, the
      behaviour is termed a manipulation. There are several examples of this
      fascinating phenomenon in many different systems. Vector-borne diseases are no
      exception. In some instances, as the term implies, pathogens directly interfere
      with host processes to control behaviour. However, host response to infection and
      host physiology are likely to play important roles in these phenotypes. We
      highlight the importance of considering host response and physiology from recent
      work on altered host-seeking in malaria parasite-infected mosquitoes and argue
      that this general approach will provide useful insights across vector-borne
      disease systems.

PMID- 28602235
TI  - Influence of heavy metal contamination on urban natural enemies and biological
      control.
AB  - Urban agriculture is increasing worldwide. A history of contamination within
      urban landscapes may negatively impact the biota necessary for sustainable crop
      production, including arthropod natural enemies. This investigation revealed that
      heavy metal contamination can influence the composition of natural enemy
      communities and exposure can have reproductive, developmental, immunological and
      behavioral impacts on predators and parasitoids. Natural enemies exposed to heavy
      metals typically live shorter lives, take longer to develop and exhibit a reduced
      reproductive potential. Further, they may incur significant energy costs though
      the production of detoxification enzymes. This is a new and relatively unexplored
      area for biological control research, with important implications for our
      understanding of urban agricultural food web interactions.

PMID- 28602236
TI  - Scaling up our understanding of non-consumptive effects in insect systems.
AB  - Non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators on prey is an important topic in
      insect ecology with potential applications for pest management. NCEs are changes
      in prey behavior and physiology that aid in predation avoidance. While NCEs can
      have positive outcomes for prey survival there may also be negative consequences
      including increased stress and reduced growth. These effects can cascade through
      trophic systems influencing ecosystem function. Most NCEs have been studied at
      small spatial and temporal scales. However, recent studies show promise for the
      potential to manipulate NCEs for pest management. We suggest the next frontier
      for NCE studies includes manipulating the landscape of fear to improve pest
      control, which requires scaling-up to field and landscape levels, over
      ecologically relevant time frames.

PMID- 28602237
TI  - Spatial and temporal changes in the abundance and compostion of ladybird
      (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) communities.
AB  - Because of their services to agriculture most ladybirds (Coleoptera:
      Coccinellidae) are intensively studied predators of mainly phytophagous pests.
      The study of the long-term variation in the composition of their communities was
      stimulated by recent dramatic changes in the abundance of some species. We review
      and evaluate possible effects of the main causes cited in the literature.
      Agricultural and habitat changes (particularly urbanization) affect coccinellid
      abundance, both negatively and positively. In the temperate zone dominant species
      occur most frequently associated with abundant prey populations on crops, weeds
      and planted stands of trees resulting from human activity. Invasive non-native
      species of coccinellids may endanger native species through intraguild predation
      or competition for resources, but their supposed serious negative effects on
      native species can differ considerably. Climatic change may influence coccinellid
      species in several ways, including indirect effects through lower trophic levels
      and desynchronisation of the phenologies of host plants, prey and coccinellid
      populations. In the near future we do not expect climate warming to have
      important effects on ladybird diversity globally, but local changes in the
      composition of coccinellid communities and abundance of particular species could
      occur.

PMID- 28602238
TI  - Chemical signaling in mosquito-host interactions: the role of human skin
      microbiota.
AB  - Anthropophilic mosquitoes use host-derived volatile compounds for host seeking.
      Recently it has become evident that many of these compounds are of microbial
      origin. Host seeking of mosquitoes is, therefore, a tritrophic relationship and
      suggests co-evolution between blood hosts and their microbial community to the
      benefit of the mosquito. Chemical analysis of bacterial headspace resulted in
      discovery of several compounds that make up the attractive blend to which
      mosquitoes respond. Future studies should determine which host factors shape the
      skin microbial community and attractive volatiles produced. It is argued that
      skin microbial volatiles can be exploited for the control of mosquitoes and hence
      as a tool for mosquito-borne disease control and thus aid in the elimination of
      vector-borne disease.

PMID- 28602239
TI  - Effects of malaria infection on mosquito olfaction and behavior: extrapolating
      data to the field.
AB  - Vector-borne pathogens have been shown to influence behavioral and other traits
      of their hosts and vectors across multiple systems, frequently in ways that
      enhance transmission. In malaria pathosystems, Plasmodium parasites have been
      reported to alter mosquito physiology, fitness and host-seeking behavior. Such
      effects on vector behavior have obvious medical relevance given their potential
      to influence disease transmission. However, most studies detailing these effects
      have faced methodological limitations, including experiments limited to
      laboratory settings with model vector/pathogen systems. Some recent studies
      indicate that similar effects may not be observed with natural field populations;
      furthermore, it has been suggested that previously reported effects on vectors
      might be explained by immune responses elicited due to the use of pathogen-vector
      systems that are not co-evolved. In light of these developments, further work is
      needed to determine the validity of extrapolation from laboratory studies to
      field conditions and to understand how parasite effects on vectors affect
      transmission dynamics in real-world settings.

PMID- 28602240
TI  - Olfactory learning and chemical ecology of olfaction in disease vector
      mosquitoes: a life history perspective.
AB  - Mosquitoes transmit many debilitating diseases including malaria, dengue and
      Zika. Odors mediate behaviors that directly impact disease transmission (blood
      feeding) as well as life history events that contribute to mosquito survival and
      fitness (mating and oviposition, nectar foraging, larval foraging and predator
      avoidance). In addition to innate olfaction-mediated behaviors, mosquitoes rely
      on olfactory experience throughout their life to inform advantageous choices in
      many of these important behaviors. Previous reviews have addressed either the
      chemical ecology of mosquitoes, or olfactory-driven behaviors including host
      feeding or oviposition. Adding to this literature, we use a holistic life history
      perspective to integrate and compare innate and learned olfactory behavior at
      various stages of mosquito development.

PMID- 28602242
TI  - Editorial overview: Ecology: The chemical ecology of human disease transmission
      by mosquito vectors.

PMID- 28602241
TI  - Incorporating biological control into IPM decision making.
AB  - Of the many ways biological control can be incorporated into Integrated Pest
      Management (IPM) programs, natural enemy thresholds are arguably most easily
      adopted by stakeholders. Integration of natural enemy thresholds into IPM
      programs requires ecological and cost/benefit crop production data, threshold
      model validation, and an understanding of the socioeconomic factors that
      influence stakeholder decisions about biological control. These thresholds are
      more likely to be utilized by stakeholders when integrated into dynamic web-based
      IPM decision support systems that summarize pest management data and push site
      specific biological control management recommendations to decision-makers. We
      highlight recent literature on topics related to natural enemy thresholds and how
      findings may allow pest suppression services to be incorporated into advanced IPM
      programs.

PMID- 28602243
TI  - Editorial overview: Current investigations of environmental drivers and community
      interactions that influence biological control.

PMID- 28602244
TI  - Nitrates and osteoporosis: Which relationship?

PMID- 28602245
TI  - Lifestyle changes as internal medicine.

PMID- 28602246
TI  - Pressure signatures can influence tissue response for individuals supported on an
      alternating pressure mattress.
AB  - Prolonged mechanical loading can lead to the breakdown of skin and underlying
      tissues which can, in turn, develop into a pressure ulcer. The benefits of
      pressure relief and/or redistribution to minimise risk have been well documented.
      Manufacturers have developed alternating air pressure mattresses (APAMs) to
      provide periodic relief for individuals on prolonged bed-rest. The present study
      describes the development of a control system, termed Pneumatic Manager which can
      vary the signature of an APAM, namely its pressure amplitude, cell profile and
      cycle period. An experimental array was designed to investigate the effects of
      varying these parameters, particularly with respect to its ability to maintain
      skin viability in a group of five healthy volunteers lying in a supine position.
      Transcutaneous gas (TcPO2/TcPCO2) tensions at the sacrum were monitored. In
      addition, pressures and microclimate parameters at the loaded support interface
      were also measured. In the majority of test conditions the alternating support
      produced sacral TcPO2 values, which either remained relatively high or fluctuated
      in concert with cycle period providing adequate viability. However, in 46% of
      cases at the extreme pressure amplitude of 100/0 mmHg, there was compromise to
      the skin viability at the sacrum, as reflected in depressed TcPO2 levels
      associated with an elevation of TcPCO2 levels above the normal range. In all
      cases, both the humidity and temperature levels increased during the test period.
      It is interesting to note that interface pressures at the sacrum rarely exceeded
      60 mmHg. Although such studies need to be extended to involve bed-bound
      individuals, the results provide a design template for the optimum pressure
      signatures of APAM systems to ensure maintenance of skin viability during pronged
      loading.

PMID- 28602247
TI  - Different clinical features of anaphylaxis according to cause and risk factors
      for severe reactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction. Several studies
      reported different anaphylactic reactions according to the causative substances.
      However, a comparison of anaphylaxis for each cause has not been done. This study
      was conducted to identify common causes of anaphylaxis, characteristics of
      anaphylactic reaction for each cause and to analyze the factors related to the
      severity of the reaction. METHODS: Medical records of patients who visited the
      emergency room of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital from March 2003 to
      April 2016 and diagnosed with anaphylactic shock were retrospectively reviewed.
      We compared the clinical features of anaphylaxis according to the cause. In
      addition, the severity of anaphylaxis was analyzed and contributing factors for
      severe anaphylaxis were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 199 patients with
      anaphylaxis were analyzed. Food was the most common cause (49.7%), followed by
      drug reaction (36.2%), bee venom (10.1%), and unknown cause (4.0%).
      Cardiovascular symptoms of syncope and hypotension were more common in drug
      induced anaphylaxis. The incidence of severe anaphylaxis was the highest in
      anaphylaxis due to drugs (54.2%). Urticaria and other skin symptoms were
      significantly more common in food-induced anaphylaxis. Risk factors for severe
      anaphylaxis included older age, male, and drug-induced one. Epinephrine treatment
      of anaphylaxis was done for 69.7% and 56.9% of patients with food-induced and
      drug-induced anaphylaxis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: More severe anaphylaxis
      developed with drug treatment and in males. Low rate of epinephrine prescription
      was also observed. Male patients with drug induced anaphylaxis should be paid
      more attention.

PMID- 28602248
TI  - Critical assessment of chitosan as coagulant to remove cyanobacteria.
AB  - Removal of cyanobacteria from the water column using a coagulant and a ballast
      compound is a promising technique to mitigate nuisance. As coagulant the organic,
      biodegradable polymer chitosan has been promoted. Results in this study show that
      elevated pH, as may be common during cyanobacterial blooms, as well as high
      alkalinity may hamper the coagulation of chitosan and thus impair its ability to
      effectively remove positively buoyant cyanobacteria from the water column. The
      underlying mechanism is likely a shielding of the protonated groups by anions.
      Inasmuch as there are many chitosan formulations, thorough testing of each
      chitosan prior to its application is essential. Results obtained in glass tubes
      were similar to those from standard jar tests demonstrating that glass tube tests
      can be used for testing effects of coagulants and ballasts in cyanobacteria
      removal whilst allowing far more replicates. There was no relation between zeta
      potential and precipitated cyanobacteria. Given the well-known antibacterial
      activity of chitosan and recent findings of anti-cyanobacterial effects, pre
      application tests are needed to decipher if chitosan may cause cell leakage of
      cyanotoxins. Efficiency- and side-effect testing are crucial for water managers
      to determine if the selected approach can be used in tailor-made interventions to
      control cyanobacterial blooms and to mitigate eutrophication.

PMID- 28602249
TI  - Ten-year survey of cyanobacterial blooms in Ohio's waterbodies using satellite
      remote sensing.
AB  - Cyanobacterial blooms are on the rise globally and are capable of adversely
      impacting human, animal, and ecosystem health. Blooms dominated by cyanobacteria
      species capable of toxin-production are commonly observed in eutrophic
      freshwater. The presence of cyanobacterial blooms in selected Ohio lakes, such as
      Lake Erie and Grand Lake St. Marys, has been well studied, but much less is known
      about the geographic distribution of these blooms across all of Ohio's
      waterbodies. We examined the geographic distribution of cyanobacterial blooms in
      Ohio's waterbodies from 2002 to 2011, using a nested semi-empirical algorithm and
      remotely sensed data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS)
      onboard the European Space Agency's Envisat. We identified: 62 lakes, reservoirs,
      and ponds; 7 rivers; 6 marshes and wetlands; and 3 quarries with detectable
      cyanobacteria pigment (phycocyanin) concentrations. Of the 78 waterbodies
      identified in our study, roughly half (54%; n=42) have any reported in situ
      microcystins monitoring results from state monitoring programs. Further, 90% of
      the waterbodies identified reached phycocyanin pigment concentrations
      representative of levels potentially hazardous to public health. This gap in
      lakes potentially impacted by cyanobacterial blooms and those that are currently
      monitored presents an important area of concern for public health, as well as
      ecosystem health, where unknown human and animal exposures to cyanotoxins may
      occur in many of Ohio's waterbodies. Our approach may be replicated in other
      regions around the globe with potential cyanobacterial bloom presence, in order
      to assess the intensity, geographic distribution, and temporal pattern of blooms
      in lakes not currently monitored for the presence of cyanobacterial blooms.

PMID- 28602250
TI  - LSU rDNA based RFLP assays for the routine identification of Gambierdiscus
      species.
AB  - The Gambierdiscus genus is a group of benthic dinoflagellates commonly associated
      with ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), which is generally found in tropical or sub
      tropical regions around the world. Morphologically similar species within the
      genus can vary in toxicity; however, species identifications are difficult or
      sometimes impossible using light microscopy. DNA sequencing of ribosomal RNA
      genes (rDNA) is thus often used to identify and describe Gambierdiscus species
      and ribotypes, but the expense and time can be prohibitive for routine culture
      screening and/or large-scale monitoring programs. This study describes a
      restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing method based on analysis
      of the large subunit rDNA that can successfully identify at least nine of the
      described Gambierdiscus species and two Fukuyoa species. The software programs
      DNAMAN 6.0 and Restriction Enzyme Picker were used to identify a set of
      restriction enzymes (SpeI, HpyCH4IV, and TaqalphaI) capable of distinguishing
      most of the known Gambierdiscus species for which DNA sequences were available.
      This assay was tested using in silico analysis and cultured isolates, and species
      identifications of isolates assigned by RFLP typing were confirmed by DNA
      sequencing. To verify the assay and assess intra-specific heterogeneity in RFLP
      patterns, identifications of 63 Gambierdiscus isolates comprising ten
      Gambierdiscus species, one ribotype, and two Fukuyoa species were confirmed using
      RFLP typing, and this method was subsequently employed in the routine
      identification of isolates collected from the Caribbean Sea. The RFLP assay
      presented here reduces the time and cost associated with morphological
      identification via scanning electron microscopy and/or DNA sequencing, and
      provides a phylogenetically sensitive method for routine Gambierdiscus species
      assignment.

PMID- 28602251
TI  - Analysis of sterols in selected bloom-forming algae in China.
AB  - Sterols, a group of stable lipid compounds, are often used as biomarkers in
      marine biogeochemical studies to indicate sources of organic matter. In this
      study, sterols in 13 species of major bloom-forming algae in China, which belong
      to Dinophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Ulvophyceae, and Pelagophyceae, were analyzed
      with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to test their feasibility in
      representing different types of harmful algal blooms (HABs). It was found that
      (24Z)-stigmasta-5,24-dien-3beta-ol (28-isofucosterol) was a major sterol
      component in green-tide forming macroalga Ulva prolifera. In bloom-forming
      dinoflagellates Alexandrium spp., Prorocentrum micans and Scrippsiella
      trochoidea, (22E)-4alpha,23-dimethyl-5alpha-ergost-22-en-3beta-ol (dinosterol)
      was detected in addition to cholest-5-en-3beta-ol (cholesterol), (22E)-ergosta
      5,22-dien-3beta-ol, (22E)-stigmasta-5,22-dien-3beta-ol and other minor sterol
      components. In brown-tide forming pelagophyte Aureococcus anophagefferens, (24E)
      24-propylcholesta-5,24-dien-3beta-ol ((24E)-24-propylidenecholesterol) and (24Z)
      24-propylcholesta-5,24-dien-3beta-ol ((24Z)-24-propylidenecholesterol) were
      detected together with cholesterol, (22E)-stigmasta-5,22-dien-3beta-ol, stigmast
      5-en-3beta-ol and campest-5-en-3beta-ol. Among the selected bloom-forming
      diatoms, Chaetoceros sp. and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. only produced cholesterol,
      while Cylindrotheca closterium produced solely (22E)-ergosta-5,22-dien-3beta-ol.
      Sterol content in four bloom-forming algal species correlates well with their
      biomass or abundance. It's proposed that 28-isofucosterol could serve as a
      promising biomarker for green algae in green-tide studies. Dinosterol and (24Z)
      24-propylidenecholesterol can be used as potential biomarkers to represent bloom
      forming dinoflagellates and pelagophytes, while (22E)-ergosta-5,22-dien-3beta-ol
      is not a good indicator for diatoms.

PMID- 28602252
TI  - VIIRS captures phytoplankton vertical migration in the NE Gulf of Mexico.
AB  - In summer 2014, a toxic Karenia brevis bloom (red tide) occurred in the NE Gulf
      of Mexico, during which vertical migration of K. brevis has been observed from
      glider measurements. The current study shows that satellite observations from the
      Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) can capture changes in surface
      reflectance and chlorophyll concentration occurring within 2h, which may be
      attributed this K. brevis vertical migration. The argument is supported by
      earlier glider measurements in the same bloom, by the dramatic changes in the
      VIIRS-derived surface chlorophyll, and by the consistency between the short-term
      reflectance changes and those reported earlier from field-measured K. brevis
      vertical migration. Estimates using the quasi-analytical algorithm also indicate
      significant increases in both total absorption coefficient and backscattering
      coefficient in two hours. The two observations in a day from a single polar
      orbiting satellite sensor are thus shown to be able to infer phytoplankton
      vertical movement within a short timeframe, a phenomenon difficult to capture
      with other sensors as each sensor can provide at most one observation per day,
      and cross-sensor inconsistency may make interpretation of merged-sensor data
      difficult. These findings strongly support geostationary satellite missions to
      study short-term bloom dynamics.

PMID- 28602253
TI  - Understanding interactive inducible defenses of Daphnia and its phytoplankton
      prey.
AB  - Cyanobacterial and zooplankton inducible defenses are important but understudied
      process that regulate the trophic interactions of freshwater ecosystem. Daphnia
      due to its large size is considered an important zooplankton with the high
      potential to control cyanobacterial blooms. It has been shown that Daphnia
      through maternal induction transfer tolerance to their next generation against
      Microcystis toxicity. Maternal induction has been investigated in different
      Daphnia species without considering phenotypic plasticity of prey. Laboratory
      experiments were performed to explore cyanobacteria-Daphnia inducible defenses in
      order to better understand their interactions. Two Daphnia species were fed
      either with Microcystis aeruginosa PCC7806 (Ma) or Microcystis flos-aquae (Mf)
      mixed with Chlorella vulgaris (Cv) (exposed Daphnia), and or pure Cv (unexposed
      Daphnia). Exposed prey cultures were produced by prior exposure to Daphnia
      infochemicals. Neonates produced by exposed and unexposed Daphnia were fed with
      mixed diet (Microcystis+Cv) of either exposed and or unexposed prey. Growth
      parameters and toxin production of exposed prey cultures were significantly
      different than that of control. Exposed Daphnia fecundity and survival was higher
      as compared to unexposed Daphnia. Growth and reproduction was reduced in exposed
      Daphnia when fed with exposed prey as compared to those fed with unexposed prey.
      This study provides information on the interactive inducible defenses between
      cyanobacteria and its grazer under laboratory conditions and may increase our
      understanding of cyanobacteria and Daphnia interactions in the freshwater
      ecosystem.

PMID- 28602254
TI  - Formation and germination of temporary cysts of Cochlodinium polykrikoides
      Margalef (Dinophyceae) and their ecological role in dense blooms.
AB  - While the initiation and development of dense bloom of Cochlodinium polykrikoides
      have been shown to be related to some environmental factors, little is known
      about the ecological role of the formation and germination of temporary cysts,
      nor of their significance for the rapid expansion of dense regional-scale blooms.
      This study examined the factors affecting the formation and germination of
      temporary cysts of C. polykrikoides, and provides details about the germination
      process. In the laboratory experiments, C. polykrikoides produced the chain
      forming temporary cysts that are immobile and surrounded by a hyaline membrane.
      The encystment experiment indicated that darkness induces the formation of chain
      forming temporary cysts, consistent with field observation of morphology and
      fluxes of temporary cysts. Germination occurred twice from a single four-celled
      temporary cysts within 24h after exposure to light, and the germlings appeared as
      two-celled chain-forming vegetative cells. The germination behavior of temporary
      cysts of C. polykrikoides differs from that of other dinoflagellates, and this
      may be a survival strategy for the maintenance of population size during dense
      blooms.

PMID- 28602256
TI  - Rise and fall of toxic benthic freshwater cyanobacteria (Anabaena spp.) in the
      Eel river: Buoyancy and dispersal.
AB  - Benthic cyanobacteria in rivers produce cyanotoxins and affect aquatic food webs,
      but knowledge of their ecology lags behind planktonic cyanobacteria. The buoyancy
      of benthic Anabaena spp. mats was studied to understand implications for Anabaena
      dispersal in the Eel River, California. Field experiments were used to
      investigate the effects of oxygen bubble production and dissolution on the
      buoyancy of Anabaena dominated benthic mats in response to light exposure.
      Samples of Anabaena dominated mats were harvested from the South Fork Eel River
      and placed in settling columns to measure floating and sinking velocities, or
      deployed into in situ ambient and low light treatments to measure the effect of
      light on flotation. Floating and sinking occurred within minutes and were driven
      by oxygen bubbles produced during photosynthesis, rather than intracellular
      changes in carbohydrates or gas vesicles. Light experiment results showed that in
      a natural ambient light regime, mats remained floating for at least 4days, while
      in low light mats begin to sink in <24h. Floating Anabaena samples were collected
      from five sites in the watershed and found to contain the cyanotoxins anatoxin-a
      and microcystin, with higher concentrations of anatoxin-a (median 560, max
      30,693ng/gDW) than microcystin (median 30, max 37ng/gDW). The ability of Anabaena
      mats to maintain their buoyancy will markedly increase their downstream dispersal
      distances. Increased buoyancy also allows toxin-containing mats to collect along
      shorelines, increasing threats to human and animal public health.

PMID- 28602255
TI  - Adding new pieces to the Azadinium (Dinophyceae) diversity and biogeography
      puzzle: Non-toxigenic Azadinium zhuanum sp. nov. from China, toxigenic A. poporum
      from the Mediterranean, and a non-toxigenic A. dalianense from the French
      Atlantic.
AB  - The marine planktonic dinophyceaen genus Azadinium is a primary source of
      azaspiracids, but due to their small size its diversity may be underestimated and
      information on its biogeography is still limited. A new Azadinium species, A.
      zhuanum was obtained from the East China Sea and Yellow Sea of China by
      incubating surface sediments. Five strains were established by isolating single
      germinated cells and their morphology was examined with light microscopy and
      scanning electron microscopy. Azadinium zhuanum was characterized by a plate
      pattern of Po, cp, X, 4', 2a, 6'', 6C, 5S, 6''', 2'''', by a distinct ventral
      pore at the junction of Po, the first and fourth apical plates, and a conspicuous
      antapical spine. Moreover, Azadinium poporum was obtained for the first time from
      the Mediterranean by incubating surface sediment collected from Diana Lagoon
      (Corsica) and a new strain of Azadinium dalianense was isolated from the French
      Atlantic. The morphology of both strains was examined. Small subunit ribosomal
      DNA (SSU rDNA), large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) and internal transcribed
      spacer (ITS) sequences were obtained from cultured strains. In addition, LSU
      sequences were obtained by single cell sequencing of two presumable A. poporum
      cells collected from the French Atlantic. Molecular phylogeny based on
      concatenated SSU, LSU and ITS sequences revealed that A. zhuanum was closest to
      A. polongum. French A. poporum from Corsica (Mediterranean) and from the Atlantic
      showed some genetic differences but were nested within one of the A. poporum
      ribotypes together with other European strains. Azadinium dalianense from France
      together with the type strain of the species from China comprised a well resolved
      clade now consisting of two ribotypes. Azaspiracid profiles were analyzed for the
      cultured Azadinium strains using LC-MS/MS and demonstrate that the Mediterranean
      A. poporum strain produced AZA-2 and AZA-2 phosphate with an amount of 0.44fgcell
      1. Azadinium zhuanum and A. dalianense did not produce detectable AZA. Results of
      the present study support the view of a high diversity and wide distribution of
      species belonging to Azadinium. The first record of AZA-2 producing A. poporum
      from the Mediterranean suggests that this species may be responsible for
      azaspiracid contaminations in shellfish from the Mediterranean Sea.

PMID- 28602257
TI  - Cryptic diversity within the harmful dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea in coastal
      Chinese waters is related to differentiated ecological niches.
AB  - Blooms of the harmful dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea are responsible for the
      mass mortality of fish and invertebrates in coastal waters. This cosmopolitan
      species includes several genetically differentiated clades. Four clonal cultures
      were established by isolating single cells from Xiamen Harbour (the East China
      Sea) for morphological and genetic analyses. The cultures displayed identical
      morphology but were genetically different, thus revealing presence of cryptic
      diversity in the study area. New details of the apical structure complex of
      Akashiwo sanguinea were also found. To investigate whether the observed cryptic
      diversity was related to environmental differentiation, 634 cells were obtained
      from seasonal water samples collected from 2008 to 2012. These cells were
      sequenced by single-cell PCR. For comparison with Chinese material, additional
      large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences were obtained for three established strains
      from Malaysian and French waters. To examine potential ecological differentiation
      of the distinct genotypes, growth responses of the studied strains were tested
      under laboratory conditions at temperatures of 12 degrees C to 33 degrees C.
      These experiments showed four distinct ribotypes of A. sanguinea globally, with
      the ribotypes A and B co-occuring in Xiamen Harbour. Ribotype A of A. sanguinea
      was present year-round in Xiamen Harbour, but it only bloomed in the winter and
      spring, thus corresponding to the winter type. In contrast, A. sanguinea ribotype
      B bloomed only in the summer, corresponding to the summer type. This
      differentiation supports the temperature optimum conditions that were established
      for these two ribotypes in the laboratory. Ribotype A grew better at lower
      temperatures compared to ribotype B which preferred higher temperatures. These
      findings support the idea that various ribotypes of A. sanguinea correspond to
      distinct ecotypes and allopatric speciation occurred in different climatic
      regions followed by dispersal.

PMID- 28602258
TI  - Influence of genetic background, salinity, and inoculum size on growth of the
      ichthyotoxic golden alga (Prymnesium parvum).
AB  - Salinity (5-30) effects on golden alga growth were determined at a standard
      laboratory temperature (22 degrees C) and one associated with natural blooms (13
      degrees C). Inoculum-size effects were determined over a wide size range (100
      100,000cellsml-1). A strain widely distributed in the USA, UTEX-2797 was the
      primary study subject but another of limited distribution, UTEX-995 was used to
      evaluate growth responses in relation to genetic background. Variables examined
      were exponential growth rate (r), maximum cell density (max-D) and, when inoculum
      size was held constant (100cellsml-1), density at onset of exponential growth
      (early-D). In UTEX-2797, max-D increased as salinity increased from 5 to ~10-15
      and declined thereafter regardless of temperature but r remained generally stable
      and only declined at salinity of 25-30. In addition, max-D correlated positively
      with r and early-D, the latter also being numerically highest at salinity of 15.
      In UTEX-995, max-D and r responded similarly to changes in salinity - they
      remained stable at salinity of 5-10 and 5-15, respectively, and declined at
      higher salinity. Also, max-D correlated with r but not early-D. Inoculum size
      positively and negatively influenced max-D and r, respectively, in both strains
      and these effects were significant even when the absolute size difference was
      small (100 versus 1000 cells ml-1). When cultured under similar conditions, UTEX
      2797 grew faster and to much higher density than UTEX-995. In conclusion, (1)
      UTEX-2797's superior growth performance may explain its relatively wide
      distribution in the USA, (2) the biphasic growth response of UTEX-2797 to
      salinity variation, with peak abundance at salinity of 10-15, generally mirrors
      golden alga abundance-salinity associations in US inland waters, and (3) early
      cell density - whether artificially manipulated or naturally attained - can
      influence UTEX-2797 bloom potential.

PMID- 28602259
TI  - Assessment of condyle position, fossa morphology, and disk displacement in
      symptomatic patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine whether there are any
      associations between the morphology of the glenoid fossa, articular spaces, and
      disk displacement by evaluating the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of
      symptomatic patients. Gender and age were also evaluated for any effect on the
      parameters. STUDY DESIGN: MRI scans of 199 temporomandibular joints were assessed
      for the morphology of the glenoid fossa and articular spaces in both sagittal and
      coronal views. The presence of disk displacement and its type in closed-mouth and
      open-mouth positions were also assessed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey, and
      Student t tests or Mann-Whitney rank sum tests were used to investigate the
      associations among these variables. RESULTS: A total of 113 joints (56.8%) were
      presented with disk displacement. The articular spaces observed in sagittal and
      coronal views were, overall, significantly larger in males than in females in 3
      of the 6 spaces (superior, posterior, and central spaces). Larger superior and
      medial articular spaces were associated with angled glenoid fossae. Higher mean
      values of the articular space sizes were associated with normal disk position (P
      < .001), except for the anterior articular space. When displacement was
      identified, higher values of the articular space sizes were also associated with
      disk reduction in the open-mouth position (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Condyles in the
      central position in the coronal view and slightly anteriorly positioned in the
      sagittal view are less likely to present disk displacement.

PMID- 28602260
TI  - Cystic lesions of the jaws: a retrospective clinicopathologic study of 2030
      cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform an epidemiologic analysis of
      cases of jaw cysts treated from 1973 to 2012 at the Dentistry and Maxillofacial
      Surgery Unit of the Verona Hospital, Italy, and to compare the data obtained with
      those published in the literature. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective survey of 2030
      patients treated for jaw cysts from 1973 to 2012 was performed. The lesions were
      classified according to the 2005 World Health Organization histologic
      classification, and the following variables were analyzed: age, gender,
      histopathologic diagnosis, and site of onset. RESULTS: Of 2030 total lesions,
      there were 1970 odontogenic cysts (97.04%), 50 nonodontogenic cysts (2.46%), and
      10 pseudocysts (0.49%). Of the patients, 314 were children (15.47%), and 1716
      were adults (84.53%). Mean age was 37.24 years, with a male/female ratio of
      1.71:1. CONCLUSIONS: There is a wide variety of cysts, some of which are subject
      to variations according to gender, localization, and age.

PMID- 28602262
TI  - Clinical pathologic conference: acute onset malocclusion and facial pain.

PMID- 28602261
TI  - Transoral and transcutaneous approach for removal of parotid gland calculi: a 10
      year endoscopic experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and
      long-term gland function of endoscopy-assisted lithectomy for extraction of
      parotid gland calculi. STUDY DESIGN: Overall, 116 consecutive patients with
      parotid gland calculi underwent endoscopy-assisted lithectomy at our center. The
      immediate safety and effectiveness were evaluated. After surgery, the patients
      were followed up, and gland function was analyzed on the basis of clinical
      manifestations and sialography. RESULTS: Complete stone extraction was achieved
      in 110 cases (110 of 116 [94.8%]) by using a transoral (95 cases) or
      transcutaneous (15 cases) approach. At a median follow-up of 3 years, clinical
      outcomes were excellent in 86 cases (78.2%), fair in 16 cases (14.5%), and poor
      in 5 cases (4.5%). Postoperative sialographic appearance in 30 stone-free
      patients was categorized into 3 types: (1) normal (13 cases); (2) ectasia or
      stenosis in the main duct but no persistent contrast, as seen on functional films
      (10 cases); and (3) ectasia or stenosis in the main duct and persistent contrast
      evident on functional films (7 cases). CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of
      lithotripsy, appropriate application of various minimally invasive endoscopic
      procedures has confirmed safety and effectiveness for stone extraction in
      patients with parotid calculi. Sialography is a viable method for the evaluation
      of postoperative gland function.

PMID- 28602263
TI  - Immunohistochemical and histochemical characterization of intraosseous
      arteriovenous malformations of the jaws: analysis of 16 cases with emphasis on
      GLUT-1 immunophenotype.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Intraosseous vascular lesions of the craniofacial region are rare and
      may cause diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. The purpose of this study was to
      characterize 16 cases of intraosseous arteriovenous malformations (AVMs)
      affecting the jaws. STUDY DESIGN: Immunohistochemical evaluation was performed
      using antibodies against alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), desmin, CD31, D2
      40, and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1). Staining with elastic Verhoeff-Van Gieson
      and Masson trichrome histochemical stains was also performed. RESULTS: No gender
      predilection (female:male ratio = 1:1) was observed, with patients' mean age
      being 50.8 years (SD of +/-13.9; range 28-71 years). Predilection for the
      mandible was observed (12 of 16 [75%]). Immunohistochemically, diffuse
      endothelial CD31 staining was noted, and alpha-SMA strongly highlighted smooth
      muscle cells and pericytes. Desmin-positive vessels were identified in 9 of 16
      AVMs (56.3%). D2-40 was uniformly negative in all specimens. AVMs were negative
      for GLUT-1 (11 of 14 [78.6%]) except for 2 cases (2 of 14 [14.3%]) exhibiting
      focal limited cytoplasmic GLUT-1 immunoreactivity. One case was equivocal for
      GLUT-1. Masson trichrome highlighted smooth muscle cells, and elastic fibers were
      identified in thick-walled arteries. CONCLUSIONS: AVMs of the jaws generally lack
      expression of GLUT-1, similar to soft tissue vascular malformations.
      Clinicoradiographic features of intraosseous AVMs in the present study were
      consistent with the findings of previous studies, although mean age was higher.

PMID- 28602264
TI  - Head and neck radiotherapy does not increase gelatinase (metalloproteinase-2 and 
      9) expression or activity in teeth irradiated in vivo.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent studies suggested that head and neck radiotherapy increases
      active forms of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the dentin-enamel junction
      (DEJ), leading to enamel delamination and radiation-related caries. This study
      aimed to assess the expression and activity of the gelatinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 in
      the DEJ and dentin-pulp complex tissues of teeth irradiated in vivo. STUDY
      DESIGN: Thirty-six teeth were studied, including 19 irradiated and 17 non
      irradiated controls. In situ zymography was used to investigate the gelatinolytic
      activity in the micromorphologic components of enamel, DEJ, dentin-pulp complex,
      and caries. Immunohistochemical analysis was conducted on the demineralized
      samples to assess MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression levels in the DEJ, dentin-pulp
      complex components, and caries. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences
      were detected between groups in gelatinolytic activity or in MMP-2 expression
      levels (P > .05). Odontoblast MMP-9 expression was reduced in the irradiated
      group (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: The study rejected the hypothesis that MMP-2 and
      MMP-9 would be overexpressed or more activated in the DEJ and dentin-pulp complex
      of irradiated teeth. Direct effects of radiation should not be regarded as an
      independent factor for explaining radiation-related caries onset and progression.

PMID- 28602265
TI  - DIEP flap for breast reconstruction: Is abdominal fat thickness associated with
      post-operative complications?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Some surgeons consider a high body mass index (BMI) or important
      abdominal fat excess as contraindications for breast reconstruction with free
      deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap. This study aimed to identify
      factors associated with post-operative complications by using this type of flap,
      with an emphasis on BMI and abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review of 105 consecutive patients who underwent DIEP flap
      breast reconstruction at our institution was performed to assess post-operative
      complications. Among other risk factors, we specifically studied the influence of
      BMI and abdominal wall thickness on complication occurrence. Abdominal wall
      thickness was measured at 10 different points on the angio-computed tomography
      scan performed pre-operatively. RESULTS: Median age was 49.8 years (range, 27
      69); average BMI was 25.57 kg/m2 (range, 18.07-41.91). Immediate breast
      reconstruction was performed for 35% of patients, and five patients (4.7%)
      underwent bilateral reconstruction. Twenty-six patients (24.8%) presented 29 post
      operative complications; 12 concerned abdominal complications (delayed wound
      healing [n = 6] and seroma [n = 6]) and 17 were related to complications of the
      reconstructed breast (six minimal necrosis treated conservatively, eight minor
      necrosis requiring surgical debridement and three total flap loss). The
      complication rate was not correlated with increased BMI or abdominal wall
      thickness. The only factor that significantly predicts DIEP flap complications
      was pre-operative radiotherapy (odds ratio = 4.05; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: No
      significant correlation was observed between BMI of 25-35 kg/m2 or abdominal wall
      thickness and post-operative complications of the donor site or DIEP flap.
      Therefore, these factors should not be considered as contraindication criteria.

PMID- 28602266
TI  - Does negative-pressure wound therapy influence subjacent bacterial growth? A
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Negative-pressure wound therapy is a ubiquitous wound management
      resource. The influence of NPWT on the bacterial bioburden of the subjacent wound
      remains unclear. We sought to examine the evidence. DATASOURCES: MEDLINE, Embase,
      PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Cochrane Controlled
      Trials Register were searched for articles quantitatively evaluating bacterial
      load under NPWT. RESULTS: Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria
      including 4 randomised controlled trials, 8 clinical series and 12 experimental
      studies. Twenty studies evaluated conventional NPWT, while 4 evaluated
      infiltration-based NPWT. While 8 studies using conventional NPWT failed to
      demonstrate an observable effect on bacterial load, 7 studies reported that NPWT
      was inherently bacteriostatic and 5 others reported species selectivity with
      suppression of non-fermentative gram-negative bacilli (NFGNB), including
      Pseudomonas spp. Simultaneously, there was some evidence of enhanced
      proliferation of gram-positive cocci where the niche was cleared of NFGNB. Two of
      the 4 studies using infiltration-based NPWT also reported selectively impaired
      proliferation of Pseudomonas spp. CONCLUSION: The assumption that NPWT suppresses
      bacterial proliferation is oversimplified. There is evidence that NPWT exhibits
      species selectivity, suppressing the proliferation of NFGNB. However, this may
      depopulate the niche for exploitation by gram-positive cocci. This, in turn, has
      implications for the use of NPWT where highly virulent strains of gram-positive
      cocci have been isolated and the duration of NPWT therapy and frequency of
      dressing changes.

PMID- 28602268
TI  - Complications after prominent ear correction: A systematic review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is great diversity in reported post-operative outcomes for
      otoplasty, with the incidence of haematoma or infection ranging from 0% to 15.6%
      and 0%-10%, respectively. With such variability, it is difficult to determine an
      overall 'average' incidence of common post-operative complications. METHODS: A
      systematic review of the most relevant medical databases was conducted for
      studies available in English published between January 1, 2000, and December 31,
      2015. Using the dataset, pooled estimates for the incidence of the primary and
      secondary outcomes were calculated for all included studies. The primary outcome
      was haematoma and/or bleeding incidence, and the secondary outcomes included
      infection, skin/wound healing problems, suture-related problems, scarring, pain
      and itching, and revision surgeries/recurrence. Comparable sub-group analysis of
      studies was also performed using calculated pooled proportions. RESULTS: After
      screening, 28 articles involving 3493 patients were included in the study. Pooled
      proportions revealed that haematoma and/or bleeding incidence was 2.5% (95% CI:
      1.4-3.8%), infection 0.8% (95% CI: 0.4-1.3%), skin/wound healing problems 3% (95%
      CI: 1.4-5.1%), suture-related problems 1.8% (95% CI: 0.8-3.2%), scarring 1.6%
      (95% CI: 0.8-2.6%), pain and itching 13% (95% CI: 5.4-23.1%) and revision
      surgeries/recurrence 5% (95% CI: 2.9-7.7%). CONCLUSIONS: By pooling proportions
      of reported complications, the results of this study could be useful in the
      personal audit of practice and will be a point of reference for comparing novel
      surgical techniques in the future.

PMID- 28602267
TI  - Post-reconstruction dermatitis of the breast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately one-third of women diagnosed with breast cancer undergo
      mastectomy with subsequent implant-based or autogenous tissue-based
      reconstruction. Potential complications include infection, capsular contracture,
      and leak or rupture of implants with necessity for explantation. Skin rashes are
      infrequently described complications of patients who undergo mastectomy with or
      without reconstruction. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of breast cancer
      patients referred to the Dermatology Service for diagnosis and management of a
      rash post-mastectomy and expander or implant placement or transverse rectus
      abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap reconstruction was performed. Parameters
      studied included reconstruction types, time to onset, clinical presentation,
      associated symptoms, results of microbiologic studies, management, and outcome.
      RESULTS: We describe 21 patients who developed a rash on the skin overlying a
      breast reconstruction. Average time to onset was 25.7 months after expander
      placement or TRAM flap reconstruction. Clinical presentations included macules
      and papules or scaly, erythematous patches and plaques. Five patients had
      cultures of the rash, which were all negative. Skin biopsy was relatively
      contraindicated in areas of skin tension, and was reserved for non-responding
      eruptions. Treatments included topical corticosteroids and topical antibiotics,
      which resulted in complete or partial responses in all patients with documented
      follow-ups. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that tension and post-surgical
      factors play a causal role in this hitherto undescribed entity: "post
      reconstruction dermatitis of the breast." This is a manageable condition that
      develops weeks to years following breast reconstruction. Topical corticosteroids
      and antibiotics result in restoration of skin barrier integrity and decreased
      secondary infection.

PMID- 28602270
TI  - Global pollution....Time to act.

PMID- 28602269
TI  - Sensory outcomes following brachial plexus birth palsy: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP) affects approximately 1.5 in 1000
      live births and can lead to significant functional impairment and reduced quality
      of life. To date, studies have focused on grading motor function and strength to
      assess patient outcomes, with less attention paid to sensory recovery. The
      authors aimed to systematically review the current literature on sensory outcomes
      following BPBP. METHODS: A systematic review of the best evidence available
      assessing sensory outcomes following BPBP was conducted. Two independent
      reviewers used a predefined search strategy to query Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      and Web of Science databases. Articles written in English reporting sensory
      outcomes in patients with BPBP, such as tactile sensation, pain, and
      proprioception, were included for review. A kappa score was calculated to ensure
      reviewer agreement. RESULTS: Twenty-nine reports with 1647 cases were included.
      Tactile sensation was most frequently assessed (75.9%), followed by pain (44.8%)
      and proprioception (17.2%). Among all cases included in the analysis, 75.8% of
      articles were found to have patients with suboptimal results in sensory outcomes.
      The majority of articles (86.2%) were case series or case reports; no level 1 or
      2 evidence studies were identified. CONCLUSION: Sensory outcomes are
      underreported following BPBP, and significant deficits and neuropathic pain are
      not uncommon and likely underappreciated in this patient population. The current
      report underscores the need for prospective studies that look beyond motor
      recovery alone and evaluate sensory outcomes following BPBP.

PMID- 28602271
TI  - Animal, Microbial, and Fungal Borne Skin Pathology in the Mountain Wilderness: A
      Review.
AB  - Mountains are home to numerous organisms known to cause skin disease. Bites,
      stings, poisons, chemicals, toxins, trauma, and infections all contribute to this
      end. Numerous plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa are
      responsible. This paper aims to review skin illness and injury sustained from
      organisms in the mountains of North America. Other factors such as increased
      ultraviolet radiation, temperature extremes, and decreasing atmospheric pressure
      along with human physiologic parameters, which contribute to disease severity,
      will also be discussed. After reading this review, one should feel more
      comfortable identifying potentially harmful organisms, as well as diagnosing,
      treating, and preventing organism-inflicted skin pathology sustained in the high
      country.

PMID- 28602272
TI  - Prevention of Friction Blisters in Outdoor Pursuits: A Systematic Review.
AB  - The purpose of this systematic review was to determine if sock, antiperspirant,
      or barrier strategies were effective in prevention of friction blisters in
      wilderness and outdoor pursuits. A search of PubMed and EMBASE was conducted.
      Title, abstract, and full text articles were screened by 2 authors using
      predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify prospective controlled
      trials investigating prevention methods for friction blisters involving the foot.
      Only blisters associated with wilderness and outdoor pursuits (running, hiking,
      marching, etc.) were considered. Extraction of a predetermined data set was
      accomplished using a piloted form. Confidence in effect estimates were determined
      utilizing the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network methodology checklist.
      Literature search resulted in 806 discrete articles. After screening, 11 studies
      were identified for inclusion in systematic review. Included studies investigated
      5 sock, 3 antiperspirant, and 3 barrier strategies. Only 2 articles were
      determined to have moderate confidence in effect estimate. Clinical and
      methodologic diversity precluded meta-analysis. Despite the high frequency,
      discomfort, and associated cost there is a paucity of high-quality quality
      evidence in support of socks, antiperspirants, or barriers for the prevention of
      friction blisters. Moderate confidence in effect estimate suggests that paper
      tape may be an effective form of barrier prevention.

PMID- 28602273
TI  - Prevalence of Clostridium difficile infection in acute care hospitals, long-term
      care facilities, and outpatient clinics: Is Clostridium difficile infection
      underdiagnosed in long-term care facility patients?
AB  - Clostridium difficile infection is a common cause of diarrhea in long-term care
      facility (LTCF) patients. The high prevalence of C difficile infection in LTCFs
      noted in our study calls for a critical need to educate LTCF staff to send
      diarrheal stool for C difficile testing to identify more cases and prevent
      transmission.

PMID- 28602274
TI  - Impact of an electronic sepsis initiative on antibiotic use and health care
      facility-onset Clostridium difficile infection rates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although integrated, electronic sepsis screening and treatment
      protocols are thought to improve patient outcomes, less is known about their
      unintended consequences. We aimed to determine if the introduction of a sepsis
      initiative coincided with increases in broad-spectrum antibiotic use and health
      care facility-onset (HCFO) Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) rates. METHODS:
      We used interrupted time series data from a large, tertiary, urban academic
      medical center including all adult inpatients on 4 medicine wards (June 2011-July
      2014). The main exposure was implementation of the sepsis screening program; the
      main outcomes were the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (including 3 that were
      part of an order set designed for the sepsis initiative) and HCFO CDI rates.
      Segmented regression analyses compared outcomes in 3 time segments: before (11
      months), during (14 months), and after (12 months) implementation of a sepsis
      initiative. RESULTS: Antibiotic use and HFCO CDI rates increased during the
      period of implementation and the period after implementation compared with
      baseline; these increases were highest in the period after implementation (level
      change, 50.4 days of therapy per 1,000 patient days for overall antibiotic use
      and 10.8 HCFO CDIs per 10,000 patient days; P < .05). Remarkably, the main
      drivers of overall antibiotic use were not those included in the sepsis order
      set. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of an electronic sepsis screening and
      treatment protocol coincided with increased broad-spectrum antibiotic use and
      HCFO CDIs. Because these protocols are increasingly used, further study of their
      unintended consequences is warranted.

PMID- 28602275
TI  - Alcohol fixation of bacteria to surgical instruments increases cleaning
      difficulty and may contribute to sterilization inefficacy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol is frequently inappropriately used on surgical instruments to
      reduce bacterial contamination, but fixes protein to stainless steel. Here we
      compare the effect of air drying, prolonged soaking in water, and alcohol
      treatment on cleaning difficulty of contaminated forceps. METHODS: Haltsted
      mosquito forceps were contaminated with only Staphylococcus aureus. Instruments
      were air-dried for 10 (control), 75, or 240 minutes, soaked in water, or air
      dried then treated with ethanol or isopropanol for 10 seconds. All instruments
      were prewashed for 15 minutes. Forceps contaminated with blood and S aureus or
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa were dried and then sprayed or wiped with ethanol, and
      prewashed. Bacterial viability and soiling were determined by standard plate
      culture and crystal violet staining, respectively. RESULTS: Soaking or spraying
      instruments with alcohol significantly reduced viable bacterial numbers, but
      significantly increased soil attached to forceps, as did air drying. Wiping
      instruments with alcohol had little effect on bacterial viability, but increased
      cleaning difficulty. Soaking in water for 75 or 240 minutes increased cleaning
      difficulty perhaps due to bacterial attachment to forceps. CONCLUSIONS: Treating
      contaminated instruments with alcohol, allowing them to dry, or allowing them to
      soak in water for prolonged periods increases cleaning difficulty and should be
      discouraged.

PMID- 28602276
TI  - Fungal aerocontamination exposure risk for patients in 3 successive locations of
      a pediatric hematology unit department: Influence of air equipment and building
      structure on air quality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) play an important role in the
      mortality of immunocompromised patients. The pediatric hematology department
      (PHD) at Besancon University Hospital has relocated 3 times: (1) from a building
      without an air filtration system (B1), (2) to a renovated building with low air
      pressure (B2), and (3) to a new building with high air pressure and high
      efficiency particulate air filters (B3). This study aimed to investigate how
      these relocations influenced the fungal exposure risk for the PHD's patients.
      METHODS: Air samples were taken monthly in patient rooms and weekly in corridors.
      The detection of opportunistic fungi species was used to assess IFI risk. Data
      were analyzed using univariate and multivariate random-effects negative binomial
      regression. RESULTS: A total of 1,074 samples from 29 rooms over a 10-year period
      showed that renovation of an old building with a basic ventilation system did not
      lead to a significant improvement of air quality (P = .004, multivariate
      analysis). Among factors linked to higher risk of patient rooms mold
      contamination was fungal contamination of the corridors (P <.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      This study demonstrates that corridors can be used as reliable sentinel to
      prevent fungal contamination in patient rooms. Only relocation in building B3,
      equipped with laminar air flow, achieved adequate air quality.

PMID- 28602277
TI  - Development and validation of an asthma first aid knowledge questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no gold standard outcome assessment for asthma first-aid
      knowledge. We therefore aimed to develop and validate an asthma first-aid
      knowledge questionnaire (AFAKQ) to be used before and after educational
      interventions. METHODS: The AFAKQ was developed based on a content analysis of
      existing asthma knowledge questionnaires and current asthma management
      guidelines. Content and face validity was performed by a review panel consisting
      of expert respiratory physicians, researchers and parents of school aged
      children. A 21 item questionnaire was then pilot tested among a sample of
      caregivers, health professionals and pharmacy students. Exploratory Factor
      analysis was performed to determine internal consistency. RESULTS: The initial 46
      item version of the AFAKQ, was reduced to 21 items after revision by the expert
      panel. This was then pilot tested amongst 161 participants and further reduced to
      14 items. The exploratory factor analysis revealed a parsimonious one factor
      solution with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.77 with the 14 item AFAKQ. CONCLUSION: The
      AFAKQ is a valid tool ready for application in evaluating the impact of
      educational interventions on asthma first-aid knowledge.

PMID- 28602278
TI  - The next phase in professional services research: From implementation to
      sustainability.
AB  - The provision of professional pharmacy services has been heralded as the
      professional and the economic future of pharmacy. There are different phases
      involved in a service creation including service design, impact evaluation,
      implementation and sustainability. The two first phases have been subject to
      extensive research. In the last years the principles of Implementation science
      have been applied in pharmacy to study the initial uptake and integration of
      evidence-based services into routine practice. However, little attention has been
      paid to the sustainability of those services, during which there is a continued
      use of the service previously implemented to achieve and sustain long-term
      outcomes. The objective of this commentary is to describe the differences and
      common characteristics between the implementation and the sustainability phase
      and to propose a definition for pharmacy. A literature search was performed. Four
      critical elements were identified: 1. The aim of the implementation phase is to
      incorporate new services into practice, the sustainability phase's aim is to make
      the services routine to achieve and sustain long-term benefits 2. At the
      implementation phase planned activities are used as a process to integrate the
      new service, at the sustainability phase there is a continuous improvement of the
      service 3. The implementation phase occurs during the period of time between the
      adoption of a service and its integration. Some authors suggest the
      sustainability phase is a concomitant phase with the implementation phase and
      others suggest it is independent 4. There is a lack of consensus regarding the
      duration of each phase. The following definition of sustainability for pharmacy
      services is proposed: "Sustainability is a phase in the process of a professional
      pharmacy service, in which the service previously integrated into practice during
      the implementation phase is routinized and institutionalized over time to achieve
      and sustain the expected service outcomes". An agreement on a definition will
      facilitate an understanding of when the profession has reached this ultimate
      goal.

PMID- 28602279
TI  - An ELISA immunoassay employing a conserved Leishmania hypothetical protein for
      the serodiagnosis of visceral and tegumentary leishmaniasis in dogs and humans.
AB  - In the present study, a conserved Leishmania hypothetical protein, namely LiHypA,
      was evaluated for the serodiagnosis of visceral and tegumentary leishmaniasis in
      dogs and humans. This protein showed a high amino acid sequence homology between
      viscerotropic and cutaneotropic Leishmania species. An enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using the recombinant antigen
      (rLiHypA), in addition to the A2 protein and two parasite antigenic preparations,
      which were used as controls. Regarding human diagnosis, results showed that
      rLiHypA was more sensitive and specific than ELISA-L. braziliensis SLA in
      detecting both cutaneous or mucosal leishmaniasis patients, but not those from
      Chagas disease patients or healthy subjects. Regarding canine diagnosis, this
      recombinant antigen showed higher sensitivity and specificity values, as well as
      a perfect accuracy to identify asymptomatic and symptomatic visceral
      leishmaniasis (VL) in dogs, but not those from vaccinated animals or those
      developing babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, or Chagas disease. However, using the rA2
      protein or L. braziliensis SLA as controls, significant cross-reactivity was
      found when these samples were used, hampering their sensitivity and specificity
      values for the diagnosis. In this context, LiHypA could be considered a candidate
      to be evaluated for the serodiagnosis of visceral and tegumentary leishmaniasis
      in dogs and humans.

PMID- 28602280
TI  - Mechanism of surface plasmon resonance sensing by indirect competitive inhibition
      immunoassay using Au nanoparticle labeled antibody.
AB  - We investigated the use of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor using an
      antibody (Ab) labeled with Au-nanoparticle (Ab-AuNP conjugate). As clenbuterol is
      a small molecule, an indirect competitive inhibition immunoassay was used. The
      SPR immunoassay using Ab-AuNP conjugate had an extremely low limit of the
      detection (LOD) with a magnitude of 0.05 ppt (0.05pgmL-1), which was 40 times
      lower than that of unlabeled Ab. To identify the key factor in determining the
      LOD of the indirect competitive inhibition immunoassay, affinity constants of the
      surface immunoreaction (K1) and of the premixed solution (alphaK2) were
      evaluated. We found that the dielectric constant change due to AuNP labeling of
      Ab did not affect on the affinity constants, because all the amplification
      magnitude terms canceled out in the equations. Thus, the K1 and alphaK2 values
      were determined to 3.0*1011M-1 and 2.9*1012M-1, respectively, which were three
      and four orders of magnitude higher, respectively, than those of unlabeled Ab.
      The simulation plot of LOD with respect to K1 and alphaK2 showed that a K1 one
      order of magnitude lower than alphaK2 produced a ppt level LOD. Because the
      affinity constants are determined by the molar concentrations of reactant and
      product, the molar mass of the Ab or Ab-AuNP conjugate in the sample solution
      containing 1ppm (1MUgmL-1) highly affects the constants. Consequently, molar mass
      adjustment can be used to adjust the LOD in an indirect competitive inhibition
      immunoassay as needed for a practical application.

PMID- 28602281
TI  - On-line gaseous formaldehyde detection by a microfluidic analytical method based
      on simultaneous uptake and derivatization in a temperature controlled annular
      flow.
AB  - This paper is focused on the improvement of a microfluidic analytical method for
      the detection of low airborne formaldehyde concentrations, based on only two
      distinct steps permitting to reduce the response time and to improve the
      compactness of the device. First, gaseous formaldehyde is trapped into an
      acetylacetone solution at 65 degrees C through an annular liquid/gas flow and
      reacts immediately to form 3,5-Diacetyl-1,4-dihydrolutidine which is then
      quantified by colorimetry using a liquid core waveguide (LCW). To obtain an
      annular flow, 3 different hydrophilic silica capillaries of 320, 450 and 530um ID
      were tested and the corresponding phase diagrams were obtained in the ranges of
      liquid and gas flows of 5-35uLmin-1 and 5-35mLmin-1 respectively. Finally, the
      analytical performances were determined using the lowest flow values of 5uLmin-1
      and 5NmLmin-1, ensuring an annular flow and increasing the microdevice autonomy.
      If the uptake yield of gaseous formaldehyde into the solution was close to 100%,
      only the 530um ID capillary permits to obtain a reaction time long enough for a
      full conversion of formaldehyde into 3,5-Diacetyl-1,4-dihydrolutidine. With a LCW
      pathlength of 5cm, the microdevice response was perfectly linear in the range 0
      154ugm-3 with a detection limit of 1.8ugm-3.

PMID- 28602282
TI  - Multi-class determination of undesirables in aquaculture samples by gas
      chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure chemical
      ionization: A novel approach for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
AB  - In this work, a method for the analysis of 24 PAHs in 19 different matrices,
      including fish tissues, feeds and feed ingredients, has been developed using gas
      chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry with
      atmospheric pressure chemical ionization source (GC-APCI-MS/MS). The method is
      based on a modification of the unbuffered QuEChERS method, using freezing as an
      additional clean-up step and applying a 20-fold dilution factor to the final
      extract. The procedure was also tested for 15 pesticides and 7 polychlorinated
      biphenyl (PCB) congeners in order to widen the scope of the method. The excellent
      sensitivity and selectivity provided by GC-APCI-MS/MS allowed the dilution of the
      sample extracts and quantification using calibration with standards in solvent
      for all the 19 matrices tested. The developed method was evaluated at 2, 5 and
      50ngg-1 spiking levels. LOQs were 2ngg-1 for most compounds, and LODs ranged from
      0.5 to 2ngg-1. Analysis of real-world samples revealed the presence of
      naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene at concentration
      levels ranging from 4.8 to 187ngg-1. No PCBs, DDTs and pesticides were found in
      fillets from salmon and sea bream.

PMID- 28602283
TI  - Screening method for the detection of residues of amphenicol antibiotics in
      bovine, ovine and porcine kidney by optical biosensor.
AB  - An immunobiosensor assay was developed for the multi-residue screening of the
      parent amphenicols, thiamphenicol and florfenicol, along with the metabolite
      florfenicol amine, in bovine, ovine and porcine kidney. A polyclonal antiserum
      raised in a rabbit after inoculation with a florfenicol amine-protein conjugate
      was employed in the assay. Sample homogenates were extracted directly into
      acetonitrile, reconstituted in buffer and diluted prior to biosensor analysis.
      Validation data obtained from the analysis of fortified samples has shown that
      the method has a detection capability (CCbeta) of less than 25ugkg-1 (1/2 MRL)
      for thiamphenicol in the kidney of all three species, less than 150ugkg-1(1/2
      MRL) for florfenicol and florfenicol amine and less than 250ugkg-1 (1/2 MRL) for
      florfenicol and florfenicol amine in bovine/ovine and porcine kidney
      respectively. Intra-assay variation (n=10) was calculated at 4.5% and 2.6% at
      concentrations of 10ugkg-1 and 150ugkg-1respectively for bovine kidney while
      inter-assay variation (n=3) was determined to be 5.0% and 16.5% respectively at
      the same concentrations. The cross-reactivity profile and validation data for the
      detection of these amphenicols is presented together with the results obtained
      following the analysis of florfenicol incurred samples using the developed
      method.

PMID- 28602284
TI  - A new "turn-on" fluorescent sensor based on gold quantum dots and silver
      nanoparticles for lamotrigine detection in plasma.
AB  - A simple and rapid method for the quantification of lamotrigine (LTG) was
      developed using 4-aminothiophenol-stabilized gold quantum dots (4-ATP-AuQDs) and
      amidosulfonic acid-capped silver nanoparticles (ASA-AgNPs) as a new fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer (FRET) probe. 4-ATP-AuQDs and ASA-AgNPs were
      synthesized and characterized by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, and
      transmission electron microscopy. Since the emission spectra of 4-ATP-AuQDs have
      good overlaps with the absorption spectra of ASA-AgNPs, the fluorescence of the
      AuQDs was significantly quenched in the presence of AgNPs as a result of FRET.
      However, when LTG was added, a significant fluorescence enhancement was observed
      owing to the remarkable aggregation of ASA-AgNPs, which could take ASA-AgNPs away
      from 4-ATP-AuQDs. This method could selectively detect LTG with a detection limit
      of 4.0ngmL-1 in standard aqueous solution and good linearity was obtained over
      the range 0.02-0.5ugmL-1 (R=0.9989). The proposed method was successfully applied
      for the determination of LTG in spiked human plasma samples with a limit of
      detection of 0.3ugmL-1 and a linear range of 0.5-6.0ugmL-1. The method was also
      successfully applied to quantify LTG in real plasma samples from epileptic
      patients receiving LTG.

PMID- 28602285
TI  - Electrochemical preparation of standard solutions of Pb(II) ions in ionic liquid
      for analysis of hydrophobic samples: The olive oil case.
AB  - In this paper we present an electrochemical approach to prepare standard
      solutions of metal ions in a room temperature ionic liquid (IL), which can find
      useful application for analysis in hydrophobic matrices. The method, developed
      here for the case of lead ions, is based on the galvanostatic dissolution of a
      lead anode dipped directly in a suitable IL, namely tri
      hexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide
      ([P14,6,6,6]+[NTf2]-). After each oxidation step, the metal dissolution process
      in the IL solutions was monitored by cyclic voltammetric measurements at a glassy
      carbon disk electrode. The results indicated that the peak current relevant to
      the reduction of the electro-generated Pb(II) increased linearly while increasing
      the oxidation time. By varying the oxidation time from 200 to 6000s, a set of
      Pb(II)/[P14,6,6,6]+[NTf2]- solutions at concentrations ranging between 10 and
      300MUgg-1 was prepared. To validate the efficiency of the electrochemical
      procedure to produce metal ion standard solutions, the Pb content was quantified
      by developing a microwave digestion procedure specifically suitable for the IL
      medium, followed by ICP-QMS analysis in the digested standards. The results
      indicated a satisfactory agreement between concentrations found by ICP-QMS and
      calculated from electrochemical data, with a coulometric efficiency of Pb(II)
      generation in ionic liquid >=95.6%. Finally, the applicability of the Pb(II)/IL
      solutions as standards for analyses in hydrophobic media was tested by
      determining, by ICP-QMS, the Pb content in an extra-virgin olive oil spiked with
      known amounts of a Pb(II)/IL standard. Satisfactory Pb recoveries, >=96%, were
      measured.

PMID- 28602286
TI  - Studying radiolytic ageing of nuclear power plant electric cables with FTIR
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Due to the willingness to extend the nuclear power plants length of life, it is
      of prime importance to understand long term ageing effect on all constitutive
      materials. For this purpose gamma-irradiation effects on insulation of
      instrumentation and control cables are studied. Mid-infrared spectroscopy and
      principal components analysis (PCA) were used to highlight molecular
      modifications induced by gamma-irradiation under oxidizing conditions. In order
      to be closer to real world conditions, a low dose rate of 11Gyh-1 was used to
      irradiate insulations in full cable or alone with a dose up to 58 kGy. Spectral
      differences according to irradiation dose were extracted using PCA. It was then
      possible to observe different behaviors of the insulation constitutive compounds
      i.e. ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and
      aluminium trihydrate (ATH). Irradiation of insulations led to the oxidation of
      their constitutive polymers and a modification of filler-polymer ratio. Moreover
      all these modifications were observed for insulations alone or in full cable
      indicating that oxygen easily diffuses into the material. Spectral contributions
      were discussed considering different degradation mechanisms.

PMID- 28602287
TI  - Optimization of plasma sampling depth and aerosol gas flow rates for single
      particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis.
AB  - We performed experiments to assess the separate and also the combined effect of
      the sampling depth and the aerosol gas flow rates on the signal formation in
      single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS)
      measurements by using dispersions containing Ag and Au NPs. It was found that the
      NP signal can significantly be improved by the optimization of the sampling
      depth. With respect to the "robust" setting, a signal improvement of nearly 100%
      could be achieved, which translates into a 25-30% improvement in size detection
      limits. It was also found that the shape of the spICP-MS signal histograms also
      change with the change of the plasma sampling depth. It was demonstrated that
      nanoparticle peak separation can also be significantly enhanced by using sampling
      depth optimization. The effect of the aerosol dilution gas flow, now standard in
      most ICP-MS instruments, on the spICP-MS signal formation was also studied for
      the first time in the literature, as this flow was hoped to make spICP-MS
      measurements more practical and faster via the on-line dilution of the aerosol
      generated from nano-dispersions. Our experimental results revealed that the
      dilution gas flow can only be used for a moderate aerosol dilution in spICP-MS
      measurements, if the gas flow going to the pneumatic nebulizer is proportionally
      lowered at the same time. This however was found to cause a significant worsening
      in the operation of the sample introduction system, which gives rise to a strong
      NP signal loss. Thus it was concluded that the use of the aerosol dilution gas
      flow, in its present form, can not be suggested for spICP-MS analysis.

PMID- 28602288
TI  - Low-cost colorimetric assay of biothiols based on the photochemical reduction of
      silver halides and consumer electronic imaging devices.
AB  - This work describes a new approach for the determination of free biothiols in
      biological fluids that exploits some of the basic principles of early
      photographic chemistry - that was based on silver-halide recording materials -
      and uses broadly-available imaging devices (i.e. flatbed scanners) as detectors.
      Specifically, the proposed approach relies on the ability of biothiols to bind to
      silver ions and dissociate the silver halide crystals thus changing the
      photosensitivity of silver halide crystal suspension. The changes induced by
      biothiols on the light intensity transmitted through the silver halide
      suspension, after photochemical reduction, were measured with a simplified
      photometric approach that employs a flatbed scanner operating in transmittance
      mode. The overall analytical procedure for the determination of biothiols was
      easily executable, fast and could be applied with inexpensive and commercially
      available materials and reagents. What is more, physiologically relevant biothiol
      levels could be inspected even by the unattended eye. The developed assay was
      successfully applied to the determination of biothiols in urine and blood plasma
      samples with detection limits as low as 10MUM, satisfactory recoveries (92-97%),
      good reproducibility (6.7-8.8%) and high selectivity against other major
      components of biological fluids. The utility of the method to the determination
      of reduced/oxidized thiol ratio's as well as its application under natural light
      illumination, without external energy sources, was also demonstrated and is
      discussed with regard to point-of need applications in facility-limited settings.

PMID- 28602289
TI  - Fabrication of polyaniline/silver composite coating as a dual-functional platform
      for microextraction and matrix-free laser desorption/ionization.
AB  - Polyaniline/silver (PANI/Ag) composites were prepared with a one-step synthesis
      method, and fabricated into solid-phase microextraction fiber coatings through
      three different means, i.e. in situ growth, gluing and chemical bonding. This
      work explored the utility of the as-fabricated PANI/Ag SPME fibers as dual
      functional platforms for microextraction and matrix-free laser
      desorption/ionization (LDI) of the target analyte. The results showed that after
      incorporating Ag into the PANI polymer, the LDI efficiency was improved by over
      two times, which was 92.8% the LDI efficiency of the commercial LDI plate. In
      addition, the in situ grown fiber coatings were observed the most sensitive as
      dual platforms for the analysis of bifenthrin. The signal intensity was increased
      over twenty times by using in situ grown fiber, comparing to direct analysis with
      commercial LDI plate, which were attributed to the excellent extraction ability
      of PANI backbone, as well as the high LDI efficiency of the PANI/Ag composites.
      Low detection limit (lower than 10ngL-1) and good fiber-to-fiber repeatability
      (relative standard deviation 11.0%, n=3) were obtained by using the in situ grown
      coating for the analysis of bifenthrin, and bifenthrin in real water samples was
      successfully analyzed. The work successfully coupled SPME with matrix-free LDI,
      which greatly simplified the analytical process and improved the analytical
      sensitivity.

PMID- 28602290
TI  - A sensitive and disposable electrochemical immunosensor for detection of SOX2, a
      biomarker of cancer.
AB  - A novel, sensitive, disposable indium tin oxide (ITO)-based electrochemical
      immunosensor was developed firstly for simple, rapid determination of Sex
      determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2). SOX2 is a cancer biomarker and used for
      detecting small cell lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma,
      skin cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. In this study, a disposable ITO
      thin film based electrode was used as working electrode for biosensing the
      interaction between SOX2 antigen and anti-SOX2 antibody. In this study,
      carboxyethylsilanetriol (CTES) was also utilized for electrode modifying so as to
      obtain self-assembled monolayers. The formed self-assembled monolayers were
      activated with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC)/N
      hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) chemistry and they were used as a heterobifunctional
      crosslinker and activator, respectively. Anti-SOX2 antibody was used as a
      biorecognition molecule and was covalently immobilized onto the ITO thin film
      modified with CTES. Immobilization steps were characterized by electrochemical
      impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force
      microscopy (AFM). The optimum immobilization conditions such as antibody
      concentration, antibody and antigen incubation times were examined for the best
      sensitivity of the immunosensor. Under optimal conditions, this immunosensor had
      a wide linear detection range (25fg/mL-2pg/mL) with a detection limit as low as
      7fg/mL SOX2. Furthermore, the developed SOX2 immunosensor had good storage
      stability (79.36% of initial activity after 9 weeks), repeatability (3.88% of
      RSD) and reproducibility (4.25% of RSD). Our developed immunosensor has an
      acceptable performance for detection of SOX2 antigen, exhibits low detection
      limit, and has selective and reproducible results in immunoreaction analysis.

PMID- 28602291
TI  - Facile and sensitive fluorescence sensing of alkaline phosphatase activity using
      NMM/G-quadruplex.
AB  - Herein, we are presenting an approach that utilizes the lambda exonuclease
      (lambda exo) cleavage reaction in combination with the formation of G-quadruplex,
      thereby providing a label-free fluorometric tool for simply and accurately
      determining alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and inhibition. A hairpin probe
      (HP) with 5'-phosphoryl termini and 3'-end containing a G-rich region, is
      designed. Taking advantage of the efficient enzyme reactions, namely the lambda
      exo cleavage reaction, the G-rich DNA fragment is released from HP and folds into
      a stable G-quadruplex in the presence of potassium ions, thus greatly enhance the
      fluorescence of N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) (a specific G-quadruplex binder).
      However, in the presence of ALP, the 5'-phosphoryl of the HP is dephosphorylated.
      The yielding 5'-hydroxyl end product hampers the lambda exo cleavage reaction. HP
      maintains its stem-loop structure. Thus the formation of the G-quadruplex is
      prohibited, and this results in weak fluorescence of NMM. The fluorescence
      intensity exhibits a linear correlation to ALP concentration in the range of 1-50
      U/L with a detection limit of 0.75 U/L. Additionally, inhibition effect of sodium
      orthovanadate has also been investigated. This study offers a simple yet
      sensitive method for ALP activity assay.

PMID- 28602292
TI  - High-sensitive bioorthogonal SERS tag for live cancer cell imaging by self
      assembling core-satellites structure gold-silver nanocomposite.
AB  - A novel, high-sensitivity, biocompatible SERS tag with core-shell structure based
      on gold nanoparticles containing alkynyl molecule core -silver nanoparticle
      satellites shell was fabricated for the first time to be used for live cancer
      cells Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging. (E)-2-((4
      (phenylethynyl)benzylidene) amino) ethanethiol (PBAT) synthesized facilely in our
      lab is the Raman-silence region reporter which is advantage for bioorthogonal
      SERS cell imaging. In order to enhance the intensity of the Raman tags for live
      cancer cell imaging, a series of news measures have been adopted. Firstly,
      reporter molecules of the PBAT were added twice, which is embedded in the gold
      core with the reduction of tetrachloroaurate and then PBAT is conjugated again on
      disperse gold nanoparticles (PBAT-Au). Furthermore, numerous Ag nanoparticles
      self-assembly were densely arranged around PBAT-Au core surface (PBAT- Au@Ag),
      just like a circle of satellites cluster, which produce obvious "hot spots"
      effects enhancing the signal of the Raman tags enormously. Finally, Bovine serum
      albumin (BSA) and polydopamine (PDA) coated on the PBAT- Au@Ag successively,
      defined as (PBAT-Au@Ag@BSA@PDA), which make as-synthesized nanocomposites own
      features of bio-compatibility and facilitates antibody modification. Compared
      with Au@PBAT@PDA, PBAT-Au@Ag@BSA@PDA with core-shell satellites structure showed
      10-fold increase in the Raman signals intensity. Moreover, PBAT-Au@Ag@BSA@PDA
      nanocomposites were successfully applied in the Raman imaging of human glioma
      cells (U251) by the recognition of the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor
      (EGFR). All experimental results demonstrated that the nanocomposites have high
      value and huge potential application in the live cancer cells imaging and
      biomedical diagnostics in the near future.

PMID- 28602293
TI  - Impact of addition sheet-like cobalt in ionic liquids mixture to detect oxygen.
AB  - The incorporation of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (AMIMPF6)
      and 1-vinlyimidazole (VIM) firstly served as electrolyte for oxygen sensor, which
      remarkably promoted response current. Moreover, the sheet-like structure of
      cobalt was deposited onto the surface of C@TiC nanowire (Co/C), which endowed the
      imidazole-based ionic liquid electrolyte with plentiful active sites and fast
      electron transfer rate for oxygen reduction reaction. There was little literature
      about the integration of AMIMPF6, VIM and Co/C as the electrolyte for oxygen
      sensor. The synergistic effect among all components was realized and maximized,
      leading to a superior performance of oxygen sensing compared to any component
      alone. The most important was that the composite material showed a fast response
      towards oxygen with an excellent linear relationship.

PMID- 28602294
TI  - Probing the specificity of polyurethane foam as a 'solid-phase extractant':
      Extractability-governing molecular attributes of lipophilic phenolic compounds.
AB  - The long-proposed use of open-cell polyurethane foam (PUF) as a convenient 'solid
      phase extractant' for aqueous organic compounds has been hindered by a critical
      lack of understanding on the underlying specificity of its extraction mechanism.
      In this work, we tasked ourselves to understand the hierarchy of molecular
      structure, properties, and partitioning characteristics of compounds in PUF and
      aqueous phase by targeting lipophilic phenolic compounds (LPCs) as a group of
      primary targets for PUF extraction. Using six structurally related bisphenol
      analogs as comparative probes, we identified molecular lipophilicity and H-bond
      acidity as key molecular attributes that governed their extractability by PUF.
      Molecular modeling study on H-bonding interactions between PUF surrogates,
      bisphenols, and water molecules elucidated the governing effect of H-bond acidity
      in the binding affinity of guest molecules onto PUF lone-pair donors. A holistic
      view must be adopted when assessing the extractability of LPCs with reactive lone
      pair donors e.g. bisphenol S which forms multidentate H-bond adducts with water
      molecules. We validated our theory on two model groups of monofunctional LPCs,
      alkylphenols and chlorophenols, with the observation that the presence of a
      second proton-donating moiety dramatically enhanced the extractability of
      bisphenol molecules. The specificity of PUF rendered it selective towards
      compounds with correlating molecular attributes against other structural analogs
      and co-existing matrix organics. For LPCs, the PUF macromolecular structure can
      be conceptualized as a flexible 'molecular zipper network' that is most
      affinitive towards nonionic, permeable, and lipophilic guest molecules with
      multiple reactive proton donors.

PMID- 28602295
TI  - Aptamer-based detection of adenosine triphosphate via qPCR.
AB  - Sensitive and specific detection and quantification of small molecules often
      remain challenging. We developed a novel magnetic bead-based aptamer-assisted
      real-time PCR (Apta-qPCR) assay to provide a versatile platform for
      quantification of small molecules. The assay has been realized for the detection
      of ATP as a model system. The assay relies on a combination of qPCR with the
      target-induced dissociation (TID) of ATP aptamer from an oligonucleotide,
      complementary to the ATP binding site of the aptamer. The complementary
      oligonucleotide was immobilized on deoxythymidine (dT)-modified magnetic beads
      (dT-beads) and hybridized with the aptamer. The presence of ATP resulted in
      dissociation of the aptamer from the dT-beads and the dissociated aptamer was
      quantified using qPCR. The Apta-qPCR assay was able to detect 17nM ATP with a
      broad dynamic range from 50nM to 5mM. The assay is label-free, and real-time PCR
      based detection of aptamer facilitates high sensitivity. The presented method is
      highly versatile and can be applied to various aptamer-target pairs to allow
      detection of a broad range of target analytes.

PMID- 28602296
TI  - Comprehensive qualification and quantification of triacylglycerols with specific
      fatty acid chain composition in horse adipose tissue, human plasma and liver
      tissue.
AB  - High levels of triacylglycerols (TGs) have been linked to cardiovascular disease
      and liver diseases. Comprehensively analyzing TGs is helpful to understand the
      TGs functions in these diseases. However, due to the existence of a large number
      of isomers TGs and the lack of commercial standards, precise analysis of
      individual triacylglycerol (TG) with specific fatty acid chain composition is
      full of challenge. In this work, ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)
      coupled with electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) were employed
      for comprehensive qualification and quantification of TGs with specific fatty
      acid chain composition in horse adipose tissue, human plasma and liver tissues
      including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and para-carcinoma tissues. Multiple MS
      detection modes from QTRAP MS and FT-ICR MS were utilized, and hundreds of TG
      species (including many oxidized TG species) with their specific fatty acid chain
      compositions have been qualified and quantified. The isomer TGs interference, the
      isobaric interference, and oxidized TG species interference were firstly
      indicated. Several isomer TGs, for example, 18:1/20:1/18:2 TG and 20:3/18:1/18:0
      TG, which were all 56:4 TG, demonstrated different trends in HCC tissue compared
      with para-carcinoma tissue, which showed the importance of analysis of TG with
      specific fatty acid chain composition. In addition, 10 TGs with the degree of
      unsaturation beyond three were significantly decreased, while 16:0/17:0/18:0 TG,
      no double bond, was significantly increased in the HCC tissue, which firstly
      revealed aberrant specific TG metabolism in HCC. This is a systematic report
      about comprehensive analysis of TGs by UPLC-ESI-MS, which is of significance for
      accurate analysis of these lipids.

PMID- 28602297
TI  - Quantification of Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora var. robusta concentration
      in blends by means of synchronous fluorescence and UV-Vis spectroscopies.
AB  - The potential of fluorescence, UV-Vis spectroscopies as well as the low- and mid
      level data fusion of both spectroscopies for the quantification of concentrations
      of roasted Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora var. robusta in coffee blends was
      investigated. Principal component analysis was used to reduce data
      multidimensionality. To calculate the level of undeclared addition, multiple
      linear regression (PCA-MLR) models were used with lowest root mean square error
      of calibration (RMSEC) of 3.6% and root mean square error of cross-validation
      (RMSECV) of 7.9%. LDA analysis was applied to fluorescence intensities and UV
      spectra of Coffea arabica, canephora samples, and their mixtures in order to
      examine classification ability. The best performance of PCA-LDA analysis was
      observed for data fusion of UV and fluorescence intensity measurements at
      wavelength interval of 60nm. LDA showed that data fusion can achieve over 96% of
      correct classifications (sensitivity) in the test set and 100% of correct
      classifications in the training set, with low-level data fusion. The
      corresponding results for individual spectroscopies ranged from 90% (UV-Vis
      spectroscopy) to 77% (synchronous fluorescence) in the test set, and from 93% to
      97% in the training set. The results demonstrate that fluorescence, UV, and
      visible spectroscopies complement each other, giving a complementary effect for
      the quantification of roasted Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora var. robusta
      concentration in blends.

PMID- 28602298
TI  - Some practical considerations for linearity assessment of calibration curves as
      function of concentration levels according to the fitness-for-purpose approach.
AB  - Since linear calibration is mostly preferred for analytical determinations,
      linearity in the calibration range is an important performance characteristic of
      any instrumental analytical method. Linearity can be proved by applying several
      graphical and numerical approaches. The principal graphical criteria are visual
      inspection of the calibration plot, the residuals plot, and the response factors
      plot, also called sensitivity or linearity plot. All of them must include
      confidence limits in order to visualize linearity deviations. In this work, the
      graphical representation of percent relative errors of back-calculated
      concentrations against the concentration of the calibration standards is proposed
      as linearity criterion. This graph considers a confidence interval based on the
      expected recovery related to the concentration level according to AOAC approach.
      To illustrate it, four calibration examples covering different analytical
      techniques and calibration situations have been studied. The proposed %RE graph
      was useful in all examples, helping to highlight problems related to non-linear
      behavior such as points with high leverage and deviations from linearity at the
      extremes of the calibration range. By this way, a numerical decision limit which
      takes into account the concentration of calibration standards can be easily
      included as linearity criterion in the form of %RETh=2.C-0.11. Accordingly, this
      %RE parameter is accurate for the decision-making related to linearity assessment
      according to the fitness-for-purpose approach.

PMID- 28602299
TI  - Fabrication of polymeric ionic liquid-modified magnetic adsorbent for extraction
      of apolar and polar pollutants in complicated samples.
AB  - A new polymeric ionic liquid-modified magnetic adsorbent (PIL-MA) was
      successfully fabricated and used to extract apolar and polar pollutants with
      magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE). The PIL-MA was prepared by simple free
      radical copolymerization of 1-vinylbenzyl-3-methylimidazolium
      hexafluorophosphate, divinylbenzene and silica-coated magnetite. Several
      characterized techniques including infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis,
      scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and magnetic
      measurement were used to characterize the PIL-MA. Parabens and aromatic amines
      were selected as test analytes to investigate the extraction performance of PIL
      MA for apolar and strongly polar analytes, respectively. The extraction
      parameters including the amount of PIL-MA, adsorption time, desorption solvent
      and time, pH value and ionic strength were optimized thoroughly. At the same
      time, convenient and sensitive analytical methods for parabens and aromatic
      amines in real samples were developed by the combination of PIL-MA-MSPE and HPLC
      DAD. Results well demonstrate that there are abundant active groups in the PIL-MA
      and multiply interactions including pi-pi, hydrophobic, hydrogen-bonding and
      dipole-dipole are involved in the extraction.

PMID- 28602300
TI  - Development of on-line spectrofluorimetric methodology for selenium monitoring in
      foods and biological fluids using Chrome azurol S quenching.
AB  - A novel, simple and accurate on-line green methodology for Se(IV) monitoring by
      molecular fluorescence has been developed. Because the analyte does not exhibit
      fluorescence, the organic dye Chrome azurol S (CAS) has been chosen to allow
      detection. The effect of metal-quenching on CAS excitation and emission
      conditions (lambdaex=300nm; lambdaem=407nm) was used as criterion for analyte
      quantification in presence of sodium cholate bile salt (NaC). The quenching
      mechanism was explored, and it can be classified as a collisional type with a
      Stern-Volmer constant value of 3.0*107molL-1. To improve the sampling rate,
      minimize the reagent consumption and generated wastes, an on-line configuration
      was designed. Experimental variables that affect the fluorimetric sensitivity
      were optimized using uni-variation assays. Under optimal experimental conditions,
      the limit of detection was 0.27ugL-1 with a lineal range for Se(IV) concentration
      from 0.84 to 6.00ugL-1. The developed methodology is low cost and fast sampling,
      allowing Se(IV) quantification in the presence of other common ions. Bulbous
      vegetables and biological samples were successfully analyzed with an average
      recovery close to 100%.

PMID- 28602301
TI  - Identification and quantification of odours from oxobiodegradable polyethylene
      oxidised under a free radical flow by headspace solid-phase microextraction
      followed by gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry.
AB  - Recently oxobiodegradable polyethylene gained popularity as food packaging
      material due to its potential to reduce polymer waste. However, this type of
      material can release after its oxidation off-odour compounds that affect the
      organoleptic properties of packaged food. Odour compounds released from both
      polyethylene and oxobiodegradable polyethylene before and after oxidation under a
      free radicals flow were investigated after 1 day, 2 days and 3 days of oxidation.
      The samples were analysed using headspace solid phase microextraction followed by
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and headspace solid phase microextraction
      coupled to gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry. Sixty-two different
      odorous compounds were identified. 4-methylthio-2-butanone (fruit), nonanal (fat)
      and 3,6-nonadienal (fat) were present in different materials before oxidation.
      Multiple headspace-solid phase microextraction has been used to quantify all
      analytes. The most abundant compound was (Z)-3-hexenyl hexanoate with a
      concentration range between 1.5791+/-0.1387ug/g and 4.8181+/-0.3123ug/g.
      Compounds such as 2-dodecenal, 2-octenal, 2-pentanol, 3-nonenal, 3,6-nonadienal,
      ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, ethyl octenoate, hexanone, isopropyl hexanoate, octanal
      were below their LOD evaluated using MS detector; however, they were detected by
      gas chromatography-olfactometry. The minimum LOD and LOQ were 0.011ug/g and
      0.036ug/g, respectively.

PMID- 28602302
TI  - Fabrication of porous ionic liquid polymer as solid-phase microextraction coating
      for analysis of organic acids by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry.
AB  - A kind of porous ionic liquid polymer was designed as coating material for solid
      phase microextraction (SPME) fibers to extract polar organic acids. The
      synthesized ionic liquids (1-vinyl-3-(4-vinyl-benzyl)imidazolium chloride) were
      polymerized in the presence of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), and subsequently
      coated on stainless steel wires with physical adhesion. To guarantee the adhesion
      between coating and the surface of stainless steel wires, micro-wave induced
      plasma was applied to modify the stainless steel wires. The derivatives of
      extracted organic acids were analyzed by gas chromatography combined with mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS) with N-tert-Butyldimethylsilyl-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide
      (MTBSTFA) as the derivatization reagent. Under the optimal condition, a
      calibration study was carried out to evaluate the performance of the SPME fibers.
      The calibration curves were linear (R2>0.99) in the range from 0.01MUg/ml to
      1MUg/ml for six organic acids. Detection limits were detected down to 0.07ng/ml.
      To further validate the extraction efficiency of the fibers, experiments were
      conducted in comparison with commercial fibers. Lower LOD and LOQ values were
      obtained by the in-house fabricated fibers especially for polyatomic acids. Good
      repeatability (RSD<=16%) and fiber-to-fiber reproducibility (RSD<=20%) were
      obtained. The acceptable recovery of the spiked grape wine samples ranged from
      78.19% to 98.11%. Additionally, long lifetime and good durability of the fibers
      have been demonstrated. The performance of the established SPME-GC-MS method for
      analysis of organic acids was shown to be greatly improved in comparison to the
      direct HPLC/CE method or other SPME materials as reported in the literature. In
      summary, a feasible and effective approach has been demonstrated to fabricate the
      in-house fabricated fibers based on porous ionic liquid polymers, which were
      proved to be advantageous and sensitive for extraction of polar organic acids.
      Simultaneously, application of the SPME derivatization GC-MS method for analysis
      of organic acids has been successfully verified as feasible and reliable.

PMID- 28602303
TI  - Poly-L-lysine brushes on magnetic nanoparticles for ultrasensitive detection of
      Escherichia coli O157: H7.
AB  - We have developed a magnetic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MELISA) based
      poly-L-lysine (PLL) mediated brushes on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for
      detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in river water samples. In the MELISA, we
      couple PLL on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles to prepare the PLL brushes
      (MPLLBs). PLL with plentiful amine groups provides multi-binding sites to allow
      the binding of both horse radish peroxidase (HRP) and antibody (Ab) on the
      surface of the MPLLBs with high capacity. Compared with the conventional
      particles (the binding capacity of MNPs for HRP and Ab are 19MUg/mg and 16MUg/mg,
      respectively), MPLLBs have achieved an improvement of 43-fold and 24-fold in
      binding capacity for HRP (816MUg/mg, protein MUg per mg of MPLLBs) and Ab
      (387MUg/mg), respectively. This multifunctional Ab-MPLLBs-HRP conjugate serves as
      not only an immune-carrier for magnetic enrichment but also an enzyme assembly
      for signal amplification system. Compared with the conventional ELISA (the
      detection of limit is 400 cfu/mL), MELISA shows enhanced sensitivity (8cfu/mL)
      and shortened the analysis time (within 2h) for the detection of Escherichia coli
      O157:H7 in river water sample, which provides an attractive candidate platform
      for the rapid and sensitive detection of pathogen in complex samples.

PMID- 28602304
TI  - An Umeclidinium membrane sensor; Two-step optimization strategy for improved
      responses.
AB  - In the scientific context of membrane sensors and improved experimentation, we
      devised an experimentally designed protocol for sensor optimization. Two-step
      strategy was implemented for Umeclidinium bromide (UMEC) analysis which is a
      novel quinuclidine-based muscarinic antagonist used for maintenance treatment of
      symptoms accompanied with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In the first
      place, membrane components were screened for ideal ion exchanger, ionophore and
      plasticizer using three categorical factors at three levels in Taguchi design.
      Secondly, experimentally designed optimization was followed in order to tune the
      sensor up for finest responses. Twelve experiments were randomly carried out in a
      continuous factor design. Nernstian response, detection limit and selectivity
      were assigned as responses in these designs. The optimized membrane sensor
      contained tetrakis-[3,5-bis(trifluoro- methyl)phenyl] borate (0.44wt%) and
      calix[6]arene (0.43wt%) in 50.00% PVC plasticized with 49.13wt% 2-ni-tro-phenyl
      octylether. This sensor, along with an optimum concentration of inner filling
      solution (2*10-4molL-1 UMEC) and 2h of soaking time, attained the design
      objectives. Nernstian response approached 59.7mV/decade and detection limit
      decreased by about two order of magnitude (8*10-8mol L-1) through this
      optimization protocol. The proposed sensor was validated for UMEC determination
      in its linear range (3.16*10-7 -1*10-3mol L-1) and challenged for selective
      discrimination of other congeners and inorganic cations. Results of INCRUSE
      ELLIPTA(r) inhalation powder analyses obtained from the proposed sensor and
      manufacturer's UPLC were statistically compared. Moreover the proposed sensor was
      successfully used for the determination of UMEC in plasma samples.

PMID- 28602305
TI  - Identification of non-intentionally added substances in food packaging nano films
      by gas and liquid chromatography coupled to orbitrap mass spectrometry.
AB  - The control of chemical migration from new functionalized food contact materials
      (FCMs) is a challenge for meeting food safety requirements. The non-intentionally
      added substances (NIAS) constitute a group of chemicals that are not applied, but
      may be introduced or formed during the production process of FCMs. This study
      describes a multi-analytical approach for the evaluation of unknown substances
      that migrate from FCMs. A case study is presented using a developed polymer
      consisting of a monolayer film with polylactic acid (PLA), polylimonene (PL) and
      zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). This approach incorporates the platforms of
      ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), to determine whether there
      is transference of ZnO NPs used as antimicrobial agent and, the systems GC-MS and
      LC-MS (gas / liquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole orbitrap mass
      spectrometer) for the characterization of the chemical structure of NIAS using
      the molecular mass and specific features of mass fragmentation. The screening of
      unknown compounds comprised retrospective analysis and data processing using
      both, a mass spectral library and databases, for GC and LC data, respectively.
      This approach has provided the tentative identification and quantification of
      seven NIAS, 3 by GC (Tripropylene glycol diacrylate, 10-Heneicosene and alpha
      Tocopherol acetate) and 4 by LC (N,N-Diethyldodecanamide, N-[(9Z)-9-Octadecen-1
      yl]acetamide, 1-Palmitoylglycerol and Glycerol stearate). This migration study
      was carried out according to the standard protocols established by EU regulation
      for FCMs.

PMID- 28602306
TI  - Determination of avermectins by the internal standard recovery correction - high
      performance liquid chromatography - quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
      method.
AB  - Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR) is widely used to determine the
      purity of organic compounds. For the compounds with lower purity especially
      molecular weight more than 500, qNMR is at risk of error for the purity, because
      the impurity peaks are likely to be incompletely separated from the peak of major
      component. In this study, an offline ISRC-HPLC-qNMR (internal standard recovery
      correction - high performance liquid chromatography - qNMR) was developed to
      overcome this problem. It is accurate by excluding the influence of impurity; it
      is low-cost by using common mobile phase; and it extends the applicable scope of
      qNMR. In this method, a mix solution of the sample and an internal standard was
      separated by HPLC with common mobile phases, and only the eluents of the analyte
      and the internal standard were collected in the same tube. After evaporation and
      re-dissolution, it was determined by qNMR. A recovery correction factor was
      determined by comparison of the solutions before and after these procedures.
      After correction, the mass fraction of analyte was constant and it was accurate
      and precise, even though the sample loss varied during these procedures, or even
      in bad resolution of HPLC. Avermectin B1a with the purity of ~93% and the
      molecular weight of 873 was analyzed. Moreover, the homologues of avermectin B1a
      were determined based on the identification and quantitative analysis by tandem
      mass spectrometry and HPLC, and the results were consistent with the results of
      traditional mass balance method. The result showed that the method could be
      widely used for the organic compounds, and could further promote qNMR to become a
      primary method in the international metrological systems.

PMID- 28602307
TI  - Cloud point microextraction involving graphene oxide for the speciation of very
      low amounts of chromium in waters.
AB  - A graphene oxide (GO) suspension was used to retain chromium (III) species in a
      neutral solution. The addition of Triton X-45 followed by heating resulted in a
      coacervate, to which the GO nanoparticles containing the analyte retained were
      transferred. Chromium was determined directly in the surfactant-rich phase by
      electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The procedure was repeated using a
      second aliquot of sample to which sodium hydrogen sulphite was added to reduce
      chromium (VI) to chromium (III). By again obtaining the analytical signal of
      chromium in the condensed phase, the concentration of the hexavalent form was
      calculated by difference. Using 10mL for the sample volume and 0.01% for the
      Triton X-45 concentration, the enrichment factor was 140, and the detection limit
      was 5ngL-1. The repeatability for five consecutive measurements at the 100ngL-1
      level was close to 5%. The reliability of the procedure was verified by analysing
      seven water samples with certified contents of total chromium. Speciation data
      are given for these standard materials and for seven potable waters and one
      seawater sample.

PMID- 28602308
TI  - Magnetic ionic liquids as extraction solvents in vacuum headspace single-drop
      microextraction.
AB  - A vacuum headspace single-drop microextraction method based on the use of
      magnetic ionic liquids (vacuum MIL-HS-SDME) for the determination of short chain
      free fatty acids is described for the first time. The basis of the method
      involves the use of a rod magnet to aid in maintaining a small microdroplet of
      magnetic ionic liquid (MIL) during headspace single-drop microextraction (HS
      SDME). The application favors reduced pressure conditions inside the sampling
      vial while maintaining the MIL droplet in the headspace. After extraction, the
      MIL microdroplet containing extracted FFAs is transferred to a headspace vial
      where static headspace desorption is performed, followed by gas chromatographic
      mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. A number of MILs were studied and the
      trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium tris(hexafluoroacetylaceto)manganate(II) MIL was
      found to be the most suitable for the proposed method. A comparison with
      atmospheric pressure MIL-HS-SDME revealed that analytes reached equilibrium
      faster when reduced pressure conditions were applied and that an enhancement in
      the extraction efficiency of analytes under these vacuum conditions was observed
      at any extraction time. Under optimum conditions, the method requires only 20uL
      of MIL placed at the end of a rod magnet and the evacuation of air using a
      modified extraction vial and a vacuum pump. Afterwards, 10mL of sample containing
      30% (w/v) of NaCl is injected in the vial and the vacuum MIL-HS-SDME is performed
      at 45 degrees C and 600rpm for 60min. The MIL microdroplet can easily be
      transferred to a 4.2mL modified headspace vial for the headspace desorption and
      GC-MS analysis. The entire method is characterized by wide linearity ranges, low
      limits of detection for analytes (down to 14.5ugL-1), good reproducibility (with
      relative standard deviation lower than 13%), and relative recoveries ranging from
      79.5% to 111%. The proposed vacuum MIL-HS-SDME was applied towards the analysis
      of two different milk samples with the majority of analytes being detected and
      quantified.

PMID- 28602309
TI  - A near-infrared luminescent Mn2+-doped NaYF4:Yb,Tm/Fe3+ upconversion
      nanoparticles redox reaction system for the detection of GSH/Cys/AA.
AB  - An upconversion luminescence method was developed for the determination of
      glutathione (GSH), L-cysteine (Cys) or L-ascorbic acid (AA) based on redox
      reaction. We synthesized poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-modified Mn2+-doped NaYF4:Yb,Tm
      upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), and the luminescence of these UCNPs was
      effectively quenched due to their carboxyl groups coordinating with Fe3+ to form
      a UCNPs/Fe3+ system. GSH, Cys or AA reduced Fe3+ to Fe2+, which induced the
      luminescence recovery of the UCNPs. Under the optimized conditions, wide linear
      concentration ranges from 0.25-300MUM for GSH, 0.5-875MUM for Cys and 0.5-350MUM
      for AA were found, and the detection limits (3S/K) were 0.2MUM, 0.5MUM and
      0.2MUM, respectively. Thus, the UCNPs/Fe3+ system was successfully applied for
      sensing GSH, Cys or AA.

PMID- 28602310
TI  - Spatial distribution of heavy hydrocarbons, PAHs and metals in polluted areas.
      The case of "Galicia", Spain.
AB  - The aim of this work is to verify the impact of anthropogenic activities and the
      effects of accidental events, e.g. oil spills, on the marine environment. For
      this reason, marine sediments and soil samples were collected in the inner part
      of Vigo and Pontevedra bays, in the Galicia region, northwest Spain, an area
      interested by many events of oil spills and also characterized by coastal areas
      with intense anthropic activities; also Cies Islands, a natural protected area
      facing the Vigo bay, was investigated, as background site. PAHs, heavy
      hydrocarbons and metals were analyzed according to standard methods, in order to
      satisfy quality assurance and quality check constraints. Total PAHs concentration
      (Sigma16 compounds) were in the range of 25-4000ng/g, and 30-800ng/g for marine
      sediments and soil samples, respectively. Even some samples from the Cies
      Islands, show a contamination with values achieving >200ng/g of PAHs. Although
      contamination levels have been shown to be strong at several locations in the
      study area, their ranges are those typical of other estuarine sites, with PAHs
      and hydrocarbons primarily of pyrolytic origin. This observation was further
      confirmed by enrichment factors of some metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) that match to
      those of harbor and shipyard zones of the main industrial and commercial maritime
      areas.

PMID- 28602311
TI  - Trichodesmium blooms and warm-core ocean surface features in the Arabian Sea and
      the Bay of Bengal.
AB  - Trichodesmium is a bloom-forming, diazotrophic, non-heterocystous cyanobacteria
      widely distributed in the warmer oceans, and their bloom is considered a
      'biological indication' of stratification and nitrogen limitation in the ocean
      surface layer. In the first part of this paper, based on the retrospective
      analyses of the ocean surface mesoscale features associated with 59 Trichodesmium
      bloom incidences recorded in the past, 32 from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
      Bengal, and 27 from the rest of the world, we have showed that warm-core features
      have an inducing effect on bloom formation. In the second part, we have
      considered the environmental preferences of Trichodesmium bloom based on
      laboratory and field studies across the globe, and proposed a view about how warm
      core features could provide an inducing pre-requisite condition for the bloom
      formation in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Proposed that the subsurface
      waters of warm-core features maintain more likely chances for the conducive
      nutrient and light conditions required for the triggering of the blooms.

PMID- 28602312
TI  - Presence, concentration and trends of metals: A baseline study of blacktail
      (Diplodus sargus capensis) and hottentot (Pachymetopon blochii) along the South
      African coastline.

PMID- 28602313
TI  - Concentration, risk assessment, and source identification of heavy metals in
      surface sediments in Yinghai: A shellfish cultivation zone in Jiaozhou Bay,
      China.
AB  - To identify the affection of shellfish cultivation on sediment conditions in
      Yinghai shellfish cultivation zone in Jiaozhou Bay, the concentration, sources,
      and the potential ecological risk of heavy metals was identified. Results show
      the range of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, As and Mn are 10.15-29.98, 35.95-111.22,
      12.44-27.68, 0.08-0.22, 18.03-82.32, 0.04-0.13, 4.02-7.72 and 574.07-839.33mg.kg
      1. Shellfish cultivation influences heavy metal content to some extent. Principal
      component analysis suggests the accumulation of Zn, Mn, and Cu mainly results
      from agricultural and industrial actions, Pb from traffic pollution, and Hg from
      coal combustion. According to the potential ecological index, there is medium and
      higher ecological risk of contamination by Hg and Cd, which indicates that the
      study area suffers from varying degrees of heavy metal pollution.

PMID- 28602315
TI  - Importance of pupil dilation for cataract surgery.

PMID- 28602314
TI  - Dynamic equivalence of ultrasonic stress wave propagation in solids.
AB  - Ultrasonic stress waves, generated during the dynamic impact on structures, were
      studied. A benchmark for the finite element analysis (FEA) was made to define the
      optimum geometrical factors, which were represented as, mesh distribution,
      analysis time, ultrasonic wave properties, element type, and shape to capture the
      dynamic phenomena compared to the theoretical exact solution. Comparison of three
      different dimensional finite element models was performed depending on the
      applied impact forces, the element size, and the structural geometry. A dynamic
      equivalence for these three different variables was established and found to be
      of a direct multiplication relation to the solid's density with the Young's
      modulus. The results demonstrated that the stresses in x, and y-directions,
      predicted by FEA simulations, matching well for the different materials under
      normalized time.

PMID- 28602316
TI  - Capsule milking: Modification of capsulorhexis technique for intumescent
      cataract.
AB  - We describe a single-stage modification of the continuous curvilinear
      capsulorhexis that facilitates creation of a well-sized round and centered
      capsulorhexis in an intumescent cataract. This is done without special
      instrumentation. The modification is based on overcoming the problem of high
      intralenticular pressure. It involves physically flattening the central anterior
      capsule, specifically over the site of puncture, simultaneous puncture and
      aspiration for decompression, followed by flattening of the midperiphery of the
      lens where the capsulorhexis can be safely initiated. This minimizes the tendency
      of capsulorhexis runaway and allows 1-stage creation of a well-sized capsule
      opening for phacoemulsification.

PMID- 28602317
TI  - New capsular tension segment with 2-point fixation for zonular weakness.
AB  - We describe clinical applications and surgical techniques for a new type of
      capsular tension segment (CTS) for use during cataract surgery. The Ambati CTS is
      distinguished from other CTS devices by having 2 eyelets close to each other,
      which allows it to distribute tension to 2 points, avoiding too much stress at a
      single point on the anterior capsulotomy, which prevents peaking of the
      capsulorhexis, and potentially reducing the risk for anterior capsule tear. Two
      of these CTS devices could possibly be used to provide 4-point fixation of a
      capsular bag in eyes with near-complete zonular instability. We describe 4 cases
      and 2 surgical techniques for implanting the new CTS, 1 technique in an adult
      patient with zonular weakness secondary to trauma and the other in 3 children
      with subluxated lenses due to Marfan syndrome.

PMID- 28602318
TI  - Combined double-needle flanged-haptic intrascleral fixation of an intraocular
      lens and Descemet-stripping endothelial keratoplasty.
AB  - A slight modification to the Yamane transconjunctival double-needle flanged
      haptic technique of intrascleral fixation of an intraocular lens (IOL) shows the
      technique's usefulness when combined with Descemet-stripping endothelial
      keratoplasty (DSEK). The modification uses bipolar cautery to create flanges at
      the tip of the IOL haptics and delays tucking the haptics into the scleral
      tunnels until DSEK has been completed. Bipolar cautery enables the technique to
      be used in situations in which disposable low- or high-temperature cautery, as
      originally described, might not be possible. Delaying the haptic tuck until after
      the complete air fill of DSEK means the surgeon can be confident of the IOL
      position at all times. This combined technique can be a viable option for
      patients with aphakia and endothelial cell dysfunction.

PMID- 28602319
TI  - Intracameral ketorolac and phenylephrine effect on intraoperative pupil diameter
      and postoperative pain in cataract surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the study drug OMS302 (Omidria [phenylephrine and ketorolac
      injection 1.0%/0.3%]) compared with a balanced salt solution (vehicle),
      ketorolac, and phenylephrine on pupil diameter during cataract surgery and early
      postoperative ocular pain. SETTING: Twenty-three centers in the United States.
      DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. METHODS: Patients were randomized (1:1:1:1) to
      receive vehicle, phenylephrine, ketorolac, or the study drug containing
      phenylephrine and ketorolac administered intracamerally during surgery.
      Intraoperative pupil diameter was determined each minute by video capture.
      Postoperative ocular pain was evaluated for up to 12 hours. RESULTS: The study
      evaluated 223 patients. The study drug was significantly better than the vehicle
      and ketorolac in maintaining mydriasis (least-squares mean differences 0.9 +/-
      0.1 [SEM] and 0.7 +/- 0.1 for the study drug versus vehicle and ketorolac,
      respectively; P < .0001 each). Ocular pain assessed using the Visual Analog Scale
      was significantly reduced for the study drug compared with the vehicle or
      phenylephrine (least-squares mean difference -4.6 +/- 2.2 and P = .042 and 5.9 +/
      2.2 and P = .009, respectively). Significantly fewer patients treated with the
      study drug (3 [6.1%]) had an intraoperative pupil diameter smaller than 6.0 mm
      compared with those treated with the vehicle (25 [47.2%]; P < .0001), ketorolac
      (18 [34.6%]; P = .0004), or phenylephrine (11 [22.4%]; P = .0216). CONCLUSIONS:
      The study drug was safe and efficacious in maintaining mydriasis and reducing
      postoperative ocular pain. Both ketorolac and phenylephrine contributed to the
      therapeutic effects, with the combination showing superiority to either agent
      alone in maintaining an intraoperative pupil diameter of 6.0 mm or larger.

PMID- 28602320
TI  - Precision pulse capsulotomy: Initial clinical experience in simple and
      challenging cataract surgery cases.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate precision pulse capsulotomy (PPC) in simple and challenging
      cataract surgery cases. SETTING: Clinica Quesada, San Salvador, El Salvador.
      DESIGN: Prospective case series. METHODS: This single-center prospective study
      assessed cataract surgeries with anterior capsulotomy performed using a PPC
      device through a 2.2 mm corneal incision in the presence of an ophthalmic
      viscosurgical device. This was followed by phacoemulsification and intraocular
      lens implantation. Outcomes included capsulotomy appearance and diameter,
      surgical complications, and postoperative visual acuity. RESULTS: The study
      comprised 38 eyes. All cases resulted in 360-degree complete, round capsulotomies
      averaging 5.5 mm in diameter with intracapsular IOL fixation. No PPC-related
      complications were observed intraoperatively or on follow-up at 3 to 8 months.
      The PPC was useful in challenging cases with corneal opacities that obscured the
      capsulotomy path or with poorly dilated pupils. Precision pulse capsulotomy
      occurs instantaneously everywhere along the capsulotomy path, which allowed safe
      release of subcapsular pressure in intumescent cataracts with consistent creation
      of a round, appropriately sized capsulotomy. The PPC edge quality was shown in a
      case with 6 clock hours of zonular dialysis in which iris hooks held the
      capsulotomy edge for over 45 minutes for removal of a 4+ cataract. CONCLUSIONS:
      Precision pulse capsulotomy had a short learning curve and was integrated
      seamlessly into the surgical routine. The combination of suction with ultrafast
      capsulotomy provided capsulotomy roundness, sizing, safety, and edge quality that
      significantly facilitated difficult cases. The ease of use, consistency, and
      efficiency of PPC capsulotomy might support its use under many practice
      scenarios.

PMID- 28602321
TI  - Changes in corneal astigmatism during 20 years after cataract surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine how corneal astigmatism changes with age over 20 years after
      cataract surgery and to assess whether the changes differ from those in eyes that
      did not have surgery. SETTING: Hayashi Eye Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan. DESIGN:
      Retrospective case study. METHODS: Using an autokeratometer, corneal astigmatism
      was measured preoperatively, at baseline (the day the surgically induced
      astigmatism stabilized), and 10 years and 20 years after baseline. The change in
      corneal astigmatism between baseline and 10 years, 10 years and 20 years, and
      baseline and 20 years was determined using power vector analysis and compared
      between the time intervals and between groups. RESULTS: The study assessed 74
      eyes that had phacoemulsification with a horizontal scleral incision more than 21
      years ago (surgery group) and 68 eyes that did not have surgery (no-surgery
      group). The mean vertical/horizontal change in corneal astigmatism (J0) between
      baseline and 20 years was -0.64 diopter (D) in the surgery group and -0.49 D in
      the no-surgery group. The oblique change (J45) was -0.03 D in the surgery group
      and 0.07 D in the no-surgery group. Using multivariate comparison, the mean J0
      and J45 values were not significantly different between baseline and 10 years or
      between 10 years and 20 years in both groups (P >= .2350). The J0 and J45 values
      were not significantly different between the 2 groups at any time interval (P >=
      .1331). CONCLUSIONS: Corneal astigmatism continues to change toward against-the
      rule astigmatism over 20 years after cataract surgery. This change was similar in
      eyes that did not have surgery.

PMID- 28602322
TI  - Trabecular microbypass stent implantation with cataract extraction in
      pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a trabecular microbypass stent
      (iStent) combined with cataract surgery in patients with pseudoexfoliation
      glaucoma (PXG). SETTING: Vance Thompson Vision, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA.
      DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHODS: Eyes with PXG had implantation of 1
      stent. Data were collected preoperatively and postoperatively through 24 months.
      Data included intraocular pressure (IOP), number of glaucoma medications, the
      incidence of postoperative IOP pressure spikes of 15 mm Hg or higher at any
      timepoint, and the need for additional surgery. RESULTS: The series included 115
      eyes. The mean preoperative IOP was 20.00 mm Hg +/- 6.95 (SD). One year
      postoperatively, the mean IOP was 15.54 +/- 3.83 mm Hg (P < .01). At 2 years, the
      mean IOP was 14.51 +/- 2.79 (P < .01). The mean number of glaucoma medications
      was 1.41 +/- 1.04 preoperatively and 0.71 +/- 0.94 2 years postoperatively (P <
      .01), indicating a 50% reduction in medication use. Postoperatively, 7 eyes (6%)
      had an IOP spike of 15 mm Hg or higher above the baseline IOP; the spikes
      responded to topical therapy. Ninety-eight percent of patients with an IOP of 20
      mm Hg or higher achieved a reduction in IOP at the last follow-up. CONCLUSION:
      Trabecular microbypass stent implantation during cataract surgery safely and
      effectively lowered IOP and medication use in patients with mild to severe PXG.

PMID- 28602323
TI  - Bifocal nondiffractive intraocular lens for enhanced depth of focus in correcting
      presbyopia: Clinical evaluation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction after bilateral
      cataract surgery with implantation of a bifocal refractive enhanced depth of
      focus intraocular lens (IOL) with a low near addition (add). SETTING: Department
      of Ophthalmology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany. DESIGN:
      Prospective longitudinal case series. METHODS: Eyes with bilateral age-related
      cataract and corneal astigmatism of less than 1.0 diopter (D) had standard
      microincision cataract surgery with implantation of a bifocal nondiffractive
      shape-segmented enhanced depth of focus IOL (Lentis Comfort, LS-313 MF15). The
      corrected and uncorrected (UDVA) distance visual acuities, uncorrected
      intermediate (UIVA) and near (UNVA) visual acuities, defocus, corneal
      astigmatism, spectacle independence, contrast sensitivity, rotational stability,
      photic phenomena, and patient satisfaction were evaluated over a 3-month follow
      up. RESULTS: The study comprised 22 patients (44 eyes). The mean postoperative
      manifest spherical equivalent was -0.10 D +/- 0.58 (SD), resulting in a mean UDVA
      of 0.07 +/- 0.10 logMAR, mean UIVA of 0.21 +/- 0.15 logarithm of minimum angle of
      resolution (logMAR), and mean UNVA of 0.53 +/- 0.15 logMAR. Binocular UDVA was
      0.01 +/- 0.08 logMAR. The best reading distance was 0.46 +/- 0.09 m. More than
      95% of patients were satisfied with their visual acuity, and less than 10%
      reported photic phenomena. The IOL showed an excellent rotational stability.
      CONCLUSIONS: The enhanced depth of focus IOL with 1.5 D of near add showed
      excellent intermediate and far visual performance and acceptable near visual
      restoration. Patient satisfaction was very high, and few patients reported
      disturbing photic phenomena.

PMID- 28602324
TI  - Visual outcomes and patient satisfaction 3 and 12 months after implantation of a
      refractive rotationally asymmetric multifocal intraocular lens.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the 3-month and 12-month postoperative visual performance and
      subjective patient satisfaction after refractive lens exchange (RLE) with
      implantation of a rotationally asymmetric multifocal intraocular lens (IOL).
      SETTING: Cathedral Eye Clinic, Belfast, United Kingdom. DESIGN: Prospective case
      series. METHODS: The refraction, uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected distance visual
      acuities, uncorrected intermediate (UIVA) and near (UNVA) visual acuities,
      distance-corrected intermediate and near visual acuities, and a quality of vision
      (QoV) questionnaire were evaluated 3 months and 12 months after implantation of
      an SBL-3 IOL. RESULTS: The study enrolled 100 eyes of 50 patients. The mean
      monocular UDVA was -0.02 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) +/-
      0.12 (SD) 3 months postoperatively and -0.01 +/- 0.10 logMAR at 12 months (P =
      .393). The mean monocular UIVA was 0.39 +/- 0.11 logMAR and 0.41 +/- 0.12 logMAR,
      respectively (P = .06). The mean monocular UNVA was 0.12 +/- 0.13 logMAR and 0.14
      +/- 0.12 logMAR, respectively (P = .077). The mean QoV score was 8.26 +/- 1.16 at
      3 months with a significant improvement at 12 months, at which time the mean QoV
      score was 8.84 +/- 1.08 (P <= .001). CONCLUSIONS: This asymmetric multifocal IOL
      provided excellent unaided vision with no significant difference in near,
      intermediate, and distance vision 3 months and 12 months postoperatively.
      However, there was a significant improvement in subjective outcomes at the second
      postoperative assessment, during which patients reported a significantly better
      QoV score and less blurred vision.

PMID- 28602325
TI  - Pigment dispersion syndrome and pigmentary glaucoma after secondary sulcus
      transscleral fixation of single-piece foldable posterior chamber intraocular
      lenses in Chinese aphakic patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe secondary pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) and pigmentary
      glaucoma after secondary sulcus transscleral fixation of 1-piece hydrophobic
      acrylic foldable posterior chamber intraocular lenses (PC IOLs) in aphakic
      patients in a Chinese population. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Qingdao
      Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, China. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHODS:
      This chart review included eyes that had secondary sulcus transscleral fixation
      of a 1-piece hydrophobic acrylic foldable PC IOL (Tecnis ZCB00) between March
      2011 and March 2014. The patients' demographic data, clinical data, postoperative
      complications, intervals between initial surgery and the onset of PDS, pigmentary
      glaucoma occurrences, and findings on slitlamp biomicroscopy, gonioscopy, and
      ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) were recorded. RESULTS: The study comprised 23
      consecutive eyes of 21 patients. Seventeen eyes of 16 patients were diagnosed
      with PDS, and 7 eyes of 6 patients were diagnosed with pigmentary glaucoma. The
      slitlamp examination and UBM showed that the location between the IOL optic and
      the posterior surface of the iris was very close. Slitlamp examination of the
      anterior chamber angle using a gonioscope showed dense pigment deposition on the
      IOL surfaces. A reverse pupillary block was found in 10 eyes of 9 patients. Other
      postoperative complications included intraocular hemorrhage, pupillary capture of
      the IOL optic, IOL tilt, IOL decentration, IOL dislocation, and suture erosion.
      CONCLUSION: The 1-piece hydrophobic acrylic foldable PC IOL was not suitable for
      sulcus transscleral fixation because of a high incidence of PDS and pigmentary
      glaucoma after surgery in a Chinese population.

PMID- 28602326
TI  - Capsular bag-fixated and ciliary sulcus-fixated intraocular lens centration after
      supplementary intraocular lens implantation in the same eye.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess capsular bag and sulcus intraocular lens (IOL) centration in
      eyes that had implantation of a sulcus-fixated supplementary IOL anterior to a
      preexisting capsular bag IOL. SETTING: Academic Teaching Hospital of St. John,
      Vienna, Austria. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHODS: A sulcus-fixated
      supplementary IOL (Sulcoflex) was implanted anterior to a preexisting capsular
      bag IOL. The geometric center of preexisting capsular bag IOLs and newly
      implanted sulcus-fixated IOLs was evaluated at least 12 months postoperatively
      and in relation to the geometric center of the pupil and limbus. RESULTS: The
      study comprised 48 eyes of 43 patients with a mean follow-up of 25 months (range
      12 to 84 months). The mean decentration of the capsular bag-fixated IOL was 0.29
      mm +/- 0.02 (SEM) when compared with the limbus and 0.29 +/- 0.03 mm when
      compared with the dilated pupil. The mean decentration of the sulcus-fixated IOL
      was 0.23 +/- 0.02 mm in relation to the limbus and 0.22 +/- 0.02 mm when in
      relation to the dilated pupil. Sulcus-fixated supplementary IOLs showed
      significantly better centration than bag-fixated IOLs when compared with the
      limbus and with the pupil (both P = .03, paired t test). CONCLUSIONS:
      Implantation of a sulcus-fixated supplementary IOL resulted in good centration of
      capsular bag-fixated IOLs and ciliary sulcus-fixated IOLs. However, ciliary
      sulcus-fixated IOLs achieved significantly better centration.

PMID- 28602327
TI  - Comparison of intraocular lens decentration and tilt measurements using 2
      Purkinje meter systems.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the difference in intraocular lens tilt and decentration
      measurements with 2 Purkinje meters. SETTING: Vienna Institute for Research in
      Ocular Surgery, Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria. DESIGN: Prospective evaluation
      of diagnostic test. METHODS: This single-center study included pseudophakic
      patients in 2 substudies in which 3 consecutive measurements were performed with
      2 Purkinje meters (Spanish and German). In substudy 1, an inexperienced examiner
      performed all measurements after a short learning period. In substudy 2, all
      measurements were taken by experienced examiners under direct supervision of the
      inventors of the devices. RESULTS: Substudy 1 included 53 pseudophakic eyes in
      which all 53 scans were successful with the Spanish device; however, only 35
      measurements (66%) were successful with the German Purkinje meter. The mean tilt
      measured with the Spanish Purkinje meter was 4.35 degrees +/- 2.50 (SD) and 9.20
      +/- 6.96 degrees with the German Purkinje meter. The mean decentration was 0.44
      +/- 0.19 mm and 0.74 +/- 0.91 mm, (P = .44), respectively. In substudy 2 (29
      pseudophakic eyes), the number of successful scans was 29 (100%) and 18 (62%) for
      the Spanish meter and German Purkinje meter, respectively. The mean horizontal
      and vertical tilt difference vector between the 2 systems was 4.89 +/- 3.24
      degrees and 7.57 +/- 3.82 degrees, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Concerning clinical
      feasibility, the Spanish Purkinje meter had a greater percentage of successful
      scans than the German device. In addition, this device measured significantly
      higher tilt values than the Spanish Purkinje meter.

PMID- 28602328
TI  - Comparison of training effect on tremor using 2 training modules.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare training effect of 2 training models-a surgical simulator
      anti-tremor module and a paper version-on tremor and time-to-task completion.
      SETTING: Ophthalmology Department, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System,
      Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, USA. DESIGN: Prospective crossover study. METHODS:
      Trainees completed simulator and paper training modules (baseline test, 3
      training sessions, posttraining test, and final test) with their dominant and
      nondominant hands. The change in tremor, number of paper errors, and time-to-task
      completion in dominant and nondominant hands were compared. The 2 training
      modules were compared using nonparametric tests. RESULTS: The study comprised 19
      trainees. There was a moderate correlation between average tremor values
      (simulator, 3-dimensional module) and paper errors (paper, 2-dimensional module)
      (Spearman ? = 0.35, P < .0001). Practice on the simulator or paper modules did
      not reduce tremor significantly from baseline to final tasks for both hands
      combined (P = .12, simulator; P = .2, paper). Practice on the training modules
      improved time-to-task completion in the simulator module and paper module (both P
      < .0001). The improvement in time from baseline to final tasks was greater in the
      nondominant hands in the simulator module (improvement 64.5% over baseline time)
      than in the paper module (53.6% over baseline time). CONCLUSION: Practice might
      not reduce tremor but improved the outcome measure of time, and results suggest
      that trainees can learn to compensate for tremor in both hands, which is
      important in bimanual microsurgery.

PMID- 28602329
TI  - Central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure changes after congenital
      cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation in children younger than 2
      years.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the change in central corneal thickness (CCT) and
      intraocular pressure (IOP) preoperatively to postoperatively in children younger
      than 2 years of age having surgery with primary intraocular lens (IOL)
      implantation for congenital cataract. SETTING: Tertiary care institute,
      Chandigarh, India. DESIGN: Prospective case series. METHODS: Children younger
      than 2 years old who had phacoaspiration with IOL implantation were studied. The
      preoperative pachymetry and IOP were compared with the postoperative values at 3
      months, 6 months, and 12 months. Pachymetry was measured using an ultrasound
      pachymeter and IOP with a handheld Perkins applanation tonometer. RESULTS: Thirty
      one patients (aged 3 to 24 months) were analyzed. There were 24 bilateral cases
      and 7 unilateral cases. The CCT increased significantly from a preoperative value
      of 529.84 MUm +/- 11.7 (SD) to a postoperative value of 553 +/- 15.5 MUm at 1
      year (P = .022). The mean increase in CCT was 23.16 MUm and in IOP, 2.59 mm Hg.
      The change in CCT correlated with the change in IOP at 1 year (P = .011).
      CONCLUSIONS: After cataract surgery, the CCT in pediatric eyes increased
      significantly. The CCT values were an important consideration in the measurement
      of IOP in children younger than 2 years having cataract extraction with primary
      IOL implantation.

PMID- 28602330
TI  - Mean shape of the human limbus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize the mean topographic shape of the limbus of a normal
      human eye and determine whether it depends on age or refractive power. SETTING:
      University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. DESIGN: Prospective case
      series. METHODS: Participants with no previous ocular surgeries were included in
      this study. The left eye was measured with a corneoscleral topographer (Eye
      Surface Profiler). From the raw anterior eye height data, the topographic limbus
      was demarcated and fitted in 3 dimensions to a circle, an ellipse, and a Fourier
      series. The root mean square error was calculated to evaluate the goodness of
      fit. In addition, the white-to-white (WTW) corneal diameter was taken from the
      readings of the measuring device. For statistical analysis, participants were
      grouped according to their age and their spherical equivalent correction.
      RESULTS: The study comprised 74 participants aged 20 to 84 years. From the
      considered models, the 2nd-order Fourier series was the most accurate model to
      describe the shape of the human limbus. The mean difference between the
      topographic limbus diameter and the WTW corneal diameter was 0.33 mm +/- 0.24
      (SD). There were statistically significant differences between eye quadrants (P <
      .001); however, there were no statistically significant differences in the
      horizontal and vertical meridians between age groups (P = .71 and P = .082,
      respectively) or between eyes with myopia and eyes with emmetropia (P = .78 and P
      = .68, respectively). CONCLUSION: The human limbus is not symmetrical and
      although its shape is person-dependent, it is not related to age or the eye's
      refractive power.

PMID- 28602331
TI  - Ocular tolerance in rabbits after intracameral administration of a fixed
      combination of tropicamide, phenylephrine, and lidocaine with and without
      rinsing.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single intracameral
      administration of a combined mydriatic (tropicamide and phenylephrine) and
      anesthetic (lidocaine) formulation (Mydrane) with or without rinsing. SETTING:
      Iris Pharma, La Gaude, France. DESIGN: Experimental study. METHODS: Sixty
      pigmented rabbits received 100 MUL or 200 MUL of the combination product or a
      placebo (sodium chloride 0.9%) by intracameral injection. For the combination
      product, separate groups were included with and without rinsing after
      administration. From day 1 day to day 7, assessments included general clinical
      and ocular observations, pupil diameter measurements, corneal assessments,
      confocal microscopy, and electroretinography (ERG). Necropsy examinations were
      performed at study completion at day 8. RESULTS: Rapid mydriasis, stable 24
      minutes after injection and returning to baseline levels by day 1, was induced in
      all groups that received the combination mydriatic and anesthetic drug. Rinsing
      had no effect. The combination product induced no adverse effects on the anterior
      or posterior segment of the eye (ie, no increased corneal thickness and
      endothelial cell loss, no abnormalities in ERG). Slitlamp examination showed
      slightly increased anterior chamber inflammation with rinsing in both the study
      group and placebo group. This observation was not confirmed by aqueous flare
      examination. No toxic effects of the products were found on histological
      evaluation. CONCLUSION: The combination mydriatic and anesthetic drug
      administered to pigmented rabbits as a single intracameral injection at volumes
      of 100 MUL and 200 MUL was well tolerated with no ocular adverse effects and no
      effect on the corneal endothelium.

PMID- 28602333
TI  - Resident and young physician experience with complex cataract surgery and new
      cataract and refractive technology: Results of the ASCRS 2016 Young Eye Surgeons
      survey.
AB  - A survey was offered to attendees of the 2016 annual meeting of the American
      Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) as well as online to ASCRS
      members. Of the 429 self-identified surgeons in training or those with fewer than
      5 years in practice, 83% had performed complex cataract surgery using iris
      expansion devices or capsular tension rings (63%) and 70% had implanted a toric
      intraocular lens (IOL). A minority of respondents had performed laser-assisted
      cataract surgery (27%) or implanted presbyopia-correcting IOLs (39%), and only
      half (50%) had performed laser vision correction (LVC). Comfort with complex
      cataract and IOL procedures improved with increasing number of cases performed
      until greater than 10 cases. From this we can conclude that young surgeons have
      adequate exposure to complex cataracts but lack experience in refractive surgery
      and new IOL technology. Reported surgeon confidence improved with increased
      experience and exposure.

PMID- 28602332
TI  - Assessment of stromal riboflavin concentration-depth profile in nanotechnology
      based transepithelial corneal crosslinking.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the intrastromal concentration of riboflavin in
      nanotechnology-based transepithelial corneal crosslinking. SETTING: Consiglio
      Nazionale delle Ricerche, Messina, Italy. DESIGN: Experimental study. METHODS:
      Six human donor sclerocorneal tissues were used to evaluate penetration of
      nanotechnology-based riboflavin 0.1% solution in the stroma through the intact
      epithelium. Three additional tissues were deepithelialized and soaked with
      dextran 20.0%-enriched riboflavin 0.1% solution for 30 minutes. After corneal
      soaking with riboflavin, all tissues were irradiated using a 10 mW/cm2 device for
      9 minutes. Two-photon emission fluorescence (TPEF) axial scanning measurements
      were collected in all specimens before treatment and immediately after corneal
      soaking with riboflavin and ultraviolet-A (UVA) irradiation of the cornea. The
      absorbance spectra of each tissue were collected at the same time intervals. The
      TPEF signals and absorbance spectra were used to calculate the concentration
      depth profile of riboflavin in the corneal stroma during treatments. RESULTS: The
      mean stromal riboflavin concentration was 0.008% +/- 0.003% (SD) and 0.017% +/-
      0.001% after transepithelial soaking with the nanotechnology-based solution and
      standard soaking, respectively (P = .001). After UVA irradiation of the cornea,
      the mean consumption of riboflavin was 52% +/- 13% and 67% +/- 2% in the study
      group and control group, respectively (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The nanotechnology
      based platform was effective in enriching the anterior stroma with riboflavin
      through the intact epithelium, although the riboflavin concentration-depth
      profile rapidly decreased across the mid and posterior stroma. The treatment
      induced stiffening effect on the corneal stroma was not assessed in this study.

PMID- 28602334
TI  - Intraindividual comparative analysis of the visual performance after cataract
      surgery with implantation of a trifocal and a bifocal intraocular lens.
AB  - Presbyopia-treating intraocular lenses (IOLs) are now widely available and offer
      high predictability at all distances, better visual outcomes, and high patient
      satisfaction. In most patients, the same multifocal IOL is implanted bilaterally.
      In certain circumstances, such as during complex surgeries, it is important to be
      prepared with a backup plan to maintain surgical expectations. We report 3
      patients who had femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgeries in both eyes. The
      complicated eye had implantation of a bifocal IOL and the fellow eye of a
      trifocal IOL. This intraindividual analysis shows that combining a trifocal and a
      bifocal IOL can achieve high patient satisfaction and an overall good visual
      outcome.

PMID- 28602336
TI  - May consultation #3.

PMID- 28602335
TI  - Neodymium:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy in eye with an intrastromal inlay.
AB  - We report intraoperative issues, patient outcomes, and lessons learned from
      inadvertently contacting a Kamra corneal inlay with a neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG)
      laser during a routine capsulotomy procedure for posterior capsule opacification.
      We also present scanning electron microscopic and histopathologic images from a
      series of 4 inlays implanted in postmortem porcine eyes that were purposely
      contacted with an Nd:YAG laser. Our capsulotomy patient developed a clinically
      insignificant and transient corneal opacity accompanied by mild blanching on the
      inlay. Modeling this scenario in porcine corneas demonstrated the potential for
      carbon particle liberation into the overlying stroma, damage to the inlay body,
      and fusion of inlay nutrition holes.

PMID- 28602337
TI  - Late subluxation of IOL-capsular bag complex: May consultation #1.

PMID- 28602338
TI  - May consultation #2.

PMID- 28602339
TI  - May consultation #4.

PMID- 28602340
TI  - May consultation #5.

PMID- 28602341
TI  - May consultation #6.

PMID- 28602342
TI  - May consultation #7.

PMID- 28602343
TI  - May consultation #8.

PMID- 28602344
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28602345
TI  - Advantages of intracameral injection with higher volume diluted moxifloxacin.

PMID- 28602346
TI  - Relationship between moxifloxacin use and increased antibiotic resistance and
      possible anaphylactic reactions.

PMID- 28602347
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28602348
TI  - Single sick swallow does not make a summer: Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract
      surgery versus standard phacoemulsification.

PMID- 28602349
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28602350
TI  - Structure of the Human Lipid Exporter ABCA1.
AB  - ABCA1, an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) subfamily A exporter, mediates the cellular
      efflux of phospholipids and cholesterol to the extracellular acceptor
      apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) for generation of nascent high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL). Mutations of human ABCA1 are associated with Tangier disease and familial
      HDL deficiency. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of human ABCA1 with nominal
      resolutions of 4.1 A for the overall structure and 3.9 A for the massive
      extracellular domain. The nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) display a nucleotide
      free state, while the two transmembrane domains (TMDs) contact each other through
      a narrow interface in the intracellular leaflet of the membrane. In addition to
      TMDs and NBDs, two extracellular domains of ABCA1 enclose an elongated
      hydrophobic tunnel. Structural mapping of dozens of disease-related mutations
      allows potential interpretation of their diverse pathogenic mechanisms.
      Structural-based analysis suggests a plausible "lateral access" mechanism for
      ABCA1-mediated lipid export that may be distinct from the conventional
      alternating-access paradigm.

PMID- 28602351
TI  - A Unique Microglia Type Associated with Restricting Development of Alzheimer's
      Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a detrimental neurodegenerative disease with no
      effective treatments. Due to cellular heterogeneity, defining the roles of immune
      cell subsets in AD onset and progression has been challenging. Using
      transcriptional single-cell sorting, we comprehensively map all immune
      populations in wild-type and AD-transgenic (Tg-AD) mouse brains. We describe a
      novel microglia type associated with neurodegenerative diseases (DAM) and
      identify markers, spatial localization, and pathways associated with these cells.
      Immunohistochemical staining of mice and human brain slices shows DAM with
      intracellular/phagocytic Abeta particles. Single-cell analysis of DAM in Tg-AD
      and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (Trem2)-/- Tg-AD reveals
      that the DAM program is activated in a two-step process. Activation is initiated
      in a Trem2-independent manner that involves downregulation of microglia
      checkpoints, followed by activation of a Trem2-dependent program. This unique
      microglia-type has the potential to restrict neurodegeneration, which may have
      important implications for future treatment of AD and other neurodegenerative
      diseases. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

PMID- 28602353
TI  - Visuomotor Coupling Shapes the Functional Development of Mouse Visual Cortex.
AB  - The emergence of sensory-guided behavior depends on sensorimotor coupling during
      development. How sensorimotor experience shapes neural processing is unclear.
      Here, we show that the coupling between motor output and visual feedback is
      necessary for the functional development of visual processing in layer 2/3 (L2/3)
      of primary visual cortex (V1) of the mouse. Using a virtual reality system, we
      reared mice in conditions of normal or random visuomotor coupling. We recorded
      the activity of identified excitatory and inhibitory L2/3 neurons in response to
      transient visuomotor mismatches in both groups of mice. Mismatch responses in
      excitatory neurons were strongly experience dependent and driven by a transient
      release from inhibition mediated by somatostatin-positive interneurons. These
      data are consistent with a model in which L2/3 of V1 computes a difference
      between an inhibitory visual input and an excitatory locomotion-related input,
      where the balance between these two inputs is finely tuned by visuomotor
      experience.

PMID- 28602352
TI  - Cryo-EM Reveals How Human Cytoplasmic Dynein Is Auto-inhibited and Activated.
AB  - Cytoplasmic dynein-1 binds dynactin and cargo adaptor proteins to form a
      transport machine capable of long-distance processive movement along
      microtubules. However, it is unclear why dynein-1 moves poorly on its own or how
      it is activated by dynactin. Here, we present a cryoelectron microscopy structure
      of the complete 1.4-megadalton human dynein-1 complex in an inhibited state known
      as the phi-particle. We reveal the 3D structure of the cargo binding dynein tail
      and show how self-dimerization of the motor domains locks them in a conformation
      with low microtubule affinity. Disrupting motor dimerization with structure-based
      mutagenesis drives dynein-1 into an open form with higher affinity for both
      microtubules and dynactin. We find the open form is also inhibited for movement
      and that dynactin relieves this by reorienting the motor domains to interact
      correctly with microtubules. Our model explains how dynactin binding to the
      dynein-1 tail directly stimulates its motor activity.

PMID- 28602354
TI  - Head and Neck Cancer Pain.
AB  - Pain is a significant morbidity resulting from head and neck cancer. Pain may
      also be the result of the treatments directed against head and neck cancer. An
      experienced practitioner may manage this pain by understanding the multifactorial
      mechanisms of pain and the various pharmacotherapies available. Pain should be
      managed with multiple medications in a multimodal approach, and nonpharmacologic
      therapies should be considered as well.

PMID- 28602355
TI  - Retraction notice to "Clinical significance of ITPA rs67002563 polymorphism in
      patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with 6-mercaptopurine"
      [Pharmacol. Res. (2015) 61-62].

PMID- 28602356
TI  - Retraction notice to "Evaluation of the positive effects on insulin-resistance
      and beta-cell measurements of vildagliptin in addition to metformin in type 2
      diabetic patients" [Pharmacol. Res. 73 (2013) 20-26].

PMID- 28602357
TI  - Postgraduate Training in a Low- and Middle-income Country: Sharing Experience
      from a Joint Commission International Accreditation-accredited University
      Hospital.

PMID- 28602358
TI  - Institutional racism in public health contracting: Findings of a nationwide
      survey from New Zealand.
AB  - Public institutions within New Zealand have long been accused of mono-culturalism
      and institutional racism. This study sought to identify inconsistencies and bias
      by comparing government funded contracting processes for Maori public health
      providers (n = 60) with those of generic providers (n = 90). Qualitative and
      quantitative data were collected (November 2014-May 2015), through a nationwide
      telephone survey of public health providers, achieving a 75% response rate.
      Descriptive statistical analyses were applied to quantitative responses and an
      inductive approach was taken to analyse data from open-ended responses in the
      survey domains of relationships with portfolio contract managers, contracting and
      funding. The quantitative data showed four sites of statistically significant
      variation: length of contracts, intensity of monitoring, compliance costs and
      frequency of auditing. Non-significant data involved access to discretionary
      funding and cost of living adjustments, the frequency of monitoring, access to
      Crown (government) funders and representation on advisory groups. The qualitative
      material showed disparate provider experiences, dependent on individual portfolio
      managers, with nuanced differences between generic and Maori providers'
      experiences. This study showed that monitoring government performance through a
      nationwide survey was an innovative way to identify sites of institutional
      racism. In a policy context where health equity is a key directive to the health
      sector, this study suggests there is scope for New Zealand health funders to
      improve their contracting practices.

PMID- 28602359
TI  - Predictive and prognostic factors influencing outcomes of rituximab therapy in
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical outcomes following rituximab (RTX) treatment in patients
      with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is highly variable. We aimed to identify
      predictive and prognostic factors associated with RTX therapy outcomes in
      patients with SLE. METHODS: Studies in adults and paediatric patients with SLE
      were included. We included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for predictors of
      differential treatment effect and cohort studies for potential prognostic factors
      in patients treated with RTX (global clinical, cutaneous and renal either
      response or relapse, and side effects). Methodological quality was assessed using
      Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool and the Quality In Prognosis Studies
      Tool (QUIPS) for RCTs and cohort studies, respectively. The quality of subgroup
      analyses testing predictors of differential treatment response was also
      evaluated. A best evidence synthesis was performed using the Grading of
      Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework.
      RESULTS: Sixteen articles were included (3 from 2 RCTs and 13 from 6 cohort
      studies). The overall quality of evidence (QoE) was low to very low (GRADE
      framework). QoE for predictive factors based on RCTs analysing sociodemographic
      variables, was rated very low due to the lack of interaction tests, limited power
      of subgroup analyses, study limitations, and imprecisions. Disease-related
      factors including clinical phenotype and severity, baseline anti-ENA antibodies
      and anti-Ro antibodies, interleukin (IL) 2/21 single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP), as well as post-RTX complete B-cell depletion and earlier B-cell
      repopulation showed some evidence for prognostic value, but were rated low to
      very low QoE because of early phase of investigation (exploratory analysis),
      insufficient adjustment for confounding in most studies, high risk of bias,
      inconsistency, and imprecisions. CONCLUSIONS: To date, studies addressing
      prognostic factors are hypothesis generating and cannot be used to make any
      specific recommendations for routine clinical practice. A number of potential
      predictors/prognostic factors were identified, which require to be validated as
      being specific for response to RTX therapy and to enable more personalised use of
      this agent.

PMID- 28602360
TI  - The role of platelets in autoimmunity, vasculopathy, and fibrosis: Implications
      for systemic sclerosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by
      vasculopathy, autoimmunity, and widespread dermal and visceral fibrosis. This
      article summarizes the current knowledge about the potential contribution of
      platelets in the disease process and the rationale of targeting platelets as an
      adjunct treatment for SSc. METHODS: We performed an electronic search (Medline)
      using the keywords platelets, systemic sclerosis, autoimmunity, fibrosis,
      Raynaud, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. RESULTS: The link that connects
      vasculopathy, autoimmunity, and fibrosis in SSc remains obscure. Experimental
      data suggest that platelets are not solely cell fragments regulating hemostasis
      but they have a pleiotropic role in several biologic processes including immune
      regulation, vasculopathy, fibrosis, and all key features of SSc. Platelets
      interplay with the impaired endothelium, can interact with immune cells, and they
      are storages of bioactive molecules involved in tissue injury and remodeling. The
      potential role of platelets in the pathogenesis of SSc is further supported by
      experimental data in animal models of SSc. Platelet-derived serotonin represents
      a novel target in SSc and serotonin blockade is currently being tested in
      clinical trials. CONCLUSION: Platelets may be actively involved in the
      pathogenesis of SSc by activating immune responses and facilitating the fibrotic
      process. However, definite conclusions cannot be drawn until more data from both
      basic and clinical research are available.

PMID- 28602361
TI  - Risk factors for postoperative urinary tract infection following midurethral
      sling procedures: Methodological issues.

PMID- 28602362
TI  - Correction to Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2017; published online June 7.
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(17)30174-2.

PMID- 28602363
TI  - Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Prognosis of Heart Failure in Older Adults.
AB  - Heart failure is the quintessential cardiovascular syndrome of aging that results
      from common cardiovascular conditions in older adults in conjunction with age
      associated changes in cardiovascular structure and function. To a large extent,
      heart failure is a geriatric syndrome in much the same way that dementia, falls,
      and frailty are geriatric syndromes. The incidence and prevalence of heart
      failure increase strikingly with age and make heart failure the most common
      reason for hospitalization among older adults. Although outcomes for older adults
      with heart failure have improved over time, mortality, hospitalization, and
      rehospitalization rates remain high.

PMID- 28602364
TI  - Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Older Adults.
AB  - Aging is characterized by heterogeneity, both in health and illness. Older adults
      with heart failure often have preserved ejection fraction and atypical and
      delayed clinical manifestations. After diagnosis of heart failure is established,
      a cause should be sought. The patient's comorbidities may provide clues. An
      elevated jugular venous pressure is the most reliable clinical sign of fluid
      volume overload and should be carefully evaluated. Left ventricular ejection
      fraction must be determined to assess prognosis and guide therapy. These 5 steps,
      namely, diagnosis, etiologic factor, fluid volume, ejection fraction, and therapy
      for heart failure may be memorized by mnemonic: DEFEAT-HF.

PMID- 28602365
TI  - Role of Echocardiography in the Diagnostic Assessment and Etiology of Heart
      Failure in Older Adults: Opacify, Quantify, and Rectify.
AB  - Echocardiography allows the assessment of systolic and diastolic function and
      identifies many of the common causes of heart failure (HF). Patients with
      minimally symptomatic or unsuspected left ventricular systolic dysfunction may be
      identified and receive the benefits of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor
      therapy. Echocardiography is also for assessing prognosis and can be used
      serially to evaluate treatment. Ventricular filling pressures, pulmonary artery
      pressures, and cardiac output can be sequentially determined. The authors believe
      that all patients with HF should receive careful assessment echocardiography. The
      authors believe using echocardiography is especially valuable in the elderly.

PMID- 28602366
TI  - Treatment of Heart Failure with Abnormal Left Ventricular Systolic Function in
      Older Adults.
AB  - Heart failure (HF) with abnormal left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction should
      be identified and treated. Treat hypertension with diuretics, angiotensin
      converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and beta-blockers. Treat myocardial ischemia
      with nitrates and beta-blockers. Treat volume overload and HF with diuretics.
      Treat HF with ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers. Sacubitril/valsartan may be used
      instead of an ACE inhibitor or ARB in chronic symptomatic HF and abnormal LV
      ejection fraction. Add isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine in African Americans with
      class II to IV HF treated with diuretics, ACE inhibitors, and beta-blockers.
      Exercise training is recommended. Indications for implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy are discussed.

PMID- 28602368
TI  - Use of Diuretics in the Treatment of Heart Failure in Older Adults.
AB  - Diuretics are the most commonly prescribed class of drugs in patients with heart
      failure, and in the short term they remain the most effective treatment for
      relief from fluid congestion. This article reviews the mode of action of the
      various diuretic classes and the physiologic adaptations that follow and sets up
      the basis for their use in the treatment of volume-retaining states, particularly
      as applies to the elderly. In addition, the article reviews the common side
      effects related to diuretics.

PMID- 28602369
TI  - Heart Failure Complicating Acute Mtyocardial Infarction.
AB  - Factors predisposing the older person with acute myocardial infarction (MI) to
      develop heart failure (HF) include an increased prevalence of MI, multivessel
      coronary artery disease, decreased left ventricular (LV) contractile reserve,
      impairment of LV diastolic relaxation, increased hypertension, LV hypertrophy,
      diabetes mellitus, valvular heart disease, and renal insufficiency. HF associated
      with acute MI should be treated with a loop diuretic. The use of nitrates,
      angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers,
      aldosterone antagonists, beta-blockers, digoxin, and positive inotropic drugs;
      treatment of arrhythmias and mechanical complications; and indications for use of
      implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization is
      discussed.

PMID- 28602370
TI  - The Role of Positive Inotropic Drugs in the Treatment of Older Adults with Heart
      Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction.
AB  - Positive inotropic drugs have long been studied for their potential benefits in
      patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Although there
      has been an extensive amount of research about the clinical effects of these
      drugs in general, few studies examined their effect in older patients. Therefore,
      there is little or no evidence to guide the use of positive inotropes in older
      patients with HFrEF. However, recommendations from national heart failure
      guidelines may be generalized to older HFrEF patients on an individual basis,
      taking into consideration the basic geriatric principles of pharmacotherapy:
      start low and go slow.

PMID- 28602371
TI  - Interventional Therapies for Heart Failure in Older Adults.
AB  - Heart failure (HF) remains the leading cause of hospitalization in older adults
      and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality despite the use of
      guideline-directed medical therapy. There has been tremendous progress in the
      development of novel transcatheter and interventional therapies for HF over the
      past decade. The evolution of structural heart disease interventions and
      interventional HF has led to a multidisciplinary heart team approach in the
      management of HF patients. Careful selection of the appropriate patient
      population and end points in future randomized controlled trials will be crucial
      to demonstrate the potential efficacy of the novel interventional HF therapies.

PMID- 28602367
TI  - Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction in Older Adults.
AB  - Most elderly patients, particularly women, who have heart failure, have a
      preserved ejection fraction. Patients with this syndrome have severe symptoms of
      exercise intolerance, frequent hospitalizations, and increased mortality. Despite
      the importance of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the
      understanding of its pathophysiology is incomplete, and optimal treatment remains
      largely undefined. Unlike the management of HFrEF, there is a paucity of large
      evidence-based trials demonstrating morbidity and mortality benefit for the
      treatment of HFpEF. An update is presented on information regarding
      pathophysiology, diagnosis, management, and future directions in this important
      and growing disorder.

PMID- 28602372
TI  - Surgical Revascularization in Older Adults with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - With the totality of data supporting coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) for
      mortality benefit, symptomatic angina, and quality of life improvement, CABG
      should be a class I indication for patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and
      severe left ventricular dysfunction. As the population ages and more patients are
      referred for CABG, a careful risk-benefit assessment should be an important part
      of the consideration regarding revascularization strategies. A heart team
      approach is critical to arrive at the best decision for each patient. Age, alone,
      should not be a contraindication because there are data to support a reduction in
      cardiovascular mortality with CABG in older patients.

PMID- 28602373
TI  - Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Older Adults with Heart Failure.
AB  - Heart failure is a disease of poor prognosis marked by frequent hospitalizations,
      premature death, and impaired quality of life. Despite advances in medical
      therapy for patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction, mortality
      and hospitalizations with advanced disease are still increased and the quality of
      life continues to be poor in this population. The advent of cardiac
      resynchronization therapy has led to a significant improvement in both survival
      and symptom management in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection
      fraction. Its beneficial effects in the elderly population, however, are not well
      defined.

PMID- 28602374
TI  - Treatment of Ventricular Arrhythmias and Use of Implantable Cardioverter
      Defibrillators to Improve Survival in Older Adult Patients with Cardiac Disease.
AB  - Ventricular arrhythmia (VA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) are well-recognized
      problems in the overall heart failure population, but treatment decisions can be
      more complex and nuanced in older patients. Sustained VA does not always lead to
      SCD, but identifies a higher risk population and may cause significant symptoms.
      Antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) and catheter ablation are the mainstays for prevention
      of VA, but have not been shown to improve mortality. The value of implantable
      cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) may be influenced by patient age. This article
      discusses long-term treatment of VA and the use of ICDs in the elderly.

PMID- 28602376
TI  - Left Ventricular Assist Device in Older Adults.
AB  - Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are an effective therapy for a growing
      and aging population in the background of limited donor supply. Selecting the
      proper patient involves assessment of indications, risk factors, scores for
      overall outcomes, assessment for right ventricular failure, and optimal timing of
      implantation. LVAD complications have a 5% to 10% perioperative mortality and
      complications of bleeding, thrombosis, stroke, infection, right ventricular
      failure, and device failure. As LVAD engineering technology evolves, so will the
      risk-prediction scores. Hence, more large-scale prospective data from
      multicenters will continually be required to aid in patient selection, reduce
      complications, and improve long-term outcomes.

PMID- 28602375
TI  - Exercise Therapy for Older Heart Failure Patients.
AB  - Both the aging process and heart failure (HF) syndrome are characterized by a
      dramatic reduction of aerobic capacity. Significant decreases in muscle mass and
      strength are also common. Few HF training studies have included meaningful
      numbers of older individuals, especially those greater than 80 years of age and
      older women with HF with reduced ejection fraction. The modest data available
      suggest similar benefits in older patients and excellent safety. Resistance
      training may provide additional benefit. Whether exercise training can reduce
      mortality, hospitalizations, and overall health care costs in older adults with
      HF awaits the outcome of adequately powered multicenter trials.

PMID- 28602377
TI  - End-of-Life Care in the Treatment of Heart Failure in Older Adults.
AB  - Heart failure presents unique challenges to the clinician who desires to provide
      excellent and humane care near the end of life. Accurate prediction of mortality
      in the individual patient is complicated by a chronic disease that is punctuated
      by recurrent acute episodes and sudden death. Health care providers continue to
      have difficulty communicating effectively with terminally ill patients and their
      caregivers regarding end-of-life care preferences, all of which needs to occur
      earlier rather than later. This article also discusses various means of providing
      palliative care, and specific issues regarding device therapy, cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation, and palliative sedation with concurrent discussion of the ethical
      ramifications and pitfalls of each.

PMID- 28602378
TI  - Heart Failure in Older Adults.

PMID- 28602379
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Rituximab in the Management of Pediatric Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of rituximab for treating
      pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE). STUDY DESIGN: We performed a
      systematic review to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rituximab in children
      with pSLE. Data from studies performed before July 2016 were collected from
      MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and the International Rheumatic Disease
      Abstracts, with no language restrictions. Study eligibility criteria included
      clinical trials and observational studies with a minimal sample size of 5
      patients, regarding treatment with rituximab in patients with refractory pSLE
      (aged <18 years at the time of diagnosis). Independent extraction of articles was
      performed by 2 investigators using predefined data fields. RESULTS: Twelve case
      series met the criteria for data extraction for the systematic review with a good
      quality assessment according to an 18-criteria checklist using a modified Delphi
      method. Among them, 3 studies were multicenter and 3 were prospective. The total
      number of patients was 272. Studies collected patients with active disease
      refractory to steroids and immunosuppressant drugs. Refractory lupus nephritis
      was the most common indication (33%). Acceptable evidence suggested improvements
      in renal, neuropsychiatric and haematological manifestations, disease activity,
      complement and anti-double stranded Desoxy-Nucleo-Adenosine, with a steroid
      sparing effect. However, there was poor evidence suggesting efficacy on
      arthralgia, photosensitivity, and mucocutaneous manifestations of SLE in
      children. An overall acceptable safety profile with few major adverse events was
      shown. CONCLUSION: Rituximab exhibited a satisfactory profile regarding efficacy
      and safety indicating that this agent is a promising therapy for pSLE and should
      be further investigated.

PMID- 28602380
TI  - Sleep Duration and Telomere Length in Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the association between sleep duration and telomere length in
      a pediatric population. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed cross-sectional data for 1567
      children from the age 9 study wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing
      Study, a population-based birth cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 in
      large American cities (population >200 000). We measured telomere length using
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and children's typical nightly sleep
      duration was reported by their primary caregivers. Using linear regression, we
      estimated the association between sleep duration and telomere length both in
      unadjusted models and adjusting for a number of covariates. RESULTS: We found
      that children with shorter sleep durations have shorter telomeres than children
      with longer sleep durations. Each hour less of nightly sleep duration is
      associated with having telomeres that are 0.015 log-kilobases per chromosome
      shorter (P < .05). We found no difference in this association by race, sex, or
      socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: We provide preliminary evidence that children
      with shorter sleep durations have shorter telomeres. This finding is consistent
      with a broader literature indicating that suboptimal sleep duration is a risk for
      increased physiological stress and impaired health. Future research should
      address the limitations of our study design by using longitudinal study designs
      and telomere measurements, measuring sleep duration via polysomnography or
      actigraphy, and assessing the intermediate biological mechanisms of the link
      between sleep and telomere dynamics.

PMID- 28602381
TI  - Variability of Care in Infants with Severe Bronchiolitis: Less-Invasive
      Respiratory Management Leads to Similar Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the management of children with severe bronchiolitis
      requiring intensive care (based on duration of ventilatory support and duration
      of pediatric intensive care unit [PICU] stay) in 2 countries with differing
      pediatric transport and PICU organizations. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective
      observational care study in 2 PICUs of tertiary care university hospitals, 1 in
      France and 1 in Canada. All children with bronchiolitis who required admission to
      the PICU between November 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014, were included. RESULTS: A
      total of 194 children were included. Baseline characteristics and illness
      severity were similar at the 2 sites. There was a significant difference between
      centers in the use of invasive ventilation (3% in France vs 26% in Canada; P <
      .0001). The number of investigations performed from admission to emergency
      department presentation and during the PICU stay was significantly higher in
      Canada for both chest radiographs and blood tests (P < .001). The use of
      antibiotics was significantly higher in Canada both before (60% vs 28%; P < .001)
      and during (72% vs 33%; P < .0001) the PICU stay. The duration of ventilatory
      support, median length of stay, and rate of PICU readmission were similar in the
      2 centers. CONCLUSION: Important differences in the management of children with
      severe bronchiolitis were observed during both prehospital transport and PICU
      treatment. Less invasive management resulted in similar outcomes with in fewer
      complications.

PMID- 28602382
TI  - Value in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: A Systematic Review of Economic
      Analyses.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to describe the state of economic analyses
      in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      systematic search of published literature up to 2016 was performed. The inclusion
      criteria were as follows: English-language articles on economic analyses
      pertaining to OMS including anesthesia and pain management; dentoalveolar
      surgery; orthognathic, cleft, and/or obstructive sleep apnea treatment;
      pathology; reconstruction; temporomandibular disorders; trauma; and other. The
      exclusion criteria were as follows: opinion or perspective articles, studies
      unrelated to OMS, nonhuman research, and implant-related studies. Cost
      effectiveness analyses (CEAs), cost-utility analyses, and cost-minimization
      analyses (CMAs) were evaluated with the original Consolidated Health Economic
      Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist or a modified CHEERS checklist.
      RESULTS: The search yielded 798 articles, 77 of which met the inclusion criteria
      (published from 1980 to 2016, 48 from the United States). There were an
      increasing number of studies over time (P for trend < .01). There were 7 economic
      studies on anesthesia and pain management (9.1%); 16 studies on dentoalveolar
      surgery (20.7%); 15 studies on orthognathic, cleft, and/or obstructive sleep
      apnea treatment (19.4%); 1 study on pathology (1.3%); 6 studies on reconstruction
      (7.8%); no studies on temporomandibular joint disorders and/or facial pain (0%);
      20 studies on trauma (25.9%); and 12 studies categorized as other (15.5%). CEAs
      made up 11.7% of studies, and CMAs comprised 58.4%. Of the 9 CEAs, 55.6% were
      published in 2010 or later. Of the 45 CMAs, 88.6% were published in 2000 or later
      and 61.4% in 2010 or later. CEAs met 56.0% (range, 29.2 to 87.5%) of the CHEERS
      criteria, whereas CMA studies met 45.1% (range, 23.9 to 76.1%) of the modified
      CHEERS criteria. Only 1 study succeeded in estimating costs and health outcomes
      (value) of an OMS procedure. CONCLUSIONS: There is an increasing trend in the
      number of economic studies in the field of OMS. More high-quality economic
      evaluations are needed to demonstrate the value of OMS procedures. To determine
      value, future studies should compare both costs and health-related outcomes.

PMID- 28602383
TI  - Editorial Comment: Stress and Late-Life Depression.

PMID- 28602384
TI  - Physician-to-physician communication in breast cancer care coordination.

PMID- 28602385
TI  - The snake raiser lung: An unusual cause of Salmonella enterica subspecies
      arizonae pneumonia.

PMID- 28602386
TI  - Respiratory infections associated with anti-TNFalpha agents.
AB  - Anti-TNFalpha agents have proved effective in the treatment of various
      inflammatory, rheumatologic, dermatologic, and gastrointestinal diseases. Severe
      respiratory tract infections of bacterial or fungal origin have emerged as
      important complications in patients receiving such treatments. The risk of
      infection due to anti-TNFalpha therapy is difficult to assess in these patients
      who are immunocompromised because of the underlying disease itself and of
      previous or concomitant immunosuppressive drugs. This excessive infection risk
      seems real, particularly in the first six months following treatment initiation,
      and higher for patients receiving anti-TNFalpha monoclonal antibodies than for
      those receiving soluble TNFalpha receptor. The involved pathogens are pyogenic
      bacteria but also Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mostly by reactivation of latent
      tuberculosis infection, warranting a systematic preventive approach to screening
      and chemoprophylaxis before initiating the anti-TNFalpha therapy. In countries
      with low tuberculosis endemicity, an increased prevalence of nontuberculous
      mycobacterial infections has been reported. The incidence rate of legionellosis
      is high in this population. In case of pneumonia, empirical antibiotic therapy
      should cover Legionella pneumophila. Several cases of histoplasmosis have also
      been reported and this diagnosis should be suspected in patients who have
      traveled to endemic areas. Other opportunistic infections have been reported
      including Pneumocystis pneumonia, aspergillosis, and nocardiosis mostly in
      patients receiving other immunosuppressive treatments. The risk of infection
      should be evaluated as an individual risk depending on comorbidities and past or
      concomitant treatments.

PMID- 28602387
TI  - Surveillance of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in the Indian Ocean
      Region between January 2010 and December 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to trace the emergence of carbapenemase
      producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) on Reunion Island, a French overseas territory
      well suited for the surveillance of CPE emergence in patients from the entire
      Indian Ocean Region. METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study was conducted
      on Reunion Island between 2010 and 2015. RESULTS: A total of 43 CPEs were
      isolated during the course of the study, in 36 patients (50% in the last year
      alone). Among these patients, 21 had a link with a foreign country (58%), mainly
      Mauritius (47.6%). Over the same period, CPEs were isolated from 13 of 1735
      (0.7%) repatriated patients to Reunion Island from another country of the Indian
      Ocean Region. The incidence of isolation of CPEs in the repatriated patients
      treated in Mauritius was higher (9.2%) than in patients treated in Madagascar or
      the Comoros Islands (<1%, P<0.001). The most commonly isolated microorganism was
      Klebsiella pneumoniae (39.5%). The most frequently identified carbapenemase was
      NDM-1 (81.4%); 100% and 56% of the NDM-1 strains were susceptible to tigecycline
      and colistin, respectively. In-hospital mortality rate was higher in patients
      presenting with CPE infection than in patients without CPE infection (75% vs.
      25%, P=0.04). CONCLUSION: As elsewhere in the world, the number of CPE cases on
      Reunion Island is on the rise. Most cases involve patients from Mauritius, which
      justifies screening and isolating CPE in patients from that country.

PMID- 28602388
TI  - Arthroscopic Subacromial Spacer Implantation in Patients With Massive Irreparable
      Rotator Cuff Tears: Clinical and Radiographic Results of 39 Retrospectives Cases.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcome of a biodegradable
      subacromial spacer in the treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff tear.
      METHODS: Between January 2011 and December 2014, all shoulders with symptomatic
      massive irreparable rotator cuff tears treated at our institution with
      arthroscopic implantation of a biodegradable subacromial spacer followed for at
      least 1 year were included in our series. Patients with osteoarthritis >= grade 3
      in the Hamada classification were excluded. Outcome measures included pre- and
      postoperative, range of motion, Constant score, acromiohumeral distance, and
      Hamada classification on anteroposterior and lateral radiographs. RESULTS: Thirty
      nine consecutive shoulders (37 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The mean age
      of patients was 69.8 (53-84) years. At the last follow-up (mean 32.8 +/- 12.4
      months), range of motion was significantly increased for all patients in anterior
      elevation (from 130 degrees  to 160 degrees , P = .02), abduction (from 100
      degrees  to 160 degrees , P = .01), and external rotation (from 30 degrees  to 45
      degrees , P = .0001). The mean Constant score was also significantly (P < .001)
      improved from 44.8 (+/-15.2) preoperatively to 76.0 (+/-17.1) at the last follow
      up. The mean acromiohumeral distance significantly (P = .002) decreased from 8.2
      mm (+/-3.4) to 6.2 mm (+/-3.1) at the last follow-up. The Hamada score progressed
      of 1 radiographic stage in 4 shoulders (15%) and progressed of 3 stages in 2
      (4%), whereas the other 32 shoulders remained stable. No intra- or postoperative
      complications were found except for 1 patient who required a revision for spacer
      migration. CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic implantation of a subacromial spacer for
      irreparable rotator cuff tear leads to significant improvement in shoulder
      function at a minimum of 1 year postoperatively. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV,
      therapeutic case series; treatment study.

PMID- 28602389
TI  - Diagnosis of Long QT Syndrome: Time to Stand Up!

PMID- 28602390
TI  - A study on role of triiodothyronine (T3) hormone on the improvement of articular
      cartilage surface architecture.
AB  - The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of triiodothyronine (T3) on
      the improvement of articular cartilage surface architecture at in vitro level.
      The T3 hormone was applied to neo-tissues in the range of 50, 100, 150 and
      200ng/ml for 5 weeks. At the end of the treatment, biochemical and histological
      evaluation was carried out in the neo-tissues. T3 hormone application
      significantly increased the collagen production in neo-cartilage tissues. The
      properties of tensile and compressive were significantly increased compared to
      the controls. However, T3 hormone application also induced hypertrophy. At the
      higher dose concentration of T3 hormone application, tensile and compressive
      properties were tremendously increased 4.3 and 4.6 fold respectively. Taking all
      these data together, it suggested that the T3 hormone application could be a
      potential agent to increase the functional properties such tensile and
      compressive in neo-tissues.

PMID- 28602391
TI  - Validating the use of napsin A as a marker for identifying tumorigenic potential
      of lung bronchiolo-alveolar hyperplasia in rodents.
AB  - There are two types of bronchiolo-alveolar hyperplasia (hyperplasia) in rodent
      lungs. The first is "inflammatory hyperplasia" that retains its ability to revert
      to normal epithelia upon removal of the stimulating insult. The second is "latent
      tumorigenic hyperplasia", which is irreversible and causes independent
      preneoplastic lesions that can progress to bronchiolo-alveolar adenocarcinoma.
      Previously, lung samples with hyperplastic lesions were obtained from rats
      exposed to N-bis (2-hydroxypropyl) nitrosamine (DHPN) and fine particles (e.g.
      quartz), and 19 specific markers were examined immunohistochemically to identify
      latent tumorigenic hyperplasia. In the cytoplasm of the cells that make up the
      alveolar wall, we found that napsin A was weakly expressed in the inflammatory
      hyperplastic lesions, and was strongly expressed in the latent tumorigenic
      hyperplastic lesions induced by DHPN. To validate the possibility that napsin A
      may serve as a tumorigenic hyperplastic marker, additional experiments were
      performed with rats and mice. Latent tumorigenic hyperplasia induced by various
      carcinogens were positive for napsin A, similar to hyperplasia induced by DHPN.
      Thus, high expression of napsin A in alveolar walls may serve as a useful marker
      for detecting the tumorigenic potential of lung hyperplasia in rodents.

PMID- 28602392
TI  - High-resolution circuit for the diagnosis of faecal incontinence. Patient
      satisfaction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite its high prevalence, faecal incontinence (FI) is still
      underrated and underdiagnosed. Moreover, diagnosis and subsequent treatment can
      be a challenge for the colorectal surgeon because of its associated social taboo
      and embarrassment, and the wide range of symptoms. The aim of the present study
      is to describe a new high-resolution circuit (HRC) for FI diagnosis, that was
      implemented at our center and to evaluate patient satisfaction. METHODS: The
      structure and organization of the HRC are described. Demographic and clinical
      data of the patients included in the HRC between February 2014 and June 2016 were
      collected. Moreover, patients' satisfaction was measured through a structured
      survey. RESULTS: A total of 321 patients were evaluated in our pelvic floor
      outpatients clinic during the study period: 65% (210) of them had FI (81% women,
      median age 66 years). The mean time since FI onset was 24 (range 4-540) months. A
      total of 79% (165) of the patients were included in the HRC. 62% of them
      responded to the survey. Of these, only 32% (33) had consulted for FI before
      coming to our centre. The majority, 88% (90) considered that performing the
      2diagnostic tests the same day of the visit was a very good option. And 94% (96)
      were satisfied with the information received on their FI, with a median
      satisfaction value of 10 (5-10). CONCLUSION: With the HRC, the patient spends
      about 2h in the outpatient clinic of the hospital, but leaves with the complete
      diagnostic process performed. The satisfaction survey confirms that most patients
      prefer this system.

PMID- 28602393
TI  - Laparoscopic approach in Crohn's disease.

PMID- 28602394
TI  - Reputational concerns with altruistic providers.
AB  - We study a model of reputational concerns when doctors differ in their degree of
      altruism and they can signal their altruism by their (observable) quality. When
      reputational concerns are high, following the introduction or enhancement of
      public reporting, the less altruistic (bad) doctor mimics the more altruistic
      (good) doctor. Otherwise, either a separating or a semi-separating equilibrium
      arises: the bad doctor mimics the good doctor with probability less than one. Pay
      for-performance incentive schemes are unlikely to induce crowding out, unless
      some dimensions of quality are unobservable. Under the pooling equilibrium a
      purchaser can implement the first-best quality by appropriately choosing a simple
      payment scheme with a fixed price per unit of quality provided. This is not the
      case under the separating equilibrium. Therefore, policies that enhance public
      reporting complement pay-for-performance schemes.

PMID- 28602395
TI  - Reprogramming of the Tumor in the Hypoxic Niche: The Emerging Concept and
      Associated Therapeutic Strategies.
AB  - Hypoxia exerts a profound impact on diverse aspects of cancer biology. Increasing
      evidence has revealed novel functions of hypoxia in cancer cell epigenomics,
      epitranscriptomics, metabolism, and intercellular communication, all hotspots of
      cancer research. Several drugs have been developed to target intratumoral hypoxia
      and have entered clinical trials to treat refractory tumors. However, direct
      targeting of hypoxia signaling still has limitations in the clinic with regard to
      cancer progression and resistance to therapy. Comprehensive understanding of the
      molecular mechanisms by which hypoxia reshapes tumors and their microenvironment,
      as well as how tumor cells adapt to and thrive in hypoxic conditions, will
      therefore continue to be a focus of cancer research and will provide new
      directions for hypoxic tumor treatment.

PMID- 28602397
TI  - A new species of Scopulariopsis and its synergistic effect on pathogenicity of
      Verticillium dahliae on cotton plants.
AB  - A new species, Scopulariopsis gossypii, was found to be present in the vascular
      bundles of cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum) infected by Verticillium dahliae
      which is an economically important pathogen in Hangzhou, China. The fungus was
      only present in the diseased plants, but it never became isolated from the
      healthy plants. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the fungus was present
      in parenchyma cells enclosing vessels in dark brown vascular tissues of stems,
      and produced asexual conidia within the tissues. Phylogenetic analysis of
      combined nuclear ribosomal D1/D2 region of the 28S rDNA as well as translation
      elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) and beta-tubulin (TUB) gene showed that S.
      gossypii represents an undescribed species of Scopulariopsis, Microascaceae. In
      this study, characteristics of sexual and asexual stages of the fungus were
      described, illustrated and compared with similar taxa. In addition, the molecular
      and morphological analyses indicated that S. gossypii was a distinct species of
      Scopulariopsis. The pathogenicity tests proved by inoculation of wounded roots
      confirmed that S. gossypii was an opportunistic pathogen causing leaf interveinal
      chlorosis and vascular browning of cotton plants. However S. gossypii did not
      infect host with undamaged roots. Moreover, coinoculation with S. gossypii and V.
      dahliae significantly increased disease severity.

PMID- 28602396
TI  - Mycoplasma fermentans deacetylase promotes mammalian cell stress tolerance.
AB  - Mycoplasma fermentans is a pathogenic bacterium that infects humans and has
      potential pathogenic roles in respiratory, genital and rheumatoid diseases. NAD+
      dependent deacetylase is involved in a wide range of pathophysiological processes
      and our studies have demonstrated that expression of mycoplasmal deacetylase in
      mammalian cells inhibits proliferation but promotes anti-starvation stress
      tolerance. Furthermore, mycoplasmal deacetylase is involved in cellular anti
      oxidation, which correlates with changes in the proapoptotic proteins BIK, p21
      and BIM. Mycoplasmal deacetylase binds to and deacetylates the FOXO3 protein,
      similar with mammalian SIRT2, and affects expression of the FOXO3 target gene
      BIM, resulting in inhibition of cell proliferation. Mycoplasmal deacetylase also
      alters the performance of cells under drug stress. This study expands our
      understanding of the potential molecular and cellular mechanisms of interaction
      between mycoplasmas and mammalian cells.

PMID- 28602398
TI  - In vitro and in vivo antifungal efficacy of plant based lawsone against Fusarium
      oxysporum species complex.
AB  - Fusarium oxysporum is an ascomycete facultative fungus which generally affects to
      plants. However, it is recently known as a serious emerging opportunistic
      pathogen of human and other animals. F. oxysporum shows broad resistance to
      commonly used antifungal agents and therefore development of alternative
      therapeutic agents is required. In this study, we investigated the antifungal
      efficacy of plant based natural lawsone against pathogenic F. oxysporum.
      Antifungal susceptibility test determined the concentration dependent growth
      inhibition of lawsone against F. oxysporum with minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) at 100MUg/mL. Ultra-structural analysis indicates the prominent damage on
      cell wall of the mycelium after lawsone treatment, and suggests that it could
      increase the membrane permeability and disintegration of cells leading to
      cellular death. Propidium iodide (PI) uptake assay results showed the higher
      level of cell death in lawsone treated F. oxysporum which further confirms the
      loss of plasma membrane integrity. Also, detection of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) using DCFH-DA has clearly indicated that lawsone (100MUg/mL) can induce the
      ROS level in the filaments of F. oxysporum. MTT assay results showed the loss of
      viability and germination capacity of F. oxysporum spores by lawsone in
      concentration dependent manner. Moreover, lawsone treatment induced the mRNA
      expression of two autophagy related genes (ATG1 and ATG8) indicating that lawsone
      may activate the autophagy related pathways in F. oxysporum due to the oxidative
      stress generated by ROS. F. oxysporum infected zebrafish has recovered after
      lawsone therapy as a topical treatment suggesting that lawsone is a potential
      natural antifusariosis agent.

PMID- 28602399
TI  - StPBS2, a MAPK kinase gene, is involved in determining hyphal morphology, cell
      wall development, hypertonic stress reaction as well as the production of
      secondary metabolites in Northern Corn Leaf Blight pathogen Setosphaeria turcica.
AB  - Mitogen activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK) is a crucial component in the
      MAPK signaling pathway. However, the functions of MAPKKs in foliar pathogens
      remain poorly understood. In the current study, a MAPKK gene designated as StPBS2
      was cloned from Setosphaeria turcica and the functions of this gene were
      investigated by RNAi technology. Four independent StPBS2 gene silence
      transformants with different efficiencies were confirmed by real time PCR.
      Compared to the wild type strain (WT), these transformants showed decreased
      colony growth, shortened hyphae cell length, broadened cell width and an obvious
      reduction in conidium yield. Moreover, the cell wall of the transformants was
      thicker and they were also more sensitive to substances that interfere with cell
      wall biosynthesis than WT. Additionally, the transformants displayed higher
      sensitivity to hypertonic stress than WT and the sensitivity was associated with
      the level of silencing of StPBS2. They were also resistant to the fungicides
      iprodione, procymidone and fludioxonil, to which WT almost completely sensitive.
      The transformants produced more red secondary metabolites than WT and the
      production was enhanced with increasing silencing level and increased glucose
      content in PDA medium. Our results suggest that StPBS2 is involved in
      morphogenesis, condiogenesis, cell wall development, hypertonic stress reaction
      and resistance to fungicides, as well as in the biosynthesis of secondary
      metabolites in S. turcica.

PMID- 28602400
TI  - Novel protein interactions with an actin homolog (MreB) of Helicobacter pylori
      determined by bacterial two-hybrid system.
AB  - The bacterium Helicobacter pylori infects more than 50% of the world population
      and causes several gastroduodenal diseases, including gastric cancer.
      Nevertheless, we still need to explore some protein interactions that may be
      involved in pathogenesis. MreB, an actin homolog, showed some special
      characteristics in previous studies, indicating that it could have different
      functions. Protein functions could be realized via protein-protein interactions.
      In the present study, the MreB protein from H. pylori 26695 fused with two tags
      10*His and GST in tandem was overexpressed and purified from Escherchia coli. The
      purified recombinant protein was used to perform a pull-down assay with H. pylori
      26695 cell lysate. The pulled-down proteins were identified by mass spectrometry
      (MALDI-TOF), in which the known important proteins related to morphogenesis were
      absent but several proteins related to pathogenesis process were observed. The
      bacterial two-hybrid system was further used to evaluate the protein interactions
      and showed that new interactions of MreB respectively with VacA, UreB, HydB, HylB
      and AddA were confirmed but the interaction MreB-MreC was not validated. These
      results indicated that the protein MreB in H. pylori has a distinct interactome,
      does not participate in cell morphogenesis via MreB-MreC but could be related to
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 28602401
TI  - Fusarium infection causes genotoxic disorders and antioxidant-based damages in
      Orobanche spp.
AB  - This study aims to evaluate the toxic effects of Fusarium oxysporum on root
      parasitic weed, Orobanche spp. Comparative genetic and gene expression studies
      were conducted on uninfected and fungus-infected orobanches. In genetic studies,
      isolated total DNA was amplified by RAPD PCR. Fragment properties were analysed
      by GTS test. According to the results, the fragment properties of control and
      Fusarium infected (experimental) groups varied widely; and it has been observed
      that Fusarium has genotoxic effects on the DNA of orobanches. In gene expression
      studies, the expression levels of genes encoding enzymes or proteins were
      associated with ROS damage and toxic effects, therefore, gene expressions of Mn
      superoxide dismutase (SOD), Zn-superoxide dismutase (=SOD2, mitochondrial),
      glutamine synthetase (GS), heat shock protein gene (HSP70), BAX, Caspase-3 and
      BCL2 were significantly higher in the experimental group. In the light of
      obtained data, it was concluded that F. oxysporum (1) caused heavy ROS damage in
      Orobanche (2) induced significant irrevocable genotoxic effects on the DNA of
      Orobanche, (3) degraded protein metabolism and synthesis, and finally (4)
      triggered apoptosis. The results of this study can be a ground for further
      research on reducing the toxic effects of Fusarium on agricultural products, so
      that advancements in bio-herbicide technology may provide a sustainable
      agricultural production.

PMID- 28602402
TI  - Growth media affect the volatilome and antimicrobial activity against
      Phytophthora infestans in four Lysobacter type strains.
AB  - Bacterial volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play important ecological roles in
      soil microbial interactions. Lysobacter spp. are key determinants of soil
      suppressiveness against phytopathogens and the production of non-volatile
      antimicrobial metabolites has been extensively characterised. However, the
      chemical composition and antagonistic properties of the Lysobacter volatilome
      have been poorly investigated. In this work, VOC emission profiles of four
      Lysobacter type strains grown on a sugar-rich and a protein-rich medium were
      analysed using solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
      and proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometry. Lysobacter
      antibioticus, L. capsici, L. enzymogenes and L. gummosus type strains were
      recognised according to their volatilome assessed using both headspace mass
      spectrometry methods Moreover, the chemical profiles and functional properties of
      the Lysobacter volatilome differed according to the growth medium, and a protein
      rich substrate maximised the toxic effect of the four Lysobacter type strains
      against Phytophthora infestans. Antagonistic (pyrazines, pyrrole and decanal) and
      non-antagonistic (delta-hexalactone and ethanol) VOCs against Ph. infestans or
      putative plant growth stimulator compounds (acetoin and indole) were mainly
      emitted by Lysobacter type strains grown on protein- and sugar-rich media
      respectively. Thus nutrient availability under soil conditions could affect the
      aggressiveness of Lysobacter spp. and possibly optimise interactions of these
      bacterial species with the other soil inhabitants.

PMID- 28602403
TI  - Panacea in progress: CRISPR and the future of its biological research
      introduction.
AB  - The elucidation of the CRISPR (clustered, regularly interspaced, short
      palindromic repeats) adaptive immune system endogenous to most microbial life has
      culminated in progress in a diversity of scientific disciplines. The concurrently
      promising and eccentric nature of its theoretically plausible applications has
      wrought enthusiasm in the research community globally, potentiating advancements
      in human and animal health, ecological stability, and economic wellbeing, that
      would hitherto be considered the unattainable fancies of a futurist. It may be
      supposed that the tomes of science fiction are the true books of prophecy. Here,
      we narrate the scientific dialogue regarding CRISPR/Cas biotechnologies, from the
      happenstantial initial observation of the locus to the litany of intriguing
      contemporary endeavors. We discuss the mechanistic underpinnings in detail, and
      the corpulent body of literature on CRISPR-based biotech is digested into a
      germane and informative review. CRISPR applications such as microbiome
      engineering in order to enhance the human immune system beyond the fortitude of
      the wild type, bacterial genome editing in industrial and medical aspects,
      conquering antibiotic resistance, the development of novel antimicrobial
      techniques, the harvesting of solventogenic microbes, the development of
      antifungal therapies, and investigation of the genetic properties of fungi, are
      here represented, and the authors posit unconventional, and at times gainfully
      tangential, thoughts and concepts in order to encourage a reflective disposition
      towards this sophisticated device of nature: a panacea in progress, such that the
      most impassive and technical writing still carries the ring of poetry.

PMID- 28602404
TI  - Frailty is our Destiny: An Introduction to the Red Journal's Special Edition on
      Radiation Therapy in the Elderly.

PMID- 28602405
TI  - Radiation Therapy in Elderly Persons: An Old Issue With New Approaches.

PMID- 28602406
TI  - Cancer in the Elderly: Moving the Needle Toward Evidence-Based Personalized
      Oncology.

PMID- 28602407
TI  - Improving Consistency and Quality of Care for Older Adults With Cancer: The
      Challenges of Developing Consensus Guidelines for Radiation Therapy.

PMID- 28602408
TI  - Communicating Effectively With Elderly Cancer Patients.

PMID- 28602409
TI  - Clinical Outcomes in Elderly Patients Treated for Oral Cavity Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) commonly occurs in elderly
      patients. This study explores the clinical outcomes in elderly patients with
      OCSCC based on their functional status and clinical comorbidities. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: We retrospectively reviewed 180 patients aged >=70 who were treated
      with definitive intent with surgery followed by adjuvant therapy if indicated for
      newly diagnosed OCSCC from 1998 to 2013. Pathology review was conducted, and
      Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status and the Head and
      Neck Charlson Comorbidity Index (HN-CCI) were assessed. We performed Kaplan-Meier
      analyses and cumulative incidence estimates to assess overall survival (OS),
      progression-free survival (PFS), and locoregional recurrence (LRR). Univariate
      and multivariate analyses were used to test age, adjuvant therapy, adverse
      pathologic features, ECOG status, and HN-CCI status as predictors. RESULTS: The
      median age was 80 years (range, 70-95 years), with a median follow-up time of 23
      months. The median OS was 18 months and 46 months for patients aged 70 to 84 and
      >=85, respectively (P=.0017). The LRR was 24% at 1 year and 30% at 2 years for
      all patients. On univariate analysis, ECOG score >=2 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.96;
      confidence interval [CI] 1.19-3.21; P=.008) and HN-CCI score >=2 (HR=1.97; CI
      1.17-3.34; P=.011) were predictors of worse OS. On multivariate analysis, HN-CCI
      score was a better predictor of OS, PFS, and LRR than was ECOG score. Predictors
      of worse OS were age >=85 (HR=1.78; CI 1.07-2.96; P=.026), HN-CCI score of >=2
      (HR=2.21; CI 1.20-4.08; P=.011), and adverse features (HR=2.35; CI 1.34-4.13;
      P=.003). Adjuvant therapy did not have a significant impact on OS or LRR for
      patients with adverse features even though 48% of them did not receive it.
      CONCLUSION: Elderly patients with good health and performance status may live
      long enough to experience disease progression from OCSCC. ECOG and HN-CCI scores
      may be useful to evaluate the candidacy of elderly patients for adjuvant therapy.
      However, the benefit of adjuvant therapy in this population remains elusive and
      should be investigated prospectively.

PMID- 28602410
TI  - Adjuvant Chemoradiation After Surgical Resection in Elderly Patients With High
      Risk Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: A National Cancer Database
      Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the patterns of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy use in elderly
      patients treated with definitive surgical resection for squamous cell carcinoma
      of the head and neck with extracapsular extension (ECE) or positive margins and
      determine whether an association with overall survival (OS) exists with adjuvant
      concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: The National Cancer
      Database was queried to identify patients with SCC of the oral cavity,
      oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx who were treated with primary definitive
      surgery and adjuvant radiation therapy between 2004 and 2012. For elderly
      patients (aged >70 years) with pathology revealing ECE or positive margin, the
      benefit of concurrent chemotherapy was explored using multivariable Cox
      proportional hazards modeling. RESULTS: A total of 7349 patients were identified
      meeting study criteria, of whom 1187 were elderly (aged >70 years) with a median
      follow-up of 30.6 months. Of these elderly patients, 445 had ECE or positive
      margin and represent the study population, of whom 187 (42%) received CRT.
      Delivery of CRT in this cohort increased over the study period, and intensity
      modulated radiation therapy was associated with increased use of CRT (odds ratio
      2.07; P=.004). Increasing age was associated with reduced use of CRT (odds ratio
      0.88; P<.001). Chemoradiotherapy was associated with a significant improvement in
      OS on multivariable analysis (hazard ratio 0.74; P=.04) and a trend toward
      significance on inverse propensity score analysis (hazard ratio 0.78; P=.051).
      Three-year OS was 53.8% in the CRT group, compared with 44.6% in the adjuvant
      radiation therapy-alone patients. CONCLUSIONS: The use of adjuvant CRT is
      increasing among elderly patients with resected squamous cell carcinoma of the
      head and neck exhibiting ECE or positive margins. Chemoradiotherapy was
      associated with an improvement in OS on multivariable analysis but not propensity
      weighted analysis. Among fit elderly patients with ECE or positive margins after
      definitive surgical resection, concurrent chemotherapy can be carefully
      considered.

PMID- 28602411
TI  - Survival Outcomes of Elderly Patients With Glioblastoma Multiforme in Their 75th
      Year or Older Treated With Adjuvant Therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the outcomes of the most elderly cohort of patients with a
      diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) after intensity modulated radiation
      therapy (IMRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: The data of patients with GBM who had
      underwent IMRT from May 2007 to December 2015 were entered into a prospective
      database. Analysis was performed on the data from patients diagnosed during or
      after 75 years of age. The primary endpoint was the median survival. Univariate
      and multivariate analyses were performed with respect to survival for patients
      aged 74 to 80 versus >80 years, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance
      status of 0 to 1 versus 2 to 3, extent of resection, a high radiation dose (60
      Gy) versus any hypofractionated schedule, MGMT methylation status, planning
      target volume, and the use of temozolomide (TMZ) versus no TMZ. RESULTS: Of the
      108 patients, 35 received best supportive care, 1 received TMZ alone, 40 received
      RT alone, and 32 received combined RT and TMZ. IMRT was delivered with a
      hypofractionated technique (40 Gy) in 58 patients or long-course RT (60 Gy) in 11
      patients. The median age was 79 years, with 61.6% of patients aged 74 to 80 years
      and 38.4% aged >80 years. Of the 108 patients, 64 died during the follow-up
      period, with a median survival of 10 months (95% confidence interval 7.1-11.9),
      projected 12-month survival rate of 35.6%, and 24-month survival rate of 7.9%. On
      univariate analysis, the independent predictors of survival included younger age
      (P=.02), better performance status (P=.014), greater resection extent (P=.002),
      and TMZ use (P<.001). MGMT methylation status, RT dose, and planning target
      volume showed no significant differences between the groups. Only chemotherapy
      use remained statistically significant (P=.035) on multivariate analysis.
      CONCLUSION: The current data underrepresent elderly patients aged >75 years with
      GBM. Despite elderly patients having a worse prognosis, the results of the
      present study suggest the presence of survival benefits with IMRT for selected
      patients that can be further extended with addition of TMZ. Further study of this
      cohort and an understanding of the appropriate selection criteria are warranted.

PMID- 28602412
TI  - Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy for Esophageal Cancer in the Elderly: Clinical
      Outcomes for Patients Exceeding 80 Years Old.
AB  - PURPOSE: The optimal treatment approach for patients >=80 years ("elderly") with
      esophageal cancer is not well established. We assessed the clinical outcomes in
      elderly patients treated with definitive chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) at our
      institution. METHODS AND MATERIALS: 56 consecutive patients >=80 years with
      esophageal cancer treated with conventional CCRT between 2001 and 2016 were
      propensity score matched 1:2 to generate 2 younger patient cohorts treated with
      CCRT without surgery: "intermediate" (65-79 years, n=112) and "younger" (<65
      years, n=112). Treatment related toxicity was assessed using the Common
      Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. The rates of overall
      survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were calculated with the Kaplan
      Meier method. RESULTS: The median ages of the 3 cohorts were 81 years (elderly,
      80-92 years), 71 years (intermediate, 65-79 years), and 58 years (younger, 20-64
      years). The elderly cohort was more likely to have cardiac comorbidities.
      Although the clinical complete response (cCR) rate deviated significantly among
      the 3 cohorts, (78%, 72%, and 56%; P=.004), the data failed to identify
      statistically significant differences among RFS, 2-year, and 5-year OS, or in
      median survival, which was 15.5 months, 23.6 months, and 20.2 months (P=.468),
      respectively. The overall severe toxicity rates were 38%, 32%, and 30%,
      respectively (P=.644), including comparable rate of radiation pneumonitis
      (P>.05). The elderly cohort, however, did show statistically significant evidence
      of an increased rate of severe radiation pneumonitis (grade >=3) which was
      observed to be 11% versus 4% and 0%, respectively (P=.003). CONCLUSIONS: The
      studied elderly population showed evidence of similar long-term clinical efficacy
      after definitive CCRT when compared with cohorts of younger patients with similar
      prognostic status. An increased rate of pulmonary toxicity was identified,
      without evidence of differences for nonpulmonary severe adverse events.
      Understanding the prognostic risk factors of pulmonary toxicity after CCRT may
      effectuate improved long-term outcomes for elderly population.

PMID- 28602413
TI  - The Use of Hormone Therapy Alone Versus Hormone Therapy and Radiation Therapy for
      Breast Cancer in Elderly Women: A Population-Based Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9343 trial randomized elderly
      women with estrogen receptor-positive, stage 1 breast cancer to receive either
      hormone therapy (HT) or HT and radiation therapy (HT-RT) after lumpectomy and
      showed no difference in survival. After this publication, a practice guideline
      made HT alone a standard treatment option in British Columbia. The subsequent
      population-based pattern of practice was studied. METHODS AND MATERIALS: All
      women aged 70 to 79 years, referred after lumpectomy from 1999 to 2009, with
      stage 1, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer were identified. The use of
      adjuvant HT or HT-RT was evaluated in 2 eras: before (1999-2003) and after (2005
      2009) the CALGB publication. The proportion receiving each treatment in these
      eras was determined. Kaplan-Meier analyses with Cox regression were used for
      survival endpoints. The Fine and Gray method was used with non-breast cancer
      death as a competing risk for event-free survival. The Charlson score was used to
      quantify comorbidity. Adherence was defined as dispensation of 80% of prescribed
      HT. RESULTS: HT-RT was used in 91% of patients before (n=319) and 89% of patients
      after (n=403) the CALGB publication (P=.4). In the HT-alone group, the rate of HT
      adherence was 75% at 1 year and 55% at 4 years. The 10-year locoregional
      recurrence-free survival rate was 98% with HT-RT and 90% with HT alone (P=.01),
      whereas the 10-year breast cancer-specific survival rate was 96% with HT-RT and
      95% with HT alone (P=.2). Patients with grade 3 histology or lymphovascular
      invasion were more likely to have low event-free survival. On multivariate
      analysis, treatment type did not predict overall survival (P=.3). CONCLUSIONS:
      Our patient outcomes closely matched those of the CALGB trial, suggesting that
      its results are generalizable to a population of elderly breast cancer patients
      with typical HT adherence. The CALGB trial results, as well as the resulting
      practice guideline, did not change the use of adjuvant HT-RT in our population
      based cancer program.

PMID- 28602415
TI  - Evaluation of Treatment Candidacy in Older Adults With Cancer.

PMID- 28602416
TI  - Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Omission of Radiation Therapy for Select Women Aged
      >70 Years With Breast Cancer.

PMID- 28602417
TI  - Survival Outcomes With Short-Course Radiation Therapy in Elderly Patients With
      Glioblastoma: Data From a Randomized Phase 3 Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To perform a subset analysis of survival outcomes in elderly patients
      with glioblastoma from a randomized phase 3 trial comparing 2 short-course
      radiation therapy (RT) regimens in elderly and/or frail patients. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: The original trial population included elderly and/or frail patients
      with a diagnosis of glioblastoma. Patients joined the phase 3, randomized,
      multicenter, prospective, noninferiority trial; were assigned to 1 of 2 groups in
      a 1:1 ratio, either short-course RT (25 Gy in 5 fractions, arm 1) or commonly
      used RT (40 Gy in 15 fractions, arm 2); and were stratified by age (<65 years and
      >=65 years), Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), and extent of surgery. For the
      subset analysis in this study, only patients aged >=65 years were evaluated
      (elderly and frail patients were defined as patients aged >=65 years with KPS of
      50%-70%; elderly and non-frail patients were defined as patients aged >=65 years
      with KPS of 80%-100%); 61 of the 98 initial patients comprised the patient
      population, with 26 patients randomized to arm 1 and 35 to arm 2. RESULTS: In
      this unplanned analysis, the short-course RT results were not statistically
      significantly different from the results of commonly used RT in elderly patients.
      The median overall survival time was 6.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI],
      4.5-9.1 months) in arm 1 and 6.2 months (95% CI, 4.7-7.7 months) in arm 2
      (P=.936). The median progression-free survival time was 4.3 months (95% CI, 2.6
      5.9 months) in arm 1 and 3.2 months (95% CI, 0.1-6.3 months) in arm 2 (P=.706).
      CONCLUSIONS: A short-course RT regimen of 25 Gy in 5 fractions is an acceptable
      treatment option for patients aged >=65 years, mainly those with a poor
      performance status or contraindication to chemotherapy, which would be indicated
      in cases of methylated O6 methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase promoter tumors.

PMID- 28602414
TI  - The Older Adult With Locoregionally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma: Knowledge Gaps and Future Direction in Assessment and Treatment.
AB  - Older adults with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) pose unique
      treatment and supportive care challenges to oncologists and other cancer care
      providers. The majority of patients with HNSCC present with locoregionally
      advanced disease, for which combined-modality treatment integrating chemotherapy
      and radiation therapy is often necessary to maximize tumor control. However,
      applying these approaches to an older population with concomitant comorbidities
      and a higher risk of functional impairments remains challenging and is
      exacerbated by the paucity of studies involving older adults. The purpose of this
      article is to identify knowledge gaps in the evaluation and management of older
      adults with HNSCC-particularly those undergoing concurrent chemoradiation therapy
      and their caregivers through a review of the literature conducted by clinicians,
      researchers, and patient advocates. The findings highlight the importance of a
      geriatric assessment and the therapeutic paradigms and challenges relevant to
      this population. Furthermore, we identify the need for additional research and
      interventions related to key supportive care issues that arise during and after
      treatment in older adults with locoregionally advanced HNSCC. On the basis of our
      findings, we prioritize these issues to guide future patient-oriented research
      endeavors to address these knowledge gaps and thus better serve this growing
      patient population.

PMID- 28602419
TI  - "But We Are Already Geriatric Oncologists"-Why Older Patients Need a Special
      Approach (A View from a United Kingdom Cancer Center).

PMID- 28602418
TI  - Use of Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Elderly and Very Elderly Patients With Brain
      Metastases to Limit Toxicity Associated With Whole Brain Radiation Therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated the toxicity associated with stereotactic radiosurgery
      (SRS) and whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) in elderly and very elderly
      patients with brain metastases, as the role of SRS in geriatric patients who
      would traditionally receive WBRT is unclear. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We conducted
      a retrospective review of elderly patients (aged 70-79 years) and very elderly
      patients (aged >=80 years) with brain metastases who underwent RT from 2010 to
      2015 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Patients received either upfront WBRT or SRS for
      metastatic solid malignancies, excluding small cell lung cancer. Acute central
      nervous system toxicity within 3 months of RT was graded using the Radiation
      Therapy Oncology Group acute radiation central nervous system morbidity scale.
      The toxicity data between age groups and treatment modalities were analyzed using
      Fisher's exact test and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Kaplan-Meier
      curves were used to estimate the median overall survival, and the Cox proportion
      hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 811 brain
      metastases received RT in 119 geriatric patients. The median overall survival
      from the diagnosis of brain metastases was 4.3 months for the patients undergoing
      WBRT and 14.4 months for the patients undergoing SRS. On multivariate analysis,
      WBRT was associated with worse overall survival in this cohort of geriatric
      patients (odds ratio [OR] 3.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-7.0, P<.0001) and
      age >=80 years was not. WBRT was associated with significantly greater rates of
      any grade 1 to 4 toxicity (OR 7.5, 95% CI 1.6-33.3, P=.009) and grade 2 to 4
      toxicity (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.0-8.1, P=.047) on multivariate analysis. Elderly and
      very elderly patients did not have significantly different statistically acute
      toxicity rates when stratified by age. CONCLUSION: WBRT was associated with
      increased toxicity compared with SRS in elderly and very elderly patients with
      brain metastases. SRS, rather than WBRT, should be prospectively evaluated in
      geriatric patients with the goal of minimizing treatment-related toxicity.

PMID- 28602420
TI  - Toward Personalized Cancer Care for Elderly Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

PMID- 28602421
TI  - Endocrine disruption effects in male and intersex roach (Rutilus rutilus, L.)
      from French rivers: An integrative approach based on subcellular to individual
      responses.
AB  - Among the chemicals found in the aquatic environment, some have been reported to
      interact with the endocrine system of organisms and have been identified as
      endocrine disrupting compounds. In this study, we have assessed the biological
      effects due to environmental estrogenic compounds in adult male roach (Rutilus
      rutilus). Wild fish were collected in the Seine River, and one of its affluent,
      the Epte River in Normandy, France and impacts on endocrine and reproductive
      functions have been assessed. This study provides innovative data on the intersex
      condition in wild fish that are crucial to understand estrogenic contamination
      impacts and maintenance of sustainable fish population. The biomarker responses
      found in fish from contaminated sites included high plasmatic vitellogenin
      concentrations, altered steroid levels, histopathological and up to 50% intersex
      fish among the male. However, the overall sex ratio of the roach population
      indicated sign of feminization with some sites showing only 20% of males. The
      chemical organic contamination at the different location sites has been
      characterized by the levels of PAHs, PCBs and phthalates and total estrogenic
      activity was measured by the YES in vitro assay.

PMID- 28602422
TI  - Loss-of-Function Variants in MYLK Cause Recessive Megacystis Microcolon
      Intestinal Hypoperistalsis Syndrome.
AB  - Megacystis microcolon intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome (MMIHS) is a congenital
      disorder characterized by loss of smooth muscle contraction in the bladder and
      intestine. To date, three genes are known to be involved in MMIHS pathogenesis:
      ACTG2, MYH11, and LMOD1. However, for approximately 10% of affected individuals,
      the genetic cause of the disease is unknown, suggesting that other loci are most
      likely involved. Here, we report on three MMIHS-affected subjects from two
      consanguineous families with no variants in the known MMIHS-associated genes. By
      performing homozygosity mapping and whole-exome sequencing, we found homozygous
      variants in myosin light chain kinase (MYLK) in both families. We identified a 7
      bp duplication (c.3838_3844dupGAAAGCG [p.Glu1282_Glyfs*51]) in one family and a
      putative splice-site variant (c.3985+5C>A) in the other. Expression studies and
      splicing assays indicated that both variants affect normal MYLK expression.
      Because MYLK encodes an important kinase required for myosin activation and
      subsequent interaction with actin filaments, it is likely that in its absence,
      contraction of smooth muscle cells is impaired. The existence of a conditional
      Mylk-knockout mouse model with severe gut dysmotility and abnormal function of
      the bladder supports the involvement of this gene in MMIHS pathogenesis. In
      aggregate, our findings implicate MYLK as a gene involved in the recessive form
      of MMIHS, confirming that this disease of the visceral organs is heterogeneous
      with a myopathic origin.

PMID- 28602424
TI  - Using Force to Punch Holes: Mechanics of Contractile Nanomachines.
AB  - Using physical force to translocate macromolecules across a membrane has the
      advantage of being a universal solution independent of the properties of the
      target membrane. However, physically punching a stiff membrane is not a trivial
      task and three things are necessary for success: a sharp tip, a source of energy,
      and the ability to strongly bind to the target. In this review we describe the
      basic mechanism of membrane puncturing by contractile nanomachines with a focus
      on the T4 phage, R-type pyocin, and the bacterial Type VI secretion system (T6SS)
      based on recent studies of the structures and dynamics of their assembly.

PMID- 28602423
TI  - A Fast and Accurate Algorithm to Test for Binary Phenotypes and Its Application
      to PheWAS.
AB  - The availability of electronic health record (EHR)-based phenotypes allows for
      genome-wide association analyses in thousands of traits and has great potential
      to enable identification of genetic variants associated with clinical phenotypes.
      We can interpret the phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) result for a single
      genetic variant by observing its association across a landscape of phenotypes.
      Because a PheWAS can test thousands of binary phenotypes, and most of them have
      unbalanced or often extremely unbalanced case-control ratios (1:10 or 1:600,
      respectively), existing methods cannot provide an accurate and scalable way to
      test for associations. Here, we propose a computationally fast score-test-based
      method that estimates the distribution of the test statistic by using the
      saddlepoint approximation. Our method is much (~100 times) faster than the state
      of-the-art Firth's test. It can also adjust for covariates and control type I
      error rates even when the case-control ratio is extremely unbalanced. Through
      application to PheWAS data from the Michigan Genomics Initiative, we show that
      the proposed method can control type I error rates while replicating previously
      known association signals even for traits with a very small number of cases and a
      large number of controls.

PMID- 28602426
TI  - Estimation on separation efficiency of aluminum from base-cap of spent
      fluorescent lamp in hammer crusher unit.
AB  - In order to separate aluminum from the base-cap of spent fluorescent lamp (SFL),
      the separation efficiency of hammer crusher unit is estimated by introducing a
      binary separation theory. The base-cap of SFL is composed by glass fragment,
      binder, ferrous metal, copper and aluminum. The hammer crusher unit to recover
      aluminum from the base-cap consists of 3stages of hammer crusher, magnetic
      separator and vibrating screen. The optimal conditions of rotating speed and
      operating time in the hammer crusher unit are decided at each stage. At the
      optimal conditions, the aluminum yield and the separation efficiency of hammer
      crusher unit are estimated by applying a sequential binary separation theory at
      each stage. And the separation efficiency between hammer crusher unit and roll
      crush system is compared to show the performance of aluminum recovery from the
      base-cap of SFL. Since the separation efficiency can be increased to 99% at stage
      3, from the experimental results, it is found that aluminum from the base-cap can
      be sufficiently recovered by the hammer crusher unit.

PMID- 28602425
TI  - Comparative life cycle assessment of MSWI fly ash treatment and disposal.
AB  - Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash constitutes a hazardous waste.
      The possibilities for managing this waste comprise disposal at underground
      deposits or at above-ground landfills after cement stabilisation, application of
      the FLUREC process, thermal treatment in a dedicated furnace or thermal co
      treatment together with combustible hazardous waste. A comparative life cycle
      assessment (LCA) study was conducted in order to assess the environmental impact
      of these five MSWI fly ash disposal options with regard to two different time
      horizons (100years, indefinite). The uncertainties of the input parameters were
      propagated by Monte Carlo simulations (MCS). As could be shown by the
      discernibility analysis, the FLUREC process has the lowest impact in more than
      90% of the MCS results. In case long-term emissions (beyond 100years) are
      neglected, the second lowest impact is caused by thermal co-treatment in more
      than 90% of the MCS results. Consideration of long-term emissions indicates the
      disposal at underground deposits as second best option. Furthermore, it is shown
      that stabilisation with cement has the second highest and thermal treatment in a
      dedicated furnace has the highest environmental impact, mostly due to high CO2
      emissions. Therefore these two treatment options should be avoided in the future.
      Besides the comparative evaluation of the different options, it could be shown
      that uncertainty analysis is useful to determine the relevance of long-term
      emissions for the ranking of different systems.

PMID- 28602427
TI  - Mechanical characterization of municipal solid waste from two waste dumps at
      Delhi, India.
AB  - The article presents the physical and mechanical properties of the emplaced
      municipal solid waste (MSW) recovered from different locations of the Ghazipur
      and Okhla dumps both located at Delhi, India. Mechanical compressibility and
      shear strength of the collected MSW were evaluated using a 300*300mm direct shear
      (DS) shear box. Compression ratio (Cc') of MSW at these two dumps varied between
      0.11 and 0.17 and is falling on the lower bound of the range (0.1-0.5) of the
      data reported in the literature for MSW. Low Cc' of MSW is attributed to the
      relatively low percentages of compressible elements such as textiles, plastics
      and paper, coupled with relatively high percentages of inert materials such as
      soil-like and gravel sized fractions. Shear strength of MSW tested is observed to
      be displacement dependent. The mobilized shear strength parameters i.e., the
      apparent cohesion intercept (c') and friction angle (phi') of MSW at these two
      dumps are best characterized by c'=13kPa and phi'=23 degrees  at 25mm
      displacement and c'=17kPa and phi'=34 degrees  at 55mm displacement and are in
      the range reported for MSW in the literature. A large database on the shear
      strength of MSW from 18 countries that includes: the experimental data from 277
      large-scale DS tests (in-situ and laboratory) and the data from back analysis of
      11 failed landfill slopes is statistically analyzed. Based on the analysis, a
      simple linear shear strength envelope, characterized by c'=17kPa and phi'=32
      degrees , is proposed for MSW for preliminary use in the absence of site-specific
      data for stability evaluation of the solid waste landfill under drained
      conditions.

PMID- 28602429
TI  - Unusual Presentation of Foreign Body Granuloma of the Foot After Sharp Injury
      Mimicking a Malignant Lesion: A Case Report.
AB  - Foot foreign body granulomas can mimic malignancies, especially when the history
      and unusual location pose a diagnostic dilemma. We report the case of a 33-year
      old male with delayed-onset progressive swelling over the foot dorsum after a
      sharp injury through the plantar aspect of the foot. The unusual presentation and
      radiolucency warranted further radiologic evaluation, which revealed a benign
      foot swelling. An excision biopsy and histopathologic examination revealed a
      rubber body granuloma. No recurrence of the granuloma was noted during the 11
      month follow-up period after removal of the offending agent. The nature of the
      injury, immunologic response to the rubber fragment, and lack of infection led to
      the delayed presentation at an unusual site, mimicking malignancy. Rubber body
      granuloma has rarely been reported in published studies. A high index of
      suspicion of retained radiolucent fragments and astute radiologic evaluation with
      magnetic resonance imaging are required for management of sharp injuries
      occurring through footwear. We reviewed the approach for evaluating such cases of
      foot swelling that can mimic malignancies.

PMID- 28602428
TI  - Influence of Amalaki Rasayana on telomerase activity and telomere length in human
      blood mononuclear cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Indian traditional medicine practices use defined rasayana
      preparations to improve the quality of life in aged individuals. Amalaki Rasayana
      is one such rasayana prepared from the fruits of Phyllanthus emblica and is
      popularly used to prevent or treat various age related health conditions.
      Telomerase activity in the cells maintains telomere length and is implicated in
      ageing and various diseases wherein the shortening of telomere during ageing is
      controlled chiefly by the telomerase activity. OBJECTIVE: In the present study,
      we investigated telomerase activity and telomere length in the peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells of aged individuals administered with Amalaki Rasayana.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Amalaki Rasayana was administered to healthy, aged (45-60
      years) volunteers for 45 days after koshta shuddhi procedure. The telomerase
      activity and telomere length were analyzed on 0, 45th and 90th days of Amalaki
      Rasayana administration in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from these
      individuals and compared with age-matched placebo group and young volunteers (22
      30 years). The data were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The results
      indicated an increase in telomerase activity with no discernible change in
      telomere length in the Amalaki administered participants. The comparison between
      young and aged participants revealed higher telomerase activity in young
      participants with no significant differences in telomere length. CONCLUSION: The
      data indicate that the maintenance of telomere length is facilitated by an
      increase in telomerase activity upon rasayana administration in aged individuals
      and Amalaki Rasayana may prevent the erosion of telomeres over a period of time
      in aged individuals to promote healthy ageing.

PMID- 28602430
TI  - Comment on "Ecological niche of Neanderthals from Spy Cave revealed by nitrogen
      isotopes of individual amino acids in collagen" [J. Hum. Evol. 93 (2016) 82-90].

PMID- 28602431
TI  - Corrigendum to "Determinants of pulmonary dead space in ventilated newborn
      infants" [Early Hum. Dev. 108 (2017) 29-32].

PMID- 28602432
TI  - Neurotrophic keratopathy in a patient with familial amyloidosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy is a disease related to amyloid
      material deposits in the extracellular matrix that can affect many tissues,
      including the eye. CASE REPORT: This case includes clinical data, a full corneal
      study report, and histopathological findings, as well as the treatment and follow
      up of bilateral neurotrophic keratopathy in a 33 year-old patient with familial
      amyloidotic polyneuropathy. DISCUSSION: Although amyloidotic deposits were also
      found in the conjunctival tissue, this is not a typical form of ophthalmic
      amyloidosis. The corneal wound in this case is a result of a corneal anaesthesia
      due to the systemic polyneuropathy.

PMID- 28602433
TI  - Tutoring math platform accessible for visually impaired people.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are many problems with teaching and assessing impaired students
      in higher education, especially in technical science, where the knowledge is
      represented mostly by structural information like: math formulae, charts, graphs,
      etc. Developing e-learning platform for distance education solves this problem
      only partially due to the lack of accessibility for the blind. METHOD: The
      proposed method is based on the decomposition of the typical mathematical
      exercise into a sequence of elementary sub-exercises. This allows for interactive
      resolving of math exercises and assessment of the correctness of exercise
      solutions at every stage. The presented methods were prepared and evaluated by
      visually impaired people and students. RESULTS: The article presents the
      accessible interactive tutoring platform for math teaching and assessment, and
      experience in exploring it. The results of conducted research confirm good
      understanding of math formulae described according to elaborated rules.
      Regardless of the level of complexity of the math formulae the level of math
      formulae understanding is higher for alternative structural description.
      CONCLUSIONS: The proposed solution enables alternative descriptions of math
      formulae. Based on the research results, the tool for computer-aided interactive
      learning of mathematics adapted to the needs of the blind has been designed,
      implemented and deployed as a platform for on-site and online and distance
      learning. The designed solution can be very helpful in overcoming many barriers
      that occur while teaching impaired students.

PMID- 28602434
TI  - Carotid plaque-thickness and common carotid IMT show additive value in
      cardiovascular risk prediction and reclassification.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Carotid plaque size and the mean common carotid intima-media
      thickness measured in plaque-free areas (PF CC-IMTmean) have been identified as
      predictors of vascular events (VEs), but their complementarity in risk prediction
      and stratification is still unresolved. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      independence of carotid plaque thickness and PF CC-IMTmean in cardiovascular risk
      prediction and risk stratification. METHODS: The IMPROVE-study is a European
      cohort (n = 3703), where the thickness of the largest plaque detected in the
      whole carotid tree was indexed as cIMTmax. PF CC-IMTmean was also assessed.
      Hazard Ratios (HR) comparing the top quartiles of cIMTmax and PF CC-IMTmeanversus
      their respective 1-3 quartiles were calculated using Cox regression. RESULTS:
      After a 36.2-month follow-up, there were 215 VEs (125 coronary, 73 cerebral and
      17 peripheral). Both cIMTmax and PF CC-IMTmean were mutually independent
      predictors of combined-VEs, after adjustment for center, age, sex, risk factors
      and pharmacological treatment [HR (95% CI) = 1.98 (1.47, 2.67) and 1.68 (1.23,
      2.29), respectively]. Both variables were independent predictors of
      cerebrovascular events (ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack), while only
      cIMTmax was an independent predictor of coronary events (myocardial infarction,
      sudden cardiac death, angina pectoris, angioplasty, coronary bypass grafting). In
      reclassification analyses, PF CC-IMTmean significantly adds to a model including
      both Framingham Risk Factors and cIMTmax (Integrated Discrimination Improvement;
      IDI = 0.009; p = 0.0001) and vice-versa (IDI = 0.02; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:
      cIMTmax and PF CC-IMTmean are independent predictors of VEs, and as such, they
      should be used as additive rather than alternative variables in models for
      cardiovascular risk prediction and reclassification.

PMID- 28602435
TI  - One- vs 2-Stage Bursectomy for Septic Olecranon and Prepatellar Bursitis: A
      Prospective Randomized Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the optimal surgical approach and costs for patients
      hospitalized with septic bursitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From May 1, 2011,
      through December 24, 2014, hospitalized patients with septic bursitis at
      University of Geneva Hospitals were randomized (1:1) to receive 1- vs 2-stage
      bursectomy. All the patients received postsurgical oral antibiotic drug therapy
      for 7 days. RESULTS: Of 164 enrolled patients, 130 had bursitis of the elbow and
      34 of the patella. The surgical approach used was 1-stage in 79 patients and 2
      stage in 85. Overall, there were 22 treatment failures: 8 of 79 patients (10%) in
      the 1-stage arm and 14 of 85 (16%) in the 2-stage arm (Pearson chi2 test; P=.23).
      Recurrent infection was caused by the same pathogen in 7 patients (4%) and by a
      different pathogen in 5 (3%). Outcomes were better in the 1- vs 2-stage arm for
      wound dehiscence for elbow bursitis (1 of 66 vs 9 of 64; Fisher exact test
      P=.03), median length of hospital stay (4.5 vs 6.0 days), nurses' workload (605
      vs 1055 points), and total costs (Sw?6881 vs Sw?11,178; all P<.01). CONCLUSION:
      For adults with moderate to severe septic bursitis requiring hospital admission,
      bursectomy with primary closure, together with antibiotic drug therapy for 7
      days, was safe, effective, and resource saving. Using a 2-stage approach may be
      associated with a higher rate of wound dehiscence for olecranon bursitis than the
      1-stage approach. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01406652.

PMID- 28602437
TI  - Isolated trigeminal sensory neuropathy during etanercept therapy: A case report.

PMID- 28602438
TI  - Vasculitides induced by cocaine and/or levamisole.

PMID- 28602439
TI  - Development of a comorbidity self-questionnaire for patients with inflammatory
      joint disease.

PMID- 28602436
TI  - CAR T Cells Administered in Combination with Lymphodepletion and PD-1 Inhibition
      to Patients with Neuroblastoma.
AB  - Targeting disialoganglioside (GD2) on neuroblastoma (NB) with T cells expressing
      a first-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) was safe, but the cells had
      poor expansion and long-term persistence. We developed a third-generation GD2-CAR
      (GD2-CAR3) and hypothesized that GD2-CAR3 T cells (CARTs) would be safe and
      effective. This phase 1 study enrolled relapsed or refractory NB patients in
      three cohorts. Cohort 1 received CART alone, cohort 2 received CARTs plus
      cyclophosphamide and fludarabine (Cy/Flu), and cohort 3 was treated with CARTs,
      Cy/Flu, and a programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor. Eleven patients were treated
      with CARTs. The infusions were safe, and no dose-limiting toxicities occurred.
      CARTs were detectable in cohort 1, but the lymphodepletion induced by Cy/Flu
      increased circulating levels of the homeostatic cytokine interleukin (IL)-15 (p =
      0.003) and increased CART expansion by up to 3 logs (p = 0.03). PD-1 inhibition
      did not further enhance expansion or persistence. Antitumor responses at 6 weeks
      were modest. We observed a striking expansion of CD45/CD33/CD11b/CD163+ myeloid
      cells (change from baseline, p = 0.0126) in all patients, which may have
      contributed to the modest early antitumor responses; the effect of these cells
      merits further study. Thus, CARTs are safe, and Cy/Flu can further increase their
      expansion.

PMID- 28602440
TI  - [Prevalence of macrovascular arterial involvement of the 4 limbs in systemic
      sclerosis: About a case series of 14 patients].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Trophic disorders of the extremities are a common complication of
      systemic sclerosis (SSc), mainly related to microvascular damage. However, SSc
      seems to be a risk factor for premature athero-thrombotic disease that can affect
      the peripheral arteries, participate in the occurrence of trophic disorders and
      promote the occurrence of infectious complications. The objective of this study
      was to assess the prevalence of arterial disease of the limbs in SSc patients.
      METHODS: Consecutive inclusions in the context of a multidisciplinary
      consultation centered on disability of the hand with collection of clinical data
      [cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), history of trophic disorders of ischemic
      origin, peripheral pulse palpation, Allen maneuver the upper (UL) and lower limbs
      (LL)], and hemodynamic data (flow recorded by Doppler in radial, ulnar, anterior
      and posterior tibial arteries, and measurement of systolic indices ankles).
      RESULTS: Fourteen patients were included (11 right-handers, 2 left-handers, 1
      ambidextrous). The sex-ratio male/female was 0.27 and the average age of 58.1+/
      10.4 years. The main CVRF were age and smoking. In the UL, 42.8% of patients had
      a history of trophic disorders, Allen maneuver was abnormal for 35.7% of the
      superficial palmar arch, 42.9% of ulnar pulse were not perceived and there was no
      recordable flow in 25% of ulnar artery. In the LL, 14.3% of patients had already
      presented trophic disorders toes, Allen maneuver was abnormal for 15.4% of the
      posterior tibial artery, 25.6% of posterior tibial pulse were not perceived and
      flow of 15.4% of posterior tibial arteries was pathological. CONCLUSION: The
      distal macrovascular disease preferentially affecting the ulnar and posterior
      tibial arteries with a high frequency to the UL and two times less at LL. The
      pathophysiology is unclear but it could be a proper manifestation of SSc. It
      seems necessary that SSc patients have a strict balance of their CVRF and a
      screening of macrovascular arterial lesions. There is also the question of the
      place of an anti-atherosclerotic therapy in these patients.

PMID- 28602441
TI  - Squamous epithelium formation in the respiratory intestine of the bronze
      Corydoras Corydoras aeneus (Callichthyidae Teleostei).
AB  - Accessory respiratory organs in fish exhibit great diversity but share the
      presence of numerous capillaries covered by a simple squamous epithelium. The
      adoption of the intestine for respiratory function needs certain special
      modifications. In this study, we explored immunohistochemical and metabolic
      fingerprint features that could underlay this adaptation in bronze corydoras
      Corydoras aeneus. Immunohistochemical localization of the cytoplasmic domain of
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the respiratory part of intestine
      demonstrated a strong positive immunoreaction in epithelial cells and connective
      tissue. Fourier Transfer Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics
      discriminated between anterior and posterior region of intestine in terms of
      secondary structure of proteins and the abundance of p-cresol and other
      phenolics. The latter were reduced in the posterior part of intestine, indicating
      the cessation of digestive function in this region. It has been suggested that
      aquatic hypoxia via endocrine cells (hypoxia-sensitive) activate EGFR, which
      induce proliferation of squamous epithelial cells, thereby enabling gas diffusion
      in the posterior part of intestine. It seems that hypoxia and normoxia are
      opposed conditions adjusting the production of squamous epithelial cells in this
      intestine. The physiological role of EGFR in the respiratory intestine of bronze
      corydoras is of interest not only from an evolutionary aspect but also in terms
      of a potential model for observations process proliferation squamous epithelial
      cells. Future investigations on the molecular responses to different water oxygen
      levels in air-breathing bronze corydoras fish are required to clarify the
      mechanism responsible for squamous cell proliferation.

PMID- 28602442
TI  - [Teledermatology in a prison setting: Improved training for first-line
      practitioners].

PMID- 28602443
TI  - [Benign neonatal hemangiomatosis: An observation in a child in Togo].

PMID- 28602444
TI  - Abducens Nerve Palsy In Gestational Hypertension: A Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Headache, blurring of vision, and confusion are common neurologic
      symptoms of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, whereas abducens nerve palsy
      during pregnancy is an extremely rare condition. CASE: A 28-year-old woman with
      gestational hypertension presented isolated sixth cranial nerve palsy after
      delivery. Neither simple resonance nor angioresonance showed alterations. No
      other specific pathology was found. Symptoms of abducens nerve palsy resolved
      spontaneously. CONCLUSION: Abducens nerve palsy is an unusual condition. We
      present a review of the literature finding eight documented cases of hypertensive
      disorders of pregnancy associated with sixth nerve palsy. This case is the ninth
      reported case.

PMID- 28602446
TI  - Stiff Person Syndrome Presenting After the Initiation of Buspirone.

PMID- 28602445
TI  - Pre-existing Psychiatric Illness is Associated With Increased Risk of Recurrent
      Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increased prevalence of psychiatric illness among patients with
      takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) has been previously described. OBJECTIVES: We
      sought to assess the effect of pre-existing psychiatric illness on clinical
      outcomes following the diagnosis of TC. METHODS: Adults diagnosed with TC at
      Vanderbilt University Medical Center between 1999 and 2015 were included in the
      study. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed to identify any pre-existing
      mood, anxiety, or schizophrenia-spectrum illness before TC presentation.
      Multivariable logistic regression was used to test for independent association of
      pre-existing psychiatric illness with 30-day mortality and recurrent TC; Cox
      proportional hazard analysis was used to evaluate for association with long-term
      mortality. RESULTS: Among 306 patients diagnosed with TC during the study period,
      114 (37%) had a pre-existing psychiatric illness. In all, 43 (14%) and 88 (29%)
      patients died within 30 days of index diagnosis and as of last medical record
      review, respectively. Of the 269 who survived their index hospitalization, 19
      (7%) had a confirmed recurrent episode of TC. In multivariable analyses, pre
      existing psychiatric illness was not associated with increased 30-day (P = 0.320)
      or long-term (P = 0.621) mortality. Pre-existing psychiatric illness was
      associated with higher risk of recurrent TC (odds ratio = 7.44, 95% CI: 2.30
      24.01, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-existing psychiatric illness was associated
      with an increased risk of recurrent TC. No significant association was noted
      between pre-existing psychiatric illness and survival.

PMID- 28602447
TI  - Teaching Psychiatric Trainees to "Think Dirty": Uncovering Hidden Motivations and
      Deception.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the prevalence with which trainees encounter patients who
      attempt to manipulate, deceive, or withhold information from them, trainees
      receive little formal training in "thinking dirty"-that is, incorporating
      elements of hidden patient motives into their interview, formulation, and plan.
      Lack of acknowledgment of these aspects of patient care can lead to resident
      dissatisfaction, negative countertransference reactions, and decreased empathy
      for patients. METHODS: In this article, the authors outline a multimodal approach
      used in a large psychiatry training program for teaching trainees to recognize
      hidden motivations and deception, which involves formal didactic teaching,
      process rounds, and clinical experience. RESULTS: This approach improves trainee
      understanding of patients' motivations, and it allows trainees to better regulate
      their emotional responses to patients withholding information or deceiving them.
      CONCLUSIONS: Formally addressing this topic in the curriculum can lead to
      improved patient outcomes and decreased resident burnout, particularly on high
      intensity rotations.

PMID- 28602449
TI  - What Are the Barriers and Facilitators for the Self-Management of Chronic Pain
      with and without Neuropathic Characteristics?
AB  - Chronic pain requires affected individuals to self-manage their health. This
      study compared barriers and facilitators of self-management in two groups of
      people with chronic pain: those with and without neuropathic characteristics. A
      cross-sectional survey study of community-dwelling Canadians was conducted. The
      sample (n = 710) included randomly selected participants who reported chronic
      pain. The Self-Report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs was used
      to screen for neuropathic characteristics. Barriers and facilitators of self
      management included self-efficacy (Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire), depression
      (Patient Health Questionnaire 9), social support and relationship with health
      care provider (Chronic Illness Resources Survey), and pain intensity (numeric
      rating scale). Participants were asked which factors they felt made pain
      management easier or harder. Statistical analyses included frequency, percent,
      relative risk (RR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Self-confidence to manage
      pain was the most commonly perceived self-management barrier/facilitator by both
      groups; however, participants with neuropathic characteristics (n = 188) were
      more likely to report low self-efficacy than those without neuropathic
      characteristics (n = 522) (RR = 2.1, CI = 1.62-2.72, ref = high self-efficacy).
      Participants with neuropathic characteristics were also more likely to screen
      positive for depression (RR = 2.30, CI = 1.73-3.06, ref = no/mild depression).
      There were no group differences in social support and relationship with health
      professional, but 40.8% felt they were not involved as equal partners in decision
      making and goal setting related to their care. Health professionals should
      consider collaborative decision making when seeking to support self-management
      abilities. Addressing low self-efficacy and depression may be especially
      important for supporting self-management by individuals with neuropathic
      characteristics.

PMID- 28602448
TI  - Adaptation of social and non-social cues to direction in adults with autism
      spectrum disorder and neurotypical adults with autistic traits.
AB  - Perceptual constancy strongly relies on adaptive gain control mechanisms, which
      shift perception as a function of recent sensory history. Here we examined the
      extent to which individual differences in magnitude of adaptation aftereffects
      for social and non-social directional cues are related to autistic traits and
      sensory sensitivity in healthy participants (Experiment 1); and also whether
      adaptation for social and non-social directional cues is differentially impacted
      in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) relative to neurotypical (NT)
      controls (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, individuals with lower susceptibility
      to adaptation aftereffects, i.e. more 'veridical' perception, showed higher
      levels of autistic traits across social and non-social stimuli. Furthermore,
      adaptation aftereffects were predictive of sensory sensitivity. In Experiment 2,
      only adaptation to eye-gaze was diminished in adults with ASD, and this was
      related to difficulties categorizing eye-gaze direction at baseline. Autism
      Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) scores negatively predicted lower
      adaptation for social (head and eye-gaze direction) but not non-social (chair)
      stimuli. These results suggest that the relationship between adaptation and the
      broad socio-cognitive processing style captured by 'autistic traits' may be
      relatively domain-general, but in adults with ASD diminished adaptation is only
      apparent where processing is most severely impacted, such as the perception of
      social attention cues.

PMID- 28602450
TI  - Pain, Sensory Disturbances, and Psychological Distress among Danish Women Treated
      for Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: An Exploratory Study.
AB  - Ductal carcinoma in situ is a noninvasive precancer condition. The treatment
      resembles the treatment of invasive breast cancer. The aim of this exploratory
      study was to gain knowledge on the level of postoperative pain, sensory
      disturbances, and distress among a small group of Danish women with ductal
      carcinoma in situ who had sentinel lymph node biopsy in order to plan a
      population study. A subgroup of patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 20)
      was compared to patients with invasive breast cancer (n = 455) at time of
      diagnosis and after 12 months. Six patients were interviewed on the impact of the
      diagnosis and life after treatment. We found no significant difference in
      reported sensory disturbances or pain after 12 months between the groups. More
      than one-third (39%) of ductal carcinoma in situ patients reported moderate to
      severe distress (>= 7 on the Distress Thermometer) at time of diagnosis
      decreasing to 10% after 12 months. Similarly 36% of breast cancer patients
      reported distress at time of diagnosis and 10% after 12 months. Interviews
      confirmed that ductal carcinoma in situ patients experienced distress and also
      uncovered physical problems and rehabilitation needs. The study indicates that
      women with ductal carcinoma in situ seem to suffer from pain and distress. The
      study highlights the need for a large study in order to validate the findings.
      Additional efforts may be needed to improve patients' understanding of diagnosis
      of ductal carcinoma in situ and alleviate psychological morbidity and physical
      restraints related to the condition.

PMID- 28602451
TI  - Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Spanish Version of the
      Nursing Outcome "Pain Control" in Primary Care Patients with Chronic Pain.
AB  - The control of chronic pain is a major challenge for patients and health care
      professionals. To culturally adapt the Nursing Outcomes Classification outcome
      "Pain control" (PC) to the Spanish health care setting and to analyze its
      psychometric properties and sensitivity to change. A study of three stages was
      designed: (1) Translation and cultural adaptation by translation-back-translation
      method, (2) content validation by a group of experts, and (3) observational
      longitudinal study in patients with chronic pain. Patient sampling was
      nonprobabilistic, and participants completed forms and questionnaires and
      responded to a question on pain. Statistical analysis included descriptive
      analysis, content validity index (for global PC and each indicator), principal
      component analysis, Spearman's test, Cronbach's alpha, Cohen's kappa coefficient,
      and Wilcoxon range test. The new Spanish version of "Pain control" was
      semantically equivalent to the original, with a mean content validity index of
      0.96. The clinical study included 88 patients with long-term pain, and the mean
      (standard deviation) interval between assessments (baseline and final) was 29.33
      (8.05) days. Thirteen indicators were organized into two components. There was
      divergent but not convergent validity with the Change Pain Scale and Brief Pain
      Inventory. Between-observer agreement was kappa = 0.48 and internal consistency
      was alpha = 0.85. No differences were found between mean baseline and final
      scores. The Spanish version of "Pain control," culturally adapted and structured
      in two components (13 indicators), is useful to assess and monitor pain control
      in patients with chronic pain.

PMID- 28602452
TI  - Disease Severity, Presentation, and Clinical Outcomes Among Adolescents With
      Malignant Breast Neoplasms: A 20-Year Population-Based Outcomes Study From the
      SEER Database (1973-2009).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Primary breast cancer in adolescents is extremely rare and thus is
      not widely studied. This study aimed to evaluate trends, characteristics, and
      outcomes among a cohort of adolescents with breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      A total of 657,712 female patients with breast cancer from Surveillance
      Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (1973-2009) were analyzed, and 91
      adolescents were identified. Three age groups (under 20 years, 20-50 years or
      premenopausal, and > 50 years or postmenopausal) were compared for tumor size,
      stage, receptor status, and outcomes. Categorical data were compared by chi
      square (Fisher) test and continuous data with Student's t test. RESULTS: Median
      age was 19 years (range, 10-20 years). A total of 52.7% (n = 48) and 5.5% (n = 5)
      of patients presented with invasive and in-situ cancers, respectively, and 37.3%
      (n = 34) with sarcomas. Median tumor size of invasive cancers was 3.2 cm (range,
      0.1-12.5 cm). Sixty percent of patients presented with regional disease, and the
      majority (28%) of those tested were receptor negative. Mortality rates in
      adolescents were higher than pre- and postmenopausal patients in localized and
      regional stage. Overall median survival was 106 months. CONCLUSION: Although
      rare, breast cancer does occur in adolescent girls and must be considered in
      differential of breast masses in females under 20, especially with strong breast
      cancer family history. Prognosis maybe worse than in older patients; however, the
      sample size is small. Delay in diagnosis, aggressive tumor biology, and negative
      receptor status may affect prognosis. Routine breast examination in high-risk
      older adolescents may permit early identification and avoid delay in diagnosis
      and treatment.

PMID- 28602453
TI  - [Erratum to "Case report of a giant fornix syndrome" [J. Fr. Ophtalmol. 40 (4)
      (2017) e133-e137]].

PMID- 28602454
TI  - Robust controller design of the integrated direct drive volume control
      architecture for steering systems.
AB  - Recently, much effort has been directed toward the large throttling loss and low
      efficiency of the valve control system widely applied in steering system of
      ships. This paper presents an Integrated Direct-Drive Volume Control (IDDVC)
      electro-hydraulic servo system with the advantages of high efficiency and energy
      conservation. Firstly, the simulation model of IDDVC is improved by software
      AMESim, including the nonlinear interaction of the motor-pump and the oil supply
      ignored by traditional transfer function model. Then, by establishing discrete
      state equations, a controller based on robust sliding control strategy has been
      designed to enhance the practicality and real-time performance. Finally, the
      accuracy of the model and the effectiveness of the controller are proved through
      the experiments which are conducted after constructing the IDDVC prototype.

PMID- 28602455
TI  - Developmental angiogenesis.

PMID- 28602456
TI  - Hyperbole, Irony, Hypocrisy.

PMID- 28602457
TI  - Acute Idiopathic Gastric Distension Causing Atrioventricular Block and
      Cardiogenic Shock.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We report a rare case of acute idiopathic gastric dilatation with
      associated severe bradycardia and shock. CASE REPORT: A 69-year-old woman
      presented to the emergency department (ED) with complaint of chest pain and
      dyspnea. The patient required transvenous cardiac pacing for profound bradycardia
      and cardiogenic shock. After a negative emergent cardiac catheterization, a flat
      plate abdominal x-ray study demonstrated massive gastric dilatation, prompting
      nasogastric tube placement, with subsequent rapid improvement of the patient's
      cardiovascular and metabolic instability. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE
      AWARE OF THIS?: This case highlights the rare though potentially catastrophic
      complications of acute gastric dilatation, and benefits of early intervention
      with gastric decompression.

PMID- 28602458
TI  - Using Ultrasonography to Assess the Effectiveness of Cricoid Pressure on
      Esophageal Compression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cricoid pressure during intubation has been used for decades as a way
      to potentially occlude the esophagus to avoid aspiration of gastric contents.
      However, recent evidence has questioned the effectiveness of this maneuver.
      OBJECTIVE: This study uses a noninvasive modality, ultrasonography, to determine
      the anatomic position of the cricoid cartilage and the esophagus and examines the
      effectiveness of cricoid pressure on esophageal compression. METHODS: Ultrasound
      imaging was used to describe the anatomic relationship of the esophagus to the
      trachea as either being directly behind the trachea, partially behind the
      trachea, or completely lateral to the trachea. These relationships were described
      with and without cricoid pressure. Participants were also asked to swallow a
      carbonated beverage with and without cricoid pressure to help visualize the exact
      position of the esophagus and to see whether cricoid pressure actually occluded
      the esophagus and the passage of the liquid. RESULTS: Without cricoid pressure,
      20% of the esophagi laid directly behind the trachea, 60% partially behind the
      trachea, and 20% completely lateral to the left of the trachea. When cricoid
      pressure was applied, the esophagus shifted laterally to the left in 50% of the
      subjects and remained directly behind the trachea in only 4% of our entire study
      group. In addition, all of the participants were able to swallow liquid with
      cricoid pressure applied. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the potential
      ineffectiveness of cricoid pressure on esophageal compression, calling into
      question the utility of this maneuver.

PMID- 28602459
TI  - An Unusual Apple Core Lesion of the Rectum.

PMID- 28602460
TI  - In Response to "Impact of Scribes on Billed Relative Value Units in an Academic
      Emergency Department," by Heaton et al.

PMID- 28602461
TI  - Adapting Systems of Care for People Aging With HIV.
AB  - People aging with HIV have medical and psychosocial needs that require more than
      the HIV services network can provide. HIV providers may lack experience managing
      multimorbidity or the functional consequences of aging. Social support services
      may be unable to provide necessary services for people living with HIV (PLWH) who
      are becoming increasingly frail or facing cognitive impairment. HIV providers
      will be caring for aging PLWH whose HIV management may seem simple compared with
      the significant burdens of stigma, mental health needs, social isolation,
      multimorbidity, and aging-related syndromes. Although practices can incorporate
      geriatric expertise and develop facility with the aging services network, a more
      comprehensive integration would adapt existing geriatric long-term care models
      for those aging with HIV. The diversity of aging PLWH and the tenuousness of the
      health safety net will necessitate innovative and flexible collaboration between
      content experts and social service agencies.

PMID- 28602462
TI  - Buddhism and Coping With HIV in China.

PMID- 28602463
TI  - Air Displacement Plethysmography Versus Bioelectrical Impedance to Determine Body
      Composition in Pediatric Hemodialysis Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Protein energy wasting is difficult to assess in pediatric
      hemodialysis (HD) populations because of fluid shifts. Body composition (BC)
      analysis aids in monitoring nutrition therapy's effects on fat and lean mass. Air
      displacement plethysmography (ADP) is a "practical" gold standard for fat mass
      (FM) measurements. We aim to compare BC measures in a pediatric HD population via
      anthropometry, ADP, and bioelectrical impedance (BIA). DESIGN: The study was
      prospective cohort study and the setting was 1 pediatric HD unit in Houston,
      Texas. SUBJECTS: A total of 15 pediatric and young adult patients receiving
      maintenance HD. INTERVENTION: ADP, BIA, and anthropometry were obtained mid-week
      post HD for 3 consecutive months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome was
      the difference in FM as defined by various assessment methods. Secondary outcomes
      included correlations with anthropometry. RESULTS: ADP demonstrated a strong
      positive correlation to body mass index, mid-upper arm circumference, and triceps
      skin fold (all P < .0001). No differences in FM assessment using ADP or BIA were
      found except in males with advanced tanner (P = .0004). BIA underestimated FM in
      obese subjects (P = .005). Analysis of malnutrition status by mid-upper arm
      circumference revealed an overestimation of FM in BIA measures (P = .02).
      CONCLUSIONS: This is the first pediatric dialysis study using ADP to assess BC.
      Estimation of FM in pediatric HD patients via ADP and BIA has significant error
      rates in 2 populations: (1) males tanner >=4: BIA underestimates FM and (2)
      weight extremes: BIA underestimates FM for obese and overestimates FM for
      malnourished. BIA should be used with caution in these populations when
      estimating fluid content and leads to false estimates of dry weight. ADP is a
      useful adjunct in assessment of nutritional status via BC in pediatric HD
      patients.

PMID- 28602464
TI  - Importance of Differentiation Between Phosphorous and Phosphate.

PMID- 28602465
TI  - The management of sexuality, intimacy, and menopause symptoms (SIMS) after
      prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: How to maintain sexual health in
      "previvors".
AB  - "Previvors", or "pre-survivors", are individuals who do not have cancer but have
      a genetic predisposition to cancer. One such example is women with BRCA
      mutations. As a result of their predisposition to cancer, many will undergo a
      bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy when they are premenopausal. For premenopausal
      women, the removal of ovaries results in the depletion of estrogen, immediate
      menopause, and, in many cases, resultant Sexuality, Intimacy, and Menopausal
      Symptoms (SIMS). Furthermore, they may undergo changes in body image. SIMS are
      underreported by patients and underdiagnosed by practitioners. At the time of
      diagnosis or at preoperative visits, women should be informed of the potential
      physiologic, hormonal, and psychosocial effects of their risk-reducing surgery.
      There are many modalities for management of these symptoms. Successful treatment
      requires the provider's awareness of the problem, ability to identify it, and
      willingness to treat it.

PMID- 28602466
TI  - Why intensity is not a bad word - Response to Gentil et al. letter.

PMID- 28602467
TI  - Intake of B vitamins and impairment in physical function in older adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of vitamin B intake on physical function is not well
      known. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prospective association of the intake of
      vitamins B6, B12 and folate with physical function impairment in older adults.
      METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study with 1630 participants from the
      Seniors-ENRICA study, a cohort of community-dwelling adults aged >=60 years who
      were free of physical function impairment at baseline. In 2008-2010, nutrient
      intake was obtained through a validated computer-assisted face-to-face diet
      history. Study participants were followed-up through 2012 to assess incident
      impairment in agility and mobility, as well as impairment in overall physical
      functioning, defined as a decrease in the physical component summary of the 12
      Item Short-Form Health Survey. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 3.5 years, we
      identified 343 individuals with agility limitation, 212 with mobility limitation,
      and 457 with decreased overall physical functioning. A significant association
      was observed between intake of vitamin B6 and lower risk of impaired mobility
      (odds ratio [OR] for highest vs. lowest tertile: 0.66; 95% confidence interval
      [CI]:0.44-0.99; p-trend = 0.05). The results lost significance when additionally
      adjusted for vitamin B12 and folate, however the OR did not materially change. A
      higher consumption of important sources of vitamin B6, such as fish or fruit, was
      also related to a lower risk of impaired mobility (OR 100-g increase in fish:
      0.50; 95% CI: 0.32-0.79; OR 100-g increase in fruit: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.84-1.01). No
      association was found between vitamin B12 and folate intake and physical
      function. CONCLUSIONS: A higher intake of vitamin B6 and of several of its main
      sources, such as fish and fruit, was associated with lower risk of impaired
      mobility in Spanish older adults.

PMID- 28602468
TI  - Reply to Letter to the Editor: Epicardial adipose tissue and cardiometabolic
      risk.

PMID- 28602469
TI  - Letter to the Editor on "Exposure to environmental noise and risk for male
      infertility: A 2population-based cohort study".

PMID- 28602470
TI  - Further evidence for GHB naturally occurring in common non-alcoholic beverages.
AB  - GHB has been implicated in many cases of suspected surreptitious administration
      with the purpose of increasing victim vulnerability to sexual assault. Low
      amounts of endogenous (or naturally occurring) GHB, which do not reach
      pharmacologically active levels, have been detected in alcoholic and non
      alcoholic beverages. Due to the continued requirement to obtain data on the
      presence of endogenous GHB in various beverage types, GHB concentrations were
      measured in a series of non-alcoholic beverages. Tonic water and lemon flavoured
      tonic water beverages were analysed at 0, 24 and 96h after the bottle opening
      using gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) on an
      Agilent 6890/7000C Triple Quadrupole. GHB was detected in all beverages at very
      low amounts ranging from 89 to 145ng/mL (0.089-0.145mg/L) and did not demonstrate
      a general trend of variation for concentration along the tested time span (96h).
      The presented data provide additional evidence for the endogenous nature of GHB
      in non-alcoholic beverages at very low concentrations, which are many orders of
      magnitude lower than those described to produce any pharmacological effect on the
      subject. However, when considering a case of alleged drug-facilitated sexual
      assault, a low level of GHB detected in a drink may be related both to a
      surreptitiously GHB administration with subsequent dilution for concealment or to
      the presence of endogenous GHB. On this basis, a comprehensive analysis of all
      the available information, including circumstantial data demonstrating possible
      attempts to conceal GHB administration and an assessment of levels of endogenous
      GHB in the suspected beverage type, is of the utmost importance for a proper
      interpretation of the toxicological results.

PMID- 28602472
TI  - Neglect, educational success, and young people in out-of-home care: Cross
      sectional and longitudinal analyses.
AB  - Maltreated young persons in out-of-home care often have poor educational
      outcomes, heightening their risk of long-term psychosocial disadvantage (Forsman,
      Brannstrom, Vinnerljung, & Hjern, 2016). In their systematic reviews, Romano,
      Babchishin, Marquis, and Frechette (2014) and O'Higgins, Sebba, and Gardner (in
      press) found evidence that neglect was more often linked with low academic
      achievement, whereas abuse was more likely to be associated with behavioral
      difficulties. In large samples of young persons in out-of-home care in Ontario,
      Canada, who had experienced mainly neglect, we investigated risk and protective
      factors as predictors of educational success. In a cross-sectional hierarchical
      regression analysis (N=3659, aged 11-17 years), female gender, youth educational
      aspirations, caregiver educational aspirations for youth, time with current
      caregiver, internal developmental assets, and positive mental health were
      associated with better educational success. Neglect, grade retention, special
      educational needs, ethnic minority status, behavioral problems, and soft-drug use
      were associated with poorer educational outcomes. Gender significantly moderated
      caregiver educational aspirations and youth placement type. In a longitudinal
      analysis of a subsample (N=962, aged 11-15 years at Time 1), covering three
      years, a large decline in educational success (d=-0.80) was observed. Female
      gender, internal developmental assets, and positive mental health positively
      predicted, and soft drug use negatively predicted, greater educational success at
      Time 2. These results point to factors that help or hinder educational success
      among young people in care and should inform new interventions or improved
      versions of existing ones that address educational success in the context of
      neglect.

PMID- 28602471
TI  - Primary stability of tibial plateaus under dynamic compression-shear loading in
      human tibiae - Influence of keel length, cementation area and tibial stem.
AB  - The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of the tibial keel & stem
      length in surface cementation, of a full cemented keel and of an additional
      tibial stem on the primary stability of a posterior stabilised tibial plateau
      (VEGA(r) System Aesculap Tuttlingen, Germany) under dynamic compression-shear
      loading conditions in human tibiae. We performed the cemented tibial plateau
      implantations on 24 fresh-frozen human tibiae of a mean donor age of 70.7years
      (range 47-97). The tibiae were divided into four groups of matched pairs based on
      comparable trabecular bone mineral density. To assess the primary stability under
      dynamic compression shear conditions, a 3D migration analysis of the tibial
      component relative to the bone based on displacements and deformations and an
      evaluation of the cement layer including penetration was performed by CT-based 3D
      segmentation. Within the tested implant fixation principles the mean load to
      failure of a 28mm keel and a 12mm stem (40mm) was 4700+/-1149N and of a 28mm keel
      length was 4560+/-1429N (p=0.996), whereas the mean load to failure was 4920+/
      691N in full cementation (p=0.986) and 5580+/-502N with additional stem
      (p=0.537), with no significant differences regarding the dynamic primary
      stability under dynamic compression-shear test conditions. From our observations,
      we conclude that there is no significant difference between a 40mm and a 28mm
      tibial keel & stem length and also between a surface and a full cementation in
      the effect on the primary stability of a posterior stabilised tibial plateau, in
      terms of failure load, migration characteristics and cement layer thickness
      including the penetration into the trabecular bone.

PMID- 28602473
TI  - Mothers' knowledge & perception about child sexual abuse in Jordan.
AB  - Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious problem causing physical, social and
      psychosocial harm. To understand the Jordanian mothers' efforts to prevent CSA,
      we assessed the mothers' general knowledge about CSA, their perceptions,
      knowledge about signs and symptoms of CSA and their knowledge about prevention
      practices of CSA in relation to their demographics. A cross- sectional
      descriptive design was used with a convenient sample of 488 mothers. The data was
      collected using a self-reported questionnaire consisting of 52 items. Descriptive
      and parametric and non-parametric statistical procedures were employed. Almost
      all mothers in the study were Muslim and married. Half of the mothers had post
      secondary education and only 36% were employed. The study revealed that the
      majority of mothers were knowledgeable about CSA and its prevention practices.
      Though only 17% of mothers had started practicing some of the CSA preventive
      measures when their children were young (1-4 years of age) and less than half
      (48.8%) had started when their children were 4-6 years of age. Three quarters
      (74%) of the mothers indicated that educating children about CSA can prevent it.
      Only 37.7% knew about laws regarding CSA in Jordan and less than half of mothers
      knew about social organizations that provide services for children who suffered
      from sexual abuse. Mothers who had a high income or a high level of education or
      were employed had a higher awareness of CSA and recognized signs and symptoms of
      CSA more than other mothers.

PMID- 28602474
TI  - An ounce of prevention outweighs kilograms of weight loss.

PMID- 28602475
TI  - Novel approach to recurrent implantation failure: short-term copper intrauterine
      device placement.

PMID- 28602476
TI  - Comparison of ectopic pregnancy risk among transfers of embryos vitrified on day
      3, day 5, and day 6.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare ectopic pregnancy risk among transfers of embryos vitrified
      on day 3, day 5, and day 6. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Academic
      tertiary-care medical center. PATIENT(S): A total of 10,736 pregnancies after
      23,730 frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles of in vitro
      fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection from March 2003 to May 2015.
      INTERVENTION(S): The ectopic pregnancy rate was compared among pregnancies
      resulting from transfers of embryos vitrified on day 3, day 5, and day 6.
      Generalized estimation equation regression models were used to calculate
      unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the
      association between ectopic pregnancy and selected patient and treatment
      characteristics. We studied this association in both the group that achieved
      pregnancy and the group that underwent an FET cycle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):
      Odds of ectopic pregnancy. RESULT(S): The overall rate of ectopic pregnancy was
      2.8% (304/10,736). Ectopic pregnancy rates after day-3, day-5, and day-6
      vitrified embryo transfers were 3.1% (287/9,224), 2.0% (11/562), and 0.6%
      (6/950), respectively. After adjusting for confounders, the risks of ectopic
      pregnancy in day-3 and day-5 vitrified embryo transfers were both significantly
      higher than in day-6 vitrified embryo transfers. The associations were similar
      when we did calculations per cycle. CONCLUSION(S): In women undergoing FET, day-6
      vitrified embryo transfer is associated with a significantly lower risk of
      ectopic pregnancy than both day-3 and day-5 vitrified embryo transfers.

PMID- 28602478
TI  - Short-term copper intrauterine device placement improves the implantation and
      pregnancy rates in women with repeated implantation failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study if hysteroscopy and short-term copper intrauterine device
      placement (Cu-IUD) improves the pregnancy rates of women with repeated
      implantation failure (RIF) undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET).
      DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Medical university hospital. PATIENT(S):
      Infertile women with at least two implantation failures with the use of at least
      one good-quality embryo. INTERVENTION(S): All patients received operative
      hysteroscopy in the follicular cycle, and if endometrial polyps, polypoid
      endometrium, or intrauterine adhesions were found they were removed. In some
      patients, a Cu-IUD was inserted immediately after hysteroscopy and removed after
      two menstrual periods before embryo implantation. All patients underwent in vitro
      fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection and FET. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE(S): Clinical pregnancy and implantation rates. RESULT(S): A total of 440
      women with a mean age of 33.42 +/- 4.45 years (range 23-47 y) were included.
      There were 382 patients (554 cycles) in the IUD group and 58 patients (87 cycles)
      in the non-IUD group. The two groups were similar regarding age, body mass index,
      and infertility factors. The IUD group had a significantly higher implantation
      rate (29.29% vs. 16.56%), chemical pregnancy rate (53.25 vs. 41.38%), and
      clinical pregnancy rate (45.13% vs. 26.44%) than the non-IUD group. Multivariable
      regression analysis indicated that the odds of a chemical pregnancy was
      significantly increased with IUD usage. CONCLUSION(S): Cu-IUD placement for two
      menstrual cycles at the time of hysteroscopy can improve the implantation and
      pregnancy rates in women with RIF.

PMID- 28602479
TI  - Recurrent implantation failure is a pathology with a specific transcriptomic
      signature.
AB  - Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) is a source of distress and frustration to
      both patients and their clinicians. In the absence of clinically useful tests,
      the therapeutic approach has been largely empirical, with limited efficacy. In
      recent years, new insights into the role of the endometrium in implantation have
      emerged, and a number of dysfunctions that may underlie implantation failure have
      been characterized. These point to the presence, in some patients, of an
      underlying endometrial pathology. In this article, the case is made that
      constitutive (rather than maturation) defects underlying RIF can be identified.
      Evidence is presented of a specific transcriptomic signature that is highly
      predictive of RIF.

PMID- 28602480
TI  - Endometrial microbiota-new player in town.
AB  - Detection of bacteria with molecular techniques has enabled the study of low
      biomass microbiomes in tissues and organs previously considered sterile, such as
      the endometrium. Subsequently, an abnormal endometrial microbiota has been
      associated with implantation failure, pregnancy loss, and other gynecological and
      obstetrical conditions. Further investigation of the reproductive tract
      microbiome will allow for a better understanding of bacterial communities' role
      in both physiology and pathophysiology, which in turn impacts the ability to
      achieve pregnancy and maintain a healthy pregnancy. Here we review the current
      literature that surrounds the endometrial microbiome and highlight the importance
      of assessing it as a future tool for improving reproductive outcomes in infertile
      patients.

PMID- 28602477
TI  - Endometrial receptivity in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis:
      it is affected, and let me show you why.
AB  - The endometrium maintains complex controls on proliferation and apoptosis as part
      of repetitive menstrual cycles that prepare the endometrium for the window of
      implantation and pregnancy. The reliance on inflammatory mechanisms for both
      implantation and menstruation creates the opportunity in the setting of
      endometriosis for establishment of chronic inflammation that is disruptive to
      endometrial receptivity, causing both infertility and abnormal bleeding.
      Clinically, there can be little doubt that the endometrium of women with
      endometriosis is less receptive to embryo implantation, and strong evidence
      exists to suggest that endometrial changes are associated with decreased cycle
      fecundity as a result of this disease. Here we provide unifying concepts
      regarding those changes and how they are coordinated to promote progesterone
      resistance and estrogen dominance through aberrant cell signaling pathways and
      reduced expression of key homeostatic proteins in eutopic endometrium of women
      with endometriosis.

PMID- 28602481
TI  - Three new abietane-type diterpene glycosides from the roots of Tripterygium
      wilfordii.
AB  - Three new abietane-type diterpene glycosides named as tripterycoside A (1),
      tripterycoside B (2), tripterycoside C (3), along with two known ones, 11-O-beta
      d-glucopyranosyl-neotritophenolide (4), wilfordoside A (5), and nine other known
      compounds, 5-hydroxymethylmellein (6),1,2-bis-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3
      propanediol (7), leptolepisol C (8), icariol A2 (9), tripfordine A (10), 16alpha
      hydroxy-ent-kauran-19-oic acid (11),wilforine (12), wilfordine (13), 3
      acetyloleanolic acid (14),were isolated from the roots of Tripterygium wilfordii.
      Their structures have been elucidated on the basis of NMR and MS data. To the
      best of our knowledge, abietane-type diterpene glycosides were rarely reported
      natural products, especially abietane-type diterpene glycoside containing 7-oxo
      group (compound 3) was reported here for the first time. Furthermore, compounds
      6, 7, 8 and 14 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 1-5
      showed statistically significant inhibitory effects on IL-1beta secretion in LPS
      induced rat primary synovial fibroblasts at 10MUM.

PMID- 28602482
TI  - A new anterior inferior coronal patellar plica.
AB  - PURPOSE: To date, four synovial plicae are classically described in the knee. We
      report a previously undescribed new inferior patellar plica, named "bib-like
      plica" (BLP, referring to its morphology) related to specific symptoms of
      atypical recurrent anterior knee pain in the presence of a locked or pseudo
      locked knee. We describe this anatomical structure, and assess its clinical
      relevance in daily practice in terms of clinical pattern and long-term follow-up
      outcome after arthroscopic excision. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      prospectively collected data on 1033 arthroscopic procedures, selecting patients
      in whom a knee arthroscopy was indicated following recurrent painful episodes of
      locking or pseudo-locking not explained by traditional imaging or helped by
      conservative treatment. Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Lysholm knee score, a physical
      exam and a satisfaction interview were used to evaluate the clinical status at
      the latest follow-up. RESULTS: We report 12 patients (8 males, 4 females; mean
      age 34.2 years) in whom a BLP had been identified at arthroscopy. At a mean
      follow-up of 13.4 years from its excision, the mean VAS and Lysholm knee score
      were 9.8 and 100 respectively. In all instances, selective removal of the BLP
      restored a complete painless functional range of motion documented within 2
      months, and confirmed at the latest follow-up. No patient reported locking
      recurrence or pain, or underwent further surgery, and all were satisfied.
      CONCLUSIONS: The BLP, detected in about 1% of knee arthroscopies in our setting,
      is strongly associated with a recurrent painful locking knee. Arthroscopic
      removal produces resolution of symptoms.

PMID- 28602483
TI  - A hybrid framework for reverse engineering of robust Gene Regulatory Networks.
AB  - The inference of Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) using gene expression data in
      order to detect the basic cellular processes is a key issue in biological
      systems. Inferring GRN correctly requires inferring predictor set accurately. In
      this paper, a fast and accurate predictor set inference framework which linearly
      combines some inference methods is proposed. The purpose of the combination of
      various methods is to increase the accuracy of inferred GRN. The proposed
      framework offers a linear weighted combination of Pearson Correlation Coefficient
      (PCC) and two different feature selection approaches, namely: Information Gain
      (IG) and ReliefF. In order to set the appropriate weights, Genetic Algorithm (GA)
      is used. Similarity measure is considered as fitness function to guide GA. At the
      end, based on the obtained weights, the best predictor set of GRN using three
      aforementioned inference methods is selected and the network topology is formed.
      Due to the huge volume of gene expression data, GRN inference algorithms should
      infer GRN at a reasonable runtime. Hence, a novel criterion is provided to
      evaluate GRNs based on runtime and accuracy. The simulation results using
      biological data indicate that the proposed framework is fast and more reliable
      compared to other recent methods [1-7].

PMID- 28602484
TI  - Red blood cell transfusion and outcome in cancer.
AB  - Oncology services utilize about 15% of the blood transfusion resources in the
      USA. Red blood cell transfusion is performed immediately before, during or after
      major surgery to compensate for blood loss and hemodilution. However, a lack of
      evidence-based guidelines leads to variable transfusion practices among
      clinicians. The benefits of transfusing blood products are obvious in life
      threatening low blood cell counts or bleeding, but it is becoming apparent that
      deliberate blood transfusion in some cancer patients can trigger negative
      clinical impacts. This review attempts to provide an overview of the impact of
      red blood cell transfusion in patients suffering from various types of oncologic
      pathologies.

PMID- 28602485
TI  - A 5-year cost analysis of automated red cell exchange transfusion for the
      management of recurrent painful crises in adult patients with sickle cell
      disease.
AB  - The painful vaso-occlusive crisis is the most common acute manifestation of
      sickle cell disease resulting in poor quality of life and high utilisation of
      hospital facilities. The main disease modifying strategy is treatment with
      hydroxycarbamide. For patients intolerant or who fail hydroxycarbamide, chronic
      transfusions are an alternative. Automated red cell exchange transfusion (ARCET)
      are more effective in lowering rapidly the HbS level while avoiding iron
      overload. As they require specialised equipment and specially trained staff while
      utilising higher volumes of blood, there have been concerns regarding the costs
      involved. We retrospectively analysed data on 23 patients who have been on a
      regular programme for 1-5 years and found that their utilisation of hospital
      services reduced by 20%, 48%, 58%, 71%, and 79% after 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years
      respectively. The overall mean annual cost of care per patient was L9702 and
      L2378 higher than baseline after the 1st and 2nd years of ARCET respectively and
      then reduced by L5486, L8317, and L14,664 after the 3rd, 4th and 5th year of
      ARCET respectively indicating that ARCET leads to cost savings to health services
      in the medium to long term due to reduction in hospital attendance of these
      patients.

PMID- 28602486
TI  - Supramacroparticulate PE in 6 different joint endoprostheses localisations: An
      indicator for PE damage?
AB  - In the histopathological particle algorithm polyethylene (PE) particles with
      maximum lengths of more than 100MUm - called PE supramacroparticles - are
      identified exclusively for knee joint and hip prostheses. However, a definitive
      characterisation, detection in all joint localisations and a causal clarification
      of the pathogenesis are lacking. In this study a total of 175 SLIM (synovial-like
      interface membrane) cases with PE supramacroparticles of knee joint prostheses
      (n=89), hip joint prostheses (n=44), ankle joint prostheses (n=36) and prostheses
      in three localisations of the upper extremities (n=6) were systematically
      investigated. The arithmetic mean of the particle length varied greatly within
      the prosthesis types. This had a significant positive correlation with the
      prosthesis lifetime and negative correlation with the date of implantation. It
      can be concluded that both the lifetime and the time of implantation have an
      influence on the particle length. The prostheses with supramacroparticulate
      damage moreover showed a clearly reduced survival rate compared with other data
      published on the prosthesis lifetime. The material wear therefore could not be
      attributed solely to the usual fatigue factors. Since loosening of the
      prostheses, decentring of the PE components or damage to the PE inlay existed in
      all cases, mechanical dysloading seems to be the most probable cause of PE
      supramacroparticle genesis. Due to the striking length and for demarcation from
      PE macroparticles, the term supramacroparticulate PE is proposed for a length of
      more than 100MUm. In the extended histopathological particle algorithm
      supramacroparticulate PE has been included in the macroparticles category and
      should be taken into account and interpreted causally in histopathological
      diagnostics of joint prosthesis failure.

PMID- 28602487
TI  - Using side-opening injection cannulas to prevent cement leakage in percutaneous
      vertebroplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, does it really
      work?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Percutaneous vertebroplasty has been widely applied in the treatment
      of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures over the past two decades.
      However as one of the major complications, the rate of cement leakage seems not
      to be decreased significantly. In this study, the rate of cement leakage was
      compared between two groups using two different cement injection cannulas. The
      purpose was to determine the efficacy of side-opening cannula on preventing
      cement leakage in vertebroplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral
      compression fractures. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted from January
      2013 to December 2015. Totally 225 patients who received bilateral vertebroplasty
      due to osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures were included in the study.
      The patients were divided into test group who received vertebroplasty with side
      opening cannulas and control group who received vertebroplasty with front-opening
      cannulas. The patients' medical records were reviewed to determine the bone
      marrow density, preoperative vertebral compression ratio, preoperative and
      postoperative VAS, operation time, volume of injected bone cement, rate of cement
      leakage. Post-operative X-rays and CT scans were utilized to assess the degree of
      Cement leakage. Comparisons between groups and clinical results on VAS in each
      group were analyzed with appropriate test. RESULTS: All the patients were
      performed successfully without symptomatic complications. The back pain was
      significantly relieved after operation in both groups (P < 0.05). At 6 days and 6
      months follow-up, there was no significant difference in the mean VAS score
      between the two groups (P > 0.05). The rate of cement leakage in the test group
      was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Percutaneous vertebroplasty with side-opening cannula is a safe and effective
      minimally invasive method in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression
      fractures, the rate of cement leakage can be significantly reduced by redirecting
      the cement flow.

PMID- 28602488
TI  - Higher parathyroid hormone levels are associated with increased below-the-knee
      arterial calcification in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28602490
TI  - Ultrasound Findings on Hands and Wrists of Patients with Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus: Relationship with Physical Examination.
AB  - Diagnosis of synovitis/tenosynovitis by physical examination can be difficult.
      Ultrasound (US) can be an effective tool for the evaluation of joint involvement
      in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study will describe musculoskeletal
      findings by US in SLE patients and the evaluation of their correlation with
      physical examination. SLE patients underwent clinical/sonographic evaluation of
      hand/wrists. In total, 896 joints were evaluated: at least 1 change on physical
      examination was found in 136 joints and at least 1 US abnormality was found in 65
      of 896 joints. Out of the 65 joints with US changes, only 13 had findings on
      physical examination. Conversely, 111 joints had tenderness on physical
      examination with no sonographic abnormalities. Tenosynovitis was statistically
      significant more frequently with joint edema (41%) (p = 0.0003). US can detect
      musculoskeletal changes in only a minority of symptomatic SLE patients. Clinical
      findings may be related to some reasons that cannot be explained using US.

PMID- 28602489
TI  - Prenatal naled and chlorpyrifos exposure is associated with deficits in infant
      motor function in a cohort of Chinese infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Organophosphate insecticides (OPs) are used worldwide, yet despite
      nearly ubiquitous exposure in the general population, few have been studied
      outside the laboratory. Fetal brains undergo rapid growth and development,
      leaving them susceptible to long-term effects of neurotoxic OPs. The objective
      here was to investigate the extent to which prenatal exposure to OPs affects
      infant motor development. METHODS: 30 OPs were measured in umbilical cord blood
      using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in a cohort of Chinese infants.
      Motor function was assessed at 6-weeks and 9-months using Peabody Developmental
      Motor Scales 2nd edition (PDMS-2) (n=199). Outcomes included subtest scores:
      reflexes, stationary, locomotion, grasping, visual-motor integration (V-M),
      composite scores: gross (GM), fine (FM), total motor (TM), and standardized motor
      quotients: gross (GMQ), fine (FMQ), total motor (TMQ). RESULTS: Naled,
      methamidophos, trichlorfon, chlorpyrifos, and phorate were detected in >=10% of
      samples. Prenatal naled and chlorpyrifos were associated with decreased 9-month
      motor function. Scores were 0.55, 0.85, and 0.90 points lower per 1ng/mL increase
      in log-naled, for V-M (p=0.04), FM (p=0.04), and FMQ (p=0.08), respectively. For
      chlorpyrifos, scores were 0.50, 1.98, 0.80, 1.91, 3.49, 2.71, 6.29, 2.56, 2.04,
      and 2.59 points lower for exposed versus unexposed infants, for reflexes
      (p=0.04), locomotion (p=0.02), grasping (p=0.05), V-M (p<0.001), GM (p=0.007), FM
      (p=0.002), TM (p<0.001), GMQ (p=0.01), FMQ (p=0.07), and TMQ (p=0.008),
      respectively. Girls appeared to be more sensitive to the negative effects of OPs
      on 9-month motor function than boys. CONCLUSIONS: We found deficits in 9-month
      motor function in infants with prenatal exposure to naled and chlorpyrifos. Naled
      is being aerially sprayed to combat mosquitoes carrying Zika virus, yet this is
      the first non-occupational human study of its health effects. Delays in early
      motor skill acquisition may be detrimental for downstream development and
      cognition.

PMID- 28602491
TI  - Effect of visuospatial neglect on spatial navigation and heading after stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Visuospatial neglect (VSN) impairs the control of locomotor heading
      in post-stroke individuals, which may affect their ability to safely avoid moving
      objects while walking. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare VSN+ and VSN- stroke
      individuals in terms of changes in heading and head orientation in space while
      avoiding obstacles approaching from different directions and reorienting toward
      the final target. METHODS: Stroke participants with VSN (VSN+) and without VSN
      (VSN-) walked in a virtual environment avoiding obstacles that approached
      contralesionally, head-on or ipsilesionally. Measures of obstacle avoidance
      (onset-of-heading change, maximum mediolateral deviation) and target alignment
      (heading and head-rotation errors with respect to target) were compared across
      groups and obstacle directions. RESULTS: In total, 26 participants with right
      hemisphere stroke participated (13 VSN+ and 13 VSN-; 24 males; mean age 60.3
      years, range 48 to 72 years). A larger proportion of VSN+ (75%) than VSN- (38%)
      participants collided with contralesional and head-on obstacles. For VSN-
      participants, deviating to the same side as the obstacle was a safe strategy to
      avoid diagonal obstacles and deviating to the opposite-side led to occasional
      collisions. VSN+ participants deviated ipsilesionally, displaying same-side and
      opposite-side strategies for ipsilesional and contralesional obstacles,
      respectively. Overall, VSN+ participants showed greater distances at onset-of
      heading change, smaller maximum mediolateral deviation and larger errors in
      target alignment as compared with VSN- participants. CONCLUSION: The ipsilesional
      bias arising from VSN influences the modulation of heading in response to
      obstacles and, along with the adoption of the "riskier" strategies, contribute to
      the higher number colliders and poor goal-directed walking abilities in stroke
      survivors with VSN. Future research should focus on developing assessment and
      training tools for complex locomotor tasks such as obstacle avoidance in this
      population.

PMID- 28602492
TI  - Open versus endovascular aneurysm repair trial review.
AB  - The Open versus Endovascular Aneurysm Repair trial is the only randomized
      controlled trial that is funded by the federal government to evaluate the
      treatment outcomes of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Since the initial
      publication, multiple post-hoc analyses have become available. This review
      summarizes these data, focusing on the primary outcome measures (ie, overall
      survival) and several key secondary outcomes including aneurysm-related death,
      age consideration, secondary procedures, and endoleaks. Cost-effectiveness of
      each treatment modality and the limitations of OVER trial also are discussed
      critically in this review.

PMID- 28602493
TI  - Alcohol attenuates myocardial ischemic injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Moderate alcohol consumption is cardioprotective but the mechanism of
      action remains unclear. Nuclear factor kappa-B regulates the expression of genes
      involved in inflammation, stress, and apoptosis. We used a swine model of diet
      induced metabolic syndrome to investigate the effects of red wine and vodka on
      nuclear factor kappa-B signaling and cytokine activity in chronically ischemic
      myocardium. METHODS: Yorkshire swine were given a high-fat diet for 4 weeks; an
      ameroid constrictor was then placed on the left circumflex artery. The high-fat
      diet was continued and the swine were divided into 3 groups for 7 weeks:
      hypercholesterolemic diet alone (control, n = 8), hypercholesterolemic diet with
      vodka (vodka, n = 8), and hypercholesterolemic diet with wine (wine, n = 8).
      Ischemic myocardium was analyzed by Western blot and cytokine array. RESULTS:
      Administration of alcohol was associated with decreased expression of inhibitor
      of kappa-B kinase complex alpha, inhibitor of kappa-B kinase complex beta, and
      phosphorylated inhibitor of kappa-B beta in the ischemic myocardium compared with
      the control group. Alcohol administration demonstrated an increase in nuclear
      factor kappa-B in the ischemic myocardium. Both wine and vodka demonstrated a
      significant decrease in leptin, interleukin-1alpha, IL-13, IL-15, and interferon
      gamma. Vodka demonstrated a significant decrease in phosphorylated BCL-2 and
      caspase-9. CONCLUSION: In ischemic myocardium, alcohol modulates the nuclear
      factor kappa-B pathway, which may contribute to the adaptive response of tissues
      to the stress of ischemia. Furthermore, both wine and vodka decreased multiple
      proinflammatory cytokines. This study provides a mechanism by which alcohol may
      be cardioprotective in ischemic myocardium.

PMID- 28602494
TI  - An enlarged, painful scrotum.

PMID- 28602495
TI  - Effects of socioeconomic status on children with well-differentiated thyroid
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Well-differentiated thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine
      malignancy in children. Adult literature has demonstrated socioeconomic
      disparities in patients undergoing thyroidectomy, but the effects of
      socioeconomic status on the management of pediatric well-differentiated thyroid
      cancer remains poorly understood. METHODS: Patients <=21 years of age with well
      differentiated thyroid cancer remains were reviewed from the National Cancer Data
      Base. Three socioeconomic surrogate variables were identified: insurance type,
      median income, and educational quartile. Tumor characteristics, diagnostic
      intervals, and clinical outcomes were compared within each socioeconomic
      surrogate variable. RESULTS: A total of 9,585 children with well-differentiated
      thyroid cancer remains were reviewed. In multivariate analysis, lower income,
      lower educational quartile, and insurance status were associated with higher
      stage at diagnosis. Furthermore, lower income quartile was associated with a
      longer time from diagnosis to treatment (P < .002). Similarly, uninsured children
      had a longer time from diagnosis to treatment (28 days) compared with those with
      government (19 days) or private (18 days) insurance (P < .001). Despite being
      diagnosed at a higher stage and having a longer time interval between diagnosis
      and treatment, there was no significant difference in either overall survival or
      rates of unplanned readmissions based on any of the socioeconomic surrogate
      variables. CONCLUSION: Children from lower income families and those lacking
      insurance experienced a longer period from diagnosis to treatment of their well
      differentiated thyroid cancer remains. These patients also presented with higher
      stage disease. These data suggest a delay in care for children from low-income
      families. Although these findings did not translate into worse outcomes for well
      differentiated thyroid cancer remains, future efforts should focus on reducing
      these differences.

PMID- 28602497
TI  - Anatomical localization of the cavernous sinus dural fistula by 3D rotational
      angiography with emphasis on clinical and therapeutic implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Carotid cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistulas
      (CSDAVFs) are presumed to be located within the walls of the cavernous sinus,
      however the exact fistulous site has not yet been studied by angiographic or
      anatomical methods. The present study aimed to localize CSDAVFs with the help of
      3D rotational angiography (RA) and correlated the observations with clinical and
      angiographic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CSDAVFs were categorized as
      dural, extradural or osseous based on the site of convergence of feeders into the
      venous sac. Extradural CSDAVFs were further subcategorized into posteromedial,
      posterolateral and anterior subtypes, depending on proximity to a possible venous
      plexus. This classification was correlated with various clinical presentations
      and angiographic subtypes. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients were included in the
      final analysis. The sac was identified in all the patients and the mean sac size
      of the fistula was small (<4mm). Dural type was associated with exclusive
      cortical venous drainage. Extradural anterior CSDAVF showed tendency towards
      younger age predilection. Extradural posterolateral CSDAVF was more often
      associated with initial oculomotor nerve palsy and this observation was
      statistically significant. Discordancy between the location of the fistula and
      the side of clinical affection was observed in midline fistulas such as osseous
      CSDAVF and posteromedial type of extradural CSDAVF. CONCLUSIONS: CSDAVF is a
      heterogeneous vascular disorder involving the sphenoclival bone, extradural space
      and dura, homologous to the epidural-dural shunts of vertebra with a common
      clinical presentation of orbital manifestations. Preoperative localization of the
      fistula could explain enigmatic observations and potentially simplify its
      interventional management.

PMID- 28602496
TI  - Chylous leak after pancreatic resection: A grading system was needed.

PMID- 28602498
TI  - Risk factors for angiographic recurrence after treatment of unruptured
      intracranial aneurysms: Outcomes from a series of 178 unruptured aneurysms
      treated by regular coiling or surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term stability after intracranial aneurysm exclusion by coiling
      is still a matter of debate; after surgical clipping little is known. OBJECTIVE:
      To study outcome after endovascular and surgical treatments for unruptured
      intracranial aneurysms in terms of short- and long-term angiographic exclusion
      and risk factors for recanalization. METHODS: From 2004 and 2009, patients
      treated for unruptured berry intracranial aneurysms by coiling or clipping were
      reviewed. Aneurysmal exclusion was evaluated using the Roy-Raymond grading scale;
      immediate clinical outcome was also assessed. Clinical outcome, recanalization,
      risk factors for recurrence and bleeding during the follow-up period were
      analyzed by groups; "surgery" and "embolization". RESULTS: From 2004 to 2009, 178
      consecutive unruptured aneurysms were treated. The post-procedure angiographic
      results for "surgery" were: total exclusion 75.6%; residual neck 13.5%; residual
      aneurysm 10.8%. For "embolization", the results were, respectively: 72%; 20.7%;
      and 7.2%. Morbidity was 3% for "surgery" and 1.6% for "embolization" (P=0.74);
      mortality was nil. Mean clinical and angiographic follow-up was 5years.
      Recurrence rate was of 11.5% for "surgery" vs. 44% for "embolization" with a mean
      follow-up of 4 and 5.75years, respectively (P=1.10-5). The retreatment rate was
      8.4%. Two significant risk factors for recanalization were identified: maximum
      diameter of the aneurysm sac (P=0.0038) and pericallosal location (P=0.0388). No
      bleeding event occurred. CONCLUSION: Both techniques are safe. The rate of
      aneurismal recurrence was significantly higher for embolization, especially for
      large diameter aneurysms and pericallosal locations. No bleeding event occurred
      after recanalization.

PMID- 28602499
TI  - Susceptibility-weighted angiography and diffusion-weighted imaging in posterior
      reversible encephalopathy syndrome - Is there an association between hemorrhage,
      cytotoxic edema, blood pressure and imaging severity?
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the significance of association and possible correlation
      between hemorrhage, cytotoxic edema, blood pressure and imaging severity in
      posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      retrospective study included the medical and imaging records of 35 consecutive
      patients with PRES. The clinical data analysis included the highest recorded
      blood pressure (BP) on the day of the ictus, MRI including spin-echo echo planar
      diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), susceptibility weighted angiography (SWAN) and
      conventional sequences. The presence of hemorrhage and cytotoxic edema was
      evaluated for the significance of correlation and association with each other and
      with blood pressure and imaging severity. RESULTS: On MR imaging, hemorrhage was
      found in 25.7%, and cytotoxic edema in 20% of patients. There was no
      statistically significant association of hemorrhage (P=0.403) and cytotoxic edema
      (P=0.162) with BP in contrast to significant association of hemorrhage (P<0.001)
      and cytotoxic edema (P=0.011) with imaging severity and with each other
      (P=0.002). There was a significant correlation of hemorrhage (Cramer's V - 0.672)
      and cytotoxic edema (Cramer's V - 0.506) with imaging severity and with each
      other (Cramer's V - 0.523). CONCLUSION: The extent of imaging severity in PRES
      showed significant association and correlation with hemorrhage and cytotoxic
      edema. There was no statistically significant association of blood pressure with
      imaging severity, hemorrhage, and cytotoxic edema. Further prospective studies
      are needed to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms and their correlation
      with imaging findings in PRES.

PMID- 28602500
TI  - Dynamic Protein Acylation: New Substrates, Mechanisms, and Drug Targets.
AB  - Post-translational attachment of lipids to proteins is found in all organisms,
      and is important for many biological processes. Acylation with myristic and
      palmitic acids are among the most common lipid modifications, and understanding
      reversible protein palmitoylation dynamics has become a particularly important
      goal. Linking acyltransferase enzymes to disease states can be challenging due to
      a paucity of robust models, compounded by functional redundancy between many
      palmitoyl transferases; however, in cases such as Wnt or Hedgehog signalling,
      small molecule inhibitors have been identified, with some progressing to clinical
      trials. In this review, we present recent developments in our understanding of
      protein acylation in human health and disease through use of chemical tools,
      global profiling of acylated proteomes, and functional studies of specific
      protein targets.

PMID- 28602501
TI  - Abdominal Imaging Surveillance in Adult Patients After Fontan Procedure: Risk of
      Chronic Liver Disease and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of chronic liver disease (CLD) and
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in adult patients who had surveillance imaging
      after Fontan procedure. METHODS: Institutional review board-approved, Health
      Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study
      evaluated electronic medical records including radiology reports and clinical
      notes for adult patients after Fontan procedure between January 1993 and January
      2016. Abdominal ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging
      reports were reviewed for changes of CLD and HCC. Existence of concomitant viral
      hepatitis was also recorded. RESULTS: A total of 145 patients (male: 78 and
      female: 67) had surveillance imaging after Fontan procedure. In all, 78%
      (113/145) had ongoing imaging surveillance (median follow-up 3.05 years, IQR:
      0.75-5.3 years); 19% (21/113) had an initial normal study and remained normal
      throughout follow-up; 19% (21/113) had an initial normal study with subsequent
      imaging reporting changes of CLD; and 62% (71/113) had existing changes of CLD on
      initial study. HCC was identified in 5 patients (median 22 years post-Fontan,
      IQR: 10-29 years), 4 of which had a normal initial study. Only 1 patient with HCC
      had concomitant viral hepatitis C infection. CONCLUSION: Radiologists should be
      aware that CLD is exceedingly common in post-Fontan cardiac physiology, and
      surveillance imaging is warranted given the risk of HCC.

PMID- 28602502
TI  - Extent of the influence of phosphate buffer and ionic liquids on the reduction of
      the silanol effect in a C18 stationary phase.
AB  - The presence of anionic free silanols in the silica-based stationary phases gives
      rise to broad and asymmetrical peaks when cationic basic compounds are
      chromatographed using hydro-organic mobile phases. The addition to the mobile
      phase of a reagent with ionic character prevents the access of analytes to the
      free silanols, improving the peak shape. The silanol activity can be affected by
      the buffer concentration and mobile phase pH, factors that are not always
      considered sufficiently in the literature. In this work, the chromatographic
      behaviour of three basic beta-adrenoceptor antagonists (acebutolol, nadolol and
      timolol), using mobile phases containing acetonitrile, was examined at different
      phosphate buffer concentrations (5-50mM) and mobile phase pH (2-8), in the
      absence and presence of three imidazolium-based ionic liquids (1-ethyl-, 1-butyl-
      and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride). All factors were evaluated through
      both the retention and peak shape. The imidazolium cations can block the access
      of cationic analytes through electrostatic interaction with the anionic silanols,
      or association with the alkyl chains bound to the stationary phase. In previous
      reports, the protection mechanism was demonstrated to be directly related to the
      cation size. The studies in this work reveal that the effectiveness of the mobile
      phase additive as silanol blocker also depends on the concentration of the buffer
      anion and the protonation degree of the silanols on the stationary phase.
      Increasing amounts of phosphate at low pH give rise to increasing retention
      times. Also, the peak shape is improved, which indicates the influence of
      phosphate on blocking the activity of free silanols. However, the benefits
      obtained by the combined effect of buffering the mobile phase at low pH and the
      use of a bulky additive are lost at pH>6.

PMID- 28602503
TI  - Analysis using size exclusion chromatography of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)
      using methanol as an eluent.
AB  - Size Exclusion Chromatography is traditionally carried out in either aqueous or
      non-polar solvents. A system to present molar mass distributions of polymers
      using methanol as a mobile phase is presented. This is shown to be a suitable
      system for determining the molar mass distributions poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)s
      (PNIPAM); a polymer class that is often difficult to analyze by size exclusion
      chromatography. DOSY NMR was used to provide intrinsic viscosity data that was
      used in conjunction with a viscometric detector to provide absolute calibration.
      Then the utility of the system was shown by providing the absolute molar mass
      distributions of dispersed highly branched PNIPAM with biologically functional
      end groups.

PMID- 28602504
TI  - Polar silica-based stationary phases. Part III- Neutral silica stationary phase
      with surface bound maltose for affinity chromatography at reduced non-specific
      interactions.
AB  - This research article reports the coating of large pore silica microparticles
      with a maltose layer to which bioaffinity ligands were attached via reductive
      amination reaction between the aldehyde activated maltose and the amino groups of
      the bioaffinity ligands. This was achieved first by the periodate oxidation of
      the maltose-silica (MALT-silica) yielding pairs of aldehyde groups at each
      monosaccharide ring. These di-aldehyde functionalities were then reacted with the
      primary amino groups of protein bio-affinity ligands and eventually formed Schiff
      bases (i.e., aldimines) which were reduced using the mild reducing agent sodium
      cyanoborohydride to form stable amine linkages between the immobilized protein
      ligands and the maltose layer. Anti-human serum albumin antibody (aHSA), anti
      human serum transferrin antibody (aTf) and concanavalin A (Con A) were the bio
      affinity ligands immobilized onto the MALT-silica and were evaluated in high
      performance affinity chromatography (HPAC), namely immunoaffinity chromatography
      (IAC) and lectin affinity chromatography (LAC). Our initial studies reported here
      revealed zero or reduced nonspecific interactions with the two immunoaffinity
      sorbents (i.e., aHSA-MALT-silica and aTf-MALT-silica) and the lectin affinity
      sorbent (i.e., Con A-MALT-silica). The absence of nonspecific interactions is
      attributed to the hydrophilicity of the maltose layer and its shielding effect of
      the residual silanols (i.e., unreacted silanols) on the silica surface.
      Conversely, the IAC and LAC sorbents exhibited specific interactions with the
      target biomolecules, namely human serum albumin (HSA) and transferrin (Tf) in the
      case of aHSA-MALT-silica and aTf-MALT-silica columns, respectively, and
      glycoproteins known for their affinity to Con A in the case of Con A-MALT-silica
      column.

PMID- 28602505
TI  - Proposal of 5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine consumption biomarkers
      through identification of in vivo metabolites from mice.
AB  - New psychoactive substances (NPS) are a new breed of synthetically produced
      substances designed to mimic the effects of traditional illegal drugs. Synthetic
      cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones are the two most common groups, which try
      to mimic the effects of the natural compounds 9Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol and
      cathinone, respectively. Similarly, synthetic tryptamines are designer compounds
      which are based on the compounds psilocin, N,N-dimethyltryptamine and 5-methoxy
      N,N-dimethyltryptamine found in some mushrooms. One of the most important
      tryptamine compounds found in seizures is 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine,
      which has been placed as controlled substance in USA and some European countries.
      The control of this compound has promoted the rising of another tryptamine, the 5
      methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine, which at the time of writing this article
      has not been banned yet. So, it is undeniable that this new substance should be
      monitored. 5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine has been reported by the
      Spanish Early Warning System and detected in our laboratory in two pill samples
      purchased in a local smart shop. This has promoted the need of stablishing
      consumption markers for this compound in consumers' urine. In the present work,
      the metabolism and pharmacokinetic of 5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine
      has been studied by an in vivo approach, using adult male mice of the inbred
      strain C57BLJ/6. The use of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled
      to high resolution mass spectrometry allowed the identification of four
      metabolites. After the pharmacokinetic study in serum and urine, the O
      demethylated metabolite and the non-metabolised parent compound are proposed as
      consumption markers in hydrolysed urine. Data reported in this work will help
      hospitals and forensic laboratories to monitor the consumption and potential
      intoxication cases related to this tryptamine.

PMID- 28602506
TI  - Magnetic nanoparticles and high-speed countercurrent chromatography coupled in
      line and using the same solvent system for separation of quercetin-3-O
      rutinoside, luteoloside and astragalin from a Mikania micrantha extract.
AB  - A new in-line method of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) coupled with high-speed
      countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) using a same solvent system during the
      whole separation process was established to achieve the rapid separation of
      flavonoids from Mikania micrantha. The adsorption and desorption capacities of
      five different MNPs for flavonoid standards and Mikania micrantha crude extract
      were compared and the most suitable magnetic nanoparticle Fe3O4@SiO2@DIH@EMIMLpro
      was selected as the in-line MNP column. An in-line separation system was
      established by combining this MNP column with HSCCC through a six-way valve. The
      comparison between two solvent systems n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water
      (3:5:3:5, v/v) and ethyl acetate-methanol-water (25:1:25, v/v) showed that the
      latter solvent system was more suitable for simultaneously in-line separating
      three flavonoids quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, luteoloside and astragalin from
      Mikania micrantha. The purities of these three compounds with the ethyl acetate
      methanol-water solvent system were 95.13%, 98.54% and 98.19% respectively.
      Results showed the established in-line separation system of MNP-HSCCC was
      efficient, recyclable and served to isolate potential flavonoids with similar
      polarities from natural complex mixtures. The in-line combination of magnetic
      nanoparticles with high-speed countercurrent chromatography eluting with the same
      solvent system during the whole separation process was established for the first
      time.

PMID- 28602507
TI  - Designed synthesis of ultra-hydrophilic sulfo-functionalized metal-organic
      frameworks with a magnetic core for highly efficient enrichment of the N-linked
      glycopeptides.
AB  - Highly efficient extraction and enrichment of the N-linked glycopeptides from
      complex biological samples before mass spectrometry analysis remains important
      but challenging, due to the low abundance and suppression by proteins and salts.
      Herein, a facile route to an ultra-hydrophilic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
      functionalized magnetic nanoparticle (Fe3O4@PDA@Zr-SO3H) was proposed. The as
      prepared MOFs was endowed with excellent and unique properties, such as excellent
      hydrophilicity, ultrahigh surface area, and strong magnetic responsiveness. By
      virtue of these properties and based on hydrophilic interaction, Fe3O4@PDA@Zr
      SO3H exhibited outstanding sensitivity and selectivity, remarkable recyclability
      and stability towards N-linked glycopeptide enrichment. In deep, a total of 177 N
      linked glycopeptides, assigned to 85 different glycoproteins, were identified
      from the healthy human serum after treated with the Fe3O4@PDA@Zr-SO3H. These
      results confirmed that our strategy offered a promising platform for preparing
      hydrophilic metal-organic framework-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for
      glycosylation analysis by mass spectrometry analysis.

PMID- 28602508
TI  - Cyr61/CCN1 induces CCL20 production by keratinocyte via activating p38 and JNK/AP
      1 pathway in psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a common chronic skin disease characterized by epidermal
      hyperplasia and inflammation. Cysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61 (Cyr61/CCN1)
      has recently been implicated in psoriasis pathogenesis by promoting keratinocyte
      activation. However, the mechanisms by which CCN1 enhances cutaneous inflammation
      are not fully understood. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the role of
      CCN1 on the expression of CCL20 in human keratinocyte. METHODS AND RESULTS: By
      double-label immunofluorescence staining, we first identified that the expression
      of CCN1 colocalized well with CCL20 production in the epidermis of psoriasis skin
      lesion. Furthermore, in vivo, blocking or knockdown CCN1 expression ameliorated
      skin inflammation and reduced the expression of CCL20 in both imiquimod and IL-23
      induced psoriasis-like mouse models, which indicated that CCN1 might be involved
      in the regulation of CCL20 production in psoriasis. Next, in vitro, we stimulated
      primary normal human epidermal keratinocyte (NHEK) with exogenous protein CCN1
      and found that CCN1 directly upregulated CCL20 production independent of TNF
      alpha, IL-22 and IL-17 pathway. Lastly, the signaling pathway study showed that
      CCN1 enhanced the binding of AP-1 to the CCL20 promoter via crosstalk with p38
      and JNK. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that CCN1 stimulates CCL20
      production in vitro and in vivo, and thus supports the notion that overexpressed
      CCN1 in hyperproliferating keratinocyte is functionally involved in the
      recruitment of inflammatory cells to skin lesions affected by psoriasis.

PMID- 28602510
TI  - Population genetics of the deep-sea bluntnose sixgill shark, Hexanchus griseus,
      revealing spatial genetic heterogeneity.
AB  - Hexanchus griseus is a globally distributed deep-water shark species. It inhabits
      tropical and temperate waters throughout the world, including the Mediterranean
      Sea where it is by-caught by small-scale fisheries in the region. In this study,
      we analysed the genetic variation of H. griseus specimens collected from
      different areas within and outside the Mediterranean region, to assess its
      genetic connectivity. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysed in this
      study ranged from cytochrome b to 16S rRNA genes including the control region,
      the 12S rRNA gene and the interspersed tRNA genes in the region, covering a total
      of 3731 to 3914 nucleotides. Results have shown that this species exhibits
      geographically distinct maternal lineages, indicating population structure along
      geographical ranges. These findings reveal population subdivisions not only
      between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, but also within the oceans and
      on a smaller scale within the Mediterranean Sea. This highlights the need to
      consider each population subdivision separately when designing management plans
      for the conservation of this species.

PMID- 28602511
TI  - Translational Research - Challenging Children and Their Families Throughout the
      World: Integrating Chronic Conditions Into Everyday Life.

PMID- 28602509
TI  - NeuroChip, an updated version of the NeuroX genotyping platform to rapidly screen
      for variants associated with neurological diseases.
AB  - Genetics has proven to be a powerful approach in neurodegenerative diseases
      research, resulting in the identification of numerous causal and risk variants.
      Previously, we introduced the NeuroX Illumina genotyping array, a fast and
      efficient genotyping platform designed for the investigation of genetic variation
      in neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we present its updated version, named
      NeuroChip. The NeuroChip is a low-cost, custom-designed array containing a
      tagging variant backbone of about 306,670 variants complemented with a manually
      curated custom content comprised of 179,467 variants implicated in diverse
      neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lewy
      body dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia,
      progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and multiple system
      atrophy. The tagging backbone was chosen because of the low cost and good genome
      wide resolution; the custom content can be combined with other backbones, like
      population or drug development arrays. Using the NeuroChip, we can accurately
      identify rare variants and impute over 5.3 million common SNPs from the latest
      release of the Haplotype Reference Consortium. In summary, we describe the design
      and usage of the NeuroChip array and show its capability for detecting rare
      pathogenic variants in numerous neurodegenerative diseases. The NeuroChip has a
      more comprehensive and improved content, which makes it a reliable, high
      throughput, cost-effective screening tool for genetic research and molecular
      diagnostics in neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28602512
TI  - America's Deadly Opioid Epidemic From Which Everyone But the Users Profits.

PMID- 28602513
TI  - Glycolipids: Essential regulator of neuro-inflammation, metabolism and
      gliomagenesis.
AB  - Gene knockout mice of glycosyltransferases have clearly showed roles of their
      products in the bodies, while there are examples where phenotype of knockout was
      much less severe than expected probably due to functional redundancy. The most
      striking novel finding obtained from ganglioside-deficient mice was that
      progressive inflammatory reaction took place, leading to neurodegeneration. In
      particular, dysfunction of complement-regulatory proteins due to deteriorated
      architecture of lipid rafts seemed to be essential mechanisms for the
      inflammation. Furthermore, roles of gangliosides in neurons were demonstrated by
      neuron-specific transgenic of B4galnt1 with genetic background of B4galnt1
      deficiency. From study of gene knockout mice of St8sia1, new roles of b-series
      gangliosides in leptin secretion from adipocytes, and roles of a-series
      gangliosides in leptin receptor, ObR in hypothalamus were demonstrated, leading
      to apparent intact balance of energy. Essential roles of b-series gangliosides in
      malignant properties of gliomas were also shown, suggesting their roles in the
      regulation of inflammation and proliferation in nervous tissues. How to apply
      these findings for the control of newly discovered patients with ganglioside
      deficiency remains to be investigated. This article is part of a Special Issue
      entitled Neuro-glycoscience, edited by Kenji Kadomatsu and Hiroshi Kitagawa.

PMID- 28602514
TI  - A jasmonic acid derivative improves skin healing and induces changes in
      proteoglycan expression and glycosaminoglycan structure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Jasmonates are plant hormones that exhibit anti-cancer and anti
      inflammatory properties and have therefore raised interest for human health
      applications. The molecular basis of these activities remains poorly understood,
      although increasing evidence suggests that a variety of mechanisms may be
      involved. Recently, we have reported that a jasmonate derivative (JAD) displayed
      anti-aging effects on human skin by inducing extracellular matrix (ECM)
      remodeling. Based on this observation, we have investigated here the effects of
      JAD on proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) polysaccharides, which are major
      cell-surface/ECM components and are involved in a multitude of biological
      processes. In parallel, we have examined the ability of JAD to promote growth
      factor activities and improve skin wound healing. METHODS: Proteoglycan
      expression was analyzed on epidermal primary keratinocytes and reconstituted skin
      epidermis, using electron/immunofluorescence microscopy, western blotting and
      flow cytometry. GAG composition was determined by disaccharide analysis. Finally,
      biological activities of JAD were assessed in cellulo, in FGF-7 induced
      migration/proliferation assays, as well as in vivo, using a suction blister model
      performed on 24 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: JAD was found to induce expression
      of major skin proteoglycans and to induce subtle changes in GAG structure. In
      parallel, we showed that JAD promoted FGF-7 and improved skin healing by
      accelerating epithelial repair in vivo. CONCLUSION: This study highlights JAD as
      a promising compound for investigating GAG structure-function relationships and
      for applications in skin cosmetic /corrective strategies. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE:
      We propose here a novel mechanism, by which jasmonate derivatives may elicit
      biological activities in mammals.

PMID- 28602516
TI  - Intermittent obstructive symptoms in a patient with diphyllobothriasis.

PMID- 28602515
TI  - The impact of Tai Chi and Qigong mind-body exercises on motor and non-motor
      function and quality of life in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To systematically evaluate and quantify the effects of Tai Chi/Qigong
      (TCQ) on motor (UPDRS III, balance, falls, Timed-Up-and-Go, and 6-Minute Walk)
      and non-motor (depression and cognition) function, and quality of life (QOL) in
      patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: A systematic search in 7
      electronic databases targeted clinical studies evaluating TCQ for individuals
      with PD published through August 2016. Meta-analysis was used to estimate effect
      sizes (Hedges's g) and publication bias for randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
      Methodological bias in RCTs was assessed by two raters. RESULTS: Our search
      identified 21 studies, 15 of which were RCTs with a total of 735 subjects. For
      RCTs, comparison groups included no treatment (n = 7, 47%) and active
      interventions (n = 8, 53%). Duration of TCQ ranged from 2 to 6 months.
      Methodological bias was low in 6 studies, moderate in 7, and high in 2. Fixed
      effect models showed that TCQ was associated with significant improvement on most
      motor outcomes (UPDRS III [ES = -0.444, p < 0.001], balance [ES = 0.544, p <
      0.001], Timed-Up-and-Go [ES = -0.341, p = 0.005], 6 MW [ES = -0.293, p = 0.06],
      falls [ES = -0.403, p = 0.004], as well as depression [ES = -0.457, p = 0.008]
      and QOL [ES = -0.393, p < 0.001], but not cognition [ES = -0.225, p = 0.477]). I2
      indicated limited heterogeneity. Funnel plots suggested some degree of
      publication bias. CONCLUSION: Evidence to date supports a potential benefit of
      TCQ for improving motor function, depression and QOL for individuals with PD, and
      validates the need for additional large-scale trials.

PMID- 28602517
TI  - Is frozen fecal microbiota transplantation as effective as fresh fecal microbiota
      transplantation in patients with recurrent or refractory Clostridium difficile
      infection: A meta-analysis?
AB  - Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a remarkably efficacious therapy for
      recurrent or refractory Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), but not
      standardized. This work is to determine whether frozen FMT is as effective as
      fresh FMT. Meta-analysis showed that frozen FMT was as effective as fresh FMT,
      both pooled first effective rate (65.0% (95% CI 57.0-73.0%) vs. 65.0% (95% CI
      57.0-73.0%), P=0.962) and pooled second effective rate (95.0% (95% CI 91.0-99.0%)
      vs. 95.0% (95% CI 92.0-99.0%), P=0.880). In conclusion, among patients with
      recurrent or refractory CDI, frozen FMT is as effective as fresh FMT. Considering
      potential advantages of performing frozen FMT, it is a reasonable option to
      select frozen FMT.

PMID- 28602518
TI  - Synergistic activity of ceftazidime-avibactam and aztreonam against serine and
      metallo-beta-lactamase-producing gram-negative pathogens.
AB  - This study assessed the in vitro synergy between ceftazidime, aztreonam, and
      ceftazidime-avibactam against serine and metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing
      pathogens via the Etest MIC:MIC ratio and Agar-Etest synergy methods. The
      combination of aztreonam and ceftazidime-avibactam was synergistic against all
      Enterobacteriaceae. None of the tested combinations were consistently synergistic
      against IMP-producing P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 28602519
TI  - Diversity of plasmids harboring blaCMY-2 in multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli
      isolated from poultry in Brazil.
AB  - Multidrug-resistance (MDR) has been increasingly reported in Gram-negative
      bacteria from the intestinal microbiota, environment and food-producing animals.
      Resistance plasmids able to harbor different transposable elements are capable to
      mobilize antimicrobial resistance genes and transfer to other bacterial hosts.
      Plasmids carrying blaCMY are frequently associated with MDR. The present study
      assessed the presence of plasmid-encoded ampC genes (blacmy, blamox, blafox,
      blalat, blaact, blamir, bladha, blamor) in commensal E. coli isolated from
      apparently healthy broiler chickens. Furthermore, we characterized the plasmids
      and identified those harboring the resistance genes. We isolated 144/200 (72%) of
      E. coli isolates with resistance to cefotaxime and the resistance gene identified
      was blaCMY-2. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis showed high
      diversity of the genetic profiles. The phylogenetic groups A, B1, B2, and D were
      identified among E. coli isolates and group D was the most prevalent. The PCR
      based replicon typing (PBRT) analysis identified four distinct plasmid
      incompatibility groups (Inc) in MDR isolates. Moreover, plasmids harboring blaCMY
      2, ranged in size from 50kb to 150kb and 51/144 (35%) belonged to IncK, 21/144
      (14.5%) to IncB/O, 8/144 (5.5%) to IncA/C, 1/144 (0.5%) to IncI, while 63/144
      (44.5%) were not typeable by PBRT. Overall, a high prevalence of blaCMY-2 genes
      was found in a diverse population of commensal MDR E. coli from poultry in
      Brazil, harbored into different plasmids.

PMID- 28602520
TI  - Decreased Visual Function Scores on a Low Luminance Questionnaire Is Associated
      with Impaired Dark Adaptation.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigate whether responses on a Low Luminance Questionnaire (LLQ)
      in patients with a range of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) severity are
      associated with their performance on focal dark adaptation (DA) testing and with
      choroidal thickness. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, single-center, observational study.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 113 participants older than 50 years of age with a range
      of AMD severity. METHODS: Participants answered the LLQ on the same day they
      underwent DA testing using a focal dark adaptometer measuring rod intercept time
      (RIT). We performed univariable and multivariable analyses of the LLQ scores and
      age, RIT, AMD severity, subfoveal choroidal thickness [SFCT], phakic status, and
      best-corrected visual acuity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome of this
      study was the score on the 32-question LLQ. Each item in the LLQ is designated to
      1 of 6 subscales describing functional problems in low luminance: driving,
      emotional distress, mobility, extreme lighting, peripheral vision, and general
      dim lighting. Scores were computed for each subscale, in addition to a weighted
      total mean score. RESULTS: Responses from 113 participants (mean age, 76.2+/-9.3
      years; 58.4% were female) and 113 study eyes were analyzed. Univariable analysis
      demonstrated that lower scores on all LLQ subscales were correlated with
      prolonged DA testing (longer RIT) and decreased choroidal thickness. All
      associations were statistically significant except for the association of
      choroidal thickness and "peripheral vision." The strongest association was the
      LLQ subscale of driving with RIT (r =-0.97, P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis
      for each of the LLQ subscale outcomes, adjusted for age, included RIT, with total
      LLQ score, "driving," "extreme lighting," and "mobility" also including choroidal
      thickness. In all multivariable analyses, RIT had a stronger association than
      choroidal thickness. CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional analysis demonstrates
      associations of patient-reported functional deficits, as assessed on the LLQ,
      with both reduced DA and reduced choroidal thickness, in a population of older
      adults with varying degrees of AMD severity and good visual acuity in at least 1
      eye. These analyses suggest that local functional measurements of DA testing
      (RIT) and choroidal thickness are associated with patient-reported functional
      deficits.

PMID- 28602521
TI  - Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in Postweaning Piglets: Understanding the Keys to
      Health.
AB  - Weaning is a critical event in the pig's life cycle, frequently associated with
      severe enteric infections and overuse of antibiotics; this raises serious
      economic and public health concerns. In this review, we explain why gut
      microbiota dysbiosis, induced by abrupt changes in the diet and environment of
      piglets, emerges as a leading cause of post-weaning diarrhea, even if the exact
      underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Then, we focus on nonantimicrobial
      alternatives, such as zinc oxide, essential oils, and prebiotics or probiotics,
      which are currently evaluated to restore intestinal balance and allow a better
      management of the crucial weaning transition. Finally, we discuss how in vitro
      models of the piglet gut could be advantageously used as a complement to ex vivo
      and in vivo studies for the development and testing of new feed additives.

PMID- 28602522
TI  - Role of robotic surgery in ovarian malignancy.
AB  - As part of minimally invasive surgery, robotic-assisted approach is becoming
      increasingly popular in gynecologic oncology. It has been shown to be effective
      and feasible for staging and treating endometrial and cervical cancer, but its
      role in the context of primary and recurrent ovarian cancers is presently
      debated. Scanty data are available in the literature, and the level of evidence
      supporting its use in ovarian cancer is quite low. However, from a retrospective
      case-control series, robotic surgery seems to be safe and feasible for early
      stage ovarian cancer. Its use in treating patients with advanced-stage or
      relapsed ovarian cancer is still highly controversial, suggesting the choice of
      robotic approach in a highly selected population.

PMID- 28602524
TI  - Monitoring the effectiveness of the vacuum bell during pectus excavatum
      treatment: Technical innovation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The vacuum bell (VB) is a valid and the only non-invasive treatment
      for pectus excavatum (PE). To elevate the sternum the patient himself creates a
      differential negative pressure inside the VB using a hand pump. A distance and
      differential pressure measuring device (DPMD) enables us for the first time to
      assess objectively those parameters. METHODS: After approval by the institutional
      review board, 53 patients recruited from our outpatient clinic were included in
      this retrospective study and distributed into three groups (group 1 aged 6 to
      10years; group 2 aged 11 to 15years; group 3 aged 16 to 20years). Sternum
      elevation and differential negative pressure inside the VB compared to
      atmospheric pressure were assessed with the DPMD, a device developed by engineers
      at the University of Applied Sciences, Northwestern Switzerland. Pressure
      elevation curves were recorded during VB therapy. For statistical comparison of
      the groups, analysis of variance was used. Post-hoc analysis was performed using
      the Tukey-Kramer test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be
      statistically significant. RESULTS: The VB therapy was monitored in 53 children
      (39 males, 14 females) aged from 6 to 20years (average, 14years). Relationships
      were established between the differential negative pressure inside the vacuum
      bell, the elevation of the sternum, and the patient's age. The younger the
      patient, the lower is the differential negative pressure difference required to
      obtain a complete elevation of the sternum. Patient's age, weight, the pectus
      depth, the differential negative pressure inside the VB, and the elevation of the
      sternum were correlated. When comparing the depth 25 of the pectus excavatum to
      the patient's age, a statistically significant difference was verified between
      the groups 3 and 1 (p=0.0291) and 3 and 2 (p=0.0489). The older the patient, the
      deeper is the pectus excavatum. However, no statistically significant difference
      between the groups was found when comparing the sternum elevation to the
      patient's age (p=0.4574) and the elevation to pressure ratio to the patient's age
      (p=0.8048). The sternum elevation and the elevation to pressure ratio are
      independent of the patient's age. CONCLUSIONS: DPMD supplies objective data of
      the elevation of the sternum and the related pressure inside the VB during its
      application. Correlation between the patient's age, the elevation of the sternum
      and the pressure inside the VB were demonstrated, but additional data are needed
      to better understand their relationship and their impact in the treatment of PE
      by VB. STUDY TYPE: Diagnostic Study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28602525
TI  - Factors related to long-term surgical morbidity in congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia survivors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) have a
      high mortality and morbidity. After discharge, complications and long-term
      morbidity are still encountered. This study describes the factors related to the
      surgical long-term outcomes in CDH survivors. METHODS: A cohort of CDH patients
      born between 2000 and 2014, with a minimum of two years follow up, were included
      in this retrospective study. Demographics, CDH specific characteristics,
      treatment, and long-term surgical outcome were evaluated using multivariate
      logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: 112 patients were included, with a mean
      follow up of 7.3 years (SD 3.8). The majority had primary repair, but 31%
      received patch repair. Recurrence was reported in 7% of all patients. However,
      recurrence risk increased for patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      (ECMO) treatment (ORadjusted: 6.3, 95% CI: 1.2-33.9). This risk was highest for
      patients needing both ECMO and patch repair (OR: 11.2, 95% CI: 2.3-54.1). Small
      bowel obstructions (SBO) were observed in 20% and was associated with patch
      repair (ORadjusted: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.2-10.0), but ECMO treatment seemed to reduce
      this risk (ORadjusted: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.0-1.0). Thoracic deformations (36%) was
      diagnosed most often after patch repair, especially when ECMO was needed (60%) as
      well. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study shows that the incidence of surgical
      long-term morbidity of CDH is relatively high, with different factors accounting
      for this. Diaphragmatic hernia recurrence was strongest associated with ECMO
      treatment in combination with patch repair, while SBO's were associated with
      patch repair, with an unexpected protective effect of ECMO treatment. TYPE OF
      STUDY: Retrospective comparative study - Level III evidence.

PMID- 28602523
TI  - Engineering biological systems using automated biofoundries.
AB  - Engineered biological systems such as genetic circuits and microbial cell
      factories have promised to solve many challenges in the modern society. However,
      the artisanal processes of research and development are slow, expensive, and
      inconsistent, representing a major obstacle in biotechnology and bioengineering.
      In recent years, biological foundries or biofoundries have been developed to
      automate design-build-test engineering cycles in an effort to accelerate these
      processes. This review summarizes the enabling technologies for such biofoundries
      as well as their early successes and remaining challenges.

PMID- 28602526
TI  - Resident Operative Experience at Independent Academic Medical Centers-A
      Comparison to the National Cohort.
AB  - PURPOSE: Independent Academic Medical Centers (IAMCs) comprise one-third of U.S.
      general surgery training programs. It is unclear whether IAMCs offer
      qualitatively or quantitatively different operative experiences than the national
      cohort. We analyzed a large representative sample of IAMCs to compare operative
      volume and variety, with a focus on low-volume procedures. METHODS: Accreditation
      Council for Graduate Medical Education Program Case Reports from 27 IAMCs were
      collected and analyzed for 3 academic years (2012-2015). IAMCs were compared to
      the national cohort for specific defined category volumes and selected low-volume
      cases. One-sample two-way t-tests were calculated comparing IAMC totals to
      national program averages. RESULTS: IAMCs had a median of 3 chief residents per
      year (range: 1-6). IAMCs reported significantly more "total major" procedures in
      2013-2014 (p = 0.046). Other case totals were statistically similar between IAMCs
      and the national cohort for "total major", "surgeon chief", "surgeon junior", and
      "teaching assistant" cases. In 2013-2014, IAMCs reported more laparoscopic
      complex (138.3 vs. 110.6, p = 0.010) and alimentary tract cases (276.5 vs. 253.5,
      p = 0.019). IAMC esophagogastroduodenoscopy case totals were higher in 2013-2014
      (55.9 vs. 41, p = 0.038) and 2014-2015 (47.8 vs. 41, p = 0.047). IAMCs had fewer
      pancreas cases than the national cohort in all three years by about three cases
      per resident (p <= 0.026). In 2012-2013 IAMCs reported fewer (by about one)
      esophagectomy, gastrectomy, and abdominal perineal resections. No differences
      were observed in the following selected procedures: open common bile duct
      exploration, inguinal hernia, laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy, and colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The IAMCs studied appear to
      provide equivalent exposure to specific subcategories mandated by the
      Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of
      Surgery. Graduates of IAMCs gain similar operative experience in low-volume,
      defined categories when compared to the national cohort. Certain specific cases
      subject to regionalization pressure are less well represented among IAMCs. This
      has important implications for medical students applying to surgery residency.

PMID- 28602527
TI  - Evidence for reliability, validity and responsiveness of Turkish version of Hip
      Outcome Score.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hip Outcome Score (HOS), originally developed in English, assesses
      the severity of hip pathology. To date, no Turkish version of the questionnaire
      exists. PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to translate the HOS into Turkish and
      verify its psychometric properties. METHODS: The translation and cultural
      adaptation were performed according to international recommendations in five
      stages: The HOS was translated into Turkish, consistent with published
      methodological guidelines. The process included 2 forward translations, followed
      by the synthesis of these translations, and 2 backward translations, followed by
      an analysis of the translations and creation of the final version. The
      measurement properties of the Turkish HOS (internal consistency, construct
      validity, floor and ceiling effects and responsiveness) were tested in 130
      patients. RESULTS: A committee consisting of the four translators agreed with the
      final version of the HOS (HOS-Tr). The internal consistency and the test-retest
      reliability of the HOS-Tr-ADL and HOS-Tr-S subscales were excellent. Correlations
      between the HOS-Tr and convergent validity of the with HHS and NAHS were fair to
      good. The responsiveness of the HOS-Tr-ADL and HOS-Tr-S subscales were 3.4 to 1.4
      for patients treated with surgically and 0.9 to 1.1 for patients treated with non
      surgically. CONCLUSION: The HOS-Tr is understandable, reliably, valid, and
      responsive for Turkish-speaking patients with hip pathology. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level 3 Diagnostic Study.

PMID- 28602528
TI  - [Lamotrigine in the treatment of resistant depersonalization disorder: A case
      report].

PMID- 28602529
TI  - [The use of social media modifies teenagers' sleep-related behavior].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Modification of sleep behaviors in teenagers has been observed over
      the past 30years with a reduction in overall sleep time and an increasing number
      of teenagers suffering from sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is linked to
      physical problems such as obesity but also to change in performance at school and
      mood disorders. Changes have been associated with the use of screens, cell
      phones, Internet and social media. Use of screens has been shown to delay sleep
      onset and melatonin secretion and stimulation of wake systems by interaction with
      social media may exacerbate these effects. The links between the use of social
      media and sleep patterns have not been fully explored. Our study aimed to
      evaluate the effects of social media on teenagers' sleep and the impact of sleep
      deprivation. METHODOLOGY: As part of a sleep education program conducted in
      middle schools, teenagers from 6th to 9th grade were invited to complete an
      online questionnaire on sleep habits with teacher supervision and after parental
      consent. Outcome measures were sleep and wake times with estimated sleep duration
      in school (SP) and rest periods (RP), use of screens (computers, tablets,
      smartphones and video game consoles), the use of social media and impact on
      visual analogue scales of sleep quality, mood and daytime functioning. Students
      were divided into those with clear sleep deprivation (sleep time<6hours in SP)
      and those whose sleep time was in line with the National Sleep Foundations
      recommended sleep needs for teenagers (9hours or more). RESULTS: A total of 786
      questionnaires were completed and 776 were exploitable. Four schools took part
      with 408/786 girls (64.2 %) and a mean age of 12.4+/-1.24. Internet access was
      almost universal (98.3 %), 85.2 % had cell phones and 42.7 % had a personal
      computer in their bedroom. Social media was used by 64.6 %. After dinner, 52.6 %
      spent more than an hour and 14.7 % spent more than 2hours in front of a screen.
      After bedtime, 51.7 % regularly used electronic devices of which 25.6 % had a
      screen-based activity (e.g. texts, social media, video games or television).
      During the night, some teens woke up to continue screen-based activities: 6.1 %
      in order to play online video games, 15.3 % to send texts and 11 % to use social
      media. Bedtimes were later in PR compared with PS (22h06+/-132 vs. 23h54+/-02;
      P<0.0001) as were wake times (7h06+/-36 vs. 10h06+/-102; P<0.0001). Sleep time
      was clearly longer in PR (10h12+/-126 P<0.0001) compared to PS. For students in
      6th grade compared to 9th grade in sleep duration in SP decreased (8:55+/-90 vs.
      7:25+/-93; P<0.0001), whereas sleep duration during RP was stable (10h08+/-118
      vs. 10h08+/-90 P<0.029). No significant difference was found between girls and
      boys for sleep duration, sleep quality, performance during the day or mood. Sleep
      deprivation during the week (6hours or less) was less common in 6th graders 5 %
      vs. 15 % (P<0.0001). In sleep deprived teens compared to teens sleeping, the
      recommended >=9hours, difficulties falling asleep were reported with 33 % vs. 9 %
      taking over an hour to fall asleep (P<0.0001) and difficulties getting up in the
      morning were more common (7.05+/-3.27 vs. 5.74+/-2.97; P=0.0003). Sleep
      deprivation had an effect on daytime performance: teenagers deprived of sleep
      were more likely to report a need to fight sleepiness, (5.93+/-3.24 vs. 2.84+/
      2.44 P<0.0001) and had reduced energy during the day (6.21+/-2.86 vs. 7.77+/-2.07
      P<0.0001). A negative effect on mood was evident: in sleep, deprived teenagers
      irritability (5.28+/-3.12 vs. 3.30+/-2.34; P<0.0001) and feelings of sadness
      (3.97+/-2.99 vs. 2.59+/-2.15; P=0.003) were more common. There was a clear
      association between sleep deprivation and access to screens and social media:
      sleep deprived teens were at more risk of nocturnal disruption with a higher
      prevalence of computers (67 % vs. 33 %; P<0.0001), cell phones (99 % vs. 80 %;
      P=0.0001) and smart phones (85 % vs. 66 %; P=0.0001) in their bedrooms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Access to social media and especially a cell phone in teenagers'
      bedrooms is associated with a reduction in sleep time during the school week with
      negative effects on daily functioning and mood which increases with increasing
      age. Education about use of social media and sleep for teenagers needs to start
      early as modifications in sleep and evening use of screens was present on our
      population from 11years on and to involve parents as setting parent controlled
      bedtimes has been shown to increase teenage sleep time.

PMID- 28602530
TI  - Prospective, Randomized, Surgeon-Blinded Comparison of Standard Magnification
      Assumption vs Magnification Marker Usage for Preoperative Templating in Total Hip
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We undertook this prospective, randomized, surgeon-blinded study to
      compare the accuracy of using of a magnification marker on preoperative
      radiographs for templating vs using a standard 21% magnification. METHODS: One
      hundred consecutive total hip arthroplasties were randomized to preoperative
      templating using a 25-mm magnification marker (50 patients) or a standard 21%
      magnification (50 patients). Intraoperative data were collected regarding the
      actual and predicted size of the femoral and acetabular components. RESULTS: The
      2 groups were found to be comparable with respect to body mass index (28.9 vs
      27.9, P = .26) and gender (P = .69). In the magnification marker group, we
      predicted the femoral size within 1 size in 80% of the cases and the acetabular
      component in 94%. In the group of a standard 21% magnification, we predicted the
      femoral size within 1 size in 90% of the cases and the acetabular component in
      96%. These proportions did not statistically differ (femur: chi2P = .16, odds
      ratio = 2.3, 95% confidence interval = 0.7-7.1; acetabulum: chi2P = .65, odds
      ratio = 1.5, 95% confidence interval = 0.3-9.6). CONCLUSION: We did not detect a
      statistically significant difference in accuracy by using one method over the
      other when comparing the accuracy of component size selection. As the use of the
      magnification marker adds to the time and expense of preoperative radiographic
      acquisition, we feel using a standard 21% magnification is an equally accurate
      technique.

PMID- 28602531
TI  - Outcomes of Hip Arthroplasty After Failed Hip Arthroscopy: A Case-Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hip arthroscopy is increasingly being used in joint preservation
      surgery with clear benefits in the treatment of prearthritic conditions. A number
      of patients, however, will still go on to require subsequent hip arthroplasty,
      and at present, little evidence exists determining the impact that prior hip
      arthroscopy may have on the outcomes of a subsequent arthroplasty. METHODS: Using
      prospectively collated data, we identified 35 patients who had a hip arthroplasty
      (22 total hip arthroplasties and 13 hip resurfacing arthroplasties) after prior
      ipsilateral hip arthroscopy (cases). Cases were matched for age, gender, and
      prosthesis type with 70 controls (patients who received a primary arthroplasty
      over the same period, without prior arthroscopy). Outcome measures included range
      of movement, implant survival, complications, and functional outcome (Oxford Hip
      Score and Harris Hip Score). RESULTS: There was no demonstrable difference in
      improved range of motion after hip arthroplasty between the 2 groups, across any
      axis of movement (flexion, extension, internal/external rotation, abduction, and
      adduction; P = .07-.78). There was no significant difference in complication rate
      (P = .72). Overall 7-year implant survival was 85.9% (95% confidence interval
      [CI], 75-95.8). There was no difference in survival between cases (87.6%; 95% CI,
      73.5-100) and controls (86.3%; 95% CI, 74.6%-98.0%; P = .2). Ten of the 11
      revision arthroplasties performed were due to adverse reactions to metal debris
      in metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty cases (P = .01). There was no
      difference in improvement of functional outcome postarthroplasty between groups
      (P = .48-.76). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that hip arthroscopy does not
      adversely influence outcome of a subsequent hip arthroplasty.

PMID- 28602532
TI  - What Is the Difference Between Modular and Nonmodular Tapered Fluted Titanium
      Stems in Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both modular and nonmodular tapered fluted titanium stems are used in
      revision total hip arthroplasty (THA), with follow-up showing good results for
      both stems. We aimed to determine whether there were any differences in clinical
      outcomes, survivorship, or frequency of complications. METHODS: A retrospective
      review of 160 consecutive THAs (153 patients) revised with a tapered fluted
      modular titanium stem from 2002 to 2014 and 129 consecutive THAs (128 patients)
      revised with a tapered fluted nonmodular titanium stem between 2008 and 2014 was
      conducted. The patient's level of satisfaction, clinical assessment, and
      complications were examined. A Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis was performed
      with the endpoint defined as any reoperation due to septic/aseptic complications.
      RESULTS: Mean duration of follow-up was longer in the modular group (6.3 years)
      than the nonmodular group (5.0 years; P = .003). No significant group differences
      were found in the postoperative Harris Hip Score, the level of overall
      satisfaction, the 8-year cumulative survival, the rate of infection, dislocation,
      or postoperative periprosthetic fractures. However, intraoperative fractures
      occurred significantly more frequently in the modular group (16.9%) than in the
      nonmodular group (7.0%; P = .011), and stem subsidence was significantly less in
      the modular group (0.95 mm) than in the nonmodular group (1.93 mm; P = .001). Two
      mechanical failures associated with the modular design occurred in the modular
      group. CONCLUSION: Both modular and nonmodular tapered fluted titanium stems
      provide satisfactory midterm results in revision THA. Although tapered fluted
      modular stems are gaining in popularity in revision THA, tapered fluted
      nonmodular stems should not be disregarded as a viable alternative, especially
      for relatively straightforward cases.

PMID- 28602533
TI  - Outpatient and Inpatient Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty Procedures Have
      Similar Short-Term Complication Profiles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advances in surgical techniques and anesthesia have made performing
      unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) in the outpatient setting a possibility.
      The touted benefits of outpatient surgery include higher patient satisfaction and
      reduced costs. However, detailed information on the perioperative outcomes of
      outpatient compared with inpatient UKA in a large, national patient population in
      the United States has never been reported. The present study compares
      perioperative complications between outpatient and inpatient UKAs in the National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. METHODS: Patients who underwent
      UKA were identified in the 2005-2015 National Surgical Quality Improvement
      Program database. Outpatient procedures were defined as those with length of
      hospital stay = 0 days, whereas inpatient procedures were defined as those with
      length of hospital stay = 1-4 days. Patients' characteristics and comorbidities
      were compared between the two groups. Propensity score matched comparisons were
      performed for 30-day perioperative complications and readmissions between the two
      cohorts. RESULTS: This study included 568 outpatient and 5312 inpatient UKA
      cases. After propensity matching to control potential confounding factors,
      statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in any perioperative
      complications or any postdischarge complications between the outpatient and
      inpatient cohorts. Notably, the rate of 30-day readmissions between the two
      cohorts was not statistically different. CONCLUSION: Based on the perioperative
      outcome measures assessed in this study, outpatient UKA can be appropriately
      considered in carefully selected patients based on the lack of differences in
      rates of 30-day perioperative complications and readmissions between the
      outpatient and matched inpatient groups.

PMID- 28602534
TI  - Bilateral Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasties: Average 10-Year Follow-Up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study investigates the clinical and radiographic outcomes
      in patients with all 4 major lower extremity joints replaced. METHODS: A
      retrospective review of our institution's database identified 125 patients in
      whom both hips and both knees were replaced. The mean time between the first and
      last arthroplasty was 6.6 years. Preoperative diagnoses included osteoarthritis
      in 80% and rheumatoid arthritis in 20%. The average age at the time of the first
      arthroplasty was 63.7 years. The mean follow-up for all arthroplasties was 10.5
      years (range 2-31 years). Patients were then matched according to age, gender,
      diagnosis, prosthesis, and follow-up, to patients with single or bilateral total
      hip or total knee arthroplasty. RESULTS: There were 11 aseptic hip revisions
      (4.4%) and 3 aseptic knee revisions (1.2%). At final follow-up, 86% of hips and
      83% of knees were rated with no or mild pain, 68% of patients rated walking as
      unlimited, and 98% of patients were able to satisfactorily negotiate stairs.
      Aseptic survivorship for all joint arthroplasties was 93.8% at 15 years. No
      statistical differences were noted in pain, function, stair, and walking scores
      between the matched groups. CONCLUSION: This report demonstrated excellent
      clinical, functional, and radiographic outcomes in patients with all 4 major
      lower extremity joints replaced. Walking aids were needed in 15% of patients,
      however. At final follow-up, this selected group of patients appears to fare just
      as well as patients with single or bilateral hip or knee arthroplasty with
      respect to pain and function.

PMID- 28602535
TI  - Periarticular Injections in Knee and Hip Arthroplasty: Where and What to Inject.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periarticular injections have become a valuable adjunct to multimodal
      pain control regimens after knee and hip arthroplasties. Injection techniques
      vary greatly among surgeons with little standardization of practice. METHODS: We
      performed an extensive literature search to determine where nociceptive pain
      fibers are located in the hip and the knee and also to explore the pharmacology
      of periarticular cocktail ingredients. RESULTS: Large concentrations of
      nociceptors are present throughout the various tissues of the knee joint with
      elevated concentrations in the infrapatellar fat pad, fibrous capsule, ligament
      insertions, periosteum, subchondral bone, and lateral retinaculum. Less empiric
      evidence is available on nociceptor locations in the hip joint, but they are
      known to be located diffusely throughout the hip capsule with elevated
      concentrations at the labral base and central ligamentum teres. Local anesthetics
      are the base ingredient in most injection cocktails and function by blocking
      voltage-gated sodium channels. Liposomal anesthetics may offer longer duration of
      action over traditional anesthetics. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents and
      corticosteroids block peripheral production of inflammatory mediators and may
      desensitize nociceptors. Opioid receptors are present in lower densities
      peripherally as compared with the central nervous system, but their inclusion in
      injections can lead to pain relief. Sympathetic drugs can provide adjunct effects
      to periarticular cocktails to increase duration of action and effectiveness of
      medications. CONCLUSION: Targeting specific sites of nociceptors may help to
      further decrease pain after knee and hip arthroplasties. Altering periarticular
      cocktail ingredients may aid in multimodal pain control with injections.

PMID- 28602536
TI  - National Incidence of Reportable Quality Metrics in the Knee Arthroplasty
      Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) characterizes
      adverse quality events in the inpatient setting as patient safety indicators
      (PSI). The incidence of PSI has not been quantified in the total knee
      arthroplasty (TKA) population. METHODS: All patients in the Nationwide Inpatient
      Sample who underwent primary TKA during an inpatient episode in 2013 were
      identified using International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision,
      Clinical Modification codes. The incidence of PSI was determined using the
      International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision diagnosis code algorithms
      used by CMS. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine significant
      associations between patient level covariates (demographics, comorbidities, and
      hospital characteristics) and the risk of experiencing one or more PSI after TKA.
      RESULTS: We identified 132,453 primary TKA patients in the Nationwide Inpatient
      Sample in 2013. We estimated the national incidence rate of experiencing one or
      more PSI as 0.98%. After adjusting for patient demographics and hospital
      characteristics, we found that relative to Medicaid/self-pay patients, neither
      Medicare nor privately insured patients faced significantly different risk of
      experiencing one or more PSI after TKA. However, alcohol abuse, deficiency
      anemia, congestive heart failure, coagulopathy, and electrolyte imbalance were
      associated with increased risk of experiencing one or more PSI after TKA.
      CONCLUSION: The national incidence of PSI among TKA patients was lower than has
      been reported in other surgical populations. CMS uses the incidence of adverse
      quality events (measured using PSI) in part to determine hospital reimbursement.
      As value-based payment becomes more widely adopted in the United States,
      initiatives designed to eliminate and reduce PSI incidence can benefit vulnerable
      patient populations, physicians, and hospital systems.

PMID- 28602537
TI  - Atrial Septal Defect Increases the Risk for Stroke After Total Hip Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) are 2 of
      the most common congenital heart diseases in adults and pose important risks of
      perioperative acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from paradoxical emboli. We evaluated
      the following: (1) the prevalence of ASD/PFO in the total hip arthroplasty (THA)
      population; (2) the rate of perioperative AIS during index admissions; and (3)
      the risk for perioperative AIS after THA for patients with ASD/PFO vs matched
      controls. METHODS: We identified 393,652 patients in the Nationwide Inpatient
      Sample who underwent THA between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2013. The
      International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification
      diagnosis codes were used to identify patients with ASD/PFO and perioperative
      AIS. Propensity scores matched 252 patients with ASD/PFO to 756 controls (3:1
      ratio) without ASD/PFO according to age, gender, race, Deyo comorbidity score,
      year of surgery, and stroke risk factors. Logistic regression models assessed
      risk for perioperative AIS. RESULTS: The prevalence of ASD/PFO was 64 per 100,000
      THA patients. The rate of perioperative AIS was 99 per 100,000 THA in the general
      THA population. The rate of perioperative AIS was 7.14% for ASD/PFO patients
      compared with 0.26% in matched controls (P < .001). Risk for perioperative AIS
      was 29 times greater for patients with ASD/PFO compared with matched controls
      (odds ratio, 29.00; 95% confidence interval, 6.68-125.89; P < .001). CONCLUSION:
      Patients with ASD/PFO undergoing THA are at a significantly higher risk of
      perioperative AIS. Orthopedic surgeons should discuss this risk with patients
      before surgery. The efficacy of mechanical and pharmacologic thromboprophylactic
      measures to reduce perioperative AIS among ASD/PFO patients warrants further
      investigation.

PMID- 28602538
TI  - Worsening anxiety and depression after initiation of lumacaftor/ivacaftor
      combination therapy in adolescent females with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - In both phase III studies of LUM/IVA, as well as an extension study, worsening of
      mental health was not reported as a common side effect. Here we describe five
      cases in adolescent female patients that suggest a worsening of anxiety or
      depression associated with its use. In these five patients, two experienced
      suicidal ideation and three made suicide attempts that resulted in psychiatric
      hospitalizations.

PMID- 28602539
TI  - Causes of death in atrial fibrillation: Challenges and opportunities.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an age-related arrhythmia associated with several co
      morbidities and significant mortality. Most AF patients are in need of
      anticoagulation due to increased risk of stroke. Despite anticoagulation, AF
      patients still have a significant risk of death (about 5%/y). Approximately half
      of deaths in AF are due to heart-related causes (i.e., sudden death, heart
      failure, and myocardial infarction), one-third of deaths are due to non-vascular
      causes (i.e., cancer, respiratory diseases, and infections) and the remaining AF
      patients die from stroke or hemorrhage (about 6% each), or other causes. This
      review describes current situations related to causes of death in AF, the
      challenges in the management of AF (e.g., frequent presence of cardiovascular
      risk factors and co-morbidities, physicians adherence to clinical guidelines and
      patients adherence to cardiovascular medications in AF) as well as the
      opportunities for intervention.

PMID- 28602541
TI  - Connexin 43 enhances Bax activation via JNK activation in sunitinib-induced
      apoptosis in mesothelioma cells.
AB  - The constituent protein of gap junctions, connexin (Cx), interacts with various
      proteins via its C-terminus region, including kinases, cell-adhesion proteins,
      and a pro-apoptotic protein, Bax. This molecular interaction may affect
      expression and functioning of the interacting proteins and modulate the cellular
      physiology. In our previous work, Cx43 was found to interact directly with Bax
      and in the presence of sunitinib, lead to the Bax-mediated apoptosis in
      mesothelioma cells. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of how Cx43
      promotes Bax-mediated apoptosis using the same cell line. Treatment with
      sunitinib increased the expression of the active conformation of the Bax protein,
      which was predominantly localized at the mitochondria, only in Cx43-transfected
      cells. Bax oligomerization and decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential
      were also observed. The involvement of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in the
      interaction of Cx43 and Bax was further examined. Treatment with sunitinib
      increased the expression of phosphorylated (active) form of JNK only in the Cx43
      transfected cells. Phosphorylated JNK and active Bax were co-localized, and the
      co-localization was suppressed by the knockdown of Cx43. Moreover, JNK inhibition
      clearly suppressed Bax activation. In conclusion, we identified a novel Cx43-JNK
      Bax axis regulating the process of apoptosis for the first time.

PMID- 28602542
TI  - Moderators of Exercise Effects on Depressive Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis: A
      Meta-regression.
AB  - CONTEXT: This study examined the extent to which patient and trial
      characteristics moderate the effects of exercise on depressive symptoms among
      people with multiple sclerosis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Twenty-four effects were
      derived from 14 articles published before August 2016 located using Google
      Scholar, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science. Trials involved 624
      people with multiple sclerosis and included both randomization to exercise
      training or a non-exercise control condition and measurement of depressive
      symptoms at baseline and at mid- and/or post-intervention. Hedges' d effect sizes
      were computed, study quality was assessed, and random effects models were used
      for all analyses. Meta-regression quantified the extent to which patient and
      trial characteristics moderated the estimated population effect. Analyses were
      completed in September 2016 and updated in February 2017. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS:
      Exercise training significantly reduced depressive symptoms by a heterogeneous
      mean effect Delta of 0.55 (95% CI=0.31, 0.78, p<0.001). Significant improvement
      in fatigue moderated the overall effect (beta=0.37, p<=0.03). Significantly
      larger antidepressant effects resulted from trials in which exercise
      significantly improved fatigue (Delta=1.04, 95% CI=0.53, 1.55, k=8) compared with
      no significant improvement in fatigue (Delta=0.41, 95% CI=0.21, 0.60, k=14,
      z=2.91, p<=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise significantly improves depressive
      symptoms among people with multiple sclerosis. Exercise-induced improvements in
      fatigue significantly moderated exercise effects on depressive symptoms. Future
      trials may benefit from focusing on using exercise to concurrently improve
      depressive symptoms and fatigue as a symptom cluster.

PMID- 28602543
TI  - Reduction in Cardiovascular Risk Among Latino Participants in a Community-Based
      Intervention Linked With Clinical Care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Community Heart Health Actions for Latinos at Risk is a community
      health worker-led cardiovascular disease risk reduction program targeting low
      income urban Latinos. The impact of community programs linked with clinical care
      has not been well characterized. METHODS: Community Heart Health Actions for
      Latinos at Risk provided 12 weeks of lifestyle education. Changes in risk factors
      were assessed before and after completion. Univariate, bivariate, and
      multivariate analyses were used to determine factors associated with changes in
      risk factors. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2013, a total of 1,099 participants were
      recruited and 768 had risk factors measured at baseline and 12 weeks. All
      analyses were performed in 2016. In participants with abnormal baseline risk
      factors, significant (all p<0.001) median reductions in systolic blood pressure (
      11 mmHg, n=244); low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-14 mg/dL, n=201); glucose
      (-8 mg/dL, n=454); triglycerides (-57 mg/dL, n=242); and Framingham risk score (
      2.3%, n=301) were observed. Program completion (eight of 12 classes) was
      associated with the reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p=0.03) and
      systolic blood pressure (p=0.01). After adjustment, low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol reduction was greatest in participants newly prescribed lipid
      lowering drugs (-30%, 95% CI= -48, -15). CONCLUSIONS: A community health worker
      led intervention lowered cardiovascular disease risk among vulnerable Latinos.
      Integration with primary care services was an essential program component.

PMID- 28602540
TI  - Deficiencies in mitochondrial dynamics sensitize Caenorhabditis elegans to
      arsenite and other mitochondrial toxicants by reducing mitochondrial
      adaptability.
AB  - Mitochondrial fission, fusion, and mitophagy are interlinked processes that
      regulate mitochondrial shape, number, and size, as well as metabolic activity and
      stress response. The fundamental importance of these processes is evident in the
      fact that mutations in fission (DRP1), fusion (MFN2, OPA1), and mitophagy (PINK1,
      PARK2) genes can cause human disease (collectively >1/10,000). Interestingly,
      however, the age of onset and severity of clinical manifestations varies greatly
      between patients with these diseases (even those harboring identical mutations),
      suggesting a role for environmental factors in the development and progression of
      certain mitochondrial diseases. Using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans,
      we screened ten mitochondrial toxicants (2, 4-dinitrophenol, acetaldehyde,
      acrolein, aflatoxin B1, arsenite, cadmium, cisplatin, doxycycline, paraquat,
      rotenone) for increased or decreased toxicity in fusion (fzo-1, eat-3)-, fission
      (drp-1)-, and mitophagy (pdr-1, pink-1)-deficient nematodes using a larval growth
      assay. In general, fusion-deficient nematodes were the most sensitive to
      toxicants, including aflatoxin B1, arsenite, cisplatin, paraquat, and rotenone.
      Because arsenite was particularly potent in fission- and fusion-deficient
      nematodes, and hundreds of millions of people are chronically exposed to arsenic,
      we investigated the effects of these genetic deficiencies on arsenic toxicity in
      more depth. We found that deficiencies in fission and fusion sensitized nematodes
      to arsenite-induced lethality throughout aging. Furthermore, low-dose arsenite,
      which acted in a "mitohormetic" fashion by increasing mitochondrial function (in
      particular, basal and maximal oxygen consumption) in wild-type nematodes by a
      wide range of measures, exacerbated mitochondrial dysfunction in fusion-deficient
      nematodes. Analysis of multiple mechanistic changes suggested that disruption of
      pyruvate metabolism and Krebs cycle activity underlie the observed arsenite
      induced mitochondrial deficits, and these disruptions are exacerbated in the
      absence of mitochondrial fusion. This research demonstrates the importance of
      mitochondrial dynamics in limiting arsenite toxicity by permitting mitochondrial
      adaptability. It also suggests that individuals suffering from deficiencies in
      mitodynamic processes may be more susceptible to the mitochondrial toxicity of
      arsenic and other toxicants.

PMID- 28602544
TI  - Morbidity of total thyroidectomy for substernal goiter: A series of 70 patients.
AB  - Total thyroidectomy for substernal goiter occasionally requires a sternotomy
      associated with a cervical incision. We sought to analyze the postoperative
      complications of thyroidectomy for substernal goiters in our center and more
      precisely the complications related to the sternotomy. All patients who underwent
      total thyroidectomy for substernal goiter in our center between 2007 and 2016
      were reviewed retrospectively. Patients with combined cervical incision and
      sternotomy (ST group, n=16) were compared to those with cervical incision alone
      (CT group, n=54), with regard to postoperative complications. Risk factors for
      the occurrence of postoperative complications were investigated in this
      population. A total of 24 patients (34.2%) had one or more postoperative
      complications. The incidence of transient hypoparathyroidism and recurrent
      laryngeal nerve injury were higher in the ST group (P=0.001 and P=0.052,
      respectively). The median duration of hospitalization was longer in the ST group
      (P<0.001). Eighteen patients (25.8%) had a malignant tumor on final pathology. In
      univariate analysis, the following risk factors for transient postoperative
      hypoparathyroidism were identified: sternotomy, preoperative symptomatic
      character and thyroid height (P=0.001, P=0.009 and P=0.013, respectively). In
      multivariable analysis, only sternotomy was an independent risk factor for
      postoperative transient hypoparathyroidism (OR=4.48 [1.1; 18], P=0.035).
      Sternotomy is associated with added morbidity that is not negligible. This
      surgical approach should be reserved for substernal goiters that descend into the
      posterior mediastinum, below the level of the aortic arch, when there is
      suspicion of carcinoma with loco-regional invasion, or when the thyroid tissue is
      located mainly intrathoracically (conical shaped thyroid, asymptomatic goiter,
      ectopic thyroid).

PMID- 28602545
TI  - What is the impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiation on outcomes in gastro-intestinal
      cancer?
AB  - Multimodal therapeutic strategies combining chemotherapy, radiation therapy and
      surgery have been shown to be feasible and to have a positive impact on outcomes
      by decreasing the risk of locoregional recurrence and often by increasing overall
      survival. The advantages of neoadjuvant chemo(radio)therapy include optimal tumor
      control combined with better tolerance and compliance to treatment while also
      increasing the number of candidates for surgery. Whereas indications for
      neoadjuvant therapy are increasing, its impact on surgical treatment and
      postoperative outcomes are not well-known. Surgeons frequently believe that
      chemo(radio)therapy may amplify intraoperative difficulties, thereby increasing
      postoperative morbidity and mortality. The aim of this review was to report the
      state of the art regarding: (i) the role of chemo(radio)therapy; (ii) its impact
      on surgical indications and modalities; and (iii) its impact on postoperative
      outcomes for the most frequently encountered gastro-intestinal cancers, i.e.
      esophageal, rectal, pancreatic, and anal canal cancer.

PMID- 28602546
TI  - Laparoscopic liver-hanging maneuver for right hepatectomy - with video.

PMID- 28602547
TI  - Non-invasive objective and contemporary methods for measuring ocular surface
      inflammation in soft contact lens wearers - A review.
AB  - Contact lens wear is one of the primary risk factors for the development of
      ocular surface inflammatory events. The purpose of this review is to examine and
      summarize existing knowledge on the mechanisms of contact lens related ocular
      surface inflammation and the evidence for the effectiveness of current objective
      methods to measure ocular surface inflammation. Contact lens wear is postulated
      to trigger an inflammatory response on the ocular surface due to mechanical,
      chemical, hypoxic stress, or by the introduction of microbes and their toxins.
      Apart from the traditional signs of inflammation, such as swelling, oedema,
      redness and heat, on the ocular surface, other methods to measure ocular surface
      inflammation in sub-clinical levels include tear inflammatory mediator
      concentrations, conjunctival cell morphology, and corneal epithelial dendritic
      cell density and morphology. Tear inflammatory mediator concentrations are up- or
      down-regulated during contact lens wear, with or without the presence of
      associated inflammatory events. There is higher conjunctival cell metaplasia
      observed with contact lens wear, but changes in goblet cell density are
      inconclusive. Dendritic cell density is seen to increase soon after initiating
      soft contact lens wear. The long term effects of contact lens wear on dendritic
      cell migration in the cornea and conjunctiva, including the lid wiper area,
      require further investigation. Currently patient factors, such as age, smoking,
      systemic diseases and genetic profile are being studied. A better understanding
      of these mechanisms may facilitate the development of new management options and
      strategies to minimize ocular surface inflammation related to contact lens wear.

PMID- 28602548
TI  - Impact of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine on genital warts in an
      opportunistic vaccination structure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Genital warts are the most common sexually transmitted disease and
      have a detrimental impact on quality of life. Genital warts could be prevented by
      prophylactic HPV vaccination. The objective was to study real-life benefit of
      opportunistic HPV vaccination on age and gender specific incidence of genital
      warts. METHODS: We performed a register-based population cohort study from
      publicly funded health-care provider in Israel. The incidence of genital warts
      was assessed during three time frame intervals: 2006-2008 (pre-vaccination effect
      period) 2009-2012 (early post-vaccination effect period) and 2013-2015 (late post
      vaccination effect period), with an average annual number of members of
      1,765,481, 1,906,774 and 2,042,678 in the years 2006-2008, 2009-2012 and 2013
      2015, respectively. RESULTS: Among females, annual incidence of genital warts per
      100,000 women decreased from 210.43 to 161.71 (OR 0.76, 95%CI 0.71-0.82, p<0.001)
      and to 146.8 (OR 0.69, 95%CI 0.66-0.72, p<0.001) between pre-vaccination period
      and early and late post-vaccination periods, respectively. Among males, annual
      incidence of genital warts per 100,000 men decreased from 262.85 to 232.40 (OR
      0.88, 95%CI 0.83-0.93, p<0.001) and to 234.01 (OR 0.88, 95%CI 0.86-0.91, p<0.001)
      between pre-vaccination period and early and late post-vaccination periods,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a potential benefit in reducing incidence of
      genital warts even in opportunistic HPV vaccination structure. This information
      may be relevant for health-care providers in countries where national
      immunization programs do not include HPV vaccines.

PMID- 28602549
TI  - Ovarian cancer survivors' acceptance of treatment side effects evolves as goals
      of care change over the cancer continuum.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Women with ovarian cancer can have long overall survival and goals of
      treatment change over time from cure to remission to stable disease. We sought to
      determine whether survivors' acceptance of treatment side effects also changes
      over the disease continuum. METHODS: Women with ovarian cancer completed an
      online survey focusing on survivors' goals and priorities. The survey was
      distributed through survivor networks and social media. RESULTS: Four hundred and
      thirty-four women visited the survey website and 328 (76%) completed the survey.
      Among participants, 141 (43%) identified themselves as having ever recurred, 119
      (36%) were undergoing treatment at the time of survey completion and 86 (26%) had
      received four or more chemotherapy regimens. Respondents' goals of care were cure
      for 115 women (35%), remission for 156 (48%) and stable disease for 56 (17%).
      When asked what was most meaningful, 148 women (45%) reported overall survival,
      135 (41%) reported quality of life and 40 (12%) reported progression-free
      survival. >50% of survivors were willing to tolerate the following symptoms for
      the goal of cure: fatigue (283, 86%), alopecia (281, 86%), diarrhea (232, 71%),
      constipation (227, 69%), neuropathy (218, 66%), arthralgia (210, 64%), sexual
      side effects (201, 61%), reflux symptoms (188, 57%), memory loss (180, 55%),
      nausea/vomiting (180, 55%), hospitalization for treatment side effects (179, 55%)
      and pain (169, 52%). The rates of tolerance for most symptoms decreased
      significantly as the goal of treatment changed from cure to remission to stable
      disease. CONCLUSIONS: Women with ovarian cancer willingly accept many treatment
      side effects when the goal of treatment is cure, however become less accepting
      when the goal is remission and even less so when the goal is stable disease.
      Physicians and survivors must carefully consider treatment toxicities and quality
      of life effects when selecting drugs for patients with incurable disease.

PMID- 28602551
TI  - Circulating HtrA2 as a novel biomarker for mitochondrial induced cardiomyocyte
      apoptosis and ischemia-reperfusion injury in ST-segment elevation myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in ST-segment elevation myocardial
      infarction (STEMI) significantly contributes to overall myocardial damage. As a
      consequence of I/R injury in the heart, the high-temperature requirement protein
      A2 (HtrA2) is released from the mitochondrial intermembrane space of
      cardiomyocytes to the cytoplasm, whereupon it induces apoptosis. METHODS: Serum
      was obtained from STEMI (n=37), non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction
      (NSTEMI) (n=20), stable coronary artery disease (CAD) (n=17) and patients with
      CAD excluded (n=9). In STEMI, I/R injury was assessed via measurement of ST
      segment resolution. RESULTS: HtrA2 was significantly increased in STEMI compared
      to NSTEMI, stable CAD and patients with CAD excluded (981.3 (IQR: 543.5
      1526.2)pg/mL vs. 494.5 (IQR: 413.8-607)pg/mL vs. 291 (IQR: 239-458.5)pg/mL vs.
      692.2 (IQR: 276.6-964.7)pg/mL; p<=0.0001). STEMI patients with HtrA2 level of at
      least the median or above had a higher peak creatine kinase (CK) (p=0.0002) and
      cardiac troponin T levels (cTnT) (p=0.0019). Significantly more STEMI patients
      with HtrA2 levels of at least the median or above were identified as I/R injury
      (87% vs. 42%; p<0.0001). Serum HtrA2 demonstrated a superior area under a curve
      in a receiver operating characteristic analysis for predicting I/R injury
      compared to CK, creatine kinase myocardial-band (CK-MB) and cTnT levels
      (AUC=0.7105 vs. AUC=0.5632 vs. AUC=0.5660 vs. AUC=0.5407 respectively).
      CONCLUSION: HtrA2 shows promise as a novel potential biomarker for mitochondrial
      induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and may help to identify I/R injury after STEMI.

PMID- 28602550
TI  - Examining the applicability of SPRINT in patients with subclinical or established
      atherothrombotic disease: A REACH registry analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal blood pressure (BP) target to reduce the risk of
      cardiovascular (CV) events remains uncertain, especially in patients with
      coronary artery disease (CAD). Results from the Systolic Blood Pressure
      Intervention Trial (SPRINT) suggest that targeting a systolic BP<120mmHg
      decreases the rate of death and CV events in patients with hypertension and
      increased CV risk. We sought to evaluate the real-world applicability of SPRINT
      to patients with atherothrombosis. METHODS: We divided 35,411 hypertensive
      patients from the REACH registry into SPRINT-eligible and SPRINT-ineligible based
      on the trial's inclusion and exclusion criteria. We also determined the mean BP
      and the percentage of patients who had a systolic BP<120mmHg in each group.
      RESULTS: A total of 11,993 (33.9%) patients were SPRINT-eligible, and 23,418
      (66.1%) were SPRINT-ineligible. The most common reason for SPRINT ineligibility
      was diabetes mellitus (64.7%). Average BP was similar in both groups (139/79mmHg
      in SPRINT-eligible patients versus 140/79mmHg in SPRINT-ineligible patients). A
      total of 10.7% of SPRINT-eligible patients and 10.6% of SPRINT-ineligible
      patients had a systolic BP<120mmHg. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results indicate
      that in a large, global registry, most patients with atherothrombosis would not
      have been eligible for SPRINT and were rarely being treated to a systolic
      BP<120mmHg. Further dedicated investigation is warranted to determine the optimal
      BP target in this vulnerable patient population.

PMID- 28602552
TI  - Intensity fading MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and functional proteomics
      assignments to identify protease inhibitors in marine invertebrates.
AB  - : Proteases and their inhibitors have become molecules of increasing fundamental
      and applicative value. Here we report an integrated strategy to identify and
      analyze such inhibitors from Caribbean marine invertebrates extracts by a fast
      and sensitive functional proteomics-like approach. The strategy works in three
      steps: i) multiplexed enzymatic inhibition kinetic assays, ii) Intensity Fading
      MALDI-TOF MS to establish a link between inhibitory molecules and the related
      MALDI signal(s) detected in the extract(s), and iii) ISD-CID-T3 MS fragmentation
      on the parent MALDI signals selected in the previous step, enabling the partial
      or total top-down sequencing of the molecules. The present study has allowed
      validation of the whole approach, identification of a substantial number of novel
      protein protease inhibitors, as well as full or partial sequencing of reference
      molecular species and of many unknown ones, respectively. Such inhibitors
      correspond to six protease subfamilies (metallocarboxypeptidases-A and -B,
      pepsin, papain, trypsin and subtilisin), are small (1-10KDa) disulfide-rich
      proteins, and have been found at diverse frequencies among the invertebrates (13
      to 41%). The overall procedure could be tailored to other enzyme-inhibitor and
      protein interacting systems, analyzing samples at medium-throughput level and
      leading to the functional and structural characterization of proteinaceous
      ligands from complex biological extracts. SIGNIFICANCE: Invertebrate animals, and
      marine ones among, display a remarkable diversity of species and contained
      biomolecules. Many of their proteins-peptides have high biological,
      biotechnological and biomedical potential interest but, because of the lack of
      sequenced genomes behind, their structural and functional characterization
      constitutes a great challenge. Here, looking at the small, disulfide-rich,
      proteinaceous inhibitors of proteases found in them, it is shown that such
      problem can be significatively facilitated by integrative multiplexed enzymatic
      assays, affinity-based Intensity-Fading (IF-) MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS),
      and on-line MS fragmentation, in a fast and easy approach.

PMID- 28602553
TI  - Proteomic profiling of the brain of mice with experimental cerebral malaria.
AB  - : Cerebral malaria (CM) is a severe neurological complication of malaria
      infection in both adults and children. In pursuit of effective treatment of CM,
      clinical studies, postmortem analysis and animal models have been employed to
      understand the pathology and identify effective interventions. In this study, a
      shotgun proteomics analysis was conducted to profile the proteomic signature of
      the brain tissue of mice with experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) in order to
      further understand the underlying pathology. To identify CM-associated response,
      proteomic signatures of the brains of C57/Bl6N mice infected with P. berghei ANKA
      that developed neurological syndrome were compared to those of mice infected with
      P. berghei NK65 that developed equally high parasite burdens without neurological
      signs, and to those of non-infected mice. The results show that the CM-associated
      response in mice that developed neurological signs comprise mainly acute-phase
      reaction and coagulation cascade activation, and indicate the leakage of plasma
      proteins into the brain parenchyma. SIGNIFICANCE: Cerebral malaria (CM) remains a
      major cause of death in children. The majority of these deaths occur in sub
      Saharan Africa. Even with adequate access to treatment, mortality remains high
      and neurological sequelae can be found in up to 20% of survivors. No adjuvant
      treatment to date has been shown to reduce mortality and the pathophysiology of
      CM is largely unknown. Experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) is a well-established
      model that may contribute to identify and test druggable targets. In this study
      we have identified the disruption of the blood-brain barrier following
      inflammatory and vascular injury as a mechanism of disease. In this study we
      report a number of proteins that could be validated as potential biomarkers of
      ECM. Further studies, will be required to validate the clinical relevance of
      these biomarkers in human CM.

PMID- 28602554
TI  - Moses Massaquoi: health leader in humanitarian crises.

PMID- 28602555
TI  - Where is the science in humanitarian health?

PMID- 28602556
TI  - Attacks against health care in Syria, 2015-16: results from a real-time reporting
      tool.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Collecting credible data on violence against health services, health
      workers, and patients in war zones is a massive challenge, but crucial to
      understanding the extent to which international humanitarian law is being
      breached. We describe a new system used mainly in areas of Syria with a
      substantial presence of armed opposition groups since November, 2015, to detect
      and verify attacks on health-care services and describe their effect. METHODS:
      All Turkey health cluster organisations with a physical presence in Syria, either
      through deployed and locally employed staff, were asked to participate in the
      Monitoring Violence against Health Care (MVH) alert network. The Turkey hub of
      the health cluster, a UN-activated humanitarian health coordination body,
      received alerts from health cluster partners via WhatsApp and an anonymised
      online data-entry tool. Field staff were asked to seek further information by
      interviewing victims and other witnesses when possible. The MVH data team
      triangulated alerts to identify individual events and distributed a preliminary
      flash update of key information (location, type of service, modality of attack,
      deaths, and casualties) to partners, WHO, United Nations Office for the
      Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and donors. The team also received and
      entered alerts from several large non-health cluster organisations (known as
      external partners, who do their own information-gathering and verification
      processes before sharing their information). Each incident was then assessed in a
      stringent process of information-matching. Attacks were deemed to be verified if
      they were reported by a minimum of one health cluster partner and one external
      partner, and the majority of the key datapoints matched. Alerts that did not meet
      this standard were deemed to be unverified. Results were tabulated to describe
      attack occurrence and impact, disaggregated where possible by age, sex, and
      location. FINDINGS: Between early November, 2015, and Dec 31 2016, 938 people
      were directly harmed in 402 incidents of violence against health care: 677 (72%)
      were wounded and 261 (28%) were killed. Most of the dead were adult males (68%),
      but the highest case fatality (39%) was seen in children aged younger than 5
      years. 24% of attack victims were health workers. Around 44% of hospitals and 5%
      of all primary care clinics in mainly areas with a substantial presence of armed
      opposition groups experienced attacks. Aerial bombardment was the main form of
      attack. A third of health-care services were hit more than once. Services
      providing trauma care were attacked more than other services. INTERPRETATION: The
      data system used in this study addressed double-counting, reduced the effect of
      potentially biased self-reports, and produced credible data from anonymous
      information. The MVH tool could be feasibly deployed in many conflict areas.
      Reliable data are essential to show how far warring parties have strayed from
      international law protecting health care in conflict and to effectively harness
      legal mechanisms to discourage future perpetrators. FUNDING: None.

PMID- 28602557
TI  - Recurrent failings of medical humanitarianism: intractable, ignored, or just
      exaggerated?
AB  - Humanitarian health workers operate in dangerous and uncertain contexts, in which
      mistakes and failures are common, often have severe consequences, and are
      regularly repeated, despite being documented by many reviews. This Series paper
      aims to discuss the failures of medical humanitarianism. We describe why some of
      these recurrent failings, which are often not identified until much later, seem
      intractable: they are so entrenched in humanitarian action that they cannot be
      addressed by simple technical fixes. We argue that relief health-care
      interventions should be contextualised. Perhaps medical humanitarianism deserves
      a better reputation than the one at times tarnished by unfair criticism,
      resulting from inapplicable guiding principles and unrealistic expectations. The
      present situation is not conducive to radical reforms of humanitarian medicine;
      complex crises multiply and no political, diplomatic, or military solutions are
      in sight. Relief agencies have to compete for financial resources that do not
      increase at the same pace as health needs. Avoiding the repetition of failures
      requires recognising previous mistakes and addressing them through different
      policies by donors, stronger documentation and analysis of humanitarian
      programmes and interventions, increased professionalisation, improved,
      opportunistic relationships with the media, and better ways of working together
      with local health stakeholders and through indigenous institutions.

PMID- 28602558
TI  - Public health information in crisis-affected populations: a review of methods and
      their use for advocacy and action.
AB  - Valid and timely information about various domains of public health underpins the
      effectiveness of humanitarian public health interventions in crises. However,
      obstacles including insecurity, insufficient resources and skills for data
      collection and analysis, and absence of validated methods combine to hamper the
      quantity and quality of public health information available to humanitarian
      responders. This paper, the second in a Series of four papers, reviews available
      methods to collect public health data pertaining to different domains of health
      and health services in crisis settings, including population size and
      composition, exposure to armed attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, food
      security and feeding practices, nutritional status, physical and mental health
      outcomes, public health service availability, coverage and effectiveness, and
      mortality. The paper also quantifies the availability of a minimal essential set
      of information in large armed conflict and natural disaster crises since 2010: we
      show that information was available and timely only in a small minority of cases.
      On the basis of this observation, we propose an agenda for methodological
      research and steps required to improve on the current use of available methods.
      This proposition includes setting up a dedicated interagency service for public
      health information and epidemiology in crises.

PMID- 28602559
TI  - Improving evidence for health in humanitarian crises.

PMID- 28602560
TI  - Research ethics and evidence for humanitarian health.

PMID- 28602561
TI  - Humanitarian medicine is more than a technical exercise.

PMID- 28602562
TI  - The humanitarian system is not just broke, but broken: recommendations for future
      humanitarian action.
AB  - An unprecedented number of humanitarian emergencies of large magnitude and
      duration is causing the largest number of people in a generation to be forcibly
      displaced. Yet the existing humanitarian system was created for a different time
      and is no longer fit for purpose. On the basis of lessons learned from recent
      crises, particularly the Syrian conflict and the Ebola epidemic, I recommend four
      sets of actions that would make the humanitarian system relevant for future
      public health responses: (1) operationalise the concept of centrality of
      protection; (2) integrate affected persons into national health systems by
      addressing the humanitarian-development nexus; (3) remake, do not simply revise,
      leadership and coordination; and (4) make interventions efficient, effective, and
      sustainable. For these recommendations to be implemented, governments, UN
      agencies, multilateral organisations, and international non-governmental
      organisations will need to put aside differences and relinquish authority,
      influence, and funding.

PMID- 28602563
TI  - Evidence on public health interventions in humanitarian crises.
AB  - Recognition of the need for evidence-based interventions to help to improve the
      effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian responses has been increasing.
      However, little is known about the breadth and quality of evidence on health
      interventions in humanitarian crises. We describe the findings of a systematic
      review with the aim of examining the quantity and quality of evidence on public
      health interventions in humanitarian crises to identify key research gaps. We
      identified 345 studies published between 1980 and 2014 that met our inclusion
      criteria. The quantity of evidence varied substantially by health topic, from
      communicable diseases (n=131), nutrition (n=77), to non-communicable diseases
      (n=8), and water, sanitation, and hygiene (n=6). We observed common study design
      and weaknesses in the methods, which substantially reduced the ability to
      determine causation and attribution of the interventions. Considering the major
      increase in health-related humanitarian activities in the past three decades and
      calls for a stronger evidence base, this paper highlights the limited quantity
      and quality of health intervention research in humanitarian contexts and supports
      calls to scale up this research.

PMID- 28602564
TI  - Patient education interventions for colorectal cancer patients with stoma: A
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the various types of patient education interventions for
      colorectal cancer patients with stoma and to examine their effects on quality of
      life, psychosocial skills and self-management skills. METHODS: A systematic
      review was performed. Six electronic databases were searched. Inclusion criteria
      were: studies about patient education applying quantitative methods including
      digestive stoma adults with colorectal cancer. The primary outcome was quality of
      life. Secondary outcomes were psychosocial and self-management skills. RESULTS:
      Thirteen studies were identified and included. Five studies examined quality of
      life and three reported improvements. Patient education improved some
      psychosocial and self-management skills. Contrasting findings were reported for
      specific-disease quality of life, emotional distress, length of hospital stay,
      stoma complications and readmission rate. CONCLUSIONS: Patient education has a
      positive impact on some psychosocial and self-management skills, indicating that
      this area should be developed. Contrasting findings were reported for quality of
      life. Methodologies are heterogeneous making it difficult to produce evidence
      based guidelines. This article proposes tools to carry out further studies on
      this subject and to improve understanding. PRACTICE IMPLICATION: Further
      education intervention for stoma patients with colorectal cancer should be
      standardized in terms of intervention, duration and outcome measures to compare
      intervention and determine best practice.

PMID- 28602565
TI  - Diverse patient perspectives on respect in healthcare: A qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The dominant view of respect in western bioethics focuses almost
      exclusively on respect for autonomy (or 'self-rule') as conceptualized primarily
      from the perspective of philosophers. We designed this study to understand, from
      the perspective of patients from different racial/ethnic groups, what it means
      for patients to be treated with respect in healthcare settings. METHODS: We
      conducted focus groups with African American, Latino, and white patients in the
      Northwestern U.S. Focus groups were community-based and stratified by race and
      gender. We asked participants to describe respectful and disrespectful physician
      behaviors. We reviewed transcripts and coded for: 1) definitions of respect and
      2) specific behaviors that convey respect or disrespect. RESULTS: We conducted 26
      focus groups, 5 each with African American men and women, 4 each with Latino men
      and women, and 4 each with white men and women. We identified two primary
      definitions of respect described by all three racial/ethnic groups. These were:
      1) being treated like a person ("like you're a person not just a statistic, or
      another patient"), and 2) being treated as an equal ("treat me as an equal, like
      I matter"). When exploring specific behaviors that convey respect or disrespect,
      there were largely similar themes identified by all or most racial/ethnic groups.
      These were being known as a particular individual, avoidance of stereotyping,
      being treated politely, honest explanations of medical issues, and how lateness
      is handled. There were also some differences across racial/ethnic groups. The
      most prominent demonstration of respect mentioned among African American
      participants were for physicians to hear vs. dismiss what patients say and
      trusting the patient's knowledge of him/herself. The most prominent demonstration
      of respect discussed in the Latino focus groups was having the provider show
      concern by asking the questions about the patient's clinical condition.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that patients have insights not included in common
      definitions of respect, and that deliberate inclusion of diverse participants
      increased the number of themes that emerged. Understanding what makes patients
      from different backgrounds feel respected and disrespected, from the perspectives
      of patients themselves, is vital to delivering care that is truly patient
      centered.

PMID- 28602566
TI  - Dis-integration of communication in healthcare education: Workplace learning
      challenges and opportunities.
AB  - The purpose of this paper, based on a 2016 Heidelberg International Conference on
      Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) plenary presentation, is to examine a key
      problem in communication skills training for health professional learners.
      Studies have pointed to a decline in medical students' communication skills and
      attitudes as they proceed through their education, particularly during their
      clinical workplace training experiences. This paper explores some of the key
      factors in this disintegration, drawing on selected literature and highlighting
      some curriculum efforts and research conducted at the University of Iowa Carver
      College of Medicine as a case study of these issues. Five key factors
      contributing to the disintegration of communication skills and attitudes are
      presented including: 1) lack of formal communication skills training during
      clinical clerkships; 2) informal workplace teaching failing to explicitly address
      learner clinical communication skills; 3) emphasizing content over process in
      relation to clinician-patient interactions; 4) the relationship between ideal
      communication models and the realities of clinical practice; and 5) clinical
      teachers' lack of knowledge and skills to effectively teach about communication
      in the clinical workplace. Within this discussion, potential practical responses
      by individual clinical teachers and broader curricular and faculty development
      efforts to address each of these factors are presented.

PMID- 28602567
TI  - Medical students' reflections on emotions concerning breaking bad news.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To gain a deeper understanding of fourth year medical students'
      reflections on emotions in the context of breaking bad news (BBN). METHODS:
      During the years 2010-2012, students reflected on their emotions concerning BBN
      in a learning assignment at the end of the communications skills course. The
      students were asked to write a description of how they felt about a BBN case. The
      reflections were analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: 351
      students agreed to participate in the study. We recognized ten categories in
      students' reflections namely empathy, insecurity, anxiety, sadness, ambivalence,
      guilt, hope, frustration, gratefulness and emotional detachment. Most students
      expressed empathy, but there was a clear tension between feeling empathy and
      retaining professional distance by emotional detachment. CONCLUSIONS: Students
      experience strong and perplexing emotions during their studies, especially in
      challenging situations. A deeper understanding of students' emotions is valuable
      for supporting students' professional development and coping in their work in the
      future. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Medical students need opportunities to reflect on
      emotional experiences during their education to find strategies for coping with
      them. Emotions should be actively discussed in studies where the issues of BBN
      are addressed. Teachers need education in attending emotional issues
      constructively.

PMID- 28602568
TI  - Online self-help forums on cannabis: A content assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate online self-help forums related to cannabis users who
      were searching for help on the Internet. METHODS: We analyzed the content of 717
      postings by 328 users in three online forums in terms of fields of interest and
      self-help mechanisms. Only English-language forums that were free of charge and
      without registration were investigated. RESULTS: The main self-help mechanisms
      were disclosure and symptoms, with relatively few posts concerning legal issues
      and social perceptions. The forums differed significantly in all fields of
      interest and self-help mechanisms except for social network and financial and
      vocational issues. Highly involved users more commonly posted on topics related
      to diagnosis, etiology/research, and provision of information and less commonly
      on those related to gratitude. Correlation analysis showed a moderate negative
      correlation between emotional support and illness-related aspects and between
      emotional support and exchange of information. CONCLUSIONS: Cannabis forums share
      similarities with other mental health forums. Posts differ according to user
      involvement and the specific orientation of the forum. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The
      Internet offers a viable source of self-help and social support for cannabis
      users, which has potential clinical implications in terms of referring clients to
      specific forums.

PMID- 28602569
TI  - A comparison of the outcomes of four minimally invasive treatment methods for
      anterior disc displacement of the temporomandibular joint.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of four non-surgical
      conservative treatment methods for temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The study
      group comprised 40 patients with unilateral TMD who fell into group II of the
      Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD). Patients
      were divided into four groups according to the treatment method: splint therapy,
      arthrocentesis, medical therapy, and low-level laser therapy. Magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) was performed before treatment and at the 1-month follow-up. The
      type of TMD and joint effusion were examined in the MRI scans. Patients were
      followed up after treatment for 6 months. Mouth opening increased and pain scores
      decreased at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment in all groups (P<0.05). No
      statistically significant difference in the improvements in clinical symptoms was
      observed between the groups. A positive correlation was found between pain and
      effusion (P<0.05). A significant positive relationship was also found between
      internal derangement and effusion (P<0.05). All treatment methods were successful
      at improving the clinical symptoms. It was determined that the effusion
      demonstrated on MRI was associated with pain. Although the symptoms improved
      after treatment, joint effusion did not show any decrease in the 1-month follow
      up MRI.

PMID- 28602570
TI  - Combined preoperative measurement of three inferior alveolar canal factors using
      computed tomography predicts the risk of inferior alveolar nerve injury during
      lower third molar extraction.
AB  - A retrospective cohort study was performed to assess the clinical usefulness of
      combination assessment using computed tomography (CT) images in patients
      undergoing third molar extraction. This study included 85 patients (124
      extraction sites). The relationship between cortication status, buccolingual
      position, and shape of the inferior alveolar canal (IAC) on CT images and the
      incidence of inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury after third molar extraction
      was evaluated. IAN injury was observed at eight of the 124 sites (6.5%), and in
      five of 19 sites (26.3%) in which cortication was absent+the IAC had a lingual
      position+the IAC had a dumbbell shape. Significant relationships were found
      between IAN injury and the three IAC factors (cortication status, IAC position,
      and IAC shape; P=0.0001). In patients with the three IAC factors, logistic
      regression analysis indicated a strong association between these factors and IAN
      injury (P=0.007). An absence of cortication, a lingually positioned IAC, and a
      dumbbell-shaped IAC are considered to indicate a high risk of IAN injury
      according to the logistic regression analysis (P=0.007). These results suggest
      that a combined assessment of these three IAC factors could be useful for the
      improved prediction of IAN injury.

PMID- 28602571
TI  - Cytoplasmic neuropilin 2 is associated with metastasis and a poor prognosis in
      early tongue cancer patients.
AB  - Neuropilin 2 (Nrp2) plays an important role in regulating lymphangiogenesis. Nrp2
      expression in early tongue cancer was investigated to predict lymph node
      metastasis and the long-term prognosis. The relationships between
      clinicopathological variables of cT1-T2N0 tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)
      and overexpression of Nrp2, vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGFC),
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR3), and semaphorin 3F
      (Sema3F) were analyzed. Expression levels were compared using oral SCC cell
      lines. The Nrp2 gene was silenced to determine the impact of Nrp2. Cytoplasmic
      Nrp2 overexpression predicted regional metastasis with sensitivity and
      specificity of 90.3% and 42.1%, respectively. Cytoplasmic Nrp2 overexpression
      (P<0.001) and VEGFC overexpression (P=0.006) were significantly related to
      regional metastasis (Student t-test). However, only cytoplasmic Nrp2
      overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for both disease-free
      survival (DFS; P=0.008) and overall survival (OS; P=0.016) (Cox regression); the
      risk of recurrence was 12-times higher (P=0.015) and risk of mortality was 8
      times higher (P=0.016). Co-localization of Nrp2 and VEGFC was greater within the
      cytoplasm of aggressive cell lines (HN12 and RCa-T). Nrp2 plays a role in
      tumourigenesis; VEGFC supplementation cannot rescue the biological function of
      Nrp2 in Nrp2-depleted cell lines. Cytoplasmic Nrp2 overexpression is associated
      with decreased OS and DFS. Cytoplasmic Nrp2 overexpression may be a reliable
      diagnostic and prognostic marker for early tongue SCC.

PMID- 28602572
TI  - The Near East as a cradle of biodiversity: A phylogeography of banded newts
      (genus Ommatotriton) reveals extensive inter- and intraspecific genetic
      differentiation.
AB  - The banded newt (genus Ommatotriton) is widely distributed in the Near East
      (Anatolia, Caucasus and the Levant) - an understudied region from the perspective
      of phylogeography. The genus is polytypic, but the number of species included and
      the phylogenetic relationships between them are not settled. We sequenced two
      mitochondrial and two nuclear DNA markers throughout the range of Ommatotriton.
      For mtDNA we constructed phylogenetic trees, estimated divergence times using
      fossil calibration, and investigated changes in effective population size with
      Bayesian skyline plots and mismatch analyses. For nuDNA we constructed
      phylogenetic trees and haplotype networks. Species trees were constructed for all
      markers and nuDNA only. Species distribution models were projected on current and
      Last Glacial Maximum climate layers. We confirm the presence of three
      Ommatotriton species: O. nesterovi, O. ophryticus and O. vittatus. These species
      are genetically distinct and their most recent common ancestor was dated at ~25Ma
      (Oligocene). No evidence of recent gene flow between species was found. The
      species show deep intraspecific genetic divergence, represented by geographically
      structured clades, with crown nodes of species dated ~8-13Ma (Miocene to Early
      Quaternary); evidence of long-term in situ evolution and survival in multiple
      glacial refugia. While a species tree based on nuDNA suggested a sister species
      relationship between O. vittatus and O. ophryticus, when mtDNA was included,
      phylogenetic relationships were unresolved, and we refrain from accepting a
      particular phylogenetic hypothesis at this stage. While species distribution
      models suggest reduced and fragmented ranges during the Last Glacial Maximum, we
      found no evidence for strong population bottlenecks. We discuss our results in
      the light of other phylogeographic studies from the Near East. Our study
      underlines the important role of the Near East in generating and sustaining
      biodiversity.

PMID- 28602574
TI  - Characteristics of Hanwoo cattle and health implications of consuming highly
      marbled Hanwoo beef.
AB  - This review addresses the unique characteristics of Hanwoo cattle and potential
      health implications of consuming highly marbled Hanwoo beef. The Hanwoo breed has
      high genetic potential for accumulating intramuscular fat (IMF) and producing
      highly marbled beef. The high level of marbling is achieved through increasing
      levels of concentrated feed with an extended finishing period. In response to
      consumer preferences, the level of marbling of Hanwoo beef has been increasing.
      The IMF content can be manipulated depending on the feeding duration, finishing
      diet, and genotype. On the other hand, some consumers are expressing concern
      regarding the consumption of too much animal fat. This review discusses the
      potential of Hanwoo beef as a dietary source of heart-healthy fats. Highly
      marbled Hanwoo beef has a high proportion of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)
      due to the presence of abundant oleic acid. Literature indicates that MUFAs are
      heart-healthy dietary fats because they can lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
      cholesterol while increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. Also,
      recent clinical trials have indicated that highly marbled beef does not increase
      LDL-cholesterol and consistently increases HDL-cholesterol. Finally, the current
      work emphasizes that consumption of high oleic acid Hanwoo beef might potentially
      reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and may become accepted as a
      healthy well-being food.

PMID- 28602575
TI  - Here we go Again: Trying to prevent contrast-induced nephropathy.

PMID- 28602573
TI  - Dopamine signaling and myopia development: What are the key challenges.
AB  - In the face of an "epidemic" increase in myopia over the last decades and myopia
      prevalence predicted to reach 2.5 billion people by the end of this decade, there
      is an urgent need to develop effective and safe therapeutic interventions to slow
      down this "myopia booming" and prevent myopia-related complications and vision
      loss. Dopamine (DA) is an important neurotransmitter in the retina and mediates
      diverse functions including retina development, visual signaling, and refractive
      development. Inspired by the convergence of epidemiological and animal studies in
      support of the inverse relationship between outdoor activity and risk of
      developing myopia and by the close biological relationship between light exposure
      and dopamine release/signaling, we felt it is timely and important to critically
      review the role of DA in myopia development. This review will revisit several key
      points of evidence for and against DA mediating light control of myopia: 1) the
      causal role of extracellular retinal DA levels, 2) the mechanism and action of
      dopamine D1 and D2 receptors and 3) the roles of cellular/circuit retinal
      pathways. We examine the experiments that show causation by altering DA, DA
      receptors and visual pathways using pharmacological, transgenic, or visual
      environment approaches. Furthermore, we critically evaluate the safety issues of
      a DA-based treatment strategy and some approaches to address these issues. The
      review identifies the key questions and challenges in translating basic knowledge
      on DA signaling and myopia from animal studies into effective pharmacological
      treatments for myopia in children.

PMID- 28602576
TI  - A rare cause of dyspepsia.

PMID- 28602577
TI  - Fabrication of porous scaffolds with decellularized cartilage matrix for tissue
      engineering application.
AB  - Due to the avascular nature of articular cartilage, damaged tissue has little
      capacity for spontaneous healing. Three-dimensional scaffolds have potential for
      use in tissue engineering approach for cartilage repair. In this study, bovine
      cartilage tissue was decellularized and chemically crosslinked hybrid
      chitosan/extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds were fabricated with different ECM
      weight ratios by simple freeze drying method. Various properties of chitosan/ECM
      scaffolds such as microstructure, mechanical strength, swelling ratio, and
      biodegradability rate were investigated to confirm improved structural and
      biological characteristics of chitosan scaffolds in the presence of ECM. The
      results indicated that by introducing ECM to chitosan, pore sizes in scaffolds
      with 1% and 2% ECM decreased and thus the mechanical properties were improved.
      The presence of ECM in the same scaffolds also improved the swelling ratio and
      biodegradation rate in the hybrid scaffolds. MTT cytotoxicity assays performed on
      chondrocyte cells cultured on chitosan/ECM scaffolds having various amounts of
      ECM showed that the greatest cell attachment belongs to the sample with
      intermediate ECM content (2% ECM). Overall, it can be concluded from all obtained
      results that the prepared scaffold with intermediate concentration of ECM could
      be a proper candidate for use in cartilage tissue engineering.

PMID- 28602578
TI  - Femoral Arterial Haemostasis Using an Anchored Collagen Plug after Percutaneous
      EVAR with an Ultra-Low Profile Device: Prospective Audit of an Evolving "Post
      Close" Technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present an audit of a successful "post-close" haemostatic technique
      using the Angio-Seal VIP vascular closure device (VCD) after percutaneous
      endovascular aneurysm repair (p-EVAR) using an ultra-low profile (ULP) device.
      METHODS: Thirty patients underwent EVAR using the Ovation device, of which 26
      procedures were totally percutaneous. Data including patient habitus, procedural
      details, number of VCDs deployed including use of the double wire approach, and
      technical success/complications were prospectively recorded.
      Numerical/statistical analyses were undertaken using Microsoft Excel 2007 and
      Minitab for Windows. RESULTS: Thirty consecutive patients (27 male, 3 female; age
      range 70-85 years [mean 76.1, SD 6.5]) underwent EVAR for an infrarenal AAA (mean
      size 61 mm, SD 9.7) between March 2014 and August 2016 using the Ovation
      endograft system. In a few patients open ipsilateral femoral access was used
      (n=4); the remainder underwent p-EVAR (n=26), and these results are presented
      hereafter. Ipsilateral sheath sizes used varied between 14F (n=22), 15F (n=3),
      and 16F (n=1), and were closed using a single 8F Angio-Seal (n=7), a combination
      of 8F/6F Angio-Seal VCDs (n=18), or two 8F Angio-Seal VCDs (n=1) with prior
      double wire set up. Contralateral punctures were closed mostly with a single 8F
      Angio-Seal (n=24) or combination of 8F/6F Angio-Seal VCDs (n=2) to seal defects
      downsized to 12F. The overall immediate haemostasis success rate was 100%. Mean
      length of stay in the p-EVAR cohort was 2 days (SD 1.5). All patients had a post
      EVAR computed tomography angiogram (n=24) or duplex ultrasound (n=2) which did
      not reveal any stenoses or seromas; two patients developed an ipsilateral femoral
      pseudoaneurysm successfully treated by thrombin injection. CONCLUSION: A "post
      close" technique can be employed successfully for haemostasis after p-EVAR using
      an ULP device. An 8F Angio-Seal is usually effective in closing a 12F femoral
      arterial defect. This represents a viable option for femoral arterial closure in
      this scenario.

PMID- 28602579
TI  - Chimney Endovascular Reconstruction of the Aortic Bifurcation (Ch-ERAB) for Aorto
      iliac Occlusive Disease Allows Inferior Mesenteric Arterial Preservation.

PMID- 28602580
TI  - A Comparison of Outcomes in Patients with Infrapopliteal Disease Randomised to
      Vein Bypass or Plain Balloon Angioplasty in the Bypass vs. Angioplasty in Severe
      Ischaemia of the Leg (BASIL) Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare outcomes in a subgroup of patients with
      infrapopliteal (IP) disease randomised to infrapopliteal vein bypass (VB) or
      plain balloon angioplasty (PBA) in the original BASIL trial. METHODS: A
      comparison of outcomes from patients randomised to VB or PBA undergoing
      revascularisation for severe limb ischaemia (SLI) because of IP disease with or
      without femoropopliteal disease. Data were extracted from case report forms from
      the BASIL trial. The primary outcome was amputation free survival (AFS);
      secondary outcomes included overall survival (OS), 30 day mortality and
      morbidity, freedom from arterial re-intervention, immediate technical success,
      repeat and crossover interventions, length of hospital stay, and quality of
      revascularisation. RESULTS: A total of 104 patients were identified in the BASIL
      study with IP disease, 56 randomised to IP VB, and 48 to IP PBA. Groups were
      similar at baseline except for more chronic kidney disease and non-steroidal anti
      inflammatory drug use in the VB group, and more previous surgical arterial
      intervention and antihypertensive use in the PBA group. There were no
      statistically significant differences in AFS or OS; however, clinically important
      trends were apparent in favour of a VB first strategy. Patients allocated to VB
      demonstrated significantly quicker relief of rest pain when compared with PBA (p
      = .005), but no significant differences in improved tissue healing. Median length
      of index hospital admission was significantly greater in the VB than in the PBA
      group (18 vs. 10 days, p < .0001) but there was no difference between the two
      groups in median total hospital stay between randomisation and the primary
      endpoint (VB 43.5 vs. PBA 42 days). CONCLUSIONS: Further randomised trials, like
      BASIL-2 and BEST-CLI, are required to determine whether patients with severe limb
      ischaemia who require IP revascularisation and who are suitable for VB should
      have bypass or endovascular intervention as their primary revascularisation
      procedure.

PMID- 28602581
TI  - Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services for Women in the Veterans Health
      Administration.
AB  - PURPOSE: The present study used national Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
      facility-level data to examine the extent of women's specialty substance use
      disorder (SUD) treatment programming in the VHA. In addition, the study compared
      facilities with women's specialty SUD programming with facilities without to
      determine whether having this programming was associated with serving other
      special patient populations, treatment staffing, and breadth of service
      provision. METHODS: The study used data from the VHA Program Evaluation and
      Resource Center's Drug and Alcohol Program Survey, conducted in 2015 (100%
      response rate among VHA specialty SUD treatment programs). Program responses were
      calculated at the facility level (n = 140 VHA facilities). MAIN FINDINGS: The
      majority of VHA facilities (85%) provided women veterans with SUD-specific
      individual psychotherapy. However, only 30% of facilities provided SUD-specific
      groups for women only, and only 14% provided SUD-posttraumatic stress disorder
      groups for women only in specialty SUD treatment. VHA facilities with greater
      numbers of specialty SUD treatment staff members, a greater breadth of staff
      roles, and a broader scope of treatment services, activities, and practices were
      more likely to provide women-only groups. CONCLUSIONS: Because the number of
      women veterans in specialty SUD treatment is likely to continue to grow, these
      data serve as a benchmark against which future administrations of the Drug and
      Alcohol Program Survey will document the extent to which VHA services are
      responsive to their needs.

PMID- 28602582
TI  - Examining the Gap: Compensation Disparities between Male and Female Physician
      Assistants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compensation disparities between men and women have been problematic
      for decades, and there is considerable evidence that the gap cannot be entirely
      explained by nongender factors. The current study examined the compensation gap
      in the physician assistant (PA) profession. METHODS: Compensation data from 2014
      was collected by the American Academy of PAs in 2015. Practice variables,
      including experience, specialty, and hours worked, were controlled for in an
      ordinary least-squares sequential regression model to examine whether there
      remained a disparity in total compensation. In addition, the absolute disparity
      in compensation was compared with historical data collected by American Academy
      of PAs over the previous 1.5 decades. RESULTS: Without controlling for practice
      variables, a total compensation disparity of $16,052 existed between men and
      women in the PA profession. Even after PA practice variables were controlled for,
      a total compensation disparity of $9,695 remained between men and women (95%
      confidence interval, $8,438-$10,952). A 17-year trend indicates the absolute
      disparity between men and women has not lessened, although the disparity as a
      percent of male compensation has decreased in recent years. CONCLUSIONS: There
      remain challenges to ensuring pay equality in the PA profession. Even when
      compensation-relevant factors such as experience, hours worked, specialty,
      postgraduate training, region, and call are controlled for, there is still a
      substantial gender disparity in PA compensation. Remedies that may address this
      pay inequality include raising awareness of compensation disparities, teaching
      effective negotiation skills, assisting employers as they develop equitable
      compensation plans, having less reliance on past salary in position negotiation,
      and professional associations advocating for policies that support equal wages
      and opportunities, regardless of personal characteristics.

PMID- 28602584
TI  - How to define treatment failure for JAK inhibitors.

PMID- 28602583
TI  - Coupled Caspase and N-End Rule Ligase Activities Allow Recognition and
      Degradation of Pluripotency Factor LIN-28 during Non-Apoptotic Development.
AB  - Recent findings suggest that components of the classical cell death machinery
      also have important non-cell-death (non-apoptotic) functions in flies, nematodes,
      and mammals. However, the mechanisms for non-canonical caspase substrate
      recognition and proteolysis, and the direct roles for caspases in gene expression
      regulation, remain largely unclear. Here we report that CED-3 caspase and the
      Arg/N-end rule pathway cooperate to inactivate the LIN-28 pluripotency factor in
      seam cells, a stem-like cell type in Caenorhabditis elegans, thereby ensuring
      proper temporal cell fate patterning. Importantly, the caspase and the E3 ligase
      execute this function in a non-additive manner. We show that CED-3 caspase and
      the E3 ubiquitin ligase UBR-1 form a complex that couples their in vivo
      activities, allowing for recognition and rapid degradation of LIN-28 and thus
      facilitating a switch in developmental programs. The interdependence of these
      proteolytic activities provides a paradigm for non-apoptotic caspase-mediated
      protein inactivation.

PMID- 28602586
TI  - Fungal periapical abscess and the burn patient: A report of two cases of an
      unreported source for systemic infection.
AB  - Fungal infections in the intensive care unit are becoming a more common
      occurrence, especially in the care of the burn patient. Fungal infections in the
      critically burned patient, who by nature have a heightened inflammatory state and
      impaired immune response, have been found to carry a profound degree of morbidity
      and mortality. We present our experience in the care of severe thermal injuries;
      a series of patients with endodontic fungal infection which, as we found, pose a
      significant risk for the development of systemic infection and sepsis. Fungal
      periapical abscesses are a rare and, yet undescribed, potential source of
      systemic sepsis in the burn intensive care unit.

PMID- 28602585
TI  - Janus kinase-2 inhibitor fedratinib in patients with myelofibrosis previously
      treated with ruxolitinib (JAKARTA-2): a single-arm, open-label, non-randomised,
      phase 2, multicentre study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myelofibrosis is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm characterised
      by splenomegaly, cytopenias, bone marrow fibrosis, and debilitating symptoms
      including fatigue, weight loss, and bone pain. Mutations in Janus kinase-2 (JAK2)
      occur in approximately 50% of patients. The only approved JAK2 inhibitor for
      myelofibrosis is the dual JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor, ruxolitinib. 58-71% of
      patients treated with ruxolitinib in clinical trials so far have not achieved the
      primary endpoint of 35% or more reduction in spleen volume from baseline assessed
      by MRI or CT. Furthermore, more than 50% of patients discontinue ruxolitinib
      treatment after 3-5 years. On the basis of this unmet need, we investigated the
      efficacy and safety of fedratinib, a JAK2-selective inhibitor, in patients with
      ruxolitinib-resistant or ruxolitinib-intolerant myelofibrosis. METHODS: This
      single-arm, open-label, non-randomised, phase 2, multicentre study, done at 31
      sites in nine countries, enrolled adult patients with a current diagnosis of
      intermediate or high-risk primary myelofibrosis, post-polycythaemia vera
      myelofibrosis, or post-essential thrombocythaemia myelofibrosis, found to be
      ruxolitinib resistant or intolerant after at least 14 days of treatment. Other
      main inclusion criteria were palpable splenomegaly (>=5 cm below the left costal
      margin), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 2 or less, and
      life expectancy of 6 months or less. Patients received oral fedratinib at a
      starting dose of 400 mg once per day, for six consecutive 28-day cycles. The
      primary endpoint was spleen response (defined as the proportion of patients with
      a >=35% reduction in spleen volume as determined by blinded CT and MRI at a
      central imaging laboratory). We did the primary analysis in the per-protocol
      population only (patients treated with fedratinib, for whom a baseline and at
      least one post-baseline spleen volume measurement was available) and the safety
      analysis in all patients receiving at least one dose of fedratinib. This trial
      was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01523171. FINDINGS: Between May
      8, 2012, and Aug 29, 2013, 97 patients were enrolled and received at least one
      dose of fedratinib. Of 83 assessable patients, 46 (55%, 95% CI 44-66) achieved a
      spleen response. Common grade 3-4 adverse events included anaemia (37 [38%] of 97
      patients) and thrombocytopenia (21 [22%] of 97), with 18 (19%) patients
      discontinuing due to adverse events. Seven (7%) patients died during the study,
      but none of the deaths was drug related. Suspected cases of Wernicke's
      encephalopathy in other fedratinib trials led to study termination.
      INTERPRETATION: This phase 2 study met its primary endpoint, suggesting that
      patients with ruxolitinib-resistant or ruxolitinib-intolerant myelofibrosis might
      achieve significant clinical benefit with fedratinib, albeit at the cost of some
      potential toxicity, which requires further evaluation. Fedratinib development in
      this setting is currently being assessed. FUNDING: Sanofi.

PMID- 28602587
TI  - Surgical management of leukoderma after burn: A review.
AB  - Burns are a common and sometimes devastating injury causing a significant amount
      of pain, disability, and occasionally death. Burns can have serious aesthetic and
      functional consequences such as pigmentary changes and formation of scar tissue.
      Hypopigmentation or depigmentation is often a result of partial- or full
      thickness burns, which is referred to as leukoderma after burn. Thus, this study
      is aimed at systematically reviewing the surgical options for treating leukoderma
      after burn in order to gain insight into the advantages, disadvantages, and
      future implications of each surgical technique. The surgical procedures reviewed
      include dermabrasion with thin split thickness grafting, epidermal cell
      suspension spray, suction blister epidermal minigrafting, minigrafting, cultured
      epithelium, noncultured keratinocyte suspension, and chip skin grafting.

PMID- 28602588
TI  - Long-term results of organ procurement from burn victims.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the increasing success of organ transplantation, many
      traditional contraindications to organ procurement are being reconsidered. Burn
      disease has constituted a traditional contraindication to solid organ procurement
      because of concerns that such organs may have been compromised by ischemia
      secondary to burn shock and contaminated by bacteremia. With the current shortage
      of solid organs, the transplant community continues to look for ways to increase
      the number of organ donors, including the use of marginal donors. METHODS:
      Between 1999 and 2009 we have successfully procured 14 organs from four burn
      patients, who had suffered concurrent anoxic brain injury. There were one male
      and three female patients with an average age of 43.3 years and a total burned
      body surface area of 32.5%. Organ transplantation was performed at an average of
      4.75days after the injury. Eight kidneys, three livers, two hearts and one
      pancreas were procured and transplanted into 13 patients. RESULTS: We were able
      to follow-up on the organ recipients for an average of 80.5 months. The 5-year
      survival of the donated organs following transplant was 78.6% and the 5-year
      organ recipient survival was 92.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Organ procurement after burns is
      not contraindicated and transplantation can be performed with good long-term
      results.

PMID- 28602590
TI  - Comparison of clinical outcomes in diabetic and non-diabetic burns patients in a
      national burns referral center in Southeast Asia: A 3-year retrospective review;
      Methodological issues.

PMID- 28602589
TI  - Early pathogenic colonisers of acute burn wounds: A retrospective review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early excision of burns reduces the incidence of local and systemic
      infections caused by colonising microorganisms, and reduces mortality and length
      of hospital stay. Appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis can reduce the risk of
      postoperative wound infections and skin graft loss. Antibiotic selection should
      be based on likely pathogens. However, there are few studies that have
      investigated the early pathogenic colonisers of acute burn wounds. AIM: To
      describe pathogenic microorganisms found in acute burns and to make further
      recommendations on the use of early perioperative prophylactic antibiotics.
      METHODS: All burns patients admitted at the tertiary adult burns centre in
      Victoria over a 2-year period, who had surface swabs or tissue samples obtained
      from wounds within 24h of injury were included in this retrospective cohort
      study. Pathogenic organisms were examined with respect to patient
      characteristics, burn characteristics, treatment provided and immediate exposure
      to environmental contaminants. RESULTS: Nearly one third of burns patients had
      wounds colonised with pathogenic microorganisms. Gram-negative bacteria were
      isolated from 52% of these. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolate.
      Pseudomonas and Enterobacter species were the most common gram-negatives. The
      only independent risk factor associated with early colonisation with gram
      negative bacteria was per cent TBSA burn. CONCLUSION: Increased colonisation of
      acute burn wounds with pathogenic gram-negative bacteria was associated with
      increased size of burn.

PMID- 28602591
TI  - Skin grafts from genetically modified alpha-1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout
      miniature swine: A functional equivalent to allografts.
AB  - Burn is associated with a considerable burden of morbidity worldwide. Early
      excision of burned tissue and skin grafting of the resultant wound has been
      established as a mainstay of modern burn therapy. However, in large burns, donor
      sites for autologous skin may be limited. Numerous alternatives, from cadaver
      skin to synthetic substitutes have been described, each with varying benefits and
      limitations. We previously proposed the use of genetically modified (alpha-1,3
      galactosyl transferase knockout, GalT-KO) porcine skin as a viable skin
      alternative. In contrast to wild type porcine skin, which has been used as a
      biologic dressing following glutaraldehyde fixation, GalT-KO porcine skin is a
      viable graft, which is not susceptible to loss by hyperacute rejection, and
      undergoes graft take and healing, prior to eventual rejection, comparable to
      cadaver allogeneic skin. In the current study we aimed to perform a detailed
      functional analysis of GalT-KO skin grafts in comparison to allogeneic grafts for
      temporary closure of full thickness wounds using our baboon dorsum wound model.
      Grafts were assessed by measurement of fluid loss, wound infection rate, and
      take, and healed appearance, of secondary autologous grafts following xenograft
      rejection. Comparison was also made between fresh and cryopreserved grafts. No
      statistically significant difference was identified between GalT-KO and
      allogeneic skin grafts in any of the assessed parameters, and graft take and
      function was not adversely effected by the freeze-thaw process. These data
      demonstrate that GalT-KO porcine grafts are functionally comparable to allogeneic
      skin grafts for temporary closure of full thickness wounds, and support their
      consideration as an alternative to cadaver allogeneic skin in the emergency
      management of large burns.

PMID- 28602592
TI  - Surgical technique, an important factor in tissue expander exposure
      complications.

PMID- 28602593
TI  - Split thickness skin graft meshing ratio indications and common practices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Split thickness skin grafting is a commonly used technique in burn
      surgery for resurfacing wounds that are unlikely to heal without scarring.
      Meshing and expanding skin grafts allow for reconstruction of larger wounds with
      smaller donor sites. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed of 210
      patients with burns equal to or greater than 20% total body surface area admitted
      to Vancouver General Hospital between 1998 and 2014. Charts were reviewed to
      collect data on patient and burn demographics. A survey was sent to Canadian
      plastic surgeons registered with the CSPS to collect data on common practices in
      burn surgery nationwide. RESULTS: The patients that received 3:1 or higher meshed
      grafts were all flame burns, had a significantly higher average TBSA (51.89%+/
      14.87 vs 29.13%+/-9.48, p=0.001), and a significantly higher full thickness burn
      TBSA (25.76%+/-21.97 vs 6.20%+/-9.04, p=0.001). We found no significant
      differences in gender, age, or burn location between the less than 2:1 and 3:1 or
      greater meshing ratio groups. The survey of plastic surgeons performing burn
      surgery in Canada revealed that 60% of responders had experience with skin grafts
      using meshing ratios of 3:1 or higher. Of these surgeons, 100% felt that burn
      size and 36% felt that burn location would influence their decision to use a 3:1
      or higher meshing ratio. CONCLUSIONS: A larger burn size is the major influencing
      factor for the use of higher skin graft meshing ratios by Canadian burn surgeons.
      Furthermore, burn location determines the choice of donor and recipient sites in
      these cases.

PMID- 28602594
TI  - Operating efficiency of an emergency Burns theatre: An eight month analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficient use of operating theatres is important to insure
      optimum cost-benefit for the hospital. We used the emergency Burns theatre as a
      model to assess theatre efficiency at our institution. METHODS: Data was
      collected retrospectively on every operation performed in the Burns theatre
      between 01/04/15 and 30/11/15. Each component of the operating theatre process
      was considered and integrated to calculate values for surgical/anaesthetic time,
      changeover time and ultimately theatre efficiency. RESULTS: A total of 426
      operations were carried out over 887h of allocated theatre time (ATT). Actual
      operating time represented 67.7%, anaesthetic time 8.8% and changeover time 14.2%
      of ATT. The average changeover time between patients was 30.1min. Lists started
      on average 27.7min late each day. There were a total of 5.8h of overruns and 9.6h
      of no useful activity. Operating theatre efficiency was 69.3% for the 8 month
      period. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights areas where theatre efficiency can be
      improved. We suggest various strategies to improve this that may be applied
      universally.

PMID- 28602595
TI  - Topical treatment of corneal alkali burns with Gly-thymosin beta4 solutions and
      in situ hydrogels via inhibiting corneal neovascularization and improving corneal
      epidermal recovery in experimental rabbits.
AB  - AIM: Corneal alkali burns are a severe disease and commonly encountered in the
      emergent clinic. A rapid medical treatment for the burn is very important. Gly
      thymosin beta4 (Gly-Tbeta4) is a biomimic derivative of natural thymosin beta4.
      The aim of this study is to evaluate the corneal recovery effects of Gly-Tbeta4
      topical therapy on alkali burns in rabbit corneas. METHODS: Rabbit alkali burns
      were induced with NaOH-contained filter paper. Phosphate-buffered solutions at pH
      7.0, Gly-Tbeta4 solutions, blank in situ hydrogels, and Gly-Tbeta4in situ
      hydrogels were dropped on the burned corneas. The treatments were continued for
      14 days. Conjunctiva hyperemia, corneal edema, intraeye extravasation,
      hemorrhaging, corneal neovascularization (CNV), and corneal opacity were
      observed. Corneal immunohistochemistry and histopathology were performed.
      RESULTS: Gly-Tbeta4 solutions led to a lower corneal burn index than the other
      regimens. Hydrogels may stimulate the burned corneas due to the direct contact of
      them, and prevent the rapid release of Gly-Tbeta4. Gly-Tbeta4 significantly
      inhibited CNV according to the images of the corneas, CNV areas, and CD31
      expression. Furthermore, Gly-Tbeta4 improved corneal epidermal recovery according
      to the histopathological result. CONCLUSION: Gly-Tbeta4 solutions are a promising
      formulation for topical treatment of corneal alkali burns.

PMID- 28602596
TI  - Brain sodium MRI in human epilepsy: Disturbances of ionic homeostasis reflect the
      organization of pathological regions.
AB  - In light of technical advancements supporting exploration of MR signals other
      than 1H, sodium (23Na) has received attention as a marker of ionic homeostasis
      and cell viability. Here, we evaluate for the first time the possibility that
      23Na-MRI is sensitive to pathological processes occurring in human epilepsy. A
      normative sample of 27 controls was used to normalize regions of interest (ROIs)
      from 1424 unique brain locales on quantitative 23Na-MRI and high-resolution 1H
      MPRAGE images. ROIs were based on intracerebral electrodes in ten patients
      undergoing epileptic network mapping. The stereo-EEG gold standard was used to
      define regions as belonging to primarily epileptogenic, secondarily irritative
      and to non-involved regions. Estimates of total sodium concentration (TSC) on
      23Na-MRI and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) on 1H imaging were extracted for each
      patient ROI, and normalized against the same region in controls. ROIs with
      disproportionate CSF contributions (ZCSF>=1.96) were excluded. TSC levels were
      found to be elevated in patients relative to controls except in one patient, who
      suffered non-convulsive seizures during the scan, in whom we found reduced TSC
      levels. In the remaining patients, an ANOVA (F1100= 12.37, p<0.0001) revealed a
      highly significant effect of clinically-defined zones (F1100= 11.13, p<0.0001),
      with higher normalized TSC in the epileptogenic zone relative to both secondarily
      irritative (F1100= 11, p=0.0009) and non-involved regions (F1100= 17.8,
      p<0.0001). We provide the first non-invasive, in vivo evidence of a chronic TSC
      elevation alongside ZCSF levels within the normative range, associated with the
      epileptogenic region even during the interictal period in human epilepsy, and the
      possibility of reduced TSC levels due to seizure. In line with modified
      homeostatic mechanisms in epilepsy - including altered mechanisms underlying
      ionic gating, clearance and exchange - we provide the first indication of 23Na
      MRI as an assay of altered sodium concentrations occurring in epilepsy associated
      with the organization of clinically relevant divisions of pathological cortex.

PMID- 28602598
TI  - Adequacy of the default values for skin surface area used for risk assessment and
      French anthropometric data by a probabilistic approach.
AB  - The notes of guidance for the testing of cosmetic ingredients and their safety
      evaluation by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) is a document
      dedicated to ensuring the safety of European consumers. This contains useful data
      for risk assessment such as default values for Skin Surface Area (SSA). A more in
      depth study of anthropometric data across Europe reveals considerable variations.
      The default SSA value was derived from a study on the Dutch population, which is
      known to be one of the tallest nations in the World. This value could be
      inadequate for shorter populations of Europe. Data were collected in a survey on
      cosmetic consumption in France. Probabilistic treatment of these data and
      analysis of the case of methylisothiazolinone, a sensitizer recently evaluated by
      a deterministic approach submitted to SCCS, suggest that the default value for
      SSA used in the quantitative risk assessment might not be relevant for a
      significant share of the French female population. Others female populations of
      Southern Europe may also be excluded. This is of importance given that some
      studies show an increasing risk of developping skin sensitization among women.
      The disparities in anthropometric data across Europe should be taken into
      consideration.

PMID- 28602597
TI  - Performance comparison of 10 different classification techniques in segmenting
      white matter hyperintensities in aging.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are areas of abnormal signal
      on magnetic resonance images (MRIs) that characterize various types of
      histopathological lesions. The load and location of WMHs are important clinical
      measures that may indicate the presence of small vessel disease in aging and
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Manually segmenting WMHs is time consuming and
      prone to inter-rater and intra-rater variabilities. Automated tools that can
      accurately and robustly detect these lesions can be used to measure the vascular
      burden in individuals with AD or the elderly population in general. Many WMH
      segmentation techniques use a classifier in combination with a set of intensity
      and location features to segment WMHs, however, the optimal choice of classifier
      is unknown. METHODS: We compare 10 different linear and nonlinear classification
      techniques to identify WMHs from MRI data. Each classifier is trained and
      optimized based on a set of features obtained from co-registered MR images
      containing spatial location and intensity information. We further assess the
      performance of the classifiers using different combinations of MRI contrast
      information. The performances of the different classifiers were compared on three
      heterogeneous multi-site datasets, including images acquired with different
      scanners and different scan-parameters. These included data from the ADC study
      from University of California Davis, the NACC database and the ADNI study. The
      classifiers (naive Bayes, logistic regression, decision trees, random forests,
      support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, bagging, and boosting) were
      evaluated using a variety of voxel-wise and volumetric similarity measures such
      as Dice Kappa similarity index (SI), Intra-Class Correlation (ICC), and
      sensitivity as well as computational burden and processing times. These
      investigations enable meaningful comparisons between the performances of
      different classifiers to determine the most suitable classifiers for segmentation
      of WMHs. In the spirit of open-source science, we also make available a fully
      automated tool for segmentation of WMHs with pre-trained classifiers for all
      these techniques. RESULTS: Random Forests yielded the best performance among all
      classifiers with mean Dice Kappa (SI) of 0.66+/-0.17 and ICC=0.99 for the ADC
      dataset (using T1w, T2w, PD, and FLAIR scans), SI=0.72+/-0.10, ICC=0.93 for the
      NACC dataset (using T1w and FLAIR scans), SI=0.66+/-0.23, ICC=0.94 for ADNI1
      dataset (using T1w, T2w, and PD scans) and SI=0.72+/-0.19, ICC=0.96 for ADNI2/GO
      dataset (using T1w and FLAIR scans). Not using the T2w/PD information did not
      change the performance of the Random Forest classifier (SI=0.66+/-0.17,
      ICC=0.99). However, not using FLAIR information in the ADC dataset significantly
      decreased the Dice Kappa, but the volumetric correlation did not drastically
      change (SI=0.47+/-0.21, ICC=0.95). CONCLUSION: Our investigations showed that
      with appropriate features, most off-the-shelf classifiers are able to accurately
      detect WMHs in presence of FLAIR scan information, while Random Forests had the
      best performance across all datasets. However, we observed that the performances
      of most linear classifiers and some nonlinear classifiers drastically decline in
      absence of FLAIR information, with Random Forest still retaining the best
      performance.

PMID- 28602599
TI  - Silibinin inhibits the fibrotic responses induced by cigarette smoke via
      suppression of TGF-beta1/Smad 2/3 signaling.
AB  - Cigarette smoke (CS) is generally accepted as a major contributor to chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is characterized by chronic
      inflammation, fibrotic response, and airway obstruction. In this study, we
      investigated the preventive effects of silibinin, an active constitute of
      silymarin on CS and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure-induced fibrotic response.
      Mice were exposed to CS for 1 h per day (8 cigarettes per day) for 4 weeks. On
      day 12 and 26, mice were treated with LPS intranasally. Silibinin (10 or 20
      mg/kg) was administered orally 1 h before CS exposure. Silibinin markedly
      decreased the inflammatory cell count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and
      reduced levels of proinflammatory mediators. Silibinin suppressed CS + LPS
      induced collagen deposition in lung tissue, as evidenced via immunohistochemistry
      and Masson's trichrome stain. Additionally, silibinin effectively inhibited CS +
      LPS-mediated expression of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and Smad
      2/3 phosphorylation. Taken together, our data indicate that silibinin effectively
      inhibits the fibrotic response induced by CS + LPS exposure, possibly via
      suppression of TGF-beta1/Smad 2/3 signaling, which results in reduced collagen
      deposition. These findings suggest that silibinin has therapeutic potential for
      the treatment of COPD.

PMID- 28602600
TI  - Influence of the dual combination of silymarin and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate,
      natural dietary flavonoids, on the pharmacokinetics of oxcarbazepine in rats.
AB  - Considering the potential of flavonoids in reversing the P-glycoprotein (P-gp)
      mediated multidrug resistance, this work aimed to assess the combined effects of
      silymarin and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EPG) on the pharmacokinetics of the P
      gp substrates oxcarbazepine (OXC) and licarbazepine (LIC). Rats were pre-treated
      intraperitoneally with silymarin (25 mg/kg), EPG (25 mg/kg), silymarin/EPG
      (12.5/12.5 mg/kg; 6.25/18.75 mg/kg; 18.75/6.25 mg/kg) or verapamil (25 mg/kg,
      reference P-gp inhibitor) before the intraperitoneal administration of OXC (50
      mg/kg). Pre-treatment with dual silymarin/EPG combinations originated peak plasma
      concentrations of OXC and LIC (pharmacologically active metabolite of OXC)
      similar to those achieved in the presence of verapamil (positive control).
      Moreover, the effects promoted by silymarin/EPG combinations on the magnitude of
      systemic drug exposure to OXC and LIC were also reflected in the corresponding
      drug levels attained in the brain (biophase). These findings evidence the
      synergistic effect of silymarin and EPG in enhancing the degree of systemic
      exposure to OXC and LIC in rats, which occurred in a comparable extent to that
      observed with verapamil. Hence, our findings support the combination of flavonoid
      type P-gp inhibitors and P-gp substrate antiepileptic drugs as a potential
      therapeutic strategy for the management of pharmacoresistant epilepsy.

PMID- 28602602
TI  - Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine use in adults - Addressing an unmet medical need
      for non-bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae is a frequent cause of community acquired pneumonia
      (CAP), with the largest burden of disease attributed to non-bacteremic pneumonia.
      Due to the high persistent burden of disease, pneumococcal pneumonia,
      particularly non-bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia, continues to be a major
      public health concern. There are currently two pneumococcal vaccines approved for
      use in adults in the United States (US) and other countries worldwide: a 23
      valent pneumococcal simple polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23), and a 13-valent
      pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). The capsular polysaccharides included in
      PPV23 induce antibodies primarily by a T-cell independent mechanism, thus the
      immune response is short lived and lacks the ability to elicit an anamnestic
      response. PCV13, on the other hand, has the bacterial polysaccharides covalently
      conjugated to an immunogenic carrier protein resulting in the formation of memory
      B lymphocytes, thus proving long-acting immunologic memory and an anamnestic
      response. Despite 30years of use, the question of PPV23 vaccine efficacy,
      particularly with respect to efficacy for non-bacteremic pneumonia, has been
      extensively debated and investigated; whereas PCV13 efficacy against vaccine-type
      pneumococcal CAP, both bacteremic and non-bacteremic, was confirmed in a large
      randomized controlled trial in older adults. PCV13 was approved under the US Food
      and Drug Administration's accelerated pathway, which allows for earlier approval
      of products that provide meaningful benefit over existing treatments - in this
      case, protection of adults from non-bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia. Its use is
      now increasingly recommended globally. This article summarizes the history and
      use of PPV23 and PCV13 in adults and how vaccination of adults with PCV13
      addresses an unmet medical need.

PMID- 28602603
TI  - What might we learn from the more successful uptake of Hepatitis B (HBV)
      vaccinations to increase Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations in adolescents?

PMID- 28602601
TI  - Association of amine biomarkers with incident dementia and Alzheimer's disease in
      the Framingham Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The identification of novel biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) could provide key biological insights and permit targeted
      preclinical prevention. We investigated circulating metabolites associated with
      incident dementia and AD using metabolomics. METHODS: Plasma levels of 217
      metabolites were assessed in 2067 dementia-free Framingham Offspring Cohort
      participants (mean age = 55.9 +/- 9.7 years; 52.4% women). We studied their
      associations with future dementia and AD risk in multivariate Cox models.
      RESULTS: Ninety-three participants developed incident dementia (mean follow-up =
      15.6 +/- 5.2 years). Higher plasma anthranilic acid levels were associated with
      greater risk of dementia (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]
      = [1.15-1.70]; P = 8.08 * 10-4). Glutamic acid (HR = 1.38; 95% CI = [1.11-1.72]),
      taurine (HR = 0.74; 95% CI = [0.60-0.92]), and hypoxanthine (HR = 0.74; 95% CI =
      [0.60-0.92]) levels also showed suggestive associations with dementia risk.
      DISCUSSION: We identified four biologically plausible, candidate plasma
      biomarkers for dementia. Association of anthranilic acid implicates the
      kynurenine pathway, which modulates glutamate excitotoxicity. The associations
      with hypoxanthine and taurine strengthen evidence that uric acid and taurine may
      be neuroprotective.

PMID- 28602604
TI  - An updated methodology to review developing-country vaccine manufacturer
      viability.
AB  - In 1997, Milstien, Batson, and Meaney published "A Systematic Method for
      Evaluating the Potential Viability of Local Vaccine Producers." The paper
      identified characteristics of successful vaccine manufacturers and developed a
      viability framework to evaluate their performance. This paper revisits the
      original study after two decades to determine the ability of the framework to
      predict manufacturer success. By reconstructing much of the original dataset and
      conducting in-depth interviews, the authors developed informed views on the
      continued viability of manufacturers in low- and middle-income country markets.
      Considering the marked changes in the market and technology landscape since 1997,
      the authors find the viability framework to be predictive and a useful lens
      through which to evaluate manufacturer success or failure. Of particular interest
      is how incumbent and potentially new developing-country vaccine manufacturers
      enter and sustain production in competitive international markets and how they
      integrate (or fail to integrate) new technology into the production process.
      Ultimately, most manufacturers will need to meet global quality standards to be
      viable. As governments and donors consider investments in vaccine producers, the
      updated viability factors will be a useful tool in evaluating the prospects of
      manufacturers over the mid to long term. The paper emphasizes that while up-front
      investments are important, other critical factors-including investments in a
      national regulatory authority, manufacturer independence, and ability to adapt
      and adopt new technology-are necessary to ensure viability.

PMID- 28602605
TI  - Vaccination in newly arrived immigrants to the European Union.
AB  - The challenge of assimilating millions of immigrants in the European region each
      year presents significant socioeconomic issues. Among them is the threat of
      vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) disease transmission within immigrant groups
      and the broader population given the permeability of nation state borders. A
      total of 3.8 million people immigrated to the European Union (EU) in 2014, among
      those were 1.6 million non-EU nationals. While vaccines have markedly reduced the
      transmission of disease, clusters of under-vaccinated individuals potentiate the
      rapid transmission of once-eradicated or controlled diseases. Immigrants pose a
      special challenge to host country public health vaccination programmes. Wars in
      their native countries may have interrupted vaccination programmes, documentation
      may be unavailable or unreliable, and refugees may present with health issues due
      to poor sanitation and food during transit. Further, immigrants are often
      reticent to access health care in the destination country, or may face financial
      or language barriers. Thus, preventive health care needs may go unaddressed and
      the first contact with a clinician is for an emergency. Equitable access to acute
      and preventive health care and services, including immunizations irrespective of
      individual's immigration status, should be a priority for European region
      countries. Ensuring appropriate and timely vaccination for immigrants could be
      accomplished with a universal European region immunization schedule. Priority
      should be given to highly communicable VPDs such as measles, mumps, rubella,
      pertussis, diphtheria, varicella and polio.

PMID- 28602606
TI  - Trends in mortality burden of hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis, and fulminant
      hepatitis before and after roll-out of the first pilot vaccination program
      against hepatitis B in Peru: An analysis of death certificate data.
AB  - The first pilot vaccination program against hepatitis B in Peru was implemented
      in the hyperendemic Abancay province in 1991. To assess the impact of vaccination
      on mortality rates of hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),
      cirrhosis, and fulminant hepatitis, we compared mortality trends before (1960
      1990) and after (1991-2012) roll-out of the vaccination program, using death
      certificate data from the Municipalidad Provincial de Abancay. Our results showed
      that, following program roll-out, the overall mortality rates (per 100,000
      population) decreased from 9.20 to 3.30 for HCC (95% CI, 1.28-10.48%; P<0.014),
      from 16.0 to 6.3 for cirrhosis (95% CI, 3.20-16.10%; P<0.004), and from 34.80 to
      1.28 for fulminant hepatitis (95% CI, 16.70-50.30%; P<0.001). The absolute number
      of deaths attributable to cirrhosis (10 [8.80%] vs. 0.0%; P<0.001) and fulminant
      hepatitis (83 [40.0%] vs. 5 [19.20%]; P<0.026) decreased in 5-14-year-old
      children following vaccination. These findings showed reduced mortality rates of
      hepatitis B-related liver diseases, particularly cirrhosis and fulminant
      hepatitis in children under 15years, following implementation of the vaccination
      program against hepatitis B.

PMID- 28602607
TI  - Rabies vaccine is associated with decreased all-cause mortality in dogs.
AB  - Evidence suggests that rabies vaccine may have non-specific protective effects in
      animals and children. We analyzed four years of data (2012-2015) from an
      observational study of the health and demographics of a population of owned, free
      roaming dogs in a low-income community in South Africa. The objective of this
      analysis was to assess the association between rabies vaccine and all-cause
      mortality in dogs, stratified by age group (0-3months, 4-11months, and 12months
      and older), and controlling for the effects of sex and number of dogs in the
      residence. Rabies vaccination reduced the risk of death from any cause by 56%
      (95% CI=16-77%) in dogs aged 0-3months, by 44% (95% CI=21-60%) in dogs aged 4
      11months and by 16% (95% CI=0-29%) in dogs aged 12months and older. We
      hypothesize that the protective association between rabies vaccination status and
      all-cause mortality is due to a protective effect of rabies vaccine against
      diseases other than rabies. Existence of a strong non-specific protective effect
      of rabies vaccine on mortality in dogs would have implications for the design of
      dog rabies control programs that aim to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies
      cases. Further, we propose that owned domestic dogs in high mortality settings
      provide a useful animal model to better understand any non-specific protective
      effect of rabies vaccine in children, due to dogs' high numbers, high morbidity
      and mortality rates, relatively short lifespan, exposure to a variety of
      infectious and parasitic diseases, and shared environment with people.

PMID- 28602608
TI  - Multistage vaccines containing outer membrane, type III secretion system and
      inclusion membrane proteins protects against a Chlamydia genital tract infection
      and pathology.
AB  - Pathogens with a complex lifecycles can effectively evade host immunity in part
      due to each developmental stage expressing unique sets of antigens. Multisubunit
      vaccines incorporating signature antigens reflecting distinct developmental
      stages (multistage vaccines) have proven effective against viral, bacterial and
      parasitic infection at preventing pathogen evasion of host immunity. Chlamydia
      trachomatis is characterized by a biphasic extra/intracellular developmental
      cycle and an acute/persistent (latent) metabolic state; hence a multistage
      vaccine may prevent immune evasion and enhance clearance. Here we tested the
      efficacy of a multistage vaccine containing outer membrane (MOMP and PmpG), type
      three secretion system (T3SS) (CdsF and TC0873) and inclusion membrane proteins
      (IncA and TC0500) in mice against an intravaginal challenge with Chlamydia
      muridarum. Comparison of single (eg. MOMP) and double antigen vaccines (eg. MOMP
      and PmpG), largely targeting the extracellular stage, elicited significant yet
      comparable protection against vaginal shedding when compared to unimmunized
      control mice. Utilization of different adjuvants (ISCOMATRIX - IMX,
      PCEP/polyI:C/IDR1002 - VIDO, CTA1-DD and ADVAX) and numerous immunization routes
      (subcutaneous - SQ and intranasal - IN) further enhanced protection against
      infection. However, a multistage vaccine elicited significantly greater
      protection against vaginal shedding and upper genital tract pathology than
      vaccines targeting only extra- or intracellular stages. This indicates that
      protection elicited by a vaccine targeting extracellular chlamydial antigens
      could be improved by including chlamydial antigen expressed during intracellular
      phase.

PMID- 28602609
TI  - Satellite rats are redundant in embryo-fetal development studies.
AB  - Routinely in many laboratories, satellite rats are added to embryo-fetal
      development (EFD) studies for pharmaceuticals to assess toxicokinetic (TK)
      properties, because it is assumed that collection of multiple blood samples with
      relatively large volumes might affect the study outcome. With recent refinement
      of blood sampling techniques, this belief requires reevaluation. The current work
      showed successful implementation of jugular vein blood sampling in an EFD rat
      study without satellite animals, thereby reducing the number of rats in standard
      EFD studies for pharmaceuticals by 20%. Although not evaluated in this study,
      microsampling has shown to be very successful and eliminates the need of
      satellite animals. However, currently not all laboratories have implemented this
      method and regularly the bioanalytical method is already developed with a limit
      of quantification that is insufficiently sensitive. Therefore in those cases, a
      quick win to omit satellite animals can be established by using jugular vein
      blood sampling.

PMID- 28602610
TI  - 1H-31P CPVC NMR method under Very Fast Magic Angle Spinning for analysis of
      dipolar interactions and dynamics processes in the crystalline phosphonium
      tetrafluoroborate salts.
AB  - We present an NMR methodology which can be used to study the dynamical processes
      occurring in organophosphorus compounds that belong to the group of the organic
      ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs). As model samples we employed two phosphonium
      tetrafluoroborate salts; (t-Bu)3PH+BF4- (1) and (Me)3PH+BF4- (2). Both samples
      possess in their structures direct H-P bonds, and both undergo complex thermal
      processes in the solid state, forming below the melting point three or four
      phases, respectively. 1H-31P CPVC (Cross-Polarization Variable Contact)
      measurements were performed under Very Fast Magic Angle Spinning with speed equal
      to 50 or 60 kHz, in order (i) to establish the hydrogen-phosphorus dipolar
      couplings, and (ii) to correlate the dipolar splitting values with molecular
      motions of the cation. Our project is divided into three sections. In the first
      part we present DSC studies of (1) and (2), to verify whether these samples
      fulfill the requirements that define them as OIPC. The second part is dedicated
      to a discussion of the theoretical aspects of 1H-31P CPVC and especially an
      analysis of the influence of different parameters, e.g. CSA31P, H-H mismatch, rf
      inhomogeneity, dipolar truncation, and the type of dynamics through the
      motionally averaged <etaD> asymmetry value on the NMR response. The third part
      shows experimental 1H-31P CPVC data and applicability of these measurements to
      study H-P distances and dynamics. The complex molecular motion for sample (2),
      including rotation and diffusion, versus temperature is then postulated on the
      bases of the changes of H-P dipolar splitting.

PMID- 28602611
TI  - DNA Methyltransferases Modulate Hepatogenic Lineage Plasticity of Mesenchymal
      Stromal Cells.
AB  - The irreversibility of developmental processes in mammalian cells has been
      challenged by rising evidence that de-differentiation of hepatocytes occurs in
      adult liver. However, whether reversibility exists in mesenchymal stromal cell
      (MSC)-derived hepatocytes (dHeps) remains elusive. In this study, we find that
      hepatogenic differentiation (HD) of MSCs is a reversible process and is modulated
      by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). DNMTs are regulated by transforming growth
      factor beta1 (TGFbeta1), which in turn controls hepatogenic differentiation and
      de-differentiation. In addition, a stepwise reduction in TGFbeta1 concentrations
      in culture media increases DNMT1 and decreases DNMT3 in primary hepatocytes
      (Heps) and confers Heps with multi-differentiation potentials similarly to MSCs.
      Hepatic lineage reversibility of MSCs and lineage conversion of Heps are
      regulated by DNMTs in response to TGFbeta1. This previously unrecognized TGFbeta1
      DNMTs-MSC-HD axis may further increase the understanding the normal and
      pathological processes in the liver, as well as functions of MSCs after
      transplantation to treat liver diseases.

PMID- 28602612
TI  - Lineage Reprogramming of Astroglial Cells from Different Origins into Distinct
      Neuronal Subtypes.
AB  - Astroglial cells isolated from the rodent postnatal cerebral cortex are
      particularly susceptible to lineage reprogramming into neurons. However, it
      remains unknown whether other astroglial populations retain the same potential.
      Likewise, little is known about the fate of induced neurons (iNs) in vivo. In
      this study we addressed these questions using two different astroglial
      populations isolated from the postnatal brain reprogrammed either with Neurogenin
      2 (Neurog2) or Achaete scute homolog-1 (Ascl1). We show that cerebellum
      (CerebAstro) and cerebral cortex astroglia (CtxAstro) generates iNs with
      distinctive neurochemical and morphological properties. Both astroglial
      populations contribute iNs to the olfactory bulb following transplantation in the
      postnatal and adult mouse subventricular zone. However, only CtxAstro transfected
      with Neurog2 differentiate into pyramidal-like iNs after transplantation in the
      postnatal cerebral cortex. Altogether, our data indicate that the origin of the
      astroglial population and transcription factors used for reprogramming, as well
      as the region of integration, affect the fate of iNs.

PMID- 28602613
TI  - CryoPause: A New Method to Immediately Initiate Experiments after
      Cryopreservation of Pluripotent Stem Cells.
AB  - Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) provide an unlimited cell source for cell
      therapies and disease modeling. Despite their enormous power, technical aspects
      have hampered reproducibility. Here, we describe a modification of PSC workflows
      that eliminates a major variable for nearly all PSC experiments: the quality and
      quantity of the PSC starting material. Most labs continually passage PSCs and use
      small quantities after expansion, but the "just-in-time" nature of these
      experiments means that quality control rarely happens before use. Lack of quality
      control could compromise PSC quality, sterility, and genetic integrity, which
      creates a variable that might affect results. This method, called CryoPause,
      banks PSCs as single-use, cryopreserved vials that can be thawed and immediately
      used in experiments. Each CryoPause bank provides a consistent source of PSCs
      that can be pre-validated before use to reduce the possibility that high levels
      of spontaneous differentiation, contamination, or genetic integrity will
      compromise an experiment.

PMID- 28602614
TI  - MiR-203 Interplays with Polycomb Repressive Complexes to Regulate the
      Proliferation of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells.
AB  - The polycomb repressive complexes 1 (PRC1) and 2 (PRC2) are two distinct polycomb
      group (PcG) proteins that maintain the stable silencing of specific sets of genes
      through chromatin modifications. Although the PRC2 component EZH2 has been known
      as an epigenetic regulator in promoting the proliferation of neural
      stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs), the regulatory network that controls this process
      remains largely unknown. Here we show that miR-203 is repressed by EZH2 in both
      embryonic and adult NSPCs. MiR-203 negatively regulates the proliferation of
      NSPCs. One of PRC1 components, Bmi1, is a downstream target of miR-203 in NSPCs.
      Conditional knockout of Ezh2 results in decreased proliferation ability of both
      embryonic and adult NSPCs. Meanwhile, ectopic overexpression of BMI1 rescues the
      proliferation defects exhibited by miR-203 overexpression or EZH2 deficiency in
      NSPCs. Therefore, this study provides evidence for coordinated function of the
      EZH2-miR-203-BMI1 regulatory axis that regulates the proliferation of NSPCs.

PMID- 28602616
TI  - Salivary anti-PGL-1 IgM may indicate active transmission of Mycobacterium leprae
      among young people under 16 years of age.
AB  - Considering that the main route of Mycobacterium leprae transmission is the upper
      respiratory tract, detection of salivary antibodies can be a useful tool for
      diagnosing early infection. The study aimed to analyze salivary anti-PGL-1 IgA
      and IgM antibodies in 169 children aged 4-16 years old, who lived nearby or
      inside the house of multibacillary or paucibacillary leprosy patients in two
      endemic cities in Alagoas State - Brazil. Salivary anti-PGL-1 antibodies were
      quantified by modified ELISA method. The frequency of contact and clinical form
      of the index case were significantly associated with salivary antibody levels.
      High frequency of IgM positivity strongly suggests active transmission of M.
      leprae in these communities. We suggest in the present work that salivary anti
      PGL IgA and IgM are important biomarkers to be used for identifying communities
      with probable active transmission of M. leprae.

PMID- 28602615
TI  - PTEN Mediates Activation of Core Clock Protein BMAL1 and Accumulation of
      Epidermal Stem Cells.
AB  - Tissue integrity requires constant maintenance of a quiescent, yet responsive,
      population of stem cells. In the skin, hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) that
      reside within the bulge maintain tissue homeostasis in response to activating
      cues that occur with each new hair cycle or upon injury. We found that PTEN, a
      major regulator of the PI3K-AKT pathway, controlled HFSC number and size in the
      bulge and maintained genomically stable pluripotent cells. This regulatory
      function is central for HFSC quiescence, where PTEN-deficiency phenotype is in
      part regulated by BMAL1. Furthermore, PTEN ablation led to downregulation of BMI
      1, a critical regulator of adult stem cell self-renewal, and elevated senescence,
      suggesting the presence of a protective system that prevents transformation. We
      found that short- and long-term PTEN depletion followed by activated BMAL1, a
      core clock protein, contributed to accumulation of HFSC.

PMID- 28602617
TI  - Objective Measures of Activity in the Elderly: Distribution and Associations With
      Demographic and Health Factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the distribution of activity over the full 24
      hour spectrum in late old age and its association with demographic and health
      factors. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the distribution of physical activity
      (PA), sedentary behavior, and sleep, and associated factors in the elderly
      population. METHODS: Our study included 1210 participants (51.9% women) aged 70
      94 years [mean age 77.5 years, standard deviation (SD) 5.0] from the population
      based Rotterdam Study. Participants wore a triaxial accelerometer (GENEActiv)
      around the wrist for 7 days between July 2014 and June 2016. We examined if PA,
      sedentary behavior, and sleep differed by age, sex, body mass index (BMI),
      smoking status, alcohol consumption, education, season, functional capacity,
      marital status, presence of chronic disease, and use of sleep medication.
      RESULTS: Mean total PA, expressed in milli-gravity (mg) units, was slightly
      higher for women (20.3, SD 5.6) than for men (19.3, SD 5.2, P < .01). Mean (SD)
      daily duration spent in sedentary behavior and light and moderate-to-vigorous PA
      was 13.3 (1.5) h/d, 147.5 (31.5) min/d, and 75.0 (25.5) min/d, respectively,
      among women; and 13.8 (1.6) h/d, 140.5 (31.1) min/d, and 71.5 (24.5) min/d,
      respectively, among men. Women spent on average 6.7 (SD 1.1) h/d sleeping and men
      6.6 (1.4) h/d. Across increasing categories of age and BMI and in participants
      with chronic disease and disability, time spent in light and moderate-to-vigorous
      PA was decreased. Higher age and BMI were associated with more sedentary time. In
      addition, obese men spent slightly more time sleeping than their normal weight
      counterparts and women spent slightly less time sleeping in the summer than in
      spring. CONCLUSIONS: PA and sedentary behavior in the elderly differed by sex,
      age, BMI, prevalence of chronic disease, and disability, whereas there were no
      clear patterns for sleep. On average, our participants spent up to 79.5% of their
      time awake being sedentary and 7%-8% in moderate-to-vigorous PA. Replacing
      sedentary behavior with light PA would be a good starting point for those with
      the lowest level of PA. Older adults, those with high BMI and worse health could
      benefit from targeted interventions to increase PA.

PMID- 28602618
TI  - Heavy Metal to Rock the Immune Infiltrate.
AB  - Two resource articles recently published in Cell demonstrate that the elevated
      phenotypic complexity of the immune infiltrate in human lung adenocarcinomas and
      renal cell carcinomas can be reliably dissected with mass cytometry. These
      findings may pave the way to a new era of precision cancer immunotherapy.

PMID- 28602619
TI  - The impact of sanitation on infectious disease and nutritional status: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sanitation aims to sequester human feces and prevent exposure to
      fecal pathogens. More than 2.4 billion people worldwide lack access to improved
      sanitation facilities and almost one billion practice open defecation. We
      undertook systematic reviews and meta-analyses to compile the most recent
      evidence on the impact of sanitation on diarrhea, soil-transmitted helminth (STH)
      infections, trachoma, schistosomiasis, and nutritional status assessed using
      anthropometry. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We updated previously published reviews by
      following their search strategy and eligibility criteria. We searched from the
      previous review's end date to December 31, 2015. We conducted meta-analyses to
      estimate pooled measures of effect using random-effects models and conducted
      subgroup analyses to assess impact of different levels of sanitation services and
      to explore sources of heterogeneity. We assessed risk of bias and quality of the
      evidence from intervention studies using the Liverpool Quality Appraisal Tool
      (LQAT) and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation
      (GRADE) approach, respectively. A total of 171 studies met the review's inclusion
      criteria, including 64 studies not included in the previous reviews. Overall, the
      evidence suggests that sanitation is protective against diarrhea, active
      trachoma, some STH infections, schistosomiasis, and height-for-age, with no
      protective effect for other anthropometric outcomes. The evidence was generally
      of poor quality, heterogeneity was high, and GRADE scores ranged from very low to
      high. CONCLUSIONS: This review confirms positive impacts of sanitation on aspects
      of health. Evidence gaps remain and point to the need for research that
      rigorously describes sanitation implementation and type of sanitation
      interventions.

PMID- 28602621
TI  - Binary test battery with KeratinoSensTM and h-CLAT as part of a bottom-up
      approach for skin sensitization hazard prediction.
AB  - Skin sensitization is one of the key safety endpoints for chemicals applied
      directly to the skin. Several integrated testing strategies (ITS) using multiple
      non-animal test methods have been developed to accurately evaluate the
      sensitizing potential of chemicals, but there is no regulatory-accepted ITS to
      classify a chemical as a non-sensitizer. In this study, the predictive
      performance of a binary test battery with KeratinoSensTM and h-CLAT compared to
      the local lymph node assay (LLNA) and human data was examined using comprehensive
      dataset of 203 chemicals. When two negative results indicate a non-sensitizer,
      the binary test battery provided sensitivity of 93.4% or 94.4% compared with the
      LLNA or human data. Taking into account the predictive limitations (i.e. high log
      Kow, pre-/pro-haptens and acyl transfer agents (or amine-reactive)), the binary
      test battery had extremely high sensitivity comparable to that of the 3 out of 3
      ITS where three negative results of the DPRA, KeratinoSensTM and h-CLAT indicate
      a non-sensitizer. Therefore, the data from KeratinoSensTM or h-CLAT may provide
      partly redundant information on the molecular initiating event derived from DPRA.
      Taken together, the binary test battery of KeratinoSensTM and h-CLAT could be
      used as part of a bottom-up approach for skin sensitization hazard prediction.

PMID- 28602620
TI  - Integrin alpha7 Is a Functional Marker and Potential Therapeutic Target in
      Glioblastoma.
AB  - Functionally relevant markers of glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs) have
      potential for therapeutic targeting to treat this aggressive disease. Here we
      used generation and screening of thousands of monoclonal antibodies to search for
      receptors and signaling pathways preferentially enriched in GSCs. We identified
      integrin alpha7 (ITGA7) as a major laminin receptor in GSCs and in primary high
      grade glioma specimens. Analyses of mRNA profiles in comprehensive datasets
      revealed that high ITGA7 expression negatively correlated with survival of
      patients with both low- and high-grade glioma. In vitro and in vivo analyses
      showed that ITGA7 plays a key functional role in growth and invasiveness of GSCs.
      We also found that targeting of ITGA7 by RNAi or blocking mAbs impaired laminin
      induced signaling, and it led to a significant delay in tumor engraftment plus a
      strong reduction in tumor size and invasion. Our data, therefore, highlight ITGA7
      as a glioblastoma biomarker and candidate therapeutic target.

PMID- 28602622
TI  - Homoeologous chromosome pairing across the eukaryote phylogeny.
AB  - During the past quarter century, molecular phylogenetic inferences have
      significantly resolved evolutionary relationships spanning the eukaryotic tree of
      life. With improved phylogenies in hand, the focus of systematics will continue
      to expand from estimating species relationships toward examining the evolution of
      specific, fundamental traits across the eukaryotic tree. Undoubtedly, this will
      expose knowledge gaps in the evolution of key traits, particularly with respect
      to non-model lineages. Here, we examine one such trait across eukaryotes-the
      regulation of homologous chromosome pairing during meiosis-as an illustrative
      example. Specifically, we present an overview of the breakdown of homologous
      chromosome pairing in model eukaryotes and provide a discussion of various
      meiotic aberrations that result in the failure of homolog recognition, with a
      particular focus on lineages with a history of hybridization and
      polyploidization, across major eukaryotic clades. We then explore what is known
      about these processes in natural and non-model eukaryotic taxa, thereby exposing
      disparities in our understanding of this key trait among non-model groups.

PMID- 28602623
TI  - Comparison of outcomes for short-neck and juxtarenal aortic aneurysms treated
      with the Nellix endograft versus conventional endovascular aneurysm sealing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of the off
      label use of the Nellix endograft (Endologix, Irvine, Calif) for the treatment of
      short-neck aneurysms and juxtarenal aortic aneurysms (JAAs) compared with the
      outcomes of patients with infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms treated in
      accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for use. METHODS: Data available
      from patients treated with the Nellix endograft from September 2013 to January
      2016 were reviewed to create a case-control analysis (1:2). Fourteen elective
      patients with a short-neck aneurysm or JAA (<10 mm) and mild aortic neck
      angulation (<35 degrees) were included. As a control group, 28 elective patients
      who had been treated in accordance with instructions for use were included.
      Patients were matched for age, sex, aortic diameter, and aortic neck angulation.
      The final cohort group included 42 patients: 14 in the JAA off-label group (5
      with aortic neck length <=4 mm and 9 with necks of 5 to 10 mm) and 28 in the
      control group. Technical and clinical success, freedom from any secondary
      intervention, any type of endoleak, and aneurysm-related death were evaluated.
      RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of
      comorbidity, intraoperative time, radiation time, contrast agent volume, and
      perioperative mortality and morbidity. Two patients of the JAA group subsequently
      underwent open repair (14%), both with aortic neck length <4 mm (2/5; 40%), for
      type Ia endoleak. Two of the control group also subsequently underwent open
      repair (7%). At a mean follow-up of 22 +/- 3.9 months, freedom from any
      reintervention was 85% for the JAA off-label group vs 92% for the control group
      (log-rank test, P = .33). CONCLUSIONS: The off-label use of the Nellix endograft
      for the treatment of JAA showed a higher rate of subsequent conversion to open
      repair for JAA patients (aortic neck length <=4 mm), underlining the need for a
      proximal sealing zone. Longer term data are needed to verify the possible use of
      the Nellix endograft in selected short-neck aneurysms with aortic neck length >5
      mm.

PMID- 28602624
TI  - Durability of a low-profile stent graft for thoracic endovascular aneurysm
      repair.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The introduction of lower profile endografts expanded the application
      of aortic endovascular repair. However, evidence about their durability is still
      scarce. The objective of this study was to assess longer term durability of the
      Zenith Alpha Thoracic Stent Graft (Cook Inc, Bloomington, Ind) after thoracic
      endovascular aortic repair. METHODS: Prospectively collected data of all patients
      treated for thoracic aortic aneurysms or penetrating aortic ulcers and having
      computed tomography angiography-based follow-up of >=12 months were
      retrospectively analyzed. The primary end point was ongoing clinical success.
      Among the secondary end points, stent graft migration and fracture were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Between August 2010 and October 2015, 70 consecutive patients were
      treated in a single center with the Zenith Alpha stent graft. With computed
      tomography angiography-based follow-up of 22.3 +/- 15.9 months, ongoing clinical
      success was 87.1%. There were three cases of type IA endoleak (4.3%), two cases
      of type IB endoleak (2.9%), and one case of aneurysm sac enlargement (1.4%). Five
      patients died postoperatively (7.1%). No type III or type IV endoleak was
      detected; there was one case of distal stent graft migration and no stent
      fracture. Reintervention was necessary in one case (1.4%) of a combined type IA
      and type II endoleak. There were no conversions to open repair and no ruptures or
      intraoperative deaths. All-cause mortality was 17.1% at 76 months. CONCLUSIONS:
      The Zenith Alpha Thoracic Stent Graft appears to maintain favorable results in a
      longer time frame with a low incidence of aneurysm sac growth and migration.
      Results from multicenter prospective trials are needed to validate these data.

PMID- 28602625
TI  - A Notch-independent mechanism contributes to the induction of Hes1 gene
      expression in response to hypoxia in P19 cells.
AB  - Hes1 is a Notch target gene that plays a major role during embryonic development.
      Previous studies have shown that HIF-1alpha can interact with the Notch
      intracellular domain and enhance Notch target gene expression. In this study, we
      have identified a Notch-independent mechanism that regulates the responsiveness
      of the Hes1 gene to hypoxia. Using P19 cells we show that silencing the Notch DNA
      binding partner CSL does not prevent hypoxia-dependent upregulation of Hes1
      expression. In contrast to CSL, knockdown of HIF-1alpha or Arnt expression
      prevents Hes1 induction in hypoxia. Deletion analysis of the Hes1 promoter
      identified a minimal region near the transcription start site that is still
      responsive to hypoxia. In addition, we show that mutating the GA-binding protein
      (GABP) motif significantly reduced Hes1 promoter-responsiveness to hypoxia or to
      HIF-1 overexpression whereas mutation of the hypoxia-responsive element (HRE)
      present in this region had no effect. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays
      demonstrated that HIF-1alpha binds to the proximal region of the Hes1 promoter in
      a Notch-independent manner. Using the same experimental approach, the presence of
      GABPalpha and GABPbeta1 was also observed in the same region of the promoter.
      Loss- and gain-of-function studies demonstrated that Hes1 gene expression is
      upregulated by hypoxia in a GABP-dependent manner. Finally, co
      immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that HIF-1alpha but not HIF-2alpha is
      able to interact with either GABPalpha or GABPbeta1. These results suggest a
      Notch-independent mechanism where HIF-1 and GABP contribute to the upregulation
      of Hes1 gene expression in response to hypoxia.

PMID- 28602627
TI  - Phosphorylation of DEPDC1 at Ser110 is required to maintain centrosome
      organization during mitosis.
AB  - DEPDC1 (DEP domain containing 1) is overexpressed in multiple cancers and is
      associated with cell cycle progression. In this report, we have investigated the
      expression, localization, phosphorylation and function of DEPDC1 during mitosis.
      DEPDC1 has two isoforms (isoform a and isoform b), and both of them are increased
      in mitosis and degraded once cells exit mitosis. DEPDC1a is localized to the
      centrosome in metaphase, whereas DEPDC1b is localized to the entire cell cortex
      during mitosis. DEPDC1a, but not DEPDC1b, was required for the integrity of
      centrosome and organization of the bipolar spindle. Mass spectrometry and
      biochemical analyses revealed phosphorylation of DEPDC1 at Ser110. The
      phosphorylation of Ser110 is essential for localization of DEPDC1a to the
      centrosome. Consistently, non-phosphorylation mutants of DEPDC1a did not rescue
      disruption of centrosome organization by depletion of endogenous DEPDC1. Our
      results show a novel role for DEPDC1 in maintaining centrosome integrity during
      mitosis for the accurate distribution of chromosomes.

PMID- 28602628
TI  - Overexpression of Fibulin-5 attenuates burn-induced inflammation via TRPV1/CGRP
      pathway.
AB  - Fibulin-5, a multifunctional extracellular matrix protein, is up-regulated in
      response to mechanical injury and can promote dermal wound healing. This study
      aimed to explore the role and mechanism of Fibulin-5 in the pathogenesis of post
      burn inflammation in thermally-injured mice. Here, we found that Fibulin-5 was up
      regulated in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of burn-injured mice. After
      nociceptive behavioral testing, DRG was isolated and cultured to detect the
      mechanism of Fibulin-5 in thermal injury models by recombinant adenovirus
      overexpressing Fibulin-5, RT-qPCR, Western Blot, ELISA, AP20187 (an activator of
      one kind of kinase phosphorylating the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation
      factor 2, eIF2alpha), capsaicin (an agonist of transient receptor potential
      vanilloid (TRPV)-1), and an anti-CGRP neutralizing antibody. Also, the
      pathological state of skin tissues and the expression of cyclooxygenase 2 and
      myeloperoxidase were examined by Hematoxylin-Eosin staining and
      immunohistochemistry, respectively. We found that overexpression of Fibulin-5
      attenuated the pain, inhibited the inflammatory response, and improved the
      pathologic condition induced by burn injury. Fibulin-5 overexpression
      significantly down-regulated the phosphorylation level of eIF2alpha and
      subsequently inhibited the TRPV1 channel and CREB/CGRP signaling. Additionally,
      anti-CGRP neutralizing antibody dramatically suppressed the inflammatory response
      induced by burn injury. The results suggest that overexpression of Fibulin-5
      attenuates thermal inflammation via suppressing TRPV1/CGRP pathway. This may
      provide a potential therapy target to alleviate excessive inflammation in burn
      patients.

PMID- 28602629
TI  - Radiotherapy and chemotherapy plus radiation in the treatment of patients with
      pure intracranial germinoma: A meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficiency of radiotherapy (RT) only and chemotherapy
      plus radiotherapy (CRT) strategy in the treatment of pure intracranial germinoma.
      METHODS: We searched PUBMED, EMBASE, Medline and Cochrane library up to May 2016
      for studies that enrolled patients with pure intracranial germinoma receiving
      either RT only or CRT treatment as their first-line treatment. The meta-analysis
      was conducted on the overall survival rate (OS) and disease free survival (DFS)
      at 3years and 5years. The outcomes were pooled using a random-effect model.
      RESULTS: The final search included 15 studies with 310 patients. The pooled 3
      year OS (97% vs. 94%, p=.000) and 3-year DFS (96% vs. 93%, p=0.043) of CRT group
      was significantly higher than that of RT only group. However, at 5years, the OS
      was 94% in RT only group and 92% in the combined group (p=0.29) . For DFS, the RT
      only group was higher than the combined group (94% vs.89%, p=.000). CONCLUSIONS:
      Both RT and CRT for intracranial pure germinoma gain satisfying outcomes, and the
      CRT strategy has a higher overall survival rate and disease free survival rate at
      3years than RT regimen. At 5years in the postoperative period, the advantage of
      survival rates for CRT is eliminated or even reversed. For patients with pure
      intracranial germinoma, especially those with acute and severer condition and
      poorer prognosis, CRT strategy would be a better choice.

PMID- 28602626
TI  - Endothelial cell-cell adhesion and signaling.
AB  - Endothelial cells line blood vessels and provide a dynamic interface between the
      blood and tissues. They remodel to allow leukocytes, fluid and small molecules to
      enter tissues during inflammation and infections. Here we compare the signaling
      networks that contribute to endothelial permeability and leukocyte
      transendothelial migration, focusing particularly on signals mediated by small
      GTPases that regulate cell adhesion and the actin cytoskeleton. Rho and Rap
      GTPase signaling is important for both processes, but they differ in that signals
      are activated locally under leukocytes, whereas endothelial permeability is a
      wider event that affects the whole cell. Some molecules play a unique role in one
      of the two processes, and could therefore be targeted to selectively alter either
      endothelial permeability or leukocyte transendothelial migration.

PMID- 28602631
TI  - Clinical, electrodiagnostic, and outcome correlation in ALS patients in Thailand.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) requires both
      clinical and electrodiagnostic (EDx) data. The correlation between the two may
      aid in outcome prognostication. METHODS: Retrospective review of patients with
      ALS in tow tertiary hospitals in Thailand. RESULTS: Data from 25 ALS patients out
      of 38 patients with motor neuron disease was reviewed. Male was predominant with
      mean age of onset of 60.1+/-10.7years old. The average time from onset to
      diagnosis was 19.8+/-21.5months. Upper limb onset was the most common. Nerve
      conduction study showed lower median and ulnar compound muscle action potential
      amplitudes than tibial and peroneal ones. Electromyography (EMG) showed 40% of
      patients have EMG abnormalities in asymptomatic limbs. Neurophysiological
      evidence of "split hand" was frequent in upper limb phenotype. Sensory studies
      were abnormal in 16.3%. Most patients were classified in mRS 1 and 2 (73.9%) at
      the time of diagnosis which was statistically significant among subgroups. Bulbar
      and distal upper limb subtypes had a better prognosis. 5.4% of patients used
      mechanical ventilator; all in bulbar subgroup. CONCLUSION: In our ALS patients,
      upper limb onset was the most common. Time of presentation varied among
      phenotypes. Extensive EDx can contribute to early diagnosis in asymptomatic limb
      and improve diagnostic certainty. Abnormal sensory study was also common. EDx
      data clearly correlates with clinical phenomena and prognosis. At the time of
      diagnosis, ALSFRS was in moderate range and most patients had moderate
      disability.

PMID- 28602630
TI  - Correlation between standardized assessment of concussion scores and small-world
      brain network in mild traumatic brain injury.
AB  - This study investigated the characteristics of the small-world brain network
      architecture of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), and a
      correlation between brain functional connectivity network properties in the
      resting-state fMRI and Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) parameters.
      The neurological conditions of 22 MTBI patients and 17 normal control individuals
      were evaluated according to the SAC. Resting-state fMRI was performed in all
      subjects 3 and 7days after injury respectively. After preprocessing the fMRI
      data, cortex functional regions were marked using AAL90 and Dosenbach160
      templates. The small-world network parameters and areas under the integral curves
      were computed in the range of sparsity from 0.01 to 0.5. Independent-sample t
      tests were used to compare these parameters between the MTBI and control group.
      Significantly different parameters were investigated for correlations with SAC
      scores; those that correlated were chosen for further curve fitting. The
      clustering coefficient, the communication efficiency across in local networks,
      and the strength of connectivity were all higher in MTBI patients relative to
      control individuals. Parameters in 160 brain regions of the MTBI group
      significantly correlated with total SAC score and score for attention; the
      network parameters may be a quadratic function of attention scores of SAC and a
      cubic function of SAC scores. MTBI patients were characterized by elevated
      communication efficiency across global brain regions, and in local networks, and
      strength of mean connectivity. These features may be associated with brain
      function compensation. The network parameters significantly correlated with SAC
      total and attention scores.

PMID- 28602632
TI  - Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity as a Predictor of Silent Cerebral Embolism
      after Carotid Artery Stenting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In neuroendovascular therapy, the effect of arterial stiffness on
      postprocedural cerebral thromboembolism is unknown. In this observational study,
      we examined the relationship between cerebral thromboembolism after carotid
      artery stenting and arterial stiffness. METHODS: From April 2015 to February
      2017, we enrolled consecutive patients undergoing scheduled carotid artery
      stenting in our institution. In all patients, preprocedural brachial-ankle pulse
      wave velocity was used to assess arterial stiffness, whereas the number of new
      cerebral ischemic lesions on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was
      assessed after treatment. We also analyzed patient data and details of procedures
      in patients with carotid artery stenting. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients completed
      the study. The mean brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was 1879 cm/s. There was
      no association of cerebral thromboembolisms with age, unstable plaque, protection
      device, or type of stent. However, the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was an
      independent predictor of cerebral thromboembolisms (P = .0017). CONCLUSIONS:
      Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is predictive of silent cerebral embolisms on
      diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging after carotid artery stenting.

PMID- 28602633
TI  - Automated cleft speech evaluation using speech recognition.
AB  - Perceptual evaluation remains the gold-standard evaluation of cleft speech, but
      with any human interpretation, there can be bias. Eliminating bias, allowing
      comparison of speech data between units, is labor and time intensive. Globally,
      there is a shortage of listeners. We have developed a computer learning system to
      evaluate cleft speech. Our automated cleft speech evaluator interprets resonance
      and articulatory cleft speech errors. Speech recognition engines typically ignore
      voice characteristics and speech errors of the speaker, but in cleft speech
      evaluation, these features are paramount. Our evaluator targets these to
      distinguish between normal speech, velopharyngeal dysfunction and articulatory
      speech errors. Speech samples from our Craniofacial Team clinic were recorded and
      rated independently by two experienced speech pathologists: 60 patients were used
      to train the evaluator, and the evaluator was tested on the 13 subsequent
      patients. The inter-speech pathologist agreement rate was 79%. Our cleft speech
      evaluator achieved 77% on its best sentence and a median of 65% for all
      sentences. This automated cleft speech evaluator has applications for global
      cleft speech evaluation when no speech pathologist is available, and for unbiased
      evaluation, facilitating collaboration between teams. We anticipate that as the
      training samples increase, the accuracy will match human listeners.

PMID- 28602634
TI  - DP1 receptor agonist, BW245C inhibits diet-induced obesity in ApoE-/- mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Lipocalin Prostaglandin D2 synthase (LPGDS) contributes to
      the production of PGD2, which has been associated with adipogenesis. In this
      study, we aimed to investigate the role of PGD2 on obesity through its DP1 and
      DP2 receptor signaling using intraperitoneal injection of their respective
      agonists and antagonists. METHODS: ApoE-/- mice were divided into five groups:
      vehicle control (n=5), DP1 receptor agonist (n=5), DP1 receptor antagonist (n=5),
      DP2 receptor agonist (n=5), and DP2 receptor antagonist (n=5), and the study was
      carried out for 10 weeks. RESULTS: Despite being on high fat diet, mice receiving
      DP1 receptor agonist sustained a significant inhibition of weight gain throughout
      the study gaining only 11.4% body weight compared to the controls gaining 61%
      body weight. Interestingly, parallel to the body weight, the DP1 receptor agonist
      group showed a significant reduction in food intake throughout the study.
      Consistently, fasting leptin, insulin and bile acids levels were elevated in the
      DP1 receptor agonist group compared to controls. As expected, there was a
      significant reduction in fasting glucose level in DP1 receptor agonist group. At
      last, as a result of weight gain inhibition, DP1 receptor agonist also imparted
      cardiovascular benefits showing significant reduction in aortic wall thickness,
      intima, adventia and lumen size. CONCLUSION: Based on the obtained results, we
      believe DP1 receptor agonism inhibited diet induced weight gain possibly through
      controlling appetite which consequently imparted beneficial cardiometabolic
      effects. DP1 receptor agonism may represent a novel therapeutic target for the
      management of obesity.

PMID- 28602636
TI  - Extensive phenotyping of two ARX polyalanine expansion mutation mouse models that
      span clinical spectrum of intellectual disability and epilepsy.
AB  - The Aristaless-related homeobox gene (ARX) is a known intellectual disability
      (ID) gene that frequently presents with X-linked infantile spasm syndrome as a
      comorbidity. ID with epilepsy in children is a chronic and devastating disorder
      that has poor treatment options and disease outcomes. To gain a better
      understanding of the role that mutations in ARX play in ID and epilepsy, we
      investigate ARX patient mutations modelled in mice. Over half of all ARX
      mutations result from expansions of the first two polyalanine (PA1 and PA2
      respectively) tracts. However, phenotypic data for the mouse modelling the more
      frequent ARX PA2 dup24 mutation in patients has not been reported and constitutes
      a barrier to understanding the molecular mechanisms involved. Here we report the
      first comprehensive analysis of postnatal outcomes for mice modelling disease
      causing expansions to both PA1 and PA2 tracts. Both strains were found to have
      impaired learning and memory, reduced activity, increased anxiety and reduced
      sociability; with PA1 mice generally displaying greater behavioural deficits in
      keeping with the more severe phenotype reported in patients. In agreement with
      previous reports, 70% of PA1 males exhibit myoclonic seizures by two months of
      age, with the first observed at P18. In this report, we show 80% of PA2 males
      also display myoclonic seizures, with the first observed at P19. Consistent with
      patient phenotypes, we observe large variations in seizure progression and
      severity for both PA1 and PA2 individual mice. The generation of this
      comprehensive baseline data is a necessary step on the path to the development of
      therapies to improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28602635
TI  - Validation of a method for quantitation of the clopidogrel active metabolite,
      clopidogrel, clopidogrel carboxylic acid, and 2-oxo-clopidogrel in feline plasma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The clopidogrel active metabolite (CAM) is unstable and challenging
      to quantitate. The objective was to validate a new method for stabilization and
      quantitation of CAM, clopidogrel, and the inactive metabolites clopidogrel
      carboxylic acid and 2-oxo-clopiodgrel in feline plasma. ANIMALS: Two healthy cats
      administered clopidogrel to demonstrate assay in vivo utility. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Stabilization of CAM was achieved by adding 2-bromo
      3'methoxyacetophenone to blood tubes to form a derivatized CAM (CAM-D). Method
      validation included evaluation of calibration curve linearity, accuracy, and
      precision; within and between assay precision and accuracy; and compound
      stability using spiked blank feline plasma. Analytes were measured by high
      performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. In vivo utility
      was demonstrated by a pharmacokinetic study of cats given a single oral dose of
      18.75mg clopidogrel. RESULTS: The 2-oxo-clopidogrel metabolite was unstable.
      Clopidogrel, CAM-D, and clopidogrel carboxylic acid appear stable for 1 week at
      room temperature and 9 months at -80 degrees C. Standard curves showed linearity
      for CAM-D, clopidogrel, and clopidogrel carboxylic acid (r > 0.99). Between assay
      accuracy and precision was <=2.6% and <=7.1% for CAM-D and <=17.9% and <=11.3%
      for clopidogrel and clopidogrel carboxylic acid. Within assay precision for all
      three compounds was <=7%. All three compounds were detected in plasma from
      healthy cats receiving clopidogrel. DISCUSSION: This methodology is accurate and
      precise for simultaneous quantitation of CAM-D, clopidogrel, and clopidogrel
      carboxylic acid in feline plasma but not 2-oxo-clopidogrel. CONCLUSIONS:
      Validation of this assay is the first step to more fully understanding the use of
      clopidogrel in cats.

PMID- 28602637
TI  - Inhibition Mechanism of an Anti-CRISPR Suppressor AcrIIA4 Targeting SpyCas9.
AB  - Prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems utilize sequence-specific RNA
      guided endonucleases to defend against infection by viruses, bacteriophages, and
      mobile elements, while these foreign genetic elements evolve diverse anti-CRISPR
      proteins to overcome the CRISPR-Cas-mediated defense of the host. Recently,
      AcrIIA2 and AcrIIA4, encoded by Listeria monocytogene prophages, were shown to
      block the endonuclease activity of type II-A Streptococcus pyogene Cas9
      (SpyCas9). We now report the crystal structure of AcrIIA4 in complex with single
      guide RNA-bound SpyCas9, thereby establishing that AcrIIA4 preferentially targets
      critical residues essential for PAM duplex recognition, as well as blocks target
      DNA access to key catalytic residues lining the RuvC pocket. These structural
      insights, validated by biochemical assays on key mutants, demonstrate that
      AcrIIA4 competitively occupies both PAM-interacting and non-target DNA strand
      cleavage catalytic pockets. Our studies provide insights into anti-CRISPR
      mediated suppression mechanisms for inactivating SpyCas9, thereby broadening the
      applicability of CRISPR-Cas regulatory tools for genome editing.

PMID- 28602638
TI  - Autophagy-Dependent Shuttling of TBC1D5 Controls Plasma Membrane Translocation of
      GLUT1 and Glucose Uptake.
AB  - Autophagy traditionally sustains metabolism in stressed cells by promoting
      intracellular catabolism and nutrient recycling. Here, we demonstrate that in
      response to stresses requiring increased glycolytic demand, the core autophagy
      machinery also facilitates glucose uptake and glycolytic flux by promoting cell
      surface expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1/Slc2a1. During metabolic
      stress, LC3+ autophagic compartments bind and sequester the RabGAP protein TBC1D5
      away from its inhibitory interactions with the retromer complex, thereby enabling
      retromer recruitment to endosome membranes and GLUT1 plasma membrane
      translocation. In contrast, TBC1D5 inhibitory interactions with the retromer are
      maintained in autophagy-deficient cells, leading to GLUT1 mis-sorting into
      endolysosomal compartments. Furthermore, TBC1D5 depletion in autophagy-deficient
      cells rescues retromer recruitment to endosomal membranes and GLUT1 surface
      recycling. Hence, TBC1D5 shuttling to autophagosomes during metabolic stress
      facilitates retromer-dependent GLUT1 trafficking. Overall, our results illuminate
      key interconnections between the autophagy and endosomal pathways dictating GLUT1
      trafficking and extracellular nutrient uptake.

PMID- 28602639
TI  - Rad52 Inverse Strand Exchange Drives RNA-Templated DNA Double-Strand Break
      Repair.
AB  - RNA can serve as a template for DNA double-strand break repair in yeast cells,
      and Rad52, a member of the homologous recombination pathway, emerged as an
      important player in this process. However, the exact mechanism of how Rad52
      contributes to RNA-dependent DSB repair remained unknown. Here, we report an
      unanticipated activity of yeast and human Rad52: inverse strand exchange, in
      which Rad52 forms a complex with dsDNA and promotes strand exchange with
      homologous ssRNA or ssDNA. We show that in eukaryotes, inverse strand exchange
      between homologous dsDNA and RNA is a distinctive activity of Rad52; neither
      Rad51 recombinase nor the yeast Rad52 paralog Rad59 has this activity. In accord
      with our in vitro results, our experiments in budding yeast provide evidence that
      Rad52 inverse strand exchange plays an important role in RNA-templated DSB repair
      in vivo.

PMID- 28602640
TI  - Design and synthesis of novel delta opioid receptor agonists with an
      azatricyclodecane skeleton for improving blood-brain barrier penetration.
AB  - We designed and synthesized novel delta opioid receptor (DOR) agonists 3a-i with
      an azatricyclodecane skeleton, which was a novel structural class of DOR
      agonists. Among them, 3b exhibited high values of binding affinity and potent
      agonistic activity for the DOR that were approximately equivalent to those of 2
      which bore an oxazatricyclodecane skeleton. In vitro assays using the blood-brain
      barrier (BBB) permeability test kit supported the idea that 3b achieved an
      excellent BBB permeability by converting an oxygen atom of 2 to a carbon atom
      (methylene group) in the core skeleton. As a result, 3b showed potent
      antinociceptive effects.

PMID- 28602641
TI  - A novel flexible capacitive load sensor for use in a mobile unicompartmental knee
      replacement bearing: An in vitro proof of concept study.
AB  - Instrumented knee replacements can provide in vivo data quantifying physiological
      loads acting on the knee. To date instrumented mobile unicompartmental knee
      replacements (UKR) have not been realised. Ideally instrumentation would be
      embedded within the polyethylene bearing. This study investigated the feasibility
      of an embedded flexible capacitive load sensor. A novel flexible capacitive load
      sensor was developed which could be incorporated into standard manufacturing of
      compression moulded polyethylene bearings. Dynamic experiments were performed to
      determine the characteristics of the sensor on a uniaxial servo-hydraulic
      material testing machine. The instrumented bearing was measured at sinusoidal
      frequencies between 0.1 and 10Hz, allowing for measurement of typical gait load
      magnitudes and frequencies. These correspond to frequencies of interest in
      physiological loading. The loads that were applied were a static load of 390N,
      corresponding to an equivalent body weight load for UKR, and a dynamic load of +/
      293N. The frequency transfer response of the sensor suggests a low pass filter
      response with a -3dB frequency of 10Hz. The proposed embedded capacitive load
      sensor was shown to be applicable for measuring in vivo loads within a
      polyethylene mobile UKR bearing.

PMID- 28602642
TI  - Precision and accuracy of consumer-grade motion tracking system for pedicle screw
      placement in pediatric spinal fusion surgery.
AB  - Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a 3-dimensional spinal deformity
      involving lateral curvature and axial rotation. Surgical intervention involves
      insertion of pedicle screws into the spine, requiring accuracies of 1mm and 5
      degrees  in translation and rotation to prevent neural and vascular
      complications. While commercial CT-navigation is available, the significant cost,
      bulk and radiation dose hinders their use in AIS surgery. The objective of this
      study was to evaluate a commercial-grade Optitrack Prime 13W motion capture
      cameras to determine if they can achieve adequate accuracy for screw insertion
      guidance in AIS. Static precision, camera and tracked rigid body configurations,
      translational and rotational accuracy were investigated. A 1-h camera warm-up
      time was required to achieve precisions of 0.13mm and 0.10 degrees . A three
      camera system configuration with cameras at equal height but staggered depth
      achieved the best accuracy. A triangular rigid body with 7.9mm markers had
      superior accuracy. The translational accuracy for motions up to 150mm was 0.25mm
      while rotational accuracy was 4.9 degrees  for rotations in two directions from 0
      degrees  to 70 degrees . Required translational and rotational accuracies were
      achieved using this motion capture system as well as being comparable to surgical
      grade navigators.

PMID- 28602643
TI  - The use of negative pressure wound therapy to prevent post-operative surgical
      site infections following pancreaticoduodenectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rates of superficial surgical site infection (SSI) following
      pancreaticoduodenectomy remain high. Following resection for cancer,
      complications such as SSI impact adjuvant therapy delivery and portend worse
      survival. An incisional negative pressure dressing (iVAC) has been demonstrated
      to reduce SSI in other high-risk cohorts. METHODS: Following a comprehensive
      effort to identify patients at high risk for SSI, the practice patterns at a
      single academic center shifted and iVAC use increased. SSI rates were tracked in
      a prospectively maintained database and are reported. RESULTS: 394 patients
      underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy over 21 months. 120 patients (30.5%) had an
      iVAC applied. The overall rate of SSI was 19.8%. On multivariate analysis,
      increased risk for SSI was associated with neoadjuvant therapy, preoperative
      biliary interventions and prior abdominal surgery. iVAC use decreased the rate of
      SSI (OR 0.45, p = 0.015). In the highest-risk patients, SSI rate declined from
      50% in patients without an iVAC to 19.1% with iVAC use (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION:
      The use of an iVAC following pancreaticoduodenectomy is associated with decreased
      SSI rates. This is particularly true for patients at highest risk as defined by a
      previously established risk scoring system in patients undergoing open
      pancreaticoduodenectomy.

PMID- 28602645
TI  - Synthesis and comprehensive structural and physicochemical characterization of
      dutasteride hydrochloride hydrate solvates.
AB  - Four crystalline dutasteride hydrochloride hydrate solvates containing
      respectively methanol, ethanol, acetone and acetonitrile molecules were obtained.
      All samples were characterized by extensive spectroscopic analysis with infrared
      spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and 1H as well as
      13C NMR techniques. For three solvates, i.e. methanol, ethanol and acetone
      solvates, the single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) experiments were possible,
      and their respective crystal and molecular structures were determined. The
      present study allowed to unambiguously establish the molecular composition of
      solvates as consisting of a dutasteride : hydrogen chloride : water : solvent in
      a molar ratio of 1:1:1:1 and confirm that they are isostructural. Beyond
      providing the full spectroscopic characteristic of the compounds, the results
      obtained have also allowed clarifying of some appearing inconsistencies in
      published literature regarding the appropriate attribution of IR absorption bands
      to the relevant molecular vibrations.

PMID- 28602644
TI  - Increased kinetic growth rate during late phase liver regeneration impacts the
      risk of tumor recurrence after colorectal liver metastases resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although experimental data strongly support the pro-tumorigenic role
      of postoperative liver regeneration, this hypothesis has not been clinically
      investigated. We aimed to examine the impact of liver regeneration determined by
      volumetric imaging on recurrence following resection of colorectal liver
      metastasis (CRLM). METHODS: Resected liver volume was subtracted from total liver
      volume (TLV) to define postoperative remnant liver volume (RLVp). Early and late
      kinetic growth rates (KGR) were defined as the postoperative increases in liver
      volume within 2-3 and 8-10 months from surgery, respectively, divided by the
      corresponding time interval. RESULTS: Median early and late KGR was 2.6%/month
      (IQR: -0.9 to 12.3) and 1.0%/month (IQR: -0.64 to 2.91), respectively. Late KGR
      predicted intrahepatic recurrence after 1 year from surgery (AUC 0.677, P =
      0.011). Specifically, patients with a late KGR >=1% had a higher cumulative risk
      of recurrence compared with patients with a KGR <1% (P = 0.038). In multivariate
      analysis, KGR >=1% independently predicted recurrence (P = 0.027). DISCUSSION: A
      KGR >=1% during the late regeneration phase was associated with increased risk of
      intrahepatic recurrence. These data may inform the timing of adjuvant therapy
      administration and focus surveillance strategies for high-risk patients.

PMID- 28602646
TI  - The effects of glycine on auditory mismatch negativity in schizophrenia.
AB  - Glycine increases N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) mediated glutamatergic
      function. Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a proposed biomarker of glutamate-induced
      improvements in clinical symptoms, however, the effect of glycine-mediated NMDAR
      activation on MMN in schizophrenia is not well understood. This study aimed to
      determine the effects of acute and 6-week chronic glycine administration on MMN
      in schizophrenia patients. MMN amplitude was compared at baseline between 22
      patients (schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder; receiving stable
      antipsychotic medication; multi-centre recruitment) and 21 age- and gender
      matched controls. Patients underwent a randomised, double-blind, placebo
      controlled clinical trial with glycine added to their regular antipsychotic
      medication (placebo, n=10; glycine, n=12). MMN was reassessed post-45-minutes of
      first dose (0.2g/kg) and post-6-weeks treatment (incremented to 0.6g/kg/day).
      Clinical symptoms were assessed at baseline and post-6-weeks treatment. At
      baseline, duration MMN was smaller in schizophrenia compared to controls. Acute
      glycine increased duration MMN (compared to placebo), whilst this difference was
      absent post-6-weeks treatment. Six weeks of chronic glycine administration
      improved PANSS-Total, PANSS-Negative and PANSS-General symptoms compared to
      placebo. Smaller baseline duration MMN was associated with greater PANSS-Negative
      symptoms and predicted (at trend level) PANSS-Negative symptom improvement post-6
      weeks glycine treatment (not placebo). These findings support the benefits of
      chronic glycine administration and demonstrate, for the first time, that acute
      glycine improves duration MMN in schizophrenia. This result, together with
      smaller baseline duration MMN predicting greater clinical treatment response,
      suggests the potential for duration MMN as a biomarker of glycine-induced
      improvements in negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

PMID- 28602647
TI  - State marker properties of niacin skin sensitivity in ultra-high risk groups for
      psychosis - An optical reflection spectroscopy study.
AB  - Impaired niacin sensitivity (NS) is one of the most replicated findings in
      untreated schizophrenia, and reflects a disturbance of prostaglandin-mediated
      pathways in association with deregulated arachidonic acid metabolism, pro
      inflammatory activation, and vasomotor function. In ultra-high risk individuals
      (UHR) increased NS was reported recently, pointing towards dynamic alterations of
      the underlying pathomechanisms in the period preceding psychosis. However, these
      characteristics are still unresolved in the diverse UHR groups. We tested the
      hypothesis that NS is attenuated in patients who have transitioned to psychosis
      and in the Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms (BLIPS, UHR-B) and/or
      the attenuated symptoms (UHR-A) groups, while it is unchanged or increased in the
      genetic risk group (UHR-G). Sensitivity to three concentrations (0.1-0.001M) of
      aqueous methylnicotinate was tested in 84 UHR patients, 105 first-episode
      psychosis patients (FEP) and 180 healthy individuals (HC), using optical
      reflection spectroscopy (ORS). The UHR subgroup and transition/non-transition
      outcomes were assessed according to PACE criteria using the CAARMS.
      Psychopathology was assessed using SANS, SAPS, and BPRS or SCL-90-R self-ratings.
      In 0.001M data, decreased NS was found in the UHR-B (n=12), UHR-A (n=45) and the
      transition groups (n=13), similar to the result in FEP. NS in the UHR-G (n=27)
      and HC groups did not differ. In the UHR-B and FEP groups, NS and positive
      symptom scores were inversely correlated. These state marker properties could be
      used to characterize the intensity of the underlying pathomechanisms during the
      onset of psychosis or to identify UHR individuals that might benefit from related
      indicated prevention strategies.

PMID- 28602648
TI  - A systematic review of trials investigating strength training in schizophrenia
      spectrum disorders.
AB  - This systematic review analyzed strength training (ST) in patients with
      schizophrenia. Two independent reviewers searched PubMed and CENTRAL. Only two
      studies reported on the effects of isolated ST. ST with a single exercise did not
      improve psychopathology but walking performance. ST for several large muscle
      groups significantly improved muscle strength and psychopathology. To date, no
      treatment recommendations can be made for ST. Consistent with recommendations for
      healthy people combined strength and endurance training can be recommended for
      schizophrenia. For higher transparency regarding trainings aspects, we recommend
      for future studies to use the sport science checklist proposed in this paper.

PMID- 28602649
TI  - Key Features of Structural and Functional Organization of Zebrafish Facial Motor
      Neurons Are Resilient to Disruption of Neuronal Migration.
AB  - The location of neurons early in development can be critical for their ability to
      differentiate and receive normal synaptic inputs. Indeed, disruptions in neuronal
      positioning lead to a variety of neurological disorders. Neurons have, however,
      shifted their positions across phylogeny, suggesting that changes in location do
      not always spell functional disaster. To investigate the functional consequences
      of abnormal positioning, we leveraged previously reported genetic perturbations
      to disrupt normal neuronal migration-and thus positioning-in a population of
      cranial motor neurons, the facial branchiomotor neurons (FBMNs). We used a
      combination of topographical, morphological, physiological, and behavioral
      analyses to determine whether key functional features of FBMNs were still
      established in migration mutants, in spite of a dramatic rostrocaudal
      repositioning of these neurons in hindbrain. We discovered that FBMNs seem
      remarkably resilient to a disruption in positioning, suggesting that they may not
      rely heavily on rostrocaudal positioning to guide their functional development.
      Thus, the role of positioning may vary across the developing nervous system, with
      some populations-like facial motor neurons-exhibiting greater resilience to
      abnormal positioning that permits them to shift location as a part of
      evolutionary change.

PMID- 28602650
TI  - Generation of Single-Cell Transcript Variability by Repression.
AB  - Gene expression levels vary greatly within similar cells, even within clonal cell
      populations [1]. These spontaneous expression differences underlie cell fate
      diversity in both differentiation and disease [2]. The mechanisms responsible for
      generating expression variability are poorly understood. Using single-cell
      transcriptomics, we show that transcript variability emerging during
      Dictyostelium differentiation is driven predominantly by repression rather than
      activation. The increased variability of repressed genes was observed over a
      broad range of expression levels, indicating that variability is actively imposed
      and not a passive statistical effect of the reduced numbers of molecules
      accompanying repression. These findings can be explained by a simple model of
      transcript production, with expression controlled by the frequency, rather than
      the magnitude, of transcriptional firing events. Our study reveals that the
      generation of differences between cells can be a direct consequence of the basic
      mechanisms of transcriptional regulation.

PMID- 28602652
TI  - Domestication Does Not Explain the Presence of Inequity Aversion in Dogs.
AB  - Sensitivity to inequity is thought to be an important mechanism for recognizing
      undesirable cooperative partners and thus crucial for the evolution of human
      cooperation [1]. This link may not be unique to humans, as cooperative non-human
      primates also react to unequal outcomes [2], whereas non-cooperative species do
      not [3]. Although this hypothesis has not been tested in non-primate species,
      studies revealed that pet dogs show a limited form of inequity aversion,
      responding to reward, but not quality inequity [4-6]. It has been proposed that
      this primitive form of inequity aversion was selected for during domestication
      and thus absent in their ancestors, wolves. Alternatively, wolves, which hunt,
      raise pups, and defend their territory cooperatively, are similarly inequity
      averse as non-human primates, or at least to the same degree as pet dogs. Testing
      similarly raised and kept pack-living dogs and wolves, we found both to be
      inequity averse when their partner was being rewarded but they were not for
      performing the same action. Additionally, both wolves and dogs reacted to
      receiving a lower-quality reward than their partner. These results suggest that
      the inequity response found in pack-living dogs and wolves is comparable to that
      observed in non-human primates; results from studies on pet dogs may be
      confounded by the dogs' relationship with humans. Consequently, our results
      suggest that inequity aversion was present already in the common-probably
      cooperative-ancestor of wolves and dogs and thus support the hypothesis of a
      close link of cooperation and inequity aversion.

PMID- 28602651
TI  - A bHLH Code for Sexually Dimorphic Form and Function of the C. elegans Somatic
      Gonad.
AB  - How sexually dimorphic gonads are generated is a fundamental question at the
      interface of developmental and evolutionary biology [1-3]. In C. elegans, sexual
      dimorphism in gonad form and function largely originates in different
      apportionment of roles to three regulatory cells of the somatic gonad primordium
      in young larvae. Their essential roles include leading gonad arm outgrowth,
      serving as the germline niche, connecting to epithelial openings, and organizing
      reproductive organ development. The development and function of the regulatory
      cells in both sexes requires the basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription
      factor HLH-2, the sole ortholog of the E proteins mammalian E2A and Drosophila
      Daughterless [4-8], yet how they adopt different fates to execute their different
      roles has been unknown. Here, we show that each regulatory cell expresses a
      distinct complement of bHLH-encoding genes-and therefore distinct HLH-2:bHLH
      dimers-and formulate a "bHLH code" hypothesis for regulatory cell identity. We
      support this hypothesis by showing that the bHLH gene complement is both
      necessary and sufficient to confer particular regulatory cell fates. Strikingly,
      prospective regulatory cells can be directly reprogrammed into other regulatory
      cell types simply by loss or ectopic expression of bHLH genes, and male-to-female
      and female-to-male transformations indicate that the code is instructive for
      sexual dimorphism. The bHLH code appears to be embedded in a bow-tie regulatory
      architecture [9, 10], wherein sexual, positional, temporal, and lineage inputs
      connect through bHLH genes to diverse outputs for terminal features and provides
      a plausible mechanism for the evolutionary plasticity of gonad form seen in
      nematodes [11-15].

PMID- 28602653
TI  - Infrasonic and Ultrasonic Hearing Evolved after the Emergence of Modern Whales.
AB  - Mysticeti (baleen whales) and Odontoceti (toothed whales) today greatly differ in
      their hearing abilities: Mysticeti are presumed to be sensitive to infrasonic
      noises [1-3], whereas Odontoceti are sensitive to ultrasonic sounds [4-6]. Two
      competing hypotheses exist regarding the attainment of hearing abilities in
      modern whales: ancestral low-frequency sensitivity [7-13] or ancestral high
      frequency sensitivity [14, 15]. The significance of these evolutionary scenarios
      is limited by the undersampling of both early-diverging cetaceans (archaeocetes)
      and terrestrial hoofed relatives of cetaceans (non-cetacean artiodactyls). Here,
      we document for the first time the bony labyrinth, the hollow cavity housing the
      hearing organ, of two species of protocetid whales from Lutetian deposits (ca. 46
      43 Ma) of Kpogame, Togo. These archaeocete cetaceans, which are transitional
      between terrestrial and aquatic forms, prove to be a key for determining the
      hearing abilities of early whales. We propose a new evolutionary picture for the
      early stages of this history, based on qualitative and quantitative studies of
      the cochlear morphology of an unparalleled sample of extant and extinct land
      artiodactyls and cetaceans. Contrary to the hypothesis that archaeocetes have
      been more sensitive to high-frequency sounds than their terrestrial ancestors
      [15], we demonstrate that early cetaceans presented a cochlear functional pattern
      close to that of their terrestrial relatives, and that specialization for
      infrasonic or ultrasonic hearing in Mysticeti or Odontoceti, respectively,
      instead only occurred in fully aquatic whales, after the emergence of Neoceti
      (Mysticeti+Odontoceti).

PMID- 28602654
TI  - The Human Fetus Preferentially Engages with Face-like Visual Stimuli.
AB  - In the third trimester of pregnancy, the human fetus has the capacity to process
      perceptual information [1-3]. With advances in 4D ultrasound technology, detailed
      assessment of fetal behavior [4] is now possible. Furthermore, modeling of
      intrauterine conditions has indicated a substantially greater luminance within
      the uterus than previously thought [5]. Consequently, light conveying perceptual
      content could be projected through the uterine wall and perceived by the fetus,
      dependent on how light interfaces with maternal tissue. We do know that human
      infants at birth show a preference to engage with a top-heavy, face-like stimulus
      when contrasted with all other forms of stimuli [6, 7]. However, the viability of
      performing such an experiment based on visual stimuli projected through the
      uterine wall with fetal participants is not currently known. We examined fetal
      head turns to visually presented upright and inverted face-like stimuli. Here we
      show that the fetus in the third trimester of pregnancy is more likely to engage
      with upright configural stimuli when contrasted to inverted visual stimuli, in a
      manner similar to results with newborn participants. The current study suggests
      that postnatal experience is not required for this preference. In addition, we
      describe a new method whereby it is possible to deliver specific visual stimuli
      to the fetus. This new technique provides an important new pathway for the
      assessment of prenatal visual perceptual capacities.

PMID- 28602655
TI  - Attention Robustly Gates a Closed-Loop Touch Reflex.
AB  - Rats' large whiskers (macrovibrissae) are used to explore their nearby
      environment, typically using repetitive protraction-retraction "whisking" motions
      that are coordinated with head and body movements [1-8]. Once objects are
      detected, the rat can further explore the object tactually by using both the
      macrovibrissae and an array of shorter, stationary microvibrissae on the chin, as
      well as by using the lips [9-11]. When touch occurs during whisking, a fast
      reflexive response, termed a touch-induced pump (TIP), may be triggered. During a
      TIP, the whisker slightly retracts and protracts again, doubling the number of
      pressure onsets per contact. In head-fixed rats, TIPs occur in ~25% of the
      contacts [12]. Here we report that the occurrence of TIPs depends strongly on
      attention, indicated by head-turning toward an object: when rats intended to
      explore an object, either after encountering it during free exploration or when
      expecting its existence, the probability of a TIP increased from <30% to >65%
      without an increase in TIP latency. TIP regulation was unilateral and specific to
      the attended object; when two objects were palpated bilaterally simultaneously,
      TIP probability increased to >65% and decreased to <20% for contacts with the
      apparently-attended and apparently-unattended object, respectively. A data-driven
      computational model indicates that attentional gating could not be triggered by
      object contact, due to temporal constraints; rather, it could be based on a
      normally enabled or whisking-triggered scheme. Taken together, our results
      suggest that object-related attention regulates contact dynamics by gating the
      operation of a brainstem motor-sensory-motor loop and that this regulation is
      optimized for fast reaction.

PMID- 28602656
TI  - A Phylogenomic Solution to the Origin of Insects by Resolving Crustacean-Hexapod
      Relationships.
AB  - Insects, the most diverse group of organisms, are nested within crustaceans,
      arguably the most abundant group of marine animals. However, to date, no
      consensus has been reached as to which crustacean taxon is the closest relative
      of hexapods. A majority of studies have proposed that Branchiopoda (e.g., fairy
      shrimps) is the sister group of Hexapoda [1-7]. However, these investigations
      largely excluded two equally important taxa, Remipedia and Cephalocarida. Other
      studies suggested Remipedia [8-11] or Remipedia + Cephalocarida [12, 13] as
      potential sister groups of hexapods, but they either did not include
      Cephalocarida or used only Sanger sequence data and morphology [9, 12]. Here we
      present the first phylogenomic study specifically addressing the origins of
      hexapods, including transcriptomes for two species each of Cephalocarida and
      Remipedia. Phylogenetic analyses of selected matrices, ranging from 81 to 1,675
      orthogroups and up to 510,982 amino acid positions, clearly reject a sister-group
      relationship between Hexapoda and Branchiopoda [1-7]. Nonetheless, support for a
      hexapod sister-group relationship to Remipedia or to Cephalocarida-Remipedia was
      highly dependent on the employed analytical methodology. Further analyses
      assessing the effects of gene evolutionary rate and targeted taxon exclusion
      support Remipedia as the sole sister taxon of Hexapoda and suggest that the prior
      grouping of Remipedia + Cephalocarida is an artifact, possibly due to long branch
      attraction and compositional heterogeneity. We further conclude that
      terrestrialization of Hexapoda probably occurred in the late Cambrian to early
      Ordovician, an estimate that is independent of their proposed sister group [4, 8,
      12, 14].

PMID- 28602657
TI  - Fatty Acid Availability Sets Cell Envelope Capacity and Dictates Microbial Cell
      Size.
AB  - Nutrients-and by extension biosynthetic capacity-positively impact cell size in
      organisms throughout the tree of life. In bacteria, cell size is reduced 3-fold
      in response to nutrient starvation or accumulation of the alarmone ppGpp, a
      global inhibitor of biosynthesis. However, whether biosynthetic capacity as a
      whole determines cell size or whether particular anabolic pathways are more
      important than others remains an open question. Here we identify fatty acid
      synthesis as the primary biosynthetic determinant of Escherichia coli size and
      present evidence supporting a similar role for fatty acids as a positive
      determinant of size in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the
      single-celled eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Altering fatty acid synthesis
      recapitulated the impact of altering nutrients on cell size and morphology,
      whereas defects in other biosynthetic pathways had either a negligible or fatty
      acid-dependent effect on size. Together, our findings support a novel "outside
      in" model in which fatty acid availability sets cell envelope capacity, which in
      turn dictates cell size. In the absence of ppGpp, limiting fatty acid synthesis
      leads to cell lysis, supporting a role for ppGpp as a linchpin linking expansion
      of cytoplasmic volume to the growth of the cell envelope to preserve cellular
      integrity.

PMID- 28602658
TI  - Bidirectional Frontoparietal Oscillatory Systems Support Working Memory.
AB  - The ability to represent and select information in working memory provides the
      neurobiological infrastructure for human cognition. For 80 years, dominant views
      of working memory have focused on the key role of prefrontal cortex (PFC) [1-8].
      However, more recent work has implicated posterior cortical regions [9-12],
      suggesting that PFC engagement during working memory is dependent on the degree
      of executive demand. We provide evidence from neurological patients with discrete
      PFC damage that challenges the dominant models attributing working memory to PFC
      dependent systems. We show that neural oscillations, which provide a mechanism
      for PFC to communicate with posterior cortical regions [13], independently
      subserve communications both to and from PFC-uncovering parallel oscillatory
      mechanisms for working memory. Fourteen PFC patients and 20 healthy, age-matched
      controls performed a working memory task where they encoded, maintained, and
      actively processed information about pairs of common shapes. In controls, the
      electroencephalogram (EEG) exhibited oscillatory activity in the low-theta range
      over PFC and directional connectivity from PFC to parieto-occipital regions
      commensurate with executive processing demands. Concurrent alpha-beta
      oscillations were observed over parieto-occipital regions, with directional
      connectivity from parieto-occipital regions to PFC, regardless of processing
      demands. Accuracy, PFC low-theta activity, and PFC -> parieto-occipital
      connectivity were attenuated in patients, revealing a PFC-independent, alpha-beta
      system. The PFC patients still demonstrated task proficiency, which indicates
      that the posterior alpha-beta system provides sufficient resources for working
      memory. Taken together, our findings reveal neurologically dissociable PFC and
      parieto-occipital systems and suggest that parallel, bidirectional oscillatory
      systems form the basis of working memory.

PMID- 28602659
TI  - Long-term multi-species Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium dietary supplement
      enhances memory and changes regional brain metabolites in middle-aged rats.
AB  - Ageing is associated with changes in the gut microbiome that may contribute to
      age-related changes in cognition. Previous work has shown that dietary
      supplements with multi-species live microorganisms can influence brain function,
      including induction of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and production of brain
      derived neurotrophic factor, in both young and aged rodents. However, the effect
      of such dietary supplements on memory processes has been less well documented,
      particularly in the context of aging. The main aim of the present study was to
      examine the impact of a long-term dietary supplement with a multi-species live
      Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria mixture (Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL60, L.
      acidophilus CUL21, Bifidobacterium bifidum CUL20 and B. lactis CUL34) on tests of
      memory and behavioural flexibility in 15-17-month-old male rats. Following
      behavioural testing, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex was extracted and
      analysed ex vivo using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy to
      examine brain metabolites. The results showed a small beneficial effect of the
      dietary supplement on watermaze spatial navigation and robust improvements in
      long-term object recognition memory and short-term memory for object-in-place
      associations. Short-term object novelty and object temporal order memory was not
      influenced by the dietary supplement in aging rats. 1H NMR analysis revealed diet
      related regional-specific changes in brain metabolites; which indicated changes
      in several pathways contributing to modulation of neural signaling. These data
      suggest that chronic dietary supplement with multi-species live microorganisms
      can alter brain metabolites in aging rats and have beneficial effects on memory.

PMID- 28602660
TI  - A Proposed Model for Perinatal Palliative Care.
AB  - Perinatal palliative care allows for an active partnership among a pregnant
      woman, her family, and her multidisciplinary treatment team and addresses her
      specialized medical care, emotional, social, and familial needs when a life
      limiting fetal diagnosis is confirmed. The purpose of this article is to
      highlight the multidisciplinary care model used within a perinatal palliative
      care program. A case study provides a unique perspective on support needed for
      parents who anticipate that their newborn may die before or shortly after birth.

PMID- 28602661
TI  - Brain Arteriovenous Malformations Located in Language Area: Surgical Outcomes and
      Risk Factors for Postoperative Language Deficits.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Case selection for surgical treatment of language-area brain
      arteriovenous malformations (L-BAVMs) remains difficult. This study aimed to
      determine the surgical outcomes and risk factors for postoperative language
      deficits (LDs) in patients with L-BAVMs. METHODS: Patients with L-BAVMs who
      underwent microsurgical resection between September 2012 and June 2016 were
      reviewed. All patients had undergone preoperative functional magnetic resonance
      imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Both functional and angioarchitectural
      factors were analyzed regarding the postoperative LD. Functional factors included
      the eloquence involved, the side of blood-oxygenation level-dependent signal
      activation and the white-matter fibers (anterior segment, long segment [LS], and
      posterior segment of arcuate fasciculus, and the inferior fronto-occipital
      fasciculus) involved. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients with L-BAVMs were reviewed.
      Postoperative short- and long-term LD was found in 32 (46.4%) and 14 (20.3%)
      patients, respectively. Twelve of the 14 patients with Geschwind's territory L
      BAVMs (85.7%) had short-term LD, compared with 10 (34.5%) in Wernicke's and 10
      (38.5%) in Broca's area. LS involvement (P = 0.001) and larger nidus size (P =
      0.017) were independent risk factors for the short-term LD. Meanwhile, nidus size
      (P = 0.007), preoperative LD (P = 0.008), and LS involvement (P = 0.028) were
      independent risk factors for long-term LD. CONCLUSIONS: L-BAVMs located in
      Geschwind's territory can cause a high incidence of LD. LS involvement and larger
      nidus size are risk factors for postoperative short- and long-term LD, and
      preoperative LD is a risk factor for postoperative, long-term LD.

PMID- 28602662
TI  - Biomethanation macrodynamics of vegetable residues pretreated by low-frequency
      microwave irradiation.
AB  - The effects of microwave irradiation on the digestibility and biogas production
      of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea
      var. capitata) leaves were investigated using biochemical methane potential (BMP)
      assays. Cow dung was utilised as inoculum. Different microwave powers (87.5, 175
      and 350W) were applied in a first set of runs for 15min. The second set consisted
      of 20, 25 and 30min irradiation at 350W. Based on ANOVA analysis (alpha=0.05),
      biogas production was significantly higher for the irradiated substrates compared
      to controls. The peak biogas production was 700ml for 36days HRT for 350W/25min.
      Peak COD, SCOD, volatile and total solids removals were 54.84%, 39.08%, 34.60%
      and 71.96%, respectively. Phosphate and total nitrogen increased significantly.
      Cumulative biogas production data fitted the modified Gompertz equation well. The
      highest biogas yield was 0.271L/g VSremoved at a 350W microwave irradiation for
      30min.

PMID- 28602663
TI  - Establishing a green platform for biodiesel synthesis via strategic utilization
      of biochar and dimethyl carbonate.
AB  - To establish a green platform for biodiesel production, this study mainly
      investigates pseudo-catalytic (non-catalytic) transesterification of olive oil.
      To this end, biochar from agricultural waste (maize residue) and dimethyl
      carbonate (DMC) as an acyl acceptor were used for pseudo-catalytic
      transesterification reaction. Reaction parameters (temperature and molar ratio of
      DMC to olive oil) were also optimized. The biodiesel yield reached up to 95.4%
      under the optimal operational conditions (380 degrees C and molar ratio of DMC to
      olive oil (36:1)). The new sustainable environmentally benign biodiesel
      production introduced in this study is greener and faster than conventional
      transesterification reactions.

PMID- 28602664
TI  - Proteins recovery from wet microalgae using liquid biphasic flotation (LBF).
AB  - In this work, the extraction of microalgal protein from wet Chlorella sorokiniana
      species using alcohol/salt liquid biphasic flotation (LBF) with the aid of
      ultrasonication for cell rupturing was proposed. The effect of varying crude
      feedstock concentration, flotation time, salt type, salt concentration, alcohol
      type, alcohol concentration, initial volumes of salt and alcohol were
      investigated. After the optimization process, the highest proportion of protein
      recovered in the top phase was achieved with 250g/L ammonium sulphate, 60% (v/v)
      2-propanol, 1.0VR,initial, 20g/L crude biomass load, 4mm3/min air flowrate and
      10min of flotation time. The recycling of phase components was introduced to
      minimize the use of alcohol and salt in the corresponding LBF. It was
      demonstrated that top phase (alcohol) recycling can achieve increasing
      performance for three consecutive recycling runs. Under optimized process
      conditions, the proportion of protein recovered in the top phase was 88.86% for
      the third recycle run.

PMID- 28602665
TI  - A review on the biomass pretreatment and inhibitor removal methods as key-steps
      towards efficient macroalgae-based biohydrogen production.
AB  - (Red, green and brown) macroalgal biomass is a propitious candidate towards
      covenant alternative energy resources to be converted into biofuels i.e.
      hydrogen. The application of macroalgae for hydrogen fermentation (promising
      route in advancing the biohydrogen generation process) could be accomplished by
      the transformation of carbohydrates, which is a topic receiving broad attention
      in recent years. This article overviews the variety of marine algal biomass
      available in the coastal system, followed by the analyses of their pretreatment
      methods, inhibitor formation and possible detoxification, which are key-aspects
      to achieve subsequent H2 fermentation in a proper way.

PMID- 28602666
TI  - A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Group Intervention for Hypersexual Disorder: A
      Feasibility Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The proposed criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for
      Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition for hypersexual disorder (HD) included symptoms
      reported by patients seeking help for excessive and out-of-control non-paraphilic
      sexual behavior, including sexual behaviors in response to dysphoric mood states,
      impulsivity, and risk taking. Although no prior studies of cognitive-behavioral
      therapy (CBT) for the treatment of HD have been performed, CBT has been found
      effective for dysphoric mood states and impulsivity. AIM: To investigate the
      feasibility of a CBT manual developed for HD explored through symptom decrease,
      treatment attendance, and clients' treatment satisfaction. METHODS: Ten men with
      a diagnosis of HD took part in the CBT group program. Measurements were taken
      before, during, and at the end of treatment and 3 and 6 months after treatment.
      OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was the Hypersexual Disorder: Current Assessment
      Scale (HD:CAS) score that measured the severity of problematic hypersexual
      symptoms and secondary outcomes were the Hypersexual Disorder Screening Inventory
      (HDSI) score, the proportion of attended sessions, and the Client Satisfaction
      Questionnaire (CSQ-8) score. RESULTS: Main results were significant decreases of
      HD symptoms from before to after treatment on HD:CAS and HDSI scores and a
      decrease in the number of problematic sexual behaviors during the course of
      therapy. A high attendance rate of 93% and a high treatment satisfaction score on
      CSQ-8 also were found. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The CBT program seemed to
      ameliorate the symptoms of HD and therefore might be a feasible treatment option.
      STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: This study provides data from a CBT program for the
      treatment of the specific proposed criteria of HD. Because of the small sample
      and lack of a control group, the results can be considered only preliminary.
      CONCLUSION: Although participants reported decreased HD symptoms after attending
      the CBT program, future studies should evaluate the treatment program with a
      larger sample and a randomized controlled procedure to ensure treatment
      effectiveness. Hallberg J, Kaldo V, Arver S, et al. A Cognitive-Behavioral
      Therapy Group Intervention for Hypersexual Disorder: A Feasibility Study. J Sex
      Med 2017;14:950-958.

PMID- 28602667
TI  - Does Serum Homocysteine Explain the Connection Between Sexual Frequency and
      Cardiovascular Risk?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexual activity correlates with various health issues, and
      homocysteine is considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events
      and atherosclerosis. Research on the relation of sexual activity to sexual
      frequency and homocysteine is sparse. AIM: To examine the association between
      sexual frequency and homocysteine in the general population in the United States.
      METHODS: In total, 2,267 eligible participants 20 to 59 years old who had serum
      homocysteine data and completed a sexual behavior questionnaire were enrolled
      from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2005 to 2006. The
      correlation between sexual frequency and serum homocysteine levels was analyzed
      using a linear regression model and an extended-model approach was performed for
      covariate adjustment. OUTCOMES: Individuals, especially men, in the lower
      quartiles of sexual frequency had significantly higher serum homocysteine levels,
      and a sex difference was identified in subgroup analysis. RESULTS: In a model of
      quartile-based analysis after adjustment for age, sex, and race and ethnicity,
      the regression coefficient of the highest quartile of sexual frequency compared
      with the lowest quartile was -1.326 (P = .012). After further adjustment for
      multiple covariates, the inverse association between sexual frequency and serum
      homocysteine levels remained unchanged. Negative trends maintained statistical
      significance (P for trend < .05). In subgroup analysis by sex, a negative
      association between sexual frequency and serum homocysteine levels remained
      unchanged in men even after adjusting for multiple covariates, but not in women.
      CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Clinical physicians in primary care should support
      patients' sexual activity, and there are implications for health promotion
      programs. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: This is the first observational
      investigation stratified by sex to evaluate the correlation between sexual
      frequency and serum homocysteine levels. The study was a cross-sectional
      observational investigation and the causal relation should be evaluated in a
      follow-up study. CONCLUSION: Decreased sexual frequency correlated with higher
      homocysteine levels in a nationally representative sample of US adults,
      especially men; this might increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or other
      atherothrombotic events. Yang H-F, Kao T-W, Lin Y-Y, et al. Does Serum
      Homocysteine Explain the Connection Between Sexual Frequency and Cardiovascular
      Risk? J Sex Med 2017;14:910-917.

PMID- 28602668
TI  - Legionella pneumophila in healthcare settings: sensitivity to biocidal treatments
      in mono- and multi-species biofilms.

PMID- 28602669
TI  - The selective cytotoxicity of new triazene compounds to human melanoma cells.
AB  - Metastatic melanoma still remains one the most difficult cancers to overcome. The
      aim of our research was the design of anti-tumour triazene compounds 3 for
      application to a melanoma-specific therapy. The strategy exploits the unique
      enzyme pathway of melanin biosynthesis for conversion of non-toxic prodrugs into
      toxic drugs in the melanoma cell. The compounds 3 were designed by coupling two
      active moieties, the alkylating triazenes and different tyrosinase substrates.
      All compounds 3 revealed to be chemically stable in isotonic phosphate buffer
      (PBS) at physiologic pH (t1/2>=48h), and most of them showed to be slowly
      hydrolysed in human plasma (1.5<=t1/2 (h)<=161). Compounds 3c-n revealed to be
      excellent tyrosinase substrates (0.74<=t1/2 (min)<=6) with the best tyrosinase
      substrate 3l releasing MMT 45s after tyrosinase activation. Structure-activity
      relationship studies allowed the identification of the better structural features
      for enzyme affinity. Furthermore, the derivatives 3l and 3m showed cell
      selectivity with significant cytotoxic effects (IC50 values of 46-65MUM) against
      melanoma cell lines with tyrosinase overexpression MNT-1 and B16F10.

PMID- 28602670
TI  - The Applicability of the American College of Cardiology Appropriate Use Criteria
      for Myocardial Perfusion Scintigraphy in Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American College of Cardiology (ACC) Appropriate Use Criteria
      (AUC) for radionuclide myocardial perfusion scans (MPS) was developed to promote
      its rational use in the assessment of stable ischaemic heart disease (IHD). We
      sought to validate the applicability of this document in the Australian context.
      METHODS: 1009 consecutive patients who underwent MPS were retrospectively audited
      at a single major metropolitan hospital in Victoria, Australia. Appropriateness
      was assigned based on the 2013 ACC AUC, and common indications and predictors of
      positive scan results were examined. RESULTS: The AUC was successfully applied
      (99.1%) retrospectively. A large proportion of scans were deemed appropriate
      (82.7%), whilst 7.8% were maybe appropriate. Positive detection rates in these
      groups were 17.0% and 17.9% respectively. Eighteen patients (1.8%) were
      unclassifiable, but had a detection rate of 44.4%. Positive predictors of an
      abnormal MPS result included prior history of coronary artery disease, typical
      angina, and following the conservative management of an acute coronary syndrome.
      Scans that were rarely appropriate had a detection rate of 0%. CONCLUSION: The
      retrospective application of the 2013 ACC AUC is feasible. Whilst the majority of
      the scans were appropriate, a group of unclassifiable patients was observed to
      have a high detection rate. Scans that were rarely appropriate could potentially
      be rationalised to reduce radiation risk.

PMID- 28602671
TI  - Atrial Fibrillation in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited cardiac disorder with a
      spectrum of clinical manifestations. Patients with HCM are predisposed to
      developing atrial fibrillation (AF) due primarily to advanced diastolic
      dysfunction and left atrial (LA) dilatation and remodelling. Atrial fibrillation
      causes a progressive symptomatic and functional decline, as well as increased
      thromboembolic risk and mortality, particularly in the setting of rapid
      ventricular rates and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction. The
      mainstay of management of AF in HCM is a combination of non-pharmacological
      lifestyle and risk factor modification, long-term anticoagulation, and rhythm
      control with antiarrhythmic medications. There is a growing body of evidence
      indicating that an early and aggressive rhythm control strategy may result in
      more favourable outcomes.

PMID- 28602672
TI  - Surgical and Hybrid Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in humans and is known to
      be associated with an increased risk of stroke, dementia, heart failure and
      mortality. Non-pharmacological therapy with ablation using either surgical or
      percutaneous techniques is recommended in drug refractory AF. Early attempts to
      devise procedures to ablate AF and restore sinus rhythm culminated with the Cox
      Maze procedure, the first truly successful procedure. Since then, ablation
      surgery has been conducted predominately as a concomitant procedure. The Cox Maze
      procedure is complex and technically demanding and has, therefore, been
      extensively modified with new techniques for creating the linear ablation lines,
      new lesion sets, minimally invasive surgical techniques and most recently hybrid
      surgical-catheter ablation techniques. Surgical ablation techniques result in a
      marked reduction in atrial fibrillation when compared to conventional therapy
      with only a small increase in procedural risk. However, further research is
      required to more accurately quantify those benefits and to determine the optimal
      lesion sets, specific to the underlying arrhythmia mechanism and the optimal
      energy sources for ablation.

PMID- 28602673
TI  - Typhoid spondylodiscitis mimicking tuberculosis in a teenage girl.
AB  - Salmonella Typhi cause a broad spectrum of human illnesses like gastroenteritis,
      typhoid fever, and bacteremia. It has also been recognized as a causative
      organism of osteomyelitis for more than a century but the incidence appears to be
      uncommon. Microbiological workup plays important role in the diagnosis of Typhoid
      spondylodiscitis as most of the time it mimics tuberculosis and misguide the
      clinician, especially in the developing world. Here, we reported an uncommon case
      of lumbar spondylodiscitis by Salmonella Typhi in an immunocompetent teenager,
      with the help of clinical, microbiological and radiological evidence. The case
      was managed conservatively after posterior spinal stabilization.

PMID- 28602674
TI  - Serum metabolomic response to exercise training in spontaneously hypertensive
      rats.
AB  - Chronic aerobic exercise training exhibits blood pressure protective effects, but
      the mechanism in metabolic level remains largely unclear. This study aims to
      investigate the effect of exercise training from serum metabolic profiles on the
      development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Exercise
      training was performed, and the serum metabolites were measured by integrating
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometer and correlation-based network analysis.
      After a period of 6 weeks of chronic aerobic exercise training, systolic blood
      pressure was significant lower in the exercise training group (SHR + EX) rats
      than the control group (SHR). Principal component analysis indicated a clearly
      separation of metabolomic profiles between SHR + EX and SHR. Nineteen of 63
      metabolites in serum were identified (P < .05, variable importance in projections
      > 1, false discovery rate < 0.1), including fatty acids, amino acids, and others.
      Lower levels of six fatty acids were observed in SHR + EX. Besides, pathway
      analysis indicated a significant alteration of fatty acid metabolism. The
      correlation-based (Pearson correlation coefficient > 0.83) network of serum
      metabolites revealed a decreased correlation linkage of SHR + EX than SHR rats.
      Higher activities of hexokinase, citrate synthase, aspartate aminotransferase,
      and alanine aminotransferase were detected in liver, left ventricle, and skeletal
      muscle of SHR + EX groups. In summary, these findings provided essential
      biochemistry information about the metabolic alteration to exercise training in
      SHR, which may in part explain the protective effect of exercise in hypertensive
      individuals.

PMID- 28602675
TI  - To harness stem cells by manipulation of energetic metabolism.
AB  - The maintenance of the primitive Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) in course of ex
      vivo expansion is a critical point to preserve the long-term reconstituting
      capacity of a hematopoietic graft. On the basis of the numerous experimental
      results, the maintenance of primitive HSC is related to their specific metabolic
      profile shifted towards the anaerobiosis. Hence, in addition to the exposition of
      the cultures to more appropriate, physiologically low O2 concentrations (usually
      misleadingly termed "hypoxia"), a specter of "hypoxia-mimicking" factors
      (cytokines, growth factors, receptor-ligands, antioxidants) can be applied to
      maintain this specific metabolic profile enabling an appropriate genetic and
      epigenetic regulation. Some factors already proved to be able to achieve this
      goal and "hypoxia-mimicking" ex vivo cultures were already used to produce cells
      for clinical trials. In this article we are discussing the approaches aimed to
      amplify and/or to condition the HSC, based on the manipulation of energetic
      metabolism properties.

PMID- 28602676
TI  - Interactions between gut bacteria and bile in health and disease.
AB  - Bile acids are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver and released into the
      intestine to aid the digestion of dietary lipids. The host enzymes that
      contribute to bile acid synthesis in the liver and the regulatory pathways that
      influence the composition of the total bile acid pool in the host have been well
      established. In addition, the gut microbiota provides unique contributions to the
      diversity of bile acids in the bile acid pool. Gut microbial enzymes contribute
      significantly to bile acid metabolism through deconjugation and dehydroxylation
      reactions to generate unconjugated bile acids and secondary bile acids. These
      microbial enzymes (which include bile salt hydrolase (BSH) and bile acid
      inducible (BAI) enzymes) are essential for bile acid homeostasis in the host and
      represent a vital contribution of the gut microbiome to host health. Perturbation
      of the gut microbiota in disease states may therefore significantly influence
      bile acid signatures in the host, especially in the context of gastrointestinal
      or systemic disease. Given that bile acids are ligands for host cell receptors
      (including the FXR, TGR5 and Vitamin D Receptor) alterations to microbial enzymes
      and associated changes to bile acid signatures have significant consequences for
      the host. In this review we examine the contribution of microbial enzymes to the
      process of bile acid metabolism in the host and discuss the implications for
      microbe-host signalling in the context of C. difficile infection, inflammatory
      bowel disease and other disease states.

PMID- 28602677
TI  - Immune responses to methanolic extract of black cumin (Nigella sativa) in rainbow
      trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
AB  - The immune stimulating effects of the methanolic extract of black cumin (Nigella
      sativa) in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was evaluated. Variable
      concentrations of black cumin methanolic extract [0 (Control), 0.1 and 0.5 g kg-1
      of feed] were individually added to the basal diet and rainbow trout was fed for
      30 days to assess the innate immune responses and growth performance. Feed
      conversion ratio significantly decreased in the group fed with 0.5 g kg-1 black
      cumin extract. Respiratory burst activity was observed to be the highest in the
      0.5 g kg-1 black cumin extract fed group. Lysozyme and myeloperoxidase activities
      were significantly increased in fish of experimental groups compared to control
      (P < 0.05). TGF-beta gene expression increased in black cumin 0.5 g kg-1 treated
      group. IL-1beta and TGF-beta gene expressions decreased in black cumin 0.1 g kg-1
      administered group. Expression of IL-12 gene diminished in both the experimental
      groups. There was no significant difference in survival rates between black cumin
      extract treated fish groups and control (P > 0.05) after challenged with
      Aeromonas hydrophila. The results indicate that the methanolic extract of black
      cumin is a stimulator of some innate humoral immune responses, but it is
      ineffective for cytokine-related gene trancriptions in rainbow trout.

PMID- 28602678
TI  - Combination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and temperature exposure: In
      vitro effects on immune response of European clam (Ruditapes decussatus).
AB  - Marine organisms are subjected to various biotic and abiotic factors such as
      changes of temperature and pollutants [e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
      (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals, which may affect
      their defense mechanisms. In this context, the aim was to evaluate the combined
      effects of temperature (20 and 30  degrees C) and PAHs (fluorene, phenanthrene
      and pyrene) at two concentrations (10-5 and 10-3 mg mL-1) on the immune responses
      of the European clam Ruditapes decussatus were after 24 h of in vitro exposure.
      Total haemocyte count, cell viability, phenoloxidase, lysozyme, alkaline
      phosphatase, esterase, antibacterial and agglutinating activities were measured.
      Exposure to high temperatures resulted in lower phosphatase alkaline activity and
      higher haemocyte viability and antibacterial and haemagglutinating activities,
      compared with the values recorded for clams maintained at low temperature. Only
      pyrene induced a significant decrease in haemocyte lysozyme (at 20 and 30 
      degrees C) and esterase (at 30  degrees C) activities. The total haemocyte count
      was increased by phenanthrene and pyrene at 20  degrees C and at 30  degrees C,
      respectively. Alkaline phosphatase activity increased when haemocytes were
      exposed to pyrene at 30  degrees C but decreased in the presence of fluorene at
      20  degrees C. Furthermore, haemocyte viability was low in the presence of pyrene
      and fluorene at 20  degrees C and 30  degrees C, respectively, but was unaffected
      by phenanthrene. Antibacterial activity was significantly increased and no
      significantly affected by the presence of pyrene and fluorene at 20  degrees C
      and 30  degrees C, respectively. The present study demonstrates the strong effect
      of PAHs and high temperature on haemocyte viability and other important immune
      functions, including phosphatase alkaline and antibacterial activities.
      Furthermore, changes in the immune parameters of European clam resulting from
      high temperatures may modulate the effects of PAHs and vice versa.

PMID- 28602679
TI  - Characterization of the black carp TRAF6 signaling molecule in innate immune
      defense.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) plays a vital role in
      the innate immune response of higher vertebrates. To elucidate its function in
      teleost fish, TRAF6 homologue of black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) has been
      cloned and characterized in this study. Black carp TRAF6 (bcTRAF6) transcription
      in Mylopharyngodon piceus fin (MPF) cells was up-regulated in response to both
      poly (I:C) treatment and viral infection, but was suppressed by LPS stimulation.
      bcTRAF6 migrated around 72 KDa in immunoblot analysis and was identified as a
      cytosolic protein suggested to be associated with vesicles scattering in the
      cytoplasm. Reporter assay demonstrated that NF-kappaB instead of IFN was
      activated by bcTRAF6; and EPC cells expressing bcTRAF6 presented the same
      cytopathic effect (CPE) ratio to that of control cells. When co-expressed with
      bcMAVS, bcTRAF6 was redistributed and overlapped with the subcellular location of
      bcMAVS. It was interesting that bcMAVS mediated the IFN induction was up
      regulated by low input of bcTRAF6 but down-regulated by high input of bcTRAF6.
      Taken together, the data generated in this paper supported the conclusion that
      bcTRAF6 associated with bcMAVS and was recruited into bcMAVS mediated signaling
      during host innate immune response.

PMID- 28602680
TI  - Two novel p38 MAPKs identified from Epinephelus coioides and their expression
      pattern in response to Cryptocaryon irritans infection.
AB  - P38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are one of the most important
      central regulatory proteins response to extra environmental stresses. In this
      study, two novel p38 MAPKs, Ec-P38gamma and Ec-P38delta, were identified from
      Epinephelus coioides, an economically important cultured fish in China and
      Southeast Asian counties. Both of Ec-p38gamma and Ec-p38delta sequences contain a
      serine/threonine protein kinase (S_TKc) domain and a highly conserved Thr-Gly-Tyr
      (TGY) motif. Analysis of phylogenetic relationships illustrated that p38 amino
      acid sequences were conserved between different species indicating that the
      functions may be similar. The four subtypes of p38 (alpha, beta, gamma, and
      delta) mRNA can be detected in all thirteen tissues examined, but the expression
      level is different in these tissues. The expression patterns of the four Ec-p38
      subtypes in E. coioides were also detected response to Cryptocaryon irritans
      infection, one of the most important protozoan pathogens of marine fish. The
      expression of four p38 subtypes was up-regulated in the tissues examined, with
      the highest expressions of Ec-p38alpha (5.2 times) and Ec-p38delta (4.2 times)
      occurring in the skin, while Ec-p38beta (24.8 times) and gamma (16.6 times)
      occurred in the spleen. There was no significantly correlation between the
      expression of Ec-p38gamma/Ec-p38delta and the expression of nuclear factor kappaB
      (NF-kB). The results indicated the sequences and the characters of Ec-p38gamma
      and Ec-p38delta were conserved, the p38 subtypes showed tissue-specific
      expression patterns in healthy grouper, and their expressions were significantly
      up-regulated post C. irritans infection, suggesting these p38 MAPKs may play
      important roles in these tissues during pathogen-caused inflammation.

PMID- 28602681
TI  - Characterization and function of a novel calmodulin-like protein from crayfish
      Procambarus clarkii.
AB  - Calmodulin plays an important role in calcium-dependent signal transduction
      pathways. In this experiment, a novel calmodulin-like gene (Pc-CaM-L) was
      identified in the crayfish Procambarus clarkii; it encodes a polypeptide of 145
      amino acids. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that Pc-CaM-L was
      expressed in all examined tissues, including hepatopancreas, hemocytes, heart,
      gill, intestine and muscle; the highest Pc-CaM-L expression level was detected in
      the hepatopancreas. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and
      western blot analysis demonstrated that a recombinant Pc-CaM-L protein was
      successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The calcium-binding activity of the
      purified Pc-CaM-L protein was confirmed by gel mobility shift assay. The
      expression of Pc-CaM-L was significantly upregulated in gut, gill and hemocytes
      after lipopolysaccharide or polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid induction. These
      results suggest that Pc-CaM-L plays a role in the immune response of P. clarkii.

PMID- 28602682
TI  - Scavenger receptor C promotes bacterial clearance in kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus
      japonicus by enhancing hemocyte phagocytosis and AMP expression.
AB  - Scavenger receptors (SRs) comprise a large family of structurally diverse
      glycoproteins located on the cell membrane and function as pattern-recognition
      receptors (PRRs) participating in innate immunity in different species. Class C
      scavenger receptor (SRC) has been only identified in invertebrates and its
      biological functions still need to be researched. In this study, we characterized
      the anti-bacterial function of a SRC from kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus
      (MjSRC). The mRNA level of MjSRC was up-regulated significantly in hemocytes of
      kuruma shrimp challenged by Vibrio anguillarum or Staphylococcus aureus. The
      recombinant extracellular domains (MAM and CCP domains) of MjSRC have the ability
      of binding different bacteria and glycans in vitro. After knockdown of MjSRC, the
      bacterial clearance ability and phagocytic rate of hemocyte decreased
      significantly in vivo. Meanwhile, overexpression of MjSRC in shrimp enhanced the
      clearance ability and phagocytic rate of hemocytes. Further study found that
      MjSRC could regulate the expression of several antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). All
      these results indicate that MjSRC plays important roles in antibacterial immunity
      in kuruma shrimp by enhancing hemocyte phagocytosis and AMP expression.

PMID- 28602684
TI  - Molecular cloning and characterization of a hemocyanin from Sepiella maindroni.
AB  - Hemocyanins are respiratory proteins occurring freely dissolved in the hemolymph
      of many arthropods and molluscs. Hemocyanin and hemocyanin-derived peptides have
      been linked to key aspects of innate immunity. In the present study, the full
      length cDNA encoding hemocyanin in Sepiella maindroni (SmHc) was cloned and
      characterized. Bioinformatic analysis predicted that SmHc contains one open
      reading frame of 10,032 bp and encodes a polypeptide of 3343 amino acids.
      Sequence analysis showed that the predicted protein sequence of SmHc contained
      eight functional units (FUs). Phylogenic analysis revealed that SmHc clustered
      with the mollusc Hcs. Quantitative real-time PCR assay detected SmHc transcripts
      were in a wide range of tissues, but mainly distributed in gills. After hypoxia
      or bacterial challenge, the expression level of SmHc in the gills was
      significantly higher than that of the control group. These results suggested that
      SmHc might play important roles in oxygen transport and the modulation of immune
      response in S. maindroni.

PMID- 28602683
TI  - A C-type lectin, Nattectin-like protein (CaNTC) in Qihe crucian carp Carassius
      auratus: Binding ability with LPS, PGN and various bacteria, and agglutinating
      activity against bacteria.
AB  - C-type lectins (CTLs), as the members of pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs),
      play the significant roles in innate immunity through binding with pathogen
      associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on the surface of microbe. In the present
      study, a novel CTL, Nattectin-like protein (named as CaNTC), was investigated in
      Qihe crucian carp Carassius auratus. The full-length cDNA of CaNTC was composed
      of 776 bp, with a 152 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a 492 bp ORF encoding a
      163-aa protein, and a 132 bp 3'-UTR with a polyadenylation signal sequence AATAAA
      and a poly(A) tail. The deduced amino acid sequence of CaNTC contained a signal
      peptide, a single carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) which had four conserved
      disulfide-bonded cysteine residues (Cys57-Cys150, Cys126-Cys142), and an EPN/WND
      motif required for carbohydrate-binding specificity. With regard to the mRNA
      transcript of CaNTC, it was predominately expressed in liver. The temporal
      expressions of CaNTC were obviously up-regulated in liver, spleen and head-kidney
      after challenged by Aeromonas hydrophila and poly I: C, respectively, and the
      change pattern was in the time-depended manner. The recombinant CaNTC (rCaNTC)
      purified from Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), exhibited strong binding ability with
      LPS and PGN, as well as all tested bacteria in a Ca2+-independent manner. With
      regard to the agglutinating activity of rCaNTC, rCaNTC was able to agglutinate
      rabbit erythrocytes and three kinds of bacteria (Gram-negative bacteria,
      Escherichia coli and A. hydrophila, and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus
      aureus) in a Ca2+-dependent manner. These findings collectively demonstrated that
      CaNTC, as a PRR, could be involved in the innate immunity and play an important
      role in immune defense of C. auratus.

PMID- 28602685
TI  - Isolation and characterization of antimicrobial peptides derived from Bacillus
      subtilis E20-fermented soybean meal and its use for preventing Vibrio infection
      in shrimp aquaculture.
AB  - Bacillus subtilis E20-fermented soybean meal (FSBM) was found to produce
      antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with great antimicrobial activity against Vibrio
      alginolyticus (VA) and V. parahaemolyticus (VP). Three AMPs were purified with a
      5 kDa ultrafiltration, Sephadex G-15 column and reverse-phase high-performance
      liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The FSB-AMP, HTSKALLDMLKRLGK, identified by an
      RP-nano-ultrapure liquid chromatography (UPLC) electrospray ionization (ESI)
      tandem mass spectroscopic (MS/MS) analysis exhibited the highest bactericidal
      activity against VA and VP compared to the others. The antimicrobial activity
      assessment indicated that FSB-AMP inhibited the growth of VA and VP with minimal
      inhibitory concentrations of 72.5 and 72.5 MUM. Alterations in the morphology of
      VA were observed by scanning electronic microscopy, and membrane disruption of VA
      and VP was confirmed by fluorescent microscopy with propidium iodide staining.
      The FSB-AMP was then incorporated into the diet of white shrimp, Litopenaeus
      vannamei, and a protective effect in shrimp against VP infection was recorded as
      well as for shrimp fed a diet containing 15% fish meal replaced by B. subtilis
      E20-FSBM. Results demonstrated that B. subtilis E20-FSBM could be a biofunctional
      ingredient to prevent vibriosis in shrimp aquaculture.

PMID- 28602686
TI  - Heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris and characterization of a novel GH11
      xylanase from saline-alkali soil with excellent tolerance to high pH, high salt
      concentrations and ethanol.
AB  - A GH11 xylanase gene (xyn11-1) cloned from saline-alkali soil was successfully
      expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. The purified recombinant Xyn11-1 showed its
      maximal activity at pH 6.0, and retained more than 60.4% of activity at pH 10.0,
      with good pH stability. Its optimal temperature was 50  degrees C and it was
      stable after incubation for 1 h at 30  degrees C. Furthermore, Xyn11-1 was highly
      salt-tolerant, retaining more than 77.4% of activity in the presence of 0.25-4 M
      NaCl and displaying more than 47.2% relative activity after being incubated in
      the presence of 5 M NaCl at 37  degrees C for 10 min. In addition, 5 mM beta
      Mercaptoethanol, Cu2+, Co2+, and Mn2+ increased the xylanase activity by 22.3%,
      8.8%, 7.1%, and 4.4%, respectively. Significantly, 93.4% and 59.8% of the optimal
      activity was retained in the presence of 2% and 10% (v/v) ethanol, respectively.
      Under optimal conditions, the Km,Vmax, and Kcat value of Xyn11-1 for beechwood
      xylan were 3.7 mg ml-1, 101.0 MUmol min-1 mg-1 and 42.1 s-1, respectively. Xyn11
      1 is a strict endo-beta-1,4-xylanase, its main enzymatic products being
      xylotetraose and xylopentaose. Xyn11-1 is the first reported GH11 xylanase
      isolated from saline-alkali soil, and has excellent tolerance of high pH, high
      salt concentrations and ethanol, which indicates its great potential for basic
      research and industrial applications.

PMID- 28602687
TI  - ?

PMID- 28602688
TI  - Quality control in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) EFOMP-ESTRO-IAEA protocol
      (summary report).
AB  - The aim of the guideline presented in this article is to unify the test
      parameters for image quality evaluation and radiation output in all types of cone
      beam computed tomography (CBCT) systems. The applications of CBCT spread over
      dental and interventional radiology, guided surgery and radiotherapy. The chosen
      tests provide the means to objectively evaluate the performance and monitor the
      constancy of the imaging chain. Experience from all involved associations has
      been collected to achieve a consensus that is rigorous and helpful for the
      practice. The guideline recommends to assess image quality in terms of
      uniformity, geometrical precision, voxel density values (or Hounsfield units
      where available), noise, low contrast resolution and spatial resolution
      measurements. These tests usually require the use of a phantom and evaluation
      software. Radiation output can be determined with a kerma-area product meter
      attached to the tube case. Alternatively, a solid state dosimeter attached to the
      flat panel and a simple geometric relationship can be used to calculate the dose
      to the isocentre. Summary tables including action levels and recommended
      frequencies for each test, as well as relevant references, are provided. If the
      radiation output or image quality deviates from expected values, or exceeds
      documented action levels for a given system, a more in depth system analysis
      (using conventional tests) and corrective maintenance work may be required.

PMID- 28602689
TI  - Empathic Care and Distress: Predictive Brain Markers and Dissociable Brain
      Systems.
AB  - Encountering another's suffering can elicit both empathic distress and empathic
      care-the warm desire to affiliate. It remains unclear whether these two feelings
      can be accurately and differentially predicted from neural activity and to what
      extent their neural substrates can be distinguished. We developed fMRI markers
      predicting moment-by-moment intensity levels of care and distress intensity while
      participants (n = 66) listened to true biographies describing human suffering.
      Both markers' predictions correlated strongly with self-report in out-of-sample
      participants (r = 0.59 and r = 0.63, p < 0.00001), and both markers predicted
      later trial-by-trial charitable donation amounts (p < 0.05). Empathic care was
      preferentially associated with nucleus accumbens and medial orbitofrontal cortex
      activity, whereas distress was preferentially associated with premotor and
      somatosensory cortical activity. In tests of marker specificity with an
      independent behavioral sample (n = 200), the empathic care marker was associated
      with a mixed-valence feeling state, whereas the empathic distress marker was
      specific to negative emotion.

PMID- 28602690
TI  - Dorsal Raphe Dopamine Neurons Modulate Arousal and Promote Wakefulness by Salient
      Stimuli.
AB  - Ventral midbrain dopamine (DA) is unambiguously involved in motivation and
      behavioral arousal, yet the contributions of other DA populations to these
      processes are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the dorsal raphe
      nucleus DA neurons are critical modulators of behavioral arousal and sleep-wake
      patterning. Using simultaneous fiber photometry and polysomnography, we observed
      time-delineated dorsal raphe nucleus dopaminergic (DRNDA) activity upon exposure
      to arousal-evoking salient cues, irrespective of their hedonic valence. We also
      observed broader fluctuations of DRNDA activity across sleep-wake cycles with
      highest activity during wakefulness. Both endogenous DRNDA activity and
      optogenetically driven DRNDA activity were associated with waking from sleep,
      with DA signal strength predictive of wake duration. Conversely, chemogenetic
      inhibition opposed wakefulness and promoted NREM sleep, even in the face of
      salient stimuli. Therefore, the DRNDA population is a critical contributor to
      wake-promoting pathways and is capable of modulating sleep-wake states according
      to the outside environment, wherein the perception of salient stimuli prompts
      vigilance and arousal.

PMID- 28602691
TI  - Temporal and Rate Coding for Discrete Event Sequences in the Hippocampus.
AB  - Although the hippocampus is critical to episodic memory, neuronal representations
      supporting this role, especially relating to nonspatial information, remain
      elusive. Here, we investigated rate and temporal coding of hippocampal CA1
      neurons in rats performing a cue-combination task that requires the integration
      of sequentially provided sound and odor cues. The majority of CA1 neurons
      displayed sensory cue-, combination-, or choice-specific (simply, "event"
      specific) elevated discharge activities, which were sustained throughout the
      event period. These event cells underwent transient theta phase precession at
      event onset, followed by sustained phase locking to the early theta phases. As a
      result of this unique single neuron behavior, the theta sequences of CA1 cell
      assemblies of the event sequences had discrete representations. These results
      help to update the conceptual framework for space encoding toward a more general
      model of episodic event representations in the hippocampus.

PMID- 28602692
TI  - Psychological Characteristics and Pain Frequency Are Associated With Experimental
      Pain Sensitivity in Pediatric Patients With Sickle Cell Disease.
AB  - : Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with episodes of severe vaso-occlusive
      pain beginning in infancy with a subset of patients with SCD transitioning to
      chronic pain. Response to experimental pain using quantitative sensory testing in
      these patients suggests altered pain processing. The objectives of this study
      were to characterize sensitivity to multiple modalities of experimental pain
      stimuli and to interrogate the relationship of psychological covariates, clinical
      pain burden, and pain-related outcomes to experimental pain sensitivity in
      children with SCD compared with healthy individuals of similar age and sex. Cross
      sectional assessments of psychological characteristics were performed, and
      quantitative sensory testing methods were used to measure experimental pain
      sensitivity in children age 8 to 21 years. Anxiety, depressive symptoms,
      catastrophizing, and somatization were found to be associated with increased
      sensitivity to experimental pain stimuli. Increased frequency of painful episodes
      in SCD was associated with decreased sensitivity to heat pain and decreased
      mechanical temporal summation. These data suggest that careful consideration be
      given to psychological factors, age, sex, and clinical burden of pain when
      studying response to experimental pain in SCD. PERSPECTIVE: In this study of
      patients with SCD, a condition associated with recurrent acute or chronic pain,
      psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, and catastrophizing are
      associated with increased sensitivity to experimental pain stimuli. Further study
      is need to delineate the role of these factors in chronic SCD pain.

PMID- 28602693
TI  - STAG-CNS: An Order-Aware Conserved Noncoding Sequences Discovery Tool for
      Arbitrary Numbers of Species.
AB  - One method for identifying noncoding regulatory regions of a genome is to
      quantify rates of divergence between related species, as functional sequence will
      generally diverge more slowly. Most approaches to identifying these conserved
      noncoding sequences (CNSs) based on alignment have had relatively large minimum
      sequence lengths (>=15 bp) compared with the average length of known
      transcription factor binding sites. To circumvent this constraint, STAG-CNS that
      can simultaneously integrate the data from the promoters of conserved orthologous
      genes in three or more species was developed. Using the data from up to six grass
      species made it possible to identify conserved sequences as short as 9 bp with
      false discovery rate <=0.05. These CNSs exhibit greater overlap with open
      chromatin regions identified using DNase I hypersensitivity assays, and are
      enriched in the promoters of genes involved in transcriptional regulation. STAG
      CNS was further employed to characterize loss of conserved noncoding sequences
      associated with retained duplicate genes from the ancient maize polyploidy. Genes
      with fewer retained CNSs show lower overall expression, although this bias is
      more apparent in samples of complex organ systems containing many cell types,
      suggesting that CNS loss may correspond to a reduced number of expression
      contexts rather than lower expression levels across the entire ancestral
      expression domain.

PMID- 28602694
TI  - Prolonged targeted temperature management compromises thrombin generation: A
      randomised clinical trial.
AB  - AIM: To investigate whether prolonged compared with standard duration of targeted
      temperature management (TTM) compromises coagulation. METHODS: Comatose survivors
      after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (n=82) were randomised to standard (24h) or
      prolonged (48h) duration of TTM at 33+/-1 degrees C. Blood samples were drawn 22,
      46 and 70h after attaining the target temperature. Samples were analysed for
      rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM(r) (EXTEM(r), INTEM(r), FIBTEM(r) and
      HEPTEM(r))) and thrombin generation using the Calibrated Automated Thrombogram(r)
      assay. RESULTS: With the 22-h sample, we revealed no difference between groups in
      the ROTEM(r) and thrombin generation results beside a slightly higher EXTEM(r)
      and INTEM(r) maximum velocity in the prolonged group (p-values<=0.04). With the
      46-h sample, ROTEM(r) showed no differences when using EXTEM(r); however, 11%
      (p<0.01) longer clotting time and 12% (p<0.01) longer time to maximum velocity
      were evident in the prolonged group than in the standard group when using
      INTEM(r). The prolonged group had reduced thrombin generation compared with the
      standard group as indicated by 30% longer lag time (p=0.04), 106nM decreased peak
      concentration (p<0.001), 36% longer time to peak (p=0.01) and 411 nM*minute
      decreased endogenous thrombin potential (p<0.001). With the 70-h sample, no
      differences in ROTEM(r) results were found between groups. However, the prolonged
      group had reduced thrombin generation indicated by longer lag time, decreased
      peak concentration and longer time to peak (all p-values<=0.02) compared with the
      standard group. CONCLUSION: Prolonged TTM in post-cardiac arrest patients impairs
      thrombin generation. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02258360.

PMID- 28602695
TI  - "Presumed cardiac" arrest in children and young adults: A misnomer?
AB  - AIM: To use a novel methodology to assess the incidence and specific causes of
      Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) within a young urban cohort. METHODS: All
      EMS attended OHCA patients in a large urban area, between 2009 and 2012, aged 2
      45 years, treated or untreated, who died or survived, and that were designated as
      "no obvious cause" etiology by trained data abstractors were included. Using
      multisource (medical and coroner) records, an expert panel adjudicated the causes
      of the OHCAs as: confirmed cardiac causes, confirmed non- cardiac causes, and
      other causes. RESULTS: Of a total of 1993 cases EMS designated as "no obvious
      cause", only 29.9% (595/1993) were due to confirmed cardiac causes; the rest were
      due to other causes (non-cardiac etiologies): confirmed drug overdose (n=624),
      trauma (n=108), cancer (n=69), complex chronic care (n=65) and non-cardiac acute
      illness - mostly vascular, infectious, and metabolic (n=376). The annual
      incidence rate of "no obvious cause" OHCAs after initial field classification was
      12.97/100,000 pt. years (95% CI 12.40, 13.50), compared to 3.87/100,000 pt. years
      (95% CI 3.56, 4.18) for the confirmed cardiac OHCAs after adjudication. The
      predominant underlying etiologies of confirmed cardiac OHCAs were coronary heart
      disease and structural heart disease. CONCLUSIONS: In young adults with OHCA,
      confirmed cardiac causes were responsible in a minority of cases, and they
      differed in presentation from those with confirmed non- cardiac causes.
      Establishing rigorous case ascertainment strategies with linkage to multiple data
      sources will facilitate a more reliable evaluation of the causes of these events.

PMID- 28602696
TI  - The Medicago truncatula R2R3-MYB transcription factor gene MtMYBS1 enhances
      salinity tolerance when constitutively expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - MYB-type proteins are known to participate in many stress responses, although
      their role in legumes is still less clear. Here, the isolation and
      characterization of MtMYBS1, an R2R3 MYB gene isolated from the model legume
      Medicago truncatula, is described. MtMYBS1 transcription was inducible by NaCl,
      polyethylene glycol or abscisic acid (ABA). When tested in yeast, its product was
      shown to have transactivational activity. The constitutive expression of MtMYBS1
      in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings mitigated the restriction on root growth
      imposed by either salinity or osmotic stress and raised their sensitivity to ABA.
      It also resulted in the plants being able to overcome several growth constraints
      and promoted activity in both the ABA-dependent and -independent stress
      responsive pathways. In particular, it enhanced the transcription of P5CS, a gene
      which encodes a component of proline synthesis. MtMYBS1 may prove to be a useful
      gene for manipulating the salinity tolerance of legumes.

PMID- 28602697
TI  - GSK3 inhibitor AR-A014418 promotes osteogenic differentiation of human adipose
      derived stem cells via ERK and mTORC2/Akt signaling pathway.
AB  - Small molecule-based bone tissue engineering is emerging as a promising strategy
      for bone defects restoration. In this study, we intended to identify the roles
      and mechanisms of AR-A014418, a highly selective inhibitor of GSK3, on the
      osteogenic differentiation. We found that AR-A014418 exhibited a dose-dependent
      effect on osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs).
      hASCs treated with AR-A014418 showed higher activity of ERK and mTORC2/Akt
      signaling. Administration of ERK inhibitor U0126 or knockdown of RICTOR by siRNA
      attenuated AR-A014418 induced osteogenic differentiation of hASCs. Our results
      suggested that AR-A014418 significantly promoted osteogenic potential of hASCs
      partially by the activation of ERK and mTORC2/Akt signaling pathway, and might be
      used for bone tissue engineering as an osteo-inductive factor.

PMID- 28602698
TI  - Early growth response factor 1 is essential for cigarette smoke-induced MUC5AC
      expression in human bronchial epithelial cells.
AB  - Early growth response factor 1 (Egr-1) is a zinc finger transcription factor
      which responses rapidly to a variety of extracellular stimuli. Previous studies
      have suggested that Egr-1 exerts pathological functions in chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) by regulation of cigarette smoking-induced autophagy,
      cell death, and inflammation. However, little is known about the role of Egr-1 in
      regulation of mucus production in airway epithelium. In this study, we observed
      that cigarette smoke extract (CSE) induced a successive expression of Egr-1 and
      MUC5AC in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells. Knockdown of Egr-1 markedly
      attenuated CSE-induced MUC5AC production, and chromatin immunoprecipitation
      revealed that Egr-1 transcriptionally bound to MUC5AC promoter upon CSE
      stimulation. Concurrently, CSE increased the expression of c-Jun and c-Fos, two
      subunits of activator protein 1 (AP-1) which also critically regulates CSE
      induced MUC5AC in HBE cells. CSE also induced a physical interaction of Egr-1 and
      AP-1, and knockdown of Egr-1 significantly decreased CSE-induced expression of c
      Fos and c-Jun. Furthermore, knockdown of c-Fos remarkably attenuated the CSE
      induced Egr-1 binding to MUC5AC promoter. These data taken together demonstrate
      that Egr-1 is essential for CSE-induced MUC5AC production in HBE cells likely
      through interaction with and modulation of AP-1, and re-emphasize targeting Egr-1
      as a novel therapeutic strategy for COPD.

PMID- 28602699
TI  - Quantification of egg proteome changes during fertilization in sterlet Acipenser
      ruthenus.
AB  - Eggs of sterlet are discharged outside into ambient aquatic environment where egg
      activation and fertilization occur. Effects of different activation media
      including freshwater and clay suspension on protein abundances of egg were
      quantified in sterlet Acipenser ruthenus. In-gel digestion and high resolution
      mass spectrometry were used for label-free protein quantification in the eggs of
      five females. No significant (p > 0.05) difference was found between protein
      abundances in eggs activated with different media. However, results showed
      significant (p < 0.05, fold change >=2) reduction in the abundances of nine
      proteins including six glycoproteins, enolase and heat shock protein in activated
      groups compared to freshly ovulated eggs as control. The fact that abundance of
      proteasome subunit alpha significantly reduced only in eggs which were activated
      by clay suspension suggests that activation medium can somehow intervene with
      protein regulation during fertilization. In conclusion, external fertilization in
      sturgeon egg is accompanied by huge release of proteins into the external
      environment that may participate in the construction of a transient
      microenvironment around egg for attraction and protection of spermatozoa to
      ensure ensuing fertilization. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with
      identifier PXD006232.

PMID- 28602701
TI  - Identification and characterization of new members of the SXT/R391 family of
      integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) in Proteus mirabilis.
AB  - Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are self-transmissible chromosomal
      mobile elements that play significant roles in the dissemination of antimicrobial
      resistance genes. Identification of the structures and functions of ICEs,
      particularly those in pathogens, improves understanding of the dissemination of
      antimicrobial resistance. This study identified new members of the
      sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SXT)/R391 family of ICEs that could confer multi
      drug resistance in the opportunistic pathogen Proteus mirabilis, characterized
      their genetic structures, and explored their evolutionary connection with other
      members of this family of ICEs. Three new members of the SXT/R391 family of ICEs
      were detected in six of 77 P. mirabilis strains isolated in China: ICEPmiChn2
      (one strain), ICEPmiChn3 (one strain) and ICEPmiChn4 (three strains). All three
      new ICEs harbour antimicrobial resistance genes from diverse origins, suggesting
      their capability in acquiring foreign genes and serving as important carriers for
      antimicrobial resistance genes. Structural analysis showed that ICEPmiChn3 is a
      particularly interesting and unique ICE that has lost core genes involved in
      conjugation, and could not transfer to other cells via conjugation. This finding
      confirmed the key roles of these missing genes in conjugation. Further
      phylogenetic analysis suggested that ICEs in geographically close strains are
      also connected evolutionarily, and ICEPmiChn3 lost its conjugation cassette from
      a former mobile ICE. The identification and characterization of the three new
      members of the SXT/R391 family of ICEs in this work leads to suggestions of core
      ICE genes essential for conjugation, and extends understanding on the structures
      of ICEs, evolutionary relationships between ICEs, and the antimicrobial
      resistance mechanisms of P. mirabilis.

PMID- 28602700
TI  - Long non-coding RNA PVT1 promotes glycolysis and tumor progression by regulating
      miR-497/HK2 axis in osteosarcoma.
AB  - Cancer cells usually utilize glucose as a carbon source for aerobic glycolysis, a
      phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. Increasing studies have shown that PVT1
      (a long non-coding RNA, lncRNA) functions as critical regulator of multiple
      cancers. However, it remains totally unknown whether and how PVT1 regulates
      glucose metabolism in OS cells. In this study, we found that the expression of
      PVT1 were specifically increased in OS cells and tissues, and the upregulated
      PVT1 indicated poor prognosis. Glucose uptake, lactate production, and the
      expression of HK2 in OS cells were increased by overexpression of PVT1, while
      decreased by PVT1 knockdown. We further fund that PVT1 acted as molecular sponge
      to repress miR-497. Inhibition of miR-497 promoted glucose consumption and
      lactate production, phenomenon could be reversed by PVT1 silencing. Moreover, HK2
      was a direct target of miR-497 and overexpression of HK2 attenuated the
      suppressive effect of miR-497 on glycolysis. Functionally, knockdown of PVT1
      exerted tumor-suppressive effect by suppressing cell proliferation, cell cycle
      progression, and invasion in vitro, whereas miR-497 inhibitor partially abolished
      the inhibition effect of si-PVT1. Overexpression of HK2 attenuated the miR-497
      induced inhibition of cell growth and motility. Taken together, these findings
      suggested that PVT1 contributes to OS cell glucose metabolism, cell
      proliferation, and motility through the miR-497/HK2 pathway, and revealed a novel
      relation between lncRNA and the alteration of glycolysis in OS cells.

PMID- 28602702
TI  - The Scottish enhanced Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia surveillance programme:
      the first 18 months of data in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is the second most common
      source of positive blood cultures, after Escherichia coli, reported within NHS
      Scotland. Laboratory surveillance has been mandatory in Scotland for SAB since
      2001. AIM: To gain an understanding of the epidemiology of SAB cases and
      associated risk factors for healthcare and true community onset. Identification
      of these factors and the patient populations at greatest risk enables the
      development of focused improvement plans. METHODS: All NHS boards within NHS
      Scotland take part in the mandatory enhanced surveillance, with data collected by
      trained data collectors using nationally agreed definitions. FINDINGS: Between
      1st October 2014 and 31st March 2016, 2256 episodes of SAB in adults were
      identified. The blood cultures were taken in 58 hospitals and across all 15
      Scottish health boards. The data demonstrated that approximately one-third of all
      SAB cases are true community cases. Vascular access devices continue to be the
      most reported entry point (25.7%) in individuals who receive health care, whereas
      skin and soft tissue risk factors are present in all origins. A significant risk
      factor unique to community cases is illicit drug injection. CONCLUSION:
      Improvement plans for reduction of SAB should be targeted more widely than
      hospital care settings alone.

PMID- 28602703
TI  - Clinical predictors and outcomes of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteraemia in a
      regional hospital in Hong Kong.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) infection is associated with high
      morbidity and mortality. Multidrug resistance, especially extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase (ESBL) production, in KP is endemic worldwide. AIM: To evaluate the
      clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with KP bacteraemia in critical
      care and general ward settings. METHODS: Adult patients admitted to a regional
      hospital in Hong Kong from January 1st, 2009 to June 30th, 2016 (7.5 years) with
      KP bacteraemia were included. Demographics, clinical features, microbiological
      characteristics, and outcomes were analysed. FINDINGS: Among 853 patients, 178
      (20.9%) required critical care and 176 (20.6%) died within 30 days of hospital
      admission. Thirty-day survivors were younger (P<0.001), had milder disease
      (defined by Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score) (P<0.001), presented with
      hepatobiliary sepsis (P<0.001) or urosepsis (P<0.001), less septic shock
      (P=0.013), fewer invasive organ supports (P<0.001), and had appropriate empirical
      antibiotics (P<0.001). Cox regression analysis showed that respiratory tract
      infection (hazard ratio: 2.99; 95% confidence interval: 2.061-4.337; P<=0.001),
      gastrointestinal tract infection (excluding hepatobiliary system) (2.763; 1.761
      4.337; P<=0.001), mechanical ventilation (2.202; 1.506-3.221; P<=0.001), medical
      case (1.830; 1.253-2.672; P=0.002), inappropriate empirical antibiotics (1.716;
      1.267-2.324; P<=0.001), female (1.699; 1.251-2.307; P<0.001), age >65 years
      (1.692; 1.160-2.467; P=0.006), and presence of solid tumour (1.457; 1.056-2.009;
      P=0.022) were independent risk factors for 30-day mortality. Unexpectedly,
      diabetes mellitus was associated with better 30-day survival (P=0.002). A total
      of 102 patients (12.0%) had infections with ESBL-producing strains, which were
      not associated with higher 30-day mortality. CONCLUSION: KP bacteraemia is
      associated with high 30-day mortality. Site of infection, patients' comorbidities
      and appropriate use of empirical antibiotic are important predictors of patients'
      outcomes.

PMID- 28602704
TI  - Contamination of hospital tap water: the survival and persistence of Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa on conventional and 'antimicrobial' outlet fittings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections have been linked to contaminated
      hospital taps, highlighting the potential for tap outlet fittings (OF) to harbour
      biofilm. P. aeruginosa may be transferred to OFs via contaminated cleaning
      cloths. Suggested interventions include flushing regimens and alternative OF
      designs. AIM: To investigate the transfer of P. aeruginosa from a contaminated
      cleaning cloth to conventional and 'antimicrobial/antibiofilm' OFs and to
      determine whether this contamination persists and/or leads to contamination of
      tap water. METHODS: Microfibre cloths contaminated with P. aeruginosa (108
      cfu/mL) were used to wipe four different types of OF [one of conventional design
      (OF-A) and three marketed as 'antimicrobial' and/or 'antibiofilm' (OF- B, -C and 
      D)]. OFs were inserted into an experimental water distribution system for up to
      24 h. Survival was assessed by culture. Single and multiple water samples were
      collected and cultured for P. aeruginosa. FINDINGS: The median number of P.
      aeruginosa transferred from cloth to OF was 5.7 * 105 cfu (OF-A), 1.9 * 106 cfu
      (OF-B), 1.4 * 105 cfu (OF-C) and 2.9 * 106 cfu (OF-D). Numbers declined on all
      OFs during the 24 h period with log reductions ranging from 3.5 (OF-C) to 5.2 (OF
      B; P > 0.05). All water samples delivered immediately after OF contamination
      contained P. aeruginosa at >=10 cfu per 100 mL. Contamination of water delivered
      from OF-A persisted despite continued flushing. Water delivered from OF-B did not
      contain P. aeruginosa beyond the first flush. CONCLUSION: Contaminated cleaning
      cloths may transfer P. aeruginosa to OFs, leading to contamination of tap water.
      Although not removing the potential for contamination,
      'antimicrobial/antibiofilm' OFs may prevent P. aeruginosa from continually
      contaminating water delivered from the outlet.

PMID- 28602705
TI  - In defence of high hand-hygiene compliance rates.

PMID- 28602706
TI  - Reducing the risk of mouth-to-mouth transmission of pathogens via re-usable,
      machine-read parking tickets: an observational cohort study.
AB  - The car parks at the study hospital are accessed using re-usable, machine-read
      tickets. In the initial phase of this study, 598 staff members were observed
      entering the car park, and 21.6% of them put their parking ticket in their mouth.
      Ultraviolet dye was used to demonstrate card-to-card cross-contamination. Swabs
      of the ticket machine yielded commensal bacteria: coagulase-negative
      staphylococci and a Bacillus sp. After placing a poster on the ticket-reading
      machine highlighting the potential risk of infection, a further 1366 observations
      demonstrated a significant and persistent decline in the proportion of staff who
      put their ticket in their mouth (P<0.001).

PMID- 28602707
TI  - Distribution and characterization of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates from
      environmental and clinical samples in Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia has emerged as an important
      opportunistic pathogen, especially in patients who are immunocompromised,
      suffering from malignancy or have been hospitalized for a prolonged period.
      Information of this bacterium in Thailand has not been elucidated. AIMS: To
      investigate the phenotype and genotype of environmental and clinical isolates of
      S. maltophilia in Songklanagarind Hospital, southern Thailand. METHODS: Isolates
      of S. maltophilia were collected from various environmental sources on three
      hospital wards and clinical samples from seven wards. Antibiotic susceptibility
      and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing were performed using disk
      diffusion and E-test, respectively. Isolates were genotyped by pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis. FINDINGS: The majority of S. maltophilia environmental isolates
      were from sink drains (67.5%), followed by drinking water (18.7%) and tap water
      (7.5%). Clinical isolates of the bacterium mainly originated from sputum samples
      (56.2% of all isolates). Antibiotic resistance was more common in clinical
      isolates than in environmental isolates; resistance to co-trimoxazole was
      associated with the presence of the sul1 gene. The MIC values for ciprofloxacin
      and co-trimoxazole correlated closely with the results obtained from disk
      diffusion assay. DNA profile analysis revealed seven clusters with high diversity
      among the isolates. CONCLUSION: No genotypic relationship was detected between
      isolates from environmental and clinical samples. As such, acquisition of this
      bacterium may occur outside the hospital.

PMID- 28602708
TI  - Reduced toxicity with equivalent outcomes using three-dimensional volumetric
      (3DV) image-based versus nonvolumetric point-based (NV) brachytherapy in a
      cervical cancer population.
AB  - PURPOSE: Brachytherapy (BT) techniques have historically used a two-dimensional
      nonvolumetric (NV) system involving dose prescribed to a point fixed in space. We
      compared dosimetric, toxicity, and oncologic outcomes for volumetric planning
      (3DV) versus CT point-based planning. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients treated
      with external beam radiation therapy and high dose rate (HDR) intracavitary BT
      were included (n = 71). Patients planned with NV BT treated from 2009 to 2011 (n
      = 37) were compared to patients planned with 3DV BT treated from 2012 to 2014 (n
      = 34). Investigators delineated volumes for organs at risk clinical target
      volumes for the 2009-2011 NV cohort. Acute and chronic toxicity data were graded.
      RESULTS: The mean HDR clinical target volume D90 received in the NV and 3DV
      cohorts were significantly different (p < 0.001). The mean dose to point A was
      significantly higher in the NV cohort than in the 3DV cohort (p < 0.001). There
      were significantly more Grade 3 or higher gastrointestinal toxicities in the NV
      cohort (p = 0.048). There was a nonsignificant trend toward improved oncologic
      outcomes for patients undergoing CT-based planning. CONCLUSIONS: 3DV BT allows
      for a significant reduction of dose to critical structures, resulting in
      decreased gastrointestinal toxicity, while delivering noninferior doses to the
      high-risk clinical target volume. Outcomes were improved in the 3D cohort
      trending toward statistical significance.

PMID- 28602710
TI  - Controversial issues in the management of older adults with early breast cancer.
AB  - It is well recognized that the incidence of breast cancer increases significantly
      with age. Despite this, older people remain under-represented in many clinical
      trials and their management relies on extrapolation of data from younger
      patients. Providing an aggressive intervention can be challenging, particularly
      in less fit older patients where a conservative approach is commonly perceived to
      be more appropriate. The optimal management of this population is unknown and
      treatment decision should be personalized. This review article will discuss
      several controversial issues in managing older adults with early breast cancer in
      a multidisciplinary setting, including the role of surgical treatment of the
      axilla in clinically node negative disease, radiotherapy after breast
      conservation surgery in low-risk tumours, personalizing adjuvant systemic
      therapy, and geriatric assessments in breast cancer treatment decisions.

PMID- 28602709
TI  - Factors associated with the use of potentially inappropriate medications by older
      adults with cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency and the factors associated with the use of
      potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) by older adults with cancer at an
      onco-haematology ambulatory clinic of a teaching hospital in Brazil. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Patients aged 60years or older (n=160) subjected to parenteral
      antineoplastic chemotherapy from May to December 2015 and treated with one or
      more medications in the ambulatory clinic were interviewed. Data on medications,
      comorbidities, oncological diagnosis, and functional status were recorded.
      Functionality was determined using the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13). PIMs
      were determined using the 2015 Beers Criteria. Logistic regression was used to
      determine the factors associated with the use of PIMs. RESULTS: A total of 78
      (48.1%) older adults used at least one PIM. The PIMs to be avoided by older
      adults were proton pump inhibitors (33.3%), antiemetics (10.5%), long-acting
      benzodiazepines (10.5%), and antidepressants (7.6%). Multivariate analysis
      indicated that PIMs were associated with the use of five or more medications
      (odds ratio, 3.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-6.6), after adjusting for the
      number of medications, number of comorbidities, depression, and
      arthritis/arthrosis. CONCLUSION: The frequency of use of PIMs by older adults at
      the investigated ambulatory clinic was high. Polypharmacy was positively
      associated with the use of PIMs.

PMID- 28602711
TI  - Patients' perceptions and attitudes on recurrent prostate cancer and hormone
      therapy: Qualitative comparison between decision-aid and control groups.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare patients' attitudes towards recurrent prostate cancer (PCa)
      and starting hormone therapy (HT) treatment in two groups-Decision-Aid (DA)
      (intervention) and Standard-of-care (SoC) (Control). METHODS: The present
      research was conducted at three academic clinics-two in the Midwest and one in
      the Northeast U.S. Patients with biochemical recurrence of PCa (n=26) and follow
      up oncology visits meeting inclusion criteria were randomized to either the SoC
      or DA intervention group prior to their consultation. Analysts were blinded to
      group assignment. Semi-structured phone interviews with patients were conducted 1
      week post consultation. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Qualitative
      analytic techniques were used to extract salient themes and conduct a comparative
      analysis of the two groups. RESULTS: Four salient themes emerged-1) knowledge
      acquisition, 2) decision-making style, 3) decision-making about timing of HT, and
      4) anxiety-coping mechanisms. A comparative analysis showed that patients
      receiving the DA intervention had a better comprehension of Prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA), an improved understanding of HT treatment implications, an
      external locus-of-control, participation in shared decision-making and, support
      seeking for anxiety reduction. In contrast, SoC patients displayed worse
      comprehension of PSA testing and HT treatment implications, internal locus-of
      control, unilateral involvement in knowledge-seeking and decision-making, and no
      support-seeking for anxiety-coping. CONCLUSIONS: The DA was more effective than
      the SoC group in helping PCa patients understand the full implications of PSA
      testing and treatment; motivating shared decision-making, and support-seeking for
      anxiety relief. DA DVD interventions can be a useful patient education tool for
      bringing higher quality decision-making to prostate cancer care.

PMID- 28602712
TI  - Prevalence of self-reported falls, balance or walking problems in older cancer
      survivors from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare Health
      Outcomes Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of falls and balance/walking problems in
      the past 12months among older cancer survivors before and after cancer diagnosis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data from individuals aged
      >=65years with first primary cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End
      Results and Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (SEER-MHOS) linkage (n=12,659). The
      first MHOS completed by each survivor from 0 to 2years before cancer diagnosis to
      1-4years after cancer diagnosis were included. We estimated unadjusted and
      demographic-adjusted prevalence of falls and balance/walking problems for each
      type of cancer during five one-year time periods before and after cancer
      diagnosis. RESULTS: Adjusted prevalence of falls was significantly higher post
      diagnosis than pre-diagnosis in prostate (12% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs.
      17%-20% during years 1-4 post-diagnosis)(p=0.01) and lung cancer (17% during
      years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 28% during years 1-2 post-diagnosis)(p=0.019).
      Adjusted prevalence of balance/walking problems were significantly higher post
      diagnosis than pre-diagnosis in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (26% during years 1-2 pre
      diagnosis vs. 45% during years 1-2 post-diagnosis)(p=0.012), breast (32% during
      years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 41% during years 3-4 post-diagnosis)(p=0.001),
      prostate (22% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 28%-29% during years 1-4 post
      diagnosis)(p=0.012), and lung cancer (33% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 40%
      during year 0-1 pre-diagnosis and 46% during years 1-2 post-diagnosis)(p=0.018).
      Prevalence did not differ across time periods in other cancers. CONCLUSIONS:
      Falls and balance/walking problems may become more frequent after the diagnosis
      of some cancers. Screening, surveillance, and interventions need to consider
      functional deficits and cancer diagnosis.

PMID- 28602714
TI  - Functional analysis of BAS2108-2109 two component system: Evidence for protease
      regulation in Bacillus anthracis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacillus anthracis (BA) is a major bioterrorism concern which has
      evolved complex regulatory mechanisms for its virulence factors. Secreted
      proteases play an imperative role in the pathogenesis of BA, however their
      regulation remains elusive. Two component systems (TCS) are often employed by
      bacteria to sense and adapt to the environmental perturbations. In several
      pathogens, TCS are commonly associated with the regulation of virulence factors
      including proteases. The genome of BA encodes 41 TCS pairs, however, the role of
      any TCS in regulation of its proteases is not known. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The
      study established BAS2108-2109 as a prototypical TCS where BAS2108 functions as a
      histidine kinase and BAS2109 as the response regulator. The expression of BAS2109
      was found to be elevated under host simulated conditions and in pellicle forming
      cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and lacZ reporter assay
      revealed positive autoregulation of the BAS2108-2109 operon by BAS2109.
      Collective analysis of ANS assay and EMSA demonstrated Lys167, Thr179 and Thr182
      residues are crucial for the DNA binding activity of BAS2109. EMSA analysis
      further highlighted BAS2109 as the transcriptional regulator for different genes
      of BA, particularly proteases. Upregulation of proteases in BA overexpressing
      BAS2109 further strengthen its role in protease regulation. SIGNIFICANCE: This is
      the first report to identify a TCS pair for its role in the regulation of
      proteases of BA. Importance of proteases in the pathogenesis of BA is well
      documented, therefore, studying the regulatory networks governing their
      expression will help in identification of new drug targets.

PMID- 28602715
TI  - Microstructure dependent binding of pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) to
      type I collagen fibrils.
AB  - Pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) is a multifunctional extracellular
      protein. In addition to its known anti-angiogenic and neurotrophic roles in
      collagen rich tissues, PEDF is thought to be involved in collagen fibril assembly
      due to its sequence specific binding to the collagen fibril and high expression
      in regions of active bone formation. In order to image the presence of the
      protein on the fibrils, PEDF was recombinantly made with a strep tag (strep-PEDF)
      and then gold nanoparticles conjugated to streptavidin (AuNP) were used as a
      secondary tag. The gold nanoparticles were detected using phase imaging in
      tapping mode AFM to image where exogenous PEDF bound in rabbit femur. These
      findings demonstrate that PEDF binds heterogeneously in cortical rabbit femur.
      Exogenous PEDF binding was concentrated at areas between microstructures with
      highly aligned collagen fibrils. Binding was not observed on or within the
      collagen fibrils themselves.

PMID- 28602716
TI  - Tracking the amyloidogenic core of IAPP amyloid fibrils: Insights from micro
      Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - Human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) is the major protein component of
      extracellular amyloid deposits, located in the islets of Langerhans, a hallmark
      of type II diabetes. The underlying mechanisms of IAPP aggregation have not yet
      been clearly defined, although the highly amyloidogenic sequence of the protein
      has been extensively studied. Several segments have been highlighted as
      aggregation-prone regions (APRs), with much attention focused on the central 8-17
      and 20-29 stretches. In this work, we employ micro-Raman spectroscopy to identify
      specific regions that are contributing to or are excluded from the amyloidogenic
      core of IAPP amyloid fibrils. Our results demonstrate that both the N-terminal
      region containing a conserved disulfide bond between Cys residues at positions 2
      and 7, and the C-terminal region containing the only Tyr residue are excluded
      from the amyloid core. Finally, by performing detailed aggregation assays and
      molecular dynamics simulations on a number of IAPP variants, we demonstrate that
      point mutations within the central APRs contribute to the reduction of the
      overall amyloidogenic potential of the protein but do not completely abolish the
      formation of IAPP amyloid fibrils.

PMID- 28602713
TI  - Interplay between viruses and bacterial microbiota in cancer development.
AB  - During the last few decades we have become accustomed to the idea that viruses
      can cause tumors. It is much less considered and discussed, however, that most
      people infected with oncoviruses will never develop cancer. Therefore, the
      genetic and environmental factors that tip the scales from clearance of viral
      infection to development of cancer are currently an area of active investigation.
      Microbiota has recently emerged as a potentially critical factor that would
      affect this balance by increasing or decreasing the ability of viral infection to
      promote carcinogenesis. In this review, we provide a model of microbiome
      contribution to the development of oncogenic viral infections and viral
      associated cancers, give examples of this process in human tumors, and describe
      the challenges that prevent progress in the field as well as their potential
      solutions.

PMID- 28602717
TI  - Protein folding and unfolding pathways: The role of energy barriers,
      configurational entropy and internal energy: Comment on "There and back again:
      Two views on the protein folding puzzle" by Alexei V. Finkelstein et al.

PMID- 28602718
TI  - Cross-language diversity, head-direction and grammars: Comment on "Dependency
      distance: A new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural languages" by Haitao
      Liu et al.

PMID- 28602719
TI  - Coevolution of dependency distance, hierarchical structure and word order:
      Comment on "Dependency distance: a new perspective on syntactic patterns in
      natural languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

PMID- 28602720
TI  - Computer simulation as an important approach to explore language universal:
      Comment on "Dependency distance: a new perspective on syntactic patterns in
      natural languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

PMID- 28602721
TI  - Adding Gestalt to the picture: Comment on "Move me, astonish me... delight my
      eyes and brain: The Vienna Integrated Model of top-down and bottom-up processes
      in Art Perception (VIMAP) and corresponding affective, evaluative, and
      neurophysiological correlates" by Matthew Pelowski et al.

PMID- 28602722
TI  - Dependency distance minimization in understanding of ambiguous structure: Comment
      on "Dependency distance: A new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural
      languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

PMID- 28602723
TI  - Ugliness as the fourth wall-breaker: Comment on "Move me, astonish me... delight
      my eyes and brain: The Vienna Integrated Model of top-down and bottom-up
      processes in Art Perception (VIMAP) and corresponding affective, evaluative, and
      neurophysiological correlates" by Matthew Pelowski et al.

PMID- 28602726
TI  - The changing molecular epidemiology of HIV in the Philippines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Philippines has one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the
      world. Possible reasons for this include increased testing, increased local
      transmission, and possibly more aggressive strains of HIV. This study sought to
      determine whether local molecular subtypes of HIV have changed. METHODS: Viruses
      from 81 newly diagnosed, treatment-naive HIV patients were genotyped using
      protease and reverse transcriptase genes. Demographic characteristics and CD4
      count data were collected. RESULTS: The cohort had an average age of 29 years
      (range 19-51 years), CD4+ count of 255 cells/mm3 (range 2-744 cells/mm3), and
      self-reported acquisition time of 2.42 years (range 0.17-8.17 years). All were
      male, including 79 men who have sex with men (MSM). The genotype distribution was
      77% CRF01_AE, 22% B, and 1% C. Previous data from 1985-2000 showed that most
      Philippine HIV infections were caused by subtype B (71%, n=100), followed by
      subtype CRF01_AE (20%). Comparison with the present cohort showed a significant
      shift in subtype (p<0.0001). Comparison between CRF01_AE and B showed a lower
      CD4+ count (230 vs. 350 cells/mm3, p=0.03). Survival data showed highly
      significant survival associated with antiretroviral (ARV) treatment (p<0.0001),
      but no significant difference in mortality or CD4 count increase on ARVs between
      subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: The molecular epidemiology of HIV in the Philippines has
      changed, with the more aggressive CRF01_AE now being the predominant subtype.

PMID- 28602728
TI  - The fluorescent protein iLOV outperforms eGFP as a reporter gene in the
      microaerophilic protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis.
AB  - Trichomonas vaginalis is a flagellated protozoan causing a notorious urogenital
      infection in humans. Due to its anaerobic metabolism, an alternative fluorescent
      protein that can be readily expressed in oxygen-deprived conditions is ideal.
      This study assessed the performance of iLOV, which does not require oxygen to
      function, as compared to the conventional enhanced green fluorescent protein
      (eGFP) in T. vaginalis. The results indicated that iLOV outperforms eGFP in both
      transient and stable expression, being detectable earlier and producing higher
      fluorescent intensity than eGFP in T. vaginalis. This finding facilitates
      forthcoming genetic studies that will advance the knowledge on this human
      parasitic infection.

PMID- 28602727
TI  - Emergence of a multidrug-resistant Citrobacter freundii ST8 harboring an unusual
      VIM-4 gene cassette in Poland.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The growing incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is an
      emerging challenge in modern medicine. The utility of carbapenems, which are
      considered 'last-line' agents, is being diminished by the growing incidence of
      various resistance mechanisms in Gram-negative bacteria. A molecular
      investigation was performed of an MDR carbapenem-resistant Citrobacter freundii
      of sequence type 8 (ST8) isolated from a hematology patient with acute myeloid
      leukemia. METHODS: Multilocus sequence typing and analysis of the nucleotide
      sequence of the class I integron were performed using PCR and Sanger sequencing.
      Transformation of the resistance plasmid isolated following the alkaline lysis
      method was performed using chemically competent E. coli TOP10. RESULTS: Molecular
      analysis of the carbapenem-resistant C. freundii revealed the presence of the VIM
      4 isoenzyme located on the ~55-kb transferable resistance plasmid. Interestingly,
      the blaVIM-4 gene was inserted into an unusual gene cassette containing a 169-bp
      direct repeat of the 3' segment of the blaVIM-4 gene. CONCLUSIONS: All unusual
      gene cassettes containing VIM-DR (direct repeat) described thus far have been
      harbored by non-fermenters, i.e., Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas, underscoring the
      importance of resistance determinant mobility, which may go even beyond genus,
      family, and order boundaries. Great efforts need to be taken to explore pathways
      of resistance to 'last-resort' antimicrobials, especially among clinically
      relevant pathogens.

PMID- 28602724
TI  - Achalasia Treatment, Outcomes, Utilization, and Costs: A Population-Based Study
      from the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomized trials show that pneumatic dilation (PD) >=30 mm and
      laparoscopic myotomy (LM) provide equivalent symptom relief and disease-related
      quality of life for patients with achalasia. However, questions remain about the
      safety, burden, and costs of treatment options. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a
      retrospective cohort study of achalasia patients initially treated with PD or LM
      (2009 to 2014) using the Truven Health MarketScan Research Databases. All
      patients had 1 year of follow-up after initial treatment. We compared safety,
      health care use, and total and out-of-pocket costs using generalized linear
      models. RESULTS: Among 1,061 patients, 82% were treated with LM. The LM patients
      were younger (median age 49 vs 52 years; p < 0.01), but were similar in terms of
      sex (p = 0.80) and prevalence of comorbid conditions (p = 0.11). There were no
      significant differences in the 1-year cumulative risk of esophageal perforation
      (LM 0.8% vs PD 1.6%; p = 0.32) or 30-day mortality (LM 0.3% vs PD 0.5%; p =
      0.71). Laparoscopic myotomy was associated with an 82% lower rate of
      reintervention (p < 0.01), a 29% lower rate of subsequent diagnostic testing (p <
      0.01), and a 53% lower rate of readmission (p < 0.01). Total and out-of-pocket
      costs were not significantly different (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In the US, LM
      appears to be the preferred treatment for achalasia. Both LM and PD appear to be
      safe interventions. Along a short time horizon, the costs of LM and PD were not
      different. Mirroring findings from randomized trials, LM is associated with fewer
      reinterventions, less diagnostic testing, and fewer hospitalizations.

PMID- 28602725
TI  - IL15RA is required for osteoblast function and bone mineralization.
AB  - Interleukin-15 receptor alpha (IL15RA) is an important component of interleukin
      15 (IL15) pro-inflammatory signaling. In addition, IL15 and IL15RA are present in
      the circulation and are detected in a variety of tissues where they influence
      physiological functions such as muscle contractility and overall metabolism. In
      the skeletal system, IL15RA was previously shown to be important for
      osteoclastogenesis. Little is known, however, about its role in osteoblast
      function and bone mineralization. In this study, we evaluated bone structural and
      mechanical properties of an Il15ra whole-body knockout mouse (Il15ra-/-) and used
      in vitro and bioinformatic analyses to understand the role IL15/IL15RA signaling
      on osteoblast function. We show that lack of IL15RA decreased bone mineralization
      in vivo and in isolated primary osteogenic cultures, suggesting a cell-autonomous
      effect. Il15ra-/- osteogenic cultures also had reduced Rankl/Opg mRNA ratio,
      indicating defective osteoblast/osteoclast coupling. We analyzed the
      transcriptome of primary pre-osteoblasts from normal and Il15ra-/- mice and
      identified 1150 genes that were differentially expressed at a FDR of 5%. Of
      these, 844 transcripts were upregulated and 306 were downregulated in Il15ra-/-
      cells. The largest functional clusters, highlighted using DAVID analysis, were
      related to metabolism, immune response, bone mineralization and morphogenesis.
      The transcriptome analysis was validated by qPCR of some of the most significant
      hits. Using bioinformatic approaches, we identified candidate genes, including
      Cd200 and Enpp1, that could contribute to the reduced mineralization. Silencing
      Il15ra using shRNA in the calvarial osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cell line decreased ENPP1
      activity. Taken together, these data support that IL15RA plays a cell-autonomous
      role in osteoblast function and bone mineralization.

PMID- 28602729
TI  - Alpha-lipoic acid impairs body weight gain of young broiler chicks via modulating
      peripheral AMPK.
AB  - In mammals, the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathways in the central and
      peripheral tissues coordinately integrate inputs from multiple sources to
      regulate energy balance. The present study was aimed to explore the potential
      role of hepatic AMPK in the energy homeostasis of broiler chickens. Diets with 0,
      0.05% or 0.1% alpha-lipoic acid (alpha-LA), a known AMPK inhibitor were provided
      to broiler chicks for 7days. As a result, alpha-LA supplementation decreased the
      relative growth rate of broiler chicks. Hepatic AMPKalpha2 mRNA levels were
      significantly upregulated by dietary alpha-LA, in concert with the increased
      phosphorylated AMPKalpha protein levels. In addition, hepatic FAS mRNA levels
      together with the malonyl-CoA to total CoA ester ratio were reduced by alpha-LA
      supplementation. Moreover, the hepatic phosphorylated glycogen synthase levels
      were increased resulting in a markedly decreased hepatic glycogen content. In
      conclusion, dietary alpha-LA supplementation decreased the in vivo hepatic
      glycogenesis and lipogenesis via stimulating hepatic AMPKalpha mRNA levels and
      the phosphorylated gene product. The stimulatory effect of alpha-LA on hepatic
      AMPK mRNA and pAMPKalpha protein levels together with our previous observations
      regarding its inhibitory effect on hypothalamic AMPK may have altered the energy
      balance and hence impaired body weight gain of broiler chicks.

PMID- 28602731
TI  - Energy conservation and maximal entropy production in enzyme reactions.
AB  - A procedure for maximization of the density of entropy production in a single
      stationary two-step enzyme reaction is developed. Under the constraints of mass
      conservation, fixed equilibrium constant of a reaction and fixed products of
      forward and backward enzyme rate constants the existence of maximum in the
      density of entropy production is demonstrated. In the state with maximal density
      of entropy production the optimal enzyme rate constants, the stationary
      concentrations of the substrate and the product, the stationary product yield as
      well as the stationary reaction flux are calculated. The test, whether these
      calculated values of the reaction parameters are consistent with their
      corresponding measured values, is performed for the enzyme Glucose Isomerase. It
      is found that calculated and measured rate constants agree within an order of
      magnitude, whereas the calculated reaction flux and the product yield differ from
      their corresponding measured values for less than 20 % and 5 %, respectively.
      This indicates that the enzyme Glucose Isomerase, considered in a non-equilibrium
      stationary state, as found in experiments using the continuous stirred tank
      reactors, possibly operates close to the state with the maximum in the density of
      entropy production.

PMID- 28602730
TI  - Recombinant expression of a laccase from Coriolopsis gallica in Pichia pastoris
      using a modified alpha-factor preproleader.
AB  - In this work we communicate the heterologous expression of a laccase from
      Coriolopsis gallica in Pichia pastoris. This enzyme has been reported to
      efficiently degrade a variety of pollutants such as industrial dyes. The
      expression strategy included using a previously reported modified alpha-factor
      preproleader for enhanced secretion and pAOX1, a methanol-responsive promoter.
      Methanol concentration, copper salts concentration and temperature were varied in
      order to enhance laccase expression in this heterologous system. A volumetric
      activity of 250 U/L was achieved after 12-day culture in Fernbach flasks. The
      protein was recovered from the supernatant and purified, obtaining a preparation
      with 90% electrophoretic purity. The catalytic constants of the recombinant
      enzyme are almost identical to the fungal enzyme, thus rendering this system a
      useful tool for protein engineering of laccase from C. gallica.

PMID- 28602732
TI  - Does omalizumab impair glucose homeostasis in a patient with severe persistent
      asthma and type 2 diabetes mellitus?

PMID- 28602733
TI  - Efficacy of viable Bacillus pumilus isolated from farmed fish on immune responses
      and increased disease resistance in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus):
      Laboratory and on-farm trials.
AB  - Applications of viable Bacillus pumilus AQAHBS01 isolated from Nile tilapia farms
      as probiotics were studied in both laboratory and farm conditions. In the
      laboratory, feeding fish (approximately 50 g) with feed containing viable B.
      pumilus at concentrations of 1 * 107-109 colony forming units (CFU)/kg elevated
      fish immune responses, as indicated by their phagocytic activity and superoxide
      anion levels, and led to more effective disease resistance against Streptococcus
      agalactiae. However, when these concentrations were applied to Nile tilapia
      cultures growing in cage culture systems, only B. pumilus AQAHBS01 at
      concentrations of 1 * 108 and 109 CFU/kg diet could effectively enhance disease
      resistance against S. agalactiae during the critical period of early to middle
      April when the temperature reached 33  degrees C, whereas control fish and fish
      that consumed B. pumilus AQAHBS01 at concentrations of 1 * 107 CFU/kg showed very
      rapid streptococcosis-induced mortality. However, in late April, massive levels
      of organic matter-containing water flowed into the culture areas, causing all
      fish groups to become infected with Flavobacterium columnare. Moreover, the
      dissolved oxygen levels in the river declined to critical levels of approximately
      1.0-1.5 mg/L, causing anorectic effects in fish for long periods of time. This
      effect may have also gradually killed the cultured fish until the end of the
      experiment. This information strongly demonstrates the effective application of
      B. pumilus as a probiotic for streptococcosis resistance in both laboratory and
      field culture conditions. For on-farm cage culture practices, however,
      fluctuations in water quality remain a significant constraint for probiotic
      application, as they usually induce negative effects on fish health. This decline
      in health makes fish more fragile and more susceptible to problems from both
      infectious and non-infectious diseases, which farmers must consider carefully.

PMID- 28602734
TI  - Molecular characterization and gene expression of cathepsin L in Nile tilapia
      (Oreochromis niloticus).
AB  - Cathepsin L (CatL) has been widely known for its involvement in the innate
      immunity. However, it still remains poorly understand how CatL modulates the
      immune system of teleosts. Moreover, the CatL of Nile tilapia (NtCatL) has not
      been cloned or characterized. In this study, the gene encoding NtCatL was cloned,
      and was characterized by bioinformatics analysis, heterologous expression and
      protease activity assay. The coding sequence of NtCatL is 1017 bp in length and
      encodes 338 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of 38.487 kDa
      and a theoretical isoelectric point of 5.79. NtCatL possesses the features of a
      typical cathepsin L, including one signal peptide, one propeptide region, and one
      papain family cysteine protease domain containing four active site residues
      (Gln135, Cys141, His281, and Asn305). The prediction of protein-protein
      interaction shows that NtCatL may interact with some functional proteins for
      realizing an immune function. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed the widespread
      transcriptional expression of NtCatL in six tissues of healthy Nile tilapia, and
      the NtCatL mRNA is significantly up-regulated after Streptococcus agalactiae
      challenge. These results suggest that NtCatL is likely to be involved in the
      immune reaction of Nile tilapia. Recombinant proteins from the mature domain
      (residues 117-337) of NtCatL were obtained by heterologous expression using
      pET28a and Rosetta (DE3) competent cells. A protein product with the high purity
      was obtained by using TALON Superflow purification rather than adopting HisTrap
      HP columns. The protease activity of the recombinant protein was verified by
      using a substrate hydrolyzing assay. This work has cloned and characterized the
      CatL from Nile tilapia for the first time, and contributes to elucidating the
      immunological functions of CatL.

PMID- 28602735
TI  - Enrichment of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) diet with medlar (Mespilus germanica)
      leaf extract: Effects on skin mucosal immunity and growth performance.
AB  - A feeding trial was performed to assess the effects of dietary Medlar (Mespilus
      germanica) leaf extract (MLE) on the growth performance, skin mucus non-specific
      immune parameters as well as mRNA levels of immune and antioxidant related genes
      in the skin of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings. Fish were fed diets
      supplemented with graded levels (0, 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00%) of MLE for 49 days.
      The results revealed an improvement to the growth performance and feed conversion
      ratio in MLE fed carps (P < 0.05), regardless of the inclusion level. The
      immunoglobulin levels and interleukin 8 levels in the skin mucous and skin,
      respectively, revealed significant increment in fish fed 1% MLE (P < 0.05) in
      comparison with the other MLE treatments and control group. Also, feeding on
      0.25% and 0.50% MLE remarkably increased skin mucus lysozyme activity (P < 0.05).
      However, there were no significant difference between MLE treated groups and
      control (P > 0.05) in case protease activity in the skin mucous or tumor necrosis
      factor alpha and interleukin 1 beta gene expression in the skin of carps (P >
      0.05). The expression of genes encoding glutathione reductase and glutathione S
      transferase alpha were remarkably increased in MLE fed carps compared to the
      control group (P < 0.05) while carp fed 0.50% or 1.00% MLE had significantly
      increased glutathione peroxidase expression in their skin (P < 0.05). The present
      results revealed the potentially beneficial effects of MLE on the mucosal immune
      system and growth performance in common carp fingerlings.

PMID- 28602736
TI  - Effect of vitamin C on innate immune responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus
      mykiss) leukocytes.
AB  - Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an essential micronutrient that
      influences a wide variety of physiological processes, including immunological
      functions. Although the positive effects of vitamin C supplementation on the
      immunological status of fish has been established in different species, the bases
      for these positive effects are still unknown. Hence, the aim of our study was to
      evaluate the in vitro effect of vitamin C on several innate immune functions of
      rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) leukocyte populations. For this, we assessed
      the effects exerted on the established rainbow trout monocyte-macrophage cell
      line RTS11, and compared them to those observed in trout head kidney leukocytes.
      Our results demonstrate that vitamin C increases the production of reactive
      oxygen species and the percentage of phagocytic cells in both cell populations.
      On the other hand, vitamin C had no effect on the surface MHC II levels and only
      in the case of RTS11 cells increased the capacity of these cells to migrate
      towards the CK9 chemokine. Finally, vitamin C also increased the transcription of
      several pro-inflammatory and antimicrobial genes elicited by Escherichia coli,
      with some differences depending on the cell population studied. Our results
      contribute to further understand how vitamin C supplementation regulates the fish
      immune system.

PMID- 28602738
TI  - Immune response of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) infected with the
      myxosporean parasite Kudoa septempunctata.
AB  - This study evaluated the pathophysiological, biochemical, and immunological
      status of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) infected with the myxosporean
      parasite Kudoa septempunctata. Flounder fish collected from Kudoa-infected and
      uninfected farms were confirmed by microscopic and TaqMan probe-based
      quantitative PCR screening. Morphological, biochemical, histological, and immune
      gene expression analyses were performed on uninfected and infected hosts to
      assess the effect of K. septempunctata. Histological studies confirmed the
      presence of Kudoa myxospores in the trunk muscles of infected flounder fish.
      Serum biochemical parameters, including the levels of myeloperoxidase activity,
      superoxide dismutase activity, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase,
      amylase, bilirubin, total protein, cholesterol, calcium, potassium, sodium,
      phosphorus, glucose, and galactose, were found to exhibit no significant
      variations (p > 0.05) between uninfected and infected flounder fish. However,
      immune-related genes such as Mx, lysozyme, signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 1, interferon-gamma, interferon regulatory factor, and tumour
      necrosis factor showed significantly elevated expression (p < 0.05) in the trunk
      muscles of infected flounder fish while no significant differences were noted in
      uninfected fish trunk muscle and head-kidney of infected and uninfected flounder
      fish.

PMID- 28602737
TI  - Identification and characterization of a mannose-binding lectin from Nile tilapia
      (Oreochromis niloticus).
AB  - Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a pattern recognition protein that plays an
      important role in innate immunity capable of activating the lectin pathway of the
      complement system. In this study, a MBL homologue (OnMBL) was identified from
      Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and characterized at expression and
      agglutination functional levels. The open reading frame of OnMBL is 687 bp of
      nucleotide sequence encoding polypeptides of 228 amino acids. The deduced amino
      acid sequence is highly homology to teleost and similar to mammalian MBL,
      containing a canonical collagen-like region, a carbohydrate recognition domain
      and a neck region. Expression analysis revealed that the OnMBL was highly
      expressed in the liver, and also exhibited in other tissues including hind
      kidney, intestines, head kidney and spleen. In addition, the OnMBL expression was
      significantly up-regulated in spleen and head kidney following challenges with a
      Gram-positive bacterial pathogen (Streptococcus agalactiae) and a Gram-negative
      bacterial pathogen (Aeromonas hydrophila). Recombinant OnMBL ((r)OnMBL) protein
      was able to agglutinate both S. agalactiae and A. Hydrophila in vitro. Taken
      together, the results of this study indicated that OnMBL, possessing apparent
      agglutination ability to bacterial pathogens, might be involved in host defense
      against bacterial infection in Nile tilapia.

PMID- 28602739
TI  - Adjuvant effect of recombinant interleukin-12 in the Nocardiosis formalin-killed
      vaccine of the amberjack Seriola dumerili.
AB  - Nocardiosis causes serious economic damage in the fish farming of Japanese
      yellowtail fish. Nocardia seriolae identified as pathogenic bacterium is an
      intracellular-pathogen. In general, induction of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is
      effective in infection defense against intracellular-pathogen. However, the
      conventional formalin-killed N. seriolae (FKC) vaccine induces humoral immunity.
      Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is Th1 type heterodimeric cytokine and induces cell
      differentiation in mammals. Our previous study showed that recombinant amberjack
      IL-12 has a role in CMI induction in vitro and could be a possible CMI inducing
      adjuvant. However, its adjuvant effect of fish IL-12 was not studied. In the
      present study, six types of amberjack recombinant IL-12 (rIL-12) were mixed and
      injected into amberjack with FKC. Firstly, we analyzed Th1- and Th2- related gene
      expression and monitored Th1/Th2 status followed by investigation of antibody
      titer. As a result, Th1-type immunity was induced in FKC + rIL-12 vaccinated
      fish. Secondly, we checked Th1/Th2 status of vaccinated fish after 10 days of N.
      seriolae infection using the expression of related genes. High T-bet/GATA-3 ratio
      was observed in FKC + rIL-12 vaccinated fish, suggesting that Th1 cells possesing
      antigen memory were induced against N. seriolae infection. Finally, the survival
      rate in challenge test showed that 88% of FKC + rIL-12 vaccinated fish was
      survived at 34 days after N. seriolae injection whereas PBS (control) and FKC
      only were exterminated. These result suggest that i) rIL-12 is viable CMI
      inducible adjuvant and ii) production of Th1 cells having antigen memory
      resulting from activation of IL-12 signaling pathway is important for defense
      against N. seriolae infection.

PMID- 28602740
TI  - Protective immunity against rock bream iridovirus (RBIV) infection and TLR3
      mediated type I interferon signaling pathway in rock bream (Oplegnathus
      fasciatus) following poly (I:C) administration.
AB  - In this study, we evaluated the potential of poly (I:C) to induce antiviral
      status for protecting rock bream from RBIV infection. Rock bream injected with
      poly (I:C) at 2 days before infection (1.1 * 104) at 20  degrees C had
      significantly higher protection with RPS 13.4% and 33.4% at 100 and 200 MUg/fish,
      respectively, through 100 days post infection (dpi). The addition of boost
      immunization with poly (I:C) at before/post infection at 20  degrees C clearly
      enhanced the level of protection showing 33.4% and 60.0% at 100 and 200 MUg/fish,
      respectively. To investigate the development of a protective immune response,
      rock bream were re-infected with RBIV (1.1 * 107) at 200 dpi. While 100% of the
      previously unexposed fish died, 100% of the previously infected fish survived.
      Poly (I:C) induced TLR3 and Mx responses were observed at several sampling time
      points in the spleen, kidney and blood. Moreover, significantly high expression
      levels of IRF3 (2.9- and 3.1-fold at 1 d and 2 days post administration (dpa),
      respectively), ISG15 and PKR expression (5.4- and 10.2-fold at 2 dpa,
      respectively) were observed in the blood, but the expression levels were low in
      the spleen and kidney after poly (I:C) administration. Our results showed the
      induction of antiviral immune responses and indicate the possibility of
      developing long term preventive measures against RBIV using poly (I:C).

PMID- 28602741
TI  - Disease resistance and response against Vibrio anguillarum intestinal infection
      in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fed low fish meal and fish oil diets.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the effects of low levels of dietary fish
      meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) on disease resistance and gut associated lymphoid
      tissue (GALT) response after an experimental intestinal infection with V.
      anguillarum in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) For that purpose, sea
      bass juveniles were fed one of four diets containing combined levels of FO and FM
      as follows: 20%FM/6%FO, 20%FM/3%FO, 5%FM/6%FO and 5%FM/3%FO during 153 days. At
      the end of the feeding trial, fish were subjected to either an in vivo exposure
      to a sub-lethal dose of V. anguillarum via anal inoculation or to an ex vivo
      exposure to V. anguillarum. Additionally, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)
      and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) gut patterns of immunopositivity were
      studied. Growth performance was affected by dietary FM level, however ex vivo gut
      bacterial translocation rates and survival after the in vivo challenge test were
      affected by dietary FO level. After 5 months of feeding, low dietary FM levels
      led to a posterior gut up-regulation of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and
      TNFalpha, major histocompatibility complex-II (MHCII) and cyclooxygenase-2
      (COX2), which in turn reduced the gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) capacity
      of response after 24 h post infection and conditioned European sea bass capacity
      to recover gut homeostasis 7 days post infection. Immunoreactivity to anti-iNOS
      and anti-TNFalpha presented a gradient of increased immunopositivity towards the
      anus, regardless of the dietary FM/FO fed. Strong positive anti-TNFalpha isolated
      enterocytes were observed in the anterior gut in relation to low levels of
      dietary FM/FO. Submucosa and lamina propria immunoreactivity grade was related to
      the amount of leucocyte populations infiltrated and goblet cells presented
      immunopositivity to anti-iNOS but not to anti-TNFalpha. Thus, reducing FO content
      from 6% to a 3% by VO in European sea bass diets increases ex vivo and in vivo
      gut bacterial translocation rates, whereas reducing FM content from 20% down to
      5% up-regulates the expression of several posterior gut inflammation-related
      genes conditioning fish growth and GALT capacity of response after bacterial
      infection.

PMID- 28602743
TI  - Apple cider vinegar boosted immunomodulatory and health promoting effects of
      Lactobacillus casei in common carp (Cyprinus carpio).
AB  - The present study was performed to investigate the immunomodulatory and health
      promoting effects of combined or singular administration of apple cider vinegar
      (ACV) and Lactobacillus casei in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) diet. An 8-week
      feeding trial was designed with following treatments: Control (basal diet), Pro
      (contains 107 CFU g-1L. casei), LACV (contains 1% ACV), HACV (contains 2% ACV),
      Pro + LACV (contains 107 CFU g-1L. casei plus 1% ACV) and Pro + HACV (contains
      107 CFU g-1L. casei plus 2% ACV). Evaluation of skin mucus revealed notable
      increase of total Ig level and lysozyme activity in Pro + LACV and Pro + HACV
      treatments compared other groups (P < 0.05). Similarly, serum total Ig and
      lysozyme activity in HACV, Pro + LACV and Pro + HACV fed carps was remarkably
      higher than other groups (P < 0.05). However, regarding serum alternative
      complement (ACH50) activity significant difference was observed just between Pro
      + HACV and control treatment (P < 0.05). The highest expression of immune related
      (LYZ, TNF-alpha, IL1b, IL8) and antioxidant enzymes genes (GSR, GST) were
      observed in carps fed Pro + HACV and Pro + LACV. The expression of GH gene
      expression in Pro, LACV and HACV treatments was significantly higher than those
      in control group (P < 0.05). The highest expression level of GH and IGF1 was
      observed in fish fed combined Pro and ACV (P < 0.05). These results indicated
      that co-administration of ACV boosted immunomodulatory and health promoting
      effects of L. casei and can be considered as a promising immunostimulants in
      early stage of common carp culture.

PMID- 28602742
TI  - Effect of crowding stress on the immune response in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus)
      vaccinated with attenuated Edwardsiella tarda.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the immune responses in turbot,
      Scophthalmus maximus, treated with 1 * 107 cfu/ml attenuated Edwardsiella tarda
      (0.1 ml/fish) under low density (LD; ~5.25-5.13 kg/m2, initial to final density),
      medium density (MD; ~10.41-13.95 kg/m2), and high density (HD; ~20.53-30.77
      kg/m2) conditions for 8 weeks. The results showed that there was a peak value in
      the percentage of sIg+ (surface immunoglobulin-positive) cells in blood
      leucocytes (BL), spleen leucocytes (SL), and pronephros leucocytes (PL) during
      the sixth week in the HD, which was delayed by week compared with the other
      groups. The specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody levels increased from the
      first week in all groups and reached a peak in the fifth week in the LD and MD
      groups, but in the sixth week in the HD group. The serum cortisol levels were
      greater in the HD group compared with the other groups in the last 3 or 4 weeks.
      These results show that stocking turbot at a LD obtained the most effective
      immunization, and thus we conclude that crowding stress may reduce the ability to
      deal with immune challenge.

PMID- 28602745
TI  - Systemic estradiol administration to ovariectomized rats facilitates
      thermoregulatory behavior in a cold environment.
AB  - Rats place their tails underneath their bodies in the cold (tail-hiding
      behavior), which is a behavioral indicator of thermoregulation. The aim of the
      present study was to elucidate the effect of estradiol (E2) on tail-hiding
      behavior and neural activity assessed by immunohistochemistry. Ovariectomized
      rats were implanted with a silastic tube with or without E2 underneath the dorsal
      skin (E2(-) and E2(+) groups), and exposed to 27 degrees C, 16 degrees C, and 10
      degrees C for 2h with continuous body temperature (Tb), tail skin temperature
      (Ttail), and behavioral measurements. cFos immunoreactive (cFos-IR) cells in the
      insula, secondary somatosensory cortex, medial preoptic nucleus, parastrial
      nucleus, amygdala, and lateral parabrachial nucleus were counted. Tb and Ttail
      were not different between the E2(-) and E2(+) groups. At 16 degrees C, the
      duration and the onset of tail-hiding behavior in the E2(+) group were greater
      than that in the E2(-) group. The number of cFos-IR cells in the insula of the
      E2(-) group was greater than that of the E2(+) group in rats kept at 16 degrees
      C. E2 might modulate tail-hiding behavior of female rats at 16 degrees C, and the
      insula may be involved in the response.

PMID- 28602744
TI  - Prevalence and factors associated with neck pain: a population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neck pain is a musculoskeletal condition with high prevalence that
      may affect the physical, social, and psychological aspects of the individual,
      contributing to the increase in costs in society and business. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the prevalence of neck pain and associated factors in a population
      based sample of adults aged 20 and more. METHODS: Cross-sectional study based on
      a population survey. A total number of 600 individuals were interviewed in their
      homes, and the following data were collected: (1) participant characteristics
      (demographic, socioeconomic, and work-related aspects) using a pre-coded
      questionnaire; (2) physical activity level using the IPAQ; and (3)
      musculoskeletal symptoms using the Nordic questionnaire. Descriptive, bivariate,
      and Poisson regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of neck
      pain was 20.3% (95% CI 17.3-23.7). The adjusted analyses showed that individuals
      who were widowers or separated (PR=2.26; 1.42-5.88), had a low income (PR=1.32;
      1.22-6.27) or low educational level (PR=1.83; 1.02-5.26), worked while sitting
      and leaning (PR=1.55; 1.08-2.40), and who reported having two or more diseases
      (PR=1.71; 1.55-6.31) remained associated with neck pain. CONCLUSION: This study
      reveals the high prevalence of neck pain and remarkable association with
      widowed/separated people who have low income and low educational level, who
      perform their occupational activities in sitting and leaning positions, and who
      reported having two or more diseases. Knowledge of these risk factors will
      contribute to the development of forms of assistance in which neck pain can be
      prevented and better managed.

PMID- 28602747
TI  - Association of a neuronal nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism with levodopa
      induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) is a common complication of
      advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). PD physiopathology is associated with
      dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic pathways, including the nitric oxide system.
      The present study aims to examine the association of a neuronal nitric oxide
      synthase gene (NOS1) single nucleotide polymorphism (rs2682826) with LID in PD
      patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 186 PD patients using levodopa. The
      presence of LID was defined as a MDS-UPDRS Part IV score >=1 on item 4.1. We
      tested for association between NOS1 rs2682826 and the presence, daily frequency,
      and functional impact of LID using regression models, adjusting for important
      covariates. There was no significant association between genotype and any of the
      LID-related variables examined. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that this NOS1
      polymorphism does not contribute to LID susceptibility or severity. However,
      additional studies that include a comprehensive set of NOS1 variants will be
      needed to fully define the role of this gene in LID.

PMID- 28602748
TI  - Effects of physical exercise and social isolation on anxiety-related behaviors in
      two inbred rat strains.
AB  - We investigated the effects of physical exercise (PE) on locomotor activity and
      anxiety-like behavior in Lewis (LEW) and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR)
      male rats. Rats received either four weeks of forced training, 5days/week, on a
      treadmill (experiment 1) or were given 21days of free access to running wheels
      (experiment 2). We also tested the effects of social isolation (SI) (seven days
      of isolation - experiment 3) on behavior. In experiment 1, 20% of LEW rats and
      63% of SHR rats completed the training protocol. PE significantly increased
      central and peripheral locomotion in the open field (OF) and entries into the
      open arms in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) in both strains. In experiment 2, the
      distance traveled by SHR rats on running wheels was significantly higher compared
      with LEW rats. PE on running wheels also increased the time spent in the center
      of the OF in SHR rats only. In experiment 3, SI decreased central and peripheral
      locomotion in the OF in both strains. In summary, forced PE on a treadmill
      reduced anxiety-like behavior and increased locomotion in male rats of both
      strains, whereas voluntary PE on running wheels decreased anxiety-like behavior
      in SHR rats only. SI decreased locomotion in both strains in the OF. This study
      suggests that spontaneous activity levels are genotype-dependent and the effects
      of PE depend on the type of exercise performed.

PMID- 28602746
TI  - Role of oral and gut microbiome in nitric oxide-mediated colon motility.
AB  - Periodontal disease (PD), a severe form of gum disease, is among the most
      prevalent chronic infection in humans and is associated with complex microbial
      synergistic dysbiosis in the subgingival cavity. The immune system of the body
      interacts with the microbes as the plaque extends and propagates below the
      gingival sulcus. Once bacteria reach the gingival sulcus, it can enter the blood
      stream and affect various areas of the human body. The polymicrobial nature of
      periodontal disease, if left untreated, promotes chronic inflammation, not only
      within the oral cavity, but also throughout the human body. Alterations seen in
      the concentrations of healthy gut microbiota may lead to systemic alterations,
      such as gut motility disorders, high blood pressure, and atherosclerosis.
      Although gut microbiome has been shown to play a vital role in intestinal
      motility functions, the role of oral bacteria in this setting remains to be
      investigated. It is unclear whether oral microbial DNA is present in the large
      intestine and, if so, whether it alters the gut microbiome. In addition,
      polybacterial infection induced PD reduced nitric oxide (NO) synthesis and
      antioxidant enzymes in rodent colon. In this review, we will discuss the
      interactions between oral and gut microbiome, specifics of how the oral
      microbiome may modulate the activities of the gut microbiome, and possible
      ramifications of these alterations.

PMID- 28602749
TI  - The replication of spring viraemia of carp virus can be regulated by reactive
      oxygen species and NF-kappaB pathway.
AB  - Different viruses could induced ROS generation to alter intracellular redox state
      in the host cells, and unbalanced redox state was suggested to have various
      effects on viral replication. In this study, we investigated the influence of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) on replication of spring viraemia of carp virus
      (SVCV) in fish cells. After SVCV infection, there existed a time-dependent
      increase in ROS generation. The present results revealed that antioxidant N
      acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) resulted in a lower ROS levels and increased SVCV
      replication in EPC cell. In contrast, a GSH synthesis inhibitor buthionine
      sulfoximine (BSO) induced ROS generation and decreased SVCV replication. In
      addition, activation of NF-kappaB suppressed SVCV replication by using two
      inhibitors of cytokine-induced IkappaBalpha phosphorylation. More importantly,
      enhancement of the activity of NF-kappaB was found in BSO treatment, which
      indicated that dropped SVCV replication likely occurred via ROS activation of NF
      kappaB. Overall, our results revealed that the SVCV infection and replication
      could generate ROS and be affected by the redox state, where this progression was
      associated with the alteration in NF-kappaB pathway induced by oxidative stress.

PMID- 28602750
TI  - Single molecule Raman spectroscopic assay to detect transgene from GM plants.
AB  - Substantial concerns have been raised for the safety of transgenics on human
      health and environment. Many organizations, consumer groups, and environmental
      agencies advocate for stringent regulations to avoid transgene products'
      contamination in food cycle or in nature. Here we demonstrate a novel approach
      using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to detect and quantify transgene
      from GM plants. We show a highly sensitive and accurate quantification of
      transgene DNA from multiple transgenic lines of Arabidopsis. The assay allows us
      to detect and quantify the transgenes as low as 0.10 pg without need for PCR
      amplification. This technology is relatively cheap, quick, simple, and suitable
      for detection at low target concentration.

PMID- 28602751
TI  - Time of elevation of head of bed for patients receiving mechanical ventilation
      and its related factors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The semirecumbent position is a widespread recommendation for the
      prevention of pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation. AIMS: To identify
      the time of elevation of head of bed for patients under mechanical ventilation
      and the factors related to such elevation in an intensive care unit. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: An observational, descriptive cross-sectional study. Conducted in an
      intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital from April to June 2015. The studied
      population were mechanically ventilated patients. Daily hours in which patients
      remained with the head of the bed elevated (>=30 degrees ), socio-demographic
      data and clinical variables were recorded. RESULTS: 261 head elevation
      measurements were collected. The average daily hours that patients remained at
      >=30 degrees  was 16h28' (SD +/-5h38'), equivalent to 68.6% (SD +/-23.5%) of the
      day. Factors related to elevations >=30 degrees  for longer were: enteral
      nutrition, levels of deep sedation, cardiac and neurocritical diagnostics.
      Factors that hindered the position were: sedation levels for agitation and
      abdominal pathologies. Sex, age and ventilation mode did not show a significant
      relationship with bed head elevation. CONCLUSIONS: Although raising the head of
      the bed is an easy to perform, economical and measurable preventive measure, its
      compliance is low due to specific factors specific related o the patient's
      clinical condition. Using innovations such as continuous measurement of the head
      position helps to evaluate clinical practice and allows to carry out improvement
      actions whose impact is beneficial to the patient.

PMID- 28602752
TI  - Analysis of complications of prone position in acute respiratory distress
      syndrome: quality standard, incidence and related factors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The monitoring system based on standards of quality allows
      clinicians to evaluate and improve the patient's care. According to the quality
      indicators recommended by Sociedad Espanola de Medicina Intensiva Critica y
      Unidades Coronarias, and due to the importance of prone position (PP) as a
      treatment in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, it is fundamental
      to keep accurate record of serious adverse events occurring during the prone
      position procedure and its posterior analysis. OBJECTIVES: To establish
      fulfilment of the Sociedad Espanola de Medicina Intensiva Critica y Unidades
      Coronarias standards of quality according to the register of serious
      complications. To identify the incidence of serious complications registered as
      well as to identify possible factors related to these complications. METHOD:
      Retrospective, cross-sectionsl descriptive study, polyvalent ICU (16 beds). Study
      population Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome treated with PP
      (January 2012-December 2013). Study variables PP recording, accidental
      extubation, removal of catheters, decubitus ulcers (DU), ETT obstruction, urgency
      of the procedure, hours in PP, nutritional intake, type of feeding tube, food
      regurgitation/retention and use of prokinetics/muscle relaxant. RESULTS: The
      study sample comprised 38 cases, with an adequate record of complications in
      92.1% of the cases. DU were the only serious complication recorded, with a 25.7%
      incidence. Possible factors related to DU: more hours in PP in patients
      developing DU (p= .067). Less incidence of DU in well-nourished patients (p=
      .577). 82.9% of patients were not appropriately nourished. CONCLUSIONS: The
      percentage of records duly completed is very high. The presence of DU (grade 1-2
      mostly) is to be noted. There is no stastistical significance, although a trend
      is obversed, between DU and hours in PP.

PMID- 28602753
TI  - Enhanced toughening of the crossed lamellar structure revealed by
      nanoindentation.
AB  - Gastropods shells have evolved to resist the threat of increasingly stronger
      predators that smash, peal, and crush their shells. Their shells are most
      commonly constructed from a crossed lamellar microstructure, which consists of an
      exquisitely architected arrangement of aragonitic mineral and organic
      encompassing at least four orders of hierarchy. It is this careful control of
      mineral and organic placement within the entire crossed lamellar structure that
      yields a four-order of magnitude increase in fracture toughness versus abiotic
      aragonite. We investigated the effect of differing microstructural orientations
      on their influence of inter-3rd order lamellar fracture behavior using
      nanoindentation from the inner layer of the Strombus gigas shell. We observed a
      significant influence of lamella (plank) orientation and nanoindenter probe on
      the mechanical properties. The +/-45 degrees  arrangement of mineral planks found
      within biological crossed lamellar composites provides a significant enhancement
      of isotropic resistance to penetration by sharp objects such as jaws and claws.
      In addition, the +/-45 degrees  arrangement is able to resist higher loads before
      failure. This combination of features from the crossed lamellar architecture
      helped enable species with this shell structure to survive predation for hundreds
      of millions of years and will also help provide insights into designs of future
      generations of composites.

PMID- 28602754
TI  - Detection and quantification of the toxic microalgae Karenia brevis using lab on
      a chip mRNA sequence-based amplification.
AB  - Now and again, the rapid proliferation of certain species of phytoplankton can
      give rise to Harmful Algal Blooms, which pose a serious threat to marine life and
      human health. Current methods of monitoring phytoplankton are limited by poor
      specificity or by the requirement to return samples to a highly resourced,
      centralised lab. The Lab Card is a small, microfluidic cassette which, when used
      in tandem with a portable Lab Card Reader can be used to sensitively and
      specifically quantify harmful algae in the field, from nucleic acid extracts
      using RNA amplification; a sensitive and specific method for the enumeration of
      potentially any species based on their unique genetic signatures. This study
      reports the culmination of work to develop a Lab Card-based genetic assay to
      quantify the harmful algae Karenia brevis using mRNA amplification by the Nucleic
      Acid Sequence Based Amplification (NASBA) method. K. brevis cells were quantified
      by amplification of the rbcL gene transcript in nucleic acid extracts of K.
      brevis cell samples. A novel enzyme dehydration and preservation method was
      combined with a pre-existing reagent Gelification method to prepare fully
      preserved Lab Cards with a shelf-life of at least six weeks prior to use. Using
      an internal control (IC), the Lab Card-based rbcL NASBA was demonstrated for the
      quantification of K. brevis from cell extracts containing between 50 and 5000
      cells. This is the first demonstration of quantitation of K. brevis using IC
      NASBA on a Lab Card.

PMID- 28602755
TI  - A novel method to determine the minimum number of sequences required for reliable
      microbial community analysis.
AB  - Although high-throughput sequencing is an efficient approach to study the
      structure of microbial communities in detail, it is still impossible to enumerate
      all individuals using this method. Therefore, it is a common strategy to generate
      sampling datasets that are representative of the assemblages. However, the
      representativeness of these sampling datasets has never been assessed. In this
      study, we developed a method to determine the minimum number sequences that are
      required to be analyzed to obtain a reliable description of microbial community
      structure. First, a set of datasets from microbial communities were constructed
      by in silico sampling at different depths. Second, the correlation equation
      between dissimilarity of the sampling datasets and sampling depths was fitted,
      and thereby the minimum number of 16S rRNA gene sequences was predicted. Finally,
      we verified the method using empirical data of microbiota from a laboratory
      mesocosm. Our method showed that at least 5,528,079 sequences were required to
      reliably characterize microbial communities inhabiting the mesocosms. However, if
      only dominant OTUs (>1%) were considered, thousands of sequences were enough.
      This promising method provides a criterion to ensure sequencing sufficiency when
      analyzing the structure of natural microbial communities.

PMID- 28602756
TI  - Antrodia cinnamomea sensitizes radio-/chemo-therapy of cancer stem-like cells by
      modulating microRNA expression.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The discovery of many tissue-specific cancer stem
      cells (CSCs) continues to attract scientific attention. These CSCs are considered
      to be associated with chemo- and radio-resistance, and consequently, failure of
      conventional anticancer therapies. The recent demonstration of several microRNAs
      as enhancers of tumorigenicity via modulation of epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition and cancer stemness, makes them putative novel therapeutic target in
      oncology. Antrodia cinnamomea is a Chinese traditional medicine with several
      biological functions including anti-inflammation, antioxidant, and cancer
      prevention. However, the anti-CSC capability of A. Cinnamomea is not clear yet.
      AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the inhibitory effect of A. cinnamomea mycelium
      and extract on CSCs derived from various human cancer cell lines using our in
      house therapeutics and human genome-wide miRNA screening panels. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A broad range of human cancer cell lines, including the acute monocytic
      leukemia (THP-1), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM 8401), lung carcinoma (A549),
      breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231), hepatoblastoma (HepG2), colorectal
      adenocarcinoma (SW620), and foreskin fibroblast (HS68), were exposed to A.
      cinnamomea in this study. CD133+ CSCs generated from the cell lines were
      characterized and isolated by flow cytometry, effect of chemo- and radiotherapy
      was assessed using the MTT assay, while the RT-PCR and human genome wide qRT-PCR
      determined the differential gene expression patterns. A comparative analysis of
      the anticancer effect of A. cinnamomea and Cisplatin, Taxol, or irradiation was
      also performed. RESULTS: Our results indicated that A. cinnamomea mycelium and
      its ethyl acetate extracts showed anti-proliferation effects against all types of
      CSCs, especially the lung, breast, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      CSCs. Furthermore, CSCs treatment with A. cinnamomea combined with irradiation or
      chemotherapeutics demonstrated significant anti-cancer effect. We also
      established an association between the CSC-inhibitory effect of A. cinnamomea and
      significant downregulation of several microRNAs and cancer stemness expression
      levels in brain and breast CSCs. More importantly, higher CD133 expression is
      associated with poor prognosis in glioblastoma and breast cancer patients.
      CONCLUSION: Herein, we demonstrate the putative role of A. cinnamomea as an
      effective ethnopharmacologic therapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

PMID- 28602757
TI  - Achillea asiatica extract and its active compounds induce cutaneous wound
      healing.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Achillea asiatica Serg. is a perennial herb
      belonging to the Asteraceae family that has long been traditionally used to treat
      acute intestinal and stomach inflammation, persistent fever, ulcers, wounds, and
      rheumatism. AIM OF THE STUDY: We investigated the effect of A. asiatica extract
      (AAE) on cutaneous wound healing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To assess the effect of
      AAE on wounds, an incisional Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat model was topically treated
      with AAE for 2 weeks. HaCaT keratinocytes, Hs68 dermal fibroblasts, and RAW 264.7
      macrophages were used for in vitro experiments. After treatment with AAE, cell
      viability, cell migration, and production of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin
      E2 (PGE2) were investigated. mRNA expression of collagen type I and III and
      inflammatory cytokines was measured by RT-PCR. The effect of AAE on activation of
      beta-catenin and other markers was determined by Western blot analysis. RESULTS:
      AAE treatment significantly increased epithelialization and accelerated wound
      healing in SD rats. Meanwhile, AAE and its active compounds reduced NO and PGE2
      release and mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines in RAW 264.7 macrophages,
      reflecting anti-inflammatory activity. Furthermore, AAE and its constituents
      stimulated collagen expression in Hs68 fibroblasts by activating transforming
      growth factor-beta and stimulated keratinocyte differentiation and motility by
      inducing beta-catenin, Akt, and keratinocyte differentiation markers.
      CONCLUSIONS: AAE improves skin wounds in SD rats and supports keratinocyte
      development.

PMID- 28602758
TI  - An Incidental Pancreatic Mass in a Young Woman.

PMID- 28602759
TI  - Construction and Screening of a Lentiviral Secretome Library.
AB  - Over 2,000 human proteins are predicted to be secreted, but the biological
      function of the many of these proteins is still unknown. Moreover, a number of
      these proteins may act as new therapeutic agents or be targets for the
      development of therapeutic antibodies. To further explore the extracellular
      proteome, we have developed a secretome-enriched open reading frame (ORF) library
      that can be readily screened for autocrine activity in cell-based phenotypic or
      reporter assays. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and database analysis predict
      that the library contains approximately 900 ORFs encoding known secreted proteins
      (accounting for 77.8% of the library), as well as genes encoding potentially
      unknown secreted proteins. In a proof-of-principle study, human TF-1 cells were
      screened for proliferative factors, and the known cytokine GMCSF was identified
      as a dominant hit. This library offers a relatively low-cost and straightforward
      approach for functional autocrine screens of secreted proteins.

PMID- 28602760
TI  - How to Increase Brightness of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Proteins in Mammalian
      Cells.
AB  - Numerous near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent proteins (FPs) were recently engineered
      from bacterial photoreceptors but lack of their systematic comparison makes
      researcher's choice rather difficult. Here we evaluated side-by-side several
      modern NIR FPs, such as blue-shifted smURFP and miRFP670, and red-shifted mIFP
      and miRFP703. We found that among all NIR FPs, miRFP670 had the highest
      fluorescence intensity in various mammalian cells. For instance, in common HeLa
      cells miRFP703, mIFP, and smURFP were 2-, 9-, and 53-fold dimmer than miRFP670.
      Either co-expression of heme oxygenase or incubation of cells with heme precursor
      weakly affected NIR fluorescence, however, in the latter case elevated cellular
      autofluorescence. Exogenously added chromophore substantially increased smURFP
      brightness but only slightly enhanced brightness of other NIR FPs. mIFP showed
      intermediate, while monomeric miRFP670 and miRFP703 exhibited high binding
      efficiency of endogenous biliverdin chromophore. This feature makes them easy to
      use as GFP-like proteins for spectral multiplexing with FPs of visible range.

PMID- 28602761
TI  - Joining Forces: The Chemical Biology-Medicinal Chemistry Continuum.
AB  - The scientific advances being made across all disciplines are creating ever
      increasing opportunities to enhance our knowledge of biological systems and how
      they relate to human disease. One of the central driving forces in discovering
      new medicines is medicinal chemistry, where the design and synthesis of novel
      compounds has led to multiple drugs. Chemical biology, sitting at the interface
      of many disciplines, has now emerged as a major contributor to the understanding
      of biological systems and is becoming an integral part of drug discovery.
      Bringing chemistry and biology much closer and blurring the boundaries between
      disciplines is creating new opportunities to probe and understand biology; both
      disciplines play key roles and need to join forces and work together effectively
      to synergize their impact. The power of chemical biology will then reach its full
      potential and drive innovation, leading to the discovery of transformative
      medicines to treat patients. Advances in cancer biology and drug discovery
      highlight this potential.

PMID- 28602762
TI  - Different patterns of changes between actin dynamics and synaptic density in the
      rat's primary visual cortex during a special period of visual development.
AB  - In our previous study, we found that the normalized levels of the synaptosomal
      filament actin (F-actin) to monomeric global actin (G-actin) ratio in the primary
      visual cortex (V1) of rats was significantly lower on postnatal day (P) 45
      compared with P30, however, the synaptic density in the monocular area of primary
      visual cortex (V1M) maintained a stable high level from P30 to P45. The
      mechanisms underlying the different patterned of change in synaptic density and
      actin rearrangements from P30 to P45 are unclear. During visual development,
      there is a synaptic pruning process in the binocular segment of primates' visual
      cortex (V1B) and we suppose the pruning activity may contribute to the decreased
      synaptosomal F-actin to G-actin ratio. To address this issue, first, samples were
      derived from the region of V1B for TEM analysis but no significant difference was
      demonstrated between the P30 and P45 groups. In addition, the expression of PSD
      95 detected by immunobloting in the synaptosomes of V1 at P30 and P45 also showed
      no significant difference. Combined with the previous results of actin dynamics
      in the V1 and synaptic density in the V1M, we conclude that the synaptic density
      and actin dynamics in the rats' primary visual cortex are inter-related but not
      absolutely identical. This study suggests actin cytoskeleton not only provides
      the structural basis but also regulates a various array of cellular activities
      underlying synaptic function. Besides, it highlights a further research of
      synaptic pruning.

PMID- 28602763
TI  - Combined versus single application of tranexamic acid in total knee and hip
      arthroplasty: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of the combined application of both
      intravenous and topical tranexamic acid versus the single use of either
      application in patients with total knee and hip arthroplasty. METHODS:
      Potentially relevant studies were identified from electronic databases including
      Medline, PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect and the Cochrane Library. Patients
      undergoing primary total knee and hip arthroplasty were included in our studies,
      with an experimental group that received combined intravenous and topical
      application of tranexamic acid and a control group that received a single
      application of tranexamic acid or normal saline. The primary outcomes were total
      blood loss, hemoglobin decline and transfusion requirements. The secondary
      outcomes were length of stay, operation time and tranexamic acid-related adverse
      effects, such as superficial infection, deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary
      embolism. Modified Jadad scores were used to assess the quality of the included
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The data was pooled using RevMan 5.3. After
      testing for heterogeneity across studies, the data were aggregated using random
      effects modeling when appropriate. We have registered the trial at
      http://www.researchregistry.com. RESULTS: Six RCTs that included 704 patients met
      the inclusion criteria. The present meta-analysis indicated significant
      differences existed in the total blood loss (MD = -134.65, 95% CI: -191.66 to 
      77.64, P < 0.0001), postoperative hemoglobin level (MD = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.39 to
      1.10, P < 0.0001), drainage volume (MD = -40.19, 95% CI: -55.95 to -24.43, P <
      0.00001) and transfusion rate (RD = -0.07, 95% CI: -0.11 to -0.03, P = 0.0004)
      between groups. CONCLUSION: Combined administration of tranexamic acid in total
      knee and hip arthroplasty was associated with significantly reduced total blood
      loss, postoperative hemoglobin decline, drainage volume, and transfusion
      requirements. Based on the limitations of current meta-analysis, well-designed,
      high-quality RCTs with long-term follow-up are still required.

PMID- 28602764
TI  - First serological evidence of hantavirus among febrile patients in Mozambique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The occurrence of hantavirus in Sub-Saharan Africa is poorly studied
      and its clinical implications are unknown. This study aimed to determine the
      occurrence of hantavirus infection among febrile patients attending an outpatient
      clinic at a primary health care center located in a suburban area of the city of
      Maputo in Mozambique. METHODS: Paired acute and convalescent samples from a total
      of 200 febrile patients aged >5years who were recruited between February 2012 and
      October 2014 were screened for IgM and IgG antibodies against hantavirus using an
      ELISA. Acute samples were also screened for malaria and to determine
      hematological and clinical chemistry parameters. RESULTS: Of the 200 patients
      enrolled, four had IgM antibodies in their acute sample and IgG antibodies in
      their convalescent sample, yielding a prevalence rate of 2%. Contact with rodents
      was higher among IgM-positive participants than IgM-negative participants (50.0%
      (2/4) vs. 15.3% (30/196)). IgM-positive patients presented significantly higher
      levels of creatinine and alanine aminotransferase and lower platelet counts than
      IgM-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study demonstrate human
      exposure to hantavirus in Mozambique for the first time; however, further studies
      should be conducted to investigate its clinical implications.

PMID- 28602765
TI  - Epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis in Hamadan Province during
      2009-2015: results from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human brucellosis and recurrent brucellosis is an ever-increasing
      public health concern, especially in endemic areas like Iran. Nevertheless,
      little is known regarding the epidemiology and determinants of recurrent
      brucellosis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate
      epidemiological patterns and potential determinants of recurrent brucellosis in
      Hamadan Province during the years 2009-2015. METHODS: Data on reported cases of
      new and recurrent brucellosis from 2009 to 2015 were obtained from the provincial
      Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System at Hamadan University of Medical
      Sciences. Incidence rates per 100000 were estimated at the county level. Binary
      logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of background
      characteristics and recurrent brucellosis. The power of discrimination of the
      model for recurrent brucellosis was assessed using the area under the curve
      (AUC). RESULTS: Among 7318 brucellosis cases, the total frequency (%) of
      recurrent cases was 472 (6.45%). The rate of recurrent brucellosis was higher in
      females, people aged 50 years and over, people with a history of consuming
      unpasteurized dairy products with no history of contact with animals, and in the
      winter season. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that female sex
      (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-1.65), age
      >=55 years (AOR 4.15, 95% CI 2.32-7.42), consumption of unpasteurized dairy
      products (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 0.96-1.40), and winter season (AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.03
      1.71) are potential risk factors for recurrent brucellosis. The final model that
      involved all the determinants showed moderate discrimination (AUC 0.61).
      CONCLUSIONS: Female sex, older age, and winter months were found to be
      significant determinants of recurrent human brucellosis. Enhanced surveillance
      systems with an emphasis on these population characteristics will allow effective
      preventive and protective measures to be implemented and might alleviate the
      recurrence of brucellosis in the country.

PMID- 28602766
TI  - Blocking and dislocation of Candida albicans Cdr1p transporter by
      styrylquinolines.
AB  - Styrylquinolines are a novel group of quinoline drugs that are known to have p53
      independent antiproliferative activity and antiviral properties. This study
      evaluated the antifungal activity of these drugs more deeply, particularly their
      activity modulation towards Cdr1p, the main multidrug transporter of Candida
      albicans. Styrylquinolines were found to have antifungal activity and to work
      synergistically with fluconazole. Additionally, they decreased the extracellular
      concentration of rhodamine 6G in ABC-transporter-expressing cells. The cellular
      localization of GFP-tagged Cdr1p was assessed by epifluorescent microscopy.
      Styrylquinolines induce expression of Cdr1p, as confirmed by Western blotting.
      Three of four drugs tested caused the partial delocalization of transport protein
      to the cytoplasm. These results show the first evidence that styrylquinolines
      decrease the activity of ABC multidrug transporters in C. albicans.

PMID- 28602767
TI  - An easily transfectable cell line that produces an infectious reporter virus for
      routine and robust quantitation of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
      reactivation.
AB  - Reactivation of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KHSV; also known as
      Human herpesvirus (HHV)-8) from latency is associated with progression to
      disease. The primary experimental models for studying KSHV reactivation are B
      lymphocyte cell lines derived from patients with primary effusion lymphoma (PEL).
      PEL models have remained essential tools for understanding molecular details of
      latency and reactivation, yet they have shortcomings. In particular, PEL cells
      are difficult to transfect with plasmid DNA, which limits their routine use in
      studies that require introduction of exogenous DNA. Moreover, PELs produce poorly
      infectious virus, which limits functional quantitation of the ultimate step in
      KSHV reactivation. In this study, we show that a recently published reporter
      virus system overcomes inherent difficulties of using PELs for studying viral
      reactivation. Vero rKSHV.294 cells harbor a recombinant reporter KSHV clone and
      produce infectious virus whose quantitation is strictly dependent on passage to
      naive 293 cells. We show that the cells are easily transfectable, and produce
      significant amount of infectious virus in response to ectopically-expressed lytic
      switch protein Rta. In thus study, we derive optimal conditions to measure fold
      reactivation by varying experimental time periods and media volumes in infections
      and reporter enzyme reactions, and by eliminating background cellular and media
      activities. By measuring production of infectious virus, we demonstrate that Rta,
      but not the cellular transactivator Notch Intracellular Domain (NICD)-1, is
      sufficient to reactivate KSHV from latency. These data confirm previous studies
      that were limited to measuring viral gene expression in PELs as indicators of
      reactivation.

PMID- 28602768
TI  - Effects of ultrasound on permeation of cryoprotectants into Japanese whiting
      Sillago japonica embryos.
AB  - Cryopreservation of fish embryos requires the swift uptake of considerable
      amounts of cryoprotectant (CPA) but this process is hampered by the low
      permeability of the egg chorion. This study examined the relative efficiency of
      ultrasound to promote the incorporation of CPAs in two different embryonic
      developmental stages (somites and tail elongation) of Japanese whiting Sillago
      japonica and performed a preliminary cryopreservation trial using the best
      conditions determined during the study. Embryos tolerated ultrasound densities up
      to 37.5 W/cm2 well for up to 3 min but had significant mortality at 50 W/cm2.
      Hatching rates of somites embryos sonicated at 37.5 W/cm2 for 1-3 min in 10 and
      20% Me2SO solutions were comparable (61-72%) to that of sonication in artificial
      seawater (65-86%) but decreased sharply at the concentration of 30% (0-55%); at
      similar conditions, tail elongation embryos had comparatively lower survival.
      Me2SO content of sonicated embryos at the somites and tail elongation stages
      increased significantly by 58-191% and 27-123%, respectively, compared to
      controls exposed to Me2SO without ultrasound. Pre-exposure to Me2SO before
      sonication increased the CPA uptake further by 36% without impairing survival. A
      preliminary cryopreservation trial after ultrasound-mediated impregnation of
      somites embryos with a CPA solution containing 20% PG and 10% MeOH did not yield
      live embryos after freeze-thawing but resulted in a significant decrease of
      nucleation temperature and increase of the proportion of morphologically intact
      embryos after freeze-thawing. These results suggest that sonication might be
      useful for fish embryo cryopreservation although it may require combination with
      other techniques to enhance CPA permeation.

PMID- 28602769
TI  - Methodology for reliable and reproducible cryopreservation of human cervical
      tissue.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to conduct laboratory studies on donated cervical tissue at
      suitable times an effective and reliable cryopreservation protocol for cervical
      tissue is required. METHODS: An active freezing approach was devised utilising
      10% dimethyl sulfoxide in foetal bovine serum as a cryoprotective agent with a
      cooling rate of 1  degrees C/min to -50  degrees C then 10  degrees C/min to -120
      degrees C; a related thawing protocol was also optimised which would allow for
      the bio-banking of cervical tissue. Viability of freshly harvested cervical
      tissue was compared to frozen-thawed samples utilising colorimetric MTT assay. In
      parallel, fresh and freeze-thawed samples were cultured and tested on days 1, 7
      and 14 to determine whether bio-banking had detrimental effects on tissue
      viability over time. RESULTS: Repeat testing revealed that tissue viability
      between fresh and freeze-thawed samples was comparable at all four time points
      (days 0, 1, 7 and 14) with no apparent reductions of viability, thus
      demonstrating this method of cryopreserving cervical tissue is reliable and
      reproducible, without detrimental effects on live tissue culture. We believe this
      methodology creates the opportunity for bio-banking donated cervical tissues,
      which aids improved experimental design and reduces time pressures and wastage.

PMID- 28602770
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28602771
TI  - The prevalence of active tuberculosis infection among pregnant women is not
      increasing in the United States.

PMID- 28602774
TI  - WHA passes resolution on cancer prevention and control.

PMID- 28602773
TI  - Frequency and consequences of ventricular hypertrophy in pregnant women with
      treated chronic hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ventricular hypertrophy is a known sequela of long-standing chronic
      hypertension with associated morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: We sought to
      assess the frequency and importance of left ventricular hypertrophy in gravidas
      treated for chronic hypertension during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: This was a
      retrospective study of pregnant women with chronic hypertension who were
      delivered at our hospital from January 2009 through February 2015. All women who
      were given antihypertensive therapy underwent maternal echocardiography and were
      managed in a dedicated, high-risk prenatal clinic. Left ventricular hypertrophy
      was defined using the criteria of the American Society of Echocardiography as
      left ventricular mass indexed to maternal body surface area with a value of >95
      g/m2. Maternal and infant outcomes were then analyzed according to the presence
      or absence of left ventricular hypertrophy. RESULTS: Of 253 women who underwent
      echocardiography, 48 (19%) met criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy. Women
      in this latter cohort were significantly more likely to be African American (P =
      .031), but there were no other demographic differences. More than 85% of the
      entire cohort had a body mass index >30 kg/m2 and a third of all women had class
      III obesity with a body mass index of >40 kg/m2. Importantly, duration of chronic
      hypertension (P = .248) and gestational age at time of echocardiography (P =
      .316) did not differ significantly between the groups. Left ventricular function
      was preserved in both groups as measured by left ventricular ejection fraction (P
      = .303). Those with ventricular hypertrophy were at greater risk to be delivered
      preterm (P = .001), to develop superimposed preeclampsia (P = .028), and to have
      an infant requiring intensive care (P = .023) when compared with women without
      ventricular hypertrophy. These findings persisted after adjustment for age, race,
      and parity. The gestational age at delivery according to measured left
      ventricular size was also examined and with increasing ventricular mass there was
      a significant association with the severity of preterm birth (P < .001).
      CONCLUSION: Left ventricular hypertrophy was identified in 1 in 5 women given
      antepartum treatment for chronic hypertension. Further analysis showed that these
      women were at significantly greater risk for superimposed preeclampsia and its
      attendant perinatal sequelae of preterm birth.

PMID- 28602772
TI  - Urine leakage during sexual activity among ethnically diverse, community-dwelling
      middle-aged and older women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence is associated with decreased female sexual
      function, but little is known about the prevalence, predictors, and impact of
      urine leakage during sexual activity among women in the community. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and impact of urine leakage
      during sex in ethnically diverse, community-dwelling midlife and older women.
      STUDY DESIGN: Urinary incontinence and sexual function were assessed by
      structured questionnaire in a multiethnic, community-based cohort of women
      enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Northern California, an integrated healthcare
      delivery system in California. All women were aged 40-80 years and sampled from 1
      of 4 racial/ethnic groups (20% black, 20% Latina, 20% Asian, and 40% non-Latina
      white). Differences in frequency, bother, and fear of urine leakage during sexual
      activity were examined among women with monthly, weekly, and daily urinary
      incontinence and across different types of urinary incontinence (stress, urgency,
      mixed, and other type urinary incontinence), with the use of chi-square tests.
      Independent risk factors for urine leakage during sexual activity were identified
      through multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 509 women who reported
      being sexually active and having at least monthly urinary incontinence, 127 of
      them (25%) reported experiencing any urine leakage during sex during the past 3
      months. Nineteen percent of the women reported being subjectively bothered by
      leakage during sex, and 16% of them reported restricting sexual activity because
      of fear of leakage. Women with more frequent underlying urinary incontinence were
      more likely to report experiencing or being bothered by leakage during sex and
      restricting sexual activity because of fear of leakage (P<.001 for all).
      Participants with predominantly stress or mixed type urinary incontinence were
      more likely to report experiencing leakage during sex and being subjectively
      bothered by this leakage (P<.002 for all). Factors independently associated with
      leakage during sex were depression (odds ratio,1.96; 95% confidence interval,
      1.20-3.20), symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (odds ratio, 2.10; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.11-3.98), mixed vs urgency type urinary incontinence (odds ratio,
      3.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.70-5.88), stress vs urgency type urinary
      incontinence (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.70), and
      frequency of sexual activity (odds ratio, 1.6395% confidence interval, 1.05
      2.55), but not age or race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Up to a quarter of women with
      at least monthly urinary incontinence in the community may experience urine
      leakage during sexual activity. Many incontinent women who leak urine during sex
      remain sexually active, which indicates that the preservation of sexual function
      should still be a priority in this population. Among incontinent women,
      depression, pelvic organ prolapse, and stress mixed-type urinary incontinence may
      be associated with urine leakage during sexual activity.

PMID- 28602775
TI  - Adjuvant capecitabine for HER2-negative breast cancer.

PMID- 28602776
TI  - 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

PMID- 28602777
TI  - Ascending role of next-generation ALK inhibitors.

PMID- 28602778
TI  - First-line abiraterone improves survival in prostate cancer.

PMID- 28602780
TI  - Olaparib provides benefit in metastatic breast cancer.

PMID- 28602779
TI  - Ceritinib versus chemotherapy in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung
      cancer previously given chemotherapy and crizotinib (ASCEND-5): a randomised,
      controlled, open-label, phase 3 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ceritinib is a next-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)
      inhibitor, which has shown robust anti-tumour efficacy, along with intracranial
      activity, in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer. In phase 1
      and 2 studies, ceritinib has been shown to be highly active in both ALK inhibitor
      naive and ALK inhibitor-pretreated patients who had progressed after chemotherapy
      (mostly multiple lines). In this study, we compared the efficacy and safety of
      ceritinib versus single-agent chemotherapy in patients with advanced ALK
      rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer who had previously progressed following
      crizotinib and platinum-based doublet chemotherapy. METHODS: In this randomised,
      controlled, open-label, phase 3 trial, we recruited patients aged at least 18
      years with ALK-rearranged stage IIIB or IV non-small-cell lung cancer (with at
      least one measurable lesion) who had received previous chemotherapy (one or two
      lines, including a platinum doublet) and crizotinib and had subsequent disease
      progression, from 99 centres across 20 countries. Other inclusion criteria were a
      WHO performance status of 0-2, adequate organ function and laboratory test
      results, a life expectancy of at least 12 weeks, and having recovered from
      previous anticancer treatment-related toxicities. We randomly allocated patients
      (1:1; with blocking [block size of four]; stratified by WHO performance status [0
      vs 1-2] and presence or absence of brain metastases) to oral ceritinib 750 mg per
      day fasted (in 21 day treatment cycles) or chemotherapy (intravenous pemetrexed
      500 mg/m2 or docetaxel 75 mg/m2 [investigator choice], every 21 days). Patients
      who discontinued chemotherapy because of progressive disease could cross over to
      the ceritinib group. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival, assessed
      by a masked independent review committee using Response Evaluation Criteria in
      Solid Tumors 1.1 in the intention-to-treat population, assessed every 6 weeks
      until month 18 and every 9 weeks thereafter. This trial is registered with
      ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01828112, and is ongoing but no longer recruiting
      patients. FINDINGS: Between June 28, 2013, and Nov 2, 2015, we randomly allocated
      231 patients; 115 (50%) to ceritinib and 116 (50%) to chemotherapy (40 [34%] to
      pemetrexed, 73 [63%] to docetaxel, and three [3%] discontinued before receiving
      treatment). Median follow-up was 16.5 months (IQR 11.5-21.4). Ceritinib showed a
      significant improvement in median progression-free survival compared with
      chemotherapy (5.4 months [95% CI 4.1-6.9] for ceritinib vs 1.6 months [1.4-2.8]
      for chemotherapy; hazard ratio 0.49 [0.36-0.67]; p<0.0001). Serious adverse
      events were reported in 49 (43%) of 115 patients in the ceritinib group and 36
      (32%) of 113 in the chemotherapy group. Treatment-related serious adverse events
      were similar between groups (13 [11%] in the ceritinib group vs 12 [11%] in the
      chemotherapy group). The most frequent grade 3-4 adverse events in the ceritinib
      group were increased alanine aminotransferase concentration (24 [21%] of 115 vs
      two [2%] of 113 in the chemotherapy group), increased gamma glutamyltransferase
      concentration (24 [21%] vs one [1%]), and increased aspartate aminotransferase
      concentration (16 [14%] vs one [1%] in the chemotherapy group). Six (5%) of 115
      patients in the ceritinib group discontinued because of adverse events compared
      with eight (7%) of 116 in the chemotherapy group. 15 (13%) of 115 patients in the
      ceritinib group and five (4%) of 113 in the chemotherapy group died during the
      treatment period (from the day of the first dose of study treatment to 30 days
      after the final dose). 13 (87%) of the 15 patients who died in the ceritinib
      group died because of disease progression and two (13%) died because of an
      adverse event (one [7%] cerebrovascular accident and one [7%] respiratory
      failure); neither of these deaths were considered by the investigator to be
      treatment related. The five (4%) deaths in the chemotherapy group were all due to
      disease progression. INTERPRETATION: These findings show that patients derive
      significant clinical benefit from a more potent ALK inhibitor after failure of
      crizotinib, and establish ceritinib as a more efficacious treatment option
      compared with chemotherapy in this patient population. FUNDING: Novartis
      Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

PMID- 28602781
TI  - Systematic review of non-surgical therapies for osteoarthritis of the hand: an
      update.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To update our earlier systematic reviews which evaluated all published
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating pharmacological and non
      pharmacological therapies in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA). Surgical
      therapies were not evaluated. DESIGN: RCTs published between March 2008 and
      December 2015 were added to the previous systematic reviews. RESULTS: A total of
      95 RCTs evaluating various pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies in
      hand OA were analyzed in this update. Generally, the methodological quality of
      these RCTs has improved since the last update, with more studies describing their
      methods for randomization, blinding, and allocation concealment. However, RCTs
      continue to be weakened by a lack of consistent case definition and a lack of
      standardized outcome assessments specific to hand OA. The number and location of
      evaluated hand joints continues to be underreported, and only 25% of RCTs
      adequately described the method used to ensure allocation concealment. These
      remain major weaknesses of published RCTs. A meta-analysis could not be performed
      because of marked study heterogeneity, insufficient statistical data available in
      the published RCTs, and a small number of identical comparators. CONCLUSION: Hand
      OA is a complex area in which to study the efficacy of therapies. There has been
      an improvement in the overall design and conduct of RCTs, however, additional
      large RCTs with a more robust methodological approach specific to hand OA are
      needed in order to make clinically relevant conclusions about the efficacy of the
      diverse treatment options available.

PMID- 28602782
TI  - Associations between serum ghrelin and knee symptoms, joint structures and
      cartilage or bone biomarkers in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The roles of ghrelin in knee osteoarthritis (OA) are unclear. This
      study aimed to examine cross-sectional associations of ghrelin with knee
      symptoms, joint structures and cartilage or bone biomarkers in patients with knee
      OA. METHODS: This study included 146 patients with symptomatic knee OA. Serum
      levels of ghrelin and cartilage or bone biomarkers including cartilage oligomeric
      matrix protein (COMP), cross linked C-telopeptide of type I collagen (CTXI),
      cross linked N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTXI), N-terminal procollagen III
      propeptide (PIIINP), and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, 10, 13 were measured
      using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Knee symptoms were assessed
      using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC).
      Infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) volume, IPFP signal intensity alternation, cartilage
      defects, bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and effusion-synovitis were assessed using
      the (MRI). Osteophytes and joint space narrowing (JSN) were assessed using the
      Osteoarthritis Research Society International atlas. RESULTS: After adjustment
      for potential confounders, ghrelin quartiles were positively associated with knee
      symptoms including pain, stiffness, dysfunction and total score (quartile 4 vs 1:
      beta 24.19, 95% CI 8.13-40.25). Ghrelin quartiles were also significantly
      associated with increased IPFP signal intensity alteration (quartile 4 vs 1: OR
      3.57, 95% CI 1.55-8.25) and NTXI, PIIINP, MMP3 and MMP13. Ghrelin was not
      significantly associated with other joint structures and biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS:
      Serum levels of ghrelin were significantly associated with increased knee
      symptoms, IPFP signal intensity alteration and serum levels of MMP3, MMP13, NTXI
      and PIIINP, suggesting that ghrelin may have a role to play in knee OA.

PMID- 28602783
TI  - Patient-reported reasons for nonadherence to recommended osteoporosis
      pharmacotherapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: As many as one-half of patients recommended for osteoporosis
      pharmacotherapy do not take their medications. To identify intervention targets,
      we examined patient characteristics associated with nonadherence to recommended
      pharmacotherapy and their reasons for nonadherence. METHODS: Data come from the
      Patient Activation after DXA Result Notification (PAADRN) study, a randomized
      controlled trial of 7749 patients aged 50 years or older presenting for dual
      energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at 3 health centers in the United States. We
      focused on the 790 patients who reported receiving a recommendation for new
      pharmacotherapy at baseline. Using Pearson chi-squared tests for categorical
      variables, 2-sample t tests for continuous variables, and multivariable
      multinomial logistic regression, we compared those who reported starting the
      recommended medication (adherers) with temporary nonadherers and nonadherers on
      demographics, health habits, DXA impression, 10-year probability of fracture
      using the assessment tool, and osteoporosis knowledge, and we examined their
      stated reasons for nonadherence. RESULTS: Mean age was 66.8 years (SD = 8.9);
      87.2% were women, and 84.2% were white. One-fourth of patients (24.8%) reported
      that they did not start their recommended pharmacotherapy. In the unadjusted
      analyses, the only factor significantly associated with nonadherence was
      osteoporosis knowledge, with those having better knowledge being less likely to
      take their medications (P < 0.05). The most common reasons for nonadherence were
      fear of adverse effects (53.3%), a dislike of taking medicine (25.3%), and the
      belief that the medication would not help their condition (16.7%). CONCLUSION:
      One in 4 patients recommended for osteoporosis pharmacotherapy declined treatment
      because they feared potential adverse effects, did not like taking medicine, or
      believed that the medication would not help their condition. Improved patient
      counseling on the potential adverse effects of osteoporosis treatment and the
      risk-benefit ratio for these medications may increase adherence.

PMID- 28602784
TI  - Pharmacists performing hepatitis C antibody point-of-care screening in a
      community pharmacy: A pilot project.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the first community pharmacy-based hepatitis C antibody
      (HCV-Ab) point-of-care (POC) screening program and its outcomes in California.
      SETTING: Community pharmacy. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Community pharmacists perform
      HCV-Ab POC testing, counsel patients about HCV transmission and prevention, and
      provide linkage to care. PRACTICE INNOVATION: Pharmacists implement an HCV-Ab POC
      screening program in collaboration with the local public health department.
      EVALUATION: Descriptive data of the demographics of the persons receiving HCV-Ab
      POC screening and qualitative assessment of the attitudes and knowledge of the
      trained pharmacists involved in its implementation. RESULTS: During the 3-month
      pilot, 6 community pharmacists performed 83 HCV-Ab rapid POC tests with 1
      positive result (1.2%). Risk factors for the positive result included injection
      drug use, crack cocaine or methamphetamine use, and being in the high-risk birth
      cohort. Although some expressed reservations, pharmacists attested to the
      feasibility of incorporating HCV screening into their routine pharmacy work. Two
      major barriers identified by pharmacists for implementing HCV screening included
      getting non-pharmacy customers into the pharmacy for testing and balancing the
      time required to review test results within the normal pharmacy workflow.
      CONCLUSION: This pilot demonstrated that trained and motivated community
      pharmacists in partnership with the Department of Public Health could perform
      needed rapid HCV-Ab POC screening for potentially high-risk patients not
      currently in care. Community pharmacies are viable locations for screening and
      linkage to care owing to their easy access to knowledgeable pharmacists and
      accessible locations.

PMID- 28602785
TI  - Downregulation of miR-503 Promotes ESCC Cell Proliferation, Migration, and
      Invasion by Targeting Cyclin D1.
AB  - Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most aggressive cancers
      in China, but the underlying molecular mechanism of ESCC is still unclear.
      Involvement of microRNAs has been demonstrated in cancer initiation and
      progression. Despite the reported function of miR-503 in several human cancers,
      its detailed anti-oncogenic role and clinical significance in ESCC remain
      undefined. In this study, we examined miR-503 expression by qPCR and found the
      downregulation of miR-503 expression in ESCC tissue relative to adjacent normal
      tissues. Further investigation in the effect of miR-503 on ESCC cell
      proliferation, migration, and invasion showed that enhanced expression of miR-503
      inhibited ESCC aggressive phenotype and overexpression of CCND1 reversed the
      effect of miR-503-mediated ESCC cell aggressive phenotype. Our study further
      identified CCND1 as the target gene of miR-503. Thus, miR-503 functions as a
      tumor suppressor and has an important role in ESCC by targeting CCND1.

PMID- 28602786
TI  - The Intensity of Postlaparoscopic Shoulder Pain Is Positively Correlated with the
      Amount of Residual Pneumoperitoneum.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Residual carbon dioxide, which is inevitably retained in the
      abdominal cavity after laparoscopy, plays an important role in inducing
      postlaparoscopic shoulder pain (PLSP). The aim of this study was to determine the
      relationship between the volume of a residual pneumoperitoneum and the intensity
      of PLSP. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification
      II-2). SETTING: A university hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 203 patients
      undergoing laparoscopy for nonmalignant gynecologic diseases. INTERVENTIONS:
      Gynecologic laparoscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The volume of the residual
      pneumoperitoneum was measured by performing chest radiography 24 hours after
      surgery. The pneumoperitoneum was graded as high volume (defined as >=the median
      volume of the pneumoperitoneum) and low volume (defined as <the median volume).
      Perioperative data including PLSP intensity scores were collected. RESULTS: The
      median volume of the residual pneumoperitoneum was 17.0 mL (0.5-133.8 mL). The
      intensity of PLSP was significantly higher in the high-volume group compared with
      the low-volume group (p < .001). A lower volume of the pneumoperitoneum was
      associated with less analgesic requirement (p = .032), a shorter hospitalization
      period (p = .007), and higher satisfaction from the surgery (p = .005). The
      residual gas volume and PLSP score exhibited a positive correlation that was
      statistically significant (r = 0.735, p < .001). CONCLUSION: The volume of the
      residual pneumoperitoneum was positively correlated with the intensity of
      shoulder pain after laparoscopy. Therefore, surgeons should release as much gas
      as possible from the peritoneal cavity at the end of laparoscopy.

PMID- 28602787
TI  - Ultrasound-Guided Laparoscopic-Assisted Abdominal Cerclage in Pregnancy.

PMID- 28602788
TI  - Determination of Isthmocele Using a Foley Catheter During Laparoscopic Repair of
      Cesarean Scar Defect.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate a new technique of isthmocele repair via
      laparoscopic surgery. DESIGN: Case report (Canadian Task Force classification
      III). The local Ethics Committee waived the requirement for approval. SETTING:
      Isthmocele localized at a low uterine segment is a defect of a previous caesarean
      scar due to poor myometrial healing after surgery [1]. This pouch accumulates
      menstrual bleeding, which can cause various disturbances and irregularities,
      including abnormal uterine bleeding, infertility, pelvic pain, and scar pregnancy
      [2-6]. Given the absence of a clearly defined surgical method in the literature,
      choosing the proper approach to treating isthmocele can be arduous. Laparoscopy
      provides a minimally invasive procedure in women with previous caesarean scar
      defects. INTERVENTION: A 28-year-old woman, gravida 2 para 2, presented with a
      complaint of prolonged postmenstrual bleeding for 5 years. She had undergone 2
      cesarean deliveries. Transvaginal ultrasonography revealed a hypoechogenic area
      with menstrual blood in the anterior lower uterine segment. Magnetic resonance
      imaging showed an isthmocele localized at the anterior left lateral side of the
      uterus, with an estimated volume of approximately 12 cm3. After patient
      preparation, laparoscopy was performed. To repair the defect, the uterovesical
      peritoneal fold was incised and the bladder was mobilized from the lower uterine
      segment. During this surgery, differentiating the isthmocele from the abdomen can
      be challenging. Here we used a Foley catheter to identify the isthmocele. To do
      this, after mobilizing the bladder from the lower uterine segment, we inserted a
      Foley catheter into the uterine cavity through the cervical canal. We then filled
      the balloon of the catheter at the lower uterine segment under laparoscopic view,
      which allowed clear identification of the isthmocele pouch. The uterine defect
      was then incised. The isthmocele cavity was accessed, the margins of the pouch
      were debrided, and the edges were surgically reapproximated with continuous
      nonlocking single layer 2-0 polydioxanone sutures. We believed that single-layer
      suturing could provide for proper healing without necrosis due to suturation.
      During the procedure, the vesicouterine space was dissected without difficulty. A
      urine bag was collected with clear urine, and there was no gas leakage; thus, we
      considered a safety test for the bladder superfluous. Based on concerns about the
      possible increased risk of adhesions, we did not cover peritoneum over the
      suture. The patients experienced no associated complications, and she reported
      complete resolution of prolonged postmenstrual bleeding at a 3-month follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: Even though the literature is cloudy in this area, a laparoscopic
      approach to repairing an isthmocele is a safe and minimally invasive procedure.
      Our approach described here involves inserting a Foley catheter in the uterine
      cavity through the cervical canal, then filling the balloon in the lower uterine
      segment under laparoscopic view to identify the isthmocele.

PMID- 28602789
TI  - Age-associated and deslorelin-induced declines in serum anti-Mullerian hormone
      concentrations in female cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus.
AB  - Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is widely used in human medicine to non-invasively
      estimate the size of the ovarian follicle reserve and to predict the ovarian
      response to gonadotropin stimulation in the context of assisted reproductive
      technologies (e.g., IVF). These applications of AMH testing have recently
      expanded to non-human mammals, with production animals, such as cows, goats and
      sheep being the primary focus of AMH research. However, few investigations have
      involved exotic species, and in particular carnivores. In this study, we measured
      AMH concentrations (0.078-3.078ng/mL) in archived serum samples that had been
      collected from 36 adult female cheetahs across their reproductive lifespan (2
      15years of age). Similar to other mammals, AMH concentration in cheetahs declined
      with age, and its variability among females of the same age was considerable. The
      rates at which AMH declined over time in individual cheetahs were also highly
      variable. Five cheetahs had been contracepted with the long-acting GnRH agonist
      deslorelin for 6-18months prior to sample collection, and their AMH
      concentrations were relatively low compared to untreated females. In this first
      study of AMH in an exotic carnivore, the findings demonstrate that the age
      associated decline in AMH is highly variable and that deslorelin appears to
      suppress AMH concentration in serum. Owing to the increased use of assisted
      reproductive technologies in ex situ populations of threatened and endangered
      species, such as cheetahs, the present study's findings will need to be taken
      into consideration if AMH is to be used successfully to optimize breeding
      management decisions in exotic species.

PMID- 28602790
TI  - Aortic root pseudoaneurysm causing hemodynamic and electrical instability very
      late after aortic valve repair.

PMID- 28602791
TI  - From plant genomes to phenotypes.
AB  - Recent advances in sequencing technologies have greatly accelerated the rate of
      plant genome and applied breeding research. Despite this advancing trend, plant
      genomes continue to present numerous difficulties to the standard tools and
      pipelines not only for genome assembly but also gene annotation and downstream
      analysis. Here we give a perspective on tools, resources and services necessary
      to assemble and analyze plant genomes and link them to plant phenotypes.

PMID- 28602792
TI  - Comparative studies of Al3+ ions and Al2O3 nanoparticles on growth and metabolism
      of cabbage seedlings.
AB  - In the present study, we compared the effects of Al3+ ions and alumina (Al2O3)
      nanoparticles (NPs) on growth and biochemical parameters of cabbage seedlings.
      The seedlings were treated with A=698.8MUM Al3+ions and A1=101.8MUM, A2=253.8MUM,
      A3=507.7MUM, A4=1.02mM, A5=2.17mM NPs of Al2O3 in 700mL Hoagland solution. The
      untreated seedlings were taken as control. It was observed that aluminium ions
      were phytotoxic and adversely affected seedling growth and biochemical parameters
      of the test crop with stunting of the stem growth, while lower doses of alumina
      NPs enhanced seedling growth, pigments, sugar and protein contents of cabbage
      (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) seedlings. Higher doses of alumina NPs
      adversely affected biochemical parameters and nitrate reductase activities of the
      treated seedlings. Alumina NPs induced activities of antioxidant enzymes viz.
      SOD, CAT and POX. Antioxidant enzyme activities increased under all treatments
      with maximum increase in the seedlings treated with aluminium ions and higher
      concentrations of alumina NPs. The lower amount of alumina NPs buttressed the
      metabolic processes of the test crop and appeared to mitigate the phytotoxic
      effects of aluminium ions.

PMID- 28602793
TI  - The single anastomosis duodenal switch modifications: a review of the current
      literature on outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy
      (SADI-S) was designed in 2007 to reduce the side effects of biliopancreatic
      diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS) by replacing the Roux-en-Y construction
      with a single duodeno-ileal anastomosis and combining the common channel with the
      alimentary limb. Several variants using different channel lengths were published.
      The objective of this study was to identify the published cases of SADI-S and
      variants and assess the results regarding potential benefits on side effects and
      revisions. METHODS: PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the databases of 3 relevant
      surgical journals were searched for any publication from 2007 to date. RESULTS:
      In all, 19 studies were analyzed. After identifying overlaps, 1,041 patients
      among 9 institutions were identified: 304 with SADI-S, 667 with stomach
      intestinal pylorus sparing surgery, and 70 with single anastomosis duodenojejunal
      bypass with sleeve gastrectomy. There were no postoperative deaths and the early
      complication rate was 7.3% (range 1.6-14%). The mean operative time was 100.8
      minutes (range 69.9-181.7 min). The mean 1-year percentage of excess weight loss
      (%EWL) was 78.7% (range 61.6-87%) and percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) was
      36.8% (range 32.7-41.1%). Two studies reported a 2-year %TWL of 38.7% and a
      single study reported a 5-year %TWL of 37%. A total of 50% of patients had
      biological data at 1 year. One retrospective study found no difference between
      BPD-DS and SIPS for vitamin deficiency at 2 years, but there was less severe
      diarrhea and malnutrition after SIPS. The revision rate increased from 2% to 7%
      after SADI-S between 2- and 5-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: There are still limited
      long-term data available for single anastomosis duodenal switch. In the absence
      of published prospective randomized trials, no evidence exists in favor of this
      variant of the BPD-DS despite a possible trend in less malabsorption side
      effects.

PMID- 28602794
TI  - Long-term outcome of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB): results of a
      Swiss single-center study of 405 patients with up to 18 years' follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the past, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) seemed to
      be a promising bariatric procedure. However, many studies showed high rates of
      reoperation due to complications or insufficient weight loss. There is a lack of
      long-term studies with follow-up beyond 15 years. OBJECTIVE: To conduct long-term
      follow-up of patients after LAGB and analyze their weight loss as a primary
      endpoint. SETTING: Tertiary referral center for bariatric surgery, St.
      Claraspital, Switzerland. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of prospectively
      collected clinical data in a cohort of 405 patients having undergone LAGB was
      performed. RESULTS: A total of 405 patients (age 41+/-10 years, body mass index
      [BMI] 44.3+/-6 kg/m2) were treated with LAGB between 1996 and 2010. Mean follow
      up was 13+/-3 years, with a follow-up rate of 85% (range 8-18 years),
      corresponding to 343 patients. One hundred patients exceeded 15-year follow-up.
      In 216 patients (63%), sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, or biliopancreatic
      diversion with duodenal switch was performed as revisional surgery. Twenty-seven
      patients (8%) refused revisional surgery after band removal. Finally, 100
      patients (29%) still have the band in place, with a mean BMI of 35+/-7 kg/m2,
      corresponding to an excess BMI loss of 48+/-27%. Among these, the failure rate
      was 25%, according to the Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System
      (BAROS); 50% had a good to excellent outcome. CONCLUSION: More than 10 years
      after LAGB, 71% of patients lost their bands and only 15% of the 343 followed
      patients with the band in place have a good to excellent result, according to
      BAROS.

PMID- 28602795
TI  - Predictors of postoperative eGFR change and resolution of hyperfiltration in
      obese patients following bariatric surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery (BS) can improve glomerular hyperfiltration (GHPF).
      Very few studies identified associative factors with glomerular filtration rate
      and resolution from GHPF after BS. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the predictors of
      estimated GFR (eGFR) changes and resolution from GHPF after BS. SETTING:
      University hospital, Republic of Korea. METHODS: We enrolled patients who
      underwent BS for obesity from January 2008 to December 2014 and had more than a
      year of follow-up. GHPF was defined as an eGFR above 95th percentile values for
      age- and sex-matched cohorts extracted from the Korea National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey Database. Patients with baseline eGFR less than 60
      mL/min/1.73 m2 were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 138 patients (age interquartile
      range [IQR] 28-43; 21 men, 117 women) were analyzed. The median follow-up period
      was 36 months (IQR 25-45 mo). One hundred twenty patients (87%) were defined as
      having GHPF and 75 (54%) resolved after surgery. Multivariate analysis found that
      sex, preoperative body mass index (BMI), and age were predictive of postoperative
      eGFR. In patients with preoperative GHPF, female and lower BMI groups had
      significantly higher resolution rates (P = .012 for sex, P = .016 for BMI).
      Younger age was related with early resolution after BS. CONCLUSIONS: Younger
      patients had a faster eGFR decline after BS. Predictive factors for resolution of
      GHPF after BS include female sex and lower BMI.

PMID- 28602796
TI  - Is the intestinal microbiome a modifiable cofactor in the development of
      hyperoxaluria after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass?

PMID- 28602797
TI  - The effect of statins on cardiovascular outcomes by smoking status: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - Smoking is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity
      and mortality. The impact of statin therapy on CVD risk by smoking status has not
      been fully investigated. Therefore we assessed the impact of statin therapy on
      CVD outcomes by smoking status through a systematic review of the literature and
      meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The literature
      search included EMBASE, ProQuest, CINAHL and PUBMED databases to 30 January 2016
      to identify RCTs that investigated the effect of statin therapy on cumulative
      incidence of major CVD endpoints (e.g. non-fatal myocardial infarction,
      revascularization, unstable angina, and stroke). Relative risks (RR) ratios were
      calculated from the number of events in different treatment groups for both
      smokers and non-smokers. Finally 11 trials with 89,604 individuals were included.
      The number of smokers and non-smokers in the statin groups of the analyzed
      studies was 8826 and 36,090, respectively. The RR for major CV events was 0.73
      (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.67-0.81; p<0.001) in nonsmokers and 0.72 (95%CI:
      0.64-0.81; p<0.001) in smokers. Moderate to high heterogeneity was observed both
      in non-smokers (I2=77.1%, p<0.001) and in smokers (I2=51.6%, p=0.024) groups.
      Smokers seemed to benefit slightly more from statins than non-smokers according
      to the number needed to treat (NNT) analysis (23.5 vs 26.8) based on RRs applied
      to the control event rates. The number of avoided events per 1000 individuals was
      42.5 (95%CI: 28.9-54.6) in smokers and 37.3 (95%CI: 27.2-46.4) in non-smokers. In
      conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that the effect of statins on CVD is
      similar for smokers and non-smokers, but in terms of NNTs and number of avoided
      events, smokers seem to benefit more although non-significantly.

PMID- 28602798
TI  - Association between primary biliary cholangitis and fracture: A meta-analysis.

PMID- 28602799
TI  - Self-micellizing solid dispersions enhance the properties and therapeutic
      potential of fenofibrate: Advantages, profiles and mechanisms.
AB  - The goal of this work was to compare fenofibrate (FEN)-containing self
      micellizing solid dispersion (SmSD) and non-self-micellizing solid dispersion
      (NsSD) systems. Exploration of underlying mechanisms to improve FEN
      dissolution/solubility profiles was conducted to understand the enhanced
      therapeutic potential. SmSD and NsSD of FEN systems (SmSD/FEN and NsSD/FEN) were
      fabricated using a fuse-quench cooling method. The self-micellizing Soluplus(r)
      cloud point was then determined experimentally and FEN phase solubility was
      measured in solutions containing self-micellizing Soluplus(r) or non-self
      micellizing polymers. Physicochemical characteristics of SmSD/FEN and NsSD/FEN
      were evaluated using microscopic morphology, amorphous state, thermal
      performance, dissolution and solubility profiles. FEN exhibited an amorphous
      state in SmSD/FEN but was not completely amorphous in NsSD/FEN. The dissolution
      and solubility profile of SmSD/FEN achieved about 1.2- to 2-fold improvement over
      that of NsSD/FEN. Consequently, relatively enhanced hypolipidemic efficacy in
      vivo was observed in SmSD/FEN vs NsSD/FEN, as measured by serum levels of total
      cholesterol (TC), total triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and
      high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Compared with non-self-micellizing polymers, self
      micellizing Soluplus(r) significantly inhibited FEN crystal growth from a
      supersaturated state. However, no obvious difference in intermolecular
      interactions was observed between SmSD/FEN and NsSD/FEN systems. Overall, the
      SmSD approach exhibited as trengthened dissolution effect, enhancing FEN
      hyperlipidemic disease therapy efficacy.

PMID- 28602800
TI  - Critical quality attributes, in vitro release and correlated in vitro skin
      permeation-in vivo tape stripping collective data for demonstrating therapeutic
      (non)equivalence of topical semisolids: A case study of "ready-to-use" vehicles.
AB  - This work aimed to prove the ability of "ready-to-use" topical vehicles based on
      alkyl polyglucoside-mixed emulsifier (with/without co-solvent modifications) to
      replace the conventionally used pharmacopoeial bases (e.g., non-ionic hydrophilic
      cream) in compounding practice. For this purpose, considering the regulatory
      efforts to establish alternative, scientifically valid methods for evaluating
      therapeutic equivalence of topical semisolids, we performed a comparative
      assessment of microstructure, selected critical quality attributes (CQAs) and in
      vitro/in vivo product performances, by utilizing aceclofenac as a model drug. The
      differences in composition between investigated samples have imposed remarkable
      variances in monitored CQAs (particularly in the amount of aceclofenac dissolved,
      rheological properties and water distribution mode), reflecting the distinct
      differences in microstructure formed, as partially observed by polarization
      microscopy and confocal Raman spectral imaging. Although not fully indicative of
      the in vivo performances, in vitro release data (vertical diffusion vs. immersion
      cells) proved the microstructure peculiarities, asserting the rheological
      properties as decisive factor for obtained liberation profiles. Contrary, in
      vitro permeation results obtained using pig ear epidermis correlated well with in
      vivo dermatopharmacokinetic data and distinguished unequivocally between tested
      formulations, emphasizing the importance of skin/vehicle interactions. In
      summary, suggested multi-faceted approach can provide adequate proof on topical
      semisolids therapeutic equivalence or lack thereof.

PMID- 28602801
TI  - Raman imaging of cellular uptake and studies of silver nanoparticles effect in BJ
      human fibroblasts cell lines.
AB  - Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been widely studied for their beneficial
      antimicrobial effect and have been considered by some to be a safe ingredient, as
      penetration of metal nanoparticles through the skin in vivo has not been proven.
      However, AgNPs are becoming a commonly applied nanomaterial for surface
      modifications of medical products which come into contact with damaged skin. In
      our experiments, we tested two commercially available AgNPs samples manufactured
      by electrolysis. AFM was used to characterize tested AgNPs morphology and their
      mean particle size which was assessed as 30.6nm and 20.4nm. An important
      mechanism of AgNPs cytotoxicity is generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
      chemically reactive species containing oxygen. Although ROS occur in cell
      metabolism naturally, their overproduction can induce oxidative stress -
      imbalance between production and antioxidant defenses. This can be associated
      with cytotoxicity and DNA damage. Conventional in vitro tests were used to
      evaluate the cytotoxic potential and DNA damage in BJ human fibroblasts cell
      lines. We found that both tested AgNPs samples induced ROS generation and caused
      the DNA damage in fibroblasts. One of the key concerns about the association with
      cytotoxic or genotoxic responses of nanoparticles is the capability of these
      materials to penetrate through cellular membrane. Cellular uptake studies were
      performed using Raman imaging as a label-free microscopic technique. In
      combination with a univariate image analysis, results demonstrate cellular uptake
      and distribution of the AgNPs which were taken up by BJ cells within 24h of
      incubation in a growth medium. The study demonstrates the potential of Raman
      imaging to unambiguously identify and localize AgNPs in fixed cells.

PMID- 28602802
TI  - Synonymous codon usage analysis of hand, foot and mouth disease viruses: A
      comparative study on coxsackievirus A6, A10, A16, and enterovirus 71 from 2008 to
      2015.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) have been considered major
      pathogens of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) throughout the world for
      decades. In recent years, coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) and coxsackievirus A10 (CVA10)
      have raised attention as two other serious pathogens of HFMD. The present study
      focused on the synonymous codon usage of four viruses isolated from 2008 to 2015,
      with particular attention on P1 (encoding capsid proteins) and P2-P3 regions
      (both encoding non-structural proteins) in the genomic RNA. Relative synonymous
      codon usage, effective number of codons, neutrality and correspondence were
      analyzed. The results indicated that these viruses prefer A/T at the third
      position in codons rather than G/C. The most frequent codons of 4 essential and 2
      semi-essential amino acids, as well as a key amino acid of metabolic junctions
      (Glu) used in the four viruses are also the most frequently used in humans.
      Effective number of codons (ENC) values indicated weak codon usage bias in all
      the viruses. Relatively, the force of mutation pressure in the P1 region was
      found to be stronger than that in the P2-P3 region, and this force in the P1
      region of CVA6 and EV71 was stronger than that of CVA10 and A16. The neutrality
      analysis results implied that mutation pressure plays a minor role in shaping
      codon bias of these viruses. Correspondence analysis indicated that the codon
      usage of EV71 strains varied much more than that of other viruses. In conclusion,
      the present study provides novel and comparative insight into the evolution of
      HFMD pathogens at the codon level.

PMID- 28602803
TI  - Patient preference in primary care provider type.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the growing roles of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician
      assistants (PAs), patients are increasingly able to choose their primary care
      provider type. Studies examining patient preferences among provider types are
      limited and ours is the first to examine reasons for patients' provider type
      preferences. METHODS: Using data from the 2014 Association of American Medical
      Colleges' (AAMC) Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, we used qualitative
      analysis to identify themes in open text responses of reasons for respondents'
      provider type preference (N = 4220). After coding responses for themes, we used
      chi-square tests to assess whether there were statistically significant
      differences in respondents' reasons for their provider preference, and whether
      reasons vary by the gender, race, or age of the respondent. RESULTS: Those
      preferring physicians were more likely to cite physician qualifications (75%) and
      trust (7%) than those preferring NP/PAs (qualifications = 36%; trust = 4%). Those
      preferring NP/PAs were more likely to cite bedside manner (20%) and convenience
      (9%) than those preferring physicians (bedside manner = 5%; convenience = 4%).
      Both groups of respondents were equally likely to mention previous experience
      with their provider type as a reason for their preference (prefer physician =
      19%; prefer NP/PA = 21%). CONCLUSIONS: Provider qualifications and previous
      health care experiences are cited as key reasons for preferring all provider
      types. Additionally, physicians are more often preferred for their qualifications
      and technical skills, whereas NP/PAs are more often preferred for their
      interpersonal skills. IMPLICATIONS: Our results could help providers, health
      system administrators, workforce planners, and policy makers better understand
      patient perspectives and design care that enhances patient satisfaction.

PMID- 28602804
TI  - In vitro emergence of fluoroquinolone resistance in Cutibacterium (formerly
      Propionibacterium) acnes and molecular characterization of mutations in the gyrA
      gene.
AB  - In vitro occurrence of levofloxacin (LVX) resistance in C. acnes and
      characterization of its molecular background were investigated. The mutation
      frequency was determined by inoculation of 108 cfu of C. acnes ATCC 11827 (LVX
      MIC = 0.25 mg/L) on LVX-containing agar plates. The progressive emergence of
      resistance was studied by a second exposure to increasing LVX concentrations. For
      mutants, the QRDR regions including the gyrA and parC genes were sequenced and
      compared to both C. acnes ATCC 11827 and C. acnes KPA171202 reference sequences
      (NC006085). The importance of the efflux pump system in resistance was
      investigated by using inhibitors on selected resistant mutants with no mutation
      in the QRDR. C. acnes growth was observed on LVX-containing plates with mutation
      frequencies of 3. 8 cfu * 10-8 (8 * MIC) and 1.6 cfu * 10-7 (4 * MIC). LVX
      resistance emerged progressively after one-step or two-step assays. In LVX
      resistant isolates, the MIC ranged from 0.75 to >32 mg/L. Mutations were detected
      exclusively in the gyrA gene. Ten genotypes were identified: G99 C, G99 D, D100N,
      D100 H, D100 G, S101L, S101W, A102 P, D105 H and A105 G. Mutants S101L and S101W
      were always associated with a high level of resistance. Mutants with no mutation
      in the QRDR were more susceptible when incubated with an efflux pump inhibitor
      (phenyl-arginine beta-naphthylamide) only, suggesting, for the first time, the
      expression of such a system in C. acnes LVX-resistant mutants.

PMID- 28602805
TI  - erm gene distribution among Norwegian Bacteroides isolates and evaluation of
      phenotypic tests to detect inducible clindamycin resistance in Bacteroides
      species.
AB  - The aims of this study were to describe the distribution of the most common erm
      genes in a collection of Norwegian Bacteroides isolates and to investigate
      whether the phenotypic tests for determining inducible clindamycin resistance
      among Bacteroides species recommended by EUCAST, NordicAST and the manufacturer
      of E-test(r), are effective. We investigated 175 unique Bacteroides isolates for
      the presence of erm(B), erm(F) and erm(G) genes, determined their minimum
      inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to clindamycin and categorised their
      susceptibility according to EUCAST breakpoints. 27 isolates were resistant to
      clindamycin. Furthermore, we investigated whether these recommended methods could
      detect inducible resistance in the Bacteroides isolates: 1) EUCAST
      recommendation: Dissociated resistance to erythromycin (clindamycin susceptible
      with erythromycin MIC > 32 mg/L), 2) NordicAST recommendation: Double disk
      diffusion test (DDD) or 3) Manufacturer of E-test(r)'s recommendation: prolonged
      incubation of clindamycin E-test(r) for 48 h. erm genes were detected in 30 (17%,
      95% CI 12%-23%) of 175 Bacteroides isolates with erm(F) as the dominating gene.
      There were six (4%, 95% CI 1%-7%) of 148 clindamycin susceptible isolates
      harbouring erm genes, they were considered inducibly resistant to clindamycin.
      None of the methods for phenotypic detection of inducible clindamycin resistance
      performed satisfactory with sensitivities of 33%, 17% and 0% and specificities of
      90%, 99% and 97% for dissociated resistance, DDD and prolonged incubation of
      clindamycin E-test(r), respectively. In our view, the scientific basis for
      investigating every Bacteroides isolate for inducible resistance to clindamycin
      is weak. Molecular detection of erm genes may prove a better option than the
      phenotypic methods we evaluated.

PMID- 28602806
TI  - The overall fatty acid absorption controlled by basolateral chylomicron excretion
      under regulation of p-JNK1.
AB  - Suppression of fatty acid absorption is one goal to fight obesity. However, the
      responsible molecular mechanism is poorly understood. Aim of the present study
      was the search for the key regulator of the overall fatty acid absorption
      mechanism and its pharmaceutical modulation. As experimental tool we employed the
      polarized human intestinal tumor derived cell line CaCo2. Here we showed that
      influx of fatty acids is mediated by an apical heterotetrameric plasma membrane
      protein complex of which the calcium-independent membrane phospholipase A2
      (iPLA2beta) is one constituent. The newly synthesized bile acid-phospholipid
      conjugate ursodeoxycholate-lysophosphatidylethanolamide (UDCA-LPE) blocked
      iPLA2beta, which structurally disrupted the fatty acid-uptake complex.
      Furthermore, the inhibition of iPLA2beta lead to reduction of cytosolic
      lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) production which suppressed p-JNK1, as a central
      regulator of metabolism. In a concerted action low p-JNK1 levels prohibited
      synthesis of the members of the fatty acid uptake complex as well as of
      apolipoprotein B and the connected members of the basolateral vesicular
      chylomicron excretion machinery, thereby inhibiting cellular lipid excretion. The
      basolateral chylomicron release was shown to determine the overall fatty acid
      absorption capacity as rate limiting step, whereas apical uptake replenishes the
      cellular stores, enabling continuous transcellular movement of fatty acids. In
      conclusion, the UDCA-LPE mediated inhibition of p-JNK1 represents a powerful tool
      to control intestinal absorption of fatty acids and, thus may be employed as a
      drug to treat obesity.

PMID- 28602807
TI  - Genome-wide profiling of the 3' ends of polyadenylated RNAs.
AB  - Alternative polyadenylation (APA) diversifies the 3' termini of a majority of
      mRNAs in most eukaryotes, and is consequently inferred to have substantial
      consequences for the utilization of post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.
      Since conventional RNA-sequencing methods do not accurately define mRNA termini,
      a number of protocols have been developed that permit sequencing of the 3' ends
      of polyadenylated transcripts (3'-seq). We present here our experimental protocol
      to generate 3'-seq libraries using a dT-priming approach, including extensive
      details on considerations that will enable successful library cloning. We pair
      this with a set of computational tools that allow the user to process the raw
      sequence data into a filtered set of clusters that represent high-confidence
      functional polyadenylation sites. The data are single-nucleotide resolution and
      quantitative, and can be used for downstream analyses of APA.

PMID- 28602809
TI  - Potential of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor PET imaging in
      atherosclerosis.
AB  - Atherosclerotic events are usually acute and often strike otherwise asymptomatic
      patients. Although multiple clinical risk factors have been associated with
      atherosclerosis, as of yet no further individual prediction can be made as to who
      will suffer from its consequences based on biomarker analysis or traditional
      imaging methods like CT, MRI or angiography. Previously, non-invasive imaging
      with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET was shown to potentially fill this
      niche as it offers high sensitive detection of metabolic processes associated
      with inflammatory changes in atherosclerotic plaques. However, 18F-FDG PET
      imaging of arterial vessels suffers from non-specificity and has still to be
      proven to reliably identify vulnerable plaques, carrying a high risk of rupture.
      Therefore, it may be regarded only as a secondary marker for monitoring treatment
      effects and it does not offer alternative treatment options or direct insight in
      treatment mechanisms. In this review, an overview is given of the current status
      and the potential of PET imaging of inflammation and angiogenesis in
      atherosclerosis in general and special emphasis is given to imaging of alpha7
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (alpha7 nAChRs). Due to the gaps that still
      exist in our understanding of atherogenesis and the limitations of the available
      PET tracers, the search continues for a more specific radioligand, able to
      differentiate between stable atherosclerosis and plaques prone to rupture. The
      potential role of the alpha7 nAChR as imaging marker for plaque vulnerability is
      explored. Today, strong evidence exists that nAChRs are involved in the
      atherosclerotic disease process. They are suggested to mediate the deleterious
      effects of the major tobacco component, nicotine, a nAChR agonist. Mainly based
      on in vitro data, alpha7 nAChR stimulation might increase plaque burden via
      increased neovascularization. However, in animal studies, alpha7 nAChR
      manipulation appears to reduce plaque size due to its inhibitory effects on
      inflammatory cells. Thus, reliable identification of alpha7 nAChRs by in vivo
      imaging is crucial to investigate the exact role of alpha7 nAChR in
      atherosclerosis before any therapeutic approach in the human setting can be
      justified. In this review, we discuss the first experience with alpha7 nAChR PET
      tracers and developmental considerations regarding the "optimal" PET tracer to
      image vascular nAChRs.

PMID- 28602808
TI  - In-silico cardiac aging regulatory model including microRNA post-transcriptional
      regulation.
AB  - In most developed countries, cardiovascular diseases are among the top causes of
      death and their development has been shown closely related to aging. In this
      context, because of their ability to pervasively influence gene networks, miRs
      have been found as possible key players in the development of cardiac
      pathologies, suggesting their potential role as therapeutic targets or diagnostic
      markers. Based on these assumptions, we hereby present a computational study that
      applies data fusion techniques coupled with network analysis theory to identify a
      regulatory model able to represent the relationship between key genes and miRs
      involved in cardiac senescence processes. The proposed model has been validated
      through an extensive literature analysis, which confirmed that 94% of the
      identified genes and miRs are related with cardiac senescence. Furthermore, two
      relevant genes of the model have been also validated by Western blot experiments
      on heart samples from young and old mice, confirming in vitro their ectopic
      expression in aged hearts. The pure computationally inferred model presented in
      the paper is therefore a good candidate to represent the relationship between key
      genes and miRs involved in cardiac senescence processes, and represents a
      reliable selection of genes and miRs for further studies, in order to elucidate
      and better detail their involvement in cardiac aging.

PMID- 28602810
TI  - Apheresis to treat systemic vasculitis.
AB  - Apheresis has been used in the treatment of severe systemic vasculitides, in
      conjunction with immunosuppressive therapies, for over 40 years. The aim is to
      rapidly remove autoantibodies or circulating immune complexes from the plasma.
      The two main indications at present are vasculitis associated with Antineutrophil
      Cytoplasmic Antibodies (ANCAs) manifesting as severe renal involvement and/or
      intraalveolar hemorrhage and antiglomerular basement membrane disease
      (Goodpasture syndrome). The ongoing PEXIVAS randomized controlled trial is
      assessing plasmapheresis to treat ANCA-associated vasculitis with or without
      severe renal involvement or intraalveolar hemorrhage. The two main apheresis
      techniques used to treat systemic vasculitis are plasmapheresis (by filtration,
      centrifugation, or double filtration) and immunoadsorption. The advantages and
      drawbacks of each technique are discussed here. Whether one technique is superior
      over the other in the current indications has not been proven.

PMID- 28602811
TI  - How can point-of-care HbA1c testing be integrated into UK primary care
      consultations? - A feasibility study.
AB  - AIMS: Point-of-care (POC) HbA1c testing gives a rapid result, allowing testing
      and treatment decisions to take place in a single appointment. Trials of POC
      testing have not been shown to improve HbA1c, possibly because of how testing was
      implemented. This study aimed to identify key components of POC HbA1c testing and
      determine strategies to optimise implementation in UK primary care. METHODS: This
      cohort feasibility study recruited thirty patients with type 2 diabetes and
      HbA1c>7.5% (58mmol/mol) into three primary care clinics. Patients' clinical care
      included two POC HbA1c tests over six months. Data were collected on appointment
      duration, clinical decisions, technical performance and patient behaviour.
      RESULTS: Fifty-three POC HbA1c consultations took place during the study;
      clinical decisions were made in 30 consultations. Five POC consultations with a
      family doctor lasted on average 11min and 48 consultations with nurses took on
      average 24min. Five POC study visits did not take place in one clinic. POC
      results were uploaded to hospital records from two clinics. In total, sixty-three
      POC tests were performed, and there were 11 cartridge failures. No changes in
      HbA1c or patient behaviour were observed. CONCLUSIONS: HbA1c measurement with POC
      devices can be effectively implemented in primary care. This work has identified
      when these technologies might work best, as well as potential challenges. The
      findings can be used to inform the design of a pragmatic trial to implement POC
      HbA1c testing.

PMID- 28602812
TI  - Impact of hypoglycaemia on patient-reported outcomes from a global, 24-country
      study of 27,585 people with type 1 and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: Data on the impact of hypoglycaemia on patients' daily lives and diabetes
      self-management, particularly in developing countries, are lacking. The aim of
      this study was to assess fear of, and responses to, hypoglycaemia experienced by
      patients globally. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This non-interventional, multicentre, 4
      week prospective study using self-assessment questionnaires and patient diaries
      consisted of 27,585 patients, >=18years, with type 1 diabetes (n=8022) or type 2
      diabetes (n=19,563) treated with insulin for >12months, at 2004 sites in 24
      countries worldwide. RESULTS: Increased blood glucose monitoring (69.7%) and
      seeking medical assistance (62.0%) were the most common responses in the 4weeks
      following hypoglycaemic events for patients with type 1 diabetes and type 2
      diabetes, respectively. Approximately 44% of patients with type 1 diabetes or
      type 2 diabetes increased calorie intake in response to a hypoglycaemic episode.
      Following hypoglycaemia, 3.9% (type 1 diabetes) and 6.2% (type 2 diabetes) of
      patients took leave from work or study. Regional differences in fear of, and
      responses to, hypoglycaemia were evident - in particular, a lower level of
      hypoglycaemic fear and utilisation of healthcare resources in Northern Europe and
      Canada. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoglycaemia has a major impact on patients and their
      behaviour. These global data for the first time reveal regional variations in
      response to hypoglycaemia and highlight the importance of patient education and
      management strategies.

PMID- 28602813
TI  - Automated segmentation of midbrain structures with high iron content.
AB  - The substantia nigra (SN), the subthalamic nucleus (STN), and the red nucleus
      (RN) are midbrain structures of ample interest in many neuroimaging studies,
      which may benefit from the availability of automated segmentation methods. The
      high iron content of these structures awards them high contrast in quantitative
      susceptibility mapping (QSM) images. We present a novel segmentation method that
      leverages the information of these images to produce automated segmentations of
      the SN, STN, and RN. The algorithm builds a map of spatial priors for the
      structures by non-linearly registering a set of manually-traced training labels
      to the midbrain. The priors are used to inform a Gaussian mixture model of the
      image intensities, with smoothness constraints imposed to ensure anatomical
      plausibility. The method was validated on manual segmentations from a sample of
      40 healthy younger and older subjects. Average Dice scores were 0.81 (0.05) for
      the SN, 0.66 (0.14) for the STN and 0.88 (0.04) for the RN in the left
      hemisphere, and similar values were obtained for the right hemisphere. In all
      structures, volumes of manual and automatically obtained segmentations were
      significantly correlated. The algorithm showed lower accuracy on R2* and T2
      weighted Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) images, which are also
      sensitive to iron content. To illustrate an application of the method, we show
      that the automated segmentations were comparable to the manual ones regarding
      detection of age-related differences to putative iron content.

PMID- 28602814
TI  - Quantitative in vivo T2 mapping using fast spin echo techniques - A linear
      correction procedure.
AB  - A method is presented for correcting the effects of stimulated and indirect
      echoes on quantitative T2 mapping data acquired with multiple spin echo
      techniques, such as turbo spin echo. In contrast to similar correction techniques
      proposed in the literature, the method does not require a priori knowledge of the
      radio frequency (RF) pulse profiles. In a first step, for the T2 mapping protocol
      under investigation, signal decay curves S(TE) are simulated for a range of
      different RF pulse profiles. The actual signal decay S(TE) is then measured on a
      phantom with known T2, so the approximate RF pulse profiles can be derived via
      comparison with the simulated decay curves. In a second step, with the RF pulses
      obtained from step one, signal decay curves S(TE) are simulated for different T2
      values and fitted mono-exponentially, thus allowing to deduce the relationship
      between true T2 and the apparent T2 (T2app) values. Results show that this
      relationship is approximately linear, allowing for a direct correction of T2app
      maps. If the amplitude of the transmitted RF field (B1) does not exceed the
      nominal value by more than 10%, it is shown that a B1-independent correction of
      T2app maps yields sufficiently accurate results for T2. A B1-dependent version is
      also presented. The method is tested in vitro on a phantom with different T2
      values and in vivo on healthy subjects.

PMID- 28602815
TI  - Evaluating fibre orientation dispersion in white matter: Comparison of diffusion
      MRI, histology and polarized light imaging.
AB  - Diffusion MRI is an exquisitely sensitive probe of tissue microstructure, and is
      currently the only non-invasive measure of the brain's fibre architecture. As
      this technique becomes more sophisticated and microstructurally informative,
      there is increasing value in comparing diffusion MRI with microscopic imaging in
      the same tissue samples. This study compared estimates of fibre orientation
      dispersion in white matter derived from diffusion MRI to reference measures of
      dispersion obtained from polarized light imaging and histology. Three post-mortem
      brain specimens were scanned with diffusion MRI and analyzed with a two
      compartment dispersion model. The specimens were then sectioned for microscopy,
      including polarized light imaging estimates of fibre orientation and histological
      quantitative estimates of myelin and astrocytes. Dispersion estimates were
      correlated on region - and voxel-wise levels in the corpus callosum, the centrum
      semiovale and the corticospinal tract. The region-wise analysis yielded
      correlation coefficients of r = 0.79 for the diffusion MRI and histology
      comparison, while r = 0.60 was reported for the comparison with polarized light
      imaging. In the corpus callosum, we observed a pattern of higher dispersion at
      the midline compared to its lateral aspects. This pattern was present in all
      modalities and the dispersion profiles from microscopy and diffusion MRI were
      highly correlated. The astrocytes appeared to have minor contribution to
      dispersion observed with diffusion MRI. These results demonstrate that fibre
      orientation dispersion estimates from diffusion MRI represents the tissue
      architecture well. Dispersion models might be improved by more faithfully
      incorporating an informed mapping based on microscopy data.

PMID- 28602816
TI  - Neurobiological correlates of impulsivity in healthy adults: Lower prefrontal
      gray matter volume and spontaneous eye-blink rate but greater resting-state
      functional connectivity in basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry.
AB  - Studies consistently implicate aberrance of the brain's reward-processing and
      decision-making networks in disorders featuring high levels of impulsivity, such
      as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, substance use disorder, and
      psychopathy. However, less is known about the neurobiological determinants of
      individual differences in impulsivity in the general population. In this study of
      105 healthy adults, we examined relationships between impulsivity and three
      neurobiological metrics - gray matter volume, resting-state functional
      connectivity, and spontaneous eye-blink rate, a physiological indicator of
      central dopaminergic activity. Impulsivity was measured both by performance on a
      task of behavioral inhibition (go/no-go task) and by self-ratings of attentional,
      motor, and non-planning impulsivity using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS
      11). Overall, we found that less gray matter in medial orbitofrontal cortex and
      paracingulate gyrus, greater resting-state functional connectivity between nodes
      of the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network, and lower spontaneous eye-blink
      rate were associated with greater impulsivity. Specifically, less prefrontal gray
      matter was associated with higher BIS-11 motor and non-planning impulsivity
      scores, but was not related to task performance; greater correlated resting-state
      functional connectivity between the basal ganglia and thalamus, motor cortices,
      and prefrontal cortex was associated with worse no-go trial accuracy on the task
      and with higher BIS-11 motor impulsivity scores; lower spontaneous eye-blink rate
      was associated with worse no-go trial accuracy and with higher BIS-11 motor
      impulsivity scores. These data provide evidence that individual differences in
      impulsivity in the general population are related to variability in multiple
      neurobiological metrics in the brain's reward-processing and decision-making
      networks.

PMID- 28602817
TI  - On memories, neural ensembles and mental flexibility.
AB  - Memories are assumed to be represented by groups of co-activated neurons, called
      neural ensembles. Describing ensembles is a challenge: complexity of the
      underlying micro-circuitry is immense. Current approaches use a piecemeal
      fashion, focusing on single neurons and employing local measures like pairwise
      correlations. We introduce an alternative approach that identifies ensembles and
      describes the effective connectivity between them in a holistic fashion. It also
      links the oscillatory frequencies observed in ensembles with the spatial scales
      at which activity is expressed. Using unsupervised learning, biophysical modeling
      and graph theory, we analyze multi-electrode LFPs from frontal cortex during a
      spatial delayed response task. We find distinct ensembles for different cues and
      more parsimonious connectivity for cues on the horizontal axis, which may explain
      the oblique effect in psychophysics. Our approach paves the way for biophysical
      models with learned parameters that can guide future Brain Computer Interface
      development.

PMID- 28602819
TI  - Assessing the anticancer effects associated with food products and/or
      nutraceuticals using in vitro and in vivo preclinical development-related
      pharmacological tests.
AB  - This review is part of a special issue entitled "Role of dietary pattern, foods,
      nutrients and nutraceuticals in supporting cancer prevention and treatment" and
      describes a pharmacological strategy to determine the potential contribution of
      food-related components as anticancer agents against established cancer.
      Therefore, this review does not relate to chemoprevention, which is analysed in
      several other reviews in the current special issue, but rather focuses on the
      following: i) the biological events that currently represent barriers against the
      treatment of certain types of cancers, primarily metastatic cancers; ii) the in
      vitro and in vivo pharmacological pre-clinical tests that can be used to analyse
      the potential anticancer effects of food-related components; and iii) several
      examples of food-related components with anticancer effects. This review does not
      represent a catalogue-based listing of food-related components with more or less
      anticancer activity. By contrast, this review proposes an original
      pharmacological strategy that researchers can use to analyse the potential
      anticancer activity of any food-related component-e.g., by considering the
      crucial characteristics of cancer biological aggressiveness. This review also
      highlights that cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy should restrict the use
      of "food complements" without supervision by a medical nutritionist. By contrast,
      an equilibrated diet that includes the food-related components listed herein
      would be beneficial for cancer patients who are not undergoing chemotherapy.

PMID- 28602818
TI  - Cell Cycle Control by PTEN.
AB  - Continuous and error-free chromosome inheritance through the cell cycle is
      essential for genomic stability and tumor suppression. However, accumulation of
      aberrant genetic materials often causes the cell cycle to go awry, leading to
      malignant transformation. In response to genotoxic stress, cells employ diverse
      adaptive mechanisms to halt or exit the cell cycle temporarily or permanently.
      The intrinsic machinery of cycling, resting, and exiting shapes the cellular
      response to extrinsic stimuli, whereas prevalent disruption of the cell cycle
      machinery in tumor cells often confers resistance to anticancer therapy.
      Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a tumor suppressor and a guardian of the
      genome that is frequently mutated or deleted in human cancer. Moreover, it is
      increasingly evident that PTEN deficiency disrupts the fundamental processes of
      genetic transmission. Cells lacking PTEN exhibit cell cycle deregulation and cell
      fate reprogramming. Here, we review the role of PTEN in regulating the key
      processes in and out of cell cycle to optimize genomic integrity.

PMID- 28602820
TI  - Structural Basis for Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Mediated Gene Activation.
AB  - The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and the AHR nuclear translocator (ARNT)
      constitute a heterodimeric basic helix-loop-helix-Per-ARNT-Sim (bHLH-PAS) domain
      containing transcription factor with central functions in development and
      cellular homeostasis. AHR is activated by xenobiotics, notably dioxin, as well as
      by exogenous and endogenous metabolites. Modulation of AHR activity holds promise
      for the treatment of diseases featuring altered cellular homeostasis, such as
      cancer or autoimmune disorders. Here, we present the crystal structure of a
      heterodimeric AHR:ARNT complex containing the PAS A and bHLH domain bound to its
      target DNA. The structure provides insights into the DNA binding mode of AHR and
      elucidates how stable dimerization of AHR:ARNT is achieved through sophisticated
      domain interplay via three specific interfaces. Using mutational analyses, we
      prove the relevance of the observed interfaces for AHR-mediated gene activation.
      Thus, our work establishes the structural basis of AHR assembly and DNA
      interaction and provides a template for targeted drug design.

PMID- 28602822
TI  - Structure of the ACF7 EF-Hand-GAR Module and Delineation of Microtubule Binding
      Determinants.
AB  - Spectraplakins are large molecules that cross-link F-actin and microtubules
      (MTs). Mutations in spectraplakins yield defective cell polarization, aberrant
      focal adhesion dynamics, and dystonia. We present the 2.8 A crystal structure of
      the hACF7 EF1-EF2-GAR MT-binding module and delineate the GAR residues critical
      for MT binding. The EF1-EF2 and GAR domains are autonomous domains connected by a
      flexible linker. The EF1-EF2 domain is an EFbeta-scaffold with two bound Ca2+
      ions that straddle an N-terminal alpha helix. The GAR domain has a unique
      alpha/beta sandwich fold that coordinates Zn2+. While the EF1-EF2 domain is not
      sufficient for MT binding, the GAR domain is and likely enhances EF1-EF2-MT
      engagement. Residues in a conserved basic patch, distal to the GAR domain's Zn2+
      binding site, mediate MT binding.

PMID- 28602821
TI  - Timing and Reset Mechanism of GTP Hydrolysis-Driven Conformational Changes of
      Atlastin.
AB  - The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms a branched, dynamic membrane tubule network
      that is vital for cellular function. Branching arises from membrane fusion
      facilitated by the GTPase atlastin (ATL). Many metazoan genomes encode for three
      ATL isoforms that appear to fulfill partially redundant function despite
      differences in their intrinsic GTPase activity and localization within the ER;
      however, the underlying mechanistic differences between the isoforms are poorly
      understood. Here, we identify discrete temporal steps in the catalytic cycle for
      the two most dissimilar isoforms, ATL1 and ATL3, revealing an overall conserved
      progression of molecular events from nucleotide binding and hydrolysis to ATL
      dimerization and phosphate release. A crystal structure of ATL3 suggests a
      mechanism for the displacement of the catalytic Mg2+ ion following guanosine
      triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis. Together, the data extend the mechanistic
      framework for how GTP hydrolysis drives conformational changes in ATL and how the
      cycle is reset for subsequent rounds of catalysis.

PMID- 28602824
TI  - Distribution of BDNF and TrkB isoforms in growing antler tissues of red deer.
AB  - Antlers are the cranial appendages of deer that regenerate each year. This
      renewal provides a model to explore molecules involved in mammalian organ
      regeneration. The cellular distributions of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      (BDNF) and the isoforms of its cognate receptor Trk tyrosine kinase receptor
      (TrkB) were localized by immunohistochemistry in sections of growing red deer
      antler. BDNF and TrkB full length were widely expressed in the integument,
      perichondrium, periosteum and bone. The truncated isoform receptor was
      particularly evidenced in integument and vascular inner dermis, but very light
      reaction was observed in cartilage and bone, both at the site of endochondral and
      intramembranous ossification. These observations were also assessed at
      transcriptional level by RT-PCR analyses. The highest expression of all genes
      significantly occurred in chondroprogenitor cells; however the full-length TrkB
      receptor was down regulated in osteocartilaginous compartments, in which the
      truncated isoform was up regulated. The truncated isoform is a dominant-negative
      receptor that inhibits the full length receptor signalling, even if the truncated
      isoform not only has this function. This study establishes the presence of BDNF
      and its receptor in the different cellular compartments of growing antler. Their
      transcripts assessed by RT-PCR indicate a local synthesis of these molecules that
      may contribute to the modulation of antler growth, acting as autocrine and/or
      paracrine factors independently of nerve supply. Among the plethora of other
      molecular signals and growth factors affecting the antler growth, the local
      production of BDNF and its cognate receptor could be of interest in understanding
      their role in antler renewal and to delineate the different involvement of the
      receptor isoforms.

PMID- 28602823
TI  - Structural Basis for Specific Interaction of TGFbeta Signaling Regulators
      SARA/Endofin with HD-PTP.
AB  - SARA and endofin are endosomal adaptor proteins that drive Smad phosphorylation
      by ligand-activated transforming growth factor beta/bone morphogenetic protein
      (TGFbeta/BMP) receptors. We show in this study that SARA and endofin also recruit
      the tumor supressor HD-PTP, a master regulator of endosomal sorting and ESCRT
      dependent receptor downregulation. High-affinity interactions occur between the
      SARA/endofin N termini, and the conserved hydrophobic region in the HD-PTP Bro1
      domain that binds CHMP4/ESCRT-III. CHMP4 engagement is a universal feature of
      Bro1 proteins, but SARA/endofin binding is specific to HD-PTP. Crystallographic
      structures of HD-PTPBro1 in complex with SARA, endofin, and three CHMP4 isoforms
      revealed that all ligands bind similarly to the conserved site but, critically,
      only SARA/endofin interact at a neighboring pocket unique to HD-PTP. The
      structures, together with mutagenesis and binding analysis, explain the high
      affinity and specific binding of SARA/endofin, and why they compete so
      effectively with CHMP4. Our data invoke models for how endocytic regulation of
      TGFbeta/BMP signaling is controlled.

PMID- 28602825
TI  - Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of the implantation in the lateral
      part of the mandible between short tissue level (TE) and bone level (BL) implant
      systems.
AB  - Short dental implants can be an alternative method of treatment to a vertical
      bone augmentation procedure at sites of reduced alveolar height. However, for
      successful treatment, an implant system that causes a minimal marginal bone loss
      (MBL) should be taken into consideration. The aim of the study has been to
      evaluate implantation effectiveness for bone level and tissue level short
      implants provided in lateral aspects of partially edentulous mandible and limited
      alveolar ridge height. The MBL and primary as well as secondary implant stability
      were determined in the study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups
      according to the method of treatment provided. Sixteen short Bone Level Implants
      (OsseoSpeed TX, Astra tech) and 16 short Tissue Level Implants (RN SLActive(r),
      Straumann) were successfully placed in the edentulous part of the mandible. The
      determination of the marginal bone level was based on radiographic evaluation
      after 12 and 36 weeks. Implant stability was measured immediately after insertion
      and after 12 weeks. The marginal bone level of Bone Level Implants was
      significantly lower compared to Tissue Level Implants. Furthermore, the Bone
      Level Implants had greater primary and secondary stability in comparison with
      Tissue Level Implants (Primary: 77.8 ISQ versus 66.5 ISQ; Secondary: 78.9 ISQ
      versus 73.9 ISQ, respectively). Since short Bone Level Implants showed a
      significantly decreased MBL 12 and 36 weeks after implantation as well as better
      results for the primary stability compared to Tissue Level Implants, they should
      preferentially be used for this mentioned indication.

PMID- 28602826
TI  - An alternative didactic, functional and topographic systematization of the spinal
      muscles.
AB  - Back muscles are commonly described in a topographically-oriented manner without
      necessarily following morphological criteria. In this manner, non-standard terms
      may be employed which convey incorrect morphological concepts and demanding more
      time from both faculty and students to transmit knowledge. We propose a
      classification system for spinal muscles incorporating morphological concepts
      with the goal of facilitating knowledge transfer and suggest the term "spinal
      muscles". Those muscles were systematically divided and classified in seven
      strata from anterior to posterior: vertebro-appendicular (VA), transversarium
      (Tr), deep post-transversarium (DPT), middle post-transversarium (MPT),
      superficial post-transversarium (SPT), deep spino-appendicular (DSA) and
      superficial spino-appendicular (SSA). Besides topography and function, this
      system incorporates innervation and embryological origins of each muscle. The
      extrinsic (VA, DSA, SSA) or intrinsic (Tr, DPT, MPT, SPT) nature of these muscles
      in relation to the spine and also the topographic relationship to the transverse
      process is represented in this system. Specific areas of functional, nervous and
      developmental transition exist on Tr and DPT strata due to being adjacent to
      extrinsic strata. We believe this system represents a more modern and concise
      teaching strategy for back muscles which may be employed partially or fully
      within any program. We envision its full version may be particularly useful in
      postgraduate medical training for specialties dealing with the spinal column such
      as neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

PMID- 28602827
TI  - microRNA inhibitors: Natural and artificial sequestration of microRNA.
AB  - MicroRNA (miRNAs) is post-transcriptional regulator of mRNA. However, the
      prevalence and activity of miRNA are regulated by other regulators. miRNA
      inhibitors are natural or artificial RNA transcripts that sequestrate miRNAs and
      decrease or even eliminate miRNA activity. Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) are
      natural and intracellular miRNA inhibitors that compete to bind to shared miRNA
      recognition elements (MREs) to decrease microRNA availability and relieve the
      repression of target RNAs. In recent years, studies have revealed that ceRNA
      crosstalk is involved in many pathophysiological processes and adds a new
      dimension to miRNA regulation. Artificial miRNA inhibitors are RNA transcripts
      that are synthesized via chemical and genetic methods. Artificial miRNA
      inhibitors can be used in miRNA loss-of-function research and gene therapies for
      certain diseases. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the two
      different types of miRNA inhibitors.

PMID- 28602828
TI  - Individual variability of venom from the European adder (Vipera berus berus) from
      one locality in Eastern Hungary.
AB  - We have revealed intra-population variability among venom samples from several
      individual European adders (Vipera berus berus) within a defined population in
      Eastern Hungary. Individual differences in venom pattern were noticed, both
      gender-specific and age-related, by one-dimensional electrophoresis. Gelatin
      zymography demonstrated that these individual venoms have different degradation
      profiles indicating varying protease activity in the specimens from adders of
      different ages and genders. Some specimens shared a conserved region of substrate
      degradation, while others had lower or extremely low protease activity.
      Phospholipase A2 activity of venoms was similar but not identical. Interspecimen
      diversity of the venom phospholipase A2-spectra (based on the components'
      molecular masses) was detected by MALDI-TOF MS. The lethal toxicity of venoms
      (LD50) also showed differences among individual snakes. Extracted venom samples
      had varying neuromuscular paralysing effect on chick biventer cervicis nerve
      muscle preparations. The paralysing effect of venom was lost when calcium in the
      physiological salt solution was replaced by strontium; indicating that the block
      of twitch responses to nerve stimulation is associated with the activity of a
      phospholipase-dependent neurotoxin. In contrast to the studied V. b. berus venoms
      from different geographical regions so far, this is the first V. b. berus
      population discovered to have predominantly neurotoxic neuromuscular activity.
      The relevance of varying venom yields is also discussed. This study demonstrates
      that individual venom variation among V. b. berus living in particular area of
      Eastern Hungary might contribute to a wider range of clinical manifestations of
      V. b. berus envenoming than elsewhere in Europe.

PMID- 28602829
TI  - Comparison of proteomic profiles of the venoms of two of the 'Big Four' snakes of
      India, the Indian cobra (Naja naja) and the common krait (Bungarus caeruleus),
      and analyses of their toxins.
AB  - Snake venoms are mixtures of biologically-active proteins and peptides, and
      several studies have described the characteristics of some of these toxins.
      However, complete proteomic profiling of the venoms of many snake species has not
      yet been done. The Indian cobra (Naja naja) and common krait (Bungarus caeruleus)
      are elapid snake species that are among the 'Big Four' responsible for the
      majority of human snake envenomation cases in India. As understanding the
      composition and complexity of venoms is necessary for successful treatment of
      envenomation in humans, we utilized three different proteomic profiling
      approaches to characterize these venoms: i) one-dimensional SDS-PAGE coupled with
      in-gel tryptic digestion and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-MS/MS)
      of individual protein bands; ii) in-solution tryptic digestion of crude venoms
      coupled with ESI-LC-MS/MS; and iii) separation by gel-filtration chromatography
      coupled with tryptic digestion and ESI-LC-MS/MS of separated fractions. From the
      generated data, 81 and 46 different proteins were identified from N. naja and B.
      caeruleus venoms, respectively, belonging to fifteen different protein families.
      Venoms from both species were found to contain a variety of phospholipases A2 and
      three-finger toxins, whereas relatively higher numbers of snake venom
      metalloproteinases were found in N. naja compared to B. caeruleus venom. The
      analyses also identified less represented venom proteins including L-amino acid
      oxidases, cysteine-rich secretory proteins, 5'-nucleotidases and venom nerve
      growth factors. Further, Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitors, cobra venom
      factors, phosphodiesterases, vespryns and aminopeptidases were identified in the
      N. naja venom, while acetylcholinesterases and hyaluronidases were found in the
      B. caeruleus venom. We further analyzed protein coverage (Lys/Arg rich and poor
      regions as well as potential glycosylation sites) using in-house software. These
      studies expand our understanding of the proteomes of the venoms of these two
      medically-important species.

PMID- 28602830
TI  - Phenotypic analysis of newly isolated short-lifespan Neurospora crassa mutant
      deficient in a high mobility group box protein.
AB  - To elucidate genetic mechanisms affecting the lifespan of the filamentous fungus
      Neurospora crassa, we attempted to identify a gene of which a defect causes a
      short-lifespan. By screening a Neurospora knockout library, provided by the
      Fungal Genetics Stock Center at Kansas State University, several KO strains with
      a short-lifespan were isolated. FGSC#11693 is one of these, which shows similar
      phenotypes to known Neurospora short-lifespan mutants as follows: 1) hyphal
      growth ceases after about 2weeks of cultivation, despite that of the wild-type
      continuing for over 2years, 2) viability of conidia is lower than that of the
      wild-type, and 3) high sensitivity to mutagens such as methyl methanesulfonate,
      ultraviolet radiation, and hydroxyl urea is exhibited. The NCU number of the
      knocked-out gene in the KO strain is NCU02695, and recovery from the short
      lifespan and mutagen sensitivity was achieved by the introduction of this gene
      from the wild-type. The putative amino acid sequence of the knocked-out gene
      contains two high mobility group box domains and a mitochondrial localization
      signal is found at the N-terminal of this sequence. Upon analyzing the
      subcellular localization of the gene product fused with GFP, GFP signals were
      detected in mitochondria. From these observations, the gene and KO strain were
      named mitochondrial high mobility group box protein 1 (MHG1) and mhg1KO strain,
      respectively. The amount of mtDNA relative to the nuclear amount was lower in the
      mhg1KO strain than in the wild-type. mtDNA aberration was also observed in the
      mhg1KO strain. These results suggest that the MHG1 protein plays an important
      role in the maintenance of mitochondrial DNA, and mitochondrial abnormality
      caused by mtDNA aberration is responsible for the short-lifespan of the mhg1KO
      strain.

PMID- 28602831
TI  - Species boundaries in the human pathogen Paracoccidioides.
AB  - The use of molecular taxonomy for identifying recently diverged species has
      transformed the study of speciation in fungi. The pathogenic fungus
      Paracoccidioides spp has been hypothesized to be composed of five phylogenetic
      species, four of which compose the brasiliensis species complex. Nuclear gene
      genealogies support this divergence scenario, but mitochondrial loci do not;
      while all species from the brasiliensis complex are differentiated at nuclear
      coding loci, they are not at mitochondrial loci. We addressed the source of this
      incongruity using 11 previously published gene fragments, 10 newly-sequenced
      nuclear non-coding loci, and 10 microsatellites. We hypothesized and further
      demonstrated that the mito-nuclear incongruence in the brasiliensis species
      complex results from interspecific hybridization and mitochondrial introgression,
      a common phenomenon in eukaryotes. Additional population genetic analyses
      revealed possible nuclear introgression but much less than that seen in the
      mitochondrion. Our results are consistent with a divergence scenario of secondary
      contact and subsequent mitochondrial introgression despite the continued
      persistence of species boundaries. We also suggest that yeast morphology slightly
      but significantly-differs across all five Paracoccidioides species and propose to
      elevate four of these phylogenetic species to formally described taxonomic
      species.

PMID- 28602832
TI  - Fumarate decreases edema volume and improves functional outcome after
      experimental stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress and inflammation exacerbate tissue damage in the
      brain after ischemic stroke. Dimethyl-fumarate (DMF) and its metabolite
      monomethyl-fumarate (MMF) are known to stimulate anti-oxidant pathways and
      modulate inflammatory responses. Considering these dual effects of fumarates, we
      examined the effect of MMF treatment after ischemic stroke in mice. METHODS:
      Permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) was performed using adult,
      male C57BL/6 mice. Thirty minutes after pMCAO, 20mg/kg MMF was administered
      intravenously. Outcomes were evaluated 6, 24 and 48h after pMCAO. First, we
      examined whether a bolus of MMF was capable of changing expression of kelch-like
      erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology-associated protein 1 (Keap1) and
      nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf)2 in the infarcted brain. Next, we
      studied the effect of MMF on functional recovery. To explore mechanisms
      potentially influencing functional changes, we examined infarct volumes, edema
      formation, the expression of heat shock protein (Hsp)72, hydroxycarboxylic acid
      receptor 2 (Hcar2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the infarcted
      brain using real-time PCR and Western blotting. Concentrations of a panel of pro-
      and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IFNgamma, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL
      10, IL-12p70, TNF) were examined in both the infarcted brain tissue and plasma
      samples 6, 24 and 48h after pMCAO using multiplex electrochemoluminiscence
      analysis. RESULTS: Administration of MMF increased the protein level of Nrf2 6h
      after pMCAO, and improved functional outcome at 24 and 48h after pMCAO. MMF
      treatment did not influence infarct size, however reduced edema volume at both 24
      and 48h after pMCAO. MMF treatment resulted in increased Hsp72 expression in the
      brain 6h after pMCAO. Hcar2 mRNA levels increased significantly 24h after pMCAO,
      but were not different between saline- and MMF-treated mice. MMF treatment also
      increased the level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in the brain and
      plasma 6h after pMCAO, and additionally reduced the level of the pro-inflammatory
      cytokine IL-12p70 in the brain at 24 and 48h after pMCAO. CONCLUSIONS: A single
      intravenous bolus of MMF improved sensory-motor function after ischemic stroke,
      reduced edema formation, and increased the levels of the neuroprotective protein
      Hsp72 in the brain. The early increase in IL-10 and reduction in IL-12p70 in the
      brain combined with changes in systemic cytokine levels may also contribute to
      the functional recovery after pMCAO.

PMID- 28602833
TI  - A novel IL-1RA-PEP fusion protein with enhanced brain penetration ameliorates
      cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibition of oxidative stress and
      neuroinflammation.
AB  - Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are involved in cerebral ischemia
      reperfusion, in which Interleukin 1 (IL-1), as an effective intervention target,
      is implicated. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) is the natural
      inhibitor of IL-1, but blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits the brain penetration of
      intravenously administered IL-1RA, thereby restricting its therapeutic effect
      against neuroinflammation. In this study, we evaluated the potential effects of
      anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative stress of a novel protein IL-1RA-PEP, which
      fused IL-1RA with a cell penetrating peptide (CPP). Studies were carried out in
      transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats and oxygen glucose
      deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) in primary cortical neurons. In MCAO rat model,
      IL-1RA-PEP (50mg/kg) injected i.v., penetrated BBB effectively, and alleviated
      brain infarction, cerebral edema, neurological deficit score and motor
      performance as well as inhibited the inflammatory cytokines expression.
      Furthermore, our results firstly showed that IL-1RA-PEP also regulated the
      oxidases expression, decreased the levels of NO, MDA and ROS. In addition, the
      inhibitory effects of IL-1RA-PEP on oxidative stress and inflammation were
      confirmed in rat cortical neurons induced by OGD/R, it reduced ROS, IL-6 and TNF
      alpha. Further study showed that the effects of IL-1RA-PEP were closely
      associated with the NF-kappaB and p38 pathways which were proved respectively by
      their inhibitors JSH-23 and SB203580. Our results indicated that IL-1RA-PEP could
      effectively penetrate the brain of MCAO rats, alleviated the cerebral ischemia
      reperfusion injury by inhibiting neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, showing
      a great clinical potential for stroke.

PMID- 28602834
TI  - CNS disease diminishes the therapeutic functionality of bone marrow mesenchymal
      stem cells.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as a potentially powerful cellular
      therapy for autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS). Based on their
      success in treating animal models of MS like experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis (EAE), MSCs have moved rapidly into clinical trials for MS. The
      majority of these trials use autologous MSCs derived from MS patients, although
      it remains unclear how CNS disease may affect these cells. Here, we report that
      bone marrow MSCs derived from EAE mice lack therapeutic efficacy compared to
      naive MSCs in their ability to ameliorate EAE. Treatment with conditioned medium
      from EAE-MSCs also fails to modulate EAE, and EAE-MSCs secrete higher levels of
      many pro-inflammatory cytokines compared to naive MSCs. Similarly, MSCs derived
      from MS patients have less therapeutic efficacy than naive MSCs in treating EAE
      and secrete higher levels of some of the same pro-inflammatory cytokines. Thus
      diseases like EAE and MS diminish the therapeutic functionality of bone marrow
      MSCs, prompting reevaluation about the ongoing use of autologous MSCs as a
      treatment for MS.

PMID- 28602835
TI  - Topical treatment with nanoliposomal Amphotericin B reduces early lesion growth
      but fails to induce cure in an experimental model of cutaneous leishmaniasis
      caused by Leishmania mexicana.
AB  - Leishmania mexicana infection causes localized skin lesions that can lead to
      tissue damage and permanent disfigurement if not resolved. Currently, recommended
      treatments include intravenous administration of Amphotericin B, which is
      undesirable due to the associated cost and patient burden related to receiving
      regular injections. In this study, we evaluated the effect of topical treatment
      with a nanoliposomal formulation of Amphotericin B that is penetrable to the skin
      (SinaAmphoLeish 0.4%) in mice infected with L. mexicana by using ulcerated
      (BALB/c) and non-ulcerated (129SVE) models. BALB/c mice received a 4 week
      treatment following ulcerated lesion development, while 129SVE mice received a 10
      week treatment beginning at week 5 post-infection. Although mice from both models
      showed comparable susceptibility to L. mexicana infection after topical treatment
      with SinaAmphoLeish relative to controls, 129SVE mice displayed a transient
      decrease in lesion sizes which eventually became similar to control mice. On
      other hand this treatment resulted in no reduction in the lesion sizes in BALB/c
      mice. 129SVE treated mice exhibited greater IFN-gamma, IL-4, and IL-10 cytokine
      levels and higher T-cell proliferation in re-stimulated draining lymph node
      cells. BALB/c mice showed no differences in cytokine responses between treated
      and control mice. These findings indicate that topical SinaAmphoLeish treatment
      is not likely to be effective in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused
      by L. mexicana.

PMID- 28602836
TI  - Parkinson's disease and Toxoplasma gondii infection: Sero-molecular assess the
      possible link among patients.
AB  - We investigated the possible association between Parkinson's disease (PD), the
      second most common neurodegenerative disorder and Toxoplasma gondii infection,
      the most common neurotropic protozoan parasitic infection, using serological and
      molecular techniques. One hundred and fifteen patients with confirmed PD and 115
      healthy subjects in the same age and sex distribution were enrolled in this
      study. Blood samples were taken from each participant and the sera was screened
      for anti-Toxoplasma antibodies (IgG and IgM). PCR assay was performed in
      duplicate using the primer pair targeting the B1 gene of Toxoplasma. Amplicons
      were directly sequenced to conduct the phylogenetic analysis. The prevalence of
      Toxoplasma infection based on IgG titer was 53% in case and 55.6% in the control
      groups, revealing no statistically significant association between Toxoplasma
      seropositivity and PD (OR=0.90; 95% CI=0.54-1.51; P=0.691). According to PCR
      assay, the prevalence of Toxoplasma infections was 19.3% in the case and 10.4% in
      control groups which the difference was statistically significant (OR=3.02; 95%
      CI=1.46-6.27; P=0.002). Multiple sequence alignment of Toxoplasma gondii isolates
      manifested a common haplotype by the identity: 93.6-100% and divergence: 0-6.7%.
      We concluded that T. gondii infection not only could not be a risk factor to PD,
      but even it could be concluded that patients with PD are in more risk to
      acquisition of infection. These results provide fresh insights into the ambiguous
      association between T. gondii infection and PD.

PMID- 28602837
TI  - A review on epidemiology, global prevalence and economical losses of fasciolosis
      in ruminants.
AB  - Fasciolosis is an important plant borne trematode zoonosis in ruminants caused by
      the Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigentica, It is classified as a neglected
      tropical disease and found in more than 50 countries especially where sheep and
      cattle are reared. Fasciolosis is a serious animal health problems in many rural
      and urban areas of world, causing significant financial losses due to decrease in
      production and viscera condemnation in animals. Accurate diagnosis of fasciolosis
      is always remained a challenging task for the field practitioners. There is no
      comprehensive summary on the occurrence and distribution of the infection at
      international level. Therefore, we intended to provide a complete overview on the
      prevalence and epidemiology of fasciolosis in farm animals from a global
      prospective. It includes to map the global distribution of fasciolosis in
      different areas of the world to identify the endemic regions which may be a
      source of potential disease outbreak. The financial liability related to
      fasciolosis on the livestock production has also been addressed. For this
      purpose, the published data during 2000-2015 (15 years) on fasciolosis was
      reviewed and collected by electronic literature search of four databases
      including Google, PubMed, Science Direct, and Web of Science. Data presented are
      contemplated to enhance our current understanding of the parasite's geographical
      distribution, host range, and economic losses. Information provided would be
      useful for the application of more effective control strategies against
      fasciolosis in different geo-economics regions of the world.

PMID- 28602839
TI  - Epidemiology of brucellosis in Iran: A comprehensive systematic review and meta
      analysis study.
AB  - Brucellosis is still one of the most challenging issues for health and the
      economy in many developing countries such as Iran. Considering the high
      prevalence of brucellosis, the aim of the current study was to systematically
      review published data about the annual incidence rate of this infection from
      different parts of Iran and provide an overall relative frequency (RF) for Iran
      using meta-analysis. We searched several databases including PubMed, ISI Web of
      Science, Scopus, google scholar, IranMedex and Iranian Scientific Information
      Database (SID) by using the following keywords: "Brucella", "Brucellosis", "Malta
      fever", "Mediterranean fever", "undulant fever", "zoonosis" and "Iran" in
      Title/Abstract/Keywords fields. Articles/Abstracts, which used clinical specimens
      and reported the incidence of brucellosis, were included in this review. Quality
      of studies was assessed by STROB and PRISMA forms. All statistical analyses were
      performed using STATA 11.0 (STATA Corp, College Station, TX) and P-values under
      0.05 were considered statistically significant. Out of the 8326 results, we found
      34 articles suitable, according to inclusion and exlusion criteria, for inclusion
      in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled incidence of brucellosis
      was estimated 0.001% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.0005-0.0015%) annually.
      Relative frequency of brucellosis in different studies varied from 7.0/100000 to
      276.41/100000 in Qom and Kermanshah provinces, respectively. This systematic
      review and meta-analysis study showed that the highest incidences of brucellosis
      are occurred in west and northwest regions of Iran. Totally, the incidence of the
      disease in Iran is in the high range.

PMID- 28602838
TI  - The Hsp90 inhibitor 17-DMAG decreases infection of porcine circovirus type 2 in
      mice.
AB  - Although several factors affecting porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection
      have been reported, their precise roles are far from clear. The aim of this study
      was to determine whether 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17
      DMAG), an inhibitor of Hsp90, could significantly affect PCV2 infection and
      immune responses in BALB/c mice. Intraperitoneal injection of 17-DMAG
      significantly reduced viral loads in the blood and tissues of mice infected with
      PCV2, compared with control groups. The 17-DMAG treatment decreased serum
      interleukin (IL)-10 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-alpha levels, but it did not
      have a significant effect on the IL-1beta level. These data demonstrate that 17
      DMAG is highly effective in suppressing PCV2 replication in BALB/c mice,
      indicating that it has potential value as an antiviral drug against PCV2
      infection.

PMID- 28602840
TI  - Rational selection of broadly cross-reactive family 2 PspA molecules for
      inclusion in chimeric pneumococcal vaccines.
AB  - Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is a widely studied pneumococcal protein,
      exposed at the surface of all strains. It is an important virulence factor,
      preventing complement deposition as well as inhibiting the lytic effects of
      lactoferrin over pneumococci. Several studies have investigated the use of PspA
      as a candidate in alternative pneumococcal vaccines, with great success. However,
      PspA presents sequence variability - there are six clades, grouped in three
      families - and PspAs within the same clade exhibit different levels of cross
      reactivity. Therefore, the aim of this work was to select, from a panel of eight
      pneumococcal isolates expressing family 2 PspAs, the molecule with the broadest
      reactivity within this family. Antisera to these PspA fragments were initially
      screened by immunoblot against thirteen pneumococcal extracts; the three most
      cross-reactive antisera were tested for their ability to enhance the deposition
      of complement factor C3b on the bacterial surface and to promote their
      phagocytosis in vitro. PspA from strain P490 was the most effective, increasing
      phagocytosis of all but one pneumococcal isolate. Thus, this molecule was
      selected for inclusion in chimeric protein-based pneumococcal vaccines. In
      conclusion, the rational selection of cross-reactive molecules is an important
      step in the development of vaccines with broad coverage.

PMID- 28602841
TI  - A unique role of flagellar function in Aliivibrio salmonicida pathogenicity not
      related to bacterial motility in aquatic environments.
AB  - Aliivibrio salmonicida is the causative agent of cold-water vibriosis, a
      septicemia of farmed salmonid fish. The mechanisms of disease are not well
      described, and few virulence factors have been identified. However, a requirement
      for motility in the pathogenesis has been reported. Al. salmonicida is motile by
      the means of lophotrichous polar flagella, consisting of multiple flagellin
      subunits that are expressed simultaneously. Here we show that flagellin subunit
      FlaA, but not FlaD, is of major importance for motility in Al. salmonicida.
      Deletion of flaA resulted in 62% reduction in motility, as well as a reduction in
      the fraction of flagellated cells and number of flagella per cell. Similarly,
      deletion of the gene encoding motor protein motA gave rise to an aflagellate
      phenotype and cessation of motility. Surprisingly, we found that Al. salmonicida
      does not require motility for invasion of Atlantic salmon. Nevertheless, in-frame
      deletion mutants defective of motA and flaA were less virulent in Atlantic salmon
      challenged by immersion, whereas an effect on virulence after i.p. challenge was
      only seen for the latter. Our results indicate a complex requirement for motility
      and/or flagellation in the pathogenesis of cold-water vibriosis, but the
      mechanisms involved remain unknown. We hypothesize that the differences in
      virulence observed after immersion and i.p. challenge are related to the immune
      response of the host.

PMID- 28602842
TI  - Immune responses and parasitological observations induced during probiotic
      treatment with medicinal Trichuris suis ova in a healthy volunteer.
AB  - Ingestion of eggs (ova) of the porcine nematode parasite Trichuris suis (TSO) may
      reduce the severity of autoimmune disorders, however the development of TSO
      treatment as a useful therapy for autoimmune diseases is hampered by a lack of
      knowledge on the development of the parasite and the nature of the local immune
      responses in humans. Here, we used colonoscopy to investigate the development of
      T. suis and related mucosal and systemic immune responses during TSO treatment in
      an intestinally healthy male volunteer. TSO treatment induced T. suis-specific
      serum antibodies, a transient blood eosinophilia, and increases in IFNgamma+ and
      IL4+ cells within the circulating CD4+ T-cell population. Increased expression of
      genes encoding cytokines (IL4, IL10, IL17 and TGF-beta), and transcription
      factors (FOXP3, GATA3 and RORC) were apparent in the ascending and transverse
      colon (the predilection site of the worms), whereas only limited changes in gene
      expression were observed proximally (ileum) and distally (descending colon) to
      the infected tissue. We further show that T. suis is able to colonise the human
      colon, with a number of worms developing to a similar size and morphology
      observed in the natural pig host, and a small number of unembryonated eggs were
      passed in the faeces, indicating patent infection. Notably, the volunteer
      experienced a substantial improvement in psoriasis during the course of TSO
      treatment. Thus, TSO treatment induced a mixed Th1/Th2/T regulatory response at
      the local site of infection, which was also reflected to some extent in the
      peripheral circulation. These results, together with the first definitive
      observations that T. suis can mature to adult size and reproduce in humans, shed
      new light on the interaction between the human immune system and probiotic
      helminth treatment, which should facilitate further development of this novel
      therapeutic option.

PMID- 28602843
TI  - Combination of cell penetrating peptides and heterologous DNA prime/protein boost
      strategy enhances immune responses against HIV-1 Nef antigen in BALB/c mouse
      model.
AB  - To develop a strong HIV specific T-cell response, the HIV-1 Tat and Nef
      regulatory proteins have been known as attractive antigenic candidates in vaccine
      design. A peptide transduction domain of Tat (48-60 aa) could act to deliver
      other therapeutic molecules into different cells. In this line, several cell
      penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been designed to transfer DNA, siRNA,
      polypeptides and proteins into cells through non-covalent approach such as CADY
      and PEP families. Some studies showed that the endogenous adjuvants including
      heat shock protein Gp96 could stimulate antigen-specific T cell immune responses.
      In this study, different Nef DNA and protein constructs were generated, and their
      abilities were evaluated to induce T cell immune responses and humoral immunity
      in mouse model. A novel prime-boost immunization approach was also used in which
      the priming injections consisted of Nef/Tat (PTD)-Nef DNA plus Gp96 DNA followed
      by Nef/Tat (PTD)-Nef protein formulated in Freund's adjuvant or the Pep-1 and
      Cady-2 CPPs. Generally, our results indicated that Tat (PTD)-Nef fusion DNA or
      protein could significantly elicit higher humoral and cellular immune responses
      than Nef DNA or protein, respectively. Analysis of the immune responses
      demonstrated that the Tat (PTD)-Nef+Gp96 DNA prime/Tat (PTD)-Nef protein+Cady-2
      boost regimen significantly enhanced the Nef/Tat (PTD)-Nef-specific T cell
      responses. This modality induced high levels of IgG2a and IFN-gamma directed
      toward Th1 responses, and also Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTLs) activity as
      compared to other immunization strategies. The immunostimulatory properties of
      Pep-1 and Freund's adjuvant were almost similar in different immunization
      strategies. These findings showed that the use of Tat (PTD)-Nef antigen in prime
      boost strategy along with Gp96 adjuvant and Cady-2 CPP may have practical
      implications for developing HIV-1 vaccine in large animal model.

PMID- 28602844
TI  - Primate-specific Long Non-coding RNAs and MicroRNAs.
AB  - Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are critical regulators of gene expression in
      essentially all life forms. Long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are two
      important RNA classes possessing regulatory functions. Up to date, many primate
      specific ncRNAs have been identified and investigated. Their expression
      specificity to primate lineage suggests primate-specific roles. It is thus
      critical to elucidate the biological significance of primate or even human
      specific ncRNAs, and to develop potential ncRNA-based therapeutics. Here, we have
      summarized the studies regarding regulatory roles of some key primate-specific
      lncRNAs and miRNAs.

PMID- 28602846
TI  - Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the treatment of cardiovascular
      diseases: An update with a critical appraisal.
AB  - Heart failure and acute myocardial infarction are conditions that are associated
      with high morbidity and mortality. Significant dysfunction of the heart muscle
      can occur as the consequence of end-stage chronic cardiovascular diseases or
      acute ischemic events that are marked by large infarction area and significant
      tissue necrosis. Despite the remarkable improvement of conventional treatments, a
      substantial proportion of patients still develops severe heart failure that can
      only be resolved by heart transplantation or mechanical device implantation.
      Therefore, novel approaches based on stem-cell therapy can directly modify the
      disease process and alter its prognosis. The ability of the stem-cells to modify
      and repair the injured myocardium is a challenging but intriguing concept that
      can potentially replace expensive and invasive methods of treatment that are
      associated with increased risks and significant financial costs. In that sense,
      granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) seems as an attractive treatment
      approach. Based on the series of pre-clinical experiments and a limited amount of
      clinical data, it was demonstrated that G-CSF agents possess the ability to
      mobilize stem-cells from bone marrow and induce their differentiation into
      cardiomyocytes or endothelial cells when brought into contact with injured
      regions of the myocardium. However, clinical benefits of G-CSF use in damaged
      myocardium remain unclear and are the topic of expert discussion. The main goal
      of this review is to present relevant and up-to-date evidence on G-CSF therapy
      use in pre-clinical models and in humans and to provide a rationale for its
      potential clinical applications in the future.

PMID- 28602847
TI  - Non-proteinuric diabetic nephropathy is the main cause of chronic kidney disease:
      Results of a general population survey in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy traditionally produces significant proteinuria
      prior to the development of renal impairment. However, this clinical paradigm has
      recently been questioned. The current study evaluated the impact of diabetes
      mellitus on the prevalence of renal disease in general population. METHODOLOGY:
      Data from of the HERMEX survey, an observational, cross sectional, population
      based study were used. The final sample included 2813 subjects (mean age 51.2
      years, 53.5% female). Four hundred patients have diabetes. Urinary albumin
      excretion (UAE) rate was analyzed and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was
      estimated using the CKD-EPI formula. RESULTS: Among participants without
      diabetes, 2.9%(2.2-3.6) had a GFR < 60 ml/min. Prevalence of abnormal UAE in
      population without diabetes was 3.3% (2.6-4.0). The global prevalence of renal
      disease was 5.6%(4.8-6.6). Prevalence of GFR <60 ml/min in subjects with diabetes
      was 8.8%(6.4-11.9)(p<0.001,Chi-square test). Prevalence of abnormal UAE in
      population with diabetes was 14.1%(7.7-19.8)(p< 0.001,Chi-square test). CKD
      prevalence was 20.3%(16.6-24.6)(p<0.001,Chi-square test). The logistic regression
      analysis showed a positive independent association of CKD with age, high blood
      pressure and albuminuria. No significant relationship was found with diabetes
      mellitus CONCLUSIONS: CKD is more prevalent in population with diabetes.
      Nevertheless, most of patients with diabetes and CKD have no albuminuria. An
      increased cardiovascular burden seems to produce this clinical presentation.

PMID- 28602845
TI  - Silencing of Transposable Elements by piRNAs in Drosophila: An Evolutionary
      Perspective.
AB  - Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that can move within the genome.
      TEs have greatly shaped the genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes of the host
      organisms through a variety of mechanisms. However, TEs generally disrupt genes
      and destabilize the host genomes, which substantially reduce fitness of the host
      organisms. Understanding the genomic distribution and evolutionary dynamics of
      TEs will greatly deepen our understanding of the TE-mediated biological
      processes. Most TE insertions are highly polymorphic in Drosophila melanogaster,
      providing us a good system to investigate the evolution of TEs at the population
      level. Decades of theoretical and experimental studies have well established
      "transposition-selection" population genetics model, which assumes that the
      equilibrium between TE replication and purifying selection determines the copy
      number of TEs in the genome. In the last decade, P-element-induced wimpy testis
      (PIWI)-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) were demonstrated to be master repressors of TE
      activities in Drosophila. The discovery of piRNAs revolutionized our
      understanding of TE repression, because it reveals that the host organisms have
      evolved an adaptive mechanism to defend against TE invasion. Tremendous progress
      has been made to understand the molecular mechanisms by which piRNAs repress
      active TEs, although many details in this process remain to be further explored.
      The interaction between piRNAs and TEs well explains the molecular mechanisms
      underlying hybrid dysgenesis for the I-R and P-M systems in Drosophila, which
      have puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades. The piRNA repression pathway
      provides us an unparalleled system to study the co-evolutionary process between
      parasites and host organisms.

PMID- 28602848
TI  - Diabetic hepatosclerosis: True clinical entity or ghost disease?
AB  - Diabetic hepatosclerosis is a novel entity that has recently been introduced by
      reviewing archived liver biopsies as a non-cirrhotic form of peri-sinusoidal
      fibrosis with basement membrane formation. Diabetic hepatosclerosis is usually
      characterized by an indolent clinical course. Serum aminotransferase levels are
      normal or minimally elevated, but elevated alkaline phosphatase levels is usually
      present. Clinically relevant to DH is the co-existence of other diabetic
      microvascular complications in the same patient, such as ESRD on long-term
      dialysis or renal transplantation, retinopathy, or neuropathy. Although it seems
      that DH occurs in patients with type 1 more often than type 2 diabetes mellitus,
      the true prevalence of this entity still remains unknown. Future prospective
      studies should include long-term follow-up to examine the natural history and to
      explore treatment options for this form of hepatic micro-angiopathy disease.

PMID- 28602849
TI  - Etiopathological differentiation of diabetes mellitus in lean, young adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Classification of diabetes mellitus (DM) into type 1 or type 2 is
      difficult in lean, young individuals. We studied the beta-cell function, insulin
      resistance (IR) and autoimmunity in young patients with recent onset DM. METHODS:
      In this cross-sectional study, we included patients (age below 35 years) with
      recent onset DM (<6 months) and normal body weight for evaluation. The detailed
      clinical examination was done to identify markers of IR. Autoimmune DM was
      diagnosed using glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), insulin autoantibody
      (IAA) and islet cell antibody (ICA). Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) models
      of HOMA-B and HOMA- IR were used for estimation of beta-cell function and IR
      respectively. The patients were divided into four groups based on, the
      autoimmunity (A) and ketosis (K) as group 1 (A+K), group 2 (A-K+), group 3 (A+K-)
      and group 4 (A-K-). Appropriate statistical tests +)were used to analyze the
      results. RESULTS: The study population (n=75, all males) had a mean age of 28.9+/
      4.3years, body mass index 20.6+/-1.9kg/m2, fasting plasma glucose 177.1+/
      31.4mg/dl and HbA1c of 9.9+/-2.1% at presentation. The number of patients in
      groups 1 to 4 are 8, 5, 10 and 52 respectively (p<0.0001). HOMA-IR was higher in
      groups 2 and 4 (4.1+/-1.3, 3.6+/-1.1 respectively), whereas HOMA-B was higher in
      group 4 (3.6+/-1.5) alone (p=0.0005). CONCLUSION: Type 2 DM is the most common
      etiology even in young, lean adults in India. Further studies with large numbers
      are required to confirm our findings.

PMID- 28602850
TI  - Repair may increase survival of direct posterior restorations - A practice based
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate repairs of direct restorations by a group of Dutch
      general dental practitioners (GDPs) and its consequences on longevity of
      restorations. METHODS: Data set was based on dental records of patients attending
      11 general dental practices (24 Dentists) in the Netherlands. Patients that
      received Class II Amalgam or Composite restorations were included in the study.
      The outcomes were considered in two levels: "Success" - When no intervention was
      necessary on the original restoration, it was considered clinically acceptable.
      "Survival" - Repaired restorations were considered clinically acceptable. Kaplan
      Meier statistics and Multivariate Cox regression were used to assess restorations
      longevity and factors associated with failures (p<0.05). RESULTS: 59,722
      restorations placed in 21,988 patients were analyzed. There was a wide variation
      in the amount of repairs among GDPs when a restoration had failed (Level 1).
      Repairs of multi-surface restorations were more frequent (p<0.001). A total of
      9253 restorations (Level 1) or 6897 restorations (Level 2) had failed in a 12
      year observation time. "Success" and "Survival" of the restorations reached
      65.92% (AFR=4.08%) and 74.61% (AFR=2.88%) at 10 years, respectively. Patient
      (age, removable denture) and tooth/treatment-related factors (molars, >2 restored
      surfaces, endodontic treatment, Amalgam) were identified as risk factors for
      failure (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Overall, the GDPs showed satisfactory rates of
      restoration longevity over 10 years. Repair can increase the survival of
      restorations although, substantial differences exist among practitioners in
      repair frequency and AFRs. Molars, multi-surface restorations, presence of an
      endodontic treatment and a removable denture were identified as risk factors for
      failure. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Repair, instead of total replacement of a
      defective restoration, is a Minimally Invasive procedure which can increase the
      survival of the original filling, reducing the risk for pulp complications and
      treatment costs.

PMID- 28602851
TI  - Impact of delayed gratification on oral health and caries status in the primary
      dentition.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The ability to delay gratification (ATDG) is naturally linked to key
      regulatory psychological traits involved in self-discipline/regulation. The aim
      of this study was to ascertain the normalized impact of ATDG as an early
      predictor of oral health, on the primary dentition. METHODS: 404 subjects [202
      children (4-6 years old) and 202 mothers] were enrolled in a case-control study.
      Systematic data collection included: i) extraoral diagnostic parameters; ii)
      intraoral health status; iii) behavioral aspects; iv) baseline socio-demographic
      data. The ICC, the paired Student's t-test and kappa statistic were used to
      evaluate intra-observer reliability. Distributions were explored with the chi
      squared test [Odds ratio;95%CI;p<0.05]. Conditional logistic regression was used
      to evaluate associations between all clinical diagnostic data and ATDG. RESULTS:
      Overweight/obese children and those diagnosed with ADHD are more prone to lack
      ATDG (p<0.001). Higher deft values were observed in children who lacked ATDG, who
      were also strongly associated with higher sugar consumption and more impulsive
      personalities (p<0.001;OR:.107/0.031;95%CI:036-0.316/0.008-0.115). By contrast,
      children with responsible personality traits were associated with this skill
      (p<0.028;OR:3.33;95%CI:1.1-9.7) and obtained the lowest deft
      (p<0.306;OR:0.539;95%CI:0.165-0.176) and gingival index values
      (p<0.001;OR:10.44;95%CI:2.6-40.9), which are clear indicators of better current
      and future oral health. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide insights into a novel
      predictor for identifying individuals at a higher risk of dental caries in early
      childhood. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The present study offers a new hypothesis for
      identifying individuals with poor oral health status. Early tools to detect the
      most vulnerable population sectors are critically important to reduce the global
      burden of caries and other oral diseases.

PMID- 28602852
TI  - Repeated ethanol exposure alters social behavior and oxidative stress parameters
      of zebrafish.
AB  - Repeated ethanol (EtOH) consumption induces neurological disorders in humans and
      is considered an important public health problem. The physiological effects of
      EtOH are dose- and time-dependent, causing relevant changes in the social
      behavior. In addition, alcohol-induced oxidative stress has been proposed as a
      key mechanism involved in EtOH neurotoxicity. Here we investigate for the first
      time whether repeated EtOH exposure (REE) alters the social behavior of zebrafish
      and influences brain oxidation processes. Animals were exposed to water (control
      group) or 1% (v/v) EtOH (EtOH group) for 8 consecutive days (20min per day). EtOH
      was added directly to the tank water. At day 9, the social behavior and
      biochemical parameters were assessed. REE increased shoal cohesion by reducing
      inter-fish and farthest neighbor distances. SOD and CAT activities, as well as
      NPSH levels decreased in brain tissue. Moreover, REE increased lipid peroxidation
      suggesting oxidative damage. In summary, changes in oxidation processes may play
      a role in the CNS effects of EtOH, influencing the social behavior of zebrafish.
      Furthermore, in a translational neuroscience perspective, our data reinforces the
      utility of zebrafish to clarify the biochemical and behavioral effects of
      intermittent EtOH administration.

PMID- 28602853
TI  - HET-CAM test. Application to shampoos in developing countries.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of in vitro methods for the control of cosmetic products in
      developing countries must overcome cost, feasibility and an unfavourable
      regulatory environment. Among these products, shampoos occupy an important part
      of the market but present a number of risks related to their use like eye
      irritation. The aim of this work is to propose the HET-CAM test as a method of
      screening the risk of eye irritation of shampoos, adapting it to the technical
      and regulatory conditions of a developing country such as Algeria. MATERIAL AND
      METHOD: 6 locally produced shampoos (4 adults and 2 for babies) were tested at
      100%, 50%, 25%, 10%, 5%, 2.5% and 1.5%. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The use of a 10%
      dilution classifies the baby and adult shampoos in two different categories of
      irritation. A benchmark approach can be applied using this concentration to
      evaluate the ocular irritative risk of adult and baby shampoos in developing
      countries.

PMID- 28602854
TI  - Chemical template-assisted synthesis of monodisperse rattle-type Fe3O4@C hollow
      microspheres as drug carrier.
AB  - : A chemical template strategy was put forward to synthesize monodisperse rattle
      type magnetic carbon (Fe3O4@C) hollow microspheres. During the synthesis
      procedure, monodisperse Fe2O3 microspheres were used as chemical template, which
      released Fe3+ ions in acidic solution and initiated the in-situ polymerization of
      pyrrole into polypyrrole (PPy) shell. With the continual acidic etching of Fe2O3
      microspheres, rattle-type Fe2O3@PPy microspheres were generated with the cavity
      appearing between the PPy shell and left Fe2O3 core, which were then transformed
      into Fe3O4@C hollow microspheres through calcination in nitrogen atmosphere.
      Compared with traditional physical template, the shell and cavity of rattle-type
      hollow microspheres were generated in one step using the chemical template
      method, which obviously saved the complex procedures including the coating and
      removal of middle shells. The experimental results exhibited that the rattle-type
      Fe3O4@C hollow microspheres with different parameters could be regulated through
      controlled synthesis of the intermediate Fe2O3@PPy product. Moreover, when the
      rattle-type Fe3O4@C hollow microspheres were investigated as drug carrier, they
      manifested sustained-release behaviour of doxorubicin, justifying their promising
      applications as carriers in drug delivery. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The aim of
      the present study was first to synthesize rattle-type Fe3O4@C hollow microspheres
      through a simple synthesis method as a drug carrier. Here a chemical template
      synthesis of rattle-type hollow microspheres was developed, which saved the
      complex procedures including the coating and removal of middle shells in
      traditional physical template. Second, all the influence factors in the reaction
      processes were systematically investigated to obtain rattle-type Fe3O4@C hollow
      microspheres with controlled parameters. Third, the rattle-type Fe3O4@C hollow
      microspheres were studied as drug carriers and the influences of their structural
      parameters on drug loading and releasing performance were investigated.

PMID- 28602856
TI  - Genetic resistance to kindling associated with alterations in circuit function.
AB  - How a seizure spreads from a focal onset zone to other regions of the brain is
      not well understood, and animal studies suggest that there is a genetic
      influence. To understand how genetic factors may influence seizure spread, we
      examined whether the kindling resistance of WAG/Rij rats, which are slow to
      develop kindled motor seizures, is independent of the site of seizure induction
      and thus a global phenomenon, or whether it is circuit specific. We compared the
      kindling rates (number of stimulations to induce kindled motor seizures) of
      WAG/Rij rats to the rates of kindling in Sprague Dawley rats. Both groups
      underwent a standard hippocampal kindling protocol and a separate group was
      kindled from the medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus, a site that has been
      previously demonstrated to result in the very rapid development of motor
      seizures. To examine whether there were differences in the interaction in a
      circuit involved with the motor seizures, evoked responses were obtained from the
      prefrontal cortex following stimulation of the subiculum or medial dorsal
      thalamic nucleus. The WAG/Rij rats once again demonstrated resistance to kindling
      in the hippocampus, but both strains kindled rapidly from the medial dorsal
      nucleus. In the WAG/Rij rats there was also a reduction in the duration of the
      afterdischarge in the frontal cortex during hippocampal stimulation, but there
      was no reduction during thalamic kindling. The prefrontal cortex evoked responses
      were reduced following stimulation of the subiculum in the WAG/Rij rats, but the
      evoked responses to thalamic stimulation were the same in both strains. These
      findings suggest that there are genetic influences in the strength of the input
      from the subiculum to the prefrontal cortex in WAG/Rij rats that could explain
      the resistance to limbic kindling because of reduced excitatory drive onto a key
      target region.

PMID- 28602855
TI  - Effects of substrate stiffness on the tenoinduction of human mesenchymal stem
      cells.
AB  - : Extracellular matrix modulus plays an important role in regulating cell
      morphology, proliferation and differentiation during regular and diseased states.
      Although the effects of substrate topography and modulus on MSC differentiation
      are well known with respect to osteogenesis and adipogenesis, there has been
      relatively little investigation on the effects of this phenomenon on tenogenesis.
      Furthermore, relative roles of topographical factors (matrix alignment vs. matrix
      modulus) in inducing tenogenic differentiation is not well understood. In this
      study we investigated the effects of modulus and topographical alignment of type
      I collagen substrate on tendon differentiation. Type I collagen sheet substrates
      with random topographical alignment were fabricated with their moduli tuned in
      the range of 0.1, 1, 10 and 100MPa by using electrocompaction and controlled
      crosslinking. In one of the groups, topographical alignment was introduced at
      10MPa stiffness, by controlled unidirectional stretching of the sheet. RT-PCR,
      immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence results showed that mimicking the
      tendon topography, i.e. increasing the substrate modulus as well as alignment
      increased the tenogenic differentiation. Higher substrate modulus increased the
      expression of COLI, COLIII, COMP and TSP-4 about 2-3-fold and increased the
      production of COLI, COLIII and TSP-4 about 2-4-fold. Substrate alignment up
      regulated COLIII and COMP expression by 2-fold. Therefore, the tenoinductive
      collagen material model developed in this study can be used in the research and
      development of tissue engineering tendon repair constructs in future. STATEMENT
      OF SIGNIFICANCE: Although the effects of substrate topography and modulus on MSC
      differentiation are well known with respect to osteogenesis and adipogenesis,
      there has been relatively little investigation on the effects of this phenomenon
      on tenogenesis. Furthermore, a relative role of topographical factors (matrix
      alignment vs. matrix modulus) in inducing tenogenic differentiation is not well
      understood. We investigated the effects of modulus and topographical alignment of
      type I collagen substrate on tendon differentiation. This study showed mimicking
      the tendon topography, i.e. increasing the substrate modulus as well as alignment
      increased the tenogenic differentiation. Therefore, the tenoinductive collagen
      material model developed in this study can be used in the research and
      development of tissue engineering tendon repair constructs in future.

PMID- 28602857
TI  - Current health risk assessment practice for dietary cadmium: Data from different
      countries.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental toxicant with high rates of soil-to-plant
      transference. This makes exposure to Cd through the food-chain contamination a
      public health concern. Cd accumulates in kidneys, and the most frequently
      reported adverse effect of long-term Cd intake is injury to kidneys. The FAO/WHO
      Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives established a tolerable dietary intake
      level and a threshold to safeguard population health. The FAO/WHO tolerable
      intake was set at 25 MUg per kg body weight per month (58 MUg per day for a 70-kg
      person) with urinary Cd threshold at 5.24 MUg/g creatinine. Worldwide population
      data indicate that urinary Cd excretion reflects cumulative Cd exposure or body
      burden more accurately than estimated Cd intake, derived from total diet study
      (TDS). For the adult population, TDS estimated Cd intake of 8-25 MUg/day, while
      urinary Cd levels suggest higher intake levels (>30 MUg/day). These Cd intake
      estimates are below the FAO/WHO intake guideline, but they exceed the levels that
      are associated with distinct pathologies in many organ systems. A wide diversity
      of Cd toxicity targets and Cd toxicity levels argue for a more restrictive
      dietary Cd intake guideline and the measures that minimize Cd levels in
      foodstuffs.

PMID- 28602858
TI  - Verbal abuse and physical assault in the emergency department: Rates of violence,
      perceptions of safety, and attitudes towards security.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Emergency Department (ED) workers are prone to occupational
      violence, however the extent and impact of this may not be evenly felt across all
      roles in the ED. AIMS: Explore: 1) the rate of verbal abuse and physical assaults
      experienced by ED staff, 2) perceptions of safety, 3) attitudes towards security
      officers, and 4) formal reporting of incidents. METHODS: 330 ED workers were
      surveyed at four public hospitals in one metropolitan health service district in
      Queensland, Australia, including 179 nurses, 83 medical staff, 44 administration
      staff, 14 allied health, and 9 operational. RESULTS: Nurses were more likely to
      have been physically assaulted in the last six months and were less likely to
      feel safe. Most ED staff across all roles experienced verbal abuse. Nurses were
      better than medical staff at reporting instances of occupational violence
      although overall reporting across all roles was low. Staff who thought that
      security officers respond to incidents quickly and are a visible presence in the
      ED were more likely to feel safe in the ED. CONCLUSIONS: Workers in the ED,
      particularly nurses, experience high rates of verbal abuse and physical
      aggression and there may be a case for having designated security guards in the
      ED.

PMID- 28602859
TI  - Fibroblast-fibronectin patterning and network formation in 3D fibrin matrices.
AB  - PURPOSE: We previously reported that fibroblasts migrating within 3-D collagen
      matrices move independently, whereas fibroblasts within 3-D fibrin matrices form
      an interconnected network. Similar networks have been identified previously
      during in vivo corneal wound healing. In this study, we investigate the role of
      fibronectin in mediating this mechanism of collective cell spreading, migration
      and patterning. METHODS: To assess cell spreading, corneal fibroblasts were
      plated within fibrillar collagen or fibrin matrices. To assess migration,
      compacted cell-populated collagen matrices were nested inside cell-free fibrin
      matrices. Constructs were cultured in serum-free media containing PDGF, with or
      without RGD peptide, anti-alpha5 or anti-fibronectin blocking antibodies. In some
      experiments, LifeAct and fluorescent fibronectin were used to allow dynamic
      assessment of cell-induced fibronectin reorganization. 3-D and 4-D imaging were
      used to assess cell mechanical behavior, connectivity, F-actin, alpha5 integrin
      and fibronectin organization. RESULTS: Corneal fibroblasts within 3-D fibrin
      matrices formed an interconnected network that was lined with cell-secreted
      fibronectin. Live cell imaging demonstrated that fibronectin tracks were formed
      at the leading edge of spreading and migrating cells. Furthermore, fibroblasts
      preferentially migrated through fibronectin tracks laid down by other cells.
      Interfering with cell-fibronectin binding with RGD, anti alpha5 integrin or anti
      fibronectin antibodies inhibited cell spreading and migration through fibrin, but
      did not affect cell behavior in collagen. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a novel
      mode of cell patterning was identified in which corneal fibroblasts secrete and
      attach to fibronectin via alpha5beta1 integrin to facilitate spreading and
      migration within 3-D fibrin matrices, resulting in the formation of localized
      fibronectin tracks. Other cells use these fibronectin tracks as conduits,
      resulting in an interconnected cell-fibronectin network.

PMID- 28602860
TI  - A role for the tetraspanin proteins in Salmonella infection of human macrophages.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Infected macrophages play a role in the dissemination of Salmonella
      and may serve as a reservoir of infection in asymptomatic carriers. However,
      relatively little is known about the early molecular interactions of the bacteria
      with these cells. We have recently shown that members of the tetraspanin family
      of membrane proteins are involved in the initial adhesion of a range of bacteria
      to host cells. This study investigated the role of tetraspanins in Salmonella
      enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) infection of human
      monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). METHODS: The role of tetraspanins was studied
      by the use of tetraspanins recombinant proteins as well as monoclonal antibodies
      targeted against different tetraspanins. Knockdown of the tetraspanin CD63 was
      carried out by siRNA to further study the role of CD63 in Salmonella uptake.
      RESULTS: Recombinant proteins representing the large extracellular domains of
      tetraspanins inhibited binding of S. Typhimurium to human MDM by ~50%, whereas
      tetraspanin-specific antibodies showed varying effects, with some enhancing (anti
      CD37) and some inhibiting (anti-CD81, anti-CD63) binding. Inhibition of the S.
      Typhimurium-MDM interaction by anti-CD63 mAb appeared to be mediated by antibody
      induced internalization, suggesting that surface expression of CD63 is required
      for S. Typhimurium binding. Knockdown of CD63 in human MDM using siRNA greatly
      reduced S. Typhimurium binding, confirming the importance of CD63. However,
      ectopic expression of CD63 in the non-phagocytic cell line HEK293 was
      insufficient to mediate bacterial binding. CONCLUSION: Bacterial adhesion is the
      first step in infection by pathogens that invade and replicate within host cells.
      Taken together, the results here describe a role for tetraspanins in binding of
      S. Typhimurium to human macrophages and highlight the particular importance of
      CD63 in this process.

PMID- 28602861
TI  - qPCR for the detection of foodborne Trypanosoma cruzi.
AB  - Here we presented a potential real-time PCR (qPCR) method with public health
      importance and relevance for detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in acai pulp. There
      is not a current process to identify T. cruzi in acai, that ensures innocuity of
      this food concerning oral transmission. First, six new primers were designed
      using the DNA sequences of T. cruzi y152 and Emerald strains obtained from
      GenBank. For primers evaluation and titration they were validated regarding the
      amplification and not with the fluorophore chosen 1ngMUL-1 of the T. cruzi DNA as
      target. For determination of the ideal concentration the titration of the primers
      drawn in this study showed T. cruzi DNA amplification in five primer pairs at
      concentrations 100, 200 and 300nM and DNA fixed concentrations at 1ngMUL-1. For
      standardization all reactions were performed in triplicate with 5.0MUL and
      positives and negatives controls were included in every run. As positive control
      DNA from two genotypes TcI and TcII were used. As negative control the reaction
      product without DNA of the parasite was used. The best primer concentration, for
      the expected fragments, was 300nM. From six primers improved the Ep1F/Ep1R primer
      detected 1*10-4ngMUL-1 for both genotype of the parasite. The Bp1F/Bp1R showed
      amplification for 1.70.10-7ngMUL-1 for TcI and 4.31.10-8ngMUL-1 for TcII, based
      on the standard curve. The last step we tested the selected primers in qPCR for
      monitoring T. cruzi in acai pulp experimentally contaminated. The recovery rate
      for the TcII was 71%, whereas in acai samples contaminated with TcI it was 76%.

PMID- 28602862
TI  - SAG5B and SAG5C combined vaccine protects mice against Toxoplasma gondii
      infection.
AB  - Infections with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which are common around
      the world, can lead to congenital infections in humans. T. gondii surface antigen
      protein 5B (SAG5B) and SAG5C are potential stimulators of humoral and cellular
      immune responses. In this study, a multi-antigenic DNA vaccine constructed to
      express T. gondii SAG5B and SAG5C proteins simultaneously was used to immunize
      BALB/c mice to evaluate the protective efficacy of the vaccine. IgG antibody and
      gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) cytokine production in the pSAG5B/SAG5C DNA vaccine
      group were significantly higher (0.853+/-0.103 and 915.2+/-106.9, respectively)
      than in the single DNA vaccine groups (pSAG5B, 0.667+/-0.109 and 598.3+/-74.9,
      respectively; pSAG5C, 0.696+/-0.092 and 623.7+/-95.5, respectively). After a
      lethal challenge with 1*104 RH strain tachyzoites, the survival time of the mice
      (17days) immunized with pSAG5B/SAG5C was longer than that of the single-gene
      immunized mice (12days) or the control mice (6days). Moreover, after intragastric
      infection with 20 T. gondii PRU (low virulence) strain cysts, the number of brain
      cysts in the pSAG5B/SAG5C-vaccinated mice was only 25% of the number for the PBS
      injected mice. Our findings indicate that, in comparison with the other mouse
      groups, the multi-antigenic DNA vaccine (pSAG5B/SAG5C) significantly induced
      immune responses and improved the protection against challenge with T. gondii in
      the host animals.

PMID- 28602863
TI  - Changes in vitamin D endocrinology during aging in adults.
AB  - Worldwide, vitamin D deficiency is a common finding. Within individuals 25
      hydroxyvitamin D (25OH)D) concentrations remain fairly stable over time although
      large differences in individual longitudinal changes exist. During aging vitamin
      D metabolism and activity changes in several different ways. Intestinal
      resistance to 1,25(OH)2D develops which hampers intestinal calcium uptake.
      Vitamin D receptor number decreases with aging in several organs involved in
      calcium metabolism and 1alpha-hydroxylase activity decreases mainly due to a
      decrease in renal function reducing vitamin D activation. Effects of 1,25(OH)2D
      on cell proliferation and differentiation may influence potential anti-cancer
      effects whereas regulation of telomere length may result in longevity. In older
      individuals, vitamin D supplementation has positive effects on fracture risk,
      number of falls and physical function. Supplementation in older populations
      warrants specific attention. Effects on "non-classical" outcomes may be revealed
      by ongoing large randomized clinical trials with high doses of vitamin D.

PMID- 28602864
TI  - NCKX3 was compensated by calcium transporting genes and bone resorption in a
      NCKX3 KO mouse model.
AB  - Gene knockout is the most powerful tool for determination of gene function or
      permanent modification of the phenotypic characteristics of an animal. Existing
      methods for gene disruption are limited by their efficiency, time required for
      completion and potential for confounding off-target effects. In this study, a
      rapid single-step approach to knockout of a targeted gene in mice using zinc
      finger nucleases (ZFNs) was demonstrated for generation of mutant (knockout; KO)
      alleles. Specifically, ZFNs to target the sodium/calcium/potassium exchanger3
      (NCKX3) gene in C57bl/6j were designed using the concept of this approach. NCKX3
      KO mice were generated and the phenotypic characterization and molecular
      regulation of active calcium transporting genes was assessed when mice were fed
      different calcium diets during growth. General phenotypes such as body weight and
      plasma ion level showed no distinct abnormalities. Thus, the
      potassium/sodium/calcium exchanger of NCKX3 KO mice proceeded normally in this
      study. As a result, the compensatory molecular regulation of this mechanism was
      elucidated. Renal TRPV5 mRNA of NCKX3 KO mice increased in both male and female
      mice. Expression of TRPV6 mRNA was only down-regulated in the duodenum of male KO
      mice. Renal- and duodenal expression of PTHR and VDR were not changed; however,
      GR mRNA expression was increased in the kidney of NCKX3 KO mice. Depletion of the
      NCKX3 gene in a KO mouse model showed loss of bone mineral contents and increased
      plasma parathyroid hormone, suggesting that NCKX3 may play a role in regulating
      calcium homeostasis.

PMID- 28602865
TI  - Anti-angiogenic activity of water extract from Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr. (EP) is a Euphorbia
      species of Euphorbiaceae, which is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine.
      It has been reported to exhibit therapeutic effects on solid tumors, leukemias,
      and malignant ascites although underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly
      delineated. Anti-angiogenic therapy is a recognized strategy for treating cancer
      based solid tumors, and is also associated with malignant ascites treatment.
      STUDY AIM: To study the anti-angiogenic properties of the water extract of EP
      vinegar preparation (WEVEP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following WEVEP treatment,
      intersegmental blood vessels were assessed during the development of transgenic
      Tg (flk: mCherry) zebrafish as was the proliferation, migration and network
      formation of HUVECs in vitro. mRNA expression of specific angiogenic-related
      genes including VEGF family members, Met, and NRP2 was also measured using
      quantitative real-time PCR (Q-PCR). RESULTS: Data demonstrated that angiogenesis
      was inhibited by the WEVEP in zebrafish (from 100ug/mL to 250ug/mL, p < 0.0001)
      and in the HUVEC model (from 100ug/mL to 400ug/mL, p < 0.0001). In the zebrafish
      model, the mean vessel numbers of administered groups were 26.00 +/- 1.29
      (100ug/mL), 24.54 +/- 2.20 (150ug/mL), 22.66 +/- 2.68 (200ug/mL), 20.80 +/- 1.75
      (250ug/mL), compared to 27.67 +/- 0.96 of control group. Relative quantitative
      gene expression in zebrafish treated with WEVEP demonstrated that only VEGFR3 was
      significantly increased and other 23 genes including Met, VEGFA, Flt-1 were
      significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: WEVEP can positively modulate angiogenesis
      via multiple targeting mechanisms. Our novel results contribute towards the
      discovery of a possible mechanism(s) of the traditional use of EP in the
      treatment of cancer and malignant ascites.

PMID- 28602866
TI  - Evaluation of cardiovascular risk associated with SKI306X use in patients with
      osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: SKI306X (Joins(r)) is an anti-inflammatory
      analgesic herbal medicine extract that was clinically approved for treatment of
      osteoarthritis in the previous trials and shown to be effective on follow-up
      studies. However, its potential cardiovascular risk has yet to be investigated.
      AIM OF THE STUDY: This retrospective cohort study investigated the cardiovascular
      safety of SKI306X, celecoxib and naproxen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the
      National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC) to
      investigate patients over 20 years old with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid
      arthritis who received a single prescription of SKI306X, celecoxib or naproxen at
      least once from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012. Patients who received
      SKI306X, celecoxib or naproxen from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010 were
      excluded. Data pertaining to the included patients were investigated to determine
      the risk of major cardiovascular events associated with the aforementioned
      prescription using the Cox proportional hazards model after being adjusted for
      sex, age and comorbidity. RESULTS: A total of 27,253 patients were selected,
      among which 10,983 were prescribed SKI306X, 12,311 celecoxib and 3959 naproxen.
      The incidence of major cardiovascular events was highest for celecoxib (15.4%),
      followed by SKI306X (8.6%) and naproxen (8.0%). Celecoxib had a higher
      cardiovascular risk than naproxen, while SKI306X did not have a higher risk of
      cardiovascular events than naproxen. Upon sensitivity analysis, SKI306X was
      associated with 1.36 times (95%CI: 1.08-1.72) more cardiovascular events than
      naproxen during 15-60 days of prescription, but not at less than 14 days or more
      than 61 days. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of the cardiovascular safety of the anti
      inflammatory analgesic herbal medicine SKI306X revealed that it did not differ
      from that of naproxen, which is known to have low cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 28602867
TI  - Effect of Gangjihwan on hepatic steatosis and inflammation in high fat diet-fed
      mice.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Gangjihwan (DF), a polyherbal drug composed of
      Ephedra intermedia Schrenk et C. A. Mayer (Ephedraceae), Lithospermum
      erythrorhizon Siebold et Zuccarini (Borraginaceae), and Rheum palmatum L.
      (Polygonaceae), is used to treat obesity in local Korean clinics. The
      constituents of DF have traditionally been reported to exert anti-obesity and
      anti-nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) effects. Thus, we investigated the
      effects of DF on obesity and NAFLD and the underlying mechanisms. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: DF was extracted with water (DF-FW), 30% ethyl alcohol (DF-GA30), or 70%
      ethyl alcohol (DF-GA70). The chemical profile of DF was monitored using high
      performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ultraviolet analysis. The effects of DF
      on indices of obesity and NAFLD in high fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6J mice and
      HepG2 cells were examined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,
      Oil red O staining, hematoxylin-eosin staining, toluidine blue staining, and
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The presence of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, aloe
      emodin, and emodin in DF was determined by 3D chromatography using HPLC.
      Administration of DF-GA70 to HFD-fed obese mice decreased body weight, epididymal
      adipose tissue mass, and epididymal adipocyte size. DF-GA70 reduced serum levels
      of free fatty acids and triglycerides. All three DF extracts lowered serum
      alanine transaminase levels, hepatic lipid accumulation, and infiltration of
      macrophages, with the largest effects observed for DF-GA70. DF-GA70 increased
      mRNA levels of fatty acid oxidation genes and decreased mRNA levels of genes for
      lipogenesis and inflammation in the liver of obese mice. Treatment of HepG2 cells
      with a mixture of oleic acid and palmitoleic acid induced significant lipid
      accumulation, whereas all three DF extracts inhibited lipid accumulation. DF-GA70
      also altered the expression of lipolytic and lipogenic genes in HepG2 cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that DF inhibits obesity and obesity-induced
      severe hepatic steatosis and inflammation without any adverse effects and that
      these effects may be mediated by regulation of the hepatic expression of lipid
      metabolism and inflammatory genes. These findings suggest that DF is a safe and
      efficient anti-obesity and anti-nonalcoholic steatohepatosis drug.

PMID- 28602868
TI  - Protective effects of Oviductus Ranae-containing serum on oxidative stress
      induced apoptosis in rat ovarian granulosa cells.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Oviductus Ranae (OR) is a traditional Chinese
      medicine derived from Rana temporaria chensinensis David, and is known to have a
      wide variety of pharmacological effects. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the
      function and mechanism of OR-containing serum in protecting rat ovarian granulosa
      cells from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: H2O2-treated granulosa cells were pretreated with OR-containing serum,
      and viability and proliferation assays were carried out using Cell Counting Kit-8
      (CCK-8). Apoptotic granulosa cells were observed microscopically using 4',6
      diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and the apoptotic ratio was quantified via
      Annexin V/ propidium iodide (PI) staining combined with flow cytometry. The
      levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential
      (DeltaPsim) in the cells were measured using 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate
      (DCFH-DA) and rhodamine 123, respectively, and analyzed by flow cytometry.
      Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including ERK1/2, JNK, and p38, and
      other apoptosis-related proteins (p53, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-9, caspase-3), were
      detected by western blot analysis, and the related mRNA levels were detected
      using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: The
      results revealed that treatment with OR-containing serum reduced apoptosis and
      mitochondrial membrane damage in H2O2-treated granulosa cells. The OR-containing
      serum interfered with H2O2-induced intracellular generation of ROS and loss of
      DeltaPsim, which typically lead to apoptosis. Furthermore, the OR-containing
      serum down-regulated pro-apoptotic proteins such as p53, Bax, caspase-9, and
      caspase-3, while up-regulating the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Finally, the OR
      containing serum increased phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and reduced JNK and p38
      phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: OR-containing serum protected rat ovarian granulosa
      cells against H2O2-induced apoptosis, by reducing ROS production and improving
      mitochondrial membrane potential, through down-regulation of negative regulators
      of proliferation, activation of ERK1/2, and inhibition of the activity of JNK and
      p38.

PMID- 28602869
TI  - Solid state properties and drug release behavior of co-amorphous indomethacin
      arginine tablets coated with Kollicoat(r) Protect.
AB  - A promising approach to improve the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs and
      to overcome the stability issues related to the plain amorphous form of the
      drugs, is the formulation of drugs as co-amorphous systems. Although polymer
      coatings have been proven very useful with regard to tablet stability and
      modifying drug release, there is little known on coating co-amorphous
      formulations. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether
      polymer coating of co-amorphous formulations is possible without inducing
      recrystallization. Tablets containing either a physical mixture of crystalline
      indomethacin and arginine or co-amorphous indomethacin-arginine were coated with
      a water soluble polyvinyl alcohol-polyethylene glycol graft copolymer
      (Kollicoat(r) Protect) and stored at 23 degrees C/0% RH and 23 degrees C/75% RH.
      The solid state properties of the coated tablets were analyzed by XRPD and FTIR
      and the drug release behavior was tested for up to 4h in phosphate buffer pH 4.5.
      The results showed that the co-amorphous formulation did not recrystallize during
      the coating process or during storage at both storage conditions for up to three
      months, which confirmed the high physical stability of this co-amorphous system.
      Furthermore, the applied coating could partially inhibit recrystallization of
      indomethacin during drug release testing, as coated tablets reached a higher
      level of supersaturation compared to the respective uncoated formulations and
      showed a lower decrease of the dissolved indomethacin concentration upon
      precipitation. Thus, the applied coating enhanced the AUC of the dissolution
      curve of the co-amorphous tablets by about 30%. In conclusion, coatings might
      improve the bioavailability of co-amorphous formulations.

PMID- 28602870
TI  - Ultrasound-mediated nanoparticle delivery across ex vivo bovine retina after
      intravitreal injection.
AB  - Intravitreal injection is the most common administration route for the treatment
      of retinal diseases. However, the vitreous and some of the retinal layers
      themselves act as significant barriers to efficient delivery of drugs
      administered intravitreally. This study aimed to improve the diffusive mobility
      of nanoparticles (NPs) in the vitreous and enhance their permeation across the
      retina after intravitreal injection by application of ultrasound (US). Ex vivo
      posterior bovine eye cups were used and the vitreous was either left intact or
      removed gently from the neural retina. Hyaluronic acid coated human serum albumin
      NPs were administered into the eye cups and continuous US with a frequency of
      1MHz, an intensity of 0.5W/cm2, and a duration of 30s was applied once or
      repeatedly via the transscleral route. After pre-determined time points,
      fluorescence intensities in the vitreous and the retina were analyzed. Short
      pulses of US significantly improved the diffusive mobility of NPs through the
      vitreous as well as their penetration across the neural retina into the retinal
      pigment epithelium and choroid without causing any detectable damage to the
      ocular tissues. Therefore, transscleral US could be a powerful and safe tool to
      enhance retinal delivery of intravitreally injected NPs.

PMID- 28602871
TI  - Outcomes of Antibiotic Therapy for Uncomplicated Appendicitis in Pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to determine the feasibility and
      safety of antibiotics for uncomplicated simple appendicitis in pregnancy. METHOD:
      We conducted a 6-year prospective observational study on 20 pregnant women in
      whom uncomplicated simple appendicitis (appendiceal diameter <=11 mm and with no
      signs of appendicoliths, perforation, or abscess) was radiologically verified and
      managed with a 4-day course of antibiotics. Treatment failure rate, defined as
      the need for an appendectomy during hospitalization and recurrence in the follow
      up period (median 25 months), and maternal or fetal complications during the
      pregnancy were evaluated. RESULTS: Mean age of patients was 33.4 years, and
      gestational age was 17.8 weeks. Three patients failed to respond to antibiotic
      therapy during hospitalization and underwent subsequent appendectomy (2
      suppurative and 1 perforated appendicitis). There was 1 wound infection
      postoperatively. During follow-up, 2 patients during their ongoing pregnancy
      experienced recurrence at 3 and 6 months post-treatment, and a new course of
      antibiotics was determined. Patients also experienced recurrence at 8 and 10
      months post-treatment and underwent appendectomy. Treatment failure occurred in 5
      patients (25%) with no fetal complications during the pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS:
      Antibiotic therapy for uncomplicated appendicitis in pregnancy may be a feasible
      treatment option without severe maternal and fetal complications.

PMID- 28602872
TI  - Coexistent Primary Biliary Cholangitis with CREST Syndrome (Reynolds Syndrome).

PMID- 28602873
TI  - Occam, Hickam, Troponin, and Appropriate Use.

PMID- 28602875
TI  - Trench Mouth.

PMID- 28602876
TI  - Diagnosing Bilateral Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome.

PMID- 28602878
TI  - ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATION: Pericardial patch Graft Repair of Severe Localized
      Scleral Thinning Encountered during Strabismus Surgery.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.03.010. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be
      found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

PMID- 28602877
TI  - Platelet Count of Zero: A Curious Case of Thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 28602874
TI  - Intravenous Immunoglobulins Improve Survival in Monoclonal Gammopathy-Associated
      Systemic Capillary-Leak Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Monoclonal gammopathy-associated systemic capillary-leak syndrome,
      also known as Clarkson disease, is a rare condition characterized by recurrent
      life-threatening episodes of capillary hyperpermeability in the context of a
      monoclonal gammopathy. This study was conducted to better describe the clinical
      characteristics, natural history, and long-term outcome of monoclonal gammopathy
      associated systemic capillary-leak syndrome. METHODS: We conducted a cohort
      analysis of all patients included in the European Clarkson disease (EureClark)
      registry between January 1997 and March 2016. From diagnosis to last follow-up,
      studied outcomes (eg, the frequency and severity of attacks, death, and evolution
      toward multiple myeloma) and the type of preventive treatments administered were
      monitored every 6 months. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients (M/F sex ratio 1:1; mean
      +/- SD age at disease onset 52 +/- 12 years) were included in the study. All
      patients had monoclonal gammopathy of immunoglobulin G type, with kappa light
      chains in 47 (68%). Median (interquartile range) follow-up duration was 5.1 (2.5
      9.7) years. Twenty-four patients (35%) died after 3.3 (0.9-8) years. Fifty-seven
      (86%) patients received at least one preventive treatment, including intravenous
      immunoglobulins (IVIg) n = 48 (73.8%), theophylline n = 22 (33.8%), terbutaline n
      = 22 (33.8%), and thalidomide n = 5 (7.7%). In the 65 patients with follow-up, 5-
      and 10-year survival rates were 78% (n = 35) and 69% (n = 17), respectively.
      Multivariate analysis found preventive treatment with IVIg (hazard ratio 0.27;
      95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.70; P = .007) and terbutaline (hazard ratio 0.35;
      95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.96; P = .041) to be independent predictors of
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the largest cohort to date of patients with
      well-defined monoclonal gammopathy-associated systemic capillary-leak syndrome.
      Preventive treatment with IVIg was the strongest factor associated with survival,
      suggesting the use of IVIg as the first line in prevention therapy.

PMID- 28602879
TI  - Prognostic role of pretreatment blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in advanced
      cancer survivors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 66 cohort studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is crucial for the incidence and
      mortality of various tumors. However, little is known on NLR and its association
      with prognosis in advanced tumors. Here we performed a meta-analysis to establish
      the prognostic significance of pretreatment blood NLR for advanced tumors.
      METHODS: A systematic literature search through April 2016 was performed to
      evaluate the association between pretreatment blood NLR and overall survival (OS)
      or progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced tumors. Data were
      extracted from studies reporting hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval
      (CI) and pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel random-effect model. RESULTS: Sixty-six
      studies with a total of 24536 individuals were included in the meta-analysis.
      Pooled analyses revealed that elevated pretreatment NLR was associated with worse
      OS (HR 1.70, 95% CI 1.57-1.84, P<0.001) and PFS (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.42-1.82,
      P<0.001) in advanced tumors. Subgroup analysis stratified by tumor type
      demonstrated that pancreatic cancer patients with high pretreatment NLR had the
      worst OS (HR 1.94, 95% CI 1.55-2.54, P<0.001) and colorectal cancer with the
      worst PFS (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.04-2.90, P<0.001). When stratified by cut-off value
      for NLR, we found that cut-off value being five indicated the worst PFS (HR 2.23,
      95% CI 1.54-3.23, P=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, high pretreatment blood NLR
      could be an adverse prognostic indicator for advanced tumor. Large-scale
      prospective studies investigating its survival outcomes in specific cancer type
      are strongly advocated.

PMID- 28602880
TI  - Intraoperative Scoring System to Predict Postoperative Remission in Endoscopic
      Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery for Growth Hormone-Secreting Pituitary
      Adenomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the predictive factors for endocrinological remission of
      patients with growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenomas. METHODS: In 47
      patients with GH-secreting pituitary adenomas who underwent endoscopic endonasal
      transsphenoidal surgery with intraoperative GH measurements from 2002 to 2011,
      the relationship between the intraoperative GH levels and postoperative remission
      was analyzed, and 2 items that predicted remission (GH half-life obtained 30
      minutes or less after removal and a minimum surgical GH level less than 2.5
      ng/mL) were determined. In addition, 2 surgical observations (endoscopic
      confirmation of no tumor remnants and pathologic confirmation of the absence of
      tumor remnants in the bordering tissue) were also considered. Positive items
      resulted in one point, and scores ranged from 0 to 4. For 27 patients who
      underwent surgery from 2012 onwards, this scoring system was applied by 3
      independent operators, and the remission rates and predictive values were
      estimated. RESULTS: Twenty-six of the 47 (55.3%) patients achieved remission. The
      remission rates were significantly different for different scores. In the 27
      patients treated from 2012 onward, repeat residual tumor examinations were
      performed if the GH score did not reach 2 at the end of the removal. Nine
      patients had final scores of 3 or 4. All of these patients achieved remission. In
      16 patients with final scores of 2 or less, only 2 with Knosp grades of 0 and 1
      achieved remission. CONCLUSIONS: Our scoring system, which incorporated GH
      measurements and surgical observations, predicted postoperative remission.
      Complete tumor removal was critical to achieve intraoperative scores over 3.

PMID- 28602882
TI  - Prognostic Factors for Recovery of Patients After Surgery for Thoracic Spinal
      Tuberculosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thoracic spinal tuberculosis (TST) is a dangerous disease. Besides
      antituberculosis chemotherapy, surgery is also necessary for treating TST. To
      date, no study has focused on the prognostic factors for recovery of patients
      after surgery for TST. METHODS: From 2001-2016, 237 patients who underwent
      surgery for TST in our department were included in this study. Japanese
      Orthopedic Association score was used to assess recovery after surgery. Kaplan
      Meier method and Cox regression analysis were employed to identify the
      significant prognostic factors. RESULTS: Univariate analysis demonstrated that
      diabetes, paralysis, kyphosis, duration of symptoms (>=3/<3 months), and number
      of involved vertebrae (>2/<=2) were identified as potential prognostic factors
      responsible for recovery after surgery for TST. Multivariate analysis suggested
      that paralysis, duration of symptoms (>=3/<3 months), and number of involved
      vertebrae (>2/<=2) were identified as the significant prognostic factors
      responsible for recovery after surgery for TST. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports
      the previously published evidence that nonparalysis, shorter duration of
      symptoms, and fewer involved vertebrae are favorable prognostic factors for
      recovery after surgery for TST. For a better recovery effect, the key points for
      treating TST were timely diagnosis and treatment. It is urgent for government to
      arouse attention and popularize the knowledge of spinal tuberculosis.

PMID- 28602881
TI  - Minimally Invasive Surgery for Patients with Hypertensive Intracerebral
      Hemorrhage with Large Hematoma Volume: A Retrospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Therapeutic efficacy of patients with hypertensive intracerebral
      hemorrhage (HICH) with large hematoma volume is poor. This study aimed to explore
      the efficacy of minimally invasive surgery for patients with HICH with large
      hematoma volume. METHODS: A total of 104 patients with HICH with a hematoma
      volume >50 mL were treated with different surgical approaches. The patients were
      allotted to a minimally invasive surgery group (minimally invasive, n = 70) and
      conventional craniotomy group (craniotomy group, n = 34). Patients were followed
      up for 30 days postoperatively, and their clinical data were compared. RESULTS:
      No statistically significant differences were found in age, sex, hematoma volume,
      and preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale score between the 2 groups (P > 0.05),
      whereas patient age was slightly greater in the minimally invasive group than the
      craniotomy group (P < 0.05). Postoperative mortality and complication rates in
      the minimally invasive group were significantly lower than those in the
      craniotomy group (20% vs. 44.1% and 15.2% vs. 29.4%, P < 0.05), and a better
      Glasgow Outcome Scale score at 30 days postoperatively was found in the minimally
      invasive group than the craniotomy group (P < 0.05). No significant differences
      were observed between the 2 groups in terms of mortality rate in patients with
      brain herniation and complication rates of postoperative renal failure, pulmonary
      infection, and cerebral infarction (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Minimally invasive
      surgery is safe and effective in patients with HICH with a hematoma volume >50
      mL. Because of its minimal invasiveness, better recovery rate, lower mortality
      rate, and less complications, this approach is considered superior to craniotomy.
      However, further validation on a larger sample size is required.

PMID- 28602883
TI  - Prognostic Value of Preoperative Nurick Grade and Time with Symptoms in Patients
      with Cervical Myelopathy and Gait Impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic value of preoperative Nurick grade and
      time with symptoms for gait improvement and recovery in patients with ataxia
      secondary to cervical myelopathy. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of all
      adult patients who underwent surgical decompression for cervical myelopathy
      between 1996 and 2013 was performed. Only adults with a Nurick grade of at least
      2 or worse were included. Outcome measures included gait improvement and
      recovery. RESULTS: A total of 170 patients were identified. Gait improvement and
      gait recovery occurred in 57.7% and 45.9% of patients, respectively. Time to
      improvement occurred as early as 1 month up to 24 months postoperatively. A
      greater preoperative Nurick grade was associated with lower odds of gait
      improvement (odds ratio 0.74; 95% confidence interval 0.53-0.99, P = 0.048) and
      gait recovery (odds ratio 0.27; 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.43, P < 0.001).
      The proportion of patients with symptoms for 12 months or less that experienced
      gait improvement was 71.2%, compared with 36.4% for patients with symptoms for
      over 12 months (P < 0.001). Patients with symptoms for 12 months or less had a
      59.6% gait recovery rate, compared to 24.2% in patients with symptoms for over 12
      months (P < 0.001). Having symptoms for over 12 months was independently
      associated with lower odds of improvement and recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with a greater preoperative Nurick grade and symptoms for more than 12 months may
      have significantly lower odds of experiencing gait improvement or gait recovery
      after surgery for cervical myelopathy. This study's conclusion favors early
      intervention in patients with cervical myelopathy.

PMID- 28602884
TI  - Autostereoscopic Three-Dimensional Neuronavigation to the Sella: Technical Note.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A drawback of conventional neuronavigation is the necessity of
      focusing on two-dimensional images in 3 planes at the same time to determine
      one's position in the operating field. A solution would be to merge the images
      into a single three-dimensional (3D) image that mirrors the actual anatomy. The
      introduction of holographic glassless 3D monitors paved the way to 3D navigation.
      We present our experience with 3D neuronavigation as exemplified by navigation to
      and within the sella. METHODS: Operative planning was conducted with a navigation
      system using cranial computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The
      image data sets were processed by the prototype Clariti 3D system to produce a 3D
      rendering of images. The 2 systems were then synced, enabling real-time 3D
      navigation. Operations were performed via an endoscopic transsphenoidal approach.
      RESULTS: 3D navigation was intuitive, simple, and safe to use. Rendered images
      reflected both the anatomic configuration and the spatial depth of the operating
      field. The 3D monitor showed no deviation from the calculated navigation. We were
      able to segment anatomic structures at risk to easily identify them. Surgeons
      reported a short learning curve and rapidly adapted to the system. 3D navigation
      was a good supplement to conventional two-dimensional triplane navigation.
      CONCLUSIONS: 3D navigation is a beneficial supplement that extends capabilities
      of conventional navigation, especially with regard to orientation in objects with
      complex spatial depth and configuration. The additional planning and export/sync
      procedures are the main disadvantages; merging the navigation system with the 3D
      monitor in a single system could alleviate this problem.

PMID- 28602885
TI  - High Expression of Glypican-1 Predicts Dissemination and Poor Prognosis in
      Glioblastomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Glioblastoma (GBM) relapses locally or in a disseminated pattern and
      is highly resistant to chemoradiotherapy. Although dissemination is associated
      with poor prognosis for patients with GBM, the clinicopathologic factors that
      promote dissemination have not been elucidated. Glypican-1 (GPC-1) is a heparin
      sulfate proteoglycan that is attached to the extracytoplasmic surface of the cell
      membrane and regulates cell motility. The aim of this study was to determine
      whether GPC-1 expression correlated with GBM dissemination and patient prognosis.
      METHODS: GPC-1 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in 53 patients
      with GBM who received radiotherapy and temozolomide treatment. We assessed the
      relationship between dissemination and clinicopathologic factors, including GPC-1
      expression. We also evaluated the relationship between GPC-1 expression and
      overall survival (OS) by uni- and multivariate analyses of a range of
      clinicopathologic factors, including age, Karnofsky Performance Status, extent of
      resection, and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) status. RESULTS:
      Logistic regression analysis revealed that GPC-1 expression correlated with
      dissemination (P = 0.0116). Log-rank tests revealed that age, Karnofsky
      Performance Status, extent of resection, MGMT status, dissemination (P = 0.0008)
      and GPC-1 expression (P = 0.0011) were significantly correlated with OS.
      Multivariate analysis indicated that age, MGMT status, and GPC-1 expression were
      significantly correlated with OS. GPC-1 expression had the highest hazard ratio
      (2.392) among all regressors. CONCLUSIONS: GPC-1 expression significantly
      correlated with OS in patients with GBM who received radiotherapy and
      temozolomide treatment. GPC-1 expression can help predict the occurrence of
      dissemination and shorter OS in patients with GBM.

PMID- 28602886
TI  - Primary Spinal Intramedullary Neurocysticercosis: A Report of 3 Cases.
AB  - We describe a series of 3 cases of the rare intramedullary form of primary spinal
      neurocysticercosis. The cases were seen in varied age groups and showed different
      profiles at presentation. All the cases were thoroughly evaluated clinically and
      radiologically. Serologic tests were not conducted. In all cases, magnetic
      resonance imaging showed a large intramedullary lesion in the thoracic spinal
      cord consisting of a cystic lesion with a well-defined intramural nodule. One
      case was managed with steroids and cysticidal therapy, a second case was managed
      with steroids and surgery (2 emergency procedures), while the third case was
      managed without any medical or surgical intervention, as the patient was
      unwilling for either. All cases showed good neurologic recovery. In the second
      case where surgery was done, histologic examination of the resected specimen
      demonstrated the cysticercal parasite surrounded by mixed inflammatory
      infiltrate. As there were no intracranial lesions in all 3 cases, the final
      diagnosis was primary isolated intramedullary neurocysticercosis. Primary
      isolated intramedullary-neurocysticercosis remains a rare condition afflicting
      the spinal cord. It forms a small subset of cysticercal infestation of the
      neuraxis. Such evidence is rare, and only anecdotal reports are available. Our
      case series captures the wide spectrum of presentations, as well as the
      management options, and highlights the varied ways in which these cases were
      managed.

PMID- 28602888
TI  - Study of plasma-chemical NO-containing gas flow for treatment of wounds and
      inflammatory processes.
AB  - This work is aimed at exhaustive and detailed study of chemical, physical and
      physico-chemical characteristics of NO-containing gas flow (NO-CGF) generated by
      a plasma-chemical generator of Plason device, which has been used in medical
      practice for more than 15 years for effectively healing wound and inflammatory
      conditions with exogenous nitric oxide (NO-therapy). Data was obtained on spatial
      structure of the gas flow, and values of its local parameters in axial and radial
      directions, such as nitric oxide content, velocity, temperature and mass flow
      density of nitric oxide, providing altogether the effectiveness of treatment by
      the exogenous NO-therapy method, were determined experimentally and by
      computations. It was demonstrated that plasma-chemical synthesis of NO from
      atmospheric air in a low direct current (DC) arc provides a high mass flow of
      nitric oxide at the level of 1.6-1.8 mg/s, while in the area of impact of NO-CGF
      on the biological tissue, on its axis, NO content is 400-600 ppm, flow velocity
      about 5 m/s, nitric oxide mass flow density 0.25-0.40 mg/(s.cm2), temperature 40
      60  degrees C. Tendencies were determined for designing new devices for further
      experimental biological and medical research in the field of NO-therapy: lowering
      the temperature of NO-CGF to ambient temperature will enable variation, in
      experiments, of the affecting flow parameters in a wide range up to their maximum
      values: NO content up to 2000 ppm, velocity up to 20 m/s, nitric oxide mass flow
      density up to 2.5 mg/(s.cm2).

PMID- 28602887
TI  - Cross-Modal Recruitment of Auditory and Orofacial Areas During Sign Language in a
      Deaf Subject.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modern sign languages used by deaf people are fully expressive,
      natural human languages that are perceived visually and produced manually. The
      literature contains little data concerning human brain organization in conditions
      of deficient sensory information such as deafness. CASE DESCRIPTION: A deaf-mute
      patient underwent surgery of a left temporoinsular low-grade glioma. The patient
      underwent awake surgery with intraoperative electrical stimulation mapping,
      allowing direct study of the cortical and subcortical organization of sign
      language. We found a similar distribution of language sites to what has been
      reported in mapping studies of patients with oral language, including 1) speech
      perception areas inducing anomias and alexias close to the auditory cortex (at
      the posterior portion of the superior temporal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus); 2)
      speech production areas inducing speech arrest (anarthria) at the ventral
      premotor cortex, close to the lip motor area and away from the hand motor area;
      and 3) subcortical stimulation-induced semantic paraphasias at the inferior
      fronto-occipital fasciculus at the temporal isthmus. CONCLUSIONS: The
      intraoperative setup for sign language mapping with intraoperative electrical
      stimulation in deaf-mute patients is similar to the setup described in patients
      with oral language. To elucidate the type of language errors, a sign language
      interpreter in close interaction with the neuropsychologist is necessary. Sign
      language is perceived visually and produced manually; however, this case revealed
      a cross-modal recruitment of auditory and orofacial motor areas.

PMID- 28602889
TI  - Simple and reproducible approaches for the collection of select porcine ganglia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anatomy and physiology of the pig nervous system is more similar
      to humans compared to traditional rodent models. This makes the pig an attractive
      model to answer questions relating to human health and disease. Yet the technical
      and molecular tools available to pig researchers are limited compared to rodent
      researchers. NEW METHOD: We developed simple and rapid methods to isolate the
      trigeminal, nodose (distal vagal), and dorsal root ganglia from neonatal pigs. We
      selected these ganglia due to their broad applicability to basic science
      researchers and clinicians. RESULTS: Use of these methods resulted in
      reproducible isolation of all three types of ganglia as validated by histological
      examination. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): There are currently no methods
      that describe a step-by-step protocol to isolate these porcine ganglia.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, these methods for ganglia collection will facilitate
      and accelerate future neuroscience investigations in pig models of human disease.

PMID- 28602890
TI  - Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome after Hematopoietic Cell
      Transplantation in Children with Hemoglobinopathies.
AB  - Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a serious adverse event
      associated with calcineurin inhibitors used for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)
      prophylaxis. We compared the incidence of PRES in children with thalassemia (n =
      222, 1.4 to 17.8 years old) versus sickle cell disease (SCD; n = 59, 2 to 17
      years old) who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation from HLA-matched
      siblings or alternative donors and analyzed the risk factors for PRES. Overall,
      31 children developed calcineurin inhibitor-related PRES (11%), including 30
      patients with seizures and 1 patient without seizures. PRES incidence was
      significantly higher in SCD patients (22%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10% to
      32%) than in thalassemia patients (8%; 95% CI, 5% to 12%;P = .002). In
      multivariate analysis, factors associated with PRES were hypertension (hazard
      ratio [HR], 5.87; 95% CI, 2.57 to 13.43; P = .0001), SCD (HR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.25
      to 4.99; P = .009), and acute GVHD (HR 2.27; 95% CI, 1.06 to 4.85; P= .031). In
      the entire cohort overall survival (OS) was significantly higher in patients
      without versus with PRES (90% versus 77%; P = .02). In a subgroup analysis that
      including matched sibling transplants, OS and disease-free survival (DFS) were
      similar in thalassemia patients without PRES (92% and 88%, respectively) and with
      PRES (82% and 73%, respectively), whereas SCD patients with PRES had
      significantly lower OS (67%) and DFS (67%) than patients without PRES (94% and
      94%, respectively; P = .008). Thus, SCD patients had a significantly higher
      incidence of PRES than thalassemia patients, and hypertension and GVHD were the 2
      main risk factors for PRES in patients with hemoglobinopathies. Although PRES did
      not significantly influence survival in patients with thalassemia, patients with
      SCD had significantly lower survival after PRES.

PMID- 28602892
TI  - Cell-Based Therapy Using Umbilical Cord Blood for Novel Indications in
      Regenerative Therapy and Immune Modulation: An Updated Systematic Scoping Review
      of the Literature.
AB  - Cell-based therapy using umbilical cord blood (UCB) is being used increasingly in
      novel applications. To balance heightened public expectations and ensure
      appropriateness of emerging cell-based treatment choices, regular evidence-based
      assessment of novel UCB-derived therapies is needed. We performed a systematic
      search of the literature and identified 57 studies (814 patients) for analysis.
      Sixteen of these studies (353 patients) included a control group for comparison.
      The most commonly reported novel indication for therapy was neurologic diseases
      (25 studies, 476 patients), including studies of cerebral palsy (12 studies, 276
      patients). Other indications included diabetes mellitus (9 studies, 149
      patients), cardiac and vascular diseases (7 studies, 24 patients), and hepatic
      diseases (4 studies, 106 patients). Most studies administered total nucleated
      cells, mononuclear cells, or CD34-selected cells (31 studies, 513 patients),
      whereas 20 studies described the use of UCB-derived mesenchymal stromal cells.
      The majority of reports (46 studies, 627 patients) described cellular products
      obtained from allogeneic sources, whereas 11 studies (187 patients) used
      autologous products. We identified 3 indications where multiple prospective
      controlled studies have been published: 4 of 4 studies reported clinical benefit
      in cerebral palsy, 1 of 3 studies reported benefit for cirrhosis, and 1 of 3
      studies reported biochemical response in type 1 diabetes), although heterogeneity
      among the studies precluded meaningful pooled analysis of results. We anticipate
      a more clear understanding of the clinical benefit for specific indications once
      more controlled studies are reported. Patients should continue to be enrolled on
      registered clinical trials for novel therapies. Blood establishments,
      transplantation centers, and regulatory bodies need to prepare for greater
      clinical demand.

PMID- 28602891
TI  - Manufacture of Autologous CD34+ Selected Grafts in the NIAID-Sponsored HALT-MS
      and SCOT Multicenter Clinical Trials for Autoimmune Diseases.
AB  - To ensure comparable grafts for autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation
      (HCT) in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-sponsored
      Investigational New Drug protocols for multiple sclerosis (HALT-MS) and systemic
      sclerosis (SCOT), a Drug Master File approach to control manufacture was
      implemented, including a common Master Production Batch Record and site-specific
      standard operating procedures with "Critical Elements." We assessed comparability
      of flow cytometry and controlled rate cryopreservation among sites and stability
      of cryopreserved grafts using hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) from healthy
      donors. Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells, Apheresis-CD34+ Enriched, for Autologous
      Use (Auto-CD34+HPC) graft specifications included >=70% viable CD34+ cells before
      cryopreservation. For the 2 protocols, 110 apheresis collections were performed;
      121 lots of Auto-CD34+HPC were cryopreserved, and 107 of these (88.4%) met
      release criteria. Grafts were infused at a median of 25 days (range, 17 to 68)
      post-apheresis for HALT-MS (n = 24), and 25 days (range, 14 to 78) for SCOT (n =
      33). Subjects received precryopreservation doses of a median 5.1 * 106 viable
      CD34+ cells/kg (range, 3.9 to 12.8)  for HALT-MS and 5.6 * 106 viable CD34+
      cells/kg (range, 2.6 to 10.2) for SCOT. Recovery of granulocytes occurred at a
      median of 11 days (range, 9 to 15) post-HCT for HALT-MS and 10 days (range, 8 to
      12) for SCOT, independent of CD34+ cell dose. Subjects received their last
      platelet transfusion at a median of 9 days (range, 6 to 16) for HALT-MS and 8
      days (range, 6 to 23) for SCOT; higher CD34+/kg doses were associated with faster
      platelet recovery. Stability testing of cryopreserved healthy donor CD34+ HPCs
      over 6 months of vapor phase liquid nitrogen storage demonstrated consistent 69%
      to 73% recovery of viable CD34+ cells. Manufacturing of Auto-CD34+HPC for the
      HALT-MS and SCOT protocols was comparable across all sites and supportive for
      timely recovery of granulocytes and platelets.

PMID- 28602894
TI  - Remnant Epitope Autoimmunity in Human Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: A Pilot Study
      with Elastin Peptides.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a prevalent disease affecting
      around 5% of the population aged more than 65 years. The exact etiology and
      physiopathology of AAA still raises questions, and elective surgery is currently
      the only treatment option for this often progressive disease. In this study, we
      hypothesized and tested a pathophysiological model that depicts AAA as an
      inflammation-triggered autoimmune disease with remnant vessel wall peptide
      fragments as the antigen. METHODS: A pilot study with male AAA patients (n = 14)
      and male controls (n = 8) was conducted. In both study groups, peripheral blood
      monocytes and plasma were separated from whole blood by centrifugation. An
      ELISpot test was performed on cultured white blood cells for the presence of
      elastin-specific T-lymphocytes. An Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) was
      performed on plasma for the presence of elastin-specific IgG molecules. RESULTS:
      ELISpot interferon-gamma secretion in AAA (7.7 +/- 9.5%) and control (4.6 +/-
      3.5%) and ELISA anti-elastin IgG titer in AAA (77.5 +/- 17.8%) and control (78.2
      +/- 31.5%) were not significantly different (P = 0.94 and P = 0.55,
      respectively). Both results are expressed as a percentage relative to the
      respective positive and negative control. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our pilot
      study did not indicate a clear and invariable autoimmune process directed against
      remnant elastin peptide fragments. Further research into the model mechanics and
      a possible antigen is still necessary. In the mean time, the model as presented
      here already offers a pathophysiological framework to further research into the
      possible remnant epitope-driven AAA etiology.

PMID- 28602893
TI  - Daily uptake of mycotoxins - TDI might not be protective for nursed infants.
AB  - Exclusive breast feeding is recommended by international bodies for the first six
      months of life. Because of the presence of contaminants, breast feeding might
      lead to toxicologically relevant exposure of the nursed child. Exposure towards
      mycotoxins is of specific interest because of their widespread occurrence in food
      and of their toxicological profile. We calculated the relationship between
      maternal intake at the level of the existing TDIs and the exposure in the nursed
      infants of several mycotoxins to evaluate whether maternal exposure at the TDI is
      also safe for the nursed infant. If published information was not available we
      used in silico methods for estimating toxicokinetic parameters and the
      lactational transfer. A single dose and a continuous daily intake scenario were
      considered. Maternal intake at the TDI exceeds the age-adjusted TDI (TDI/3)
      values for infants in case of deoxynivalenol and patulin in the single dose
      scenario. Exceedance is particularly pronounced for ochratoxin A in the
      continuous daily intake scenario (29.2 fold above the child adjusted TDI).
      According to published data in infants impaired kidney function may result from
      this exceedance. When setting a TDI, the safety of the exclusively nursed infant
      should be considered in the continuous daily intake scenario.

PMID- 28602895
TI  - Risk Factors for Suboptimal Utilization of Statins and Antiplatelet Therapy in
      Patients Undergoing Revascularization for Symptomatic Peripheral Arterial
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for
      suboptimal medical therapy (defined as reported antiplatelet and statin use)
      among patients undergoing lower extremity bypass (LEB) and peripheral vascular
      interventions (PVIs) for symptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD). METHODS:
      The Vascular Study Group of Greater New York (VSGGNY) database was used to
      identify all patients undergoing PVI or LEB for PAD (2011-2013). Bivariate
      analyses were performed to identify characteristics of patients who were not
      prescribed statins and/or antiplatelet agents before revascularization.
      Multivariate relative risk regression models were developed to identify patients
      at risk for suboptimal therapy, with regards to antiplatelet and statin therapy.
      RESULTS: About 1,030 patients underwent endovascular therapy (n = 822; 80%) or
      surgical bypass (n = 208; 20%) for symptomatic PAD (57.2% claudication; 15% rest
      pain and 27.8% tissue loss). Overall, preoperative statin use was observed in
      59%. Preoperative antiplatelet therapy was observed in 79% of patients. Bivariate
      analysis revealed comparatively reduced statin use among patients without other
      cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension (63% vs. 39.3%; P < 0.0001)
      and coronary artery disease (CAD) with or without prior cardiac revascularization
      (coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG]/percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI];
      75.2% vs. 47.4%; P < 0.0001). Multivariate relative risk regression confirmed
      higher rates of statin use among patients with other cardiovascular risk factors
      including hypertension (1.14 [1.02-1.27]; P = 0.02) and CAD with prior CABG/PCI
      (1.22 [1.13-1.31]; P < 0.0001). Reduced statin use was observed in patients over
      80 years old. (0.92 [0.84-0.1.0]; P = 0.059). By multivariate regression,
      antiplatelet therapy use was associated with CAD and/or prior CABG/PCI (1.11
      [1.04-1.17]; P = 0.0015) and prior peripheral revascularization (1.07 [1.01
      1.13]; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with symptomatic PAD, but without an
      antecedent cardiovascular history, are less likely to be optimally managed with
      statins and antiplatelet therapy preoperatively. Given the established role of
      these medications in the optimal medical management of patients with PAD, this
      presents an opportunity for improvement in the overall vascular care of patients
      undergoing intervention for symptomatic PAD at VSGGNY centers.

PMID- 28602896
TI  - Indications and Outcomes of Open Inferior Vena Cava Filter Removal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite recommendations for retrieval of inferior vena cava (IVC)
      filters, most are not removed in a timely manner. Longer IVC filter dwell times
      are associated with caval wall perforation and tilting that make percutaneous
      retrieval more difficult. Open IVC filter removal is generally reserved for
      patients with symptoms referable to the filter, such as chronic back and
      abdominal pain. We present our management algorithm and review of cases of open
      IVC filter removal. METHODS: Patients referred for management of implanted IVC
      filters from May 2010 to May 2016 were included. Demographic and imaging were
      reviewed for cases requiring open surgical removal. RESULTS: There were 221
      percutaneous retrieval attempts in 218 patients. Successful retrieval occurred in
      196 (89%) attempts. There were 7 patients who had open surgical IVC filter
      removal after failure of percutaneous retrieval. One patient had 2 filters and
      another had 3 filters. Except for 1 case with complications during the
      percutaneous retrieval procedure, the remaining patients all suffered from back
      or abdominal pain. All had significant filter strut penetration through the caval
      wall into adjacent structures. Postoperatively, all patients had relief of pain.
      There were no deaths and 1 patient had a minor ileus that spontaneously resolved.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients who fail percutaneous IVC filter retrieval can expect low
      morbidity and prompt resolution of symptoms after open surgical removal via
      minilaparotomy.

PMID- 28602897
TI  - Lower Extremity Ischemia after Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment reality of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is changing. Up
      to date, approximately 65% of intact AAA and 30% of ruptured AAA are treated
      endovascularly. As most comparative studies focus upon mortality and few major
      complications, some outcomes as lower extremity ischemia (LEI) after invasive AAA
      repair are often underreported. However, there is evidence for a worse outcome of
      patients suffering from this kind of complication. METHODS: Using the American
      College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP)
      vascular surgery targeted module from 2011 to 2014, we identified all patients
      undergoing endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) and open aortic repair (OAR) for AAA
      to illuminate the incidence and outcome of LEI after AAA repair. RESULTS: In
      total, 185 patients (1.9%) developed LEI after AAA repair. 1.6% of all patients
      showed LEI after treatment of asymptomatic or symptomatic intact AAA, compared
      with 4.8% of ruptured AAA repair (P < 0.001). Operation time, male gender,
      current smoking, and increased creatinine levels (>1.5 mg/dL) were associated
      with an increased likelihood of exhibiting LEI. No statistically significant
      differences between EVAR versus OAR were noted in the multivariate model. If LEI
      occurred, length of hospital stay (6 vs. 2 days, P < 0.001) and mortality (20.5
      vs. 4.6%, P < 0.001) was significantly higher as compared with the patients
      without LEI. Furthermore, 30-day mortality and most major complications were more
      common if LEI occurred. CONCLUSIONS: In this specialized analysis regarding LEI
      after AAA repair up to 2% develop this severe ischemic complication. Since the
      occurrence of LEI is associated with significantly worse outcome, future research
      and strategies to avoid this complication is needed.

PMID- 28602898
TI  - Endovascular Treatment of Visceral Artery Pseudoaneurysms in Patients with
      Chronic Pancreatitis: Our Single-Center Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To analyze our experience in endovascular treatment as first-line
      approach for severe and acute hemorrhage in patients with chronic pancreatitis.
      METHODS: From 2010 to 2016 at our institution, 12 males (mean age 66 years) with
      bleeding pseudoaneurysms (PSAs) underwent urgent visceral angiography and
      endovascular treatment. All patients had chronic pancreatitis. True visceral
      artery aneurysms and PSAs arising after surgery were excluded from the study.
      RESULTS: Pancreatitis was caused by alcohol abuse in 9 (9/12, 75%) patients and
      biliary lithiasis in 3 (3/12, 25%). Involved arteries were gastroduodenal (5/12,
      50%), splenic (2/12, 16%), common hepatic (2/12, 16%), middle colic (1/12, 9%),
      and celiac trunk (1/12, 9%). All patients underwent computed tomography
      angiography (CTA) scan and visceral angiography followed by endovascular
      treatment using different devices. Technical success rate was 100%. Bleeding was
      stopped in all patients, and no one required reembolization. No major
      complications occurred. There were 2 complications associated with the
      endovascular procedure: in one case, a coil migration and in another case, in
      stent restenosis at 6 months. Follow-up included CTA performed during
      hospitalization and at 6 months after the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience
      confirms the role of CTA and visceral angiography as diagnostic and therapeutic
      tool, respectively.

PMID- 28602899
TI  - Renal Salvage with Renal Artery Stenting Improves Long-term Survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL)
      Trial cast doubt on the benefits of renal artery stenting (RAS). However, the
      outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) were not analyzed
      separately in the CORAL Trial. We hypothesized that patients who experienced a
      significant improvement in renal function after RAS would have improved long-term
      survival, compared with patients whose renal function was not improved by
      stenting. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study included 60 patients
      with stage 3 or worse CKD and renal artery occlusive disease who were treated
      with RAS for renal salvage. Patients were categorized as "responders" or
      "nonresponders" based on postoperative changes in estimated glomerular filtration
      rate (eGFR) after RAS. "Responders" were those patients with an improvement of at
      least 20% in eGFR over baseline; all others were categorized as "nonresponders."
      Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards
      regression was used to identify predictors of long-term survival. RESULTS: The
      median age of the cohort was 66 years (interquartile range [IQR], 60-73). Median
      preoperative eGFR was 34 mL/min/1.73 m2 (IQR, 24-45). At late follow-up (median
      35 months, IQR, 22-97 months), 16 of 60 patients (26.7%) were categorized as
      "responders" with a median increase in postoperative eGFR of 40% (IQR, 21-67).
      Long-term survival was superior for responders, compared with nonresponders (P =
      0.046 by log-rank test). Cox proportional hazards regression identified improved
      renal function after RAS as the only significant predictor of increased long-term
      survival (hazard ratio = 0.235, 95% confidence interval = 0.075-0.733; P = 0.0126
      for improved versus worsened renal function after RAS). CONCLUSIONS: Successful
      salvage of renal function by RAS is associated with improved long-term survival.
      These data provide an important counter argument to the prior negative clinical
      trials that found no benefit to RAS.

PMID- 28602900
TI  - Multilevel Mycotic Aneurysms Due to Salmonella Infection: Case Report and Review
      of the Literature.
AB  - Infected or mycotic aneurysms (MAs) of the aorta and adjacent arteries are rare
      and difficult to treat. We report a unique case of a Salmonella serotype
      enteritidis-induced rapidly expanding aortic and iliac pseudoaneurysm during
      preoperative workup. Based on the presented case, we postulate that the agressive
      nature of Salmonella enteritidis MAs should not be underestimated. If postponed
      intervention is chosen and the patient is managed conservatively with antibiotic
      therapy to create a window of definitive diagnosis, one should consider close
      follow-up imaging to observe progression of the pseudoaneurysm. This may prevent
      the need of acute intervention.

PMID- 28602901
TI  - Endovascular Treatment of Aorto-Iliac-Femoral Anastomotic Pseudoaneurysms: A
      Multicentric Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of anastomotic
      pseudoaneurysms (APAs) endovascular treatment following aorto-iliac-femoral
      surgical reconstruction. BASIC PROCEDURES: We retrospectively evaluated 54
      patients who underwent aorto-iliac-femoral bypass (72 APAs). Follow-up was
      performed with echo-color-Doppler and/or computed tomography angiography at 1, 3,
      and 6 months after the procedure and then yearly. We compared clinical success in
      terms of mortality between aortic APAs and nonaortic APAs (iliac-femoral
      popliteal). MAIN FINDINGS: Immediate technical success was 100%. No
      periprocedural complications occurred. Six patients died during follow-up due to
      causes not related to APA and 5 due to sepsis at 3 months after the procedure.
      Thirty-day mortality was 9% overall, and we did not register any statistically
      significant different between aortic APA and nonaortic APA groups. During a mean
      follow-up of 25.5 months (range: 3-72), we registered 3 occlusions of stent-graft
      leg, respectively, at 3 days, 7 days, and 24 months after the procedure, 2 type I
      endoleaks and 1 type III endoleak. Primary clinical success rate was 87.2%, and
      secondary clinical success was 95.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular treatment
      resulted as a valid alternative to open surgery and could be proposed as the
      treatment of choice for APAs especially in patients with a high surgical risk.

PMID- 28602902
TI  - Case Report: A Durable Open Repair of a Rare Profunda Aneurysm.
AB  - Profunda femoris artery aneurysms (PFAAs) are rare and difficult to diagnose in
      the early stages of development due to location and encasement in the deep thigh
      musculature. We report the case of a 74-year-old male who was discovered to have
      a right PFAA during evaluation for progressively worsening short distance
      claudication. He had undergone an angioplasty of the left iliofemoral system
      several months ago with no improvement of his symptoms. The PFAA was diagnosed
      through computed tomography angiography and repaired via syndactylization of
      profunda femoris branches and interposition grafting with a
      polytetrafluoroethylene stretch graft. The imaging features are described in the
      article. Although PFAAs are rare clinical presentations, their development should
      be considered, in particular when symptoms such as progressive or unchanging
      claudication are present in a patient following an angioplasty of the affected
      iliofemoral system.

PMID- 28602903
TI  - Major Lower Limb Amputation: Outcomes are Improving.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Outcomes following major lower limb amputation (MLLA) between 2000
      and 2002 from the Department of Vascular Surgery at Royal Perth Hospital have
      been published; mean postoperative length of stay 20 days, inpatient complication
      rate 54%, and 30-day mortality 10%. The last decade has seen increasing
      endovascular revascularization techniques, increased focus on MLLA patients, and
      general improvements in the model of care. The aim of this study is to compare
      outcomes between 2000-2002 and 2010-2012. METHODS: Data on all patients
      undergoing MLLA, transtibial or proximal, in the 2 time periods were extracted
      from the department of vascular surgery database. Medical records, government
      registries, and phone calls to primary care providers were used to clarify
      mortality. RESULTS: Limb ischemia remains the most common indication for MLLA
      with smoking, hypertension, and diabetes being the main comorbid diseases. The
      rates of wound infections have fallen from 26.4% to 12.4% (P = 0.023), rate of
      admission to ICU has fallen from 48.3% to 17.5% (P = 0.001), and revision
      amputation to a higher level has fallen from 11.5% to 7.2% (P = 0.043). Acute
      hospital, postoperative length of stay has trended down from 15.74 to 20.29 days
      (P = 0.075). Mortality overall has fallen from 60.92% to 46.39% (P = 0.049).
      Thirty-day mortality fallen from 10.34% to 5.15% (P = 0.185), 6-month 28.76% to
      16.5% (P = 0.046), and 1-year 40.22% to 21.65% (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      undergoing MLLA still carry a high burden of comorbid disease. With changes in
      revascularization technique, consultant supervision, and multidisciplinary model
      of care, we have seen the rate of complications fall, length of stay trend down,
      and overall mortality reduce. Despite improvements, outcomes remain sobering and
      more can be done.

PMID- 28602905
TI  - Special issue on cognitive informatics methods for interactive clinical systems.

PMID- 28602904
TI  - A hybrid approach to automatic de-identification of psychiatric notes.
AB  - De-identification, or identifying and removing protected health information (PHI)
      from clinical data, is a critical step in making clinical data available for
      clinical applications and research. This paper presents a natural language
      processing system for automatic de-identification of psychiatric notes, which was
      designed to participate in the 2016 CEGS N-GRID shared task Track 1. The system
      has a hybrid structure that combines machine leaning techniques and rule-based
      approaches. The rule-based components exploit the structure of the psychiatric
      notes as well as characteristic surface patterns of PHI mentions. The machine
      learning components utilize supervised learning with rich features. In addition,
      the system performance was boosted with integration of additional data to the
      training set through domain adaptation. The hybrid system showed overall micro
      averaged F-score 90.74 on the test set, second-best among all the participants of
      the CEGS N-GRID task.

PMID- 28602906
TI  - Counting trees in Random Forests: Predicting symptom severity in psychiatric
      intake reports.
AB  - The CEGS N-GRID 2016 Shared Task (Filannino et al., 2017) in Clinical Natural
      Language Processing introduces the assignment of a severity score to a
      psychiatric symptom, based on a psychiatric intake report. We present a method
      that employs the inherent interview-like structure of the report to extract
      relevant information from the report and generate a representation. The
      representation consists of a restricted set of psychiatric concepts (and the
      context they occur in), identified using medical concepts defined in UMLS that
      are directly related to the psychiatric diagnoses present in the Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) ontology. Random
      Forests provides a generalization of the extracted, case-specific features in our
      representation. The best variant presented here scored an inverse mean absolute
      error (MAE) of 80.64%. A concise concept-based representation, paired with
      identification of concept certainty and scope (family, patient), shows a robust
      performance on the task.

PMID- 28602907
TI  - An efficient architecture to support digital pathology in standard medical
      imaging repositories.
AB  - In the past decade, digital pathology and whole-slide imaging (WSI) have been
      gaining momentum with the proliferation of digital scanners from different
      manufacturers. The literature reports significant advantages associated with the
      adoption of digital images in pathology, namely, improvements in diagnostic
      accuracy and better support for telepathology. Moreover, it also offers new
      clinical and research applications. However, numerous barriers have been slowing
      the adoption of WSI, among which the most important are performance issues
      associated with storage and distribution of huge volumes of data, and lack of
      interoperability with other hospital information systems, most notably Picture
      Archive and Communications Systems (PACS) based on the DICOM standard. This
      article proposes an architecture of a Web Pathology PACS fully compliant with
      DICOM standard communications and data formats. The solution includes a PACS
      Archive responsible for storing whole-slide imaging data in DICOM WSI format and
      offers a communication interface based on the most recent DICOM Web services. The
      second component is a zero-footprint viewer that runs in any web-browser. It
      consumes data using the PACS archive standard web services. Moreover, it features
      a tiling engine especially suited to deal with the WSI image pyramids. These
      components were designed with special focus on efficiency and usability. The
      performance of our system was assessed through a comparative analysis of the
      state-of-the-art solutions. The results demonstrate that it is possible to have a
      very competitive solution based on standard workflows.

PMID- 28602909
TI  - Influence of dietary cadmium exposure on fitness traits and its accumulation
      (with an overview on trace elements) in Lymantria dispar larvae.
AB  - Bioaccumulation and excretion of heavy metals in insects is only partially
      clarified. We have investigated cadmium accumulation in the feces, head and
      integument of Lymantria dispar (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) larvae exposed to
      chronic dietary intake of cadmium. The aim of the experiment was to establish
      modalities of metal accumulation, primarily cadmium, as well as changes in
      fitness traits in two insect populations receiving 50 or 100MUgCd/g dry food. The
      egg-masses originated from two localities: a protected nature reserve (unpolluted
      population) and an area near a busy highway (polluted population) in Serbia. At
      both added dietary levels cadmium concentration was highest in feces. Small
      alterations in metal concentrations after both cadmium treatments were detected
      in the integument. It was established that irrespective of population origin, the
      modality of decline of larval mass and relative growth rate (RGR) was similar.
      Concentrations of Cu and Zn in the integument were approximately the same
      regardless of dietary cadmium intake. However, cadmium accumulation in the
      examined tissues, as well as variability of fitness traits depended on population
      origin and cadmium concentration. In larvae from both populations not given
      contaminated food the head was the organ with the greatest accumulation of trace
      elements. Our results reveal how invasive phytophagous insects cope with high
      metal concentrations in their food by body mass (RGR) reduction and energy
      allocation towards processes that enable accumulation of cadmium and other trace
      elements in different tissues.

PMID- 28602908
TI  - Learning to identify Protected Health Information by integrating knowledge- and
      data-driven algorithms: A case study on psychiatric evaluation notes.
AB  - De-identification of clinical narratives is one of the main obstacles to making
      healthcare free text available for research. In this paper we describe our
      experience in expanding and tailoring two existing tools as part of the 2016 CEGS
      N-GRID Shared Tasks Track 1, which evaluated de-identification methods on a set
      of psychiatric evaluation notes for up to 25 different types of Protected Health
      Information (PHI). The methods we used rely on machine learning on either a large
      or small feature space, with additional strategies, including two-pass tagging
      and multi-class models, which both proved to be beneficial. The results show that
      the integration of the proposed methods can identify Health Information
      Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) defined PHIs with overall F1-scores of
      ~90% and above. Yet, some classes (Profession, Organization) proved again to be
      challenging given the variability of expressions used to reference given
      information.

PMID- 28602910
TI  - In vitro screening for estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds using Mozambique
      tilapia and sea bass scales.
AB  - A wide range of estrogenic endocrine disruptors (EDCs) are accumulating in the
      environment and may disrupt the physiology of aquatic organisms. The effects of
      EDCs on fish have mainly been assessed using reproductive endpoints and in vivo
      animal experiments. We used a simple non-invasive assay to evaluate the impact of
      estrogens and EDCs on sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and tilapia (Oreochromis
      mossambicus) scales. These were exposed to estradiol (E2), two phytoestrogens and
      six anthropogenic estrogenic/anti-estrogenic EDCs and activities of enzymes
      related to mineralized tissue turnover (TRAP, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase
      and ALP, alkaline phosphatase) were measured. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR detected
      the expression of both membrane and nuclear estrogen receptors in the scales of
      both species, confirming scales as a target for E2 and EDCs through different
      mechanisms. Changes in TRAP or ALP activities after 30minute and 24h exposure
      were detected in sea bass and tilapia scales treated with E2 and three EDCs,
      although compound-, time- and dose-specific responses were observed for the two
      species. These results support again that the mineralized tissue turnover of fish
      is regulated by estrogens and reveals that the scales are a mineralized estrogen
      responsive tissue that may be affected by some EDCs. The significance of these
      effects for whole animal physiology needs to be further explored. The in vitro
      fish scale bioassay is a promising non-invasive screening tool for E2 and EDCs
      effects, although the low sensitivity of TRAP/ALP quantification limits their
      utility and indicates that alternative endpoints are required.

PMID- 28602911
TI  - Jaburetox-induced toxic effects on the hemocytes of Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera:
      Reduviidae).
AB  - Jaburetox is a recombinant peptide derived from a Canavalia ensiformis urease
      that presents toxic effects upon several species of insects, phytopathogenic
      fungi and yeasts of medical importance. So far, no toxicity of Jaburetox to
      mammals has been shown. Previous reports have identified biochemical targets of
      this toxic peptide in insect models, although its mechanism of action is not
      completely understood. In this work, we aimed to characterize the effects of
      Jaburetox in hemolymphatic insect cells. For this purpose, the model insect and
      Chagas' disease vector Rhodnius prolixus was used. In vivo and in vitro
      experiments indicated that Jaburetox interacts with a subset of hemocytes and it
      can be found in various subcellular compartments. In insects injected with
      Jaburetox there was an increase in the gene expression of the enzymes UDP-N
      acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase (UAP), chitin synthase and nitric oxide
      synthase (NOS). Nevertheless, the expression of NOS protein, the enzyme
      activities of UAP and acid phosphatase (a possible link between UAP and NOS) as
      well as the phosphorylation state of proteins remained unchanged upon the in vivo
      Jaburetox treatment. Nitric oxide (NO) imaging using fluorescent probes showed
      that Jaburetox augmented NO production in the hemocyte aggregates when compared
      to controls. Even though Jaburetox activated the hemocytes, as demonstrated by
      wheat germ agglutinin binding assays, the peptide did not lead to an increase of
      their phagocytic behavior. Taken together, these findings contribute to our
      understanding of toxic effects of Jaburetox, a peptide with biotechnological
      applications and a prospective tool for rational insect control.

PMID- 28602912
TI  - Synthetic 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine inhibited metastasis of pancreatic cancer
      through concerted inhibitions of ERM and Rho-GTPase.
AB  - 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is generated consequent to oxidative stress, but
      its paradoxical anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-mutagenic effects via
      Rho-GTPase inhibition were noted in various models of inflammation and cancer.
      Metastasis occurs through cell detachment, epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT), and cell migration; during these processes, changes in cell morphology are
      initiated through Rho-GTPase-dependent actin cytoskeleton polymerization. In this
      study, we explored the anti-metastatic mechanisms of 8-OHdG in Panc-1 pancreatic
      cancer cells. 8-OHdG inhibits cell migration by inactivating ERM and Rho-GTPase
      proteins, and inhibiting focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs). At 15min, 8-OHdG significantly inactivated ERM (p <
      0.05) and led to a significant retardation of wound healing; siERM and H1152
      (ROCK inhibitor) had similar effects (p < 0.05). However, FAK inhibitor 14, DPI
      (NOX inhibitor), and NAC (antioxidant) significantly delayed wound healing
      without inhibiting ERM or CD44 (p < 0.05). In the experiments on cell migration,
      siERM, siCD44, DPI, and 8-OHdG significantly inhibited MMPs. 8-OHdG significantly
      decreased DCF-DA activation in Panc-1 pancreatic cancer cells and down-regulated
      NOXs (nox-1, nox-2, and nox-3). Finally, all of these anti-migration actions of 8
      OHdG resulted in significant inhibition of EMT, as evidenced by the up-regulation
      of ZO-1 and claudin-1 and down-regulation of vimentin. We found significant
      inhibition of lung metastasis of Panc-1 cells by 8-OHdG. In conclusion, exogenous
      8-OHdG had potent anti-metastasis effects mediated by either ERM or Rho GTPase
      inhibition in metastasis-prone pancreatic cancer cells.

PMID- 28602913
TI  - TRPV4 calcium-permeable channel is a novel regulator of oxidized LDL-induced
      macrophage foam cell formation.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in United States, and
      atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory arterial disease, is the most dominant
      underlying pathology. Macrophages are thought to orchestrate atherosclerosis by
      generating lipid-laden foam cells and by secreting inflammatory mediators.
      Emerging data support a role for a mechanical factor, e.g., matrix stiffness, in
      regulation of macrophage function, vascular elasticity, and atherogenesis.
      However, the identity of the plasma membrane mechanosensor and the mechanisms by
      which pro-atherogenic signals are transduced/maintained are unknown. We have
      obtained evidence that TRPV4, an ion channel in the transient receptor potential
      vanilloid family and a known mechanosensor, is the likely mediator of oxidized
      low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-dependent macrophage foam cell formation, a
      critical process in atherogenesis. Specifically, we found that: i) genetic
      ablation of TRPV4 or pharmacologic inhibition of TRPV4 activity by a specific
      antagonist blocked oxLDL-induced macrophage foam cell formation, and ii) TRPV4
      deficiency prevented pathophysiological range matrix stiffness or scratch-induced
      exacerbation of oxLDL-induced foam cell formation. Mechanistically, we found
      that: i) plasma membrane localization of TRPV4 was sensitized to the increasing
      level of matrix stiffness, ii) lack of foam cell formation in TRPV4 null cells
      was not due to lack of expression of CD36, a major receptor for oxLDL, and iii)
      TRPV4 channel activity regulated oxLDL uptake but not its binding on macrophages.
      Altogether, these findings identify a novel role for TRPV4 in regulating
      macrophage foam cell formation by modulating uptake of oxLDL. These findings
      suggest that therapeutic targeting of TRPV4 may provide a selective approach to
      the treatment of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28602914
TI  - Investigation of rabies virus glycoprotein carboxyl terminus as an in vitro
      predictive tool of neurovirulence. A 3R approach.
AB  - In the field of live viral vaccines production, there is an unmet need for in
      vitro tests complying a 3R approach (Refine, Replace and Reduce the use of animal
      experimentation) to replace the post-licensing safety tests currently assayed in
      animals. Here, we performed a pilot study evaluating whether virulence of rabies
      virus, RABV, can be forecast by an in vitro test of neurite outgrowth. The
      rationale to use neurite outgrowth as a read-out for this test is based on the
      salient property of the cytoplasmic domain of the G-protein (Cyto-G) of virulent
      RABV strains - not of attenuated RABV strains - to stimulate neurite outgrowth in
      vitro. We observed that neurite elongation triggered by the Cyto-Gs encoded by
      different RABV field isolates correlate with the distinct virulence scores
      obtained in a mouse model of experimental rabies. Our results cast the idea that
      it could be feasible to predict RABV virulence by testing the in vitro property
      of a RABV strain to promote neurite outgrowth without the use of animal
      experimentation.

PMID- 28602915
TI  - An overview of Usutu virus.
AB  - Usutu virus (USUV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that emerged in Africa in the
      middle of the 16th century and currently widely circulates in several European
      countries. Herein, we summarize current knowledge about USUV from ecology,
      epidemiology, phylogeny to clinical manifestations and diagnosis and discuss the
      role as human pathogen.

PMID- 28602916
TI  - Structural investigation of a C-terminal EphA2 receptor mutant: Does mutation
      affect the structure and interaction properties of the Sam domain?
AB  - Ephrin A2 receptor (EphA2) plays a key role in cancer, it is up-regulated in
      several types of tumors and the process of ligand-induced receptor endocytosis,
      followed by degradation, is considered as a potential path to diminish tumor
      malignancy. Protein modulators of this mechanism are recruited at the cytosolic
      Sterile alpha motif (Sam) domain of EphA2 (EphA2-Sam) through heterotypic Sam-Sam
      associations. These interactions engage the C-terminal helix of EphA2 and close
      loop regions (the so called End Helix side). In addition, several studies report
      on destabilizing mutations in EphA2 related to cataract formation and located
      in/or close to the Sam domain. Herein, we analyzed from a structural point of
      view, one of these mutants characterized by the insertion of a novel 39 residue
      long polypeptide at the C-terminus of EphA2-Sam. A 3D structural model was built
      by computational methods and revealed partial disorder in the acquired C-terminal
      tail and a few residues participating in an alpha-helix and two short beta
      strands. We investigated by CD and NMR studies the conformational properties in
      solution of two peptides encompassing the whole C-terminal tail and its predicted
      helical region, respectively. NMR binding experiments demonstrated that these
      peptides do not interact relevantly with either EphA2-Sam or its interactor Ship2
      Sam. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations further indicated that the EphA2 mutant
      could be represented only through a conformational ensemble and that the C
      terminal tail should not largely wrap the EphA2-Sam End-Helix interface and
      affect binding to other Sam domains.

PMID- 28602917
TI  - Crystal structure of mutant form Cys115His of Citrobacter freundii methionine
      gamma-lyase complexed with l-norleucine.
AB  - The mutant form of Citrobacter freundii methionine gamma-lyase with the
      replacement of active site Cys115 for His has been found to be inactive in the
      gamma-elimination reaction of methionine while fully active in the gamma
      elimination reaction of O-acetyl-l-homoserine and in the beta-elimination
      reaction of S-alk(en)yl-substituted cysteines. In this work, the crystal
      structure of the mutant enzyme complexed with competitive inhibitor, l-norleucine
      was determined at 1.45A resolution. At the enzyme active site the inhibitor
      proved to be bound both noncovalently and covalently, which corresponds to the
      two intermediates of the gamma- and beta-elimination reactions, Michaelis complex
      and the external aldimine. Analysis of the structure allowed us to suggest the
      possible reason for the inability of the mutant enzyme to catalyze the
      physiological reaction.

PMID- 28602918
TI  - Angiogenic and angiostatic factors in renal scleroderma-associated vasculopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The angiogenesis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is impaired. An
      imbalance of pro-angiogenic factors and angiogenesis inhibitors has been
      implicated in the progression of peripheral microvascular damage, defective
      vascular repair and fibrosis. Intrarenal resistance index are considered markers
      of renal vasculopathy. The aim of the study is to evaluate angiogenic and
      angiostatic factors (VEGF and endostatin) in SSc patients and to correlate with
      intrarenal hemodynamic parameters. METHODS: 91 SSc patients were enrolled in this
      study. Serum VEGF and endostatin levels were determined. All patients underwent a
      renal Doppler ultrasound RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was observed
      between endostatin and renal Doppler parameters (p<0.0001). A negative
      correlation was observed between serum levels of endostatin and eGFR (p<0.01). In
      SSc patients with high resistive index, serum levels of endostatin were
      significantly (p<0.01) higher than in SSc patients with normal resistive index.
      The serum levels of endostatin significantly increased with progression of
      nailfold videocapillaroscopy damage (p<0.01) and were significantly (p<0.05)
      higher in SSc patients with digital ulcers than in SSc patients without digital
      ulcers. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that assess in SSc patients
      intrarenal hemodynamic parameters and endostatin. In SSc patients, endostatin
      represents a marker of renal scleroderma-associated vasculopathy.

PMID- 28602919
TI  - The fine tuning of retinocollicular topography depends on reelin signaling during
      early postnatal development of the rat visual system.
AB  - During postnatal development, neural circuits are extremely dynamic and develop
      precise connection patterns that emerge as a result of the elimination of
      synaptic terminals, a process instructed by molecular cues and patterns of
      electrical activity. In the rodent visual system, this process begins during the
      first postnatal week and proceeds during the second and third postnatal weeks as
      spontaneous retinal activity and finally use-dependent fine tuning takes place.
      Reelin is a large extracellular matrix glycoprotein able to affect several steps
      of brain development, from neuronal migration to the maturation of dendritic
      spines and use-dependent synaptic development. In the present study, we
      investigated the role of reelin on the topographical refinement of primary
      sensory connections studying the development of retinal ganglion cell axon
      terminals in the rat superior colliculus. We found that reelin levels in the
      visual layers of the superior colliculus are the highest between the second and
      third postnatal weeks. Blocking reelin signaling with a neutralizing antibody (CR
      50) from PND 7 to PND 14 induced a non-specific sprouting of ipsilateral
      retinocollicular axons outside their typical distribution of discrete patches of
      axon terminals. Also we found that reelin blockade resulted in reduced levels of
      phospho-GAP43, increased GluN1 and GluN2B-NMDA subunits and decreased levels of
      GAD65 content in the visual layers of the superior colliculus. The results
      suggest that reelin signaling is associated with the maturation of excitatory and
      inhibitory synaptic machinery influencing the development and fine tuning of
      topographically organized neural circuits during postnatal development.

PMID- 28602920
TI  - A stable brain from unstable components: Emerging concepts and implications for
      neural computation.
AB  - Neuroscientists have often described the adult brain in similar terms to an
      electronic circuit board- dependent on fixed, precise connectivity. However, with
      the advent of technologies allowing chronic measurements of neural structure and
      function, the emerging picture is that neural networks undergo significant
      remodeling over multiple timescales, even in the absence of experimenter-induced
      learning or sensory perturbation. Here, we attempt to reconcile the parallel
      observations that critical brain functions are stably maintained, while synapse-
      and single-cell properties appear to be reformatted regularly throughout adult
      life. In this review, we discuss experimental evidence at multiple levels ranging
      from synapses to neuronal ensembles, suggesting that many parameters are
      maintained in a dynamic equilibrium. We highlight emerging hypotheses that could
      explain how stable brain functions may be generated from dynamic elements.
      Furthermore, we discuss the impact of dynamic circuit elements on neural
      computations, and how they could provide living neural circuits with
      computational abilities a fixed structure cannot offer. Taken together, recent
      evidence indicates that continuous dynamics are a fundamental property of neural
      circuits compatible with macroscopically stable behaviors. In addition, they may
      be a unique advantage imparting robustness and flexibility throughout life.

PMID- 28602921
TI  - The shared neural basis of music and language.
AB  - Human musical ability is proposed to play a key phylogenetical role in the
      evolution of language, and the similarity of hierarchical structure in music and
      language has led to considerable speculation about their shared mechanisms. While
      behavioral and electrophysioglocial studies have revealed associations between
      music and linguistic abilities, results from functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) studies on their relations are contradictory, possibly because
      these studies usually treat music or language as single entities without breaking
      down to their components. Here, we examined the relations between different
      components of music (i.e., melodic and rhythmic analysis) and language (i.e.,
      semantic and phonological processing) using both behavioral tests and resting
      state fMRI. Behaviorally, we found that individuals with music training
      experiences were better at semantic processing, but not at phonological
      processing, than those without training. Further correlation analyses showed that
      semantic processing of language was related to melodic, but not rhythmic,
      analysis of music. Neurally, we found that performances in both semantic
      processing and melodic analysis were correlated with spontaneous brain activities
      in the bilateral precentral gyrus (PCG) and superior temporal plane at the
      regional level, and with the resting-state functional connectivity of the left
      PCG with the left supramarginal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus at the
      network level. Together, our study revealed the shared spontaneous neural basis
      of music and language based on the behavioral link between melodic analysis and
      semantic processing, which possibly relied on a common mechanism of automatic
      auditory-motor integration.

PMID- 28602922
TI  - Sphenopterional Point: Strategic Point for Burr Role Placement in Frontotemporal
      Craniotomies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frontotemporal craniotomies are the most commonly performed
      neurosurgical approaches. We studied the external bony landmarks on the lateral
      surface of the skull to identify a "strategic" point where both the anterior and
      middle cranial fossae are exposed simultaneously during frontotemporal
      craniotomies through a single burr hole placed over the greater wing of the
      sphenoid bone (sphenopterional point). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to
      anatomically define the sphenopterional point via craniometric measurements taken
      on the lateral surface of the human skull. METHODS: This study used 100 adult
      (age >18 years old) human dry crania (200 sides) with the calvaria removed, which
      were cataloged by gender and age. By using laser transillumination, the
      sphenopterional point was accurately identified in the temporal fossa.
      Measurements were taken using easily identifiable bony landmarks. On the basis of
      these landmarks, the horizontal and vertical distances were established between
      the sphenopterional point and the frontozygomatic suture. RESULTS: Regardless of
      gender or the side of the skull, the mean horizontal distance was 21.72 mm (SD,
      3.17 mm; range, 14.25 mm-32.58 mm), and the mean vertical distance was 4.76 mm
      (SD, 1.74 mm; range, 0.00-9.73 mm). Neither the horizontal (right side, P =
      0.621; left side, P = 0.341) nor the vertical measurements (right side, P =
      0.460; left side, P = 0.609) differed significantly between genders. Therefore
      males and females present, on average, the same vertical and horizontal
      measurements on both sides. CONCLUSIONS: According to our measurements, the
      sphenopterional point is located, on average, 21.72 mm posterior and 4.76 mm
      superior from the frontozygomatic suture, over the sphenoidal bone component of
      the pterion region.

PMID- 28602923
TI  - Successful Hybrid Neurovascular Surgery for a Ruptured Basilar Artery Dissecting
      Aneurysm in a Patient with Jeopardized Collateral Circulation Associated with
      Aortitis Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dissecting aneurysms of the basilar artery (BA) are rare lesions, and
      the management of them has been controversial and challenging. The treatment
      becomes much more difficult when the patient has a disorder such as aortitis
      syndrome, which makes cerebral arteries occluded and tortuous. We describe a case
      of a ruptured BA dissecting aneurysm associated with aortitis syndrome,
      successfully treated with hybrid neurovascular surgery. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 64
      year-old woman with a medical history of aortitis syndrome developed a severe
      headache and was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage from a BA dissecting
      aneurysm. Her right common carotid artery and right vertebral artery (VA) were
      occluded because of aortitis syndrome. Blood flow in the right middle cerebral
      artery (MCA) was mainly supplied by the right posterior communicating artery. It
      was essential to preserve blood flow in the BA to prevent a cerebral infarction
      in the area of the right MCA. Stent-assisted coil embolization was considered the
      most appropriate treatment. The occluded right VA was thought to be more
      appropriate for introduction of an intravascular stent than the left VA. The
      patient underwent open surgery to expose the right VA. An intravascular stent was
      placed through the exposed right VA, and intra-aneurysmal coils were introduced
      from the left VA. The aneurysm was successfully treated with a hybrid technique.
      CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of hybrid neurovascular
      surgery for a BA dissecting aneurysm. A ruptured BA dissecting aneurysm in a
      patient with aortitis syndrome was successfully treated with hybrid neurovascular
      surgery.

PMID- 28602924
TI  - Spontaneous Regression of a Hypoglossal Neurinoma: Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoglossal neurinomas are very rare intracranial tumors. The
      management choices include surgery, as the gold standard, and radiosurgery or a
      combination of both. Little is known about this condition and the behavior of
      this tumor. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 54-year-old woman presented with a right 12th
      nerve neurinoma with ipsilateral hemiatrophy of the tongue and spontaneous
      regression after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Our case highlights the
      importance of considering careful observation and diligent follow-up as a
      treatment option, as these lesions can show spontaneous regression with no
      invasive approaches.

PMID- 28602925
TI  - Supracerebellar Infratentorial Paramedian Approach in Helsinki Neurosurgery:
      Cornerstones of a Safe and Effective Route to the Pineal Region.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The supracerebellar infratentorial (SCIT) paramedian approach in
      sitting position represents one of the most used surgical routes for dealing with
      pineal region lesions. The purpose of this study is to determine the cornerstones
      to perform this approach in a simple, safe, and effective way, so that it could
      be easily reproduced in other neurosurgical centers, particularly in those with
      modest resources. METHODS: We reviewed and analyzed the surgical videos of 24
      pineal region lesions that were operated on through an SCIT approach between June
      2012 and October 2015. The SCIT approach may be divided into 3 main steps: 1)
      skin-muscle incision; 2) craniotomy; and 3) dura opening and access to the pineal
      region. RESULTS: Complete lesion removal was accomplished in 23 cases, and
      subtotal removal was accomplished in 1 case. The pineal region was effectively
      and safely reached through the SCIT approach in the sitting position with a mean
      time of 14 minutes, using a basic set of microsurgical instruments. Cornerstones
      and potential delaying events were carefully recorded for each of the 3 main
      steps of the approach. Moreover, we present in a short video a step-by-step guide
      to perform the SCIT approach in a fast and safe way. CONCLUSIONS: A correct
      application of microsurgical principles may allow to safely and rapidly perform
      the SCIT approach, therefore offering an effective and relatively atraumatic
      route for dealing with pineal region lesions.

PMID- 28602926
TI  - Radiation-Induced Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Radiation-induced malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs)
      are an uncommon late risk of irradiation. We conducted the largest systematic
      review to date of individual patient data for patients with these tumors.
      METHODS: We conducted a systematic search using the PubMed database, and compiled
      a systematic literature review. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis and a log-rank test
      to estimate survival. RESULTS: We analyzed 65 radiation-induced and 26 radiation
      associated MPNSTs in patients with neurofibromatosis. The mean ages of onset for
      primary lesions of the 2 types were 31.7 +/- 18.2 and 17.1 +/- 12.4 years,
      respectively (P = 0.0008). The latency periods between radiotherapy and onset of
      the 2 types of MPNSTs were 13.5 +/- 7.8 and 11.8 +/- 7.5 years, respectively (P =
      0.3101). The median overall survival and 5-year survival were 11 months (6.8%)
      and 23 months (5.8%), respectively (P = 0.2168). Negative surgical margin and
      patient sex were variables retained for the prognosis of radiation-induced and
      radiation-associated MPNSTs. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis of radiation-induced and
      radiation-associated MPNST was worse than that reported for de novo MPNSTs.
      Surgical complete resection is the mainstay for treatment of radiation-induced
      and radiation-associated MPNSTs. The risk of incidence of secondary MPNSTs in
      patients treated with radiotherapy warrants longer follow-up periods.

PMID- 28602927
TI  - One-Year Mortality of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease After Spinal Cord
      Injury: A 14-Year Population-Based Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a global public health burden
      because of its increasing incidence, high risk of progression to end-stage renal
      disease (ESRD), and poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate the 1-year mortality
      of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) with CKD and ESRD, and compare it with
      that of patients with SCI without CKD by reviewing a large Taiwanese population
      data set. METHODS: In this 14-year retrospective cohort study, the study group
      (SCI with CKD group, n = 3315) and comparison group (SCI without CKD group, n =
      6630) were matched at a 1:2 ratio with propensity score matching by age, sex,
      comorbidities, length of intensive care unit stay, and length of stay. The 1-year
      mortality and the relative risks of mortality were calculated. Mortality
      stratified by age, sex, and comorbidities was also analyzed. RESULTS: The SCI
      with CKD group had a significantly shorter survival period (10.13 vs. 10.97
      months), higher 1-year mortality (17.65% vs. 8.54%), and higher risk of mortality
      than did the comparison group (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.25). Furthermore,
      patients with CKD with ESRD had a 7.71-fold higher risk of mortality than did
      patients with SCI without CKD for ages <50 years. The presence of comorbidities
      was a risk factor for mortality among patients with SCI CKD or ESRD in contrast
      to patients with SCI without CKD. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SCI with CKD,
      especially those with ESRD, have a higher risk of mortality than do patients who
      do not have CKD. Therefore, patients with CKD should have carefully monitoring
      for the development of 1-year mortality after SCI, especially for ESRD.

PMID- 28602928
TI  - Which Approach Is Advantageous to Preventing Development of Adjacent Segment
      Disease? Comparative Analysis of 3 Different Lumbar Interbody Fusion Techniques
      (ALIF, LLIF, and PLIF) in L4-5 Spondylolisthesis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare radiologic and clinical
      outcomes in patients with L4-5 lumbar spondylolisthesis who have undergone either
      instrumented anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), lateral lumbar interbody
      fusion (LLIF), or posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF), especially with
      regard to the development of adjacent segment disease (ASD). METHODS: Eighty-two
      patients with preoperative L4-5 spondylolisthesis and minimal ASD who underwent
      instrumented L4-5 fusion were divided into 3 groups according to the surgical
      approach used for treatment (ALIF: 27 patients, LLIF: 24 patients, PLIF: 31
      patients). Radiographic measurements including preoperative and postoperative
      foraminal and disk height, segmental and lumbar lordosis, percentage of vertebral
      slippage, and reduction rate were reviewed. The incidence of ASD and clinical
      outcomes were evaluated and compared between the 3 groups. RESULTS: ASD was found
      in 37.0% (10/27), 41.7% (10/24), and 64.5% (20/31) of the patients in the ALIF,
      LLIF, and PLIF groups, respectively (mean follow-up duration: 35.42 +/- 9.35
      months). The ALIF and LLIF groups had significantly increased disk and foraminal
      height compared with the PLIF group. The ALIF group had significantly improved
      lordosis compared with the PLIF and LLIF groups. There were no statistically
      significant intergroup differences in clinical outcomes assessed by visual analog
      scale and Oswestry Disability Index. CONCLUSION: The 3 different fusion
      techniques investigated can all produce good outcomes in treating lumbar
      spondylolisthesis in L4-5, but ALIF and LLIF are more advantageous in preventing
      the development of ASD.

PMID- 28602929
TI  - Hereditary Multiple Cerebral Cavernous Malformations Associated with Wilson
      Disease and Multiple Lipomatosis.
AB  - We report on a patient with 2 Mendelian diseases-symptomatic multiple familial
      cerebral cavernous malformations (FCCMs) and Wilson disease. Genetic analysis
      revealed single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes CCM2 and CCM3, associated with
      cavernous malformations, and homozygote mutation in the ATP7B gene, responsible
      for Wilson disease. FCCMs were symptomatic in 3 generations. The patient also had
      multiple lipomatosis, which is suggested to be a familial syndrome. In recent
      years there has been an increasing amount of publications linking FCCMs with
      other pathology, predominantly with extracranial and intracranial mesenchymal
      anomalies. The present study is the description of an unusual association between
      2 independent hereditary diseases of confirmed genetic origin-a combination that
      has not been described previously.

PMID- 28602930
TI  - Illumination in Spinal Surgery Depending on Different Approaches and Light
      Sources.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sufficient visualization of the operating field is crucial for
      success in surgery and is important especially concerning minimally invasive and
      deep approaches in spine surgery. METHODS: The spinal microsurgical approach was
      imitated using an isolated box that was accessed with different devices.
      Different light sources and auxiliary devices were analyzed and compared. Light
      sources used were a microscope, a standard operating room lamp, and a headlamp.
      The auxiliary devices included different tubes with and without optical light
      fibers, different retractors, and an endoscope. RESULTS: We demonstrated that
      different combinations of light sources and auxiliary devices provide
      significantly different illumination in the artificial operating field. A tube
      with optical fibers seems to be superior for nonmicroscopic approaches. The
      smaller these tubes are in diameter, the higher the illuminance on the surgical
      focus. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of tube and microscope seems to be the best
      choice for deep approaches in microsurgical spinal surgery. An endoscope supplies
      illuminance comparable to a surgical microscope.

PMID- 28602931
TI  - Pachydermoperiostosis of the complete type: A novel missense mutation c.101T > C
      in the SLCO2A1 gene.
AB  - We report on a rare case of pachydermoperiostosis (PDP) in a 25-year-old male who
      was admitted to our hospital because of enlargement of fingers and toes. Through
      examination, we found some typical features on the patient including finger
      clubbing, periostosis, pachydermia, and cutis verticis gyrata (CVG). But
      laboratory tests were almost within normal ranges, which ruled out rheumatic
      arthritis, osteopulmonary arthropathy, thyroid acropathy, and acromegaly. Then,
      we diagnosed this case as PDP, which was confirmed by gene sequencing. The
      pathogenesis is concerned with abnormal rise of the level of PGE2 that results
      from the solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 2A1 (SLCO2A1)
      gene defect. Meanwhile, we found a novel missense mutation c.101T > C of the
      SLCO2A1 gene in the patient with PDP.

PMID- 28602932
TI  - Postzygotic telomere capture causes segmental UPD, duplication and deletion of
      chromosome 8p in a patient with intellectual disability and obesity.
AB  - Using SNP array and FISH analysis, a patient with moderate intellectual
      disability and obesity was found to harbour an atypical 1.6 Mb inverted
      duplication on 8p23.1, directly flanked by a distally located interstitial
      deletion of 2.3 Mb and a terminal segmental uniparental disomy. The duplicated
      and deleted regions lie exactly between the two segmental duplication regions.
      These segmental duplications on chromosome 8p23.1 are known to be involved in
      chromosomal rearrangements because of mutual homology and homology to other
      genomic regions. Genomic instability mediated by these segmental duplications is
      generally caused by non-allelic homologous recombination, resulting in deletions,
      reciprocal duplications, inversions and translocations. Additional analysis of
      the parental origin of the fragments of this atypical inverted
      duplication/interstitial deletion shows paternal contribution in the maternal
      derivate chromosome 8. Combined with the finding that the normal chromosome 8
      carries an inversion in 8p23.1 we hypothesize that a double strand break in
      8p23.1 of the maternal chromosome was postzygotically repaired with the paternal
      inverted copy resulting in a duplication, deletion and segmental uniparental
      disomy, with no particular mediation of the 8p23.1 segmental duplication regions
      in recombination.

PMID- 28602933
TI  - Familial epilepsy with anterior polymicrogyria as a presentation of COL18A1
      mutations.
AB  - Knobloch syndrome [OMIM: (KNO1) #267750] is a rare and clinically heterogeneous
      autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in COL18A1. Knobloch syndrome is
      characterised by abnormalities of the eye and occipital skull defects however the
      full phenotypic spectrum is yet to be defined. This report describes a family of
      four affected sisters with polymicrogyria, refractory seizures, and intellectual
      impairment of varying severity with a Lennox-Gastaut phenotype, and complex eye
      abnormalities where a syndromic diagnosis was not initially made. Whole exome
      sequencing of two affected sisters followed by filtering for rare and potentially
      disease causing variants in all genes identified compound heterozygous variants
      in NM_030582.3 (COL18A1): c.3690G > A: p.(Trp1230*) and NM_030582.3 (COL18A1):
      c.4063_4064delCT: p.(Leu1355Valfs*72). The two variants co-segregated with the
      affected individuals in the family. Identification of COL18A1 mutations in
      individuals with a Lennox-Gastaut phenotype and anterior polymicrogyria but
      lacking the classical occipital encephalocele expands the COL18A1 clinical
      spectrum.

PMID- 28602934
TI  - Biomechanical Factors Associated With Pain and Symptoms Following Anterior
      Cruciate Ligament Injury and Reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the associations between patient
      reported outcome and gait in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
      injury and reconstruction over time. Because there is an association between ACL
      rupture and the presence of osteoarthritis later in life, a better understanding
      of these relationships will help to elucidate how patients' gait pattern may
      affect pain and symptoms, potentially leading to better treatment for or
      preventing the development of knee OA. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the associations
      between gait characteristics and self-reported pain and symptoms before, 6 months
      after, and 1 year after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. DESIGN:
      Prospective cohort study. SETTING: The Human Performance Center at the Orthopedic
      Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. PATIENTS: Patients with
      full unilateral ACL tears were enrolled. A total of 43 patients were included at
      12 months postsurgery. METHODS: The independent variable in this study comprised
      specific gait variables in patients who had undergone ACL reconstruction. At each
      time point, 3-dimensional motion analysis was performed. Participants also
      completed the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire. MAIN
      OUTCOMES MEASUREMENTS: The primary study outcome measurement was the KOOS and was
      planned before data collection began. Partial correlations were used to examine
      cross-sectional associations between gait characteristics and KOOS pain and
      symptom scores at all time points. In addition, partial correlations were
      performed to examine the associations between change in postoperative KOOS from 6
      months to 1 year and gait characteristics at baseline and 6 months. RESULTS:
      Significant associations between KOOS and gait characteristics were found at all
      time points, including an association between peak medial ground reaction force
      and pain (r = -0.344, P = .02) and symptoms (r = -0.407, P = .007) at baseline.
      CONCLUSIONS: Specific gait variables may be predictive of greater pain and
      symptoms and less improvement over time postreconstruction. This could help to
      inform rehabilitation exercises post injury and pre reconstruction. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28602935
TI  - Immediate and Short-Term Effects of Kinesio Taping Tightness in Mechanical Low
      Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is controversy regarding the best technique for applying
      Kinesio Taping (KT), and the theory supporting that skin convolutions may explain
      its efficacy has recently been challenged. OBJECTIVE: To compare the immediate
      and short-term effectiveness of KT tightness on mechanosensitivity and spinal
      mobility in nonspecific low back pain (LBP), and to observe the influence of
      gender in the outcome measures. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, controlled
      trial. SETTING: University-based clinical research center. PARTICIPANTS: A total
      of 75 individuals with a mean age of 33 years (+/-7.4 years), 60% female and 40%
      male, with nonspecific LBP were recruited and randomly assigned to 1 of the
      following study groups: standard KT tension (n = 26), increased KT tension (n =
      25), and no KT tension (n = 24). INTERVENTIONS: All participants received a two I
      strip taping over the paravertebral muscles for 24 hours. Paper-off tension (15%
      25% of the available stretch) was used in the standard KT group, which was
      increased to 40% in the increased KT tension group. The rest of participants
      received a taping procedure with no KT tension. Measurements were taken at
      baseline, immediately after the taping, 24 hours after the taping, and after KT
      removal. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome included pressure pain
      thresholds over the erector spinae and gluteus medius muscles. The secondary
      outcome was lumbar mobility (assessed with a digital inclinometer, and back-saver
      sit-and-reach, finger-to-floor, and sit-and-reach tests). RESULTS: In the between
      groups analysis of the mean score changes after baseline assessment, no
      significant differences were found for any of the outcome measures (P > .05)
      except the left back-saver sit-and-reach test (P = .03). A statistically
      significant interaction group * gender * time was observed only for
      mechanosensitivity values (P = .02 for the gluteus and P = .01 for the erector
      spinae). CONCLUSION: KT tightness does not seem to influence pain sensitivity and
      lumbar mobility in chronic LBP in either the immediate or short term. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 28602937
TI  - Human brain endothelial barrier cells are distinctly less vulnerable to silver
      nanoparticles toxicity than human blood vessel cells: A cell-specific mechanism
      of the brain barrier?
AB  - The blood-brain barrier (BBB) constitutes a distinctive and tightly regulated
      interface between the brain and the peripheral circulation. The objective of
      studies was to compare responses of human endothelial cells representing the
      model of blood vessels - EA.hy926 and HUVEC cells and the model of the brain
      endothelial barrier - HBEC5i cells to silver nanoparticles (SNPs). A contact of
      SNPs with endothelial cells resulted in a formation of SNP agglomerates.
      Consequently, the SNPs uptake by endothelial cells affected cell viability and
      membrane integrity however observed responses were different. Brain endothelial
      barrier HBEC5i cells were much less vulnerable to SNPs toxicity comparing to
      EA.hy926 and HUVEC cells. It can be ascribed to the presence of specialized
      cellular components of the brain barrier, protecting HBEC5i cells against toxic
      SNPs. Fundamental understanding of SNPs inducing the BBB dysfunction may initiate
      engineering novel SNPs which are safe for the BBB and thereby safe for the brain.

PMID- 28602938
TI  - "Let's Bring Her Home First." Patient Characteristics and Place of Death in
      Specialized Pediatric Palliative Home Care.
AB  - CONTEXT: Specialized pediatric palliative home care (SPPHC) is the main pediatric
      palliative care structure in Germany. Detailed data on patient characteristics
      and care are sparse. Describing this population in terms of diagnoses and care
      needs is essential for further development of palliative care services for these
      patients. OBJECTIVES: We asked whether the population at our center 1) was
      representative compared with national mortality statistics; 2) showed differences
      in the clinical course among the four diagnostic categories established by the
      Association for Children with Terminal Conditions/Royal College of Paediatrics
      and Child Health; and 3) was different to published populations in pediatric
      palliative care regarding diagnoses, care, and place of death. METHODS:
      Retrospective single center chart analysis of 212 consecutive patients on SPPHC
      (2009-2015). RESULTS: Main International Statistical Classification of Diseases
      and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision groups were nervous system, congenital
      abnormalities, neoplasia, and metabolic disease, reflecting the mortality
      statistics for patients one to 20 years. Thirty-six percent of patients were
      assigned to ACT-3, 34% to ACT-4, 26% to ACT-1, and 4% to ACT-2. ACT-1 patients
      mostly needed high-intensity care for short durations, ACT-4 patients showed long
      survival times with mostly intermittent care. Seventy-five percent of patients
      showed nervous system involvement. Eighty-four percent died at home, 12% in
      hospital, and 4% in a hospice, with 96% dying at their preferred place.
      CONCLUSION: Our data on SPPHC show 1) significant differences between Association
      for Children with Terminal Conditions/Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
      Health groups in terms of care needs and survival; 2) a high prevalence of
      children with neurological problems; and 3) a large majority of children dying at
      home.

PMID- 28602936
TI  - Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines-2016 revision.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis (AR) affects 10% to 40% of the population. It
      reduces quality of life and school and work performance and is a frequent reason
      for office visits in general practice. Medical costs are large, but avoidable
      costs associated with lost work productivity are even larger than those incurred
      by asthma. New evidence has accumulated since the last revision of the Allergic
      Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines in 2010, prompting its
      update. OBJECTIVE: We sought to provide a targeted update of the ARIA guidelines.
      METHODS: The ARIA guideline panel identified new clinical questions and selected
      questions requiring an update. We performed systematic reviews of health effects
      and the evidence about patients' values and preferences and resource requirements
      (up to June 2016). We followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment,
      Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence-to-decision frameworks to develop
      recommendations. RESULTS: The 2016 revision of the ARIA guidelines provides both
      updated and new recommendations about the pharmacologic treatment of AR.
      Specifically, it addresses the relative merits of using oral H1-antihistamines,
      intranasal H1-antihistamines, intranasal corticosteroids, and leukotriene
      receptor antagonists either alone or in combination. The ARIA guideline panel
      provides specific recommendations for the choice of treatment and the rationale
      for the choice and discusses specific considerations that clinicians and patients
      might want to review to choose the management most appropriate for an individual
      patient. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate treatment of AR might improve patients' quality
      of life and school and work productivity. ARIA recommendations support patients,
      their caregivers, and health care providers in choosing the optimal treatment.

PMID- 28602939
TI  - Diterpenoids with diverse scaffolds from Vitex trifolia as potential
      topoisomerase I inhibitor.
AB  - Eleven new compounds, including six labdane (1-6), three halimane (7-9), and two
      clerodane (10-11) diterpenoids and 16 known analogues (12-27), were isolated from
      the leaves of Vitex trifolia. The structures of 1-11 were established by
      extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR and HRMS spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations
      of compounds 3, 7, and 10 were assigned using X-ray diffraction. Compounds 1-27
      were evaluated for DNA topoisomerases I (Top1) inhibitory activity and
      cytotoxicity against HCT 116 cells. Compounds 8 and 11 exhibited equipotent Top1
      inhibitory activity to the positive control, camptothecin (CPT), at 100MUM.
      Compounds 8, 9, 16, and 27 showed moderate cytotoxicity at low micromolar
      concentrations.

PMID- 28602940
TI  - Investigation of pharmacokinetic parameters of bakuchicin isolated from Psoralea
      corylifolia in mice.
AB  - Bakuchicin is a furanocoumarin isolated from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia,
      which is used in oriental medicine. However, limited information on the
      pharmacokinetics of bakuchicin is available and in addition, no determined method
      has been devised to quantify bakuchicin levels in the plasma. In the present
      study, we developed and validated a quantification method using liquid
      chromatography (LC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which was
      applied to a pharmacokinetic investigation in mouse plasma. LC was performed
      using an ACE 5 C18 column, and a mixture of acetonitrile and water containing
      0.1% formic acid was used as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 220MUL/min.
      Bakuchicin transition ions in multiple reaction-monitoring modes using positive
      ionization were observed at m/z 187.0 to m/z 131.0. Bakuchicin and the internal
      standard (reserpine) had retention times of 4.5 and 4.3min, respectively.
      Acceptable linearity (r2=0.996) was observed over the concentration range of 20
      1000ng/mL, with a lower quantification limit of 20ng/mL in mouse plasma. This
      method was successfully applied to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of
      bakuchicin in mouse plasma and showed that the bioavailability of bakuchicin was
      58.3% at 5mg/kg oral administration.

PMID- 28602941
TI  - Hormonal correlates of energetic condition in mantled howler monkeys.
AB  - Hormones have a key role in energy allocation, so their study allows
      understanding individual metabolic strategies. Because different hormones convey
      different information on the responses of individuals to energetic demands, a
      simultaneous analysis of variation in multiple hormones may offer a more reliable
      picture of metabolic strategies than single hormone assessments. In this study we
      focused on determining which factors were related to variation in fecal
      glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone metabolites in wild mantled howler monkeys
      (Alouatta palliata). Over 12months, we determined fecal glucocorticoid and
      thyroid hormone metabolite levels of 11 adults belonging to two groups, and
      examined the relationship between hormone metabolites and a variety of
      behavioral, physiological, and ecological factors (e.g., food intake,
      sex/reproductive state, activity, participation in agonistic interactions). We
      found that glucocorticoids were elevated in gestating and lactating females
      compared to males and cycling females, and were also higher when individuals were
      more active and participated in agonistic interactions. Thyroid hormone levels
      were also related to sex/reproductive state and activity, but were additionally
      positively related to fruit intake and negatively related to young leaf intake.
      Our study demonstrates that the non-invasive measurement of glucocorticoid and
      thyroid hormones of howler monkeys allows assessing different underlying
      physiological processes. By combining different biomarkers, which has seldom been
      done with wildlife, we could also parse the influence of psychological vs.
      metabolic challenges for individual energetic condition, which may be
      instrumental for deciding which factors should be accounted for when studying
      different hormone-behavior interactions.

PMID- 28602942
TI  - The novel lipid mediator PD1n-3 DPA: An overview of the structural elucidation,
      synthesis, biosynthesis and bioactions.
AB  - Resolvins, protectins and maresins are individual families of specialized pro
      resolving mediators biosynthesized from the dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty
      acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. These enzymatically
      oxygenated polyunsaturated lipid mediators were first elucidated during the
      resolution phase of acute inflammation in animal models of self-limited
      inflammation. Specialized pro-resolving mediators display potent bioactions when
      administrated in vivo. Biosynthetic pathway studies have revealed that individual
      lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenase-2 converts eicosapentaenoic acid and
      docosahexaenoic acid into distinct families of the resolvins, protectins and
      maresins. Recently n-3 docosapentaenoic acid was found to be a substrate for the
      biosynthesis of several novel families of specialized pro-resolving mediators.
      One example is PD1n-3 DPA. During the 6th European Workshop on Lipid Mediators,
      Frankfurt, Germany, the structural elucidation, total organic synthesis, studies
      on the biosynthetic pathway, as well as the potent anti-inflammatory and pro
      resolving properties of PD1n-3 DPA were presented. Herein, we provide an overview
      of these topics for the new member PD1n-3 DPA of the super-family of pro
      resolving mediators.

PMID- 28602943
TI  - In vivo B0 field shimming methods for MRI at 7T.
AB  - Functional MRI (fMRI) at 7T and above provides improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio and
      Contrast-to-Noise Ratio compared to 3T acquisitions. In addition to the
      beneficial effects on spin polarization and magnetization of deoxyhemoglobin, the
      increased applied field also further magnetizes air and tissue. While the magnets
      themselves typically provide a static B0 field with sufficient spatial
      homogeneity, the diamagnetism of tissue and the paramagnetism of air causes local
      field deviations inside the human head. These spatially-varying field offsets
      (DeltaB0) cause image artifacts, especially in single shot EPI, including
      geometric distortion, signal dropout, and blurring. These effects are
      particularly strong near air-tissue interfaces such as the frontal sinus, and ear
      canals. Furthermore, if the field offsets are dynamically modulated through
      physiological processes such as respiration or motion, then the effect on the
      image time-series can be even more problematic. While post-processing methods
      have been developed to mitigate these effects, the ideal solution would be to
      reduce the DeltaB0 variations at their source. Typically 7T scanners contain 2nd
      and some 3rd order spherical harmonic shim coil terms to cancel static DeltaB0
      variations of low spatial order. In this article, we will motivate the need for
      improved, higher-order compensation for B0 inhomogeneity and potentially add
      dynamic control of these fields. We discuss and compare several promising
      hardware approaches for static and dynamic B0 shimming using either higher-order
      spherical harmonic shim coils or multi-coil shim arrays as well as passive
      shimming approaches, and active variants such and adaptive current networks.

PMID- 28602944
TI  - Enhancing sensitivity of pH-weighted MRI with combination of amide and guanidyl
      CEST.
AB  - Amide-proton-transfer weighted (APTw) MRI has emerged as a non-invasive pH
      weighted imaging technique for studies of several diseases such as ischemic
      stroke. However, its pH-sensitivity is relatively low, limiting its capability to
      detect small pH changes. In this work, computer simulations, protamine phantom
      experiments, and in vivo gas challenge and experimental stroke in rats showed
      that, with judicious selection of the saturation pulse power, the amide-CEST at
      3.6ppm and guanidyl-CEST signals at 2.0ppm changed in opposite directions with
      decreased pH. Thus, the difference between amide-CEST and guanidyl-CEST can
      enhance the pH measurement sensitivity, and is dubbed as pHenh. Acidification
      induced a negative contrast in APTw, but a positive contrast in pHenh. In vivo
      experiments showed that pHenh can detect hypercapnia-induced acidosis with about
      3-times higher sensitivity than APTw. Also, pHenh slightly reduced gray and white
      matter contrast compared to APTw. In stroke animals, the CEST contrast between
      the ipsilateral ischemic core and contralateral normal tissue was -1.85 +/- 0.42%
      for APTw and 3.04 +/- 0.61% (n = 5) for pHenh, and the contrast to noise was 2.9
      times higher for pHenh than APTw. Our results suggest that pHenh can be a useful
      tool for non-invasive pH-weighted imaging.

PMID- 28602946
TI  - Whole-genome analysis reveals unexpected dynamics of mutant subclone development
      in a patient with JAK2-V617F-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.
AB  - We report here the first use of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to examine the
      initial clonal dynamics in an unusual patient with chronic myeloid leukemia
      (CML), who presented in chronic phase (CP) with doubly marked BCR-ABL1+/JAK2V617F
      mutant cells and, over a 9-year period, progressed into an accelerated phase (AP)
      and then terminal blast phase (BP). WGS revealed that the diagnostic cells also
      contained mutations in ASXL1, SEC23B, MAD1L1, and RREB1 as well as 12,000
      additional uncommon DNA variants. WGS of endothelial cells generated from
      circulating precursors revealed many of these were shared with the CML clone.
      Surprisingly, WGS of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from the AP
      cells revealed only six additional coding somatic mutations, despite retention by
      the hematopoietic progeny of the parental AP cell levels of BCR-ABL1 expression
      and sensitivity to imatinib and pimozide. Limited analysis of BP cells revealed
      independent subclonal progression to homozygosity of the MAD1L1 and RREB1
      variants. MAD1L1 and SEC23B mutations were also identified in 2 of 101 cases of
      myeloproliferative neoplasms, but not in 42 healthy subjects. These findings
      challenge historic concepts of clonal evolution in CML.

PMID- 28602945
TI  - The energy landscape underpinning module dynamics in the human brain connectome.
AB  - Human brain dynamics can be viewed through the lens of statistical mechanics,
      where neurophysiological activity evolves around and between local attractors
      representing mental states. Many physically-inspired models of these dynamics
      define brain states based on instantaneous measurements of regional activity.
      Yet, recent work in network neuroscience has provided evidence that the brain
      might also be well-characterized by time-varying states composed of locally
      coherent activity or functional modules. We study this network-based notion of
      brain state to understand how functional modules dynamically interact with one
      another to perform cognitive functions. We estimate the functional relationships
      between regions of interest (ROIs) by fitting a pair-wise maximum entropy model
      to each ROI's pattern of allegiance to functional modules. This process uses an
      information theoretic notion of energy (as opposed to a metabolic one) to produce
      an energy landscape in which local minima represent attractor states
      characterized by specific patterns of modular structure. The clustering of local
      minima highlights three classes of ROIs with similar patterns of allegiance to
      community states. Visual, attention, sensorimotor, and subcortical ROIs are well
      characterized by a single functional community. The remaining ROIs affiliate with
      a putative executive control community or a putative default mode and salience
      community. We simulate the brain's dynamic transitions between these community
      states using a random walk process. We observe that simulated transition
      probabilities between basins are statistically consistent with empirically
      observed transitions in resting state fMRI data. These results offer a view of
      the brain as a dynamical system that transitions between basins of attraction
      characterized by coherent activity in groups of brain regions, and that the
      strength of these attractors depends on the ongoing cognitive computations.

PMID- 28602947
TI  - Radiation exposure from depleted uranium: The radiation bystander effect.
AB  - Depleted uranium (DU) is a radioactive heavy metal used primarily in military
      applications. Published data from our laboratory have demonstrated that DU
      exposure in vitro to immortalized human osteoblast cells (HOS) is both
      neoplastically transforming and genotoxic. In vivo studies have also demonstrated
      that DU is leukemogenic and genotoxic. DU possesses both a radiological (alpha
      particle) and chemical (metal) component but is generally considered a chemical
      biohazard. Studies have shown that alpha particle radiation does play a role in
      DU's toxic effects. Evidence has accumulated that non-irradiated cells in the
      vicinity of irradiated cells can have a response to ionization events. The
      purpose of this study was to determine if these "bystander effects" play a role
      in DU's toxic and neoplastic effects using HOS cells. We investigated the
      bystander responses between DU-exposed cells and non-exposed cells by co
      culturing the two equal populations. Decreased cell survival and increased
      neoplastic transformation were observed in the non-DU exposed cells following 4
      or 24h co-culture. In contrast Ni (II)- or Cr(VI)- exposed cells were unable to
      alter those biological effects in non-Ni(II) or non-Cr(VI) exposed co-cultured
      cells. Transfer experiments using medium from the DU-exposed and non-exposed co
      cultured cells was able to cause adverse biological responses in cells; these
      results demonstrated that a factor (s) is secreted into the co-culture medium
      which is involved in this DU-associated bystander effect. This novel effect of DU
      exposure could have implications for radiation risk and for health risk
      assessment associated with DU exposure.

PMID- 28602948
TI  - Review: Emerging strategies for antimicrobial drug delivery to the ocular
      surface: Implications for infectious keratitis.
AB  - Infectious keratitis is a medical emergency that can cause severe visual
      morbidity if not treated promptly. Depending upon the causative microorganism,
      effective management of infectious keratitis requires frequent application of
      antibacterial, antifungal, or antiviral eye drops, which may have low
      bioavailability, undesirable side effects, and poor patient compliance. Ocular
      formulations of antimicrobials that can increase corneal permeation and provide
      extended presence on ocular surface are being developed. Such formulations
      include nanoparticles, mucoadhesives, in situ forming hydrogels, and contact
      lenses. Testing of these formulations in in vitro models and ex vivo excised
      corneas, and in vivo rabbit testing have demonstrated increased bioavailability
      and extended presence on the cornea. Many of these formulations have also
      demonstrated success in treating infectious keratitis in animal models. However,
      the majority of studies have evaluated fluoroquinolone antibacterials, and more
      studies are needed to test the delivery of antifungal drugs. Moreover, additional
      efficacy data in animal models and future studies in humans to determine the
      duration of inhibitory concentrations of these antimicrobials in tear fluid will
      be required to prove the effectiveness of these formulations for clinical
      management of infectious keratitis.

PMID- 28602950
TI  - On phagocytes and macular degeneration.
AB  - Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex multifactorial disease caused
      by the interplay of age and genetic and environmental risk factors. A common
      feature observed in early and both forms of late AMD is the breakdown of the
      physiologically immunosuppressive subretinal environment and the protracted
      accumulation of mononuclear phagocytes (MP). We here discuss the origin and
      nature of subretinal MPs, the mechanisms that lead to their accumulation, the
      inflammatory mediators they produce as well as the consequences of their chronic
      presence on photoreceptors, retinal pigment epithelium and choroid. Recent
      advances highlight how both genetic and environmental risk factors directly
      promote subretinal inflammation and tip the balance from a beneficial
      inflammation that helps control debris accumulation to detrimental chronic
      inflammation and destructive late AMD. Finally, we discuss how changes in life
      style or pharmacological intervention can help to break the vicious cycle of
      inflammation and degeneration, restore the immunosuppressive properties of the
      subretinal space, and reestablish homeostasis.

PMID- 28602951
TI  - CED-10-WASP-Arp2/3 signaling axis regulates apoptotic cell corpse engulfment in
      C. elegans.
AB  - Efficient clearance of apoptotic cells is essential for tissue homeostasis in
      metazoans. Genetic studies in Caenorhabditis elegans have identified signaling
      cascades that activate CED-10/Rac1 GTPase and promote actin cytoskeletal
      rearrangement during apoptotic cell engulfment. However, the molecular connection
      between CED-10 activation and actin reorganization remains elusive. Here, we
      provide evidence that CED-10 binds to the Arp2/3 nucleation promoting factor
      WASP; CED-10 recruits WASP and Arp2/3 to apoptotic cell corpses in the
      phagocytes. The loss of WASP and Arp2/3 impaired cell corpse engulfment.
      Furthermore, we uncover that a WASP-activating factor SEM-5/GRB2 functions in the
      phagocytes to promote cell corpse clearance. Together, our results suggest CED-10
      reorganizes the actin cytoskeleton by recruiting the WASP-Arp2/3 actin nucleation
      factors during apoptotic cell engulfment.

PMID- 28602952
TI  - A novel technique to combine and analyse spatial and temporal expression
      datasets: A case study with the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis to identify
      potential gene interactions.
AB  - Understanding genetic interactions during early development of a given organism,
      is the first step toward unveiling gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that govern a
      biological process of interest. Predicting such interactions from large
      expression datasets by performing targeted knock-down/knock-out approaches is a
      challenging task. We use the currently available expression datasets (in situ
      hybridization images & qPCR time series) for a basal anthozoan the sea anemone N.
      vectensis to construct continuous spatiotemporal gene expression patterns during
      its early development. Moreover, by combining cluster results from each dataset
      we develop a method that provides testable hypotheses about potential genetic
      interactions. We show that the analysis of spatial gene expression patterns
      reveals functional regions of the embryo during the gastrulation. The clustering
      results from qPCR time series unveils significant temporal events and highlights
      genes potentially involved in N. vectensis gastrulation. Furthermore, we
      introduce a method for merging the clustering results from spatial and temporal
      datasets by which we can group genes that are expressed in the same region and at
      the time. We demonstrate that the merged clusters can be used to identify GRN
      interactions involved in various processes and to predict possible activators or
      repressors of any gene in the dataset. Finally, we validate our methods and
      results by predicting the repressor effect of NvErg on NvBra in the central
      domain during the gastrulation that has recently been confirmed by functional
      analysis.

PMID- 28602953
TI  - Patterning and morphogenesis of the intricate but stereotyped oikoplastic
      epidermis of the appendicularian, Oikopleura dioica.
AB  - Mechanisms for morphogenetic processes that generate complex patterns in a
      reproducible manner remain elusive. Live imaging provides a powerful tool to
      record cell behaviors. The appendicularian, Oikopleura dioica, is a planktonic
      tunicate that has a rapid developmental speed, small number of cells (less than
      3500 cells in a juvenile), and a transparent body. The trunk epidermis, called
      the oikoplastic epithelium (OE), has elaborate cellular arrangements showing a
      complex pattern to secrete so-called "house" made of extracellular components.
      The OE is characterized by invariant number, size, and shape of the monolayer
      epithelial cells. Pattern formation is achieved during 5h of larval development
      without growth of the body, making this a suitable system for live imaging of a
      two-dimensional (2D) sheet. First, we subdivided the OE and defined several
      domains by cellular resolution, and systematically gave names to the constituent
      cells, since there is no variation among individuals. Time-lapse imaging of the
      epidermal cells revealed region-specific pattern formation processes. Each
      identified domain served as a compartment into which distribution of descendant
      cells of founder cells is restricted. Regulation of orientation, timing, and the
      number of rounds of cell divisions, but not cell death and migration, was a
      critical mechanism for determination of final cell arrangement and size. In
      addition, displacement of epithelial sheet plates was observed in the Eisen
      domain. Stem-cell-like cell divisions, whereby large mother stem cells generate a
      chain of small daughter cells, were involved in formation of the Nasse region and
      ventral sensory organ. These are the first examples of this kind of stem-cell
      like cell division in deuterostomes. Furthermore, labeling of the left or right
      blastomere of the two-cell-stage embryo, which roughly gives rise to the left or
      right side of the body, respectively, revealed that the boundary of the
      descendant cells does not match with the midline of the trunk epidermis. Left and
      right descendants largely invade into the opposite side in an invariant way,
      suggesting the possibility that specification of the OE cell identities may occur
      later in development, most probably around hatching, and depending on cell
      position in the OE epithelial sheet. These detailed descriptions of OE patterning
      processes provide basic and essential information to analyze further cell
      behaviors in the generation of elaborate and intricate but stereotyped 2D
      cellular patterns in this advantageous model system for developmental and cell
      biological studies in chordates.

PMID- 28602949
TI  - Connexin channel and its role in diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the working age
      population. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this devastating ocular
      complication. The early stage of diabetic retinopathy is characterized by the
      loss of various cell types in the retina, namely endothelial cells and pericytes.
      As the disease progresses, vascular leakage, a clinical hallmark of diabetic
      retinopathy, becomes evident and may eventually lead to diabetic macular edema,
      the most common cause of vision loss in diabetic retinopathy. Substantial
      evidence indicates that the disruption of connexin-mediated cellular
      communication plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy.
      Yet, it is unclear how altered communication via connexin channel mediated cell
      to-cell and cell-to-extracellular microenvironment is linked to the development
      of diabetic retinopathy. Recent observations suggest the possibility that
      connexin hemichannels may play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy
      by allowing communication between cells and the microenvironment. Interestingly,
      recent studies suggest that connexin channels may be involved in regulating
      retinal vascular permeability. These cellular events are coordinated at least in
      part via connexin-mediated intercellular communication and the maintenance of
      retinal vascular homeostasis. This review highlights the effect of high glucose
      and diabetic condition on connexin channels and their impact on the development
      of diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 28602954
TI  - A versatile genetic tool to study midline glia function in the Drosophila CNS.
AB  - Neuron-glial interactions are crucial for growth, guidance and ensheathment of
      axons across species. In the Drosophila CNS midline, neuron-glial interactions
      underlie ensheathment of commissural axons by midline glial (MG) cells in a
      manner similar to mammalian oligodendrocytes. Although there has been some
      advance in the study of neuron-glial interactions and ensheathment of axons in
      the CNS midline, key aspects of axonal ensheathment are still not fully
      understood. One of the limitations has been the unavailability of MG membrane
      markers that could highlight the glial processes wrapping the axons. Previous
      studies have identified two key molecular players from the neuronal and glial
      cell types in the CNS midline. These are the neuronal transmembrane protein
      Neurexin IV (Nrx IV) and the membrane-anchored MG protein Wrapper, both of which
      interact in trans to mediate neuron-glial interactions and ensheathment of
      commissural axons. In the current study, we attempt to further our understanding
      of MG biology and try to overcome some of the technical difficulties posed by the
      lack of a robust MG driver that will specifically allow expression or knockdown
      of genes in MG. We report the generation of BAC transgenic flies of wrapper-GAL4
      and demonstrate how these flies could be used as a genetic tool to understand MG
      biology. We have utilized the GAL4/UAS system to drive GFP-reporter lines
      (membrane-bound mCD8-GFP; microtubule-associated tau-GFP) and nuclear lacZ using
      wrapper-GAL4 to highlight the MG cells and/or their processes that surround and
      perform axonal ensheathment functions in the embryonic midline. We also describe
      the utility of the wrapper-GAL4 driver line to down-regulate known MG genes
      specifically in Wrapper-positive cells. Finally, we validate the functionality of
      the wrapper-GAL4 driver by rescue of wrapper mutant phenotypes and lethality.
      Together, these studies provide us with a versatile genetic tool to investigate
      MG functions and will aid in future investigations where genetic screens using
      wrapper-GAL4 could be designed to identify novel molecular players at the
      Drosophila midline and unravel key aspects of MG biology.

PMID- 28602955
TI  - Etiological diagnoses of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors admitted to the
      intensive care unit: Insights from a French registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Respective proportions of final etiologies are disparate in cohorts
      of cardiac arrest patients, depending on examined population and diagnostic
      algorithms. In particular, prevalence and characteristics of sudden unexplained
      death syndrome (SUDS) are debated. We aimed at describing etiologies in a large
      cohort of aborted out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients, in order to
      assess prevalence and outcome of SUDS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed data
      from our prospective registry of successfully resuscitated OHCA patients admitted
      to a cardiac arrest centre between January 2002 and December 2014. The in-ICU
      diagnostic strategy included early coronary angiogram, brain and chest CT scan.
      This was completed by an extensive diagnostic strategy, encompassing biological
      and toxicological tests, repeated electrocardiograms and echocardiography, MRI
      and pharmacologic tests. Two independent investigators reviewed each final
      diagnosis. Baseline characteristics were compared between subgroups of patients.
      Three-month mortality was compared between subgroups using univariate Kaplan
      Meier curves. RESULTS: Over the study period, 1657 patients were admitted to our
      unit after an aborted OHCA. The event was attributed to a non-cardiac and a
      cardiac cause in 478 (32.0%) and 978 (65.5%) patients, respectively. The main
      cause of cardiac related OHCA was ischemic heart disease (76.7%) while primary
      electrical diseases accounted for only 2.5%. Sudden unexplained deaths (SUDS)
      were observed in 37 (2.5%) patients. CONCLUSION: We observed that ischemic heart
      disease was by far the most common cause of cardiac arrest, while primary
      electrical diseases were much less frequent. SUDS accounted for a very small
      proportion of patients who suffered an aborted OHCA.

PMID- 28602956
TI  - Structure-function studies of MICAL, the unusual multidomain flavoenzyme involved
      in actin cytoskeleton dynamics.
AB  - MICAL (from the Molecule Interacting with CasL) indicates a family of multidomain
      proteins conserved from insects to humans, which are increasingly attracting
      attention for their participation in the control of actin cytoskeleton dynamics,
      and, therefore, in the several related key processes in health and disease. MICAL
      is unique among actin binding proteins because it catalyzes a NADPH-dependent F
      actin depolymerizing reaction. This unprecedented reaction is associated with its
      N-terminal FAD-containing domain that is structurally related to p
      hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, the prototype of aromatic monooxygenases, but
      catalyzes a strong NADPH oxidase activity in the free state. This review will
      focus on the known structural and functional properties of MICAL forms in order
      to provide an overview of the arguments supporting the current hypotheses on the
      possible mechanism of action of MICAL in the free and F-actin bound state, on the
      modulating effect of the CH, LIM, and C-terminal domains that follow the
      catalytic flavoprotein domain on the MICAL activities, as well as that of small
      molecules and proteins interacting with MICAL.

PMID- 28602957
TI  - Mitochondrial dynamics signaling is shifted toward fusion in muscles of very old
      hip-fractured patients: Results from the Sarcopenia in HIp FracTure (SHIFT)
      exploratory study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial quality control (MQC) is crucial for maintaining
      mitochondrial fitness. We investigated MQC signaling in muscle of old hip
      fractured patients. METHODS: Twenty-three patients, enrolled in the Sarcopenia in
      HIp FracTure (SHIFT) study, were categorized into old (OL; n=8) and very old
      groups (VOL; n=15) using 85years as the cut-off. The expression of a set of MQC
      signaling proteins was assayed in vastus lateralis muscle biopsies. RESULTS: The
      content of lysosome-associated membrane protein 2, microtubule-associated protein
      1 light chain 3B, optic atrophy protein 1, fission protein 1 (Fis1), peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha, and forkhead box O3 was
      unvaried between groups. Conversely, the protein expression of mitofusin 2 (Mfn2)
      as well as the fusion index (Mfn2/Fis1) was increased in VOL patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Muscle mitochondrial dynamics appear to be shifted toward fusion in
      very advanced age. Whether this phenomenon represents an adaptation to cope with
      age-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28602958
TI  - Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Using Treosulfan-Based Conditioning
      for Treatment of Marrow Failure Disorders.
AB  - Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is effective in the treatment of
      inherited marrow failure disorders and other nonmalignant diseases. Conventional
      myeloablative conditioning regimens have been associated with high transplant
      related mortality, particularly in patients with comorbid conditions. Here we
      report on 14 patients with marrow failure disorders (Shwachman-Diamond syndrome,
      n = 3; Diamond Blackfan anemia, n = 4; GATA2 deficiency, n = 2; paroxysmal
      nocturnal hemoglobinuria, n = 4; and an undefined marrow failure disorder, n = 1)
      who underwent HCT on a prospective, phase II, multicenter clinical trial.
      Patients were given HLA-matched related (n = 2) or unrelated (n = 12) grafts
      after conditioning with treosulfan (42 g/m2), fludarabine (150 mg/m2), +/-
      thymoglobulin (n = 11; 6 mg/kg). All patients engrafted. At a median follow-up of
      3 years, 13 patients are alive with complete correction of their underlying
      disease. These results indicate that the combination of treosulfan, fludarabine,
      and thymoglobulin is effective at establishing donor engraftment with a low
      toxicity profile and excellent disease-free survival in patients with marrow
      failure disorders.

PMID- 28602959
TI  - Butyric acid regulates progesterone and estradiol secretion via cAMP signaling
      pathway in porcine granulosa cells.
AB  - Butyric acid (BA), one of the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), has positive
      actions on the metabolism, inflammation, etc. However, whether it influences the
      reproductive physiology and if so the detail mechanism involved has not yet been
      determined. In this study, the porcine granulosa cells (PGCs) were treated with
      gradient concentrations of BA. After 24h culture, 0.05mM BA significantly
      stimulated the progesterone (P4) secretion (P<0.05), 5mM and 10mM BA
      significantly inhibited the P4 secretion (P<0.05). Simultaneously, BA up
      regulated the estradiol (E2) secretion in a dose dependent manner, 5mM and 10mM
      BA significantly promoted the E2 level (P<0.05). In addition, 10mM BA
      significantly promoted the G-protein-coupled receptor 41/43 mRNA (P<0.05).
      Interestingly, 5mM BA treatment significantly down-regulated cyclic adenosine
      monophosphate (cAMP) content (P<0.05), steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR),
      steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1), P450scc in the mRNA and/or protein level (P<0.05),
      and these actions were reversed by cAMP activator forskolin (FK). Moreover, the
      co-treatment of 5mM BA and bupivacaine (BPC, the cAMP inhibitor) significantly
      accumulated the inhibition action of BPC on cAMP, the secretion of P4, and the
      abundance of StAR mRNA (P<0.05), inhibited the up-regulation of 5mM BA on the E2
      secretion (P<0.05). Further, the Global Proteome and KEGG pathway analysis found
      that 5mM BA significantly up-regulated the I3LM80 proteins (P<0.05), which is
      involved in the steroid biosynthesis signaling pathway. 5mM BA significantly
      decreased the F2Z5G3 protein level (P<0.05), and the cAMP signaling pathway. In
      conclusion, present findings for the first time demonstrated that BA could
      regulate the P4 and E2 hormone synthesis in PGCs via the cAMP signaling pathway.

PMID- 28602960
TI  - The impact of VDR expression and regulation in vivo.
AB  - The vitamin D receptor (VDR) mediates the pleiotropic biological actions of 1,25
      dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3). These actions include orchestration of mineral
      homeostasis which is coordinated by the kidney, intestine, bone and parathyroid
      gland wherein the VDR transcriptionally regulates expression of the genes
      involved in this complex process. Mutations in human VDR (hVDR) cause hereditary
      vitamin D resistant rickets, a genetic syndrome characterized by hypocalcemia,
      hyperparathyroidism and rickets resulting from dysregulation of mineral
      homeostasis. Expression of the VDR is regulated by external stimuli in a tissue
      specific manner. However, the mechanisms of this tissue-specificity remain
      unclear. Studies also suggest that phosphorylation of hVDR at serine 208 impacts
      the receptor's transcriptional activity. These experiments were conducted in
      vitro, however, and therefore limited in their conclusions. In this report, we
      summarize (1) our most recently updated ChIP-seq data from mouse tissues to
      identify regulatory regions responsible for the tissues-specific regulation of
      the VDR and (2) our studies to understand the mechanism of hormonal regulation of
      Vdr expression in bone and kidney in vivo using transgenic mouse strains
      generated by mouse mini-genes that contain comprehensive genetic information
      capable of recapitulating endogenous Vdr gene regulation and expression. We also
      defined the functional human VDR gene locus in vivo by using a human mini-gene
      comparable to that in the mouse to generate a humanized VDR mouse strain in which
      the receptor is expressed at normal levels (normal expressor). The present report
      also shows that a humanized mouse model in which the VDR is expressed at levels
      about 10-fold lower than the normal expressor mouse rescued the VDR-null
      phenotype despite its reduced transcriptional activity relative to wildtype
      expression. We also generated an additional humanized mouse model expressing hVDR
      bearing a mutation converting serine 208 to alanine (hVDR-S208A). In spite of the
      mutation, target gene expression induced by the ligand was unchanged relative to
      a mouse strain expressing comparable levels of wildtype hVDR. Further
      characterization also showed that serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels
      were normal and alopecia was not observed in this hVDR-S208A mouse strain as
      well. Taken together, our in vivo studies using ChIP-seq analyses and the mini
      gene transgenic mice improve our understanding of the tissue-specific regulatory
      mechanisms of controlling VDR expression and the mechanisms of action of the VDR.

PMID- 28602961
TI  - Progress and biotechnological prospects in fish transgenesis.
AB  - The history of transgenesis is marked by milestones such as the development of
      cellular transdifferentiation, recombinant DNA, genetic modification of target
      cells, and finally, the generation of simpler genetically modified organisms
      (e.g. bacteria and mice). The first transgenic fish was developed in 1984, and
      since then, continuing technological advancements to improve gene transfer have
      led to more rapid, accurate, and efficient generation of transgenic animals.
      Among the established methods are microinjection, electroporation, lipofection,
      viral vectors, and gene targeting. Here, we review the history of animal
      transgenesis, with an emphasis on fish, in conjunction with major developments in
      genetic engineering over the past few decades. Importantly, spermatogonial stem
      cell modification and transplantation are two common techniques capable of
      revolutionizing the generation of transgenic fish. Furthermore, we discuss recent
      progress and future biotechnological prospects of fish transgenesis, which has
      strong applications for the aquaculture industry. Indeed, some transgenic fish
      are already available in the current market, validating continued efforts to
      improve economically important species with biotechnological advancements.

PMID- 28602963
TI  - Brain activity related to working memory for temporal order and object
      information.
AB  - Maintaining items in an appropriate sequence is important for many daily
      activities; however, remarkably little is known about the neural basis of human
      temporal working memory. Prior work suggests that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and
      medial temporal lobe (MTL), including the hippocampus, play a role in
      representing information about temporal order. The involvement of these areas in
      successful temporal working memory, however, is less clear. Additionally, it is
      unknown whether regions in the PFC and MTL support temporal working memory across
      different timescales, or at coarse or fine levels of temporal detail. To address
      these questions, participants were scanned while completing 3 working memory task
      conditions (Group, Position and Item) that were matched in terms of difficulty
      and the number of items to be actively maintained. Group and Position trials
      probed temporal working memory processes, requiring the maintenance of
      hierarchically organized coarse and fine temporal information, respectively. To
      isolate activation related to temporal working memory, Group and Position trials
      were contrasted against Item trials, which required detailed working memory
      maintenance of visual objects. Results revealed that working memory encoding and
      maintenance of temporal information relative to visual information was associated
      with increased activation in dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), and perirhinal cortex
      (PRC). In contrast, maintenance of visual details relative to temporal
      information was characterized by greater activation of parahippocampal cortex
      (PHC), medial and anterior PFC, and retrosplenial cortex. In the hippocampus, a
      dissociation along the longitudinal axis was observed such that the anterior
      hippocampus was more active for working memory encoding and maintenance of visual
      detail information relative to temporal information, whereas the posterior
      hippocampus displayed the opposite effect. Posterior parietal cortex was the only
      region to show sensitivity to temporal working memory across timescales, and was
      particularly involved in the encoding and maintenance of fine temporal
      information relative to maintenance of temporal information at more coarse
      timescales. Collectively, these results highlight the involvement of PFC and MTL
      in temporal working memory processes, and suggest a dissociation in the type of
      working memory information represented along the longitudinal axis of the
      hippocampus.

PMID- 28602962
TI  - MicroRNA-20a/b regulates cholesterol efflux through post-transcriptional
      repression of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1.
AB  - ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) plays a crucial role in reverse
      cholesterol transport and exhibits anti-atherosclerosis effects. Some microRNAs
      (miRs) regulate ABCA1 expression, and recent studies have shown that miR-20a/b
      might play a critical role in atherosclerotic diseases. Here, we attempted to
      clarify the potential contribution of miR-20a/b in post-transcriptional
      regulation of ABCA1, cholesterol efflux, and atherosclerosis. We performed
      bioinformatics analysis and found that miR-20a/b was highly conserved and
      directly bound to ABCA1 mRNA with low binding free energy. Luciferase-reporter
      assay also confirmed that miR-20a/b significantly reduced luciferase activity
      associated with the ABCA1 3' untranslated region reporter construct.
      Additionally, miR-20a/b decreased ABCA1 expression, which, in turn, decreased
      cholesterol efflux and increased cholesterol content in THP-1 and RAW 264.7
      macrophage-derived foam cells. In contrast, miR-20a/b inhibitors increased ABCA1
      expression and cholesterol efflux, decreased cholesterol content, and inhibited
      foam-cell formation. Consistent with our in vitro results, miR-20a/b-treated ApoE
      /- mice showed decreased ABCA1expression in the liver and reductions of reverse
      cholesterol transport in vivo. Furthermore, miR-20a/b regulated the formation of
      nascent high-density lipoprotein and promoted atherosclerotic development,
      whereas miR-20a/b knockdown attenuated atherosclerotic formation. miR-20 is a new
      miRNA capable of targeting ABCA1 and regulating ABCA1 expression. Therefore, miR
      20 inhibition constitutes a new strategy for ABCA1-based treatment of
      atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28602964
TI  - Droplet digital PCR improved the EGFR mutation diagnosis with pleural fluid
      samples in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is a promising
      method for analyzing minor amounts of nucleic acid. However, its application has
      not been reported in pleural fluid, which is an ideal sample source for epidermal
      growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation analysis in non-small-cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC) patients. METHODS: The extracted DNA from supernatants of pleural fluid
      was selected from our sample bank and re-analyzed by our previously established
      ddPCR assay. The results were compared with the former outcomes detected by
      direct sequencing or the amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS).
      RESULTS: A total of 95 samples were selected, and 64 and 31 of them had been
      performed with direct sequencing and ARMS tests, respectively. The EGFR mutation
      detection rate of ddPCR was significantly elevated, compared with both direct
      sequencing (75.4% vs. 43.8%, P<0.0001) and ARMS (61.3% vs. 38.7%, P=0.016).
      Compared with ARMS, Fisher's exact test showed that EGFR-positive patients who
      were redefined by ddPCR had higher objective response rates (ORRs): 57.9% vs.
      16.7%, P=0.032. Compared with direct sequencing results, Kaplan-Meier curves
      demonstrated that EGFR-positive patients who were redefined by ddPCR had longer
      progression-free survival (PFS): 8.0 vs. 2.0months, P=0.0001. CONCLUSION: We have
      demonstrated the clinical value of ddPCR in pleural fluid samples. The experience
      obtained from the present study is practical and favorable for the proper
      application of this new assay.

PMID- 28602966
TI  - Gastrointestinal Safety Profiles Differ Among Non-Vitamin K Antagonist
      Anticoagulants?

PMID- 28602965
TI  - 67Ga-labeled deferoxamine derivatives for imaging bacterial infection:
      Preparation and screening of functionalized siderophore complexes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Deferoxamine (DFO) is a siderophore that bacteria use to scavenge
      iron and could serve as a targeting vector to image bacterial infection where
      current techniques have critical limitations. [67Ga]-DFO, which is a mimetic of
      the corresponding iron complex, is taken up by bacteria in culture, however in
      vivo it clears too rapidly to allow for imaging of infection. In response, we
      developed several new DFO derivatives to identify those that accumulate in
      bacteria, and at sites of infection, and that could potentially have improved
      pharmacokinetics. METHODS: A library of DFO derivatives was synthesized by
      functionalizing the terminal amine group of DFO using three different carbamate
      forming reactions. Uptake of [67Ga]-DFO and the 67Ga-labeled derivatives by
      bacteria and the biodistribution of lead compounds were studied. RESULTS: 67Ga
      labeled DFO derivatives were prepared and isolated in >90% radiochemical yield
      and >95% radiochemical purity. The derivatives had significant but slower uptake
      rates in Staphylococcus aureus than [67Ga]-DFO (6% to 60% of the control rate),
      with no uptake for the most lipophilic derivatives. Biodistribution studies in
      mice with a S. aureus infection in one thigh revealed that the ethyl carbamate
      derivative had an excellent infected-to-non-infected ratio (11:1), but high non
      specific localization in the gall bladder, liver and small intestine.
      CONCLUSIONS: The work reported shows that it is possible to functionalize DFO
      type siderophores and retain active uptake of the 67Ga-labeled complexes by
      bacteria. Novel 67Ga-labeled DFO derivatives were specifically taken up by S.
      aureus and selected derivatives demonstrated in vivo localization at sites of
      infection. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENT CARE: 67Ga-labeled
      DFO derivatives were actively transported by bacteria using the iron-siderophore
      pathway, suggesting that it is possible to develop siderophore-based
      radiopharmaceuticals for imaging bacterial infection.

PMID- 28602967
TI  - Duodenal Diverticular Bleeding Managed Using an Over-the-Scope Clip.

PMID- 28602968
TI  - Late-Onset Biallelic Mismatch Repair Deficiency Syndrome.

PMID- 28602969
TI  - Diagnosis of Primary Splenic Flexure Schwannoma Before Surgery Based on
      Endoscopic-Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Biopsy.

PMID- 28602970
TI  - Increased Risk of Death, in the Hospital and Outside the Intensive Care Unit, for
      Patients With Cirrhosis After Cardiac Arrest.

PMID- 28602972
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28602973
TI  - More Benefits From Interrupted Time Series in Evaluating the Recent Market
      Release of Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents and State Medicaid Reimbursement
      Programs.

PMID- 28602971
TI  - New Developments in Hepatorenal Syndrome.
AB  - Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) continues to be one of the major complications of
      decompensated cirrhosis, leading to death in the absence of liver
      transplantation. Challenges in precisely evaluating renal function in the patient
      with cirrhosis remain because of the limitations of serum creatinine (Cr) alone
      in estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR); current GFR estimating models
      appear to underestimate renal dysfunction. Newer models incorporating renal
      biomarkers, such as the Cr-Cystatin C GFR Equation for Cirrhosis appear to
      estimate measured GFR more accurately. A major change in the diagnostic criteria
      for HRS based on dynamic serial changes in serum Cr that regard HRS type 1 as a
      special form of acute kidney injury promises the possibility of earlier
      identification of renal dysfunction in patients with cirrhosis. The diagnostic
      criteria of HRS still include the exclusion of other causes of kidney injury.
      Renal biomarkers have been disappointing in assisting with the differentiation of
      HRS from prerenal azotemia and other kidney disorders. Serum metabolomic
      profiling may be a more powerful tool to assess renal dysfunction, although the
      practical clinical significance of this remains unclear. As a result of the
      difficulties of assessing renal function in cirrhosis and the varying HRS
      diagnostic criteria and the rigor with which they are applied, the precise
      incidence and prevalence of HRS is unknown, but it is likely that HRS occurs more
      commonly than expected. The pathophysiology of HRS is rooted firmly in the
      setting of progressive reduction in renal blood flow as a result of portal
      hypertension and splanchnic vasodilation. Progressive marked renal cortical
      ischemia in patients with cirrhosis parallels the evolution of diuretic-sensitive
      ascites to diuretic-refractory ascites and HRS, a recognized continuum of renal
      dysfunction in cirrhosis. Alterations in nitrous oxide production, both increased
      and decreased, may play a major role in the pathophysiology of this evolution.
      The inflammatory cascade, triggered by bacterial translocation and endotoxemia,
      increasingly recognized as important in the manifestation of acute-on-chronic
      liver failure, also may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of HRS.
      The mainstay of treatment remains vasopressor therapy with albumin in an attempt
      to reverse splanchnic vasodilation and improve renal blood flow. Several meta
      analyses have confirmed the value of vasopressors, chiefly terlipressin and
      noradrenaline, in improving renal function and reversing HRS type 1. Other
      interventions such as renal replacement therapy, transjugular intrahepatic
      portosystemic shunt, and artificial liver support systems have a very limited
      role in improving outcomes in HRS. Liver transplantation remains the definitive
      treatment for HRS. The frequency of simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation has
      increased dramatically in the Model for End-stage Liver Disease era, with changes
      in organ allocation policies. This has resulted in a more urgent need to predict
      native kidney recovery from HRS after liver transplantation alone, to avoid
      unnecessary simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation.

PMID- 28602974
TI  - FZD8, a target of p53, promotes bone metastasis in prostate cancer by activating
      canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling.
AB  - Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer among men
      and exhibits a high propensity to metastasize to bone. Currently, bone metastasis
      remains incurable, and therapies are limited. A better understanding of the
      molecular mechanisms involved in PCa bone metastasis is needed to develop more
      effective therapeutics for this disease. Herein, we reported that among the FZD
      family, FZD8 was robustly upregulated in bone-metastastic PCa cell lines and
      tissues. High levels of FZD8 expression were significantly positively associated
      with clinical tumor progression and bone metastasis. Furthermore, we found that
      overexpressing FZD8 promoted, whereas silencing FZD8 suppressed, PCa cell
      migration, invasion and stem cell-like phenotypes in vitro, through the
      activation of canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Importantly, downregulation
      of FZD8 greatly suppressed the incidence of PCa bone metastasis in vivo.
      Moreover, wild-type p53 transcriptionally repressed FZD8 by directly interacting
      with the FZD8 promoter. Taken together, these findings uncover a novel mechanism
      for PCa bone metastasis, and indicate that FZD8 might represent a potential
      therapeutic target for PCa bone metastasis.

PMID- 28602975
TI  - The small molecule inhibitor YK-4-279 disrupts mitotic progression of
      neuroblastoma cells, overcomes drug resistance and synergizes with inhibitors of
      mitosis.
AB  - Neuroblastoma is a biologically and clinically heterogeneous pediatric malignancy
      that includes a high-risk subset for which new therapeutic agents are urgently
      required. As well as MYCN amplification, activating point mutations of ALK and
      NRAS are associated with high-risk and relapsing neuroblastoma. As both ALK and
      RAS signal through the MEK/ERK pathway, we sought to evaluate two previously
      reported inhibitors of ETS-related transcription factors, which are
      transcriptional mediators of the Ras-MEK/ERK pathway in other cancers. Here we
      show that YK-4-279 suppressed growth and triggered apoptosis in nine
      neuroblastoma cell lines, while BRD32048, another ETV1 inhibitor, was
      ineffective. These results suggest that YK-4-279 acts independently of ETS
      related transcription factors. Further analysis reveals that YK-4-279 induces
      mitotic arrest in prometaphase, resulting in subsequent cell death.
      Mechanistically, we show that YK-4-279 inhibits the formation of kinetochore
      microtubules, with treated cells showing a broad range of abnormalities including
      multipolar, fragmented and unseparated spindles, together leading to disrupted
      progression through mitosis. Notably, YK-4-279 does not affect microtubule
      acetylation, unlike the conventional mitotic poisons paclitaxel and vincristine.
      Consistent with this, we demonstrate that YK-4-279 overcomes vincristine-induced
      resistance in two neuroblastoma cell-line models. Furthermore, combinations of YK
      4-279 with vincristine, paclitaxel or the Aurora kinase A inhibitor
      MLN8237/Alisertib show strong synergy, particularly at low doses. Thus, YK-4-279
      could potentially be used as a single-agent or in combination therapies for the
      treatment of high-risk and relapsing neuroblastoma, as well as other cancers.

PMID- 28602976
TI  - STING signaling in tumorigenesis and cancer therapy: A friend or foe?
AB  - Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is a DNA sensor and an important
      cytoplasmic adaptor for other DNA sensors, such as Z-DNA binding protein 1 (DAI),
      DEAD-box helicase 41 (DDX41), and interferon-gamma-inducible protein 16 (IFI16).
      The activation of STING signaling leads to the production of type I interferons
      and some other pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are critical for host defense
      against viral infection. Recent accumulating evidences suggest that STING is also
      involved in tumor development. However, the role of STING signaling in
      tumorigenesis is complicated, and a comprehensive review is still lacking. In
      this paper, we provided an overview of the dual role of STING signaling in tumor
      development from clinical significance to fundamental mechanisms, as well as its
      pre-clinical application in cancer therapy.

PMID- 28602977
TI  - BRM/SMARCA2 promotes the proliferation and chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer
      cells by targeting JAK2/STAT3 signaling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: BRM is one of two evolutionarily conserved catalytic ATPase subunits
      of SWI/SNF complexes and plays important role in cell proliferation, linage
      specification and development, cell adhesion, cytokine responses and DNA repair.
      BRM is often inactivated in various types of cancer indicating its indispensable
      roles in oncogenesis but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. METHODS: BRM
      expression in clinical pancreatic cancer samples was examined by
      immunohistochemistry and the correlation with patient survival was analyzed.
      shRNAs targeting BRM were used to establish stable BRM knockdown BxPC-3 and T3M4
      cell lines. Cell viability was assessed by CCK-8 assay. Cell proliferation was
      measured by EdU incorporation assay, colony formation assay and Ki67 staining.
      Cell cycle and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry. Growth and
      chemosensitivity of xenografts initiating from BRM-deficient cells were
      evaluated, and in situ apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay. The status of JAK
      STAT3 signaling was examined by real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. RESULTS:
      High BRM expression was correlated with worse survival of pancreatic cancer
      patients. BRM shRNA reduced the proliferation and increased the sensitivity of
      pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine in vivo and in vitro, and these effects
      are associated with the inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation and reduced
      transcription of STAT3 target genes. CONCLUSION: We reveal a novel mechanism by
      which BRM could activate JAK2/STAT3 pathway to promote pancreatic cancer growth
      and chemoresistance. These findings may offer potential therapeutic targets for
      pancreatic cancer patients with excessive BRM expression.

PMID- 28602978
TI  - Tanshinone IIA inhibits beta-catenin/VEGF-mediated angiogenesis by targeting TGF
      beta1 in normoxic and HIF-1alpha in hypoxic microenvironments in human colorectal
      cancer.
AB  - In a previous study, we demonstrated that Tanshinone IIA effectively inhibits CRC
      angiogenesis in vivo, but the underlying mechanisms were not elucidated. In this
      report, we describe experiments in which HIF-1alpha levels were manipulated to
      probe the effect of hypoxia on CRC cell angiogenesis. We studied the effects of
      Tan IIA on CRC pro-angiogenic factor and on human umbilical vein endothelial cell
      angiogenesis in normoxia and hypoxia. Our results show that Tan IIA not only
      lowers HIF-1alpha levels and inhibits secretion of VEGF and bFGF, but also
      efficiently suppresses the proliferation, tube formation and metastasis of
      HUVECs. Interruption of the HIF-1alpha/beta-catenin/TCF3/LEF1 signaling pathway
      occurs in the hypoxic microenvironment. The mechanism involves HIF-1alpha
      inhibition of TGF-beta1 secretion, which drives angiogenesis by promoting beta
      catenin nuclear localization and TCF/LEF activation. To test an improved delivery
      system for Tan IIA, we loaded the drug into mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN
      NH2) and found that it effectively targets HIF-1alpha overexpression in a mouse
      colon tumor model. Finally, Tan IIA sodium sulfonate exhibits anti-angiogenesis
      activity in CRC patients by reducing levels of angiogenin, VEGF and bFGF
      expression. Our research provides a new anti-angiogenesis strategy and
      strengthens support for the use of Tan IIA as an angiogenesis inhibitor.

PMID- 28602979
TI  - Inhibition of CYP4A by a novel flavonoid FLA-16 prolongs survival and normalizes
      tumor vasculature in glioma.
AB  - Glioblastomas rapidly become refractory to anti-VEGF therapies. We previously
      showed that cytochrome P450 (CYP) 4A-derived 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20
      HETE) promotes angiogenesis. Here, we tested whether a novel flavonoid (FLA-16)
      prolongs survival and normalizes tumor vasculature in glioma through CYP4A
      inhibition. FLA-16 improved survival, reduced tumor burden, and normalized
      vasculature, accompanied with the decreased secretion of 20-HETE, VEGF and TGF
      beta in tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and endothelial progenitor cells
      (EPCs) in C6 and U87 gliomas. FLA-16 attenuated vascular abnormalization induced
      by co-implantation of GL261 glioma cells with CYP4A10high macrophages or EPCs.
      Mechanistically, the conditional medium from TAMs and EPCs treated with FLA-16
      enhanced the migration of pericyte cells, and decreased the proliferation and
      migration of endothelial cells, which were reversed by CYP4A overexpression or
      exogenous addition of 20-HETE, VEGF and TGF-beta. Furthermore, FLA-16 prevented
      crosstalk between TAMs and EPCs during angiogenesis. These results suggest that
      CYP4A inhibition by FLA-16 prolongs survival and normalizes vasculature in glioma
      through decreasing production of TAMs and EPCs-derived VEGF and TGF-beta. This
      may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to overcome resistance to anti
      VEGF treatment by effects on vessels and immune cells.

PMID- 28602982
TI  - Mass spectrometry-based Shiga toxin identification: An optimized approach.
AB  - : Toxin expression is a key factor in Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli, a
      common pathogen involved in foodborne disease outbreaks. A liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) based approach has been used in this study to
      identify commonly reported E. coli toxins, with a focus on Shiga toxins (Stxs).
      Different sample preparation methods using variable culture conditions and
      concentrations of mitomycin C (MMC), a common antibiotic/chemotherapy agent
      capable of stimulating Stx production, were first tested on reference strains
      EDL933 and 90-2380 by LC-MS/MS detection of tryptic digests of receptor-analogue
      affinity binding enriched Stx preparations from culture supernatants and lysates.
      A curated E. coli protein toxin database was also used for faster and more
      straightforward toxin identification. With eight more genetically confirmed E.
      coli strains examined to verify the method, this preliminary study indicates that
      receptor-analogue based affinity enrichment on cell lysate or supernatant is a
      sensitive and accurate method for Stx identification. BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
      The existence of Stx is very important for identifying Stx-producing E. coli and
      implementing a clinical treatment regime. This study demonstrates for the first
      time that using a curated E. coli toxin database, together with receptor-analogue
      based affinity enrichment of Stxs after MMC treatment of E. coli, is an easy and
      appropriate approach for fast and accurate Stx identification through LC-MS/MS.

PMID- 28602981
TI  - Three-dimensional translations following posterior three-column spinal
      osteotomies for the correction of severe and stiff kyphoscoliosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Posterior three-column spinal osteotomies were shown to be
      effective to treat severe and stiff kyphoscoliosis. Translations at the site of
      osteotomy after deformity correction were commonly seen intraoperatively, which
      might cause potential neurologic deficits. However, this phenomenon was not
      thoroughly discussed in the current literature. PURPOSE: This study aimed to
      evaluate the three-dimensional (3D) translations at the three-column osteotomy
      site and their effects on neurologic outcome in the surgical correction of severe
      and stiff kyphoscoliosis. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: A retrospective study was carried
      out. PATIENT SAMPLE: Sixty-nine patients treated by posterior three-column spinal
      osteotomy for severe kyphoscoliosis of idiopathic, congenital, neuromuscular,
      neurofibromatosis, and tuberculosis origin were included. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      General, coronal, and sagittal translations were graded three-dimensionally
      according to the theory of Meyerding. METHODS: The charts of 69 clinical patients
      with severe and stiff kyphoscoliosis treated by posterior three-column osteotomy
      from January 2013 to June 2015 were reviewed. There were 35 male patients with an
      average age of 21.5 years and 34 female patients with an average age of 22.5
      years. The etiologies of these spinal deformities were idiopathic, congenital,
      neuromuscular, neurofibromatosis, and tuberculosis. According to our
      classification system of spinal cord neurologic function, there were 41 type A,
      13 type B, and 15 type C cases. The 3D spine models were reconstructed from thin
      sliced computed tomography (CT) scan, and the 3D translations at the three-column
      osteotomy site were graded and analyzed. RESULTS: The incidences of general
      translation (GT), frontal translation (FT), and sagittal translation (ST) were
      62.3%, 52.2%, and 26.1%. The incidence of evoked potential (EP) change in cases
      with GT/FT being or more than grade II (GT, 42.9%; FT, 50.0%) was significantly
      higher than that with GT/FT being less than grade II (GT, 16.7%; FT, 18.2%),
      whereas the incidence of EP change in cases with ST being or more than grade I
      (33.3%) was significantly higher than that with ST being less than grade I
      (9.8%). No linear correlations were found between spine shortening distance,
      deformity correction rate, and the degree of translation. CONCLUSIONS: The 3D
      translations are common in posterior three-column spinal osteotomies regardless
      of anterior strut graft placement. The increase of translation will increase
      neurologic risks, with GT or FT less than grade II and ST less than grade I being
      relatively safe.

PMID- 28602980
TI  - Suppression of Akt1-beta-catenin pathway in advanced prostate cancer promotes
      TGFbeta1-mediated epithelial to mesenchymal transition and metastasis.
AB  - Akt1 is essential for the oncogenic transformation and tumor growth in various
      cancers. However, the precise role of Akt1 in advanced cancers is conflicting.
      Using a neuroendocrine TRansgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate (TRAMP)
      model, we first show that the genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition of
      Akt1 in mice blunts oncogenic transformation and prostate cancer (PCa) growth.
      Intriguingly, triciribine (TCBN)-mediated Akt inhibition in 25-week old, tumor
      bearing TRAMP mice and Akt1 gene silencing in aggressive PCa cells enhanced
      epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and promoted metastasis to the lungs.
      Mechanistically, Akt1 suppression leads to increased expression of EMT markers
      such as Snail1 and N-cadherin and decreased expression of epithelial marker E
      cadherin in TRAMP prostate, and in PC3 and DU145 cells. Next, we identified that
      Akt1 knockdown in PCa cells results in increased production of TGFbeta1 and its
      receptor TGFbeta RII, associated with a decreased expression of beta-catenin.
      Furthermore, treatment of PCa cells with ICG001 that blocks nuclear translocation
      of beta-catenin promoted EMT and N-cadherin expression. Together, our study
      demonstrates a novel role of the Akt1-beta-catenin-TGFbeta1 pathway in advanced
      PCa.

PMID- 28602983
TI  - Box-Behnken design for extraction optimization of crude polysaccharides from
      Tunisian Phormidium versicolor cyanobacteria (NCC 466): Partial characterization,
      in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.
AB  - In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) based on Box-Behnken design
      (BBD) was employed to optimize the aqueous extraction of crude polysaccharides
      from Tunisian cyanobacteria Phormidium versicolor (NCC 466). The optimal
      extraction conditions with an extraction yield of 21.56+/-0.92% were as follows:
      extraction temperature at 81.05 degrees C, extraction time of 3.99h, and water to
      raw material ratio of 21.52mLg-1. Crude Phormidium versicolor polysaccharides
      (CPv-PS) are found to be a hetero-sulfated-anionic polysaccharides that contained
      carbohydrate (79.37+/-1.58%), protein (0.45+/-0.11%), uronic acids (4.37+/-0.19%)
      and sulfate (6.83+/-0.28%). The carbohydrate fraction was composed of arabinose,
      xylose, ribose, rhamnose, N-acetyl glucosamine, galactose, glucose, mannose,
      glucuronic acid and saccharose with corresponding mole percentages of 2.41,
      14.58, 2.18, 6.23, 7.04, 28.21, 26.04, 3.02, 0.86 and 5.07, respectively.
      Evaluation of the antioxidant activity in vitro suggested that CPv-PS strongly
      scavenged radicals, prevented bleaching of beta-carotene and reduced activity.
      Furthermore, the CPv-PS exhibited effective antimicrobial properties.

PMID- 28602984
TI  - Effect of conditions of modification on thermal and rheological properties of
      phosphorylated pumpkin starch.
AB  - This study aimed at analyzing the effect of conditions of modification process on
      thermal and rheological properties of phosphorylated pumpkin starch. The
      esterification process was conducted at 115 degrees C and 145 degrees C for 1, 2,
      and 3h. The thermodynamic properties of samples were determined using
      differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), flow curves were plotted and the
      resulting curves were described the Herschel-Bulkley model, textural properties
      were evaluated with the TPA method. The data proved that the chemical
      modification of starch affected its rheological and thermal characteristics, but
      the direction and extent of the changes were found to depend on both temperature
      and duration of phoshorylation. The results demonstrated that temperatures of
      gelatinization of the samples modified at 145 degrees C were higher by 1.4-8.5
      degrees C than those of the samples obtained at 115 degrees C. Prolongation of
      starch modification at 115 degrees C caused reduction of shear stress (from
      2.10Pa to 0.86Pa), and higher temperature of esterification also reduced the
      value of this parameter. The hardness of the samples heated at 145 degrees C was
      higher by 45-59N than that of heated at 115 degrees C. Adjustment of
      phosphorylation process caused an increase in gumminess by 1.8-37.9N, wherein
      higher temperature and process prolongation resulted in the highest gumminess.

PMID- 28602985
TI  - Comparative studies of tripolyphosphate and glutaraldehyde cross-linked chitosan
      botanical pesticide nanoparticles and their agricultural applications.
AB  - A nanopesticide formulation was developed using chitosan and a botanical
      pesticide PONNEEM(r) and its antifeedant, larvicidal and growth regulating
      activities were screened against Helicoverpa armigera, a major lepidopteran pest.
      Chitosan nanoparticles (CSNs) were prepared by using two different cross-linking
      agents namely glutaraldehyde (GLA) and tripolyphosphate (TPP). The effects of
      cross linking agents on CSNs and the biological properties against the insect
      pest were also studied. Cross linking of chitosan with either TPP or GLA was
      confirmed through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Electron
      micrograph revealed that the size of CSNs varied from 32 to 90nm. The stability
      of nanoparticles lasted for 9days in CSNs-TPP-PONNEEM. In CSNs-GLA-PONNEEM, the
      stability of nanoparticles was higher. CSNs-TPP-PONNEEM treatment recorded 88.5%
      antifeedant activity and 90.2% larvicidal activity against H. armigera. Weights
      of H. armigera pupae in CSNs-TPP-PONNEEM treatment were significantly low.
      Chitosan-based nano-pesticide formulation holds great promise in H. armigera
      management.

PMID- 28602986
TI  - Influence of PVA and silica on chemical, thermo-mechanical and electrical
      properties of Celluclast-treated nanofibrillated cellulose composites.
AB  - This study reports on the effects of organic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and
      inorganic silica polymer on properties of Celluclast-treated nanofibrillated
      cellulose composites. Nanofibrillated cellulose was isolated from Eucalyptus
      camaldulensis and prior to high-pressure homogenizing was pretreated with
      Celluclast enzyme in order to lower energy consumption. Three nanocomposite films
      were fabricated via the casting process: nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF),
      nanocellulose-PVA (CNF-P) and nanocellulose-silica (CNF-Si). Chemical
      characterization, crystallization and thermal stability were determined using FT
      IR and TGA. Morphological alterations were monitored with SEM. The Young's and
      storage moduli of the nanocomposites were determined via a universal testing
      machine and DTMA. The real and imaginary parts of permittivity and electric
      modulus were evaluated using an impedance analyzer. The crystallinity values of
      the nanocomposites calculated from the FT-IR were in agreement with the TGA
      results, showing that the lowest crystallinity value was in the CNF-Si. The CNF-P
      displayed the highest tensile strength. At a high temperature interval, the
      storage modulus of the CNF-Si was greater than that of the CNF or CNF-P. The CNF
      Si also exhibited a completed singular relaxation process, while the CNF and the
      CNF-P processes were uncompleted. Consequently, in terms of industrial
      applications, although the CNF-P composite had mechanical advantages, the CNF-Si
      composite displayed the best thermo-mechanical properties.

PMID- 28602987
TI  - Modification of oil palm fronds lignin by incorporation of m-cresol for improving
      structural and antioxidant properties.
AB  - Lignin extracted from oil palm fronds (OPF) underwent chemical modification by
      incorporating m-cresol into the lignin matrix. This study reports on the
      physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of unmodified autohydrolyzed
      ethanol organosolv lignin (AH EOL) and the modified autohydrolyzed ethanol
      organosolv lignin (AHC EOL). The lignin samples were analyzed by FTIR, 1H and 13C
      NMR spectroscopy, 2D NMR: HSQC spectroscopy, CHN analysis, molecular weight
      distribution analysis; GPC and thermal analysis; DSC and TGA. The lignin
      modification has reduced the hydrophobicity of its complex structure by providing
      better quality lignin with smaller fragments and higher solubility rate in water
      (DAHCEOL: 42%>DAHEOL: 25%). It was revealed that the modification of lignin has
      improved their structural and antioxidant properties, thus venture their possible
      applications.

PMID- 28602988
TI  - Characterization of Hypericum perforatum polysaccharides with antioxidant and
      antimicrobial activities: Optimization based statistical modeling.
AB  - In this study, the extracting parameters of crude polysaccharides (CPSs) from the
      Hypericum perforatum (HP) including extraction time (ETi, 60-180min), extraction
      temperature (ETe, 60-90 degrees C), and the water/solid ratio (W/S, 10-30 was
      optimized by using three-variable-three-level Box-Behnken design-response surface
      methodology (BBD-RSM) based on the single-factor experiments. The optimal
      extraction conditions were as follow: ETi 117.5min, ETe 74.28 degrees C, and W/S
      20.3:1. Under these conditions, the experimental yield was 6.69%. Fourier
      transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to identify structure of
      polysaccharide extracted at the optimal operating point. HP-CPSs was proved to
      possess antioxidant activities including 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)
      and OH free-radicals scavenging activates in vitro. The antibacterial activities
      of HP-CPSs against Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae and Salmonella typhi,
      Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated by determining clear
      growth inhibition zone diameters and by essays in liquid media. Overall, the
      results indicated that those polysaccharides could offer promising sources of
      polysaccharides for future application as antioxidant ingredients in the food
      industry.

PMID- 28602989
TI  - Brachybacterium sp. CH-KOV3 isolated from an oil-polluted environment-a new
      producer of levan.
AB  - Various microorganisms isolated from polluted environments, such as Pseudomonas
      sp. and Micrococcus sp. can synthesize exopolysaccharides (EPSs) which are
      natural, non-toxic and biodegradable polymers. EPSs play a key role in protection
      of microbial cells under various external influences. For humans, these
      substances have potential use in many industries. EPSs can be applied as a flavor
      or a fragrance carrier, an emulsifier, a stabilizer, a prebiotic, an antioxidant
      or an antitumor agent. In this study, we characterized an environmental
      microorganism that produces EPS, optimized EPS production by this strain and
      characterized the EPS produced. Isolate CH-KOV3 was identified as Brachybacterium
      paraconglomeratum. The sucrose level in the growth medium greatly influenced EPS
      production, and the highest yield was when the microorganism was incubated in
      media with 500g/L of sucrose. The optimal temperature and pH were 28 degrees C
      and 7.0, respectively. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) results and GC-MS
      analysis confirmed that the residues were d-fructofuranosyl residues with beta
      configuration, where fructose units are linked by beta-2,6-glycosidic bonds, with
      beta-2,1-linked branches. All these data indicate that the investigated EPS is a
      levan-type polysaccharide. Thus, it was concluded that Brachybacterium sp. CH
      KOV3 could constitute a new source for production of the bioactive
      polysaccharide, levan.

PMID- 28602990
TI  - Enhancement in in vitro anti-angiogenesis activity and cytotoxicity in lung
      cancer cell by pectin-PVP based curcumin particulates.
AB  - The aim of this work was to prepare pectin-poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) [PVP] based
      curcumin particulates to enhance the anticancer potential of curcumin, solubility
      and allow its localized controlled release. Pectin-PVP based curcumin
      particulates (PECTIN-PVP CUR) were prepared by spray drying technique in
      different ratios and were evaluated for surface morphology, micromeritics,
      flowability, particle size, drug content, in vitro dissolution, inhalable
      fraction, anti-angiogenesis/angiolysis and cytotoxicity. Results of micromeritic
      properties, Carr's index, Hausner's ratio and angle of repose were satisfactory.
      The batch CP3 was considered as optimum, due to excellent flowability, acceptable
      aggregation and enhanced solubility. The particle size and size distribution data
      of selected batch CP3 showed 90% of curcumin particulates having size less than
      2.74MUm, which may deposit to lungs. Twin Impinger studies showed that 29% of
      respirable fraction was generated, which could be directly delivered to lungs.
      The in vitro dissolution data showed many fold increase in dissolution rate.
      Angiolytic activity and MTT assay of PECTIN-PVP CUR have demonstrated enhancement
      in the anti-tumor potential, compared to curcumin alone. Altogether, PECTIN-PVP
      CUR were found suitable for local delivery and enhance its anticancer potential
      of curcumin.

PMID- 28602991
TI  - Polysaccharides and lignin based hydrogels with potential pharmaceutical use as a
      drug delivery system produced by a reactive extrusion process.
AB  - Currently, there is very strong interest to replace synthetic polymers with
      biological macromolecules of natural source for applications that interact with
      humans or the environment. This research describes the development of drug
      delivery hydrogels from natural polymers, starch, lignin and hemicelluloses by
      means of reactive extrusion. The hydrogels show a strong swelling ability
      dependent on pH which may be used to control diffusion rates of water and small
      molecules in and out of the gel. Also the hydrogels degradation rates were
      studied in a physiological solution (pH 7.4) for 15days. The results indicated
      that for all three macromolecules, lower molecular weight and higher level of
      plasticizer both increase the rate of weight loss of the hydrogels. The
      degradation was extremely reduced when the polymers were extruded in the presence
      of a catalyst. Finally the dynamic mechanical analysis revealed that the
      degradation of the hydrogels induce a significant reduction in the compressive
      modulus. This study demonstrates the characteristics and potential of natural
      polymers as a drug release system.

PMID- 28602992
TI  - Adsorption Studies of Lead(II) from aqueous solution onto Nanochitosan
      /Polyurethane /Polypropylene glycol ternary blends.
AB  - Chitosan is one of the most abundant natural biopolymer after cellulose.
      Nanochitosan (NCS) was prepared from chitosan by ionic gelation method with
      sodium tripolyphosphate. Polyurethanes (PU) find wide range of applications as
      good materials for the concentration and removal of both organic and inorganic
      pollutants because of their high efficiency for sorption of various ionic and
      neutral materials. Polypropylene glycol (PPG) is a family of long chain polymers
      attached to a glycerine backbone. The present project deals with the aims in
      exploiting the positive behaviour of the three polymers by preparing a ternary
      blends of NCS/PU/PPG(1:1:1) ratio. Batch adsorption process was carried out using
      prepared ternary blend of various parameters influencing the Pb(II) adsorption
      such as initial concentration of the metal solutions, pH, agitation time and
      adsorbent concentrations have been studied. The characterization of the prepared
      sample was carried out using FTIR, XRD, TGA, DSC and SEM studies. Langmuir,
      Freundlich and Tempkin isotherm parameters have been determined. Adsorption
      kinetic data were tested using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and
      Elovich model. The kinetics of the adsorption was found to fit the pseudo-second
      order model. The present work proves the suitability of the ternary blend as an
      effective adsorbent for Pb(II).

PMID- 28602993
TI  - Modulation of an innate immune response by soluble yeast beta-glucan prepared by
      a heat degradation method.
AB  - beta-glucan is widely distributed in nature as water soluble and insoluble forms.
      Both forms of beta-glucan are applied in several fields, especially for
      functional foods. Yeast beta-glucan is a medically important insoluble particle.
      Solubilization of yeast beta-glucan may be a valuable approach to increase
      functional foods and medicinal fields. We have applied a heat degradation method
      to solubilize yeast beta-glucan and found that it was effectively solubilized by
      treatment with an aqueous suspension at 135 degrees C for several hours. The
      solubilized yeast beta-glucan (hd-sBBG) exhibited antagonistic activity to the
      reactive oxygen production of macrophages and to the cytokine synthesis of
      macrophages. hd-sBBG strongly reacted with the anti-beta-glucan antibody in human
      sera and with dectin-1, the innate immune receptor of beta-glucan. From these
      findings, the heat degradation method is an important procedure for making immune
      modulating soluble yeast beta-glucan.

PMID- 28602994
TI  - Fish collagen peptide inhibits the adipogenic differentiation of preadipocytes
      and ameliorates obesity in high fat diet-fed mice.
AB  - Bioactivities of fish collagen peptide are now being elucidated in diverse
      biological systems. Here, we investigated the effect of fish collagen peptide on
      the adipogenic differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and in obese mice fed a
      high fat diet (HFD). Subcritical water-hydrolyzed fish collagen peptide (SWFCP)
      significantly inhibited lipid accumulation during the differentiation of 3T3-L1
      preadipocytes, which was accompanied by decreased expression of CCAAT-enhancer
      binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-alpha), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      gamma (PPAR-gamma), and adipocyte protein 2 (aP2) genes, key regulators of
      differentiation and maintenance of adipocytes. SWFCP was also found to suppress
      the palmitate-induced accumulation of lipid vacuoles in hepatocytes. Oral
      administration of SWFCP significantly reduced HFD-induced body weight gain
      without a significant difference in food intake. Consistent with its effects in
      3T3-L1 preadipocytes, SWFCP inhibited the expression of C/EBP-alpha, PPAR-gamma,
      and aP2 in epididymal adipose tissue of mice fed a HFD, leading to a significant
      reduction in adipocyte size. Furthermore, SWFCP significantly reduced serum
      levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein, and
      increased serum high-density lipoprotein. These observations suggest that SWFCP
      inhibits adipocyte differentiation through a mechanism involving transcriptional
      repression of the major adipogenic regulators C/EBP-alpha and PPAR-gamma, thereby
      reducing body weight gain and adipogenesis in an animal model of obesity.

PMID- 28602995
TI  - Integrated metagenomic analysis of the rumen microbiome of cattle reveals key
      biological mechanisms associated with methane traits.
AB  - Methane is one of the major contributors to global warming. The rumen microbiota
      is directly involved in methane production in cattle. The link between variation
      in rumen microbial communities and host genetics has important applications and
      implications in bioscience. Having the potential to reveal the full extent of
      microbial gene diversity and complex microbial interactions, integrated
      metagenomics and network analysis holds great promise in this endeavour. This
      study investigates the rumen microbial community in cattle through the
      integration of metagenomic and network-based approaches. Based on the relative
      abundance of 1570 microbial genes identified in a metagenomics analysis, the co
      abundance network was constructed and functional modules of microbial genes were
      identified. One of the main contributions is to develop a random matrix theory
      based approach to automatically determining the correlation threshold used to
      construct the co-abundance network. The resulting network, consisting of 549
      microbial genes and 3349 connections, exhibits a clear modular structure with
      certain trait-specific genes highly over-represented in modules. More
      specifically, all the 20 genes previously identified to be associated with
      methane emissions are found in a module (hypergeometric test, p<10-11). One third
      of genes are involved in methane metabolism pathways. The further examination of
      abundance profiles across 8 samples of genes highlights that the revealed pattern
      of metagenomics abundance has a strong association with methane emissions.
      Furthermore, the module is significantly enriched with microbial genes encoding
      enzymes that are directly involved in methanogenesis (hypergeometric test, p<10
      9).

PMID- 28602996
TI  - Visual discrimination and reversal learning in aged common marmosets (Callithrix
      jacchus).
AB  - Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) have been suggested as a new model for
      analysis of age-related changes and neurodegenerative diseases. However, the
      effects of age on learning and memory processes are not well defined within this
      species. Therefore, we employed visual discrimination and reversal learning tasks
      to evaluate learning and memory in four aged common marmosets relative to a
      younger cohort. We found that aged marmosets commit significantly more errors in
      initial stages of visual discrimination and more perseverative errors in reversal
      learning, indicating prefrontal dysfunction. However, they showed comparable
      performance with younger marmosets in the later stages of both tasks.

PMID- 28602997
TI  - Neural mechanisms underlying valence inferences to sound: The role of the right
      angular gyrus.
AB  - We frequently infer others' intentions based on non-verbal auditory cues.
      Although the brain underpinnings of social cognition have been extensively
      studied, no empirical work has yet examined the impact of musical structure
      manipulation on the neural processing of emotional valence during mental state
      inferences. We used a novel sound-based theory-of-mind paradigm in which
      participants categorized stimuli of different sensory dissonance level in terms
      of positive/negative valence. Whilst consistent with previous studies which
      propose facilitated encoding of consonances, our results demonstrated that
      distinct levels of consonance/dissonance elicited differential influences on the
      right angular gyrus, an area implicated in mental state attribution and attention
      reorienting processes. Functional and effective connectivity analyses further
      showed that consonances modulated a specific inhibitory interaction from
      associative memory to mental state attribution substrates. Following evidence
      suggesting that individuals with autism may process social affective cues
      differently, we assessed the relationship between participants' task performance
      and self-reported autistic traits in clinically typical adults. Higher scores on
      the social cognition scales of the AQ were associated with deficits in
      recognising positive valence in consonant sound cues. These findings are
      discussed with respect to Bayesian perspectives on autistic perception, which
      highlight a functional failure to optimize precision in relation to prior
      beliefs.

PMID- 28602998
TI  - The right hemisphere is independent from the left hemisphere in allocating
      visuospatial attention.
AB  - The capacity to allocate visuospatial attention is traditionally considered right
      lateralized according to the effects of unilateral cerebral lesions.
      Contralateral hemi-spatial neglect occurs much more frequently after lesions of
      the right hemisphere, which has therefore been dubbed as 'dominant'. This pattern
      of symptoms is supported by functional models that postulate either independence
      or reciprocal influences between the two hemispheres. Here we specifically
      explored the dependency of the right hemisphere (RH) from the left hemisphere
      (LH) in spatial attention. We capitalized on the well-known effect of online
      transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on the RH in healthy individuals,
      consisting in transient neglect-like manifestations in the left hemi-space. We
      assessed whether prior stimulation of the left posterior parietal cortex with a
      long-lasting neuromodulatory procedure (transcranial direct current stimulation -
      tDCS) affected the acute effects of TMS on the right posterior parietal cortex.
      We performed a within-subjects factorial study with two factors: LH tDCS (sham or
      real) and RH TMS (sham or real), resulting in a 2*2 design. The effects on
      spatial attention were examined separately for the two hemi-spaces by means of a
      modified line-bisection task. The results indicated that TMS over the RH produced
      a spatial attention deficit in the left hemi-space alone and the behavioural
      effects of TMS were not modulated by prior stimulation of the LH. Interestingly,
      additional analyses showed that tDCS over the LH alone produced a deficit in
      spatial attention to the right hemi-space. We interpret the current results as
      evidence for a largely independent contribution of each hemisphere to the
      allocation of visuospatial attention limited to the contralateral hemi-space.

PMID- 28602999
TI  - Cough and bronchiectasis.
AB  - Bronchiectasis is a chronic lung disease with permanent airway dilatation, mucus
      retention and recurrent lower respiratory tract infections. Bronchiectasis is
      increasing in prevalence and has a significant morbidity and an excess mortality
      rate over age matched controls. It is increasingly identified during
      investigations into chronic cough and is evident high resolution CT scanning.
      There remain significant knowledge gaps in our understanding of the epidemiology,
      pathophysiology, prognosis and optimal treatments in bronchiectasis. This article
      reviews current concepts in bronchiectasis and focusses on the complex aspects of
      chronic cough in this setting. Cough is important in bronchiectasis as it is one
      of the most common presenting symptoms, it affects a patients' quality of life
      and in conjunction with cough hypersensitivity and airway hyper responsiveness
      may limit the successful uptake of treatment modalities such as inhaled
      antibiotics and/or inhaled mucoactive therapies. Effective coughing often
      assisted by physiotherapy is a cornerstone of bronchial toileting in
      bronchiectasis. Some patients however have ongoing non-productive cough symptoms
      suggesting a cough sensitisation syndrome. Post nasal drip and gastro-oesophageal
      reflux may complicate bronchiectasis and further lead to intractable cough
      syndromes. There may be multiple cough syndromes within an individual at
      interplay and careful assessment and multidisciplinary working is needed to
      optimize symptom control. This article also highlights the many unknowns in
      chronic cough in bronchiectasis.

PMID- 28603000
TI  - Validation of a defibrillation lead ventricular volume measurement compared to
      three-dimensional echocardiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that using frequent invasive measures of
      pressure in patients with heart failure results in improved outcomes compared to
      traditional measures. Admittance, a measure of volume derived from preexisting
      defibrillation leads, is proposed as a new technique to monitor cardiac
      hemodynamics in patients with an implantable defibrillator. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a new ventricular volume
      sensor (VVS, CardioVol) compared with 3-dimenssional echocardiography (echo) in
      patients with an implantable defibrillator. METHODS: Twenty-two patients referred
      for generator replacement had their defibrillation lead attached to VVS to
      determine the level of agreement to a volume measurement standard (echo). Two
      opposite hemodynamic challenges were sequentially applied to the heart (overdrive
      pacing and dobutamine administration) to determine whether real changes in
      hemodynamics could be reliably and repeatedly assessed with VVS. Equivalence of
      end-diastolic volume (EDV) and stroke volume (SV) determined by both methods was
      also assessed. RESULTS: EDV and SV were compared using VVS and echo. VVS tracked
      expected physiologic trends. EDV was modulated -10% by overdrive pacing (14 mL).
      SV was modulated -13.7% during overdrive pacing (-6 mL) and increased over
      baseline +14.6% (+8 mL) with dobutamine. VVS and echo mean EDVs were found
      statistically equivalent, with margin of equivalence 13.8 mL (P <.05). Likewise,
      mean SVs were found statistically equivalent with margin of equivalence 15.8 mL
      (P <.05). CONCLUSION: VVS provides an accurate method for ventricular volume
      assessment using chronically implanted defibrillator leads and is statistically
      equivalent to echo determination of mean EDV and SV.

PMID- 28603001
TI  - Low lateral thoracic site for cardiac implantable electronic device implantation:
      A viable alternative in patients with limited access options after infected
      device extraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Device reimplantation after extraction because of cardiac implantable
      electronic device (CIED) infection in pacemaker-dependent patients can be
      challenging in individuals with limited access options. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of
      this study was to describe a straightforward, low lateral thoracic implantation
      technique for patients with a patent axillary vein but unavailable bilateral
      pectoral sites. METHODS: Nine pacemaker-dependent patients (mean age 70 +/- 13
      years, 7 male) who underwent CIED extraction and low lateral thoracic
      reimplantation in whom bilateral pectoral sites were unavailable were included in
      the study. RESULTS: Extraction was performed a median of 10 (interquartile range
      [IQR] 8-13) days before CIED reimplantation (4 dual-chamber, 3 single-chamber, 2
      cardiac resynchronization therapy). The new generator was implanted in the low
      lateral thoracic region ipsilateral to the extracted generator in 7 patients
      (78%) and contralateral in 2 patients (22%), via a subcutaneous pocket in 6 (67%)
      and submuscular pocket in 3 (33%). Median procedure duration was 85 (IQR 61-116)
      minutes, median fluoroscopy time was 7.2 (IQR 5.7-10.9), minutes and median
      fluoroscopy exposure was 26.0 (IQR 10.0-110.5) mGy. No acute complications
      occurred. Over median follow-up of 92 (IQR 31-131) days, 1 patient experienced
      right atrial lead dislodgment (122 days postimplantation) requiring lead
      revision. No patients experienced recurrent device infection. CONCLUSION: In
      pacemaker-dependent patients with limited prepectoral and vascular access
      options, a low lateral thoracic implantation site is a viable alternative to
      surgical epicardial or femoral pacing systems. This simple implantation technique
      is a safe and effective option in selected patients who require a single-chamber,
      dual-chamber, or biventricular pacemaker or implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator.

PMID- 28603002
TI  - Association of preprocedural cardiac magnetic resonance imaging with outcomes of
      ventricular tachycardia ablation in patients with idiopathic dilated
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knowledge of complex arrhythmogenic substrates can help plan
      ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation in patients with idiopathic dilated
      cardiomyopathy (DCM). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether
      preprocedural late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (LGE-MRI)
      can improve ablation outcomes in DCM. METHODS: Consecutive patients (N = 96) with
      idiopathic DCM underwent VT ablation with open-irrigated catheters (2006-2016).
      Before 2012, LGE-MRI was not performed at our institution in patients with
      implanted devices, but it has been performed routinely in all patients after
      implementation of a new MRI protocol in 2012. We retrospectively compared acute
      and long-term outcomes of initial VT ablation procedures in patients with (n =
      41) and those without (n = 55) preprocedural LGE-MRI. Procedural outcome was
      classified as successful if VT was not inducible postablation. RESULTS: The 2
      groups had a similar mean age and ejection fraction, comorbidities, and frequency
      of epicardial ablation. Preablation LGE-MRI was independently associated with
      improved procedural success (63% vs 24%) by logistic regression analysis
      (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 7.86, P <.001). This result was consistent even when
      patients with nondiagnostic MRIs due to artifact were included in the imaging
      group (OR 4.87, P = .005). Preablation imaging was also associated with improved
      survival free of the composite endpoint of VT recurrence, heart transplantation,
      or death, which was met by 11 (27%) and 33 (60%) patients in the imaging and no
      imaging groups, respectively, after median 7.6 months of follow-up (unadjusted
      log-rank P = .02). However, there was no association with long-term outcomes
      after adjustment for other covariates. CONCLUSION: Preprocedural imaging with LGE
      MRI may be associated with improved outcomes of VT ablation in DCM.

PMID- 28603003
TI  - Stenting Prior to Cystectomy is an Independent Risk Factor for Upper Urinary
      Tract Recurrence.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with bladder cancer who present with hydronephrosis may require
      drainage of the affected kidney before receiving further cancer treatment.
      Drainage can be done by retrograde stenting or percutaneously. However,
      retrograde stenting carries the risk of tumor cell spillage to the upper urinary
      tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether patients with bladder cancer
      are at higher risk for upper urinary tract recurrence if retrograde stenting has
      been performed prior to radical cystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively analyzed the records of 1,005 consecutive patients with bladder
      cancer who underwent radical cystectomy at our department between January 2000
      and June 2016. Negative intraoperative ureteral margins were mandatory for study
      inclusion. Patients received regular followup according to our institutional
      protocol, including imaging of the upper urinary tract and urine cytology.
      RESULTS: Preoperative drainage of the upper urinary tract was performed in 114 of
      the 1,005 patients (11%), including in 53 (46%) by Double-J(r) stenting and in 61
      (54%) by percutaneous nephrostomy. Recurrence developed in the upper urinary
      tract in 31 patients (3%) at a median of 17 months after cystectomy, including 7
      of 53 (13%) in the Double-J group, 0% in the nephrostomy group and 24 of 891 (3%)
      in the no drainage group. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a higher risk
      of upper urinary tract recurrence if patients underwent Double-J stenting (HR
      4.54, 95% CI 1.43-14.38, p = 0.01) and preoperative intravesical instillations
      (HR 2.94, 95% CI 1.40-6.16, p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Patients who undergo Double
      J stenting prior to radical cystectomy are at higher risk for upper urinary tract
      recurrence. If preoperative upper urinary tract drainage is required,
      percutaneous drainage might be recommended.

PMID- 28603004
TI  - Ion channel signaling influences cellular proliferation and phagocyte activity
      during axolotl tail regeneration.
AB  - Little is known about the potential for ion channels to regulate cellular
      behaviors during tissue regeneration. Here, we utilized an amphibian tail
      regeneration assay coupled with a chemical genetic screen to identify ion channel
      antagonists that altered critical cellular processes during regeneration.
      Inhibition of multiple ion channels either partially (anoctamin1/Tmem16a,
      anoctamin2/Tmem16b, KV2.1, KV2.2, L-type CaV channels and H/K ATPases) or
      completely (GlyR, GABAAR, KV1.5 and SERCA pumps) inhibited tail regeneration.
      Partial inhibition of tail regeneration by blocking the calcium activated
      chloride channels, anoctamin1&2, was associated with a reduction of cellular
      proliferation in tail muscle and mesenchymal regions. Inhibition of anoctamin 1/2
      also altered the post-amputation transcriptional response of p44/42 MAPK
      signaling pathway genes, including decreased expression of erk1/erk2. We also
      found that complete inhibition via voltage gated K+ channel blockade was
      associated with diminished phagocyte recruitment to the amputation site. The
      identification of H+ pumps as required for axolotl tail regeneration supports
      findings in Xenopus and Planaria models, and more generally, the conservation of
      ion channels as regulators of tissue regeneration. This study provides a
      preliminary framework for an in-depth investigation of the mechanistic role of
      ion channels and their potential involvement in regulating cellular proliferation
      and other processes essential to wound healing, appendage regeneration, and
      tissue repair.

PMID- 28603005
TI  - Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequality and gender differences in body mass index:
      The role of unhealthy behaviours.
AB  - Reported differences in the severity of the social gradient in body mass index
      (BMI) by gender may be attributable to differences in behaviour. Self-reported
      height, weight, socioeconomic and behavioural data were obtained for a sample of
      10,281 Australians aged >=15years in 2009. Multilevel regressions were fitted
      with BMI as the outcome variable. Two-way interactions between gender and
      neighbourhood disadvantage were fitted, adjusted for confounders. Models were
      then adjusted for four behavioural factors ("chips, snacks and confectionary",
      "smoking, little fruit or veg", "time poor and less physically active" and
      "alcohol consumption"). Additional models were fitted on a subset with accurate
      perceptions of weight status (determined by World Health Organization criteria)
      to control for potential social desirability bias. Although higher BMI was
      observed for men in most disadvantaged compared with most affluent neighbourhoods
      (coefficient 0.87, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.40), this pattern was stronger among women
      (1.80, 95% CI 1.17 to 2.42). Adjusting for differences in behaviours attenuated,
      but did not fully explain the differences in social gradients observed for men
      (0.73, 95% CI 0.21 to 1.26) and women (1.73, 1.10 to 2.36). Differences in
      behaviour did not explain contrasting socioeconomic gradients in adult BMI by
      gender. Further research on differences in BMI, health and behaviour over time
      aligned with how heavy a person may perceive themselves to be is warranted.

PMID- 28603006
TI  - Health considerations in regulating marijuana in Vermont.
AB  - This article delineates the current efforts of the Vermont Department of Health
      (VDH) to address the potential health impact of legalization and regulation of
      recreational marijuana for use by adults at least 21years of age. To this end,
      VDH and key stakeholders developed and published a Health Impact Assessment with
      specific recommendations should legislation that legalized and regulated
      marijuana be passed into law. Although the legalization legislation failed in
      2016 and was vetoed by the Governor in 2017, it is unclear what will happen in
      the future.

PMID- 28603008
TI  - Scientific citations favor positive results: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Citation bias concerns the selective citation of scientific articles
      based on their results. We brought together all available evidence on citation
      bias across scientific disciplines and quantified its impact. STUDY DESIGN AND
      SETTING: An extensive search strategy was applied to the Web of Science Core
      Collection and Medline, yielding 52 studies in total. We classified these studies
      on scientific discipline, selection method, and other variables. We also
      performed random-effects meta-analyses to pool the effect of positive vs.
      negative results on subsequent citations. Finally, we checked for other
      determinants of citation as reported in the citation bias literature. RESULTS:
      Evidence for the occurrence of citation bias was most prominent in the biomedical
      sciences and least in the natural sciences. Articles with statistically
      significant results were cited 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-1.8) times
      more often than articles with nonsignificant results. Articles in which the
      authors explicitly conclude to have found support for their hypothesis were cited
      2.7 (CI 2.0-3.7) times as often. Article results and journal impact factor were
      associated with citation more often than any other reported determinant.
      CONCLUSION: Similar to what we already know on publication bias, also citation
      bias can lead to an overrepresentation of positive results and unfounded beliefs.

PMID- 28603007
TI  - The PRECIS-2 tool has good interrater reliability and modest discriminant
      validity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: PRagmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS)-2 is a
      tool that could improve design insight for trialists. Our aim was to validate the
      PRECIS-2 tool, unlike its predecessor, testing the discriminant validity and
      interrater reliability. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Over 80 international
      trialists, methodologists, clinicians, and policymakers created PRECIS-2 helping
      to ensure face validity and content validity. The interrater reliability of
      PRECIS-2 was measured using 19 experienced trialists who used PRECIS-2 to score a
      diverse sample of 15 randomized controlled trial protocols. Discriminant validity
      was tested with two raters to independently determine if the trial protocols were
      more pragmatic or more explanatory, with scores from the 19 raters for the 15
      trials as predictors of pragmatism. RESULTS: Interrater reliability was generally
      good, with seven of nine domains having an intraclass correlation coefficient
      over 0.65. Flexibility (adherence) and recruitment had wide confidence intervals,
      but raters found these difficult to rate and wanted more information. Each of the
      nine PRECIS-2 domains could be used to differentiate between trials taking more
      pragmatic or more explanatory approaches with better than chance discrimination
      for all domains. CONCLUSION: We have assessed the validity and reliability of
      PRECIS-2. An elaboration study and web site provide guidance to help future users
      of the tool which is continuing to be tested by trial teams, systematic
      reviewers, and funders.

PMID- 28603009
TI  - Graphic report of the results from propensity score method analyses.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To increase transparency in studies reporting propensity scores by
      using graphical methods that clearly illustrate (1) the number of participant
      exclusions that occur as a consequence of the analytic strategy and (2) whether
      treatment effects are constant or heterogeneous across propensity scores. STUDY
      DESIGN AND SETTING: We applied graphical methods to a real-world
      pharmacoepidemiologic study that evaluated the effect of initiating statin
      medication on the 1-year all-cause mortality post-myocardial infarction. We
      propose graphical methods to show the consequences of trimming and matching on
      the exclusion of participants from the analysis. We also propose the use of meta
      analytical forest plots to show the magnitude of effect heterogeneity. RESULTS: A
      density plot with vertical lines demonstrated the proportion of subjects excluded
      because of trimming. A frequency plot with horizontal lines demonstrated the
      proportion of subjects excluded because of matching. An augmented forest plot
      illustrates the amount of effect heterogeneity present in the data. CONCLUSION:
      Our proposed techniques present additional and useful information that helps
      readers understand the sample that is analyzed with propensity score methods and
      whether effect heterogeneity is present.

PMID- 28603010
TI  - Deficiencies in addressing effect modification in network meta-analyses: a meta
      epidemiological survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the current state of
      reporting and handling of effect modification in network meta-analyses (NMAs) and
      perform exploratory analyses to identify variables that are potentially
      associated with incomplete reporting of effect modifiers in NMAs. STUDY DESIGN
      AND SETTING: We conducted a meta-epidemiological survey using a systematic review
      of NMAs published in 2013 and identified through MEDLINE and Embase databases.
      RESULTS: The review identified 77 NMAs. The most common type of effect modifiers
      identified and explored were patient characteristics (50.7% or 39/77), and the
      most common adjustment method used was sensitivity analysis (51.7% or 30/58).
      Over 45% (35/77) of studies did not describe a plan, nearly 40% (30/77) did not
      report the results of analyses, and approximately 47% (36/77) of studies had
      incomplete reporting. Exploratory univariate regression analyses yielded a
      statistically significant association for the variables of journal impact factor,
      ratio of randomized controlled trials to number of comparisons, and total number
      of randomized controlled trials. CONCLUSION: Current reporting practices are
      largely deficient, given that almost half of identified published NMAs do not
      explore or report effect modification. Journal impact factor and amount of
      available information in a network were associated with completeness of
      reporting.

PMID- 28603011
TI  - A comprehensive spectroscopic study of the polymorphs of diflunisal and their
      phase transformations.
AB  - Understanding phase transitions in pharmaceutical materials is of vital
      importance for drug manufacturing, processing and storage. In this paper we have
      carried out comprehensive high-resolution spectroscopic studies on the polymorphs
      of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diflunisal that has four known
      polymorphs, forms I-IV (FI-FIV), three of which have known crystal structures.
      Phase transformations during milling, heating, melt-quenching and exposure to
      high relative humidity were investigated using Raman and terahertz spectroscopy
      in combination with differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray powder
      diffraction. The observed phase transformations indicate the stability order
      FIII>FI>FII, FIV. Furthermore, crystallization experiments from the gas phase and
      from solution by fast evaporation of different solvents were carried out. Fast
      evaporation of an ethanolic solution below 70 degrees C was identified as a
      reliable and convenient method to obtain the somewhat elusive FII in bulk
      quantities.

PMID- 28603012
TI  - An improved three-vessel occlusion model of global cerebral ischemia in rats.
AB  - We developed an improved three-vessel occlusion model of global cerebral ischemia
      in rats. This method consists in cessation of cerebral blood flow by accessing a.
      carotis communis sinistra through the ventral surface of the neck as well as tr.
      brachiocephalicus and a. subclavia sinistra through the first intercostal space,
      bypassing the pleural cavity and excluding pneumothorax. After the occlusion of
      the vessels that resulted in interruption of their blood flow, according to laser
      Doppler flowmetry, there was a sharp decline in local cerebral blood flow in the
      visual cortex to 4+/-1% of the initial level. After restoring the level of local
      cerebral blood flow at the 5th minute, 10th minute, 20th minute and 24th hour of
      reperfusion, the levels of local cerebral blood flow were 51+/-7%, 41+/-5%, 35+/
      8% and 54+/-9% of the initial level, respectively. Histo-quantitative analysis of
      changes in neurons of the hippocampus of rats showed that after ischemic injury,
      the numerical density of neurons in hippocampal zone CA1 in the observed 1mm2
      region decreased by 29%, 22%, and 35%, respectively, compared to sham-operated
      animals (p<0.05). By the first day after global cerebral ischemia, the
      experimental group had shown a mean neurological deficit score equal to 7.5+/-1.0
      and 7.9+/-0.7 points, followed by a decrease up to score 6.5+/-1.1 and 5.9+/-0.7
      on the third day, 4.6+/-0.8 and 4.7+/-0.5 on the fifth day (on chloral hydrate
      and propofol anesthesia correspondently).

PMID- 28603014
TI  - Distribution of CGRP and its receptor components CLR and RAMP1 in the rat retina.
AB  - Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a 37 amino acid neuropeptide with
      several functions including vasodilation, the perception of painful stimuli, and
      inflammation. The CGRP receptor consists of two main components; calcitonin-like
      receptor (CLR) and receptor activity-modifying protein 1 (RAMP1). While there is
      a growing recognition that CGRP plays a key role in migraine, the function of
      CGRP in the retina has not been fully established. This study aims to investigate
      the distribution of CGRP and its two receptor components in the rat retina,
      visually by immunohistochemistry and quantitatively using flow cytometry. CGRP
      immunoreactivity was found in the Muller cells while CLR/RAMP1 was located in the
      nerve fiber layer. Furthermore, since almost all RAMP1 immunoreactive cells co
      express CLR, we propose that RAMP1 expression in the retina reflects functional
      CGRP receptors.

PMID- 28603015
TI  - Activation of a Ca2+-dependent cation conductance with properties of TRPM2 by
      reactive oxygen species in lens epithelial cells.
AB  - Ion channels are crucial for maintenance of ion homeostasis and transparency of
      the lens. The lens epithelium is the metabolically and electrophysiologically
      active cell type providing nutrients, ions and water to the lens fiber cells.
      Ca2+-dependent non-selective ion channels seem to play an important role for ion
      homeostasis. The aim of the study was to identify and characterize Ca2+- and
      reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent non-selective cation channels in human
      lens epithelial cells. RT-PCR revealed gene expression of the Ca2+-activated non
      selective cation channels TRPC3, TRPM2, TRPM4 and Ano6 in both primary lens
      epithelial cells and the cell line HLE-B3, whereas TRPM5 mRNA was only found in
      HLE-B3 cells. Using whole-cell patch-clamp technique, ionomycin evoked non
      selective cation currents with linear current-voltage relationship in both cell
      types. The current was decreased by flufenamic acid (FFA), 2-APB, 9-phenanthrol
      and miconazole, but insensitive to DIDS, ruthenium red, and intracellularly
      applied spermine. H2O2 evoked a comparable current, abolished by FFA. TRPM2
      protein expression in HLE-B3 cells was confirmed by means of immunocytochemistry
      and western blot. In summary, we conclude that lens epithelial cells functionally
      express Ca2+- and H2O2-activated non-selective cation channels with properties of
      TRPM2.

PMID- 28603013
TI  - Oxytocin (OXT)-stimulated inhibition of Kir7.1 activity is through PIP2-dependent
      Ca2+ response of the oxytocin receptor in the retinal pigment epithelium in
      vitro.
AB  - Oxytocin (OXT) is a neuropeptide that activates the oxytocin receptor (OXTR), a
      rhodopsin family G-protein coupled receptor. Our localization of OXTR to the
      retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), in close proximity to OXT in the adjacent
      photoreceptor neurons, leads us to propose that OXT plays an important role in
      RPE-retinal communication. An increase of RPE [Ca2+]i in response to OXT
      stimulation implies that the RPE may utilize oxytocinergic signaling as a
      mechanism by which it accomplishes some of its many roles. In this study, we used
      an established human RPE cell line, a HEK293 heterologous OXTR expression system,
      and pharmacological inhibitors of Ca2+ signaling to demonstrate that OXTR
      utilizes capacitative Ca2+ entry (CCE) mechanisms to sustain an increase in
      cytoplasmic Ca2+. These findings demonstrate how multiple functional outcomes of
      OXT-OXTR signaling could be integrated via a single pathway. In addition, the
      activated OXTR was able to inhibit the Kir7.1 channel, an important mediator of
      sub retinal waste transport and K+ homeostasis.

PMID- 28603017
TI  - Effects of diabetes mellitus on biomechanical properties of the rabbit cornea.
AB  - To investigate the effects of diabetes on the biomechanical behavior of cornea in
      alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced in 20
      rabbits using alloxan, while another 20 age- and weight-matched non-diabetic
      rabbits served as controls. Eyes were enucleated after 8 weeks of inducing
      diabetes and the whole cornea was removed with a 3 mm wide scleral ring and
      tested under inflation conditions with an internal pressure range of 2.0-30.0
      mmHg to determine their stress-strain behavior using an inverse analysis process.
      The blood glucose level (BG), advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs), central
      corneal thickness (CCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP) increased significantly in
      the DM group. There were statistically significant correlations between BG and
      AGEs (r = 0.768, p = 0.00), and between AGEs and CCT variation upon induction of
      DM (r = 0.594, p = 0.00). The tangent modulus (Et) of the cornea at four stress
      levels (1-4 kPa, equivalent to approximately IOP of 7.5, 15, 22.5 and 30 mmHg,
      respectively) was significantly higher in diabetic rabbits than in the control
      group (p < 0.05). Further, Et at stress of 2 kPa (which corresponded to the
      average IOP for the control group) was significantly correlated with BG (r =
      0.378, p < 0.05), AGEs (r = 0.496, p < 0.05) and CCT variation upon induction of
      DM (r = 0.439, p < 0.05). IOP, as measured by contact tonometry, was also
      significantly correlated with both CCT (r = 0.315, p < 0.05) and Et at 2 kPa (r =
      0.329, p < 0.05), and even after correcting for the effects of CCT and Et, IOP
      still significantly increased with both AGEs (r = 0.772, p = 0.00) and BG (r =
      0.762, p = 0.00). The cornea of diabetic rabbits showed a significant increase in
      mechanical stiffness as evidenced by increases in corneal thickness and tangent
      modulus. The Et increase may be explained by a non-enzymatic cross-linking of
      collagen fibrils mediated by AGEs due to the high blood glucose levels in
      diabetes. The study also found significant IOP increases with higher blood
      glucose level even after controlling the effects of both corneal thickness and
      tangent modulus.

PMID- 28603016
TI  - Rapid repeatable in vivo detection of retinal reactive oxygen species.
AB  - Oxidative injuries, such as those related to reactive oxygen species (ROS), have
      been implicated in various retinal and optic nerve disorders. Many ROS detection
      methods have been developed. Although widely utilized, many of these methods are
      useful only in post mortem tissues, or require relatively expensive equipment, or
      involve intraocular injection. In the present study, we demonstrated and
      characterized a chemiluminescent probe L-012 as a noninvasive, in vivo ROS
      detection agent in the mouse retina. Using optic nerve crush (ONC) and retinal
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) as injury models, we show that L-012 produced
      intensive luminescent signals specifically in the injured eyes. Histological
      examination showed that L-012 administration was safe to the retina.
      Additionally, compounds that reduce tissue superoxide levels, apocynin and
      TEMPOL, decreased injury-induced L-012 chemiluminescence. The decrease in L-012
      signals correlated with their protective effects against retinal I/R-induced
      morphological and functional changes in the retina. Together, these data
      demonstrate the feasibility of a fast, simple, reproducible, and non-invasive
      detection method to monitor in vivo ROS in the retina. Furthermore, the results
      also show that reduction of ROS is a potential therapeutic approach for
      protection from these retinal injuries.

PMID- 28603018
TI  - Mechanistic Analysis of Human Skin Distribution and Follicular Targeting of
      Adapalene-Loaded Biodegradable Nanospheres With an Insight Into Hydrogel Matrix
      Influence, In Vitro Skin Irritation, and In Vivo Tolerability.
AB  - This work aimed at the development of a biocompatible, non-oily nanomedicine for
      follicular delivery of adapalene (AD) ameliorating its irritation potential for
      convenient localized topical treatment of acne vulgaris. AD was efficiently
      incorporated into poly-epsilon-caprolactone nanospheres (NS) with an
      encapsulation efficiency of 84.73% +/- 1.52%, a particle size of 107.5 +/- 8.19
      nm, and zeta potential of -13.1 mV demonstrating a sustained-release behavior.
      The AD-NS were embedded in either hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) or
      hyaluronate (HA) gel. The ex vivo human skin dermatokinetics of AD from each
      system was studied. The nanoparticles dispersion showed significantly higher AD
      retention in the epidermis and dermis than AD suspension. NS-HPMC decreased
      whereas NS-HA increased AD retained in all the skin layers. The fate of the NS
      and the role of the hydrogel in modulating skin distribution was evaluated by
      confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) imaging of fluorescently labeled NS.
      CLSM illustrated follicular localization of the florescent NS. HPMC gel
      restricted the presence of NS to the stratum corneum and epidermis. HA gel
      enhanced the penetration of NS to all the skin layers. In vitro skin irritation
      using human dermal fibroblasts and in vivo animal tolerability studies were
      performed. Accordingly, HA gel-dispersed AD-NS presented a nonirritant
      compromised cosmeceutical formulation suitable for oily acneic skin.

PMID- 28603019
TI  - Friability Testing as a New Stress-Stability Assay for Biopharmaceuticals.
AB  - A cycle of dropping and shaking a vial containing antibody solution was reported
      to induce aggregation. In this study, antibody solutions in glass prefillable
      syringes with or without silicone oil lubrication were subjected to the combined
      stresses of dropping and shaking, using a friability testing apparatus. Larger
      numbers of subvisible particles were generated, regardless of silicone oil
      lubrication, upon combination stress exposure than that with shaking stress
      alone. Nucleation of antibody molecules upon perturbation by an impact of
      dropping and adsorption of antibody molecules to the syringe surface followed by
      film formation and antibody film desorption were considered key steps in the
      particle formation promoted by combination stress. A larger number of silicone
      oil droplets was released when silicone oil-lubricated glass syringes containing
      phosphate buffer saline were exposed to combination stress than that observed
      with shaking stress alone. Polysorbate 20, a non-ionic surfactant, effectively
      reduced the number of protein particles, but failed to prevent silicone oil
      release upon combination stress exposure. This study indicates that stress
      stability assays using the friability testing apparatus are effective for
      assessing the stability of biopharmaceuticals under the combined stresses of
      dropping and shaking, which have not been tested in conventional stress-stability
      assays.

PMID- 28603020
TI  - Hot Melt Extrusion as Solvent-Free Technique for a Continuous Manufacturing of
      Drug-Loaded Mesoporous Silica.
AB  - The aim of this study is to explore hot melt extrusion (HME) as a solvent-free
      drug loading technique for preparation of stable amorphous solid dispersions
      using mesoporous silica (PSi). Ibuprofen and carvedilol were used as poorly
      soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Due to the high friction of an
      API:PSi mixture below the loading limit of the API, it was necessary to add the
      polymer Soluplus(r) (SOL) in order to enable the extrusion process. As a result,
      the APIs were distributed between the PSi and SOL phase after HME. Due to its
      higher affinity to PSi, ibuprofen was mainly adsorbed into the PSi, whereas
      carvedilol was mainly found in the SOL phase. Intrinsic dissolution rate was
      highest for HME formulations, containing PSi, compared to pure crystalline
      (amorphous) APIs and HME formulations without PSi. HME is a feasible solvent-free
      drug loading technique for preparation of PSi-based amorphous solid dispersions.

PMID- 28603021
TI  - Detection of uncommon G3P[3] rotavirus A (RVA) strain in rat possessing a human
      RVA-like VP6 and a novel NSP2 genotype.
AB  - Rotavirus is one of the leading causes of acute gastroenteritis in infants and
      young children. RVAs infect not only humans but also a wide range of mammals
      including rats, which represent a reservoir of several other zoonotic pathogens.
      Due to the segmented nature of the RVA genome, animal RVA strains can easily
      adapt to the human host by reassortment with co-infecting human viruses. This
      study aims to detect and characterize RVA in the intestinal content of Italian
      sinantropic rats (Rattus rattus). Out of 40 samples examined following molecular
      approach, one resulted positive for RVA. The molecular characterization of VP1-4,
      6 and 7, and NSP1-5 genes by sequencing revealed the genomic constellation G3
      P[3]-I1-R11-C11-M10-A22-N18-T14-E18-H13. This uncommon genomic combination
      includes: the VP1-4,VP7, the NSP1, 3, 4 and 5 gene segments, closely related to
      those of RVA from rodents, the N18 novel genotype established for the NSP2 gene
      segment and the human Wa-like VP6 gene, suggesting interspecies reassortment.

PMID- 28603022
TI  - Variation analysis of norovirus among children with diarrhea in rural Hebei
      Province, north of China.
AB  - To understand the distribution of genotyping, as well as evolution of norovirus
      circulating among children<5yrs., a population-based diarrhea surveillance
      targeted children<5yrs. was conducted in rural Zhengding County, Hebei Province,
      China between October 2011 and March 2012. RT-PCR was used to amplify the capsid
      encoding region of GI and GII norovirus to identify norovirus infection. All PCR
      products were sequenced and analyzed for genotyping and constructing phylogenetic
      tree. Dynamic distribution network was constructed by TempNet to illustrate the
      genetic relationships at two different time points. Bayesian evolutionary
      inference techniques were applied by BEAST software to study the norovirus
      evolution rate. During the 6-month surveillance period, 1091 episodes of diarrhea
      were reported from 5633 children under 5years of age lived in catchment area. 115
      of 1091 stool specimens were detected as norovirus positive (10.54%). Five
      genotypes based on capsid gene sequences were identified, including GII.2 (11),
      GII.3 (52), GII.4 (47), GII.6 (4) and GII.7 (1). An identical haplotype of GII.4
      circulated between 2006 and 2011 in Hebei Province. A mean rate of 6.29*10-2
      nucleotide substitutions/site/year (s/s/y) was obtained for GII.3 viruses in
      Hebei, while the GII.4 viruses evolved at a mean rate of 3.67*10-2s/s/y. In
      conclusions, GII.3 (45.22%) and GII. 4(40.87%) are the predominant strain in
      Hebei Province in the winter season of 2011 and 2012. Different from the current
      consensus, our study shows that GII.3 noroviruses in Hebei Province evolved at a
      faster rate than GII.4 viruses.

PMID- 28603023
TI  - Deciphering the role of microRNA - A step by step guide.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs), are small non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides in
      length, playing an important role in regulating gene expression post
      transcriptionally. Understanding the effect of miRNA regulation in a pathway
      specific manner unravels the approaches adopted to apprehend biological
      mechanisms, the information, which is scanty for researchers, not primed already
      for miR related research. Here, we describe a quick perspective in 5 steps with
      probable approaches and assays at every level to unravel the specific role of a
      microRNA, miR-145a-5p, as an example. This perspective as a guide would help in
      identifying novel targets for a microRNA, as shown for miR-145a-5p, which down
      regulated the mRNA expression of ADD3 and BRCA2, using bioinformatic tools and
      experimental assays.

PMID- 28603024
TI  - Functional research and molecular mechanism of Kainic acid-induced
      denitrosylation of thioredoxin-1 in rat hippocampus.
AB  - Thioredoxin-1 (Trx1) has long been recognized as a redox regulator, and is
      implicated in the inhibition of cell apoptosis. Trx1 is essential for the
      maintenance of the S-nitrosylation of molecules in cells. The S-nitrosylation of
      Trx1 is essential for the physiological function such as preservation of the
      redox regulatory activity. The mechanisms underlying Trx1 denitrosylation induced
      by kainate acid (KA) injection still remain uncharacterized. Our results showed
      that the S-nitrosylation levels of Trx1 were decreased subsequent to KA injection
      and that the glutamate receptor 6 (GluR6) antagonist NS102 could inhibit the
      denitrosylation of Trx1. Moreover, the denitrosylation of Trx1 following KA
      treatment could be suppressed by the Fas ligand (FasL) antisense
      oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODNs), the Trx reductase (TrxR) inhibitor
      dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), or the Nitric oxide (NO) donors sodium nitroprusside
      (SNP) and S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). Subsequently, these mechanisms were
      morphologically validated by cresyl violet staining, in situ TUNEL staining to
      detect the survival of CA1 and CA3/DG pyramidal neurons. NS102, FasL AS-ODNs,
      GSNO and SNP could provide neuroprotection of the pyramidal neurons of CA1 and
      CA3/dentate gyrus (DG) regions by attenuating Trx1 denitrosylation. Our results
      also showed that the denitrosylation of Trx1 induced by KA injection can active
      the caspase-3 which results in apoptosis.

PMID- 28603025
TI  - The AMPA receptor positive allosteric modulator S 47445 rescues in vivo CA3-CA1
      long-term potentiation and structural synaptic changes in old mice.
AB  - Positive allosteric modulators of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4
      isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) are small molecules that decrease
      deactivation of AMPARs via an allosteric site. These molecules keep the receptor
      in an active state. Interestingly, this type of modulator has been proposed for
      treating cognitive decline in ageing, dementias, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). S
      47445 (8-cyclopropyl-3-[2-(3-fluorophenyl)ethyl]-7,8-dihydro-3H-[1,3]oxazino[6,5
      g][1,2,3]benzotriazine-4,9-dione) is a novel AMPAR positive allosteric modulator
      (AMPA-PAM). Here, the mechanisms by which S 47445 could improve synaptic strength
      and connectivity were studied and compared between young and old mice. A single
      oral administration of S 47445 at 10 mg/kg significantly increased long-term
      potentiation (LTP) in CA3-CA1 hippocampal synapses in alert young mice in
      comparison to control mice. Moreover, chronic treatment with S 47445 at 10 mg/kg
      in old alert animals significantly counteracted the deficit of LTP due to age.
      Accordingly, chronic treatment with S 47445 at 10 mg/kg seems to preserve
      synaptic cytoarchitecture in old mice as compared with young control mice. It was
      shown that the significant decreases in number and size of pre-synaptic buttons
      stained for VGlut1, and post-synaptic dendritic spines stained for spinophilin,
      observed in old mice were significantly prevented after chronic treatment with 10
      mg/kg of S 47445. Altogether, by its different effects on LTP, VGlut1-positive
      particles, and spinophilin, S 47445 is able to modulate both the structure and
      function of hippocampal excitatory synapses known to be involved in learning and
      memory processes. These results open a new window for the treatment of specific
      age-dependent cognitive decline and dementias such as AD.

PMID- 28603026
TI  - Widespread reduction of dopamine cell bodies and terminals in adult rats exposed
      to a low dose regimen of MDMA during adolescence.
AB  - Although MDMA (3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine, ecstasy) neurotoxicity in
      serotonin neurons is largely recognized in a wide variety of species including
      man, neurotoxicity in dopamine (DA) neurons is thought to be species-specific.
      MDMA is mainly consumed by adolescents, often in conjunction with caffeine
      (Energy Drinks) and this association has been reported to exacerbate MDMA toxic
      effects. In order to model these aspects of MDMA use, vis-a-vis their impact on
      DA neurons, we investigated the effects of adolescent exposure to low doses of
      MDMA (5 mg/kg for 10 days), alone or in combination with caffeine (10 mg/kg) on
      neuronal and functional DA indices and on recognition memory in adult rats. MDMA
      reduced density of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive neurons in the ventral
      tegmental area and in the substantia nigra pars compacta, and immunoreactivity of
      TH and DA transporter in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and core, and caudate
      putamen. This same treatment caused a reduction of basal dialysate DA in the NAc
      core. MDMA-pretreated rats also showed behavioral sensitization to a MDMA
      challenge at adulthood and potentiation of MDMA-induced increase of dialysate DA
      in the NAc core, but not in the NAc shell. In addition, MDMA-treated rats
      displayed a deficit in recognition memory. Caffeine co-administration did not
      affect the above outcomes. Our results show that adolescent exposure of rats to
      low doses of MDMA induces long-lasting and widespread reduction of DA neurons
      indicative of a neurotoxic effect on DA neurons and suggestive of a degeneration
      of the same neurons.

PMID- 28603027
TI  - Plasticity Mechanisms of Memory Consolidation and Reconsolidation in the
      Perirhinal Cortex.
AB  - In this review we explore the role of the perirhinal cortex (Prh) in memory,
      focusing on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that have been described to
      happen in this structure. The Prh is part of the medial temporal lobe, but the
      evidences show that it has a different function than that of the hippocampus. In
      particular, the Prh is known to be important for object recognition memory,
      although it could have a role in other types of memory. However, despite the fact
      that object recognition tasks are widely used, information regarding the
      molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this type of memory in Prh is
      lacking. We discuss a series of studies of memory and plasticity in this region
      and how they might relate. In addition, we propose that Prh could play a role as
      a "pattern separator" for object memories, similar to the function of the dentate
      gyrus of the hippocampus in the spatial domain.

PMID- 28603029
TI  - Mechanical microencapsulation: The best technique in taste masking for the
      manufacturing scale - Effect of polymer encapsulation on drug targeting.
AB  - Drug taste masking is a crucial process for the preparation of pediatric and
      geriatric formulations as well as fast dissolving tablets. Taste masking
      techniques aim to prevent drug release in saliva and at the same time to obtain
      the desired release profile in gastrointestinal tract. Several taste masking
      methods are reported, however this review has focused on a group of promising
      methods; complexation, encapsulation, and hot melting. The effects of each method
      on the physicochemical properties of the drug are described in details.
      Furthermore, a scoring system was established to evaluate each process using
      recent published data of selected factors. These include, input, process, and
      output factors that are related to each taste masking method. Input factors
      include the attributes of the materials used for taste masking. Process factors
      include equipment type and process parameters. Finally, output factors, include
      taste masking quality and yield. As a result, Mechanical microencapsulation
      obtained the highest score (5/8) along with complexation with cyclodextrin
      suggesting that these methods are the most preferable for drug taste masking.

PMID- 28603028
TI  - Targeting of p32 in peritoneal carcinomatosis with intraperitoneal linTT1 peptide
      guided pro-apoptotic nanoparticles.
AB  - Gastrointestinal and gynecological malignancies disseminate in the peritoneal
      cavity - a condition known as peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). Intraperitoneal
      (IP) administration can be used to improve therapeutic index of anticancer drugs
      used for PC treatment. Activity of IP anticancer drugs can be further potentiated
      by encapsulation in nanocarriers and/or affinity targeting with tumor-specific
      affinity ligands, such as tumor homing peptides. Here we evaluated a novel tumor
      penetrating peptide, linTT1 (AKRGARSTA), as a PC targeting ligand for
      nanoparticles. We first demonstrated that the primary homing receptor for linTT1,
      p32 (or gC1qR), is expressed on the cell surface of peritoneal carcinoma cell
      lines of gastric (MKN-45P), ovarian (SKOV-3), and colon (CT-26) origin, and that
      peritoneal tumors in mice and clinical peritoneal carcinoma explants express p32
      protein accessible from the IP space. Iron oxide nanoworms (NWs) functionalized
      with the linTT1 peptide were taken up and routed to mitochondria in cultured PC
      cells. NWs functionalized with linTT1 peptide in tandem with a pro-apoptotic
      [D(KLAKLAK)2] peptide showed p32-dependent cytotoxicity in MKN-45P, SKOV-3, and
      CT-26 cells. Upon IP administration in mice bearing MKN-45P, SKOV-3, and CT-26
      tumors, linTT1-functionalized NWs showed robust homing and penetration into
      malignant lesions, whereas only a background accumulation was seen in control
      tissues. In tumors, the linTT1-NW accumulation was seen predominantly in CD31
      positive blood vessels, in LYVE-1-positive lymphatic structures, and in CD11b
      positive tumor macrophages. Experimental therapy of mice bearing peritoneal MKN
      45P xenografts and CT-26 syngeneic tumors with IP linTT1-D(KLAKLAK)2-NWs resulted
      in significant reduction of weight of peritoneal tumors and significant decrease
      in the number of metastatic tumor nodules, whereas treatment with untargeted
      D(KLAKLAK)2-NWs had no effect. Our data show that targeting of p32 with linTT1
      tumor-penetrating peptide improves tumor selectivity and antitumor efficacy of IP
      pro-apoptotic NWs. P32-directed intraperitoneal targeting of other anticancer
      agents and nanoparticles using peptides and other affinity ligands may represent
      a general strategy to increase their therapeutic index.

PMID- 28603030
TI  - Nanosizing techniques for improving bioavailability of drugs.
AB  - The poor solubility of significant number of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
      (APIs) has become a major challenge in the drug development process. Drugs with
      poor solubility are difficult to formulate by conventional methods and often show
      poor bioavailability. In the last decade, attention has been focused on
      developing nanocrystals for poorly water soluble drugs using nanosizing
      techniques. Nanosizing is a pharmaceutical process that changes the size of a
      drug to the sub-micron range in an attempt to increase its surface area and
      consequently its dissolution rate and bioavailability. The effectiveness of
      nanocrystal drugs is evidenced by the fact that six FDA approved nanocrystal
      drugs are already on the market. The bioavailabilities of these preparations have
      been significantly improved compared to their conventional dosage forms. There
      are two main approaches for preparation of drug nanocrystals; these are the top
      down and bottom-up techniques. Top-down techniques have been successfully used in
      both lab scale and commercial scale manufacture. Bottom-up approaches have not
      yet been used at a commercial level, however, these techniques have been found to
      produce narrow sized distribution nanocrystals using simple methods. Bottom-up
      techniques have been also used in combination with top-down processes to produce
      drug nanoparticles. The main aim of this review article is to discuss the various
      methods for nanosizing drugs to improve their bioavailabilities.

PMID- 28603031
TI  - Silk fibroin degumming affects scaffold structure and release of macromolecular
      drugs.
AB  - Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural polymer with tremendous potential as a matrix for
      drug delivery systems as well as for tissue engineering. Silk sericin (SS)
      removal (degumming) is a critical step during SF purification, potentially
      affecting SF integrity and resulting in structural changes such as partial
      hydrolysis and inhibition of micelle formation. In addition to SF composition
      itself, the molecular weight and charge of encapsulated drugs may significantly
      affect drug release from SF matrices. The effect of these parameters on drug
      release was investigated by varying SF degumming time and charge of the model
      compound encapsulated in SF films. With increasing degumming time, average SF
      molecular weight decreased, molecular weight distribution became broader and
      formation of SF micelles was impaired. However, beta-sheet content was not
      affected by degumming time, suggesting that degradation occurred mainly in
      hydrophilic domains of SF. The release of differently charged dextran
      derivatives, used as macromolecular model drugs, was significantly affected by SF
      degumming. Release of neutral dextran increased with increasing degumming time.
      In contrast, negatively charged dextran showed an inverse effect potentially due
      to reduced SF charge density with increased degumming time. Interestingly,
      positively charged dextran were shown to partly form polyelectrolyte complexes
      with SF by isothermal titration calorimetry but also exhibited phase separation
      during film drying resulting in fast burst release. These results demonstrate
      that both, SF preparation as well as drug charge significantly affect drug
      release from SF matrices.

PMID- 28603032
TI  - beta2-adrenergic receptor-mediated in vitro regulation of human hepatic drug
      transporter expression by epinephrine.
AB  - The catecholamine epinephrine is known to repress expression of hepatic drug
      metabolizing enzymes such as cytochromes P-450. The present study was designed to
      determine whether epinephrine may also target expression of main hepatic drug
      transporters, that play a major role in liver detoxification and are commonly
      coordinately regulated with drug detoxifying enzymes. Treatment of primary human
      hepatocytes with 10MUM epinephrine for 24h repressed mRNA expression of various
      transporters, such as the sinusoidal influx transporters NTCP, OATP1B1, OATP2B1,
      OAT2, OAT7 and OCT1 and the efflux transporters MRP2, MRP3 and BSEP, whereas it
      induced that of MDR1, but failed to alter that of BCRP. Most of these changes in
      transporter mRNA levels were also found in epinephrine-exposed human highly
      differentiated hepatoma HepaRG cells, which additionally exhibited reduced
      protein expression of OATP2B1 and MRP3, increased expression of P-glycoprotein
      and decreased transport activity of NTCP, OATPs and OCT1. Epinephrine effects
      towards transporter mRNA expression in human hepatocytes were next shown to be
      correlated to those of the selective beta2-adrenoreceptor (ADR) agonist
      fenoterol, of the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin and of the cAMP analogue
      8-bromo-cAMP. In addition, the non-selective beta-ADR antagonist carazolol and
      the selective beta2-ADR antagonist ICI-118,551, unlike the alpha-ADR antagonist
      phentolamine, suppressed epinephrine-mediated repressions of transporter mRNA
      expression. Taken together, these data indicate that epinephrine regulates in
      vitro expression of main hepatic drug transporters in a beta2-ADR/adenylate
      cyclase/cAMP-dependent manner. Hepatic drug transport appears therefore as a
      target of the beta2-adrenergic system, which may have to deserve attention for
      drugs interacting with beta2-ADRs.

PMID- 28603033
TI  - In vivo analysis of supersaturation/precipitation/absorption behavior after oral
      administration of pioglitazone hydrochloride salt; determinant site of oral
      absorption.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate in vivo
      supersaturation/precipitation/absorption behavior in the gastrointestinal (GI)
      tract based on the luminal concentration-time profiles after oral administration
      of pioglitazone (PG, a highly permeable lipophilic base) and its hydrochloride
      salt (PG-HCl) to rats. In the in vitro precipitation experiment in the classic
      closed system, while the supersaturation was stable in the simulated gastric
      condition, PG drastically precipitated in the simulated intestinal condition,
      particularly at a higher initial degree of supersaturation. Nonetheless, a
      drastic and moderate improvement in absorption was observed in vivo at a low and
      high dose of PG-HCl, respectively. Analysis based on the luminal concentration of
      PG after oral administration of PG-HCl at a low dose revealed that most of the
      dissolved PG emptied from the stomach was rapidly absorbed before its
      precipitation in the duodenum. At a high dose of PG-HCl, PG partly precipitated
      in the duodenum but was absorbed to some extent. Therefore, the extent of the
      absorption was mainly dependent on the duodenal precipitation behavior.
      Furthermore, a higher-than expected absorption after oral administration of PG
      HCl from in vitro precipitation study may be due to the absorption process in the
      small intestine, which suppresses the precipitation by removal of the drug. This
      study successfully clarify the impact of the absorption process on the
      supersaturation/precipitation/absorption behavior and key absorption site for a
      salt formulation of a highly permeable lipophilic base based on the direct
      observation of in vivo luminal concentration. Our findings may be beneficial in
      developing an ideal physiologically based pharmacokinetic model and in vitro
      predictive dissolution tools and/or translating the in silico and in vitro data
      to the in vivo outcome.

PMID- 28603034
TI  - Relaxation induced by the nitric oxide donor and cyclooxygenase inhibitor NCX2121
      in renal hypertensive rat aortas.

PMID- 28603035
TI  - Evolution of the miR5200-FLOWERING LOCUS T flowering time regulon in the
      temperate grass subfamily Pooideae.
AB  - Flowering time is a carefully regulated trait controlled primarily through the
      action of the central genetic regulator, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). Recently it was
      demonstrated that a microRNA, miR5200, targets the end of the second exon of FT
      under short-day photoperiods in the grass subfamily Pooideae, thus preventing FT
      transcripts from reaching threshold levels under non-inductive conditions.
      Pooideae are an interesting group in that they rapidly diversified from the
      tropics into the northern temperate region during a major global cooling event
      spanning the Eocene-Oligocene transition. We hypothesize that miR5200 photoperiod
      sensitive regulation of Pooideae flowering time networks assisted their
      transition into northern seasonal environments. Here, we test predictions derived
      from this hypothesis that miR5200, originally found in bread wheat and later
      identified in Brachypodium distachyon, (1) was present in the genome of the
      Pooideae common ancestor, (2) is transcriptionally regulated by photoperiod, and
      (3) is negatively correlated with FT transcript abundance, indicative of miR5200
      regulating FT. Our results demonstrate that miR5200 did evolve at or around the
      base of Pooideae, but only acquired photoperiod-regulated transcription within
      the Brachypodium lineage. Based on expression profiles and previous data, we
      posit that the progenitor of miR5200 was co-regulated with FT by an unknown
      mechanism.

PMID- 28603036
TI  - Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) and Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) codon bias
      analysis reveals a progressive adaptation to the new niche after the host jump.
AB  - Based on virus dependence from host cell machinery, their codon usage is expected
      to show a strong relation with the host one. Even if this association has been
      stated, especially for bacteria viruses, the linkage is considered to be less
      consistent for more complex organisms and a codon bias adaptation after host jump
      has never been proven. Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) was selected as a model
      because it represents a well characterized case of host jump, originating from
      Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV). The current study demonstrates that the
      adaptation to specific tissue and host codon bias affected CPV-2 evolution.
      Remarkably, FPV and CPV-2 showed a higher closeness toward the codon bias of the
      tissues they display the higher tropism for. Moreover, after the host jump, a
      clear and significant trend was evidenced toward a reduction in the distance
      between CPV-2 and the dog codon bias over time. This evidence was not confirmed
      for FPV, suggesting that an equilibrium has been reached during the prolonged
      virus-host co-evolution. Additionally, the presence of an intermediate pattern
      displayed by some strains infecting wild species suggests that these could have
      facilitated the host switch also by acting on codon bias.

PMID- 28603037
TI  - Species boundaries in the Astragalus cusickii complex delimited using molecular
      phylogenetic techniques.
AB  - Understanding the source of phenotypic variability is a challenge in the
      biological sciences. Variation in phenotypes is the result of variation in the
      genetics and environment the organism experiences, but elucidating the relative
      contribution of these two parameters can pose problems, especially in the field
      of systematics. Systematists are challenged to classify biological diversity into
      groups that share common ancestry. Phenotypic variation can be useful to
      demonstrate common ancestry, but only when the primary contributor to the
      variation is under strong genetic control, and thus heritable. Cusick's milkvetch
      (Astragalus cusickii) is a perennial forb endemic to the northwestern
      intermountain region of the United States. The species currently comprises four
      varieties based on subtle morphological dissimilarities, such as leaf size and
      density, and the size and shape of the seed pods. The taxonomic organization of
      the varieties of A. cusickii and related species of Astragalus were reexamined
      through phylogenetic analysis of low copy nuclear, nuclear-ribosomal, and
      chloroplast gene regions. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, Bayesian
      inference, the genealogical sorting index, and an approximately unbiased test
      were used to determine appropriate species boundaries under the phylogenetic
      species concept. The results support reclassification of A. cusickii var.
      packardiae and A. cusickii var. sterilis as separate species. Additionally,
      evidence suggests a chloroplast capture event may have occurred in one population
      of A. cusickii var. packardiae.

PMID- 28603038
TI  - A cross-species translational pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic evaluation of core
      body temperature reduction by the TRPM8 blocker PF-05105679.
AB  - PF-05105679 is a moderately potent TRPM8 blocker which has been evaluated for the
      treatment of cold pain sensitivity. The TRPM8 channel is responsible for the
      sensation of cold environmental temperatures and has been implicated in
      regulation of core body temperature. Consequently, blockade of TRPM8 has been
      suggested to result in lowering of core body temperature. As part of the
      progression to human studies, the effect of PF-05105679 on core body temperature
      has been investigated in animals. Safety pharmacology studies showed that PF
      05105679 reduced core body temperature in a manner that was inversely related to
      body weight of the species tested (greater exposure to PF-05105679 was required
      to lower temperature by 1 degrees C in higher species). Based on an allometric
      (body weight) relationship, it was hypothesized that PF-05105679 would not lower
      core body temperature in humans at exposures that could exhibit pharmacological
      effects on cold pain sensation. On administration to humans, PF-05105679 was
      indeed effective at reversing the cold pain sensation associated with the cold
      pressor test in the absence of effects on core body temperature.

PMID- 28603039
TI  - Improvements, extensions, and practical aspects of rapid ASAP-HSQC and ALSOFAST
      HSQC pulse sequences for studying small molecules at natural abundance.
AB  - Previously we introduced two novel NMR experiments for small molecules, the so
      called ASAP-HSQC and ALSOFAST-HSQC (Schulze-Sunninghausen et al., 2014), which
      allow the detection of heteronuclear one-bond correlations in less than 30s at
      natural abundance. We propose an improved symmetrized pulse scheme of the basic
      experiment to minimize artifact intensities and the combination with non-uniform
      sampling to enable the acquisition of conventional HSQC spectra in as short as a
      couple of seconds and extremely 13C-resolved spectra in less than ten minutes.
      Based on steady state investigations, a first estimate to relative achievable
      signal intensities with respect to conventional, ASAP-, and ALSOFAST-HSQC
      experiments is given. In addition, we describe several extensions to the basic
      pulse schemes, like a multiplicity-edited version, a revised symmetrized CLIP
      ASAP-HSQC, an ASAP-/ALSOFAST-HSQC sequence with broadband BIRD-based 1H,1H
      decoupling, and a symmetrized sequence optimized for water suppression. Finally,
      RF-power considerations with respect to the high duty cycle of the experiments
      are given.

PMID- 28603040
TI  - A real-time control system of gene expression using ligand-bound nucleic acid
      aptamer for metabolic engineering.
AB  - Artificial control of bio-functions through regulating gene expression is one of
      the most important and attractive technologies to build novel living systems that
      are useful in the areas of chemical synthesis, nanotechnology, pharmacology, cell
      biology. Here, we present a novel real-time control system of gene regulation
      that includes an enhancement element by introducing duplex DNA aptamers upstream
      promoter and a repression element by introducing a RNA aptamer upstream ribosome
      binding site. With the presence of ligands corresponding to the DNA aptamers, the
      expression of the target gene can be potentially enhanced at the transcriptional
      level by strengthening the recognition capability of RNAP to the recognition
      region and speeding up the separation efficiency of the unwinding region due to
      the induced DNA bubble around the thrombin-bound aptamers; while with the
      presence of RNA aptamer ligand, the gene expression can be repressed at the
      translational level by weakening the recognition capability of ribosome to RBS
      due to the shielding of RBS by the formed aptamer-ligand complex upstream RBS.
      The effectiveness and potential utility of the developed gene regulation system
      were demonstrated by regulating the expression of ecaA gene in the cell-free
      systems. The realistic metabolic engineering application of the system has also
      tested by regulating the expression of mgtC gene and thrombin cDNA in Escherichia
      coli JD1021 for controlling metabolic flux and improving thrombin production,
      verifying that the real-time control system of gene regulation is able to realize
      the dynamic regulation of gene expression with potential applications in
      bacterial physiology studies and metabolic engineering.

PMID- 28603041
TI  - Modeling the mind: How do we design effective decision-support?

PMID- 28603042
TI  - Mephedrone exposure in adolescent rats alters the rewarding effect of morphine in
      adults.
AB  - An increasing number of data show that exposure to mephedrone in adolescence can
      have long-lasting implication on brain activity and on peripheral organs/tissues.
      The aim of this study was to investigate whether adolescent exposure to
      mephedrone (10mg/kg, i.p.) has influence upon the rewarding effect of morphine
      (5mg/kg, i.p.) in adult rats. Thus, the adolescent rats (on the 30th PND) were
      treated with mephedrone for 7 consecutive days. When the animals were adult (on
      the 60th PND) the morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) test was
      performed. After that, the level of DNA methylation in the striatum was
      investigated. DNA methylation is one of the epigenetic mechanisms which produces
      changes in the genome. These alterations may affect the phenotype, without effect
      on DNA sequences, and has influence on drug addiction. Additionally, in order to
      check the toxic properties of mephedrone on the peripheral organs, the
      histopathological examination of kidney and liver was carried out. The present
      experiments demonstrated that: 1) adolescent mephedrone exposure may intensify
      the rewarding effect of morphine in adult rats in the CPP test; 2) mephedrone may
      induce the alterations in DNA methylation in striatum of adult rats leading to
      changes in gene activity; 3) mephedrone may produce some retrogressive
      disturbances in kidney and liver, which confirms the toxic properties of this
      substance.

PMID- 28603043
TI  - TAK1 as the mediator in the protective effect of propofol on renal interstitial
      fibrosis induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury.
AB  - Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), which is a major cause of acute and chronic
      renal dysfunction, induces both apoptosis and fibrotic processes. The mitogen
      activated protein kinase kinase kinase transforming growth factor-beta-activated
      kinase 1 (TAK1) was implicated in the processes of inflammation and fibrosis. The
      protective effect of propofol on renal functionality after acute kidney injury
      (AKI) in mice has been identified, whereas the mechanisms underlying fibrosis
      induced by kidney injury remain obscure. Herein, we investigated whether the
      protective effect of propofol on renal interstitial fibrosis induced by
      ischemia/reperfusion injury was modulated by TAK1 in renal ischemia /reperfusion
      (I/R) mouse models. The results of immunohistochemistry and western blotting
      revealed that TAK1 was significantly upregulated in IR group versus the control
      group, which was reversed by propofol administration. In addition, fibronectin
      (FN), alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and type I collagen (COL1) were
      significantly downregulated and Tunnel staining revealed the number of tubular
      apoptotic cells was markedly reduced in IRP group versus IR group. Collectively,
      our results validated that propofol could ameliorate the IRI-induced renal
      interstitial fibrosis in mice by downregulation of TAK1 and inhibition of
      apoptosis at the early stage.

PMID- 28603044
TI  - Relaxation of isolated guinea-pig trachea by apigenin, a constituent of celery,
      via inhibition of phosphodiesterase.
AB  - Apigenin, was reported to have vasodilatory effects by inhibiting Ca2+ influx
      through both voltage- and receptor-operated calcium channels, but not by
      inhibiting cAMP- or cGMP-phosphodiesterases (PDEs) in rat thoracic aorta.
      However, apigenin was reported to inhibit PDE1, 2 and 3 in guinea-pig lung and
      heart. The aim of this study was to clarify that guinea-pig tracheal relaxation
      by apigenin whether via PDE inhibition. We isometrically recorded the tension of
      isolated guinea-pig tracheal segments on a polygraph. Antagonistic effects of
      apigenin against cumulative contractile agents or Ca2+ induced contractions of
      the trachealis in normal or isotonic high-K+, Ca2+-free Krebs solution,
      respectively. Effects of apigenin (15 and 30MUM) on the cumulative forskolin- and
      nitroprusside-induced relaxations to histamine (30MUM)-induced precontraction
      were performed. The inhibitory effects of 30-300MUM apigenin and 3-isobutyl-1
      methylxanthine (IBMX, positive control) on the cAMP- and cGMP-PDEs were
      determined. Apigenin concentration-dependently but non-competitively inhibited
      cumulative histamine-, carbachol- or Ca2+-induced contractions in normal or in
      the depolarized (K+, 60mM) trachealis, suggesting that Ca2+ influx through
      voltage-dependent calcium channels is inhibited. However, apigenin (15-30MUM)
      parallel leftward shifted the concentration-response curves of forskolin and
      nitroprusside, and significantly increased the pD2 values of these two cyclase
      activators. Both apigenin and IBMX, a reference drug, concentration (10-300MUM)
      dependently and significantly, but non-selectively inhibited the activities of
      cAMP- and cGMP-PDEs in the trachealis. In conclusion, the relaxant effect of
      apigenin may be due to inhibition of both enzyme activities and reduction of
      intracellular Ca2+ by inhibiting Ca2+ influx in the trachealis.

PMID- 28603045
TI  - Arctigenin improves vascular tone and decreases inflammation in human saphenous
      vein.
AB  - The goal of this study was to test the effects of bioactive phenylpropanoid
      dibenzylbutyrolactone lignan arctigenin (ATG) in vascular tone. Human bypass
      graft vessel, from a saphenous vein (SV), were set up in organ bath system and
      contracted with potassium chloride (KCl, 40mM). Two concentration-response curves
      of noradrenaline (NE) (10nM-100MUM) separated with an incubation period of 30min
      without (Control) or with ATG (3-100MUM) were established. Inhibitors of nitric
      oxide, prostaglandins, K+ related channels or calcium influx were used to
      delineate the molecular mechanisms beyond ATG effects. To investigate anti
      inflammatory actions, SV were treated with 10MUM or 100MUM ATG and incubated for
      18h in the absence or presence of both interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic the physiological or inflamed tissue
      conditions. Proatherogenic and inflammatory mediators Interleukine-1 beta (IL
      1beta), Monocyte Chemoattractant Proteine-1 (MCP-1), Tumor Necrosis Factor- alpha
      (TNF-alpha), Interleukine-6 (IL-6), Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and Interleukine-8
      (IL-8) in the supernatant were measured. ATG significantly decreased vascular
      contractile response to NE. Moreover, it reduced contractions induced by KCl and
      cumulative addition of CaCl2. The mediators were significantly increased in
      inflammatory conditions compared to normal conditions, an effect which was
      inhibited by ATG (10 and 100uM). ATG reduces contractions in SV and decreases the
      production of proinflammatory-proatherogenic mediators, setting the stage for
      further evaluating the effect of ATG in cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28603046
TI  - Hydroxycamptothecin prevents intraarticular scar adhesion by activating the PERK
      signal pathway.
AB  - Intraarticular adhesion is one of the complications when the patients suffer from
      operations of knee-joint. Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) can selectively inhibit the
      activity of topoisomerase I and has shown anti-proliferative effect in previous
      researches. The aim of our experiment was to investigate the effect of topical
      application of HCPT on preventing intraarticular scar adhesion by activating the
      PERK signal pathway. As the results showed, HCPT could prevent the intraarticular
      scar adhesion and the inhibitory effect was in a dose-dependent manner.
      Furthermore, we assumed that ER stress mediated the suppression effect of the
      intraarticular scar adhesion. The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the
      expression of GRP78 and CHOP were increased together with the tendency of HCPT.
      When human fibroblasts were treated with HCPT in vitro, cell viability was
      inhibited according to the results of CCK-8 assay and Hoechst staining, and cell
      apoptosis was induced according to the results of AV/PI and western blot
      analysis. HCPT-induced apoptosis was correlated with elevation of GRP78 and CHOP,
      which were hallmarks of ER stress. Proteins associated with PERK signal pathway
      such as p-PERK and p-eIF2alpha were upregulated after treated by HCPT determined
      by western blot analysis. Knockdown of PERK decreased the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2,
      GRP78 and CHOP expression, suggesting that PERK signal pathway was involved in
      HCPT-induced fibroblast apoptosis. Our findings indicate that topical application
      of HCPT can prevent intraarticular scar adhesion. ER stress plays an important
      role in this effect by inducing fibroblasts apoptosis that may be mediated by
      PERK signal pathway.

PMID- 28603047
TI  - Tadalafil induces antiproliferation, apoptosis, and phosphodiesterase type 5
      downregulation in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension in vitro.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a fatal disease of the
      pulmonary artery resulting from a currently unidentified etiology. IPAH is
      pathologically characterized as sustained vasoconstriction and vascular
      remodeling of the pulmonary artery. Vascular remodeling is mediated by enhanced
      proliferation and reduced apoptosis in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells
      (PASMCs). Based on its pathological mechanism, specific phosphodiesterase type 5
      (PDE5) inhibitors have been used in the treatment of IPAH. In addition to
      sildenafil, tadalafil has been approved for the treatment of IPAH. However, the
      effects of tadalafil on excessive proliferation of IPAH-PASMCs currently remain
      unknown. In the present study, the in vitro pharmacological profiles of tadalafil
      for cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed in IPAH-PASMCs using MTT, BrdU
      incorporation, and caspase 3/7 assays. Expression analyses revealed that PDE5
      mRNA and protein expression levels were markedly higher in IPAH-PASMCs than in
      normal-PASMCs. The treatment with tadalafil inhibited the excessive proliferation
      of IPAH-PASMCs in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 4.5MUM.
      On the other hand, tadalafil (0.03-100MUM) did not affect cell growth of PASMCs
      from normal subjects and patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension (CTEPH). In addition, tadalafil induced apoptosis in IPAH-PASMCs.
      The antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of tadalafil were markedly stronger
      than those of sildenafil and vardenafil. The upregulated expression of PDE5 in
      IPAH-PASMCs was significantly attenuated by a long-term treatment with tadalafil.
      Taken together, these results indicate that tadalafil attenuates vascular
      remodeling by inhibiting cell proliferation, promoting apoptosis, and
      downregulating PDE5 in IPAH-PASMCs, thereby ameliorating IPAH.

PMID- 28603048
TI  - Mitonuclear epistasis and mitochondrial disease.

PMID- 28603050
TI  - Optimizing Fecal Immunochemical Testing For Colorectal Cancer Screening.

PMID- 28603049
TI  - Ethnicity Influences Phenotype and Outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Population-based Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) (Crohn's disease [CD],
      ulcerative colitis) are global diseases. Similarities and differences in disease
      presentation and outcomes across different geographic regions and ethnic groups
      have not been compared previously. METHODS: We performed a systematic review and
      meta-analysis of population-based cohort studies examining the phenotype and
      outcome of IBD across ethnic groups categorized as Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and
      Asians. Further stratification was performed by migration status (native or
      immigrant). Pooled proportions of disease location, behavior, medication, and
      surgery use were calculated by using a random-effects model and compared
      statistically. RESULTS: Our final analysis included 198 unique studies reporting
      outcomes on 525,425 IBD patients (Caucasian, 65%; Asian, 30%; Hispanic, 2%; and
      Black, 1%). CD in Asians but not other ethnicities demonstrated a strong male
      predominance. Family history of IBD was infrequent in Asian patients. Both Black
      and Asian CD patients demonstrated perianal involvement more frequently. Surgery
      for both CD and UC was less common in Asians than Caucasians. Compared with
      native residents, a family history of IBD was reported more often among immigrant
      IBD patients, but no significant differences were noted in phenotype.
      CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate significant variation in the demographic
      distribution, familial predisposition, phenotype, and outcomes of IBD between
      Caucasians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. There is need for further study to
      understand the biology behind this variation.

PMID- 28603051
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28603053
TI  - Colonic Diverticula Are Not Associated With Mucosal Inflammation or Chronic
      Gastrointestinal Symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Colonic diverticulosis has been reported to be associated with
      low-grade mucosal inflammation, possibly leading to chronic gastrointestinal
      symptoms. However, there is poor evidence for this association. We aimed to
      determine mucosal inflammation and whether diverticula are associated with
      chronic gastrointestinal symptoms. We explored whether inflammation was present
      among symptomatic participants with and without diverticula. METHODS: We analyzed
      data from a prospective study of 619 patients undergoing a screening colonoscopy
      from 2013 through 2015 at the University of North Carolina Hospital in Chapel
      Hill, North Carolina. Among our participants, 255 (41%) had colonic diverticula.
      Colonic mucosal biopsy specimens were analyzed for levels of interleukin 6 (IL6),
      IL10, and tumor necrosis factor messenger RNAs by quantitative reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and numbers of immune cells (CD4+, CD8+,
      CD57+, and mast cell tryptase) by immunohistochemistry. Gastrointestinal symptoms
      were assessed using Rome III criteria. Proportional odds models were used to
      estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs). RESULTS: After
      adjustment for potential confounders, there was no association between
      diverticulosis and tumor necrosis factor (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.63-1.16), and no
      association with CD4+ cells (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.87-1.60), CD8+ cells (OR, 0.97;
      95% CI, 0.71-1.32), or CD57+ cells (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.59-1.09). Compared with
      controls without diverticulosis, biopsy specimens from individuals with
      diverticulosis were less likely to express the inflammatory cytokine IL6 (OR,
      0.59; 95% CI, 0.36-0.96). There was no association between diverticulosis and
      irritable bowel syndrome (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.26-1.05) or chronic abdominal pain
      (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.38-1.23). There was no evidence for inflammation in patients
      with symptoms when patients with vs without diverticulosis were compared.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that colonic diverticulosis is associated with
      mucosal inflammation or gastrointestinal symptoms. Among patients with symptoms
      and diverticula, we found no mucosal inflammation.

PMID- 28603052
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Mycophenolate Mofetil and Tacrolimus as Second-line
      Therapy for Patients With Autoimmune Hepatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Predniso(lo)ne, alone or in combination with azathioprine, is
      the standard-of-care (SOC) therapy for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). However, the
      SOC therapy is poorly tolerated or does not control disease activity in up to 20%
      of patients. We assessed the efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and
      tacrolimus as second-line therapy for patients with AIH. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective study of data (from 19 centers in Europe, the United States,
      Canada, and China) from 201 patients with AIH who received second-line therapy
      (121 received MMF and 80 received tacrolimus), for a median of 62 months (range,
      6-190 mo). Patients were categorized according to their response to SOC. Patients
      in group 1 (n = 108) had a complete response to the SOC, but were switched to
      second-line therapy as a result of side effects of predniso(lo)ne or
      azathioprine, whereas patients in group 2 (n = 93) had not responded to SOC.
      RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with a
      complete response to MMF (69.4%) vs tacrolimus (72.5%) (P = .639). In group 1,
      MMF and tacrolimus maintained a biochemical remission in 91.9% and 94.1% of
      patients, respectively (P = .682). Significantly more group 2 patients given
      tacrolimus compared with MMF had a complete response (56.5% vs 34%, respectively;
      P = .029) There were similar proportions of liver-related deaths or liver
      transplantation among patients given MMF (13.2%) vs tacrolimus (10.3%) (log-rank,
      P = .472). Ten patients receiving MMF (8.3%) and 10 patients receiving tacrolimus
      (12.5%) developed side effects that required therapy withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS:
      Long-term therapy with MMF or tacrolimus generally was well tolerated by patients
      with AIH. The agents were equally effective in previous complete responders who
      did not tolerate SOC therapy. Tacrolimus led to a complete response in a greater
      proportion of previous nonresponder patients compared with MMF.

PMID- 28603054
TI  - Comparable Long-term Outcomes of 1-Minute vs 5-Minute Endoscopic Papillary
      Balloon Dilation for Bile Duct Stones.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Endoscopic papillary balloon dilation (EPBD) is an alternative
      to endoscopic sphincterotomy for choledocholithiasis. Unlike endoscopic
      sphincterotomy, EPBD preserves biliary sphincter function, reducing long-term
      risk of recurrent choledocholithiasis by 50%. Guidelines recommend that duration
      of EPBD exceeds 2 minutes, to adequately loosen the sphincter and reduce risks of
      failed stone extraction and post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
      (ERCP) pancreatitis. However, it is unclear whether this long duration of EPBD
      impairs sphincter function and negates the long-term benefit of EPBD. We
      performed a randomized controlled trial to determine whether long-duration (>1
      minute) EPBD increases the risk of subsequent choledocholithiasis and
      hepatobiliary complications compared with short-duration EPBD (<1 minute).
      METHODS: We performed a prospective study of 170 adult patients who underwent
      ERCP for suspected choledocholithiasis from April 2007 through October 2008 at 2
      centers in Taiwan. Patients were randomly assigned to groups that underwent 1
      minute (n = 86) or 5-minute (n = 84) EPBD for choledocholithiasis; patients were
      followed through June 2015. One month after the initial ERCP, patients were
      examined and liver function tests and abdominal sonographies were performed.
      Patients were then examined every 3-6 months over a median follow-up period of
      approximately 7 years. The primary outcome was recurrent choledocholithiasis or
      acute cholangitis and the secondary outcome was overall hepatobiliary
      complications. We assessed the effects of EPBD duration by Cox regression.
      RESULTS: Thirteen patients (15.1%) developed recurrent choledocholithiasis or
      acute cholangitis after 1-minute EPBD, and 10 patients (11.9%) developed
      recurrent choledocholithiasis or acute cholangitis after 5-minute EPBD (P =
      .352). There was no significant difference between groups in number of
      hepatobiliary complications (P = .154). Compared with 1-minute EPBD, 5-minute
      EPBD did not increase risk of the primary outcome (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.76;
      95% confidence interval, 0.32-1.82) or the secondary outcome (adjusted hazard
      ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.31-1.40). Mechanical lithotripsy,
      performed for failed stone extraction with EPBD at initial ERCP, was a risk
      factor for primary and secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In a randomized
      controlled trial, we found that the risk of recurrent choledocholithiasis and
      hepatobiliary complications did not increase with long-duration EPBD (>1 minute),
      but was increased with mechanical lithotripsy.

PMID- 28603055
TI  - Efficacy of a 4-Food Elimination Diet for Children With Eosinophilic Esophagitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: A 6-food elimination diet induces remission in most children
      and adults with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). The effectiveness of empiric
      elimination of only 4 foods has not been studied in children. We performed a
      prospective observational outcome study in children with EoE treated with dietary
      exclusion of cow's milk, wheat, egg, and soy. The objective was to assess the
      clinical, endoscopic, and histologic efficacy of this treatment in EoE. METHODS:
      We recruited children (1-18 years old, diagnosed per consensus guidelines) from 4
      medical centers. Study participants (n = 78) were given a proton pump inhibitor
      twice daily and underwent a baseline esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Subjects were
      instructed on dietary exclusion of cow's milk, wheat, egg, and soy. Clinical,
      endoscopic, and histologic assessments were made after 8 weeks. Responders had
      single foods reintroduced for 8 weeks, with repeat endoscopy to assess for
      recurrence of active disease. The primary endpoint was histologic remission
      (fewer than 15 eosinophils per high-powered field). Secondary endpoints included
      symptom and endoscopic improvements and identification of foods associated with
      active histologic disease. RESULTS: After 8 weeks on 4-food elimination diet, 50
      subjects were in histologic remission (64%). The subjects' mean baseline clinical
      symptoms score was 4.5, which decreased to 2.3 after 8 weeks of 4-food
      elimination diet (P < .001). The mean endoscopic baseline score was 2.1, which
      decreased to 1.3 (P < .001). After food reintroduction, the most common food
      triggers that induced histologic inflammation were cow's milk (85%), egg (35%),
      wheat (33%), and soy (19%). One food trigger that induced recurrence of
      esophageal inflammation was identified in 62% of patients and cow's milk-induced
      EoE was present in 88% of these patients. CONCLUSIONS: In a prospective study of
      children with EoE, 8 weeks of 4-food elimination diet induced clinical,
      endoscopic, and histologic remission in more than 60% of children with EoE.
      Although less restrictive than 6-food elimination diet, 4-food elimination diet
      was nearly as effective, and can be recommended as a treatment for children with
      EoE.

PMID- 28603056
TI  - Workplace Accommodation for Persons With IBD: What Is Needed and What Is
      Accessed.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often experience
      periods of illness that interfere with their ability to work. We aimed to
      understand the need for workplace accommodation during periods of acute illness
      among persons IBD. METHODS: Participants were recruited from the population-based
      University of Manitoba Research Registry and received a survey including
      questions assessing experiences with workplace accommodations. Data were analyzed
      using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression modelling.
      RESULTS: A total of 1143 individuals responded to the survey (46% response rate),
      of whom 881 had experienced IBD symptoms in the workplace and were included in
      the analysis. The mean age was 48.3 years (standard deviation, 10.9); 61% were
      female. Mean IBD duration was 20.6 years (standard deviation, 10.5). Most
      respondents (73%) described IBD symptoms experienced in the workplace as severe
      to very severe. The most commonly required accommodations were time to go to
      medical appointments during working hours (81%), easy access to a toilet (71%),
      and a chance to take a break when not feeling well (54%). Most accommodations
      were arranged informally or through a supervisor. The accommodations required
      were very or somewhat easy to arrange about half the time. Being female, having
      high symptom severity, and high level of current distress were associated with a
      need for more accommodations, difficulty implementing accommodations, and not
      asking for needed accommodations. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides important
      information as to the types of accommodations that are necessary, common
      practices arranging for these, and level of difficulty arranging accommodations.
      Furthermore, characteristics associated with greater need for accommodation,
      reluctance to ask for them, and difficulty in arranging them were identified.

PMID- 28603057
TI  - Prevalence of Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis and Colitis in a Population-Based
      Study, From 2012 to 2017.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Although eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) has been extensively
      studied, there have been few epidemiology studies of other eosinophilic
      gastrointestinal disorders (EGIDs). Using a large, population-based database, we
      investigated epidemiologic features of eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EoGE) and
      eosinophilic colitis (EoC) in the United State. METHODS: We collected data from a
      commercial database (Explorys Inc, Cleveland, OH) that provided electronic health
      records from 26 major integrated U.S. healthcare systems from 1999 to March 2017.
      We identified a cohort of adult and pediatric patients with EoGE and EoC from
      March 2012 to March 2017, based on the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine
      Clinical Terms. We calculated the overall prevalence of EoGE and EoC among
      different patient groups, and performed age- and gender-adjusted analyses to
      assess for differences in the prevalence of associated medical conditions in
      patients with EoGE and EoC and control patients (patients in the database between
      March 2012 and March 2017 without EGID-associated diagnoses). RESULTS: Of the
      35,826,830 individuals in the database, we identified 1820 patients with EoGE and
      770 with EoC. The overall prevalence rate of EoGE was 5.1/100,000 persons; the
      overall prevalence rate of EoC was 2.1/100,000 persons. Each of the non-EoE EGIDs
      was more prevalent in Caucasians than in African-Americans and Asians, and in
      female patients than male patients. Although EoGE was more prevalent in children
      (under 18 years of age) than in adults, EoC was more prevalent in adults (older
      than 18 years of age). Compared with control patients, individuals with non-EoE
      EGIDs were more likely to have been diagnosed with other gastrointestinal or
      allergic disorders. CONCLUSIONS: In a population-based study in the United
      States, using the Explorys database, we found the overall prevalence rate of EoGE
      to be 5.1/100,000 persons and the prevalence rate of EoC to be 2.1/100,000; these
      values are at the lower end of prevalence rates previously reported in the United
      States.

PMID- 28603058
TI  - An Uncommon Gastric Submucosal Tumor With Mucosal Erosion.

PMID- 28603060
TI  - Organic consumption and diet choice: An analysis based on food purchase data in
      France.

PMID- 28603059
TI  - A comparison of the Health Star Rating system when used for restaurant fast foods
      and packaged foods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In June 2014, the Australian government agreed to the voluntary
      implementation of an interpretive 'Health Star Rating' (HSR) front-of-pack
      labelling system for packaged foods. The aim of the system is to make it easier
      for consumers to compare the healthiness of products based on number of stars.
      With many Australians consuming fast food there is a strong rationale for
      extending the HSR system to include fast food items. OBJECTIVE: To examine the
      performance of the HSR system when applied to fast foods. DESIGN: Nutrient
      content data for fast food menu items were collected from the websites of 13
      large Australian fast-food chains. The HSR was calculated for each menu item.
      Statistics describing HSR values for fast foods were calculated and compared to
      results for comparable packaged foods. RESULTS: Data for 1529 fast food products
      were compared to data for 3810 packaged food products across 16 of 17 fast food
      product categories. The mean HSR for the fast foods was 2.5 and ranged from 0.5
      to 5.0 and corresponding values for the comparator packaged foods were 2.6 and
      0.5 to 5.0. Visual inspection of the data showed broadly comparable distributions
      of HSR values across the fast food and the packaged food categories, although
      statistically significant differences were apparent for seven categories (all p <
      0.04). In some cases these differences reflected the large sample size and the
      power to detect small variations across fast foods and packaged food, and in
      others it appeared to reflect primarily differences in the mix of product types
      within a category. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the idea that the HSR system
      could be extended to Australian fast foods. There are likely to be significant
      benefits to the community from the use of a single standardised signposting
      system for healthiness across all fresh, packaged and restaurant foods.

PMID- 28603061
TI  - Some resonances between Eastern thought and Integral Biomathics in the framework
      of the WLIMES formalism for modeling living systems.
AB  - Forty-two years ago, Capra published "The Tao of Physics" (Capra, 1975). In this
      book (page 17) he writes: "The exploration of the atomic and subatomic world in
      the twentieth century has .... necessitated a radical revision of many of our
      basic concepts" and that, unlike 'classical' physics, the sub-atomic and quantum
      "modern physics" shows resonances with Eastern thoughts and "leads us to a view
      of the world which is very similar to the views held by mystics of all ages and
      traditions." This article stresses an analogous situation in biology with respect
      to a new theoretical approach for studying living systems, Integral Biomathics
      (IB), which also exhibits some resonances with Eastern thought. Stepping on
      earlier research in cybernetics1 and theoretical biology,2 IB has been developed
      since 2011 by over 100 scientists from a number of disciplines who have been
      exploring a substantial set of theoretical frameworks. From that effort, the need
      for a robust core model utilizing advanced mathematics and computation adequate
      for understanding the behavior of organisms as dynamic wholes was identified. At
      this end, the authors of this article have proposed WLIMES (Ehresmann and
      Simeonov, 2012), a formal theory for modeling living systems integrating both the
      Memory Evolutive Systems (Ehresmann and Vanbremeersch, 2007) and the Wandering
      Logic Intelligence (Simeonov, 2002b). Its principles will be recalled here with
      respect to their resonances to Eastern thought.

PMID- 28603062
TI  - Defining the role of liver biopsy in the assessment of liver fibrosis in patients
      with Fontan circulation.

PMID- 28603064
TI  - Some pathological and clinical factors are important to describe association
      between Ki67 expression and recurrences in breast cancer patients receiving
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

PMID- 28603063
TI  - Overexpression of phosphoprotein phosphatase 2A predicts worse prognosis in
      patients with breast cancer: a 15-year follow-up.
AB  - Breast cancer subtypes can be stratified by IHC expression of estrogen receptor,
      progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2). The signaling
      pathways mediated by these receptors are the dominant drivers of cell
      proliferation and survival in most human breast cancers. One of the most
      frequently overactivated pathways in breast cancer is the AKT signaling cascade.
      Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) acts as a switch to turn off signal transduction in
      the AKT pathway; however, it is frequently inactivated in many cancers by
      phosphorylation of Tyr-307 to form phosphoprotein phosphatase 2A (p-PP2A). This
      study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of p-PP2A and phospho-AKT (p
      AKT) expression in 672 patients with breast cancer during a 15-year follow-up.
      The breast tissue microarray was evaluated for p-PP2A and p-AKT expression using
      IHC staining and scores. Analysis of IHC staining results revealed that p-PP2A
      expression was positively correlated with HER2, Ki-67, and p-AKT overexpression
      (P<.001, P=.003, and P=.001, respectively). At the time of diagnosis, breast
      cancer patients with higher p-PP2A expression had significantly shorter 15-year
      OS than patients with lower p-PP2A expression did (P=.017). Multivariate Cox
      regression analysis revealed that high p-PP2A expression was an independent
      prognostic factor for shorter OS (hazard ratio, 1.741; P=.012). Our data revealed
      that high p-PP2A expression is positively associated with HER2, Ki-67, and p-AKT
      expression. High p-PP2A expression correlates with poor clinical outcomes in
      breast cancer, especially in patients with TNBC.

PMID- 28603065
TI  - A decision tree-based combination of ezrin-interacting proteins to estimate the
      prognostic risk of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Our previous studies have highlighted the importance of ezrin in esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Here our objective was to explore the clinical
      significance of ezrin-interacting proteins, which would provide a theoretical
      basis for understanding the function of ezrin and potential therapeutic targets
      for ESCC. We used affinity purification and mass spectrometry to identify PDIA3,
      CNPY2, and STMN1 as potential ezrin-interacting proteins. Confocal microscopy and
      coimmunoprecipitation analysis further confirmed the colocalization and
      interaction of ezrin with PDIA3, CNPY2, and STMN1. Tissue microarray data of ESCC
      samples (n=263) showed that the 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free
      survival (DFS) were significantly lower for the CNPY2 (OS, P=.003; DFS, P=.011)
      and STMN1 (OS, P=.010; DFS, P=.002) high-expression groups compared with the low
      expression groups. By contrast, overexpression of PDIA3 was significantly
      correlated with favorable survival (OS, P<.001; DFS, P=.001). Cox regression
      demonstrated the prognostic value of PDIA3, CNPY2, and STMN1 in ESCC.
      Furthermore, decision tree analysis revealed that the resulting classifier of
      both ezrin and its interacting proteins could be used to better predict OS and
      DFS of patients with ESCC. In conclusion, a signature of ezrin-interacting
      proteins accurately predicts ESCC patient survival or tumor recurrence.

PMID- 28603066
TI  - Differential gene expression profiles according to the Association for the Study
      of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society
      histopathological classification in lung adenocarcinoma subtypes.
AB  - The current lung cancer classification from the Association for the Study of Lung
      Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society has considerably
      changed the pathologic diagnosis of lung invasive adenocarcinoma, identifying
      disease subtypes with substantial implications for medical practice, such as
      clinical, radiological, molecular, and prognostic differences. We analyzed the
      differences in the genetic expression of adenocarcinoma subtypes according to the
      new classification. Microarray gene expression analysis was performed on a cohort
      of 29 adenocarcinoma patients treated at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia
      of Mexico from 2008 to 2011. All patients had an available biopsy sample and were
      classified into 4 different subtypes of adenocarcinoma (2015 World Health
      Organization classification). Lepidic-predominant adenocarcinoma was the only
      pattern that exhibited a marked gene expression difference compared with other
      predominant histologic patterns, revealing genes with significant expression (P <
      .01). Moreover, we identified 13 genes with specific differential expression in
      the lepidic-predominant adenocarcinoma that could be used as a gene signature.
      The lepidic-predominant histologic pattern has a differential gene expression
      profile compared with all predominant histologic patterns. Additionally, we
      identified a gene expression signature of 13 genes that have a unique behavior in
      the lepidic histologic pattern; these 13 genes are candidates for follow-up
      studies for their potential use as biomarkers or therapeutic targets. Results
      from this study highlight the importance of the new Association for the Study of
      Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society classification
      and exemplify the potential clinical implications of correlating histopathology
      with exclusive molecular beacons.

PMID- 28603067
TI  - Defining the role of liver biopsy in the assessment of liver fibrosis in patients
      with Fontan circulation-reply.

PMID- 28603068
TI  - Genetic Effects on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Prognosis and Outcomes:
      More Than Just Histocompatibility.

PMID- 28603069
TI  - The Case for High Resolution Extended 6-Loci HLA Typing for Identifying Related
      Donors in the Indian Subcontinent.
AB  - Three-loci low-resolution (LR) or intermediate-resolution HLA typing is generally
      considered adequate in the related blood and marrow transplantation (BMT)
      context. However, a single high-resolution (HR) mismatch may have a similar
      adverse impact on BMT outcome as an LR one. We sought to determine the frequency
      of mismatches that may go undetected when standard typing (LR or 3-loci HR) is
      used compared with 6-loci HR typing for related donor compatibility testing, and
      to assess its impact on relevant BMT outcomes. We analyzed data from a total of
      2554 6-loci (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1, and -DPB1) HR sequence-based typing
      (full typing [FT]) from 754 patients, 1011 siblings, and 789 parents done at DKMS
      Germany (www.DKMS.de) between January 1, 2014, and June 21, 2016. We also studied
      38 cases in which the family had undergone 3-loci HLA typing (standard typing
      [ST]). Patients were from India (70%), Pakistan (22%), and Sri Lanka (8%). The
      IMGT/HLA database (www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/imgt/hla) was used to tease out
      nonpermissive DPB1 mismatches. HLA disparity-related outcomes, such as rejection
      and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were assessed in a retrospective matched
      pair cohort of 50 patients (25 with ST and 25 with FT) who underwent BMT for
      severe thalassemia from compatible related donors. We found fully matched (either
      12/12 HR matches or with a single permissive DPB1 mismatch) related donors for
      285 patients (38%). Of these donors, 89% were siblings and 11% were parents. The
      likelihood of matching on an individual locus on LR but not on HR was found to be
      5%. A total of 9 donors (3%; 7 siblings and 2 parents) who would have been
      considered a full match by HR typing on A, B, and DRB1 alone were not a match by
      extended 6-loci HR typing. Five of these 9 donors had a mismatch on C or DQB1,
      and 4 had a nonpermissive DPB1 mismatch. In this group, 5 donors (56%) belonged
      to a consanguineous family, in 2 donors (22%) there was no reported
      consanguinity, and in 2 donors (22%) consanguinity was unknown. We identified 18
      donors (6%; 13 siblings and 5 parents) who would have been considered a 12/12
      match by LR HLA typing alone but were found not to match on extended HR typing.
      In this group, 11 donors (61%) were from consanguineous families, 3 donors (17%)
      had no reported consanguinity, and in 4 donors (22%) consanguinity was unknown.
      Outcome analysis showed that the actuarial proportion of patients with GVHD was
      4% in the FT group compared with 16% in the ST group, with log-rank P = .1952.
      The ST group included 2 patients with grade III-IV acute GVHD and 1 patient each
      with moderate and severe chronic GVHD, whereas the FT group only 1 patient with
      grade III acute GVHD. We conclude that even in the context of related donors, the
      use of LR and/or 3-loci (A, B, and DRB1) HR HLA typing might result in a sizable
      risk of missing a clinically relevant mismatch, which may have an adverse impact
      on transplantation outcomes. In the Indian subcontinent, this observation is not
      limited to putatively compatible parents or consanguineous families; we recommend
      full 6-loci HR HLA typing even for matched related BMTs.

PMID- 28603070
TI  - Clinical Utility of Quantitative PCR for Chimerism and Engraftment Monitoring
      after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Hematologic Malignancies.
AB  - Although quantitative PCR (qPCR) has been explored for chimerism monitoring after
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT), evidence regarding its clinical
      utility compared with standard short tandem repeat (STR) is still limited. We
      retrospectively studied commercial qPCR and STR chimerism with respective
      positivity thresholds of .1% and 1% in 359 peripheral blood (PB) and 95 bone
      marrow (BM) samples from 30 adult patients after first HLA-matched SCT for
      myeloid malignancies or acute lymphatic leukemia. Concordance between the 2
      methods was 79.5%, with all discordant samples positive in qPCR but negative in
      STR. Of the latter, sporadic qPCR positivity without clinical correlates was seen
      mostly in BM samples early post-transplant. In 7 of 21 patients with available
      follow-up samples in the first months after transplantation, qPCR but not STR
      revealed low levels (<1%) of sustained host chimerism in PB, reflecting delayed
      engraftment or persistent mixed chimerism (PMC). These conditions were associated
      with donor-recipient cytomegalovirus (CMV) serostatus and early CMV reactivation
      but not with immunosuppressive regimens or clinical outcome. qPCR predicted all
      8/8 relapses with samples in the 6 months before onset by sustained positivity in
      both PB and BM compared with 1/8 relapses predicted by STR mainly in BM. The
      response kinetics to donor lymphocyte infusions for the treatment of PMC or
      relapse was shown by qPCR but not STR to be protracted over several months in 3
      patients. Our results demonstrate the superior clinical utility of qPCR compared
      with STR for monitoring subtle changes of host chimerism associated with
      different clinical conditions, making a case for its use in the clinical follow
      up of transplant patients.

PMID- 28603071
TI  - Evaluation of Performance Status and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Specific
      Comorbidity Index on Unplanned Admission Rates in Patients with Multiple Myeloma
      Undergoing Outpatient Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Although outpatient autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is safe and
      feasible in most instances, some patients undergoing planned outpatient
      transplantation for multiple myeloma (MM) will need inpatient admission for
      transplantation-related complications. We aim to evaluate the difference, if any,
      between outpatient and inpatient ASCT cohorts of MM patients in terms of
      admission rate, transplantation outcome, and overall survival. We also plan to
      assess whether the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI)
      and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) can predict unplanned admissions after
      adjusting for confounding factors. Patients with MM (n = 448) who underwent
      transplantation at our institution between 2009 and 2014 were included in this
      retrospective analysis. Patients were grouped into 3 cohorts: cohort A, planned
      inpatient ASCT (n = 216); cohort B, unplanned inpatient admissions (n = 57); and
      cohort C, planned outpatient SCT (n = 175). The statistical approach included
      descriptive, bivariate, and survival analyses. There were no differences among
      the 3 cohorts in terms of type of myeloma, stage at diagnosis, time from
      diagnosis to transplantation, CD34 cell dose, engraftment kinetics, and 100-day
      response rates. Serum creatinine was higher and patients were relatively older in
      both the planned inpatient (median age, 62 years; range, 33 to 80 years) and
      unplanned (median age, 59 years; range, 44 to 69 years) admission cohorts
      compared with the outpatient-only cohort (median age, 57 years; range, 40 to 70
      years) (P < .05). Performance status (cohort A: median, 90%; range, 60% to 100%;
      cohort B: 80%, 50% to 100%; cohort C: 80%, 60% to 100%) was lower (P < .05) and
      HCT-CI score (cohort A: median, 1.78; range, 0 to 8; cohort B: 2.67, 0 to 9;
      cohort C: 2.16, 0 to 7) was higher (P < .004) in both inpatient groups compared
      with the planned outpatient cohort. With a median follow up of 5 years, poor
      performance status (KPS <70%) appeared to be associated with worse survival (P <
      .002). HCT-CI >2 also appeared to be associated with worse outcomes compared with
      HCT-CI 0 to 1, the the difference did not reach statistical significance (hazard
      ratio, 1.41l 95% confidence interval, 0.72 to 2.76). Only 1 patient out of 448
      died from a transplantation-related cause. Outpatient transplantation for myeloma
      is safe and feasible. In our experience, one-third of the patients undergoing
      outpatient transplantation needed to be admitted for transplantation-related
      toxicities. Patients in this group had lower preexisting KPS and higher HCT-CI
      scores. Whether planned admission for this group would have prevented unplanned
      admissions and undue stress on patients and the healthcare system should be
      tested in a prospective manner.

PMID- 28603072
TI  - Differential expression of glutamate transporters in cerebral cortex of paraoxon
      treated rats.
AB  - Glutamatergic system is involved in pathological effects of organophosphorus (OP)
      compounds. We aimed to determine in vivo effects of paraoxon, the bioactive
      metabolite of parathion, on the expression of glutamate transporters as well as
      Bax and Bcl2 in rat cerebral cortex. Male Wistar rats received an intraperitoneal
      (i.p.) injection of one of three doses of paraoxon (0.3, 0.7, or 1mg/kg) or corn
      oil as vehicle (1ml/kg). After 4 or 18h, cerebral cortices were dissected out and
      used for quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)
      and western blot assays to measure mRNA and protein levels, respectively. The
      cortical glial glutamate transporters (GLAST and GLT-1) were up-regulated in
      animals treated with 0.7mg/kg of paraoxon, but down-regulated in 1mg/kg group.
      Neuronal glutamate transporter (EAAC1) was unchanged in 0.7mg/kg treated rats,
      while reduced in 1mg/kg group. No significant difference was found in the mRNA
      and protein expression of EAAC1 in animals intoxicated with 0.3mg/kg of paraoxon.
      Paraoxon (1mg/kg) resulted in an up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl2
      mRNA levels in the rat cerebral cortex. These results indicate that paraoxon can
      differentially regulate expression of glutamate transporters at mRNA and protein
      levels in the cerebral cortex. Changes in the expression of glutamate
      transporters are closely related to paraoxon-induced seizure activity.

PMID- 28603073
TI  - Rapid prenatal diagnosis of aneuploidy for chromosomes 21, 18, 13, X, and Y using
      segmental duplication quantitative fluorescent PCR (SD-QF-PCR).
AB  - BACKGROUND: In our previous studies, the rapid diagnosis of aneuploidy has been
      achieved using the segmental duplication molecular markers-based SD-QF-PCR
      technique. However, it is also insufficient due to the drawbacks including less
      detection loci and incompetence in single-tube detection. METHODS: In this paper,
      we developed 13 new segmental duplications as molecular markers, as well as
      designed 13 pairs of primers and 1 fluorescence-labeled universal primer, which
      could detect chromosome aneuploidies in one PCR tube. RESULTS: Two hundred and
      thirty samples were detected using SD-QF-PCR, the samples were collected from
      individuals with trisomy 21 (n=16); trisomy 18 (n=4); trisomy 13 (n=3); 45,X
      (n=3); 47,XXY (n=2); 47,XYY (n=2); suspected mosaic 46,XX/46,XY (n=2); and
      unaffected controls (n=198). CONCLUSIONS: The detection results of SD-QF-PCR were
      consistent with those of conventional karyotype analysis. SD-QF-PCR based on the
      newly developed segmental duplications enables the single-tube and multi-locus
      simultaneous detection on the number of chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y.
      Therefore, this technique offers a new alternative for the diagnosis of
      chromosome aneuploidies.

PMID- 28603074
TI  - FTO gene polymorphisms (rs9939609 and rs17817449) as predictors of Type 2
      Diabetes Mellitus in obese Iraqi population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The variation of the SNPs in FTO (fat mass and obesity associated)
      gene are improved to be associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in
      some ethnic groups for example in European while, this consistency is
      controversial in Asians and there were few studies in Iraqi population about the
      effect of this gene on the development of T2DM in obese patients. Therefore, the
      objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the two common FTO gene
      variants in the development of T2DM in obese Iraqi patients. METHODS: A case
      control study in which the FTO gene variants rs9939609 and rs17817449 were
      genotyping in a total of 800 individuals, 400 T2DM obese patients (patients
      group) and 400 healthy control obese volunteers (control group) to explore the
      relation of these SNPs with T2DM in obese Iraqi population. The patients group
      was enrolled from diabetic clinic in Al Najaf al Ashraf based on WHO guidelines
      of T2DM. From whole blood the DNA was extraction and genotyped by using ScaI and
      AlwNI enzymes respectively in the PCR-RFLP technique. Multinomial logistic
      regression was applied to compare the proportions of genotypes and alleles. The
      odd's ratio, t-test P value at 95% confidence interval were measured before and
      after adjustment of BMI, age and sex adjustment. The genetic power, Hardy
      Weinberg equilibrium and haplotype analysis were tested in the present study.
      RESULTS: It was observed that the presence of T allele in the two SNPs rs9939609
      and rs17817449 in the FTO gene polymorphisms was associated with increased risk
      for the development of T2DM in Iraqi obese individuals. The minor allele (T) in
      rs9939609 was significantly higher (P=0.0001) in T2DM (31.25%) when compared with
      that of the control obese group (20%). The Homozygous genotype (TT) significantly
      (OR=3.25, CI 95% 1.87-5.64, P=0.000) increased the risk of T2DM by three folds
      with respect to those of wild type (AA) after adjustment for age, sex and BMI,
      furthermore, it was significantly increased the risk in the dominant, recessive
      and additive models (P=0.000,0.000 and 0.0001 respectively). The T allele in
      rs17817449 was also significantly higher (P=0.0001) in patients group (36.25%)
      when compared with that of the control group (27.25%). The Heterozygous genotype
      (TG) significantly (OR=2.24, CI 95% 1.65-3.04, P=0.000) increased the risk of
      T2DM more than two folds with respect to those of wild type (GG) after adjustment
      for age, sex and BMI, and it was significantly increased the risk in the dominant
      models (P=0.000). In the relation to the phenotypic parameters the two SNPs were
      significantly associated with increased BMI, LDL, insulin and HOMA-IR and a
      decrease the HDL levels. CONCLUSION: The FTO gene polymorphisms rs9939609 and
      rs17817449 play a role in the in the development of insulin resistance and hence
      occurrence of type 2 DM in obese patients.

PMID- 28603075
TI  - Prognostic significance of SOCS3 and its biological function in colorectal
      cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor, in which the inflammatory
      microenvironment plays an important role. STAT3 signaling pathway is regarded as
      the "bridge" between inflammation and cancer, and involved in the development of
      CRC. SOCS3 is a key negative feedback regulator of JAK/STAT signaling pathway.
      Studies about SOCS3 gene in CRC are rarely reported. The purpose of this study is
      to determine the expression of SOCS3 in CRC tissue and its correlation with the
      clinical pathological characteristics and prognosis of colorectal cancers. The
      effects of SOCS3 on biological behavior such as apoptosis, proliferation,
      migration, invasion and tumor formation in nude mice were studied. We observed
      that SOCS3 expression was down-regulated in CRC tissues, while IL-6, pSTAT3 were
      up-regulated. Inflammatory cytokines IL-6 can promote the expression of STAT3
      signaling pathways while inhibit the expression of SOCS3 by promoting
      hypermethylation of SOCS3 gene promoters. 5-Aza-cdR treatment can reverse IL
      6/STAT3 signaling pathway mediated down-regulation of SOCS3 in colorectal cancer
      cells. Low expression of SOCS3 was correlated with lymph node metastasis and
      advanced clinical stage. Patients with high expression of SOCS3 in colorectal
      cancers often indicated a relatively good prognosis. Overexpression of SOCS3
      inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion and tumorigenic ability of CRC cells
      while increased cell apoptosis. This study demonstrated that IL-6/STAT3 signaling
      activation negatively regulated SOCS3 expression, which led to imbalance and
      sustained activation of STAT3 signaling pathway. Reduced expression of SOCS3
      promoted the growth and metastasis of colorectal cancer. Thus, targeting IL
      6/STAT3/SOCS3 signaling pathway may become an important treatment strategy of
      colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28603078
TI  - Gatekeepers in the healthcare sector: Knowledge and Bourdieu's concept of field.
AB  - Choice is an imperative for patients in the Australian healthcare system. The
      complexity of this healthcare 'maze', however, means that successfully navigating
      and making choices depends not only on the decisions of patients, but also other
      key players in the healthcare sector. Utilising Bourdieu's concepts of capital,
      habitus and field, we analyse the role of gatekeepers (i.e., those who control
      access to resources, services and knowledge) in shaping patients' experiences of
      healthcare, and producing opportunities to enable or constrain their choices.
      Indepth interviews were conducted with 41 gatekeepers (GPs, specialists, nurses,
      hospital administrators and policymakers), exploring how they acquire and use
      knowledge within the healthcare system. Our findings reveal a hierarchy of
      knowledges and power within the healthcare field which determines the forms of
      knowledge that are legitimate and can operate as capital within this complex and
      dynamic arena. As a consequence, forms of knowledge which can operate as capital,
      are unequally distributed and strategically controlled, ensuring democratic
      'reform' remains difficult and 'choices' limited to those beneficial to private
      medicine.

PMID- 28603076
TI  - Functional roles of p120ctn family of proteins in central neurons.
AB  - The cadherin-catenin complex in central neurons is associated with a variety of
      cytosolic partners, collectively called catenins. The p120ctn members are a
      family of catenins that are distinct from the more ubiquitously expressed alpha-
      and beta-catenins. It is becoming increasingly clear that the functional roles of
      the p120ctn family of catenins in central neurons extend well beyond their
      functional roles in non-neuronal cells in partnering with cadherin to regulate
      adhesion. In this review, we will provide an overview of the p120ctn family in
      neurons and their varied functional roles in central neurons. Finally, we will
      examine the emerging roles of this family of proteins in neurodevelopmental
      disorders.

PMID- 28603077
TI  - Configuring a robust nervous system with Fat cadherins.
AB  - Atypical Fat cadherins represent a small but versatile group of signaling
      molecules that influence proliferation and tissue polarity. With huge
      extracellular domains and intracellular domains harboring many independent
      protein interaction sites, Fat cadherins are poised to translate local cell
      adhesion events into a variety of cell behaviors. The need for such global
      coordination is particularly prominent in the nervous system, where millions of
      morphologically diverse neurons are organized into functional networks. As we
      learn more about their biological functions and molecular properties, increasing
      evidence suggests that Fat cadherins mediate contact-induced changes that
      ultimately impose a structure to developing neuronal circuits.

PMID- 28603079
TI  - Ultrasound molecular imaging of ovarian cancer with CA-125 targeted nanobubble
      contrast agents.
AB  - Ultrasound is frequently utilized in diagnosis of gynecologic malignancies such
      as ovarian cancer. Because epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is often characterized
      by overexpression of cancer antigen 125 (CA-125), ultrasound contrast agents able
      to target this molecular signature could be a promising complementary strategy.
      In this work, we demonstrate application of CA-125-targeted echogenic lipid and
      surfactant-stabilized nanobubbles imaged with standard clinical contrast harmonic
      ultrasound for imaging of CA-125 positive OVCAR-3 tumors in mice. Surface
      functionalization of the nanobubbles with a CA-125 antibody achieved rapid
      significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced tumor accumulation, higher peak ultrasound
      signal intensity and slower wash out rates in OVCAR-3 tumors compared to CA-125
      negative SKOV-3 tumors. Targeted nanobubbles also exhibited increased tumor
      retention and prolonged echogenicity compared to untargeted nanobubbles. Data
      suggest that ultrasound molecular imaging using CA-125 antibody-conjugated
      nanobubbles may contribute to improved diagnosis of EOC.

PMID- 28603080
TI  - A novel auditory ossicles membrane and the development of conductive hearing loss
      in Dmp1-null mice.
AB  - Genetic mouse models are widely used for understanding human diseases but we know
      much less about the anatomical structure of the auditory ossicles in the mouse
      than we do about human ossicles. Furthermore, current studies have mainly focused
      on disease conditions such as osteomalacia and rickets in patients with
      hypophosphatemia rickets, although the reason that these patients develop late
      onset hearing loss is unknown. In this study, we first analyzed Dmp1 lac Z knock
      in auditory ossicles (in which the blue reporter is used to trace DMP1 expression
      in osteocytes) using X-gal staining and discovered a novel bony membrane
      surrounding the mouse malleus. This finding was further confirmed by 3-D micro
      CT, X-ray, and alizarin red stained images. We speculate that this unique
      structure amplifies and facilitates sound wave transmissions in two ways:
      increasing the contact surface between the eardrum and malleus and accelerating
      the sound transmission due to its mineral content. Next, we documented a
      progressive deterioration in the Dmp1-null auditory ossicle structures using
      multiple imaging techniques. The auditory brainstem response test demonstrated a
      conductive hearing loss in the adult Dmp1-null mice. This finding may help to
      explain in part why patients with DMP1 mutations develop late-onset hearing loss,
      and supports the critical role of DMP1 in maintaining the integrity of the
      auditory ossicles and its bony membrane.

PMID- 28603081
TI  - Pattern of expression and interaction specificity of multiple G-protein beta
      (Gbeta) subunit isoforms with their potential target proteins reveal functional
      dominance of BjuGbeta1 in the allotetraploid Brassica juncea.
AB  - Heterotrimeric G-protein, consisting Galpha, Gbeta and Ggamma subunits, interacts
      with various upstream and downstream effector (target) proteins to regulate a
      large array of conserved and species-specific biological functions. The targets
      of G-protein components are recently reported in model plant Arabidopsis
      thaliana; however limited information is available from crop species. In this
      study, we utilized yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay to screen the diversity of
      interacting partners of multiple Gbeta subunit isoforms from allotetraploid
      Brassica juncea, a globally important oilseed and vegetable crop. The three
      BjuGbeta genes (BjuGbeta1-3), resulted from whole genome triplication event in
      Brassica lineage, showed distinct expression profile during plant developmental
      stages with maximal transcript abundance during reproductive stages. Protein
      protein interaction of three BjuGbeta proteins (bait) against the Y2H cDNA
      library (prey) identified a total of 14 and 1 non-redundant targets for BjuGbeta1
      and BjuGbeta2, whereas BjuGbeta3 screening surprisingly did not yield any genuine
      target, thereby suggesting functional dominance of BjuGbeta1. The triplicated
      BjuGbeta isoforms showed a high degree of interaction strength and specificity
      with the identified target proteins, which are known to be involved in diverse
      biological functions in plants. qRT-PCR analysis further indicated that the
      expression of BjuGbeta-target genes was developmentally regulated under various
      tissue types studied and showed a high degree of co-expression pattern with the
      BjuGbeta genes, particularly during flower and silique development in B. juncea.
      Taken together, our data provides novel insights on pattern of expression and
      interaction specificity governing functional divergence of multiple Gbeta subunit
      proteins in polyploid B. juncea.

PMID- 28603082
TI  - Regulation and physiological role of silicon in alleviating drought stress of
      mango.
AB  - Improvement of drought stress of mango plants requires intensive research that
      focuses on physiological processes. In three successive seasons (2014, 2015and
      2016) field experiments with four different strains of mango were subjected to
      two water regimes. The growth and physiological parameters of possible relevance
      for drought stress tolerances in mango were investigated. Yield and its
      components were also evaluated. The data showed that all growth and physiological
      parameters were increased under K2SiO3 (Si) supplement and were followed by the
      interaction treatment (Si treatment and its combination with drought stress)
      compared to that of the controlled condition. Drought stress decreased the
      concentration of auxins (IAA), gibberellins (GA) and cytokinins (CK) in the three
      mango cultivars leaves, whereas, it increased the concentration of abscisic acid
      (ABA). On the contrary, IAA, GA, and CK (promoters) endogenous levels were
      improved by supplementing Si, in contrary ABA was decreased. Drought stress
      increased the activity of peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), and superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) in the leaves of all mango cultivars grown during three
      experimental seasons. However, Si supplementation reduced the levels of all these
      antioxidative enzymes, especially the concentration of SOD when compared to that
      of control leaves. Fruit quality was improved in three successive seasons when Si
      was applied. Our results clearly show that the increment in drought tolerance was
      associated with an increase in antioxidative enzyme activity, allowing mango
      plants to cope better with drought stress. Si possesses an efficient system for
      scavenging reactive oxygen species, which protects the plant against destructive
      oxidative reactions, thereby improving the ability of the mango trees to
      withstand environmental stress in arid regions.

PMID- 28603083
TI  - Overexpressing IbCBF3 increases low temperature and drought stress tolerance in
      transgenic sweetpotato.
AB  - Dehydration-responsive element-binding/C-repeat-binding factor (DREB/CBF)
      proteins regulate the transcription of genes involved in cold acclimation in
      several species. However, little is known about the physiological functions of
      CBF proteins in the low temperature-sensitive crop sweetpotato. We previously
      reported that the DREB1/CBF-like sweetpotato gene SwDREB1/IbCBF3 is involved in
      responses to diverse abiotic stresses. In this study, we confirmed that IbCBF3 is
      localized to the nucleus and binds to the C-repeat/dehydration-responsive
      elements (CRT/DRE) in the promoters of cold-regulated (COR) genes. We generated
      transgenic sweetpotato plants overexpressing IbCBF3 under the control of the CaMV
      35S promoter (referred to as SC plants) and evaluated their responses to various
      abiotic stresses. IbCBF3 expression was dramatically induced by cold and drought
      but much less strongly induced by high salinity and ABA. We further characterized
      two SC lines (SC3 and SC6) with high levels of IbCBF3 transcript. The SC plants
      displayed enhanced tolerance to cold, drought, and oxidative stress on the whole
      plant level. Under cold stress treatment (4  degrees C for 48 h), severe wilting
      and chilling injury were observed in the leaves of wild-type (WT) plants, whereas
      SC plants were not affected by cold stress. In addition, the COR genes were
      significantly upregulated in SC plants compared with the WT. The SC plants also
      showed significantly higher tolerance to drought stress than the WT, which was
      associated with higher photosynthesis efficiency and lower hydrogen peroxide
      levels. These results indicate that IbCBF3 is a functional transcription factor
      involved in the responses to various abiotic stresses in sweetpotato.

PMID- 28603084
TI  - Biosilicate/PLGA osteogenic effects modulated by laser therapy: In vitro and in
      vivo studies.
AB  - The main purpose of the present work was to evaluate if low laser level therapy
      (LLLT) can improve the effects of Biosilicate(r)/PLGA (BS/PLGA) composites on
      cell viability and bone consolidation using a tibial defects of rats. The
      composites were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and
      reflection Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). For the in vitro
      study, fibroblast and osteoblast cells were seeded in the extract of the
      composites irradiated or not with LLLT (Ga-Al-As, 808nm, 10J/cm2) to assess cell
      viability after 24, 48 and 72h. For the in vivo study, 80 Wistar rats with tibial
      bone defects were distributed into 4 groups (BS; BS+LLLT; BS/PLGA and
      BS/PLGA+LLLT) and euthanized after 2 and 6weeks. Laser irradiation Ga-Al-As
      (808nm, 30J/cm2) in the rats was performed 3 times a week. The SEM and FTIR
      results revealed that PLGA were successfully inserted into BS and the
      microparticles degraded over time. The in vitro findings demonstrated higher
      fibroblast viability in both BS/PLGA groups after 24h and higher osteoblast
      viability in BS/PLGA+LLLT in all periods. As a conclusion, animals treated with
      BS/PLGA+LLLT demonstrated an improved material degradation and an increased
      amount of granulation tissue and newly formed bone.

PMID- 28603086
TI  - Expression and characterization of recombinant bifunctional enzymes with
      glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities.
AB  - To balance the production and decomposition of reactive oxygen species, living
      organisms have generated antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymatic antioxidant
      defense systems. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) are
      two important antioxidant enzymes. Apart from their catalytic functions, they
      protect each other, resulting in more efficient removal of reactive oxygen
      species, protection of cells against injury, and maintenance of the normal
      metabolism of reactive oxygen species. SOD catalyzes the dismutation of the
      superoxide anion (O2*-) to oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). H2O2 is then
      detoxified to water by GPx. In this study, human GPx1Ser and the Alvinella
      pompejana SOD (ApSOD) gene were used to design and generate several recombinant
      proteins with both GPx and SOD activities by combining traditional fusion protein
      technology, a cysteine auxotrophic expression system, and a single protein
      production (SPP) system. Among the fusion proteins, Se-hGPx1Ser-L-ApSOD exhibited
      the highest SOD and GPx activities. Additional research was conducted to better
      understand the properties of Se-hGPx1Ser-L-ApSOD. The synergism of Se-hGPx1Ser-L
      ApSOD was evaluated by using an in vitro model. This research may facilitate
      future studies on the cooperation and catalytic mechanisms of GPx and SOD. We
      believe that the bifunctional enzyme has potential applications as a potent
      antioxidant.

PMID- 28603085
TI  - Kaempferol increases levels of coenzyme Q in kidney cells and serves as a
      biosynthetic ring precursor.
AB  - Coenzyme Q (Q) is a lipid-soluble antioxidant essential in cellular physiology.
      Patients with Q deficiencies, with few exceptions, seldom respond to treatment.
      Current therapies rely on dietary supplementation with Q10, but due to its highly
      lipophilic nature, Q10 is difficult to absorb by tissues and cells. Plant
      polyphenols, present in the human diet, are redox active and modulate numerous
      cellular pathways. In the present study, we tested whether treatment with
      polyphenols affected the content or biosynthesis of Q. Mouse kidney proximal
      tubule epithelial (Tkpts) cells and human embryonic kidney cells 293 (HEK 293)
      were treated with several types of polyphenols, and kaempferol produced the
      largest increase in Q levels. Experiments with stable isotope 13C-labeled
      kaempferol demonstrated a previously unrecognized role of kaempferol as an
      aromatic ring precursor in Q biosynthesis. Investigations of the structure
      function relationship of related flavonols showed the importance of two hydroxyl
      groups, located at C3 of the C ring and C4' of the B ring, both present in
      kaempferol, as important determinants of kaempferol as a Q biosynthetic
      precursor. Concurrently, through a mechanism not related to the enhancement of Q
      biosynthesis, kaempferol also augmented mitochondrial localization of Sirt3. The
      role of kaempferol as a precursor that increases Q levels, combined with its
      ability to upregulate Sirt3, identify kaempferol as a potential candidate in the
      design of interventions aimed on increasing endogenous Q biosynthesis,
      particularly in kidney.

PMID- 28603087
TI  - Cysteine-rich whey protein isolate (Immunocal(r)) ameliorates deficits in the
      GFAP.HMOX1 mouse model of schizophrenia.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder that features neural oxidative
      stress and glutathione (GSH) deficits. Oxidative stress is augmented in brain
      tissue of GFAP.HMOX1 transgenic mice which exhibit schizophrenia-relevant
      characteristics. The whey protein isolate, Immunocal(r) serves as a GSH precursor
      upon oral administration. In this study, we treated GFAP.HMOX1 transgenic mice
      daily with either Immunocal (33mg/ml drinking water) or equivalent concentrations
      of casein (control) between the ages of 5 and 6.5 months. Immunocal attenuated
      many of the behavioral, neurochemical and redox abnormalities observed in
      GFAP.HMOX1 mice. In addition to restoring GSH homeostasis in the CNS of the
      transgenic mice, the whey protein isolate augmented GSH reserves in the brains of
      wild-type animals. These results demonstrate that consumption of whey protein
      isolate augments GSH stores and antioxidant defenses in the healthy and diseased
      mammalian brain. Whey protein isolate supplementation (Immunocal) may constitute
      a safe and effective modality for the management of schizophrenia, an unmet
      clinical imperative.

PMID- 28603088
TI  - Spontaneous intergluteal cleft endometriosis.
AB  - Endometriosis is a condition where hormonal-responsive endometrial tissue grows
      outside the uterus usually within the pelvic cavity. Extra-abdominal
      endometriosis is less common and may involves the skin. Subcutaneous
      endometriosis is rare. We report the first case of spontaneous intergluteal cleft
      endometriosis revealed by pain and bleeding during menstruation.

PMID- 28603089
TI  - Specific allergen immunotherapy for the treatment of allergic asthma: a review of
      current evidence.
AB  - Asthma is frequently associated with atopy, characterized by the production of
      specific immunoglobulin E in response to environmental allergens. Currently, two
      types of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) are used in clinical practice: subcutaneous
      and sublingual immunotherapy, both accepted as key components of the therapeutic
      repertoire for allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis. However, their role in
      asthma remains controversial. The present document is aimed at providing the
      clinicians with a review of the evidence on the use of AIT in asthma, focusing on
      the most relevant aspects of its mechanism of action, its efficacy, and existing
      data on safety, tolerability, and cost-effectivity, both in pediatric and adult
      populations. A systematic search of MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Clinical Trials
      databases from 2000 to April of 2016 was carried out by a panel of experts from
      the Spanish Allergy and Clinical Immunology Scientific Society. Relevant studies
      prior to the year 2000 included in ulterior systematic reviews were also
      considered. More than 4000 articles were identified during the search and 241
      were selected to retrieve available evidence on AIT, which was graded according
      to the Oxford classification. All the group members reviewed the resulting text
      until the final version reached the consensual agreement. A summary of
      recommendations on the more relevant topics are proposed. The role of AIT as a
      valuable therapeutic strategy for prevention of exacerbation and progressive
      decline in lung function is highlighted. Future research should include specific
      tools for asthma evaluation when assessing AIT effectiveness in asthmatic
      patients.

PMID- 28603090
TI  - Better preoperative planning improves liver resection outcomes.

PMID- 28603092
TI  - Crosstalk of liver immune cells and cell death mechanisms in different murine
      models of liver injury and its clinical relevance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver inflammation or hepatitis is a result of pluripotent
      interactions of cell death molecules, cytokines, chemokines and the resident
      immune cells collectively called as microenvironment. The interplay of these
      inflammatory mediators and switching of immune responses during hepatotoxic,
      viral, drug-induced and immune cell-mediated hepatitis decide the fate of liver
      pathology. The present review aimed to describe the mechanisms of liver injury,
      its relevance to human liver pathology and insights for the future therapeutic
      interventions. DATA SOURCES: The data of mouse hepatic models and relevant human
      liver diseases presented in this review are systematically collected from PubMed,
      ScienceDirect and the Web of Science databases published in English. RESULTS: The
      hepatotoxic liver injury in mice induced by the metabolites of CCl4,
      acetaminophen or alcohol represent necrotic cell death with activation of
      cytochrome pathway, formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial
      damage. The Fas or TNF-alpha induced apoptotic liver injury was dependent on
      activation of caspases, release of cytochrome c and apoptosome formation. The
      ConA-hepatitis demonstrated the involvement of TRAIL-dependent
      necrotic/necroptotic cell death with activation of RIPK1/3. The alpha-GalCer
      induced liver injury was mediated by TNF-alpha. The LPS-induced hepatitis
      involved TNF-alpha, Fas/FasL, and perforin/granzyme cell death pathways. The MHV3
      or Poly(I:C) induced liver injury was mediated by natural killer cells and TNF
      alpha signaling. The necrotic ischemia-reperfusion liver injury was mediated by
      hypoxia, ROS, and pro-inflammatory cytokines; however, necroptotic cell death was
      found in partial hepatectomy. The crucial role of immune cells and cell death
      mediators in viral hepatitis (HBV, HCV), drug-induced liver injury, non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease and alcoholic liver disease in human were discussed.
      CONCLUSIONS: The mouse animal models of hepatitis provide a parallel approach for
      the study of human liver pathology. Blocking or stimulating the pathways
      associated with liver cell death could unveil the novel therapeutic strategies in
      the management of liver diseases.

PMID- 28603091
TI  - Gemcitabine-based combination therapy compared with gemcitabine alone for
      advanced pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis of nine randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies and
      chemotherapy is an effective strategy for advanced pancreatic cancer. Gemcitabine
      (GEM) is one of first-line agents. However, GEM-based combination therapy has
      shown promising efficacy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. This meta
      analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of GEM-based combination
      therapy versus GEM alone in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. DATA
      SOURCES: A comprehensive search of literature was performed using PubMed, EMBASE,
      Web of Science and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. A quantitative
      meta-analysis was performed based on the inclusion criteria from all eligible
      randomized controlled trials. The outcome indicators included overall survival
      (OS), 6-month survival, 1-year survival, progression-free survival/time-to
      progression (PFS/TTP), and toxicities. RESULTS: A total of nine randomized
      controlled trials involving 1661 patients were included in this meta-analysis.
      There was significant improvement in the GEM-based combination therapy with
      regard to the OS (HR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.76-0.95, P=0.003), PFS (HR=0.76, 95% CI:
      0.65-0.90, P=0.002), 6-month survival (RR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.01-1.17, P=0.03), and
      the overall toxicity (RR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.52-1.86, P<0.01). However, there was no
      significant difference in the 1-year survival. CONCLUSIONS: GEM-based combination
      chemotherapy might improve the OS, 6-month survival, and PFS in advanced
      pancreatic cancer. However, combined therapy also added toxicity.

PMID- 28603093
TI  - Role of [18F] fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the selection of
      liver transplantation candidates in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Milan criteria are widely accepted among many centers. However,
      patients with hepatocellular carcinoma beyond the Milan criteria might still
      benefit from liver transplantation (LT) when tumor itself is not aggressive.
      [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging
      could provide useful information of tumor behaviors, which is helpful to predict
      the prognosis for many tumors. METHOD: In order to determine its role in
      candidate selection for LT, we therefore retrospectively analyzed 103 recipients
      with preoperative positron emission tomography (PET) findings. RESULTS: Positive
      PET findings (PET+) were significantly associated with tumor nodule numbers
      (P=0.013), tumor grade (P=0.025), macro- (P=0.002) and micro-vascular invasion
      (P=0.002), as well as the Milan criteria (P=0.018). PET+ patients had
      significantly increased risk of tumor recurrence post-LT compared to PET negative
      (PET-) patients (P=0.007). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rate of PET-
      patients were 96.0%, 87.2% and 76.2%, compared to 74.7%, 55.4% and 49.9% in PET+
      patients, respectively (P<0.05). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival
      rate of PET- patients were 91.8%, 81.9% and 76.0%, compared to 70.1%, 39.3% and
      21.9% in PET+ patients, respectively (P<0.05). Recipients within the Milan
      criteria showed comparable 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates in comparison with
      those beyond the Milan criteria with a PET- findings (1-, 3-, and 5-year overall
      survival rates, 97.5%, 83.3%, and 83.3% vs 90.0%, 80.0%, and 66.7%, P= 0.123; 1-,
      3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival rates, 95.1%, 73.1%, and 73.1% vs 90.0%,
      78.8%, and 65.6%, P=0.148). CONCLUSIONS: Certain patients with hepatocellular
      carcinoma and negative PET findings, who have exceeded the Milan criteria, are
      also eligible candidates for LT. Preoperative PET/CT imaging is an important
      marker, which should be incorporated in extended candidate selection criteria for
      LT.

PMID- 28603094
TI  - Liver transplantation in patients with incidental hepatocellular
      carcinoma/cholangiocarcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a single-center
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reports of liver transplantation (LT) in patients with mixed
      hepatocellular carcinoma/cholangiocarcinoma (HCC/CC) and intrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) are modest and have been mostly retrospective after
      pathological categorization in the setting of presumed HCC. Some studies suggest
      that patients undergoing LT with small and unifocal ICC or mixed HCC/CC can
      achieve about 40%-60% 5-year post-transplant survival. The study aimed to report
      our experience in patients undergoing LT with explant pathology revealing HCC/CC
      and ICC. METHODS: From a prospectively maintained database, we performed cohort
      analysis. We identified 13 patients who underwent LT with explant pathology
      revealing HCC/CC or ICC. RESULTS: The observed recurrence rate post-LT was 31%
      (4/13) and overall survival was 85%, 51%, and 51% at 1, 3 and 5 years,
      respectively. Disease-free survival was 68%, 51%, and 41% at 1, 3 and 5 years,
      respectively. In our cohort, four patients would have qualified for exception
      points based on updated HCC Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network imaging
      guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Lesions which lack complete imaging characteristics of
      HCC may warrant pre-LT biopsy to fully elucidate their pathology. Identified
      patients with early HCC/CC or ICC may benefit from LT if unresectable.
      Additionally, incorporating adjunctive perioperative therapies such as in the
      case of patients undergoing LT with hilar cholangiocarcinoma may improve outcomes
      but this warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28603095
TI  - Traditional surgical planning of liver surgery is modified by 3D interactive
      quantitative surgical planning approach: a single-center experience with 305
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decision making and surgical planning are to achieve the precise
      balance of maximal removal of target lesion, maximal sparing of functional liver
      remnant volume, and minimal surgical invasiveness and therefore, crucial in liver
      surgery. The aim of this prospective study was to validate the accuracy and
      predictability of 3D interactive quantitative surgical planning approach (IQSP),
      and to evaluate the impact of IQSP on traditional surgical plans based on 2D
      images. METHODS: A total of 305 consecutive patients undergoing hepatectomy were
      included in this study. Surgical plans were created by traditional 2D approach
      using picture archiving and communication system (PACS) and 3D approach using
      IQSP respectively by two groups of physicians who did not know the surgical plans
      of the other group. The two surgical plans were submitted to the chief surgeon
      for selection before operation. The specimens were weighed. The two surgical
      plans were compared and analyzed retrospectively based on the operation results.
      RESULTS: The two surgical plans were successfully developed in all 305 patients
      and all the 3D IQSP surgical plans were selected as the final decision. Total 278
      patients successfully underwent surgery, including 147 uncomplex hepatectomy and
      131 complex hepatectomy. Twenty-seven patients were withdrawn from hepatectomy.
      In the uncomplex group, the two surgical plans were the same in all 147 patients
      and no statistically significant difference was found among 2D calculated
      resection volume (2D-RV), 3D IQSP calculated resection volume (IQSP-RV) and the
      specimen volume. In the complex group, the two surgical plans were different in
      49 patients (49/131, 37.4%). According to the significance of differences, the 49
      different patients were classified into three grades. No statistically
      significant difference was found between IQSP-RV and specimen volume. The
      coincidence rate of territory analysis of IQSP with operation was 92.1% (93/101)
      for 101 patients of anatomic hepatectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy and
      predictability of 3D IQSP were validated. Compared with traditional surgical
      planning, 3D IQSP can provide more quantitative information of anatomic
      structure. With the assistance of 3D IQSP, traditional surgical plans were
      modified to be more radical and safe.

PMID- 28603096
TI  - Patients with early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma have poor prognosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early recurrence (ER) after hepatic resection (HR) is a poor
      prognostic factor for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study
      aimed to identify the clinicopathological features, outcomes, and risk factors
      for ER after HR for small HCC in order to clarify the reasons why ER is a worse
      recurrence pattern. METHODS: We retrospectively examined 130 patients who
      underwent HR for small HCC (<=30 mm). Recurrence was classified into ER (<2
      years) and late recurrence (LR) (>=2 years). The clinicopathological features,
      outcomes, and risk factors for ER were analyzed by multivariate analysis.
      RESULTS: ER was observed in 39 patients (30.0%). The survival rate of the ER
      group was significantly lower than that of the LR group (P<0.005), and ER was an
      independent prognostic factor for poor survival (P=0.0001). The ER group had a
      significantly higher frequency (P=0.0039) and shorter interval (P=0.027) of
      development to carcinoma beyond the Milan criteria (DBMC) compared with the LR
      group, and ER was an independent risk factor for DBMC (P<0.0001). Multi
      nodularity, non-simple nodular type, and microvascular invasion were independent
      predictors for ER (P=0.012, 0.010, and 0.019, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: ER was
      a highly malignant recurrence pattern associated with DBMC and subsequent poor
      survival after HR for small HCC. Multi-nodularity, non-simple nodular type, and
      microvascular invasion predict ER, and taking these factors into consideration
      may be useful for the decision of the treatment strategy for small HCC after HR.

PMID- 28603097
TI  - Circulating autoantibodies to endogenous erythropoietin are associated with
      chronic hepatitis C virus infection-related anemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with
      autoimmune phenomena and is often complicated by anemia. Circulating
      autoantibodies to endogenous erythropoietin (anti-EPO) have been detected in
      patients with chronic viral infections and were correlated to anemia. The present
      study aimed to determine anti-EPO prevalence in patients with chronic HCV
      infection and investigate its possible association with anemia. METHODS: Ninety
      three consecutive patients (62 males and 31 females) with chronic HCV infection,
      who had never received antiviral therapy or recombinant EPO, were enrolled in the
      study. Circulating anti-EPO were detected in the serum by using an ELISA assay.
      Quantitative determination of serum EPO levels was done by radioimmunoassay. HCV
      RNA viral load measurement and genotype sequencing were also performed. RESULTS:
      Circulating anti-EPO were detected in 10.8% of HCV-infected patients and the
      prevalence of anti-EPO was significantly higher in patients with anemia (19.4% vs
      5.3%, P=0.040) compared to that in those without anemia. Compared to anti-EPO
      negative cases, anti-EPO positive patients had higher frequency of anemia (70.0%
      vs 34.9%, P=0.030), lower EPO concentrations (median 16.35 vs 30.65 mU/mL,
      P=0.005), and higher HCV RNA viral load (median 891.5X103 vs 367.5X103 IU/mL,
      P=0.016). In multivariate regression analysis the presence of anti-EPO remained
      an independent predictor of anemia (adjusted OR: 14.303, 95% CI: 1.417-36.580,
      P=0.024). EPO response to anemia was less prominent among anti-EPO positive
      patients (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Circulating anti-EPO are detected in a
      significant proportion of treatment-naive HCV-infected patients and are
      independently associated with anemia, suggesting a further implication of
      autoimmunity in the pathophysiology of HCV-related anemia.

PMID- 28603098
TI  - Comparison of efficacy of folic acid and silymarin in the management of
      antiepileptic drug induced liver injury: a randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver injury associated with antiepileptic drugs accounts for a large
      proportion of drug-induced liver injuries (DILI) in children. Although withdrawal
      of the causative agent is the only proved treatment for DILI, in some clinical
      situations it is not possible. Recent studies have reported promising results of
      using hepatoprotective drugs with antioxidant actions for the management of DILI.
      This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of folic acid versus silymarin
      treatment in relation to decreasing liver enzymes in patients with DILI due to
      antiepileptic therapy. METHODS: This randomized, open-label, clinical trial
      evaluated 55 children with epilepsy who were on antiepileptic treatment and
      experienced DILI. The children were randomized to receive either silymarin (5
      mg/kg per day) or folic acid (1 mg per day) for one month and were followed up
      for three months. RESULTS: Liver enzymes significantly decreased in both groups.
      The decrease trend in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST) were stronger in the folic acid group compared to
      silymarin group (P=0.04 and P=0.007, respectively). At the end of the study
      patients in the folic acid group had significantly lower ALT (P=0.04), AST
      (P=0.02), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (P<0.001) levels and also higher
      percentage of normal ALT (30.7% vs 3.4%, P=0.009) and AST (42.3% vs 0%, P<0.001),
      and GGT (23.1% vs 0%, P=0.008) values compared to the patients in the silymarin
      group. No rebound elevations in ALT, AST and GGT levels or adverse reactions were
      noted in neither of the study groups. CONCLUSION: Although both treatments were
      safe and effective in decreasing liver enzymes, folic acid seems to be superior
      to silymarin in the management of DILI.

PMID- 28603099
TI  - Using receiver operating characteristic curves to evaluate the diagnostic value
      of the combination of multislice spiral CT and alpha-fetoprotein levels for small
      hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The various combination of multiphase enhancement multislice spiral
      CT (MSCT) makes the diagnosis of a small hepatocellular carcinoma (sHCC) on the
      background of liver cirrhosis possible. This study was to explore whether the
      combination of MSCT enhancement scan and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level could
      increase the diagnostic efficiency for sHCC. METHODS: This study included 35 sHCC
      patients and 52 cirrhotic patients without image evidence of HCC as a control
      group. The diagnoses were made by three radiologists employing a 5-point rating
      scale, with postoperative pathologic results as the gold standard. Receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the
      diagnostic value of the three MSCT combination modes (arterial phase+portal
      venous phase, arterial phase+delayed phase, arterial phase+portal-venous
      phase+delayed phase) and AFP levels for sHCC on the background of liver
      cirrhosis. RESULTS: The area under ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity
      of the combination of arterial phase+portal-venous phase+delayed phase were 0.93,
      93%, and 82%, respectively. The average AUC of the arterial phase+portal-venous
      phase+delayed phase combination was significantly greater than that of the
      arterial phase+portal-venous phase (AUC=0.84, P=0.01) and arterial phase+delayed
      phase (AUC=0.85, P=0.03). Arterial phase+portal-venous phase had a smaller AUC
      (0.84) than arterial phase+delayed phase (0.85), but the difference was
      insignificant (P=0.15). After combining MSCT enhancement scan with AFP, the AUC,
      sensitivity, and specificity were 0.95, 94%, and 83%, respectively, indicating a
      greatly increased diagnostic efficiency for sHCC. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of
      AFP and 3 phases MSCT enhancement scan could increase the diagnostic efficiency
      for sHCC on the background of liver cirrhosis. The application of ROC curve
      analysis has provided a new method and reference in HCC diagnosis.

PMID- 28603100
TI  - Total closure of pancreatic section for end-to-side pancreaticojejunostomy
      decreases incidence of pancreatic fistula in pancreaticoduodenectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a serious complication and
      results in prolonged hospitalization and high mortality. The present study aimed
      to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of total closure of pancreatic section
      for end-to-side pancreaticojejunostomy in pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). METHODS:
      This was a prospective randomized clinical trial comparing the outcomes of PD
      between patients who underwent total closure of pancreatic section for end-to
      side pancreaticojejunostomy (Group A) vs those who underwent conventional
      pancreaticojejunostomy (Group B). The primary endpoint was the incidence of
      pancreatic fistula. Secondary endpoints were morbidity and mortality rates.
      RESULTS: One hundred twenty-three patients were included in this study. The POPF
      rate was significantly lower in Group A than that in Group B (4.8% vs 16.7%,
      P<0.05). About 38.3% patients in Group B developed one or more complications;
      this rate was 14.3% in Group A (P<0.01). The wound/abdominal infection rate was
      also much higher in Group B than that in Group A (20.0% vs 6.3%, P<0.05).
      Furthermore, the average hospital stays of the two groups were 18 days in Group
      A, and 24 days in Group B, respectively (P<0.001). However, there was no
      difference in the probability of mortality, biliary leakage, delayed gastric
      emptying, and pulmonary infection between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Total
      closure of pancreatic section for end-to-side pancreaticojejunostomy is a safe
      and effective method for pancreaticojejunostomy in PD.

PMID- 28603101
TI  - Pancreatic head excavation for tissue diagnosis may reduce unnecessary
      pancreaticoduodenectomies in the setting of chronic pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The necessity to obtain a tissue diagnosis of cancer prior to
      pancreatic surgery still remains an open debate. In fact, a non-negligible
      percentage of patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for suspected
      cancer has a benign lesion at final histology. We describe an approach for
      patients with diagnostic uncertainty between cancer and chronic pancreatitis,
      with the aim of minimizing the incidence of PD for suspicious malignancy finally
      diagnosed as benign disease. METHODS: Eighty-eight patients (85.4%) with a
      clinicoradiological picture highly suggestive for malignancy received formal PD
      (group 1). Fifteen patients (14.6%) in whom preoperative diagnosis was uncertain
      between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis underwent pancreatic head
      excavation (PHEX) for intraoperative tissue diagnosis (group 2): those diagnosed
      as having cancer received PD, whereas those with chronic pancreatitis received
      pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ). RESULTS: No patient received PD for benign disease.
      All patients in group 1 had adenocarcinoma on final histology. Eight patients of
      group 2 (53.3%) received PD after intraoperative diagnosis of cancer, whereas 7
      (46.7%) received PJ because no malignancy was found at introperative frozen
      sections. No signs of cancer were encountered in patients receiving PHEX and PJ
      after a median follow-up of 42 months. Overall survival did not differ between
      patients receiving PD for cancer in the group 1 and those receiving PD for cancer
      after PHEX in the group 2 (P=0.509). CONCLUSION: Although the described technique
      has been used in a very selected group of patients, our results suggest that PHEX
      for tissue diagnosis may reduce rates of unnecessary PD, when the preoperative
      diagnosis is uncertain between cancer and chronic pancreatitis.

PMID- 28603102
TI  - A clinical analysis of acute pancreatitis in pregnancy.

PMID- 28603103
TI  - Orthotopic liver transplantation from a donor with Schistosoma japonicum.

PMID- 28603104
TI  - Combined cavo-atrial thrombectomy and hepatectomy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28603105
TI  - Antibacterial activity of propolis extracts from the south of Portugal.
AB  - To examine the antibacterial activity of diverse extracts of propolis harvested
      at winter and spring from several locations of Algarve, Portugal, against Gram
      negative and Gram-positive bacteria was the main goal of the present work. For
      such, the antibacterial activity was determined by agar diffusion. The results
      showed that all tested bacterial strains showed susceptibility to diluted
      propolis extracts and in a dose-dependent manner. Two propolis samples collected
      at springtime showed higher antibacterial activity, in comparison with samples
      harvested at wintertime. Ethanolic and methanolic extracts have a very similar
      activity (P<0.05). Helicobacter pylori strains J99 and 26695 were the most
      susceptible strains to the tested extracts (33.67+/-2.52 mm and 35.67+/-0.58mm,
      respectively). This study constitutes the first approach of the biological
      activities of Portuguese propolis from the Algarve region and evidences its
      potential use to combat bacterial infections, in particular against the gastric
      pathogen H. pylori.

PMID- 28603106
TI  - Hematologic adverse effects and efficacy monitoring in chronic Hepatitis C
      patients treated with interferon and ribavirin combination therapy.
AB  - 180 million people are affected by chronic Hepatitis C Virus infection globally
      and more than 50 million in South East Asia. Combination of Interferon and
      Ribavirin is the current anti-HCV therapy in practice and is associated with
      certain hematologic adverse effects. In this concurrent observational study the
      incidence rate of major hematologic adverse effects and efficacy outcomes of
      Interferon and Ribavirin combination therapy was evaluated in 288 chronic
      hepatitis C patients at Lahore General Hospital. Levels of Hb, TLC, and Platelets
      counts were monitored for hematologic adverse effects monitoring, whereas, ALT,
      AST and bilirubin levels were monitored for efficacy. PCR was done at week 4, 12
      &36 for therapeutic success evaluation. A significant reduction in Hb levels
      (p<0.05) was observed after week 4, 8 and 12 of therapy. Frequency of anemia
      increased in both genders with body weight <65kg and platelet count <150,000/mm3.
      End Treatment Response (ETR) was achieved in 64.5%. Anemia was the major side
      effect of the combination therapy particularly in the males. Higher ETR was
      observed in patients who achieved RVR and were <50 years of age.

PMID- 28603107
TI  - Anti-fungal and Anti-Mycobacterial activity of plants of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
AB  - Severe fungal infections, particularly those caused by Candida spp, have
      increased in recent decades and are associated with an extremely high rate of
      morbidity and mortality. Since plants are an important source of potentially
      bioactive compounds, in this work the antifungal activity of the methanol
      extracts of 10 plants (Acacia rigidula, Buddleja cordata, Cephalanthus
      occidentalis, Juglans nigra, Parkinsonia aculeata, Parthenium hysterophorus,
      Quercus canbyi, Ricinus communis, Salvia coccinea and Teucrium bicolor) were
      evaluated. The activity was evaluated according to the micro dilution assay
      described in CLSI M27-A protocol using some clinical isolates of different
      species of Candida (C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. krusei and C.
      glabrata). All extracts showed MIC values < 31.25MUg/mL against at least one of
      the strains used, which is very interesting because it was crude extracts. Acacia
      rigidula (0.93-3.75MUg/mL) and Quercus canbyi (0.93-7.5MUg/mL) had antifungal
      activity against 7 strains with MIC values <8MUg/mL in all cases. Furthermore
      excerpts activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (strain H37rv) was
      evaluated. Only Salvia coccinea and Teucrium bicolor showed MIC values125MUg/mL
      by the method of MABA.

PMID- 28603108
TI  - A validated stability indicating RP-HPLC method for estimation of Armodafinil in
      pharmaceutical dosage forms and characterization of its base hydrolytic product.
AB  - The main objective of present study was to develop a RP-HPLC method for
      estimation of Armodafinil in pharmaceutical dosage forms and characterization of
      its base hydrolytic product. The method was developed for Armodafinil estimation
      and base hydrolytic products were characterized. The separation was carried out
      on C18 column by using mobile phase as mixture of water and methanol (45:55%v/v).
      Eluents were detected at 220nm at 1ml/min. Stress studies were performed with
      milder conditions followed by stronger conditions so as to get sufficient
      degradation around 20%. A total of five degradation products were detected and
      separated from analyte. The linearity of the proposed method was investigated in
      the range of 20-120ug/ml for Armodafinil. The detection limit and quantification
      limit was found to be 0.01183MUg/ml and 0.035ug/ml respectively. The precision %
      RSD was found to be less than 2% and the recovery was between 98-102%.
      Armodafinil was found to be more sensitive to the base hydrolysis and yielded its
      carboxylic acid as degradant. The developed method was stability indicating
      assay, suitable to quantify Armodafinil in presence of possible degradants. The
      drug was sensitive to acid, base &photolytic stress and resistant to thermal
      &oxidation.

PMID- 28603109
TI  - Phytochemical and biological assessments on Lipidium meyenii (maca) and Epimidium
      sagittatum (horny goat weed).
AB  - The effects of Lipidium meyenii (maca, LM) and Epimidium sagittatum (horny goat
      weed, ES) have been investigated due to their involvement in fertilization. Both
      of the drugs showed good results before, during and after fertilization in male
      and female mice. The results revealed that the crude extract of Lipidium meyenii
      caused a significant decrease in the no. of writhes at 300 and 500mg/kg (p<0.05)
      as compare to control, Epimidium sagittatum and standard drug. The gross
      behavioral, open field, exploratory behaviour, forced swimming test for stress,
      diuretic activity, chronic toxicity with the effect on reproduction of both male
      and female and change in body weight were also studied. The phytochemical study
      showed the presence of tannin, alkaloid, carbohydrate, rich protein and absence
      of sterol in LM, whereas ES shows presence of sterol and less protein. LS improve
      in muscle activity and exploratory behaviours without any toxic effects on mice
      and their pups. It does not have diuretic effect for first two hour but act
      normally after initial phase of drug therapy. Epimidium sagittatum has dual
      action that is at low dose it has slight stimulation action and at high dose
      little depressive effect. ES also has some diuretic effect. Overall these results
      suggest that LM is highly effective remedy for treatment of impotency and reduces
      stress and depression, because of dual effect ES not only suggested as an
      anxiolytic medicine but also effective in female hormonal disorder.

PMID- 28603110
TI  - Identification of IgE- binding pollen protein from Cannabis sativa in pollen
      hypersensitive patients from north Pakistan.
AB  - Cannabis sativa (C.sativa) is well-known for its medicinal, industrial and
      recreational use. However, allergies in relation to Cannabis sativa (C.sativa)
      are rarely reported. C. sativa is one of the common weeds found in Pakistan and
      its pollen grains are common in spring and fall season. Although categorized as
      an aeroallergen, there are limited number of reports regarding allergenic
      potential in C. sativa. Therefore, the current study is aimed at exploring the
      IgE- binding potential among the C. sativa pollen in local pollen allergic
      patients. Initial screening of C. sativa sensitized individuals was carried out
      by dot blot from the sera of pollen allergic patients. Proteins from the pollen
      grains were extracted and resolved on 10% gel. Eight bands were visible on gel
      however only one protein fragment i.e. of 14KDa size was found to bind to IgE as
      analyzed through protein gel blot analysis. Strong IgE affinity of a 14 kDa
      protein fragment from C. sativa pollen extract suggests its allergenic potential.
      Further study is required to find the exact nature of this protein fragment.

PMID- 28603111
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of Hizikia fusiformis via multicellular
      signaling pathways in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 cells.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of
      Hizikia fusiformis (HF) extracts in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7
      cells. We extracted HF using solvent and sub-critical water techniques. In
      results, HF extracts inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in cell-free and LPS
      stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. HF210 (extract prepared with sub critical water at
      210oC) was most effective. The HF210 extract dose-dependently inhibited inducible
      nitric oxide synthase expression (iNOS) and nuclear factor kappa (NF-?B) p65
      translocation from cytosol to the nucleus. Furthermore, HF210 extract dose
      dependently inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
      (p38 MAPK), Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and signal transducers and activators of
      transcription (STAT)-1in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Thus, our results suggest
      that anti-inflammatory effects of HF210 extract showed a noticeable distinction
      by regulation of multiple signaling pathways in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells.

PMID- 28603112
TI  - Alternative treatment in Hepatitis B by using polyherbal formulation.
AB  - The hepatitis B is most prevalent diseases (along with morbidities) in Asian
      countries. This research study has been conducted to provide an alternative
      treatment which is safe, effective and cost-effective to comprehend relations of
      disease, symptoms, patients response and the clinical response via better
      management of hepatitis B. The goal of this research is to evaluate efficacy and
      safety of herbal medicine as compared to allopathic medicine in patients
      suffering from hepatitis B. This was a single blind, randomized controlled
      clinical trial conducted at Shifa-ul-Mulk Memorial Hospital Hamdard University,
      Karachi and Dar ul Shifa Unani Dawakhana Karachi, Pakistan. The patients of both
      genders ranging from 25 to 50 years with symptoms and diagnosed for hepatitis B
      that fulfilled the criteria for membership, and consented for participation were
      registered. Ethical committee clearance and permission was obtained from the
      concerned committee at Faculty of Eastern Medicine, Hamdard University, Karachi,
      Pakistan. No significant difference was identified after treatment and it was
      found that the efficacy of Alpha (Control drug) is same as Safoof akseer e jigar
      (Test drug). The data offered support to the null hypothesis and therefore
      research hypothesis was rejected. According to the statistical analysis by chi
      square, hepatitis B was recorded as negative in 26 patients (57.77%) out of 45
      patients by the use of Interferon Alpha (control therapy) and in 27 patients
      (64.28%) out of 42 patients by the use of Safoof akseer e jigar (test drug).
      Comparison of the data recorded of the patients was determined as both drugs
      showed significant improvement and p value>0.05. The efficacy response is equal
      in both drugs while test drug showed more safety response. It is concluded that
      Safoof akseer e jigar possesses as effective a therapeutic value in treating
      hepatitis B as allopathic medicine.

PMID- 28603113
TI  - Nephroprotective property of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and its antibacterial activity
      in combination with gantamicin.
AB  - Cinnamomum zeylanicum has strong antioxidant properties and has been presented to
      have nephroprotective effects. Present work was aimed to study the
      nephroprotective property of the plant extract through urinary enzymes excretion,
      to confirm its protective effects and to observe the antibacterial activities of
      gentamicin in combination with the plant extract. 200mg/kg/day of the plant
      extracts were administered alone and as co-therapy with gentamicin. Urinary
      lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Urinary alkaline phospatase (ALP) excretions were
      observed through reagents kits with the help of Power-Lab 300. Antibacterial
      activities were assessed for gentamicin alone and in combination with the
      extract. Present study showed that the plant extract have excess quantity of
      flavonoids, which may responsible for attenuating the excessive excretion of
      urinary LDH. However, Urinary ALP excretion was found remained same throughout
      the study period in all experimental groups; might be detected in acute damage.
      Further, the plant also proved to have no decreasing impact on the antibacterial
      activities of gentamicin.

PMID- 28603114
TI  - Pretreatment with different doses of dexamethasone in the prevention of docetaxel
      induced hypersensitivity.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dexamethasone
      pretreatment regimen with different doses in the prevention of docetaxel-induced
      hypersensitivity reaction (HSR). One hundred and sixty-two patients who had
      malignant tumors as determined by histology and/or cytology and received
      docetaxel treatments at least 2 cycles, were randomized into two groups. There
      were 90 patients in the study group and 72 patients in the control group. In the
      study group, patients received 4.5mg of oral dexamethasone once a day. Patients
      in the control group received 8 mg of dexamethasone twice a day. All patients
      received dexamethasone for 3 days, from the day before docetaxel treatment to the
      day after docetaxel treatment. The endpoints were hypersensitivity reaction (HSR)
      and other adverse effects, which were determined according to common terminology
      criteria for adverse event v3.0 (CTCAE 3.0). In the study group, 10 patients had
      HSRs (11.1%). While in the control group, 7 patients had HSRs (9.7%), and the
      main clinical symptoms of HSR were rash (3.1%), fever/chill (2.5%), angioedema
      (1.9%), chest discomfort (1.9%) and hypotension (0.6%). There was no
      statistically significant difference between these two groups (P=0.774). There
      was no significant difference in the incidence rate of adverse effect between
      patients in the study group and in the control group. Those adverse effects
      included neutropenia, decreased hemoglobin, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and fluid
      retention. Since no significant difference in the HSR incidence between these two
      groups has been found, 4.5mg of dexamethasone (qd) is as efficient and safe as
      8mg (bid).

PMID- 28603115
TI  - Screening of Aerva javanica and Linum ustitatissimum for their anti-diabetic and
      anti-oxidant activity.
AB  - The present study investigates anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant potentials of the
      aerial parts of Aerva javanica and seeds of Linum ustitatissimum. Our results
      revealed that maximum antioxidant activity was found in hexane fractions of both
      plants. Linum ustitatissimum recorded maximum antioxidant value of 15.77mmol/L
      while Aerva javanica had antioxidant activity of 16.07mmol/L. Anti-diabetic
      activities were also evaluated using normal rats, induced diabetic (untreated)
      rats and treated diabetic rats. Aerva javanica revealed a significant potential
      in decreasing blood glucose level to 77.08mg/dl and body weight 76.30mg/kg while
      Linum ustitatissimum reduced blood glucose level to 84.20mg/dl and body weight
      83.090mg/kg. From these results it can be concluded that both plants possesses
      anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant activity.

PMID- 28603116
TI  - Anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic effects of extract from the seed of Gossypium
      herbaceum L. in Alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits.
AB  - Anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic effects of seed of Gossypium herbaceum L (GH) and
      its aqueous and ethanol extracts were investigated in alloxan-induced diabetic
      rabbits. Normal, Alloxan-induced diabetic and treated groups of rabbit were
      examined for their serum glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, creatinine and urea
      levels. Water/food intake and toxic effect of test substances were also observed
      in treated rabbits. Effect of test agents on architecture of pancreatic beta
      cells was evaluated histopathologically in rabbits. GH powder, its aqueous (GHA)
      and ethanol (GHE) extract significantly (P<0.05) reduced normoglycemia, serum
      cholesterol, triglyceride and urea in a dose dependent order (200->300 mg/kg of
      body weight) in normal rabbits. GH and GHE ameliorated completely the Alloxan
      effect on serum levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, creatinine and urea
      in Alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. GHA and Glimepiride (a reference drug)
      partially blocked such effect of the Alloxan in treated rabbits. Further GH, GHA
      and GHE did not cause any change in food/water intakes and on liver, spleen,
      kidney, lung and heart in treated rabbits. Phytochemical study of GH and its
      extracts revealed the presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds.
      Histopathological examination showed the protective effect of GH, GHA and GHE
      against Alloxan-induced destruction of beta-cells of pancreas in diabetic
      rabbits. Data indicated that GH and its aqueous and ethanol extracts have
      promising anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic effects. GH and GHE could be effective
      tool against the development, progression and complication of Diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 28603117
TI  - Anti-microbial screening and cytotoxic activity of aerial part of Thymelaea
      hirsuta L. essential oil growing in south-west Tunisia.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of
      essential oil isolated by the hydro-distillation of aerial parts of Thymelaea
      hirsuta. The antimicrobial activity of the oil was evaluated against eight
      bacterial and three fungal pathogenic strains. The results revealed that the
      essential oil exhibited a moderate-to-potent anti-microbial activity against all
      the microorganisms tested. Gram-positive bacteria were noted to be more sensitive
      to the oil than gram-negative bacteria and yeasts. In vitro cytotoxicity
      evaluation against HeLa cell lines showed that the essential oil exhibited
      moderate cytotoxicity on human tumor cells, with a high IC50 value of 175MUg/mL.
      To the author's knowledge, this is the first study reporting on the antimicrobial
      and cytotoxic activities of Thymelaea hirsuta essential oil. Overall, the results
      indicate that the T. hirsuta essential oil has a number of attractive properties
      that might open new promising opportunities for the control or prevention of a
      wide range of microbial infections and cancers and can facilitate the use of
      essential oils as natural preservatives against spoilage microorganisms in food
      systems.

PMID- 28603118
TI  - Carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter spp restricted the Therapeutic alternatives.
AB  - Carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter has appeared an organism of uncertain
      resistivity towards antimicrobial agents. Among non-fermenting bacterium
      Acinetobacter is the second-most-commonly-isolated organisms in human. The fast
      intensify of their resistance to antibiotics, especially global emergence and
      extend of Acinetobacter strains resistant to carbapenem more restricted the
      therapeutic alternatives. The importation of A. baumannii and subsequent presence
      in hospitals has been well documented. In this study we evaluate the resistivity
      of Acinetobacter against carbapenem antibiotics at Jinnah University for Women,
      Karachi. Total 439 isolates of Acinetobacter were collected from different
      clinical samples of hospitalized patients, identified by standard microbiological
      methods. Antibiograms were done on Mueller-Hinton agar plates with disk diffusion
      method (Kirby Bauer method). Disc tested: Meropenem (10MUg/disk). Among 439
      samples, 300 (68.3%) samples were resistant to Meropenem and the remaining that
      is 139 (31.7%) showed sensitivity to the drugs. In developing countries including
      Pakistan the contentment of multi drug resistance and their dissemination in
      Acinetobacter species is not a simple task. While multiple drug resistance is
      increasing in this pathogen and Carbapenem conflict is quickly spreading which
      may become a major threat in future.

PMID- 28603119
TI  - Effect of chongmyungtang, a traditional Korean polyherbal formula, on the
      Pharmacokinetic profiles of donepezil in rats.
AB  - Chongmyungtang (CMT) is a famous Korean herbal medicine for improving learning
      and memory, which has been reported to have anti-cholinergic and neuroprotective
      effects. Therefore, drug-drug interactions were examined between CMT and
      donepezil as a first screening of combination therapy for cognitive deficits.
      Rats received oral co-administration of donepezil with distilled water as a
      control or donepezil with CMT as a combination. The distilled water or CMT was co
      administered at intervals within 5min after donepezil or 1.5h intervals. The
      plasma samples were analyzed for donepezil concentration and its pharmacokinetic
      parameters of Tmax, Cmax, AUC, t1/2 and MRTinf. In the single co-administration
      at intervals within 5min, donepezil was detected lower in the combination than
      control at 0.5h and 2h post-treatment (P<0.05). In addition, the combination
      showed significant increases in MRTinf compared to the control (P<0.05). This
      suggests drug-drug interactions between donepezil and CMT in the co
      administration within 5 min. However, no meaningful differences were found in the
      pharmacokinetic profiles of donepezil by single dosing with CMT at 1.5h intervals
      and even by the repeated dosing for a week at 1.5h intervals potential
      combination therapy of donepezil with CMT.

PMID- 28603121
TI  - Evaluation of in vitro antidiabetic and antioxidant characterizations of
      Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton (Zingiberaceae), Piper cubeba L. f. (Piperaceae),
      and Plumeria rubra L. (Apocynaceae).
AB  - Inhibition of intestinal alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase is an important
      strategy to regulate diabetes mellitus (DM). Antioxidants from plants are widely
      regarded in the prevention of diabetes. Fruits of Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton
      (Zingiberaceae) and Piper cubeba L. f. (Piperaceae) and flowers of Plumeria rubra
      L. (Apocynaceae) are traditionally used to cure DM in different countries.
      However, the role of these plants has been grossly under reported and is yet to
      receive proper scientific evaluation with respect to understand their traditional
      role in the management of diabetes especially as digestive enzymes inhibitors.
      Hence, methanol and aqueous extracts of the aforementioned plants were evaluated
      for their in vitro alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibition at 1 mg/mL and
      quantification of their antioxidant properties (DPPH, FRAP tests, total phenolic
      and total flavonoids contents). In vitro optimization studies for the extracts
      were also performed to enhance in vitro biological activities. The % inhibition
      of alpha-glucosidase by the aqueous extracts of the fruits of E. cardamomum, P.
      cubeba and flowers of P. rubra were 10.41 (0.03), 95.19 (0.01), and -2.92 (0.03),
      while the methanol extracts exhibited % inhibition 13.73 (0.02), 92.77 (0.01),
      and -0.98 (0.01), respectively. The % inhibition of alpha-amylase by the aqueous
      extracts were 82.99 (0.01), 64.35 (0.01), and 20.28 (0.02), while the methanol
      extracts displayed % inhibition 39.93 (0.01), 31.06 (0.02), and 39.40 (0.01),
      respectively. Aqueous extracts displayed good in vitro antidiabetic and
      antioxidant activities. Moreover, in vitro optimization experiments helped to
      increase the alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity of E. cardamomum. Our findings
      further justify the traditional claims of these plants as folk medicines to
      manage diabetes, however, through digestive enzymes inhibition effect.

PMID- 28603120
TI  - Enzyme inhibitory, Antifungal, Antibacterial and hemolytic potential of various
      fractions of Colebrookia oppositifolia.
AB  - The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the enzyme inhibition,
      antifungal, antibacterial and hemolytic activities of various fractions of
      Colebrookia oppositifolia Smith. The MeOH extract of plant was dissolved in dist.
      water and partitioned with n-hexane, CHCl3, EtOAc and n-BuOH sequentially. Enzyme
      inhibition studies were done against four enzymes i.e. alpha-glucosidase,
      butyrylcholinesterase, acetyl cholinesterase and lipoxygenase. Ethyl acetate
      fraction possessed very good activity against alpha-glucosidase (IC50 57.38+/
      1.23ug/mL). CHCl3 fraction displayed good activity against alpha-glucosidase and
      lipoxygenase while moderate activity against butyryl cholinesterase. EtOAc
      fraction displayed good activity against lipoxygenase. Antifungal activity was
      studied against four fungi i.e. Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Ganoderma
      lucidum and Alternaria alternata by the disc diffusion method using fluconazole,
      a standard antifungal drug, as positive control. Aqueous fraction displayed good
      activity against G. lucidum and A. flavus. Antibacterial activity was checked
      against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pasturella multocida and
      Escherichia coli by the disc diffusion method using streptomycin sulphate, a
      standard antibiotic, as positive control. Chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous
      fraction showed good activity against E. coli. Chloroform fraction showed good
      activity against B. subtilis. Ethyl acetate fraction showed good activity against
      the P. multocida. All the studied fractions showed very less toxicity i.e. < 7%.

PMID- 28603122
TI  - Chromatographic fractionation, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of
      Urginea maritima methanolic extract.
AB  - The present work concerns a phytochemical study of Urginea maritima L. from
      Algeria, and an evaluation of antioxidant activity of the methanolic extract
      (UMME) and its chromatographic fractions. UMME was fractionated using open glass
      chromatography on silica gel and antioxidant effects were evaluated using DPPH
      and beta-carotene/linoleate assays. The phytochemical screening revealed that the
      bulb of plant contains flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, reducing compounds,
      anthraquinones combined, anthocyanins, mucilage, triterpenes and steroids. DPPH
      method showed that the UMME has a scavenger effect on radical DPPH with an
      IC50=57.83+/-1.59ug/ml. The fractions isolated from U. maritima (L.) presented an
      IC50 ranging between 499.23 and 39.68ug/ml. In beta-carotene/linoleate test, UMME
      and fractions give an I% =69.56+/-0.08% and between 31.29+/-0.49% and 90.79+/
      0.29%, respectively. UMME showed a high inhibitory effect on the xanthine oxidase
      (IC50=0.67+/-0.01 mg/ml) and on the cytochrome c reduction (IC50=0.68 mg/ml).
      Wide range of phytochemical constituents in Urginea maritima were detected in
      methanolic extract which exhibited antioxidant and antibacterial activity. This
      plant could serve as pilot for the development of novel agents for pathological
      disorders.

PMID- 28603123
TI  - Determination of nitrate in biological fluids by HPLC.
AB  - Nitrate is the stable product of nitric oxide, which is physiologically active
      radical, an immunomodulator and a neuromodulator; its quantification in
      biological fluids is important to study the physiological and biochemical nature.
      Therefore, the purpose of this study was to quantify nitrate in different
      biological fluids like serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and ascetic fluid (ASF)
      using HPLC technique. A new HPLC method for the estimation of nitrate in serum,
      CSF and ASF was developed using the mobile phase of 1.0mM each of Na2CO3 and
      NaHCO3 (1:1, v/v, pH 5 with H3PO4) at a flow rate of 1.0mLmin-1. Eluate was
      detected at 220nm with the retention time of nitrate 2.55 min. The LOD and LOQ
      values of nitrate were 0.03MUgmL-1 and 0.098MUgmL-1, respectively. Nitrate was
      eluted through SAX Hypersil column of 150 * 4.6mm, id, 5MUm particle size. Run
      time was 10min. The method was validated according to the FDA guidelines and was
      found linear in the range of 0.39 to 50MUgmL-1 and CV was <3%, within limits of
      FDA guidelines. The method was used successfully for the estimation of nitrate in
      biological fluids like serum, CSF and ASF of 20 patients each. This is an
      alternate and reproducible method for the detection of nitrates in biological
      fluids.

PMID- 28603124
TI  - Validation and application of high performance liquid chromatographic method for
      the estimation of metoclopramide hydrochloride in plasma.
AB  - The objective of this study was validation of a reverse phase HPLC method for the
      estimation of metoclopramide HCl in plasma already validated for determination of
      metoclopramide HCl in tablets dosage form. A reverse chromatographic method was
      used for estimation of metoclopramide HCl with the mobile phase of acetonitrile,
      20mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer solution (pH 3.0 adjusted with
      orthophosphoric acid) in the ratio of 40: 60. The column used was Waters C18
      3.9*300mm uBondapak (RP). The flow rate of the mobile phase was 2ml/ minute. The
      detector was set at the wavelength of 275nm. This method validated in plasma and
      was found to be linear, with correlation coefficient (R2), value of 0.9988, in
      the range of 48 ng/ml-0.25ng/ml. The method modified was accurate, precise,
      sensitive and showed good stability results. The % RSD of the retention time and
      peak area of metoclopramide HCl was 0.19% and 1.44% respectively. All the
      parameters such as specificity, linearity, range, accuracy, precision, system
      suitability, solution stability, detection and quantification limits were
      evaluated to validate this method and were found within the acceptance limits.
      The method can be effectively used for estimation of metoclopramide HCl in
      plasma.

PMID- 28603125
TI  - Estimation of yohimbine base in complex mixtures by quantitative HPTLC
      application.
AB  - The indole alkaloid Yohimbine has been used for over two centuries in the
      treatment of erectly dysfunction. Several formulations containing yohimbine
      salts, yohimbe bark power or extract are marketed worldwide. Determination of the
      amount of yohimbine in such formulation is a challenging task due to their
      complex nature. Extraction followed by acid-base purification resulted in a
      relatively pure alkaloids containing fractions. The exact amounts of yohimbine
      free base in different formulations were determined by densitometric HPTLC
      validated methods using silica gel TLC plates. Standard curve for yohimbine was
      generated using yohimbine hydrochloride subjected to the same acid-base treatment
      as the used samples. All formulations found to contain yohimbine though some with
      less concentration than the labeled amount.

PMID- 28603126
TI  - Prophylactic and therapeutic effect of Punica granatum in trinitrobenzene
      sulfonic acid induced inflammation in rats.
AB  - Pomegranate (Punica granatum L., Punicaceae) contains varieties of antioxidants
      and phytochemicals; there are evidences that phytochemicals and antioxidants play
      a vital role in reducing inflammation. Hence this investigation was planned to
      assess the outcome of Punica granatum on trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid provoked
      colitis in rats at 2, 5 and 8ml/kg of the body weight. The effect of P. granatum
      was assessed in two group i.e. prophylaxis as pre-colitis and therapeutic as post
      colitis. After completion of dosing in both the groups, macroscopic and
      histological examination of colon was carried out along with estimation of serum
      myeloperoxidase, glutathione, alkaline phosphate, fibrinogen and C-reactive
      protein. In prophylactic procedure P. granatum revealed significant (P<0.05)
      changes in biochemical markers of inflammation at 5 and 8ml/kg doses. However in
      therapeutic procedure significant change was observed only at 8ml/kg. Thus
      results of the present study suggest that P. granatum have a role in prevention
      as well as treatment of inflammation.

PMID- 28603127
TI  - Antibacterial activities of Diospyros blancoi, Phoenix dactylifera and Morus
      nigra against dental caries causing pathogens: An in vitro study.
AB  - The study was undertaken to determine the in-vitro antibacterial potential of
      Diospyrosblancoi, Phoenix dactylifera and Morusnigra leaf extracts in hexane,
      chloroform, methanol, ethyl-acetate and aqueous extracts against dental caries
      causing bacteria. Disc diffusion assay was used to determine the antibacterial
      efficacy; the extracts were further separated using Thin Layer Chromatography and
      the anti-biofilm activity of the extracts was also determined. The preliminary
      phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presences of flavonoids,
      saponins, alkaloids and tannins because of which the extracts showed strong
      antibacterial activity against the selected pathogens. The ethyl-acetate extracts
      showed maximum inhibitory effect on biofilm formation by S. mutans.96% inhibition
      was observed in methanol extract of Diospyrosblancoi, and 95% in ethyl acetate
      extract. The results evidenced that the plants inhibit the growth of oral
      bacteria responsible for dental caries with their abundance source of secondary
      metabolites and can be used as an alternative treatment for caries, thus
      minimizing the antibiotics used to treat the disease in local medicine.

PMID- 28603128
TI  - Antihyperglycemic and antioxidant effect of the total flavones of Potentilla
      kleiniana Wight et Arn. in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.
AB  - To investigate the antihyperglycemic and antioxidant activity of the total
      flavones of Potentilla kleiniana Wight et Arn. (TFP) in streptozotocin (STZ)
      induced diabetic rats. STZ-induced diabetic rats were treated with TFP weekly for
      4 weeks at three doses (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg). Blood glucose levels
      (BGL), body weight, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high
      density lipoprotein (HDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), low density
      lipoprotein (LDL), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), super oxide
      dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels of liver and pancreas were measured
      weekly for 4 weeks. STZ administration resulted in oxidative damage of pancreas,
      then hyperglycemia proved by higher MDA, lower insulin and higher BGL in
      comparison to normal rats. TC, TG, LDL and VLDL cholesterol levels were also
      significantly elevated with decreased GSH, SOD, and CAT levels. A steady decrease
      in BGL and increase in insulin level were observed 4 weeks after TFP treatment in
      a dose dependent manner, as well as remarkable improvement in body weight and
      biochemical parameters. TFP have the effect of inhibiting hyperglycemia and
      oxidative stress, and the administration may be helpful in the prevention of
      diabetic complications associated with oxidative stress.

PMID- 28603129
TI  - Pharmaceutical and in vitro therapeutic equivalence studies of ketoprofen enteric
      coated 100 mg tablets.
AB  - The objective of this study was to assess the quality of six different brands of
      enteric coated Ketoprofen 100 mg tablets, KPB2 to KPB6 are available in
      commercial market of Karachi, Pakistan, while KPB1 was obtained from
      international source. We performed different physico-chemical assessments i.e.
      weight variation, diameter, hardness, friability, thickness, disintegration,
      content uniformity, assay and dissolution test. Results of all the investigations
      were found to be in adequate limits. Also pharmaceutical equivalence was
      determined by selecting different tests and assay assessment. Furthermore, in
      vitro therapeutic equivalence was also estimated at phosphate buffer pH 6.8 and
      7.5. Results were evaluated by one way ANOVA, model independent and model
      dependent methods. ANOVA results showed that release behaviour were found to be
      similar as p values >0.05, also KPB 1 - KPB6 followed Weibull model at different
      dissolution media. Results indicated that innovator and brands not only passes
      the pharmaceutical equivalence assessment but also comply with the in vitro
      therapeutic equivalence.

PMID- 28603130
TI  - Fluconazole and its interaction with metal (II) complexes: SEM, Spectroscopic and
      antifungal studies.
AB  - The human digestive tract contains some 100 trillion cells and thousands of
      species of micro-organisms may be present as normal flora of this tract as well
      as other mucocutaneous junctions of the body. Candida specie is the most common
      organism residing in these areas and can easily invade the internal tissues in
      cases of loss of host defenses. Modifications of previously existing antifungal
      agents may provide new options to fight against these species. Inorganic
      compounds of different antifungals are under investigations. Present study report
      six complexes of fluconazole with Cu (II)), Fe(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and
      Mn(II) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV and
      H-NMR. The elemental analysis and spectroscopic data were found in agreement with
      the expected values as the metal to ligand value was 1:2 ratios with two
      chlorides in coordination sphere. The morphology of each complex was studied
      using scanning electron microscope and compared with fluconazole molecule the
      flaky-slab rock like particles of pure fluconazole was also observed as reported
      earlier. However, the complexes of fluconazole were showed different morphology
      in their micrograph. Fluconazole and its complex derivatives have also been
      screened in vitro for their antifungal activity against Candida albican and
      Aspergillus niger by MIC method. The complexes showed varied activity ranging
      from 2-20%.

PMID- 28603131
TI  - Antipyretic potential of herbal coded formulation (Pyrexol).
AB  - The antipyretic effect of the aqueous extract of herbal coded formulation
      containing equal amount of Salix alba, Emblica officinalis, Glycyrrhiza glabra,
      Adhatoda vasica, Viola odorata, Thea sinensis, Veleriana officinalis, Foeniculum
      vulgare, Sisymbrium irrio and Achillea millefolium was investigated using the
      yeast induced pyrexia model in rabbits. Paracetamol was used as a control group.
      Rectal temperatures of all rabbits were recorded immediately before the
      administration of the extract or paracetamol and again at 1 hour, after this,
      temperature was noted at 1 hrs interval for 5 hrs using digital thermometer. At
      240mg/kg dose the extract showed significant reduction in yeast-induced elevated
      temperature as compared with that of standard drug paracetamol (150mg/kg). It is
      concluded that herbal coded medicine at a dose of 240mg/kg has marked antipyretic
      activity in animal models and this strongly supports the ethno pharmacological
      uses of medicinal plants of this formulation.

PMID- 28603132
TI  - Airways and vascular smooth muscles relaxant activities of Gaultheria
      trichophylla.
AB  - The aim of this experimental work was to explore the potential pharmacological
      activities of Gaultheria trichophylla Royle in hyperactive respiratory and
      vascular conditions. Gaultheria trichophylla was extracted with solvents,
      phytochemical detection tests were performed, and rabbit trachea and aorta strips
      were used to evaluate its effects on airways and vascular smooth muscles.
      Qualitative phytochemical tests showed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids,
      anthraquinones, saponins, terpenoids, and condensed tannins. The methanol extract
      caused inhibition (EC50 values of 3.12 mg/mL) of carbachol (1 MUM) and partial
      relaxation of K+(80 mM) caused contractions in tracheal strips. The chloroform
      extract was comparatively more potent against carbachol than K+ induced
      contraction with EC50 values of 0.64 and 2.26 mg/mL, respectively. However, the n
      hexane extract showed more potency against K+ than cabachol induced contractions,
      as in case with verapamil, with EC50 values of 0.61 and 6.58 mg/mL, respectively.
      In isolated prepared trachea, the extracts displaced the carbachol concentration
      response curves and maximum response was suppressed. In rabbit aorta
      preparations, methanol and n-hexane extracts partially relaxed phenylephrine (1
      MUM) and K+ induced vasoconstrictions. However, the chloroform extract inhibited
      phenylephrine induced contractions and exhibited a vasoconstrictor effect at
      lower concentrations and a relaxant effect at higher concentrations against K+
      precontractions. The data indicates that, in addition to others, the extracts of
      G .trichophylla possess verapamil like Ca++ channel blocking components which
      explain the possible role of this plant in respiratory and vascular conditions.

PMID- 28603133
TI  - Impact of terrorism on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
      among the residents of Khyber Bazaar and its immediate surrounding areas in
      Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
AB  - This study evaluated the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and
      the severity of PTSD symptoms in survivors, rescuers and witnesses of terrorist
      attacks on Khyber bazaar, Qissa Khawani bazaar, and All Saints Church in Peshawar
      city area. Cross-sectional survey is carried out on a sample of one hundred
      survivors, rescuers and witness of terrorist attacks using structured interviews
      to assess the severity of posttraumatic stress, five months after the attacks.
      The study period extended from January 24, 2014 to March 24, 2014 which
      constitutes a total of period of 8 weeks. PTSD symptoms are measured using
      Posttraumatic Symptom Scale Interview (PSSI) and conferred to a diagnosis of PTSD
      at 5 months. Additionally, the severity of PTSD symptoms were determined using
      PSSI scores, severity ranged from 0-51. Of the one hundred survey respondents,
      88% were males and 12% were females. Forty percent (40%) had attained 10 years of
      education, matriculation, but irrespective of the gender or educational status,
      all had some degree of PTSD. Sixty-six (66%) percent respondents are diagnosed as
      having moderate PTSD while 11% of the sample suffered from severe PTSD level.
      Age, gender, occupation and education level did not have any correlation with
      PTSD development. The contemporary findings indicate that any person who has
      witnessed or survived catastrophes of terrorist activities like bomb blast or
      being exposed to suicide attacks is at risk for developing PTSD, and there is
      necessity to deliver specialized post-disaster mental health facilities to the
      people having substantial levels of PTSD after calamities of such great
      intensity.

PMID- 28603134
TI  - Report: Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous-methanolic extract of
      Aerva javanica.
AB  - The present study was aimed to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory
      activity of aqueous methanolic extract of Aerva javanica. For measuring analgesic
      activity, writhing test, hot plate method and formalin test were performed and
      abdominal writhing was induced by intra-peritoneal injection of 0.2ml of 3%
      acetic acid. While in formalin test, pain was experimentally induced by injecting
      25 ul of 2.5% formalin in left hind paw. In hot plate method, pain was induced
      thermally by keeping the animals on a hot plate with temperature of about 51
      degrees C. Anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by carrageen an induced mice
      paw edema. The results showed that the extract had significant analgesic activity
      (p<0.05- p<0.001) and anti-inflammatory activity (p<0.01-p<0.001). Therefore, it
      was concluded from this study that the extracts of Aerva javanica may be used
      against pain and inflammation.

PMID- 28603135
TI  - Report: Impact of drug combination of clopidogrel and pantoprazole In the
      prognosis of patients with transient ischemic attack.
AB  - The study aimed to investigate the impact of clopidogrel combined with proton
      pump inhibitors (PPI) pantoprazole treatment on the prognosis of patients with
      transient ischemic attack (TIA). A total of 478 cases of TIA patients treated
      with clopidogrel were randomly assigned half to clopidogrel combined with
      pantoprazole treatment and the control groups (clopidogrel treatment alone) from
      January 2012 to January 20l4. The platelet aggregation before and after treatment
      and cerebrovascular events incidence within 90 days were compared and analyzed.
      Multivariate analysis was used to estimate the incidence of cerebrovascular
      events within 90 days. The platelet aggregation rate before treatment was 73.2+/
      6.1% in the treatment group, 74.1+/-8.8% in the control group. The platelet
      aggregation rate after treatment was 38.1+/-10.7% in the treatment group, 36.8+/
      9.7% in the control group. The platelet aggregation before and after treatments
      between the two groups had not significant difference (P>0.05). The incidence of
      cerebrovascular events within 90 days (11.7% in the treatment group, 9.6% in the
      control group) between the two groups had not significant difference (P>0.05).
      Multivariate analysis showed that the incidence of cerebrovascular events within
      90 day was associated with hypertension (P=0.008), diabetes (P=0.000),
      hyperlipidemia (P=0.002) and ABCD2 score >3 points (P=0.000). Clopidogrel
      combined with pantoprazole treatment had no significant effect on the prognosis
      of TIA patients.

PMID- 28603136
TI  - Report: Unsupervised identification of malaria parasites using computer vision.
AB  - Malaria in human is a serious and fatal tropical disease. This disease results
      from Anopheles mosquitoes that are infected by Plasmodium species. The clinical
      diagnosis of malaria based on the history, symptoms and clinical findings must
      always be confirmed by laboratory diagnosis. Laboratory diagnosis of malaria
      involves identification of malaria parasite or its antigen / products in the
      blood of the patient. Manual diagnosis of malaria parasite by the pathologists
      has proven to become cumbersome. Therefore, there is a need of automatic,
      efficient and accurate identification of malaria parasite. In this paper, we
      proposed a computer vision based approach to identify the malaria parasite from
      light microscopy images. This research deals with the challenges involved in the
      automatic detection of malaria parasite tissues. Our proposed method is based on
      the pixel-based approach. We used K-means clustering (unsupervised approach) for
      the segmentation to identify malaria parasite tissues.

PMID- 28603137
TI  - Review: Nigella sativa (Prophetic Medicine): A Review.
AB  - The present report is a significant effort to explore detail description of N.
      Sativa, its pharmacognostic characteristics, morphological characteristics, and
      mechanism of actions, doses and medicinal uses. Nigella sativa (N. Sativa) is
      greatest form of healing medicine. It is also known as Prophetic Medicine as its
      use has been mentioned in Prophetic Hadit, as natural remedy for all the diseases
      except death. It is recommended on daily basis in Tibb-e-Nabwi (Prophetic
      Medicine). Hazrat Abu Hurairah States ''I have heard from Rasool Allah (PBUH)
      that there is cure for every disease in black seeds except death and black seeds
      are shooneeze''. Salim Bin Abdullah narrates with reference to his father Hazrat
      Abdullah Bin Omar that Rasool Allah (PBUH) said, 'Let all the black seed upon
      you, these contain cure of all diseases except death'. N. sativa claimed to have
      anti-inflammatory, analgesic, hepato-protective, neuro-protective, gastro
      protective and other useful properties. Biological and pharmacological effects
      are attributed to its two important constituents Thymoquinone (TQ) and Nigella
      sativa oil (NSO). TQ has interaction with human serum albumin. Seeds containing
      volatile oils mainly Melanthin showed toxicity at larger doses. This report is a
      reference for all pharmaceutical researchers, physicians and biologists
      researching on N. sativa and will open a door towards novel agent.

PMID- 28603138
TI  - Single-Molecule Combinatorial Therapeutics for Treating Obesity and Diabetes.

PMID- 28603140
TI  - Mining the Genome for Therapeutic Targets.
AB  - Current pharmacological options for type 2 diabetes do not cure the disease.
      Despite the availability of multiple drug classes that modulate glycemia
      effectively and minimize long-term complications, these agents do not reverse
      pathogenesis, and in practice they are not selected to correct the molecular
      profile specific to the patient. Pharmaceutical companies find drug development
      programs increasingly costly and burdensome, and many promising compounds fail
      before launch to market. Human genetics can help advance the therapeutic
      enterprise. Genomic discovery that is agnostic to preexisting knowledge has
      uncovered dozens of loci that influence glycemic dysregulation. Physiological
      investigation has begun to define disease subtypes, clarifying heterogeneity and
      suggesting molecular pathways for intervention. Convincing genetic associations
      have paved the way for the identification of effector transcripts that underlie
      the phenotype, and genetic or experimental proof of gain or loss of function in
      select cases has clarified the direction of effect to guide therapeutic
      development. Genetic studies can also examine off-target effects and furnish
      causal inference. As this information is curated and made widely available to all
      stakeholders, it is hoped that it will enhance therapeutic development pipelines
      by accelerating efficiency, maximizing cost-effectiveness, and raising ultimate
      success rates.

PMID- 28603141
TI  - Time Course of Evolution of Disability and Cause-Specific Mortality After
      Ischemic Stroke: Implications for Trial Design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Outcome in stroke trials is often based on a 3-month modified Rankin
      scale (mRS). How 3-month mRS relates to longer-term outcomes will depend on late
      recovery, delayed stroke-related deaths, recurrent strokes, and nonstroke deaths.
      We evaluated 3-month mRS and death/disability at 1 and 5 years in a population
      based cohort study. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 3-month survivors of ischemic stroke
      (Oxford Vascular Study; 2002-2014), we related 3-month mRS to disability (defined
      as mRS >2) at 1 and 5 years and/or death rates (age/sex adjusted). Accrual of
      disability and index-stroke-related and nonstroke deaths in each poststroke year
      was categorized according to 3-month mRS. Among 1606 patients with acute ischemic
      stroke, 181 died within 3 months, but 126 index-stroke-related deaths and 320
      other deaths occurred during the subsequent 4866 patient-years of follow-up up to
      5 years. Although 69/126 (54.8%) post-3-month index-stroke-related deaths
      occurred after 1 year, mRS>2 at 1 year strongly predicted these deaths (adjusted
      hazard ratio=21.94, 95%CI 7.88-61.09, P<0.0001). Consequently, a 3-month mRS >2
      was a strong independent predictor of death at both 1 year (adjusted hazard
      ratio=6.67, 95%CI 4.16-10.69, P<0.0001) and 5 years (adjusted hazard ratio=2.93,
      95%CI 2.38-3.60, P<0.0001). Although mRS improved by >=1 point from 3 months to 1
      year in 317/1266 (25.0%) patients with 3-month mRS >=1, improvement in mRS after
      1 year was limited (improvement by >=1 point: 91/858 [10.6%]; improvement to mRS
      <=2: 13/353 [3.7%]). CONCLUSIONS: Our results reaffirm use of the 3-month mRS
      outcome in stroke trials. Although later recovery does occur, extending follow-up
      to 1 year would capture most long-term stroke-related disability. However,
      administrative mortality follow-up beyond 1 year has the potential to demonstrate
      translation of early disability gains into additional reductions in long-term
      mortality without much erosion by non-stroke-related deaths.

PMID- 28603142
TI  - Videomicroscopic investigation of the microcirculation requires uniform
      definitions.

PMID- 28603139
TI  - How Should We Think About the Role of the Brain in Glucose Homeostasis and
      Diabetes?

PMID- 28603143
TI  - Reply to: Videomicroscopic investigation of the microcirculation requires uniform
      definitions.

PMID- 28603144
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 28603145
TI  - A Retrospective on the Vision for Progress in Community Health Partnerships:
      Research, Education, and Action.
AB  - The organizers founded Progress in Community Health Partnerships with a
      commitment to improving our understanding of community-based participatory
      research (CBPR) and its use in community-academic/institutional health
      partnerships. Following Rogers's Diffusion of Innovations, they reasoned that
      expanded adoption would occur through academic and community partner recognition
      of CBPR's relative advantage over previous approaches; its compatibility with the
      values, past experience and needs of potential adopters; its ease of
      understanding and use; its capacity for experimentation and refinement; and its
      production of observable results. We now assess the journal's progress toward
      realizing the vision, as well as issues and problems the organizers identified.
      We map the journal's content over its first decade onto the initial vision by
      examining the record of submissions and publications across the eight types of
      articles and the journal's record of rejections and publications. In remembering
      that Rogers's study of innovations requires both technical and social change, we
      discuss the difference between understanding how to do something and actually
      putting an innovation into action that becomes standard practice at both
      individual and systemic levels. We observe that the large number of Original
      Research and Works-in-Progress/Lessons Learned manuscripts, submitted and
      published, reflect traditional expectations for faculty research productivity. We
      suggest that sustainability, which rated of lower importance within the initial
      vision, has gained in importance among community and academic partners; however,
      it will gain added attention only with changed university expectations of
      researchers. We further suggest that the study of partnerships involved in
      researching and improving public health should be expanded beyond the current
      focus on CBPR.

PMID- 28603146
TI  - After 10 Years: A Vision Forward for <i>Progress in Community Health
      Partnerships</i>.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2007 the journal Progress in Community Health Partnerships was
      launched to advance the field of community-engaged research and the journal's
      editors engaged in a Delphi process to identify priorities for the journal and
      field. Ten years later, the increased adoption of community-engaged research
      continues to improve public health. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this manuscrip t
      is to i dentify community-engaged research priorities for the next 10 years.
      METHODS: The study engaged leaders in community-engaged research using a two
      round Delphi process, whereby leaders in the field were asked to identify and
      then rank order topics in community-engaged research that needed to be
      prioritized for the next decade. RESULTS: In stage 1, 41 respondents generated
      441 priorities across 8 categories (e.g., theory, epidemiology, intervention
      science) that were collapsed into 90 priority topics, ranging from 8 to 15 per
      category. In stage 2, 73 respondents ranked five prioritized items for each
      category. The prioritized items are provided, with the following themes present
      across all categories: 1) improvements to equity among partners, 2) partnership
      sustainability, and 3) increased efforts to translate community-engaged research
      into policy change. CONCLUSIONS: We compare the findings from this Delphi process
      with the priorities identified in 2007 to reflect on how the field has
      progressed. It is our hope that community and academic stakeholders will be able
      to use these priorities as a guide to their community-engaged research in the
      coming years.

PMID- 28603147
TI  - "Put It Near the Indians": Indigenous Perspectives on Pulp Mill Contaminants in
      Their Traditional Territories (Pictou Landing First Nation, Canada).

PMID- 28603148
TI  - "Put It Near the Indians": Indigenous Perspectives on Pulp Mill Contaminants in
      Their Traditional Territories (Pictou Landing First Nation, Canada).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), a small Mi'kmaw community on the
      Canadian east coast, has had a relationship with a tidal estuary known as A'se'k
      for millennia. In the 1960s, it became the site of effluent disposal from a
      nearby pulp mill. Almost immediately, health concerns regularly and consistently
      reverberated throughout the community. OBJECTIVES: The Pictou Landing Native
      Women's Group (PLNWG) formed a community-based participatory research (CBPR)
      partnership with an academic team to conceptualize community well-being in the
      context of environment and human health connections. This paper documents Mi'kmaw
      Elders' stories of A'se'k before it became contaminated. METHODS: Using narrative
      inquiry vis-a-vis oral histories, we carried out conversational interviews with
      10 Elders from PLFN. These interviews were thematically analyzed and 're-storied'
      through a process of (w)holistic content analysis. RESULTS: Our findings present
      four broad story layers, recounting the themes that emerged through analysis and
      presenting a broad Mi'kmaw narrative of A'se'k. These story layers share: what
      A'se'k originally provided, the historical/cultural context of PLFN, changes to
      land and health after the mill was put in, and reflections on the past and future
      of A'se'k. CONCLUSIONS: Our research offers a novel contribution to the
      literature by showing how Mi'kmaw perspectives on the pollution at A'se'k reveal
      the close connection between Mi'kmaw livelihood, local ecologies, and health and
      well-being. Our research also provides insights into the way the research
      relationship developed between the PLNWG and the academic team, providing a
      pathway for others seeking to decolonize the research landscape.

PMID- 28603149
TI  - Implementing and Evaluating a Counseling Program in Partnership With a Community
      based Domestic Violence Service Provider.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the burden of intimate partner violence (IPV), effective
      counseling interventions that are accessible to women in their own communities
      are needed. OBJECTIVES: To describe the collaborative process of implement ing
      and evaluating a new counseling program for IPV-the Women's Initiative for Safety
      and Health (WISH)-in a community setting and present results of its Thrst pilot
      test. METHODS: WISH is a stage-tailored, eight-session counseling program based
      on the transtheoretical model. Imple men tation evaluation addressed program
      exposure/Thdelity, counselor experience, and client experience. Outcome
      evaluation measured change in IPV-related incidents, self-efficacy, decisional
      balance, overall health, quality of life, and stage of change among 19 women.
      RESULTS: Both counselors and clients perceived the WISH intervention positively.
      Across all outcomes, there were improvements among some women, most notably in
      perceived self-efficacy, decisional balance, and stage of change. CONCLUSIONS:
      Academic-community partnerships can facilitate the translation of theory-based
      interventions for use in community-based settings.

PMID- 28603150
TI  - Web-based Survey Data Collection With Peer Support and Advocacy Organizations:
      Implications of Participatory Methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 2012 National Survey of Peer-Run Organizations is one of the
      first to survey a nationally representative sample of mental health peer-run
      organizations, nonprofit venues for support and advocacy which are defined by
      people with psychiatric histories being in positions of authority and control.
      OBJECTIVES: This paper describes data collection methods and demonstrates how
      participatory strategies to involve people with psychiatric histories intersected
      with Internet research to achieve study aims. METHODS: People with psychiatric
      histories were involved in designing and implementing a web-based survey to
      collect data on peer-run organizations' operations and views on national policy.
      Participatory approaches were used throughout design, data collection analysis,
      and dissemination. CONCLUSIONS: The extensive involvement of people with
      psychiatric histories in project design and implementation were important
      strategies that contributed to this study's success.

PMID- 28603151
TI  - Using a Clinical Outreach Project to Foster a Community-Engaged Research
      Partnership With Somali Families.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Community-engaged research partnerships build the capacity of
      community and educational organizations to work together toward addressing
      important health issues and disparities for vulnerable populations, such as
      refugees or immigrants. A critical step for building a community-engaged research
      partnership is the Thrst contact or entree into the community. PURPOSE: The
      purpose of this paper is to describe how a successful home health community
      engaged partnership became the entree and foundation for a community-engaged
      research partnership to explore the home health needs of Somali older adults and
      their families. METHODS: A number of strategies were used to engage the Somali
      community, initially in a clinical home health project and subsequently in an
      academic research study. LESSONS LEARNED: Valuable lessons were learned on
      delivering home health care (HHC) services to Somali older adults and their
      families as well as conducting research with this population. The most important
      lesson was that none of the work could be done without the involvement of the
      Somali community. The partnership described is one of the Thrst to address the
      home health needs and experiences of Somali older adults and their families. The
      project illustrates a mutually beneThcial relationship that can occur when a
      community-engaged clinical project expanded to address an issue of importance to
      the community through research. CONCLUSIONS: This foundation served to create an
      opportunity for more comprehensive community-academic partnerships with the
      potential to improve the delivery of HHC to Somali older adults, as well as open
      avenues for research in other areas that are relevant to the Somali, medical, and
      academic communities.

PMID- 28603153
TI  - Collaborating With Alaska Native Communities to Design a Cultural Food
      Intervention to Address Nutrition Transition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To address changing dietary patterns and declining dietary quality in
      indigenous communities, there is growing interest in implementing interventions
      that promote nutrient-dense, culturally important foods. OBJECTIVES: To describe
      formative research and an ongoing collaborative process to design a multilevel
      nutrition inter vention-Neqa Elicarvigmun or the Fish-to-School (F2S) Program
      that reconnects students to their local food system in a remote Yup'ik community
      in Western Alaska. METHODS: Qualitative data that explored the connection between
      salmon and well-being were collected and collaboratively reviewed with a
      community work group and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings were used to
      co-design the nutrition intervention. LESSONS LEARNED: Formative research
      Thndings and ongoing collaboration between academic and community partners
      informed the Thnal intervention design. CONCLUSIONS: Because people's behaviors
      and interactions with culturally signiThcant foods are embedded in cultural
      perceptions and local contexts, it is important for nutrition interventions to
      address local perceptions of these foods.

PMID- 28603155
TI  - Using the TRANSLATE Framework to Support Practice Transformation: Perspectives of
      a Practice Facilitator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2008, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) awarded Statewide
      Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) funding to community health boards (CHBs),
      directing them to partner with schools, worksites, communities, and health care
      to address obesity and tobacco use/exposure. METHODS: Each CHB selected one of
      two health care strategies: implement obesity and healthy lifestyle guidelines or
      connect clinics to community resources. The CHB in rural west-central Minnesota
      chose to champion clinical guideline implementation, assigning one of its own
      county-level public health nurses the role of practice facilitator (PF). This
      decision set the stage for a novel community partnership between public health,
      clinical guideline developers, and local providers of relevant clinical services.
      LESSONS LEARNED: This community perspective describes how the PF organized
      support for clinical guideline implementation using the TRANSLATE framework, and
      explores the capacity of the TRANSLATE framework to accommodate particularities
      of clinical partners that is necessary in working to transform evidence-based
      knowledge into real-world practice.

PMID- 28603154
TI  - Community Building Community: The Distinct Benefits of Community Partners
      Building Other Communities' Capacity to Conduct Health Research.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Academic partners typically build community capacity for research,
      but few examples exist whereby community partners build community research
      capacity. This paper describes the benefits of communities sharing their "best
      practices" with each other for the purpose of building health research capacity.
      METHODS: In the context of a grant designed to engage African American
      communities to address health disparities (Faith Academic Initiatives
      Transforming Health [FAITH] in the Delta), leaders of two counties exchanged
      their "best practices" of creating faith-based networks and community health
      assessment tools to conduct a collective health assessment. LESSONS LEARNED:
      There were numerous strengths in engaging communities to build each other's
      capacity to conduct research. Communities identified with each other, perceived
      genuineness, conveyed legitimacy, and provided insider knowledge. CONCLUSIONS:
      Engaging communities to build each other's research capacity is a potentially
      valuable strategy.

PMID- 28603156
TI  - Conflicts of Interest and Distribution of Resources to Community Partners: An
      Organizational Ethics Dilemma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conflicts of interest can arise when faculty and staff administer
      programs that distribute research funds, training opportunities, and other
      resources across academic and community partners. We describe the ethical
      concerns encountered by a Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) program in
      administering its community-focused pilot grant program and how its Research
      Bioethics Consultation service helped to address them.Ethical Concerns: CTSA
      program faculty and staff identified ethical concerns in several areas, including
      appropriateness of including Regional Research Collaborations (RRC) faculty as
      principal or co-investigators on applications, determining how much help RRC
      faculty and staff should provide to prospective applicants, and creating a fair
      and effective application review process. DISCUSSION: The CTSA program identified
      common goals and values for its community-focused pilot grant program, and
      resolved the conflicts of interest with the new pilot grant policies. This
      approach could generalize to conflicts of interest that arise in other academic
      community partnerships.

PMID- 28603157
TI  - Anatomical and Radiological Analyses of L-shaped Kidney with Vascular Anomalies.
AB  - L-shaped kidney is a congenital anomaly. The disorder results in the kidney
      appearing very similar in shape to horseshoe kidney (also a congenital anomaly),
      but either the right or left kidney is located at a position lower than the other
      kidney. In this report, we describe a woman with L-shaped kidney, identified
      during anatomical dissection, and compare the findings with clinical data
      obtained before her death. We discuss the embryology of L-shaped kidney based on
      detailed anatomical data on the kidney and its vascular system obtained by means
      of gross anatomical, radiological, and histological examinations. Our findings
      indicate the importance of detailed anatomical information when planning surgical
      procedures in patients with fused kidneys, as well as kidney transplantation,
      resection of renal carcinoma, or surgical treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PMID- 28603158
TI  - Long-term Prognosis after Extracranial-intracranial Bypass Surgery for
      Symptomatic Cerebrovascular Occlusive Disease.
AB  - Prognosis after extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery has only been
      studied for a few years and the benefits of this procedure are still
      controversial. In this single-center retrospective study, we examined the long
      term prognosis of patients who underwent EC-IC bypass surgery. Subjects were
      patients with symptomatic internal carotid artery or intracranial lesion
      occlusive disease who underwent EC-IC bypass surgery between 1991 and 2003. Of
      these, long-term prognosis was examined in 57 patients (39 male, 18 female; mean
      age, 61.8 years) who showed good surgical outcomes 30 days after bypass surgery,
      measured as a 0-2 on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). They were divided into 2
      groups (survivors and non-survivors) and were analyzed to identify factors
      effecting long-term survival after bypass surgery. Sixteen patients (28%), whose
      mean follow-up period (survival time) was 8.3+/-3.8 years, died after the bypass
      surgery. The average follow-up period for the survivors was 12.0+/-1.1 years,
      which was significantly longer than that for the non-survivors (P<0.0001). At
      surgery, the non-survivors (mean age 71.5 years) were significantly older than
      the survivors (P=0.0012). Pneumonia and other respiratory diseases were a
      frequent cause of death (31.2%), but death by cerebrovascular disease also
      occurred (12.5%). The rate of recurrent ischemic stroke was 28%, with no
      significant difference between groups (survivors vs. non-survivors: 31.2% vs.
      26.1%, P= 0.82). In the absence of perioperative complications, the long-term
      prognosis of patients who underwent EC-IC bypass surgery was very good.

PMID- 28603160
TI  - Symposium 2.

PMID- 28603161
TI  - Symposium 3.

PMID- 28603162
TI  - Symposium 4.

PMID- 28603163
TI  - Symposium 5.

PMID- 28603159
TI  - Safety Profile of Telaprevir-Based Triple Therapy in Elderly Patients: A Real
      World Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - To compare the rate of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events for
      telaprevir-based triple (T/PR) and pegylated interferon-alfa-2b and ribavirin
      (PR) therapy for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients
      over the age of 65 years, in Japan. Retrospective analysis of the health data of
      patients over the age of 65 years treated for a HCV infection genotype 1 using
      T/PR or PR therapy, from 38 prefectures in Japan. The primary outcome was the
      rate of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events for T/PR and PR. The
      secondary outcome was to evaluate the prevalence and type of adverse events
      during the treatment period that resulted in treatment discontinuation for both
      therapies. For comparison, the T/PR and PR populations were matched using the
      propensity score method, and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for treatment
      discontinuation calculated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The
      study group included 1330 patients, 328 in the T/PR group and 1002 in the PR
      group. The rate of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events in the matched
      population was lower for T/PR (19.82%) than PR (35.98%) therapy, (adjusted OR,
      0.418; 95% confidence interval, 0.292-0.599; p<0.01). Malaise was the principal
      cause of treatment discontinuation in both groups (T/PR, 30.77%, and PR, 42.37%).
      Using real-world health data of elderly individuals in Japan, we identified a
      lower rate of treatment discontinuation for T/PR than PR. Our outcomes provide
      information for a segment of the population that is generally excluded for
      clinical trials.

PMID- 28603164
TI  - Symposium 6.

PMID- 28603165
TI  - JALAS Committee Symposium 1.

PMID- 28603167
TI  - JALAS Committee Symposium 3.

PMID- 28603166
TI  - JALAS Committee Symposium 2.

PMID- 28603168
TI  - Keynote Lecture.

PMID- 28603169
TI  - Educational Lecture.

PMID- 28603170
TI  - JALAS International Award Lecture.

PMID- 28603171
TI  - Poster Presentation (Regular Papers).

PMID- 28603172
TI  - Plenary Lecture.

PMID- 28603174
TI  - Open Lecture for Citizens.

PMID- 28603173
TI  - Congress Award Lecture.

PMID- 28603175
TI  - Symposium 1.

PMID- 28603176
TI  - Autologous Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell Implantation and Its Impact on the
      Outcome of Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia - Results of a Randomized, Double
      Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cell therapy is a therapeutic option for patients presenting with
      nonrevascularizable critical limb ischemia (CLI). However there is a lack of firm
      evidence on its efficacy because of the paucity of randomized controlled
      trials.Methods and Results:The BALI trial was a multicenter, randomized,
      controlled, double-blind clinical trial that included 38 patients. For all of
      them, 500 mL of bone marrow were collected for preparation of a BM-MNC product
      that was implanted in patients assigned to active treatment. For the placebo
      group, a placebo cell-free product was implanted. Within 6 months after
      inclusion, major amputations had to be performed in 5 of the 19 placebo-treated
      patients and in 3 of the 17 BM-MNC-treated patients. According to a classical
      logistic regression analysis there was no significant difference. However, when
      using the jackknife analysis, 6 months after inclusion BM-MNC implantation was
      associated with a lower risk of major amputation (odds ratio (OR): 0.55; 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 0.52-0.58; P<0.0001) and of occurrence of any event
      (major or minor amputation, or revascularization) (OR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.29-0.31;
      P<0.0001). The secondary endpoints (i.e., pain, ulcers, TcPO2, and ankle-brachial
      index value) were not statistically different between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggested that cell therapy reduced the risk of major amputation in
      patients presenting with nonrevascularizable CLI.

PMID- 28603177
TI  - Recent Progress Using Pluripotent Stem Cells for Cardiac Regenerative Therapy.
AB  - Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have gained interest for cell-based regenerative
      therapies because of their capacity to differentiate into most somatic cell
      types, including cardiomyocytes. Remarkable progress in the generation of PSC
      derived cardiomyocytes has been made in this decade, and recent preclinical
      transplantation studies using various animal models have provided proof-of
      principle for their use in heart regeneration. However, several obstacles
      preclude their effective and safe clinical application for cardiac repair,
      including the need for approaches that prevent tumorigenesis, arrhythmogenesis,
      and immune rejection. In this review, we focus on recent progress in the field of
      PSC-based cardiac regenerative therapy, including the remaining hurdles and
      potential approaches to circumventing them.

PMID- 28603178
TI  - Role of Adipokines in Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the greatest cause of death, accounting for
      nearly one-third of all deaths worldwide. The increase in obesity rates over 3
      decades is widespread and threatens the public health in both developed and
      developing countries. Obesity, the excessive accumulation of visceral fat, causes
      the clustering of metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and
      hypertension, culminating in the development of CVD. Adipose tissue is not only
      an energy storage organ, but an active endocrine tissue producing various
      biologically active proteins known as adipokines. Since leptin, a central
      regulator of food intake and energy expenditure, was demonstrated to be an
      adipose-specific adipokine, attention has focused on the identification and
      characterization of unknown adipokines to clarify the mechanisms underlying
      obesity-related disorders. Numerous adipokines have been identified in the past 2
      decades; most adipokines are upregulated in the obese state. Adipokines such as
      tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1beta, and resistin are
      pro-inflammatory, and exacerbate various metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
      However, a small number of adipokines, including adiponectin, are decreased by
      obesity, and generally exhibit antiinflammatory properties and protective
      functions against obesity-related diseases. Collectively, an imbalance in the
      production of pro- and antiinflammatory adipokines in the obese condition results
      in multiple complications. In this review, we focus on the pathophysiologic roles
      of adipokines with cardiovascular protective properties.

PMID- 28603179
TI  - Mitsuhiro Yokoyama, MD, PhD 1943-2016.

PMID- 28603180
TI  - Intratumor dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase mRNA expression levels are decreased
      in extramammary Paget's disease.
AB  - S-1, a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based anti-cancer agent, is an important drug for
      treating metastatic extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD). Although intratumor
      expression levels of 5-FU metabolism enzymes have been studied widely in many
      solid tumors, no studies have examined on the expression levels of thymidylate
      synthase (TS), orotate phosphoribosyl-transferase (OPRT) or dihydropyrimidine
      dehydrogenase (DPD) in skin cancers. The aim of this study was to estimate the
      intratumoral mRNA expression levels of these genes in EMPD by real time PCR.
      Intratumoral DPD mRNA levels were decreased in EMPD compared to those in normal
      skin, but its intratumoral DPD mRNA expression levels were not correlated with
      clinical manifestations. Intratumoral DPD mRNA levels were positively correlated
      with OPRT mRNA levels in EMPD. Based on these results, low expression of
      intratumoral DPD mRNA in EMPD may contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease.

PMID- 28603181
TI  - ANALYTICAL SCIENCES EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS - BIOGRAPHIES.

PMID- 28603182
TI  - Aptamer-based Colorimetric Biosensing of Ochratoxin A in Fortified White Grape
      Wine Sample Using Unmodified Gold Nanoparticles.
AB  - In this study, a simple and sensitive aptamer-based colorimetric method for the
      detection of Ochratoxin A by using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been developed.
      In this assay, unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used as probes with a
      36-mer aptamer as recognition element. In the absence of ochratoxin A, free
      aptamer could be adsorbed onto the surface of AuNPs and protect AuNPs from
      aggregation even with high concentrations of salt. The salt-induced aggregation
      of AuNPs was caused by the specific recognition of aptamers with OTA. Under
      optimum conditions, calibration modeling showed that the analytical linear range
      covered from 32 to 1024 ng/mL and the detection limit of 20 ng/mL was realized
      successfully. This proposed colorimetric bio-assay also showed high selectivity
      over other antibody based methods. Meanwhile, this strategy was further used to
      determine the concentrations of ochratoxin A in white wine sample with satisfying
      recovery rates.

PMID- 28603183
TI  - UPLC-MS/MS Analysis of Methotrexate in Human Plasma and Comparison with the
      Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay.
AB  - Methotrexate (MTX) plasma concentration is routinely monitored to guide the
      dosage regimen of rescue drugs. This study aims to develop and validate an ultra
      performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method
      for plasma MTX analysis, and to establish its agreement with the fluorescence
      polarization immunoassay (FPIA) in patients with high-dose MTX therapy.
      Separation was achieved by gradient elution with methanol and water (0.05% formic
      acid) at 40 degrees C with a run time of 3 min. The intra- and inter-day
      inaccuracy and imprecision of the UPLC-MS/MS method were -4.25 to 3.1 and less
      than 7.63%, respectively. The IS-normalized recovery and matrix effect were 87.05
      to 92.81 and 124.43 to 134.57%. The correlation coefficients between UPLC-MS/MS
      and FPIA were greater than 0.98. The UPLC-MS/MS method was in agreement with the
      FPIA at high levels of MTX (1.0 - 100 MUmol/L), but not at low levels (0.01 - 1.0
      MUmol/L). Further studies are warranted to confirm these results.

PMID- 28603184
TI  - Chicken Egg White-stabilized Au Nanoclusters for Selective and Sensitive
      Detection of Hg(II).
AB  - In this paper, chicken egg white purchased from a local market without further
      purification was directly used to prepare fluorescent gold nanoclusters through a
      one-step, simple, fast and green synthesis approach for analytical purposes. The
      as-prepared chicken egg white stabilized gold nanocluster probe has strong red
      fluorescence emission, which can be quenched by mercury ions and copper ions
      sensitively. By using an ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) masking method,
      mercury ions in the range from 0.60 to 10 MUM can be linearly detected with the
      limit of detection (LOD, 3sigma) of 0.510 MUM in the presence of equivalent
      copper ions. Since the preparation of a chicken egg white stabilized gold
      nanocluster probe is fast, easy and cheap, this selective analytical method for
      mercury pollution monitoring in environmental waters may be widely used in daily
      life by ordinary people.

PMID- 28603185
TI  - Chemosensing Ensembles of 2-(2-Thiazolylazo)-p-cresol with Metal Ions in
      Colorimetric Detection of Anions.
AB  - This paper reports that changing metal ions (Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, or Cd2+) in the 2
      (2-thiazolylazo)-p-cresol (TAC)-metal ensemble may generate varied optical
      responses to anions. The TAC and Ni2+ ensemble can detect and quantify CN- in a
      highly sensitive and selective manner. CN- competes for the Ni2+ present in the
      ensemble during recognition events, which thereby triggers colorimetric and
      absorption spectral changes. CN- and S2- decomposed TAC-Cu2+ ensemble by forming
      [Cu(CN)x]n- species and CuS, respectively; however, the discrimination of CN- and
      S2- was not achieved. The TAC-Co2+ ensemble exhibited discriminated interaction
      with CN- through the absorption channel, but CN- was not quantitatively
      determined. Although the TAC-Cd2+ ensemble responded to different anions, it did
      not recognize each anion selectively. These results demonstrated that metal ions
      can powerfully modulate anion identification to some extent, which can be an
      effective strategy to achieve selectivity of certain anions by varying the metal
      ions in the ensemble.

PMID- 28603186
TI  - Solid-Phase Extraction Spectrophotometric Determination of Total Antioxidant
      Capacity in Antioxidant-poor Samples by Using the Ferric-Ferrozine Method.
AB  - Ferrozine (FZ) preferentially stabilizes Fe(II) over Fe(III) to raise the ferric
      reduction potential and oxidize antioxidants. The advantages of the ferric
      ferrozine method over other iron-based total antioxidant capacity assays were:
      (i) higher molar absorptivity and enhanced sensitivity, (ii) lower interference
      from foreign ions, (iii) wide pH tolerance (iv) additivity of the absorbances for
      mixtures. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) could be combined with spectrophotometry,
      because the magenta-colored anionic Fe(II)-FZ complex was quantitatively sorbed
      on Sephadex QAE A-25 resin. The sensitivity enhancement using the resin enabled
      us to conduct total antioxidant capacity (TAC) measurements of antioxidant-poor
      samples. The apparent molar absorptivity, linear concentration range and trolox
      equivalent antioxidant capacities (TEAC) of certain antioxidants were found. The
      calibration curves (lines) of trolox, rutin, and rosmarinic acid individually and
      in herbal infusions-by using the method of standard additions-were parallel,
      confirming that the added antioxidants did not interact with herbal constituents
      to cause chemical deviations from Beer's law.

PMID- 28603187
TI  - Sensitive Method for the Oxidation-determination of Trace Hydroxylamine in
      Environmental Water Using Hypochlorite Followed by Gas Chromatography.
AB  - We developed a method for quantifying trace NH2OH in brackish- and sea-water
      samples. Previously reported methods applicable to fresh water cannot be applied
      to such samples. We determined that interference in seawater owing to the bromide
      ion can be removed by the addition of phenol. In our procedure, phenol and
      hypochlorite solutions were added to a sample solution to oxidize NH2OH to N2O.
      N2O in the sample was then quantified by headspace analysis. The method is not
      affected by the salt content or ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite at concentrations of
      300 MUgN L-1 or less. It has a limit of detection of 0.2 MUgN L-1, and can
      quantify NH2OH in natural water samples with a wide range of salinity. It was
      applied to samples from Lake Nakaumi, a brackish lake located in the eastern part
      of Shimane Prefecture, Japan.

PMID- 28603188
TI  - Development of an Evaluation Method for Hydroxyl Radical Scavenging Activities
      Using Sequential Injection Analysis with Chemiluminescence Detection.
AB  - A method for evaluating hydroxyl radical (.OH) scavenging activities using
      sequential injection analysis (SIA) with chemiluminescence (CL) detection was
      developed. In this system, CL was produced by the reaction of luminol with .OH
      generated from the Fenton reaction. The scavenging activity was expressed as a
      diminution rate of the CL due to the scavenging of .OH by a sample. The SIA
      system allows the automation of a series of experimental procedures including
      Fenton's reaction, scavenging of .OH, and luminol CL reaction. The evaluation of
      scavenging activities in one sample (n = 3) was completed within 3.0 min.
      Relative standard deviations (n = 3) of scavenging activity with 700 MUM L
      ascorbic acid were 2.6% (intraday) and 3.7% (interday). The SIA-CL system was
      applied to measure .OH scavenging activities of several antioxidants and
      pharmaceuticals.

PMID- 28603189
TI  - An Amperometric Flow Injection Analysis of Dissolved Hydrogen Molecule Using
      Tightly Immobilized Electrodeposited Platinum Particles on Nitrogen-containing
      Functional Groups Introduced Glassy Carbon Electrodes.
AB  - An amperometric sensor based on flow injection analysis (FIA) of dissolved
      hydrogen molecules was first developed using electrodeposited platinum particles
      on glassy carbon electrodes modified with nitrogen-containing functional groups
      (Pt-NGC) as the working electrode. A glassy carbon (GC) electrode was covalently
      modified by electrochemical oxidation/reduction procedures. The redox waves
      between hydrogen ions and hydrogen molecules at highly positive potential range
      in the hydrodynamic voltammogram were obtained by using a Pt-NGC electrode. The
      specific electrocatalytic activity for the electrode oxidation of hydrogen
      molecules has successfully been applied to the FIA of dissolved hydrogen. The
      typical current vs. time curve was obtained by the repetitive measurement of
      dissolved hydrogen, and the measurement of dissolved hydrogen was fully completed
      in a short time (~15 s). A linear relationship was obtained between the oxidation
      current of hydrogen molecules and dissolved hydrogen concentration. This
      indicates that our proposed technique can be used for the determination of the
      dissolved hydrogen concentration. The fabrication method of the present sensor is
      very simple because the direct modification of the glassy carbon electrode
      surface can be performed, differing from the tedious fabrication method in which
      electrocatalytic carbon powder prepared must be immobilized to the surface of the
      glassy carbon electrode using Nafion coating and high temperature treatment.

PMID- 28603190
TI  - Temperature-induced Coalescence of Droplets Manipulated by Optical Trapping in an
      Oil-in-Water Emulsion.
AB  - Coalescence of oil droplets in an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion was achieved with
      heating and optical trapping. Three types of O/W emulsions were prepared by
      adding a mixture of butanol and n-decane to an aqueous solution containing a
      cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB), an anionic surfactant
      (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), or a neutral hydrophilic polymer (polyethylene
      glycol, PEG) as an emulsifier. Two oil droplets in the emulsions were randomly
      trapped in a square capillary tube by two laser beams in order to induce
      coalescence. Coalescence of the droplets could not be achieved at room
      temperature (25 degrees C) regardless of the type of emulsifier. Conversely, the
      droplets prepared with PEG coalesced at a temperature higher than 30 degrees C,
      although the droplets with ionic surfactants CTAB and SDS did not coalesce even
      at the elevated temperature due to their electrostatic repulsion. The size of the
      resultant coalesced droplet was consistent with that calculated from the size of
      the two droplets of oil, which indicated successful coalescence of the two
      droplets. We also found that the time required for the coalescence could be
      correlated with the temperature using an Arrhenius plot.

PMID- 28603191
TI  - Determination of Trace Rhodamine B in Chili Oil by Deep Eutectic Solvent
      Extraction and an Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph Equipped with a
      Fluorescence Detector.
AB  - Rhodamine B was forbidden in food by law because of its carcinogenic properties
      to humans. However, due to its low cost, it was often used to dope chili oil by
      some counterfeiters to improve its natural color. However, it was difficult to
      quantify rhodamine B in chili oil due to its complex substrates and high
      viscosity. In this study, deep eutectic solvents, comprised of choline chloride
      and ethylene glycol, were first used as an extraction medium to separate
      rhodamine B from chili oil.

PMID- 28603192
TI  - Bioanalytical Method for the Determination of Hydroxyproline in Mouse Kidney by
      High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometric Detection.
AB  - An analytical method was developed and validated for the measurement of
      hydroxyproline (Hyp) levels in mouse kidney by high-performance liquid
      chromatography with tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC/MS/MS) using an
      analytical column specially designed for the LC/MS/MS analysis for intact amino
      acids. Tissue hydrolyzed with hydrochloric acid could be directly injected into
      the LC/MS/MS, as well as separated and detected using the deuterium labelled Hyp
      as an internal standard. The calibration curve showed good linearity from 5 to
      500 nmol/mg of tissue; the precision and accuracy, including within- and between
      run, were less than 6% and within 100 +/- 6%, respectively.

PMID- 28603193
TI  - Analysis of Long-term Morphological Changes of Micro-patterned Molecules and
      Cells on PDMS and Glass Surfaces.
AB  - We demonstrated that our previously developed gas-phase fluoroalkylsilane
      patterning method was applicable to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and we compared
      the stability of patterned proteins and cultured cells between PDMS and glass
      surfaces. The shapes of the protein patterns were stable on both glass and PDMS
      surfaces for more than 1 week. The cell patterns were stable on glass surfaces
      for 1 week, while those on PDMS collapsed within a few days. These results
      indicated that our method was applicable to PDMS, although, compared with glass,
      PDMS has an unsolved issue for its application to long-term patterning of cells.

PMID- 28603194
TI  - Effect of DNA Methylation on the Velocity of DNA Translocation through a
      Nanochannel.
AB  - Here, we report the effect of DNA methylation on the velocity of DNA
      translocation through a nanochannel, as determined by measuring differences in
      translocation velocities between methylated and non-methylated DNA molecules. We
      found that the velocity of translocation of methylated DNA was faster than that
      of non-methylated DNA, which we attributed to variation in the coefficients of
      diffusion and friction with the nanochannel wall, due to the increased molecular
      weight and stiffness, respectively, of methylated DNA.

PMID- 28603195
TI  - Online Monitoring of a Styrene Monomer and a Dimer in an Emulsion via Laser
      Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry was applied to the online
      monitoring of a styrene monomer and dimer in an emulsion. During the measurement
      of a styrene monomer oil-in-water emulsion for this study, a styrene dimer, 1,3
      diphenylpropane, was dropped into the emulsion. As a result, signal spikes from
      both analytes occurred simultaneously, which suggested that either the dimer had
      moved to the monomer droplets or that the monomer and dimer droplets had
      aggregated. We concluded that this method could be useful for the direct
      monitoring of monomers and oligomers in the early stages of emulsion
      polymerization.

PMID- 28603196
TI  - Nanostructures Integrated with a Nanochannel for Slowing Down DNA Translocation
      Velocity for Nanopore Sequencing.
AB  - Here, we developed a device integrated with a nanochannel and nanostructures to
      slow DNA translocation velocity. We found that translocation velocity of a single
      DNA molecule inside a nanochannel was decreased by pre-elongating it using some
      nanostructures, such as a shallow channel or nanopillars. This decrease of the
      translocation velocity was associated with the DNA mobility change, which is an
      intrinsic parameter of DNA molecules and unaffected by an electric field.

PMID- 28603197
TI  - Application of a pH Electrode Incorporating an Ionic Liquid Salt Bridge to the
      Measurement of Rainwater Samples.
AB  - A pH electrode incorporating a reference electrode different from that in
      conventional electrodes was applied to the measurement of rainwater pH. The
      reference electrode utilizes a recently proposed ionic liquid salt bridge instead
      of a conventional potassium chloride salt bridge. The response time of this
      electrode was remarkably improved in rain sample pH measurements compared to that
      of conventional pH electrodes. In addition, the measured pH values of rain
      samples seemed to be more accurate with this electrode.

PMID- 28603198
TI  - Simultaneous Quantitation of Boric Acid and Calcium Fructoborate in Dietary
      Supplements by HPTLC-Densitometry.
AB  - The paper describes a new, simple, selective and precise high-performance thin
      layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for the simultaneous identification and
      quantitative determination of boric acid (BA) and calcium fructoborate (CFB) in
      bulk and tablet/capsule dosage forms of dietary supplements. HPTLC silica gel G
      60 F254 precoated glass plates were used as the stationary phase. The mobile
      phase consisted of 2-propanol-water 8:2 (v/v). The two boron-based compounds were
      adequately separated with the Rf values of 0.83 +/- 0.01 (BA) and 0.59 +/- 0.01
      (CFB).

PMID- 28603200
TI  - Immune-related adverse events of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
AB  - Development and application of anti-CTLA-4 antibody and anti-PD-1 antibody to
      cancer immunotherapy brought great survival benefits to advanced cancer patients.
      They have been applied to various cancers such as melanoma, non-small cell lung
      cancer, renal cell cancer, Hodgkin's disease, and head and neck cancers, and
      there is no doubt that immunotherapy is becoming a standard therapy as well as
      surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. On the other hand, immune-related
      adverse events (irAEs) have been increasingly reported. Nevertheless, mechanisms
      of the immune-mediated toxicities are still unclear. There has been a growing
      interest in the elucidation of the mechanisms. This review describes the general
      characteristics of irAEs induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors, especially 1.
      Heterogeneity, 2. Multiplicity, 3. Durability, and 4. Correlativity.

PMID- 28603201
TI  - CMCD: Chronic Mucocutaneous Candidiasis Disease.
AB  - Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is an infectious phenotype which is
      characterized by recurrent or persistent infections affecting the nails, skin,
      and oral and genital mucosae caused by Candida species. Th17 cells produce
      interleukin-17 (IL-17) and play an important role in host mucosal immunity to
      Candida. Recent studies revealed that an impairment of IL-17 immunity underlies
      development of CMC. CMC disease (CMCD) is a primary immunodeficiency disease
      which is defined as CMC in patients in the absence of other prominent clinical
      signs. However, this definition is not strict. Thus, CMCD is currently used to
      refer to patients presenting with CMC as the main clinical phenotype. As well as
      CMCD, CMC is a major infectious phenotype in syndromic CMC. However, patients
      with syndromic CMC also present other clinical and infectious manifestations in
      addition to CMC. The genetic defects which affect development and/or
      proliferation of Th17 cells have been identified in patients with syndromic CMC.
      In contrast, germline mutations in the genes which directly involved in IL-17
      signaling have been identified in patients with CMCD. Here, we review current
      knowledge of IL-17-signaling defects and the genetic etiologies of CMCD and
      syndromic CMC.

PMID- 28603202
TI  - Osteopontin in systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), lupus nephritis (LN) is an important
      complication as an intractable condition and considered to be a prognostic
      factor. Based on the past reports that explain immunological functions of OPN and
      its relationship with autoimmune diseases such as LN or IgA nephropathy, we
      measured OPN full and OPN N-half in serum and urine of SLE patients and examined
      the possibility as a disease biomarker. OPN N-half is known as a more
      physiologically active form than OPN full. As a result, OPN N-half in urine was
      higher in LN than in healthy control, and also higher than in diabetic
      nephropathy that is a non-inflammatory nephropathy. In addition, OPN N-half in
      urine decreased after the treatment of LN, suggesting that OPN N-half in urine
      could be a biomarker for evaluating disease activity of LN.

PMID- 28603203
TI  - Neonatal lupus erythematosus.
AB  - Neonatal lupus (NL), a passively-acquired autoimmune disease associated with
      maternal anti-SSA antibody, presents both cardiac manifestations such as cardiac
      NL and non-cardiac manifestations including rashes, cytopenia, and hepatic
      abnormalities. Cardiac NL, occurring in 1-2% of anti-SS-A antibody-positive
      mothers, is a life-threatening complication with a mortality rate of 20% and a
      pacemaker implantation rate of 70%. In contrast, cutaneous NL, which is more
      common than cardiac NL, usually resolves in six months. Since half of NL cases
      occur in asymptomatic mothers, if an infant presents characteristic cutaneous or
      cardiac manifestations of NL, the mother should be tested for anti-SS-A antibody.
      In mothers positive for anti-SS-A antibody, the risk of having a child with
      cardiac NL increases ten-fold and five-fold for a previous child with cardiac NL
      and cutaneous NL, respectively. A joint American, British, and French
      retrospective study of NL registries showed that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) reduced
      the cardiac NL risk in subsequent pregnancies in mothers who previously had a
      child with cardiac NL. A prospective open-label study to confirm this effect is
      being undertaken in the USA. A similar prospective multi-center study will be
      undertaken in Japan. Establishing a Japanese registry of children with NL and
      subsequent pregnancies of their mothers will help promote clinical research in NL
      in Japan.

PMID- 28603205
TI  - Immune-related adverse events by immune checkpoint inhibitors.
AB  - Recent introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors represented by anti-PD-1
      antibodies such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, and anti-CTLA-4 antibody such as
      ipilimumab had a great impact on cancer immunotherapy especially for melanoma,
      non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. On the
      other hand, immune checkpoint inhibitors have their own distinctive adverse
      events, which are collectively named as "immune-related adverse events". Although
      immune-related adverse events may occur at any part of the body, interstitial
      pneumonia, colitis, hypothyroidism, liver dysfunction, skin rash, vitiligo,
      hypophysitis, type 1 diabetes, renal dysfunction, myasthenia gravis, neuropathy,
      myositis, and uveitis are representative. The onset of these immune-related
      adverse events varies. As for ipilimumab, cutaneous and mucous complications
      appear relatively early, and subsequently digestive symptoms emerge. As for
      nivolumab, most immune-related adverse events start around a few months after its
      administration. These immune-related adverse events are basically managed
      according to the algorism. Prompt consultation to the experts are of great
      importance and the grade of immune-related adverse events and patients' disease
      conditions need to be carefully evaluated to decide the optimal measures. As
      immune-related adverse events could affect various organs, cooperation with many
      experts from various fields is critical and it is important to organize a
      cooperative system within a hospital.

PMID- 28603204
TI  - A 6-year-old girl diagnosed with mevalonate kinase deficiency who had hydrops
      fetalis and neonatal-onset cholestasis.
AB  - We experienced a 6-year-old girl diagnosed with mevalonate kinase deficiency
      (MKD) who had cholestasis, anemia, and elevated inflammatory markers in neonatal
      period. She was admitted to our hospital because of fever and elevated
      inflammatory markers at 5 years 11months of age. Without using antibiotics, the
      fever and the inflammatory markers were spontaneously resolved. MKD was suspected
      from elevated serum IgD level and the recurrent febrile attacks. The genetic test
      revealed heterozygous mutation of p.Leu51Phe known as causative gene of MKD and
      p.Met 282Thr which is the novel mutation. In addition, urinary mevalonate levels
      increased both in afebrile and febrile periods, and mevalonate kinase activity
      level was very low. Prednisolone was administered on each attack, and her febrile
      attack has been controlled well since she was diagnosed with MKD. Fetal edema,
      cholestasis, anemia, elevation of inflammatory markers in her neonatal period are
      considered to be complications of MKD. Recurrent fever attacks compromise quality
      of life in patients with MKD. Children with unexplained cholestasis and anemia in
      neonatal period, or recurrent fever attacks with elevated inflammatory markers
      should be examined for MKD.

PMID- 28603206
TI  - Clinical practice and mechanism of endocrinological adverse events associated
      with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors, used for cancer immunotherapy, show anti-tumor
      effects through T cell activations. Monoclonal antibodies against cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death (PD)-1, or PD-ligand 1 which
      is a ligand of PD-1 have been shown to be effective in the treatments of advanced
      cancers including malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and renal cell
      carcinoma. However, these drugs also have immune-related adverse events (irAEs).
      The irAEs, which have unique characteristics different from those seen in
      conventional cytotoxic anti-tumor medicines, are observed in the several tissues
      such as skin, gastrointestinal tract, liver, lung, muscle, nerve and endocrine
      systems. To safely use immune checkpoint inhibitors, it is quite important to
      understand the characteristics of irAEs and to manage them in clinical practice.
      In this review, we focus on clinical characteristics and pathogenesis of adverse
      events in the pituitary gland.

PMID- 28603207
TI  - Varied immuno-related adverse events induced by immune-check point inhibitors -
      Nivolumab-associated psoriasiform dermatitis related with increased serum level
      of interleukin-6.
AB  - Nivolumab is a standard recombinant antibody treatment for patients with
      malignant melanoma (MM), which functions as an immune checkpoint inhibitor by
      blocking the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) pathway in T cells. However, it leads
      to various immune-related adverse events (irAEs), and also exacerbates underlying
      autoimmune diseases. Herein we report cases of MM with irAE. Case 1: A 69-year
      old woman with MM developed destructive thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism
      after 3 doses of nivolumab, and had been treated with thyroid gland auxiliary
      therapy. Case 2: A 80-year-old man with MM developed an acute onset of
      hyperthyroidism after 4 doses of nivolumab. Case 3: A 85-year-old woman with MM
      developed polyradiculoneuropathy resulting in somatosensory disorder and muscle
      weakness after 2 doses of nivolumab, and had been treated with intravenous
      immunoglobulin and oral predonisolone (40 mg/day). Case 4: A 77-year-old man with
      MM developed psoriasiform dermatitis after local injections of IFN-beta and 11
      doses of nivolumab. Case 5: Case 2 also developed psoriasiform dermatitis. We
      analyzed serum levels of inflammatory cytokines in MM patients before/after
      treatments with nivolumab. All six patients who developed psoriasiform dermatitis
      with/without anamnesis of psoriasis after treatment with nivolumab, and all seven
      patients with other irAE exhibited increased serum IL-6 levels after nivolumab
      treatment, while decreased serum levels of IL-6 were observed in 5 of 7 non
      afflicted MM patients. In addition, MM patients who achieved good responses to
      nivolumab significantly exhibited decreased serum TNF-alpha levels after
      nivolumab treatment compared to progressive MM patients.

PMID- 28603209
TI  - Molecular mechanisms and physiological roles of Atg5/Atg7-independent alternative
      autophagy.
AB  - ATG5 and ATG7 are considered to be essential molecules for the induction of
      autophagy. However, we found that cells lacking ATG5 or ATG7 can still form
      autophagosomes/autolysosomes and perform autophagic protein degradation when
      subjected to certain types of stress. Although the lipidation of LC3 is accepted
      as a good indicator of autophagy, this did not occur during ATG5/ATG7-independent
      alternative autophagy. Unlike conventional autophagy, autophagosomes appeared to
      be generated in a Rab9-dependent manner by the fusion of the phagophores with
      vesicles derived from the trans-Golgi and late endosomes. Therefore, mammalian
      autophagy can occur via at least two different pathways; the ATG5/ATG7-dependent
      conventional pathway and an ATG5/ATG7-independent alternative pathway.

PMID- 28603208
TI  - Ultra-Early Phase pathologies of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative
      diseases.
AB  - The concept of neurodegenerative diseases and the therapeutics targeting these
      intractable diseases are changing rapidly. Protein aggregation as the top of
      pathological cascade is now challenged, and many alternative ideas are proposed.
      Early molecular pathologies before microscopic detection of diseases protein
      aggregates, which I propose to call "Ultra-Early Phase pathologies or phase 0
      pathologies", are the focus of research that might explain the failures of
      clinical trials with anti-Abeta antibodies against Alzheimer's disease. In this
      review article, I summarize the critical issues that should be successfully and
      consistently answered by a new concept of neurodegeneration. For reevaluating old
      concepts and reconstructing a new concept of neurodegeneration that will replace
      the old ones, non-biased comprehensive approaches including proteome combined
      with systems biology analyses will be a powerful tool. I introduce our recent
      efforts in this orientation that have reached to the stage of non-clinical proof
      of concept applicable to clinical trials.

PMID- 28603211
TI  - How the Klein-Nishina formula was derived: Based on the Sangokan Nishina Source
      Materials.
AB  - In 1928, Klein and Nishina investigated Compton scattering based on the Dirac
      equation just proposed in the same year, and derived the Klein-Nishina formula
      for the scattering cross section of a photon. At that time the Dirac equation had
      the following unsettled conceptual questions: the negative energy states, its
      four-component wave functions, and the spin states of an electron. Hence, during
      their investigation struggles, they encountered various difficulties. In this
      article, we describe their struggles to derive the formula using the "Sangokan
      Nishina Source Materials" retained in the the Nishina Memorial Foundation.

PMID- 28603210
TI  - Emerging mechanisms underlying astrogenesis in the developing mammalian brain.
AB  - In the developing brain, the three major cell types, i.e., neurons, astrocytes
      and oligodendrocytes, are generated from common multipotent neural stem cells
      (NSCs). In particular, astrocytes eventually occupy a great fraction of the brain
      and play pivotal roles in the brain development and functions. However, NSCs
      cannot produce the three major cell types simultaneously from the beginning;
      e.g., it is known that neurogenesis precedes astrogenesis during brain
      development. How is this fate switching achieved? Many studies have revealed that
      extracellular cues and intracellular programs are involved in the transition of
      NSC fate specification. The former include growth factor- and cytokine-signaling,
      and the latter involve epigenetic machinery, including DNA methylation, histone
      modifications, and non-coding RNAs. Accumulating evidence has identified a
      complex array of epigenetic modifications that control the timing of astrocytic
      differentiation of NSCs. In this review, we introduce recent progress in
      identifying the molecular mechanisms of astrogenesis underlying the tight
      regulation of neuronal-astrocytic fate switching of NSCs.

PMID- 28603212
TI  - Effectiveness of the liver micronucleus assay using juvenile mice.
AB  - This study investigated the effectiveness of the liver micronucleus (MN) assay
      using juvenile mice. Therefore, we analyzed various hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP)
      mediated activities of ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation, pentoxyresorufin O
      dealkylation, tolbutamide hydroxylation, bufuralol 1'-hydroxylation, aniline
      hydroxylation and midazolam 4-hydroxylation by CYP1A, CYP2B, CYP2C, CYP2D, CYP2E
      and CYP3A, respectively, in non-treated male ICR mice aged between 3 and 8 weeks.
      The enzyme efficiency levels in 3- and 4-week-old mice were approximately similar
      to or higher than those in 8-week-old mice, except for CYP1A and CYP2E in 3- and
      4-week-old mice, respectively. Since these results suggest that juvenile mice
      have sufficient activities for most CYP enzymes, we also conducted a liver MN
      assay using diethylnitrosamine (DEN), a rodent hepatocarcinogen, on male ICR mice
      aged between 3 and 6 weeks. A peripheral blood (PB) MN assay was performed
      simultaneously in 4-week-old mice. Assays incorporating DEN produced positive
      results in 3- and 4-week-old mice and showed a dose-dependent increase in the
      micronucleated hepatocyte frequencies at 4 weeks. Both the liver MN assay in 5-
      and 6-week-old mice and the PB MN assay had negative results when using DEN.
      These results suggest that 3- and 4-week-old mice have micronuclei-inducing
      potential in the liver to detect genotoxic compounds using the liver MN assay.

PMID- 28603213
TI  - Sensitive radioimmunoassay of total thyroxine (T4) in horses using a simple
      extraction method.
AB  - Most thyroid hormone determinations in animals are based on immunoassays adapted
      from those used to test human samples, which may not reflect the actual values of
      thyroid hormone in horses because of the presence of binding proteins. The aims
      of the present study were i) to establish a novel radioimmunoassay (RIA) using a
      more simple and convenient method to separate binding proteins for the
      measurement of total thyroxine (T4) in horses and ii) to validate the assay by
      comparing total T4 concentrations in yearling horses raised in different
      climates. Blood samples were collected from trained yearlings in Hokkaido
      (temperate climate) and Miyazaki (subtropical climate) in Japan and from adult
      horses in estrus and diestrus. T4 was extracted from both serum and plasma using
      modified acid ethanol cryo-precipitation and sodium acetate ethanol methods.
      Circulating total T4 concentrations were determined by RIA. T4 concentration by
      sodium acetate ethanol was appropriately detectable rather than sodium salicylate
      method and was the same as for acid ethanol method. Furthermore, this sodium
      acetate ethanol method required fewer extraction steps than the other methods.
      Circulating T4 concentrations in yearlings were 225.98 +/- 20.89 ng/ml, which was
      higher than the previous reference values. With respect to climate, T4 levels in
      Hokkaido yearlings tended to be higher than those in Miyazaki yearlings
      throughout the study period. These results indicated that this RIA protocol using
      a modified sodium acetate ethanol separation technique might be an appropriate
      tool for specific measurement of total T4 in horses.

PMID- 28603214
TI  - Enhancement of abdominal wall defect repair using allogenic platelet-rich plasma
      with commercial polyester/cotton fabric (Damour) in a canine model.
AB  - Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has an important role in musculoskeletal surgery;
      however, it has been underutilized for accelerating the healing of abdominal wall
      defects in veterinary practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate
      the use of commercial polyester/cotton fabric (Damour) as a new composite mesh
      for the repair of experimentally induced abdominal wall defects in canine models,
      and to investigate the possible role of PRP for improving such repair and
      reducing allied complications. For this purpose, abdominal wall defects were
      created in 24 healthy mongrel dogs and then repaired with mesh alone (control
      group) or mesh and allogenic PRP (PRP group). Dogs were euthanized after 2 or 4
      months for gross examination of implantation site, detection of adhesion score
      and hernia recurrence. Moreover, tissue samples were collected for histological
      and gene expression analyses for neovascularization, collagen formation and
      tissue incorporation. Hernia recurrence was not recorded in PRP-treated dogs that
      also displayed significantly more neovascularization and less severe adhesion to
      the underlings (1.08 +/- 0.51) in comparison to control group (2.08 +/- 0.99).
      Histological and molecular evaluation confirmed the gross findings that collagen
      deposition, new vessel formation, and overexpression of angiogenic and
      myofibroplastic genes (COL1alpha1, COL3alpha1, VEGF and TGFbeta1) were observed
      more frequently in the PRP group, at both time points. In conclusion, we found
      that addition of allogenic PRP to Damour mesh enhanced neovessel formation, and
      increased tissue deposition and incorporation, with subsequent reduction of
      peritoneal adhesion and recurrence rate.

PMID- 28603215
TI  - Well-differentiated liposarcoma with chondroid metaplasia in the auricle of a
      dog.
AB  - A 13-year-old spayed female dog had a mass in the left auricle. Grossly,
      connection between the mass and original auricular cartilage was not recognized.
      The mass was unencapsulated and contained multiple islands of mature hyaline
      cartilage and neoplastic adipocytes. The neoplastic cells comprised predominant
      mature adipocytes, scattered lipoblasts and irregular round to spindle cells with
      moderate atypia. The atypical cells occasionally had lipid droplets. A diagnosis
      of well-differentiated liposarcoma (WDL) with chondroid metaplasia was made. This
      is the first report for liposarcoma with chondroid metaplasia in the auricle of
      domestic animals.

PMID- 28603216
TI  - Efficacy of an avian colibacillosis live vaccine for layer breeder in Japan.
AB  - Colibacillosis is one of an economically significant disease in the poultry
      industry, especially for meat breed chickens. Recently it has become a serious
      problem for layer especially when the birds start laying and also at the later
      stage of laying. In Japan, the productivity of field laying hens improved when
      the Deltacrp avian colibacillosis live vaccine ("Gall N tect CBL") was used. The
      survival rate and egg laying rate increased during almost all of the laying
      period when compared with the control group. The improvement in productivity was
      clearly demonstrated by comparing the number of eggs laid per day. The use of an
      avian colibacillosis live vaccine proved to be cost-effective in laying hens.

PMID- 28603217
TI  - Effects of a mixture of medetomidine, midazolam and butorphanol on anesthesia and
      blood biochemistry and the antagonizing action of atipamezole in hamsters.
AB  - Syrian golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) are useful laboratory rodents for
      studying human infectious diseases, metabolic diseases and cancer. In other
      rodents, such as mice and rats, a mixture of medetomidine, midazolam and
      butorphanol functions as a useful anesthetic, although it alters some blood
      biochemical parameters. In this study, we examined the effects of this mixture on
      anesthesia and blood biochemical parameters, and the action of atipamezole, a
      medetomidine antagonist, in hamsters. Intramuscular injection of a mixture of
      medetomidine, midazolam and butorphanol at doses of 0.15, 2.0 and 2.5 mg/kg,
      respectively, had a short induction time (within 5 min) and produced an
      anesthetic duration of approximately 100 min in hamsters. We also demonstrated
      that 0.15 mg/kg of atipamezole, corresponding to the same dose as medetomidine,
      made hamsters recover quickly from anesthesia. The anesthetic agent markedly
      altered metabolic parameters, such as plasma glucose and insulin; however, 0.15
      mg/kg of atipamezole returned these levels to normal range within approximately
      10 min after the injection. The anesthetic also slightly altered mineral levels,
      such as plasma inorganic phosphorus, calcium and sodium; the latter two were also
      improved by atipamezole. Our results indicated that the mixture of medetomidine,
      midazolam, and butorphanol at doses of 0.15, 2.0 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively,
      functioned as an effective anesthetic, and atipamezole was useful for
      antagonizing both anesthesia and biochemical alteration in hamsters.

PMID- 28603218
TI  - Molecular cloning of canine Wilms' tumor 1 for immunohistochemical analysis in
      canine tissues.
AB  - Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) expression has been investigated in various human cancers as
      a target molecule for cancer immunotherapy. However, few studies have focused on
      WT1 expression in dogs. Firstly, cDNA of canine WT1 (cWT1) was molecularly cloned
      from normal canine kidney. The cross-reactivity of the anti-human WT1 monoclonal
      antibody (6F-H2) with cWT1 was confirmed via Western blotting using cells
      overexpressing cWT1. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that cWT1 expression
      was detected in all canine lymphoma tissues and in some normal canine tissues,
      including the kidney and lymph node. cWT1 is a potential immunotherapy target
      against canine cancers.

PMID- 28603219
TI  - Central Hemodynamics for Management of Arteriosclerotic Diseases.
AB  - Arteriosclerosis, particularly aortosclerosis, is the most critical risk factor
      associated with cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal diseases. The
      pulsatile hemodynamics in the central aorta consists of blood pressure, flow, and
      stiffness and substantially differs from the peripheral hemodynamics in muscular
      arteries. Arteriosclerotic changes with age appear earlier in the elastic aorta,
      and age-dependent increases in central pulse pressure are more marked than those
      apparent from brachial pressure measurement. Central pressure can be affected by
      lifestyle habits, metabolic disorders, and endocrine and inflammatory diseases in
      a manner different from brachial pressure. Central pulse pressure widening due to
      aortic stiffening increases left ventricular afterload in systole and reduces
      coronary artery flow in diastole, predisposing aortosclerotic patients to
      myocardial hypertrophy and ischemia. The widened pulse pressure is also
      transmitted deep into low-impedance organs such as the brain and kidney, causing
      microvascular damage responsible for lacunar stroke and albuminuria. In addition,
      aortic stiffening increases aortic blood flow reversal, which can lead to
      retrograde embolic stroke and renal function deterioration. Central pressure has
      been shown to predict cardiovascular events in most previous studies and
      potentially serves as a surrogate marker for intervention. Quantitative and
      comprehensive evaluation of central hemodynamics is now available through various
      noninvasive pressure/flow measurement modalities. This review will focus on the
      clinical usefulness and mechanistic rationale of central hemodynamic measurements
      for cardiovascular risk management.

PMID- 28603220
TI  - miR-6539 is a novel mediator of somatic cell reprogramming that represses the
      translation of Dnmt3b.
AB  - Global DNA hypomethylation has been shown to be involved in the pluripotency of
      induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Relatedly, DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs)
      are believed to be a substantial barrier to genome-wide demethylation. There are
      two distinct stages of DNMT expression during iPS cell generation. In the earlier
      stage of reprogramming, the expression of DNMTs is repressed to overcome
      epigenetic barriers. During the late stage, the expression of DNMTs is
      upregulated to ensure iPS cells obtain the full pluripotency required for further
      development. This fact is strongly reminiscent of microRNAs (miRNAs), critical
      regulators of precise gene expression, may be central to coordinate the
      expression of DNMTs during reprogramming. Using a secondary inducible system, we
      found that miR-6539 had a unique expression dynamic during iPS cell generation
      that inversely correlated with DNMT3B protein levels. Enforced upregulation of
      miR-6539 during the early stage of reprogramming increased the efficiency of iPS
      cell generation, while enforced downregulation impaired efficiency. Further
      analysis showed that Dnmt3b mRNA is the likely target of miR-6539. Notably, miR
      6539 repressed Dnmt3b translation via a target site located in the coding
      sequence. Our study has therefore identified miR-6539 as a novel mediator of
      somatic cell reprogramming and, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to
      demonstrate miRNA-mediated translation inhibition in somatic cell reprogramming
      via targeting the coding sequence. Our study contributes to understand the
      mechanisms that underlie the miRNA-mediated epigenetic remodeling that occurs
      during somatic cell reprogramming.

PMID- 28603221
TI  - Modification of mitochondrial function, cytoplasmic lipid content and
      cryosensitivity of bovine embryos by resveratrol.
AB  - Resveratrol is a potent activator of NAD-dependent deacetyltransferase sirtuin-1
      (SIRT1) and affects lipid metabolism and ATP generation in somatic cells. In the
      present study, the effects of supplementing culture medium with resveratrol on
      lipid metabolism, ATP generation, and cryosensitivity of bovine in vitro produced
      embryos were investigated. Bovine early cleaved-stage embryos were cultured in
      medium containing 0 or 0.5 uM resveratrol for 1 or 5 days. Resveratrol treatment
      for both 1 day and 5 days increased the expression levels of SIRT1 and
      phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) in the embryos. Furthermore,
      resveratrol treatment was effective to increase ATP generation and reduce lipid
      content of the embryos. The effects of resveratrol treatment were diminished by
      the SIRT1 inhibitor "EX527", and the reduced lipid content was reversed by
      treatment with etomoxir (a potent inhibitor of beta-oxidation). Blastocysts
      developed after resveratrol treatment showed low levels reactive oxygen species
      and increased cryotolerance. These results demonstrate that resveratrol improves
      in vitro development of bovine embryos, while reducing cytoplasmic lipid content
      through activation of beta-oxidation, thereby effective for production of bovine
      blastocysts with enhanced cryotolerance.

PMID- 28603222
TI  - Bovine embryo induces an anti-inflammatory response in uterine epithelial cells
      and immune cells in vitro: possible involvement of interferon tau as an
      intermediator.
AB  - Recent observations suggest that the bovine uterus starts to react to the early
      embryo immediately after its arrival from the oviduct. The present study aimed to
      investigate the effect of the early developing embryo on the immune-related gene
      profile in bovine uterine epithelial cells (BUECs) in vitro, and to further
      examine the impact of conditioned media (CM), either from embryo-BUEC co-culture
      or embryo culture alone, on gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs). First, BUECs were co-cultured with morulae (n = 10) for D5-D9 (D0 =
      IVF), and gene expression in BUECs was analyzed. Subsequently, PBMCs were
      cultured in CM from embryo-BUEC co-culture or D5-D9 embryo culture, and gene
      expression was evaluated. In BUECs, the embryo induced interferon (IFN)
      stimulated genes (ISGs: ISG15, OAS1, and MX2), a key factor for IFN-signaling
      (STAT1), and type-1 IFN receptors (IFNAR1 and IFNAR2), with suppression of NFkB2,
      NFkBIA and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFA and IL1B). The embryo also stimulated
      PTGES and PGE2 secretion in BUECs. In PBMCs, both CM from embryo-BUEC co-culture
      and embryo culture alone induced ISGs, STAT1 and TGFB1, while suppressing TNFA
      and IL17. Similarly, interferon tau (IFNT) at 100 pg/ml suppressed NFkB2, TNFA
      and IL1B in BUECs, and also stimulated TGFB1 and suppressed TNFA in PBMCs. Our
      findings suggest that the bovine embryo, in the first four days in the uterus (D5
      D9), starts to induce an anti-inflammatory response in epithelial cells and in
      immune cells. IFNT is likely to act as one of the intermediators for induction of
      the anti-inflammatory response in the bovine uterus.

PMID- 28603223
TI  - Unique Trichomonas vaginalis gene sequences identified in multinational regions
      of Northwest China.
AB  - Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) is a flagellated protozoan parasite that
      infects humans worldwide. This study determined the sequence of the 18S ribosomal
      RNA gene of T. vaginalis infecting both females and males in Xinjiang, China.
      Samples from 73 females and 28 males were collected and confirmed for infection
      with T. vaginalis, a total of 110 sequences were identified when the T. vaginalis
      18S ribosomal RNA gene was sequenced. These sequences were used to prepare a
      phylogenetic network. The rooted network comprised three large clades and several
      independent branches. Most of the Xinjiang sequences were in one group.
      Preliminary results suggest that Xinjiang T. vaginalis isolates might be
      genetically unique, as indicated by the sequence of their 18S ribosomal RNA gene.
      Low migration rate of local people in this province may contribute to a genetic
      conservativeness of T. vaginalis. The unique genetic feature of our isolates may
      suggest a different clinical presentation of trichomoniasis, including
      metronidazole susceptibility, T. vaginalis virus or Mycoplasma co-infection
      characteristics. The transmission and evolution of Xinjiang T. vaginalis is of
      interest and should be studied further. More attention should be given to T.
      vaginalis infection in both females and males in Xinjiang.

PMID- 28603224
TI  - Proton Beam Therapy for Pediatric Brain Tumor.
AB  - Cancer is a major cause of childhood death, with central nervous system (CNS)
      neoplasms being the second most common pediatric malignancy, following
      hematological cancer. Treatment of pediatric CNS malignancies requires multimodal
      treatment using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, and
      advances in these treatments have given favorable results and longer survival.
      However, treatment-related toxicities have also occurred, particularly for
      radiotherapy, after which secondary cancer, reduced function of irradiated
      organs, and retarded growth are significant problems. Proton beam therapy (PBT)
      is a particle radiotherapy with excellent dose localization that permits
      treatment of liver and lung cancer by administration of a high dose to the tumor
      while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissues. Thus, PBT has the
      potential advantages for pediatric cancer. In this context, we review the current
      knowledge on PBT for treatment of pediatric CNS malignancies.

PMID- 28603225
TI  - Cross-Over Trial of Febuxostat and Topiroxostat for Hyperuricemia With
      Cardiovascular Disease (TROFEO Trial).
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously reported that febuxostat was more effective for
      hyperuricemia than allopurinol. The efficacy, however, of topiroxostat (a novel
      xanthine oxidase reductase inhibitor similar to febuxostat), for hyperuricemia is
      unknown.Methods and Results:Patients with cardiovascular disease and
      hyperuricemia, in whom serum uric acid (s-UA) was controlled at <=6 mg/dL, were
      eligible for enrollment. Fifty-five patients were randomized to receive either
      febuxostat or topiroxostat for 6 months and were switched to the other drug for
      the following 6 months. The primary endpoint was s-UA. Secondary endpoints
      included serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate, urinary albumin,
      cystatin-C, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, eicosapentaenoic acid/arachidonic
      acid ratio, lipid biomarkers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and B-type
      natriuretic protein. Although s-UA level was similar for both drugs,
      significantly more patients required dose escalation during treatment with
      topiroxostat. There were no differences in renal function, inflammatory and lipid
      markers between the 2 drugs. A biomarker of oxidative stress was significantly
      lower after 3 months of febuxostat compared with topiroxostat. CONCLUSIONS:
      Febuxostat causes more marked and more rapid reduction of s-UA than topiroxostat.
      With regard to the antioxidant effect, febuxostat was superior to topiroxostat
      after 3 months. The renal protective and anti-inflammatory effects of both drugs
      were also similar after 6 months of treatment. Thus, both of these agents were
      similarly effective for hyperuricemia in patients with cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28603226
TI  - Infections in patients affected by liver cirrhosis: an update.
AB  - Patients with liver cirrhosis present an increased incidence of infections. The
      main cause has been founded in alterations of the enteric flora and of the
      intestinal barrier probably due to portal hypertension, in addition to a reticulo
      endothelial system dysfunction. Furthermore, those living with cirrhosis can
      report a high predisposition to sepsis and septic shock, due to the excessive
      response of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a complessive hemodynamic derangement.
      By the analysis in the experimental model of the cirrhotic rat, it was
      demonstrated that radio-labelled Escherichia coli given by the oral route
      resulted in the location of the bacteria in the gut, the ascitic fluid and
      mesenteric lymph nodes, a phenomenon known as bacterial translocation. Bacteria
      encountered with the highest frequency are those colonizing the intestinal tract,
      such as E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacteriaceae, intracellular
      bacteria and parasites are reported with a lower frequency. Multi-drug resistant
      bacteria are cultured with the highest frequency in those with frequent
      hospitalisations and report both high septic shock and mortality rates.
      Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is the commonest infection in cirrhotic,
      estimated to occur in 10-30% of the cases with ascites. A practical approach may
      include administration of a protected penicillin, III generation cephalosporin or
      quinolones in uncomplicated cases. Instead, in complicated cases and in
      nosocomial SBP, administration of cephalosporin or quinolones can be burned by
      the high resistance rate and drugs active against ESBL-producing bacteria and
      multi-drug resistant Gram positive bacteria have to be considered as empiric
      therapy, until cultures are available. When cultures are not readily available
      and patients fail to improve a repeated diagnostic paracentesis should be
      performed. Current investigations suggest that norfloxacin 400 mg/day orally has
      been reported to successfully prevent SBP in patients with low-protein ascites
      and patients with prior SBP.

PMID- 28603227
TI  - Patterns of multi-drug resistant bacteria at first culture from patients admitted
      to a third level University hospital in Calabria from 2011 to 2014: implications
      for empirical therapy and infection control.
AB  - Surveillance of antimicrobial drug resistance is fundamental to guide empirical
      treatment. However, the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network
      provides a general picture, which might not be applicable to clinical settings
      that are excluded from this survey. We evaluated resistance patterns of ESKAPE
      isolates over a four-year period in a third level University hospital in the
      province of Catanzaro (Southern Italy). In this retrospective study, we evaluated
      the frequency of ESKAPE isolates with different resistance patterns (group 1=low
      resistant bacteria; group 2=multi-drug and extremely drug-resistant bacteria;
      group 3=pan-resistant bacteria), stratified by year (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014),
      hospital units (intensive care units, medical and surgical units) and by sample
      type (urine, blood, wound swabs, respiratory samples, other samples). Chi square
      test was applied to find differences between isolates with different resistance
      patterns by hospital unit and by organs and systems. Cochran-Armitage trend test
      was applied to assess the trend in resistance patterns during the four years
      analyzed. Amongst 2385 isolates, Escherichia coli (38%) was the most frequent,
      followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (14%),
      Staphylococcus aureus (13%), Acinetobacter baumannii (9%), Enterococcus faecalis
      (8%) and Enterococcus faecium (3%). From 2011 to 2014, frequency of isolates in
      group 2 plus 3 decreased from 23% to 14% (chi square=55.093; p<0.0001),
      particularly for E. coli and K. pneumoniae, but the trend increased for S. aureus
      (from 5% in 2011 to 10% in 2014), and remained stable for the other species.
      Frequency of isolates in group 2 plus 3 was higher in intensive care units for K.
      pneumoniae (chi square =32.292; p<0.0001), A. baumannii (chi square =6.947;
      p<0.0001) and S. aureus (chi square =22.079; p<0.0001). It was also higher from
      blood than from different sources for most species.

PMID- 28603228
TI  - A surveillance system model for central line-associated bloodstream infections
      (CLABSI) coordinated at the regional level: a pilot feasibility study.
AB  - We describe the methods used to define a surveillance model to incorporate into
      activities aimed at preventing central line-associated bloodstream infections
      (CLABSI) in non-critical care units (NCCUs) and designed to be implemented at the
      regional level. In 2015 we conducted a pilot feasibility study in three NCCUs
      based in hospitals of the Regional Health System of Emilia Romagna to evaluate
      the feasibility of the proposed model and to test its accuracy and cost
      effectiveness in terms of resources needed to maintain the system. Our results
      indicate that the system is feasible at the regional level by using the available
      sources and instruments to collect data in clinical practice context. Observation
      of device utilization for at least three months in all NCCU wards is needed in
      order to prioritize the medical area on which to focus costs for surveillance
      prior to implementing it on a regular basis.

PMID- 28603229
TI  - Molecular epidemiology and antibiotic resistance patterns of Enterococcus
      faecalis isolates from hospitals in Tehran.
AB  - Enterococcus faecalis is one of the most important causative agents of nosocomial
      infections. Control and prevention of these infections require appropriate
      epidemiological knowledge. This study investigated the correlation between
      molecular characteristics and drug resistance of E. faecalis isolates from local
      hospitals. A total of 125 isolates of Enterococcus faecalis from two hospitals in
      Tehran were identified by using culture and biochemical method. An antibiotic
      resistance assay was carried out by a disk diffusion method according to the
      Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The genetic diversity of
      the strains was determined using a repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain
      reaction (REP-PCR) method. All isolates were typed by REP-PCR, and different PCR
      amplification products (from 9 to 17 amplified DNA fragments) were detected by
      gel electrophoresis. There were eight different PCR patterns (A-H), and a
      significant correlation was detected between the resistance to antibiotics and
      the obtained PCR patterns. The most relevant cases (28%) belonged to the fourth
      group (D). All group D isolates were resistant to tetracycline and
      quinupristin/dalfopristin. A high resistance to certain common antibiotics and
      clonal propagation were detected among isolates from patients in different wards
      of the hospitals. This study was the first to investigate E. faecalis isolates
      from Iranian patients and to describe patterns that showed correlation between
      infection prevalence and genetic origin/similarity of the isolates.

PMID- 28603230
TI  - High frequency of hopQ genotypes among Iranian Helicobacter pylori clinical
      isolates.
AB  - Different virulence factors are involved in Helicobacter pylori pathogenesis. H.
      pylori outer membrane proteins are a family of virulence factors that have
      diverse members. HopQ (H. pylori outer membrane protein) is the largest of them
      that contains types I and II alleles. The role of hopQ is not exactly known, but
      it has been considered in H. pylori adhesion and colonization. The aim of this
      study was to determine the frequency of hopQ genotypes among H. pylori isolates
      obtained from patients with gastroduodenal disorders and their association with
      the clinical outcome. The DNA of 100 H. pylori clinical isolates was investigated
      by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method using specific primers for determining
      the hopQI and hopQII genotypes. hopQI was present in 35%, while hopQII was
      positive in 55% of the isolates. Amongst the gastritis subjects, the rate of
      hopQII compared to hopQI was higher, and a statistically significant difference
      was found between hopQII genotype and the clinical outcome. With respect to the
      significant difference between the hopQ genotype and clinical outcome in our
      clinical isolates, it seems that this genotype is a useful marker for evaluating
      its association with H. pylori-related diseases.

PMID- 28603231
TI  - Identification of Aspergillus sections Flavi, Nigri, and Fumigati and their
      differentiation using specific primers.
AB  - Aspergillus species are important in medicine, agriculture and various
      industries. The sections Fumigati, Flavi, and Nigri are the most important
      members of the Aspergillus genus. This study intended to identify and separate
      these three Aspergillus sections and to differentiate among them using specific
      primers. A bioinformatics study was initially performed to analyse the sequences
      of five genes, namely, beta-tubulin, calmodulin, the pre-rRNA processing protein
      Tsr1, the DNA-replication licensing factor Mcm7, and RNA polymerase II second
      largest subunit (RPB2) in the three Aspergillus sections using MEGA6 software and
      the NCBI database. Primers were designed to select genes for each of the
      Aspergillus sections being analysed. A total of 134 environmental and clinical
      Aspergillus species were isolated, purified and initially identified by colony
      morphology.. Subsequently, DNA was extracted using the phenol-chloroform method,
      specific primers were synthesized, PCR was performed for DNA from all isolates,
      and the results were compared to morphological characteristics. Of the 134
      isolates tested, 56 were Nigri, 32 were Fumigati, 32 were Flavi, and the rest (14
      isolates) belonged to other sections. The beta-tubulin and calmodulin genes were
      found to be the most suitable for differentiating among these three groups; the
      beta-tubulin gene was used for molecular identification of Aspergillus section
      Fumigati, and the calmodulin gene for identifying sections Flavi and Nigri.

PMID- 28603232
TI  - Prevalence of intestinal parasitoses detected in Padua teaching hospital, Italy,
      March 2011 - February 2013.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of parasitic intestinal
      infections in patients attending Padua teaching hospital during a two-year
      period. Between 1st March 2011 and 28th February 2013, we examined stool
      specimens from 7341 patients (6127 Italians, 1214 non-Italians) for ova and
      parasites using microscopy, rapid enzyme immunoassays, culture techniques and
      molecular methods. Stools of 1080 patients (14.71%) were positive for parasites;
      a total of 1349 intestinal parasites were counted. Protozoa were detected in
      1028/1080 patients (95.19%), while helminths were present in 80/1080 patients
      (7.41%). The protozoa most commonly detected were Blastocystis spp., Dientamoeba
      fragilis and Giardia duodenalis. Enterobius vermicularis was the helminth most
      frequently encountered. Of the 1080 infected patients, 227 (21.02%) had more than
      one parasite in their stool. To conclude, in Italy intestinal parasitoses must be
      unquestionably considered in differential diagnoses of gastrointestinal diseases.
      For this purpose, sound knowledge of epidemiology is essential.

PMID- 28603233
TI  - Where are we after 60 years of paragonimiasis research? A bibliometric
      assessment.
AB  - Paragonimiasis is highly prevalent endemic food-borne disease in Southeast Asia
      and Latin America, and constitutes a major public health concern. A bibliometric
      analysis was performed about the worldwide scientific production of
      paragonimiasis. We browsed in the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E) (1957
      2015), Scopus (1976-2015), Medline/PubMed/GoPubMed(r) (1970-2015), ScIELO (1981
      2014) and LILACS (1985-2011). All types of articles were included and categorized
      by year of publication, number, type of scientific article, city and institution
      of origin, international cooperation, scientific journal, impact factor, language
      of publication, authors and H index. In SCI-E, 1,028 manuscripts were recovered,
      while Japan (21.9%) and the USA (17.7%) were the countries with highest
      scientific production. In this database, Asian region studies received 5,454
      citations (H index=32). In Scopus 2161 items were recovered, corresponding to
      45.8% of Asian countries. Japan (18.2%) was the first with the University of
      Miyazaki (11.7% of the country); South Korea (9.5%) was second with the Seoul
      National University (11.2% of the country). In SciELO 29 items were found, with
      no contributions from the Asian region. In LILACS 1487 articles were found (22.9%
      covering Asia). Among the databases, the Journal of Parasitology (Impact
      factor=1.227) showed the highest number of manuscripts and "Agatsuma T", from
      Japan, was the author with most records. Japan and South Korea lead global
      scientific production on paragonimiasis. By contrast, in Latin America,
      production has been extremely low especially in the last five years.

PMID- 28603234
TI  - What to start with in first line treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients: an
      Italian multicentre observational cohort, HBV-RER study group.
AB  - Treatment options for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) are pegylated interferon (Peg
      IFN) in minimal-mild liver fibrosis and nucleot(s)ide analogues (NUC) in more
      advanced disease. Since little is known about their use in daily clinical
      practice, we conducted a multicentre prospective study to investigate treatment
      regimens applied to naive CHB patients in real life. HBV-RER is an observational
      multicentre Italian network that collect clinic and virologic data of patients
      with CHB. Among the 2527 CHB patients seen during the study period (2009 - 2012),
      502 patients started a first line antiviral treatment. Liver biopsy was performed
      in 30.9% of the patients, with high levels of fibrosis being detected in 19.4% of
      them. In 216 patients (43%) Peg-IFN was used as first-line therapy while the
      remaining patients started NUC therapy (entecavir and tenofovir in 75%,
      lamivudine in 15%, telbivudine and adefovir 10%). By multivariate logistic
      regression, an age under 40 (OR 0.92, 95%IC 0.90-0.94; p <0.001) and the
      execution of liver biopsy (OR 3.83; 95%IQR 1.76-8.36; p <0.001) were the only
      determinants of choice between Peg-IFN vs NUC. Peg-IFN was expected to be used in
      first-line treatment for CHB in 70% of the patients based on Italian
      recommendations, but a much lower proportion of patients were actually treated
      with Peg-IFN with a limited use of the biopsy. Thus, in daily clinical practice
      physicians prefer to use NUCs, presumably because of their optimal tolerability
      and anti-viral efficacy, even if they frequently require life-long treatment as
      opposed to the short duration of Peg-IFN.

PMID- 28603235
TI  - Drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis mimicking a flu-like syndrome in an elderly
      man: an atypical case report.
AB  - Despite remarkable reductions in its incidence and mortality, tuberculosis (TB)
      continues to be a major health burden globally. Pulmonary TB occasionally
      challenges physicians, either due to TB's ability to mimic many different
      conditions or because of the increasing number of drug-resistant Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis isolates. Here we present a case of pulmonary TB with both
      characteristics and a brief review of the relevant literature.

PMID- 28603236
TI  - [Miliary tuberculosis: the role of necropsy studies].
AB  - This case study of generalized miliary tuberculosis in a Brazilian man without
      AIDS is reported in order to emphasize the role of histopathological study for
      diagnosis. We comment on a recent Indian study involving 40 cases of surgical and
      necropsy specimens in which the diagnosis of tuberculosis was made, as well as a
      previous Brazilian case report. The authors believe that non-specialists should
      be better informed about the possibility of miliary tuberculosis, which involves
      clinical diagnostic challenges. Despite limitations, minimally invasive necropsy
      may be an alternative to elucidate causes of death in low-income countries.

PMID- 28603237
TI  - [Contact lens-related Fusarium keratitis: a case report].
AB  - We aim to highlight the key factors for a good outcome of fungal keratitis. We
      describe a case of contact lens-related Fusarium keratitis in a young girl. After
      identification of Fusarium spp under direct microscopic examination and in
      culture, a prolonged treatment with topic natamycin 5% was started and
      administered for five months with restitutio ad integrum of the eye. Prompt
      microbiological diagnosis and a specific and prolonged treatment are essential
      for correct management of Fusarium keratitis.

PMID- 28603238
TI  - [Retropharyngeal abscess with cervical discitis and vertebral osteomyelitis
      caused by Escherichia coli in a patient with liver cirrhosis].
AB  - We describe the case of a 67-year-old male with liver cirrhosis who presented
      with fever and neck pain. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine detected
      cervical vertebral osteomyelitis, and enhanced CT of the neck and spine revealed
      retropharyngeal abscess. The patient was treated with empirical antimicrobial
      therapy and surgical drainage due to significant airway involvement. Escherichia
      coli was cultured from the blood and pus in inferior cervical vertebrae which was
      a rare pathogen. Haematogenous spread may have resulted in cervical vertebral
      osteomyelitis and retropharyngeal abscess. With high mortality rates, early
      diagnosis of retropharyngeal abscess is required to avoid debilitating
      complications such as airway obstruction.

PMID- 28603239
TI  - [Cerebrospinal fluid shunt-associated meningitis caused by Gordonia sputi: case
      report and review of the literature].
AB  - We report the first known case of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt-associated
      meningitis caused by Gordonia sputi and review published cases of Gordonia CNS
      infections.

PMID- 28603240
TI  - [The study of ocular tuberculosis during the 19th and early 20th century].
AB  - During the 19th and early 20th century the achievements in the study of ocular
      tuberculosis were of great significance. The development of pathological anatomy
      in those years helped physicians to understand the histological image and the
      pathophysiology of the disease and allowed the scientists to detect the specific
      anatomical structures of the eye, where the disease could be present. The
      physicians of those years tried to describe the clinical image of the disease and
      to give value information, in order to facilitate the diagnosis. Despite major
      efforts made in the field of clinical approach to ocular tuberculosis, the
      treatment of the disease in those years was not very effective. Nevertheless, the
      physicians of the time used every new pharmacological or not pharmacological
      treatment to fight the disease.

PMID- 28603241
TI  - [The treatment of wounds during World War I].
AB  - The First World War was a huge tragedy for mankind, but, paradoxically, it
      represented a source of significant progress in a broad series of human
      activities, including medicine, since it forced physicians to improve their
      knowledge in the treatment of a large number of wounded soldiers. The use of
      heavy artillery and machine guns, as well as chemical warfare, caused very
      serious and life-threatening lesions and wounds. The most frequent causes of
      death were not mainly related to gunshot wounds, but rather to fractures, tetanus
      and septic complications of infectious diseases. In the first part of this
      article, we describe the surgical procedures and medical therapies carried out by
      Italian physicians during the First World War, with the aim of treating wounded
      soldiers in this pre-antibiotic era. Antibacterial solutions, such as those of
      Dakin-Carrel and sodium hypochlorite and boric acid, the tincture of iodine as
      well as the surgical and dressing approaches and techniques used to remove pus
      from wounds, such as ignipuncture and thermocautery or lamellar drainage are
      reported in detail. In the second part of the paper, the organization of the
      Italian military hospitals network, the systems and tools useful to transport
      wounded soldiers both in the front lines and in the rear is amply discussed. In
      addition, the number of soldiers enrolling, and those dying, wounded or missing
      during the Great War on the Italian front is estimated.

PMID- 28603242
TI  - [New strategies for the eradication of Aedes aegypti: what challenges do we face
      in Latin America?]
AB  - Not available.

PMID- 28603243
TI  - [Erratum: An unnoticed origin of fever: Periapical tooth abscess - Three case
      reports and literature review].
AB  - Erratum Following publication of the Original article An unnoticed origin of
      fever: Periapical tooth abscess - Three case reports and literature review
      (Infez. Med., volume 24, issue 1, pages 67-70, year 2016) We became aware that
      some authors were missing from the title page The correct list of the authors and
      affiliations is the following An unnoticed origin of fever: Periapical tooth
      abscess - Three case reports and literature review Ferhat Arslan1, Ergenekon
      Karagoz2, Mesut Yilmaz1, Ayse Batirel3, Birsen Yigit Arslan4, Nedim Ozer5, Nadir
      Alpay6, Ali Mert1 1Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology,
      Istanbul Medipol University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 2Department of Infectious
      Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Van Military Hospital, Van, Turkey
      3Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Lutfi Kirdar
      Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 4Department of Anesthesiology
      and Reanimation, Esenyurt State Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 5Department of
      Dentistry, Istanbul Medipol University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 6Department of
      Internal Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.

PMID- 28603244
TI  - Revision of <i>Marphysa</i> de Quatrefages, 1865 and some species of <i>Nicidion
      </i>Kinberg, 1865 with the erection of a new genus (Polychaeta: Eunicidae) from
      the Grand Caribbean.
AB  - Nine species of Marphysa from the Grand Caribbean Region are recognized and
      described based on the type and non-type specimens. One species is formally
      described as new: M. emiliae n. sp., and one is re-established as a valid
      species: M. fragilis Treadwell, 1911. The diagnosis of Nicidion Kinberg, 1865 is
      restricted based on novel features of the maxillary apparatus. Nicidion angeli
      (Carrera-Parra & Salazar-Vallejo, 1998) is redescribed, and two species that
      previously belonged to Marphysa, are transferred to Nicidion: N. longula (Ehlers,
      1887) n. comb. and N. obtusa (Verrill, 1900) n. comb.. A new genus Treadwellphysa
      n. gen. is proposed to include those species having a newly described type of
      chaetae named spinifalcigers (exhibiting a mixture of falciger and spiniger
      blades), the base of maxillae II with a small elevation, and the ventral cirri
      with swollen base as transverse welt with short digitiform tip. Treadwellphysa n.
      gen. includes a new species, T. yucatanensis n. sp. and three other species
      previously included in Marphysa: T. amadae (Fauchald, 1977) n. comb., T. languida
      (Treadwell, 1921) n. comb., and T. veracruzensis (de Leon-Gonzalez & Diaz
      Castaneda, 2006) n. comb. Some morphological features are evaluated to clarify
      their variability with respect to specimen size. A key to Eunicidae genera, and
      keys to species of Marphysa and Treadwellphysa n. gen. from the Grand Caribbean
      region are given.

PMID- 28603245
TI  - Checklist of the micro- and anophthalmic soil-dwelling weevils of the world
      (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).
AB  - A checklist of the soil-dwelling microphthalmic and anophthalmic weevils of the
      world is presented. A total of 485 species in 85 genera are recognised,
      distributed over eight subfamilies and 26 tribes. The subfamilies are arranged in
      the currently accepted phylogenetic sequence, whereas the tribes, genera and
      species are listed in alphabetical order. For each species, the type locality and
      the geographical distribution by country is provided. Particularly diversified
      taxa are Entiminae: Otiorhynchini (125 species), Brachycerinae: Raymondionymini
      (90 species), Cossoninae: Dryotribini (59 species), Cryptorhynchinae:
      Torneumatini (58 species) and Molytinae: Lymantini (39 species). The
      biogeographic region with the highest diversity of soil-dwelling weevils is the
      Palearctic, especially the circum-Mediterranean area, mostly because of the
      exploration effort that it has received, followed by the Ethiopian and
      Neotropical regions.

PMID- 28603246
TI  - Chinese species of <i>Pediobius</i> Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae).
AB  - The Chinese species of Pediobius Walker, 1846 are treated in this paper,
      resulting in 34 species, of which 5 are newly described: P. bisulcatus Cao & Zhu
      sp. n., P. elongatus Cao & Zhu sp. n., P.petiolapilus Cao & Zhu sp. n., P.
      prominentis Cao & Zhu, sp. n., and P. tortricida Cao & Zhu, sp. n. Nine species
      are also newly recorded from China: P. anomalus (Gahan, 1920), P. bethylicidus
      Kerrich, 1973, P. bruchicida (Rondani, 1872), P. cassidae Erdos, 1958, P.
      claviger (Thomson, 1878), P. erionotae Kerrich, 1973, P. phragmitis Boucek, 1965,
      P. saulius (Walker, 1839), and P. tetratomus (Thomson, 1878). Four new synonyms
      are proposed: P. illiberidis Liao, 1987 under P. pyrgo (Walker, 1839) syn. n., P.
      planiceps Sheng & Kamijo, 1992 under P. inexpectatus Kerrich, 1973 syn. n., P.
      sinensis Sheng & Wang, 1994 under P. facialis (Giraud, 1863) syn. n., and P.
      songshaominus Liao, 1987 under P. yunanensis Liao, 1987 syn. n. The species-group
      concept is used to compare similar species, of which eight are recognized in
      China including two newly recognized groups: the cassidae-group and the
      crassicornis-group. One species complex, the P. eubius complex, is also
      recognized. An updated checklist of the Chinese species of Pediobius is provided,
      with species-group placement. New host records for Pediobius species from China
      are summarized in a table and valid species possibly present in China but not
      included in this study in another table. A key to all known females and males of
      Chinese Pediobius is also provided.

PMID- 28603247
TI  - The Hydraenidae of Cuba (Insecta: Coleoptera) II: Morphology of preimaginal
      stages of six species and notes on their biology.
AB  - Preimaginal stages of the six species of Hydraenidae presently known from Cuba
      were obtained by rearing adults in the laboratory. Eggs of Hydraena perkinsi
      Spangler, 1980, H. decui Spangler, 1980 and H. franklyni Deler-Hernandez &
      Delgado, 2012 are described and illustrated for the first time. The first instar
      larva of Gymnochthebius fossatus (LeConte, 1855) is redescribed, adding some new
      remarkable morphological characters including what could be the first abdominal
      egg-burster reported for this family. All larval instars of H. perkinsi, H.
      guadelupensis Orchymont, 1923 and Ochthebius attritus LeConte, 1878 are described
      and illustrated for the first time, with a special emphasis on their chaetotaxy.
      The second instar larva of G. fossatus along with first and third instar larvae
      of H. decui and H. franklyni are also studied for the first time. The pupal
      morphology and vestiture of a species belonging to the genus Hydraena are
      described for the first time, based on the pupa of H. perkinsi. Biological notes
      for several preimaginal stages of the studied species are also given.

PMID- 28603248
TI  - Revision of the <i>Remaneicaris</i> <i>argentina</i>-group (Copepoda,
      Harpacticoida, Parastenocarididae): supplementary description of species, and
      description of the first semi-terrestrial <i>Remaneicaris</i> from the tropical
      forest of Southeast Mexico.
AB  - Remaneicaris is a species-rich Neotropical monophyletic group, easily recognized
      by the synapomorphic position of the outer seta of the third exopodite of leg 4,
      localized at 2/3 of the outer margin. The genus, comprising 35 species in five
      monophyletic groups, plus R. ignotus and R. meyerabichi, retains an unusual set
      of plesiomorphic characters. Herein we supplement the descriptions of the species
      belonging to the Remaneicaris argentina-group, and describe a new species from
      the tropical forest of Southeast Mexico. The present study extends the geographic
      distribution of the genus, with the northernmost record until now being from El
      Salvador. The genus having hitherto been known from interstitial groundwater
      habitats, this is its first record in epigean semi-terrestrial habitats.
      Remaneicaris siankaan sp. nov. was found in phytotelmata (bromeliads), leaf
      litter, moist soil, permanent ponds (known locally as "aguadas"), and temporal
      and permanent wetlands (savannahs). The new species can be easily characterized
      by its finely pitted cuticle, the epsilon (epsilon)-shaped thumb of the male P3
      and the bifid accessory spine with distal hyaline inner tip, which precedes the
      thumb. A new method for the 3D reconstruction of microcrustaceans is described.

PMID- 28603249
TI  - On the taxonomy of Korean jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea).
AB  - The taxonomy of jumping plant-lice from South Korea is revised based on
      extensive, recently collected material and specimens preserved in several
      collections. Three species are described as new (Craspedolepta yongjungi,
      Cacopsylla baccatae and Cyamophila floribundae spp. nov.) and 11 species are
      recorded from South Korea for the first time (Aphalaridae 2, Homotomidae 1,
      Liviidae 1, Psyllidae 6, Triozidae 1). One genus and 13 species are synonymised,
      two species are removed from synonymy and two species are recombined. Comments on
      the taxonomy are provided and previous misidentifications are discussed.

PMID- 28603250
TI  - A new species and new record of deep-sea scale-worms (Polynoidae: Polychaeta)
      from the Okinawa Trough and the South China Sea.
AB  - A new species of scale-worm, Lepidonotopodium okinawae sp. nov. from the Okinawa
      Trough is described. The new species differs from the other species of
      Lepidonotopodium by having 24 segments and numerous foveolae on the surface of
      elytra with one globular micropapilla in every foveola. A new record of the
      mussel commensal Branchipolynoe pettiboneae Miura & Hashimoto, 1991 is reported
      and described from the northern South China Sea, where for the first time the
      scale-worm is noted as occurring at a cold-seep. Keys to distinguish the species
      of Branchipolynoe and Lepidonotopodium are provided.

PMID- 28603251
TI  - A new species of Mud Snake (Serpentes, Homalopsidae, <i>Gyiophis</i> Murphy &
      Voris, 2014) from Myanmar with a first molecular phylogenetic assessment of the
      genus.
AB  - A newly discovered species of homalopsid snake from the genus Gyiophis Murphy &
      Voris is described from the lowlands of Mawlamyine District in Mon state,
      southeastern Myanmar. Gyiophis salweenensis sp. nov. is presumed to be closely
      related to G. maculosa Blanford and G. vorisi Murphy based on the similarities in
      pholidosis and patterning but can be separated from G. maculosa by the shape of
      its first three dorsal scale rows that are square, ventral scale pattern that
      lacks a central spot, and a faint stripe on dorsal scale rows 1-4. It can be
      further distinguished from G. vorisi by its lower number of ventral scales (129
      vs. 142-152), lower number of subcaudals (30/29 vs. 41-58), narrow rostral scale,
      and having more rows of spots on the dorsum (four vs. three). A preliminary
      molecular analysis using 1050 base pairs of cytochrome b (cytb) recovered G.
      salweenensis sp. nov. as the sister species to the Chinese Mud Snake (Myrrophis
      chinensis). G. maculosa and G. vorisi were unavailable for the analysis. The
      discovery of G. salweenensis sp. nov. highlights the need for more surveys into
      the herpetological diversity of eastern Myanmar which remains very much
      underestimated.

PMID- 28603252
TI  - Redescription of <i>Ateleopus</i> <i>japonicus</i> Bleeker 1853, a senior synonym
      of <i>Ateleopus</i> <i>natalensis</i> Regan 1921 (Teleostei: Ateleopodiformes:
      Ateleopodidae).
AB  - Ateleopus natalensis Regan 1921, described from off the coast of Natal, South
      Africa, has been regarded as a valid species. Regan (1921) stated that the
      difference between the two species is the condition of the lower-jaw teeth:
      toothless in A. natalensis vs. teeth present in Ateleopus japonicus Bleeker 1853.
      However, the condition of lower-jaw teeth of Ateleopus has been proved an
      unreliable character because the lower-jaw teeth are very deciduous. Although
      Regan (1921) also implied that the differences between the two species include
      several body proportions, my examination of two syntypes and non-type specimens
      of A. natalensis from the western Indian Ocean revealed their close similarity to
      the range of many specimens of A. japonicus. Ateleopus japonicus is redescribed
      as a senior synonym of A. natalensis.

PMID- 28603253
TI  - Synonymic notes on Trechini from Argentina (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae).
AB  - Nine new Trechisibus species from South America (Peru and Patagonian Argentina)
      were recently described (Allegro & Giachino 2016). Five of them were based on
      material labelled "Argentina, Neuquen, Pen. Quetrihue" offered to the authors for
      study by its collector (Riccardo Sciaky). Shortly after publication, Martin
      Donabauer kindly communicated that a mistake probably had occurred, as they are
      five well known European Trechus species from Koralpe (Austria) living in low
      subalpine forests at 1200-1700 m a.s.l. As a subsequent control allowed us to
      ascertain that the collector had stayed in Koralpe collecting some material, a
      mistake evidently occurred in labelling, misleading a correct taxonomic
      interpretation of these species by the authors.

PMID- 28603254
TI  - <i>Loxosomella decorata</i> n. sp., a new solitary entoproct from San Juan
      Island, WA, USA.
AB  - Several species of solitary entoprocts of the genera Loxosoma and Loxosomella
      occur on maldanid polychaetes or in their tubes (Nielsen 1964). New species turn
      up almost every time maldanids from new localities are studied, and the species
      described below has been the subject of a study of spiral cleavage (Merkel et al.
      2012). This paper describes a new species of Loxosomella from tubes of the
      maldanid polychaete Axiothella rubrocincta (Johnson, 1901) from False Bay, San
      Juan Island, WA, USA.

PMID- 28603255
TI  - First records in Italy of the red-listed shore bug <i>Salda henschii</i> (Reuter,
      1891) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Saldidae).
AB  - Salda henschii (Reuter, 1891) is a boreo-montane species of Saldidae (Hemiptera:
      Heteroptera) restricted to mountain bogs and streams in central Europe (e.g.,
      Western Carpathians, Alps) and to freshwater wetlands in lowland coastal areas in
      northern Europe (Fennoscandia); it is a vicariant of the arctic (Holarctic)
      element S. sahlbergi Reuter, 1875 (Hoberlandt 1977; Schuh et al. 1987; Pericart
      1990; Lindskog 1991; Vinokurov 2010).

PMID- 28603256
TI  - Erratum: TOM KOMPIER (2016) New species of Protosticta Selys from Vietnam with a
      key to the males of the P.curiosa group (Odonata: Platystictidae) Zootaxa, 4193:
      347-360.

PMID- 28603257
TI  - Erratum: GABRIEL S. C. SILVA, BRUNO F. MELO, CLAUDIO OLIVEIRA & RICARDO C. BENINE
      (2016) Revision of the South American genus Tetragonopterus Cuvier, 1816
      (Teleostei: Characidae) with description of four new species. Zootaxa, 4200 (1):
      001-046.

PMID- 28603258
TI  - Sulawesi <i>Onthophagus</i>: seven new species in select groups (Coleoptera:
      Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae).
AB  - Eleven species in five small operational groups of the scarab genus Onthophagus
      Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are treated, all from
      the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and nearby smaller islands. These groups are
      defined, and their species are keyed, described, and illustrated, including the
      following seven new species: Onthophagus bisscrutator (O. scrutator group); O.
      bongkudai (O. holosericus group); O. sopu (O. manguliensis group); O. hollowayi,
      O. seseba, and O. annulopunctatus (O. seseba group); and O. begoniophilus (O.
      deflexicollis group). Lectotypes are designated for Onthophagus scrutator Harold,
      1877 and O. holosericus Harold, 1877.

PMID- 28603259
TI  - A checklist of the Robber Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) of Wyoming, USA.
AB  - A checklist of 158 species of Wyoming robber flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae)
      is presented for the first time based on personal collecting, literature review,
      museum specimens, and online databases. In Wyoming, asilid habitats range from
      arid desert environments to mountainous pine-douglas fir forests. According to
      the latest classification system of Dikow (2009), these include 54 species of
      Asilinae, 24 species of Brachyrhopalinae, 10 species of Dasypogoninae, 3 species
      of Dioctriinae, 23 species of Laphriinae, 8 species of Leptogastrinae, 24 species
      of Stenopogoninae, 8 species of Stichopogoninae, 1 species of Trigonomiminae, and
      3 species of Willistonininae. Thirty-one of these species have not been
      previously recorded as occurring in Wyoming.

PMID- 28603260
TI  - Taxonomic note on <i>Abax</i> <i>contractus</i> (Heer, 1841) and description of
      <i>A. parallelepipedus ligurinu</i>s n. subsp. (Coleoptera, Carabidae,
      Pterostichini).
AB  - The syntype of Pterostichus contractus Heer, 1841 was examined and its
      taxonomical position was revised accordingly. The historical interpretation of
      this taxon as a subspecies of Abax parallelepipedus localized in the area between
      the Maritime-Ligurian Alps and the northern Apennines is rebutted. The taxon is
      raised to species level under the name Abax contractus (Heer, 1841), as a senior
      synonym of Abax continuus Ganglbauer, 1891 n. syn. and A. hypocrita Roubal, 1937
      n. syn. The subspecies of Abax parallelepipedus previously reported as subsp.
      contractus Heer, 1841 is re-described under the name Abax parallelepipedus
      ligurinus n. subsp.

PMID- 28603261
TI  - A new dwarf crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from floodplain swamps in central
      Alabama.
AB  - Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) rotatus, new species, is a dwarf crayfish from
      floodplain swamps in the Tombigbee and Black Warrior river drainages of Greene,
      Hale, and Marengo counties, Alabama. The new species is morphologically most
      similar to Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) lesliei. They differ in a several
      morphological characters. Cambarellus rotatus, new species, has gonopods that are
      rotated mesially so that the terminal elements oppose each other, and they have a
      short C-shaped sperm groove. These are unique features among known species of
      Cambarellus.

PMID- 28603262
TI  - Description of two new species of the <i>Neoperla</i> <i>montivaga</i> group
      (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
AB  - The following two new species from Shiwandashan of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
      Region, China are described, Neoperla bicolor Yang, Zhang & Li, sp. nov. and N.
      muranyii Yang, Zhang & Li, sp. nov. The new species are compared with related
      congeners of their respective species subgroups.

PMID- 28603263
TI  - Nematomorpha from Hong Kong and description of a new species from Malaysia.
AB  - We report here for the first time horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) from Hong Kong
      (China). Most specimens belong to the genus Chordodes, and can be assigned to C.
      bipilus, C. caledoniensis and to C. cf. moutoni. Two specimens have a cuticular
      pattern resembling the South American species C. peraccae or C. bouvieri, but for
      Southeast Asia this pattern is new. These two specimens are reported here as
      Chordodes sp. Additionally, Gordionus chinensis was found. One new species,
      Acutogordius koljai, is described from Malaysia. It has a characteristically
      structured region posterior to the postcloacal crescent which sets it apart from
      previously described species in this genus.

PMID- 28603264
TI  - The <i>Glyptothorax</i> of the Bolaven Plateau, Laos (Teleostei: Sisoridae): new
      and endangered.
AB  - Glyptothorax forabilis, new species, and G. porrectus, new species, are described
      from the Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos. Both species closely resemble G.
      laosensis, but can be distinguished from it and other Indochinese congeners by
      combinations of color pattern, morphometry (with particular regards to the eye,
      body depth, and caudal peduncle) and thoracic adhesive apparatus morphology. Both
      species are endemic to the Bolaven Plateau, have a very limited distribution and
      are threatened by hydropower and agricultural activities.

PMID- 28603265
TI  - Revision of the Greater Antilles genus <i>Paratrikona</i> Spaeth, 1923
      (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Dorynotini).
AB  - The Greater Antilles genus Paratrikona is revised. One new species is described
      from Cuba: Paratrikona blakeae Simoes new species. An updated identification key
      to the species of the genus and new distributional records are provided.

PMID- 28603266
TI  - A new shrimp species of the genus <i>Lebbeus</i> White, 1847 (Crustacea:
      Deacpoda: Caridea: Thoridae) from a deep-sea cold seep site off southwestern
      Taiwan.
AB  - A new species of the thorid shrimp genus Lebbeus White, 1847 is reported upon
      from a deep-sea cold seep site off southwestern Taiwan. The new species belongs
      to the group characterized by the possession of epipod only on maxilliped III and
      pereiopod I, and appears closest to L. curvirostris Zarenkov, 1976, known only
      from off Peru, Eastern Pacific and L. manus Komai & Collins, 2009 from the Manus
      Basin, Bismarck Sea, Southwest Pacific. It differs from the latter two species in
      having a larger supraorbital tooth and more numerous spines on the meri of the
      pereiopods III to V. The present new species is the fifth of the genus known from
      waters around Taiwan.

PMID- 28603267
TI  - Notes on the Pselaphinae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) in Shanghai, China.
AB  - Four pselaphine species are reported to occur in Shanghai, all belonging to the
      tribe Batrisini. A new species, Batriscenellus xijiaogongyuan sp. n., is
      described based on the material collected at the Shanghai Zoo. New distributional
      or collecting data for three species, i.e. Batrisodes sibiricus Sharp,
      Physomerinus pedator (Sharp), and Batriscenellus orientalis (Lobl), are provided.

PMID- 28603268
TI  - Description of the first species of <i>Gonadryinus</i> Olmi (Hymenoptera,
      Dryinidae) from the Afrotropical region.
AB  - Gonadryinus bicarinatus Olmi, Marletta, Guglielmino & Speranza, sp. nov., from
      Ranomafana National Park (Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar) is described and
      illustrated. This represents the first record of Gonadryinus from the
      Afrotropical region. The genus was previously known only from the Neotropical
      region, where only one species, G. hansoni Olmi, 1991, is recorded. The new taxon
      is different from G. hansoni because of the palpal formula 5/3 (4/2 in G.
      hansoni), the occipital carina complete (incomplete in G. hansoni) and two
      longitudinal keels present on the dorsal surface of the metapectal-propodeal
      complex (no longitudinal keels in G. hansoni).

PMID- 28603269
TI  - Two new species of <i>Miltochrista</i> from India (Lepidoptera, Erebidae,
      Arctiinae).
AB  - Two new species, Miltochrista quadra Joshi, Singh & Volynkin, sp. nov. and
      Miltochrista pseudomodesta Joshi, Singh & Volynkin, sp. nov., of tribe Lithosiini
      (Erebidae: Arctiinae) are described from India. In addition, two species are
      restored from the synonymy and transferred to Miltochrista: Miltochrista
      rubricans (Leech, 1890), stat. & comb. nov. and Miltochrista szetschwanica
      (Daniel, 1952), stat. & comb. nov. Other new combinations are also proposed as
      Miltochrista aquila (Cerny, 2009), comb. nov., Miltochrista discisigna (Moore,
      1878), comb. nov., Miltochrista weidenhofferi (Cerny, 2012), comb. nov.,
      Miltochrista unipuncta (Leech, 1890), comb. nov., Miltochrista carnea (Poujade,
      1886), comb.nov. and Miltochrista modesta (Leech, 1899), comb. nov.

PMID- 28603270
TI  - Impact of Integrated Care Model (ICM) on Direct Medical Costs in Management of
      Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
AB  - BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a commonly diagnosed
      condition in people older than 50 years of age. In advanced stage of this
      disease, integrated care (IC) is recommended as an optimal approach. IC allows
      for holistic and patient-focused care carried out at the patient's home. The aim
      of this study was to analyze the impact of IC on costs of care and on demand for
      medical services among patients included in IC. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study
      included 154 patients diagnosed with advanced COPD. Costs of care (general, COPD,
      and exacerbations-related) were evaluated for 1 year, including 6-months before
      and after implementing IC. The analysis included assessment of the number of
      medical procedures of various types before and after entering IC and changes in
      medical services providers. RESULTS Direct medical costs of standard care in
      advanced COPD were 886.78 EUR per 6 months. Costs of care of all types decreased
      after introducing IC. Changes in COPD and exacerbation-related costs were
      statistically significant (p=0.012492 and p=0.017023, respectively). Patients
      less frequently used medical services for respiratory system and cardiovascular
      diseases. Similarly, the number of hospitalizations and visits to emergency
      medicine departments decreased (by 40.24% and 8.5%, respectively). The number of
      GP visits increased after introducing IC (by 7.14%). CONCLUSIONS The high costs
      of care in advanced COPD indicate the need for new forms of effective care. IC
      caused a decrease in costs and in the number of hospitalization, with a
      simultaneous increase in the number of GP visits.

PMID- 28603271
TI  - Silent Presentation of a Solid Pseudopapillary Neoplasm of the Pancreas.
AB  - BACKGROUND Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) is a rare tumor frequently found
      in the head or tail of the pancreas. It mainly presents in young women between
      the 2nd and 3rd decades of life. A predilection for African Americans and Asians
      has been observed and is rarely reported in children. Most patients are
      symptomatic, with abdominal pain as the most common presenting symptom. Clinical
      laboratory test results are usually normal and pancreatic markers are not
      typically elevated. Metastatic disease is very uncommon, but most often
      metastasizes to the liver and regional lymph nodes. Prognosis is usually
      excellent after surgical resection. CASE REPORT We present the case of a 14-year
      old Hispanic female who presented to the emergency department after a high-speed
      motor vehicle accident. She suffered multiple body traumas. Specifically, the
      patient referred severe epigastric pain. No significant past medical or surgical
      history was obtained. Laboratory workup was non-contributory. Further evaluation
      with abdomen and pelvis contrast-enhanced computed tomography and magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed a pancreatic tail mass. Distal pancreatectomy
      followed. Pathologic diagnosis of SPN was established. CONCLUSIONS SPN is a rare
      exocrine tumor with excellent prognosis following resection. Imaging findings are
      suggestive, but a pathology evaluation is necessary to make the final diagnosis.
      Differential diagnosis includes entities such as mucinous cystic pancreatic
      tumor, pancreatic ductal carcinoma, and pancreatic serous cystadenoma.
      Radiologists play a vital role in the diagnosis, since many times, as in our
      case, it presents as an incidental finding. A small percentage of SPN neoplasms
      are associated with metastasis or local recurrence. Therefore, the aim of our
      case presentation is to review key imaging findings to guide early management and
      surgical planning.

PMID- 28603272
TI  - Podocyte biology: The podocyte adhesome.

PMID- 28603273
TI  - Transplantation: Survival benefit of accepting a diabetic deceased donor kidney.

PMID- 28603274
TI  - Lupus nephritis: Role of NLRP3 inflammasomes in podocyte injury.

PMID- 28603275
TI  - Development: Pax2 keeps nephron progenitors on track.

PMID- 28603276
TI  - Onconephrology: New mouse model of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

PMID- 28603277
TI  - Acute kidney injury: Targeting Treg cells to protect the kidney.

PMID- 28603278
TI  - Transmission of the gut microbiota: spreading of health.
AB  - Transmission of commensal intestinal bacteria between humans could promote health
      by establishing, maintaining and replenishing microbial diversity in the
      microbiota of an individual. Unlike pathogens, the routes of transmission for
      commensal bacteria remain unappreciated and poorly understood, despite the likely
      commonalities between both. Consequently, broad infection control measures that
      are designed to prevent pathogen transmission and infection, such as
      oversanitation and the overuse of antibiotics, may inadvertently affect human
      health by altering normal commensal transmission. In this Review, we discuss the
      mechanisms and factors that influence host-to-host transmission of the intestinal
      microbiota and examine how a better understanding of these processes will
      identify new approaches to nurture and restore transmission routes that are used
      by beneficial bacteria.

PMID- 28603280
TI  - Dust mite allergen-specific immunotherapy increases IL4 DNA methylation and
      induces Der p-specific T cell tolerance in children with allergic asthma.
AB  - Allergen-specific immunotherapy (allergen-SIT) is a highly effective treatment
      for children with allergic asthma (AA), an immune-mediated chronic disease
      leading to bronchial muscle hypertrophy and airway obstruction in response to
      specific allergens. T helper cells and secreted cytokines play important roles in
      the pathogenesis of asthma, and epigenetic modulation controls genes important
      for T cell development and cytokine expression. This study evaluated T helper
      cell-secreted cytokines and DNA methylation patterns in children treated with
      Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p) allergen-SIT. Our results showed that
      after Der p challenge, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from the SIT
      group, compared with the non-SIT AA group, produced lower levels of IL-4, IL-5
      and IL-2. The SIT group, compared with the AA group, exhibited decreased
      sensitivity to the Der p allergen, concurrent with IL-4 down-modulation due to
      increased promoter DNA methylation, as estimated in PBMCs. Our results showed
      that SIT decreased IL-4 and IL-5, and inhibited T cell proliferation, by
      inhibiting IL-2 production after the specific allergen challenge. These results
      suggest that decreased IL-2 production and increased IL-4 cytokine promoter
      methylation is a potential mechanism of Der p-specific allergen desensitization
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 28603281
TI  - Peripheral maternal leukocytes are activated in response to cytokines secreted by
      uterine tissues of pregnant women.

PMID- 28603279
TI  - Variant surface antigens of Plasmodium falciparum and their roles in severe
      malaria.
AB  - Proliferation and differentiation inside erythrocytes are important steps in the
      life cycle of Plasmodium spp. To achieve these, the parasites export polypeptides
      to the surface of infected erythrocytes; for example, to import nutrients and to
      bind to other erythrocytes and the host microvasculature. Binding is mediated by
      the adhesive polypeptides Plasmodium falciparum-encoded repetitive interspersed
      families of polypeptides (RIFINs), subtelomeric variant open reading frame
      (STEVOR) and P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), which are
      encoded by multigene families to ensure antigenic variation and evasion of host
      immunity. These variant surface antigens are suggested to mediate the
      sequestration of infected erythrocytes in the microvasculature and block the
      blood flow when binding is excessive. In this Review, we discuss the multigene
      families of surface variant polypeptides and highlight their roles in causing
      severe malaria.

PMID- 28603283
TI  - TXNDC5 synergizes with HSC70 to exacerbate the inflammatory phenotype of synovial
      fibroblasts in rheumatoid arthritis through NF-kappaB signaling.
AB  - The upregulated expression of thioredoxin domain-containing protein 5 (TXNDC5) is
      associated with rheumatoid arthritis in patients and model mice. However, the
      underlying mechanism by which TXNDC5 influences the pathological activation of
      rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) remains unknown. In this study,
      we show that TXNDC5 expression in RASFs and their cytokine production are
      significantly upregulated in response to LPS, TNF-alpha and IL-6, but suppressed
      by transfection with TXNDC5-siRNA. TXNDC5 is further validated as the direct
      target of NF-kappaB signaling. Mechanistically, TXNDC5 directly interacts with
      heat shock cognate 70 protein (HSC70) to sequester it in the cytoplasm, and HSC70
      silencing exerts the same effects as TXNDC5 on the biological activity of RASFs
      (for example, decreased cell viability, invasion and cytokine production).
      Furthermore, HSC70 activates NF-kappaB signaling by destabilizing IkappaBbeta
      protein in the absence of LPS or facilitating its nuclear translocation in the
      presence of LPS. Importantly, TXNDC5 can also regulate the activity of NF-kappaB
      signaling in a HSC70-IkappaBbeta-dependent manner. Taken together, by linking
      HSC70 and NF-kappaB signaling, TXNDC5 plays a pro-inflammatory role in RASFs,
      highlighting a potential approach to treat RA by blocking the TXNDC5/HSC70
      interaction.

PMID- 28603282
TI  - The functions of tumor suppressor PTEN in innate and adaptive immunity.
AB  - The tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a lipid and protein
      phosphatase that is able to antagonize the PI3K/AKT pathway and inhibit tumor
      growth. PTEN also possesses phosphatase-independent functions. Genetic
      alterations of PTEN may lead to the deregulation of cell proliferation, survival,
      differentiation, energy metabolism and cellular architecture and mobility.
      Although the role of PTEN in tumor suppression is extensively documented and well
      established, the evidence for its roles in immunity did not start to accumulate
      until recently. In this review, we will focus on the newly discovered functions
      of PTEN in the regulation of innate and adaptive immunity, including antiviral
      responses.

PMID- 28603285
TI  - miR-511 promotes the proliferation of human hepatoma cells by targeting the 3'UTR
      of B cell translocation gene 1 (BTG1) mRNA.
AB  - Aberrant expression of miR-511 is involved in the development of cancer, but the
      role of miR-511 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not well documented. In this
      study, we explored the molecular mechanisms of miR-511 in hepatocarcinogenesis.
      Our results of bioinformatics analysis suggested that B cell translocation gene 1
      (BTG1), a member of anti-proliferative gene family, was one of the putative
      targets of miR-511. The expression levels of miR-511 were significantly higher in
      30 clinical HCC tissues than in corresponding peritumor tissues, and were
      negatively correlated with those of BTG1 in the HCC tissues (r=-0.6105, P<0.01).
      In human hepatoma cell lines HepG2 and H7402, overexpression of miR-511 dose
      dependently inhibited the expression of BTG1, whereas knockdown of miR-511 dose
      dependently increased the expression of BTG1. Luciferase reporter gene assays
      verified that miR-511 targeted the 3'UTR of BTG1 mRNA. In the hepatoma cells,
      overexpression of miR-511 significantly decreased BTG1-induced G1 phase arrest,
      which was rescued by overexpression of BTG1. Furthermore, overexpression of miR
      511 promoted the proliferation of the hepatoma cells, which was rescued by
      overexpression of BTG1. Conversely, knockdown of miR-511 inhibited cell
      proliferation, which was reversed by knockdown of BTG1. In conclusion, miR-511
      promotes the proliferation of human hepatoma cells in vitro by targeting the
      3'UTR of BTG1 mRNA.

PMID- 28603284
TI  - Transcription factor EB is involved in autophagy-mediated chemoresistance to
      doxorubicin in human cancer cells.
AB  - Transcription factor EB (TFEB) is a master regulator of autophagy activity and
      lysosomal biogenesis, but its role in autophagy-mediated cell survival and
      chemotherapy resistance is not completely understood. In this study, we explored
      whether TFEB played an important role in autophagy-mediated chemotherapy
      resistance in human cancer LoVo and HeLa cells in vitro. Treatment of human colon
      cancer LoVo cells with doxorubicin (0.5 MUmol/L) induced autophagy activation and
      nuclear translocation of TFEB, which resulted from inactivation of the mTOR
      pathway. In both LoVo and HeLa cells, overexpression of TFEB enhanced doxorubicin
      induced autophagy activation and significantly decreased doxorubicin-induced cell
      death, whereas knockdown of TFEB with small interfering RNA blocked doxorubicin
      induced autophagy and significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. In
      LoVo cells, autophagy inhibition by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or knockdown of
      autophagy-related gene Atg5 increased cell death in response to doxorubicin, and
      abolished TFEB overexpression-induced chemotherapy resistance, suggesting that
      the inhibition of autophagy made cancer cells more sensitive to doxorubicin. The
      results demonstrate that TFEB-mediated autophagy activation decreases the
      sensitivity of cancer cells to doxorubicin.

PMID- 28603286
TI  - JNK/AP-1 activation contributes to tetrandrine resistance in T-cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukaemia.
AB  - T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) is a challenging malignancy with a
      high relapse rate attributed to drug resistance. Tetrandrine (TET), a
      bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid extracted from a Chinese herb, is a potential anti
      cancer and anti-leukaemic drug. In this study we investigated the mechanisms of
      TET resistance in T-ALL cells in vitro. Among the four T-ALL cell lines tested,
      Jurkat and CEM cells exhibited the lowest and highest resistance to TET with IC50
      values at 24 h of 4.31+/-0.12 and 16.53+/-3.32 MUmol/L, respectively. When
      treated with TET, the activity of transcription factor activator protein 1 (AP-1)
      was significantly decreased in Jurkat cells but nearly constant in CEM cells. To
      avoid cell-specific variation in drug resistance and transcription factor
      activities, we established a TET-R Jurkat subclone with the estimated IC50 value
      of 10.90+/-.92 MUmol/L by exposing the cells to increasing concentrations of TET.
      Interestingly, when treated with TET, TET-R Jurkat cells exhibited enhanced AP-1
      and NF-kappaB activity, along with upregulation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)
      and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways, whereas the
      expression of P-gp was not altered. Selective inhibition of JNK but not ERK
      suppressed AP-1 activity and TET resistance in TET-R Jurkat cells and in CEM
      cells. These results demonstrate that Jurkat cells acquire TET resistance through
      activation of the JNK/AP-1 pathway but not through P-gp expression. The JNK/AP-1
      pathway may be a potential therapeutic target in relapsed T-ALL.

PMID- 28603287
TI  - MicroRNA-4458 suppresses the proliferation of human lung cancer cells in vitro by
      directly targeting Lin28B.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that the expression of microRNA-4458 (miR-4458) is
      dysregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and colon cancer. In this study, we
      investigated the direct target of miR-4458 and its biological functions in human
      lung cancer cells. By using the database TargetScan, we identified Lin28B, an
      oncogene, as a direct target gene of miR-4458. In dual-luciferase reporter assay,
      we found that miR-4458 mimics dose-dependently inhibited the luciferase activity
      of the wild-type 3'UTR of Lin28B in human lung cancer A549 and NCI-H1299 cell
      lines without affecting its mutant forms, whereas anti-miR-4458, an inhibitor of
      miR-4458, dose-dependently promoted the luciferase activity of the wild-type
      3'UTR of Lin28B in A549 and NCI-H1299 cell lines without affecting its mutant
      forms. Overexpression of miR-4458 significantly decreased the protein levels of
      Lin28B in the cells, and inhibited the cell growth and colony formation.
      Conversely, knockdown of miR-4458 with anti-miR-4458 significantly increased the
      protein levels of Lin28B, and promoted the cell proliferation, which could be
      reverted by knockdown of Lin28B expression. In addition, we detected the
      expression of Lin28B using RT-PCR in 40 human lung cancer tissues and matched
      peritumoral tissues, and found that Lin28B was overexpressed in lung cancer
      tissues and negatively correlated with miR-4458 expression (r=-0.694, P<0.05). We
      conclude that miR-4458 is a tumor suppressor, and Lin28B is the direct target of
      miR-4458. These results suggest the modulation of miR-4458/Lin28B expression
      offers a potential therapeutic strategy for lung cancer.

PMID- 28603288
TI  - Osthole pretreatment alleviates TNBS-induced colitis in mice via both cAMP/PKA
      dependent and independent pathways.
AB  - Osthole, a natural coumarin found in traditional Chinese medicinal plants, has
      shown multiple biological activities. In the present study, we investigated the
      preventive effects of osthole on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Colitis was
      induced in mice by infusing TNBS into the colonic lumen. Before TNBS treatment,
      the mice received osthole (100 mg.kg-1.d-1, ip) for 3 d. Pretreatment with
      osthole significantly ameliorated the clinical scores, colon length shortening,
      colonic histopathological changes and the expression of inflammatory mediators in
      TNBS-induced colitis. Pretreatment with osthole elevated serum cAMP levels; but
      treatment with the PKA inhibitor H89 (10 mg.kg-1.d-1, ip) did not abolish the
      beneficial effects of osthole on TNBS-induced colitis. In mouse peritoneal
      macrophages, pretreatment with osthole (50 MUmol/L) significantly attenuated the
      LPS-induced elevation of cytokines at the mRNA level; inhibition of PKA
      completely reversed the inhibitory effects of osthole on IL-1beta, IL-6, COX2,
      and MCP-1 but not on TNFalpha. In Raw264.7 cells, the p38 inhibitor SB203580
      markedly suppressed LPS-induced upregulation of the cytokines, whereas the PKA
      inhibitors H89 or KT5720 did not abolish the inhibitory effects of SB203580.
      Moreover, in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages, SB203580 strongly
      inhibited the restored expression of IL-1beta, IL-6, COX2, and MCP-1, which was
      achieved by abolishing the suppressive effects of osthole with the PKA
      inhibitors. Western blot analysis showed that osthole significantly suppressed
      the phosphorylation of p38, which was induced by TNBS in mice or by LPS in
      Raw264.7 cells. Inhibition of PKA partially reversed the suppressive effects of
      osthole on p38 phosphorylation in LPS-stimulated cells. Collectively, our results
      suggest that osthole is effective in the prevention of TNBS-induced colitis by
      reducing the expression of inflammatory mediators and attenuating p38
      phosphorylation via both cAMP/PKA-dependent and independent pathways, among which
      the cAMP/PKA-independent pathway plays a major role.

PMID- 28603290
TI  - Shadow Labor: Work and Wages among Immigrant Hispanic Women in Durham, North
      Carolina.
AB  - Drawing on data collected in Durham, NC, this paper examines the forces shaping
      the labor supply and wages of immigrant Hispanic women in new destinations. The
      analysis evaluates the role of human capital and immigration characteristics
      (including legal status), family structure, and immigrant-specific labor market
      conditions, such as subcontracting, in shaping labor market outcomes. Findings
      indicate that the main determinants of labor supply among immigrant Hispanic
      women in Durham relate to family structure, with human capital playing a
      relatively minor role. Important variation is observed, however, in the degree of
      work-family conflict across occupations. For wages, human capital and immigration
      characteristics (including documentation) are more determinant than family
      structure. Results highlight the extremely precarious position of immigrant
      Hispanic women in Durham's low wage labor market, and multiple, overlapping
      sources of disadvantage, particularly relating to legal status and family
      structure.

PMID- 28603289
TI  - Pharmacological modulation of the voltage-gated neuronal Kv7/KCNQ/M-channel
      alters the intrinsic excitability and synaptic responses of pyramidal neurons in
      rat prefrontal cortex slices.
AB  - The prefrontal cortex (PFC) critical for higher cognition is implicated in
      neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, depression and
      schizophrenia. The voltage-activated Kv7/KCNQ/M-channel or M-current modulates
      the neuronal excitability that defines the fundamental mechanism of brain
      function. However, whether M-current functions to regulate the excitability of
      PFC neurons remains elusive. In this study, we recorded the native M-current from
      PFC layer V pyramidal neurons in rat brain slices and showed that it modulated
      the intrinsic excitability and synaptic responses of PFC pyramidal neurons.
      Application of a specific M-channel blocker XE991 (40 MUmol/L) or opener
      retigabine (10 MUmol/L) resulted in inhibition or activation of M-current,
      respectively. In the current-clamp recordings, inhibition of M-current was
      evidenced by the increased average spike frequency and the reduced first inter
      spike interval (ISI), spike onset latency and fast afterhyperpolarization (fAHP),
      whereas activation of M-current caused opposite responses. Furthermore,
      inhibition of M-current significantly increased the amplitude of excitatory
      postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) and depolarized the resting membrane potential
      (RMP) without affecting the miniature EPSC (mEPSC) frequency. These data
      demonstrate that voltage-gated neuronal Kv7/KCNQ/M-current modulates the
      excitability and synaptic transmission of PFC neurons, suggesting that
      pharmacological modulation of M-current in the PFC may exert beneficial effects
      on cognitive deficits implicated in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric
      disorders.

PMID- 28603291
TI  - Diagnostics for geometric performance of machine tool linear axes.
AB  - Machine tools degrade during operations, yet knowledge of degradation is elusive;
      accurately detecting degradation of linear axes is typically a manual and time
      consuming process. Manufacturers need automated and efficient methods to diagnose
      the condition of their machine tool linear axes with minimal disruptions to
      production. A method was developed to use data from an inertial measurement unit
      (IMU) for identification of changes in the translational and angular errors due
      to axis degradation. A linear axis testbed, established for the purpose of
      verification and validation, revealed that the IMU-based method was capable of
      measuring geometric errors with acceptable test uncertainty ratios.

PMID- 28603292
TI  - Extension and validation of the GLYCAM force field parameters for modeling
      glycosaminoglycans.
AB  - Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are an important class of carbohydrates that serve
      critical roles in blood clotting, tissue repair, cell migration and adhesion, and
      lubrication. The variable sulfation pattern and iduronate ring conformations in
      GAGs influence their polymeric structure and nature of interaction. This study
      characterizes several heparin-like GAG disaccharides and tetrasaccharides using
      NMR and molecular dynamics simulations to assist in the development of parameters
      for GAGs within the GLYCAM06 force field. The force field additions include
      parameters and charges for a transferable sulfate group for O- and N-sulfation,
      neutral (COOH) forms of iduronic and glucuronic acid, and Delta4,5-unsaturated
      uronate (DeltaUA) residues. DeltaUA residues frequently arise from the enzymatic
      digestion of heparin and heparin sulfate. Simulations of disaccharides containing
      DeltaUA reveal that the presence of sulfation on this residue alters the relative
      populations of 1H2 and 2H1 ring conformations. Simulations of heparin
      tetrasaccharides containing N-sulfation in place of N-acetylation on glucosamine
      residues influence the ring conformations of adjacent iduronate residues.

PMID- 28603293
TI  - Impact of UV irradiation on multiwall carbon nanotubes in nanocomposites:
      formation of entangled surface layer and mechanisms of release resistance.
AB  - Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are nanofillers used in consumer and
      structural polymeric products to enhance a variety of properties. Under
      weathering, the polymer matrix will degrade and the nanofillers may be released
      from the products potentially impacting ecological or human health. In this
      study, we investigated the degradation of a 0.72 % (by mass) MWCNT/amine-cured
      epoxy nanocomposite irradiated with high intensity ultraviolet (UV) light at
      various doses, the effects of UV exposure on the surface accumulation and
      potential release of MWCNTs, and possible mechanisms for the release resistance
      of the MWCNT surface layer formed on nanocomposites by UV irradiation. Irradiated
      samples were characterized for chemical degradation, mass loss, surface
      morphological changes, and MWCNT release using a variety of analytical
      techniques. Under 295 nm to 400 nm UV radiation up to a dose of 4865 MJ/m2, the
      nanocomposite matrix underwent photodegradation, resulting in formation of a
      dense, entangled MWCNT network structure on the surface. However, no MWCNT
      release was detected, even at very high UV doses, suggesting that the MWCNT
      surface layer formed from UV irradiation of polymer nanocomposites resist
      release. Four possible release resistance mechanisms of the UV-induced MWCNT
      surface layer are presented and discussed.

PMID- 28603294
TI  - Tautomeric stabilities of 4-fluorohistidine shed new light on mechanistic
      experiments with labeled ribonuclease A.
AB  - Ribonuclease A is the oldest model for studying enzymatic mechanisms, yet
      questions remain about proton transfer within the active site. Seminal work by
      Jackson et al. (Science, 1994) labeled Ribonuclease A with 4-fluorohistidine,
      concluding that active-site histidines act as general acids and bases.
      Calculations of 4-fluorohistidine indicate that the pi-tautomer is predominant in
      all simulated environments (by ~17 kJ/mol), strongly suggesting that fluoro
      labeled ribonuclease A functions with His119 in pi-tautomer. The tautomeric form
      of His119 during proton transfer and tautomerism as a putative mechanistic step
      in wild-type RNase A remain open questions and should be considered in future
      mechanistic studies.

PMID- 28603295
TI  - Unsupervised classification of petroleum Certified Reference Materials and other
      fuels by chemometric analysis of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data.
AB  - As feedstocks transition from conventional oil to unconventional petroleum
      sources and biomass, it will be necessary to determine whether a particular fuel
      or fuel blend is suitable for use in engines. Certifying a fuel as safe for use
      is time-consuming and expensive and must be performed for each new fuel. In
      principle, suitability of a fuel should be completely determined by its chemical
      composition. This composition can be probed through use of detailed analytical
      techniques such as gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). In traditional
      analysis, chromatograms would be used to determine the details of the
      composition. In the approach taken in this paper, the chromatogram is assumed to
      be entirely representative of the composition of a fuel, and is used directly as
      the input to an algorithm in order to develop a model that is predictive of a
      fuel's suitability. When a new fuel is proposed for service, its suitability for
      any application could then be ascertained by using this model to compare its
      chromatogram with those of the fuels already known to be suitable for that
      application. In this paper, we lay the mathematical and informatics groundwork
      for a predictive model of hydrocarbon properties. The objective of this work was
      to develop a reliable model for unsupervised classification of the hydrocarbons
      as a prelude to developing a predictive model of their engine-relevant physical
      and chemical properties. A set of hydrocarbons including biodiesel fuels,
      gasoline, highway and marine diesel fuels, and crude oils was collected and GC-MS
      profiles obtained. These profiles were then analyzed using multi-way principal
      components analysis (MPCA), principal factors analysis (PARAFAC), and a self
      organizing map (SOM), which is a kind of artificial neural network. It was found
      that, while MPCA and PARAFAC were able to recover descriptive models of the
      fuels, their linear nature obscured some of the finer physical details due to the
      widely varying composition of the fuels. The SOM was able to find a descriptive
      classification model which has the potential for practical recognition and
      perhaps prediction of fuel properties.

PMID- 28603296
TI  - Household Income and Trajectories of Marital Satisfaction in Early Marriage.
AB  - Are the marriages of lower-income couples less satisfying than the marriages of
      more affluent couples? To address this question, we compared trajectories of
      marital satisfaction among couples with a wide range of household incomes. The
      marital satisfaction of 862 Black, White, and Latino newlywed spouses (N=431
      couples) was assessed five times, each nine months apart, over the first four
      years of marriage. Lower-income couples did not have less satisfying marriages on
      average, nor did their satisfaction decline more steeply on average. However,
      they did experience (1) significantly greater fluctuations in marital
      satisfaction across assessments, and (2) significantly more variability between
      husbands and wives. If efforts to support the marriages of low-income couples are
      to address the unique characteristics of their marital development, these
      findings suggest that efforts to stabilize their marriages may be more effective
      than efforts to improve their satisfaction alone.

PMID- 28603297
TI  - Giving Unto Others: Private Financial Transfers and Hardship Among Families with
      Children.
AB  - Prior research shows that financial assistance from family and friends is an
      important source of support for families with children. However, research on
      financial transfers has largely focused on the recipients of transfers. In this
      study, using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing
      Study (n~16,000 person-waves), we examine the association between the provision
      of financial assistance to family and friends and material hardship. Results from
      pooled regression and fixed effects models indicate that providing financial
      transfers is associated with an increased risk of hardship. The most economically
      disadvantaged groups, single mothers, those in the bottom income tertile, and
      black mothers, are the most likely to experience hardship after giving a
      transfer. These findings have important implications for understanding why
      families may have difficulty meeting basic and essential needs, and how social
      networks may exacerbate the challenges of escaping poverty and establishing
      economic self-sufficiency.

PMID- 28603298
TI  - A stable numerical method for the dynamics of fluidic membranes.
AB  - We develop a finite element scheme to approximate the dynamics of two and three
      dimensional fluidic membranes in Navier-Stokes flow. Local inextensibility of the
      membrane is ensured by solving a tangential Navier-Stokes equation, taking
      surface viscosity effects of Boussinesq-Scriven type into account. In our
      approach the bulk and surface degrees of freedom are discretized independently,
      which leads to an unfitted finite element approximation of the underlying free
      boundary problem. Bending elastic forces resulting from an elastic membrane
      energy are discretized using an approximation introduced by Dziuk (Numer Math
      111:55-80, 2008). The obtained numerical scheme can be shown to be stable and to
      have good mesh properties. Finally, the evolution of membrane shapes is studied
      numerically in different flow situations in two and three space dimensions. The
      numerical results demonstrate the robustness of the method, and it is observed
      that the conservation properties are fulfilled to a high precision.

PMID- 28603299
TI  - Multi-feature based Benchmark for Cervical Dysplasia Classification Evaluation.
AB  - Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women worldwide.
      Most deaths due to the disease occur in less developed areas of the world. In
      this work, we introduce a new image dataset along with expert annotated diagnoses
      for evaluating image-based cervical disease classification algorithms. A large
      number of Cervigram(r) images are selected from a database provided by the US
      National Cancer Institute. For each image, we extract three complementary pyramid
      features: Pyramid histogram in L*A*B* color space (PLAB), Pyramid Histogram of
      Oriented Gradients (PHOG), and Pyramid histogram of Local Binary Patterns (PLBP).
      Other than hand-crafted pyramid features, we investigate the performance of
      convolutional neural network (CNN) features for cervical disease classification.
      Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of both our hand-crafted
      and our deep features. We intend to release this multi-feature dataset and our
      extensive evaluations using seven classic classifiers can serve as the baseline.

PMID- 28603300
TI  - Microaggressions, Discrimination, and Phenotype among African Americans: A Latent
      Class Analysis of the Impact of Skin Tone and BMI.
AB  - Data from the 2001-2003National Survey of American Life are used to investigate
      the effects of phenotype on everyday experiences with discrimination among
      African Americans (N=3343). Latent class analysis is used to identify four
      classes of discriminatory treatment: 1) low levels of discrimination, 2)
      disrespect and condescension, 3) character-based discrimination, and 4) high
      levels of discrimination. We then employ latent class multinomial logistic
      regression to evaluate the association between skin tone and body weight and
      these four classes of discrimination. Designating the low level discrimination
      class as the reference group, findings revealed that respondents with darker skin
      were more likely to be classified into the disrespect/condescension and the high
      level microaggression types. BMI was unrelated to the discrimination type,
      although there was a significant interaction effect between gender and BMI. BMI
      was strongly and positively associated with membership in the disrespect and
      condescension type among men but not among women. These findings indicate that
      skin tone and body weight are two phenotypic characteristics that influence the
      type and frequency of discrimination experienced by African Americans.

PMID- 28603302
TI  - Measuring quality of health-care services: what is known and where are the gaps?

PMID- 28603303
TI  - Public health round-up.

PMID- 28603304
TI  - Quality of care is key to tackling Mexico's diabetes emergency.
AB  - Mexico has declared the epidemic of diabetes a national emergency and is seeking
      to improve the quality of care for some 13 million people with the disease. Amy
      Guthrie and Fiona Fleck report.

PMID- 28603305
TI  - Realistic medicine to improve the quality of care in Scotland.
AB  - Scotland is in the throes of a public health revolution, as it rolls out its new
      "realistic medicine" approach. Catherine Calderwood tells Fiona Fleck why
      empowering both patients and clinicians is improving the quality of health care.

PMID- 28603306
TI  - Improving the quality of hospital care for children by supportive supervision: a
      cluster randomized trial, Kyrgyzstan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether periodic supportive supervision after a training
      course improved the quality of paediatric hospital care in Kyrgyzstan, where
      inappropriate care was common but in-hospital postnatal mortality was low.
      METHODS: In a cluster, randomized, parallel-group trial, 10 public hospitals were
      allocated to a 4-day World Health Organization (WHO) course on hospital care for
      children followed by periodic supportive supervision by paediatricians for 1
      year, while 10 hospitals had no intervention. We assessed prospectively 10 key
      indicators of inappropriate paediatric case management, as indicated by WHO
      guidelines. The primary indicator was the combination of the three indicators:
      unnecessary hospitalization, increased iatrogenic risk and unnecessary painful
      procedures. An independent team evaluated the overall quality of care. FINDINGS:
      We prospectively reviewed the medical records of 4626 hospitalized children aged
      2 to 60 months. In the intervention hospitals, the mean proportion of the primary
      indicator decreased from 46.9% (95% confidence interval, CI: 24.2 to 68.9) at
      baseline to 6.8% (95% CI: 1.1 to 12.1) at 1 year, but was unchanged in the
      control group (45.5%, 95% CI: 25.2 to 67.9, to 64.7%, 95% CI: 43.3 to 86.1). At 1
      year, the risk ratio for the primary indicator in the intervention versus the
      control group was 0.09 (95% CI: 0.06 to 0.13). The proportions of the other nine
      indicators also decreased in the intervention group (P < 0.0001 for all). Overall
      quality of care improved significantly in intervention hospitals. CONCLUSION:
      Periodic supportive supervision for 1 year after a training course improved both
      adherence to WHO guidelines on hospital care for children and the overall quality
      of paediatric care.

PMID- 28603307
TI  - Variation in quality of primary-care services in Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda,
      Senegal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse factors affecting variations in the observed quality of
      antenatal and sick-child care in primary-care facilities in seven African
      countries. METHODS: We pooled nationally representative data from service
      provision assessment surveys of health facilities in Kenya, Malawi, Namibia,
      Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania (survey year range:
      2006-2014). Based on World Health Organization protocols, we created indices of
      process quality for antenatal care (first visits) and for sick-child visits. We
      assessed national, facility, provider and patient factors that might explain
      variations in quality of care, using separate multilevel regression models of
      quality for each service. FINDINGS: Data were available for 2594 and 11  402
      observations of clinical consultations for antenatal care and sick children,
      respectively. Overall, health-care providers performed a mean of 62.2%
      (interquartile range, IQR: 50.0 to 75.0) of eight recommended antenatal care
      actions and 54.5% (IQR: 33.3 to 66.7) of nine sick-child care actions at observed
      visits. Quality of antenatal care was higher in better-staffed and -equipped
      facilities and lower for physicians and clinical officers than nurses.
      Experienced providers and those in better-managed facilities provided higher
      quality sick-child care, with no differences between physicians and nurses or
      between better- and less-equipped clinics. Private facilities outperformed public
      facilities. Country differences were more influential in explaining variance in
      quality than all other factors combined. CONCLUSION: The quality of two essential
      primary-care services for women and children was weak and varied across and
      within the countries. Analysis of reasons for variations in quality could
      identify strategies for improving care.

PMID- 28603308
TI  - Quality of routine essential care during childbirth: clinical observations of
      uncomplicated births in Uttar Pradesh, India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of essential care during normal labour and
      childbirth in maternity facilities in Uttar Pradesh, India. METHODS: Between 26
      May and 8 July 2015, we used clinical observations to assess care provision for
      275 mother-neonate pairs at 26 hospitals. Data on 42 items of care were
      collected, summarized into 17 clinical practices and three aggregate scores and
      then weighted to obtain population-based estimates. We examined unadjusted
      differences in quality between the public and private facilities. Multilevel
      linear mixed-effects models were used to adjust for birth attendant, facility and
      maternal characteristics. FINDINGS: The quality of care we observed was generally
      poor in both private and public facilities; the mean percentage of essential
      clinical care practices completed for each woman was 35.7%. Weighted estimates
      indicate that unqualified personnel provided care for 73.0% and 27.0% of the
      mother-neonate pairs in public and private facilities, respectively. Obstetric,
      neonatal and overall care at birth appeared better in the private facilities than
      in the public ones. In the adjusted analysis, the score for overall quality of
      care in private facilities was found to be six percentage points higher than the
      corresponding score for public facilities. CONCLUSION: In 2015, the personnel
      providing labour and childbirth care in maternity facilities were often
      unqualified and adherence to care protocols was generally poor. Initiatives to
      measure and improve the quality of care during labour and childbirth need to be
      developed in the private and public facilities in Uttar Pradesh.

PMID- 28603309
TI  - Records of medical malpractice litigation: a potential indicator of health-care
      quality in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the characteristics and incidence of medical litigation in
      China and the potential usefulness of the records of such litigation as an
      indicator of health-care quality. METHODS: We investigated 13 620 cases of
      medical malpractice litigation that ended between 2010 and 2015 and were reported
      to China's Supreme Court. We categorized each case according to location of the
      court, the year the litigation ended, the medical specialization involved, the
      severity of the reported injury, the type of allegation raised by the plaintiff -
      including any alleged shortcomings in the health care received - and the outcome
      of the litigation. FINDINGS: The annual incidence of medical malpractice
      litigation increased from 75 in 2010 to 6947 in 2014. Most cases related to
      general surgery (1350 litigations), internal medicine (3500 litigations),
      obstetrics and gynaecology (1251 litigations) and orthopaedics (1283
      litigations). Most of the reported injuries were either minor (1358 injuries) or
      fatal (4111 deaths). The most frequent allegation was of lack of consent or
      notification (1356 litigations), followed by misdiagnosis (1172 litigations),
      delay in treatment (1145 litigations) and alteration or forgery of medical
      records (975 litigations). Of the 11 014 plaintiffs with known litigation
      outcomes, 7482 (67.9%) received monetary compensation. CONCLUSION: Over our study
      period, the incidence of litigation over potential medical malpractice increased
      in China. As many of the cases related to alleged inadequacies in the quality of
      health care, records of medical malpractice litigation in China may be worth
      exploring as an indicator of health-care quality.

PMID- 28603310
TI  - A geospatial evaluation of timely access to surgical care in seven countries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the consistent availability of basic surgical resources at
      selected facilities in seven countries. METHODS: In 2010-2014, we used a
      situational analysis tool to collect data at district and regional hospitals in
      Bangladesh (n = 14), the Plurinational State of Bolivia (n = 18), Ethiopia (n =
      19), Guatemala (n = 20), the Lao People's Democratic Republic (n = 12), Liberia
      (n = 12) and Rwanda (n = 25). Hospital sites were selected by pragmatic sampling.
      Data were geocoded and then analysed using an online data visualization platform.
      Each hospital's catchment population was defined as the people who could reach
      the hospital via a vehicle trip of no more than two hours. A hospital was only
      considered to show consistent availability of basic surgical resources if clean
      water, electricity, essential medications including intravenous fluids and at
      least one anaesthetic, analgesic and antibiotic, a functional pulse oximeter, a
      functional sterilizer, oxygen and providers accredited to perform surgery and
      anaesthesia were always available. FINDINGS: Only 41 (34.2%) of the 120 study
      hospitals met the criteria for the provision of consistent basic surgical
      services. The combined catchments of the study hospitals in each study country
      varied between 3.3 million people in Liberia and 151.3 million people in
      Bangladesh. However, the combined catchments of the study hospitals in each study
      country that met the criteria for the provision of consistent basic surgical
      services were substantially smaller and varied between 1.3 million in Liberia and
      79.2 million in Bangladesh. CONCLUSION: Many study facilities were deficient in
      the basic infrastructure necessary for providing basic surgical care on a
      consistent basis.

PMID- 28603311
TI  - Developing global indicators for quality of maternal and newborn care: a
      feasibility assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of applying the World Health Organization's
      proposed 15 indicators of quality of care for maternal and newborn health at
      health-facility level in low- and middle-income settings. METHODS: Six of the
      indicators are about maternal health, five are for newborn health and four are
      general cross-cutting indicators. We used data collected routinely in facility
      registers and obtained as part of facility assessments from 963 health-care
      facilities specializing in maternity services in 10 countries in Africa and Asia.
      We made a feasibility assessment of the availability of data and the clarity of
      indicator definitions and identified additional information and data collection
      processes needed to apply the proposed indicators in real-life settings.
      FINDINGS: Of the indicators evaluated, 10 were clearly defined, of which four
      could be applied directly in the field and six would require revisions to
      operationalize them. The other five indicators require further development, with
      one of them being ready for implementation by using information readily available
      in registers and four requiring further information before deployment. For
      indicators that measure coverage of care or availability of services or products,
      there is a need to further strengthen measurement. Information on emergency
      obstetric complications was not recorded in a standard manner, thus limiting the
      reliability of the information. CONCLUSION: While some of the proposed indicators
      can already be applied, other indicators need to be refined or will need
      additional sources and methods of data collection to be applied in real-world
      settings.

PMID- 28603312
TI  - Community-based approaches for neonatal survival: meta-analyses of randomized
      trial data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of community approaches to improving newborn
      health and survival in low-resource countries. METHODS: We updated previous meta
      analyses of published cluster randomized trials of community-based interventions
      for neonatal survival. For each study we extracted baseline data on the context:
      geographical area; available facilities and staffing; immediate breastfeeding and
      facility births; and neonatal mortality. We also extracted data on the primary
      outcome (neonatal survival) and intermediate outcomes of the interventions
      (changes in immediate breastfeeding and facility births). We used forest plots
      and pooled sub-group analysis to seek patterns in associations between the effect
      size and the context or type of intervention (home-based counselling or women's
      groups). FINDINGS: We included 17 trials, spanning years from 2001 to 2013. A 25%
      reduction in neonatal mortality (relative risk, RR: 0.75; 95% confidence
      interval, CI: 0.69-0.80) was found when pooling six studies in settings with 44
      or more deaths per 1000 live births. In lower-mortality settings (pooling six
      studies with 32 or fewer deaths per 1000 live births) there was no evidence of an
      effect. We observed some evidence that community approaches had a stronger effect
      in south Asia than in sub-Saharan Africa. Community approaches had a lower impact
      on neonatal mortality in settings where at least 44% of women delivered in a
      facility. CONCLUSION: As neonatal mortality declined, the impact of community
      approaches on survival appeared to be lower, and the role of these approaches in
      supporting newborn care in weak health systems may need to be re-examined.

PMID- 28603313
TI  - Quality of care: measuring a neglected driver of improved health.
AB  - The quality of care provided by health systems contributes towards efforts to
      reach sustainable development goal 3 on health and well-being. There is growing
      evidence that the impact of health interventions is undermined by poor quality of
      care in lower-income countries. Quality of care will also be crucial to the
      success of universal health coverage initiatives; citizens unhappy with the
      quality and scope of covered services are unlikely to support public financing of
      health care. Moreover, an ethical impetus exists to ensure that all people,
      including the poorest, obtain a minimum quality standard of care that is
      effective for improving health. However, the measurement of quality today in low-
      and middle-income countries is inadequate to the task. Health information systems
      provide incomplete and often unreliable data, and facility surveys collect too
      many indicators of uncertain utility, focus on a limited number of services and
      are quickly out of date. Existing measures poorly capture the process of care and
      the patient experience. Patient outcomes that are sensitive to health-care
      practices, a mainstay of quality assessment in high-income countries, are rarely
      collected. We propose six policy recommendations to improve quality-of-care
      measurement and amplify its policy impact: (i) redouble efforts to improve and
      institutionalize civil registration and vital statistics systems; (ii) reform
      facility surveys and strengthen routine information systems; (iii) innovate new
      quality measures for low-resource contexts; (iv) get the patient perspective on
      quality; (v) invest in national quality data; and (vi) translate quality evidence
      for policy impact.

PMID- 28603315
TI  - Changing the narratives for patient safety.

PMID- 28603314
TI  - Maternal and neonatal services in Ethiopia: measuring and improving quality.
AB  - PROBLEM: Maternal and neonatal mortality remains high in low- and middle-income
      countries, with poor quality of intrapartum care as a barrier to further
      progress. APPROACH: We developed and tested a method of measuring the quality of
      maternal and neonatal care that could be embedded in a larger national
      performance management initiative. The tool used direct observations and medical
      record reviews to score quality in nine domains of intrapartum care. We piloted
      and evaluated the tool in visits to the 18 lead hospitals that have
      responsibility to promote and coordinate quality improvement efforts within a
      hospital cluster in Ethiopia. Between baseline and follow-up assessments, staff
      from a national quality collaborative alliance provided hospital-based training
      on labour and delivery services. LOCAL SETTING: Ethiopia has invested in hospital
      quality improvement for more than a decade and this tool was integrated into
      existing quality improvement mechanisms within lead hospitals, with the potential
      for scale-up to all government hospitals. RELEVANT CHANGES: Significant
      improvements in quality of intrapartum care were detected from baseline (June
      July 2015) to follow-up (February-March 2016) in targeted hospitals. The overall
      mean quality score rose from 65.6 (standard deviation, SD: 10.5) to 91.2 (SD:
      12.4) out of 110 items (P < 0.001). LESSONS LEARNT: The method was feasible,
      requiring a total of 3 days and two to three trained data collectors per hospital
      visit. It produced data that detected substantial changes made during 8 months of
      national hospital quality improvement efforts. With additional replication
      studies, this tool may be useful in other low- and middle-income countries.

PMID- 28603317
TI  - Study of Heavy Metal Accumulation and Residual Toxicity in Soil Saturated with
      Phosphate Processing Wastewater.
AB  - The effects of phosphate processing wastewater (PPWW) on heavy metal accumulation
      in a Mediterranean soil (Tunisia, North Africa) were investigated. Moreover, the
      residual toxicities of PPWW-irrigated soils extracts were assessed. Results
      showed that heavy metal accumulation was significantly higher in PPWW-irrigated
      soil extracts than in control soil. The heavy metal accumulation increased over
      time in treated soil samples and their average values followed the following
      order: Iron (Fe 252.72 mg l-1) > Zinc (Zn 152.95 mg l-1) > Lead (Pb 128.35 mg l
      1) > Copper (Cu 116.82 mg l-1) > Cadmium (Cd 58.03 mg l-1). The residual
      microtoxicity and phytotoxicity of the various treated soil samples extracts were
      evaluated by monitoring the bioluminescence inhibition (BI %) of Vibrio ficheri
      and the measurement of the germination indexes (GI %) of Lepidium sativum and
      Medicago sativa seeds. The results showed an important increase of residual
      toxicities of PPWW-treated soil extracts over time.

PMID- 28603316
TI  - Isolation and Characterization of Phenol-Degrading Psychrotolerant Yeasts.
AB  - In this study, the potential of selected psychrotolerant yeast strains for phenol
      biodegradation was studied. From 39 strains isolated from soil and water samples
      from Rucianka peat bog, three psychrotolerant yeast strains, A011, B021, and
      L012, showed the ability to degrade phenol. The result shows that all three yeast
      strains could degrade phenol at 500 and 750 mg l-1 concentration, whereas strains
      A011 and L012 could degrade phenol at 1000 mg l-1 concentration. The time needed
      for degradation of each phenol concentration was no longer than 2 days. Strains
      A011, B021, and L012 were identified based on 26S rDNA and ITS sequence analysis
      as belonging to species Candida subhashii, Candida oregonensis, and
      Schizoblastosporion starkeyi-henricii, respectively.

PMID- 28603318
TI  - Effect of Biochar Amendment and Ageing on Adsorption and Degradation of Two
      Herbicides.
AB  - Biochar amendment can alter soil properties, for instance, the ability to adsorb
      and degrade different chemicals. However, ageing of the biochar, due to processes
      occurring in the soil over time, can influence such biochar-mediated effects.
      This study examined how biochar affected adsorption and degradation of two
      herbicides, glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)-glycine) and diuron (3-(3,4
      dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) in soil and how these effects were modulated by
      ageing of the biochar. One sandy and one clayey soil that had been freshly
      amended with a wood-based biochar (0, 1, 10, 20 and 30% w/w) were studied. An
      ageing experiment, in which the soil-biochar mixtures were aged for 3.5 months in
      the laboratory, was also performed. Adsorption and degradation were studied in
      these soil and soil-biochar mixtures, and compared to results from a soil
      historically enriched with charcoal. Biochar amendment increased the pH in both
      soils and increased the water-holding capacity of the sandy soil. Adsorption of
      diuron was enhanced by biochar amendment in both soils, while glyphosate
      adsorption was decreased in the sandy soil. Ageing of soil-biochar mixtures
      decreased adsorption of both herbicides in comparison with freshly biochar
      amended soil. Herbicide degradation rates were not consistently affected by
      biochar amendment or ageing in any of the soils. However, glyphosate half-lives
      correlated with the Freundlich Kf values in the clayey soil, indicating that
      degradation was limited by availability there.

PMID- 28603319
TI  - Cellular Glycolysis and The Differential Survival of Lung Fibroblast and Lung
      Carcinoma Cell Lines.
AB  - Tumor growth and abnormal cell survival were shown to be associated with a number
      of cellular metabolic abnormalities revealed by impaired oral glucose tolerance,
      depressed lipoprotein lipase activity leading to hypertriglyceridemia, and
      changes in amino acid profile as evidenced by increased plasma free tryptophan
      levels in patients with breast, lung, colon, stomach, and other cancers from
      various origins. The above findings seem to relate to or indicate a shift to non
      oxidative metabolic pathways in cancer. In contrast to normal cells, cancer cells
      may lose the ability to utilize aerobic respiration due to either defective
      mitochondria or hypoxia within the tumor microenvironments. Glucose was shown to
      be the major energy source in cancer cells where it utilizes aerobic /anaerobic
      glycolysis with the resultant lactic acid formation. The role of energetic
      modulations and use of glycolytic inhibitors on cancer/normal cell survival is
      not clearly established in the literature. We hypothesize that natural
      intermediates of glycolysis and the citric acid cycle will differentially and
      negatively impact the cancer phenotype in contrast to their no effects on the
      normal cell phenotype. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate six
      potential glycolytic modulators namely, Pyruvic acid, oxalic acid, Zn acetate,
      sodium citrate, fructose diphosphate (FDP) and sodium bicarbonate at MUM
      concentrations on growing A549 (lung cancer) and MRC-5 (normal; human lung
      fibroblast) cell lines with the objective of determining their influence on
      visual impact, cell metabolic activity, cell viability and end-point cell
      survival. Exposed and non-exposed cells were tested with phase-contrast micro
      scanning, survival/death and metabolic activity trends through MTT-assays, as
      well as death end-point determinations by testing re-growth on complete media and
      T4 cellometer counts. Results showed that oxalic acid and Zn acetate both
      influenced the pH of the medium and resulted in differential massive cell debris
      within the exposure period. Pyruvic acid, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate and
      FDP did not cause pH changes; however, they caused detectable cell disfigurement
      and loss of metabolic activity, viability and survival/ death end points with the
      resultant death of the A549 cell line. The MRC-5 cell line was differentially
      unaffected by exposure to pyruvic acid, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, FDP
      and Zn acetate, underwent complete recovery and remained both attached and
      healthy for 6 weeks upon subculture when transferred to a new complete medium.
      Oxalic acid did not show differential modulation with the consequent loss of
      survival and death of the MRC-5 cell line. Phase contrast, metabolic activity,
      cell counts as well as death end-point findings confirmed our hypothsis. These
      studies show the potential possibly for exploiting cellular metabolic differences
      in cancer control.

PMID- 28603320
TI  - Impact of Triple Combinations of Retinoic Acid, Mold Spores and Citral on the
      F344 Rat Lung Tissue Pathology.
AB  - The impact of retinoic acid (All Trans Retinoic Acid; ATRA) and Mold spores (MLD)
      in the development of lung pathology and in vivo tissue remodeling have not been
      well established in the literature. In addition, the role of citral (inhibitor of
      retinoid function) in the improvement of lung pathology has not been ascertained
      in animal studies. Therefore, it is hypothesized that ATRA and Mold (MLD)
      exposure will sensitize lung tissues leading to lung tissue pathology and that
      Citrals (C1 and C2) will reverse, ameliorate or improve the associated
      pathological damage to lung tissues. The study used an IACUC approved between
      subject in vivo randomized split plot factorial design (F344 rat model; N=40).
      Animals were exposed to seven different treatments including untreated control,
      MLD, ATRA, Citrals (C1 and C2) and their MLD combinations (MLD+ ATRA+ C1, and
      MLD+ ATRA+ C2) by intra-peritoneal route. Rat weight and blood data were
      collected on Days 1 and 21, all animals were sacrificed on day 21, and lung
      tissues were processed for histopathology. Results from weight and blood data
      (ANOVA and Duncan) as well as from histopathological analyses supported the
      findings that exposure of F344 rats to MLD combinations with ATRA and Citrals
      showed various levels of lung tissue damage that were impacted by either C1 or C2
      exposure. This promising study showed impressive responses on the interaction of
      MLD, Citrals, and ATRA as related to their impact on associated lung tissue
      pathologies.

PMID- 28603321
TI  - The Great Cold Spot in Jupiter's upper atmosphere.
AB  - Past observations and modeling of Jupiter's thermosphere have, due to their
      limited resolution, suggested that heat generated by the aurora near the poles
      results in a smooth thermal gradient away from these aurorae, indicating a
      quiescent and diffuse flow of energy within the subauroral thermosphere. Here we
      discuss Very Large Telescope-Cryogenic High-Resolution IR Echelle Spectrometer
      observations that reveal a small-scale localized cooling of ~200 K within the
      nonauroral thermosphere. Using Infrared Telescope Facility NSFCam images, this
      feature is revealed to be quasi-stable over at least a 15 year period, fixed in
      magnetic latitude and longitude. The size and shape of this "Great Cold Spot"
      vary significantly with time, strongly suggesting that it is produced by an
      aurorally generated weather system: the first direct evidence of a long-term
      thermospheric vortex in the solar system. We discuss the implications of this
      spot, comparing it with short-term temperature and density variations at Earth.

PMID- 28603322
TI  - "When the going gets tough, the tough get going": Motivation towards closure and
      effort investment in the performance of cognitive tasks.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that the need for closure (NFC), which refers
      to an individual's aversion toward uncertainty and the desire to quickly reduce
      it, leads to reluctance to invest effort in judgments and decision making.
      However, we argue that NFC may lead to either an increase or a decrease in effort
      depending on the availability of easy vs. difficult means to achieve closure and
      perceived importance of the task goal. We found that when closure could be
      achieved via both less and more demanding means, NFC was associated with
      decreased effort unless the task was perceived as important (Study 1). However,
      when attaining closure was possible via demanding means only, NFC was associated
      with increased effort, regardless of the task importance (Study 2). Moreover, NFC
      was related to choosing a more instrumental strategy for the goal of closure,
      even if this strategy required effort (Study 3). The results are discussed in the
      light of cognitive energetics theory.

PMID- 28603323
TI  - Defining Cancer Subtypes With Distinctive Etiologic Profiles: An Application to
      the Epidemiology of Melanoma.
AB  - We showcase a novel analytic strategy to identify sub-types of cancer that
      possess distinctive causal factors, i.e. sub-types that are "etiologically"
      distinct. The method involves the integrated analysis of two types of study
      design: an incident series of cases with double primary cancers with detailed
      information on tumor characteristics that can be used to define the sub-types; a
      case-series of incident cases with information on known risk factors that can be
      used to investigate the specific risk factors that distinguish the sub-types. The
      methods are applied to a rich melanoma dataset with detailed information on
      pathologic tumor factors, and comprehensive information on known genetic and
      environmental risk factors for melanoma. Identification of the optimal sub-typing
      solution is accomplished using a novel clustering analysis that seeks to maximize
      a measure that characterizes the distinctiveness of the distributions of risk
      factors across the sub-types and that is a function of the correlations of tumor
      factors in the case-specific tumor pairs. This analysis is challenged by the
      presence of extensive missing data. If successful, studies of this nature offer
      the opportunity for efficient study design to identify unknown risk factors whose
      effects are concentrated in defined sub-types.

PMID- 28603324
TI  - Adjusting background noise in cluster analyses of longitudinal data.
AB  - Background noise in cluster analyses can potentially mask the true underlying
      patterns. To tease out patterns uniquely to certain populations, a Bayesian semi
      parametric clustering method is presented. It infers and adjusts background
      noise. The method is built upon a mixture of the Dirichlet process and a point
      mass function. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
      The method is then applied to analyze a longitudinal data set on allergic
      sensitization and asthma status.

PMID- 28603325
TI  - Principal Components Adjusted Variable Screening.
AB  - Marginal screening has been established as a fast and effective method for high
      dimensional variable selection method. There are some drawbacks associated with
      marginal screening, since the marginal model can be viewed as a model
      misspecification from the joint true model. A principal components adjusted
      variable screening method is proposed, which uses top principal components as
      surrogate covariates to account for the variability of the omitted predictors in
      generalized linear models. The proposed method is demonstrated with superior
      numerical performance compared with the competing methods. The efficiency of the
      method is also illustrated with the analysis of the Affymetrix genechip rat
      genome 230 2.0 array data and the European American SNPs data.

PMID- 28603326
TI  - Modeling molecular mechanisms in the axon.
AB  - Axons are living systems that display highly dynamic changes in stiffness,
      viscosity, and internal stress. However, the mechanistic origin of these
      phenomenological properties remains elusive. Here we establish a computational
      mechanics model that interprets cellular-level characteristics as emergent
      properties from molecular-level events. We create an axon model of discrete
      microtubules, which are connected to neighboring microtubules via discrete
      crosslinking mechanisms that obey a set of simple rules. We explore two types of
      mechanisms: passive and active crosslinking. Our passive and active simulations
      suggest that the stiffness and viscosity of the axon increase linearly with the
      crosslink density, and that both are highly sensitive to the crosslink detachment
      and reattachment times. Our model explains how active crosslinking with dynein
      motors generates internal stresses and actively drives axon elongation. We
      anticipate that our model will allow us to probe a wide variety of molecular
      phenomena-both in isolation and in interaction-to explore emergent cellular-level
      features under physiological and pathological conditions.

PMID- 28603327
TI  - A Survey of Methods for Time Series Change Point Detection.
AB  - Change points are abrupt variations in time series data. Such abrupt changes may
      represent transitions that occur between states. Detection of change points is
      useful in modelling and prediction of time series and is found in application
      areas such as medical condition monitoring, climate change detection, speech and
      image analysis, and human activity analysis. This survey article enumerates,
      categorizes, and compares many of the methods that have been proposed to detect
      change points in time series. The methods examined include both supervised and
      unsupervised algorithms that have been introduced and evaluated. We introduce
      several criteria to compare the algorithms. Finally, we present some grand
      challenges for the community to consider.

PMID- 28603328
TI  - Prompt Gamma-ray Activation Analysis for Certification of Sulfur in Fuel Oil
      SRMs.
AB  - A combination of cold neutron prompt gamma-ray activation analysis (CNPGAA) and
      thermal neutron (TN) PGAA was used to determine sulfur in fuel oils to develop a
      method to provide values for certification. CNPGAA was used to measure S/H mass
      ratios, and TNPGAA to measure hydrogen mass fractions. Measurements were combined
      to determine sulfur mass fractions (with expanded uncertainties) of 2.159 % +/-
      0.072 % for SRM 1622e, 0.7066 % +/- 0.0120 % for SRM 1619b, and 0.1266 % +/-
      0.0030 % for SRM 1617b, in agreement with certified values. The results validate
      the method as suitable for certification of sulfur at mass fractions >= 0.1 %.

PMID- 28603329
TI  - Implicit learning and implicit treatment outcomes in individuals with aphasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implicit learning is a process of learning that occurs outside of
      conscious awareness and may be involved in implicit, exposure-based language
      training. However, research shows that implicit learning abilities are variable
      among individuals with aphasia, and it remains unknown whether individuals who
      show basic implicit learning abilities also benefit from implicit language
      training. AIMS: The aims of this series of experiments were to test implicit
      learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia, examine the effects of a novel
      implicit language treatment, and investigate whether individuals with aphasia who
      show implicit learning ability also benefit from implicit treatment focused on
      passive sentence comprehension. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Nine participants with
      chronic agrammatic aphasia and 21 neurologically intact participants completed a
      visuomotor serial reaction time test of implicit learning (Experiment 1). The
      participants with aphasia also completed a short-term novel implicit sentence
      comprehension treatment (Experiment 2) that consisted of five sessions of
      repeated exposure to grammatically correct passive sentences and matching
      photographs. Sentence comprehension was tested in multiple baseline sessions and
      on each day of training using a sentence-picture matching task. The relation
      between participants' learning patterns across experiments was also examined.
      OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Individuals with agrammatic aphasia as well as neurologically
      intact adults demonstrated significant implicit sequence learning in the serial
      reaction time task. However, the participants with aphasia did not show
      concomitant improvement in sentence comprehension as a result of the implicit
      treatment protocol. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that individuals with
      agrammatic aphasia demonstrate implicit learning ability; however, this ability
      does not necessarily promote successful outcomes in treatment that is based
      solely on implicit training methods.

PMID- 28603330
TI  - Sexual Assault Survivors' Experiences with Mental Health Professionals: A
      Qualitative Study.
AB  - An interview study of 15 sexual assault survivors' narratives examined positive
      and negative post-assault experiences with mental health professionals. Survivors
      who told one professional had more positive experiences than those who told
      multiple professionals. Qualitative analyses revealed how help seeking
      experiences were related to the context and nature of disclosures, survivors'
      readiness to disclose, trust building, social reactions received from providers,
      type of therapy, perceived control over recovery, and mental health system
      factors impacting access and quality of care. Themes from survivor's accounts
      illustrate how survivors perceived therapists, which can be used in training
      mental health professionals encountering survivors in clinical settings.

PMID- 28603331
TI  - Health-Related Quality of Life in a Community Sample of Preschool-Age Children
      with and without Obesity.
AB  - While mothers seeking obesity treatment for preschoolers report poorer child
      health-related quality of life (HRQOL) than mothers of healthy-weight peers,
      little is known about this relationship in non-clinical preschoolers. Eighty-six
      mothers of 3-5-year-olds completed the parent-proxy PedsQL. HRQOL scores for
      children with obesity and without were compared. No significant differences were
      found between groups for any PedsQL subscales, nor did differences reach
      established Minimally Clinically Important Differences. Mothers of preschoolers
      with obesity from the community did not report poorer HRQOL. If parents do not
      view their child's HRQOL as impacted by weight status, they may be unlikely to
      seek treatments.

PMID- 28603332
TI  - Remote focusing multifocal plane microscopy for the imaging of 3D single molecule
      dynamics with cellular context.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) single molecule fluorescence microscopy affords the
      ability to investigate subcellular traffcking at the level of individual
      molecules. An imaged single molecule trajectory, however, often reveals only
      limited information about the underlying biological process when insuffcient
      information is available about the organelles and other cellular structures with
      which the molecule interacts. A new 3D fluorescence microscopy imaging modality
      is described here that enables the simultaneous imaging of the trajectories of
      fast-moving molecules and the associated cellular context. The new modality is
      called remote focusing multifocal plane microscopy (rMUM), as it extends
      multifocal plane microscopy (MUM) with a remote focusing module. MUM is a
      modality that uses multiple detectors to image distinct focal planes within the
      specimen at the same time, and it has been demonstrated to allow the
      determination of 3D single molecule trajectories with high accuracy. Remote
      focusing is a method that makes use of two additional objective lenses to enable
      the acquisition of a z-stack of the specimen without having to move the
      microscope's objective lens or sample stage, components which are required by MUM
      to be fixed in place. rMUM's remote focusing module thus allows the cellular
      context to be imaged in the form of z-stacks as the trajectories of molecules or
      other objects of interest are imaged by MUM. In addition to a description of the
      modality, a discussion of rMUM data analysis and an example of data acquired
      using an rMUM setup are provided in this paper.

PMID- 28603333
TI  - 16-Ch Time-resolved Single-Molecule Spectroscopy Using Line Excitation.
AB  - Single-molecule spectroscopy on freely-diffusing molecules allows detecting
      conformational changes of biomolecules without perturbation from surface
      immobilization. Resolving fluorescence lifetimes increases the sensitivity in
      detecting conformational changes and overcomes artifacts common in intensity
      based measurements. Common to all freely-diffusing techniques, however, are the
      long acquisition times. We report a time-resolved multispot system employing a 16
      channel SPAD array and TCSPC electronics, which overcomes the throughput issue.
      Excitation is obtained by shaping a 532 nm pulsed laser into a line, matching the
      linear SPAD array geometry. We show that the line-excitation is a robust and cost
      effective approach to implement multispot systems based on linear detector
      arrays.

PMID- 28603334
TI  - Focal spot size reduction using asymmetric collimation to enable reduced anode
      angles with a conventional angiographic x-ray tube for use with high resolution
      detectors.
AB  - The high-resolution requirements for neuro-endovascular image-guided
      interventions (EIGIs) necessitate the use of a small focal-spot size; however,
      the maximum tube output limits for such small focal-spot sizes may not enable
      sufficient x-ray fluence after attenuation through the human head to support the
      desired image quality. This may necessitate the use of a larger focal spot, thus
      contributing to the overall reduction in resolution. A method for creating a
      higher-output small effective focal spot based on the line-focus principle has
      been demonstrated and characterized. By tilting the C-arm gantry, the anode-side
      of the x-ray field-of-view is accessible using a detector placed off-axis. This
      tilted central axis diminishes the resultant focal spot size in the anode-cathode
      direction by the tangent of the effective anode angle, allowing a medium focal
      spot to be used in place of a small focal spot with minimal losses in resolution
      but with increased tube output. Images were acquired of two different objects at
      the central axis, and with the C-arm tilted away from the central axis at 1
      degrees  increments from 0 degrees -7 degrees . With standard collimation
      settings, only 6 degrees  was accessible, but using asymmetric extended
      collimation a maximum of 7 degrees  was accessed for enhanced comparisons. All
      objects were positioned perpendicular to the anode-cathode direction and images
      were compared qualitatively. The increasing advantage of the off-axis focal spots
      was quantitatively evidenced at each subsequent angle using the Generalized
      Measured-Relative Object Detectability metric (GM-ROD). This anode-tilt method is
      a simple and robust way of increasing tube output for a small field-of-view
      detector without diminishing the overall apparent resolution for neuro-EIGIs.

PMID- 28603335
TI  - Experimental evaluation of dual Multiple Aperture Devices for Fluence Field
      Modulated X-Ray Computed Tomography.
AB  - Acquisition of CT images with comparable diagnostic power can potentially be
      achieved with lower radiation exposure than the current standard of care through
      the adoption of hardware-based fluence-field modulation (e.g. dynamic bowtie
      filters). While modern CT scanners employ elements such as static bowtie filters
      and tube-current modulation, such solutions are limited in the fluence patterns
      that they can achieve, and thus are limited in their ability to adapt to broad
      classes of patient morphology. Fluence-field modulation also enables new
      applications such as region-of-interest imaging, task specific imaging, reducing
      measurement noise or improving image quality. The work presented in this paper
      leverages a novel fluence modulation strategy that uses "Multiple Aperture
      Devices" (MADs) which are, in essence, binary filters, blocking or passing x-rays
      on a fine scale. Utilizing two MAD devices in series provides the capability of
      generating a large number of fluence patterns via small relative motions between
      the MAD filters. We present the first experimental evaluation of fluence-field
      modulation using a dual-MAD system, and demonstrate the efficacy of this
      technique with a characterization of achievable fluence patterns and an
      investigation of experimental projection data.

PMID- 28603336
TI  - Application of direct-reading and elemental carbon analysis methods to measure
      mass-based penetration of carbon nanotubes through elastomeric half-face and
      filtering facepiece respirators.
AB  - The aim of this study was to apply a direct-reading aerosol instrument method and
      an elemental carbon (EC) analysis method to measure the mass-based penetration of
      single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes
      (MWCNTs) through elastomeric half-mask respirators (EHRs) and filtering facepiece
      respirators (FFRs). For the direct-reading aerosol instrument method, two
      scanning mobility particle sizer/aerodynamic particle sizer systems were used to
      simultaneously determine the upstream (outside respirator) and downstream (inside
      respirator) test aerosols. For the EC analysis method, upstream and downstream
      CNTs were collected on filter cassettes and then analyzed using a thermal-optical
      technique. CNT mass penetrations were found in both methods to be within the
      associated efficiency requirements for each type and class of the respirator
      models that were tested. Generally, the penetrations of SWCNTs and MWCNTs had a
      similar trend with penetration being the highest for the N95 EHRs, followed by
      N95 FFRs, P100 EHRs, and P100 FFRs. This trend held true for both methods;
      however, the CNT penetration determined by the direct-reading aerosol instrument
      method (0.009-1.09% for SWCNTs and 0.005-0.21% for MWCNTs) was greater relative
      to the penetration values found through EC analysis method (0.007-0.69% for
      SWCNTs and 0.004-0.13% for MWCNTs). The results of this study illustrate
      considerations for how the methods can be used to evaluate penetration of
      morphologically complex materials through FFRs and EHRs.

PMID- 28603337
TI  - Sample Size Calculations for Time-Averaged Difference of Longitudinal Binary
      Outcomes.
AB  - In clinical trials with repeated measurements, the responses from each subject
      are measured multiple times during the study period. Two approaches have been
      widely used to assess the treatment effect, one that compares the rate of change
      between two groups and the other that tests the time-averaged difference (TAD).
      While sample size calculations based on comparing the rate of change between two
      groups have been reported by many investigators, the literature has paid
      relatively little attention to the sample size estimation for time-averaged
      difference (TAD) in the presence of heterogeneous correlation structure and
      missing data in repeated measurement studies. In this study we investigate sample
      size calculation for the comparison of time-averaged responses between treatment
      groups in clinical trials with longitudinally observed binary outcomes. The GEE
      approach is used to derive a closed-form sample size formula, which is flexible
      enough to account for arbitrary missing patterns and correlation structures. In
      particular, we demonstrate that the proposed sample size can accommodate a
      mixture of missing patterns, which is frequently encountered by practitioners in
      clinical trials. To our knowledge, this is the first study that considers the
      mixture of missing patterns in sample size calculation. Our simulation shows that
      the nominal power and type I error are well preserved over a wide range of design
      parameters. Sample size calculation is illustrated through an example.

PMID- 28603338
TI  - NRP1 transport of cancer therapeutics mediated by tumor-penetrating peptides.
AB  - Whereas uptake of low molecular weight agents is generally inhibited in tumors
      due to high interstitial pressure, tumor uptake of macromolecules is increased
      due to enhanced permeability and retention (EPR). Small molecule drugs alone or
      incorporated in nanoparticles (NP) have largely been dependent on such physical
      tumor uptake (passive) for therapeutic activity. Although passive targeted NP
      such as Stealth Liposomal Doxorubicin (Doxil (r)) are effective with improved
      safety, drug delivery to tumors is still significantly limited. To improve tumor
      delivery and efficacy, tumor-penetrating peptides (TPP), which contain sequences
      that target the tumor and activate the neuropilin-1 receptor (NRP1), have either
      been co-administered with or conjugated to both small and large therapeutic
      molecules. In this review, we will discuss TPP-mediated therapeutics which target
      the NRP1 transport system of tumors.

PMID- 28603339
TI  - Examining adherence to components of cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth
      anxiety after training and consultation.
AB  - The present study examined 115 service providers' adherence to components of
      cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth anxiety prior to training, post
      workshop training, and after three months of weekly consultation. Adherence was
      measured using a role-play with a trained actor. We examined differences in
      individual adherence to CBT components across time and the relationship between
      number of consultation sessions attended and adherence ratings following
      consultation. Findings indicated that somatic arousal identification and
      relaxation were the most used treatment components prior to training. Adherence
      to all components of CBT increased following workshop training, except the usage
      of problem-solving. Adherence to problem-solving, positive reinforcement, the
      identification of anxious self-talk, and the creation of coping thoughts
      increased following consultation but usage of problem-solving remained low
      compared to other treatment components. Overall adherence remained less than
      optimal at the final measurement point. Number of consultation sessions attended
      predicted post-consultation adherence to identification of somatic arousal,
      identification of anxious self-talk, and positive reinforcement. Implications
      include tailoring future training based on baseline levels of adherence and
      spending more time during training and consultation on underutilized CBT
      components, such as problem-solving. Limitations of the present study, including
      how adherence was measured, are discussed. This study adds to the implementation
      science literature by providing more nuanced information on changes in adherence
      over the course of training and consultation of service providers.

PMID- 28603341
TI  - False Positives and Other Statistical Errors in Standard Analyses of Eye
      Movements in Reading.
AB  - In research on eye movements in reading, it is common to analyze a number of
      canonical dependent measures to study how the effects of a manipulation unfold
      over time. Although this gives rise to the well-known multiple comparisons
      problem, i.e. an inflated probability that the null hypothesis is incorrectly
      rejected (Type I error), it is accepted standard practice not to apply any
      correction procedures. Instead, there appears to be a widespread belief that
      corrections are not necessary because the increase in false positives is too
      small to matter. To our knowledge, no formal argument has ever been presented to
      justify this assumption. Here, we report a computational investigation of this
      issue using Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that, contrary to
      conventional wisdom, false positives are increased to unacceptable levels when no
      corrections are applied. Our simulations also show that counter-measures like the
      Bonferroni correction keep false positives in check while reducing statistical
      power only moderately. Hence, there is little reason why such corrections should
      not be made a standard requirement. Further, we discuss three statistical
      illusions that can arise when statistical power is low, and we show how power can
      be improved to prevent these illusions. In sum, our work renders a detailed
      picture of the various types of statistical errors than can occur in studies of
      reading behavior and we provide concrete guidance about how these errors can be
      avoided.

PMID- 28603340
TI  - Identification of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with Brown Rust
      Resistance, alpha-Amylase Activity and Pre-harvest Sprouting in Rye (Secale
      cereale L.).
AB  - Rye is a crop with relatively high resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
      However, the resistance to brown rust (Puccinia recondita f. sp. secalis) and pre
      harvest sprouting are still not satisfactory. High alpha-amylase activity is also
      among the main disadvantages of this species. Therefore, effective tools, e.g.
      molecular markers, allowing precise and environmentally independent selection of
      favourable alleles are desirable. In the present study, two kinds of association
      mapping-genome-wide association mapping (GWAM) based on sequences of DArTSeq
      markers and candidate gene association mapping (CGAM) based on sequences of ScBx
      genes-were chosen for development of molecular markers fulfilling these criteria.
      The analysed population consisted of 149 diverse inbred lines (DILs). Altogether,
      67 and 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in, respectively,
      GWAM and CGAM, were significantly associated with the investigated traits: 2 SNPs
      with resistance to brown rust, 71 SNPs with resistance to pre-harvest sprouting
      and 5 SNPs with alpha-amylase activity in the grain. Fifteen SNPs were stable
      across all environments. The highest number (13) of environmentally stable SNPs
      was associated with pre-harvest sprouting resistance. The test employing the
      Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR method proved the versatility of four markers
      identified in both GWAM and CGAM.

PMID- 28603342
TI  - Monitoring of Batch Industrial Crystallization with Growth, Nucleation, and
      Agglomeration. Part 1: Modeling with Method of Characteristics.
AB  - This paper develops a new simulation model for crystal size distribution dynamics
      in industrial batch crystallization. The work is motivated by the necessity of
      accurate prediction models for online monitoring purposes. The proposed numerical
      scheme is able to handle growth, nucleation, and agglomeration kinetics by means
      of the population balance equation and the method of characteristics. The former
      offers a detailed description of the solid phase evolution, while the latter
      provides an accurate and efficient numerical solution. In particular, the
      accuracy of the prediction of the agglomeration kinetics, which cannot be ignored
      in industrial crystallization, has been assessed by comparing it with solutions
      in the literature. The efficiency of the solution has been tested on a simulation
      of a seeded flash cooling batch process. Since the proposed numerical scheme can
      accurately simulate the system behavior more than hundred times faster than the
      batch duration, it is suitable for online applications such as process monitoring
      tools based on state estimators.

PMID- 28603343
TI  - Protocols for assessing mitophagy in neuronal cell lines and primary neurons.
AB  - Mitochondria are organelles that regulate essential eukaryotic functions
      including generating energy, sequestering excess calcium, and modulating cell
      survival. In order for neurons to thrive, mitochondria have to be continuously
      replenished by maintaining autophagic-lysosomal mediated degradation of
      mitochondria (mitophagy) and mitochondrial biogenesis. While a plethora of image-
      and biochemical-based techniques have been developed for measuring autophagy
      (macroautophagy) in eukaryotic cells, the molecular toolbox for quantifying and
      assessing mitophagy in neurons continues to evolve. Compared to proliferating
      cells, quantifying mitophagy in neurons poses a technical challenge given that
      mitochondria are predominantly present in neurites (axons and dendrites) and are
      highly dynamic. In this chapter, we provide a brief overview on mitophagy and
      provide a list of validated fluorescence- and biochemistry-based techniques used
      for assessing mitophagy in neuronal cells and primary neurons. Secondly, we
      provide comprehensive guidelines for interpreting steady-state levels of
      mitophagy and mitophagic flux in neurons using modern fluorescence- and
      biochemistry-based techniques. Finally, we provide a comprehensive list of common
      pitfalls to avoid when assessing mitophagy and offer practical solutions to
      overcome technical issues.

PMID- 28603344
TI  - Effects of exercise training on nitric oxide, blood pressure and antioxidant
      enzymes.
AB  - The relationship between exercise training and nitric oxide-related parameters
      was examined in a cross-sectional study and an intervention study. A cross
      sectional study using 184 employees was conducted to observe the association of
      exercise habits with serum arginase (ELISA and activity), l-arginine, l
      citrulline, l-ornithine, NOx, exhaled nitric oxide, blood pressure, FEV1%, hs
      CRP, HDL-cholesterol, IgE, and life style factors. An intervention study was also
      conducted to evaluate the changes of serum arginase I, nitric oxide-related
      parameters, and mRNA levels of anti-oxidant enzymes in blood monocytes before and
      after 1 h of aerobic exercise training per day for a month. Exercise habits were
      associated with increased arginase activity and a moderate alcohol drinking
      habit, after adjustment with several covariates. Aerobic exercise training
      induced a decrease in l-arginine and diastolic blood pressure and induced an
      increase in NO2- and urea. Moreover, mRNA expression of anti-oxidant enzymes,
      such as catalase and GPX1, and a life elongation enzyme, SIRT3, were
      significantly increased after aerobic exercise. The results that aerobic exercise
      training increased NO generation, reduced blood pressure, and induced anti
      oxidant enzymes via SIRT3 suggest that exercise training may be an important
      factor for the prevention of disease by inducing intrinsic NO and anti-oxidant
      enzymes.

PMID- 28603345
TI  - Effects of short-term plyometric training on physical fitness parameters in
      female futsal athletes.
AB  - [Purpose] To verify the effects of short-term plyometric training (PM) on body
      composition, flexibility and muscle power output in female Futsal athletes.
      [Subjects and Methods] Twenty female Futsal athletes (19.5 +/- 1.29 years)
      equally and randomly divided into control and experimental groups were submitted
      to a sit-and-reach flexibility test, body composition measures and horizontal
      jump, at baseline and one day after the final training session. Both groups
      retained their training routines while only the experimental group participated
      in an additional 25 minutes of PM 2 times a week over 4 weeks. [Results] The
      experimental group showed higher values of flexibility and muscle power and lower
      body fat after the intervention in comparison to the baseline and control group.
      In addition, the effect size within-group after intervention indicated a
      moderate, large and very large effect for body fat, flexibility and muscle power,
      respectively. [Conclusion] These results show that plyometric training may be
      effective in reducing body fat and increasing flexibility and muscle power in
      female Futsal athletes. Thus, it may suggest that PM can be applied in the field
      of preventive physical therapy.

PMID- 28603346
TI  - Application of massage for ankle joint flexibility and balance.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of calf muscle
      massage on ankle flexibility and balance. [Subjects and Methods] The study's
      subjects were 32 healthy college students, divided into two groups according to
      the massage methods applied. Both groups received five-minutes of massage to each
      calf, making a total of ten minutes. Massage group A received effleurage,
      tapotement and pressure, and massage group B received effleurage, friction and
      petrissage. The functional reaching test and the modified one leg standing test
      were performed to measure the flexibility and balance of the ankles both before
      and after the massage application. [Results] In the functional reaching test
      performed after the calf muscle massage intervention, both groups showed
      significant increases. However, no significant differences were found between the
      two groups. In the modified one leg standing test, massage group A showed a
      significant increase in flexibility and balance after the intervention only when
      the left foot was used for support. Massage group B showed a significant increase
      when each foot was used for support. A significant difference between the groups
      was only observed only when the left foot was used for support. [Conclusion] Calf
      muscle massage may be effective for enhancing the flexibility and balance
      function of the ankle joint. In particular, a combined application of friction
      and petrissage massage techniques may be more effective for increasing ankle
      joint flexibility. Therefore, the application of calf massage can be considered
      an appropriate method for improving balancing ability.

PMID- 28603347
TI  - The effects of forearm support and shoulder posture on upper trapezius and
      anterior deltoid activity.
AB  - [Purpose] To assess the effects of forearm support and shoulder posture on upper
      trapezius and anterior deltoid activity. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-three
      female university students were evaluated. Muscle activity was assessed by a
      portable surface electromyography (sEMG) system (Myomonitor IV, Delsys, USA).
      Upper trapezius and anterior deltoid activity were recorded in five shoulder
      flexion postures: 0 degrees , 15 degrees , 30 degrees , 45 degrees  and 60
      degrees  and in two conditions: with the forearm supported and unsupported.
      Descriptive data analysis was performed and statistical analysis was conducted by
      a multivariate analysis of variance with three repeated factors (posture, support
      and side). [Results] Three-way interactions were not significant. Two-way
      interaction was significant for support and posture for both muscles, indicating
      that the muscular activity depends on the forearm support and shoulder posture.
      The forearm support reduced upper trapezius and anterior deltoid activity for all
      shoulder flexion angles. The mean and standard deviation for this decrease was
      7.8 (SD=4.6)% of the maximal voluntary contraction for anterior deltoid and 3.8
      (SD=2.0)% of the maximal voluntary contraction for upper trapezius. In the
      unsupported condition, increasing the shoulder flexion angle caused an increase
      in the upper trapezius and anterior deltoid activation. [Conclusion] These
      results highlight the importance of using forearm support and to maintain neutral
      shoulder posture, when the upper arms are not supported, to reduce muscle
      activation. Thus, this study provides evidence about the effect of these
      recommendations to reduce muscular activity.

PMID- 28603348
TI  - Functional evaluation of breath: spirometry and body plethysmography comparison
      in people with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of the present study was to establish up-to-date data regarding
      the lung function of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. [Subjects and Methods] Forty
      eight patients of both genders, with a diagnosis of CF, were recruited. As a
      result our sample presented, according to the GOLD criteria, 23 patients with
      mild lung obstruction (FEV1%pred: 89.86), 16 patients with moderate lung
      obstruction (FEV1%pred: 56.1) and 9 patients with severe obstruction (FEV1%pred:
      32.1). [Results] All patients presented normal total lung capacity followed by an
      important residual volume increase. [Conclusion] Our results were important to
      illustrate the CF patient's lung functional status and to improve the health
      system strategy in treating such individuals.

PMID- 28603349
TI  - Neural manual vs. robotic assisted mobilization to improve motion and reduce pain
      hypersensitivity in hand osteoarthritis: study protocol for a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of the present study is to detail the protocol for a randomised
      controlled trial (RCT) of neural manual vs. robotic assisted on pain in
      sensitivity as well as analyse the quantitative and qualitative movement of hand
      in subjects with hand osteoarthritis. [Subjects and Methods] Seventy-two
      patients, aged 50 to 90 years old of both genders, with a diagnosis of hand
      Osteoarthritis (OA), will be recruited. Two groups of 36 participants will
      receive an experimental intervention (neurodynamic mobilization intervention plus
      exercise) or a control intervention (robotic assisted passive mobilization plus
      exercise) for 12 sessions over 4 weeks. Assessment points will be at baseline,
      end of therapy, and 1 and 3 months after end of therapy. The outcomes of this
      intervention will be pain and determine the central pain processing mechanisms.
      [Result] Not applicable. [Conclusion] If there is a reduction in pain
      hypersensitivity in hand OA patients it can suggest that supraspinal pain
      inhibitory areas, including the periaqueductal gray matter, can be stimulated by
      joint mobilization.

PMID- 28603351
TI  - The effect of balance taping for prevention of menstrual pain in female middle
      school students.
AB  - [Purpose] The age at menarche in Korean women has been declining sharply.
      However, for the students who are just beginning to menstruate, taking pain
      medication might become a long-term habit continuing until adulthood. Therefore,
      this study investigated whether balance taping would be more helpful than
      medication in relieving the pain. [Subjects and Methods] Subjects of this study
      included 125 female students. The participants were assigned to the balance
      taping group, the control group, and the medication group. The medication group
      was given 1 dose of Tylenol (acetaminophen 500 mg) and the balance-taping group
      had taping applied, and the changes in pain were measured before the taping, as
      well as1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, and 24 hours after. The measurement was done two
      times for the repeatability of the result. [Results] The balance-taping group
      showed a difference in pain from 1 hour after the taping compared with the
      control group, and the pain was significantly reduced until 24 hours after the
      taping. The balance taping group showed a statistically significant difference in
      pain compared with the medication group from 4 hours after the taping, and it
      lasted until 24 hours after the taping. The results were similar in the second
      measurement as well. [Conclusion] Balance taping was shown to be effective in
      relieving menstrual pain. Balance taping could be an effective alternative to
      medication in relieving menstrual pain and distress.

PMID- 28603350
TI  - Short-term and long-term effects of a self-managed physical activity program
      using a pedometer for chronic respiratory disease: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a self-managed
      physical activity program using a pedometer and diary on physical function, ADL,
      and QOL in patients with chronic respiratory disease. [Subjects and Methods] 17
      outpatients with chronic respiratory disease were assessed for dyspnea, muscle
      strength, exercise tolerance, ADL, and QOL at baseline, after 3-, and 6-months
      after the start of the program. Patients were randomly assigned to "Control" or
      "Diary" group. In the Diary group, the number of steps was counted with a
      pedometer and recorded in a diary together with self-evaluation of physical
      activity, while patients assigned to the Control group did not use a pedometer or
      keep a diary. [Results] The Diary group showed significant improvement in the
      daily step count over time. The Diary group showed significant improvement of the
      dyspnea, muscle strength, and exercise tolerance at 3 months, dyspnea and muscle
      strength at 6 months. Significant differences found between two groups with
      regard to the extent of change in the muscle strength, exercise tolerance, and
      QOL at 3 months. [Conclusion] This study suggests that a self-managed physical
      activity program using a pedometer and diary can increase the level of physical
      activity.

PMID- 28603352
TI  - Impact of wearing a functional foot orthotic on the ankle joint angle of frontal
      surface of young adults with flatfoot.
AB  - [Purpose] This study investigated the effects of proprietary foot orthotics in
      young adults with flatfoot to determine changes in the ankle joint angle in the
      coronal plane during the midstance phase. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects
      were 15 college students diagnosed with flatfoot. Changes in the ankle joint
      angle in the coronal plane in the midstance phase were measured using the Vicon
      Motion System before and after use of the orthotic. The data were analyzed using
      Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Win 16.0. [Results] The subjects
      showed significant increases in left and right ankle joint angles in the coronal
      plane during the midstance phase of the gait cycle after use of the orthotics.
      However, the difference between the left and right ankle joint angles showed no
      significant change, even though the difference increased after use of the
      orthotics. [Conclusion] Young adults with flatfoot showed increased ankle joint
      angles after use of the orthotics. This suggests that orthotic footwear can shape
      the plantar arch and affect the ankle joint, and that constant use of orthotics
      would cause a dynamic change in normal walking.

PMID- 28603353
TI  - The association between the maximum step length test and the walking efficiency
      in children with cerebral palsy.
AB  - [Purpose] To improve walking efficiency could be useful for reducing fatigue and
      extending possible period of walking in children with cerebral palsy (CP). For
      this purpose, current study compared conventional parameters of gross motor
      performance, step length, and cadence in the evaluation of walking efficiency in
      children with CP. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty-one children with CP (21 boys, 10
      girls; mean age, 12.3 +/- 2.7 years) participated. Parameters of gross motor
      performance, including the maximum step length (MSL), maximum side step length,
      step number, lateral step up number, and single leg standing time, were measured
      in both dominant and non-dominant sides. Spatio-temporal parameters of walking,
      including speed, step length, and cadence, were calculated. Total heart beat
      index (THBI), a parameter of walking efficiency, was also calculated from
      heartbeats and walking distance in 10 minutes of walking. To analyze the
      relationships between these parameters and the THBI, the coefficients of
      determination were calculated using stepwise analysis. [Results] The MSL of the
      dominant side best accounted for the THBI (R2=0.759). [Conclusion] The MSL of the
      dominant side was the best explanatory parameter for walking efficiency in
      children with CP.

PMID- 28603354
TI  - Frequency analysis of the center of pressure in tandem stance in community
      dwelling elderly.
AB  - [Purpose] The present study aimed to clarify the effects of balance control on
      the pronation and supination movements of the talocrural joint in community
      dwelling elderly women by conducting a frequency analysis of the center of
      pressure during tandem stance. [Subjects and Methods] The study participants were
      18 subjects who maintained tandem stance for 20 s and 11 who had difficulty
      maintaining tandem stance for 20 s. The frequency-power spectra were computed and
      classified into three frequency bands. Each power spectral value was divided by
      the sum of the power spectral values to obtain the %power. [Results] Significant
      differences in high-frequency band %power value for the center of pressure in
      both the mediolateral and anteroposterior components were evident between the
      groups. [Conclusion] A markedly significant difference was observed, particularly
      in high frequency band %power, depending on balance control. The present findings
      indicated that elderly participants with diminished balance control had
      difficulty with rapid adjustment centered on the ankles, suggesting that rapid
      joint movement involving interlimb coordination centered on the ankles is
      required to maintain tandem stance.

PMID- 28603355
TI  - Biomechanical analysis of INFINITY rehabilitation method for treatment of low
      back pain.
AB  - [Purpose] Low back pain is a pervasive problem in modern societies. Physical
      rehabilitation in treatment of low back pain should reduce pain, muscle tension
      and restore spine stability and balance. The INFINITY(r) rehabilitation method
      that is based on a figure of eight movement pattern was proved to be effective in
      low back pain treatment. The aim of the paper is to estimate the effect of a
      figure of eight motion on the L5/S1 load and lumbar spine muscle activation in
      comparison to other motion patterns. [Subjects and Methods] Three-dimensional
      model of lumbar spine musculoskeletal system is used to simulate effect of
      various load motion pattern induced by displacement of the center of gravity of
      the upper body. Four motion patterns were examined: lateral and oblique pendulum
      like motion, elliptical motion and figure of eight motion. [Results] The simple
      pendulum-like and elliptical-like patterns induce harmonic muscle activation and
      harmonic spinal load. The figure of eight motion pattern creates high-frequency
      spinal loading that activates remodeling of bones and tendons. The figure of
      eight pattern also requires muscle activity that differs from harmonic frequency
      and is more demanding on muscle control and could also improve muscle
      coordination. [Conclusion] The results of the study indicate that complex motion
      pattern during INFINITY(r) rehabilitation might enhance the spine stability by
      influencing its passive, active and neural components.

PMID- 28603357
TI  - The effects of open and closed kinetic chain exercises on the static and dynamic
      balance of the ankle joints in young healthy women.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of the present study was to analyze the effects of open
      kinetic chain and closed kinetic chain exercises on the static and dynamic
      balance of ankle joints in young healthy women. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty
      women in their 20s were randomly assigned to two groups of ten women each: an
      open kinetic chain exercise group and a closed kinetic chain exercise group. Each
      group performed five sets of exercises three times per week for four weeks.
      Exercise intensity was increased once after two weeks. The subjects' Romberg's
      test results and their limits of stability were measured to evaluate their static
      and dynamic balance. The data were analyzed using a two-way repeated measures
      analysis of variance test. [Results] In the results of Romberg's test, the main
      effect of the time showed a significant difference in the trace length with eyes
      closed (Effect size: d=0.97). In the result of limits of stability, the
      interaction effect showed a significant difference in the backward, and the main
      effect of the group showed a significant difference in the forward. [Conclusion]
      The open kinetic chain and closed kinetic chain exercises both improved the
      balance of the subjects. The closed kinetic chain exercise was more effective at
      improving the dynamic balance of young healthy women than the open kinetic chain
      exercise.

PMID- 28603356
TI  - Effects of phase proprioceptive training on balance in patients with chronic
      stroke.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the effect of phase proprioceptive
      training on balance in patients with chronic stroke. [Subjects and Methods]
      Participants included 30 patients with stroke who were randomly assigned to the
      proprioceptive training group (n=15) or control group (n=15). Participants in the
      proprioceptive training group underwent proprioceptive training and received
      general physical therapy each for a total of 20 thirty-minute sessions, five
      times per week, during a period of four weeks; the control group received general
      physical therapy for a total of 20 sixty-minute sessions, five times per week,
      during a period of four weeks. [Results] All participants were evaluated with the
      Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and Activities-specific Balance
      Confidence (ABC) Scale instrument before and after intervention. After training,
      the differences in BBS, TUG, and ABC scores in the proprioceptive group were
      significantly greater than those in the control group. [Conclusion] In
      conclusion, proprioceptive training was effective on balance ability. Therefore,
      proprioceptive training may be efficient when combining general physical therapy
      with phase proprioceptive training for patients with impairments of balance.
      Further research is needed to investigate proprioceptive training methods.

PMID- 28603358
TI  - Analysis of the muscular activities of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius
      muscles in functional reach.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to examine the changes in the muscle activities of
      each section of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles in the functional
      reach test. [Subjects and Methods] This study selected those who can walk
      independently, can reach out their arm up to over 25 cm, can show over 90 degrees
      shoulder joint bending, have not undergone an operation in the lower limb joint,
      and are not taking any medication affecting their ability to keep their balance
      from among 24 elderly males and 24 elderly females. The muscular activities of
      the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles were measured using the
      functional reach test and electromyogram. The functional reach test was conducted
      at a total of four sections: 0, 15, 20, and 25 cm. [Results] Gender and age
      affected the muscular activity by section in the functional reach test. It was
      also found that the gastrocnemius muscle was used more than the tibialis anterior
      muscle to keep the balance, and the aged subjects with good balance ability
      showed no great change in muscular activity on both stable and unstable ground.
      [Conclusion] It was found that the subjects used the tibialis anterior muscle
      more, and the lower limbs of the frequently used part, to keep their balance. As
      the aged subjects had good balance ability, they showed no great change in
      muscular activity on both stable and unstable ground.

PMID- 28603359
TI  - Exercising daily living activities in robot-mediated therapy.
AB  - [Purpose] Investigation of the efficacy of robot-mediated therapy of the upper
      limb in patients with chronic stroke, in task-oriented training activities of
      daily living in real environment. [Subjects and Methods] 20 patients, each more
      than one year post-stroke (13-71 months) received 20 sessions of upper limb robot
      mediated therapy. No other treatment was given. Each therapy session consisted of
      a passive motion and an active task therapy. During the active therapy, subjects
      exercised 5 activities of daily living. Assessments of the subjects were blind,
      and conducted one month prior to, at the start, at the end, and three months
      after the therapy course. The following outcome measures were recorded: Fugl
      Meyer Scale-upper extremity subsection, Modified Ashworth Scale, Action Research
      Arm Test, Functional Independence Measure, Barthel Index. [Results] Significant
      improvements were observed between the start and the end of the therapy, except
      for Modified Ashworth Scale and Barthel Index. Results still held up at the
      follow-up visit three months later. [Conclusion] Practicing activities of daily
      living in real environment with robot-mediated physical therapy can improve the
      motor and functional ability of patients, even with relatively good initial
      functions, and even years post-stroke.

PMID- 28603360
TI  - Dry cupping for plantar fasciitis: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of dry cupping
      on pain and function of patients with plantar fasciitis. [Subjects and Methods]
      Twenty-nine subjects (age 15 to 59 years old, 20 females and 9 males), randomly
      assigned into the two groups (dry cupping therapy and electrical stimulation
      therapy groups), participated in this study. The research design was a randomized
      controlled trial (RCT). Treatments were provided to the subjects twice a week for
      4 weeks. Outcome measurements included the Visual Analogue Pain Scale (VAS) (at
      rest, first in the morning, and with activities), the Foot and Ankle Ability
      Measure (FAAM), the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), as well as the
      pressure pain threshold. [Results]The data indicated that both dry cupping
      therapy and electrical stimulation therapy could reduce pain and increase
      function significantly in the population tested, as all the 95% Confidence
      Intervals (CIs) did not include 0 except for the pressure pain threshold. There
      was no significant difference between the dry cupping therapy and electrical
      stimulation groups in all the outcome measurements. [Conclusion] These results
      support that both dry cupping therapy and electrical stimulation therapy could
      reduce pain and increase function in the population tested.

PMID- 28603361
TI  - Validity of using multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure
      skeletal muscle mass in preschool children.
AB  - [Purposes] Although it is recommended to develop a habit of physical activities,
      there is no easy way to measure skeletal muscle mass in preschool children, which
      cause the difficulty of evaluation. The purpose of this study was to examine the
      validity of body composition including the skeletal muscle mass assessment using
      multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis by comparing body fat mass
      obtained by using multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis method and
      body mass index formulas. [Subjects and Methods] Ninety-four children were
      surveyed for age, height, weight, grip strength, maximum occlusal force,
      thickness of muscle and fat mass (masseter and lower limb), body fat mass,
      skeletal muscle mass, and calf circumference. We assessed additional parameters,
      which were thought to be related to skeletal muscle mass, to ensure validity.
      [Results] A strong correlation was found in body fat mass values obtained using
      the multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis method and those obtained
      using the body mass index formulas. Additionally, strong correlation coefficients
      were found between the skeletal muscle mass/height obtained using the multi
      frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis method and grip strength and calf
      circumference. [Conclusion] Our results indicate that skeletal muscle mass can be
      reliably measured using the multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis
      method in preschool children.

PMID- 28603362
TI  - Comparison of muscular fatigue and tone of neck according to craniocervical
      flexion exercise and suboccipital relaxation in cervicogenic headache patients.
AB  - [Purpose] This study was conducted to compare and analyze influence of
      craniocervical flexion and suboccipitalis relaxation in cervicogenic headache
      patients of their cervical muscular fatigue, tone, and headache intensity.
      [Subjects and Methods] 30 patients with cervicogenic headache were selected and
      10 subjects per group were randomly assigned to control group, craniocervical
      flexion exercise group, and suboccipitalis relaxation group. Intervention for
      each group was provided 5 times a week for 4 weeks. Muscular tone test and
      muscular fatigue test were conducted on both sides of upper trapezius and
      sternocleidomastoideus and visual analogue sclae on the headache intensity was
      conducted before the intervention, after 2 weeks, and after 4 weeks. [Results]
      Difference from intervention was significant in muscular fatigue of upper
      trapezius and sternocleidomastoideus, muscular tone of sternocleidomastoideus,
      and headache intensity. Correlation between intervention duration and the groups
      showed significant difference in muscular fatigue, muscular tone, and headache
      intensity except left upper trapezius muscle. [Conclusion] From this study, 4
      week application of crainiocervical flexion exercise and suboccipitalis
      relaxation on cervicogenic headache patients was found to be effective in
      decrease of muscular fatigue of upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoideus,
      muscular tone of sternocleidomastoideus, and headache intensity.

PMID- 28603363
TI  - Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the portable gait rhythmogram in post
      stroke patients.
AB  - [Purpose] Gait analysis, such as portable gait rhythmogram (PGR) provides
      objective information that helps in the quantitative evaluation of human
      locomotion. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of PGR in
      post-stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] Two raters (A and B) examined 44
      post-stroke patients. To assess intra-rater reliability, rater A tested subjects
      on three separate occasions (Days 1, 2, and 3). To assess inter-rater
      reliability, raters A and B independently tested participants on the same
      occasion (Day 3). [Results] There was no significant systematic bias between test
      occasions or raters. Intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.93-0.97 for
      intra-rater reliability at both the comfortable speed and maximum speed, and 0.97
      0.98 (comfortable speed) and 0.87-0.99 (maximum speed) for inter-rater
      reliability. The standard error was 1.25-1.49 (comfortable speed) and 1.62-1.77
      (maximum speed) for intra-rater investigation, and 1.04-1.32 (comfortable speed)
      and 0.91-1.26 (maximum speed) for inter-rater investigation. At the 90%
      confidence level, the minimum detectable change ranged from 2.9-4.1%, and the
      error of an individual's score at a given time point ranged from +/-2.1-2.9%.
      [Conclusion] Based on this excellent reliability of the PGR in post-stroke
      patients, it can be recommended as a simple test of gait analysis in this
      population.

PMID- 28603364
TI  - Interrelationship among the health-related and subjective quality of life, daily
      life activities, instrumental activities of daily living of community-dwelling
      elderly females in orthopedic outpatients.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to examine the health-related and subjective quality
      of life of community-dwelling elderly females in orthopedic outpatients, and also
      examined how such quality of life correlate with their daily life activities and
      instrumental activities of daily living. [Subjects and Methods] Subjects were 27
      community-dwelling elderly females in orthopedic outpatients (mean age: 76.3 +/-
      7.4 years). Their health-related quality of life and subjective quality of life,
      life-space assessment, frenchay activities index were researched. [Results] For
      the relationships between the total subjective quality of life scores and health
      related quality of life scores, significant positive correlations were observed
      for body pain, general health, vitality, social functions and mental health. The
      correlations were not statistically significant between the subjective quality of
      life scores and the life-space assessment and frenchay activities index scores.
      The correlations were statistically significant between some health-related
      quality of life scores and the life-space assessment and frenchay activities
      index scores. [Conclusion] The results suggest that supporting community-dwelling
      elderly females in orthopedic outpatients to improve their sense of physical and
      mental well-being, and prevent and reduce their depression and physical pain, is
      required in order to improve their QOL.

PMID- 28603365
TI  - The effect of Ai Chi aquatic therapy on individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a
      pilot study.
AB  - [Purpose] To examine the efficacy of Ai Chi in relieving the pain and stiffness
      of knee osteoarthritis and improving, physical functioning, proprioception and
      quality of life. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-five persons with knee
      osteoarthritis completed 5 weeks Ai Chi practice (60 minutes per session, twice
      per week, 10 sessions in total). Knee pain and stiffness were measured before and
      after the intervention program. [Results] Significant improvements in pain, self
      perceived physical functioning and self-perceived stiffness were observed after
      the Ai-Chi intervention. On average, no significant change in knee range of
      motion, 6-minute walk test distances or proprioception was observed. [Conclusion]
      A five-week Ai Chi intervention can improve the pain and stiffness of knee
      osteoarthritis and self-perceived physical functions and quality of life
      improvement. Ai Chi may be another treatment choice for people with knee OA to
      practice in the community.

PMID- 28603366
TI  - Comparison among pain, depression, and quality of life in cases with failed back
      surgery syndrome and non-specific chronic back pain.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study is to compare patients with failed back surgery
      syndrome (FBSS) with those with non-specific chronic back pain (NSCBP) in terms
      of pain, depression, and quality of life levels to explain the effects of surgery
      experience on low-back pain. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 50 patients with
      FBSS and 51 patients with NSCBP who consecutively applied to the outpatient
      clinic from September 2012 to April 2013 were included in the study. Patients
      completed questionnaires on demographics, body mass index, education level, work
      history, and pain duration (in months). Lumbar pain at rest, during movement, and
      at night were measured with a visual analogue scale (VAS). The Short Form 36
      scale was used for evaluating quality of life, and the Beck Depression Inventory
      (BDI) was used for assessing depression. [Results] VAS scores reporting pain at
      rest and at night and BDI scores were significantly higher in the FBSS group than
      in the NSCBP group. Role limitations due to physical functioning, which is one of
      the measures of quality of life, were significantly higher in the FBSS group than
      in the NSCBP group. [Conclusion] These assessments show that surgery experience
      in patients with ongoing low-back pain makes their pain and depression worse.

PMID- 28603367
TI  - Effect of platelet concentration on clinical improvement in treatment of early
      stage-knee osteoarthritis with platelet-rich plasma concentrations.
AB  - [Purpose] To compare two platelet-rich plasma kits with different platelet
      concentrations for treatment of knee osteoarthritis. [Subjects and Methods] Male
      and female patients with knee osteoarthritis who had confirmed diagnosis with X
      ray and magnetic resonance imaging were included in this retrospective study.
      Eligible patients were divided into two groups: Group I, which received platelet
      rich plasma kit I, and Group II, which received platelet-rich plasma kit II.
      Platelet concentrations of both kits were measured by manual counting. For each
      group, platelet-rich plasma kit was injected twice with a one-month interval
      between injections. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis
      Index and the Visual Analog Scale were applied for clinical evaluation before the
      first injection and one, three and six months after the second injection.
      [Results] Kits I and II contained 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 platelets/ul
      respectively. In both groups, initial Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
      Osteoarthritis Index and Visual Analog Scale scores were significantly higher
      compared to the latter evaluations. However, no significant difference was
      observed between groups in terms of clinical evaluations. [Conclusion] Similar
      clinical results were found in groups receiving different platelet
      concentrations, therefore, a concentration of 1,000,000 platelet/ul is considered
      sufficient for pain relief and functional recovery.

PMID- 28603368
TI  - Comparison between stair-climbing test and six-minute walk test after lung
      resection using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy.
AB  - [Purpose] Currently, the six-minute walk distance (6MWD) is used to evaluate
      exercise capacity in people following lung resection for non-small cell lung
      cancer. However, it is unclear whether the 6MWD can detect changes in
      cardiorespiratory fitness induced by exercise training or lung resection.
      Conversely, the stair-climbing test is used frequently for the preoperative
      evaluation of lung resection candidates. It is considered a sensitive method for
      detecting changes associated with training, but is not used to evaluate exercise
      capacity after lung resection. The purpose of this study was to compare the stair
      climbing test and the six-minute walk test (6MWT) after lung resection. [Subjects
      and Methods] Fourteen patients undergoing lung resection completed the stair
      climbing test and the 6MWT preoperatively, and one month postoperatively. The
      postoperative values and the percentage change in the stair-climbing test and the
      6MWT were evaluated. [Results] The stair-climbing test results showed a
      significant deterioration at one month after lung resection; however, a
      significant change in the 6MWD was not observed. [Conclusion] When compared with
      the 6MWT, the stair-climbing test was more sensitive in detecting lung resection
      induced changes in cardiorespiratory fitness.

PMID- 28603369
TI  - Immediate effects of quick trunk movement exercise on sit-to-stand movement in
      children with spastic cerebral palsy: a pilot study.
AB  - [Purpose] This pilot study examined the immediate effects of quick-seated trunk
      exercise on sit-to-stand movement in children with cerebral palsy. [Subjects and
      Methods] Five children with spastic cerebral palsy (hemiplegia, 3; diplegia, 2;
      age 6-17 years) performed five sessions of natural-seated trunk exercise at a
      self-selected speed (control). Following a 50-min rest period, five sessions of
      the quick-seated trunk exercise were conducted (experimental intervention) for
      each child. Each seated trunk exercise included 10 repetitions in the anterior
      posterior and lateral directions. Sit-to-stand was assessed before and after each
      intervention using a motion analysis system. The total sit-to-stand task duration
      and sagittal, angular movements of the trunk, hip, knee, and ankle were
      calculated. [Results] There was a significant difference in the total duration of
      the sit-to-stand movement before and after natural-seated trunk exercise (2.40 +/
      0.67 s vs. 2.24 +/- 0.44 s) as well as quick seated trunk exercise (2.41 +/-
      0.54 s vs. 2.06 +/- 0.45 s). However, the sit-to-stand duration increased after
      natural-seated trunk exercise in one participant while that after quick-seated
      trunk exercise decreased in all participants. [Conclusion] Performing a trunk
      exercise in a seated position resulted in immediate improvement of the temporal
      sit-to-stand parameters in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

PMID- 28603370
TI  - Weight control behaviors among Koreans.
AB  - [Purpose] This study was performed to investigate the weight control behaviors
      among Koreans. [Subjects and Methods] The study is a secondary analysis. Data
      were extracted from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
      from 2010 through 2014. [Results] The weight control behaviors were exhibited by
      more than half of the participants each year. The weight control behavior that
      was most prevalent among Koreans was exercise. The types of exercise included
      walking, muscle strengthening, flexibility exercises, etc. [Conclusion] These
      findings indicate that exercise was confirmed as the preferred method for weight
      control among Koreans.

PMID- 28603371
TI  - Predictive validity of the functional independence and difficulty scale in
      community-dwelling Japanese older adults.
AB  - [Purpose] The newly developed Functional Independence and Difficulty Scale is a
      tool for assessing the performance of basic activities of daily living in terms
      of both independence and difficulty. The aim of this study was to examine the
      predictive validity of the scale for decline of instrumental activities of daily
      living ability and multiple falls during a 24-month follow-up period. [Subjects
      and Methods] One-hundred forty older adults (median age 74.0, 60% women)
      completed baseline data collection and a follow-up postal survey. At baseline,
      background variables, the Functional Independence and Difficulty Scale, and
      instrumental activities of daily living ability assessed by the five sub-items of
      Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence were recorded. At
      follow-up, data on instrumental activities of daily living ability and falls in
      the previous 12 months were obtained. [Results] Of the 140 participants, 15
      (10.7%) declined in instrumental activities of daily living ability and 14
      (10.0%) experienced multiple falls. The Functional Independence and Difficulty
      Scale at baseline independently predicted decline of instrumental activities of
      daily living ability and multiple falls. [Conclusion] The Functional Independence
      and Difficulty Scale predicts subsequent decline of instrumental activities of
      daily living ability and multiple falls.

PMID- 28603372
TI  - Effects of the cervical flexion angle during smartphone use on muscle fatigue and
      pain in the cervical erector spinae and upper trapezius in normal adults in their
      20s.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the cervical
      flexion angle on muscle fatigue and pain in the cervical erector spinae and upper
      trapezius in normal adults in their 20s. [Subjects and Methods] The study's
      subjects were 14 normal adults. After sitting on a chair with their back against
      the wall, they held a smartphone with both hands for 10 minutes and fatigue and
      pain in the neck and shoulder muscles were measured at different cervical flexion
      angles (0 degrees , 30 degrees , and 50 degrees ). Electromyography was performed
      to analyze the muscle fatigue of the right upper trapezius, left upper trapezius,
      right cervical erector spinae, and left cervical erector spinae, and a
      CommanderTM Algometer was used to measure pain. The cervical range of motion was
      used as an instrument to compare and analyze the cervical flexion angles.
      [Results] The study's results showed statistically significant differences in the
      muscle fatigue and pain of the right upper trapezius and left upper trapezius
      depending on the cervical flexion angle and a post-hoc test showed statistically
      significant lower levels of muscle fatigue and pain at 50 degrees  than at 0
      degrees  or 30 degrees . No statistically significant differences were found
      between the right cervical erector spinae and left cervical erector spinae.
      [Conclusion] The cervical flexion angle during smartphone use may influence the
      muscle fatigue and pain of the upper trapezius.

PMID- 28603373
TI  - Comparison therapeutic efficacy of underwater and overground walking training on
      the healthy subjects balancing ability.
AB  - [Purpose] This study's working hypothesis is that underwater walking training is
      beneficial for healthy subjects balance. [Subjects and Methods] Forty eight
      subjects (Underwater walking group=25, Overground walking group=23) completed the
      experiment. Healthy subjects with no orthopedic history of lower extremity
      injuries were recruited. Gait training is performed using the underwater
      treadmill consisted of 30-minute walking sessions, five times per week for four
      weeks. [Results] After the intervention, the medial-lateral and anterior
      posterior balance indices increased significantly. [Conclusion] This study
      conducted underwater walking training on the healthy subjects, with positive
      effects on balancing ability.

PMID- 28603374
TI  - The effectiveness of short-term high-intensity exercise on ventilatory function,
      in adults with a high risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - [Purpose] This study sets out to investigate whether a short-term high-intensity
      arm ergometer exercise plan can be of benefit to adults whose poor ventilatory
      function places them at risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
      [Subjects and Methods] A pre-experimental design with a convenience sample was
      employed. The study enrolled 30 adult smokers, aged between 18-25 years old, all
      of whom were at a high risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The
      participants did a daily 20-minute high-intensity arm ergometer exercise, at 75%
      target heart rate, at the same time over a period of three days. The forced vital
      capacity test manoeuvre was carried out before the sessions, and once all three
      had been done. [Results] The study demonstrated a sizeable increase in the mean
      values of forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second. The
      mean values of expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity as well as
      peak expiratory flow rate were not significant statistically. [Conclusion]
      Although further studies, using larger sampling groups, need to be carried out,
      this research demonstrates that adults at high risk of chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease improve lung function by following short-term high-intensity
      arm ergometer exercise.

PMID- 28603375
TI  - Static balance according to hip joint angle of unsupported leg during one-leg
      standing.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to determine static balance according to hip joint
      angle of the unsupported leg during one-leg standing. [Subjects and Methods]
      Subjects included 45 healthy adult males and females in their 20s. During one-leg
      standing on the non-dominant leg, the position of the unsupported leg was
      classified according to hip joint angles of point angle was class. Static balance
      was then measured using a force plate with eyes open and closed. The total
      length, sway velocity, maximum deviation, and velocity on the mediolateral and
      anteroposterior axes of center of pressure were measured. [Results] In balance
      assessment with eyes open, there were significant differences between groups
      according to hip joint angle, except for maximum deviation on the anteroposterior
      axis. In balance assessment with eyes closed, there were significant differences
      between total length measurements at 0 degrees  and 30 degrees , 60 degrees  and
      between 30 degrees  and 90 degrees . There were significant differences between
      sway velocity measurements at 0 degrees  and 30 degrees  and between 30 degrees 
      and 90 degrees . [Conclusion] Thus, there were differences in static balance
      according to hip joint angle. It is necessary to clearly identify the hip joint
      angle during one-leg standing testing.

PMID- 28603376
TI  - Effectiveness of massage therapy for shoulder pain: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - [Purpose] This study performed an effect-size analysis of massage therapy for
      shoulder pain. [Subjects and Methods] The database search was conducted using
      PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, RISS, NDSL, NANET, DBpia, and KoreaMed. The
      meta-analysis was based on 15 studies, covering a total of 635 participants, and
      used a random effects model. [Results] The effect size estimate showed that
      massage therapy had a significant effect on reducing shoulder pain for short-term
      efficacy (SMD: -1.08, 95% CI: -1.51 to -0.65) and for long-term efficacy (SMD: 
      0.47, 95% CI: -0.71 to -0.23). [Conclusion] The findings from this review suggest
      that massage therapy is effective at improving shoulder pain. However, further
      research is needed, especially a randomized controlled trial design or a large
      sample size, to provide evidence-based recommendations.

PMID- 28603377
TI  - Effect of prolonged racing on muscle activity and spatiotemporal variables:
      double-poling technique.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a 40-minute race
      on muscle activity and spatiotemporal cycle variables at four-time points during
      a 12-km roller skiing test using the double-poling technique. [Subjects and
      Methods] Five elite cross-country (XC) skiers on the Korean National reserve team
      participated in the study. Part of a biathlon course that consisted of both flat
      land and slopes was selected, and three measurements were recorded after every 4
      km lap. Spatiotemporal variables, mean frequency and mean amplitude of 6 muscles
      were the chosen computational parameters. [Results] Significant differences were
      observed in cycle time and rate. The mean frequency of the upper-body muscles
      exhibited declining trends, with statistically significant differences for the
      triceps brachii. In addition, there were significant differences in the mean
      amplitude of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius. The activity of the triceps
      brachii, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius showed some degree of dependence on
      the technique. [Conclusion] Training and race strategies that improve the
      function of elbow extensors and ankle dorsiflexors are important in XC skiing;
      the application of roller-ski training research to actual XC skiing competitions
      is needed.

PMID- 28603378
TI  - Application of extracorporeal shockwaves in the treatment of scoliosis: a case
      report.
AB  - [Purpose] In a pilot investigation, extracorporeal shockwave therapy was applied
      to patients with idiopathic scoliosis. This case report aimed to describe the
      effects of repeated extracorporeal shockwave therapy on the clinical signs of a
      patient with scoliosis due to a functional tethered cord syndrome. [Subject and
      Methods] In June 2016, a 13-year-old girl presented with a left thoracic
      curvature. Radiograph showed a left thoracic curve of 24 degrees . An angle of
      trunk rotation of 21 degrees  was measured using a scoliometer. Extracorporeal
      shockwave therapy was proposed to support conservative treatment. Five sessions
      of extracorporeal shockwave therapy were applied. Finger-floor distance and the
      angle of trunk rotation before and after each application of extracorporeal
      shockwave therapy were measured. [Results] The average finger-floor distances
      before and after extracorporeal shockwave therapy were 22.6 cm and 15.6 cm,
      respectively. The average angles of trunk rotation before and after the therapy
      were 13 degrees  and 10.2 degrees , respectively. [Conclusion] The short-term
      effect of extracorporeal shockwave therapy was revealed in this study. The neural
      structures that inhibited free mobility of the spine were mobilized. Furthermore,
      deformity was reduced by applying extracorporeal shockwave therapy.

PMID- 28603379
TI  - Effects of daily living occupational therapy and resistance exercise on the
      activities of daily living and muscular fitness in Guillain-Barre syndrome: a
      case study.
AB  - [Purpose] The study aimed to investigate the effects of daily living occupational
      therapy and resistance exercise on the performance of activities of daily living
      and muscular fitness in a patient with Guillain-Barre syndrome. [Subject and
      Methods] A 35-year-old man was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. He was
      hospitalized at A Hospital for 3 years, and was discharged from the hospital
      after he became able to execute daily life activities. After discharge, he
      performed daily occupational therapy and resistance exercise twice a week for 70
      minutes per session for 12 weeks. Performance in the activities of daily living
      was assessed using the modified Barthel index, and muscular fitness was measured
      in terms of isokinetic muscular function using the Biodes system. [Results] The
      subject's Barthel index score improved from 54 points before the intervention to
      62 points after 4 weeks, 69 points after 8 weeks, and 79 points after 12 weeks.
      In addition, his shoulder flexion and extension, knee flexion and extension, and
      lumbar flexion and extension were improved. [Conclusion] The present study
      suggests that daily living occupational therapy and resistance exercise are
      effective in improving the activities of daily living and muscular fitness in a
      patient recovering from Guillain-Barre syndrome.

PMID- 28603380
TI  - Improved functional independence measure facilitates return to home after
      paralyzed upper-limb training: a case report.
AB  - [Purpose] We report a case in which rehabilitation that targeted the paralyzed
      side's upper limb in a hemiplegic stroke patient remarkably accelerated the
      patient's ability to perform activities of daily living, improved her Functional
      Independence Measure score, and facilitated the patient's return to home.
      [Subject and Methods] We provided rehabilitation training to a female patient who
      experienced a cerebral infarction at a nursing home for the elderly and was
      admitted to the Kaifukuki recovery phase rehabilitation ward in order to improve
      her activities of daily living and return home. An intensive rehabilitation
      program incorporating occupational therapy and physical training for upper-limb
      function on the affected side was instituted over 170 days. [Results] At
      presentation, the patient had functional disorders and load-induced pain in both
      lower limbs requiring her to walk with a fixed-type walker. After the intensive
      rehabilitation program, her activities of daily living improved and she was able
      to return home. [Conclusion] This case suggests that activities of daily living
      training and simultaneous active training of upper-limb function on the affected
      side in patients with functional disorders or lower-limb pain could effectively
      improve their Functional Independence Measure scores, promote functional
      recovery, and facilitate their return to home.

PMID- 28603381
TI  - The effects of Pilates exercise on cardiopulmonary function in the chronic stroke
      patients: a randomized controlled trials.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of modified Pilates
      exercise on cardiopulmonary function in chronic stroke patients. [Subjects and
      Methods] Twenty participants (age, 62.7 +/- 7.3 years; height, 163.3 +/- 8.5 cm;
      weight, 68.8 +/- 10.3 kg) were recruited for this study, and randomly allocated
      to the modified Pilates exercise group (n=10) or the control group (n=10). Graded
      submaximal treadmill exercise test was used to examine the status of patients'
      cardiopulmonary function, based on maximal oxygen intake, at the end of a
      patient's exercise tolerance limit. [Results] The resting heart rates, maximal
      oxygen intake, and maximal oxygen intake per kilogram were significantly
      different after 8 weeks of modified Pilates exercise. In addition, these
      variables were also significantly different between the Pilates and control
      groups after 8 weeks. [Conclusion] This study has demonstrated that 8 weeks of
      modified Pilates exercise program can have a positive influence on patients with
      chronic stroke, potentially by enhancing the cardiopulmonary function, which may
      have positive implications for increasing their functional ability.

PMID- 28603382
TI  - Enhanced mechanical properties and increased corrosion resistance of a
      biodegradable magnesium alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO).
AB  - We report the enhanced mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloys by plasma
      electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coating in NaOH, Na2SiO3, KF and NaH2PO4.2H2O
      containing electrolytes. Mechanical properties including wear resistance, surface
      hardness and elastic modulus were increased for PEO-coated AZ31 Mg alloys (PEO
      AZ31). DC polarization in Hank's solution indicating that the corrosion
      resistance significantly increased for PEO-coating in KF-contained electrolyte.
      Based on these results, the PEO coating method shows promising potential for use
      in biodegradable implant applications where tunable corrosion and mechanical
      properties are needed.

PMID- 28603384
TI  - Rapid Measurement of Room Temperature Ionic Liquid Electrochemical Gas Sensor
      using Transient Double Potential Amperometry.
AB  - Intense study on gas sensors has been conducted to implement fast gas sensing
      with high sensitivity, reliability and long lifetime. This paper presents a rapid
      amperometric method for gas sensing based on a room temperature ionic liquid
      electrochemical gas sensor. To implement a miniaturized sensor with a fast
      response time, a three electrode system with gold interdigitated electrodes was
      fabricated by photolithography on a porous polytetrafluoroethylene substrate that
      greatly enhances gas diffusion. Furthermore, based on the reversible reaction of
      oxygen, a new transient double potential amperometry (DPA) was explored for
      electrochemical analysis to decrease the measurement time and reverse reaction by
      products that could cause current drift. Parameters in transient DPA including
      oxidation potential, oxidation period, reduction period and sample point were
      investigated to study their influence on the performance of the sensor. Oxygen
      measurement could be accomplished in 4 s, and the sensor presented a sensitivity
      of 0.2863 MUA/[%O2] and a linearity of 0.9943 when tested in air samples with
      different oxygen concentrations. Repeatability and long-term stability were also
      investigated, and the sensor was shown to exhibit good reliability. In comparison
      to conventional constant potential amperometry, transient DPA was shown to reduce
      relative standard deviation by 63.2%. With transient DPA, the sensitivity,
      linearity, repeatability, measurement time and current drift characteristics
      demonstrated by the presented gas sensor are promising for acute exposure
      applications.

PMID- 28603383
TI  - Foreign language reading and spelling in gifted students with dyslexia in
      secondary education.
AB  - A few studies suggest that gifted children with dyslexia have better literacy
      skills than averagely intelligent children with dyslexia. This finding aligns
      with the hypothesis that giftedness-related factors provide compensation for poor
      reading. The present study investigated whether, as in the native language (NL),
      the level of foreign language (FL) literacy of gifted students with dyslexia is
      higher than the literacy level of averagely intelligent students with dyslexia
      and whether this difference can be accounted for by the difference in their NL
      literacy level. The sample consisted of 148 Dutch native speaking secondary
      school students divided in four groups: dyslexia, gifted/dyslexia, typically
      developing (TD), and gifted. All students were assessed on word reading and
      orthographic knowledge in Dutch and English when they were in 7th or 8th grade. A
      subsample (n = 71) was (re)assessed on Dutch, English, French, and German
      literacy one year later. Results showed that Dutch gifted students with dyslexia
      have higher NL literacy levels than averagely intelligent students with dyslexia.
      As in the NL, a stepwise pattern of group differences was found for English word
      reading and spelling, i.e., dyslexia < gifted/dyslexia < TD < gifted. However, it
      was not found for French and German literacy performance. These results point
      towards compensation: the higher English literacy levels of gifted/dyslexic
      students compared to their averagely intelligent dyslexic peers result from
      mechanisms that are unique to English as a FL. Differences in results between FLs
      are discussed in terms of variation in orthographic transparency and exposure.

PMID- 28603385
TI  - Predictability of anthropomorphic measurements in implant selection for breast
      reconstruction: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative implant planning for breast reconstruction is often at
      risk of being changed perioperatively. This study examined which factors are
      associated with a change of implant selection. METHODS: Women who had unilateral
      two-stage breast reconstruction between 2002 and 2007 were studied. Inclusion
      criteria were photographic evidence of preoperative skin markings indicating
      breast dimensions and a selected implant model. Multivariable logistic regression
      was used to identify variables associated with a changed selection. RESULTS:
      Among the 496 women studied, 308 preoperative implant choices (62.1%) were
      changed during surgery. A change in plan was significantly associated with
      symmetrization surgery involving contralateral reduction mammaplasty (OR = 1.92;
      95% CI, 1.12 to 3.29) and contralateral mastopexy (OR = 2.26; 95% CI, 1.29 to
      3.96), but not with BMI. The required implant width changed more than 0.5 cm in
      70 cases (14.1%) while height changed more than 0.5 cm in 215 cases (43.2%). The
      likelihood of a change was high for large preoperative widths (OR = 9.66 for 15.5
      cm) and small preoperative heights (OR = 2.97 for 10.5 cm). At a mean follow-up
      of 16.6 months, patient satisfaction was good or average in 92.1% of cases and
      5.9% of implants had been replaced with another model, indicating that the
      perioperative implant selection was usually appropriate. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      documents the frequency with which implant choices, despite accurate preoperative
      planning, are changed perioperatively as a result of relatively small differences
      in anthropomorphic measurements. Perioperative recalculation of breast dimensions
      may have an advantage in terms of patient reoperation rates. Changes in width
      were less frequent than changes in height and projection. Contralateral surgery,
      large width, and small height were the most influential factors. Level of
      Evidence: Level IV, risk / prognostic study.

PMID- 28603386
TI  - Quality of life improves early after gender reassignment surgery in transgender
      women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the long-term quality of life (QoL) of
      individuals with gender dysphoria, or how it is affected by treatment. Our aim
      was to examine the QoL of transgender women undergoing gender reassignment
      surgery (GRS). METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study on 190 patients
      undergoing male-to-female GRS at Karolinska University Hospital between 2003 and
      2015. We used the Swedish version of the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36),
      which measures QoL across eight domains. The questionnaire was distributed to
      patients pre-operatively, as well as 1, 3, and 5 years post-operatively. The
      results were compared between the different measure points, as well as between
      the study group and the general population. RESULTS: On most dimensions of the SF
      36 questionnaire, transgender women reported a lower QoL than the general
      population. The scores of SF-36 showed a non-significant trend to be lower 5
      years post-GRS compared to pre-operatively, a decline consistent with that of the
      general population. Self-perceived health compared to 1 year previously rose in
      the first post-operative year, after which it declined. CONCLUSIONS: To our
      knowledge, this is the largest prospective study to follow a group of transgender
      patients with regards to QoL over continuous temporal measure points. Our results
      show that transgender women generally have a lower QoL compared to the general
      population. GRS leads to an improvement in general well-being as a trend but over
      the long-term, QoL decreases slightly in line with that of the comparison group.
      Level of evidence: Level III, therapeutic study.

PMID- 28603388
TI  - Anonymizing 1:M microdata with high utility.
AB  - Preserving privacy and utility during data publishing and data mining is
      essential for individuals, data providers and researchers. However, studies in
      this area typically assume that one individual has only one record in a dataset,
      which is unrealistic in many applications. Having multiple records for an
      individual leads to new privacy leakages. We call such a dataset a 1:M dataset.
      In this paper, we propose a novel privacy model called (k, l)-diversity that
      addresses disclosure risks in 1:M data publishing. Based on this model, we
      develop an efficient algorithm named 1:M-Generalization to preserve privacy and
      data utility, and compare it with alternative approaches. Extensive experiments
      on real-world data show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art
      technique, in terms of data utility and computational cost.

PMID- 28603387
TI  - An unusual pre-ligamentous thenar motor branch of the median nerve.
AB  - : The pre-ligamentous variant of the thenar motor branch (TMB) of the median
      nerve is extremely rare. In all previously reported cases, the branch arose from
      the radial or antero-radial aspect of the median nerve in the distal forearm and
      then pierced the antebrachial fascia to reach the thenar muscles. We report on a
      case in which the pre-ligamentous TMB not only arose from the ulnar side of the
      median nerve but it also remained deep to both the antebrachial fascia and the
      transverse carpal ligament until it reached the thenar muscles. The course of
      this variant puts the TMB at significant risk of injury during both open and
      endoscopic carpal tunnel release. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, risk study.

PMID- 28603390
TI  - How the RCOphth CPD system works.

PMID- 28603389
TI  - Why should we continue to learn?

PMID- 28603391
TI  - Keeping my professional development continuous.

PMID- 28603392
TI  - How to figure out what CPD/CME you need.

PMID- 28603393
TI  - How to 'do' CPD with your team (from the organisation's perspective).

PMID- 28603394
TI  - What do you need to know to set up CPD as a professional body?

PMID- 28603395
TI  - HEAD START - an innovative training approach for life-long learning.

PMID- 28603396
TI  - Accessing good health information and resources.

PMID- 28603397
TI  - Spatiotemporal trends in teen birth rates in the USA, 2003-2012.
AB  - The objective of this analysis was to explore temporal and spatial variation in
      teen birth rates TBRs across counties in the USA, from 2003 to 2012, by using
      hierarchical Bayesian models. Prior examination of spatiotemporal variation in
      TBRs has been limited by the reliance on large-scale geographies such as states,
      because of the potential instability in TBRs at smaller geographical scales such
      as counties. We implemented hierarchical Bayesian models with space-time
      interaction terms and spatially structured and unstructured random effects to
      produce smoothed county level TBR estimates, allowing for examination of
      spatiotemporal patterns and trends in TBRs at a smaller geographic scale across
      the USA. The results may help to highlight US counties where TBRs are higher or
      lower and to inform efforts to reduce birth rates to adolescents in the USA
      further.

PMID- 28603398
TI  - Role of NG2 proteoglycan in macrophage recruitment to brain tumors and sites of
      CNS demyelination.
AB  - Macrophage infiltration is a factor in most if not all inflammatory pathologies.
      Understanding molecular interactions that underlie this process is therefore
      important for our ability to modulate macrophage behavior for therapeutic
      purposes. Our studies show that cell surface expression of the nerveglial antigen
      2 (NG2) proteoglycan is important for the ability of macrophages to colonize both
      brain tumors and sites of central nervous system (CNS) demyelination. Myeloid
      specific ablation of NG2 using LysM-Cre deleter mice results in large decreases
      in macrophage abundance in both an intracranial melanoma model and a lysolecithin
      model of spinal cord demyelination. In the melanoma model, decreased macrophage
      recruitment in the NG2 null mice leads to diminished tumor growth. In line with
      observations in the literature, this phenomenon is based in part on deficits in
      tumor vascularization that result from loss of pericyte interaction with
      endothelial cells in the absence of a macrophage-derived factor(s). In the
      demyelination model, decreased macrophage infiltration in the NG2 null mice is
      associated with an initial reduction in lesion size, but nevertheless also with
      deficits in repair of the lesion. Diminished myelin repair is due not only to
      reduced clearance of myelin debris, but also to decreased
      proliferation/recruitment of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the absence of a
      macrophage-derived factor(s). Thus, in both models macrophages have secondary
      effects on other cell types that are important for progression of the specific
      pathology. Efforts are underway to identify mechanisms by which NG2 influences
      macrophage recruitment and by which macrophages signal to other cell types
      involved in the pathologies.

PMID- 28603399
TI  - On the least signless Laplacian eigenvalue of a non-bipartite connected graph
      with fixed maximum degree.
AB  - In this paper, we determine the unique graph whose least signless Laplacian
      eigenvalue attains the minimum among all non-bipartite unicyclic graphs of order
      n with maximum degree Delta and among all non-bipartite connected graphs of order
      n with maximum degree Delta, respectively.

PMID- 28603400
TI  - Generalizations of some fractional integral inequalities via generalized Mittag
      Leffler function.
AB  - Fractional inequalities are useful in establishing the uniqueness of solution for
      partial differential equations of fractional order. Also they provide upper and
      lower bounds for solutions of fractional boundary value problems. In this paper
      we obtain some general integral inequalities containing generalized Mittag
      Leffler function and some already known integral inequalities have been produced
      as special cases.

PMID- 28603401
TI  - Szasz-Durrmeyer operators involving Boas-Buck polynomials of blending type.
AB  - The present paper introduces the Szasz-Durrmeyer type operators based on Boas
      Buck type polynomials which include Brenke type polynomials, Sheffer polynomials
      and Appell polynomials considered by Sucu et al. (Abstr. Appl. Anal. 2012:680340,
      2012). We establish the moments of the operator and a Voronvskaja type asymptotic
      theorem and then proceed to studying the convergence of the operators with the
      help of Lipschitz type space and weighted modulus of continuity. Next, we obtain
      a direct approximation theorem with the aid of unified Ditzian-Totik modulus of
      smoothness. Furthermore, we study the approximation of functions whose
      derivatives are locally of bounded variation.

PMID- 28603402
TI  - Hidden Parameter Markov Decision Processes: A Semiparametric Regression Approach
      for Discovering Latent Task Parametrizations.
AB  - Control applications often feature tasks with similar, but not identical,
      dynamics. We introduce the Hidden Parameter Markov Decision Process (HiP-MDP), a
      framework that parametrizes a family of related dynamical systems with a low
      dimensional set of latent factors, and introduce a semiparametric regression
      approach for learning its structure from data. We show that a learned HiP-MDP
      rapidly identifies the dynamics of new task instances in several settings,
      flexibly adapting to task variation.

PMID- 28603403
TI  - Housing and abstinence self-efficacy in formerly incarcerated individuals.
AB  - To avoid recidivism, formerly-incarcerated individuals must successfully navigate
      barriers to re-entry, including finding adequate housing and avoiding substance
      use. This study examined the role that time in diverse housing situations affect
      abstinence self-efficacy in formerly-incarcerated individuals. Formerly
      incarcerated individuals were surveyed about previous housing situations and
      abstinence self-efficacy after release from prison or inpatient substance use
      treatment. Models were estimated with both days spent in different housing
      situations in the past 180 and past 30 days. More time spent in recovery
      situations was associated with increased abstinence self-efficacy, while more
      time spent in precarious situations was associated with decreased abstinence self
      efficacy.

PMID- 28603404
TI  - Single image super-resolution via an iterative reproducing kernel Hilbert space
      method.
AB  - Image super-resolution, a process to enhance image resolution, has important
      applications in satellite imaging, high definition television, medical imaging,
      etc. Many existing approaches use multiple low-resolution images to recover one
      high-resolution image. In this paper, we present an iterative scheme to solve
      single image super-resolution problems. It recovers a high quality high
      resolution image from solely one low-resolution image without using a training
      data set. We solve the problem from image intensity function estimation
      perspective and assume the image contains smooth and edge components. We model
      the smooth components of an image using a thin-plate reproducing kernel Hilbert
      space (RKHS) and the edges using approximated Heaviside functions. The proposed
      method is applied to image patches, aiming to reduce computation and storage.
      Visual and quantitative comparisons with some competitive approaches show the
      effectiveness of the proposed method.

PMID- 28603405
TI  - Bacon Brains: Video Games for Teaching the Science of Addiction.
AB  - Researchers have developed many different computerized interventions designed to
      teach students about the dangers of substance use. Following in this tradition,
      we produced a series of video games called Bacon Brains. However, unlike many
      other programs, ours focused on the "Science of Addiction," providing lessons on
      how alcohol and other drugs affect the brain. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the effectiveness of our games in teaching students our science-based
      curriculum. We enrolled over 200 students and randomly assigned them to play our
      games or a different series of NIDA-produced games. Of the students in the Bacon
      Brains conditions, half were instructed to play collaboratively and the other
      half was told to play competitively. Results indicate significantly greater
      knowledge gains among students in Bacon Brains compared to the existing games
      (5.01 mean knowledge score difference; [F(1,242)=9.588, p=.002]). Girls
      demonstrated knowledge gains in both collaborative and competitive conditions,
      but boys demonstrated similar gains only in the competitive condition. Based on
      our outcomes, we conclude that video games can serve as an effective method of
      science instruction. We further discuss the importance of considering gender
      differences in light of differential response to collaborative vs. competitive
      learning environments.

PMID- 28603406
TI  - Gender Differences in Patterns of Substance Use and Delinquency: A Latent
      Transition Analysis.
AB  - This study explores gender-specific patterns and transitions of adolescent
      substance use and delinquency in a sample of youths at ages 12, 15, and 18 (N =
      803). Latent transition analysis identified "Primary Delinquent," "Delinquency
      and Substance Use," and "Low Risk" classes. Females were less likely to be in the
      "Primary Delinquent" class at age 12 than males. From 15 to 18, females were
      approximately equally likely to transition from "Primary Delinquent" to both
      other classes, whereas males were more likely to transition from "Primary
      Delinquent" to "Delinquency and Substance Use." These gender differences in
      behavior can inform services.

PMID- 28603407
TI  - Simultaneous Tumor Segmentation, Image Restoration, and Blur Kernel Estimation in
      PET Using Multiple Regularizations.
AB  - Accurate tumor segmentation from PET images is crucial in many radiation oncology
      applications. Among others, partial volume effect (PVE) is recognized as one of
      the most important factors degrading imaging quality and segmentation accuracy in
      PET. Taking into account that image restoration and tumor segmentation are
      tightly coupled and can promote each other, we proposed a variational method to
      solve both problems simultaneously in this study. The proposed method integrated
      total variation (TV) semi-blind de-convolution and Mumford-Shah segmentation with
      multiple regularizations. Unlike many existing energy minimization methods using
      either TV or L2 regularization, the proposed method employed TV regularization
      over tumor edges to preserve edge information, and L2 regularization inside tumor
      regions to preserve the smooth change of the metabolic uptake in a PET image. The
      blur kernel was modeled as anisotropic Gaussian to address the resolution
      difference in transverse and axial directions commonly seen in a clinic PET
      scanner. The energy functional was rephrased using the Gamma-convergence
      approximation and was iteratively optimized using the alternating minimization
      (AM) algorithm. The performance of the proposed method was validated on a
      physical phantom and two clinic datasets with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and
      esophageal cancer, respectively. Experimental results demonstrated that the
      proposed method had high performance for simultaneous image restoration, tumor
      segmentation and scanner blur kernel estimation. Particularly, the recovery
      coefficients (RC) of the restored images of the proposed method in the phantom
      study were close to 1, indicating an efficient recovery of the original blurred
      images; for segmentation the proposed method achieved average dice similarity
      indexes (DSIs) of 0.79 and 0.80 for two clinic datasets, respectively; and the
      relative errors of the estimated blur kernel widths were less than 19% in the
      transversal direction and 7% in the axial direction.

PMID- 28603408
TI  - Efficacy of nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% in improving clinical outcomes
      following cataract surgery in patients with diabetes: an analysis of two
      randomized studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of nepafenac 0.1% ophthalmic suspension in
      improving the clinical outcomes following cataract surgery (CS) in patients with
      nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: In two similar multicenter,
      randomized studies, patients received either nepafenac 0.1% or vehicle, instilled
      three times daily starting a day prior to surgery and continuing for 90 days
      postoperatively. A post hoc analysis of these two studies was conducted to assess
      1) the likelihood for development of postoperative macular edema (ME), based on
      the percentage of patients who developed ME (>=30% increase from preoperative
      baseline in central subfield macular thickness) within 90 days following CS and
      2) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) endpoints, including the percentage of
      patients with a BCVA improvement of >=15 letters from preoperative baseline to
      Day 14 and maintained through Day 90. Results for individual studies and their
      pooled estimates (only visual acuity endpoints) are reported. Primary inference
      was based on odds ratio (OR). RESULTS: This post hoc analysis included 411
      patients (nepafenac 0.1%: 205; vehicle: 206). The incidence of postoperative ME
      within 90 days of CS was notably lower in the nepafenac-treated patients than in
      vehicle-treated patients (study 1: 3.2% vs 16.7%; OR =0.2, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] =0.1, 0.5, P=0.001; study 2: 5.0% vs 17.5%; OR =0.2, 95% CI =0.1,
      0.8, P=0.018). A higher percentage of nepafenac-treated patients than vehicle
      treated patients gained >=15 letters from preoperative baseline to Day 14, which
      was maintained through Day 90 (study 1: 38.4% vs 21.4%; OR =2.4, 95% CI =1.4,
      4.2, P=0.003; study 2: 35.0% vs 25.0%; OR =1.6, 95% CI =0.8, 3.2, P=0.172;
      pooled: 37.1% vs 22.8%; OR =2.0, 95% CI =1.3, 3.1, P=0.001). The odds of >5
      letter and >10-letter loss in BCVA from postoperative Day 7 were higher in
      vehicle-treated than in nepafenac-treated patients. CONCLUSION: These results
      support the clinical benefit of prophylactic use of nepafenac 0.1% for reducing
      the risk of postoperative ME and for improvement in BCVA outcomes following CS in
      patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 28603409
TI  - Association between butyrylcholinesterase K variant and mild cognitive impairment
      in the Thai community-dwelling patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the association of the butyrylcholinesterase K variant (BChE
      K) and the plasma BChE activity with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Thai
      community-dwelling patients. METHODS: One hundred patients diagnosed with MCI and
      100 control subjects were recruited from the community-dwelling setting in
      Bangkok, Thailand. The genotype and allele distributions of the BChE-K were
      determined by polymerase chain reaction and subsequent DNA sequencing. The BChE
      activity was measured in plasma according to the Ellman's method. RESULTS: The
      BChE-K allele frequencies in the Thai community-dwelling patients were in
      accordance with other ethnics. The BChE-K allele frequency in the control
      subjects (12%) was higher than that of MCI patients (5.5%), suggesting a
      protective role of BChE-K for MCI in the Thai community-dwelling patients. The
      BChE-K homozygotes were significantly associated with lower BChE activity.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that the BChE-K may be implicated as a
      protective factor for MCI in the Thai community-dwelling patients, although a
      further study with a large sample size is warranted to confirm this.

PMID- 28603410
TI  - Full-thickness macular hole formation following anti-VEGF injections for
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: Macular hole (MH) is part of a group of age-related degenerative
      diseases characterized by pathology of vitreomacular interface. Similarly,
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) affects older patients and is
      a leading cause of irreversible visual loss. The purpose of this case series is
      to describe the development of full-thickness MH in patients with nAMD, following
      antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment. METHODS:
      Participants in this case series were four patients with nAMD, who received anti
      VEGF injections with variable therapeutic response to treatment. Patients were
      examined at baseline (when AMD was diagnosed) and monthly thereafter. The
      examination included visual acuity measurement, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, and
      optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: All patients were found to develop full
      thickness MH within 1-4 months after the last anti-VEGF injection, even in the
      absence of pre-existing vitreomacular interface abnormalities in some cases. The
      median number of injections before the MH formation was 3. CONCLUSION: MH
      formation may represent an adverse effect of anti-VEGF treatment in patients with
      nAMD and could be also coexisting pathology with nAMD in older individuals.

PMID- 28603411
TI  - Effect of small-dose levosimendan on mortality rates and organ functions in
      Chinese elderly patients with sepsis.
AB  - AIM: As a primary cause of death not only in Western countries but also in the
      People's Republic of China, sepsis is diagnosed as abnormal organ functions as a
      result of a disordered response to a severe infection. This study was designed to
      assess the effect of small-dose levosimendan without a loading dose on mortality
      rates and organ functions in Chinese elderly patients with sepsis. METHODS:
      Following a prospective, randomized, and double-blinded design, 240 Chinese
      elderly patients with sepsis shock were admitted to the intensive care unit
      (ICU). All patients were randomly and evenly assigned into a levosimendan group
      (number of patients =120) and a control group (number of patients =120). The
      control group underwent standard care, and the levosimendan group was
      administered levosimendan in addition to standard care. RESULTS: All
      participants, comprising 134 males (55.8%) and 106 females (44.2%), were 70 (67
      73) years old. Baseline characteristics, preexisting illnesses, initial
      infections, organ failures, and additional agents and therapies showed no
      significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05 for all). There were no
      significant differences in mortality rates at 28 days, at ICU discharge, and at
      hospital discharge between the two groups (P>0.05 for all). The number of days of
      ICU and hospital stay in the levosimendan group was significantly less than for
      those in the control group (P<0.05 for all). Mean daily total sequential organ
      failure assessment score and all organ scores except the cardiovascular scores
      showed no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05 for all).
      Cardiovascular scores in the levosimendan group were significantly higher than
      those in the control group (P<0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: Small-dose levosimendan
      could not reduce the mortality rates or enhance the respiratory, liver, renal,
      and coagulation functions, but could shorten the days of ICU and hospital stay,
      and improve the cardiovascular function, which suggests that small-dose
      levosimendan is valuable for Chinese elderly patients with sepsis.

PMID- 28603412
TI  - In vitro dose comparison of Respimat(r) inhaler with dry powder inhalers for COPD
      maintenance therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Combining in vitro mouth-throat deposition measurements, cascade
      impactor data and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, four different
      inhalers were compared which are indicated for chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD) treatment. METHODS: The Respimat inhaler, the Breezhaler, the
      Genuair, and the Ellipta were coupled to the idealized Alberta throat model. The
      modeled dose to the lung (mDTL) was collected downstream of the Alberta throat
      model using either a filter or a next generation impactor (NGI). Idealized
      breathing patterns from COPD patient groups - moderate and very severe COPD -
      were applied. Theoretical lung deposition patterns were assessed by an individual
      path model. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: For the Respimat the mDTL was found to be 59%
      (SD 5%) for the moderate COPD breathing pattern and 67% (SD 5%) for very severe
      COPD breathing pattern. The percentages refer to nominal dose (ND) in vitro. This
      is in the range of 44%-63% in vivo in COPD patients who display large individual
      variability. Breezhaler showed a mDTL of 43% (SD 2%) for moderate disease
      simulation and 51% (SD 2%) for very severe simulation. The corresponding results
      for Genuair are mDTL of 32% (SD 2%) for moderate and 42% (SD 1%) for very severe
      disease. Ellipta vilanterol particles showed a mDTL of 49% (SD 3%) for moderate
      and 55% (SD 2%) for very severe disease simulation, and Ellipta fluticasone
      particles showed a mDTL of 33% (SD 3%) and 41% (SD 2%), respectively for the two
      breathing patterns. Based on the throat output and average flows of the different
      inhalers, CFD simulations were performed. Laminar and turbulent steady flow
      calculations indicated that deposition occurs mainly in the small airways. In
      summary, Respimat showed the lowest amount of particles depositing in the mouth
      throat model and the highest amount reaching all regions of the simulation lung
      model.

PMID- 28603413
TI  - Identifying the heterogeneity of COPD by V/P SPECT: a new tool for improving the
      diagnosis of parenchymal defects and grading the severity of small airways
      disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Airway obstruction and possible concomitant pulmonary diseases in
      COPD cannot be identified conventionally with any single diagnostic tool. We
      aimed to diagnose and grade COPD severity and identify pulmonary comorbidities
      associated with COPD with ventilation/perfusion single-photon emission computed
      tomography (V/P SPECT) using Technegas as the functional ventilation imaging
      agent. METHODS: 94 COPD patients (aged 43-86 years, Global Initiative for Chronic
      Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages I-IV) were examined with V/P SPECT and
      spirometry. Ventilation and perfusion defects were analyzed blindly according to
      the European guidelines. Penetration grade of Technegas in V SPECT measured the
      degree of obstructive small airways disease. Total preserved lung function and
      penetration grade of Technegas in V SPECT were assessed by V/P SPECT and compared
      to GOLD stages and spirometry. RESULTS: Signs of small airway obstruction in the
      ventilation SPECT images were found in 92 patients. Emphysema was identified in
      81 patients. Two patients had no signs of COPD, but both of them had a pulmonary
      embolism, and in one of them we also suspected a lung tumor. The penetration
      grade of Technegas in V SPECT and total preserved lung function correlated
      significantly to GOLD stages (r=0.63 and -0.60, respectively, P<0.0001). V/P
      SPECT identified pulmonary embolism in 30 patients (32%). A pattern typical for
      heart failure was present in 26 patients (28%). Parenchymal changes typical for
      pneumonia or lung tumor were present in several cases. CONCLUSION: V/P SPECT,
      using Technegas as the functional ventilation imaging agent, is a new tool to
      diagnose COPD and to grade its severity. Additionally, it revealed heterogeneity
      of COPD caused by pulmonary comorbidities. The characteristics of these
      comorbidities suggest their significant impact in clarifying symptoms, and also
      their influence on the prognosis.

PMID- 28603414
TI  - Iron oxide nanoparticles and induced autophagy in human monocytes.
AB  - Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been widely used in biomedical
      applications, but understanding of their interactions with the biological immune
      system is relatively limited. This work is focused on dextran-coated iron oxide
      nanoparticles and their induced autophagy in human monocytes. We found that these
      nanoparticles can be taken up by human monocytes, followed by localization within
      vesicles or free in cytoplasm. Autophagosome formation was observed with
      increased expression of LC3II protein, the specific marker of autophagy. The
      autophagy substrate p62 was degraded in a dose-dependent manner, and autophagy
      was blocked by autophagy (or lysosome) inhibitors alone or along with iron oxide
      nanoparticles, indicating that autophagosome accumulation was mainly due to
      autophagy induction, rather than blockade of autophagy flux. Interestingly, iron
      oxide nanoparticles increased the viability of human monocytes, but the mechanism
      was not clear. We further found that inhibition of autophagy mostly attenuated
      the survival of cells, with acceleration of the inflammation induced by these
      nanoparticles. Taken together, autophagic activation in human monocytes may play
      a protective role against the cytotoxicity of iron oxide nanoparticles.

PMID- 28603415
TI  - Electroactive BaTiO3 nanoparticle-functionalized fibrous scaffolds enhance
      osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - It has been proven that the surface topographic cues of fiber arrangement can
      induce osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. However, this effect
      alone is weak and insufficient to meet the needs of regenerative medicine. In
      this work, electroactivity concept was introduced to enhance the osteoinductivity
      of fibrous scaffolds. The randomly oriented and aligned electroactive fibrous
      scaffolds of poly-(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) with incorporation of ferroelectric
      ceramic BaTiO3 (BTO) nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated by electrospinning.
      Physicochemical properties, including fiber morphology, microstructure,
      composition, thermal stability, surface roughness, and surface wettability, of
      these fibrous scaffolds were studied. The dielectric properties of the scaffolds
      were evaluated. The results showed that the randomly oriented BTO/PLLA composite
      fibrous scaffolds had the highest dielectric permittivity of 1.19, which is of
      the same order of magnitude as the natural bone. The combined effects of fiber
      orientation and electrical activity on the osteogenic responses of bone marrow
      mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) were specifically investigated. Randomly
      oriented composite fibrous scaffolds significantly promoted polygonal spreading
      and encouraged early osteogenic differentiation in BM-MSCs, whereas aligned
      composite fibrous scaffolds promoted cell elongation and discouraged osteogenic
      differentiation. These results evidenced that randomly fiber orientation and
      biomimetic electric activity have combining effects on osteogenic differentiation
      of BM-MSCs. Our findings indicate that coupling effects of multi-physical
      properties should be paid more attention to mimic the microenvironment for
      enhancing osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs.

PMID- 28603416
TI  - Successful in vivo hyperthermal therapy toward breast cancer by Chinese medicine
      shikonin-loaded thermosensitive micelle.
AB  - The Chinese traditional medicine Shikonin is an ideal drug due to its multiple
      targets to tumor cells. But in clinics, improving its aqueous solubility and
      tumor accumulation is still a challenge. Herein, a copolymer with tunable poly(N
      isopropylacrymaide) and polylactic acid block lengths is designed, synthesized,
      and characterized in nuclear magnetic resonance. The corresponding
      thermosensitive nanomicelle (TN) with well-defined core-shell structure is then
      assembled in an aqueous solution. For promoting the therapeutic index, the
      physical-chemistry properties of TNs including narrow size, low critical micellar
      concentration, high serum stability, tunable volume phase transition temperature
      (VPTT), high drug-loading capacity, and temperature-controlled drug release are
      systematically investigated and regulated through the fine self-assembly. The
      shikonin is then entrapped in a degradable inner core resulting in a shikonin
      loaded thermosensitive nanomicelle (STN) with a VPTT of ~40 degrees C. Compared
      with small-molecular shikonin, the in vitro cellular internalization and
      cytotoxicity of STN against breast cancer cells (Michigan Cancer Foundation-7)
      are obviously enhanced. In addition, the therapeutic effect is further enhanced
      by the programmed cell death (PCD) specifically evoked by shikonin.
      Interestingly, both the proliferation inhibition and PCD are synergistically
      promoted as T > VPTT, namely the temperature-regulated passive targeting.
      Consequently, as intravenous injection is administered to the BALB/c nude mice
      bearing breast cancer, the intratumor accumulation of STNs is significantly
      increased as T > VPTT, which is regulated by the in-house developed heating
      device. The in vivo antitumor assays against breast cancer further confirm the
      synergistically enhanced therapeutic efficiency. The findings of this study
      indicate that STN is a potential effective nanoformulation in clinical cancer
      therapy.

PMID- 28603417
TI  - Glucose- and temperature-sensitive nanoparticles for insulin delivery.
AB  - Glucose- and temperature-sensitive polymers of a phenylboronic acid derivative
      and diethylene glycol dimethacrylate (poly(3-acrylamidophenyl boronic acid-b
      diethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate); p(AAPBA-b-DEGMA)) were prepared by
      reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. Successful
      polymerization was evidenced by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared
      spectroscopy, and the polymers were further explored in terms of their glass
      transition temperatures and by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The materials
      were found to be temperature sensitive, with lower critical solution temperatures
      in the region of 12 degrees C-47 degrees C depending on the monomer ratio used
      for reaction. The polymers could be self-assembled into nanoparticles (NPs), and
      the zeta potential and size of these particles were determined as a function of
      temperature and glucose concentration. Subsequently, the optimum NP formulation
      was loaded with insulin, and the drug release was studied. We found that insulin
      was easily encapsulated into the p(AAPBA-b-DEGMA) NPs, with a loading capacity of
      ~15% and encapsulation efficiency of ~70%. Insulin release could be regulated by
      changes in temperature and glucose concentration. Furthermore, the NPs were non
      toxic both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, the efficacy of the formulations at
      managing blood glucose levels in a murine hyperglycemic diabetes model was
      studied. The insulin-loaded NPs could reduce blood glucose levels over an
      extended period of 48 h. Since they are both temperature and glucose sensitive
      and offer a sustained-release profile, these systems may comprise potent new
      formulations for insulin delivery.

PMID- 28603418
TI  - Vesicular melatonin efficiently downregulates sodium fluoride-induced rat hepato-
      and broncho-TNF-alpha, TGF-beta expressions, and associated oxidative injury: a
      comparative study of liposomal and nanoencapsulated forms.
AB  - The importance of fluoride as a natural and industrial toxicant is recognized
      worldwide. We evaluated the regulating role and biological effect of vesicular
      (liposomal and nanoencapsulated) melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) for
      drug delivery and controlled release on the depletion of inflammatory mediators,
      as well as oxidative damage in sodium fluoride (NaF)-treated lungs and liver.
      Hepatic and bronchial damage was induced in Swiss albino rats with a single acute
      ingestion of NaF (48 mg/kg body weight, oral gavage). NaF exposure caused the
      generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS); upregulation of TNF-alpha and TGF
      beta; decreased activities of antioxidant systems (glutathione, glutathione-S
      transferase, superoxide dismutase, catalase), succinate dehydrogenase, membrane
      microviscosity, and membrane potential; increased activity of lipid peroxidation
      and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydride oxidase; and increased hepatic and
      nephrite toxicities (P<0.001) compared to those in normal animals. Charge (
      ve/+ve)-specific single liposomal (dicetyl phosphate/stearylamine) and
      nanoencapsulated melatonin (4.46 mg/kg body weight, intravenous) treatments (2
      hours after NaF exposure) significantly (P<0.01/0.001) and maximally (P<0.001)
      inhibited all alterations developed in NaF-mediated oxidative injuries in rat
      liver (+ve) and lungs (-ve), demonstrating their strong free radical scavenging,
      antioxidant and antigenotoxic properties, and vesicular efficiencies of
      targeting. Overall, these results suggest that nanoencapsulated melatonin might
      be considered as a more powerful remedial therapy in comparison to liposomes, in
      terms of its efficacy in regulating NaF-intoxicated oxidative injury.

PMID- 28603419
TI  - In situ preparation of water-soluble ginsenoside Rh2-entrapped bovine serum
      albumin nanoparticles: in vitro cytocompatibility studies.
AB  - The present study investigates a simple and convenient one-step procedure for the
      preparation of bovine serum albumin (BSA)-Rh2 nanoparticles (NPs) at room
      temperature. In this work, ginsenoside Rh2 was entrapped within the BSA protein
      to form BSA-Rh2 NPs to enhance the aqueous solubility, stability, and therapeutic
      efficacy of Rh2. The physiochemical characterization by high-performance liquid
      chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy, field emission transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light
      scattering, and thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that the prepared BSA-Rh2
      NPs were spherical, highly monodispersed, and stable in aqueous systems. In
      addition, the stability of NPs in terms of different time intervals, pHs, and
      temperatures (20 degrees C-700 degrees C) was analyzed. The results obtained with
      different pHs showed that the synthesized BSA-Rh2 NPs were stable in the
      physiological buffer (pH 7.4) for up to 8 days, but degraded under acidic
      conditions (pH 5.0) representing the pH inside tumor cells. Furthermore,
      comparative analysis of the water solubility of BSA-Rh2 NPs and standard Rh2
      showed that the BSA nanocarrier enhanced the water solubility of Rh2. Moreover,
      in vitro cytotoxicity assays including cell viability assays and morphological
      analyses revealed that Rh2-entrapped BSA NPs, unlike the free Rh2, demonstrated
      better in vitro cell viability in HaCaT skin cell lines and that BSA enhanced the
      anticancer effect of Rh2 in A549 lung cell and HT29 colon cancer cell lines.
      Additionally, anti-inflammatory assay of BSA-Rh2 NPs and standard Rh2 performed
      using RAW264.7 cells revealed decreased lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide
      production by BSA-Rh2 NPs. Collectively, the present study suggests that BSA can
      significantly enhance the therapeutic behavior of Rh2 by improving its solubility
      and stability in aqueous systems, and hence, BSA-Rh2 NPs may potentially be used
      as a ginsenoside delivery vehicle in cancer and inflammatory cell lines.

PMID- 28603420
TI  - Development of a Body Image Concern Scale using both exploratory and confirmatory
      factor analyses in Chinese university students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The body dysmorphic disorder is prevalent in general population and
      in psychiatric, dermatological, and plastic-surgery patients, but there lacks a
      structure-validated, comprehensive self-report measure of body image concerns,
      which is established through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.
      METHODS: We have composed a 34-item matrix targeting the body image concerns and
      trialed it in 328 male and 365 female Chinese university students. Answers to the
      matrix dealt with treatments including exploratory factor analyses, reserve of
      qualified items, and confirmatory factor analyses of latent structures. RESULTS:
      Six latent factors, namely the Social Avoidance, Appearance Dissatisfaction,
      Preoccupation with Reassurance, Perceived Distress/Discrimination, Defect Hiding,
      and Embarrassment in Public, were identified. The factors and their respective
      items have composed a 24-item questionnaire named as the Body Image Concern
      Scale. Each factor earned a satisfactory internal reliability, and the
      intercorrelations between these factors were in a median level. Women scored
      significantly higher than men did on the Appearance Dissatisfaction,
      Preoccupation with Reassurance, and Defect Hiding. CONCLUSION: The Body Image
      Concern Scale has displayed its structure validation and gender preponderance in
      Chinese university students.

PMID- 28603422
TI  - Erratum: Fibronectin 1 promotes migration and invasion of papillary thyroid
      cancer and predicts papillary thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis [Corrigendum].
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 1743 in vol. 10, PMID: 28367057.].

PMID- 28603421
TI  - Effects of stimulus parameters on motor seizure duration in electroconvulsive
      therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effect of stimulus parameters on the
      occurrence of adequate seizures and reconsidered the factors related to motor
      seizure duration. METHODS: The medical records of 187 patients who received ECT
      in Asan Medical Center from January 2007 to May 2014 were retrospectively
      reviewed. The starting stimulus dose was determined using a preselected-dose
      method and the cutoff value to determine the adequate motor seizure duration was
      20-25 seconds. The association between seizure parameters and the occurrence of
      adequate seizure was assessed with logistic regression using a generalized
      estimating equation. RESULTS: Age (P<0.001), use of mood stabilizers (P=0.002),
      and benzodiazepine (P<0.001) were significantly lower in sessions with an
      adequate seizure duration but use of antidepressants (P<0.001) and clozapine
      (P=0.025) were significantly higher in sessions with an adequate seizure
      duration. In the generalized estimating equation analyses, after adjustment for
      age, benzodiazepine dose, and lamotrigine use, charge (odds ratio [OR] =0.999;
      95% confidence interval [CI], 0.998-1.000; P=0.005), and train duration (OR
      =0.632; 95% CI, 0.490-0.817; P<0.001) were significantly associated with the
      occurrence of adequate seizure. DISCUSSION: Stimulus charge and train duration
      are significantly associated with motor seizure duration. However, train duration
      appears to have a greater effect on motor seizure duration. Additionally, age,
      benzodiazepine dose, and lamotrigine use independently affect motor seizure
      duration.

PMID- 28603423
TI  - Overexpression of ecotropic viral integration site-1 is a prognostic factor of
      lung squamous cell cancer.
AB  - AIM: To explore the expression and clinical significance of ecotropic viral
      integration site-1 (EVI1) of lung squamous cell cancer (SCC). METHODS: The
      expression of EVI1 in SCC was detected by immunohistochemistry and the validation
      cohort was divided into EVI1 high-expression group and low-expression group
      according to the cutoff of immunohistochemical score. The correlations between
      EVI1 expression and the clinicopathological factors were analyzed by chi2 test.
      The relation between EVI1 expression and overall survival rate was evaluated by
      univariate analysis with Kaplan-Meier method. The independent prognostic factor
      was identified by multivariate analysis with Cox regression model. RESULTS: In
      this study, the EVI1 high-expression percentage was 32.32% (53/164). EVI1 high
      expression was significantly associated with a poorer overall 5-year survival
      rate of SCC (P=0.021). Moreover, EVI1 high expression was identified as an
      independent prognostic factor of SCC, predicting the unfavorable prognosis
      (P=0.013). CONCLUSION: High expression of EVI1 was significantly associated with
      a poorer prognosis and it was identified as an independent prognostic factor of
      SCC.

PMID- 28603424
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with limb salvage surgery in patients with limb
      osteosarcoma of Enneking stage II: a retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with limb
      salvage surgery in patients with limb osteosarcoma of Enneking stage II. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Medical records of 98 patients who met the inclusion criteria were
      retrospectively analyzed. Of these patients, 56 cases who received neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy combined with limb salvage surgery were listed as group A, while
      another 42 patients who received limb salvage surgery combined with adjuvant
      chemotherapy were listed as group B. The recurrence and metastasis rate, survival
      rate, limb function and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the
      two groups. RESULTS: All 98 patients completed the treatment in this study.
      Baseline characteristics showed no significant differences between group A and
      group B, including age, gender, tumor location, maximum tumor diameter and
      Enneking stage (all P>0.05). The total metastasis and recurrence rate of group A
      was significantly lower than that of group B (25.0% vs 47.6%, chi2=5.419,
      P=0.020). The Kaplan-Meier method showed that progression-free survival (PFS)
      (log-rank chi2=4.014, P=0.045) and overall survival (OS) (log-rank chi2=3.859,
      P=0.049) of group A were both significantly higher than those of group B. There
      was no significant difference in the incidence of grades III-IV adverse reactions
      between the two groups (all P>0.05). The excellent and good rate of limb function
      in group A was significantly higher than that in group B (83.9% vs 66.7%,
      chi2=3.982, P=0.046). CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with limb
      salvage surgery for patients with Enneking stage IIA or IIB limb osteosarcoma
      patients has better efficacy and can significantly improve limb function of
      patients.

PMID- 28603425
TI  - Pretreatment combination of platelet counts and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio
      predicts survival of nasopharyngeal cancer patients receiving intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased cancer-related inflammation has been associated with
      unfavorable clinical outcomes. The combination of platelet count and neutrophil
      lymphocyte ratio (COP-NLR) has related outcomes in several cancers, except for
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study evaluated the prognostic value of COP
      NLR in predicting outcome in NPC patients treated with intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the data collected from
      232 NPC patients. Pretreatment total platelet counts, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio
      (NLR), and COP-NLR score were evaluated as potential predictors. Optimal cutoff
      values for NLR and platelets were determined using receiver operating curve.
      Patients with both elevated NLR (>3) and platelet counts (>300*109/L) were
      assigned a COP-NLR score of 2; those with one elevated or no elevated value were
      assigned a COP-NLR a score of 1 or 0. Cox proportional hazards model was used to
      test the association of these factors and relevant 3-year survivals. RESULTS:
      Patients (COP-NLR scores 1 and 2=85; score 0=147) were followed up for 55.19
      months. Univariate analysis showed no association between pretreatment NLR >2.23
      and platelet counts >290.5*109/L and worse outcomes. Multivariate analysis
      revealed that those with COP-NLR scores of 0 had better 3-year disease-specific
      survival (P=0.02), overall survival (P=0.024), locoregional relapse-free survival
      (P=0.004), and distant metastasis-free survival (P=0.046). Further subgrouping by
      tumor stage also revealed COP-NLR to be an unfavorable prognostic indicator of 3
      year failure-free survival (P=0.001) for locally advanced NPC. CONCLUSION: COP
      NLR score, but not NLR alone or total platelet count alone, predicted survival in
      NPC patients treated with IMRT-based therapy, especially those with stage
      III/IVA, B malignancies.

PMID- 28603426
TI  - Efficacy and safety of TACE in combination with sorafenib for the treatment of
      TACE-refractory advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese patients: a
      retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and sorafenib (SOR) are well
      established treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study evaluates
      the efficacy and safety of SOR combined with TACE in the treatment of patients
      with TACE-refractory, advanced-stage HCC. METHODS: This retrospective study
      included 61 patients with TACE-refractory advanced HCC. Patients were divided
      into TACE + SOR (n=30) and TACE (n=31) treatment groups. Patient demographic and
      clinical characteristics, overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP),
      disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs) were compared between the
      two groups. RESULTS: Compared with TACE alone, the 5-year OS and TTP were
      prolonged in the TACE + SOR group (median OS: 17.9 vs 7.1 months, P<0.001; median
      TTP: 9.3 vs 3.4 months, P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that Child-Pugh
      class A (hazard ratio [HR], 0.234; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.092-0.595),
      Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 1 (HR, 0.355; 95% CI, 0.153
      0.826), alpha-fetoprotein <400 ng/mL (HR, 0.349; 95% CI, 0.177-0.689), and TACE +
      SOR treatment (HR, 0.151; 95% CI, 0.071-0.322) were independent, positive
      predictive factors of OS. CONCLUSION: The OS and TTP in the combined treatment
      group were significantly improved when compared with the TACE group. However, no
      significant difference in DCR was found between these two groups. While no AEs
      occurred in the TACE group, two patients in the TACE + SOR group experienced
      severe AEs which were effectively mitigated by lowering the dose of SOR. Thus,
      SOR in combination with TACE is a safe and effective treatment for advanced
      stage, prior-TACE-resistant HCC.

PMID- 28603427
TI  - Pharmacogenetics in inflammatory bowel disease: understanding treatment response
      and personalizing therapeutic strategies.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and heterogeneous disorder
      characterized by remitting and relapsing periods of activity. Pharmacogenetics
      refers to the study of the effect of inheritance on individual variation in drug
      responses. Several drug-related markers in IBD patients have been identified in
      order to predict the response to medical treatment including biological therapy
      as well as the reduction of adverse events. In the future, the treatment of IBD
      should be personalized in its specific profile to provide the most efficacious
      treatment with lack of adverse events.

PMID- 28603428
TI  - Upregulation of miR-375 level ameliorates morphine analgesic tolerance in mouse
      dorsal root ganglia by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.
AB  - Several lines of evidence indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs) modulate tolerance to
      the analgesic effects of morphine via regulation of pain-related genes, making
      dysregulation of miRNA levels a clinical target for controlling opioid tolerance.
      However, the precise mechanisms by which miRNAs regulate opioid tolerance are
      unclear. In the present study, we noted that the miR-375 level was downregulated
      but the expression of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) was upregulated in mouse dorsal root
      ganglia (DRG) following chronic morphine treatment. The miR-375 levels and JAK2
      expression were correlated with the progression of morphine tolerance, and
      upregulation of miR-375 level could significantly hinder morphine tolerance. This
      was ameliorated by JAK2 knockdown. Prolonged morphine exposure induced the
      expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in a time-dependent manner
      in the DRG. This was regulated by the miR-375 and JAK2-signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway, and inhibition of this pathway
      decreased BDNF production, and thus, attenuated morphine tolerance. More
      importantly, we found that miR-375 could target JAK2 and increase BDNF expression
      in a JAK2/STAT3 pathway-dependent manner.

PMID- 28603429
TI  - Development and validation of an Arabic-language headache questionnaire for
      population-based surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The reported prevalence of headache disorders in Arab regions varies
      considerably between countries. This may be due to a lack of standardized survey
      instruments that capture the prevalence. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Our goal was to
      construct and validate a structured headache questionnaire for Arabic-speaking
      headache patients to be used as an epidemiological survey instrument. METHODS: We
      developed a culturally adapted interviewer-administered questionnaire in Arabic
      language comprising two sets of questions. The first set included personal and
      sociodemographic data together with a screening question regarding the presence
      of headaches over the last year. The second set was designed to define the type
      and pattern of headaches according to the International Classification of
      Headache Disorders criteria (for subjects with "yes" answers on the screening
      question). Validation process took place in two phases through probability random
      sampling selected from 1,221 headache subjects collected in an epidemiological
      survey 3 (n=70) and 6 months (n=232) later. A detailed assessment of patients'
      headaches was performed by neurologists (blinded from the questionnaire
      diagnosis) who clinically assessed the patients' headache. RESULTS: The validity
      of the questionnaire was tested in 232 subjects with a mean age of 41.2+/-10.9
      years, 72.8% of whom were females. The mean time to complete the questionnaire
      was 8.4+/-1.7 minutes. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.903 (95%
      confidence interval: 0.875-0.925), the Cronbach kappa coefficient was 0.775 (95%
      confidence interval: 0.682-0.837), and the percentage of agreement was 84.5%.
      CONCLUSION: Our results support the use of this comprehensive questionnaire as a
      valid tool for headache assessment among Arabic-speaking patients.

PMID- 28603430
TI  - Self-perception, knowledge, and awareness of halitosis among female university
      students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Halitosis or oral malodor is defined as an unpleasant breath odor. It
      can become a serious problem affecting individuals' social communication and self
      confidence. Furthermore, it is a discomforting issue for the people around the
      person affected, because they consider it embarrassing to inform the person of
      the problem. AIM: This study was designed to measure self-perception, knowledge,
      and awareness of halitosis among female university students in Saudi Arabia.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was implemented with 392
      volunteer participants who responded to a questionnaire on their self-perception,
      knowledge, and awareness of halitosis. RESULTS: The response rate was 89.1%
      (392/440). Self-perception of halitosis was low (21.4%), whereas a larger
      percentage (78.1%) indicated noticing people with bad breath. Most participants
      (80.4%) thought that the gastrointestinal tract is the primary source of
      halitosis. Seventy-seven percent preferred using personal methods such as
      mouthwash and chewing gum to treat oral malodor. According to 82.1% of
      respondents, a dentist is the most appropriate professional to treat halitosis.
      CONCLUSION: The investigation revealed low self-perception and limited knowledge
      regarding halitosis. Therefore, the role of dentists in informing and educating
      their patients concerning oral malodor should be enhanced. Public education about
      the causes of and possible ways of managing bad breath should be increased.

PMID- 28603431
TI  - Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and pregnancy: potential adverse events and
      pregnancy outcomes.
AB  - Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant condition
      with a prevalence of ~1 in 5,000 individuals. The pathophysiology of this
      condition centers on the lack of capillary beds between arterioles and venules,
      leading to direct contact between these vessels. This results in telangiectases
      on characteristic locations such as the face, fingers, mouth, and nasal mucosa.
      Visceral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are also observed in many patients,
      and these are most commonly seen in the brain, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs.
      Liver AVMs are present in many patients with HHT, though these individuals are
      usually asymptomatic; however, liver AVMs may lead to serious complications, such
      as high output cardiac failure. Diagnosis of HHT hinges upon fulfilling three out
      of four criteria: family history of the condition, mucocutaneous telangiectases,
      spontaneous and recurrent episodes of epistaxis, and visceral AVMs. Management is
      guided by international consensus guidelines and targets patients' specific AVMs.
      Prognosis is good, though severe complications including hemorrhage and
      paradoxical emboli are possible. Novel therapeutics are being explored in
      clinical trials; bevacizumab and pazopanib inhibit angiogenesis, while
      thalidomide bolsters blood vessel maturation. Pregnancy in patients with HHT is
      considered high risk. While the majority of pregnancies proceed normally, severe
      complications have been reported in some women with HHT; these include heart
      failure, intracranial hemorrhage, pulmonary hemorrhage, and stroke. Such
      complications occur most often in the second and third trimesters when maternal
      changes such as peripheral vasodilation and increased cardiac output are at their
      maximum. Awareness of the diagnosis of HHT has been associated with improved
      outcomes in pregnancy. Management guidelines for pregnant patients with HHT are
      reviewed.

PMID- 28603432
TI  - Household food insecurity is associated with both body mass index and middle
      upper-arm circumference of mothers in northwest Ethiopia: a comparative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Food insecurity and associated malnutrition result in serious health
      problems in developing countries. This study determined levels of maternal
      undernutrition and its association with food insecurity in northwest Ethiopia.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a community-based comparative cross-sectional
      study conducted May 24-July 20, 2013. Multistage random sampling was used to
      select 4,110 samples. Availability of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme
      was used for grouping the study areas. A food-security access scale developed by
      the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistant project was used to measure food
      security. Sociodemographic data were collected using a structured questionnaire.
      A binary logistic regression model was used to assess the association of food
      insecurity and maternal undernutrition. RESULTS: From the total participants,
      12.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 11.6%-13.6%) had a body mass index (BMI)
      <18.5 kg/m2. Comparison of maternal undernutrition in the two study areas
      revealed 8.8% (95% CI 7.6%-10.2%) in the program area and 16.4% (95% CI 14.8%
      18.1%) in nonprogram areas were undernourished. Severe food insecurity was
      significantly associated with BMI of mothers (adjusted odds ratios [AORs] 3.6 and
      2.31, 95% CI 2.32-5.57 and 1.52-3.5, respectively) in both program and nonprogram
      areas. Mild (AOR 1.77, 95% CI 1.21-2.6) and moderate (AOR 1.6, 95% CI 1.18-2.16)
      food insecurity significantly associated with maternal undernutrition in
      nonprogram areas. In the same way, all forms of food insecurity significantly
      associated with maternal middle upper-arm circumference in both program and
      nonprogram areas. The odds of mothers who did not exercise decision-making
      practice on the household income was also 4.13 times higher than those who did
      (AOR 4.13, 95% CI 2.2-7.77) in the program area. CONCLUSION: Food insecurity
      significantly associated with both maternal BMI and middle upper-arm
      circumference in both study areas. Female authority also significantly associated
      with BMI of the mothers in the program area. Maternal nutrition-intervention
      programs should focus on women-empowerment strategies that enable them to decide
      on the income for household-nutrition provision.

PMID- 28603433
TI  - Evaluation of effectiveness and safety of a herbal compound in primary insomnia
      symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sleep disturbances and related daytime activities
      impairment are common diseases nowadays. General practitioners are often the
      first health care professional asked to alleviate sleep disturbances and primary
      insomnia symptoms. Beyond a wide class of hypnotic drugs, botanicals can
      represent an alternative treatment for those kinds of symptoms. The scope of the
      present study is to evaluate safety and effectiveness of a herbal compound
      composed of valerian, hop, and jujube (Vagonotte(r)) on primary insomnia symptoms
      and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: One hundred and twenty subjects with sleep disturbances symptoms were
      randomized in two branches of 60 persons each, receiving the herbal compound or
      placebo at dosage of two pills per day 30 minutes before their scheduled bedtime.
      All subjects were screened for precise items related to sleep quality and daytime
      activity at the beginning, after 10 days, and after 20 days of consecutive
      dietary supplement (or placebo) consumption. The participants remained blind to
      group assignment until all of them completed the trial. RESULTS: Sleep onset,
      numbers of nocturnal awakenings, and overall nocturnal slept time were assessed.
      A statistically significant difference between the two groups emerged. The group
      receiving the herbal compound showed a lower time of sleep onset compared to
      placebo group, the same result was obtained for total slept time and night
      awakenings frequency (p<0.001). Daily symptom improvement in subjects receiving
      the herbal compound showed significant reduction in tension and irritability,
      difficulty in concentration, and fatigue intensity, if compared to placebo scores
      (p<0.001). None of the 60 subjects in the verum group reported adverse reaction
      related to the herbal compound, and 98% of subjects judged the product as having
      from good to excellent safety and tolerability. CONCLUSION: Botanicals dietary
      supplement with relaxing and soothing properties can help practitioner to treat
      primary insomnia, especially when the risk/benefit profile of a patient does not
      sustain hypnotic drugs prescription. This clinical investigation on safety and
      effectiveness of a herbal compound made of valerian, hop, and jujube opens
      interesting perspectives on usage of herbal compound to manage primary insomnia.
      Further investigations could help in understanding herbal compounds'
      effectiveness on sleep disturbances.

PMID- 28603434
TI  - Investigating a self-scoring interview simulation for learning and assessment in
      the medical consultation.
AB  - Experience with simulated patients supports undergraduate learning of medical
      consultation skills. Adaptive simulations are being introduced into this
      environment. The authors investigate whether it can underpin valid and reliable
      assessment by conducting a generalizability analysis using IT data analytics from
      the interaction of medical students (in psychiatry) with adaptive simulations to
      explore the feasibility of adaptive simulations for supporting automated learning
      and assessment. The generalizability (G) study was focused on two clinically
      relevant variables: clinical decision points and communication skills. While the
      G study on the communication skills score yielded low levels of true score
      variance, the results produced by the decision points, indicating clinical
      decision-making and confirming user knowledge of the process of the Calgary
      Cambridge model of consultation, produced reliability levels similar to what
      might be expected with rater-based scoring. The findings indicate that adaptive
      simulations have potential as a teaching and assessment tool for medical
      consultations.

PMID- 28603435
TI  - An active learning curriculum improves fellows' knowledge and faculty teaching
      skills.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Traditional didactic lectures are the mainstay of teaching for
      graduate medical education, although this method may not be the most effective
      way to transmit information. We created an active learning curriculum for Brigham
      and Women's Hospital (BWH) gastroenterology fellows to maximize learning. We
      evaluated whether this new curriculum improved perceived knowledge acquisition
      and knowledge base. In addition, our study assessed whether coaching faculty
      members in specific methods to enhance active learning improved their perceived
      teaching and presentation skills. METHODS: We compared the Gastroenterology
      Training Exam (GTE) scores before and after the implementation of this curriculum
      to assess whether an improved knowledge base was documented. In addition, fellows
      and faculty members were asked to complete anonymous evaluations regarding their
      learning and teaching experiences. RESULTS: Fifteen fellows were invited to 12
      lectures over a 2-year period. GTE scores improved in the areas of stomach
      (p<0.001), general gastroenterology (p=0.005), esophagus (p<0.001), and small
      bowel (p=0.001), and the total score (p=0.001) between pre- and
      postimplementation of the active learning curriculum. Scores in hepatology, as
      well as biliary and pancreatic study, showed a trend toward improvement (p>0.05).
      All fellows believed the lectures were helpful, felt more prepared to take the
      GTE, and preferred the interactive format to traditional didactic lectures. All
      lecturers agreed that they acquired new teaching skills, improved teaching and
      presentation skills, and learned new tools that could help them teach better in
      the future. CONCLUSION: An active learning curriculum is preferred by GI fellows
      and may be helpful for improving transmission of information in any specialty in
      medical education. Individualized faculty coaching sessions demonstrating new
      ways to transmit information may be important for an individual faculty member's
      teaching excellence.

PMID- 28603436
TI  - Reduced adherence to antiretroviral therapy is associated with residual low-level
      viremia.
AB  - The source and significance of residual low-level viremia (LLV) during
      combinational antiretroviral therapy (cART) remain a matter of controversy. It is
      unclear whether residual viremia depends on ongoing release of HIV from the
      latent reservoir or if viral replication contributes to LLV. We examined the
      relationship between adherence and LLV. Adherence was estimated by pharmacy
      refill and dichotomized as >=95% or <95%. Plasma HIV-RNA was determined, with an
      ultrasensitive test having a limit of detection of 3 copies/mL at least 2 times
      over the follow-up period. Patients were grouped according to HIV-RNA over time
      as K<3: constantly <3 copies/mL; V<3: sometimes below or above the cutoff limit
      but always <50 copies/mL; K>3: constantly between 3 and 50 copies/mL; and V>50: a
      measure of >50 copies/mL minimum. Overall, 2789 patients were included. At each
      time point approximately 92% of the patients presented an HIV-RNA <50 copies/mL
      and two-thirds of those <3 copies/mL, 34.6% of patients had <3 copies/mL
      constantly, 32.7% sometimes below or above the cutoff limit but always <50
      copies/mL, 9.5% constantly between 3 and 50 copies/mL, and 23.2% a measure of >50
      copies/mL minimum. The mean adherence rate was 92.1% (95% confidence interval
      [CI] from 91.1% to 93.1%) in K<3 patients, similar in V<3 patients (91.9%), but
      lowered to 88.8% in K>3 patients and to 88.4% in V>50 patients (P<0.0001).
      Approximately 55% of patients in groups K<3 and V<3 showed an adherence rate
      >=95%; this proportion lowered to ~51% in K>3 and to 48% in V>50. Moreover, 34%
      of patients with a steady adherence <95% were categorized as K>3, whereas 21.7%
      of those with a drug holiday (21.7%) were observed in the V>50 group (P=0.002). A
      steady viral suppression can occur despite moderate cART non-adherence, but
      reduced adherence is associated with low-level residual viremia, which could
      reflect new rounds of HIV replication. However, a detectable HIV-RNA could also
      be detected in patients with optimal cART adherence, indicating additional
      mechanisms favoring HIV persistence.

PMID- 28603437
TI  - Does an Old Art Suffice for New Problems?
AB  - In this review I argue that Puech draws on two important currents in modern
      thought: the criticism of the ontological and social priority of conflict, and
      the rehabilitation of praxis vis-a-vis theoria. Still, his plea for a non
      confrontational art of living leaves important questions unanswered. What is the
      problem exactly? What does exactly count as (non)confrontational? What is non
      confrontation exactly meant to solve? What is the antiposition here? And: how
      does this new (or rather: old) art of living relate to the political and ethical
      varieties of Technology Assessment?

PMID- 28603438
TI  - Social Autonomy and Heteronomy in the Age of ICT: The Digital Pharmakon and the
      (Dis)Empowerment of the General Intellect.
AB  - 'The art of living with ICTs (information and communication technologies)' today
      not only means finding new ways to cope, interact and create new lifestyles on
      the basis of the new digital (network) technologies individually, as 'consumer
      citizens'. It also means inventing new modes of living, producing and, not in the
      least place, struggling collectively, as workers and producers. As the so-called
      digital revolution unfolds in the context of a neoliberal cognitive and
      consumerist capitalism, its 'innovations' are predominantly employed to modulate
      and control both production processes and consumer behavior in view of the
      overall goal of extracting surplus value. Today, the digital networks
      overwhelmingly destroy social autonomy, instead engendering increasing social
      heteronomy and proletarianization. Yet it is these very networks themselves, as
      technical pharmaka in the sense of French 'technophilosopher' Bernard Stiegler,
      that can be employed as no other to struggle against this tendency. This paper
      briefly explores this possibility by reflecting upon current diagnoses of our
      'technological situation' by some exemplary post-operaist Marxists from a
      Stieglerian, pharmacological perspective.

PMID- 28603439
TI  - The Struggle for Technology: Towards a Realistic Political Theory of Technology.
AB  - Pieter Lemmens' neo-Marxist approach to technology urges us to rethink how to do
      political philosophy of technology. First, Lemmens' high level of abstraction
      raises the question of how empirically informed a political theory of technology
      needs to be. Second, his dialectical focus on a "struggle" between humans and
      technologies reveals the limits of neo-Marxism. Political philosophy of
      technology needs to return "to the things themselves". The political significance
      of technologies cannot be reduced to its origins in systems of production or
      social organization, but requires study at the micro-level, where technologies
      help to shape engagement, interaction, power, and social awareness.

PMID- 28603440
TI  - Love and Realism.
AB  - In this reply I try to show that, contrary to Milberry's apparent assertion, the
      general intellect of the multitude does not have the explanatory robustness she
      accredits to it (following both Virno and the Hardt and Negri of the Empire
      trilogy). Digital network technologies are currently overwhelmingly effective in
      proletarianizing and disempowering the cognitariat and only an active
      technopolitics of deproletarianization could reverse this hegemonic situation. In
      my response to Verbeek, I attempt to correct his misinterpretation (shared by
      Milberry) of the Stieglerian approach as being dialectical in nature and show
      that, far from reinstating the humanist dichotomy between human beings and
      technologies, my analysis assumes their original, albeit fundamentally ambiguous
      and even 'uncanny' [unheimlich] interconnection. I conclude with pointing out
      some implications of this view for a 'really realistic' political theory of
      technology.

PMID- 28603441
TI  - The Care of Our Hybrid Selves: Ethics in Times of Technical Mediation.
AB  - What can the art of living after Foucault contribute to ethics in relation to the
      mediation of human existence by technology? To develop the relation between
      technical mediation and ethics, firstly the theme of technical mediation is
      elaborated in line with Foucault's notion of ethical problematization. Every view
      of what technology does to us at the same time expresses an ethical concern about
      technology. The contemporary conception of technical mediation tends towards the
      acknowledgement of ongoing hybridization, not ultimately good or bad but
      ambivalent, which means for us the challenge of taking care of ourselves as
      hybrid beings. Secondly, the work of Foucault provides elements for imagining
      this care for our hybrid selves, notably his notions of freedom as a practice and
      of the care of the self. A conclusions about technical mediation and ethics is
      that whereas the approaches of the delegation of morality to technology by Latour
      and mediated morality by Verbeek see technical mediation of behavior and moral
      outlook as an answer in ethics, this should rather be considered the problem that
      ethics is about.

PMID- 28603442
TI  - A Critical Use of Foucault's Art of Living.
AB  - Foucault's vocabulary of arts of existence might be helpful to problematize the
      entwinement of humans and technology and to search for new types of hybrid
      selves. However, to be a serious new ethical vocabulary for technology, this art
      of existence should be supplemented with an ongoing critical discourse of
      technologies, including a critical analysis of the subjectivities imposed by
      technologies, and should be supplemented with new medical and philosophical
      regimens for an appropriate use of technologies.

PMID- 28603443
TI  - The Uses of Reason in Times of Technical Mediation.
AB  - The art of living idiom suits well a practice-oriented approach in ethics of
      technology. But what remains or becomes of the functioning and use of reason in
      ethics? In reaction to the comments by Huijer this reply elaborates in more
      detail how Foucault's art of living can be adapted for a critical contemporary
      ethics of technology. And the aesthetic-political rationality in Foucault's
      ethics is compared with Wellner's suggestions of holding on to the notion of code
      but with a new meaning. Foucault's fourfold scheme of subjectivation and a
      distinction of "below and above reason" structure the argument.

PMID- 28603444
TI  - The Art of Living with NZT and ICT: Dialectics of an Artistic Case Study.
AB  - I wholeheartedly sympathize conceptually with Coeckelbergh's paper. The
      dialectical relationship between vulnerability and technology constitutes the
      core of Hegel's Master and Slave (the primal scene of contemporary philosophy).
      Yet, the empirical dimension is underdeveloped and Coeckelbergh's ideas could
      profit from exposure to case studies. Building on a movie/novel (Limitless)
      devoted to vulnerability coping and living with ICT, I challenge the claim that
      modern heroism entails overcoming vulnerability with the help of enhancement and
      computers.

PMID- 28603445
TI  - A Modest Art: Securing Privacy in Technologically Mediated Homecare.
AB  - This article addresses the art of living in a technological culture as the active
      engagement with technomoral change. It argues that this engagement does not just
      take the form of overt deliberation. It shows in more modest ways as reflection
      in-action, an experimental process in which new technology is fitted into
      existing practices. In this process challenged values are re-articulated in
      pragmatic solutions to the problem of working with new technology. This art of
      working with technology is also modest in the sense that it is not oriented to
      shaping one's own subjectivity in relation to technology. It emanates from human
      existence as relational and aims at securing good relationships. The argument
      will be developed in relation to a case study of the ways in which homecare
      workers engaged with the value of privacy, challenged by tele-monitoring
      technology that was newly introduced into their work.

PMID- 28603446
TI  - How to Make Your Relationship Work? Aesthetic Relations with Technology.
AB  - Discussing the workings of technology in care as aesthetic rather than as ethical
      or epistemological interventions focusses on how technologies engage in and
      change relations between those involved. Such an aesthetic study opens up a
      repertoire to address values that are abundant in care, but are as yet hardly
      theorized. Kamphof studies the problem that sensor technology reveals things
      about the elderly patients without the patients being aware of this. I suggest
      improvement of these relations may be considered in aesthetic terms, for instance
      by developing the affective quality of people's technological relationships.

PMID- 28603447
TI  - Towards a Phenomenology of Technologically Mediated Moral Change: Or, What Could
      Mark Zuckerberg Learn from Caregivers in the Southern Netherlands?
AB  - Kamphof offers an illuminating depiction of the technological mediation of
      morality. Her case serves as the basis for a plea for modesty up and against the
      somewhat heroic conceptualizations of techno-moral change to date-less logos,
      less autos, more practice, more relationality. Rather than a displacement of
      these conceptualizations, I question whether Kamphof's art of living offers only
      a different perspective: in scale (as a micro-event of techno-moral change), and
      in unit of analysis (as an art of living oriented to relations with others rather
      than the relation to the self). As a supplement and not an alternative, this
      modest art has nonetheless audacious implications for the ethics of surveillance.

PMID- 28603448
TI  - Whose Art Are We Talking About?
AB  - Jeannette Pols and Tamar Sharon kindly reviewed my case study of the art of
      living with technology as an engagement with technomoral change. I am indebted to
      them for their careful reading and critical suggestions to further elaborate the
      project. In my response I focus on the question whose art we are talking about,
      while further elucidating the reflexivity addressed in my essay. I conclude with
      some remarks on what we can learn from micro studies like the one presented for
      macro level thinking on the 'art of becoming' with technology in a surveillance
      society.

PMID- 28603449
TI  - Filoviruses and bats.
AB  - While Reston and Lloviu viruses have never been associated with human disease,
      the other filoviruses cause outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever characterised by
      person-to-person transmission and high case fatality ratios. Cumulative evidence
      suggests that bats are the most likely reservoir hosts of the filoviruses.
      Ecological investigations following Marburg virus disease outbreaks associated
      with entry into caves inhabited by Rousettus aegyptiacus bats led to the
      identification of this bat species as the natural reservoir host of the
      marburgviruses. Experimental infection of R. aegyptiacus with Marburg virus has
      provided insight into the natural history of filovirus infection in bats that may
      help guide the search for the reservoir hosts of the ebolaviruses.

PMID- 28603450
TI  - Changes in soil organic matter over 70 years in continuous arable and ley-arable
      rotations on a sandy loam soil in England.
AB  - : The sequestration in soil of organic carbon (SOC) derived from atmospheric
      carbon dioxide (CO2) by replacing arable crops with leys, has been measured over
      70 years on a sandy loam soil. The experiment was designed initially to test the
      effect of leys on the yields of arable crops. A 3-year grazed grass with clover
      (grass + clover) ley in a 5-year rotation with arable crops increased percentage
      organic carbon (%OC) in the top 25 cm of the soil from 0.98 to 1.23 in 28 years,
      but with little further increase during the next 40 years with all-grass leys
      given fertilizer nitrogen (N). In this second period, OC inputs were balanced by
      losses, suggesting that about 1.3% OC might be near the equilibrium content for
      this rotation. Including 3-year lucerne (Medicago sativa) leys had little effect
      on %OC over 28 years, but after changing to grass + clover leys, %OC increased to
      1.24 during the next 40 years. Eight-year leys (all grass with N or grass +
      clover) in 10-year rotations with arable crops were started in the 1970s, and
      after three rotations %OC had increased to ca. 1.40 in 2000-2009. Over 70 years,
      %OC declined from 0.98 to 0.94 in an all-arable rotation with mainly cereals and
      to 0.82 with more root crops. Applications of 38 t ha-1 farmyard manure (FYM)
      every fifth year increased %OC by 0.13% by the mid-1960s when applications
      ceased. Soil treated with FYM still contained 0.10% more OC in 2000-2009. Changes
      in the amount of OC have been modelled with RothC-26.3 and estimated inputs of C
      for selected rotations. Little of the OC input during the 70 years has been
      retained; most was retained in the grazed ley rotation, but 9 t ha-1 only of a
      total input of 189 t ha-1. In other rotations more than 98% of the total OC input
      was lost. Despite large losses of C, annual increases in OC of 40/00 are possible
      on this soil type with the inclusion of grass or grass + clover leys or the
      application of FYM, but only for a limited period. Such increases in SOC might
      help to limit increases in atmospheric CO2. HIGHLIGHTS: Can leys sequester
      significant amounts of atmospheric CO 2 in SOM and contribute to the 40/00
      initiative?Changes in the percentage and amount of OC were measured and modelled
      over 70 years and OC losses estimated.Three-year grass or grass + clover leys
      increased %OC, but only to an equilibrium level that was then maintained.Despite
      large losses, sequestering CO 2-C at 40/00 year-1 by growing grass or grass +
      clover leys is possible.

PMID- 28603451
TI  - Classifying Human Activity Patterns from Smartphone Collected GPS data: a Fuzzy
      Classification and Aggregation Approach.
AB  - Smartphones have emerged as a promising type of equipment for monitoring human
      activities in environmental health studies. However, degraded location accuracy
      and inconsistency of smartphone-measured GPS data have limited its effectiveness
      for classifying human activity patterns. This study proposes a fuzzy
      classification scheme for differentiating human activity patterns from smartphone
      collected GPS data. Specifically, a fuzzy logic reasoning was adopted to overcome
      the influence of location uncertainty by estimating the probability of different
      activity types for single GPS points. Based on that approach, a segment
      aggregation method was developed to infer activity patterns, while adjusting for
      uncertainties of point attributes. Validations of the proposed methods were
      carried out based on a convenient sample of three subjects with different types
      of smartphones. The results indicate desirable accuracy (e.g., up to 96% in
      activity identification) with use of this method. Two examples were provided in
      the appendix to illustrate how the proposed methods could be applied in
      environmental health studies. Researchers could tailor this scheme to fit a
      variety of research topics.

PMID- 28603452
TI  - Cross-correlation beamforming.
AB  - : An areal distribution of sensors can be used for estimating the direction of
      incoming waves through beamforming. Beamforming may be implemented as a phase
      shifting and stacking of data recorded on the different sensors (i.e.,
      conventional beamforming). Alternatively, beamforming can be applied to cross
      correlations between the waveforms on the different sensors. We derive a kernel
      for beamforming cross-correlated data and call it cross-correlation beamforming
      (CCBF). We point out that CCBF has slightly better resolution and aliasing
      characteristics than conventional beamforming. When auto-correlations are added
      to CCBF, the array response functions are the same as for conventional
      beamforming. We show numerically that CCBF is more resilient to non-coherent
      noise. Furthermore, we illustrate that with CCBF individual receiver-pairs can be
      removed to improve mapping to the slowness domain. An additional flexibility of
      CCBF is that cross-correlations can be time-windowed prior to beamforming, e.g.,
      to remove the directionality of a scattered wavefield. The observations on
      synthetic data are confirmed with field data from the SPITS array (Svalbard).
      Both when beamforming an earthquake arrival and when beamforming ambient noise,
      CCBF focuses more of the energy to a central beam. Overall, the main advantage of
      CCBF is noise suppression and its flexibility to remove station pairs that
      deteriorate the signal-related beampower. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The
      online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10950-016-9612-6) contains
      supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

PMID- 28603454
TI  - Advancing Genomics through the Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA).
AB  - The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA), a collaborative network of
      diverse scientists, marked its second anniversary with a workshop in Munich,
      Germany, where international attendees focused on discussing current progress,
      milestones and bioinformatics resources. The community determined the recruitment
      and training talented researchers as one of the most pressing future needs and
      identified opportunities for network funding. GIGA also promotes future research
      efforts to prioritize taxonomic diversity and create new synergies. Here, we
      announce the generation of a central and simple data repository portal with a
      wide coverage of available sequence data, via the compagen platform, in parallel
      with more focused and specialized organism databases to globally advance
      invertebrate genomics. Therefore this article serves the objectives of GIGA by
      disseminating current progress and future prospects in the science of
      invertebrate genomics with the aim of promotion and facilitation of
      interdisciplinary and international research.

PMID- 28603453
TI  - Centromeric Non-coding Transcription: Opening the Black Box of Chromosomal
      Instability?
AB  - In eukaryotes, mitosis is tightly regulated to avoid the generation of numerical
      chromosome aberrations, or aneuploidies. The aneuploid phenotype is a consequence
      of chromosomal instability (CIN), i.e., an enhanced rate of chromosome
      segregation errors, which is frequently found in cancer cells and is associated
      with tumor aggressiveness and increased tumor cell survival potential. To avoid
      the generation of aneuploidies, cells rely on the spindle assembly checkpoint
      (SAC), a widely conserved mechanism that protects the genome against this type of
      error. This signaling pathway stops mitotic pro-gression before anaphase until
      all chromosomes are correctly attached to spindle microtubules. Howev-er,
      impairment of the SAC cannot account for the establishment of CIN because cells
      bearing this phe-notype have a functional SAC. Hence, in cells with CIN, anaphase
      is not triggered until all chromo-somes are correctly attached to spindle
      microtubules and congressed at the metaphase plate. Thus, an in-teresting
      question arises: What mechanisms actually mediate CIN in cancer cells? Recent
      research has shown that some pathways involved in chromosome segregation are
      closely associated to centromere-encoded non-coding RNA (cencRNA) and that these
      RNAs are deregulated in abnormal conditions, such as cancer. These mechanisms may
      provide new explanations for chromosome segregation errors. The present review
      discusses some of these findings and proposes novel mechanisms for the establish
      ment of CIN based on regulation by cencRNA.

PMID- 28603455
TI  - Tetramethylpyrazine attenuates periorbital allodynia and neuroinflammation in a
      model of traumatic brain injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health issue. As the major
      complaint in 51% of TBI patients, chronic pain is an important aspect in TBI
      treatment. Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is an important compound in Ligustrazine, an
      analgesic drug in traditional Chinese medicine, but its potential in relieving
      pain symptom in TBI has not been tested. We established a TBI mouse model with
      controlled cortical impact (CCI), and measured periorbital hypersensitivity with
      von Frey monofilaments. We examined activated microglia and astrocytes and the
      levels of substance P (SP) and inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)
      with immunohistochemistry, measured mRNA and protein levels of proinflammatory
      cytokines with qPCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Western
      blot was employed to detect molecules in NF-kappaB signaling pathway. RESULTS:
      TMP significantly attenuated periorbital hypersensitivity in TBI mice. Within 3
      days after CCI, TMP attenuated activation of microglia and astrocytes, levels of
      SP, iNOS, and CGRP in trigeminal pathway, and levels of proinflammatory cytokines
      (including IL-6, TNF-alpha, IL-12). In isolated microglia, TMP attenuated the
      effects of lipopolysaccharide on the phosphorylation of cytoplasmic IKKalpha/beta
      and IKB-alpha, and levels of nucleic p65. CONCLUSION: TMP reversed periorbital
      hypersensitivity by limiting neuroinflammation at the primary stage of TBI, and
      could be a promising drug for pain treatment in TBI.

PMID- 28603457
TI  - Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Comorbid Cannabis Use and Anxiety
      Disorders.
AB  - Cannabis use disorders (CUDs) co-occur with anxiety disorders at high rates,
      presumably because some individuals with anxiety disorders may rely on cannabis
      to manage anxiety. Motivation enhancement therapy (MET) combined with cognitive
      behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious intervention for CUD, yet outcomes are
      worse for patients with elevated anxiety. The integration of MET-CBT with False
      Safety Behavior Elimination Treatment (FSET) may be useful with anxious CUD
      patients, as the use of cannabis to manage anxiety can be targeted as a false
      safety behavior. Here, we describe the integrated treatment and the successful
      use of it among two patients-one with CUD and comorbid social anxiety disorder
      (SAD) and one with CUD and comorbid SAD and generalized anxiety disorder. Data
      support the feasibility of this integrated treatment as a viable approach to the
      treatment of CUD and comorbid anxiety disorders. Future controlled trials are now
      warranted to further evaluate the intervention.

PMID- 28603458
TI  - Modeling and Measurement of Radio Propagation in Tunnel Environments.
AB  - A simple radio frequency (RF) testing system that can be conveniently built and
      used for measuring radio propagation in tunnels is introduced. With the proposed
      testing system, RF power attenuation with distance in a train tunnel was measured
      at four frequencies (455, 915, 2450, and 5800 MHz) for both horizontal and
      vertical polarizations. Two analytical modeling methods-the ray tracing and modal
      methods-are applied to model RF propagation in the tunnel. The theoretical
      predictions based on both methods are compared to field measurements and find
      good agreement.

PMID- 28603456
TI  - Cost-effectiveness analysis of the diarrhea alleviation through zinc and oral
      rehydration therapy (DAZT) program in rural Gujarat India: an application of the
      net-benefit regression framework.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the DAZT program for
      scaling up treatment of acute child diarrhea in Gujarat India using a net-benefit
      regression framework. METHODS: Costs were calculated from societal and
      caregivers' perspectives and effectiveness was assessed in terms of coverage of
      zinc and both zinc and Oral Rehydration Salt. Regression models were tested in
      simple linear regression, with a specified set of covariates, and with a
      specified set of covariates and interaction terms using linear regression with
      endogenous treatment effects was used as the reference case. RESULTS: The DAZT
      program was cost-effective with over 95% certainty above $5.50 and $7.50 per
      appropriately treated child in the unadjusted and adjusted models respectively,
      with specifications including interaction terms being cost-effective with 85-97%
      certainty. DISCUSSION: Findings from this study should be combined with other
      evidence when considering decisions to scale up programs such as the DAZT program
      to promote the use of ORS and zinc to treat child diarrhea.

PMID- 28603459
TI  - Outcomes After Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycle Training in Individuals
      with Multiple Sclerosis Who Are Nonambulatory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise is safe and beneficial for people with multiple sclerosis
      (MS). Functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling offers people with
      significant weakness and mobility challenges an option for exercise. We sought to
      evaluate the safety of FES cycling and its potential to improve fatigue, pain,
      spasticity, and quality of life in people with moderate-to-severe MS. METHODS:
      Sixteen participants with MS who were nonambulatory cycled for 30 minutes two to
      three times a week for 1 month. Outcomes assessed included MS Quality of Life
      Inventory (MSQLI) subscales, Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), and manual muscle
      test (MMT). RESULTS: Fourteen participants (six women and eight men) with MS
      completed the training. All were able to maintain or increase their cycle time;
      half increased the resistance while cycling. Participants demonstrated a
      significant decrease in the Physical (P = .02) and Psychosocial (P < .01)
      subscales of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale. There was no significant change
      in the other MSQLI subscale scores. There was no change in MAS and MMT scores.
      Type of MS and the use of antispasticity medications, disease-modifying
      therapies, or dalfampridine did not seem to influence response to training. There
      were no adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Functional electrical stimulation cycling
      may be a viable and effective exercise option for people with moderate-to-severe
      MS. Further study is required to examine the parameters of FES cycling that are
      most effective for people with different MS symptoms and to fully explore the
      potential benefits of optimizing function and improving health in people with MS.

PMID- 28603460
TI  - Cultivating the Multiple Sclerosis Workforce of the Future.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurologic disorder that affects people with
      ever-changing needs. The MS health-care field has entered an era of exponential
      knowledge growth in which better understanding of the immunologic dysregulation
      of the disease has translated into an expanding array of treatment options. It is
      estimated that, if it has not already, within the next decade the demands of a
      growing MS patient population will outstrip the number of professionals dedicated
      to the management of this chronic, lifelong disease. Therefore, there is a
      pressing need to attract and retain clinicians in this dynamic field. In response
      to this need, the Foundation of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers
      organized a 2-day colloquium, a Mentorship Forum, on January 23-24, 2015,
      bringing together talented internal medicine and neurology trainees from across
      North America with an interest in MS and neuroimmunology. This article highlights
      the rationale for the MS Mentorship Forum, its structure and content, and its
      outcomes. We believe that the stage has been set to interest young, promising
      clinicians in learning more about MS and to encourage them to consider a career
      in this field. In so doing, we hope to contribute to the development of the next
      generation of MS experts to make a palpable difference in the lives of those
      affected by MS.

PMID- 28603462
TI  - Immune Response to Seasonal Influenza Vaccine in Patients with Relapsing
      Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Receiving Long-term Daclizumab Beta: A Prospective,
      Open-Label, Single-Arm Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)
      undergoing continuous immunomodulatory therapy, understanding whether
      vaccinations can be performed safely and effectively is important. We tested the
      immune response to inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine during long-term
      daclizumab beta treatment. METHODS: In this prospective, open-label, single-arm
      extension SELECTED study, an optional vaccine substudy was performed on patients
      with RRMS who had already received daclizumab beta for 1 to 2 years in previous
      studies. Patients were administered the seasonal vaccine as a single
      intramuscular dose containing three inactivated influenza virus strains:
      A/California/7/2009 (A/H1N1), A/Texas/50/2012 (A/H3N2), and
      B/Massachusetts/2/2012 (B). Endpoints included proportion of patients achieving
      seroprotection, proportion of patients who seroconverted, geometric mean titer
      ratio before and after vaccination, and adverse events reported during 28-day
      follow-up. RESULTS: Ninety patients received the influenza vaccine (mean previous
      daclizumab beta exposure, 49.6 doses). Seroprotection (anti-hemagglutination
      immunoglobulin G titer >=40) was detected in 92% (95% confidence interval [CI],
      85%-97%) of patients for A/H1N1, 91% (83%-96%) for A/H3N2, and 67% (56%-76%) for
      B. The proportion of patients who seroconverted was 69% (95% CI, 58%-78%) for
      A/H1N1, 69% (58%-78%) for A/H3N2, and 44% (34%-55%) for B. The anti
      hemagglutination immunoglobulin geometric mean titer ratio was 7.7 for A/H1N1,
      9.0 for A/H3N2, and 4.3 for B. There were no significant adverse events
      considered related to vaccination during 28-day follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with RRMS receiving long-term daclizumab beta treatment mounted an immune
      response to the seasonal influenza vaccine at levels considered to confer
      protection. No major or new safety issues were identified.

PMID- 28603461
TI  - Perceptions of Multiple Sclerosis in Hispanic Americans: Need for Targeted
      Messaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Illness perceptions have been reported to be important determinants
      of multiple sclerosis (MS)-related well-being. Hispanic culture is defined by
      strong cultural beliefs in which illness is often perceived to arise from strong
      emotions. Understanding the perceptions of MS in Hispanic Americans may provide a
      better understanding of cultural barriers that may exist. The purpose of this
      study was to describe Hispanic American perceptions of MS. METHODS: We gathered
      information from semistructured interviews, focus groups, and participant
      responses from the University of Southern California Hispanic MS Registry. This
      information was then stratified into a matrix of environmental, biological, and
      sociocultural determinants. Differences were examined by place of birth,
      treatment preference, and ambulatory difficulty. Logistic regression was used to
      investigate the relationship between sociocultural perceptions, place of birth,
      and ambulation. RESULTS: Most participants were female (n = 64, 61%), US born (n
      = 64, 61%), and receiving treatment for MS. Participants cited environmental and
      sociocultural perceptions, with significant differences noted by place of birth.
      Sociocultural factors such as strong emotions were almost four times more
      commonly perceived in immigrants compared with US-born participants (adjusted
      odds ratio, 3.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-11.90; P = .03). Male, low
      education, and low-income participants were also more likely to perceive MS to be
      a result of strong emotions, but these differences were not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: Hispanic American perceptions of MS differ by place of
      birth, with reports of cultural idioms more common among immigrants, which could
      affect disease management. These findings may be useful in designing educational
      interventions to improve MS-related well-being in Hispanic populations.

PMID- 28603463
TI  - Case Report: Two Cases of Nicolau Syndrome Associated with Glatiramer Acetate.
AB  - We report two cases of Nicolau syndrome (embolia cutis medicamentosa), a rare
      complication of injectable medications, both associated with the administration
      of 20 mg of subcutaneous glatiramer acetate. Both patients required surgical
      debridement and were subsequently treated conservatively without additional
      complications. Patient 1 opted to discontinue disease-modifying therapy. Patient
      2 continued glatiramer acetate therapy without complications by using other
      injection sites. These cases highlight the need for prompt investigation of new
      unusual skin lesions in patients receiving injectable multiple sclerosis
      treatments (regardless of length of treatment and previous minor cosmetic
      concerns) and illustrate the clinical distinction between Nicolau syndrome and
      drug-induced skin necrosis.

PMID- 28603464
TI  - Reliability and Validity of the Computerized Dynamic Posturography Sensory
      Organization Test in People with Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently have impaired postural
      control (balance). Psychometric properties of clinical tests of balance for
      individuals with MS, including the computerized dynamic posturography sensory
      organization test (CDP-SOT), are poorly understood. This study aimed to determine
      the reliability and discriminant validity of the CDP-SOT in people with MS.
      METHODS: The CDP-SOT was performed on 30 participants with MS. A 2-week-interval,
      repeated-measures (sessions 1 and 2) design was implemented to investigate test
      retest reliability of the CDP-SOT and the ability of the CDP-SOT to discriminate
      between participants with lower versus higher disability. Self-reported
      disability level was based on Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) scale
      scores: lower (PDDS scale score, 0-3; n = 17) and higher (PDDS scale score, 4-6;
      n = 13). RESULTS: All six conditions of the CDP-SOT had good-to-excellent
      reliability (interclass correlation coefficients, 0.70-0.90) and excellent
      reliability for composite scores (0.90). Composite scores were significantly
      greater in the lower-disability group versus the higher-disability group at
      session 1 (70.89 vs. 48.60, P = .001) and session 2 (74.82 vs. 48.85, P = .002).
      CONCLUSIONS: The CDP-SOT is a reliable measure of balance and accurately
      differentiates disability status in people with MS. Collectively, the results
      support clinical application of the CDP-SOT as a reliable and valid measure of
      disease-related progression of impaired balance related to sensory integration
      and its utility in determining changes in balance in response to treatment.

PMID- 28603466
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28603465
TI  - Spinal Cord as an Adjunct to Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Defining "No
      Evidence of Disease Activity" in Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - Background: Monitoring patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for "no evidence of
      disease activity" (NEDA) may help guide disease-modifying therapy (DMT)
      management decisions. Whereas surveillance brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      is common, the role of spinal cord monitoring for NEDA is unknown. Objective: To
      evaluate the role of brain and spinal cord 3T MRI in the 1-year evaluation of
      NEDA. Methods: Of 61 study patients (3 clinically isolated syndrome, 56 relapsing
      remitting, 2 secondary progressive), 56 (91.8%) were receiving DMT. The MRI
      included brain fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and cervical/thoracic T2
      weighted fast spin echo images. On MRI, NEDA was defined as the absence of new or
      enlarging T2 lesions at 1 year. Results: Thirty-nine patients (63.9%) achieved
      NEDA by brain MRI, only one of whom had spinal cord activity. This translates to
      a false-positive rate for NEDA based on the brain of 2.6% (95% CI, 0.1%-13.5%).
      Thirty-eight patients (62.3%) had NEDA by brain and spinal cord MRI. Fifty-five
      patients (90.2%) had NEDA by spinal cord MRI, 17 of whom had brain activity. Of
      the 22 patients (36.1%) with brain changes, 5 had spinal cord changes. No
      evidence of disease activity was sustained in 48.3% of patients at 1 year and was
      the same with the addition of spinal cord MRI. Patients with MRI activity in
      either the brain or the spinal cord only were more likely to have activity in the
      brain (P = .0001). Conclusions: Spinal cord MRI had a low diagnostic yield as an
      adjunct to brain MRI at 3T in monitoring patients with MS for NEDA over 1 year.
      Studies with larger data sets are needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 28603467
TI  - Daily Goals and Psychological Well-Being in Midlife and Older Women: Physical
      Pain Interacts with Goal Conflict.
AB  - Physical pain is more prevalent with older age and female gender, and pain can
      interfere with goal pursuit and its psychological benefit. In particular, insofar
      as pain is associated with fatigue, it may limit resources for goal pursuit and
      increase goal resource conflict: the competition between goals for time and
      energy. Therefore, the pursuit of goals with high value and low resource conflict
      should provide the most psychological benefit, particularly for women who
      experience physical pain. Women in middle and older age (N = 200) completed up to
      7 daily diaries (n = 1,380), in which they reported and rated their daily goals
      and assessed their daily pain, distress, fatigue, and cognitive function. Raters
      also assessed goal conflict. Multilevel models tested the within- and between
      person relationships of goal value and goal conflict with daily distress,
      fatigue, and cognitive function, as well as moderation by pain. Higher goal value
      was associated with less distress and fatigue and better cognitive function
      within and between women. Depending on whether or not a woman had physical pain,
      goal conflict had different relationships with fatigue and cognitive function:
      for women with no pain, there was a modest positive relationship between goal
      conflict and both cognitive difficulties and subjective fatigue; for women with
      pain, there was a negative relationship between goal conflict and both cognitive
      difficulties and subjective fatigue. Results suggest women without pain may be
      taxed by their goal conflict, whereas women with pain may regulate their goal
      conflict in response to their available resources.

PMID- 28603469
TI  - Using Fitness Trackers in Clinical Research: What Nurse Practitioners Need to
      Know.
AB  - Consumer-based wearable fitness trackers present a new array of opportunities and
      challenges to nurse practitioners engaged in health promotion research. Key
      advantages include the ability to provide continuous, objective, remote
      monitoring of physical activity and the potential to improve the efficacy of
      physical activity interventions. This paper provides an overview of fitness
      trackers, including their functions and accuracy, and addresses the following key
      issues to consider before using trackers in research: (1) when to use a fitness
      tracker; (2) choosing a brand and model; (3) encouraging good compliance; and (4)
      extracting and using the data.

PMID- 28603468
TI  - Minimal dose of milk protein concentrate to enhance the anabolic signalling
      response to a single bout of resistance exercise; a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resistance training is a potent stimulus to induce muscle
      hypertrophy. Supplemental protein intake is known to enhance gains in muscle mass
      through activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)
      pathway, which initiates protein translation. While the optimal dose of high
      quality protein to promote post exercise anabolism in young or older men has been
      investigated, little is known about the minimum doses of protein required to
      potentiate the resistance exercise activation of anabolic signalling in middle
      aged men. METHODS: Twenty healthy men (46.3 +/- 5.7 years, BMI: 23.9 +/- 6.6
      kg/m2) completed a single bout of unilateral resistance exercise consisting of 4
      sets of leg extension and press at 80% of 1 repetition maximum. Participants were
      randomised to consume either formulated milk product containing 9 g milk protein
      (FMP) or an isoenergetic carbohydrate placebo (CHO) immediately post exercise, in
      a double blind fashion. A single muscle biopsy was collected at pre-exercise
      baseline and then bilateral biopsies were collected 90 and 240 min after beverage
      consumption. RESULTS: P70S6KThr389 phosphorylation was increased with exercise
      irrespective of group, P70S6KThr421/Ser424 was increased with exercise only in
      the FMP group at 240 min. Likewise, rpS6 Ser235/236 phosphorylation was increased
      with exercise irrespective of group, rpS6 Ser240/244 increased to a greater
      extent following exercise in the FMP group. mRNA expression of the amino acid
      transporter, LAT1/ SLC7A5 increased with both exercise and beverage consumption
      irrespective of group. PAT1/ SLC36A1, CAT1/ SLC7A1 and SNAT2/ SLC38A2 mRNA
      increased only after exercise regardless of group. CONCLUSIONS: Nine grams of
      milk protein is sufficient to augment some measures of downstream mTORC1
      signalling after resistance exercise but does not potentiate exercise induced
      increases in amino acid transporter expression. Formulated products containing
      nine grams of milk protein would be expected stimulate muscle anabolism after
      resistance exercise. TRIAL REGISTRATION: New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry
      ACTRN12615001375549. Registered: 17 December, 2015.

PMID- 28603470
TI  - Hispanic Perspectives on Recovery High Schools: If We Build Them, Will They Come?
AB  - Recovery High Schools (RHSs) have been among the continuum of care for
      adolescents experiencing addiction since 1979 (Moberg & Finch, 2008). Outcome
      studies for RHSs are limited, and even less is known about RHS engagement of
      Hispanics. RHS students are overwhelmingly middle-class non-Hispanic White
      students with prior formal treatment (Moberg & Finch, 2008). Hispanic youth are
      more likely to live in discordant low-income ethnic enclaves, placing them at
      high risk for addictive disorders (Torres, Kaplan, & Valdez, 2011). The
      individualized approach of RHSs could make them a culturally relevant continuing
      care intervention. This paper reviews the literature to explore the use of RHSs
      by Hispanics.

PMID- 28603471
TI  - Fitting in and feeling fine: Conformity and coping motives differentially mediate
      the relationship between social anxiety and drinking problems for men and women.
AB  - Social anxiety nearly quintuples the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder.
      Although accumulating data suggest that socially anxious persons drink to manage
      negative effect, socially anxious persons suffer from elevations in both anxiety
      and depression. Thus, the present study sought to determine whether social
      anxiety was related to drinking to cope with anxiety or depression and whether
      drinking motives accounted for the relation of social anxiety to drinking
      problems among 461 (74% female, 48% with clinically elevated social anxiety)
      undergraduate drinkers. Compared to women with more normative levels of social
      anxiety, women with clinically elevated social anxiety endorsed more drinking to
      cope with anxiety and conformity motives. Drinking to cope with anxiety uniquely
      mediated the relation of social anxiety and drinking problems among women. Among
      men, social anxiety was uniquely related to conformity motives, which mediated
      the social anxiety-drinking problems relationship. Findings support prior work
      indicating that socially anxious men and women may use alcohol differently and
      provide unique data on the importance of drinking to cope with anxiety
      specifically among socially anxious women.

PMID- 28603472
TI  - Endometrial cancer in a woman undergoing hysteroscopy for recurrent IVF failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hysteroscopy, despite being the undisputed gold standard for the
      examination of the uterine cavity, is controversial as a routine procedure in
      infertile women. However, benign intrauterine conditions are common in women
      suffering repeated in vitro fertilization (IVF) failure, and growing evidence
      suggests a unique diagnostic and therapeutic role for hysteroscopy. Endometrial
      malignancy, on the contrary, is unreported by large published series of women
      with repeated IVF failures undergoing hysteroscopy, and its impact on fertility,
      for obvious reasons, has not been studied. RESULTS: An unsuspected endometrial
      cancer was diagnosed in an asymptomatic 38-year-old woman undergoing hysteroscopy
      because of several repeated failures of in vitro fertilization and embryo
      transfer. CONCLUSIONS: Endometrial cancer can be found at hysteroscopy in young
      women with repeated IVF failures. The possibility of repeatedly unsuccessful
      fertility treatments should be taken into account when counseling infertile women
      about conservative treatment of endometrial cancer.

PMID- 28603473
TI  - Perioperative surgical outcome of conventional and robot-assisted total
      laparoscopic hysterectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate surgical outcome in a consecutive series of patients with
      conventional and robot assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort study was performed among patients with benign and malignant
      indications for a laparoscopic hysterectomy. Main surgical outcomes were
      operation room time and skin to skin operating time, complications, conversions,
      rehospitalisation and reoperation, estimated blood loss and length of hospital
      stay. RESULTS: A total of 294 patients were evaluated: 123 in the conventional
      total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) group and 171 in the robot TLH group. After
      correction for differences in basic demographics with a multivariate linear
      regression analysis, the skin to skin operating time was a significant 18 minutes
      shorter in robot assisted TLH compared to conventional TLH (robot assisted TLH
      92m, conventional TLH 110m, p0.001). The presence or absence of previous
      abdominal surgery had a significant influence on the skin to skin operating time
      as did the body mass index and the weight of the uterus. Complications were not
      significantly different. The robot TLH group had significantly less blood loss
      and lower rehospitalisation and reoperation rates. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      compares conventional TLH with robot assisted TLH and shows shorter operating
      times, less blood loss and lower rehospitalisation and reoperation rates in the
      robot TLH group.

PMID- 28603475
TI  - Oophoropexy for ovarian torsion: a new easier technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oophoropexy for ovarian torsion is easy to be done by many tools
      either suturing to the lateral pelvic wall, plication of the ovarian ligament or
      even fixation to the back of the uterus, but it is little bit difficult to do it
      for pregnant women with less manipulation. OBJECTIVE: We propose that using
      trocar site closure needle can be easier and faster technique to do this. To
      assess the feasibility of using the trocar site closure needle to do oophoropexy
      in ovarian torsion and its possible applicability. PATIENTS: Seven patients
      presented with ovarian torsion; four of them were pregnant at 7, 15, 19 and 20
      weeks of gestation, two patients with ovarian hyperstimulation in IVF cycles and
      one adolescent patient with hemorrhagic cyst. They were diagnosed by clinical
      presentation and ultrasound with Doppler analysis, and confirmed by laparoscopy
      where they underwent detorsion and fixation of the ovary using the trocar site
      closure needle. RESULTS: Follow up of all the cases after one week showed
      improvement of the symptoms and normal Doppler flow of the target ovary then
      after three weeks by ultrasonography which revealed normal Doppler flow in the
      previously torsioned ovary. Two pregnant women underwent cesarean delivery where
      the operated ovary was observed during the delivery and was normal in shape and
      freely mobile with no adhesions. CONCLUSION: We propose that this technique is
      easier, faster and more comfortable especially in ovarian torsion in pregnant
      women and torsion in hyperstimulated ovaries.

PMID- 28603474
TI  - AAGL practice report: practice guidelines on intrauterine adhesions developed in
      collaboration with the European Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy (ESGE).

PMID- 28603476
TI  - Spigelian hernia in gynaecology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A Spigelian hernia is a rare hernia through the Spigelian fascia
      between the rectus muscle and the semilunar line. This hernia is well known in
      surgery. Symptoms vary from insidious to localised pain, an intermittent mass
      and/or a bowel obstruction. RESULTS: The Spigelian hernia is poorly known in
      gynaecology. Spigelian hernias may be causally related to secondary trocar
      insertion. This review is written to increase awareness in gynaecology and is
      illustrated by a case report in which the diagnosis was missed for 4 years even
      by laparoscopy. Smaller hernias risk not to be diagnosed and will thus not be
      treated. Even larger Spigelian hernias might not be recognised and treated
      appropriately. CONCLUSIONS: The gynaecologist should consider a Spigelian hernia
      in women with localised pain in the abdominal wall lateral of the rectus muscle
      some 5 cm below the umbilicus. Smaller hernias can be closed by laparoscopy
      without a mesh. Larger hernias require a mesh repair.

PMID- 28603477
TI  - Mesoporous Piezoelectric Polymer Composite Films with Tunable Mechanical Modulus
      for Harvesting Energy from Liquid Pressure Fluctuation.
AB  - Harvesting mechanical energy from biological systems possesses great potential
      for in vivo powering implantable electronic devices. In this paper, a development
      of flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) is reported based on mesoporous
      poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films. Monolithic mesoporous PVDF is fabricated
      by a template-free sol-gel-based approach at room temperature. By filling the
      pores of PVDF network with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer, the
      composite's modulus is effectively tuned over a wide range down to the same level
      of biological systems. A close match of the modulus between NG and the
      surrounding biological component is critical to achieve practical integration.
      Upon deformation, the composite NG exhibits appreciable piezoelectric output that
      is comparable to or higher than other PVDF-based NGs. An artificial artery system
      is fabricated using PDMS with the composite NG integrated inside. Effective
      energy harvesting from liquid pressure fluctuation (simulating blood pressure
      fluctuation) is successfully demonstrated. The simple and effective approach for
      fabricating mesoporous PVDF with tunable mechanical properties provides a
      promising route toward the development of self-powered implantable devices.

PMID- 28603478
TI  - Physiological Signal-Based Method for Measurement of Pain Intensity.
AB  - The standard method for prediction of the absence and presence of pain has long
      been self-report. However, for patients with major cognitive or communicative
      impairments, it would be better if clinicians could quantify pain without having
      to rely on the patient's self-description. Here, we present a newly pain
      intensity measurement method based on multiple physiological signals, including
      blood volume pulse (BVP), electrocardiogram (ECG), and skin conductance level
      (SCL), all of which are induced by external electrical stimulation. The proposed
      pain prediction system consists of signal acquisition and preprocessing, feature
      extraction, feature selection and feature reduction, and three types of pattern
      classifiers. Feature extraction phase is devised to extract pain-related
      characteristics from short-segment signals. A hybrid procedure of genetic
      algorithm-based feature selection and principal component analysis-based feature
      reduction was established to obtain high-quality features combination with
      significant discriminatory information. Three types of classification algorithms
      linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbor algorithm, and support vector
      machine-are adopted during various scenarios, including multi-signal scenario,
      multi-subject and between-subject scenario, and multi-day scenario. The
      classifiers gave correct classification ratios much higher than chance
      probability, with the overall average accuracy of 75% above for four pain
      intensity. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can
      provide an objective and quantitative evaluation of pain intensity. The method
      might be used to develop a wearable device that is suitable for daily use in
      clinical settings.

PMID- 28603479
TI  - MRI Analysis of White Matter Myelin Water Content in Multiple Sclerosis: A Novel
      Approach Applied to Finding Correlates of Cortical Thinning.
AB  - A novel lesion-mask free method based on a gamma mixture model was applied to
      myelin water fraction (MWF) maps to estimate the association between cortical
      thickness and myelin content, and how it differs between relapsing-remitting
      (RRMS) and secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) groups (135 and 23
      patients, respectively). It was compared to an approach based on lesion masks.
      The gamma mixture distribution of whole brain, white matter (WM) MWF was
      characterized with three variables: the mode (most frequent value) m1 of the
      gamma component shown to relate to lesion, the mode m2 of the component shown to
      be associated with normal appearing (NA) WM, and the mixing ratio (lambda)
      between the two distributions. The lesion-mask approach relied on the mean MWF
      within lesion and within NAWM. A multivariate regression analysis was carried out
      to find the best predictors of cortical thickness for each group and for each
      approach. The gamma-mixture method was shown to outperform the lesion-mask
      approach in terms of adjusted R2, both for the RRMS and SPMS groups. The
      predictors of the final gamma-mixture models were found to be m1 (beta = 1.56, p
      < 0.005), lambda (beta = -0.30, p < 0.0005) and age (beta = -0.0031, p < 0.005)
      for the RRMS group (adjusted R2 = 0.16), and m2 (beta = 4.72, p < 0.0005) for the
      SPMS group (adjusted R2 = 0.45). Further, a DICE coefficient analysis
      demonstrated that the lesion mask had more overlap to an ROI associated with m1,
      than to an ROI associated with m2 (p < 0.00001), and vice versa for the NAWM mask
      (p < 0.00001). These results suggest that during the relapsing phase, focal WM
      damage is associated with cortical thinning, yet in SPMS patients, global WM
      deterioration has a much stronger influence on secondary degeneration. Through
      these findings, we demonstrate the potential contribution of myelin loss on
      neuronal degeneration at different disease stages and the usefulness of our
      statistical reduction technique which is not affected by the typical bias
      associated with approaches based on lesion masks.

PMID- 28603481
TI  - Effects of Dim Light at Night on Food Intake and Body Mass in Developing Mice.
AB  - Appropriately timed light is critical for circadian organization; exposure to dim
      light at night (dLAN) disrupts temporal organization of endogenous biological
      timing. Exposure to dLAN in adult mice is associated with elevated body mass and
      changes in metabolism putatively driven by voluntary changes in the time of food
      intake. We predicted that exposure of young mice to LAN could affect adult
      metabolic function. At 3 weeks (Experiment 1) or 5 weeks (Experiment 2) of age,
      mice were either maintained in standard light-dark (DARK) cycles or exposed to
      nightly dLAN (5 lux). In the first two experiments, food intake and locomotor
      activity were assessed after 4 weeks and a glucose tolerance test was
      administered after 6 weeks in experimental lighting conditions. In Experiment 3,
      tissues were collected around the clock at 6 h intervals to investigate rhythmic
      hepatic clock gene expression in mice exposed to dLAN from 3 or 5 weeks of age.
      Male and female mice exposed to dLAN beginning at 3 weeks of age displayed
      similar growth rates and body mass to DARK-reared offspring, despite increasing
      day-time food intake. Exposure to dLAN beginning at 5 weeks of age increased body
      mass and daytime food intake in male, but not female, mice. Consistent with the
      body mass phenotype, clock gene expression was unaltered in the liver. In
      contrast to adults, dLAN exposure during the development of the peripheral
      circadian system has sex- and development-dependent effects on body mass gain.

PMID- 28603480
TI  - How Energy Metabolism Supports Cerebral Function: Insights from 13C Magnetic
      Resonance Studies In vivo.
AB  - Cerebral function is associated with exceptionally high metabolic activity, and
      requires continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients from the blood stream. Since
      the mid-twentieth century the idea that brain energy metabolism is coupled to
      neuronal activity has emerged, and a number of studies supported this hypothesis.
      Moreover, brain energy metabolism was demonstrated to be compartmentalized in
      neurons and astrocytes, and astrocytic glycolysis was proposed to serve the
      energetic demands of glutamatergic activity. Shedding light on the role of
      astrocytes in brain metabolism, the earlier picture of astrocytes being
      restricted to a scaffold-associated function in the brain is now out of date.
      With the development and optimization of non-invasive techniques, such as nuclear
      magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), several groups have worked on assessing
      cerebral metabolism in vivo. In this context, 1H MRS has allowed the measurements
      of energy metabolism-related compounds, whose concentrations can vary under
      different brain activation states. 1H-[13C] MRS, i.e., indirect detection of
      signals from 13C-coupled 1H, together with infusion of 13C-enriched glucose has
      provided insights into the coupling between neurotransmission and glucose
      oxidation. Although these techniques tackle the coupling between neuronal
      activity and metabolism, they lack chemical specificity and fail in providing
      information on neuronal and glial metabolic pathways underlying those processes.
      Currently, the improvement of detection modalities (i.e., direct detection of 13C
      isotopomers), the progress in building adequate mathematical models along with
      the increase in magnetic field strength now available render possible detailed
      compartmentalized metabolic flux characterization. In particular, direct 13C MRS
      offers more detailed dataset acquisitions and provides information on metabolic
      interactions between neurons and astrocytes, and their role in supporting
      neurotransmission. Here, we review state-of-the-art MR methods to study brain
      function and metabolism in vivo, and their contribution to the current
      understanding of how astrocytic energy metabolism supports glutamatergic activity
      and cerebral function. In this context, recent data suggests that astrocytic
      metabolism has been underestimated. Namely, the rate of oxidative metabolism in
      astrocytes is about half of that in neurons, and it can increase as much as the
      rate of neuronal metabolism in response to sensory stimulation.

PMID- 28603482
TI  - Dopamine and the Brainstem Locomotor Networks: From Lamprey to Human.
AB  - In vertebrates, dopamine neurons are classically known to modulate locomotion via
      their ascending projections to the basal ganglia that project to brainstem
      locomotor networks. An increased dopaminergic tone is associated with increase in
      locomotor activity. In pathological conditions where dopamine cells are lost,
      such as in Parkinson's disease, locomotor deficits are traditionally associated
      with the reduced ascending dopaminergic input to the basal ganglia. However, a
      descending dopaminergic pathway originating from the substantia nigra pars
      compacta was recently discovered. It innervates the mesencephalic locomotor
      region (MLR) from basal vertebrates to mammals. This pathway was shown to
      increase locomotor output in lampreys, and could very well play an important role
      in mammals. Here, we provide a detailed account on the newly found dopaminergic
      pathway in lamprey, salamander, rat, monkey, and human. In lampreys and
      salamanders, dopamine release in the MLR is associated with the activation of
      reticulospinal neurons that carry the locomotor command to the spinal cord.
      Dopamine release in the MLR potentiates locomotor movements through a D1-receptor
      mechanism in lampreys. In rats, stimulation of the substantia nigra pars compacta
      elicited dopamine release in the pedunculopontine nucleus, a known part of the
      MLR. In a monkey model of Parkinson's disease, a reduced dopaminergic innervation
      of the brainstem locomotor networks was reported. Dopaminergic fibers are also
      present in human pedunculopontine nucleus. We discuss the conserved locomotor
      role of this pathway from lamprey to mammals, and the hypothesis that this
      pathway could play a role in the locomotor deficits reported in Parkinson's
      disease.

PMID- 28603483
TI  - Oscillatory Mechanisms of Stimulus Processing and Selection in the Visual and
      Auditory Systems: State-of-the-Art, Speculations and Suggestions.
AB  - All sensory systems need to continuously prioritize and select incoming stimuli
      in order to avoid overflow or interference, and provide a structure to the
      brain's input. However, the characteristics of this input differ across sensory
      systems; therefore, and as a direct consequence, each sensory system might have
      developed specialized strategies to cope with the continuous stream of incoming
      information. Neural oscillations are intimately connected with this selection
      process, as they can be used by the brain to rhythmically amplify or attenuate
      input and therefore represent an optimal tool for stimulus selection. In this
      paper, we focus on oscillatory processes for stimulus selection in the visual and
      auditory systems. We point out both commonalities and differences between the two
      systems and develop several hypotheses, inspired by recently published findings:
      (1) The rhythmic component in its input is crucial for the auditory, but not for
      the visual system. The alignment between oscillatory phase and rhythmic input
      (phase entrainment) is therefore an integral part of stimulus selection in the
      auditory system whereas the visual system merely adjusts its phase to upcoming
      events, without the need for any rhythmic component. (2) When input is
      unpredictable, the visual system can maintain its oscillatory sampling, whereas
      the auditory system switches to a different, potentially internally oriented,
      "mode" of processing that might be characterized by alpha oscillations. (3)
      Visual alpha can be divided into a faster occipital alpha (10 Hz) and a slower
      frontal alpha (7 Hz) that critically depends on attention.

PMID- 28603485
TI  - Multifaceted Mechanisms of WY-14643 to Stabilize the Blood-Brain Barrier in a
      Model of Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is damaged during ischemic insults such as
      traumatic brain injury or stroke. This contributes to vasogenic edema formation
      and deteriorate disease outcomes. Enormous efforts are pursued to understand
      underlying mechanisms of ischemic insults and develop novel therapeutic
      strategies. In the present study the effects of PPARalpha agonist WY-14643 were
      investigated to prevent BBB breakdown and reduce edema formation. WY-14643
      inhibited barrier damage in a mouse BBB in vitro model of traumatic brain injury
      based on oxygen/glucose deprivation in a concentration dependent manner. This was
      linked to changes of the localization of tight junction proteins. Furthermore, WY
      14643 altered phosphorylation of kinases ERK1/2, p38, and SAPK/JNK and was able
      to inhibit proteosomal activity. Moreover, addition of WY-14643 upregulated PAI-1
      leading to decreased t-PA activity. Mouse in vivo experiments showed
      significantly decreased edema formation in a controlled cortical impact model of
      traumatic brain injury after WY-14643 application, which was not found in PAI-1
      knockout mice. Generally, data suggested that WY-14643 induced cellular responses
      which were dependent as well as independent from PPARalpha mediated
      transcription. In conclusion, novel mechanisms of a PPARalpha agonist were
      elucidated to attenuate BBB breakdown during traumatic brain injury in vitro.

PMID- 28603484
TI  - Evolutionary Divergence of the C-terminal Domain of Complexin Accounts for
      Functional Disparities between Vertebrate and Invertebrate Complexins.
AB  - Complexin is a critical presynaptic protein that regulates both spontaneous and
      calcium-triggered neurotransmitter release in all synapses. Although the SNARE
      binding central helix of complexin is highly conserved and required for all known
      complexin functions, the remainder of the protein has profoundly diverged across
      the animal kingdom. Striking disparities in complexin inhibitory activity are
      observed between vertebrate and invertebrate complexins but little is known about
      the source of these differences or their relevance to the underlying mechanism of
      complexin regulation. We found that mouse complexin 1 (mCpx1) failed to inhibit
      neurotransmitter secretion in Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions
      lacking the worm complexin 1 (CPX-1). This lack of inhibition stemmed from
      differences in the C-terminal domain (CTD) of mCpx1. Previous studies revealed
      that the CTD selectively binds to highly curved membranes and directs complexin
      to synaptic vesicles. Although mouse and worm complexin have similar lipid
      binding affinity, their last few amino acids differ in both hydrophobicity and in
      lipid binding conformation, and these differences strongly impacted CPX-1
      inhibitory function. Moreover, function was not maintained if a critical
      amphipathic helix in the worm CPX-1 CTD was replaced with the corresponding mCpx1
      amphipathic helix. Invertebrate complexins generally shared more C-terminal
      similarity with vertebrate complexin 3 and 4 isoforms, and the amphipathic region
      of mouse complexin 3 significantly restored inhibitory function to worm CPX-1. We
      hypothesize that the CTD of complexin is essential in conferring an inhibitory
      function to complexin, and that this inhibitory activity has been attenuated in
      the vertebrate complexin 1 and 2 isoforms. Thus, evolutionary changes in the
      complexin CTD differentially shape its synaptic role across phylogeny.

PMID- 28603486
TI  - Comparison of Sirtuin 3 Levels in ALS and Huntington's Disease-Differential
      Effects in Human Tissue Samples vs. Transgenic Mouse Models.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by distinct patterns of neuronal
      loss. In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) upper and lower motoneurons
      degenerate whereas in Huntington's disease (HD) medium spiny neurons in the
      striatum are preferentially affected. Despite these differences the
      pathophysiological mechanisms and risk factors are remarkably similar. In
      addition, non-neuronal features, such as weight loss implicate a dysregulation in
      energy metabolism. Mammalian sirtuins, especially the mitochondrial NAD+
      dependent sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), regulate mitochondrial function and aging processes.
      SIRT3 expression depends on the activity of the metabolic master regulator
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC
      1alpha), a modifier of ALS and HD in patients and model organisms. This prompted
      us to systematically probe Sirt3 mRNA and protein levels in mouse models of ALS
      and HD and to correlate these with patient tissue levels. We found a selective
      reduction of Sirt3 mRNA levels and function in the cervical spinal cord of end
      stage ALS mice (superoxide dismutase 1, SOD1G93A). In sharp contrast, a tendency
      to increased Sirt3 mRNA levels was found in the striatum in HD mice (R6/2).
      Cultured primary neurons express the highest levels of Sirt3 mRNA. In primary
      cells from PGC-1alpha knock-out (KO) mice the Sirt3 mRNA levels were highest in
      astrocytes. In human post mortem tissue increased mRNA and protein levels of
      Sirt3 were found in the spinal cord in ALS, while Sirt3 levels were unchanged in
      the human HD striatum. Based on these findings we conclude that SIRT3 mediates
      the different effects of PGC-1alpha during the course of transgenic (tg) ALS and
      HD and in the human conditions only partial aspects Sirt3 dysregulation manifest.

PMID- 28603487
TI  - The Onecut Transcription Factors Regulate Differentiation and Distribution of
      Dorsal Interneurons during Spinal Cord Development.
AB  - During embryonic development, the dorsal spinal cord generates numerous
      interneuron populations eventually involved in motor circuits or in sensory
      networks that integrate and transmit sensory inputs from the periphery. The
      molecular mechanisms that regulate the specification of these multiple dorsal
      neuronal populations have been extensively characterized. In contrast, the
      factors that contribute to their diversification into smaller specialized subsets
      and those that control the specific distribution of each population in the
      developing spinal cord remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the Onecut
      transcription factors, namely Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor-6 (HNF-6) (or OC-1), OC-2
      and OC-3, regulate the diversification and the distribution of spinal dorsal
      interneuron (dINs). Onecut proteins are dynamically and differentially
      distributed in spinal dINs during differentiation and migration. Analyzes of
      mutant embryos devoid of Onecut factors in the developing spinal cord evidenced a
      requirement in Onecut proteins for proper production of a specific subset of dI5
      interneurons. In addition, the distribution of dI3, dI5 and dI6 interneuron
      populations was altered. Hence, Onecut transcription factors control genetic
      programs that contribute to the regulation of spinal dIN diversification and
      distribution during embryonic development.

PMID- 28603488
TI  - Hypothesis of K+-Recycling Defect Is Not a Primary Deafness Mechanism for Cx26
      (GJB2) Deficiency.
AB  - K+-recycling defect is a long-standing hypothesis for deafness mechanism of
      Connexin26 (Cx26, GJB2) mutations, which cause the most common hereditary
      deafness and are responsible for >50% of nonsyndromic hearing loss. The
      hypothesis states that Cx26 deficiency may disrupt inner ear gap junctions and
      compromise sinking and recycling of expelled K+ ions after hair cell excitation,
      causing accumulation of K+-ions in the extracellular space around hair cells
      producing K+-toxicity, which eventually induces hair cell degeneration and
      hearing loss. However, this hypothesis has never been directly evidenced, even
      though it has been widely referred to. Recently, more and more experiments
      demonstrate that this hypothesis may not be a deafness mechanism underlying Cx26
      deficiency. In this review article, we summarized recent advances on the K+
      recycling and mechanisms underlying Cx26 deficiency induced hearing loss. The
      mechanisms underlying K+-sinking, which is the first step for K+-recycling in the
      cochlea, and Cx26 deficiency induced cochlear developmental disorders, which are
      responsible for Cx26 deficiency induced congenital deafness and associated with
      disruption of permeability of inner ear gap junctional channels to miRNAs, are
      also summarized and discussed.

PMID- 28603489
TI  - Corticostriatal Regulation of Acute Pain.
AB  - The mechanisms for acute pain regulation in the brain are not well understood.
      The prefrontal cortex (PFC) provides top-down control of emotional processes, and
      it projects to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This corticostriatal projection forms
      an important regulatory pathway within the brain's reward system. Recently, this
      projection has been suggested to control both sensory and affective phenotypes
      specifically associated with chronic pain. As this projection is also known to
      play a role in the transition from acute to chronic pain, we hypothesized that
      this corticostriatal circuit can also exert a modulatory function in the acute
      pain state. Here, we used optogenetics to specifically target the projection from
      the PFC to the NAc. We tested sensory pain behaviors with Hargreaves' test and
      mechanical allodynia, and aversive pain behaviors with conditioned place
      preference (CPP) test. We found that the activation of this corticostriatal
      circuit gave rise to bilateral relief from peripheral nociceptive inputs.
      Activation of this circuit also provided important control for the aversive
      response to transient noxious stimulations. Hence, our results support a novel
      role for corticostriatal circuitry in acute pain regulation.

PMID- 28603490
TI  - Antagonization of the Nogo-Receptor 1 Enhances Dopaminergic Fiber Outgrowth of
      Transplants in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Intrastriatal transplantation of fetal human ventral mesencephalic dopaminergic
      neurons is an experimental therapy for patients suffering from Parkinson's
      disease. The success of this approach depends on several host brain parameters
      including neurotrophic factors and growth inhibitors that guide survival and
      integration of transplanted neurons. While the potential of neurotrophic factors
      has been extensively investigated, repression of growth inhibitors has been
      neglected, despite the significant effects reported in various CNS injury models.
      Recently, we demonstrated that infusion of neutralizing antibodies against Nogo-A
      into the lateral ventricles of hemi-parkinsonian rats significantly enhanced
      graft function. Since the Nogo-receptor 1 also interacts with other neurite
      growth inhibitors, we investigated whether a direct antagonization of the
      receptor would result in more robust effects. Therefore, rats with unilateral
      striatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions were grafted with ventral mesencephalic tissue
      in combination with intraventricular infusions of the Nogo-receptor 1 antagonist
      NEP1-40. Transplanted rats receiving saline infusions served as controls. To test
      whether NEP1-40 treatment alone affects the remaining dopaminergic striatal
      fibers, rats with unilateral striatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions were infused with
      NEP1-40 or saline without receiving a transplant. Motor behavior was assessed
      prior to the lesion as well as prior and 1, 3, and 5 weeks after the
      transplantations. At the end of the experimental period the number of graft
      derived dopaminergic fibers growing into the host brain, the number of surviving
      dopaminergic neurons and graft volume were analyzed. In rats without a
      transplant, the density of dopaminergic fibers in the striatum was analyzed. We
      detected that NEP1-40 treatment significantly enhanced graft-derived dopaminergic
      fiber outgrowth as compared to controls while no effects were detected for graft
      volume and survival of grafted dopaminergic neurons. Notably, the enhanced
      dopaminergic fiber outgrowth was not sufficient to improve the functional
      recovery as compared to controls. Moreover, NEP1-40 infusions in hemi
      parkinsonian rats without a transplant did not result in enhanced striatal
      dopaminergic fiber densities and consequently did not improve behavior. In sum,
      our findings demonstrate that antagonization of the Nogo-receptor 1 has the
      capacity to support the engraftment of transplanted mesencephalic tissue in an
      animal model of Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28603491
TI  - NOSH-NBP, a Novel Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulfide- Releasing Hybrid, Attenuates
      Ischemic Stroke-Induced Neuroinflammatory Injury by Modulating Microglia
      Polarization.
AB  - NOSH-NBP, a novel nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-releasing hybrid,
      protects brain from ischemic stroke. This study mainly aimed to investigate the
      therapeutic effect of NOSH-NBP on ischemic stroke and the underlying mechanisms.
      In vivo, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) was performed in
      C57BL/6 mice, with NO-NBP and H2S-NBP as controls. NO and H2S scavengers, carboxy
      PTIO and BSS, respectively, were used to quench NO and H2S of NOSH-NBP. In vitro,
      BV2 microglia/BMDM were induced to the M1/2 phenotype, and conditioned medium
      (CM) experiments in BV2 microglia, neurons and b.End3 cerebral microvascular
      endothelial cells (ECs) were performed. Microglial/macrophage
      activation/polarization was assessed by flow cytometry, Western blot, RT-qPCR,
      and ELISA. Neuronal and EC survival was measured by TUNEL, flow cytometry, MTT
      and LDH assays. Transmission electron microscopy, EB extravasation, brain water
      content, TEER measurement and Western blot were used to detect blood-brain
      barrier (BBB) integrity and function. Interestingly, NOSH-NBP significantly
      reduced cerebral infarct volume and ameliorated neurological deficit, with
      superior effects compared with NO-NBP and/or H2S-NBP in mice after tMCAO. Both NO
      and H2S-releasing groups contributed to protection by NOSH-NBP. Additionally,
      NOSH-NBP decreased neuronal death and attenuated BBB dysfunction in tMCAO-treated
      mice. Furthermore, NOSH-NBP promoted microglia/macrophage switch from an
      inflammatory M1 phenotype to the protective M2 phenotype in vivo and in vitro.
      Moreover, the TLR4/MyD88/NF-kappaB pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome were involved
      in the inhibitory effects of NOSH-NBP on M1 polarization, while peroxisome
      proliferator activated receptor gamma signaling contributed to NOSH-NBP induced
      M2 polarization. These findings indicated that NOSH-NBP is a potential
      therapeutic agent that preferentially promotes microglial/macrophage M1-M2 switch
      in ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28603492
TI  - Magnetoencephalographic Imaging of Auditory and Somatosensory Cortical Responses
      in Children with Autism and Sensory Processing Dysfunction.
AB  - This study compared magnetoencephalographic (MEG) imaging-derived indices of
      auditory and somatosensory cortical processing in children aged 8-12 years with
      autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 18), those with sensory processing dysfunction
      (SPD; N = 13) who do not meet ASD criteria, and typically developing control
      (TDC; N = 19) participants. The magnitude of responses to both auditory and
      tactile stimulation was comparable across all three groups; however, the M200
      latency response from the left auditory cortex was significantly delayed in the
      ASD group relative to both the TDC and SPD groups, whereas the somatosensory
      response of the ASD group was only delayed relative to TDC participants. The SPD
      group did not significantly differ from either group in terms of somatosensory
      latency, suggesting that participants with SPD may have an intermediate phenotype
      between ASD and TDC with regard to somatosensory processing. For the ASD group,
      correlation analyses indicated that the left M200 latency delay was significantly
      associated with performance on the WISC-IV Verbal Comprehension Index as well as
      the DSTP Acoustic-Linguistic index. Further, these cortical auditory response
      delays were not associated with somatosensory cortical response delays or
      cognitive processing speed in the ASD group, suggesting that auditory delays in
      ASD are domain specific rather than associated with generalized processing
      delays. The specificity of these auditory delays to the ASD group, in addition to
      their correlation with verbal abilities, suggests that auditory sensory
      dysfunction may be implicated in communication symptoms in ASD, motivating
      further research aimed at understanding the impact of sensory dysfunction on the
      developing brain.

PMID- 28603493
TI  - Role of Atypical Chemokine Receptors in Microglial Activation and Polarization.
AB  - Inflammatory reactions occurring in the central nervous system (CNS), known as
      neuroinflammation, are key components of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying
      several neurological diseases. The chemokine system plays a crucial role in the
      recruitment and activation of immune and non-immune cells in the brain, as well
      as in the regulation of microglia phenotype and function. Chemokines belong to a
      heterogeneous family of chemotactic agonists that signal through the interaction
      with G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Recently, a small subset of chemokine
      receptors, now identified as "atypical chemokine receptors" (ACKRs), has been
      described. These receptors lack classic GPCR signaling and chemotactic activity
      and are believed to limit inflammation through their ability to scavenge
      chemokines at the inflammatory sites. Recent studies have highlighted a role for
      ACKRs in neuroinflammation. However, in the CNS, the role of ACKRs seems to be
      more complex than the simple control of inflammation. For instance, CXCR7/ACKR3
      was shown to control T cell trafficking through the regulation of CXCL12
      internalization at CNS endothelial barriers. Furthermore, D6/ACKR2 KO mice were
      protected in a model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). D6/ACKR2
      KO showed an abnormal accumulation of dendritic cells at the immunization and a
      subsequent impairment in T cell priming. Finally, CCRL2, an ACKR-related protein,
      was shown to play a role in the control of the resolution phase of EAE. Indeed,
      CCRL2 KO mice showed exacerbated, non-resolving disease with protracted
      inflammation and increased demyelination. This phenotype was associated with
      increased microglia and macrophage activation markers and imbalanced M1 vs. M2
      polarization. This review will summarize the current knowledge on the role of the
      ACKRs in neuroinflammation with a particular attention to their role in
      microglial polarization and function.

PMID- 28603495
TI  - Neuronal Voltage Gated Potassium Channels May Modulate Nitric Oxide Synthesis in
      Corpus Cavernosum.
AB  - Potassium channels (K+Ch) in corpus cavernosum play an important role in the
      regulation of erection. Nitric oxide (NO) acts through opening of K+Ch leading to
      hyperpolarization and relaxation. Aim : This study aims to update knowledge about
      the role of voltage-gated K+Ch (KV) channels in erectile machinery and
      investigate their role in the control of NO action &/or synthesis in the corpus
      cavernosum. Methods : Tension studies using isolated rabbit corpus cavernosum
      (CC) strips and rat anococcygeus muscle were conducted. Results are expressed as
      mean +/- SEM. Results : Electric field stimulation (EFS, 2-16 Hz) evoked
      frequency-dependent relaxations of the PE (phenylephrine)-precontracted CC
      strips. At 2 Hz, EFS-induced relaxation amounted to 73.17 +/- 2.55% in presence 4
      AP (10-3 M) compared to 41.98 +/- 1.45% as control. None of the other selective
      K+Ch blockers tested inhibited EFS-induced relaxation. 4-AP (10-3M) significantly
      attenuated ACh-induced relaxation of rabbit CC where dose-response curve was
      clearly shifted upward, and attenuated SNP- induced relaxation, for example, to
      49.28 +/- 4.52% compared to 65.53 +/- 3.01% as control at 10-6 M SNP. The
      potentiatory effect of 4-AP on EFS was abolished or reversed in presence of N G 
      nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, non-selective nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, 10-5M,
      and 2 * 10-4M). Same results were observed in rat anococcygeus muscle which is a
      part of the erectile machinery in rats. Conclusion : This study provides evidence
      for the presence of prejunctional voltage-gated K+Ch in CC, the blockade of which
      may increase the neuronal synthesis of NO.

PMID- 28603494
TI  - YXQN Reduces Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology and Cognitive Decline in
      APPswePS1dE9 Transgenic Mice.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the world's most common form of dementia, in which
      aggregation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) is the hallmark. Unfortunately, few medicines
      have succeeded to completely cure AD. Yangxue Qingnao (YXQN) is a Chinese
      traditional medicine, and its pharmacological effect is improving cerebral blood
      flow. In this study, we firstly demonstrated that YXQN reduced AD-like pathology
      and cognitive impairment in APPswePS1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice with 2 months
      administration. Our data showed that YXQN substantially ameliorated behavioral
      defects in 10-month old APP/PS1 mice using Morris Water Maze and Y-maze tests, in
      which the cognitive ability of YXQN high-dose group approaches to wild type mice.
      Next, we focused on the brain pathological alterations in the YXQN group by three
      experiments, including thioflavin-S, congo-red, and Abeta-immunohistochemistry
      staining. The results demonstrated that the high-dose of YXQN dramatically
      suppressed amyloid plaques in the hippocampus and cortex of APP/PS1 mice, which
      showed a 47-72% reduction in plaque deposits, relative to the vehicle group. In
      addition, our data verified that YXQN decreased the cerebral amyloid load by
      attenuating beta-secretase BACE1 and gamma-secretase PS1 in the pathological
      processing of APP, and promoting the level of alpha-secretase ADAM10 in the
      physiological processing of APP to generate more sAPPalpha, which combats
      amyloidosis formation, and also carries out neurotropic and neuroprotective
      effect. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that YXQN could be a
      potential medicine for AD, and provide new evidence for further AD drug research
      and development.

PMID- 28603496
TI  - Anhuienoside C Ameliorates Collagen-Induced Arthritis through Inhibition of MAPK
      and NF-kappaB Signaling Pathways.
AB  - Anemone flaccida Fr. Schmidt (Ranunculaceae) (Di Wu in Chinese) is used to treat
      punch injuries and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our previous report has shown that
      crude triterpenoid saponins from Anemone flaccida exhibited anti-arthritic
      effects on type II collagen-induced arthritis in rats. Furthermore, anhuienoside
      C (AC), a saponin compound isolated from A. flaccida, was observed to suppress
      the nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated macrophage RAW
      264.7 cells. In this study, we examined the effects of AC on the prevention and
      treatment of collagen-induced arthritis in a mouse model and evaluated the
      potential mechanisms involved. We observed that oral administration of AC
      significantly suppressed the paw swelling and arthritic score, decreased the body
      weight loss, and decreased the spleen index. Improvement in the disease severity
      was accompanied by the reduction of cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68)-positive
      cells in the ankle joint and inhibition of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the synovium of the joint. Mechanistic
      studies indicated that AC exerted its anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting
      the mRNA expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2,
      TNF-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, and IL-6 and by suppressing the production of
      inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 in LPS-treated RAW
      264.7 cells. AC also blocked the LPS-induced activation of the extracellular
      signal-regulated kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38 mitogen-activated
      protein kinase pathways. Additionally, the LPS-induced activation of nuclear
      factor kappa-B (NF-kappaB) was significantly suppressed by AC treatment, as
      indicated by down-regulation of TLR4 and inhibition of the nuclear translocation
      of NF-kappaB p65 and by activation and degradation of the inhibitor of kappa B.
      These findings indicated that AC has a great potential to be developed as a
      therapeutic agent for human RA.

PMID- 28603497
TI  - Sigma-1 Receptor Plays a Negative Modulation on N-type Calcium Channel.
AB  - The sigma-1 receptor is a 223 amino acids molecular chaperone with a single
      transmembrane domain. It is resident to eukaryotic mitochondrial-associated
      endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membranes. By chaperone-mediated interactions
      with ion channels, G-protein coupled receptors and cell-signaling molecules, the
      sigma-1 receptor performs broad physiological and pharmacological functions.
      Despite sigma-1 receptors have been confirmed to regulate various types of ion
      channels, the relationship between the sigma-1 receptor and N-type Ca2+ channel
      is still unclear. Considering both sigma-1 receptors and N-type Ca2+ channels are
      involved in intracellular calcium homeostasis and neurotransmission, we undertake
      studies to explore the possible interaction between these two proteins. In the
      experiment, we confirmed the expression of the sigma-1 receptors and the N-type
      calcium channels in the cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) in rat striatum by using
      single-cell reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (scRT-PCR) and
      immunofluorescence staining. N-type Ca2+ currents recorded from ChIs in the brain
      slice of rat striatum was depressed when sigma-1 receptor agonists (SKF-10047 and
      Pre-084) were administrated. The inhibition was completely abolished by sigma-1
      receptor antagonist (BD-1063). Co-expression of the sigma-1 receptors and the N
      type calcium channels in Xenopus oocytes presented a decrease of N-type Ca2+
      current amplitude with an increase of sigma-1 receptor expression. SKF-10047
      could further depress N-type Ca2+ currents recorded from oocytes. The
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assays and co-immunoprecipitation
      (Co-IP) demonstrated that sigma-1 receptors and N-type Ca2+ channels formed a
      protein complex when they were co-expressed in HEK-293T (Human Embryonic Kidney 
      293T) cells. Our results revealed that the sigma-1 receptors played a negative
      modulation on N-type Ca2+ channels. The mechanism for the inhibition of sigma-1
      receptors on N-type Ca2+ channels probably involved a chaperone-mediated direct
      interaction and agonist-induced conformational changes in the receptor-channel
      complexes on the cell surface.

PMID- 28603498
TI  - Alcohol Beverage Household Expenditure, Taxation and Government Revenues in
      Broader European WHO Region.

PMID- 28603499
TI  - Campania Preventability Assessment Committee (Italy): A Focus on the
      Preventability of Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs' Adverse Drug Reactions.
AB  - Purpose: This study aims to investigate preventability criteria of adverse drug
      reactions (ADRs) involving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by
      analyzing individual case safety reports (ICSRs) sent through Campania region
      (Italy) spontaneous reporting system from July 2012 to October 2016. Methods: For
      all the ICSRs that reported NSAIDs as suspected drug, a trained multidisciplinary
      team of Campania Pharmacovigilance Regional Centre composed of clinical
      pharmacologists and pharmacists with pluriannual experience in Pharmacovigilance
      assessed preventability by using the P-method. Results: In all 19,039 ICSRs were
      sent to Campania Pharmacovigilance Regional Centre, of which 550 reported NSAIDs
      as suspected drug. In total, 94 cases (17.1%) out of 550 ICSRs were preventable.
      In the 94 preventable cases, 201 critical criteria were detected of which 182/201
      (90.5%) related to healthcare professionals' practices, 0/201 (0.0%) to drug
      quality, and 19/201 (9.5%) to patient behavior. The most detected critical
      criteria were the necessary medication not given (52/182; 28.6%), labeled drug
      drug interaction (36/182; 19.7%), incorrect drug administration duration (31/182;
      16.9%), wrong indication (26/182; 14.2%), therapeutic duplication (18/182;
      10.0%), and documented hypersensitivity to administered drug or drug class
      (10/182; 5.6%). In seventeen (18.1%) preventable cases, there were 19 critical
      criteria involving non-compliance (15/19 critical criteria; 78.9%) and self
      medication with the non-over-the-counter drugs (4/19 critical criteria; 21.1%).
      In all, 17 out 94 (18.1%) preventable cases involved over-the-counter drugs.
      Conclusion: A call for action for Campania Pharmacovigilance Regional Centre is
      necessary in order to promote initiatives to increase the awareness of healthcare
      professionals and citizens on the risk associated with inappropriate use of
      NSAIDs.

PMID- 28603500
TI  - EPCR Gene Ser219Gly Polymorphism and Venous Thromboembolism: A Meta-Analysis of
      9,494 Subjects.
AB  - Background: Although endothelial cell protein C receptor (EPCR) gene Ser219Gly
      polymorphism has been associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE)
      susceptibility, no clear consensus has yet been reached. Objective and methods: A
      meta-analysis of 9,494 subjects from 13 individual studies was conducted to
      better elucidate the potential relationship between the EPCR gene Ser219Gly
      polymorphism and VTE. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were evaluated by using fixed or random effect models.
      Results: The current meta-analysis suggested that there was a significant
      association between EPCR gene Ser219Gly polymorphism and VTE under allelic (OR:
      1.42, 95% CI: 1.21-1.66, P = 1.30 * 10-5), recessive (OR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.44
      2.85, P = 5.35 * 10-5), homozygous (OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.59-3.16, P = 3.66 * 10
      6), and additive genetic models (OR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.30-2.04, P = 2.24 * 10-5).
      Conclusions:EPCR gene Ser219Gly polymorphism was associated with an elevated risk
      of VTE and the Gly residue carriers of the EPCR gene might be predisposed to VTE.

PMID- 28603501
TI  - Cardiac Remodeling from Middle Age to Senescence.
AB  - Background: The data on cardiac remodeling outside the scope of myocardial
      infarction and heart failure are limited. Methods: A cohort of middle-aged
      hypertensive subjects with age- and gender-matched control subjects without
      hypertension (n = 1,045, aged 51 +/- 6 years) were randomly selected for the
      OPERA study (Oulu Project Elucidating Risk of Atherosclerosis study). The
      majority of those who were still alive after more than 20 years of follow-up
      underwent thorough re-examinations. Results: Left ventricular mass index (LVMI)
      increased significantly from 106.5 +/- 27.1 (mean +/- SD) to 114.6 +/- 29.1 g/m2
      (p < 0.001), the thickness of the left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW) from
      10.0 +/- 1.8 to 10.6 +/- 1.7 mm (p < 0.001), fractional shortening (FS) from 35.0
      +/- 5.7 to 38.4 +/- 7.2 % (p < 0.001), and left atrial diameter (LAD) from 38.8
      +/- 5.2 to 39.4 +/- 6.7 mm (p = 0.028) during the 20-year follow-up. After
      multivariate adjustments, hypertension treated with antihypertensive medication
      and male gender predicted a smaller increase in the thickness of LVPW (p = 0.017
      to <0.001). Baseline higher fasting plasma insulin level, larger intima media
      thickness of the carotid artery, greater height and antihypertensive medication
      (p = 0.046-0.002) predicted a smaller (less favorable) change of FS. The increase
      of LAD was associated with higher baseline diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.034)
      and greater height (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Aging from middle age to senescence
      increases the echocardiographic indexes of LVMI, LVPW thickness, FS and LAD.
      Several baseline factors are associated with these changes.

PMID- 28603502
TI  - Disruption of Steroid Axis, a New Paradigm for Molar Incisor Hypomineralization
      (MIH).

PMID- 28603503
TI  - Hypoxic Induced Decrease in Oxygen Consumption in Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)
      Is Associated with Minor Increases in Mantle Octopine but No Changes in Markers
      of Protein Turnover.
AB  - The common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), a dominant species in the north-east
      Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean Sea, is potentially subject to hypoxic
      conditions due to eutrophication of coastal waters and intensive aquaculture.
      Here we initiate studies on the biochemical response to an anticipated level of
      hypoxia. Cuttlefish challenged for 1 h at an oxygen level of 50% dissolved oxygen
      saturation showed a decrease in oxygen consumption of 37% associated with an 85%
      increase in ventilation rate. Octopine levels were increased to a small but
      significant level in mantle, whereas there was no change in gill or heart. There
      were no changes in mantle free glucose or glycogen levels. Similarly, the hypoxic
      period did not result in changes in HSP70 or polyubiquinated protein levels in
      mantle, gill, or heart. As such, it appears that although there was a decrease in
      metabolic rate there was only a minor increase in anaerobic metabolism as
      evidenced by octopine accumulation and no biochemical changes that are hallmarks
      of alterations in protein trafficking. Experiments with isolated preparations of
      mantle, gill, and heart revealed that pharmacological inhibition of protein
      synthesis could decrease oxygen consumption by 32 to 42% or Na+/K+ ATPase
      activity by 24 to 54% dependent upon tissue type. We propose that the decrease in
      whole animal oxygen consumption was potentially the result of controlled
      decreases in the energy demanding processes of both protein synthesis and Na+/K+
      ATPase activity.

PMID- 28603505
TI  - Adolescent Girls' STEM Identity Formation and Media Images of STEM Professionals:
      Considering the Influence of Contextual Cues.
AB  - Popular media have played a crucial role in the construction, representation,
      reproduction, and transmission of stereotypes of science, technology,
      engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals, yet little is known about how
      these stereotypes influence STEM identity formation. Media images of STEM
      professionals may be important sources of information about STEM and may be
      particularly salient and relevant for girls during adolescence as they actively
      consider future personal and professional identities. This article describes
      gender-stereotyped media images of STEM professionals and examines theories to
      identify variables that explain the potential influence of these images on STEM
      identity formation. Understanding these variables is important for expanding
      current conceptual frameworks of science/STEM identity to better determine how
      and when cues in the broader sociocultural context may affect adolescent girls'
      STEM identity. This article emphasizes the importance of focusing on STEMidentity
      relevant variables and STEM identity status to explain individual differences in
      STEM identity formation.

PMID- 28603506
TI  - The Time-Course of Sentence Meaning Composition. N400 Effects of the Interaction
      between Context-Induced and Lexically Stored Affordances.
AB  - Contemporary semantic theories can be classified along two dimensions: (i) the
      way and time-course in which contextual factors influence sentence truth
      conditions; and (ii) whether and to what extent comprehension involves sensory,
      motor and emotional processes. In order to explore this theoretical space, our
      ERP study investigates the time-course of the interaction between the lexically
      specified telic component of a noun (the function of the object to which the noun
      refers to, e.g., a funnel is generally used to pour liquids into containers) and
      an ad-hoc affordance contextually induced by the situation described in the
      discourse. We found that, if preceded by a neutral discourse context, a verb
      incongruent with the noun's telic component as in "She uses the funnel to hang
      her coat" elicited an enhanced N400 compared to a congruent verb as in "She uses
      the funnel to pour water into a container." However, if the situation introduced
      in the preceding discourse induced a new function for the object as an ad-hoc
      affordance (e.g., the funnel is glued to the wall and the agent wants to hang the
      coat), we observed a crossing-over regarding the direction of the N400 effect:
      comparing the ad-hoc affordance-inducing context with the neutral context, the
      N400 for the incongruent verb was significantly reduced, whereas the N400 for the
      congruent verb was significantly enhanced. We explain these results as a
      consequence of the incorporation of the contextually triggered ad-hoc affordance
      into the meaning of the noun. Combining these results with an analysis of
      semantic similarity values between test sentences and contexts, we argue that one
      possibility is that the incorporation of an ad-hoc affordance may be explained on
      the basis of the mental simulation of concurrent motor information.

PMID- 28603507
TI  - Making Champs and Super-Champs-Current Views, Contradictions, and Future
      Directions.
AB  - In our 2016 paper (Collins et al., 2016a), we proposed that superchamps (athletes
      who have achieved the highest level in their sport) were differentiated from
      their less successful counterparts by their use of positive proactive coping and
      a "learn from it" approach to challenge. This skill-based focus to talent
      development (TD) is supported extensively in the literature (e.g., MacNamara et
      al., 2010a,b) and suggests that the differences between levels of adult
      achievement relate more to what performers bring to the challenges than what they
      experience (Collins et al., 2016a). In this focused review we present and discuss
      a number of key concepts related to this paper and other parallel research in TD.
      We begin by presenting our pragmatic objectives and the importance of considering
      how we evaluate the research with an emphasis on its application to the applied
      setting. We then consider commonalities and differences in recent psychological
      approaches to TD, namely the experiential, attitudinal, and skill-based. The
      paper then provides further exploration of the Psychological Characteristics of
      Developing Excellence and their role in TD processes. We conclude with a
      consideration of future research and the application of research in TD.
      Reflecting our pragmatic stance as researchers, we hope that this focused review
      provides suggestions for progress and stimulates critical debate amongst
      practitioners, researchers and policy makers.

PMID- 28603508
TI  - Not All Selfies Took Alike: Distinct Selfie Motivations Are Related to Different
      Personality Characteristics.
AB  - Selfies have become a frequent and commonplace occurrence, though the reasons
      which lead people to take selfies remain unclear. This research explores what
      motivates selfie taking, and suggests that this is not a uniform phenomenon and
      varying motivations may be found among selfie takers. In addition, the connection
      between these distinct selfie motivations and personality characteristics,
      including the big five, narcissism, and self-esteem, as well as types of selfie
      behaviors are examined. At the first stage of the research, 117 participants
      filled out a questionnaire dealing with their reasons for taking selfies. An
      explanatory factor analysis revealed three distinct selfie motivations: self
      approval, belonging, and documentation. At the second stage, 191 different
      participants answered both the same questionnaire, and personality traits
      questionnaires. A confirmatory factor analysis verified that the three selfie
      motivations model has a good fit. Our results suggested that each selfie
      motivator is differently related to personality characteristics: self-approval
      was negatively related to: conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to
      experiences, and self-esteem, and positively correlated to frequent checking for
      "likes." Belonging was related to openness to experiences. Documentation was
      related to agreeableness and extroversion. Unlike previous studies, none of the
      selfie motivating factors was found to relate to narcissism. The reasons for
      these differences, as well as the need to refer to selfie taking as a
      multidimensional phenomenon, are discussed.

PMID- 28603504
TI  - The Safety of Ingested Caffeine: A Comprehensive Review.
AB  - Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world. Natural
      sources of caffeine include coffee, tea, and chocolate. Synthetic caffeine is
      also added to products to promote arousal, alertness, energy, and elevated mood.
      Over the past decade, the introduction of new caffeine-containing food products,
      as well as changes in consumption patterns of the more traditional sources of
      caffeine, has increased scrutiny by health authorities and regulatory bodies
      about the overall consumption of caffeine and its potential cumulative effects on
      behavior and physiology. Of particular concern is the rate of caffeine intake
      among populations potentially vulnerable to the negative effects of caffeine
      consumption: pregnant and lactating women, children and adolescents, young
      adults, and people with underlying heart or other health conditions, such as
      mental illness. Here, we review the research into the safety and safe doses of
      ingested caffeine in healthy and in vulnerable populations. We report that, for
      healthy adults, caffeine consumption is relatively safe, but that for some
      vulnerable populations, caffeine consumption could be harmful, including
      impairments in cardiovascular function, sleep, and substance use. We also
      identified several gaps in the literature on which we based recommendations for
      the future of caffeine research.

PMID- 28603509
TI  - Emerging Trends in the Multimodal Nature of Cognition: Touch and Handedness.
AB  - Advances in tactile cognition and haptics have increased our understanding of the
      multimodal nature of touch. Haptic data is mostly confined to human performance
      arising from the flexibility and dexterity of the fingers used to discriminate
      shapes and objects. Studies with infants indicate that recognition of objects
      either seen or held in the hand is possible during early periods of infancy.
      Evidence indicates performance differences between the hands decrease over
      periods of development, reflecting maturation of the cortical brain system
      supporting motor skills. Thus ability is not confined to the preferred hand.
      Tactile process and haptic cognition reflect hand ability. Studies examining
      manual performance must consider the relevance of haptics in research. Knowing
      about the evolution of the hands controlled by the cerebral hemispheres is of
      interest because it is a major contribution to the repertoire of human hand
      actions. The emergence of RDBM (role differentiated bimanual manipulation) is an
      important shift in the development of infant manual skills. Between 4 and 7
      months of age, infants begin to manipulate objects using RDBM where one hand
      stabilized an object while the other hand manipulated the object. Understanding
      the affordance of a tool is an important cognitive milestone in early
      sensorimotor period that develops during the second year in full-term infants.
      This ability has also been demonstrated in preterm infants indicating the
      emergence of handedness during prenatal periods. Thus a multimodal approach that
      incorporates studies of tactile processes and hand actions may reveal their
      interactions with task demands and haptic ability.

PMID- 28603510
TI  - How Do Soccer Players Adjust Their Activity in Team Coordination? An Enactive
      Phenomenological Analysis.
AB  - This study examined how individual team members adjust their activity to the
      needs for collective behavior. To do so, we used an enactive phenomenological
      approach and explored how soccer players' lived experiences were linked to the
      active regulation of team coordination during eight offensive transition
      situations. These situations were defined by the shift from defensive to
      offensive play following a change in ball possession. We collected
      phenomenological data, which were processed in four steps. First, we
      reconstructed the diachronic and synchronic dynamics of the players' lived
      experiences across these situations in order to identify the units of their
      activity. Second, we connected each player's units of activity side-by-side in
      chronological order in order to identify the collective units. Each connection
      was viewed as a collective regulation mode corresponding to which and how
      individual units were linked at a given moment. Third, we clustered each
      collective unit using the related objectives within three modes of regulation
      local (L), global (G), and mixed (M). Fourth, we compared the occurrences of
      these modes in relation to the observable key moments in the situations in order
      to identify typical patterns. The results indicated four patterns of collective
      regulation modes. Two distinct patterns were identified without ball possession:
      reorganize the play formation (G and M) and adapt to the actions of putting
      pressure on the ball carrier (M). Once the ball was recovered, two additional
      patterns emerged: be available to get the ball out of the recovery zone (L) and
      shoot for the goal (L and M). These results suggest that team coordination is a
      fluctuating phenomenon that can be described through the more or less predictable
      chaining between these patterns. They also highlight that team coordination is
      supported by several modes of regulation, including our proposal of a new mode of
      interpersonal regulation. We conclude that future research should investigate the
      effect of training on the enaction of this mode in competition.

PMID- 28603511
TI  - Replicability and Reproducibility in Comparative Psychology.

PMID- 28603512
TI  - Using Person Fit Statistics to Detect Outliers in Survey Research.
AB  - Context: When working with health-related questionnaires, outlier detection is
      important. However, traditional methods of outlier detection (e.g., boxplots) can
      miss participants with "atypical" responses to the questions that otherwise have
      similar total (subscale) scores. In addition to detecting outliers, it can be of
      clinical importance to determine the reason for the outlier status or "atypical"
      response. Objective: The aim of the current study was to illustrate how to derive
      person fit statistics for outlier detection through a statistical method
      examining person fit with a health-based questionnaire. Design and Participants:
      Patients treated for Cushing's syndrome (n = 394) were recruited from the
      Cushing's Support and Research Foundation's (CSRF) listserv and Facebook page.
      Main Outcome Measure: Patients were directed to an online survey containing the
      CushingQoL (English version). A two-dimensional graded response model was
      estimated, and person fit statistics were generated using the Zh statistic.
      Results: Conventional outlier detections methods revealed no outliers reflecting
      extreme scores on the subscales of the CushingQoL. However, person fit statistics
      identified 18 patients with "atypical" response patterns, which would have been
      otherwise missed (Zh > |+/-2.00|). Conclusion: While the conventional methods of
      outlier detection indicated no outliers, person fit statistics identified several
      patients with "atypical" response patterns who otherwise appeared average. Person
      fit statistics allow researchers to delve further into the underlying problems
      experienced by these "atypical" patients treated for Cushing's syndrome.
      Annotated code is provided to aid other researchers in using this method.

PMID- 28603513
TI  - How Mind-Body Practice Works-Integration or Separation?

PMID- 28603514
TI  - Cutaneous Autonomic Pilomotor Testing to Unveil the Role of Neuropathy
      Progression in Early Parkinson's Disease (CAPTURE PD): Protocol for a Multicenter
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Parkinson's disease (PD), alpha-synuclein accumulation in
      cutaneous autonomic pilomotor and sudomotor nerve fibers has been linked to
      autonomic nervous system disturbances even in the early stages of the disease.
      This study aims to assess the association between alpha-synuclein-mediated
      structural autonomic nerve fiber damage and function in PD, elucidate the role of
      neuropathy progression during the early disease stages, and test reproducibility
      and external validity of pilomotor function assessment using quantitative
      pilomotor axon-reflex test and sudomotor function via quantitative direct and
      indirect test of sudomotor function. METHODS/DESIGN: A prospective controlled
      study will be conducted at four study sites in Europe and the USA. Fifty-two male
      and female patients with idiopathic PD (Hoehn and Yahr 1-2) and 52 age- and sex
      matched healthy controls will be recruited. Axon-reflex-mediated pilomotor
      erection will be induced by iontophoresis of phenylephrine on the dorsal forearm.
      Silicone impressions of the response will be obtained, scanned, and quantified
      for pilomotor muscle impressions by number, impression size, and area of axon
      reflex spread. Axon-reflex-mediated sweating following acetylcholine
      iontophoresis will be quantified for number and size of droplets and axon-reflex
      spread. Sympathetic skin responses, autonomic and motor symptoms will be
      evaluated. Tests will be performed at baseline, after 2 weeks, 1, 2, and 3 years.
      Skin biopsies will be obtained at baseline and after 3 years and will be analyzed
      for nerve fiber density and alpha-synuclein accumulation. DISCUSSION: We
      anticipate that progression of autonomic nerve dysfunction assessed via pilomotor
      and sudomotor axon-reflex tests is related to progression of autonomic symptom
      severity and alpha-synuclein deposition. Potential applications of the techniques
      include interventional studies evaluating disease-modifying approaches and
      clinical assessment of autonomic dysfunction in patients with PD. CLINICAL TRAIL
      REGISTRATION: TRN NCT03043768.

PMID- 28603516
TI  - Iodine-123-meta-iodobenzylguanidine Myocardial Scintigraphy in Isolated Autonomic
      Failure: Potential Red Flag for Future Multiple System Atrophy.
AB  - Pure autonomic failure is challenging as it can be the presenting feature of a
      central nervous system syncleinopathy such as Parkinson's disease (PD) or
      multiple system atrophy (MSA). Because the prognosis of MSA and PD is so
      different, predictive features for a possible conversion can be extremely
      valuable. In this paper, we report three cases (two with autopsy-proven
      diagnosis) that had isolated AF for many years before converting to MSA or PD. Of
      all the tests that were performed during the premotor stage, Iodine-123-meta
      iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy was predictive of the
      conversion to MSA. We suggest that MIBG myocardial scintigraphy, when performed
      in patients with isolated AF, may be a valuable predictor of conversion to MSA.
      On the contrary, the role of such test in parkinsonian patients irrespective of
      the presence of AF is still to be clarified.

PMID- 28603515
TI  - Factors Influencing Decision Making for Carotid Endarterectomy versus Stenting in
      the Very Elderly.
AB  - As the population ages worldwide, the number of elderly patients with carotid
      stenosis is also increasing. There have been many large clinical trials comparing
      carotid endarterectomy (CAE) versus stenting, but the inclusion criteria (i.e.,
      symptomatic or asymptomatic), stenting methods (i.e., protection device), and
      primary end point (i.e., the definition of myocardial infarction and follow-up
      period) were different between trials. Therefore, the interpretation of those
      results is difficult and requires attention. When it comes to age, the patients
      older than 80 years were excluded or stratified to a high risk group in previous
      landmark trials. However, a recent guideline recommended that endarterectomy may
      be associated with lower stroke risk compared with carotid artery stenting in
      patients older than 70 years with symptomatic carotid disease. The annual risk of
      stroke in individuals with asymptomatic carotid stenosis is about 1-3% but the
      risk is about 4-12% with symptomatic stenosis without carotid intervention.
      Although the outcome of CAE is better than that of carotid stenting in patients
      older than 70 years, the perioperative risk is higher in older patients.
      Therefore, it is important to classify high risk patients and consider underlying
      disability and life expectancy of very elderly patients before deciding whether
      to undergo a carotid intervention. In addition, we should also consider that the
      stroke rate with intensive medical treatment is unknown and is currently being
      investigated in randomized controlled trials. Intensive medical treatment
      includes high intensity statins, diabetes and blood pressure control, and
      aggressive antiplatelet treatment. The aim of this review is to report the
      factors that may be responsible for the variability in the treatment of carotid
      stenosis, particularly in the elderly population. This will allow the readers to
      integrate the current available evidence to individualize the treatment of
      carotid stenosis in this challenging population.

PMID- 28603517
TI  - The Effect of TGF-beta on Treg Cells in Adverse Pregnancy Outcome upon Toxoplasma
      gondii Infection.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a ubiquitous intracellular protozoan parasite
      that causes adverse pregnancy outcomes. Its infection downregulates the Treg cell
      population and TGF-beta level, which may contribute to adverse pregnancy
      outcomes. TGF-beta plays a critical role in Treg cell development, but whether
      TGF-beta treatment can affect the number and function of Treg cells and hence
      alleviate adverse pregnancy outcomes caused by T. gondii infection remains
      elusive. In this study, T. gondii-infected pregnant mice were treated with TGF
      beta or TGF-beta-neutralizing antibody. The pregnancy outcomes were observed on
      gestational day 14. The numbers of Treg cells and pSmad3, programmed death 1 (PD
      1), and Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) expression of Treg
      cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Histological changes were assessed using
      HE staining, while IL-10 and TNF-alpha levels were measured using ELISA. The
      results indicated that TGF-beta treatment improved the T. gondii-induced adverse
      pregnancy outcomes, with alleviation of hemorrhage, restoration of uterine spiral
      arteries of the placenta, and increased Treg cell numbers; meanwhile, TGF-beta
      neutralization resulted in more serious adverse pregnancy outcomes, with serious
      hemorrhage, more dilated uterine spiral arteries, and decreased Treg cell
      numbers. pSmad3 expression in CD4+ cells and CTLA-4 and PD-1 levels on Treg cells
      were upregulated by TGF-beta treatment, but downregulated by TGF-beta
      neutralization. The ratio of IL-10/TNF-alpha also increased after TGF-beta
      treatment, but decreased after TGF-beta neutralization. Our data indicate that
      TGF-beta treatment could improve adverse pregnancy outcomes caused by T. gondii
      infection by upregulating Treg cell differentiation and function via the TGF
      beta/Smad3 signaling pathway, but not the proliferation of Treg cells.

PMID- 28603520
TI  - Editorial: Viral Interactions with the Nucleus.

PMID- 28603519
TI  - Antigen-Sparing and Enhanced Efficacy of Multivalent Vaccines Adjuvanted with
      Immunopotentiators in Chickens.
AB  - We previously described that immunopotentiators, CVCVA5, increased the efficacy
      of H5 and H9 subtype avian influenza vaccines in chickens, ducks, and geese. In
      this study, we further investigated the effects of the CVCVA5 for improving the
      efficacy of other univalent or multivalent inactivated vaccines. The immune
      response administrated with half-dose of monovalent vaccine plus CVCVA5 were
      higher than those of one dose of monovalent vaccine without immunopotentiators as
      measured by levels of antibodies from serum, tears and bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluids, and cytokines of IFNgamma and IL-4 from serum. Vaccines included the
      univalent vaccine of Newcastle Disease virus (ND), Egg Drop Syndrome virus (EDS),
      Infectious Bronchitis virus (IB), and Infectious Bursal Disease virus (IBD). The
      CVCVA5 also improved the immune response of both ND and IBD vaccines with less
      dosage. The sterile protective immunity was monitored with one- or a half-dose of
      adjuvanted ND vaccine or one dose of adjuvanted IBD vaccine, respectively. The
      improved immune efficacy was observed in a half-dose of adjuvanted bivalent
      vaccines compared to one dose of vaccines without CVCVA5 as measured by the
      antibody levels, including bivalent vaccine of ND-H9, ND-IB, and ND-IBD. The
      CVCVA5 also boosted the immune efficacy of the tetravalent vaccine (ND-IB-EDS
      H9). A half-dose of adjuvanted commercial vaccine or 75% antigen-sparing
      adjuvanted vaccine elicited similar antibody levels to those of one dose non
      adjuvanted commercial vaccines. The CVCVA5 improved the effect of a booster
      vaccination as measured by the antibody levels against H5 or H9 virus antigens,
      in which chickens primed with the adjuvanted ND-IB vaccines given a booster with
      H5-H9 bivalent vaccines without CVCVA5 using 5-day intervals. The inflammatory
      response may contribute to these additional effects by increasing the levels of
      IFNgamma and IL-4 after the injection of the adjuvanted ND-IB vaccines. Results
      indicated that the CVCVA5 improved the serum and mucosal antibody levels,
      cytokine levels of the chickens given the univalent vaccine, and also improved
      serum antibody titers in bivalent and tetravalent vaccines. This has a potential
      as an improve vaccine.

PMID- 28603518
TI  - Microbial Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs) in Ocean Systems.
AB  - Microbial cells (i.e., bacteria, archaea, microeukaryotes) in oceans secrete a
      diverse array of large molecules, collectively called extracellular polymeric
      substances (EPSs) or simply exopolymers. These secretions facilitate attachment
      to surfaces that lead to the formation of structured 'biofilm' communities. In
      open-water environments, they also lead to formation of organic colloids, and
      larger aggregations of cells, called 'marine snow.' Secretion of EPS is now
      recognized as a fundamental microbial adaptation, occurring under many
      environmental conditions, and one that influences many ocean processes. This
      relatively recent realization has revolutionized our understanding of microbial
      impacts on ocean systems. EPS occur in a range of molecular sizes, conformations
      and physical/chemical properties, and polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and even
      nucleic acids are actively secreted components. Interestingly, however, the
      physical ultrastructure of how individual EPS interact with each other is poorly
      understood. Together, the EPS matrix molecules form a three-dimensional
      architecture from which cells may localize extracellular activities and conduct
      cooperative/antagonistic interactions that cannot be accomplished efficiently by
      free-living cells. EPS alter optical signatures of sediments and seawater, and
      are involved in biogeomineral precipitation and the construction of microbial
      macrostructures, and horizontal-transfers of genetic information. In the water
      column, they contribute to the formation of marine snow, transparent exopolymer
      particles (TEPs), sea-surface microlayer biofilm, and marine oil snow. Excessive
      production of EPS occurs during later-stages of phytoplankton blooms as an excess
      metabolic by product and releases a carbon pool that transitions among dissolved
      , colloidal-, and gel-states. Some EPS are highly labile carbon forms, while
      other forms appear quite refractory to degradation. Emerging studies suggest that
      EPS contribute to efficient trophic-transfer of environmental contaminants, and
      may provide a protective refugia for pathogenic cells within marine systems; one
      that enhances their survival/persistence. Finally, these secretions are prominent
      in 'extreme' environments ranging from sea-ice communities to hypersaline systems
      to the high-temperatures/pressures of hydrothermal-vent systems. This overview
      summarizes some of the roles of exopolymer in oceans.

PMID- 28603521
TI  - Novel Combined Immune Deficiency and Radiation Sensitivity Blended Phenotype in
      an Adult with Biallelic Variations in ZAP70 and RNF168.
AB  - With the advent of high-throughput genomic sequencing techniques, novel genetic
      etiologies are being uncovered for previously unexplained Mendelian phenotypes,
      and the underlying genetic architecture of disease is being unraveled. Although
      most of these "mendelizing" disease traits represent phenotypes caused by single
      gene defects, a percentage of patients have blended phenotypes caused by
      pathogenic variants in multiple genes. We describe an adult patient with
      susceptibility to bacterial, herpesviral, and fungal infections. Immunologic
      defects included CD8+ T cell lymphopenia, decreased T cell proliferative
      responses to mitogens, hypogammaglobulinemia, and radiation sensitivity. Whole
      exome sequencing revealed compound heterozygous variants in ZAP70. Biallelic
      mutations in ZAP70 are known to produce a spectrum of immune deficiency that
      includes the T cell abnormalities observed in this patient. Analyses for variants
      in genes associated with radiation sensitivity identified the presence of a
      homozygous RNF168 variant of unknown significance. RNF168 deficiency causes
      radiosensitivity, immunodeficiency, dysmorphic features, and learning
      difficulties syndrome and may account for the radiation sensitivity. Thus, the
      patient was found to have a novel blended phenotype associated with multilocus
      genomic variation: i.e., separate and distinct genetic defects. These findings
      further illustrate the clinical utility of applying genomic testing in patients
      with primary immunodeficiency diseases.

PMID- 28603522
TI  - Analytical Prediction of the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Chemoattractants
      around Their Source: Theory and Application to Complement-Mediated Chemotaxis.
AB  - The ability of motile immune cells to detect and follow gradients of
      chemoattractant is critical to numerous vital functions, including their
      recruitment to sites of infection and-in emerging immunotherapeutic applications
      to malignant tumors. Facilitated by a multitude of chemotactic receptors, the
      cells navigate a maze of stimuli to home in on their target. Distinct chemotactic
      processes direct this navigation at particular times and cell-target distances.
      The expedient coordination of this spatiotemporal hierarchy of chemotactic stages
      is the central element of a key paradigm of immunotaxis. Understanding this
      hierarchy is an enormous interdisciplinary challenge that requires, among others,
      quantitative insight into the shape, range, and dynamics of the profiles of
      chemoattractants around their sources. We here present a closed-form solution to
      a diffusion-reaction problem that describes the evolution of the concentration
      gradient of chemoattractant under various conditions. Our ready-to-use
      mathematical prescription captures many biological situations reasonably well and
      can be explored with standard graphing software, making it a valuable resource
      for every researcher studying chemotaxis. We here apply this mathematical model
      to characterize the chemoattractant cloud of anaphylatoxins that forms around
      bacterial and fungal pathogens in the presence of host serum. We analyze the
      spatial reach, rate of formation, and rate of dispersal of this locator cloud
      under realistic physiological conditions. Our analysis predicts that simply being
      small is an effective protective strategy of pathogens against complement
      mediated discovery by host immune cells over moderate-to-large distances.
      Leveraging our predictions against single-cell, pure-chemotaxis experiments that
      use human immune cells as biosensors, we are able to explain the limited distance
      over which the cells recognize microbes. We conclude that complement-mediated
      chemotaxis is a universal, but short-range, homing mechanism by which chemotaxing
      immune cells can implement a last-minute course correction toward pathogenic
      microbes. Thus, the integration of theory and experiments provides a sound
      mechanistic explanation of the primary role of complement-mediated chemotaxis
      within the hierarchy of immunotaxis, and why other chemotactic processes are
      required for the successful recruitment of immune cells over large distances.

PMID- 28603523
TI  - KIR3DS1-Mediated Recognition of HLA-*B51: Modulation of KIR3DS1 Responsiveness by
      Self HLA-B Allotypes and Effect on NK Cell Licensing.
AB  - Several studies described an association between killer-cell immunoglobulin-like
      receptor (KIR)/HLA gene combinations and clinical outcomes in various diseases.
      In particular, an important combined role for KIR3DS1 and HLA-B Bw4-I80 in
      controlling viral infections and a higher protection against leukemic relapses in
      donor equipped with activating KIRs in haplo-HSCT has been described. Here, we
      show that KIR3DS1 mediates positive signals upon recognition of HLA-B*51 (Bw4
      I80) surface molecules on target cells and that this activation occurs only in
      Bw4-I80neg individuals, including those carrying particular KIR/HLA combination
      settings. In addition, killing of HLA-B*51 transfected target cells mediated by
      KIR3DS1+/NKG2A+ natural killer (NK) cell clones from Bw4-I80neg donors could be
      partially inhibited by antibody-mediated masking of KIR3DS1. Interestingly,
      KIR3DS1-mediated recognition of HLA-B*51 could be better appreciated under
      experimental conditions in which the function of NKG2D was reduced by mAb
      mediated blocking. This experimental approach may mimic the compromised function
      of NKG2D occurring in certain viral infections. We also show that, in
      KIR3DS1+/NKG2A+ NK cell clones derived from an HLA-B Bw4-T80 donor carrying 2
      KIR3DS1 gene copy numbers, the positive signal generated by the engagement of
      KIR3DS1 by HLA-B*51 resulted in a more efficient killing of HLA-B*51-transfected
      target cells. Moreover, in these clones, a direct correlation between KIR3DS1 and
      NKG2D surface density was detected, while the expression of NKp46 was inversely
      correlated with that of KIR3DS1. Finally, we analyzed KIR3DS1+/NKG2A+ NK cell
      clones from a HLA-B Bw4neg donor carrying cytoplasmic KIR3DL1. Although these
      clones expressed lower levels of surface KIR3DS1, they displayed responses
      comparable to those of NK cell clones derived from HLA-B Bw4neg donors that
      expressed surface KIR3DL1. Altogether these data suggest that, in particular
      KIR/HLA combinations, KIR3DS1 may play a role in the process of human NK cell
      education.

PMID- 28603526
TI  - FTR83, a Member of the Large Fish-Specific finTRIM Family, Triggers IFN Pathway
      and Counters Viral Infection.
AB  - Tripartite motif (TRIM) proteins are involved in various cellular functions and
      constitute key factors of the antiviral innate immune response. TRIM proteins can
      bind viral particles directly, sending them to degradation by the proteasome, or
      ubiquitinate signaling molecules leading to upregulation of innate immunity. TRIM
      proteins are present in across metazoans but are particularly numerous in
      vertebrates where genes comprising a B30.2 domain have been often duplicated. In
      fish, a TRIM subset named finTRIM is highly diversified, with large gene numbers
      and clear signatures of positive selection in the B30.2 domain suggesting they
      may be involved in antiviral mechanisms. finTRIM provides a beautiful model to
      investigate the primordial implication of B30.2 TRIM subsets in the arsenal of
      vertebrate antiviral defenses. We show here that ftr83, a zebrafish fintrim gene
      mainly expressed in the gills, skin and pharynx, encodes a protein affording a
      potent antiviral activity. In vitro, overexpression of FTR83, but not of its
      close relative FTR82, induced IFN and IFN-stimulated gene expression and afforded
      protection against different enveloped and non-enveloped RNA viruses. The
      kinetics of IFN induction paralleled the development of the antiviral activity,
      which was abolished by a dominant negative IRF3 mutant. In the context of a viral
      infection, FTR83 potentiated the IFN response. Expression of chimeric proteins in
      which the B30.2 domain of FTR83 and the non-protective FTR82 had been exchanged,
      showed that IFN upregulation and antiviral activity requires both the
      Ring/BBox/Coiled coil domain (supporting E3 ubiquitin ligase) and the B30.2
      domain of FTR83. Finally, loss of function experiments in zebrafish embryos
      confirms that ftr83 mediates antiviral activity in vivo. Our results show that a
      member of the largest TRIM subset observed in fish upregulates type I IFN
      response and afford protection against viral infections, supporting that TRIMs
      are key antiviral factors across vertebrates.

PMID- 28603527
TI  - Intratumoral FoxP3+Helios+ Regulatory T Cells Upregulating Immunosuppressive
      Molecules Are Expanded in Human Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Regulatory T cells (Tregs) can be antitumorigenic or pro-tumorigenic in
      colorectal cancer (CRC) depending on the presence of different Treg subsets with
      various immunosuppressive molecules. Some studies reported the phenotypic
      characteristics of tumor-infiltrating immune cells in CRC, but limited studies
      have focused on the co-expression of suppressive molecules on immune cells. The
      aim of this study was to characterize immune cells in the tumor microenvironment
      (TME), compared to paired adjacent non-tumor colon tissue of CRC patients.
      Additionally, we investigated co-expression of immunosuppressive molecules on
      different Treg subsets in the TME, normal colon tissue, and peripheral blood of
      CRC patients and healthy donors. In this preliminary study, we report that the
      majority of CD3+ T cells in the TME are CD4+ T cells with high co-expression of
      programmed death 1 (PD-1)/cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4)
      and PD-1/CD39 molecules. Levels of CD4+FoxP3+Helios+ Tregs were significantly
      increased in the TME. Furthermore, we observed increased levels of PD-1/CTLA-4
      and PD-1/CD39 co-expressing cells within FoxP3+Helios+ and FoxP3+Helios- Treg
      subsets, indicative of their potent immunosuppressive potential. These results
      suggest synergistic associations between PD-1/CTLA-4 and PD-1/CD39 in dampening T
      cell activation and function along with suppressing tumor-specific immune
      responses, suggesting that dual blockade of these molecules could be a more
      effective strategy for inducing antitumor immune responses in CRC.

PMID- 28603525
TI  - Modulating Both Tumor Cell Death and Innate Immunity Is Essential for Improving
      Radiation Therapy Effectiveness.
AB  - Radiation therapy is one of the cornerstones of cancer treatment. In tumor cells,
      exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) provokes DNA damages that trigger various
      forms of cell death such as apoptosis, necrosis, autophagic cell death, and
      mitotic catastrophe. IR can also induce cellular senescence that could serve as
      an additional antitumor barrier in a context-dependent manner. Moreover,
      accumulating evidence has demonstrated that IR interacts profoundly with tumor
      infiltrating immune cells, which cooperatively drive treatment outcomes. Recent
      preclinical and clinical successes due to the combination of radiation therapy
      and immune checkpoint blockade have underscored the need for a better
      understanding of the interplay between radiation therapy and the immune system.
      In this review, we will present an overview of cell death modalities induced by
      IR, summarize the immunogenic properties of irradiated cancer cells, and discuss
      the biological consequences of IR on innate immune cell functions, with a
      particular attention on dendritic cells, macrophages, and NK cells. Finally, we
      will discuss their potential applications in cancer treatment.

PMID- 28603528
TI  - CML20, an Arabidopsis Calmodulin-like Protein, Negatively Regulates Guard Cell
      ABA Signaling and Drought Stress Tolerance.
AB  - Guard cells shrink in response to drought and abscisic acid (ABA), which is
      caused by efflux of ions that in turn reduces stomatal aperture and improves the
      plant's ability to retain moisture. Cytosolic free calcium is an essential
      secondary messenger in guard cell ABA signaling, but the details of this
      regulatory pathway remain sketchy. Here, the calmodulin-like protein CML20, which
      has four EF-hand domains and calcium-binding activity in vitro, was found to be a
      negative regulator of ABA-induced stomatal movement in Arabidopsis. The guard
      cells of cml20 loss-of-function mutant plants were hypersensitive to both ABA
      activated S-type anion currents, and ABA inhibited inward K+ currents than those
      of wild type. Additional, due to smaller stomatal aperture, cml20 showed less
      water loss from the leaves than wild type. These phenotypes of CML20
      overexpressing plants contrasted with wild type in the opposite direction. In the
      cml20 mutant, the transcripts of stress responsive genes, such as MYB2, RAB18,
      ERD10, COR47, and RD29A were up-regulated in response to drought and ABA, while
      down-regulated of APX2 transcription and higher reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      accumulation. These observations support the CML20, a functional Ca2+ sensor, is
      a negative regulator in guard cell ABA signaling.

PMID- 28603529
TI  - Habitat Fragmentation Differentially Affects Genetic Variation, Phenotypic
      Plasticity and Survival in Populations of a Gypsum Endemic.
AB  - Habitat fragmentation, i.e., fragment size and isolation, can differentially
      alter patterns of neutral and quantitative genetic variation, fitness and
      phenotypic plasticity of plant populations, but their effects have rarely been
      tested simultaneously. We assessed the combined effects of size and connectivity
      on these aspects of genetic and phenotypic variation in populations of Centaurea
      hyssopifolia, a narrow endemic gypsophile that previously showed performance
      differences associated with fragmentation. We grew 111 maternal families sampled
      from 10 populations that differed in their fragment size and connectivity in a
      common garden, and characterized quantitative genetic variation, phenotypic
      plasticity to drought for key functional traits, and plant survival, as a measure
      of population fitness. We also assessed neutral genetic variation within and
      among populations using eight microsatellite markers. Although C. hyssopifolia is
      a narrow endemic gypsophile, we found substantial neutral genetic variation and
      quantitative variation for key functional traits. The partition of genetic
      variance indicated that a higher proportion of variation was found within
      populations, which is also consistent with low population differentiation in
      molecular markers, functional traits and their plasticity. This, combined with
      the generally small effect of habitat fragmentation suggests that gene flow among
      populations is not restricted, despite large differences in fragment size and
      isolation. Importantly, population's similarities in genetic variation and
      plasticity did not reflect the lower survival observed in isolated populations.
      Overall, our results indicate that, although the species consists of genetically
      variable populations able to express functional plasticity, such aspects of
      adaptive potential may not always reflect populations' survival. Given the
      differential effects of habitat connectivity on functional traits, genetic
      variation and fitness, our study highlights the need to shift the focus of
      fragmentation studies to the mechanisms that regulate connectivity effects, and
      call for caution on the use of genetic variation and plasticity to forecast
      population performance.

PMID- 28603530
TI  - Amino Acids Are an Ineffective Fertilizer for Dunaliella spp. Growth.
AB  - Autotrophic microalgae are a promising bioproducts platform. However, the
      fundamental requirements these organisms have for nitrogen fertilizer severely
      limit the impact and scale of their cultivation. As an alternative to inorganic
      fertilizers, we investigated the possibility of using amino acids from
      deconstructed biomass as a nitrogen source in the genus Dunaliella. We found that
      only four amino acids (glutamine, histidine, cysteine, and tryptophan) rescue
      Dunaliella spp. growth in nitrogen depleted media, and that supplementation of
      these amino acids altered the metabolic profile of Dunaliella cells. Our
      investigations revealed that histidine is transported across the cell membrane,
      and that glutamine and cysteine are not transported. Rather, glutamine, cysteine,
      and tryptophan are degraded in solution by a set of oxidative chemical reactions,
      releasing ammonium that in turn supports growth. Utilization of biomass-derived
      amino acids is therefore not a suitable option unless additional amino acid
      nitrogen uptake is enabled through genetic modifications of these algae.

PMID- 28603524
TI  - Regulatory T Cell and Forkhead Box Protein 3 as Modulators of Immune Homeostasis.
AB  - The transcription factor forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3) is an essential molecular
      marker of regulatory T cell (Treg) development in different microenvironments.
      Tregs are cells specialized in the suppression of inadequate immune responses and
      the maintenance of homeostatic tolerance. Studies have addressed and elucidated
      the role played by FOXP3 and Treg in countless autoimmune and infectious diseases
      as well as in more specific cases, such as cancer. Within this context, the
      present article reviews aspects of the immunoregulatory profile of FOXP3 and Treg
      in the management of immune homeostasis, including issues relating to pathology
      as well as immune tolerance.

PMID- 28603531
TI  - Structural Characterization of Maize SIRK1 Kinase Domain Reveals an Unusual
      Architecture of the Activation Segment.
AB  - Kinases are primary regulators of plant metabolism and excellent targets for
      plant breeding. However, most kinases, including the abundant receptor-like
      kinases (RLK), have no assigned role. SIRK1 is a leucine-rich repeat receptor
      like kinase (LRR-RLK), the largest family of RLK. In Arabidopsis thaliana, SIRK1
      (AtSIRK1) is phosphorylated after sucrose is resupplied to sucrose-starved
      seedlings and it modulates the sugar response by phosphorylating several
      substrates. In maize, the ZmSIRK1 expression is altered in response to drought
      stress. In neither Arabidopsis nor in maize has the function of SIRK1 been
      completely elucidated. As a first step toward the biochemical characterization of
      ZmSIRK1, we obtained its recombinant kinase domain, demonstrated that it binds
      AMP-PNP, a non-hydrolysable ATP-analog, and solved the structure of ZmSIRK1- AMP
      PNP co-crystal. The ZmSIRK1 crystal structure revealed a unique conformation for
      the activation segment. In an attempt to find inhibitors for ZmSIRK1, we screened
      a focused small molecule library and identified six compounds that stabilized
      ZmSIRK1 against thermal melt. ITC analysis confirmed that three of these
      compounds bound to ZmSIRK1 with low micromolar affinity. Solving the 3D structure
      of ZmSIRK1-AMP-PNP co-crystal provided information on the molecular mechanism of
      ZmSIRK1 activity. Furthermore, the identification of small molecules that bind
      this kinase can serve as initial backbone for development of new potent and
      selective ZmSIRK1 antagonists.

PMID- 28603532
TI  - Identification of Salt Tolerance-related microRNAs and Their Targets in Maize
      (Zea mays L.) Using High-throughput Sequencing and Degradome Analysis.
AB  - To identify the known and novel microRNAs (miRNAs) and their targets that are
      involved in the response and adaptation of maize (Zea mays) to salt stress,
      miRNAs and their targets were identified by a combined analysis of the deep
      sequencing of small RNAs (sRNA) and degradome libraries. The identities were
      confirmed by a quantitative expression analysis with over 100 million raw reads
      of sRNA and degradome sequences. A total of 1040 previously known miRNAs were
      identified from four maize libraries, with 762 and 726 miRNAs derived from leaves
      and roots, respectively, and 448 miRNAs that were common between the leaves and
      roots. A total of 37 potential new miRNAs were selected based on the same
      criteria in response to salt stress. In addition to known miR167 and miR164
      species, novel putative miR167 and miR164 species were also identified. Deep
      sequencing of miRNAs and the degradome [with quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses of their targets] showed that more
      than one species of novel miRNA may play key roles in the response to salinity in
      maize. Furthermore, the interaction between miRNAs and their targets may play
      various roles in different parts of maize in response to salinity.

PMID- 28603533
TI  - Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Differential Gene Expression and a Possible Role
      of Gibberellins in a Shade-Tolerant Mutant of Perennial Ryegrass.
AB  - The molecular basis behind shade tolerance in plants is not fully understood.
      Previously, we have shown that a connection may exist between shade tolerance and
      dwarfism, however, the mechanism connecting these phenotypes is not well
      understood. In order to clarify this connection, we analyzed the transcriptome of
      a previously identified shade-tolerant mutant of perennial ryegrass (Lolium
      perenne L.) called shadow-1. shadow-1 mutant plants are dwarf, and are
      significantly tolerant to shade in a number of environments compared to wild-type
      controls. In this study, we treated shadow-1 and wild-type plants with 95% shade
      for 2 weeks and compared the transcriptomes of these shade-treated individuals
      with both genotypes exposed to full light. We identified 2,200 differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) (1,096 up-regulated and 1,104 down-regulated) in shadow-1
      mutants, compared to wild type, following exposure to shade stress. Of these
      DEGs, 329 were unique to shadow-1 plants kept under shade and were not found in
      any other comparisons that we made. We found 2,245 DEGs (1,153 up-regulated and
      1,092 down-regulated) in shadow-1 plants, compared to wild-type, under light,
      with 485 DEGs unique to shadow-1 plants under light. We examined the expression
      of gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis genes and found that they were down-regulated in
      shadow-1 plants compared to wild type, notably gibberellin 20 oxidase (GA20ox),
      which was down-regulated to 3.3% (96.7% reduction) of the wild-type expression
      level under shade conditions. One GA response gene, lipid transfer protein 3
      (LTP3), was also down-regulated to 41.5% in shadow-1 plants under shade
      conditions when compared to the expression level in the wild type. These data
      provide valuable insight into a role that GA plays in dwarfism and shade
      tolerance, as exemplified by shadow-1 plants, and could serve as a guide for
      plant breeders interested in developing new cultivars with either of these
      traits.

PMID- 28603534
TI  - Combining Metabolic Profiling and Gene Expression Analysis to Reveal the
      Biosynthesis Site and Transport of Ginkgolides in Ginkgo biloba L.
AB  - The most unique components of Ginkgo biloba extracts are terpene trilactones
      (TTLs) including ginkgolides and bilobalide. Study of TTLs biosynthesis has been
      stagnant in recent years. Metabolic profiling of 40 compounds, including TTLs,
      flavonoids, and phenolic acids, were globally analyzed in leaf, fibrous root,
      main root, old stem and young stem extracts of G. biloba. Most of the flavonoids
      were mainly distributed in the leaf and old stem. Most of phenolic acids were
      generally distributed among various tissues. The total content of TTLs decreased
      in the order of the leaf, fibrous root, main root, old stem and young stem. The
      TTLs were further analyzed in different parts of the main root and old stem. The
      content of TTLs decreases in the order of the main root periderm, the main root
      cortex and phloem and the main root xylem. In old stems, the content of TTLs in
      the cortex and phloem was much higher than both the old stem periderm and xylem.
      The expression patterns of five key genes in the ginkgolide biosynthetic pathway
      were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-Q-PCR).
      Combining metabolic profiling and RT-Q-PCR, the results showed that the fibrous
      root and main root periderm tissues were the important biosynthesis sites of
      ginkgolides. Based on the above results, a model of the ginkgolide biosynthesis
      site and transport pathway in G. biloba was proposed. In this putative model,
      ginkgolides are synthesized in the fibrous root and main root periderm, and these
      compounds are then transported through the old stem cortex and phloem to the
      leaves.

PMID- 28603535
TI  - Stand Structure and Substrate Diversity as Two Major Drivers for Bryophyte
      Distribution in a Temperate Montane Ecosystem.
AB  - Elucidating the major drivers of bryophyte distribution is the first step to
      protecting bryophyte diversity. Topography, forest, substrates (ground, tree
      trunks, roots, rocks, and rotten wood), and spatial factor, which factors are the
      major drivers of bryophyte distribution? In this study, 53 plots were set in 400
      m2 along the elevation gradient in Xiaoqinling, China. All bryophytes in the
      plots were collected and identified. Regression analysis was used to examine the
      relationship between bryophyte and substrate diversity. We compared the patterns
      of overall bryophyte diversity and diversity of bryophytes found on the ground,
      tree, and rock along elevational gradients. Canonical correspondence analysis was
      applied to relate species composition to selected environmental variables. The
      importance of topography, forest, substrates, and spatial factors was determined
      by variance partitioning. A total of 1378 bryophyte specimens were collected, and
      240 species were identified. Bryophyte diversity was closely related to substrate
      diversity. The overall bryophyte diversity significantly increased with
      elevation; however, the response varied among ground, tree, and rock bryophytes.
      Tree diversity and herb layer were considered important environmental factors in
      determining bryophyte distribution. Species abundance was best explained by stand
      structure (17%), and species diversity was best explained by stand structure
      (35%) and substrate (40%). Results directly indicated that substrate diversity
      can improve bryophyte species diversity. The effects of micro-habitat formed by
      stand structure and substrate diversity were higher than those of spatial
      processes and topography factors on bryophyte distribution. This study proved
      that the determinant factors influencing bryophyte diversity reflect the trends
      in recent forest management, providing a real opportunity to improve forest
      biodiversity conservation.

PMID- 28603536
TI  - Molecular Transducers from Roots Are Triggered in Arabidopsis Leaves by Root-Knot
      Nematodes for Successful Feeding Site Formation: A Conserved Post-Embryogenic De
      novo Organogenesis Program?
AB  - Root-knot nematodes (RKNs; Meloidogyne spp.) induce feeding cells (giant cells;
      GCs) inside a pseudo-organ (gall) from still unknown root cells. Understanding
      GCs ontogeny is essential to the basic knowledge of RKN-plant interaction and to
      discover novel and effective control strategies. Hence, we report for the first
      time in a model plant, Arabidopsis, molecular, and cellular features concerning
      ectopic de novo organogenesis of RKNs GCs in leaves. RKNs induce GCs in leaves
      with irregular shape, a reticulated cytosol, and fragmented vacuoles as GCs from
      roots. Leaf cells around the nematode enter G2-M shown by ProCycB1;1:CycB1;1(NT)
      GUS expression, consistent to multinucleated GCs. In addition, GCs nuclei present
      irregular and varied sizes. All these characteristics mentioned, being equivalent
      to GCs in root-galls. RKNs complete their life cycle forming a gall/callus-like
      structure in the leaf vascular tissues resembling auxin-induced callus with an
      auxin-response maxima, indicated by high expression of DR5::GUS that is dependent
      on leaf auxin-transport. Notably, induction of leaves calli/GCs requires
      molecular components from roots crucial for lateral roots (LRs), auxin-induced
      callus and root-gall formation, i.e., LBD16. Hence, LBD16 is a xylem pole
      pericycle specific and local marker in LR primordia unexpectedly induced locally
      in the vascular tissue of leaves after RKN infection. LBD16 is also fundamental
      for feeding site formation as RKNs could not stablish in 35S::LBD16-SRDX leaves,
      and likely it is also a conserved molecular hub between biotic and developmental
      signals in Arabidopsis either in roots or leaves. Moreover, RKNs induce the
      ectopic development of roots from leaf and root-galls, also formed in mutants
      compromised in LR formation, arf7/arf19, slr, and alf4. Therefore, nematodes must
      target molecular signatures to induce post-embryogenic de novo organogenesis
      through the LBD16 callus formation pathway partially different from those
      prevalent during normal LR development.

PMID- 28603537
TI  - Flowering Locus C (FLC) Is a Potential Major Regulator of Glucosinolate Content
      across Developmental Stages of Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae).
AB  - The biochemical defense of plants can change during their life-cycle and impact
      herbivore feeding and plant fitness. The annual species Aethionema arabicum is
      part of the sister clade to all other Brassicaceae. Hence, it holds a
      phylogenetically important position for studying crucifer trait evolution.
      Glucosinolates (GS) are essentially Brassicales-specific metabolites involved in
      plant defense. Using two Ae. arabicum accessions (TUR and CYP) we identify
      substantial differences in glucosinolate profiles and quantities between lines,
      tissues and developmental stages. We find tissue specific side-chain
      modifications in aliphatic GS: methylthioalkyl in leaves, methylsulfinylalkyl in
      fruits, and methylsulfonylalkyl in seeds. We also find large differences in
      absolute glucosinolate content between the two accessions (up to 10-fold in
      fruits) that suggest a regulatory factor is involved that is not part of the
      quintessential glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway. Consistent with this
      hypothesis, we identified a single major multi-trait quantitative trait locus
      controlling total GS concentration across tissues in a recombinant inbred line
      population derived from TUR and CYP. With fine-mapping, we narrowed the interval
      to a 58 kb region containing 15 genes, but lacking any known GS biosynthetic
      genes. The interval contains homologs of both the sulfate transporter SULTR2;1
      and FLOWERING LOCUS C. Both loci have diverse functions controlling plant
      physiological and developmental processes and thus are potential candidates
      regulating glucosinolate variation across the life-cycle of Aethionema. Future
      work will investigate changes in gene expression of the candidates genes, the
      effects of GS variation on insect herbivores and the trade-offs between defense
      and reproduction.

PMID- 28603538
TI  - Testing Projected Climate Change Conditions on the Endoconidiophora polonica /
      Norway spruce Pathosystem Shows Fungal Strain Specific Effects.
AB  - Climate changes, exemplified by increased temperatures and CO2 concentration,
      pose a global threat to forest health. Of particular concern are pests and
      pathogens, with a warming climate altering their distributions and evolutionary
      capacity, while impairing the ability of some plants to respond to infections.
      Progress in understanding and mitigating such effects is currently hindered by a
      lack of empirical research. Norway spruce (Picea abies) is one of the most
      economically important tree species in northern Europe, and is considered highly
      vulnerable to changes in climate. It is commonly infected by the fungus
      Endoconidiophora polonica, and we hypothesized that damage caused to trees will
      increase under future climate change predictions. To test this hypothesis an in
      vivo greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of a changed
      growing environment on E. polonica infected Norway spruce seedlings, comparing
      ambient conditions to predicted temperatures and CO2 levels in Finland for the
      years 2030 and 2100. In total, 450 seedlings were randomized amongst the three
      treatments, with 25 seedlings from each allocated to inoculation with one of five
      different fungal strains or mock-inoculation. Seedlings were monitored throughout
      the thermal growing season for mortality, and lesion length and depth indices
      were measured at the experiment conclusion. Disease severity (mortality and
      lesions) was consistently greater in fungal-inoculated than mock-inoculated
      seedlings. However, substantial differences were observed among fungal strains in
      response to climate scenarios. For example, although overall seedling mortality
      was highest under the most distant (and severe) climate change expectations, of
      the two fungal strains with the highest mortality counts (referred to as F4 and
      F5), one produced greater mortality under the 2030 and 2100 scenarios than
      ambient conditions, whereas climate scenario had no effect on the other. This
      study contributes to a limited body of empirical research on the effects of
      projected climate changes on forestry pathosystems, and is the first to
      investigate interactions between Norway spruce and E. polonica. The results
      indicate the potential for future climate changes to alter the impact of forest
      pathogens with implications for productivity, while highlighting the need for a
      strain-specific level of understanding of the disease agents.

PMID- 28603539
TI  - Editorial: Assembly of the Photosystem II Membrane-Protein Complex of Oxygenic
      Photosynthesis.

PMID- 28603540
TI  - An elderly man with a solitary liver lesion.

PMID- 28603541
TI  - Cytological features of adenocarcinoma admixed with small cell neuroendocrine
      carcinoma of the uterine cervix.
AB  - Adenocarcinoma admixed with neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a
      rare malignancy with a poor prognosis, and few reports have described the
      cytological features of this carcinoma. To characterize the cytological features
      of this malignancy in cervical smears, we report a case of a 52-year-old Japanese
      woman with cervical adenocarcinoma admixed with small cell neuroendocrine
      carcinoma (SCNEC). Cytologically, there were two types of cells with different
      sizes. The smaller cells formed clusters, which showed a partially Indian file
      pattern, a high nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, and hyperchromatic nuclei. In
      contrast, the larger cells showed cytological features of adenocarcinoma,
      indicating a glandular-like pattern. Histological examination of biopsy specimens
      revealed that the tumors were composed of almost equal areas of SCNEC and
      adenocarcinoma. Neuroendocrine differentiation was confirmed by
      immunohistochemistry for synaptophysin and CD56. Thus, when adenocarcinoma cells
      are detected in smears, attempts to search for SCNEC cells should be made by
      combined cytological and histological analyses in order to reach an accurate
      diagnosis of the carcinoma in the uterine cervix.

PMID- 28603542
TI  - "Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, cannot exclude high-grade:" TBS says
      "Don't Use It!" should I really stop it?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Bethesda System uses a two-tiered approach in the diagnosis of
      cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs). Occasionally, Papanicolaou
      (Pap) tests with evident low-grade SIL (LSIL) also have some features suggestive
      but not diagnostic of high-grade SIL (HSIL). This study reviews our experience
      with "Low-grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion, Cannot Exclude High-grade" (LSIL
      H) and discusses the best approach to report such Paps if the LSIL-H
      interpretation is abandoned. METHODS: Abnormal Paps were identified between
      January and December 2014 that had surgical follow-up within 6 months. Their
      biopsy outcomes were compared. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's
      Chi-square and McNemar tests in SPSS software version 23. Statistical
      significance was defined as P <= 0.05. RESULTS: There were a total of 1049
      abnormal Paps with follow-up. High-grade dysplasia/carcinoma (HGD+) was found in
      8% of LSIL, 30% of LSIL-H, 52% of atypical squamous cells (ASCs), cannot rule out
      HSIL (ASC-H), and 77% of HSIL Paps. The detection rate of HGD+ for LSIL-H was
      between that of LSIL (Pearson's Chi-square test, P = 0.000) and ASC-H (P = 0.04).
      If LSIL-H cases are reported as ASC-H, the rate of HGD+ for the ASC-H category
      would decrease from 51.5% to 37.4% (McNemar test, P = 0.000). Alternatively, if
      LSIL-H cases are downgraded to LSIL, the rate of HGD+ for the LSIL category would
      rise from 7.7% to 10.4% (McNemar test, P = 0.000). Nearly 86.7% of LSIL-H cases
      were positive for high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) in comparison to 77.5% of LSILs, 100% of
      ASC-Hs, and 75% of HSILs. The sample size for HR-HPV and LSIL-H was too small for
      meaningful statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS: "LSIL-H" category detects more HGD+
      than LSIL, and fewer than ASC-H and HSIL. If LSIL-H is eliminated, Paps with this
      finding are best reported as ASC-H to ensure that women with potential HGD+
      undergo colposcopy in a timely manner. Reporting LSIL-H as LSIL may delay
      colposcopy since management of LSIL Paps depends on multiple factors (age, HPV
      status, etc.).

PMID- 28603543
TI  - Caffeine consumption and telomere length in men and women of the National Health
      and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The investigation evaluated the relationship between caffeine intake
      and coffee consumption and leukocyte telomere length, a biomarker of the
      senescence of cells. METHODS: A total of 5826 adults from the National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were studied cross-sectionally. Using the
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction method, telomere length was compared to
      standard reference DNA. Caffeine intake from foods and beverages and coffee
      consumption were measured using a validated, multi-pass, computer-assisted, 24-h
      recall system administered by NHANES interviewers. The following covariates were
      controlled: age, gender, race, marital status, education, housing, smoking, BMI,
      physical activity, alcohol use, and coffee intake (or caffeine consumption).
      RESULTS: Caffeine consumption was inversely related to telomere length (F = 15.1,
      P = 0.0005). For each 100 mg of caffeine consumed, telomeres were 35.4 base pairs
      shorter, after adjusting for the covariates. For each 100 mg of caffeine consumed
      among coffee drinkers only, telomeres were 36.7 base pairs shorter (F = 9.0, P =
      0.0054), and among non-coffee drinkers only, 40.0 base pairs shorter (F = 8.5, P
      = 0.0067). Conversely, coffee intake was positively related to telomere length (F
      = 12.6, P = 0.0013), independent of the covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest
      that caffeine consumption accounts for shorter telomeres in U.S. adults,
      independent of numerous covariates, whereas coffee intake predicts longer
      telomeres.

PMID- 28603544
TI  - Hypertension and Risk of Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD): A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) occurs frequently after
      major surgery. Hypertension is well-established as a risk factor for age-related
      cognitive impairment, but it is unclear whether or not it also increases the risk
      of POCD. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of hypertension in POCD risk in a
      systematic review and meta-analysis. METHOD: PubMed, Ovid SP and the Cochrane
      Database of Systematic Reviews were searched for longitudinal studies of adults
      undergoing surgery with reporting of hypertension, blood pressure and/or anti
      hypertensive treatment associations with POCD as relative risks or odds ratios.
      Fixed-effects meta-analyses were performed using Review Manager (version 5.3).
      RESULTS: Twenty-four studies on 4317 patients (mean age 63 years) were included.
      None of the studies had set out to assess hypertension as a risk factor for POCD.
      Hypertension was used as a categorical predictor throughout and only 2 studies
      adjusted for potential confounders. Across all 24 studies, hypertension was not
      significantly associated with POCD risk (RR 1.01; 95% CI 0.93, 1.09; p=0.82),
      though among 8 studies with >75% males, we found hypertension associations with a
      27% increased risk of POCD (RR 1.27, 95% CI 1.07, 1.49; p=0.005). CONCLUSION: Our
      findings do not support the hypothesis that hypertension is a risk factor for
      POCD. However, since none of the studies included in our analysis were hypothesis
      driven and most did not adjust for potential confounders, further systematic
      investigations are needed to evaluate the role of hypertension in the
      epidemiology of POCD.

PMID- 28603545
TI  - Rationale for therapeutic targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor and
      bone marrow-derived fibrocytes in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.
AB  - Development of medical therapy for thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy has lagged
      behind that for many other autoimmune diseases, in large part because its
      pathogenesis has not been understood. Recent insights into the nature of the main
      target of the disease, orbital connective tissues, have led to a greater
      understanding of how and why this ocular manifestation of Graves' disease might
      occur. Emerging from this work are the identities of potential drug targets. We
      believe that these findings will help pave the road toward an acceleration of
      therapy development.

PMID- 28603547
TI  - A better scoring model for de novo peptide sequencing: the symmetric difference
      between explained and measured masses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given a peptide as a string of amino acids, the masses of all its
      prefixes and suffixes can be found by a trivial linear scan through the amino
      acid masses. The inverse problem is the idealde novopeptide sequencing problem:
      Given all prefix and suffix masses, determine the string of amino acids. In
      biological reality, the given masses are measured in a lab experiment, and
      measurements by necessity are noisy. The (real, noisy) de novo peptide sequencing
      problem therefore has a noisy input: a few of the prefix and suffix masses of the
      peptide are missing and a few other masses are given in addition. For this
      setting, we ask for an amino acid string that explains the given masses as
      accurately as possible. RESULTS: Past approaches interpreted accuracy by
      searching for a string that explains as many masses as possible. We feel,
      however, that it is not only bad to not explain a mass that appears, but also to
      explain a mass that does not appear. We propose to minimize the symmetric
      difference between the set of given masses and the set of masses that the string
      explains. For this new optimization problem, we propose an efficient algorithm
      that computes both the best and the k best solutions. Proof-of-concept
      experiments on measurements of synthesized peptides show that our approach leads
      to better results compared to finding a string that explains as many given masses
      as possible. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that considering the symmetric difference
      as optimization goal can improve the identification rates for de novo peptide
      sequencing. A preliminary version of this work has been presented at WABI 2016.

PMID- 28603546
TI  - Structural and Functional Evaluations for the Early Detection of Glaucoma.
AB  - The early detection of glaucoma is imperative in order to preserve functional
      vision. Structural and functional methods are utilized to detect and monitor
      glaucomatous damage and the vision loss it causes. The relationship between these
      detection measures is complex and differs between individuals, especially in
      early glaucoma. Using both measures together is advised in order to ensure the
      highest probability of glaucoma detection, and new testing methods are
      continuously developed with the goals of earlier disease detection and
      improvement of disease monitoring. The purpose of this review is to explore the
      relationship between structural and functional glaucoma detection and discuss
      important technological advances for early glaucoma detection.

PMID- 28603548
TI  - Useful Effects of Melatonin in Peripheral Nerve Injury and Development of the
      Nervous System.
AB  - This review summarizes the role of melatonin (MLT) in defense against toxic-free
      radicals and its novel effects in the development of the nervous system, and the
      effect of endogenously produced and exogenously administered MLT in reducing the
      degree of tissue and nerve injuries. MLT was recently reported to be an effective
      free radical scavenger and antioxidant. Since endogenous MLT levels fall
      significantly in senility, these findings imply that the loss of this antioxidant
      could contribute to the incidence or severity of some age-related
      neurodegenerative diseases. Considering the high efficacy of MLT in overcoming
      much of the injury not only to the peripheral nerve but also to other organs,
      clinical trials for this purpose should be seriously considered.

PMID- 28603549
TI  - Current situations and future directions for mental health system governance in
      Nepal: findings from a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assessing and understanding health systems governance is crucial to
      ensure accountability and transparency, and to improve the performance of mental
      health systems. There is a lack of systematic procedures to assess governance in
      mental health systems at a country level. The aim of this study was to appraise
      mental health systems governance in Nepal, with the view to making
      recommendations for improvements. METHODS: In-depth individual interviews were
      conducted with national-level policymakers (n = 17) and district-level planners
      (n = 11). The interview checklist was developed using an existing health systems
      governance framework developed by Siddiqi and colleagues as a guide. Data
      analysis was done with NVivo 10, using the procedure of framework analysis.
      RESULTS: The mental health systems governance assessment reveals a few enabling
      factors and many barriers. Factors enabling good governance include availability
      of mental health policy, inclusion of mental health in other general health
      policies and plans, increasing presence of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
      and service user organizations in policy forums, and implementation of a few
      mental health projects through government-NGO collaborations. Legal and policy
      barriers include the failure to officially revise or fully implement the mental
      health policy of 1996, the existence of legislation and several laws that have
      discriminatory provisions for people with mental illness, and lack of a mental
      health act and associated regulations to protect against this. Other barriers
      include lack of a mental health unit within the Ministry of Health, absence of
      district-level mental health planning, inadequate mental health record-keeping
      systems, inequitable allocation of funding for mental health, very few health
      workers trained in mental health, and the lack of availability of psychotropic
      drugs at the primary health care level. CONCLUSIONS: In the last few years, some
      positive developments have emerged in terms of policy recognition for mental
      health, as well as the increased presence of NGOs, increased presence of service
      users or caregivers in mental health governance, albeit restricted to only some
      of its domains. However, the improvements at the policy level have not been
      translated into implementation due to lack of strong leadership and governance
      mechanisms.

PMID- 28603550
TI  - Health system governance to support scale up of mental health care in Ethiopia: a
      qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ethiopia is embarking upon a ground-breaking plan to address the high
      levels of unmet need for mental health care by scaling up mental health care
      integrated within primary care. Health system governance is expected to impact
      critically upon the success or otherwise of this important initiative. The
      objective of the study was to explore the barriers, facilitators and potential
      strategies to promote good health system governance in relation to scale-up of
      mental health care in Ethiopia. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using
      in-depth interviews. Key informants were selected purposively from national and
      regional level policy-makers, planners and service developers (n = 7) and
      district health office administrators and facility heads (n = 10) from a district
      in southern Ethiopia where a demonstration project to integrate mental health
      into primary care is underway. Topic guide development and analysis of
      transcripts were guided by an established framework for assessing health system
      governance, adapted for the Ethiopian context. RESULTS: From the perspective of
      respondents, particular strengths of health system governance in Ethiopia
      included the presence of high level government support, the existence of a
      National Mental Health Strategy and the focus on integration of mental health
      care into primary care to improve the responsiveness of the health system.
      However, both national and district level respondents expressed concerns about
      low baseline awareness about mental health care planning, the presence of
      stigmatising attitudes, the level of transparency about planning decisions,
      limited leadership for mental health, lack of co-ordination of mental health
      planning, unreliable supplies of medication, inadequate health management
      information system indicators for monitoring implementation, unsustainable models
      for specialist mental health professional involvement in supervision and
      mentoring of primary care staff, lack of community mobilisation for mental health
      and low levels of empowerment and knowledge undermining meaningful involvement of
      stakeholders in local mental health care planning. CONCLUSIONS: To support scale
      up of mental health care in Ethiopia, there is a critical need to strengthen
      leadership and co-ordination at the national, regional, zonal and district
      levels, expand indicators for routine monitoring of mental healthcare, promote
      service user involvement and address widespread stigma and low mental health
      awareness.

PMID- 28603551
TI  - Mental distress and associated factors among undergraduate students at the
      University of Hargeisa, Somaliland: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental distress is a common finding among University students.
      Empirical research has confirmed that the University student population has a
      higher prevalence of mental disorder than the general population. However, no
      previous study has examined the mental health conditions of students in
      Somaliland. METHODS: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on
      a sample of 570 undergraduate students at the University of Hargeisa in October,
      2013. Study subjects were selected using a stratified random sampling. The Self
      reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to assess mental distress. Multiple
      logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify factors independently
      associated with mental distress. RESULTS: The point prevalence of mental distress
      was found to be 19.8%. Mental distress was associated with being female (AOR =
      3.52, 95% CI 1.94, 6.39), having a monthly income of 100 United States dollars
      (USD) or less (AOR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.12, 4.28), and not having a satisfying
      relationship with the family (AOR = 11.52, 95% CI 3.18, 41.72) and friends (AOR =
      7.33, 95% CI 2.83, 18.93). Nearly one in five students (18.6%) has been using
      Khat in the previous 12 months. Khat use was also associated with greater
      likelihood of mental distress (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI 1.26, 6.56). In addition,
      financial difficulties and the poor prospect of finding a job were common sources
      of stress among the students. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of the
      students at the University of Hargeisa suffer from mental distress which might
      have a detrimental effect on their academic performance. The mental health needs
      of the University students require attention with special emphasis on female
      students, students experiencing financial hardships, students who use Khat and
      those who have interpersonal problems.

PMID- 28603552
TI  - Problem Management Plus (PM+) in the management of common mental disorders in a
      specialized mental healthcare facility in Pakistan; study protocol for a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed Problem Management
      Plus (PM+), a 5-session, psychological intervention program delivered by trained
      non-specialist that addresses common mental disorders. The objectives of this
      study are to evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PM+ in a
      specialized mental health care facility in Pakistan. METHODS: A single blind
      individual randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be carried out in the
      outpatient department of a specialized mental healthcare facility in Rawalpindi,
      Pakistan. After informed consent, patients with high psychological distress
      (General Health Questionnaire-12 (score >2) and functional impairment (WHO
      Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 score >16) will be randomised to PM+ plus
      treatment as usual (n = 96) or TAU only (n = 96). The primary outcome is the
      psychological distress, measured by levels of anxiety and depression on the
      Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and improvement in functioning as measured
      by WHODAS at 20 weeks after baseline. Secondary outcomes include improvement in
      symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, levels of social support
      and cost effectiveness evaluation. Qualitative interviews will be conducted to
      evaluate the process of implementing PM+ including barriers and facilitators in
      implementation and possibility of integration of PM+ program in specialized
      mental health care facilities in Pakistan. DISCUSSION: The results of this study
      will be helpful in evaluating the effectiveness of the approach of training non
      specialists, based in the specialized mental health care facilities in delivering
      evidence based psychological interventions in the low resource settings. Trial
      registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry,
      ACTRN12616000381482. Registered Retrospectively on March 23, 2016.

PMID- 28603554
TI  - Botulism mortality in the USA, 1975-2009.
AB  - Botulism had mortality rates >60% before the 1950s. We reviewed confirmed
      botulism cases in the USA during 1975-2009 including infant, foodborne, wound,
      and other/unknown acquisition categories, and calculated mortality ratios. We
      created a multivariate logistic regression model for non-infant cases (foodborne,
      wound, and other/unknown). Overall mortality was 3.0% with 109 botulism-related
      deaths among 3,618 botulism cases [18 (<1%) deaths among 2,352 infant botulism
      cases, 61 (7.1%) deaths among 854 foodborne botulism cases, 18 (5.0%) deaths
      among 359 wound botulism cases, and 12 (22.6%) deaths among 53 other/unknown
      botulism cases]. Mortality among all cases increased with age; it was lowest
      among infants (0.8%) and highest among persons >=80 years old (34.4%). Toxin type
      F had higher mortality (13.8%) than types A, B, or E (range, 1.4% to 4.1%).
      Efforts to reduce botulism mortality should target non-infant transmission
      categories and older adults.

PMID- 28603553
TI  - Sweet sorghum as biofuel feedstock: recent advances and available resources.
AB  - Sweet sorghum is a promising target for biofuel production. It is a C4 crop with
      low input requirements and accumulates high levels of sugars in its stalks.
      However, large-scale planting on marginal lands would require improved varieties
      with optimized biofuel-related traits and tolerance to biotic and abiotic
      stresses. Considering this, many studies have been carried out to generate
      genetic and genomic resources for sweet sorghum. In this review, we discuss
      various attributes of sweet sorghum that make it an ideal candidate for biofuel
      feedstock, and provide an overview of genetic diversity, tools, and resources
      available for engineering and/or marker-assisting breeding of sweet sorghum.
      Finally, the progress made so far, in identification of genes/quantitative trait
      loci (QTLs) important for agronomic traits and ongoing molecular breeding efforts
      to generate improved varieties, has been discussed.

PMID- 28603555
TI  - Challenges in implementing an exercise intervention within residential
      psychiatric care: A mixed methods study.
AB  - Physical exercise is increasingly recognized as an important component of
      psychiatric care, although the feasibility of implementing exercise in
      residential care settings is not well understood. We evaluated the feasibility of
      a 10-week intervention of weekly fitness classes (delivered by a personal
      trainer) and other exercise activities using a mixed-methods approach. This was
      offered to across four residential care services, to all 51 residents who had
      severe mental illness (SMI). Of these, 27.5% consented to the exercise
      intervention. Participants averaged 87.6 min of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per
      week, although fitness classes were poorly attended, and 35.7% dropped-out over
      10 weeks. Of those who completed the intervention, increased physical activity
      was associated with significantly reduced negative symptoms. In conclusion,
      implementing exercise interventions in residential psychiatric care is
      challenging; given that supervised exercise classes may not be appealing to many
      residents, while unsupervised exercise is poorly adhered to. Future interventions
      should consider that better tailored exercise programs are required to adequately
      confront motivational issues, and to account for participant preference in order
      to increase engagement.

PMID- 28603556
TI  - Could Miscanthus replace maize as the preferred substrate for anaerobic digestion
      in the United Kingdom? Future breeding strategies.
AB  - Fodder maize is the most commonly used crop for biogas production owing to its
      high yields, high concentrations of starch and good digestibility. However,
      environmental concerns and possible future conflict with land for food production
      may limit its long-term use. The bioenergy grass, Miscanthus, is a high-yielding
      perennial that can grow on marginal land and, with 'greener' environmental
      credentials, may offer an alternative. To compete with maize, the concentration
      of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) and digestibility may need to be improved.
      Non-structural carbohydrates were quantified in 38 diverse genotypes of
      Miscanthus in green-cut biomass in July and October. The aim was to determine
      whether NSC abundance could be a target for breeding programmes or whether
      genotypes already exist that could rival maize for use in anaerobic digestion
      systems. The saccharification potential and measures of N P and K were also
      studied. The highest concentrations of NSC were in July, reaching a maximum of
      20% DW. However, the maximum yield was in October with 300-400 g NSC plant-1
      owing to higher biomass. The digestibility of the cell wall was higher in July
      than in October, but the increase in biomass meant yields of digestible sugars
      were still higher in October. Nutrient concentrations were at least twofold
      higher in July compared to November, and the abundance of potassium showed the
      greatest degree of variation between genotypes. The projected maximum yield of
      NSC was 1.3 t ha-1 with significant variation to target for breeding. Starch
      accumulated in the highest concentrations and continued to increase into autumn
      in some genotypes. Therefore, starch, rather than sugars, would be a better
      target for breeding improvement. If harvest date was brought forward to autumn,
      nutrient losses in non-flowering genotypes would be comparable to an early spring
      harvest.

PMID- 28603557
TI  - Can the agricultural AquaCrop model simulate water use and yield of a poplar
      short-rotation coppice?
AB  - We calibrated and evaluated the agricultural model AquaCrop for the simulation of
      water use and yield of a short-rotation coppice (SRC) plantation with poplar
      (Populus) in East Flanders (Belgium) during the second and the third rotation
      (first 2 years only). Differences in crop development and growth during the
      course of the rotations were taken into account during the model calibration.
      Overall, the AquaCrop model showed good performance for the daily simulation of
      soil water content (R2 of 0.57-0.85), of green canopy cover (R2 > 0.87), of
      evapotranspiration (ET; R2 > 0.76), and of potential yield. The simulated, total
      yearly water use of the SRC ranged between 55% and 85% of the water use of a
      reference grass ecosystem calculated under the same environmental conditions.
      Crop transpiration was between 67% and 93% of total ET, with lower percentages in
      the first than in the second year of each rotation. The observed (dry mass) yield
      ranged from 6.61 to 14.76 Mg ha-1 yr-1. A yield gap of around 30% was observed
      between the second and the third rotation, as well as between simulated and
      observed yield during the third rotation. This could possibly be explained by the
      expansion of the understory (weed) layer; the relative cover of understory weeds
      was 22% in the third year of the third rotation. The agricultural AquaCrop model
      simulated total water use and potential yield of the operational SRC in a
      reliable way. As the plantation was extensively managed, potential effects of
      irrigation and/or fertilization on ET and on yield were not considered in this
      study.

PMID- 28603558
TI  - Climate negotiators' and scientists' assessments of the climate negotiations.
AB  - Climate negotiation outcomes are difficult to evaluate objectively because there
      are no clear reference scenarios. Subjective assessments from those directly
      involved in the negotiations are particularly important, as this may influence
      strategy and future negotiation participation. Here we analyze the perceived
      success of the climate negotiations in a sample of more than 600 experts involved
      in international climate policy. Respondents were pessimistic when asked for
      specific assessments of the current approach centered on voluntary pledges, but
      were more optimistic when asked for general assessments of the outcomes and
      usefulness of the climate negotiations. Individuals who are more involved in the
      negotiation process tended to be more optimistic, especially in terms of general
      assessments. Our results indicate that two reinforcing effects are at work: a
      high degree of involvement changes individuals' perceptions and more optimistic
      individuals are more inclined to remain involved in the negotiations.

PMID- 28603559
TI  - Three immune-mediated disease models induced by Theiler's virus: Multiple
      sclerosis, seizures and myocarditis.
AB  - Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection has been used as a
      viral model for multiple sclerosis (MS), as TMEV can induce chronic inflammatory
      demyelinating lesions with viral persistence in the spinal cord of SJL/J mice. In
      contrast, when C57BL/6 mice are infected with TMEV, the mice can clear the virus
      from the central nervous system (CNS), without viral persistence or
      demyelination, but develop seizures and hippocampal sclerosis, which has been
      used as a viral model for seizures/epilepsy. In the two TMEV-induced CNS disease
      models, not only viral infection, but also immune responses contribute to the
      pathogenesis. Interestingly, acquired immunity plays an effector role in the MS
      model, whereas innate immunity appears to contribute to the development of
      seizures. Recently, we have established the third TMEV-induced disease model, a
      mouse model for viral myocarditis, using C3H mice. TMEV-induced myocarditis is a
      triphasic disease, which mimics human myocarditis; phase I, mediated by viral
      replication in the heart and innate immunity; phase II, mediated by acquired
      immunity; and phase III, resulted from cardiac fibrosis. The genetic
      susceptibility to the aforementioned three models (MS, seizures and myocarditis)
      differs among mouse strains. We have compared and contrasted the three models
      induced by one single pathogen, TMEV, particularly in regard to the roles of T
      helper cells and natural killer T cells, which will give an insight into how
      interactions between the immune system and the host's genetic background
      determine the tissue tropism of virus and the development of virus-induced organ
      specific immunopathology.

PMID- 28603560
TI  - Histone deacetylase inhibitors potentiate photodynamic therapy in colon cancer
      cells marked by chromatin-mediated epigenetic regulation of CDKN1A.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypericin-mediated photodynamic therapy (HY-PDT) has recently
      captured increased attention as an alternative minimally invasive anticancer
      treatment, although cancer cells may acquire resistance. Therefore, combination
      treatments may be necessary to enhance HY-PDT efficacy. Histone deacetylase
      inhibitors (HDACis) are often used in combination treatments due to their non
      genotoxic properties and epigenetic potential to sensitize cells to external
      stimuli. Therefore, this study attempts for the first time to investigate the
      therapeutic effects of HDACis in combination with visible light-mediated PDT
      against cancer. Specifically, the colorectal cancer cell model was used due to
      its known resistance to HY-PDT. RESULTS: Two chemical groups of HDACis were
      tested in combination with HY-PDT: the hydroxamic acids Saha and Trichostatin A,
      and the short-chain fatty acids valproic acid and sodium phenylbutyrate (NaPB),
      as inhibitors of all-class versus nuclear HDACs, respectively. The selected
      HDACis manifest a favorable clinical toxicity profile and showed similar
      potencies and mechanisms in intragroup comparisons but different biological
      effects in intergroup analyses. HDACi combination with HY-PDT significantly
      attenuated cancer cell resistance to treatment and caused the two HDACi groups to
      become similarly potent. However, the short-chain fatty acids, in combination
      with HY-PDT, showed increased selectivity towards inhibition of HDACs versus
      other key epigenetic enzymes, and NaPB induced the strongest expression of the
      otherwise silenced tumor suppressor CDKN1A, a hallmark gene for HDACi-mediated
      chromatin modulation. Epigenetic regulation of CDKN1A by NaPB was associated with
      histone acetylation at enhancer and promoter elements rather than histone or DNA
      methylation at those or other regulatory regions of this gene. Moreover, NaPB,
      compared to the other HDACis, caused milder effects on global histone
      acetylation, suggesting a more specific effect on CDKN1A chromatin architecture
      relative to global chromatin structure. The mechanism of NaPB + HY-PDT was P53
      dependent and likely driven by the HY-PDT rather than the NaPB constituent.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that HDACis potentiate the antitumor efficacy of HY
      PDT in colorectal cancer cells, overcoming their resistance to this drug and
      epigenetically reactivating the expression of CDKN1A. Besides their therapeutic
      potential, hypericin and these HDACis are non-genotoxic constituents of dietary
      agents, hence, represent interesting targets for investigating mechanisms of
      dietary-based cancer prevention.

PMID- 28603561
TI  - Distinct DNA methylation profiles in subtypes of orofacial cleft.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epigenetic data could help identify risk factors for orofacial
      clefts, either by revealing a causal role for epigenetic mechanisms in causing
      clefts or by capturing information about causal genetic or environmental factors.
      Given the evidence that different subtypes of orofacial cleft have distinct
      aetiologies, we explored whether children with different cleft subtypes showed
      distinct epigenetic profiles. METHODS: In whole-blood samples from 150 children
      from the Cleft Collective cohort study, we measured DNA methylation at over
      450,000 sites on the genome. We then carried out epigenome-wide association
      studies (EWAS) to test the association between methylation at each site and cleft
      subtype (cleft lip only (CLO) n = 50; cleft palate only (CPO) n = 50; cleft lip
      and palate (CLP) n = 50). We also compared methylation in the blood to
      methylation in the lip or palate tissue using genome-wide data from the same 150
      children and conducted an EWAS of CLO compared to CLP in lip tissue. RESULTS: We
      found four genomic regions in blood differentially methylated in CLO compared to
      CLP, 17 in CPO compared to CLP and 294 in CPO compared to CLO. Several regions
      mapped to genes that have previously been implicated in the development of
      orofacial clefts (for example, TBX1, COL11A2, HOXA2, PDGFRA), and over 250
      associations were novel. Methylation in blood correlated with that in lip/palate
      at some regions. There were 14 regions differentially methylated in the lip
      tissue from children with CLO and CLP, with one region (near KIAA0415) showing up
      in both the blood and lip EWAS. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding of distinct methylation
      profiles in different orofacial cleft (OFC) subtypes represents a promising first
      step in exploring the potential role of epigenetic modifications in the aetiology
      of OFCs and/or as clinically useful biomarkers of OFC subtypes.

PMID- 28603563
TI  - Management of an Extensive Vascular Lesion on the Lip by Photocoagulation with
      High-Intensity Diode Laser.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Extensive vascular malformations (VM) pose difficulties for an
      effective management. INTRODUCTION: This article describes a very satisfactory
      result, both functional and aesthetic, following a management by the technique of
      photocoagulation using diode laser in an extensive VM lesion involving the lower
      lip and left buccal mucosa in a 25 year old male. CASE REPORT: The patient
      reported that the lesion had been present since birth. The whole treatment,
      carried out under local anesthesia, spread over 6 months since as many as 4
      sessions of laser, with a 1.5-month interval in each, were required. The resting
      period between sessions played an important part in treatment by allowing a time
      for the recovery of the patient and the shrinking of the lesion. CONCLUSION: The
      patient had no complications during the laser sessions, and his postoperative
      period was uneventful. No recurrence has been seen after a 2.5-year follow-up.

PMID- 28603562
TI  - Meditation in Stressed Older Adults: Improvements in self-rated mental health not
      paralleled by improvements in cognitive function or physiological measures.
AB  - To determine if mindfulness meditation (MM) in older adults improves cognition
      and, secondarily, if MM improves mental health and physiology, 134 at least
      mildly stressed 50-85 year olds were randomized to a six-week MM intervention or
      a waitlist control. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and two months
      later at Visit 2. The primary outcome measure was an executive
      function/attentional measure (flanker task). Other outcome measures included
      additional cognitive assessments, salivary cortisol, respiratory rate, heart rate
      variability, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Center for
      Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS),
      Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness (NEO) personality traits, and SF-36 health
      related quality of life. 128 participants completed the study though Visit 2
      assessments. There was no significant change in the primary or other cognitive
      outcome measures. Even after statistical adjustment for multiple outcomes, self
      rated measures related to negative affect and stress were all significantly
      improved in the MM intervention compared to wait-list group (PANAS-negative,
      CESD, PSS, and SF-36 health-related quality of life Vitality and Mental Health
      Component). The SF-36 Mental Health Component score improved more than the
      minimum clinically important difference. There were also significant changes in
      personality traits such as Neuroticism. Changes in positive affect were not
      observed. There were no group differences in salivary cortisol, or heart rate
      variability. These moderate sized improvements in self-rated measures were not
      paralleled by improvements in cognitive function or physiological measures.
      Potential explanations for this discrepancy in stress-related outcomes are
      discussed to help improve future studies.

PMID- 28603564
TI  - A Study on the Microbiological Status of Mineral Drinking Water.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Water-borne diseases constitute a major health burden in
      Bangladesh. The objective of this study was to assess the overall quality of
      mineral water samples that obtained from different shops of Dhaka city. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: To achieve the above-mentioned objective, methods of heterotrophic
      plate count (HPC) and total coliform count (TCC) were applied. Moreover, isolated
      colony from mineral water samples were characterized by using biochemical and
      antimicrobial susceptibility tests. RESULTS: Different water samples showed
      different HPC ranged from 1.0*10 to 8.00*102. Antimicrobial sensitivity test of
      some selected bacteria viz S. intermedius, S. aureus, S. felis and S.
      Saccharolyticus were performed. It was observed that Staphylococcus spp. isolates
      were susceptible to erythromycin, tetracycline, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin.
      Furthermore, a few Staphylococcus spp. isolates were intermediate resistant to
      penicillin and oxacillin. However, most of the Staphylococcus spp. isolates were
      resistant to cefixime. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that mineral water serves
      as a reservoir of various bacteria and that people in Dhaka city, who are the
      consumers of these water, might get diseases. This study emphasizes the need for
      elaborated microbiological examinations of mineral drinking water commonly used
      in Dhaka city.

PMID- 28603565
TI  - Current Concepts - Congenital Scoliosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital scoliosis is one of the 'difficult to treat' scenarios
      which a spine surgeon has to face. Multiple factors including the age of child at
      presentation, no definite pattern of deformity and associated anomalies hinder
      the execution of the ideal treatment plan. All patients of congenital scoliosis
      need to be investigated in detail. X rays and MRI of spine is usually ordered
      first. Screening investigations to rule out VACTERL (Visceral, Anorectal,
      Cardiac, Tracheo-esophageal fistula, Renal and Lung) abnormalities are required.
      They are cardiac echocardiography and ultrasonography of abdomen and pelvis. CT
      scan is required to understand the complex deformity and is helpful in surgical
      planning. METHODS: A comprehensive medical literature review was done to
      understand the current surgical and non surgical treatment options available. An
      attempt was made to specifically study limitations and advantages of each
      procedure. RESULTS: The treatment of congenital scoliosis differs with respect to
      the age of presentation. In adults with curves more than 50 degrees or spinal
      imbalance the preferred treatment is osteotomy and correction. In children the
      goals are different and treatment strategy has to be varied according to the age
      of patient. A single or two level hemivertebra can easily be treated with
      hemivertebra excision and short segment fusion. However, more than 3 levels or
      multiple fused ribs and chest wall abnormalities require a guided growth
      procedure to prevent thoracic insufficiency syndrome. The goal of management in
      childhood is to allow guided spine growth till the child reaches 10 - 12 years of
      age, when a definitive fusion can be done. The current research needs to be
      directed more at the prevention and understanding the etiology of the disease.
      Till that time, diagnosing the disease early and treating it before the sequels
      set in, is of paramount importance. CONCLUSION: The primary aim of treatment of
      congenital scoliosis is to allow the expansion of chest and abdominal cavity,
      while keeping the deformity under control. Various methods can be categorized
      into definitive (hemivertebrectomy) or preventive (guided growth). Casting,
      Growth rods, Convex Epiphysiodesis are all guided growth measures. The guided
      growth procedure either 'corrects the deformity' or will have to be converted to
      a final fusion surgery once the child completes the spinal growth which is
      preferably done around 10 - 12 years of age. Future directions should aim at
      genetic counselling and early detection.

PMID- 28603566
TI  - Current Concepts in Pediatric Cervical Spine Trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pediatric spinal trauma is rare and challenging entity. Although
      cervical spine is commonly affected, it is often missed on routine imaging
      investigations. Therefore better understanding of growing spine and its patho
      physiology is crucial. METHODS: Articles related to pediatric cervical trauma
      were searched on Pubmed and other online research data banks. We have summarized
      unique anatomy of pediatric spine, investigations followed by common injury
      patterns, their diagnostic challenges and management. RESULTS: Immature spine
      follows typical injury patterns, so thorough knowledge of its presentation should
      be known. Primary physicians should be able to perform initial assessment based
      on clinical examination and investigations for early diagnosis. High index of
      suspicion and strategic approach leads to early diagnosis and prevents further
      morbidity and mortality. CONCLUSION: Spinal injuries in children are rare and
      typical. They are often missed and can have fatal consequences. Thorough
      understanding of pediatric anatomy and injury patterns helps in early diagnosis.

PMID- 28603568
TI  - Current Concepts in Radial Club Hand.
AB  - Radial club hand is a complex congenital abnormality of the radial or pre-axial
      border of the upper extremity. It has a wide range of phenotypes from hypoplasia
      of the thumb to complete absence of the radius and the first ray. Centralization
      with tendon transfer is a popular method for maintaining the correct position of
      radial club hand. On the other hand, various corrections were devised, e.g.
      radialization after distraction to emphasize the fact that the head of the ulna
      is positioned under the radial carpal bones and is no longer placed in a slot in
      the center of the carpus, microvascular epiphysis transfer, gradual correction
      using Ilizarov method, for Bayne Type III or Type IV. We should pay attention to
      the recurrence of radial deformity or circulatory impairment with the tension.
      Lunate excision or ulnar shortening can be selected for tension-free correction.
      Radialization can be indicated for avoiding the recurrence of radial flexion.
      However, we should pay attention of the radial protrusion of the ulnar head. For
      avoiding the recurrence of radial deformity or circulatory impairment, gradual
      correction using Ilizarov external fixation can be indicated, especially in the
      cases with severe radial deviation or with short forearm. In the mild cases,
      Bayne Type I or Type II, radius lengthening is accompanied by a soft-tissue
      distraction or release at the ulnar carpal joint with keeping wrist and forearm
      motion without producing growth plate damage.

PMID- 28603567
TI  - Current Concepts in Paediatric Femoral Shaft Fractures.
AB  - Pediatric femoral shaft fractures account for less than 2% of all fractures in
      children. However, these are the most common pediatric fractures necessitating
      hospitalization and are associated with prolonged hospital stay, prolonged
      immobilization and impose a significant burden on the healthcare system as well
      as caregivers. In this paper, the authors present a comprehensive review of
      epidemiology, aetiology, classification and managemement options of pediatric
      femoral shaft fractures.

PMID- 28603569
TI  - Pediatric ACL Injuries: A Review of Current Concepts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries reported in
      skeletally immature athletes has increased over the past 2 decades. The reasons
      for this increased rate include the growing number of children and adolescents
      participating in competitive sports vigorous sports training at an earlier age
      and greater rate of diagnosis because of increased awareness and greater use of
      advanced medical imaging. There is a growing need for a consensus and evidence
      based approach for management of these injuries to frame a dedicated age specific
      treatment strategy. METHODS: This article does a systematic evidence based
      literature review of management of Pediatric ACL injuries seen in several forms:
      tibial eminence avulsion fractures partial ACL tears and full thickness ligament
      tears and its outcome analysis. RESULTS: The mechanism of Safe and effective
      surgical techniques for children and adolescents with ACL injuries continues to
      evolve. The numerous age matched techniques are extensively discussed.
      Neuromuscular training can reduce the risk of ACL injury in adolescent girls.
      CONCLUSION: This review outlines the current state of knowledge on diagnosis
      treatment and prevention of ACL injuries in children and adolescents and helps in
      guiding the treatment through a dedicated algorithm.

PMID- 28603570
TI  - Successful Treatment of Painful Synchondrosis of Bipartite Patella after Direct
      Trauma by Operative Fixation: A Series of Six Cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The patella is the largest sesamoid bone in the body and may have
      one (77%) or multiple (23%) ossification centres. Patellar and patellofemoral
      joint abnormalities are a common cause of anterior knee pain but symptomatic
      bipartite patella is an uncommon problem. CASE SERIES: We report a series of six
      cases of painful synchondrosis in bipartite patellae, all in keen athletes
      following a direct blow to the anterior aspect of the knee. A complete rupture of
      the synchondrosis with evidence of retropatellar chondral separation was seen on
      MRI scan in all cases. Successful surgical fixation was undertaken with complete
      resolution of symptoms in all patients at an average of three months post
      operatively. CONCLUSION: Painful synchondrosis of a bipartite patella in young
      and active individuals following direct trauma is a relatively rare cause of
      anterior knee pain, but may be associated with significant morbidity. In cases
      refractory to non-operative management, successful symptomatic treatment can be
      achieved by operative fixation.

PMID- 28603571
TI  - Pes Anserinus Syndrome Caused by Osteochondroma in Paediatrics: A Case Series
      Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Osteochondroma is a common benign bone tumor, protruding from the
      underlying normal bone. Osteochondromas can cause pain depending on their
      location and size. The pes anserinus is located at the proximal medial side of
      the tibia, where the tendinous insertions of the sartorius, gracilis and
      semitendinosus muscles collectively attach. Pes anserinus syndrome, or anserine
      bursitis, is a painful condition of the pes anserinus, and is more common in
      adults typically with overweight females. The occurrence of pes anserinus
      syndrome is rare in the paediatric population. RESULTS: In the current case
      series, five patients with pes anserinus syndrome due to proximal tibial
      osteochondroma are reported. Pain was present in all cases, with snapping in one
      case. The average age of the patients was 13 +/- 1.2 years, ranging from 12 to 15
      years. Three patients had a single osteochondroma, and two patients had
      hereditary multiple exostoses. The sizes of the osteochondromas on plain
      radiographs varied from 0.5 to 2.5 cm, with an average of 1.46 +/- 0.83 cm. All
      lesions characteristically were located at the medial-posterior edge of the
      proximal tibia. The symptoms resolved in four cases with surgical resection, and
      persisted in one non-resected patient. CONCLUSION: The characteristic location of
      the osteochondroma causes pes anserinus syndrome, even though the lesion is
      small. The diagnosis of osteochondroma or pes anserinus syndrome may be
      overlooked when it occurs in a paediatric population. The symptoms seem to be
      consistent, and resection of the osteochondroma is necessary for treatment.

PMID- 28603572
TI  - Fibroblast Transplantation Results to the Degenerated Rabbit Lumbar
      Intervertebral Discs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our study is an analysis of the histological and radiological changes
      in degenerated lumbar intervertebral discs, after transplantation of fibroblasts
      in rabbits. With that study we aimed to show the viability of the fibroblasts
      injected to the degenerated discs, and observe their potential for further
      studies. METHOD: The apoptosis of the cell is one of the factors at the disc
      degeneration process. Fibroblasts may act as mesenchymal stem cells at the tissue
      to which they are injected and they may replace the apoptotic cells. The nucleus
      pulposus of the discs from eight rabbits were aspirated under scopic guidance to
      induce disc degeneration. RESULTS: One month later, cultured fibroblasts, which
      had been taken from the skin, were injected into the disc. The viability and the
      potential of the injected cells for reproduction were studied histologically and
      radiologically. Cellular formations and organizations indicating to the
      histological recovery were observed at the discs to which fibroblasts were
      transplanted. The histological findings of the discs to which no fibroblasts were
      transplanted, did not show any histological recovery. Radiologically, no finding
      of the improvement was found in both groups. The fibroblasts injected to the
      degenerated discs are viable. CONCLUSION: The findings of improvement, observed
      in this study, suggest that fibroblast transplantation could be an effective
      method of therapy for the prevention or for the retardation of the degenerative
      disease of the discs.

PMID- 28603573
TI  - Extra-Articular Tenosynovial Chondromatosis of the Finger: A Case Series Study of
      Three Cases, One Including Excessive Osseous Invasion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synovial chondromatosis is characterized by cartilaginous metaplasia
      in synovial tissues. Extra-articular tenosynovial chondromatosis is considered to
      be an anatomical counterpart of articular synovial chondromatosis. Extra
      articular tenosynovial chondromatosis occurs preferentially in the hand, although
      its frequency is low. RESULTS: We report three cases of extra-articular
      tenosynovial chondromatosis. A 65-year-old female presented with a history of
      symptoms over 40 years related to the dorsum of her index finger (Case 1), A 46
      year-old female presented with a 6-month history of symptoms at the volar surface
      of her middle finger (Case 2), and a 66-year-old male presented with a 3-month
      history of symptoms in a dorsal ring finger. Case 2 had evidence of ossification,
      which could be classified as osteochondromatosis. Interestingly, the index finger
      lesions (Case 1) were accompanied by excessive bone involvement. The signal
      intensity of T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging varies from low to high,
      possibly reflecting histological variations, such as ossification and fatty
      tissue changes. All lesions were resected without complications. CONCLUSION:
      Variations in anatomical sites suggest that overuse or mechanical overloading was
      not causative. Extensive involvement of the nearby tendon and joint capsule, as
      well as the bone, would require attention during the resection. Preoperative
      analysis of images is important, not only for the diagnosis, but also to assess
      the extent of the lesion, particularly given the complex anatomy of the finger.

PMID- 28603575
TI  - Antimicrobial fungal endophytes from the botanical medicine goldenseal (Hydrastis
      canadensis).
AB  - The potential of fungal endophytes to alter or contribute to plant chemistry and
      biology has been the topic of a great deal of recent interest. For plants that
      are used medicinally, it has been proposed that endophytes might play an
      important role in biological activity. With this study, we sought to identify
      antimicrobial fungal endophytes from the medicinal plant goldenseal (Hydrastis
      canadensis L., Ranunculaceae), a plant used in traditional medicine to treat
      infection. A total of 23 fungal cultures were obtained from surface-sterilized
      samples of H. canadensis roots, leaves and seeds. Eleven secondary metabolites
      were isolated from these fungal endophytes, five of which had reported
      antimicrobial activity. Hydrastis canadensis plant material was then analyzed for
      the presence of fungal metabolites using liquid chromatography coupled to high
      resolving power mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial compound alternariol
      monomethyl ether was detected both as a metabolite of the fungal endophyte
      Alternaria spp. isolated from H. canadensis seeds, and as a component of an
      extract from the H. canadensis seed material. Notably, fungi of the Alternaria
      genus were isolated from three separate accessions of H. canadensis plant
      material collected in a time period spanning 5 years. The concentration of
      alternariol monomethyl ether (991 mg/kg in dry seed material) was in a similar
      range to that previously reported for metabolites of ecologically important
      fungal endophytes. The seed extracts themselves, however, did not possess
      antimicrobial activity.

PMID- 28603574
TI  - Central Retinal Vein Occlusion in Younger Swedish Adults: Case Reports and Review
      of the Literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate associated systemic diseases, other conditions, visual
      outcome, ocular complications and treatment in Swedish patients younger than 50
      years with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and reviewing the literature.
      METHODS: Twenty-two patients with CRVO, younger than 50 years, were examined with
      full-field electroretinography (ERG) within 3 months after a thrombotic event, or
      were periodically examined and were observed for at least 6 months. In 18 of
      these patients, the initial retinal ischemia was studied using the cone b-wave
      implicit time in the 30 Hz flicker ERG. Fifteen patients also underwent
      fluorescein angiography. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed in 14
      patients. The patients studied were divided into two groups, non-ischemic and
      ischemic, which were compared. All patients underwent ocular and systemic
      examination, as well as complete screening for thrombophilic risk factors.
      RESULTS: Of the 22 patients, 15 had non-ischemic type of CRVO and 7 the ischemic
      type. Patients with non-ischemic CRVO showed significantly improved visual acuity
      (VA) at the final examination (p=0.006). Patients with ischemic CRVO showed no
      significant reduction in VA at the final examination (p=0.225). Systemic
      hypertension (27% in non-ischemic CRVO and 29% in ischemic CRVO) was the most
      prevalent systemic risk factor for CRVO. The mean central foveal thickness (CFT)
      decreased significantly from 402.3+/-136.2 (um) at the initial examination to
      243.8+/-48.1 (um) at the final examination in the non-ischemic group (p=0.005).
      The mean initial CFT was 444.5+/-186.1 (um) in the ischemic CRVO group, which
      decreased to 211.5+/-20.2 (um) at the final visit (p=0.068). Pigment dispersion
      syndrome (PDS)/pigmentary glaucoma (PG), ocular hypertension and dehydration were
      equally frequent; four patients each (18%) out of 22. The clinical course of 4
      younger patients with PDS/PG are described. CONCLUSION: The patients with non
      ischemic CRVO showed significantly improved VA and significantly decreased CFT at
      the final examination. Systemic hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor
      for CRVO. Younger adults with CRVO also had a high prevalence of PDS/PG, ocular
      hypertension and dehydration. This study highlights the importance of careful IOP
      monitoring, and the need to investigate possible PDS/PG and to obtain an accurate
      history of the patient including alcohol intake and intense exercise.

PMID- 28603576
TI  - The Development of Bimodal Bilingualism: Implications for Linguistic Theory.
AB  - A wide range of linguistic phenomena contribute to our understanding of the
      architecture of the human linguistic system. In this paper we present a proposal
      dubbed Language Synthesis to capture bilingual phenomena including code-switching
      and 'transfer' as automatic consequences of the addition of a second language,
      using basic concepts of Minimalism and Distributed Morphology. Bimodal
      bilinguals, who use a sign language and a spoken language, provide a new type of
      evidence regarding possible bilingual phenomena, namely code-blending, the
      simultaneous production of (aspects of) a message in both speech and sign. We
      argue that code-blending also follows naturally once a second articulatory
      interface is added to the model. Several different types of code-blending are
      discussed in connection to the predictions of the Synthesis model. Our primary
      data come from children developing as bimodal bilinguals, but our proposal is
      intended to capture a wide range of bilingual effects across any language pair.

PMID- 28603577
TI  - Assessment of patient knowledge of diabetic goals, self-reported medication
      adherence, and goal attainment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medication adherence is an integral aspect of disease state
      management for patients with chronic illnesses, including diabetes mellitus. It
      has been hypothesized that patients with diabetes who have poor medication
      adherence may have less knowledge of overall therapeutic goals and may be less
      likely to attain these goals. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess
      self-reported medication adherence, knowledge of therapeutic goals (hemoglobin
      A1C [A1C], low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] and blood pressure [BP]),
      and goal attainment in adult patients with diabetes. METHODS: A survey was
      created to assess medication adherence, knowledge of therapeutic goals, and goal
      attainment for adult patients with diabetes followed at an internal medicine or a
      family medicine clinic. Surveys were self-administered prior to office visits.
      Additional data were collected from the electronic medical record. Statistical
      analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 149 patients were enrolled. Knowledge
      of therapeutic goals was reported by 14%, 34%, and 18% of survived patients for
      LDL-C, BP, and A1C, respectively. Forty-six percent, 37%, and 40% of patients
      achieved LDL-C, BP, and A1C goals, respectively. Low prescribing of cholesterol
      lowering medications was an interesting secondary finding; 36% of patients not at
      LDL-C goal had not been prescribed a medication targeted to lower cholesterol.
      Forty-eight percent of patients were medication non-adherent; most frequently
      reported reasons for non-adherence were forgot (34%) and too expensive (14%).
      Patients at A1C goal were more adherent than patients not at goal (p=0.025).
      CONCLUSION: The majority did not reach goals and were unknowledgeable of goals;
      however, most were provided prescriptions to treat these parameters. Goal
      parameters should be revisited often amongst multidisciplinary team members with
      frequent and open communications. Additionally, it is imperative that
      practitioners discuss the importance of medication adherence with every patient
      at every visit.

PMID- 28603579
TI  - In Situ Optical Reflectance Difference Observations of CO Oxidation over Pd(100).
AB  - Using a home-built reflectometer, we have investigated the changes in the optical
      reflectivity of a Pd(100) model catalyst during CO oxidation under high-pressure,
      high-temperature conditions. We observe changes in optical contrast when exposing
      the surface to CO oxidation conditions at 200 mbar from room temperature up to
      400  degrees C. These changes in reflectivity are a result both of the formation
      of a surface oxide layer and of a change in surface roughness because of gas
      exposure. However, the reflectivity is more sensitive to the presence of a thin,
      flat oxide layer than to surface roughness. CO oxidation plays an important role
      in the decrease of the reflectivity. Since adding a reducing agent to the gas
      mixture renders it unlikely that the oxide thickness increases, we conclude that
      the observed decrease in reflectivity is dominated by increased surface roughness
      because of the catalytic reaction. We contribute this observed surface roughening
      to a Mars-van Krevelen-type reaction mechanism.

PMID- 28603580
TI  - In Situ Splitting of a Rib Bone Graft for Reconstruction of Orbital Floor and
      Medial Wall.
AB  - In situ splitting of rib bone graft was conducted in 22 patients for the repair
      of orbital fracture with no other complicating fractures. A bone graft was
      harvested from the sixth or seventh rib in the right side. The repair of the
      orbital floor and medial wall was successful in all the cases. Ten patients had
      bone grafting to the orbital floor, eight had it done onto medial wall, and 4
      onto both floor and wall after reduction. The mean length of in situ rib bone
      graft was 40.9 mm (range, 20-70 mm), the mean width of these was 14.9 mm (range,
      8-20 mm). The bone grafting was done by one leaf for 15 cases and two leafs for 7
      cases in size of defects. The technique of in situ splitting of a rib bone graft
      for the repair of the orbital floor and medial wall is a simple and safe
      procedure, easily taking out the in situ splitting of a rib, and less pain in
      donor site. It has proved to be an optimal choice in craniofacial reconstruction,
      especially the defects of orbital floor and medial wall.

PMID- 28603578
TI  - Restraint and Social Isolation Stressors Differentially Regulate Adaptive
      Immunity and Tumor Angiogenesis in a Breast Cancer Mouse Model.
AB  - The ability of stress to induce immune suppression is widely recognized, but the
      mechanisms underlying the effects of stress on the adaptive immune system during
      tumor progression are not completely understood. To study the effect of stress on
      the immune system in vivo, we used a preclinical immunocompetent mouse model
      bearing 4T1 mammary adenocarcinoma cells. Mice were randomized into 4 groups,
      including social isolation (SI), acute restraint stress (aRRS), chronic restraint
      stress (cRRS), or no stress (NS). We found that SI significantly decreased the
      number of tumor-bearing mice still alive at the end of protocol (28 days),
      compared to NS mice. Although we did not detect significant changes in primary
      tumor volume, we observed a significant increase in the endothelial marker CD31
      in primary tumors of SI mice and in lung metastases in SI and RRS mice. Survival
      decline in SI mice was associated with significant decreases in splenic CD8 cells
      and in activated T cells. From a mechanistic standpoint, RRS increased expression
      of FOXP3, CXCL-10, and granzyme B in mouse tumors, and the effects were reversed
      by propranolol. Our data demonstrate that various forms of stress differentially
      impact adaptive immunity and tumor angiogenesis, and negatively impact survival.

PMID- 28603581
TI  - DISEASE CLASSIFICATION AND PREDICTION VIA SEMI-SUPERVISED DIMENSIONALITY
      REDUCTION.
AB  - We present a new semi-supervised algorithm for dimensionality reduction which
      exploits information of unlabeled data in order to improve the accuracy of image
      based disease classification based on medical images. We perform dimensionality
      reduction by adopting the formalism of constrained matrix decomposition of [1] to
      semi-supervised learning. In addition, we add a new regularization term to the
      objective function to better captur the affinity between labeled and unlabeled
      data. We apply our method to a data set consisting of medical scans of subjects
      classified as Normal Control (CN) and Alzheimer (AD). The unlabeled data are
      scans of subjects diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which are at
      high risk to develop AD in the future. We measure the accuracy of our algorithm
      in classifying scans as AD and NC. In addition, we use the classifier to predict
      which subjects with MCI will converge to AD and compare those results to the
      diagnosis given at later follow ups. The experiments highlight that unlabeled
      data greatly improves the accuracy of our classifier.

PMID- 28603582
TI  - Automatic Segmentation of Breast Carcinomas from DCE-MRI using a Statistical
      Learning Algorithm.
AB  - Segmenting regions of high angiogenic activity corresponding to malignant tumors
      from DCE-MRI is a time-consuming task requiring processing of data in 4
      dimensions. Quantitative analyses developed thus far are highly sensitive to
      external factors and are valid only under certain operating assumptions, which
      need not be valid for breast carcinomas. In this paper, we have developed a novel
      Statistical Learning Algorithm for Tumor Segmentation (SLATS) for automatically
      segmenting cancer from a region selected by the user on DCE-MRI. In this
      preliminary study, SLATS appears to demonstrate high accuracy (78%) and
      sensitivity (100%) in segmenting cancers from DCE-MRI when compared to
      segmentations performed by an expert radiologist. This may be a useful tool for
      delineating tumors for image-guided interventions.

PMID- 28603583
TI  - SEGMENTATION OF MYOCARDIUM USING DEFORMABLE REGIONS AND GRAPH CUTS.
AB  - Deformable models and graph cuts are two standard image segmentation techniques.
      Combining some of their benefits, we introduce a new segmentation system for
      (semi-) automatic delineation of epicardium and endocardium of Left Ventricle of
      the heart in Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI). Specifically, a temporal
      information among consecutive phases is exploited via a coupling between
      deformable models and graph cuts which provides automated accurate cues for graph
      cuts and also good initialization scheme for deformable model that ultimately
      leads to more accurate and smooth segmentation results with lower interaction
      costs than using only graph cut segmentation. In addition, we define deformable
      model as a region defined by two nested contours and segment epicardium and
      endocardium in an unified way by optimizing single energy functional. This
      approach provides inherent coherency among the two contours thus leads to more
      accurate results than deforming separate contours for each target. We show
      promising results on the challenging problems of left ventricle segmentation.

PMID- 28603584
TI  - Acute calculous cholecystitis: Review of current best practices.
AB  - Acute calculous cholecystitis (ACC) is the most frequent complication of
      cholelithiasis and represents one-third of all surgical emergency hospital
      admissions, many aspects of the disease are still a matter of debate. Knowledge
      of the current evidence may allow the surgical team to develop practical bedside
      decision-making strategies, aiming at a less demanding procedure and lower
      frequency of complications. In this regard, recommendations on the diagnosis
      supported by specific criteria and severity scores are being implemented, to
      prioritize patients eligible for urgency surgery. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is
      the best treatment for ACC and the procedure should ideally be performed within
      72 h. Early surgery is associated with better results in comparison to delayed
      surgery. In addition, when to suspect associated common bile duct stones and how
      to treat them when found are still debated. The antimicrobial agents are
      indicated for high-risk patients and especially in the presence of gallbladder
      necrosis. The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and in some cases with antifungal
      agents is related to better prognosis. Moreover, an emerging strategy of not
      converting to open, a difficult laparoscopic cholecystectomy and performing a
      subtotal cholecystectomy is recommended by adept surgical teams. Some authors
      support the use of percutaneous cholecystostomy as an alternative emergency
      treatment for acute Cholecystitis for patients with severe comorbidities.

PMID- 28603585
TI  - International scientific communications in the field of colorectal tumour
      markers.
AB  - AIM: To analyze scientometrically the dynamic science internationalization on
      colorectal tumour markers as reflected in five information portals and to outline
      the significant journals, scientists and institutions. METHODS: A retrospective
      problem-oriented search was performed in Web of Science Core Collection (WoS),
      MEDLINE, BIOSIS Citation Index (BIOSIS) and Scopus for 1986-2015 as well as in
      Dervent Innovations Index (Derwent) for 1995-2015. Several specific scientometric
      parameters of the publication output and citation activity were comparatively
      analyzed. The following scientometric parameters were analyzed: (1) annual
      dynamics of publications; (2) scientific institutions; (3) journals; (4) authors;
      (5) scientific forums; (6) patents - number of patents, names and countries of
      inventors, and (7) citations (number of citations to publications by single
      authors received in WoS, BIOSIS Citation Index and Scopus). RESULTS: There is a
      trend towards increasing publication output on colorectal tumour markers
      worldwide along with high citation rates. Authors from 70 countries have
      published their research results in journals and conference proceedings in 21
      languages. There is considerable country stratification similar to that in most
      systematic investigations. The information provided to end users and
      scientometricians varies between these data-bases in terms of most parameters due
      to different journal coverage, indexing systems and editorial policy. The lists
      of the so-called "core" journals and most productive authors in WoS, BIOSIS,
      MEDLINE and Scopus along with the list of the most productive authors - inventors
      in Derwent present a particular interest to the beginners in the field, the
      institutional and national science managers and the journal editorial board
      members. The role of the purposeful assessment of scientific forums and patents
      is emphasized. CONCLUSION: Our results along with this problem-oriented
      collection containing the researchers' names, addresses and publications could
      contribute to a more effective international collaboration of the
      coloproctologists from smaller countries and thus improve their visibility on the
      world information market.

PMID- 28603587
TI  - Heart failure after myocardial infarction in the era of primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention: Mechanisms, incidence and identification of patients at
      risk.
AB  - Myocardial infarction (MI) remains the most common cause of heart failure (HF)
      worldwide. For almost 50 years HF has been recognised as a determinant of adverse
      prognosis after MI, but efforts to promote myocardial repair have failed to
      translate into clinical therapies. Primary percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PPCI) has driven improved early survival after MI, but its impact on the
      incidence of downstream HF is debated. The effects of PPCI are confounded by the
      changing epidemiology of MI and HF, with an ageing patient demographic, an
      increasing proportion of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, and the
      recognition of HF with preserved ejection fraction. Herein we review the
      mechanisms of HF after MI and discuss contemporary data on its incidence and
      outcomes. We review current and emerging strategies for early detection of
      patients at risk of HF after MI, with a view to identification of patient cohorts
      for novel therapeutic agents.

PMID- 28603588
TI  - Transcervical access, reversal of flow and mesh-covered stents: New options in
      the armamentarium of carotid artery stenting.
AB  - In the last 25 years, the very existence of carotid artery stenting (CAS) has
      been threatened on a number of occasions. The initial disappointing results that
      even lead to the discontinuation of an early randomized controlled trial have
      improved considerably with time. Novel devices, advanced stent and equipment
      technology, alternative types of access and several types of filters/emboli
      protecting devices have been reported to reduce stroke/death rates during/after
      CAS and improve CAS outcomes. The present review will provide a description of
      the various technology advances in the field that aim to reduce stroke and death
      rates associated with CAS. Transcervical access, reversal of flow and mesh
      covered stents are currently the most promising tools in the armamentarium of
      CAS.

PMID- 28603586
TI  - Sleep, health behaviors, and behavioral interventions: Reducing the risk of
      cardiovascular disease in adults.
AB  - Numerous health behaviors, including physical activity, diet, smoking, and sleep,
      play a major role in preventing the development and progression of cardiovascular
      disease (CVD). Among these behaviors, sleep may play a pivotal role, yet it has
      been studied somewhat less than other behaviors and there have been few well
      designed sleep intervention studies targeting CVD. Furthermore, despite the fact
      that these behaviors are often interrelated, interventions tend to focus on
      changing one health behavior rather than concurrently intervening on multiple
      behaviors. Psychological constructs from depression to positive affect may also
      have a major effect on these health behaviors and ultimately on CVD. In this
      review, we summarize the existing literature on the impact of sleep and other
      cardiac health behaviors on CVD onset and prognosis. We also describe
      interventions that may promote these behaviors, from established interventions
      such as motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy, to more novel
      approaches focused on mindfulness and other positive psychological constructs.
      Finally, we outline population-health-level care management approaches for
      patients with psychiatric conditions (e.g., depression) that may impact cardiac
      health, and discuss their potential utility in improving mental health, promoting
      health behaviors, and reducing CVD-related risk. Much work is still needed to
      better understand how sleep and other health behaviors may uniquely contribute to
      CVD risk, and additional high-quality studies of interventions designed to modify
      cardiac health behaviors are required to improve cardiovascular health in
      individuals and the population at large.

PMID- 28603589
TI  - Empirical anticoagulation for patients in sinus rhythm at high risk of ischaemic
      stroke: A review of current literature.
AB  - Ischaemic stroke is one of the commonest causes of morbidity and mortality
      worldwide and around a fifth of events can be attributed to a cardioembolic
      source. This is typically due to atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common
      sustained cardiac arrhythmia. However, AF can, at times, be difficult to detect
      due to a relative lack of symptoms and the fact that it can be paroxysmal in
      nature. Studies have shown that diagnosis of AF improves as the length of cardiac
      monitoring increases. However, prolonged cardiac monitoring is not a cost
      effective way of diagnosing AF. Therefore, an alternative approach may be to
      empirically anticoagulate individuals who are at high risk of stroke. This
      article summarises current evidence surrounding stroke risk prediction, the use
      of anticoagulation in the secondary prevention of stroke and its use in the
      primary prevention of stroke in high risk groups with the aim of determining
      whether empirical anticoagulation is a safe and effective strategy.

PMID- 28603590
TI  - Antitachycardia pacing programming in implantable cardioverter defibrillator: A
      systematic review.
AB  - Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) programming involves several
      parameters. In recent years antitachycardia pacing (ATP) has gained an increasing
      importance in the treatment of ventricular arrhythmias, whether slow or fast. It
      reduces the number of unnecessary and inappropriate shocks and improves both
      patient's quality of life and device longevity. There is no clear indication
      regarding the type of ATP to be used, except for the treatment of fast
      ventricular tachycardias (188 bpm-250 bpm) where it has been shown a greater
      efficacy and safety of burst compared to ramp; 8 impulses in each sequence of ATP
      appears to be the best programming option in this setting. Beyond ATP use,
      excellent clinical results were obtained with programming standardization
      following these principles: extended detection time in ventricular fibrillation
      (VF) zone; supraventricular discrimination criteria up to 200 bpm; first shock in
      VF zone at the maximum energy in order to reduce the risk of multiple shocks. The
      MADIT-RIT trial and some observational registries have also recently demonstrated
      that programming with a widespread use of ATP, higher cut-off rates or delayed
      intervention reduces the number of inappropriate and unnecessary therapies and
      improves the survival of patients during mid-term follow-up.

PMID- 28603591
TI  - Clinical characteristics and outcomes of octogenarians presenting with ST
      elevation myocardial infarction in the Australian population.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the characteristics and outcomes of octogenarians who
      presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) compared to non
      octogenarians and to investigate the outcomes of octogenarians that received
      primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to those managed
      conservatively. METHODS: We performed a single center retrospective case
      controlled study. All octogenarians who presented with STEMI to a tertiary
      referring hospital between 2007 and 2012 were included. The subsequent non
      octogenarian patient who presented with a STEMI following the octogenarian
      patient was assigned to the control group in a 1:1 manner. The outcomes measured
      were peri-procedural cardiac arrest, death on table, cerebrovascular accidents
      (CVA), in-hospital and 30-d mortality. RESULTS: A total of 146 patients were
      analyzed. The octogenarian group had a higher percentage of females, higher
      overall comorbidities, higher Charlson Comorbidity Index score, worse renal
      function and were more likely to require residential care and home help. The
      octogenarian group were also less likely to have PCI attempted and had a longer
      symptom onset to PCI time. Mortality rate was high amongst octogenarians who
      presented with STEMI. However, those managed conservatively had a higher in
      hospital and 30-d mortality rate. CONCLUSION: Octogenarians who presented with
      STEMI that were managed conservatively had a higher mortality rate compared to
      those who had primary PCI. Therefore, we propose that revascularization may be
      beneficial to patients in this age group.

PMID- 28603592
TI  - Jailing polymer jacketed guide-wires during bifurcation coronary interventions is
      associated with procedural myocardial infarction.
AB  - AIM: To study the relationship of jailed polymer jacketed guide wires (PGW) with
      procedural myocardial infarction (PMI) after bifurcation coronary interventions.
      METHODS: Consecutive bifurcation interventions performed from January 2010 to
      October 2014 were included in the study. Chart review was performed to obtain
      demographic, clinical and procedural data. PMI was defined as Creatine Kinase MB
      > 3 * upper reference limit of normal. Multivariate logistic regression was used
      to ascertain relationship of PGW use with PMI. RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety
      three patients (age 63.5 +/- 12.3 years; 33.8% diabetic) were included in the
      study. Eighty point two percent (n = 235) were true bifurcation lesions use of
      PGW was associated with PMI on univariate analysis (OR = 4.1; P = 0.002). This
      association remained significant after adjusting for other possible risk factors
      (OR = 3.5; P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that PGW use for side
      branch protection may be associated with PMI. Randomized studies are needed to
      validate these findings.

PMID- 28603593
TI  - Markers of inflammation and cardiovascular disease in recently diagnosed celiac
      disease patients.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate novel risk factors and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease in
      celiac disease (CD) patients compared with healthy controls. METHODS: Twenty
      adult patients with recent diagnosis of CD and 20 sex, age and body mass index
      matched healthy controls were recruited during a period of 12 mo. Indicators of
      carbohydrate metabolism, hematological parameters and high sensitive C reactive
      protein were determined. Moreover, lipoprotein metabolism was also explored
      through evaluation of the lipid profile and the activity of cholesteryl ester
      transfer protein and lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2, which is also
      considered a specific marker of vascular inflammation. The protocol was approved
      by the Ethic Committee from School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of
      Buenos Aires and from Buenos Aires Italian Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
      RESULTS: Regarding the indicators of insulin resistance, CD patients showed
      higher plasma insulin levels [7.2 (5.0-11.3) mU/L vs 4.6 (2.6-6.7) mU/L, P <
      0.05], increased Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance [1.45 (1.04
      2.24) vs 1.00 (0.51-1.45), P < 0.05] and lower Quantitative Sensitive Check index
      [0.33 (0.28-0.40) vs 0.42 (0.34-0.65), P < 0.05] indexes. Folic acid
      concentration [5.4 (4.4-7.9) ng/mL vs 12.2 (8.0-14.2) ng/mL, P < 0.01] resulted
      to be lower and High-sensitivity C reactive protein levels higher (4.21 +/- 6.47
      mg/L vs 0.98 +/- 1.13 mg/L, P < 0.01) in the patient group. With respect to the
      lipoprotein profile, CD patients showed lower high density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL-C) (45 +/- 15 mg/dL vs 57 +/- 17 mg/dL, P < 0.05) and apo A-I
      (130 +/- 31 mg/dL vs 155 +/- 29 mg/dL, P < 0.05) levels, as well as higher total
      cholesterol/HDL-C [4.19 (3.11-5.00) vs 3.52 (2.84-4.08), P < 0.05] and apo B/apo
      A-I (0.75 +/- 0.25 vs 0.55 +/- 0.16, P < 0.05) ratios in comparison with control
      subjects. No statistically significant differences were detected in lipoprotein
      associated lipid transfer protein and enzymes. CONCLUSION: The presence and
      interaction of the detected alterations in patients with CD, would constitute a
      risk factor for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28603594
TI  - Combined assessment of myocardial damage and electrical disturbance in chronic
      heart failure.
AB  - AIM: To investigate feasibility of combined assessment of biochemical and
      electrophysiological myocardial impairment markers risk-stratifying patients with
      chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: Serum levels of heart-type fatty acid
      binding protein (H-FABP) as a marker of ongoing myocardial damage and QRS
      duration on electrocardiogram were measured at admission in 322 consecutive
      patients with CHF. A prolonged QRS duration was defined as 120 ms or longer. The
      cut-off value for H-FABP level (4.5 ng/mL) was determined from a previous study.
      Patients were prospectively followed during a median follow up period of 534 d.
      The primary endpoint was cardiac deaths and rehospitalization for worsening CHF.
      RESULTS: There were 117 primary events, including 27 cardiac deaths and 90
      rehospitalizations. Patients were stratified into four groups according to H-FABP
      level and QRS duration (>= 120 ms). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that high
      H-FABP levels [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.745, P = 0.021] and QRS prolongation (HR
      1.612, P = 0.0258) were independent predictors of cardiac events. Kaplan-Meier
      analysis demonstrated that the combination of high H-FABP levels and QRS
      prolongation could be used to reliably stratify patients at high risk for cardiac
      events (log rank test P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Combined assessment of myocardial
      damage and electrical disturbance can be used to risk-stratify patients with CHF.

PMID- 28603595
TI  - Cough induced syncope: A hint to cardiac tamponade diagnosis.
AB  - We report a case of a 75-year-old male with history of lung adenocarcinoma who
      presented with shortness of breath and frequent episodes of cough-induced
      syncope. A large pericardial effusion was found on echocardiogram suggestive of
      cardiac tamponade. Pericardiocentesis was done which improved the dyspnea and
      eventually resolved the syncope. There are only two other cases reported in the
      literature with cough-induced syncope in the setting of pericardial effusion or
      cardiac tamponade. Our clinical vignette also highlights the importance of pulsus
      paradoxus identification in patients with cough induced syncope to rule out
      cardiac tamponade since this is the most sensitive physical finding for its
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28603596
TI  - The Points Of Language.
AB  - Signed languages display a variety of pointing signs that serve the functions of
      deictic and anaphoric pronouns, possessive and reflexive pronouns,
      demonstratives, locatives, determiners, body part labels, and verb agreement. We
      consider criteria for determining the linguistic status of pointing signs. Among
      those criteria are conventionality, indexicality, phonological compositionality,
      being subject to grammatical constraints, and marking the kinds of grammatical
      distinctions expected of pronouns. We conclude that first-person points meet all
      these proposed criteria, but that nonfirst person points are in part gestural.
      Lastly, we review evidence for the grammaticization over time of systems of
      pointing signs within signed languages.

PMID- 28603597
TI  - Assessment of Airborn Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in a Manufactoring
      Environment.
AB  - This study was carried out in a factory producing multiwalled carbon nanotubes
      (MWCNTs) by the catalytic chemical vapor deposition method in a pyrolysis
      reactor. Air samples of the personal breathing areas were collected
      simultaneously on mixed cellulose ester filters, for analysis by transmission
      electron microscopy (TEM), and on high-purity quartz filters for thermal-optical
      analysis of elemental carbon (EC). It is found that the production of MWCNTs is
      accompanied by the release of the MWCNT structures in the air of different
      working zones. The concentration of respirable aerosol in the personal breathing
      areas, averaged over an 8-hour period, ranges from 0.54 to 6.11 MUg/m3 based on
      EC. Airborne MWCNTs were found in the form of agglomerates that range in size
      from about 1 to 10 MUm. These data are consistent with measurements in different
      plants by two other international groups (from the United States and Sweden)
      using similar methodology (TEM in combination with EC analysis). In the absence
      of convincing data on the potential health risks of MWCNTs, and following the
      principle of reasonable precautions, preventive measures should be taken to
      minimize exposure to these materials.

PMID- 28603598
TI  - Eyelid Dermatitis Caused by Allergic Contact to Acrylates in Artificial Nails.
AB  - Over the past few years, there has been an increase in cases of allergic contact
      dermatitis caused by acrylates, because of the growing popularity of artificial
      nails. Pathological reactions to artificial nails typically occur on or around
      the nail area. Eyelid contact dermatitis due to artificial nails is rarely seen,
      especially in a nonoccupational setting. The authors report the case of a 45-year
      old female accountant who developed eyelid dermatitis due to artificial nails.

PMID- 28603599
TI  - Residual Dizziness after Successful Repositioning Maneuver for Idiopathic Benign
      Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Review.
AB  - The benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a vestibular disorder cause of
      vertigo. The BPPV may be corrected mechanically by repositioning maneuvers but
      even after successful maneuvers, some patients report residual dizziness for a
      certain period afterward. Early recognition and treatment might decrease the
      incidence of residual dizziness in patients with BPPV, especially in those
      patients with psychiatric comorbidities and in the elderly, lowering the risk of
      falling. Many pathogenetic hypotheses for residual dizziness are under debate.
      The purpose of this review was to identify, evaluate and review recent researches
      about possible causal factors involved in residual dizziness and the implications
      on clinical practice. A literature search was performed using different databases
      such as Pubmed and Scopus. The following search terms were used: residual
      dizziness, otolithic membrane and BPPV. The search found a total of 1192 titles,
      which were reduced to 963 after a procedure of de-duplication of the found
      titles. The research was then restricted to an interval of time comprised between
      2000 and 2016 for a total of 800 titles. Among these titles, only those including
      the terms benign paroxysmal positional vertigo were considered eligible for this
      review. Only publications in English language were taken into consideration and
      we excluded those with not available abstract. Finally, 90 abstracts were
      obtained and critically evaluated by two different Authors, and additional
      studies were identified by hand searching from the references of artiche of
      interest. Only 53 were included in this work.

PMID- 28603600
TI  - Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of novel selective MOR agonist 6beta
      pyridinyl amidomorphines exhibiting long-lasting antinociception.
AB  - It was previously reported that 6beta-aminomorphinan derivatives show high
      affinity for opiate receptors. Novel 6beta-heteroarylamidomorphinanes were
      designed based on the MOR selective antagonist NAP. The 6beta-aminomorphinanes
      were prepared with stereoselective Mitsunobu reaction and subsequently acylated
      with nicotinic acid and isonicotinic acid chloride hydrochlorides. The receptor
      binding and efficacy were determined in vitro and the analgesic activity was
      studied in vivo. The in vitro studies revealed moderate selectivity for MOR. At
      least two compounds in this series exhibited long-acting analgesic response when
      administered subcutaneously and intracerebroventricularly. When the substances
      were given intracerebroventricularly to mice, they showed analgesic potency
      comparable to morphine.

PMID- 28603602
TI  - A rare case of perianal granular cell tumor: case report and literature review.
AB  - Granular cell tumor (GCT) is a rare submucosal neoplasm most commonly localized
      in the oral mucosa; with one-third of all cases found in the tongue, with less
      than 30 cases of perianal GCT reported in the literature, making it a rare anal
      neoplasm. Wide local excision is the gold standard of treatment and follow-up
      includes annual colonoscopy due to the high incidence of reoccurrence. Here we
      describe a rare case of benign perianal GCT in a 29-year-old female who presented
      asymptomatically; however, pathology report revealed a S100 positive
      immunostaining pattern. GCT is an important differential to be included when
      evaluating a patient with an asymptomatic perianal submucosal lesion. Since GCT
      and Squamous Cell Carcinoma present with similar pseudoepitheliomatous
      hyperplasia of the epithelium it is important that a biopsy and
      immunohistochemical analysis be performed to allow for accurate diagnosis and
      appropriate treatment.

PMID- 28603601
TI  - Reactivity of hydride bridges in a high-spin [Fe3(MU-H)3]3+ cluster: reversible
      H2/CO exchange and Fe-H/B-F bond metathesis.
AB  - The triiron trihydride complex Fe3H3L (1) [where L3- is a tris(beta
      diketiminate)cyclophanate] reacts with CO and with BF3.OEt2 to afford
      (FeICO)2FeII(MU3-H)L (2) and Fe3F3L (3), respectively. Variable-temperature and
      applied-field Mossbauer spectroscopy support the assignment of two high-spin (HS)
      iron(i) centers and one HS iron(ii) ion in 2. Preliminary studies support a CO
      induced reductive elimination of H2 from 1, rather than CO trapping a species
      from an equilibrium mixture. This complex reacts with H2 to regenerate 1 under a
      dihydrogen atmosphere, which represents a rare example of reversible CO/H2
      exchange and the first to occur at high-spin metal centers, as well as the first
      example of a reversible multielectron redox reaction at a designed high-spin
      metal cluster. The formation of 3 proceeds through a previously unreported net
      fluoride-for-hydride substitution, and 3 is surprisingly chemically inert to Si-H
      bonds and points to an unexpectedly large difference between the Fe-F and Fe-H
      bonds in this high-spin system.

PMID- 28603603
TI  - Multi-modality surgical treatment for an increasingly common patient with morbid
      obesity and papillary thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - The link between obesity and health disorders such as hypertension, diabetes and
      coronary artery disease is well known. When a morbidly obese patient presents
      with a new diagnosis of any cancer, it adds to the many challenges both the
      patient and treating physicians face. Not only is surgical resection of the
      malignancy more technically challenging, but also postoperative care such as
      therapeutic radiation and follow-up imaging is limited by the weight and size
      restrictions of the machines. With time to treatment being a key factor in
      limiting the progression of disease, standard weight loss techniques such as diet
      and exercise in the majority of cases take too long or fail to lead to adequate
      results. We present a case of a 48-year-old female with newly diagnosed papillary
      thyroid cancer who underwent gastric bypass surgery in order to lose enough
      weight to undergo radiation therapy to treat her metastatic disease.

PMID- 28603604
TI  - Molecular characterization of antimicrobial resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella
      from poultry industries in Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistant Salmonella strains are a direct threat to
      human health when this resistance interferes with treatment and an indirect
      threat when resistance can be transferred to other human pathogens. The objective
      of the present study was to characterize antimicrobial resistant non-typhoidal
      Salmonella (NTS) isolates recovered from poultry industries, including a
      description of genetic diversity and virulence profiles. RESULTS: In total of 93
      Salmonella isolates shown antimicrobial resistance to one or more drugs, all
      isolates exhibited common resistance to streptomycin, nalidixic acid and
      cephalothin but no ciprofloxacin resistance. Among 26 virulence gene profiling,
      12 virulence genes, invA, orgA, prgH, sopB, tolC, sipB, gatC, msgA, pagC, spiA,
      sifA, and sitC were found in all antimicrobial-resistant NTS isolates. In
      comparing the data from ERIC-PCR clusters, virulence profiles and resistance
      profiles, some Salmonella isolates grouped into the same cluster were found to
      exhibit similar virulence and resistance patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Virulence
      profiling combined with ERIC-PCR offered a rapid approach to characterize
      antimicrobial-resistant NTS.

PMID- 28603605
TI  - Phase Behavior of Mixed Lipid Monolayers on Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions and its
      Effect on Acoustic Contrast.
AB  - Lipid-stabilized nanoemulsions containing a volatile liquid perfluorocarbon core
      have been studied as ultrasound contrast agents owing to their ability to
      transform into high-contrast microbubbles when subjected to high intensity
      focused ultrasound (HIFU). However, while there have been several studies on the
      effect of acoustic parameters on contrast, the effect of the droplet's
      stabilizing shell has not been studied as extensively. Inspired by previous
      studies showing lateral phase separation in microbubbles and vesicles,
      nanodroplets were formulated with a perfluorohexane core and a shell composed of
      varying amounts of saturated (DPPC) phospholipids, unsaturated (DOPC)
      phospholipids, and cholesterol, which were fractionated to obtain nanodroplets of
      mean diameter 300-400 nm and were stable over one week. When the DOPC content was
      increased to 40 mol%, ultrasound contrast increased by about one order of
      magnitude over DPPC-only droplets. Based on fluorescence microscopy results of
      lateral lipid phase separation on the droplet surface, the various combinations
      of DPPC, DOPC, and cholesterol were assigned to three regimes on the ternary
      phase diagram: solid-liquid ordered (low contrast), liquid ordered-liquid
      disordered (medium contrast), and solid-liquid disordered (high contrast). These
      regimes were confirmed by TEM analysis of nanoscale droplets. Droplets containing
      mixed lipid monolayers were also found to produce a significantly greater yield
      than single-component droplets. The discovery of the dependence of acoustic
      response on lipid phase separation will help to understand the formulation,
      behavior, and vaporization mechanism of acoustically-responsive nanoemulsions.

PMID- 28603606
TI  - Synthesis and Properties of Magnetic-Optical Core-Shell Nanoparticles.
AB  - Due to their high integrity, facile surface chemistry, excellent stability, and
      dual properties from the core and shell materials, magnetic-plasmonic core-shell
      nanoparticles are of great interest across a number of science, engineering and
      biomedical disciplines. They are promising for applications in a broad range of
      areas including catalysis, energy conversion, biological separation, medical
      imaging, disease detection and treatment. The technological applications have
      driven the need for high quality nanoparticles with well controlled magnetic and
      optical properties. Tremendous progress has been made during past few decades in
      synthesizing and characterizing magnetic-plasmonic core-shell nanoparticles,
      mainly iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles. This review introduces various
      approaches for the synthesis of spherical and anisotropic magnetic-plasmonic core
      shell nanoparticles focusing on iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles. Growth
      mechanisms are discussed to provide understanding of the key factors controlling
      shape-controlled synthesis. Magnetic and optical properties are summarized from
      both computational and experimental studies.

PMID- 28603607
TI  - Co-delivery of carboplatin and paclitaxel via cross-linked multilamellar
      liposomes for ovarian cancer treatment.
AB  - Carboplatin (CPT) and paclitaxel (PTX) used in combination is one of the most
      effective treatments for ovarian cancer. However, the traditional combination
      methods used to co-administrate CPT and PTX showed limited clinical efficacy due
      to their distinct pharmacokinetics. Although much effort has been devoted to
      developing nanoparticles capable of encapsulating drugs with different
      lipophilicites, co-delivery of carboplatin with paclitaxel by a single
      nanoparticle has rarely been reported. Here, we encapsulated and delivered this
      drug combination to ovarian cancer cells at a controlled ratio by a previously
      reported crosslinked multilamellar liposome vesicle (cMLV). A 1 : 1 CPT/PTX molar
      ratio for cMLVs (CPT/PTX) combination treatment was found to induce the strongest
      anti-tumor synergism and to target ALDH+ cancer stem cells (CSC) in vitro.
      Moreover, we demonstrated that this co-encapsulation strategy reduced systemic
      cytotoxicity and resulted in a stronger anti-tumor effect when compared to free
      drug combinations and individual drug-loaded cMLVs in an OVCAR8 ovarian cancer
      xenograft mouse model. Thus, this study suggests a potentially promising
      combination therapy for ovarian cancer in clinical practice.

PMID- 28603608
TI  - Carbonic acid monoethyl ester as a pure solid and its conformational isomerism in
      the gas-phase.
AB  - The monoesters of carbonic acid are deemed to be unstable and decompose to
      alcohol and carbon dioxide. In spite of this, we here report the isolation of the
      elusive carbonic acid monoethyl ester (CAEE) as a pure solid from ethanolic
      solutions of potassium bicarbonate. The hemiester is surprisingly stable in
      acidic solution and does not experience hydrolysis to carbonic acid. Furthermore,
      it is also stable in the gas phase, which we demonstrate by subliming the
      hemiester without decomposition. This could not be achieved in the past for any
      hemiester of carbonic acid. In the gas phase the hemiester experiences
      conformational isomerism at 210 K. Interestingly, the thermodynamically favored
      conformation is only reached for the torsional movement of the terminal ethyl
      group, but not the terminal hydrogen atom on the millisecond time scale.
      Accordingly, IR spectra of the gas phase trapped in an argon matrix are best
      explained on the basis of a 5 : 1 mixture of monomeric conformers. Our findings
      necessitate reevaluation of claims of the formation of a carbonic acid polymorph
      in methanolic solution, which is the subject of a forthcoming publication.

PMID- 28603610
TI  - Does additional reconstruction of the anterolateral ligament during a primary
      anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction affect tibial rotational laxity - A
      case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current evidence suggests that rotational stability in not
      restored in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures, despite
      reconstructive surgery. The graded pivot-shift is a useful clinical test to
      delineate extent of ligamentous laxity within the knee. Given its lateralised
      position, we hypothesized that reconstruction of the anterolateral ligament (ALL)
      would provide restraint to excessive internal rotation, restoring rotational
      stability. METHODS: 10 patients with MRI confirmed diagnosis of an isolated ACL
      rupture were included. Patients assigned a grade-3 pivot-shift underwent dual
      ligament reconstruction for the ACL and ALL (Group 2), whilst patients with an
      absent pivot-shift, grade-1 or grade-2 underwent single ligament reconstruction
      for just the ACL (Group 1). Total range of rotation (TRR) was measured using a 3D
      kinematic system at 30 degrees ,60 degrees and 90 degrees  of knee flexion. Data
      was collected on the pathology-free contralateral normal knee (CNK), ACL
      deficient knee (ADK) and the ACL-reconstructed knee (ARK). RESULTS: A
      statistically significant pre-operative difference in TRR between the CNK and ADK
      was noted between Group 1 and 2 (4.04 degrees  vs. 1.53 degrees ; p < 0.05).
      Postoperatively, both groups achieved a TRR that was either equivalent, or
      surpassed values that were observed on the CNKs. The absolute and percentage
      reduction in TRR at 30 degrees  of knee flexion was significantly higher in Group
      2 compared to Group-1 (-8.15 degrees  vs. -2.96 degrees ; p < 0.001) and (28.04%
      vs. 13.31%; p < 0.001) respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings are based primarily
      in anaesthetized patients, with kinematic values at time-zero postoperatively.
      Patients presenting with significant rotational instability following a primary
      ACL injury and assessed to have a grade-3 pivot-shift may benefit from dual
      ligament reconstruction. Further research is required to assess long-term patient
      centered clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28603609
TI  - Antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium difficile isolated in Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to antimicrobials is the major risk factor associated with
      Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Paradoxically, treatment of CDI with
      antimicrobials remains the preferred option. To date, only three studies have
      investigated the antimicrobial susceptibility of C. difficile from Thailand, two
      of which were published in the 1990s. This study aimed to investigate the
      contemporary antibiotic susceptibility of C. difficile isolated from patients in
      Thailand. METHODS: A collection of 105 C. difficile isolated from inpatients
      admitted at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok in 2015 was tested for their
      susceptibility to nine antimicrobials via an agar incorporation method. RESULTS:
      All isolates were susceptible to vancomycin, metronidazole,
      amoxicillin/clavulanate and meropenem. Resistance to clindamycin, erythromycin
      and moxifloxacin was observed in 73.3%, 35.2% and 21.0% of the isolates,
      respectively. The in vitro activity of fidaxomicin (MIC50/MIC90 0.06/0.25 mg/L)
      was superior to first-line therapies vancomycin (MIC50/MIC90 1/2 mg/L) and
      metronidazole (MIC50/MIC90 0.25/0.25 mg/L). Rifaximin exhibited potent activity
      against 85.7% of the isolates (MIC <=0.03 mg/L), and its MIC50 (0.015 mg/L) was
      the lowest among all antimicrobials tested. The prevalence of multi-drug
      resistant C. difficile, defined by resistance to >=3 antimicrobials, was 21.9%
      (23/105). CONCLUSIONS: A high level of resistance against multiple classes of
      antimicrobial was observed, emphasising the need for enhanced antimicrobial
      stewardship and educational programmes to effectively disseminate information
      regarding C. difficile awareness and appropriate use of antimicrobials to
      healthcare workers and the general public.

PMID- 28603611
TI  - Subtotal laparoscopic cholecystectomy influences the rate of conversion in
      patients with difficult laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Case series.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to show that subtotal laparoscopic cholecystectomy
      (SLC) is a safe procedure that reduces the rate of conversion in patients with
      difficult laporoscopic cholecystectomies in resource-meagre settings. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Following informed consent, patients with gallstones reporting to
      Atbara Medical Centre, Atbara, Northern Sudan from February 2012 to July 2013
      were managed laparoscopically except those with choledocholithiasis. SLC was done
      for patients with difficult cholecystectomy and obscured Callot's triangle.
      Clinical presentation, duration of symptoms, ultrasound findings, frequency of
      conversion to open operation, frequency of difficult cholecystectomy, operation
      duration and numbers/types of complications were recorded. Statistical analysis
      was carried out using SPSS. RESULTS: One hundred and nine patients with a median
      age of 48 years, F:M ratio of 9 and mean duration of symptoms of 14.8 +/- 12.9
      months were enrolled. A quarter (29/109, 26.6%) had acute choleycystitis, 13% had
      difficult laparoscopic cholecystectomy. SLC was done for 16.2%. Retained stones
      were statistically significant in patients who underwent subtotal laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy (p = 0.02) with a conversion rate of 5.5%. CONCLUSION: SLC is
      feasible, safe and can reduce the rate of conversion for patients with difficult
      laporoscopic cholecystectomy. Sub-total laparoscopic cholecystectomy is not a
      substitute to conversion and in difficult conditions it is not a failure for the
      surgeon but a wisdom.

PMID- 28603612
TI  - Exposure to the drug company marketing in Greece: Interactions and attitudes in a
      non-regulated environment for medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical students are targeted by the pharmaceutical industry and are
      exposed to their marketing strategies even in the preclinical years of study. The
      marketing strategies used by pharmaceutical companies with physicians are also
      applied to students, affecting their future prescribing behaviour, and include
      low-cost non-educational gifts, travel expenses and conferences registration
      fees. In Greece, there are no national or institutional regulations and
      guidelines concerning drug company-medical student interactions. This study is
      the first time this estimate has been made in Greece and assessed a) the
      interactions between pharmaceutical companies and medical students, and b)
      students' attitudes towards pharmaceutical marketing. METHODS: A sampling of
      undergraduate medical students completed an anonymous, self-administered, web
      based survey. The first part of the survey investigated the interaction between
      the students and pharmaceutical companies; the possible answers were the binomial
      variables 'yes' or 'no'. The second part assessed the students' opinions of
      pharmaceutical company marketing and the answer options were 'agree', 'don't
      know/don't answer' and 'disagree'. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 412
      undergraduate medical students (mean age 22 +/- 2.2 years, 52.7% were women); the
      overall response rate was 58.9%. Although the majority did not consider accepting
      gifts and meals from drug companies as ethical, most of them (59%) had accepted
      meals and low-cost non-educational gifts, especially the clinical-level students.
      Further, 52,6% of the students did not believe that accepting gifts from
      pharmaceutical companies would affect their own prescription behaviour, whereas
      surprisingly they held the opposite opinion of their classmates. The vast
      majority (85.9%) agreed that sponsored lectures were biased in favour of a
      company's products; however, 47.6% agreed that promotional material is useful for
      learning about new medications and 34.5% believed that medical schools should
      allow drug company representatives to interact with students. CONCLUSION: Our
      results suggest that medical students in Greece are notably exposed to
      pharmaceutical industry marketing and their conflicting answers demonstrate that
      they are inadequately prepared for this interaction. Interventions are needed so
      that students are prepared and able to manage these interactions critically.

PMID- 28603613
TI  - Solid-state fermentation of corn-soybean meal mixed feed with Bacillus subtilis
      and Enterococcus faecium for degrading antinutritional factors and enhancing
      nutritional value.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corn and soybean meal (SBM) are two of the most common feed
      ingredients used in pig feeds. However, a variety of antinutritional factors
      (ANFs) present in corn and SBM can interfere with the bioavailability of
      nutrients and have negative health effects on the pigs. In the present study, two
      stage fermentation using Bacillus subtilis followed by Enterococcus faecium was
      carried out to degrade ANFs and improve the nutritional quality of corn and SBM
      mixed feed. Furthermore, the microbial composition and in vitro nutrient
      digestibility of inoculated mixed feed were determined and compared those of the
      uninoculated controls. RESULTS: During the fermentation process, B. subtilis and
      lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were the main dominant bacteria in the solid-state
      fermented inoculated feed, and fermentation produced a large amount of lactic
      acid (170 mmoL/kg), which resulted in a lower pH (5.0 vs. 6.4) than the fermented
      uninoculated feed. The amounts of soybean antigenic proteins (beta-conglycinin
      and glycinin) in mixed feed were significantly decreased after first-stage
      fermentation with B. subtilis. Inoculated mixed feed following two-stage
      fermentation contained greater concentratioin of crude protein (CP), ash and
      total phosphorus (P) compared to uninoculated feed, whereas the concentrations of
      neutral detergent fiber (NDF), hemicellulose and phytate P in fermendted
      inoculated feed declined (P < 0.05) by 38%, 53%, and 46%, respectively. Notably,
      the content of trichloroacetic acid soluble protein (TCA-SP), particularly that
      of small peptides and free amino acids (AA), increased 6.5 fold following two
      stage fermentation. There was no difference in the total AA content between
      fermented inoculated and uninoculated feed. However, aromatic AAs (Phe and Tyr)
      and Lys in inoculated feed increased, and some polar AAs, including Arg, Asp, and
      Glu, decreased compared with the uninoculated feed. In vitro dry matter and CP
      digestibility of inoculated feed improved (P < 0.05) compared with the
      uninoculated feed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that two-stage fermentation
      using B. subtilis followed by E. faecium is an effective approach to improve the
      quality of corn-soybean meal mixed feed.

PMID- 28603614
TI  - Nutritional value of a partially defatted and a highly defatted black soldier fly
      larvae (Hermetia illucens L.) meal for broiler chickens: apparent nutrient
      digestibility, apparent metabolizable energy and apparent ileal amino acid
      digestibility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study aimed to determine the apparent total tract digestibility
      coefficients (ATTDC) of nutrients, the apparent metabolizable energy (AME and
      AMEn) and the amino acid (AA) apparent ileal digestibility coefficients (AIDC) of
      a partially defatted (BSFp) and a highly defatted (BSFh) black soldier fly larvae
      meal. The experimental diets were: a basal diet and two diets prepared by
      substituting 250 g/kg (w/w) of the basal diet with BSFp or BSFh, respectively.
      RESULTS: Significant differences were found between BSFp and BSFh meals for ATTDC
      of the nutrients: BSFp resulted more digestible than BSFh, except for ATTDC of CP
      which did not differed between meals, while a statistical trend was observed for
      ATTDC of DM and EE. The AME and AMEn values were significantly (P < 0.05)
      different between the two BSF meals, with higher levels for BSFp (16.25 and 14.87
      MJ/kg DM, respectively). The AIDC of the AA in BSFp ranged from 0.44 to 0.92,
      while in BSFh they ranged from 0.45 to 0.99. No significant differences were
      observed for the AA digestibility (0.77 and 0.80 for BSFp and BSFh,
      respectively), except for glutamic acid, proline and serine that were more
      digestible in the BSFh meal (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Defatted BSF meals can be
      considered as an excellent source of AME and digestible AA for broilers with a
      better efficient nutrient digestion. These considerations suggested the effective
      utilization of defatted BSF larvae meal in poultry feed formulation.

PMID- 28603615
TI  - Getting to the Heart of the Matter.

PMID- 28603616
TI  - To Know Mark was to Love Him.

PMID- 28603617
TI  - A Brash, Politically Incorrect, Opinionated and Brilliant Friend.

PMID- 28603619
TI  - A Brilliant Pioneer and Leader.

PMID- 28603618
TI  - A Gifted Teacher.

PMID- 28603620
TI  - Shared Moments.

PMID- 28603622
TI  - A bronchial fibroepithelial polyp with abnormal findings on auto-fluorescence
      imaging.
AB  - Bronchial fibroepithelial polyps represent a rare type of tumour that displays
      endobronchial growth. The findings of these lesions on auto-fluorescence imaging
      (AFI) bronchoscopy have not been reported, despite the usefulness of AFI in
      detecting early lung cancer. We report the case of a patient with a bronchial
      fibroepithelial polyp that displayed positivity (magenta colour) on AFI. The
      patient was a 65-year-old man, in whom an endobronchial polypoid lesion of 10 mm
      diameter had been detected in the right basal bronchus by chest computed
      tomography (CT). On bronchoscopic examination, we found a whitish, smooth
      polypoid lesion. The lesion appeared magenta on AFI. On CT, however, the lesion
      had been almost stable for 4 years and 4 months. Bronchial fibroepithelial polyps
      may show AFI positivity, even when the lesion displays benign behaviour. The
      diagnosis of the lesion should not be confused by AFI positivity, and unnecessary
      surgical intervention should be avoided.

PMID- 28603621
TI  - Temperature-dependent shape-responsive fluorescent nanospheres for image-guided
      drug delivery.
AB  - Temperature-responsive nanoparticles used in conjunction with hyperthermia
      promise to provide synergistic effects for increasing drug efficacy. We propose a
      near-infared (NIR) fluorescent system based on a upper critical solution
      temperature (UCST) polymer, ISP2, integrated with a NIR fluorescent dye HITC for
      in vivo tracking. The system forms a nanoparticle that increases its volume as
      temperature increases, similar to the expansion of a Hoberman sphere. The
      nanospheres nearly doubled in size, from 80 nm to 140 nm, during a temperature
      increase from 40 degrees C to 60 degrees C.

PMID- 28603623
TI  - Subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy vs. percutaneous embolization in
      infertile men: Prospective comparison of reproductive and functional outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Varicocele is a condition characterized by dilated, tortuous veins
      within the pampiniform venous plexus of the scrotal sac. Presence of varicocele
      is associated with an increased risk of alteration of semen parameters. The
      objective of this study was to compare the current standard in varicocele
      treatment procedures: sub-inguinal microscopic ligation to percutaneous
      embolization in terms of semen parameters improvement, fertility, and morbidity
      at the university hospital of Toulouse (France). Seventy six patients with
      clinical varicocele, alteration of semen parameters and infertility, underwent
      either procedure (microsurgery in 49 case performed by a single surgeon and
      embolization in 27 cases) and were prospectively analyzed. Outcome measures were:
      semen parameters, spontaneous pregnancies, pain, side effects, recovery time and
      overall satisfaction. All patients were contacted in January 2015 in order to
      determine reproductive events. RESULTS: Preoperatively, there was no difference
      in clinical and biological items between the two groups. Postoperatively, on the
      overall population, there was a significant improvement of sperm concentration at
      3, 6, 9 and 12 months (p = <0.001, <0.001, 0.012, 0.018) and sperm motility at 6
      months (p = 0.002). The sperm concentration was higher at 6 months in the
      percutaneous embolization group (13.42, vs. 8.1*106/ml; p = 0.043). With a median
      follow-up of 4 years, 27 pregnancies occurred (spontaneous pregnancy rate of
      35.5%). There was no significant difference between procedures on the sperm
      quality, pregnancy rate, and the overall satisfaction. Patients undergoing
      percutaneous embolization reported a faster recovery time (p = 0.002) and less
      postoperative pain (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that percutaneous
      embolization seems to be an equivalent alternative to sub-inguinal microscopic
      ligation in term of sperm quality improvement, pregnancy rate, and overall
      satisfaction with a slight advantage on post-operative morbidity.

PMID- 28603624
TI  - Predicting the Need for Fluid Therapy-Does Fluid Responsiveness Work?
AB  - Fluid overdose can be harmful in critically ill patients. Since central venous
      pressure (CVP) is currently considered to be an inappropriate indicator of
      preload, much attention is being given to predicting fluid responsiveness, i.e.,
      the response of stroke volume (SV) or cardiac output (CO) to fluid challenge.
      However, when fluid responsiveness was evaluated in critically ill patients,
      including sepsis, only 40-50% of the patients responded. Moreover, most fluid
      responders do not show significant hemodynamic improvement after fluid
      administration. In this review, we discuss why fluid responsiveness based on the
      Starling mechanism did not work well in the clinical setting. According to the
      Starling mechanism, a patient whose SV/CO significantly increases after a fluid
      challenge is considered to be a fluid responder and judged to need fluid therapy.
      However, the currently recommended fluid challenge dose of crystalloid 250-500 mL
      has little effect on increasing blood volume and is not sufficient to increase
      the preload of the Starling curve. Especially in septic patients, due to their
      vascular hyperpermeability, increase in blood volume is even smaller.
      Furthermore, Infusion induced hemodilution is known to reduce blood viscosity and
      hematocrit, as a result, decreasing afterload. This indicates that the increased
      SV/CO after fluid challenge is caused not only by increased preload but also by
      decreased afterload. For these reasons, fluid responsiveness with small
      crystalloid challenge is questionable as a clinical indicator of fluid therapy.

PMID- 28603625
TI  - Physiological impact of high-flow nasal cannula therapy on postextubation acute
      respiratory failure after pediatric cardiac surgery: a prospective observational
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reintubation after pediatric cardiac surgery is associated with a
      high rate of mortality. Therefore, adequate respiratory support for
      postextubation acute respiratory failure (ARF) is important. However, little is
      known about the physiological impact of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy on
      ARF after pediatric cardiac surgery. Our working hypothesis was that HFNC therapy
      for postextubation ARF after pediatric cardiac surgery improves hemodynamic and
      respiratory parameters. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study
      conducted at a single university hospital. Children less than 48 months of age
      who had postextubation ARF after cardiac surgery were included in this study.
      HFNC therapy was started immediately after diagnosis of postextubation ARF. Data
      obtained just before starting HFNC therapy were used for pre-HFNC analysis, and
      data obtained 1 h after starting HFNC therapy were used for post-HFNC analysis.
      We compared hemodynamic and respiratory parameters between pre-HFNC and post-HFNC
      periods. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze these indices.
      RESULTS: Twenty children were included in this study. The median age and body
      weight were 4.5 (2.3-14.0) months and 4.3 (3.1-7.1) kg, respectively. Respiratory
      rate (RR) significantly decreased from 43.5 (32.0-54.8) to 28.5 (21.0-40.5)
      breaths per minute (p = 0.0008) 1 h after the start of HFNC therapy. Systolic
      blood pressure also decreased from 87.5 (77.8-103.5) to 76.0 (70.3-85.0) mmHg (p
      = 0.003). Oxygen saturation, partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide, heart
      rate, and lactate showed no remarkable changes. There was no adverse event caused
      by HFNC therapy. CONCLUSIONS: HFNC therapy improves the RR of patients who have
      postextubation ARF after pediatric cardiac surgery without any adverse events.

PMID- 28603626
TI  - Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling of tea catechin mixture in rats
      and humans.
AB  - Although green tea (Camellia sinensis) (GT) contains a large number of
      polyphenolic compounds with anti-oxidative and anti-proliferative activities,
      little is known of the pharmacokinetics and tissue dose of tea catechins (TCs) as
      a chemical mixture in humans. The objectives of this study were to develop and
      validate a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of tea catechin
      mixture (TCM) in rats and humans, and to predict an integrated or total
      concentration of TCM in the plasma of humans after consuming GT or Polyphenon E
      (PE). To this end, a PBPK model of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) consisting of
      13 first-order, blood flow-limited tissue compartments was first developed in
      rats. The rat model was scaled up to humans by replacing its physiological
      parameters, pharmacokinetic parameters and tissue/blood partition coefficients
      (PCs) with human-specific values. Both rat and human EGCg models were then
      extrapolated to other TCs by substituting its physicochemical parameters,
      pharmacokinetic parameters, and PCs with catechin-specific values. Finally, a
      PBPK model of TCM was constructed by linking three rat (or human) tea catechin
      models together without including a description for pharmacokinetic interaction
      between the TCs. The mixture PBPK model accurately predicted the pharmacokinetic
      behaviors of three individual TCs in the plasma of rats and humans after GT or PE
      consumption. Model-predicted total TCM concentration in the plasma was linearly
      related to the dose consumed by humans. The mixture PBPK model is able to
      translate an external dose of TCM into internal target tissue doses for future
      safety assessment and dose-response analysis studies in humans. The modeling
      framework as described in this paper is also applicable to the bioactive chemical
      in other plant-based health products.

PMID- 28603628
TI  - Medication errors involving anticoagulants: Data from the Danish patient safety
      database.
AB  - Reporting of adverse incidents is mandatory in Denmark. All reported adverse
      incidents are made anonymously, and stored in an encrypted database. It is the
      purpose of this descriptive study to describe the severity of adverse medication
      incidents caused by oral anticoagulants in hospitals. All moderate, severe and
      fatal reports concerning non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants were
      analyzed from date of marketing until July 8 2014. The data collection for
      warfarin was from January 1 2014 until July 8 2014. Three independent specialists
      in clinical pharmacology evaluated the severity of incident outcomes. A total of
      147 adverse medication incidents were analyzed, and showed that de facto or
      potentially fatal and serious incidents were most frequently associated with
      sector change (admission to or discharge from hospital, or undergoing surgery)
      and resulted from insufficient or excess dosing. Physicians should be aware when
      prescribing and changing anticoagulant therapy to avoid severe or fatal
      incidents.

PMID- 28603627
TI  - Chronic treatment of (R)-alpha-lipoic acid reduces blood glucose and lipid levels
      in high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin-induced metabolic syndrome and type
      2 diabetes in Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - (R)- alpha -lipoic acid (ALA), an essential cofactor in mitochondrial respiration
      and a potential antioxidant, possesses a wide array of metabolic benefits
      including anti-obesity, glucose lowering, insulin-sensitizing, and lipid-lowering
      effects. In this study, the curative effects of ALA (100 mg/kg) on a spectrum of
      conditions related to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes (T2D) were
      investigated in a high-fat diet (HFD)-fed and low-dose streptozotocin (STZ)
      induced rat model of metabolic syndrome and T2D. The marked rise in the levels of
      glucose, triglycerides, total-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and VLDL-cholesterol
      in the blood of HFD-fed and low-dose STZ-injected rats were significantly reduced
      by ALA treatment. Furthermore, ALA treatment significantly increased the serum
      HDL-cholesterol levels and tended to inhibit diabetes-induced weight reduction.
      Mathematical computational analysis revealed that ALA also significantly improved
      insulin sensitivity and reduced the risk of atherosclerotic lesions and coronary
      atherogenesis. This study provides scientific evidence to substantiate the use of
      ALA to mitigate the glucose and lipid abnormality in metabolic syndrome and T2D.

PMID- 28603629
TI  - Anticholinergic drug exposure is associated with delirium and postdischarge
      institutionalization in acutely ill hospitalized older patients.
AB  - Several studies investigated the possible association between anticholinergic
      drugs and diverse clinical outcomes in older persons, but the results are
      inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anticholinergic
      drug exposure is associated with delirium on admission, length of hospital stay,
      postdischarge institutionalization and in-hospital mortality in acutely ill
      hospitalized older patients. In this observational chart review study, we
      included acutely ill patients aged 65 and older who were admitted to the
      geriatric ward of the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The
      Netherlands, between 2012 and 2015 (n = 905). Anticholinergic drug exposure on
      admission was defined as the use of anticholinergic drugs, total number of
      anticholinergic drugs and anticholinergic drug burden score (ADB), quantified
      with the Anticholinergic Risk Scale (ARS), the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden
      scale (ACB) and the list of Chew et al. (Chew). Logistic regression analyses were
      performed to investigate possible associations between anticholinergic drug
      exposure and the aforementioned outcomes. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex,
      comorbidities, non-anticholinergic drugs and delirium, where appropriate.
      Moderate and high ADB measured with the ARS were associated with delirium on
      admission with odds ratios (OR) of 1.70 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.16
      2.49) and 1.83 (95% CI = 1.06-3.15), respectively. High ADB measured with the ARS
      was also associated with postdischarge institutionalization (OR = 2.43, 95% CI =
      1.24-4.75). No associations were found using the ACB and Chew. Future studies are
      warranted to investigate the clinical usefulness of the ARS in reducing
      complications in older persons.

PMID- 28603630
TI  - A three-parameter two-state model of receptor function that incorporates
      affinity, efficacy, and signal amplification.
AB  - A generalized model of receptor function is proposed that relies on the essential
      assumptions of the minimal two-state receptor theory (i.e., ligand binding
      followed by receptor activation), but uses a different parametrization and allows
      nonlinear response (transduction) for possible signal amplification. For the most
      general case, three parameters are used: Kd, the classic equilibrium dissociation
      constant to characterize binding affinity; epsilon, an intrinsic efficacy to
      characterize the ability of the bound ligand to activate the receptor (ranging
      from 0 for an antagonist to 1 for a full agonist); and gamma, a gain
      (amplification) parameter to characterize the nonlinearity of postactivation
      signal transduction (ranging from 1 for no amplification to infinity). The
      obtained equation, E/Emax=epsilongammaLepsilongamma+1-epsilonL+Kd, resembles that
      of the operational (Black and Leff) or minimal two-state (del Castillo-Katz)
      models, E/Emax=tauLtau+1L+Kd, with epsilongamma playing a role somewhat similar
      to that of the tau efficacy parameter of those models, but has several
      advantages. Its parameters are more intuitive as they are conceptually clearly
      related to the different steps of binding, activation, and signal transduction
      (amplification), and they are also better suited for optimization by nonlinear
      regression. It allows fitting of complex data where receptor binding and response
      are measured separately and the fractional occupancy and response are mismatched.
      Unlike the previous models, it is a true generalized model as simplified forms
      can be reproduced with special cases of its parameters. Such simplified forms can
      be used on their own to characterize partial agonism, competing partial and full
      agonists, or signal amplification.

PMID- 28603632
TI  - Exemestane potency is unchanged by common nonsynonymous polymorphisms in CYP19A1:
      results of a novel anti-aromatase activity assay examining exemestane and its
      derivatives.
AB  - Exemestane (EXE) treats estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer in
      postmenopausal women by inhibiting the estrogen-synthesizing cytochrome P450
      CYP19A1. Variability in the severity and incidence of side effects as well as
      overall drug efficacy may be partially explained by genetic factors, including
      nonsynonymous variation in CYP19A1, also known as aromatase. The present study
      identified phase I EXE metabolites in human liver microsomes (HLM) and
      investigated mechanisms that may alter the extent of systemic estrogen
      deprivation in EXE-treated women with breast cancer, including whether functional
      polymorphisms in aromatase cause differential inhibition by EXE and whether EXE
      metabolites possess anti-aromatase activity. The potency of EXE and ten of its
      derivatives was measured with HEK293-overexpressed wild type aromatase
      (CYP19A1*1) using a rapid novel UPLC tandem mass spectrometry method. Of the ten
      compounds assayed, five were poor inhibitors (IC 50 ? 50 MUmol/L) of wild type
      aromatase while five others, including the major metabolite, 17beta
      dihydroexemestane (17beta-DHE), exhibited moderate potency, with IC 50 values
      ranging between 1.2 and 7.1 MUmol/L. The anti-aromatase activity of EXE was also
      tested with two common allozymes, aromataseThr201Met (CYP19A1*3) and
      aromataseArg264Cys (CYP19A1*4). Differential inhibition of variant aromatase is
      unlikely to account for variable clinical outcomes as EXE-mediated inhibition of
      aromataseThr201Met (IC 50 = 0.86 +/- 0.12 MUmol/L) and aromataseArg264Cys (IC 50
      = 1.7 +/- 0.65 MUmol/L) did not significantly differ from wild type (IC 50 = 0.92
      +/- 0.17 MUmol/L). Although less potent than the parent drug, these results
      suggest that active metabolites may contribute to the therapeutic mechanism of
      EXE.

PMID- 28603631
TI  - Hepatic expression profiles in retroviral infection: relevance to drug
      hypersensitivity risk.
AB  - HIV-infected patients show a markedly increased risk of delayed hypersensitivity
      (HS) reactions to potentiated sulfonamide antibiotics
      (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or TMP/SMX). Some studies have suggested altered
      SMX biotransformation in HIV infection, but hepatic biotransformation pathways
      have not been evaluated directly. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is another
      chronic inflammatory disease with a higher incidence of sulfonamide HS, but it is
      unclear whether retroviral infection and SLE share risk factors for drug HS. We
      hypothesized that retroviral infection would lead to dysregulation of hepatic
      pathways of SMX biotransformation, as well as pathway alterations in common with
      SLE that could contribute to drug HS risk. We characterized hepatic expression
      profiles and enzymatic activities in an SIV-infected macaque model of retroviral
      infection, and found no evidence for dysregulation of sulfonamide drug
      biotransformation pathways. Specifically, NAT1,NAT2,CYP2C8,CYP2C9,CYB5R3,MARC1/2,
      and glutathione-related genes (GCLC,GCLM,GSS,GSTM1, and GSTP1) were not
      differentially expressed in drug naive SIVmac239-infected male macaques compared
      to age-matched controls, and activities for SMX N-acetylation and SMX
      hydroxylamine reduction were not different. However, multiple genes that are
      reportedly over-expressed in SLE patients were also up-regulated in retroviral
      infection, to include enhanced immunoproteasomal processing and presentation of
      antigens as well as up-regulation of gene clusters that may be permissive to
      autoimmunity. These findings support the hypothesis that pathways downstream from
      drug biotransformation may be primarily important in drug HS risk in HIV
      infection.

PMID- 28603634
TI  - Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of novel, selective, and potent EP4
      receptor antagonists.
AB  - Prostaglandin (PG) E2 is the key driver of inflammation associated with arthritic
      conditions. Inhibitors of PGE 2 production (NSAIDs and Coxibs) are used to treat
      these conditions, but carry significant side effect risks due to the inhibition
      of all prostanoids that play important physiological function. The activities of
      PGE 2 are transduced through various receptor sub-types. Prostaglandin E2 type 4
      receptor (EP4) is associated with the development of inflammation and
      autoimmunity. We therefore are interested in identifying novel EP4 antagonists to
      treat the signs and symptoms of arthritis without the potential side effects of
      PGE 2 modulators such as NSAIDs and Coxibs. Novel EP4 antagonists representing
      distinct chemical scaffolds were identified using a variety of in vitro
      functional assays and were shown to be selective and potent. The compounds were
      shown to be efficacious in animal models of analgesia, inflammation, and
      arthritis.

PMID- 28603635
TI  - Clinical trial allocation in multinational pharmaceutical companies - a
      qualitative study on influential factors.
AB  - Clinical trial allocation in multinational pharmaceutical companies includes
      country selection and site selection. With emphasis on site selection, the
      overall aim of this study was to examine which factors pharmaceutical companies
      value most when allocating clinical trials. The specific aims were (1) to
      identify key decision makers during country and site selection, respectively, (2)
      to evaluate by which parameters subsidiaries are primarily assessed by
      headquarters with regard to conducting clinical trials, and (3) to evaluate which
      site-related qualities companies value most when selecting trial sites. Eleven
      semistructured interviews were conducted among employees engaged in trial
      allocation at 11 pharmaceutical companies. The interviews were analyzed by
      deductive content analysis, which included coding of data to a categorization
      matrix containing categories of site-related qualities. The results suggest that
      headquarters and regional departments are key decision makers during country
      selection, whereas subsidiaries decide on site selection. Study participants
      argued that headquarters primarily value timely patient recruitment and quality
      of data when assessing subsidiaries. The site-related qualities most commonly
      emphasized during interviews were study population availability, timely patient
      recruitment, resources at the site, and site personnel's interest and commitment.
      Costs of running the trials were described as less important. Site personnel
      experience in conducting trials was described as valuable but not imperative. In
      conclusion, multinational pharmaceutical companies consider recruitment-related
      factors as crucial when allocating clinical trials. Quality of data and site
      personnel's interest and commitment are also essential, whereas costs seem less
      important. While valued, site personnel experience in conducting clinical trials
      is not imperative.

PMID- 28603633
TI  - In vitro metabolism of exemestane by hepatic cytochrome P450s: impact of
      nonsynonymous polymorphisms on formation of the active metabolite 17beta
      dihydroexemestane.
AB  - Exemestane (EXE) is an endocrine therapy commonly used by postmenopausal women
      with hormone-responsive breast cancer due to its potency in inhibiting aromatase
      catalyzed estrogen synthesis. Preliminary in vitro studies sought to identify
      phase I EXE metabolites and hepatic cytochrome P450s (CYP450s) that participate
      in EXE biotransformation. Phase I metabolites were identified by incubating EXE
      with HEK293-overexpressed CYP450s. CYP450s 1A2, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 3A4, and 3A5
      produce 17beta-dihydroexemestane (17beta-DHE), an active major metabolite, as
      well as two inactive metabolites. 17beta-DHE formation in pooled human liver
      microsomes subjected to isoform-specific CYP450 inhibition was also monitored
      using tandem mass spectrometry. 17beta-DHE production in human liver microsomes
      was unaffected by isoform-specific inhibition of CYP450s 2A6, 2B6, and 2E1 but
      decreased 12-39% following inhibition of drug-metabolizing enzymes from CYP450
      subfamilies 1A, 2C, 2D, and 3A. These results suggest that redundancy exists in
      the EXE metabolic pathway with multiple hepatic CYP450s catalyzing 17beta-DHE
      formation in vitro. To further expand the knowledge of phase I EXE metabolism,
      the impact of CYP450 genetic variation on 17beta-DHE formation was assessed via
      enzyme kinetic parameters. Affinity for EXE substrate and enzyme catalytic
      velocity were calculated for hepatic wild-type CYP450s and their common
      nonsynonymous variants by monitoring the reduction of EXE to 17beta-DHE. Several
      functional polymorphisms in xenobiotic-metabolizing CYP450s 1A2, 2C8, 2C9, and
      2D6 resulted in deviant enzymatic activity relative to wild-type enzyme. Thus, it
      is possible that functional polymorphisms in EXE-metabolizing CYP450s contribute
      to inter-individual variability in patient outcomes by mediating overall exposure
      to the drug and its active metabolite, 17beta-DHE.

PMID- 28603636
TI  - Make up a missed lesson-New policy to ensure the interchangeability of generic
      drugs in China.
AB  - Generic drugs should be interchangeable with originators in terms of quality and
      efficacy. With relative lower prices, generic drugs are playing an important role
      in controlling health expenditures and ensuring access. However, the widespread
      understanding of "cheap price equals low quality" has a negative impact on the
      acceptance of generic drugs. In China, medical doctors doubt the efficacy and
      quality of generic drugs manufactured domestically. To address these concerns,
      the Chinese State Council released a policy in 2016 to ensure the
      interchangeability by re-evaluating the quality and efficacy of generic drugs. It
      intends to make up a missed lesson in the regulation to be in line with
      internationally accepted practices. Generic drugs firms, depends on the
      availability of appropriate comparators, should conduct either comparative
      bioequivalence studies or full scale clinical trials. The re-evaluation will be
      implemented in a stepwise approach with the essential medicines covered in the
      first step. The policy could achieve several benefits by increasing confidence on
      the Chinese produced generic drugs, upgrading regulatory standards, streamlining
      the Chinese generic drug industry and creating a healthy competition market.
      Nevertheless, enormous challenges remain in enlarging the capacity to review
      applications, selecting appropriate comparators, ensuring the capacity of
      domestic clinical research sites, and achieving the acceptance of re-evaluated
      generic drugs.

PMID- 28603637
TI  - T-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels do not contribute to the negative feedback
      regulation of myogenic tone in murine superior epigastric arteries.
AB  - T-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (CaV3.2 VGCC) have been hypothesized to
      control spontaneous transient outward currents (STOCs) through large-conductance
      Ca2+-activated K+ channels (BKCa), and contribute to the negative-feedback
      regulation of myogenic tone. We tested this hypothesis in superior epigastric
      arteries (SEAs) isolated from male C57BL/6 mice. SEAs were isolated and
      enzymatically dissociated to obtain single smooth muscle cells (SMCs) for whole
      cell recording of paxilline-sensitive (PAX, 1 MUmol/L) STOCs at -30 mV, or
      cannulated and studied by pressure myography (80 cm H2O, 37 degrees C). The
      CaV3.2 blocker Ni2+ (30 MUmol/L) had no effect on STOC amplitude (20.1 +/- 1.7 pA
      vs. 20.6 +/- 1.7 pA; n = 12, P = 0.6), but increased STOC frequency (0.79 +/-
      0.15 Hz vs. 1.21 +/- 0.22 Hz; n = 12, P = 0.02). Although Ni2+ produced
      concentration-dependent constriction of isolated, pressurized SEAs (logEC50 = 
      5.8 +/- 0.09; Emax = 72 +/- 5% constriction), block of BKCa with PAX had no
      effect on vasoconstriction induced by 30 MUmol/L Ni2+ (in the absence of PAX = 66
      +/- 4% constriction vs. in the presence of 1 MUmol/L PAX = 65 +/- 4%
      constriction; n = 7, P = 0.06). In contrast to Ni2+, the nonselective T-type
      blocker, mibefradil, produced only vasodilation (logEC50 = -6.9 +/- 0.2; Emax =
      74 +/- 8% dilation), whereas the putative T-type blocker, ML218, had no
      significant effect on myogenic tone between 10 nmol/L and 10 MUmol/L (n = 6-7, P
      = 0.59). Our data do not support a role for CaV3.2 VGCC in the negative-feedback
      regulation of myogenic tone in murine SEAs and suggest that Ni2+ may constrict
      SEAs by means other than block of CaV3.2 VGCC.

PMID- 28603638
TI  - Clinician agreement and influence of medication-related characteristics on
      assessment of polypharmacy.
AB  - It is not known how clinicians assess polypharmacy or the medication-related
      characteristics that influence their assessment. The aim of this study was to
      examine the level of agreement between clinicians when assessing polypharmacy and
      to identify medication-related characteristics that influence their assessment.
      Twenty cases of patients with varying levels of comorbidity and polypharmacy were
      used to examine clinician assessment of polypharmacy. Medicine-related factors
      within the cases included Beers and STOPP Criteria medicines, falls-risk
      medicines, drug burden index (DBI) medicines, medicines causing postural
      hypotension, and pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions. Clinicians were asked to
      rate cases on the degree of polypharmacy, likelihood of harm, and potential for
      the medication list to be simplified. Inter-rater reliability analysis,
      correlations, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to
      identify medicine factors associated with clinicians' assessment. Eighteen expert
      clinicians were recruited (69.2% response rate). Strong agreement was observed in
      clinicians' assessment of polypharmacy (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC]
      = 0.94), likelihood to cause harm (ICC = 0.89), and ability to simplify
      medication list (ICC = 0.90). Multivariate analyses demonstrated number of
      medicines (P < 0.0001) and DBI scores (P = 0.047) were significantly associated
      with assessment of polypharmacy. Medicines associated with harm were
      significantly associated with the number of medicines (P = 0.01) and Beers
      criteria medicines (P = 0.003). Ability to simplify the medication regimen was
      significantly associated with number of medicines (P = 0.03) and medicines from
      the STOPP criteria (P = 0.018). Among clinicians, strong consensus exists with
      regard to assessment of polypharmacy, medication harm, and ability to simplify
      medications. Definitions of polypharmacy need to take into account not only the
      numbers of medicines but also potential for medicines to cause harm or be
      inappropriate, and validate them against clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28603639
TI  - Folding correction of ABC-transporter ABCB1 by pharmacological chaperones: a
      mechanistic concept.
AB  - Point mutations of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins are a common cause of
      human diseases. Available crystal structures indicate a similarity in the
      architecture of several members of this protein family. Their molecular
      architecture makes these proteins vulnerable to mutation, when critical
      structural elements are affected. The latter preferentially involve the two
      transmembrane domain (TMD)/nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) interfaces
      (transmission interfaces), formation of which requires engagement of coupling
      helices of intracellular loops with NBDs. Both, formation of the active sites and
      engagement of the coupling helices, are contingent on correct positioning of ICLs
      2 and 4 and thus an important prerequisite for proper folding. Here, we show that
      active site compounds are capable of rescuing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) mutants ?Y490
      and ?Y1133 in a concentration-dependent manner. These trafficking deficient
      mutations are located at the transmission interface in pseudosymmetric position
      to each other. In addition, the ability of propafenone analogs to correct folding
      correlates with their ability to inhibit transport of model substrates. This
      finding indicates that folding correction and transport inhibition by propafenone
      analogs are brought about by binding to the active sites. Furthermore, this study
      demonstrates an asymmetry in folding correction with cis-flupentixol, which
      reflects the asymmetric binding properties of this modulator to P-gp. Our results
      suggest a mechanistic model for corrector action in a model ABC transporter based
      on insights into the molecular architecture of these transporters.

PMID- 28603640
TI  - Prevalence and molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in
      Indonesia.
AB  - Clostridium difficile has not been studied in detail in Asia, particularly
      Southeast Asia. We thus performed a prevalence study across four hospitals in
      Central Java province, Indonesia. Stool samples were collected from patients with
      diarrhoea and tested by enzyme immunoassay for glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and
      toxin A/B (C DIFF QUIK CHEK COMPLETE, TechLab). Specimens were cultured and
      molecular typing was performed. In total, 340 samples were tested, of which 70
      (20.6%) were GDH positive, with toxin detected in 19 (5.6%). Toxigenic C.
      difficile was isolated from 37 specimens (10.9%), while a further 36 (10.6%)
      nontoxigenic isolates were identified. The most common strain was ribotype 017
      (24.3% of 74 isolates), followed by nontoxigenic types QX 224 (9.5%), and QX 238
      and QX 108 (both 8.1%). The high prevalence of C. difficile highlights a need for
      ongoing surveillance of C. difficile infection in Indonesia.

PMID- 28603641
TI  - Dakarella massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., strain ND3T: a new bacterial genus
      isolated from the female genital tract.
AB  - Strain ND3T was isolated from the genital tract of a 28-year-old woman with
      bacterial vaginosis. This strain exhibited a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of
      92.4% with Sutterella wadsworthensis, the phylogenetically closest species with
      standing in nomenclature. Strain ND3T was a strictly anaerobic Gram-negative rod
      and member of the family Sutterellaceae. It exhibited a genome of 2 476 884 bp
      containing 2175 protein-coding and 62 RNA genes. On the basis of these data, we
      propose the creation of 'Dakarella massiliensis' sp. nov. with strain ND3T (=
      CSUR P1938 = DSM 100447) as the type strain.

PMID- 28603642
TI  - Characteristics and risk factors for severe repeat-breeder female pigs and their
      lifetime performance in commercial breeding herds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Repeat-breeder females increase non-productive days (NPD) and
      decrease herd productivity and profitability. The objectives of the present study
      were 1) to define severe repeat-breeder (SRB) females in commercial breeding
      herds, 2) to characterize the pattern of SRB occurrences across parities, 3) to
      examine factors associated with SRB risk, and 4) to compare lifetime reproductive
      performances of SRB and non-SRB females. Data included 501,855 service records
      and lifetime records of 93,604 breeding-female pigs in 98 Spanish herds between
      2008 and 2013. An SRB female pig was defined as either a pig that had three or
      more returns. The 98 herds were classified into high-, intermediate- and low
      performing herds based by the upper and lower 25th percentiles of the herd mean
      of annualized lifetime pigs weaned per sow. Multi-level mixed-effects logistic
      regression models with random intercept were applied to the data. RESULTS: Of
      93,604 females, 1.2% of females became SRB pigs in their lifetime, with a mean
      SRB risk per service (+/- SEM) of 0.26 +/- 0.01%. Risks factors for becoming an
      SRB pig were low parity, being first-served in summer, having a prolonged weaning
      to-first-mating interval (WMI), and being in low-performing herds. For example,
      served gilts had 0.81% higher SRB risk than served sows (P < 0.01). Also, female
      pigs in a low-performing herd had 1.19% higher SRB risks than those in a high
      performing herd. However, gilt age at-first-mating (P = 0.08), lactation length
      (P = 0.05) and number of stillborn piglets (P = 0.28) were not associated with
      becoming an SRB female. The SRB females had 14.4-16.4 fewer lifetime pigs born
      alive, 42.8-91.3 more lifetime NPD, and 2.1-2.2 lower parities at culling than
      non-SRB females (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that producers closely
      monitor the female pig groups at higher risk of becoming an SRB.

PMID- 28603643
TI  - Assessing the usefulness and acceptability of a low health literacy online
      decision aid about reproductive choices for younger women with breast cancer: the
      aLLIAnCE pilot study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Young women diagnosed with breast cancer may be confronted by many
      difficult decisions, especially around fertility preservation prior to commencing
      cancer treatment. The information to be conveyed is complex, and it may be
      difficult to weigh up the risks and benefits of the different fertility
      preservation options available. This complexity is compounded by the widespread
      low levels of literacy and health literacy in Australia, which may result in
      greater difficulties in understanding available health information and in
      decision-making. METHODS/DESIGN: A working group of experts have developed a
      fertility-related online decision aid for a low health literacy population,
      guided by health literacy principles. The decision aid will be pilot tested with
      30 women diagnosed with early breast cancer between 5 years and 6 months
      previously. To be eligible, at the time of diagnosis, women must be between 18
      and 40 years (inclusive), pre-menopausal, have no history of metastatic disease,
      have not completed their families, be able to give informed consent and have low
      health literacy. Participants will be asked to reflect back to the time in which
      they were diagnosed. Participants will complete a questionnaire before and after
      reviewing the decision aid to determine the feasibility, use and acceptability of
      the decision aid. The decision aid will be modified accordingly. Participants may
      also choose to review a previously developed (high literacy) decision aid and
      provide feedback in comparison to the low health literacy decision aid.
      DISCUSSION: This project represents the first study to develop an online
      fertility decision aid developed from low health literacy models in the context
      of breast cancer. It is anticipated that the low health literacy decision aid
      will be useful and acceptable to young women with low health literacy who have
      been diagnosed with breast cancer and that it will be preferred over the high
      literacy decision aid. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12615001364561p.

PMID- 28603645
TI  - Understanding local performance data for EBUS-TBNA: insights from an unselected
      case series at a high volume UK center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We reviewed the diagnostic performance of endobronchial ultrasound
      transbronchial aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) on an unselected large cohort of patients
      who underwent the procedure in our institution in the past 3 years and to compare
      against published standards and existing literature. METHODS: All consecutive
      patients who underwent EBUS from January 2013 to December 2015 were included in
      the retrospective analysis, with a minimum of 6 months of clinico-radiological
      follow up. For assessing EBUS-TBNA performance, patients were analysed in three
      subgroups based on the indication for the EBUS-TBNA: in investigation of isolated
      mediastinal and/or hilar lymphadenopathy (IMHL), in staging of suspected or
      confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in making a tissue diagnosis in
      suspected thoracic or extrathoracic cancer. For patients subjected to EBUS-TBNA
      for staging in suspected lung cancer, accuracy of EBUS was measured by its
      ability to determine the true N2 stage. RESULTS: A total of 1,656 lymph nodes and
      138 peribronchial/peritracheal masses were sampled in 940 patients over the study
      period. The prevalence of reactive lymphadenopathy was 34%. The overall
      sensitivity to detect pathological disease was 81.6% (95% CI: 74.2-87.6%) whilst
      NPV was 74.8% (95% CI: 65.2-82.8%). Amongst patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA for
      staging purposes, the sensitivity for N2 staging was 83.7% (95% CI: 76.2-89.6%)
      and NPV was 81.6% (95% CI: 73.2-88.2%). The prevalence of N2 disease was 58%. In
      the subgroup of patients who proceeded to surgical sampling, the sensitivity was
      higher with the N2/N3 disease prevalence of 67.4%. The sensitivity of EBUS-TBNA
      to make a tissue diagnosis of thoracic or extrathoracic cancer was 88% (95% CI:
      85.1-90.5%) and a NPV of 62% (95% CI: 54.7-69.0%). The disease prevalence was
      83.6%. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study of a large volume of patients
      represents real life practice and provides an accurate representation of the
      typical cohort of patients referred in for EBUS-TBNA to the general respiratory
      physician in UK. Our study highlights the pitfalls in collecting and analyzing
      data but also demonstrates how they can be used to improve service performance.

PMID- 28603644
TI  - Neighbours of cancer-related proteins have key influence on pathogenesis and
      could increase the drug target space for anticancer therapies.
AB  - Even targeted chemotherapies against solid cancers show a moderate success
      increasing the need to novel targeting strategies. To address this problem, we
      designed a systems-level approach investigating the neighbourhood of mutated or
      differentially expressed cancer-related proteins in four major solid cancers
      (colon, breast, liver and lung). Using signalling and protein-protein interaction
      network resources integrated with mutational and expression datasets, we analysed
      the properties of the direct and indirect interactors (first and second
      neighbours) of cancer-related proteins, not found previously related to the given
      cancer type. We found that first neighbours have at least as high degree,
      betweenness centrality and clustering coefficient as cancer-related proteins
      themselves, indicating a previously unknown central network position. We
      identified a complementary strategy for mutated and differentially expressed
      proteins, where the affect of differentially expressed proteins having smaller
      network centrality is compensated with high centrality first neighbours. These
      first neighbours can be considered as key, so far hidden, components in cancer
      rewiring, with similar importance as mutated proteins. These observations
      strikingly suggest targeting first neighbours as a novel strategy for disrupting
      cancer-specific networks. Remarkably, our survey revealed 223 marketed drugs
      already targeting first neighbour proteins but applied mostly outside oncology,
      providing a potential list for drug repurposing against solid cancers. For the
      very central first neighbours, whose direct targeting would cause several side
      effects, we suggest a cancer-mimicking strategy by targeting their interactors
      (second neighbours of cancer-related proteins, having a central protein affecting
      position, similarly to the cancer-related proteins). Hence, we propose to include
      first neighbours to network medicine based approaches for (but not limited to)
      anticancer therapies.

PMID- 28603646
TI  - Ten-year experience with endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle
      aspiration: single center results in mediastinal diagnostic and staging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endobronchial ultrasonography with transbronchial needle aspiration
      (EBUS-TBNA) is recognized as an accurate and minimal invasive procedure for
      diagnosis and staging of lung cancer and lymph nodal malignancies. EBUS is
      recommended as the first choice procedure for mediastinal staging in lung cancer
      in international guidelines. METHODS: A retrospective evaluation was performed on
      single center experience with EBUS-TBNA in our thoracic surgery department in a
      10-year time frame. Main indication for the procedure was suspected non
      lymphomatous malignancy in intrathoracic lymph-nodes on computed tomography (CT)
      or positron emission tomography (PET) scan. All procedures were performed under
      conscious sedation in a day-hospital setting. All the aspirated specimens were
      obtained with a 22-gauge needle and were fixed in 10% formalin and paraffin
      embedded. Sections of 3 micron in thickness were cut and hematoxylin-eosin
      stained. RESULTS: From October 2005 to August 2016, 496 patients were submitted
      to EBUS-TBNA. Number of nodal stations punctured was 592 with a mean of 2.25
      punctures per patient. Diagnosis of malignancy was obtained in 291 patients
      (58.6%). In 25 cases a nodal metastasis from an extrathoracic primary tumor was
      diagnosed. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy were 95%, 100% and
      96% respectively. Negative predictive value was 90% and positive predictive value
      (PPV) was 100%. When molecular tests were requested, mutational analysis was
      successfully performed on cell block derived material in 55 out of 56 cases
      (98.2%), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis in 26 out of 27
      cases (96.2%). CONCLUSIONS: EBUS-TBNA in our setting was an accurate and safe
      tool to diagnose non-lymphomatous nodal malignancies. Interestingly, in our
      series EBUS-TBNA has demonstrated to yield sufficient tissue for molecular
      analysis.

PMID- 28603647
TI  - Multicentric study of endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration
      for lung cancer staging in Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multi-institutional studies of endobronchial-ultrasound
      transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for mediastinal staging in lung
      cancer are scarce. It is unclear if the high diagnostic performance of EBUS-TBNA
      reported by experts' guidelines can be generally achieved. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective study performed in five tertiary referral centers of thoracic
      surgery in Italy, to assess the EBUS-TBNA diagnostic performance in patients with
      non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patient inclusion criteria were: both
      genders; >18 years old; with suspect/confirmed NSCLC; undergoing EBUS-TBNA for
      mediastinal node enlargement at computed tomography (size >1 cm, <=3 cm) and/or
      pathological uptake at positron emission tomography. Altogether we included 485
      patients [male, 366; female, 119; median age, 68 years (IQR, 61-74 years)]
      undergoing mediastinal staging between January 2011 and July 2016. All EBUS-TBNAs
      were performed by experienced bronchoscopists, without pre-defined quality
      standards. Depending on usual practice in each center, EBUS-TBNA was done under
      conscious sedation, with 21- or 22-Gauge (G) needle, and specimen preparation was
      cell-block, or cytology slides, or core-tissue. Sampling was classified
      inadequate in absence of lymphocytes, or when sample was insufficient. We
      analyzed the EBUS-TBNA procedural steps likely to influence the rate of adequate
      samplings (diagnostic yield). RESULTS: EBUS-TBNA sensitivity, negative predictive
      value (NPV) and accuracy respectively were 90%, 78% and 93% in the whole cohort.
      At multivariate analysis, use of 21-G needle was associated with better
      diagnostic yield (P<0.001). Center and specimen processing technique were not
      independent factors affecting EBUS-TBNA diagnostic yield. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      multicentric study, EBUS-TBNA was a highly sensitive and accurate method for
      NSCLC mediastinal node staging. Results indicate better performance of EBUS-TBNA
      with 21-G needle, and suggest that specimen processing technique could be chosen
      according to the local practice preference.

PMID- 28603648
TI  - Color-Doppler sonography patterns in endobronchial ultrasound-guided
      transbronchial needle aspiration of mediastinal lymph-nodes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration
      (EBUS-TBNA) is commonly used for the pathological diagnosis in patients with
      mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Even though the accuracy of EBUS-TBNA is considered
      high, several authors have tried to outline characteristic ultrasound criteria
      for malignant mediastinal lymph-node identification to maximize this accuracy.
      Recently, a color-Doppler patterns classification has been proposed by Nakajima
      to target suspected mediastinal lymph-nodes. The aim of this study was to assess
      such classification. METHODS: Clinical, sonographic and pathological data of
      patients with suspected malignant mediastinal lymph-nodes on computed tomography
      (CT) and/or on positron emission tomography (PET) were prospectively recorded. On
      the basis of color-Doppler patterns, mediastinal lymph-nodes were classified in
      four grades and the bronchial-artery inflow sign was noted according to the
      Nakajima classification. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value (PPV), negative predicted value (NPV) and accuracy were
      calculated using standard definitions. RESULTS: Seventy-five patients were
      enrolled in this prospective study, median age 66 years; 85% of patients had
      primary lung cancer and 15% had extra-thoracic malignancy. EBUS-TBNA was
      performed in 87 lymph-nodes (rate 1.16 per patient); 6 lymph-nodes had inadequate
      samples and were excluded from the analysis; 64 nodes were confirmed as malignant
      and 17 nodes as benign. Color-Doppler patterns classification was as follow:
      grade 0-I, 14 lymph-nodes; grade II-III, 67 lymph-nodes; bronchial-artery inflow
      sign, 8 lymph-nodes. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and diagnostic
      accuracy of the classification were 0.93, 0.64, 0.84, 0.6 and 0.81 respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The color-Doppler sonography is a fast, reproducible and effective
      tool that could help in targeting suspected malignant lymph-nodes during EBUS
      TBNA. The current study validates the efficacy of the color-Doppler patterns
      classification proposed by Nakajima.

PMID- 28603649
TI  - Comparison of multiple techniques for endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial
      needle aspiration specimen preparation in a single institution experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal method for specimen preparation of endobronchial
      ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is still controversial.
      This study aims to compare several techniques available for EBUS-TBNA specimen
      acquisition and processing, in order to identify the best performing technique.
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 199 consecutive patients [male,
      73%; median age, 64 years (IQR: 52-74 years)] undergoing EBUS-TBNA at our
      institution from 2012 through 2014 for diagnosis of hilar-mediastinal lymph node
      enlargement suspect of neoplastic (n=139) or granulomatous (n=60) disease. All
      procedures were performed by two experienced bronchoscopists, under conscious
      sedation and local anaesthesia, using 21/22-Gauge (G) needle, without rapid on
      site evaluation (ROSE). Five specimen-processing techniques were used: cytology
      slides in 42 cases (21%); cell-block in 25 (13%); core-tissue in 60 (30%);
      combination of cytology slides and core-tissue in 51 (26%); combination of
      cytology slides and cell-block in 21 (10%). To assess the diagnostic accuracy of
      each tissue-processing technique we compared the EBUS-TBNA results to those
      obtained with surgical lymphadenectomy, or 1-year follow-up in non-operated
      patients. RESULTS: Diagnostic yield, accuracy and area under the curve (AUC) were
      as follows. Cytology slides: 81%, 80%, 0.90; cell-block: 48%, 33%, 0.67; core
      tissue: 87%, 99%, 0.96; cytology slides + core-tissue: 80%, 100%, 1.00; cytology
      slides + cell-block: 86%, 100%, 1.00. Cytology slides and core-tissue method
      showed non-significantly different diagnostic yield (P=0.435) and AUC (P=0.152).
      CONCLUSIONS: In our single-institution experience, cytology slides and core
      tissue preparations demonstrated high and similar diagnostic performance.
      Cytology slides combination with core-tissue or cell-block showed the highest
      performance, however these combination methods were more resource-consuming.

PMID- 28603650
TI  - In the era of ultrasound technology, could conventional trans-bronchial needle
      aspiration still play a role in lung cancer mediastinal staging?
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the feasibility of a combined strategy including
      conventional-trans-bronchial needle aspiration biopsy (C-TBNA) and endobronchial
      ultrasounds transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for sampling mediastinal
      adenopathies in patients with lung cancer in order to determinate whether in the
      era of ultrasound technology C-TBNA could still play a role in mediastinal
      staging. METHODS: It was a retrospective multicenter study including all
      consecutive patients with lung cancer and radiological mediastinal adenopathies
      undergoing TBNA for mediastinal staging (January 2014 - July 2016). C-TBNA was
      performed as first diagnostic procedure. All negative C-TBNA results were
      corroborated by EBUS-TBNA, and, if EBUS-TBNA was negative, by mediastinoscopy or
      surgery. The diagnostic yield of C-TBNA were then calculated. RESULTS: A total of
      175 patients were included in the study for a total of 197 mediastinal
      adenopathies sampled. C-TBNA was positive in 125 cases and negative in 72 cases
      who underwent EBUS-TBNA. It was positive in 58 cases and negative in 14 patients.
      After surgical exploration (n=12) and mediastinoscopy (n=2), 11 patients did not
      present metastases (true negative) while 3 presented mediastinal involvement
      (false negative). Thus, C-TBNA had a sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and diagnostic accuracy
      of 67.2%, 100%, 100%, 15.3% and 69.0%, respectively. The sensitivity increased
      for sampling paratracheal versus subcarinal stations (80% versus 49%; P<0.001);
      and large adenopathies (>=15 mm) versus small adenopathies (<15 mm) (83% versus
      43%; P<0.001). In all re-staging patients (n=4), Conventional-TBNA results were
      false negative. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of C-TBNA and EBUS-TBNA as the most
      cost-effective strategy in the setting of mediastinal staging. C-TBNA performed
      before EBUS-TBNA is indicated for sampling large mediastinal adenopathies near to
      carina while EBUS-TBNA remains the first choice for puncturing small adenopathies
      far from carina and for re-staging after induction therapy.

PMID- 28603651
TI  - Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA)-from
      morphology to molecular testing.
AB  - In recent years, endobronchial ultrasound-guided TBNA (EBUS-TBNA) has emerged as
      an innovative technique for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer and has been
      successfully introduced into daily clinical practice with several advantages
      including minimally invasive approach, safe, cost-effective, real time image
      guidance, broad sampling capability, and rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE). Both
      cytological and histological approach could be useful to have material for
      diagnosis, immunohistochemical and molecular analyses which may be very important
      for targeted therapy with successful rate ranging from 89% to 98%. The utility of
      ROSE during EBUS-TBNA has been matter of debate. Indeed, although some evidence
      concluded that ROSE does not increase the diagnostic efficacy of EBUS-TBNA, other
      demonstrated that it improves the diagnostic yield of the procedure up to 30%,
      allows to avoid repetition of additional diagnostic procedures and reduces risk
      of complications. Furthermore the sample preparation by cytopathologist is
      optimized with the aid of direct macroscopic inspection, optimal smearing
      techniques, and triage of the sample permitting to obtain adequate tissue for
      diagnosis, ancillary techniques and molecular testing, when needed. Some
      pathological issues on EBUS-TBNA are reviewed and discussed with particular focus
      on ROSE and molecular testing.

PMID- 28603652
TI  - Biopsy and re-biopsy in lung cancer: the oncologist requests and the role of
      endobronchial ultrasounds transbronchial needle aspiration.
AB  - As the leading cause of death worldwide, lung cancer has proven itself incurable
      in the advanced stages. For early stages, endobronchial ultrasounds
      transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is now considered the standard to
      assess mediastinal lymph node, to define the multimodality therapeutic approach.
      In recent years, EBUS-TBNA has extended its use also in the metastatic and
      locally recurrent disease. New molecules, with specific mutations that give
      resistance to current target therapies, have made re-biopsy at disease
      progression an important assessment, with therapeutic and clinical implication.
      Here we present the oncologist's point of view on EBUS-TBNA in the staging
      process, at recurrence and progression.

PMID- 28603653
TI  - Is bronchodilator the correct treatment for COPD subjects before EBUS?
AB  - Endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a
      reliable and commonly established technique, enabling real-time guidance of
      transbronchial needle aspiration of mediastinal and hilar structures and
      parabronchial lung masses. As EBUS-TBNA became more available and adopted by
      clinicians, questions emerged about the optimal performance of the procedure.
      Although EBUS is considered safe, there are few complications that could occur
      during the test, correlated with both the procedure itself and the patient's
      characteristics. Moreover, this technique is often addressed to patients with
      overlapping airways diseases, which might have higher risk of complications
      during the procedure. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients could
      experience EBUS-TBNA with a relative high frequency due to their risk of
      developing lung cancer. The irreversible bronchial constriction characteristic of
      the disease raises some questions on premedication before bronchoscopic
      procedures. It is mandatory to optimize every aspect of the procedure in order to
      minimize the risk of complications, especially for fragile patients. Whether the
      use of inhaled bronchodilators before the procedure could improve the outcome of
      the procedure in COPD patients is reviewed in this article. No clear indication
      emerged from the literature suggesting the need of more studies in order to
      clarify this point.

PMID- 28603654
TI  - Ideal conditions to perform EBUS-TBNA.
AB  - EBUS-TBNA is gaining widespread acceptance as a minimally invasive procedure for
      mediastinal staging and re-staging of lung cancer, diagnosis of lung tumors
      adjacent to large airways and characterization of both malignant and benign
      lymphadenopathy. The aim of this article is to describe the appropriate setting
      and practical aspects of the procedure that may help at the start of a new EBUS
      TBNA program to improve patient safety, comfort and procedural yield according to
      operator experience, procedure aim, and institutional needs.

PMID- 28603655
TI  - Endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration for mediastinal staging
      of non-small cell lung cancer: variability of results and perspectives.
AB  - The remarkable value of endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration
      (EBUS-TBNA) for mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is
      recognized worldwide. Reports from different centers however show considerable
      variation of EBUS-TBNA performance in terms of diagnostic yield, sensitivity and
      negative predictive value (NPV). Interpretation of EBUS-TBNA diagnostic efficacy
      requires clarifying whether the technique is used for purely diagnostic purpose
      or mediastinal staging, recognizing that different study groups may be inherently
      heterogeneous and that numerous factors may impact on the procedure outcomes.
      Review of these factors indicates that the prevalence of N2/N3 disease, the
      thoroughness of mediastinal sampling and >3 needle passes per target lymph node
      (LN) [in the absence of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE)] influence the procedure
      outcomes, while many details in the sample preparation technique are unlikely to
      impact on the results and should be left to the proceduralists' preference.
      Generalized use of a standardized database for prospective collection of relevant
      EBUS-TBNA data would allow reporting institutional results by sub-groups of N2/N3
      disease prevalence and thoroughness of staging, and would help establishing
      quality standards for the procedure.

PMID- 28603656
TI  - Simultaneous NO x and Particulate Matter Removal from Diesel Exhaust by
      Hierarchical Fe-Doped Ce-Zr Oxide.
AB  - Particulate matter and NO x emissions from diesel exhaust remains one of the most
      pressing environmental problems. We explore the use of hierarchically ordered
      mixed Fe-Ce-Zr oxides for the simultaneous capture and oxidation of soot and
      reduction of NO x by ammonia in a single step. The optimized material can
      effectively trap the model soot particles in its open macroporous structure and
      oxidize the soot below 400  degrees C while completely removing NO in the 285-420
      degrees C range. Surface characterization and DFT calculations emphasize the
      defective nature of Fe-doped ceria. The isolated Fe ions and associated oxygen
      vacancies catalyze facile NO reduction to N2. A mechanism for the reduction of NO
      with NH3 on Fe-doped ceria is proposed involving adsorbed O2. Such adsorbed O2
      species will also contribute to the oxidation of soot.

PMID- 28603657
TI  - O-Benzyl Xanthate Esters under Ni/Photoredox Dual Catalysis: Selective Radical
      Generation and Csp3-Csp2 Cross-Coupling.
AB  - Alkyl xanthate esters are perhaps best known for their use in deoxygenation
      chemistry. However, their use in cross-coupling chemistry has not been
      productive, which is due, in part, to inadequate xanthate activation strategies.
      Herein, we report the use of O-benzyl xanthate esters, readily derived from
      alcohols, as radical pronucleophiles in Csp3-Csp2 cross-couplings under
      Ni/photoredox dual catalysis. Xanthate (C-O) cleavage is found to be reliant on
      photogenerated (sec-butyl) radical activators to form new carbon-centered
      radicals primed for nickel-catalyzed cross-couplings. Mechanistic experiments
      support the fact that the key radical components are formed independently, and
      relative rates are carefully orchestrated, such that no cross reactivity is
      observed.

PMID- 28603658
TI  - Insights into the Activity and Deactivation of the Methanol-to-Olefins Process
      over Different Small-Pore Zeolites As Studied with Operando UV-vis Spectroscopy.
AB  - The nature and evolution of the hydrocarbon pool (HP) species during the Methanol
      to-Olefins (MTO) process for three small-pore zeolite catalysts, with a different
      framework consisting of large cages interconnected by small eight-ring windows
      (CHA, DDR, and LEV) was studied at reaction temperatures between 350 and 450 
      degrees C using a combination of operando UV-vis spectroscopy and online gas
      chromatography. It was found that small differences in cage size, shape, and pore
      structure of the zeolite frameworks result in the generation of different
      hydrocarbon pool species. More specifically, it was found that the large cage of
      CHA results in the formation of a wide variety of hydrocarbon pool species,
      mostly alkylated benzenes and naphthalenes. In the DDR cage, 1-methylnaphthalene
      is preferentially formed, while the small LEV cage generally contains fewer
      hydrocarbon pool species. The nature and evolution of these hydrocarbon pool
      species was linked with the stage of the reaction using a multivariate analysis
      of the operando UV-vis spectra. In the 3-D pore network of CHA, the reaction
      temperature has only a minor effect on the performance of the MTO catalyst.
      However, for the 2-D pore networks of DDR and LEV, an increase in the applied
      reaction temperature resulted in a dramatic increase in catalytic activity. For
      all zeolites in this study, the role of the hydrocarbon species changes with
      reaction temperature. This effect is most clear in DDR, in which diamantane and 1
      methylnaphthalene are deactivating species at a reaction temperature of 350 
      degrees C, whereas at higher temperatures diamantane formation is not observed
      and 1-methylnaphthalene is an active species. This results in a different amount
      and nature of coke species in the deactivated catalyst, depending on zeolite
      framework and reaction temperature.

PMID- 28603660
TI  - Groupwise Morphometric Analysis Based on High Dimensional Clustering.
AB  - In this paper, we propose an efficient groupwise morphometric analysis to
      characterize morphological variations between healthy and pathological states.
      The proposed framework extends the work of Baloch [4] in which a manifold for
      each anatomy was constructed by collecting lossless [transformation, residual]
      descriptors with various transformation parameters, and the optimal set of
      transformation parameters was estimated individually by minimizing group
      variance. However, full parameter exploration is not desired as it can result in
      transformation leading to inaccurate anatomical models. In addition, a single
      fixed template introduces a priori bias to subsequent statistical analysis. In
      order to overcome these limitations, we use an affinity propagation clustering
      method to find the spatially close cluster center for each subject. Then, a
      subject is normalized to the template via the cluster center to restrict our
      analysis only to those descriptors that reflect reasonable warps. In addition, a
      mean template is selected by finding a cluster center that minimizes the sum of
      pairwise shape distance to reduce the fixed template bias. Our method is applied
      to 2D synthetic data and 3D real Cardiac MR Images. Experimental results show
      improvement in quantifying and localizing shape changes.

PMID- 28603659
TI  - Regulated Production of CXCL13 within the Central Nervous System.
AB  - The chemokine, C-X-C motif ligand 13 (CXCL13), is constitutively expressed in
      lymphoid organs and controls the recruitment and compartmentalization of
      lymphocytes and antigen presenting cells within these specialized structures.
      Recent data, however, also show induction of this molecule under a variety of
      circumstances during central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. While its role(s)
      in the pathogenesis of neoplastic, infectious and autoimmune disorders of the CNS
      remain incompletely understood, growing evidence suggests that CXCL13 could
      become a relevant therapeutic target in at least some of these conditions. This
      review focuses on the diseases, cellular sources and external factors known to
      regulate CXCL13 production in the inflamed CNS.

PMID- 28603661
TI  - A High-Strength, Absorbable, Antibacterial Knotless Tissue Control Device for
      Fascial Closure.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review provides an overview of the STRATAFIXTM SYMMETRIC
      PDSTM Plus Knotless Tissue Control Device design and performance characteristics
      and highlights the device's relevance for use in gynecological procedures.
      Various device testing was conducted on tensile strength, fixation tab mass
      comparison to conventional suture knot tower, initiation stitch strength, and
      wound holding strength to highlight the STRATAFIXTM SYMMETRIC PDSTM Plus Device's
      key product attributes that may benefit general and minimally invasive
      gynecological procedures. RECENT FINDINGS: This article serves as a technological
      assessment of the latest barbed suture offered by Ethicon-STRATAFIXTM SYMMETRIC
      PDSTM Plus Knotless Tissue Control Device. This device is indicated for soft
      tissue approximation and can be used to close high tension areas, such as fascia.
      SUMMARY: Barbed sutures were successfully introduced to gynecologic surgery many
      years ago, and their safety and effectiveness have been demonstrated in a variety
      of gynecological surgical procedures. By eliminating the need to tie surgical
      knots, barbed suture provides a few key advantages over conventional suture, such
      as reducing operating room time, eliminating potential knot-related
      complications, and reducing suturing difficulty in open and minimally invasive
      gynecological procedures. Additionally, there are tensile strength and wound
      holding strength advantages (vs. conventional PDSTM Plus Suture) described in the
      product testing highlighted in this review that may be relevant for gynecological
      procedures.

PMID- 28603662
TI  - Predicting Future Self-Reported Motor Vehicle Collisions in Subjects with Primary
      Open-Angle Glaucoma Using the Penalized Support Vector Machine Method.
AB  - PURPOSE: We predict the likelihood of a future motor vehicle collision (MVC) from
      visual function data, attitudes to driving, and past MVC history using the
      penalized support vector machine (pSVM) in subjects with primary open-angle
      glaucoma (POAG). METHODS: Patients with POAG were screened prospectively for
      eligibility and 185 were analyzed in this study. Self-reported MVCs of all
      participants were recorded for 3 years from the baseline using a survey
      questionnaire every 12 months. A binocular integrated visual field (IVF) was
      calculated for each patient by merging a patient's monocular Humphrey Field
      Analyzer (HFA) visual fields (VFs). The IVF was divided into six regions, based
      on eccentricity and the right or left hemifield, and the average of the total
      deviation (TD) values in each of these six areas was calculated. Then, the future
      MVCs were predicted using various variables, including age, sex, 63 variables of
      52 TD values, mean of the TD values, visual acuities (VAs), six sector average
      TDs with (predpenSVM_all) and without (predpenSVM_basic) the attitudes in
      driving, and also past MVC history, using the pSVM method, applying the leave-one
      out cross validation. RESULTS: The relationship between predpenSVM_basic and the
      future MVC approached significance (odds ratio = 1.15, [0.99-1.29], P = 0.064,
      logistic regression). A significant relationship was observed between
      predpenSVM_all and the future MVC (odds ratio = 1.21, P = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS:
      It was useful to predict future MVCs in patients with POAG using visual function
      metrics, patients' attitudes to driving, and past MVC history, using the pSVM.
      TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: Careful consideration is needed when predicting future
      MVCs in POAG patients using visual function, and without driving attitude and MVC
      history.

PMID- 28603663
TI  - The Present and Future of Robotic Technology in Rehabilitation.
AB  - Robotic technology designed to assist rehabilitation can potentially increase the
      efficiency of and accessibility to therapy by assisting therapists to provide
      consistent training for extended periods of time, and collecting data to assess
      progress. Automatization of therapy may enable many patients to be treated
      simultaneously and possibly even remotely, in the comfort of their own homes,
      through telerehabilitation. The data collected can be used to objectively assess
      performance and document compliance as well as progress. All of these
      characteristics can make therapists more efficient in treating larger numbers of
      patients. Most importantly for the patient, it can increase access to therapy
      which is often in high demand and rationed severely in today's fiscal climate. In
      recent years, many consumer grade low-cost and off-the-shelf devices have been
      adopted for use in therapy sessions and methods for increasing motivation and
      engagement have been integrated with them. This review paper outlines the effort
      devoted to the development and integration of robotic technology for
      rehabilitation.

PMID- 28603664
TI  - Seating-Related Pressure Injury Prevention in Spinal Cord Injury: A Review of
      Compensatory Technologies to Improve In-Seat Movement Behavior.
AB  - A PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review was to (1) assess the factors
      related to the occurrence of pressure injuries in people with a spinal cord
      injury (SCI), (2) review methods of pressure injury prevention, and (3) examine
      compensatory technologies developed to promote in-seat movement to reduce the
      risk of pressure injuries. B RECENT FINDINGS: Risk factors for seating-related
      pressure injuries are well documented, yet, ulceration remains a daily concern
      for individuals with SCI. While prompts and alarms have been shown to be
      effective at increasing in-seat movement, the devices thus far were not designed
      for long-term use. Wheelchair users will benefit from continued development of
      novel technologies designed to help them self-manage pressure injury prevention.
      C SUMMARY: Optimized feedback about pressure and movement will help wheelchair
      users with SCI perform more effective movements to relieve pressure, perform
      movements more frequently and consistently, and maintain effective and frequent
      movement behaviors over time while feedback is available.

PMID- 28603665
TI  - Putative Brain Networks Underlying Repetitive Negative Thinking and Comorbid
      Internalizing Problems in Autism.
AB  - Many high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also
      experience depression and anxiety, yet little is known about mechanisms
      underlying this comorbidity. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) about self
      referential information is a transdiagnostic cognitive vulnerability factor that
      may account for the relationship between these two classes of symptoms. We
      propose a model where self-referential processing and cognitive inflexibility
      interact to increase risk for RNT, leading to internalizing problems in ASD.
      Examination of interactions within and between two well-characterized large-scale
      brain networks, the default mode network and the salience network, may provide
      insights into neurobiological mechanisms underlying RNT in ASD. We summarize
      previous literature supporting this model, emphasizing moving towards
      understanding RNT as a factor accounting for the high rates of internalizing
      problems in ASD. Future research avenues include understanding heterogeneity in
      clinical presentation, and promise for identifying and treating cognitive
      flexibility and RNT to reduce comorbid internalizing problems in ASD.

PMID- 28603667
TI  - Disc-shaped fossils resembling porpitids or eldonids from the early Cambrian
      (Series 2: Stage 4) of western USA.
AB  - The morphology and affinities of newly discovered disc-shaped, soft-bodied
      fossils from the early Cambrian (Series 2: Stage 4, Dyeran) Carrara Formation are
      discussed. These specimens show some similarity to the Ordovician Discophyllum
      Hall, 1847; traditionally this taxon had been treated as a fossil porpitid.
      However, recently it has instead been referred to as another clade, the eldonids,
      which includes the enigmatic Eldonia Walcott, 1911 that was originally described
      from the Cambrian Burgess Shale. The status of various Proterozoic and
      Phanerozoic taxa previously referred to porpitids and eldonids is also briefly
      considered. To help ascertain that the specimens were not dubio- or
      pseudofossils, elemental mapping using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
      was conducted. This, in conjunction with the morphology of the specimens,
      indicated that the fossils were not hematite, iron sulfide, pyrolusite, or other
      abiologic mineral precipitates. Instead, their status as biologic structures and
      thus actual fossils is supported. Enrichment in the element carbon, and also
      possibly to some extent the elements magnesium and iron, seems to be playing some
      role in the preservation process.

PMID- 28603666
TI  - In silico analysis reveals widespread presence of three gene families, MAPK,
      MAPKK and MAPKKK, of the MAPK cascade from crop plants of Solanaceae in
      comparison to the distantly-related syntenic species from Rubiaceae, coffee.
AB  - Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are an important family of genes which
      play roles in vital plant processes, and they also help in coping against various
      kinds of environmental stresses including abiotic as well as biotic factors. The
      advancement of genomics calls for the annotation, identification, and detailed
      processing of the essential gene families in plants in order to provide insights
      into the importance of their central roles as well as for providing the basis for
      making their growth vigorous even under stressed conditions and, ultimately, to
      benefit from them by foreseeing the potential threats to their growth. In the
      current study, MAPK, MAPKK, and MAPKKK families of the MAPK cascade were
      identified and reported from five different agriculturally and economically
      important crop species of the Solanaceae and Rubiaceae families based on
      conserved signature motifs aligned throughout the members of the families under
      this gene superfamily. Genes reported from the species after strict filtering
      were: 89, tomato; 108, potato; 63, eggplant; 79, pepper; 64, coffee. These MAPKs
      were found to be randomly distributed throughout the genome on the chromosomes of
      the respective species. Various characteristics of the identified genes were
      studied including gene structure, gene and coding sequence length, protein
      length, isoelectric point, molecular weight, and subcellular localization.
      Moreover, maximum likelihood test of phylogeny was conducted on the retrieved
      sequences for the three MAPK cascade families to determine their homologous
      relationships which were also analyzed quantitatively by heat plots.

PMID- 28603668
TI  - New data towards the development of a comprehensive taphonomic framework for the
      Late Jurassic Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Central Utah.
AB  - The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (CLDQ) is the densest deposit of Jurassic
      theropod dinosaurs discovered to date. Unlike typical Jurassic bone deposits, it
      is dominated by the presence of Allosaurus fragilis. Since excavation began in
      the 1920s, numerous hypotheses have been put forward to explain the taphonomy of
      CLDQ, including a predator trap, a drought assemblage, and a poison spring. In an
      effort to reconcile the various interpretations of the quarry and reach a
      consensus on the depositional history of CLDQ, new data is required to develop a
      robust taphonomic framework congruent with all available data. Here we present
      two new data sets that aid in the development of such a robust taphonomic
      framework for CLDQ. First, x-ray fluorescence of CLDQ sediments indicate elevated
      barite and sulfide minerals relative to other sediments from the Morrison
      Formation in the region, suggesting an ephemeral environment dominated by periods
      of hypereutrophic conditions during bone accumulation. Second, the degree of
      abrasion and hydraulic equivalency of small bone fragments dispersed throughout
      the matrix were analyzed from CLDQ. Results of these analyses suggest that bone
      fragments are autochthonous or parautochthonous and are derived from bones
      deposited in the assemblage rather than transported. The variability in abrasion
      exhibited by the fragments is most parsimoniously explained by local periodic re
      working and re-deposition during seasonal fluctuations throughout the duration of
      the quarry assemblage. Collectively, these data support previous interpretations
      that the CLDQ represents an attritional assemblage in a poorly-drained overbank
      deposit where vertebrate remains were introduced post-mortem to an ephemeral pond
      during flood conditions. Furthermore, while the elevated heavy metals detected at
      the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry are not likely the primary driver for the
      accumulation of carcasses, they are likely the result of multiple sources; some
      metals may be derived from post-depositional and diagenetic processes, and others
      are potentially produced from an abundance of decomposing vertebrate carcasses.
      These new data help to support the inferred depositional environment of the
      quarry as an ephemeral pond, and represent a significant step in understanding
      the taphonomy of the bonebed and Late Jurassic paleoecology in this region.

PMID- 28603669
TI  - Combining multi-dimensional data to identify key genes and pathways in gastric
      cancer.
AB  - Gastric cancer is an aggressive cancer that is often diagnosed late. Early
      detection and treatment require a better understanding of the molecular pathology
      of the disease. The present study combined data on gene expression and regulatory
      levels (microRNA, methylation, copy number) with the aim of identifying key genes
      and pathways for gastric cancer. Data used in this study was retrieved from The
      Cancer Genomic Atlas. Differential analyses between gastric cancer and normal
      tissues were carried out using Limma. Copy number alterations were identified for
      tumor samples. Bimodal filtering of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) based
      on regulatory changes was performed to identify candidate genes. Protein-protein
      interaction networks for candidate genes were generated by Cytoscape software.
      Gene ontology and pathway analyses were performed, and disease-associated network
      was constructed using the Agilent literature search plugin on Cytoscape. In
      total, we identified 3602 DEGs, 251 differentially expressed microRNAs, 604
      differential methylation-sites, and 52 copy number altered regions. Three groups
      of candidate genes controlled by different regulatory mechanisms were screened
      out. Interaction networks for candidate genes were constructed consisting of 415,
      228, and 233 genes, respectively, all of which were enriched in cell cycle, P53
      signaling, DNA replication, viral carcinogenesis, HTLV-1 infection, and
      progesterone mediated oocyte maturation pathways. Nine hub genes (SRC, KAT2B,
      NR3C1, CDK6, MCM2, PRKDC, BLM, CCNE1, PARK2) were identified that were presumed
      to be key regulators of the networks; seven of these were shown to be implicated
      in gastric cancer through disease-associated network construction. The genes and
      pathways identified in our study may play pivotal roles in gastric carcinogenesis
      and have clinical significance.

PMID- 28603671
TI  - Spatial variation in coral reef fish and benthic communities in the central Saudi
      Arabian Red Sea.
AB  - Local-scale ecological information is critical as a sound basis for spatial
      management and conservation and as support for ongoing research in relatively
      unstudied areas. We conducted visual surveys of fish and benthic communities on
      nine reefs (3-24 km from shore) in the Thuwal area of the central Saudi Arabian
      Red Sea. Fish biomass increased with increasing distance from shore, but was
      generally low compared to reefs experiencing minimal human influence around the
      world. All reefs had a herbivore-dominated trophic structure and few top
      predators, such as sharks, jacks, or large groupers. Coral cover was considerably
      lower on inshore reefs, likely due to a 2010 bleaching event. Community analyses
      showed inshore reefs to be characterized by turf algae, slower-growing corals,
      lower herbivore diversity, and highly abundant turf-farming damselfishes.
      Offshore reefs had more planktivorous fishes, a more diverse herbivore
      assemblage, and faster-growing corals. All reefs appear to be impacted by
      overfishing, and inshore reefs seem more vulnerable to thermal bleaching. The
      study provides a description of the spatial variation in biomass and community
      structure in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea and provides a basis for spatial
      prioritization and subsequent marine protected area design in Thuwal.

PMID- 28603670
TI  - The nematode homologue of Mediator complex subunit 28, F28F8.5, is a critical
      regulator of C. elegans development.
AB  - The evolutionarily conserved Mediator complex is a critical player in regulating
      transcription. Comprised of approximately two dozen proteins, the Mediator
      integrates diverse regulatory signals through direct protein-protein interactions
      that, in turn, modulate the influence of Mediator on RNA Polymerase II activity.
      One Mediator subunit, MED28, is known to interact with cytoplasmic structural
      proteins, providing a potential direct link between cytoplasmic dynamics and the
      control of gene transcription. Although identified in many animals and plants,
      MED28 is not present in yeast; no bona fide MED28 has been described previously
      in Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we identify bioinformatically F28F8.5, an
      uncharacterized predicted protein, as the nematode homologue of MED28. As in
      other Metazoa, F28F8.5 has dual nuclear and cytoplasmic localization and plays
      critical roles in the regulation of development. F28F8.5 is a vital gene and its
      null mutants have severely malformed gonads and do not reproduce. F28F8.5
      interacts on the protein level with the Mediator subunits MDT-6 and MDT-30. Our
      results indicate that F28F8.5 is an orthologue of MED28 and suggest that the
      potential to link cytoplasmic and nuclear events is conserved between MED28
      vertebrate and nematode orthologues.

PMID- 28603673
TI  - A methodology of theropod print replication utilising the pedal reconstruction of
      Australovenator and a simulated paleo-sediment.
AB  - Distinguishing the difference between theropod and ornithopod footprints has
      proved a difficult task due to their similarities. Herein our aim was to produce
      a method where a skeleton could be more closely matched to actual fossilised
      footprints. The reconstructed pes of the Australian Megaraptoran Australovenator
      wintonensis was utilised for this footprint reconstruction. It was 3-D printed in
      life size, molded and cast to produce a flexible theropod foot for footprint
      creation. The Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, Lark Quarry, Queensland,
      Australia was used as our case study to compare fossilised dinosaur footprints
      with our reconstructed theropod prints. The footprints were created in a sediment
      that resembled the paleo-sediments of Lark Quarry prior to being traversed by
      dinosaurs. Measurements of our Australovenator prints with two distinctly
      different print types at Lark Quarry revealed similarities with one distinct
      trackway which has been the center of recent debate. These footprints consist of
      11 consecutive footprints and show distinct similarities in both size and
      proportions to our Australovenator footprints.

PMID- 28603672
TI  - Chemical composition and the potential for proteomic transformation in cancer,
      hypoxia, and hyperosmotic stress.
AB  - The changes of protein expression that are monitored in proteomic experiments are
      a type of biological transformation that also involves changes in chemical
      composition. Accompanying the myriad molecular-level interactions that underlie
      any proteomic transformation, there is an overall thermodynamic potential that is
      sensitive to microenvironmental conditions, including local oxidation and
      hydration potential. Here, up- and down-expressed proteins identified in 71
      comparative proteomics studies were analyzed using the average oxidation state of
      carbon (ZC) and water demand per residue ([Formula: see text]), calculated using
      elemental abundances and stoichiometric reactions to form proteins from basis
      species. Experimental lowering of oxygen availability (hypoxia) or water activity
      (hyperosmotic stress) generally results in decreased ZC or [Formula: see text] of
      up-expressed compared to down-expressed proteins. This correspondence of chemical
      composition with experimental conditions provides evidence for attraction of the
      proteomes to a low-energy state. An opposite compositional change, toward higher
      average oxidation or hydration state, is found for proteomic transformations in
      colorectal and pancreatic cancer, and in two experiments for adipose-derived stem
      cells. Calculations of chemical affinity were used to estimate the thermodynamic
      potentials for proteomic transformations as a function of fugacity of O2 and
      activity of H2O, which serve as scales of oxidation and hydration potential.
      Diagrams summarizing the relative potential for formation of up- and down
      expressed proteins have predicted equipotential lines that cluster around
      particular values of oxygen fugacity and water activity for similar datasets. The
      changes in chemical composition of proteomes are likely linked with reactions
      among other cellular molecules. A redox balance calculation indicates that an
      increase in the lipid to protein ratio in cancer cells by 20% over hypoxic cells
      would generate a large enough electron sink for oxidation of the cancer
      proteomes. The datasets and computer code used here are made available in a new R
      package, canprot.

PMID- 28603674
TI  - Design of new acid-activated cell-penetrating peptides for tumor drug delivery.
AB  - TH(AGYLLGHINLHHLAHL(Aib)HHIL-NH2), a histidine-rich, cell-penetrating peptide
      with acid-activated pH response, designed and synthesized by our group, can
      effectively target tumor tissues with an acidic extracellular environment. Since
      the protonating effect of histidine plays a critical role in the acid-activated,
      cell-penetrating ability of TH, we designed a series of new histidine
      substituents by introducing electron donating groups (Ethyl, Isopropyl, Butyl) to
      the C-2 position of histidine. This resulted in an enhanced pH-response and
      improved the application of TH in tumor-targeted delivery systems. The
      substituents were further utilized to form the corresponding TH analogs (Ethyl
      TH, Isopropyl-TH and Butyl-TH), making them easier to protonate for positive
      charge in acidic tumor microenvironments. The pH-dependent cellular uptake
      efficiencies of new TH analogs were further evaluated using flow cytometry and
      confocal laser scanning microscopy, demonstrating that ethyl-TH and butyl-TH had
      an optimal pH-response in an acidic environment. Importantly, the new TH analogs
      exhibited relatively lower toxicity than TH. In addition, these new TH analogs
      were linked to the antitumor drug camptothecin (CPT), while butyl-TH modified
      conjugate presented a remarkably stronger pH-dependent cytotoxicity to cancer
      cells than TH and the other conjugates. In short, our work opens a new avenue for
      the development of improved acid-activated, cell-penetrating peptides as
      efficient anticancer drug delivery vectors.

PMID- 28603676
TI  - Electrophysiological correlates of aesthetic processing of webpages: a comparison
      of experts and laypersons.
AB  - We investigated whether design experts or laypersons evaluate webpages
      differently. Twenty participants, 10 experts and 10 laypersons, judged the
      aesthetic value of a webpage in an EEG-experiment. Screenshots of 150 webpages,
      judged as aesthetic or as unaesthetic by another 136 participants, served as
      stimulus material. Behaviorally, experts and laypersons evaluated unaesthetic
      webpages similarly, but they differed in their evaluation of aesthetic ones:
      experts evaluated aesthetic webpages as unaesthetic more often than laypersons
      did. The ERP-data show main effects of level of expertise and of aesthetic value
      only. There was no interaction of expertise and aesthetics. In a time-window of
      110-130 ms after stimulus onset, aesthetic webpages elicited a more negative EEG
      amplitude than unaesthetic webpages. In the same time window, experts had more
      negative EEG-amplitudes than laypersons. This patterning of results continued
      until a time window of 600-800 ms in which group and aesthetic differences
      diminished. An interaction of perceiver characteristics and object properties
      that several interactionist theories postulate was absent in the EEG-data.
      Experts seem to process the stimuli in a more thorough manner than laypersons.
      The early activation differences between aesthetic and unaesthetic webpages is in
      contrast with some theories of aesthetic processing and has not been reported
      before.

PMID- 28603675
TI  - Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory
      associated with physical activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Working memory is critical for various cognitive processes and can be
      separated into two stages: short-term memory storage and manipulation processing.
      Although previous studies have demonstrated that increased physical activity (PA)
      improves working memory and that males outperform females on visuospatial working
      memory tasks, few studies have determined the contribution of the two underlying
      stages to the visuospatial working memory improvement associated with PA. Thus,
      the aims of the present study were to verify the relationship between physical
      activity and visuospatial working memory, determine whether one or both stages
      were affected by PA, and investigate any sex differences. METHODS: A total of 56
      undergraduate students were recruited for this study. Their scores on the
      International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) were used to separate them
      into either a lower PA (n = 26; IPAQ score <=3,000 metabolic equivalent [MET]
      min/week) or higher PA (n = 30; IPAQ score >3,000 MET-min/week) group.
      Participants were required to complete three tasks: a visuospatial working memory
      task, a task that examines the short-term memory storage stage, and a mental
      rotation task that examines the active manipulation stage. RESULTS: Participants
      in the higher PA group maintained similar accuracy but displayed significantly
      faster reaction times (RT) than those in the lower PA group on the visuospatial
      working memory and manipulation tasks. By contrast, no difference was observed
      between groups on the short-term memory storage task. In addition, no effects of
      sex were detected. DISCUSSION: Our results confirm that PA was positively to
      visuospatial working memory and that this positive relationship was associated
      with more rapid cognitive processing during the manipulation stage, with little
      or no relationship between PA and the memory storage stage of visuospatial
      working memory.

PMID- 28603677
TI  - Combined effects of waggle dance communication and landscape heterogeneity on
      nectar and pollen uptake in honey bee colonies.
AB  - The instructive component of waggle dance communication has been shown to
      increase resource uptake of Apis mellifera colonies in highly heterogeneous
      resource environments, but an assessment of its relevance in temperate landscapes
      with different levels of resource heterogeneity is currently lacking. We
      hypothesized that the advertisement of resource locations via dance communication
      would be most relevant in highly heterogeneous landscapes with large spatial
      variation of floral resources. To test our hypothesis, we placed 24 Apis
      mellifera colonies with either disrupted or unimpaired instructive component of
      dance communication in eight Central European agricultural landscapes that
      differed in heterogeneity and resource availability. We monitored colony weight
      change and pollen harvest as measure of foraging success. Dance disruption did
      not significantly alter colony weight change, but decreased pollen harvest
      compared to the communicating colonies by 40%. There was no general effect of
      resource availability on nectar or pollen foraging success, but the effect of
      landscape heterogeneity on nectar uptake was stronger when resource availability
      was high. In contrast to our hypothesis, the effects of disrupted bee
      communication on nectar and pollen foraging success were not stronger in
      landscapes with heterogeneous compared to homogenous resource environments. Our
      results indicate that in temperate regions intra-colonial communication of
      resource locations benefits pollen foraging more than nectar foraging,
      irrespective of landscape heterogeneity. We conclude that the so far largely
      unexplored role of dance communication in pollen foraging requires further
      consideration as pollen is a crucial resource for colony development and health.

PMID- 28603678
TI  - Unimodal relationship between small-scale barnacle recruitment and the density of
      pre-existing barnacle adults.
AB  - Recruitment is a key demographic process for population persistence. This paper
      focuses on barnacle (Semibalanus balanoides) recruitment. In rocky intertidal
      habitats from the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast of Nova Scotia (Canada), ice scour
      is common during the winter. At the onset of intertidal barnacle recruitment in
      early May (after sea ice has fully melted), mostly only adult barnacles and bare
      substrate are visible at high elevations in wave-exposed habitats. We conducted a
      multiannual study to investigate if small-scale barnacle recruitment could be
      predicted from the density of pre-existing adult barnacles. In a year that
      exhibited a wide adult density range (ca. 0-130 individuals dm-2), the
      relationship between adult density and recruit density (scaled to the available
      area for recruitment, which excluded adult barnacles) was unimodal. In years that
      exhibited a lower adult density range (ca. 0-40/50 individuals dm-2), the
      relationship between adult and recruit density was positive and resembled the
      lower half of the unimodal relationship. Overall, adult barnacle density was able
      to explain 26-40% of the observed variation in recruit density. The unimodal
      adult-recruit relationship is consistent with previously documented intraspecific
      interactions. Between low and intermediate adult densities, the positive nature
      of the relationship relates to the previously documented fact that settlement
      seeking larvae are chemically and visually attracted to adults, which might be
      important for local population persistence. Between intermediate and high adult
      densities, where population persistence may be less compromised and the abundant
      adults may limit recruit growth and survival, the negative nature of the
      relationship suggests that adult barnacles at increasingly high densities
      stimulate larvae to settle elsewhere. The unimodal pattern may be especially
      common on shores with moderate rates of larval supply to the shore, because high
      rates of larval supply may swamp the coast with settlers, decoupling recruit
      density from local adult abundance.

PMID- 28603679
TI  - Galactosialidosis: historic aspects and overview of investigated and emerging
      treatment options.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Galactosialidosis is a glycoprotein storage disease caused by
      mutations in the CTSA gene, encoding lysosomal protective protein/cathepsin A
      (PPCA). The enzyme's catalytic activity is distinct from its protective function
      towards beta-galactosidase (beta-GAL) and neuraminidase 1 (NEU1), with which PPCA
      forms a complex. In this configuration the two glycosidases acquire their full
      activity and stability in lysosomes. Deficiency of PPCA results in combined
      NEU1/beta-GAL deficiency. Because of its low incidence, galactosialidosis is
      considered an orphan disorder with no therapy yet available. AREAS COVERED: This
      review gives a historic overview on the discovery of PPCA, which defined
      galactosialidosis as a new clinical entity; the evidence for the existence of the
      PPCA/NEU1/beta-GAL complex; the clinical forms of galactosialidosis and disease
      causing CTSA mutations. Ppca-/- mice have proven to be a suitable model to test
      different therapeutic approaches, paving the way for the development of clinical
      trials for patients with galactosialidosis. EXPERT OPINION: Improved
      understanding of the molecular bases of disease has sparked renewed incentive
      from clinicians and scientists alike to develop therapies for rare conditions,
      like GS, and has increased the willingness of biotech companies to invest in the
      manufacturing of new therapeutics. Both ERT and gene therapy may become available
      to patients in the near future.

PMID- 28603680
TI  - Society of Pediatric Psychology Diversity Award: Training Underrepresented
      Minority Students in Psychology.
AB  - Improving diversity, particularly among trainees and professionals from
      underrepresented ethnic minority backgrounds, has been a long-stated goal for the
      field of Psychology. Research has provided strategies and best practices, such as
      ensuring cultural sensitivity and relevance in coursework, clinical and research
      training, promoting a supportive and inclusive climate, providing access to
      cultural and community opportunities, and increasing insight and cultural
      competence among professionals (Rogers & Molina, 2006). Despite this, the rates
      of psychologists from ethnically diverse and underrepresented minority (URM)
      backgrounds remain low and few published studies have described programmatic
      efforts to increase diversity within the field. This paper describes the
      INNOVATIONS training model, which provides community and culturally related
      research experiences, graduate-school related advising, and mentoring to high
      school and college students. The paper also examines how the model may support
      enrollment of URM students in doctoral programs in psychology. Findings indicate
      that INNOVATIONS supported students' transition from high school and college to
      graduate programs (with approximately 75% of students enrolling in Master's and
      Doctoral programs). INNOVATIONS also supported students, including those from URM
      backgrounds, enrolling in doctoral programs (41.7%). Students who were trained in
      the research assistant track were most likely to enroll in psychology doctoral
      programs, perhaps as a result of the intensive time and training committed to
      research and clinical experiences. Data support the importance of research
      training for URM students pursuing psychology graduate study and the need to
      ensure cultural relevance of the training. Implications for clinical and
      pediatric psychology are discussed.

PMID- 28603681
TI  - Methane emissions from the Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania and
      northern West Virginia based on airborne measurements.
AB  - Natural gas production in the U.S. has increased rapidly over the past decade,
      along with concerns about methane (CH4) leakage (total fugitive emissions), and
      climate impacts. Quantification of CH4 emissions from oil and natural gas (O&NG)
      operations is important for establishing scientifically sound, cost-effective
      policies for mitigating greenhouse gases. We use aircraft measurements and a mass
      balance approach for three flight experiments in August and September 2015 to
      estimate CH4 emissions from O&NG operations in the southwestern Marcellus Shale
      region. We estimate the mean +/- 1sigma CH4 emission rate as 36.7 +/- 1.9 kg CH4
      s-1 (or 1.16 +/- 0.06 Tg CH4 yr-1) with 59% coming from O&NG operations. We
      estimate the mean +/- 1sigma CH4 leak rate from O&NG operations as 3.9 +/- 0.4%
      with a lower limit of 1.5% and an upper limit of 6.3%. This leak rate is broadly
      consistent with the results from several recent top-down studies but higher than
      the results from a few other observational studies as well as in the U.S.
      Environmental Protection Agency CH4 emission inventory. However, a substantial
      source of CH4 was found to contain little ethane (C2H6), possibly due to coalbed
      CH4 emitted either directly from coalmines or from wells drilled through coalbed
      layers. Although recent regulations requiring capture of gas from the completion
      venting step of the hydraulic fracturing appear to have reduced losses, our study
      suggests that for a 20 year time scale, energy derived from the combustion of
      natural gas extracted from this region will require further controls before it
      can exert a net climate benefit compared to coal.

PMID- 28603682
TI  - An Automated Methodology for Assessing Anatomy-Specific Instrument Motion during
      Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery.
AB  - Objectives  Describe instrument motion during live endoscopic skull base surgery
      (ESBS) and evaluate kinematics within anatomic regions. Design  Case series.
      Setting  Tertiary academic center. Participants  A single skull base surgeon
      performed six anterior skull base approaches to the pituitary. Main Outcomes and
      Measures  Time-stamped instrument coordinates were recorded using an optical
      tracking system. Kinematics (i.e., mean cumulative instrument travel, velocity,
      acceleration, and angular velocity) was calculated by anatomic region including
      nasal vestibule, anterior and posterior ethmoid, sphenoid, and lateral
      opticocarotid recess (lOCR) regions. Results  We observed mean (standard
      deviation, SD) velocities of 6.14 cm/s (1.55) in the nasal vestibule versus 1.65
      cm/s (0.34) near the lOCR. Mean (SD) acceleration was 7,480 cm/s 2 (5790) in the
      vestibule versus 928 cm/s 2 (662) near the lOCR. Mean (SD) angular velocity was
      17.2 degrees/s (8.31) in the vestibule and 5.37 degrees/s (1.09) near the lOCR.
      We observed a decreasing trend in the geometric mean velocity, acceleration, and
      angular velocity when approaching the pituitary ( p  < 0.001). Conclusion  Using
      a novel method for analyzing instrument motion during live ESBS, we observed a
      decreasing trend in kinematics with proximity to the pituitary. Additional
      characterization of surgical instrument motion is paramount for optimizing
      patient safety and training.

PMID- 28603683
TI  - Cavernous Sinus Involvement by Pituitary Adenomas: Clinical Implications and
      Outcomes of Endoscopic Endonasal Resection.
AB  - Background  Parasellar invasion of pituitary adenomas (PAs) into the cavernous
      sinus (CS) is common. The management of the CS component of PA remains
      controversial. Objective  The objective of this study was to analyze CS
      involvement in PA treated with endoscopic endonasal approaches, including
      incidence, surgical risks, surgical strategies, long-term outcomes, and our
      treatment algorithm. Methods  We reviewed a series of 176 surgically treated PA
      with particular attention to CS involvement and whether the CS tumor was
      approached medial or lateral to the internal carotid artery. Results  The median
      duration of follow-up was 36 months. Macroadenomas and nonfunctional adenomas
      represented 77 and 60% of cases, respectively. CS invasion was documented in 23%
      of cases. CS involvement was associated with a significantly diminished odds of
      gross total resection (47 vs. 86%, odds ratio [OR]: 5.2) and increased the need
      for subsequent intervention (4 vs. 40%, OR: 14.4). Hormonal remission was
      achieved in 15% of hormonally active tumors. Rates of surgical complication were
      similar regardless of CS involvement. Conclusion  Our tailored strategy beginning
      with a medial approach and adding lateral exposure as needed resulted in good
      outcomes with low morbidity in nonfunctional adenomas. Functional adenomas
      involving the CS were associated with low rates of hormonal remission
      necessitating higher rates of additional treatment.

PMID- 28603684
TI  - Addictive Behavior Interventions Among College Students.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Addictive behaviors among college students are a significant
      public health concern. This manuscript reviews the past two years of literature
      on prevention and treatment approaches for college students who engage in
      addictive behaviors. RECENT FINDINGS: In-person skills-based interventions and
      motivational interventions that incorporate personalized feedback are effective
      in the short-term but little support was found for long-term effects. Although
      web-based interventions reduced certain addictive behaviors (e.g., alcohol,
      problematic gambling), in-person interventions that include motivational
      interviewing components and personalized feedback appear to be more efficacious.
      SUMMARY: Research has largely focused on alcohol and little is known about the
      utility of interventions for students who use tobacco or illicit substances or
      who engage in problematic gambling. Research on interventions for these high-risk
      behaviors is recommended.

PMID- 28603685
TI  - Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Costa Rica 2011-2015.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Leptospirosis is a global spirochete causing chronic renal
      disease that is increasing in Costa Rica. This paper identifies the prevalence
      and risk factors of leptospirosis in Costa Rica between the years of 2011-2015.
      RECENT FINDINGS: Clinical cases of leptospirosis in Costa Rica demonstrated
      various symptoms: from asymptomatic diseases to severe cases of kidney and liver
      failure. A variety of diagnostic methods with varying specificities and
      sensitivities were employed. In Costa Rica, prevention methods such as protective
      clothing, decreased contact with animals, and prophylaxis of close contacts
      continue to be the most important factors in reducing transmission of
      leptospirosis. SUMMARY: In Costa Rica, the following populations should be aware
      of their increased risk: those living in the province of San Jose, Puntarenas, or
      Alajuela; being a male; being of productive years; and exposure to specific
      environmental factors.

PMID- 28603686
TI  - Acid suppression therapy and allergic reactions.
AB  - The development of pharmaceutical agents such as sucralfate, histamine 2 (H2)
      receptor blockers and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) reducing gastric acidity has
      been a mile stone for treatment of dyspeptic disorders. However, due to current
      prescription habits resulting in overuse of these potent drugs as well as over
      the-counter (OTC) availability associated with self-medication, substantial
      health concern is related to the mechanisms of drug action as well as known side
      effects influencing gastrointestinal physiology. More than a decade ago the first
      study appeared reporting an association between anti-ulcer drug intake and food
      allergy development. Ever since this first report several experimental as well as
      human studies verified this correlation, demonstrating that acid suppressive
      drugs not only influence the sensitization capacity of orally ingested proteins,
      but also represent a risk factor for food allergy patients. Additionally, gastric
      acid suppression was reported to increase the risk for development of drug
      hypersensitivity reactions. These consequences of anti-ulcer drug intake might on
      the one hand be associated with direct influence of these drugs on immune
      responses. On the other hand reduction of gastric acidity leads to impaired
      gastrointestinal protein degradation. Nevertheless, also disruption of the
      gastrointestinal barrier function, changes in microbiome or lack of tolerogenic
      peptic digests might contribute to the connection between anti-ulcer drug intake
      and allergic reaction. Therefore, these drugs should only be prescribed based on
      a precise gastroenterological diagnosis taking into consideration allergological
      mechanisms to ensure patients' safety.

PMID- 28603687
TI  - Prematurity and brain perfusion: Arterial spin labeling MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: Abnormal brain perfusion is a critical mechanism in neonatal brain
      injury. The aim of the present study was to compare Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF)
      evaluated with ASL MRI in three groups of neonates: preterms without brain
      lesions on MRI (PN), preterms with periventricular white matter lesions (PNp) and
      term neonates with normal MRI (TN). The correlation between CBF and clinical
      outcome was explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The institutional review board
      approved this prospective study and waived informed consent. The perfusion ASL
      data from 49 consecutive preterm neonates (PN) studied at term-equivalent age and
      15 TN were evaluated. Statistically significant differences in gray matter CBF
      were evaluated by using a linear mixed-model analysis and Mann-Whitney U test.
      Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relation between CBF and
      neuromotor outcome at 12 months. RESULTS: Comparison of means indicated that the
      CBF of the whole brain were significantly higher in PN compared to TN (P =
      0.011). This difference remained significant when considering the frontal (P =
      0.038), parietal (P = 0.002), temporal (P = 0.030), occipital (P = 0.041) and
      cerebellar (P = 0.010) gray matter. In the PN group, lower CBF in basal ganglia
      was associated with a worse neuromotor outcome (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: ASL MRI
      demonstrated differences in brain perfusion of the basal ganglia between PN and
      TN. In PN, a positive correlation between CBF and neuromotor outcome was
      demonstrated in this area.

PMID- 28603688
TI  - Novel piroplasmid and Hepatozoon organisms infecting the wildlife of two regions
      of the Brazilian Amazon.
AB  - During 2009-2012, wild animals were sampled in two areas within the Amazon biome
      of Brazil, in the states of Mato Grosso and Para. Animal tissues and blood were
      molecularly tested for the presence of Piroplasmida (genera Babesia, Theileria,
      Cytauxzoon) or Hepatozoon DNA. Overall, 181 wild animals comprising 36 different
      species (2 reptiles, 5 birds, and 29 mammals) were sampled. The following
      Piroplasmida agents were detected: Cytauxzoon felis in one ocelot (Leopardus
      pardalis), Theileria cervi in two red brocket deer (Mazama americana), Theileria
      spp. in three nine-banded-armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), one agouti
      (Dasyprocta sp.), and four lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca), Babesia spp. in one
      common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) and one white-lipped peccary (Tayassu
      pecari). The following Hepatozoon agents were detected: Hepatozoon sp. (possibly
      Hepatozoon caimani) in three spectacled caimans (Caiman crocodilus), Hepatozoon
      felis in an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and Hepatozoon spp. in one scorpion mud
      turtle (Kinosternon scorpioides) and one lowland paca (Cuniculus paca).
      Phylogenetic analyses inferred by the 18S rRNA gene partial sequences supported
      these results, highlighting at least five novel Piroplasmida agents, and two
      novel Hepatozoon agents. This study screened the presence of tick-borne protozoa
      in a number of wildlife species from the Amazon for the first time. Our results
      indicate that a variety of genetically distinct Piroplasmida and Hepatozoon
      organisms circulate under natural conditions in the Amazonian wildlife.

PMID- 28603689
TI  - Spiders, ladybugs and bees: A case of unusual sensations in a child with
      cingulate epilepsy.
AB  - Cingulate epilepsy is a rare form of epilepsy. Seizures from the anterior
      cingulate may present with mood change, fear, hypermotor activity, and autonomic
      signs, while posterior cingulate seizures resemble temporal lobe seizures. We
      describe a child with cingulate epilepsy who experienced unpleasant/painful
      sensory phenomenon. The sensations were described as spiders crawling on his
      forehead/right leg, ladybugs causing right ear pain and bees stinging his
      head/right extremities. Unpleasant sensory phenomenon/pain are rarely reported in
      cingulate epilepsy. Recognizing the role of the cingulate in producing
      pain/unusual sensory phenomenon is important, and may have localizing value when
      evaluating children for epilepsy surgery.

PMID- 28603690
TI  - An analytical study of photoacoustic and thermoacoustic generation efficiency
      towards contrast agent and film design optimization.
AB  - Photoacoustic (PA) and thermoacoustic (TA) effects have been explored in many
      applications, such as bio-imaging, laser-induced ultrasound generator, and
      sensitive electromagnetic (EM) wave film sensor. In this paper, we propose a
      compact analytical PA/TA generation model to incorporate EM, thermal and
      mechanical parameters, etc. From the derived analytical model, both intuitive
      predictions and quantitative simulations are performed. It shows that beyond the
      EM absorption improvement, there are many other physical parameters that deserve
      careful consideration when designing contrast agents or film composites, followed
      by simulation study. Lastly, several sets of experimental results are presented
      to prove the feasibility of the proposed analytical model. Overall, the proposed
      compact model could work as a clear guidance and predication for improved PA/TA
      contrast agents and film generator/sensor designs in the domain area.

PMID- 28603691
TI  - Use of cystatin C to inform metformin eligibility among adult veterans with
      diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: Recommendations for metformin use are dependent on eGFR category: eGFR >45
      ml/min/1.73 m2 - "first-line agent"; eGFR 30-44 - "use with caution"; eGFR<30 -
      "do not use". Misclassification of metformin eligibility by creatinine-based MDRD
      GFR estimates (eGFRcr) may contribute to its misuse. We investigated the impact
      of cystatin c estimates of GFR (eGFRcys) on metformin eligibility. METHODS: In a
      consecutive cohort of 550 Veterans with diabetes, metformin use and eligibility
      were assessed by eGFR category, using eGFRcr and eGFRcys. Discrepancy in
      eligibility was defined as cases where eGFRcr and eGFRcys categories (<30, 30-44,
      45-60, and >60 ml/min/1.73 m2) differed with an absolute difference in eGFR of >5
      ml/min/1.73 m2. We modeled predictors of metformin use and eGFR category
      discrepancy with multivariable relative risk regression and multinomial logistic
      regression. RESULTS: Subjects were 95% male, median age 68, and racially diverse
      (45% White, 22% Black, 11% Asian, 22% unknown). Metformin use decreased with
      severity of eGFRcr category, from 63% in eGFRcr >60 to 3% in eGFRcr <30. eGFRcys
      reclassified 20% of Veterans into different eGFR categories. Factors associated
      with a more severe eGFRcys category compared to eGFRcr were older age (aOR = 2.21
      per decade, 1.44-1.82), higher BMI (aOR = 1.04 per kg/m2, 1.01-1.08) and
      albuminuria >30 mg/g (aOR = 1.81, 1.20-2.73). CONCLUSIONS: Metformin use is low
      among Veterans with CKD. eGFRcys may serve as a confirmatory estimate of kidney
      function to allow safe use of metformin among patients with CKD, particularly
      among older individuals and those with albuminuria.

PMID- 28603692
TI  - Nanotechnology: The new perspective in precision agriculture.
AB  - Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary research field. In recent past efforts
      have been made to improve agricultural yield through exhaustive research in
      nanotechnology. The green revolution resulted in blind usage of pesticides and
      chemical fertilizers which caused loss of soil biodiversity and developed
      resistance against pathogens and pests as well. Nanoparticle-mediated material
      delivery to plants and advanced biosensors for precision farming are possible
      only by nanoparticles or nanochips. Nanoencapsulated conventional fertilizers,
      pesticides and herbicides helps in slow and sustained release of nutrients and
      agrochemicals resulting in precise dosage to the plants. Nanotechnology based
      plant viral disease detection kits are also becoming popular and are useful in
      speedy and early detection of viral diseases. In this article, the potential uses
      and benefits of nanotechnology in precision agriculture are discussed. The modern
      nanotechnology based tools and techniques have the potential to address the
      various problems of conventional agriculture and can revolutionize this sector.

PMID- 28603693
TI  - Cancer: Untethering Mitochondria from the Endoplasmic Reticulum?
AB  - Following the discovery of the mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM) as a hub
      for lipid metabolism in 1990 and its description as one of the first examples for
      membrane contact sites at the turn of the century, the past decade has seen the
      emergence of this structure as a potential regulator of cancer growth and
      metabolism. The mechanistic basis for this hypothesis is that the MAM
      accommodates flux of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to mitochondria.
      This flux then determines mitochondrial ATP production, known to be low in many
      tumors as part of the Warburg effect. However, low mitochondrial Ca2+ flux also
      reduces the propensity of tumor cells to undergo apoptosis, another cancer
      hallmark. Numerous regulators of this flux have been recently identified as MAM
      proteins. Not surprisingly, many fall into the groups of tumor suppressors and
      oncogenes. Given the important role that the MAM could play in cancer, it is
      expected that proteins mediating its formation are particularly implicated in
      tumorigenesis. Examples for such proteins are mitofusin-2 and phosphofurin acidic
      cluster sorting protein 2 that likely act as tumor suppressors. This review
      discusses how these proteins that mediate or regulate ER-mitochondria tethering
      are (or are not) promoting or inhibiting tumorigenesis. The emerging picture of
      MAMs in cancer seems to indicate that in addition to the downregulation of
      mitochondrial Ca2+ import, MAM defects are but one way how cancer cells control
      mitochondria metabolism and apoptosis.

PMID- 28603694
TI  - Estrogen Effects on the Mammary Gland in Early and Late Life and Breast Cancer
      Risk.
AB  - A woman has an increased risk of breast cancer if her lifelong estrogen exposure
      is increased due to an early menarche, a late menopause, and/or an absence of
      childbearing. For decades, it was presumed that the number of years of exposure
      drove the increased risk, however, recent epidemiological data have shown that
      early life exposure (young menarche) has a more significant effect on cancer risk
      than late menopause. Thus, rather than the overall exposure it seems that the
      timing of hormone exposure plays a major role in defining breast cancer risk. In
      support of this, it is also known that aberrant hormonal exposure prior to
      puberty can also increase breast cancer risk, yet the elevated estrogen levels
      during pregnancy decrease breast cancer risk. This suggests that the effects of
      estrogen on the mammary gland/breast are age-dependent. In this review article,
      we will discuss the existing epidemiological data linking hormone exposure and
      estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer risk including menarche, menopause,
      parity, and aberrant environmental hormone exposure. We will discuss the
      predominantly rodent generated experimental data that confirm the association
      with hormone exposure and breast cancer risk, confirming its use as a model
      system. We will review the work that has been done attempting to define the
      direct effects of estrogen on the breast, which are beginning to reveal the
      mechanism of increased cancer risk. We will then conclude with our views on the
      most pertinent questions to be addressed experimentally in order to explore the
      relationship between age, estrogen exposure, and breast cancer risk.

PMID- 28603695
TI  - The pag Gene of pXO1 Is Involved in Capsule Biosynthesis of Bacillus anthracis
      Pasteur II Strain.
AB  - The poly-gamma-D-glutamic acid capsule and anthrax toxins are major virulence
      factors of Bacillus anthracis. Genes responsible for capsule biosynthesis are
      located on pXO2, whereas genes encoding the toxins, which are composed of edema
      factors, lethal factors, and protective antigens (PA), are located on pXO1. In
      this study, we found that the pag null mutation not only eliminated the
      production of the protective antigen, it also eliminated the ability of the B.
      anthracis Pasteur II strain to form capsules. qPCR analysis revealed that the
      deletion of pag decreased the transcription levels of the capABCD operon and its
      regulatory genes acpA and acpB. The introduction of the acpA or acpB plasmid
      complemented the effect of the pag null mutation on capsule formation. Taken
      together, the above results suggest that PA probably affects capsule biosynthesis
      by altering the expression of acpA and acpB. In addition, we found that the
      deletion mutation of pag remarkably attenuated bacterial pathogenicity in a mouse
      model of infection. Our results indicate that besides encoding the protective
      antigen, the pag gene of pXO1 is also involved in the modulation of capsule
      biosynthesis. Our findings provide new insight into the regulation mechanisms of
      capsule formation in B. anthracis Pasteur II strain.

PMID- 28603696
TI  - Roles of LncRNAs in Viral Infections.
AB  - Many proteins and signaling pathways participate in anti-viral host responses.
      Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a subset of non-coding RNAs greater than 200
      nucleotides in length, have been recently described as critical regulators in
      viral infections. Accumulating research indicates that lncRNAs are important in
      the development and progression of infectious diseases. LncRNAs are not only
      involved in anti-viral responses, but in many different virus-host interactions,
      some of which may be beneficial to the virus. Here we review the current
      knowledge regarding host and viral lncRNAs and their roles in viral infections.
      In addition, the potential of using lncRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers is
      discussed.

PMID- 28603697
TI  - Dispersal and Transmission of Avian Paramyxovirus Serotype 4 among Wild Birds and
      Domestic Poultry.
AB  - Avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 (APMV-4) is found sporadically in wild birds
      worldwide, and it is an economically important poultry pathogen. Despite the
      existence of several published strains, very little is known about the
      distribution, host species, and transmission of APMV-4 strains. To better
      understand the relationships among these factors, we conducted an APMV-4
      surveillance of wild birds and domestic poultry in six provinces of China
      suspected of being intercontinental flyways and sites of interspecies
      transmission. APMV-4 surveillance was conducted in 9,160 wild birds representing
      seven species, and 1,461 domestic poultry in live bird markets (LMBs) from
      December 2013 to June 2016. The rate of APMV-4 isolation was 0.10% (11/10,621),
      and viruses were isolated from swan geese, bean geese, cormorants, mallards, and
      chickens. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of the 11 isolated viruses
      indicated that all the isolates belonging to genotype I were epidemiologically
      connected with wild bird-origin viruses from the Ukraine and Italy. Moreover,
      chicken-origin APMV-4 strains isolated from the LBMs were highly similar to wild
      bird-origin viruses from nearby lakes with free-living wild birds. In additional,
      a hemagglutination-negative APMV-4 virus was identified. These findings, together
      with recent APMV-4 studies, suggest potential virus interspecies transmission
      between wild birds and domestic poultry, and reveal possible epidemiological
      intercontinental connections between APMV-4 transmission by wild birds.

PMID- 28603699
TI  - CRISPR Interference (CRISPRi) Inhibition of luxS Gene Expression in E. coli: An
      Approach to Inhibit Biofilm.
AB  - Biofilm is a sessile bacterial accretion embedded in self-producing matrix. It is
      the root cause of about 80% microbial infections in human. Among them, E. coli
      biofilms are most prevalent in medical devices associated nosocomial infections.
      The objective of this study was to inhibit biofilm formation by targeting gene
      involved in quorum sensing, one of the main mechanisms of biofilm formation.
      Hence we have introduced the CRISPRi, first time to target luxS gene. luxS is a
      synthase, involved in the synthesis of Autoinducer-2(AI-2), which in turn guides
      the initial stage of biofilm formation. To implement CRISPRi system for luxS gene
      suppression, we have synthesized complementary sgRNA to target gene sequence and
      co-expressed with dCas9, a mutated form of an endonuclease. Suppression of luxS
      expression was confirmed through qRT-PCR. The effect of luxS gene on biofilm
      inhibition was studied through crystal violet assay, XTT reduction assay and
      scanning electron microscopy. We conclude that CRISPRi system could be a
      potential strategy to inhibit bacterial biofilm through mechanism base approach.

PMID- 28603698
TI  - Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever: Tick-Host-Virus Interactions.
AB  - Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is transmitted to humans by bite of
      infected ticks or by direct contact with blood or tissues of viremic patients or
      animals. It causes to humans a severe disease with fatality up to 30%. The
      current knowledge about the vector-host-CCHFV interactions is very limited due to
      the high-level containment required for CCHFV studies. Among ticks, Hyalomma spp.
      are considered the most competent virus vectors. CCHFV evades the tick immune
      response, and following its replication in the lining of the tick's midgut, it is
      disseminated by the hemolymph in the salivary glands and reproductive organs. The
      introduction of salivary gland secretions into the host cells is the major route
      via which CCHFV enters the host. Following an initial amplification at the site
      of inoculation, the virus is spread to the target organs. Apoptosis is induced
      via both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. Genetic factors and immune status of
      the host may affect the release of cytokines which play a major role in disease
      progression and outcome. It is expected that the use of new technology of
      metabolomics, transcriptomics and proteomics will lead to improved understanding
      of CCHFV-host interactions and identify potential targets for blocking the CCHFV
      transmission.

PMID- 28603701
TI  - A Comparison of Intravenous Ephedrine or Phenylephrine, for Prevention of
      Postspinal Hypotension during Elective Lower Abdominal Surgery: A Randomized,
      Double-blind Case-control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this randomized, double-blinded case-control study, we
      investigated the intravenous effects of ephedrine or phenylephrine on prevention
      of post-spinal hypotension in elective lower abdominal surgery under spinal
      anesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and thirty-five patients, American
      Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II candidate for elective lower
      abdominal surgery under spinal anesthesia were randomized to three groups (45
      each). According to their allocated group, patients received either ephedrine 2.5
      mg (E group), phenylephrine (P group) 25 mic as vasopressor or the same volume of
      saline normal as placebo (S group) immediately after the spinal anesthesia.
      hemodynamic parameters, and complications were recorded. RESULTS: Patients'
      demographics were similar in all the groups. The mean systolic blood pressure
      (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and MAP and also heart rate were similar
      over time for groups E and P (P > 0.05). The incidence of reactive hypertension
      was more in group E than group P and placebo (P < 0.05). The incidence of nausea
      and vomiting were significantly lower in groups E and P in comparison with
      placebo (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the mean fall of SBP and DBP were
      significantly less in groups E and P compared with placebo but we did not find
      significant differences in prophylactic use of ephedrine or phenylephrine for
      prevention of post-spinal hypotension in elective lower abdominal surgery.
      Vasopressors infusion have added benefit of lower incidence of nausea and
      vomiting.

PMID- 28603702
TI  - Comparison the Effect of Extra Corporeal Shockwave Therapy with Low Dosage Versus
      High Dosage in Treatment of the Patients with Lateral Epicondylitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the most common reasons of elbow and forearm pain is lateral
      epicondylitis diagnosed based on clinical examination. The extracorporeal shock
      wave therapy is applied for less invasive treatments with different dosages. This
      study aimed to investigate the effects of high- and low-dose ESW in treating the
      lateral epicondylitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was done in Al
      Zahra medical center on 40 patients who were selected randomly and divided into
      two groups. After VAS, the first group was treated by Duolith SD1 shock wave,
      energy of 0.25 mj/mm2, 1000 shocks; the second was treated by focus with the
      energy of 0.10 mj/mm2, 1000 shocks per session for 15 minutes with weekly
      intervals in three sessions. The patients were also treated with drugs (NSAIDs)
      and the visual analog scale (VAS) was reassessed 1 week after the last session
      and 12 weeks after finishing the treatment. RESULTS: The mean of pain intensity
      during study was decreased in the two groups but reduction of pain intensity in
      the low-dose groups was higher than the high-dose groups (P = 0.001). Changes in
      other parameters including wrist extension test, middle finger extension test and
      PG was also similar. CONCLUSION: Extra corporeal shockwave therapy can be
      effective in treating lateral epicondylitis, but its effects usually appear in
      after 2 or 3 months and using the low dose of this treating method has more
      desirable therapeutic effects.

PMID- 28603703
TI  - Antioxidant Capability of Ultra-high Temperature Milk and Ultra-high Temperature
      Soy Milk and their Fermented Products Determined by Four Distinct
      Spectrophotometric Methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the recent emerging information on the antioxidant properties
      of soy products, substitution of soy milk for milk in the diet has been proposed
      by some nutritionists. We aimed to compare four distinct antioxidant measuring
      methods in the evaluation of antioxidant properties of industrial ultra-high
      temperature (UHT) milk, UHT soy milk, and their fermented products by
      Lactobacillus plantarum A7. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ascorbate auto-oxidation
      inhibition assay, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical
      scavenging method, hydrogen peroxide neutralization assay and reducing activity
      test were compared for the homogeneity and accuracy of the results. RESULTS: The
      results obtained by the four tested methods did not completely match with each
      other. The results of the DPPH assay and the reducing activity were more
      coordinated than the other methods. By the use of these methods, the antioxidant
      capability of UHT soy milk was measured more than UHT milk (33.51 +/- 6.00% and
      945 +/- 56 MUM cysteine compared to 8.70 +/- 3.20% and 795 +/- 82 MUM cysteine).
      The negative effect of fermentation on the antioxidant potential of UHT soy milk
      was revealed as ascorbate auto-oxidation inhibition assay, DPPH method and
      reducing activity tests ended to approximately 52%, 58%, and 80% reduction in
      antioxidant potential of UHT soy milk, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The
      antioxidative properties of UHT soy milk could not be solely due to its phenolic
      components. Peptides and amino acids derived from thermal processing in soy milk
      probably have a main role in its antioxidant activity, which should be studied in
      the future.

PMID- 28603704
TI  - Relationship between Self-efficacy and Physical Activity, Medication Adherence in
      Chronic Disease Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The global epidemic of unhealthy lifestyle causes to increase chronic
      disease. It has been proven that psychological factors such as self-efficacy are
      responsible to success in the process of lifestyle change. Low self-efficacy is
      usually related to low level of physical activity and medication adherence.
      Objective of the study was to investigate the effects of self-efficacy, other
      physical symptoms on physical activity and medication adherence in patients with
      chronic illness in public health centers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted on 483 patients with chronic diseases attended to
      governmental health care centers in Isfahan. Participants were chosen by
      systematic random sampling. Inclusion criteria were having a chronic illness at
      least 6-month ago while prescription of medication and willing to take part in
      the survey. The parts of Stanford Self-management Questionnaire were used. Data
      were analyzed by SPSS 18 software using the descriptive and analytic statistics.
      P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 54.8
      (7.22) years. The half of participants had low self-efficacy and 87.2% had low
      physical activity. Nearly 80% of patients had a good medication adherence. There
      was a significant relationship between self-efficacy and physical activity (P =
      0.336, beta = 1.01, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although chronic disease patients had
      a good medication adherence, other self-care behaviors such as physical activity
      has been neglected. It is seemed that concentration on psychological factors such
      as self-efficacy should be considered as a proximal factor to improve self-care.

PMID- 28603700
TI  - The Type IX Secretion System (T9SS): Highlights and Recent Insights into Its
      Structure and Function.
AB  - Protein secretion systems are vital for prokaryotic life, as they enable bacteria
      to acquire nutrients, communicate with other species, defend against biological
      and chemical agents, and facilitate disease through the delivery of virulence
      factors. In this review, we will focus on the recently discovered type IX
      secretion system (T9SS), a complex translocon found only in some species of the
      Bacteroidetes phylum. T9SS plays two roles, depending on the lifestyle of the
      bacteria. It provides either a means of movement (called gliding motility) for
      peace-loving environmental bacteria or a weapon for pathogens. The best-studied
      members of these two groups are Flavobacterium johnsoniae, a commensal
      microorganism often found in water and soil, and Porphyromonas gingivalis, a
      human oral pathogen that is a major causative agent of periodontitis. In P.
      gingivalis and some other periodontopathogens, T9SS translocates proteins,
      especially virulence factors, across the outer membrane (OM). Proteins destined
      for secretion bear a conserved C-terminal domain (CTD) that directs the cargo to
      the OM translocon. At least 18 proteins are involved in this still enigmatic
      process, with some engaged in the post-translational modification of T9SS cargo
      proteins. Upon translocation across the OM, the CTD is removed by a protease with
      sortase-like activity and an anionic LPS is attached to the newly formed C
      terminus. As a result, a cargo protein could be secreted into the extracellular
      milieu or covalently attached to the bacterial surface. T9SS is regulated by a
      two-component system; however, the precise environmental signal that triggers it
      has not been identified. Exploring unknown systems contributing to bacterial
      virulence is exciting, as it may eventually lead to new therapeutic strategies.
      During the past decade, the major components of T9SS were identified, as well as
      hints suggesting the possible mechanism of action. In addition, the list of
      characterized cargo proteins is constantly growing. The actual structure of the
      translocon, situated in the OM of bacteria, remains the least explored area;
      however, new technical approaches and increasing scientific attention have
      resulted in a growing body of data. Therefore, we present a compact up-to-date
      review of this topic.

PMID- 28603705
TI  - Comparing the Efficacy of Three Different Nano-scale Bone Substitutes: In vivo
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synthetic biocompatible bone substitutions have been used widely for
      bone tissue regeneration as they are safe and effective. The aim of this animal
      study is to compare the effectiveness of three different biocompatible bone
      substitutes, including nano-hydroxyapatite (nano-HA) nano-bioglass (nano-BG) and
      forstrite scaffolds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this interventional and
      experimental study, four healthy dogs were anesthetized, and the first to fourth
      premolars were extracted in each quadrant. After healing, the linear incision on
      the crestal ridge from molar to anterior segment prepared in each quadrant and 16
      defects in each dog were prepared. Nano-HA, nano-BG, and forstrite scaffold was
      prepared according to the size of defects and placed in the 12 defects randomly,
      four defects remained as a control group. The dogs were sacrificed in four time
      intervals (15, 30, 45, and 60 days after) and the percentage of different types
      of regenerated bones (lamellar and woven) and connective tissue were recorded in
      histological process. The data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney test (alpha =
      0.05). RESULTS: The difference in nano-HA and nano-BG with the control group was
      significant in three-time intervals regarding the amount of bone formation (P <
      0.01). After 15 days, the nano-HA showed the highest amount of woven and lamellar
      bone regeneration (18.37 +/- 1.06 and 30.44 +/- 0.54). CONCLUSION: Nano-HA and
      nano-BG groups showed a significant amount of bone regeneration, especially after
      30 days, but paying more surveys and observation to these materials as bone
      substitutes seem to be needed.

PMID- 28603706
TI  - Need to Examine Postural Impairments in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.

PMID- 28603707
TI  - Maxillary resection for cancer, zygomatic implants insertion, and palatal repair
      as single-stage procedure: report of three cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oronasal/antral communication, loss of teeth and/or tooth-supporting
      bone, and facial contour deformity may occur as a consequence of maxillectomy for
      cancer. As a result, speaking, chewing, swallowing, and appearance are variably
      affected. The restoration is focused on rebuilding the oronasal wall, using
      either flaps (local or free) for primary closure, either prosthetic obturator.
      Postoperative radiotherapy surely postpones every dental procedure aimed to set
      fixed devices, often makes it difficult and risky, even unfeasible. Regular
      prosthesis, tooth-bearing obturator, and endosseous implants (in native and/or
      transplanted bone) are used in order to complete dental rehabilitation. Zygomatic
      implantology (ZI) is a valid, usually delayed, multi-staged procedure, either
      after having primarily closed the oronasal/antral communication or after left it
      untreated or amended with obturator. The present paper is an early report of a
      relatively new, one-stage approach for rehabilitation of patients after tumour
      resection, with palatal repair with loco-regional flaps and zygomatic implant
      insertion: supposed advantages are concentration of surgical procedures, reduced
      time of rehabilitation, and lowered patient discomfort. CASES PRESENTATION: We
      report three patients who underwent alveolo-maxillary resection for cancer and
      had the resulting oroantral communication directly closed with loco-regional
      flaps. Simultaneous zygomatic implant insertion was added, in view of granting
      the optimal dental rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: All surgical procedures were
      successful in terms of oroantral separation and implant survival. One patient had
      the fixed dental restoration just after 3 months, and the others had to receive
      postoperative radiotherapy; thus, rehabilitation timing was longer, as expected.
      We think this approach could improve the outcome in selected patients.

PMID- 28603708
TI  - Revisiting radial forearm free flap for successful venous drainage.
AB  - Tissue defect reconstruction using radial forearm free flap (RFFF) is a common
      surgical technique whose success or failure is mainly dependent on venous
      drainage. RFFF has two major venous outflow systems, superficial and deep vein.
      Drainage methods include combining both systems or using one alone. This review
      aims to recapitulate the vascular anatomy and network of RFFF as well as shed
      light on deep vein as a reliable venous drainage system. We also discuss basic
      evidence for and advantages of single microanastomosis with coalesced vein to
      overcome technical difficulties associated with the deep vein system.

PMID- 28603709
TI  - How Much Asthma Is Atopic in Children?

PMID- 28603710
TI  - Use of Non-Prescription Remedies by Ghanaian Human Immunodeficiency Virus
      Positive Persons on Antiretroviral Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inappropriate use of non-prescription remedies by persons living with
      human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) may result in adverse events or potentiate
      non-adherence to prescribed medications. This study investigated the use of non
      prescription remedies among PLHIV receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) from
      four treatment centers in southern Ghana. METHODS: A mixed method design using
      quantitative and qualitative methods was used. This article focuses on the
      quantitative survey of 540 respondents. Univariate analysis was used to generate
      descriptive tabulations of key variables. Bivariate analysis and logistic
      regression modeling, respectively, produced unadjusted and adjusted associations
      between background attributes of PLHIV and the use of non-prescription remedies.
      A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were
      performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. RESULTS: One out
      of three respondents reported the use of non-prescription remedies at least once
      within 3 months of the survey. Most of these were locally made and included
      "Angel natural bitters, concoctions from the Christian prayer centers, garlic,
      and mahogany syrups." These remedies were used concomitantly with antiretroviral
      medications (ARVs)-46% or administered with ARVs but at different times during
      the day (43%). Some of the remedies were reportedly prescribed by health workers,
      or self-initiated during periods of ARVs shortage. Others took them based on
      their perception of their efficacy. Bivariate level analysis identified ART
      clinic site, place of residence, and ARV adherence monitoring to be significantly
      associated with the use of non-prescription remedies (p < 0.05). Multiple
      logistic regression analysis controlling for covariates confirmed the location of
      ART clinic as the only predictor of the use of non-prescription remedies.
      Compared to clients at the large urban teaching hospital (Korle-Bu Fevers Unit
      ART center), those at the district level (Atua ART center) were ninefold more
      likely to use non-prescription remedies [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 8.84; 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 2.83-33.72]. Those from a district level mission
      hospital (St. Martin's ART center) were threefold as likely to use these remedies
      (AOR = 2.610; 95% CI 1.074-9.120). CONCLUSION: The use of non-prescription
      remedies by PLHIV on ART is common in southern Ghana. Usage is mostly self
      initiated because of perceived efficacy of remedy, and was more common among
      clients attending rural ART clinics.

PMID- 28603711
TI  - Autophagy in the Vertebrate Inner Ear.
AB  - Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process that results in the lysosomal
      degradation of cell components. During development, autophagy is associated with
      tissue and organ remodeling, and under physiological conditions it is tightly
      regulated as it plays a housekeeping role in removing misfolded proteins and
      damaged organelles. The vertebrate inner ear is a complex sensory organ
      responsible for the perception of sound and for balance. Cell survival, death and
      proliferation, as well as cell fate specification and differentiation, are
      processes that are strictly coordinated during the development of the inner ear
      in order to generate the more than a dozen specialized cell types that constitute
      this structure. Here, we review the existing evidence that implicates autophagy
      in the generation of the vertebrate inner ear. At early stages of chicken otic
      development, inhibiting autophagy impairs neurogenesis and causes aberrant
      otocyst morphogenesis. Autophagy provides energy for the clearing of dying cells
      and it favors neuronal differentiation. Moreover, autophagy is required for
      proper vestibular development in the mouse inner ear. The autophagy-related genes
      Becn1, Atg4g, Atg5, and Atg9, are expressed in the inner ear from late
      developmental stages to adulthood, and Atg4b mutants show impaired vestibular
      behavior associated to defects in otoconial biogenesis that are also common to
      Atg5 mutants. Autophagic flux appears to be age-regulated, augmenting from
      perinatal stages to young adulthood in mice. This up-regulation is concomitant
      with the functional maturation of the hearing receptor. Hence, autophagy can be
      considered an intracellular pathway fundamental for in vertebrate inner ear
      development and maturation.

PMID- 28603712
TI  - Growth Rate as a Direct Regulator of the Start Network to Set Cell Size.
AB  - Cells are able to adjust their growth and size to external inputs to comply with
      specific fates and developmental programs. Molecular pathways controlling growth
      also have an enormous impact in cell size, and bacteria, yeast, or epithelial
      cells modify their size as a function of growth rate. This universal feature
      suggests that growth (mass) and proliferation (cell number) rates are subject to
      general coordinating mechanisms. However, the underlying molecular connections
      are still a matter of debate. Here we review the current ideas on growth and cell
      size control, and focus on the possible mechanisms that could link the
      biosynthetic machinery to the Start network in budding yeast. In particular, we
      discuss the role of molecular chaperones in a competition framework to explain
      cell size control by growth at the individual cell level.

PMID- 28603713
TI  - Dishevelled Paralogs in Vertebrate Development: Redundant or Distinct?
AB  - Dishevelled (DVL) proteins are highly conserved in the animal kingdom and are
      important key players in beta-Catenin-dependent and -independent Wnt signaling
      pathways. Vertebrate genomes typically comprise three DVL genes, DVL1, DVL2, and
      DVL3. Expression patterns and developmental functions of the three vertebrate DVL
      proteins however, are only partially redundant in any given species. Moreover,
      expression and function of DVL isoforms have diverged between different
      vertebrate species. All DVL proteins share basic functionality in Wnt signal
      transduction. Additional, paralog-specific interactions and functions combined
      with context-dependent availability of DVL isoforms may play a central role in
      defining Wnt signaling specificity and add selectivity toward distinct downstream
      pathways. In this review, we recapitulate briefly cellular functions of DVL
      paralogs, their role in vertebrate embryonic development and congenital disease.

PMID- 28603715
TI  - Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Renal Transplant Recipients: A Single Center
      Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in native kidneys is associated
      with a significant increase in mortality and morbidity. Data regarding CIN in
      renal allografts are limited, however. We retrospectively studied CIN in renal
      allografts at our institution: its incidence, risk factors, and effect on long
      term outcomes including allograft loss and death. METHODS: One hundred thirty
      five renal transplant recipients undergoing 161 contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography (CT) scans or coronary angiograms (Cath) between years 2000 and 2014
      were identified. Contrast agents were iso- or low osmolar. CIN was defined as a
      rise in serum creatinine (SCr) by >0.3 mg/dl or 25% from baseline within 4 days
      of contrast exposure. After excluding 85 contrast exposures where patients had no
      SCr within 4 days of contrast administration, 76 exposures (CT: n = 45; Cath: n =
      31) in 50 eligible patients were analyzed. Risk factors assessed included
      demographics, comorbid conditions, type/volume of contrast agent used, IV fluids,
      N-acetylcysteine administration, and calcineurin inhibitor use. Bivariate and
      multivariable analyses were used to assess the risk of CIN. RESULTS: Incidence of
      CIN was 13% following both, CT (6 out of 45) and Cath (4 out of 31). Significant
      bivariate predictors of CIN were IV fluid administration (p = 0.05), lower
      hemoglobin (p = 0.03), and lower albumin (p = 0.02). In a multivariable model,
      CIN was predicted by N-acetylcysteine (p = 0.03) and lower hemoglobin (p = 0.01).
      Calcineurin inhibitor use was not associated with CIN. At last follow-up, CIN did
      not affect allograft or patient survival. CONCLUSION: CIN is common in kidney
      transplant recipients, and there is room for quality improvement with regards to
      careful renal function monitoring post-contrast exposure. In our study, N
      acetylcysteine exposure and lower hemoglobin were associated with CIN.
      Calcineurin inhibitor use was not associated with CIN. Our sample size is small,
      however, and larger prospective studies of CIN in renal allografts are needed.

PMID- 28603714
TI  - Defining Disease, Diagnosis, and Translational Medicine within a Homeostatic
      Perturbation Paradigm: The National Institutes of Health Undiagnosed Diseases
      Program Experience.
AB  - Traditionally, the use of genomic information for personalized medical decisions
      relies on prior discovery and validation of genotype-phenotype associations. This
      approach constrains care for patients presenting with undescribed problems. The
      National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP)
      hypothesized that defining disease as maladaptation to an ecological niche allows
      delineation of a logical framework to diagnose and evaluate such patients.
      Herein, we present the philosophical bases, methodologies, and processes
      implemented by the NIH UDP. The NIH UDP incorporated use of the Human Phenotype
      Ontology, developed a genomic alignment strategy cognizant of parental genotypes,
      pursued agnostic biochemical analyses, implemented functional validation, and
      established virtual villages of global experts. This systematic approach provided
      a foundation for the diagnostic or non-diagnostic answers provided to patients
      and serves as a paradigm for scalable translational research.

PMID- 28603717
TI  - Assessment of the Risk to Public Health due to Use of Antimicrobials in Pigs-An
      Example of Pleuromutilins in Denmark.
AB  - Antibiotic consumption in pigs can be optimized by developing treatment
      guidelines, which encourage veterinarians to use effective drugs with low
      probability of developing resistance of importance for human health. In Denmark,
      treatment guidelines for use in swine production are currently under review at
      the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. Use of pleuromutilins in swine has
      previously been associated with a very low risk for human health. However, recent
      international data and sporadic findings of novel resistance genes suggest a
      change of risk. Consequently, a reassessment was undertaken inspired by a risk
      assessment framework developed by the European Medicines Agency. Livestock
      associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus of clonal complex 398
      (MRSA CC398) and enterococci were identified as relevant hazards. The release
      assessment showed that the probability of development of pleuromutilin resistance
      was high in MRSA CC398 (medium uncertainty) and low in enterococci (high
      uncertainty). A relatively small proportion of Danes has an occupational exposure
      to pigs, and foodborne transmission was only considered of relevance for
      enterococci, resulting in an altogether low exposure risk. The human consequences
      of infection with pleuromutilin-resistant MRSA CC398 or enterococci were assessed
      as low for the public in general but high for vulnerable groups such as
      hospitalized and immunocompromised persons. For MRSA CC398, the total risk was
      estimated as low (low uncertainty), among other due to the current guidelines on
      prevention of MRSA in place at Danish hospitals, which include screening of
      patients with daily contact to pigs on admittance. Moreover, MRSA CC398 has a
      medium human-human transmission potential. For enterococci, the total risk was
      estimated as low due to low prevalence of resistance, low probability of spread
      to humans, low virulence, but no screening of hospitalized patients, high ability
      of acquiring resistance genes, and a limited number of alternative antimicrobials
      (high uncertainty). This assessment reflects the current situation and should be
      repeated if pleuromutilin consumption increases substantially, resulting in
      increased prevalence of mobile, easily transmissible resistance mechanisms.
      Continuous monitoring of pleuromutilin resistance in selected human pathogens
      should therefore be considered. This also includes monitoring of linezolid
      resistance, since resistance mechanisms for pleuromutilins and oxazolidones are
      often coupled.

PMID- 28603718
TI  - Impact of sleep apnea on in-hospital outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement: insight from National Inpatient Sample database 2011-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep apnea is associated with worse outcomes following various kinds
      of surgeries. There is a paucity of data on the association of sleep apnea with
      clinical outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). METHODS:
      We used National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data 2011-2014 to identify patients
      undergoing TAVR. Association between sleep apnea and in-hospital postoperative
      outcomes were assessed by multivariate logistic regression and 1:1 propensity
      score matching analyses. RESULTS: Of 42,189 patients who received TAVR, 4,605
      patients (10.9%) had sleep apnea. Patients with sleep apnea were more likely to
      be younger and male with higher prevalences of hypertension, diabetes mellitus,
      dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, pulmonary hypertension and obesity who less
      frequently received transapical access than those without sleep apnea. The group
      with sleep apnea had less bleeding requiring transfusion (8.6% vs. 11.9%, P=0.01)
      than the counterpart. After adjusting for confounders, the presence of sleep
      apnea was no longer independently associated with any of the studied outcomes
      including all-cause mortality (OR 0.95; 95% CI: 0.64-1.42), stroke (OR 1.08; 95%
      CI: 0.65-1.81), myocardial infarction (OR 0.66; 95% CI: 0.36-1.22), acute
      respiratory failure (OR 0.94; 95% CI: 0.72-1.23), pneumothorax (OR 0.64; 95% CI:
      0.26-1.59), vascular complication (OR 0.91; 95% CI: 0.69-1.22), bleeding
      requiring transfusion (OR 0.85; 95% CI: 0.65-1.11), acute kidney injury requiring
      hemodialysis (OR 0.94; 95% CI: 0.53-1.66) and permanent pacemaker implantation
      (OR 1.12; 95% CI: 0.87-1.43). The length and cost of hospital stay were not
      affected by sleep apnea, either. CONCLUSIONS: With a prevalence of 10.9%, the
      presence of sleep apnea was not independently associated with postoperative in
      hospital outcomes in patients undergoing TAVR in NIS data 2011 to 2014.

PMID- 28603719
TI  - Prospective study of quality of life after lung cancer resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection with curative-intent remains the gold standard for
      clinically operable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This goal can
      be accomplished using a minimally invasive option, e.g., video assisted thoracic
      surgery (VATS) or standard thoracotomy. Surgical techniques continue to evolve
      and few studies have compared the QOL of patients managed with these procedures
      using current approaches. The primary goal of this study was to investigate
      differences between patients managed surgically via VATS compared to thoracotomy
      with respect to ratings of chronic pain, anxiety/depression and quality of life
      (QOL). The secondary goal was to investigate differences between patients
      converted from VATS to thoracotomy versus those managed with the originally with
      thoracotomy. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cross sectional design study
      comparing the QOL after surgical resection of NSCLC. Data were obtained between 3
      12 months postoperatively, from patients with potentially resectable stage I-IIIa
      NSCLC, who underwent a thoracotomy or VATS resection. All patients were
      consented. Pain was evaluated with a 0 to 10 numeric pain assessment scale (NAS),
      mood with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (mood disorders) and
      QOL with FACT-L (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung). RESULTS: A total
      of 97 patients with stage I-IIIa lung cancer were enrolled; of these 66 (68%)
      underwent a standard thoracotomy and 31 (32%) underwent VATS resection. The
      preferred surgical approach was a thoracotomy for patients with stage IIIa lung
      cancer, or patients requiring a pneumonectomy or a bi-lobectomy. There were no
      significant differences between VATS and thoracotomy patients in ratings of
      chronic pain, mood disorders, or QOL. Conversion from VATS to thoracotomy
      occurred in 22 (23%) of patients. There were no significant differences between
      VATS conversion to thoracotomy and those with initial thoracotomy procedures in
      ratings of chronic pain, mood disorders, or QOL. Conversion from VATS to standard
      thoracotomy occurred more commonly early in the series. CONCLUSIONS: While
      previous studies have shown that VATS offers an early advantage with regards to
      perioperative outcomes, our study demonstrated that VATS and thoracotomy patients
      had similar late QOL outcomes.

PMID- 28603716
TI  - Optimizing Nutrition in Preterm Low Birth Weight Infants-Consensus Summary.
AB  - Preterm birth survivors are at a higher risk of growth and developmental
      disabilities compared to their term counterparts. Development of strategies to
      lower the complications of preterm birth forms the rising need of the hour.
      Appropriate nutrition is essential for the growth and development of preterm
      infants. Early administration of optimal nutrition to preterm birth survivors
      lowers the risk of adverse health outcomes and improves cognition in adulthood. A
      group of neonatologists, pediatricians, and nutrition experts convened to discuss
      and frame evidence-based recommendations for optimizing nutrition in preterm low
      birth weight (LBW) infants. The following were the primary recommendations of the
      panel: (1) enteral feeding is safe and may be preferred to parenteral nutrition
      due to the complications associated with the latter; however, parenteral
      nutrition may be a useful adjunct to enteral feeding in some critical cases; (2)
      early, fast, or continuous enteral feeding yields better outcomes compared to
      late, slow, or intermittent feeding, respectively; (3) routine use of nasogastric
      tubes is not advisable; (4) preterm infants can be fed while on ventilator or
      continuous positive airway pressure; (5) routine evaluation of gastric residuals
      and abdominal girth should be avoided; (6) expressed breast milk (EBM) is the
      first choice for feeding preterm infants due to its beneficial effects on
      cardiovascular, neurological, bone health, and growth outcomes; the second choice
      is donor pasteurized human milk; (7) EBM or donor milk may be fortified with
      human milk fortifiers, without increasing the osmolality of the milk, to meet the
      high protein requirements of preterm infants; (8) standard fortification is
      effective and safe but does not fulfill the high protein needs; (9) use of
      targeted and adjustable fortification, where possible, helps provide optimal
      nutrition; (10) optimizing weight gain in preterm infants prevents long-term
      cardiovascular complications; (11) checking for optimal weight and
      sucking/swallowing ability is essential prior to discharge of preterm infants;
      and (12) appropriate counseling and regular follow-up and monitoring after
      discharge will help achieve better long-term health outcomes. This consensus
      summary serves as a useful guide to clinicians in addressing the challenges and
      providing optimal nutrition to preterm LBW infants.

PMID- 28603720
TI  - MET in human cancer: germline and somatic mutations.
AB  - Since the initial discovery of missense MET mutations in hereditary papillary
      renal carcinoma (HPRC), activating MET mutations have been identified in a
      diverse range of human cancers. MET mutations have been identified in several
      functional domains including the kinase, juxtamembrane, and Sema domains. Studies
      of these mutations have been invaluable for our understanding of the tumor
      initiating activity of MET, receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) recycling and
      regulation, and mechanisms of resistance to kinase inhibition. These studies also
      demonstrate that mutationally activated MET plays a significant role in a wide
      range of cancers and RTKs can promote tumor progression through diverse
      mechanisms. This review will cover the various MET mutations that have been
      identified, their mechanism of action, and the significant role that mutationally
      activated MET plays in tumor initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance.

PMID- 28603721
TI  - Helping prometheus: liver protection in acute hemorrhagic shock.
AB  - Acute hemorrhagic hypovolemic shock is caused by a significant high blood loss
      and leads to hemodynamic instability. The decrease in intravascular volume
      results in cellular hypoxia and finally in damage to organs such as the liver and
      the kidney. The liver plays a decisive role in the development or prevention of
      multiple organ failure after hemorrhagic shock. Despite the large number of
      experimental studies, the knowledge of pathophysiological mechanisms in the liver
      after hemorrhagic shock is incomplete. The aim of this mini review was to provide
      an overview of the pathophysiological changes in liver function after acute
      hemorrhagic shock and to address treatment options to improve liver perfusion.

PMID- 28603724
TI  - Pulmonary embolism in transit.
AB  - A 65-year-old woman with recently diagnosed ovarian cancer presented with near
      syncope, tachypnea, and hypoxia. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a
      dilated and hypokinetic right ventricle and a large, mobile mass in the right
      atrium prolapsing across the tricuspid valve. She was diagnosed with pulmonary
      embolism in transit and emergent embolectomy was recommended.

PMID- 28603722
TI  - External beam techniques to boost cervical cancer when brachytherapy is not an
      option-theories and applications.
AB  - The management of locally advanced cervical cancer relies on brachytherapy (BT)
      as an integral part of the radiotherapy delivery armamentarium. Occasionally,
      intracavitary BT is neither possible nor available. In these circumstances, post
      external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) interstitial brachytherapy and/or hysterectomy
      may represent viable options that must be adequately executed in a timely manner.
      However, if these options are not applicable due to patient related or facility
      related reasons, a formal contingency plan should be in place. Innovative EBRT
      techniques such as intensity modulated and stereotactic radiotherapy may be
      considered for patients unable to undergo brachytherapy. Relying on provocative
      arguments and recent data, this review explores the rationale for and limitations
      of non-brachytherapy substitutes in that setting aiming to establish a formal
      process for the optimal execution of this alternative plan.

PMID- 28603723
TI  - Biomarker-guided antibiotic therapy-strengths and limitations.
AB  - Biomarkers as C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) emerged as tools
      to help clinicians to diagnose infection and to properly initiate and define the
      duration of antibiotic therapy. Several randomized controlled trials, including
      adult critically ill patients, showed that PCT-guided antibiotic stewardship was
      repeatedly associated with a decrease in the duration of antibiotic therapy with
      no apparent harm. There are however some relevant limitations in these trials
      namely the low rate of compliance of PCT-guided algorithms, the high rate of
      exclusion (without including common clinical situations and pathogens) and the
      long duration of antibiotic therapy in control groups. Such limitations weakened
      the real impact of such algorithms in the clinical decision-making process and
      strengthened the concept that the initiation and the duration of antibiotic
      therapy cannot depend solely on a biomarker. Future efforts should address these
      limitations in order to better clarify the role of biomarkers on the complex and
      multifactorial issue of antibiotic management and to deeply understand its
      potential effect on mortality.

PMID- 28603725
TI  - Multi-vessel giant coronary artery aneurysm in an elderly female.
AB  - Coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) is a rare anomaly. The right coronary artery is
      the most commonly affected, followed by the left circumflex (LCX), or the left
      anterior descending artery (LAD). Three-vessel disease or left main (LM)
      involvement is extremely rare. A giant coronary artery aneurysm (GCAA) has an
      extremely low incidence and refers to an aneurysm that is 20 mm or greater in
      size. Most CAAs occur as a consequence of atherosclerosis. Most patients with CAA
      are males, have three-vessel disease, and a history of myocardial infarction
      (MI). Thrombosis within the aneurysm can lead to distal embolization and MI.
      Depending on the severity of coronary stenosis, management of patients with LM
      CAAs is either surgical or medical.

PMID- 28603726
TI  - Drawing Nomograms with R: applications to categorical outcome and survival data.
AB  - Outcome prediction is a major task in clinical medicine. The standard approach to
      this work is to collect a variety of predictors and build a model of appropriate
      type. The model is a mathematical equation that connects the outcome of interest
      with the predictors. A new patient with given clinical characteristics can be
      predicted for outcome with this model. However, the equation describing the
      relationship between predictors and outcome is often complex and the computation
      requires software for practical use. There is another method called nomogram
      which is a graphical calculating device allowing an approximate graphical
      computation of a mathematical function. In this article, we describe how to draw
      nomograms for various outcomes with nomogram() function. Binary outcome is fit by
      logistic regression model and the outcome of interest is the probability of the
      event of interest. Ordinal outcome variable is also discussed. Survival analysis
      can be fit with parametric model to fully describe the distributions of survival
      time. Statistics such as the median survival time, survival probability up to a
      specific time point are taken as the outcome of interest.

PMID- 28603727
TI  - Translational aspects of developmental hemostasis: infants and children are not
      miniature adults and even adults may be different.

PMID- 28603728
TI  - Aspirin monotherapy vs. dual antiplatelet therapy in diabetic patients following
      coronary artery bypass graft (CABG): where do we stand?

PMID- 28603729
TI  - Glioma, glutamate (SLC7A11) and seizures-a commentary.

PMID- 28603730
TI  - Neuropsychological outcomes after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation.

PMID- 28603731
TI  - Custom cutting guides in total knee arthroplasty.

PMID- 28603732
TI  - Neuropsychological outcomes from deep brain stimulation-stimulation versus micro
      lesion.

PMID- 28603733
TI  - Prolonged exposure to acetaminophen during pregnancy reduces testosterone
      production by the human fetal testis.

PMID- 28603734
TI  - Inflammation in the spotlight-clinical relevance of genetic variants affecting
      nuclear factor kappaB and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1.

PMID- 28603735
TI  - Cancer exosomes: wanted by many, explored by few, waiting for one.

PMID- 28603736
TI  - Dendritic cell-derived exosomes for cancer immunotherapy: hope and challenges.

PMID- 28603737
TI  - Therapeutic targeting of dysregulated cellular communication.

PMID- 28603738
TI  - Immunosuppressive role of extracellular vesicles: HLA-G, an important player.

PMID- 28603739
TI  - Inhibition of SOX9 may be an effective target for increasing radiosensitivity in
      gastrointestinal cancer.

PMID- 28603740
TI  - Modular versus nonmodular tibial inserts in total knee arthroplasty: what are the
      differences?

PMID- 28603741
TI  - Outerbridge grade IV cartilage lesions in the hip identified at arthroscopy.

PMID- 28603743
TI  - Interview with Prof. Michael Bouvet: the current status and future of
      fluorescence imaging.

PMID- 28603742
TI  - Management of hypertension in patients undergoing surgery.

PMID- 28603744
TI  - Aging and the Resting State: Cognition is not Obsolete.

PMID- 28603745
TI  - Lentivector Iterations and Pre-Clinical Scale-Up/Toxicity Testing: Targeting
      Mobilized CD34+ Cells for Correction of Fabry Disease.
AB  - Fabry disease is a rare lysosomal storage disorder (LSD). We designed multiple
      recombinant lentivirus vectors (LVs) and tested their ability to engineer
      expression of human alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-gal A) in transduced Fabry
      patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells. We further investigated the safety and
      efficacy of a clinically directed vector, LV/AGA, in both ex vivo cell culture
      studies and animal models. Fabry mice transplanted with LV/AGA-transduced
      hematopoietic cells demonstrated alpha-gal A activity increases and lipid
      reductions in multiple tissues at 6 months after transplantation. Next we found
      that LV/AGA-transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells produced even
      higher levels of alpha-gal A activity than normal CD34+ hematopoietic cells. We
      successfully transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells with "near
      clinical grade" LV/AGA in small-scale cultures and then validated a clinically
      directed scale-up transduction process in a GMP-compliant cell processing
      facility. LV-transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells were subsequently
      infused into NOD/SCID/Fabry (NSF) mice; alpha-gal A activity corrections and
      lipid reductions were observed in several tissues 12 weeks after the
      xenotransplantation. Additional toxicology studies employing NSF mice
      xenotransplanted with the therapeutic cell product demonstrated minimal untoward
      effects. These data supported our successful clinical trial application (CTA) to
      Health Canada and opening of a "first-in-the-world" gene therapy trial for Fabry
      disease.

PMID- 28603748
TI  - Semi-Supervised Pattern Classification: Application to Structural MRI of
      Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - This paper presents an image-based classification method, and applies it to
      classification of brain MRI scans of individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment
      (MCI). The high dimensionality of the image data is reduced using nonlinear
      manifold learning techniques, thereby yielding a low-dimensional embedding.
      Features of the embedding are used in conjunction with a semi-supervised
      classifier, which utilizes both labeled and unlabeled images to boost
      performance. The method is applied to 237 scans of MCI patients in order to
      predict conversion from MCI to Alzheimer's Disease. Experimental results
      demonstrate better prediction accuracy compared to a state-of-the-art method.

PMID- 28603747
TI  - Vitronectin in the ascites of human ovarian carcinoma acts as a potent
      chemoattractant for ovarian carcinoma: Implication for metastasis by cancer stem
      cells.
AB  - Vitronectin has been identified mainly as an adhesion protein that signals
      through uPAR and selected integrin receptors. In addition to its pro-adhesive
      properties, we identified recently vitronectin as a main chemoattractant present
      in diluted plasma/serum that directly stimulates migration of cancer cells. We
      also found that this pro-migratory activity of vitronectin can be quenched by
      fibrinogen. Based on this we hypothesized that this may explain preference of
      cancer cell to metastasize to fibrinogen-low microenvironments such as lymphatics
      or peritoneal cavity. Based on this, we decided to investigate a role of
      vitronectin in metastasis of ovarian cancer cells to peritoneal cavity. We tested
      migratory responsiveness of three human ovarian cancer cell lines to ascites
      isolated from ovarian cancer patients and characterize possible molecules
      involved in migration of ovarian cancer cells. The ascites samples were exposed
      to heat inactivation, proteinase K digested, dialyzed and charcoal stripped. We
      also performed cut-off filtration analysis and by employing ELISA assays to
      measure concentration of vitronectin in ascites fluid samples. Finally, we
      employed shRNA against uPAR and small molecular inhibitors of integrin receptors
      to assess their involvement in biological effects of vitronectin. From our
      studies, we found that the similarly to diluted plasma, vitronectin in absence of
      fibrinogen is a main chemotactic/chemokinetic protein present in ascites fluid.
      We also found that these pro-migratory properties of vitronectin can be quenched
      by addition of fibrinogen. Our studies also indicate that both uPAR and integrin
      receptors on ovarian cancer cells regulate migration of these cells to
      vitronectin gradient. In summary, we identified free soluble vitronectin as a
      potent direct chemoattractant for ovarian cancer cells and that its activity is
      suppressed after binding to fibrinogen. Since in ascites fluids vitronectin is
      present in free form because of a lack or low level of fibrinogen, this could
      explain preferences of ovarian cancer stem cells to metastasize within
      peritoneum. We propose that inhibitors which could sequester soluble vitronectin
      in similar fashion as fibrinogen, could be employed as a novel anti-metastatic
      drugs.

PMID- 28603746
TI  - Preclinical Evaluation of a Lentiviral Vector for Huntingtin Silencing.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder
      resulting from a polyglutamine expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) protein. There
      is currently no cure for this disease, but recent studies suggest that RNAi to
      downregulate the expression of both normal and mutant HTT is a promising
      therapeutic approach. We previously developed a small hairpin RNA (shRNA),
      vectorized in an HIV-1-derived lentiviral vector (LV), that reduced pathology in
      an HD rodent model. Here, we modified this vector for preclinical development by
      using a tat-independent third-generation LV (pCCL) backbone and removing the
      original reporter genes. We demonstrate that this novel vector efficiently
      downregulated HTT expression in vitro in striatal neurons derived from induced
      pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) of HD patients. It reduced two major pathological
      HD hallmarks while triggering a minimal inflammatory response, up to 6 weeks
      after injection, when administered by stereotaxic surgery in the striatum of an
      in vivo rodent HD model. Further assessment of this shRNA vector in vitro showed
      proper processing by the endogenous silencing machinery, and we analyzed gene
      expression changes to identify potential off-targets. These preclinical data
      suggest that this new shRNA vector fulfills primary biosafety and efficiency
      requirements for further development in the clinic as a cure for HD.

PMID- 28603749
TI  - Isolation and Cultivation of Primary Brain Endothelial Cells from Adult Mice.
AB  - Brain endothelial cells are the major building block of the blood-brain barrier.
      To study the role of brain endothelial cells in vitro, the isolation of primary
      cells is of critical value. Here, we describe a protocol in which vessel
      fragments are isolated from adult mice. After density centrifugation and mild
      digestion of the fragments, outgrowing endothelial cells are selected by
      puromycin treatment and grown to confluence within one week.

PMID- 28603750
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of Exosome Secretion Rates of Single Cells.
AB  - To study the inhomogeneity within a cell population including exosomes properties
      such as exosome secretion rate of cells and surface markers carried by exosomes,
      we need to quantify and characterize those exosomes secreted by each individual
      cell. Here we develop a method to collect and analyze exosomes secreted by an
      array of single cells using antibody-modified glass slides that are position
      registered to each single cell. After each collection, anti-body conjugated
      quantum dots are used to label exosomes to allow counting and analysis of exosome
      surface proteins. Detailed studies of exosome properties related to cell
      behaviors such as responses to drugs and stress at single cell resolution can be
      found in the publication (Chiu et al., 2016).

PMID- 28603751
TI  - Production of Guide RNAs in vitro and in vivo for CRISPR Using Ribozymes and RNA
      Polymerase II Promoters.
AB  - CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing relies on a guide RNA (gRNA) molecule to
      generate sequence-specific DNA cleavage, which is a prerequisite for gene
      editing. Here we establish a method that enables production of gRNAs from any
      promoters, in any organisms, and in vitro (Gao and Zhao, 2014). This method also
      makes it feasible to conduct tissue/cell specific gene editing.

PMID- 28603752
TI  - Polysome Analysis.
AB  - Polysome analysis is a method to separate mRNAs from a cell into actively
      translating and non-translating fractions depending on their association with
      polysomes. By this protocol, cell lysates are fractionated by sucrose density
      gradient ultracentrifugation. Free mRNA fraction and various ribosomal fractions,
      such as 40S, 60S, monosomes and polysomes are collected by fractionation.
      Association of particular mRNAs with these fractions is detected by reverse
      transcription - PCR to investigate the translational state of the mRNA.

PMID- 28603753
TI  - Secretion of Adipsin as an Assay to Measure Flux from the Endoplasmic Reticulum
      (ER).
AB  - In this protocol we describe a quantitative biochemical assay to assess the
      efficiency of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi protein transport in adipocytes
      (Bruno et al., 2016). The assay takes advantage of the fact that adipocytes
      secrete various bioactive proteins, known as adipokines. As a measure of ER to
      Golgi flux we determine the rate of bulk secretion of the adipokine adipsin post
      washout of Brefeldin A (BFA) treatment using immunoblotting. Because BFA
      treatment results in an accumulation of adipsin in the ER, the exit of adipsin
      from the ER upon BFA washout is synchronized across cells and experimental
      conditions. Thus, using this simple assay one can robustly determine if
      perturbations, such as knocking down a protein, have an effect on ER to Golgi
      protein transport.

PMID- 28603754
TI  - Stably accessing octave-spanning microresonator frequency combs in the soliton
      regime.
AB  - Microresonator frequency combs can be an enabling technology for optical
      frequency synthesis and timekeeping in low size, weight, and power architectures.
      Such systems require comb operation in low-noise, phase-coherent states such as
      solitons, with broad spectral bandwidths (e.g., octave-spanning) for self
      referencing to detect the carrier-envelope offset frequency. However, accessing
      such states is complicated by thermo-optic dispersion. For example, in the Si3N4
      platform, precisely dispersion-engineered structures can support broadband
      operation, but microsecond thermal time constants often require fast pump power
      or frequency control to stabilize the solitons. In contrast, here we consider how
      broadband soliton states can be accessed with simple pump laser frequency tuning,
      at a rate much slower than the thermal dynamics. We demonstrate octave-spanning
      soliton frequency combs in Si3N4 microresonators, including the generation of a
      multi-soliton state with a pump power near 40 mW and a single-soliton state with
      a pump power near 120 mW. We also develop a simplified two-step analysis to
      explain how these states are accessed without fast control of the pump laser, and
      outline the required thermal properties for such operation. Our model agrees with
      experimental results as well as numerical simulations based on a Lugiato-Lefever
      equation that incorporates thermo-optic dispersion. Moreover, it also explains an
      experimental observation that a member of an adjacent mode family on the red
      detuned side of the pump mode can mitigate the thermal requirements for accessing
      soliton states.

PMID- 28603755
TI  - Dysregulation of Brain Stress Systems Mediates Compulsive Alcohol Drinking.
AB  - The transition from moderate to compulsive alcohol drinking is driven by
      increasingly dysfunctional reward and stress systems. We review behavioral and
      pharmacological studies of alcohol self-administration in rats that were mainly
      conducted within the framework of the alcohol vapor model of dependence. We
      discuss neurotransmitter systems that are implicated in alcohol drinking, with a
      focus on contrasting those neurotransmitter systems that drive behavior in the
      dependent vs. nondependent states. We hypothesize that the identification of
      systems that become increasingly dysfunctional in alcohol dependence will reveal
      possible targets for successful interventions to reduce the motivation that
      drives compulsive alcohol drinking. In our opinion, drugs that (1) normalize,
      rather than block, a hypofunctional reward system via restoration of the function
      of hypothalamic stress systems, and (2) desensitize extrahypothalamic stress
      systems have the potential to selectively and effectively curb compulsive alcohol
      drinking.

PMID- 28603757
TI  - Supplementary dataset for child and adult exposure and health risk evaluation
      following the use of metal- and metalloid-containing costume cosmetics sold in
      the United States.
AB  - The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled
      "Child and adult exposure and health risk evaluation following the use of metal-
      and metalloid-containing costume cosmetics sold in the United States" [1]. This
      article describes the concentration of metals and metalloids contained in various
      cosmetic products such as body paint, lipstick and eye shadow, the relative
      percent deviation of two analyses performed on the products and the physico
      chemico properties of the metals and metalloids used in the SkinPerm model
      presented in the aforementioned article.

PMID- 28603756
TI  - Cognitive Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets of Addiction.
AB  - Fundamental to cognitive models of addiction is the gradual strengthening of
      automatic, urge-related responding that develops in tandem with the diminution of
      self-control-related processes aimed at inhibiting impulses. Recent
      conceptualizations of addiction also include a third set of cognitive processes
      related to self-awareness and superordinate regulation of self-control and other
      higher brain function. This review describes new human research evidence and
      theoretical developments related to the multicausal strengthening of urge-related
      responding and failure of self-control in addiction, and the etiology of
      disrupted self-awareness and rational decision-making associated with continued
      substance use. Recent progress in the development of therapeutic strategies
      targeting these mechanisms of addiction is reviewed, including cognitive bias
      modification, mindfulness training, and neurocognitive rehabilitation.

PMID- 28603758
TI  - Preparation and catalytic activity of bone-char ash decorated with MgO - FeNO3
      for ozonation of reactive black 5 dye from aqueous solution: Taguchi optimization
      data.
AB  - Reactive dye is one of the most applicable dyes in textile industries which its
      release to the water bodies creates a concern for environmentalists. Here, in
      this data article a bone-char (BC) ash decorated with MgO-FeNO3 for removing
      reactive black 5 (RB5) dye in a catalytic ozonation process (COP) system.
      Operational parameters data such as initial RB5 concentration, pH, catalyst
      dosage, and reaction time were optimized using Taguchi method. The optimal
      conditions for initial RB5 concentration, pH, catalyst dosage, and reaction time
      were determined 10 mg/L, 10, 0.1 g/L, and 15 min, respectively. Data of Taguchi
      optimization tests indicated that the initial RB5 concentration had a significant
      influence on RB5 removal efficiency (54.03%) during the catalytic ozonation
      process, and reaction time had lower contribution (2.04%).

PMID- 28603759
TI  - Experimental data on compressive strength and durability of sulfur concrete
      modified by styrene and bitumen.
AB  - In this data article experimental data on the compressive strength, and the
      durability of styrene and bitumen modified sulfur concrete against acidic water
      and ignition are presented. The percent of the sulfur cement and the gradation of
      the aggregates used are according to the ACI 548.2R-93 and ASTM 3515
      respectively. For the styrene modified sulfur concrete different percentages of
      styrene are used. Also for the bitumen modified sulfur concrete, different
      percentages of bitumen and the emulsifying agent (triton X-100) are utilized.
      From each batch three 10*10*10 cm cubic samples were casted. One of the samples
      was used for the compressive strength on the second day of casting, and one on
      the twenty-eighth day. Then the two samples were put under the high pressure
      flame of the burning liquid gas for thirty seconds and their ignition resistances
      were observed. The third sample was put into the acidic water and after twenty
      eight days immersion in water was dried in the ambient temperature. After drying
      its compressive strength has been evaluated.

PMID- 28603760
TI  - Data on coffee composition and mass spectrometry analysis of mixtures of coffee
      related carbohydrates, phenolic compounds and peptides.
AB  - The data presented here are related to the research paper entitled
      "Transglycosylation reactions, a main mechanism of phenolics incorporation in
      coffee melanoidins: inhibition by Maillard reaction" (Moreira et al., 2017) [1].
      Methanolysis was applied in coffee fractions to quantify glycosidically-linked
      phenolics in melanoidins. Moreover, model mixtures mimicking coffee beans
      composition were roasted and analyzed using mass spectrometry-based approaches to
      disclose the regulatory role of proteins in transglycosylation reactions
      extension. This article reports the detailed chemical composition of coffee beans
      and derived fractions. In addition, it provides gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS) chromatograms and respective GC-MS spectra of silylated
      methanolysis products obtained from phenolic compounds standards, as well as the
      detailed identification of all compounds observed by electrospray mass
      spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis of roasted model mixtures, paving the way for the
      identification of the same type of compounds in other samples.

PMID- 28603761
TI  - Data on the anti-tumor effects of Selaginella tamariscina extract and
      amentoflavone combined with doxorubicin in mice.
AB  - Here, we report animal experimental data associated with the article entitled
      "AKR1B10-inhibitory Selaginella tamariscina extract and amentoflavone decrease
      the growth of A549 human lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo" (Jung et al.,
      2017) [1]. We tested the synergistic anti-tumor effects of Selaginella
      tamariscina extract and amentoflavone combined with doxorubicin hydrochloride in
      a nude mouse xenograft model of A549 human lung cancer cells. In our experiment,
      Selaginella tamariscina extract and amentoflavone were administered orally; and
      doxorubicin hydrochloride was injected intraperitoneally. We expect our
      preliminary data will be helpful to the development of the anticancer agent using
      Selaginella tamariscina extract or amentoflavone.

PMID- 28603762
TI  - Data on nation-wide activity in intensive cardiac care units in France in 2014.
AB  - We present data in relation to the article entitled "Description of acute cardiac
      care in 2014: A French nation-wide database on 277,845 admissions in 270
      ICCUs".(10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.04.002) (Roubille et al., 2017) [1]: the main
      characteristics of the pathologies managed in the intensive cardiac care units
      (ICCUs), the details on the interventions performed and the main differences
      between centers following the size of the centers and a figure presenting the
      monthly variations of admissions in the ICCUs in France in a total of 277,845
      patients in 270 centers admitted at least one time in the ICCUs in 2014
      (exhaustive data).

PMID- 28603763
TI  - The properties of transparent TiO2 films for Schottky photodetector.
AB  - In this data, the properties of transparent TiO2 film for Schottky photodetector
      are presented for the research article, entitled as "High-performing transparent
      photodetectors based on Schottky contacts" (Patel et al., 2017) [1]. The
      transparent photoelectric device was demonstrated by using various Schottky
      metals, such as Cu, Mo and Ni. This article mainly shows the optical
      transmittance of the Ni-transparent Schottky photodetector, analyzed by the
      energy dispersive spectroscopy and interfacial TEM images for transparency to
      observe the interface between NiO and TiO2 film. The observation and analyses
      clearly show that no pinhole formation in the TiO2 film by Ni diffusion. The
      rapid thermal process is an effective way to form the quality TiO2 film formation
      without degradation, such as pinholes (Qiu et al., 2015) [2]. This thermal
      process may apply to form functional metal oxide layers for solar cells and
      photodetectors.

PMID- 28603764
TI  - Data on endogenous bovine ovarian follicular cells peptides and small proteins
      obtained through Top-down High Resolution Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - The endogenous peptides and small proteins extracted from bovine ovarian
      follicular cells (oocytes, cumulus and granulosa cells) were identified by Top
      down High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (TD-HR-MS/MS) in order to annotate peptido
      and proteoforms detected using qualitative and quantitative profiling method
      based on ICM-MS (Intact Cell Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of
      Flight Mass Spectrometry). The description and analysis of these Top-down MS data
      in the context of oocyte quality biomarkers research are available in the
      original research article of Labas et al. (2017)
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jprot.2017.03.027[1]. Raw data derived from this
      peptidomic/proteomic analysis have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange
      Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository (dataset identifier PXD004892). Here,
      we described the inventory of all identified peptido- and proteoforms including
      their biochemical and structural features, and functional annotation of
      correspondent proteins. This peptide/protein inventory revealed that TD-HR-MS/MS
      was appropriate method for both global and targeted proteomic analysis of ovarian
      tissues, and it can be further employed as a reference for other studies on
      follicular cells including single oocytes.

PMID- 28603765
TI  - Dataset to delineate changes in association between Akt1 and its interacting
      partners as a function of active state of Akt1 protein.
AB  - Akt1 is a multi-functional protein, implicated in multiple human solid tumors.
      Pertaining to its key role in cell survival, Akt1 is under focus for development
      of targeted therapies. Functional diversity of Akt1 is a result of its
      interactions with other proteins; which changes with changing context. This
      investigation was designed to capture the dynamics of Akt1 Interactome as a
      function of its active state. Delineating dynamic changes in association of Akt1
      with its interactors could help us comprehend how it changes as a function of
      inhibition of its active form. Similar information on changes in Akt1 interactome
      as of now is not well explored. Akt1 expressing HEK293 cells were cultured in
      light and heavy labeled SILAC media. Normal lysine and arginine were incorporated
      as light labels while for heavy labeling the isotopes were 8 and 10 Da heavier.
      Light labeled cells represented the indigenous state of Akt1 interactome while
      heavy labeled cells represented Akt1 interactome in presence of its allosteric
      inhibitor, MK-2206. Equal number of cells from both conditions were pooled, lysed
      and subjected to Affinity Purification coupled to Mass Spectroscopy (AP-MS).
      Additionally, SILAC labeling aided in quantitative estimation of changing
      association of a number of proteins which were common to the two experimental
      conditions, with Akt1. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier
      PXD005976.

PMID- 28603766
TI  - Evaluating the Relationship between Explicit and Implicit Drinking Identity
      Centrality and Hazardous Drinking.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Drinking identity strength (how strongly one views oneself as a
      drinker) is a promising risk factor for hazardous drinking. A critical next step
      is to investigate whether the centrality of drinking identity (i.e., the relative
      importance of drinking vs. other identity domains, like well-being,
      relationships, education) also plays a role. Thus, we developed explicit and
      implicit measures of drinking identity centrality and evaluated them as
      predictors of hazardous drinking after controlling for explicit drinking identity
      strength. METHODS: Two studies were conducted (Ns = 360 and 450, respectively).
      Participants, who self-identified as full-time students, completed measures of
      explicit identity strength, explicit and implicit centrality, and the Alcohol Use
      Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Study 1a evaluated two variants of the
      implicit measure (short- vs. long-format of the Multi-category Implicit
      Association Test); Study 1b only included the long form and also assessed alcohol
      consumption. RESULTS: In Study 1a, implicit and explicit centrality measures were
      positively and significantly associated with AUDIT scores after controlling for
      explicit drinking identity strength. There were no significant differences in the
      implicit measure variants, but the long format had slightly higher internal
      consistency. In Study 1b, results replicated for explicit, but not implicit,
      centrality. CONCLUSIONS: These studies provide preliminary evidence that drinking
      identity centrality may be an important factor for predicting hazardous drinking.
      Future research should improve its measurement and evaluate implicit and explicit
      centrality in experimental and longitudinal studies.

PMID- 28603767
TI  - Lumbar puncture in patients with neurologic conditions.
AB  - A lumbar puncture is performed to obtain cerebral spinal fluid. It is implemented
      in the clinic on a routine basis to aid the diagnosis of neurologic diseases,
      such as dementia. This video will show the lumbar puncture procedure as routinely
      performed in the VUmc Alzheimer Center.

PMID- 28603769
TI  - Longitudinal changes in amyloid positron emission tomography and volumetric
      magnetic resonance imaging in the nondemented Down syndrome population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Down syndrome (DS) arises from a triplication of chromosome 21,
      causing overproduction of the amyloid precursor protein and predisposes
      individuals to early Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Fifty-two nondemented
      adults with DS underwent two cycles of carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh compound B
      ([11C]PiB) and T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans 3.0 +/- 0.6
      years apart. Standard uptake value ratio (SUVR) images (50-70 minutes; cerebellar
      gray matter [GM]) and GM volumes were analyzed in standardized space (Montreal
      Neurological Institute space). RESULTS: 85% of PiB(-) subjects remained PiB(-),
      whereas 15% converted to PiB(+), predominantly in the striatum. None reverted
      from PiB(+) to PiB(-). Increases in SUVR were distributed globally, but there
      were no decreases in GM volume. The PiB positivity groups differed in the percent
      rate of change in SUVR [PiB(-): 0.5%/year, PiB converters: 4.9%/year, and PiB(+):
      3.7%/year], but not in GM volume. DISCUSSION: Despite the characteristic striatum
      first pattern, the global rate of amyloid accumulation differs by pre-existing
      amyloid burden and precedes atrophy or dementia in the DS population, similar to
      general AD progression.

PMID- 28603770
TI  - Embodied science and mixed reality: How gesture and motion capture affect physics
      education.
AB  - A mixed design was created using text and game-like multimedia to instruct in the
      content of physics. The study assessed which variables predicted learning gains
      after a 1-h lesson on the electric field. The three manipulated variables were:
      (1) level of embodiment; (2) level of active generativity; and (3) presence of
      story narrative. Two types of tests were administered: (1) a traditional text
      based physics test answered with a keyboard; and (2) a more embodied, transfer
      test using the Wacom large tablet where learners could use gestures (long swipes)
      to create vectors and answers. The 166 participants were randomly assigned to
      four conditions: (1) symbols and text; (2) low embodied; (3) high
      embodied/active; or (4) high embodied/active with narrative. The last two
      conditions were active because the on-screen content could be manipulated with
      gross body gestures gathered via the Kinect sensor. Results demonstrated that the
      three groups that included embodiment learned significantly more than the symbols
      and text group on the traditional keyboard post-test. When knowledge was assessed
      with the Wacom tablet format that facilitated gestures, the two active gesture
      based groups scored significantly higher. In addition, engagement scores were
      significantly higher for the two active embodied groups. The Wacom results
      suggest test sensitivity issues; the more embodied test revealed greater gains in
      learning for the more embodied conditions. We recommend that as more embodied
      learning comes to the fore, more sensitive tests that incorporate gesture be used
      to accurately assess learning. The predicted differences in engagement and
      learning for the condition with the graphically rich story narrative were not
      supported. We hypothesize that a narrative effect for motivation and learning may
      be difficult to uncover in a lab experiment where participants are primarily
      motivated by course credit. Several design principles for mediated and embodied
      science education are proposed.

PMID- 28603771
TI  - Magnitude, precision, and realism of depth perception in stereoscopic vision.
AB  - Our perception of depth is substantially enhanced by the fact that we have
      binocular vision. This provides us with more precise and accurate estimates of
      depth and an improved qualitative appreciation of the three-dimensional (3D)
      shapes and positions of objects. We assessed the link between these quantitative
      and qualitative aspects of 3D vision. Specifically, we wished to determine
      whether the realism of apparent depth from binocular cues is associated with the
      magnitude or precision of perceived depth and the degree of binocular fusion. We
      presented participants with stereograms containing randomly positioned circles
      and measured how the magnitude, realism, and precision of depth perception varied
      with the size of the disparities presented. We found that as the size of the
      disparity increased, the magnitude of perceived depth increased, while the
      precision with which observers could make depth discrimination judgments
      decreased. Beyond an initial increase, depth realism decreased with increasing
      disparity magnitude. This decrease occurred well below the disparity limit
      required to ensure comfortable viewing.

PMID- 28603768
TI  - Consensus guidelines for lumbar puncture in patients with neurological diseases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cerebrospinal fluid collection by lumbar puncture (LP) is performed
      in the diagnostic workup of several neurological brain diseases. Reluctance to
      perform the procedure is among others due to a lack of standards and guidelines
      to minimize the risk of complications, such as post-LP headache or back pain.
      METHODS: We provide consensus guidelines for the LP procedure to minimize the
      risk of complications. The recommendations are based on (1) data from a large
      multicenter LP feasibility study (evidence level II-2), (2) systematic literature
      review on LP needle characteristics and post-LP complications (evidence level II
      2), (3) discussion of best practice within the Joint Programme Neurodegenerative
      Disease Research Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's Disease and
      Biomarkers for Multiple Sclerosis consortia (evidence level III). RESULTS: Our
      consensus guidelines address contraindications, as well as patient-related and
      procedure-related risk factors that can influence the development of post-LP
      complications. DISCUSSION: When an LP is performed correctly, the procedure is
      well tolerated and accepted with a low complication rate.

PMID- 28603772
TI  - Compensatory shifts in visual perception are associated with hallucinations in
      Lewy body disorders.
AB  - Visual hallucinations are a common, distressing, and disabling symptom of Lewy
      body and other diseases. Current models suggest that interactions in internal
      cognitive processes generate hallucinations. However, these neglect external
      factors. Pareidolic illusions are an experimental analogue of hallucinations.
      They are easily induced in Lewy body disease, have similar content to spontaneous
      hallucinations, and respond to cholinesterase inhibitors in the same way. We used
      a primed pareidolia task with hallucinating participants with Lewy body disorders
      (n = 16), non-hallucinating participants with Lewy body disorders (n = 19), and
      healthy controls (n = 20). Participants were presented with visual "noise" that
      sometimes contained degraded visual objects and were required to indicate what
      they saw. Some perceptions were cued in advance by a visual prime. Results showed
      that hallucinating participants were impaired in discerning visual signals from
      noise, with a relaxed criterion threshold for perception compared to both other
      groups. After the presentation of a visual prime, the criterion was comparable to
      the other groups. The results suggest that participants with hallucinations
      compensate for perceptual deficits by relaxing perceptual criteria, at a cost of
      seeing things that are not there, and that visual cues regularize perception.
      This latter finding may provide a mechanism for understanding the interaction
      between environments and hallucinations.

PMID- 28603773
TI  - What is your neural function, visual narrative conjunction? Grammar, meaning, and
      fluency in sequential image processing.
AB  - Visual narratives sometimes depict successive images with different characters in
      the same physical space; corpus analysis has revealed that this occurs more often
      in Japanese manga than American comics. We used event-related brain potentials to
      determine whether comprehension of "visual narrative conjunctions" invokes not
      only incremental mental updating as traditionally assumed, but also, as we
      propose, "grammatical" combinatoric processing. We thus crossed (non)/conjunction
      sequences with character (in)/congruity. Conjunctions elicited a larger anterior
      negativity (300-500 ms) than nonconjunctions, regardless of congruity,
      implicating "grammatical" processes. Conjunction and incongruity both elicited
      larger P600s (500-700 ms), indexing updating. Both conjunction effects were
      modulated by participants' frequency of reading manga while growing up. Greater
      anterior negativity in frequent manga readers suggests more reliance on
      combinatoric processing; larger P600 effects in infrequent manga readers suggest
      more resources devoted to mental updating. As in language comprehension, it seems
      that processing conjunctions in visual narratives is not just mental updating but
      also partly grammatical, conditioned by comic readers' experience with specific
      visual narrative structures.

PMID- 28603774
TI  - Synergy of Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 and All Trans Retinoic Acid in the
      Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Role of Regulatory T cells.

PMID- 28603775
TI  - CRISPR/Cas9: From Genome Engineering to Cancer Drug Discovery.
AB  - Advances in translational research are often driven by new technologies. The
      advent of microarrays, next-generation sequencing, proteomics and RNA
      interference (RNAi) have led to breakthroughs in our understanding of the
      mechanisms of cancer and the discovery of new cancer drug targets. The discovery
      of the bacterial clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeat (CRISPR)
      system and its subsequent adaptation as a tool for mammalian genome engineering
      has opened up new avenues for functional genomics studies. This review will focus
      on the utility of CRISPR in the context of cancer drug target discovery.

PMID- 28603776
TI  - Actionable molecular biomarkers in primary brain tumors.
AB  - Recent genome-wide studies of malignancies of the central nervous system (CNS)
      have revolutionized our understanding of the biology of these tumors. This newly
      gained knowledge provides a wealth of opportunity for biomarker driven clinical
      research. To date, however, only few of the available molecular markers truly
      influence clinical decision-making and treatment. The most widely validated
      markers in neuro-oncology presently are: 1) MGMT promoter methylation as a
      prognostic and predictive marker in glioblastoma, 2) co-deletion of 1p and 19q
      differentiating oligodendrogliomas from astrocytomas, 3) IDH1/2 mutations, and 4)
      select pathway-associated mutations. This article focuses on currently impactful
      biomarkers in adult and pediatric brain cancers and it provides a perspective on
      the direction of research in this field.

PMID- 28603777
TI  - Malignant Mesothelioma: Time to Translate?
AB  - Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer largely associated with asbestos
      exposure. In this review, we will discuss the significant advancements in our
      understanding of its genetics and molecular biology and their translational
      relevance. Remarkable findings included the discovery of germline and somatic
      mutations of BRCA1 associated protein-1 (BAP1) in patients, and the genome-wide
      characterization of pathways altered in mesothelioma that could be potentially
      exploited to design novel therapeutic approaches. Nevertheless, the clinical
      translation of these molecular findings has been slow and insufficient. In order
      to rapidly move translation from the bench to the bedside, we believe that
      cooperative research efforts have to be further endorsed and promoted at all
      levels.

PMID- 28603778
TI  - DNA-Targeted Precision Medicine; Have we Been Caught Sleeping?
AB  - In the current drive to incorporate molecular markers into treatment-selection
      for precision medicine, there has been a significant and we believe ill-advised
      omission of the large and routinely used group of drugs whose mechanism of action
      is DNA damage.

PMID- 28603779
TI  - The Relationship Between Childhood Psychosocial Stressor Level and Telomere
      Length: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - This meta-analysis examined the association between the level of childhood
      psychosocial stressors and telomere length, an important health biomarker. The
      meta-analysis, including 27 samples and 16,238 participants, found a significant
      association of -0.08 between a higher level of childhood stressors and shorter
      telomere length at a mean age of 42 across studies. Moderator analyses showed a
      trend in the direction of effect sizes being significantly larger with shorter
      times between the stressors and telomere measurement. Moderator analyses showed
      significantly higher effect sizes for studies that used a categorical method for
      assessing child stressor level and for assays completed with qPCR rather than
      with the Southern blot method. There was no significant moderation of effect size
      by whether study assayed leukocytes or buccal cells, whether the study assessed
      child stressor level by memory-based recall versus archival records, and whether
      the study controlled for age, sex, or additional variables. The results, focused
      on childhood events, add to prior findings that perceived stress and negative
      emotions are associated with telomere length.

PMID- 28603781
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Studies Candidate Gene to Dual Modifier of Nonalcoholic
      Steatohepatitis and Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common disease involving chronic
      accumulation of fat and inflammation in the liver, often leading to advanced
      fibrosis, cirrhosis and cancer. It is known that NASH shares many features with
      atherosclerosis, however, there are still no effective therapeutics. In a recent
      study published in Nature, investigators demonstrate that mice lacking a high
      density lipoprotein (HDL)-associated gene were surprisingly protected from both
      steatohepatitis and atherosclerosis through the stabilization of the liver X
      receptor (LXR). This work reveals a timely candidate target for two highly
      prevalent cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28603780
TI  - A Modified Version of the Greek Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire for
      Hemodialysis Patients.
AB  - Non-adherence to the therapeutic regimen is an increasingly growing problem
      especially among patients undergoing hemodialysis. The aim of this study was to
      modify the Greek version of Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire (GR
      SMAQ) for patients undergoing hemodialysis (GR-SMAQ-HD) and explore its validity
      and reliability. Between June 2016 and November 2016 a group of patients
      undergoing hemodialysis (N=107) completed the Greek version of SMAQ. The study
      was carried out in three Dialysis Units of Hospitals of Athens and Peloponnese
      region, Greece. The form of GR-SMAQ was modified specifically for renal patients
      while four additional items were added so as the tool study all aspects of
      adherence to hemodialysis regimen. Construct validity was checked through
      exploratory factor analysis with principal Component Analysis with the Equamax
      method. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were tested. Statistical
      analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 21. The significance
      level was set up at 5%. The Greek version of SMAQ for patients undergoing
      hemodialysis includes eight questions. Three factors emerged from factor
      analysis. Cronbach's a coefficient was 0.742 for the whole scale and for each
      subscale was for Medication Adherence 0.75, for Attendance at hemodialysis
      session 0.856 and for Diet/Fluid restriction was 0.717. The total mean score was
      6.29 (+/-1.82). GR-SMAQ-HD is a reliable and valuable tool that can be used by
      hemodialysis nurses and students of nursing for detection of adherence levels in
      clinical practice.

PMID- 28603782
TI  - Socioeconomic Determinants of Cipro-floxacin-Resistant Shigella Infections in
      Bangladeshi Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Shigella species (spp.) are a leading cause of moderate to severe
      diarrhea in children worldwide. The recent emergence of quinolone-resistant
      Shigella spp. gives cause for concern, and South Asia has been identified as a
      reservoir for global spread. The influence of socioeconomic status on
      antimicrobial resistance in developing countries, such as those in South Asia,
      remains unknown. METHODS: We used data collected from 2009 to 2014 from a
      hospital specializing in the treatment of diarrhea in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to
      determine the relationship between Ciprofloxacin-resistant Shigella spp. isolates
      and measures of socioeconomic status in Bangladeshi children less than 5 years of
      age. RESULTS: We found 2.7% (230/8,672) of children who presented with diarrhea
      had Shigella spp. isolated from their stool, and 50% (115/230) had resistance to
      Ciprofloxacin. Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, we found that
      children from families where the father's income was in the highest quintile had
      significantly higher odds of having Ciprofloxacin-resistant Shigella spp.
      compared to children in the lowest quintile (OR = 6.1, CI 1.9-19). Factors
      protective against the development of resistance included access to improved
      sanitation (OR = 0.27, CI 0.11-0.7), and improved water sources (OR = 0.48, CI
      0.25-0.92). We did not find a relationship between Ciprofloxacin resistance and
      other proxies for socioeconomic status, including the presence of animals in the
      home, nutritional status, paternal education level, and the number of family
      members in the home. CONCLUSIONS: Although the associations between wealth and
      antimicrobial resistance are not fully understood, possible explanations include
      increased access and use of antibiotics, greater access to healthcare facilities
      and thus resistant pathogens, or greater consumption of commercially produced
      foods prepared with antibiotics.

PMID- 28603783
TI  - The Future of Liver Elastography in the Field of Hepatology.
AB  - Ultrasound-based liver elastography is being increasingly used in clinical
      practice to help clinicians assess prognosis and recommend the most appropriate
      treatment in hepatology patients. In coming years liver elastography will
      probably be increasingly used as part of "point of care" ultrasonography.

PMID- 28603784
TI  - Association Between Years of Experience and Ankle Joint Disorder in Male Student
      Basketball Players Based on Ultrasonography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of the study was to survey ankle joint disorder in male senior
      high school and college student basketball players based on the results of an
      ultrasonographic medical check-up of the ankle joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      subjects were 17 senior high school student and 19 college student basketball
      players. Ultrasonography, evaluation of ATFL injury, and examination of the
      talocrural joint region were performed. The subjects were grouped based on the
      presence or absence of old ATFL injury, and subjects with ATFL injury were
      classified by the injured region: fibular insertion site, parenchyma, and talar
      insertion site. The talocrural joint region was evaluated based on the areas of
      the lateral margin, central region, and medial margin, and sites with an
      irregular bone contour and osteophyte were counted individually. The
      questionnaire asked about the patients' history of ankle injuries. RESULTS: A
      questionnaire survey revealed that 70-79% of all subjects had experienced a
      sprain at least once and 21-29% had frequently sprained the left or right foot 10
      or more times in the past. On ultrasonography, there was no significant
      difference in ligament injury or injured site between the senior high school and
      college students, but the number of osteochondral findings in the talocrural
      joint region was significantly higher in the college students. In addition, the
      number of injured sites significantly increased in those with 10 or more years of
      playing experience. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that disorder of the
      talocrural joint region progresses with an increase in years of experience in
      student basketball players who do not take specific preventive measures against
      this injury.

PMID- 28603785
TI  - Patterns of Gall Bladder Wall Thickening in Dengue Fever: A Mirror of the
      Severity of Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue fever is a major public health problem with an increased
      incidence in recent years. Gall bladder wall thickening has been reported as one
      of the most common findings in dengue fever. There is a paucity of literature
      regarding the various patterns of gall bladder wall thickening in dengue fever
      and their significance in predicting the severity of disease. METHODOLOGY AND
      SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS: Out of 93 seropositive patients included in the study, 54
      patients with dengue fever had gall bladder wall thickening. 4 patterns of gall
      bladder wall thickening are demonstrated in this study. A uniform echogenic
      pattern in 20 patients, striated or tram track pattern in 11 patients, an
      asymmetric pattern in 2 patients and a honeycombing pattern in 21 patients. The
      range of patterns of wall thickening included normal wall thickening or uniform
      echogenic wall thickening in DF without warning signs, a striated or tram track
      pattern, and a honeycomb pattern in severe DF. Serial ultrasound done on
      consecutive alternate days revealed a change in the pattern of gall bladder wall
      thickening according to the severity of disease. CONCLUSION: The present study
      revealed 4 distinct patterns of gall bladder wall thickening. The uniform
      echogenic pattern was found to be more prevalent in dengue fever without warning
      signs, while the honeycomb pattern was found to be more prevalent in severe
      dengue fever. A change in the pattern of gall bladder wall thickening on
      subsequent serial ultrasound can predict the severity of the disease.

PMID- 28603786
TI  - How Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury was averted during Knee Collapse in a NBA
      Point Guard.
AB  - Non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur with rapid
      decelerations and pivoting. A recent injury to a high-level National Basketball
      Association (NBA) player demonstrated neuromuscular control and injury-sparing
      mechanisms that resulted in only minor ligament injury to the medial collateral
      ligament. We analyzed biomechanical mechanisms via publically available
      orthogonal 2-D video to demonstrate how this potential ACL injury was averted.
      Analysis of the knee injury mechanism demonstrated that the NBA player
      experienced low ground reaction force, high sagittal plane flexion, and
      maintenance of frontal plane stability with neuromuscular control. The outcome of
      these factors inhibited dynamic valgus collapse of the knee throughout the fall,
      avoiding ACL injury - a potentially career-altering injury. Many athletes,
      professional and recreational, will be subjected to similar mechanisms of injury
      and will have improved outcomes if they can successfully utilize preventive
      strategies of neuromuscular control to limit injury mechanisms.

PMID- 28603787
TI  - Validation of DRAMMS among 12 Popular Methods in Cross-Subject Cardiac MRI
      Registration.
AB  - Cross-subject image registration is the building block for many cardiac studies.
      In the literature, it is often handled by voxel-wise registration methods.
      However, studies are lacking to show which methods are more accurate and stable
      in this context. Aiming at answering this question, this paper evaluates 12
      popular registration methods and validates a recently developed method DRAMMS
      [16] in the context of cross-subject cardiac registration. Our dataset consists
      of short-axis end-diastole cardiac MR images from 24 subjects, in which non
      cardiac structures are removed. Each registration method was applied to all 552
      image pairs. Registration accuracy is approximated by Jaccard overlap between
      deformed expert annotation of source image and the corresponding expert
      annotation of target image. This accuracy surrogate is further correlated with
      deformation aggressiveness, which is reflected by minimum, maximum and range of
      Jacobian determinants. Our study shows that DRAMMS [16] scores high in accuracy
      and well balances accuracy and aggressiveness in this dataset, followed by ANTs
      [13], MI-FFD [14], Demons [15], and ART [12]. Our findings in cross-subject
      cardiac registrations echo those findings in brain image registrations [7].

PMID- 28603788
TI  - Rare disease models provide insight into inherited forms of neurodegeneration.
AB  - Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a group of inherited neurodegenerative
      conditions characterised by retrograde degeneration of the longest motor neurons
      in the corticospinal tract, resulting in muscle weakness and spasticity of the
      lower limbs. To date more than 70 genetic loci have been associated with HSP,
      however the majority of cases are caused by mutations that encode proteins
      responsible for generating and maintaining tubular endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      structure. These ER-shaping proteins are vital for the long-term survival of
      axons, however the mechanisms by which mutations in these proteins give rise to
      HSP remain poorly understood. To begin to address this we have characterized in
      vivo loss of function models of two very rare forms of HSP caused by loss of the
      ER-shaping proteins ARL6IP1 (SPG61) and RTN2 (SPG12). These models display
      progressive locomotor defects, disrupted organisation of the tubular ER and
      length-dependant defects in the axonal mitochondrial network. Here we compare our
      findings with those associated with more common forms HSP including: Spastin,
      Atlastin-1 and REEP 1 which together account for over half of all cases of
      autosomal dominant HSP. Furthermore, we discuss recent observations in other HSP
      models which are directly implicated in mitochondrial function and localization.
      Overall, we highlight the common features of our rare models of HSP and other
      models of disease which could indicate shared mechanisms underpinning
      neurodegeneration in these disorders.

PMID- 28603789
TI  - Segmentation of Perivascular Spaces Using Vascular Features and Structured Random
      Forest from 7T MR Image.
AB  - Quantitative analysis of perivascular spaces (PVSs) is important to reveal the
      correlations between cerebrovascular lesions and neurodegenerative diseases. In
      this study, we propose a learning-based segmentation framework to extract the
      PVSs from high-resolution 7T MR images. Specifically, we integrate three types of
      vascular filter responses into a structured random forest for classifying voxels
      into PVS and background. In addition, we also propose a novel entropy-based
      sampling strategy to extract informative samples in the background for training
      the classification model. Since various vascular features can be extracted by the
      three vascular filters, even thin and low-contrast structures can be effectively
      extracted from the noisy background. Moreover, continuous and smooth segmentation
      results can be obtained by utilizing the patch-based structured labels. The
      segmentation performance is evaluated on 19 subjects with 7T MR images, and the
      experimental results demonstrate that the joint use of entropy-based sampling
      strategy, vascular features and structured learning improves the segmentation
      accuracy, with the Dice similarity coefficient reaching 66 %.

PMID- 28603790
TI  - Dual-Layer Groupwise Registration for Consistent Labeling of Longitudinal Brain
      Images.
AB  - The growing collection of longitudinal images for brain disease diagnosis
      necessitates the development of advanced longitudinal registration and anatomical
      labeling methods that can respect temporal consistency between images. However,
      the characteristics of such longitudinal images and how they lodge into the image
      manifold are often neglected in existing labeling methods. Indeed, most of them
      independently align atlases to each target time-point image for propagating the
      pre-defined atlas labels to the subject domain. In this paper, we present a dual
      layer groupwise registration method to consistently label anatomical regions of
      interest in brain images across different time-points using a multi-atlases-based
      labeling framework. Our framework can best enhance the labeling of longitudinal
      images through: (1) using the group mean of the longitudinal images of each
      subject (i.e., subject-mean) as a bridge between atlases and the longitudinal
      subject scans to align atlases to all time-point images jointly; and (2) using
      inter-atlas relationship in their nesting manifold to better register each atlas
      image to the subject-mean. These steps yield to a more consistent (from the joint
      alignment of atlases with all time-point images) and more accurate (from the
      manifold-guided registration between each atlases and the subject-mean image)
      registration, thereby eventually improving the consistency and accuracy for the
      subsequent labeling step. We have tested our dual-layer groupwise registration
      method to label two challenging longitudinal brain datasets (i.e., healthy
      infants and Alzheimer's disease subjects). Our experimental results have showed
      that our method achieves higher labeling accuracy while keeping the labeling
      consistency over time, when compared to the traditional registration scheme
      (without our proposed contributions). Moreover, the proposed framework can
      flexibly integrate with the existing label fusion methods, such as sparse-patch
      based methods, to improve the labeling accuracy of longitudinal datasets.

PMID- 28603791
TI  - Automatic Hippocampal Subfield Segmentation from 3T Multi-modality Images.
AB  - Hippocampal subfields play important and divergent roles in both memory formation
      and early diagnosis of many neurological diseases, but automatic subfield
      segmentation is less explored due to its small size and poor image contrast. In
      this paper, we propose an automatic learning-based hippocampal subfields
      segmentation framework using multi-modality 3TMR images, including T1 MRI and
      resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI). To do this, we first acquire both 3T and 7T T1 MRIs
      for each training subject, and then the 7T T1 MRI are linearly registered onto
      the 3T T1 MRI. Six hippocampal subfields are manually labeled on the aligned 7T
      T1 MRI, which has the 7T image contrast but sits in the 3T T1 space. Next,
      corresponding appearance and relationship features from both 3T T1 MRI and rs
      fMRI are extracted to train a structured random forest as a multi-label
      classifier to conduct the segmentation. Finally, the subfield segmentation is
      further refined iteratively by additional context features and updated
      relationship features. To our knowledge, this is the first work that addresses
      the challenging automatic hippocampal subfields segmentation using 3T routine T1
      MRI and rs-fMRI. The quantitative comparison between our results and manual
      ground truth demonstrates the effectiveness of our method. Besides, we also find
      that (a) multi-modality features significantly improved subfield segmentation
      performance due to the complementary information among modalities; (b) automatic
      segmentation results using 3T multimodality images are partially comparable to
      those on 7T T1 MRI.

PMID- 28603792
TI  - Regression Guided Deformable Models for Segmentation of Multiple Brain ROIs.
AB  - This paper proposes a novel method of using regression-guided deformable models
      for brain regions of interest (ROIs) segmentation. Different from conventional
      deformable segmentation, which often deforms shape model locally and thus
      sensitive to initialization, we propose to learn a regressor to explicitly guide
      the shape deformation, thus eventually improves the performance of ROI
      segmentation. The regressor is learned via two steps, (1) a joint classification
      and regression random forest (CRRF) and (2) an auto-context model. The CRRF
      predicts each voxel's deformation to the nearest point on the ROI boundary as
      well as each voxel's class label (e.g., ROI versus background). The auto-context
      model further refines all voxel's deformations (i.e., deformation field) and
      class labels (i.e., label maps) by considering the neighboring structures.
      Compared to the conventional random forest regressor, the proposed regressor
      provides more accurate deformation field estimation and thus more robust in
      guiding deformation of the shape model. Validated in segmentation of 14 midbrain
      ROIs from the IXI dataset, our method outperforms the state-of-art multi-atlas
      label fusion and classification methods, and also significantly reduces the
      computation cost.

PMID- 28603793
TI  - Coupling Statistical Segmentation and PCA Shape Modeling.
AB  - This paper presents a novel segmentation approach featuring shape constraints of
      multiple structures. A framework is developed combining statistical shape
      modeling with a maximum a posteriori segmentation problem. The shape is
      characterized by signed distance maps and its modes of variations are generated
      through principle component analysis. To solve the maximum a posteriori
      segmentation problem a robust Expectation Maximization implementation is used.
      The Expectation Maximization segmenter generates a label map, calculates image
      intensity inhomogeneities, and considers shape constraints for each structure of
      interest. Our approach enables high quality segmentations of structures with weak
      image boundaries which is demonstrated by automatically segmenting 32 brain MRIs
      into right and left thalami.

PMID- 28603794
TI  - Post-Exertional Malaise in Patients with ME and CFS with Comorbid Fibromyalgia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
      share some similar symptoms with fibromyalgia (FM). Prior research has found
      increased illness severity when patients have FM that is comorbid with ME and
      CFS. For example, post-exertional malaise (PEM) has been shown to be more severe
      in those with comorbid FM. However, PEM can be separated into two factors, Muscle
      and General PEM. It is unknown if the more severe PEM findings in comorbid FM are
      due to the Muscle or General PEM factor. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was
      to determine if the PEM differences seen between patients with and without
      comorbid FM exist for the Muscle or General PEM factors. METHOD: An international
      convenience sample was collected via an online questionnaire. The questionnaire
      assessed the frequency and severity of several PEM-related symptoms.
      Additionally, participants provided information regarding the course and
      characteristics of their illness. RESULTS: Participants that indicated a comorbid
      diagnosis of FM displayed significantly more frequent and severe PEM symptoms in
      the Muscle and General PEM factors. The FM group also indicated significantly
      worse physical functioning compared to the group without comorbid FM. DISCUSSION:
      The secondary diagnosis of FM in addition to ME and CFS appears to amplify the
      PEM symptomatology and worsen patients' physical functioning. The findings of
      this study have notable implications on the inclusion of patients with comorbid
      FM in ME and CFS research studies.

PMID- 28603795
TI  - Ultrafast synthesis of high-silica erionite zeolites with improved hydrothermal
      stability.
AB  - High-silica erionite (ERI) zeolites are conventionally synthesised via a so
      called charge density mismatch (CDM) approach, and a typical synthesis takes
      several days to complete. We herein demonstrate an ultrafast route to synthesise
      high-silica erionite zeolites in as short as 2 h at 210  degrees C. The fast
      synthesised ERI has been proved to show higher hydrothermal stability compared
      with the conventionally synthesised product.

PMID- 28603796
TI  - Reply to the 'Comment on "Robust scalable high throughput production of
      monodisperse drops"' by M. Nakajima, Lab Chip, 2017, 17, DOI: 10.1039/C7LC00181A.
AB  - This reply to the comment by Nakajima on our article that appeared in Lab on a
      Chip (E. Amstad, M. Chemama, M. Eggersdorfer, L. R. Arriaga, M. Brenner and D. A.
      Weitz, Lab Chip, 2016, 16, 4163-4172) highlights the differences between the
      microchannel step emulsification devices developed by the Nakajima group and the
      millipede device reported by us in Lab on a Chip.

PMID- 28603797
TI  - A highly enantioselective access to chiral chromanones and thiochromanones via
      copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugated reduction of chromones and thiochromones.
AB  - The chromanone scaffold is a privileged structure in heterocyclic chemistry and
      drug discovery. A highly efficient copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugated
      reduction of chromones is developed to give chiral chromanones with good yields
      (80-99%) and excellent ee values (94->99% ee). Particularly noteworthy is that
      chiral thiochromanones are also constructed using this method in 74-87% yields
      with 96-97% ee. The established asymmetric synthesis paves the way for their
      further pharmaceutical studies.

PMID- 28603798
TI  - Comment on "Robust scalable high throughput production of monodisperse drops" by
      E. Amstad, M. Chemama, M. Eggersdorfer, L. R. Arriaga, M. P. Brenner and D. A.
      Weitz, Lab Chip, 2016, 16, 4163.
AB  - This comment on an article that appeared in Lab on a Chip (Amstad et al., Lab
      Chip, 2016, 16, 4163-4172) provides information on the performance of
      microchannel (step) emulsification devices developed by the Nakajima Group.

PMID- 28603800
TI  - Molecular "topological insulators": a case study of electron transfer in the
      bis(methylene) adamantyl carbocation.
AB  - A topological or geometric phase (GP) blockade can be introduced in molecular
      electron transfer processes if a conical intersection (CI) occurs between two
      charge configurations. The origin of the blockade is in the destructive
      interference of two pathways around the CI that acquire opposite GPs. Electron
      transfer quantum dynamics including and excluding GP have been modelled for the
      bis(methylene) adamantyl carbocation. These calculations have shown unambiguously
      that the CI topology and the induced GP are responsible for the transport
      blockade.

PMID- 28603799
TI  - A novel nanozyme assay utilising the catalytic activity of silver nanoparticles
      and SERRS.
AB  - Artificial enzymes have become an increasingly interesting area of research due
      to their many advantages over natural protein enzymes which are expensive,
      difficult to isolate and unable to stand harsh environments. An important area of
      this research involves using metal nanoparticles as artificial enzymes, known as
      nanozymes, which exhibit peroxidase-like activity enabling them to catalyse the
      oxidation of substrates such as 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the
      presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), giving a colorimetric response. Here we
      exploit the catalytic activity of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in a surface
      based silver-linked immunosorbent assay (SLISA) to detect human C-reactive
      protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker. Ag NPs were conjugated to antibodies with
      specific recognition for the corresponding target antigenic molecule, CRP, and
      the Ag NPs were used to catalyse the oxidation of TMB by H2O2. The resulting
      coloured oxidation product was detected using SERRS. We demonstrate that Ag NPs
      can replace the enzymes used in a conventional ELISA and a detection limit of
      1.09 ng mL-1 of CRP can be achieved. It indicates the promise for SLISAs for
      biomarker detection and opens the way for further assays of this nature to be
      created. This novel assay has the potential to be optimised to detect lower
      levels of CRP and can be further extended for the sensitive and specific
      detection of other relevant biomarkers.

PMID- 28603801
TI  - Modified biovectors for the tuneable activation of anti-platelet carbon monoxide
      release.
AB  - This communication describes the anti-platelet effects of a new class of cis
      rhenium(ii)-dicarbonyl-vitamin B12 complexes (B12-ReCORMs) with tuneable CO
      releasing properties.

PMID- 28603802
TI  - Sensitive determination of chlorogenic acid in pharmaceutical products based on
      the decoration of 3D macroporous carbon with Au nanoparticles via
      polyoxometalates.
AB  - A simple and sensitive electrochemical sensor is constructed for the detection of
      chlorogenic acid (CGA) based on Au nanoparticles (NPs)/polyoxometalates/3D
      macroporous carbon (Au-POMs-MPC). Serving as both a reducing and stabilizing
      agent, the Keggin-type POM, H3PW12O40, is used for the synthesis of stable
      colloidal Au NPs and then used to link them to MPC at a mild temperature. Because
      of the unique structural properties and synergetic catalytic effect, Au-POMs-MPC
      can be developed as an effective sensing platform for the detection of CGA, which
      showed high activity and excellent analytical performance towards CGA, such as a
      wide linear range of 2.28 nM-3.24 MUM, a high sensitivity of 30 554.71 MUA mM-1,
      and a low limit of detection of 2.15 nM. Importantly, the successfully fabricated
      Au-POMs-MPC device accurately measured the amount of CGA in pharmaceutical
      samples.

PMID- 28603803
TI  - Controlled release of BSA-linked cisplatin through a PepGel self-assembling
      peptide nanofiber hydrogel scaffold.
AB  - Previously, it has been reported that a novel PepGel (h9e peptide) can be
      triggered into a solid physical hydrogel by the addition of selected ions and
      proteins for various biomedical applications. Moreover, PepGel displays shear
      thinning and repeatedly reversible sol-gel transfer properties that enable it to
      be easily transferred via an injector. In this study, PepGel is proposed as a
      carrier for controlled releases of bovine serum albumin (BSA)-bound or -linked
      drugs. BSA-linked cisplatin (BSA-CP) is used as a model drug in this study and
      plays two roles: as a trigger of hydrogel and as a target drug for controlled
      release. Results of fluorescence instrument show that PepGel significantly
      quenches the fluorescence of Trp in the hydrophobic subdomain of BSA, indicating
      a strong interaction. Images of TEM and fluorescence confocal microscopy indicate
      that BSA-CP is dispersed in the PepGel fibers and at the same time enhances the
      fiber aggregation. Through UV instrument, it is found that PepGel can effectively
      inhibit the diffusion of BSA-CP even at concentrations below 0.3 wt% and that the
      rate of BSA-CP release could be controlled by adjusting the concentration of
      PepGel. Cell culture studies on the performance of the PepGel are carried out
      using HeLa cells, and the cell viability is observed to be consistent with the
      data of drug release. The results showed that PepGel nanofiber scaffolds could
      potentially be used as an effective carrier for controlled releases of BSA-bound
      or -linked drugs.

PMID- 28603804
TI  - Brain activity patterns induced by interrupting the cognitive processes with
      online advertising.
AB  - As a result of the increasing role of online advertising and strong competition
      among advertisers, intrusive techniques are commonly used to attract web users'
      attention. Moreover, since marketing content is usually delivered to the target
      audience when they are performing typical online tasks, like searching for
      information or reading online content, its delivery interrupts the web user's
      current cognitive process. The question posed by many researchers in the field of
      online advertising is: how should we measure the influence of interruption of
      cognitive processes on human behavior and emotional state? Much research has been
      conducted in this field; however, most of this research has focused on monitoring
      activity in the simulated environment, or processing declarative responses given
      by users in prepared questionnaires. In this paper, a more direct real-time
      approach is taken, and the effect of the interruption on a web user is analyzed
      directly by studying the activity of his brain. This paper presents the results
      of an experiment that was conducted to find the brain activity patterns
      associated with interruptions of the cognitive process by showing internet
      advertisements during a text-reading task. Three specific aspects were addressed
      in the experiment: individual patterns, the consistency of these patterns across
      trials, and the intra-subject correlation of the individual patterns. Two main
      effects were observed for most subjects: a drop in activity in the frontal and
      prefrontal cortical areas across all frequency bands, and significant changes in
      the frontal/prefrontal asymmetry index.

PMID- 28603805
TI  - Stress and displacement patterns in the craniofacial skeleton with rapid
      maxillary expansion-a finite element method study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rapid maxillary expansion (RME), indicated in the treatment of
      maxillary deficiency directs high forces to maxillary basal bone and to other
      adjacent skeletal bones. The aim of this study is to (i) evaluate stress
      distribution along craniofacial sutures and (ii) study the displacement of
      various craniofacial structures with rapid maxillary expansion therapy by using a
      Finite Element model. METHODS: An analytical model was developed from a dried
      human skull of a 12 year old male. CT scan images of the skull were taken in
      axial direction parallel to the F-H plane at 1 mm interval, processed using
      Mimics software, required portion of the skull was exported into stereo
      lithography model. ANSYS software was used to solve the mathematical equation.
      Contour plots of the displacement and stresses were obtained from the results of
      the analysis performed. RESULTS: At Node 47005, maximum X-displacement was 5.073
      mm corresponding to the incisal edge of the upper central incisor. At Node 3971,
      maximum negative Y-displacement was -0.86 mm which corresponds to the anterior
      zygomatic arch, indicating posterior movement of craniofacial complex. At Node
      32324, maximum negative Z-displacement was -0.92 mm representing the anterior and
      deepest convex portion of the nasal septum; indicating downward displacement of
      structures medial to the area of force application. CONCLUSIONS: Pyramidal
      displacement of maxilla was evident. Apex of pyramid faced the nasal bone and
      base was located on the oral side. Posterosuperior part of nasal cavity moved
      minimally in lateral direction and width of nasal cavity at the floor of the nose
      increased, there was downward and forward movement of maxilla with a tendency
      toward posterior rotation. Maximum von Mises stresses were found along
      midpalatal, pterygomaxillary, nasomaxillary and frontomaxillary sutures.

PMID- 28603806
TI  - ATP Sulfurylase is Essential for the Utilization of Sulfamate as a Sulfur Source
      in the Yeast Komagataella pastoris (syn. Pichia pastoris).
AB  - The methylotrophic yeast Komagataella pastoris (syn. Pichia pastoris) is one of
      the few known yeasts that can utilize sulfamate ([Formula: see text]) as a sulfur
      source. The biochemical pathway responsible for the catabolism of sulfamate has
      yet to be identified. The present study sought to investigate whether sulfamate
      catabolism proceeds through either of the inorganic sulfur intermediates sulfate
      ([Formula: see text]) or sulfite ([Formula: see text]) before its assimilation
      and subsequent incorporation into sulfur-containing amino acids and their
      derivatives. Two key genes in the K. pastoris inorganic sulfur assimilation
      pathway were deleted separately and the ability of each deletion mutant to
      utilize sulfamate and other selected sulfur sources was studied. Deletion of the
      MET3 gene (which encodes the enzyme ATP sulfurylase) did not affect growth on L
      methionine, sulfite, methanesulfonate, or taurine but completely abolished growth
      on sulfate, methyl sulfate and sulfamate. Deletion of the MET5 gene (which
      encodes the beta subunit of the enzyme sulfite reductase) abolished growth on all
      tested sulfur sources except L-methionine. These results suggest that the
      catabolism of sulfamate proceeds through a sulfate intermediate before its
      assimilation.

PMID- 28603807
TI  - Bdm-Mediated Regulation of Flagellar Biogenesis in Escherichia coli and
      Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium.
AB  - Synthesis of the flagellar apparatus in Escherichia coli is mediated via complex
      regulatory pathways. A previous study indicated that the protein encoded by the
      biofilm-dependent modulation (bdm) gene is linked closely with a regulatory
      pathway for flagellar assembly. However, the specific role of Bdm in flagellar
      biogenesis remains unknown. Herein, we showed that Bdm interacts with FlgM and
      inhibits its function as an anti-sigma28 factor, which induces the transcription
      of flagellar late-class genes in E. coli. In addition, we observed that deletion
      of the yddX gene, a potential Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium homolog of
      bdm, also resulted in downregulation of flagellar late-class genes and in the
      formation of short flagella, leading to decreased virulence in mice. The
      expression levels of late-class flagellar genes in yddX-deleted S. Typhimurium
      cells were restored to those of the wild type when either E. coli bdm or S.
      Typhimurium yddX was expressed exogenously. These results suggest that Bdm
      mediated regulation of flagellar assembly is a conserved regulatory pathway in
      those members of the Enterobacteriaceae family whose genomes show the existence
      of homologs of bdm.

PMID- 28603809
TI  - An Ethical Dilemma: To Share or Not To Share Your Paper Published in Lipids Using
      an On-Line Outlet.

PMID- 28603808
TI  - Relationship between hyperbaric oxygen therapy and quality of life in
      participants with chronic diabetic foot ulcers: data from a randomized controlled
      trial.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on health-related
      quality of life (HRQoL) in participants with diabetes and chronic foot ulcers.
      METHODS: Using data from a randomized controlled trial, we included 103
      participants (49 in hyperbaric oxygen therapy group and 54 in sham group) for
      analyses. The primary outcome was HRQoL as measured by the EQ-5D-3L instrument,
      while secondary outcomes included quality of life evaluated by the Short Form 36
      (SF-36) and Diabetic Foot Ulcers Scale-Short Form (DFS-SF). We used the analysis
      of covariance to assess whether the EQ-5D index values in hyperbaric oxygen
      therapy group differed from the sham group. Logistic regression was used to
      assess the relationship between hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the responses of
      'problems' for the EQ-5D health states. RESULTS: No significant differences in EQ
      5D index values were found between the hyperbaric oxygen therapy and sham groups:
      0.01 (95% CI -0.25, 0.28; p = 0.93) at week 12; 0.07 (95% CI -0.21, 0.34; p =
      0.64) at week 6. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was found to be associated with fewer
      participants reporting 'problems' in mobility (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.07, 0.85 at week
      12) and pain or discomfort (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.07, 0.61 at week 6; OR 0.32, 95% CI
      0.11, 0.97 at week 12), compared with the sham group. No significant differences
      in SF-36 or DFS-SF were observed. CONCLUSIONS: No significant effect of
      hyperbaric oxygen therapy on HRQoL measured by EQ-5D index value was found in
      this study. Due to the potential insufficient power to assess statistical
      difference, more large-scale research is needed to further evaluate the effect of
      hyperbaric oxygen therapy on HRQoL in participants with chronic diabetic foot
      ulcers.

PMID- 28603811
TI  - [French comment on article Detection of lesions in dysplastic Barrett's esophagus
      by community and expert endoscopists1].

PMID- 28603812
TI  - [French comment on article Development and validation of a training module on the
      use of acetic acid for the detection of Barrett's neoplasia1].

PMID- 28603813
TI  - [French comment on article Endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage
      reduces adverse events compared with percutaneous cholecystostomy in patients who
      are unfit for cholecystectomy1].

PMID- 28603814
TI  - [French comment on article Premedication with simethicone and N-acetylcysteine in
      improving visibility during upper endoscopy: a double-blind randomized trial1].

PMID- 28603815
TI  - [French comment on article Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary access versus
      precut papillotomy in patients with failed biliary cannulation: a retrospective
      study1].

PMID- 28603816
TI  - [French comment on article Elipse, the first procedureless gastric balloon for
      weight loss: a prospective, observational, open-label, multicenter study1].

PMID- 28603817
TI  - [French comment on article Clinical implications of low grade dysplasia found
      during inflammatory bowel disease surveillance: a retrospective study comparing
      chromoendoscopy and white-light endoscopy1].

PMID- 28603819
TI  - [French comment on article Endoscopic submucosal dissection for early rectal
      neoplasia: experience from a European center1].

PMID- 28603820
TI  - [French comment on article Long-term clinical outcomes of endoscopic submucosal
      dissection for colorectal neoplasms in 423 cases: a retrospective study1].

PMID- 28603821
TI  - [French comment on article Efficacy of segmental re-examination of proximal colon
      for adenoma detection during colonoscopy: a randomized controlled trial1].

PMID- 28603822
TI  - [French comment on article Incomplete resection rate of cold snare polypectomy: a
      prospective single-arm observational study1].

PMID- 28603823
TI  - Early versus delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy for lithiasic acute
      cholecystitis during emergency admissions. Results of a monocentric experience
      and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is established that the standard treatment for lithiasic acute
      cholecystitis is the laparoscopic cholecystectomie. However, the question of the
      timing of cholecystectomy remains controversial. AIM: To compare early
      laparoscopic cholecystectomies (within 72 hours of symptom onset) and delayed
      laparoscopic cholecystectomies (beyond 72 hours) for lithiasic acute
      cholecystitis in terms of intra-operative difficulties and post-operative
      complications. METHODS: The patients operated on for acute cholecystitis, between
      January 2007 and December 2012, were included in a retrospective study. They were
      divided into two groups based on whether surgery was performed before (group A)
      or after (group B) 72 hours after the onset of symptoms. We conducted a
      comparison between the two groups. RESULTS: The two groups were comparable in
      terms of background, clinico-biological presentation, and radiological findings.
      The average time of surgery was 111.6 hours after symptom onset.  Duration of
      surgery was significantly longer for group B (97 minutes versus 82.17 minutes, p
      = 0.003). There was more conversion in group B than in group A, without
      significant difference (20% versus 11.6%, p = 0.14). There were no deaths in our
      series. Specific post-operative complications were comparable between the two
      groups (wound infection: 3 (B) versus 1 (A), biliary fistula: 8 (B) versus 0 (A),
      p = Non significant). The post-operative hospital stay was significantly longer
      in group B (3.34 days versus 1.84, p <10-3). CONCLUSION: In case of early
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the conversion rate and post-operative morbidity
      are comparable to the delayed treatment of acute cholecystitis. But the early
      surgery can reduce the cost of care, the duration of surgery and the hospital
      stay. Key-words : Lithiasic acute cholecystitis ; Laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PMID- 28603824
TI  - Mucinous breast carcinoma a rare entity to be known: clinico-pathological study
      of 48 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucinous carcinoma is a particular type of breast cancer
      characterized by the presence of extracellular mucin and is linked with a more
      favorable prognosis than invasive breast carcinoma of no special type. It
      accounts for 1 to 7% of all breast cancers. We propose in this work to study at
      first the clinic-pathological characteristics and the evolution of 48 cases of
      mucinous carcinomas. Secondly, we propose to identify through a review of recent
      literature, the therapeutic management of these carcinomas. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective study, conducted in Salah Azaiez carcinological institute,
      interesting 48 cases of mucinous carcinoma collected over 19 years. Clinical,
      radiological and pathological information were collected from medical records.
      RESULTS: The mean age of our patients was 57 years. The tumor was single in 41
      cases and in 7 cases bifocal. Mammographic aspects were favor of malignancy in 33
      cases (75%). It was mixed subtype in 14 cases and pure in 34 cases. Lymph node
      involvement was noted in 14 cases. The number of metastatic lymph nodes ranged
      from 1 to 11 with an average of 3. Hormone receptors were positive in 35 tumors
      (73%). The HER2 showed overexpression in 5 cases. Surgery consisted of a radical
      treatment for thirty-two patients (66%). Overall survival at 5 years was 75.3%
      and 59.3% at 10 years. Disease-free survival was 74% at 5 years and 58% at 10
      years. CONCLUSION: Mucinous carcinoma consists of two distinct subtypes: pure and
      mixed with different prognosis. Larger data samples with longer follow-up are
      necessary to achieve an improved understanding of this particular tumor.

PMID- 28603825
TI  - The profile of drug users in Tunisia: Implications for prevention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite cultural, religious, and legal constraints on Muslims against
      the consumption of drugs, usage and misuse do exist. Drug addiction in Tunisia is
      a wide-spread problem and is destroying the lives of many individuals and
      families. AIMS: To examine the socio-demographic characteristics of substance
      users and to identify the drugs commonly used. METHODS: In this cross-sectional
      study, all the patients admitted at the addiction treatment center ''Aide et
      Ecoute'' in the period from January 2014 to September 2014 formed the sample of
      the present study. RESULTS: Only two hundred males were found to get treatment in
      the addiction center for various addictions. Among them, 65.9% were not married
      and 59.5 % had involvement with criminal justice. The mean age was 33.32 years
      and the mean age for starting substance use was 17.30 years. Substance use was
      higher (90.6%) in less educated people (secondary or below) and in urban
      population (73.2%). The most common substance misused was Buprenorphine (34.8%).
      There was a significant relation between buprenorphine consumption and
      immigration p= 0.013. CONCLUSION: Our observations point towards the
      vulnerability of younger age and immigrated population towards substance use and
      hence, it is proposed preventive health policies in this regard.

PMID- 28603826
TI  - Differences between idiopathic and ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemic cardiomyopathy can be reversible after revascularization
      hence the interest of making systematic coronary angiography that remain an
      invasive procedure. AIM: To detect epidemiological, clinical and paraclinical
      differences between idiopathic and ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy to identify
      predictors of coronary artery disease and to evaluate the interest of making
      systematic coronary angiography within the etiological check-up of dilated
      cardiomyopathy. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study in patients with
      dilated cardiomyopathy in whom coronary angiography allowed to distinguish the
      ischemic cardiomyopathy group from that of idiopathic cardiomyopathy. We compared
      the clinical and paraclinical findings between these two groups. RESULTS: We
      identified 102 patients: 42 had ischemic cardiomyopathy and 60 had idiopathic
      cardiomyopathy. These two groups were comparable according to age and sex.
      Diabetes was significantly more common (p = 0.002) in the first group. Dyspnea
      was more common in the second group (p = 0.03) as well as atrial fibrillation and
      left bundle branch block (p=0,04 and p=0,05, respectively). Renal failure,
      fasting hyperglycemia and echocardiographic segmental wall motion abnormalities
      were significantly more frequent in the group of ischemic cardiomyopathy
      (p=0.01). In multivariate analysis, diabetes (OR=3,291, IC95% : 1,167-10,969),
      renal failure (OR=11,001, IC95% : 2,15-39,85) and segmental wall motion
      abnormalities (OR=2,351, IC95% :0.934-5.915) were independent predictors of
      ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. CONCLUSION: Diabetes, kidney failure and
      disorders of wall motion appears to be predictors for the ischemic origin of
      dilated cardiomyopathy and thereby help to limit the routine use of this invasive
      technique in the diagnosis.

PMID- 28603828
TI  - Profile of bone malignancy among rheumatology inpatients in Lome (Togo).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of bone malignancy in adulthood seems poorly known in
      Black Africa. AIM: To determine the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical
      profile of bone malignancy in patients admitted to the Rheumatology Department in
      Lome (Togo). METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted over 19 years on
      records of hospital patients admitted for bone malignancy. RESULTS: One hundred
      sixty-six of 2018 (8.2%) patients (98 men and 68 women) admitted suffered from
      bone malignancy. The mean age at admission of those 166 patients was 55 years
      with extremes of 14 and 98 years. The most affected age group was between 46 and
      55 years (40 cases, 24.1%). The mean disease duration was 17 months. These tumors
      were primitive in 43 cases (26%) and secondary in 123 cases (74%). Metastases
      were prostate (44 cases, 35.7%), breast (12 cases, 9.7%) bronchi (7 cases, 5.7%),
      uterus cervix (5.7%), and liver (2 cases, 1.6%). Myeloma (34 cases; 79.0%) and
      osteosarcoma (9 cases; 20.9%) were the main primary malignant bone tumors.
      However 41 cases (33.3%) of tumors malignant bone could not be labeled. The spine
      was the main seat of those tumors. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the
      substantial part occupy malignant bone tumors in the musculoskeletal diseases
      within the Sub-Saharan population in general and in Togo in particular.

PMID- 28603827
TI  - Prognostic factors predicting overall survival in Moroccan patients with
      myelodysplastic syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prognostic scores are an indispensable tool in the management of
      myelodysplastic syndromes. AIM: Identify prognostic factors influencing overall
      survival of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. METHODS: We included all
      patients with myelodysplastic syndromes treated in the clinical hematology
      department of the military hospital of Rabat (Morocco). RESULTS: Seventy-four
      patients were included. The sex ratio [M / F] was 1.8. The median age was 65.5
      years. The median follow-up was 45 months. The karyotype prognostic was good in
      74%. In univariate analysis, prognostic factors influencing overall survival are:
      Age (p = 0.024), karyotype (p = 0.033), rate of bone marrow blasts (p = 0.002),
      transfusion dependence (p = 0.002), number of cytopenias (p = 0.001), hemoglobin
      (p = 0.009) and neutrophil count (p = 0.003). In multivariate analysis the only
      prognostic factor that influenced overall survival was the karyotype (p = 0.036).
      Transfusion dependence (p = 0.072) and the rate of marrow blasts (p = 0.107) was
      close to significance. The WHO Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS), the
      International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) and the Revised International
      Prognostic Scoring System (RIPSS) influence overall survival with a statistical
      significance (p <0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the prognostic value of
      the karyotype and validated the WPSS, the IPSS and the RIPSS scores as
      significant predictors of overall survival in Moroccan patients with
      myelodysplastic syndromes.

PMID- 28603829
TI  - Adherence to treatment with continuous positive airway pressure in the
      obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective
      treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Adequate compliance with the use of
      CPAP is cardinal to achieve cardiovascular, metabolic and neuropsychological
      benefits of treatment. AIM: Assess the factors affecting compliance to the CPAP
      treatment and analyze the long term acceptance. METHODS: Retrospective study on
      130 patients treated by CPAP for OSA in the department of pulmonology between
      2005 and 2014.  Long term acceptance was analysis using the method of survival
      analysis. RESULTS: These patients are characterized by a mean age of 55.4+/- 10.2
      years; main comorbidities were found hypertension (47%), diabetes (25.5%) and
      COPD (11%). Median baseline apnea-hypopnea index was (AHI), 56 +/- 19,5/h. One
      hundred thirty patients were enrolled with a mean follow up of 75 +/- 34 months,
      42 patients stopped their treatment, 21% of them in the first 6 months.  In
      compliant patients, the median value of daily CPAP use was 5, 5 +/- 2 hours.
      Kaplan Meier analysis showed that 96% of patients were still using CPAP at 12
      months, 69,4% at 5 years and 64,1% at 10 years. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
      Disease was identified as a predictor factor of long term CPAP use. Non observing
      patients had a higher probability to stop the use of CPAP compared to adherent
      patients Conclusion: the treatment of OSA with CPAP is generally well accepted in
      the long term. Treatment dropouts are more common among non-adherent patients
      justify regular monitoring in the first months of treatment.

PMID- 28603830
TI  - Sister Mary Joseph's nodule revealing hepatocellular carcinoma: a case repor.

PMID- 28603831
TI  - Cushing syndrome revealing thymic carcinoid tumor.

PMID- 28603832
TI  - Intrafamilial phenotypic variability in idiopathic Fahr's disease.

PMID- 28603833
TI  - Osteoid osteoma of the neck of talus.

PMID- 28603835
TI  - Will Republicans Abandon Child Health?

PMID- 28603836
TI  - Rates, characteristics and circumstances of methamphetamine-related death in
      Australia: a national 7-year study.
AB  - AIMS: To (1) assess trends in the number and mortality rates of methamphetamine
      related death in Australia, 2009-15; (2) assess the characteristics and the
      cause, manner and circumstances of death; and (3) assess the blood
      methamphetamine concentrations and the presence of other drugs in methamphetamine
      related death. DESIGN: Analysis of cases of methamphetamine-related death
      retrieved from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). SETTING:
      Australia. CASES: All cases in which methamphetamine was coded in the NCIS
      database as a mechanism contributing to death (n = 1649). MEASUREMENTS:
      Information was collected on cause and manner of death, demographics, location,
      circumstances of death and toxicology. FINDINGS: The mean age of cases was 36.9
      years, and 78.4% were male. The crude mortality rate was 1.03 per 100 000. The
      rate increased significantly over time (P < 0.001), and at 2015 the mortality
      rate was 1.8 [confidence interval (CI) = 1.2-2.4] times that of 2009. Deaths were
      due to accidental drug toxicity (43.2%), natural disease (22.3%), suicide
      (18.2%), other accident (14.9%) and homicide (1.5%). In 40.8% of cases, death
      occurred outside the major capital cities. The median blood methamphetamine
      concentration was 0.17 mg/l, and cases in which only methamphetamine was detected
      had higher concentrations than other cases (0.30 versus 0.15 mg/l, P < 0.001).
      The median blood methamphetamine concentration varied within a narrow range (0.15
      0.20 mg/l) across manner of death. In the majority (82.8%) of cases, substances
      other than methamphetamine were detected, most frequently opioids (43.1%) and
      hypnosedatives (38.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Methamphetamine death rates doubled in
      Australia from 2009 to 2015. While toxicity was the most frequent cause, natural
      disease, suicide and accident comprised more than half of deaths.

PMID- 28603834
TI  - Abstracts of the Maghreb Medical Congress 2015.

PMID- 28603837
TI  - The added value of f-TAPSE in the surveillance of pregnancies complicated by
      fetal and placental tumors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fetal and placental tumors are associated with high prevalence of
      obstetrical complications and poor fetal outcome. The aim of our study was to
      assess the added value of serial fetal Tricuspid Annular Plane Systolic Excursion
      (f-TAPSE) measurements for monitoring cardiac function in cases of fetal and
      placental tumors. METHODS: Serial measurements of f-TAPSE were performed
      prospectively in fetuses referred for fetal and placental tumors. The patients
      were followed longitudinally every 2 weeks. In each visit, tumor measurements,
      Doppler flow indices, fetal cardiothoracic index and measurements of f-TAPSE were
      performed. RESULTS: During the study period, 11 fetuses were followed
      prospectively: seven chorioangiomas and four fetal tumors. In eight cases, the f
      TAPSE was measured in the upper range for gestational age. In three cases of
      small or poorly vascularized tumors, the measurements were within the 50th
      percentile for gestational age. In two cases who presented with elevated f-TAPSE,
      a regression in the f-TAPSE percentile was observed: in the first case, the tumor
      regressed; however, in the second case, the f-TAPSE pseudo normalized and was
      followed by cardiac decompensation. CONCLUSIONS: f-TAPSE may serve as a
      complementary tool for assessing tumors associated hyper-dynamic state and early
      diagnosis of cardiac decompensation. (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28603839
TI  - Evaluation of the effects of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) in broiler
      diets.
AB  - Cereal grains such as maize and wheat are used extensively in feed formulations
      for poultry as the primary source of carbohydrates. High cost of these grains in
      many developing countries necessitates the evaluation of other ingredients that
      are grown locally. Sweet potato is one such crop. The study was conducted as a
      proof of concept experiment to test the hypothesis that in the presence and
      absence of enzyme, sweet potato roots when included in diets of broiler chickens
      may affect the total metabolisable energy content of the diets which may exert
      certain influences on dry matter digestibility of these diets as well as
      impacting on production and certain gut parameters. A total of 120 chicks were
      raised on a commercial starter feed from day 0 to 19. On day 22, the birds were
      individually weighed and allocated to 96 single bird metabolism cages to conduct
      a 7-day classical apparent metabolisable energy (AME) assay. The test diets
      contained 0% and 25% sweet potato flour (SPF) with and without enzyme
      supplementation (Rovabio Excel AP T-flex) and replicated 24 times. AME of the
      control diet with and without enzyme was 14.05 and 13.91 MJ/kg whilst the AME of
      the SPF diets with and without enzymes were 13.45 and 13.43 MJ/kg respectively.
      AME of SPF was 12.08 MJ/kg. Birds fed the SPF had significantly reduced end
      weights (p = .002) and weight gains (p < .001) leading to significantly higher
      intake (p = .004) and FCRs (p < .001) in birds. These effects in growth
      parameters highlight the need to balance dietary protein and total amino acids
      when using SPF in broiler diets and may not be a negative effect of SPF per say
      as AME and dry matter digestibility of SPF diets were comparable to the control
      diet. The level of sucrase activity in the jejunum was significantly (p < .001)
      lower due to enzyme inclusion. Use of SPF in the current study did not negatively
      influence the activities of the brush border enzymes maltase and sucrase, gut
      morphology in the jejunum of broilers or the load of Enterobacteriaceae in the
      caecal of birds. This finding is promising in that the gut parameters associated
      with digestive capacity and gut health were not compromised with feeding of SPF
      to broilers.

PMID- 28603838
TI  - Compartmentalized cAMP responses to prostaglandin EP2 receptor activation in
      human airway smooth muscle cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies indicate that prostaglandin EP2
      receptors selectively couple to AC2 in non-lipid raft domains of airway smooth
      muscle (ASM) cells, where they regulate specific cAMP-dependent responses. The
      goal of the present study was to identify the cellular microdomains where EP2
      receptors stimulate cAMP production. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: FRET-based cAMP
      biosensors were targeted to different subcellular locations of primary human ASM
      cells. The Epac2-camps biosensor, which expresses throughout the cell, was used
      to measure bulk cytoplasmic responses. Epac2-MyrPalm and Epac2-CAAX were used to
      measure responses associated with lipid raft and non-raft regions of the plasma
      membrane respectively. Epac2-NLS was used to monitor responses at the nucleus.
      KEY RESULTS: Activation of AC with forskolin or beta2 -adrenoceptors with
      isoprenaline increased cAMP in all subcellular locations. Activation of EP2
      receptors with butaprost produced cAMP responses that were most readily detected
      by the non-raft and nuclear sensors, but only weakly detected by the cytosolic
      sensor and not detected at all by the lipid raft sensor. Exposure to rolipram, a
      PDE4 inhibitor, unmasked the ability of EP2 receptors to increase cAMP levels
      associated with lipid raft domains. Overexpression of AC2 selectively increased
      EP2 receptor-stimulated production of cAMP in non-raft membrane domains.
      CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: EP2 receptor activation of AC2 leads to cAMP
      production in non-raft and nuclear compartments of human ASMs, while beta2
      adrenoceptor signalling is broadly detected across microdomains. The activity of
      PDE4 appears to play a role in maintaining the integrity of compartmentalized EP2
      receptor responses in these cells.

PMID- 28603841
TI  - Influence of Sulfuric Acid on the Performance of Ruthenium-based Catalysts in the
      Liquid-Phase Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to gamma-Valerolactone.
AB  - The presence of biogenic or process-derived impurities poses a major problem on
      the efficient catalytic hydrogenation of biomass-derived levulinic acid to gamma
      valerolactone; hence, studies on their influence on catalyst stability are now
      required. Herein, the influence of sulfuric acid as feed impurity on the
      performance of Ru-based heterogeneous catalysts, including Ru/ZrO2 and mono- and
      bimetallic Ru-on-carbon catalysts in dioxane as solvent, was investigated. The
      carbon-supported Ru catalysts proved to be very sensitive to minor amounts of
      sulfuric acid. In stark contrast, Ru/ZrO2 showed a remarkable stability in the
      presence of the same impurity, which is attributed to the sulfate-ion adsorption
      capacity of the support. Preferential sulfate adsorption onto the surface of ZrO2
      effectively protects the Ru active phase from deactivation by sulfur poisoning. A
      simple catalyst regeneration strategy was effective in removing adsorbed
      impurities, allowing efficient catalyst recycling.

PMID- 28603840
TI  - Pretransplant 4beta-hydroxycholesterol does not predict tacrolimus exposure or
      dose requirements during the first days after kidney transplantation.
AB  - AIMS: The CYP3A metric 4beta-hydroxycholesterol (4betaOHC) has been shown to
      correlate with tacrolimus steady-state apparent oral clearance (CL/F). Recently,
      pretransplant 4betaOHC was shown not to predict tacrolimus CL/F after
      transplantation in a cohort of renal recipients (n = 79). The goal of the current
      study was determine whether these findings could be validated in a substantially
      larger cohort. METHODS: In a retrospective analysis of 279 renal recipients,
      tacrolimus trough concentrations (C0), daily dose, haematocrit and other relevant
      covariates were registered every day for the first 14 days after transplantation.
      4betaOHC and cholesterol were quantified on plasma collected immediately
      pretransplant using liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry. Patients were
      genotyped for CYP3A5*1 and CYP3A4*22. RESULTS: A total of 3551 tacrolimus C0
      concentrations were registered. In a linear mixed model for the 14-day period,
      determinants of tacrolimus C0 were CYP3A5 genotype, haematocrit, age and weight
      (overall R2  = 0.179). Determinants of daily dose were CYP3A5 genotype, age,
      methylprednisolone dose, tacrolimus formulation, ALT and estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (overall R2  = 0.242). Considering each of the first 5 days
      separately, 4betaOHC had a limited effect on tacrolimus C0 on day 3 only (-1.00
      ng ml-1 per ln, P = 0.035) but not on any other day, and no effect on dose or
      C0/dose. During the first 5 days, haematocrit and age, which were previously
      established as determinants of tacrolimus disposition under steady-state
      conditions, never explained more than 17.7% of between-subject variability in
      tacrolimus C0/dose. CONCLUSIONS: The CYP3A metric 4betaOHC cannot be used to
      predict tacrolimus dose requirements in the first days after transplantation.

PMID- 28603842
TI  - A General Cp*CoIII -Catalyzed Intramolecular C-H Activation Approach for the
      Efficient Total Syntheses of Aromathecin, Protoberberine, and Tylophora
      Alkaloids.
AB  - Herein, we report a Cp*CoIII -catalyzed C-H activation approach as the key step
      to create highly valuable isoquinolones and pyridones as building blocks that can
      readily be applied in the total syntheses of a variety of aromathecin,
      protoberberine, and tylophora alkaloids. This particular C-H
      activation/annulation reaction was achieved with several terminal as well as
      internal alkyne coupling partners delivering a broad scope with excellent
      functional group tolerance. The synthetic applicability of this protocol reported
      herein was demonstrated in the total syntheses of two Topo-I-Inhibitors and two 8
      oxyprotoberberine cores that can be further elaborated into the
      tetrahydroprotoberberine and the protoberberine alkaloid core. Moreover these
      building blocks were also transformed to six different tylophora alkaloids in
      expedient fashion.

PMID- 28603844
TI  - Seaweed morphology and ecology during the great animal diversification events of
      the early Paleozoic: A tale of two floras.
AB  - Non-calcified marine macroalgae ("seaweeds") play a variety of key roles in the
      modern Earth system, and it is likely that they were also important players in
      the geological past, particularly during critical transitions such as the
      Cambrian Explosion (CE) and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE).
      To investigate the morphology and ecology of seaweeds spanning the time frame
      from the CE through the GOBE, a carefully vetted database was constructed that
      includes taxonomic and morphometric information for non-calcified macroalgae from
      69 fossil deposits. Analysis of the database shows a pattern of seaweed history
      that can be explained in terms of two floras: the Cambrian Flora and the
      Ordovician Flora. The Cambrian Flora was dominated by rather simple morphogroups,
      whereas the Ordovician Flora, which replaced the Cambrian Flora in the Ordovician
      and extended through the Silurian, mainly comprised comparatively complex
      morphogroups. In addition to morphogroup representation, the two floras show
      marked differences in taxonomic composition, morphospace occupation, functional
      form group representation, and life habit, thereby pointing to significant
      morphological and ecological changes for seaweeds roughly concomitant with the
      GOBE and the transition from the Cambrian to Paleozoic Evolutionary Faunas.
      Macroalgal changes of a similar nature and magnitude, however, are not evident in
      concert with the CE, as the Cambrian Flora consists largely of forms established
      during the Ediacaran. The cause of such a lag in macroalgal morphological
      diversification remains unclear, but an intriguing possibility is that it signals
      a previously unknown difference between the CE and GOBE with regard to the
      introduction of novel grazing pressures. The consequences of the establishment of
      the Ordovician Flora for shallow marine ecosystems and Earth system dynamics
      remain to be explored in detail but could have been multifaceted and potentially
      include impacts on the global carbon cycle.

PMID- 28603843
TI  - Characterization of V-set and immunoglobulin domain containing 1 exerting a tumor
      suppressor function in gastric, lung, and esophageal cancer cells.
AB  - V-set and immunoglobulin domain containing 1 (VSIG1) is a newly discovered member
      of the immunoglobulin superfamily of proteins, expressed in normal stomach and
      testis. In cancers, however, the clinical and biological roles of VSIG1 remain
      unknown. Here we investigated VSIG1 expression in 11 cancers and assessed the
      prognostic roles of VSIG1 in patients with gastric cancer (GC) (n = 362) and non
      small-cell lung cancer (n = 650). V-set and immunoglobulin domain containing 1
      was downregulated in 60.5% of GC specimens, and high VSIG1 expression was
      identified as an independent favorable prognostic factor for overall survival in
      GC patients (hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.96). Among lung
      adenocarcinomas (n = 428), VSIG1 was significantly and inversely associated with
      thyroid transcription factor 1 expression and was frequently expressed in the
      invasive mucinous subtype (17 of 19, 89.5%). In addition, VSIG1 was expressed in
      a subset of pancreatic, ovarian, and prostate cancers. The variant 2 VSIG1
      transcript was the dominant form in these tissues and cancer cells. Introduction
      of VSIG1 significantly reduced the proliferative ability of MKN1 and MKN28 GC
      cells and H1299 lung cancer cells and downregulated cell migration of these
      cells, as well as of KYSE150, an esophageal cancer cell line. Cell invasion of
      MKN1, MKN28, and KYSE150 cells was also reduced by VSIG1 introduction. In vitro
      characterization revealed that VSIG1 forms homodimers through homophilic cis
      interactions but not through homophilic trans-interactions. These results suggest
      that VSIG1 possesses tumor suppressive functions that are translated into
      favorable prognosis of VSIG1-expressing GC patients.

PMID- 28603845
TI  - Three novel HBB mutations, c.-140C>G (-90 C>G), c.237_256delGGACAACCTCAAGGGCACCT
      (FS Cd 78/85 -20 bp), and c.315+2T>G (IVS2:2 T>G). Update of the mutational
      spectrum of beta-Thalassemia in Mexican mestizo patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) is frequent in Mexican patients with
      microcytosis and hypochromia. We report three novel mutations and analyze the
      actual mutational spectrum in Mexican population. METHODS: One hundred and forty
      nine beta-thal Mexican mestizo patients were studied (154 alleles). ARMS-PCR was
      performed to identify Cd39C>T, IVS1:1G>A, IVS1:110G>A, -28A>C, initiation
      codonA>G and IVS1:5G>A mutations, and gap-PCR for deltabeta-thal Spanish type.
      DNA sequencing of HBB gene was carried out in negative samples for the initial
      screening. RESULTS: Fifteen different HBB gene mutations were observed in 148
      alleles; three of them are novel: -90C>G, 20 bp deletion (at codons 78/85), and
      IVS2:2T>G; the mutation IVS1:6T>C that was observed for first time in our
      population; and eleven previously described mutations. Six alleles showed normal
      HBB sequence. To date, a total of 21 different mutations have been observed in
      Mexican patients; the four most frequent mutations are of Mediterranean origin:
      Cd39C>T (37.2%), IVS1:1G>A (17.3%), IVS1:110G>A (13.9%), and deltabeta-thal
      Spanish type (9.0%), which represent 77.4% of the total studied alleles.
      CONCLUSION: Considering the novel mutations -90C>G, -20 bp Cd78/85, IVS2:2T>G and
      the first observation of IVS1:6T>C, the molecular spectrum of beta-thal in
      Mexicans comprises 21 different mutations, confirming the high allelic
      heterogeneity in Mexicans.

PMID- 28603846
TI  - Decoupling of a tight-fit transceiver phased array for human brain imaging at
      9.4T: Loop overlapping rediscovered.
AB  - PURPOSE: To improve the decoupling of a transceiver human head phased array at
      ultra-high fields (UHF, >= 7T) and to optimize its transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx)
      performance, a single-row eight-element (1 * 8) tight-fit transceiver overlapped
      loop array was developed and constructed. Overlapping the loops increases the RF
      field penetration depth but can compromise decoupling by generating substantial
      mutual resistance. METHODS: Based on analytical modeling, we optimized the loop
      geometry and relative positioning to simultaneously minimize the resistive and
      inductive coupling and constructed a 9.4T eight-loop transceiver head phased
      array decoupled entirely by overlapping loops. RESULTS: We demonstrated that both
      the magnetic and electric coupling between adjacent loops is compensated at the
      same time by overlapping and nearly perfect decoupling (below -30 dB) can be
      obtained without additional decoupling strategies. Tx-efficiency and SNR of the
      overlapped array outperformed that of a common UHF gapped array of similar
      dimensions. Parallel Rx-performance was also not compromised due to overlapping
      the loops. CONCLUSION: As a proof of concept we developed and constructed a 9.4T
      (400 MHz) overlapped transceiver head array based on results of the analytical
      modeling. We demonstrated that at UHF overlapping loops not only provides
      excellent decoupling but also improves both Tx- and Rx-performance. Magn Reson
      Med 79:1200-1211, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in
      Medicine.

PMID- 28603847
TI  - Tight Molecular Recognition of Benzo[a]pyrene by a High-Affinity Antibody.
AB  - Benzo[a]pyrene, which is produced during the incomplete combustion of organic
      material, is an abundant noxious pollutant because of its carcinogenic metabolic
      degradation products. The high-affinity (KD ~3 nm) monoclonal antibody 22F12
      allows facile bioanalytical quantification of benzo[a]pyrene even in complex
      matrices. We report the functional and X-ray crystallographic analysis of 22F12
      in complex with 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene after cloning of the V-genes and
      production as a recombinant Fab fragment. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon is
      bound in a deep pocket between the light and heavy chains, surrounded mainly by
      aromatic and aliphatic amino acid side chains. Interestingly, the hapten-antibody
      interface is less densely packed than expected and reveals polar, H-bond-like
      interactions with the polycyclic aromatic pi-electron system, which may allow the
      antibody to maintain a large, predominantly hydrophobic binding site in an
      aqueous environment while providing sufficient complementarity to its ligand.

PMID- 28603848
TI  - How restudy decisions affect overall comprehension for seventh-grade students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-regulated learning requires accurate monitoring and effective
      regulation of study. Little is known about how effectively younger readers
      regulate their study. AIMS: We examined how decisions about which text to restudy
      affect overall comprehension for seventh-grade students. In addition to a
      Participant's Choice condition where students were allowed to pick texts for
      restudy on their own, we compared learning gains in two other conditions in which
      texts were selected for them. The Test-Based Restudy condition determined text
      selection using initial test performance - presenting the text with the lowest
      initial test performance for restudy, thereby circumventing potential problems
      associated with inaccurate monitoring and ineffective regulation. The Judgement
      Based Restudy condition determined text selection using metacognitive judgements
      of comprehension - presenting the text with the lowest judgement of
      comprehension, thereby circumventing potential problems associated with
      ineffective regulation. SAMPLE: Four hundred and eighty seventh-grade students
      participated. METHOD: Students were randomly assigned to conditions in an
      experimental design. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Gains in comprehension following
      restudy were larger for the Test-Based Restudy condition than for the Judgement
      Based Restudy condition or the Participant's Choice condition. No differences in
      comprehension were seen between the Judgement-Based Restudy and Participant's
      Choice conditions. These results suggest seventh graders can systematically use
      their monitoring to make decisions about what to restudy. However, the results
      highlight how inaccurate monitoring is one reason why younger students fail to
      benefit from self-regulated study opportunities.

PMID- 28603849
TI  - Quorum sensing in Candida albicans: farnesol versus farnesoic acid.
AB  - Read the Original article at doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.12636.

PMID- 28603850
TI  - Polydiacetylene/Anti-HBs Complexes for Visible and Fluorescent Detection of
      Hepatitis B Surface Antigen on a Nitrocellulose Membrane.
AB  - The immunochromatographic assay (ICA) using a nitrocellulose (NC) membrane offers
      several advantages. This technique is a rapid and straightforward method in
      contrast to other immunoassays. Polydiacetylene (PDA) vesicles have unique
      optical properties, displaying red color and red fluorescence at the same time.
      In this system, red-phase PDA vesicles are used as a fluorescent dye as well as a
      surface for immobilized hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb). PDA has a
      remarkable stability compared with other fluorescent dyes. In this study, the
      most suitable PDA/HBsAb complexes are introduced for detecting hepatitis B
      surface antigen (HBsAg). Then, the PDA/HBsAb complexes affixed antibody is
      attached to NC membrane, which has two lines to confirm detection of HBsAg. The
      main advantage of this system is that the detection of HBsAg can be observed in
      both visible and fluorescent images due to the optical properties of
      polydiacetylene. Detection of HBsAg is observed up to 0.1 ng mL-1 by fluorescent
      analysis and confirmed by red line on the NC membrane up to 1 ng mL-1 (HBsAg)
      using the naked eye. Consequently, these results show that PDA/HBsAb complexes
      were successfully applied to ICA for the diagnosis of hepatitis B.

PMID- 28603851
TI  - Effortful control, exposure to community violence, and aggressive behavior:
      Exploring cross-lagged relations in adolescence.
AB  - Self-regulation processes and violent contexts play an important role in
      predicting adolescents' aggressive behavior; less clear is how all three
      constructs are linked to each other over time. The present study examined the
      longitudinal relations among adolescents' self-reported effortful control (EC),
      exposure to community violence, both as a witness and as a victim, and aggressive
      behavior. Participants were 768 Italian adolescents (358 males) living in a high
      risk context, with a mean age at T1 of 11 years in the younger cohort and 14
      years in the older cohort. In a four-wave cross-lagged panel design, low EC was a
      strong predictor of aggressive behavior across each time point, whereas
      aggressive behavior was found to positively predict adolescents' violence
      exposure both as witnesses and victims. Some evidence of transactional relations
      was also found between adjustment problems and exposure to community violence and
      between EC and externalizing problems. Moreover, EC was indirectly related to
      exposure to violence through externalizing problems, and mediated the relation of
      witnessing community violence to aggression, thus supporting the view that top
      down regulatory processes play a complex role in the development of violence and
      other externalizing problems. The importance of considering interventions that
      take in account these complex relations is discussed.

PMID- 28603852
TI  - Unusual neuropathological features and increased brain aluminium in a resident of
      Camelford, UK.

PMID- 28603853
TI  - 3D In vitro model of the re-epithelialization phase in the wound-healing process.
AB  - Keratinocytes of the basal layer function are to maintain tissue homoeostasis and
      to fulfil skin repair in response to an external aggression. In wound-healing,
      during re-epithelialization phase, epithelial precursor cells gradually migrate
      from the edges of the wound. The epidermal reconstruction model called standard
      model allows the vertical skin regeneration process
      (proliferation/differentiation) to being investigated, and keratinocyte function
      in preserving skin homoeostasis to being assessed. Here, we developed and
      characterized a 3D migration model, which introduces a step of keratinocytes
      migration such as the one observed in the phase of re-epithelialization in wound
      healing process. We validated the added value and the discriminative potential of
      this model by demonstrating pro-epithelializing effects of compounds. This new
      model allows the role of keratinocytes in different biomechanical and
      environmental requests to being better understood, and brings a new tool for
      compound screening and the study of mechanisms involved in skin regeneration.

PMID- 28603854
TI  - Gold Redox Catalysis through Base-Initiated Diazonium Decomposition toward
      Alkene, Alkyne, and Allene Activation.
AB  - The discovery of photoassisted diazonium activation toward gold(I) oxidation
      greatly extended the scope of gold redox catalysis by avoiding the use of a
      strong oxidant. Some practical issues that limit the application of this new type
      of chemistry are the relative low efficiency (long reaction time and low
      conversion) and the strict reaction condition control that is necessary
      (degassing and inert reaction environment). Herein, an alternative photofree
      condition has been developed through Lewis base induced diazonium activation.
      With this method, an unreactive AuI catalyst was used in combination with Na2 CO3
      and diazonium salts to produce a AuIII intermediate. The efficient activation of
      various substrates, including alkyne, alkene and allene was achieved, followed by
      rapid AuIII reductive elimination, which yielded the C-C coupling products with
      good to excellent yields. Relative to the previously reported photoactivation
      method, our approach offered greater efficiency and versatility through faster
      reaction rates and broader reaction scope. Challenging substrates such as
      electron rich/neutral allenes, which could not be activated under the
      photoinitiation conditions (<5 % yield), could be activated to subsequently yield
      the desired coupling products in good to excellent yield.

PMID- 28603855
TI  - Stress Fractures of the Calcaneus Diagnosed by Sonography: Report of 8 Cases.
AB  - We present a retrospective review of 8 patients (6 women and 2 men, with an age
      range of 46-80 years; mean age, 60.2 years) in whom sonography was used to
      diagnose a calcaneal stress fracture. Sonography was performed because of a
      clinical suspicion of soft tissue injuries. Two patients were first assessed by
      standard radiography; for the remaining patients, sonography was the first
      imaging technique used. Patients were subsequently examined by magnetic resonance
      imaging, except for 1 patient in whom the diagnosis was made only on a clinical
      sonographic correlation. On sonography, there was thickening of the periosteum
      and subcutaneous edema in all patients; a calcified bone callus was evident in
      none of the 8 patients. Cortical irregularities were found in 6 of 8 patients.
      Color Doppler imaging showed local hypervascular changes of the periosteum in all
      patients. Sonography, together with clinical findings, can be used to diagnose a
      calcaneal stress fracture. We suggest that sonologists should include a calcaneal
      stress fracture in their differential diagnosis in cases of mechanical hind foot
      pain. They must also include, as a part of every sonographic examination of the
      ankle, an examination of the calcaneus and be aware of the sonographic appearance
      of stress fractures. If the diagnosis is still uncertain after the sonographic
      examination, magnetic resonance imaging should be prescribed.

PMID- 28603857
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of norfloxacin after intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous
      administration to rabbits.
AB  - The disposition kinetics of norfloxacin, after intravenous, intramuscular and
      subcutaneous administration was determined in rabbits at a single dose of 10
      mg/kg. Six New Zealand white rabbits of both sexes were treated with aqueous
      solution of norfloxacin (2%). A cross-over design was used in three phases (2 * 2
      * 2), with two washout periods of 15 days. Plasma samples were collected up to 72
      hr after treatment, snap-frozen at -45 degrees C and analysed for norfloxacin
      concentrations using high-performance liquid chromatography. The terminal half
      life for i.v., i.m. and s.c. routes was 3.18, 4.90 and 4.16 hr, respectively.
      Clearance value after i.v. dosing was 0.80 L/h.kg. After i.m. administration, the
      absolute bioavailability was (mean +/- SD) 108.25 +/- 12.98% and the Cmax was
      3.68 mg/L. After s.c. administration, the absolute bioavailability was (mean +/-
      SD) 84.08 +/- 10.36% and the Cmax was 4.28 mg/L. As general adverse reactions
      were not observed in any rabbit and favourable pharmacokinetics were found,
      norfloxacin at 10 mg/kg after i.m. and s.c. dose could be effective in rabbits
      against micro-organisms with MIC <=0.14 or 0.11 MUg/mL, respectively.

PMID- 28603856
TI  - A case for motor network contributions to schizophrenia symptoms: Evidence from
      resting-state connectivity.
AB  - Though schizophrenia (SCZ) is classically defined based on positive symptoms and
      the negative symptoms of the disease prove to be debilitating for many patients,
      motor deficits are often present as well. A growing literature highlights the
      importance of motor systems and networks in the disease, and it may be the case
      that dysfunction in motor networks relates to the pathophysiology and etiology of
      SCZ. To test this and build upon recent work in SCZ and in at-risk populations,
      we investigated cortical and cerebellar motor functional networks at rest in SCZ
      and controls using publically available data. We analyzed data from 82 patients
      and 88 controls. We found key group differences in resting-state connectivity
      patterns that highlight dysfunction in motor circuits and also implicate the
      thalamus. Furthermore, we demonstrated that in SCZ, these resting-state networks
      are related to both positive and negative symptom severity. Though the ventral
      prefrontal cortex and corticostriatal pathways more broadly have been implicated
      in negative symptom severity, here we extend these findings to include motor
      striatal connections, as increased connectivity between the primary motor cortex
      and basal ganglia was associated with more severe negative symptoms. Together,
      these findings implicate motor networks in the symptomatology of psychosis, and
      we speculate that these networks may be contributing to the etiology of the
      disease. Overt motor deficits in SCZ may signal underlying network dysfunction
      that contributes to the overall disease state. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4535-4545, 2017.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28603858
TI  - Loss of DeltaNp63alpha promotes mitotic exit in epithelial cells.

PMID- 28603860
TI  - Inferior mesenteric vein as initial landmark for laparoscopic medial to lateral
      dissection of descending colon - a video vignette.

PMID- 28603859
TI  - Disparities in abnormal mammogram follow-up time for Asian women compared with
      non-Hispanic white women and between Asian ethnic groups.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delays in abnormal mammogram follow-up contribute to poor outcomes.
      In the current study, the authors examined differences in abnormal screening
      mammogram follow-up between non-Hispanic white (NHW) and Asian women. METHODS:
      The authors used a prospective cohort of NHW and Asian women with a Breast
      Imaging, Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) abnormal result of category 0 or 3
      plus in the San Francisco Mammography Registry between 2000 and 2010. Kaplan
      Meier estimation for the median number of days to follow-up with a diagnostic
      radiologic test was performed, and the authors compared the percentage of women
      with follow-up at 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days and no follow-up at 1 year for
      Asian women overall (and Asian ethnic groups) and NHW women. In addition, the
      authors assessed the relationship between race/ethnicity and time to follow-up
      with adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Among Asian women,
      Vietnamese and Filipina women had the longest, and Japanese women the shortest,
      median follow-up (32 days, 28 days, and 19 days, respectively) compared with NHW
      women (15 days). The percentage of women receiving follow-up at 30 days was lower
      for Asians versus NHWs (57% vs 77%; P<.0001), and these disparities persisted at
      60 days and 90 days for all Asian ethnic groups except Japanese. Asian women had
      a reduced hazard of follow-up compared with NHW women (adjusted hazard ratio,
      0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.69-0.72). Asian women also had a higher rate of
      receiving no follow-up compared with NHW women (15% vs 10%; P<.001); among Asian
      ethnic groups, Filipinas were found to have the highest percentage of women with
      no follow-up (18.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Asian women, particularly Filipina and
      Vietnamese women, were less likely than NHW women to receive timely follow-up
      after an abnormal screening mammogram. Research should disaggregate Asian
      ethnicity to better understand and address barriers to effective cancer
      prevention. Cancer 2017;123:3468-75. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28603861
TI  - Diagnosis and molecular characterization of a novel alpha0 -thalassemia deletion
      (-Kozani) found in a Greek child with unexplained microcytic hypochromic anemia.

PMID- 28603862
TI  - Graft reduction using a powered stapler in pediatric living donor liver
      transplantation.
AB  - Large-for-size syndrome is defined by inadequate tissue oxygenation, which
      results in vascular complications and graft compression after abdominal closure
      in living donor liver transplantation recipients. An accurate graft reduction
      that matches the optimal liver volume for the recipient is essential. We herein
      initially present the feasibility and safety of graft reduction using a powered
      stapler to obtain an optimal graft size. From October 1996 to October 2015, a
      total of eight graft reductions were performed using a powered stapler (group A;
      n=4) or by the conventional method using a cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator
      and portal triad suturing (group B; n=4). The background, intraoperative findings
      and the post-operative outcomes of these eight patients were retrospectively
      investigated. There were no statistically significant differences in the
      background of the patients in the two groups. Graft reduction was successfully
      achieved without any intraoperative complications in group A, whereas
      intraoperative complications, such as bleeding and bile leakage, occurred in two
      patients of group B. No post-operative surgical complications were detected on
      computed tomography; moreover, the serum aspartate aminotransferase level
      normalized significantly earlier in group A (P<.05). In summary, graft reduction
      using a powered stapler was feasible and safe in comparison with the conventional
      method.

PMID- 28603864
TI  - EDIII-DENV3 nanospheres drive immature dendritic cells into a mature phenotype in
      an in vitro model.
AB  - Domain III of E protein of dengue virus (DENV) is a target for vaccine
      development. Unfortunately, this protein based platform has low general
      immunogenicity. To circumvent this problem, the use of an adjuvant-nanoparticle
      delivery system to facilitate immunogenicity of soluble DENV-EDIII protein was
      investigated. One of the key features of this delivery system is its ability to
      simultaneously deliver antigens and exert adjuvanticity on specialized immune
      cells. In this study, N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) nanoparticles (NPs) were
      generated to be used as adjuvant and carrier for soluble E-domain III of dengue
      virus serotype 3 (sEDIII-D3). Using ionotropic gelation, purified sEDIII-D3 was
      encapsulated into TMC NPs to form EDIII-D3 TMC NPs. After optimization, EDIII-D3
      TMC particles exhibited a loading efficiency of 81% and a loading capacity of
      41%. The immunogenicity of EDIII-D3 TMC NPs was tested using monocyte-derived
      dendritic cells (MoDCs). It was found that EDIII-D3 TMC NPs were well taken up by
      MoDCs. In addition, EDIII-D3 TMC NP treated MoDCs significantly upregulated
      maturation markers (CD80, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR) and induced secretion of various
      cytokines and chemokines (IFN-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-2, IL-12p70, IFN-gamma,
      IL-4, IL-10, IL-8, MCP-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta, granulocyte
      colony stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and
      IL-7). These results indicate that EDIII-D3 TMC NPs are potent immunogens, at
      least in vitro, with the ability to induce maturation of DCs and highlight the
      potential use of TMC NPs for enhancing immunogenicity of a non-replicating dengue
      vaccine.

PMID- 28603863
TI  - Identification of PTPN22, ST6GAL1 and JAZF1 as psoriasis risk genes demonstrates
      shared pathogenesis between psoriasis and diabetes.
AB  - The biological connections between psoriasis and diabetes have been suggested by
      epidemiological, immunological and genetic studies. To identify additional shared
      susceptibility loci and investigate shared pathogenesis between these two
      diseases, we genotyped 89 reported diabetes susceptibility loci in 4456 psoriasis
      cases and 6027 controls of Chinese population using the MassARRAY system from
      Sequenom. We discovered three significant associations at rs6679677 on 1p13.2
      (P=6.15*10-5 , OR=5.07), rs16861329 on 3q27.3 (P=2.02*10-4 , OR=0.87) and
      rs849135 on 7p15.1 (P=6.59*10-9 , OR=1.78), which suggested PTPN22, ST6GAL1 and
      JAZF1 as novel susceptibility genes for psoriasis in Chinese population. Our
      findings implicated the involvement of T-cell receptor signalling pathway in the
      pathogenesis of psoriasis and further confirmed the shared genetic susceptibility
      between psoriasis and diabetes.

PMID- 28603865
TI  - Correlates between calcaneal morphology and locomotion in extant and extinct
      carnivorous mammals.
AB  - Locomotor mode is an important component of an animal's ecology, relating to both
      habitat and substrate choice (e.g., arboreal versus terrestrial) and in the case
      of carnivores, to mode of predation (e.g., ambush versus pursuit). Here, we
      examine how the morphology of the calcaneum, the 'heel bone' in the tarsus,
      correlates with locomotion in extant carnivores. Other studies have confirmed the
      correlation of calcaneal morphology with locomotion behaviour and habitat. The
      robust nature of the calcaneum means that it is frequently preserved in the
      fossil record. Here, we employ linear measurements and 2D-geometric morphometrics
      on a sample of calcanea from eighty-seven extant carnivorans and demonstrate a
      signal of correlation between calcaneal morphology and locomotor mode that
      overrides phylogeny. We used this correlation to determine the locomotor mode,
      and hence aspects of the palaeobiology of, 47 extinct carnivorous mammal taxa,
      including both Carnivora and Creodonta. We found ursids (bears), clustered
      together, separate from the other carnivorans. Our results support greater
      locomotor diversity for nimravids (the extinct 'false sabertooths', usually
      considered to be more arboreal), than previously expected. However, there are
      limitations to interpretation of extinct taxa because their robust morphology is
      not fully captured in the range of modern carnivoran morphology.

PMID- 28603867
TI  - Supplement: GLIA Bilbao 2017: Abstracts Oral Presentations, Posters, Indexes.

PMID- 28603866
TI  - Utility of intraoperative frozen sections for thyroid nodules with prior fine
      needle aspiration cytology diagnosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of
      intraoperative frozen section (IFS) in determining the course of surgery in
      thyroid nodules with a prior fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy diagnosis. In
      addition, reliability of FNA interpretation to guide surgical management without
      IFS was investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study of all
      patients who had a FNA biopsy, IFS, and final pathology performed on a thyroid
      nodule over a 9 month period. The extent of surgery at the time of the IFS was
      recorded. Subsequent change in surgical procedure following the IFS diagnosis was
      noted in each of the Bethesda diagnostic categories. RESULTS: 55% of the cases
      were deferred at IFS overall, with 68 and 86% in Bethesda III and IV categories,
      respectively. Overall, there was a change in management in 6% of cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study does not support the use of IFS for nodules with prior FNA
      interpretation of Bethesda II, III, IV and VI as management was not significantly
      changed. IFS is of value for nodules with prior FNA diagnosis of Bethesda I for
      interpretation of nodule, and Bethesda V for planning surgery. A confirmatory
      diagnosis could not be rendered at IFS for lesions with follicular architecture,
      which comprised most of the cases in Bethesda III and IV.

PMID- 28603868
TI  - Pre-operative brachial plexus block compared with an identical block performed at
      the end of surgery: a prospective, double-blind, randomised clinical trial.
AB  - We evaluated whether pre-emptive analgesia with a pre-operative ultrasound-guided
      infraclavicular brachial plexus block resulted in better postoperative analgesia
      than an identical block performed postoperatively. Fifty-two patients undergoing
      fixation of a fractured radius were included. All patients received general
      anaesthesia with remifentanil and propofol. Patients were randomly allocated into
      two groups: a pre-operative block or a postoperative block with 0.5 ml.kg-1
      ropivacaine 0.75%. After surgery, all patients received regular paracetamol plus
      opioids for breakthrough pain. Mean (SD) time to first rescue analgesic after
      emergence from general anaesthesia was 544 (217) min in the pre-operative block
      group compared with 343 (316) min in the postoperative block group (p = 0.015).
      Postoperative pain scores were higher and more patients required rescue analgesia
      during the first 4 h after surgery in the postoperative block group. There were
      no significant differences in plasma stress mediators between the groups.
      Analgesic consumption was lower at day seven in the pre-operative block group.
      Pain was described as very strong at block resolution in 27 (63%) patients and 26
      (76%) had episodes of mild pain after 6 months. We conclude that a pre-operative
      ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus block provides longer and
      better analgesia in the acute postoperative period compared with an identical
      postoperative block in patients undergoing surgery for fractured radius.

PMID- 28603869
TI  - A study of special care dental patient preference toward choice of mask and visor
      use by dental clinicians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Do patients have a preference for the clinician's choice of face
      protection (visor or mask), and can this make a difference to the patient's
      feelings of anxiety? METHOD: In a normative sample (n = 72) of patients from
      Special Care Dentistry, different combinations of face protection were studied to
      see whether the patients clearly preferred one type over another, and whether
      that was related to the levels of anxiety they suffered, based on the modified
      dental anxiety scale. RESULTS: The majority of patients, 68% had the visor only
      as their first choice of face protection. This was followed by 22% having the
      mask only as their first choice and 10% having the visor and mask combination as
      their first choice. Patients with higher anxiety levels were more likely to
      believe that the type of face protection worn by the dentist would affect their
      levels of anxiety. CONCLUSION: The patients preferred the visor only option. As
      the level of anxiety rose, so did the percentage of patients that felt the style
      of protection worn by the dentist would affect their level of anxiety. The
      comments from patients referred to the benefit of nonverbal communication offered
      by the visor.

PMID- 28603870
TI  - Advice about infant feeding for allergy prevention: A confusing picture for
      Australian consumers?
AB  - AIM: Early feeding plays an important role in programming the immune system,
      particularly the risk of food allergy. There are many infant feeding guides
      published for consumers available in Australia, with most based on the National
      Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2012 Infant Feeding Guidelines for
      Health Workers and the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy
      (ASCIA) Infant Feeding Advice for allergy prevention. We sought to compare
      allergy-specific content of infant feeding educational material written for
      parents with these two documents. METHODS: Australian websites of children's
      hospitals, early child health organisations and consumer groups providing
      information about diet during pregnancy, breastfeeding and early infancy were
      compared with NHMRC and ASCIA guidelines. RESULTS: Twenty-five sets of infant
      feeding information were identified. Food allergy was discussed in 18 resources.
      Recommended length of exclusive breastfeeding and timing of commencing solid
      foods was consistently around 6 months, with some variation in wording. Advice
      regarding to include and not delay introduction of common allergens into babies'
      diets was generally consistent with NHMRC and ASCIA recommendations, however the
      audit identified some resources that still recommended delayed introduction of
      common allergens. CONCLUSION: As consumers have access to a plethora of health
      information it is imperative that information about infant feeding from health
      care authorities is simple, evidence-based and consistent to avoid confusion. Use
      of consensus wording related to infant feeding guidelines to prevent allergies
      will provide clear messages related to the timing of introduction to solid foods
      and inclusion of allergens in the early diet.

PMID- 28603871
TI  - Effects of achievement goals on perceptions of competence in conditions of
      unfavourable social comparisons: The mastery goal advantage effect.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous prospective studies have documented that mastery-approach
      goals are adaptive because they facilitate less negative psychological responses
      to unfavourable social comparisons than performance-approach goals. AIMS: This
      study aimed to confirm this so-called 'mastery goal advantage' effect
      experimentally. METHODS: A 2 * 3 design was adopted where achievement goals
      (mastery vs. performance) and normative information (favourable vs. no-normative
      information vs. unfavourable) were manipulated as between participant factors.
      SAMPLE: Participants were 201 undergraduates, 57 males and 144 females, ranging
      in age from 17 to 55 years (Mage  = 22.53, SD = 6.51). RESULTS: Regression
      analyses pointed out that experimentally induced mastery-approach goals
      facilitated higher levels of competence and happiness with task performance than
      experimentally induced performance-approach goals in conditions of unfavourable
      social comparisons. In contrast, although performance-approach goals yielded the
      highest levels of happiness with task performance in conditions of favourable
      social comparisons, this positive effect of performance-approach goals did not
      extend to perceptions of competence. CONCLUSION: Current findings broaden
      understanding of the adaptive nature of mastery-approach goals and suggest that
      it is possible to modulate aversive responses to unfavourable social comparisons
      by focusing attention on mastery-approach goals.

PMID- 28603872
TI  - The effect of feed supplementation with a copper-glycine chelate and copper
      sulphate on selected humoral and cell-mediated immune parameters, plasma
      superoxide dismutase activity, ceruloplasmin and cytokine concentration in
      broiler chickens.
AB  - The varied bioavailability and different effects of organic forms of copper on
      the immune system of poultry have prompted the search for new feed additives
      based on copper compounds containing modified chelate complexes. The aim of the
      study was to determine the effect of inorganic and organic forms of copper on
      selected parameters of the cellular and humoral immune response in broiler
      chickens by determining the percentages of CD3+ CD4+ , CD3+ CD8+ and CD25+
      lymphocytes, cells with MHC Class II expression, and BU-1+ cells, as well as the
      concentrations of SOD, IL-2, IL-10 and TNF-alpha in the peripheral blood. The
      experiments were conducted using 500 one-day-old Ross 308 roosters divided into
      five groups. Cu was added in inorganic form (CuSO4 ), in inorganic form with the
      addition of phytase (CuSO4 + F), in organic form in combination with glycine (Cu
      Gly) and in organic form in combination with glycine and a phytase supplement (Cu
      Gly+F). The results of the study indicate an increase in the percentage of CD3+
      CD4+ and CD3+ CD8+ T lymphocytes, CD25+ T cells, and cells expressing MHC class
      II molecules, and in the concentration of ceruloplasmin, activity of superoxide
      dismutase and the concentration of IL-2 in the groups that received copper,
      particularly copper-glycine chelates. Based on the study, we can conclude that
      supplementation of poultry feed with copper chelates activates mainly the Th1
      cellular immune response and the response of peripheral blood T lymphocytes.
      Furthermore, it promotes secretion of cytokines, which are involved in
      potentiation and regulation of the immune response in birds.

PMID- 28603873
TI  - Environmental DNA enables detection of terrestrial mammals from forest pond
      water.
AB  - Terrestrial animals must have frequent contact with water to survive, implying
      that environmental DNA (eDNA) originating from those animals should be detectable
      from places containing water in terrestrial ecosystems. Aiming to detect the
      presence of terrestrial mammals using forest water samples, we applied a set of
      universal PCR primers (MiMammal, a modified version of fish universal primers)
      for metabarcoding mammalian eDNA. The versatility of MiMammal primers was tested
      in silico and by amplifying DNAs extracted from tissues. The results suggested
      that MiMammal primers are capable of amplifying and distinguishing a diverse
      group of mammalian species. In addition, analyses of water samples from zoo cages
      of mammals with known species composition suggested that MiMammal primers could
      successfully detect mammalian species from water samples in the field. Then, we
      performed an experiment to detect mammals from natural ecosystems by collecting
      five 500-ml water samples from ponds in two cool-temperate forests in Hokkaido,
      northern Japan. MiMammal amplicon libraries were constructed using eDNA extracted
      from water samples, and sequences generated by Illumina MiSeq were subjected to
      data processing and taxonomic assignment. We thereby detected multiple species of
      mammals common to the sampling areas, including deer (Cervus nippon), mouse (Mus
      musculus), vole (Myodes rufocanus), raccoon (Procyon lotor), rat (Rattus
      norvegicus) and shrew (Sorex unguiculatus). Many previous applications of the
      eDNA metabarcoding approach have been limited to aquatic/semiaquatic systems, but
      the results presented here show that the approach is also promising even for
      forest mammal biodiversity surveys.

PMID- 28603874
TI  - Impact of rest duration on Achilles tendon structure and function following
      isometric training.
AB  - Intervention programs are often sought to strengthen the Achilles tendon (AT) due
      to its high injury rate. Long rest periods between loading cycles have been found
      to increase collagen synthesis by tenocytes, suggesting rest duration may be
      important for tendon adaptation in vivo; however, exercise programs comparing
      long and short rest duration have not been directly compared. Fourteen adults
      completed a 12-week progressive training intervention; training sessions
      consisted of 5*10 isometric plantarflexion contractions each of 3-s duration
      performed at 90% of MVC three times weekly. Each leg was randomly allocated to
      long (LRT, 10-s rest) or short rest training (SRT, 3-s rest). We hypothesized
      that the leg allocated to LRT would demonstrate superior AT collagen organization
      compared to the leg receiving SRT, which would be related to improved
      biomechanical function. AT collagen organization and morphology were measured
      using ultrasound tissue characterization. AT properties were assessed before and
      after the intervention using a combination of dynamometry, ultrasound imaging,
      EMG, and motion capture. Contrary to our hypothesis, collagen organization did
      not improve following either training protocol; conversely, an unexpected
      decrease in echotype I proportion was seen after SRT (P<.001) but not LRT
      (P=.58), indicating an apparent protective effect of rest on collagen
      organization during isometric training. In contrast, AT adaptation was not
      appreciably enhanced by increasing intercycle rest duration; both protocols were
      equally effective at inducing significant strength gains and AT mechanical and
      material adaptation (P<=.001). Further research is necessary to identify optimal
      loading characteristics for injury prevention and rehabilitation.

PMID- 28603875
TI  - Impairments of spontaneous and deliberative mentalizing co-occur, yet dissociate,
      in schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evidence of impairment in explicit mentalizing in people with
      schizophrenia has inspired interventions to improve awareness of others' mental
      states in these individuals. Less is known of implicit mentalizing in
      schizophrenia, with current findings mixed. We sought to resolve previous
      inconsistencies using Heider & Simmel's (H&S) classic animation to elicit
      spontaneous mentalizing and examined relations between spontaneous and
      deliberative mentalizing. METHODS: Forty-five schizophrenia outpatients and 27
      general-community controls completed two explicit theory-of-mind (TOM) tasks and
      then described the H&S animation (to elicit spontaneous social attributions about
      emotionally driven, as well as goal-driven, behaviours), before and after an
      instruction to think of the shapes as people. Accuracy of basic and social facts
      and frequencies of personification and different mental-state terms were
      recorded. RESULTS: Explicit TOM performance was impaired in patients. Patients
      also generated fewer social (but not basic) facts than controls to describe the
      H&S animation, and used less mental-state language, before, and even more so,
      after the 'people' instruction, despite that both groups had used more
      personification terms after the 'people' instruction. Measures of explicit and
      spontaneous mentalizing contributed independently to discriminating between
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients respond less to the bottom-up signals of agency
      that ought normally to elicit spontaneous social attributions, even when cued to
      think of the stimuli as people, and the stimuli depict emotionally driven, as
      well as goal-driven, behaviour. That impairments of spontaneous and deliberative
      mentalizing dissociate in schizophrenia suggests that training deliberative
      mentalizing may not be enough; interventions to improve spontaneous mentalizing
      are also needed. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Findings People with schizophrenia were
      less likely than controls to spontaneously attribute causal mental states when
      viewing dynamic signals of emotionally driven and goal-driven behaviours. These
      impairments were even more pronounced when participants were instructed to think
      of the stimuli as people, suggesting that perceiving others in social roles does
      not prompt people with schizophrenia to anthropomorphize about others as agents
      motivated by their own inner worlds. Impairments of spontaneous mentalizing were
      found to co-occur independently with explicit mentalizing deficits in
      schizophrenia, consistent with the claim that humans can access two distinct
      systems for understanding others' minds. Findings suggest that interventions to
      improve conscious deliberative mentalizing in schizophrenia may not be enough; we
      also need to target implicit mentalizing processes. Limitations The patient
      sample was chronic and only mildly symptomatic. As such, findings cannot be
      generalized to other stages and phases of the illness. All patients were also
      medicated, allowing for the possibility that automatic responses to socially
      salient stimuli may have been pharmacologically attenuated. Future research may
      examine whether unmedicated young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis show a
      similar profile of mentalizing impairment. Future work may also examine whether
      impairments of deliberative and spontaneous mentalizing associate differentially
      with social functioning and different cognitive domains in schizophrenia.

PMID- 28603876
TI  - Patients' and family caregivers' understanding of the cancer stage, treatment
      goal, and chance of cure: A study with patient-caregiver-physician triad.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Accurate understanding of the extent of disease, treatment goal, and
      prognosis is a prerequisite for patients with cancer and their caregivers to make
      informed decision. We sought to evaluate patients' and family caregivers'
      understanding of the cancer stage, treatment goal, and chance of cure taking
      their own physician's evaluation as reference. METHODS: A national survey was
      performed with 750 patient-caregiver dyads (75.5% participation rate) recruited
      by 134 oncologists in 13 cancer centers (93% participation rate) in South Korea.
      Both patients and caregivers were asked to report their knowledge of patient's
      cancer stage, treatment goal, and chance of cure. Concordance was evaluated with
      percentage agreement and weighted kappa, and predictors of discordance of patient
      and caregiver's response with that of physician's were explored by multivariate
      regression analyses with mixed effect model. RESULTS: The agreement rates between
      patient-physician and caregiver-physician were 63.0% and 65.9% for disease stage,
      69.0% and 70.0% for treatment goal, and 41.4% and 45.1% for chance of cure. When
      discordance occurs, patients and caregivers often had an optimistic view. Distant
      stage, older age, female sex, and absence of depression were associated with
      optimistic view of patients, and there was significant between-physician variance
      for all 3 outcomes. CONCLUSION: The discordance revealed that our study suggests
      the need for better communication between physician and patients, as well as the
      caregivers. Research is needed to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve the
      understanding of the patients and family so that treatment decisions are made
      based on realistic estimation.

PMID- 28603877
TI  - Effects of Moringa oleifera leaves as a substitute for alfalfa meal on nutrient
      digestibility, growth performance, carcass trait, meat quality, antioxidant
      capacity and biochemical parameters of rabbits.
AB  - This contribution reports the effects of Moringa oleifera leaves (MOLs) meal on
      the growth performances, nutrient digestibility, carcass trait, meat quality,
      antioxidant capacity and biochemical parameters of growing New Zealand white
      rabbits. The MOL was substituted for alfalfa meal at levels of 0, 10%, 20% and
      30% to obtain respective diets MOL0, MOL10, MOL20 and MOL30. Each treatment was
      replicated five times with 10 rabbits per replicate. Results showed the average
      daily weight gain (ADWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of rabbits fed MOL20
      diet were significantly better (p < 0.05) than those of other three dietary
      groups. Liver and spleen index of rabbits fed MOL20 and MOL30 diets was
      significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of the groups fed with lower M.
      oleifera leaves (MOL0, MOL10). The meat drip loss of rabbits fed with diet MOL10
      was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of rabbits fed other diets. All
      rabbits fed MOL dietary groups had lower (p < 0.05) shear force of longissimus
      dorsi than the group without M. oleifera leaves. No significant differences were
      found in the digestibility of crude fibre (CF), crude fat (EE), ash, crude
      protein (CP) and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) among the dietary groups. Moringa
      oleifera leaves also have a significant impact on serum albumin (ALB), low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), triiodothyroxine (T3 ) and
      tetraiodothyroxine (T4 ) values and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD)
      and catalase (CAT) in serum and liver. The results indicated that M. oleifera
      leaves could be developed as a good feed source, and it not only could substitute
      for alfalfa meal well but also has a significant effect on growth performance,
      meat quality, antioxidant and biochemical parameters of rabbits.

PMID- 28603878
TI  - Reactivity of NHC Alane Adducts towards N-Heterocyclic Carbenes and Cyclic
      (Alkyl)(amino)carbenes: Ring Expansion, Ring Opening, and Al-H Bond Activation.
AB  - The synthesis of mono-NHC alane adducts of the type (NHC)?AlH3 (NHC=Me2 Im (1),
      Me2 ImMe (2), iPr2 Im (3 and [D3 ]-3), iPr2 ImMe (4), Dipp2 Im (10);
      Im=imidazolin-2-ylidene, Dipp=2,6-diisopropylphenyl) and (NHC)?AliBu2 H (NHC=iPr2
      Im (11), Dipp2 Im (12)) as well as their reactivity towards different types of
      carbenes is presented. Although the mono-NHC adducts remained stable at elevated
      temperatures, ring expansion occurred when (iPr2 Im)?AlH3 (3) was treated with a
      second equivalent of the carbene iPr2 Im to give (iPr2 Im)?AlH(RER-iPr2 ImH2 )
      (6). In 6, {(iPr2 Im}AlH} is inserted into the NHC ring. In contrast, ring
      opening was observed with the sterically more demanding Dipp2 Im with the
      formation of (iPr2 Im)?AlH2 (ROR-Dipp2 ImH2 )H2 Al?(iPr2 Im) (9). In 9, two
      {(iPr2 Im)?AlH2 } moieties stabilize the ring-opened Dipp2 Im. If two hydridic
      sites are blocked, the adducts are stable with respect to further ring expansion
      or ring opening, as exemplified by the adducts (iPr2 Im)?AliBu2 H (11) and (Dipp2
      Im)?AliBu2 H (12). The adducts (NHC)?AlH3 and (iPr2 Im)?AliBu2 H reacted with
      cAACMe by insertion of the carbene carbon atom into the Al-H bond to give
      (NHC)?AlH2 /iBu2 (cAACMe H) (13-18) instead of ligand substitution, ring
      expansion, or ring-opened products.

PMID- 28603879
TI  - In vitro design of mesenchymal to epithelial transition of prostate cancer
      metastasis using 3D nanoclay bone-mimetic scaffolds.
AB  - Nanocomposite scaffolds show extensive applications in regenerative medicine and
      have shown promise as in vitro analogues of human tissue that can be used for the
      study of diseases. The complex nature of cancer metastasis is recently
      investigated using several 3D scaffold models. Herein, we report a polymer
      nanoclay-based in vitro tumour model that recapitulates early stage of prostate
      cancer (PCa) colonization during skeletal metastasis on bone mimetic scaffolds. A
      unique cell culture system termed as "sequential culture (SC)" has been applied
      to create a bone-mimetic niche for colonization of PCa cells. Human mesenchymal
      stem cells (MSCs) were seeded on the bone-mimetic scaffolds, where they
      differentiated into bone cells and then formed mineralized bone matrix without
      osteogenic supplements. Further, PCa was seeded on MSCs-seeded scaffolds.
      Sequentially cultured PCa cells with MSCs formed self-organized multicellular
      tumoroids with distinct tight cellular junctions and hypoxic core regions.
      Extensive quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
      experiments were performed to evaluate the expressions of genes related to
      osteotropic bone metastasis of PCa. On the nanoclay scaffolds, the MSCs
      differentiated to mature osteoblasts and epithelial to mesenchymal transition was
      inhibited whereas mesenchymal to epithelial transition was enhanced, as also the
      hypoxia increased angiogenesis, and finally, PCa cells initiated osteoblastic
      lesion. Further, the SC technique has significant effects on expression of key
      metastasis-related genes. Therefore, the SC-based tumour model can be applied to
      recapitulate more consistent osteotropic cancer cell behavior in understanding
      tumour biology. This model also can be implemented for drug screening to target
      colonization stage of PCa cells in the bone microenvironment.

PMID- 28603880
TI  - A Convex Hull-Based New Metric for Quantification of Bladder Wall Irregularity in
      Pediatric Patients With Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Early identification and quantification of bladder damage in
      pediatric patients with congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract
      (CAKUT) is crucial to guiding effective treatment and may affect the eventual
      clinical outcome, including progression of renal disease. We have developed a
      novel approach based on the convex hull to calculate bladder wall trabecularity
      in pediatric patients with CAKUT. The objective of this study was to test whether
      our approach can accurately predict bladder wall irregularity. METHODS: Twenty
      pediatric patients, half with renal compromise and CAKUT and half with normal
      renal function, were evaluated. We applied the convex hull approach to calculate
      T, a metric proposed to reflect the degree of trabeculation/bladder wall
      irregularity, in this set of patients. RESULTS: The average T value was roughly 3
      times higher for diseased than healthy patients (0.14 [95% confidence interval,
      0.10-0.17] versus 0.05 [95% confidence interval, 0.03-0.07] for normal bladders).
      This disparity was statistically significant (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: We have
      demonstrated that a convex hull-based procedure can measure bladder wall
      irregularity. Because bladder damage is a reversible precursor to irreversible
      renal parenchymal damage, applying such a measure to at-risk pediatric patients
      can help guide prompt interventions to avert disease progression.

PMID- 28603881
TI  - Early palliative care for adults with advanced cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incurable cancer, which often constitutes an enormous challenge for
      patients, their families, and medical professionals, profoundly affects the
      patient's physical and psychosocial well-being. In standard cancer care,
      palliative measures generally are initiated when it is evident that disease
      modifying treatments have been unsuccessful, no treatments can be offered, or
      death is anticipated. In contrast, early palliative care is initiated much
      earlier in the disease trajectory and closer to the diagnosis of incurable
      cancer. OBJECTIVES: To compare effects of early palliative care interventions
      versus treatment as usual/standard cancer care on health-related quality of life,
      depression, symptom intensity, and survival among adults with a diagnosis of
      advanced cancer. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and
      Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, OpenGrey (a database for grey
      literature), and three clinical trial registers to October 2016. We checked
      reference lists, searched citations, and contacted study authors to identify
      additional studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and
      cluster-randomised controlled trials (cRCTs) on professional palliative care
      services that provided or co-ordinated comprehensive care for adults at early
      advanced stages of cancer. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard
      methodological procedures as expected by Cochrane. We assessed risk of bias,
      extracted data, and collected information on adverse events. For quantitative
      synthesis, we combined respective results on our primary outcomes of health
      related quality of life, survival (death hazard ratio), depression, and symptom
      intensity across studies in meta-analyses using an inverse variance random
      effects model. We expressed pooled effects as standardised mean differences
      (SMDs, or Hedges' adjusted g). We assessed certainty of evidence at the outcome
      level using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and
      Evaluation) and created a 'Summary of findings' table. MAIN RESULTS: We included
      seven randomised and cluster-randomised controlled trials that together recruited
      1614 participants. Four studies evaluated interventions delivered by specialised
      palliative care teams, and the remaining studies assessed models of co-ordinated
      care. Overall, risk of bias at the study level was mostly low, apart from
      possible selection bias in three studies and attrition bias in one study, along
      with insufficient information on blinding of participants and outcome assessment
      in six studies.Compared with usual/standard cancer care alone, early palliative
      care significantly improved health-related quality of life at a small effect size
      (SMD 0.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15 to 0.38; participants analysed at
      post treatment = 1028; evidence of low certainty). As re-expressed in natural
      units (absolute change in Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT
      G) score), health-related quality of life scores increased on average by 4.59
      (95% CI 2.55 to 6.46) points more among participants given early palliative care
      than among control participants. Data on survival, available from four studies
      enrolling a total of 800 participants, did not indicate differences in efficacy
      (death hazard ratio 0.85, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.28; evidence of very low certainty).
      Levels of depressive symptoms among those receiving early palliative care did not
      differ significantly from levels among those receiving usual/standard cancer care
      (five studies; SMD -0.11, 95% CI -0.26 to 0.03; participants analysed at post
      treatment = 762; evidence of very low certainty). Results from seven studies that
      analysed 1054 participants post treatment suggest a small effect for
      significantly lower symptom intensity in early palliative care compared with the
      control condition (SMD -0.23, 95% CI -0.35 to -0.10; evidence of low certainty).
      The type of model used to provide early palliative care did not affect study
      results. One RCT reported potential adverse events of early palliative care, such
      as a higher percentage of participants with severe scores for pain and poor
      appetite; the remaining six studies did not report adverse events in study
      publications. For these six studies, principal investigators stated upon request
      that they had not observed any adverse events. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This
      systematic review of a small number of trials indicates that early palliative
      care interventions may have more beneficial effects on quality of life and
      symptom intensity among patients with advanced cancer than among those given
      usual/standard cancer care alone. Although we found only small effect sizes,
      these may be clinically relevant at an advanced disease stage with limited
      prognosis, at which time further decline in quality of life is very common. At
      this point, effects on mortality and depression are uncertain. We have to
      interpret current results with caution owing to very low to low certainty of
      current evidence and between-study differences regarding participant populations,
      interventions, and methods. Additional research now under way will present a
      clearer picture of the effect and specific indication of early palliative care.
      Upcoming results from several ongoing studies (N = 20) and studies awaiting
      assessment (N = 10) may increase the certainty of study results and may lead to
      improved decision making. In perspective, early palliative care is a newly
      emerging field, and well-conducted studies are needed to explicitly describe the
      components of early palliative care and control treatments, after blinding of
      participants and outcome assessors, and to report on possible adverse events.

PMID- 28603882
TI  - Efficient Synthesis of Polycyclic gamma-Lactams by Catalytic Carbonylation of Ene
      Imines via Nickelacycle Intermediates.
AB  - The nickel(0)-catalyzed carbonylative cycloaddition of 1,5- and 1,6-ene-imines
      with carbon monoxide (CO) is reported. Key to this reaction is the efficient
      regeneration of the catalytically active nickel(0) species from nickel carbonyl
      complexes such as [Ni(CO)3 L]. A variety of tri- and tetracyclic gamma-lactams
      were thus prepared in excellent yields with 100 % atom efficiency. Preliminary
      results on asymmetric derivatives promise potential in the synthesis of
      enantioenriched polycyclic gamma-lactams.

PMID- 28603883
TI  - Recurrent intraocular haemorrhage due to pars plana Baerveldt glaucoma drainage
      device.

PMID- 28603889
TI  - Increased interleukin-10 and macrophage inflammatoryprotein-1alpha release from
      blood monocytes ex vivo duringlate-phase response to allergen in asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We determined the effect of late-phase responses to allergen
      challenge of mildly allergic asthmatic patients on the expression and release of
      the cytokines IL-10 and MIP-1alpha from peripheral blood monocytes. METHODS:
      Sixteen mildly allergic asthmatics were exposed to increasing concentrations of
      allergen aerosol. Nine demonstrated an early response alone (single responders),
      while seven had an early followed by a late response (dual responders). Monocytes
      were isolated from venous blood before and 24 h after allergen challenge, and
      placed in short-term culture for determination ofIL-10 mRNA expression by reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reactionand protein release. MIP-1alpha protein
      release was measured byradioimmunoassay. RESULTS: IL-10 mRNA expression was
      significantly higher in dual responders than early responders alone, for
      unstimulated monocytes or for monocytes exposed to lipopolysaccharide or IL
      1beta. In addition, the release of IL-10 and MIP-1alpha from monocytes of dual
      responders was also enhanced. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating monocytes are primed to
      release more of the cytokines, IL-10 and MIP-1alpha, in dual but not in single
      responders, at 24 h afterallergen. They may contribute to allergen-induced
      inflammatory responsesin the airways.

PMID- 28603892
TI  - Flexible Zinc-Tin Oxide Thin Film Transistors Operating at 1 kV for Integrated
      Switching of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators Arrays.
AB  - Flexible high-voltage thin-film transistors (HVTFTs) operating at more than 1 kV
      are integrated with compliant dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) to create a
      flexible array of 16 independent actuators. To allow for high-voltage operation,
      the HVTFT implements a zinc-tin oxide channel, a thick dielectric stack, and an
      offset gate. At a source-drain bias of 1 kV, the HVTFT has a 20 uA on-current at
      a gate voltage bias of 30 V. Their electrical characteristics enable the
      switching of DEAs which require drive voltages of over 1 kV, making control of an
      array simpler in comparison to the use of external high-voltage switching. These
      HVTFTs are integrated in a flexible haptic display consisting of a 4 * 4 matrix
      of DEAs and HVTFTs. Using a single 1.4 kV supply, each DEA is independently
      switched by its associated HVTFT, requiring only a 30 V gate voltage for full DEA
      deflection. The 4 * 4 display operates well even when bent to a 5 mm radius of
      curvature. By enabling DEA switching at low voltages, flexible metal-oxide HVTFTs
      enable complex flexible systems with dozens to hundreds of independent DEAs for
      applications in haptics, Braille displays, and soft robotics.

PMID- 28603893
TI  - Allodynia Is Associated With Initial and Sustained Response to Acute Migraine
      Treatment: Results from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In a population sample of persons with migraine treating with a single
      category of acute migraine medication, to identify rates and factors associated
      with acute treatment outcomes, including 2-hour pain freedom (2hPF), 24-hour pain
      response (24hPR), and 24-hour sustained pain response (24hSPR). Key predictors
      include acute treatment type (triptans and other medication categories), the
      influence of allodynia on response to medication, and the interaction between
      medication category and presence of allodynia in response to treatment among
      people with migraine. BACKGROUND: Cutaneous allodynia was previously associated
      with inadequate 2hPF, 24hPR, and 24hSPR (sustained response at 24 hours among
      those with adequate 2hPF) among people with migraine in the American Migraine
      Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study. METHODS: The AMPP Study obtained data
      from a representative US sample of persons with migraine by mailed questionnaire.
      The 2006 survey included 8233 people with migraine aged 18 or over who completed
      the Migraine Treatment Optimization Questionnaire (mTOQ). mTOQ was used to assess
      acute treatment outcomes including 2hPF, 24hPR, and 24hSPR. Eligible individuals
      used only a single category of acute prescription migraine treatments (n  = 
      5236, 63.6%). This sample was stratified into 5 categories of type of acute
      prescription headache medication used (triptans, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
      drugs, barbiturate-combinations, opioids, and opioid combinations and ergot
      alkaloids). Separate binary logistic regression models evaluated: (1) triptans vs
      other medication types; (2) presence of allodynia vs no allodynia; and (3) the
      interaction of medication category with allodynia. Sociodemographic variables,
      health insurance status, over-the-counter and preventive medication use were
      included as covariates. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were
      generated for each acute treatment outcome. RESULTS: Among eligible participants,
      the mean age was 46 years, and 82.5% were women. The triptan use group had better
      outcomes than other medication groups for 2hPF (OR range: 2.00-2.63, all
      significant except ergot alkaloids) and 24hPR (OR range: 2.10-6.22, all
      significant). No significant medication effects were found for the 24hSPR
      outcome. The presence of allodynia was associated with significantly worse
      outcomes for both 2hPF (OR range: 1.42-1.55, all significant) and 24hPR (OR
      range: 1.30-1.32, all significant, except for ergot alkaloids, P  =  .051).
      Allodynia effects were not significant for the 24hSPR. The interaction between
      medication and allodynia was also not significant (OR range for 2hPF: .68-2.02;
      OR range for 2hPR: .35-1.34; OR range for 24hSPR: 1.21-2.72) in any of the
      models, suggesting allodynia is an important predictor of treatment response
      regardless of the medication group prescribed. CONCLUSIONS: The use of triptan
      medication was associated with significantly better 2hPF (except vs ergot
      alkaloids) and significantly better 24hPR outcomes compared with other acute
      medication categories. The presence of allodynia significantly increased the
      likelihood of an inadequate treatment response for both of these outcomes.
      Triptan use was generally associated with the best outcomes. Because allodynia
      was associated with inadequate outcomes for all medication groups, we suggest
      that allodynia is an area of unmet treatment need.

PMID- 28603894
TI  - A performance evaluation of a novel human recombinant tissue factor prothrombin
      time reagent (RevohemTM PT).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A new prothrombin time reagent (RevohemTM PT) based on recombinant
      human tissue factor produced by the silkworm-baculovirus expression system was
      tested. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the new PT
      reagent with two widely used routine PT reagents. METHODS: All testing was
      performed on a Sysmex CS-5100 coagulometer. RevohemTM PT was tested for
      imprecision and stability using normal and abnormal lyophilized commercial
      control plasmas. Comparability was assessed with two widely used reagents: one
      containing recombinant human tissue factor (Reagent A) and the other a human
      placental thromboplastin (Reagent B) using a wide range of normal and abnormal
      plasmas and analyser-specific ISI values. RESULTS: Excellent between-day
      imprecision was obtained for RevohemTM PT (CV <1.0%) and acceptable open-vial on
      board stability over 7 days. There was good agreement between methods in samples
      from patients with liver disease and patients receiving warfarin and no
      significant differences between methods with increasing INR values. Both
      recombinant reagents suffered less interference from lupus anticoagulant than the
      placental thromboplastin. RevohemTM PT had similar sensitivity to reagents A and
      B for FII, V, VII and X deficiency and demonstrated dose responsiveness to
      dabigatran, apixaban and rivaroxaban with steeper response curves than the
      comparison reagents. CONCLUSION: RevohemTM PT showed comparable or improved
      performance relative to two widely used reagents and is suitable for use in
      warfarin control, detection of inherited factor II, V, VII and X deficiency and
      assessment of liver disease coagulopathy.

PMID- 28603895
TI  - Metastatic neoplasms to the pancreas diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration/biopsy
      cytology: A 15-year retrospective analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metastatic tumors to the pancreas are rarely encountered and
      diagnostically challenging. We aspired to determine the incidence and origin of
      all metastases to the pancreas at our institution, and to examine their
      clinicopathologic and cytomorphologic features. We also sought to ascertain the
      effect of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guidance implementation. METHODS: A search
      of our database was undertaken to review all pancreatic FNA and/or CNB examined
      from January 2000 through December 2014. RESULTS: During our 15-year study, 636
      patients underwent pancreatic FNA/CNB, including 252 (40%) computerized
      tomography (CT) and 384 (60%) EUS-guided biopsies. Malignancy was diagnosed in
      221 (35%). Only 16 had metastases to the pancreas, comprising 2.5% of pancreatic
      biopsies and 7.2% of malignancies. Three (18.8%) presented with their first
      manifestation of cancer. EUS guidance was utilized in 50%, with rapid on-site
      evaluation (ROSE) employed in 14 (88%). The most common primary site was lung
      (6,38%), followed by 3 (19%) each of renal and gastrointestinal malignancies. The
      remaining included malignant melanoma, Merkel and gallbladder small cell
      carcinomas, and olfactory neuroblastoma. CONCLUSION: Cytologic diagnosis of
      metastasis to the pancreas is rare in our institution, comprising only 2.5% and
      7.2% of total and malignant pancreatic FNA/CNB, respectively. FNA/CNB with ROSE
      proved to be an effective diagnostic modality, thereby obviating the need for
      more invasive procedures in the setting of pancreatic metastases. EUS-FNA was
      equally effective as CT-guided biopsies in achieving specimen adequacy and
      definitive diagnoses. We also present the first known case of a metastatic
      olfactory neuroblastoma to the pancreas diagnosed by imprint cytology.

PMID- 28603896
TI  - Dietary Pattern Associated with Frailty: Results from Nutrition and Health Survey
      in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether dietary patterns are associated with frailty
      phenotypes in an elderly Taiwanese population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING:
      Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT), 2014-2016. PARTICIPANTS:
      Noninstitutionalized Taiwanese nationals aged 65 years and older enrolled in the
      NAHSIT (N = 923). MEASUREMENTS: Dietary intake was assessed using a 79-item food
      frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Presence of 5 frailty phenotypes was determined
      using modified Fried criteria and are summed into a frailty score. Using data
      from the NAHSIT (2014-15), reduced rank regression was used to find a dietary
      pattern that explained maximal degree of variation of the frailty scores.
      Logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between frailty
      and dietary pattern. The findings were validated with data from 2016. RESULTS:
      The derived dietary pattern was characterized with a high consumption of fruit,
      nuts and seeds, tea, vegetables, whole grains, shellfish, milk, and fish. The
      prevalence of frailty was 7.8% and of prefrailty was 50.8%, defined using the
      modified Fried criteria. Using data from the NAHSIT (2014-15), the dietary
      pattern score showed an inverse dose-response relationship with prevalence of
      frailty and pre-frailty. Individuals in the second dietary pattern tertile were
      one-third as likely to be frail as those in the first tertile (adjusted odds
      ratio (aOR) = 0.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.12-0.85), and those in the
      third tertile were 4% as likely to be frail as those in the first tertile (aOR =
      0.04, 95% CI = 0.01-0.18). The dietary pattern score estimated using FFQ data
      from the NAHSIT 2016 was also significantly and inversely associated with
      frailty. CONCLUSION: Individuals with a dietary pattern with more phytonutrient
      rich plant foods, tea, omega-3-rich deep-sea fish, and other protein-rich foods
      such as shellfish and milk had a reduced prevalence of frailty. Further research
      is necessary to confirm these findings and investigate whether related dietary
      interventions can reduce frailty in older adults.

PMID- 28603897
TI  - In search of consensus on ethics in airway research.

PMID- 28603898
TI  - Getting to the root of scales, feather and hair: As deep as odontodes?
AB  - While every jawed vertebrate, or its recent ancestor, possesses teeth, skin
      appendages are characteristic of the living clades: skin denticles (odontodes) in
      chondrichthyans, dermal scales in teleosts, ducted multicellular glands in
      amphibians, epidermal scales in squamates, feathers in birds and hair-gland
      complexes in mammals, all of them showing a dense periodic patterning. While the
      odontode origin of teleost scales is generally accepted, the origin of both
      feather and hair is still debated. They appear long before mammals and birds, at
      least in the Jurassic in mammaliaforms and in ornithodires (pterosaurs and
      dinosaurs), and are contemporary to scales of early squamates. Epidermal scales
      might have appeared several times in evolution, and basal amniotes could not have
      developed a scaled dry integument, as the function of hair follicle requires its
      association with glands. In areas such as amnion, cornea or plantar pads, the
      formation of feather and hair is prevented early in embryogenesis, but can be
      easily reverted by playing with the Wnt/BMP/Shh pathways, which both imply the
      plasticity and the default competence of ectoderm. Conserved
      ectodermal/mesenchymal signalling pathways lead to placode formation, while later
      the crosstalk differs, as well as the final performing tissue(s): both epidermis
      and dermis for teeth and odontodes, mostly dermis for teleosts scales and only
      epidermis for squamate scale, feather and hair. We therefore suggest that tooth,
      dermal scale, epidermal scale, feather and hair evolved in parallel from a shared
      placode/dermal cell unit, which was present in a common ancestor, an early
      vertebrate gnathostome with odontodes, ca. 420 million years ago.

PMID- 28603899
TI  - Geographic variation in liver transplantation persists despite implementation of
      Share35.
AB  - AIM: Geographic disparities persist in the USA despite locoregional organ sharing
      policies. The impact of national organ sharing policies on waiting-list mortality
      on a regional basis remains unknown. METHODS: Data on all adult liver transplants
      between 1 February 2002 and 31 March 2015 were obtained from the United Network
      for Organ Sharing/Organ and Transplantation Network. Multivariable Cox
      proportional hazards models were constructed in a time-to-event analysis to
      estimate waiting-list mortality for the pre- and post-Share35 eras. RESULTS: In
      the analyzed time period, 134 247 patients were listed for transplantation and 54
      510 received organs (42.8%). Listing volume increased following the introduction
      of the Share35 organ sharing policy (15 976 candidates pre- vs. 18 375 post)
      without significant regional changes as did the number of transplants (7210 pre-
      vs. 8224 post). Waiting-list mortality improved from 12.2% to 8.1% (P < 0.001).
      Adjusted waiting-list mortality ratios remained geographically disparate. Region
      10 and region 11 had lower hazard ratios (HR) but still had increased mortality
      (1.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34-1.60, P < 0.001; and HR 1.49, 95% CI
      1.37-1.62, P < 0.001, respectively). Regions 3 and 6 had increased HR with
      persistently elevated waiting-list mortality (1.79, 95% CI 1.66-1.93, P < 0.001;
      and HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.16-1.45, P < 0.001, respectively). Model for End-state
      Liver Disease (MELD) exception continued to propagate a survival benefit (HR
      0.65, 95% CI 0.63-0.68, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although overall waiting-list
      mortality has decreased, geographic disparities persist, but appear reduced
      despite broader sharing policies enacted by Share35. The advantage afforded by
      MELD exception, while still present, was diminished by Share35 as organs are
      being shifted to MELD >35 candidates. The disparities highlighted by our findings
      imply a need to review current allocation policies to best balance local,
      regional, and national transplant environments.

PMID- 28603900
TI  - Mitochondrial Point Mutation m.3243A>G Associates With Lower Bone Mineral
      Density, Thinner Cortices, and Reduced Bone Strength: A Case-Control Study.
AB  - Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with several clinical manifestations
      including diabetes mellitus (DM), neurological disorders, renal and hepatic
      diseases, and myopathy. Although mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with
      increased bone resorption and decreased bone formation in mouse models, effects
      of alterations in mitochondrial function on bone remodeling and mass have not
      been investigated in humans. We recruited 45 carriers (29 females, 16 males) with
      the m.3243A>G mutation and healthy controls matched for gender, age, height, and
      menopausal status. DXA and HRpQCT scans were performed, and bone turnover markers
      (BTMs) P1NP and CTX were measured. Cases and controls were well matched except
      for body weight, which was lower in cases (63.6 +/- 18.1 kg versus 74.6 +/- 14.8
      kg, p < 0.01), and manifest DM was present in 25 of 45 cases (none in controls).
      Bone scans showed lower BMD at the lumbar spine, total hip, and femoral neck in
      cases. Mean lumbar spine, total hip, and femoral neck T-scores were -1.5, -1.3,
      and -1.6 in cases, respectively, and -0.8, -0.3, and -0.7 in controls (all p <
      0.05). The m.3243A>G mutation was associated with lower BMD, cortical but not
      trabecular density, cortical thickness, and estimated bone strength. Furthermore,
      BTMs were lower in the m.3243A>G group before but not after adjustment for DM.
      The mitochondrial point mutation m.3243A>G was associated with decreased bone
      mass and strength. Although the coexistence of DM may have influenced bone
      turnover, the bone phenotype observed in m.3243A>G cases appeared to mirror age
      related deterioration in bone, suggesting that mitochondrial dysfunction may
      cause a premature aging of bone. (c) 2017 The Authors. Journal of Bone and
      Mineral Research Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.

PMID- 28603901
TI  - Blunted insula activation reflects increased risk and reward seeking as an
      interaction of testosterone administration and the MAOA polymorphism.
AB  - Testosterone, a male sex hormone, has been suggested to partly explain mixed
      findings in males and females when investigating behavioral tendencies associated
      with the MAOA polymorphism. Prior studies indicated that the MAOA polymorphism
      represents a vulnerability factor for financial risk-taking and harm avoidance
      and that testosterone increases human risk-taking. We therefore assumed an
      interactive influence of the MAOA polymorphism and testosterone application on
      decision making and corresponding neural correlates in a risk and reward context.
      Stratified for the MAOA polymorphism (S =short, L =long), 103 healthy males were
      assigned to a placebo or testosterone group (double blind, randomized) receiving
      a topical gel containing 50 mg testosterone. During a functional MRI scan, the
      participants performed a sequential decision making task. Our results indicate
      that testosterone and the MAOA polymorphism jointly influence sequential decision
      making. The MAOA-S variant was associated with less automatic harm avoidance as
      reflected in response times on safe decisions. Moreover, after testosterone
      administration, MAOA-S carriers were more risk-taking. Overall activity in the
      anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus increased
      with growing risk for losses. In the anterior insula, testosterone administration
      mitigated this effect solely in MAOA-S carriers. This might be a reflection of an
      improved coping during risk-reward conflicts subsequently modulating risky
      decision making. While the molecular basis is not well defined so far, our
      results support the assumption of testosterone as a modulatory factor for
      previously reported sex differences of behavioral associations with the MAOA-S
      variant. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4574-4593, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28603902
TI  - Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 associates with casein kinase II to
      regulate GPIb-IX-mediated platelet activation via the PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway.
AB  - : Essentials The mechanisms of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) in
      GPIb-IX signaling are unclear. Function of ERK5 in GPIb-IX was tested using
      aggregation, western blotting, and mass spectrometry. The protein interacting
      with ERK5 in human platelets was identified as casein kinase II (CKII). ERK5
      associates with CKII to regulate the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway in GPIb
      IX signaling. SUMMARY: Background The platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX complex
      plays essential roles in thrombosis and hemostasis. The mitogen-activated protein
      kinases (MAPKs) ERK1/2 and p38 have been shown to be important in the GPIb-IX
      mediated signaling leading to integrin activation. However, the roles of the MAPK
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) in GPIb-IX-mediated platelet
      activation are unknown. Objective To reveal the function and mechanisms of ERK5
      in GPIb-IX-mediated platelet activation. Methods The functions of ERK5 in GPIb-IX
      mediated human platelet activation were assessed using botrocetin/VWF,
      ristocetin/VWF, or platelet adhesion to von Willebrand factor (VWF) under shear
      stress in the presence of a specific inhibitor of ERK5. ERK5-associated proteins
      were pulled down from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with HA
      tagged-ERK5, identified by mass spectrometry, and confirmed in human platelets.
      Roles of ERK5-associated proteins in GPIb-IX-mediated platelet activation were
      clarified using specific inhibitors. Results The phosphorylation levels of ERK5
      were significantly enhanced in human platelets stimulated with botrocetin/VWF or
      ristocetin/VWF. The ERK5 inhibitor XMD8-92 suppressed the second wave of human
      platelet aggregation induced by botrocetin/VWF or ristocetin/VWF and inhibited
      human platelet adhesion on immobilized VWF under shear stress. Casein kinase II
      (CKII) was identified as an ERK5-associated protein in human platelets. The CKII
      inhibitor TBB, similar to the ERK5 inhibitor XMD8-92, specifically restrained
      PTEN phosphorylation, therefore suppressing Akt phosphorylation in human
      platelets treated with botrocetin/VWF. Conclusion ERK5 associates with CKII to
      play essential roles in GPIb-IX-mediated platelet activation via the
      PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway.

PMID- 28603903
TI  - Systematic review of sodium thiosulfate in treating calciphylaxis in chronic
      kidney disease patients.
AB  - AIM: Calciphylaxis is a severe complication of advanced chronic kidney disease
      (CKD). Sodium thiosulphate (STS), an antioxidant and calcium chelating agent, has
      been used for the treatment of calciphylaxis. However, its efficacy and safety
      have not been systematically analysed and evaluated. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      and the Cochrane Library database were systematically searched for case report or
      cases series on use of STS for calciphylaxis published between July 1974 and
      October 2016. We extracted data on clinical characteristics, laboratory tests
      result and medication use. The effective treatment was defined as improvement in
      skin lesion cicatrisation or pain relief without death. Non-responding effects
      were defined as stable skin lesions without remission or exacerbation of the
      disease in patients who remained alive. All-cause mortality after STS treatment
      was defined as death due to exacerbations of calciphylaxis or other complications
      of advanced CKD. We compared the baseline parameters of the patients as well as
      the efficacy and mortality of the STS therapy between case report and multi-case
      reports. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 19. RESULTS: A total of
      83 papers were screened, 45 of them (n = 358) met the inclusion criteria,
      including 36 case reports (n = 64) and nine multi-case reports (n = 294). The
      mean age of the patients with calciphylaxis was 58 +/- 14 years (range 26-91
      years). They were female predominant, accounting for 74.1%. Among the patients
      with calciphylaxis, 96.1% patients were on dialysis with median dialysis vintage
      of 44.5 months (range 24-84 months). STS was effective in 70.1% of patients,
      37.6% patients died. The proportion of patients with sepsis was higher among
      those who received intravenous STS. There was no significant difference in
      efficacy between the different STS administration methods (P = 0.19). CONCLUSION:
      Although the study was unable to assess the efficacy of sodium thiosulphate alone
      in the treatment of calciphylaxis, it still reveals a promising role of STS as an
      effective therapy for calciphylaxis. Further prospective studies to define the
      optimal therapy for calciphylaxis are needed.

PMID- 28603904
TI  - Myths and legends of right ventricular septal pacing.

PMID- 28603905
TI  - Self-expanding metallic stent for large bowel obstruction: evidence-based
      analysis results.

PMID- 28603907
TI  - A randomised, controlled trial evaluating a low cost, 3D-printed bronchoscopy
      simulator.
AB  - Low-fidelity, simulation-based psychomotor skills training is a valuable first
      step in the educational approach to mastering complex procedural skills. We
      developed a cost-effective bronchial tree simulator based on a human thorax
      computed tomography scan using rapid-prototyping (3D-print) technology. This
      randomised, single-blind study evaluated how realistic our 3D-printed simulator
      would mimic human anatomy compared with commercially available bronchial tree
      simulators (Laerdal(r) Airway Management Trainer with Bronchial Tree and AirSim
      Advance Bronchi, Stavanger, Norway). Thirty experienced anaesthetists and
      respiratory physicians used a fibreoptic bronchoscope to rate each simulator on a
      visual analogue scale (VAS) (0 mm = completely unrealistic anatomy, 100 mm =
      indistinguishable from real patient) for: localisation of the right upper lobe
      bronchial lumen; placement of a bronchial blocker in the left main bronchus;
      aspiration of fluid from the right lower lobe; and overall realism. The 3D
      printed simulator was rated most realistic for the localisation of the right
      upper lobe bronchial lumen (p = 0.002), but no differences were found in
      placement of a bronchial blocker or for aspiration of fluid (p = 0.792 and p =
      0.057) compared with using the commercially available simulators. Overall, the 3D
      printed simulator was rated most realistic (p = 0.021). Given the substantially
      lower costs for the 3D-printed simulator (L85 (?100/US$110) compared with > ~
      L2000 (?2350/US$2590) for the commercially available simulators), our 3D-printed
      simulator provides an inexpensive alternative for learning bronchoscopy skills,
      and offers the possibility of practising procedures on patient-specific models
      before attempting them in clinical practice.

PMID- 28603906
TI  - Atopic skin: In vivo Raman identification of global molecular signature, a
      comparative study with healthy skin.
AB  - Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common skin inflammatory disease, affecting up
      to 3% of adults and 20% of children. Skin barrier impairment is thought to be the
      primary factor in this disease. Currently, there is no method proposed to monitor
      non-invasively the different molecular disorders involved in the upper layer of
      AD skin. Raman microspectroscopy has proved to be a powerful tool to characterize
      some AD molecular descriptors such as lipid content, global hydration level,
      filaggrin and its derivatives. Our investigations aimed to extend the use of in
      vivo Raman microspectroscopy as a rapid and non-invasive diagnostic technique for
      lipid conformation and organization, protein secondary structure and bound water
      content analysis in atopic skin. Our approach was based on the analysis of Raman
      data collected on the stratum corneum (SC) of 11 healthy and 10 mild-to-moderate
      atopic patients. Atopic skin revealed a modification of lipid organization and
      conformation in addition to the decrease of the lipid-to-protein ratio. This
      study also highlighted a reduction of the bound water and an increase in protein
      organized secondary structure in atopic skin. All these descriptors worsen the
      barrier function, state and appearance of the skin in AD. This precise and
      relevant information will allow an in vivo follow-up of the pathology and a
      better evaluation of the pharmacological activity of therapeutic molecules for
      the treatment of AD.

PMID- 28603908
TI  - Depression profile in cancer patients and patients without a chronic somatic
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate whether depressed oncology patients show a specific
      depressive symptom profile, we compared depression symptoms in depressed cancer
      patients (CANCER-DEP) and depressed patients without a chronic somatic disease
      (NONCANCER-DEP). METHODS: Of a total of 2493 outpatients from a comprehensive
      cancer center and a center for psychosocial medicine, 1054 (42.3%) met the DSM-5
      criteria for depression, measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire 9. Based
      on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 scores, differences in severity of each of
      the 9 individual DSM-5 depression symptoms between CANCER-DEP (n = 542) and
      NONCANCER-DEP (n = 512) were examined. Non-depressed cancer patients (CANCER
      NONDEP; n = 1216) served as a comparison group for somatic symptoms independent
      of depression in cancer. To control for depression severity, group comparisons
      were performed separately for patients with major depression and any depressive
      disorders. RESULTS: Depressed cancer patients reported significantly lower levels
      of the cognitive-emotional depression symptoms "worthlessness" and "suicidal
      thoughts" than NONCANCER-DEP. Only 1 out of 5 somatic depression symptoms
      ("changes in appetite") was more pronounced in CANCER-DEP than in NONCANCER-DEP.
      Confirming previous research, somatic depression symptoms occurred more
      frequently in CANCER-DEP than in CANCER-NONDEP. CONCLUSIONS: The lower level of
      cognitive-emotional symptoms in CANCER-DEP than in NONCANCER-DEP is discussed in
      relation to different psychosocial phenomena. Our results indicate that somatic
      depression symptoms are similarly pronounced in CANCER-DEP and NONCANCER-DEP, and
      that CANCER-DEP show greater somatic depression symptoms than CANCER-NONDEP. The
      presence of high levels of somatic symptoms should alert clinicians to
      investigate for a potential comorbid depression in cancer patients.

PMID- 28603909
TI  - Accuracy of combinations of visual inspection using acetic acid or lugol iodine
      to detect cervical precancer: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA) or with
      Lugol's iodine (VILI) have been evaluated for cervical cancer screening in
      developing countries. OBJECTIVES: To assess the diagnostic accuracy and clinical
      utility of visual methods to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2+
      (CIN2+) using: (1) VIA alone; (2) VILI alone; (3) co-testing; and (4) VILI as a
      triage test of a positive VIA result. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, EMBASE, and the
      Cochrane Library were searched up to May 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: All reports on
      the accuracy of VIA and VILI, or combinations of VIA/VILI, to detect CIN2+ were
      identified. Histology and colposcopy when no biopsy was taken were used as the
      reference standard. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Selected studies were scored on
      methodological quality, and sensitivity and specificity were computed. Clinical
      utility was assessed from the positive predictive value (PPV) and the complement
      of the negative predictive value (cNPV). MAIN RESULTS: We included 23 studies
      comprising 101 273 women. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of VILI was 88
      and 86%, respectively. VILI was more sensitive, but not less specific, compared
      with VIA (relative sensitivity = 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.06
      1.16; relative specificity = 0.98; 95% CI 0.95-1.01). Co-testing was hardly more
      sensitive, but significantly less specific, than VILI alone. VILI to triage VIA
      POSITIVE women was not less sensitive, but more specific, compared with VIA alone
      (relative sensitivity = 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.01; relative specificity = 1.04, 95%
      CI 1.02-1.05). The average PPVs were low (range 11-16%), whereas the cNPV varied
      between 0.3% (VILI, co-testing) and 0.6% (triage). CONCLUSIONS: Although
      imperfect, VILI alone appeared to be the most useful visual screening strategy.
      TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: VILI alone seems to be the most useful visual screening test
      for cervical cancer screening.

PMID- 28603910
TI  - Production of N2 and N2 O from nitrate ingested by sheep.
AB  - Supplementing ruminants with nitrate (NO3-) reduces their enteric methane (CH4 )
      emissions; however, the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation achieved can be partially
      offset by small emissions of nitrous oxide (N2 O), a more potent GHG. Sheep were
      dosed intraruminally with 15 NO3- to investigate whether dietary NO3- is a
      precursor of N2 O and/or di-nitrogen gas (N2 ), and to quantify the amounts of
      NO3- recovered as N2 O and N2 in gas emissions from sheep adapted or not adapted
      to dietary NO3-. Ruminally cannulated sheep were adapted to a hay diet
      supplemented with NO3- (n = 3; 10 g NO3-/kg DM) or urea (n = 3; 5.3 g urea/kg
      DM). On the day of the experiment all sheep were dosed intraruminally with 15 NO3
      and quickly moved into gas-tight chambers to enable recovery of 15 N in N2 O and
      N2 to be measured. Measurements of gases accumulating in the chambers were made
      over 10 successive 50 min periods; this enabled the amount of N2 O produced, and
      the recovery of 15 NO3--N in N2 O and N2 to be determined over a total of 10 hr.
      Only 0.04% of labelled NO3--N was recovered as N2 O, and this was not dependent
      (p > .05) on whether or not the animals had been adapted to dietary NO3-.
      Approximatively 3% of 15 NO3--N was recovered as 15 N2 , which was also not
      dependent (p > .05) on whether sheep had been adapted to NO3-. Because the
      kinetics of rumen ammonia (NH3 ) were uncertain, the recovery of 15 N from NO3-
      in rumen NH3 could not accurately be quantified, but our results suggest that
      approximately 76% of dietary NO3- was converted to NH3 in the rumen. We conclude
      that the small amount of NO3- recovered in N2 was evidence of denitrification,
      previously thought not to occur in the rumen.

PMID- 28603911
TI  - CD11c expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia revisited, related with
      complications and survival.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a disorder of mature but
      dysfunctional monoclonal B cells. Microenvironment, antigenic stimulation and
      genetical mutations are demonstrated in etiopathogenesis. We aimed to evaluate
      the expression of CD11c in patients with CLL and its possible clinical
      significance. METHODS: Data of 259 patients with CLL between 2010 and 2016 in
      Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, including age at diagnosis, sex, whole
      blood count, stage, percentage of CLL cells in bone marrow, line of treatments,
      development of Richter's transformation and secondary tumors, autoimmune
      complications, IgG level, prognostic cytogenetic analysis, and length of survival
      were recorded from files. RESULTS: 151 patients were male (58.3%) and 108 were
      male (41.7%). Mean age was 70 (21-92) years. CD11c was observed to be positive
      (>%20) in 103 patients (39.8%). Development of Richter's transformation,
      secondary tumors and ITP was significantly frequent in patients with CD11c
      positivity (P values .000, .003, .000 respectively). Also, IgG levels were
      significantly lower in this group (P = .000). Hemoglobin level, RAI stage and
      bone marrow CLL infiltration percentage were statistically related with CD11c (P
      values .036, .037, .000 respectively). Finally, CD11c was statistically related
      (in positive group 70 months, negative group 79 months, P = .001). CONCLUSION:
      CD11c, expressed not only in Hairy cell leukemia but also in dendritic cells,
      macrophages and monocytes is a differentiation marker for inflammation. Prolonged
      inflammation in the microenvironment of CLL cells may cause a susceptibility to
      autoimmune disorders and secondary tumors in CLL, in this way, an increase in
      mortality.

PMID- 28603912
TI  - Regulation of bone mineral density in the grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis:
      Bioavailability of calcium oxalate, and implications for bark stripping.
AB  - The damage caused when grey squirrels strip the outer bark off trees and ingest
      the underlying phloem can result in reduced timber quality or tree death. This is
      extremely costly to the UK forestry industry and can alter woodland composition,
      hampering conservation efforts. The calcium hypothesis proposes that grey
      squirrels ingest phloem to ameliorate a seasonal calcium deficiency. Calcium in
      the phloem predominantly takes the form of calcium oxalate (CaOx), however not
      all mammals can utilise CaOx as a source of calcium. Here, we present the results
      of a small-scale study to determine the extent to which grey squirrels can
      utilise CaOx. One of three custom-made diets containing calcium in varying forms
      and quantities (CaOx diet, Low-calcium carbonate (CaCO3 ) diet and Control diet)
      were fed to three treatment groups of six squirrels for 8 weeks. Bone
      densitometric properties were measured at the end of this time using peripheral
      quantitative computed tomography and micro-computed tomography. Pyridinoline-a
      serum marker of bone resorption-was measured regularly throughout the study. Bone
      mineral density and cortical mineralisation were lower in squirrels fed the CaOx
      diet compared to the Control group but similar to that of those on the Low
      calcium diet, suggesting that calcium from calcium oxalate was not effectively
      utilised to maintain bone mineralisation. Whilst no differences were observed in
      serum pyridinoline levels between individuals on different diets, females had on
      average higher levels than males throughout the study. Future work should seek to
      determine if this apparent lack of ability to utilise CaOx is common to a large
      sample of grey squirrels and if so, whether it is consistent across all areas and
      seasons.

PMID- 28603913
TI  - A common complication of myelofibrosis presenting as a rare finding in
      cerebrospinal fluid cytology.
AB  - Herein, we present a rare case of intracranial extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH)
      diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology and describe the clinical
      presentation, radiologic, and pathologic findings. A 65 year-old man with a
      history of progressing primary myelofibrosis was admitted for headaches and right
      facial numbness. A brain MRI revealed focal abnormalities that were suspicious
      for leptomeningeal involvement of acute leukemia. Cytologic examination of CSF
      demonstrated a hypercellular specimen composed of hematopoietic cells including
      few blasts, as well as maturing red blood cells and granulocytic cells. The
      integration of morphologic findings, peripheral blood and bone marrow counts, as
      well as flow cytometric analysis of CSF and bone marrow, excluded leptomeningeal
      involvement by leukemic blasts and helped establish the diagnosis of intracranial
      EMH. Inclusion of EMH in the differential diagnosis of intracranial pathology in
      patients with known conditions predisposing them to EMH is important because
      recognizing this rare event has implications for treatment and prognosis.

PMID- 28603914
TI  - Mutation in IL36RN impairs the processing and regulatory function of the
      interleukin-36-receptor antagonist and is associated with DITRA syndrome.
AB  - The identification of loss-of-function mutations of the IL36RN gene encoding the
      interleukin-36 receptor antagonist (IL-36Ra) in generalized pustular psoriasis
      (GPP) emphasized the key role of this pathway in skin innate immunity and
      systemic inflammation. It has been previously shown in vitro that removal of the
      N-terminal amino acid IL36Ra (M1) is critical to its biological activity, but the
      in vivo contribution of this processing remains unknown. We report herein a new
      homozygous (c4G>T, pV2F) missense IL36RN mutation segregating in a family with
      three GPP-affected patients. The V2F mutation does not alter IL-36Ra protein
      expression but was devoid of any antagonist activity. Mass spectrometry showed
      that the V2F IL-36Ra mutant retains its first N-terminal methionine. These
      results provide the first in vivo demonstration that removal of N-terminal
      methionine of native IL-36Ra is a mandatory step to reach optimal antagonist
      activity and to prevent sustained skin and systemic inflammation in humans.

PMID- 28603915
TI  - Prognostic value of serum Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in patients with
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma and undetectable pretreatment Epstein-Barr virus DNA.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is closely associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      (NPC). Serum IgA antibodies against early antigen (EA-IgA) and viral capsid
      antigen (VCA-IgA) are the most commonly used to screen for NPC in endemic areas.
      However, the prognostic value of serum EA-IgA and VCA-IgA in patients with NPC is
      less clear. We hypothesize that serum EA-IgA and VCA-IgA levels have prognostic
      impact for survival outcomes in NPC patients with undetectable pretreatment EBV
      (pEBV) DNA. In this series, 334 patients with non-metastatic NPC and undetectable
      pEBV DNA were included. Serum EA-IgA and VCA-IgA were determined by ELISA. After
      analysis, serum EA-IgA and VCA-IgA loads correlated positively with T, N, and
      overall stage (all P < 0.05). Serum EA-IgA was not associated with survival
      outcome in univariable analyses. But patients with serum VCA-IgA >1:120 had
      significantly inferior 5-year progression-free survival (80.4% vs 89.6%, P =
      0.025), distant metastasis-free survival (88.4% vs 94.8%, P = 0.050), and
      locoregional relapse-free survival (88.4% vs 95.6%, P = 0.023; log-rank test).
      Multivariable analyses revealed that N stage was the only independent prognostic
      factor (all P < 0.05), but the VCA-IgA became insignificant. Further analyses
      revealed that serum VCA-IgA was not an independent prognostic factor in early N
      (N0-1) or advanced N (N2-3) stage NPC. In summary, although both EA-IgA and VCA
      IgA correlate strongly with TNM stage, our analyses do not suggest that these
      antibodies are prognostic biomarkers in patients with NPC and undetectable pEBV
      DNA.

PMID- 28603916
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin after oral, intramuscular and bath
      administration in crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio).
AB  - The pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin (ENR) was studied in crucian carp (Carassius
      auratus gibelio) after single administration by intramuscular (IM) injection and
      oral gavage (PO) at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight and by 5 mg/L bath for 5 hr at
      25 degrees C. The plasma concentrations of ENR and ciprofloxacin (CIP) were
      determined by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated based on mean ENR
      or CIP concentrations using WinNonlin 6.1 software. After IM, PO and bath
      administration, the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax ) of 2.29, 3.24 and 0.36
      MUg/ml was obtained at 4.08, 0.68 and 0 hr, respectively; the elimination half
      life (T1/2beta ) was 80.95, 62.17 and 61.15 hr, respectively; the area under the
      concentration-time curve (AUC) values were 223.46, 162.72 and 14.91 MUg hr/ml,
      respectively. CIP, an active metabolite of enrofloxacin, was detected and
      measured after all methods of drug administration except bath. It is possible and
      practical to obtain therapeutic blood concentrations of enrofloxacin in the
      crucian carp using IM, PO and bath immersion administration.

PMID- 28603917
TI  - A rare castration-resistant progenitor cell population is highly enriched in Pten
      null prostate tumours.
AB  - Castration-resistant prostate cancer is a lethal disease. The cell type(s) that
      survive androgen deprivation remain poorly described, despite global efforts to
      understand the various mechanisms of therapy resistance. We recently identified
      in wild-type (WT) mouse prostates a rare population of luminal progenitor cells
      that we called LSCmed according to their FACS profile (Lin- /Sca-1+ /CD49fmed ).
      Here, we investigated the prevalence and castration resistance of LSCmed in
      various mouse models of prostate tumourigenesis (Pb-PRL, Ptenpc-/- , and Hi-Myc
      mice). LSCmed prevalence is low (~8%, similar to WT) in Hi-Myc mice, where
      prostatic androgen receptor signalling is unaltered, but is significantly higher
      in the two other models, where androgen receptor signalling is decreased, rising
      up to more than 80% in Ptenpc-/- prostates. LSCmed tolerate androgen deprivation
      and persist or are enriched 2-3 weeks after castration. The tumour-initiating
      properties of LSCmed from Ptenpc-/- mice were demonstrated by regeneration of
      tumours in vivo. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that LSCmed represent a unique
      cell entity as their gene expression profile is different from luminal and
      basal/stem cells, but shares markers of each. Their intrinsic androgen signalling
      is markedly decreased, explaining why LSCmed tolerate androgen deprivation. This
      also illuminates why Ptenpc-/- tumours are castration-resistant since LSCmed
      represent the most prevalent cell type in this model. We validated CK4 as a
      specific marker for LSCmed on sorted cells and prostate tissues by
      immunostaining, allowing for the detection of LSCmed in various mouse prostate
      specimens. In castrated Ptenpc-/- prostates, there was significant proliferation
      of CK4+ cells, further demonstrating their key role in castration-resistant
      prostate cancer progression. Taken together, this study identifies LSCmed as a
      probable source of prostate cancer relapse after androgen deprivation and as a
      new therapeutic target for the prevention of castrate-resistant prostate cancer.
      Copyright (c) 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published
      by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28603918
TI  - CFTR-France, a national relational patient database for sharing genetic and
      phenotypic data associated with rare CFTR variants.
AB  - Most of the 2,000 variants identified in the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane
      regulator) gene are rare or private. Their interpretation is hampered by the lack
      of available data and resources, making patient care and genetic counseling
      challenging. We developed a patient-based database dedicated to the annotations
      of rare CFTR variants in the context of their cis- and trans-allelic
      combinations. Based on almost 30 years of experience of CFTR testing, CFTR-France
      (https://cftr.iurc.montp.inserm.fr/cftr) currently compiles 16,819 variant
      records from 4,615 individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) or CFTR-RD (related
      disorders), fetuses with ultrasound bowel anomalies, newborns awaiting clinical
      diagnosis, and asymptomatic compound heterozygotes. For each of the 736 different
      variants reported in the database, patient characteristics and genetic
      information (other variations in cis or in trans) have been thoroughly checked by
      a dedicated curator. Combining updated clinical, epidemiological, in silico, or
      in vitro functional data helps to the interpretation of unclassified and the
      reassessment of misclassified variants. This comprehensive CFTR database is now
      an invaluable tool for diagnostic laboratories gathering information on rare
      variants, especially in the context of genetic counseling, prenatal and
      preimplantation genetic diagnosis. CFTR-France is thus highly complementary to
      the international database CFTR2 focused so far on the most common CF-causing
      alleles.

PMID- 28603919
TI  - Dynamic brain connectivity is a better predictor of PTSD than static
      connectivity.
AB  - Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we test the hypothesis
      that subjects with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are characterized by
      reduced temporal variability of brain connectivity compared to matched healthy
      controls. Specifically, we test whether PTSD is characterized by elevated static
      connectivity, coupled with decreased temporal variability of those connections,
      with the latter providing greater sensitivity toward the pathology than the
      former. Static functional connectivity (FC; nondirectional zero-lag correlation)
      and static effective connectivity (EC; directional time-lagged relationships)
      were obtained over the entire brain using conventional models. Dynamic FC and
      dynamic EC were estimated by letting the conventional models to vary as a
      function of time. Statistical separation and discriminability of these metrics
      between the groups and their ability to accurately predict the diagnostic label
      of a novel subject were ascertained using separate support vector machine
      classifiers. Our findings support our hypothesis that PTSD subjects have stronger
      static connectivity, but reduced temporal variability of connectivity. Further,
      machine learning classification accuracy obtained with dynamic FC and dynamic EC
      was significantly higher than that obtained with static FC and static EC,
      respectively. Furthermore, results also indicate that the ease with which brain
      regions engage or disengage with other regions may be more sensitive to
      underlying pathology than the strength with which they are engaged. Future
      studies must examine whether this is true only in the case of PTSD or is a
      general organizing principle in the human brain. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4479-4496,
      2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28603920
TI  - Urinary Immunoglobulin Components in Normal, Tubular, and Glomerular Proteinuria:
      Quantities and Characteristics of Free Light Chains, IgG, IgA, and Fcgamma
      Fragment.
AB  - The urinary excretion of free light immunoglobulin chains IgG, IgA, and Fcgamma
      fragment material has been estimated in 12 healthy individuals and 7 subjects
      with tubular or glomerular proteinuria. Measurements were carried out by
      immunochemical methods after separation of concentrated urinary immunoglobulin
      components by gel chromatography. Various components were isolated and their
      sedimentation constants, Stokes' radii, diffusion coefficients, molecular
      weights, and frictional ratios were determined.-Twenty-four hour urine volumes
      from the healthy subjects contained, on average, 3.3 mg of free light chains, 3.0
      mg of IgG, approximately 2.0 mg of IgA, and 0.19 mg of Fey fragment Material.
      Normal urinary IgA included about 90% 11.5 S IgA of molecular weight 370000 and
      about 10% 7.0 S of molecular Weight 165000.-Patients with tubular proteinuria
      excreted relatively more of immunoglobulin components of small size than the
      patients with glomerular proteinuria. In particular, urine from patients with
      tubular proteinuria contained more free light chains than IgG whereas urine from
      patients with glomerular proteinuria contained more IgG than free light chains.
      The excretion of free light chains in the patients with tubular proteinuria was 8
      to 33 times the average normal value. The results indicate an excess normal
      production of light chains assuming that all or most of the free chains originate
      from de novo synthesis. The relative amounts of urinary 11.5 S and 7.0 S IgA were
      similar in tubular proteinuria and normal proteinuria, whereas relatively more
      urinary 7.0 S IgA was found in glomerular proteinuria. This observation and the
      properties of the two IgA species suggest that the 11.5 S IgA is secretory IgA
      from the urinary tract and that most or all of the 7.0 S IgA originates from
      plasma.

PMID- 28603921
TI  - The Value of Lactate and Pyruvate Measurements in the Assessment of the Redox
      State of Free Nicotinamide-Adenine Dinucleotide in the Cytoplasm of Perfused Rat
      Heart.
AB  - In the isolated rat heart perfused with glucose as substrate, measurements were
      made of perfusate and tissue lactate and pyruvate concentrations, and of tissue
      alpha-glycerophosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate concentrations. The
      conditions studied included increased heart work, anoxia, the addition of
      insulin, acute alloxan diabetes, chronic streptozotocin diabetes, and the
      addition of ketone bodies. True intracellular lactate values (estimated from the
      lactate and sorbitol spaces) and apparent tissue values exceeded perfusate
      values, showing the existence of a lactate concentration gradient. During anoxia,
      the lactate gradient diminished. Cytoplasmic free NAD+/NADH ratios calculated
      from the extracellular lactate/pyruvate ratio were similar to and changed in the
      same direction as the NAD+/NADH ratios calculated from the tissue alpha
      glycerophosphate/dihydroxyacetone phosphate ratios in non-diabetic hearts. In
      diabetio hearts, extracellular and tissue lactate/pyruvate ratios gave different
      values for the cytoplasmic free NAD+/NADH ratios than did tissue alpha-glycero
      phoaphate/dihydroxyacetone phosphate ratios. These discrepancies were associated
      with accumulation of pyruvate in the perfusate and the tissue. Changes in the
      extracellular lactate/pyruvate ratio gave a better differentiation between acute
      heart work and acute anoxia than did changes in the heart lactate/pyruvate ratio.
      The use of extracellular lactate/ pyruvate measurements in assessing the state of
      myocardial oxygenation is supported by these observations, provided that
      nutritional factors are taken into account and the diabetic state is excluded.

PMID- 28603922
TI  - Redistribution of Renal Blood Flow in Haemorrhagic Hypotension Role of Renal
      Nerves and Circulating Catecholamines* *.
AB  - Haemorrhagic hypotension (HH) causes a redistribution of intrarenal blood flow
      characterized by a patchy cortical hypoperfusion. Previous studies indicated that
      the sYmpathoadrenergic system is mainly responsible for these redistribution
      processes. The relative role of renal nerves and of circulating catecholamines
      was studied in the present experiments. Intrarenal haemodynamics were analysed by
      means of the 133 Xenon washout technique and 83 Krypton autoradiographics. 8
      autotransplanted (and, therefore, chronically denervated) kidneys showed the same
      typical response to severe and prolonged HH as 11 normal control organs. In 2
      additional dogs, the intrarenal distribution of blood flow (IDBF) and local blood
      flow rates (Fi ) of an acutely denervated kidney before and during HH did not
      show any differences as compared with the contralateral control organ. It is
      concluded that the patchy cortical hypoperfusion observed in the dog during
      severe haemorrhagic hypotension does not depend on an intact innervation of the
      kidney, but that it is mainly mediated by circulating catecholamines.

PMID- 28603925
TI  - The Pattern of Plasma Insulin Response to Glucose in Patients with a Previous
      Myocardial Infarction-The Respective Effects of Age and Disease.
AB  - Plasma insulin and blood sugar variations were investigated during oral (OGTT)
      and intravenous (IVGTT) glucose tolerance tests in 10 patients aged 32 to 41 and
      10 Patients aged 48 to 60 who had suffered a myocardial infarction at least three
      months previously. The results obtained in each group of patients were compared
      with those of ten normal subjects of corresponding age. The respective influences
      of age and cardio-vascular disease on the pattern of the plasma insulin and blood
      sugar responses to the glucose load were dissociated on the basis of analysis of
      variance.-Advancing age was associated with a rise in the mean blood sugar level
      during OGTT and a lowering of the glucose assimilation coefficient during IVGTT,
      but it was not accompanied by a significant change in the plasma insulin levels
      during either of the two tests.-Cardiovascular disease was associated with an
      augmentation of the mean blood sugar level during OGTT, but also with a prolonged
      and excessive response in plasma insulin. During IVGTT the glucose assimilation
      coefficient and the plasma insulin variations were not statistically different in
      the patients with a previous myocardial infarction and in the normal subjects.
      The previous occurrence of a myocardial infarction is thus associated with a
      hyperinsulinism during OGTT, but not after a rapid stimulation as realized during
      IVGTT. The nature of the gastrointestinal factors involved in the genesis of this
      hyperinsulinism remains a matter of conjecture.

PMID- 28603927
TI  - The Urate-Binding Alpha1 -2 Globulin: Isolation and Characterization of the
      Protein from Human Plasma.
AB  - The urate-binding alpha1-2 globulin has been isolated from human plasma in a
      highly purified state. The isolation procedure was based upon anion exchange
      chromatography of the plasma macromolecular fraction on DEAE-Sephadex columns
      followed by ammonium sulphate precipitations and preparative polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis. The urate-binding alpha1-2 globulin is a rod-shaped glycoprotein
      with a molecular weight of 67000 as determined by dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide
      gel electrophoresis and an isoelectric point of pH 4.6. In the presence of 6 N
      urea and mercaptoethanol respectively the protein does not split into subunits
      indicating that it might represent a single polypeptide chain. The urato-binding
      alpha1-2 globulin contains 12.1% of carbohydrates including galactose, mannoso,
      galactosamine and sialic acid. The amino acid composition of the protein does not
      differ significantly from what is found in other plasma proteins except for the
      presence in automatic amino acid analysis of an hitherto unidentified compound.
      Further work is required in order to determine the number of binding sites for
      uric acid on the protein molecule.-The urate-binding alpha1-2 globulin does not
      seem to be identical to any previously characterized protein from human blood.

PMID- 28603928
TI  - Nutritional role of folate.
AB  - Folate functions as a coenzyme to transfer one-carbon units that are necessary
      for deoxythymidylate synthesis, purine synthesis, and various methylation
      reactions. Ingested folate becomes a functional molecule through intestinal
      absorption, circulation, transport to cells, and various modifications to its
      structure. Associations between nutritional folate status and chronic diseases
      such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cognitive dysfunction have been
      reported. It has also been reported that maternal folate nutritional status is
      related to the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the offspring. It has also
      been recommended that folate be consumed in the diet to promote the maintenance
      of good health. To reduce the risk of NTDs, supplementation with folic acid (a
      synthetic form of folate) during the periconceptional period has also been
      recommended. This paper describes the basic features and nutritional role of
      folate.

PMID- 28603930
TI  - Successful Retrieval of embolized atrial septal defect occluder and patent
      foramen ovale closure device using novel coronary wire trap technique.
AB  - The use of atrial septal device occluders can lead to device embolization. This
      major complication can occur due to loose margins, deficient aorta, or thin and
      floppy posterior rim. Device embolization most often occurs after device release,
      and retrieval is essential. Many devices, including snare and bioptome, have been
      utilized for retrieval. However, performing these procedures can be difficult and
      time consuming. Failure to retrieve the embolized device requires open heart
      surgery. We report a novel and easy to perform method, "coronary wire trap
      technique," in the event of retrieval failure using conventionally available
      devices and snare, thereby preventing open-heart surgery. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28603929
TI  - Lipid-like Peptides can Stabilize Integral Membrane Proteins for Biophysical and
      Structural Studies.
AB  - A crucial bottleneck in membrane protein structural biology is the difficulty in
      identifying a detergent that can maintain the stability and functionality of
      integral membrane proteins (IMPs). Detergents are poor membrane mimics, and their
      common use in membrane protein crystallography may be one reason for the
      challenges in obtaining high-resolution crystal structures of many IMP families.
      Lipid-like peptides (LLPs) have detergent-like properties and have been proposed
      as alternatives for the solubilization of G protein-coupled receptors and other
      membrane proteins. Here, we systematically analyzed the stabilizing effect of
      LLPs on integral membrane proteins of different families. We found that LLPs
      could significantly stabilize detergent-solubilized IMPs in vitro. This
      stabilizing effect depended on the chemical nature of the LLP and the intrinsic
      stability of a particular IMP in the detergent. Our results suggest that
      screening a subset of LLPs is sufficient to stabilize a particular IMP, which can
      have a substantial impact on the crystallization and quality of the crystal.

PMID- 28603931
TI  - Fistulating Crohn's terminal ileitis involving sigmoid colon, left salpinx and
      urinary bladder: a laparoscopic approach - a video vignette.

PMID- 28603932
TI  - Prognostic significance of tumour regression grade after neoadjuvant
      chemoradiotherapy for a cohort of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer:
      an 8-year retrospective single-institutional study.
AB  - AIM: Locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is frequently treated with neoadjuvant
      chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) to reduce the risk of local recurrence and improve
      survival. Tumour response to NACRT is variable and may influence the prognosis
      after subsequent surgery. This study compared the prognostic values of tumour
      regression grade (TRG) and neoadjuvant pathological (ypTNM) downstaging in
      patients with Stage II and III rectal cancer treated with NACRT followed by
      curative surgery. METHOD: This study included 185 patients with LARC treated with
      long-course radiotherapy (45 Gy in 25 fractions) plus 5-fluorouracil over 5 weeks
      between 2005 and 2013. We used multivariate analysis to assess the relationship
      of Dworak's five-tier TRG, ypTNM stage and ypTNM downstaging with
      clinicopathological factors, 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 5-year
      overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Total regression (TRG4), good regression (TRG3),
      moderate regression (TRG2), minor regression (TRG1) and no regression (TRG0) were
      seen in 38 (20.6%), 65 (35.2%), 43 (23.2%), 28 (15.1%) and 11 (5.9%) patients,
      respectively. TNM downstaging following NACRT occurred in 109 (58.9%) patients.
      The 5-year DFS rates after NACRT for TRG0, TRG1, TRG2, TRG3 and TRG4 were 0%,
      58.5%, 66.4%, 80.4% and 82.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). The ypTNM stage
      correlated with 5-year DFS (P = 0.004) but not 5-year OS (P = 0.075).
      Multivariate analysis demonstrated that TRG was related to both DFS and OS (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: TRG measured on a five-tier system was better than ypTNM
      stage for predicting outcome in patients with LARC treated with NACRT and
      surgery.

PMID- 28603933
TI  - Pretarsal structures in Leiodidae and Agyrtidae (Coleoptera, Staphylinoidea).
AB  - We analysed pretarsal characters of 87 species of Leiodidae (including 10
      cholevines and representatives of all tribes and ca. 60% of the genera of non
      cholevines), five species of Agyrtidae, and nine representatives of outgroup taxa
      (Hydraenidae, Staphylinidae, Hydrophilidae, and Histeridae) using scanning
      electron microscopy. We focused our observations on the architecture of the
      empodium (including the sclerites and associated setae), the shape and
      composition of the medial projection of the distal margin of the terminal
      tarsomere, and the armature of the claws, which were considered a promising
      source of information for delimiting supraspecific taxa in our previous study. We
      identified several diagnostic features and recognize potential synapomorphies at
      the tribal, subtribal and generic levels. The internal systematic arrangement
      and/or even the monophyletic status of most of the subfamilies of Leiodidae
      (Camiarinae, Catopocerinae, Leiodinae, and Platypsyllinae) are challenged. We
      identified potential synapomorphies for Camiarinae (Camiarini and Agyrtodini) and
      Leiodinae. The non-monophyly of Cholevinae is possible because part of the tribe
      (Anemadini, Eucatopini, and Oritocatopini) shares potentially apomorphic features
      with Leiodinae (e.g., a triangular medial projection with a diagonal row of
      conical spines), whereas another part (Leptodirini and Ptomaphagini) shares a
      potentially apomorphic feature with Coloninae and Platypsyllinae (a typical
      medial projection with two distinct triangular projections).

PMID- 28603934
TI  - Model-based T1 mapping with sparsity constraints using single-shot inversion
      recovery radial FLASH.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a model-based reconstruction technique for single-shot T1
      mapping with high spatial resolution, accuracy, and precision using an inversion
      recovery (IR) fast low-angle shot (FLASH) acquisition with radial encoding.
      METHODS: The proposed model-based reconstruction jointly estimates all model
      parameters, that is, the equilibrium magnetization, steady-state magnetization,
      1/ T1*, and all coil sensitivities from the data of a single-shot IR FLASH
      acquisition with a small golden-angle radial trajectory. Joint sparsity
      constraints on the parameter maps are exploited to improve the performance of the
      iteratively regularized Gauss-Newton method chosen for solving the nonlinear
      inverse problem. Validations include both a numerical and experimental T1
      phantom, as well as in vivo studies of the human brain and liver at 3 T. RESULTS:
      In comparison to previous reconstruction methods for single-shot T1 mapping,
      which are based on real-time MRI with pixel-wise fitting and a model-based
      approach with a predetermination of coil sensitivities, the proposed method
      presents with improved robustness against phase errors and numerical precision in
      both phantom and in vivo studies. CONCLUSION: The comprehensive model-based
      reconstruction with L1 regularization offers rapid and robust T1 mapping with
      high accuracy and precision. The method warrants accelerated computing and online
      implementation for extended clinical trials. Magn Reson Med 79:730-740, 2018. (c)
      2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 28603935
TI  - The effects of ketoconazole and cimetidine on the pharmacokinetics of oral
      tramadol in greyhound dogs.
AB  - Tramadol is administered to dogs for analgesia but has variability in its extent
      of absorption, which may hinder its efficacy. Additionally, the active opioid
      metabolite (M1) occurs in low concentrations. The purpose of this study was to
      determine if administration of oral tramadol with suspected metabolism inhibitors
      (ketoconazole, cimetidine) would lead to improved bioavailability of tramadol and
      M1. Six healthy Greyhounds were included. They were administered tramadol orally
      and intravenously, M1 intravenously, oral tramadol with oral ketoconazole and
      oral tramadol with oral cimetidine. Oral tramadol bioavailability was low (2.6%).
      Ketoconazole and cimetidine significantly increased tramadol bioavailability to
      18.2% and 20.3%, respectively. The mean maximum plasma concentration of tramadol
      alone was 22.9 ng/ml, and increased to 109.9 and 143.2 MUg/ml with ketoconazole
      and cimetidine, respectively. However, measured tramadol plasma concentrations
      were below the minimum concentration considered effective in humans (228 MUg/ml).
      In all treatment groups, measured M1 concentrations (<7 MUg/ml) were below
      concentrations associated with efficacy in humans. To conclude, tramadol and M1
      concentrations were low and variable in dogs after oral dosing of tramadol, even
      in combination with cimetidine or ketoconazole, but effective concentrations in
      dogs have not been defined.

PMID- 28603936
TI  - Laryngeal chondrosarcoma mimicking medullary thyroid carcinoma on fine-needle
      aspiration cytology: A case report of a diagnostic pitfall.
AB  - Chondrosarcoma (CS) of larynx is a rare laryngeal tumor accounting about 1% of
      laryngeal malignancies. When CS arises from thyroid cartilage, it may clinically
      present as a thyroid nodule. Here we report a rare case of CS of thyroid
      cartilage misinterpreted as medullary thyroid carcinoma. The main aim of this
      case report is to emphasize the important role of accurate clinical history,
      appropriate physical examination, and proper localization of the tumor and clear
      definitive imaging in conjunction with interpretation of cytologic smears. When
      any of these roles are unclear, it may result in misinterpretation of the
      cytologic smears. In these unusual circumstances, when cytomorphologic features
      does not completely fit an entity, communication with the physician and the
      consideration of a broad differential diagnoses in the head and neck pathology
      may lead to correct diagnosis and avoid diagnostic pitfalls. Also in certain
      conditions, ancillary studies including laboratory tests are necessary for
      definitive classification.

PMID- 28603937
TI  - Idiopathic scrotal calcinosis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology-Report
      of a rare case.

PMID- 28603938
TI  - Should we implement universal screening with late pregnancy ultrasound to prevent
      stillbirth?

PMID- 28603939
TI  - Mesh-free based variational level set evolution for breast region segmentation
      and abnormality detection using mammograms.
AB  - Automatic segmentation of abnormal region is a crucial task in computer-aided
      detection system using mammograms. In this work, an automatic abnormality
      detection algorithm using mammographic images is proposed. In the preprocessing
      step, partial differential equation-based variational level set method is used
      for breast region extraction. The evolution of the level set method is done by
      applying mesh-free-based radial basis function (RBF). The limitation of mesh
      based approach is removed by using mesh-free-based RBF method. The evolution of
      variational level set function is also done by mesh-based finite difference
      method for comparison purpose. Unsharp masking and median filtering is used for
      mammogram enhancement. Suspicious abnormal regions are segmented by applying
      fuzzy c-means clustering. Texture features are extracted from the segmented
      suspicious regions by computing local binary pattern and dominated rotated local
      binary pattern (DRLBP). Finally, suspicious regions are classified as normal or
      abnormal regions by means of support vector machine with linear, multilayer
      perceptron, radial basis, and polynomial kernel function. The algorithm is
      validated on 322 sample mammograms of mammographic image analysis society (MIAS)
      and 500 mammograms from digital database for screening mammography (DDSM)
      datasets. Proficiency of the algorithm is quantified by using sensitivity,
      specificity, and accuracy. The highest sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of
      93.96%, 95.01%, and 94.48%, respectively, are obtained on MIAS dataset using
      DRLBP feature with RBF kernel function. Whereas, the highest 92.31% sensitivity,
      98.45% specificity, and 96.21% accuracy are achieved on DDSM dataset using DRLBP
      feature with RBF kernel function.

PMID- 28603940
TI  - Outcome of prenatally diagnosed fetal heterotaxy: systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the prevalence
      and type of associated anomalies in fetuses with heterotaxy diagnosed prenatally
      on ultrasound; the perinatal outcome of these fetuses was also studied. METHODS:
      An electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL databases was performed. Only
      studies reporting the prenatal diagnosis of isomerism were included. Outcomes
      observed included associated cardiac and extracardiac anomalies, fetal
      arrhythmia, abnormal karyotype, type of surgical repair and perinatal mortality.
      The analysis was stratified according to the type of heterotaxy syndrome (left
      (LAI) or right (RAI) atrial isomerism). Meta-analyses of proportions were used to
      combine data. Quality assessment of the included studies was performed using the
      Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for cohort studies. RESULTS: Sixteen studies (647 fetuses)
      were included in the analysis. Atrioventricular septal defect was the most common
      associated major cardiac anomaly found both in fetuses with LAI (pooled
      proportion (PP), 59.3% (95% CI, 44.0-73.7%)), with obstructive lesions of the
      right outflow tract occurring in 35.5% of these cases, and in fetuses with RAI
      (PP, 72.9% (95% CI, 60.4-83.7%)). Fetal arrhythmias occurred in 36.7% (95% CI,
      26.9-47.2%) of cases with LAI and were mainly represented by complete
      atrioventricular block, while this finding was uncommon in cases with RAI (PP,
      1.3% (95% CI, 0.2-3.2%)). Abnormal stomach and liver position were found,
      respectively, in 59.4% (95% CI, 38.1-79.0%) and 32.5% (95% CI, 11.9-57.6%) of
      cases with LAI, and in 54.5% (95% CI, 38.5-70.1%) and 45.9% (95% CI, 11.3-83.0%)
      of cases with RAI, while intestinal malrotation was detected in 14.2% (95% CI,
      2.5-33.1%) of LAI and 27.1% (95% CI, 7.9-52.0%) of RAI cases. Hydrops developed
      in 11.8% (95% CI, 2.9-25.6%) of fetuses diagnosed prenatally with LAI.
      Biventricular repair was accomplished in 78.2% (95% CI, 64.3-89.4%) of cases with
      LAI, while univentricular repair or palliation was needed in 17.0% (95% CI, 9.7
      25.9%); death during or after surgery occurred in 26.8% (95% CI, 4.6-58.7%) of
      LAI cases. Most children with RAI had univentricular repair and 27.8% (95% CI,
      15.5-42.1%) died during or after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Fetal heterotaxy is
      associated with a high prevalence of cardiac and extracardiac anomalies.
      Approximately one quarter of fetuses with heterotaxy died during or after
      surgery. Abnormal heart rhythm, especially heart block, is common in fetuses with
      LAI, while this finding is uncommon in RAI. Biventricular repair was common in
      LAI while univentricular repair was required in the majority of children affected
      by RAI. Copyright (c) 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28603942
TI  - Primary hepatic choriocarcinoma in an 83-year-old woman.
AB  - We present a case of primary hepatic choriocarcinoma in an 83-year-old Japanese
      woman with gastric wall and lymph node metastases and a splenic vein tumor
      thrombus. Multiple irregular hepatic tumors with massive necrosis and hemorrhage
      were observed during autopsy. Syncytiotrophoblast-like and mononucleated
      cytotrophoblast-like cell morphology with focal hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      like trabecular structures was observed. In immunohistochemical analyses, the
      tumor cells expressed human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and cytokeratins
      (AE1/AE3, CK7, CK19) but were negative for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), glypican-3,
      and vimentin. Immunohistochemical findings did not reveal evidence of HCC or
      angiosarcoma. We concluded the liver tumor was primary hepatic choriocarcinoma.

PMID- 28603941
TI  - Higher expression of WNT5A protein in oral squamous cell carcinoma compared with
      dysplasia and oral mucosa with a normal appearance.
AB  - WNT5A is a secreted signaling protein that promotes migration and invasion of
      oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells through activation of non-canonical WNT
      signaling. Here, we examined expression of WNT5A, beta-catenin, and E-cadherin by
      immunohistochemistry in 21 human diagnostic incision biopsies that each had
      regions of oral mucosa with a normal appearance adjacent to the affected tissue,
      dysplasia, and OSCC. We also investigated the effect of recombinant WNT5A
      (rWNT5A) on expression of the cell-adhesion proteins E-cadherin and beta-catenin
      by western blot analysis. No expression of WNT5A protein was present in oral
      mucosa with a normal appearance or in mild grade dysplasia. However, expression
      of WNT5A increased along with increasing grade of dysplasia, and the highest
      expression was detected in OSCCs. Expression of membranous beta-catenin and of E
      cadherin was lower, whereas expression of cytoplasmic beta-catenin was higher, in
      OSCCs than in non-cancerous regions. However, there was no correlation between
      expression of WNT5A and expression of either beta-catenin or E-cadherin.
      Furthermore, treatment of OSCC cells with rWNT5A had no effect on the expression
      of beta-catenin or E-cadherin. Taken together with previous results, we conclude
      that WNT5A influences the progression of OSCC without affecting the canonical
      WNT/beta-catenin pathway and without down-regulating E-cadherin. WNT5A may have
      potential as a biological marker for malignant transformation of dysplasia to
      OSCC.

PMID- 28603943
TI  - Tachycardia-dependent Brugada phenocopy due to hyperkalemia.

PMID- 28603944
TI  - Inorganic-Macroion-Induced Formation of Bicontinuous Block Copolymer
      Nanocomposites with Enhanced Conductivity and Modulus.
AB  - A facile and electrostatically driven approach has been developed to prepare
      bicontinuous polymer nanocomposites that is based on the polyoxometalate (POM)
      macroion induced phase transition of PS-b-P2VP from an initial lamellar phase to
      a stable bicontinuous phase. The multi-charged POMs can electrostatically cross
      link P2VP blocks and give rise to bicontinuous phases in which the POM hybrid
      conductive domains occupy a large volume fraction of more than 50 %. Furthermore,
      the POMs can give rise to high proton conductivity and serve as nanoenhancers,
      endowing the bicontinuous nanocomposites with a conductivity of 0.1 mS cm-1 and a
      Young's modulus of 7.4 GPa at room temperature; these values are greater than
      those of pristine PS-b-P2VP by two orders of magnitude and a factor of 1.8,
      respectively. This approach can provide a new concept based on electrostatic
      control to design functional bicontinuous polymer materials.

PMID- 28603945
TI  - Grafting response to excess boron and expression analysis of genes coding boron
      transporters in tomato.
AB  - Boron (B) is essential for plant growth, however its excess in soil and/or in
      irrigation water can severely compromise plant growth and yield. The goal of this
      work was to determine whether grafting onto 'Arnold', a commercial interspecific
      hybrid (Solanum lycopersicum * S. habrochaites) rootstock, which in a previous
      study was found to be tolerant to salt stress, could improve tomato (S.
      lycopersicum L. 'Ikram') tolerance to excess B, and whether this effect is
      associated with an exclusion mechanism. Non-grafted, self-grafted and grafted
      plants were hydroponically grown in a greenhouse with B concentration in the
      nutrient solution of 0.27 (control), 5, 10 and 15 mg.l-1 . A transcription
      analysis was carried out on SlNIP5 and SlBOR1 genes, which encode putative B
      transporters. Grafting 'Ikram' onto 'Arnold' rootstock reduced B concentration in
      leaf tissue of plants exposed to B concentrations of 10-15 mg.l-1 . At high B
      levels, SlNIP5 was down-regulated in all grafting combinations, while SlBOR1 was
      down-regulated only in the roots of plants grafted onto 'Arnold'. We conclude
      that grafting the susceptible tomato cultivar 'Ikram' onto the commercial
      rootstock 'Arnold' improved tolerance to excess B by reducing expression of genes
      encoding for B transporters at the root level, thus partially reducing the root
      uptake of B and its accumulation in the shoot.

PMID- 28603946
TI  - Benthic foraminifera contribution to fjord modern carbon pools: A seasonal study
      in Adventfjorden, Spitsbergen.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the amount of organic and inorganic carbon
      in foraminifera specimens and to provide quantitative data on the contribution of
      foraminifera to the sedimentary carbon pool in Adventfjorden. The investigation
      was based on three calcareous species that occur commonly in Svalbard fjords:
      Cassidulina reniforme, Elphidium excavatum and Nonionellina labradorica. Our
      results show that the species investigated did not contribute substantially to
      the organic carbon pool in Adventfjorden, because they represented only 0.37% of
      the organic carbon in the sediment. However, foraminiferal biomass could have
      been underestimated as it did not include arenaceous or monothalamous taxa.
      Foraminiferal carbonate constituted up to 38% of the inorganic carbon in the
      sediment, which supports the assumption that in fjords where non-calcifying
      organisms dominate the benthic fauna foraminifera are among the major producers
      of calcium carbonate and that they play crucial roles in the carbon burial
      process. The results presented in this study contribute to estimations of changes
      in foraminiferal carbon levels in contemporary environments and could be an
      important reference for palaeoceanographic studies.

PMID- 28603947
TI  - Thrombophilic gene polymorphisms and recurrent pregnancy loss in Greek women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a multifactorial disorder. The
      aim of this study was the detection of various genetic polymorphisms and their
      correlation to RPL, in Greek women. METHODS: The impact of 12 thrombophilic
      polymorphisms was evaluated, among 48 Greek women with a history of RPL, vs 27
      healthy parous women. Multiplex PCR and in situ hybridization on nitrocellulose
      films were performed, to investigate 12 genetic polymorphisms previously reported
      as risk factors for RPL. RESULTS: Heterozygous FV Leiden, homozygous PAI-1 4G/4G,
      heterozygous MTHFR C677T, homozygous MTHFR A1298C, as much as the combined
      thrombophilic genotypes MTHFR 677T + ACE Iota/D, MTHFR 677T/1298C + ACE D/D, ACE
      I/D + b-fibrinogen -455 G/A, FV HR2 + b-fibrinogen -455 G/A showed a correlation
      as risk factors for RPL, whereas the rest of the investigated polymorphisms and
      their combinations did not render statistically significant differences between
      the two groups in study. CONCLUSION: The results of this study, as well as those
      of similar studies, concerning the detection of genetic, environmental, and
      physiological factors underlying RPL, will prove of critical significance in the
      investigation and treatment of thrombophilic predisposition, in cases of RPL.

PMID- 28603948
TI  - Limb derived cells as a paradigm for engineering self-assembling skeletal
      tissues.
AB  - Mimicking developmental events has been proposed as a strategy to engineer tissue
      constructs for regenerative medicine. However, this approach has not yet been
      investigated for skeletal tissues. Here, it is demonstrated that ectopic
      implantation of day-14.5 mouse embryonic long bone anlagen, dissociated into
      single cells and randomly incorporated in a bioengineered construct, gives rise
      to epiphyseal growth plate-like structures, bone and marrow, which share many
      morphological and molecular similarities to epiphyseal units that form after
      transplanting intact long bone anlage, demonstrating substantial robustness and
      autonomy of complex tissue self-assembly and the overall organogenesis process.
      In vitro studies confirm the self-aggregation and patterning capacity of anlage
      cells and demonstrate that the model can be used to evaluate the effects of large
      and small molecules on biological behaviour. These results reveal the
      preservation of self-organizing and self-patterning capacity of anlage cells even
      when disconnected from their developmental niche and subjected to system
      perturbations such as cellular dissociation. These inherent features make long
      bone anlage cells attractive as a model system for tissue engineering
      technologies aimed at creating constructs that have the potential to self
      assemble and self-pattern complex architectural structures.

PMID- 28603949
TI  - Science-in-brief: Bisphosphonate use in the racehorse: Safe or unsafe?

PMID- 28603952
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28603950
TI  - Science-in-brief: Workshop report The Dorothy Havemeyer International Equine
      Endocrinology Summit.

PMID- 28603953
TI  - The Nobel Prized cellular target autophagy in eye diseases.

PMID- 28603954
TI  - Praxagoras of Cos on Arteries, Pulse and Pneuma. Fragments and Interpretation.

PMID- 28603955
TI  - Enhanced Crystalline Phase Purity of CH3NH3PbI3-xClx Film for High-Efficiency
      Hysteresis-Free Perovskite Solar Cells.
AB  - Despite rapid successful developments toward promising perovskite solar cells
      (PSCs) efficiency, they often suffer significant hysteresis effects. Using
      synchrotron-based grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) with different
      probing depths by varying the incident angle, we found that the perovskite films
      consist of dual phases with a parent phase dominant in the interior and a child
      phase with a smaller (110) interplanar space (d(110)) after rapid thermal
      annealing (RTA), which is a widely used post treatment to improve the
      crystallization of solution-processed perovskite films for high-performance
      planar PSCs. In particular, the child phase composition gradually increases with
      decreasing depth till it becomes the majority on the surface, which might be one
      of the key factors related to hysteresis in fabricated PSCs. We further improve
      the crystalline phase purity of the solution-processed CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite
      film (referred as g-perovskite) by using a facile gradient thermal annealing
      (GTA), which shows a uniformly distributed phase structure in pinhole-free
      morphology with less undercoordinated Pb and I ions determined by synchrotron
      based GIXRD, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, scanning electron
      microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Regardless of device structures
      (conventional and inverted types), the planar heterojunction PSCs employing
      CH3NH3PbI3-xClx g-perovskite films exhibit negligible hysteresis with a champion
      power conversion efficiency of 17.04% for TiO2-based conventional planar PSCs and
      14.83% for poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene:poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)
      based inverted planar PSCs. Our results indicate that the crystalline phase
      purity in CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite film, especially in the surface region,
      plays a crucial role in determining the hysteresis effect and device performance.

PMID- 28603956
TI  - Activatable T1 Relaxivity Recovery Nanoconjugates for Kinetic and Sensitive
      Analysis of Matrix Metalloprotease 2.
AB  - Sensitive detection of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2, an important cancer
      marker associated with tumor invasion and metastasis) activity in vitro and at
      cellular level is of great significance to clinical diagnosis and medical
      treatment. With unique physical properties, nanoparticles are emerging as a
      platform for the construction of conjugates of various biological molecules,
      which can be expected to generate new types of biosensors. In this work, Fe3O4
      NPs were modified with Gd chelates via linking peptides to construct NP-substrate
      (Fe3O4-pep-Gd) conjugates for kinetic MMP-2 activity assessment in vitro at the
      cellular level and in vivo. Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 quenched the longitudinal
      relaxation effect (T1 relaxivity) of the attached Gd chelates by perturbing
      proton relaxation process under an external magnetic field. MMP-2 cleaved the
      peptide substrates and released Gd chelates from the local magnetic fields
      accompanied by T1 relaxivity recovery and T1 contrast enhancement. Benefiting
      from signal amplification through binding multiple Gd chelates to one linking
      peptide, Fe3O4-pep-Gd conjugates exhibited high sensitivity for the detection of
      MMP-2 (as low as 0.5 nM). Enzymatic processes were in good agreement with the
      integrated Michaelis-Menten model, revealing an unexpected activity enhancement
      in the initial stage. Fe3O4-pep-Gd conjugates could also probe MMP-2 at cellular
      level and in vivo that indicates a great promise in in vitro diagnosis (IVD) and
      disease monitoring.

PMID- 28603957
TI  - Impact of Aggregation on the Photochemistry of Fullerene Films: Correlating
      Stability to Triplet Exciton Kinetics.
AB  - The photochemistry and stability of fullerene films is found to be strongly
      dependent upon film nanomorphology. In particular, PC61BM blend films, dispersed
      with polystyrene, are found to be more susceptible to photobleaching in air than
      the more aggregated neat films. This enhanced photobleaching correlated with
      increased oxygen quenching of PC61BM triplet states and the appearance of a
      carbonyl FTIR absorption band indicative of fullerene oxidation, suggesting
      PC61BM photo-oxidation is primarily due to triplet-mediated singlet oxygen
      generation. PC61BM films were observed to undergo photo-oxidation in air for even
      modest (<=40 min) irradiation times, degrading electron mobility substantially,
      indicative of electron trap formation. This conclusion is supported by
      observation of red shifts in photo- and electro-luminescence with photo
      oxidation, shown to be in agreement with time-dependent density functional theory
      calculations of defect generation. These results provide important implications
      on the environmental stability of PC61BM-based films and devices.

PMID- 28603958
TI  - Novel Biocompatible Thermoresponsive Poly(N-vinyl Caprolactam)/Clay Nanocomposite
      Hydrogels with Macroporous Structure and Improved Mechanical Characteristics.
AB  - Poly(N-vinyl caprolactam) (PVCL) hydrogels usually suffer from the imporous
      structure and poor mechanical characteristics as well as the toxicity of cross
      linkers, although PVCL itself is biocompatible. In this paper, novel
      biocompatible thermoresponsive poly(N-vinyl caprolactam)/clay nanocomposite (PVCL
      Clay) hydrogels with macroporous structure and improved mechanical
      characteristics are developed for the first time. The macroporosity in the
      hydrogel is introduced by using Pickering emulsions as templates, which contain N
      vinyl caprolactam (VCL) monomer as dispersed phase and clay sheets as stabilizers
      at the interface. After polymerization, macropores are formed inside the
      hydrogels with the residual unreacted VCL droplets as templates. The three
      dimensional PVCL polymer networks are cross-linked by the clay nanosheets. Due to
      the nanocomposite structure, the hydrogel exhibits better mechanical
      characteristics in comparison to the conventional PVCL hydrogels cross-linked by
      N,N'-methylene diacrylamide (BIS). The prepared PVCL-Clay hydrogel possesses
      remarkable temperature-responsive characteristics with a volume phase transition
      temperature (VPTT) around 35  degrees C, and provides a feasible platform for
      cell culture. With macroporous structure and good mechanical characteristics as
      well as flexible assembly performance, the proposed biocompatible
      thermoresponsive PVCL-Clay nanocomposite hydrogels are ideal material candidates
      for biomedical, analytical, and other applications such as entrapment of enzymes,
      cell culture, tissue engineering, and affinity and displacement chromatography.

PMID- 28603959
TI  - Characterization of Complex Polymer Self-Assemblies and Large Aggregates by
      Multidetector Thermal Field-Flow Fractionation.
AB  - Micelles prepared from amphiphilic block copolymers (ABCs) have found numerous
      applications in pharmaceutical, electronics, environmental, cosmetics, and
      hygiene industries. These micelles, whether in the pure or mixed micelle form,
      often exist as multiple morphologies (spherical, cylindrical, worm, or vesicular)
      in equilibrium with each other. However, none of the current column-based
      fractionation techniques or any microscopic technique are capable of a successful
      separation, identification, and quantitation of these complex self-assemblies
      with regards to morphology, size, molar mass, and chemical composition in one
      experiment. Multidetector thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF) is shown to be
      capable of separating and characterizing not only pure micelles but also mixed
      micelles prepared from polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) ABCs. In addition,
      multidetector ThFFF is demonstrated to be capable of successfully characterizing
      multiple micellar morphological evolutions (induced by the addition of an
      electrolyte) and thus showcasing the potential of this novel approach to monitor
      the formation of polymer self-assemblies with multiple and complex morphological
      distributions.

PMID- 28603960
TI  - Dynamic Colloidal Molecules Maneuvered by Light-Controlled Janus Micromotors.
AB  - In this work, we propose and demonstrate a dynamic colloidal molecule that is
      capable of moving autonomously and performing swift, reversible, and in-place
      assembly dissociation in a high accuracy by manipulating a TiO2/Pt Janus
      micromotor with light irradiation. Due to the efficient motion of the TiO2/Pt
      Janus motor and the light-switchable electrostatic interactions between the
      micromotor and colloidal particles, the colloidal particles can be captured and
      assembled one by one on the fly, subsequently forming into swimming colloidal
      molecules by mimicking space-filling models of simple molecules with central
      atoms. The as-demonstrated dynamic colloidal molecules have a configuration
      accurately controlled and stabilized by regulating the time-dependent intensity
      of UV light, which controls the stop-and-go motion of the colloidal molecules.
      The dynamic colloidal molecules are dissociated when the light irradiation is
      turned off due to the disappearance of light-switchable electrostatic interaction
      between the motor and the colloidal particles. The strategy for the assembly of
      dynamic colloidal molecules is applicable to various charged colloidal particles.
      The simulated optical properties of a dynamic colloidal molecule imply that the
      results here may provide a novel approach for in-place building functional
      microdevices, such as microlens arrays, in a swift and reversible manner.

PMID- 28603961
TI  - High-Performance Ultrathin Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Silicon Solar Cells via
      Solution-Processed Interface Modification.
AB  - Organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells based on n-type crystalline silicon and
      poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) exhibited promising
      efficiency along with a low-cost fabrication process. In this work, ultrathin
      flexible silicon substrates, with a thickness as low as tens of micrometers, were
      employed to fabricate hybrid solar cells to reduce the use of silicon materials.
      To improve the light-trapping ability, nanostructures were built on the thin
      silicon substrates by a metal-assisted chemical etching method (MACE). However,
      nanostructured silicon resulted in a large amount of surface-defect states,
      causing detrimental charge recombination. Here, the surface was smoothed by
      solution-processed chemical treatment to reduce the surface/volume ratio of
      nanostructured silicon. Surface-charge recombination was dramatically suppressed
      after surface modification with a chemical, associated with improved minority
      charge-carrier lifetime. As a result, a power conversion efficiency of 9.1% was
      achieved in the flexible hybrid silicon solar cells, with a substrate thickness
      as low as ~14 MUm, indicating that interface engineering was essential to improve
      the hybrid junction quality and photovoltaic characteristics of the hybrid
      devices.

PMID- 28603962
TI  - Novel Opioid Analgesics and Side Effects.
AB  - Conventional opioids mediate analgesia as well as severe adverse effects via G
      protein coupled opioid receptors (OR) in both inflamed (peripheral injured
      tissue) and healthy (brain, intestinal wall) environments. To exclude side
      effects, OR activation can be selectively achieved in damaged tissue by lowering
      the pKa of an opioid ligand to the acidic pH of inflammation. As a result,
      protonation of the ligand and consequent OR binding and activation of G-proteins
      is pH- and injury-specific. A novel compound (NFEPP) demonstrates the feasibility
      of this approach and displays blockade of pain transmission only at the
      peripheral site of injury, but with lack of central and gastrointestinal adverse
      effects. These findings suggest disease-specific receptor activation as a new
      strategy in drug design.

PMID- 28603963
TI  - X-ray-Activated Near-Infrared Persistent Luminescent Probe for Deep-Tissue and
      Renewable in Vivo Bioimaging.
AB  - Near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are considered
      as new alternative optical probes due to being free of autofluorescence,
      benefited from the self-sustained emission after excitation and high signal-to
      noise ratio. However, the NIR-emitted PLNPs always present a short decay time and
      require excitation by ultraviolet or visible light with a short penetrable depth,
      remarkably hindering their applications for in vivo long-term tracking and
      imaging. Therefore, it is important to develop NIR-emitted PLNPs with in vivo
      activation nature by new excitation sources with deeper penetrating depths. Here,
      we propose a new type of X-ray-activated ZnGa2O4:Cr PLNPs (X-PLNPs) with
      efficient NIR persistent emission and rechargeable activation features, in which
      both the excitation and emission possess a high penetrable nature in vivo. These
      X-PLNPs exhibit long-lasting, up to 6 h, NIR emission at 700 nm after the
      stoppage of the X-ray excitation source. More importantly, the designed X-PLNPs
      can be readily reactivated by a soft X-ray excitation source with low excitation
      power (45 kVp, 0.5 mA) to restore in vivo bioimaging signals even at 20 mm depth.
      Renewable in vivo whole-body bioimaging was also successfully achieved via
      intravenous injection/oral administration of X-PLNPs after in situ X-ray
      activation. This is the first time that NIR-emitted PLNPs have been demonstrated
      to be recharged by X-ray light for deep-tissue in vivo bioimaging, which paves
      the way for in vivo renewable bioimaging using PLNPs and makes the PLNPs more
      competitive in bioimaging area.

PMID- 28603964
TI  - Particle Size Influences on the Coating Microstructure through Green Chromia
      Inclusion in Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation.
AB  - In an effort to color the aluminum alloy surface green via plasma electrolytic
      oxidation (PEO), two alkaline solutions have been employed with particulate
      inclusions and sodium aluminate. Electrolyte I comprises a self-made chromia
      pigment with a mean particle size 69 nm, whereas electrolyte II contains a
      commercially available pigment, GN-M, with a larger particle size 351 nm. Both
      pigments are oxygen deficient Cr2O3-delta of corundum-type structure before
      coating, the oxidative environment of PEO converts them into stoichiometric
      Cr2O3. In electrolyte I and II, the oxides of chromium and aluminum deposit
      simultaneously under analogous PEO conditions, yet resulting in very different
      microstructures. The GN-M inclusion of large size amasses on top of the coating,
      while the self-made inclusion goes deep, and closely associates with alumina and
      pores. The oxide coating, grown in electrolyte II, consists of a top Cr2O3-rich
      layer and a dense alumina layer underneath, delineated by the boundary marked
      with microdischarge burns. On the other hand, the self-made particulate inclusion
      appears to bring the electric microdischarges inside the coating and create inner
      pores and damages. The structure difference, caused by the difference in
      microdischarge locations, is attributed to shifting of the Cr2O3-Al2O3 interface
      where p-type and n-type semiconductors meet.

PMID- 28603965
TI  - Constructing 3D Graphene Networks in Polymer Composites for Significantly
      Improved Electrical and Mechanical Properties.
AB  - Graphene-based polymer composites with superior electrical and mechanical
      performance are highly desirable because of their wide range of applications.
      However, due to the mismatch between charge jumping and the load transfer of
      adjacent graphene sheets, it remains difficult to achieve significant,
      simultaneous improvements in electrical and mechanical properties of graphene
      polymer composites. To overcome this issue, we here propose an effective strategy
      to constructed unique 3D conductive networks in which the compatibility of
      graphene and polymer can be improved by controlled decoration of few-defect
      graphene sheets, while segregated graphene networks retain good charge-jumping
      capability. The final composites exhibit an ultra-low electrical conductive
      percolation threshold of 0.032 vol % and an ultra-high electrical conductivity of
      60 S/m at only 2.45 vol %, superior to most of the reported results. They also
      reveal significantly improved thermodynamic properties, tensile strength, and
      toughness. We believe that such a simple, industrially feasible method
      contributes to boost the development of high-performance, functional graphene
      polymer composites.

PMID- 28603966
TI  - Silver Alginate Hydrogel Micro- and Nanocontainers for Theranostics: Synthesis,
      Encapsulation, Remote Release, and Detection.
AB  - We have designed multifunctional silver alginate hydrogel microcontainers
      referred to as loaded microcapsules with different sizes by assembling them via a
      template assisted approach using natural, highly porous calcium carbonate cores.
      Sodium alginate was immobilized into the pores of calcium carbonate particles of
      different sizes followed by cross-linking via addition of silver ions, which had
      a dual purpose: on one hand, the were used as a cross-linking agent, albeit in
      the monovalent form, while on the other hand they have led to formation of silver
      nanoparticles. Monovalent silver ions, an unusual cross-linking agent, improve
      the sensitivity to ultrasound, lead to homogeneous distribution of silver
      nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles appeared on the shell of the alginate
      microcapsules in the twin-structure as determined by transmission electron
      microscopy. Remote release of a payload from alginate containers by ultrasound
      was found to strongly depend on the particle size. The possibility to use such
      particles as a platform for label-free molecule detection based on the surface
      enhanced Raman scattering was demonstrated. Cytotoxicity and cell uptake studies
      conducted in this work have revealed that microcontainers exhibit nonessential
      level of toxicity with an efficient uptake of cells. The above-described
      functionalities constitute building blocks of a theranostic system, where
      detection and remote release can be achieved with the same carrier.

PMID- 28603967
TI  - Coffee-Driven Green Activation of Cellulose and Its Use for All-Paper Flexible
      Supercapacitors.
AB  - Cellulose, which is one of the most-abundant and -renewable natural resources,
      has been extensively explored as an alternative substance for electrode materials
      such as activated carbons. Here, we demonstrate a new class of coffee-mediated
      green activation of cellulose as a new environmentally benign chemical-activation
      strategy and its potential use for all-paper flexible supercapacitors. A piece of
      paper towel is soaked in espresso coffee (acting as a natural activating agent)
      and then pyrolyzed to yield paper-derived activated carbons (denoted as "EK
      ACs"). Potassium ions (K+), a core ingredient of espresso, play a viable role in
      facilitating pyrolysis kinetics and also in achieving a well-developed
      microporous structure in the EK-ACs. As a result, the EK-ACs show significant
      improvement in specific capacitance (131 F g-1 at a scan rate of 1.0 mV s-1) over
      control ACs (64 F g-1) obtained from the carbonization of a pristine paper towel.
      All-paper flexible supercapacitors are fabricated by assembling EK-ACs/carbon
      nanotube mixture-embedded paper towels (as electrodes), poly(vinyl alcohol)/KOH
      mixture-impregnated paper towels (as electrolytes), and polydimethylsiloxane
      infiltrated paper towels (as packaging substances). The introduction of the EK
      ACs (as an electrode material) and the paper towel (as a deformable and compliant
      substrate) enables the resulting all-paper supercapacitor to provide reliable and
      sustainable cell performance as well as exceptional mechanical flexibility.
      Notably, no appreciable loss in the cell capacitance is observed after repeated
      bending (over 5000 cycles) or multiple folding. The coffee-mediated green
      activation of cellulose and the resultant all-paper flexible supercapacitors open
      new material and system opportunities for eco-friendly high-performance flexible
      power sources.

PMID- 28603968
TI  - Ambipolar MoS2 Transistors by Nanoscale Tailoring of Schottky Barrier Using
      Oxygen Plasma Functionalization.
AB  - One of the main challenges to exploit molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) potentialities
      for the next-generation complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology
      is the realization of p-type or ambipolar field-effect transistors (FETs). Hole
      transport in MoS2 FETs is typically hampered by the high Schottky barrier height
      (SBH) for holes at source/drain contacts, due to the Fermi level pinning close to
      the conduction band. In this work, we show that the SBH of multilayer MoS2
      surface can be tailored at nanoscale using soft O2 plasma treatments. The
      morphological, chemical, and electrical modifications of MoS2 surface under
      different plasma conditions were investigated by several microscopic and
      spectroscopic characterization techniques, including X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), conductive AFM (CAFM),
      aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and
      electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Nanoscale current-voltage mapping by
      CAFM showed that the SBH maps can be conveniently tuned starting from a narrow
      SBH distribution (from 0.2 to 0.3 eV) in the case of pristine MoS2 to a broader
      distribution (from 0.2 to 0.8 eV) after 600 s O2 plasma treatment, which allows
      both electron and hole injection. This lateral inhomogeneity in the electrical
      properties was associated with variations of the incorporated oxygen
      concentration in the MoS2 multilayer surface, as shown by STEM/EELS analyses and
      confirmed by ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Back-gated
      multilayer MoS2 FETs, fabricated by self-aligned deposition of source/drain
      contacts in the O2 plasma functionalized areas, exhibit ambipolar current
      transport with on/off current ratio Ion/Ioff ~ 103 and field-effect mobilities of
      11.5 and 7.2 cm2 V-1 s-1 for electrons and holes, respectively. The electrical
      behavior of these novel ambipolar devices is discussed in terms of the peculiar
      current injection mechanisms in the O2 plasma functionalized MoS2 surface.

PMID- 28603969
TI  - Elucidating Surface Ligand-Dependent Kinetic Enhancement of Proteolytic Activity
      at Surface-Modified Quantum Dots.
AB  - Combining biomolecules such as enzymes with nanoparticles has much to offer for
      creating next generation synergistically functional bionanomaterials. However,
      almost nothing is known about how these two disparate components interact at this
      critical biomolecular-materials interface to give rise to improved activity and
      emergent properties. Here we examine how the nanoparticle surface can influence
      and increase localized enzyme activity using a designer experimental system
      consisting of trypsin proteolysis acting on peptide-substrates displayed around
      semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). To minimize the complexity of analyzing this
      system, only the chemical nature of the QD surface functionalizing ligands were
      modified. This was accomplished by synthesizing a series of QD ligands that were
      either positively or negatively charged, zwitterionic, neutral, and with
      differing lengths. The QDs were then assembled with different ratios of dye
      labeled peptide substrates and exposed to trypsin giving rise to progress curves
      that were monitored by Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The resulting
      trypsin activity profiles were analyzed in the context of detailed molecular
      dynamics simulations of key interactions occurring at this interface. Overall, we
      find that a combination of factors can give rise to a localized activity that was
      35-fold higher than comparable freely diffusing enzyme-substrate interactions.
      Contributing factors include the peptide substrate being prominently displayed
      extending from the QD surface and not sterically hindered by the longer surface
      ligands in conjunction with the presence of electrostatic and other productive
      attractive forces between the enzyme and the QD surface. An intimate
      understanding of such critical interactions at this interface can produce a set
      of guidelines that will allow the rational design of next generation high
      activity bionanocomposites and theranostics.

PMID- 28603970
TI  - Microbots Decorated with Silver Nanoparticles Kill Bacteria in Aqueous Media.
AB  - Water contamination is one of the most persistent problems of public health.
      Resistance of some pathogens to conventional disinfectants can require the
      combination of multiple disinfectants or increased disinfectant doses, which may
      produce harmful byproducts. Here, we describe an efficient method for
      disinfecting Escherichia coli and removing the bacteria from contaminated water
      using water self-propelled Janus microbots decorated with silver nanoparticles
      (AgNPs). The structure of a spherical Janus microbot consists of a magnesium (Mg)
      microparticle as a template that also functions as propulsion source by producing
      hydrogen bubbles when in contact with water, an inner iron (Fe) magnetic layer
      for their remote guidance and collection, and an outer AgNP-coated gold (Au)
      layer for bacterial adhesion and improving bactericidal properties. The active
      motion of microbots increases the chances of the contact of AgNPs on the microbot
      surface with bacteria, which provokes the selective Ag+ release in their
      cytoplasm, and the microbot self-propulsion increases the diffusion of the
      released Ag+ ions. In addition, the AgNP-coated Au cap of the microbots has a
      dual capability of capturing bacteria and then killing them. Thus, we have
      demonstrated that AgNP-coated Janus microbots are capable of efficiently killing
      more than 80% of E. coli compared with colloidal AgNPs that killed only less than
      35% of E. coli in contaminated water solutions in 15 min. After capture and
      extermination of bacteria, magnetic properties of the cap allow collection of
      microbots from water along with the captured dead bacteria, leaving water with no
      biological contaminants. The presented biocompatible Janus microbots offer an
      encouraging method for rapid disinfection of water.

PMID- 28603971
TI  - Enhanced and Prolonged Cell-Penetrating Abilities of Arginine-Rich Peptides by
      Introducing Cyclic alpha,alpha-Disubstituted alpha-Amino Acids with Stapling.
AB  - Cell-penetrating peptides are receiving increasing attention as drug delivery
      tools, and the search for peptides with high cell-penetrating ability and
      negligible cytotoxicity has become a critical research topic. Herein, cyclic
      alpha,alpha-disubstituted alpha-amino acids were introduced into arginine-rich
      peptides and an additional staple was provided in the side chain. The peptides
      designed in the present study showed more enhanced and prolonged cell-penetrating
      abilities than an arginine nonapeptide due to high resistance to protease and
      conformationally stable helical structures.

PMID- 28603972
TI  - The Intricate Structural Chemistry of MII2nLn-Type Assemblies.
AB  - The reaction of cis-blocked, square-planar MII complexes with tetratopic N-donor
      ligands is known to give metallasupramolecular assemblies of the formula M2nLn.
      These assemblies typically adopt barrel-like structures, with the ligands
      paneling the sides of the barrels. However, alternative structures are possible,
      as demonstrated by the recent discovery of a Pt8L4 cage with unusual
      gyrobifastigium-like geometry. To date, the factors that govern the assembly of
      MII2nLn complexes are not well understood. Herein, we provide a geometric
      analysis of M2nLn complexes, and we discuss how size and geometry of the ligand
      is expected to influence the self-assembly process. The theoretical analysis is
      complemented by experimental studies using different cis-blocked PtII complexes
      and metalloligands with four divergent pyridyl groups. Mononuclear metalloligands
      gave mainly assemblies of type Pt8L4, which adopt barrel- or gyrobifastigium-like
      structures. Larger assemblies can also form, as evidenced by the crystallographic
      characterization of a Pt10L5 complex and a Pt16L8 complex. The former adopts a
      pentagonal barrel structure, whereas the latter displays a barrel structure with
      a distorted square orthobicupola geometry. The Pt16L8 complex has a molecular
      weight of more than 23 kDa and a diameter of 4.5 nm, making it the largest,
      structurally characterized M2nLn complex described to date. A dinuclear
      metalloligand was employed for the targeted synthesis of pentagonal Pt10L5
      barrels, which are formed in nearly quantitative yields.

PMID- 28603974
TI  - Evolution of New "Bolaliposomes" using Novel alpha-Tocopheryl Succinate Based
      Cationic Lipid and 1,12-Disubstituted Dodecane-Based Bolaamphiphile for Efficient
      Gene Delivery.
AB  - Nonviral lipid-based vectors are promising transporting systems for the
      intracellular delivery of therapeutic gene sequences and directly influence the
      success of gene delivery. However, the associated drawbacks like lower
      transfection, toxicity, and targetability require further improvement. Thus,
      herein, we report a novel lipid formulation by the mixing of two distinct
      cationic surfactants such as tocopheryl succinate based cationic lipid and 1,12
      dodecane based bolaamphiphile and prove it to be a good transfection reagent with
      its competing potential with the "golden standard", Lipofectamine 3000 (L3K).
      These interesting aggregations were named "Bolaliposome" and showed adequate
      unilamellar vesicle morphology under transmission electron microscopy, having a
      size of around 100 nm and could transfect efficiently different varieties of cell
      lines. Moreover, the generated complexes from bolaliposome and DNA (bolalipoplex)
      were characterized in terms of surface potential, hydrodynamic size, and gel
      electrophoresis. Various pharmacological inhibitors were also used in reporter
      gene expression to prove that the complexes followed the clathrin-mediated
      endocytosis. Finally, these findings would be helpful in the making of new
      aggregates and the development of better cytofectins. This was developed by
      optimizing the formulation based on the efficiency of reporter gene expression
      performed using the pEGFP-N3 plasmid.

PMID- 28603973
TI  - Enantioselective Formation of CF3-Bearing All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters via
      C-H Functionalization of Methanol: Iridium Catalyzed Allene
      Hydrohydroxymethylation.
AB  - Using an iridium catalyst modified by PhanePhos, CF3-allenes react with methanol
      to form branched products of hydrohydroxymethylation as single regioisomers with
      excellent levels of enantiomeric enrichment. This hydrogen autotransfer process
      enables catalytic enantioselective formation of acyclic CF3-bearing all-carbon
      quaternary stereocenters in the absence of stoichiometric metals or byproducts.

PMID- 28603975
TI  - Controls on Bacterial Cell Envelope Sulfhydryl Site Concentrations: The Effect of
      Glucose Concentration During Growth.
AB  - Bacterial sulfhydryl sites can form strong complexes with chalcophilic metals
      such as Hg and Cd, thereby affecting the fate, transport, and bioavailability of
      these metals in both natural and engineered systems. In this study, five
      bacterial species were cultured in M9 minimal media containing a range of glucose
      concentrations as carbon source and in a high-nutrient TSB medium enriched with
      50 g/L of glucose, and the sulfhydryl site concentrations of the obtained biomass
      samples were determined through selective sulfhydryl site-blocking,
      potentiometric titrations, and surface complexation modeling. The experimental
      results show that the glucose concentration in the M9 minimal media strongly
      affects the concentration of sulfhydryl sites that are present on the bacteria,
      with higher glucose concentrations yielding higher bacterial sulfhydryl site
      concentrations for each species studied. In contrast, although adding 50 g/L of
      glucose to the TSB medium significantly increases the sulfhydryl site
      concentrations for the three Bacillus species studied, the elevated glucose
      concentration does not significantly affect sulfhydryl site concentrations for S.
      oneidensis and P. putida samples when grown in the TSB medium. Our results
      suggest that bacterial sulfhydryl site concentrations in natural systems are
      likely affected by the composition of the bacterial community and by the
      available nutrients, and that these factors must be considered in order to
      determine and model the effects of bacterial cells on metal cycling and metal
      bioavailability in the environment.

PMID- 28603976
TI  - alpha-Imino Esters in Organic Synthesis: Recent Advances.
AB  - alpha-Imino esters are useful precursors for the synthesis of a variety of types
      of natural and unnatural alpha-amino acid derivatives, with a wide range of
      biological activities. Due to the adjacent ester group, alpha-imino esters are
      more reactive relative to other types of imines and undergo different kinds of
      reactions, including organometallics addition, metal catalyzed vinylation and
      alkynylation, aza-Henry, aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman, imino-ene, Mannich-type, and
      cycloaddition reactions, as well as hydrogenation and reduction. This review
      discusses the mechanism, scope, and applications of the reactions of alpha-imino
      esters and related compounds in organic synthesis, covering the literature from
      the last 12 years.

PMID- 28603977
TI  - PARAFAC Modeling of Irradiation- and Oxidation-Induced Changes in Fluorescent
      Dissolved Organic Matter Extracted from Poultry Litter.
AB  - Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) applied to fluorescence excitation emission
      matrices (EEMs) allows quantitative assessment of the composition of fluorescent
      dissolved organic matter (DOM). In this study, we fit a four-component EEM
      PARAFAC model to characterize DOM extracted from poultry litter. The data set
      included fluorescence EEMs from 291 untreated, irradiated (253.7 nm, 310-410 nm),
      and oxidized (UV-H2O2, ozone) poultry litter extracts. The four components were
      identified as microbial humic-, terrestrial humic-, tyrosine-, and tryptophan
      like fluorescent signatures. The Tucker's congruence coefficients for components
      from the global (i.e., aggregated sample set) model and local (i.e., single
      poultry litter source) models were greater than 0.99, suggesting that the global
      EEM-PARAFAC model may be suitable to study poultry litter DOM from individual
      sources. In general, the transformation trends of the four fluorescence
      components were comparable for all poultry litter sources tested. For irradiation
      at 253.7 nm, ozonation, and UV-H2O2 advanced oxidation, transformation of the
      humic-like components was slower than that of the tryptophan-like component. The
      opposite trend was observed for irradiation at 310-410 nm, due to differences in
      UV absorbance properties of components. Compared to the other EEM-PARAFAC
      components, the tyrosine-like component was fairly recalcitrant in irradiation
      and oxidation processes. This novel application of EEM-PARAFAC modeling provides
      insight into the composition and fate of agricultural DOM in natural and
      engineered systems.

PMID- 28603978
TI  - Exploring the Boundaries of "Practical": De Novo Syntheses of Complex Natural
      Product-Based Drug Candidates.
AB  - This review examines the state of the art in synthesis as it relates to the
      building of complex architectures on scales sufficient to drive human drug
      trials. We focus on the relatively few instances in which a natural-product-based
      development candidate has been manufactured de novo, rather than
      semisynthetically. This summary provides a view of the strengths and weaknesses
      of current technologies, provides perspective on what one might consider a
      practical contribution, and hints at directions the field might take in the
      future.

PMID- 28603980
TI  - Sericin Promotes Fibroin Silk I Stabilization Across a Phase-Separation.
AB  - Natural silk spinning offers several advantages over the synthetic fiber
      spinning, although the underlying mechanisms of this process are yet to be fully
      elucidated. Silkworm silks, specifically B. mori, comprise two main proteins:
      fibroin, which forms the fiber, and sericin, a coextruded coating that acts as a
      matrix in the resulting nonwoven composite cocoon. To date, most studies have
      focused on fibroin's self-assembly and gelation, with the influence of sericin
      during spinning receiving little to no attention. This study investigates
      sericin's effects on the self-assembly of fibroin via their natural phase
      separation. Through changes in sample opacity, FTIR, and XRD, we report that
      increasing sericin concentration retards the time to gelation and beta-sheet
      formation of fibroin, causing it to adopt a Silk I conformation. Such findings
      have important implications for both the natural silk spinning process and any
      future industrial applications, suggesting that sericin may be able to induce
      long-range conformational and stability control in silk fibroin, while being in a
      separate phase, a factor that would facilitate long-term storage or silk
      feedstocks.

PMID- 28603979
TI  - Clinically Divergent Mutation Effects on the Structure and Function of the Human
      Cardiac Tropomyosin Overlap.
AB  - The progression of genetically inherited cardiomyopathies from an altered protein
      structure to clinical presentation of disease is not well understood. One of the
      main roadblocks to mechanistic insight remains a lack of high-resolution
      structural information about multiprotein complexes within the cardiac sarcomere.
      One example is the tropomyosin (Tm) overlap region of the thin filament that is
      crucial for the function of the cardiac sarcomere. To address this central
      question, we devised coupled experimental and computational modalities to
      characterize the baseline function and structure of the Tm overlap, as well as
      the effects of mutations causing divergent patterns of ventricular remodeling on
      both structure and function. Because the Tm overlap contributes to the
      cooperativity of myofilament activation, we hypothesized that mutations that
      enhance the interactions between overlap proteins result in more cooperativity,
      and conversely, those that weaken interaction between these elements lower
      cooperativity. Our results suggest that the Tm overlap region is affected
      differentially by dilated cardiomyopathy-associated Tm D230N and hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy-associated human cardiac troponin T (cTnT) R92L. The Tm D230N
      mutation compacts the Tm overlap region, increasing the cooperativity of the Tm
      filament, contributing to a dilated cardiomyopathy phenotype. The cTnT R92L
      mutation causes weakened interactions closer to the N-terminal end of the
      overlap, resulting in decreased cooperativity. These studies demonstrate that
      mutations with differential phenotypes exert opposite effects on the Tm-Tn
      overlap, and that these effects can be directly correlated to a molecular level
      understanding of the structure and dynamics of the component proteins.

PMID- 28603982
TI  - Analysis of Lysophospholipid Content in Low Phytate Rice Mutants.
AB  - As a fundamental component of nucleic acids, phospholipids, and adenosine
      triphosphate, phosphorus (P) is critical to all life forms, however, the
      molecular mechanism of P translocation and distribution in rice grains are still
      not understood. Here, with the use of five different low phytic acid (lpa) rice
      mutants, the redistribution in the main P-containing compounds in rice grain,
      phytic acid (PA), lysophospholipid (LPL), and inorganic P (Pi), was investigated.
      The lpa mutants showed a significant decrease in PA and phytate-phosphorus (PA-P)
      concentration with a concomitant increase in Pi concentration. Moreover, defects
      in the OsST and OsMIK genes result in a great reduction of specific LPL
      components and LPL-phosphorus (LPL-P) contents in rice grain. In contrast,
      defective OsMRP5 and Os2-PGK genes led to a significant increase in individual
      LPL components. The effect of the Os2-PGK gene on the LPL accumulation was
      validated using breeding lines derived from a cross between KBNT-lpa (Os2-PGK
      mutation) and Jiahe218. This study demonstrates that these rice lpa mutants lead
      to the redistribution of Pi in endosperm and modify LPL biosynthesis. Increase
      LPLs in the endosperm in the lpa mutants may have practical applications in rice
      breeding to produce "healthier" rice.

PMID- 28603983
TI  - Food Components in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.
AB  - The current obesity epidemic with its deleterious effects on public health and
      the increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in our aging society
      have dramatically increased public awareness of nutrition-related health issues.
      On one hand, food components, such as fat, sugar, flavors, and spices, are major
      determinants of the hedonic value of food, and the constant and almost ubiquitous
      availability of good-tasting food in our affluent societies promotes overeating
      and weight gain. On the other hand, several food components, including flavoring
      compounds and the active ingredients of many plants, such as spices and herbs
      (e.g., polyphenols and capsaicinoids) or thylakoids, supposedly can decrease food
      intake and affect gastrointestinal function and metabolism. These substances may
      act as antioxidants, may stimulate the release of incretins and, hence, insulin,
      and may improve insulin sensitivity or decrease plasma levels of lipids. Such
      beneficial effects are often difficult to demonstrate in epidemiological studies
      because they may occur only at supraphysiological doses and/or when the purified
      compounds are administered, but they can be present under certain circumstances.
      This review discusses the putative mechanisms of the health-promoting and disease
      preventing effects of some food components and their potential physiological
      relevance, primarily with respect to counteracting obesity and type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28603981
TI  - The Enigmatic P450 Decarboxylase OleT Is Capable of, but Evolved To Frustrate,
      Oxygen Rebound Chemistry.
AB  - OleT is a cytochrome P450 enzyme that catalyzes the removal of carbon dioxide
      from variable chain length fatty acids to form 1-alkenes. In this work, we
      examine the binding and metabolic profile of OleT with shorter chain length (n <=
      12) fatty acids that can form liquid transportation fuels. Transient kinetics and
      product analyses confirm that OleT capably activates hydrogen peroxide with
      shorter substrates to form the high-valent intermediate Compound I and largely
      performs C-C bond scission. However, the enzyme also produces fatty alcohol side
      products using the high-valent iron oxo chemistry commonly associated with
      insertion of oxygen into hydrocarbons. When presented with a short chain fatty
      acid that can initiate the formation of Compound I, OleT oxidizes the diagnostic
      probe molecules norcarane and methylcyclopropane in a manner that is reminiscent
      of reactions of many CYP hydroxylases with radical clock substrates. These data
      are consistent with a decarboxylation mechanism in which Compound I abstracts a
      substrate hydrogen atom in the initial step. Positioning of the incipient
      substrate radical is a crucial element in controlling the efficiency of activated
      OH rebound.

PMID- 28603985
TI  - Hydrogen Bond Networks and Hydrophobic Effects in the Amyloid beta30-35 Chain in
      Water: A Molecular Dynamics Study.
AB  - We have studied the conformational landscape of the C-terminal fragment of the
      amyloid protein Abeta30-35 in water using well-tempered metadynamics simulations
      and found that it resembles an intrinsically disordered protein. The
      conformational fluctuations of the protein are facilitated by a collective
      reorganization of both protein and water hydrogen bond networks, combined with
      electrostatic interactions between termini as well as hydrophobic interactions of
      the side chains. The stabilization of hydrophobic interactions in one of the
      conformers involves a collective collapse of the side chains along with a squeeze
      out of water sandwiched between them. The charged N- and C-termini play a
      critical role in stabilizing different types of protein conformations, including
      those involving contact-ion salt bridges as well as solvent-mediated interactions
      of the termini and the amide backbone. We have examined this by probing the
      distribution of directed water wires forming the hydrogen bond network enveloping
      the polypeptide. Water wires and their fluctuations form an integral part of
      structural signature of the protein conformation.

PMID- 28603984
TI  - Discovery of a Highly Potent, Cell-Permeable Macrocyclic Peptidomimetic (MM-589)
      Targeting the WD Repeat Domain 5 Protein (WDR5)-Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL)
      Protein-Protein Interaction.
AB  - We report herein the design, synthesis, and evaluation of macrocyclic
      peptidomimetics that bind to WD repeat domain 5 (WDR5) and block the WDR5-mixed
      lineage leukemia (MLL) protein-protein interaction. Compound 18 (MM-589) binds to
      WDR5 with an IC50 value of 0.90 nM (Ki value <1 nM) and inhibits the MLL H3K4
      methyltransferase (HMT) activity with an IC50 value of 12.7 nM. Compound 18
      potently and selectively inhibits cell growth in human leukemia cell lines
      harboring MLL translocations and is >40 times better than the previously reported
      compound MM-401. Cocrystal structures of 16 and 18 complexed with WDR5 provide
      structural basis for their high affinity binding to WDR5. Additionally, we have
      developed and optimized a new AlphaLISA-based MLL HMT functional assay to
      facilitate the functional evaluation of these designed compounds. Compound 18
      represents the most potent inhibitor of the WDR5-MLL interaction reported to
      date, and further optimization of 18 may yield a new therapy for acute leukemia.

PMID- 28603986
TI  - STR3 and CYS3 Contribute to 2-Furfurylthiol Biosynthesis in Chinese Sesame
      Flavored Baijiu Yeast.
AB  - 2-Furfurylthiol is an important aroma compound with characteristic sesame flavor.
      It was recently identified as the representative aroma compound of Chinese sesame
      flavored Baijiu. But its formation mechanism is unclear. In this study, the
      dominant yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia kudriavzevii, and
      Wickerhamomyces anomalus were isolated from samples of Chinese sesame-flavored
      fermentation and were screened for the capacity of 2-furfurylthiol biosynthesis.
      Some isolates were found to be capable of generating 2-furfurylthiol using
      furfural and l-cysteine as precursors, among which S. cerevisiae G20 exhibited
      the strongest capacity with a yield of 3.03 mg/L. Furthermore, the genes STR3 and
      CYS3 from S. cerevisiae were cloned and overexpressed in the reference strain S.
      cerevisiae S288c and the isolate strain G20, respectively, which resulted in a
      significant increase in 2-furfurylthiol release in the two strains. Moreover,
      inactivation of STR3 gene in S288c and G20 led to obvious reduction in 2
      furfurylthiol production, demonstrating that STR3 got involved in 2-furfurylthiol
      biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae. It is the first time that the yeast isolates with
      high capacity of 2-furfurylthiol biosynthesis were found during Chinese sesame
      flavored Baijiu fermentation and confirmed that the genes STR3 and CYS3 were
      closely relevant to 2-furfurylthiol biosynthesis.

PMID- 28603987
TI  - Pharmacophore Identification and Scaffold Exploration to Discover Novel, Potent,
      and Chemically Stable Inhibitors of Acid Ceramidase in Melanoma Cells.
AB  - Acid ceramidase (AC) hydrolyzes ceramides, which are central lipid messengers for
      metabolism and signaling of sphingolipids. A growing body of evidence links
      deregulation of sphingolipids to several diseases, including cancer. Indeed, AC
      expression is abnormally high in melanoma cells. AC inhibition may thus be key to
      treating malignant melanoma. Here, we have used a systematic scaffold exploration
      to design a general pharmacophore for AC inhibition. This pharmacophore comprises
      a 6 + 5 fused ring heterocycle linked to an aliphatic substituent via a urea
      moiety. We have thus identified the novel benzimidazole derivatives 10, 21, 27,
      and 30, which are highly potent AC inhibitors. Their chemical and metabolic
      stabilities are comparable or superior to those of previously reported AC
      inhibitors. Moreover, they are potent against endogenous AC in intact melanoma
      cells. These novel inhibitors merit further characterization and can serve as a
      promising starting point for the discovery of new antimelanoma therapeutics.

PMID- 28603988
TI  - New Disubstituted Quindoline Derivatives Inhibiting Burkitt's Lymphoma Cell
      Proliferation by Impeding c-MYC Transcription.
AB  - The c-MYC oncogene is overactivated during Burkitt's lymphoma pathogenesis.
      Targeting c-MYC to inhibit its transcriptional activity has emerged as an
      effective anticancer strategy. We synthesized four series of disubstituted
      quindoline derivatives by introducing the second cationic amino side chain and 5
      N-methyl group based on a previous study of SYUIQ-5 (1) as c-MYC promoter G
      quadruplex ligands. The in vitro evaluations showed that all new compounds
      exhibited higher stabilities and binding affinities, and most of them had better
      selectivity (over duplex DNA) for the c-MYC G-quadruplex compared to 1. Moreover,
      the new ligands prevented NM23-H2, a transcription factor, from effectively
      binding to the c-MYC G-quadruplex. Further studies showed that the selected
      ligand, 7a4, down-regulated c-MYC transcription by targeting promoter G
      quadruplex and disrupting the NM23-H2/c-MYC interaction in RAJI cells. 7a4 could
      inhibit Burkitt's lymphoma cell proliferation through cell cycle arrest and
      apoptosis and suppress tumor growth in a human Burkitt's lymphoma xenograft.

PMID- 28603990
TI  - Hypervalent Iodine(III)-Mediated Decarboxylative Ritter-Type Amination Leading to
      the Production of alpha-Tertiary Amine Derivatives.
AB  - alpha-Tertiary amines (ATAs) are attractive structural motifs that are frequently
      found in biologically active molecules. Therefore, the development of an
      efficient method for the synthesis of ATAs represents an important research topic
      in the field of medicinal chemistry as well as organic chemistry. Although the
      Ritter reaction is a reliable approach for preparing alpha-tertiary amine
      derivatives via intermolecular amination reactions, the typical methods suffer
      from disadvantages such as harsh reaction conditions and the use of strong acids.
      Because of this, it has been of limited use in the synthesis of ATAs. We report
      here on the decarboxylative Ritter-type amination of carboxylic acids bearing an
      alpha-quaternary carbon center using a combination of PhI(OAc)2 and molecular
      iodine (I2) to produce the corresponding alpha-tertiary amine derivatives. This
      reaction proceeded at ambient temperature on the benchtop with a fluorescent
      light. Mechanistic investigations suggest that the reaction proceeds via the
      formation of an alkyl iodide and a higher oxidation state iodine(III) species as
      key intermediates. Similarly, a stepwise protocol for the Ritter-type amination
      of alcohols via the formation of oxalic acid monoalkyl esters was also achieved.
      The present methods represent a useful tool for the synthesis of ATAs that are
      difficult to prepare by conventional methods.

PMID- 28603989
TI  - alpha-Conotoxin [S9A]TxID Potently Discriminates between alpha3beta4 and
      alpha6/alpha3beta4 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.
AB  - alpha3beta4 nAChRs have been implicated in various pathophysiological conditions.
      However, the expression profile of alpha3beta4 nAChRs and alpha6/alpha3beta4
      nAChRs overlap in a variety of tissues. To distinguish between these two
      subtypes, we redesigned peptide 1 (alpha-conotoxin TxID), which inhibits
      alpha3beta4 and alpha6/alpha3beta4 nAChR subtypes. We systematically mutated 1 to
      evaluate analogue selectivity for alpha3beta4 vs alpha6/alpha3beta4 nAChRs
      expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. One analogue, peptide 7 ([S9A]TxID), had 46
      fold greater potency for alpha3beta4 versus alpha6/alpha3beta4 nAChRs. Peptide 7
      had IC50s > 10 MUM for other nAChR subtypes. Molecular dynamics simulations
      suggested that Ser-9 of TxID was involved in a weak hydrogen bond with beta4 Lys
      81 in the alpha6beta4 binding site but not in the alpha3beta4 binding site. When
      Ser-9 was substituted by an Ala, this hydrogen bond interaction was disrupted.
      These results provide further molecular insights into the selectivity of 7 and
      provide a guide for designing ligands that block alpha3beta4 nAChRs.

PMID- 28603991
TI  - Trisubstituted Pyridinylimidazoles as Potent Inhibitors of the Clinically
      Resistant L858R/T790M/C797S EGFR Mutant: Targeting of Both Hydrophobic Regions
      and the Phosphate Binding Site.
AB  - Inhibition of the epidermal growth factor receptor represents one of the most
      promising strategies in the treatment of lung cancer. Acquired resistance
      compromises the clinical efficacy of EGFR inhibitors during long-term treatment.
      The recently discovered EGFR-C797S mutation causes resistance against third
      generation EGFR inhibitors. Here we present a rational approach based on
      extending the inhibition profile of a p38 MAP kinase inhibitor toward mutant EGFR
      inhibition. We used a privileged scaffold with proven cellular potency as well as
      in vivo efficacy and low toxicity. Guided by molecular modeling, we synthesized
      and studied the structure-activity relationship of 40 compounds against
      clinically relevant EGFR mutants. We successfully improved the cellular EGFR
      inhibition down to the low nanomolar range with covalently binding inhibitors
      against a gefitinib resistant T790M mutant cell line. We identified additional
      noncovalent interactions, which allowed us to develop metabolically stable
      inhibitors with high activities against the osimertinib resistant
      L858R/T790M/C797S mutant.

PMID- 28603992
TI  - Glycosylated Platinum(IV) Complexes as Substrates for Glucose Transporters
      (GLUTs) and Organic Cation Transporters (OCTs) Exhibited Cancer Targeting and
      Human Serum Albumin Binding Properties for Drug Delivery.
AB  - Glycosylated platinum(IV) complexes were synthesized as substrates for GLUTs and
      OCTs for the first time, and the cytotoxicity and detailed mechanism were
      determined in vitro and in vivo. Galactoside Pt(IV), glucoside Pt(IV), and
      mannoside Pt(IV) were highly cytotoxic and showed specific cancer-targeting
      properties in vitro and in vivo. Glycosylated platinum(IV) complexes 5, 6, 7, and
      8 (IC50 0.24-3.97 MUM) had better antitumor activity of nearly 166-fold higher
      than the positive controls cisplatin (1a), oxaliplatin (3a), and satraplatin
      (5a). The presence of a hexadecanoic chain allowed binding with human serum
      albumin (HSA) for drug delivery, which not only enhanced the stability of the
      inert platinum(IV) prodrugs but also decreased their reduction by reductants
      present in human whole blood. Their preferential accumulation in cancer cells
      compared to noncancerous cells (293T and 3T3 cells) suggested that they were
      potentially safe for clinical therapeutic use.

PMID- 28603993
TI  - Ammonia-Assisted Wet-Chemical Synthesis of ZnO Microrod Arrays on Substrates for
      Microdroplet Transfer.
AB  - It is still a challenging task to facilely grow microscale arrays on arbitrary
      substrates at low temperature conditions in solutions. Here, we have successfully
      formed ZnO microrod arrays on various substrates, including glass, gold coated
      glass, silicon wafer, and Teflon, by a single-step wet-chemical synthesis
      approach. We employ ammonia as the multifunctional reactant to modify the surface
      properties of the substrates and to regulate the pH of the reaction environment.
      Compared to other methods, no preloaded additives or seeds are required. The
      surface wettability of the ZnO microrod coated substrates can be tuned, achieving
      both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties in air. We have studied both static
      wettability and dynamic behaviors of droplet impact or rebound on the modified
      substrates. We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve micromass transfer by
      using the hydrophobic substrate to repel water microdroplet while using the
      hydrophilic substrate to capture the water microdroplets utilizing their
      different dynamic wettability-induced responses to water droplets. We believe
      that the ZnO microrod array coated substrates with different static/dynamic
      wettability may find many potential applications, such as antiwetting, self
      cleaning, inject printing, micromass transfer and capture, biomedical diagnosis,
      microanalysis, and so forth.

PMID- 28603994
TI  - Electronic Delocalization, Vibrational Dynamics, and Energy Transfer in Organic
      Chromophores.
AB  - The efficiency of materials developed for solar energy and technological
      applications depends on the interplay between molecular architecture and light
      induced electronic energy redistribution. The spatial localization of electronic
      excitations is very sensitive to molecular distortions. Vibrational nuclear
      motions can couple to electronic dynamics driving changes in localization. The
      electronic energy transfer among multiple chromophores arises from several
      distinct mechanisms that can give rise to experimentally measured signals.
      Atomistic simulations of coupled electron-vibrational dynamics can help uncover
      the nuclear motions directing energy flow. Through careful analysis of excited
      state wave function evolution and a useful fragmenting of multichromophore
      systems, through-bond transport and exciton hopping (through-space) mechanisms
      can be distinguished. Such insights are crucial in the interpretation of
      fluorescence anisotropy measurements and can aid materials design. This
      Perspective highlights the interconnected vibrational and electronic motions at
      the foundation of nonadiabatic dynamics where nuclear motions, including
      torsional rotations and bond vibrations, drive electronic transitions.

PMID- 28603995
TI  - Nanotribological Properties of Hexadecanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on
      Au(111): Structure, Temperature, and Velocity.
AB  - Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) are promising building blocks for the
      optimization of a large variety of systems both on the nano- and on the
      microscale. Among other applications, SAM are often used as protective coating or
      friction modifiers. In this work, we have used hexadecanethiol SAM on Au(111) as
      a model system and studied the different mechanisms of energy dissipation during
      temperature and velocity dependent friction force microscopy (FFM). In a number
      of cases, the SAM remained stable during atomic force microscopy experiments and
      friction-velocity isotherms related dissipation to an activation energy. In other
      cases, friction experiments lead to an irreversible deterioration of the SAM.
      This can rather be associated with the general SAM structure that was analyzed by
      scanning tunneling microscopy and showed a large variety of potential breakdown
      points like, for example, grain boundaries, step edges, or substrate-related
      holes in the SAM.

PMID- 28603996
TI  - Quantum Dots in Graphene Nanoribbons.
AB  - Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) hold great promise for applications in electronics,
      optoelectronics, and bioelectronics, but the fabrication of widely tunable GQDs
      has remained elusive. Here, we report the fabrication of atomically precise GQDs
      consisting of low-bandgap N = 14 armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR) segments
      that are achieved through edge fusion of N = 7 AGNRs. The so-formed intraribbon
      GQDs reveal deterministically defined, atomically sharp interfaces between wide
      and narrow AGNR segments and host a pair of low-lying interface states. Scanning
      tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements complemented by extensive
      simulations reveal that their energy splitting depends exponentially on the
      length of the central narrow bandgap segment. This allows tuning of the
      fundamental gap of the GQDs over 1 order of magnitude within a few nanometers
      length range. These results are expected to pave the way for the development of
      widely tunable intraribbon GQD-based devices.

PMID- 28603997
TI  - Inhibition of Human UGT1A1-Mediated Bilirubin Glucuronidation by Polyphenolic
      Acids Impact Safety of Popular Salvianolic Acid A/B-Containing Drugs and Herbal
      Products.
AB  - Bilirubin-related adverse reactions (ADR, e.g., jaundice and hyperbilirubinemia)
      induced by herbs rich in certain polyphenolic acids are widely reported. However,
      the causes and the mechanisms underlying these ADR are not well understood. The
      purpose of this article is to determine the mechanism by which certain
      polyphenolic acids inhibit UGT1A1-mediated bilirubin glucuronidation, leading to
      jaundice or hyperbilirubinemia. We investigated in vitro inhibitory effects on
      bilirubin glucuronidation of salvianolic acid A (SAA), salvianolic acid B (SAB),
      danshensu (DSS), protocatechuic aldehyde (PA), and rosmarinic acid (RA), as well
      as two Salvia miltiorrhiza injections (DSI and CDI) rich in polyphenolic acids.
      The results showed that average formation rates of three bilirubin glucuronides
      displayed a significant difference (p < 0.05) and the formation of
      monoglucuronide was favored regardless if an inhibitor was present or not. SAA,
      SAB, DSI, and CDI, but not DSS, PA, and RA, significantly inhibited human UGT1A1
      mediated bilirubin glucuronidation via a mixed-type inhibitory mechanism. Average
      IC50 values of SAA, SAB, DSI, and CDI-mediated inhibition of bilirubin
      glucuronidation were bilirubin concentration-dependent, and their values (against
      total bilirubin glucuronidation) were in the range 0.44 +/- 0.02 to 0.86 +/- 0.04
      MUg/mL (for SAA), 4.22 +/- 0.30 to 12.50 +/- 0.93 MUg/mL (for SAB), 9.29 +/- 0.76
      to 18.82 +/- 0.63 MUg/mL (for DSI), and 9.18 +/- 2.00 to 22.36 +/- 1.39 MUg/mL
      (for CDI), respectively. In conclusion, SAA and its analog SAB are the main
      ingredients responsible for inhibition of bilirubin glucuronidation by DSI and
      CDI, whose use is associated with many high bilirubin-related ADR.

PMID- 28603998
TI  - Divergent Access to 1-Naphthols and Isocoumarins via Rh(III)-Catalyzed C-H
      Activation Assisted by Phosphonium Ylide.
AB  - Rh-catalyzed C-H activation of phenacyl phosphoniums in coupling with alpha
      diazocarbonyl compounds has been realized with the assistance of a mutifunctional
      phosphonium ylidic directing group, providing expedient accesses to 1-naphthols
      and isocoumarins. Switchable synthesis of 1-naphthols and isocoumarins was
      realized by substrate control, where these transformations were enabled by
      initial C-H activation and subsequent intramolecular Wittig reaction or
      nucleophilic C-O formation.

PMID- 28603999
TI  - Defect Healing and Charge Transfer-Mediated Valley Polarization in
      MoS2/MoSe2/MoS2 Trilayer van der Waals Heterostructures.
AB  - Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) grown by chemical vapor
      deposition (CVD) are plagued by a significantly lower optical quality compared to
      exfoliated TMDCs. In this work, we show that the optical quality of CVD-grown
      MoSe2 is completely recovered if the material is sandwiched in MoS2/MoSe2/MoS2
      trilayer van der Waals heterostructures. We show by means of density functional
      theory that this remarkable and unexpected result is due to defect healing: S
      atoms of the more reactive MoS2 layers are donated to heal Se vacancy defects in
      the middle MoSe2 layer. In addition, the trilayer structure exhibits a
      considerable charge-transfer mediated valley polarization of MoSe2 without the
      need for resonant excitation. Our fabrication approach, relying solely on simple
      flake transfer technique, paves the way for the scalable production of large-area
      TMDC materials with excellent optical quality.

PMID- 28604000
TI  - Total Syntheses of (+/-)-Rhodonoids C, D, E, F, and G and Ranhuadujuanine B.
AB  - Here we describe the divergent, biosynthetically inspired syntheses of (+/-)
      rhodonoids C-G and (+/-)-ranhuadujuanine B. The key steps of the syntheses
      include the construction of the chromene unit through a formal oxa-[3 + 3]
      annulation and a biomimetic acid-catalyzed ring cyclization. Cationic [2 + 2]
      cycloaddition is accomplished to form the cyclobutane core of (+/-)-rhodonoids E
      and F.

PMID- 28604001
TI  - Preparation of Organozinc Reagents via Catalyst Controlled Three-Component
      Coupling between Alkyne, Iodoarene, and Bis(iodozincio)methane.
AB  - Three-component coupling between an alkyne, iodoarene, and bis(iodozincio)methane
      yields allylic zinc with a tetrasubstituted alkene moiety in the presence of a
      nickel catalyst. The reaction proceeds via aryl nickelation of the alkyne and
      subsequent cross-coupling with bis(iodozincio)methane. Meanwhile, the same
      combination in the presence of a palladium and cobalt catalyst gives
      tetrasubstituted alkenylzinc. The reaction proceeds via a palladium-catalyzed
      cross-coupling of iodoarene with bis(iodozincio)methane followed by a cobalt
      catalyzed benzylzincation of alkyne.

PMID- 28604002
TI  - Coherent Transport in a Linear Triple Quantum Dot Made from a Pure-Phase InAs
      Nanowire.
AB  - A highly tunable linear triple quantum dot (TQD) device is realized in a single
      crystalline pure-phase InAs nanowire using a local finger gate technique. The
      electrical measurements show that the charge stability diagram of the TQD can be
      represented by three kinds of current lines of different slopes and a simulation
      performed based on a capacitance matrix model confirms the experiment. We show
      that each current line observable in the charge stability diagram is associated
      with a case where a QD is on resonance with the Fermi level of the source and
      drain reservoirs. At a triple point where two current lines of different slopes
      move together but show anticrossing, two QDs are on resonance with the Fermi
      level of the reservoirs. We demonstrate that an energetically degenerated
      quadruple point at which all three QDs are on resonance with the Fermi level of
      the reservoirs can be built by moving two separated triple points together via
      sophistically tuning of energy levels in the three QDs. We also demonstrate the
      achievement of direct coherent electron transfer between the two remote QDs in
      the TQD, realizing a long-distance coherent quantum bus operation. Such a long
      distance coherent coupling could be used to investigate coherent spin
      teleportation and superexchange effects and to construct a spin qubit with an
      improved long coherent time and with spin state detection solely by sensing the
      charge states.

PMID- 28604003
TI  - Direct Conversion of Carboxylic Acids to Alkyl Ketones.
AB  - An efficient and mild method for acyl-Csp3 bond formation based on the direct
      conversion of carboxylic acids has been established. This protocol is enabled by
      the synergistic, Ir-photoredox/nickel catalytic cross-coupling of in situ
      activated carboxylic acids and alkyltrifluoroborates. This versatile method is
      amenable to the cross-coupling of structurally diverse carboxylic acids with
      various potassium alkyltrifluoroborates, affording the corresponding ketones with
      high yields. In this operationally simple cross-coupling protocol, aliphatic
      ketones are obtained in one step from bench stable, readily available carboxylic
      acids.

PMID- 28604004
TI  - Atom-Economic Route to Cyanoarenes and 2,2'-Dicyanobiarenes via Iron-Catalyzed
      Chemoselective [2 + 2 + 2] Cycloaddition Reactions of Diynes and Tetraynes with
      Alkynylnitriles.
AB  - An efficient protocol for the synthesis of cyanoarenes has been developed via an
      iron-catalyzed chemoselective [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of diynes with
      alkynylnitriles under mild reaction conditions with good to excellent yields. The
      reaction is catalyzed by the combination of FeCl2.4H2O as a metal source, 2-(2,6
      diisopropylphenyl)iminomethylpyridine (dipimp) as a ligand, and Zn as a reducing
      agent in DME solvent. The protocol was further extended to the synthesis of 2,2'
      dicyanobiarene skeletons from the reaction of tetraynes with alkynylnitriles.

PMID- 28604005
TI  - Synthetic Study on Pactamycin: Stereoselective Synthesis of the Cyclopentane Core
      Framework.
AB  - The cyclopentane core framework 23 of pactamycin (1) was synthesized in 14 steps
      from symmetric cyclohexadiene 11. Our synthetic strategy features Rh-mediated
      catalytic desymmetrization of 10 via aziridination and then regioselective ring
      opening reaction of sulfonylaziridine 9 with NaN3, ring-contraction of
      cyclohexene 14 by ozonolysis followed by intramolecular aldol reaction, and
      stereoselective construction of the sequential tetrasubstituted carbons by
      dihydroxylation and methylation reaction. Stereospecific incorporation of amine
      on tetrasubstituted carbon was achieved by Curtius rearrangement and subsequent
      carbamide formation.

PMID- 28604006
TI  - Enantioselective Nickel-Catalyzed Mizoroki-Heck Cyclizations To Generate
      Quaternary Stereocenters.
AB  - The development of enantioselective carbon-carbon bond couplings catalyzed by
      nonprecious metals is highly desirable in terms of cost efficiency and
      sustainability. The first nickel-catalyzed enantioselective Mizoroki-Heck
      coupling is reported. This transformation is accomplished via mild reaction
      conditions, leveraging on QuinoxP* as a chiral ligand to afford oxindoles
      containing quaternary stereocenters. Good reactivity and selectivity are observed
      in the presence of various functional groups. Computational studies suggest that
      the oxidative addition assembles an atropisomeric intermediate responsible for
      the facial selectivity of the insertion step.

PMID- 28604007
TI  - Distinguishing Oxygen Vacancy Electromigration and Conductive Filament Formation
      in TiO2 Resistance Switching Using Liquid Electrolyte Contacts.
AB  - Resistance switching in TiO2 and many other transition metal oxide resistive
      random access memory materials is believed to involve the assembly and breaking
      of interacting oxygen vacancy filaments via the combined effects of field-driven
      ion migration and local electronic conduction leading to Joule heating. These
      complex processes are very difficult to study directly in part because the
      filaments form between metallic electrode layers that block their observation by
      most characterization techniques. By replacing the top electrode layer in a metal
      insulator-metal memory structure with easily removable liquid electrolytes,
      either an ionic liquid (IL) with high resistance contact or a conductive aqueous
      electrolyte, we probe field-driven oxygen vacancy redistribution in TiO2 thin
      films under conditions that either suppress or promote Joule heating. Oxygen
      isotope exchange experiments indicate that exchange of oxygen ions between TiO2
      and the IL is facile at room temperature. Oxygen loss significantly increases the
      conductivity of the TiO2 films; however, filament formation is not observed after
      IL gating alone. Replacing the IL with a more conductive aqueous electrolyte
      contact and biasing does produce electroformed conductive filaments, consistent
      with a requirement for Joule heating to enhance the vacancy concentration and
      mobility at specific locations in the film.

PMID- 28604008
TI  - The Effect of Adjacent Materials on the Propagation of Phonon Polaritons in
      Hexagonal Boron Nitride.
AB  - In order to apply the ability of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) to confine energy
      in the form of hyperbolic phonon polariton (HPhP) modes in photonic-electronic
      devices, approaches to finely control and leverage the sensitivity of these
      propagating waves must be investigated. Here, we show that by surrounding hBN
      with materials of lower/higher dielectric responses, such as air and silicon,
      lower/higher surface momenta of HPhPs can be achieved. Furthermore, an
      alternative method for preparing thin hBN crystals with minimum contamination is
      presented, which provides opportunities to study the sensitivity of the damping
      mechanism of HPhPs on adsorbed materials. Infrared scanning near-field optical
      microscopy (IR-SNOM) results suggest that the reflections at the upper and lower
      hBN interfaces are primary causes of the damping of HPhPs, and that the damping
      coefficients of propagating waves are highly sensitive to adjacent layers,
      suggesting opportunities for sensor applications.

PMID- 28604009
TI  - Parity-Forbidden Transitions and Their Impact on the Optical Absorption
      Properties of Lead-Free Metal Halide Perovskites and Double Perovskites.
AB  - Using density functional theory calculations, we analyze the optical absorption
      properties of lead (Pb)-free metal halide perovskites (AB2+X3) and double
      perovskites (A2B+B3+X6) (A = Cs or monovalent organic ion, B2+ = non-Pb divalent
      metal, B+ = monovalent metal, B3+ = trivalent metal, X = halogen). We show that
      if B2+ is not Sn or Ge, Pb-free metal halide perovskites exhibit poor optical
      absorptions because of their indirect band gap nature. Among the nine possible
      types of Pb-free metal halide double perovskites, six have direct band gaps. Of
      these six types, four show inversion symmetry-induced parity-forbidden or weak
      transitions between band edges, making them not ideal for thin-film solar cell
      applications. Only one type of Pb-free double perovskite shows optical absorption
      and electronic properties suitable for solar cell applications, namely, those
      with B+ = In, Tl and B3+ = Sb, Bi. Our results provide important insights for
      designing new metal halide perovskites and double perovskites for optoelectronic
      applications.

PMID- 28604010
TI  - Skewness Analysis in Variance Spectroscopy Measures Nanoparticle
      Individualization.
AB  - An important enabling step in nanoparticle studies is the sorting of
      heterogeneous mixtures to prepare structurally homogeneous samples. It is also
      necessary to detect and monitor aggregation of the individual nanoparticles.
      Although variance spectroscopy provides a simple optical method for finding low
      concentrations of heteroaggregates in samples such as single-walled carbon
      nanotube dispersions, it cannot detect the homoaggregates that are relevant for
      well-sorted samples. Here we demonstrate that variance spectral data can be
      further analyzed to find third moments of intensity distributions (skewness),
      which reveal the presence of emissive homoaggregates. Using experimental
      measurements on variously processed nanotube dispersions, we deduce a simple
      numerical standard for recognizing aggregation in the highly sorted samples that
      are increasingly available to nanoscience researchers.

PMID- 28604011
TI  - Very Large-Sized Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Monolayers from Fast
      Exfoliation by Manual Shaking.
AB  - For two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) materials, achieving
      large size with high quality to provide a basis for the next generation of
      electronic device geometries has been a long-term need. Here, we demonstrate
      that, by only manual shaking within several seconds, very large-sized TMD
      monolayers that cover a wide range of group IVB-VIB transition metal sulfides and
      selenides can be efficiently harvested from intercalated single-crystal
      counterparts. Taking TaS2 as examples, monolayers up to unprecedented size (>100
      MUm) are obtained while maintaining high crystalline quality and the phase
      structure of the starting materials. Furthermore, benefiting from the gentle
      manual shaking, we unraveled the atomic-level correlation between the
      intercalated lattice-strain effects and exfoliated nanosheets, and that strong
      tensile strain usually led to very large sizes. This work helps to deepen the
      understanding of exfoliation mechanism and provides a powerful tool for producing
      large-sized and high-quality TMD nanosheets appealing for further applications.

PMID- 28604012
TI  - Optimizing the balance between task automation and human manual control in
      simulated submarine track management.
AB  - Automation can improve operator performance and reduce workload, but can also
      degrade operator situation awareness (SA) and the ability to regain manual
      control. In 3 experiments, we examined the extent to which automation could be
      designed to benefit performance while ensuring that individuals maintained SA and
      could regain manual control. Participants completed a simulated submarine track
      management task under varying task load. The automation was designed to
      facilitate information acquisition and analysis, but did not make task decisions.
      Relative to a condition with no automation, the continuous use of automation
      improved performance and reduced subjective workload, but degraded SA. Automation
      that was engaged and disengaged by participants as required (adaptable
      automation) moderately improved performance and reduced workload relative to no
      automation, but degraded SA. Automation engaged and disengaged based on task load
      (adaptive automation) provided no benefit to performance or workload, and
      degraded SA relative to no automation. Automation never led to significant return
      to-manual deficits. However, all types of automation led to degraded performance
      on a nonautomated task that shared information processing requirements with
      automated tasks. Given these outcomes, further research is urgently required to
      establish how to design automation to maximize performance while keeping
      operators cognitively engaged. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604013
TI  - Improving self-regulated learning with a retrieval practice intervention.
AB  - Repeated retrieval practice is a powerful learning tool for promoting long-term
      retention, but students use this tool ineffectively when regulating their
      learning. The current experiments evaluated the efficacy of a minimal
      intervention aimed at improving students' self-regulated use of repeated
      retrieval practice. Across 2 experiments, students made decisions about when to
      study, engage in retrieval practice, or stop learning a set of foreign language
      word pairs. Some students received direct instruction about how to use repeated
      retrieval practice. These instructions emphasized the mnemonic benefits of
      retrieval practice over a less effective strategy (restudying) and told students
      how to use repeated retrieval practice to maximize their performance
      specifically, that they should recall a translation correctly 3 times during
      learning. This minimal intervention promoted more effective self-regulated use of
      retrieval practice and better retention of the translations compared to a control
      group that received no instruction. Students who experienced this intervention
      also showed potential for long-term changes in self-regulated learning: They
      spontaneously used repeated retrieval practice 1 week later to learn new
      materials. These results provide a promising first step for developing guidelines
      for teaching students how to regulate their learning more effectively using
      repeated retrieval practice. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604014
TI  - Unobserved heterogeneity in response to treatment for depression through
      videoconference.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined treatment response heterogeneity in a recent
      randomized controlled trial of treatment for depression using videoconferencing
      technology compared to traditional in-office care. METHOD: Growth mixture
      modeling was used to identify subgroups of individuals in the trial based on
      treatment response trajectories. Demographic and baseline characteristics were
      included to identify correlates of subgroup membership. RESULTS: There were two
      subgroups based on the trajectories of the Beck Hopelessness Scale. The first
      subgroup had less symptom severity at baseline, and there was no meaningful
      difference between the two treatment modalities in change over time. The second
      subgroup had higher symptom severity at baseline, and individuals who engaged in
      treatment through the videoconference modality had less symptom improvement than
      those who underwent the in-office modality. Older participants with higher
      loneliness and anxiety scores at baseline were more likely to be in the second
      group. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Treatment of depression using
      videoconferencing to deliver care to an individual's home offers opportunities
      for improved access to services, especially among those who are unwilling or
      unable to seek in-person treatment. However, videoconferencing may not be
      appropriate for everyone. An individual's symptom level, age, and comorbidities
      are important clinical considerations when selecting an appropriate treatment
      modality. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604015
TI  - One size doesn't fit all: A trial of individually tailored skills training.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This article describes a pilot test of an individually tailored
      program to improve community living and health self-management skills in older
      adults with serious mental illness. METHOD: This study provided the Helping Older
      People Experience Success-Individually Tailored (HOPES-I) intervention, an
      adaptation of an empirically supported, manualized, group-based skills training
      program shown to improve community functioning, psychiatric symptoms, self
      efficacy, and receipt of preventive health. HOPES-I targets 5 skill areas:
      leisure time, communication, independent living, friendships, and health self
      management. We enrolled 47 adults age 50 and older (mean age = 62) with serious
      mental illness (38% schizophrenia spectrum, 62% mood disorders). Trained HOPES-I
      coaches evaluated participants' skills and functioning and engaged them in shared
      decision-making to select which curricular areas to receive. Participants
      received 1 HOPES-I session per week for 9-12 months, with assessments of overall
      psychosocial functioning and the 5 skill areas targeted by the program at
      baseline, postintervention, and at 3 and 6 months. RESULTS: Participants with
      baseline impairments in overall functioning and in each of the skill areas
      targeted by the program demonstrated significant improvements on related outcome
      measures. Selection of specific HOPES-I curriculum was not associated with level
      of impairment in associated skill areas at baseline, but participants with more
      impairment overall chose and completed more curriculum modules. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results of this study support the feasibility and
      potential benefits of an individually tailored skills training program for the
      rapidly growing and vulnerable group of older people with serious mental illness.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604017
TI  - Religion, repulsion, and reaction formation: Transforming repellent attractions
      and repulsions.
AB  - Protestants were more likely than non-Protestants to demonstrate phenomena
      consistent with the use of reaction formation. Lab experiments showed that when
      manipulations were designed to produce taboo attractions (to unconventional
      sexual practices), Protestants instead showed greater repulsion. When implicitly
      conditioned to produce taboo repulsions (to African Americans), Protestants
      instead showed greater attraction. Supportive evidence from other studies came
      from clinicians' judgments, defense mechanism inventories, and a survey of
      respondent attitudes. Other work showed that Protestants who diminished and
      displaced threatening affect were more likely to sublimate this affect into
      creative activities; the present work showed that Protestants who do not or
      cannot diminish or displace such threatening affect instead reverse it.
      Traditional individual difference variables showed little ability to predict
      reaction formation, suggesting that the observed processes go beyond what we
      normally study when we talk about self-control. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604016
TI  - Triglycerides are negatively correlated with cognitive function in nondemented
      aging adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vascular risk factors like hyperlipidemia may adversely affect brain
      function. We hypothesized that increased serum triglycerides are associated with
      decreased executive function and memory in nondemented elderly subjects. We also
      researched possible vascular mediators and white matter microstructure as
      assessed with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). DESIGN/METHOD: Participants were
      251 nondemented elderly adults (54% male) with a mean age of 78 (SD = 6.4; range:
      62-94) years and a mean education of 15.6 (SD = 2.9; range: 8-23) years. Fasting
      blood samples were used to detect serum triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein
      (LDL) levels along with ApoE4 status. DTI was used to determine whole brain
      fractional anisotropy (FA). Composite executive and memory scores were derived
      from item response theory. Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores provided
      informant-based measures of daily functioning. RESULTS: Triglyceride levels were
      inversely correlated with executive function, but there was no relationship with
      memory. Controlling for age, gender, and education did not affect this
      correlation. This relationship persisted after controlling for vascular risk
      factors like LDL, total cholesterol, CDR and ApoE4 status. Lastly, adding whole
      brain FA to the model did not affect the correlation between triglycerides and
      executive function. CONCLUSION: Triglyceride levels are inversely correlated with
      executive function in nondemented elderly adults after controlling for age,
      education, gender, total cholesterol, LDL, ApoE4 status, CDR, and white-matter
      microstructure. The fact that the effect of triglycerides on cognition was not
      clearly mediated by vascular risks or cerebrovascular injury raises questions
      about widely held assumptions of how triglycerides might impact cognition
      function. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604018
TI  - Resisting temptation for the good of the group: Binding moral values and the
      moralization of self-control.
AB  - When do people see self-control as a moral issue? We hypothesize that the group
      focused "binding" moral values of Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, and
      Purity/degradation play a particularly important role in this moralization
      process. Nine studies provide support for this prediction. First, moralization of
      self-control goals (e.g., losing weight, saving money) is more strongly
      associated with endorsing binding moral values than with endorsing
      individualizing moral values (Care/harm, Fairness/cheating). Second, binding
      moral values mediate the effect of other group-focused predictors of self-control
      moralization, including conservatism, religiosity, and collectivism. Third,
      guiding participants to consider morality as centrally about binding moral values
      increases moralization of self-control more than guiding participants to consider
      morality as centrally about individualizing moral values. Fourth, we replicate
      our core finding that moralization of self-control is associated with binding
      moral values across studies differing in measures and design-whether we measure
      the relationship between moral and self-control language across time, the
      perceived moral relevance of self-control behaviors, or the moral condemnation of
      self-control failures. Taken together, our findings suggest that self-control
      moralization is primarily group-oriented and is sensitive to group-oriented cues.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604019
TI  - Occupational stress and mental health symptoms: Examining the moderating effect
      of work recovery strategies in firefighters.
AB  - The goal of this research was to examine the moderating effect of work recovery
      strategies on the relationship between occupational stress experienced by
      firefighters and mental health symptoms. Work recovery strategies were identified
      through semistructured interviews with 20 firefighters and a literature search on
      recovery strategies. A total of 7 work recovery strategies emerged using the 2
      methods: work-related talks, stress-related talks, time with
      coworkers/supervisor, exercise, recreational activities, relaxation, and mastery
      experiences. Using a prospective study design with a 1-month time interval in a
      sample of 268 firefighters, experienced occupational stress at Time 1 was
      positively related to mental health symptoms at Time 2. In addition, with the
      exception of spending time with coworkers/supervisor, exercise and mastery
      experiences, recovery strategies at Time 1 were negatively related to mental
      health symptoms at Time 2. Lastly, all work recovery strategies, except stress
      related talks and relaxation, moderated the relationship between experienced
      occupational stress at Time 1 and mental health symptoms at Time 2. Specifically,
      the positive relationship between experienced occupational stress and mental
      health symptoms was stronger when firefighters engaged in low, rather than high,
      work recovery strategies. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604020
TI  - Race-related stress and hopelessness in community-based African American adults:
      Moderating role of social support.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The mental health outcomes associated with racial discrimination are
      well documented in scientific literature. Despite strong links to mental illness,
      hopelessness is largely overlooked as a consequence of discrimination in
      empirical research. The current study examined the association of race-related
      stress and hopelessness in a community sample of African American adults.
      Utilizing a risk-resilience framework, we examined multiple dimensions of social
      support as plausible protective factors against the negative effects of race
      related stress. METHOD: Self-report measures of race-related stress (Index of
      Race Related Stress-Brief; Utsey & Ponterotto, 1996), hopelessness (Beck
      Hopelessness Scale; Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974), and social support
      (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983) were completed by
      a sample of African American adults (N = 243; mean age = 35.89 years). RESULTS:
      Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the main and interactive
      effects of race-related stress and three dimensions of social support (appraisal,
      belonging, and self-esteem) in relation to hopelessness ratings. All dimensions
      of social support were associated with self-reported hopelessness, with the self
      esteem dimension emerging as the strongest predictor. Though self-esteem social
      support buffered the role of race-related stress on self-reported hopelessness,
      appraisal and belonging support did not. CONCLUSIONS: Individual and collective
      morale for one's racial group (via self-esteem social support) may be especially
      valuable for African Americans who face racial discrimination. Findings highlight
      the importance of culturally relevant factors that may ameliorate the effects of
      race-related stress. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604021
TI  - Still I rise: The need for self-validation and self-care in the midst of
      adversities faced by Black women with HIV.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Psychosocial factors of trauma and abuse, racial discrimination, HIV
      stigma, and gender-related stressors (e.g., prioritizing others' needs) have been
      associated with antiretroviral treatment (ART) nonadherence and poor viral
      suppression among Black women living with HIV (BWLWH). To inform the development
      of an intervention addressing these psychosocial factors to improve ART
      adherence, the authors sought the insight of BWLWH. METHOD: Qualitative
      semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 BWLWH to gather information on
      their experiences with trauma, racism, HIV stigma, gender-related stressors, ART
      adherence, and coping strategies, and their insights on the proposed
      intervention. Participants' interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and
      coded using thematic content analysis and grounded theory. RESULTS: Participants
      shared (a) their experiences with trauma/abuse, racism, HIV-stigma, gender
      related stress, and medication adherence; (b) coping strategies they use (e.g.,
      social support, awareness [acknowledging systemic racism], assertiveness,
      selective disclosure of HIV status, and prioritizing the self); (c) how each of
      these adversities relate to their medication adherence and how they found ways to
      self-validate and practice self-primacy and self-care, including medication
      adherence in spite of adversities; and (d) enthusiasm for the proposed
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Culturally adapted interventions are needed to improve
      the health of BWLWH by enhancing coping strategies for the multiple adversities
      they face and promoting self-validation, self-primacy, and self-care in spite of
      adversities. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604022
TI  - A prospective examination of anxiety as a predictor of depressive symptoms among
      Asian American early adolescent youth: The role of parent, peer, and teacher
      support and school engagement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to examine the prospective relationship
      between anxiety and depressive symptoms among Asian American (AA) early
      adolescents, a crucial period for the development of depression among youth.
      Further, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, a second aim of this study
      was to identify protective factors (i.e., parent support, peer support, teacher
      support, and school engagement) that might buffer the relationship between
      anxiety and depressive symptoms among this understudied population. METHOD:
      Participants included AA youth (N = 186; Mage = 12.50, SD = 1.16; 51.1% male) who
      completed questionnaires on 2 occasions with a 1-year interval. RESULTS: Results
      from path analysis indicated that high anxiety symptoms were related to increased
      depressive symptoms over time. Further, teacher support was related to decreased
      depressive symptoms over time. Additionally, teacher and parent support moderated
      the association between adolescents' anxiety and depressive symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings contribute to our understanding of the development of
      depression among early adolescent youth and have implications for the development
      of programming for Asian American youth with anxiety and depression. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28604023
TI  - Concurrent validity and sensitivity to change of Direct Behavior Rating Single
      Item Scales (DBR-SIS) within an elementary sample.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the concurrent validity, sensitivity to
      change, and teacher acceptability of Direct Behavior Rating single-item scales
      (DBR-SIS), a brief progress monitoring measure designed to assess student
      behavioral change in response to intervention. Twenty-four elementary teacher
      student dyads implemented a daily report card intervention to promote positive
      student behavior during prespecified classroom activities. During both baseline
      and intervention, teachers completed DBR-SIS ratings of 2 target behaviors (i.e.,
      Academic Engagement, Disruptive Behavior) whereas research assistants collected
      systematic direct observation (SDO) data in relation to the same behaviors. Five
      change metrics (i.e., absolute change, percent of change from baseline,
      improvement rate difference, Tau-U, and standardized mean difference; Gresham,
      2005) were calculated for both DBR-SIS and SDO data, yielding estimates of the
      change in student behavior in response to intervention. Mean DBR-SIS scores were
      predominantly moderately to highly correlated with SDO data within both baseline
      and intervention, demonstrating evidence of the former's concurrent validity. DBR
      SIS change metrics were also significantly correlated with SDO change metrics for
      both Disruptive Behavior and Academic Engagement, yielding evidence of the
      former's sensitivity to change. In addition, teacher Usage Rating Profile
      Assessment (URP-A) ratings indicated they found DBR-SIS to be acceptable and
      usable. Implications for practice, study limitations, and areas of future
      research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604024
TI  - Variance composition, measurement invariance by gender, and construct validity of
      the Femininity Ideology Scale-Short Form.
AB  - The current study extended prior work on the Femininity Ideology Scale (FIS), a
      multidimensional measure of traditional femininity ideology (TFI), in several
      ways. First, we conducted exploratory factor and bifactor analyses, which
      revealed a general TFI factor and 3 specific factors: dependence/deference,
      purity, and emotionality/traditional roles. Second, based on these results we
      developed the 12-item FIS-Short Form (FIS-SF). Third, we assessed the FIS-SF
      using confirmatory factor analysis on a separate sample, finding that the items
      loaded on the general factor and 3 specific factors as hypothesized, and that the
      bifactor model fit better than common factors and unidimensional models. Fourth,
      model-based reliability estimates tentatively support the use of raw scores to
      represent the general TFI factor and the emotionality/traditional roles specific
      factor, but the other 2 specific factors are best measured using SEM or by
      ipsatizing their scores. Fifth, we assessed measurement invariance across 2
      gender groups, finding evidence for configural invariance for all factors, and
      for partial metric invariance for the specific factors. Sixth, we found evidence
      for the convergent construct validity of the FIS-SF general factor and the
      emotionality/traditional roles specific factors by examining relationships with
      the latent variables of several constructs in the nomological network. The
      results are discussed in relationship to prior literature, future research
      directions, applications to counseling practice, and limitations. Data (N =
      1,472, 907 women, 565 men, 530 people of color) were from community and college
      participants who responded to an online survey. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604025
TI  - Romantic relationship development: The interplay between age and relationship
      length.
AB  - The present study explored how romantic relationship qualities develop with age
      and relationship length. Eight waves of data on romantic relationships were
      collected over 10.5 years during adolescence and early adulthood from a community
      based sample in a Western U.S. city (100 males, 100 females; M age Wave 1 =
      15.83). Measures of support, negative interactions, control, and jealousy were
      derived from interviews and questionnaire measures. Using multilevel modeling,
      main effects of age were found for jealousy, and main effects of relationship
      length were found for each quality. However, main effects were qualified by
      significant age by length interactions for each and every relationship quality.
      Short relationships increased in support with age. In comparison, long-term
      adolescent relationships were notable in that they were both supportive and
      turbulent, with elevated levels of support, negative interactions, control, and
      jealousy. With age, long-term relationships continued to have high levels of
      support, but decreased in negative interactions, control, and jealousy. Present
      findings highlight how the interplay between age and relationship length is key
      for understanding the development of romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28604026
TI  - The impact of resource valence on children's other-regarding preferences.
AB  - Given its importance for the emergence of intergroup conflict, the development of
      other-regarding preferences toward in-group and out-group members has received
      increasing attention from various disciplines. The present study investigates
      children's other-regarding preferences toward in-group and out-group members when
      allocating resources with positive and negative valence. The 6- and 8-year-olds'
      (N = 92) task was to allocate resources to themselves versus to an in-group or an
      out-group member. They demonstrated prosociality more frequently toward in-group
      than toward out-group recipients and more frequently when positive rather than
      negative resources were involved. Whereas the importance of the recipient's group
      membership increased with participants' age, the importance of resource valence
      decreased. Furthermore, older children, but not younger ones, were more prosocial
      toward in-group than out-group members in the allocation of negative resources.
      These findings help to understand the psychological determinants and the
      ontogenetic origins of other-regarding preferences toward in-group versus out
      group members and, hence, individual engagement in intergroup conflict. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28604027
TI  - Load theory behind the wheel; perceptual and cognitive load effects.
AB  - Perceptual Load Theory has been proposed as a resolution to the longstanding
      early versus late selection debate in cognitive psychology. There is much
      evidence in support of Load Theory but very few applied studies, despite the
      potential for the model to shed light on everyday attention and distraction.
      Using a driving simulator, the effect of perceptual and cognitive load on
      drivers' visual search was assessed. The findings were largely in line with Load
      Theory, with reduced distractor processing under high perceptual load, but
      increased distractor processing under high cognitive load. The effect of load on
      driving behaviour was also analysed, with significant differences in driving
      behaviour under perceptual and cognitive load. In addition, the effect of
      perceptual load on drivers' levels of awareness was investigated. High perceptual
      load significantly increased inattentional blindness and deafness, for stimuli
      that were both relevant and irrelevant to driving. High perceptual load also
      increased RTs to hazards. The current study helps to advance Load Theory by
      illustrating its usefulness outside of traditional paradigms. There are also
      applied implications for driver safety and roadway design, as the current study
      suggests that perceptual and cognitive load are important factors in driver
      attention. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604028
TI  - Re-reading after mind wandering.
AB  - Though much research has been conducted on the causes and processes underlying
      mind wandering, relatively little has addressed what happens after an episode of
      mind wandering. We explore this issue in the context of reading. Specifically, by
      examining re-reading behaviours following mind wandering episodes. Results from 2
      studies reveal that after mind wandering, participants re-read nearly half the
      time. This re-reading occurs whether mind wandering is self-caught or probe
      caught, and it typically involves retracing a line or 2 of text. Based on
      subjective reports, it appears that individuals re-read when they feel that
      clarification of the text is needed, suggesting that a key concept of the text is
      missed during a mind wandering episode. Future work aimed at understanding how
      individuals refocus their attention following mind wandering in different
      settings should provide additional insights into the fluctuation of attentional
      focus and the immediate impact of a mind wandering episode. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28604029
TI  - Staring reality in the face: A comparison of social attention across laboratory
      and real world measures suggests little common ground.
AB  - The ability to attend to someone else's gaze is thought to represent one of the
      essential building blocks of the human sociocognitive system. This behavior,
      termed social attention, has traditionally been assessed using laboratory
      procedures in which participants' response time and/or accuracy performance
      indexes attentional function. Recently, a parallel body of emerging research has
      started to examine social attention during real life social interactions using
      naturalistic and observational methodologies. The main goal of the present work
      was to begin connecting these two lines of inquiry. To do so, here we
      operationalized, indexed, and measured the engagement and shifting components of
      social attention using covert and overt measures. These measures were obtained
      during an unconstrained real-world social interaction and during a typical
      laboratory social cuing task. Our results indicated reliable and overall similar
      indices of social attention engagement and shifting within each task. However,
      these measures did not relate across the two tasks. We discuss these results as
      potentially reflecting the differences in social attention mechanisms, the
      specificity of the cuing task's measurement, as well as possible general
      dissimilarities with respect to context, task goals, and/or social presence.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604030
TI  - Chatting in the face of the eyewitness: The impact of extraneous cell-phone
      conversation on memory for a perpetrator.
AB  - Cell-phone conversation is ubiquitous within public spaces. The current study
      investigates whether ignored cell-phone conversation impairs eyewitness memory
      for a perpetrator. Participants viewed a video of a staged crime in the presence
      of 1 side of a comprehensible cell-phone conversation (meaningful halfalogue), 2
      sides of a comprehensible cell-phone conversation (meaningful dialogue), 1 side
      of an incomprehensible cell-phone conversation (meaningless halfalogue), or
      quiet. Between 24 and 28 hr later, participants freely described the
      perpetrator's face, constructed a single composite image of the perpetrator from
      memory, and attempted to identify the perpetrator from a sequential lineup.
      Further, participants rated the likeness of the composites to the perpetrator.
      Face recall and lineup identification were impaired when participants witnessed
      the staged crime in the presence of a meaningful halfalogue compared to a
      meaningless halfalogue, meaningful dialogue, or quiet. Moreover, likeness ratings
      showed that the composites constructed after ignoring the meaningful halfalogue
      resembled the perpetrator less than did those constructed after experiencing
      quiet or ignoring a meaningless halfalogue or a meaningful dialogue. The
      unpredictability of the meaningful content of the halfalogue, rather than its
      acoustic unexpectedness, produces distraction. The results are novel in that they
      suggest that an everyday distraction, even when presented in a different modality
      to target information, can impair the long-term memory of an eyewitness.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604031
TI  - Spontaneous gaze selection and following during naturalistic social interactions
      in school-aged children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Using a novel naturalistic paradigm allowing participants the freedom to
      spontaneously select and follow gaze cues in their environment, this study
      extends previous research conducted with younger children to determine whether
      school-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 17) demonstrate
      abnormal gaze following relative to typically developing (TD, n = 15) children.
      The participant and experimenter played a series of games, during which the
      experimenter pseudorandomly averted her gaze toward a social target (person) or a
      nonsocial target (object). A significant finding was that, relative to TD
      children, children with ASD were slower to follow the experimenter's gaze
      relative to the start of the trial (social targets d = -.93 [-1.70, -.16],
      nonsocial targets d = -1.05 [-1.88, -.20]). When we analyzed the duration of
      glances to the experimenter, we found that the ASD group made longer glances
      relative to TD children, but only in the nonsocial target condition (social
      targets d = .01 [-.68, .71], nonsocial targets d = -.81 [-1.53, -.08]). Other
      analyses revealed patterns of gaze selection and following that may help
      interpret the main findings. Despite the differences in the timing of gaze
      selection and following, the most common type of responder in both groups was one
      who followed the experimenter's gaze on over half of the trials. This pattern of
      results argues against a clear deficit in social attention in school-age children
      with ASD and underscores the importance of measuring both the timing of distinct
      mechanisms of social attention and the context in which these behaviors occur.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604032
TI  - Gaze behavior to faces during dyadic interaction.
AB  - A long-standing hypothesis is that humans have a bias for fixating the eye region
      in the faces of others. Most studies have tested this hypothesis with static
      images or videos of faces, yet recent studies suggest that the use of such
      "nonresponsive" stimuli might overlook an influence of social context. The
      present study addressed whether the bias for fixating the eye region in faces
      would persist in a situation that allowed for social interaction. In Experiment
      1, we demonstrate a setup in which a duo could engage in social interaction while
      their eye movements were recorded. Here, we show that there is a bias for
      fixating the eye region of a partner that is physically present. Moreover, we
      report that the time 1 partner in a duo spends looking at the eyes is a good
      predictor of how long the other partner looks at the eyes. In Experiment 2, we
      investigate whether participants attune to the level of eye contact instigated by
      a partner by having a confederate pose as one of the partners. The confederate
      was subsequently instructed to either fixate the eyes of the observer or scan the
      entire face. Gaze behaviour of the confederate did not affect gaze behaviour of
      the observers. We conclude that there is a bias to fixate the eyes when partners
      can engage in social interaction. In addition, the amount of time spent looking
      at the eyes is duo-dependent, but not easily manipulated by instructing the gaze
      behaviour of 1 partner. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604033
TI  - How different cultures look at faces depends on the interpersonal context.
AB  - Culture can influence how we see and experience the world, and recent research
      shows that it even determines how we look at each other. Yet, most of these
      laboratory studies use images of faces that are deprived of any social context.
      In the real world, we not only look at people's faces to perceive who they are,
      but also to signal information back to them. It is unknown, therefore, within
      which interpersonal contexts cultural differences in looking at faces emerge. In
      the current study, we manipulated one aspect of the interpersonal context of
      faces: whether the target face either established mutual gaze looking directly
      into the camera as if talking to the viewer or averted gaze slightly to the side
      as if talking to another person. East Asian and Western participants viewed
      target face videos while their eye movements were recorded. If cultural
      differences are exclusively related to encoding information from others,
      interpersonal context should not matter. However, if cultural differences are
      also the result of culturally specific expectations about how to appropriately
      interact with another person, then cultural differences should be modulated by
      whether the speaker seemingly addresses the viewer or another person. In support
      of the second hypothesis, we only find cultural differences in looking at faces
      in the mutual gaze condition. We speculate that cultural norms surrounding the
      use of gaze as a social signal may underlie previous findings of cultural
      differences in face perception. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604034
TI  - Emotions and concerns: Situational evidence for their systematic co-occurrence.
AB  - People experience emotions when events are relevant to their current concerns,
      that is, when events affect their goals, values, or motives that are pertinent at
      that time. In the current research, we focused on one kind of concern-values-and
      examined whether different types of concerns are associated with different
      categories of emotion. More specifically, we investigated whether, at the
      situation level, the relevance of different types of values is linked to the
      intensity of different types of emotional experience. We conducted two
      retrospective survey studies (Studies 1 and 2)-one of which was cross-cultural
      and one experience-sampling study (Study three). Together, the three studies
      provide convergent evidence for associations between the situational relevance of
      self-focused values (e.g., ambition, success) and socially disengaging emotions
      (e.g., pride, anger) on the one hand, and between the relevance of other-focused
      values (e.g., loyalty, helping) and socially engaging emotions (e.g., closeness,
      shame) on the other. These findings challenge the (often implicit) assumption of
      emotion theories that different types of concerns are interchangeable-that is,
      that it does not matter for emotion which concern is relevant as long as one is.
      In contrast, the current research proposes that different concerns are
      constitutive elements of different emotional experiences and thus encourages new
      ways of thinking about emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604036
TI  - Side by side: Modeling dyadic physiological linkage in strangers.
AB  - Physiological linkage (PL) refers to coordinated physiological responses among
      interacting partners (Feldman, 2012a), thought to offer mammals evolutionary
      advantages by promoting survival through social groups. Although PL has been
      observed in dyads who are familiar or have close relationships (e.g., parent
      infant interactions, romantic couples), less is known with regard to PL in
      stranger dyads. The current study used dynamic linear time series modeling to
      assess cardiac interbeat interval linkage in 26 same-gender stranger dyads (17
      female and 9 male dyads; 18-22 years old) while they spoke or wrote about
      emotional or neutral life events. The estimated coefficients in bivariate
      regression models indicated small but statistically significant PL effects for
      both male and female dyads. The PL effect was stronger for female dyads,
      extending to a lag of 4 seconds. For male dyads, the effect was statistically
      significant but weaker than for female dyads, extending only to a lag of 1
      second. No statistically significant differences in PL were noted for type of
      task (i.e., baseline, writing, speaking, listening) or with differing task
      emotional content. Frequency domain analysis based on the estimated dynamic
      models yielded similar results. Our results suggest that PL can be detected among
      strangers in this setting and appears to be stronger and longer-lasting in women.
      Our findings are discussed in terms of the importance of biological synchrony in
      humans, gender differences, and possible implications for objective measurement
      of social reciprocity at a physiological level. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604035
TI  - Contrasting reactive and proactive control of emotional distraction.
AB  - Attending to emotional stimuli is often beneficial, because they provide
      important social and environmental cues. Sometimes, however, current goals
      require that we ignore them. To what extent can we control emotional distraction?
      Here we show that the ability to ignore emotional distractions depends on the
      type of cognitive control that is engaged. Participants completed a simple
      perceptual task at fixation while irrelevant images appeared peripherally. In 2
      experiments, we manipulated the proportion of trials in which images appeared, to
      encourage use of either reactive control (rare distractors) or proactive control
      (frequent distractors). Under reactive control, both negative and positive images
      were more distracting than neutral images, even though they were irrelevant and
      appeared in unattended locations. However, under proactive control, distraction
      by both emotional and neutral images was eliminated. Proactive control was
      triggered by the meaning, and not the location, of distracting images. Our
      findings argue against simple bottom-up or top-down explanations of emotional
      distraction, and instead show how the flexible use of cognitive control supports
      adaptive processing of emotional distractors. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604037
TI  - Attentional bias and its association with anxious mood dynamics.
AB  - Attentional bias toward threatening stimuli is recognized as 1 of the most
      important cognitive vulnerability factors for anxiety. However, the association
      between anxious attention and negative moods has not been fully elucidated,
      particularly in terms of the effect of such bias on mood fluctuations in daily
      life. We examined the associations between attentional bias and emotional
      dynamics under a daily life setting. Participants (46 university students)
      completed the dot-probe task in the laboratory, after which they entered a 6-day
      experience sampling measurement to assess temporal fluctuations of momentary
      levels of anxious mood and occurrence of stressful events. The results showed
      that attentional bias was significantly correlated with increased temporal
      instability of anxious mood. Furthermore, attentional bias was also associated
      with enhanced emotional reactivity immediately after occurrence of the stressful
      event, but not with either the sensitivity to detect stressors or to the recovery
      process aimed at calming the stress-induced anxious mood on a longer time scale.
      These findings suggest that attentional bias is associated with the acute impact
      of a stressor on moods, as evidenced by the increased temporal instability and
      stress-reactivity of anxious mood. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604038
TI  - It's the motive that counts: Perceived sacrifice motives and gratitude in
      romantic relationships.
AB  - Gratitude is robustly linked to many positive outcomes for individuals and
      relationships (e.g., greater life and relationship satisfaction). However, little
      is known about how romantic partners come to feel grateful for each other's pro
      relational acts, such as when a partner makes a sacrifice. The present research
      examines how perceptions of partner sacrifice motives evoke gratitude. We
      distinguish between partner, relationship, and self-focused motives, and how they
      are guided by approach or avoidance orientations. We expected that perceiving a
      partner to sacrifice for partner-focused approach motives (i.e., to promote the
      partner's well-being) should evoke gratitude, as this type of motive may signal a
      genuine departure from self-interest. Moreover, we expected these motives to
      provoke greater perceptions of partner responsiveness, which should partially
      explain why they elicit gratitude. In contrast, perceiving a partner to sacrifice
      for relationship-focused motives (e.g., to promote the well-being of the
      relationship), or self-focused motives (e.g., to feel good about oneself), should
      not evoke gratitude-irrespective of an approach or avoidance orientation-as these
      motives may, to some extent, be perceived as tainted by self-interest. Two
      studies of romantic couples (N = 413), using diary methods (Studies 1 and 2) and
      having couples converse about a major sacrifice in the laboratory (Study 2),
      consistently showed that perceived partner-focused approach motives promote
      gratitude and that this association is partly mediated by perceived partner
      responsiveness. In contrast, relationship and self-focused motives (approach and
      avoidance oriented) were not associated with gratitude. Implications regarding
      perceiving and displaying sacrifice motives are discussed. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28604039
TI  - Universals and cultural variations in 22 emotional expressions across five
      cultures.
AB  - We collected and Facial Action Coding System (FACS) coded over 2,600 free
      response facial and body displays of 22 emotions in China, India, Japan, Korea,
      and the United States to test 5 hypotheses concerning universals and cultural
      variants in emotional expression. New techniques enabled us to identify cross
      cultural core patterns of expressive behaviors for each of the 22 emotions. We
      also documented systematic cultural variations of expressive behaviors within
      each culture that were shaped by the cultural resemblance in values, and
      identified a gradient of universality for the 22 emotions. Our discussion focused
      on the science of new expressions and how the evidence from this investigation
      identifies the extent to which emotional displays vary across cultures. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28604040
TI  - Emotion words: Adding face value.
AB  - Despite a growing number of studies suggesting that emotion words affect
      perceptual judgments of emotional stimuli, little is known about how emotion
      words affect perceptual memory for emotional faces. In Experiments 1 and 2 we
      tested how emotion words (compared with control words) affected participants'
      abilities to select a target emotional face from among distractor faces.
      Participants were generally more likely to false alarm to distractor emotional
      faces when primed with an emotion word congruent with the face (compared with a
      control word). Moreover, participants showed both decreased sensitivity (d') to
      discriminate between target and distractor faces, as well as altered response
      biases (c; more likely to answer "yes") when primed with an emotion word
      (compared with a control word). In Experiment 3 we showed that emotion words had
      more of an effect on perceptual memory judgments when the structural information
      in the target face was limited, as well as when participants were only able to
      categorize the face with a partially congruent emotion word. The overall results
      are consistent with the idea that emotion words affect the encoding of emotional
      faces in perceptual memory. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604041
TI  - Sexuality leads to boosts in mood and meaning in life with no evidence for the
      reverse direction: A daily diary investigation.
AB  - Sex is rarely discussed in theories of well-being and rarely empirically examined
      using methods other than cross-sectional surveys. In the present study, a daily
      diary approach was used (for 21 days with 152 adults) to explore the relationship
      between the presence and quality of sexual episodes and well-being (positive
      affect, negative affect, meaning in life). Time-lagged analyses demonstrated that
      sexual activity on 1 day was related to greater well-being the next. As for the
      quality of episodes, higher reported sexual pleasure and intimacy predicted
      greater positive affect and lower negative affect the following day. When the
      reverse direction was tested, well-being did not predict next-day sexual
      activity, pleasure, or intimacy. These results suggest a unidirectional
      relationship in which the presence and quality of sexual activity lead to gains
      in well-being the following day. Contextual moderators (gender, relationship
      status, relationship closeness, and relationship length) allowed for tests of
      conditions altering the link between sexuality and well-being. Relationship
      closeness was the most robust moderator in predicting greater levels of meaning
      in life and positive affect following sexual episodes. These data provide
      evidence to support the continual consideration of sex in empirical work and
      theoretical models of elements that comprise healthy relationships and a good
      life. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604042
TI  - Caution follows fear: Evidence from hierarchical drift diffusion modelling.
AB  - Fearful expressions are thought to warn of potential threat (Davis et al., 2011;
      Whalen, 1998) and therefore, 1 response to seeing fear might be to react
      cautiously. Although previous studies have tested for an effect of seeing fear on
      visual perception, they have not tested for increased decision making caution.
      Here, I applied hierarchical drift diffusion modeling (Vandekerckhove,
      Tuerlinckx, & Lee, 2011; Wiecki, Sofer, & Frank, 2013) to the results of 4
      experiments designed to test the idea that seeing facial expressions both impairs
      visual perception (Bocanegra & Zeelenberg, 2009) and leads to changes in decision
      making caution. Standard statistical analyses showed that reaction times (RTs)
      were slower following fearful compared with neutral expressions. Diffusion
      modeling showed that the data were best described by increased caution and not
      impaired perception. Further experiments showed that: (a) happy expressions did
      not lead to increased caution (Experiment 3); and (b) people were less cautious
      after seeing sad compared with neutral expressions (Experiment 4). Overall, the
      results point to a new direction for research in this area-testing for
      differences in decision making caution following facial expressions and other
      emotion cues. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604043
TI  - In your shoes or mine? Shifting from other to self perspective is vital for
      emotional empathy.
AB  - Emotional empathy-feeling another person's affective states-entails simulating
      how one would feel in the same circumstance. Prior research has implicated the
      role of executive controls and shown a link between visuospatial perspective
      taking and personal disposition of empathy. No study has investigated how
      executive control processes involved in perspective shifting relate to emotional
      empathy. Incorporating a spatial perspective-taking task in a set switch
      paradigm, we investigated whether swiftly switching from the altercentric to the
      egocentric perspective is associated with heightened emotional empathy but not
      with accurate classification of low-level perceptual affective cues. Emotional
      empathy was measured by subjective ratings of arousal and the similarity of
      affective states with the target person when viewing photos of a person in an
      emotionally charged context. Cognitive empathy was measured by correct
      recognition of affective cues. Our results showed that executive controls in
      perspective shifting related to emotional empathy but not to cognitive empathy.
      Emotional empathy correlated negatively with the switch cost from the
      altercentric to the egocentric perspective and not vice versa. Faster switching
      from the altercentric to the egocentric perspective was associated with
      heightened emotional empathy. Moreover, the processing strategy did not moderate
      the association. Flexibility in perspective shifting, especially in regaining
      one's own perspective after taking another person's perspective, is critical for
      emotional empathy. To feel another person's affective states, one should regain
      self-perspective after walking in the other person's shoes. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 28604046
TI  - Everyday attention.
AB  - Understanding the basic mechanisms underlying attentional function using
      naturalistic stimuli, tasks, and/or settings is the focus of everyday attention
      research. Interest in everyday approaches to attention research has increased
      recently-arguably riding a more general wave of support for such considerations
      in experimental psychology. This special issue of the Canadian Journal of
      Experimental Psychology attempts to capture the emerging enthusiasm for studying
      everyday attention by bringing together work from a wide array of attentional
      domains (e.g., visual attention, dual tasking, search, mind wandering, social
      attention) that are representative of this general approach. The 14 contributions
      to the special issue highlight the breadth of topics addressed in this research,
      the methodological creativity required to carry it out, and the promise of
      everyday attention for understanding the basic mechanisms underlying attentional
      function. This introduction will summarise the everyday attention approach as
      represented in the contributions to the special issue. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604045
TI  - The effects of next-day class characteristics on alcohol demand in college
      students.
AB  - Behavioral economic principles have been useful for addressing strategies to
      reduce alcohol consumption among college students. For example, academic
      variables (such as class schedule or academic rigor) have been found to affect
      alcohol demand assessed with a hypothetical alcohol purchase task (APT). The
      present studies used the APT to address the effects of 2 academic variables: next
      day course level (no class, introductory level or upper level) and class size (no
      class, 30-student or 12-student). In each of 2 experiments, undergraduate
      participants read a description of a drinking context (either a no-class control
      version or 1 of the academic constraint conditions) and were asked to indicate
      how many drinks they would purchase at a variety of prices. Hursh and
      Silberberg's (2008) exponential demand equation was used to determine intensity
      and elasticity of demand, and Hursh and Roma's (2015) essential value (EV)
      parameter was calculated to assess essential value. In both experiments, a next
      day class reduced alcohol demand, and alcohol consumption decreased as drink
      price increased. The presence of a smaller next-day class reduced alcohol demand
      compared with a larger next-day class; however, course level did not
      differentially affect alcohol demand. These results suggest that smaller next-day
      classes may reduce alcohol demand among college students and also provide initial
      evidence for the reliability of EV across studies. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604044
TI  - Dispositional negativity in the wild: Social environment governs momentary
      emotional experience.
AB  - Dispositional negativity-the tendency to experience more frequent or intense
      negative emotions-is a fundamental dimension of temperament and personality.
      Elevated levels of dispositional negativity have profound consequences for public
      health and wealth, drawing the attention of researchers, clinicians, and
      policymakers. Yet, relatively little is known about the factors that govern the
      momentary expression of dispositional negativity in the real world. Here, we used
      smart phone-based experience-sampling to demonstrate that the social environment
      plays a central role in shaping the moment-by-moment emotional experience of 127
      young adults selectively recruited to represent a broad spectrum of dispositional
      negativity. Results indicate that individuals with a more negative disposition
      derive much larger emotional benefits from the company of close companions
      friends, romantic partners, and family members-and that these benefits reflect
      heightened feelings of social connection and acceptance. These results set the
      stage for developing improved interventions and provide new insights into the
      interaction of emotional traits and situations in the real world, close to
      clinically and practically important end-points. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604047
TI  - The smartphone and the driver's cognitive workload: A comparison of Apple,
      Google, and Microsoft's intelligent personal assistants.
AB  - The goal of this research was to examine the impact of voice-based interactions
      using 3 different intelligent personal assistants (Apple's Siri, Google's Google
      Now for Android phones, and Microsoft's Cortana) on the cognitive workload of the
      driver. In 2 experiments using an instrumented vehicle on suburban roadways, we
      measured the cognitive workload of drivers when they used the voice-based
      features of each smartphone to place a call, select music, or send text messages.
      Cognitive workload was derived from primary task performance through video
      analysis, secondary-task performance using the Detection Response Task (DRT), and
      subjective mental workload. We found that workload was significantly higher than
      that measured in the single-task drive. There were also systematic differences
      between the smartphones: The Google system placed lower cognitive demands on the
      driver than the Apple and Microsoft systems, which did not differ. Video analysis
      revealed that the difference in mental workload between the smartphones was
      associated with the number of system errors, the time to complete an action, and
      the complexity and intuitiveness of the devices. Finally, surprisingly high
      levels of cognitive workload were observed when drivers were interacting with the
      devices: "on-task" workload measures did not systematically differ from that
      associated with a mentally demanding Operation Span (OSPAN) task. The analysis
      also found residual costs associated using each of the smartphones that took a
      significant time to dissipate. The data suggest that caution is warranted in the
      use of smartphone voice-based technology in the vehicle because of the high
      levels of cognitive workload associated with these interactions. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 28604048
TI  - Talking is harder than listening: The time course of dual-task costs during
      naturalistic conversation.
AB  - Many studies have shown that the cognitive demands of language use are a
      substantial cause of central dual-task costs, including costs on concurrent
      driving performance. More recently, several studies have considered whether
      language production or comprehension is inherently more difficult with respect to
      costs on concurrent performance, with mixed results. This assessment is
      particularly difficult given the open question of how one should best equate and
      compare production and comprehension demands and performance. The present study
      used 2 very different approaches to address this question. Experiment 1 assessed
      manual tracking performance concurrently with a conventional labouratory task,
      comparing dual-task costs with comprehension and verification versus production
      of category items. Experiment 2 adopted an extreme ecological and functional
      approach to this question by assessing dual-task manual tracking costs concurrent
      with continuous, naturalistic, 2-way conversation, allowing event-related
      analysis of continuous tracking relative to onsets and offsets of natural
      production and comprehension events. Over both experiments, tracking performance
      was worse with concurrent production versus comprehension demands. We suggest
      that by at least 1 important functional metric-performance in natural, everyday
      conversation-talking is indeed harder than listening. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604049
TI  - Wandering minds and wavering goals: Examining the relation between mind wandering
      and grit in everyday life and the classroom.
AB  - Here we examined the relation between mind wandering and the personality trait of
      'grit.' Our hypothesis was that because mind wandering leads to a disruption of
      momentary goal completion, the tendency to mind wander might be inversely related
      to the completion of long-term goals that require sustained interest and effort
      (i.e., grittiness). In Study 1 we used online questionnaires and found that in
      everyday life, the propensity to mind wander was negatively correlated with
      individuals' self-reported grittiness. Interestingly, the relation between mind
      wandering and grit was strongest for unintentional bouts of mind wandering (as
      compared with intentional mind wandering). We extended these findings in Study 2
      by (a) using a more heterogeneous sample of participants, (b) including a measure
      of conscientiousness, and (c) including another measure of general perseverance.
      In addition to replicating our findings from Study 1, in Study 2 we found that
      the grit measure uniquely predicted spontaneous mind wandering over and above a
      measure of conscientiousness and an alternative measure of general perseverance.
      Lastly, in Study 3 we extend the relation between mind wandering and grit to the
      classroom, finding that mind wandering during university lectures was also
      related to self-reported grittiness. Taken together, we suggest that the
      propensity to experience brief lapses of attention is associated with the
      propensity to stick-with and complete long-term goals. We also provide evidence
      that when predicting mind wandering and inattention, measures of grit are not
      redundant with existing measure of conscientiousness and general perseverance.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604050
TI  - Coordinating vision and action in natural behaviour: Differences in
      spatiotemporal coupling in everyday tasks.
AB  - Vision and action are tightly coupled in space and time: for many tasks we must
      look at the right place at the right time to gather the information that we need
      to complete our behavioural goals. Vision typically leads action by about 0.5
      seconds in many natural tasks. However, the factors that influence this temporal
      coordination are not well understood, and variations have been found previously
      between two domestic tasks each with similar constraints: tea making and sandwich
      making. This study offers a systematic exploration of the factors that govern
      spatiotemporal coordination of vision and action within complex real-world
      activities. We found that the temporal coordination eye movements and action
      differed between tea making and sandwich making. Longer eye-hand latencies, more
      "look ahead" fixations and more looks to irrelevant objects were found when
      making tea than when making a sandwich. Contrary to previous suggestions, we
      found that the requirement to move around the environment did not influence the
      coordination of vision and action. We conclude that the dynamics of visual
      behaviour during motor acts are sensitive to the task and specific objects and
      actions required but not to the spatial demands requiring movement around an
      environment. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604051
TI  - Safe or out: Does the location of attention affect judgments at first base in
      baseball?
AB  - Titchener's law of prior entry states that attended stimuli are perceived before
      unattended stimuli. Prior entry effects measured with visual stimuli have been
      generated with both endogenous and exogenous attentional deployment (e.g., by
      Shore, Spence, & Klein, 2001). In theory, the endogenous form of prior entry may
      have implications for baseball umpire judgments. Conventionally, umpires are
      instructed to first attend to the ball when it is hit into play; however, where
      they attend at the imperative instant of the play at first base can vary between
      individuals and across scenarios. If the law of prior entry holds in the baseball
      context, umpires may be biased to make judgments in favour of the imperative
      event nearest the locus of attention. We tested this hypothesis by having non
      umpires make "Safe" or "Out" judgments in response to first base baseball plays
      wherein the relative arrival times of the runner and baseball were varied. A
      novel colour wheel method was implemented in an orthogonal task to bias attention
      endogenously and to measure the effectiveness of this manipulation. Attention was
      confirmed to be successfully biased to the glove or base by way of improved
      identification at the likely probe location. However, there was no evidence that
      prior entry was affecting Safe or Out judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604052
TI  - Lifespan changes in attention revisited: Everyday visual search.
AB  - This study compared visual search under everyday conditions among participants
      across the life span (healthy participants in 4 groups, with average age of 6
      years, 8 years, 22 years, and 75 years, and 1 group averaging 73 years with a
      history of falling). The task involved opening a door and stepping into a room
      find 1 of 4 everyday objects (apple, golf ball, coffee can, toy penguin) visible
      on shelves. The background for this study included 2 well-cited laboratory
      studies that pointed to different cognitive mechanisms underlying each end of the
      U-shaped pattern of visual search over the life span (Hommel et al., 2004; Trick
      & Enns, 1998). The results recapitulated some of the main findings of the
      laboratory study (e.g., a U-shaped function, dissociable factors for maturation
      and aging), but there were several unique findings. These included large
      differences in the baseline salience of common objects at different ages, visual
      eccentricity effects that were unique to aging, and visual field effects that
      interacted strongly with age. These findings highlight the importance of studying
      cognitive processes in more natural settings, where factors such as personal
      relevance, life history, and bodily contributions to cognition (e.g., limb, head,
      and body movements) are more readily revealed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604053
TI  - Are fixations in static natural scenes a useful predictor of attention in the
      real world?
AB  - Research investigating scene perception normally involves laboratory experiments
      using static images. Much has been learned about how observers look at pictures
      of the real world and the attentional mechanisms underlying this behaviour.
      However, the use of static, isolated pictures as a proxy for studying everyday
      attention in real environments has led to the criticism that such experiments are
      artificial. We report a new study that tests the extent to which the real world
      can be reduced to simpler laboratory stimuli. We recorded the gaze of
      participants walking on a university campus with a mobile eye tracker, and then
      showed static frames from this walk to new participants, in either a random or
      sequential order. The aim was to compare the gaze of participants walking in the
      real environment with fixations on pictures of the same scene. The data show that
      picture order affects interobserver fixation consistency and changes looking
      patterns. Critically, while fixations on the static images overlapped
      significantly with the actual real-world eye movements, they did so no more than
      a model that assumed a general bias to the centre. Remarkably, a model that
      simply takes into account where the eyes are normally positioned in the head
      independent of what is actually in the scene-does far better than any other
      model. These data reveal that viewing patterns to static scenes are a relatively
      poor proxy for predicting real world eye movement behaviour, while raising
      intriguing possibilities for how to best measure attention in everyday life.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 28604054
TI  - Preventive Interventions for the Second Half of Life: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent improvements in life expectancy globally require intensified
      focus on noncommunicable diseases and age-related conditions. The purpose of this
      article is to inform the development of age-specific prevention guidelines for
      adults aged 50 and above, which are currently lacking. DATA SOURCE: PubMed,
      Cochrane database, and Google Scholar and explicit outreach to experts in the
      field. STUDY INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Meta-analyses, intervention-based,
      and prospective cohort studies that reported all-cause mortality, disease
      specific mortality, or morbidity in adults were included. DATA EXTRACTION: A
      systematic review was undertaken in 2015 using search terms of a combination of
      <risk factor> and "intervention," "mortality," "reduction," "improvement,"
      "death," and "morbidity." DATA SYNTHESIS: Interventions were categorized
      according to the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine Level of Evidence framework.
      RESULTS: A summary table reports for each intervention the impact, strength of
      evidence, initiation, duration, and details of the intervention. Age-decade
      specific preventive recommendations have been proposed relating to physical
      activity, diet, tobacco and alcohol use, medication adherence, screening and
      vaccination, and mental and cognitive health. CONCLUSION: Clear recommendations
      have been made according to the existing evidence base, but further research
      investment is needed to fill the many gaps. Further, personalized approaches to
      healthy aging complemented by population-wide approaches and broader cross-sector
      partnerships will help to ensure greater longevity is an opportunity, rather than
      a burden, for society.

PMID- 28604055
TI  - Deciphering the Mechanism of Action of Wrightia tinctoria for Psoriasis Based on
      Systems Pharmacology Approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disorder of the skin. The
      disease manifests itself with red or silvery scaly plaques distributing over the
      lower back, scalp, and extensor aspects of limbs. Several medications are
      available for the treatment of psoriasis; however, high rates of remission and
      side-effects still persist as a major concern. Siddha, one of the traditional
      systems of Indian medicine offers cure to many dermatological conditions,
      including psoriasis. The oil prepared from the leaves of Wrightia tinctoria is
      prescribed by many healers for the treatment of psoriasis. This work aims to
      decipher the mechanism of action of the W. tinctoria in curing psoriasis and its
      associated comorbidities. DESIGN: The work integrates various pharmacology
      approaches such as drug-likeness evaluation, oral bioavailability predictions,
      and network pharmacology approaches to understand the roles of various bioactive
      components of the herb. RESULTS: This work identified 67 compounds of W.
      tinctoria interacting with 238 protein targets. The compounds were found to act
      through synergistic mechanism in reviving the disrupted process in the diseased
      state. CONCLUSION: The results of this work not only shed light on the
      pharmacological action of the herb but also validate the usage of safe herbal
      drugs.

PMID- 28604056
TI  - Literature Search and Review.

PMID- 28604058
TI  - Incongruence of subjective memory impairment ratings and the experience of memory
      problems in older adults without dementia: a mixed methods study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to describe the experiences of older
      adults living with subjective memory impairment (SMI) and examine the extent to
      which SMI severity was associated with impact of SMI on daily life. METHOD: A
      mixed methods convergent design was utilized. Participants with SMI (n = 19, mean
      age 80.7 years) were recruited from community settings. Semi-structured
      interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis; these findings were integrated
      with descriptive statistics from questionnaire and cognitive status data.
      RESULTS: The impact of SMI varied depending on the personal meaning individuals
      attributed to the experience. Older adults with normal cognition reported
      episodic memory problem compared to more pervasive problems reported by
      participants with mild cognitive deficits. The impact of memory problems ranged
      from frustration/embarrassment to avoidance of social activities, but the degree
      of emotional impact was not reflected in SMI severity or cognitive status.
      CONCLUSION: SMI is common in older adults without dementia but the impact on
      function and well-being is variable and does not seem to be associated with
      objective cognition. Future research is needed to validate these associations and
      to inform the development of SMI measures that accurately reflect older adults'
      experiences.

PMID- 28604057
TI  - Heterogeneity of D-Serine Distribution in the Human Central Nervous System.
AB  - D-serine is an endogenous ligand for N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors.
      Accumulating evidence including genetic associations of D-serine metabolism with
      neurological or psychiatric diseases suggest that D-serine is crucial in human
      neurophysiology. However, distribution and regulation of D-serine in humans are
      not well understood. Here, we found that D-serine is heterogeneously distributed
      in the human central nervous system (CNS). The cerebrum contains the highest
      level of D-serine among the areas in the CNS. There is heterogeneity in its
      distribution in the cerebrum and even within the cerebral neocortex. The
      neocortical heterogeneity is associated with Brodmann or functional areas but is
      unrelated to basic patterns of cortical layer structure or regional expressional
      variation of metabolic enzymes for D-serine. Such D-serine distribution may
      reflect functional diversity of glutamatergic neurons in the human CNS, which may
      serve as a basis for clinical and pharmacological studies on D-serine modulation.

PMID- 28604059
TI  - Gender effects on components of burden and depression among dementia caregivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous literature has examined burden and depression predominately
      as unitary constructs in relation to dementia caregiving. No studies thus far
      have examined gender differences in the specific components of burden and
      depression in dementia caregivers. The current study examined whether empirically
      validated dimensions of caregiver burden differed by gender for dementia
      caregivers. METHODS: The sample consisted of 211 dementia caregivers enrolled in
      a longitudinal intervention study. Only baseline functioning was evaluated in
      this study. Levels of burden were assessed using the Zarit Burden Interview
      (ZBI), and levels of depression were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic
      Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). RESULTS: Factor analysis revealed three facets
      of burden: impact of caregiving on the caregivers' lives, guilt, and
      frustration/embarrassment, and four facets of depression: depressed affect,
      somatic activity, positive affect, and interpersonal feelings. Overall burden (p
      < .001) and impact of caregiving on the caregivers' life (p < .001) were
      significantly higher in females. Overall levels of depression (p = .018), somatic
      and retarded activity (p = .018), depressed affect (p = .005), and positive
      affect (p = .012) were significantly higher in females. CONCLUSIONS: Findings
      suggest that distressed male and female dementia caregivers experience caregiving
      differently. Results from this study could be used to identify gender-specific
      interventions related to subtypes of burden and depression to optimize quality of
      life for caregivers.

PMID- 28604060
TI  - Current trends and perspectives of bioactive peptides.
AB  - The remarkable growth of therapeutic peptide development in the past decade has
      led to a large number of market approvals and the market value is expected to hit
      $25 billion by 2018. This significant market increase is driven by the increasing
      incidences of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and technological
      advancements in peptide synthesis. For this reason, the search for bioactive
      peptides has also increased exponentially. Many bioactive peptides from food and
      nonfood sources have shown positive health effects yet, obstacles such as the
      need to implement efficient and cost-effective strategies for industrial scale
      production, good manufacturing practices as well as well-designed clinical trials
      to provide robust evidence for supporting health claims continue to exist.
      Several other factors such as the possibility of allergenicity, toxicity and the
      stability of biological functions of the peptides during gastrointestinal
      digestion would need to be addressed.

PMID- 28604061
TI  - Evaluating the effects of bedding materials and elevated platforms on contact
      dermatitis and plumage cleanliness of commercial broilers and on litter condition
      in broiler houses.
AB  - 1. Experiment 1, comparing wood shavings and ground straw bedding with peat, was
      performed on 7 broiler farms over two consecutive batches during the winter
      season. Experiment 2, assessing the effect of elevated (30 cm) platforms, was
      conducted in three farms replicated with 6 consecutive batches. 2. Footpad
      lesions were inspected at slaughter following the Welfare Quality(r) (WQ)
      assessment and official programme. Hock lesions, plumage cleanliness and litter
      condition were assessed using the WQ assessment. Litter height, pH, moisture and
      ammonia were determined. 3. Footpad condition on wood shavings appeared to be
      worse compared with peat using both methods of assessment and was accompanied by
      inferior hock skin health. WQ assessment resulted in poorer footpad and hock skin
      condition on ground straw compared with peat. Farms differed in footpad and hock
      skin condition. Footpad and hock lesions were not affected by platform treatment.
      Peat appeared more friable than ground straw. The initial pH of wood shavings was
      higher and moisture was lower than in peat, but at the end of production period
      there were no differences. Ground straw exhibited higher initial and lower end
      pH, and was drier in the beginning than peat. Litter condition and quality were
      not affected by platform treatment. 4. This study provides new knowledge about
      the applicability of peat as broiler bedding and shows no negative effects of
      elevated platforms on litter condition or the occurrence of contact dermatitis in
      commercial environments. The results suggest a complicated relationship between
      litter condition, moisture and contact dermatitis. Furthermore, it is concluded
      that the farmer's ability to manage litter conditions is important, regardless of
      the chosen litter material. Peat bedding was beneficial for footpad and hock skin
      health compared with wood shavings and ground straw.

PMID- 28604062
TI  - Cartilage Regeneration in Full-Thickness Patellar Chondral Defects Treated with
      Particulated Juvenile Articular Allograft Cartilage: An MRI Analysis.
AB  - Background Full-thickness cartilage lesions of the patella represent a common
      source of pain and dysfunction. Previously reported surgical treatment options
      include marrow stimulation, cell-based treatments, and osteochondral transfer.
      Minced juvenile allograft cartilage is a novel treatment option that allows for a
      single stage approach for these lesions. Hypothesis Particulated juvenile
      allograft cartilage (PJAC) for the treatment of chondral defects of the patella
      would offer acceptable lesion fill rates, mature over time, and not be associated
      with any negative biologic effects on the surrounding tissue. Methods A
      retrospective chart review of prospectively collected data was conducted to
      identify consecutive patients who were treated with PJAC for a full thickness
      symptomatic cartilage lesion. Qualitative (fast spin echo) and quantitative (T2
      mapping) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was undertaken at the 6-, 12-, and 24
      month postoperative mark. Numerous patient, lesion, and graft specific factors
      were assessed against MRI scores and percent defect fill of the graft. Graft
      maturation over time was also assessed. Results Forty-five patients total were
      included in the study. Average age at the time of surgery was 26.5 years (range
      13-45 years), average lesion size was 208 mm2 (range 4-500 mm2), and average
      donor age was 49.5 months (range 3-120 months). Sixty percent of the patients
      were female, while 93% of all patients underwent a concomitant procedure at the
      time of the index operation. Six-month MRI findings revealed that no patient-,
      graft-, or donor-specific factors correlated with MR scores, and 82% of the knees
      demonstrated good to excellent fill. Twelve-month MRI findings revealed that T2
      relaxation times of deep graft demonstrated negative correlation with patient age
      ( P = 0.049) and donor age ( P = 0.006), the integration zone showed a negative
      correlation with donor age ( P = 0.026). In all, 85% of patients at 12 months
      displayed good to moderate fill of the graft. At 24 months, patient age
      demonstrated negative correlation with average T2 relaxation times of the deep
      and superficial graft ( P = 0.005; P = 0.0029) and positive correlation with the
      superficial zone of the adjacent cartilage ( P = 0.001). Donor age showed
      negative correlation with grayscale score ( P = 0.004) and T2 relaxation times at
      deep integration zone ( P = 0.018). T2 relaxation times of deep and superficial
      graft and integration zone improved over time ( P < 0.001) and between each time
      point. Conclusions Particulated juvenile allograft tissue appears to be an
      acceptable reconstructive option for full-thickness cartilage lesions of the
      patella, offering satisfactory tissue defect fill at 6, 12, and 24 months after
      surgery. Imaging of the repaired cartilage demonstrates progressive graft
      maturation over time.

PMID- 28604063
TI  - Vaginal self-sampling as a diagnosis tool in low-income countries and potential
      applications for exploring the infectious causes of miscarriage.
AB  - Gynecological health is a challenge in low-income countries. Personal opposition
      to perineal examination has been overcome by the use of vaginal self-sampling.
      Here, we review the use of this procedure notably in low-income countries and the
      main infectious causes of miscarriage. Vaginal self-sampling was mainly used for
      human papillomavirus detection but also to detect microorganisms causing sexually
      transmitted infections or bacterial vaginosis. 58 studies have been performed in
      low-resource countries, mainly studies performed to detect human papillomavirus
      in urban and peri-urban areas and demonstrating excellent acceptability. Several
      infectious causes of miscarriage could be tested using self-vaginal samples. In
      the future, such strategies coupled with a rapid-identification point-of-care
      method could allow the development of screening and treatment programs in rural
      areas in low-resource countries.

PMID- 28604064
TI  - Bolus Insulin Dose Error Distributions Based on Results From Two Clinical Trials
      Comparing Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2 previous clinical trials, fingertip capillary blood samples were
      evaluated using prespecified blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMSs) and a
      reference YSI glucose analyzer. In post hoc analyses, hypothetical insulin doses
      were calculated using these blood glucose measurements; dosing errors were
      compared for each trial. METHOD: For each blood glucose measurement, premeal
      bolus insulin dosing was determined for a hypothetical person, assuming a 60-g
      carbohydrate meal and 100-mg/dL target blood glucose level (adjusting 1/25
      insulin sensitivity and 1/15 insulin:carbohydrate ratio inputs to account for
      BGMS measurement error). Dosing error was the difference between doses calculated
      using the BGMS and YSI results. RESULTS: In Clinical Trial 1, 95% dose error
      ranges (in units of insulin) were: CONTOUR(r)NEXT EZ BGMS (EZ), -0.9 to 0.5; Accu
      Chek(r) Aviva BGMS (ACA), -0.5 to 1.8; FreeStyle Freedom Lite(r) BGMS (FFL), -3.2
      to -0.3; OneTouch(r) Ultra(r)2 BGMS (OTU2), -4.1 to 0.3; and Truetrack(r) BGMS
      (TT), -3.9 to 2.2. In Clinical Trial 2, these ranges were: CONTOUR(r)NEXT BGMS
      (CN), -0.7 to 1.7; Accu-Chek(r) Aviva Nano BGMS (ACAN), -1.3 to 1.8; FreeStyle
      Lite(r) BGMS (FSL), -5.1 to 0.2; OTU2, -1.9 to 1.2; OneTouch(r) Verio(r) Pro BGMS
      (OTVP), -1.0 to 1.9; and TT, -5.1 to 1.7. Within each trial, EZ and CN had
      statistically significantly smaller insulin dose error ranges than other BGMSs (
      P <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The ranges of insulin dose errors were statistically
      significantly smaller with EZ and CN than with all other BGMSs in this post hoc
      analysis. Differences in BGMS accuracy could result in clinically important
      differences in insulin dosing.

PMID- 28604065
TI  - Using Radar Plots to Demonstrate the Accuracy and Precision of 6 Blood Glucose
      Monitoring Systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previously, fingertip capillary blood glucose measurements from the
      CONTOUR(r)NEXT (CN) blood glucose monitoring system (BGMS) and 5 other BGMSs were
      evaluated in comparison with measurements from a reference YSI glucose analyzer.
      Here, we use Radar Plots to graphically represent the accuracy and precision
      results from the previous study, including whether they met ISO 15197:2013
      accuracy criteria. METHOD: A Radar Plot, a new method for capturing a distinct,
      single visualization of BGMS analytical performance, is a collection of
      concentric circles, each representing a particular magnitude of error. The center
      of the plot represents zero error (BGMS result is equivalent to reference
      result); as points are more distant from the center, the error increases,
      expressed in units of mg/dL or percentage for YSI values <100 and >=100 mg/dL,
      respectively. The position of the data point above or below the horizontal line
      bisecting the plot indicates whether the BGMS measurement error was positive
      (BGMS result > YSI result) or negative (BGMS result < YSI result). Points within
      the "15-15 Zone," representing +/-15 mg/dL or +/-15% error, satisfy ISO
      15197:2013 accuracy criteria. RESULTS: The percentage of results within the 15-15
      Zone ranged from 83.6% to 99.8% for the 6 BGMSs (99.6% for CN). CONCLUSIONS:
      Radar Plots provide a different method for visually comparing the analytical
      performance of multiple BGMSs. The tight clustering of data points at the center
      of the CN Radar Plot illustrates the analytical performance of CN compared with 5
      other BGMSs.

PMID- 28604066
TI  - Simultaneous identification of Haemophilus influenzae and Haemophilus
      haemolyticus using real-time PCR.
AB  - AIM: To design a highly specific and sensitive multiplex real-time PCR assay for
      the differentiation of the pathogen Haemophilus influenzae from its nonpathogenic
      near-neighbor Haemophilus haemolyticus. MATERIALS & METHODS: A comparison of 380
      Haemophilus spp. genomes was used to identify loci specific for each species.
      Novel PCR assays targeting H. haemolyticus (hypD) and H. influenzae (siaT) were
      designed. RESULTS & DISCUSSION: PCR screening across 143 isolates demonstrated
      100% specificity for hypD and siaT. These two assays were multiplexed with the
      recently described fucP assay for further differentiation among H. influenzae.
      CONCLUSION: The triplex assay provides rapid, unambiguous, sensitive and highly
      specific genotyping results for the simultaneous detection of hypD and siaT,
      including fucose-positive H. influenzae (fucP), in a single PCR.

PMID- 28604067
TI  - Resveratrol Improves Cell Cycle Arrest in Chronic Prostatitis Rats, by C-kit/SCF
      Suppression.
AB  - Chronic prostatitis (CP) with complex pathogenesis is difficult for treatment. c
      kit has been associated with the control of cell proliferation of prostate cells.
      This study aims to evaluate the role of resveratrol, an activator of Sirt1, in
      regulating the expression of c-kit in CP and investigate the consequent effects
      on cell cycle. Rat model of CP was established through subcutaneous injections of
      diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine and subsequently treated with resveratrol.
      Hematoxylin and eosin staining was performed to identify the histopathological
      changes in prostates. Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining examined
      the expression level of c-kit, stem cell factor (SCF), Sirt1, and cell cycle
      associated proteins. The model group exhibited severe diffuse chronic
      inflammation, characterized by leukocyte infiltration and papillary frond
      protrusion into the gland cavities, and a notable increase in prostatic
      epithelial height. Gland lumen diameter was also significantly smaller; the
      activity of c-kit/SCF in the CP rats was increased significantly compared to the
      control group. Meanwhile, the cell cycle proteins are dysregulated significantly
      in CP rats. Resveratrol treatment significantly improved these factors by Sirt1
      activation. Dysregulation of cell cycle was involved in the pathological
      processes of CP, which was improved after resveratrol treatment by the
      downregulation of c-kit/SCF by activating Sirt1.

PMID- 28604068
TI  - Comparison of the effects of poultry manure and its biochar on barley growth in
      petroleum-contaminated soils.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two organic
      amendments [poultry manure (PM) and poultry manure biochar (PMB)] for the
      degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in contaminated soils by barley plant at
      three levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) during 5 months under
      greenhouse conditions. TPHs removal efficiency and microbial respiration were
      shown to be higher at soil-cultivated plant than at uncultivated soil and in
      lowest level of contamination rather than other levels of contamination and at
      organic amendment treatment than unamended soil. Soil microbial respiration and
      TPHs degradation in the rhizosphere of barley increased by 15.64 and 12.74% for
      PM-amended treatment and 28.07 and 26.83% for PMB-amended treatment,
      respectively, in the 4% TPHs level compared with unamended treatment. Comparison
      of two amendments showed that in PMB treatment soil, highest dry weight,
      microbial respiration, and TPHs degradation potential were observed.

PMID- 28604070
TI  - Effect of Fluoride on photosynthetic pigment content and antioxidant system of
      Hydrilla verticillata.
AB  - Fluoride can either inhibit or enhance the growth of aquatic macrophytes,
      depending upon fluoride concentration and exposure time. To investigate fluoride
      toxicity, the submerged plant Hydrilla verticillata was treated with various
      concentrations of fluoride (F) (0, 10, 20 and 40 mg/L) for different lengths of
      time (7, 14, 21 and 28 days). At exposure to 10 mg/L F, the content of
      chlorophyll, protein and carbohydrates content increased in leaves of H.
      verticillata and the activity of guaiacol peroxidase (POD) and superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) slightly increased in plants compared with the control. When
      fluoride concentration increased to 20 mg/L, the toxic effect generated by
      fluoride led to a reduction of chlorophyll, protein and carbohydrates in H.
      verticillata, but the activity of guaiacol peroxidase and superoxide dismutase
      and the amount of ascorbic acid (AsA) and glutathione (GSH) was enhanced
      significantly. As the concentration of fluoride at 40 mg/L continued for a long
      period, these physiological parameters showed a sharp decrease, and inactivation
      was observed in H. verticillata. These results suggested that a certain
      concentration of fluoride induced antioxidant response and excess fluoride
      induced metabolism imbalance and oxidative damage in H. verticillata.

PMID- 28604069
TI  - Novel human metapneumovirus with a 180-nucleotide duplication in the G gene.
AB  - AIM: To describe the circulation, genetic diversity and clinical features of
      human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in pediatric patients that attended the Hospital
      Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Spain from 2014 to 2016. MATERIALS & METHODS: Partial
      G gene was sequenced from laboratory-confirmed HMPV respiratory specimens for
      subsequent phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: A total of 121 different samples were
      HMPV laboratory-confirmed out of 6658 specimens received. The highest circulation
      was from February to April, with a prevalence of 3%. Different genetic groups
      within both genotypes were detected at variable levels. A 180-nucleotide
      duplication was first characterized within the G gene in nine cases, mostly
      related to lower respiratory-tract infection. CONCLUSION: This study reported on
      the circulation of a novel HMPV with a 180-nucleotide duplication in the G gene,
      but no clinical changes in related cases were observed. Their prevalence
      increased during the last season suggesting changes in viral features.

PMID- 28604071
TI  - Longitudinal Associations of Sleep Duration in Infancy and Early Childhood with
      Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Health at the Age of 6 Years: The Generation
      R Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A short sleep duration is associated with a higher obesity risk from
      midchildhood onward. However, whether sleep duration in early childhood is
      associated with body composition and cardiometabolic health remains unclear. This
      study aims to examine the prospective association of sleep duration in infancy
      and early childhood with body composition and cardiometabolic health at 6 years
      of age. METHODS: Data were available for 5161 children from a population-based
      cohort in the Netherlands. Sleep duration was assessed at ages 2, 6, 24, and 36
      months by parental reports. When children were 6 years old, measures of body
      composition (iDXA), blood pressure, insulin, and lipid levels were collected.
      Longitudinal associations among sleep duration, body composition, and
      cardiometabolic health were studied with multivariable linear regression
      analyses. In addition, potential bidirectional associations between sleep
      duration and BMI were studied by using cross-lagged modeling. RESULTS: Shorter
      sleep duration at 2 months predicted higher BMI and fat mass in 6-year-old
      children, accounting for confounders and BMI at 2 months (e.g., for BMI, per hour
      sleep, B = -0.018, 95% CI = -0.026; -0.009). No temporal relationships among
      sleep duration at other ages, later body composition, and cardiometabolic
      outcomes were found. The cross-lagged model indicated a bidirectional association
      between sleep duration and BMI in early life (2 to 6 months of age). CONCLUSIONS:
      Shorter sleep duration at 2 months, but not at later ages, predicted poorer body
      composition 6 years later. We found no clear evidence for an effect of sleep
      duration in early life on cardiometabolic health.

PMID- 28604072
TI  - [Ultrasonographic diagnosis of distal pediatric forearm fractures].
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: The aim of our prospective study was to evaluate the
      effectivity of sonographic diagnosis of pediatric wrist fractures and analyzing
      the results of two pediatric musculoskeletal centers. METHOD: Between 2011
      January and 2015 December 467 children aged 0-15 with closed wrist injuries and
      open growth plates were sonographically and radiologically evaluated by an
      orthopaedic surgeon or a resident in trainee. Sonography was performed
      immediately after physical examination with linear probes of 7-14 Mhz frequency.
      Results were compared to conventional two plane wrist x-rays. RESULTS: We found
      97 sensitivity and 96 specificity of the sonographic evaluation. Fractures with
      dislocations and more serious clinical consequences were never missed.
      CONCLUSION: Musculoskeletal ultrasound is a very effective tool in daily routine
      for diagnosing or excluding pediatric wrist fractures. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24):
      944-948.

PMID- 28604073
TI  - [Fear and avoidance beliefs in chronic pain. The translation and validation of
      the Hungarian version of the FABQ questionnaire].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic low back pain is one of the top reasons for seeking medical
      advice. In the background of the dysfunction besides the somatic pain
      dysfunctional thinking, negative emotional states, or interpersonal problems can
      be identified as well. One of the most important factors making the
      rehabilitation difficult is the fear and avoidance of physical activity. AIM: The
      aim of the study was to adapt and validate the Fear Avoidance Beliefs
      Questionnaire (FABQ-H) in Hungarian. METHODS: The FABQ (16 items) was translated
      into Hungarian and filled in by 90 patients suffering from low back pain for at
      least three months. For cross validation the FABQ-H results of 43 patients were
      compared with pain intensity the Oswestry Low Back Pain Questionnaire (ODI), the
      Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ), the Zung Depression Scale (Zung)
      and the Pain Catastrophising Scale (PCS). RESULTS: The internal consistency of
      the FABQ-H was good: the Cronbach's alpha was 0.8. Correlation analysis revealed
      that the FABQ showed significant correlation only with the Pain Catastrophising
      Scale (r = 0.373, p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that the FABQ-H is
      a valid questionnaire that can be well implemented. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 949
      955.

PMID- 28604075
TI  - [Szakacsi Jozsef Csorba MD (1789-1858), the hospital founder and academician].

PMID- 28604076
TI  - [The biological and clinical relevance of estrogen metabolome].
AB  - Considerable knowledge has been gathered on the physiological role of estrogens.
      However, fairly little information is available on the role of compounds produced
      in the breakdown process of estrone and estradiol wich may play a role in various
      diseases associated with estrogen impact. To date, approximately 15 extragonadal
      estrogen-related compounds have been identified. These metabolites may exert
      protective, or, instead, pro-inflammatory and/or pro-oncogenic activity in a
      tissue-specific manner. Systemic and local estrogen metabolite levels are not
      necesserily correlated, which may promote the diagnostic significance of the
      locally produced estrogen metabolites in the future. The aim of the present study
      is a bibliographic review of the extragonadal metabolome in peripheral tissues,
      and to highlight the role of the peripheral tissue homeostasis of estrogens as
      well as the non-hormonal biological activity and clinical significance of the
      estrogen metabolome. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 929-937.

PMID- 28604077
TI  - [Activated Factor VII - 31 years experience on clinical grounds].
AB  - The author provides an overview of the use of recombinant activated FVII (rFVIIa,
      Novoseven), which is used over 30 years, based upon international publications
      and also on some modest own experience. Standard, approved indications
      (inhibitory cases, Glanzmann thrombasthenia, prophylaxis experience) are in the
      focus of this paper, emphasizing the specially rapid and efficacious way of
      Novoseven therapy, drawing attention to excellent safety issues regarding very
      low immunogenicity along with low number of thrombogenic complications. A
      careful, cautious and critical evaluation of Novoseven therapy is also provided
      in rather special forms of critical bleeding conditions considering international
      recommendations and institutional registry data. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 923
      928.

PMID- 28604078
TI  - [Relationship of infant feeding on childhood obesity. A literature review].
AB  - The increasing frequency of childhood obesity is a serious public health concern.
      Today it is recognized that the infant feeding during critical periods of early
      human development ("the first 1000 days") can be a long-term impact for future
      health. Authors deal with with the infant period of the first 1000 days of life
      starting from the conception, based on literature review. Since 2010 a large
      number of publications have appeared in which the relationship between infant
      feeding, early weight gain and later obesity are investigated. The majority of
      studies have demonstrated, that breastfeeding has a marked effect on early growth
      and reduces the risk of obesity in the long-term. The health benefits of
      breastfeeding over infant formula feeding are accepted, however, the relationship
      between infant feeding and later obesity, there is no clear consensus in the
      literature. The authors investigated this contradiction reviewing the newly
      published articles over the last few years. In summary they established, that
      duration of breastfeeding for at least 4 months have an important role in
      lowering of childhood adiposity risk. The different or ambiguous statements in
      the relevant publications can be explained by the fact that the development and
      the prevention of obesity are multifactorial. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 938-943.

PMID- 28604079
TI  - Tracking of structural and functional cardiac measures from infancy into school
      age.
AB  - Objective Cardiac structure and function are important predictors for
      cardiovascular disease in adults. Not much is known about tracking of cardiac
      measures, other than left ventricular mass, from early life onwards. We examined
      whether and to what extent cardiac measures track from infancy into school-age.
      Methods We performed a population-based prospective cohort study among 1072
      children. Aortic root diameter, left atrial diameter, left ventricular mass,
      relative wall thickness and fractional shortening were measured repeatedly by
      echocardiography. We explored tracking between infancy (1.5, six and 24 months)
      and school-age (six and 10 years). Results Of all cardiac measures, aortic root
      diameter, left atrial diameter and left ventricular mass were significantly
      correlated between infancy and school-age ( r = 0.10-0.42, all p-values < 0.01),
      with the strongest correlations between 24 months and 10 years. Of the different
      structures, aortic root diameter showed the strongest correlations. Approximately
      30% of children who were in the lowest or highest quartile of a measure at the
      age of 1.5 months remained in that quartile at the age of 10 years. When
      analysing the effects of the infant cardiac measures on the same outcomes at 10
      years in conditional regression models, we observed effect estimates of the same
      size for the different age windows. Conclusion Our results suggest moderate
      tracking of structural cardiac measures from early infancy until school-age,
      which become stronger at older ages, but not of relative wall thickness or
      fractional shortening. Moderate tracking of cardiac structures suggests that
      cardiac structures are at least partly determined in early life.

PMID- 28604080
TI  - Association of Childhood Obesity and the Immune System: A Systematic Review of
      Reviews.
AB  - The growing prevalence of childhood obesity has become a serious health problem
      over the past decades. As the immune system is greatly affected by excess weight,
      in this review of reviews, we discuss the findings of review articles about the
      relationship between childhood/maternal obesity and children's immune system. We
      searched English-language articles in PubMed, Scopus, ISI Thomson Reuters, and
      Google Scholar databases. All relevant reviews, either systematic or narrative,
      were retrieved. Then their quality was assessed by using the Assessment of
      Multiple Systematic Reviews and International Narrative Systematic Assessment
      tools, respectively. In the final step, 26 reviews were included. Our review
      suggests that childhood obesity is associated with extensive changes in the serum
      levels of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and proteins, as well as
      the number of immune cells and their behavior. Therefore, it might cause or
      exacerbate diseases such as asthma, allergy, atopic dermatitis (AD), and
      obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Moreover, childhood obesity may reduce the
      immune system responsiveness to vaccines and microorganisms. Furthermore, studies
      suggest that maternal obesity increases the risk of asthma in offspring. Future
      studies are needed to determine different associations of childhood obesity with
      allergy, atophic dermatitis, and autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 28604082
TI  - Volumetric Growth Rate of Recurrent Pleomorphic Adenoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Surgery for recurrent pleomorphic adenoma (PA) can be challenging and
      may increase the risk of operative complications, particularly facial nerve
      weakness. As observation may be a viable alternative to surgery for slow-growing
      tumors, our objective was to assess the growth rate of recurrent PAs. STUDY
      DESIGN: This study is a case series of patients at our tertiary academic medical
      center with recurrent PA. Two magnetic resonance images (MRI) were compared;
      total volume (TV) of recurrent tumor on both studies was calculated to obtain our
      main outcomes of percent change in TV and tumor growth rate. RESULTS: Fourteen
      patients with recurrent PA had a median interval time between MRI of 12.8 months.
      Though growth rates were variable, the median continuous compound growth per year
      was 10.2%. Notably, 3 patients (21%) had no growth, and 2 patients (14%) had a
      reduction in TV. CONCLUSIONS: The median growth rate for enlarging tumors is
      estimated at 10.2% per year. Due to variability, tumor growth rate should be
      estimated on an individual patient basis. For slow-growing tumors, physicians may
      weigh the risk of this slow growth with the morbidity of reoperation.

PMID- 28604083
TI  - Implantation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Tracheal Epithelial Cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Compared with using autologous tissue, the use of artificial
      materials in the regeneration of tracheal defects is minimally invasive. However,
      this technique requires early epithelialization on the inner side of the
      artificial trachea. After differentiation from induced pluripotent stem cells
      (iPSCs), tracheal epithelial tissues may be used to produce artificial tracheas.
      Herein, we aimed to demonstrate that after differentiation from fluorescent
      protein-labeled iPSCs, tracheal epithelial tissues survived in nude rats with
      tracheal defects. METHODS: Red fluorescent tdTomato protein was electroporated
      into mouse iPSCs to produce tdTomato-labeled iPSCs. Embryoid bodies derived from
      these iPSCs were then cultured in differentiation medium supplemented with growth
      factors, followed by culture on air-liquid interfaces for further differentiation
      into tracheal epithelium. The cells were implanted with artificial tracheas into
      nude rats with tracheal defects on day 26 of cultivation. On day 7 after
      implantation, the tracheas were exposed and examined histologically. RESULTS:
      Tracheal epithelial tissue derived from tdTomato-labeled iPSCs survived in the
      tracheal defects. Moreover, immunochemical analyses showed that differentiated
      tissues had epithelial structures similar to those of proximal tracheal tissues.
      CONCLUSIONS: After differentiation from iPSCs, tracheal epithelial tissues
      survived in rat bodies, warranting the use of iPSCs for epithelial regeneration
      in tracheal defects.

PMID- 28604084
TI  - An initial psychometric evaluation of the German PROMIS v1.2 Physical Function
      item bank in patients with a wide range of health conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To translate the PROMIS Physical Function (PF) item bank version 1.2
      into German and to investigate psychometric properties of resulting full bank and
      seven derived short forms. DESIGN: Cross-sectional psychometric study. SETTING:
      Inpatient and outpatient clinics of the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at
      Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany. SUBJECTS: A total of 10 adult
      patients with various chronic diseases participated in cognitive debriefing
      interviews. The final item bank was administered to n = 266 adult patients with a
      broad range of medical conditions. INTERVENTIONS: Patient-reported outcome
      assessment as part of routine care. MAIN MEASURES: PROMIS v1.2 PF bank; MOS SF-36
      PF scale (PF-10). RESULTS: Cross-cultural adaptation of the item bank followed
      established guidelines. For the final German translation, the corrected item
      total correlations ranged from 0.44 to 0.84. Cronbach's alpha was high for each
      PROMIS PF short form ( alpha = 0.88-0.96). The full PROMIS PF bank and most short
      forms correlated highly with the SF-36 PF-10 ( r = 0.85-0.90), with the exception
      of PROMIS Upper Extremity ( r = 0.64). PROMIS Upper Extremity showed ceiling
      effects and lower agreement with the full bank than other short forms.
      Unidimensionality was supported for all PROMIS PF measures using traditional
      factor analysis and nonparametric item response theory. CONCLUSION: The German
      PROMIS PF bank was found to be conceptually equivalent to the English version and
      fulfilled the psychometric requirements for use of short forms in clinical
      practice. Future studies should pay particular attention to samples with upper
      extremity functional limitations to further investigate the dimensional structure
      of PF as conceptualized according to PROMIS.

PMID- 28604085
TI  - Tension Pneumothorax After Percutaneous Tracheostomy.
AB  - A 76-year-old woman with right mandibular gingival cancer was scheduled for
      surgery. A percutaneous tracheostomy kit was used for tracheostomy under
      intravenous sedation. After puncturing the cricothyroid membrane, a dilator was
      inserted along a guidewire. Bucking was observed at the time of insertion of the
      dilator, despite intratracheal lidocaine spray applied before insertion. After
      that, the tracheostomy tube was inserted, but no capnographic waveforms appeared
      when the tube was connected to the anesthesia circuit. Direct macroscopic
      observation revealed a perforation extending from the posterior wall of the
      trachea to the anterior wall of the esophagus, which prompted us to request
      assistance from a thoracic surgeon for treatment before reinserting the
      tracheostomy tube. After verifying capnographic waveforms on the monitor,
      anesthesia was induced. Because arterial oxygen saturation was 96% under the
      administration of pure oxygen, chest radiography was conducted revealing a right
      pneumothorax. A chest tube was inserted and the patient transported to a nearby
      general hospital. We suspect that pneumothorax was induced when the integrity of
      the mediastinal pleura was compromised by mediastinal emphysema because of the
      injury to the posterior tracheal wall complicated by bucking at the time of
      insertion of the dilator.

PMID- 28604086
TI  - Dexmedetomidine Infusion for Routine Dental Management of an ASA IV Patient: A
      Case Report.
AB  - Anesthetic management of elderly patients requires numerous physiological
      considerations. With aging, degenerative changes occur in the structure and
      functional capacity of tissues and organs. Typically, these patients experience
      clinical effects with lower doses of medication. Important considerations for the
      geriatric populations following anesthesia include increased time to recovery and
      avoidance of functional decline. A case is reported in which an 83-year-old
      Caucasian female with a complex medical history presented for routine dental
      treatment under intravenous sedation via dexmedetomidine infusion.

PMID- 28604087
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 28604088
TI  - Effect of Topical Anesthesia Using an Adhesive Patch and Anesthetic Solution.
AB  - We analyzed trigeminal somatosensory evoked potentials (TSEP) to the alveolar
      mucosa to investigate the efficacy of an amide local anesthetic, 2% lidocaine
      hydrochloride with 12.5 MUg/mL epinephrine (Lido treatment) as a topical
      anesthetic. Eighteen consenting healthy adult volunteers were enrolled. A volume
      of 0.06 mL of Lido, 0.06 g of 20% benzocaine, or 0.06 mL of physiological saline
      (control) was instilled onto a hemostatic adhesive patch, which was then applied
      to the alveolar mucosa at the maxillary right canine for 5 minutes. An electrical
      stimulus approximately 5 times that of the sensory threshold was applied using a
      surface stimulation electrode. The trigeminal somatosensory evoked potential was
      recorded immediately, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes after removal of the patch.
      Positive P125 and P310 peaks and negative N100 and N340 peaks were observed as a
      result of the electrical stimulation. A significant decrease in the percentage
      change in amplitude of N100-P125 was observed in the Lido treatment immediately,
      5 minutes, and 10 minutes after patch removal. In the Lido treatment, trigeminal
      somatosensory evoked potential amplitude at N100-P125 decreased significantly,
      suggesting that topical anesthesia produced by an amide local anesthetic may have
      a topical anesthetic effect as potent as that produced by an ester local
      anesthetic.

PMID- 28604090
TI  - Anesthetic Management of a Patient With Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - A 54-year-old woman diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 19 years
      was scheduled to undergo temporomandibular joint mobilization. She was currently
      in a remission phase from her MS but with persistent sequelae, including impaired
      eyesight and muscle weakness of the limbs. In addition, the blood vessels in her
      upper limbs were compromised by the formation of internal shunts secondary to
      vascular prosthesis replacements for plasma exchange therapy in MS. After a
      previous joint mobilization surgery, her temporomandibular joint developed
      adhesions with resultant trismus. One of the adverse effects of general
      anesthesia can be exacerbations of MS symptoms. Minimizing mental and physical
      stress caused by surgical and anesthetic procedures and maintenance of stable
      body temperature are important considerations. Awake intubation was performed
      under sedation with midazolam and fentanyl. After intubation, anesthesia was
      induced with propofol, remifentanil, and rocuronium. Maintenance of anesthesia
      was achieved with oxygen-N2O-sevoflurane, remifentanil, fentanyl, and rocuronium.
      In this case, no adverse events occurred intraoperatively. However, the patient
      experienced lingering weakness of the limbs in the postoperative period, and
      activities of daily living of the patient were affected.

PMID- 28604089
TI  - Comparison of Articaine and Lidocaine for Buccal Infiltration After Inferior
      Alveolar Nerve Block For Intraoperative Pain Control During Impacted Mandibular
      Third Molar Surgery.
AB  - In order to compare the efficacy of lidocaine and articaine for pain control
      during third molar surgery, 160 patients presenting bilateral asymptomatic
      impacted mandibular third molars were selected. They received 1.8 mL of 2%
      lidocaine with epinephrine 1:100,000 during inferior alveolar nerve block. In
      group 1 (n = 80), an infiltrative injection of 0.9 mL of 2% lidocaine with
      epinephrine 1:100,000 was performed in buccal-distal mucosa of the third molar.
      Group 2 (n = 80) received 0.9 mL of 4% articaine with epinephrine 1:100,000 in
      the contralateral side. All procedures were performed at the same visit, by a
      single operator, in a double-blind and parallel design. The duration of each
      surgery and the moment when the patient expressed pain were noted. Data were
      analyzed by nonpaired t test and chi-square test (alpha = 5%). Duration of
      surgery did not differ (p = .83) between Groups 1 (19.8 +/- 2.3 minutes) and 2
      (19.7 +/- 3.0 minutes). Pain was expressed more in group 1 (26.3%) than in group
      2 (10%) (odds ratio = 3.2, p = .0138). In both groups, tooth sectioning was the
      most painful event (p < .0001). No influence of gender (p = .85) or age (p = .96)
      was observed in pain response. Buccal infiltration of 4% articaine with
      epinephrine 1:100,000 showed more efficacy than 2% lidocaine with epinephrine
      1:100,000 when used in combination with inferior alveolar nerve block in
      controlling intraoperative pain related to impacted mandibular third molar
      surgery.

PMID- 28604091
TI  - Risk Factors for Pressure Ulcers at the Ala of Nose in Oral Surgery.
AB  - A quality review revealed pressure ulcers at the ala of nose in 16 cases (2.2%)
      over 3 years. We therefore retrospectively investigated the risk factors for alar
      pressure ulcers from nasal tubes. Male gender was the highest risk factor (odds
      ratio = 9.1411; 95% confidence interval = 1.680-170.58), and the second highest
      risk factor was duration of anesthesia (odds ratio = 1.0048/min of anesthesia;
      95% confidence interval = 1.0034-1.0065). Male gender and duration of anesthesia
      appear to be risk factors for nasal tube pressure ulcers at the ala of nose in
      patients.

PMID- 28604092
TI  - A Review of Scientific Literature of Interest to Office-Based Anesthesiology
      Practice.

PMID- 28604093
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of 3 Pediatric Midazolam Moderate Sedation Regimens.
AB  - Our aim was to characterize effectiveness and complications in children receiving
      oral midazolam alone, nasal midazolam alone, or oral midazolam with other
      sedatives. Children received oral midazolam alone, nasal midazolam, or oral
      midazolam in combination with other sedative medications. All subjects received a
      presedation history and physical examination and were sedated per protocol by any
      of 28 resident providers under attending supervision. Sedations were rated for
      success and complications by clinicians. Postoperative complications were
      assessed by trained staff up to 48 hours postoperatively. Seven hundred and one
      encounters, completed over 24 months, yielded 650 usable sedations. The majority
      of children were healthy (469; 68.2%) and 86% (532) weighed between 10 and 25 kg.
      Sedations were deemed successful in about 80% of cases. Planned treatment was
      completed in over 85% of encounters. Oral midazolam alone yielded the best
      behavior. Physical assessment factors of behavior and age were correlated (P =
      .035) with effectiveness. Hiccups and a positive medical history were
      significantly related (P = .049). Side effects of either nausea/vomiting,
      dysphoria, or hiccups occurred in less than 10% of cases. All 3 regimens were
      effective with minimal postoperative complications.

PMID- 28604094
TI  - Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 28604095
TI  - Anesthetic Management Using a Laryngeal Mask Airway in a Child With Congenital
      Bronchial Atresia.
AB  - Congenital bronchial atresia is a relatively rare malformation that causes a
      segmental obstruction of the bronchus during the fetal period. The peripheral
      lung distal from the obstructed bronchus becomes hyperinflated because of the
      unidirectional flow through collateral check-valve entry. Positive pressure
      ventilation during general anesthesia may cause a rupture of the bulla, resulting
      in pneumothorax. An 8-year-old girl, who had to undergo oral surgery, was
      diagnosed as having congenital bronchial atresia and one-fifth of her lung was
      poorly ventilated. We planned to perform general anesthesia under spontaneous
      respiration using a laryngeal mask, which was well tolerated.

PMID- 28604097
TI  - The FDA Warning on Anesthesia Drugs.

PMID- 28604096
TI  - Hepatitis: Sedation and Anesthesia Implications.

PMID- 28604098
TI  - Nitrous Oxide and Midazolam Sedation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Nitrous oxide and midazolam have been used as sedative agents to decrease fear
      and anxiety associated with dental procedures. Although these agents have been
      widely used individually, the combination of the two is also commonly used. Four
      clinical trials were identified that compared the combination technique with the
      individual use of the drugs. The standardized mean difference (SMD) for each
      outcome measure was considered for final analysis. Three studies with 534
      participants were included in the final meta-analysis, and the SMD [95% CI] was
      obtained as -0.15 [-0.32, 0.03] and was not statistically significant for
      cooperation scores. Two studies reported the dose of midazolam required for
      inducing sedation in 450 participants, and the pooled estimate of SMD [95% CI]
      was obtained as -0.29 [-0.48, -0.10] and was significant. Two studies with 450
      participants reported the time taken to recover from sedation, and the pooled
      estimate of SMD [95% CI] was obtained as -0.20 [-0.39, -0.01] and favored the
      combination technique. To conclude, the combination technique combines the pros
      and cons of both drugs in causing fewer adverse effects due to midazolam by
      reducing the total dose and also helps to provide better acceptance of nitrous
      oxide inhalation.

PMID- 28604099
TI  - Seasonal and daily changes in the behaviour of the adult emu (Dromaius
      novaehollandiae) under farm conditions.
AB  - 1. The aim of this study was to present selected elements of emu behaviour in
      three different seasons (the non-breeding season, the pre-breeding season and the
      breeding season) and in the morning and afternoon. The study focused on feed,
      water and sand intake; plumage care; resting; agonistic behaviour and other
      activities, mostly standing still, aimless walking or observing the surroundings.
      2. The troop consisted of 11 emus (5 females and 6 males) aged 12 years, kept in
      a free-range system. Observations were carried out during a period of 3 weeks in
      each season, during which 60-min observation sessions took place on 3 randomly
      chosen days. 3. A significant effect was found of each season on the behaviour
      patterns related to feeding, sand intake, plumage care, resting and agonistic
      behaviour. 4. Time of day affected the behaviour associated with the collection
      of food and water, foraging, pecking and ingesting sand and plumage preening. 5.
      Most of the time, regardless of season and time of day, the emus were standing
      still, walking aimlessly or observing the surrounding area.

PMID- 28604100
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Greece:
      an extended review (2000-2015).
AB  - Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is endemic in Greece. CRAB
      initially emerged in 2000 and since then, carbapenemases still have a crucial
      role in CRAB appearance, except for a few cases resulting from efflux pump or
      outer-membrane protein mechanisms. OXA-type carbapenemases present the highest
      prevalence worldwide and bla OXA-23-like and bla OXA-58-like are the most
      important genes found; VIM-yielding CRAB have also been detected, while a single
      CRAB isolate producing NDM has quite recently emerged in Greece. The predominant
      OXA-23 producers are associated with multilocus sequence typing Pasteur scheme
      sequence type 2 clonal strains of the international clone II. The emergence of
      colistin-resistant CRAB has complicated the treatment of such infections and the
      interpretation of susceptibility data. Infection control measures and adjusted
      antimicrobial treatment strategies could confine CRAB spread. The aim of this
      review is to go through the molecular epidemiology of CRAB, in an endemic area
      and highlight its potential future evolution.

PMID- 28604101
TI  - Post-dieting weight gain: the role of persistent microbiome changes.

PMID- 28604102
TI  - Antimicrobial resistance & 'Man's best friend': what they give to us we might be
      giving right back.

PMID- 28604103
TI  - Virus interactions: cooperation or competition?

PMID- 28604104
TI  - Intranasal delivery of quercetin-loaded mucoadhesive nanoemulsion for treatment
      of cerebral ischaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quercetin (QUR), as an antioxidant flavonoid, exhibits potential role
      in the amelioration of cerebral ischaemia; however, poor solubility as well as
      oral absorption results low serum and tissue levels for this drug. PURPOSE OF THE
      STUDY: To enhance bioavailability, this study aims to prepare QUR nanoemulsions
      and administer via non-invasive nasal route in order to evaluate the drug
      targeting in brain. METHODS: Quercetin mucoadhesive nanoemulsion (QMNE) was
      prepared (ionic gelation method) and optimized using various parameters, that is,
      particle size, entrapment efficiency, zeta potential and ex vivo permeation
      study. RESULTS: The results observed for optimized QMNE were as follows: mean
      globule size (91.63 +/- 4.36 nm), zeta potential (-17.26 +/- 1.04 mV), drug
      content (99.84 +/- 0.34%) and viscosity (121 +/- 13 cp). To evaluate the extent
      of bioavailability for QMNE via post-intranasal (i.n.) administration, Ultra
      performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS)-based
      bioanalytical method was developed and validated for pharmacokinetics,
      biodistribution, brain-targeting efficiency (9333.33 +/- 39.39%) and brain drug
      targeting potential (2181.83 +/- 5.69%) which revealed enhanced QUR brain
      bioavailability as compared to intravenous administration (i.v.). Furthermore,
      improved neurobehavioral activity (locomotor and grip strength), histopathology
      and reduced infarction volume effects were observed in middle cerebral artery
      occlusion (MCAO)-induced cerebral ischemic rats model after i.n. administration
      of QMNE. CONCLUSION: This study supports a significant role for QMNE in terms of
      high brain-targeting potential and formulation efficiency due to ease of access
      and effective targeting in brain.

PMID- 28604105
TI  - The relations of child adiposity with parent-to-child and parent-to-parent
      hostility.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Investigate (1) the association of child adiposity with parent-to
      child and parent-to-parent hostility, (2) the mediation of these associations by
      dietary behaviours and (3) moderation by gender. DESIGN: One hundred thirty-five
      couples with 6- to 14-year-old children completed measures of emotional and
      physical aggression, overreactive discipline and child diet. Parent-to-parent
      hostility was also coded from laboratory observations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Child adiposity was a combination of body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio.
      RESULTS: Mother-to-child hostility was associated with child adiposity. This
      association was concentrated in boys and was not significantly explained by child
      dietary factors. Mother-to-father hostility was not significantly associated with
      boys' or girls' adiposity. Girls' adiposity was not significantly associated with
      family hostility. Fathers' hostility was not linked to child adiposity.
      CONCLUSION: This is the first study to take a family-level approach to
      understanding the relation of hostility to child adiposity by examining relations
      among adiposity and both mothers' and fathers' hostility directed toward one
      another and toward their children. Our findings highlight the potential role
      played by mothers' emotional hostility in boys' adiposity and suggest that, if
      this role is further substantiated, mother-son emotional hostility may be a
      promising target for the prevention of child obesity.

PMID- 28604106
TI  - Decompressive craniectomy for the treatment of malignant middle cerebral artery
      infarction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malignant middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction is associated
      with up to 80% mortality in the first week, despite maximal medical therapy.
      Decompressive craniectomy (DC) has been shown to improve survival rates in these
      patients. However, there are concerns that DC prolongs poor quality of life by
      increasing the number of survivors with major disability. This review will assess
      if DC in patients with malignant MCA infarction improves functional outcomes
      compared to maximal medical therapy. It will estimate the optimal time for
      surgery following stroke onset and ask if DC is effective in older patients (>60
      years). METHODS: A literature search was conducted using Medline, Embase, PubMed
      and the Cochrane Library. Randomised controlled trials and meta-analysis that
      fulfilled the inclusion criteria and answered the clinical question were
      evaluated. RESULTS: Twelve papers were identified and considered appropriate to
      answer the clinical question. These included 8 prospective randomised controlled
      trials and 4 meta-analysis. A critical review of these papers was conducted.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients 60 years of age or younger, DC within 48 hours of stroke
      onset significantly reduced risk of death and major disability (mRS >3) compared
      to maximal medical therapy only. In older patients (>60 years) DC also
      significantly improved survival but the majority of survivors were left with
      major disability (mRS 4-5). DC performed more than 48 hours after symptom onset
      does not appear to be superior to best medical management. The decision to
      perform decompressive surgery needs to be made on a case-by-case basis, taking
      into account the degree of disability patients and their carers are willing to
      accept.

PMID- 28604108
TI  - How the study of Listeria monocytogenes has led to new concepts in biology.
AB  - The opportunistic intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes has in
      30 years emerged as an exceptional bacterial model system in infection biology.
      Research on this bacterium has provided considerable insight into how pathogenic
      bacteria adapt to mammalian hosts, invade eukaryotic cells, move intracellularly,
      interfere with host cell functions and disseminate within tissues. It also
      contributed to unveil features of normal host cell pathways and unsuspected
      functions of previously known cellular proteins. This review provides an updated
      overview of our knowledge on this pathogen. In many examples, findings on L.
      monocytogenes provided the basis for new concepts in bacterial regulation, cell
      biology and infection processes.

PMID- 28604107
TI  - Accelerating drug development for neuroblastoma - New Drug Development Strategy:
      an Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer, European Network for Cancer
      Research in Children and Adolescents and International Society of Paediatric
      Oncology Europe Neuroblastoma project.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neuroblastoma, the commonest paediatric extra-cranial tumour,
      remains a leading cause of death from cancer in children. There is an urgent need
      to develop new drugs to improve cure rates and reduce long-term toxicity and to
      incorporate molecularly targeted therapies into treatment. Many potential drugs
      are becoming available, but have to be prioritised for clinical trials due to the
      relatively small numbers of patients. Areas covered: The current drug development
      model has been slow, associated with significant attrition, and few new drugs
      have been developed for neuroblastoma. The Neuroblastoma New Drug Development
      Strategy (NDDS) has: 1) established a group with expertise in drug development;
      2) prioritised targets and drugs according to tumour biology (target expression,
      dependency, pre-clinical data; potential combinations; biomarkers), identifying
      as priority targets ALK, MEK, CDK4/6, MDM2, MYCN (druggable by BET bromodomain,
      aurora kinase, mTORC1/2) BIRC5 and checkpoint kinase 1; 3) promoted clinical
      trials with target-prioritised drugs. Drugs showing activity can be rapidly
      transitioned via parallel randomised trials into front-line studies. Expert
      opinion: The Neuroblastoma NDDS is based on the premise that optimal drug
      development is reliant on knowledge of tumour biology and prioritisation. This
      approach will accelerate neuroblastoma drug development and other poor prognosis
      childhood malignancies.

PMID- 28604109
TI  - Viral gene therapy for breast cancer: progress and challenges.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women all over the
      world. Furthermore, up to one third of breast tumors develop metastases that are
      resistant to standard therapies. Gene therapeutic strategies have been developed
      in order to specifically target cancer cells either directly or through the
      stimulation of antitumor immunity. Areas covered: This review describes the
      therapeutic strategies that are currently under development to treat this disease
      using engineered viral vectors including: adenovirus, adeno-associated virus,
      lentivirus, poxvirus, reovirus, baculovirus, herpesvirus and oncolytic viruses.
      Advantages and disadvantages of these multiple gene therapy platforms are
      discussed in detail. Expert opinion: Metastatic breast cancer is a perfect
      candidate for gene therapy approaches due to the presence of several tumor
      antigens and the aberrant expression of many molecular pathways. Oncolytic
      vectors are able to attack tumor cells while sparing normal cells and their
      activity is often enhanced by the administration of chemotherapy. However, more
      efforts are needed in order to reduce toxicity and to achieve better transduction
      efficiency. Improved preclinical models and a more critical patient selection for
      clinical trials, along with advances in gene therapy regulations, will surely
      facilitate the evolution of gene therapy for the treatment of metastatic breast
      cancer.

PMID- 28604110
TI  - Emerging tyrosine kinase inhibitors for the treatment of hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most diagnosed cancer
      in the world and the third leading cause of death. Unfortunately, when diagnosed
      two thirds of patients have an advanced disease for which only palliative
      treatment can be proposed and most likely systemic therapy. Areas covered: As of
      today only one systemic therapy is validated in the treatment of advanced HCC, a
      tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI): Sorafenib. Treatment options are therefore
      lacking. With the advent of Sorafenib other TKIs have been studied with some
      disappointing results. Many explanations can be found to the failure of these
      tested TKIs such as the underlying cirrhosis leading to rapidly serious adverse
      events, or trial design imperfections. Expert opinion: Taking into account these
      failures, new trials with more appropriate designs have led to recent success
      with multi-target TKIs (Regorafenib and Lenvatinib). This multi-target approach
      allows to overcome the molecular heterogeneity of advanced HCC which is
      associated with multiple simultaneously dysregulated signaling pathways. On the
      contrary, another lead is to study target a specific TKI such as c-MET inhibitors
      or TGFbetaR inhibitors in HCC sub-populations with promising results in early
      phase trials. These results will have to be validated in the ongoing phase III
      trials.

PMID- 28604111
TI  - Basal insulin initiation use and experience among people with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus with different patterns of persistence: results from a multi-national
      survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: People with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often
      interrupt basal insulin treatment soon after initiation. This study aimed to
      describe the experiences during and after basal insulin initiation among people
      with T2DM with different persistence patterns. METHODS: Adults with T2DM from
      France, Germany, Spain, UK, US, Brazil, and Japan were identified from consumer
      panels for an online survey. Respondents who initiated basal insulin 3-24 months
      prior to survey date were categorized as continuers (no gaps of >=7 days in
      insulin treatment); interrupters (first gap >=7 days within 6 months of
      initiation and restarted insulin); and discontinuers (stopped insulin for >=7
      days within 6 months of initiation without restarting). RESULTS: Among 942
      participants, continuers were older than interrupters and discontinuers (46, 37,
      and 38 years, respectively, p < .01). Continuers reported having fewer concerns
      before and after insulin initiation than interrupters and discontinuers, while
      interrupters had the most concerns. Continuers also reported fewer challenges
      during the first week of insulin use. Continuers were more likely to respond that
      insulin use had a positive impact on specific aspects of life than interrupters
      and discontinuers, for example on glycemic control (73.0%, 63.0%, and 61.8%,
      respectively; p < .01 vs. continuers). CONCLUSION: Among people with T2DM with
      different persistence patterns after basal insulin initiation there were
      significant differences in patient characteristics and experience during and
      after insulin initiation. Interrupters and discontinuers more frequently reported
      having concerns and challenges during the initiation process, negative impacts
      after initiation, and less improvement in glycemic control than continuers.

PMID- 28604112
TI  - Correlates of basal insulin persistence among insulin-naive people with type 2
      diabetes: results from a multinational survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: People with T2DM who initiate basal insulin therapy
      often stop therapy temporarily or permanently soon after initiation. This study
      analyzes the reasons for and correlates of stopping and restarting basal insulin
      therapy among people with T2DM. METHODS: An online survey was completed by 942
      insulin-naive adults with self-reported T2DM from Brazil, France, Germany, Japan,
      Spain, UK, and US. Respondents had initiated basal insulin therapy within the 3
      24 months before survey participation and met criteria for one of three
      persistence groups: continuers had no gaps of >=7 days in basal insulin
      treatment; interrupters had at least one gap in insulin therapy of >=7 days
      within the first 6 months after initiation and had since restarted basal insulin;
      and discontinuers stopped using basal insulin within the first 6 months after
      initiation and had not restarted. RESULTS: Physician recommendations and cost
      were strongly implicated in patients stopping and not resuming insulin therapy.
      Continuous persistence was lower for patients with more worries about insulin
      initiation, greater difficulties and weight gain while using insulin, and higher
      for those using pens and perceiving their diabetes as severe. Repeated
      interruption of insulin therapy was associated with hyperglycemia and treatment
      burden while using insulin. Resumption and perceived likelihood of resumption
      were associated with hyperglycemia upon insulin cessation. Perceived likelihood
      of resumption among discontinuers was associated with perceived benefits of
      insulin. CONCLUSION: Better understanding of the risk factors for patient
      cessation and resumption of basal insulin therapy may help healthcare providers
      improve persistence with therapy.

PMID- 28604113
TI  - QSAR models for predicting the toxicity of piperidine derivatives against Aedes
      aegypti.
AB  - QSAR models are proposed for predicting the toxicity of 33 piperidine derivatives
      against Aedes aegypti. From 2D topological descriptors, calculated with the PaDEL
      software, ordinary least squares multilinear regression (OLS-MLR) treatment from
      the QSARINS software and machine learning and related approaches including linear
      and radial support vector machine (SVM), projection pursuit regression (PPR),
      radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), general regression neural network
      (GRNN) and k-nearest neighbours (k-NN), led to four-variable models. Their
      robustness and predictive ability were evaluated through both internal and
      external validation. Determination coefficients (r2) greater than 0.85 on the
      training sets and 0.8 on the test sets were obtained with OLS-MLR and linear SVM.
      They slightly outperform PPR, radial SVM and RBFNN, whereas GRNN and k-NN showed
      lower performance. The easy availability of the involved structural descriptors
      and the simplicity of the MLR model make the corresponding model attractive at an
      exploratory level for proposing, from this limited dataset, guidelines in the
      design of new potentially active molecules.

PMID- 28604114
TI  - An omics perspective to the molecular mechanisms of anticancer metallo-drugs in
      the computational microscope era.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Metallo-drugs have attracted enormous interest for cancer
      treatment. The achievements of this drug-type are summarized by the success story
      of cisplatin. That being said, there have been many drawbacks with its clinical
      use, which prompted decades worth of research efforts to move towards safer and
      more effective agents, either containing platinum or different metals. Areas
      covered: In this review, the authors provide an atomistic picture of the
      molecular mechanisms involving selected metallo-drugs from structural and
      molecular simulation studies. They also provide an omics perspective, pointing
      out many unsettled aspects of the most relevant families of metallo-drugs at an
      epigenetic level. Expert opinion: Molecular simulations are able to provide
      detailed information at atomistic and temporal (ps) resolutions that are rarely
      accessible to experiments. The increasing accuracy of computational methods and
      the growing performance of computational platforms, allow us to mirror wet lab
      experiments in silico. Consequently, the molecular mechanisms of drugs
      action/failure can be directly viewed on a computer screen, like a 'computational
      microscope', allowing us to harness this knowledge for the design of the next
      generation of metallo-drugs.

PMID- 28604115
TI  - A randomized controlled trial comparing a xyloglucan-based nasal spray with
      saline in adults with symptoms of rhinosinusitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study assessed the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a
      xyloglucan-based nasal spray in the treatment of symptoms of rhinosinusitis.
      METHODOLOGY: In this randomized, double-blind study, 40 patients with itching,
      nasal congestion or continuous sneezing and a Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS) of
      >=8 were randomized to 2 weeks' treatment with a xyloglucan-based nasal spray
      ("xyloglucan") or a physiological saline nasal spray ("saline"). Assessments
      included the TNSS, rhinosinusitis severity index, nocturnal awakenings, use of
      rescue medication, safety and tolerability. RESULTS: Baseline symptom scores were
      similar between groups. At treatment end, improvements from baseline were
      observed in both groups for TNSS (xyloglucan 58%; saline 35%, both p < .05) and
      number of nocturnal awakenings (p < .05). A significant improvement in the
      rhinosinusitis severity index was observed only with xyloglucan (p < .05). At
      treatment end, mean [SD] scores were significantly lower in the xyloglucan group
      versus the saline group for TNSS (3.60 [2.16] vs. 5.40 [2.64], p < .05),
      rhinosinusitis severity index (7.55 [1.19] vs. 6.45 [1.40], p < .05), and
      rhinorrhea and itching (both p < .05). No rescue medication was used. Both
      treatments were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: A xyloglucan-based nasal spray
      provided greater relief of rhinosinusitis symptoms than a physiological saline
      spray and was well tolerated. Trial registration number (EUDRACT): 2014-000143
      32.

PMID- 28604116
TI  - The Cognitive decline in Older Patients with End stage renal disease (COPE) study
      - rationale and design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) are at increased
      risk for cognitive decline, but detailed studies of the magnitude of cognitive
      decline on dialysis or comprehensive conservative management (CCM) are lacking
      and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms have poorly been studied.
      OBJECTIVES: To describe the rationale and design of the COPE study. Study
      objectives are as follows. Firstly, to examine the severity of cognitive
      impairment in older patients reaching ESRD before dialysis and the rate of
      decline after dialysis or CCM initiation. Secondly, to study the association of
      blood biomarkers for microvascular damage and MRI derived measurements of small
      vessel disease with the rate of cognitive decline. Thirdly, to examine to what
      extent cardiac function is related to brain structure and perfusion in patients
      reaching ESRD. Finally, to study the association of cognitive and functional
      capacity with quality of life in pre-dialysis patients, as well as after dialysis
      or CCM initiation. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The COPE study is a prospective,
      multicenter cohort study in the Netherlands, including prevalent and incident pre
      dialysis patients >=65 years old with eGFR <=20 ml/min/1.73 m2, awaiting either
      dialysis or CCM initiation. At baseline extensive data is collected including a
      comprehensive geriatric assessment and laboratory tests. Brain and cardiac MRI
      for analysis of structural and functional abnormalities are performed at baseline
      and repeated following therapy change. All other measurements are repeated
      annually during four years of follow up, including an extra evaluation six months
      after initiation of dialysis. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the magnitude of
      cognitive decline and its underlying pathophysiological mechanism, as well as its
      impact on functionality and quality of life can eventually help to postulate an
      algorithm for well balanced decision making in treatment strategies in older
      patients reaching ESRD. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The COPE study is registered
      on www.ccmo.nl (number: NL46389.058.13).

PMID- 28604117
TI  - Efficacy and safety of post-docetaxel therapies in metastatic castration
      resistant prostate cancer: a systematic review of the literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prostate cancer is a highly prevalent form of cancer in older men and
      is one of the leading causes of death from cancer in men across the globe. Many
      therapeutic agents have been approved for patients with metastatic castration
      resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), particularly as a post-docetaxel treatment
      strategy. The objective of this systematic literature review was to assess
      published efficacy and safety data for select mCRPC therapies - such as
      abiraterone, cabazitaxel, and enzalutamide - in the post-docetaxel setting.
      METHODS: Database searches of MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL, in
      conjunction with hand searches of multiple congress abstracts, yielded 13
      randomized studies and 107 non-randomized studies that met the inclusion
      criteria. RESULTS: Randomized studies demonstrated significant improvements in
      median overall survival (OS) outcomes over placebo for abiraterone (15.8 vs. 11.2
      months) and enzalutamide (18.4 vs. 13.6 months), and similar significant
      improvements were noted for cabazitaxel over mitoxantrone (15.1 vs. 12.7 months).
      Differences in progression-free survival (PFS) were similarly significant,
      although variance in the criteria for measuring PFS may limit the extent to which
      these outcomes can be compared between studies. Non-randomized evidence included
      multiple publications from several early access and compassionate use programs
      with a primary objective to report safety outcomes. Results from these studies
      largely reflected the findings in randomized trials. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there
      is a growing body of evidence for post-docetaxel treatment options available in
      patients with mCRPC. Further head-to-head trials or indirect treatment
      comparisons may be a valuable method to assess the comparative efficacy of these
      therapies.

PMID- 28604118
TI  - Practical Tips for Working as an Expedition Doctor on High-Altitude Expeditions.
AB  - Brants, Anne, and Tracee Metcalfe. Practical tips for working as an expedition
      doctor on high-altitude expeditions. High Alt Med Biol. 18:193-198, 2017.-With
      the explosion of adventure travel over the past decade, there has been a
      concurrent increase in mountaineering expeditions to extreme elevations,
      including many of the 8000-m peaks. This trend has created an increased demand
      for qualified expedition doctors to provide specialized medical advice and care
      to climbers and expedition staff. This review is intended to help physicians
      prepare for work on such expeditions. The authors rely heavily on their own
      experience and discuss the types of work available on high-altitude expeditions;
      how to identify a safe and reputable guiding company; personal and medical
      preparation; priorities in selecting or building an appropriate medical kit; and
      medical conditions commonly encountered on expeditions. The review concludes by
      considering ethical dilemmas and other difficult issues unique to this work.

PMID- 28604119
TI  - Vorapaxar in secondary prevention: where we stand.

PMID- 28604120
TI  - Current and developing synthetic pharmacotherapy for treating relapsed/refractory
      multiple myeloma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The introduction of novel agents has significantly improved
      multiple myeloma (MM) patient outcome during the last two decades. MM received
      the most drug approvals for any one malignancy during this time period, both in
      the United States as well as in Europe. Areas covered: Proteasome inhibitors,
      immunomodulatory drugs, and monoclonal antibodies are prototype drug classes,
      which target both specific MM cell functions, as well as the tumor supportive
      bone marrow microenvironment, and represent current cornerstones of MM therapy.
      Importantly, the unprecedented extent and frequency of durable responses, in
      relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), in particular, is predominantly
      based on the combinatorial use of these agents with conventional
      chemotherapeutics or representatives of other drug classes. This article will
      summarize past landmark discoveries in MM that led to the dramatic progress of
      today's clinical practice. Moreover, developing strategies will be discussed that
      are likely to yet improve patient outcome even further. Expert opinion: Despite
      significant therapeutic advancements, MM remains an incurable disease. With
      several novel agents in the preclinical and early clinical pipeline, among those
      novel CD38 and BCMA mAbs, immune checkpoint inhibitors, as well as ricolinostat,
      selinexor, venetoclax, CAR-T cells, and vaccines, further advances in MM patient
      outcome are expected in the near future.

PMID- 28604121
TI  - Atopic dermatitis 2017: where we were 10-15 years ago in psoriasis.
AB  - Novel and innovative treatment options for atopic dermatitis (AD) are underway.
      The recent advancements in understanding AD are reminiscent of the progress made
      in psoriasis research over a decade ago.

PMID- 28604122
TI  - Blood-stage malaria vaccines: post-genome strategies for the identification of
      novel vaccine candidates.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An efficacious malaria vaccine is necessary to advance the current
      control measures towards malaria elimination. To-date, only RTS,S/AS01, a leading
      pre-erythrocytic stage vaccine completed phase 3 trials, but with an efficacy of
      28-36% in children, and 18-26% in infants, that waned over time. Blood-stage
      malaria vaccines protect against disease, and are considered effective targets
      for the logical design of next generation vaccines to improve the RTS,S field
      efficacy. Therefore, novel blood-stage vaccine candidate discovery efforts are
      critical, albeit with several challenges including, high polymorphisms in vaccine
      antigens, poor understanding of targets of naturally protective immunity, and
      difficulties in the expression of high AT-rich plasmodial proteins. Areas
      covered: PubMed ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed ) was searched to review the
      progress and future prospects of malaria vaccine research and development. We
      focused on post-genome vaccine candidate discovery, malaria vaccine development,
      sequence diversity, pre-clinical and clinical trials. Expert commentary: Post
      genome high-throughput technologies using wheat germ cell-free protein synthesis
      technology and immuno-profiling with sera from malaria patients with clearly
      defined outcomes are highlighted to overcome current challenges of malaria
      vaccine candidate discovery.

PMID- 28604123
TI  - Oxytocin plasma levels in orgasmic and anorgasmic women.
AB  - The study aimed to evaluate oxytocin (Oxt) serum levels before and after sexual
      intercourse in women affected by anorgasmia. The sample was constituted of 15
      anorgasmic women and 16 orgasmic women. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI,
      cutoff <=26.55) and the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS, cutoff >=15)
      questionnaires were used to assess sexual function and sexual distress,
      respectively. Serum Oxt levels were measured before sexual intercourse (T0) and 5
      min after coital sexual activity (T1). Anorgasmic women had an unpleasant sexual
      experience (FSFI total score, 20.1 +/- 1.2;) and were stressed (FSDS score, 19.4
      +/- 1.3), whereas orgasmic women were fully satisfied with their sexual activity
      (FSFI total score 28.7 +/- 1.3; FSDS score 11.5 +/- 1.8). At T0, anorgasmic women
      had lower levels of Oxt than orgasmic women, 1.8 +/- 0.2 pg/mL versus 2.1 +/- 0.5
      pg/mL, respectively, [95% CI: (-0.58, -0.01); p < .04]. At T1, Oxt levels did not
      change in anorgasmic women (1.8 +/- 0.2 pg/mL versus 2 +/- 0.4 pg/mL, p = .09).
      Finally, orgasmic women had higher levels of Oxt than anorgasmic women, 4.6 +/-
      0.7 pg/mL versus 2 +/- 0.4 pg/mL, respectively [95% CI: (-3.02, -2.17); p <
      .001]. The repetitive processes to experience the sexual body sensations could
      represent a survival behavior of species by attachment to a partner.

PMID- 28604125
TI  - Home self-administration of omalizumab.

PMID- 28604126
TI  - Strategies for overcoming oncological treatment-related ovarian dysfunction -
      literature review.
AB  - In the majority of developed countries, it is observed that the time for
      maternity is being postponed to over the 30th and even 40th year of life. A
      significant number of cancers are diagnosed during reproductive age, often before
      the first pregnancy. A fertility preservation is an important issue in
      oncological treatment, where there is a need for balancing between radicality and
      the preservation of function of reproductive organs. The authors discuss the
      problem of ovarian dysfunction after oncological treatment and present the
      possible strategies for saving the reproductive function of ovaries, including
      both invasive and pharmacological approaches.

PMID- 28604124
TI  - Test systems in drug discovery for hazard identification and risk assessment of
      human drug-induced liver injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The liver is an important target for drug-induced toxicities. Early
      detection of hepatotoxic drugs requires use of well-characterized test systems,
      yet current knowledge, gaps and limitations of tests employed remains an
      important issue for drug development. Areas Covered: The current state of the
      science, understanding and application of test systems in use for the detection
      of drug-induced cytotoxicity, mitochondrial toxicity, cholestasis and
      inflammation is summarized. The test systems highlighted herein cover mostly in
      vitro and some in vivo models and endpoint measurements used in the assessment of
      small molecule toxic liabilities. Opportunities for research efforts in areas
      necessitating the development of specific tests and improved mechanistic
      understanding are highlighted. Expert Opinion: Use of in vitro test systems for
      safety optimization will remain a core activity in drug discovery. Substantial
      inroads have been made with a number of assays established for human Drug-induced
      Liver Injury. There nevertheless remain significant gaps with a need for improved
      in vitro tools and novel tests to address specific mechanisms of human Drug
      Induced Liver Injury. Progress in these areas will necessitate not only models
      fit for application, but also mechanistic understanding of how chemical insult on
      the liver occurs in order to identify translational and quantifiable readouts for
      decision-making.

PMID- 28604127
TI  - Correlation between trough serum levels of adalimumab and absolute PASI score in
      a series of patients with psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The possibility of monitoring serum drug levels has opened the door
      to optimising biologic therapy. To consolidate this advance, it is imperative to
      demonstrate an adequate correlation between serum drug levels and clinical
      course. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether a correlation exists between
      adalimumab levels and clinical response measured as absolute PASI. METHODS: In a
      prospective cohort study, we enrolled 51 patients with psoriasis treated with
      adalimumab for at least 16 s. Patients received approved doses of adalimumab, but
      after 52  s the dosing interval could be modified according to clinical criteria.
      Excellent response was defined as PASI <=3, appropriate response as PASI >3 and
      <=5 and inappropriate response as PASI> 5. Correlations were calculated using
      Spearman's correlation test. RESULTS: A total of 92 serum samples from 51
      patients were analysed. Significant differences were found in serum trough levels
      between patients achieving an excellent response (6.46 MUg/mL), versus an
      appropriate (2.5 MUg/mL) and an inappropriate response (2 MUg/mL). The
      therapeutic range for adalimumab serum levels was from 3.30 to 7.30 MUg/mL.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found an adequate correlation between drug serum levels and PASI
      scores. Monitoring of absolute PASI and serum levels can provide a personalised
      and cost-effective evaluation.

PMID- 28604128
TI  - Cognitive screening tools for primary care settings: examining the 'Test Your
      Memory' and 'General Practitioner assessment of Cognition' tools in a rural aging
      population in Greece.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Under conditions of high demand for primary care services in a
      setting of low financial resources, there is need for brief, easily administered
      cognitive screening tools for use in the primary care setting, especially in
      rural areas. However, interpretation of these cognitive tests' results requires
      knowledge on their susceptibility to cultural, educational and demographic
      patient characteristics. OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical validity of the 'Test
      Your Memory' (TYM) and 'General Practitioner assessment of Cognition' (GPCog)
      which was specifically designed for primary care practice, in a rural primary
      care setting in Greece, utilizing the 'Mini Mental State Examination' (MMSE) as a
      reference standard. METHODS: The MMSE, TYM, and GPCog were administered to a
      random sample of 319 community dwelling Greek adults aged 60 to 89 years in 11
      rural Primary Healthcare Centres of the Prefecture of Heraklion on the island of
      Crete, Greece. Analyses examined (a) The association of each instrument with
      demographic factors and MMSE and (b) optimal cut-off scores, sensitivity and
      specificity against MMSE-based cognitive impairment risk using ROC analyses with
      the MMSE 23/24 point cut-off as a reference standard. RESULTS: We found a
      sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 77% for TYM (35/36 or 38/39 cut-off,
      depending on education). Corresponding values were 89% and 61% for GPCog (7/8 cut
      off), respectively. CONCLUSION: The TYM and GPCog instruments appear to be
      suitable for routine use in the primary care setting as tools for cognitive
      impairment risk detection in elderly rural populations.

PMID- 28604130
TI  - Checkpoint inhibitors in advanced melanoma: effect on the field of immunotherapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The success of the immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma has
      reinvigorated the field of immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are now
      the standard of care in multiple cancer types including lung cancer, head and
      neck cancer, urothelial cancer and renal cell cancer. The field of immunotherapy
      is currently expanding rapidly and will be a focus of research and development
      for decades to come. Areas covered: This review covers the early development of
      immune checkpoint inhibitors and the changes that occurred in the drug
      development paradigm to facilitate the development of immunotherapy. The review
      will summarise the areas into which immune checkpoint inhibitors have been
      adopted and will review the data that supported this. Furthermore, we will
      discuss future developments in immunotherapy and the current landscape regarding
      maximising the potential of immunotherapy in clinical practice. Expert
      commentary: In the author's opinion, the potential of immunotherapy is vast. To
      date immune checkpoint inhibition has already delivered durable responses in a
      proportion of patients with cancer types which were previously universally
      lethal. The future of immunotherapy will rely upon the intelligent application of
      translational research to clinical practice, such that immunotherapy can be
      effective for a wider population and maintain its current growth.

PMID- 28604129
TI  - Severe hyperandrogenemia in postmenopausal woman as a presentation of ovarian
      hyperthecosis. Case report and mini review of the literature.
AB  - Ovarian hyperthecosis (OH) is characterized by the presence of abundant
      luteinized theca cells in ovaries that secret androgen. It typically presents as
      severe hyperandrogenism and/or virilization in postmenopausal woman. Here we
      describe a 66-year old woman with presentation of severe hirsutism, alopecia,
      clitoromegaly and laboratory finding of significantly elevated serum total
      testosterone concentration and hyperinsulinemia. Performed imaging studies
      revealed normal sized, homogeneous ovaries, signs of endometrial hypertrophy and
      normal adrenal glands. Due to severe hyperandrogenemia and signs of endometrial
      hypertrophy, the total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo
      oophorectomy has been performed. Pathological examination revealed OH and
      endometrial hyperplasia. Androgenic activity of ovarian stromal cells has been
      confirmed using alpha-inhibin histochemical staining. Postmenopausal
      hyperandrogenemia is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and the imaging
      studies often may be misleading and require careful and critical consideration.

PMID- 28604131
TI  - Micronutrient Intake and the Contribution of Dietary Supplements in Hispanic
      Infants.
AB  - To calculate micronutrient adequacy among infants and toddlers and to determine
      the contribution of dietary supplements to this adequacy, micronutrient intake
      was assessed using two nonconsecutive 24-hour recalls in a sample of 296 infants
      aged 0-24 months. Micronutrient intake was calculated from foods and beverages
      and from supplements and compared between nonusers and users of supplements.
      Percentages of children below the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) and above the
      tolerable upper limit intake (UL) were also compared between groups. A total of
      241 participants had complete data. The prevalence of dietary supplement use
      among the sample was 15%. Mean intake of all micronutrients from foods and
      beverages was similar between nonusers and users of supplements (p > .05) but
      significantly higher for the following vitamins when supplements were included:
      D, E, B1, B2, B3, and B6 (p < .05). From foods only, the nutrients with highest
      percentage of children below the DRI were vitamins D and E and potassium. When
      supplements were included, this percentage significantly decreased among users
      compared to nonusers (p < .05) for vitamins D and E. From foods, the UL was
      exceeded for magnesium, zinc, and vitamin B3. These were similar when supplements
      were added. Supplements significantly increased the intake of some vitamins.
      Vitamins D and E had the highest percentage of children below the DRI, which was
      partly corrected with the use of supplements. The UL was exceeded for magnesium,
      zinc, and vitamin B3 in many children. It is important to understand these
      patterns as they may be indicative of future nutritional deficiencies and
      excesses.

PMID- 28604132
TI  - The efficacy of methotrexate in the treatment of en coup de sabre (linear morphea
      subtype).
AB  - BACKGROUND: En coup de sabre is a rare subtype of linear morphea, located on the
      forehead or frontoparietal scalp. Systemic treatment of localised morphea with
      methotrexate has been reported in a few clinical reports. However, there are no
      case series using methotrexate treatment for En coup de sabre. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of methotrexate in the treatment of en
      coup de sabre linear morphea subtype. METHOD: A retrospective chart review was
      performed for paediatric and the adult patients with en coup de sabre evaluated
      in the Dermatology Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Medicine treated
      with methotrexate. RESULTS: There were 7 patients who met criteria for inclusion
      in the study. The mean age at the onset of disease was 11.8 years (ranging from 4
      to 38 years). The mean duration of disease before receiving methotrexate therapy
      was 9.4 months (ranging from 3 to 24 months). Seven (100%) patients improved with
      methotrexate therapy, in an average of 2 months to disease inactivity, and 16
      months to discontinuation of methotrexate. CONCLUSIONS: Methotrexate appeared to
      be an effective and safe therapy for en coup de sabre patients.

PMID- 28604133
TI  - A preliminary study on topical cetirizine in the therapeutic management of
      androgenetic alopecia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common form of scalp hair loss that
      affects up to 50% of males between 18 and 40 years old. Several molecules are
      commonly used for the treatment of AGA, acting on different steps of its
      pathogenesis (Minoxidil, Finasteride, Serenoa repens) and show some side effects.
      In literature, on the basis of hypertrichosis observed in patients treated with
      analogues of prostaglandin PGF2a, it was supposed that prostaglandins would have
      an important role in the hair growth: PGE and PGF2a play a positive role, while
      PGD2 a negative one. OBJECTIVE: We carried out a pilot study to evaluate the
      efficacy of topical cetirizine versus placebo in patients with AGA. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A sample of 85 patients was recruited, of which 67 were used to assess
      the effectiveness of the treatment with topical cetirizine, while 18 were control
      patients. RESULTS: We found that the main effect of cetirizine was an increase in
      total hair density, terminal hair density and diameter variation from T0 to T1,
      while the vellus hair density shows an evident decrease. The use of a molecule as
      cetirizine, with no notable side effects, makes possible a good compliance by
      patients. CONCLUSION: Our results have shown that topical cetirizine 1% is
      responsible for a significant improvement of the initial framework of AGA.

PMID- 28604134
TI  - Impact of exposure time, particle size and uptake pathway on silver nanoparticle
      effects on circulating immune cells in mytilus galloprovincialis.
AB  - Nanomaterials have increasingly emerged as potential pollutants to aquatic
      organisms. Nanomaterials are known to be taken up by hemocytes of marine
      invertebrates including Mytilus galloprovincialis. Indeed, assessments of
      hemocyte-related parameters are a valuable tool in the determination of
      potentials for nanoparticle (NP) toxicity. The present study assessed the effects
      from two size types of silver nanoparticles (AgNP: <50 nm and <100 nm) on the
      frequency of hemocytes subpopulations as immunomodulation biomarkers exposed in a
      mollusk host. Studies were performed using exposures prior to and after
      inhibition of potential NP uptake pathways (i.e. clathrin- and caveolae-mediated
      endocytosis) and over different durations of exposure (3, 6 and 12 h).
      Differential hemocyte counts (DHC) revealed significant variations in frequency
      of different immune cells in mussels exposed for 3 hr to either AgNP size.
      However, as exposure duration progressed cell levels were subsequently
      differentially altered depending on particle size (i.e. no significant effects
      after 3 h with larger AgNP). AgNP effects were also delayed/varied after blockade
      of either clathrin- or caveolae-mediated endocytosis. The results also noted
      significant negative correlations between changes in levels hyalinocytes and
      acidophils or in levels basophils and acidophils as a result of AgNP exposure.
      From these results, we concluded AgNP effects on mussels were size and duration
      of exposure dependent. This study highlighted how not only was NP size important,
      but that differing internalization mechanisms could be key factors impacting on
      the potential for NP in the environment to induce immunomodulation in a
      model/test sentinel host like M. galloprovincialis.

PMID- 28604135
TI  - Adding Soy Protein to Milk Enhances the Effect of Resistance Training on Muscle
      Strength in Postmenopausal Women.
AB  - Resistance training (RT) and high-quality protein ingestion improves muscle mass
      (MM) and strength (MS). However, no study has evaluated the effect of ingesting
      milk plus soy protein (SOY) on MM and MS in postmenopausal women (PW). Thus, the
      aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of adding SOY to milk on MM and MS
      after 16 weeks of RT. Thirty-two PW were randomized and allocated into two
      groups: placebo and RT (PL+RT, n = 16) and SOY and RT (SOY+RT, n = 16). The
      SOY+RT received 25 g of SOY while the PL+RT received 25 g of maltodextrin
      (placebo). All supplements were given in the form of a chocolate-flavored powder
      added to 200 mL of milk. The RT protocol consisted of eight total body exercises
      at 70% of one repetition maximum (1RM), three sets of 8-12 repetitions, 2-3
      times/week. No differences were found in the baseline measures between groups
      (age, menopause status, anthropometric and nutrition patterns), except for
      protein intake, which was higher in the SOY+RT. Both groups increased the MM
      (bioimpedance) showing no difference between groups (PL+RT = 1.5 kg; SOY+RT = 1.1
      kg). For MS, the SOY+RT showed a larger (p < .05) increase in 1RM of bench press
      (PL+RT = 6.7 kg; SOY+RT = 12.5 kg), knee extension (PL+RT = 3.7 kg; SOY+RT = 6.7
      kg), total load (PL+RT = 15.1 kg; SOY+RT = 24.2 kg), and the total load
      exercises/MM (PL+RT = 0.3 kg; SOY+RT = 0.9 kg). These results suggest that adding
      SOY to milk combined with 16 weeks of RT resulted in more significant increases
      in MS in PW.

PMID- 28604137
TI  - Effects of dihydrotestosterone administration on the expression of reproductive
      and body weight regulatory factors in ovariectomized and estradiol-treated female
      rats.
AB  - To clarify the direct effects of androgens, the changes in the hypothalamic
      levels of reproductive and appetite regulatory factors induced by chronic
      dihydrotestosterone (DHT) administration were evaluated in female rats. DHT
      treatment increased the BW and food intake of the ovariectomized rats, but not
      the estradiol (E2)-treated rats. DHT administration suppressed the expression of
      a hypothalamic anorexigenic factor. Although the kisspeptin (Kiss1) mRNA levels
      of the anterior hypothalamic block (the anteroventral periventricular nucleus,
      AVPV) were increased in the E2-treated rats, DHT administration did not affect
      the Kiss1 mRNA levels of the AVPV in the ovariectomized or E2-treated rats.
      Conversely, DHT administration reduced the Kiss1 mRNA levels of the posterior
      hypothalamic block (the arcuate nucleus, ARC) in the ovariectomized rats.
      Although the Kiss1 mRNA levels of the posterior hypothalamic block (ARC) were
      decreased in the E2-treated rats, DHT administration did not affect the Kiss1
      mRNA levels of the ARC in these rats. Serum luteinizing hormone levels of these
      groups exhibited similar patterns to the Kiss1 mRNA levels of the ARC. These
      results showed that DHT affects the production of hypothalamic reproductive and
      appetite regulatory factors, and that these effects of DHT differ according to
      the estrogen milieu.

PMID- 28604136
TI  - Updates in venous thromboembolism management: evidence published in 2016.
AB  - The management of venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) is rapidly evolving and
      staying updated on practice-changing evidence can be challenging. In an attempt
      to alleviate this daunting task, we sought to determine the most important
      practice-informing articles published in 2016 relevant to the non-specialist
      provider managing VTE. We performed a systematic search of the literature,
      limiting the search to a publication date of 2016 (see Supplementary Appendix).
      Two reviewers screened the 3819 resulting abstracts to identify high-quality,
      clinically relevant publications related to VTE management. Two hundred sixteen
      full-text articles were considered for inclusion. The five authors used a
      modified Delphi method to reach consensus on inclusion of 7 articles for in-depth
      appraisal, following predetermined criteria of clinical relevance to non
      specialist providers, potential for practice change, and strength of the
      evidence.

PMID- 28604138
TI  - eHealth Technologies as an intervention to improve adherence to topical
      antipsoriatics: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Topical antipsoriatics are recommended first-line treatment of
      psoriasis, but rates of adherence are low. Patient support by use of electronic
      health (eHealth) services is suggested to improve medical adherence. OBJECTIVE:
      To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) testing eHealth interventions
      designed to improve adherence to topical antipsoriatics and to review
      applications for smartphones (apps) incorporating the word psoriasis. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Literature review: Medline, Embase, Cochrane, PsycINFO and Web of
      Science were searched using search terms for eHealth, psoriasis and topical
      antipsoriatics. General analysis of apps: The operating systems (OS) for
      smartphones, iOS, Google Play, Microsoft Store, Symbian OS and Blackberry OS were
      searched for apps containing the word psoriasis. RESULTS: Literature review: Only
      one RCT was included, reporting on psoriasis patients' Internet reporting their
      status of psoriasis over a 12-month period. The rate of adherence was measured by
      Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS(r)). An improvement in medical adherence
      and reduction of severity of psoriasis were reported. General analysis of apps: A
      total 184 apps contained the word psoriasis. CONCLUSION: There is a critical need
      for high-quality RCTs testing if the ubiquitous eHealth technologies, for
      example, some of the numerous apps, can improve psoriasis patients' rates of
      adherence to topical antipsoriatics.

PMID- 28604140
TI  - Is the bipolar vessel sealer device an effective tool in robotic surgery? A
      retrospective analysis of our experience and a meta-analysis of the literature
      about different robotic procedures by investigating operative data and post
      operative course.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The latest robotic bipolar vessel sealing tools have been described
      to be effective allowing to perform procedures with reduced blood loss and
      shorter operative times. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and
      reliability of these devices applied in different robotic procedures. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: All robotic operations, between 2014 and 2016, were performed using
      the EndoWrist One VesselSealer (EWO, Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA), a
      bipolar fully wristed device. Data, including age, gender, body mass index (BMI),
      were collected. Robot docking time, intraoperative blood loss, robot
      malfunctioning and overall operative time were analyzed. A meta-analysis of the
      literature was carried out to point the attention to three different parameters
      (mean blood loss, operating time and hospital stay) trying to identify how
      different coagulation devices may affect them. RESULTS: In 73 robotic procedures,
      the mean operative time was 118.2 minutes (75-125 minutes). Mean hospital stay
      was four days (2-10 days). There were two post-operative complications (2.74%).
      CONCLUSIONS: The bipolar vessel sealer offers the efficacy of bipolar diathermy
      and the advantages of a fully wristed instrument. It does not require any change
      of instruments for coagulation or involvement of the bedside assistant surgeon.
      These characteristics lead to a reduction in operative time.

PMID- 28604139
TI  - Major bleeding risk and healthcare economic outcomes of non-valvular atrial
      fibrillation patients newly-initiated with oral anticoagulant therapy in the real
      world setting.
AB  - AIMS: This study compared the risk for major bleeding (MB) and healthcare
      economic outcomes of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) after
      initiating treatment with apixaban vs rivaroxaban, dabigatran, or warfarin.
      METHODS: NVAF patients who initiated apixaban, rivaroxaban, dabigatran, or
      warfarin were identified from the IMS Pharmetrics Plus database (January 1, 2013
      September 30, 2015). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance
      differences in patient characteristics between study cohorts: patients treated
      with apixaban vs rivaroxaban, apixaban vs dabigatran, and apixaban vs warfarin.
      Risk of hospitalization and healthcare costs (all-cause and MB-related) were
      compared between matched cohorts during the follow-up. RESULTS: During the follow
      up, risks for all-cause (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] =
      1.2-1.7) and MB-related (HR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.0-2.4) hospitalizations were
      significantly greater for patients treated with rivaroxaban vs apixaban. Adjusted
      total all-cause healthcare costs were significantly lower for patients treated
      with apixaban vs rivaroxaban ($3,950 vs $4,333 per patient per month [PPPM], p =
      .002) and MB-related medical costs were not statistically significantly different
      ($100 vs $233 PPPM, p = .096). Risk for all-cause hospitalization (HR = 1.98, 95%
      CI = 1.6-2.4) was significantly greater for patients treated with dabigatran vs
      apixaban, although total all-cause healthcare costs were not statistically
      different. Risks for all-cause (HR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.9-2.5) and MB-related (HR =
      2.05, 95% CI = 1.4-3.0) hospitalizations were significantly greater for patients
      treated with warfarin vs apixaban. Total all-cause healthcare costs ($3,919 vs
      $4,177 PPPM, p = .025) and MB-related medical costs ($96 vs $212 PPPM, p = .026)
      were significantly lower for patients treated with apixaban vs warfarin.
      LIMITATIONS: This retrospective database analysis does not establish causation.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the real-world setting, compared with rivaroxaban and warfarin,
      apixaban is associated with reduced risk of hospitalization and lower healthcare
      costs. Compared with dabigatran, apixaban is associated with lower risk of
      hospitalizations.

PMID- 28604141
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of subdermal implantable buprenorphine versus sublingual
      buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder.
AB  - AIMS: Subdermal implantable buprenorphine (BSI) was recently approved to treat
      opioid use disorder (OUD) in clinically-stable adults. In the pivotal clinical
      trial, BSI was associated with a higher proportion of completely-abstinent
      patients (85.7% vs 71.9%; p = .03) vs sublingual buprenorphine (SL-BPN).
      Elsewhere, relapse to illicit drug use is associated with diminished treatment
      outcomes and increased costs. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of BSI
      vs SL-BPN from a US societal perspective. METHODS: A Markov model simulated BSI
      and SL-BPN cohorts (clinically-stable adults) transiting through four mutually
      exclusive health states for 12 months. Cohorts accumulated direct medical costs
      from drug acquisition/administration; treatment-diversion/abuse; newly-acquired
      hepatitis-C; emergency room, hospital, and rehabilitation services; and pediatric
      poisonings. Non-medical costs of criminality, lost wages/work-productivity, and
      out-of-pocket expenses were also included. Transition probabilities to a relapsed
      state were derived from the aforementioned trial. Other transition probabilities,
      costs, and health-state utilities were derived from observational studies and
      adjusted for trial characteristics. Outcomes included incremental cost per
      quality-adjusted-life-year (QALY) gained and incremental net-monetary-benefit
      (INMB). Uncertainty was assessed by univariate and probabilistic sensitivity
      analysis (PSA). RESULTS: BSI was associated with lower total costs (-$4,386),
      more QALYs (+0.031), and favorable INMB at all willingness-to-pay (WTP)
      thresholds considered. Higher drug acquisition costs for BSI (+$6,492) were
      outpaced, primarily by reductions in emergency room/hospital utilization (
      $8,040) and criminality (-$1,212). BSI was cost-effective in 89% of PSA model
      replicates, and had a significantly higher NMB at $50,000/QALY ($20,783 vs
      $15,007; p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: BSI was preferred over SL-BPN from a health
      economic perspective for treatment of OUD in clinically-stable adults. These
      findings should be interpreted carefully, due to some relationships having been
      modeled from inputs derived from multiple sources, and would benefit from
      comparison with outcomes from studies that employ administrative claims data or a
      naturalistic comparative design.

PMID- 28604142
TI  - Rubella antibodies in Australian immunoglobulin products.
AB  - Rubella antibodies are not routinely measured in immunoglobulin products and
      there is a lack of information on the titer in Australian products. To facilitate
      future studies of the effectiveness of passive immunisation for preventing
      rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, this study measured the concentration of
      rubella-specific antibodies in Australian intramuscular (IM) and intravenous (IV)
      human immunoglobulin products suitable for post-exposure prophylaxis using a
      chemiluminescent immunoassay. The GMT +/- GSD for the IM product was 19 +/- 1.2
      IU/mg (2980 +/- 1.2 IU/mL). The GMT +/- GSD for the IV product was 12 +/- 1.5
      IU/mg (729 +/- 1.5 IU/mL). At present, Australian guidelines recommend offering
      non-immune pregnant women exposed to rubella 20 mL of intramuscular
      immunoglobulin within 72 hours of exposure. This equates to 42,160 IU of rubella
      antibodies if the lowest titer obtained for the Australian IM product is
      considered. The same dose would be delivered by 176 mL of the Australian IV
      product at the lowest measured rubella-specific antibody titer.

PMID- 28604143
TI  - Combinatorial antitumor effects of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibitor NLG919
      and paclitaxel in a murine B16-F10 melanoma model.
AB  - Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is involved in tumor immune escape and
      resistance to chemotherapy, and is clinically correlated with tumor progression.
      IDO inhibitors show marginal efficacy as single agents; therefore, combinations
      of these inhibitors with other therapies hold promise for cancer therapy. The aim
      of this study was to investigate the synergistic antitumor effects of IDO
      inhibitor NLG919 in combination with different regimens of paclitaxel in a murine
      B16-F10 melanoma model. NLG919 increased the cytotoxic activity of paclitaxel
      toward B16-F10 cells in the presence of pretreatment with interferon (IFN)-gamma
      in vitro. In B16-F10 tumor-bearing mice, NLG919 was uniformly distributed
      throughout tumors and decreased kynurenine levels and kynurenine/tryptophan
      ratios in tumors and plasma for 6-12 h. NLG919 suppressed tumor growth in a dose
      dependent manner and exhibited maximum efficacy at 100 mg/kg. In combination with
      different regimens of paclitaxel, NLG919 displayed synergistic antitumor effects,
      and NLG919 did not increase the side effects of paclitaxel. Within the tumors,
      the percentage of CD3+, CD8+, and CD4+ T cells and secretion of IFN-gamma and
      interleukin-2 were synergistically increased, whereas the percentage of CD4+CD25+
      regulatory T cells was decreased. NLG919 can potentiate the antitumor efficacy of
      paclitaxel without increasing its side effects, suggesting that the combination
      of IDO inhibitor-based immunotherapy with chemotherapy could be a potential
      strategy for cancer treatment.

PMID- 28604145
TI  - Social class and mental distress in Greek urban communities during the period of
      economic recession.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study draws on old and well-established evidence that economic
      change, and especially recession, affects people's lives, behavior and mental
      health. Even though the literature is rich on the relationship between
      unemployment and mental distress, there is a renewed research interest on the
      link between socio-economic inequalities and psychological health. AIMS: The
      study investigates the relationship of social class with mental distress during
      the hard times of persistent and severe economic crisis in Greece by conducting a
      comparative, community study in the country's second largest city, Thessaloniki.
      METHOD: A face-to-face structured interview covering living conditions, life
      events, chronic stressors and coping strategies was employed to 300 residents of
      socio-economically contrasting neighborhood areas. Social class was
      operationalized by Erik Olin Wright's social class position typology, based on
      ownership and control over productive assets. The method of multiple
      correspondence analysis (MCA) was also applied to analyze the collected data.
      RESULTS: The results indicated that mental distress was significantly
      differentiated across social classes and in each residential area. Unemployed and
      unskilled workers were the most vulnerable groups in terms of psychological
      health. Chronic stress arose in this study as a risk factor for poor mental
      health outcomes and it was associated to low marital quality, intense economic
      burden and impoverished housing conditions. CONCLUSION: Those who face income
      loss, job loss and disability are at high risk for poverty and marginalization,
      suffering from greater psychological distress.

PMID- 28604144
TI  - Anti-TNF-alpha effects on anemia in rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis.
AB  - A key role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic
      arthritis (PsA) is played by inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), which are also involved in inducing inflammatory
      anemia. We have followed 67 RA patients and 64 PsA patients for 1 year to
      evaluate the effects of TNF-alpha inhibitors on disease activity and on
      inflammatory anemia. Patients were divided into three different treatment groups,
      according to a randomized assignment to receive therapy with etanercept,
      adalimumab, or infliximab. Treatment with anti-TNF-alpha resulted in a
      significant reduction in disease activity score-28 (DAS28) values both in RA and
      PsA patients, already from the third month of treatment ( P = 0.01). In both
      populations, there was an increase in hemoglobin (HB) levels already after 3
      months of treatment ( P = 0.001), and HB levels were inversely proportional to
      the disease activity, regardless of the type of medication used. The increased HB
      values and the reduction of DAS28 values during the observation period suggest
      the existence of a negative correlation between them both in RA and PsA,
      regardless of the type of anti-TNF-alpha used. Our data suggest a pleiotropic
      action of anti-TNF-alpha, such as the well-known action on the activity of the
      disease, and the improvement in inflammatory anemia.

PMID- 28604146
TI  - Clients and carers perception of mental illness and factors that influence help
      seeking: Where they go first and why.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In Northern Malawi, the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is
      longer than that in high-income countries. The reasons for the delay in help
      seeking are not known, although studies show multiple reasons. This research was
      conducted to establish health care help-seeking behaviours and identify barriers
      that exist between service users and health care providers. The study also
      intended to establish the beliefs that clients and family members have regarding
      the causes of mental illness which profoundly shape help-seeking, care giving
      process and outcomes. METHODOLOGY: The study employed the exploratory
      phenomenological method, utilizing focus group discussions (FGDs) in the sampled
      population. The Health Belief Model and Disease Explanatory Models were
      conveniently chosen a priori by researchers to develop guide questions to explore
      clients' and carers' perceptions of the illness and their health care help
      seeking behaviours. RESULTS: Results show a bio-psycho-social inclination of
      disease causation and help-seeking behaviour. Causes of mental illness are
      understood in three categories, namely: physical/biological, psychological and
      socio-cultural. The majority of participants attributed mental illness to socio
      cultural factors, with witchcraft, spirit possession and curses as main
      determinants. Causal perceptions also influenced help-seeking pathways. Many
      participants reported consulting traditional healers first, for diagnosis and to
      know who was responsible. CONCLUSION: In this study, it has been found that help
      seeking is influenced by the understanding of the source of the illness - which
      has a bio-psychosocial inclination. The socio-cultural explanation of witchcraft
      and spirit possession is dominant and a determinant of help-seeking behaviour.
      While participants noted benefits to hospital treatment, barriers and bio
      psychosocial in nature were also noted. Guardians and not clients hold the key to
      choice of treatment modality and therefore a potential ally in all treatment
      interventions promotive, preventive and curative. There is need for strengthening
      of a bio-psychosocial intervention model in the treatment of mental illness.

PMID- 28604147
TI  - NaK alloy-induced in vivo tumor ablation therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Alkali metal ablation is newly emerging as an effective, economic and
      minimally invasive ablation therapy. This study is dedicated to demonstrate the
      high efficiency of NaK alloy ablation on in vivo tumors with different stages in
      mice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Panc02 tumor cells were injected into 21 female
      C57B/L mice, which were divided into three groups. Two experimental groups of
      mice received the same percutaneous NaK alloy injection for a week apart. The
      inner temperature response and surface temperature distribution were measured
      using a thermal couple and an infrared camera. After each ablation experiment,
      two mice in each group were chosen randomly to make pathological sections. The
      tumor volumes were measured once every two days. At the end, all tumors were cut
      off to calculate the tumor inhibition rates. RESULTS: The NaK alloy-induced
      ablation therapy produced an obvious temperature increase (85  degrees C) in the
      ablation region and the high temperature distribution was relatively
      concentrated. The histopathology sections showed that developing stage tumors
      received incomplete destruction of the malignant cells compared with early stage
      tumors. The tumor inhibition rate in the early and developing tumor treatment
      groups were 88.5% and 67.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This technology provides
      a nearly thorough ablation treatment for early stage tumors and also a palliative
      treatment for developing tumors.

PMID- 28604148
TI  - Porous fibres with encapsulated functional materials and tunable release.
AB  - A novel sequential processing approach to fabricate versatile fibres containing
      encapsulated materials is presented. It is based on developing highly porous
      fibres, to be filled with functional materials and coated with protective layers.
      Applicability of the approach to develop porous poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)
      fibres with encapsulated antibacterial salts within a coating is demonstrated.
      The salt was introduced to the fibre via a sacrificial solvent. Desired solvent
      properties to ensure successful filling was discussed. The salt was encapsulated
      via spray coating. The coating characteristics were tuned via vapour treatment to
      facilitate controllable radial salt release. Large volume axial release was also
      achieved due to the axial pore connectivity. Compared to state-of-the-art methods
      to produce fibres with functional material inclusions such as emulsion
      electrospinning, the method presented herein, due to its sequential processing
      nature, offers greater freedom in material selection and thus broad applications
      of the fibres.

PMID- 28604149
TI  - Risk of Second Seizure in Pediatric Patients With Idiopathic Autism.
AB  - PURPOSE: Epilepsy is a comorbidity of idiopathic autism spectrum disorder. The
      aim was to characterize the risk and time of second seizure in children with
      idiopathic autism spectrum disorder. METHODS: A retrospective review was
      performed at the University of Chicago and NorthShore University HealthSystem.
      Patients with idiopathic autism spectrum disorder, >=1 seizure, and age 2 to 23
      years were included. RESULTS: 153 patients were included; 141 (92%) had a second
      seizure. The average age at first seizure was 7.14 years (median: 5.08 years) and
      8.12 years (median: 7.3 years) at second seizure. Average time between first and
      second seizure was 7.68 months. DISCUSSION: A high risk of seizure recurrence was
      found in this population. There was a short time to second seizure, with most
      having a recurrence within 1 year. These findings may be used to guide therapy in
      children with autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy.

PMID- 28604150
TI  - Breastfeeding After Early Repair of Cleft Lip in Newborns With Cleft Lip or Cleft
      Lip and Palate in a Baby-Friendly Designated Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Goals of treatment of orofacial cleft are to improve feeding, speech,
      hearing, and facial appearance. Early surgery brings faster healing, better
      cosmetic effect, and fewer complications. Breastfeeding rates after early surgery
      are unknown. Early repair of the cleft lip may influence breastfeeding rates.
      Research aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate breastfeeding after early
      repair of the cleft lip in a Baby-Friendly designated hospital. The rate of
      breastfeeding in newborns with cleft lip was compared to cleft lip and palate.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study. The study group included infants
      with cleft lip and cleft lip and palate operated on in the first 2 weeks of life.
      Newborns and their mothers were supported by a team promoting breastfeeding.
      RESULTS: One hundred four infants (70 boys and 34 girls) were included. Isolated
      cleft lip was present in 56 (53.8%) infants, and cleft lip and palate in 48
      (46.2%). Forty-four (78.6%) of the infants with a cleft lip were breastfed, 3
      (5.4%) received human milk via bottle or syringe, and 9 (16.0%) were formula fed.
      Three (6.2%) of the infants with a cleft lip and palate were breastfed, 31
      (64.6%) received human milk via bottle or Haberman feeder, and 14 (29.2%) were
      formula fed. CONCLUSION: The rate of breastfeeding in patients following early
      surgery of the cleft lip was high and comparable to the general population. The
      rate of breastfeeding in babies with cleft lip and palate after early repair of
      the cleft lip remained low.

PMID- 28604151
TI  - Stability and bioavailability of diltiazem/polyethylene oxide matrix tablets.
AB  - The aim of this study was to prepare and evaluate in vitro and in vivo; Diltiazem
      Hydrochloride (DTZ) in sustained-release matrix tablets. Stability of DTZ tablets
      prepared with polyethylene oxide (MWs 900 000, 4 000 000, and 8 000 000) with or
      without addition of electrolytes was carried-out for 1-month, under short-term
      storage at 40  degrees C/75% RH. Stability was evaluated by DTZ content, DSC and
      drug release using the Flow-Through Cell (USP # IV). The majority of stored
      tablets were stable for 1-month under short-term storage with respect to DTZ
      content and drug release. DSC curves of stored samples showed appearance of new
      exothermic peak after 1-month storage at 40  degrees C/75% RH, which was not
      observed after 5 years storage at room temperature. A selected formula was tested
      in vivo against reference product on eight healthy human volunteers. DTZ-plasma
      profiles were different between the two formulae. However, no statistically
      significant differences were detected between Cmax, AUC0-48 and AUC0-infinity.
      The two products were therapeutically in-equivalent, as 90% confidence intervals
      "T/R" were 88.82-205.76, 91.40-139.94, and 93.73-134.97 for Cmax, AUC0-48 and
      AUC0-infinity, respectively. This study highlighted possible differences observed
      between the two regimes frequently applied for stability testing.

PMID- 28604152
TI  - Related to: [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography response evaluation can predict histological response at surgery after
      induction chemotherapy for oligometastatic bladder cancer.

PMID- 28604153
TI  - Modified structural network backbone in the contralesional hemisphere chronically
      after stroke in rat brain.
AB  - Functional outcome after stroke depends on the local site of ischemic injury and
      on remote effects within connected networks, frequently extending into the
      contralesional hemisphere. However, the pattern of large-scale contralesional
      network remodeling remains largely unresolved. In this study, we applied
      diffusion-based tractography and graph-based network analysis to measure
      structural connectivity in the contralesional hemisphere chronically after
      experimental stroke in rats. We used the minimum spanning tree method, which
      accounts for variations in network density, for unbiased characterization of
      network backbones that form the strongest connections in a network. Ultrahigh
      resolution diffusion MRI scans of eight post-mortem rat brains collected 70 days
      after right-sided stroke were compared against scans from 10 control brains.
      Structural network backbones of the left (contralesional) hemisphere, derived
      from 42 atlas-based anatomical regions, were found to be relatively stable across
      stroke and control animals. However, several sensorimotor regions showed
      increased connection strength after stroke. Sensorimotor function correlated with
      specific contralesional sensorimotor network backbone measures of global
      integration and efficiency. Our findings point toward post-stroke adaptive
      reorganization of the contralesional sensorimotor network with recruitment of
      distinct sensorimotor regions, possibly through strengthening of connections,
      which may contribute to functional recovery.

PMID- 28604154
TI  - Obstetrician/Gynecologists' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Weight
      Gain During Pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Assess obstetrician-gynecologists' knowledge and counseling practices
      regarding gestational weight gain (GWG). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaire
      studies were conducted in 2012 and 2014 sent to practicing obstetrician
      gynecologists. RESULTS: Response rates were 111/236 (47%) and 206/474 (43.5%).
      The majority of respondents agreed (50.0%) or strongly agreed (26.6%) that
      excessive GWG is a major health concern, often or always calculate the body mass
      index (BMI) of their patients (79.1%), and use BMI to modify their weight gain
      recommendations (78.5%). The physicians reported that, on average, 7.8% of
      pregnant patients gained too little weight, 47.3% gained an appropriate amount,
      and 45.1% gained too much. A greater proportion of patients with private
      insurance was associated with physician perception of fewer gaining excessive
      weight (r = -0.205, n = 198, p = 0.004), whereas high proportions with Medicaid
      or uninsured were positively correlated with a perception of excessive GWG (r =
      0.206 and 0.187, n = 198, p = 0.004 and 0.008, respectively). A majority of
      physicians (55.1%) were not confident in their ability to affect their patients'
      prenatal weight gain. Confident physicians exhibited more appropriate practice
      efforts (e.g., use prepregnancy BMI; 83.6% vs. 74.8%, p = 0.009) and were more
      likely to inform their patients about the increased risk of pregnancy
      complications (90.8% vs. 69.7%, p = 0.001) and possible harms to their baby
      (76.9% vs. 61.0%, p = 0.001) from excessive GWG. CONCLUSIONS: Study participants
      perceived excessive GWG to be a significant problem, but had low confidence in
      their ability to address it.

PMID- 28604156
TI  - Outcomes of repair of the lacerated A2 pulley with extensor retinaculum during
      primary flexor tendon repair.
AB  - : We report outcomes of repairing the lacerated A2 pulley with extensor
      retinaculum graft in ten patients (ten fingers) during primary flexor tendon
      repair in zone 2. Complete A2 pulley lacerations were found in eight fingers and
      partial A2 pulley laceration in two. We extended the laceration in the sheath to
      the middle of the A4 or A1 pulley to allow tendon repair with a four-strand core
      suture. The A2 pulley was reconstructed with an extensor retinaculum graft. All
      patients followed the early controlled active mobilization protocol and recovered
      active range of motion at the interphalangeal joints without major extension
      deficits. Using the Strickland and Glogovac criteria, there were four excellent,
      five good and one fair result. One finger was graded excellent, eight good, and
      one fair according to Tang's criteria. No clinical bowstringing was observed. We
      conclude that extensive pulley lacerations reconstructed with extensor
      retinaculum primarily ensure functional recovery after tendon repair. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28604155
TI  - The importance of RSV F protein conformation in VLPs in stimulation of
      neutralizing antibody titers in mice previously infected with RSV.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a significant respiratory pathogen but no
      vaccine is available. RSV infections present 2 major, unique problems. First,
      humans can experience repeated infections caused by the same virus sero-group
      indicating that protective memory responses to RSV infection are defective.
      Second, most people have been infected with RSV by age 5. Immune responses to
      these infections, while poorly protective, could impact the effectiveness of a
      vaccine. The goal of this study was to assess the generation of protective immune
      responses in mice previously infected with RSV by virus-like particle (VLP)
      vaccine candidates containing a stabilized pre-fusion form of the RSV F protein
      or a stabilized post-fusion F protein. We report that a single immunization of
      RSV-experienced animals with a stabilized pre-fusion F protein VLP stimulated
      high titers of neutralizing antibody while a single injection of a post-fusion F
      protein VLP or a second RSV infection only weakly stimulated neutralizing
      antibody titers. These results suggest that prior RSV infection can induce
      neutralizing antibody memory responses, which can be activated by pre-F protein
      VLPs but not by post-F protein VLPs or a subsequent infection. Thus the F protein
      conformation has a major impact on enhancing production of neutralizing
      antibodies in RSV-experienced animals. Furthermore, although both VLPs contained
      the same RSV G protein, the pre-F VLP stimulated significantly higher titers of
      total anti-G protein IgG than the post-F VLP in both naive and RSV-experienced
      animals. Thus the F protein conformation also influences anti-G protein
      responses.

PMID- 28604158
TI  - A Stepwise Approach: Decreasing Infection in Deep Brain Stimulation for Childhood
      Dystonic Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions,
      which cause twisting movements or abnormal postures. Deep brain stimulation has
      been used to improve the quality of life for secondary dystonia caused by
      cerebral palsy. Despite being a viable treatment option for childhood dystonic
      cerebral palsy, deep brain stimulation is associated with a high rate of
      infection in children. The authors present a small series of patients with
      dystonic cerebral palsy who underwent a stepwise approach for bilateral globus
      pallidus interna deep brain stimulation placement in order to decrease the rate
      of infection. Four children with dystonic cerebral palsy who underwent a total of
      13 surgical procedures (electrode and battery placement) were identified via a
      retrospective review. There were zero postoperative infections. Using a
      multistaged surgical plan for pediatric patients with dystonic cerebral palsy
      undergoing deep brain stimulation may help to reduce the risk of infection.

PMID- 28604159
TI  - Spiritual Care in the Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review.
AB  - Spiritual care is an important component of high-quality health care, especially
      for critically ill patients and their families. Despite evidence of benefits from
      spiritual care, physicians and other health-care providers commonly fail to
      assess and address their patients' spiritual care needs in the intensive care
      unit (ICU). In addition, it is common that spiritual care resources that can
      improve both patient outcomes and family member experiences are underutilized. In
      this review, we provide an overview of spiritual care and its role in the ICU. We
      review evidence demonstrating the benefits of, and persistent unmet needs for,
      spiritual care services, as well as the current state of spiritual care delivery
      in the ICU setting. Furthermore, we outline tools and strategies intensivists and
      other critical care medicine health-care professionals can employ to support the
      spiritual well-being of patients and families, with a special focus on chaplaincy
      services.

PMID- 28604157
TI  - Advancements in DNA vaccine vectors, non-mechanical delivery methods, and
      molecular adjuvants to increase immunogenicity.
AB  - A major advantage of DNA vaccination is the ability to induce both humoral and
      cellular immune responses. DNA vaccines are currently used in veterinary
      medicine, but have not achieved widespread acceptance for use in humans due to
      their low immunogenicity in early clinical studies. However, recent clinical data
      have re-established the value of DNA vaccines, particularly in priming high-level
      antigen-specific antibody responses. Several approaches have been investigated
      for improving DNA vaccine efficacy, including advancements in DNA vaccine vector
      design, the inclusion of genetically engineered cytokine adjuvants, and novel non
      mechanical delivery methods. These strategies have shown promise, resulting in
      augmented adaptive immune responses in not only mice, but also in large animal
      models. Here, we review advancements in each of these areas that show promise for
      increasing the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines.

PMID- 28604160
TI  - Use of adjuvants for immunotherapy.
AB  - Cancer vaccines are designed to stimulate the body's immune system to kill tumor
      cells. To improve their immunogenicity, vaccine antigens must be combined with
      adjuvants which are able to stimulate the innate immunity and potentiate the
      adaptive immune response. In the last years a new generation of adjuvants
      mimicking the natural microbial ligands have been developed. In particular,
      several TLR ligands have been extensively explored as vaccine adjuvants and many
      preclinical and clinical studies have been conducted. However, the road to
      approval of such adjuvants for clinical use is still to go.

PMID- 28604161
TI  - History repeats itself in Japan: Failure to learn from rubella epidemic leads to
      failure to provide the HPV vaccine.
AB  - Eradication of vaccine-preventable diseases is one of the most important goals of
      public health interventions. Herd immunity can be established by national
      vaccination programs. However, once the national vaccination program stops for
      any reason, unprotected group will be generated depending on an unfortunate year
      of birth. Currently, there are 2 major concerns regarding vaccine cohort gaps in
      Japan: one is for the rubella vaccine, the other for the human papillomavirus
      (HPV) vaccine.

PMID- 28604165
TI  - Reduction of cervical and respiratory muscle strength in patients with chronic
      nonspecific neck pain and having moderate to severe disability.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain and
      having moderate to severe disability have a greater cervical motor function
      impairment and respiratory disturbances compared with patients with chronic
      nonspecific neck pain having mild disability and asymptomatic subjects; and the
      association between these outcomes in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain
      and healthy controls. METHODS: Cross-sectional study, 44 patients with chronic
      nonspecific neck pain and 31 healthy subjects participated. The neck disability
      index was used to divide the patients into 2 groups: 1) mild disability group
      (scores between 5 and 14 points); and 2) moderate to severe disability group
      (scores >14 points). Cervical motor function was measured by cervical range of
      motion, forward head posture, neck flexor, and extensor muscle strength.
      Respiratory function and maximum respiratory pressures were also measured.
      RESULTS: Statistically differences were found between the patients with chronic
      nonspecific neck pain having a moderate to severe disability and the asymptomatic
      subjects for cervical and respiratory muscle strength. Comparisons between
      chronic nonspecific neck pain and the asymptomatic groups showed differences for
      all the variables, except for forward head posture. The regression model
      determined that strength of cervical flexion explained 36.4 and 45.6% of the
      variance of maximum inspiratory pressures and maximum expiratory pressures,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Only the chronic nonspecific neck pain group with
      moderate to severe disability showed differences compared with the healthy
      subjects. Neck muscle strength could be a good predictor of respiratory muscle
      function. Implications for rehabilitation Neck pain severity could be closely
      associated with decreased respiratory pressure in patients with chronic
      nonspecific neck pain. These findings suggest a new therapeutic approach for
      patients with moderate to severe disability, such as respiratory muscle training.
      The regression models show that a simple measurement of neck muscle strength
      could provide a reasonably accurate prediction for the respiratory function of
      these patients. Hence, this could provide an easy tool to assess respiratory
      function to physiotherapists without the need for sophisticated instrumentation.

PMID- 28604162
TI  - Intratumoral infection by CMV may change the tumor environment by directly
      interacting with tumor-associated macrophages to promote cancer immunity.
AB  - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpesvirus that induces an extremely robust and
      sustained immune response. For this reason, CMV has been proposed as a vaccine
      vector to promote immunity to both pathogens and cancer. However, exploration of
      CMV as a vaccine vector is at an early stage and there are many questions. Using
      a mouse melanoma model, we recently found that a CMV-based vaccine induced large
      populations of melanoma-specific T cells, but was not effective at slowing tumor
      growth unless it was injected directly into the tumor. These surprising results
      have led us to hypothesize that CMV may be adept at modulating the tumor micro
      environment through its infection of macrophages. Importantly, injection of CMV
      into the growing tumor synergized with blockade of the PD-1 checkpoint to clear
      well-established tumors. Here, we discuss our results in the context of CMV-based
      vaccines for pathogens and cancer.

PMID- 28604164
TI  - A forecast of typhoid conjugate vaccine introduction and demand in typhoid
      endemic low- and middle-income countries to support vaccine introduction policy
      and decisions.
AB  - A Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) is expected to acquire WHO prequalification
      soon, which will pave the way for its use in many low- and middle-income
      countries where typhoid fever is endemic. Thus it is critical to forecast future
      vaccine demand to ensure supply meets demand, and to facilitate vaccine policy
      and introduction planning. We forecasted introduction dates for countries based
      on specific criteria and estimated vaccine demand by year for defined vaccination
      strategies in 2 scenarios: rapid vaccine introduction and slow vaccine
      introduction. In the rapid introduction scenario, we forecasted 17 countries and
      India introducing TCV in the first 5 y of the vaccine's availability while in the
      slow introduction scenario we forecasted 4 countries and India introducing TCV in
      the same time period. If the vaccine is targeting infants in high-risk
      populations as a routine single dose, the vaccine demand peaks around 40 million
      doses per year under the rapid introduction scenario. Similarly, if the vaccine
      is targeting infants in the general population as a routine single dose, the
      vaccine demand increases to 160 million doses per year under the rapid
      introduction scenario. The demand forecast projected here is an upper bound
      estimate of vaccine demand, where actual demand depends on various factors such
      as country priorities, actual vaccine introduction, vaccination strategies, Gavi
      financing, costs, and overall product profile. Considering the potential role of
      TCV in typhoid control globally; manufacturers, policymakers, donors and
      financing bodies should work together to ensure vaccine access through sufficient
      production capacity, early WHO prequalification of the vaccine, continued Gavi
      financing and supportive policy.

PMID- 28604163
TI  - Allergen-specific immunotherapy of Hymenoptera venom allergy - also a matter of
      diagnosis.
AB  - Stings of hymenoptera can induce IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions in venom
      allergic patients, ranging from local up to severe systemic reactions and even
      fatal anaphylaxis. Allergic patients' quality of life can be mainly improved by
      altering their immune response to tolerate the venoms by injecting increasing
      venom doses over years. This venom-specific immunotherapy is highly effective and
      well tolerated. However, component-resolved information about the venoms has
      increased in the last years. This knowledge is not only able to improve
      diagnostics as basis for an accurate therapy, but was additionally used to create
      tools which enable the analysis of therapeutic venom extracts on a molecular
      level. Therefore, during the last decade the detailed knowledge of the allergen
      composition of hymenoptera venoms has substantially improved diagnosis and
      therapy of venom allergy. This review focuses on state of the art diagnostic and
      therapeutic options as well as on novel directions trying to improve therapy.

PMID- 28604166
TI  - The effects of grooming on a copper ablative coating: a six year study.
AB  - More than 90% of US Navy Ships are coated with copper ablative paint. These ships
      may spend long periods of time pier-side, which makes them vulnerable to fouling.
      Hull grooming has been proposed as a means of maintaining the coatings in an
      operational condition. This study investigated the effect of grooming on a copper
      ablative coating exposed statically for six years. Grooming was performed weekly
      or monthly with controls left ungroomed. The fouling community was visually
      assessed, dry film thickness measurements were taken to monitor coating loss, and
      the copper leaching rates were measured. It was found that weekly and monthly
      groomed surfaces reduced fouling, and the ungroomed surfaces became fully fouled.
      Coating loss was similar for weekly, monthly and ungroomed surfaces. The results
      suggest that grooming is a viable method for maintaining copper ablative coatings
      in a fouling-free condition without adverse increases in the total copper output.

PMID- 28604167
TI  - Adaptation to copper stress influences biofilm formation in Alteromonas
      macleodii.
AB  - An Alteromonas macleodii strain was isolated from copper-containing coupons
      incubated in surface seawater (Key West, FL, USA). In addition to the original
      isolate, a copper-adapted mutant was created and maintained with 0.78 mM Cu2+.
      Biofilm formation was compared between the two strains under copper-amended and
      low-nutrient conditions. Biofilm formation was significantly increased in the
      original isolate under copper amendment, while biofilm formation was
      significantly higher in the mutant under low-nutrient conditions. Biofilm
      expression profiles of diguanylate cyclase (DGC) genes, as well as genes involved
      in secretion, differed between the strains. Comparative genomic analysis
      demonstrated that both strains possessed a large number of gene attachment
      harboring cyclic di-GMP synthesis and/or degradation domains. One of the DGC
      genes, induced at very high levels in the mutant, possessed a degradation domain
      in the original isolate that was lacking in the mutant. The genetic and
      transcriptional mechanisms contributing to biofilm formation are discussed.

PMID- 28604168
TI  - Dynamics of silver elution from functionalised antimicrobial nanofiltration
      membranes.
AB  - In an effort to mitigate biofouling on thin film composite membranes such as
      nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, a myriad of different surface modification
      strategies has been published. The use of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) has
      emerged as being particularly promising. Nevertheless, the stability of these
      surface modifications is still poorly understood, particularly under permeate
      flux conditions. Leaching or elution of Ag-NPs from the membrane surface can not
      only affect the antimicrobial characteristics of the membrane, but could also
      potentially present an environmental liability when applied in industrial-scale
      systems. This study sought to investigate the dynamics of silver elution and the
      bactericidal effect of an Ag-NP functionalised NF270 membrane. Inductively
      coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy was used to show that the bulk of
      leached silver occurred at the start of experimental runs, and was found to be
      independent of salt or permeate conditions used. Cumulative amounts of leached
      silver did, however, stabilise following the initial release, and were shown to
      have maintained the biocidal characteristics of the modified membrane, as
      observed by a higher fraction of structurally damaged Pseudomonas fluorescens
      cells. These results highlight the need to comprehensively assess the time
      dependent nature of bactericidal membranes.

PMID- 28604170
TI  - Efficacy of Mycobacterium vaccae immunotherapy for patients with tuberculosis: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant cause of illness and death worldwide.
      Immunotherapy has been investigated in the treatment of TB. The purpose of this
      study was to perform a meta-analysis investigating the effectiveness of the M.
      vaccae vaccine. Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched until
      November 5, 2015 using the keywords: tuberculosis, pulmonary TB, therapeutic
      vaccines, immunotherapy, M. vaccae, sputum smear. Randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) or 2-arm prospective studies were included. The primary outcome was the
      sputum smear clearance rate at 1 or 2 months and 6 months after treatment.
      Secondary outcomes were improvement of chest X-ray findings, sputum culture
      negative rate at 1 or 2 months and 6 months, erythrocyte sedimentation rate
      (ESR), hemoglobin, and leukocyte count, weight gain, and mortality. Of 89 records
      identified, 13 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. The number of patients
      ranged from 22 to 1337, and the mean age ranged from 26.4 to 44.3 y. Patients
      treated with M. vaccae were more likely to have negative sputum smear results at
      1-2 months (pooled OR = 2.642, 95% CI: 1.623-4.301, P < .001) and at 6 months
      (pooled OR = 2.111, 95% CI: 1.141-3.908, P = .017), and have a negative sputum
      culture at 1 or 2 months (pooled OR = 2.660, 95% CI: 1.978-3.578, P < .001). The
      results of this meta-analysis suggest that M. vaccae immunotherapy may be
      effective in the treatment of pulmonary TB.

PMID- 28604172
TI  - Opioids combined with antidepressants or antiepileptic drugs for cancer pain:
      Systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Combining antidepressant or antiepileptic drugs with opioids has
      resulted in increased pain relief when used for neuropathic pain in non-cancer
      conditions. However, evidence to support their effectiveness in cancer pain is
      lacking. AIM: To determine if there is additional benefit when opioids are
      combined with antidepressant or antiepileptic drugs for cancer pain. DESIGN:
      Systematic review and meta-analysis. Randomised control trials comparing opioid
      analgesia in combination with antidepressant or antiepileptic drugs versus opioid
      monotherapy were sought. Data on pain and adverse events were extracted. Data
      were pooled using DerSimonian-Laird random-effects meta-analyses, and
      heterogeneity was assessed. RESULTS: Seven randomised controlled trials that
      randomised 605 patients were included in the review. Patients' pain was described
      as neuropathic cancer pain, cancer bone pain and non-specific cancer pain. Four
      randomised controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis in which opioid
      in combination with either gabapentin or pregabalin was compared with opioid
      monotherapy. The pooled standardised mean difference was 0.16 (95% confidence
      interval, -0.19, 0.51) showing no significant difference in pain relief between
      the groups. Adverse events were more frequent in the combination arms. Data on
      amitriptyline, fluvoxamine and phenytoin were inconclusive. CONCLUSION: Combining
      opioid analgesia with gabapentinoids did not significantly improve pain relief in
      patients with tumour-related cancer pain compared with opioid monotherapy. Due to
      the heterogeneity of patient samples, benefit in patients with definite
      neuropathic cancer pain cannot be excluded. Clinicians should balance the small
      likelihood of benefit in patients with tumour-related cancer pain against the
      increased risk of adverse effects of combination therapy.

PMID- 28604171
TI  - Abnormal EEG Responses to TMS During the Cortical Silent Period Are Associated
      With Hand Function in Chronic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal brain excitability influences recovery after stroke at which
      time a prolonged transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-induced
      electromyographic silent period is thought to reflect abnormal inhibitory
      interneuron excitability. Cortical excitability can be probed directly during the
      silent period using concurrent electroencephalography (EEG) of TMS-evoked
      responses. OBJECTIVE: The primary study objectives were to characterize TMS
      evoked cortical potentials (TEPs) using EEG and to investigate associations with
      persistent hand and arm motor dysfunction in individuals with chronic stroke.
      METHODS: Thirteen participants with chronic stroke-related mild-moderate arm
      motor impairment and 12 matched controls completed a single TMS-EEG cortical
      excitability assessment. TEPs recorded from the vertex during cortical silent
      period (CSP) assessment and while at rest were used to evaluate differences in
      cortical excitability between stroke and control participants. Associations
      between TEPs and CSP duration with measures of upper extremity motor behavior
      were investigated. RESULTS: Significantly increased TEP component peak amplitudes
      and delayed latencies were observed for stroke participants compared with
      controls during CSP assessment and while at rest. Delayed early TEP component
      (P30) peak latencies during CSP assessment were associated with less manual
      dexterity. CSP duration was prolonged in stroke participants, and correlated with
      P30 peak latency and paretic arm dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal cortical
      excitability directly measured by early TMS-evoked EEG responses during CSP
      assessment suggests abnormal cortical inhibition is associated with hand
      dysfunction in chronic stroke. Further investigation of abnormal cortical
      inhibition in specific brain networks is necessary to characterize the salient
      neurophysiologic mechanisms contributing to persistent motor dysfunction after
      stroke.

PMID- 28604173
TI  - One More Controversy: Adeno-Associated Virus in Stem Cells.

PMID- 28604169
TI  - Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the rising pandemic of obesity has received major attention
      in many countries, the effects of this attention on trends and the disease burden
      of obesity remain uncertain. METHODS: We analyzed data from 68.5 million persons
      to assess the trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children
      and adults between 1980 and 2015. Using the Global Burden of Disease study data
      and methods, we also quantified the burden of disease related to high body-mass
      index (BMI), according to age, sex, cause, and BMI in 195 countries between 1990
      and 2015. RESULTS: In 2015, a total of 107.7 million children and 603.7 million
      adults were obese. Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in more than
      70 countries and has continuously increased in most other countries. Although the
      prevalence of obesity among children has been lower than that among adults, the
      rate of increase in childhood obesity in many countries has been greater than the
      rate of increase in adult obesity. High BMI accounted for 4.0 million deaths
      globally, nearly 40% of which occurred in persons who were not obese. More than
      two thirds of deaths related to high BMI were due to cardiovascular disease. The
      disease burden related to high BMI has increased since 1990; however, the rate of
      this increase has been attenuated owing to decreases in underlying rates of death
      from cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: The rapid increase in the prevalence
      and disease burden of elevated BMI highlights the need for continued focus on
      surveillance of BMI and identification, implementation, and evaluation of
      evidence-based interventions to address this problem. (Funded by the Bill and
      Melinda Gates Foundation.).

PMID- 28604174
TI  - Predicting and Modelling the Growth of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria in Coalho
      Cheese.
AB  - Coalho is a semihard medium- to high-moisture cheese produced in various states
      in the northeastern region of Brazil. This study was conducted to predict the
      growth kinetics (maximum growth rate, Grmax) of Escherichia coli, Listeria
      monocytogenes, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus using the ComBase predictor
      with various combinations of temperature, pH, and water activity (aw) in
      commercial Coalho cheese samples. The growth of two antibiotic-resistant
      derivative strains of L. monocytogenes (parental strains ATCC 19115 and ATCC
      7644) and S. aureus (parental strains ATCC 13565 and ATCC 19095) was measured in
      commercial Coalho cheese samples during 14 days of storage as a function of the
      initial contamination level (3 and 5 log CFU/g) and storage temperature (7.5 and
      12 degrees C). The highest Grmax values predicted by ComBase under the various
      conditions of temperature, pH, and aw were for L. monocytogenes (0.006 to 0.065
      log CFU/g/h) and S. aureus (0.003 to 0.048 log CFU/g/h). The Grmax values
      predicted by ComBase for E. coli and Salmonella were 0.007 to 0.026 and 0.008 to
      0.041 log CFU/g/h, respectively. An experimental challenge in Coalho cheese
      revealed that the populations of all tested antibiotic-resistant derivative
      strains of L. monocytogenes and S. aureus increased (>0.5 log CFU/g) by day 14 of
      storage at 7.5 or 12 degrees C. L. monocytogenes and S. aureus had higher Grmax
      values in cheese samples stored at 12 degrees C than those stored at 7.5 degrees
      C. The ComBase growth predictions under the temperature, pH, and aw conditions in
      commercial Coalho cheese samples were generally fail-safe for predicting the
      growth of L. monocytogenes and S. aureus in the actual product. These results
      indicate that Coalho cheese has pH and aw characteristics that allow the growth
      of E. coli, L. monocytogenes, Salmonella, and S. aureus. These cheeses are
      typically stored at temperatures that do not prevent the growth of these
      bacteria.

PMID- 28604175
TI  - Meat Safety: An Evaluation of Portuguese Butcher Shops.
AB  - Butcher shops are end points in the meat chain, and they can have a determinant
      role in cross-contamination control. This study aims to determine whether
      Portuguese butcher shops comply with European and Portuguese law regarding the
      sale of fresh meat and meat products. Butcher shops (n = 73) were assessed for
      meat handler and facility hygiene and for maintenance of the premises. Handlers
      (n = 88) were given a questionnaire composed of questions about knowledge and
      practice, including hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) and good
      practice in food industry, to assess their knowledge of and compliance with food
      safety practices. A checklist of 27 items was used to evaluate facility and meat
      handler hygiene and butcher shop maintenance. Our results revealed some lack of
      compliance in all the areas evaluated. The mean knowledge and practice score
      among the operators was 68.0%, and the mean "visual inspection" score for the
      butcher shops was 64.0%. Severe deficiencies were observed in the mandatory
      implementation of HACCP principles in this type of small food business. These
      findings indicate a need to modify training to enhance compliance with European
      food safety regulations at this step of the meat chain.

PMID- 28604176
TI  - Irrigation Water Sources and Time Intervals as Variables on the Presence of
      Campylobacter spp. and Listeria monocytogenes on Romaine Lettuce Grown in Muck
      Soil.
AB  - Irrigation water has been identified as a possible source of vegetable
      contamination by foodborne pathogens. Risk management for pathogens such as
      Campylobacter spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in fields can be influenced by the
      source of the irrigation water and the time interval between last irrigation and
      harvest. Plots of romaine lettuce were irrigated with manure-contaminated water
      or aerated pond water 21, 7, or 3 days prior to harvesting, and water and muck
      soil samples were collected at each irrigation treatment. Lettuce samples were
      collected at the end of the trials. The samples were tested for the presence of
      Campylobacter spp. and L. monocytogenes. Campylobacter coli was isolated from 33%
      of hog manure samples (n = 9) and from 11% of the contaminated water samples (n =
      27), but no lettuce samples were positive (n = 288). L. monocytogenes was not
      found in manure, and only one sample of manure-contaminated irrigation water (n =
      27) and one lettuce sample (n = 288) were positive. No Campylobacter or L.
      monocytogenes was recovered from the soil samples (n = 288). Because of the low
      incidence of pathogens, it was not possible to link the contamination of either
      soil or lettuce with the type of irrigation water. Nevertheless, experimental
      field trials mimicking real conditions provide new insights into the survival of
      two significant foodborne pathogens on romaine lettuce.

PMID- 28604177
TI  - Evaluation of Trace Elements in Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) from a Suburban Area
      of Naples, Italy: The "Triangle of Death".
AB  - Human exposure to contaminated food is a general health concern worldwide; it is
      necessary to evaluate food safety with respect to contaminants present in the
      edible parts of major food crops. This study evaluated the concentrations of 17
      trace elements (As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Tl, V,
      and Zn) from 51 potato plantations in the Campania region, inside the area known
      as the "Triangle of Death," with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
      analysis. Results confirm that the potatoes collected from the suburban area of
      Naples contained concentrations of trace elements below the safe limits
      prescribed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the
      World Health Organization. The concentrations of elements were similar to those
      reported for potatoes grown in other countries. Monitoring the content of toxic
      and potentially toxic elements is one of the most important aspects of food
      quality assurance. The environmental persistence of metals may result in the
      accumulation of significant levels of these contaminants in plants. They are
      absorbed to different extents, depending on their source, soil and climatic
      factors, plant genotype, and agrotechnical conditions, thereby entering the food
      chain and representing a risk to human health.

PMID- 28604178
TI  - Determinants of inequality in the up-to-date fully immunization coverage among
      children aged 24-35 months: Evidence from Zhejiang province, East China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the degree and determinants of
      inequality in up-to-date fully immunization (UTDFI) coverage among children of
      Zhejiang province, east China. METHOD: We used data from the Zhejiang provincial
      vaccination coverage survey of 2014 and the health outcome was the UTDFI status
      among children aged 24-35 months. The household income per month was used as an
      index of socio-economic status for the inequality analysis. The concentration
      index (CI) was used to quantify the degree of inequality and the decomposition
      approach was applied to quantify the contributions from demographic factors to
      inequality in UTDFI coverage. RESULTS: The UTDFI coverage was 80.63% and the CI
      for UTDFI coverage was 0.12028 (95% CI: 0.10852-0.13175), indicating that
      immunization practice significantly favored children with relatively higher socio
      economic status. The results of decomposition analysis suggested that 68.2% of
      the socio-economic inequality in UTDFI coverage should be explained by the
      mother's education level. Furthermore, factors such as birth order, ethnic group,
      maternal employment status, residence, immigration status, GDP per-capital and
      percentage of public health spending of the total health spending also could
      explain the disparity in UTDFI coverage. CONCLUSION: There exists inequality in
      UTDFI coverage among the socio-economic disadvantage children. Health
      interventions of narrowing the socio-economic inequality in UTDFI coverage will
      benefit from being supplemented with strategies aimed at poverty and illiteracy
      reduction.

PMID- 28604180
TI  - Cervical angiomyofibroblastoma: a case report and review of literature.

PMID- 28604179
TI  - Bolus administration of intravenous lidocaine reduces pain after an elective
      caesarean section: Findings from a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled
      trial.
AB  - We conducted a randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess
      whether a bolus dose of lidocaine during the induction of general anaesthesia
      would reduce postoperative pain over 24 h. Level of satisfaction with pain
      control at 48 h after surgery and Apgar score were also examined. A total of 100
      women aged 20-35 years, who were candidates for elective caesarean section (CS)
      were randomised to receive either 1.5 mg/kg lidocaine or placebo during the
      induction of general anaesthesia. Results showed that lidocaine decreased pain
      intensity over 24 h after surgery (p < .001), and decreased postoperative
      morphine consumption from median (range) of 3.79 (0-9) mg in the placebo group to
      0 (0-12) mg and in the lidocaine group (p <.001). Lidocaine was not associated
      with postoperative nausea and vomiting or any side effects in women and newborn
      babies. We conclude that a small bolus dose of lidocaine attenuates postoperative
      pain, thus reducing the requirement for opioid consumption in the postoperative
      period. Impact statement * With its anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperalgesic and
      analgesic properties, intravenous perioperative lidocaine infusion (IVLI) has
      been used for optimal postoperative care in different surgeries. Limited evidence
      suggests that IVLI may be a useful adjuvant during general anaesthesia. There is
      a report of a positive effect on several outcomes after surgery including
      postoperative pain over 24 h after laparoscopic abdominal surgery or open
      abdominal surgery. However, there was a paucity of information regarding the
      efficacy of a bolus dose of lidocaine in patients undergoing caesarean section
      (CS). In this randomized, placebo-controlled trial the use of a bolus dose of 1.5
      mg/kg lidocaine 2%, compared with placebo, during the induction of general
      anaesthesia for elective CS resulted in a significant decrease in postoperative
      pain score as well as decreased postoperative morphine consumption over 24 h.
      Lidocaine use was not associated with any side effect in participants and
      newborns. * This study provides the first evidence that a bolus dose of lidocaine
      may be a safe and simple alternative therapeutic intervention for enhanced
      postoperative recovery in terms of pain and postoperative opioid consumption.
      Future studies are needed to examine pain reducing effect of perioperative bolus
      dose of lidocaine after CS under spinal or epidural anesthesia.

PMID- 28604181
TI  - Reference values for maternal total and differential leukocyte counts in
      different trimesters of pregnancy and the initial postpartum period in western
      Turkey.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in the leukocyte and
      differential leukocyte counts in different trimesters of pregnancy and the
      initial postpartum period. The study population consisted of 40,325 pregnant
      women. A full blood count and automated differential leukocyte count were
      performed and all the haemogram results in the different trimesters of pregnancy
      were recorded. Percentiles were calculated using statistical software. A total of
      82,786 complete blood count evaluations were performed in 40,325 subjects from
      the 6th to 41st week of pregnancy and in the initial postpartum period. The
      leukocyte counts increased from the 1st to the 3rd trimester and peaked in the
      initial postpartum period. Our reference values for the total and differential
      leukocyte counts may assist clinicians in distinguishing between leukocytosis and
      pathological elevation of the white blood cell count during pregnancy and the
      initial postpartum period. Impact statement Pregnancy requires profound
      adaptation by multiple systems to accommodate the demands of the developing
      foetus. Similar to all other systems, many haematological changes occur during
      pregnancy. Studies of normal variation in leukocyte counts were insufficient to
      distinguish normal from abnormal leukocyte counts during pregnancy and in the
      initial postpartum period, due to small numbers of patients and a lack of
      differential leukocyte counts. Without reference leukocyte levels, infections may
      be more difficult to assess during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. In
      this study, we report the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 50th, 95th and 99th percentile values
      for the total and differential leukocyte counts according to trimester in normal
      pregnancy and the initial postpartum period. Our reference values for the total
      and differential leukocyte counts in each trimester and the initial postpartum
      period may assist clinicians in distinguishing between normal leukocytosis and
      pathological elevation of the white blood cell count during pregnancy and the
      initial postpartum period. Our results may prevent misdiagnosis of physiological
      elevated leukocytes as bacterial infection that leads to unnecessary medication
      use that may compromise the foetus.

PMID- 28604182
TI  - The magnitude of elevated maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin and
      pregnancy complications.
AB  - This study assessed the correlation between the magnitude of the elevation in
      maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (MShCG) levels and pregnancy
      complications. Among 80,716 screened pregnancies, 120 with moderately elevated
      MShCG (3.00-5.99 MoM) were compared to 84 with extremely elevated MShCG >6.00
      MoM. A control series of 120 women with normal MShCG (<3.00 MoM) were matched.
      Rates of intrauterine growth restriction, preterm labour, antepartum foetal death
      (APFD), pre-eclampsia, and placental abruption were analysed. We found that the
      study group had more adverse outcomes than the control group (73/204 [36%] vs.
      18/120 [15%]; p < .0001). The rate was higher in the extremely elevated group
      than in the moderately elevated group (43/84 [51%] vs. 30/120 [25%]; p < .0001).
      All 12 cases of APFD (14%) occurred among the extremely elevated series. In
      conclusion, adverse pregnancy outcomes are more common in women with extremely
      elevated MShCG. The patients should receive counselling regarding this trend and
      undergo close pregnancy monitoring. Impact statement * What is already known on
      this subject?In addition to its contribution to Down syndrome (DS) screening,
      maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (MShCG) levels are a marker for
      pregnancy complications such as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), preterm
      labour (PTL), antepartum fatal death (APFD), pre-eclampsia (PE), placental
      abruption (PA) and fetal malformations with or without chromosomal aberrations. *
      What the results of this study add? We found that in the presence of elevated
      MShCG levels, the incidence of IUGR and PTL increased. PE increased clinically,
      but statistical significance was seen only when MShCG was extremely elevated (>=
      6.00 MoM). APFD and PA were associated with very high MShCG levels only. * What
      the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further
      research? Women with high MShCG levels should be counselled. In case of very high
      levels (>= 6.00 MoM), the risk of APFD and PA should be discussed. The pregnancy
      should be monitored for IUGR, PTL and PE. In view of the limited number of
      enrolled patients with very high levels of MShCG, the experience of other
      institutions is needed to corroborate these findings.

PMID- 28604183
TI  - Treatment of an internal carotid artery aneurysm with a flow diverter through a
      double lumen balloon catheter.
AB  - Background Double lumen balloon catheters (DLBCs) are currently used in the
      treatment of intracranial aneurysms, especially when involving balloon or stent
      assisted coiling. The existing DLBCs allow the delivery of self-expandable stents
      but do not offer the possibility to deploy flow-diverters. Despite the increasing
      use and success of flow-diverters, there have been numerous reports of procedural
      complications such as early in-stent thrombosis or delayed distal embolization.
      It seems that these complications can be avoided by correct stent positioning and
      adequate wall apposition, achieved either by manoeuvres with the microguidewire
      and/or microcatheter or by performing balloon angioplasty following an exchange
      guidewire manoeuvre. Objective Report the use of a new DLBC able to deliver a
      flow-diverter. Methods A 41-year-old woman presented to our hospital with
      binocular horizontal diplopia for two weeks and reduced visual acuity. A left
      internal carotid artery aneurysm involving the cavernous and ophthalmic segments
      was found, with a maximum height of 19 mm and a broad 8 mm neck. It presented
      extra- and intra-dural components and the parent vessel was significantly
      narrowed. A decision was made to perform endovascular treatment of the aneurysm
      with placement of a flow diverter through a DLBC. Results Patency and adequate
      expansion of the flow diverter with evident intra-aneurysmal contrast stasis was
      observed in the final angiogram. No peri-procedural complications were observed.
      Conclusion This is a technical note demonstrating the feasibility of a new device
      to deploy a flow diverter, aiming to improve wall apposition and stent
      configuration without the need of additional devices or exchange manoeuvres.

PMID- 28604184
TI  - Obituary.

PMID- 28604185
TI  - Cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistula treated by facial vein direct
      puncture: Case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Introduction In case of cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistula (CSDAVF),
      transvenous embolization (TVE) of the cavernous sinus (CS) via the inferior
      petrosal sinus (IPS) is generally performed. However, various approach routes
      have been reported when the accessibility of the IPS is challenging. We herein
      report a case of CSDAVF treated by TVE with direct puncture of the facial vein.
      Case report A 70-year-old woman who suffered from tinnitus, chemosis, diplopia
      and bruit was referred to our hospital. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA)
      demonstrated CSDAVF. We initially attempted to perform TVE via the IPS route;
      however, we could not guide a catheter to the CS because of an anatomical
      difficulty. Then, we performed percutaneous direct puncture of the dilated facial
      vein, and successfully treated the patient. Conclusion When navigating
      microcatheter to the CS is difficult because of an anatomical difficulty of the
      IPS, direct puncture of the facial vein is a feasible route.

PMID- 28604186
TI  - Mechanical removal of a refluxed Onyx piece from the middle cerebral artery using
      the Solitaire Stent: Technical report.
AB  - Onyx reflux into the parent artery is a rare and sometimes significant
      complication in the treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). We
      report a patient who presented with Onyx reflux into the M1 segment of the middle
      cerebral artery (MCA) during embolization of a right temporal AVM. The refluxed
      Onyx cast was successfully removed by a mechanical thrombectomy device using a
      self-expandable and fully retrievable Solitaire AB stent.

PMID- 28604187
TI  - In vitro digital subtraction angiographic evaluation of flow diverters in a
      patient-specific aneurysm.
AB  - Background The importance of both porosity and pore density of a flow diverter is
      well recognized in treatment of intracranial aneurysms; however, understanding of
      the effect of individual wire (wire number and size) is critical in improving
      device design and use. Methods A total of 10 multi-layered flow diverters with
      different wire numbers (32, 48, 56, and 72) and sizes (30, 35, and 40 um) were
      implanted into identical patient-specific middle cerebral artery aneurysm models.
      Digital subtraction angiography was acquired at 30 f/s and X-ray signals at three
      selected regions of interest were compared to determine the amount of intra
      aneurysmal flow. Results Flow reduction ranged from 19% for a high porosity (82%)
      and low pore density (5 pores/mm2) to nearly 80% for a low porosity (49%) and
      high pore density (36 pores/mm2). An increase in the wire number from 32 to 72
      lowers intra-aneurysmal flow and redirects the flow jet; however, the effect of
      wire size is not observed. Conclusions In our in vitro angiographic study, flow
      jet is influenced by the wire number in a device qualitatively; quantitatively,
      intra-aneurysmal flow is affected by both the porosity and pore density. A 2.5 mm
      device performs better in flow diversion of a middle cerebral artery (MCA)
      aneurysm than a 3 mm device with the same wire size and wire number, but thicker
      wires do not lead to better flow diversion.

PMID- 28604188
TI  - Correlation between clot density and recanalization success or stroke etiology in
      acute ischemic stroke patients.
AB  - Background Predicting recanalization success for patients undergoing endovascular
      treatment for acute ischemic stroke is of significant interest. Studies have
      previously correlated the success of recanalization with the density of the clot.
      We evaluated clot density and its relationship to revascularization success and
      stroke etiology. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of 118 patients
      undergoing intra-arterial therapy for acute ischemic stroke. Mean and maximum
      thrombus density was measured by drawing a circular region of interest on an
      axial slice of a non-contrast computed tomography scan. T-tests were used to
      compare clot density to recanalization success or to stroke etiology, namely
      large artery atherosclerosis and cardioembolism. Recanalization success was
      compared in four device groups: aspiration, stent retriever, aspiration and stent
      retriever, and all other. Results There was no significant difference in the mean
      clot density in patients with successful ( n = 80) versus unsuccessful
      recanalization ( n = 38, 50.1 +/- 7.4 Hounsfield unit (HU) vs. 53 +/- 12.7 HU; P
      = 0.17). Comparing the large artery thromboembolism ( n = 35) to the
      cardioembolic etiology group ( n = 56), there was no significant difference in
      mean clot density (51.5 +/- 7.7 HU vs. 49.7 +/- 8.5 HU; P = 0.31). A subgroup
      analysis of middle cerebral artery occlusions ( n = 65) showed similar, non
      statistically significant differences between groups. There was no difference in
      the rate of recanalization success in patients with a mean clot density greater
      than 50 HU or less than 50 HU in each of the four device groups. Conclusions
      There was no relationship between clot density and revascularization success or
      stroke etiology in our study. More research is needed to determine if clot
      density can predict recanalization rates or indicate etiology.

PMID- 28604189
TI  - Utility of single-energy and dual-energy computed tomography in clot
      characterization: An in-vitro study.
AB  - Background and purpose Because computed tomography (CT) is the most commonly used
      imaging modality for the evaluation of acute ischemic stroke patients, developing
      CT-based techniques for improving clot characterization could prove useful. The
      purpose of this in-vitro study was to determine which single-energy or dual
      energy CT techniques provided optimum discrimination between red blood cell (RBC)
      and fibrin-rich clots. Materials and methods Seven clot types with varying fibrin
      and RBC densities were made (90% RBC, 99% RBC, 63% RBC, 36% RBC, 18% RBC and 0%
      RBC with high and low fibrin density) and their composition was verified
      histologically. Ten of each clot type were created and scanned with a second
      generation dual source scanner using three single (80 kV, 100 kV, 120 kV) and two
      dual-energy protocols (80/Sn 140 kV and 100/Sn 140 kV). A region of interest
      (ROI) was placed over each clot and mean attenuation was measured. Receiver
      operating characteristic curves were calculated at each energy level to determine
      the accuracy at differentiating RBC-rich clots from fibrin-rich clots. Results
      Clot attenuation increased with RBC content at all energy levels. Single-energy
      at 80 kV and 120 kV and dual-energy 80/Sn 140 kV protocols allowed for
      distinguishing between all clot types, with the exception of 36% RBC and 18% RBC.
      On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the 80/Sn 140 kV dual-energy
      protocol had the highest area under the curve for distinguishing between fibrin
      rich and RBC-rich clots (area under the curve 0.99). Conclusions Dual-energy CT
      with 80/Sn 140 kV had the highest accuracy for differentiating RBC-rich and
      fibrin-rich in-vitro thrombi. Further studies are needed to study the utility of
      non-contrast dual-energy CT in thrombus characterization in acute ischemic
      stroke.

PMID- 28604190
TI  - The use of a stent-retriever to cause mechanical dilatation of a vasospasm
      secondary to iatrogenic subarachnoid haemorrhage.
AB  - Objective To report the use of a stent-retriever in the management of vasospasm
      secondary to craniopharyngioma resection. Postoperative improvement was seen both
      clinically and on perfusion imaging. Methods A patient was admitted for resection
      of a large craniopharygioma. On day 6 postoperatively the patient had an acute
      hemiparesis. A computed tomography angiogram and perfusion scan demonstrated
      acute right-sided cerebral vasospasm and a perfusion defect in the territory of
      the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Results A pREset 4 * 20 mm stent-retriever was
      used to dilate the M1 and proximal M2 segments of the right MCA mechanically.
      This resulted in immediate dilatation of the spastic segment and improvement in
      the transit time on the angiogram. There was an improvement in the clinical
      status post-procedure and a computed tomography perfusion performed 24 hours
      after the procedure showed symmetrical perfusion. A computed tomography angiogram
      and magnetic resonance imaging performed 1 week later showed a symmetrical
      appearance to the MCA and no evidence of restricted diffusion. Conclusion The use
      of commercially available stent-retrievers can cause mechanical dilatation of
      vasospastic vessels. The stents do not need to be deployed for a prolonged period
      nor do they need to be implanted to have a prolonged dilatory effect on the
      spastic vessels.

PMID- 28604193
TI  - After the horror, the heroes.
AB  - All of us will have felt shock and horror over the Manchester Arena bombing. That
      someone could descend into the barbarism required to target young concert goers
      is beyond belief. But after the horror came the heroes, as children's nurses
      stood shoulder to shoulder. The public was informed of the courage, dedication
      and commitment of the emergency services and NHS staff.

PMID- 28604191
TI  - Establishing a new appropriate intramuscular injection site in the deltoid
      muscle.
AB  - It is becoming increasingly important for clinicians to identify a safer
      intramuscular (IM) injection site in the deltoid muscle because of possible
      complications following the vaccine administration of IM injections. We herein
      examined 4 original IM sites located on the perpendicular line through the mid
      acromion to establish a safer IM injection site. Thirty healthy volunteers
      participated in this study and the distances from our 4 IM sites to some
      anatomical landmarks on their left arms were measured. Ultrasonography (US) was
      also performed to measure the thickness of the deltoid muscle and identify the
      posterior circumflex humeral artery (PCHA) along the course of the axillary
      nerve. Subcutaneous thickness was measured using 2 methods: measuring the skin
      thickness with caliper after pinching the skin, and with US. The results obtained
      revealed that the intersection between the anteroposterior axillary line (the
      line between the upper end of the anterior axillary line and the upper end of the
      posterior axillary line) and the perpendicular line from the mid-acromion was the
      most appropriate site for IM injections because it was distant from the axillary
      nerve, PCHA, and subdeltoid/subacromial brusa. At this site, depth of needle
      insertions was 5 mm greater than the subcutaneous thickness at a 90 degrees 
      angle, which was sufficient to penetrate subcutaneous tissue in both sexes.
      Subcutaneous thickness can be assessed with almost the same accuracy by US or
      measuring with calipers after pinching the skin. The results of the present study
      support the improved vaccine practice for safer IM injections.

PMID- 28604195
TI  - Cancer nurse and patient have chance meeting.
AB  - A nursing student who survived cancer as a child was recently reunited with the
      nurse who helped save her life and says she wants to inspire others to take up
      the career.

PMID- 28604194
TI  - Barriers to addressing childhood weight issues in acute care settings and how to
      overcome them.
AB  - Excess weight and obesity in childhood is a global problem, with UK prevalence
      unfavourably high. Despite national policy recommendations and professional
      guidelines that nurses should address the issue, research shows that practice is
      not consistent. This literature review identifies barriers nurses face in
      addressing childhood weight issues with families in acute healthcare settings.
      Three interlinked themes are identified: parental receptiveness; knowledge,
      education and resource constraints; and time, priority and continuity
      constraints. Senior managers, particularly those working in acute settings, must
      prioritise measures to tackle childhood obesity and excessive weight to enable
      nurses to address the issue. Additionally, further UK-specific research is needed
      to explore the barriers perceived by nurses and how these affect local practices.
      Children's nursing education and practice should include obesity recognition and
      prevention to increase nurses' confidence and abilities in tackling childhood
      obesity, despite perceived parental barriers.

PMID- 28604196
TI  - Many people still fear child illness.
AB  - One in four people show a 'worrying' lack of understanding about children's
      hospices and palliative care, a survey shows.

PMID- 28604199
TI  - Nurses most likely to seek consent for holding.
AB  - An international study has found that, despite guidance, healthcare professionals
      do not always seek families' consent to their children being held during clinical
      procedures.

PMID- 28604200
TI  - Allergenic foods should be introduced earlier in life to cut risks of developing
      allergies.
AB  - A US review into allergenic food tolerance has found that early introduction to
      specific food types can reduce the risks of allergy development.

PMID- 28604201
TI  - Children become less physically active as they progress through primary school.
AB  - Children spend less time undertaking physical activity as they progress through
      primary school, research has found.

PMID- 28604203
TI  - Experiences of a child and adolescent mental health service.
AB  - Aim To explore the experiences of children, young people and their families
      attending their first appointments with a child and adolescent mental health
      service (CAMHS) clinic. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a
      sample of 17 family groups who attended an outpatient clinic. Findings Four
      themes were identified: telling traumatic events, feeling the stigma associated
      with mental ill health, experience of being in unfamiliar territory and having a
      therapeutic connection. Conclusion Families attribute significant meaning to
      their first engagement with CAMHS. Practitioners need to be cognisant of the
      importance of this first encounter for families and offer clear information for
      children and young people before their first appointments.

PMID- 28604206
TI  - Websites providing support for parents of children with learning disabilities
      when they undergo clinical procedures.
AB  - It is known that children and young people with learning disabilities, also known
      as intellectual disabilities, can experience high levels of fear and distress
      when undergoing clinical procedures.

PMID- 28604207
TI  - Is it time for nurses to go on strike?
AB  - It is fair to say that nursing morale is low and public trust in the NHS is being
      chipped away. Every headline in the media seems to be about the problems faced by
      the NHS, with too few beds and nurses, and too little money.

PMID- 28604208
TI  - 'Advocate for your patients and do your best'.
AB  - Why did you become a nurse? I am a learning disability nurse who has spent a
      large part of my career working with children who have a learning disability and
      their families in the community. My experiences in supporting children have
      enabled me to consider their holistic needs across all areas of service and
      community provision.

PMID- 28604209
TI  - A literature review exploring role transitions in caring for a child requiring
      long-term ventilationIn recent years, the UK and other high-income countries have
      seen an increase in the use of long-term ventilation (LTV) in paediatric
      intensive care ( Neupane et al 2015 ). Children who need LTV often stay in
      hospital for 28 days or more.
AB  - Government policies advocate that children should be cared for at home ( Noyes et
      al 2006 ), although medically stable LTV children often stay in hospital months
      longer than is necessary ( NHS England 2015 ). Research shows that parents of
      these children develop a dual role as parents and nurses, which leads to role
      conflict and ambiguity ( Hewitt-Taylor 2011 ).

PMID- 28604210
TI  - Children with autism need better hospital care, says RCN.
AB  - Nurses have called for improvements to the care of children with autism in
      hospitals and the community. About 1% of children in the UK have autism spectrum
      disorder (ASD), which affects social interaction, behaviour and communication.
      However, as healthcare services are pushed to breaking point, support for such
      children is dwindling, the RCN warns.

PMID- 28604211
TI  - New guidelines on recognising stroke.
AB  - Updated guidelines on recognising the signs of stroke in children have been
      published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the
      Stroke Association.

PMID- 28604212
TI  - Joubert syndrome.
AB  - Named after the French doctor who first described this rare neurological
      condition, Joubert syndrome is characterised by developmental delay, hypotonia,
      ataxia and oculomotor apraxia.

PMID- 28604213
TI  - Updated perinatal palliative standards emphasise choice and bereavement support.
AB  - Ana Todorovic's baby, Nadia, died just before birth. Ana says she received
      excellent care and was told when 37 weeks pregnant that Nadia was not going to
      survive for long.

PMID- 28604215
TI  - Faltering growth.
AB  - Essential facts Faltering growth, previously called failure to thrive, refers to
      a slower rate of weight gain in childhood than expected for age and sex. While
      newborns normally lose weight in the first days of life, persisting or large
      weight losses can cause concern.

PMID- 28604214
TI  - Evaluation of a drop-in clinic for young people with attention deficit
      hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - Aims To implement and evaluate a nurse-led, multi-agency drop-in clinic for young
      people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method A repeated
      measures observational study over 12 months exploring clinic attendance and user
      satisfaction, crisis management and did not attend (DNA) rates, consultant time
      spent with patients, benefits to quality of care, and service flexibility.
      Results A total of 62 service users participated. A significant improvement in
      service user experience was observed (P=0.001). Crisis management attendances
      significantly increased (P=0.005). DNA rates did not reduce significantly
      (P=0.057). Service users attended for their medication review before or on their
      due date (P=0.011). Those who needed to were able to spend more time with the
      staff (P=0.001). Conclusion The clinic improved service accessibility and
      flexibility. It allowed adherence to clinical guidance, including uptake of
      psychosocial interventions. There was an overwhelmingly positive improvement in
      service user experience. Importantly, as contact with the ADHD nurse specialists
      increased, this significantly reduced the amount of time consultant community
      paediatricians spent with service users. Further research should examine the cost
      effectiveness and longitudinal effect of the drop-in model.

PMID- 28604216
TI  - Assisted therapy with dogs in cancer services.
AB  - Background [Figure: see text] Healthcare professionals are keen to find
      alternative therapies to reduce the stress of hospital admissions, especially in
      the treatment of cancer. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) involves using animals to
      help improve patients' health and well-being, and can alleviate stressful
      situations.

PMID- 28604217
TI  - Assisted therapy with dogs is an effective tool.
AB  - Cases of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) have been documented as far back as 1869,
      when Florence Nightingale used it with her patients ( Goddard and Gilmer 2015 ).

PMID- 28604218
TI  - Mental health and well-being of parents caring for a ventilator-dependent child.
AB  - An integrative literature review was undertaken to determine the social and
      emotional effects on the mental health and well-being of parents of children
      requiring long-term ventilation at home. Six studies were included. Recurrent
      themes reported in the literature included lack of formal and informal support,
      financial adversity, limited access to respite care and feelings of social
      isolation. These themes were associated with depressive symptoms and were
      consistently reported to have a negative effect on parental mental health and
      well-being. Healthcare professionals have a part to play in improving parents'
      coping skills, resilience and resourcefulness to help reduce adverse social and
      emotional effects on their mental health and well-being.

PMID- 28604219
TI  - Potentiation of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission at the parabrachial
      central amygdala synapses by CGRP in mice.
AB  - The capsular part of the central amygdala (CeC) is called the "nociceptive
      amygdala," as it receives nociceptive information from various pathways,
      including monosynaptic input from the lateral part of the parabrachial nucleus
      (LPB), a major target of ascending neurons in the spinal and medullary dorsal
      horn. LPB-CeC synaptic transmission is mediated by glutamate but the fibers from
      the LPB also contain calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and the CeC is rich
      in CGRP-binding sites. CGRP might be released in response to strong nociception
      and activate these CGRP receptors. Though it has been shown that CGRP affects the
      excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) amplitude at this synapse in a manner
      sensitive to NMDA receptor (NMDA-R) blockers, the effect of CGRP on postsynaptic
      NMDA-R-mediated current recorded in isolation has never been directly examined.
      Thus, we evaluated the effects of CGRP on NMDA-R-mediated EPSCs that were
      pharmacologically isolated in brain slices from naive mice. CGRP significantly
      increased the amplitude of EPSCs mediated by NMDA-Rs in a manner dependent on
      protein kinase A activation, but not that mediated by alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5
      methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors, in concentration-dependent and
      antagonist-sensitive manners. This CGRP-induced potentiation of synaptic NMDA-R
      function would have a potent impact on the strengthening of the nociception
      emotion link in persistent pain.

PMID- 28604220
TI  - Peripheral inflammatory injury alters the relative abundance of Galpha subunits
      in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and in the rostral ventromedial medulla of
      male rats.
AB  - Abstract: A diverse array of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is implicated in
      the modulation of nociception. The efficacy and potency of several GPCR agonists
      change as a consequence of peripheral inflammatory injury. Whether these changes
      reflect alterations in expression of the G proteins themselves is not known. This
      study examined the expression of transcripts and proteins for the alpha subunits
      of three classes of heteromeric G proteins in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord
      and the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) of male rats four days and two weeks
      after intraplantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or saline.
      Levels of Galpha transcript in the dorsal horn or RVM were unchanged by CFA
      treatment. However, in the dorsal horn, Galphai protein decreased in cytosolic
      and membrane fractions four days after CFA treatment. Levels of Galphaz protein
      decreased in the membrane fraction. Levels of the other Galpha subunits did not
      differ. Levels of the Galpha subunits were unchanged two weeks after CFA
      treatment. In the RVM, Galphaz protein levels decreased in the cytosolic fraction
      four days after CFA treatment. No other differences were observed. Two weeks
      after CFA, the levels for all Galpha subunits trended higher in the RVM. These
      data indicate that peripheral inflammatory injury induces subtle changes in the
      abundance of Galpha subunits that is specific with respect to class, subcellular
      compartment, tissue, and time after injury. These changes have the potential to
      alter the balance of the different subcellular signaling pathways through which
      GPCR agonists act to modulate nociception.

PMID- 28604221
TI  - Slack KNa Channels Influence Dorsal Horn Synapses and Nociceptive Behavior.
AB  - Abstract: The sodium-activated potassium channel Slack (Kcnt1, Slo2.2) is highly
      expressed in dorsal root ganglion neurons where it regulates neuronal firing.
      Several studies have implicated the Slack channel in pain processing, but the
      precise mechanism or the levels within the sensory pathway where channels are
      involved remain unclear. Here, we furthered the behavioral characterization of
      Slack channel knockout mice and for the first time examined the role of Slack
      channels in the superficial, pain-processing lamina of the dorsal horn. We
      performed whole-cell recordings from spinal cord slices to examine the intrinsic
      and synaptic properties of putative inhibitory and excitatory lamina II
      interneurons. Slack channel deletion altered intrinsic properties and synaptic
      drive to favor an overall enhanced excitatory tone. We measured the amplitudes
      and paired pulse ratio of paired excitatory post-synaptic currents at primary
      afferent synapses evoked by electrical stimulation of the dorsal root entry zone.
      We found a substantial decrease in the paired pulse ratio at synapses in Slack
      deleted neurons compared to wildtype, indicating increased presynaptic release
      from primary afferents. Corroborating these data, plantar test showed Slack
      knockout mice have an enhanced nociceptive responsiveness to localized thermal
      stimuli compared to wildtype mice. Our findings suggest that Slack channels
      regulate synaptic transmission within the spinal cord dorsal horn and by doing so
      establishes the threshold for thermal nociception.

PMID- 28604223
TI  - Soft-Tissue Enhancement Combined With Biologically Oriented Preparation Technique
      to Correct Volumetric Bone Defects: A Clinical Case Report.
AB  - The aim of the present case report was to illustrate how to obtain an ideal
      alveolar ridge contour by means of peri-implant soft-tissue management combined
      with the prosthetic approach of the biologically oriented preparation technique
      (BOPT). A patient presenting a moderate vertical and horizontal bone loss in the
      posterior maxilla was treated with sinus floor elevation and simultaneous implant
      placement. During the reentry procedure, the horizontal defect was corrected with
      an apically repositioned flap combined with a connective tissue graft. To
      increase the volume of the interimplant papillae, a pedunculated flap originating
      from the primary flap was turned within the interimplant space. BOPT one-time
      abutments have been employed to maximize the space available for the papilla-like
      tissues. A focused and combined surgical and prosthetic procedure has permitted
      enhancement of both peri-implant esthetics and function without the need for
      further invasive and costly bone regeneration techniques.

PMID- 28604224
TI  - Arts-based palliative care training, education and staff development: A scoping
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The experience of art offers an emerging field in healthcare staff
      development, much of which is appropriate to the practice of palliative care. The
      workings of aesthetic learning interventions such as interactive theatre in
      relation to palliative and end-of-life care staff development programmes are
      widely uncharted. AIM: To investigate the use of aesthetic learning interventions
      used in palliative and end-of-life care staff development programmes. DESIGN:
      Scoping review. DATA SOURCES: Published literature from 1997 to 2015, MEDLINE,
      CINAHL and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, key journals and citation
      tracking. RESULTS: The review included 138 studies containing 60 types of art.
      Studies explored palliative care scenarios from a safe distance. Learning from
      art as experience involved the amalgamation of action, emotion and meaning. Art
      forms were used to transport healthcare professionals into an aesthetic learning
      experience that could be reflected in the lived experience of healthcare
      practice. The proposed learning included the development of practical and
      technical skills; empathy and compassion; awareness of self; awareness of others
      and the wider narrative of illness; and personal development. CONCLUSION:
      Aesthetic learning interventions might be helpful in the delivery of palliative
      care staff development programmes by offering another dimension to the learning
      experience. As researchers continue to find solutions to understanding the
      efficacy of such interventions, we argue that evaluating the contextual factors,
      including the interplay between the experience of the programme and its impact on
      the healthcare professional, will help identify how the programmes work and thus
      how they can contribute to improvements in palliative care.

PMID- 28604222
TI  - Primary sensory neuron-specific interference of TRPV1 signaling by AAV-encoded
      TRPV1 peptide aptamer attenuates neuropathic pain.
AB  - Background: TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member 1) is
      a pain signaling channel highly expressed in primary sensory neurons. Attempts
      for analgesia by systemic TRPV1 blockade produce undesirable side effects, such
      as hyperthermia and impaired heat pain sensation. One approach for TRPV1
      analgesia is to target TRPV1 along the peripheral sensory pathway. Results: For
      functional blockade of TRPV1 signaling, we constructed an adeno-associated virus
      (AAV) vector expressing a recombinant TRPV1 interfering peptide aptamer, derived
      from a 38mer tetrameric assembly domain (TAD), encompassing residues 735 to 772
      of rat TRPV1, fused to the C-terminus of enhanced green fluorescent protein
      (EGFP). AAV-targeted sensory neurons expressing EGFP-TAD after vector injection
      into the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) revealed decreased inward calcium current and
      diminished intracellular calcium accumulation in response to capsaicin, compared
      to neurons of naive or expressing EGFP alone. To examine the potential for
      treating neuropathic pain, AAV-EGFP-TAD was injected into fourth and fifth lumbar
      (L) DRGs of rats subjected to neuropathic pain by tibial nerve injury (TNI).
      Results showed that AAV-directed selective expression of EGFP-TAD in L4/L5 DRG
      neuron somata, and their peripheral and central axonal projections can limit TNI
      induced neuropathic pain behavior, including hypersensitivity to heat and, to a
      less extent, mechanical stimulation. Conclusion: Selective inhibition of TRPV1
      activity in primary sensory neurons by DRG delivery of AAV-encoded analgesic
      interfering peptide aptamers is efficacious in attenuation of neuropathic pain.
      With further improvements of vector constructs and in vivo application, this
      approach might have the potential to develop as an alternative gene therapy
      strategy to treat chronic pain, especially heat hypersensitivity, without
      complications due to systemic TRPV1 blockade.

PMID- 28604225
TI  - The impact of clinical and genetic factors on ticagrelor and clopidogrel
      antiplatelet therapy.
AB  - AIM: To determine clinically significant factors which may alter the effect of
      dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and ticagrelor or clopidogrel in patients
      who had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention and stent implantation.
      MATERIALS & METHODS: The study included 378 patients. All the patients had
      undergone percutaneous coronary intervention and stent implantation. Platelet
      aggregation and genotyping for CYP2C19 *2 (rs4244285) and CYP4F2 (rs2108622,
      rs1558139, rs3093135 and rs2074902) was performed. RESULTS: Significantly lower
      platelet aggregation values (%agr) were detected in ticagrelor users who carried
      CYP4F2 rs3093135 TT variant (14.67 +/- 5.07%agr) versus AA (22.88 +/- 6.30%agr),
      p = 0.0004, or AT (20.56 +/- 6.51%agr), p = 0.0126. CONCLUSION: Results of the
      current study showed that CYP4F2 rs3093135 TT variant carriers had a higher
      antiplatelet effect of ticagrelor, and more frequently had nonprocedural bleeding
      during ticagrelor therapy, as compared with AA and AT variant carriers.

PMID- 28604226
TI  - Global Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity.

PMID- 28604227
TI  - On the violation of hospitalized patients' rights: A qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nurses have always been known as an advocate for the rights of
      patients. The recognition of what is perceived as the violation of patients'
      rights can help nurses to understand patients' concerns and priorities. Thus, it
      helps nurses play their supportive roles more effectively. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this study was to explore different dimensions of the violation of patients'
      rights. RESEARCH DESIGN: Data were collected utilizing unstructured interviews
      and field notes. Data analysis was conducted using the qualitative content
      analysis approach. Prolonged engagement, maximum variation sampling, and member
      check were among the factors which enriched the research. Participants and
      research context: The sample consisted of 18 patients and 11 members of their
      families. They were purposively selected from two hospitals in Tehran during 2009
      2012. Ethical considerations: The research was approved by the Ethics Committee
      of the university and hospitals. FINDING: The patients' rights were violated in a
      variety of ways. There were three main dimensions to this issue: (a) care
      recession including deprivation of the caregiver's presence and the delay/lack of
      needed responses; (b) receiving mechanical care including superficiality, lack of
      emotion, and failure to understand the situation; and (c) being disrespected
      including humility and aggression. CONCLUSION: The patients and their families
      consider any shortcomings in relation to the patient and the quality of care as
      the violation of the rights. The findings of the study imply sensitizing managers
      toward providing appropriate conditions as well as educating nurses to observe
      patients' rights. It is suggested that the processes leading to the violation of
      patients' rights be discovered and prevented in the future.

PMID- 28604228
TI  - A Developmental Model of Clergy Engagement With Suicide.
AB  - Clergy have a key role in suicide prevention but report being undertrained,
      perhaps because a model that captures the competencies needed to engage suicide
      in faith communities and how these skills develop has not previously been
      available. Using grounded theory, this study addressed this gap by generating a
      developmental rubric based on interviews with 19 Protestant clergy, which were
      analyzed using a constant comparative method and were checked by interviewees
      operating at the highest level of development. The final 10 dimensions described
      over four developmental stages are (a) knowing role as clergy, (b) listening, (c)
      confidence, (d) risk assessment, (e) referral, (f) self-care, (g) community
      building, (h) postvention: ministering to survivors, (i) conducting memorial
      services or memorial ceremonies, and (j) clergy guilt. Results are based on
      clergy's intuitive categories and provide a usable rubric for developing suicide
      prevention training for clergy.

PMID- 28604229
TI  - Review: the reemergence of brachytherapy as treatment for non-melanoma skin
      cancer.
AB  - Electronic brachytherapy (EBT) has seen a significant rise in use over the past
      few years in treating non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). However, the current
      literature in EBT remains scarce. Existing data on high-dose rate brachytherapy
      (HDR-BT) with surface applicators is often used to justify its efficacy and
      safety. In this review we study the two treatment modalities on their efficacy in
      treating NMSC and we explore the reasons behind the recent uprise in EBT. A
      literature review using PubMed was performed for articles published until January
      2017 studying efficacy of HDR-BT and EBT for treating NMSC. HDR-BT demonstrated
      effective local control ranging from 96.2% to 100% up to 66 months of follow-up
      with acceptable cosmesis. For EBT, local control rates ranged from 90% to 100%
      with generally favorable tolerance and cosmesis outcome after roughly one year.
      While longer term data on EBT is needed, its short term efficacy shows promise as
      a possible alternative to surgery or other radiation therapy in a select group of
      patients.

PMID- 28604230
TI  - Primary cutaneous post liver transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD)
      successfully treated with radiotherapy.
AB  - AIM: A case of primary cutaneous post liver transplant lymphoproliferative
      disorder (PTLD) mimicking squamous cell carcinoma-in-situ is presented. METHODS:
      Lesions mimicking SCC-in-situ were confirmed to be PTLD on histopathology and
      immunohistochemistry. Immunosuppression was gradually reduced and the lesions
      were successfully treated with 50 gray (Gy) in 25 fractions of radiotherapy.
      RESULTS: There was no recurrence of lesions at 3 months follow-up. CONCLUSION:
      Radiotherapy is an effective form of cutaneous directed treatment for localized
      PTLD.

PMID- 28604231
TI  - The Psychometrics of the European Portuguese Version of the Temperament and
      Character Inventory-Revised.
AB  - Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality integrates contributions from
      behavioral genetics, neurobiology, and psychology in the description of the human
      personality. The temperament and character inventory (TCI) is its assessment
      instrument. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the TCI has shown good
      psychometric properties. However, Portuguese spoken in Brazil presents marked and
      substantial differences to that spoken in Portugal, and no study has yet
      described the psychometrics of the European Portuguese version. The objective of
      this study was thus to describe the psychometric properties of the European
      Portuguese adult version of the TCI (the temperament and character inventory
      revised (TCI-R)). This study involved 1400 Portuguese adult participants. The
      factorial structure of the European Portuguese version was tested using four
      methods: exploratory factor analysis, orthogonal procrustes rotation analysis,
      confirmatory factor analysis, and exploratory structural equation modeling. The
      integration of data coming from these methods suggested that the Portuguese
      version of the TCI-R presented good structural validity (as revealed by the
      emergence of the temperament and character structures predicted by theory) and
      high levels of congruence between the American and the Portuguese versions. An
      improvement in the goodness of fit of the models for the Portuguese population
      was achieved by using exploratory structural equation modeling over confirmatory
      factor analysis. Although some facets registered questionable consistency, all
      dimensions had acceptable to good consistency (all >= .79). These results confirm
      the validity of the Portuguese TCI-R and its adequacy for use in European
      Portuguese samples.

PMID- 28604232
TI  - Barriers and facilitators influencing death at home: A meta-ethnography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In many countries, achieving a home death represents a successful
      outcome from both a patient welfare and commissioning viewpoint. Significant
      variation exists in the proportion of home deaths achieved internationally, with
      many countries unable to meet the wishes of a large number of patients. This
      review builds on previous literature investigating factors influencing home
      death, synthesising qualitative research to supplement evidence that quantitative
      research in this field may have been unable to reach. AIM: To identify and
      understand the barriers and facilitators influencing death at home. DESIGN: Meta
      ethnography. DATA SOURCES: The review adhered to the PRISMA guidelines. A
      systematic literature search was conducted using five databases: PubMed, EMBASE,
      Ovid, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Databases were searched from 2006 to 2016. Empirical,
      UK-based qualitative studies were included for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 38
      articles were included for analysis. Seven overarching barriers were identified:
      lack of knowledge, skills and support among informal carers and healthcare
      professionals; informal carer and family burden; recognising death; inadequacy of
      processes such as advance care planning and discharge; as well as inherent
      patient difficulties, either due to the condition or social circumstances. Four
      overarching facilitators were observed: support for patients and healthcare
      professionals, skilled staff, coordination and effective communication.
      CONCLUSION: Future policies and clinical practice should develop measures to
      empower informal carers as well as emphasise earlier commencement of advance care
      planning. Best practice discharge should be recommended in addition to addressing
      remaining inequity to enable non-cancer patients greater access to palliative
      care services.

PMID- 28604233
TI  - Distance education methods are useful for delivering education to palliative
      caregivers: A single-arm trial of an education package (PalliativE Caregivers
      Education Package).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Face-to-face/group education for palliative caregivers is successful,
      but relies on caregivers travelling, being absent from the patient, and rigid
      timings. This presents inequities for those in rural locations. AIM: To design
      and test an innovative distance-learning educational package (PrECEPt: PalliativE
      Caregivers Education Package). DESIGN: Single-arm mixed-method feasibility proof
      of-concept trial (ACTRN12616000601437). The primary outcome was carer self
      efficacy, with secondary outcomes focused on caregiver preparedness and carer
      tasks/needs. Analysis focused on three outcome measures (taken at baseline and 6
      weeks) and feasibility/acceptability qualitative data. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:
      A single specialist palliative care service. Eligible informal caregivers were
      those of patients registered with the outpatient or community service, where the
      patient had a prognosis of ?12 weeks, supporting someone with nutrition/hydration
      and/or pain management needs, proficient in English and no major mental health
      diagnosis. RESULTS: Two modules were developed and tested (nutrition/hydration
      and pain management) with 18 caregivers. The materials did not have a
      statistically significant impact on carer self-efficacy. However, statistically
      significant improvements were observed on the two subsidiary measures of (1)
      caregiving tasks, consequences and needs ( p = 0.03, confidence interval: 0.72,
      9.4) and (2) caregiver preparedness ( p = 0.001, confidence interval: -1.22, 
      0.46). The study determined that distance learning is acceptable and feasible for
      both caregivers and healthcare professionals. CONCLUSION: Distance education
      improves caregiver preparedness and is a feasible and acceptable approach. A two
      arm trial would determine whether the materials benefitted caregivers and
      patients compared to a control group not receiving the materials. Additional
      modules could be fruitfully developed and offered.

PMID- 28604234
TI  - Effects of milling on the extraction efficiency of incurred pesticides in
      cereals.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of particle size and milling temperature on
      the extraction efficiencies of pesticide residues from cereal flour. Samples of
      cereal grains (barley, oat, rye and wheat) were milled using a centrifugal mill
      with four different sieves (0.2, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 mm) or a knife mill both at
      room temperature and after freezing of the grain at -80 degrees C overnight. The
      incurred pesticides in the test materials were extracted by the QuEChERS method
      and analysed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. The particle size distribution for the
      milled samples was determined using a vibratory sieve shaker. Based on the
      pesticide levels recovered from each of the different millings and the
      corresponding particle size distributions, it was confirmed that smaller average
      particle sizes increase the extraction efficiency up to 31%, with all other
      factors equal. The cereals milled at room temperature produced lower pesticide
      extraction efficiencies compared with cereals milled when still frozen,
      especially for heat-sensitive pesticides. Furthermore, milling frozen grains was
      easier and resulted in more homogeneous samples with smaller relative particle
      sizes.

PMID- 28604235
TI  - Discovery, validation and optimization of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for use
      in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex and phenotypically
      heterogeneous neurodegenerative disease, for which the diagnosis is mainly based
      on clinical parameters (even if neuroimaging plays a role in diagnostic
      assessment); as a consequence, misdiagnosis is common, especially in early
      stages. Thus, there is an urgent need of having available biomarkers in order to
      achieve an early and accurate diagnosis. Since molecular changes in the brain are
      reliably and timely reflected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), CSF represents an
      ideal source for biomarkers of different pathophysiological processes
      characterizing the disease since its early phases. Areas covered: The aim of this
      review is to provide an update on the role, development and validation of most
      studied CSF biomarkers showing a role in the diagnosis and/or prognosis of PD.
      Oligomeric alpha-synuclein, DJ-1, lysosomal enzymes (namely, glucocerebrosidase)
      show consistent evidence as potential diagnostic biomarkers of PD. Neurofilament
      light chain may also have a significant role in differentiating PD from other
      parkinsonisms. Amyloid beta peptide 1-42 has consistently shown a prognostic
      value in terms of development of cognitive impairment and dementia in PD
      patients. Expert commentary: CSF biomarkers represent a very promising approach
      to early and differential diagnosis of PD. The biomarkers available so far need
      preanalytical and analytical validation in order to have these CSF biomarkers
      ready for clinical use.

PMID- 28604236
TI  - Diagnosis of Superior Labrum Anterior-to-Posterior Tears by Using MR Imaging and
      MR Arthrography: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic accuracies of nonenhanced magnetic resonance
      (MR) imaging and MR arthrography for diagnosis of superior labrum anterior-to
      posterior (SLAP) tears by using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Materials
      and Methods A comprehensive literature search was performed on the two main
      concepts of MR imaging (MR imaging, and direct and indirect MR arthrography) and
      SLAP tears. Inclusion criteria consisted of original studies that assessed the
      diagnostic accuracy of MR imaging, direct MR arthrography, and/or indirect MR
      arthrography for the detection of SLAP tears, by using surgical findings as the
      reference standard. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2, or
      QUADAS-2 Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 Quality Assessment
      of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 , tool was used to assess methodologic quality.
      Meta-analyses were performed that compared MR imaging studies to direct MR
      arthrography studies and indirect MR arthrography studies, 3-T studies to 1.5-T
      studies, and low-bias MR imaging studies to low-bias direct MR arthrography
      studies. Study variation was analyzed by using the Cochran Q test of
      heterogeneity and the I2 statistic. Results Thirty-two studies met inclusion and
      exclusion criteria, including 3524 imaging examinations: 1963 direct MR
      arthrography examinations (23 studies), 1402 MR examinations (14 studies), and
      159 indirect MR arthrography examinations (three studies). Twelve studies had low
      risk for bias, two had questionable risk, and 18 had high risk. Mean
      sensitivities of direct MR arthrography, MR imaging, and indirect MR arthrography
      for SLAP tear diagnosis were 80.4%, 63.0%, and 74.2%, respectively. Mean
      specificities of direct MR arthrography, MR imaging, and indirect MR arthrography
      were 90.7%, 87.2%, and 66.5%, respectively. Summary receiver operator
      characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated superior accuracy of direct MR
      arthrography compared with those of MR imaging and indirect MR arthrography.
      Similar findings were observed in the low-bias subanalysis. Summary ROC curve
      demonstrated overall superiority of 3-T imaging, with or without intra-articular
      contrast material compared with 1.5-T imaging, with or without intra-articular
      contrast material. Significant variance was observed for MR imaging and direct MR
      arthrography (P < .001) studies for both mean sensitivity and specificity.
      Conclusion Direct MR arthrography appears to be more accurate than nonenhanced MR
      imaging for diagnosis of SLAP tears, whereas 3-T MR imaging with or without intra
      articular contrast material appears to improve diagnostic accuracy compared with
      1.5-T MR imaging with or without intra-articular contrast material. (c) RSNA,
      2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 28604237
TI  - Robotically Driven CT-guided Needle Insertion: Preliminary Results in Phantom and
      Animal Experiments.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the accuracy of the remote-controlled robotic computed
      tomography (CT)-guided needle insertion in phantom and animal experiments.
      Materials and Methods In a phantom experiment, 18 robotic and manual insertions
      each were performed with 19-gauge needles by using CT fluoroscopic guidance for
      the evaluation of the equivalence of accuracy of insertion between the two groups
      with a 1.0-mm margin. Needle insertion time, CT fluoroscopy time, and radiation
      exposure were compared by using the Student t test. The animal experiments were
      approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. In the animal
      experiment, five robotic insertions each were attempted toward targets in the
      liver, kidneys, lungs, and hip muscle of three swine by using 19-gauge or 17
      gauge needles and by using conventional CT guidance. The feasibility, safety, and
      accuracy of robotic insertion were evaluated. Results The mean accuracies of
      robotic and manual insertion in phantoms were 1.6 and 1.4 mm, respectively. The
      95% confidence interval of the mean difference was -0.3 to 0.6 mm. There were no
      significant differences in needle insertion time, CT fluoroscopy time, or
      radiation exposure to the phantom between the two methods. Effective dose to the
      physician during robotic insertion was always 0 MUSv, while that during manual
      insertion was 5.7 MUSv on average (P < .001). Robotic insertion was feasible in
      the animals, with an overall mean accuracy of 3.2 mm and three minor procedure
      related complications. Conclusion Robotic insertion exhibited equivalent accuracy
      as manual insertion in phantoms, without radiation exposure to the physician. It
      was also found to be accurate in an in vivo procedure in animals. (c) RSNA, 2017
      Online supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 28604238
TI  - Financing national non-communicable disease responses.
AB  - Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (also known as socially transmitted diseases)
      were conspicuously absent from the Millennium Development Goals and seemed to
      miss out on the 'golden years' of health funding despite causing more death and
      disability than any other disease group worldwide. The share of 'development
      assistance for health' dedicated to NCDs has remained at 1-2% of the total since
      2000. This level of funding is insufficient to attain the nine targets in the
      World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan on NCDs. In 2015 the
      Sustainable Development Goals - which include the target of reducing premature
      NCD mortality by a third - were endorsed by 193 countries. Whilst this commitment
      is welcome, the same text stresses the primacy of domestic financing, which is
      currently dominated by out-of-pocket payments in low- and middle-income countries
      (LMICs). This paper presents the findings of the WHO Global Coordination
      Mechanism on NCDs financing working group. The group was convened to explore NCD
      financing options with an emphasis on LMICs. The main sources of available
      finance include taxation, loans, engagement with the private sector, impact
      investment and innovative financing mechanisms. There is a role for development
      assistance to increase in the interim as raising additional revenue from these
      sources will take time. In the medium term it may be appropriate for
      international NCD funding to remain low where LMICs successfully assume financial
      responsibility for preventing and controlling NCDs. Countries will have to manage
      blends of innovative and traditional funding sources, whilst finding ways to
      boost tax revenue for NCDs.

PMID- 28604239
TI  - Continuing challenges and current issues in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      (ALL) has resulted into high cure rates for pediatric patients, however outcomes
      for adult patients remain suboptimal. The 5-year overall survival is only 30-40%
      in adults and elderly patients with ALL compared to 90% in children. We have seen
      major advances in our understanding and management of ALL related to
      identification of new cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities and development of
      novel targeted agents for the treatment of ALL. The addition of tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and novel immune therapies (e.g. bispecific T
      cell engager [BiTE] and chimeric antigen receptor [CAR] T cells) has resulted in
      improved outcomes. These new developments are changing the treatment paradigm of
      adults ALL from a 'one size fits all' approach to a more individualized treatment
      approach based on immunophenotypic, cytogenetic and molecular features. In this
      article we review recent diagnostic and therapeutic advances along with the
      challenges in the treatment of patients with ALL.

PMID- 28604240
TI  - The influence of social constructs of hegemonic masculinity and sexual behaviour
      on acceptability of vaginal microbicides in Zambia.
AB  - Vaginal microbicides are heralded as a woman's HIV prevention method. This study,
      conducted in a microbicide clinical trial setting in Zambia, explored how the
      social construction of masculinity and sexual behaviour influenced the
      acceptability of vaginal microbicides. The data were generated from 18 In-depth
      Interviews and 8 Focus Group Discussions. The data were analysed thematically.
      The study found that hegemonic masculinity influenced the use of vaginal
      microbicides positively and negatively, in multiple ways including: decision to
      initiate gel use, autonomous use of the gel, and consistent use of the gel. Men
      were seen as heads of households and decision-makers who approved their partners'
      intentions to initiate gel use. Autonomous gel use by women was not supported
      because it challenged men's dominant position in sexual matters and at a family
      level. The socially accepted notion that men engaged in multiple sexual
      relationships also influenced women's decision to use the gel. Sustained gel use
      depended on the perceived effect of the gel on men's sexual desires, sexual
      performance, fertility, and sexual behaviour. This study suggests that
      acceptability of microbicides partially lies within the realm of men, with use
      constrained and dictated by cultural constructs and practice of masculinity and
      gender.

PMID- 28604241
TI  - Highly selective A3 adenosine receptor agonists relieve chronic neuropathic pain.

PMID- 28604242
TI  - Duruoz Hand Index: Is it valid and reliable in children with unilateral cerebral
      palsy?
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the validity and reliability of the Duruoz Hand Index
      (DHI) in patients with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS: Assessments of
      patients (n = 23) were performed using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), the
      Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), the grip and pinch strength tests,
      and DHI. Following the data collection, retest of DHI was administered
      telephonically within a 2-week period. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability and
      internal consistency of DHI were found to be excellent with a Cronbach's alpha
      value of 0.93 and an intraclass correlation coefficient value of 0.94. The
      correlation between the DHI and MACS was detected significantly high (r = 0.840,
      p = < 0.010). The DHI also correlated with grip and pinch strength in the
      affected side (r = -0.459, p = < 0.050; r = -0.509, p = < 0.050). CONCLUSIONS:
      DHI is a valid and reliable questionnaire for patients with unilateral CP.

PMID- 28604243
TI  - The use of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers to measure change in neurodegeneration
      in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: All recent phase 3 trials of potentially disease-modifying
      therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have so far failed. Potential reasons
      include enrolling subjects whose disease is too advanced or who do not have AD
      pathology, or simply incorrect drug targets. The goal of disease-modifying AD
      trials is to halt the progress of neuronal damage and death and this can be
      assessed in vivo using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. Areas covered: The
      authors conducted a literature search of the use of CSF biomarkers in disease
      modifying AD clinical trials using PubMed. The authors show that CSF biomarkers
      have only sparsely been used as outcome measures, and where they have, only in
      small subsets of patients. No clinical trials have yet showed any substantial
      effects on CSF biomarkers of neurodegeneration. Expert commentary: In future
      trials, the authors advocate that CSF biomarkers be used more extensively to
      optimize the chance of detecting positive drug effects. This includes the
      identification of potential AD patients - already in the early prodromal stage -
      for inclusion, for stratification, as readout i.e. proximity markers for changes
      in axonal/neurodegeneration between treatment and placebo groups - this also
      enables proof of principle verification in the discovery/dose finding phase, and
      for monitoring of side effects.

PMID- 28604244
TI  - N-(2-hydroxy) propyl-3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride: An immune-enhancing
      adjuvant for hepatitis E virus recombinant polypeptide vaccine in mice.
AB  - Adjuvants are essential for enhancing vaccine potency by improving the humoral
      and/or cell-mediated immune response to vaccine antigens. This study was
      performed to evaluate the immuno-enhancing characteristic of N-(2-hydroxy) propyl
      3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride (HTCC), the cationically modified chitosan,
      as an adjuvant for hepatitis E virus (HEV) recombinant polypeptide vaccine.
      Animal experiments showed that HTCC provides adjuvant activity when co
      administered with HEV recombinant polypeptide vaccine by intramuscularly route.
      Vaccination using HTCC as an adjuvant was associated with increases of the serum
      HEV-specific IgG antibodies, splenocytes proliferation and the growths of CD4+CD8
      T lymphocytes and IFN-gamma-secreting T lymphocytes in peripheral blood. These
      findings suggested that HTCC had strong immuno-enhancing effect. Our findings are
      the first to demonstrate that HTCC is safe and effective in inducing a good
      antibody response and stimulating Th1-biased immune responses for HEV recombinant
      polypeptide vaccine.

PMID- 28604245
TI  - State-of-the-art or the art of medicine? Transnational mobility and perceptions
      of multiple biomedicines among Nigerian physicians in the U.S.
AB  - Over the last 40 years, several thousand Nigerian-trained doctors have migrated
      to the U.S. to practice in what they regard as the state-of-the-art of global
      biomedicine. Based on interviews with Nigerian physicians, this article shows how
      their professional mobility, and their transition to the new professional
      environment of U.S. biomedicine, makes them aware of local differences in
      practicing medicine. Adapting to local ways of practicing in the U.S. creates a
      new sense of belonging and professional identity. Yet they also juxtapose highly
      technologised U.S. biomedicine with what they were trained to excel in within the
      medical profession in Nigeria - namely the 'art of medicine' - that is,
      possessing profound clinical skills to diagnose with few investigative
      technologies. By stressing their competence in the art of medicine, which they
      see as lacking among their U.S.-trained colleagues, they negotiate their position
      in a global biomedical landscape and reconnect to a distinctly Nigerian way of
      practicing medicine. Their narratives thus shed light on perceptions of multiple
      biomedicines from the point of view of physicians moving from the global South to
      the global North, and how within a global biomedical landscape both ruptures and
      connectivities of competence are imagined.

PMID- 28604248
TI  - Molecular dynamics simulation of the membrane binding and disruption mechanisms
      by antimicrobial scorpion venom-derived peptides.
AB  - Pandinin 2 (Pin2) is an alpha-helical polycationic peptide, identified and
      characterized from venom of the African scorpion Pandinus imperator with high
      antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and less active against
      Gram-negative bacteria, however it has demonstrated strong hemolytic activity
      against sheep red blood cells. In the chemically synthesized Pin2GVG analog, the
      GVG motif grants it low hemolytic activity while keeping its antimicrobial
      activity. In this work, we performed 12 MUs all-atom molecular dynamics
      simulation of the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) Pin2 and Pin2GVG to explore their
      adsorption mechanism and the role of their constituent amino acid residues when
      interacting with pure POPC and pure POPG membrane bilayers. Starting from an
      alpha-helical conformation, both AMPs are attracted at different rates to the
      POPC and POPG bilayer surfaces due to the electrostatic interaction between the
      positively charged amino acid residues and the charged moieties of the membranes.
      Since POPG is an anionic membrane, the PAMs adhesion is stronger to the POPG
      membrane than to the POPC membrane and they are stabilized more rapidly. This
      study reveals that, before the insertion begins, Pin2 and Pin2GVG remained
      partially folded in the POPC surface during the first 300 and 600 ns,
      respectively, while they are mostly unfolded in the POPG surface during most of
      the simulation time. The unfolded structures provide for a large number of
      intermolecular hydrogen bonds and stronger electrostatic interactions with the
      POPG surface. The results show that the aromatic residues at the N-terminus of
      Pin2 initiate the insertion process in both POPC and POPG bilayers. As for
      Pin2GVG in POPC the C-terminus residues seem to initiate the insertion process
      while in POPG this process seems to be slowed down due to a strong electrostatic
      attraction. The membrane conformational effects upon PAMs binding are measured in
      terms of the area per lipid and the contact surface area. Several replicas of the
      systems lead to the same observations.

PMID- 28604246
TI  - Is Portomesenteric Vein Thrombosis After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Related
      to Short-Course Prophylaxis of Thromboembolism? A Monocentric Retrospective
      Analysis About an Infrequent but Not Rare Complication and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Portomesenteric vein thrombosis (PMVT) is considered a rare and
      potentially fatal complication of bariatric surgery. Laparoscopic sleeve
      gastrectomy (LSG) is one of the most performed bariatric procedures in the world.
      PMVT in LSG was first reported in 2009 by Berthet et al. in a thrombophilic
      patient. No data exist regarding the real prevalence of this complication
      specifically after LSG. METHODS: We examined retrospectively all the clinical
      records of patients who underwent LSG for morbid obesity from January 2011 to
      December 2016. Moreover, we performed a literature search of PubMed, Medscape,
      and EMBASE databases, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for
      Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTS: 2854 patients
      underwent LSG for morbid obesity from January 2011 to December 2016. The
      retrospective analysis of our records revealed only 1 case of PMVT. The 18
      studies selected include 62 cases of PMVT after LSG with a prevalence of 0.52%
      (ranging from 0.2% to 1.81%) and a mortality rate of 1.61%. CONCLUSIONS: PMVT is
      an infrequent but not rare complication in patients who undergo LSG. Short-course
      antithrombotic prophylaxis (<10 days) could increase the risk of this
      complication. The authors recommend a postoperative prophylaxis with sodium
      enoxaparin 40 mg sc once a day for 4 weeks. PMVT mortality in patients who
      undergo LSG is lower than other causes of portal vein thrombosis (hepatic
      cirrhosis, tumors, myeloproliferative disorders, etc.) If risk factors for PMVT
      are present preoperatively, the authors recommend a prophylaxis with sodium
      enoxaparin 40 mg sc twice daily for 4 weeks.

PMID- 28604247
TI  - Brucella central carbon metabolism: an update.
AB  - The brucellae are facultative intracellular pathogens causing brucellosis, an
      important zoonosis. Here, we review the nutritional, genetic, proteomic and
      transcriptomic studies on Brucella carbon uptake and central metabolism,
      information that is needed for a better understanding of Brucella virulence.
      There is no uniform picture across species but the studies suggest primary and/or
      secondary transporters for unknown carbohydrates, lactate, glycerol phosphate,
      erythritol, xylose, ribose, glucose and glucose/galactose, and routes for their
      incorporation to central metabolism, including an erythritol pathway feeding the
      pentose phosphate cycle. Significantly, all brucellae lack phosphoenolpyruvate
      synthase and phosphofructokinase genes, which confirms previous evidence on
      glycolysis absence, but carry all Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway and Krebs cycle
      (and glyoxylate pathway) genes. However, glucose catabolism proceeds through the
      pentose phosphate cycle in the classical species, and the ED pathway operates in
      some rodent-associated brucellae, suggesting an ancestral character for this
      pathway in this group. Gluconeogenesis is functional but does not rely
      exclusively on classical fructose bisphosphatases. Evidence obtained using
      infection models is fragmentary but suggests the combined or sequential use of
      hexoses/pentoses, amino acids and gluconeogenic substrates. We also discuss the
      role of the phosphotransferase system, stringent reponse, quorum sensing, BvrR/S
      and sRNAs in metabolism control, an essential aspect of the life style of
      facultative intracellular parasites.

PMID- 28604249
TI  - Sustained release of melatonin from TiO2 nanotubes for modulating osteogenic
      differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.
AB  - To control the sustained release of melatonin and modulate the osteogenic
      differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), melatonin was firstly loaded
      onto TiO2 nanotubes by direct dropping method, and then a multilayered film was
      coated by a spin-assisted layer-by-layer technique, which was composed of
      chitosan (Chi) and gelatin (Gel). Successful fabrication was characterized by
      field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscope, X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurement, respectively. The
      efficient sustained release of melatonin was measured by UV-visible
      spectrophotometer. After 2 days of culture, well-spread morphology was observed
      in MSCs grown on the Chi/Gel multilayer-coated melatonin-loaded TiO2 nanotube
      substrates as compared to different groups. After 4, 7, 14 and 21 days of
      culture, the multilayered-coated melatonin-loaded TiO2 nanotube substrates
      increased cell proliferation, increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and
      mineralization, increased expression of mRNA levels for runt-related
      transcription factor 2 (Runx2), ALP, osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OC),
      indicative of osteoblastic differentiation. These results demonstrated that
      Chi/Gel multilayer-coated melatonin-loaded TiO2 nanotube substrates promoted cell
      adhesion, spreading, proliferation and differentiation and could provide an
      alternative fabrication method for titanium-based implants to enhance the
      osteointegration between bone tissues and implant surfaces.

PMID- 28604250
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, in silico ADMET prediction, and protein binding
      analysis of a novel zinc(II) Schiff-base complex: Application of multi
      spectroscopic and computational techniques.
AB  - By reaction of 1,2-diaminocyclohexane with the 2,3-butanedione monoxime in the
      presence of ZnCl2, a new Schiff base complex was obtained. This complex was
      characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR, 1H NMR, UV-Vis, and conductivity
      measurements. The reactivity of this complex to human serum albumin (HSA) under
      simulative physiological conditions was studied by spectroscopic and molecular
      docking analysis. Experimental results at various temperatures indicated that the
      intrinsic fluorescence of protein was quenched through a static quenching
      mechanism. The negative value of enthalpy change and positive value of entropy
      change indicated that both hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic forces played a major
      role in the binding of Zn(II) complex to HSA. FT-IR, three-dimensional
      fluorescence, and UV-Vis absorption results showed that the secondary structure
      of HSA changed after Zn(II) complex bound to protein. The binding distance was
      calculated to be 4.96 nm, according to fluorescence resonance energy transfer.
      Molecular docking results confirmed the spectroscopic results and showed that
      above complex is embedded into subdomain IIA of protein. All these experimental
      and computational results clarified that Zn(II) complex could bind with HSA
      effectively, which could be a useful guideline for efficient Schiff-base drug
      design.

PMID- 28604251
TI  - The Effect of a Vegetarian vs Conventional Hypocaloric Diabetic Diet on Thigh
      Adipose Tissue Distribution in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to compare the effects of a vegetarian and a
      conventional diet on thigh adipose tissue distribution in subjects with type 2
      diabetes (T2D). METHODS: Seventy-four subjects with T2D were randomly assigned to
      either follow a vegetarian diet (V, n = 37) or a control group who followed an
      isocaloric conventional anti-diabetic diet (C, n = 37). Both diets were calorie
      restricted (-500 kcal/day). To measure insulin sensitivity, the hyperinsulinemic
      (1 mU.kg-1.min-1) isoglycemic clamp was conducted. beta-Cell function was
      assessed using a mathematical model after a test meal. Magnetic resonance imaging
      of the thigh was performed. All subjects were examined at 0, 3, and 6 months.
      Statistical analyses were performed using repeated measures analysis of variance
      and a multivariate regression model. RESULTS: Greater reduction was observed in
      total leg area in V (-13.6 cm2 [95% confidence interval [CI], -14.2 to -12.9] in
      V vs -9.9 cm2 [95% CI, -10.6 to -9.2] in C; Gxt p < 0.001). The reduction in
      subcutaneous fat was comparable in response to both diets (Gxt, p = 0.64).
      Subfascial fat was reduced only in response to a vegetarian diet (-0.82 [95% CI, 
      1.13 to -0.55] cm2 in V vs -0.44 [95% CI, -0.78 to +0.02] cm2 in C; Gxt, p =
      0.04). The reduction in intramuscular fat tended to be greater in response to a
      vegetarian diet (-1.78 [95% CI, -2.26 to -1.27] cm2 in V vs -0.57 [95% CI, -1.06
      to -0.09] cm2 in C; Gxt, p = 0.12). Changes in subcutaneous and subfascial fat
      correlated with changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose,
      and beta-cell insulin sensitivity. After adjustment for changes in body mass
      index (BMI), correlations remained significant for changes in fasting plasma
      glucose and beta-cell insulin sensitivity and with changes in triglycerides.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate the importance of both subcutaneous and subfascial
      fat in relationship to glucose and lipid metabolism. ABBREVIATIONS: BMI , body
      mass index; C , control group; FPG , fasting plasma glucose; Gxt , interaction
      between group and time; HbA1c , glycated hemoglobin; MCR , metabolic clearance
      rate of glucose; OPLS , orthogonal projections to latent structure; T2D , type 2
      diabetes; V , vegetarian group.

PMID- 28604252
TI  - Surrogate mother - praiseworthy or stigmatized: a qualitative study on
      perceptions of surrogacy in Assam, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surrogacy is a reproductive practice that has been strongly marketed
      in India as a solution for childless couples. As a result, the number of
      surrogacy clinics is increasing. Meanwhile, a global discourse on surrogacy,
      originating from a Western perspective, has characterized surrogacy as being
      exploitative of women in low-income settings, where poverty drives them to become
      surrogate mothers. OBJECTIVE: This study explored perspectives on surrogacy from
      men and women in Assam, an Indian state known to be a low-income setting.
      Surrogacy arrangements in Assam are still uncommon. It can be expected that the
      dominant global discourses on surrogacy will be unfamiliar to the general
      population, and the objective was also to position the results within the
      divergent global discourses of surrogacy. METHODS: In order to explore local
      views on surrogacy, we conducted individual interviews and focus group
      discussions with people from various socioeconomic groups in Assam. RESULTS: Our
      findings reveal that people in Assam perceive surrogacy as a good option for a
      childless couple, as it would result in a child who is a 'blood' relation -
      something highly desirable for sociocultural reasons. However, the part played by
      the surrogate mother complicates local views on surrogacy. Most people consider
      payment to the surrogate mother contrary to societal norms. A surrogate mother is
      also often judged in a moral light, either as a 'bad mother' for selling her
      child, or as a 'noble woman' who has helped a childless couple and deserves
      payment for her services. CONCLUSIONS: In order to decrease the stigmatization of
      women, a regulatory policy is needed that will take into account the complex
      understandings of surrogacy and perceptions of surrogate mothers in Indian
      society. In policy, the possible effect of the dominant exploitation discourse
      needs to be modulated by local understandings of this reproduction method.

PMID- 28604253
TI  - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in US meat and poultry: 2012-13 levels,
      trends and estimated consumer exposures.
AB  - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of brominated flame retardants
      whose use has contaminated foods and caused subsequent human exposures. To
      address the issue of possible human exposure, samples from a 2012-13 US meat and
      poultry (beef, pork, chicken, turkey) study were analysed for seven PBDEs. The
      mean summed concentrations of the seven BDE congeners (SigmaPBDE) from beef,
      pork, chicken and turkey were 0.40, 0.36, 0.19, and 0.76 ng g-1 lipid weight
      (lw). The range of SigmaPBDEs for all meat classes was 0.01-15.78 ng g-1 lw. A
      comparison of this study with a 2007-08 study revealed a decline in the median
      SigmaPBDEs for all four meat classes, a reduction of 25.9% to 70.0%, with pork,
      chicken and turkey PBDE residues being statistically lower relative to the 2007
      08 study. BDEs 47 and 99 contributed the most to the SigmaPBDE concentrations,
      indicating likely animal exposures to the penta-BDE formulation. Based on the
      reported data an estimate of US consumer daily intake of PBDEs from meat and
      poultry was 6.42 ng day-1.

PMID- 28604254
TI  - Detection, phenotyping and quantification of dengue virus-specific B cells using
      fluorescent probes.
AB  - Dengue viruses are some of the most important mosquito-borne pathogens worldwide.
      They cause illness in 50-100 million individuals per year and have a significant
      global health impact in low- and middle-income countries. It is important to
      improve our understanding of the humoral response to dengue virus, as antibodies
      (Abs) are associated with protection from or susceptibility to severe dengue
      disease. In recent years, significant advances have been made toward identifying
      Ab targets and evaluating the functional properties of Abs. However, much less is
      known about the cellular source of Abs, B cells, in part because the reagents to
      phenotype and characterize antigen-specific B cells have been challenging to
      develop. Here, we discuss our recent experience with developing and using
      fluorescent viruses to probe the B cell response to dengue virus. We present the
      strengths and weaknesses of flow cytometric analysis of antigen-specific B cells
      and discuss the use of these probes to phenotype and characterize specific B
      cells during and after natural infection and in ongoing dengue vaccine trials.

PMID- 28604255
TI  - The effectiveness of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination in the prevention of
      pediatric hospitalizations for targeted and untargeted infections: A
      retrospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)
      vaccine in reducing hospitalizations for infectious disease, targeted and not
      targeted, as well as from respiratory diseases in children in Rome. METHODS: The
      cohort was recomposed through record linkage of 2 archives (vaccination register
      and hospital discharge records. RESULTS: The analysis included 11,004 children.
      20.9% did not receive the MMR vaccination, 49% and 30.1% received one and 2
      doses. There were no hospitalizations for rubella, 2 for mumps, and 12 for
      measles. The vaccine was highly protective against measles and mumps
      hospitalizations (HR = 0.10; 95% CI: 0.03.0.34). Regarding all infectious
      diseases there were 414 hospitalizations, and the vaccine was protective (HR =
      0.29; 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.34). Concerning respiratory diseases, there were 809
      admissions (7.4%), and the vaccine was highly protective (HR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.07
      to 0.48). CONCLUSIONS: MMR vaccination is effective for the primary prevention of
      target and not targeted infectious diseases and may also limit hospitalizations
      for respiratory diseases.

PMID- 28604256
TI  - Trends of improved water and sanitation coverage around the globe between 1990
      and 2010: inequality among countries and performance of official development
      assistance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the Millennium Development Goals ended, and were replaced by the
      Sustainable Development Goals, efforts have been made to evaluate the
      achievements and performance of official development assistance (ODA) in the
      health sector. In this study, we explore trends in the expansion of water and
      sanitation coverage in developing countries and the performance of ODA. DESIGN:
      We explored inequality across developing countries by income level, and
      investigated how ODA for water and sanitation was committed by country, region,
      and income level. Changes in inequality were tested via slope changes by
      investigating the interaction of year and income level with a likelihood ratio
      test. A random effects model was applied according to the results of the Hausman
      test. RESULTS: The slope of the linear trend between economic level and
      sanitation coverage has declined over time. However, a random effects model
      suggested that the change in slope across years was not significant (e.g. for the
      slope change between 2000 and 2010: likelihood ratio chi2 = 2.49, probability >
      chi2 = 0.1146). A similar pro-rich pattern across developing countries and a non
      significant change in the slope associated with different economic levels were
      demonstrated for water coverage. Our analysis shows that the inequality of water
      and sanitation coverage among countries across the world has not been addressed
      effectively during the past decade. Our findings demonstrate that the countries
      with the least coverage persistently received far less ODA per capita than did
      countries with much more extensive water and sanitation coverage, suggesting that
      ODA for water and sanitation is poorly targeted. CONCLUSION: The most deprived
      countries should receive more attention for water and sanitation improvements
      from the world health community. A strong political commitment to ODA targeting
      the countries with the least coverage is needed at the global level.

PMID- 28604257
TI  - Genetic factors related with early onset of osteonecrosis of the jaw in patients
      with multiple myeloma under zoledronic acid therapy.
AB  - Specific genetic polymorphisms (SNPs) have been correlated with the development
      of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) in small series. We
      screened 140 myeloma patients (36 patients with and 104 without BRONJ) for the
      presence of previously identified SNPs in PPARG and CYP2C8 genes. All the
      patients received exclusively zolendronic acid (ZA) therapy and were followed
      prospectively for BRONJ. SNPs in both genes were associated with a higher risk of
      development of early BRONJ, occurring within less than 2 years of ZA therapy (59%
      vs. 16%, p = .022 for PPARG and 29% vs. 7%, p = .07 for CYP2C8) and a shorter
      time to develop BRONJ (59% versus 12%, p = .011 for PPARG and 29% versus 0% at 2
      years, p = .037 for CYP2C8), independently of indices of poor oral hygiene. Thus,
      although preliminary, our data indicate that the presence of SNPs in PPARG and
      CYP2C8 genes may be associated with increased risk of early BRONJ.

PMID- 28604258
TI  - Relationship between maternal experiences and adolescent HPV vaccination.
AB  - The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been available for over a decade but
      its uptake rate is still low. To explore the relationship between the HPV
      vaccination status of a child and their mother's beliefs, behaviors and
      knowledge, we surveyed 1497 women with at least one child aged 9-17 y between
      September 2011 and November 2015. Physician recommendation was the most important
      factor associated with reported child vaccination status. Mothers who reported
      receiving a provider recommendation for the HPV vaccine were 32 times more likely
      to have a child who had been vaccinated compared with mothers who did not report
      provider recommendation (aOR) = 32.17; 95% CI: 21.77, 47.54). Knowing someone who
      had received the vaccine was also strongly associated with vaccination uptake
      (59% vs 12%, p < .001). Additionally, prior HPV diagnosis (aOR = 1.91; 95% CI:
      1.18, 3.10) and knowing someone with cervical cancer (aOR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.01,
      1.89) were associated with child vaccination status. Mothers who perceived
      moderate to high risk for their child contracting HPV or developing genital warts
      or cervical cancer were more likely to report that their daughters (but not their
      sons) had been vaccinated.

PMID- 28604259
TI  - Reduced Susceptibility to Antiseptics Is Conferred by Heterologous Housekeeping
      Genes.
AB  - Antimicrobial resistance is common in the microbial inhabitants of the human oral
      cavity. Antimicrobials are commonly encountered by oral microbes as they are
      present in our diet, both naturally and anthropogenically, and also used in oral
      healthcare products and amalgam fillings. We aimed to determine the presence of
      genes in the oral microbiome conferring reduced susceptibility to common
      antimicrobials. From an Escherichia coli library, 12,277 clones were screened and
      ten clones with reduced susceptibility to triclosan were identified. The genes
      responsible for this phenotype were identified as fabI, originating from a
      variety of different bacteria. The gene fabI encodes an enoyl-acyl carrier
      protein reductase (ENR), which is essential for fatty acid synthesis in bacteria.
      Triclosan binds to ENR, preventing fatty acid synthesis. By introducing the
      inserts containing fabI, ENR is likely overexpressed in E. coli, reducing the
      inhibitory effect of triclosan. Another clone was found to have reduced
      susceptibility to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and cetylpyridinium chloride.
      This phenotype was conferred by a UDP-glucose 4-epimerase gene, galE, homologous
      to one from Veillonella parvula. The product of galE is involved in
      lipopolysaccharide production. Analysis of the E. coli host cell surface showed
      that the charge was more positive in the presence of galE, which likely reduces
      the binding of these positively charged antiseptics to the bacteria. This is the
      first time galE has been shown to confer resistance against quaternary ammonium
      compounds and represents a novel, epimerase-based, global cell adaptation, which
      confers resistance to cationic antimicrobials.

PMID- 28604260
TI  - Developing High-Functioning Teams: Factors Associated With Operating as a "Real
      Team" and Implications for Patient-Centered Medical Home Development.
AB  - Team-based care is a foundation of health care redesign models like the patient
      centered medical home (PCMH). Yet few practices rigorously examine how the
      implementation of PCMH relates to teamwork. We identified factors associated with
      the perception of a practice operating as a real team. An online workforce survey
      was conducted with all staff of 12 primary care sites of Cambridge Health
      Alliance at different stages of PCMH transformation. Bivariate and multivariate
      analyses of factors associated with teamwork perceptions were conducted. In
      multivariate models, having effective leadership was the main factor associated
      with practice teamwork perceptions (odds ratio [OR], 10.49; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 5.39-20.43); in addition, practicing at a site in an intermediate
      stage of PCMH transformation was also associated with enhanced team perceptions
      (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.28-4.64). In a model excluding effective leadership,
      respondents at sites in an intermediate stage of PCMH transformation (OR, 1.95;
      95% CI, 1.1-3.4) and who had higher care team behaviors (such as huddles and
      weekly meetings; OR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.30-8.92), higher care team perceptions (OR,
      2.65; 95% CI, 1.15-6.11), and higher job satisfaction (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.02
      3.92) had higher practice teamwork perceptions. This study highlights the strong
      association between effective leadership, care team behaviors and perceptions,
      and job satisfaction with perceptions that practices operate as real teams.
      Although we cannot infer causality with these cross-sectional data, this study
      raises the possibility that providing attention to these factors may be important
      in augmenting practice teamwork perceptions.

PMID- 28604261
TI  - Genomics of clonal evolution in a case of essential thrombocythemia.

PMID- 28604262
TI  - Current Evidence on the Socket-Shield Technique: A Systematic Review.
AB  - The recently popularized socket-shield technique involves intentional retention
      of a section of the remnant root at the time of immediate implant placement,
      thereby preserving the buccal/proximal bone from resorption. The objective of
      this systematic review was to assess the literature available on the socket
      shield technique and weigh its biological plausibility and long-term clinical
      prognosis. A systematic search was performed on PubMed-Medline, Embase, Web of
      Knowledge, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Central for clinical/animal studies from
      January 1970 to April 2017. Twenty-three studies were assessed: 1 clinical case
      control study, 4 animal histological reports, 1 clinical abstract, and 17+2* case
      reports. Eighteen out of the 23 studies had a duration of <=12 months. A quality
      assessment of 5 studies (4 animal histologic and 1 clinical case-control)
      performed using the modified Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments
      guidelines revealed that 4/5 studies had low scores. Fifty-eight out of 70
      (82.86%) implants from 4 animal histological studies had complications;
      buccal/crestal bone loss (54.55%) and failure of osseointegration (27.27%) were
      the most common. Thirty-three out of 136 (24.26%) implants from 19+2 (2 studies
      had both histologic and clinical components, which are assessed separately)
      clinical studies had complications; buccal/crestal bone loss (78.78%) and shield
      exposure/failure (12.12%) were the most common. Other complications recorded were
      periodontal ligament and cementum formation on implant surfaces, pocket
      formation, inflammation, mucositis, and peri-implantitis. However, some clinical
      reports indicated stable results at 12 months. It would be difficult to predict
      the long-term success of this technique until high-quality evidence becomes
      available. A video abstract is available for viewing at
      https://youtu.be/lNMeUxj2XPA?list=PLvRxNhB9EJqbqjcYMbwKbwi8Xpbb0YuHI .

PMID- 28604263
TI  - Redescription of Austrodiplostomum compactum (Trematoda: Diplostomidae) from its
      Type Host and Locality in Venezuela, and of Austrodiplostomum mordax from
      Argentina.
AB  - Austrodiplostomum compactum from Nannopterum brasilianus, and its metacercaria
      from Geophagus sp. and Oreochromis mossambicus captured (1979) at its type
      locality, Valencia Lake, Venezuela, by the author, are redescribed. The adult is
      characterized by its large body size, and an oral sucker smaller than the
      pharynx. The metacercaria has a similar body size as the adult, and the small
      genital primordia occupy 4.1-7.3% of body length. Experimental infections in
      chickens with metacercariae of Diplostomulum mordax from brains of Odonthestes
      bonariensis, captured (2015) at Dique Paso de las Piedras, near Bahia Blanca
      City, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, resulted in 10 adults 5 days
      postexposure. These adults correspond to Austrodiplostomum mordax as described
      from N. brasilianus at Lacombe Lagoon, Buenos Aires Province, and differ from A.
      compactum in their smaller body size, and an oral sucker larger than the pharynx.
      The metacercaria has a similar body size as the adult and differs mainly in that
      the larger genital primordia occupy 11.6-13.8% of body length. The status of
      earlier published Austrodiplostomum species in the American continent is
      discussed in view of available morphological and molecular data. A lectotype of
      A. mordax is here designated, and Austrodiplostomum ostrowskiae is considered as
      a new synonym of A. compactum.

PMID- 28604264
TI  - Emotional Uses of Facebook and Twitter.
AB  - Facebook and Twitter have change interpersonal relationships. Adolescents are the
      sector of the population who use most these networks. They use them in an
      emotional way, to express their emotions and to comment on those of others.
      Empathy, narcissism, and self-esteem may play an important role in the use of
      these networks. Using a sample of 503 Spanish adolescents (272 males, 231
      females), this work studies the relationship between the Basic Empathy Scale, the
      Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and
      emotional and empathic use of Facebook and Twitter. The results showed that those
      who use Facebook and Twitter have higher scores in empathy. It has been observed
      that certain ways of using these two social networks are associated with
      narcissism. Greater use of Facebook and Twitter is associated with lower self
      esteem.

PMID- 28604265
TI  - A multi-professional educational intervention to improve and sustain respondents'
      confidence to deliver palliative care: A mixed-methods study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Education has been highlighted as fundamental in equipping healthcare
      professionals with essential knowledge and skills to provide good end-of-life
      care. Multiprofessional educational programmes have a positive influence on
      knowledge, attitude and confidence but few have sought to understand the longer
      term impact on care delivery. The European Certificate in Essential Palliative
      Care is an 8-week home-study-based programme for healthcare professionals and is
      currently run in nine centres. Successful candidates have undertaken the course
      from their own countries around the world. This article describes the evaluation
      of the European Certificate in Essential Palliative Care which has been evolving
      over 15 years. AIMS: To evaluate the impact an educational intervention has on
      participants' confidence in palliative care, to determine whether this is
      sustained over time and explore participants' perception of the influence of the
      course on confidence. DESIGN: A mixed-method longitudinal approach.
      SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A survey using a self-efficacy scale was emailed to 342
      candidates who received an educational intervention and semi-structured
      interviews to a sub-sample of 15 candidates at baseline, 3 and 6 months. RESULTS:
      At 3 months, candidates had almost 20 times higher odds of being above any given
      level of confidence than at baseline which was sustained at 6 months. Qualitative
      analysis identified examples of increased competence and confidence improving
      palliative care delivery. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the European
      Certificate in Essential Palliative Care improves confidence in palliative care
      and that this is sustained over time with evidence of confidence in symptom
      control, communication and a holistic approach in clinical practice.

PMID- 28604267
TI  - Selectively Distracted: Divided Attention and Memory for Important Information.
AB  - Distractions and multitasking are generally detrimental to learning and memory.
      Nevertheless, people often study while listening to music, sitting in noisy
      coffee shops, or intermittently checking their e-mail. The current experiments
      examined how distractions and divided attention influence one's ability to
      selectively remember valuable information. Participants studied lists of words
      that ranged in value from 1 to 10 points while completing a digit-detection task,
      while listening to music, or without distractions. Though participants recalled
      fewer words following digit detection than in the other conditions, there were no
      significant differences between conditions in terms of selectively remembering
      the most valuable words. Similar results were obtained across a variety of
      divided-attention tasks that stressed attention and working memory to different
      degrees, which suggests that people may compensate for divided-attention costs by
      selectively attending to the most valuable items and that factors that worsen
      memory do not necessarily impair the ability to selectively remember important
      information.

PMID- 28604266
TI  - Immunogenicity, safety and tolerability of intradermal influenza vaccines.
AB  - Intradermal influenza vaccination has been studied for more than 80 y. The
      revived interest in this strategy of vaccination is a result of the innovative
      technologies in needle design allowing more precise injection and making the
      device easier to use. Furthermore, clinical trials on these novel devices have
      demonstrated significant dose sparing effects, improved immunogenicity and very
      few adverse effects. This review compares intradermal vaccination with various
      devices with subcutaneous and intramuscular vaccination. We also discussed the
      role of topical adjuvant before intradermal vaccination.

PMID- 28604270
TI  - Association between exposure to o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS riot
      control agent) and urinary metabolite 2-chlorohippuric acid in U.S. Army Mask
      Confidence Training.
AB  - This study was conducted among U.S. Army soldiers to evaluate the association
      between exposure to o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS riot control agent) and
      urinary metabolite 2-chlorohippuric acid (CHA) detected in test subjects (n = 87)
      after completion of Mask Confidence Training. CS exposures ranged 0.086-4.9 mg/m3
      ([Formula: see text] = 2.7 mg/m3). CHA levels (corrected for creatinine) at 2-, 8
      , 24-, and 30-hr post-exposure resulted in ranges of 94.6-1120 ug/g-cr ([Formula:
      see text] = 389 ug/g-cr), 15.80-1170 ug/g-cr ([Formula: see text] = 341 ug/g-cr),
      4.00-53.1 ug/g-cr ([Formula: see text] = 19.3 ug/g-cr), and 1.99-28.4 ug/g-cr
      ([Formula: see text] = 10.6 ug/g-cr), respectively. Spearman's correlation
      revealed CHA levels strongly correlated with time sampled (r = -0.748, p < 0.05)
      and weakly correlated with CS concentration (r = 0.270, p < 0.05). A linear
      relationship was observed between CHA, CS concentration, and time of urine sample
      according to the following regression equation: ln(CHA, MUg/g-cr) = 5.423 + 0.316
      (CS conc., mg/m3) - 0.002 (time sampled), (R = 0.910, R2 = 0.827, p < 0.05). This
      relationship suggests that CHA has the potential to be an effective retrospective
      indicator of CS exposure in future biomarker developments.

PMID- 28604269
TI  - Elotuzumab as a novel anti-myeloma immunotherapy.
AB  - Treatment of multiple myeloma has undergone significant change in the last decade
      with the introduction of new immunomodulatory agents, proteasome inhibitors, and
      immunotherapeutic approaches. Elotuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody
      targeting CS1, which is a member of the SLAM (Signaling Lymphocyte Activation
      Molecule) family of proteins, expressed on the surface of myeloma plasma cells.
      Here we review the preclinical investigations that led to the development of
      elotuzumab and the clinical studies that resulted in its approval for the
      treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Although preclinical data
      looked very promising, elotuzumab monotherapy did not result in objective
      clinical responses in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
      However, combination treatment with immunomodulators and proteasome inhibitors
      resulted in substantial clinical activity in relapsed/refractory MM. Currently,
      there are several clinical trials ongoing investigating the role of elotuzumab in
      newly diagnosed myeloma patients and in patients receiving maintenance therapy.

PMID- 28604271
TI  - The study on interactions between levofloxacin and model proteins by using multi
      spectroscopic and molecular docking methods.
AB  - The interactions of levofloxacin (LEV) with lysozyme (LYZ), trypsin and bovine
      hemoglobin (BHb) were investigated, respectively, by using multi-spectral
      techniques and molecular docking in vitro. Fluorescence studies showed that LEV
      quenched LYZ/trypsin fluorescence in a combined quenching ways and BHb
      fluorescence in a static quenching with binding constants of .14, .51 and .20 *
      105 L mol-1 at 298 K, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters demonstrated
      that hydrophobic forces, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals forces played the
      major role in the binding process. The binding distances between LEV and the
      inner tryptophan residues of LYZ, trypsin, and BHb were calculated to be 4.04,
      3.38, and 4.52 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the results of circular dichroism
      spectra (CD), UV-vis, and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra indicated that
      the secondary structures of LYZ, trypsin, and BHb were partially changed by LEV
      with the alpha-helix percentage of LYZ-LEV system increased while that of BHb-LEV
      system was decreased, the beta-sheet percentage of trypsin-LEV system increased
      from 41.3 to 42.9%. UV-vis spectral results showed that the binding interactions
      could cause conformational and some micro-environmental changes of LYZ, trypsin,
      and BHb. The results of molecular docking revealed that in LYZ and trypsin
      systems, LEV bound to the active sites residues GLU 35 and ASP 52 of LYZ and
      trypsin at the active site SER 195, and in BHb system, LEV was located in the
      central cavity, which was consistent with the results of synchronous fluorescence
      experiment. Besides, LEV made the activity of LYZ decrease while the activity of
      trypsin increased.

PMID- 28604268
TI  - Mucosal immunization with a flagellin-adjuvanted Hgp44 vaccine enhances
      protective immune responses in a murine Porphyromonas gingivalis infection model.
AB  - Chronic periodontitis is caused by interactions between the oral polymicrobial
      community and host factors. Periodontal diseases are associated with dysbiotic
      shift in oral microbiota. Vaccination against periodontopathic bacteria could be
      a fundamental therapeutic to modulate polymicrobial biofilms. Because oral cavity
      is the site of periodontopathic bacterial colonization, mucosal vaccines should
      provide better protection than vaccines administered systemically. We previously
      reported that bacterial flagellin is an excellent mucosal adjuvant. In this
      study, we investigated whether mucosal immunization with a flagellin-adjuvanted
      polypeptide vaccine induces protective immune responses using a Porphyromonas
      gingivalis infection model. We used the Hgp44 domain polypeptide of Arg-gingipain
      A (RgpA) as a mucosal antigen. Intranasal (IN) immunization induced a
      significantly higher Hgp44-specific IgG titer in the serum of mice than
      sublingual (SL) administration. The co-administration of flagellin potentiated
      serum IgG responses for both the IN and SL vaccinations. On the other hand, the
      anti-Hgp44-specific IgA titer in the saliva was comparable between IN and SL
      vaccinations, suggesting SL administration as more compliant vaccination route
      for periodontal vaccines. The co-administration of flagellin significantly
      potentiated the secretory IgA response in saliva also. Furthermore, mice
      administered a mixture of Hgp44 and flagellin via the IN and SL routes exhibited
      significant reductions in alveolar bone loss induced by live P. gingivalis
      infections. An intranasally administered Hgp44-flagellin fusion protein induced a
      comparable level of Hgp44-specific antibody responses to the mixture of Hgp44 and
      flagellin. Overall, a flagellin-adjuvanted Hgp44 antigen would serve an important
      component for a multivalent mucosal vaccine against polymicrobial periodontitis.

PMID- 28604273
TI  - Comparison of approaches to weighting of multiple criteria for selecting
      equipment to optimize performance and safety.
AB  - Nowadays every piece of working equipment and tools has to comply with safety
      standards and laws. This study investigated multi-criteria methods for selecting
      working equipment in order to optimize performance and occupational safety. The
      multi-criteria decision-making (MDCM) method was applied to the problem of
      selecting optimal working equipment using four different criterion weighting
      approaches (direct weighting, revised Simos procedure, Fuller's triangle and
      analytic hierarchy process). Groups of economic, technical and safety criteria
      were defined and five weighting scenarios were developed. Although the four
      weighting methods produced similar results, in some situations they produced
      different criterion weighting factors. The final output of the MCDM method was
      the identification of the optimal forklift in the five weighting scenarios.
      Although we have applied the MCDM method to a forklift selection problem, it can
      be applied to all sorts of working equipment in contexts where economic,
      technical and safety selection criteria can be identified.

PMID- 28604272
TI  - The use of sheep as a model for studying peripheral nerve regeneration following
      nerve injury: review of the literature.
AB  - Peripheral nerve injury and regeneration is a challenging scientific field with
      relevant clinical implications. Most peripheral nerve regeneration studies have
      been mainly carried out on rodents. However, it is important to note that the
      validity of the rodent as a model to study nerve injury and regeneration and
      translate these results into clinical practice has been questioned by several
      researchers. To overcome this problem, some investigators have used companion
      animals and large animal species as models for experimental peripheral nerve
      regeneration studies. Live sheep are often used in biomedical research because of
      availability, simplicity of care and housing, cost and body weight similar to
      humans and acceptance by society as a research animal. Despite these advantages,
      studies on nerve regeneration and repair in sheep have only been undertaken a few
      decades ago and compared to rat and mice experimental studies, there are much
      fewer investigations. The authors have compiled and sorted the available
      literature on experimental ovine nerve studies in order to guide the peripheral
      nerve investigator in choosing clinically relevant and interpretable models for
      studies on neural regeneration that are much needed in order to make progress
      towards new surgical and medical treatment of peripheral nerves.

PMID- 28604274
TI  - Routine Prophylactic Antimicrobial Use Is Associated with Increased Phenotypic
      and Genotypic Resistance in Commensal Escherichia coli Isolates Recovered from
      Healthy Fattening Pigs on Farms in Thailand.
AB  - This study examined antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles in commensal
      Escherichia coli derived from healthy fattening pigs in Thai farms that used
      prophylactic antimicrobials (in-feed tiamulin fumarate and amoxicillin) [PAs],
      therapeutic antimicrobials (injectable enrofloxacin or gentamicin) [TAs], or no
      antimicrobials [NAs]. Commensal E. coli were used as a proxy for overall AMR on
      the farms. There was a high level of multidrug resistance in all three categories
      of farm, with isolates showing resistance to beta-lactams (amoxicillin,
      ampicillin, and piperacillin) and tetracyclines (tetracycline), and commonly
      possessing tetA, blaTEM, and plasmid replicons FIB and F. On the other hand,
      isolates with an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase phenotype (ESBLP) and with
      resistance to aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, fluoroquinolones, nitrofurantoin,
      tiamulin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were significantly more common among
      the PA farms (p < 0.05) than in the other two farm categories. In the PA farms,
      ESBLP E. coli commonly contained the blaCTX-M-1 group, blaCTX-M-9 group, or both
      gene groups, and were shown to transfer blaCTX-M genes in a conjugation
      experiment. E. coli containing N, FIC and A/C replicons were found only in PA
      farms. In summary, although E. coli isolates from all farms contained a core set
      of resistance to beta-lactams and tetracyclines, the routine use of PA increased
      resistance rates to other important antimicrobials.

PMID- 28604276
TI  - Clinician Perspectives of Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorders Using
      DSM-5 Section III Dimensional Personality Traits.
AB  - The DSM-5 includes an alternative model for the diagnosis of personality
      disorders (PDs). Although there has been growing support for this model there has
      been little investigation into how it will be utilized by clinicians. The current
      study evaluated clinician perspectives of a "prototypical" individual with
      antisocial and borderline PD using Section III traits in a sample of 105 mental
      health professionals. Results showed that clinicians' perspectives of these
      disorders were generally consistent with the Section III trait
      operationalizations. Indeed, clinicians rated each trait facet as more
      prototypical than nonproposed facets. Similarly, they rated nonproposed facets as
      less prototypical than included facets for both disorders, with some exceptions
      for borderline PD. Furthermore, the authors found that these ratings were
      generally in statistical agreement with empirical associations between Section
      III traits and Section II PDs found in previous studies. Overall, results suggest
      support for the trait operationalizations of these disorders by clinicians.

PMID- 28604275
TI  - The Italian Version of the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index IV:
      Psychometric Properties, Clinical Usefulness, and Possible Diagnostic
      Implications.
AB  - Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has a core embodied in affective and
      behavioral dysregulations, impulsivity, and relational disturbance. Clinical
      presentation might be heterogeneous due to a combination of different symptoms
      listed in the DSM-5. Clinical diagnosis and assessment of the severity of
      manifestations might be improved through the administration of structured
      interviews such as the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index, 4th
      edition (BPDSI-IV). The psychometric properties of the Italian version of the
      BPDSI-IV were examined for the first time in 248 patients affected by BPD and 113
      patients affected by bipolar disorder, proving to be a valid and accurate
      instrument with good internal consistency and high accuracy. The Italian version
      also demonstrates significant validity in the discrimination between these
      clinical groups (p < 5001).

PMID- 28604277
TI  - Validation of Schema Coping Inventory and Schema Mode Inventory in Adolescents.
AB  - This study investigated whether the schema therapy constructs of schema coping
      and schema modes have val dity in adolescents. We examined the validity and
      reliability of the Schema Coping Inventory (SCI) and an 80-item version of the
      Schema Mode Inventory (SMI) in a mixed sample of adolescents. Confirmatory factor
      analyse showed that the first-order factor structures of the SCI and SMI were
      replicated, but that the hypothesized higher-order models of the SMI were not
      confirmed. Instead, we proposed an alternative higher-order model of
      Internalizing, Externalizing, Overachieving, and Healthy modes. In general, the
      SCI and SMI scales were able o distinguish the clinical sample from the community
      sample, and meaningful relationships were found between oping styles, schema
      modes, and behavior problems. In conclusion, our study supports the theorized
      relations ips between schema coping styles, schema modes, and behavior, problems
      in adolescents, and provides initial validation for the SCI and the, 80-item SMI
      in adolescent populations.

PMID- 28604278
TI  - Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms and Pain in College Students: The Role
      of Emotional Suppression.
AB  - Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with higher rates of pain
      conditions and greater pain impairment. Past research implicates emotional
      suppression in acute pain tolerance; thus, emotional suppression may contribute
      to pain interference among those with high BPD features. Participants were 89
      university students who completed measures of BPD features, and complied with 2
      week daily diary procedures assessing suppression of emotional thoughts
      associated with social and nonsocial stressors, distress, pain severity, and
      interference. Multilevel models revealed a BPD * Suppression * Distress
      interaction, such that suppression in response to social (but not nonsocial)
      stressors in the context of high distress was related to pain interference when
      controlling for pain severity among those with high, but not low, BPD features.
      These findings suggest. that suppression of emotionally relevant thoughts in
      response to high distress may contribute to the functional impairment from pain
      among those with high BPD symptoms.

PMID- 28604279
TI  - Diffusion and Intravoxel Incoherent Motion MR Imaging-based Virtual Elastography:
      A Hypothesis-generating Study in the Liver.
AB  - Purpose To investigate the potential of diffusion magnetic resonance (MR) imaging
      to provide quantitative estimates of tissue stiffness without using mechanical
      vibrations in patients with chronic liver diseases and to generate a new
      elasticity-driven intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) contrast. Materials and
      Methods This retrospective study, conducted from January to April 2016, was
      approved by an institutional review board that waived the requirement for
      informed consent. Fifteen subjects were included (13 men and two women; mean age
      +/- standard deviation, 73 years +/- 8). MR elastography and diffusion MR imaging
      were performed at 3 T. A search for an empirical relationship between MR
      elastographic shear modulus, uMRE, and a shifted apparent diffusion coefficient
      (sADC) was performed. The sADC was then inverted to estimate patient liver shear
      modulus directly from diffusion MR imaging signals. Results A significant
      correlation (r2 = 0.90, P = 1 . 10-7) was observed between uMRE and sADC
      calculated by using diffusion MR imaging signals acquired with b values of 200
      (S200) and 1500 (S1500 ) sec/mm2 (sACD200-1500). On the basis of the relationship
      between the uMRE and sADC200-1500, a diffusion-based shear modulus, udiff, could
      be estimated with the following equation: udiff = (-9.8 +/- 0.8) ln(S200/S1500) +
      (14.0 +/- 0.9). IVIM virtual elastograms also could be generated to reveal new
      contrast features in lesions, depending on pseudovibration frequency and
      amplitude. Conclusion Diffusion MR imaging, through a calibration of sADC200-1500
      with standard MR elastography, can be converted quantitatively into shear modulus
      without using mechanical vibrations to provide information on the degree of liver
      fibrosis; these virtual elastograms require only two b values to be acquired and
      processed. Propagating shear wave can also be emulated, leading to a new
      elasticity-driven IVIM contrast with ranges of virtual vibration frequencies and
      amplitudes not limited by MR elastography or MR imaging hardware capacities. (c)
      RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 28604281
TI  - Do single or sequential measurements of leptin and adiponectin in plasma have
      prognostic value in pulmonary arterial hypertension?
AB  - Leptin (a neuroendocrine peptide that enhances metabolism and acts on the
      hypothalamus to suppress appetite) and adiponectin (a protein that has insulin
      sensitizing, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative properties) are involved in
      the pathobiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We hypothesized that
      plasma leptin and adiponectin as well as the leptin/adiponectin ratio are
      abnormal in PAH patients and their levels track with disease severity and
      functional changes during follow-up. We tested this hypothesis in a cohort of
      patients included in the 16-week, international, multicenter, double-blind,
      placebo-controlled FREEDOM-C2 study. Blood was collected at baseline and week 16
      in 178 out of 310 randomized patients with PAH. Baseline plasma leptin and
      adiponectin concentrations were 25 +/- 31 ng/mL and 7.8 +/- 6.1 ug/mL,
      respectively. Leptin, adiponectin, and leptin/adiponectin (mean +/- SD) changes
      at 16 week were of small magnitude. Leptin at baseline was significantly
      associated with older age, higher BMI, higher Borg dyspnea index, and lower NT
      pro BNP. Women had higher levels of leptin than men (30.5 +/- 33.2 versus 7.2 +/-
      6.4 ng/mL), even when adjusting for background therapy and etiology (linear
      regression: beta = 21.8, P < 0.001). Adiponectin was negatively associated with
      BMI and positively associated with NT-pro BNP. Changes in leptin, adiponectin,
      and leptin/adiponectin ratio adjusted for weight at 16 weeks did not predict
      functional class, distance walk in 6 min or survival at one, two, three, or four
      years. Plasma leptin and adiponectin at baseline and their change at 16-week do
      not appear to significantly impact prognosis in PAH.

PMID- 28604280
TI  - The anticoagulant effects of warfarin and the bleeding risk associated with its
      use in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension at a
      specialist center in Japan: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - Patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) require
      lifelong anticoagulation therapy. However, the bleeding risk and recurrence of
      venous thromboembolism (VTE) in CTEPH patients who are administered warfarin have
      not been adequately evaluated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk
      of clinically relevant bleeding, recurrent VTE, and clinical worsening in
      patients with CTEPH who were administered warfarin. The clinical records of 72
      patients with CTEPH who regularly visited our institution and were administered
      warfarin were retrospectively reviewed between 1 January 2011 and 31 December
      2015. We investigated the incidence of clinically relevant bleeding events,
      recurrent VTE, and hospitalization for the deterioration of pulmonary
      hypertension or right heart failure (RHF) during the observation period. The mean
      observation period for the 72 patients was 3.60 +/- 1.60 person-years. Clinically
      relevant bleeding, RHF, and recurrent VTE occurred in 21 (29.2%), eight (11.1%),
      and three (4.2%) of 72 patients, respectively, and the incidence rates for these
      events were 8.1%/person-year, 3.1%/person-year, and 1.2%/person-year,
      respectively. The incidence rates for the major and non-major bleeding events
      were 5.0%/person-year and 3.9%/person-year, respectively. The incidence of
      clinically relevant bleeding events was 20.8%/person-year during medical
      treatment with a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator. One of 35 patients (2.9%)
      during the post-pulmonary endarterectomy period experienced hemoptysis during
      observation period (> 6 months after pulmonary endarterectomy). No bleeding
      events occurred during the post-balloon pulmonary angioplasty period. In
      conclusion, warfarin effectively prevents VTE recurrence in CTEPH patients, but
      its effects may be associated with a considerable bleeding risk.

PMID- 28604282
TI  - Peripheral Artery Stent Dehiscence: Percutaneous Management.
AB  - An elderly male presented with left abdominal swelling of 1-week duration and
      inability to move the left lower limb. He had undergone bilateral common iliac
      and left external iliac artery stenting with self-expandable stents for
      aortoiliac occlusive disease 1 month back. Clinical examination revealed tender
      abdominal nonpulsatile mass with systolic bruit. Ultrasonography suggested
      retroperitoneal hematoma. His hemoglobin was 7 g%. Echocardiogram showed ejection
      fraction of 40%. Computed tomography angiogram revealed large 10 * 10
      retroperitoneal hematoma with possibility of continued bleeding from the left
      external iliac artery. He was taken up for urgent catheterization after
      consultation with the vascular surgeons who deemed him high risk for surgery in
      view of left ventricular dysfunction. Abdominal aortogram showed diffuse
      extravasation of contrast from the junction of left common iliac artery and
      external iliac artery into the retroperitoneal space. Sustained balloon occlusion
      of the vessel across the extravasated portion was done, still the leak persisted.
      Two covered stents were deployed in the external iliac artery overlapping each
      other, percutaneously resulting in complete closure of leak with good distal
      runoff. His symptoms improved considerably the next day with a decrease in
      abdominal swelling and he was able to move his left lower limb. Ultrasound of the
      abdomen showed regression of the retroperitoneal hematoma and no suspicion of
      leak. Computed tomography angiogram done 10 days and 2 months later showed
      regression of retroperitoneal hematoma and no extravasation with good peripheral
      runoff.

PMID- 28604284
TI  - Thermal Performance Curves and the Metabolic Theory of Ecology-A Practical Guide
      to Models and Experiments for Parasitologists.
AB  - Climate change will affect host-parasite dynamics in complex ways. The
      development of forecast models is necessary for proactive disease management, but
      past studies have frequently reported thermal performance data in idiosyncratic
      ways that have limited use for parameterizing thermal host-parasite models.
      Development of improved forecast models will require strong collaborations
      between experimental parasitologists and disease modelers. The purpose of this
      article is to facilitate such collaborations by reviewing practical
      considerations for describing thermal performance curves of parasite and host
      performance traits, and using them to predict climate change impacts on host
      parasite systems. In the first section, we provide an overview of how thermal
      performance curves can be embedded in life-cycle-based dynamical models of
      parasitism, and we outline how such models can capture the net effect of multiple
      nonlinear temperature dependencies affecting the host-parasite dynamics. We also
      discuss how macroecological generalities based on the metabolic theory of ecology
      (MTE) can be used to determine a priori parameter estimates for thermal
      performance curves to derive null models for data-deficient species, but we note
      that most of the generalities suggested by MTE remain to be tested for parasites.
      In the second section, we discuss empirical knowledge gaps for the temperature
      dependence of parasite and host performance traits, and we outline the types of
      data that need to be collected to inform MTE-based models for data-deficient
      species. We specifically emphasize the importance of (1) capturing the entire
      thermal response of performance traits, including lower and upper temperature
      thresholds, and (2) experimentally or statistically separating out the thermal
      responses of different performance traits (e.g., development and mortality)
      rather than only reporting composite measures (e.g., apparent development). Not
      adhering to these principles can lead to biased climate change impact
      predictions. In the third section, we provide a practical guide outlining how
      experimentalists can contribute to fill data gaps by measuring the temperature
      dependence of host and parasite performance traits in ways that are systematic,
      statistically rigorous, and consistent with the requirements of life cycle-based
      host-parasite models. This guide includes recommendations and practical examples
      illustrating (1) the use of perturbation analyses to determine experimental
      priorities, (2) experimental design tips for quantifying thermal response curves,
      and (3) statistical methods for estimating the parameters of thermal performance
      curves. Our hope is that this article helps researchers to maximize the value and
      use of future data collections for both empirical and modelling studies
      investigating the way in which temperature influences parasitism.

PMID- 28604285
TI  - Hybrid Treatment of Extracranial Carotid Artery Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: High-degree stenosis of both innominate (IA) or left common carotid
      artery (CCA) and carotid bifurcation is uncommon but still represents a
      significant challenge to interventionists in many aspects including techniques,
      timing, and priority. There are several strategies for intervention that have
      been reported in the literature. A well-described, less-invasive strategy for
      extracranial tandem carotid lesions is concomitant carotid endarterectomy (CEA)
      with retrograde carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS). In this study, we examine
      intermediate-term outcomes of this hybrid procedure and review other described
      treatments. METHODS: Electronic medical records of all patients who underwent
      hybrid (ostial CAS and CEA) procedures in a tertiary center over the last 10
      years were reviewed. High-degree stenosis of the IA or CCA was defined according
      to North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial criteria. RESULTS: A
      total of 6 patients were identified. The population included 4 males and 2
      females with a median age of 65 years. Five patients were symptomatic and all had
      stenosis >75% by angiography. Five of the patients underwent left CEA with
      proximal stenting and one patient underwent right-sided CEA with proximal
      stenting. Combined 30-day mortality and stroke rate was 0%. No restenosis,
      stroke, heart attack, or death occurred during a follow-up range of 1 to 36
      months (mean 12.8 months, median 7.8 months). CONCLUSION: The combined CEA with
      retrograde stenting for tandem extracranial lesion procedure is safe and
      feasible, with adequate intermediate-term outcomes consistent with the recent
      literature.

PMID- 28604286
TI  - Growth, functional capacities and motivation for achievement and competitiveness
      in youth basketball: an interdisciplinary approach.
AB  - The interaction of multiple influences on the path to sport success is not yet
      fully understood by sport scientists. In this study, we examined variation in
      body size, functional capacities and motivation for achievement, competitiveness
      and deliberate practice of youth basketball players associated with differences
      in biological maturity status, chronological age and years of training
      experience. Reflecting the importance of interactive effects, we examined the
      relationships between the psychological variables and functional capacities.
      Fifty-eight male basketball players aged 9.5 to 15.5 years were considered.
      Variables included chronological age, estimated age at peak height velocity,
      stature, body mass and sitting height by anthropometry; the Work and Family
      Orientation and Deliberate Practice Motivation Questionnaires were also used.
      Finally, the Line Drill test and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1)
      tests were used as functional capacities indicators for basketball. Variance
      components models derived from series of multilevel linear regression models
      revealed a substantial variation by maturity status for body size, functional
      capacities indicators, mastery and will to excel. The influence of estimated
      maturity status on mastery and will to excel was independent of age and years of
      experience. In contrast, no relationships were observed between psychological
      variables and functional capacities indicators. We conclude that growth-related
      changes are relevant to understanding players' motivations for achievement,
      competitiveness and deliberate practice. This should be of interest to those
      involved in the selection and development of youth basketball players.

PMID- 28604289
TI  - A 'Suitable Soil': Plague's Urban Breeding Grounds at the Dawn of the Third
      Pandemic.
AB  - A pressing question during the first half-decade of the third plague pandemic
      (1894-9) was what was a 'suitable soil' for the disease. The question related to
      plague's perceived ability to disappear from a given city only to reappear at
      some future point; a phenomenon that became central to scientific investigations
      of the disease. However, rather than this simply having a metaphorical meaning,
      the debate around plague's 'suitable soil' actually concerned the material
      reality of the soil itself. The prevalence of plague in the working-class
      neighbourhood of Taipingshan during the first major outbreak of the pandemic, in
      1894 in Hong Kong, led to an extensive debate regarding the ability of the soil
      to harbour and even spread the disease. Involving experiments, which were seen as
      able to procure evidence for or against the demolition or even torching of the
      area, scientific and administrative concerns over the soil rendered it an
      unstable yet highly productive epistemic thing. The spread of plague to India
      further fuelled concerns over the ability of the soil to act as the medium of the
      disease's so-called true recrudescence. Besides high-profile scientific debates,
      hands-on experiments on purifying the soil of infected houses by means of highly
      intrusive methods allowed scientists and administrators to act upon and further
      solidify plague's supposed invisibility in the urban terrain. Rather than being a
      short-lived, moribund object of epidemiological concern, this paper will
      demonstrate that the soil played a crucial role in the development of plague as a
      scientifically knowable and actionable category for modern medicine.

PMID- 28604287
TI  - Breakfast Consumption Frequency and Its Relationships to Overall Diet Quality,
      Using Healthy Eating Index 2010, and Body Mass Index among Adolescents in a Low
      Income Urban Setting.
AB  - The aim of this study was to describe the relationship of breakfast frequency to
      diet quality and BMI among low-income, predominantly African American adolescents
      aged 9-15 (n = 239). Mean frequency of breakfast consumption was 5.0 +/- 0.15
      times per week. A significant, positive relationship was seen between HEI scores
      and frequency of breakfast consumption (p = .01). Dairy (p = .02) and whole
      grains (p < .01) HEI component scores were significantly related to breakfast
      frequency. No relationship was seen between breakfast frequency and BMI. Research
      with more rigorous designs should be conducted to assess the potential effects of
      breakfast consumption on diet quality in this population.

PMID- 28604288
TI  - Laparoendoscopic single-site nephrectomy for hemodialysis patients with dialysis
      related renal tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of laparoendoscopic
      single-site (LESS) nephrectomy in hemodialysis patients, we compared outcomes
      between LESS nephrectomy and conventional laparoendoscopic nephrectomy in
      hemodialysis patients with dialysis-related renal tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      total of 16 hemodialysis patients who underwent LESS nephrectomy (LESS-N; n = 8)
      or conventional laparoendoscopic nephrectomy (C-N; n = 8) between November 2003
      and July 2012 were retrospectively evaluated. Outcomes were compared between the
      two groups. RESULTS: Patient and tumor characteristics were similar between the
      LESS-N and C-N groups. The mean operative duration was longer in the LESS-N than
      in the C-N group (231.0 +/- 26.7 min versus 188.6 +/- 36.4 min; p = .025). The
      mean estimated blood loss was lower in the LESS-N compared with the C-N group
      (26.4 +/- 14.4 ml versus 65.6 +/- 45.2 ml; p = .047). Postoperative complications
      were observed in three cases, comprising one case of retroperitoneal hematoma in
      the LESS-N group and one case each of peritoneal hematoma and retroperitoneal
      abscess in the C-N group. Surgical scarring was minimal in the LESS-N group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although there is a little extension of the operating time, LESS
      nephrectomy in hemodialysis patients is a feasible procedure compared with the
      conventional method.

PMID- 28604290
TI  - Politics and Health at the WHO Regional Office for South East Asia: The Case of
      Portuguese India, 1949-61.
AB  - This paper analyses how the 1950-61 conflict between Portugal and India over the
      territories that constituted Portuguese India (Goa, Daman and Diu) informed
      Portugal's relations with the World Health Organization's Regional Office for
      South East Asia (SEARO). The 'Goa question' determined the way international
      health policies were actually put into place locally and the meaning with which
      they were invested. This case study thus reveals the political production of
      SEARO as a dynamic space for disputes and negotiations between nation-states in
      decolonising Asia. In this context, health often came second in the face of
      contrasting nationalistic projects, both colonial and post-colonial.

PMID- 28604293
TI  - Lives in the Asylum Record, 1864 to 1910: Utilising Large Data Collection for
      Histories of Psychiatry and Mental Health.
AB  - This article examines the research implications and uses of data for a large
      project investigating institutional confinement in Australia and New Zealand. The
      cases of patients admitted between 1864 and 1910 at four separate institutions,
      three public and one private, provided more than 4000 patient records to a
      collaborative team of researchers. The utility and longevity of this data and the
      ways to continue to understand its significance and contents form the basis of
      this article's interrogation of data collection and methodological issues
      surrounding the history of psychiatry and mental health. It examines the themes
      of ethics and access, record linkage, categories of data analysis, comparison and
      record keeping across colonial and imperial institutions, and constraints and
      opportunities in the data itself. The aim of this article is to continue an
      ongoing conversation among historians of mental health about the role and value
      of data collection for mental health and to signal the relevance of international
      multi-sited collaborative research in this field.

PMID- 28604294
TI  - War on Two Fronts: The Fight against Parasites in Korea and Vietnam.
AB  - The Vietnam War has long been regarded as pivotal in the history of the Republic
      of Korea, although its involvement in this conflict remains controversial. While
      most scholarship has focused on the political and economic ramifications of the
      war - and allegations of brutality by Korean troops - few scholars have
      considered the impact of the conflict upon medicine and public health. This
      article argues that the war had a transformative impact on medical careers and
      public health in Korea, and that this can be most clearly seen in efforts to
      control parasitic diseases. These diseases were a major drain on military
      manpower and a matter of growing concern domestically. The deployment to Vietnam
      boosted research into parasitic diseases of all kinds and accelerated the
      domestic campaign to control malaria and intestinal parasites. It also had a
      formative impact upon the development of overseas aid.

PMID- 28604295
TI  - Medical Experts and Agnotology in the Fumes Controversy of the Huelva Copper
      Mines (1888-1890).
AB  - Huelva's copper mines (Spain) have been active for centuries but in the second
      half of the nineteenth century extractive activities in Riotinto, Tharsis, and
      other mines in the region were intensified in order to reach world leadership.
      The method used in these mines for copper extraction from low grade ores
      generated continuous emissions of fumes that were extremely controversial. The
      inhabitants had complained about the fumes for decades but as activity
      intensified so did complaints. The killing of anti-fumes demonstrators in 1888
      led to the passing of a Royal Decree banning the open-air roasting of ore and to
      the drafting of numerous reports on the hazards of the fumes. Major state and
      provincial medical institutions, as well as renowned hygienists and engineers,
      took part in the assessment, contributing to a scientific controversy especially
      rich in content. In my paper I will analyse the production and circulation of
      knowledge and ignorance about the impact of fumes on public health, as well as
      the role of medical experts and expertise in the controversy. The analysis will
      focus on the reports drafted between the 1888 ban and its 1890 repeal, and will
      show the changing nature of the expert assessment and the numerous paths followed
      by experts in producing ignorance. The paper will conclude by considering other
      stakeholders, who may shed some light on the reasons behind the performance of
      the medical experts.

PMID- 28604310
TI  - New Methods in the History of Medicine: Streamlining Workflows to Enable Big-Data
      History Projects.

PMID- 28604312
TI  - Will It Come Here? Using Digital Humanities Tools to Explore Medical
      Understanding during the Russian Flu Epidemic, 1889-90.

PMID- 28604313
TI  - Integrated primary care may be the answer but do we really know what it is?

PMID- 28604314
TI  - South Africa's vital statistics are currently not suitable for monitoring
      progress towards injury and violence Sustainable Development Goals.

PMID- 28604315
TI  - Exploitation of the vulnerable in research: Responses to lessons learnt in
      history.
AB  - The Nuremberg Trials raised insightful issues on how and why doctors who were
      trained in the Hippocratic tradition were able to commit such egregious and
      heinous medical crimes. The vulnerable were considered to be subhuman, of
      decreased intelligence, of no moral status and lacking human dignity. The
      reputation of the medical profession had been undermined, professionalism
      questioned and the doctor-patient relationship damaged as a result of the Nazi
      medical experiments. The World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki has
      been hailed as one of the most successful efforts in rescuing medical research
      from the darkness of the scandals and tragedies in health research. The first
      Research Ethics Committee in South Africa was established in 1966 at the
      University of the Witwatersrand. From the mid-1970s other institutions followed
      suit. The promulgation of the National Health Act No. 61 of 2003, in 2004,
      resulted in strong protectionism for research participants in the country.

PMID- 28604316
TI  - When students become patients: TB disease among medical undergraduates in Cape
      Town, South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical students acquire latent tuberculosis (TB) infection at a rate
      of 23 cases/100 person-years. The frequency and impact of occupational TB disease
      in this population are unknown. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was
      distributed via email and social media to current medical students and recently
      graduated doctors (2010 - 2015) at two medical schools in Cape Town. Individuals
      who had developed TB disease as undergraduate students were eligible to
      participate. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from the questionnaire
      and semi-structured interviews were analysed with descriptive statistics and a
      framework approach to identify emerging themes. RESULTS: Twelve individuals (10
      female) reported a diagnosis of TB: pulmonary TB (n=6), pleural TB (n=3), TB
      lymphadenitis (n=2) and TB spine (n=1); 2/12 (17%) had drug-resistant disease (DR
      TB). Mean diagnostic delay post consultation was 8.1 weeks, with only 42% of
      initial diagnoses being correct. Most consulted private healthcare providers
      (general practitioners (n=7); pulmonologists (n=4)), and nine underwent invasive
      procedures (bronchoscopy, pleural fluid aspiration and tissue biopsy).
      Substantial healthcare costs were incurred (mean ZAR25 000 for drug-sensitive TB,
      up to  ZAR104 000 for DR-TB). Students struggled to obtain treatment, incurred
      high transport costs and missed academic time. Students with DR-TB interrupted
      their studies and experienced severe side-effects (hepatotoxicity, depression and
      permanent ototoxicity). Most participants cited poor TB infection-control
      practices at their training hospitals as a major risk factor for occupational TB.
      CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduate medical students in Cape Town are at high risk of
      occupationally acquired TB, with an unmet need for comprehensive occupational
      health services and support.

PMID- 28604317
TI  - Beware: The femoral haemodialysis catheter - a surgeon's perspective.
AB  - The ability to identify and address factors that threaten the optimal utilisation
      of donor organs is quintessential in obtaining satisfactory transplant outcomes.
      We share our concerns regarding the prolonged use of femoral haemodialysis
      catheters and its potential to jeopardise successful renal transplantation.
      Despite a paucity of literature on the topic, we review relevant aspects related
      to this pernicious form of vascular access and clarify its limited role in the
      modern haemodialysis unit, particularly in patients who are still considered for
      transplantation.

PMID- 28604318
TI  - Complementary medicines: When regulation results in revolution.
AB  - Medicines have evolved over time and so has the realisation of the importance of
      quality control and regulatory processes. The regulatory practices include all
      the steps from the development and manufacture of the active ingredients until
      the medicines reach the consumer. The Medicines Control Council (MCC) is mandated
      to regulate medicines in South Africa. Complementary medicines were previously
      perceived to be unregulated, although the Medicines Act does not distinguish
      between allopathic and complementary medicine. As the era of unregulated
      complementary medicine ended, the requirements in terms of dossier content left
      many role-players at odds. However, the MCC has a mandate to ensure that the
      registration of a medicine is in the interest of the public and that
      complementary medicine is manufactured in a facility adhering to good
      manufacturing practice, according to which efficacy and safety are supported by
      reliable data with a known shelf-life.

PMID- 28604319
TI  - Establishing an academic biobank in a resource-challenged environment.
AB  - Past practices of informal sample collections and spreadsheets for data and
      sample management fall short of best-practice models for biobanking, and are
      neither cost effective nor efficient to adequately serve the needs of large
      research studies. The biobank of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular
      Bioscience serves as a bioresource for institutional, national and international
      research collaborations. It provides high-quality human biospecimens from African
      populations, secure data and sample curation and storage, as well as monitored
      sample handling and management processes, to promote both non-communicable and
      infectious-disease research. Best-practice guidelines have been adapted to align
      with a low-resource setting and have been instrumental in the development of a
      quality-management system, including standard operating procedures and a quality
      control regimen. Here, we provide a summary of 10 important considerations for
      initiating and establishing an academic research biobank in a low-resource
      setting. These include addressing ethical, legal, technical, accreditation and/or
      certification concerns and financial sustainability.

PMID- 28604320
TI  - Audits of oncology units - an effective and pragmatic approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Audits of oncology units are part of all quality-assurance
      programmes. However, they do not always come across as pragmatic and helpful to
      staff. OBJECTIVE: To report on the results of an online survey on the usefulness
      and impact of an audit process for oncology units. METHODS: Staff in oncology
      units who were part of the audit process completed the audit self-assessment form
      for the unit. This was followed by a visit to each unit by an assessor, and then
      subsequent personal contact, usually via telephone. The audit self-assessment
      document listed quality-assurance measures or items in the physical and
      functional areas of the oncology unit. There were a total of 153 items included
      in the audit. The online survey took place in October 2016. The invitation to
      participate was sent to 59 oncology units at which staff members had completed
      the audit process. RESULTS: The online survey was completed by 54 (41%) of the
      132 potential respondents. The online survey found that the audit was very or
      extremely useful in maintaining personal professional standards in 89% of
      responses. The audit process and feedback was rated as very or extremely
      satisfactory in 80% and 81%, respectively. The self-assessment audit document was
      scored by survey respondents as very or extremely practical in 63% of responses.
      The feedback on the audit was that it was very or extremely helpful in
      formulating improvement plans in oncology units in 82% of responses. Major and
      minor changes that occurred as a result of the audit process were reported as 8%
      and 88%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The survey findings show that the audit
      process and its self- assessment document meet the aims of being helpful and
      pragmatic.

PMID- 28604321
TI  - Sentinel lymph node biopsy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the management of
      early breast cancer: Safety considerations and timing.
AB  - Over the last decades, breast cancer treatment has become more personalised.
      Treatment plans are based on the biology of the tumour rather than the stage.
      Consequently, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is commonly the primary therapy for
      early breast cancer as well as locally advanced disease. Sentinel lymph node
      biopsy (SLNB) is standard axillary management for women with node-negative
      disease. This review looks at the relevant literature and gives guidance on the
      timing of SLNB when NACT is planned and evaluates the safety of performing an
      SLNB rather than an axillary clearance.

PMID- 28604322
TI  - Training and support to improve ICD coding quality: A controlled before-and-after
      impact evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The proposed National Health Insurance policy for South Africa (SA)
      requires hospitals to maintain high-quality International Statistical
      Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for patient records. While considerable
      strides had been made to improve ICD coding coverage by digitising the discharge
      process in the Western Cape Province, further intervention was required to
      improve data quality. The aim of this controlled before-and-after study was to
      evaluate the impact of a clinician training and support initiative to improve ICD
      coding quality. OBJECTIVE: To compare ICD coding quality between two central
      hospitals in the Western Cape before and after the implementation of a training
      and support initiative for clinicians at one of the sites. METHODS: The
      difference in differences in data quality between the intervention site and the
      control site was calculated. Multiple logistic regression was also used to
      determine the odds of data quality improvement after the intervention and to
      adjust for potential differences between the groups. RESULTS: The intervention
      had a positive impact of 38.0% on ICD coding completeness over and above changes
      that occurred at the control site. Relative to the baseline, patient records at
      the intervention site had a 6.6 (95% confidence interval 3.5 - 16.2) adjusted
      odds ratio of having a complete set of ICD codes for an admission episode after
      the introduction of the training and support package. The findings on impact on
      ICD coding accuracy were not significant. CONCLUSION: There is sufficient
      pragmatic evidence that a training and support package will have a considerable
      positive impact on ICD coding completeness in the SA setting.

PMID- 28604323
TI  - Analysis of HIV disease burden by calculating the percentages of patients with
      CD4 counts <100 cells/uL across 52 districts reveals hot spots for intensified
      commitment to programmatic support.
AB  - BACKGROUND: South Africa (SA)'s Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and
      Treatment (CCMT) programme has reduced new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths.
      In spite of progress made, 11.2% of South Africans (4.02 million) were living
      with HIV in 2015. OBJECTIVE: The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in SA
      performs CD4 testing in support of the CCMT programme and collates data through
      the NHLS Corporate Data Warehouse. The objective of this study was to assess the
      distribution of CD4 counts <100 cells/uL (defining severely immunosuppressed HIV
      positive patients) and >500 cells/uL (as an HIV-positive 'wellness' indicator).
      METHODS: CD4 data were extracted for the financial years 2010/11 and 2014/15,
      according to the district where the test was ordered, for predefined CD4 ranges.
      National and provincial averages of CD4 counts <100 and >500 cells/uL were
      calculated. Data were analysed using Stata 12 and mapping was done with ArcGIS
      software, reporting percentages of CD4 counts <100 and >500 cells/uL by district.
      RESULTS: The national average percentage of patients with CD4 counts <100
      cells/uL showed a marked decrease (by 22%) over the 5-year study period, with a
      concurrent increase in CD4 counts >500 cells/uL (by 57%). District-by-district
      analysis showed that in 2010/11, 44/52 districts had >10% of CD4 samples with
      counts <100 cells/uL, decreasing to only 17/52 districts by 2014/15. Overall,
      districts in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal had the lowest percentages of CD4
      counts <100 cells/uL, as well as the highest percentages of counts >500 cells/uL.
      In contrast, in 2014/15, the highest percentages of CD4 counts <100 cells/uL were
      noted in the West Rand (Gauteng), Vhembe (Limpopo) and Nelson Mandela Bay
      (Eastern Cape) districts, where the lowest percentages of counts >500 cells/uL
      were also noted. CONCLUSIONS: The percentages of CD4 counts <100 cells/uL
      highlighted here reveal districts with positive change suggestive of programmatic
      improvements, and also highlight districts requiring local interventions to
      achieve the UNAIDS/SA National Department of Health 90-90-90 HIV treatment goals.
      The study further underscores the value of using NHLS laboratory data, an
      underutilised national resource, to leverage laboratory test data to enable a
      more comprehensive understanding of programme-specific health indicators.

PMID- 28604324
TI  - Cytomegalovirus retinitis in Cape Town, South Africa: Clinical management and
      outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis is a vision-threatening opportunistic
      infection that occurs mainly in immunocompromised individuals. Limited data on
      treatment protocols and management outcomes are available in South Africa (SA).
      OBJECTIVES: To review the clinical presentation, management and outcomes of
      patients who were diagnosed and treated for CMV retinitis at Groote Schuur
      Hospital, Cape Town, SA, over a 10-year period, and to compare treatment
      protocols of 13 public hospitals in SA that treat patients for CMV retinitis.
      METHODS: A retrospective case review was performed of all patients treated for
      CMV retinitis at Groote Schuur Hospital between 2003 and 2013. In addition, a
      questionnaire was sent to 13 public hospitals in SA that treat patients with CMV
      retinitis. RESULTS: A total of 141 eyes in 91 patients were polymerase chain
      reaction-positive for CMV. Of these patients, 98.6% were HIV-positive and 72.5%
      were on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) at the time of presentation.
      Patients who were on HAART at presentation had better mean final visual acuity
      (VA) than those who were not on HAART (p<0.001). There was a significant
      association between the number of retinal quadrants involved and final visual
      outcome (p=0.009). Macular (central vision) involvement had a significant adverse
      effect on visual outcome compared with cases in which the macula was uninvolved
      (p=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Independent risk factors that predict final visual
      outcome include presenting VA, number of retinal quadrants involved, macular
      involvement and being on HAART at presentation. The diagnosis and management of
      CMV retinitis differ among treatment centres in SA.

PMID- 28604325
TI  - Characteristics and outcomes of gunshot-acquired spinal cord injury in South
      Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) caused by assault present a unique
      challenge facing the healthcare system, in that very little is known about how
      these injuries manifest compared with other causes of injury. Understanding the
      nuances of gunshot SCIs could contribute towards better care provision.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics of gunshot SCI and compare both
      injury characteristics and outcomes between gunshot SCI and all other traumatic
      causes taken together. METHODS: The gunshot SCI sub-cohort was derived from a 1
      year prospective, population-based study, including both tertiary-level hospitals
      providing SCI care in the Cape Metropolitan area of South Africa (SA). All
      consenting 145 survivors, after a window period of 7 days, were included, and
      their demographic and injury characteristics were captured according to the
      International SCI Core Basic Data Set. Further, selected secondary medical
      complications (outcomes) were prospectively and routinely assessed throughout
      acute care. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe and
      compare characteristics and outcomes, respectively. RESULTS: Of the 145 survivors
      of traumatic SCIs, 45 (31%) injuries were caused by gunshots. The gunshot SCI
      group consisted mainly of males (n=43, 96%), and the average age of injury onset
      was 26 years. Most survivors of the gunshot SCI group were paraplegic (69%), had
      complete lesions (69%) and vertebral injuries (96%), and presented with
      significant associated injuries (84%). When comparing gunshot SCI with all other
      traumatic causes, significant differences were found in relation to demographic
      and injury characteristics and adverse outcomes, indicating that those survivors
      with gunshot SCI were typically younger males with complete paraplegia, had more
      frequent secondary medical complications, and a longer hospital stay. CONCLUSION:
      This study contributes to the knowledge base of survivors with gunshot SCIs in a
      region of SA. Efforts should be made to reduce the occurrence of all gunshot
      SCIs, since those injuries affect survivors negatively in terms of injury
      characteristics and adverse outcomes.

PMID- 28604326
TI  - Screening for gestational diabetes mellitus in a South African population:
      Prevalence, comparison of diagnostic criteria and the role of risk factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing.
      Most major world organisations now recommend universal screening for GDM based on
      the International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG)
      criteria. Currently there is a lack of consensus on the diagnostic criteria for
      GDM used in South Africa (SA). The Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and
      Diabetes of South Africa's revised guidelines recommend the use of the IADPSG
      criteria for the diagnosis of GDM. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of GDM
      in an SA population. We compared the prevalence of GDM using the various
      diagnostic criteria and evaluated the risk factors associated with GDM. METHODS:
      This was a prospective cohort observational study carried out at a level 1 clinic
      in Johannesburg, SA. All pregnant women at <26 weeks' gestation were recruited.
      Patients known to have GDM were excluded. At recruitment, a data questionnaire
      was completed and bloods were drawn for a random glucose test and measurement of
      the glycated haemoglobin level. A 75 g 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)
      was scheduled before 28 weeks' gestation. RESULTS: Five hundred and fifty-four
      patients (55.4%) completed the OGTT. The prevalence of GDM was 25.8% if universal
      screening and the IADPSG criteria were used. If universal screening and the
      National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria were used, the
      prevalence was 17.0%. If selective risk factor-based screening was used, only 254
      (45.8%) of the women would have had an OGTT. The prevalence of GDM in this
      instance would have been 15.2% with the IADPSG criteria and 3.6% with the NICE
      criteria. Two hundred and fifty-four patients (45.8%) had at least one risk
      factor for GDM. The presence of one or more risk factors had a poor sensitivity
      (58.7%) and specificity (58.6%) for the detection of GDM in our study population.
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of GDM would be substantially increased if universal
      screening with the IADPSG criteria were to be employed. Risk factors are a poor
      screening test for GDM.

PMID- 28604327
TI  - Effects of exogenous human insulin dose adjustment on body mass index in adult
      patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus at Kalafong Hospital, Pretoria, South
      Africa, 2009 - 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To maintain fasting blood glucose levels within near to the normal
      range in type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), frequent insulin dose adjustments may be
      required with short-, intermediate- and long-acting insulin formulations.
      Patients on human insulin generally experience weight gain over time, regardless
      of the level of glycaemic control achieved. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects
      of human insulin, adjusted quarterly to achieve glycaemic control, on body mass
      index (BMI), and establish dose regimens that achieve optimal glycaemic control
      without increasing BMI in patients with type 1 DM at the Kalafong Diabetes Clinic
      in Pretoria, South Africa. METHODS: The sample size (N=211, 48.8% male) was
      obtained by non-probability convenience sampling of all available records of
      patients with type 1 DM aged >=18 years at baseline at the clinic. The
      longitudinal relationships of covariates with time-varying BMI, as well as with
      time-varying glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, were explored using multilevel
      mixed-effects linear regression modelling. RESULTS: The majority of the patients
      (84.8%) received the twice-daily biphasic human insulin regimen and the remainder
      received the basal neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) plus prandial regular human
      insulin regimen. The multivariable multilevel mixed-effects linear regression
      model indicated that time-varying BMI was significantly positively related to
      time-varying twice-daily biphasic insulin dosage (beta (standard error) 0.464
      (0.190), p=0.015), baseline HbA1c (0.092 (0.026), p<0.001) and baseline BMI
      (0.976 (0.016), p<0.001). There were significant inverse associations with the
      number of years spent in the study (-0.108 (0.052), p=0.038), time-varying HbA1c
      (-0.154 (0.031), p<0.001) and male sex (-0.783 (0.163), p<0.001). There were non
      significant negative longitudinal associations of age (-0.005 (0.006), p=0.427)
      and current smoking status (-0.231 (0.218), p=0.290) with BMI outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence that optimal quarterly-prescribed daily dosage
      adjustments of insulin improved and maintained blood glucose control without
      increasing body weight. When compared with the basal NPH plus prandial insulin
      regimen, twice-daily biphasic insulin was associated with a statistically
      significant  increase in subsequent BMI. Baseline HbA1c and BMI were also
      significantly positively associated with time-varying BMI. However, males
      appeared to be at a lower risk than females of an increase in BMI during insulin
      therapy. A question for further research is whether the analogue insulins will be
      associated with the same increase in BMI, as well as the same modest improvements
      in HbA1c, seen in this sample.

PMID- 28604328
TI  - The status of vaccine availability and associated factors in Tshwane government
      clinics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vaccines have greatly contributed to the control of vaccine
      preventable diseases and to human development. Efforts by many countries to
      introduce new vaccines are a significant move towards achieving the sustainable
      development goal for health. However, effective vaccine supply chains that ensure
      an uninterrupted supply of vaccines are pivotal to attaining universal access to
      life-saving vaccines and sustainable development. The introduction of new
      vaccines puts a strain on supply chains; South Africa (SA) is no exception, as
      there are indications of vaccine stock-outs in clinics. OBJECTIVE: To establish
      the status of vaccine availability and associated factors in government health
      facilities of Tshwane Health District in Gauteng Province, SA. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted in a sample of randomly selected government clinics
      in the Tshwane health district of Gauteng Province. Data were collected using a
      structured measurement instrument in participating clinics. Data were analysed
      using Excel-based software (Microsoft, USA). RESULTS: A total of 31 clinics
      participated. In the preceding 12 months, clinics had experienced vaccine stock
      outs, especially of the three newer vaccines: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine,
      rotavirus and Pentaxim. These were also out of stock for a long duration; for
      over 2 weeks in a majority of clinics. The causes of vaccine stock-outs were:
      poor management of stock, district depot out of stock, unreliable deliveries,
      lack of pharmacy assistants and limited fridge capacity. Further burdening the
      situation is the ineffective emergency-ordering system. CONCLUSION: Significant
      shortages of vaccines, which are essential drugs, occur in Tshwane government
      clinics. Vaccine supply chain issues and vaccine shortages should be treated as a
      priority at all levels of the healthcare system; therefore, a similar study
      should be conducted at national level. It is recommended that the vaccine supply
      chain should be restructured and overhauled with the use of advances in
      technology and could be linked with current initiatives such as MomConnect.

PMID- 28604329
TI  - Report on the first government-funded opioid substitution programme for heroin
      users in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although pharmacological opioid substitution treatment (OST) is a
      well-established treatment modality for heroin addiction, it is a relatively
      recent introduction in low- and middle-income countries. OBJECTIVE: To report on
      a pilot OST programme initiated in 2013 that was the only public-funded programme
      in South Africa (SA) at the time. Participants were offered standard care only
      (n=68) or, for the OST group (n=67), standard care plus Suboxone (Reckitt
      Benckiser), a synthetic partial opioid agonist, in a 12-week clinician-monitored
      programme. METHODS: Clinical records of 135 participants in the rehabilitation
      programme at Sultan Bahu Rehabilitation Centre in Mitchell's Plain, Cape Town,
      SA, from 1 January to 31 December 2014 were reviewed. Data collected included
      demographics and duration in treatment (retention) as well as number of urine
      samples provided, positive tests or self-reported use events and dates of first
      positive/negative tests. RESULTS: Significantly more participants in the OST
      group (65.7%) than controls (44.1%) completed the treatment (p=0.019). Among the
      non-completers, retention was higher in the OST group than in the standard care
      group (48.2 v. 30.1 days; p=0.001). The groups did not differ in respect of
      number of missed appointments and time to first positive test. However, the
      proportion of participants testing positive was higher in the OST group (80.6%)
      than in the standard care group (61.8%), although the former were tested nearly
      three times (18.3 v. 6.6 times) more. Consequently, the positive rate (proportion
      of positive tests) was substantially lower in the OST group (16.8%) than in the
      standard care group (23.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate modest success
      of this pilot OST programme in terms of completion and retention and should argue
      for a move to increase availability of and accessibility to OSTs for the
      management of opioid use disorder.

PMID- 28604330
TI  - Infection and tissue repair of experimental cutaneous candidiasis in diabetic
      mice.
AB  - PURPOSE: Diabetic patients seem to be predisposed to cutaneous candidiasis. In
      this study, we evaluated the interference of diabetic conditions in alloxan
      induced diabetic mice in relation to the development of C. albicans infection,
      density of M1 and M2 macrophages, distribution of collagen type I and III and
      anti-inflamamatory cytokines involved in tissue repair. METHODOLOGY: The mice
      were treated with intravenous alloxan, and all animals with blood glucose levels
      >250  mg dl-1 were inoculate with C. albicans intradermally in the hind paw and
      were studied for up to 21 days. Control groups without alloxan were used. The
      fungal burden was evaluated by periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and by counting the
      colony forming units. Total population of macrophages were targeted with antibody
      to F4/80 antigen and M2 macrophages with anti-arginase antibody. Anti
      inflammatory cytokines from popliteal lymph nodes were determined by capture
      ELISA procedures. Picrosirius red staining allowed qunantification of collagen
      types I and III in the infected skin by using a polarized light
      microscope.Results/Key findings. Diabetic mice, versus non-diabetic mice, showed
      a significant lower density of F4/80 and M2 macrophages, higher fungal burden,
      deficiency in interleukin (IL)-4 production, and delayed IL-13 responses. The
      later clearance of C. albicans enhanced tissue injury, leading to a decrease in
      collagen type I. Moreover, collagen type III was increased by interference of IL
      13 and transforming growth factor-beta cytokines. CONCLUSION: These findings
      highlight some important changes in diabetic animal responses to C. albicans
      infection that may be important to the pathophysiological processes underpinning
      cutaneous candidiasis in diabetic patients.

PMID- 28604331
TI  - Evidence of persistence of Prevotella spp. in the cystic fibrosis lung.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prevotella spp. represent a diverse genus of bacteria, frequently
      identified by both culture and molecular methods in the lungs of patients with
      chronic respiratory infection. However, their role in the pathogenesis of chronic
      lung infection is unclear; therefore, a more complete understanding of their
      molecular epidemiology is required. METHODOLOGY: Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis
      (PFGE) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assays were developed and used
      to determine the degree of similarity between sequential isolates (n=42) from
      cystic fibrosis (CF) patients during periods of clinical stability and
      exacerbation. RESULTS: A wide diversity of PFGE and RAPD banding patterns were
      observed, demonstrating considerable within-genus heterogeneity. In 8/12 (66.7 %)
      cases, where the same species was identified at sequential time points, pre- and
      post-antibiotic treatment of an exacerbation, PFGE/RAPD profiles were highly
      similar or identical. Congruence was observed between PFGE and RAPD (adjusted
      Rand coefficient, 0.200; adjusted Wallace RAPD->PFGE 0.459, PFGE->RAPD 0.128).
      Furthermore, some isolates could not be adequately assigned a species name on the
      basis of 16S rRNA analysis: these isolates had identical PFGE/RAPD profiles to
      Prevotellahisticola. CONCLUSION: The similarity in PFGE and RAPD banding patterns
      observed in sequential CF Prevotella isolates may be indicative of the
      persistence of this genus in the CF lung. Further work is required to determine
      the clinical significance of this finding, and to more accurately distinguish
      differences in pathogenicity between species.

PMID- 28604332
TI  - Microbacterium tumbae sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from the stone
      chamber of ancient tumulus.
AB  - Eight strains characterised as Gram-stain-positive, non-spore-forming and non
      motile rods were isolated from samples collected from stone chambers of the
      Takamatsuzuka and Kitora tumuli in Asuka village, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Among
      them, one strain, T7528-3-6bT, was shown to form a novel lineage within the genus
      Microbacterium. The most closely phylogenetically related species to T7528-3-6bT
      was Microbacterium panaciterrae, with 97.8 % sequence similarity. The major
      isoprenoid quinones of T7528-3-6bT were MK-12, MK-13 and MK-11. The predominant
      cellular fatty acids for this isolate were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0, iso
      C16 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan of this
      isolate was ornithine. Major polar lipids of the isolate were
      phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unknown glycolipid. The G+C
      content of the genomic DNA of this isolate was 70.1 mol%. On the basis of the
      results of physiological, biochemical and chemotaxonomic tests and molecular
      phylogenetic analysis, T7528-3-6bT is considered to represent a novel species of
      the genus Microbacterium, for which the name M. tumbae sp. nov. has been
      proposed. The type strain is T7528-3-6bT (=JCM 28836T=NCIMB 15039T). The results
      of comparisons of both phenotypic and genotypic (16S rRNA gene sequence)
      characteristics indicated that the remaining seven isolates were very closely
      related to Microbacterium shaanxiense. Although the sequence similarity between
      the two was 99.2 %, further detailed multifaceted comparisons are needed to
      determine their accurate taxonomic assignment.

PMID- 28604333
TI  - Performance of the Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform system for the
      differentiation and identification of Mycobacterium species.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a new
      diagnostic multiplexed bead-based bioassay (Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay
      Platform; QMAP) system with shape-encoded silica microparticles for the rapid and
      accurate detection and identification of 23 mycobacterial species/groups,
      including Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). METHODOLOGY: A total of 295
      mycobacterial clinical isolates cultured from respiratory specimens were used for
      identification of MTBC and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) using the QMAP
      system and the results were confirmed with PCR-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the rpoB gene, rpoB sequence analysis and PCR
      reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA).Results/Key findings. The Mycobacterium
      genus-specific probe of the QMAP system was positive for all 46 Mycobacterium
      reference strains and negative for 59 non-Mycobacterium strains. Based on 295
      liquid culture-positive samples, both the culture-based conventional
      identification method and the QMAP system identified each 212 and 81 isolates as
      MTB and NTM species. The concordance rates for the identification of NTM species
      between the QMAP system and molecular assays were 92.8 % (77/83), 97.6 % (81/83)
      and 100 % (83/83) for PCR-RFLP, the rpoB sequence analysis and PCR-REBA,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The QMAP system yielded rapid, highly sensitive and
      specific results for the identification of MTBC and NTM and accurately
      discriminated between NTM species within 3 h.

PMID- 28604334
TI  - Pseudorhodobacter ponti sp. nov., isolated from seawater.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, short-rod-shaped, non-motile bacterial strain, designated
      HWR-46T, was isolated from seawater of the Yellow Sea, South Korea, and was
      subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain HWR-46T grew optimally at pH
      7.0-8.0, at 20-25  degrees C and in the presence of 2-3 % (w/v) NaCl. The
      neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that
      strain HWR-46T fell within the clade comprising Pseudorhodobacter species,
      clustering with the type strain of Pseudorhodobacter aquimaris, with which it
      exhibited 98.4 % sequence similarity. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between
      strain HWR-46T and the type strains of other Pseudorhodobacter species was 95.1
      96.3 %. The DNA G+C content of strain HWR-46T was 63.1 mol% and its mean DNA-DNA
      relatedness value with P. aquimaris HDW-19T was 24.6+/-1.5 %. Strain HWR-46T
      contained only Q-10 as the ubiquinone and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1omega7c and/or
      C18 : 1omega6c) as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids were
      phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminolipid and an
      unidentified aminophospholipid. Differential phenotypic properties, together with
      phylogenetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain HWR-46T is distinguishable
      from other Pseudorhodobacter species. On the basis of the data presented, strain
      HWR-46T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus
      Pseudorhodobacter, for which the name Pseudorhodobacter ponti sp. nov. is
      proposed. The type strain is HWR-46T (=KCTC 52470T=NBRC 112426T).

PMID- 28604337
TI  - Thyroid cancer incidence: The discovery of the hidden iceberg.

PMID- 28604335
TI  - Salinicola tamaricis sp. nov., a heavy-metal-tolerant, endophytic bacterium
      isolated from the halophyte Tamarix chinensis Lour.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, strain F01T, was isolated from
      leaves of Tamarix chinensis Lour. The isolate grew optimally at 30  degrees C, at
      pH 7.0 and with 5.0 % (w/v) NaCl, and showed a high tolerance to manganese, lead,
      nickel, ferrous ions and copper ions. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1omega7c
      and C16 : 0, and the predominant respiratory quinone was Q-9. Polar lipids were
      dominated by diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine,
      phosphatidylglycerol, unidentified aminoglycolipids and phospholipids. The DNA
      G+C content was 65.8 %. Based on multilocus phylogenetic analysis, strain F01T
      belonged to the genus Salinicola, with highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity
      to Salinicola peritrichatus CGMCC 1.12381T (97.7 %). The level of DNA-DNA
      hybridization between strain F01T and closely related Salinicola strains was well
      below 70 %. According to the phenotypic, genetic and chemotaxonomic data, strain
      F01T is considered to represent a novel species in the genus Salinicola, for
      which the name Salinicola tamaricis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is F01T
      (=CCTCC AB 2015304T=KCTC 42855T).

PMID- 28604336
TI  - Characteristics of Dysphagia in Infants with Microcephaly Caused by Congenital
      Zika Virus Infection, Brazil, 2015.
AB  - We summarize the characteristics of dysphagia in 9 infants in Brazil with
      microcephaly caused by congenital Zika virus infection. The Schedule for Oral
      Motor Assessment, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, and the
      videofluoroscopic swallowing study were used as noninstrumental and instrumental
      assessments. All infants had a degree of neurologic damage and showed
      abnormalities in the oral phase. Of the 9 infants, 8 lacked oral and upper
      respiratory tract sensitivity, leading to delays in initiation of the pharyngeal
      phase of swallowing. Those delays, combined with marked oral dysfunction,
      increased the risk for aspiration of food, particularly liquid foods. Dysphagia
      resulting from congenital Zika virus syndrome microcephaly can develop in infants
      >3 months of age and is severe.

PMID- 28604338
TI  - Intra-individual variability in TSH levels of healthy women during the first half
      of pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: TSH is the parameter most widely accepted to assess thyroid function,
      especially in pregnant women. The aim of this current study was to analyze intra
      individual changes in TSH during the first half of pregnancy in women with TSH
      levels higher than 2.5mIU/L in early pregnancy. METHODS: An observational,
      prospective study was conducted on 243 healthy pregnant women in the first
      trimester of pregnancy. Thyroid function was assessed by testing TSH and free T4
      levels. A subgroup of women with TSH levels >2.5mIU/L underwent additional tests
      (TSH, free T4, peroxidase antibodies). Information on dietary iodine intake
      and/or iodine supplements was also recorded. RESULTS: Mean TSH level was
      1.89mIU/L (range 0.024-6.48mIU/L), and mean FT4 level was 1.19ng/dL (range 0.80
      1.90ng/dL). Fifty-eight women (23.8%) had TSH levels>2.5mIU/L in the first
      trimester of pregnancy, and additional thyroid function tests were performed in
      27 women. TSH levels significantly decreased from the first to the second test
      (3.59+/-0.92mIU/L vs 2.81+/-1.06mIU/L respectively; p<0.01), and the decrease was
      significantly greater in pregnant women who used iodized salt as compared to
      those who did not (1.16+/-0.65mIU/L vs 0.19+/-0.93mIUI/L respectively; p<0.01). A
      positive correlation was found between the time elapsed to the second measurement
      (24.3+/-17.2 days; range 8-58) and the decrease in TSH levels (r=0.40; p=0.038).
      CONCLUSION: TSH levels showed a continuous, uniform decrease during the first
      half of pregnancy in women with values slightly above the normal range. Pregnant
      women who used iodized salt were more likely to have decreased TSH levels in a
      second test.

PMID- 28604339
TI  - Obesity markers associated to albuminuria in a primary care center in Lima, Peru.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between three obesity markers, body mass
      index (BMI), abdominal circumference (AC), waist to height ratio (WHtR), and
      albuminuria in adults seen in a primary health care center specialized in chronic
      diseases in Lima, Peru. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective
      study in adults who attended a primary health care center specialized in chronic
      diseases in 2011. Patients were divided into four categories: healthy subjects
      and patients with high blood pressure, with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and
      with both diseases (HBP+T2DM). The main outcome was presence of albuminuria,
      defined as urine albumin levels higher than 30mg/day. Exposure variables included
      the following obesity markers: body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio
      (WHtR), and abdominal circumference (AC). Other covariates considered included
      sex and age. Crude and adjusted Poisson regressions were performed to estimate
      prevalence ratios (PRs) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).
      Areas under the curve were calculated for each indicator, stratified by sex.
      RESULTS: Data from 1,214 patients, 41% of them male, were analyzed, and
      albuminuria was found in 14.2%. Albuminuria was found to be associated to AC and
      WHtR, but not to BMI. All three parameters assessed had similar areas under the
      curve. The optimum cut-off points found for BMI and AC in females were higher
      than conventional (32.7kg/m2 and 93cm respectively), while the values in males
      were lower than conventional (27.9kg/m2 and 100cm respectively). For WHtR,
      however, the optimum cut-off point was higher in both sexes. The higher index in
      females was for BMI, followed by AC and WHtR. In males, the higher index was for
      WHtR, followed by AC and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: AC and WHtR were found to be directly
      associated to albuminuria, while BMI was not associated to albuminuria. Areas
      under the curve were similar for all three markers. The optimum cut-off points
      for BMI and AC were higher than the conventional ones in females and lower in
      males.

PMID- 28604340
TI  - Increased incidence of thyroid cancer in Navarra (Spain). Evolution and clinical
      characteristics, 1986-2010.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The latest published studies show an increased incidence of thyroid
      cancer worldwide. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in the
      incidence of thyroid cancer in Navarra and its clinical presentation regarding
      sex, histological subtype and size over the last 25 years. METHODS: Thyroid
      cancer incidence rates were calculated on the basis of data from the Cancer
      Registry of Navarra during 1986-2010. Clinical data were obtained from the
      historical cohort of the Hospital Registry of Cancer of Navarra, which includes
      all the new cases of differentiated thyroid carcinoma diagnosed and treated in
      the public health network of this Community in that period. RESULTS: The overall
      incidence of thyroid cancer in Navarra increased over the last 25 years, with an
      increase in the adjusted rate in men from 2.24 (1986-1990) to 5.85 (2006-2010)
      per 100,000 population/year (P<.001) and in women from 9.05 to 14.04,
      respectively (P<.001). This increase occurs only in papillary carcinoma. The
      clinical characteristics of 739 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer were
      studied. The mean age at diagnosis increased over the years and the predominance
      of women (about 80%) remains stable. Mean tumor size decreased over the five-year
      periods from 30.9 to 22.5mm (P<.001), the proportion of microcarcinomas (T1a)
      increased from 8.8% to 30% (P<.001) and, despite this increase, there were no
      statistical differences in the TNM stage at diagnosis during the study period.
      The distribution of histological variants of papillary and follicular carcinoma
      did not change over 25 years. CONCLUSIONS: During the period studied, the
      incidence of thyroid cancer increased in Navarra in both sexes. The increase
      occurred only in papillary carcinoma, without changes in the distribution of his
      histological variants. The increase in the proportion of T1a tumors is
      remarkable, but the TNM stage distribution was maintained. These results suggest
      an increase in the diagnosis of thyroid microcarcinomas due to changes in
      clinical practice, without ruling out a real increase in the incidence of
      papillary carcinoma in Navarra.

PMID- 28604341
TI  - Anthropometric parameters and permanent remission of comorbidities 10 years after
      open gastric bypass in a cohort with high prevalence of super-obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is an effective treatment for
      weight loss in patients with morbid obesity. However, few studies have assessed
      its long-term efficacy in super-obese patients. The study objective was to
      analyse the long-term effectiveness of RYGB and its effect on improvement of
      comorbidities after 10 years of follow-up, and to compare the results depending
      on baseline BMI (<50kg/m2 vs >=50kg/m2). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      study was conducted in 63 patients referred for RYGB with a 10-year or longer
      follow-up period. Mean BMI before surgery was 55kg/m2. RESULTS: Mean BMI
      decreased to 38.1kg/m2 at 10 years of follow-up. The success rates according to
      Reinhold criteria modified by Christou and to Biron's criteria were 30.2% and 54%
      respectively. The corresponding rates in super-obese patients were 21.4% and
      57.1%. Significant, stable improvement was seen in diabetes, dyslipidemia,
      hypertension, and sleep apnea. CONCLUSIONS: Sustained weight loss was achieved
      after gastric bypass, with a mean excess weight loss of 50.6% after 10 years
      despite the high prevalence of super-obesity. Comorbidity improvement was
      maintained.

PMID- 28604342
TI  - Role of adenosine receptors in the adipocyte-macrophage interaction during
      obesity.
AB  - Lipoinflamation is the inflammation generated in the adipose tissue. It can
      contribute to the development of insulin resistance. The lipoinflammation
      associated mechanisms are related to the function of adipocytes and macrophages
      present in the adipose tissue. In this regard, the level of nucleoside adenosine
      is increased in individuals with obesity. Causes or consequences of this increase
      are unknown. Although, adenosine activating its receptors (A1, A2A, A2B and A3)
      is able to differentially modulate the function of adipocytes and macrophages, in
      order to avoid the reduction of insulin sensitivity and generate an anti
      inflammatory state in subject with obesity. In this review we propose that
      adenosine could be a key element in the development of new strategies for limit
      lipoinflammation and regulate metabolic homeostasis through modulation of
      adipocyte-macrophage dialogue.

PMID- 28604344
TI  - Axial Spondyloarthritis Flares - Whatever They Are.

PMID- 28604343
TI  - Breathing 100% oxygen during water immersion improves postimmersion
      cardiovascular responses to orthostatic stress.
AB  - Physiological compensation to postural stress is weakened after long-duration
      water immersion (WI), thus predisposing individuals to orthostatic intolerance.
      This study was conducted to compare hemodynamic responses to postural stress
      following exposure to WI alone (Air WI), hyperbaric oxygen alone in a hyperbaric
      chamber (O2 HC), and WI combined with hyperbaric oxygen (O2 WI), all at a depth
      of 1.35 ATA, and to determine whether hyperbaric oxygen is protective of
      orthostatic tolerance. Thirty-two healthy men underwent up to 15 min of 70
      degrees  head-up tilt (HUT) testing before and after a single 6-h resting
      exposure to Air WI (N = 10), O2 HC (N = 12), or O2 WI (N = 10). Heart rate (HR),
      blood pressure (BP), cardiac output (Q), stroke volume (SV), forearm blood flow
      (FBF), and systemic and forearm vascular resistance (SVR and FVR) were measured.
      Although all subjects completed HUT before Air WI, three subjects reached
      presyncope after Air WI exposure at 10.4, 9.4, and 6.9 min. HUT time did not
      change after O2 WI or O2 HC exposures. Compared to preexposure responses, HR
      increased (+10 and +17%) and systolic BP (-13 and -8%), and SV (-16 and -23%)
      decreased during HUT after Air WI and O2 WI, respectively. In contrast, HR and SV
      did not change, and systolic (+5%) and diastolic BP (+10%) increased after O2 HC
      Q decreased (-13 and -7%) and SVR increased (+12 and +20%) after O2 WI and O2 HC,
      respectively, whereas SVR decreased (-9%) after Air WI Opposite patterns were
      evident following Air WI and O2 HC for FBF (-26 and +52%) and FVR (+28 and -30%).
      Therefore, breathing hyperbaric oxygen during WI may enhance post-WI
      cardiovascular compensatory responses to orthostatic stress.

PMID- 28604345
TI  - Scleroderma Lung Involvement, Autoantibodies, and Outcome Prediction: The
      Confounding Effect of Time.

PMID- 28604346
TI  - Another Nasty Effect of Opioids: Attenuating the Benefits of Motivational
      Interviewing in Fibromyalgia?

PMID- 28604348
TI  - Zika Virus in the Joint of a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PMID- 28604347
TI  - Treating Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: Position Paper on Applying the Treat
      to-target Concept to Canadian Daily Practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop preliminary treat-to-target (T2T) recommendations for
      psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) for Canadian daily practice. METHODS: A
      task force composed of expert Canadian dermatologists and rheumatologists
      performed a needs assessment among Canadian clinicians treating these diseases as
      well as an extensive literature search on the outcome measures used in clinical
      trials and practice. RESULTS: Based on results from the needs assessment and
      literature search, the task force established 5 overarching principles and
      developed 8 preliminary T2T recommendations. CONCLUSION: The proposed
      recommendations should improve management of psoriasis and PsA in Canadian daily
      practice. However, these recommendations must be further validated in a real
      world observational study to ensure that their use leads to better longterm
      outcomes.

PMID- 28604350
TI  - The Adipokine Omentin in Late-stage Rheumatoid Arthritis and Endstage
      Osteoarthritis.

PMID- 28604349
TI  - Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors Provide Longterm Clinical Benefits in Pediatric
      and Young Adult Patients with Blau Syndrome.

PMID- 28604351
TI  - Refractory Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone in
      Systemic Lupus Erythematosus-associated Hypophysitis.

PMID- 28604352
TI  - Updating the Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) Core Domain Set: A Report from the PsA
      Workshop at OMERACT 2016.

PMID- 28604353
TI  - Does Eating Out Make Elderly People Depressed? Empirical Evidence from National
      Health and Nutrition Survey in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the association between eating out and
      depressive symptoms among elderly people. Potential mediators that may link to
      elderly eating out and depressive symptoms are also discussed. METHODS: A unique
      dataset of 1,184 individuals aged 65 and older was drawn from the National Health
      and Nutrition Survey in 2008 in Taiwan. A bivariate probit model and an
      instrumental variable probit model were estimated to account for correlated,
      unmeasured factors that may be associated with both the decision and frequency of
      eating out and depressive symptoms in the elderly. An additional analysis is
      conducted to check whether the nutrient intakes and body weights can been seen as
      mediators that link the association between eating out and depressive symptoms of
      the elderly. RESULTS: Elderly people who eat out are 38 percent points more
      likely to have depressive symptoms than their counterparts who do not eat out,
      after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and other factors. A
      positive association between the frequency of eating out and the likelihood of
      having depressive symptoms of the elderly is also found. It is evident that one
      addition meal away from home is associated with an increase of the likelihood of
      being depressed by 3.8 percentage points. With respect to the mediations, we find
      that nutrient intakes and body weight are likely to serve as mediators for the
      positive relationship between eating out and depressive symptoms in the elderly.
      CONCLUSION: Our results show that elderly who eat out have a higher chance of
      having depressive symptoms. To prevent depressive symptoms in the elderly, policy
      makers should be aware of the relationship among psychological status, physical
      health and nutritional health when assisting the elderly to better manage their
      food consumption away from home. LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE
      RESEARCH: Our study have some caveats. First, the interpretation of our results
      on the causality issue calls for caution in that our analysis relies on a cross
      sectional survey. Second, other measures to define elderly depression, such as
      the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) score, can be used to
      check the robustness of our findings. Finally, the availability of food outlets
      in the local area and family characteristics are possibly associated with food
      away from home of the elderly. If data permit, the relationship between eating
      out and elderly depressive symptoms can be better identified after controlling
      for variables related to food facilities and family characteristics.

PMID- 28604354
TI  - Mental Health Insurance Parity and Provider Wages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Policymakers frequently mandate that employers or insurers provide
      insurance benefits deemed to be critical to individuals' well-being. However, in
      the presence of private market imperfections, mandates that increase demand for a
      service can lead to price increases for that service, without necessarily
      affecting the quantity being supplied. We test this idea empirically by looking
      at mental health parity mandates. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated whether
      implementation of parity laws was associated with changes in mental health
      provider wages. METHOD: Quasi-experimental analysis of average wages by state and
      year for six mental health care-related occupations were considered: Clinical,
      Counseling, and School Psychologists; Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder
      Counselors; Marriage and Family Therapists; Mental Health Counselors; Mental
      Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers; and Psychiatrists. Data from 1999-2013
      were used to estimate the association between the implementation of state mental
      health parity laws and the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity
      and Addiction Equity Act and average mental health provider wages. RESULTS:
      Mental health parity laws were associated with a significant increase in mental
      health care provider wages controlling for changes in mental health provider
      wages in states not exposed to parity (3.5 percent [95% CI: 0.3%, 6.6%]; p<.05).
      DISCUSSION: Mental health parity laws were associated with statistically
      significant but modest increases in mental health provider wages. IMPLICATIONS:
      Health insurance benefit expansions may lead to increased prices for health
      services when the private market that supplies the service is imperfect or
      constrained. In the context of mental health parity, this work suggests that part
      of the value of expanding insurance benefits for mental health coverage was
      captured by providers. Given historically low wage levels of mental health
      providers, this increase may be a first step in bringing mental health provider
      wages in line with parallel health professions, potentially reducing turnover
      rates and improving treatment quality.

PMID- 28604355
TI  - Costs and Performance of English Mental Health Providers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite limited resources in mental health care, there is little
      research exploring variations in cost performance across mental health care
      providers. In England, a prospective payment system for mental health care based
      on patient needs has been introduced with the potential to incentivise providers
      to control costs. The units of payment under the new system are 21 care clusters.
      Patients are allocated to a cluster by clinicians, and each cluster has a maximum
      review period. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The aim of this research is to explain
      variations in cluster costs between mental health providers using observable
      patient demographic, need, social and treatment variables. We also investigate if
      provider-level variables explain differences in costs. The residual variation in
      cluster costs is compared across providers to provide insights into which
      providers may gain or lose under the new financial regime. METHODS: The main data
      source is the Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS) for England for the years
      2011/12 and 2012/13. Our unit of observation is the period of time spent in a
      care cluster and costs associated with the cluster review period are calculated
      from NHS Reference Cost data. Costs are modelled using multi-level log-linear and
      generalised linear models. The residual variation in costs at the provider level
      is quantified using Empirical Bayes estimates and comparative standard errors
      used to rank and compare providers. RESULTS: There are wide variations in costs
      across providers. We find that variables associated with higher costs include
      older age, black ethnicity, admission under the Mental Health Act, and higher
      need as reflected in the care clusters. Provider type, size, occupancy and the
      proportion of formal admissions at the provider-level are also found to be
      significantly associated with costs. After controlling for patient- and provider
      level variables, significant residual variation in costs remains at the provider
      level. DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS: The results suggest that some providers may
      have to increase efficiency in order to remain financially viable if providers
      are paid national fixed prices (tariffs) under the new payment system. Although
      the classification system for payment is not based on diagnosis, a limitation of
      the study is the inability to explore the effect of diagnosis due to poor coding
      in the MHMDS. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVISION AND USE: We find that some
      mental health care providers in England are associated with higher costs of
      provision after controlling for characteristics of service users and providers.
      These higher costs may be associated with higher quality care or with inefficient
      provision of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES: The introduction of a
      national tariff is likely to provide a strong incentive to reduce costs. Policies
      may need to consider safe-guarding local health economies if some providers make
      substantial losses under the new payment regime. IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER
      RESEARCH: Future research should consider the relationship between costs and
      quality to ascertain whether reducing costs may potentially negatively impact
      patient outcomes.

PMID- 28604356
TI  - Ocular surface temperature in patients with evaporative and aqueous-deficient dry
      eyes: a thermographic approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In recent decades infrared thermography (IRT) has facilitated accurate
      quantitative measurements of the ocular surface temperature (OST), applying a non
      invasive procedure. The objective of this work was to develop a procedure based
      on IRT, which allows characterizing of the cooling of the ocular surface of
      patients suffering from dry eye syndrome, and distinguishing among patients
      suffering from aqueous deficient dry eye (ADDE) and evaporative dry eyes (EDE).
      APPROACH: All patients examined (34 females and 4 males, 23-84 years) were
      divided into two groups according to their Schirmer I result (? 7 mm for ADDE and
      >  7 mm for EDE), and the OST was recorded for 7 s at 30 Hz. For each
      acquisition, the temperatures of the central cornea (CC) as well as those of both
      temporal and nasal canthi were investigated. MAIN RESULTS: Findings showed that
      the maximum temperature variation (up to 0.75  +/-  0.29  degrees C) was at the
      CC for both groups. Furthermore, patients suffering from EDE tended to have a
      higher initial OST than those with ADDE, explained by the greater quantity of the
      tear film, evenly distributed over the entire ocular surface, keeping the OST
      higher initially. Results also showed that EDE patients had an average cooling
      rate higher than those suffering from ADDE, confirming the excessive evaporation
      of the tear film. SIGNIFICANCE: Ocular thermography paves the way to become an
      effective tool for differentiating between the two different etiologies of dry
      eye syndrome.

PMID- 28604357
TI  - Fine-tunable plasma nano-machining for fabrication of 3D hollow nanostructures:
      SERS application.
AB  - Novel processing sequences for the fabrication of artificial nanostructures are
      in high demand for various applications. In this paper, we report on a fine
      tunable nano-machining technique for the fabrication of 3D hollow nanostructures.
      This technique originates from redeposition effects occurring during Ar dry
      etching of nano-patterns. Different geometries of honeycomb, double ring,
      nanotube, cone and crescent arrays have been successfully fabricated from various
      metals such as Au, Ag, Pt and Ti. The geometrical parameters of the 3D hollow
      nanostructures can be straightforwardly controlled by tuning the discharge plasma
      pressure and power. The structure and morphology of nanostructures are probed
      using atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical
      emission spectroscopy (OES) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS).
      Finally, a Ag nanotube array was assayed for application in surface enhanced
      Raman spectroscopy (SERS), resulting in an enhancement factor (EF) of 5.5 * 105,
      as an experimental validity proof consistent with the presented simulation
      framework. Furthermore, it was found that the theoretical EF value for the
      honeycomb array is in the order of 107, a hundred times greater than that found
      in nanotube array.

PMID- 28604358
TI  - Dual stage beamforming in the absence of front-end receive focusing.
AB  - Ultrasound front-end receive designs for miniature, wireless, and/or matrix
      transducers can be simplified considerably by direct-element summation in
      receive. In this paper we develop a dual-stage beamforming technique that is able
      to produce a high-quality image from scanlines that are produced with focused
      transmit, and simple summation in receive (no delays). We call this non-delayed
      sequential beamforming (NDSB). In the first stage, low-resolution RF scanlines
      are formed by simple summation of element signals from a running sub-aperture. In
      the second stage, delay-and-sum beamforming is performed in which the delays are
      calculated considering the transmit focal points as virtual sources emitting
      spherical waves, and the sub-apertures as large unfocused receive elements. The
      NDSB method is validated with simulations in Field II. For experimental
      validation, RF channel data were acquired with a commercial research scanner
      using a 5 MHz linear array, and were subsequently processed offline. For NDSB,
      good average lateral resolution (0.99 mm) and low grating lobe levels (<-40 dB)
      were achieved by choosing the transmit [Formula: see text] as 0.75 and the
      transmit focus at 15 mm. NDSB was compared with conventional dynamic receive
      focusing (DRF) and synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) with their
      own respective optimal settings. The full width at half maximum of the NDSB point
      spread function was on average 20% smaller than that of DRF except for at depths 
      <30 mm and 10% larger than SASB considering all the depths. NDSB showed only a
      minor degradation in contrast-to-noise ratio and contrast ratio compared to DRF
      and SASB when measured on an anechoic cyst embedded in a tissue-mimicking
      phantom. In conclusion, using simple receive electronics front-end, NDSB can
      attain an image quality better than DRF and slightly inferior to SASB.

PMID- 28604359
TI  - Microwave-assisted magnesium phosphate coating on the AZ31 magnesium alloy.
AB  - Due to the combination of many unique properties, magnesium alloys have been
      widely recognized as suitable metallic materials for fabricating degradable
      biomedical implants. However, the extremely high degradation kinetics of
      magnesium alloys in the physiological environment have hindered their clinical
      applications. This paper reports for the first time the use of a novel microwave
      assisted coating process to deposit magnesium phosphate (MgP) coatings on the Mg
      alloy AZ31 and improve its in vitro corrosion resistance. Newberyite and
      trimagnesium phosphate hydrate (TMP) layers with distinct features were
      fabricated at various processing times and temperatures. Subsequently, the
      corrosion resistance, degradation behavior, bioactivity and cytocompatibility of
      the MgP coated AZ31 samples were investigated. The potentiodynamic polarization
      tests reveal that the corrosion current density of the AZ31 magnesium alloy in
      simulated body fluid (SBF) is significantly suppressed by the deposited MgP
      coatings. Additionally, it is seen that MgP coatings remarkably reduced the mass
      loss of the AZ31 alloy after immersion in SBF for two weeks and promoted
      precipitation of apatite particles. The high viability of preosteoblast cells
      cultured with extracts of coated samples indicates that the MgP coatings can
      improve the cytocompatibility of the AZ31 alloy. These attractive results suggest
      that MgP coatings, serving as the protective and bioactive layer, can enhance the
      corrosion resistance and biological response of magnesium alloys.

PMID- 28604361
TI  - Synthetic scaffolds with full pore interconnectivity for bone regeneration
      prepared by supercritical foaming using advanced biofunctional plasticizers.
AB  - Supercritical foaming allows for the solvent-free processing of synthetic
      scaffolds for bone regeneration. However, the control on the pore
      interconnectivity and throat pore size with this technique still needs to be
      improved. The use of plasticizers may help overcome these limitations. Eugenol, a
      GRAS natural compound extracted from plants, is proposed in this work as an
      advanced plasticizer with bioactive properties. Eugenol-containing poly(epsilon
      caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds were obtained by supercritical foaming (20.0 MPa,
      45  degrees C, 17 h) followed by a one or a two-step depressurization profile.
      The effects of the eugenol content and the depressurization profile on the porous
      structure of the material and the physicochemical properties of the scaffold were
      evaluated. The combination of both processing parameters was successful to
      simultaneously tune the pore interconnectivity and throat sizes to allow
      mesenchymal stem cells infiltration. Scaffolds with eugenol were cytocompatible,
      presented antimicrobial activity preventing the attachment of Gram positive (S.
      aureus, S. epidermidis) bacteria and showed good tissue integration.

PMID- 28604360
TI  - Chitosan-based hydrogels for developing a small-diameter vascular graft: in vitro
      and in vivo evaluation.
AB  - AIMS: Vascular grafts made of synthetic polymers perform poorly in small-diameter
      applications (cardiac and peripheral bypass). Chitosan is a biocompatible natural
      polymer that can provide a novel biological scaffold for tissue engineering
      development. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the biocompatibility of a
      novel chitosan preparation in vitro and in vivo, and to assess its potential as a
      scaffold for vascular applications. METHODS AND RESULTS: A series of experiments
      of increasing complexity, ranging from in vitro biocompatibility and
      hemocompatibility tests to in vivo studies in small and large animals (rats and
      sheep), was performed to provide a comprehensive analysis of chitosan hydrogels'
      biological properties. In vitro studies established that: (i) chitosan supported
      human endothelial progenitor cells adhesion, proliferation and resistance to
      physiological shear stress; (ii) chitosan did not activate platelets, the
      complement system, or the intrinsic coagulation pathway. In vivo results showed:
      (iii) no resorption of chitosan and no chronic inflammation at 60 days in a rat
      heterotopic implantation model (magnetic resonance imaging and histology); (iv)
      no flow obstruction (Doppler ultrasound) and no thrombus formation (histology and
      scanning electron microscopy) at 2 h after a carotid arteriotomy repair with
      chitosan patches in sheep. Finally, two chitosan tubes were implanted as carotid
      interposition grafts for 3 days in sheep showing that chitosan was strong enough
      to be sutured, to withstand arterial pressure, and no flow obstruction was
      observed through this short period. CONCLUSION: Chitosan-based hydrogels
      displayed promising in vitro biocompatibility and hemocompatibility properties as
      well as in vivo short-term performance.

PMID- 28604362
TI  - The spatial distribution of two dimensional electron gas at the LaTiO3/KTaO3
      interface.
AB  - We report the photoemission spectroscopy studies on the newly discovered two
      dimensional electron gas (2DEG) system LaTiO3/KTaO3, whose interfacial carriers
      show much higher mobility than that in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 at room temperature, thus
      raising the application prospect of transition metal oxide-based 2DEG. By
      measuring the density of states at the Fermi energy (EF), we directly reveal the
      spatial distribution of the conducting electrons at the interface. The density of
      states near EF of the topmost LTO reaches the highest when LTO is 2-unit-cell
      thick, and diminishes at the 5th unit cell of LTO. We discussed the origin of
      such a spacial distribution of conducting electrons and its relation with 2DEG,
      and proposed two possible scenarios based on electrostatic relaxations and
      chemical reconstructions. These results offer experimental clues in understanding
      the characteristics and origin of the 2DEG, and also shed light on improving the
      performance of 2DEG.

PMID- 28604363
TI  - Quantum confinement in black phosphorus-based nanostructures.
AB  - The modification of an idealized infinite bulk system by dimensional reduction or
      structural distortion results in quantum confinement effects (QCEs). For example,
      dimensional reduction of a black phosphorus structure leads to the realization of
      few-layer systems, creation of edges and surfaces, nanoribbons, quantum dots, and
      antidot lattices while structural distortion involves simple bending (including
      nanotubes) and rippling. Black phosphorus ('phosphorene' in the single-layer
      limit) has been of recent interest due to its relatively large charge carrier
      mobility and moderate semiconducting band gap, which remains direct irrespective
      of the number of layers. In this review the state-of-the-art properties of black
      phosphorus in its dimensionally reduced and structurally distorted forms are
      discussed, with emphasis on how quantum confinement impacts the material's
      properties.

PMID- 28604364
TI  - Adsorption and switching properties of nitrospiropyran on Bi(1 1 4).
AB  - Spiropyrans are prototype molecular switches, which undergo a reversible
      photoinduced ring-opening/-closure reaction between the closed three-dimensional
      spiropyran (SP) and the open, planar merocyanine (MC) form. In solution the SP
      isomer is the thermodynamically stable form. Using high resolution electron
      energy loss spectroscopy, we resolve a thermally-activated irreversible ring
      opening reaction of nitrospiropyran resulting in the MC form for coverages above
      one monolayer. Thus, the situation found in solution is reversed for the adsorbed
      molecules, since the MC form is more stable due to the modified energetics by the
      presence of the substrate. In addition, illumination with blue light (445 nm)
      induced also the ring-opening, while the photostimulated back-reaction could not
      be observed. The photoisomerization is driven by a substrate-mediated process,
      i.e. a charge transfer from the substrate into molecular states. The situation
      changes completely in the monolayer regime. Neither a thermally-assisted nor a
      photoinduced ring-opening reaction has been identified. We ascribe the
      suppression to sterical effects stabilizing the SP form due to the surface
      structure of Bi(1 1 4), which consists of straight atomic rows separated by rough
      valleys.

PMID- 28604365
TI  - Avalanche criticality in thermal-driven martensitic transitions: the asymmetry of
      the forward and reverse transitions in shape-memory materials.
AB  - Martensitic transitions take place intermittently as a sequence of avalanches
      which are accompanied by the emission of acoustic waves. The study of this
      acoustic emission (AE) reveals the scale-free nature of the avalanches. In a
      number of shape memory materials undergoing a martensitic transition it has been
      found that, in spite of relatively low hysteresis, the dynamics of forward and
      reverse transitions are different, which may explain the fact that the AE
      activity is different in both forward and reverse transitions. The asymmetry
      could be a consequence of the fact that, while nucleation is required for the
      transition from the parent to martensitic phase to take place, reverse transition
      occurs by fast shrinkage of martensitic domains. We have analysed in detail the
      distribution of avalanches in cooling and heating runs in Fe-Pd and Cu-Zn-Al
      shape-memory alloys. In the former, the martensitic transition is weakly first
      order while it shows a significant first order character in the latter. We have
      found that in Fe-Pd the distributions are power law for the forward and reverse
      transitions characterized by the same critical exponents. For Cu-Zn-Al the
      distribution of avalanches is critical in forward transitions but exponentially
      damped in the reverse transition. It is suggested that this different behaviour
      could originate from the different dynamic mechanisms in forward and reverse
      transitions.

PMID- 28604366
TI  - Flexible electrochemical biosensors based on graphene nanowalls for the real-time
      measurement of lactate.
AB  - We demonstrate a flexible biosensor for lactate detection based on l-lactate
      oxidase immobilized by chitosan film cross-linked with glutaraldehyde on the
      surface of a graphene nanowall (GNW) electrode. The oxygen-plasma technique was
      developed to enhance the wettability of the GNWs, and the strength of the
      sensor's oxidation response depended on the concentration of lactate. First, in
      order to eliminate interference from other substances, biosensors were primarily
      tested in deionized water and displayed good electrochemical reversibility at
      different scan rates (20-100 mV s-1), a large index range (1.0 MUM to 10.0 mM)
      and a low detection limit (1.0 MUM) for lactate. Next, these sensors were further
      examined in phosphate buffer solution (to mimick human body fluids), and still
      exhibited high sensitivity, stability and flexibility. These results show that
      the GNW-based lactate biosensors possess important potential for application in
      clinical analysis, sports medicine and the food industry.

PMID- 28604367
TI  - Ultrafast emission decay with high emission efficiency of quantum dots in
      plasmonic-dielectric metasubstrates.
AB  - We report on the ultrafast decay of quantum dots that reaches nearly 430 ps
      without reduction in the emission intensity when near a metasubstrate of simple
      geometry. By implementing a layered structure of amorphous silicon sandwiched
      between two gold layers, the balance between plasmonic near field enhancement and
      energy transfer of the quantum dots has been shifted. This is achieved by
      tailoring the amount of Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to the top Au
      layer and plasmonic near field enhancement by the bottom Au layer. We also study
      the impact of deposition of Al oxide on the top Au layer, forming a charge
      barrier junction that can suppress Auger recombination of quantum dots. The
      results show that such a barrier can increase emission efficiency of the
      metastructure without significant reduction in the decay rate. We study the
      impact of formation of small nanoislands to contiguous islands via variation of
      the thickness of the top Au layer, and discuss how such morphologies determine
      the amount of FRET, screening of plasmonic field from the bottom Au layer, and
      enhancement of emission due to their own plasmonic fields.

PMID- 28604369
TI  - Selective area growth of AlN/GaN nanocolumns on (0001) and (11-22) GaN/sapphire
      for semi-polar and non-polar AlN pseudo-templates.
AB  - Despite the strong interest in optoelectronic devices working in the deep
      ultraviolet range, no suitable low cost, large-area, high-quality AlN substrates
      have been available up to now. The aim of this work is the selective area growth
      of AlN nanocolumns by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on polar (0001) and
      semi-polar (11-22) GaN/sapphire templates. The resulting AlN nanocolumns are
      vertically oriented with semi-polar {1-103} top facets when grown on (0001)
      GaN/sapphire, or oriented at 58 degrees  from the template normal and exposing {1
      100} non-polar top facets when growing on (11-22) GaN/sapphire, in both cases
      reaching filling factors >=80%. In these kinds of arrays each nanostructure could
      function as a building block for an individual nano-device or, due to the large
      filling factor values, the overall array top surfaces could be seen as a quasi
      (semi-polar or non-polar) AlN pseudo-template.

PMID- 28604368
TI  - Predictive modeling of outcomes following definitive chemoradiotherapy for
      oropharyngeal cancer based on FDG-PET image characteristics.
AB  - In this study, we investigate the use of imaging feature-based outcomes research
      ('radiomics') combined with machine learning techniques to develop robust
      predictive models for the risk of all-cause mortality (ACM), local failure (LF),
      and distant metastasis (DM) following definitive chemoradiation therapy (CRT).
      One hundred seventy four patients with stage III-IV oropharyngeal cancer (OC)
      treated at our institution with CRT with retrievable pre- and post-treatment 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans were identified.
      From pre-treatment PET scans, 24 representative imaging features of FDG-avid
      disease regions were extracted. Using machine learning-based feature selection
      methods, multiparameter logistic regression models were built incorporating
      clinical factors and imaging features. All model building methods were tested by
      cross validation to avoid overfitting, and final outcome models were validated on
      an independent dataset from a collaborating institution. Multiparameter models
      were statistically significant on 5 fold cross validation with the area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC)  =  0.65 (p  =  0.004), 0.73 (p  = 
      0.026), and 0.66 (p  =  0.015) for ACM, LF, and DM, respectively. The model for
      LF retained significance on the independent validation cohort with AUC  =  0.68
      (p  =  0.029) whereas the models for ACM and DM did not reach statistical
      significance, but resulted in comparable predictive power to the 5 fold cross
      validation with AUC  =  0.60 (p  =  0.092) and 0.65 (p  =  0.062), respectively.
      In the largest study of its kind to date, predictive features including
      increasing metabolic tumor volume, increasing image heterogeneity, and increasing
      tumor surface irregularity significantly correlated to mortality, LF, and DM on 5
      fold cross validation in a relatively uniform single-institution cohort. The LF
      model also retained significance in an independent population.

PMID- 28604370
TI  - Development of a synthetic single crystal diamond dosimeter for dose measurement
      of clinical proton beams.
AB  - The scope of this work was to develop a synthetic single crystal diamond
      dosimeter (SCDD-Pro) for accurate relative dose measurements of clinical proton
      beams in water. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out based on the MCNPX code
      in order to investigate and reduce the dose curve perturbation caused by the SCDD
      Pro. In particular, various diamond thicknesses were simulated to evaluate the
      influence of the active volume thickness (e AV) as well as the influence of the
      addition of a front silver resin (250 um in thickness in front of the diamond
      crystal) on depth-dose curves. The simulations indicated that the diamond crystal
      alone, with a small e AV of just 5 um, already affects the dose at Bragg peak
      position (Bragg peak dose) by more than 2% with respect to the Bragg peak dose
      deposited in water. The optimal design that resulted from the Monte Carlo
      simulations consists of a diamond crystal of 1 mm in width and 150 um in
      thickness with the front silver resin, enclosed by a water-equivalent packaging.
      This design leads to a deviation between the Bragg peak dose from the full
      detector modeling and the Bragg peak dose deposited in water of less than 1.2%.
      Based on those optimizations, an SCDD-Pro prototype was built and evaluated in
      broad passive scattering proton beams. The experimental evaluation led to probed
      SCDD-Pro repeatability, dose rate dependence and linearity, that were better than
      0.2%, 0.4% (in the 1.0-5.5 Gy min-1 range) and 0.4% (for dose higher than 0.05
      Gy), respectively. The depth-dose curves in the 90-160 MeV energy range, measured
      with the SCDD-Pro without applying any correction, were in good agreement with
      those measured using a commercial IBA PPC05 plane-parallel ionization chamber,
      differing by less than 1.6%. The experimental results confirmed that this SCDD
      Pro is suitable for measurements with standard electrometers and that the depth
      dose curve perturbation is negligible, with no energy dependence and no
      significant dose rate dependence.

PMID- 28604371
TI  - Factors influencing the robustness of P-value measurements in CT texture
      prognosis studies.
AB  - Several studies have recently reported on the value of CT texture analysis in
      predicting survival, although the topic remains controversial, with further
      validation needed in order to consolidate the evidence base. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the effect of varying the input parameters in the Kaplan
      Meier analysis, to determine whether the resulting P-value can be considered to
      be a robust indicator of the parameter's prognostic potential. A retrospective
      analysis of the CT-based normalised entropy of 51 patients with lung cancer was
      performed and overall survival data for these patients were collected. A
      normalised entropy cut-off was chosen to split the patient cohort into two groups
      and log-rank testing was performed to assess the survival difference of the two
      groups. This was repeated for varying normalised entropy cut-offs and varying
      follow-up periods. Our findings were also compared with previously published
      results to assess robustness of this parameter in a multi-centre patient cohort.
      The P-value was found to be highly sensitive to the choice of cut-off value, with
      small changes in cut-off producing substantial changes in P. The P-value was also
      sensitive to follow-up period, with particularly noisy results at short follow-up
      periods. Using matched conditions to previously published results, a P-value of
      0.162 was obtained. Survival analysis results can be highly sensitive to the
      choice in texture cut-off value in dichotomising patients, which should be taken
      into account when performing such studies to avoid reporting false positive
      results. Short follow-up periods also produce unstable results and should
      therefore be avoided to ensure the results produced are reproducible. Previously
      published findings that indicated the prognostic value of normalised entropy were
      not replicated here, but further studies with larger patient numbers would be
      required to determine the cause of the different outcomes.

PMID- 28604372
TI  - Adaptive region-growing with maximum curvature strategy for tumor segmentation in
      18F-FDG PET.
AB  - Accurate tumor segmentation in PET is crucial in many oncology applications. We
      developed an adaptive region-growing (ARG) algorithm with a maximum curvature
      strategy (ARG_MC) for tumor segmentation in PET. The ARG_MC repeatedly applied a
      confidence connected region-growing algorithm with increasing relaxing factor f.
      The optimal relaxing factor (ORF) was then determined at the transition point on
      the f-volume curve, where the volume just grew from the tumor into the
      surrounding normal tissues. The ARG_MC along with five widely used algorithms
      were tested on a phantom with 6 spheres at different signal to background ratios
      and on two clinic datasets including 20 patients with esophageal cancer and 11
      patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The ARG_MC did not require any phantom
      calibration or any a priori knowledge of the tumor or PET scanner. The identified
      ORF varied with tumor types (mean ORF  =  9.61, 3.78 and 2.55 respectively for
      the phantom, esophageal cancer, and NHL datasets), and varied from one tumor to
      another. For the phantom, the ARG_MC ranked the second in segmentation accuracy
      with an average Dice similarity index (DSI) of 0.86, only slightly worse than
      Daisne's adaptive thresholding method (DSI  =  0.87), which required phantom
      calibration. For both the esophageal cancer dataset and the NHL dataset, the
      ARG_MC had the highest accuracy with an average DSI of 0.87 and 0.84,
      respectively. The ARG_MC was robust to parameter settings and region of interest
      selection, and it did not depend on scanners, imaging protocols, or tumor types.
      Furthermore, the ARG_MC made no assumption about the tumor size or tumor uptake
      distribution, making it suitable for segmenting tumors with heterogeneous FDG
      uptake. In conclusion, the ARG_MC was accurate, robust and easy to use, it
      provides a highly potential tool for PET tumor segmentation in clinic.

PMID- 28604373
TI  - Blunt hepatic and splenic trauma. A single Center experience using a
      multidisciplinary protocol.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this retrospective study was to describe more than 10 years
      experience of a single Trauma Center about non operative management of abdominal
      organ injuries in hemodynamically stable patients MATERIAL OF STUDY: Between
      January 2001 and December 2014 ,732 consecutive patients were admitted with blunt
      abdominal trauma, involving liver and/or spleen and/or kidney, at the Bufalini
      Cesena Hospital .Management of patients included a specific institutional
      developed protocol :hemodynamic stability was evaluated in shock room according
      to the patients response to fluid challenge and the patients were classified into
      three categories A,B,and C. RESULTS: Form 732 Trauma, 356(48.6%) of patients were
      submitted to a surgical procedure, all the other patient 376(51.4%) underwent an
      non operative management .Overall mortality was 9.8% (72), mortality in the
      surgery group was 15.4% eheras in the non operative group was 4.5%; the relative
      risk of mortality, measured by the odds ratio waith a 95% confidence interval,
      was 3.417(2.023-5.772) for rhe surgery group; patient over 40 years old has a
      statistically significant higher mortality. DISCUSSION: In our series the overall
      mortality rate of non operative management group was 4.5%, instead in unstable
      patients, the surgery group, the mortality was 15.3%; the overall mortality
      mortality rate after the application of our protocol is 9.8%, Although surgery
      continues to be the standard for hemodically unstable patients with blunt hepatic
      and splenic trauma. In our experience AAST Organ Injury Scale was useless for the
      therapeutic decision making process after the CT scan if a source of bleeding was
      detected and immediate angiography was performed in order to control and solve
      it. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience the AAST Organ Injury Scale was useless for
      the therapeutic decision making process, The results suggest that the only
      criteria of choice for therapeutici strategy was the hemodynamic stability,
      Nonoperative managem,ent can be applied only following strict institutional
      criteria KEY WORDS: Hemodynmic stability, Nonoperative management, Trauma.

PMID- 28604374
TI  - A very low calorie ketogenic diet improves weight loss and quality of life in
      patients with adjustable gastric banding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Often, in severe obesity, diet and physical activity are not enough
      to achieve a healthy BMI. Bariatric surgical approach, in particular laparoscopic
      adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), has encouraging results in terms of weight
      loss and resolution of obesity-related comorbidities. However, several months
      after LAGB, some patients are enable to lose weight anymore and don't tolerate a
      further calibration because of its collateral effects (excessive sense of
      fullness, heartburn, regurgitation and vomiting). AIM: The aim of this study is
      to identify the potential role of high protein-low carbohydrate ketogenic diet
      (KD) in managing weight loss in patients who underwent gastric banding and didn't
      lose weight anymore. METHODS: 50 patients underwent LAGB between January 2010 and
      December 2013. In twenty patients (GROUP A) we observed a stop in weight loss so
      we divided this patients into two groups. One group (group A1: 10 patients)
      continued to follow a LCD low calorie diet and underwent a further calibration;
      the other group (group A2: 10 patients) started to follow a KD for the next 8
      weeks. RESULTS: Both group resumed a significant weight loss, however group A1
      patients reported collateral effects due to calibration and a higher Impact of
      Weight on Quality of Life - Lite (IWQOL-Lite) that correlates with a lower
      quality of life than patients following KD. CONCLUSIONS: KD can improve the
      weight loss and quality of life in patients who underwent LAGB and failed at
      losing more weight allowing a weight loss comparable to that obtained with a
      further calibration and it is useful to avoid drastic calibrations and their
      collateral effects. KEY WORDS: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric binding, Quality
      of life, Very low calory ketogenic binding.

PMID- 28604375
TI  - Retained upper third molars during Le Fort I osteotomy with downfracture.
AB  - AIM: The aim of our study is to demonstrate that the presence of upper wisdom
      teeth must be evaluated before and during Le Fort I osteotomy because attention
      must be focused to the disadvantages or facilitations of surgery depending on
      molar presence. MATERIALS OF STUDY: Our study has analyzed two groups, each one
      including 20 patients, 10 males and 10 females, with an age between 16-30 years.
      The first group was treated with le Fort I osteotomy leaving in situ the wisdom
      upper third molars. The second group was treated with Le Fort I osteotomy after
      the extraction of the wisdom upper third molars. RESULTS: Group A: upper third
      molar avulsion, necessary in 5 cases, was the main reason for prolongation of
      surgical time. However, in group A, increased bleeding occurred in 3 cases, bone
      irregularities and bone interferences occurred in 2 cases, neurological injuries
      occurred in 2 cases, any complications occurred in 8 cases. Group B: the
      management of the hemorrhage resulting from the vascular injuries, occurred in 7
      cases, was the main reason for prolongation of surgical time. However, in group
      B, bone irregularities and bone interferences occurred in 4 cases, neurological
      injuries occurred in 3 cases, any complication occurred in 6 cases. DISCUSSION:
      In literature is actually discussed the risks related to the presence of lower
      third molars during mandibular osteotomies. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is designed to
      be helpful to the beginner surgeons during them first time approach to this kind
      of surgery. KEY WORDS: Retained third molar, Le Fort I osteotomy, Wisdom teeth
      extraction.

PMID- 28604376
TI  - Aortic surgery and laparoscopy: still a future in the endovascular surgery era?
AB  - : Laparoscopic surgery (LS) is the minimally invasive alternative to open surgery
      and endovascular approach for treating major aortic diseases. Only few reports in
      the literature describe the long-term outcomes of the laparoscopic approach for
      major vascular diseases. Furthermore, the widespread use of endovascular
      techniques has limited the use of LS to wellselected patients. This review
      evaluated the results of LS for aortic disease and compared the clinical outcomes
      of laparoscopic technique with those of open and endovascular surgery. A
      systematic review was performed by using the MEDLINE database, along with a meta
      analysis of the reported studies on the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm
      (AAA) and/or aorto-iliac occlusive disease (AIOD). Forty-three studies were
      analyzed (17 for AAA and 26 for AIOD), with a total of 1197 patients with AAA and
      1307 patients with AIOD. Laparoscopic surgery, when performed in experienced
      centers, is a feasible and safe technique for the treatment of AAA and AIOD in
      patients unfit for open and endovascular repair. Assisted laparoscopic approach
      has shown better outcomes than totally laparoscopic repair, with a lower rate of
      mortality and morbidity. Endovascular repair, however, remains the gold standard
      in the treatment of AAA. KEY WORDS: Abdominal aortic aneurysm, Aorta, Aneurysm,
      Aorto-iliac occlusive disease, Endovascular aneurysm repair, EVAR, Laparoscopy,
      Endovascular, Repair, Laparoscopic Assisted, Laparoscopy Vascular, Laparoscopic
      surgery, Totally.

PMID- 28604377
TI  - Minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy A retrospective review of 30 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic surgery has been greatly influenced by the advent of
      laparoscopic surgery and increasing experience in its performance and by advances
      in techniques and surgical devices. This study aimed to represent two centers'
      initial experiences in laparoscopic distal pancreatic surgery. METHODS: This
      study was a bi-centric study including 30 patients undergoing distal
      pancreatectomy for pancreatic disorders. All the patients were operated on from
      November 2006 to November 2013 in Turkey and Spain. RESULTS: Laparoscopic spleen
      preserving distal pancreatectomy was performed in 9 patients, laparoscopic distal
      pancreatectomy was performed in 14 patients, laparoscopic enucleation was
      performed in 4 patients, and single-incision laparoscopic distal
      pancreatosplenectomy with splenectomy was performed in 3 patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomies for pancreatic disorders are feasible and
      safe procedures if performed by experienced laparoscopic surgeons. KEY WORDS:
      Laparoscopy, Pancreas, Multi-port, Tumor, SILS.

PMID- 28604378
TI  - Bridge to surgery in patients with obstructive colorectal cancer Comparison of
      covered and uncovered stents.
AB  - AIM: Placement of self-expandable metallic stent has been used for bridge to
      surgery in the treatment of colorectal obstruction. Our aim was to compare
      technical success and complication rates of covered and uncovered inserted stents
      in colorectal malignant obstruction patients. MATERIAL OF STUDY: A series of 24
      obstruction colorectal cancer patients were selected and included in the study
      for endoscopic stenting as a bridge to surgery: group 1 (patients with covered
      stents, n =12); group 2 (patients with uncovered stents, n=12). Technical success
      and complication rates of all procedures were compared between covered and
      uncovered stents. RESULTS: Stent placement was technically successful in all
      patients with no procedure-related complications. No significant differences
      between the two groups were found (p-value > 0.05). Complications were observed
      after the technical success. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary data suggest that self
      expandable metallic stent is a safe and efficacy approach in patients with
      malignant colorectal obstruction for bridge to surgery and there are not
      differences in the use of covered or uncovered stents due to low complication
      rates and positive outcomes in both groups. KEY WORDS: Bridge to Surgery,
      Colorectal Cancer, Emergency Obstruction, Stents.

PMID- 28604379
TI  - Physiotherapy immediately after thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis.
      Two cases and review of the literature.
AB  - AIM: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by
      activation of autoantibodies against acetylcholine receptors: patients with MG
      typically experience muscle weakness and fatigue. The aims of the present study
      were 1) to describe immediate postoperative physiotherapeutic interventions in
      two MG patients who underwent thymectomy, and 2) to discuss postoperative
      rehabilitative issues in MG patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a non
      experimental study analyzing two subjects with MG who underwent thymectomy.
      Furthermore, to find evidence on postoperative rehabilitative intervention in MG
      patients undergoing thymectomy, four major databases were searched through August
      2016. RESULTS: All subjects were able to walk on postoperative day (POD) 1 and to
      climb at least one flight of stairs on POD 4. Pain was more intense on POD 1 than
      on PODs 2 and 4. Dyspnea was worse on POD 2 than on PODs 1 and 4. Regarding the
      literature review, 58 papers were identified. After removal of duplicates, 51
      citations remained to be screened. After the full texts were read, one paper met
      the inclusion criteria and was included. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that
      patients are willing to undergo immediate physiotherapeutic treatment in the ICU
      after thymectomy. It seems that physiotherapeutic intervention after thymectomy
      in MG-grade IIa middle-aged patients can be initiated immediately postoperatively
      in uncomplicated cases. KEY WORDS: Dyspnea, Myasthenia gravis, Outcome
      assessment, Pain measurement, Physiotherapy, Postoperative care, Rehabilitation,
      Thymectomy.

PMID- 28604380
TI  - Microsurgical SCIA/SIEA flap for facial contour correction in patient with
      hemifacial microsomia.
AB  - AIM: We propose our experience in soft tissue reconstruction in Hemifacial
      microsomia using a free fascioadiposal flap. MATERIAL OF STUDY: Hemifacial
      microsomia (HFM) is a congenital disorder characterized by craniofacial
      malformation of one or both sides of the lower face. A 18-year-old female
      presented with hemifacial microsomia involving the left side. A free SCIA/SIEA
      fascioadiposal flap was transferred to the left face for soft tissue
      augmentation. RESULTS: The immediate postoperative course of the patient was
      uneventful, with no complication and adequate augmentation in contour deformity
      was achieved. One year after the procedure, the patient presented a good
      resolution of the deformity with improved facial symmetry DISCUSSION:
      Reconstruction for facial contour deformities is still a challenging process and
      treatment for most cases is achieved only by soft tissue augmentation. Several
      microsurgical flaps have been proposed for restoration of facial asymmetry and
      improvement of facial volume and contour in these patients: deltopectoral,
      parascapular, anterolateral thigh, groin and deep inferior epigastric. This
      article reports our experience in facial soft tissue reconstruction with
      microsurgical superficial circumflex iliac artery/superficial inferior epigastric
      artery (SCIA/SIEA) fascioadiposal flap transfer in patient with HFM. This flap,
      which has a dual blood vascularization and pliant soft tissue, can provide an
      ideal treatment for soft tissue augmentation in hemifacial microsomia with
      optimal aesthetic results both in the face and at the donor site. CONCLUSION: The
      free SCIA/SIEA fascioadiposal flap is a optimal choise option for soft tissue
      reconstruction with good esthetical outcome both in the face and at the donor
      site. KEY WORDS: Facial augmentation, Free flaps, Free SCIA/SIEA flap, Hemifacial
      microsomia.

PMID- 28604381
TI  - Miniinvasive surgical interventions in management of cholelithiasis A
      retrospective study.
AB  - The aim of the present study is to analyze outcomes after laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy (LC) and minilaparotomy cholecystectomy (MC) for gallstone
      disease and determine the algorithm of treatment for different groups of patients
      according to the age, severity of disease and comorbid conditions. This is a
      multicenter retrospective review of 2997 patients who underwent LC or MC between
      January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2008. The patients were categorized into LC
      (1479) and MC (1518) groups. When preoperative examination data were not
      reliable, we performed abdominal wall lifting with the retractors to visualise
      abdominal cavity with laparoscope during minilaparotomy. There were statistically
      significant differences in conversion rate (47 LC and 22 MC cases) (P=0.002),
      mean operating time (76 and 55 minutes in LC and MC, respectively) (P<0.001),
      mean duration of usage of non-narcotic analgesics postoperatively (1.3 and 1.1
      days in LC and MC, respectively) (P<0.001), intra (15 LC and 6 MC cases) (P=0.02)
      and postoperative complications (96 LC and 72 MC cases) (P=0.05) and in mean
      hospital stay (1.5 and 1.3 days in LC and MC, respectively) (P<0.001). The
      difference in outcomes was more significant in elderly and senile patients.
      Following the review of previous trials, the only clear significant difference
      between both procedures was a shorter operative time using MC 24. MC is an
      attractive alternative for elderly patients, with their high incidence of acute
      cholecystitis 23. The minilaparotomy cholecystectomy is effective, safe and
      optimal operative procedure. Especially, it is important for countries with lower
      economic capacity.

PMID- 28604382
TI  - Surgical treatment of gastric stromal tumors: laparoscopic versus open approach.
AB  - AIM: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are quite rare tumors, but yet they
      are the most common mesenchymal lesions of gastrointestinal tract. Their outmost
      frequent origin site is stomach and presently surgical resection is the mainstay
      in the treatment of gastric non metastatic GIST. Their peculiar characteristic of
      growth and poor metastatic tendency make this tumors particularly prone to be
      managed by minimally invasive technique. Presenting our experience we want show
      the feasibility and safeness of laparoscopic approach for gastric GIST and its
      benefits versus traditional open surgery and pointing out short term and long
      terms outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In our series we included 60 patients who
      underwent surgery for gastric GIST from 2004 to 2014 at Clinica Chirurgica of
      Universita Politecnica delle Marche. Patients were divided in two group according
      with surgical approach (open or laparoscopic). Criteria of exclusion were
      metastatic disease and palliative purpose of surgical resection. All patients
      underwent endoscopic ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration, TC/MRI or PET
      before surgery. However most of the definitive diagnosis were postoperative.
      CD117 and CD34 immunohistochemical positivity were considered suggestive for
      GIST. Tumors were classified in four different prognostic groups according with
      pathological findings (size and mitotic count) as reported in Fletcher
      classification. None of the patients received Imatinib before surgery. All
      patients underwent follow-up with Computerized Tomography (TC) and/or Magnetic
      Resonance (MRI) repeated every year (mean 51.98 +/- 35.68 months). RESULTS: We
      performed open surgery on 22 patients (36.7%) and laparoscopic wedge resection on
      38 patients (63.33%); one of these underwent robotic wedge resection by da the da
      Vinci(r) surgical system. The median age at diagnosis was 64 years (range= 45
      71). Patients with gastric GIST presented with various symptoms, including
      fatigue secondary to anemia, intraluminal gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal
      pain, abdominal mass, vomiting and syncope. In 26 patients (43.3%) gastric GISTs
      were detected incidentally during abdominal exploration, endoscopy, or radiologic
      imaging. Tumor dimensional difference between the two groups was not significant
      (mean 4.75 cm, range= 2-13). Operation time was significantly lower in
      laparoscopic approach (82.4 versus 117.8 min). We did not experience of
      intraoperative or post-operative complications in laparoscopic group. Conversely
      4 patients of open group were transfused for anemia. In our series we didn't
      observe recurrence or metastasis at mean follow up period of (range= 49-120
      months). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive approach to
      the treatment of GISTs and offers many advantages such as short hospital stay and
      low morbidity. In the meantime oncological outcomes of laparoscopy for gastric
      GIST, assessed as tumor free resection margins and recurrence rate, are
      comparable to traditional open strategy. KEY WORDS: Gastrointestinal stromal
      tumors, Laparoscopy, Minimally invasive surgery, Stomach.

PMID- 28604383
TI  - Pyruvate controls the checkpoint inhibitor PD-L1 and suppresses T cell immunity.
AB  - Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are at high risk for reactivation of
      the varicella zoster virus (VZV) and development of herpes zoster (HZ). Here, we
      found that macrophages from patients with CAD actively suppress T cell activation
      and expansion, leading to defective VZV-specific T cell immunity. Monocyte
      derived and plaque-infiltrating macrophages from patients with CAD spontaneously
      expressed high surface density of the immunoinhibitory ligand programmed death
      ligand-1 (PD-L1), thereby providing negative signals to programmed death-1+ (PD
      1+) T cells. We determined that aberrant PD-L1 expression in patient-derived
      macrophages was metabolically controlled. Oversupply of the glycolytic
      intermediate pyruvate in mitochondria from CAD macrophages promoted expression of
      PD-L1 via induction of the bone morphogenetic protein 4/phosphorylated
      SMAD1/5/IFN regulatory factor 1 (BMP4/p-SMAD1/5/IRF1) signaling pathway. Thus,
      CAD macrophages respond to nutrient excess by activating the immunoinhibitory PD
      1/PD-L1 checkpoint, leading to impaired T cell immunity. This finding indicates
      that metabolite-based immunotherapy may be a potential strategy for restoring
      adaptive immunity in CAD.

PMID- 28604384
TI  - Antibody-mediated rejection across solid organ transplants: manifestations,
      mechanisms, and therapies.
AB  - Solid organ transplantation is a curative therapy for hundreds of thousands of
      patients with end-stage organ failure. However, long-term outcomes have not
      improved, and nearly half of transplant recipients will lose their allografts by
      10 years after transplant. One of the major challenges facing clinical
      transplantation is antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) caused by anti-donor HLA
      antibodies. AMR is highly associated with graft loss, but unfortunately there are
      few efficacious therapies to prevent and reverse AMR. This Review describes the
      clinical and histological manifestations of AMR, and discusses the
      immunopathological mechanisms contributing to antibody-mediated allograft injury
      as well as current and emerging therapies.

PMID- 28604385
TI  - Differential requirements for myeloid leukemia IFN-gamma conditioning determine
      graft-versus-leukemia resistance and sensitivity.
AB  - The graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (alloSCT) is potent against chronic phase chronic myelogenous
      leukemia (CP-CML), but blast crisis CML (BC-CML) and acute myeloid leukemias
      (AML) are GVL resistant. To understand GVL resistance, we studied GVL against
      mouse models of CP-CML, BC-CML, and AML generated by the transduction of mouse BM
      with fusion cDNAs derived from human leukemias. Prior work has shown that CD4+ T
      cell-mediated GVL against CP-CML and BC-CML required intact leukemia MHCII;
      however, stem cells from both leukemias were MHCII negative. Here, we show that
      CP-CML, BC-CML, and AML stem cells upregulate MHCII in alloSCT recipients. Using
      gene-deficient leukemias, we determined that BC-CML and AML MHC upregulation
      required IFN-gamma stimulation, whereas CP-CML MHC upregulation was independent
      of both the IFN-gamma receptor (IFN-gammaR) and the IFN-alpha/beta receptor
      IFNAR1. Importantly, IFN-gammaR-deficient BC-CML and AML were completely
      resistant to CD4- and CD8-mediated GVL, whereas IFN-gammaR/IFNAR1 double
      deficient CP-CML was fully GVL sensitive. Mouse AML and BC-CML stem cells were
      MHCI+ without IFN-gamma stimulation, suggesting that IFN-gamma sensitizes these
      leukemias to T cell killing by mechanisms other than MHC upregulation. Our
      studies identify the requirement of IFN-gamma stimulation as a mechanism for BC
      CML and AML GVL resistance, whereas independence from IFN-gamma renders CP-CML
      more GVL sensitive, even with a lower-level alloimmune response.

PMID- 28604386
TI  - Lysine methyltransferase SMYD2 promotes cyst growth in autosomal dominant
      polycystic kidney disease.
AB  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is driven by mutations in
      PKD1 and PKD2 genes. Recent work suggests that epigenetic modulation of gene
      expression and protein function may play a role in ADPKD pathogenesis. In this
      study, we identified SMYD2, a SET and MYND domain protein with lysine
      methyltransferase activity, as a regulator of renal cyst growth. SMYD2 was
      upregulated in renal epithelial cells and tissues from Pkd1-knockout mice as well
      as in ADPKD patients. SMYD2 deficiency delayed renal cyst growth in postnatal
      kidneys from Pkd1 mutant mice. Pkd1 and Smyd2 double-knockout mice lived longer
      than Pkd1-knockout mice. Targeting SMYD2 with its specific inhibitor, AZ505,
      delayed cyst growth in both early- and later-stage Pkd1 conditional knockout
      mouse models. SMYD2 carried out its function via methylation and activation of
      STAT3 and the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB, leading to increased cystic renal
      epithelial cell proliferation and survival. We further identified two positive
      feedback loops that integrate epigenetic regulation and renal inflammation in
      cyst development: SMYD2/IL-6/STAT3/SMYD2 and SMYD2/TNF-alpha/NF-kappaB/SMYD2.
      These pathways provide mechanisms by which SMYD2 might be induced by cyst fluid
      IL-6 and TNF-alpha in ADPKD kidneys. The SMYD2 transcriptional target gene Ptpn13
      also linked SMYD2 to other PKD-associated signaling pathways, including ERK,
      mTOR, and Akt signaling, via PTPN13-mediated phosphorylation.

PMID- 28604388
TI  - Targeting neuronal gap junctions in mouse retina offers neuroprotection in
      glaucoma.
AB  - The progressive death of retinal ganglion cells and resulting visual deficits are
      hallmarks of glaucoma, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In many
      neurodegenerative diseases, cell death induced by primary insult is followed by a
      wave of secondary loss. Gap junctions (GJs), intercellular channels composed of
      subunit connexins, can play a major role in secondary cell death by forming
      conduits through which toxic molecules from dying cells pass to and injure
      coupled neighbors. Here we have shown that pharmacological blockade of GJs or
      genetic ablation of connexin 36 (Cx36) subunits, which are highly expressed by
      retinal neurons, markedly reduced loss of neurons and optic nerve axons in a
      mouse model of glaucoma. Further, functional parameters that are negatively
      affected in glaucoma, including the electroretinogram, visual evoked potential,
      visual spatial acuity, and contrast sensitivity, were maintained at control
      levels when Cx36 was ablated. Neuronal GJs may thus represent potential
      therapeutic targets to prevent the progressive neurodegeneration and visual
      impairment associated with glaucoma.

PMID- 28604387
TI  - Macrolides selectively inhibit mutant KCNJ5 potassium channels that cause
      aldosterone-producing adenoma.
AB  - Aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) are benign tumors of the adrenal gland that
      constitutively produce the salt-retaining steroid hormone aldosterone and cause
      millions of cases of severe hypertension worldwide. Either of 2 somatic mutations
      in the potassium channel KCNJ5 (G151R and L168R, hereafter referred to as
      KCNJ5MUT) in adrenocortical cells account for half of APAs worldwide. These
      mutations alter channel selectivity to allow abnormal Na+ conductance, resulting
      in membrane depolarization, calcium influx, aldosterone production, and cell
      proliferation. Because APA diagnosis requires a difficult invasive procedure,
      patients often remain undiagnosed and inadequately treated. Inhibitors of
      KCNJ5MUT could allow noninvasive diagnosis and therapy of APAs carrying KCNJ5
      mutations. Here, we developed a high-throughput screen for rescue of KCNJ5MUT
      induced lethality and identified a series of macrolide antibiotics, including
      roxithromycin, that potently inhibit KCNJ5MUT, but not KCNJ5WT. Electrophysiology
      demonstrated direct KCNJ5MUT inhibition. In human aldosterone-producing
      adrenocortical cancer cell lines, roxithromycin inhibited KCNJ5MUT-induced
      induction of CYP11B2 (encoding aldosterone synthase) expression and aldosterone
      production. Further exploration of macrolides showed that KCNJ5MUT was similarly
      selectively inhibited by idremcinal, a macrolide motilin receptor agonist, and by
      synthesized macrolide derivatives lacking antibiotic or motilide activity.
      Macrolide-derived selective KCNJ5MUT inhibitors thus have the potential to
      advance the diagnosis and treatment of APAs harboring KCNJ5MUT.

PMID- 28604390
TI  - Diabetes in South-East Asia: burden, gaps, challenges and ways forward.

PMID- 28604389
TI  - A cullin 4B-RING E3 ligase complex fine-tunes pancreatic delta cell paracrine
      interactions.
AB  - Somatostatin secreted by pancreatic delta cells mediates important paracrine
      interactions in Langerhans islets, including maintenance of glucose metabolism
      through the control of reciprocal insulin and glucagon secretion. Disruption of
      this circuit contributes to the development of diabetes. However, the precise
      mechanisms that control somatostatin secretion from islets remain elusive. Here,
      we found that a super-complex comprising the cullin 4B-RING E3 ligase (CRL4B) and
      polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) epigenetically regulates somatostatin
      secretion in islets. Constitutive ablation of CUL4B, the core component of the
      CRL4B-PRC2 complex, in delta cells impaired glucose tolerance and decreased
      insulin secretion through enhanced somatostatin release. Moreover, mechanistic
      studies showed that the CRL4B-PRC2 complex, under the control of the delta cell
      specific transcription factor hematopoietically expressed homeobox (HHEX),
      determines the levels of intracellular calcium and cAMP through histone
      posttranslational modifications, thereby altering expression of the Cav1.2
      calcium channel and adenylyl cyclase 6 (AC6) and modulating somatostatin
      secretion. In response to high glucose levels or urocortin 3 (UCN3) stimulation,
      increased expression of cullin 4B (CUL4B) and the PRC2 subunit histone-lysine N
      methyltransferase EZH2 and reciprocal decreases in Cav1.2 and AC6 expression were
      found to regulate somatostatin secretion. Our results reveal an epigenetic
      regulatory mechanism of delta cell paracrine interactions in which CRL4B-PRC2
      complexes, Cav1.2, and AC6 expression fine-tune somatostatin secretion and
      facilitate glucose homeostasis in pancreatic islets.

PMID- 28604391
TI  - Slowing the diabetes epidemic in the World Health Organization South-East Asia
      Region: the role of diet and physical activity.
AB  - The nutrition transition occurring in the World Health Organization South-East
      Asia Region, as a result of rapid urbanization and economic development, has
      perhaps made this region one of the epicentres of the diabetes epidemic. This
      review attempts to evaluate the role of diet and physical inactivity in the South
      East Asia Region in promoting this epidemic and points to strategies to slow it
      down by lifestyle modification. The emerging new food-production technologies and
      supermarkets have made energy-dense foods more easily available. This includes
      refined carbohydrate foods like those with added sugars, and refined grains and
      unhealthy fats. In addition, increased availability of modern technology and
      motorized transport has led to decreased physical activity. South Asian diets
      tend to be based on high-carbohydrate foods, with a predominance of refined
      grains. All of these accentuate the risk of diabetes in people of this region,
      who already have a unique "south Asian phenotype". However, there is increasing
      evidence that altering diet by replacing refined cereals like white rice with
      whole grains (e.g. brown rice) and increasing physical activity can help to
      prevent diabetes in high-risk individuals. An urgent, concerted effort is now
      needed to improve diet quality and encourage physical activity, by introducing
      changes in policies related to food and built environments, and improving health
      systems to tackle noncommunicable diseases like diabetes.

PMID- 28604392
TI  - Childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes in India.
AB  - India is witnessing an increase in the burden of childhood obesity, especially
      among the upper socioeconomic strata and in urban areas. Emerging literature
      suggests a link between childhood obesity and the diabetes epidemic in India.
      Asian-Indian children and adolescents are increasingly susceptible to a high
      percentage of body fat and abdominal adiposity. Further, they are exposed to an
      obesogenic environment, created by rapid urbanization and nutrition transition in
      India. Obese children have a higher risk of developing abnormalities that are
      recognized as precursors to diabetes, such as subclinical inflammation, insulin
      resistance and metabolic syndrome, which often track to adulthood. A review of
      the literature suggests the need for more longitudinal studies to improve
      understanding of the long-term consequences of childhood obesity in India. A life
      course approach with a combination of population- and risk-based strategies is
      warranted, to prevent childhood obesity and curtail its consequences in
      adulthood.

PMID- 28604393
TI  - Population-based dietary approaches for the prevention of noncommunicable
      diseases.
AB  - As the incidence of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes continues to rise
      at an alarming rate in South-East Asia, it is imperative that urgent and
      population-wide strategies are adopted. The most important contributors to the
      rise in noncommunicable disease are a rise in mean caloric intake and a decrease
      in physical activity. The evidence for population-based dietary approaches to
      counter these factors is reviewed. Several structural and cohesive
      interdepartmental coordination efforts are required for effective implementation
      of prevention strategies. Since low- and middle-income countries may lack the
      frameworks for effective and integrated multi-stakeholder intervention,
      implementation of population-based dietary and physical-activity approaches may
      be delayed and may be too late for effective prevention in current at-risk
      cohorts. Evidence-based strategies to decrease energy intake and increase
      physical activity are now well established and their urgent adoption by Member
      States of the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region is essential. In
      the context of Sri Lanka, for example, it is recommended that the most effective
      and easy-to-implement interventions would be media campaigns, restrictions on
      advertisement of unhealthy foods, taxation of unhealthy foods, subsidies for
      production of healthy foods, and laws on nutrition labelling that introduce
      colour coding of packaged foods.

PMID- 28604394
TI  - Diabetes prevention and care in the universal health coverage context: The
      example of Thailand.
AB  - Universal health coverage (UHC) is a key policy issue in countries of the World
      Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region. However, despite projections of
      significant increases in burden, there is little protection against the financial
      risks associated with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes.
      Thailand achieved UHC of all 67 million of the population in 2002, under three
      public health insurance schemes. The country therefore provides a case-study on
      diabetes prevention and care in the context of UHC. Although the budget for the
      Thai Universal Coverage (UC) scheme, which covers nearly 80% of the population,
      increased significantly during 2003-2013, the proportion allocated to clinical
      prevention and health promotion declined from 15% to 11%. The financial case for
      investment in diabetes prevention is made, particularly with respect to a focus
      on primary care and the use of community volunteers. The UC scheme can expand to
      nearly 100% population coverage, with a comprehensive benefit package and
      financial risk protection. Although the rates of complications and fatalities in
      patients with diabetes have improved over the last few years, achievement of well
      controlled fasting blood glucose for all patients is still the main challenge for
      further improvement. It is recommended that, in order to improve coverage of
      diabetes care and prevention, it is essential for countries in the WHO South-East
      Asia Region to include major NCD services, in particular primary prevention, in
      their UHC strategies. Since a resilient health system is key to UHC delivery,
      strengthening of the health workforce and infrastructure should be part of any
      action plan to prevent and control diabetes.

PMID- 28604395
TI  - Capacity-building of the allied health workforce to prevent and control diabetes:
      Lessons learnt from the National Initiative to Reinforce and Organize General
      Diabetes Care in Sri Lanka (NIROGI Lanka) project.
AB  - In 2008, to tackle the exponential rise in the clinical burden of diabetes that
      was challenging the health systems in Sri Lanka, a shift in focus towards patient
      centred care linked with community health promotion was initiated by the National
      Initiative to Reinforce and Organize General Diabetes Care in Sri Lanka (NIROGI
      Lanka) project of the Sri Lanka Medical Association. Specific training of
      "diabetes educator nursing officers" (DENOs), field staff in maternal and child
      health, footwear technicians, and health promoters from the community, was
      instituted to improve knowledge, skills and attitudes in the area of control and
      prevention of diabetes. This article highlights some of the activities carried
      out to date with the allied health workforce and volunteer community.
      Specifically, it describes experiences with the DENO programme: the educational
      and administrative processes adopted, challenges faced and lessons learnt. It
      also highlights an approach to prevention and management of complications of
      chronic diabetic foot through training a cohort of prosthetics and orthotics
      technicians, in the absence of podiatrists, and an initiative to provide low-cost
      protective footwear. Harnessing the enthusiasm of volunteers - adults and
      schoolchildren - to address behavioural risk factors in a culturally appropriate
      fashion has also been a key part of the NIROGI Lanka strategy.

PMID- 28604396
TI  - Strengthening policy and governance to address the growing burden of diabetes in
      Nepal.
AB  - Diabetes poses a major challenge to Nepal's health-care system. Deaths due to
      noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have increased from 51% of all deaths in the
      country in 2010 to 60% in 2014. In 2014, diabetes and other essential NCDs
      accounted for 46% of the total deaths and 22% of premature deaths in the country.
      As diabetes is common in adults of working age, the impact will further
      impoverish individuals and families in Nepal, where out-of-pocket expenditure for
      health remains high. To halt the rise in diabetes and obesity, the government of
      Nepal will have to adopt a public health approach that balances individual and
      population-level interventions. Awareness, early diagnosis and prevention are key
      to management and control of diabetes. To date, there has been no nationwide
      robust programme for diabetes prevention in the country and services are
      inaccessible to much of the Nepalese population. However, under the NCD
      Multisectoral Action Plan (2014-2020), there will be phase-wise implementation of
      the World Health Organization Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) disease
      interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings. The NCD PEN
      brings opportunities to strengthen the health workforce, diagnostics, medicines
      and supplies, the health information system, and research and surveillance and to
      reduce inequity in diabetes care in Nepal.

PMID- 28604397
TI  - An approach to diabetes prevention and management: The Bhutan experience.
AB  - Bhutan has been witnessing a trend of increasing diabetes in recent years. The
      increase is attributed to a rise in risk factors such as overweight, high blood
      pressure, unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle among the population. To address
      the rising burden, the health-services response has been to establish diabetes
      clinics in all hospitals and grade one basic health units. People visiting the
      health centres who have high risk factors and symptoms for diabetes are screened
      using the World Health Organization cut-off level for blood glucose. They are
      then classified into prediabetes and diabetes. Accordingly, diet, medicine and
      physical activity are recommended as per their body mass index. To improve
      prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, which include diabetes, the
      country piloted the WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) disease
      interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings in 2009, to
      promote early screening, treatment and follow-up, and adopted it in 2013. The WHO
      PEN has now been successfully integrated into the primary health-care system
      nationwide. It is planned that diabetes clinics will be upgraded to NCD clinics.

PMID- 28604399
TI  - Assessment of risk of type 2 diabetes using the Indian Diabetes Risk Score in an
      urban slum of Pune, Maharashtra, India: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The urban poor is a group that is known to be vulnerable to adoption
      of a more urbanized lifestyle that places them at a higher risk for diabetes.
      Individuals who are unaware of their disease status are more prone to micro- and
      macrovascular complications. Hence, it is necessary to detect this large pool of
      undiagnosed participants with diabetes and offer them early therapy. The aim of
      this study was to use the Indian Diabetes Risk Score, developed by the Madras
      Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF-IDRS), to assess the prevalence of people at
      high risk for developing diabetes, and the correlation with known risk factors.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of the
      urban health training centre of a private medical college in Pune, Maharashtra. A
      total of 425 participants aged 20 years and above were screened for risk factors,
      including age, waist circumference, family history of diabetes and physical
      activity. Random testing of the blood glucose level of participants with a high
      risk score was carried out using a glucometer. Statistical analysis of the data
      was performed by using the chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of people at high risk of diabetes was 36.55%. Among high
      risk participants on univariate analysis, primary education (P = 0.004), lower
      socioeconomic class (P = 0.002), less physical activity (P< 0.001) and high waist
      circumference (P < 0.001) were major contributing factors, while in the moderate
      risk group, lower socioeconomic class and high waist circumference were the
      prominent risk factors for diabetes. Multivariate analysis showed that higher
      education, moderate to vigorous activity and high waist circumference were
      significantly associated with risk status. Out of 140 high-risk participants, 68
      (49%) had a random capillary blood glucose level of 110 mg/dL or above.
      CONCLUSION: As the prevalence of people at high risk for diabetes was high,
      lifestyle changes and awareness regarding risk factors is needed to take control
      of the diabetes in the study population.

PMID- 28604398
TI  - Gaps and challenges to integrating diabetes care in Myanmar.
AB  - In common with other low-income countries, diabetes is a growing challenge for
      Myanmar. Gaps and challenges exist in political commitment, policy development,
      the health system, treatment-seeking behaviour and the role of traditional
      medicine. National policies aimed at prevention - such as to promote healthy
      food, create a healthy environment conducive to increased physical activity,
      restrict marketing of unhealthy food, and initiate mass awareness-raising
      programmes - need to be strengthened. Moreover, existing initiatives for
      prevention of noncommunicable-disease (NCD) are channelled vertically rather than
      being horizontally integrated. Primary health care is traditionally orientated
      more towards prevention of infectious diseases and staff often lack training in
      prevention and control of NCDs. Capacity-building activities have been modest to
      date, and retaining trained health workers in diabetes-oriented activities is a
      challenge. The World Health Organization Package of Essential Noncommunicable
      (PEN) disease interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings has
      been piloted in Yangon Region and country-wide expansion awaits ministerial
      approval. Recently, the Myanmar Diabetes Care Model was proposed by the Myanmar
      Diabetes Association, with the aims of both bridging the gap in diabetes care
      between rural and urban areas and strengthening care at the secondary and
      tertiary levels. However, implementation will require policy development for
      essential drugs and equipment, capacity-strengthening of health-care workers, and
      an appropriate referral and health-information system.

PMID- 28604400
TI  - Metabolic syndrome among elderly care-home residents in southern India: A cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The health of the elderly population and the emergence of
      noncommunicable diseases have become major public health issues in recent years.
      Metabolic syndrome is thought to be the main driving force for the global
      epidemic of cardiovascular diseases, as well as for type 2 diabetes. This cross
      sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its
      correlates among the residents of care homes for the elderly in Hyderabad city,
      India. METHODS: A total 114 elderly persons (aged >=60 years) were evaluated in a
      cross-sectional study. Metabolic syndrome was defined by the 2005 criteria of the
      International Diabetes Federation. Data were collected on selected
      sociodemographic, behavioural and nutritional variables and cardiometabolic risk
      factors. Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were also recorded.
      Fasting blood samples were collected for measurement of blood glucose and serum
      lipid levels. Univariable logistic regression was applied to investigate the
      associations between metabolic syndrome and known risk factors; adjusted analysis
      was then done by multivariable logistic regression for significant variables.
      RESULTS: The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 42.1% (48/114) among
      the study population. A higher prevalence (50.9%; 27/53) was found among women.
      High blood pressure or taking antihypertensive medication was found to be the
      most common (95.8%; 46/48) cardiometabolic component. The risk of metabolic
      syndrome did not differ significantly by age group, sex, caste, religion, type of
      diet (vegetarian or non-vegetarian), educational status, behavioural factors such
      as tobacco use and alcohol intake, physical activity (assessed by modified
      Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] scale), or physical exercise. However,
      a body mass index >=23 kg/m2 was associated with metabolic syndrome (unadjusted
      odds ratio [OR]: 8.97; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.78-21.28); adjusted OR:
      9.31; 95% CI: 4.12-22.14) Conclusion: The overall prevalence of metabolic
      syndrome in this study population of elderly care-home residents in India was
      more than 40%. Further research on the burden of metabolic syndrome in the
      elderly population is warranted.

PMID- 28604402
TI  - The role of nonpharmacologic therapies in management of chronic pelvic pain: what
      to do when surgery fails.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide an update on nonsurgical and nonpharmacologic
      strategies for the management of chronic pelvic pain (CPP). RECENT FINDINGS:
      Effective treatment of patients with CPP requires a multifaceted approach, with
      thoughtful consideration of surgical, pharmacologic, and nonpharmacologic
      strategies. Evidence for physical therapy and trigger point injections for
      treatment of myofascial components of CPP is increasing. Neuromodulation
      techniques, such as percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation and transcutaneous
      electrical stimulation, have limited but favorable preliminary data in patients
      with CPP. Behavioral strategies, such as exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy,
      and mindfulness, have demonstrated significant improvements in pain, function and
      quality of life in patients with a variety of chronic pain conditions and are
      promising avenues for future research in CPP. SUMMARY: Nonpharmacologic therapies
      are important adjuncts to surgical and pharmacologic treatment for CPP and should
      be considered integral to a comprehensive treatment approach.

PMID- 28604401
TI  - Prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia among adults aged over 30 years in a rural
      area of north Kerala, India: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in India. In order
      to reduce the burden of the disease, it is important to know the level of
      modifiable risk factors in the population. The aim of this study was to estimate
      the prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia and associated factors among the
      population aged over 30 years in a rural area in north Kerala, India. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional study was carried out to find the prevalence of
      hypercholesterolaemia among 533 residents of Kulappuram village. The fasting
      blood glucose level, total serum cholesterol level, blood pressure and body mass
      index of the residents were also assessed. The significance of association of
      hypercholesterolaemia with age, sex, body mass index and blood pressure was
      tested using the chi-squared test. Logistic regression was carried out to
      estimate the adjusted odds ratios (OR). RESULTS: The prevalence of
      hypercholesterolaemia was 63.8%. It was more prevalent in women (adjusted OR:
      1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-2.27), in those with body mass index in
      the range 23.0-24.9 kg/m2 (adjusted OR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.04-3.02) and in those
      with blood pressure >140/90 mmHg (adjusted OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.1-2.38).
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia is high in the study
      population.

PMID- 28604403
TI  - Latest advances in the management of facial synkinesis.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide an overview of the treatment options for nonflaccid
      facial paralysis including physical rehabilitation, botulinum toxin injection and
      surgical intervention. To also describe recent technique advances regarding
      facial synkinesis in each zone of facial movement. RECENT FINDINGS: Physical
      therapy and neuromodulation with botulinum toxin continues to be the main
      treatment strategy for facial synkinesis. Treating the orbicularis oculi,
      mentalis and platysma muscles with neurotoxin has been well described. A
      symmetric smile can also be improved with ipsilateral depressor anguli oris and
      the contralateral depressor labi inferioris weakening. Novel surgical techniques
      to selectively ablate specific facial muscles have also been recently described.
      SUMMARY: Nonflaccid facial paralysis is a spectrum of hypokinetic and
      hyperkinetic movement following facial nerve injury that is best treated in a
      patient-tailored graduated fashion. Novel techniques are evolving to maximize
      patient function while minimizing morbidity.

PMID- 28604404
TI  - Perioperative care of head and neck free flap patients.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews the recent literature on the
      perioperative care of head and neck surgical patients undergoing free tissue
      transfer. RECENT FINDINGS: As the overall success of head and neck free flaps has
      plateaued above 95%, recent literature on perioperative flap management has
      focused on minimizing complications, length of stay, and cost of treatment.
      Current areas of research include preoperative risk stratification, preoperative
      and postoperative nutrition, intraoperative fluid management, postoperative level
      of care, postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, defining the impact of
      comorbidities, and developing comprehensive evidence-based perioperative care
      protocols. SUMMARY: Rates of complications for head and neck free flap surgery
      remain stubbornly high. Optimization of perioperative nutrition, antibiotics,
      fluid management, and the establishment of structured pathways has the potential
      to decrease these complication rates. However, more research is needed into
      defining and implementing optimal comprehensive care regimens for this complex
      patient population.

PMID- 28604405
TI  - Operating Room Crisis Checklists and Emergency Manuals.

PMID- 28604406
TI  - Optimal team practice: How to get there.

PMID- 28604407
TI  - Diabetic ketoacidosis: Heralding type 1 diabetes in children.
AB  - Despite advances in diabetes management, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) continues to
      be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Up to one-third of children may
      present with DKA as the original presentation of type 1 diabetes. These children
      develop clinical manifestations of DKA including hyperglycemia, acidosis, and
      ketosis. Clinicians must be able to identify those patients at risk, recognize
      common signs and symptoms, and start prompt management.

PMID- 28604408
TI  - Smoking cessation: Identifying readiness to quit and designing a plan.
AB  - Clinicians must be prepared to identify tobacco use among patients and implement
      behavioral interventions to help patients quit. By understanding behavioral
      interventions and pharmacologic options, clinicians can design an optimal quit
      plan for each patient. This article reviews foundations of tobacco cessation,
      pharmacotherapy updates, and the emergence of e-cigarettes as desirable cessation
      tools for patients.

PMID- 28604409
TI  - Posture-Dependent Dysphagia After Botulinum Toxin Type A Injection at
      Sternocleidomastoid in a Patient With Athetoid Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - Cervical dystonia is a common issue in patients with athetoid cerebral palsy.
      Botulinum toxin injection to dystonic cervical muscles is a well-recognized
      treatment option, but it is known to be associated with dysphagia. Previously
      reported cases of dysphagia after botulinum toxin injection to the
      sternocleidomastoid muscle were related to the regional spread of toxin to the
      pharyngeal muscles. We report a unique case of posture-dependent dysphagia due to
      preactivation of the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles to compensate for impaired
      head stabilization by the weakened sternocleidomastoid muscle while swallowing.
      This case suggests a possible mechanism of dysphagia in patients with athetoid
      cerebral palsy.

PMID- 28604410
TI  - Feasibility and Neurobehavioral Changes of 10-Day Simulated Microgravity in Acute
      Ischemic Stroke Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate feasibility and functional
      changes of simulated microgravity with 6-degree head-down-tilt (HDT) bed rest in
      acute ischemic stroke. DESIGN: Patients without lesions in the cingulate cortex
      and/or cerebellum were enrolled. They underwent HDT for 30 minutes twice per day
      for 10 weekdays. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart
      rate were measured before the HDT, immediately after, and also 30 minutes after
      the stop. Mini-Mental State Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale,
      Neurobehavioral Tests (i.e., span test, finger-tapping test, continuous
      performance test, and trail-making test) were conducted before and after the 10
      day HDT. RESULTS: One male and four female patients (median age = 64.6 yrs [SD =
      10.5 yrs]) were recruited. Changes in the finger-tapping test (57.80 [SD = 40.96
      ] vs. 85.80 [SD = 0.46], P = 0.08) and in the digit span backward test (3.60 [SD
      = 1.14] vs. 1.42 [SD = 1.75], P = 0.07) were noticed. Few changes were found in
      other scales. No significant changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood
      pressure, or heart rate were observed, and no adverse effects occurred.
      CONCLUSIONS: The 6-degree HDT revealed no adverse effects on the cardiovascular
      system, showing nonsignificant increment in the finger-tapping test
      (representative of motor speed and performance) and nonsignificant reduction in
      the digit backward span test (representative of spatial memory).

PMID- 28604411
TI  - Metabolic syndrome and voiding dysfunction.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an ever growing pandemic
      consisting of a constellation of abnormalities. Many hypotheses have been put
      forth to establish a link between this syndrome and voiding dysfunction. We
      created a layout of the possible, probable, and proven relationships connecting
      the MetS with voiding dysfunction in men. RECENT FINDINGS: There has been growing
      interest in the relationship linking MetS and voiding dysfunction, with or
      without benign prostatic hyperplasia, during the past several years. Different
      mechanisms have been proposed to establish the connection. SUMMARY: A clear-cut
      association between MetS and voiding dysfunction is not clearly defined; rather,
      voiding dysfunction occurring in men with MetS has been shown to be related to
      numerous pathologies. MetS is a complex disease that includes numerous
      pathophysiological aspects that may contribute to the causation and advancement
      of voiding dysfunction. In light of this association, future research is needed
      to better define this relationship to enable therapy targeted against MetS in
      patients with voiding dysfunction.

PMID- 28604412
TI  - Feeling misguided: a comment on the US guidelines on growth hormone and insulin
      like growth factor-I treatment in children and adolescents.

PMID- 28604413
TI  - Single-chain factor XII: a new form of activated factor XII.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Exposure of blood to foreign surfaces induces reciprocal
      conversion of the plasma proteins factor XII (fXII) and plasma prekallikrein
      (PPK) to the proteases alpha-fXIIa and alpha-kallikrein. This process, called
      contact activation, has a range of effects on host defence mechanisms, including
      promoting coagulation. The nature of the triggering mechanism for contact
      activation is debated. One hypothesis predicts that fXII has protease activity,
      either intrinsically or upon surface-binding, that initiates contact activation.
      We tested this by assessing the proteolytic activity of a recombinant fXII
      variant that cannot be converted to alpha-fXIIa. RECENT FINDINGS: The proteolytic
      activity of fXII-T (for 'triple' mutant), a variant with alanine substitutions
      for arginine at activation cleavage sites (Arg334, Arg344, and Arg353) was tested
      with known alpha-fXIIa substrates. FXII-T activates PPK in solution, and the
      reaction is enhanced by polyphosphate, an inducer of contact activation released
      from platelets. In the presence of polyphosphate, fXII-T converts fXII to alpha
      fXIIa, and also converts the coagulation protein factor XI to its active form.
      SUMMARY: The findings support the hypothesis that contact activation is initiated
      through activity intrinsic to single-chain fXII, and indicate that preexisting
      alpha-fXIIa is not required for induction of contact activation.

PMID- 28604415
TI  - Sarcopenia is a Predictor of Surgical Morbidity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is associated with an increased risk of operative
      morbidity and mortality. The impact of sarcopenia in inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD) has not been evaluated. This study assessed the role of sarcopenia on
      operative outcomes in IBD. METHODS: A retrospective review of American College of
      Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data of patients with IBD
      was completed. Records were abstracted for comorbidities and perioperative
      complications. The Hounsfield unit average calculation was used from preoperative
      computed tomography (CT). Criteria for sarcopenia were based on the lowest 25th
      percentile. Complications were graded using the Clavien-Dindo classification
      system. Statistical analysis was completed using SAS. RESULTS: There were 178
      patients included. Sarcopenic patients were more likely to be older (P = 0.001),
      have hypertension (odds ratio = 2.23), and be diabetic (5.27). In those patients
      younger than 40 years, sarcopenia was an independent predictor of complications.
      This subset was significantly more likely to have a normal or elevated body mass
      index. CONCLUSIONS: In this population, the average age of sarcopenic patients is
      increased from those who do not meet criteria. Among patients younger than 40
      years, sarcopenia affects surgical outcomes. Assessment of sarcopenia can be used
      to improve preoperative management and describe risks before surgery in patients
      with IBD.

PMID- 28604416
TI  - Pumping Iron: Exploring Novel Gene-environment Interactions in the Inflammatory
      Bowel Diseases.

PMID- 28604414
TI  - Dietary Iron and Heme Iron Consumption, Genetic Susceptibility, and Risk of
      Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dietary iron and heme, likely through their effect on gut commensal
      bacteria and colonic barrier function, have been shown to modulate colonic
      inflammation in animal models of colitis. Nonetheless, the link between dietary
      total and heme iron and risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)
      has not been previously explored. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort
      study of 165,331 U.S. women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses'
      Health Study II. Dietary information was collected using a validated food
      frequency questionnaire at baseline (1984) and updated every 2 to 4 years. Self
      reported CD and UC diagnoses were confirmed through medical records review. We
      used Cox proportional hazard models to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence
      intervals while adjusting for potential confounders. In a case-control study
      nested within these cohorts, we evaluated the interaction between single
      nucleotide polymorphisms associated with genome-wide susceptibility to CD and UC
      and dietary total and heme iron intake on risk of CD and UC using logistic
      regression modeling. RESULTS: Through 2011, over 3,038,049 person-years of follow
      up, we documented 261 incident cases of CD and 321 incident cases of UC. Dietary
      heme iron was nonsignificantly associated with increased risk of UC (Ptrend =
      0.12). This association seemed to be modified by the UC susceptibility locus,
      rs1801274, a coding variant in the FcgammaRIIA gene (Pinteraction = 7.00E-05). In
      contrast, there was no association between dietary heme iron and risk of CD
      (Ptrend = 0.67). We also did not observe an association between total dietary
      intake of iron and risk of CD or UC (All Ptrend > 0.35). CONCLUSION: In 2 large
      prospective cohort studies, dietary total and heme iron were not associated with
      risk of CD or UC. Our suggestive finding that the association between dietary
      heme iron intake and risk of UC may be modified by a coding variant in
      FcgammaRIIA gene warrants additional investigation.

PMID- 28604417
TI  - Posttraumatic Stress and Distress Tolerance: Associations With Suicidality in
      Acute-Care Psychiatric Inpatients.
AB  - Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology have been
      associated with suicidality, including ideation and behavior. The current
      investigation evaluated, in acute-care psychiatric inpatients, the mediating role
      of perceived (self-reported) distress tolerance in the association between PTSD
      symptom severity and suicidality, defined as a) suicidal ideation, intent, or
      behavior leading to current psychiatric hospitalization; b) self-reported
      severity of suicidal desire; and c) percentage of days of suicidality during
      current hospitalization. Participants were composed of 105 adults (55.2% women;
      mean age, 33.9; SD, 10.9) admitted to a public psychiatric acute-care inpatient
      hospital in a large metropolitan area; 52.3% of the participants were
      hospitalized for suicidality. Results indicated that PTSD symptom severity (and
      severity of each PTSD symptom cluster) may exert an indirect effect on
      suicidality, specifically suicidality as a basis for current hospital admission
      and self-reported severity of suicidal desire, through perceived distress
      tolerance. Effects were documented after controlling for theoretically relevant
      covariates.

PMID- 28604418
TI  - Dissociation From a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Implications of Studies in
      Brazil.
AB  - A major issue in the study of dissociation concerns the cross-cultural validity
      of definitions and measurements used to identify and classify dissociative
      disorders. There is also extensive debate on the etiological factors underlying
      dissociative experiences. Cross-cultural research is essential to elucidate these
      issues, particularly regarding evidence obtained from countries in which the
      study of dissociation is still in its infancy. The aim of this article was to
      discuss Brazilian research on the topic of dissociation, highlighting its
      contributions for the understanding of dissociative experiences in nonclinical
      populations and for the validity and relevance of dissociative disorders in the
      contexts of psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. We also consider the ways
      in which dissociative experiences are assimilated by Brazilian culture and
      religious expressions, and the implications of Brazilian studies for the
      sociocultural investigation of dissociation. We conclude by addressing the
      limitations of these studies and potential areas for future research.

PMID- 28604419
TI  - Prognostic significance of cyclooxygenase 2 and phosphorylated Akt1
      overexpression in primary nonmetastatic and metastatic cutaneous melanomas.
AB  - Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and phosphorylated Akt1 (p-Akt1) are associated with
      tumor spreading, cell proliferation, high metabolism, and angiogenesis in solid
      tumors. This study aimed to investigate COX-2 and p-Akt1 expression in primary
      and metastatic melanomas by correlating with the cellular proliferation index (as
      revealed by minichromosome maintenance 2 expression) and the outcome of patients
      with malignant melanomas. Seventy-seven biopsies of malignant melanomas,
      including 42 primary nonmetastatic melanomas (PNMMs), 12 primary metastatic
      melanomas (PMMs), and 23 metastatic melanomas (MMs), were retrospectively
      selected. Tissue microarrays were developed and submitted for immunohistochemical
      staining for COX-2, p-Akt1, and minichromosome maintenance 2. Increased COX-2
      cytoplasmic staining patterns were observed in PMM and MM when compared with PNMM
      (P=0.0011). Higher nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of p-Akt1 was more closely
      associated with PMM than with MM and PNMM (P<0.00001). Coexpression of these
      biomarkers was closely correlated with lower overall survival rates in melanomas.
      Furthermore, we observed a statistically significant positive correlation between
      the mitosis index and increased COX-2 expression (P=0.0135) and between p-Akt1
      (P=0.0038) and the cellular proliferation index (P=0.0060). Taken together, our
      findings demonstrate that COX-2 and p-Akt1 play an important combined role during
      melanoma progression and are associated with highly metastatic tumors and
      survival rates in patients with MM. In addition, these biomarkers can be used to
      predict melanoma prognosis independently of metastatic status. However, further
      studies are required to elucidate the biological role of these biomarkers during
      the progression of MM events.

PMID- 28604420
TI  - The impact of under-reporting of cases on the estimates of childhood cancer
      incidence and survival in Estonia.
AB  - About 35 new childhood cancer cases are diagnosed in Estonia (population 1.3
      million in 2011) every year. Despite continuous improvements in the healthcare
      system and available cancer treatment options, the survival rates for childhood
      cancers have appeared to remain lower than the European average. These
      observations and the accompanying decrease in incidence led us to hypothesize
      that some nonfatal cases might be missing from the Estonian Cancer Registry
      (ECR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the completeness of reporting of
      childhood cancer cases to the ECR and its impact on the estimates of cancer
      incidence and survival. All cases of benign and malignant tumours, diagnosed in
      2000-2011 among children aged 0-17 years and eligible for registration in the
      ECR, were included in the study. Completeness of reporting was evaluated for
      cases aged 0-17 years, and incidence and survival were analysed for cases aged 0
      14 for international comparisons. The total number of new cancer cases increased
      from 459 to 515. Overall completeness of case ascertainment was estimated to be
      89.5%. After adding the missing cases, the overall incidence rate increased from
      12.9 to 14.9/100 000 (from 3.4 to 4.7 for leukaemias). The 2010-2014 period
      estimate of the 5-year survival increased from 70 to 76% for all sites combined
      and from 71 to 82% for leukaemias. In conclusion, the under-reporting of nonfatal
      childhood cancer cases to the ECR had an important impact on incidence and
      survival rates, causing a considerable underestimation of both.

PMID- 28604421
TI  - Propranolol Treatment of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome: A Case Report.

PMID- 28604422
TI  - No shortcuts: new findings reinforce why nuance is the rule in genetic
      autoinflammatory syndromes.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Practitioners dazed by the evolving concept of
      autoinflammation are in good company. Despite the clinical challenges
      autoinflammatory patients present, their study has been fundamental to our
      understanding of basic human inflammation. This review will focus on the ways in
      which recent discoveries in genetically mediated autoinflammation broaden and
      refine the concept. RECENT FINDINGS: Major developments in pyrin inflammasome
      biology, defective ubiquitination, and the hyperferritinemic syndromes will be
      highlighted. SUMMARY: We offer a brief discussion of discordance, convergence,
      genotype, and phenotype in autoinflammation. Additionally, we introduce the
      concepts of mutation dose effect and hybrid nomenclature. Overall, we hope to
      provide an update on developments in the field of autoinflammation, some
      conceptual tools to help navigate the rising tide of discovery, and some
      encouragement that keeping up with developments in autoinflammation is both
      exciting and necessary.

PMID- 28604423
TI  - A Glimpse of the Future With Intraoperative Molecular Imaging.

PMID- 28604424
TI  - Achieving Greater HIV Prevention Impact Through CDC's National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance System.
AB  - The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system was designed to monitor risk
      factors for HIV infection and HIV prevalence among individuals at higher risk for
      HIV infection, that is, sexually active men who have sex with men who attend
      venues, persons who recently injected drugs, and heterosexuals of low
      socioeconomic status living in urban areas. These groups were selected as
      priorities for behavioral surveillance because they represent the major HIV
      transmission routes and the populations with the highest HIV burden. Accurate
      data on the behaviors in these populations are critical for understanding trends
      in HIV infections and planning and evaluating effective HIV prevention
      activities. The articles in this supplement illustrate how National HIV
      Behavioral Surveillance data can be used to assess HIV risk behaviors,
      prevalence, and service utilization of the populations most affected by HIV in
      the United States and guide local and national high-impact prevention strategies
      to meet national HIV prevention goals.

PMID- 28604425
TI  - Reductions in HIV Diagnoses Among African American Women: A Search for
      Explanations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African American women experienced a 46% reduction in the rate of HIV
      diagnoses from 56.0 in 2008, to 30.0 in 2014 (per 100,000). The reasons for this
      decrease are unknown; however, we hypothesize that improvements in socioeconomic
      status, health care access, and risk behaviors may have contributed to this
      reduction. METHODS: We analyzed data from 2006, 2010, and 2013 of the National
      HIV Behavioral Surveillance system. African American women living at or below
      poverty were surveyed from 19 United States cities using respondent-driven and
      venue-based sampling, and tested for HIV infection. We used generalized
      estimating equations to determine differences for selected outcomes regarding
      health care and risk behaviors over time. RESULTS: Among 11,065 women, we found
      increases in the percentage of women who reported having a recent HIV test (P
      value = 0.0002); having health insurance (P < 0.0001); and recently visiting a
      health care provider (P < 0.0001). Being unemployed declined significantly (P =
      0.0057), as did reporting recent injection drug use (P < 0.0001). Crack use
      declined among women aged 25-44 years (P < 0.0001). However, reporting condomless
      vaginal sex at last sex (P = 0.0268), condomless anal sex at last sex (P =
      0.6462), or 3 or more sex partners in the past 12 months (P = 0.5449) remained
      stable. DISCUSSION: Enhanced health care access and socioeconomic status and
      reductions in drug use may have contributed to the declines in HIV diagnoses
      among African American women in the United States.

PMID- 28604426
TI  - Incarceration, Sexual Risk-Related Behaviors, and HIV Infection Among Women at
      Increased Risk of HIV Infection, 20 United States Cities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women involved in the criminal justice system experience multiple
      risk factors that increase the likelihood of acquiring HIV infection. We
      evaluated the prevalence of incarceration and compared behaviors among women with
      and without an incarceration history. METHODS: We use the 2013 National HIV
      Behavioral Surveillance data, which uses respondent-driven sampling. We evaluate
      the association between incarceration and the following past 12 months outcomes:
      exchange sex, multiple casual sex partners (>=3), multiple condomless sex
      partners (>=3), HIV test, and sexually transmitted infection diagnoses. Log
      linked Poisson regression models, adjusted for demographics and clustered on
      city, with generalized estimating equations were used to estimate adjusted
      prevalence ratios (aPRs) and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Of 5154 women,
      11% were incarcerated within the previous year, 36% were ever incarcerated but
      not in the past 12 months, and 53% were never incarcerated. Prevalence of
      exchange sex (aPR 1.32, 1.20-1.46), multiple casual partners (aPR 1.59, 1.2-2.1),
      multiple casual condomless partners (aPR 1.47, 1.07-2.03), and sexually
      transmitted infection diagnosis (aPR 1.61, 1.34-1.93) were all higher among
      recently incarcerated women compared with those never incarcerated. We also found
      higher prevalence of recent HIV testing among women recently incarcerated (aPR
      1.30, 1.18-1.43). DISCUSSION: Nearly half of women in our study had been
      incarcerated. Recent incarceration was associated with several factors that
      increase the risk of HIV acquisition. HIV prevention, testing, and early
      treatment among women with a history of incarceration can maximize the
      effectiveness of the public health response to the HIV epidemic.

PMID- 28604427
TI  - Health Care Use and HIV-Related Behaviors of Black and Latina Transgender Women
      in 3 US Metropolitan Areas: Results From the Transgender HIV Behavioral Survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: HIV prevalence estimates among transgender women in the United States
      are high, particularly among racial/ethnic minorities. Despite increased HIV risk
      and evidence of racial disparities in HIV prevalence among transgender women, few
      data are available to inform HIV prevention efforts. METHODS: A transgender HIV
      related behavioral survey conducted in 2009 in 3 US metropolitan areas (Chicago,
      Houston, and Los Angeles County), used respondent-driven sampling to recruit 227
      black (n = 139) and Latina (n = 88) transgender women. We present descriptive
      statistics on sociodemographic, health care, and HIV-risk behaviors. RESULTS: Of
      227 transgender women enrolled, most were economically and socially
      disadvantaged: 73% had an annual income of less than $15,000; 62% lacked health
      insurance; 61% were unemployed; and 46% reported being homeless in the past 12
      months. Most (80%) had visited a health care provider and over half (58%) had
      tested for HIV in the past 12 months. Twenty-nine percent of those who reported
      having an HIV test in the past 24 months self-reported being HIV positive. Most
      of the sample reported hormone use (67%) in the past 12 months and most hormone
      use was under clinical supervision (70%). Forty-nine percent reported condomless
      anal sex in the past 12 months and 16% reported ever injecting drugs. CONCLUSION:
      These findings reveal the socioeconomic challenges and behavioral risks often
      associated with high HIV risk reported by black and Latina transgender women.
      Despite low health insurance coverage, the results suggest opportunities to
      engage transgender women in HIV prevention and care given their high reported
      frequency of accessing health care providers.

PMID- 28604429
TI  - Characteristics and Risk Behaviors of Men Who Have Sex With Men and Women
      Compared With Men Who Have Sex With Men-20 US Cities, 2011 and 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are heterogeneous with respect to
      sexual behavior. We examined differences in sex behaviors between men who have
      sex with men and women (MSMW) and men who have sex with men only (MSMO). METHODS:
      Data for this analysis were from MSM who participated in National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance in 2011 and 2014. We used the combined years to evaluate demographic
      and behavioral differences between MSMW and MSMO. Using log-linked Poisson
      regression models, adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) were calculated for
      behavioral outcomes. RESULTS: Overall, 2042 (11.9%) participants were classified
      as MSMW. MSMW were less likely than MSMO to have condomless sex with male
      partners [aPR 0.77; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74 to 0.81] and to have been
      diagnosed with another sexually transmitted disease (aPR 0.83; 95% CI: 0.72 to
      0.95). MSMW were more likely than MSMO to have given money or drugs for sex (aPR
      2.85; 95% CI: 2.52 to 3.24) or received money or drugs for sex (aPR 2.64; 95% CI:
      2.37 to 2.93) and to ever have injected drugs (aPR 2.05; 95% CI: 1.80 to 2.34).
      MSMW had more total sex partners (median 6, interquartile range: 4-11 vs. 3, 2
      8), casual sex partners (5, 2-10 vs. 3, 1-7), and condomless sex partners (2, 1-4
      vs. 1, 0-2) in the last 12 months (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS:
      MSMW have distinct sexual risk behaviors from MSMO and may contribute to HIV
      transmission among women. MSMW could benefit from tailored interventions to
      reduce HIV risk behaviors.

PMID- 28604428
TI  - HIV Among MSM and Heterosexual Women in the United States: An Ecologic Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phylogenetic studies show links between heterosexual women and men
      who have sex with men (MSM) that are more numerous than from heterosexual men to
      women suggesting that HIV infections among heterosexual women may stem from MSM.
      Poor communities have been associated with high rates of HIV among heterosexual
      women. Our analysis investigates potential transmission of HIV between MSM and
      female heterosexuals. METHODS: National HIV Behavioral Surveillance data describe
      transmission risk behaviors of MSM, and HIV case reporting data describe the
      percentages of cases that are attributed to transmission risk categories. We
      examined correlations between the percentages of men who were MSM who also have
      sex with women and female heterosexual cases. We also examined census data to
      characterize each city in terms of poverty level and race/ethnicity makeup.
      RESULTS: There was a high correlation (0.93) between the percentage of reported
      living HIV cases attributed to male heterosexual contact and female heterosexual
      contact and a moderate nonsignificant correlation (0.49) between the percentage
      of MSM who were men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) in National HIV
      Behavioral Surveillance and the percentage of reported cases that were attributed
      to female heterosexual contact suggesting some potential overlap. Cities with
      high levels of poverty and African American/Black residents had higher levels of
      MSMW and higher levels of heterosexual female cases. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing HIV
      in cities with high levels of MSMW may have the dual effect of improving the
      health of MSM populations that have a high burden of HIV and to improve the
      health of their larger communities.

PMID- 28604430
TI  - Trends in Internet Use Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internet-based platforms are increasingly prominent interfaces for
      social and sexual networking among men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS: MSM
      were recruited through venue-based sampling in 2008, 2011, and 2014 in 20 US
      cities. We examined changes in internet use (IU) to meet men and in meeting the
      last partner online among MSM from 2008 to 2014 using Poisson regression with
      generalized estimating equations to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios (APRs).
      We also examined factors associated with increased frequency of IU using data
      from 2014. IU was categorized as never, infrequent use (<once a week), and
      frequent use (>=once a week). RESULTS: Frequent IU increased from 21% in 2008 to
      44% in 2014 (APR = 1.39, 95% confidence interval: 1.36 to 1.42), and having met
      the last partner online increased from 19% in 2008 to 32% in 2014 (APR = 1.30,
      95% confidence interval: 1.26 to 1.34). Those who never used the internet had
      fewer partners (median of 2 in the past 12 months, interquartile range: 1-4)
      compared with infrequent (4, 2-7) and frequent users (5, 3-12). HIV testing in
      the past 12 months also increased with increasing IU (58%, 68%, and 71%,
      respectively, P < 0.0001). Among HIV-positive participants, the percent HIV
      positive awareness increased as IU increased (71%, 75%, and 79%, P < 0.005).
      CONCLUSIONS: Both IU to meet men and meeting the last partner online increased
      since 2008. Although men who used the internet more frequently reported more
      partners in the past 12 months, they were also more likely to report testing in
      the past 12 months and were more likely to be HIV-positive aware.

PMID- 28604431
TI  - Characteristics of Black Men Who Have Sex With Men in Baltimore, Philadelphia,
      and Washington, D.C.: Geographic Diversity in Socio-Demographics and HIV
      Transmission Risk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC are geographically
      proximate cities with high HIV prevalence, including among black men who have sex
      with men (BMSM). Using data collected among BMSM in CDC's National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance project, we compared socio-demographic characteristics, HIV risk
      behaviors, and service utilization to explore similarities and differences that
      could inform local and regional HIV intervention approaches. METHODS: BMSM were
      recruited through venue time location sampling, June-December, 2011. Participants
      completed identical socio-behavioral surveys and voluntary HIV testing. Analyses
      were conducted among the full sample and those aged 18-24. FINDINGS: Participants
      included 159 (DC), 364 (Baltimore), and 331 (Philadelphia) eligible BMSM. HIV
      prevalence was 23.1% (DC), 48.0% (Baltimore), 14.6% (Philadelphia) with 30.6%,
      69.0%, 33.3% unrecognized HIV infection, respectively. Among BMSM 18-24, HIV
      prevalence was 11.1% (DC), 38.9% (Baltimore), 9.6% (Philadelphia) with
      unrecognized HIV infection 0.0%, 73.8%, 60.0% respectively. Compared with the
      other 2 cities, Baltimore participants were less likely to identify as
      gay/homosexual; more likely to report unemployment, incarceration, homelessness,
      sex exchange; and least likely to use the internet for partners. DC participants
      were more likely to have a college degree and employment. Philadelphia
      participants were more likely to report gay/homosexual identity, receptive
      condomless anal sex, having only main partners, and bars/clubs as partner meeting
      places. Sexually transmitted disease testing was universally low. CONCLUSIONS:
      Analyses showed especially high HIV prevalence among BMSM in Baltimore including
      among young BMSM. Socio-demographic characteristics and HIV infection correlates
      differed across cities but unrecognized HIV infection and unknown partner status
      were universally high.

PMID- 28604432
TI  - Self-Perceived Viral Load and Sexual Risk Behavior Among Known HIV-Positive MSM
      in San Francisco, 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-perceived viral suppression status among men who have sex with
      men (MSM) may impact HIV risk transmission behaviors. METHODS: We conducted a
      2014 cross-sectional survey of MSM in San Francisco and assessed differences in
      sexual risk behavior among known HIV-positive MSM based on viral suppression of
      HIV. We collected demographics, self-perceived viral load status, and sexual risk
      behavior and tested for viral load levels through laboratory assays. Men were
      categorized in a hierarchical schema of sexual risk behavior categories based on
      responses to questions regarding recent partners' HIV status, condom use, and
      sexual positioning. We used Fisher exact tests to assess for differences based on
      self-perceived viral load status. RESULTS: Out of a sample of 96 known HIV
      positive men, 59 men self-reported an undetectable HIV viral load and 9 men self
      reported a detectable viral load consented to confirmatory laboratory testing.
      The sample of self-reported undetectable men had gradually larger proportions of
      higher-risk sexual practices, whereas the sample of detectable men was evenly
      distributed across sexual practices. This association was not statistically
      significant (P = 0.91). CONCLUSION: Self-perceived viral suppression may
      influence sexual practices of known HIV-positive MSM, but small sample size,
      especially within the detectable category, hinders our ability to determine
      statistical significance. More research is necessary to assess how HIV-positive
      men account for viral load in sexual decision-making practices, and this research
      may inform resource allocation and clinical recommendations to maintain the
      health of MSM populations.

PMID- 28604433
TI  - Injection-Related Risk Behavior and Engagement in Outreach, Intervention and
      Prevention Services Across 20 US Cities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Monitoring the effects of HIV prevention efforts on risk behaviors
      among persons who inject drugs is a key to inform prevention programs and policy.
      METHODS: Using data from the 2012 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance interviews
      with persons who inject drugs across 20 US cities (n = 10,171), we conducted
      latent class analysis to identify injection risk classes and assess the
      relationship between engagement in prevention services and injection-related risk
      behavior. We conducted stratified analyses to examine the consistency of these
      associations across different geographical regions. RESULTS: The latent class
      analysis identified 6 distinct classes of injection-related risk behavior. The
      class structure was consistent across regions of the United States, but the
      distribution of risk classes varied significantly across regions. With covariate
      adjustment, the South had the most high-risk behavior (21%) and the Midwest had
      the least (6%). Participation in syringe access services and other prevention
      services was the lowest in the South. Syringe access was associated with a
      significantly lower likelihood of membership in the highest risk class in all
      regions except the Midwest. Participation in individual or group intervention
      with a practical skills component was associated with less risky injection
      behavior in all regions except the Northeast. Interventions that featured only
      safer injection information and discussion had no relationship with risk class.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support evidence of the effectiveness of syringe
      service programs and safer injection skills training in reducing high-risk
      injection behavior and underscore the need to improve access to these prevention
      interventions in the South of the United States.

PMID- 28604434
TI  - Trends in HIV and HCV Risk Behaviors and Prevalent Infection Among People Who
      Inject Drugs in New York City, 2005-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assess trends in HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) risk behaviors
      and prevalent infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) in New York City
      (NYC). METHODS: PWID in NYC were sampled using respondent-driven sampling in
      2005, 2009, and 2012 (serial cross sections) for the Centers for Disease Control
      and Prevention-sponsored National HIV Behavioral Surveillance study. Participants
      were interviewed about their current (<=12 months) risk behaviors and tested for
      HIV and HCV. The crude and adjusted risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval
      (95% CI) for linear time trends were estimated using generalized estimating
      equations regression with a modified Poisson model. RESULTS: The sample comprised
      500, 514, and 525 participants in 2005, 2009, and 2012, respectively. Significant
      (P < 0.05) linear trends in risk behaviors included a decline in unsafe syringe
      sources (60.8%, 31.3%, 46.7%; RR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.81 to 0.92), an increase in
      all syringes from syringe exchanges or pharmacies (35.4%, 67.5%, 50.3%; RR =
      1.15, 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.22), and an increase in condomless vaginal or anal sex
      (53.6%, 71.2%, 70.3%; RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.19). Receptive syringe sharing
      (21.4%, 27.0%, 25.1%), sharing drug preparation equipment (45.4%, 43.4%, 46.7%),
      and having >=2 sex partners (51.2%, 44.0%, 50.7%) were stable. Although HIV
      seroprevalence declined (18.1%, 12.5%, 12.2%), HCV seroprevalence was high
      (68.2%, 75.8%, 67.1%). In multivariate analysis, adjusting for sample
      characteristics significantly associated with time, linear time trends remained
      significant, and the decline in HIV seroprevalence gained significance (adjusted
      RR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.91, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This trend analysis
      suggests declining HIV prevalence among NYC PWID. However, HCV seroprevalence was
      high and risk behaviors were considerable. Longitudinal surveillance of HIV and
      HCV risk behaviors and infections is needed to monitor trends and for ongoing
      data-informed prevention among PWID.

PMID- 28604435
TI  - Exchange Sex and HIV Infection Among Women Who Inject Drugs-20 US Cities, 2009.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women who inject drugs and who also exchange sex are at increased
      risk for HIV infection, but data on this population in the United States remain
      sparse. METHODS: This study assessed the prevalence of exchanging sex for money
      or drugs among women who inject drugs using data from the 2009 US National HIV
      Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system. Prevalence of being HIV-positive (testing
      positive in NHBS), HIV-positive-unaware (reporting being HIV-negative or unknown
      status but testing positive in NHBS), and risk behaviors and use of services were
      compared between women who did and did not exchange sex. The association between
      exchange sex and being HIV-positive-unaware of the infection was examined using
      multivariate Poisson models with robust standard errors. RESULTS: Among 2305
      women who inject drugs, 39% reported receiving things like money or drugs from
      >=1 male partners in exchange for oral, vaginal, or anal sex in the previous 12
      months. Women who exchanged sex were more likely to be unemployed, homeless, lack
      health insurance, have multiple condomless vaginal or anal sex partners, and
      receptively share syringes. In multivariate analysis, exchange sex was associated
      with being HIV-positive-unaware (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.97, 95% confidence
      intervals: 1.31 to 2.97). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of exchange sex was high in
      this population. Women who exchange sex were more likely to be socially
      disadvantaged, report sexual and injection risk, and be HIV-positive-unaware.
      They represent an important group to reach with HIV prevention, testing, and care
      services.

PMID- 28604436
TI  - Brief Report: Nonfatal Overdose Events Among Persons Who Inject Drugs: Findings
      From Seven National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Cities 2009 & 2012.
AB  - The rate of drug and opioid overdose deaths in the United States has more than
      tripled over the past 15 years. The ability to conduct public health surveillance
      on nonfatal overdoses is limited. The current study used National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance (NHBS) data to estimate recent and lifetime history of nonfatal
      overdose events in persons who inject drugs in 7 cities. Recent and lifetime
      experience of overdose events ranged from 3% to 20% and from 29% to 63%,
      respectively. Adapting systems such as NHBS may be useful in responding to and
      monitoring emergent public health problems such as the overdose epidemic.

PMID- 28604437
TI  - A Decline in HIV Testing Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in the Seattle Area, 2004
      2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Promoting HIV testing is a key component of the public health
      response to HIV. Assessing HIV testing frequency among persons who inject drugs
      (PWID) monitors the status of these efforts and can identify unmet needs and
      opportunities to more effectively promote testing. METHODS: Data were combined
      from 4 Seattle-area surveys of PWID from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance
      (NHBS) program (2005-2015) and 6 surveys of Needle Exchange clients (2004-2015).
      RESULTS: The proportion of PWID reporting an HIV test in the previous 12 months
      declined from 64% in 2005% to 47% in 2015 in the NHBS surveys and from 72% to 58%
      in the Needle Exchange surveys. These declines persisted in multivariate analyses
      controlling for differences in the study populations in age, race, sex, area of
      residence, education, current homelessness, drug most frequently injected, daily
      injection frequency, and combined male-to-male sex and amphetamine injection
      status. The proportion of NHBS participants reporting not knowing the HIV status
      of their last injection partner increased from 38% to 45%. The proportion not
      knowing the HIV status of their last sex partner increased from 27% to 38%.
      CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in HIV testing was found in 2 independent Seattle-area
      study populations. This was complemented by increases in the proportions not
      knowing the HIV status of their last sex and last injection partners. Research is
      needed to ascertain if such declines are observed elsewhere, the reasons for the
      decline, and appropriate means to effectively attain optimal HIV testing
      frequency among PWID.

PMID- 28604438
TI  - Preferences for Home-Based HIV Testing Among Heterosexuals at Increased Risk for
      HIV/AIDS: New Orleans, Louisiana, 2013.
AB  - Participants in the New Orleans arm of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance
      of Heterosexuals at Increased Risk for HIV were asked about potential utilization
      of self-administered home-based tests for HIV. The majority (86%) would use a
      free home-based test if provided by mail and 99% would seek treatment based on a
      positive result. In addition, more than half of respondents would return test
      results in some format to the test provider, whereas most of the remaining
      participants preferred to discuss results only with their doctor. These findings
      point toward a potential method for advancing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

PMID- 28604439
TI  - What Factors Are Associated With Receiving a Recommendation to Get Tested for HIV
      by Health Care Providers Among Men Who Have Sex With Men?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The approach of treatment as prevention for reducing HIV incidence
      and prevalence hinges on early detection of HIV infection and treatment to
      achieve viral suppression and, thus, to reduce HIV transmissibility. However, men
      who have sex with men (MSM), who are at greater risk of HIV infection than the
      average adult in the United States, are often not tested because many providers
      do not provide routine opt-out testing or even recommend HIV testing. METHODS: In
      a sample of 244 MSM in San Francisco, CA, this study examined whether (1)
      sociodemographic characteristics (ie, youth, education, employment status, being
      African American, being Latino), (2) health care access and utilization, and (3)
      participants disclosing their sexual orientation to their health care providers
      were associated with their odds of having received a recommendation from a health
      care provider for HIV testing. RESULTS: Results showed that none of the
      sociodemographic or health care-related factors were associated with whether a
      health care provider recommended HIV testing, but MSM disclosing their sexual
      orientation to their health care providers was associated with an over 8 times
      greater odds of MSM receiving a recommendation for HIV testing. CONCLUSION: The
      study findings underscore the need for routine opt-out HIV testing to screen
      members of high-risk populations who may not enter the HIV continuum of care and
      for health care providers to be able to ask patients about HIV risk behavior and
      sexual orientation and behavior.

PMID- 28604440
TI  - Syphilis Screening and Diagnosis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, 2008-2014, 20
      U.S. Cities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Annual screening for syphilis is indicated for all sexually active
      men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS: Using National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance data from 2008, 2011, and 2014, we assessed trends in self-reported
      syphilis testing and diagnoses in the past 12 months among MSM. We calculated
      percentages of syphilis screening and diagnosis by selected characteristics for
      each year. Trends were assessed using Poisson regression models with generalized
      estimation equations. Analysis of syphilis diagnosis was limited to participants
      who reported syphilis screening. RESULTS: Analysis included data from 28,295
      sexually active MSM. Overall, 49% of MSM interviewed in 2014 reported syphilis
      screening, a significant increase from 40% in 2011 and 38% in 2008. In 2014,
      syphilis screening was most commonly reported by MSM who were aged 25-29 years
      (56%), HIV positive (68%), and had >10 sexual partners in the past 12 months
      (65%). The largest increases in syphilis screening between 2008 and 2014 were
      among MSM aged 30-39 years (37%-52%) and MSM who reported >10 sex partners (48%
      65%). Among MSM who reported syphilis screening, the diagnoses of syphilis
      increased from 9% in 2008 to 11% in 2014. Increases in syphilis diagnosis were
      observed among MSM who were aged 25-29 years (6%-10%), black (9%-14%), HIV
      positive (15%-21%), and reported >10 sexual partners (11%-17%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Although syphilis screening among MSM increased during 2008-2014, less than half
      of MSM reported recent syphilis screening in 2014. Given continued increases in
      syphilis among MSM, innovative interventions are needed to improve compliance
      with screening recommendations.

PMID- 28604441
TI  - Increasing Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Coverage Among Men Who Have Sex With Men
      National HIV Behavioral Surveillance, United States, 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause oropharyngeal and anogenital
      cancers among men who have sex with men (MSM). In 2011, the Advisory Committee on
      Immunization Practices (ACIP) extended HPV vaccine recommendations to males
      through age 21 and MSM through age 26. Because of this distinction, vaccination
      for some MSM might rely on sexual behavior disclosure to health care providers.
      Receipt of >=1 HPV vaccination among MSM aged 18-26 in National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance (NHBS) was 4.9% in 2011. We evaluated HPV vaccine coverage and
      associated factors among MSM in 2014. SETTING: Twenty US metropolitan statistical
      areas in 2014. METHODS: Coverage was calculated as percentage of MSM self
      reporting >=1 HPV vaccination. Adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated from
      Poisson regression models to estimate associations of demographic and behavioral
      characteristics with HPV vaccination. RESULTS: Among 2892 MSM aged 18-26 years,
      HPV vaccine coverage was 17.2%. Overall, 2326 (80.4%) reported a health care
      visit within 12 months, and 2095 (72.4%) disclosed MSM attraction or behavior to
      a health care provider. Factors associated with vaccination included self
      reported HIV infection; having a health care visit within 12 months, health
      insurance, or a usual place of care; and disclosing MSM attraction or behavior to
      a health care provider. CONCLUSIONS: Since the 2011 recommendation for
      vaccination of males, HPV vaccine coverage among MSM increased, but remains low.
      Most MSM reported a recent health care visit and disclosed sexual behavior,
      indicating opportunities for vaccination. Potential strategies for increasing MSM
      coverage include improving access to recommended care, and offering education for
      providers and patients.

PMID- 28604442
TI  - Awareness, Willingness, and Use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have
      Sex With Men in Washington, DC and Miami-Dade County, FL: National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance, 2011 and 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite the effectiveness of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
      for HIV prevention, knowledge, and uptake of this new prevention intervention
      over time has not been fully studied. Using NHBS data from 2 urban areas highly
      impacted by HIV, we examined awareness, use, and willingness to use daily oral
      PrEP and factors associated with willingness to take oral PrEP among men who have
      sex with men (MSM) over time. METHODS: MSM from Washington, DC and Miami, FL were
      recruited in 2011 and 2014 using venue-based sampling. Participants completed
      behavioral surveys and HIV testing. Awareness, use, and willingness to use oral
      PrEP were examined. Demographic and behavioral correlates of being "very likely"
      to use PrEP in 2011 and 2014 were assessed. RESULTS: PrEP awareness increased
      from 2011 to 2014 in both cities (DC: 39.1%-73.8% and Miami: 19.4%-41.2%), but
      use remained low in 2014 (DC: 7.7%; Miami: 1.4%). Being very likely to use PrEP
      decreased over time in DC (61%-48%), but increased in Miami (48%-60%). In DC,
      minority race was associated with increased odds of being very likely to use
      PrEP, whereas reduced odds of being very likely to use PrEP was observed for MSM
      with 1 or 2-5 partners versus having 6+ partners. In Miami, a higher proportion
      of white versus Hispanic MSM reported being very likely to use PrEP in 2011, but
      this observation was reversed in 2014. CONCLUSION: Geographic differences in
      awareness, use, and willingness to use PrEP indicate that innovative strategies
      are needed to educate MSM about this effective prevention strategy.

PMID- 28604443
TI  - Differences in Awareness of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Post-exposure
      Prophylaxis Among Groups At-Risk for HIV in New York State: New York City and
      Long Island, NY, 2011-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV was
      approved in 2012 and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in 2005. We report the
      differences in awareness of PrEP/PEP and factors associated with awareness by
      examining 3 risk groups (men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject
      drugs, and high-risk heterosexuals). METHODS: National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance system data collected in New York City (NYC) and Long Island, NY in
      2011-2013 were used. Logistic regressions by region were developed to estimate
      adjusted associations [Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR)] and determine differences in
      awareness of PrEP/PEP. RESULTS: Awareness of PrEP/PEP was low for all groups. In
      multivariate analysis controlling for sociodemographic factors, noninjection drug
      use, HIV status, and exposure to HIV prevention, males who inject drugs in NYC
      had significantly decreased odds of PrEP/PEP awareness [AOR: 0.45; confidence
      interval (CI): 0.25 to 0.81] compared with MSM. MSM aged 18-29 years had
      increased awareness of PrEP (AOR: 2.94; 95% CI 1.11 to 7.80). On Long Island,
      females who inject drugs (AOR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.62), males who inject
      drugs (AOR: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.39), female heterosexuals (AOR: 0.25; 95% CI:
      0.11 to 0.59), and male heterosexuals (AOR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.73) had
      significantly decreased odds of PrEP/PEP awareness. Black MSM had increased
      awareness of PrEP (AOR: 4.08 CI:1.21 to 13.73). CONCLUSIONS: Large proportions of
      groups at-risk for HIV were unaware of PrEP/PEP. When comparing risk groups to
      MSM, we found MSM to have greater awareness in both regions. On Long Island,
      people who inject drugs and heterosexuals were far less likely to have PrEP/PEP
      awareness than in NYC. On Long Island, Black MSM had increased PrEP awareness and
      in NYC MSM aged 18-29 had increased PrEP awareness. These findings suggest that
      awareness may be spreading through networks and highlight the importance of
      targeted educational and prevention efforts by group and region.

PMID- 28604444
TI  - Antiretroviral Therapy Use Among HIV-Infected People Who Inject Drugs-20 Cities,
      United States, 2009-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 16% of infections among those living with diagnosed HIV
      infection in the United States are attributable to injection drug use.
      Antiretrovirals (ARVs) are recommended for all infected persons to improve health
      and prevent transmission. Using data from National HIV Behavioral Surveillance,
      we evaluated changes in ARV use from 2009 to 2015 among HIV-positive people who
      inject drugs (PWID). METHODS: PWID were recruited by respondent-driven sampling
      in 20 cities. ARV use was defined as self-reported use at the time of interview.
      Prevalence ratios measuring change in ARV use per 3-year increase in year were
      estimated using log-linked Poisson regression models with generalized estimating
      equations. RESULTS: ARV use was 58% (319/548) in 2009, 67% (410/608) in 2012, and
      71% (386/545) in 2015. In all 3 cycle years, a higher percentage of ARV treatment
      was observed among males, PWID of older age (>=50), and PWID with current health
      insurance. ARV use increased overall, with an adjusted relative increase of 8%
      per every 3-year increase in year (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.08, 95% confidence
      interval: 1.03 to 1.12). ARV use also increased among most subgroups.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings show progress in ARV treatment, although ARV coverage
      remains low compared with other populations at risk for HIV. Efforts to improve
      ARV coverage among PWIDs are needed.

PMID- 28604445
TI  - Development of an HIV Testing Dashboard to Complement the HIV Care Continuum
      Among MSM, PWID, and Heterosexuals in Washington, DC, 2007-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We developed an HIV testing dashboard to complement the HIV care
      continuum in selected high-risk populations. Using National HIV Behavioral
      Surveillance (NHBS) data, we examined trends in HIV testing and care for men who
      have sex with men (MSM), persons who inject drugs (PWID), and heterosexuals at
      elevated risk (HET). METHODS: Between 2007 and 2015, 4792 participants >=18 years
      old completed a behavioral survey and were offered HIV testing. For the testing
      dashboard, proportions ever tested, tested in the past year, testing HIV
      positive, and newly testing positive were calculated. An abbreviated care
      continuum for self-reported positive (SRP) persons included ever engagement in
      care, past year care, and current antiretroviral (ARV) use. The testing dashboard
      and care continuum were calculated separately for each population. Chi-square
      test for trend was used to assess significant trends over time. RESULTS: Among
      MSM, lifetime HIV testing and prevalence significantly increased from 96% to 98%
      (P = 0.01) and 14%-20% (P = 0.02) over time; prevalence was highest among black
      MSM at all time points. HIV prevalence among female persons who inject drugs was
      significantly higher in 2015 vs. 2009 (27% and 13%; P < 0.01). Among
      heterosexuals at elevated risk from 2010 to 2013, annual testing increased
      significantly (45%-73%; P < 0.001) and the proportion newly diagnosed decreased
      significantly (P < 0.01). Self-reported positive MSM had high levels of care
      engagement and antiretroviral use; among self-reported positive persons who
      inject drugs and heterosexuals at elevated risk, past year care engagement and
      antiretroviral use increased over time. CONCLUSIONS: The HIV testing dashboard
      can be used to complement the HIV care continuum to display improvements and
      disparities in HIV testing and care over time.

PMID- 28604447
TI  - Ovarian Cancer and Comorbidity: Is Poor Survival Explained by Choice of Primary
      Treatment or System Delay?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Comorbidity influences survival in ovarian cancer, but the causal
      relations between prognosis and comorbidity are not well characterized. The aim
      of this study was to investigate the associations between comorbidity, system
      delay, the choice of primary treatment, and survival in Danish ovarian cancer
      patients. METHODS: This population-based study was conducted on data from 5317
      ovarian cancer patients registered in the Danish Gynecological Cancer Database.
      Comorbidity was classified according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index and the
      Ovarian Cancer Comorbidity Index. Pearson chi test and multivariate logistic
      regression analyses were used to investigate the association between comorbidity
      and primary outcome measures: primary treatment ("primary debulking surgery" vs
      "no primary surgery") and system delay (more vs less than required by the
      National Cancer Patient Pathways [NCPPs]). Cox regression analyses, including
      hypothesized mediators stepwise, were used to investigate if the impact of
      comorbidity on overall survival is mediated by the choice of treatment or system
      delay. RESULTS: A total of 3945 patients (74.2%) underwent primary debulking
      surgery, whereas 1160 (21.8%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. When adjusting
      for confounders, comorbidity was not significantly associated to the choice of
      treatment. Surgically treated patients with moderate/severe comorbidity were more
      often experiencing system delay longer than required by the NCPP. No association
      between comorbidity and system delay was observed for patients treated with
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Survival analyses demonstrated that system delay longer
      than NCPP requirement positively impacts survival (hazard ratio, 0.90 [95%
      confidence interval, 0.82-0.98]), whereas primary treatment modality has no
      significant impact on survival. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with moderate/severe
      comorbidity experience often a longer system delay than patients with no or mild
      comorbidity. Age, stage, and comorbidity are factors influencing the choice of
      treatment, with stage being the most important factor and comorbidity of lesser
      importance. The impact of comorbidity on survival does not seem to be mediated by
      the choice of treatment or system delay.

PMID- 28604446
TI  - Evolving Approaches in the Identification of Allograft-Reactive T and B Cells in
      Mice and Humans.
AB  - Whether a transplanted allograft is stably accepted, rejected, or achieves
      immunological tolerance is dependent on the frequency and function of
      alloreactive lymphocytes, making the identification and analysis of alloreactive
      T and B cells in transplant recipients critical for understanding mechanisms, and
      the prediction of allograft outcome. In animal models, tracking the fate of graft
      reactive T and B cells allows investigators to uncover their biology and develop
      new therapeutic strategies to protect the graft. In the clinic, identification
      and quantification of graft-reactive T and B cells allows for the early diagnosis
      of immune reactivity and therapeutic intervention to prevent graft loss. In
      addition to rejection, probing of T and B cell fate in vivo provides insights
      into the underlying mechanisms of alloimmunity or tolerance that may lead to
      biomarkers predicting graft fate. In this review, we discuss existing and
      developing approaches to track and analyze alloreactive T and B cells in mice and
      humans and provide examples of discoveries made utilizing these techniques. These
      approaches include mixed lymphocyte reactions, trans-vivo delayed-type
      hypersensitivity, enzyme-linked immunospot assays, the use of antigen receptor
      transgenic lymphocytes, and utilization of peptide-major histocompatibility
      multimers, along with imaging techniques for static multiparameter analysis or
      dynamic in vivo tracking. Such approaches have already refined our understanding
      of the alloimmune response and are pointing to new ways to improve allograft
      outcomes in the clinic.

PMID- 28604448
TI  - MAP2K6-FP Enhances the Sensitiveness of Paclitaxel for Ovarian Cancer via
      Inducing Autophagy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paclitaxel is recommended as a first-line chemotherapeutic agent
      against ovarian cancer, but drug resistance becomes a major limitation. The key
      molecule or mechanism associated with paclitaxel resistance in ovarian cancer
      still remains unclear. Recent studies have revealed an association between
      autophagy and drug resistance. METHODS: We previously synthesized a MAPK kinase
      recombinant fusion protein, MAP2K6-FP, that contains 3 domains: a protein
      transduction domain TAT, a human ovarian cancer HO8910 cell-specific binding
      peptide, and a potential antitumor effector domain MKK6(E). In this study, we
      investigated the effect of MAP2K6-FP on HO8910 cells treated with paclitaxel.
      RESULTS: The IC50 (concentration by which 50% cell growth was inhibited) was 20
      MUM for paclitaxel alone, 1.5 MUg/mL for MAP2K6-FP alone, and 0.3 MUg/mL for
      MAP2K6-FP and 15 MUM for paclitaxel if combined, respectively. In addition,
      immunohistochemistry assay demonstrated that tumor tissues from ovarian cancer
      patients showed higher expression of LC-3, the autophagy-related protein,
      compared with normal ovarian tissues. MAP2K6-FP (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40
      MUg/mL) dose-dependently increased the LC-3 expression in HO8910 cells.
      Immunofluorescence assay showed that paclitaxel alone increased the expression of
      LC-3 in HO8910 cells, which was further enhanced by the combination with MAP2K6
      FP. Downregulation of LC-3 expression using LC-3 small interfering RNA inhibited
      the cytotoxicity effect of MAP2K6-FP. Furthermore, either MAP2K6-FP alone or in
      combination with paclitaxel increased the ratio of expressions of Beclin-1/Bcl-2,
      another autophagy-related markers, compared with paclitaxel alone. CONCLUSIONS:
      MAP2K6-FP enhanced the sensitiveness of paclitaxel for ovarian cancer via
      inducing autophagy.

PMID- 28604449
TI  - Cervical Adenocarcinoma Has a Poorer Prognosis and a Higher Propensity for
      Distant Recurrence Than Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to analyze the differences in prognosis and the pattern of
      recurrence between squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) in
      patients with cervical cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical
      records of 969 patients with SCC and 144 patients with ADC who underwent radical
      hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection at the Busan Paik Hospital between
      January 1988 and December 2010. RESULTS: Adenocarcinoma was associated with
      poorer disease-free survival (P = 0.0515) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.0156)
      compared with SCC, and that this was more apparent for patients with
      International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages IIA to IIB disease.
      Subgroup analysis by prognostic factors for recurrence showed significant
      differences in the OS in the intermediate-risk subgroup (P = 0.0266), but not in
      the high-risk subgroup (P = 0.1674). Based on the metastatic pattern in patients
      with recurrence, ADC was associated with an increased risk for distant recurrence
      resulting from hematogenous spread compared with SCC (P < 0.0001), and patients
      with distant recurrence showed a worse OS (P = 0.0481) and survival after
      recurrence (P = 0.0016) than patients with locoregional or lymphatic recurrence.
      Multivariate analysis showed that ADC was a significant independent factor for
      poor disease-free survival (P = 0.0034) and OS (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Adenocarcinoma is associated with a poorer prognosis and a greater probability of
      distanat recurrence compared with SCC. Different therapeutic strategies for ADC
      need to be developed, and when considering the greater tendency for distant
      recurrence in patients with ADC, systemic chemotherapy may have a role in
      reducing the risk of hematogenous spread.

PMID- 28604450
TI  - Low-Volume Lymph Node Metastases in Endometrial Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the histopathologic
      characteristics of patients with endometrial carcinoma with low-volume metastases
      (micrometastases and isolated tumor cells) compared with macrometastases.
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients with endometrial
      carcinoma. RESULTS: Among 350 robotic-assisted hysterectomies for endometrial
      cancer, 187 (53%) underwent attempted sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. At least
      1 SLN was detected in 185, a 99% overall detection rate; 108 (58%) also had non
      SLNs removed. Among 91 patients with SLNs and non-SLNs from the ipsilateral
      hemipelvis, both were negative in 74 (81%) and positive in 7 (8%), and 10 (11%)
      had a positive SLN with negative non-SLNs. Among 17 patients with SLNs and non
      SLNs from the contralateral hemipelvis, both were negative in 12 (71%), both were
      positive in 3 (18%), and 2 patients (12%) had negative SLNs with contralateral
      positive non-SLNs. Among 79 patients with only a SLN dissection, 4 (5%) were
      positive; among 69 patients with only a non-SLN dissection, 14 (20%) had positive
      lymph nodes. Among 24 patients with metastatic SLNs, 9 (38%) had isolated tumor
      cells, 3 (13%) had micrometastases, and 12 (50%) had macrometastases. Among the
      40 total patients with metastatic lymph nodes, low-volume metastases represented
      the largest metastatic deposit in one third of patients, all of which had SLN
      dissection. All 12 with low-volume metastases had endometrioid histology compared
      with less than half (46%) of those with macrometastases (P < 0.01). Grade 1
      carcinoma was present in 7 (58%) of the patients with low-volume metastases
      compared with 4 (14%) of those with macrometastases (P < 0.01) Furthermore,
      significantly more patients with low-volume metastases versus macrometastases had
      less than 50% myometrial invasion (67% vs 4%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Low-volume
      disease was present in one third of patients with nodal metastases, the largest
      metastatic deposit only in patients who had SLN dissection; these patients were
      significantly more likely to have grade 1 endometrioid carcinoma with less than
      50% myometrial invasion, traditional "low-risk" features.

PMID- 28604451
TI  - Is Tumor Size Really Important for Prediction of Lymphatic Dissemination in Grade
      1 Endometrial Carcinoma With Superficial Myometrial Invasion?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Selection of patients with endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC), in
      whom systematic lymph node dissection (LND) is indicated, is an important part of
      management to maintain optimal oncological outcomes, while avoiding unnecessary
      morbidities. According to the current approach, LND is recommended for the
      patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) grade
      1 to 2 tumors and a primary tumor diameter (PTD) greater than 2 cm, even with
      myometrial invasion (MMI) of less than 50%. We aimed to determine incidence of LN
      metastasis in this particular group of patients with grade 1 tumors, superficial
      MMI, and a PTD greater than 2 cm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study only focused
      on women with FIGO grade 1 EEC having less than 50% MMI. Therefore, women with
      grade 2 or 3 tumors were excluded, as well as patients with 50% or greater MMI.
      We also excluded women with macroscopic extrauterine disease, as well as patients
      with cervical stromal involvement. Patients were divided into subgroups with
      regard to PTD; group 1 was composed of patients with PTD of 20 mm or less,
      whereas group 2 was composed of patients with PTD greater than 20 mm. All
      clinical and pathological variables were compared between the groups. RESULTS:
      Final pathology reports of 484 women with EEC who underwent surgical staging were
      analyzed. Among these women, there were 123 women in group 1 (PTD <= 20 mm) and
      120 women in group 2 (PTD > 20 mm), with FIGO grade 1 tumors and superficial MMI.
      The median number of total LNs removed was 54 (range, 20-151). There were no
      women with pelvic and/or para-aortic LN metastasis in group 2, as well as in
      group 1. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that lymphadenectomy may be omitted in
      women with FIGO grade 1 EEC having superficial MMI regardless of PTD. Deferral of
      systematic LND in this subgroup of patients may lead to reductions in costs and
      surgical morbidity.

PMID- 28604452
TI  - Utility and Actual Use of European and Spanish Guidelines on the Management of
      Endometrial Cancer Among Gynecologic Oncologists in Spain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to analyze the current management of
      endometrial cancer across Spain and to evaluate the use and applicability of the
      national and international guidelines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic 30
      question survey was distributed among all Spanish Society of Obstetrics and
      Gynecology-registered specialists dedicated to gynecologic oncology in Spain by e
      mail. Data were collected anonymously and analyzed using SPSS program. RESULTS:
      One hundred forty-five (17.8%) surveys were collected. Significant differences
      were observed between tertiary hospitals and secondary or private hospitals in
      terms of appropriate (according to European Society of Gynaecologic Oncology
      guidelines) nodal staging in low-risk cases (96 [95%] vs 27 [61.4%],
      respectively; P < 0.001), appropriate nodal staging in intermediate-risk cases
      (96 [95%] vs 39 [88.6%], respectively; P = 0.004), appropriate treatment in
      advanced-stage cases (63 [67.7%] vs 13 [40.6%], respectively; P < 0.001), and
      surgical treatment of relapses (87 [93.5%] vs 18 [56.3%], respectively; P =
      0.004) but nonsignificant in the rate of complete paraaortic lymphadenectomy
      performance (82 [81.2%] vs 28 [63.6%], respectively; P = 0.056). Similar results
      have been observed when comparing centers with less than 20 cases per year to
      centers with more than 40 cases annually, with significant differences in the
      management of low-risk and intermediate-risk endometrial cancers. CONCLUSIONS:
      This cross-sectional study demonstrates a broad heterogeneity of care giving
      between the clinical national and international guidelines and the actual
      practice in Spain. Although most of the responders refer to base their
      endometrial cancer management on Spanish and European Society of Gynaecologic
      Oncology guidelines (64.1%), many discrepancies have been observed, mainly in the
      management of intermediate-risk cases and follow-up. It may be caused by the lack
      of consensus on certain points, lack of facilities in lower case load centers,
      and also due to disagreement or unawareness on the current knowledge.

PMID- 28604453
TI  - Management of Primary Retroperitoneal Mucinous Tumors: A Retrospective Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Primary retroperitoneal mucinous tumors (PRMTs) are rare epithelial
      neoplasms arising in the retroperitoneal space whose pathogenesis is poorly
      understood. To date, only single-case reports and small case series on diagnosis
      and management of these tumors exist. The aim of this first-time meta-analysis
      was to provide more reliable data to inform the management of PRMTs. METHODS:
      Database searches were conducted to identify case reports and case series between
      the years of 1975 and 2015. Two cases of patients treated at our institution were
      also included. Diagnostic, radiographic, surgical, and follow-up data were
      gathered. Regression modeling was used to identify factors aiding preoperative
      diagnosis and affecting treatment. Survival analysis including Cox regression
      modeling was performed to provide insights into treatment effects on the
      prognosis of female patients with PRMTs. RESULTS: One hundred forty-four cases of
      PRMTs were included in this analysis. Eighty-nine percent occurred in women. Most
      of the PRMTs were found to be malignant (53%). No preoperative factors predicting
      tumor dignity were identified by multiple regression analysis. Five-year disease
      specific survival of patients with benign and borderline tumors was excellent,
      reaching 100%, whereas it was only 68% for patients with malignant disease.
      Adjuvant surgical treatments including hysterectomy, salpingoophorectomy, and
      lymph node dissection were not associated with a statistically significant
      survival advantage. However, there was a nonsignificant association of
      hysterectomy with improved survival (hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% confidence interval,
      0.09-2.07; P = 0.285). Adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with reduced survival
      (hazard ratio 3.791; 95% confidence interval, 1.509-9.526; P = 0.0046).
      CONCLUSIONS: A reliable diagnosis of a PRMT can only be made by pathological
      examination of the tumor. Surgical excision is thus necessary to facilitate
      diagnosis while it also remains the mainstay of treatment. There is no conclusive
      evidence supporting the role of adjuvant surgical procedures or chemotherapy.

PMID- 28604454
TI  - The Significance of Pretreatment Thrombocytosis and Its Association With
      Neutrophilia in Patients With Surgically Treated Endometrial Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance
      of a pretreatment thrombocytosis and its association with neutrophilia in
      patients with surgically treated endometrial cancer. METHODS: The baseline
      characteristics and outcome data of 508 patients with surgically treated
      endometrial cancer between January 2000 and December 2010 were collected and
      retrospectively reviewed. The patients were separated into 4 groups according to
      their platelet counts and the neutrophil counts, and the progression-free and
      overall survival rates of the 4 groups were compared. A Cox proportional hazards
      regression model was used to explore the independent prognostic factors. RESULTS:
      Pretreatment thrombocytosis was found to be associated with advanced stage (P =
      0.0186), nonendometrioid histology (P = 0.0139), a deeper myometrial invasion (P
      = 0.0103), lymphovascular space involvement (P = 0.0404), cervical involvement (P
      = 0.004), positive peritoneal cytology (P = 0.0198), lymph node metastasis (P =
      0.0301), and more frequent treatment failure (P = 0.0006). Multivariate analysis
      demonstrated that an older age (hazard ratio [HR], 2.54; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 1.46-4.51; P = 0.0009), advanced clinical stage (HR, 5.27; 95% CI, 2.94
      9.86; P < 0.0001), lymphovascular space involvement (HR, 3.37; 95% CI, 1.74-7.07;
      P = 0.0002), and pretreatment thrombocytosis (HR, 4.99; 95% CI, 2.47-9.39; P <
      0.0001) were significant predictors of survival. When examined according to
      clinical stage, pretreatment thrombocytosis was prognostically significant only
      in patients with stage III-IV disease. The neutrophil count in patients who
      display thrombocytosis was significantly greater than that observed in patients
      without thrombocytosis (median, 6702 vs 4406/MUL; P < 0.0001). Moreover, patients
      who displayed both thrombocytosis and neutrophilia had significantly shorter
      survival than that in those with either thrombocytosis or neutrophilia alone.
      CONCLUSIONS: Presence of thrombocytosis at the time of the initial diagnosis is
      an independent predictor of shorter survival in patients with advanced-stage
      (stages III-IV) endometrial cancer. Moreover, pretreatment thrombocytosis and
      concurrent neutrophilia are an independent predictor of shorter survival
      regardless of clinical stage.

PMID- 28604455
TI  - Oncologic Outcomes After Adjuvant Radiotherapy for Stage II Endometrial
      Carcinoma: A Korean Radiation Oncology Group Study (KROG 14-10).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the survival, patterns of
      failure, and prognostic factors in patients with stage II endometrial carcinoma
      treated with adjuvant radiotherapy. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of
      patients who underwent total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and
      pelvic lymph node dissection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy in 10
      participating hospitals of the Korean Radiation Oncology Group. Most patients
      received adjuvant external beam radiation therapy, with a median dose of 50.4 Gy;
      approximately 50% of these patients received an additional brachytherapy boost,
      with a median dose of 18 Gy. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 19
      patients. RESULTS: A total of 122 patients were examined. Over a median follow-up
      period of 62.7 months (range, 1.9-158.8 months), the 5-year overall survival (OS)
      and disease-free survival rates were found to be 91.1% and 85.1%, respectively.
      Recurrence was observed in 14 patients (11.5%), including 3 with local recurrence
      and 11 with distant metastases as the first site of recurrence. Univariate
      analysis indicated that lymphovascular invasion was related to an unfavorable OS.
      An age of 60 years or above, histologic grade 3, and lymphovascular invasion were
      identified as risk factors for OS. Because there were several risk factors
      related to OS, we assigned patients to a high-risk group (defined as cases with
      >=1 risk factors) and a low-risk group. The 5-year OS rate of the high-risk group
      was significantly inferior to that of the low-risk group (82.9% vs 100%, P =
      0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The high-risk group had a significantly poorer survival rate
      than the low-risk group, and distant metastasis was the main pattern of
      recurrence, thus indicating that further adjuvant chemotherapy should be
      considered in high-risk patients.

PMID- 28604456
TI  - Urinary Polyamines as Biomarkers for Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Elevated concentrations of polyamines have been found in urine of
      patients with malignant tumors, including ovarian cancer. Previous research has
      suffered from poorly standardized detection methods. Our liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method is capable of simultaneous
      standardized analysis of most known polyamines. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry has not previously been used in the differential diagnostics of
      ovarian tumors in postmenopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this
      prospective study, postmenopausal women (n = 71) presenting with an adnexal mass
      and, as controls, women with genital prolapse or urinary incontinence scheduled
      for surgery (n = 22) were recruited in the study. For analysis of the polyamines,
      a morning urine sample was obtained before surgery. Preoperative serum CA125
      concentrations were determined in the study group. RESULTS: Twenty-three women
      with benign and 37 with malignant ovarian tumors were eligible. Of all analyzed
      polyamines, only urinary N,N-diacetylspermine showed statistically significant
      differences between all groups except controls versus benign tumors. N,N
      diacetylspermine was elevated in malignant versus benign tumors (P < 0.001), in
      high-grade versus low malignant potential tumors (P < 0.001), in stage III to IV
      versus stage I to II cancers (P < 0.001), and even in early-stage cancer (stage I
      II) versus benign tumors (P = 0.017). N,N-diacetylspermine had better sensitivity
      (86.5%) but lower specificity (65.2%) for distinguishing benign and malignant
      ovarian tumors than CA125 with a cut-off value of 35 kU/L (sensitivity, 75.7%;
      specificity, 69.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Urinary N,N-diacetylspermine seems to be able
      to distinguish benign and malignant ovarian tumors as well as early and advanced
      stage, and low malignant potential and high-grade ovarian cancers from each
      other, respectively.

PMID- 28604457
TI  - Up-regulation of Transcription Factor 3 Is Correlated With Poor Prognosis in
      Cervical Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Transcription factor 3 (TCF3, or E2A) is a multifunctional bHLH
      (basic helix loop helix) transcription factor. The role of TCF3 expression in
      cancer and the multiple cell signaling pathways that regulate or are influenced
      by TCF3 are unclear. Therefore, the expression level of TCF3 in patients with
      cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is discussed in this study. METHODS:
      Total RNA was extracted using real-time quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction. Western blotting was applied to confirm the results.
      Immunohistochemistry was used to characterize the expression patterns of TCF3 in
      CSCC specimens. The close relationship between the expression levels of TCF3 and
      the 5-year overall survival time was described by survival curves. The
      association between TCF3 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of
      119 CSCC patients was analyzed by Chi-square, Fisher exact test, and Cox
      regression analysis. TCF3 was overexpressed or inhibited by plasmid transfection,
      and the proliferation, invasion, and migration of cells were detected using 3
      (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), wound healing,
      and Transwell assays. RESULTS: The expression of TCF3 was higher in CSCC tissues
      than in nonmalignant cervical tissues. Messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein in
      patient tissues were increased compared with nonmalignant cervical tissues.
      Moreover, the level of expression in early-stage disease was higher than in the
      advanced stage. From FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics)
      stages I to IV, immunohistochemistry staining intensity gradually increased. A
      high level of expression was closely related to clinical stages. The expression
      of TCF3 was negatively correlated with overall survival time. TCF3 can promote
      HeLa cell growth, invasion, and migration in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our
      results, TCF3 is clearly associated with the progression of CSCC. This is the
      first time that it has been reported that TCF3 can act as a tumor promoter in
      cervical cancer and thus might be of great significance in the prognosis of CSCC.

PMID- 28604458
TI  - Factors Associated With Radiation Treatment Compliance for Women With Cervical
      Cancer in a Safety Net Health System.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine whether patient characteristics
      are associated with radiation treatment noncompliance. METHODS/MATERIALS: We
      retrospectively studied 244 patients with cervical cancer treated with
      chemoradiation between May 2006 and August 2015 at a safety net health center.
      Compliance with treatment was defined as missing less than 2 days of scheduled
      radiation. RESULTS: Treatment records revealed a compliance rate of 50.8% in this
      population. Factors associated with noncompliance were younger age (hazard ratio
      [HR], 1.037; P = 0.004), presence of psychiatric diagnosis (HR, 0.581; P =
      0.044), and having insurance (HR, 0.484; P = 0.022). Noncompliance was associated
      with a decrease in disease-free survival (HR, 0.555; P = 0.042) but was not
      associated with overall survival. International Federation of Gynecology and
      Obstetrics stage was associated with detriment in overall survival on
      multivariate analysis (HR, 2.034; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Younger patients,
      those with psychiatric illness, and those with insurance define a group that is
      more likely to be noncompliant with treatment and hence may require up-front
      intervention to improve outcomes.

PMID- 28604459
TI  - Definitive Chemoradiotherapy in Elderly Cervical Cancer Patients: A
      Multiinstitutional Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the prognostic factors for
      survival and treatment-related toxicities in older (>=65 years) cervical cancer
      patients treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy. In addition, we sought to
      compare the outcomes between the older elderly (>=75 years) and their younger old
      counterparts (age, 65-74 years). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed medical records from 269 biopsy-proven nonmetastatic cervical cancer
      patients treated with external radiotherapy and intracavitary brachytherapy at
      the departments of radiation oncology in 2 different universities. The prognostic
      factors for survival, local control, and distant metastasis (DM) were analyzed.
      RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 38.8 months (range, 1.5-175.5 months) for
      the entire cohort and 70.0 months (range, 6.1-175.7 months) for survivors. The 2-
      and 5-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and cause-specific
      survival rates were 66% and 42%, 63% and 39%, and 72% and 55%, respectively.
      Patients 75 years or older showed significantly worse OS compared with patients
      aged 65 to 74 years but showed no significant difference in DFS. The 2- and 5
      year local control rates were 86% and 71%, respectively. The incidences of DMs at
      2 and 5 years were 22% and 30%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, vaginal
      infiltration and lymph node metastasis were predictive of OS, DFS, local
      recurrence, and DM. Concomitant chemotherapy was predictive of OS, DFS, and local
      recurrence, and larger tumor (>4 cm) was a significant prognostic factor for
      local recurrence. None of the patients had toxicity that necessitated the
      discontinuation of radiotherapy. All patients were evaluable for acute toxicity,
      and no grade higher than 3 adverse events occurred during external beam radiation
      therapy or brachytherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Although age limited the delivery of
      aggressive treatment, concurrent chemoradiotherapy in elderly patients associated
      with improved outcomes similar as in younger counterparts without increasing
      serious acute and late toxicities.

PMID- 28604460
TI  - Intention-to-Treat Analysis of Radical Trachelectomy for Early-Stage Cervical
      Cancer With Special Reference to Oncologic Failures: Single-Institutional
      Experience in Hungary.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to evaluate clinical and pathological data in
      order to draw eligibility criteria for oncologically sufficient radical
      trachelectomy (RT) in early-stage cervical cancer. Reviewing all cases of
      attempted RT performed at our unit, we focused attention on prognostic indicators
      of the need for additional oncologic treatment following RT. The analysis was
      extended by extensive literature review to include previously published cases of
      oncologic failures. METHODS: The authors retrospectively analyzed data of
      patients who underwent RT at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
      University of Debrecen. Electronic records and case notes of RT cases were
      reviewed to determine the incidence of abdominal and vaginal route, distribution
      of clinicopathologic data, and follow-up results of individual cases. Individual
      procedures were categorized as oncologically insufficient if additional oncologic
      treatment was necessary following RT. Theoretical eligibility criteria for RT in
      early-stage cervical cancer were determined retrospectively by selecting
      prognostic features that were associated with oncologic insufficiency from
      clinicopathologic indicators of the complete series. RESULTS: Twenty-four cases
      of RT were performed by the authors, 15 vaginal RTs with laparoscopic pelvic
      lymphadenectomy and 9 abdominal RTs with open pelvic lymphadenectomy. Fifteen of
      24 cases proved oncologically sufficient. Three cases required immediate
      conversion to radical hysterectomy because of positive sentinel nodes and/or
      positive isthmic disc on frozen section. In further 5 cases, final pathology
      results indicated additional oncologic treatment, that is, radical hysterectomy
      (n = 2), chemoradiotherapy (n = 2), or chemotherapy (n = 1). One patient among
      immediately converted cases and another 3 among those who required additional
      oncologic treatment died of their disease later. There were no other cases of
      recurrences over a median follow-up of 34 months (range, 12-188 months). Factors
      that may predict oncologic insufficiency of RT were stage IB1 or greater, tumor
      size of greater than 2 cm in 1 dimension or greater than 15 mm in 3 dimensions,
      G3, nonsquamous/adeno histological type, stromal invasion of greater than 9 mm,
      and lymphovascular space involvement in the primary tumor. CONCLUSIONS: Most
      cases of oncologically insufficient RTs have significant risk features that can
      be identified preoperatively. There is a need for more clinicopathologic data on
      oncologic failure of RT cases in order to improve patient selection.

PMID- 28604461
TI  - Chemosensitivity of BRCA1-Mutated Ovarian Cancer Cells and Established Cytotoxic
      Agents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Serous adenocarcinomas that arise in patients with inherited mutations
      in the tumor suppressor genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are initially well treatable with
      platinum/paclitaxel. For recurrent disease in patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2
      mutations, olaparib treatment is available. To study additional therapeutic
      regimens, a better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the
      tumors in in vitro models is important. METHODS/MATERIALS: From a high-grade
      serous ovarian tumor of a BRCA1 mutation carrier, we established 3 distinct cell
      line subclones, OVCA-TR3.1, -2, and -3. Immunohistochemical characterization,
      flow cytometric analyses, chemosensitivity, and somatic mutation profiling were
      performed. RESULTS: The cell lines expressed AE1/AE3, Pax8, WT-1, OC125, estrogen
      receptor (ER), and p53, comparable to the primary tumor. Synergism could be shown
      in the combination treatment eremophila-1-(10)-11(13)-dien-12,8beta-olide (EPD),
      with cisplatin, whereas combination with olaparib did not show synergism.
      Eremophila-1-(10)-11(13)-dien-12,8beta-olide, a sesquiterpene lactone, is a novel
      chemotherapeutic agent. The inherited BRCA1 c.2989_2990dupAA mutation was
      confirmed in the cell lines. Loss of heterozygosity of BRCA1 was detected in each
      cell line, as well as a homozygous TP53 c.722C>A mutation. Flow cytometry showed
      that all cell lines had a distinct DNA index. CONCLUSIONS: Three new isogenic
      ovarian cancer cell lines were developed from a patient with a germ line BRCA1
      mutation. Chemosensitivity profiling of the cell lines showed high tolerance for
      olaparib. Treatment with EPD proved synergistic with cisplatin. The effects of
      EPD will be further investigated for future clinical efficacy.

PMID- 28604462
TI  - Anesthetic Management of Two Pediatric Patients With Concurrent Diagnoses of
      Mitochondrial Disease and Malignant Hyperthermia Susceptibility: A Case Report.
AB  - We report the case of 2 pediatric patients with coexisting diagnoses of malignant
      hyperthermia susceptibility and mitochondrial disease in 2 different surgical
      settings. Due to the rare occurrence of each disorder, and even more so together,
      we reviewed evidence-based anesthetic concerns and described our perioperative
      management, with the goal of aiding future practitioners in safely caring for
      these patients. Consent was obtained for both patients, as well as IRB approval
      before publication.

PMID- 28604463
TI  - Complete Neurologic Recovery From Extreme Hypoglycemia Secondary to Cardiogenic
      Liver Failure: A Case Report.
AB  - Cardiogenic shock from acute severe mitral valve regurgitation can cause acute
      liver failure due to hypoperfusion. Impaired liver glycogenesis can then lead to
      profound hypoglycemia. The time frame for restoring normoglycemia without
      neurologic sequelae is not clearly established in humans. Thus, the clinical
      decision to provide further resuscitation in the setting of extreme hypoglycemia
      mainly depends on the patient's overall clinical condition, provider opinion,
      and/or institutional practice. Here, we report a case where the patient made
      complete neurologic recovery from extreme hypoglycemia (<5 mg/dL by central
      laboratory testing) secondary to acute cardiogenic shock and liver failure.

PMID- 28604464
TI  - Liver Transplantation in a Patient With Antiphospholipid Syndrome: A Case Report.
AB  - Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an acquired thrombophilic disorder
      characterized by autoantibodies to cell membrane phospholipids. While altered
      coagulation can complicate end-stage liver disease, there are few reports
      describing the perioperative management for liver transplantation in recipients
      with a preexisting hypercoagulable disorder, such as APS. We present a patient
      with a history of APS, Budd-Chiari syndrome with cirrhosis, hepatopulmonary
      syndrome, and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia who underwent liver
      transplantation complicated by hepatic artery thrombosis. Management included
      postoperative anticoagulation with a factor Xa inhibitor and, after repeat
      transplantation, transition to long-term anticoagulation therapy with eventual
      recovery.

PMID- 28604465
TI  - Brachial Plexus Injury Associated With Subclavian Vein Cannulation: A Case
      Report.
AB  - We documented brachial plexus injury by electromyography and magnetic resonance
      imaging secondary to needle sticks for central line insertion. This type of
      complication is rare in the literature, as few case reports exist. Brachial
      plexus injury can happen because of anatomic variations. Nevertheless, multiple
      attempts or introducer needle rotations should be avoided during subclavian vein
      catheterization. Pain that emerges in the ipsilateral arm after subclavian
      catheter placement should be taken into serious consideration. It is important to
      identify the cause of pain as soon as possible so that the correct treatment can
      be efficiently provided. Use of an ultrasound-guided catheterization may be a
      better choice for preventing complications.

PMID- 28604466
TI  - Unique Considerations in Spinal Cord Stimulator Placement in Pediatrics: A Case
      Report.
AB  - Spinal cord stimulation can be a valuable treatment option in the management of
      neuropathic pain in select pediatric patients. We present a unique case of a 16
      year-old girl with Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome and scoliosis who required
      the placement of a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) for severe sciatic nerve
      neuropathic pain after a right above-knee amputation. Several attempts at lead
      placement were required before successful pain coverage was achieved because of
      late recognition of significant vertebral body rotation. This case highlights
      important considerations in pediatric SCS placement including a careful review of
      the spinal cord anatomy before the placement of an SCS.

PMID- 28604467
TI  - Transnasal Humidified Rapid-Insufflation Ventilatory Exchange for Preoxygenation
      Before Cesarean Delivery Under General Anesthesia: A Case Report.
AB  - Transnasal humidified rapid-insufflation ventilatory exchange has been shown to
      improve oxygenation and increase apnea time in difficult airway cases. It may
      also be beneficial in patients vulnerable to rapid desaturation due to limited
      pulmonary reserve. We report the use of transnasal humidified rapid-insufflation
      ventilatory exchange for preoxygenation before a cesarean delivery under general
      anesthesia in a patient with respiratory distress because of pneumonia and heart
      failure from severe mitral stenosis. To our knowledge, the use of this technique
      has not been previously reported in pregnant patients.

PMID- 28604468
TI  - Point-of-Care Ultrasonography to Assess Portal Vein Pulsatility and the Effect of
      Inhaled Milrinone and Epoprostenol in Severe Right Ventricular Failure: A Report
      of 2 Cases.
AB  - This article describes 2 patients with severe acute right ventricular failure
      causing circulatory shock. Portal vein pulsatility assessed by bedside
      ultrasonography suggested clinically relevant venous congestion. Management
      included cardiac preload reduction and combined inhalation of milrinone and
      epoprostenol to reduce right ventricular afterload. Portal vein ultrasonography
      may be useful in assessing right ventricular function in the acutely ill patient.

PMID- 28604469
TI  - Case Report of Cardiac Arrest After Succinylcholine in a Child With Muscle-Eye
      Brain Disease.
AB  - Muscle-eye-brain disease is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by
      congenital muscular dystrophy, ocular abnormalities, and brain malformation. We
      report an intraoperative hyperkalemic cardiac arrest following the administration
      of succinylcholine in a child with muscle-eye-brain disease. The disease was
      diagnosed only after this event. Our experience suggests that preoperative
      determinations of serum concentrations of lactate and creatine kinase may be
      useful if clinical signs consistent with myopathy are present.

PMID- 28604471
TI  - Uncommon Events May Be More Common Than You Think.

PMID- 28604472
TI  - Perioperative Pain Management of a Patient Taking Naltrexone HCl/Bupropion HCl
      (Contrave): A Case Report.
AB  - A 42-year-old obese woman (body mass index = 30.2 kg/m) presented for urgent
      anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion. She had been taking oral naltrexone
      bupropion extended-release (Contrave, Orexigen Therapeutics Inc, La Jolla, CA)
      for the past 6 months and continued using it until 12 hours preoperatively.
      Despite discontinuation of this medication, and employing an intraoperative and
      postoperative multimodal analgesia strategy, immediate pain control was
      inadequately achieved. Patients taking opioid antagonists who present for surgery
      pose unique challenges to the anesthesiologist and require extensive preoperative
      interdisciplinary discussions and planning for pain control throughout the
      perioperative period.

PMID- 28604473
TI  - Perioperative Anesthetic Management for Cesarean Delivery in a Parturient With
      Type IV Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: A Case Report.
AB  - Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare connective tissue disorder predisposing to
      aortic and arterial aneurysms. Presentations are classified into subtypes based
      on gene mutations. Pregnancy in patients with LDS is considered very high risk
      due to the potential for aortic dissection and uterine rupture. We report
      successful management of an elective cesarean delivery in a 16-year-old patient
      with LDS type IV using epidural anesthesia. Perioperative considerations and
      multidisciplinary management specific to taking care of parturients with LDS are
      discussed.

PMID- 28604475
TI  - Analysis of the Variables Influencing Valproic Acid Concentration in the Serum
      and Cerebrospinal Fluid of Chinese Patients After Craniotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Valproic acid (VPA) has been widely used in Chinese patients after
      craniotomy. Many studies have focused on the influencing factors of VPA serum
      concentration, but conclusions are sometimes paradoxical. Furthermore, the
      concentration of VPA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been rarely reported.
      In the present study, VPA CSF concentrations were measured, and the potential
      factors influencing serum concentration and CSF distribution of VPA were
      investigated. In addition, the functional relationship between serum and CSF
      concentration was explored. METHODS: Subjects were patients who underwent
      craniotomy and were administrated with VPA and had a lumbar puncture. Serum and
      CSF VPA concentrations were measured by use of the Abbott i1000 system. CYP2C9
      (430 C>T, 1075 A>C, 1076 T>C, 1080 C>G), UGT1A6 (541 A>G, 552 A>C), UGT2B7 (211
      G>T, 802 C>T), and ABCB1 (1236 C>T, 2677 G>T/A, 3435 C>T) genotypes were
      determined by direct sequencing. Information, such as age, gender, and height,
      was collected, and their effect on serum and CSF VPA concentrations was
      investigated by univariate analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.
      RESULTS: First, the concomitant use of carbapenems (beta' = -0.422) and UGT1A6
      (552 AA -> AC) (beta' = -0.249) had a significant negative correlation with the
      weight-adjusted VPA serum concentration (C:W ratio), whereas CYP2C9 (1075 AA ->
      AC) (beta' = 0.186) and gender (female compared with male) (beta' = 0.322) showed
      a positive correlation with VPA serum C:W ratio. The coefficient of determination
      (R) was only 0.348. Second, the relationship between the serum concentration and
      the CSF square root of the concentration (R = 0.705) had a better linear fit.
      Third, serum VPA concentration (beta' = 0.810), concomitant use of glycerol
      fructose (beta' = 0.160), and age (>=65 compared with <65) (beta' = 0.118) showed
      a positive correlation (R = 0.748) with the variability of square root of the
      concentration of the CSF. CONCLUSIONS: In Chinese patients, after craniotomy,
      female patients with 1 or more of CYP2C9 (1075 AC) and UGT1A6 (552 AA) genotypes
      required a lower VPA dosage compared with male patient. There was a better-fitted
      linear relationship between VPA serum and the square root of CSF concentrations.
      CSF VPA concentrations were relatively stable, with only age and the use of
      glycerol fructose having a small influence.

PMID- 28604474
TI  - Impact of CYP2C19 Genotype and Liver Function on Voriconazole Pharmacokinetics in
      Renal Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is one of the leading causes of early
      death after renal transplantation. Voriconazole (VRC) is the first-line drug of
      IFI. Because of the large inter- and intraindividual variability in VRC plasma
      concentrations and the narrow therapeutic window for treating patients with IFIs,
      it is crucial to study the factors which could influence pharmacokinetic
      variability. We performed a population pharmacokinetics (PPK) study of VRC for
      personalized medicine. METHODS: A total of 125 trough concentrations (Cmin) from
      56 patients were evaluated, retrospectively. Nonlinear mixed effect model was
      used to describe a PPK model that was internally validated by bootstrap method.
      Potential covariates included demographic characteristics, physiological and
      pathological data, concomitant medications, and CYP2C19 genotype. RESULTS: A 1
      compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination was fit to
      characterize the VRC pharmacokinetics in renal transplant recipients (RTRs).
      Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) had a significant influence on clearance (CL)
      while CYP2C19 genotype had a major impact on the volume of distribution (V). The
      parameters of CL and V were 4.76 L/h and 22.47 L, respectively. The final model
      was V (L) = 22.47 * [1 + 2.21 * (EM = 1)] * [1 + 4.67 * (IM = 1)] * [1 + 3.30 *
      (PM = 1)] * exp (0.96); CL (L/h) = 4.76 * (AST/33)^(-0.23) * exp (0.14). VRC Cmin
      in intermediate metabolizers was significantly higher than in extensive
      metabolizers. CONCLUSIONS: Liver function and CYP2C19 polymorphism are major
      determinants of VRC pharmacokinetic variability in RTRs. Genotypes and clinical
      biomarkers can determine the initial scheme. Subsequently, therapeutic drug
      monitoring can optimize clinical efficacy and minimize toxicity. Hence, this is a
      feasible way to facilitate personalized medicine in RTRs. In addition, it is the
      first report about PPK of VRC in RTRs.

PMID- 28604476
TI  - PET/MR in the Assessment of Pediatric Histiocytoses: A Comparison to PET/CT.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze the feasibility and diagnostic
      performance of F-FDG PET/MR compared with F-FDG PET/CT in a cohort of pediatric
      histiocytosis patients with regard to image quality, lesion detection, and FDG
      quantification. METHODS: Children with a diagnosis of Langerhans cell
      histiocytosis or Rosai-Dorfman disease were prospectively recruited. Seventeen
      PET/CT and PET/MR examinations were performed on 9 patients (mean age, 6.2 years)
      following a single-injection dual-imaging protocol. The indication was Langerhans
      cell histiocytosis in 10 examinations and Rosai-Dorfman disease in 7
      examinations. The anonymized data were evaluated for image quality and lesion
      detection. SUV quantification of each lesion was compared between modalities.
      RESULTS: All PET/MR examinations had good or excellent image quality and were
      deemed clinically acceptable. There was substantial agreement of PET image
      quality among readers of PET/MR images. Per patient, PET/MR and PET/CT had
      complete concordance in identifying active disease. PET/MRI correctly classified
      74 (96%) of 77 foci of disease identified on PET/CT. The per-lesion maximum SUVs
      were strongly correlated between modalities with a Spearman correlation
      coefficient of 0.73 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of PET/MR is clinically
      feasible in pediatric patients with a histiocytic disease. PET/MR demonstrates
      comparable image quality and lesion detection to PET/CT while maintaining
      strongly correlated quantitative performance. Given the significant radiation
      dose savings, PET/MR represents an appealing alternative to PET/CT in the care of
      children with histiocytic disorders.

PMID- 28604477
TI  - Multicenter Comparison of Contrast-Enhanced FDG PET/CT and 64-Slice Multi
      Detector-Row CT for Initial Staging and Response Evaluation at the End of
      Treatment in Patients With Lymphoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare staging correctness between contrast-enhanced FDG PET/ceCT
      and 64-slice multi-detector-row CT (ceCT64) for initial staging and response
      evaluation at the end of treatment (EOT) in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma,
      diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and follicular lymphoma. METHODS: This
      prospective study compared initial staging and response evaluation at EOT. One
      hundred eighty-one patients were randomly assigned to either ceCT64 or FDG
      PET/ceCT. A nuclear medicine physician and a radiologist read FDG PET/ceCT scans
      independently and achieved post hoc consensus, whereas another independent
      radiologist interpreted ceCT64 separately. The reference standard included all
      clinical information, all tests, and follow-up. Ethics committees of the
      participating centers approved the study, and all participants provided written
      consent. RESULTS: Ninety-one patients were randomized to ceCT64 and 90 to FDG
      PET/ceCT; 72 had Hodgkin lymphoma, 72 had DLBCL, and 37 had follicular lymphoma.
      There was excellent correlation between the reference standard and initial
      staging for both FDG PET/ceCT (kappa = 0.96) and ceCT64 (kappa = 0.84), although
      evaluation of the response at EOT was excellent only for FDG PET/ceCT (kappa =
      0.91). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated satisfactory agreement between FDG
      PET/ceCT (kappa = 0.96) and ceCT64 (kappa = 0.84) in initial staging compared
      with the reference standard (P = 0.16). Response evaluation at EOT with FDG
      PET/ceCT (kappa = 0.91) was superior compared with ceCT64 (kappa = 0.307) (P <
      0.001).

PMID- 28604478
TI  - FDG PET/CT Image of Seminoma in Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.
AB  - We report the FDG PET/CT findings of seminoma in a 21-year-old woman with
      androgen insensitivity syndrome. PET images showed focal FDG uptake in the left
      pelvic sidewall, and a hypodense lesion with calcifications was noted in the
      corresponding CT images. Another smaller hypodense lesion with calcifications was
      noted in the right pelvic sidewall, but faint FDG uptake. Laparoscopic surgery
      was performed, and both lesions were pathologically confirmed as seminomas.

PMID- 28604479
TI  - 18F-FES PET Has Added Value in Staging and Therapy Decision Making in Patients
      With Disseminated Lobular Breast Cancer.
AB  - Lobular breast cancer is the second most common type of invasive breast cancer.
      Lobular breast cancer lesions are often difficult to detect with conventional
      imaging because they tend to grow less cohesively than ductal cancer. These
      images represent 3 lobular breast cancer cases, in whom confirmation of
      metastatic disease would make the crucial difference between curative or
      noncurative treatment. Staging with conventional imaging, however, yielded
      equivocal results, and a biopsy was not feasible. In contrast, FES (16alpha
      [F]fluoro-17beta-estradiol) PET provided a decisive contribution to clinical
      decision making in these patients. This indicates that FES PET may have added
      value in relation to conventional staging.

PMID- 28604480
TI  - Intense Muscle Activity Due to Polymyositis Incidentally Detected in a Patient
      Evaluated for Possible Malignancy by FDG PET/CT Imaging.
AB  - A 42-year-old woman suffered shortness of breath and whole-body pain, more
      prominent in both thighs. After the initial assessment, a paraneoplastic syndrome
      was considered clinically, and FDG PET/CT was performed to search culprit
      malignancy. The images did not reveal any focal lesion typical of solid
      hypermetabolic malignancy. Instead, diffuse increased muscle activity was noted
      in most musculatures, with some focally intense. The findings were suggestive of
      polymyositis, which was subsequently confirmed.

PMID- 28604481
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of 2 Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests for the Detection of
      Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae at Extragenital Sites.
AB  - Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections are
      frequently asymptomatic, requiring highly accurate diagnostic tests and proper
      management to prevent further transmission. We compared two nucleic acid tests,
      Xpert(r) CT/NG (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) point-of-care platform and at an offsite
      clinical laboratory with Aptima Combo 2(r) (Hologic, Inc., San Diego, CA) assay,
      for the detection of extragenital infection in patients at an STI clinic in
      Hollywood, CA.We calculated concordance between the two assays and used the exact
      binomial method to calculate 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each specimen
      type and pathogen.The concordance between the two assays was 97.7% (95% CI:
      95.7%,99.0%) for 393 paired CT rectal results, 98.2% (95% CI: 96.4%,99.3%) for
      391 paired NG rectal results and 98.4% (95% CI: 96.8%,99.4%) for 448 paired NG
      pharyngeal results.The performance of Xpert(r) CT/NG assay in point-of-care
      testing in extragenital specimens was highly similar to the laboratory-based
      platform.

PMID- 28604482
TI  - Azithromycin Efficacy in Asymptomatic Rectal Chlamydial Infection in Men Who Have
      Sex With Men: A More Definitive Answer Soon?

PMID- 28604484
TI  - The Effect of Postoperative Spinal Infections on Patient Mortality.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective, matched cohort study. OBJECTIVES: This study aims
      to investigate the association between surgical site infection (SSI) and
      mortality and ascertain any factors that predict mortality in those diagnosed
      with SSI. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Despite significant efforts toward
      mitigation, SSI, including deep infection, remains a common complication
      following spine surgery, Considerable morbidity may be associated with infection,
      including hospital readmission, revision surgery, and delayed rehabilitation.
      However, it is not known whether this increase in morbidity is associated with
      increased mortality. METHODS: Patients from a single center requiring reoperation
      for SSI following elective spine surgery between 2005 and 2013 were identified in
      a retrospective fashion. These patients were then matched one-to-three with
      patients undergoing elective spine surgery without SSI. Patients were matched for
      age, gender, body mass index (BMI), Charlson comorbidity index, year of surgery,
      spine region, and approach. The Social Security Death Index was utilized to
      identify deceased patients and their time of death. Univariate statistics were
      then utilized to compare mortality rates between the two groups. In addition, the
      SSI cohort was evaluated for predictors of mortality following SSI. RESULTS: One
      hundred ninety-five patients developed SSI at a mean of 27.4 (range: 1-467) days
      from the index surgery. Ninety-day, 1-year, 2-year, and 5-year mortality rates
      were 1.54% versus 1.03% (P = 0.70), 4.62% versus 1.2% (P = 0.006), 7.73% versus
      2.25% (P = 0.001), and 15.45% versus 3.43% (P = 0.0002) for SSI versus control
      patients, respectively. Predictors of 2-year mortality in the SSI cohort were
      increased age (P = 0.02) and increased Charlson Comorbidity Index (P < 0.001).
      Region and approach of surgery, days to infection, and reason for elective
      surgery did not influence mortality. CONCLUSION: SSI results in significant
      morbidity in the postoperative period, with the risk of reoperation, prolonged
      hospitalization, and need for other invasive procedures. In addition, this study
      provides evidence that SSI is associated with an increased mortality following
      elective spine surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28604483
TI  - Laboratory Evaluation of a Smartphone-Based Electronic Reader of Rapid Dual Point
      of-Care Tests for Antibodies to Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Treponema
      pallidum Infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dual point-of-care tests for antibodies to human immunodeficiency
      virus (HIV) and Treponema pallidum allow for same-day testing and treatment and
      have been demonstrated to be cost-effective in preventing the adverse outcomes of
      HIV infection and syphilis. By recording and transmitting data as they are
      collected, electronic readers address challenges related to the decentralization
      of point-of-care testing. METHODS: We evaluated a smartphone-based electronic
      reader using 201 sera tested with 2 dual rapid tests for detection of antibodies
      to HIV and T. pallidum in Los Angeles, USA, and Lima, Peru. Tests were read both
      visually and with the electronic reader. Enzyme immunoassay followed by Western
      blot and T. pallidum particle agglutination were the reference tests for HIV and
      T. pallidum, respectively. RESULTS: The sensitivities of the 2 rapid tests for
      detection of HIV were 94.1% and 97.0% for electronic readings. Both tests had a
      specificity of 100% for detection of HIV by electronic reading. The sensitivities
      of the 2 rapid tests for detection of T. pallidum were 86.5% and 92.4% for
      electronic readings. The specificities for detection of T. pallidum were 99.1%
      and 99.0% by electronic reading. There were no significant differences between
      the accuracies of visual and electronic readings, and the performance did not
      differ between the 2 study sites. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show the electronic
      reader to be a promising option for increasing the use of point-of-care testing
      programs.

PMID- 28604485
TI  - Curved Planar Reformation for the Evaluation of Hydromyelia in Patients With
      Scoliosis Associated With Spinal Dysraphism.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: Scoliosis and hydromyelia
      have frequently been observed in patients with spinal dysraphism. We investigated
      the applicability of curved planar reformation (CPR) for evaluating hydromyelia
      in patients with scoliosis associated with spinal dysraphism. SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: It is quite difficult to evaluate scoliosis and hydromyelia in
      patients with spinal dysraphism. METHODS: We identified 11 patients with
      scoliosis and a Cobb angle of >20 degrees  among 107 spinal dysraphism patients.
      In addition to routine T1- and T2-weighted axial and sagittal MRI, we obtained
      three-dimensional constructive interference in steady-state magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) as sagittal cross-section volume images. The spinal cord and
      hydromyelia were rendered into a single-plane, two-dimensional image using the
      straightened CPR technique. In cases of scoliosis with hydromyelia, the sagittal
      length and maximal diameters of hydromyelia and the spinal cord were measured by
      three examiners. Measurement errors among examiners were evaluated using standard
      deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV). RESULTS: Each series of image
      sets provided a straightened CPR image that clearly delineated the entire length
      of the linearized spinal cord in a single plane. The straightened CPR image also
      demonstrated the accurate lengths and estimated volume of hydromyelia. Given that
      three of the 11 patients underwent serial MRI during this period, we were able to
      accurately compare volume changes. In the sagittal length of the hydromyelia, SD
      and CV were smaller with the straightened CPR technique than with the
      conventional T2 WI sagittal section in all cases, showing a statistically
      significant difference between both techniques (SD: P = 0.014, CV: P = 0.013).
      Even in the measurements, the difference in CV between both techniques was close
      to statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The straightened CPR technique is useful
      for accurately identifying volume changes in hydromyelia, even in patients with
      severe scoliosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1.

PMID- 28604487
TI  - Does Additional Uncinate Resection Increase Pseudarthrosis Following Anterior
      Cervical Discectomy and Fusion?
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective comparative study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether
      unilateral or bilateral uncinate resection (UR) combined with anterior cervical
      discectomy and fusion (ACDF) increases the risk of pseudarthrosis at long-term
      follow-up. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Uncoforaminotomy (or UR), performed along
      with ACDF, facilitates better and faster improvement of arm pain. As
      uncovertebral joints are important for maintaining stability, they may affect the
      fusion process by causing segmental instability if resected during ACDF. METHODS:
      We retrospectively examined 167 patients (89 men, 78 women; mean age, 58.4 +/-
      10.5 yr) who consecutively underwent single- or double-level ACDF and were
      followed for >2 years. UR was not performed in 46 patients (N-UR group). UR of at
      least one foramen was performed in 121 patients (UR group), including unilateral
      UR in 89 patients (U-UR group) and bilateral UR in 32 patients (B-UR group).
      Demographic data, fusion rate, visual analog scale (VAS) scores for neck/arm
      pain, and neck disability index (NDI) scores were compared between the N-UR and
      UR groups. Moreover, the fusion rates after the single- and double-level
      procedures were compared among the groups. RESULTS: There was no difference in
      sex, age, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and smoking history between the
      N-UR and UR groups. The fusion rates after single-level ACDF were not
      significantly different among the N-UR, U-UR, and B-UR groups (91.4%, 97.8%, and
      88.2%; P = 0.290). Solid fusion was achieved in all groups after double-level
      ACDF (72.7%, 95.5%, and 86.7%), although the rates did not significantly differ
      among the groups (P = 0.071). The improvement in the VAS score for arm pain was
      significantly better in the UR group than in the N-UR group at short-term follow
      up (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Unilateral or bilateral UR does not affect the fusion
      rate after single- or double-level ACDF. Hence, if necessary, additional UR can
      be performed during ACDF without concern regarding nonunion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      4.

PMID- 28604486
TI  - Indication Variability in Degenerative Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Four-nation
      Survey.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Electronic survey. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify
      the international nuances in surgical treatment patterns for severals lumbar
      degenerative conditions, specifically, to identify differences in responses in
      each country groupand different treatment trends across countries. SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: Significant variations in treatment of lumbar degenerative
      conditions exist among spine surgeons, related to the lack of established
      consensus in the literature. METHODS: An online survey with preformulated answers
      was submitted to 52 orthopedic surgeons, 50 neurosurgeons from four different
      countries (United States, France, Spain, and Germany) regarding five vignette
      cases. Cases included: multilevel stenosis, monolevel stenosis, lytic
      spondylolisthesis, isthmic lysis, and degenerative scoliosis. The variability for
      each country was calculated according to the Index of Qualitative Variation (IQV
      = 0: no variability and 1: maximal variability). We used Fleiss kappa (range:
      from -1, poor agreement, to 1, almost perfect agreement) for assessing the
      reliability of agreement between the participants concerning specialties,
      countries, and age groups. RESULTS: For the two stenosis cases, US surgeons were
      more likely to propose decompression (IQV multilevel = 0.47 and monolevel = 0.32)
      comparing with European countries more heterogeneous (all IQV >0.70) and more
      frequently proposing fusion. As regards degenerative scoliosis, all attitudes
      were extremely heterogeneous with IQV >0.8. Fusion for isthmic spondylolisthesis
      was more consensual (all IQV <0.63), but attitudes were more heterogeneous for
      isthmic lysis (IQV ranged from 0.48 to 0.76) with anterior approach proposed in
      France (37%) and United States (19.2%).The overall interrater agreement was
      equally slight not only for neurosurgeons (Fleiss Kappa = 0.04) and orthopedic
      surgeons (Kappa = 0.13), but also for countries (Kappa <0.13) and age groups
      (Kappa <0.1). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found substantial agreement for some
      spinal conditions but a high variability in some others: intranational and
      international variations were observed, reflecting the lack of literature
      consensus. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28604488
TI  - Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Outcomes over 10 Years: A Prospective
      Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with >10-year follow-up. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess the long-term, >10-year clinical outcomes of anterior cervical discectomy
      and fusion (ACDF) and to compare outcomes based on primary diagnosis of disc
      herniation, stenosis or advanced degenerative disc disease (DDD), number of
      levels treated, and preexisting adjacent level degeneration. SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: ACDF is a proven treatment for patients with stenosis and disc
      herniation and results in significantly improved short- and intermediate-term
      outcomes. Motion preservation treatments may result in improved long-term
      outcomes but need to be compared to long-term ACDF outcomes reference. METHODS:
      Patients who had disc herniation, stenosis, and DDD and underwent ACDF with or
      without decompression were prospectively enrolled and followed for a minimum of
      10 years with outcome assessment at various intervals. All 159 consecutive
      patients had autogenous tricortical iliac crest bone graft and plate
      instrumentation used. Outcomes included visual analog scale for neck and arm
      pain. pain drawing, Oswestry Disability Index, and self-assessment of procedure
      success. Preoperative adjacent-level disc degeneration, pseudarthrosis, and
      secondary operations were analyzed. RESULTS: For all diagnostic groups,
      significant outcomes improvement was seen at all follow-up periods for all scales
      relative to preoperative scores. Outcomes were not related to age, gender, number
      of levels treated, and minimally to preexisting degeneration at the adjacent
      level. The use of narcotic pain medication decreased substantially. Neurological
      deficits almost all resolved. Patient self-reported success ranged from 85% to
      95%. Over the long term, additional surgery for pseudarthrosis (10%) occurred in
      the early follow-up period, and for adjacent segment degeneration (21%), which
      occurred linearly during the >10-year follow-up period. CONCLUSION: ACDF leads to
      significantly improved outcomes for all primary diagnoses and was sustained for
      >10 years' follow-up. Secondary surgeries were performed for pseudarthrosis
      repair and for symptomatic adjacent-level degeneration. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28604489
TI  - Risk Factors and Prognosis for Acute Progression of Myelopathic Symptoms in
      Patients Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament After Minor Trauma.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was
      to identify the risk factors for acute progression of myelopathic symptoms (PMS)
      associated with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) after
      minor trauma and to compare the prognosis between an acute PMS group and a
      chronic PMS group. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Although the prevalence of OPLL
      among patients with cervical myelopathy is high, few studies have been published
      regarding the risk factors for acute PMS associated with OPLL after minor trauma.
      METHODS: Patients with OPLL who had histories of minor trauma and had undergone
      surgery were divided according to clinical course into an acute (within 48 hours,
      n = 38) and a chronic PMS group (n = 32). The type of trauma and the clinical and
      radiologic characteristics were compared. The clinical outcomes were also
      compared at admission and at 1 and 2 years postoperatively. RESULTS: The types of
      trauma were significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.05). Univariate
      analysis revealed that older age, a narrower space available for the cord, and a
      higher rate of stenosis in the spinal canal were associated with acute PMS after
      minor trauma (P = 0.014, 0.020, and 0.006, respectively). However, the rate of
      stenosis in the spinal canal was the only risk factor that was identified in a
      multivariate analysis (P = 0.023; odds ratio, 0.872; 95% confidence interval,
      0.774-0.982). The Japanese Orthopedic Association scores at the initial visit and
      at postoperative years 1 and 2 were significantly lower in the acute PMS group
      than in the chronic PMS group (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P < 0.001,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: One risk factor for acute PMS in patients with OPLL
      after minor trauma is a higher rate of stenosis of the spinal canal. Patients
      with acute PMS exhibited unfavorable neurologic outcomes. Preventive surgical
      treatment may be recommended for patients with significant OPLL with mild
      cervical myelopathy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28604490
TI  - Health-Related Quality of Life in Early-Onset Scoliosis Patients Treated
      Surgically: EOSQ Scores in Traditional Growing Rod Versus Magnetically Controlled
      Growing Rods.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVE: To compare quality of life and
      caregiver burden in traditional growing rod (TGR) and magnetic controlled growing
      rods (MCGR) patients. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: MCGR decrease surgical sessions
      associated with treatment of early onset scoliosis (EOS), hoping to minimize the
      burdens seen with repetitive invasive surgeries in TGR treatment. Although the
      clinical indications for these treatments have largely been agreed upon, there is
      a lack of understanding of their impact on patients' and families' quality of
      life. METHODS: Inclusion criteria: <=10 years of age at index procedure, major
      curve >=30 degrees , no previous spine surgery, minimum 1-year postoperative
      follow-up. The previously validated 24-item early onset scoliosis questionnaire
      (EOSQ-24) was utilized to assess quality of life. Statistic methods were applied
      to compare domain scores between TGR and MCGR patients. RESULTS: Forty-four
      children with EOS were enrolled; 25 TGR and 19 MCGR. Groups were similar in sex
      and age at index surgery. Age at time of questionnaire and mean length of follow
      up were significantly different; patients were older (14.0 vs. 8.8 yr) and had
      longer follow-up (101.3 vs. 34.3 mo) in TGR (P < 0.01). Deformity correction and
      complication rates were similar between groups. At the time of questionnaire,
      scores of economic burden and overall satisfaction in MCGR were significantly
      superior to those in TGR by univariate analysis. When controlled for duration of
      follow-up, some domain scores trended towards statistical significance, some
      remained stable, and others regressed to non-significance. CONCLUSION: Health
      related quality of life data reveal superior outcomes in overall satisfaction and
      financial burden domains in the MCGR group. However, the positive effects of MCGR
      decrease when controlled for length of follow up, indicating that the MCGR is not
      yet a magic fix-all, and that the TGR remains an option in the treatment of EOS.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28604491
TI  - Spinal Flexibility Assessment on the Patients With Adolescent Idiopathic
      Scoliosis: A Literature Review.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A literature review. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review
      the contemporary methods for spinal flexibility assessment on the patients with
      adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Spinal
      flexibility is one of the essential parameters for clinical decisions on the
      patients with AIS. Various methods of spinal flexibility assessment are proposed,
      but which method(s) could better reveal spinal flexibility or predict treatment
      effect is unclear. METHODS: The databases of AbleData, IBSS, Academic Search
      Premier, MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, Recal Legacy, REHABDATA, Embase, and Web of
      Science were searched. The study inclusive criteria were (1) prospective cohort
      study; (2) investigated spinal flexibility on AIS patients; (3) published in
      English 1996 to 2016. RESULTS: Totally 15 articles were included and 11 methods
      of spinal flexibility assessment were introduced in this review. Traction methods
      revealed higher spinal flexibility on the patients with severe curves (>65
      degrees ) but lower spinal flexibility on the patients with moderate curves (40
      degrees -65 degrees ), comparing with lateral bending methods. Among lateral
      bending methods, fulcrum bending flexibility is higher on thoracic (T) curves,
      whereas supine with lateral bending flexibility is higher on thoracolumbar or
      lumbar (TL/L) curves. For predicting postoperative correction, fulcrum bending
      flexibility showed higher correlation with postoperative correction on moderate
      curves and traction flexibility showed higher correlation on severe curves,
      compared with supine with lateral bending method. CONCLUSION: Curve magnitude and
      location are two important parameters in selecting appropriate method for spinal
      flexibility assessment and treatment effect prediction. The traction method
      should be considered for the patients with severe curves, while the lateral
      bending method is suggested for the patients with moderate curves. The fulcrum
      bending method is recommended to assess T curve flexibility, whereas the supine
      with lateral bending method is for the assessment of TL/L curve flexibility. A
      comprehensive guideline for selecting spinal flexibility assessment method(s)
      should be established via future studies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28604492
TI  - A Microstructural Investigation of Disc Disruption Induced by Low Frequency
      Cyclic Loading.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Microstructural investigation of low frequency cyclic loading and
      flexing of the lumbar disc. OBJECTIVE: To explore micro-level structural damage
      in motion segments subjected to low frequency repetitive loading and flexing at
      sub-acute loads. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Cumulative exposure to mechanical
      load has been implicated in low back pain and injury. The mechanical pathways by
      which cyclic loading physically affects spine tissues remain unclear, in part due
      to the absence of high quality microstructural evidence. METHODS: The study
      utilized seven intact ovine lumbar spines and from each spine one motion segment
      was used as a control, two others were cyclically loaded. Ten motion segments
      were subjected to 5000 cycles at 0.5 Hz with a peak load corresponding to ~30% of
      that required to achieve failure. An additional small group of segments subjected
      to 10,000 or 30,000 cycles was similarly analyzed. Following chemical fixation
      and decalcification samples were cryosectioned along one of the oblique fiber
      angles and imaged in their fully hydrated state using differential interference
      contrast optical microscopy. Structural damage obtained from the images was
      organized into an algebraic shell for analysis. RESULTS: At 5000 cycles the disc
      damage was limited to inner wall distortions, evidence of stress concentrations
      at bridging-lamellae attachments, and small delaminations. The high-cycle discs
      tested exhibited significant mid-wall damage. There was no evidence of nuclear
      material being displaced. CONCLUSION: At this low frequency and without the
      application of sustained loading or a more severe loading regime, or maintaining
      a constant flexion with repetitive loading, it seems unlikely that actual nuclear
      migration occurs. It is possible that the inner-annular damage shown in the low
      dose group could disrupt pathways for nutrient diffusion leading to earlier cell
      death and matrix degradation, thus contributing to a cascade of degeneration.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.

PMID- 28604493
TI  - Further Standardization in the Aneurysm Clip: The Effects of Occlusal Depth on
      the Outcome of Spinal Cord Injury in Rats.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Experimental study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between
      clip occlusal depth and functional and histological outcome measures in a rat
      model of thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Aneurysm
      clip compression is a proven model of contusion-compression SCI, but the
      relationship between clip depth and outcomes in thoracic SCI is unknown. METHODS:
      A single aneurysm clip was applied to the spinal cord at thoracic vertebra 10 for
      1 minute with an occlusal depth of 2, 6, or 10 mm. The actual compression force
      was measured using a self-made pulling method. Locomotor function was assessed
      for 28 days using Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) and inclined plane test
      (IPT) scores. We then used hematoxylin-eosin and Luxol fast blue staining to
      histologically quantify cavitation formation, preserved white matter, and
      preserved grey matter. RESULTS: Greater occlusal compression depths caused
      greater actual compression forces and worsened functional and histological
      recovery. The 2- and 10-mm clip injury groups had significantly different BBB and
      ITP scores; cavitation, preserved white matter, and preserved grey matter
      volumes; and actual force measures (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that
      the occlusal depth of clip compression correlates with actual compression force
      and recovery impairment. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1.

PMID- 28604494
TI  - Risk Factors for and Complications After Surgical Delay in Elective Single-Level
      Lumbar Fusion.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence of and
      risk factors for delay of elective lumbar fusion surgery, as well as medical and
      surgical complications associated with surgical delay. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND
      DATA: Lumbar fusion is a well-established treatment for patients with
      degenerative spondylolisthesis with stenosis who have failed conservative
      management. Rarely, patients admitted for elective lumbar fusion may experience a
      delay in surgery past the day of admission. The incidence of, and risk factors
      for, delay of elective lumbar fusion surgery and the complications associated
      therewith have never been previously evaluated. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed the ACS-NSQIP registry utilizing Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)
      codes 22612, 22558, 22630, and 22633 to identify all patients undergoing a single
      level spinal fusion. The data were then subdivided into cohorts consisting of
      patients with and without surgical delay. Demographic information, preoperative
      risk factors for delay, as well as intraoperative and postoperative complications
      were compared between the groups. RESULTS: We identified 2758 (5.46%) patients as
      experiencing a delay before lumbar fusion. Multivariate analysis was then
      performed and identified male sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists classes
      3 and 4, and chronic steroid use as risk factors increasing the rate of surgical
      delay. Multiple complication rates were also significantly higher in the delayed
      group, including an almost 10-fold increase in mortality rate (0.2% vs. 1.9%,
      respectively, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Delays in elective surgery can affect
      medical system resource utilization, increasing costs and leading to worse
      patient outcomes. Patients with chronic steroid use and higher American Society
      of Anesthesiologists class may be at risk for surgical delay in lumbar fusion
      beyond the day of admission, and are at increased risk for significant
      complications postoperatively. Thorough medical evaluation and preoperative
      optimization may be indicated for these patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28604495
TI  - When Do Patients Return to Physical Activities and Athletics After Scoliosis
      Surgery?: A Validated Patient Questionnaire Based Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective chart review with a survey. OBJECTIVES: This study
      seeks to determine time of return to normal, physical and athletic activities,
      and delaying factors after all pedicle screw fixation. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND
      DATA: Return to athletic activity after posterior spine fusion (PSF) in
      adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is largely dependent on a surgeon's
      philosophy. Some allow contact and collision sports by 6 and 12 months, while
      others avoid contact sports for 1 year and never allow collision sports. We have
      utilized a patient driven self-directed approach. METHODS: The sports activity
      questionnaire (SAQ) was developed and activities were categorized into normal
      (school, gym, and backpack), physical (running, bending, and bicycling) and
      athletics (AAP criteria: noncontact, contact and collision sports). SAQ was
      validated through the "test-retest" method on 25 patients and retesting after 3
      weeks to minimize recall bias. Questions with kappa >0.7 were included. Patient
      demographics, x-ray measurements, and perioperative details were recorded.
      RESULTS: Ninety five patients completed the SAQ. By 3 months; 77% (72/93)
      returned to school, 60% (54/90) to bending, 52% (48/93) to carrying backpacks,
      43% (37/87) to running, and 37% (30/81) to gym. By 6 months, 54% (27/50) returned
      to noncontact sports, and 63% (21/33) to contact sports. 79% and 53% returned to
      preoperative level of contact and noncontact sports, respectively. Higher body
      mass index (BMI) was a risk for delayed return (>3 mo) to school and gym (P <
      0.05), while fusion below L2 and younger age for running, bending, and carrying
      backpacks (P < 0.05). In contrast, there was no patient/curve characteristics
      associated with a delay to sports. Lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV), Lenke
      types were not risk factors. There was no correction loss, implant failure, or
      complications. CONCLUSION: Patients return to athletics much earlier than
      expected; a quarter returned by 3 months, and over half by 6 months. Age and LIV
      are determinants for return to "physical activity." LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28604496
TI  - A Replication Study for Association of LBX1 Locus With Adolescent Idiopathic
      Scoliosis in French-Canadian Population.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A case-control association study. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the
      relationship between LBX1 (lady bird homeobox1) polymorphisms and adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) in French-Canadian population. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND
      DATA: It is widely accepted that genetic factors contribute to AIS. Although the
      LBX1 locus is so far the most successfully replicated locus in different AIS
      cohorts, these associations were replicated mainly in Asian populations, with few
      studies in Caucasian populations of European descent. METHODS: We recruited 1568
      participants (667 AIS patients and 901 healthy controls) in the French-Canadian
      population. Genomic data were generated using the Illumina Human Omni 2.5M
      BeadChip. An additional 121 AIS cases and 51 controls were genotyped for specific
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by multiplex polymerase chain reaction
      using standard procedures. BEAGLE 3 was used to impute the following markers:
      rs7893223, rs11190878, and rs678741 against the 1000-genomes European cohort
      phased genotypes given that they were absent in our genome wide association
      studies (GWAS) panel. Resulting genotypes were combined then used for single
      marker and haplotyped-based association. RESULTS: Four markers showed association
      with AIS in our cohort at this locus; rs11190870 the most studied marker,
      rs7893223, rs594791, and rs11190878. When we restricted the analysis to severe
      cases only, four additional SNPs showed associations: rs11598177, rs1322331,
      rs670206, and rs678741. In addition, we analyzed the associations of the observed
      haplotypes and dihaplotypes formed by these SNPs. The haplotype TTAAGAAA and its
      homozygous dihaplotype showed the highest association with our severe group and
      was the highest risk haplotype. The haplotype CCGCAGGG was significantly more
      associated with the control group, and its homozygous or heterozygous dihaplotype
      was less frequent in the severe group compared with the control group, suggesting
      that CCGCAGGG may represent a protective haplotype. CONCLUSION: We have
      replicated the association of the LBX1 locus with AIS in French-Canadian
      population, a novel European descent cohort, which is known for its unique
      genetic architecture. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28604497
TI  - Potential Mechanism for Some Postoperative C5 Palsies: An Anatomical Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Anatomical Study. OBJECTIVE: Determine if shoulder depression (eg,
      taping the shoulders) might result in C5 nerve traction and subsequent injury.
      SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Postoperative C5 nerve palsy is a recognized entity
      that is still often enigmatic. Inferior shoulder depression is usually employed
      to assist with surgical visualization during cervical spine procedures. METHODS:
      In the supine position, 10 adult fresh frozen human cadavers underwent dissection
      of the spinal cord and its adjacent dorsal, ventral roots, and spinal nerves from
      C4 to T1. In the supine position, the head was rotated ipsilaterally,
      contralaterally, and in lateral flexion. The shoulder was elevated, retracted,
      protracted, and depressed all with direct observation of nerve roots, intradural
      ventral/dorsal rootlets, or the spinal cord. The effects of these movements upon
      the cervical nerve rootlets were measured. RESULTS: The greatest displacement of
      nervous tissue was generated by shoulder depression and occurred primarily at the
      intradural rootlet level. The nerve rootlets that underwent the greatest average
      displacement were found at C5, with a decreasing gradient to C7 and no gross
      motion at C8 or T1. With maximal shoulder depression, C5-C7 rootlet tension
      produced cord movement to the ipsilateral side, touching the dura mater covering
      the lateral vertebral column with the C5 nerve root moving farthest. CONCLUSION:
      Shoulder depression is often used during cervical spine surgery. In cadavers,
      shoulder depression causes significant tension and displacement of the C5 nerve
      rootlets, and in the extreme, cord displacement to the ipsilateral side. This
      could be a mechanism for injury, putting patients at greater risk for
      postoperative C5 palsy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 5.

PMID- 28604498
TI  - Is Multiple Sclerosis Associated With a Lower Intraocular Pressure?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with lower
      intraocular pressure (IOP) compared with individuals without MS. METHODS: Thirty
      patients with clinically definite MS were identified and a retrospective chart
      review was conducted. Each patient with MS underwent IOP recording by a single
      investigator using kinetic applanation tonometry. Measurement of central corneal
      thickness (CCT) also was obtained. Similarly, 30 study controls were identified
      and kinetic applanation tonometry and CCT were recorded. Univariate analysis of
      covariance was conducted to determine a statistically significant difference
      between IOP between MS and control groups, controlling for age. RESULTS: Analyses
      were adjusted for age and 2 subjects were excluded because of steroid use. The
      average IOP in MS group was 12.3 mm Hg (right eye = 12.3 mm Hg, left eye = 12.2
      mm Hg) and in the control group was 17 mm Hg (right eye = 16.9 mm Hg, left eye =
      17 mm Hg). There was a significant effect of presence of MS on IOP accounting for
      53% variability in mean IOP (F(1,55) = 60.7; P < 0.001) when compared with the
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that IOP was significantly
      lower in patients with MS compared with controls. A more in-depth prospective
      study design is required, along with further investigation of possible
      etiologies. Identifying the mechanism of decreased IOP in patients with MS might
      allow development of new-targeted therapies for the treatment of glaucoma.

PMID- 28604499
TI  - Academic Achievement and Risk Factors for Adolescents with Attention-Deficit
      Hyperactivity Disorder in Middle School and Early High School.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Examine academic achievement of students with attention-deficit
      hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during the early high school period and identify
      potentially modifiable risk factors for low achievement. METHOD: Data were
      collected through surveys (adolescent, parent, and teacher) and direct assessment
      of Australian adolescents (12-15 yr; n = 130) with ADHD in early high school
      (i.e., US middle and high school grades). Academic achievement outcomes were
      measured by linking to individual performance on the National Assessment Program
      Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests, direct assessment of reading and math, and
      teacher report of academic competence. Linear regression models examined
      associations between adolescent, parent/family, and school factors and NAPLAN
      domain scores. RESULTS: Students with ADHD had lower NAPLAN scores on all domains
      and fewer met minimum academic standards in comparison with state benchmarks. The
      poorest results were for persuasive writing. Poor achievement was associated with
      lower intelligence quotient across all academic domains. Adolescent inattention,
      bullying, poor family management, male sex, and attending a low socioeconomic
      status school were associated with lower achievement on specific domains.
      CONCLUSION: Students with ADHD are at increased academic risk during the middle
      school and early high school period. In addition to academic support,
      interventions targeting modifiable factors including inattention, bullying, and
      poor family management may improve academic achievement across this critical
      period.

PMID- 28604500
TI  - Behavior in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in Remote Australia: A
      Population-Based Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To document behavior in children residing in very remote Western
      Australian communities as rated by parent/caregivers and teachers. We
      hypothesized that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) would
      have higher rates of problematic behavior than children without FASD. METHODS:
      The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; n = 97), and Teacher Report Form (TRF; n =
      106) were used in this population-based study. Raw scores, proportions scoring
      within "Normal/Borderline/Clinical" ranges, and frequencies of Critical items
      were determined. Mann-Whitney U and chi tests were used for between-group
      comparisons. RESULTS: Children were aged from 7.5 to 9.6 years, and 19% had FASD.
      Academic performance was commonly rated in the "Borderline/Clinical" range (73%).
      Teacher-rated scores were poorer in the FASD group on 15 scales encompassing
      total and internalizing problems, adaptive function, academic performance,
      attention, withdrawn/depressed, social problems, posttraumatic stress, thought
      problems, and sluggish cognitive tempo (p < .05). More children in the FASD group
      had scores in the "Borderline/Clinical" range on 11 TRF scales (p < .05).
      "Physically attacks people" was the most prevalent Critical item endorsed by
      teachers for the total cohort (22%). "Talks about killing self" was endorsed by
      teachers more often in the FASD group (14%) than the Non-FASD group (1%; p =
      .03). There were no significant differences between groups in parent-reported
      CBCL scores after adjustment for multiple comparison testing. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrates that children with FASD have more teacher-reported behavioral
      impairment than children without FASD. In remote Australian communities, academic
      performance is poor.

PMID- 28604501
TI  - Observational Study of the Effect of Patient Outreach on Return to Care: The
      Earlier the Better.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The burden of HIV remains heaviest in resource-limited settings,
      where problems of losses to care, silent transfers, gaps in care, and incomplete
      mortality ascertainment have been recognized. METHODS: Patients in care at
      Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) clinics from 2001-2011
      were included in this retrospective observational study. Patients missing an
      appointment were traced by trained staff; those found alive were counseled to
      return to care (RTC). Relative hazards of RTC were estimated among those having a
      true gap: missing a clinic appointment and confirmed as neither dead nor
      receiving care elsewhere. Sample-based multiple imputation accounted for missing
      vital status. RESULTS: Among 34,522 patients lost to clinic, 15,331 (44.4%) had a
      true gap per outreach, 2754 (8.0%) were deceased, and 837 (2.4%) had documented
      transfers. Of 15,600 (45.2%) remaining without active ascertainment, 8762 (56.2%)
      with later RTC were assumed to have a true gap. Adjusted cause-specific hazard
      ratios (aHRs) showed early outreach (a <=8-day window, defined by grid-search
      approach) had twice the hazard for RTC vs. those without (aHR = 2.06; P < 0.001).
      HRs for RTC were lower the later the outreach effort after disengagement (aHR =
      0.86 per unit increase in time; P < 0.001). Older age, female sex (vs. male),
      antiretroviral therapy use (vs. none), and HIV status disclosure (vs. none) were
      also associated with greater likelihood of RTC, and higher enrollment CD4 count
      with lower likelihood of RTC. CONCLUSION: Patient outreach efforts have a
      positive impact on patient RTC, regardless of when undertaken, but particularly
      soon after the patient misses an appointment.

PMID- 28604502
TI  - Association of HIV-1 Gag-Specific IgG Antibodies With Natural Control of HIV-1
      Infection in Individuals Not Carrying HLA-B*57: 01 Is Only Observed in Viremic
      Controllers.

PMID- 28604504
TI  - Appropriateness of use criteria in echocardiography: an Italian experience.

PMID- 28604505
TI  - Prognostic value of clinical, echocardiographic and angiographic indicators in
      patients with large anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction as a
      first acute coronary event.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of death in patients affected by ST-elevation segment
      myocardial infarction (STEMI) is well known, but more data are required to define
      the in-hospital mortality in special subsets. We sought to assess the prognostic
      value of indicators in patients with large anterior STEMI as a first acute
      coronary event, undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and intra
      aortic balloon pump (IABP). METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 48 consecutive
      large anterior STEMI patients admitted as first acute coronary event, undergoing
      in acute phase both PCI and IABP. Patient demographics, clinical, noninvasive and
      invasive findings, together with in-hospital complications, were collected.
      Moreover, findings obtained after a 24-month follow-up were reported. The primary
      endpoint was in-hospital mortality, whereas the secondary endpoints were out of
      hospital mortality, rehospitalization for heart failure or reinfarction, and New
      York Heart Association (NYHA) class at least 2 at follow-up visit. The univariate
      analysis showed a significant association with symptom to balloon, left anterior
      descending coronary artery, myocardial blush grade, and wall motion score index.
      Results of the multivariable analysis revealed the strongest predictive power for
      in-hospital mortality of proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (odds
      ratio: 6.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.1-67.7) and of myocardial blush grade 0-1
      (odds ratio: 5.5; 95% confidence interval: 1.0-38.8). In-hospital death occurred
      in 13 patients (27% of total cases), whereas, at follow-up, the mean of survival
      was 66.7 +/- 7.0%. CONCLUSION: The patients with large anterior STEMI as a first
      acute coronary event, undergoing PCI and IABP, had a very high in-hospital
      mortality, whereas the mortality rate over the follow-up period was lower. The
      involvement of a large territory at risk and the ineffective treatment in terms
      of myocardial reperfusion were the main predictors of in-hospital mortality.

PMID- 28604506
TI  - What's New in Shock, July 2017?

PMID- 28604507
TI  - Visits to Registered Nurses: An Opportunity to Increase Contraceptive Access in
      California.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2013, California passed Assembly Bill (A.B.) 2348, approving
      registered nurses (RNs) to dispense patient self-administered hormonal
      contraceptives and administer injections of hormonal contraceptives. The Family
      Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (Family PACT) program, which came into
      effect in 1997 to expand low-income, uninsured California resident access to
      contraceptives at no cost, is one program in which qualified RNs can dispense and
      administer contraceptives. AIMS: The aims of this study were to (a) describe
      utilization of RN visits within California's Family PACT program and (b) evaluate
      the impact of RN visits on client birth control acquisition during the first 18
      months after implementation of A.B. 2348 (January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014).
      METHODS: A descriptive observational design using administrative databases was
      used. Family PACT claims were retrieved for RN visits and contraception. Paid
      claims for contraceptive dispensing and/or administration visits by physicians,
      nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants were
      compared before and after the implementation of A.B. 2348 at practice sites where
      RN visits were and were not utilized. Contraceptive methods and administration
      procedures were identified using Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes,
      National Drug Codes, and Common Procedural Terminology codes. Claims data for
      healthcare facilities were abstracted by site location based on a unique
      combination of National Provider Identifier (NPI), NPI Owner, and NPI location
      number. RESULTS: RN visits were found mainly in Northern California and the
      Central Valley (73%). Sixty-eight percent of RN visits resulted in same-day
      dispensing and/or administration of hormonal (and/or barrier) methods. Since
      benefit implementation, RN visits resulted in a 10% increase in access to birth
      control dispensing and/or administration visits. RN visits were also associated
      with future birth control acquisition and other healthcare utilization within the
      subsequent 30 days. DISCUSSION: RN visits, though underutilized across the state,
      have resulted in increased access to contraception in some communities, an effect
      that may continue to grow with time and can serve as a model for other states.

PMID- 28604508
TI  - Symptomatic Adjacent Segment Disease After Anterior Cervical Discectomy for
      Single-level Degenerative Disk Disease.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cohort of 142 patients underwent either anterior
      cervical discectomy alone, anterior cervical discectomy with fusion by cage stand
      alone, or anterior cervical discectomy with arthroplasty. We then followed up on
      their condition for a mean of 9.1+/-1.9 years (5.6-12.2 y) later. OBJECTIVE: We
      aimed to evaluate the annual rate of clinically symptomatic adjacent segment
      disease (ASD) and to analyze predictive factors. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      Until recent, ASD has been predominantly evaluated radiologically. It is not
      known whether all patients had complaints. A frequent cited annual rate of ASD is
      2.9%, but a growing number of studies report a lower annual rate. Furthermore,
      maintaining motion to prevent ASD is one reason for implanting a cervical disk
      prosthesis. However, the results of studies contradict one another. METHODS:
      Participants took part in a randomized controlled trial that ended prematurely
      because of the publication of evidence that did not justify continuation of the
      trial. The patients were randomly allocated to 3 groups, each of which received
      one of the abovementioned treatments. We defined symptomatic ASD as signs and
      symptoms caused by degeneration of an intervertebral disk adjacent to a level of
      previous anterior cervical disk surgery. At the last follow-up, we were able to
      ascertain whether clinically symptomatic ASD was present in any of the
      participants. RESULTS: The overall annual rate of symptomatic ASD was 0.7%. We
      found no statistically significant correlations between any of the investigated
      factors and symptomatic ASD except for the surgical method used. Symptomatic ASD
      was seen less often in anterior cervical discectomy solely or anterior cervical
      discectomy with arthroplasty than in anterior cervical discectomy with fusion by
      plate fixation. CONCLUSIONS: The annual rate of symptomatic ASD after an anterior
      cervical discectomy procedure was estimated to be 0.7%. This seems to be related
      to the procedure, although firm conclusions cannot be drawn. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level 2-prospective cohort.

PMID- 28604509
TI  - Granulocyte and Monocyte Apheresis for Induction of Remission in Children With
      New-Onset Inflammatory Bowel Colitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of granulocyte and
      monocyte apheresis (GMA) with mesalazine for induction of remission in pediatric
      patients with newly onset chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) colitis.
      METHODS: Thirteen pediatric patients with newly onset extensive IBD colitis were
      investigated per the ECCO/ESPGHAN IBD protocol. Of these 13, 12 received 10
      treatments with Adacolumn (ADA) during a median of 6.25 weeks in combination with
      low-to-moderate doses of mesalazine, which was continued after apheresis. A
      control colonoscopy was performed 12 to 16 weeks after GMA treatment. Primary
      outcomes were mucosal healing (Mayo endoscopic score) and histopathologic grading
      of biopsies. A secondary outcome was disease activity as measured by the
      Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index. RESULTS: Twelve children (6 girls)
      with a median age of 14.6 years and a median duration of symptoms at diagnosis of
      3.2 months received all planned 10 treatment sessions with ADA. Ten of 12
      patients had pancolitis and 2 of 12 extensive colitis. A final diagnosis,
      however, indicated ulcerative colitis in 10 children and Crohn disease in 2
      children. At control colonoscopy, 8 of 12 children were in clinical remission and
      the Mayo endoscopic score showed significant improvement in 9 of 12 patients (P =
      0.006). Complete microscopic remission, according to the Geboes score, was
      observed in 2 patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this small study GMA for induction of
      remission of newly onset pediatric IBD colitis was effective in 8 of 12 patients.
      Further controlled studies are warranted to confirm the efficacy of this
      treatment model.

PMID- 28604510
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of the Push Endoscopic Technique in the Management of
      Esophageal Food Bolus Impactions in Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Adult-based guidelines support the use of the pull (extraction)
      endoscopic technique in managing esophageal food bolus impactions (FBIs) but
      allow the consideration of the push (advancement) technique with caution based on
      available published literature. The North American Society for Pediatric
      Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition guidelines mention the use of gentle
      endoscopic pushing for disimpaction but elaborate that this technique has not
      been studied in children. Our study aimed at assessing the safety and efficacy of
      the push technique in managing pediatric esophageal FBIs. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective cohort study of all pediatric patients presenting with esophageal
      FBIs to a pediatric tertiary care center from 2003 to 2016. RESULTS: Two hundred
      forty-two procedures for esophageal foreign body removal were reviewed. Thirty
      nine procedures for managing esophageal FBIs were included in a total of 23
      patients (1-4 procedures per patient). The most common underlying diagnoses were
      eosinophilic esophagitis and repaired tracheoesophageal fistula. The cohort had a
      median age of 8 years and median weight of 34.4 kg. Initial endoscopic
      disimpaction methods included 20 push and 19 pull technique attempts with success
      rates of 65% and 68%, respectively (P = 1.0). Unsuccessful attempts using 1
      technique were successfully accomplished using the other technique. Patients
      initially managed by either of the 2 disimpaction techniques did not differ in
      age, weight, sex, or underlying diagnoses. No procedure-related complications
      were reported at our center. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that the push
      technique is as safe and effective as the pull technique in managing esophageal
      FBIs in pediatric patients.

PMID- 28604511
TI  - Incidence and Risk Factors for Perianal Disease in Pediatric Crohn Disease
      Patients Followed in CEDATA-GPGE Registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Perianal disease (PD) with fistula and/or abscess formation is a
      severe complication in Crohn disease (CD). We examined prevalence, incidence, and
      risk factors for PD development in a pediatric CD cohort. METHODS: Patients with
      CD from the prospective, multicenter registry for inflammatory bowel disease from
      Germany and Austria (CEDATA-GPGE) were included if diagnosed at the age of 18
      years or younger, registered within 3 months after diagnosis, and having at least
      2 follow-up visits within the first year of registration. We examined potential
      risk factors for PD with Kaplan-Meier analysis and a final Cox model considering
      sex, family history of inflammatory bowel disease, extraintestinal
      manifestations, disease location, and induction therapy (corticosteroids or
      nutritional therapy). RESULTS: Of 2406 patients with CD, 742 fulfilled inclusion
      criteria (59% boys, mean age at diagnosis 12.4 +/- 3.4 years). PD was present at
      diagnosis in 41 patients (5.5%; 80.9% boys), whereas 32 patients (4.3%, 81.3%
      male) developed PD during follow-up (mean 2.0 +/- 1.6 years). The cumulative
      incidence of PD at 12 and 36 months after diagnosis was 3.5% and 7.5%,
      respectively. Potential risk factors for PD development during follow-up were
      male sex (hazard ratio = 3.2, [95%; confidence interval 1.2-7.8]) and induction
      therapy with corticosteroids (hazard ratio = 2.5 [1.1-5.5]). Diagnostic
      evaluation at PD diagnosis was incomplete in 40% of affected subjects. PD
      resolved within 1 year in 50% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 10% of CD
      patients in our cohort suffered from PD within the first 3 years of their
      disease. Male sex and initial corticosteroid therapy were associated with an
      increased risk to develop PD after diagnosis.

PMID- 28604512
TI  - Changes in Hepcidin and Hemoglobin After Anti-TNF-alpha Therapy in Children and
      Adolescents With Crohn Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Anemia is the most common systemic complication of inflammatory bowel
      disease, is more common in affected children than in adults, and is mediated in
      large part by chronic inflammation. Inflammation increases levels of the iron
      regulatory protein hepcidin, which have been elevated in adults with Crohn
      disease. METHODS: We measured serum hepcidin-25 and hemoglobin (Hgb) in 40
      children and adolescents with Crohn disease at baseline and 10 weeks after
      initiation of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha therapy. Measures of disease
      activity, inflammatory markers, and cytokines were obtained in all subjects.
      Anemia was defined by World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS: At baseline
      hepcidin and C-reactive protein levels were correlated, and 95% of subjects were
      anemic. After anti-TNF-alpha therapy, median (interquartile range) hepcidin
      concentrations decreased significantly and the distribution narrowed (27.9 [16.2,
      52.9] vs 23.2 [11.1, 37.7] ng/mL, P = 0.01). Mean (standard deviation) Hgb also
      increased significantly (10.6 +/- 1.2 to 10.9 +/- 1.1 g/dL, P = 0.02), and the
      increase was sustained at 12 months, although 90% of participants continued to
      meet anemia criteria at 10 weeks. Disease activity and markers of inflammation
      also decreased and albumin levels increased. In generalized estimating equation
      analyses, higher TNF-alpha, interleukin 6, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C
      reactive protein were associated with higher hepcidin concentrations (P = 0.04, P
      = 0.03, P = 0.003, and P < 0.001, respectively), and increased levels of disease
      activity were associated with higher hepcidin. CONCLUSIONS: In children with
      Crohn disease, anti-TNF-alpha therapy is associated with decreased levels of
      hepcidin and increased Hgb 10 weeks after induction. Improvement in anemia may be
      a secondary benefit for children who receive this therapy.

PMID- 28604513
TI  - Severe Sarcopenia and Increased Fat Stores in Pediatric Patients With Liver,
      Kidney, or Intestine Failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Malnutrition and wasting predict clinical outcomes in children with
      severe chronic illness. Objectively calculated malnutrition in children with end
      stage organ failure has not been well studied. This analysis compares children
      with kidney, liver or intestine failure to healthy controls to quantitate the
      disparity in muscle and fat stores. METHODS: Children younger than 19 years with
      end-stage liver, kidney, or intestine failure and with pretransplant computed
      tomography (CT) imaging were selected from the transplant database. Age- and sex
      matched healthy controls were selected from the trauma database. Measures of
      nutrition status included a scaled scoring of core muscle mass, and visceral and
      subcutaneous fat stores. Analysis was conducted using the pooled and individually
      matched subject-control differences. RESULTS: There were 81 subjects included in
      the final analysis (liver [n = 35], kidney [n = 20], and intestine [n = 26]).
      Children with end-stage liver disease had a 23% reduction in muscle mass, a 69%
      increase in visceral fat, and a 29% increase in subcutaneous fat. End-stage renal
      disease patients had a 19% reduction in muscle mass and a 258% increase in
      subcutaneous fat. Intestine failure patients had a 24% reduction in muscle mass,
      a 30% increase in visceral fat, and a 46% increase in subcutaneous fat.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate significant sarcopenia and increased fat
      stores in end-stage organ failure patients, which supports the idea of an active
      physiologic mechanism to store fat while losing muscle mass. Sarcopenia may be
      related to total protein loss from a catabolic state, or from decreased synthesis
      (liver), wasting (kidney), or malabsorption (intestine).

PMID- 28604515
TI  - Novel Pressure-Impedance Parameters for Evaluating Esophageal Function in
      Pediatric Achalasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In achalasia, absent peristalsis and reduced esophagogastric junction
      (EGJ) relaxation and compliance underlie dysphagia symptoms. Novel high
      resolution impedance manometry variables, that is, bolus presence time (BPT) and
      trans-EGJ-bolus flow time (BFT) have been developed to estimate the duration of
      EGJ opening and trans-EGJ bolus flow. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      esophageal motor function and bolus flow in children diagnosed with achalasia
      using these variables. METHODS: High-resolution impedance manometry recordings
      from 20 children who fulfilled the Chicago Classification (V3) criteria for
      achalasia were compared with recordings of 15 children with normal esophageal
      high-resolution manometry findings and no other evidence suggestive of achalasia.
      Matlab-based analysis software was used to calculate BPT and BFT. RESULTS: Both
      BPT and BFT were significantly reduced in achalasia patients compared with
      children with normal esophageal motility (BPT 3.3 s vs 5.1 s P < 0.01; BFT 1.4 s
      vs 4.3 s P < 0.001). BFT was significantly lower than BPT (achalasia difference
      1.9 s +/- 1.3 s, P = 0.001 and normal difference 0.9 +/- 0.3 s, P = 0.001).
      Overall, there was a significant correlation between BPT and BFT (r = 0.825, P <
      0.001). We observed a 2-way differentiation of achalasia patients; those in whom
      the BPT and BFT were proportional, but significantly lower than in patients with
      normal peristalsis, and those in whom BFT was disproportionately lower than BPT.
      CONCLUSIONS: Calculation of BPT and BFT may help determine whether esophageal
      bolus transport to the EGJ and/or esophageal emptying through the EGJ are
      aberrant. For achalasia, this may detect flow resistance at the EGJ, potentially
      improving both diagnosis and objective assessment of therapeutic effects.

PMID- 28604514
TI  - Early Antibiotic Exposure in Low-resource Settings Is Associated With Increased
      Weight in the First Two Years of Life.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The potential growth-promoting effects of antibiotics are not well
      understood among undernourished children in environments with high pathogen
      exposure. We aimed to assess whether early antibiotic exposure duration and class
      were associated with growth to 2 years of age across 8 low-resource sites in the
      MAL-ED birth cohort study. METHODS: We followed 1954 children twice per week from
      birth to 2 years to record maternally reported antibiotic exposures and measure
      anthropometry monthly. We estimated the associations between antibiotic exposure
      before 6 months of age and weight-for-age and length-for-age (LAZ) z scores to 2
      years. We assessed the impact of class-specific exposures and duration, and
      compared these results to effects of antibiotic exposures after 6 months of age.
      RESULTS: Antibiotic use before 6 months of age was associated with increased
      weight from 6 months to 2 years, whereas associations with length were less
      consistent across sites and antibiotic classes. Compared to unexposed children, 2
      or more courses of metronidazole, macrolides, and cephalosporins were associated
      with adjusted increases in weight-for-age of 0.24 (95% confidence interval (CI):
      0.04, 0.43), 0.23 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.42), and 0.19 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.35) from 6
      months to 2 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic use in low-resource
      settings was most associated with the ponderal growth of children who had
      multiple exposures to antibiotics with broad spectrum and anaerobic activity in
      early infancy. Opportunities for rational and targeted antibiotic therapy in low
      resource settings may also promote short-term weight gain in children, although
      longer-term physical growth and metabolic impacts are unknown.

PMID- 28604516
TI  - Mineral Intake and Status of Cow's Milk Allergic Infants Consuming an Amino Acid
      based Formula.
AB  - Data on the mineral status of infants with cow's milk allergy (CMA) consuming an
      amino acid-based formula (AAF) have not been published. The present study aims to
      assess mineral status of term infants age 0 to 8 months diagnosed with CMA
      receiving an AAF for 16 weeks. Serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus,
      chloride, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and ferritin were determined in 82
      subjects at baseline and in 66 subjects after 16 weeks on AAF using standard
      methods and evaluated against age-specific reference ranges. In addition to this,
      individual estimated energy and mineral intakes were compared to Adequate Intakes
      defined by the European Food Safety Authority and the US Institute of Medicine.
      The results of this study show that the AAF was effective in providing an
      adequate mineral status in infants with CMA. The vast majority of infants aged 0
      to 6 months (formula only) and aged 6 to 12 months (formula and complementary
      foods) had adequate mineral intakes.

PMID- 28604518
TI  - Actively Involved?

PMID- 28604520
TI  - Etc.

PMID- 28604519
TI  - NCF @ Work.

PMID- 28604521
TI  - Spiritual Reflection: Inviting God into Our Moments.

PMID- 28604522
TI  - Caring Through Hearing.

PMID- 28604523
TI  - Nursing in the Church.

PMID- 28604524
TI  - Student TXT.

PMID- 28604525
TI  - Staying Amidst Prolonged Suffering.

PMID- 28604526
TI  - Increasing Cervical Cancer Screening in Underserved Populations.
AB  - The incidence of cervical cancer has declined dramatically due to Papanicolaou
      smear testing. However, some minority populations continue to suffer with high
      incidences and/or death rates of cervical cancer, due to lack of screening. This
      article updates on cervical cancer screening and prevention and discusses
      cultural impacts on screening. Knowledge deficits disproportionately affect
      ethnic minority groups and contribute to cancer incidence, whereas lack of
      healthcare coverage and low socioeconomic status contribute to screening
      disparities. Although minority women have cultural beliefs and practices that
      influence screening, recommendation and/or education from a provider often lead
      to screening.

PMID- 28604527
TI  - Spiritual Nursing Care Education An Integrated Strategy for Teaching Students.
AB  - The failure of nursing schools to integrate spiritual nursing care education into
      the curriculum has contributed to a lack in nurses' spiritual care ability.
      Developing, integrating, and testing a Spiritual Care Nursing Education strategy
      in an Associates of Science nursing program significantly increased the perceived
      spiritual care competence of student nurses. Utilizing a faculty team to develop
      learning activities to address critical spiritual care attributes offers a method
      to integrate spiritual nursing care content throughout the curriculum in ASN and
      BSN programs.

PMID- 28604528
TI  - Clinical Nurse Specialist Perceptions' of Spiritual Care: Nurses Need Support,
      Care Falls Short.
AB  - The clinical nurse specialist (CNS) is positioned to influence spiritual care at
      three levels of practice: patient, nurse, and system. This study, the first to
      explore CNS spiritual care, reports on CNSs' perceptions in providing spiritual
      care. Four themes were extracted from interview data: 1) Providing direct
      spiritual support for patients, 2) Nurses need support in providing spiritual
      care, 3) Using existing resources, and 4) Spiritual care falls short. Not one CNS
      mentioned barriers to their direct provision of spiritual care. Results support
      that CNSs can improve spiritual care delivery.

PMID- 28604529
TI  - Value and Meaning of Faith Community Nursing: Client and Nurse Perspectives.
AB  - The literature that supports and describes faith community nursing (FCN) practice
      is extensive, but limited in describing the value and meaning of FCN to the
      community. A qualitative investigation of one FCN program led to emergence of
      five themes that illustrate the perceived importance of FCN to this community:
      tasks and services offered, nursing expertise, spirituality, familiarity, and
      community support. This exploration reveals the deeper value and meaning of FCN
      to the communities these nurses support.

PMID- 28604530
TI  - Spirituality As a Coping Mechanism for Individuals with Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that can render
      individuals totally disabled. Spiritual practices can help mitigate stress and
      provide a source of strength in PD. This article demonstrates a gap that exists
      between PD and spiritual coping specific research; discusses existing spiritual
      coping research in chronic illness; and explores the use of spirituality in
      managing PD care. Healthcare providers need to provide holistic care and explore
      mechanisms to assist individuals to manage the demands of living with PD.

PMID- 28604531
TI  - Overflowing Hearts.

PMID- 28604532
TI  - How Do I Care for the Spiritual But Not Religious Person?

PMID- 28604533
TI  - From the Other Side of the Podium.

PMID- 28604534
TI  - Patient Satisfaction: Are We Manipulating Numbers?

PMID- 28604535
TI  - Resources.

PMID- 28604536
TI  - PulseBeats.

PMID- 28604537
TI  - Building Cultural Competence: The Lived Experience of Semester Study Abroad
      Students.
AB  - College students who participate in semester abroad programs have diverse but
      positive experiences. Variables such as the educational institution attended by
      the students and the location of the study abroad can affect the experiences of
      the students. There is minimal research concerning students from Christian
      colleges who study abroad. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived
      experiences of college students participating in a semester abroad program in a
      developing country. Seven college students were interviewed regarding their
      experiences by three senior nursing students who also participated in the study
      abroad program. Results indicated that major factors influencing students'
      experiences were related to cultural immersion, role relationships, challenges
      encountered, and personal growth. Students reported that relationships with
      people and faith in Christ were strengthened through the experience.

PMID- 28604539
TI  - Increasing Cervical Cancer Screening in Underserved Populations.

PMID- 28604538
TI  - Abstinence-Only Sex Education Fails African American Youth.
AB  - Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) disproportionately affect U.S. African
      American (AA) youth. In AA faith communities, cultural practices have contributed
      to increased STI rates because abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs
      do not teach the use of condoms or birth control for preventing STIs or
      pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education or abstinence-plus programs have been
      reported to increase STI knowledge and reduce risk-taking behaviors in
      adolescents and young adults. Evidence supports computerized education to
      increase STI knowledge and decrease risky sexual behaviors of AA churchgoing
      youth.

PMID- 28604540
TI  - Value and Meaning of Faith Community Nursing: Client and Nurse Perspectives.

PMID- 28604541
TI  - HIGH-DOSE HIGH-FREQUENCY AFLIBERCEPT FOR RECALCITRANT NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED
      MACULAR DEGENERATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy of monthly (0.1 mL/4 mg) aflibercept for
      refractory neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet age-related macular
      degeneration). METHODS: This was a retrospective interventional case series in
      which patients with wet age-related macular degeneration were treated with
      stepwise dose escalation. Nonvitrectomized patients resistant to monthly (Q4W)
      ranibizumab/bevacizumab were switched to 2 mg aflibercept every 8 weeks. With
      resistance, they were escalated to Q4W 2 mg aflibercept, then Q4W 4 mg (high dose
      high frequency, 4Q4W) aflibercept. Resistance was defined as >=2 recurrences
      after being dry following >=3 injections or persistent exudation on treatment of
      >=5 injections. RESULTS: Thirty-three eyes of 28 patients were treated with 4Q4W
      aflibercept and followed for a mean of 16 months. A dry retina (no intraretinal
      or subretinal fluid) was achieved after initiating 4Q4W aflibercept treatment at
      a mean of 3.8 months. Central foveal thickness, maximum foveal thickness,
      intraretinal fluid, subretinal fluid, and retinal pigment detachment height
      decreased significantly at 1 month after initiating the 4Q4W aflibercept, and the
      morphologic therapeutic effect was sustained until the last visit. Forty-five
      percent of eyes had one or more lines of vision improvement. New geographic
      atrophy developed in 9% of eyes during follow-up. No ocular or systemic adverse
      events occurred after initiating 4Q4W aflibercept. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal high
      dose high-frequency aflibercept is an effective treatment for patients with
      refractory wet age-related macular degeneration.

PMID- 28604542
TI  - Outcome of Dupuytren Contractures After Collagenase Clostridium Histolyticum
      Injection: A Single-institution Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH) injection is an
      alternative to surgery for patients with Dupuytren disease (DD) of the
      metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints. The success
      of surgical and nonsurgical treatment modalities for DD is reported to vary
      widely between 25% and 80% (J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1985;67:1439-1443; Plast
      Reconstr Surg. 2007;120:44e-54e; J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2007;89:189-198; J Hand
      Surg Am. 2011:36:936-942; J Hand Surg Am. 1990;15:755-761; J Hand Surg Br.
      1996;21:797-800; J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2000;82:90-94; Plast Reconstr Surg.
      2005;115:802-810; Ann Plast Surg. 2006;57:13-17). This study presents the
      outcomes of patients with DD contractures treated with CCH injections at a single
      institution. METHODS: An institutional review board-approved retrospective study
      was conducted of patients with DD of the hand treated with CCH injections in a
      single institution from February 2010 to April 2015. All patients received the
      recommended dose of 0.58 mg of CCH and returned for joint manipulation the
      following day. Data for follow-up at 7 and 30 days postoperatively and up to 5
      years for patients who returned seeking further therapy for recurrent symptoms
      were reviewed. RESULTS: One hundred thirteen patients with a total of 146
      affected joints (72 MCP; 74 PIP) were treated with CCH injections (95 males; 18
      females; age, 40-92 y). Successful CCH therapy occurred in 75% of injected joints
      (109/146 joints; 59 MCP; 50 PIP), as defined by less than 5 degrees of
      contracture after treatment. Twenty-three percent of treated joints had partial
      correction (34/146 joints; 13 MCP; 21 PIP), as defined by between 5 and 30
      degrees of residual contracture after treatment. Three patients (2%) had a
      failure of treatment, as defined by unchanged or worsened contracture from
      pretreatment baseline measurements. Fifteen patients (13%) returned to the clinic
      seeking additional therapy for recurrent joint contracture symptoms in 17 joints
      over a span of 1.5 months to 4 years after initial successful or partially
      successful treatment (17/143, 12%; 5 MCP; 12 PIP). Recurrence was defined as
      patients who sought treatment for a return of symptoms or greater than 20 degrees
      contracture in the setting of a palpable cord after initial full or partial
      contracture correction. DISCUSSIONS: Our 5-year outcome of CCH injections for DD
      contractures revealed full correction in 75% and partial correction in 23% of
      treated joints, with failure of treatment seen in only 2% of patients. Thirteen
      percent of the patients returned for additional treatment because of symptoms
      resulting from contracture recurrence in 12% of initially corrected or partially
      corrected joints. These positive outcomes are comparable with current surgical
      treatment modalities (J Hand Surg Am. 1990;15:755-761; J Bone Joint Surg Am.
      1962;44B:602-613; J Clin Epidemiol. 2000;53:291-296). The use of CCH injections
      is an important nonsurgical treatment alternative for DD contractures of the MCP
      and PIP joints.

PMID- 28604543
TI  - Discussion on the Effect of Omeprazole Usage on the Viability of Random Pattern
      Skin Flaps in Rats.

PMID- 28604544
TI  - R. 'Buccal Mucosa Neourethras Grow Proportionally After Puberty'.

PMID- 28604545
TI  - Gluteal Augmentation With Intramuscular Implants in Patients With Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus With Lipoatrophy Related to the Use of Antiretroviral
      Therapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lipodystrophy syndrome associated with highly active antiretroviral
      therapy (HAART) may lead to low self-esteem and poor compliance with the drug
      treatment on patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is
      a matter of concern for the health system. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      patients with HIV submitted to gluteal augmentation with intramuscular silicone
      implants to correct gluteal lipoatrophy related to the use of HAART. METHODS:
      This is a retrospective evaluation of 10 patients submitted to gluteal
      augmentation with intramuscular silicone implant for correction of gluteal
      lipoatrophy related to the use of HAART, operated between 2012 and 2015.
      Postoperative complications and the degree of patient's satisfaction were
      analyzed. RESULTS: There were 3 postoperative complications including 1 case of
      surgical wound dehiscence and 2 cases of seroma. Six months after surgery, 8
      patients had an excellent degree of satisfaction, and 2 patients had a good
      degree of satisfaction related to the procedure. Although this intervention does
      not offer functional advantages, it improves the body contour, increases
      patients' self-esteem, and helps them to accept their body image. These
      advantages can lead to higher compliance with prolonged HAART. CONCLUSIONS:
      Gluteal augmentation with intramuscular silicone implant can be a viable option
      to treat patients with HIV with gluteal lipoatrophy related to the use of HAART.
      The patients were satisfied with the outcomes of the procedure, and there were
      only minor self-limited postoperative complications.

PMID- 28604546
TI  - Sweet Syndrome After Bilateral Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap Breast
      Reconstruction: A Case Report.
AB  - We describe a case of Sweet's Syndrome after bilateral deep inferior epigastric
      perforator flap breast reconstruction in a patient with ductal carcinoma of the
      left breast.

PMID- 28604547
TI  - The Crisis of Deficiency in Emergency Coverage for Hand and Facial Trauma:
      Exploring the Discrepancy Between Availability of Elective and Emergency Surgical
      Coverage.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Injuries are one of the most common reasons for emergency
      department visits, with approximately 40.2 million injury-related visits
      occurring in 2011. Facial, hand, and wrist injuries make up a large portion of
      these visits. Despite the high demand for specialists to attend to these injury
      related emergency department visits, recent studies have suggested a discrepancy
      between elective surgical coverage and trauma care in general. The goal of this
      study was to determine if there was a difference between access to elective
      surgical procedures in comparison with on-call emergency care for facial and
      hand/wrist conditions in New York State. METHODS: Hospitals throughout New York
      State, excluding New York City, were selected from the Department of Health Web
      site, hospitals.nyhealth.gov. A phone survey was administered between May 2012
      and October 2013, to quantify the availability of elective and emergent
      procedures for facial and hand/wrist conditions. We compared the availability of
      emergency facial and hand/wrist surgical care based on hospital characteristics
      such as bed size and access to a surgical intensive care unit. RESULTS: We
      selected 113 hospitals, and 52 hospitals participated for a response rate of 46%.
      A total of 88% of hospitals offered elective hand procedures, but only 27% had
      consistent coverage for emergency hand trauma. Furthermore, only 29 % of
      hospitals had a facial specialist consistently available whereas the availability
      for elective facial procedures was 79%. CONCLUSION: Our study results show a
      discrepancy between the availability of surgeons for elective procedures and on
      call emergency care for facial and hand/wrist condition.

PMID- 28604548
TI  - Pediatric Lower Extremity Lawn Mower Injuries and Reconstruction: Retrospective
      10-Year Review at a Level 1 Trauma Center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: From 2004 to 2013, there were 9341 lawn mower injuries in children
      under 20 years old. The incidence of lawn mower injuries in children has not
      decreased since 1990 despite implementation of various different prevention
      strategies. In this report, the authors review the results of pediatric lawn
      mower-related lower-extremity injuries treated at a tertiary care referral center
      as well as review the overall literature. METHODS: A retrospective review was
      performed at a level 1 trauma center over a 10-year period (2005-2015). Patients
      younger than 18 years who presented to the emergency room with lower extremity
      lawn mower injuries were included. RESULTS: Of the 27 patients with lower
      extremity lawn mower injuries during this period, the mean age at injury was 5.5
      years and Injury Severity Score was 7.2. Most (85%) patients were boys and the
      predominant type of mower causing injury was a riding lawn mower (96%). Injury
      occurred in patients who were bystanders in 78%, passengers in 11%, and operators
      in 11%. Mean length of stay was 12.2 days, and mean time to reconstruction was
      7.9 days. Mean number of surgical procedures per patient was 4.1. Amputations
      occurred in 15 (56%) cases with the most common level of amputation being distal
      to the metatarsophalangeal joint (67%). Reconstructive procedures ranged from
      direct closure (41%) to free tissue transfer (7%). Major complications included
      infection (7%), wound dehiscence (11%), and delayed wound healing (15%). Mean
      follow up was 23.6 months and 100% of the patients were ambulatory after injury.
      The subgroup of patients with the most severe injuries, highest number of
      amputations, and need for overall surgical procedures were patients aged 2 to 5
      years. A review of the literature also showed consistent findings. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study demonstrates the danger and morbidity that lawn mowers present to the
      pediatric population, particularly children aged 2 to 5 years. Every rung of the
      so-called reconstructive ladder is used in caring for these children. Increased
      public awareness is insufficient to decrease the incidence of these injuries.
      These products should have additional warning labels and meet updated changes to
      the design of lawn mowers to prevent these mutilating injuries successfully.

PMID- 28604549
TI  - Transverse Cervical Artery Perforator Flap: Standardized Surgical Technique and
      Multiple Reconstructive Opportunity in Head and Neck Surgery.
AB  - The main purpose of head and neck reconstructive surgery is to provide anatomic
      restoration of the demolited region and to provide preservation and recovery of
      function. The anatomical investigations conducted over the years has enabled a
      detailed knowledge of human body vascularization, giving the opportunity to
      design and harvest more and more versatile and refined flaps, with increasingly
      satisfactory results. Even if in the last 2 decades free flaps have been
      considered a reconstructive criterion standard, they still determine a great
      physical impact for the patient and require a certain surgical experience. In
      particular, perforator flaps (based on vessels that, emerging from the main deep
      axis, supply superficial myofascial cutaneous tissues) represent the new
      reconstructive frontier, of which a wide variety of types has been described. Our
      purpose is to illustrate the preparation and harvesting of the transverse
      cervical artery perforator flap and the variety of its utilization in head and
      neck reconstruction. From February 2005 to May 2015, 41 reconstructions were
      performed, and not only for oncologic reasons. Thanks to its anatomical features,
      reduced donor site morbidity and rapid preparation, this flap is a safe and
      feasible alternative to most famous free and locoregional flaps. Because our
      outcomes in functional and aesthetic terms were mostly satisfying, we can assert
      that the transverse cervical artery perforator flap has an important role in an
      appropriate reconstructive strategy for head, neck, and oropharyngolaryngeal
      region.

PMID- 28604550
TI  - The Versatile Hook Plate in Avulsion Fractures of the Hand.
AB  - : Avulsion fractures can pose technical difficulties for surgical fixation. The
      fragments are often small and around finger joints with access being difficult
      due to attachment of ligaments or tendons. Traditionally, these have been treated
      using K wires, lag screws, or pullout sutures.Hook plates were originally
      described for operative management of mallet fractures. We have been using hook
      plates in our unit for over 10 years. However, over the years, we have extended
      their use to other avulsion fractures in the hand such as proximal
      interphalangeal joint fracture dislocations, central slip avulsions, flexor
      digitorum profundus avulsions and collateral ligament avulsions.The aim of this
      article is to describe the technique of fabricating a hook plate and using it for
      avulsion fractures in the hand. A few illustrative cases are discussed along with
      a review of the current literature. METHODS: In a retrospective review of our use
      of hook plates in hand fractures from 2008 to 2014, a total of 63 cases were
      identified from the hospital data base. There were 35 cases of Mallet fractures,
      16 cases of proximal interphalangeal joint fracture dislocations, 5 cases of
      flexor digitorum profundus avulsion fractures, 5 cases of Central slip avulsions,
      and 2 collateral ligament avulsions. RESULTS: All fractures healed well with this
      technique with no biomechanical failures and good functional outcome. Plates
      needed removal in a total of 25 cases, of which 14 were in mallet fractures.
      Thirteen (21%) cases suffered complications, of which the majority were again
      related to mallet fractures. CONCLUSIONS: The hook plate is a simple device that
      can be created quite easily with readily available materials. We have extended
      the use of these plates to avulsion fracture fixation in the hand and found this
      to be a versatile technique. The risk of fragmenting the small fracture fragment
      is reduced because the hooks secure it and the plate is fixed in the bone. If
      done meticulously, joint congruence can be achieved. It has a biomechanical
      advantage over current methods of fracture fixation of small but important bone
      fragments in the hand.

PMID- 28604551
TI  - The Periosteal Medial Femoral Condyle Free Flap: A New Option for Soft Tissue
      Reconstruction of the Distal Lower Extremity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small (<30 cm) soft tissue defects of the distal leg, foot, and ankle
      pose a complicated issue with regard to wound healing. Multiple flaps have been
      proposed for reconstruction of these wounds with varying levels of success. The
      medial femoral condyle flap is a free bone flap supplied by the descending
      geniculate artery. It is currently used in the treatment of fracture nonunion,
      infected bone defects, avascular necrosis, and osteoradionecrosis. This study
      proposes the use of the periosteal portion of the medial femoral condyle (PMFC)
      flap for soft tissue reconstruction of the distal leg, foot, and ankle. METHODS:
      We performed a single-center, retrospective series of 6 patients with distal leg,
      foot, and ankle wounds. All patients underwent reconstruction using the PMFC
      flap. RESULTS: Of the 6 patients, 5 had chronic wounds. There were no incidences
      of flap loss. Five patients healed without complication, four of which had
      undergone immediate skin grafting, whereas one had concomitant skin paddle
      reconstruction. The remaining patient required a second surgery with a rotation
      flap for recurrent osteomyelitis and wound infection 2 months after the initial
      surgery. Mean operative time decreased after a 2-case learning curve.
      CONCLUSIONS: Small wounds of the distal extremity can be difficult to treat, with
      many requiring free or rotational flap coverage. We propose novel use of the PMFC
      flap for reconstruction of small soft tissue defects of the distal leg, foot, and
      ankle. In our series, we demonstrated no donor site morbidity, with excellent
      cosmetic and functional outcomes.

PMID- 28604552
TI  - The Use of Vasopressors in Pedicled Flaps for Chest Wall Reconstruction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The effect of vasopressors on flaps remains controversial in the
      literature. Often, surgeons avoid vasopressors with the thought that
      vasoconstriction reduces flap perfusion resulting in flap loss. METHODS: A
      retrospective review was performed on patients who required chest wall
      reconstruction from 1998 to 2013. Patients were identified through the use of
      Current Procedural Terminology codes. The data collected included demographics,
      indications for surgery, prior debridement, preoperative albumin levels, and
      perioperative vasopressor use. Outcomes measures included flap survival, flap
      complications, reoperation rates, intensive care unit length of stay, and
      mortality. RESULTS: Of the 1220 patient records reviewed, 88 had chest
      reconstruction by a plastic surgeon. Twenty-one patient records were excluded due
      to incomplete data. One patient experienced complete flap loss; these data were
      excluded from statistical analysis. Fifty patients received perioperative
      vasopressors whereas 15 did not. There was no significant difference in flap
      survival or loss between groups who received perioperative vasopressors and those
      who did not receive vasopressors. Age, intensive care unit length of stay, flap
      complications, and reoperation rates were significantly higher in those with
      partial flap survival. CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative vasopressor use does not
      adversely affect the outcome of pedicled flaps for chest wall reconstruction.
      Further research is warranted to review the effects of vasopressor dose and type
      on pedicled flaps.

PMID- 28604553
TI  - Flow-Through Free Fibula Osteocutaneous Flap in Reconstruction of Tibial Bone,
      Soft Tissue, and Main Artery Segmental Defects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this report was to present the use of flow-through free
      fibula osteocutaneous flap for the repair of complex tibial bone, soft tissue,
      and main artery segmental defects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Five patients with bone,
      soft tissue, and segmental anterior tibial artery defects were included. The
      lengths of injured tibial bones ranged from 4 to 7 cm. The sizes of impaired soft
      tissues were between 9 * 4 and 15 * 6 cm. The lengths of defect of anterior
      tibial artery segments ranged from 6 to 10 cm. Two patients had distal limb
      perfusion problems. Flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap was performed
      for all 5 patients. RESULTS: Patients were followed for 12 to 18 months. All
      wounds healed after 1-stage operation, and all flow-through flaps survived. The
      distal perfusion after vascular repair was normal in all patients. Superficial
      necrosis of flap edge was noted in 1 case. After the local debridement and
      partial thickness skin graft, the flap healed uneventfully, and the surgical
      operation did not increase injury to the donor site. Satisfactory bone union was
      achieved in all patients in 2 to 4 months postoperation. Enlargement of fibula
      graft was observed during follow-up from 12 to 18 months. The functions of
      adjacent joints were recovered, and all patients were able to walk normally.
      CONCLUSIONS: Flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap was shown to be an
      effective and efficient technique for repairing composite tibial bone, soft
      tissue, and main artery segmental defects. This 1-stage operation should be
      useful in clinical practice for the treatment of complex bone, soft tissue, and
      vessel defects.

PMID- 28604554
TI  - Severe Ocular Myositis After Ipilimumab Treatment for Melanoma: A Report of 2
      Cases.
AB  - Ipilimumab binds and blocks cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4, causing
      enhanced T-cell reaction, antitumor response, and significant improvement of the
      overall survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. Patients treated with
      ipilimumab can develop immune-related adverse effects, primarily dermatitis,
      colitis, hepatitis, and hypophysitis. Although, in phase I-III studies, 64.2% of
      all patients suffered from immune-related adverse effects, ocular adverse effects
      occurred in 1.3% only. In the cases reported below, 2 patients with metastatic
      melanoma developed severe ocular myositis after treatment with ipilimumab. These
      are the first 2 reports of successful treatment of this condition by use of a
      combination of methylprednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil, and, in 1 of the
      cases, additional medication with intravenous immunoglobulin.

PMID- 28604555
TI  - Immune-related Neurological Symptoms in an Adolescent Patient Receiving the
      Checkpoint Inhibitor Nivolumab.
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a novel group of immunotherapeutic agents for
      the treatment of cancer. Immune-related adverse events, including neurological
      symptoms, have been associated with these agents. We present the case of an
      adolescent with refractory Hodgkin lymphoma treated with nivolumab, a PD1
      inhibitor, who developed Hashimoto thyroiditis, posterior reversible
      encephalopathy syndrome causing seizures, as well as urinary retention,
      truncal/appendicular spasticity, dysphagia, and a progressive encephalopathy that
      was clinically consistent with a diagnosis of progressive encephalopathy with
      rigidity and myoclonus, a stiff-person-syndrome spectrum disorder. He showed
      response and ultimately full recovery to a combination of intravenous steroids,
      intravenous immunoglobulin, and plasma exchange. To our knowledge, this is the
      first documented report of an immune-related neurological reaction to nivolumab
      in an adolescent patient and expands the spectrum of known nivolumab-associated
      toxicities.

PMID- 28604556
TI  - Immunologic Response Elicited in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving a NeuGcGM3
      based Vaccine as Adjuvant Therapy.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the immunogenicity of a cancer vaccine consisting
      of the NeuGcGM3 ganglioside combined with the outer membrane protein complex of
      Neisseria meningitides to form very small size particles. The vaccine is
      administered together with Montanide ISA51, as adjuvant treatment for breast
      cancer patients. After surgical resection and standard first-line
      chemo/radiotherapy, breast cancer patients in stage II-III were enrolled in a
      phase III clinical trial and allocated into 2 strata, according to the number of
      positive lymph nodes [stratum I (0-3); stratum II (>=4)]. Subsequently, patients
      were randomly assigned to receive the vaccine or placebo. The treatment consisted
      of 5 vaccine doses (200 MUg) every 2 weeks and thereafter monthly reimmunizations
      to complete 15 doses. The vaccine was well-tolerated and high titers of
      immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G anti-NeuGcGM3 antibodies were similarly
      detected in each stratum. Hyperimmune sera were able to specifically recognize
      and kill the NeuGcGM3-expressing L1210 tumor cell line, and these functional
      capacities were significantly associated with a better clinical outcome in
      patients of stratum II. Besides, postimmune sera had the capacity to revert in
      vitro the immunosuppression induced by NeuGcGM3, as measured by the prevention of
      CD4 downmodulation on human T lymphocytes. Vaccination had no impact on the
      frequency of regulatory T cells or circulating NK cells. This study demonstrated,
      for the first time, the immunogenicity of the NeuGcGM3/VSSP/Montanide ISA 51
      vaccine in the adjuvant setting and describes the functionality of induced anti
      NeuGcGM3 antibodies as potential surrogate biomarkers of clinical benefit.

PMID- 28604558
TI  - Generating ActiGraph Counts from Raw Acceleration Recorded by an Alternative
      Monitor.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to implement an aggregation method in Matlab for
      generating ActiGraph counts from raw acceleration recorded with an alternative
      accelerometer device and to investigate the validity of the method. METHODS: The
      aggregation method, including the frequency band-pass filter, was implemented and
      optimized based on standardized sinusoidal acceleration signals generated in
      Matlab and processed in the ActiLife software. Evaluating the validity of the
      aggregation method was approached using a mechanical setup and with a 24-h free
      living recording using a convenient sample of nine subjects. Counts generated
      with the aggregation method applied to Axivity AX3 raw acceleration data were
      compared with counts generated with ActiLife from ActiGraph GT3X+ data. RESULTS:
      An optimal band-pass filter was fitted resulting in a root-mean-square error of
      25.7 counts per 10 s and mean absolute error of 15.0 counts per second across the
      full frequency range. The mechanical evaluation of the proposed aggregation
      method resulted in an absolute mean +/- SD difference of -0.11 +/- 0.97 counts
      per 10 s across all rotational frequencies compared with the original ActiGraph
      method. Applying the aggregation method to the 24-h free-living recordings
      resulted in an epoch level bias ranging from -16.2 to 0.9 counts per 10 s, a
      relative difference in the averaged physical activity (counts per minute) ranging
      from -0.5% to 4.7% with a group mean +/- SD of 2.2% +/- 1.7%, and a Cohen's kappa
      of 0.945, indicating almost a perfect agreement in the intensity classification.
      CONCLUSION: The proposed band-pass filter and aggregation method is highly valid
      for generating ActiGraph counts from raw acceleration data recorded with
      alternative devices. It would facilitate comparability between studies using
      different devices collecting raw acceleration data.

PMID- 28604557
TI  - Antigen Presentation by Individually Transferred HLA Class I Genes in HLA-A, HLA
      B, HLA-C Null Human Cell Line Generated Using the Multiplex CRISPR-Cas9 System.
AB  - Human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) are essential immune molecules that affect
      transplantation and adoptive immunotherapy. When hematopoietic stem cells or
      organs are transplanted with HLA-mismatched recipients, graft-versus-host disease
      or graft rejection can be induced by allogeneic immune responses. The function of
      each HLA allele has been studied using HLA-deficient cells generated from mutant
      cell lines or by RNA interference, zinc finger nuclease, and the CRISPR/Cas9
      system. To improve HLA gene editing, we attempted to generate an HLA class I null
      cell line using the multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 system by targeting exons 2 and 3 of
      HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C genes simultaneously. Multiplex HLA editing could induce
      the complete elimination of HLA class I genes by bi-allelic gene disruption on
      target sites which was defined by flow cytometry and target-specific polymerase
      chain reaction. Furthermore, artificial antigen-presenting cells were generated
      by transfer of a single HLA class I allele and co-stimulatory molecules into this
      novel HLA class I null cell line. Artificial antigen-presenting cells showed HLA
      restricted antigen presentation following antigen processing and were
      successfully used for the efficient generation of tumor antigen-specific
      cytotoxic T cells in vitro. The efficient editing of HLA genes may provide a
      basis for universal cellular therapies and transplantation.

PMID- 28604559
TI  - Well-Being and Arthritis Incidence: The Role of Inflammatory Mechanisms. Findings
      From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Higher levels of well-being are associated with lower levels of
      inflammatory markers in healthy populations; however, it is unclear whether this
      association translates into a reduced risk of disease. In the current study, we
      tested whether the association between well-being and inflammation results in a
      lower risk of arthritis. METHODS: The sample consisted of 5622 participants 50
      years or older from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and included six
      waves of data collection. We used a structural equation modeling approach to test
      whether inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP] or fibrinogen) mediated
      the association between well-being and arthritis risk for a 10-year follow-up
      period. RESULTS: Higher levels of well-being were associated with a decrease in
      arthritis risk (hazard ratio = 0.97 per unit, 95% confidence interval = 0.96 to
      0.98, p < .001). Of the two inflammatory markers, only CRP was associated with
      arthritis risk. Mediation analysis revealed that the indirect effect of well
      being (at wave 1) on arthritis risk via CRP (at wave 2) was significant (hazard
      ratio = 0.996, 95% confidence interval = 0.995 to 0.998, p < .001). This effect
      remained significant after adjustment for demographic and health behavior
      variables and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: CRP accounts for a small
      proportion of the association between well-being and a reduced risk of arthritis.

PMID- 28604561
TI  - Breast Milk Is a Potential Vehicle for Human Papillomavirus Transmission to Oral
      Mucosa of the Spouse.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA has been detected in breast milk, but
      its origin has remained obscure. The aim of the study was to analyze the
      prevalence and persistence of HPV in breast milk in the Finnish Family HPV cohort
      study. The association of breast milk HPV positivity with the family members'
      oral HPV status was evaluated. METHODS: We included 308 families to the study
      where the mother was breast feeding her offspring. Mothers collected the milk
      samples manually at day 3, and at months 2, 6 and 12. Cervical and/or oral
      samples were collected from all family members. HPV testing was performed using
      nested polymerase chain reaction and Luminex-based Multimetrix kit. RESULTS:
      Breast milk HPV DNA was found in 10.1% (31/308), 20.1% (39/194) and 28.8% (17/59)
      of samples at day 3, months 2 and 6, respectively. The following HPV genotypes
      were detected: 6, 16, 18, 33, 45, 53, 56, 59, 66 and 82. Breast milk HPV
      persisted among 5.5% (9/164) of the lactating mothers. No significant
      associations were detected between the persistent breast milk HPV and the
      offspring's oral incident HPV infection. Breast milk HPV positivity showed a
      strong association with the fathers' oral HPV positivity at baseline, as well as
      at 6- and 12-month follow-up visits, with odds ratio (OR) = 3.24 [95% confidence
      interval (CI): 1.04-10.12], OR = 6.34 (95% CI: 1.84-21.89) and OR = 14.25 (95%
      CI: 1.16-174.80), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: HPV in breast milk is prevalent
      among the lactating mothers and HPV can also persist in breast milk. The breast
      milk is a potential vehicle for HPV transmission to oral mucosa of the spouse but
      not of the offspring.

PMID- 28604560
TI  - Childhood Cognitive Ability and Age-Related Changes in Physical Capability From
      Midlife: Findings From a British Birth Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that higher childhood
      cognitive ability is associated with reduced risk of decline in physical
      capability in late midlife. METHODS: Participants were 1954 men and women from
      the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development with
      complete data on cognitive ability at age of 15 years and measures of grip
      strength and chair rise speed at ages of 53 and 60 to 64 years. Using multinomial
      logistic regression, associations of childhood cognitive ability with categories
      of change in grip strength and chair rise speed (i.e., decline, stable high,
      stable low, reference) were investigated. Adjustments were made for potential
      confounders from early life and adult mediators including health behaviors,
      educational level, and cognitive ability at age of 53 years. RESULTS: Higher
      childhood cognitive scores were associated with reduced risks of decline in grip
      strength and chair rise speed, for example, the sex-adjusted relative-risk ratio
      of decline (versus reference) in grip strength per 1SD increase in childhood
      cognitive score was 0.82 (95% confidence interval = 0.73-0.92). Higher childhood
      cognitive scores were also associated with reduced risk of stable low and
      increased likelihood of stable high chair rise speed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest that childhood cognitive ability may be related to decline in physical
      capability in late midlife. A number of life course pathways are implicated,
      including those linking childhood and adult cognitive ability. Future research
      aiming to identify new opportunities to prevent or minimize age-related declines
      in physical capability may benefit from considering the potential role of
      neurodevelopmental as well as neurodegenerative pathways.

PMID- 28604562
TI  - Cytokine Signatures Discriminate Highly Frequent Acute Hepatitis a Virus and
      Hepatitis E Virus Coinfections from Monoinfections in Mexican Pediatric Patients.
AB  - The frequency of hepatitis A virus and hepatitis E virus infections and their
      cytokine profiles were analyzed in Mexican pediatric patients with acute
      hepatitis. A high frequency of coinfections was found. Significant overexpression
      of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-12, IL-13 and interferon-gamma during hepatitis A virus
      monoinfections and limited secretion of cytokines in hepatitis E virus infections
      were observed.

PMID- 28604563
TI  - Risk Factors for RSV Hospitalization in Healthy Preterm Infants: A Meta-analysis.

PMID- 28604564
TI  - Acute Cerebellitis in a Child With Scrub Typhus.

PMID- 28604565
TI  - Droxidopa for Symptomatic Neurogenic Hypotension.
AB  - Droxidopa is a first-in-class, orally available, synthetic amino acid precursor
      of norepinephrine that received accelerated Food and Drug Administration approval
      in February 2014 after Orphan Drug status for a debilitating condition known as
      symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension. Neurogenic disorders often lead
      to postural hypotension as a result of poor norepinephrine release from its
      storage sites. Clinical data suggest increases in standing systolic blood
      pressure and improvements in many other markers for subjective relief in patients
      with symptomatic neurogenic hypotension who received droxidopa therapy over 1-2
      weeks. Studies evaluating the sustained effects of droxidopa are ongoing. With
      minimal drug interactions (even with carbidopa use) or adverse effects, droxidopa
      therapy can be used safely in patients with a variety of neurologic conditions;
      however, more data are needed to determine its appropriate pharmacotherapeutic
      role. In all, droxidopa is a safe and effective medication for the treatment of
      orthostatic dizziness/lightheadedness, or the "feeling that you are about to
      black out" in adult patients with symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension
      secondary to primary autonomic failure (Parkinson's disease, multiple system
      atrophy, and pure autonomic failure), dopamine beta-hydroxylase deficiency, and
      nondiabetic autonomic neuropathy.

PMID- 28604566
TI  - Novel Oral Anticoagulants in the Peri-Endoscopic Period.
AB  - Millions of patients in the United States are currently prescribed some form of
      anticoagulation therapy. Recently, novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs), including
      direct thrombin inhibitors and direct factor Xa inhibitors, have begun to replace
      warfarin as the drugs of choice for anticoagulation. As the use of these
      medications becomes more widespread, it is increasingly important for
      gastroenterologists to understand the risks associated with performing endoscopic
      procedures on patients who are taking NOACs. In this review, we provide an
      overview of the NOACs and current guidelines from international societies
      regarding the management of patients scheduled to undergo endoscopic procedures
      who are prescribed these medications. Finally, we offer a perspective on future
      studies required to adequately investigate and characterize the effects that
      these drugs have on a patient's risk for bleeding in the peri- and/or
      postprocedural timeframes.

PMID- 28604567
TI  - Epicardial Fat: Pathophysiology and Clinical Significance.
AB  - Over the last decade and a half there has been much interest in understanding the
      role of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in cardiac pathology. EAT is a visceral
      adipose deposit with putative paracrine function. In the nondiseased state, EAT
      releases cardioprotective cytokines and chemokines to the coronary vasculature.
      In pathological states, EAT releases an inflammatory cytokine profile that is
      believed to contribute to the development and progression of coronary artery
      disease (CAD). EAT imaging with echocardiography, computed tomography, and
      magnetic resonance imaging has demonstrated a correlation between EAT size and
      CAD. Small interventional studies have found evidence that the pathological state
      of EAT is at least somewhat reversible. The relationship between EAT size and the
      development and/or progression of CAD may present future clinicians with a new
      tool for risk assessment and intervention response monitoring. In this article we
      review current basic science and clinical research, comment on the role of EAT
      imaging in the management of patients at risk for CAD, and suggest areas for
      future investigation.

PMID- 28604568
TI  - Trial of Time: Review of Frailty and Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - Frailty has become more frequently recognized as an indicator of predisability.
      It has been shown to have an association with cardiovascular disease (CVD), just
      as CVD has an association with frailty, and is a predictor of hospitalization and
      mortality. The ability to identify this population provides a measure to more
      accurately assess risk and prognosis which can help the early detection of
      disease and dictate intervention. This has become even more critical over time
      with the advent of various therapeutic interventions that are geared toward
      patients who are poor candidates for aggressive surgical measures, such as
      transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The American Heart Association has called
      for a better understanding of frailty as it relates to CVD in the elderly.

PMID- 28604569
TI  - Use of four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate in the reversal of warfarin
      induced and nonvitamin K antagonist-related coagulopathy.
AB  - : To evaluate the efficacy of international normalized ratio (INR) reversal using
      four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCC) in nonmedication-induced
      coagulopathy. We performed a single-site, retrospective cohort study of patients
      receiving off-label use of 4F-PCC. Cohorts included liver dysfunction if they had
      acute liver decompensation or cirrhosis without other causative factors of liver
      failure such as sepsis, coagulopathy of acute sepsis (CAS) if they had
      documentation of sepsis and no underlying liver disorder, known factor
      deficiencies, or medication-induced coagulopathy, or warfarin if they were taking
      warfarin. Patients with unknown medication or direct oral anticoagulant usage
      were excluded. 4F-PCC was administered 32 times in 26 patients for nonvitamin-K
      antagonist related coagulopathy (11 CAS and 21 liver dysfunction) and 47
      administrations were in warfarin patients. Liver dysfunction patients had a mean
      model for end-stage liver disease score of 28 +/- 10. CAS and warfarin patients
      had significant INR reductions (DeltaINR 1.9, P < 0.01; DeltaINR 3.9, P < 0.01,
      respectively). Liver dysfunction patients mean change in INR trended toward
      significance (DeltaINR 0.7, P = 0.09). Patients who received 4F-PCC based upon
      previously established dosing guidelines for moderate elevations in INR (20-30
      IU/kg) doing demonstrated similar reductions in INR between CAS and warfarin
      patients (DeltaINR 1.3, P = 0.03, DeltaINR 1.0 P < 0.01, respectively). 4F-PCC
      significantly reduces the INR in CAS patients and trended toward significant
      reductions in liver dysfunction patients. Adequately powered, prospective trials
      are needed to demonstrate 4F-PCC efficacy in reversal of these coagulopathies.

PMID- 28604570
TI  - Successful Treatment of Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device Thrombosis.
AB  - Pump thrombosis represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in
      patients on continuous flow ventricular assist devices (CF-VAD). Pump thrombosis
      in the pediatric CF-VAD population has been reported between 11% and 44%, with
      the largest reported series from the PediMACS registry reporting a rate of
      approximately 15%. We report our early experience with four pediatric patients
      who developed pump thrombosis on a CF-VAD. Our limited experience suggests that
      the treatment of pediatric VAD thrombosis can be approached with similar
      principles to the adult population. Our current strategy includes:i. Initiating
      treatment with bivalirudin for an isolated rise in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
      with no corresponding rapid rise in plasma-free hemoglobin which may prevent
      further progression.ii. Treatment with a low-dose systemic tissue plasminogen
      activator (TPA) protocol as opposed to targeted therapy via catheter intervention
      if bivalirudin fails.iii. If there are concerns with respect to the impact of
      hemolysis on kidney function or the patient is close to a previous surgery,
      device exchange can be considered.The balance between achieving appropriate
      anticoagulation/antiplatelet therapy in the face of bleeding/hemorrhagic
      complications remains a challenge. There is a need for larger studies in the
      pediatric population to outline an algorithm for the definitive management of VAD
      thrombosis.

PMID- 28604571
TI  - HVAD Waveform Analysis as a Noninvasive Marker of Pulmonary Capillary Wedge
      Pressure: A First Step Toward the Development of a Smart Left Ventricular Assist
      Device Pump.
AB  - Flow waveforms are an important feature of the HVAD left ventricular assist
      device (LVAD) that provides information about HVAD function and patient
      hemodynamics. We assessed the properties of one specific aspect of the waveform,
      the slope of the ventricular filling phase (VFP), and its correlation with
      pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP). A total of 101 screenshots from the
      HVAD monitor and simultaneous hemodynamic measurements were obtained
      simultaneously during sequential stages of invasive hemodynamic ramp studies.
      Each screenshot was digitized (IGOR Pro, WaveMetrics Inc., Oswego, OR) and
      properties of the flow waveforms including instantaneous flow and rate of change
      of flow were analyzed. Ventricular filling phase slope (VFPS) was calculated for
      each screenshot and correlated to PCWP. Ventricular filling phase slope was
      significantly higher in patients with PCWP >= 18 mm Hg than in patients with PCWP
      < 18 mm Hg [6.25 (5.84-7.37) L/min/s vs. 3.27 (2.00-4.69) L/min/s, p <= 0.0001].
      A VFPS threshold of 5.8 L/min/s predicted a PCWP >= 18 mm Hg with a sensitivity
      of 87% and specificity of 95% (AUC 0.95). Ventricular filling phase slope of the
      HVAD flow waveform is a novel noninvasive parameter that correlates with PCWP and
      can discriminate elevated versus normal or low PCWP. Automated reporting of this
      parameter may help clinical assessment and management of patients supported by an
      HVAD and may serve as the basis of a smart LVAD pump that can adapt in response
      to changes in a patient's physiology.

PMID- 28604572
TI  - Food-Induced Red Eye.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article addresses the etiology of red eyes and a novel case of food
      induced red eye. CASE REPORT: An 82-year-old white male patient reported 50 years
      of episodes of severe unilateral bulbar injection in either eye following
      ingestion of certain foods. Thinned scleras in this particular patient made the
      injection in his eyes more observable. Photodocumentation of this reaction after
      he ingested these foods is shown. CONCLUSIONS: It is hypothesized that this is a
      new explanation for an intermittent, unilateral, self-limited red eye-a food
      induced red eye.

PMID- 28604573
TI  - Pupillometry as a Screening Tool to Detect Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our objective was to evaluate the diagnostic value of a handheld
      pupillometer in differentiating eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXS) from
      healthy controls. METHODS: This population-based, cross-sectional study was
      conducted in the province of Eskisehir, Turkey. Subjects 40 years of age and
      older were randomly recruited using stratified two-stage cluster sampling from
      the database of the Turkish Statistical Institute office in Eskisehir.
      Recruitment took place between June and October 2014. The inclusion criteria were
      healthy subjects who did not have a previous diagnosis of glaucoma or other
      issues affecting pupil dynamics. After an extensive ophthalmic examination,
      pupillometry was performed under standard photopic room lighting conditions.
      After pupillometry, the pupil was dilated and digital images of the anterior
      segment were taken for confirmation of PXS. An inter-eye pupil diameter
      difference of >=0.4 mm was defined as pupil asymmetry. RESULTS: Of the 2356
      invited subjects, 2017 agreed to participate (85.6%), and 1559 subjects were
      eligible for the study. An age-matched subgroup consisting of 529 healthy
      controls was randomly selected to compare with the 60 subjects who were diagnosed
      with PXS. The mean pupil diameters of subjects with PXS and healthy controls were
      3.57 +/- 0.68 mm and 3.68 +/- 0.63 mm, respectively (P = .652). In the ROC
      analysis, the precision of pupil diameter in discriminating PXS was low (AUC
      0.56, sensitivity 14%, specificity 94%). Pupil asymmetry increased the chances of
      having PXS by 3.46-fold. CONCLUSIONS: Pupillometry performed poorly in the
      detection of PXS scoring a positive predictive value of 26%.

PMID- 28604574
TI  - Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Mortality in Pediatric Cardiac
      Surgery Patients With Genetic Conditions: A Multicenter Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Congenital heart disease is commonly a manifestation of genetic
      conditions. Surgery and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were withheld in
      the past from some patients with genetic conditions. We hypothesized that
      surgical care of children with genetic conditions has increased over the last
      decade, but their cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use remains lower
      and mortality greater. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Patients
      admitted to the Pediatric Health Information System database 18 years old or
      younger with cardiac surgery during 2003-2014. Genetic conditions identified by
      International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition codes were grouped as
      follows: trisomy 21, trisomy 13 or 18, 22q11 deletion, and all "other" genetic
      conditions and compared with patients without genetic condition. PATIENTS: A
      total of 95,253 patients met study criteria, no genetic conditions (85%), trisomy
      21 (10%), trisomy 13 or 18 (0.2%), 22q11 deletion (1%), and others (5%).
      INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Annual surgical cases did not
      vary over time. Compared to patients without genetic conditions, trisomy 21
      patients, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use was just over half (odds ratio,
      0.54), but mortality with and without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were
      similar. In trisomy 13 or 18 patients, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use
      was similar to those without genetic condition, but all five treated with
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation died. 22q11 patients compared with those
      without genetic condition had similar extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use,
      but greater odds of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation mortality (odds ratio,
      3.44). Other genetic conditions had significantly greater extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation use (odds ratio, 1.22), mortality with extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation (odds ratio, 1.42), and even greater mortality odds without (odds
      ratio, 2.62). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of children undergoing cardiac surgery
      who have genetic conditions did not increase during the study. Excluding trisomy
      13 or 18, all groups of genetic conditions received and benefited from
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, although extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      mortality was greater for those with 22q11 deletion and other genetic conditions.

PMID- 28604575
TI  - My Child, My Patient.
AB  - Many times, we make decisions in our lives that have unanticipated impacts.
      Decisions made can change our careers and outlook toward life. As a younger
      doctor, I considered illness and disease abstractions, and good management with
      optimal outcomes for the patient was our focus, as we strive toward our
      professional goals. But having experienced the real pain and helplessness that
      patients and their parents undergo during critical illnesses, the importance of
      empathy together with the knowledge and skills needed to treat a child should
      never be undervalued.

PMID- 28604576
TI  - Diagnosing Large Vestibular Aqueduct: Radiological Review of High-Resolution CT
      Versus High-Resolution Volumetric MRI.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic yield of high-resolution volumetric T2
      weighted MRI (HRT2-MRI) with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) for
      diagnosis of large vestibular aqueduct (LVA). STUDY DESIGN: Three board-certified
      neuroradiologists performed an independent, blinded radiological review for
      diagnosing LVA with 2:1 age-matched controls on patients with both HRCT and HRT2
      MRI imaging. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: All patients between
      2002 and 2016 with hearing loss who underwent both HRCT and HRT2-MRI and were
      diagnosed with LVA on either modality. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Concordance rate
      for LVA between HRCT and HRT2-MRI. RESULTS: Concordance rate for HRCT and HRT2
      MRI for diagnosing LVA was 88% (124/141) when assessing both the midpoint and
      external aperture diameters. Fifteen ears had LVA on computed tomography (CT),
      but not on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); in comparison, two ears had LVA on
      MRI, but not on CT (p = 0.002). Excellent inter-rater reliability among the three
      radiologists was demonstrated. CONCLUSION: Historically, HRCT has been the
      imaging modality of choice for diagnosing LVA. Although a higher concordance rate
      of HRT2-MRI was found compared with previous studies utilizing earlier MRI
      technology, HRCT still detected a larger number of patients with clinically
      significant hearing loss compared with MRI. Given the high concordance rate and
      efficacy of both modalities in diagnosing LVA, the ultimate decision of which
      modality to choose may depend on other patient-specific and clinical factors.

PMID- 28604577
TI  - Pain After Cochlear Implantation: An Unusual Complication?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze clinical signs and better define the underestimated long
      term pain after implantation, to discuss etiological hypothesis, and to propose
      our department treatment algorithm and results. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING:
      Retrospective review of children implanted with complaints of atypical pain in
      the area of device implantation, not in the immediate postoperative period, more
      than or equal to 4 on the Visual Analog Pain Scale (VAPS: 0-10) in the ENT
      pediatric department of Trousseau and Necker Enfants Malades Hospitals between
      1998 and 2015. PATIENTS: All patients had full clinical and electrophysiological
      checking, and had normal functioning device. Exclusion criteria were: related
      history of local trauma, ongoing skin infection, magnet displacement, and device
      failure. INTERVENTION(S): Treatments and outcomes were reviewed, with a minimum
      of 6 months follow up. Two groups were analyzed: Group PS: pain associated with
      local swelling (n = 9) and Group P: isolated pain (n = 11). The first-line
      treatment was medical. In Group PS, anti-inflammatory, pain medication, and
      antibiotics were used at the same time; in Group P, only anti-inflammatory and
      pain medication was used. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Success was defined when
      complete resolution of pain and swelling (pain scale = 0). RESULTS: Twenty cases
      out of the 1,448 implanted patients in our department (1.4%) were included.
      Average age at first occurrence of pain was 15 years (3-22 yr). Mean delay
      between surgery and pain complaint was 5.8 years (0.25-14). Mean follow up was 2
      years (0.5-5 yr).First line medical treatment was successful in eight cases
      (40%). Of the 12 patients who failed medical treatment and required surgery, two
      had resolution of pain with magnet change and 10 had resolution with
      reimplantation. (5/9 patients in Group PS and 7/11 in Group P).Microbiology was
      performed in 10/20 cases and analysis of explanted devices was performed in 7/10
      cases. Positive microbiological culture of soft tissues was positive for 3/10
      cases, biofilm was positive for 5/7 cases.Pain in the area of the implanted
      device can occur shortly after surgery or on long-term follow up. It has been
      seen in all device types. Pain may be clinically underestimated, as low VAPS
      grade (<5) or intermittent pain may be not reported. Low-grade infections might
      be a hypothesis to explain these pain. Management may include medical or surgical
      intervention. CONCLUSION: Pain in the implanted area can be a major complication
      leading to implant non-use. Rate may be underestimated because of the lack of
      medical report. At explantation, we recommend systematic evaluation of biofilm
      and device failure regardless of the suspected etiology of the pain.

PMID- 28604578
TI  - Long-term Outcomes of Cochlear Implantation in Children With Congenital
      Cytomegalovirus Infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of the developmental delay often observed in
      children with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection on the improvement of
      language understanding after cochlear implantation (CI). STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective chart review. PATIENTS: Sixteen children with severe and/or
      profound hearing loss due to congenital CMV infection (CMV group) and 107
      congenitally deaf children (168 ears) without CMV infection as the cause of
      deafness (non-CMV group). Mean age at which patients underwent CI was 2.9 years
      in both groups. The mean follow-up period was 7.8 versus 8.2 years, respectively.
      INTERVENTIONS/MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Enjoji Scale of Infant Analytical
      Development was used to evaluate/compare pre- and postoperative hearing level,
      word recognition score, speech discrimination score, and language production and
      perception skills. The Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised was used to assess
      vocabulary understanding skill. Correlation between the final vocabulary
      understanding skill assessment and several factors was also examined. RESULTS:
      Improvement in hearing thresholds (mean: 106.0 dB) was greater after the first
      CI, (27-45 dB; mean: 33.8 dB) compared with hearing aid (48-74 dB; mean: 63.1
      dB). Similarly, language perception and production were better in the CMV group.
      However, in the long term, differences between good and poor cases became
      prominent, especially in children with motor or cognitive delay and brain
      abnormalities who performed poorly in the CMV group. CONCLUSION: Long-term
      language perception and production after CI were overall satisfactory in
      congenital CMV-deafened children. CI was effective, particularly in the absence
      of CMV-induced disorders. However, this effectiveness was limited in those with
      motor or cognitive delay.

PMID- 28604579
TI  - How to Avoid a Learning Curve in Stapedotomy: A Standardized Surgical Technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, whether a learning curve for beginners in stapedotomy can
      be avoided by using a prosthesis with thermal memory-shape attachment in
      combination with a standardized laser-assisted surgical technique. STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective case review. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Fifty
      eight ears were operated by three experienced surgeons and compared with a group
      of 12 cases operated by a beginner in stapedotomy. INTERVENTION: Stapedotomy.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Difference of pure-tone audiometry thresholds measured
      before and after surgery. RESULTS: The average postoperative gain for air
      conduction in the frequencies below 2 kHz was 20 to 25 dB and decreased for the
      higher frequencies. Using the Mann-Whitney-U test for comparing mean gain between
      experienced and inexperienced surgeons showed no significant difference (p =
      0.281 at 4 kHz and p > 0.7 for the other frequencies). A Spearman rank
      correlation of the postoperative gain for air- and bone-conduction thresholds was
      obtained at each test frequency for the first 12 patients consecutively treated
      with a thermal memory-shape attachment prosthesis by two experienced and one
      inexperienced surgeon. This analysis does not support the hypothesis of a
      "learning effect" that should be associated with an improved outcome for
      successively treated patients. CONCLUSION: It is possible to avoid a learning
      curve in stapes surgery by applying a thermal memory-shape prosthesis in a
      standardized laser-assisted surgical procedure.

PMID- 28604580
TI  - Solidification and Biotoxicity Assessment of Thermally Treated Municipal Solid
      Waste Incineration (MSWI) Fly Ash.
AB  - In the present work, thermal treatment was used to stabilize municipal solid
      waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash, which was considered hazardous waste. Toxicity
      characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) results indicated that, after the
      thermal process, the leaching concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Zn decreased from
      8.08 to 0.16 mg/L, 0.12 to 0.017 mg/L and 0.39 to 0.1 mg/L, respectively, which
      well met the limits in GB5085.3-2007 and GB16689-2008. Thermal treatment showed a
      negative effect on the leachability of Cr with concentrations increasing from 0.1
      to 1.28 mg/L; nevertheless, it was still under the limitations. XRD analysis
      suggested that, after thermal treatments, CaO was newly generated. CaO was a main
      contribution to higher Cr leaching concentrations owing to the formation of Cr
      (VI)-compounds such as CaCrO4. SEM/EDS tests revealed that particle adhesion,
      agglomeration, and grain growth happened during the thermal process and thus
      diminished the leachability of Pb, Cu, and Zn, but these processes had no
      significant influence on the leaching of Cr. A microbial assay demonstrated that
      all thermally treated samples yet possessed strong bactericidal activity
      according to optical density (OD) test results. Among all samples, the OD value
      of raw fly ash (RFA) was lowest followed by FA700-10, FA900-10, and FA1100-10 in
      an increasing order, which indicated that the sequence of the biotoxicity for
      these samples was RFA > FA700-10 > FA900-10 > FA1100-10. This preliminary study
      indicated that, apart from TCLP criteria, the biotoxicity assessment was
      indispensable for evaluating the effect of thermal treatment for MSWI fly ash.

PMID- 28604581
TI  - Vascular TOS-Creating a Protocol and Sticking to It.
AB  - Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) describes a set of disorders that arise from
      compression of the neurovascular structures that exit the thorax and enter the
      upper extremity. This can present as one of three subtypes: neurogenic, venous,
      or arterial. The objective of this section is to outline our current practice at
      a single, high-volume institution for venous and arterial TOS. VTOS: Patients who
      present within two weeks of acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are treated with
      anticoagulation, venography, and thrombolysis. Those who present later are
      treated with a transaxillary first rib resection, then a two-week post-operative
      venoplasty. All patients are anticoagulated for 2 weeks after the post-operative
      venogram. Those with recurrent thrombosis or residual subclavian vein stenosis
      undergo repeat thrombolysis or venoplasty, respectively. ATOS: In patients with
      acute limb ischemia, we proceed with thrombolysis or open thrombectomy if there
      is evidence of prolonged ischemia. We then perform a staged transaxillary first
      rib resection followed by reconstruction of the subclavian artery. Patients who
      present with claudication undergo routine arterial duplex and CT angiogram to
      determine the pathology of the subclavian artery. They then undergo decompression
      and subclavian artery repair in a similar staged manner.

PMID- 28604582
TI  - Prediction of Driver's Intention of Lane Change by Augmenting Sensor Information
      Using Machine Learning Techniques.
AB  - Driver assistance systems have become a major safety feature of modern passenger
      vehicles. The advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) is one of the active
      safety systems to improve the vehicle control performance and, thus, the safety
      of the driver and the passengers. To use the ADAS for lane change control, rapid
      and correct detection of the driver's intention is essential. This study proposes
      a novel preprocessing algorithm for the ADAS to improve the accuracy in
      classifying the driver's intention for lane change by augmenting basic
      measurements from conventional on-board sensors. The information on the vehicle
      states and the road surface condition is augmented by using an artificial neural
      network (ANN) models, and the augmented information is fed to a support vector
      machine (SVM) to detect the driver's intention with high accuracy. The
      feasibility of the developed algorithm was tested through driving simulator
      experiments. The results show that the classification accuracy for the driver's
      intention can be improved by providing an SVM model with sufficient driving
      information augmented by using ANN models of vehicle dynamics.

PMID- 28604583
TI  - A Sparse Bayesian Approach for Forward-Looking Superresolution Radar Imaging.
AB  - This paper presents a sparse superresolution approach for high cross-range
      resolution imaging of forward-looking scanning radar based on the Bayesian
      criterion. First, a novel forward-looking signal model is established as the
      product of the measurement matrix and the cross-range target distribution, which
      is more accurate than the conventional convolution model. Then, based on the
      Bayesian criterion, the widely-used sparse regularization is considered as the
      penalty term to recover the target distribution. The derivation of the cost
      function is described, and finally, an iterative expression for minimizing this
      function is presented. Alternatively, this paper discusses how to estimate the
      single parameter of Gaussian noise. With the advantage of a more accurate model,
      the proposed sparse Bayesian approach enjoys a lower model error. Meanwhile, when
      compared with the conventional superresolution methods, the proposed approach
      shows high cross-range resolution and small location error. The superresolution
      results for the simulated point target, scene data, and real measured data are
      presented to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach.

PMID- 28604584
TI  - Lignin from Micro- to Nanosize: Production Methods.
AB  - Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose. It has long been
      obtained as a by-product of cellulose production in pulp and paper production,
      but had rather low added-value applications. A changing paper market and the
      emergence of biorefinery projects should generate vast amounts of lignin with the
      potential of value addition. Nanomaterials offer unique properties and the
      preparation of lignin nanoparticles and other nanostructures has therefore gained
      interest as a promising technique to obtain value-added lignin products. Due to
      lignin's high structural and chemical heterogeneity, methods must be adapted to
      these different types. This review focuses on the ability of different formation
      methods to cope with the huge variety of lignin types and points out which
      particle characteristics can be achieved by which method. The current research's
      main focus is on pH and solvent-shifting methods where the latter can yield solid
      and hollow particles. Solvent shifting also showed the capability to cope with
      different lignin types and solvents and antisolvents, respectively. However,
      process conditions have to be adapted to every type of lignin and reduction of
      solvent demand or the integration in a biorefinery process chain must be focused.

PMID- 28604585
TI  - Development and Validation of a New Near-Infrared Sensor to Measure Polyethylene
      Glycol (PEG) Concentration in Water.
AB  - A near-infrared absorption based laser sensor has been designed and validated for
      the real-time measurement of polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentration. The
      wavelength was selected after the determination of the absorption spectrum of
      deionised water and PEG solutions using a Varian Cary 6000i spectrophotometer, in
      order to limit the influence of PEG molecular mass on the absorption measurement.
      With this new sensor, the water is treated as the attenuating species and the
      addition of PEG in water reduces the absorbance of the medium. The concept was
      validated using three different PEG types (PEG 6,000, 20,000, and 35,000) and it
      was found that the results follow Beer Lambert's law. The influence of
      temperature was assessed by testing the PEG 20,000 at four different temperatures
      that could be encountered in a laboratory environment. The data show a slight
      temperature influence (increase of absorbance by 8% when the temperature rises
      from about 20 to about 29 degrees). Following the validation phase conducted ex
      situ, a prototype of an immersible sensor was built and calibrated for in situ
      measurements.

PMID- 28604586
TI  - Influenza-Omics and the Host Response: Recent Advances and Future Prospects.
AB  - Influenza A viruses (IAV) continually evolve and have the capacity to cause
      global pandemics. Because IAV represents an ongoing threat, identifying novel
      therapies and host innate immune factors that contribute to IAV pathogenesis is
      of considerable interest. This review summarizes the relevant literature as it
      relates to global host responses to influenza infection at both the proteome and
      transcriptome level. The various-omics infection systems that include but are not
      limited to ferrets, mice, pigs, and even the controlled infection of humans are
      reviewed. Discussion focuses on recent advances, remaining challenges, and
      knowledge gaps as it relates to influenza-omics infection outcomes.

PMID- 28604587
TI  - Optimization of Perovskite Gas Sensor Performance: Characterization, Measurement
      and Experimental Design.
AB  - Eight different types of nanostructured perovskites based on YCoO 3 with
      different chemical compositions are prepared as gas sensor materials, and they
      are studied with two target gases NO 2 and CO. Moreover, a statistical approach
      is adopted to optimize their performance. The innovative contribution is carried
      out through a split-plot design planning and modeling, also involving random
      effects, for studying Metal Oxide Semiconductors (MOX) sensors in a robust design
      context. The statistical results prove the validity of the proposed approach; in
      fact, for each material type, the variation of the electrical resistance achieves
      a satisfactory optimized value conditional to the working temperature and by
      controlling for the gas concentration variability. Just to mention some results,
      the sensing material YCo 0 . 9 Pd 0 . 1 O 3 (Mt1) achieved excellent solutions
      during the optimization procedure. In particular, Mt1 resulted in being useful
      and feasible for the detection of both gases, with optimal response equal to
      +10.23% and working temperature at 312 ? C for CO (284 ppm, from design) and
      response equal to -14.17% at 185 ? C for NO 2 (16 ppm, from design). Analogously,
      for NO 2 (16 ppm, from design), the material type YCo 0 . 9 O 2 . 85 + 1 % Pd
      (Mt8) allows for optimizing the response value at - 15 . 39 % with a working
      temperature at 181 . 0 ? C, whereas for YCo 0 . 95 Pd 0 . 05 O 3 (Mt3), the best
      response value is achieved at - 15 . 40 % with the temperature equal to 204 ? C.

PMID- 28604588
TI  - Docosahexaenoic Acid Induces Expression of Heme Oxygenase-1 and NAD(P)H:quinone
      Oxidoreductase through Activation of Nrf2 in Human Mammary Epithelial Cells.
AB  - Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid abundant in fish oils, has
      diverse health beneficial effects, such as anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory,
      neuroprotective, and chemopreventive activities. In this study, we found that DHA
      induced expression of two representative antioxidant/cytoprotective enzymes, heme
      oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), in human mammary
      epithealial (MCF-10A) cells. DHA-induced upregulation of these enzymes was
      accompanied by enhanced translocation of the redox-sensitive transcription factor
      Nrf2 into the nucleus and its binding to antioxidant response element. Nrf2 gene
      silencing by siRNA abolished the DHA-induced expression of HO-1 and NQO1
      proteins. When MCF-10A cells were transfected with mutant constructs in which the
      cysteine 151 or 288 residue of Keap1 was replaced by serine, DHA-induced
      expression of HO-1 and NQO1 was markedly reduced. Moreover, DHA activated protein
      kinase C (PKC)delta and induced Nrf2 phosphorylation. DHA-induced phosphorylation
      of Nrf2 was abrogated by the pharmacological PKCdelta inhibitor rottlerin or
      siRNA knockdown of its gene expression. The antioxidants N-acetyl-l-cysteine and
      Trolox attenuated DHA-induced activation of PKCdelta, phosphorylation of Nrf2,
      and and its target protein expression. In conclusion, DHA activates Nrf2,
      possibly through modification of critical Keap1 cysteine 288 residue and PKCdelta
      mediated phosphorylation of Nrf2, leading to upregulation of HO-1 and NQO1
      expression.

PMID- 28604589
TI  - Fibre-Related Dietary Patterns: Socioeconomic Barriers to Adequate Fibre Intake
      in Polish Adolescents. A Short Report.
AB  - There is no complete explanation for the association between socioeconomic status
      (SES), fibre, and whole diet described by dietary patterns. The aim of this short
      report was to increase the understanding of adolescent dietary patterns related
      to fibre in their social context. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving
      1176 adolescents aged 13-18 years from central and north-eastern Poland. The
      overall SES was composed of five single factors: place of residence, self
      declared economic situation of family, self-declared economic situation of
      household, paternal and maternal education. The consumption frequency of nine
      dietary fibre sources was collected using Block's questionnaire and was expressed
      in points. Fibre dietary patterns (DPs) were drawn by cluster analysis and odds
      ratios (ORs) adjusted for age, sex, and BMI were calculated. Three fibre-related
      DPs were identified: "High-fibre" (mean frequency of total fibre intake 22.7
      points; range: 0-36), "Average-fibre" (17.7 points), "Low-fibre" (14.6 points).
      The "High-fibre" DP was characterized by a relatively higher frequency
      consumption of white bread, fruit, fruit or vegetable juices, potatoes, green
      salad and prepared vegetables, and a moderate frequency consumption of high-fibre
      or bran cereals and wholegrain bread compared to the "Low-fibre" DP. The "Average
      fibre" DP was characterized by a relatively higher frequency consumption of
      wholegrain bread and high-fibre or bran cereals and a moderate frequency
      consumption of fruit, fruit or vegetable juices, green salad and prepared
      vegetables compared to the "Low-fibre" DP. Less likely to adhere to the "High
      fibre" DP were adolescents with low SES (OR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.39-0.77) or average
      SES (0.58, 95% CI: 0.41-0.81) in comparison with high SES (reference) as a result
      of elementary or secondary paternal or maternal education, rural residence, and
      lower household economic situation. Similar associations were found for the
      "Average-fibre" DP. Low and average socioeconomic status resulting from lower
      parents' education, rural residence, and lower economic situation were inversely
      associated with achieving a relatively high fibre intake in Polish adolescents.
      Consuming single high-fibre foods was not sufficient to achieve a high-fibre diet
      in Polish adolescents. These data suggest that the consumption of a wide variety
      of dietary fibre sources-both relatively high-fibre and low-fibre foods-may help
      Polish adolescents in achieving a relatively high-fibre diet.

PMID- 28604590
TI  - Lithium in Drinking Water and Incidence of Suicide: A Nationwide Individual-Level
      Cohort Study with 22 Years of Follow-Up.
AB  - Suicide is a major public health concern. High-dose lithium is used to stabilize
      mood and prevent suicide in patients with affective disorders. Lithium occurs
      naturally in drinking water worldwide in much lower doses, but with large
      geographical variation. Several studies conducted at an aggregate level have
      suggested an association between lithium in drinking water and a reduced risk of
      suicide; however, a causal relation is uncertain. Individual-level register-based
      data on the entire Danish adult population (3.7 million individuals) from 1991 to
      2012 were linked with a moving five-year time-weighted average (TWA) lithium
      exposure level from drinking water hypothesizing an inverse relationship. The
      mean lithium level was 11.6 MUg/L ranging from 0.6 to 30.7 MUg/L. The suicide
      rate decreased from 29.7 per 100,000 person-years at risk in 1991 to 18.4 per
      100,000 person-years in 2012. We found no significant indication of an
      association between increasing five-year TWA lithium exposure level and
      decreasing suicide rate. The comprehensiveness of using individual-level data and
      spatial analyses with 22 years of follow-up makes a pronounced contribution to
      previous findings. Our findings demonstrate that there does not seem to be a
      protective effect of exposure to lithium on the incidence of suicide with levels
      below 31 MUg/L in drinking water.

PMID- 28604591
TI  - Influence of Hot and Cold Environments on the Regulation of Energy Balance
      Following a Single Exercise Session: A Mini-Review.
AB  - Understanding the regulation of human food intake in response to an acute
      exercise session is of importance for interventions with athletes and soldiers,
      as well as overweight individuals. However, the influence of hot and cold
      environments on this crucial function for the regulation of body mass and motor
      performance has not been summarized. The purpose of this review was to
      exhaustively search the literature on the effect of ambient temperature during an
      exercise session on the subsequent subjective feeling of appetite, energy intake
      (EI) and its regulation. In the absence of stress due to environmental
      temperature, exercise-induced energy expenditure is not compensated by EI during
      an ad libitum meal following the session, probably due to decreased acylated
      ghrelin and increased peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY), glucagon-like peptide 1
      (GLP-1), and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) levels. No systematic analysis has been
      yet made for major alterations of relative EI in cold and hot environments.
      However, observed eating behaviors are altered (proportion of solid/liquid food,
      carbohydrate/fat) and physiological regulation appears also to be altered.
      Anorexigenic signals, particularly PYY, appear to further increase in hot
      environments than in those that are thermoneutral. Ghrelin and leptin may be
      involved in the observed increase in EI after exercise in the cold, in parallel
      with increased energy expenditure. The potential influence of ambient thermal
      environment on eating behaviors after an exercise session should not be
      neglected.

PMID- 28604592
TI  - Carbohydrates from Sources with a Higher Glycemic Index during Adolescence: Is
      Evening Rather than Morning Intake Relevant for Risk Markers of Type 2 Diabetes
      in Young Adulthood?
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study investigated whether glycemic index (GI) or glycemic load
      (GL) of morning or evening intake and morning or evening carbohydrate intake from
      low- or higher-GI food sources (low-GI-CHO, higher-GI-CHO) during adolescence are
      relevant for risk markers of type 2 diabetes in young adulthood. Methods:
      Analyses included DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed
      (DONALD) study participants who had provided at least two 3-day weighed dietary
      records (median: 7 records) during adolescence and one blood sample in young
      adulthood. Using multivariable linear regression analyses, estimated morning and
      evening GI, GL, low-GI-CHO (GI < 55) and higher-GI-CHO (GI >= 55) were related to
      insulin sensitivity (N = 252), hepatic steatosis index (HSI), fatty liver index
      (FLI) (both N = 253), and a pro-inflammatory-score (N = 249). Results: Morning
      intakes during adolescence were not associated with any of the adult risk
      markers. A higher evening GI during adolescence was related to an increased HSI
      in young adulthood (p = 0.003). A higher consumption of higher-GI-CHO in the
      evening was associated with lower insulin sensitivity (p = 0.046) and an
      increased HSI (p = 0.006), while a higher evening intake of low-GI-CHO was
      related to a lower HSI (p = 0.009). Evening intakes were not related to FLI or
      the pro-inflammatory-score (all p > 0.1). Conclusion: Avoidance of large amounts
      of carbohydrates from higher-GI sources in the evening should be considered in
      preventive strategies to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood.

PMID- 28604593
TI  - Melatonin Modulates Neuronal Cell Death Induced by Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress
      under Insulin Resistance Condition.
AB  - Insulin resistance (IR) is an important stress factor in the central nervous
      system, thereby aggravating neuropathogenesis and triggering cognitive decline.
      Melatonin, which is an antioxidant phytochemical and synthesized by the pineal
      gland, has multiple functions in cellular responses such as apoptosis and
      survival against stress. This study investigated whether melatonin modulates the
      signaling of neuronal cell death induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress
      under IR condition using SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Apoptosis cell death
      signaling markers (cleaved Poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP), p53, and Bax)
      and ER stress markers (phosphorylated eIF2alpha (p-eIF2alpha), ATF4, CHOP, p
      IRE1, and spliced XBP1 (sXBP1)) were measured using reverse transcription-PCR,
      quantitative PCR, and western blottings. Immunofluorescence staining was also
      performed for p-ASK1 and p-IRE1. The mRNA or protein expressions of cell death
      signaling markers and ER stress markers were increased under IR condition, but
      significantly attenuated by melatonin treatment. Insulin-induced activation of
      ASK1 (p-ASK1) was also dose dependently attenuated by melatonin treatment. The
      regulatory effect of melatonin on neuronal cells under IR condition was
      associated with ASK1 signaling. In conclusion, the result suggested that
      melatonin may alleviate ER stress under IR condition, thereby regulating neuronal
      cell death signaling.

PMID- 28604594
TI  - Hemi-Synthesis and Anti-Oomycete Activity of Analogues of Isocordoin.
AB  - An efficient synthesis of a series of 4'-oxyalkyl-isocordoin analogues (2-8) is
      reported for the first time. Their structures were confirmed by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR,
      and HRMS. Their anti-oomycete activity was evaluated by mycelium and spores
      inhibition assay against two selected pathogenic oomycetes strains: Saprolegnia
      parasitica and Saprolegnia australis. The entire series of isocordoin derivatives
      (except compound 7) showed high inhibitory activity against these oomycete
      strains. Among them, compound 2 exhibited strong activity, with minimum
      inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum oomyceticidal concentration (MOC)
      values of 50 ug/mL and 75 ug/mL, respectively. The results showed that 4'
      oxyalkylated analogues of isocordoin could be potential anti-oomycete agents.

PMID- 28604596
TI  - Optimized Photodynamic Therapy with Multifunctional Cobalt Magnetic
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been adopted as a minimally invasive approach for
      the localized treatment of superficial tumors, representing an improvement in the
      care of cancer patients. To improve the efficacy of PDT, it is important to first
      select an optimized nanocarrier and determine the influence of light parameters
      on the photosensitizing agent. In particular, much more knowledge concerning the
      importance of fluence and exposure time is required to gain a better
      understanding of the photodynamic efficacy. In the present study, we synthesized
      novel folic acid-(FA) and hematoporphyrin (HP)-conjugated multifunctional
      magnetic nanoparticles (CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs), which were characterized as effective
      anticancer reagents for PDT, and evaluated the influence of incubation time and
      light exposure time on the photodynamic anticancer activities of CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs
      in prostate cancer cells (PC-3 cells). The results indicated that the same
      fluence at different exposure times resulted in changes in the anticancer
      activities on PC-3 cells as well as in reactive oxygen species formation. In
      addition, an increase of the fluence showed an improvement for cell photo
      inactivation. Therefore, we have established optimized conditions for new
      multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles with direct application for improving PDT
      for cancer patients.

PMID- 28604597
TI  - Effect of Light- and Dark-Germination on the Phenolic Biosynthesis, Phytochemical
      Profiles, and Antioxidant Activities in Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.) Sprouts.
AB  - Sweet corn is one of the most widely planted crops in China. Sprouting of grains
      is a new processes to increase the nutritional value of grain products. The
      present study explores the effects of light on the nutritional quality of sweet
      corn sprouts. Gene expression of phenolic biosynthesis, phytochemical profiles
      and antioxidant activity were studied. Two treatments (light and dark) were
      selected and the morphological structure of sweet corn sprouts, as well as their
      biochemical composition were investigated to determine the effects of light on
      the regulation of genes responsible for nutritional compounds. Transcription
      analyses for three key-encoding genes in the biosynthesis of the precursors of
      phenolic were studied. Results revealed a negative regulation in the expression
      of ZmPAL with total phenolic content (TPC) in the light group. TPC and total
      flavonoid content (TFC) increased during germination and this was correlated with
      an increase in antioxidant activity (r = 0.95 and 1.0). The findings illustrate
      that the nutritional value of sweet corn for the consumer can be improved through
      germination to the euphylla stage.

PMID- 28604595
TI  - Emerging Role of the Spleen in the Pharmacokinetics of Monoclonal Antibodies,
      Nanoparticles and Exosomes.
AB  - After being absorbed, drugs distribute in the body in part to reach target
      tissues, in part to be disposed in tissues where they do not exert clinically
      relevant effects. Therapeutically-relevant effects are usually terminated by drug
      metabolism and/or elimination. The role that has been traditionally ascribed to
      the spleen in these fundamental pharmacokinetic processes was definitely
      marginal. However, due to its high blood flow and to the characteristics of its
      microcirculation, this organ would be expected to be significantly exposed to
      large, new generation drugs that can hardly penetrate in other tissues with tight
      endothelial barriers. In the present review, we examine the involvement of the
      spleen in the disposition of monoclonal antibodies, nanoparticles and exosomes
      and the possible implications for their therapeutic efficacy and toxicity. The
      data that we will review lead to the conclusion that a new role is emerging for
      the spleen in the pharmacokinetics of new generation drugs, hence suggesting that
      this small, neglected organ will certainly deserve stronger attention by
      pharmacologists in the future.

PMID- 28604598
TI  - Influence of Food Characteristics and Food Additives on the Antimicrobial Effect
      of Garlic and Oregano Essential Oils.
AB  - Utilization of essential oils (EOs) as antimicrobial agents against foodborne
      disease has gained importance, for their use as natural preservatives. Since
      potential interactions between EOs and food characteristics may affect their
      antimicrobial properties, the present work studies the influence of fat, protein,
      pH, aw and food additives on the antimicrobial effect of oregano and garlic EOs
      against Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. Results showed that protein,
      pH, aw, presence of beef extract, sodium lactate and nitrates did not influence
      their antimicrobial effect. In contrast, the presence of pork fat had a negative
      effect against both EOs associated with their dilution of the lipid content. The
      addition of food phosphates also exerts a negative effect against EOs probably
      associated with their emulsification properties as observed with the addition of
      fat. The results may help the food industry to select more appropriate challenges
      to guarantee the food safety of foodstuffs.

PMID- 28604599
TI  - Nutritional Challenges in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
AB  - Neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) represent a heterogeneous group of acquired or
      inherited conditions. Nutritional complications are frequent in NMDs, but they
      are sometimes underestimated. With the prolongation of survival in patients with
      NMDs, there are several nutritional aspects that are important to consider,
      including the deleterious effects of overnutrition on glucose metabolism,
      mobility, and respiratory and cardiologic functions; the impact of hyponutrition
      on muscle and ventilatory function; constipation and other gastrointestinal
      complications; chewing/swallowing difficulties with an increased risk of
      aspiration that predisposes to infectious diseases and respiratory complications;
      as well as osteoporosis with an associated increased risk of fractures. The aim
      of this review is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the nutritional aspects
      and complications that can start in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy
      (DMD) and increase with ageing. These aspects should be considered in the
      transition from paediatric clinics to adult services. It is shown that
      appropriate nutritional care can help to improve the quality of life of DMD
      patients, and a multidisciplinary team is needed to support nutrition challenges
      in DMD patients. However, studies on the prevalence of overnutrition and
      undernutrition, gastrointestinal complications, infectious diseases, dysphagia,
      and reduced bone mass in the different types of NMDs are needed, and appropriate
      percentiles of weight, height, body mass index, and body composition appear to be
      extremely important to improve the management of patients with NMD.

PMID- 28604600
TI  - Transcriptional Responses in the Murine Spleen after Toxoplasma gondii Infection:
      Inflammasome and Mucus-Associated Genes.
AB  - The spleen plays an important role in coordinating both adaptive and innate
      immune responses. Here, the transcriptional response to T. gondii infection in
      the murine spleen was characterized concerning inflammasome sensors (two
      different models: seven days after oral or four weeks after intraperitoneal
      infection). Additionally, Tff1KO and Tff3KO mice were investigated because TFF
      genes are often upregulated during inflammation. The expression of the pattern
      recognition receptors Nlrp3, Nlrp12, and Nlrp1a was significantly increased after
      infection. This increase was diminished in Tff1KO and Tff3KO mice pointing
      towards a positive regulation of the inflammatory response by Tff1 and Tff3.
      Furthermore, the transcription of Tff1 (encoding a motogenic lectin) and other
      secretory genes was analyzed, i.e., gastrokines (Gkn), IgG Fc binding protein
      (Fcgbp), and the mucin Muc2. The corresponding gene products belong to an
      interactome protecting mucous epithelia. Tff1 was significantly induced after
      infection, which might increase the motility of immune cells. In contrast, Gkn3,
      Fcgbp, and Muc2 were downregulated seven days after oral infection; whereas four
      weeks after i.p. infection only Gkn3 remained downregulated. This might be an
      indication that Gkn3, Fcgbp, and Muc2 are involved in the transient disruption of
      the splenic architecture and its reorganization, which is characteristic after T.
      gondii infection.

PMID- 28604603
TI  - Acoustic Emission and Echo Signal Compensation Techniques Applied to an
      Ultrasonic Logging-While-Drilling Caliper.
AB  - A logging-while-drilling (LWD) caliper is a tool used for the real-time
      measurement of a borehole diameter in oil drilling engineering. This study
      introduces the mechanical structure and working principle of a new LWD caliper
      based on ultrasonic distance measurement (UDM). The detection range is a major
      performance index of a UDM system. This index is determined by the blind zone
      length and remote reflecting interface detection capability of the system. To
      reduce the blind zone length and detect near the reflecting interface, a full
      bridge acoustic emission technique based on bootstrap gate driver (BGD) and metal
      oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is designed by analyzing the
      working principle and impedance characteristics of a given piezoelectric
      transducer. To detect the remote reflecting interface and reduce the dynamic
      range of the received echo signals, the relationships between the echo amplitude
      and propagation distance of ultrasonic waves are determined. A signal
      compensation technique based on time-varying amplification theory, which can
      automatically change the gain according to the echo arrival time is designed.
      Lastly, the aforementioned techniques and corresponding circuits are
      experimentally verified. Results show that the blind zone length in the UDM
      system of the LWD caliper is significantly reduced and the capability to detect
      the remote reflecting interface is considerably improved.

PMID- 28604601
TI  - Personalized Medicine: New Perspectives for the Diagnosis and the Treatment of
      Renal Diseases.
AB  - The prevalence of renal diseases is rising and reaching 5-15% of the adult
      population. Renal damage is associated with disturbances of body homeostasis and
      the loss of equilibrium between exogenous and endogenous elements including drugs
      and metabolites. Studies indicate that renal diseases are influenced not only by
      environmental but also by genetic factors. In some cases the disease is caused by
      mutation in a single gene and at that time severity depends on the presence of
      one or two mutated alleles. In other cases, renal disease is associated with the
      presence of alteration within a gene or genes, but environmental factors are also
      necessary for the development of disease. Therefore, it seems that the analysis
      of genetic aspects should be a natural component of clinical and experimental
      studies. The goal of personalized medicine is to determine the right drug, for
      the right patient, at the right time. Whole-genome examinations may help to
      change the approach to the disease and the patient resulting in the creation of
      "personalized medicine" with new diagnostic and treatment strategies designed on
      the basis of genetic background of each individual. The identification of high
      risk patients in pharmacogenomics analyses will help to avoid many unwarranted
      side effects while optimizing treatment efficacy for individual patients.
      Personalized therapies for kidney diseases are still at the preliminary stage
      mainly due to high costs of such analyses and the complex nature of human genome.
      This review will focus on several areas of interest: renal disease pathogenesis,
      diagnosis, treatment, rate of progression and the prediction of prognosis.

PMID- 28604602
TI  - Highly Sensitive Bacteriophage-Based Detection of Brucella abortus in Mixed
      Culture and Spiked Blood.
AB  - For decades, bacteriophages (phages) have been used for Brucella species
      identification in the diagnosis and epidemiology of brucellosis. Traditional
      Brucella phage typing is a multi-day procedure including the isolation of a pure
      culture, a step that can take up to three weeks. In this study, we focused on the
      use of brucellaphages for sensitive detection of the pathogen in clinical and
      other complex samples, and developed an indirect method of Brucella detection
      using real-time quantitative PCR monitoring of brucellaphage DNA amplification
      via replication on live Brucella cells. This assay allowed the detection of
      single bacteria (down to 1 colony-forming unit per milliliter) within 72 h
      without DNA extraction and purification steps. The technique was equally
      efficient with Brucella abortus pure culture and with mixed cultures of B.
      abortus and alpha-proteobacterial near neighbors that can be misidentified as
      Brucella spp., Ochrobactrum anthropi and Afipia felis. The addition of a simple
      short sample preparation step enabled the indirect phage-based detection of B.
      abortus in spiked blood, with the same high sensitivity. This indirect phage
      based detection assay enables the rapid and sensitive detection of live B.
      abortus in mixed cultures and in blood samples, and can potentially be applied
      for detection in other clinical samples and other complex sample types.

PMID- 28604604
TI  - Classification of Cowpox Viruses into Several Distinct Clades and Identification
      of a Novel Lineage.
AB  - Cowpox virus (CPXV) was considered as uniform species within the genus
      Orthopoxvirus (OPV). Previous phylogenetic analysis indicated that CPXV is
      polyphyletic and isolates may cluster into different clades with two of these
      clades showing genetic similarities to either variola (VARV) or vaccinia viruses
      (VACV). Further analyses were initiated to assess both the genetic diversity and
      the evolutionary background of circulating CPXVs. Here we report the full-length
      sequences of 20 CPXV strains isolated from different animal species and humans in
      Germany. A phylogenetic analysis of altogether 83 full-length OPV genomes
      confirmed the polyphyletic character of the species CPXV and suggested at least
      four different clades. The German isolates from this study mainly clustered into
      two CPXV-like clades, and VARV- and VACV-like strains were not observed. A single
      strain, isolated from a cotton-top tamarin, clustered distantly from all other
      CPXVs and might represent a novel and unique evolutionary lineage. The
      classification of CPXV strains into clades roughly followed their geographic
      origin, with the highest clade diversity so far observed for Germany.
      Furthermore, we found evidence for recombination between OPV clades without
      significant disruption of the observed clustering. In conclusion, this analysis
      markedly expands the number of available CPXV full-length sequences and confirms
      the co-circulation of several CPXV clades in Germany, and provides the first data
      about a new evolutionary CPXV lineage.

PMID- 28604605
TI  - Cryosphere and Psychrophiles: Insights into a Cold Origin of Life?
AB  - Psychrophiles thrive permanently in the various cold environments on Earth. Their
      unsuspected ability to remain metabolically active in the most extreme low
      temperature conditions provides insights into a possible cold step in the origin
      of life. More specifically, metabolically active psychrophilic bacteria have been
      observed at -20  degrees C in the ice eutectic phase (i.e., the liquid veins
      between sea ice crystals). In the context of the RNA world hypothesis, this ice
      eutectic phase would have provided stability to the RNA molecules and confinement
      of the molecules in order to react and replicate. This aspect has been
      convincingly tested by laboratory experiments.

PMID- 28604607
TI  - Emotional Self-Regulation of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders:
      Smartwatches for Monitoring and Interaction.
AB  - In this paper, we analyze the needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
      (ASD) to have a pervasive, feasible and non-stigmatizing form of assistance in
      their emotional self-regulation, in order to ease certain behavioral issues that
      undermine their mental health throughout their life. We argue the potential of
      recent widespread wearables, and more specifically smartwatches, to achieve this
      goal. Then, a smartwatch system that implements a wide range of self-regulation
      strategies and infers outburst patterns from physiological signals and movement
      is presented, along with an authoring tool for smartphones that is to be used by
      caregivers or family members to create and edit these strategies, in an adaptive
      way. We conducted an intensive experiment with two individuals with ASD who
      showed varied, representative behavioral responses to their emotional
      dysregulation. Both users were able to employ effective, customized emotional
      self-regulation strategies by means of the system, recovering from the majority
      of mild stress episodes and temper tantrums experienced in the nine days of
      experiment in their classroom.

PMID- 28604606
TI  - Evaluation of Visual-Evoked Cerebral Metabolic Rate of Oxygen as a Diagnostic
      Marker in Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - A multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis often relies upon clinical presentation and
      qualitative analysis of standard, magnetic resonance brain images. However, the
      accuracy of MS diagnoses can be improved by utilizing advanced brain imaging
      methods. We assessed the accuracy of a new neuroimaging marker, visual-evoked
      cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (veCMRO2), in classifying MS patients and
      closely age- and sex-matched healthy control (HC) participants. MS patients and
      HCs underwent calibrated functional magnetic resonance imaging (cfMRI) during a
      visual stimulation task, diffusion tensor imaging, T1- and T2-weighted imaging,
      neuropsychological testing, and completed self-report questionnaires. Using
      resampling techniques to avoid bias and increase the generalizability of the
      results, we assessed the accuracy of veCMRO2 in classifying MS patients and HCs.
      veCMRO2 classification accuracy was also examined in the context of other evoked
      visuofunctional measures, white matter microstructural integrity, lesion-based
      measures from T2-weighted imaging, atrophy measures from T1-weighted imaging,
      neuropsychological tests, and self-report assays of clinical symptomology.
      veCMRO2 was significant and within the top 16% of measures (43 total) in
      classifying MS status using both within-sample (82% accuracy) and out-of-sample
      (77% accuracy) observations. High accuracy of veCMRO2 in classifying MS
      demonstrated an encouraging first step toward establishing veCMRO2 as a
      neurodiagnostic marker of MS.

PMID- 28604609
TI  - 'HighChest': An Augmented Freezer Designed for Smart Food Management and
      Promotion of Eco-Efficient Behaviour.
AB  - This paper introduces HighChest, an innovative smart freezer designed to promote
      energy efficient behavior and the responsible use of food. Introducing a novel
      human-machine interface (HMI) design developed through assessment phases and a
      user involvement stage, HighChest is state of the art, featuring smart services
      that exploit embedded sensors and Internet of things functionalities, which
      enhance the local capabilities of the appliance. The industrial design thinking
      approach followed for the advanced HMI is intended to maximize the social impact
      of the food management service, enhancing both the user experience of the product
      and the user's willingness to adopt eco- and energy-friendly behaviors. The
      sensor equipment realizes automatic recognition of food by learning from the
      users, as well as automatic localization inside the deposit space. Moreover, it
      provides monitoring of the appliance's usage, avoiding temperature and humidity
      issues related to improper use. Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the
      localization system, and the results showed 100% accuracy for weights greater or
      equal to 0.5 kg. Drifts due to the lid opening and prolonged usage time were also
      measured, to implement automatic reset corrections.

PMID- 28604608
TI  - Friction-Induced Mitochondrial Dysregulation Contributes to Joint Deterioration
      in Prg4 Knockout Mice.
AB  - Deficiency of PRG4 (lubricin), the boundary lubricant in mammalian joints,
      contributes to increased joint friction accompanied by superficial and upper
      intermediate zone chondrocyte caspase-3 activation, as shown in lubricin-null
      (Prg4-/-) mice. Caspase-3 activity appears to be reversible upon the restitution
      of Prg4 either endogenously in vivo, in a gene trap mouse, or as an applied
      lubricant in vitro. In this study we show that intra-articular injection of human
      PRG4 in vivo in Prg4-/- mice prevented caspase-3 activation in superficial zone
      chondrocytes and was associated with a modest decrease in whole joint friction
      measured ex vivo using a joint pendulum method. Non-lubricated Prg4-/- mouse
      cartilage shows caspase cascade activation caused by mitochondrial dysregulation,
      and significantly higher levels of peroxynitrite (ONOO- and -OH) and superoxide
      (O-2) compared to Prg4+/+ and Prg4+/- cartilage. Enzymatic activity levels of
      caspase 8 across Prg4 mutant mice were not significantly different, indicating no
      extrinsic apoptosis pathway activation. Western blots showed caspase-3 and 9
      activation in Prg4-/- tissue extracts, and the appearance of nitrosylated Cys163
      in the active cleft of caspase-3 which inhibits its enzymatic activity. These
      findings are relevant to patients at risk for arthrosis, from camptodactyl
      arthropathy-coxa vara-pericarditis (CACP) syndrome and transient lubricin
      insufficiency due to trauma and inflammation.

PMID- 28604610
TI  - An NFC on Two-Coil WPT Link for Implantable Biomedical Sensors under Ultra-Weak
      Coupling.
AB  - The inductive link is widely used in implantable biomedical sensor systems to
      achieve near-field communication (NFC) and wireless power transfer (WPT).
      However, it is tough to achieve reliable NFC on an inductive WPT link when the
      coupling coefficient is ultra-low (0.01 typically), since the NFC signal
      (especially for the uplink from the in-body part to the out-body part) could be
      too weak to be detected. Traditional load shift keying (LSK) requires strong
      coupling to pass the load modulation information to the power source. Instead of
      using LSK, we propose a dual-carrier NFC scheme for the weak-coupled inductive
      link; using binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation, its downlink data are
      modulated on the power carrier (2 MHz), while its uplink data are modulated on
      another carrier (125 kHz). The two carriers are transferred through the same coil
      pair. To overcome the strong interference of the power carrier, dedicated
      circuits are introduced. In addition, to minimize the power transfer efficiency
      decrease caused by adding NFC, we optimize the inductive link circuit parameters
      and approach the receiver sensitivity limit. In the prototype experiments, even
      though the coupling coefficient is as low as 0.008, the in-body transmitter costs
      only 0.61 mW power carrying 10 kbps of data, and achieves a 1 * 10 - 7 bit error
      rate under the strong interference of WPT. This dual-carrier NFC scheme could be
      useful for small-sized implantable biomedical sensor applications.

PMID- 28604611
TI  - Eplerenone-Resistant Salt-Sensitive Hypertension in Nedd4-2 C2 KO Mice.
AB  - The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) plays critical roles in maintaining fluid
      and electrolyte homeostasis and is located in the aldosterone-sensitive distal
      nephron (ASDN). We previously found that Nedd4-2 C2 knockout (KO) mice showed
      salt-sensitive hypertension with paradoxically enhanced ENaC gene expression in
      ASDN under high oral salt intake. Eplerenone (EPL), a selective aldosterone
      blocker, is a promising therapeutic option for resistant or/and salt-sensitive
      hypertension. We examined the effect of EPL on Nedd4-2 C2 KO mice with respect to
      blood pressure, metabolic parameters, and molecular level changes in ASDN under
      high oral salt intake. We found that EPL failed to reduce blood pressure in KO
      mice with high oral salt intake and upregulated ENaC expression in ASDN. Thus,
      salt-sensitive hypertension in Nedd4-2 C2 KO was EPL-resistant. Gene expression
      analyses of laser-captured specimens in ASDN suggested the presence of non
      aldosterone-dependent activation of ENaC transcription in ASDN of Nedd4-2 C2 KO
      mice, which was abolished by amiloride treatment. Our results from Nedd4-2 C2 KO
      mice suggest that enhanced ENaC gene expression is critically involved in salt
      sensitive hypertension under certain conditions of specific enzyme isoforms for
      their ubiquitination.

PMID- 28604613
TI  - Aspheric Surface Measurement Using Capacitive Sensors.
AB  - This paper proposes a new method for the measurement of spherical coordinates by
      using capacitive sensors as a non-contact probe solution of measurement of
      aspheric surfaces. The measurement of the average effect of the capacitive probe
      and the influence of capacitive probe tilting were studied with respect to an
      eccentric spherical surface. Based on the tested characteristic curve of the
      average effect of the sphere and probe, it was found that nonlinear and linear
      compensation resulted in high measurement accuracy. The capacitance probe was
      found to be trying to fulfill a need for performing nm-level precision
      measurement of aspheric electromagnetic surfaces.

PMID- 28604612
TI  - AA-NAT, MT1 and MT2 Correlates with Cancer Stem-Like Cell Markers in Colorectal
      Cancer: Study of the Influence of Stage and p53 Status of Tumors.
AB  - The characterization of colon cancer stem cells (CSCs) may help to develop novel
      diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. p53 loss increases the pool of CSCs in
      colorectal cancer (CRC). Recent reports suggest that the oncostatic effects of
      melatonin could be related to its ability to kill CSCs. Although there are no
      data linking the loss of p53 function and melatonin synthesis or signaling in
      cancer, melatonin does activate the p53 tumor-suppressor pathway in this disease.
      In this work, we analyze whether the expression of melatonin synthesis and
      signaling genes are related to the expression of CSC markers and the implication
      of p53 status in samples from patients with CRC. Arylalkylamine N
      acetyltransferase (AA-NAT), MT1, and MT2 expression decreased in tumor samples
      versus normal mucosa samples in mutated p53 (mtp53) tumors versus those with wild
      type p53 (wtp53). Further, AA-NAT and MT2 expression were lower in advanced
      stages of the disease in wtp53 tumors. On the contrary, CD44 and CD66c expression
      was higher in tumor versus normal mucosa in wtp53 tumors. Additionally, CD44
      expression was higher in advanced stages of the disease regardless of the p53
      status. Patients with CD44highCD66chigh and wtp53 tumors in advanced stages
      showed low expression of AA-NAT and MT2 in wtp53 tumors. These results could
      indicate a possible interaction of these pathways in CRC.

PMID- 28604614
TI  - Synthesis and Evaluation of Curcuminoid Analogues as Antioxidant and
      Antibacterial Agents.
AB  - Diazocoupling reaction of curcumin with different diazonium salts of p-toluidine,
      2-aminopyridine, and 4-aminoantipyrine in pyridine yielded the arylhydrazones 2a
      c. Arylhydrazone of p-toluidine reacted with urea, thiourea, and guanidine
      nitrate to produce 5,6-dihydropyrimidines. Further reaction of 2a with 2,3
      diaminopyrdine in sodium ethoxide solution yielded 1H-pyrido[2,3-b][1,4]diazepine
      derivative. Bis(2,5-dihydroisoxazole) is obtained from the reaction of 2a with
      hydroxylamine hydrochloride, while its reactions with hydrazines afforded the
      respective 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazoles. The target compounds were evaluated as
      antioxidant and antibacterial agents. The tested compounds showed good to
      moderate activities compared to ascorbic acid and chloramphenicol, respectively.

PMID- 28604615
TI  - Review on the Traction System Sensor Technology of a Rail Transit Train.
AB  - The development of high-speed intelligent rail transit has increased the number
      of sensors applied on trains. These play an important role in train state control
      and monitoring. These sensors generally work in a severe environment, so the key
      problem for sensor data acquisition is to ensure data accuracy and reliability.
      In this paper, we follow the sequence of sensor signal flow, present sensor
      signal sensing technology, sensor data acquisition, and processing technology, as
      well as sensor fault diagnosis technology based on the voltage, current, speed,
      and temperature sensors which are commonly used in train traction systems.
      Finally, intelligent sensors and future research directions of rail transit train
      sensors are discussed.

PMID- 28604616
TI  - Legume Lectins: Proteins with Diverse Applications.
AB  - Lectins are a diverse class of proteins distributed extensively in nature. Among
      these proteins; legume lectins display a variety of interesting features
      including antimicrobial; insecticidal and antitumor activities. Because lectins
      recognize and bind to specific glycoconjugates present on the surface of cells
      and intracellular structures; they can serve as potential target molecules for
      developing practical applications in the fields of food; agriculture; health and
      pharmaceutical research. This review presents the current knowledge of the main
      structural characteristics of legume lectins and the relationship of structure to
      the exhibited specificities; provides an overview of their particular
      antimicrobial; insecticidal and antitumor biological activities and describes
      possible applications based on the pattern of recognized glyco-targets.

PMID- 28604617
TI  - Targeted Magnetic Nanotheranostics of Cancer.
AB  - Current advances in targeted magnetic nanotheranostics are summarized in this
      review. Unique structural, optical, electronic and thermal properties of magnetic
      materials in nanometer scale are attractive in the field of biomedicine. Magnetic
      nanoparticles functionalized with therapeutic molecules, ligands for targeted
      delivery, fluorescent and other chemical agents can be used for cancer diagnostic
      and therapeutic purposes. High selectivity, small size, and low immunogenicity of
      synthetic nucleic acid aptamers make them attractive delivery agents for
      therapeutic purposes. Properties, production and functionalization of magnetic
      nanoparticles and aptamers as ligands for targeted delivery are discussed herein.
      In recent years, magnetic nanoparticles have been widely used in diagnostic
      methods, such as scintigraphy, single photon emission computed tomography
      (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
      and Raman spectroscopy. Therapeutic purposes of magnetic nanoconstructions are
      also promising. They are used for effective drug delivery, magnetic mediated
      hypertermia, and megnetodynamic triggering of apoptosis. Thus, magnetic
      nanotheranostics opens a new venue for complex differential diagnostics, and
      therapy of metastatic cancer.

PMID- 28604618
TI  - Trans-Resveratrol Supplementation and Endothelial Function during the Fasting and
      Postprandial Phase: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial in Overweight and
      Slightly Obese Participants.
AB  - Studies on the effects of the long-term intake of trans-resveratrol on vascular
      function are conflicting. In addition, postprandial effects of long-term trans
      resveratrol intake on endothelial function are not known. We therefore
      supplemented 45 overweight and slightly obese volunteers (25 men and 20 women)
      with a mean (+/-SD) age of 61 +/- 7 years and body mass index of 28.3 +/- 3.2
      kg/m2 in random order trans-resveratrol (2 * 75 mg/day) or placebo capsules for 4
      weeks, separated by a washout period of at least 4 weeks. At the end of each
      intervention period, brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) was
      measured before and after meal consumption. Plasma biomarkers for endothelial
      function, inflammation, and glucose and lipid metabolism were also determined.
      Compared with the placebo, trans-resveratrol did not affect fasting FMD (2.9 +/-
      1.4% vs. 3.0 +/- 1.9%; p = 0.69). After the postprandial test, changes in FMD (
      0.7 +/- 2.3% vs. 0.2 +/- 2.6%; p = 0.13) were also not significantly different.
      Postprandial changes in biomarkers were also comparable. In conclusion, for
      overweight and slightly obese volunteers, a daily intake of 150 mg of trans
      resveratrol for 4 weeks does not change plasma biomarkers of endothelial function
      or inflammation in the fasting state or postprandial phase.

PMID- 28604619
TI  - Flavonoids, Thyroid Iodide Uptake and Thyroid Cancer-A Review.
AB  - Thyroid cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the endocrine system and the
      incidence has been increasing in recent years. In a great part of the
      differentiated carcinomas, thyrocytes are capable of uptaking iodide. In these
      cases, the main therapeutic approach includes thyroidectomy followed by ablative
      therapy with radioiodine. However, in part of the patients, the capacity to
      concentrate iodide is lost due to down-regulation of the sodium-iodide symporter
      (NIS), the protein responsible for transporting iodide into the thyrocytes. Thus,
      therapy with radioiodide becomes ineffective, limiting therapeutic options and
      reducing the life expectancy of the patient. Excessive ingestion of some
      flavonoids has been associated with thyroid dysfunction and goiter. Nevertheless,
      studies have shown that some flavonoids can be beneficial for thyroid cancer, by
      reducing cell proliferation and increasing cell death, besides increasing NIS
      mRNA levels and iodide uptake. Recent data show that the flavonoids apingenin and
      rutin are capable of increasing NIS function and expression in vivo. Herein we
      review literature data regarding the effect of flavonoids on thyroid cancer,
      besides the effect of these compounds on the expression and function of the
      sodium-iodide symporter. We will also discuss the possibility of using flavonoids
      as adjuvants for therapy of thyroid cancer.

PMID- 28604620
TI  - Reaction of bis[(2-chlorocarbonyl)phenyl] Diselenide with Phenols, Aminophenols,
      and Other Amines towards Diphenyl Diselenides with Antimicrobial and Antiviral
      Properties.
AB  - A reaction of bis[(2-chlorocarbonyl)phenyl] diselenide with various mono and
      bisnucleophiles such as aminophenols, phenols, and amines have been studied as a
      convenient general route to a series of new antimicrobial and antiviral diphenyl
      diselenides. The compounds, particularly bis[2-(hydroxyphenylcarbamoyl)]phenyl
      diselenides and reference benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-ones, exhibited high
      antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacterial species (Enterococcus
      spp., Staphylococcus spp.), and some compounds were also active against Gram
      negative E. coli and fungi (Candida spp., A.niger). The majority of compounds
      demonstrated high activity against human herpes virus type 1 (HHV-1) and moderate
      activity against encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), while they were generally
      inactive against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV).

PMID- 28604621
TI  - Development of a Rigid One-Meter-Side and Cooled Coil Sensor at 77 K for Magnetic
      Resonance Sounding to Detect Subsurface Water Sources.
AB  - Magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) using the Earth's magnetic field is a
      noninvasive and on-site geophysical technique providing quantitative
      characteristics of aquifers in the subsurface. When the MRS technology is applied
      in a mine or tunnel for advance detecting the source of water that may cause
      disastrous accident, spatial constraints limit the size of coil sensor and thus
      lower the detection capability. In this paper, a coil sensor for detecting the
      weak MRS signal is designed and the signal to noise (SNR) for the coil sensor is
      analyzed and optimized. The coil sensor has a rigid structure and square size of
      1 m for deploying in a narrow underground space and is cooled at a low
      temperature of 77 K for improving the SNR. A theoretical calculation and an
      experimental test in an electromagnetically shielded room (EMSR) show that the
      optimal design of coil sensor consists of an 80-turn coil and a low-current-noise
      preamplifier AD745. It has a field sensitivity of 0.17 fT / Hz in the EMSR at 77
      K, which is superior to the low temperature Superconducting Quantum Interference
      Device (LT SQUID) that is the latest application in MRS and the cooled coil with
      a diameter of 9 cm when detecting the laboratory NMR signal in kHz range. In the
      field experiment above the Taipingchi Reservoir near Changchun in China, the
      cooled coil sensor (CCS) developed in this paper has successfully obtained a
      valid weak MRS signal in high noise environment. The field results showed that
      the quality of measured MRS signal at 77 K is significantly superior to that at
      298 K and the SNR is improved up to three times. This property of CCS makes the
      MRS instrument more convenient and reliable in a constricted space underground
      engineering environment (e.g., a mine or a tunnel).

PMID- 28604622
TI  - The Understanding of the Metazoan Skeletal System, Based on the Initial
      Discoveries with Siliceous and Calcareous Sponges.
AB  - Initiated by studies on the mechanism of formation of the skeletons of the
      evolutionary oldest still extant multicellular animals, the sponges (phylum
      Porifera) have provided new insights into the mechanism of formation of the Ca
      phosphate/hydroxyapatite skeleton of vertebrate bone. Studies on the formation of
      the biomineral skeleton of sponges revealed that both the formation of the
      inorganic siliceous skeletons (sponges of the class of Hexactinellida and
      Demospongiae) and of the calcareous skeletons (class of Calcarea) is mediated by
      enzymes (silicatein: polymerization of biosilica; and carbonic anhydrase:
      deposition of Ca-carbonate). Detailed studies of the initial mineralization steps
      in human bone-forming cells showed that this process is also controlled by
      enzymes, starting with the deposition of Ca-carbonate bio-seeds, mediated by
      carbonic anhydrases-II and -IX, followed by non-enzymatic transformation of the
      formed amorphous Ca-carbonate deposits into amorphous Ca-phosphate and finally
      hydroxyapatite crystals. The required phosphate is provided by enzymatic
      (alkaline phosphatase-mediated) degradation of an inorganic polymer,
      polyphosphate (polyP), which also acts as a donor for chemically useful energy in
      this process. These new discoveries allow the development of novel biomimetic
      strategies for treatment of bone diseases and defects.

PMID- 28604623
TI  - Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound of Colorectal Liver Metastases as an Imaging
      Modality for Early Response Prediction to Chemotherapy.
AB  - Our aim was to investigate whether dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US)
      can detect early changes in perfusion of colorectal liver metastases after
      initiation of chemotherapy. Newly diagnosed patients with colorectal cancer with
      liver metastases were enrolled in this explorative prospective study. Patients
      were treated with capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy with or
      without bevacizumab. DCE-US was performed before therapy (baseline) and again 10
      days after initiation of treatment. Change in contrast-enhancement in one liver
      metastasis (indicator lesion) was measured. Treatment response was evaluated with
      a computed tomography (CT) scan after three cycles of treatment and the initially
      observed DCE-US change of the indicator lesion was related to the observed CT
      response. Eighteen patients were included. Six did not complete three series of
      chemotherapy and the evaluation CT scan, leaving twelve patients for analysis.
      Early changes in perfusion parameters using DCE-US did not correlate well with
      subsequent CT changes. A subgroup analysis of eight patients receiving
      bevacizumab, however, demonstrated a statistically significant correlation (p =
      0.045) between early changes in perfusion measures of peak enhancement at DCE-US
      and tumor shrinkage at CT scan. The study indicates that early changes in DCE-US
      perfusion measures may predict subsequent treatment response of colorectal liver
      metastases in patients receiving bevacizumab.

PMID- 28604624
TI  - Convolutional Neural Network-Based Robot Navigation Using Uncalibrated Spherical
      Images.
AB  - Vision-based mobile robot navigation is a vibrant area of research with numerous
      algorithms having been developed, the vast majority of which either belong to the
      scene-oriented simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) or fall into the
      category of robot-oriented lane-detection/trajectory tracking. These methods
      suffer from high computational cost and require stringent labelling and
      calibration efforts. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a
      lightweight robot navigation framework based purely on uncalibrated spherical
      images. To simplify the orientation estimation, path prediction and improve
      computational efficiency, the navigation problem is decomposed into a series of
      classification tasks. To mitigate the adverse effects of insufficient negative
      samples in the "navigation via classification" task, we introduce the spherical
      camera for scene capturing, which enables 360 degrees  fisheye panorama as
      training samples and generation of sufficient positive and negative heading
      directions. The classification is implemented as an end-to-end Convolutional
      Neural Network (CNN), trained on our proposed Spherical-Navi image dataset, whose
      category labels can be efficiently collected. This CNN is capable of predicting
      potential path directions with high confidence levels based on a single,
      uncalibrated spherical image. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed
      framework outperforms competing ones in realistic applications.

PMID- 28604625
TI  - Association of miR-938G>A Polymorphisms with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)
      Related Gene Expression.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression in animals and
      plants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether polymorphisms in miR-938
      are associated with the risk of primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) and POI
      related target gene regulation. We identified the miR-938G>A polymorphisms within
      the seed sequence of mature miRNA and aligned the seed sequence with the 3'
      untranslated region (UTR) of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR)
      mRNA, a miR-938 target gene. We found that the binding of miR-938 to the 3'-UTR
      of GnRHR mRNA was significantly different between normal and variant alleles. Our
      data suggests that the dysregulation of miR-938G>A influences the binding to
      GnRHR and that miR-938G>A polymorphisms might contribute to regulation of POI
      related target genes.

PMID- 28604626
TI  - Presence of Enniatins and Beauvericin in Romanian Wheat Samples: From Raw
      Material to Products for Direct Human Consumption.
AB  - In this study, a total of 244 wheat and wheat-based products collected from
      Romania were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC
      MS/MS) in order to evaluate the presence of four enniatins (ENs; i.e., ENA, ENA1,
      ENB, and ENB1) and beauvericin (BEA). For the wheat samples, the influence of
      agricultural practices was assessed, whereas the results for the wheat-based
      products were used to calculate the estimated daily intake of emerging mycotoxins
      through wheat consumption for the Romanian population. ENB presented the highest
      incidence (41% in wheat and 32% in wheat-based products), with its maximum levels
      of 815 MUg kg-1 and 170 MUg kg-1 in wheat and wheat-based products, respectively.
      The correlation between the concentrations of ENB and ENB1 in wheat grain samples
      and farm practices (organic or conventional) was confirmed statistically (p <
      0.05). This is the first study that provides comprehensive information about the
      influence of agricultural practice on emerging Fusarium mycotoxin presence in
      Romanian wheat samples and the estimated daily intake of ENs and BEA present in
      wheat-based products for human consumption commercialized in Romania.

PMID- 28604627
TI  - The Role of Affect and Cognition in Processing Messages about Early Diagnosis for
      Alzheimer's Disease by Older People.
AB  - Through early diagnosis of symptoms, the Alzheimer's disease process can be
      decelerated. The main concern is to encourage the population at risk to take
      responsible actions at the earliest stage of the onset of the disease. Persuasive
      communication is essential to achieve this. In an experimental study, the
      evaluation of awareness messages for early diagnosis containing weak and strong
      arguments and negative and positive images was performed on a sample of older
      Belgians. The mediating role of affective responses and message thoughts was
      explored. Strong arguments led to a more positive evaluation of the message than
      weak arguments directly and indirectly via the positive effect they had on
      message affect and thoughts, which, in turn, positively affected message
      evaluation. A negative message image led to a more positive message evaluation
      than a positive one. This effect was not mediated by either message affect or
      message thoughts.

PMID- 28604628
TI  - Privacy-Preserving Electrocardiogram Monitoring for Intelligent Arrhythmia
      Detection.
AB  - Long-term electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, as a representative application of
      cyber-physical systems, facilitates the early detection of arrhythmia. A
      considerable number of previous studies has explored monitoring techniques and
      the automated analysis of sensing data. However, ensuring patient privacy or
      confidentiality has not been a primary concern in ECG monitoring. First, we
      propose an intelligent heart monitoring system, which involves a patient-worn ECG
      sensor (e.g., a smartphone) and a remote monitoring station, as well as a
      decision support server that interconnects these components. The decision support
      server analyzes the heart activity, using the Pan-Tompkins algorithm to detect
      heartbeats and a decision tree to classify them. Our system protects sensing data
      and user privacy, which is an essential attribute of dependability, by adopting
      signal scrambling and anonymous identity schemes. We also employ a public key
      cryptosystem to enable secure communication between the entities. Simulations
      using data from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database demonstrate that our system
      achieves a 95.74% success rate in heartbeat detection and almost a 96.63%
      accuracy in heartbeat classification, while successfully preserving privacy and
      securing communications among the involved entities.

PMID- 28604630
TI  - Haplotypes of the Ovine Adiponectin Gene and Their Association with Growth and
      Carcass Traits in New Zealand Romney Lambs.
AB  - Adiponectin plays an important role in energy homeostasis and metabolism in
      mammalian adipose tissue. In this study, the relationship between adiponectin
      gene (ADIPOQ) haplotypes and variation in growth and carcass traits in New
      Zealand (NZ) Romney lambs was investigated using General Linear Models (GLMs).
      Eight haplotypes were found in these lambs and they were composed of the four
      previously reported promoter fragment sequences (A1-D1) and three previously
      reported intron 2-exon 3 sequences (A3-C3). The frequencies of the haplotypes
      ranged from 0.07% to 45.91%. The presence of A1-A3 was associated with a
      decreased pre-weaning growth rate (p = 0.037), and decreased leg lean-meat yield
      (p = 0.001), loin lean-meat yield (p = 0.018) and total lean-meat yield (p =
      0.004). The presence of A1-C3 was associated with increased carcass fat depth
      over the 12th rib (V-GR; p = 0.001) and a decreased proportion of loin lean-meat
      yield (p = 0.045). The presence of B1-A3 was associated with an increased
      proportion of leg lean-meat yield (p = 0.016) and proportion of shoulder lean
      meat yield (p = 0.030). No associations were found with birth weight, tailing
      weight and weaning weight. These results suggest that ovine ADIPOQ may have value
      as a genetic marker for NZ Romney sheep breeding.

PMID- 28604629
TI  - Androgen Receptor-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms Involved in Prostate
      Cancer Therapy Resistance.
AB  - Despite the initial efficacy of androgen deprivation in prostate cancer,
      virtually all patients progress to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
      Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is critically required for CRPC. A new
      generation of medications targeting AR, such as abiraterone and enzalutamide, has
      improved survival of metastatic CRPC (mCRPC) patients. However, a significant
      proportion of patients presents with primary resistance to these agents, and in
      the remainder, secondary resistance will invariably develop, which makes mCRPC
      the lethal form of the disease. Mechanisms underlying progression to mCRPC and
      treatment resistance are extremely complex. AR-dependent resistance mechanisms
      include AR amplification, AR point mutations, expression of constitutively active
      AR splice variants, and altered intratumoral androgen biosynthesis. AR
      independent resistance mechanisms include glucocorticoid receptor activation,
      immune-mediated resistance, and neuroendocrine differentiation. The development
      of novel agents, such as seviteronel, apalutamide, and EPI-001/EPI-506, as well
      as the identification and validation of novel predictive biomarkers of
      resistance, may lead to improved therapeutics for mCRPC patients.

PMID- 28604631
TI  - The Development of Indicator Cotton Swabs for the Detection of pH in Wounds.
AB  - Indicator cotton swabs have been developed in order to enable faster, less
      expensive, and simpler information gathering of a wound status. Swabs are
      normally used for cleaning the wound, but here, they were covalently
      functionalized with indicator chemistry. Thus, they in principle enable
      simultaneous wound cleaning and wound pH detection. Using an indicator dye with a
      color change from yellow to red, combined with an inert dye of blue color, a
      traffic light color change from green to red is induced when pH increases. The
      indicator cotton swabs (ICSs) show a color change from green (appropriate wound
      pH) to red (elevated wound pH). This color change can be interpreted by the naked
      eye as well as by an optical color measurement device in order to obtain
      quantitative data based on the CIE L*a*b* color space. Two types of swabs have
      been developed-indicator cotton swabs ICS1 with a sensitive range from pH 5 to 7
      and swabs ICS2 with a sensitive range from 6.5 to 8.5. The swabs are gamma
      sterilized and the effect of sterilization on performance was found to be
      negligible. Furthermore, cytotoxicity testing shows cell viability and endotoxin
      levels to be within the allowable range.

PMID- 28604633
TI  - Fluoroalkyl Amino Reagents (FARs): A General Approach towards the Synthesis of
      Heterocyclic Compounds Bearing Emergent Fluorinated Substituents.
AB  - Fluorinated heterocycles are important building blocks in pharmaceutical,
      agrochemical and material sciences. Therefore, organofluorine chemistry has
      witnessed high interest in the development of efficient methods for the
      introduction of emergent fluorinated substituents (EFS) onto heterocycles. In
      this context, fluoroalkyl amino reagents (FARs)-a class of chemicals that was
      slightly forgotten over the last decades-has emerged again recently and proved to
      be a powerful tool for the introduction of various fluorinated groups onto
      (hetero)aromatic derivatives.

PMID- 28604632
TI  - Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE)-Induced Elevated Expression of
      the E1 Isoform of Methyl CpG Binding Protein 2 (MeCP2E1): Implications in
      Multiple Sclerosis (MS)-Induced Neurological Disability and Associated Myelin
      Damage.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease characterized by the
      destruction of central nervous system (CNS) myelin. At present, there is no cure
      for MS due to the inability to repair damaged myelin. Although the neurotrophin
      brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has a beneficial role in myelin repair,
      these effects may be hampered by the over-expression of a transcriptional
      repressor isoform of methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) called MeCP2E1. We
      hypothesize that following experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)
      induced myelin damage, the immune system induction of the pathogenic MeCP2E1
      isoform hampers the myelin repair process by repressing BDNF expression. Using an
      EAE model of MS, we identify the temporal gene and protein expression changes of
      MeCP2E1, MeCP2E2 and BDNF. The expression changes of these key biological targets
      were then correlated with the temporal changes in neurological disability scores
      (NDS) over the entire disease course. Our results indicate that MeCP2E1 mRNA
      levels are elevated in EAE animals relative to naive control (NC) and active
      control (AC) animals during all time points of disease progression. Our results
      suggest that the EAE-induced elevations in MeCP2E1 expression contribute to the
      repressed BDNF production in the spinal cord (SC). The sub-optimal levels of BDNF
      result in sustained NDS and associated myelin damage throughout the entire
      disease course. Conversely, we observed no significant differences in the
      expression patterns displayed for the MeCP2E2 isoform amongst our experimental
      groups. However, our results demonstrate that baseline protein expression ratios
      between the MeCP2E1 versus MeCP2E2 isoforms in the SC are higher than those
      identified within the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Thus, the DRG represents a more
      conducive environment than that of the SC for BDNF production and transport to
      the CNS to assist in myelin repair. Henceforth, the sub-optimal BDNF levels we
      report in the SC may arise from the elevated MeCP2E1 vs. MeCP2E2 ratio in the SC
      that creates a more hostile environment thereby preventing local BDNF production.
      At the level of transcript, we demonstrate that EAE-induces the pathological
      enhanced expression of MeCP2E1 that contributes to enhanced NDS during the entire
      disease course. Thus, the pathological induction of the MeCP2E1 isoform
      contributes to the disruption of the normal homeostatic signaling equilibrium
      network that exists between cytokines, neurotrophins and chemokines that regulate
      the myelin repair process by repressing BDNF. Our research suggests that the
      elevated ratio of MeCP2E1 relative to MeCP2E2 may be a useful diagnostic marker
      that clinicians can utilize to determine the degree of neurological disability
      with associated myelin damage. The elevated MeCP2E1 vs. MeCP2E2 ratios (E1/E2) in
      the SC prevent BDNF from reaching optimal levels required for myelin repair.
      Thus, the lower E1/E2 ratios in the DRG, allow the DRG to serve as a weak
      secondary compensatory mechanism for enhanced production and delivery of BDNF to
      the SC to try to assist in myelin repair.

PMID- 28604634
TI  - Modeling the Error of the Medtronic Paradigm Veo Enlite Glucose Sensor.
AB  - Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are prone to inaccuracy due to time lags,
      sensor drift, calibration errors, and measurement noise. The aim of this study is
      to derive the model of the error of the second generation Medtronic Paradigm Veo
      Enlite (ENL) sensor and compare it with the Dexcom SEVEN PLUS (7P), G4 PLATINUM
      (G4P), and advanced G4 for Artificial Pancreas studies (G4AP) systems. An
      enhanced methodology to a previously employed technique was utilized to dissect
      the sensor error into several components. The dataset used included 37 inpatient
      sessions in 10 subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1D), in which CGMs were worn in
      parallel and blood glucose (BG) samples were analyzed every 15 +/- 5 min
      Calibration error and sensor drift of the ENL sensor was best described by a
      linear relationship related to the gain and offset. The mean time lag estimated
      by the model is 9.4 +/- 6.5 min. The overall average mean absolute relative
      difference (MARD) of the ENL sensor was 11.68 +/- 5.07% Calibration error had the
      highest contribution to total error in the ENL sensor. This was also reported in
      the 7P, G4P, and G4AP. The model of the ENL sensor error will be useful to test
      the in silico performance of CGM-based applications, i.e., the artificial
      pancreas, employing this kind of sensor.

PMID- 28604635
TI  - Splice-Switching Therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
AB  - Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disorder with severity ranging from
      premature death in infants to restricted motor function in adult life. Despite
      the genetic cause of this disease being known for over twenty years, only
      recently has a therapy been approved to treat the most severe form of this
      disease. Here we discuss the genetic basis of SMA and the subsequent studies that
      led to the utilization of splice switching oligonucleotides to enhance production
      of SMN protein, which is absent in patients, through a mechanism of exon
      inclusion into the mature mRNA. Whilst approval of oligonucleotide-based
      therapies for SMA should be celebrated, we also discuss some of the limitations
      of this approach and alternate genetic strategies that are currently underway in
      clinical trials.

PMID- 28604636
TI  - Baccharis trimera (Less.) DC Exhibits an Anti-Adipogenic Effect by Inhibiting the
      Expression of Proteins Involved in Adipocyte Differentiation.
AB  - Baccharis trimera (Less.) DC (gorse) is a plant popularly used for the treatment
      of obesity. In this study, we prepared three B. trimera extracts aqueous extract
      (AE), decoction (AE-D), and methanol extract (ME) and investigated their
      antioxidant effects in six different tests and their anti-adipogenic effect in
      3T3-L1 cells. The extracts showed a dose-dependent antioxidant activity in all
      tests. AE was the most potent antioxidant in copper and ferric ion chelation
      assays, whereas AE-D was the most potent in superoxide and hydroxyl radical
      scavenging assays, reducing power assay, and total antioxidant capacity analysis.
      Only ME showed a cytotoxic effect against 3T3-L1 cells. Lipid accumulation
      decreased in 3T3-L1 adipocytes in the presence of AE and AE-D extracts (0.5 to
      1.0 mg/mL). In addition, the extracts dramatically attenuated the levels of
      adipogenic transcriptional factors, including CCAAT enhancer-binding protein
      alpha (C/EBPalpha), CCAAT enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBPbeta), and gamma
      receptors by peroxisome proliferators (PPARgamma), during adipogenesis. AE-D (1.0
      mg/mL) caused an approximately 90% reduction in the levels of these molecules. We
      propose that B. trimera has an anti-adipogenic effect and could be used in the
      development of functional foods.

PMID- 28604637
TI  - Gibberellic Acid Signaling Is Required to Induce Flowering of Chrysanthemums
      Grown under Both Short and Long Days.
AB  - Flower bud formation and flowering in chrysanthemums occur under short day
      conditions (SD), but the molecular basis for the switch to reproductive growth is
      less well understood than in model plants. Here, a spontaneous mutant able to
      flower under long days is described. In an attempt to reveal the pathway(s)
      involved in the formation of flower buds under contrasting daylengths,
      transcriptome sequencing was carried out in plants grown both under SD and long
      day conditions (LD). A number of differentially transcribed genes involved in the
      various known flowering pathways were identified. Both circadian clock genes and
      Chrysanthemum FLOWERING LOCUS T Like3 (CmFTL3) were up-regulated under SD,
      thereby inducing floral bud formation and flowering. The gibberellin (GA)
      signaling pathway-related genes Gibberellin 20-oxidase (GA20ox) and Gibberellin
      receptor (GID1) were up-regulated in the mutant under LD, while the catabolic
      genes Gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA2ox) and GA-INSENSITIVE (GAI) were down-regulated,
      thereby inducing the transcription of SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1
      (SOC1) and LEAFY (LFY). The GA content of the leaf was higher in the mutant than
      in the wild type (WT) under LD and SD, and the mutant has more branching than WT
      plants under LD or SD. When treated with GA, the mutant flowered earlier under
      both SD and LD relative to WT, but there was no detectable phenotype difference
      between the two lines. The indication was that the photoperiod pathway majorly
      regulates flower bud formation and flowering time in chrysanthemums under SD. The
      GA signaling pathway only plays a subsidiary role for flowering. However, the GA
      signaling pathway predominated for flowering under LD.

PMID- 28604638
TI  - Application of Computational Chemical Shift Prediction Techniques to the
      Cereoanhydride Structure Problem-Carboxylate Complications.
AB  - Despite the vast array of techniques available to modern-day chemists, structural
      misassignments still occur. These misassignments are often only realized upon
      attempted synthesis, when the spectra of synthesized products do not match
      previously reported spectra. This was the case with marine natural product
      cereoanhydride. The originally proposed 7-membered ring anhydride (1) was shown
      to be incorrect, although a likely precursor to the correct structure (2) in both
      its laboratory synthesis and biosynthesis. Herein, in addition to showing how NMR
      computations could have been used to arrive at the correct structure, we show
      that the conversion of 1 to 2 is indeed energetically viable, and we highlight
      complications in predicting NMR chemical shifts for molecules with acidic
      protons.

PMID- 28604639
TI  - Inhibitory Effects of Diclofenac on Steroid Glucuronidation In Vivo Do Not Affect
      Hair-Based Doping Tests for Stanozolol.
AB  - In vitro studies show that diclofenac inhibits enzymatic steroid glucuronidation.
      This study was designed to investigate the influence of diclofenac on the
      excretion of stanozolol and 3'-hydroxystanozolol via analyses in hair, blood and
      urine in vivo in a rat study. Brown Norway rats were administered with stanozolol
      (weeks 1-3) and diclofenac (weeks 1-6). Weekly assessment of steroid levels in
      hair was complemented with spot urine and serum tests. Levels of both stanozolol
      and 3'-hydroxystanozolol steadily increased in hair during stanozolol treatment
      and decreased post-treatment, but remained readily detectable for 6 weeks. In
      contrast, compared to control rats, diclofenac significantly reduced urinary
      excretion of 3'-hydroxystanozolol which was undetectable in most samples. This is
      the first report of diclofenac altering steroid metabolism in vivo, detrimentally
      affecting detection in urine, but not in hair, which holds considerable
      advantages over urinalysis for anti-doping tests.

PMID- 28604640
TI  - Impacts of Satellite Orbit and Clock on Real-Time GPS Point and Relative
      Positioning.
AB  - Satellite orbit and clock corrections are always treated as known quantities in
      GPS positioning models. Therefore, any error in the satellite orbit and clock
      products will probably cause significant consequences for GPS positioning,
      especially for real-time applications. Currently three types of satellite
      products have been made available for real-time positioning, including the
      broadcast ephemeris, the International GNSS Service (IGS) predicted ultra-rapid
      product, and the real-time product. In this study, these three predicted/real
      time satellite orbit and clock products are first evaluated with respect to the
      post-mission IGS final product, which demonstrates cm to m level orbit accuracies
      and sub-ns to ns level clock accuracies. Impacts of real-time satellite orbit and
      clock products on GPS point and relative positioning are then investigated using
      the P3 and GAMIT software packages, respectively. Numerical results show that the
      real-time satellite clock corrections affect the point positioning more
      significantly than the orbit corrections. On the contrary, only the real-time
      orbit corrections impact the relative positioning. Compared with the positioning
      solution using the IGS final product with the nominal orbit accuracy of ~2.5 cm,
      the real-time broadcast ephemeris with ~2 m orbit accuracy provided <2 cm
      relative positioning error for baselines no longer than 216 km. As for the
      baselines ranging from 574 to 2982 km, the cm-dm level positioning error was
      identified for the relative positioning solution using the broadcast ephemeris.
      The real-time product could result in <5 mm relative positioning accuracy for
      baselines within 2982 km, slightly better than the predicted ultra-rapid product.

PMID- 28604641
TI  - Local Competition-Based Superpixel Segmentation Algorithm in Remote Sensing.
AB  - Remote sensing technologies have been widely applied in urban environments'
      monitoring, synthesis and modeling. Incorporating spatial information in
      perceptually coherent regions, superpixel-based approaches can effectively
      eliminate the "salt and pepper" phenomenon which is common in pixel-wise
      approaches. Compared with fixed-size windows, superpixels have adaptive sizes and
      shapes for different spatial structures. Moreover, superpixel-based algorithms
      can significantly improve computational efficiency owing to the greatly reduced
      number of image primitives. Hence, the superpixel algorithm, as a preprocessing
      technique, is more and more popularly used in remote sensing and many other
      fields. In this paper, we propose a superpixel segmentation algorithm called
      Superpixel Segmentation with Local Competition (SSLC), which utilizes a local
      competition mechanism to construct energy terms and label pixels. The local
      competition mechanism leads to energy terms locality and relativity, and thus,
      the proposed algorithm is less sensitive to the diversity of image content and
      scene layout. Consequently, SSLC could achieve consistent performance in
      different image regions. In addition, the Probability Density Function (PDF),
      which is estimated by Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) with the Gaussian kernel,
      is introduced to describe the color distribution of superpixels as a more
      sophisticated and accurate measure. To reduce computational complexity, a
      boundary optimization framework is introduced to only handle boundary pixels
      instead of the whole image. We conduct experiments to benchmark the proposed
      algorithm with the other state-of-the-art ones on the Berkeley Segmentation
      Dataset (BSD) and remote sensing images. Results demonstrate that the SSLC
      algorithm yields the best overall performance, while the computation time
      efficiency is still competitive.

PMID- 28604643
TI  - An Energy-Aware Hybrid ARQ Scheme with Multi-ACKs for Data Sensing Wireless
      Sensor Networks.
AB  - Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are one of the important supporting technologies
      of edge computing. In WSNs, reliable communications are essential for most
      applications due to the unreliability of wireless links. In addition, network
      lifetime is also an important performance metric and needs to be considered in
      many WSN studies. In the paper, an energy-aware hybrid Automatic Repeat-reQuest
      protocol (ARQ) scheme is proposed to ensure energy efficiency under the guarantee
      of network transmission reliability. In the scheme, the source node sends data
      packets continuously with the correct window size and it does not need to wait
      for the acknowledgement (ACK) confirmation for each data packet. When the
      destination receives K data packets, it will return multiple copies of one ACK
      for confirmation to avoid ACK packet loss. The energy consumption of each node in
      flat circle network applying the proposed scheme is statistical analyzed and the
      cases under which it is more energy efficiency than the original scheme is
      discussed. Moreover, how to select parameters of the scheme is addressed to
      extend the network lifetime under the constraint of the network reliability. In
      addition, the energy efficiency of the proposed schemes is evaluated. Simulation
      results are presented to demonstrate that a node energy consumption reduction
      could be gained and the network lifetime is prolonged.

PMID- 28604642
TI  - Comparison of Prognostic Impact between the Child-Pugh Score and Skeletal Muscle
      Mass for Patients with Liver Cirrhosis.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the influence of skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) as
      determined by bioimpedance analysis (BIA) (appendicular skeletal muscle
      mass/(height)2) on survival by comparing the Child-Pugh score in patients with
      liver cirrhosis (LC, n = 383, average age = 65.2 years). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In
      terms of comparison of the effects of SMI and other markers on survival, we used
      time-dependent receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. RESULTS: The
      average SMI for male was 7.4 cm2/m2 whereas that for female was 6.0 cm2/m2 (p <
      0.0001). As for the Child-Pugh score, five points were in the majority, both in
      males (51.7%, (106/205)) and females (44.9%, (80/178)). For both genders, the
      survival curve was well stratified according to SMI (p < 0.0001 for males and p =
      0.0056 for females). In the multivariate analysis for survival, SMI and Child
      Pugh scores were found to be significant both in males and females. In time
      dependent ROC analyses, all area under the ROCs (AUROCs) for SMI in each time
      point were higher than those for Child-Pugh scores in males, while in females
      AUROCs for Child-Pugh scores at each time point were higher than those for SMI.
      CONCLUSION: SMI using BIA can be helpful for predicting outcomes, at least in
      male LC patients.

PMID- 28604644
TI  - A Novel Exopolysaccharide with Metal Adsorption Capacity Produced by a Marine
      Bacterium Alteromonas sp. JL2810.
AB  - Most marine bacteria can produce exopolysaccharides (EPS). However, very few
      structures of EPS produced by marine bacteria have been determined. The
      characterization of EPS structure is important for the elucidation of their
      biological functions and ecological roles. In this study, the structure of EPS
      produced by a marine bacterium, Alteromonas sp. JL2810, was characterized, and
      the biosorption of the EPS for heavy metals Cu2+, Ni2+, and Cr6+ was also
      investigated. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis indicated that the JL2810
      EPS have a novel structure consisting of the repeating unit of [-3)-alpha-Rhap-(1
      >3)-alpha-Manp-(1->4)-alpha-3OAc-GalAp-(1->]. The biosorption of the EPS for
      heavy metals was affected by a medium pH; the maximum biosorption capacities for
      Cu2+ and Ni2+ were 140.8 +/- 8.2 mg/g and 226.3 +/- 3.3 mg/g at pH 5.0; however,
      for Cr6+ it was 215.2 +/- 5.1 mg/g at pH 5.5. Infrared spectrometry analysis
      demonstrated that the groups of O-H, C=O, and C-O-C were the main function groups
      for the adsorption of JL2810 EPS with the heavy metals. The adsorption
      equilibrium of JL2810 EPS for Ni2+ was further analyzed, and the equilibrium data
      could be better represented by the Langmuir isotherm model. The novel EPS could
      be potentially used in industrial applications as a novel bio-resource for the
      removal of heavy metals.

PMID- 28604645
TI  - Prevalence and Risk Factors of Low Health Literacy: A Community-Based Study in
      Shanghai, China.
AB  - Background: Health literacy is an increasingly important public health concern.
      However, little is known about the health literacy of general public in China.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of low health literacy and
      demographic associations in Shanghai, China. Methods: This study was a community
      based cross-sectional health survey utilizing a multi-stage random sampling
      design. The sample consisted of 1360 individuals aged 15-69 years with the total
      community-dwelling Chinese as the sample frame. Health literacy was measured by a
      questionnaire developed on the basis of a national health literacy manual
      released by the Chinese Ministry of Health. Multiple logistic regression models
      were used to identify whether common socio-demographic features were associated
      with health literacy level. Results: The prevalence of low health literacy was
      84.49% (95% CI, 82.56% to 86.41%). The prevalence of low health literacy was
      negatively associated with the level of education, occupation, and annual
      household income, but was not associated with gender, age, or the presence of non
      communicable chronic disease. Conclusions: Simplifying health services, enhancing
      health education, and promoting interventions to improve health literacy in high
      risk populations should be considered as part of the strategies in the making of
      health policy in China.

PMID- 28604646
TI  - Effect of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction Parameters on the Biological
      Activities and Metabolites Present in Extracts from Arthrospira platensis.
AB  - Arthrospira platensis was used to obtain functional extracts through
      supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SFE-CO2). Pressure (P), temperature (T),
      co-solvent (CX), static extraction (SX), dispersant (Di) and dynamic extraction
      (DX) were evaluated as process parameters through a Plackett-Burman design. The
      maximum extract yield obtained was 7.48 +/- 0.15% w/w. The maximum contents of
      bioactive metabolites in extracts were 0.69 +/- 0.09 ug/g of riboflavin, 5.49 +/-
      0.10 ug/g of alpha-tocopherol, 524.46 +/- 0.10 ug/g of beta-carotene, 1.44 +/-
      0.10 ug/g of lutein and 32.11 +/- 0.12 mg/g of fatty acids with 39.38% of
      palmitic acid, 20.63% of linoleic acid and 30.27% of gamma-linolenic acid. A.
      platensis extracts had an antioxidant activity of 76.47 +/- 0.71 ug GAE/g by
      Folin-Ciocalteu assay, 0.52 +/- 0.02, 0.40 +/- 0.01 and 1.47 +/- 0.02 umol TE/g
      by DPPH, FRAP and TEAC assays, respectively. These extracts showed antimicrobial
      activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC
      27853, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Candida albicans ATCC 10231. Overall, co
      solvent was the most significant factor for all measured effects (p < 0.05).
      Arthrospira platensis represents a sustainable source of bioactive compounds
      through SFE using the following extraction parameters P: 450 bar, CX: 11 g/min,
      SX: 15 min, DX: 25 min, T: 60  degrees C and Di: 35 g.

PMID- 28604647
TI  - Marine Sponges and Bacteria as Challenging Sources of Enzyme Inhibitors for
      Pharmacological Applications.
AB  - Enzymes play key roles in different cellular processes, for example, in signal
      transduction, cell differentiation and proliferation, metabolic processes, DNA
      damage repair, apoptosis, and response to stress. A deregulation of enzymes has
      been considered one of the first causes of several diseases, including cancers.
      In the last several years, enzyme inhibitors, being good candidates as drugs in
      the pathogenic processes, have received an increasing amount of attention for
      their potential application in pharmacology. The marine environment is considered
      a challenging source of enzyme inhibitors for pharmacological applications. In
      this review, we report on secondary metabolites with enzyme inhibitory activity,
      focusing our attention on marine sponges and bacteria as promising sources. In
      the case of sponges, we only reported the kinase inhibitors, because this class
      was the most representative isolated so far from these marine organisms.

PMID- 28604648
TI  - Prevalence, Variability and Bioconcentration of Saxitoxin-Group in Different
      Marine Species Present in the Food Chain.
AB  - The saxitoxin-group (STX-group) corresponds to toxic metabolites produced by
      cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates of the genera Alexandrium, Gymnodinium, and
      Pyrodinium. Over the last decade, it has been possible to extrapolate the areas
      contaminated with the STX-group worldwide, including Chile, a phenomenon that has
      affected ~35% of the Southern Pacific coast territory, generating a high economic
      impact. The objective of this research was to study the toxicity of the STX-group
      in all aquatic organisms (bivalves, algae, echinoderms, crustaceans, tunicates,
      cephalopods, gastropods, and fish) present in areas with a variable presence of
      harmful algal blooms (HABs). Then, the toxic profiles of each species and dose of
      STX equivalents ingested by a 60 kg person from 400 g of shellfish were
      determined to establish the health risk assessment. The toxins with the highest
      prevalence detected were gonyautoxin-4/1 (GTX4/GTX1), gonyautoxin-3/2
      (GTX3/GTX2), neosaxitoxin (neoSTX), decarbamoylsaxitoxin (dcSTX), and saxitoxin
      (STX), with average concentrations of 400, 2800, 280, 200, and 2000 ug kg-1
      respectively, a species-specific variability, dependent on the evaluated tissue,
      which demonstrates the biotransformation of the analogues in the trophic transfer
      with a predominance of alpha-epimers in all toxic profiles. The identification in
      multiple vectors, as well as in unregulated species, suggests that a risk
      assessment and risk management update are required; also, chemical and specific
      analyses for the detection of all analogues associated with the STX-group need to
      be established.

PMID- 28604649
TI  - A Short Review of Membrane Fouling in Forward Osmosis Processes.
AB  - Interest in forward osmosis (FO) research has rapidly increased in the last
      decade due to problems of water and energy scarcity. FO processes have been used
      in many applications, including wastewater reclamation, desalination, energy
      production, fertigation, and food and pharmaceutical processing. However, the
      inherent disadvantages of FO, such as lower permeate water flux compared to
      pressure driven membrane processes, concentration polarisation (CP), reverse salt
      diffusion, the energy consumption of draw solution recovery and issues of
      membrane fouling have restricted its industrial applications. This paper focuses
      on the fouling phenomena of FO processes in different areas, including organic,
      inorganic and biological categories, for better understanding of this long
      standing issue in membrane processes. Furthermore, membrane fouling monitoring
      and mitigation strategies are reviewed.

PMID- 28604650
TI  - Characterization of Bacillus Subtilis Viruses vB_BsuM-Goe2 and vB_BsuM-Goe3.
AB  - The Spounavirinae viruses are ubiquitous in nature and have an obligatory
      virulent lifestyle. They infect Firmicutes, a bacterial phylum containing an
      array of environmental non-pathogenic and pathogenic organisms. To expand the
      knowledge of this viral subfamily, new strains were isolated and investigated in
      this study. Here we present two new viruses, vB_BsuM-Goe2 and vB_BsuM-Goe3,
      isolated from raw sewage and infecting Bacillus species. Both were
      morphologically classified via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as members
      of the Spounavirinae subfamily belonging to the Myoviridae family. Genomic
      sequencing and analyses allowed further affiliation of vB_BsuM-Goe2 to the SPO1
      like virus group and vB_BsuM-Goe3 to the Bastille-like virus group.
      Experimentally determined adsorption constant, latency period, burst size and
      host range for both viruses revealed different survival strategies. Thus vB_BsuM
      Goe2 seemed to rely on fewer host species compared to vB_BsuM-Goe3, but
      efficiently recruits those. Stability tests pointed out that both viruses are
      best preserved in LB-medium or TMK-buffer at 4 or 21  degrees C, whereas
      cryopreservation strongly reduced viability.

PMID- 28604652
TI  - Comparison of Tibial Intramedullary Nailing Guided by Digital Technology Versus
      Conventional Method: A Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND This prospective study aimed to compare clinical effects of
      intramedullary nailing guided by digital and conventional technologies in
      treatment of tibial fractures. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-two patients (mean age
      43 years, 18 males and 14 females) who were treated for tibial fractures from
      October 2010 to October 2012 were enrolled. They were sequentially randomized to
      receive intramedullary nailing guided by either digital technology (digital
      group, n=16) or conventional technology (conventional group, n=16). The operation
      time, fluoroscopy times, fracture healing time, distance between the actual and
      planned insertion point, postoperative lower limb alignment, and functional
      recovery were recorded for all patients. RESULTS The mean operation time in the
      digital group was 43.1+/-6.2 min compared with 48.7+/-8.3 min for the
      conventional technology (P=0.039). The fluoroscopy times and distance between the
      actual and planned insertion point were significantly lower in the digital group
      than in the conventional group (both P<0.001). The accuracy rate of the insertion
      point was 99.12% by digital technology. No difference was found in fracture
      healing time and good postoperative lower limb alignment between the digital and
      conventional groups (P=0.083 and P=0.310), as well as the effective rate (100%
      vs. 87.50%, P=0.144). CONCLUSIONS Intramedullary nailing guided by digital
      technology has many advantages in treatment of tibial fractures compared to
      conventional technology, including shorter operation time, reduced fluoroscopy
      times, and decreased distance between the actual and planned insertion point of
      the intramedullary nail.

PMID- 28604653
TI  - Effects of Titanium Mesh Cage End Structures on the Compressive Load at the
      Endplate Interface: A Cadaveric Biomechanical Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate whether obliquely angled and ring-shaped
      titanium mesh cage (TMC) end structures can improve the compressive load on the
      endplate interface in anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF). MATERIAL
      AND METHODS A total of 23 volunteers underwent cervical lateral x-ray. The
      oblique angle of the superior endplate was measured, which was used to construct
      the gradient of the TMC end. Forty-two fresh cadaveric vertebral bodies were
      harvested and randomly distributed among four TMC groups with different ends. The
      baseline indicators of bone mineral density and anteroposterior and transverse
      dimensions were recorded. The superior endplate was placed at an angle of 12
      degrees  when performing uniaxial compression testing. The maximum loads of the
      four TMCs were assessed. RESULTS There were no significant differences among the
      groups regarding the baseline indicators. The conventional TMC had the lowest
      maximum load (1362.3+/-221.78 N, p<0.05), whereas the TMC with an obliquely end
      ring had the highest maximum load (2095.82+/-285.64 N, p<0.05). The maximum loads
      of the TMCs with oblique footprints and flat end ring were much higher than that
      of the conventional TMC (p<0.05) but significantly lower than that of the TMC
      with the obliquely end ring (p<0.05), with average values of 1806.91+/-246.98 N
      and 1725.3+/-213.33 N, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Both the ring shape and oblique
      angle of the TMC end contributed to an increase in compressive force and are
      advocated for use in TMC structure optimization to decrease the incidence of TMC
      subsidence in ACCF.

PMID- 28604654
TI  - Postural control in elite decathlon athletes: are various modes of dynamic
      assessment needed?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decathlon consists of various track and field running, jumping and
      throwing events. This results in high physical demands and poor postural control
      may predispose athletes at a higher risk for injury. The purpose of this study
      was to measure and to show a relationship of different dynamic postural control
      tests in healthy professional decathlon athletes. METHODS: The German top
      decathlon team (eight professional athletes, mean age+/-standard deviation (SD),
      20.8+/-2.7 years; mean height+/-SD, 187.1+/-4.3 cm; mean weight+/-SD, 82.1+/-7.2
      kg) was tested. Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and three different single-leg
      hop tests (SLHT) (single hop for distance [SLH], crossover hop for distance
      [COH], triple hop for distance [TH] were measured and correlated. RESULTS: A
      significant correlation was evident between SLH and COH (r=0.861, P=0.003) and
      SLH and TH (r=0.908, P=0.001). The correlational analyses of SEBT revealed a
      significant relationship between the posteromedial and posterolateral direction
      of the SEBT (r=0.943, P<0.001). SEBT and SLHT showed no correlation. CONCLUSIONS:
      The results of this study demonstrated a relationship in performance of different
      single leg hop tests in professional decathletes. Adversely there is no
      correlation of the single leg hop tests and the performance in the star excursion
      balance test. To minimize the time effort of testing procedures, to avoid
      redundant testing and to determine overall postural control in decathletes, test
      batteries should include the SEBT and at least one SLHT.

PMID- 28604651
TI  - Wound-Healing Studies in Cornea and Skin: Parallels, Differences and
      Opportunities.
AB  - The cornea and the skin are both organs that provide the outer barrier of the
      body. Both tissues have developed intrinsic mechanisms that protect the organism
      from a wide range of external threats, but at the same time also enable rapid
      restoration of tissue integrity and organ-specific function. The easy
      accessibility makes the skin an attractive model system to study tissue damage
      and repair. Findings from skin research have contributed to unravelling novel
      fundamental principles in regenerative biology and the repair of other epithelial
      mesenchymal tissues, such as the cornea. Following barrier disruption, the influx
      of inflammatory cells, myofibroblast differentiation, extracellular matrix
      synthesis and scar formation present parallel repair mechanisms in cornea and
      skin wound healing. Yet, capillary sprouting, while pivotal in proper skin wound
      healing, is a process that is rather associated with pathological repair of the
      cornea. Understanding the parallels and differences of the cellular and molecular
      networks that coordinate the wound healing response in skin and cornea are likely
      of mutual importance for both organs with regard to the development of
      regenerative therapies and understanding of the disease pathologies that affect
      epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. Here, we review the principal events in
      corneal wound healing and the mechanisms to restore corneal transparency and
      barrier function. We also refer to skin repair mechanisms and their potential
      implications for regenerative processes in the cornea.

PMID- 28604656
TI  - Cryogenic strength improvement by utilizing room-temperature deformation twinning
      in a partially recrystallized VCrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy.
AB  - The excellent cryogenic tensile properties of the CrMnFeCoNi alloy are generally
      caused by deformation twinning, which is difficult to achieve at room temperature
      because of insufficient stress for twinning. Here, we induced twinning at room
      temperature to improve the cryogenic tensile properties of the CrMnFeCoNi alloy.
      Considering grain size effects on the critical stress for twinning, twins were
      readily formed in the coarse microstructure by cold rolling without grain
      refinement by hot rolling. These twins were retained by partial recrystallization
      and played an important role in improving strength, allowing yield strengths
      approaching 1 GPa. The persistent elongation up to 46% as well as the tensile
      strength of 1.3 GPa are attributed to additional twinning in both recrystallized
      and non-recrystallization regions. Our results demonstrate that non
      recrystallized grains, which are generally avoided in conventional alloys because
      of their deleterious effect on ductility, can be useful in achieving high
      strength high-entropy alloys.

PMID- 28604655
TI  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor/tropomyosin-related kinase B signaling pathway
      contributes to the aggressive behavior of lung squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - The tropomyosin-related kinase (Trk) family consists of TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC,
      which play essential roles in tumor progression and/or suppression in various
      cancers. Little is known about the biological significance of the Trk family in
      human lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Here we investigated the clinical
      significance of the protein expression of Trk family members in samples from 99
      SCC patients, and we explored the relationship between invasion/proliferation
      activities and Trk expression using lung SCC cell lines to clarify the biological
      significance of the Trk family in lung SCC. Immunohistochemical high expression
      of TrkB was significantly correlated with vascular invasion (P=0.004), lymph node
      metastasis (P<0.001), and advanced stage (P=0.0015). The overall survival of the
      patients with TrkB-high expression was significantly shorter than those with TrkB
      low expression (P=0.0110). TrkA/TrkC expressions were not predictors of poor
      prognosis. An in vitro assay demonstrated that the inhibition of brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (a TrkB ligand) and TrkB by K252a (a Trk inhibitor) or
      siRNA (BDNF-siRNA, TrkB-siRNA) suppressed the invasion, migration, and
      proliferative activities of lung SCC cells. The administration of recombinant
      human BDNF (rhBDNF) enhanced the invasion, migration, and proliferation
      activities, which were abrogated by K252a. TrkB-siRNA transfection increased the
      protein expression of E-cadherin and decreased vimentin expressions in lung SCC
      cells. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)-mediated gelatin degradations were
      decreased in lung SCC cells transfected with TrkB-siRNA. Thus, TrkB-high
      expression is an indicator of poor prognosis in lung SCC, probably due to
      invasion/proliferation activities promoted by the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway,
      which could become a therapeutic target for lung SCC.

PMID- 28604657
TI  - In-beam measurement of the hydrogen hyperfine splitting and prospects for
      antihydrogen spectroscopy.
AB  - Antihydrogen, the lightest atom consisting purely of antimatter, is an ideal
      laboratory to study the CPT symmetry by comparison with hydrogen. With respect to
      absolute precision, transitions within the ground-state hyperfine structure (GS
      HFS) are most appealing by virtue of their small energy separation. ASACUSA
      proposed employing a beam of cold antihydrogen atoms in a Rabi-type experiment,
      to determine the GS-HFS in a field-free region. Here we present a measurement of
      the zero-field hydrogen GS-HFS using the spectroscopy apparatus of ASACUSA's
      antihydrogen experiment. The measured value of nuHF=1,420,405,748.4(3.4) (1.6) Hz
      with a relative precision of 2.7 * 10-9 constitutes the most precise
      determination of this quantity in a beam and verifies the developed spectroscopy
      methods for the antihydrogen HFS experiment to the p.p.b. level. Together with
      the recently presented observation of antihydrogen atoms 2.7 m downstream of the
      production region, the prerequisites for a measurement with antihydrogen are now
      available within the ASACUSA collaboration.

PMID- 28604658
TI  - In vitro differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into ovarian follicle-like
      cells.
AB  - Understanding the unique mechanisms of human oogenesis necessitates the
      development of an in vitro system of stem cell differentiation into oocytes.
      Specialized cell types and organoids have been derived from human pluripotent
      stem cells in vitro, but generating a human ovarian follicle remains a challenge.
      Here we report that human embryonic stem cells can be induced to differentiate
      into ovarian follicle-like cells (FLCs) in vitro. First, we find that two RNA
      binding proteins specifically expressed in germ cells, DAZL and BOULE, regulate
      the exit from pluripotency and entry into meiosis. By expressing DAZL and BOULE
      with recombinant human GDF9 and BMP15, these meiotic germ cells are further
      induced to form ovarian FLCs, including oocytes and granulosa cells. This robust
      in vitro differentiation system will allow the study of the unique molecular
      mechanisms underlying human pluripotent stem cell differentiation into late
      primordial germ cells, meiotic germ cells and ovarian follicles.

PMID- 28604659
TI  - Inference and quantification of peptidoforms in large sample cohorts by SWATH-MS.
AB  - Consistent detection and quantification of protein post-translational
      modifications (PTMs) across sample cohorts is a prerequisite for functional
      analysis of biological processes. Data-independent acquisition (DIA) is a bottom
      up mass spectrometry approach that provides complete information on precursor and
      fragment ions. However, owing to the convoluted structure of DIA data sets,
      confident, systematic identification and quantification of peptidoforms has
      remained challenging. Here, we present inference of peptidoforms (IPF), a fully
      automated algorithm that uses spectral libraries to query, validate and quantify
      peptidoforms in DIA data sets. The method was developed on data acquired by the
      DIA method SWATH-MS and benchmarked using a synthetic phosphopeptide reference
      data set and phosphopeptide-enriched samples. IPF reduced false site-localization
      by more than sevenfold compared with previous approaches, while recovering 85.4%
      of the true signals. Using IPF, we quantified peptidoforms in DIA data acquired
      from >200 samples of blood plasma of a human twin cohort and assessed the
      contribution of heritable, environmental and longitudinal effects on their PTMs.

PMID- 28604661
TI  - Computational design of trimeric influenza-neutralizing proteins targeting the
      hemagglutinin receptor binding site.
AB  - Many viral surface glycoproteins and cell surface receptors are homo-oligomers,
      and thus can potentially be targeted by geometrically matched homo-oligomers that
      engage all subunits simultaneously to attain high avidity and/or lock subunits
      together. The adaptive immune system cannot generally employ this strategy since
      the individual antibody binding sites are not arranged with appropriate geometry
      to simultaneously engage multiple sites in a single target homo-oligomer. We
      describe a general strategy for the computational design of homo-oligomeric
      protein assemblies with binding functionality precisely matched to homo
      oligomeric target sites. In the first step, a small protein is designed that
      binds a single site on the target. In the second step, the designed protein is
      assembled into a homo-oligomer such that the designed binding sites are aligned
      with the target sites. We use this approach to design high-avidity trimeric
      proteins that bind influenza A hemagglutinin (HA) at its conserved receptor
      binding site. The designed trimers can both capture and detect HA in a paper
      based diagnostic format, neutralizes influenza in cell culture, and completely
      protects mice when given as a single dose 24 h before or after challenge with
      influenza.

PMID- 28604660
TI  - 1,003 reference genomes of bacterial and archaeal isolates expand coverage of the
      tree of life.
AB  - We present 1,003 reference genomes that were sequenced as part of the Genomic
      Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) initiative, selected to maximize
      sequence coverage of phylogenetic space. These genomes double the number of
      existing type strains and expand their overall phylogenetic diversity by 25%.
      Comparative analyses with previously available finished and draft genomes reveal
      a 10.5% increase in novel protein families as a function of phylogenetic
      diversity. The GEBA genomes recruit 25 million previously unassigned metagenomic
      proteins from 4,650 samples, improving their phylogenetic and functional
      interpretation. We identify numerous biosynthetic clusters and experimentally
      validate a divergent phenazine cluster with potential new chemical structure and
      antimicrobial activity. This Resource is the largest single release of reference
      genomes to date. Bacterial and archaeal isolate sequence space is still far from
      saturated, and future endeavors in this direction will continue to be a valuable
      resource for scientific discovery.

PMID- 28604662
TI  - Upregulation of mitochondrial NAD+ levels impairs the clonogenicity of SSEA1+
      glioblastoma tumor-initiating cells.
AB  - Emerging evidence has emphasized the importance of cancer therapies targeting an
      abnormal metabolic state of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) in which they retain
      stem cell-like phenotypes and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)
      metabolism. However, the functional role of NAD+ metabolism in regulating the
      characteristics of TICs is not known. In this study, we provide evidence that the
      mitochondrial NAD+ levels affect the characteristics of glioma-driven SSEA1+
      TICs, including clonogenic growth potential. An increase in the mitochondrial
      NAD+ levels by the overexpression of the mitochondrial enzyme nicotinamide
      nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) significantly suppressed the sphere-forming
      ability and induced differentiation of TICs, suggesting a loss of the
      characteristics of TICs. In addition, increased SIRT3 activity and reduced
      lactate production, which are mainly observed in healthy and young cells,
      appeared following NNT-overexpressed TICs. Moreover, in vivo tumorigenic
      potential was substantially abolished by NNT overexpression. Conversely, the
      short interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of NNT facilitated the maintenance of
      TIC characteristics, as evidenced by the increased numbers of large tumor spheres
      and in vivo tumorigenic potential. Our results demonstrated that targeting the
      maintenance of healthy mitochondria with increased mitochondrial NAD+ levels and
      SIRT3 activity could be a promising strategy for abolishing the development of
      TICs as a new therapeutic approach to treating aging-associated tumors.

PMID- 28604663
TI  - Elevated TRAF4 expression impaired LPS-induced autophagy in mesenchymal stem
      cells from ankylosing spondylitis patients.
AB  - Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of autoimmune disease that predominantly
      affects the spine and sacroiliac joints. However, the pathogenesis of AS remains
      unclear. Some evidence indicates that infection with bacteria, especially Gram
      negative bacteria, may have an important role in the onset and progression of AS.
      Recently, many studies have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
      dysfunction may contribute to the pathogenesis of many rheumatic diseases. We
      previously demonstrated that MSCs from AS patients exhibited markedly enhanced
      osteogenic differentiation capacity in vitro under non-inflammatory conditions.
      However, the properties of MSCs from AS patients in an inflammatory environment
      have never been explored. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a proinflammatory substance
      derived from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, can alter the status
      and function of MSCs. However, whether MSCs from AS patients exhibit abnormal
      responses to LPS stimulation has not been reported. Autophagy is a lysosome
      mediated catabolic process that participates in many physiological and
      pathological processes. The link between autophagy and AS remains largely
      unknown. The level of autophagy in ASMSCs after LPS stimulation remains to be
      addressed. In this study, we demonstrated that although the basal level of
      autophagy did not differ between MSCs from healthy donors (HDMSCs) and ASMSCs,
      LPS-induced autophagy was weaker in ASMSCs than in HDMSCs. Specifically,
      increased TRAF4 expression in ASMSCs impaired LPS-induced autophagy, potentially
      by inhibiting the phosphorylation of Beclin-1. These data may provide further
      insight into ASMSC dysfunction and the precise mechanism underlying the
      pathogenesis of AS.

PMID- 28604664
TI  - Quantum tunnelling and charge accumulation in organic ferroelectric memory
      diodes.
AB  - Non-volatile memories-providing the information storage functionality-are crucial
      circuit components. Solution-processed organic ferroelectric memory diodes are
      the non-volatile memory candidate for flexible electronics, as witnessed by the
      industrial demonstration of a 1 kbit reconfigurable memory fabricated on a
      plastic foil. Further progress, however, is limited owing to the lack of
      understanding of the device physics, which is required for the technological
      implementation of high-density arrays. Here we show that ferroelectric diodes
      operate as vertical field-effect transistors at the pinch-off. The tunnelling
      injection and charge accumulation are the fundamental mechanisms governing the
      device operation. Surprisingly, thermionic emission can be disregarded and the on
      state current is not space charge limited. The proposed model explains and
      unifies a wide range of experiments, provides important design rules for the
      implementation of organic ferroelectric memory diodes and predicts an ultimate
      theoretical array density of up to 1012 bit cm-2.

PMID- 28604666
TI  - Prospective computerized monitoring of cognitive functioning before and after
      blood and marrow transplantation.

PMID- 28604665
TI  - GvHD prophylaxis after single-unit reduced intensity conditioning cord blood
      transplantation in adults with acute leukemia.
AB  - To investigate better GVHD prophylaxis in reduced intensity conditioning
      umbilical cord blood transplantation (RIC-UCBT), we compared transplant outcomes
      after UCBT among GvHD prophylaxes using the registry data. We selected patients
      transplanted for AML or ALL with a calcineurin inhibitor and methotrexate
      (MTX)/mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) combination. A total of 748 first RIC-UCBT
      between 2000 and 2012 (MTX+ group, 446, MMF+ group, 302) were included. The
      cumulative incidence of neutrophil and platelet counts higher than 50 000/MUL was
      significantly better in the MMF+ group (relative risk (RR), 1.55; P<0.001: RR,
      1.34; P=0.003, respectively). In multivariate analyses, the risk of grade II-IV
      and III-IV acute GvHD was significantly higher in the MMF+ group than in the MTX+
      group (RR, 1.75; P<0.001: RR, 1.97; P=0.004, respectively). In disease-specific
      analyses of AML, the risk of relapse of high-risk disease was significantly lower
      in the MMF+ group (RR, 0.69; P=0.009), whereas no significant difference was
      observed in the risk of relapse-free and overall survival in high-risk disease.
      In patients with standard-risk disease, no significant differences were noted in
      the risk of relapse or survival between the MTX+ and MMF+ groups. Collectively,
      these results suggest that MMF-containing prophylaxis may be preferable in RIC
      UCBT, particularly for high-risk disease.

PMID- 28604667
TI  - Single-agent GvHD prophylaxis with tacrolimus after post-transplant high-dose
      cyclophosphamide is a valid option for haploidentical transplantation in adults
      with hematological malignancies.
AB  - Eighty-one patients with high-risk hematological malignancies received
      unmanipulated haploidentical stem cell transplants (haploSCT) using the same
      protocol at four Spanish institutions. The conditioning regimen was thiotepa,
      busulfan and fludarabine; following bone marrow or peripheral blood infusion.
      GvHD prophylaxis with high-dose cyclophosphamide on days +3 and +4, and IV
      tacrolimus from day +5 was administered. 62% were in complete remission, 17% had
      received previous allogeneic SCT and 44% had a high-very high refined disease
      risk index. One patient had primary graft failure and three more died before +21.
      The median days to neutrophil and platelet recoveries were +18 and +23,
      respectively, and 93% achieved a full donor chimerism on day +30. At 1 year,
      cumulative incidences (CumInc) of non-relapse mortality and relapse were 27 and
      19%. One-year overall survival and PFS were 61 and 51%. CumInc of grade II-IV and
      III-IV were 23 and 14%. At 30 months, CumInc of limited and extensive GvHD were
      20 and 22%. In conclusion, patients with hematological malignancies who receive
      an unmanipulated haploSCT with post-transplant cyclophosphamide may benefit from
      less intense pharmacological prophylaxis for GvHD prophylaxis. Whether this
      approach potentiates the graft-versus-tumor effect and decreases relapses
      requires further investigation.

PMID- 28604668
TI  - Toxoplasmosis disease in paediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: do
      not forget it still exists.

PMID- 28604670
TI  - Mutual synchronization of spin torque nano-oscillators through a long-range and
      tunable electrical coupling scheme.
AB  - The concept of spin-torque-driven high-frequency magnetization dynamics, allows
      the potential construction of complex networks of non-linear dynamical nanoscale
      systems, combining the field of spintronics and the study of non-linear systems.
      In the few previous demonstrations of synchronization of several spin-torque
      oscillators, the short-range nature of the magnetic coupling that was used has
      largely hampered a complete control of the synchronization process. Here we
      demonstrate the successful mutual synchronization of two spin-torque oscillators
      with a large separation distance through their long range self-emitted microwave
      currents. This leads to a strong improvement of both the emitted power and the
      linewidth. The full control of the synchronized state is achieved at the
      nanoscale through two active spin transfer torques, but also externally through
      an electrical delay line. These additional levels of control of the
      synchronization capability provide a new approach to develop spin-torque
      oscillator-based nanoscale microwave-devices going from microwave-sources to bio
      inspired networks.

PMID- 28604669
TI  - Structural and mechanistic basis of differentiated inhibitors of the acute
      pancreatitis target kynurenine-3-monooxygenase.
AB  - Kynurenine-3-monooxygenase (KMO) is a key FAD-dependent enzyme of tryptophan
      metabolism. In animal models, KMO inhibition has shown benefit in
      neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's and Alzheimer's. Most recently it
      has been identified as a target for acute pancreatitis multiple organ dysfunction
      syndrome (AP-MODS); a devastating inflammatory condition with a mortality rate in
      excess of 20%. Here we report and dissect the molecular mechanism of action of
      three classes of KMO inhibitors with differentiated binding modes and kinetics.
      Two novel inhibitor classes trap the catalytic flavin in a previously unobserved
      tilting conformation. This correlates with picomolar affinities, increased
      residence times and an absence of the peroxide production seen with previous
      substrate site inhibitors. These structural and mechanistic insights culminated
      in GSK065(C1) and GSK366(C2), molecules suitable for preclinical evaluation.
      Moreover, revising the repertoire of flavin dynamics in this enzyme class offers
      exciting new opportunities for inhibitor design.

PMID- 28604671
TI  - Hierarchical porous carbons with layer-by-layer motif architectures from confined
      soft-template self-assembly in layered materials.
AB  - Although various two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have been explored as
      promising capacitive materials due to their unique layered structure, their
      natural restacking tendency impedes electrolyte transport and significantly
      restricts their practical applications. Herein, we synthesize all-carbon layer-by
      layer motif architectures by introducing 2D ordered mesoporous carbons (OMC)
      within the interlayer space of 2D nanomaterials. As a proof of concept, MXenes
      are selected as 2D hosts to design 2D-2D heterostructures. Further removing the
      metal elements from MXenes leads to the formation of all-carbon 2D-2D
      heterostructures consisting of alternating layers of MXene-derived carbon (MDC)
      and OMC. The OMC layers intercalated with the MDC layers not only prevent
      restacking but also facilitate ion diffusion and electron transfer. The
      performance of the obtained hybrid carbons as supercapacitor electrodes
      demonstrates their potential for upcoming electronic devices. This method allows
      to overcome the restacking and blocking of 2D nanomaterials by constructing ion
      accessible OMC within the 2D host material.

PMID- 28604672
TI  - Electrical resistance of individual defects at a topological insulator surface.
AB  - Three-dimensional topological insulators host surface states with linear
      dispersion, which manifest as a Dirac cone. Nanoscale transport measurements
      provide direct access to the transport properties of the Dirac cone in real space
      and allow the detailed investigation of charge carrier scattering. Here we use
      scanning tunnelling potentiometry to analyse the resistance of different kinds of
      defects at the surface of a (Bi0.53Sb0.47)2Te3 topological insulator thin film.
      We find the largest localized voltage drop to be located at domain boundaries in
      the topological insulator film, with a resistivity about four times higher than
      that of a step edge. Furthermore, we resolve resistivity dipoles located around
      nanoscale voids in the sample surface. The influence of such defects on the
      resistance of the topological surface state is analysed by means of a resistor
      network model. The effect resulting from the voids is found to be small compared
      with the other defects.

PMID- 28604673
TI  - Diffusion engineering of ions and charge carriers for stable efficient perovskite
      solar cells.
AB  - Long-term stability is crucial for the future application of perovskite solar
      cells, a promising low-cost photovoltaic technology that has rapidly advanced in
      the recent years. Here, we designed a nanostructured carbon layer to suppress the
      diffusion of ions/molecules within perovskite solar cells, an important
      degradation process in the device. Furthermore, this nanocarbon layer benefited
      the diffusion of electron charge carriers to enable a high-energy conversion
      efficiency. Finally, the efficiency on a perovskite solar cell with an aperture
      area of 1.02 cm2, after a thermal aging test at 85  degrees C for over 500 h, or
      light soaking for 1,000 h, was stable of over 15% during the entire test. The
      present diffusion engineering of ions/molecules and photo generated charges paves
      a way to realizing long-term stable and highly efficient perovskite solar cells.

PMID- 28604674
TI  - Genetic diagnosis of Mendelian disorders via RNA sequencing.
AB  - Across a variety of Mendelian disorders, ~50-75% of patients do not receive a
      genetic diagnosis by exome sequencing indicating disease-causing variants in non
      coding regions. Although genome sequencing in principle reveals all genetic
      variants, their sizeable number and poorer annotation make prioritization
      challenging. Here, we demonstrate the power of transcriptome sequencing to
      molecularly diagnose 10% (5 of 48) of mitochondriopathy patients and identify
      candidate genes for the remainder. We find a median of one aberrantly expressed
      gene, five aberrant splicing events and six mono-allelically expressed rare
      variants in patient-derived fibroblasts and establish disease-causing roles for
      each kind. Private exons often arise from cryptic splice sites providing an
      important clue for variant prioritization. One such event is found in the complex
      I assembly factor TIMMDC1 establishing a novel disease-associated gene. In
      conclusion, our study expands the diagnostic tools for detecting non-exonic
      variants and provides examples of intronic loss-of-function variants with
      pathological relevance.

PMID- 28604675
TI  - Identification of the elementary structural units of the DNA damage response.
AB  - Histone H2AX phosphorylation is an early signalling event triggered by DNA double
      strand breaks (DSBs). To elucidate the elementary units of phospho-H2AX-labelled
      chromatin, we integrate super-resolution microscopy of phospho-H2AX during DNA
      repair in human cells with genome-wide sequencing analyses. Here we identify
      phospho-H2AX chromatin domains in the nanometre range with median length of ~75
      kb. Correlation analysis with over 60 genomic features shows a time-dependent
      euchromatin-to-heterochromatin repair trend. After X-ray or CRISPR-Cas9-mediated
      DSBs, phospho-H2AX-labelled heterochromatin exhibits DNA decondensation while
      retaining heterochromatic histone marks, indicating that chromatin structural and
      molecular determinants are uncoupled during repair. The phospho-H2AX nano-domains
      arrange into higher-order clustered structures of discontinuously phosphorylated
      chromatin, flanked by CTCF. CTCF knockdown impairs spreading of the
      phosphorylation throughout the 3D-looped nano-domains. Co-staining of phospho
      H2AX with phospho-Ku70 and TUNEL reveals that clusters rather than nano-foci
      represent single DSBs. Hence, each chromatin loop is a nano-focus, whose clusters
      correspond to previously known phospho-H2AX foci.

PMID- 28604676
TI  - Cholesterol and fatty acids regulate cysteine ubiquitylation of ACAT2 through
      competitive oxidation.
AB  - Ubiquitin linkage to cysteine is an unconventional modification targeting protein
      for degradation. However, the physiological regulation of cysteine ubiquitylation
      is still mysterious. Here we found that ACAT2, a cellular enzyme converting
      cholesterol and fatty acid to cholesteryl esters, was ubiquitylated on Cys277 for
      degradation when the lipid level was low. gp78-Insigs catalysed Lys48-linked
      polyubiquitylation on this Cys277. A high concentration of cholesterol and fatty
      acid, however, induced cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) that oxidized
      Cys277, resulting in ACAT2 stabilization and subsequently elevated cholesteryl
      esters. Furthermore, ACAT2 knockout mice were more susceptible to high-fat diet
      associated insulin resistance. By contrast, expression of a constitutively stable
      form of ACAT2 (C277A) resulted in higher insulin sensitivity. Together, these
      data indicate that lipid-induced stabilization of ACAT2 ameliorates lipotoxicity
      from excessive cholesterol and fatty acid. This unconventional cysteine
      ubiquitylation of ACAT2 constitutes an important mechanism for sensing lipid
      overload-induced ROS and fine-tuning lipid homeostasis.

PMID- 28604677
TI  - Pramel7 mediates ground-state pluripotency through proteasomal-epigenetic
      combined pathways.
AB  - Naive pluripotency is established in preimplantation epiblast. Embryonic stem
      cells (ESCs) represent the immortalization of naive pluripotency. 2i culture has
      optimized this state, leading to a gene signature and DNA hypomethylation closely
      comparable to preimplantation epiblast, the developmental ground state. Here we
      show that Pramel7 (PRAME-like 7), a protein highly expressed in the inner cell
      mass (ICM) but expressed at low levels in ESCs, targets for proteasomal
      degradation UHRF1, a key factor for DNA methylation maintenance. Increasing
      Pramel7 expression in serum-cultured ESCs promotes a preimplantation epiblast
      like gene signature, reduces UHRF1 levels and causes global DNA hypomethylation.
      Pramel7 is required for blastocyst formation and its forced expression locks ESCs
      in pluripotency. Pramel7/UHRF1 expression is mutually exclusive in ICMs whereas
      Pramel7-knockout embryos express high levels of UHRF1. Our data reveal an as-yet
      unappreciated dynamic nature of DNA methylation through proteasome pathways and
      offer insights that might help to improve ESC culture to reproduce in vitro the
      in vivo ground-state pluripotency.

PMID- 28604678
TI  - Dynamic subunit turnover in ESCRT-III assemblies is regulated by Vps4 to mediate
      membrane remodelling during cytokinesis.
AB  - The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT)-III mediates
      membrane fission in fundamental cellular processes, including cytokinesis. ESCRT
      III is thought to form persistent filaments that over time increase their
      curvature to constrict membranes. Unexpectedly, we found that ESCRT-III at the
      midbody of human cells rapidly turns over subunits with cytoplasmic pools while
      gradually forming larger assemblies. ESCRT-III turnover depended on the ATPase
      VPS4, which accumulated at the midbody simultaneously with ESCRT-III subunits,
      and was required for assembly of functional ESCRT-III structures. In vitro, the
      Vps2/Vps24 subunits of ESCRT-III formed side-by-side filaments with Snf7 and
      inhibited further polymerization, but the growth inhibition was alleviated by the
      addition of Vps4 and ATP. High-speed atomic force microscopy further revealed
      highly dynamic arrays of growing and shrinking ESCRT-III spirals in the presence
      of Vps4. Continuous ESCRT-III remodelling by subunit turnover might facilitate
      shape adaptions to variable membrane geometries, with broad implications for
      diverse cellular processes.

PMID- 28604679
TI  - A stabilized microbial ecosystem of self-limiting bacteria using synthetic quorum
      regulated lysis.
AB  - Microbial ecologists are increasingly turning to small, synthesized ecosystems1-5
      as a reductionist tool to probe the complexity of native microbiomes6,7.
      Concurrently, synthetic biologists have gone from single-cell gene circuits8-11
      to controlling whole populations using intercellular signalling12-16. The
      intersection of these fields is giving rise to new approaches in waste
      recycling17, industrial fermentation18, bioremediation19 and human health16,20.
      These applications share a common challenge7 well-known in classical ecology21,22
      stability of an ecosystem cannot arise without mechanisms that prohibit the
      faster-growing species from eliminating the slower. Here, we combine orthogonal
      quorum-sensing systems and a population control circuit with diverse self
      limiting growth dynamics to engineer two 'ortholysis' circuits capable of
      maintaining a stable co-culture of metabolically competitive Salmonella
      typhimurium strains in microfluidic devices. Although no successful co-cultures
      are observed in a two-strain ecology without synthetic population control, the
      'ortholysis' design dramatically increases the co-culture rate from 0% to
      approximately 80%. Agent-based and deterministic modelling reveal that our system
      can be adjusted to yield different dynamics, including phase-shifted, antiphase
      or synchronized oscillations, as well as stable steady-state population
      densities. The 'ortholysis' approach establishes a paradigm for constructing
      synthetic ecologies by developing stable communities of competitive
      microorganisms without the need for engineered co-dependency.

PMID- 28604680
TI  - Genome sequencing: Illuminating the sunflower genome.

PMID- 28604681
TI  - Corrigendum: Plant cholesterol biosynthetic pathway overlaps with phytosterol
      metabolism.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2016.205.

PMID- 28604682
TI  - Architecture and permeability of post-cytokinesis plasmodesmata lacking
      cytoplasmic sleeves.
AB  - Plasmodesmata are remarkable cellular machines responsible for the controlled
      exchange of proteins, small RNAs and signalling molecules between cells. They are
      lined by the plasma membrane (PM), contain a strand of tubular endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER), and the space between these two membranes is thought to control
      plasmodesmata permeability. Here, we have reconstructed plasmodesmata three
      dimensional (3D) ultrastructure with an unprecedented level of 3D information
      using electron tomography. We show that within plasmodesmata, ER-PM contact sites
      undergo substantial remodelling events during cell differentiation. Instead of
      being open pores, post-cytokinesis plasmodesmata present such intimate ER-PM
      contact along the entire length of the pores that no intermembrane gap is
      visible. Later on, during cell expansion, the plasmodesmata pore widens and the
      two membranes separate, leaving a cytosolic sleeve spanned by tethers whose
      presence correlates with the appearance of the intermembrane gap. Surprisingly,
      the post-cytokinesis plasmodesmata allow diffusion of macromolecules despite the
      apparent lack of an open cytoplasmic sleeve, forcing the reassessment of the
      mechanisms that control plant cell-cell communication.

PMID- 28604683
TI  - Neural signatures of dynamic stimulus selection in Drosophila.
AB  - Many animals orient using visual cues, but how a single cue is selected from
      among many is poorly understood. Here we show that Drosophila ring neurons
      central brain neurons implicated in navigation-display visual stimulus selection.
      Using in vivo two-color two-photon imaging with genetically encoded calcium
      indicators, we demonstrate that individual ring neurons inherit simple-cell-like
      receptive fields from their upstream partners. Stimuli in the contralateral
      visual field suppressed responses to ipsilateral stimuli in both populations.
      Suppression strength depended on when and where the contralateral stimulus was
      presented, an effect stronger in ring neurons than in their upstream inputs. This
      history-dependent effect on the temporal structure of visual responses, which was
      well modeled by a simple biphasic filter, may determine how visual references are
      selected for the fly's internal compass. Our approach highlights how two-color
      calcium imaging can help identify and localize the origins of sensory
      transformations across synaptically connected neural populations.

PMID- 28604684
TI  - Sensory integration and neuromodulatory feedback facilitate Drosophila
      mechanonociceptive behavior.
AB  - Nociception is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to encode and process
      harmful environmental stimuli. Like most animals, Drosophila melanogaster larvae
      respond to a variety of nociceptive stimuli, including noxious touch and
      temperature, with stereotyped escape responses through activation of multimodal
      nociceptors. How behavioral responses to these different modalities are processed
      and integrated by the downstream network remains poorly understood. By combining
      trans-synaptic labeling, ultrastructural analysis, calcium imaging, optogenetics
      and behavioral analyses, we uncovered a circuit specific for mechanonociception
      but not thermonociception. Notably, integration of mechanosensory input from
      innocuous and nociceptive sensory neurons is required for robust
      mechanonociceptive responses. We further show that neurons integrating
      mechanosensory input facilitate primary nociceptive output by releasing short
      neuropeptide F, the Drosophila neuropeptide Y homolog. Our findings unveil how
      integration of somatosensory input and neuropeptide-mediated modulation can
      produce robust modality-specific escape behavior.

PMID- 28604686
TI  - Glycated hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D and their association with diabetic
      retinopathy severity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This retrospective, population-based, cross-sectional study evaluated
      the association between vitamin D deficiency and retinopathy severity in diabetic
      patients with poorly or well controlled glycaemia. Other potential risk factors
      for diabetic retinopathy severity were also assessed. METHODS: The National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2008 data were used for the
      study. Outcomes assessed included retinopathy severity, HbA1c levels,
      socioeconomic, behavioral, and biological factors. Univariate and multivariate
      regression analysis was used to evaluate association of different parameters with
      retinopathy severity. The interaction among HbA1c control, vitamin D deficiency,
      and retinopathy severity were also explored. RESULTS: The population included 842
      adults (52.8% women) with mean age of 61.2 years. Retinopathy was detected in 301
      subjects (35.7%). Mild non-proliferative retinopathy (NPR) was present in 195
      subjects (23.2%), severe non-proliferative and proliferative retinopathy in 106
      subjects (12.6%). Multivariate ordinal regression analysis found being male (odds
      ratio (OR): 1.602, P=0.001), increased duration of diabetes (OR: 1.072, P=3.77E
      7) and poorly controlled HbA1c (OR: 3.522, P=2.00E-5) were associated with
      greater retinopathy severity. The association between vitamin D deficiency and
      retinopathy severity only found in diabetic patients with well controlled
      glycaemia. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that vitamin D
      deficiency associated with severe diabetic retinopathy in patients with well
      controlled diabetes. The findings provide possible relationship for the previous
      conflict results, and highlight the need for controlling modifiable risk factors
      to reduce the development of sever diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 28604685
TI  - A TNF-JNK-Axl-ERK signaling axis mediates primary resistance to EGFR inhibition
      in glioblastoma.
AB  - Aberrant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling is widespread in
      cancer, making the EGFR an important target for therapy. EGFR gene amplification
      and mutation are common in glioblastoma (GBM), but EGFR inhibition has not been
      effective in treating this tumor. Here we propose that primary resistance to EGFR
      inhibition in glioma cells results from a rapid compensatory response to EGFR
      inhibition that mediates cell survival. We show that in glioma cells expressing
      either EGFR wild type or the mutant EGFRvIII, EGFR inhibition triggers a rapid
      adaptive response driven by increased tumor necrosis factor (TNF) secretion,
      which leads to activation in turn of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), the Axl
      receptor tyrosine kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK).
      Inhibition of this adaptive axis at multiple nodes rendered glioma cells with
      primary resistance sensitive to EGFR inhibition. Our findings provide a possible
      explanation for the failures of anti-EGFR therapy in GBM and suggest a new
      approach to the treatment of EGFR-expressing GBM using a combination of EGFR and
      TNF inhibition.

PMID- 28604687
TI  - Reconstruction of stochastic temporal networks through diffusive arrival times.
AB  - Temporal networks have opened a new dimension in defining and quantification of
      complex interacting systems. Our ability to identify and reproduce time-resolved
      interaction patterns is, however, limited by the restricted access to empirical
      individual-level data. Here we propose an inverse modelling method based on first
      arrival observations of the diffusion process taking place on temporal networks.
      We describe an efficient coordinate-ascent implementation for inferring
      stochastic temporal networks that builds in particular but not exclusively on the
      null model assumption of mutually independent interaction sequences at the dyadic
      level. The results of benchmark tests applied on both synthesized and empirical
      network data sets confirm the validity of our algorithm, showing the feasibility
      of statistically accurate inference of temporal networks only from moderate-sized
      samples of diffusion cascades. Our approach provides an effective and flexible
      scheme for the temporally augmented inverse problems of network reconstruction
      and has potential in a broad variety of applications.

PMID- 28604688
TI  - Differential processing of thalamic information via distinct striatal interneuron
      circuits.
AB  - Recent discoveries of striatal GABAergic interneurons require a new
      conceptualization of the organization of intrastriatal circuitry and their
      cortical and thalamic inputs. We investigated thalamic inputs to the two
      populations of striatal neuropeptide Y (NPY) interneurons, plateau low threshold
      spike (PLTS) and NPY-neurogliaform (NGF) cells. Optogenetic activation of
      parafascicular inputs evokes suprathreshold monosynaptic glutamatergic excitation
      in NGF interneurons and a disynaptic, nicotinic excitation through cholinergic
      interneurons. In contrast, the predominant response of PLTS interneurons is a
      disynaptic inhibition dependent on thalamic activation of striatal tyrosine
      hydroxylase interneurons (THINs). In contrast, THINs do not innervate NGF or fast
      spiking interneurons, showing significant specificity in THINs outputs.
      Chemospecific ablation of THINs impairs prepulse inhibition of the acoustic
      startle response suggesting an important behavioural role of this disynaptic
      pathway. Our findings demonstrate that the impact of the parafascicular nucleus
      on striatal activity and some related behaviour critically depend on synaptic
      interactions within interneuronal circuits.

PMID- 28604689
TI  - Pyrazinamide and derivatives block ethylene biosynthesis by inhibiting ACC
      oxidase.
AB  - Ethylene is an important phytohormone that promotes the ripening of fruits and
      senescence of flowers thereby reducing their shelf lives. Specific ethylene
      biosynthesis inhibitors would help to decrease postharvest loss. Here, we
      identify pyrazinamide (PZA), a clinical drug used to treat tuberculosis, as an
      inhibitor of ethylene biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana, using a chemical
      genetics approach. PZA is converted to pyrazinecarboxylic acid (POA) in plant
      cells, suppressing the activity of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidase
      (ACO), the enzyme catalysing the final step of ethylene formation. The crystal
      structures of Arabidopsis ACO2 in complex with POA or 2-Picolinic Acid (2-PA), a
      POA-related compound, reveal that POA/2-PA bind at the active site of ACO,
      preventing the enzyme from interacting with its natural substrates. Our work
      suggests that PZA and its derivatives may be promising regulators of plant
      metabolism, in particular ethylene biosynthesis.

PMID- 28604690
TI  - All-optical observation and reconstruction of spin wave dispersion.
AB  - To know the properties of a particle or a wave, one should measure how its energy
      changes with its momentum. The relation between them is called the dispersion
      relation, which encodes essential information of the kinetics. In a magnet, the
      wave motion of atomic spins serves as an elementary excitation, called a spin
      wave, and behaves like a fictitious particle. Although the dispersion relation of
      spin waves governs many of the magnetic properties, observation of their entire
      dispersion is one of the challenges today. Spin waves whose dispersion is
      dominated by magnetostatic interaction are called pure-magnetostatic waves, which
      are still missing despite of their practical importance. Here, we report
      observation of the band dispersion relation of pure-magnetostatic waves by
      developing a table-top all-optical spectroscopy named spin-wave tomography. The
      result unmasks characteristics of pure-magnetostatic waves. We also demonstrate
      time-resolved measurements, which reveal coherent energy transfer between spin
      waves and lattice vibrations.

PMID- 28604691
TI  - INO80 exchanges H2A.Z for H2A by translocating on DNA proximal to histone dimers.
AB  - ATP-dependent chromatin remodellers modulate nucleosome dynamics by mobilizing or
      disassembling nucleosomes, as well as altering nucleosome composition. These
      chromatin remodellers generally function by translocating along nucleosomal DNA
      at the H3-H4 interface of nucleosomes. Here we show that, unlike other
      remodellers, INO80 translocates along DNA at the H2A-H2B interface of nucleosomes
      and persistently displaces DNA from the surface of H2A-H2B. DNA translocation and
      DNA torsional strain created near the entry site of nucleosomes by INO80 promotes
      both the mobilization of nucleosomes and the selective exchange of H2A.Z-H2B
      dimers out of nucleosomes and replacement by H2A-H2B dimers without any
      additional histone chaperones. We find that INO80 translocates and mobilizes
      H2A.Z-containing nucleosomes more efficiently than those containing H2A,
      partially accounting for the preference of INO80 to replace H2A.Z with H2A. Our
      data suggest that INO80 has a mechanism for dimer exchange that is distinct from
      other chromatin remodellers including its paralogue SWR1.

PMID- 28604692
TI  - Oxidation of phosphorothioate DNA modifications leads to lethal genomic
      instability.
AB  - Genomic modification by sulfur in the form of phosphorothioate (PT) is widespread
      among prokaryotes, including human pathogens. Apart from its physiological
      functions, PT sulfur has redox and nucleophilic properties that suggest effects
      on bacterial fitness in stressful environments. Here we show that PTs are dynamic
      and labile DNA modifications that cause genomic instability during oxidative
      stress. In experiments involving isotopic labeling coupled with mass
      spectrometry, we observed sulfur replacement in PTs at a rate of ~2% h-1 in
      unstressed Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. Whereas PT levels were
      unaffected by exposure to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or hypochlorous acid (HOCl),
      PT turnover increased to 3.8-10% h-1 after HOCl treatment and was unchanged by
      H2O2, consistent with the repair of HOCl-induced sulfur damage. PT-dependent
      sensitivity to HOCl extended to cytotoxicity and DNA strand breaks, which
      occurred at HOCl doses that were orders of magnitude lower than the corresponding
      doses of H2O2. The genotoxicity of HOCl in PT-containing bacteria suggests
      reduced fitness in competition with HOCl-producing organisms and during
      infections in humans.

PMID- 28604693
TI  - Genetically encoding phosphotyrosine and its nonhydrolyzable analog in bacteria.
AB  - Tyrosine phosphorylation is a common protein post-translational modification that
      plays a critical role in signal transduction and the regulation of many cellular
      processes. Using a propeptide strategy to increase cellular uptake of O
      phosphotyrosine (pTyr) and its nonhydrolyzable analog 4-phosphomethyl-L
      phenylalanine (Pmp), we identified an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-tRNA
      pair that allows site-specific incorporation of both pTyr and Pmp into
      recombinant proteins in response to the amber stop codon in Escherichia coli in
      good yields. The X-ray structure of the synthetase reveals a reconfigured
      substrate-binding site, formed by nonconservative mutations and substantial local
      structural perturbations. We demonstrate the utility of this method by
      introducing Pmp into a putative phosphorylation site and determining the
      affinities of the individual variants for the substrate 3BP2. In summary, this
      work provides a useful recombinant tool to dissect the biological functions of
      tyrosine phosphorylation at specific sites in the proteome.

PMID- 28604694
TI  - A mutant O-GlcNAcase enriches Drosophila developmental regulators.
AB  - Protein O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible post-translational modification of
      serines and threonines on nucleocytoplasmic proteins. It is cycled by the enzymes
      O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAc hydrolase (O-GlcNAcase or OGA). Genetic
      approaches in model organisms have revealed that protein O-GlcNAcylation is
      essential for early embryogenesis. The Drosophila melanogaster gene supersex
      combs (sxc), which encodes OGT, is a polycomb gene, whose null mutants display
      homeotic transformations and die at the pharate adult stage. However, the
      identities of the O-GlcNAcylated proteins involved and the underlying mechanisms
      linking these phenotypes to embryonic development are poorly understood.
      Identification of O-GlcNAcylated proteins from biological samples is hampered by
      the low stoichiometry of this modification and by limited enrichment tools. Using
      a catalytically inactive bacterial O-GlcNAcase mutant as a substrate trap, we
      have enriched the O-GlcNAc proteome of the developing Drosophila embryo,
      identifying, among others, known regulators of Hox genes as candidate conveyors
      of OGT function during embryonic development.

PMID- 28604695
TI  - A scalable platform to identify fungal secondary metabolites and their gene
      clusters.
AB  - The genomes of filamentous fungi contain up to 90 biosynthetic gene clusters
      (BGCs) encoding diverse secondary metabolites-an enormous reservoir of untapped
      chemical potential. However, the recalcitrant genetics, cryptic expression, and
      unculturability of these fungi prevent scientists from systematically exploiting
      these gene clusters and harvesting their products. As heterologous expression of
      fungal BGCs is largely limited to the expression of single or partial clusters,
      we established a scalable process for the expression of large numbers of full
      length gene clusters, called FAC-MS. Using fungal artificial chromosomes (FACs)
      and metabolomic scoring (MS), we screened 56 secondary metabolite BGCs from
      diverse fungal species for expression in Aspergillus nidulans. We discovered 15
      new metabolites and assigned them with confidence to their BGCs. Using the FAC-MS
      platform, we extensively characterized a new macrolactone, valactamide A, and its
      hybrid nonribosomal peptide synthetase-polyketide synthase (NRPS-PKS). The
      ability to regularize access to fungal secondary metabolites at an unprecedented
      scale stands to revitalize drug discovery platforms with renewable sources of
      natural products.

PMID- 28604696
TI  - A front-face 'SNi synthase' engineered from a retaining 'double-SN2' hydrolase.
AB  - SNi-like mechanisms, which involve front-face leaving group departure and
      nucleophile approach, have been observed experimentally and computationally in
      chemical and enzymatic substitution at alpha-glycosyl electrophiles. Since SNi
      like, SN1 and SN2 substitution pathways can be energetically comparable,
      engineered switching could be feasible. Here, engineering of Sulfolobus
      solfataricus beta-glycosidase, which originally catalyzed double SN2
      substitution, changed its mode to SNi-like. Destruction of the first SN2
      nucleophile through E387Y mutation created a beta-stereoselective catalyst for
      glycoside synthesis from activated substrates, despite lacking a nucleophile. The
      pH profile, kinetic and mutational analyses, mechanism-based inactivators, X-ray
      structure and subsequent metadynamics simulations together suggest recruitment of
      substrates by pi-sugar interaction and reveal a quantum mechanics-molecular
      mechanics (QM/MM) free-energy landscape for the substitution reaction that is
      similar to those of natural, SNi-like glycosyltransferases. This observation of a
      front-face mechanism in a beta-glycosyltransfer enzyme highlights that SNi-like
      pathways may be engineered in catalysts with suitable environments and suggests
      that 'beta-SNi' mechanisms may be feasible for natural glycosyltransfer enzymes.

PMID- 28604697
TI  - Site-specific incorporation of phosphotyrosine using an expanded genetic code.
AB  - Access to phosphoproteins with stoichiometric and site-specific phosphorylation
      status is key to understanding the role of protein phosphorylation. Here we
      report an efficient method to generate pure, active phosphotyrosine-containing
      proteins by genetically encoding a stable phosphotyrosine analog that is
      convertible to native phosphotyrosine. We demonstrate its general compatibility
      with proteins of various sizes, phosphotyrosine sites and functions, and reveal a
      possible role of tyrosine phosphorylation in negative regulation of
      ubiquitination.

PMID- 28604698
TI  - Well-defined porous membranes for robust omniphobic surfaces via microfluidic
      emulsion templating.
AB  - Durability is a long-standing challenge in designing liquid-repellent surfaces. A
      high-performance omniphobic surface must robustly repel liquids, while
      maintaining mechanical/chemical stability. However, liquid repellency and
      mechanical durability are generally mutually exclusive properties for many
      omniphobic surfaces-improving one performance inevitably results in decreased
      performance in another. Here we report well-defined porous membranes for durable
      omniphobic surfaces inspired by the springtail cuticle. The omniphobicity is
      shown via an amphiphilic material micro-textured with re-entrant surface
      morphology; the mechanical durability arises from the interconnected
      microstructures. The innovative fabrication method-termed microfluidic emulsion
      templating-is facile, cost-effective, scalable and can precisely engineer the
      structural topographies. The robust omniphobic surface is expected to open up new
      avenues for diverse applications due to its mechanical and chemical robustness,
      transparency, reversible Cassie-Wenzel transition, transferability, flexibility
      and stretchability.

PMID- 28604699
TI  - CMG2/ANTXR2 regulates extracellular collagen VI which accumulates in hyaline
      fibromatosis syndrome.
AB  - Loss-of-function mutations in capillary morphogenesis gene 2 (CMG2/ANTXR2), a
      transmembrane surface protein, cause hyaline fibromatosis syndrome (HFS), a
      severe genetic disorder that is characterized by large subcutaneous nodules,
      gingival hypertrophy and severe painful joint contracture. Here we show that CMG2
      is an important regulator of collagen VI homoeostasis. CMG2 loss of function
      promotes accumulation of collagen VI in patients, leading in particular to nodule
      formation. Similarly, collagen VI accumulates massively in uteri of Antxr2-/-
      mice, which do not display changes in collagen gene expression, and leads to
      progressive fibrosis and sterility. Crossing Antxr2-/- with Col6a1-/- mice leads
      to restoration of uterine structure and reversion of female infertility. We also
      demonstrate that CMG2 may act as a signalling receptor for collagen VI and
      mediates its intracellular degradation.

PMID- 28604700
TI  - Excess of non-conservative amino acid changes in marine bacterioplankton lineages
      with reduced genomes.
AB  - Surface ocean waters are dominated by planktonic bacterial lineages with highly
      reduced genomes. The best examples are the cyanobacterial genus Prochlorococcus,
      the alphaproteobacterial clade SAR11 and the gammaproteobacterial clade SAR86,
      which together represent over 50% of the cells in surface oceans. Several studies
      have identified signatures of selection on these lineages in today's ocean and
      have postulated selection as the primary force throughout their evolutionary
      history. However, massive loss of genomic DNA in these lineages often occurred in
      the distant past, and the selective pressures underlying these ancient events
      have not been assessed. Here, we probe ancient selective pressures by computing
      %GC-corrected rates of conservative and radical nonsynonymous nucleotide
      substitutions. Surprisingly, we found an excess of radical changes in several of
      these lineages in comparison to their relatives with larger genomes. Furthermore,
      analyses of allelic genome sequences of several populations within these lineages
      consistently supported that radical replacements are more likely to be
      deleterious than conservative changes. Our results suggest coincidence of massive
      genomic DNA losses and increased power of genetic drift, but we also suggest that
      additional evidence independent of the nucleotide substitution analyses is needed
      to support a primary role of genetic drift driving ancient genome reduction of
      marine bacterioplankton lineages.

PMID- 28604701
TI  - Elimination of large tumors in mice by mRNA-encoded bispecific antibodies.
AB  - The potential of bispecific T cell-engaging antibodies is hindered by
      manufacturing challenges and short serum half-life. We circumvented these
      limitations by treating mice with in vitro-transcribed pharmacologically
      optimized, nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding the antibody. We achieved sustained
      endogenous synthesis of the antibody, which eliminated advanced tumors as
      effectively as the corresponding purified bispecific antibody. Because
      manufacturing of pharmaceutical mRNA is fast, this approach could accelerate the
      clinical development of novel bispecific antibodies.

PMID- 28604702
TI  - ISDoT: in situ decellularization of tissues for high-resolution imaging and
      proteomic analysis of native extracellular matrix.
AB  - The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a master regulator of cellular phenotype and
      behavior. It has a crucial role in both normal tissue homeostasis and disease
      pathology. Here we present a fast and efficient approach to enhance the study of
      ECM composition and structure. Termed in situ decellularization of tissues
      (ISDoT), it allows whole organs to be decellularized, leaving native ECM
      architecture intact. These three-dimensional decellularized tissues can be
      studied using high-resolution fluorescence and second harmonic imaging, and can
      be used for quantitative proteomic interrogation of the ECM. Our method is
      superior to other methods tested in its ability to preserve the structural
      integrity of the ECM, facilitate high-resolution imaging and quantitatively
      detect ECM proteins. In particular, we performed high-resolution sub-micron
      imaging of matrix topography in normal tissue and over the course of primary
      tumor development and progression to metastasis in mice, providing the first
      detailed imaging of the metastatic niche. These data show that cancer-driven ECM
      remodeling is organ specific, and that it is accompanied by comprehensive changes
      in ECM composition and topological structure. We also describe differing patterns
      of basement-membrane organization surrounding different types of blood vessels in
      healthy and diseased tissues. The ISDoT procedure allows for the study of native
      ECM structure under normal and pathological conditions in unprecedented detail.

PMID- 28604703
TI  - Cold-induced conversion of cholesterol to bile acids in mice shapes the gut
      microbiome and promotes adaptive thermogenesis.
AB  - Adaptive thermogenesis is an energy-demanding process that is mediated by cold
      activated beige and brown adipocytes, and it entails increased uptake of
      carbohydrates, as well as lipoprotein-derived triglycerides and cholesterol, into
      these thermogenic cells. Here we report that cold exposure in mice triggers a
      metabolic program that orchestrates lipoprotein processing in brown adipose
      tissue (BAT) and hepatic conversion of cholesterol to bile acids via the
      alternative synthesis pathway. This process is dependent on hepatic induction of
      cytochrome P450, family 7, subfamily b, polypeptide 1 (CYP7B1) and results in
      increased plasma levels, as well as fecal excretion, of bile acids that is
      accompanied by distinct changes in gut microbiota and increased heat production.
      Genetic and pharmacological interventions that targeted the synthesis and biliary
      excretion of bile acids prevented the rise in fecal bile acid excretion, changed
      the bacterial composition of the gut and modulated thermogenic responses. These
      results identify bile acids as important metabolic effectors under conditions of
      sustained BAT activation and highlight the relevance of cholesterol metabolism by
      the host for diet-induced changes of the gut microbiota and energy metabolism.

PMID- 28604705
TI  - A solid state source of photon triplets based on quantum dot molecules.
AB  - Producing advanced quantum states of light is a priority in quantum information
      technologies. In this context, experimental realizations of multipartite photon
      states would enable improved tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics as
      well as implementations of complex quantum optical networks and protocols. It is
      favourable to directly generate these states using solid state systems, for
      simpler handling and the promise of reversible transfer of quantum information
      between stationary and flying qubits. Here we use the ground states of two
      optically active coupled quantum dots to directly produce photon triplets. The
      formation of a triexciton in these ground states leads to a triple cascade
      recombination and sequential emission of three photons with strong correlations.
      We record 65.62 photon triplets per minute under continuous-wave pumping,
      surpassing rates of earlier reported sources. Our structure and data pave the way
      towards implementing multipartite photon entanglement and multi-qubit readout
      schemes in solid state devices.

PMID- 28604706
TI  - Electrical tuning of a quantum plasmonic resonance.
AB  - Surface plasmon (SP) excitations in metals facilitate confinement of light into
      deep-subwavelength volumes and can induce strong light-matter interaction.
      Generally, the SP resonances supported by noble metal nanostructures are
      explained well by classical models, at least until the nanostructure size is
      decreased to a few nanometres, approaching the Fermi wavelength lambdaF of the
      electrons. Although there is a long history of reports on quantum size effects in
      the plasmonic response of nanometre-sized metal particles, systematic
      experimental studies have been hindered by inhomogeneous broadening in ensemble
      measurements, as well as imperfect control over size, shape, faceting, surface
      reconstructions, contamination, charging effects and surface roughness in single
      particle measurements. In particular, observation of the quantum size effect in
      metallic films and its tuning with thickness has been challenging as they only
      confine carriers in one direction. Here, we show active tuning of quantum size
      effects in SP resonances supported by a 20-nm-thick metallic film of indium tin
      oxide (ITO), a plasmonic material serving as a low-carrier-density Drude metal.
      An ionic liquid (IL) is used to electrically gate and partially deplete the ITO
      layer. The experiment shows a controllable and reversible blue-shift in the SP
      resonance above a critical voltage. A quantum-mechanical model including the
      quantum size effect reproduces the experimental results, whereas a classical
      model only predicts a red shift.

PMID- 28604704
TI  - Thermoneutral housing exacerbates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice and
      allows for sex-independent disease modeling.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common prelude to cirrhosis and
      hepatocellular carcinoma, is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide.
      Defining the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of NAFLD has been
      hampered by a lack of animal models that closely recapitulate the severe end of
      the disease spectrum in humans, including bridging hepatic fibrosis. Here we
      demonstrate that a novel experimental model employing thermoneutral housing, as
      opposed to standard housing, resulted in lower stress-driven production of
      corticosterone, augmented mouse proinflammatory immune responses and markedly
      exacerbated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD pathogenesis. Disease exacerbation
      at thermoneutrality was conserved across multiple mouse strains and was
      associated with augmented intestinal permeability, an altered microbiome and
      activation of inflammatory pathways that are associated with the disease in
      humans. Depletion of Gram-negative microbiota, hematopoietic cell deletion of
      Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and inactivation of the IL-17 axis resulted in
      altered immune responsiveness and protection from thermoneutral-housing-driven
      NAFLD amplification. Finally, female mice, typically resistant to HFD-induced
      obesity and NAFLD, develop full disease characteristics at thermoneutrality.
      Thus, thermoneutral housing provides a sex-independent model of exacerbated NAFLD
      in mice and represents a novel approach for interrogation of the cellular and
      molecular mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis.

PMID- 28604707
TI  - Ultracoherent nanomechanical resonators via soft clamping and dissipation
      dilution.
AB  - The small mass and high coherence of nanomechanical resonators render them the
      ultimate mechanical probe, with applications that range from protein mass
      spectrometry and magnetic resonance force microscopy to quantum optomechanics. A
      notorious challenge in these experiments is the thermomechanical noise related to
      the dissipation through internal or external loss channels. Here we introduce a
      novel approach to define the nanomechanical modes, which simultaneously provides
      a strong spatial confinement, full isolation from the substrate and dilution of
      the resonator material's intrinsic dissipation by five orders of magnitude. It is
      based on a phononic bandgap structure that localizes the mode but does not impose
      the boundary conditions of a rigid clamp. The reduced curvature in the highly
      tensioned silicon nitride resonator enables a mechanical Q > 108 at 1 MHz to
      yield the highest mechanical Qf products (>1014 Hz) yet reported at room
      temperature.The corresponding coherence times approach those of optically trapped
      dielectric particles. Extrapolation to 4.2 K predicts quanta per milliseconds
      heating rates, similar to those of trapped ions.

PMID- 28604708
TI  - Photodetectors: A heated junction.

PMID- 28604709
TI  - Two-dimensional non-volatile programmable p-n junctions.
AB  - Semiconductor p-n junctions are the elementary building blocks of most electronic
      and optoelectronic devices. The need for their miniaturization has fuelled the
      rapid growth of interest in two-dimensional (2D) materials. However, the
      performance of a p-n junction considerably degrades as its thickness approaches a
      few nanometres and traditional technologies, such as doping and implantation,
      become invalid at the nanoscale. Here we report stable non-volatile programmable
      p-n junctions fabricated from the vertically stacked all-2D
      semiconductor/insulator/metal layers (WSe2/hexagonal boron nitride/graphene) in a
      semifloating gate field-effect transistor configuration. The junction exhibits a
      good rectifying behaviour with a rectification ratio of 104 and photovoltaic
      properties with a power conversion efficiency up to 4.1% under a 6.8 nW light.
      Based on the non-volatile programmable properties controlled by gate voltages,
      the 2D p-n junctions have been exploited for various electronic and
      optoelectronic applications, such as memories, photovoltaics, logic rectifiers
      and logic optoelectronic circuits.

PMID- 28604710
TI  - Erratum: Conserved patterns hidden within group A Streptococcus M protein
      hypervariability recognize human C4b-binding protein.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.155.

PMID- 28604712
TI  - Chalcogenide-based 2D materials: Intrinsic nanoscale patterning.

PMID- 28604713
TI  - Phagocytosis-inspired behaviour in synthetic protocell communities of
      compartmentalized colloidal objects.
AB  - The spontaneous assembly of micro-compartmentalized colloidal objects capable of
      controlled interactions offers a step towards rudimentary forms of collective
      behaviour in communities of artificial cell-like entities (synthetic protocells).
      Here we report a primitive form of artificial phagocytosis in a binary community
      of synthetic protocells in which multiple silica colloidosomes are selectively
      ingested by self-propelled magnetic Pickering emulsion (MPE) droplets comprising
      particle-free fatty acid-stabilized apertures. Engulfment of the colloidosomes
      enables selective delivery and release of water-soluble payloads, and can be
      coupled to enzyme activity within the MPE droplets. Our results highlight
      opportunities for the development of new materials based on consortia of
      colloidal objects, and provide a novel microscale engineering approach to
      inducing higher-order behaviour in mixed populations of synthetic protocells.

PMID- 28604711
TI  - The anaphase promoting complex impacts repair choice by protecting ubiquitin
      signalling at DNA damage sites.
AB  - Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired through two major pathways, homology
      directed recombination (HDR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). While HDR can
      only occur in S/G2, NHEJ can happen in all cell cycle phases (except mitosis).
      How then is the repair choice made in S/G2 cells? Here we provide evidence
      demonstrating that APCCdh1 plays a critical role in choosing the repair pathways
      in S/G2 cells. Our results suggest that the default for all DSBs is to recruit
      53BP1 and RIF1. BRCA1 is blocked from being recruited to broken ends because its
      recruitment signal, K63-linked poly-ubiquitin chains on histones, is actively
      destroyed by the deubiquitinating enzyme USP1. We show that the removal of USP1
      depends on APCCdh1 and requires Chk1 activation known to be catalysed by ssDNA
      RPA-ATR signalling at the ends designated for HDR, linking the status of end
      processing to RIF1 or BRCA1 recruitment.

PMID- 28604714
TI  - Heterogeneous catalysis: Uniformity begets selectivity.

PMID- 28604715
TI  - The MOF-driven synthesis of supported palladium clusters with catalytic activity
      for carbene-mediated chemistry.
AB  - The development of catalysts able to assist industrially important chemical
      processes is a topic of high importance. In view of the catalytic capabilities of
      small metal clusters, research efforts are being focused on the synthesis of
      novel catalysts bearing such active sites. Here we report a heterogeneous
      catalyst consisting of Pd4 clusters with mixed-valence 0/+1 oxidation states,
      stabilized and homogeneously organized within the walls of a metal-organic
      framework (MOF). The resulting solid catalyst outperforms state-of-the-art metal
      catalysts in carbene-mediated reactions of diazoacetates, with high yields (>90%)
      and turnover numbers (up to 100,000). In addition, the MOF-supported Pd4 clusters
      retain their catalytic activity in repeated batch and flow reactions (>20
      cycles). Our findings demonstrate how this synthetic approach may now instruct
      the future design of heterogeneous catalysts with advantageous reaction
      capabilities for other important processes.

PMID- 28604716
TI  - Intrinsically patterned two-dimensional materials for selective adsorption of
      molecules and nanoclusters.
AB  - Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been studied extensively as monolayers,
      vertical or lateral heterostructures. To achieve functionalization, monolayers
      are often patterned using soft lithography and selectively decorated with
      molecules. Here we demonstrate the growth of a family of 2D materials that are
      intrinsically patterned. We demonstrate that a monolayer of PtSe2 can be grown on
      a Pt substrate in the form of a triangular pattern of alternating 1T and 1H
      phases. Moreover, we show that, in a monolayer of CuSe grown on a Cu substrate,
      strain relaxation leads to periodic patterns of triangular nanopores with uniform
      size. Adsorption of different species at preferred pattern sites is also
      achieved, demonstrating that these materials can serve as templates for selective
      self-assembly of molecules or nanoclusters, as well as for the functionalization
      of the same substrate with two different species.

PMID- 28604717
TI  - Tension stimulation drives tissue formation in scaffold-free systems.
AB  - Scaffold-free systems have emerged as viable approaches for engineering load
      bearing tissues. However, the tensile properties of engineered tissues have
      remained far below the values for native tissue. Here, by using self-assembled
      articular cartilage as a model to examine the effects of intermittent and
      continuous tension stimulation on tissue formation, we show that the application
      of tension alone, or in combination with matrix remodelling and synthesis agents,
      leads to neocartilage with tensile properties approaching those of native tissue.
      Implantation of tension-stimulated tissues results in neotissues that are
      morphologically reminiscent of native cartilage. We also show that tension
      stimulation can be translated to a human cell source to generate anisotropic
      human neocartilage with enhanced tensile properties. Tension stimulation, which
      results in nearly sixfold improvements in tensile properties over unstimulated
      controls, may allow the engineering of mechanically robust biological
      replacements of native tissue.

PMID- 28604718
TI  - The transcription factor Runx3 guards cytotoxic CD8+ effector T cells against
      deviation towards follicular helper T cell lineage.
AB  - Activated CD8+ T cells differentiate into cytotoxic effector (TEFF) cells that
      eliminate target cells. How TEFF cell identity is established and maintained is
      not fully understood. We found that Runx3 deficiency limited clonal expansion and
      impaired upregulation of cytotoxic molecules in TEFF cells. Runx3-deficient CD8+
      TEFF cells aberrantly upregulated genes characteristic of follicular helper T
      (TFH) cell lineage, including Bcl6, Tcf7 and Cxcr5. Mechanistically, the Runx3
      CBFbeta transcription factor complex deployed H3K27me3 to Bcl6 and Tcf7 genes to
      suppress the TFH program. Ablating Tcf7 in Runx3-deficient CD8+ TEFF cells
      prevented the upregulation of TFH genes and ameliorated their defective induction
      of cytotoxic genes. As such, Runx3-mediated Tcf7 repression coordinately enforced
      acquisition of cytotoxic functions and protected the cytotoxic lineage integrity
      by preventing TFH-lineage deviation.

PMID- 28604719
TI  - Essential role for GABARAP autophagy proteins in interferon-inducible GTPase
      mediated host defense.
AB  - Mammalian autophagy-related 8 (Atg8) homologs consist of LC3 proteins and
      GABARAPs, all of which are known to be involved in canonical autophagy. In
      contrast, the roles of Atg8 homologs in noncanonical autophagic processes are not
      fully understood. Here we show a unique role of GABARAPs, in particular gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A-receptor-associated protein-like 2 (Gabarapl2; also
      known as Gate-16), in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-mediated antimicrobial
      responses. Cells that lacked GABARAPs but not LC3 proteins and mice that lacked
      Gate-16 alone were defective in the IFN-gamma-induced clearance of vacuolar
      pathogens such as Toxoplasma. Gate-16 but not LC3b specifically associated with
      the small GTPase ADP-ribosylation factor 1 (Arf1) to mediate uniform distribution
      of interferon-inducible GTPases. The lack of GABARAPs reduced Arf1 activation,
      which led to formation of interferon-inducible GTPase-containing aggregates and
      hampered recruitment of interferon-inducible GTPases to vacuolar pathogens. Thus,
      GABARAPs are uniquely required for antimicrobial host defense through cytosolic
      distribution of interferon-inducible GTPases.

PMID- 28604721
TI  - Comparison of computational methods for Hi-C data analysis.
AB  - Hi-C is a genome-wide sequencing technique used to investigate 3D chromatin
      conformation inside the nucleus. Computational methods are required to analyze Hi
      C data and identify chromatin interactions and topologically associating domains
      (TADs) from genome-wide contact probability maps. We quantitatively compared the
      performance of 13 algorithms in their analyses of Hi-C data from six landmark
      studies and simulations. This comparison revealed differences in the performance
      of methods for chromatin interaction identification, but more comparable results
      for TAD detection between algorithms.

PMID- 28604720
TI  - IgG Fc domains that bind C1q but not effector Fcgamma receptors delineate the
      importance of complement-mediated effector functions.
AB  - Engineered crystallizable fragment (Fc) regions of antibody domains, which assume
      a unique and unprecedented asymmetric structure within the homodimeric Fc
      polypeptide, enable completely selective binding to the complement component C1q
      and activation of complement via the classical pathway without any concomitant
      engagement of the Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR). We used the engineered Fc domains
      to demonstrate in vitro and in mouse models that for therapeutic antibodies,
      complement-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CDCC) and complement-dependent
      cell-mediated phagocytosis (CDCP) by immunological effector molecules mediated
      the clearance of target cells with kinetics and efficacy comparable to those of
      the FcgammaR-dependent effector functions that are much better studied, while
      they circumvented certain adverse reactions associated with FcgammaR engagement.
      Collectively, our data highlight the importance of CDCC and CDCP in monoclonal
      antibody function and provide an experimental approach for delineating the effect
      of complement-dependent effector-cell engagement in various therapeutic settings.

PMID- 28604722
TI  - webKnossos: efficient online 3D data annotation for connectomics.
AB  - We report webKnossos, an in-browser annotation tool for 3D electron microscopic
      data. webKnossos provides flight mode, a single-view egocentric reconstruction
      method enabling trained annotator crowds to reconstruct at a speed of 1.5 +/- 0.6
      mm/h for axons and 2.1 +/- 0.9 mm/h for dendrites in 3D electron microscopic data
      from mammalian cortex. webKnossos accelerates neurite reconstruction for
      connectomics by 4- to 13-fold compared with current state-of-the-art tools, thus
      extending the range of connectomes that can realistically be mapped in the
      future.

PMID- 28604723
TI  - FISH-ing for captured contacts: towards reconciling FISH and 3C.
AB  - Chromosome conformation capture (3C) and fluorescence in situ hybridization
      (FISH) are two widely used technologies that provide distinct readouts of 3D
      chromosome organization. While both technologies can assay locus-specific
      organization, how to integrate views from 3C, or genome-wide Hi-C, and FISH is
      far from solved. Contact frequency, measured by Hi-C, and spatial distance,
      measured by FISH, are often assumed to quantify the same phenomena and used
      interchangeably. Here, however, we demonstrate that contact frequency is distinct
      from average spatial distance, both in polymer simulations and in experimental
      data. Performing a systematic analysis of the technologies, we show that this
      distinction can create a seemingly paradoxical relationship between 3C and FISH,
      both in minimal polymer models with dynamic looping interactions and in loop
      extrusion simulations. Together, our results indicate that cross-validation of Hi
      C and FISH should be carefully designed, and that jointly considering contact
      frequency and spatial distance is crucial for fully understanding chromosome
      organization.

PMID- 28604725
TI  - Subunit and chlorophyll organization of the plant photosystem II supercomplex.
AB  - Photosystem II (PSII) is a light-driven protein, involved in the primary
      reactions of photosynthesis. In plant photosynthetic membranes PSII forms large
      multisubunit supercomplexes, containing a dimeric core and up to four light
      harvesting complexes (LHCs), which act as antenna proteins. Here we solved a
      three-dimensional (3D) structure of the C2S2M2 supercomplex from Arabidopsis
      thaliana using cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and single
      particle analysis at an overall resolution of 5.3 A. Using a combination of
      homology modelling and restrained refinement against the cryo-EM map, it was
      possible to model atomic structures for all antenna complexes and almost all core
      subunits. We located all 35 chlorophylls of the core region based on the
      cyanobacterial PSII structure, whose positioning is highly conserved, as well as
      all the chlorophylls of the LHCII S and M trimers. A total of 13 and 9
      chlorophylls were identified in CP26 and CP24, respectively. Energy flow from LHC
      complexes to the PSII reaction centre is proposed to follow preferential
      pathways: CP26 and CP29 directly transfer to the core using several routes for
      efficient transfer; the S trimer is directly connected to CP43 and the M trimer
      can efficiently transfer energy to the core through CP29 and the S trimer.

PMID- 28604724
TI  - Visualizing adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing in single mammalian cells.
AB  - Conversion of adenosine to inosine is a frequent type of RNA editing, but
      important details about the biology of this conversion remain unknown because of
      a lack of imaging tools. We developed inoFISH to directly visualize and quantify
      adenosine-to-inosine-edited transcripts in situ. We found that editing of the
      GRIA2, EIF2AK2, and NUP43 transcripts is uncorrelated with nuclear localization
      and paraspeckle association. Further, NUP43 exhibits constant editing levels
      between single cells, while GRIA2 editing levels vary.

PMID- 28604726
TI  - Rif1 maintains telomeres and mediates DNA repair by encasing DNA ends.
AB  - In yeast, Rif1 is part of the telosome, where it inhibits telomerase and
      checkpoint signaling at chromosome ends. In mammalian cells, Rif1 is not
      telomeric, but it suppresses DNA end resection at chromosomal breaks, promoting
      repair by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). Here, we describe crystal structures
      for the uncharacterized and conserved ~125-kDa N-terminal domain of Rif1 from
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Rif1-NTD), revealing an alpha-helical fold shaped like
      a shepherd's crook. We identify a high-affinity DNA-binding site in the Rif1-NTD
      that fully encases DNA as a head-to-tail dimer. Engagement of the Rif1-NTD with
      telomeres proved essential for checkpoint control and telomere length regulation.
      Unexpectedly, Rif1-NTD also promoted NHEJ at DNA breaks in yeast, revealing a
      conserved role of Rif1 in DNA repair. We propose that tight associations between
      the Rif1-NTD and DNA gate access of processing factors to DNA ends, enabling Rif1
      to mediate diverse telomere maintenance and DNA repair functions.

PMID- 28604727
TI  - Bub1 positions Mad1 close to KNL1 MELT repeats to promote checkpoint signalling.
AB  - Proper segregation of chromosomes depends on a functional spindle assembly
      checkpoint (SAC) and requires kinetochore localization of the Bub1 and Mad1/Mad2
      checkpoint proteins. Several aspects of Mad1/Mad2 kinetochore recruitment in
      human cells are unclear and in particular the underlying direct interactions.
      Here we show that conserved domain 1 (CD1) in human Bub1 binds directly to Mad1
      and a phosphorylation site exists in CD1 that stimulates Mad1 binding and SAC
      signalling. Importantly, fusion of minimal kinetochore-targeting Bub1 fragments
      to Mad1 bypasses the need for CD1, revealing that the main function of Bub1 is to
      position Mad1 close to KNL1 MELT repeats. Furthermore, we identify residues in
      Mad1 that are critical for Mad1 functionality, but not Bub1 binding, arguing for
      a direct role of Mad1 in the checkpoint. This work dissects functionally relevant
      molecular interactions required for spindle assembly checkpoint signalling at
      kinetochores in human cells.

PMID- 28604728
TI  - Identification of 19 new risk loci and potential regulatory mechanisms
      influencing susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumor.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have transformed understanding of
      susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), but much of the
      heritability remains unexplained. Here we report a new GWAS, a meta-analysis with
      previous GWAS and a replication series, totaling 7,319 TGCT cases and 23,082
      controls. We identify 19 new TGCT risk loci, roughly doubling the number of known
      TGCT risk loci to 44. By performing in situ Hi-C in TGCT cells, we provide
      evidence for a network of physical interactions among all 44 TGCT risk SNPs and
      candidate causal genes. Our findings implicate widespread disruption of
      developmental transcriptional regulators as a basis of TGCT susceptibility,
      consistent with failed primordial germ cell differentiation as an initiating step
      in oncogenesis. Defective microtubule assembly and dysregulation of KIT-MAPK
      signaling also feature as recurrently disrupted pathways. Our findings support a
      polygenic model of risk and provide insight into the biological basis of TGCT.

PMID- 28604729
TI  - DNMT and HDAC inhibitors induce cryptic transcription start sites encoded in long
      terminal repeats.
AB  - Several mechanisms of action have been proposed for DNA methyltransferase and
      histone deacetylase inhibitors (DNMTi and HDACi), primarily based on candidate
      gene approaches. However, less is known about their genome-wide transcriptional
      and epigenomic consequences. By mapping global transcription start site (TSS) and
      chromatin dynamics, we observed the cryptic transcription of thousands of
      treatment-induced non-annotated TSSs (TINATs) following DNMTi and HDACi
      treatment. The resulting transcripts frequently splice into protein-coding exons
      and encode truncated or chimeric ORFs translated into products with predicted
      abnormal or immunogenic functions. TINAT transcription after DNMTi treatment
      coincided with DNA hypomethylation and gain of classical promoter histone marks,
      while HDACi specifically induced a subset of TINATs in association with H2AK9ac,
      H3K14ac, and H3K23ac. Despite this mechanistic difference, both inhibitors
      convergently induced transcription from identical sites, as we found TINATs to be
      encoded in solitary long terminal repeats of the ERV9/LTR12 family, which are
      epigenetically repressed in virtually all normal cells.

PMID- 28604731
TI  - Genome-wide association analysis of insomnia complaints identifies risk genes and
      genetic overlap with psychiatric and metabolic traits.
AB  - Persistent insomnia is among the most frequent complaints in general practice. To
      identify genetic factors for insomnia complaints, we performed a genome-wide
      association study (GWAS) and a genome-wide gene-based association study (GWGAS)
      in 113,006 individuals. We identify three loci and seven genes associated with
      insomnia complaints, with the associations for one locus and five genes supported
      by joint analysis with an independent sample (n = 7,565). Our top association
      (MEIS1, P < 5 * 10-8) has previously been implicated in restless legs syndrome
      (RLS). Additional analyses favor the hypothesis that MEIS1 exhibits pleiotropy
      for insomnia and RLS and show that the observed association with insomnia
      complaints cannot be explained only by the presence of an RLS subgroup within the
      cases. Sex-specific analyses suggest that there are different genetic
      architectures between the sexes in addition to shared genetic factors. We show
      substantial positive genetic correlation of insomnia complaints with
      internalizing personality traits and metabolic traits and negative correlation
      with subjective well-being and educational attainment. These findings provide new
      insight into the genetic architecture of insomnia.

PMID- 28604732
TI  - Meta-analysis of five genome-wide association studies identifies multiple new
      loci associated with testicular germ cell tumor.
AB  - The international Testicular Cancer Consortium (TECAC) combined five published
      genome-wide association studies of testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT; 3,558 cases
      and 13,970 controls) to identify new susceptibility loci. We conducted a fixed
      effects meta-analysis, including, to our knowledge, the first analysis of the X
      chromosome. Eight new loci mapping to 2q14.2, 3q26.2, 4q35.2, 7q36.3, 10q26.13,
      15q21.3, 15q22.31, and Xq28 achieved genome-wide significance (P < 5 * 10-8).
      Most loci harbor biologically plausible candidate genes. We refined previously
      reported associations at 9p24.3 and 19p12 by identifying one and three additional
      independent SNPs, respectively. In aggregate, the 39 independent markers
      identified to date explain 37% of father-to-son familial risk, 8% of which can be
      attributed to the 12 new signals reported here. Our findings substantially
      increase the number of known TGCT susceptibility alleles, move the field closer
      to a comprehensive understanding of the underlying genetic architecture of TGCT,
      and provide further clues to the etiology of TGCT.

PMID- 28604733
TI  - Imaging Microglial Activation in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis:
      an In Vivo PET Study with [18F]FEPPA.
AB  - Several lines of evidence implicate microglial activation and abnormal immune
      response in the etiology of psychosis. Previous positron emission tomography
      (PET) neuroimaging studies of the translocator protein 18 kDa, TSPO, were limited
      by low affinity of the first-generation radioligand, low-resolution scanners, and
      small sample sizes. Moreover, there is a dearth of literature on microglial
      activation in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. We used a
      novel second-generation TSPO radioligand, [18F]FEPPA, to examine whether
      microglial activation is elevated in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
      and hippocampus of antipsychotic-naive CHR. Twenty-four CHR (antipsychotic-naive
      n=22) and 23 healthy volunteers (HV) completed a high resolution [18F]FEPPA PET
      scan and MRI. The PET data were analyzed using the validated two-tissue
      compartment model with arterial plasma input function with total volume of
      distribution (VT) as outcome measure. All analyses were controlled for the TSPO
      rs6971 polymorphism. We did not observe any significant differences in microglial
      activation, as indexed by [18F]FEPPA VT, between CHR and HV in either the DLPFC
      (F(1, 44)=0.41, p=0.52) or the hippocampus (F(1, 44)=2.78, p=0.10). Exploratory
      associations show that in CHR, [18F]FEPPA VT was positively correlated with
      apathy (DLPFC: r=0.55, p=0.008; hippocampus: r=0.52, p=0.013) and state anxiety
      (DLPFC: r=0.60, p=0.003; hippocampus: r=0.48, p=0.024). The lack of significant
      group differences in [18F]FEPPA VT suggests that microglial activation is not
      significantly elevated in the clinical high risk state that precedes psychosis.

PMID- 28604730
TI  - Large-scale association analysis identifies new lung cancer susceptibility loci
      and heterogeneity in genetic susceptibility across histological subtypes.
AB  - Although several lung cancer susceptibility loci have been identified, much of
      the heritability for lung cancer remains unexplained. Here 14,803 cases and
      12,262 controls of European descent were genotyped on the OncoArray and combined
      with existing data for an aggregated genome-wide association study (GWAS)
      analysis of lung cancer in 29,266 cases and 56,450 controls. We identified 18
      susceptibility loci achieving genome-wide significance, including 10 new loci.
      The new loci highlight the striking heterogeneity in genetic susceptibility
      across the histological subtypes of lung cancer, with four loci associated with
      lung cancer overall and six loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma. Gene
      expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis in 1,425 normal lung tissue
      samples highlights RNASET2, SECISBP2L and NRG1 as candidate genes. Other loci
      include genes such as a cholinergic nicotinic receptor, CHRNA2, and the telomere
      related genes OFBC1 and RTEL1. Further exploration of the target genes will
      continue to provide new insights into the etiology of lung cancer.

PMID- 28604734
TI  - Adult haematopoietic stem cell niches.
AB  - Stem cell niches are specialized microenvironments that promote the maintenance
      of stem cells and regulate their function. Recent advances have improved our
      understanding of the niches that maintain adult haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).
      These advances include new markers for HSCs and niche cells, systematic analyses
      of the expression patterns of niche factors, genetic tools for functionally
      identifying niche cells in vivo, and improved imaging techniques. Together, they
      have shown that HSC niches are perivascular in the bone marrow and spleen.
      Endothelial cells and mesenchymal stromal cells secrete factors that promote HSC
      maintenance in these niches, but other cell types also directly or indirectly
      regulate HSC niches.

PMID- 28604735
TI  - Fungal dysbiosis: immunity and interactions at mucosal barriers.
AB  - Fungi and mammals share a co-evolutionary history and are involved in a complex
      web of interactions. Studies focused on commensal bacteria suggest that
      pathological changes in the microbiota, historically known as dysbiosis, are at
      the root of many inflammatory diseases of non-infectious origin. However, the
      importance of dysbiosis in the fungal community - the mycobiota - was only
      recently acknowledged to have a pathological role, as novel findings have
      suggested that mycobiota disruption can have detrimental effects on host
      immunity. Fungal dysbiosis and homeostasis are dynamic processes that are
      probably more common than actual fungal infections, and therefore constantly
      shape the immune response. In this Review, we summarize specific mycobiota
      patterns that are associated with fungal dysbiosis, and discuss how mucosal
      immunity has evolved to distinguish fungal infections from dysbiosis and how it
      responds to these different conditions. We propose that gut microbiota dysbiosis
      is a collective feature of complex interactions between prokaryotic and
      eukaryotic microbial communities that can affect immunity and that can influence
      health and disease.

PMID- 28604736
TI  - How nutrition and the maternal microbiota shape the neonatal immune system.
AB  - The mucosal surfaces of mammals are densely colonized with microorganisms that
      are commonly referred to as the commensal microbiota. It is believed that the
      fetus in utero is sterile and that colonization with microorganisms starts only
      after birth. Nevertheless, the unborn fetus is exposed to a multitude of
      metabolites that originate from the commensal microbiota of the mother that reach
      systemic sites of the maternal body. The intestinal microbiota is strongly
      personalized and influenced by environmental factors, including nutrition.
      Members of the maternal microbiota can metabolize dietary components,
      pharmaceuticals and toxins, which can subsequently be passed to the developing
      fetus or the breast-feeding neonate. In this Review, we discuss the complex
      interplay between nutrition, the maternal microbiota and ingested chemicals, and
      summarize their effects on immunity in the offspring.

PMID- 28604737
TI  - Optogenetic control of RhoA reveals zyxin-mediated elasticity of stress fibres.
AB  - Cytoskeletal mechanics regulates cell morphodynamics and many physiological
      processes. While contractility is known to be largely RhoA-dependent, the process
      by which localized biochemical signals are translated into cell-level responses
      is poorly understood. Here we combine optogenetic control of RhoA, live-cell
      imaging and traction force microscopy to investigate the dynamics of actomyosin
      based force generation. Local activation of RhoA not only stimulates local
      recruitment of actin and myosin but also increased traction forces that rapidly
      propagate across the cell via stress fibres and drive increased actin flow.
      Surprisingly, this flow reverses direction when local RhoA activation stops. We
      identify zyxin as a regulator of stress fibre mechanics, as stress fibres are
      fluid-like without flow reversal in its absence. Using a physical model, we
      demonstrate that stress fibres behave elastic-like, even at timescales exceeding
      turnover of constituent proteins. Such molecular control of actin mechanics
      likely plays critical roles in regulating morphodynamic events.

PMID- 28604738
TI  - EMT cells increase breast cancer metastasis via paracrine GLI activation in
      neighbouring tumour cells.
AB  - Recent fate-mapping studies concluded that EMT is not required for metastasis of
      carcinomas. Here we challenge this conclusion by showing that these studies
      failed to account for possible crosstalk between EMT and non-EMT cells that
      promotes dissemination of non-EMT cells. In breast cancer models, EMT cells
      induce increased metastasis of weakly metastatic, non-EMT tumour cells in a
      paracrine manner, in part by non-cell autonomous activation of the GLI
      transcription factor. Treatment with GANT61, a GLI1/2 inhibitor, but not with IPI
      926, a Smoothened inhibitor, blocks this effect and inhibits growth in PDX
      models. In human breast tumours, the EMT-transcription factors strongly correlate
      with activated Hedgehog/GLI signalling but not with the Hh ligands. Our findings
      indicate that EMT contributes to metastasis via non-cell autonomous effects that
      activate the Hh pathway. Although all Hh inhibitors may act against tumours with
      canonical Hh/GLI signalling, only GLI inhibitors would act against non-canonical
      EMT-induced GLI activation.

PMID- 28604740
TI  - Immiscible hydrocarbon fluids in the deep carbon cycle.
AB  - The cycling of carbon between Earth's surface and interior governs the long-term
      habitability of the planet. But how carbon migrates in the deep Earth is not well
      understood. In particular, the potential role of hydrocarbon fluids in the deep
      carbon cycle has long been controversial. Here we show that immiscible isobutane
      forms in situ from partial transformation of aqueous sodium acetate at 300 
      degrees C and 2.4-3.5 GPa and that over a broader range of pressures and
      temperatures theoretical predictions indicate that high pressure strongly opposes
      decomposition of isobutane, which may possibly coexist in equilibrium with
      silicate mineral assemblages. These results complement recent experimental
      evidence for immiscible methane-rich fluids at 600-700  degrees C and 1.5-2.5 GPa
      and the discovery of methane-rich fluid inclusions in metasomatized
      ophicarbonates at peak metamorphic conditions. Consequently, a variety of
      immiscible hydrocarbon fluids might facilitate carbon transfer in the deep carbon
      cycle.

PMID- 28604739
TI  - Autism-like behaviours and enhanced memory formation and synaptic plasticity in
      Lrfn2/SALM1-deficient mice.
AB  - Lrfn2/SALM1 is a PSD-95-interacting synapse adhesion molecule, and human LRFN2 is
      associated with learning disabilities. However its role in higher brain function
      and underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that Lrfn2 knockout mice
      exhibit autism-like behavioural abnormalities, including social withdrawal,
      decreased vocal communications, increased stereotyped activities and prepulse
      inhibition deficits, together with enhanced learning and memory. In the
      hippocampus, the levels of synaptic PSD-95 and GluA1 are decreased. The synapses
      are structurally and functionally immature with spindle shaped spines, smaller
      postsynaptic densities, reduced AMPA/NMDA ratio, and enhanced LTP. In vitro
      experiments reveal that synaptic surface expression of AMPAR depends on the
      direct interaction between Lrfn2 and PSD-95. Furthermore, we detect functionally
      defective LRFN2 missense mutations in autism and schizophrenia patients.
      Together, these findings indicate that Lrfn2/LRFN2 serve as core components of
      excitatory synapse maturation and maintenance, and their dysfunction causes
      immature/silent synapses with pathophysiological state.

PMID- 28604742
TI  - microRNA-10b enhances pancreatic cancer cell invasion by suppressing TIP30
      expression and promoting EGF and TGF-beta actions.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/onc.2013.405.

PMID- 28604741
TI  - A novel nuclear complex of DRR1, F-actin and COMMD1 involved in NF-kappaB
      degradation and cell growth suppression in neuroblastoma.
AB  - Downregulated in renal cell carcinoma 1 (DRR1) has important roles in tumor cell
      growth, neuron survival and spine formation, and was recently shown to bind
      actin. However, the roles of nuclear DRR1 remain largely unexplored. Here, we
      identified an interaction between filamentous actin (F-actin) and DRR1 in the
      nucleus, and demonstrated that copper metabolism MURR1 domain-containing 1
      (COMMD1) is another binding partner of DRR1. Accordingly, DRR1, F-actin and
      COMMD1 were shown to form a complex in the nucleus, and the stability of COMMD1
      was enhanced in this complex. Increased nuclear COMMD1 in turn promoted the
      degradation of NF-kappaB. In addition, DRR1 and COMMD1 suppressed the cyclin D1
      expression, G1/S transition and cell proliferation of neuroblastoma cells. The
      binding between DRR1 and F-actin in the nucleus was required for these events.
      Consistent with these facts, low expressions of DRR1 were associated with
      tumorigenesis of human neuroblastoma and its mouse model. This study has thus
      revealed a novel nuclear complex of F-actin, DRR1 and COMMD1 that is involved in
      NF-kappaB degradation and cell cycle suppression in neuroblastoma cells.

PMID- 28604743
TI  - Shortage of dNTPs underlies altered replication dynamics and DNA breakage in the
      absence of the APC/C cofactor Cdh1.
AB  - The APC/C-Cdh1 ubiquitin-ligase complex targets cell cycle regulators for
      proteosomal degradation and helps prevent tumor development and accumulation of
      chromosomal aberrations. Replication stress has been proposed to be the main
      driver of genomic instability in the absence of Cdh1, but the real contribution
      of APC/C-Cdh1 to efficient replication, especially in normal cells, remains
      unclear. Here we show that, in primary MEFs, acute depletion or permanent
      ablation of Cdh1 slowed down replication fork movement and increased origin
      activity. Partial inhibition of origin firing does not accelerate replication
      forks, suggesting that fork progression is intrinsically limited in the absence
      of Cdh1. Moreover, exogenous supply of nucleotide precursors, or ectopic
      overexpression of RRM2, the regulatory subunit of Ribonucleotide Reductase,
      restore replication efficiency, indicating that dNTP availability could be
      impaired upon Cdh1 loss. Indeed, we found reduced dNTP levels in Cdh1-deficient
      MEFs. Importantly, DNA breakage is also significantly alleviated by increasing
      intracellular dNTP pools, strongly suggesting that genomic instability is the
      result of aberrant replication. These observations highlight the relevance of
      APC/C-Cdh1 activity during G1 to ensure an adequate supply of dNTPs to the
      replisome, prevent replication stress and the resulting chromosomal breaks and,
      ultimately, suppress tumorigenesis.

PMID- 28604745
TI  - The proto-oncoprotein KR-POK represses transcriptional activation of CDKN1A by
      MIZ-1 through competitive binding.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/onc.2011.331.

PMID- 28604744
TI  - EMP2 is a novel therapeutic target for endometrial cancer stem cells.
AB  - Previous studies have suggested that overexpression of the oncogenic protein
      epithelial membrane protein-2 (EMP2) correlates with endometrial carcinoma
      progression and ultimately poor survival from disease. To understand the role of
      EMP2 in the etiology of disease, gene analysis was performed to show transcripts
      that are reciprocally regulated by EMP2 levels. In particular, EMP2 expression
      correlates with and helps regulate the expression of several cancer stem cell
      associated markers including aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1). ALDH expression
      significantly promotes tumor initiation and correlates with the levels of EMP2
      expression in both patient samples and tumor cell lines. As therapy against
      cancer stem cells in endometrial cancer is lacking, the ability of anti-EMP2 IgG1
      therapy to reduce primary and secondary tumor formation using xenograft HEC1A
      models was determined. Anti-EMP2 IgG1 reduced the expression and activity of ALDH
      and correspondingly reduced both primary and secondary tumor load. Our results
      collectively suggest that anti-EMP2 therapy may be a novel method of reducing
      endometrial cancer stem cells.

PMID- 28604747
TI  - GATA3 interacts with and stabilizes HIF-1alpha to enhance cancer cell
      invasiveness.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/onc.2017.8.

PMID- 28604746
TI  - Oncogenic K-Ras upregulates ITGA6 expression via FOSL1 to induce anoikis
      resistance and synergizes with alphaV-Class integrins to promote EMT.
AB  - In many cancer types, integrin-mediated signaling regulates proliferation,
      survival and invasion of tumorigenic cells. However, it is still unclear how
      integrins crosstalk with oncogenes to regulate tumorigenesis and metastasis. Here
      we show that oncogenic K-RasV12 upregulates alpha6-integrin expression in Madin
      Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells via activation of the mitogen-activated protein
      kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/Fos-related antigen 1
      signaling cascade. Activated alpha6-integrins promoted metastatic capacity and
      anoikis resistance, and led to perturbed growth of MDCK cysts. Transcriptomic
      analysis of K-RasV12-transformed MDCK cells also revealed robust downregulation
      of alphaV-class integrins. Re-expression of alphaV-integrin in K-RasV12
      transformed MDCK cells synergistically upregulated the expression of Zinc finger
      E-box-binding homeobox 1 and Twist-related protein 1 and triggered epithelial
      mesenchymal transition leading to induced cell motility and invasion. These
      results delineate the signaling cascades connecting oncogenic K-RasV12 with
      alpha6- and alphaV-integrin functions to modulate cancer cell survival and
      tumorigenesis, and reveal new possible strategies to target highly oncogenic K
      RasV12 mutants.

PMID- 28604749
TI  - Cystine addiction of triple-negative breast cancer associated with EMT augmented
      death signaling.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/onc.2016.394.

PMID- 28604748
TI  - Isoprenylcysteine carboxylmethyltransferase function is essential for RAB4A
      mediated integrin beta3 recycling, cell migration and cancer metastasis.
AB  - Isoprenylcysteine carboxylmethyltransferase (ICMT) catalyzes the post
      translational modification of RAB GTPases that contain C-terminal CXC motifs.
      However, the functional impact of this modification on RAB proteins has not been
      actively explored. We found that inhibition of ICMT significantly reduced cell
      migration in vitro and cancer invasion and metastasis in vivo. This role of ICMT
      was found to be mediated by RAB4A, an essential regulator of the fast recycling
      of integrin beta3. Integrin beta3 regulates cell polarity and migration when
      localized appropriately to the plasma membrane, thereby having an essential role
      in cancer metastasis. ICMT catalyzed carboxylmethylation is critical for RAB4A
      activation and interaction with effectors, its localization to endosomes and
      recycling vesicles, and hence important for RAB4A-dependent integrin beta3
      recycling to plasma membrane. These findings bring attention to the effects of C
      terminal carboxylmethylation on RAB GTPases and provide a rationale for targeting
      ICMT in the treatment of metastatic cancer.

PMID- 28604750
TI  - LncRNA-mediated regulation of cell signaling in cancer.
AB  - To date, a large number of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been recently
      discovered through functional genomics studies. Importantly, lncRNAs have been
      shown, in many cases, to function as master regulators for gene expression and
      thus, they can play a critical role in various biological functions and disease
      processes including cancer. Although the lncRNA-mediated gene expression involves
      various mechanisms, such as regulation of transcription, translation, protein
      modification, and the formation of RNA-protein or protein-protein complexes, in
      this review, we discuss the latest developments primarily in important cell
      signaling pathways regulated by lncRNAs in cancer.

PMID- 28604752
TI  - Tumor cell-derived lactate induces TAZ-dependent upregulation of PD-L1 through
      GPR81 in human lung cancer cells.
AB  - The clinical success of immunotherapy that inhibits the negative immune
      regulatory pathway programmed cell death protein 1/PD-1 ligand (PD-1/PD-L1) has
      initiated a new era in the treatment of metastatic cancer. PD-L1 expression is
      upregulated in many solid tumors including lung cancer and functions
      predominantly in lactate-enriched tumor microenvironments. Here, we provided
      evidence for PD-L1 induction in response to lactate stimulation in lung cancer
      cells. Lactate-induced PD-L1 induction was mediated by its receptor GPR81. The
      silencing of GPR81 signaling in lung cancer cells resulted in a decrease in PD-L1
      protein levels and functional inactivation of PD-L1 promoter activity. In
      addition, GPR81-mediated upregulation of PD-L1 in glucose-stimulated lung cancer
      cells that recapitulates the enhanced glycolysis in vivo was dependent on lactate
      dehydrogenase A (LDHA). We also demonstrated that activation of GPR81 decreases
      intracellular cAMP levels and inhibits protein kinase A (PKA) activity, leading
      to activation of the transcriptional coactivator TAZ. Interaction of TAZ with the
      transcription factor TEAD was essential for TAZ activation of PD-L1 and induction
      of its expression. Furthermore, we found that lactate-induced activation of PD-L1
      in tumor cells led to reduced production of interferon-gamma and induction of
      apoptosis of cocultured Jurkat T-cell leukemia cells. Our findings reveal an
      unexpected role of lactate in contributing to tumor cell protection from
      cytotoxic T-cell targeting and establishes a direct connection between tumor cell
      metabolic reprograming and tumor evasion from the immune response.

PMID- 28604754
TI  - RNA-binding motif protein 47 inhibits Nrf2 activity to suppress tumor growth in
      lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/onc.2016.35.

PMID- 28604753
TI  - let-7b and let-7c microRNAs promote histone H2B ubiquitylation and inhibit cell
      migration by targeting multiple components of the H2B deubiquitylation machinery.
AB  - Monoubiquitylation of histone H2B (H2Bub1) is catalyzed mainly by the RNF20/RNF40
      complex and erased by multiple deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs). H2Bub1 influences
      many aspects of chromatin function, including transcription regulation and DNA
      repair. Cancer cells often display reduced levels of H2Bub1, and this reduction
      may contribute to cancer progression. The let-7 family of microRNAs (miRNAs)
      comprises multiple members with reported tumor-suppressive features, whose
      expression is frequently downregulated in cancer. We now report that let-7b and
      let-7c can positively regulate cellular H2Bub1 levels. Overexpression of let-7b
      and let-7c in a variety of non-transformed and cancer-derived cell lines results
      in H2Bub1 elevation. The positive effect of let-7b and let-7c on H2Bub1 levels is
      achieved through targeting of multiple mRNAs, coding for distinct components of
      the H2B deubiquitylation machinery. Specifically, let-7b and let-7c bind directly
      and inhibit the mRNAs encoding the DUBs USP42 and USP44, and also the mRNA
      encoding the adapter protein ATXN7L3, which is part of the DUB module of the SAGA
      complex. RNF20 knockdown (KD) strongly reduces H2Bub1 levels and increases the
      migration of non-transformed mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer-derived
      cells. Remarkably, overexpression of let-7b, which partly counteracts the effect
      of RNF20 KD on H2Bub1 levels, also reverses the pro-migratory effect of RNF20 KD.
      Likewise, ATXN7L3 KD also increases H2Bub1 levels and reduces cell migration, and
      this anti-migratory effect is abolished by simultaneous KD of RNF20. Together,
      our findings uncover a novel function of let-7 miRNAs as regulators of H2B
      ubiquitylation, suggesting an additional mechanism whereby these miRNAs can exert
      their tumor-suppressive effects.

PMID- 28604755
TI  - Physical exercise intervention at school improved hepcidin, inflammation, and
      iron metabolism in overweight and obese children and adolescents.
AB  - BackgroundObesity is often associated with iron deficiency in children and
      adolescents. We aimed to study the effect of an 8-month physical exercise (PE)
      intervention on hepcidin and other markers of inflammation and on iron status in
      overweight/obese children and adolescents.MethodsSeventy-three overweight/obese
      children and adolescents participated in the 8-month-long longitudinal study.
      They were divided into two groups according to their participation in an after
      school PE program: the PE group (n=44) and the control group (n=29). Hepcidin,
      interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), iron, ferritin, transferrin, and
      soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) were evaluated.ResultsAt baseline, IL-6
      correlated positively with hepcidin and negatively with iron and transferrin
      saturation, suggesting that increasing adiposity associates with increasing IL-6
      and hepcidin synthesis, reducing iron availability. After 8 months, the PE group
      showed a decrease in BMI z-score (P=0.003), body fat mass (P=0.012), CRP
      (P=0.002), IL-6 (P=0.048), ferritin (P=0.013), hepcidin (P=0.040), and sTfR
      (P=0.010), and an increase in iron concentration (P=0.002). Moreover, the PE
      group, when compared with the control group, showed lower weight (P=0.026), BMI
      (P=0.040), waist circumference (P=0.010), and waist-to-height ratio
      (P=0.046).ConclusionWe showed that an 8-month-long intervention at school allowed
      a reduction in BMI z-score and an improvement in inflammation, reducing hepcidin
      levels and the disturbances in iron status.

PMID- 28604756
TI  - Anthropometry, DXA, and leptin reflect subcutaneous but not visceral abdominal
      adipose tissue on MRI in 197 healthy adolescents.
AB  - BackgroundAbdominal fat distribution is associated with the development of cardio
      metabolic disease independently of body mass index (BMI). We assessed
      anthropometry, serum adipokines, and DXA as markers of abdominal subcutaneous
      adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) using magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI).MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study that included 197
      healthy adolescents (114 boys) aged 10-15 years nested within a longitudinal
      population-based cohort. Clinical examination, blood sampling, DXA, and abdominal
      MRI were performed. SAT% and VAT% were adjusted to total abdominal
      volume.ResultsGirls had a higher SAT% than did boys in early and late puberty (16
      vs. 13%, P<0.01 and 20 vs. 15%, P=0.001, respectively), whereas VAT% was
      comparable (7% in both genders, independently of puberty). DXA android fat%
      (standard deviation score (SDS)), suprailiac skinfold thickness (SDS), leptin,
      BMI (SDS), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and waist circumference (SDS) correlated
      strongly with SAT% (descending order: r=0.90-0.55, all P<0.001) but weakly with
      VAT% (r=0.49-0.06). Suprailiac skinfold was the best anthropometric marker of
      SAT% (girls: R2=48.6%, boys: R2=65%, P<0.001) and VAT% in boys (R2=16.4%,
      P<0.001). WHtR was the best marker of VAT% in girls (R2=7.6%,
      P=0.007).ConclusionsHealthy girls have a higher SAT% than do boys, whereas VAT%
      is comparable, independently of puberty. Anthropometry and circulating leptin are
      valid markers of SAT%, but not of VAT%.

PMID- 28604751
TI  - Melanocytic nevi and melanoma: unraveling a complex relationship.
AB  - Approximately 33% of melanomas are derived directly from benign, melanocytic
      nevi. Despite this, the vast majority of melanocytic nevi, which typically form
      as a result of BRAFV600E-activating mutations, will never progress to melanoma.
      Herein, we synthesize basic scientific insights and data from mouse models with
      common observations from clinical practice to comprehensively review melanocytic
      nevus biology. In particular, we focus on the mechanisms by which growth arrest
      is established after BRAFV600E mutation. Means by which growth arrest can be
      overcome and how melanocytic nevi relate to melanoma are also considered.
      Finally, we present a new conceptual paradigm for understanding the growth arrest
      of melanocytic nevi in vivo termed stable clonal expansion. This review builds
      upon the canonical hypothesis of oncogene-induced senescence in growth arrest and
      tumor suppression in melanocytic nevi and melanoma.

PMID- 28604757
TI  - Time to lung aeration during a sustained inflation at birth is influenced by
      gestation in lambs.
AB  - BackgroundCurrent sustained lung inflation (SI) approaches use uniform pressures
      and durations. We hypothesized that gestational-age-related mechanical and
      developmental differences would affect the time required to achieve optimal lung
      aeration, and resultant lung volumes, during SI delivery at birth in
      lambs.Methods49 lambs, in five cohorts between 118 and 139 days of gestation
      (term 142 d), received a standardized 40 cmH2O SI, which was delivered until 10 s
      after lung volume stability (optimal aeration) was visualized on real-time
      electrical impedance tomography (EIT), or to a maximum duration of 180 s. Time to
      stable lung aeration (Tstable) within the whole lung, gravity-dependent, and non
      gravity-dependent regions, was determined from EIT recordings.ResultsTstable was
      inversely related to gestation (P<0.0001, Kruskal-Wallis test), with the median
      (range) being 229 (85,306) s and 72 (50,162) s in the 118-d and 139-d cohorts,
      respectively. Lung volume at Tstable increased with gestation from a mean (SD) of
      20 (17) ml/kg at 118 d to 56 (13) ml/kg at 139 d (P=0.002, one-way ANOVA). There
      were no gravity-dependent regional differences in Tstable or
      aeration.ConclusionsThe trajectory of aeration during an SI at birth is
      influenced by gestational age in lambs. An understanding of this may assist in
      developing SI protocols that optimize lung aeration for all infants.

PMID- 28604758
TI  - Intrauterine growth retardation-associated syncytin b hypermethylation in
      maternal rat blood revealed by DNA methylation array analysis.
AB  - BackgroundEmerging evidence suggests that DNA methylation in maternal blood is a
      promising target for intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) screening, a common
      developmental toxicity. Here, we aimed to screen out IUGR-related DNA methylation
      status in maternal blood via high-throughput profiling.MethodsPregnant Wistar
      rats were subcutaneously administered nicotine (1 mg/kg) twice per day from
      gestational day (GD) 11 to GD20 to establish the IUGR model. MeDIP array assays
      and the following GO analysis were used to evaluate DNA methylation status in
      maternal blood. One placental development-associated gene was selected for
      further confirmation.ResultsGenes regulating the development of multiple organs
      and major body systems had changed DNA methylation frequencies in the maternal
      blood of IUGR rats. Placental development, which can affect the development of
      multiple fetal organs and induce IUGR, is a hypermethylated cluster consisting of
      four significantly changed genes, including syncytin b (Synb), Lrrc15, Met, and
      Tex19.1. With the most significant change, Synb hypermethylation in maternal
      blood was confirmed by bisulfite-sequencing PCR (BSP). Moreover, decreased Synb
      expression and histological changes were observed in IUGR placentae.ConclusionThe
      IUGR-associated DNA methylation profile in maternal blood, such as placenta
      related Synb hypermethylation, provides evidence for further studies on possible
      IUGR biomarkers.

PMID- 28604759
TI  - Markers of maternal and infant metabolism are associated with ventricular
      dysfunction in infants of obese women with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BackgroundTo test the hypothesis that infants born to obese women with pre
      gestational type 2 diabetes mellitus (IBDMs) have ventricular dysfunction at 1
      month that is associated with markers of maternal lipid and glucose
      metabolism.MethodsIn a prospective observational study of IBDMs (OB+DM, n=25),
      echocardiographic measures of septal, left (LV) and right ventricular (RV)
      function, and structure were compared at 1 month of age with those in infants
      born to OB mothers without DM (OB, n=24) and to infants born to non-OB mothers
      without DM (Lean, n=23). Basal maternal lipid and glucose kinetics and maternal
      plasma and infant (cord) plasma were collected for hormone and cytokine
      analyses.ResultsRV, LV, and septal strain measures were lower in the OB+DM
      infants compared with those in other groups, without evidence of septal
      hypertrophy. Maternal hepatic insulin sensitivity, maternal plasma free-fatty
      acid concentration, and cord plasma insulin and leptin most strongly predicted
      decreased septal strain in OB+DM infants.ConclusionIBDMs have reduced septal
      function at 1 month in the absence of septal hypertrophy, which is associated
      with altered maternal and infant lipid and glucose metabolism. These findings
      suggest that maternal obesity and DM may have a prolonged impact on the
      cardiovascular health of their offspring, despite the resolution of cardiac
      hypertrophy.

PMID- 28604760
TI  - Developing a neonatal acute kidney injury research definition: a report from the
      NIDDK neonatal AKI workshop.

PMID- 28604761
TI  - Biocommentary-ECI highlight September 2017.

PMID- 28604762
TI  - TIP30 regulates lipid metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating SREBP1
      through the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
AB  - Lipid reprogramming has been considered as a crucial characteristic in
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) initiation and progression. However, detailed
      molecular mechanisms have yet to be clearly defined. Here, we examined the
      effects of tumor suppressor TIP30 on the regulation of HCC lipid metabolism. We
      found that decreased TIP30 expression leads to elevated fatty acid synthesis and
      enhanced levels of lipogenic enzymes SCD and FASN in HCC cells. Moreover, SREBP1
      is one of the key transcription factors regulating liver lipid metabolism, and
      TIP30 deficiency significantly increased SREBP1 expression and nuclear
      accumulation. Small interfering RNAs targeting SREBP1 could reverse fatty acid
      synthesis induced by TIP30 deficiency. Furthermore, downregulating TIP30
      activated the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway to upregulate SREBP1 expression, which
      promoted lipid metabolism by activating gene transcription of lipogenesis,
      including fasn and scd. We also showed that TIP30 deficiency-regulated lipid
      metabolism promoted proliferation of HCC cells. Clinically, our data revealed
      that TIP30 expression significantly correlated with SREBP1 in patients with HCC
      and that a combination of TIP30 and SREBP1 is a powerful predictor of HCC
      prognosis. Together, our data suggested a novel function of TIP30 in HCC
      progression and indicate that TIP30 regulation of SREBP1 may represent a novel
      target for HCC treatment.

PMID- 28604763
TI  - Proline-Rich Homeodomain protein (PRH/HHEX) is a suppressor of breast tumour
      growth.
AB  - Breast tumours progress from hyperplasia to ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and
      invasive breast carcinoma (IBC). PRH/HHEX (proline-rich
      homeodomain/haematopoietically expressed homeobox) is a transcription factor that
      displays both tumour suppressor and oncogenic activity in different disease
      contexts; however, the role of PRH in breast cancer is poorly understood. Here we
      show that nuclear localization of the PRH protein is decreased in DCIS and IBC
      compared with normal breast. Our previous work has shown that PRH phosphorylation
      by protein kinase CK2 prevents PRH from binding to DNA and regulating the
      transcription of multiple genes encoding growth factors and growth factor
      receptors. Here we show that transcriptionally inactive phosphorylated PRH is
      elevated in DCIS and IBC compared with normal breast. To determine the
      consequences of PRH loss of function in breast cancer cells, we generated
      inducible PRH depletion in MCF-7 cells. We show that PRH depletion results in
      increased MCF-7 cell proliferation in part at least due to increased vascular
      endothelial growth factor signalling. Moreover, we demonstrate that PRH depletion
      increases the formation of breast cancer cells with cancer stem cell-like
      properties. Finally, and in keeping with these findings, we show that PRH
      overexpression inhibits the growth of mammary tumours in mice. Collectively,
      these data indicate that PRH plays a tumour suppressive role in the breast and
      they provide an explanation for the finding that low PRH mRNA levels are
      associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer.

PMID- 28604764
TI  - Limited nucleotide pools restrict Epstein-Barr virus-mediated B-cell
      immortalization.
AB  - Activation of cellular oncogenes as well as infection with tumor viruses can
      promote aberrant proliferation and activation of the host DNA damage response.
      Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection of primary human B cells induces a transient
      period of hyper-proliferation, but many of these infected cells succumb to an
      ataxia telangiectasia mutated/checkpoint kinase 2 (ATM/Chk2)-mediated senescence
      like growth arrest. In this study, we assessed the role of DNA replicative stress
      and nucleotide pool levels in limiting EBV-infected B-cell outgrowth. We found
      that EBV triggered activation of the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR)
      signaling pathway in the early rapidly proliferating cells, which were also
      significantly more sensitive to inhibition of the ATR pathway than late
      attenuated proliferating cells. Through nuclear halo assays, we determined that
      early EBV-infected cells displayed increased replicative stress and DNA damage
      relative to late proliferating cells. Finally, we found that early after
      infection, hyper-proliferating B cells exhibited limited deoxyribonucleotide
      triphosphate (dNTP) pools compared with late proliferating and EBV-immortalized
      lymphoblastoid cell lines with a specific loss of purine dNTPs. Importantly,
      supplementation with exogenous nucleosides before the period of hyper
      proliferation markedly enhanced B-cell immortalization by EBV and rescued
      replicative stress. Together our results suggest that purine dNTP biosynthesis
      has a critical role in the early stages of EBV-mediated B-cell immortalization.

PMID- 28604765
TI  - MLK3 regulates FRA-1 and MMPs to drive invasion and transendothelial migration in
      triple-negative breast cancer cells.
AB  - Mixed-lineage kinase 3 (MLK3), a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase
      (MAP3K), has critical roles in metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer
      (TNBC), in part by regulating paxillin phosphorylation and focal adhesion
      turnover. However the mechanisms and the distinct step(s) of the metastatic
      processes through which MLK3 exerts its influence are not fully understood. Here
      we report that in non-metastatic, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (ER+
      BC) cells, induced MLK3 expression robustly upregulates the oncogenic
      transcription factor, FOS-related antigen-1 (FRA-1), which is accompanied by
      elevation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-1 and MMP-9. MLK3-induced ER+
      BC cell invasion is abrogated by FRA-1 silencing, demonstrating that MLK3 drives
      invasion through FRA-1. Conversely, in metastatic TNBC models, high FRA-1 levels
      are significantly reduced upon depletion of MLK3 by either gene silencing or by
      the CRISPR/Cas9n editing approach. Furthermore, ablation of MLK3 or MLK inhibitor
      treatment decreases expression of both MMP-1 and MMP-9. Consistent with the role
      of tumor cell-derived MMP-1 in endothelial permeability and transendothelial
      migration, both of these are reduced in MLK3-depleted TNBC cells. In addition,
      MLK inhibitor treatment or MLK3 depletion, which downregulates MMP-9 expression,
      renders TNBC cells defective in Matrigel invasion. Furthermore, circulating tumor
      cells derived from TNBC-bearing mice display increased levels of FRA-1 and MMP-1
      compared with parental cells, supporting a role for the MLK3-FRA-1-MMP-1
      signaling axis in vascular intravasation. Our results demonstrating the
      requirement for MLK3 in controlling the FRA-1/MMPs axis suggest that MLK3 is a
      promising therapeutic target for treatment of TNBC.

PMID- 28604766
TI  - The deubiquitinating enzymes USP4 and USP17 target hyaluronan synthase 2 and
      differentially affect its function.
AB  - The levels of hyaluronan, a ubiquitous glycosaminoglycan prominent in the
      extracellular matrix, is balanced through the actions of hyaluronan-synthesizing
      enzymes (HAS1, 2 and 3) and degrading hyaluronidases (Hyal 1, 2, 3 and PH20).
      Hyaluronan accumulates in rapidly remodeling tissues, such as breast cancer, due
      to deregulated expression of the HAS2 gene and/or alterations of HAS2 activity.
      The activity of HAS2 is regulated by post-translational modifications, including
      ubiquitination. In order to identify deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) that are
      involved in de-ubiquitination of HAS2, a complementary (cDNA) library of 69 Flag
      HA-tagged human DUBs cloned into retroviral vectors was screened in human
      embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cells for their ability to de-ubiquitinate myc-tagged
      HAS2. Several DUBs were found to decrease the ubiquitination of 6myc-HAS2, among
      which, the most effective were USP17 and USP4. USP17 efficiently removed
      polyubiquitination, whereas USP4 preferentially removed monoubiquitination of
      6myc-HAS2. Co-immunoprecipitation studies revealed interactions between HAS2 and
      USP17, as well as between HAS2 and USP4, in membrane preparations of HEK293T
      cells. USP17 significantly stabilized 6myc-HAS2 protein levels, whereas USP4 did
      not. The silencing of USP17 led to decreased hyaluronan production, whereas the
      suppression of USP4 increased hyaluronan synthesis. Importantly, high levels of
      USP17 and HAS2 were detected in a panel of cancer cell lines compared to normal
      cells, and immunohistochemical stainings revealed higher expression of USP17 and
      HAS2 in tissues of lung cancer patients compared to normal tissue. In conclusion,
      USP17 and USP4 differently affect HAS2 ubiquitination, and the stability and
      function of HAS2.

PMID- 28604767
TI  - Correlation between airborne manganese concentration at the workstations in the
      iron foundry and manganese concentration in workers' blood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Manganese (Mn) used as raw material for melting process in the
      ferrous foundry is considered as hazardous neurotoxic substance because it
      accumulates in the central nervous system and may cause neurological disorders.
      The furnace-men and melting department workers are potentially exposed to
      manganese particles or fume in the workplace. The objective of the research has
      been to investigate the sources and levels of manganese exposure in the foundry
      by correlation of blood-manganese (B-Mn) and air-manganese (air-Mn) measurement.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Air-Mn and Mn of blood serum were measured involving
      workers who worked in a big-sized foundry during 1 year. The standard method of
      the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ID-121 was used for air
      and blood assessment and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was carried out for
      air and blood sample analysis. RESULTS: The air sampling results have revealed
      that there is a high exposure to manganese (4.5 mg/m<sup>3</sup>) in the
      workplace as compared to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
      Health's (NIOSH) time weighted average (the reference time-weighted average (TWA)
      = 1 mg/m<sup>3</sup>). The average blood serum Mn concentration was 2.745 MUg/l
      for subjects working for shorter than 3 months and 274.85 MUg/l for subjects
      working 3-12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Against the research hypothesis there was no
      correlation between the air-Mn concentration and the B-Mn (serum) level of
      manganese in the serum of the exposed subjects. It may be due to short time of
      air sampling of manganese airborne particles, and a real-time monitoring of
      airborne manganese particles is suggested for any future study. Med Pr
      2017;68(4):449-458.

PMID- 28604768
TI  - Rosetta:MSF: a modular framework for multi-state computational protein design.
AB  - Computational protein design (CPD) is a powerful technique to engineer existing
      proteins or to design novel ones that display desired properties. Rosetta is a
      software suite including algorithms for computational modeling and analysis of
      protein structures and offers many elaborate protocols created to solve highly
      specific tasks of protein engineering. Most of Rosetta's protocols optimize
      sequences based on a single conformation (i. e. design state). However,
      challenging CPD objectives like multi-specificity design or the concurrent
      consideration of positive and negative design goals demand the simultaneous
      assessment of multiple states. This is why we have developed the multi-state
      framework MSF that facilitates the implementation of Rosetta's single-state
      protocols in a multi-state environment and made available two frequently used
      protocols. Utilizing MSF, we demonstrated for one of these protocols that multi
      state design yields a 15% higher performance than single-state design on a ligand
      binding benchmark consisting of structural conformations. With this protocol, we
      designed de novo nine retro-aldolases on a conformational ensemble deduced from a
      (betaalpha)8-barrel protein. All variants displayed measurable catalytic
      activity, testifying to a high success rate for this concept of multi-state
      enzyme design.

PMID- 28604770
TI  - Pervasive antagonistic interactions among hybrid incompatibility loci.
AB  - Species barriers, expressed as hybrid inviability and sterility, are often due to
      epistatic interactions between divergent loci from two lineages. Theoretical
      models indicate that the strength, direction, and complexity of these genetic
      interactions can strongly affect the expression of interspecific reproductive
      isolation and the rates at which new species evolve. Nonetheless, empirical
      analyses have not quantified the frequency with which loci are involved in
      interactions affecting hybrid fitness, and whether these loci predominantly
      interact synergistically or antagonistically, or preferentially involve loci that
      have strong individual effects on hybrid fitness. We systematically examined the
      prevalence of interactions between pairs of short chromosomal regions from one
      species (Solanum habrochaites) co-introgressed into a heterospecific genetic
      background (Solanum lycopersicum), using lines containing pairwise combinations
      of 15 chromosomal segments from S. habrochaites in the background of S.
      lycopersicum (i.e., 95 double introgression lines). We compared the strength of
      hybrid incompatibility (either pollen sterility or seed sterility) expressed in
      each double introgression line to the expected additive effect of its two
      component single introgressions. We found that epistasis was common among co
      introgressed regions. Interactions for hybrid dysfunction were substantially more
      prevalent in pollen fertility compared to seed fertility phenotypes, and were
      overwhelmingly antagonistic (i.e., double hybrids were less unfit than expected
      from additive single introgression effects). This pervasive antagonism is
      expected to attenuate the rate at which hybrid infertility accumulates among
      lineages over time (i.e., giving diminishing returns as more reproductive
      isolation loci accumulate), as well as decouple patterns of accumulation of
      sterility loci and hybrid incompatibility phenotypes. This decoupling effect
      might explain observed differences between pollen and seed fertility in their fit
      to theoretical predictions of the accumulation of isolation loci, including the
      'snowball' effect.

PMID- 28604769
TI  - Lokiarchaea are close relatives of Euryarchaeota, not bridging the gap between
      prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
AB  - The eocyte hypothesis, in which Eukarya emerged from within Archaea, has been
      boosted by the description of a new candidate archaeal phylum, "Lokiarchaeota",
      from metagenomic data. Eukarya branch within Lokiarchaeota in a tree
      reconstructed from the concatenation of 36 universal proteins. However,
      individual phylogenies revealed that lokiarchaeal proteins sequences have
      different evolutionary histories. The individual markers phylogenies revealed at
      least two subsets of proteins, either supporting the Woese or the Eocyte tree of
      life. Strikingly, removal of a single protein, the elongation factor EF2, is
      sufficient to break the Eukaryotes-Lokiarchaea affiliation. Our analysis suggests
      that the three lokiarchaeal EF2 proteins have a chimeric organization that could
      be due to contamination and/or homologous recombination with patches of
      eukaryotic sequences. A robust phylogenetic analysis of RNA polymerases with a
      new dataset indicates that Lokiarchaeota and related phyla of the Asgard
      superphylum are sister group to Euryarchaeota, not to Eukarya, and supports the
      monophyly of Archaea with their rooting in the branch leading to Thaumarchaeota.

PMID- 28604771
TI  - Locking of correlated neural activity to ongoing oscillations.
AB  - Population-wide oscillations are ubiquitously observed in mesoscopic signals of
      cortical activity. In these network states a global oscillatory cycle modulates
      the propensity of neurons to fire. Synchronous activation of neurons has been
      hypothesized to be a separate channel of signal processing information in the
      brain. A salient question is therefore if and how oscillations interact with
      spike synchrony and in how far these channels can be considered separate.
      Experiments indeed showed that correlated spiking co-modulates with the static
      firing rate and is also tightly locked to the phase of beta-oscillations. While
      the dependence of correlations on the mean rate is well understood in feed
      forward networks, it remains unclear why and by which mechanisms correlations
      tightly lock to an oscillatory cycle. We here demonstrate that such correlated
      activation of pairs of neurons is qualitatively explained by periodically-driven
      random networks. We identify the mechanisms by which covariances depend on a
      driving periodic stimulus. Mean-field theory combined with linear response theory
      yields closed-form expressions for the cyclostationary mean activities and
      pairwise zero-time-lag covariances of binary recurrent random networks. Two
      distinct mechanisms cause time-dependent covariances: the modulation of the
      susceptibility of single neurons (via the external input and network feedback)
      and the time-varying variances of single unit activities. For some parameters,
      the effectively inhibitory recurrent feedback leads to resonant covariances even
      if mean activities show non-resonant behavior. Our analytical results open the
      question of time-modulated synchronous activity to a quantitative analysis.

PMID- 28604772
TI  - MicroRNA-448 suppresses osteosarcoma cell proliferation and invasion through
      targeting EPHA7.
AB  - Osteosarcoma is the most common type of malignant bone tumor, often affecting
      adolescents and children. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small, non-protein
      coding, endogenous RNAs that play critical roles in osteosarcoma tumorigenesis.
      In our study, we demonstrated that miR-448 expression was downregulated in
      osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-448 suppressed
      osteosarcoma cell proliferation, colony formation and migration. Moreover, we
      found that EPHA7 was a direct target gene of miR-448 in osteosarcoma cells. We
      further demonstrated that the EPHA7 expression level was upregulated in
      osteosarcoma tissues. Interestingly, the expression level of EPHA7 was inversely
      correlated with the expression level of miR-448 in osteosarcoma tissues. In
      addition, elevated expression of miR-448 suppressed osteosarcoma cell
      proliferation and invasion through targeting EPHA7. Taken together, these
      findings suggest that miR-448 functioned as a tumor suppressor gene in the
      development of osteosarcoma through targeting EPHA7.

PMID- 28604773
TI  - Surveillance of impact of PCV-10 vaccine on pneumococcal meningitis in
      Mozambique, 2013 - 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vaccination using the 10-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV-10) was
      introduced into the Extended Program on Immunization in Mozambique in March 2013,
      however its impact on pediatric pneumococcal meningitis is unknown. In this
      study, we assessed for the first time the impact of PCV10 on the burden of
      pneumococcal meningitis in children less than 5 years of age at the three largest
      hospitals in Mozambique. METHOD: Between March 2013 and December 2015, a total of
      744 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected from eligible children, of
      which 160 (21.5%) were positive for S. pneumoniae. Of these, only 86 samples met
      the criteria for serotyping and were subsequently serotyped using sequential
      multiplex PCR (SM-PCR), but 17 samples were non-typable. RESULTS: The proportion
      of cases of pneumococcal meningitis decreased from 33.6% (124 of 369) in 2013 to
      1.9% (3 of 160) in 2015 (p < 0.001). The relative frequency of PCV10 serotype
      cases also decreased from 84.2% (48 of 57) in 2013 to 0% (0 of 3) in 2015 (p =
      0.006). Between 2013 and 2015, serotype coverage of PCV-10 and PCV13 vaccine
      formulations was 66.7% and 81.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Altogether, our
      findings shows that introduction of PCV-10 immunization resulted in rapid decline
      of pneumococcal meningitis children less than 5 years old in Mozambique. This
      decline was accompanied by substantial changes in the pattern of circulating
      pneumococcal serotypes.

PMID- 28604774
TI  - Increase of tensile strength and toughness of bio-based diglycidyl ether of
      bisphenol A with chitin nanowhiskers.
AB  - It is challenging to reinforce and toughen thermoset epoxy resins. We describe a
      slurry-compounding technique to transfer a uniform dispersion of chitin
      nanowhiskers (CW) in ethanol into an epoxy matrix. The incorporation of the
      hydrophilic CW reinforces the oil-soluble diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A
      (DGEBA). The resultant CW/epoxy bionanocomposites were transparent and showed
      considerably enhanced thermal and mechanical properties with tensile strength,
      modulus, toughness, and elongation at break being increased by 49%, 16%, 457%,
      and 250%, with only 2.5 wt.% CW. This improvement in strength and toughness is
      rare for thermoset epoxy/rigid nanofiller systems. We hypothesize that CW with
      many free amine groups could function not only as a nanofiller but also as a
      macromolecular polyamine hardener that participates in epoxy curing. The strong
      covalent interaction between the filler and the matrix allowed for efficient load
      transfer across the interfaces, which accounted for the greater strength and
      toughness.

PMID- 28604775
TI  - Uneven adaptive capacity among fishers in a sea of change.
AB  - Fishers worldwide operate in an environment of uncertainty and constant change.
      Their ability to manage risk associated with such uncertainty and subsequently
      adapt to change is largely a function of individual circumstances, including
      their access to different fisheries. However, explicit attention to the
      heterogeneity of fishers' connections to fisheries at the level of the individual
      has been largely ignored. We illustrate the ubiquitous nature of these
      connections by constructing a typology of commercial fishers in the state of
      Maine based on the different fisheries that fishers rely on to sustain their
      livelihoods and find that there are over 600 combinations. We evaluate the
      adaptive potential of each strategy, using a set of attributes identified by
      fisheries experts in the state, and find that only 12% of fishers can be
      classified as being well positioned to adapt in the face of changing
      socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Sensitivity to the uneven and
      heterogeneous capacity of fishers to manage risk and adapt to change is critical
      to devising effective management strategies that broadly support fishers. This
      will require greater attention to the social-ecological connectivity of fishers
      across different jurisdictions.

PMID- 28604776
TI  - The Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2/LRR-KISS connects cell
      wall integrity sensing, root growth and response to abiotic and biotic stresses.
AB  - Plants actively perceive and respond to perturbations in their cell walls which
      arise during growth, biotic and abiotic stresses. However, few components
      involved in plant cell wall integrity sensing have been described to date. Using
      a reverse-genetic approach, we identified the Arabidopsis thaliana leucine-rich
      repeat receptor kinase MIK2 as an important regulator of cell wall damage
      responses triggered upon cellulose biosynthesis inhibition. Indeed, loss-of
      function mik2 alleles are strongly affected in immune marker gene expression,
      jasmonic acid production and lignin deposition. MIK2 has both overlapping and
      distinct functions with THE1, a malectin-like receptor kinase previously proposed
      as cell wall integrity sensor. In addition, mik2 mutant plants exhibit enhanced
      leftward root skewing when grown on vertical plates. Notably, natural variation
      in MIK2 (also named LRR-KISS) has been correlated recently to mild salt stress
      tolerance, which we could confirm using our insertional alleles. Strikingly, both
      the increased root skewing and salt stress sensitivity phenotypes observed in the
      mik2 mutant are dependent on THE1. Finally, we found that MIK2 is required for
      resistance to the fungal root pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. Together, our data
      identify MIK2 as a novel component in cell wall integrity sensing and suggest
      that MIK2 is a nexus linking cell wall integrity sensing to growth and
      environmental cues.

PMID- 28604777
TI  - Risk factors and short-term projections for serotype-1 poliomyelitis incidence in
      Pakistan: A spatiotemporal analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pakistan currently provides a substantial challenge to global polio
      eradication, having contributed to 73% of reported poliomyelitis in 2015 and 54%
      in 2016. A better understanding of the risk factors and movement patterns that
      contribute to poliovirus transmission across Pakistan would support evidence
      based planning for mass vaccination campaigns. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We fit mixed
      effects logistic regression models to routine surveillance data recording the
      presence of poliomyelitis associated with wild-type 1 poliovirus in districts of
      Pakistan over 6-month intervals between 2010 to 2016. To accurately capture the
      force of infection (FOI) between districts, we compared 6 models of population
      movement (adjacency, gravity, radiation, radiation based on population density,
      radiation based on travel times, and mobile-phone based). We used the best
      fitting model (based on the Akaike Information Criterion [AIC]) to produce 6
      month forecasts of poliomyelitis incidence. The odds of observing poliomyelitis
      decreased with improved routine or supplementary (campaign) immunisation coverage
      (multivariable odds ratio [OR] = 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67-0.84;
      and OR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.66-0.85, respectively, for each 10% increase in coverage)
      and increased with a higher rate of reporting non-polio acute flaccid paralysis
      (AFP) (OR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.02-1.26 for a 1-unit increase in non-polio AFP per
      100,000 persons aged <15 years). Estimated movement of poliovirus-infected
      individuals was associated with the incidence of poliomyelitis, with the
      radiation model of movement providing the best fit to the data. Six-month
      forecasts of poliomyelitis incidence by district for 2013-2016 showed good
      predictive ability (area under the curve range: 0.76-0.98). However, although the
      best-fitting movement model (radiation) was a significant determinant of
      poliomyelitis incidence, it did not improve the predictive ability of the
      multivariable model. Overall, in Pakistan the risk of polio cases was predicted
      to reduce between July-December 2016 and January-June 2017. The accuracy of the
      model may be limited by the small number of AFP cases in some districts.
      CONCLUSIONS: Spatiotemporal variation in immunization performance and population
      movement patterns are important determinants of historical poliomyelitis
      incidence in Pakistan; however, movement dynamics were less influential in
      predicting future cases, at a time when the polio map is shrinking. Results from
      the regression models we present are being used to help plan vaccination
      campaigns and transit vaccination strategies in Pakistan.

PMID- 28604778
TI  - p63 exerts spatio-temporal control of palatal epithelial cell fate to prevent
      cleft palate.
AB  - Cleft palate is a common congenital disorder that affects up to 1 in 2500 live
      births and results in considerable morbidity to affected individuals and their
      families. The aetiology of cleft palate is complex with both genetic and
      environmental factors implicated. Mutations in the transcription factor p63 are
      one of the major individual causes of cleft palate; however, the gene regulatory
      networks in which p63 functions remain only partially characterized. Our findings
      demonstrate that p63 functions as an essential regulatory molecule in the spatio
      temporal control of palatal epithelial cell fate to ensure appropriate fusion of
      the palatal shelves. Initially, p63 induces periderm formation and controls its
      subsequent maintenance to prevent premature adhesion between adhesion-competent,
      intra-oral epithelia. Subsequently, TGFbeta3-induced down-regulation of p63 in
      the medial edge epithelia of the palatal shelves is a pre-requisite for palatal
      fusion by facilitating periderm migration from, and reducing the proliferative
      potential of, the midline epithelial seam thereby preventing cleft palate.

PMID- 28604779
TI  - Lys48 ubiquitination during the intraerythrocytic cycle of the rodent malaria
      parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi.
AB  - Ubiquitination tags proteins for different functions within the cell. One of the
      most abundant and studied ubiquitin modification is the Lys48 polyubiquitin chain
      that modifies proteins for their destruction by proteasome. In Plasmodium is
      proposed that post-translational regulation is fundamental for parasite
      development during its complex life-cycle; thus, the objective of this work was
      to analyze the ubiquitination during Plasmodium chabaudi intraerythrocytic
      stages. Ubiquitinated proteins were detected during intraerythrocytic stages of
      Plasmodium chabaudi by immunofluorescent microscopy, bidimensional
      electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with immunoblotting and mass spectrometry. All
      the studied stages presented protein ubiquitination and Lys48 polyubiquitination
      with more abundance during the schizont stage. Three ubiquitinated proteins were
      identified for rings, five for trophozoites and twenty for schizonts. Only
      proteins detected with a specific anti- Lys48 polyubiquitin antibody were
      selected for Mass Spectrometry analysis and two of these identified proteins were
      selected in order to detect the specific amino acid residues where ubiquitin is
      placed. Ubiquitinated proteins during the ring and trophozoite stages were
      related with the invasion process and in schizont proteins were related with
      nucleic acid metabolism, glycolysis and protein biosynthesis. Most of the
      ubiquitin detection was during the schizont stage and the Lys48
      polyubiquitination during this stage was related to proteins that are expected to
      be abundant during the trophozoite stage. The evidence that these Lys48
      polyubiquitinated proteins are tagged for destruction by the proteasome complex
      suggests that this type of post-translational modification is important in the
      regulation of protein abundance during the life-cycle and may also contribute to
      the parasite cell-cycle progression.

PMID- 28604780
TI  - The yeast protein kinase Sch9 adjusts V-ATPase assembly/disassembly to control pH
      homeostasis and longevity in response to glucose availability.
AB  - The conserved protein kinase Sch9 is a central player in the nutrient-induced
      signaling network in yeast, although only few of its direct substrates are known.
      We now provide evidence that Sch9 controls the vacuolar proton pump (V-ATPase) to
      maintain cellular pH homeostasis and ageing. A synthetic sick phenotype arises
      when deletion of SCH9 is combined with a dysfunctional V-ATPase, and the lack of
      Sch9 has a significant impact on cytosolic pH (pHc) homeostasis. Sch9 physically
      interacts with, and influences glucose-dependent assembly/disassembly of the V
      ATPase, thereby integrating input from TORC1. Moreover, we show that the role of
      Sch9 in regulating ageing is tightly connected with V-ATPase activity and
      vacuolar acidity. As both Sch9 and the V-ATPase are highly conserved in higher
      eukaryotes, it will be interesting to further clarify their cooperative action on
      the cellular processes that influence growth and ageing.

PMID- 28604781
TI  - Deltamethrin resistance in Aedes aegypti results in treatment failure in Merida,
      Mexico.
AB  - The operational impact of deltamethrin resistance on the efficacy of indoor
      insecticide applications to control Aedes aegypti was evaluated in Merida,
      Mexico. A randomized controlled trial quantified the efficacy of indoor residual
      spraying (IRS) against adult Ae. aegypti in houses treated with either
      deltamethrin (to which local Ae. aegypti expressed a high degree of resistance)
      or bendiocarb (to which local Ae. aegypti were fully susceptible) as compared to
      untreated control houses. All adult Ae. aegypti infestation indices during 3
      months post-spraying were significantly lower in houses treated with bendiocarb
      compared to untreated houses (odds ratio <0.75; incidence rate ratio < 0.65)
      whereas no statistically significant difference was detected between the
      untreated and the deltamethrin-treated houses. On average, bendiocarb spraying
      reduced Ae. aegypti abundance by 60% during a 3-month period. Results demonstrate
      that vector control efficacy can be significantly compromised when the
      insecticide resistance status of Ae. aegypti populations is not taken into
      consideration.

PMID- 28604783
TI  - Chemical structures and characteristics of animal manures and composts during
      composting and assessment of maturity indices.
AB  - Changes in physicochemical characteristics, chemical structures and maturity of
      swine, cattle and chicken manures and composts during 70-day composting without
      addition of bulking agents were investigated. Physicochemical characteristics
      were measured by routine analyses and chemical structures by solid-state 13C NMR
      and FT-IR. Three manures were of distinct properties. Their changes in
      physicochemical characteristics, chemical structures, and maturity were different
      not only from each other but also from those with addition of bulking agents
      during composting. Aromaticity in chicken manure composts decreased at first, and
      then increased whereas that in cattle and swine manure composts increased.
      Enhanced ammonia volatilization occurred without addition of bulking agents. NMR
      structural information indicated that cattle and chicken composts were relatively
      stable at day 36 and 56, respectively, but swine manure composts were not mature
      up to day 70. Finally, the days required for three manures to reach the threshold
      values of different maturity indices were different.

PMID- 28604782
TI  - Viral genetic variation accounts for a third of variability in HIV-1 set-point
      viral load in Europe.
AB  - HIV-1 set-point viral load-the approximately stable value of viraemia in the
      first years of chronic infection-is a strong predictor of clinical outcome and is
      highly variable across infected individuals. To better understand HIV-1
      pathogenesis and the evolution of the viral population, we must quantify the
      heritability of set-point viral load, which is the fraction of variation in this
      phenotype attributable to viral genetic variation. However, current estimates of
      heritability vary widely, from 6% to 59%. Here we used a dataset of 2,028
      seroconverters infected between 1985 and 2013 from 5 European countries (Belgium,
      Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and estimated the
      heritability of set-point viral load at 31% (CI 15%-43%). Specifically,
      heritability was measured using models of character evolution describing how
      viral load evolves on the phylogeny of whole-genome viral sequences. In contrast
      to previous studies, (i) we measured viral loads using standardized assays on a
      sample collected in a strict time window of 6 to 24 months after infection, from
      which the viral genome was also sequenced; (ii) we compared 2 models of character
      evolution, the classical "Brownian motion" model and another model ("Ornstein
      Uhlenbeck") that includes stabilising selection on viral load; (iii) we
      controlled for covariates, including age and sex, which may inflate estimates of
      heritability; and (iv) we developed a goodness of fit test based on the
      correlation of viral loads in cherries of the phylogenetic tree, showing that
      both models of character evolution fit the data well. An overall heritability of
      31% (CI 15%-43%) is consistent with other studies based on regression of viral
      load in donor-recipient pairs. Thus, about a third of variation in HIV-1
      virulence is attributable to viral genetic variation.

PMID- 28604784
TI  - Potential therapeutic impact of CD13 expression in non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aminopeptidase N (CD13) is a zinc-binding protease that has
      functional effects on both cancerogenesis and tumor angiogenesis. Since CD13 is
      an antigen suitable for molecular targeted therapies (e.g. tTF-NGR induced tumor
      vascular infarction), we evaluated its impact in NSCLC patients, and tested the
      effects of the CD13-targeted fusion protein tTF-NGR (truncated tissue factor
      (tTF) containing the NGR motif: asparagine-glycine-arginine) in vivo in nude
      mice. METHODS: Expression of both CD13 and CD31 was studied in 270 NSCLC patients
      by immunohistochemistry. Clinical correlations and prognostic effects of the
      expression profiles were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. In
      addition, a microarray-based analysis on the basis of the KM plotter database was
      performed. The in vivo effects of the CD13-targeted fusion protein tTF-NGR on
      tumor growth were tested in CD1 nude mice carrying A549 lung carcinoma
      xenotransplants. RESULTS: CD13 expression in tumor endothelial and vessel
      associated stromal cells was found in 15% of the investigated samples, while
      expression in tumor cells was observed in 7%. Although no significant prognostic
      impact was observed in the full NSCLC study cohort, both univariate and
      multivariate models identified vascular CD13 protein expression to correlate with
      poor overall survival in stage III and pN2+ NSCLC patients. Microarray-based mRNA
      analysis for either adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas did not reveal
      any significant effect. However, the analysis of CD13 mRNA expression for all
      lung cancer histologies demonstrated a positive prognostic effect. In vivo,
      systemic application of CD13-targeted tissue factor tTF-NGR significantly reduced
      CD13+ A549 tumor growth in nude mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our results contribute a data
      basis for prioritizing clinical testing of tTF-NGR and other antitumor molecules
      targeted by NGR-peptides in NSCLC. Because CD13 expression in NSCLC tissues was
      found only in a specific subset of NSCLC patients, rigorous pre-therapeutic
      testing will help to select patients for these studies.

PMID- 28604785
TI  - Genome-wide association analysis and functional annotation of positional
      candidate genes for feed conversion efficiency and growth rate in pigs.
AB  - Feed conversion efficiency is a measure of how well an animal converts feed into
      live weight and it is typically expressed as feed conversion ratio (FCR). FCR and
      related traits like growth rate (e.g. days to 110 kg-D110) are of high interest
      for animal breeders, farmers and society due to implications on animal
      performance, feeding costs and environmental sustainability. The objective of
      this study was to identify genomic regions associated with FCR and D110 in pigs.
      A total of 952 terminal line boars, showing an individual variation in FCR, were
      genotyped using 60K SNP-Chips. Markers were tested for associations with
      estimated breeding values (EBV) for FCR and D110. For FCR, the largest number of
      associated SNPs was located on chromosomes 4 (30 SNPs), 1 (25 SNPs), X (15 SNPs)
      and 6 (12 SNPs). The most prominent genomic regions for D110 were identified on
      chromosomes 15 (10 SNPs), 1 and 4 (both 9 SNPs). The most significantly
      associated SNPs for FCR and D110 mapped 129.8 Kb from METTL11B (chromosome 4) and
      32Kb from MBD5 (chromosome 15), respectively. A list of positional genes, closest
      to significantly associated SNPs, was used to identify enriched pathways and
      biological functions related to the QTL for both traits. A number of candidate
      genes were significantly overrepresented in pathways of immune cell trafficking,
      lymphoid tissue structure, organ morphology, endocrine system function, lipid
      metabolism, and energy production. After resequencing the coding region of
      selected positional and functional candidate genes, six SNPs were genotyped in a
      subset of boars. SNPs in PRKDC, SELL, NR2E1 and AKRIC3 showed significant
      associations with EBVs for FCR/D110. The study revealed a number of chromosomal
      regions and candidate genes affecting FCR/D110 and pointed to corresponding
      biological pathways related to lipid metabolism, olfactory reception, and also
      immunological status.

PMID- 28604786
TI  - Tinnitus alters resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in human auditory
      and non-auditory brain regions as measured by functional near-infrared
      spectroscopy (fNIRS).
AB  - Tinnitus, or phantom sound perception, leads to increased spontaneous neural
      firing rates and enhanced synchrony in central auditory circuits in animal
      models. These putative physiologic correlates of tinnitus to date have not been
      well translated in the brain of the human tinnitus sufferer. Using functional
      near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) we recently showed that tinnitus in humans
      leads to maintained hemodynamic activity in auditory and adjacent, non-auditory
      cortices. Here we used fNIRS technology to investigate changes in resting state
      functional connectivity between human auditory and non-auditory brain regions in
      normal-hearing, bilateral subjective tinnitus and controls before and after
      auditory stimulation. Hemodynamic activity was monitored over the region of
      interest (primary auditory cortex) and non-region of interest (adjacent non
      auditory cortices) and functional brain connectivity was measured during a 60
      second baseline/period of silence before and after a passive auditory challenge
      consisting of alternating pure tones (750 and 8000Hz), broadband noise and
      silence. Functional connectivity was measured between all channel-pairs. Prior to
      stimulation, connectivity of the region of interest to the temporal and fronto
      temporal region was decreased in tinnitus participants compared to controls.
      Overall, connectivity in tinnitus was differentially altered as compared to
      controls following sound stimulation. Enhanced connectivity was seen in both
      auditory and non-auditory regions in the tinnitus brain, while controls showed a
      decrease in connectivity following sound stimulation. In tinnitus, the strength
      of connectivity was increased between auditory cortex and fronto-temporal, fronto
      parietal, temporal, occipito-temporal and occipital cortices. Together these data
      suggest that central auditory and non-auditory brain regions are modified in
      tinnitus and that resting functional connectivity measured by fNIRS technology
      may contribute to conscious phantom sound perception and potentially serve as an
      objective measure of central neural pathology.

PMID- 28604788
TI  - Long-term efficacy and safety of nalfurafine hydrochloride on pruritus in chronic
      liver disease patients: Patient-reported outcome based analyses.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Among various symptoms accompanied with chronic liver
      disease, pruritus affects the quality of life of patients, causing physical and
      mental stress, and worsens hepatic function. Recently, kappa-opioid receptor
      agonist, nalfurafine hydrochloride was approved to treat central pruritus in
      patients with liver disease in Japan. This study aimed to assess the long-term
      efficacy and safety of nalfurafine hydrochloride on pruritus in chronic liver
      disease patients. METHODS: A patient-reported outcome using questionnaire-based
      methods was used for 41 liver disease patients with or without pruritus symptoms.
      Nalfurafine hydrochloride (2.5 MUg/day) was orally administered to 18 patients
      suffering from pruritus symptoms and whose current treatment was not effective.
      The same questionnaires and visual analogue scales (VAS) were repeatedly followed
      up for the patients for the entire follow-up period, and biochemical analyses
      were performed to evaluate the safety of the treatment. RESULTS: Pruritus
      completely disappeared in seven of 18 cases, and VAS scores showed a decreasing
      trend over time from the start of nalfurafine hydrochloride administration in all
      patients who received the medication. Among 11 patients who were followed up for
      more than 12 weeks, nine patients showed continuous improvement of symptoms, and
      this progress was still apparent at >=20 weeks after starting administration (p <
      0.0001). The medication was discontinued in four patients because of progression
      of primary disease, high cost, oral dryness, and anemia. No significant toxicity
      was observed on the serum biochemical analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Nalfurafine
      hydrochloride contributed to long-term suppression of pruritus without
      significant safety problems.

PMID- 28604787
TI  - Familiarization: A theory of repetition suppression predicts interference between
      overlapping cortical representations.
AB  - Repetition suppression refers to a reduction in the cortical response to a novel
      stimulus that results from repeated presentation of the stimulus. We demonstrate
      repetition suppression in a well established computational model of cortical
      plasticity, according to which the relative strengths of lateral inhibitory
      interactions are modified by Hebbian learning. We present the model as an
      extension to the traditional account of repetition suppression offered by
      sharpening theory, which emphasises the contribution of afferent plasticity, by
      instead attributing the effect primarily to plasticity of intra-cortical
      circuitry. In support, repetition suppression is shown to emerge in simulations
      with plasticity enabled only in intra-cortical connections. We show in simulation
      how an extended 'inhibitory sharpening theory' can explain the disruption of
      repetition suppression reported in studies that include an intermediate phase of
      exposure to additional novel stimuli composed of features similar to those of the
      original stimulus. The model suggests a re-interpretation of repetition
      suppression as a manifestation of the process by which an initially distributed
      representation of a novel object becomes a more localist representation. Thus,
      inhibitory sharpening may constitute a more general process by which
      representation emerges from cortical re-organisation.

PMID- 28604789
TI  - The association between baseline persistent pain and weight change in patients
      attending a specialist weight management service.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the influence of baseline pain levels on weight change at
      one-year follow-up in patients attending a National Health Service specialist
      weight management programme. METHODS: We compared one-year follow-up weight (body
      mass) change between patient sub-groups of none-to-mild, moderate, and severe
      pain at baseline. A mean sub-group difference in weight change of >=5kg was
      considered clinically relevant. RESULTS: Of the 141 complete cases, n = 43
      (30.5%) reported none-to-mild pain, n = 44 (31.2%) reported moderate pain, and n
      = 54 (38.3%) reported severe pain. Covariate-adjusted mean weight loss (95%CI)
      was similar for those with none-to-mild (8.1kg (4.2 to 12.0kg)) and moderate pain
      (8.3kg (4.9 to 11.7kg). The mean weight loss of 3.0kg (-0.4 to 6.4kg) for the
      severe pain group was 5.1kg (-0.6 to 10.7, p = 0.08) lower than the none-to-mild
      pain group and 5.3kg (0.4 to 10.2kg, p = 0.03) lower than the moderate pain
      group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with severe pain upon entry to a specialist weight
      management service in England achieve a smaller mean weight loss at one-year
      follow-up than those with none-to-moderate pain. The magnitude of the difference
      in mean weight loss was clinically relevant, highlighting the importance of
      addressing severe persistent pain in obese patients undertaking weight management
      programmes.

PMID- 28604790
TI  - Sparse EEG/MEG source estimation via a group lasso.
AB  - Non-invasive recordings of human brain activity through electroencephalography
      (EEG) or magnetoencelphalography (MEG) are of value for both basic science and
      clinical applications in sensory, cognitive, and affective neuroscience. Here we
      introduce a new approach to estimating the intra-cranial sources of EEG/MEG
      activity measured from extra-cranial sensors. The approach is based on the group
      lasso, a sparse-prior inverse that has been adapted to take advantage of
      functionally-defined regions of interest for the definition of physiologically
      meaningful groups within a functionally-based common space. Detailed simulations
      using realistic source-geometries and data from a human Visual Evoked Potential
      experiment demonstrate that the group-lasso method has improved performance over
      traditional l2 minimum-norm methods. In addition, we show that pooling source
      estimates across subjects over functionally defined regions of interest results
      in improvements in the accuracy of source estimates for both the group-lasso and
      minimum-norm approaches.

PMID- 28604792
TI  - Characteristics, clinical course, and outcomes of homeless and non-homeless
      patients admitted to ICU: A retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about homeless patients in intensive care units
      (ICUs). OBJECTIVES: To compare clinical characteristics, treatments, and outcomes
      of homeless to non-homeless patients admitted to four ICUs in a large inner-city
      academic hospital. METHODS: 63 randomly-selected homeless compared to 63 age-,
      sex-, and admitting-ICU-matched non-homeless patients. RESULTS: Compared to
      matched non-homeless, homeless patients (average age 48+/-12 years, 90% male, 87%
      admitted by ambulance, 56% mechanically ventilated, average APACHE II 17) had
      similar comorbidities and illness severity except for increased alcohol (70% vs
      17%,p<0.001) and illicit drug(46% vs 8%,p<0.001) use and less documented
      hypertension (16% vs 40%,p = 0.005) or prescription medications (48% vs
      67%,p<0.05). Intensity of ICU interventions was similar except for higher
      thiamine (71% vs 21%,p<0.0001) and nicotine (38% vs 14%,p = 0.004) prescriptions.
      Homeless patients exhibited significantly lower Glasgow Coma Scores and
      significantly more bacterial respiratory cultures. Longer durations of
      antibiotics, vasopressors/inotropes, ventilation, ICU and hospital lengths of
      stay were not statistically different, but homeless patients had higher hospital
      mortality (29% vs 8%,p = 0.005). Review of all deaths disclosed that withdrawal
      of life-sustaining therapy occurred in similar clinical circumstances and
      proportions in both groups, regardless of family involvement. Using multivariable
      logistic regression, homelessness did not appear to be an independent predictor
      of hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Homeless patients, admitted to ICU matched to
      non-homeless patients by age and sex (characteristics most commonly used by
      clinicians), have higher hospital mortality despite similar comorbidities and
      illness severity. Trends to longer durations of life supports may have
      contributed to the higher mortality. Additional research is required to validate
      this higher mortality and develop strategies to improve outcomes in this
      vulnerable population.

PMID- 28604791
TI  - Challenges in developing methods for quantifying the effects of weather and
      climate on water-associated diseases: A systematic review.
AB  - Infectious diseases attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene
      (e.g. Cholera, Leptospirosis, Giardiasis) remain an important cause of morbidity
      and mortality, especially in low-income countries. Climate and weather factors
      are known to affect the transmission and distribution of infectious diseases and
      statistical and mathematical modelling are continuously developing to investigate
      the impact of weather and climate on water-associated diseases. There have been
      little critical analyses of the methodological approaches. Our objective is to
      review and summarize statistical and modelling methods used to investigate the
      effects of weather and climate on infectious diseases associated with water, in
      order to identify limitations and knowledge gaps in developing of new methods. We
      conducted a systematic review of English-language papers published from 2000 to
      2015. Search terms included concepts related to water-associated diseases,
      weather and climate, statistical, epidemiological and modelling methods. We found
      102 full text papers that met our criteria and were included in the analysis. The
      most commonly used methods were grouped in two clusters: process-based models
      (PBM) and time series and spatial epidemiology (TS-SE). In general, PBM methods
      were employed when the bio-physical mechanism of the pathogen under study was
      relatively well known (e.g. Vibrio cholerae); TS-SE tended to be used when the
      specific environmental mechanisms were unclear (e.g. Campylobacter). Important
      data and methodological challenges emerged, with implications for surveillance
      and control of water-associated infections. The most common limitations
      comprised: non-inclusion of key factors (e.g. biological mechanism, demographic
      heterogeneity, human behavior), reporting bias, poor data quality, and
      collinearity in exposures. Furthermore, the methods often did not distinguish
      among the multiple sources of time-lags (e.g. patient physiology, reporting bias,
      healthcare access) between environmental drivers/exposures and disease detection.
      Key areas of future research include: disentangling the complex effects of
      weather/climate on each exposure-health outcome pathway (e.g. person-to-person vs
      environment-to-person), and linking weather data to individual cases
      longitudinally.

PMID- 28604793
TI  - Senior citizens as rescuers: Is reduced knowledge the reason for omitted lay
      resuscitation-attempts? Results from a representative survey with 2004
      interviews.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Resuscitation (CPR) provided by a bystander prior to the arrival of
      the emergency services is a beneficial factor for surviving a cardiac arrest
      (CA). Our registry-based data show, that older patients receive bystander-CPR
      less frequently. Little is known on possible reasons for this finding. We sought
      to investigate the hypothesis that awareness of CPR measures is lower in older
      laypersons being a possible reason for less CPR-attempts in senior citizens.
      METHODS: 1206 datasets on bystander resuscitations actually carried out were
      analyzed for age-dependent differences. Subsequently, we investigated whether the
      knowledge required carrying out bystander-CPR and the self-confidence to do so
      differ between younger and older citizens using computer-assisted telephone
      interviewing. 2004 interviews were performed and statistically analyzed. RESULTS:
      A lower level of knowledge to carry out bystander-CPR was seen in older
      individuals. For example, 82.4% of interviewees under 65 years of age, knew the
      correct emergency number. In this group, 66.6% named CPR as the relevant
      procedure in CA. Among older individuals these responses were only given by 75.1%
      and 49.5% (V = 0.082; P < 0.001 and V = 0.0157; P < 0.001). Additionally, a
      difference concerning participants' confidence in their own abilities was
      detectable. 58.0% of the persons younger than 65 years were confident that they
      would detect a CA in comparison to 44.6% of the participants older than 65 years
      (V = 0.120; P < 0.001). Similarly, 62.7% of the interviewees younger than 65 were
      certain to know what to do during CPR compared to 51.3% of the other group (V =
      0.103; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Lower levels of older bystanders' knowledge and
      self-confidence might provide an explanation for why older patients receive
      bystander-CPR less frequently. Further investigation is necessary to identify
      causal connections and optimum ways to empower bystander resuscitation.

PMID- 28604794
TI  - A metal artifact reduction algorithm in CT using multiple prior images by
      recursive active contour segmentation.
AB  - We propose a novel metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithm for CT images that
      completes a corrupted sinogram along the metal trace region. When metal implants
      are located inside a field of view, they create a barrier to the transmitted X
      ray beam due to the high attenuation of metals, which significantly degrades the
      image quality. To fill in the metal trace region efficiently, the proposed
      algorithm uses multiple prior images with residual error compensation in sinogram
      space. Multiple prior images are generated by applying a recursive active contour
      (RAC) segmentation algorithm to the pre-corrected image acquired by MAR with
      linear interpolation, where the number of prior image is controlled by RAC
      depending on the object complexity. A sinogram basis is then acquired by forward
      projection of the prior images. The metal trace region of the original sinogram
      is replaced by the linearly combined sinogram of the prior images. Then, the
      additional correction in the metal trace region is performed to compensate the
      residual errors occurred by non-ideal data acquisition condition. The performance
      of the proposed MAR algorithm is compared with MAR with linear interpolation and
      the normalized MAR algorithm using simulated and experimental data. The results
      show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other MAR algorithms, especially
      when the object is complex with multiple bone objects.

PMID- 28604795
TI  - Individual differences in dual-target RSVP task performance relate to entrainment
      but not to individual alpha frequency.
AB  - The attentional blink (AB) paradigm is widely used to study visual temporal
      attention. An important feature of the standard AB paradigm is repetitive visual
      stimulation, more precisely the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of
      numerous distracters interspersed with two targets. The RSVP stream is likely to
      result in entrainment of visual cortex, which has been suggested to negatively
      affect target identification in the AB paradigm. The present EEG study tested
      this idea with an inter-individual differences approach. AB task performance and
      measures of entrainment were derived from 51 participants. Other than predicted,
      moderate positive correlations were observed for inter-trial coherence and
      performance, but only for targets not immediately preceded by other targets. A
      positive correlation with power was evident for targets presented in the critical
      AB time window. In a second step, it was tested whether the distance between
      individual alpha frequency and RSVP frequency mediated correlations with inter
      trial coherence, as entrainment of the visual cortex through repetitive visual
      stimulation is particularly effective when the frequency of the stimulation
      matches the individual alpha frequency. However, no evidence was found supporting
      such link. While compatible with a number of findings related to the AB and to
      visual entrainment, the findings of the present study do not provide evidence for
      the notion that entrainment to the RSVP stream creates a neural environment
      unfavourable for detecting targets an RSVP stream.

PMID- 28604796
TI  - Temporal fitness fluctuations in experimental Arabidopsis thaliana populations.
AB  - Understanding the genetics of lifetime fitness is crucial to understand a
      species' ecological preferences and ultimately predict its ability to cope with
      novel environmental conditions. Yet, there is a dearth of information regarding
      the impact of the ecological variance experienced by natural populations on
      expressed phenotypic and fitness differences. Here, we follow the natural
      dynamics of experimental A. thaliana populations over 5 successive plantings
      whose timing was determined by the natural progression of the plant's life cycle
      and disentangle the environmental and genetic factors that drive plant ecological
      performance at a given locality. We show that, at the temperate latitude where
      the experiment was conducted, a given genotype can experience winter-, spring- or
      summer-annual life cycles across successive seasons. Lifetime fitness across
      these seasons varied strongly, with a fall planting yielding 36-fold higher
      fitness compared to a spring planting. In addition, the actual life-stage at
      which plant overwinter oscillated across years, depending on the timing of the
      end of the summer season. We observed a rare but severe fitness differential
      coinciding with inadequate early flowering in one of the five planting. Substrate
      variation played a comparatively minor role, but also contributed to modulate the
      magnitude of fitness differentials between genotypes. Finally, reciprocal
      introgressions on chromosome 4 demonstrated that the fitness effect of a specific
      chromosomal region is strongly contingent on micro-geographic and seasonal
      fluctuations. Our study contributes to emphasize the extent to which the fitness
      impact of phenotypic traits and the genes that encode them in the genome can
      fluctuate. Experiments aiming at dissecting the molecular basis of local
      adaptation must apprehend the complexity introduced by temporal fluctuations
      because they massively affect the expression of phenotype and fitness
      differences.

PMID- 28604797
TI  - A human inferred germline antibody binds to an immunodominant epitope and
      neutralizes Zika virus.
AB  - The isolation of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nmAbs) against the Zika
      virus (ZIKV) might lead to novel preventative strategies for infections in at
      risk individuals, primarily pregnant women. Here we describe the characterization
      of human mAbs from the plasmablasts of an acutely infected patient. One of the 18
      mAbs had the unusual feature of binding to and neutralizing ZIKV despite not
      appearing to have been diversified by affinity maturation. This mAb neutralized
      ZIKV (Neut50 ~ 2 MUg/ml) but did not react with any of the four dengue virus
      serotypes. Except for the expected junctional diversity created by the joining of
      the V-(D)-J genes, there was no deviation from immunoglobulin germline genes.
      This is a rare example of a human mAb with neutralizing activity in the absence
      of detectable somatic hypermutation. Importantly, binding of this mAb to ZIKV was
      specifically inhibited by human plasma from ZIKV-exposed individuals, suggesting
      that it may be of value in a diagnostic setting.

PMID- 28604798
TI  - A Bayesian mathematical model of motor and cognitive outcomes in Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are few established predictors of the clinical course of PD.
      Prognostic markers would be useful for clinical care and research. OBJECTIVE: To
      identify predictors of long-term motor and cognitive outcomes and rate of
      progression in PD. METHODS: Newly diagnosed PD participants were followed for 7
      years in a prospective study, conducted at 55 centers in the United States and
      Canada. Analyses were conducted in 244 participants with complete demographic,
      clinical, genetic, and dopamine transporter imaging data. Machine learning
      dynamic Bayesian graphical models were used to identify and simulate predictors
      and outcomes. The outcomes rate of cognition changes are assessed by the Montreal
      Cognitive Assessment scores, and rate of motor changes are assessed by UPDRS part
      III. RESULTS: The most robust and consistent longitudinal predictors of cognitive
      function included older age, baseline Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale
      (UPDRS) parts I and II, Schwab and England activities of daily living scale,
      striatal dopamine transporter binding, and SNP rs11724635 in the gene BST1. The
      most consistent predictor of UPDRS part III was baseline level of activities of
      daily living (part II). Key findings were replicated using long-term data from an
      independent cohort study. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline function near the time of
      Parkinson's disease diagnosis, as measured by activities of daily living, is a
      consistent predictor of long-term motor and cognitive outcomes. Additional
      predictors identified may further characterize the expected course of Parkinson's
      disease and suggest mechanisms underlying disease progression. The prognostic
      model developed in this study can be used to simulate the effects of the
      prognostic variables on motor and cognitive outcomes, and can be replicated and
      refined with data from independent longitudinal studies.

PMID- 28604799
TI  - Rhythmic expression of circadian clock genes in the preovulatory ovarian
      follicles of the laying hen.
AB  - The circadian clock is reported to play a role in the ovaries in a variety of
      vertebrate species, including the domestic hen. However, the ovary is an organ
      that changes daily, and the laying hen maintains a strict follicular hierarchy.
      The aim of this study was to examine the spatial-temporal expression of several
      known canonical clock genes in the granulosa and theca layers of six hierarchy
      follicles. We demonstrated that the granulosa cells (GCs) of the F1-F3 follicles
      harbored intrinsic oscillatory mechanisms in vivo. In addition, cultured
      granulosa cells (GCs) from F1 follicles exposed to luteinizing hormone (LH)
      synchronization displayed Per2 mRNA oscillations, whereas, the less mature GCs
      (F5 plus F6) displayed no circadian change in Per2 mRNA levels. Cultures
      containing follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) combined with LH expressed levels
      of Per2 mRNA that were 2.5-fold higher than those in cultures with LH or FSH
      alone. These results show that there is spatial specificity in the localization
      of clock cells in hen preovulatory follicles. In addition, our results support
      the hypothesis that gonadotropins provide a cue for the development of the
      functional cellular clock in immature GCs.

PMID- 28604800
TI  - Characterising variation in wheat traits under hostile soil conditions in India.
AB  - Intensive crop breeding has increased wheat yields and production in India. Wheat
      improvement in India typically involves selecting yield and component traits
      under non-hostile soil conditions at regional scales. The aim of this study is to
      quantify G*E interactions on yield and component traits to further explore site
      specific trait selection for hostile soils. Field experiments were conducted at
      six sites (pH range 4.5-9.5) in 2013-14 and 2014-15, in three agro-climatic
      regions of India. At each site, yield and component traits were measured on 36
      genotypes, representing elite varieties from a wide genetic background developed
      for different regions. Mean grain yields ranged from 1.0 to 5.5 t ha-1 at hostile
      and non-hostile sites, respectively. Site (E) had the largest effect on yield and
      component traits, however, interactions between genotype and site (G*E) affected
      most traits to a greater extent than genotype alone. Within each agro-climatic
      region, yield and component traits correlated positively between hostile and non
      hostile sites. However, some genotypes performed better under hostile soils, with
      site-specific relationships between yield and component traits, which supports
      the value of ongoing site-specific selection activities.

PMID- 28604801
TI  - High blood levels of lead in children aged 6-36 months in Kathmandu Valley,
      Nepal: A cross-sectional study of associated factors.
AB  - Young children are at greatest risk of exposure to lead and its effects. Although
      lead is one of the most widely used elements with known health hazard, there is
      little data on the blood lead level (BLL) of children in the Kathmandu Valley.
      Thus, this study aimed to assess factors associated with high BLL in children who
      were 6-36 months of age and resided in the Kathmandu Valley. In this hospital
      based cross-sectional study 6-36 month-old children visiting the Paediatrics
      Outpatient Department of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Patan Hospital,
      and Siddhi Memorial Hospital were enrolled. All three hospitals are located in
      different areas inside the Kathmandu Valley. Written informed consent was
      obtained from the parents, and exposure data were collected using a structured
      questionnaire. Portable Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV) was used to determine
      BLLs in children. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Of 312 children
      enrolled in the study, 64.4% had BLLs >=5MUg/dl. A significant association was
      found between BLL and exposure to enamel paints in the household in the form of
      painting materials used in different parts of the house like walls, windows and
      doors (p = 0.001). Furthermore, multivariate analyses showed that BLLs were 4.5
      times higher in children playing with dirt and dust (p = 0.006) and that children
      belonging to the community of lower caste/ethnicity groups had significantly
      higher BLLs compared to those from the upper caste groups (p = 0.02). Our study
      demonstrated that children living in households that have used enamel paints,
      children belonging to lower caste/ethnic groups, and children frequently playing
      with dirt and dust had significantly higher BLLs. The results of this study
      highlight the importance of policy decisions to limit environmental lead
      contamination, and to roll out awareness building measures designed to limit lead
      exposure and break the poverty cycle associated with chronic lead poisoning.

PMID- 28604802
TI  - Serological profiling of the EBV immune response in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
      using a peptide microarray.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr-Virus (EBV) plays an important role as trigger or
      cofactor for various autoimmune diseases. In a subset of patients with Chronic
      Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) disease starts with infectious mononucleosis as late
      primary EBV-infection, whereby altered levels of EBV-specific antibodies can be
      observed in another subset of patients. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive
      mapping of the IgG response against EBV comparing 50 healthy controls with 92 CFS
      patients using a microarray platform. Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS),
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and cancer-related fatigue served as controls.
      3054 overlapping peptides were synthesised as 15-mers from 14 different EBV
      proteins. Array data was validated by ELISA for selected peptides. Prevalence of
      EBV serotypes was determined by qPCR from throat washing samples. RESULTS: EBV
      type 1 infections were found in patients and controls. EBV seroarray profiles
      between healthy controls and CFS were less divergent than that observed for MS or
      SLE. We found significantly enhanced IgG responses to several EBNA-6 peptides
      containing a repeat sequence in CFS patients compared to controls. EBNA-6 peptide
      IgG responses correlated well with EBNA-6 protein responses. The EBNA-6 repeat
      region showed sequence homologies to various human proteins. CONCLUSION: Patients
      with CFS had a quite similar EBV IgG antibody response pattern as healthy
      controls. Enhanced IgG reactivity against an EBNA-6 repeat sequence and against
      EBNA-6 protein is found in CFS patients. Homologous sequences of various human
      proteins with this EBNA-6 repeat sequence might be potential targets for
      antigenic mimicry.

PMID- 28604804
TI  - Identification of antigenic Sarcoptes scabiei proteins for use in a diagnostic
      test and of non-antigenic proteins that may be immunomodulatory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scabies, caused by the mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, infects millions of
      humans, and many wild and domestic mammals. Scabies mites burrow in the lower
      stratum corneum of the epidermis of the skin and are the source of substances
      that are antigenic or modulate aspects of the protective response of the host.
      Ordinary scabies is a difficult disease to diagnose. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this
      project was to identify S. scabiei proteins that may be candidate antigens for
      use in a diagnostic test or may be used by the mite to modulate the host's
      protective response. METHODS: An aqueous extract of S. scabiei was separated by 2
      dimensional electrophoresis and proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. A
      parallel immunoblot was probed with serum from patients with ordinary scabies to
      identify IgM and/or IgG-binding antigens. The genes coding for 23 selected
      proteins were cloned into E. coli and the expressed recombinant proteins were
      screened with serum from patients with confirmed ordinary scabies. RESULTS: We
      identified 50 different proteins produced by S. scabiei, 34 of which were not
      previously identified, and determined that 66% were recognized by patient IgM
      and/or IgG. Fourteen proteins were screened for use in a diagnostic test but none
      possessed enough sensitivity and specificity to be useful. Six of the 9 proteins
      selected for the possibility that they may be immunomodulatory were not
      recognized by antibodies in patient serum. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty-three proteins
      that bound IgM and/or IgG from the serum of patients with ordinary scabies were
      identified. None of the 14 tested were useful for inclusion in a diagnostic test.
      The identities of 16 proteins that are not recognized as antigens by infected
      patients were also determined. These could be among the molecules that are
      responsible for this mite's ability to modulate its host's innate and adaptive
      immune responses.

PMID- 28604803
TI  - Impact of tumor position, conductivity distribution and tissue homogeneity on the
      distribution of tumor treating fields in a human brain: A computer modeling
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor treating fields (TTFields) are increasingly used in the
      treatment of glioblastoma. TTFields inhibit cancer growth through induction of
      alternating electrical fields. To optimize TTFields efficacy, it is necessary to
      understand the factors determining the strength and distribution of TTFields. In
      this study, we provide simple guiding principles for clinicians to assess the
      distribution and the local efficacy of TTFields in various clinical scenarios.
      METHODS: We calculated the TTFields distribution using finite element methods
      applied to a realistic head model. Dielectric property estimates were taken from
      the literature. Twentyfour tumors were virtually introduced at locations
      systematically varied relative to the applied field. In addition, we investigated
      the impact of central tumor necrosis on the induced field. RESULTS: Local field
      "hot spots" occurred at the sulcal fundi and in deep tumors embedded in white
      matter. The field strength was not higher for tumors close to the active
      electrode. Left/right field directions were generally superior to
      anterior/posterior directions. Central necrosis focally enhanced the field near
      tumor boundaries perpendicular to the applied field and introduced significant
      field non-uniformity within the tumor. CONCLUSIONS: The TTFields distribution is
      largely determined by local conductivity differences. The well conducting tumor
      tissue creates a preferred pathway for current flow, which increases the field
      intensity in the tumor boundaries and surrounding regions perpendicular to the
      applied field. The cerebrospinal fluid plays a significant role in shaping the
      current pathways and funnels currents through the ventricles and sulci towards
      deeper regions, which thereby experience higher fields. Clinicians may apply
      these principles to better understand how TTFields will affect individual
      patients and possibly predict where local recurrence may occur. Accurate
      predictions should, however, be based on patient specific models. Future work is
      needed to assess the robustness of the presented results towards variations in
      conductivity.

PMID- 28604805
TI  - Time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of pteropods.
AB  - Pteropods are a widespread group of holoplanktonic gastropod molluscs and are
      uniquely suitable for study of long-term evolutionary processes in the open ocean
      because they are the only living metazoan plankton with a good fossil record.
      Pteropods have been proposed as bioindicators to monitor the impacts of ocean
      acidification and in consequence have attracted considerable research interest,
      however, a robust evolutionary framework for the group is still lacking. Here we
      reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and examine the evolutionary history
      of pteropods based on combined analyses of Cytochrome Oxidase I, 28S, and 18S
      ribosomal rRNA sequences and a molecular clock calibrated using fossils and the
      estimated timing of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. Euthecosomes with
      uncoiled shells were monophyletic with Creseis as the earliest diverging lineage,
      estimated at 41-38 million years ago (mya). The coiled euthecosomes (Limacina,
      Heliconoides, Thielea) were not monophyletic contrary to the accepted morphology
      based taxonomy; however, due to their high rate heterogeneity no firm conclusions
      can be drawn. We found strong support for monophyly of most euthecosome genera,
      but Clio appeared as a polyphyletic group, and Diacavolinia grouped within
      Cavolinia, making the latter genus paraphyletic. The highest evolutionary rates
      were observed in Heliconoides inflatus and Limacina bulimoides for both 28S and
      18S partitions. Using a fossil-calibrated phylogeny that sets the first
      occurrence of coiled euthecosomes at 79-66 mya, we estimate that uncoiled
      euthecosomes evolved 51-42 mya and that most extant uncoiled genera originated 40
      15 mya. These findings are congruent with a molecular clock analysis using the
      Isthmus of Panama formation as an independent calibration. Although not all
      phylogenetic relationships could be resolved based on three molecular markers,
      this study provides a useful resource to study pteropod diversity and provides
      general insight into the processes that generate and maintain their diversity in
      the open ocean.

PMID- 28604806
TI  - Prostaglandin E2 inhibits Tr1 cell differentiation through suppression of c-Maf.
AB  - Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a major lipid mediator abundant at inflammatory sites,
      acts as a proinflammatory agent in models of inflammatory/autoimmune diseases by
      promoting CD4 Th1/Th17 differentiation. Regulatory T cells, including the IL-10
      producing Tr1 cells counterbalance the proinflammatory activity of effector
      Th1/Th17 cells. Tr1 cell differentiation and function are induced by IL-27, and
      depend primarily on sustained expression of c-Maf in addition to AhR and Blimp-1.
      In agreement with the in vivo proinflammatory role of PGE2, here we report for
      the first time that PGE2 inhibits IL-27-induced differentiation and IL-10
      production of murine CD4+CD49b+LAG-3+Foxp3- Tr1 cells. The inhibitory effect of
      PGE2 was mediated through EP4 receptors and induction of cAMP, leading to a
      significant reduction in c-Maf expression. Although PGE2 reduced IL-21 production
      in differentiating Tr1 cells, its inhibitory effect on Tr1 differentiation and c
      Maf expression also occurred independent of IL-21 signaling. PGE2 did not affect
      STAT1/3 activation, AhR expression and only marginally reduced Egr-2/Blimp-1
      expression. The effect of PGE2 on CD4+CD49b+LAG-3+ Tr1 differentiation was not
      associated with either induction of Foxp3 or IL-17 production, suggesting a lack
      of transdifferentiation into Foxp3+ Treg or effector Th17 cells. We recently
      reported that PGE2 inhibits the expression and production of IL-27 from activated
      conventional dendritic cells (cDC) in vivo and in vitro. The present study
      indicates that PGE2 also reduces murine Tr1 differentiation and function directly
      by acting on IL-27-differentiating Tr1 cells. Together, the ability of PGE2 to
      inhibit IL-27 production by cDC, and the direct inhibitory effect on Tr1
      differentiation mediated through reduction in c-Maf expression, represent a new
      mechanistic perspective for the proinflammatory activity of PGE2.

PMID- 28604807
TI  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) -TrKB signaling modulates cancer
      endothelial cells interaction and affects the outcomes of triple negative breast
      cancer.
AB  - AIMS: There is good evidence that the tumor microenvironment plays an important
      role in cancer metastasis and progression. Our previous studies have shown that
      brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) participates in the process of
      metastasis and in the migration of cancer cells. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the role of BDNF on the tumor cell microenvironment, namely, the
      cancer cell-endothelial cell interaction of TNBC cells. METHODS: We conducted
      oligoneucleotide microarray analysis of potential biomarkers that are able to
      differentiate recurrent TNBC from non-recurrent TNBC. The MDA-MB-231 and human
      endothelial HUVEC lines were used for this study and our approaches included
      functional studies, such as migration assay, as well as Western blot and real
      time PCR analysis of migration and angiogenic signaling. In addition, we analyzed
      the survival outcome of TNBC breast cancer patients according to their expression
      level of BDNF using clinical samples. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that BDNF
      was able to bring about autocrinal (MDA-MB-231) and paracrinal (HUVECs)
      regulation of BDNF-TrkB gene expression and this affected cell migratory
      activity. The BDNF-induced migratory activity was blocked by inhibitors of ERK,
      PI3K and TrkB when MDA-MB-231 cells were examined, but only an inhibitor of ERK
      blocked this activity when HUVEC cells were used. Furthermore, decreased
      migratory activity was found for ?BDNF and ?TrkB cell lines. Ingenuity pathway
      analysis (IPA) of MDA-MB-231 cells showed that BDNF is a key factor that is able
      to regulate a network made up of metalloproteases and calmodulin. Protein
      expression levels in a tissue array of tumor slices were found to be correlated
      with patient prognosis and the results showed that there was significant
      correlation of TrkB expression, but not of BDNF. expressionwith patient DFS and
      OS. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that up-regulation of the BDNF signaling
      pathway seems tobe involved in the mechanism associated with early recurrence in
      triple negative breast cancer cell. In addition, BDNF can function in either an
      autocrine or a paracrine manner to increase the migration ability of both MDA-MB
      231 cells and HUVEC cells. Finally, overexpression of TrkB, but not of BDNF, is
      significantly associated with a poor survival outcome for TNBC patients.

PMID- 28604808
TI  - A Korean validation study of the Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale:
      Comorbidity and differentiation of anxiety and depressive disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the
      Korean version of the Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale (CUXOS) and to
      examine the current diagnostic comorbidity and differential severity of anxiety
      symptoms between major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders.
      METHODOLOGY: In total, 838 psychiatric outpatients were analyzed at their intake
      appointment. Diagnostic characteristics were examined using the structured
      clinical interview from the DSM-IV because the DSM5 was not available at the
      start of the study. The CUXOS score was measured and compared with that of 3
      clinician rating scales and 4 self-report scales. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The CUXOS
      showed excellent results for internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90), test
      retest reliability (r = 0.74), and discriminant and convergent validity. The
      CUXOS significantly discriminated between different levels of anxiety severity,
      and the measure was sensitive to change after treatment. Approximately 45% of
      patients with MDD were additionally diagnosed with anxiety disorders while 55% of
      patients with anxiety disorders additionally reported an MDD. There was a
      significant difference in CUXOS scores between diagnostic categories (MDD only,
      anxiety only, both disorders, and no MDD or anxiety disorder). The CUXOS scores
      differed significantly between all categories of depression (major, minor, and
      non-depression) except for the comparison between minor depression and non
      depression groups. CONCLUSIONS: The Korean version of the CUXOS is a reliable and
      valid measure of the severity of anxiety symptoms. The use of the CUXOS could
      broaden the understanding of coexisting and differentiating characteristics of
      anxiety and depression.

PMID- 28604809
TI  - Constructing a Watts-Strogatz network from a small-world network with symmetric
      degree distribution.
AB  - Though the small-world phenomenon is widespread in many real networks, it is
      still challenging to replicate a large network at the full scale for further
      study on its structure and dynamics when sufficient data are not readily
      available. We propose a method to construct a Watts-Strogatz network using a
      sample from a small-world network with symmetric degree distribution. Our method
      yields an estimated degree distribution which fits closely with that of a Watts
      Strogatz network and leads into accurate estimates of network metrics such as
      clustering coefficient and degree of separation. We observe that the accuracy of
      our method increases as network size increases.

PMID- 28604810
TI  - Fathers' perspectives on the diets and physical activity behaviours of their
      young children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children's learning about food and physical activity is considerable
      during their formative years, with parental influence pivotal. Research has
      focused predominantly on maternal influences with little known about the
      relationships between fathers' and young children's dietary and physical activity
      behaviours. A greater understanding of paternal beliefs regarding young
      children's dietary and physical activity behaviours is important to inform the
      design and delivery of child-focussed health promotion interventions. This study
      aimed to describe fathers' perceived roles in their children's eating and
      physical activity behaviours. It also sought to document fathers' views regarding
      how they could be best supported to promote healthy eating and physical activity
      behaviours in their young children. METHODS: In depth, semi-structured interviews
      were conducted with twenty fathers living in socio-economically diverse areas of
      metropolitan Melbourne, Australia who had at least one child aged five years or
      less. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically
      analysed. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of the transcripts revealed eight broad
      themes about fathers' beliefs, perceptions and attitudes towards the dietary and
      physical activity behaviours of their young children: (i) shared responsibility
      and consultation; (ii) family meal environment; (iii) parental role modelling;
      (iv) parental concerns around food; (v) food rewards; (vi) health education;
      (vii) limiting screen time; and (viii) parental knowledge. Analysis of themes
      according to paternal education/employment revealed no substantial differences in
      the views of fathers. CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory study presents the views of a
      socio-economically diverse group of fathers regarding the dietary and physical
      activity behaviours of their young children and the insights into the underlying
      perceptions informing these views. The findings suggest that fathers believe
      healthy eating behaviours and being physically active are important for their
      young children. Fathers believe these behaviours can be promoted and supported in
      different ways including through the provision of appropriate meal and physical
      activity environments and parental role modelling of desired dietary and physical
      activity behaviours.

PMID- 28604811
TI  - Managing urban runoff in residential neighborhoods: Nitrogen and phosphorus in
      lawn irrigation driven runoff.
AB  - Sources and mechanisms of nutrient transport in lawn irrigation driven surface
      runoff are largely unknown. We investigated the transport of nitrogen (N) and
      phosphorus (P) in lawn irrigation driven surface runoff from a residential
      neighborhood (28 ha) of 56% impervious and 44% pervious areas. Pervious areas
      encompassing turfgrass (lawns) in the neighborhood were irrigated with the
      reclaimed water in common areas during the evening to late night and with the
      municipal water in homeowner's lawns during the morning. The stormwater outlet
      pipe draining the residential neighborhood was instrumented with a flow meter and
      Hach autosampler. Water samples were collected every 1-h and triple composite
      samples were obtained at 3-h intervals during an intensive sampling period of 1
      week. Mean concentrations, over 56 sampling events, of total N (TN) and total P
      (TP) in surface runoff at the outlet pipe were 10.9+/-6.34 and 1.3+/-1.03 mg L-1,
      respectively. Of TN, the proportion of nitrate-N was 58% and other-N was 42%,
      whereas of TP, orthophosphate-P was 75% and other-P was 25%. Flow and nutrient (N
      and P) concentrations were lowest from 6:00 a.m. to noon, which corresponded with
      the use of municipal water and highest from 6:00 p.m. to midnight, which
      corresponded with the use of reclaimed water. This data suggests that N and P
      originating in lawn irrigation driven surface runoff from residential catchments
      is an important contributor of nutrients in surface waters.

PMID- 28604813
TI  - Modeling the Ebola zoonotic dynamics: Interplay between enviroclimatic factors
      and bat ecology.
AB  - Understanding Ebola necessarily requires the characterization of the ecology of
      its main enzootic reservoir, i.e. bats, and its interplay with seasonal and
      enviroclimatic factors. Here we present a SIR compartmental model where we
      implement a bidirectional coupling between the available resources and the
      dynamics of the bat population in order to understand their migration patterns.
      Our compartmental modeling approach and simulations include transport terms to
      account for bats mobility and spatiotemporal climate variability. We hypothesize
      that environmental pressure is the main driving force for bats' migration and our
      results reveal the appearance of sustained migratory waves of Ebola virus
      infected bats coupled to resources availability. Ultimately, our study can be
      relevant to predict hot spots of Ebola outbreaks in space and time and suggest
      conservation policies to mitigate the risk of spillovers.

PMID- 28604812
TI  - Prognostic value of programmed cell death ligand 1 expression in patients with
      head and neck cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression was reported to be
      correlated with poor prognosis in various cancers. However, the relationship
      between PD-L1 expression and the survival of patients with head and neck cancer
      (HNC) remains inconclusive. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the
      prognostic value of PD-L1 in HNC patients using meta-analysis techniques.
      METHODS: A comprehensive database searching was conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE,
      Web of Science and Cochrane Library from inception to August 2016. Studies
      meeting the inclusion criteria were included. The methodological quality of
      included studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale.
      Hazard ratios (HRs) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were
      pooled by STATA 11.0 for the outcome of overall survival (OS) and disease-free
      survival (DFS). RESULTS: A total of 17 studies with 2,869 HNC patients were
      included in the meta-analysis. The results of meta-analysis showed that there was
      no significant correlation between PD-L1 expression and OS (HR, 1.23; 95% CI,
      0.99-1.53; P = 0.065) or DFS (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.00-2.03; P = 0.052) of HNC
      patients. However, the subgroup analysis suggested that positive expression of PD
      L1 was associated with poor OS (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.12, 1.70; P = 0.003) and DFS
      (HR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.59, 2.48; P = 0.001) in HNC patients from Asian
      countries/regions. The subgroup analysis also showed that the correlations
      between PD-L1 and prognosis are variant among different subtypes of HNC. When
      performing sensitive analyses, we found that the results of meta-analyses were
      not robust. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis indicated that positive expression of
      PD-L1 could serve as a good predictor for poor prognosis of Asian patients with
      HNC. However, the findings still need to be confirmed by large-scale, prospective
      studies.

PMID- 28604815
TI  - Temperature sensitive liposomes combined with thermal ablation: Effects of
      duration and timing of heating in mathematical models and in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temperature sensitive liposomes (TSL) are nanoparticles that rapidly
      release the contained drug at hyperthermic temperatures, typically above ~40
      degrees C. TSL have been combined with various heating modalities, but there is
      no consensus on required hyperthermia duration or ideal timing of heating
      relative to TSL administration. The goal of this study was to determine changes
      in drug uptake when heating duration and timing are varied when combining TSL
      with radiofrequency ablation (RF) heating. METHODS: We used computer models to
      simulate both RF tissue heating and TSL drug delivery, to calculate spatial drug
      concentration maps. We simulated heating for 5, 12 and 30 min for a single RF
      electrode, as well as three sequential 12 min ablations for 3 electrodes placed
      in a triangular array. To support simulation results, we performed porcine in
      vivo studies in normal liver, where TSL filled with doxorubicin (TSL-Dox) at a
      dose of 30 mg was infused over 30 min. Following infusion, RF heating was
      performed in separate liver locations for either 5 min (n = 2) or 12 min (n = 2).
      After ablation, the animal was euthanized, and liver extracted and frozen. Liver
      samples were cut orthogonal to the electrode axis, and fluorescence imaging was
      used to visualize tissue doxorubicin distribution. RESULTS: Both in vivo studies
      and computer models demonstrate a ring-shaped drug deposition within ~1 cm of the
      visibly coagulated tissue. Drug uptake directly correlated with heating duration.
      In computer simulations, drug concentration increased by a factor of 2.2x and
      4.3x when heating duration was extended from 5 to either 12, or 30 minutes,
      respectively. In vivo, drug concentration was by a factor of 2.4x higher at 12 vs
      5 min heating duration (7.1 MUg/g to 3.0 MUg/g). The computer models suggest that
      heating should be timed to maximize area under the curve of systemic plasma
      concentration of encapsulated drug. CONCLUSIONS: Both computer models and in vivo
      study demonstrate that tissue drug uptake directly correlates with heating
      duration for TSL based delivery. Computational models were able to predict the
      spatial drug delivery profile, and may serve as a valuable tool in understanding
      and optimizing drug delivery systems.

PMID- 28604816
TI  - Correction: Nitrosothiol-Trapping-Based Proteomic Analysis of S-Nitrosylation in
      Human Lung Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169862.].

PMID- 28604814
TI  - Functional paralysis of GM-CSF-derived bone marrow cells productively infected
      with ectromelia virus.
AB  - Ectromelia virus (ECTV) is an orthopoxvirus responsible for mousepox, a lethal
      disease of certain strains of mice that is similar to smallpox in humans, caused
      by variola virus (VARV). ECTV, similar to VARV, exhibits a narrow host range and
      has co-evolved with its natural host. Consequently, ECTV employs sophisticated
      and host-specific strategies to control the immune cells that are important for
      induction of antiviral immune response. In the present study we investigated the
      influence of ECTV infection on immune functions of murine GM-CSF-derived bone
      marrow cells (GM-BM), comprised of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) and
      macrophages. Our results showed for the first time that ECTV is able to replicate
      productively in GM-BM and severely impaired their innate and adaptive immune
      functions. Infected GM-BM exhibited dramatic changes in morphology and increased
      apoptosis during the late stages of infection. Moreover, GM-BM cells were unable
      to uptake and process antigen, reach full maturity and mount a proinflammatory
      response. Inhibition of cytokine/chemokine response may result from the
      alteration of nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB, IRF3 and IRF7 transcription
      factors and down-regulation of many genes involved in TLR, RLR, NLR and type I
      IFN signaling pathways. Consequently, GM-BM show inability to stimulate
      proliferation of purified allogeneic CD4+ T cells in a primary mixed leukocyte
      reaction (MLR). Taken together, our data clearly indicate that ECTV induces
      immunosuppressive mechanisms in GM-BM leading to their functional paralysis, thus
      compromising their ability to initiate downstream T-cell activation events.

PMID- 28604817
TI  - Correction: MGmapper: Reference based mapping and taxonomy annotation of
      metagenomics sequence reads.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176469.].

PMID- 28604818
TI  - CACNA1C gene regulates behavioral strategies in operant rule learning.
AB  - Behavioral experiments are usually designed to tap into a specific cognitive
      function, but animals may solve a given task through a variety of different and
      individual behavioral strategies, some of them not foreseen by the experimenter.
      Animal learning may therefore be seen more as the process of selecting among, and
      adapting, potential behavioral policies, rather than mere strengthening of
      associative links. Calcium influx through high-voltage-gated Ca2+ channels is
      central to synaptic plasticity, and altered expression of Cav1.2 channels and the
      CACNA1C gene have been associated with severe learning deficits and psychiatric
      disorders. Given this, we were interested in how specifically a selective
      functional ablation of the Cacna1c gene would modulate the learning process.
      Using a detailed, individual-level analysis of learning on an operant cue
      discrimination task in terms of behavioral strategies, combined with Bayesian
      selection among computational models estimated from the empirical data, we show
      that a Cacna1c knockout does not impair learning in general but has a much more
      specific effect: the majority of Cacna1c knockout mice still managed to increase
      reward feedback across trials but did so by adapting an outcome-based strategy,
      while the majority of matched controls adopted the experimentally intended cue
      association rule. Our results thus point to a quite specific role of a single
      gene in learning and highlight that much more mechanistic insight could be gained
      by examining response patterns in terms of a larger repertoire of potential
      behavioral strategies. The results may also have clinical implications for
      treating psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 28604820
TI  - Comparative transcriptome analysis provides insights into molecular mechanisms
      for parthenocarpic fruit development in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.).
AB  - Genetic control of parthenocarpy, a desirable trait in edible fruit with hard
      seeds, has been extensively studied. However, the molecular mechanism of
      parthenocarpic fruit development in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is still
      unclear. To provide insights into eggplant parthenocarpy, the transcriptomic
      profiles of a natural parthenocarpic (PP05) and two non-parthenocarpic (PnP05 and
      GnP05) eggplant lines were analyzed using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) technology.
      These sequences were assembled into 38925 unigenes, of which 22683 had an
      annotated function and 3419 were predicted as novel genes or from alternative
      splicing. 4864 and 1592 unigenes that were identified as DEGs between comparison
      groups PP05 vs PnP05 and PP05 vs GnP05, respectively. 506 common DEGs were found
      contained in both comparison groups, including 258 up-regulated and 248 down
      regulated genes. Functional enrichment analyses identified many common or
      specific biological processes and gene set potentially associated with plant
      development. The most pronounced findings are that differentially regulated genes
      potentially-related with auxin signaling between parthenocarpic and non
      parthenocarpic eggplants, e.g. calcium-binding protein PBP1 and transcription
      factor E2FB, which mediate the auxin distribution and auxin-dependent cell
      division, respectively, are up-regulated in the PP05; whereas homologs of GH3.1
      and AUX/IAA, which are involved in inactivation of IAA and interference of auxin
      signaling, respectively, are down-regulated in PP05. Furthermore, gibberellin and
      cytokinin signaling genes and genes related to flower development were found
      differentially regulated between these eggplant lines. The present study provides
      comprehensive transcriptomic profiles of eggplants with or without parthenocarpic
      capacity. The information will deepen our understanding of the molecular
      mechanisms of eggplant parthenocarpy. The DEGs, especially these filtered from
      PP05 vs PnP05 + GnP05, will be valuable for further investigation of key genes
      involved in the parthenocarpic fruit development and genomics-assisted breeding.

PMID- 28604821
TI  - Correction: Nano-sized Al2O3 reduces acute toxic effects of thiacloprid on the
      non-biting midge Chironomus riparius.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176356.].

PMID- 28604822
TI  - Correction: Early onset hyperuricemia is a prognostic marker for kidney graft
      failure: Propensity score matching analysis in a Korean multicenter cohort.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176786.].

PMID- 28604819
TI  - A genome-scale metabolic reconstruction of Lysinibacillus sphaericus unveils
      unexploited biotechnological potentials.
AB  - The toxic lineage (TL) of Lysinibacillus sphaericus has been extensively studied
      because of its potential biotechnological applications in biocontrol of
      mosquitoes and bioremediation of toxic metals. We previously proposed that L.
      sphaericus TL should be considered as a novel species based on a comparative
      genomic analysis. In the current work, we constructed the first manually curated
      metabolic reconstruction for this species on the basis of the available genomes.
      We elucidated the central metabolism of the proposed species and, beyond
      confirming the reported experimental evidence with genomic a support, we found
      insights to propose novel applications and traits to be considered in further
      studies. The strains belonging to this lineage exhibit a broad repertory of genes
      encoding insecticidal factors, some of them remain uncharacterized. These strains
      exhibit other unexploited biotechnological important traits, such as lactonases
      (quorum quenching), toxic metal resistance, and potential for aromatic compound
      degradation. In summary, this study provides a guideline for further research
      aimed to implement this organism in biocontrol and bioremediation. Similarly, we
      highlighted the unanswered questions to be responded in order to gain a deeper
      understanding of the L. sphaericus TL biology.

PMID- 28604823
TI  - The chromosome analysis of the miscarriage tissue. Miscarried embryo/fetal crown
      rump length (CRL) measurement: A practical use.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether miscarried embryo/fetal crown rump length (CRL)
      measurement may yield a practical application for predicting a conclusive result
      at the cytogenetic analysis of miscarriage tissue. Our study might help in
      improving the cytogenetic method, the results of which may be affected by
      maternal cell contamination (MCC). In particular, we aimed at establishing
      whether the miscarried embryo/fetal CRL measurement shows accuracy in predicting
      the possibility of MCC and the scan cut-off value useful to this purpose and, as
      a result, suggest a multi-step procedure for the genetic ascertainment. METHODS:
      Women experiencing at least two miscarriages of less than 20 weeks size at the
      Pregnancy Loss Unit at Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli underwent a scan before
      surgery. The CRL value was recorded. After the dilatation and courettage (D&C)
      procedure, miscarriage tissue was processed through the proposed multi-step
      procedure before performing oligo-nucleotide-based and SNP (single nucleotide
      polymorphisms)-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH+SNP) microarray
      analysis. RESULTS: 63 women and 63 miscarriages met the criteria. By using the
      Receiving Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves, CRL showed an AUC of 0.816
      (95%CI:0.703-0.928,p<0.001). A CRL>=24.5 mm cut-off value showed a higher
      positive likelihood ratio (5.27) but, conversely, a higher negative likelihood
      ratio (0.64) in predicting the possibility of MCC. Microarray analysis was
      successful in the totality of cases in which the embryo/fetal origin of
      miscarriage tissues was proven. CONCLUSIONS: The 24.5 mm CRL value emerges as the
      most suitable cut-off enabling the identification of cases in which the embryo
      fetal component can be isolated in the absence of MCC and the chromosomal array
      provide informative results.

PMID- 28604824
TI  - Decline in CD4 T lymphocytes with monotherapy bridging strategy for non-adherent
      adolescents living with HIV infection: Results of the IMPAACT P1094 randomized
      trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Management of persistently non-adherent youth living with HIV
      (YLHIV) with virologic failure (VF) on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART)
      remains challenging. One strategy has been using 3TC/ FTC monotherapy (3TC/FTC),
      which in the presence of the M184V resistance mutation, does not suppress viral
      replication nor select for additional drug resistance mutations, and reduces
      viral fitness with limited side effects. P1094 compared the immunologic outcome
      of continuing failing cART vs. switching to 3TC/FTC as a "bridging strategy" to
      subsequent suppressive cART for non-adherent YLHIV with pre-existing M184V
      resistance. MATERIALS & METHODS: Participants with documented nonadherence, M184V
      mutation, CD4+ T cell count >=100 cells/mm3 and VF (HIV-1 plasma RNA >=400
      copies/mL (2.6 log10 HIV-1 RNA) were enrolled and randomized to continue failing
      cART vs. switch to 3TC/FTC. The primary endpoint (time to >=30% CD4+ T cell
      decline or development of CDC class C events) at 28-weeks were assessed by Kaplan
      Meier (K-M) curves in an intent-to-treat analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-three
      perinatally acquired YLHIV participants (16 continuing cART and 17 3TC/FTC)
      enrolled in the study. The median age, entry CD4+ T cell count, and viral load
      were 15 years (Inter-quartile range (IQR) 14-20), 472 cells/mm3 (IQR 384-651),
      and 4.0 log10HIV-1 RNA copies/ml (IQR 3.2-4.5), respectively. Five participants,
      all in the 3TC/FTC arm, reached the primary endpoint for absolute CD4+ T cell
      decline (p = 0.02, exact log-rank test comparing monotherapy to cART). The Kaplan
      Meier estimate of probability of primary endpoint on 3TC/FTC at 28 weeks was 0.41
      (standard error 0.14). There were no CDC class C events or deaths and no
      statistically significant difference in frequencies of adverse events between the
      arms. CONCLUSIONS: Non-adherent participants randomized to 3TC/FTC were more
      likely than those maintained on failing cART to experience a confirmed decline in
      CD4+ count of >=30%. Although this study suffers from limitations of small sample
      size and premature discontinuation, the randomized comparison to continuing
      failing cART indicates that 3TC/FTC provides inferior protection from immunologic
      deterioration for non-adherent youth with M184V resistance. Better alternatives
      to 3TC/FTC such as ART with higher barriers to resistance and novel adherence and
      treatment strategies for nonadherent youth are urgently needed. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov NCT01338025.

PMID- 28604826
TI  - Correction: The effects of a resistance vs. an aerobic single session on
      attention and executive functioning in adults.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176092.].

PMID- 28604825
TI  - Burden and impact of Plasmodium vivax in pregnancy: A multi-centre prospective
      observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite that over 90 million pregnancies are at risk of Plasmodium
      vivax infection annually, little is known about the epidemiology and impact of
      the infection in pregnancy. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We undertook a
      health facility-based prospective observational study in pregnant women from
      Guatemala (GT), Colombia (CO), Brazil (BR), India (IN) and Papua New Guinea PNG).
      Malaria and anemia were determined during pregnancy and fetal outcomes assessed
      at delivery. A total of 9388 women were enrolled at antennal care (ANC), of whom
      53% (4957) were followed until delivery. Prevalence of P. vivax monoinfection in
      maternal blood at delivery was 0.4% (20/4461) by microscopy [GT 0.1%, CO 0.5%, BR
      0.1%, IN 0.2%, PNG 1.2%] and 7% (104/1488) by PCR. P. falciparum monoinfection
      was found in 0.5% (22/4463) of women by microscopy [GT 0%, CO 0.5%, BR 0%, IN 0%,
      PNG 2%]. P. vivax infection was observed in 0.4% (14/3725) of placentas examined
      by microscopy and in 3.7% (19/508) by PCR. P. vivax in newborn blood was detected
      in 0.02% (1/4302) of samples examined by microscopy [in cord blood; 0.05%
      (2/4040) by microscopy, and 2.6% (13/497) by PCR]. Clinical P. vivax infection
      was associated with increased risk of maternal anemia (Odds Ratio-OR, 5.48, [95%
      CI 1.83-16.41]; p = 0.009), while submicroscopic vivax infection was not
      associated with increased risk of moderate-severe anemia (Hb<8g/dL) (OR, 1.16,
      [95% CI 0.52-2.59]; p = 0.717), or low birth weight (<2500g) (OR, 0.52, [95% CI,
      0.23-1.16]; p = 0.110). CONCLUSIONS: In this multicenter study, the prevalence of
      P. vivax infection in pregnancy by microscopy was overall low across all endemic
      study sites; however, molecular methods revealed a significant number of
      submicroscopic infections. Clinical vivax infection in pregnancy was associated
      with maternal anemia, which may be deleterious for infant's health. These results
      may help to guide maternal health programs in settings where vivax malaria is
      endemic; they also highlight the need of addressing a vulnerable population such
      as pregnant women while embracing malaria elimination in endemic countries.

PMID- 28604827
TI  - A novel in vivo method to quantify slit diaphragm protein abundance in murine
      proteinuric kidney disease.
AB  - Injury of the glomerular filter causes proteinuria by disrupting the sensitive
      interplay of the glomerular protein network. To date, studies of the expression
      and trafficking of glomerular proteins have been mostly limited to in vitro or
      histologic studies. Here, we report a novel in vivo biotinylation assay that
      allows the quantification of surface expression of glomerular proteins in mice.
      Kidneys were perfused in situ with biotin before harvest. Afterwards glomeruli
      were isolated and lyzed. The protein of interest was separated by
      immunoprecipitation and the amount of surface-expressed protein was quantified by
      Western blot analysis with streptavidin staining. As proof-of-concept, we
      examined the presence of nephrin in the slit diaphragm in two well-established
      murine models of proteinuric kidney disease: nephrotoxic nephritis and adriamycin
      nephropathy. In proteinuric animals, significantly less nephrin was detected in
      the slit diaphragm. When proteinuria decreased once again during the course of
      disease, the amount of surface nephrin returned to the baseline. Our present
      results suggest that our assay is a valuable tool to study the glomerular filter
      in proteinuric kidney diseases. Note that the assay is not limited to proteins
      expressed in the slit diaphragm, and all surface proteins that are accessible to
      biotin perfusion and immunoprecipitation qualify for this analysis.

PMID- 28604828
TI  - Genotype diversity and molecular evolution of noroviruses: A 30-year (1982-2011)
      comprehensive study with children from Northern Brazil.
AB  - A chronologically comprehensive 30-year study was conducted that involved
      children living in Belem, in the Amazon region of Northern Brazil, who
      participated in eight different studies from October 1982 to April 2011. The
      children were followed either in the community or in health units and hospitals
      in order to identify the norovirus genotypes involved in infections during this
      time. A total of 2,520 fecal specimens were obtained and subjected to RT-PCR and
      nucleotide sequencing for regions A, B, C, D and P2 of the viral genome. An
      overall positivity of 16.9% (n = 426) was observed, and 49% of the positive
      samples were genotyped (208/426), evidencing the presence of several genotypes as
      follows: Polymerase gene (GI.P4, GII.Pa, GII.Pc, GII.Pe, GII.Pg, GII.Pj, GII.P3,
      GII.P4, GII.P6, GII.P7, GII.P8, GII.P12, GII.P13, GII.P14, GII.P21, GII.P22), and
      VP1 gene (GI.3, GI.7, GII.1, GII.2, GII.3, GII.4, GII.6, GII.7, GII.8, GII.10,
      GII.12, GII.14, GII.17, GII.23). The GII.P4/GII.4 genotype determined by both
      open reading frames (ORFs) (partial polymerase and VP1 genes) was found for 83
      samples, and analyses of the subdomain P2 region showed 10 different variants:
      CHDC (1970s), Tokyo (1980s), Bristol_1993, US_95/96, Kaiso_2003, Asia_2003,
      Hunter_2004, Yerseke_2006a, Den Haag_2006b (subcluster "O") and New Orleans_2009.
      Recombination events were confirmed in 47.6% (n = 20) of the 42 samples with
      divergent genotyping by ORF1 and ORF2 and with probable different breakpoints
      within the viral genome. The evolutionary analyses estimated a rate of evolution
      of 1.02 x 10-2 and 9.05 x 10-3 subs./site/year using regions C and D from the VP1
      gene, respectively. The present research shows the broad genetic diversity of the
      norovirus that infected children for 30 years in Belem. These findings contribute
      to our understanding of noroviruses molecular epidemiology and viral evolution
      and provide a baseline for vaccine design.

PMID- 28604829
TI  - Phylogenetic analysis of Mycobacterium massiliense strains having recombinant
      rpoB gene laterally transferred from Mycobacterium abscessus.
AB  - Recent multi locus sequence typing (MLST) and genome based studies indicate that
      lateral gene transfer (LGT) events in the rpoB gene are prevalent between
      Mycobacterium abscessus complex strains. To check the prevalence of the M.
      massiliense strains subject to rpoB LGT (Rec-mas), we applied rpoB typing (711
      bp) to 106 Korean strains of M. massiliense infection that had already been
      identified by hsp65 sequence analysis (603 bp). The analysis indicated 6 smooth
      strains in M. massiliense Type I (10.0%, 6/60) genotypes but no strains in M.
      massiliense Type II genotypes (0%, 0/46), showing a discrepancy between the 2
      typing methods. Further MLST analysis based on the partial sequencing of seven
      housekeeping genes, argH, cya, glpK, gnd, murC, pta and purH, as well as erm(41)
      PCR proved that these 6 Rec-mas strains consisted of two distinct genotypes
      belonging to M. massiliense and not M. abscessus. The complete rpoB sequencing
      analysis showed that these 6 Rec-mas strains have an identical hybrid rpoB gene,
      of which a 478 bp partial rpoB fragment may be laterally transferred from M.
      abscessus. Notably, five of the 6 Rec-mas strains showed complete identical
      sequences in a total of nine genes, including the seven MLST genes, hsp65, and
      rpoB, suggesting their clonal propagation in South Korea. In conclusion, we
      identified 6 M. massiliense smooth strains of 2 phylogenetically distinct
      genotypes with a specific hybrid rpoB gene laterally transferred from M.
      abscessus from Korean patients. Their clinical relevance and bacteriological
      traits remain to be elucidated.

PMID- 28604830
TI  - Methods to maximise recovery of environmental DNA from water samples.
AB  - The environmental DNA (eDNA) method is a detection technique that is rapidly
      gaining credibility as a sensitive tool useful in the surveillance and monitoring
      of invasive and threatened species. Because eDNA analysis often deals with small
      quantities of short and degraded DNA fragments, methods that maximize eDNA
      recovery are required to increase detectability. In this study, we performed
      experiments at different stages of the eDNA analysis to show which combinations
      of methods give the best recovery rate for eDNA. Using Oriental weatherloach
      (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) as a study species, we show that various
      combinations of DNA capture, preservation and extraction methods can
      significantly affect DNA yield. Filtration using cellulose nitrate filter paper
      preserved in ethanol or stored in a -20 degrees C freezer and extracted with the
      Qiagen DNeasy kit outperformed other combinations in terms of cost and efficiency
      of DNA recovery. Our results support the recommendation to filter water samples
      within 24hours but if this is not possible, our results suggest that
      refrigeration may be a better option than freezing for short-term storage (i.e.,
      3-5 days). This information is useful in designing eDNA detection of low-density
      invasive or threatened species, where small variations in DNA recovery can
      signify the difference between detection success or failure.

PMID- 28604831
TI  - Statistical analysis on finger replacement schemes for RAKE receivers in the soft
      handover region with multiple BSs over i.n.d. fading channels.
AB  - A new finger replacement technique which is applicable for RAKE receivers in the
      soft handover region has been proposed and studied under the ideal assumption
      that the fading is both independent and identically distributed from path to
      path. To supplement our previous work, we present a general comprehensive
      framework for the performance assessment of the proposed finger replacement
      schemes operating over independent but non-identically distributed (i.n.d.) faded
      paths. To accomplish this object, we derive new closed-form expressions for the
      target key statistics which are composed of i.n.d. exponential random variables.
      With these new expressions, the performance analysis of various wireless
      communication systems over more practical channel environments can be possible.

PMID- 28604832
TI  - Insects and associated arthropods analyzed during medicolegal death
      investigations in Harris County, Texas, USA: January 2013- April 2016.
AB  - The application of insect and arthropod information to medicolegal death
      investigations is one of the more exacting applications of entomology.
      Historically limited to homicide investigations, the integration of full time
      forensic entomology services to the medical examiner's office in Harris County
      has opened up the opportunity to apply entomology to a wide variety of manner of
      death classifications and types of scenes to make observations on a number of
      different geographical and species-level trends in Harris County, Texas, USA. In
      this study, a retrospective analysis was made of 203 forensic entomology cases
      analyzed during the course of medicolegal death investigations performed by the
      Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston, TX, USA from January
      2013 through April 2016. These cases included all manner of death
      classifications, stages of decomposition and a variety of different scene types
      that were classified into decedents transported from the hospital (typically
      associated with myiasis or sting allergy; 3.0%), outdoor scenes (32.0%) or indoor
      scenes (65.0%). Ambient scene air temperature at the time scene investigation was
      the only significantly different factor observed between indoor and outdoor
      scenes with average indoor scene temperature being slightly cooler (25.2 degrees
      C) than that observed outdoors (28.0 degrees C). Relative humidity was not found
      to be significantly different between scene types. Most of the indoor scenes were
      classified as natural (43.3%) whereas most of the outdoor scenes were classified
      as homicides (12.3%). All other manner of death classifications came from both
      indoor and outdoor scenes. Several species were found to be significantly
      associated with indoor scenes as indicated by a binomial test, including
      Blaesoxipha plinthopyga (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), all Sarcophagidae
      (including B. plinthopyga), Megaselia scalaris Loew (Diptera: Phoridae),
      Synthesiomyia nudiseta Wulp (Diptera: Muscidae) and Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann)
      (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The only species that was a significant indicator of an
      outdoor scene was Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). All other
      insect species that were collected in five or more cases were collected from both
      indoor and outdoor scenes. A species list with month of collection and basic
      scene characteristics with the length of the estimated time of colonization is
      also presented. The data presented here provide valuable casework related species
      data for Harris County, TX and nearby areas on the Gulf Coast that can be used to
      compare to other climate regions with other species assemblages and to assist in
      identifying new species introductions to the area. This study also highlights the
      importance of potential sources of uncertainty in preparation and interpretation
      of forensic entomology reports from different scene types.

PMID- 28604833
TI  - Chest-MRI under pulsatile flow ventilation: A new promising technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the chest has long suffered from
      its sensitivity to respiratory and cardiac motion with an intrinsically low
      signal to noise ratio and a limited spatial resolution. The purpose of this study
      was to perform chest MRI under an adapted non invasive pulsatile flow ventilation
      system (high frequency percussive ventilation, HFPV(r)) allowing breath hold
      durations 10 to 15 times longer than other existing systems. METHODS: One
      volunteer and one patient known for a thymic lesion underwent a chest MRI under
      ventilation percussion technique (VP-MR). Routinely used sequences were performed
      with and without the device during three sets of apnoea on inspiration. RESULTS:
      VP-MR was well tolerated in both cases. The mean duration of the thoracic
      stabilization was 10.5 min (range 8.5-12) and 5.8 min (range 5-6.2) for Volunteer
      1 and Patient 1, respectively. An overall increased image quality was seen under
      VP-MR with a better delineation of the mediastinal lesion for Patient 1. Nodules
      discovered in Volunteer 1 were confirmed with low dose CT. CONCLUSION: VP-MR was
      feasible and increased spatial resolution of chest MRI by allowing acquisition at
      full inspiration during thoracic stabilization approaching prolonged apnoea. This
      new technique could be of benefit to numerous thoracic disorders.

PMID- 28604835
TI  - Correction: Total flavonoid concentrations of bryophytes from Tianmu Mountain,
      Zhejiang Province (China): Phylogeny and ecological factors.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173003.].

PMID- 28604834
TI  - Associations of brain-natriuretic peptide, high-sensitive troponin T, and high
      sensitive C-reactive protein with outcomes in severe aortic stenosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Among patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), we investigated the
      associations of N-terminal pro-natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), high-sensitive
      troponin T (hsTnT), and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) with 3-year
      mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) during 1 year. METHODS:
      This observational cohort study prospectively enrolled 442 patients with severe
      AS who were referred for evaluation of possible valve replacement. Clinical data
      was recorded before the decision of whether to operate was made. We studied the
      prognostic value of assessing biomarkers by serum levels, and tested associations
      of NT-proBNP, hsTnT, and hs-CRP with clinical outcomes (3-year all-cause
      mortality and risk of MACE in the year following study inclusion) using adjusted
      multivariable analysis. RESULTS: Elevated serum levels of these biomarkers at
      baseline evaluation were associated with increased all-cause 3-year mortality
      regardless of treatment assignment. Adjusted analysis showed that none of the
      studied biomarkers (NT-proBNP, hsTnT or hs-CRP) or any other covariates were
      associated with 3-year all-cause mortality following surgical aortic valve
      replacement (SAVR). However, adjusted analyses showed that hsTnT (HR, 1.51; 95%
      CI, 1.11-2.05; P = 0.008) and left ventricular ejection fraction (HR 0.97; 95% CI
      0.94-0.97, P = 0.043) was associated with MACE for operated patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Whereas NT-proBNP, hsTnT and hs-CRP had no independently prognostic
      value in relation to all-cause mortality following SAVR, hsTnT was independently
      associated with MACE following operation. The use of these clinically available
      biomarkers, in particular hsTnT, should be clarified in larger studies.

PMID- 28604836
TI  - Elevated sodium leads to the increased expression of HSP60 and induces apoptosis
      in HUVECs.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the world. We have previously
      shown that expression of heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) on the surface of
      endothelial cells is the main cause of initiating the disease as it acts as a T
      cell auto-antigen and can be triggered by classical atherosclerosis risk factors,
      such as infection (e.g. Chlamydia pneumoniae), chemical stress (smoking, oxygen
      radicals, drugs), physical insult (heat, shear blood flow) and inflammation
      (inflammatory cytokines, lipopolysaccharide, oxidized low density lipoprotein,
      advanced glycation end products). In the present study, we show that increasing
      levels of sodium chloride can also induce an increase in intracellular and
      surface expression of HSP60 protein in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In
      addition, we found that elevated sodium induces apoptosis.

PMID- 28604837
TI  - Dynamic changes in diffusion measures improve sensitivity in identifying patients
      with mild traumatic brain injury.
AB  - The goal of this study was to investigate patterns of axonal injury in the first
      week after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We performed a prospective cohort
      study of 20 patients presenting to the emergency department with mTBI, using 3.0T
      diffusion tensor MRI immediately after injury and again at 1 week post-injury.
      Corresponding data were acquired from 16 controls over a similar time interval.
      Fractional anisotropy (FA) and other diffusion measures were calculated from 11 a
      priori selected axon tracts at each time-point, and the change across time in
      each region was quantified for each subject. Clinical outcomes were determined by
      standardized neurocognitive assessment. We found that mTBI subjects were
      significantly more likely to have changes in FA in those 11 regions of interest
      across the one week time period, compared to control subjects whose FA
      measurements were stable across time. Longitudinal imaging was more sensitive to
      these subtle changes in white matter integrity than cross-sectional assessments
      at either of two time points, alone. Analyzing the sources of variance in our
      control population, we show that this increased sensitivity is likely due to the
      smaller within-subject variability obtained by longitudinal analysis with each
      subject as their own control. This is in contrast to the larger between-subject
      variability obtained by cross-sectional analysis of each individual subject to
      normalized data from a control group. We also demonstrated that inclusion of all
      a priori ROIs in an analytic model as opposed to measuring individual ROIs
      improves detection of white matter changes by overcoming issues of injury
      heterogeneity. Finally, we employed genetic programming (a bio-inspired
      computational method for model estimation) to demonstrate that longitudinal
      changes in FA have utility in predicting the symptomatology of patients with
      mTBI. We conclude concussive brain injury caused acute, measurable changes in the
      FA of white matter tracts consistent with evolving axonal injury and/or edema,
      which may contribute to post-concussive symptoms.

PMID- 28604838
TI  - Effect of acute pancreatitis on the risk of developing osteoporosis: A nationwide
      cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Chronic exocrine pancreatic insufficiency can lead to osteoporosis.
      However, the incidence and risk of osteoporosis after acute inflammation of
      pancreas remained known. Thus, we conducted a population-based cohort study to
      clarify the association between acute pancreatitis (AP) and osteoporosis.
      METHODS: Patients newly diagnosed with AP with index date between 2000 and 2011
      were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database.
      Osteoporosis were defined according to the International Classification of
      Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. We applied age-, sex-, and
      comorbidities-adjusted variable Cox proportional hazard models for assessing the
      association between AP and osteoporosis. Moreover, these models were used to
      adjust for the influences of patient characteristics and comorbidities. RESULTS:
      In this study, 4,016 patients were included in the AP cohort (males, 67.9%; mean
      age, 51.8 years) and 4,016 matched controls in the non-AP cohort. After a mean
      follow-up period of 4.97 and 5.21 years in the AP and non-AP cohorts,
      respectively, the incidence of osteoporosis was 8.22 per 1000 person-years in the
      AP cohort. The AP cohort had a higher risk [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.27,
      95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-1.58] of osteoporosis than did the non-AP
      cohort. The risk of osteoporosis was highest in the female patients of the AP
      cohort (aHR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.85-2.76) and patients aged 50-64 years (aHR =
      4.14, 95% CI = 3.13-5.47). CONCLUSION: AP patients are at a risk of osteoporosis,
      especially female gender and age 50-64 years. Those with > 3 episodes of AP had
      highest significant risk of developing osteoporosis.

PMID- 28604839
TI  - Socio-economic drivers of specialist anglers targeting the non-native European
      catfish (Silurus glanis) in the UK.
AB  - Information about the socioeconomic drivers of Silurus glanis anglers in the UK
      were collected using questionnaires from a cross section of mixed cyprinid
      fisheries to elucidate human dimensions in angling and non-native fisheries
      management. Respondents were predominantly male (95%), 30-40 years of age with
      <10 yr angling experience for S. glanis; most had received college rather than
      university education. The majority (34%) were employed with low-moderate income
      status (<L30k per annum), which may restrict time and expenditure spent on
      angling. Highest angling expenditure was on equipment and bait with most from
      southern England (54%) spending >L500 per annum. The proportion of time spent
      angling for S. glanis was significantly related to angler motivations; fish size,
      challenge in catch, tranquil natural surroundings, escape from daily stress and
      to be alone were considered important drivers of increased time spent angling.
      Overall, poor awareness of: the risks and adverse ecological impacts associated
      with introduced S. glanis, non-native fisheries legislation, problems in use of
      unlimited ground bait and high fish stocking rates in angling lakes were evident,
      possibly related to inadequate training and information provided by angling
      organisations to anglers, as many stated that they were insufficiently informed.

PMID- 28604840
TI  - Working memory operates over the same representations as attention.
AB  - A recent study observed a working memory (WM) Stroop effect with a magnitude
      equivalent to that of the classic Stroop effect, indicating that WM operates over
      the same representations as attention. However, more research is needed to
      examine this proposal. One unanswered question is whether the WM Stroop effect
      occurs when the WM item and the perceptual task do not have an overlapping
      response set. We addressed this question in Experiment 1 by conducting an
      attentional word-color task and a WM word-color task. The results showed that a
      WM Stroop effect also occurred in that condition, as a word that only indirectly
      evoked a color representation could interfere with the color judgement in both
      the attentional task and WM task. In Experiment 2, we used a classic Simon task
      and a WM Simon task to examine whether holding visuo-spatial information rather
      than verbal information in WM could interfere with perceptual judgment as well.
      We observed a WM Simon effect of equivalent magnitude to that of the classic
      Simon effect. The well-known stimulus-response compatibility effect also existed
      in the WM domain. The two experiments together demonstrated that WM operates over
      the same representations as attention, which sheds new light on the hypothesis
      that working memory is internally directed attention.

PMID- 28604841
TI  - Evaluation of potential changes in liver and lung tissue of rats in an ischemia
      reperfusion injury model (modified pringle maneuver).
AB  - In surgical procedures involving the liver, such as transplantation, resection,
      and trauma, a temporary occlusion of hepatic vessels may be required. This study
      was designed to analyze the lesions promoted by ischemia and reperfusion injury
      of the hepatic pedicle, in the liver and lung, using histopathological and
      immunohistochemical techniques. In total, 39 Wistar rats were divided into four
      groups: control group (C n = 3) and ischemia groups subjected to 10, 20, and 30
      minutes of hepatic pedicle clamping (I10, n = 12; I20, n = 12; I30, n = 12). Each
      ischemia group was subdivided into four subgroups of reperfusion (R15, n = 3;
      R30, n = 3; R60, n = 3; R120, n = 3), after 15, 30, 60, and 120 minutes of
      reperfusion, respectively. Significant differences were observed in the liver
      parenchyma (P < 0.05) between the values of microvesicles and hydropic
      degeneration at different times of ischemia and reperfusion. However, the values
      of vascular congestion, necrosis, and pyknotic nuclei showed no significant
      differences (P > 0.05). In the lung parenchyma, a significant difference was
      observed (P < 0.05) between the values of alveolar septal wall thickening and
      inflammatory infiltration at different times of ischemia and reperfusion.
      However, there was no significant difference (P < 0.05) between the values of
      vascular congestion, bronchial epithelial degeneration, interstitial edema, and
      hemorrhage. The positive immunoreactivity of caspase-3 protein in the liver
      parenchyma (indication of ongoing apoptosis), showed no significant differences
      (P > 0.05) at different times of ischemia and reperfusion. In the pulmonary
      parenchyma, the immunoreactivity was not specific, and was not quantified. This
      study demonstrated that the longer the duration of ischemia and reperfusion, the
      greater are the morphological lesions found in the hepatic and pulmonary
      parenchyma.

PMID- 28604842
TI  - To be, or not to be, referred: A qualitative study of women from Burma's access
      to legal abortion care in Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reproductive health outcomes among women from Burma who live along
      the Thailand-Burma border demonstrate an unmet need for access to safe abortion
      services. In 2014, a multi-national team launched a collaborative three-year
      initiative to expand a program that refers eligible women for safe and legal
      abortion care to government Thai hospitals in Tak province, Thailand. METHODS:
      Over a six-month period we conducted 14 in-depth open-ended interviews with women
      from Burma who were referred through the program or denied a wanted abortion
      after being deemed ineligible for referral by staff at the participating clinic.
      We analyzed the interviews for content and themes using both deductive and
      inductive techniques. RESULTS: Women's experiences accessing legal abortion care
      were positive and facilitated by appropriate options counseling, logistical
      support, and financial coverage. Five of the ineligible women we interviewed used
      traditional methods accessed on both sides of the border to self-induce an
      abortion and/or visited an untrained and unregulated provider. DISCUSSION: Our
      findings highlight the need to redouble efforts to expand access to safe and
      legal abortion care for women from Burma residing in northern Thailand. Ensuring
      that women who are denied a safe and legal abortion receive harm reduction
      interventions and resources is critical.

PMID- 28604844
TI  - Blocked noses.
AB  - This issue of our Journal contains interesting papers about blocked noses. Nasal
      obstruction is one of the most common reasons that patients visit their doctors,
      general practitioners and otorhinolaryngologists alike and has a significant
      impact on the quality of life of patients. Blockage is an important outcome of
      disease not only in nasal disease, but also in rhinosinusitis.

PMID- 28604845
TI  - Beyond sulfide-centric catalysis: recent advances in the catalytic cyclization
      reactions of sulfur ylides.
AB  - Great achievements in the asymmetric cyclization reactions of sulfur ylides have
      been reached by using chiral sulfides; however, this method usually suffers from
      the high loading of chiral sulfides. Over the past decade, new catalysis
      technologies beyond chiral sulfide-based catalysis have been gradually applied to
      the cyclizations of sulfur ylides. These technologies, including organocatalysis,
      organometallic catalysis and photocatalysis, can avoid the use of stoichiometric
      chiral pools and enable the development of new cyclization reactions of sulfur
      ylides. In this tutorial review, recent advances in this rapidly developing field
      will be highlighted with particular emphases on the catalytic mechanism and the
      development of new reactions, new reagents and new concepts.

PMID- 28604843
TI  - Alcohol-associated intestinal dysbiosis impairs pulmonary host defense against
      Klebsiella pneumoniae.
AB  - Chronic alcohol consumption perturbs the normal intestinal microbial communities
      (dysbiosis). To investigate the relationship between alcohol-mediated dysbiosis
      and pulmonary host defense we developed a fecal adoptive transfer model, which
      allows us to investigate the impact of alcohol-induced gut dysbiosis on host
      immune response to an infectious challenge at a distal organ, independent of
      prevailing alcohol use. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with a cocktail of
      antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamicin, neomycin, vancomycin, and metronidazole) via
      daily gavage for two weeks. A separate group of animals was fed a chronic alcohol
      (or isocaloric dextrose pair-fed controls) liquid diet for 10 days. Microbiota
      depleted mice were recolonized with intestinal microbiota from alcohol-fed or
      pair-fed (control) animals. Following recolonization groups of mice were
      sacrificed prior to and 48 hrs. post respiratory infection with Klebsiella
      pneumoniae. Klebsiella lung burden, lung immunology and inflammation, as well as
      intestinal immunology, inflammation, and barrier damage were examined. Results
      showed that alcohol-associated susceptibility to K. pneumoniae is, in part,
      mediated by gut dysbiosis, as alcohol-naive animals recolonized with a microbiota
      isolated from alcohol-fed mice had an increased respiratory burden of K.
      pneumoniae compared to mice recolonized with a control microbiota. The increased
      susceptibility in alcohol-dysbiosis recolonized animals was associated with an
      increase in pulmonary inflammatory cytokines, and a decrease in the number of
      CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells in the lung following Klebsiella infection but an increase
      in T-cell counts in the intestinal tract following Klebsiella infection,
      suggesting intestinal T-cell sequestration as a factor in impaired lung host
      defense. Mice recolonized with an alcohol-dysbiotic microbiota also had increased
      intestinal damage as measured by increased levels of serum intestinal fatty acid
      binding protein. Collectively, these results suggest that alterations in the
      intestinal immune response as a consequence of alcohol-induced dysbiosis
      contribute to increased host susceptibility to Klebsiella pneumonia.

PMID- 28604847
TI  - Assessment of nanoparticles' safety: corrected absorbance-based toxicity test.
AB  - We developed a method to correct absorbance-based toxicity tests to remove the
      influence of the deposited dose of nanoparticles. As a model of absorbance-based
      toxicity tests, we chose the frequently used MTS test. The corrected cell
      viabilities obtained with the MTS test matched the results of the fluorescence
      based PrestoBlue(r) test.

PMID- 28604846
TI  - Identification of active components in Yixinshu Capsule with protective effects
      against myocardial dysfunction on human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived
      cardiomyocytes by an integrative approach.
AB  - Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparations have significant effects on some
      refractory diseases; however, these compositions are complex and their mechanisms
      are unknown. Identification of the active components in these preparations is
      essential. The mortality rate for heart failure (HF) has been increasing in
      recent years, and myocardial dysfunction (MD) has been proved to be the
      pathological basis of HF. Yixinshu Capsule (YXSC) is a multi-component oral drug
      with therapeutic effects on HF. However, the key active components are still
      unclear. In this study, YXSC intestinal absorption liquid (IAL) was used and 62
      compounds were identified by an analytical chemistry approach. Then, a compound -
      target - function network was established with a bioinformatics analysis tool.
      Finally, a cell model of MD on human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived
      cardiomyocytes (hiPS-CMs) was used to verify the therapeutic effects of the
      active components of YXSC. Schisandrin A (Sch A) and schisandrin B (Sch B) were
      demonstrated to be the active components of YXSC by attenuating endothelin-1 (ET
      1)-induced contraction dysfunction, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) content
      elevation, and the morphological changes of hiPS-CMs. For the first time, our
      data illustrate the potent protective effects of Sch A and Sch B on ET-1-induced
      dysfunctional hiPS-CMs and revealed their effective targets and pathways. The
      integrative approach used in our study was applied to identify active components
      in TCM preparations and excavate the possible mechanisms.

PMID- 28604851
TI  - Analysis of ribonuclease activity in sub-nanoliter droplets by label-free
      fluorescence measurements.
AB  - We report the results of a label-free analysis of ribonuclease activity using
      droplet-based microfluidics. The ribonucleolytic activity of ribonucleases
      (RNases) plays a critical role in cellular functions such as development,
      survival, growth and differentiation. Altered ribonucleolytic activity and/or the
      expression level of the RNase A family are known to be associated with
      pancreatic, bladder, ovarian and thyroid cancers among others. For this reason,
      the RNase A family is a meaningful protein biomarker that can be used in the
      diagnosis of cancer and as a target for new drug screening. There are some
      successful traditional methods for analysing the RNase activity, such as
      radioactive label-based assay, methylene blue-based assay, gel zymography, as
      well as other more recently developed methods such as electrochemical assay and
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). However, these methods require
      analytical samples with a volume ranging from microliters to milliliters, and are
      not suitable for high-throughput analysis. Therefore, we integrated ethidium
      bromide (EtBr), which intercalates the chemical itself to nucleic acid, to
      droplet-based microfluidics for a cost-effective, high-throughput analysis. Put
      simply, this method is dependent on the amount of intercalated EtBr molecules on
      RNA. Our assay also uses visible light that is harmless to humans, unlike
      previous methods that used harmful UV rays, to excite the EtBr molecules.
      Specifically, we monitored the ribonucleolytic activity of less than 10 nM RNase
      A in droplets of about 330 picoliters. Also, half the maximal inhibitory
      concentration (IC50) of the RNase inhibitor was successfully measured in the same
      volume of droplets at a frequency of 40 hertz.

PMID- 28604852
TI  - A novel indeno[1,2-b]pyridinone derivative, a DNA intercalative human
      topoisomerase IIalpha catalytic inhibitor, for caspase 3-independent anticancer
      activity.
AB  - A novel 2-(furan-2-yl)-4-(pyridin-2-yl)-5H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridin-5-one (TI-1-190)
      was synthesized using a simple microwave-assisted method and its mode of action
      was systematically characterized. It is a DNA intercalative human topoisomerase
      IIalpha catalytic inhibitor with much stronger activity and less DNA toxicity
      than etoposide, a topoisomerase II poison. TI-1-190 displays caspase 3
      independent anticancer activity, unlike etoposide.

PMID- 28604853
TI  - A single quantum dot-based nanosensor for the signal-on detection of DNA
      methyltransferase.
AB  - We develop a single quantum dot (QD)-based nanosensor for the signal-on detection
      of DNA methyltransferase (MTase). By integration of single-molecule counting with
      the QD-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), the proposed
      nanosensor can sensitively detect DNA MTase with a detection limit of as low as
      0.002 U mL-1, and it can be further applied for inhibitor screening and accurate
      detection of DNA MTase in complex biological samples.

PMID- 28604854
TI  - Vibrational Stark spectroscopy for assessing ligand-binding strengths in a
      protein.
AB  - Nitrile groups are potentially useful spectroscopic probes in the infrared to
      characterize the binding and dynamics of ligands in proteins. This opens the
      possibility of locating and determining the binding mode of suitably labelled
      ligands in proteins based on optical spectroscopy, without the need for
      determining an X-ray structure. However, relating structure and spectroscopy
      requires means to accurately compute infrared spectra. This is investigated for
      benzonitrile (PhCN) in water, wild type (WT) and two lysozyme mutants in
      solution. The force field is validated by comparing with experimental data for
      benzonitrile in water which is the basis for computing the Stark shift and time
      scale for spectral diffusion of PhCN in WT and the L99A and L99G mutants of T4
      lysozyme. The 1-d spectra for PhCN in WT and the two mutant proteins differ in
      their maximum absorption by up to 4 cm-1, which reflects the modified
      electrostatic environments in the three proteins. It is also tested whether
      extending from 1-d to 2-d infrared spectroscopy provides further discrimination
      in the ligand-binding modes. First, for PhCN in solution the frequency
      fluctuation correlation function (FFCF) decays to zero at short times whereas in
      the protein a pronounced static inhomogeneous component is found. Secondly, the
      decay time of the FFCF for the mutant to which PhCN binds most strongly has the
      longest decay time. It is demonstrated explicitly that the ligand-binding free
      energy with respect to the three protein variants correlates with the Stark
      shift. This makes 1-d infrared spectroscopy together with computations a valuable
      tool for characterizing binding modes and potentially binding locations in
      proteins.

PMID- 28604855
TI  - Metal-free formal carbon-halogen bond insertion: facile syntheses of 3-halo 3,3'
      disubstituted oxindoles and spirooxindole-gamma-butyrolactones.
AB  - A novel P(NMe2)3-mediated formal carbon-halogen bond insertion of isatins into
      allylic and benzylic bromides/chlorides has been realized, leading to a facile
      synthesis of 3-halo 3,3'-disubstituted oxindoles. This reaction relies on the
      unique dual nucleophilic-electrophilic reactivity pattern of the Kukhtin-Ramirez
      adduct via a cascade SN2-SN2 process. It also represents a rare metal-free
      approach for carbon-halogen bond insertion. Upon treatment with trifluoroacetic
      acid, spirooxindole-gamma-butyrolactones have been efficiently prepared from the
      corresponding insertion products.

PMID- 28604856
TI  - Consequences of changes in the ZnO trap distribution on the performance of dye
      sensitized solar cells.
AB  - The well-established indoline dye D149 and three indoline dyes with improved
      binding stability (DN91, DN216 and DN285) were used as sensitizers for
      electrodeposited porous ZnO and studied in dye-sensitized solar cells and showed
      very similar cell characteristics. After storage of the cells in the dark for
      four weeks, an increase in short-circuit current density was observed.
      Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy served to detect a shift of the conduction
      band edge energy to lower energies and, hence, an increased injection efficiency
      of electrons from the excited state of the sensitizer to the ZnO conduction band
      is detected as the main cause of this change. Additional photoelectrochemical
      experiments at different illumination intensities, intensity modulated
      photocurrent and photovoltage spectroscopy (IMPS and IMVS), transient
      photocurrent measurements, as well as measurements of the open-circuit
      photovoltage decay (OCVD) were performed to confirm this conclusion and, further,
      to prove a reduced rate of recombination for these injected electrons which
      prevented a corresponding decrease in the open-circuit voltage for many cells,
      frequently observed earlier. It is therefore shown how the long-term stability of
      ZnO-based DSSCs can be improved.

PMID- 28604857
TI  - Microfluidic fabrication of polyethylene glycol microgel capsules with tailored
      properties for the delivery of biomolecules.
AB  - Microfluidic encapsulation platforms have great potential not only in
      pharmaceutical applications but also in the consumer products industry. Droplet
      based microfluidics is increasingly used for the production of monodisperse
      polymer microcapsules for biomedical applications. In this work, a microfluidic
      technique is developed for the fabrication of monodisperse double emulsion
      droplets, where the shell is crosslinked into microgel capsules. A six-armed
      acrylated star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide-stat-propylene oxide) pre-polymer is
      used to form the microgel shell after a photo-initiated crosslinking reaction.
      The synthesized microgel capsules are hollow, enabling direct encapsulation of
      large amounts of multiple biomolecules with the inner aqueous phase completely
      engulfed inside the double emulsion droplets. The shell thickness and overall
      microgel sizes can be controlled via the flow rates. The morphology and size of
      the shells are characterized by cryo-SEM. The encapsulation and retention of 10
      kDa FITC-dextran and its microgel degradation mediated release are monitored by
      fluorescence microscopy.

PMID- 28604858
TI  - Direct and cluster-assisted dehydrogenation of methane by Nb+ and Ta+: a
      theoretical investigation.
AB  - DFT calculations have been performed to examine both direct and cluster-assisted
      methane C-H bond activation by Nb+ and Ta+ cations. The commonly accepted
      dehydrogenation pathways, that are oxidative addition and reductive elimination,
      have been studied in detail for methane ligated clusters M(CH4)n+ (M = Nb, Ta and
      n = 1-4). For the second H atom transfer to the metal in the presence of
      additional CH4 molecules (n > 1) two alternative routes have been explored.
      Energy profiles for ground quintet and excited triplet and singlet spin states of
      both Nb+ and Ta+ cations have been calculated. Spin crossings occur for all the
      examined pathways. Clustering of methane ligands appears to favorably affect the
      process stabilizing all the intercepted minima and transition states and bringing
      all the calculated PESs below the reference energy of the separated reactants.
      The direct activation of methane (n = 1) can proceed efficiently only for Ta+,
      whereas dehydrogenation is endothermic for Nb+ by 9.0 kcal mol-1. When assisted
      by additional methane ligands, the dehydrogenation process becomes exothermic for
      both cations whatever the number of coordinated molecules.

PMID- 28604859
TI  - Comment on "Non-linear photoelectron effect contributes to the formation of
      negative matrix ions in UV-MALDI".
AB  - Alonso and Zenobi (AZ) recently claimed "a comprehensive theoretical description
      of negative ion formation in UV-MALDI" (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18,
      19574). Emphasizing photoelectrons, it is found to be unphysical in several
      respects, including violation of charge and mass conservation, and in the
      treatment of ablation, expansion and electron capture. It is not internally
      consistent, and ions created by the photoelectron mechanism are given artificial
      preference. Although AZ claimed the "first proposal for a comprehensive
      theoretical description of negative ion formation in UV-MALDI", the Coupled
      Physical and Chemical Dynamics model has successfully reproduced a number of
      phenomena relevant to negative ion production over many years.

PMID- 28604860
TI  - Understanding iridium oxide nanoparticle surface sites by their interaction with
      catechol.
AB  - Iridium oxide (IrOx) is one of the best water splitting electrocatalysts, but its
      active site details are not well known. As with all heterogeneous catalysts, a
      strategy for counting the number of active sites is not clear, and understanding
      their nature and structure is remarkably difficult. In this work, we performed a
      combined study using optical spectroscopy, magnetic resonance and
      electrochemistry to characterize the interaction of IrOx nanoparticles (NPs) with
      a probe molecule, catechol. The catalyst is heterogeneous given that the
      substrate is in a different phase, but behaves as a homogeneous catalyst from the
      point of view of electrochemistry since it remains in colloidal suspension. We
      find two types of binding sites: centers A which bind catechol irreversibly
      making up 21% of the surface, and centers B which bind catechol reversibly making
      up 79% of the surface. UV-vis absorption spectroscopy shows that the A sites are
      responsible for the characteristic blue color of the NPs. Electrochemical
      experiments indicate that the B sites are catalytically active and we give the
      number of active sites per nanoparticle. We conclude by performing a survey of
      ligands used in solar cell architectures and show which ones bind well to the
      surface and which ones inhibit the catalytic activity when doing so, presenting
      quantitative guidelines for the correct handling of IrOx nanoparticles during
      their incorporation into multifunctional solar energy harvesting architectures.
      We suggest ligands binding on the surface oxygen atoms allow for large bound
      ligand densities with no detrimental effect on the catalytic activity.

PMID- 28604861
TI  - Interfacial and volumetric sensitivity of the dry sintering process of polymer
      colloidal crystals: a thermal transport and photonic bandgap study.
AB  - We introduce the in situ characterization of the dry sintering process of face
      centred cubic colloidal crystals by two complementary techniques: thermal
      transport and photonic stopband characterization. Therefore, we employed time
      dependent, isothermal laser flash analysis and specular reflectivity experiments
      close to the glass transition temperature of the colloidal crystal. Both methods
      yield distinctly different time constants of the film formation process. This
      discrepancy can be attributed to a volume- (photonic stopband) and interface
      driven (thermal transport) sensitivity of the respective characterization method.
      Nevertheless, both methods yield comparable apparent activation energies.
      Finally, we extended the sintering process characterization to further polymer
      compositions, with vastly different glass transition temperatures. We could show
      that the film formation rate is governed by the viscoelastic properties of the
      polymers at the respective annealing temperature.

PMID- 28604863
TI  - Dual gold/photoredox-catalyzed bis-arylative cyclization of chiral homopropargyl
      sulfonamides with diazonium salts: rapid access to enantioenriched 2,3
      dihydropyrroles.
AB  - A novel dual gold/photoredox-catalyzed bis-arylative cyclization of chiral
      homopropargyl sulfonamides with diazonium salts has been developed, allowing the
      facile synthesis of various enantioenriched 2,3-dihydropyrroles in generally
      moderate to good yields with excellent enantioselectivities under very mild
      conditions without using any strong oxidants. The reaction is proposed to undergo
      an AuI/AuIII redox cycle promoted by visible-light photoredox catalysis.

PMID- 28604862
TI  - Dissecting mechanism of coupled folding and binding of an intrinsically
      disordered protein by chemical synthesis of conformationally constrained
      analogues.
AB  - Non-canonical alpha-methyl amino acids were incorporated at various sites in the
      sequence of intrinsically disordered activation domain from the p160
      transcriptional co-activator (ACTR) to facilitate the formation of alpha-helical
      structures. Kinetic and thermodynamic data confirm the induced fit mechanism of
      complex formation between the synthesized ACTR variants and the nuclear co
      activator binding domain (NCBD).

PMID- 28604864
TI  - From the Kohn-Sham band gap to the fundamental gap in solids. An integer electron
      approach.
AB  - It is often stated that the Kohn-Sham occupied-unoccupied gap in both molecules
      and solids is "wrong". We argue that this is not a correct statement. The KS
      theory does not allow to interpret the exact KS HOMO-LUMO gap as the fundamental
      gap (difference (I - A) of electron affinity (A) and ionization energy (I), twice
      the chemical hardness), from which it indeed differs, strongly in molecules and
      moderately in solids. The exact Kohn-Sham HOMO-LUMO gap in molecules is much
      below the fundamental gap and very close to the much smaller optical gap (first
      excitation energy), and LDA/GGA yield very similar gaps. In solids the situation
      is different: the excitation energy to delocalized excited states and the
      fundamental gap (I - A) are very similar, not so disparate as in molecules. Again
      the Kohn-Sham and LDA/GGA band gaps do not represent (I - A) but are
      significantly smaller. However, the special properties of an extended system like
      a solid make it very easy to calculate the fundamental gap from the ground state
      (neutral system) band structure calculations entirely within a density functional
      framework. The correction Delta from the KS gap to the fundamental gap originates
      from the response part vresp of the exchange-correlation potential and can be
      calculated very simply using an approximation to vresp. This affords a
      calculation of the fundamental gap at the same level of accuracy as other
      properties of crystals at little extra cost beyond the ground state bandstructure
      calculation. The method is based on integer electron systems, fractional electron
      systems (an ensemble of N- and (N + 1)-electron systems) and the derivative
      discontinuity are not invoked.

PMID- 28604865
TI  - Investigation of zinc ion storage of transition metal oxides, sulfides, and
      borides in zinc ion battery systems.
AB  - Zn-ion batteries have been widely investigated due to their low cost, high safety
      and eco-friendliness. We comprehensively evaluate the performance of oxides
      (MoO3, TiO2, and Fe3O4), sulfides (MoS2, WS2, and MnS) and borides (TiB2 and
      ZrB2) in zinc ion battery systems. It is found that MnS is a good alternative
      cathode material with a reversible capacity of 221 mA h g-1, while the other
      materials show different behaviours.

PMID- 28604866
TI  - Metal-free radical oxidative alkoxycarbonylation and imidation of alkanes.
AB  - A metal-free radical oxidative carbonylation of alkanes is demonstrated, yielding
      esters and imides by means of di-tert-butylperoxide as an oxidant. Various
      alkanes, alcohols and amides were compatible in this system generating the
      desired carbonyl products in up to 86% yields. We proposed a plausible radical
      cross-coupling process based on the preliminary mechanistic studies.

PMID- 28604867
TI  - How seaweeds release the excess energy from sunlight to surrounding sea water.
AB  - We report an atomistic insight into the mechanism regulating the energy released
      by a porphyra-334 molecule, the ubiquitous photosensitive component of marine
      algae, in a liquid water environment upon an electron excitation. To quantify
      this rapidly occurring process, we resort to the Fourier analysis of the mass
      weighted auto-correlation function, providing evidence for a remarkable dynamic
      change in the number of hydrogen bonds among water molecules and between the
      porphyra-334 and its surrounding hydrating water. Hydrogen bonds between the
      porphyra-334 and close by water molecules can act directly and rather easily to
      promote an efficient transfer of the excess kinetic energies of the porphyra-334
      to the surrounding solvating water molecules via an activation of the collective
      modes identified as hydrogen-bond stretching modes in liquid water which
      eventually results in a disruption of the hydrogen bond network. Since porphyra
      334 is present in seaweeds, aquatic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and red
      algae, our findings allow addressing the question how algae in oceans or lakes,
      upon sunlight absorption, can release large amounts of energy into surrounding
      water without destabilizing neither their own nor the H2O molecular structure.

PMID- 28604868
TI  - Reactions of persulfides with the heme cofactor of oxidized myoglobin and
      microperoxidase 11: reduction or coordination.
AB  - Persulfides of cysteine (CysSSH), glutathione (GSSH) or N-methoxycarbonyl
      penicillamine (NAcPenSSH) react with the ferric form of myoglobin (metMb(iii)) to
      yield the oxy-ferrous (oxyMb(ii)) or deoxy-ferrous (deoxyMb(ii)) forms of
      myoglobin under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, respectively. Under aerobic
      conditions, CysSSH and NAcPenSSH react with the hypervalent form of myoglobin
      (ferrylMb(iv)) to yield oxyMb(ii) as the final product with the formation of
      metMb(iii) as an intermediate. CysSSH and NAcPenSSH coordinate the ferric form of
      N-acetylated microperoxidase (NAcMP11(iii)) to yield the disulfanido complex
      NAcMP11(iii)(NAcPenSS), as shown by UV-vis and EPR spectroscopy. Experiments
      carried out with various NAcMP11 derivatives demonstrate a redox equilibrium
      between the ferric/ferrous forms of the heme and the polysulfides/persulfides
      couple. Our results suggest that persulfides possess uncommon redox properties,
      analogous to that of dihydrolipoic acid.

PMID- 28604869
TI  - Near-infrared-emitting heteroleptic cationic iridium complexes derived from 2,3
      diphenylbenzo[g]quinoxaline as in vitro theranostic photodynamic therapy agents.
AB  - Five heteroleptic cationic iridium complexes with a pi-expansive cyclometalating
      2,3-diphenylbenzo[g]quinoxaline (dpbq) ligand (C^N ligand) and different diimine
      ligands (N^N ligands) (i.e. 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy, 1), phenanthroline (phen, 2), 2
      (2-pyridinyl)quinoline (pqu, 3), 2,2'-bisquinoline (bqu, 4), and 2-(quinolin-2
      yl)quinoxaline (quqo, 5)) were synthesized and characterized. The lowest-energy
      singlet electronic transitions (S1 states) were mainly dpbq ligand-centred 1ILCT
      (intraligand charge transfer)/1MLCT (metal to ligand charge transfer) transitions
      mixed with some 1pi,pi* transitions for complexes 1-4 with increased
      contributions from 1LLCT (ligand to ligand charge transfer) in 3 and 4. For
      complex 5, the S1 state was switched to the 1LLCT/1MLCT transitions. All five
      complexes displayed weak near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence, with maximal
      emission output spanning 700-1400 nm and quantum yields being on the order of 10
      3. The triplet state absorptions of 1-4 all resembled that of the [Ir(dpbq)2Cl]2
      dimer with lifetimes of ca. 400 ns, while the TA spectrum of 5 possessed the
      characteristics of both the quqo ligand and the [Ir(dpbq)2Cl]2 dimer with a bi
      exponential decay of ca. 5 MUs and 400 ns. While the photophysics of these
      complexes differ slightly, their theranostic photodynamic therapy (PDT) effects
      varied drastically. All of the complexes were biologically active toward melanoma
      cells. Complexes 2 and 3 were the most cytotoxic, with 230-340 nM activity and
      selectivity factors for melanoma cells over normal skin fibroblasts of 34 to 40
      fold. Complexes 2, 3, and 5 became very potent cytotoxins with light activation,
      with EC50 values as low as 12-18 nM. This potent nanomolar light-triggered
      activity combined with a lower dark toxicity resulted in 5 having a
      phototherapeutic index (PI) margin of almost 275. The bpy coligand led to the
      least amount of dark toxicity of 1, while phen and pqu produced cytotoxic but
      selective complexes 2 and 3. The quqo coligand produced the most potent complex 5
      for in vitro PDT, both in terms of photocytotoxicity and PI. All Ir(iii)
      complexes exhibited very bright NIR phosphorescence in melanoma cells. The wide
      range of cytotoxicity and photocytotoxicity effects within a relatively small
      class of complexes highlights the importance of the identity of the coligand in
      the biological activity of the pi-expansive biscyclometalated Ir(iii) complexes,
      and their bright NIR emission in live cells demonstrates their potential as
      theranostic PDT agents.

PMID- 28604870
TI  - Reaction of H + HONO in solid para-hydrogen: infrared spectrum of ONH(OH).
AB  - Hydrogenation reactions in the N/O chemical network are important for an
      understanding of the mechanism of formation of organic molecules in dark
      interstellar clouds, but many reactions remain unknown. We present the results of
      the reaction H + HONO in solid para-hydrogen (p-H2) at 3.3 K investigated with
      infrared spectra. Two methods that produced hydrogen atoms were the irradiation
      of HONO molecules in p-H2 at 365 nm to produce OH radicals that reacted readily
      with nearby H2 to produce mobile H atoms, and irradiation of Cl2 molecules (co
      deposited with HONO) in p-H2 at 405 nm to produce Cl atoms that reacted, upon IR
      irradiation of the p-H2 matrix, readily with nearby H2 to produce mobile H atoms.
      In both experiments, we assigned IR lines at 3549.6 (nu1), 1465.0 (nu3), 1372.2
      (nu4), 898.5/895.6 (nu6), and 630.9 (nu7) cm-1 to hydroxy(oxido)-lambda5-azanyl
      radical [ONH(OH)], the primary product of HONO hydrogenation. Two weak lines at
      3603.4 and 991.0 cm-1 are tentatively assigned to the dihydroxy-lambda5-azanyl
      radical, N(OH)2. The assignments were derived according to the consideration of
      possible reactions and comparison of observed vibrational wavenumbers and their
      IR intensities with values predicted quantum-chemically with the B3LYP/aug-cc
      pVTZ method. The agreement between observed and calculated D/H- and 15N/14N
      isotopic ratios further supports these assignments. The role of this reaction in
      the N/O chemical network in dark interstellar clouds is discussed.

PMID- 28604871
TI  - An extended pi-system and enhanced electronic delocalization on symmetric
      [Ru3O(CH3COO)6(L)3]n complexes combined with azanaphthalene ligands.
AB  - We report on the investigation of a new series of symmetric trinuclear ruthenium
      complexes combined with azanaphthalene ligands: [Ru3O(CH3COO)6(L)3]PF6 where L =
      (1) quinazoline (qui), (2) 5-nitroisoquinoline (5-nitroiq), (3) 5
      bromoisoquinoline (5-briq), (4) isoquinoline (iq), (5) 5-aminoisoquinoline (5
      amiq), and (6) 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinoline (thiq). The crystal structure of
      complex 1, [Ru3O(CH3COO)6(qui)3]PF6, was determined by X-ray diffraction
      analysis, showing a high degree of co-planarity between the [Ru3O] plane and the
      azanaphthalene ligands. Spectroscopic (UV-visible, NMR and infra-red) and
      electrochemical (cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemistry) data showed
      correlation with the pKa values of the azanaphthalene ligands and this dependence
      was rationalized in terms of the molecular orbital of the [Ru3O] unit and the
      structure of the ligands. By analysing the spectroscopic and electrochemical
      correlations, the ability of the azanaphthalene ligands to extend the electronic
      pi-system of the [Ru3O] unit to the periphery of the compounds was demonstrated.
      This electronic effect accounts for the planarity of the structure of complex 1.
      It was also shown through molecular modeling results that, to explain the
      spectroscopic and electrochemical behaviour of these species, it is not possible
      to neglect the electronic mixing between the metallic and the acetate orbitals.
      Finally, this work revealed that electronic coupling is more pronounced in the
      azanaphthalene series of complexes than in pyridinic analogues and it is this
      coupling that determines the spectroscopic and electrochemical behaviour of the
      new species.

PMID- 28604872
TI  - Predicting protein-protein interactions from protein sequences by a stacked
      sparse autoencoder deep neural network.
AB  - Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play an important role in most of the
      biological processes. How to correctly and efficiently detect protein interaction
      is a problem that is worth studying. Although high-throughput technologies
      provide the possibility to detect large-scale PPIs, these cannot be used to
      detect whole PPIs, and unreliable data may be generated. To solve this problem,
      in this study, a novel computational method was proposed to effectively predict
      the PPIs using the information of a protein sequence. The present method adopts
      Zernike moments to extract the protein sequence feature from a position specific
      scoring matrix (PSSM). Then, these extracted features were reconstructed using
      the stacked autoencoder. Finally, a novel probabilistic classification vector
      machine (PCVM) classifier was employed to predict the protein-protein
      interactions. When performed on the PPIs datasets of Yeast and H. pylori, the
      proposed method could achieve average accuracies of 96.60% and 91.19%,
      respectively. The promising result shows that the proposed method has a better
      ability to detect PPIs than other detection methods. The proposed method was also
      applied to predict PPIs on other species, and promising results were obtained. To
      evaluate the ability of our method, we compared it with the-state-of-the-art
      support vector machine (SVM) classifier for the Yeast dataset. The results
      obtained via multiple experiments prove that our method is powerful, efficient,
      feasible, and make a great contribution to proteomics research.

PMID- 28604873
TI  - Strong intermolecular antiferromagnetic verdazyl-verdazyl coupling in the solid
      state.
AB  - Strong magnetic couplings are generally observed intramolecularly in organic
      diradicals or in systems in which they are promoted by crystal engineering
      strategies involving, for example, transition metal ligation. We herein present a
      strong intermolecularly coupling verdazyl radical in the solid state without the
      use of such design strategies. The crystal structure of an acetylene-substituted
      verdazyl radical shows a unique antiparallel face-to-face orientation of the
      neighboring verdazyl molecules along with verdazyl-acetylene interactions giving
      rise to an alternating antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain. Single crystal
      structural data at 80, 100, 173, and 223 K show that one of the pi-stacking
      distances depends on temperature, while heat capacity data indicate the absence
      of a phase transition. Based on this structural input, broken symmetry DFT
      calculations predict a change from an alternating linear Heisenberg chain with
      two comparable coupling constants J1 and J2 at higher temperatures towards
      dominant pair interactions at lower temperatures. The predicted antiferromagnetic
      coupling is confirmed experimentally by magnetic susceptibility, solid-state EPR
      and NMR spectroscopic results.

PMID- 28604874
TI  - Correction: Eu2+-Eu3+ valence transition in double, Eu-, and Na-doped PbSe from
      transport, magnetic, and electronic structure studies.
AB  - Correction for 'Eu2+-Eu3+ valence transition in double, Eu-, and Na-doped PbSe
      from transport, magnetic, and electronic structure studies' by Bartlomiej
      Wiendlocha et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017, 19, 9606-9616.

PMID- 28604875
TI  - Fermi resonance as a means to determine the hydrogen-bonding status of two
      infrared probes.
AB  - The C[double bond, length as m-dash]O/C[triple bond, length as m-dash]N
      stretching vibration arising from a carbonyl/nitrile functional group in various
      molecular systems has been frequently used to assess, for example, local hydrogen
      bonding interactions, among other applications. However, in practice it is not
      always easy to ascertain whether the carbonyl or nitrile group in question is
      engaged in such interactions. Herein, we use 4-cyanoindole and cyclopentanone as
      models to show that, when a fundamental C[double bond, length as m-dash]O or
      C[triple bond, length as m-dash]N stretching mode is involved in Fermi resonance,
      the underlying vibrational coupling constant (W) is a convenient reporter of the
      hydrogen-bonding status of the corresponding carbonyl or nitrile group.
      Specifically, we find that for both groups a W value of 7.7 cm-1 or greater is
      indicative of their involvement in hydrogen-bonding interactions. Furthermore, we
      find that, as observed in similar studies, the Fermi resonance coupling leads to
      quantum beats in the two-dimensional infrared spectra of 4-cyanoindole in
      isopropanol, with a period of about 1.9 ps.

PMID- 28604876
TI  - Topotactic conversion of layered silicate RUB-15 to silica sodalite through
      interlayer condensation in N-methylformamide.
AB  - Silica sodalite was obtained using topotactic conversion of layered silicate RUB
      15 through stepwise processes that consisted of the control of stacking sequence
      of the layers, interlayer condensation by refluxing, and elimination of
      intercalated guest species. The interlayer condensation of RUB-15, in which
      acetic acid was pre-intercalated between the layers to control the stacking
      sequence, afforded a sodalite framework containing organic guest species by
      refluxing in N-methylformamide (NMF). The pre-intercalated acetic acid molecules
      were largely replaced with NMF. This formation process of silica sodalite
      containing large amounts of intercalated organic guest species is in clear
      contrast to the previously reported process that used direct calcination of an
      intercalation compound of layered RUB-15 accommodating acetic acid between the
      layers. Calcination of the condensed product provided sodalite with fewer defects
      than the directly calcined product, thus indicating the advantage of the stepwise
      process. The method reported here is useful for the preparation of pure silica
      sodalite with relatively low defects and plate-like morphology.

PMID- 28604877
TI  - Understanding and improving aggregated gold nanoparticle/dsDNA interactions by
      molecular spectroscopy and deconvolution methods.
AB  - It is well known that single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is easily able to adsorb on
      citrate-capped, non-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). However, the
      affinity of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) for them is much more limited. The
      present work demonstrates that long dsDNA suffers from a bending conformational
      change when anionic nanoparticles are present in solution. A striking decrease in
      the persistence length of the double helix in the absence of salt is observed
      through dynamic light scattering (DLS), viscometric, and atomic force microscopy
      (AFM) methods. Long dsDNA is therefore shown to be able to interact with anionic
      gold nanoparticles. To date, only ssDNA detection has been described by making
      use of interparticle cross-linking aggregation mechanisms; however, the data
      shown in this work allow for the development of new methods for detecting dsDNA
      in solution by using aggregated AuNPs as a starting point. The aggregation state
      is induced by the controlled addition of an inert electrolyte. A deconvolution
      procedure of the experimental plasmon shows how individual bands corresponding to
      aggregated nanoclusters diminish as the DNA concentration increases in the
      presence of 0.075 M NaCl.

PMID- 28604878
TI  - Assessment and control of the impermeability of graphene for atomically thin
      membranes and barriers.
AB  - Two-dimensional materials such as graphene offer fundamentally transformative
      opportunities in membrane separations and as impermeable barriers, but the lack
      of facile methods to assess and control its 'impermeability' critically limits
      progress. Here we show that a simple etch of the growth catalyst (Cu) through
      defects in monolayer graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) can
      be used to effectively assess graphene quality for membrane/barrier applications.
      Using feedback from the method to tune synthesis, we realize graphene with nearly
      no nanometer-scale defects as assessed by diffusion measurements, in contrast to
      commercially available graphene that is largely optimized for electronic
      applications. Interestingly, we observe clear evidence of leakage through larger
      defects associated with wrinkles in graphene, which are selectively sealed to
      realize centimeter-scale atomically thin barriers exhibiting <2% mass transport
      compared to the graphene support. Our work provides a facile method to assess and
      control the 'impermeability' of graphene and shows that future work should be
      directed towards the control of leakage associated with wrinkles.

PMID- 28604879
TI  - Natural occurrence of the diamond hexagonal structure in silicon nanowires grown
      by a plasma-assisted vapour-liquid-solid method.
AB  - Silicon nanowires have been grown by a plasma-assisted vapour-liquid-solid method
      using tin as the catalyst. Transmission electron microscopy in the [12[combining
      macron]10] zone axis shows that the diamond hexagonal (P63/mmc) crystal structure
      is present in several nanowires. This is the first unambiguous proof of the
      natural occurrence of this metastable phase to our knowledge.

PMID- 28604880
TI  - Polymer [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2]n, a precursor to remarkably stable Pd
      organometallics.
AB  - A polymer [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2]n is obtained by thermolysis of cis
      [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(NCMe)2] to release the MeCN ligands. The corresponding
      coordination sites are then occupied by weak Pd-O bonds, easier to break than the
      previous Pd-N bonds. This allows us to produce from the polymer cis complexes
      containing ligands weaker than NCMe, such as acetone or water. The complexes cis
      [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2{OC(CD3)2}2], cis-[Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(OH2)2], and cis
      [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(OH2){OC(CD3)2}], and cyclic dimers [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(OH2)]2
      with bridging methylsulphone groups are formed. The Pd : PPh3 : OH2 1 : 1 : 1
      reaction of the polymer produces cis-[Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(OH2)(PPh3)], which
      isomerizes to trans-[Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(OH2)(PPh3)], with water O-coordinated to
      Pd and making hydrogen bonds to the two SO2 groups as seen in its X-ray
      structure. A similar role is played by RNH2 groups in the structures of trans
      [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(NH3)(PPh3)] and the dimer MU-(N2H4)(trans
      [Pd(CH2SO2C6H4Me)2(PPh3)])2. In addition to these interesting intramolecular
      hydrogen bonding properties provided by the SO2 groups, the structural and 1H NMR
      data available suggest that the CH2SO2C6H4Me group is an interesting kind of
      strong alkyl sigma donor, with high trans influence, and forms very stable Pd
      complexes extraordinarily resistant to reductive elimination and to hydrolysis by
      water at room temperature.

PMID- 28604881
TI  - Ionic liquid electrodeposition of strain-released Germanium nanowires as stable
      anodes for lithium ion batteries.
AB  - With the growing demand for portable and wearable electronic devices, it is
      imperative to develop high performance Li-ion batteries with long life times.
      Germanium-based materials have recently demonstrated excellent lithium-ion
      storage ability and are being considered as the most promising candidates for the
      anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Nevertheless, the practical implementation of Ge
      based materials to Li-ion batteries is greatly hampered by the poor cycling
      ability that resulted from the huge volume variation during
      lithiation/delithiation processes. Herein, we develop a simple and efficient
      method for the preparation of Ge nanowires without catalyst nanoparticles and
      templates, using ionic liquid electrodeposition with subsequent annealing
      treatment. The Ge nanowire anode shows improved electrochemical performance
      compared with the Ge dense film anode. A capacity of ~1200 mA h g-1 after 200
      cycles at 0.1 C is obtained, with an initial coulombic efficiency of 81.3%. In
      addition, the Ge nanowire anode demonstrates superior rate capability with
      excellent capacity retention and stability (producing highly stable discharge
      capacities of about 620 mA h g-1 at 5 C). The improved electrochemical
      performance is the result of the enhanced electron migration and electron
      transport paths of the nanowires, and sufficient elasticity to buffer the volume
      expansion. This approach encompasses a low energy processing method where all the
      material is electrochemically active and binder free. The improved cycling
      stability and rate performance characteristics make these anodes highly
      attractive for the most demanding lithium-ion applications.

PMID- 28604882
TI  - Intense greenish phosphorescence emission under ambient conditions in a two
      dimensional lead(ii) coordination polymer with a 1,1'-ethynebenzene-3,3',5,5'
      tetracarboxylate ligand.
AB  - In this study, a new two-dimensional Pb2+-based coordination polymer (CP),
      [Pb2(EBTC)(DMSO)3] (1), where H4EBTC is 1,1'-ethynebenzene 3,3',5,5'
      tetracarboxylic acid, was synthesized under solvothermal conditions. Structural
      analysis reveals that 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/m, where
      two crystallographically different Pb2+ ions show a coordination geometry of
      bicapped trigonal prisms that are connected to a double-chain by the EBTC4-
      ligands through carboxylate groups along the b-axis direction, and where
      successive double chains are held together to form a 2D layer via the Pb1 and Pb2
      bicapped trigonal prisms sharing one edge or a triangle face along the c-axis
      direction. Interestingly, CP 1 emitted intense and long-lived greenish
      phosphorescence in the solid state at ambient conditions, with a quantum yield of
      1.5% and a phosphorescence lifetime of 4.17 ms, and the emission mainly arose
      from the electron transition within the pi-type orbitals of the EBTC4- ligand.
      The emission bands assignment and photophysical process were further discussed
      according to the calculation of both the electronic band structures and density
      of states. This study gives a fresh impetus to achieve coordination polymer-based
      long-lived phosphorescence materials under ambient conditions.

PMID- 28604883
TI  - Control of aurophilic interaction: conformations and electronic structures of one
      dimensional supramolecular architectures.
AB  - Gold(i) chloride complexes with the diarsenic ligands cis-1,4-dihydro-1,4
      diarsinines (cis-DHDAs) were synthesized. X-ray diffraction revealed that they
      formed one-dimensional polymeric structures through aurophilic interactions.
      Their higher-ordered structures are controlled by the ligand structure; methyl-
      and t-butyl substituted ligands offered transoid-transoid and transoid-cisoid
      conformations, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations
      indicated that the electronic structure of the aurophilic network was highly
      dependent on the conformations. This is the first study on the relationship
      between the chain conformation and 5d-orbital structures of gold complexes.

PMID- 28604885
TI  - Developing a tissue glue by engineering the adhesive and hemostatic properties of
      metal oxide nanoparticles.
AB  - Despite decades of research, wound complications remain a major cause of
      postoperative mortality, especially in the face of multiple comorbidities.
      Addressing the issue of anastomotic leakages and impaired wound healing from a
      new angle is of great interest with the prospect of having direct impact on
      patient outcome. Recently, aqueous suspensions of silica and iron oxide
      nanoparticles have been employed to connect biological tissue by serving as an
      adhesive layer eventually leading to macroscopic gluing of tissue. In this work,
      we explore the prospects of this effect by introducing bioactive tissue adhesives
      composed of nanoparticles produced via scalable and sterile flame spray
      pyrolysis. We investigate six different metal oxides on cytocompatibility,
      hemostatic activity and adhesive properties in a small intestine lap joint model.
      While bioglass nanoparticles show exceptionally strong procoagulant and adhesive
      properties, the cell membrane integrity is impaired at high particle
      concentrations. Interestingly, when bioglass is combined with ceria, a material
      that has well-documented cytoprotective effects, the resulting hybrid particles
      exhibit the same beneficiary effects as bioglass while featuring superior
      cytocompatibility. Taken together, we demonstrate highly modular synthesis of
      nanoparticles expressing adhesive properties in conjunction with tailored
      bioactivity. Such bioactive nanoparticles as adhesion nuclei in wound healing
      have a wide range of potential applications in surgical wound care and
      regenerative medicine.

PMID- 28604886
TI  - Antihypertensive and antioxidant effects of supplementation with red wine pomace
      in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
AB  - Hypertension is associated with enhanced vascular oxidative stress and impaired
      endothelial function, which is related to an imbalance between reactive oxygen
      species and nitric oxide bioavailability. Short-term supplementation with a
      polyphenol-rich powdered red wine pomace seasoning (RWPS) was investigated for
      its effects on blood pressure and biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction and
      oxidative status in a model of essential hypertension. Male spontaneously
      hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (12-week-old, 5 rats
      per group) were administered RWPS (300 mg kg-1 day-1; equivalent to 7.32 mg
      gallic acid per kg per day) or vehicle by gavage. In SHRs, 4-week RWPS
      supplementation progressively decreased blood pressure, reaching 11.5% reduction
      at the end of the study (p < 0.001). RWPS consumption also increased the ferric
      reducing ability of plasma and attenuated the oxidation of plasma lipids and
      proteins, as evidenced by F2-isoprostanes, malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl
      groups as oxidative stress biomarkers. Moreover, nitric oxide production
      (indirectly measured) was 1.5-fold higher in SHRs + RWPS than that in SHRs (p <
      0.05). These beneficial effects were partly attributed to the ability of RWPS
      derived bioactive compounds to modulate aortic gene expression, with eNOS, SOD2
      and HO-1 over-expression, ACE down-regulation, and no changes in NOX4. In
      conclusion, this study suggests the potential of red wine pomace-derived
      seasonings to help in the management of hypertension.

PMID- 28604887
TI  - Coordination behavior of bis-phenolate saturated and unsaturated N-heterocyclic
      carbene ligands to zirconium: reactivity and activity in the copolymerization of
      cyclohexene oxide with CO2.
AB  - Tetravalent zirconium complexes supported by tridentate bis-phenolate
      imidazolidin-2-ylidene (L1), imidazol-2-ylidene (L2) and benzimidazol-2-ylidene
      (L3) NHC ligands were synthesized and evaluated as precursors for the
      copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide (CHO) with CO2. While the reactivity of the
      imidazolidinium [H3L1] chloride salt with Zr(OiPr)4(HOiPr), and subsequent ligand
      exchanges with either (CH3)3SiCl or LiOiPr lead to a series of heteroleptic
      compounds (kappa3-O,C,O-L1)Zr(X)2(THF) (X = Cl, OiPr), both imidazolium [H3L2]
      and benzimidazolium [H3L3] chloride salts give a mixture of homoleptic (kappa3
      O,C,O-NHC)2Zr and zwitterionic (kappa2-O,O-HL)ZrCl2(OiPr) compounds along with
      traces or the absence of the heteroleptic intermediate (kappa3-O,C,O
      NHC)Zr(Cl)(OiPr)(THF). Such dissimilar reactivity between the unsaturated and
      saturated NHC ligands is predominantly ascribed to the increased acidity of
      azolium salts along with the pi-donor strength of the Ccarbene in L2 and L3-Zr
      moieties. The reactivity with the more acidic azolium salts (H3L2/3) and the
      destabilized Zr-Xtrans to NHCcarbene bond results in a significant increase in
      the amount of homoleptic compounds generating HCl. The released HCl reacts
      preferentially with the heteroleptic intermediates having non-planar NHC ligands
      (i.e. L2/3) promoting the formation of zwitterionic complexes. The in situ
      deprotonation of the isolated zwitterionic (kappa2-O,O-HL3)ZrCl2(OiPr) compound
      by using Ag2O gives the homoleptic complex as the major component along with a
      bimetallic hydroxo-bridged [(kappa3-O,C,O-L3)Zr(MU-OH)(OiPr)]2 compound. Of
      particular interest is that only the heteroleptic NHC-Zr(iv) complexes were
      identified to be active and highly selective towards the copolymerization of CHO
      with CO2 independently of the co-catalysts used (both anionic and neutral) under
      mild conditions (PCO2 < 1 bar, T = 60  degrees C), and gave atactic and
      completely alternating copolymers in a controlled manner (Mw/Mn ~ 1.3-1.8). In
      contrast, the isolated homoleptic, zwitterionic and bimetallic zirconium species
      were found to be inactive under similar reaction conditions. Although the
      activity found for NHC-Zr(iv) complexes is nearly of the same order of magnitude
      as that of the NHC-Ti(iv) analogues, these results are the first examples of
      tetravalent zirconium complexes achieving high selectivity (99% in PCHC) in the
      catalyzed copolymerization of CHO with CO2.

PMID- 28604884
TI  - Ferrous iron efflux systems in bacteria.
AB  - Bacteria require iron for growth, with only a few reported exceptions. In many
      environments, iron is a limiting nutrient for growth and high affinity uptake
      systems play a central role in iron homeostasis. However, iron can also be
      detrimental to cells when it is present in excess, particularly under aerobic
      conditions where its participation in Fenton chemistry generates highly reactive
      hydroxyl radicals. Recent results have revealed a critical role for iron efflux
      transporters in protecting bacteria from iron intoxication. Systems that efflux
      iron are widely distributed amongst bacteria and fall into several categories:
      P1B-type ATPases, cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) proteins, major facilitator
      superfamily (MFS) proteins, and membrane bound ferritin-like proteins. Here, we
      review the emerging role of iron export in both iron homeostasis and as part of
      the adaptive response to oxidative stress.

PMID- 28604888
TI  - Breaking the electrical barrier between copper and carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Improving the interface between copper and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) offers a
      straightforward strategy for the effective manufacturing and utilisation of Cu
      CNT composite material that could be used in various industries including
      microelectronics, aerospace and transportation. Motivated by a combination of
      structural and electrical measurements on Cu-M-CNT bimetal systems (M = Ni, Cr)
      we show, using first principles calculations, that the conductance of this
      composite can exceed that of a pure Cu-CNT system and that the current density
      can even reach 1011 A cm-2. The results show that the proper choice of alloying
      element (M) and type of contact facilitate the fabrication of ultra-conductive Cu
      M-CNT systems by creating a favourable interface geometry, increasing the
      interface electronic density of states and reducing the contact resistance. In
      particular, a small concentration of Ni between the Cu matrix and the CNT using
      either an "end contact" and or a "dot contact" can significantly improve the
      electrical performance of the composite. Furthermore the predicted conductance of
      Ni-doped Cu-CNT "carpets" exceeds that of an undoped system by ~200%. Cr is shown
      to improve CNT integration and composite conductance over a wide temperature
      range while Al, at low voltages, can enhance the conductance beyond that of Cr.

PMID- 28604889
TI  - HOMO-LUMO coupling: the fourth rule for highly effective molecular rectifiers.
AB  - Three rules for creating highly effective unimolecular rectifiers that utilize
      asymmetric anchoring groups have been proposed by Van Dyck and Ratner [Ratner et
      al., Nano Lett., 2015, 15, 1577-1584]. This study investigates their proposed
      rectification mechanism in a functionalised azafullerene system (4TPA-C60) and
      identifies a fourth rule. NEGF-DFT shows that 4TPA-C60 fulfills the three design
      rules and finds that a saturated bridge is not required to fulfil the third rule,
      contrary to previous belief. Instead a twisted-pi bridge decouples the donor and
      acceptor states whilst still providing a high conductance pathway. The molecular
      junction has a calculated rectification ratio of 145 at a bias of +/-1 V and the
      U-type rectification mechanism is driven by the pinning of the HOMO to the LUMO
      when the device is forward biased, but not when reverse biased. The switching
      behaviour is a result of a charge dipole forming at different interfaces for
      different bias directions. An additional design rule is thus proposed: charge
      transport should allow bias dependent coupling of filled to unfilled states. The
      findings in this work not only help in understanding charge transport in
      molecular rectifiers, but also have wider implications for the design of
      molecular resonant tunneling devices.

PMID- 28604890
TI  - MoS2 heterostructure with tunable phase stability: strain induced interlayer
      covalent bond formation.
AB  - The structural phase transition in MoS2 promises applications in novel
      nanoelectronic devices. Elastic strain engineering can not only serve as a
      potential route for phase transition engineering, but also reveal potential
      ferroelastic behavior of MoS2 nanostructures. However, the elastic strain
      required for phase transition in monolayer MoS2 is far beyond its elastic limit,
      thus inhibiting the experimental realization. In this study, employing density
      functional theory calculations, we uncover that by forming heterostructure with
      buckled 2D materials, such as silicene, germanene and stanene, the critical phase
      transition strain required in monolayer MoS2 can be drastically reduced.
      Particularly when MoS2 forms sandwiched structures with silicene or stanene, the
      uniaxial and biaxial critical strain can be reduced to ~0.06 and ~0.03,
      respectively, which is well below the experimental elastic limit. This
      theoretical study not only proposes an experimental achievable strategy for
      flexible phase transition design in MoS2 nanostructure, but also identifies those
      MoS2 heterostructures as 2D candidates for potential shape memory devices and
      pseudoelasticity applications.

PMID- 28604891
TI  - Pre-concentration by liquid intake by paper (P-CLIP): a new technique for large
      volumes and digital microfluidics.
AB  - Microfluidic platforms are an attractive option for incorporating complex fluid
      handling into low-cost and rapid diagnostic tests. A persistent challenge for
      microfluidics, however, is the mismatch in the "world-to-chip" interface - it is
      challenging to detect analytes present at low concentrations in systems that can
      only handle small volumes of sample. Here we describe a new technique termed pre
      concentration by liquid intake by paper (P-CLIP) that addresses this mismatch,
      allowing digital microfluidics to interface with volumes on the order of hundreds
      of microliters. In P-CLIP, a virtual microchannel is generated to pass a large
      volume through the device; analytes captured on magnetic particles can be
      isolated and then resuspended into smaller volumes for further processing and
      analysis. We characterize this method and demonstrate its utility with an
      immunoassay for Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase, a malaria biomarker,
      and propose that the P-CLIP strategy may be useful for a wide range of
      applications that are currently limited by low-abundance analytes.

PMID- 28604892
TI  - Phosphomolybdate assembly as a low-cost catalyst for the reduction of toxic
      Cr(vi) in aqueous solution.
AB  - Highly reduced phosphomolybdate hybrid compounds have been hydrothermally
      prepared and structurally defined. X-ray single-crystal analysis revealed that
      these phosphomolybdates had the following formulae:
      (H2bpp)6{Fe[Mo6O12(OH)3(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2]2}2.11H2O (1),
      (H2bpp)6{Zn[Mo6O12(OH)3(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2]2}2.11H2O (2), and
      (H2bpp)5.5{Mn[Mo6O12(OH)3(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2]2}2.2H2O (3) (bpp = 1,3-bi(4
      pyridyl)propane). In the inorganic moiety, all Mo centers are in the +5 reduced
      form, representing a unique, fully reduced cluster in the polyanionic family. As
      a counter cation, the flexible bpp surrounds the anionic cluster to form hybrid
      'core-shell' supramolecular assemblies. These hybrids are stable and insoluble in
      water, which can change a catalytic reaction from homogeneous to heterogeneous.
      Experiments showed that the three supramolecular hybrids exhibit ideally
      reversible multi-electron transfer behavior, and hybrid 1 is active as a
      heterogeneous molecular catalyst to reduce toxic Cr(vi) to nontoxic Cr(iii) at
      low temperature in a short period of time. Hybrid 1 serves as an electron shuttle
      to promote the redox reaction between Cr(vi) and HCOOH. The activation energy of
      the reaction is effectively decreased after the reactants are adsorbed on the
      solid crystal surface, and the activation energy is calculated to be 78.5 kJ.mol
      1. The well-organized structures of polyoxometalates help to explain the
      catalytic mechanism at the molecular level.

PMID- 28604893
TI  - Liquid crystalline bilayers self-assembled from rod-coil diblock copolymers.
AB  - The structure and phase behaviour of bilayer membranes self-assembled from rod
      coil diblock copolymers are studied using the self-consistent field theory,
      focusing on the occurrence and relative stability of liquid crystalline phases
      induced by the geometric shape and orientational interaction of the rod-blocks. A
      variety of liquid crystalline bilayers, corresponding to the smectic phases in
      bulk systems, are predicted to occur as equilibrium phases of the system. The
      ordered morphologies and phase behaviour of the system are analyzed. Phase
      diagrams of the self-assembled bilayers are constructed. The theoretical results
      provide an understanding of the formation mechanisms of these intricate phases.

PMID- 28604894
TI  - Spatially distinct Raman scattering characteristics of individual ZnO nanorods
      under controlled polarization: intense end scattering from forbidden modes.
AB  - In this study, we characterize incident/scattered polarization-specific and NR
      position-resolved Raman scattering behaviors of individual zinc oxide nanorods
      (ZnO NRs). We quantify Raman signals from the five key ZnO phonon modes of E2L,
      E2H-2L, A1T, E1T, and E2H, and reveal the NR position-dependent Raman scattering
      characteristics of the phonon modes per given light-matter interaction geometry.
      We then present Raman intensity maps and elucidate Raman behaviors consistent and
      incongruous with Raman selection rules. In particular, we identify an intriguing
      Raman scattering phenomenon from the forbidden modes, distinctively occurring at
      the two NR ends. Their unexpectedly strong and localized scattering signals at
      the NR termini are contrasted by the scattering behaviors from the rest of the NR
      positions agreeing with the selection predictions. By carrying out control
      measurements on isotropic ZnO microparticles (MPs), we ascertain that the unique
      NR position-specific Raman responses observed on ZnO NRs originate from their
      high shape anisotropy. Owing to the superior optical property coupled with
      reduced dimensionality and high geometric anisotropy, ZnO NRs have gained much
      attention recently for use in optoelectronic, photonic, and biosensor
      technologies. Raman scattering has been increasingly exploited as a noninvasive
      and sensitive analytical tool to investigate NR properties pertinent to these
      applications. Hence, our endeavors, explicitly providing the spatially distinct,
      polarized Raman scattering behaviors from individual ZnO NRs, will be central to
      the correct interpretation of Raman data of both the individual and ensemble NRs
      as well as to the accurate correlation of the measurement outcomes to their
      chemical/physical/optical properties. Our efforts may also promote novel
      applications for polarized Raman scattering whose optical outputs on the various
      positions along the ZnO NRs can be selectively modulated.

PMID- 28604895
TI  - Simultaneous enzymatic activity modulation and rapid determination of enzyme
      kinetics by highly crystalline graphite dots.
AB  - The research field in enzyme-based biotechnology urgently requires the discovery
      of new materials and methods with high-performance. Here we report that highly
      crystalline graphite dots (GDs) can modulate enzyme activities, and
      simultaneously allow for real-time measurements on enzyme kinetics in combination
      with mass spectrometry (MS). A well-defined modulation of lipolytic activities
      from inhibition to enhancement can be realized by selectively coupling lipase
      enzymes with GDs containing specific functional groups on the surface. As a
      unique feature of our approach, GDs in the enzyme reaction can simultaneously
      serve as a versatile matrix for rapid and sensitive detection of the residual
      enzyme substrate, the intermediate or final product of lipolytic digestion using
      MS technology. Therefore, enzyme kinetic data can be collected in a real-time,
      high-throughput format. This work provides a new platform for enzymological
      research in hybrid bio-catalytic processes with advanced nanotechnology.

PMID- 28604896
TI  - Bistable scattering in graphene-coated dielectric nanowires.
AB  - In nonlinear plasmonics, the switching threshold of optical bistability is
      limited by the weak nonlinear responses from the conventional Kerr dielectric
      media. Considering the giant nonlinear susceptibility of graphene, here we
      develop a nonlinear scattering model under the mean field approximation and study
      the bistable scattering in graphene-coated dielectric nanowires based on the semi
      analytical solutions. We find that the switching intensities of bistable
      scattering can be smaller than 1 MW cm-2 at the working frequency. To further
      decrease the switching intensities, we show that the most important factor that
      restricts the bistable scattering is the relaxation time of graphene. Our work
      not only reveals some general characteristics of graphene-based bistable
      scattering, but also provides a guidance to further applications of optical
      bistability in the high speed all-optical signal processing.

PMID- 28604897
TI  - Products of Criegee intermediate reactions with NO2: experimental measurements
      and tropospheric implications.
AB  - The reactions of Criegee intermediates with NO2 have been proposed as a
      potentially significant source of the important nighttime oxidant NO3,
      particularly in urban environments where concentrations of ozone, alkenes and NOx
      are high. However, previous efforts to characterize the yield of NO3 from these
      reactions have been inconclusive, with many studies failing to detect NO3. In the
      present work, the reactions of formaldehyde oxide (CH2OO) and acetaldehyde oxide
      (CH3CHOO) with NO2 are revisited to further explore the product formation over a
      pressure range of 4-40 Torr. NO3 is not observed; however, temporally resolved
      and [NO2]-dependent signal is observed at the mass of the Criegee-NO2 adduct for
      both formaldehyde- and acetaldehyde-oxide systems, and the structure of this
      adduct is explored through ab initio calculations. The atmospheric implications
      of the title reaction are investigated through global modelling.

PMID- 28604898
TI  - In situ IR-spectroscopy as a tool for monitoring the radical hydrosilylation
      process on silicon nanocrystal surfaces.
AB  - Among a variety of SiNC functionalization methods, radical initiated grafting is
      very promising due to its straightforward nature and low propensity to form
      surface oligomers. In the present study, we employed in situ IR spectroscopy in
      combination with visible light transmittance measurements to investigate the
      radical induced grafting process on the well-defined SiNCs. Our findings support
      the proposed model: unfunctionalized hydride-terminated SiNCs form agglomerates
      in organic solvents, which break up during the grafting process. However,
      clearing of the dispersion is not a valid indicator for complete surface
      functionalization. Furthermore, radical-initiated grafting reactions in which
      azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) is the initiator are strongly influenced by
      external factors including initiator concentration, grafting temperature, as well
      as substrate steric demand. The monomer concentration was proven to have a low
      impact on the grafting process. Based on these new insights an underlying
      mechanism could be discussed, offering an unprecedented view on the
      functionalization of SiNC surfaces via radical initiated hydrosilylation.

PMID- 28604899
TI  - Antireflective coatings with enhanced adhesion strength.
AB  - The importance of tuning refractive index in a multilayer antireflection coating
      (ARC) system can not be denied. In practical applications, regulation of
      refractive index is complex due to limited choice and availability of appropriate
      materials for the trilayer AR coating assembly. To overcome this issue, we used a
      single inorganic material, HfO2, for the construction of a trilayer AR light
      harvesting moth eye, resembling hierarchical nanostructure coatings, for
      exploring new generation photovoltaics and optoelectronic devices. In the
      trilayer AR HfO2 (TAR-H) assembly, using a glancing angle deposition technique
      (GLAD), the dense bottom layer was steadily changed into a spongy middle layer
      that further changed to a highly porous top layer micmiking a moth eye, reducing
      the refractive index of the coating from 1.87 to 1.30. The broadband
      omnidirectional properties of the TAR-H coating, with superior thermal stability
      and improved scratch resistance, in the visible wavelength range were
      experimentally demonstrated. The TAR-H coating on FTO and sapphire substrates
      achieved reflectance of up to <1% in the visible wavelength range.

PMID- 28604900
TI  - Monolayer AgBiP2Se6: an atomically thin ferroelectric semiconductor with out
      plane polarization.
AB  - Using first-principles calculations, we designed a two-dimensional material,
      monolayer AgBiP2Se6, with the thickness of only 6 A, which exhibited out-plane
      ferroelectricity. The ground state of the monolayer AgBiP2Se6 was not purely
      ferroelectric since the out-plane ferroelectricity originated from the
      compensated ferrielectric state: the off-centering antiparallel displacements of
      Ag+ and Bi3+ ions. The compensated ferrielectric ordering has superiority on
      reducing the depolarization field to stabilize the ferroelectricity. Furthermore,
      together with strong visible-light adsorption and suitable band edge alignments,
      we proposed the monolayer AgBiP2Se6 as a visible-light photocatalyst for water
      splitting as the out-plane polarization could enhance the electron-hole
      separation. Our results offer a new way to overcome the critical thickness
      limitation of nanoscale ferroelectrics. The out-plane ferroelectricity in
      monolayer AgBiP2Se6 has great potential for developing various devices with
      desirable applications.

PMID- 28604901
TI  - Flow-directed synthesis of spatially variant arrays of branched zinc oxide
      mesostructures.
AB  - The use of fluid flow to control crystal morphology during the liquid-phase
      synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials is a relatively under explored approach.
      Synthetic strategies that take advantage of flow effects present the opportunity
      to tune several parameters (e.g., flow velocity and direction) in addition to
      conventional growth parameters (e.g., time, temperature, chemistry, and
      concentration), and thus enable additional levels of control in the bottom-up
      synthesis of nanomaterials. The current work reports the application of
      microfluidics to the rational synthesis of spatially variant arrays of branched
      zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods with predictable morphological and compositional
      characteristics. Specifically, the dislocation driven growth rates of branches
      within ZnO nanorod arrays was rationally controlled using dynamic, high-velocity
      precursor flow, yielding ZnO mesostructures with morphology that depended on the
      location within the arrays. This approach compliments current synthetic
      strategies and is generally applicable to a range of materials with a diverse set
      of functional properties (e.g., optical, magnetic, electronic) and applications.

PMID- 28604902
TI  - What if the number of nanotoxicity data is too small for developing predictive
      Nano-QSAR models? An alternative read-across based approach for filling data
      gaps.
AB  - Over the past decade, computational nanotoxicology, in particular Quantitative
      Structure-Activity Relationship models (Nano-QSAR) that help in assessing the
      biological effects of nanomaterials, have received much attention. In effect, a
      solid basis for uncovering the relationships between the structure and
      property/activity of nanoparticles has been created. Nonetheless, six years after
      the first pioneering computational studies focusing on the investigation of
      nanotoxicity were commenced, these computational methods still suffer from many
      limitations. These are mainly related to the paucity of widely available,
      systematically varied, libraries of experimental data necessary for the
      development and validation of such models. This results in the still-low
      acceptance of these methods as valuable research tools for nanosafety and raises
      the query as to whether these methods could gain wide acceptance of regulatory
      bodies as alternatives for traditional in vitro methods. This study aimed to give
      an answer to the following question: How to remedy the paucity of experimental
      nanotoxicity data and thereby, overcome key roadblock that hinders the
      development of approaches for data-driven modeling of nanoparticle properties and
      toxicities? Here, a simple and transparent read-across algorithm for a pre
      screening hazard assessment of nanomaterials that provides reasonably accurate
      results by making the best use of existing limited set of observations will be
      introduced.

PMID- 28604904
TI  - An oxime-based glycocluster microarray.
AB  - Carbohydrate microarrays represent powerful tools to study and detect
      carbohydrate-binding proteins, pathogens or cells. In this paper, we report two
      original oxime-based methods to prepare surfaces displaying well-defined
      structures and valency in a given microspot with improved recognition potency
      with lectins. In a first "direct" approach, fully synthetic aminooxylated
      glycoclusters have been coated onto aldehyde-activated SiO2 (silicium substrate
      doped with 50 nm thermal oxide layer). To improve the preparation of the
      microarray in terms of rapidity and simplicity and to provide addressable
      surfaces on which sugars can be linked chemoselectively as clusters at defined
      plots, a second "indirect" strategy has been developed using successive oxime
      ligation steps. In both cases, binding assays with labelled lectins have revealed
      more potent and selective interaction due to the clustered presentation of
      sugars. The observed differences of interaction have been confirmed in solution
      by ITC.

PMID- 28604903
TI  - Antiproliferative activity of 8-methoxypsoralen on DU145 prostate cancer cells
      under UVA and blue light.
AB  - The use of photoactivatable 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) as potential focal
      treatment towards prostate cancer cells is proposed here. Our results, obtained
      on isolated DNA and DU145 cells, indicate that blue light, besides UVA, is able
      to activate 8-MOP. When compared to UVA, blue light irradiation led to a
      modulation of the extent and the types of 8-MOP-DNA damage, specially cross
      links, coupled to a still valuable antiproliferative effect. Our data suggest
      that the proapototic activity of 8-MOP is related not only to DNA damage and
      reactive oxygen species generation but also to the modulation of cell signalling
      pathways. In particular, a different activation of p38 and p44/42 mitogen
      activated protein kinases was detected depending on the light wavelengths.

PMID- 28604905
TI  - Nature of peptide wrapping onto metal nanoparticle catalysts and driving forces
      for size control.
AB  - Colloidal metal nanocrystals find many applications in catalysis, energy
      conversion devices, and therapeutics. However, the nature of ligand interactions
      and implications on shape control have remained uncertain at the atomic scale.
      Large differences in peptide adsorption strength and facet specificity were found
      on flat palladium surfaces versus surfaces of nanoparticles of 2 to 3 nm size
      using accurate atomistic simulations with the Interface force field. Folding of
      longer peptides across many facets explains the formation of near-spherical
      particles with local surface disorder, in contrast to the possibility of
      nanostructures of higher symmetry with shorter ligands. The average particle size
      in TEM correlates inversely with the surface coverage with a given ligand and
      with the strength of ligand adsorption. The role of specific amino acids and
      sequence mutations on the nanoparticle size and facet composition is discussed,
      as well as the origin of local surface disorder that leads to large differences
      in catalytic reactivity.

PMID- 28604906
TI  - A selective emissive chromogenic and fluorogenic seleno-coumarin probe for Cu2+
      detection in aprotic media.
AB  - A new selenium containing coumarin (compound 7) was designed and synthesized from
      the amide linkage between coumarin-519 (6) and 2-(butylselanyl)ethanamine (5).
      The molecular structure of 7 was accurately characterized, and its photophysical
      properties in acetonitrile, ethanol and chloroform solutions were studied by
      absorption, stationary and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies. Changes in
      the solvent polarity affected the Stokes shift, quantum yields and lifetime of
      the excited states. The spectroscopic behavior of compound 7 was evaluated in the
      presence of different monovalent, divalent and trivalent metallic cations (Na+,
      K+, Ca2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+, Hg2+, Hg+, Ag+, Al3+, Fe3+, Ga3+
      and Cr3+) in acetonitrile solution. Among the tested cations, 7 exhibited high
      selective interaction with Cu2+, which was evidenced by the not expected
      absorption hypsocromic shift (usually coumarin-519 gives red-shifted complexes)
      and intense chelation-enhanced fluorescence quenching (CHEQ). We performed
      spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric titrations of 7 upon addition of Cu2+.
      From these data, the minimal detectable and quantifiable amounts were calculated
      and found to be 0.2 and 0.4 MUmol L-1 by absorption and 0.6 and 1.0 MUmol L-1 by
      emission, respectively. The 7-Cu2+ compound presented the 1 : 1 stoichiometry and
      the stability constant values of absorption and emission were found to be log
      beta = 5.78 and log beta = 6.32 respectively. Taking into account the high
      selectivity of the 7-Cu2+ compound in organic solvent systems, and considering
      the role of copper in organic transformations, it can be regarded as a promising
      fluorescent sensor for studies concerning the determination of oxidation
      dependent transient entities in organic reactions like those involving cuprates.
      Additionally, it can be used for the detection and quantification of this metal
      cation in vitro in aprotic biological systems.

PMID- 28604907
TI  - Solvent-dependent selective cation exchange in anionic frameworks based on
      cobalt(ii) and triphenylamine linkers: reactor-dependent synthesis and sorption
      properties.
AB  - Two cobalt(ii) coordination polymers with anionic networks of formulae
      {(Me2NH2)2[CoCl(ntb)]}n (JUMP-2) and {(Me2NH2)2[Co5(ntb)4(H2O)3(Me2NH)]}n
      (previously reported as MIL-144 by Livage et al., Microporous Mesoporous Mater.,
      2012, 157, 37) have been obtained via a solvothermal reaction of cobalt chloride
      and 4,4',4''-nitrilotribenzoic acid (H3ntb) in DMF employing two differently
      sized reactors, while using the same absolute amount of reactants. Structure
      analysis revealed that JUMP-2 crystallized in the monoclinic space group P21/n
      and displays a two-dimensional (2D) network, which by topological analysis was
      characterized as a layered 3-connected hcb net. The topological analysis of MIL
      144 revealed a 3,6-connected net with 3,6T80 topology. The magnetic properties of
      JUMP-2 are indicative of independent single-ion behavior of the tetrahedral
      cobalt(ii) ions and showed an out-of-phase signal in the alternating-current (ac)
      magnetic susceptibility below 2.5 K, whereas for MIL-144 an overall
      antiferromagnetic interaction within the di- and trinuclear secondary building
      units is observed and no indication for slow magnetization dynamics. The organic
      cations in both frameworks could successfully be exchanged with inorganic cations
      under retention of the respective network structure. In the process of exchange,
      both compounds displayed cation selectivity based on which solvent was utilized
      for immersing the solids. JUMP-2 shows a preference for europium(iii) ions in
      DMF, whereas MIL-144 preferentially takes up lithium ions when ethanol is used.
      The N2 adsorption isotherms were measured before and after exchange and revealed
      a considerable improvement in the sorption properties of the exchanged samples.

PMID- 28604908
TI  - Metal-free synthesis of isatin oximes via radical coupling reactions of oxindoles
      with t-BuONO in water.
AB  - A metal-free method for the synthesis of isatin oximes was developed through the
      radical coupling reactions of oxindoles with t-BuONO. This protocol provides a
      practical and environmentally benign method for the construction of C-N bonds in
      water at room temperature without using any other reagents. The advantages of
      this strategy are its mild reaction conditions and clean procedure.

PMID- 28604909
TI  - A supramolecular assembly based on an engineered hemoprotein exhibiting a thermal
      stimulus-driven conversion to a new distinct supramolecular structure.
AB  - Supramolecular assembly of an engineered hemoprotein with an externally-attached
      heme moiety via an azobenzene or stilbene linker demonstrates drastic structural
      transitions between two distinct forms: the thermodynamically stable fiber-type
      assembly and the kinetically trapped metastable micelle-type assembly induced by
      transient thermal stimulus.

PMID- 28604910
TI  - A host-guest system based on collagen-like triple-helix hybridization.
AB  - A strategy inspired by tweezer receptors has been employed to develop a new host
      guest system. The hybridization into a collagen-like triple helix is the driving
      force for the recognition that occurs with high affinity and selectivity. Several
      systems have been screened to find the best host-guest pair and this strategy may
      be implemented for tag fused protein recognition.

PMID- 28604911
TI  - Highly enantioselective synthesis of fused bicyclic dihydropyranones via low
      loading N-heterocyclic carbene organocatalysis.
AB  - Highly diastereo and enantioselective [4+2] cycloadditions have been achieved
      between pyrrolidone-derived cyclic enones and alpha-haloaldehydes under mild
      conditions. Relying on extremely reactive in-situ generated chiral N-heterocyclic
      carbenes, this stereoselective annulation proceeds efficiently even on the gram
      scale with the catalyst loading as low as 0.025 mol% (250 ppm). A variety of cis
      substituted bicyclic dihydropyranones can be produced in up to 96% yield with up
      to >99% ee. In addition, simple, inexpensive linear aldehydes such as n-propanal
      can be used directly in asymmetric cycloadditions via oxidative N-heterocyclic
      carbene organocatalysis with low catalyst loading. This method may provide an
      economical and practical approach for the asymmetric synthesis of medicinally
      relevant molecules.

PMID- 28604912
TI  - Carbene stabilized interconnected bis-germylene and its silicon analogue with
      small methyl substituents.
AB  - The cyclic alkyl(amino) carbene (cAAC) [:C{N-C6H3(2,6-IPr2)}(CMe2)2CH2]
      stabilized MeGeGeMe has been isolated in the molecular form with composition
      (cAAC)MeGe-GeMe(cAAC) (1) at room temperature. Compound 1 was synthesized from
      the reduction of MeGeCl3 using three equivalents of KC8 in the presence of one
      equivalent of cAAC. The corresponding silicon compound (cAAC)MeSi-SiMe(cAAC) (2)
      was also prepared. Compounds 1 and 2 are the first examples of REER compounds (E
      = Ge, Si) carrying the smallest organic group. Furthermore the structures of
      compounds 1 and 2 have been investigated by using theoretical methods. The
      theoretical analysis of the structure of 1 is in agreement with the formation as
      an unprecedented carbene stabilized bis-germylene whereas compound 2 can be
      equally described as carbene stabilized bis-silylene with coordinate bonds as
      with classical double bonds of a 2,3-disila-1,3-butadiene. The compounds were
      also characterized by X-ray crystallography.

PMID- 28604913
TI  - A ferrocenecarboxylate-functionalized titanium-oxo-cluster: the ferrocene wheel
      as a sensitizer for photocurrent response.
AB  - Sensitized titanium-oxo clusters (TOCs) have attracted growing interest. However,
      reports on TOCs incorporated with a metal complex as photosensitizers are still
      very rare. In the present work, the organometallic complex ferrocene was used as
      a sensitizer for a titanium-oxo cluster. A ferrocenecarboxylate-substituted
      titanium-oxo cluster [Ti6(MU3-O)6(OiPr)6(O2CFc)6] (Fc = ferrocenyl) was
      synthesized and structurally characterized, in which the ferrocene wheel performs
      as a sensitizer for photocurrent response. For comparison, naphthalene-sensitized
      titanium-oxo clusters [Ti6(MU3-O)6(OiPr)6(NA)6] (NA = 1-naphthoate) and [Ti6(MU3
      O)6(OiPr)6(NAA)6] (NAA = 1-naphthylacetate) with the same {Ti6} core structure
      were also synthesized. The structures, optical behaviors, electronic states and
      photoelectrochemical properties of these sensitized {Ti6} clusters were
      investigated. It is demonstrated that the introduction of ferrocene groups into
      the titanium-oxo cluster significantly reduces the band gap and enhances the
      photocurrent response in comparison with the naphthalene-sensitized clusters. The
      substantially reduced band gap of the ferrocene-sensitized cluster was attributed
      to the introduction of Fe(ii) d-d transitions and the possible contribution from
      the Fc -> {Ti6} charge transfer. For the naphthalene-sensitized clusters, the
      better electronic coupling between the dye and the {Ti6} core in the 1-naphthoate
      (NA) substituted cluster results in higher photoelectrochemical activity.

PMID- 28604914
TI  - Two deep-ultraviolet nonlinear optical alkaline-earth metal borates based on
      different types of oxoboron clusters.
AB  - Two non-centrosymmetric alkaline-earth metal borates, Ca2[B5O8(OH)]2[B(OH)3].H2O
      (1) and Ba2[B6O9(OH)2][B3O3(OH)4].(OH).4H2O (2), have been synthesized under
      solvothermal conditions. Both of them exhibit layered structures constructed from
      two fundamental building blocks (FBBs), respectively. 1 features porous double
      layers made by the acentric single A-layer and B-layer in a face-to-face
      arrangement. Ca-O layers gather the B-O double-layers together resulting in the
      chiral structure of 1. Compound 2 contains two different FBBs, which is rare in
      borate. Hexaborate B6 clusters are responsible for the expansion of inorganic B6
      layers while the isolated triborate B3 clusters are arranged in supermolecular B3
      layers. Ba1-B6-layers and Ba2-B3-layers are alternately arranged in the same
      direction generating the NCS structure of 2. Both 1 and 2 are phase-matchable
      materials with second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses of ~1.3 and ~0.8 times
      that of KDP (KH2PO4), respectively. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra reveal
      that they have short cut-off edges lower than 200 nm. These characteristics make
      them potential deep-UV NLO materials. The calculations reveal that the SHG
      efficiency mainly originates from the synergistic effect of the distorted MOn (M
      = Ca, Ba; n = 7, 10, 11) polyhedra and the asymmetric pi-conjugated of BO3 units.

PMID- 28604915
TI  - Emergence of compositionally tunable nanoscale dynamical heterogeneity in model
      binary lipid biomembranes.
AB  - While the existence of nanoscale dynamical heterogeneity in biological membranes
      has been suggested to act as an active functional platform for enabling various
      cellular processes like signal transduction and viral or bacterial entry, it has
      been extremely difficult to detect the existence of such domains. Model lipid
      bilayer membranes have been widely used to detect such dynamical heterogeneity in
      order to avoid complications arising from the compositional heterogeneity of
      cellular membranes. However, even in model biological membranes the issue of
      nanoscale lipid dynamics has remained controversial and unresolved due to the
      difficulty of detecting the existence of such dynamical heterogeneity on the
      scale of 10-300 nm. Here we report direct evidence of nanoscale lipid dynamical
      heterogeneity in model binary lipid bilayer membranes using a combination of
      super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy and fluorescence
      correlation spectroscopy (FCS). We control the phase behavior of the lipid
      bilayers by varying their composition and discuss how this leads to the emergence
      of dynamical lipid domains on the scale of 80-150 nm, which is also dependent on
      the lipid phase in which such dynamics are observed. Notably, our work shows that
      the presence of cholesterol is not required for the existence of such domains
      even in fluid like bilayers, as has been widely believed, and specifies the
      minimal conditions required for the emergence of such dynamical heterogeneity in
      cellular membranes. Our work will thus not only be of great significance towards
      understanding the nanoscale dynamic organizing principles of cellular membranes
      but could also be useful in understanding the dynamics of related soft matter
      systems and nanoparticle-cell membrane interactions.

PMID- 28604918
TI  - Why We Need to Know Patients' Education.

PMID- 28604916
TI  - Interpreting Lymphocyte Reconstitution Data From the Pivotal Phase 3 Trials of
      Alemtuzumab.
AB  - Importance: Alemtuzumab, a CD52-depleting monoclonal antibody, effectively
      inhibits relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) but is associated with a high
      incidence of secondary B-cell autoimmunities that limit use. These effects may be
      avoided through control of B-cell hyperproliferation. Objective: To investigate
      whether the data describing the effect of alemtuzumab on lymphocyte subsets
      collected during the phase 3 trial program reveal mechanisms explaining efficacy
      and the risk for secondary autoimmunity with treatment of MS. Design, Setting,
      and Participants: Lymphocyte reconstitution data from regulatory submissions of
      the pivotal Comparison of Alemtuzumab and Rebif Efficacy in Multiple Sclerosis I
      and II (CARE-MS I and II) trials were obtained from the European Medicines Agency
      via Freedom of Information requests. Data used in this study were reported from
      June 22 to October 12, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: Tabulated data from T-
      and B-lymphocyte subset analysis and antidrug antibody responses were extracted
      from the supplied documents. Results: Alemtuzumab depleted CD4+ T cells by more
      than 95%, including regulatory cells (-80%) and CD8+ T cells (>80% depletion),
      which remained well below reference levels throughout the trials. However,
      although CD19+ B cells were initially also depleted (>85%), marked (180%
      increase) hyperrepopulation of immature B cells occurred with conversion to
      mature B cells over time. These lymphocyte kinetics were associated with rapid
      development of alemtuzumab-binding and -neutralizing antibodies and subsequent
      occurrence of secondary B-cell autoimmunity. Hyperrepopulation of B cells masked
      a marked, long-term depletion of CD19+ memory B cells that may underpin efficacy
      in MS. Conclusions and Relevance: Although blockade of memory T and B cells may
      limit MS, rapid CD19+ B-cell subset repopulation in the absence of effective T
      cell regulation has implications for the safety and efficacy of alemtuzumab.
      Controlling B-cell proliferation until T-cell regulation recovers may limit
      secondary autoimmunity, which does not occur with other B-cell-depleting agents.

PMID- 28604917
TI  - Older Adults' Views and Communication Preferences About Cancer Screening
      Cessation.
AB  - Importance: Older adults with limited life expectancy are frequently screened for
      cancer even though it exposes them to risks of screening with minimal benefit.
      Patient preferences may be an important contributor to continued screening.
      Objective: To examine older adults' views on the decision to stop cancer
      screening when life expectancy is limited and to identify older adults'
      preferences for how clinicians should communicate recommendations to cease cancer
      screening. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this semistructured interview
      study, we interviewed 40 community-dwelling older adults (>= 65 years) recruited
      at 4 clinical programs affiliated with an urban academic medical center. Main
      Outcomes and Measure: We transcribed the audio recorded discussions and analyzed
      the transcripts using standard techniques of qualitative content analysis to
      identify major themes and subthemes. Results: The participants' average age was
      75.7 years. Twenty-three participants (57.5%) were female; 25 (62.5%) were white.
      Estimated life expectancy was less than 10 years for 19 participants (47.5%). We
      identified 3 key themes. First, participants were amenable to stopping cancer
      screening, especially in the context of a trusting relationship with their
      clinician. Second, although many participants supported using age and health
      status to individualize the screening decision, they did not often understand the
      role of life expectancy. All except 2 participants objected to a Choosing Wisely
      statement about not recommending cancer screening in those with limited life
      expectancy, often believing that clinicians cannot accurately predict life
      expectancy. Third, participants preferred that clinicians explain a
      recommendation to stop screening by incorporating individual health status but
      were divided on whether life expectancy should be mentioned. Specific wording of
      life expectancy was important; many felt the language of "you may not live long
      enough to benefit from this test" was unnecessarily harsh compared with the more
      positive messaging of "this test would not help you live longer." Conclusions and
      Relevance: Although research and clinical practice guidelines recommend using
      life expectancy to inform cancer screening, older adults may not consider life
      expectancy important in screening and may not prefer to hear about life
      expectancy when discussing screening. The described communication preferences can
      help inform future screening discussions. Better delineating patient-centered
      approaches to discuss screening cessation is an important step toward optimizing
      cancer screening in older adults.

PMID- 28604919
TI  - Routine Laboratory Tests in Hospitalized Patients-The Registered Nurse's Role.

PMID- 28604920
TI  - Association of Attitudes Regarding Overuse of Inpatient Laboratory Testing With
      Health Care Provider Type.

PMID- 28604922
TI  - Crowdsourcing the Million Brains Initiative.

PMID- 28604921
TI  - Association of Educational Attainment With Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular
      Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.
AB  - Importance: Estimates of lifetime risk may help raise awareness of the extent to
      which educational inequalities are associated with risk of cardiovascular disease
      (CVD). Objective: To estimate lifetime risks of CVD according to categories of
      educational attainment. Design, Setting, and Participants: Participants were
      followed from 1987 through December 31, 2013. All CVD events (coronary heart
      disease, heart failure, and stroke) were confirmed by physician review and
      International Classification of Diseases codes. A total of 13 948 whites and
      African Americans who were 45 to 64 years old and free of CVD at baseline were
      included from 4 US communities (Washington County, Maryland; Forsyth County,
      North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; and suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota). The
      data analysis was performed from June 7 to August 31, 2016. Exposures:
      Educational attainment. Main Outcomes and Measures: We used a life table approach
      to estimate lifetime risks of CVD from age 45 through 85 years according to
      educational attainment. We adjusted for competing risks of death from underlying
      causes other than CVD. Results: The sample of 13 948 participants was 56% female
      and 27% African American. During 269 210 person-years of follow-up, we documented
      4512 CVD events and 2401 non-CVD deaths. Educational attainment displayed an
      inverse dose-response relation with cumulative risk of CVD, which became evident
      in middle age, with the most striking gap between those not completing vs
      completing high school. In men, lifetime risks of CVD were 59.0% (95% CI, 54.0%
      64.1%) for grade school, 52.5% (95% CI, 47.7%-56.8%) for high school education
      without graduation, 50.9% (95% CI, 47.3%-53.9%) for high school graduation, 47.2%
      (95% CI, 41.5%-52.5%) for vocational school, 46.4% (95% CI, 42.8%-49.6%) for
      college with or without graduation, and 42.2% (95% CI, 36.6%-47.0%) for
      graduate/professional school; in women, 50.8% (95% CI, 45.7%-55.8%), 49.3% (95%
      CI, 45.1%-53.1%), 36.3% (95% CI, 33.4%-39.1%), 32.2% (95% CI, 26.0%-37.3%), 32.8%
      (95% CI, 29.1%-35.9%), and 28.0% (95% CI, 21.9%-33.3%), respectively. Educational
      attainment was inversely associated with CVD even within categories of family
      income, income change, occupation, or parental educational level. Conclusions and
      Relevance: More than 1 in 2 individuals with less than high school education had
      a lifetime CVD event. Educational attainment was inversely associated with the
      lifetime risk of CVD, regardless of other important socioeconomic
      characteristics. Our findings emphasize the need for further efforts to reduce
      CVD inequalities related to educational disparities.

PMID- 28604923
TI  - Talking to Patients About Cancer Screening Cessation.

PMID- 28604924
TI  - Association Between Indulgent Descriptions and Vegetable Consumption: Twisted
      Carrots and Dynamite Beets.

PMID- 28604925
TI  - Association of Adverse Events With Antibiotic Use in Hospitalized Patients.
AB  - Importance: Estimates of the incidence of overall antibiotic-associated adverse
      drug events (ADEs) in hospitalized patients are generally unavailable. Objective:
      To describe the incidence of antibiotic-associated ADEs for adult inpatients
      receiving systemic antibiotic therapy. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      Retrospective cohort of adult inpatients admitted to general medicine wards at an
      academic medical center. Exposures: At least 24 hours of any parenteral or oral
      antibiotic therapy. Main Outcomes and Measures: Medical records of 1488 patients
      were examined for 30 days after antibiotic initiation for the development of the
      following antibiotic-associated ADEs: gastrointestinal, dermatologic,
      musculoskeletal, hematologic, hepatobiliary, renal, cardiac, and neurologic; and
      90 days for the development of Clostridium difficile infection or incident
      multidrug-resistant organism infection, based on adjudication by 2 infectious
      diseases trained clinicians. Results: In 1488 patients, the median age was 59
      years (interquartile range, 49-69 years), and 758 (51%) participants were female.
      A total of 298 (20%) patients experienced at least 1 antibiotic-associated ADE.
      Furthermore, 56 (20%) non-clinically indicated antibiotic regimens were
      associated with an ADE, including 7 cases of C difficile infection. Every
      additional 10 days of antibiotic therapy conferred a 3% increased risk of an ADE.
      The most common ADEs were gastrointestinal, renal, and hematologic abnormalities,
      accounting for 78 (42%), 45 (24%), and 28 (15%) 30-day ADEs, respectively.
      Notable differences were identified between the incidence of ADEs associated with
      specific antibiotics. Conclusions and Relevance: Although antibiotics may play a
      critical role when used appropriately, our findings underscore the importance of
      judicious antibiotic prescribing to reduce the harm that can result from
      antibiotic-associated ADEs.

PMID- 28604926
TI  - ADS-5102 (Amantadine) Extended-Release Capsules for Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia
      in Parkinson Disease (EASE LID Study): A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Medical treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in Parkinson
      disease (PD) is an unmet need. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of
      ADS-5102 (amantadine) extended-release 274-mg capsules for treatment of LID in
      patients with PD. Design, Setting, and Participants: A randomized, double-blind,
      placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted between May 7, 2014, and July 22,
      2015, at 44 North American sites among patients with PD treated with levodopa who
      experienced at least 1 hour of troublesome dyskinesia per day with at least mild
      functional impact. Interventions: Patients were randomized to receive placebo or
      274 mg of ADS-5102 administered orally at bedtime for up to 25 weeks. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: The primary efficacy analysis was the change from baseline
      to week 12 in the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale total score for ADS-5102 vs
      placebo in the modified intent-to-treat population. OFF time (amount of time the
      PD medication is not controlling motor symptoms) was a key secondary end point.
      Safety analyses included all patients who received the study drug (ADS-5102 or
      placebo). Results: A total of 189 patients were screened, and 126 were
      randomized; the modified intent-to-treat population included 121 patients (51
      women and 70 men; mean [SD] age, 64.7 [9.1] years). At week 12, the least-squares
      mean (SE) change in the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale score was -15.9 (1.6) for
      ADS-5102 (n = 63) and -8.0 (1.6) for placebo (n = 58) (treatment difference, 
      7.9; 95% CI, -12.5 to -3.3; P < .001). OFF time decreased by a mean (SE) of 0.6
      (0.3) hours for ADS-5102 and increased by 0.3 (0.3) hours for placebo (treatment
      difference, -0.9 hours; 95% CI, -1.6 to -0.2; P = .02). Common adverse events for
      ADS-5102 vs placebo included visual hallucinations (15 [23.8%] vs 1 [1.7%]),
      peripheral edema (15 [23.8%] vs 0), and dizziness (14 [22.2%] vs 0). Adverse
      events led to treatment discontinuation for 13 patients receiving ADS-5102
      (20.6%) vs 4 patients receiving placebo (6.9%). Conclusions and Relevance: ADS
      5102, 274 mg at bedtime, may be an effective treatment for LID. An additional
      benefit is reduced OFF time. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of
      an oral treatment reducing both LID and OFF time in patients with PD with
      dyskinesia. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02136914.

PMID- 28604927
TI  - Crowdsourcing the Million Brains Initiative-Reply.

PMID- 28604928
TI  - Consistent Terminology Needed for Estimation of Outcomes of Prematurity:
      Definitions of Premature Infants.

PMID- 28604930
TI  - Extended-Release Amantadine-A Smart Pill for Treatment of Levodopa-Induced
      Dyskinesia but Does the Evidence Justify the Cost?

PMID- 28604929
TI  - Consistent Terminology Needed for Estimation of Outcomes of Prematurity-Reply.

PMID- 28604932
TI  - Acral Bullae in a Young Girl.

PMID- 28604931
TI  - Motor Vehicle Crash Risk Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Attention
      Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
AB  - Importance: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often persists into
      adolescence, when motor vehicle crash risk peaks. We know little about when
      adolescents with ADHD get licensed and, once they do, the extent to which they
      have increased crash risk compared with adolescents without ADHD. Objectives: To
      examine the association between ADHD and both driver licensing and crash
      involvement and whether it varies by sex, licensing age, and/or being prescribed
      ADHD medication at licensure. Design, Setting, and Participants: This
      retrospective cohort study was conducted at 6 primary care practices of the
      Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a large pediatric health care network in
      southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Using electronic health
      records, we defined a cohort of 2479 adolescents and young adults with ADHD and
      15 865 without ADHD who were (1) born from 1987 to 1997; (2) residents of New
      Jersey and patients at 1 of 6 New Jersey primary care practices at age 12 years
      or older; and (3) age-eligible to obtain a driver's license from 2004 through
      2014. Electronic health records data were then linked with New Jersey's statewide
      driver licensing and crash databases for 2004 through 2014. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Acquisition of a driver's license and first involvement as a driver in
      a police-reported crash. Survival analysis was used to estimate adjusted hazard
      ratios for licensing and crash outcomes through age 25 years. Results: The median
      age of individuals at the end of the study was 22.2 years (interquartile range,
      19.7-24.8). Compared with individuals without ADHD, the licensing probability of
      individuals with ADHD 6 months after eligibility was 35% lower (for males:
      adjusted hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.61-0.70; females: adjusted hazard ratio,
      0.64; 95% CI, 0.58-0.70). Among individuals with a driver's license, 764 of 1785
      with ADHD (42.8%) and 4715 of 13 221 without ADHD (35.7%) crashed during the
      study period. The adjusted risk for first crash among licensed drivers with ADHD
      was 1.36 times higher than for those without ADHD (95% CI, 1.25-1.48) and did not
      vary by sex, licensing age, or over time. Only 129 individuals with ADHD (12.1%)
      were prescribed medication in the 30 days before licensure. Conclusions and
      Relevance: Adolescents with ADHD get licensed less often and at an older age.
      Once licensed, this cohort has a greater risk of crashing. Additional research is
      needed to understand the specific mechanisms by which ADHD influences crash risk.

PMID- 28604933
TI  - Educational Performance of Children Born Prematurely.
AB  - Importance: Survivors of preterm birth often present with medical morbidities;
      however, variation in their long-term educational performance has not been well
      described. Objective: To estimate the association between gestational age and 4
      outcomes in school-aged children: readiness to enter kindergarten, scores on
      standardized tests in elementary and middle school, gifted status, and low
      performance. Design, Setting, and Participants: In a retrospective cohort study,
      children born in Florida between 1992 and 2002 at 23 to 41 weeks' gestation who
      entered Florida's public schools between 1995 and 2012 were assessed for
      kindergarten readiness and tested in mathematics and reading in grades 3 through
      8. Data analysis was performed from January 12, 2016, to March 1, 2017.
      Exposures: Gestational age at birth. Main Outcomes and Measures: Kindergarten
      readiness, scores on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT),
      classified as gifted, and classified as low performance. Results: A total of 1
      527 113 singleton infants with gestational ages of 23 to 41 weeks born between
      1992 and 2002 were matched to Florida public school records. Of these, 1 301 497
      children were included in the analysis; 641 479 (49.3%) were girls. A total of
      301 (65.0%) Florida children born at 23 to 24 weeks' gestation were designated as
      ready to start kindergarten. When the FCAT test scores were adjusted for
      potentially confounding maternal and infant variables, children born at 23 to 24
      weeks' gestation performed 0.66 SD (95% CI, -0.73 to -0.59) lower compared with
      those born at full term. A total of 123 554 (9.5%) of all Florida-born public
      school students were considered gifted, including 17 (1.8%) of those born at 23
      to 24 weeks' gestation. In comparison, 75 458 (5.8%) of all Florida-born public
      school students were low performing; 310 (33.5%) of these children had been born
      at 23 to 24 weeks' gestation. Kindergarten readiness, FCAT scores, and gifted
      status were positively related to gestational age, whereas low performance was
      inversely related to gestational age. Conclusions and Relevance: Although
      gestational age has long been associated with poor educational performance, a
      sufficient proportion of children born near the limits of viability performed
      within expected school norms, warranting further investigation into how and why
      certain children are able to overcome the educational burdens that may follow
      preterm birth.

PMID- 28604934
TI  - Use of kurtosis for locating deep blood vessels in raw speckle imaging using a
      homogeneity representation.
AB  - Visualization of deep blood vessels in speckle images is an important task as it
      is used to analyze the dynamics of the blood flow and the health status of
      biological tissue. Laser speckle imaging is a wide-field optical technique to
      measure relative blood flow speed based on the local speckle contrast analysis.
      However, it has been reported that this technique is limited to certain deep
      blood vessels (about ? = 300 ?? ? m ) because of the high scattering of the
      sample; beyond this depth, the quality of the vessel's image decreases. The use
      of a representation based on homogeneity values, computed from the co-occurrence
      matrix, is proposed as it provides an improved vessel definition and its
      corresponding diameter. Moreover, a methodology is proposed for automatic blood
      vessel location based on the kurtosis analysis. Results were obtained from the
      different skin phantoms, showing that it is possible to identify the vessel
      region for different morphologies, even up to 900 ?? ? m in depth.

PMID- 28604935
TI  - Human Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes: An Effective, Less-Expensive Option.

PMID- 28604936
TI  - Regulatory Science in Neonates: A Framework That Supports Evidence-Based Drug
      Therapy.

PMID- 28604938
TI  - Error in Byline.

PMID- 28604937
TI  - Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Among Adolescent Females
      in the United States, 2002 Through 2014.

PMID- 28604941
TI  - Induction of New Autoimmune Diseases After Alemtuzumab Therapy for Multiple
      Sclerosis: Learning From Adversity.

PMID- 28604942
TI  - MicroRNAs regulate APOBEC gene expression.
AB  - Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) is a
      family of evolutionarily conserved cytidine deaminases, encoded by eleven genes
      located in the human genome. APOBECs play key roles in innate immunity through
      their ability to mutagenize viral DNA and restrict rival replication. Recent
      cancer genomics revealed APOBEC3 subtype-mediated APOBEC-signature mutations are
      common in a broad spectrum of human cancers. The pervasive APOBEC3 activation in
      the host genome which converts cytosine to uracile during RNA editing has been
      suggested to depend on ATR/chk1 pathways. In this review, we highlight how
      microRNAs interact with the APOBEC gene family and post-transcriptionally
      regulate APOBEC gene expression, and we speculate how targeting specific
      microRNAs may reduce host genome mutagenesis via inactivation of APOBEC
      deaminases.

PMID- 28604943
TI  - Adipokine profile in patients with anorexia nervosa.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterised with
      extremely low weight. Adipokines are adipose tissue-derived substances that show
      a wide spectrum of biological activities. We aimed to assess selected adipokine
      levels in women with AN before and after nutritional intervention. We also sought
      to examine whether BMI is the only confounding factor influencing adipokine
      assessment in AN. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-five women participated in the
      study: 20 individuals with AN before any treatment, 18 AN patients after
      nutritional intervention lasting for at least six months, and 27 women as
      controls. In all participants blood collection and anthropometric measurements
      were performed. ELISA was used for evaluation of leptin receptor, adiponectin and
      its isoforms, and resistin. Leptin was assessed with RIA, and visfatin was
      measured with EIA assay. RESULTS: Leptin and free leptin index (FLI) were lowest
      in treatment-naive AN women. HMW-adiponectin and visfatin were enhanced in AN.
      Other adipokine levels showed no significant differences. When two subsets of
      anorexia nervosa were compared, only leptin, leptin receptor, and FLI were
      markedly different. When data were adjusted to BMI, leptin and FLI remained
      significantly different in the pre-treated AN subgroup when compared with the
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that leptin is the most important
      adipokine in AN. It is also important that in our AN population leptin and FLI
      are the only factors that are influenced not only by the fat content.

PMID- 28604944
TI  - The influence of Graves' orbitopathy treatment with intravenous glucocorticoids
      on adrenal function.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Graves' orbitopathy (GO) is the commonest extrathyroidal feature of
      Graves' disease. For active, moderate to severe GO intravenous glucocorticoid
      pulse therapy (ivGCS) is the first-line treatment, which might be followed by
      oral glucocorticoid therapy. Glucocorticoid treatment, especially in the time of
      withdrawal, carries a risk of adrenal insufficiency. The aim of this study was to
      assess the pituitary-adrenal axis function in patients with GO before and at the
      cessation of ivGCS, and after further oral glucocorticoid therapy. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Twenty patients received treatment in accordance with the EUGOGO
      protocol (500 mg methylprednisolone once a week for six weeks, then 250 mg once a
      week for another six weeks) followed by oral prednisone at a gradually decreasing
      dose from 30 mg/day over a three-month period. Adrenal function was evaluated
      directly before the ivGCS, before the last pulse, and after oral glucocorticoid
      intake. The assessment consisted of clinical evaluation, and measurements of
      morning total serum cortisol (TSC) and plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
      Patients with decreased cortisol level underwent ACTH stimulation test with TSC
      measurements before, and 30 minutes and 60 minutes after the administration of
      synthetic ACTH. RESULTS: All patients before and at the cessation of ivGCS
      treatment demonstrated intact adrenal function. One patient after prednisone
      therapy presented decreased adrenal reserve. TSC concentration was significantly
      lower after the ivGCS (p = 0.025) and oral glucocorticoid therapy (p = 0.0006) in
      comparison to evaluation before therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Therapy with ivGCS for GO
      does not lead to secondary adrenocortical insufficiency. Further low-dose oral
      glucocorticoid therapy may result in secondary adrenocortical insufficiency in
      some patients.

PMID- 28604945
TI  - Adrenal tumour bigger than 5 cm - what could it be? An analysis of 139 cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is an increasing number of adrenal being tumours discovered
      incidentally during imaging examinations performed for many different
      indications. Radiological findings suggesting adrenal pathology may be caused by
      true adrenal tumours or by other retroperitoneal masses. Generally, the larger
      the tumour, the higher the possibility of adrenal cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Analysis of our data - 139 operations performed over 11 years (2004-2014) in
      patients with tumours in the adrenal area larger than 5 cm. RESULTS: The most
      common finding was adrenal cancer (25.2%), benign adenoma (24.5%),
      pheochromocytoma (12.9%), and metastatic cancer (10.1%). In total, there were 19
      various histopathological diagnoses in this group. CONCLUSION: Although adrenal
      cancer is the most likely diagnosis in large adrenal tumours, a broad spectrum of
      various adrenal and retroperitoneal tumours with size more than 5 cm can be found
      in such patients.

PMID- 28604946
TI  - [Application of chromosomal microarray analysis in prenatal diagnosis for fetal
      abnormalities detected by ultrasonography].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the outcome of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) in
      prenatal diagnosis for fetal abnormalities detected by ultrasonography. METHODS:
      Amniotic fluid samples from 477 pregnancies with abnormal ultrasound findings but
      without common aneuploidies were detected by CMA with Affymetrix CytoScan 750K
      arrays. The results were analyzed with ChAS v3.0 software. RESULTS: Among the 477
      samples, 24 (5.03%) were detected with pathogenic copy number variations (pCNVs)
      by CMA. Six (9.68%) among 62 cases with structural fetal abnormalities in
      multiple organ systems were detected with pCNVs, 11 (7.48%) among 147 cases with
      a single structural anomaly were detected with pCNVs, and 7 (2.61%) among 268
      cases with a soft marker were detected with pCNVs. CONCLUSION: CMA has offered a
      clear advantage over conventional karyotyping for the detection of fetal
      chromosomal abnormalities, and can provide an effective diagnostic tool for those
      with one or more structural abnormalities detected by ultrasound.

PMID- 28604947
TI  - [Application of SNP-array technology in the genetic analysis of pediatric
      patients with growth retardation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP
      array) for the analysis of pediatric patients with growth retardation. METHODS:
      One hundred eighty one children with growth retardation were enrolled. DNA was
      extracted from peripheral samples from the patients, and whole genome copy number
      variations (CNVs) were detected using Illumina Human Cyto SNP-12. All identified
      CNVs were further analyzed with reference to databases including ClinGen,
      ClinVar, DECIPHER, OMIM and DGV as well as comprehensive review of literature
      from PubMed to determine their pathogenicity. RESULTS: Forty seven patients (26%)
      with abnormal CNVs were detected, which included 12 known
      microdeletions/microduplications syndrome (26%), 10 pathogenic non-syndromic CNVs
      (21%), 3 numerical chromosome aberrations (6%), 3 unbalanced translocations (6%),
      4 pathogenic mosaicisms (9%) and 15 cases with unknown clinical significance
      (32%). After excluding obvious numerical and/or structural chromosomal
      abnormalities, this study has detected 15 pathogenic
      microdeletions/microduplications sized 5 Mb or less, which may be missed by
      routine chromosomal karyotyping. In addition, there were 3 cases with loss of
      heterozygoisty (LOH) containing known or predicted imprinting genes as well as 2
      cases with suspected parental consanguinity. CONCLUSION: SNP-array technology is
      a powerful tool for the genetic diagnosis of children with growth disorders with
      advantages of high resolution and improved accuracy.

PMID- 28604948
TI  - [Clinical significance of secondary results from non-invasive prenatal testing].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of copy number variations (CNVs) detection by
      non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in addition to its routine targets and
      clinical significance of such CNVs for the reduction of fetuses born with
      chromosomal microdeletion/duplication syndromes. METHODS: From October 2014 to
      October 2015, 14 235 pregnant women volunteered to participate in the study.
      Fifteen cases detected with chromosomal CNVs by the NIPT decided to undergo
      prenatal diagnostic procedures including amniocentesis, G-banded karyotyping and
      chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). All such cases were routinely followed up
      after birth. RESULTS: Among the 14 235 subjects underwent NIPT, 18 cases were
      detected with Down syndrome, 4 with trisomy 18, and 2 with trisomy 13, in
      addition with 24 cases of CNVs. For the latter, 15 (including 11 cases with
      microdeletions and 4 cases with microduplications) participated in further
      prenatal diagnosis. In 13 cases (86.7%), the results of CMA were consistent with
      those of NIPT. On the other hand, only 7 out of the 15 cases showed a positive
      result with karyotyping, suggesting a rather high rate of missed diagnosis
      (46.2%). Of note, karyotyping has identified partial inversion of chromosome 9 in
      one case. CONCLUSION: As a screening tool, NIPT has a high accuracy for the
      detection of CNVs. However, as this method is still under improvement, it is more
      of a reminder rather than a diagnostic tool with full capability.

PMID- 28604949
TI  - [The value of a novel prenatal diagnosis model with combination of karyotyping
      and BACs-on-BeadsTM technique].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of a novel prenatal diagnosis model using
      combined chromosomal karyotyping and BACs-on-BeadsTM(BoBs), a newly-developed
      technique. METHODS: 1048 single pregnancy pregnant women with various diagnostic
      indications were performed amniocentesis for prenatal diagnosis with karyotyping
      and BoBs simultaneously. RESULTS: Among 1047 successfully cultured specimens, 50
      chromosomal abnormalities were identified with BoBs, including 43 common
      chromosomal trisomies, 3 chimeric chromosomes and 4 structural abnormalities, of
      which 3 microdeletions/microduplications were not detected with karyotyping.
      Except for extra yield of 1 Robertsonian translocation, the other numerical
      chromosomal abnormalities were detected with both karyotyping and BoBs. Ten fetal
      chromosome abnormalities were confirmed with karyotyping, including 8 structural
      abnormalities and 2 chimeric chromosomes. CONCLUSION: Combination of karyotyping
      and BoBs turned out to be a rapid, complementary and effective diagnostic model
      for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and microdeletion syndromes, which could
      yield a higher detection rate of fetal chromosomal abnormalities and chromosomal
      microdeletions/microduplications.

PMID- 28604950
TI  - [Mutation analysis and prenatal diagnosis for 12 families affected with
      hereditary hearing loss and enlarged vestibular aqueduct].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To carry out mutation analysis and prenatal diagnosis for 12 families
      affected with hearing loss and enlarged vestibular aqueduct from southern
      Zhejiang province. METHODS: Clinical data and peripheral venous blood samples of
      38 members from the 12 families were obtained. Mutations of 4 genes, namely
      SLC26A4, GJB2, c.538C to T and c.547G to A of GJB3, m.1555A to G and m.1494C to T
      of 12S rRNA, were detected by PCR and Sanger sequencing. Maternal contamination
      was excluded by application of STR detection during prenatal diagnosis. RESULTS:
      Among the probands from the 12 families, 11 were found to be compound
      heterozygotes or homozygotes and 25 were heterozygotes. All of the families were
      detected with IVS7-2A to G mutations, and 4 had a second heterozygous mutation
      (c.2168A to G of the SLC26A4 gene). Four rare pathogenic mutations, namely IVS5
      1G to A, c.946G to T, c.1607A to G and c.2167C to G, were detected in another
      four families. In addition, the partner of proband from pedigree 3 was identified
      with compound heterozygous mutations of c.235delC and c.299-300delAT, and proband
      of pedigree 5 has carried a mutation of c.109G to A in GJB2. For SLC26A4 gene,
      prenatal diagnostic testing has revealed heterozygous mutations in 6 fetuses and
      compound heterozygous mutations in 2 fetuses. CONCLUSION: IVS7-2A to G and
      c.2168A to G of the SLC26A4 gene were the most common mutations in southern
      Zhejiang. Such mutations can be found in most families affected with hearing loss
      and enlarged vestibular aqueduct, which may facilitate genetic counseling and
      prenatal diagnosis for such families.

PMID- 28604951
TI  - [Analysis of FOXL2 gene mutations in 5 families affected with blepharophimosis,
      ptosis and epicanthus inversus syndrome].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To screen for FOXL2 gene mutations in 6 patients with
      blepharophimosis, ptosis, and epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES), and explore
      their genotype-phenotype correlation. METHODS: Peripheral venous blood samples
      were collected from the patients for the extraction of genomic DNA. PCR and
      Sanger sequencing were employed to analyze the coding region and flanking
      sequences of the FOXL2 gene. Pathogenicity of the identified mutations was
      verified through literature review and bioinformatic analysis. RESULTS: A
      heterozygous c.672_701dup30 mutation was found in the probands from the two
      familial cases, while three heterozygous mutations (two were novel), namely
      c.462_468del (p.Pro156Argfs*113), c.251T to A (p.Ile84Asn) and c.988_989insG
      (p.Ala330Glyfs*204) were detected in the three sporadic cases. Literature review
      and bioinformatic analysis indicated that all these mutations are pathogenic.
      CONCLUSION: Identification of causative mutations in the BPES patients has
      provided a basis for genetic counseling and reproductive guidance. The novel
      mutations have enriched the mutation spectrum of the FOXL2 gene.

PMID- 28604952
TI  - [IDUA gene mutation analysis and prenatal diagnosis of two families affected with
      mucopolysaccharidosis type I].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze mutations of IDUA gene in two pedigrees affected with
      mucopolysaccharidosis type I and provide prenatal diagnosis for them. METHODS:
      The 14 exons of the IDUA gene were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger
      sequencing. RESULTS: For pedigree 1, the proband was found to harbor compound
      heterozygous mutations c.46-57delTCGCTCCTGGCC (p.Ser16_Ala19del) of exon 1 and
      c.1147delC (p.Arg383Alafs*57) of exon 8 of the IDUA gene, which were inherited
      from his father and mother, respectively. The latter was unreported previously.
      Prenatal diagnosis suggested that the fetus has carried a heterozygous c.46
      57delTCGCTCCTGGCC mutation. For family 2, the proband was also found to carry
      compound mutations of the IDUA gene, namely c.721T to C (p.Cys241Arg) of exon 6
      and c.1491delG (p.Thr497fs27) of exon 8, which were inherited from her mother and
      father, respectively. Neither mutation was reported previously. Prenatal
      diagnosis suggested that the fetus has carried a heterozygous c.721T to C
      mutation. CONCLUSION: Mutations of the IDUA gene probably underlie the MPS-I in
      both pedigrees. Above results have enriched the spectrum of IDUA gene mutations
      and facilitated prenatal diagnosis for both families.

PMID- 28604953
TI  - [Genetic analysis of a pedigree affected with inherited thrombocytopenia caused
      by a novel mutation of MYH9 gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study genetic mutations and clinical features of a pedigree
      affected with MYH9-related disorders from Guangxi. METHODS: Blood platelets were
      counted with a hemocytometer. Blood smear was carried out to detect the inclusion
      body in peripheral blood neutrophils. DNA and mRNA samples were extracted from
      blood samples from the members of the pedigree. Fragments of the MYH9 gene were
      amplified with PCR and directly sequenced. RESULTS: The affected individuals
      presented with a triad of giant platelets, decreased platelet count and inclusion
      bodies in the neutrophils with variable expressivity. A heterozygous deletional
      mutation (c.5803delG) in exon 41 of the MYH9 gene was found in all of the 8
      affected individuals, which led to a frame-shift and change of 26 amino acids at
      the C-end of the tail domain of nonmuscle myosin heavy chain IIA (NMMHC-IIA)
      (p.Ala1935Profs*12). The same mutation was not found among healthy members of the
      pedigree. CONCLUSION: The c.5803delG mutation probably underlies the MYH9-related
      disorders in this pedigree. The mutation has altered the C-end of the tail domain
      of the NMMHC-IIA protein, resulting in mild clinical symptoms in the affected
      individuals.

PMID- 28604954
TI  - [Detection of genomic abnormalities among 105 patients with chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia using fluorescence in situ hybridization].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for
      the detection of genomic abnormalities among patients with chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia (CLL). METHODS: Interphase FISH was performed on bone marrow samples
      derived from 105 patients with CLL at the time of diagnosis using probes for
      D13S319/13q14, ATM/11q22, P53/17p13 and CEP12. The abnormalities and prognostic
      factors were analyzed. Overall survival of the patients was calculated. RESULTS:
      The FISH assay has detected genomic abnormalities in 81 (77.1%) of the patients,
      among which D13S319/13q14 deletion was the most common (49/105, 46.67%).
      24(22.86%) patients had trisomy 12, 21(20.00%) had ATM/11q deletion, and
      12(11.43%) had P53/17p deletion. A significant correlation was found between
      Binet staging and the detected abnormalities (< 0.05). With a median follow-up
      time of 10 months, 11 patients (10.5%) had died. Compared with those with P53
      deletion, patients with 13q deletion showed a better overall survival. However,
      the overall survival did not significantly differ between patients with various
      genomic abnormalities (> 0.05). CONCLUSION: FISH is capable of detecting common
      genomic aberrations among patients with newly diagnosed CLL. Deletion of
      D13S319/13q14 is the most common aberration in such patients. Genomic aberrations
      are significantly correlated with Binet staging but not the overall survival of
      CLL patients.

PMID- 28604955
TI  - [Characteristics of phenylalanine hydroxylase gene mutations among patients with
      phenylketonuria from Linyi region of Shandong Province].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics of (PAH) gene mutations among patients
      with phenylketonuria (PKU) from Linyi area of Shandong Province. METHODS: For 51
      children affected with PKU and their parents, the 13 exons and their flanking
      intronic sequences of the PAH gene were directly sequenced with Sanger method.
      RESULTS: PAH gene mutations were detected in all of the 102 alleles of the
      patients, which included 31 types of mutations. Common mutations included R243Q
      (17/102, 16.67%), IVS4-1G to A (9/102, 8.82%), R241C (8/102, 7.84%), R111X
      (8/102, 7.84%), and V399V (8/102, 7.84%). In addition, two novel mutations,
      D101N, 345-347del, have been detected. The 31 types of mutations included
      missense, nonsense, deletion, and splicing mutations, which were mainly located
      in exons 7 (29, 28.43%), 11 (18, 17.65%), 3 (16, 15.69%) and 12 (13, 12.75%).
      CONCLUSION: Mutations of the PAH gene in Linyi region mainly distributed in exons
      7, 11, and 3, and the most common mutation were R243Q. Two novel mutations, D101N
      and 345-347del, have been detected.

PMID- 28604956
TI  - [Analysis of PKD1 gene mutation in a family affected with autosomal dominant
      polycystic kidney disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the molecular etiology for a family affected with
      autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and provide prenatal diagnosis for
      the family. METHODS: Clinical data of the family was collected. Target region
      sequencing with monogenetic disorders capture array combined with Sanger
      sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were performed in turn. SIFT and NCB1 were
      used to evaluate the conservation of the gene and pathogenicity of the identified
      mutation. RESULTS: Target region sequencing has identified a novel c.11333C to A
      (p.T3778N) mutation of the PKD1 gene in the proband and the fetus, which was
      confirmed by Sanger sequencing in three affected individuals from the family. The
      same mutation was not detected in healthy members of the pedigree. Bioinformatics
      analysis suggested that the mutation has caused a likely pathogenic amino acid
      substitution of Threonine by Aspartic acid, and Clustal analysis indicated that
      the altered amino acid is highly conserved in mammals. CONCLUSION: A novel
      mutation of the PKD1 gene has been identified in an affected Chinese family. The
      mutation is probably responsible for a range of clinical manifestations, for
      which reliable prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling may be provided.

PMID- 28604957
TI  - [Molecular genetic study of a family affected with punctate palmoplantar
      keratoderma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics and causative mutation in an
      ethnic Han Chinese family affected with punctate palmoplantar keratoderma (PPPK).
      METHODS: Clinical characteristics and inheritance pattern of the family were
      analyzed. Two seriously affected individuals from the family were investigated by
      whole exome sequencing. Three healthy individuals from the family and 120 non
      PPPK individuals were evaluated to validate the result. RESULTS: The family was
      characterized by keratotic papules on the palms and soles, which gradually
      increased in size and number with age and coalesced with each other, particularly
      over the pressure part of the palms and soles. The family has featured autosomal
      dominant inheritance. A heterozygous frameshift variant c.419delC in exons of the
      CELA1 gene was identified in all affected individuals but not among non-affected
      members. CONCLUSION: A heterozygous frameshift variant c.419delC in CELA1 gene
      probably underlies the disease in the family affected with PPPK.

PMID- 28604958
TI  - [Study of a family affected with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis due to
      mutation of COL4A5 gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinicopathologic features and genetic mutation in a
      patient diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). METHODS:
      Clinicopathologic data of the patient, who was diagnosed with primary FSGS by
      renal biopsy, was collected. Mutations of FSGS-related genes were screened with
      next-generation sequencing. Suspected pathogenic mutation was verified with
      Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Next-generation sequencing detected a missense
      mutation (c.2215C to G, p.P739A) in exon 28 of the COL4A5 gene in the patient.
      The same mutation was also detected in his mother who was asymptomatic. Another
      missense mutation (c.2215C to T, p.P739S) in the same codon has been related with
      Alport syndrome. CONCLUSION: The c.2215C to G (p.P739A) mutation may be one of
      pathogenic mutations underlying FSGS. This has provided further evidence for the
      phenotypic heterogeneity of COL4A5 gene mutations.

PMID- 28604959
TI  - [Analysis of TCIRG1 gene mutation in a Chinese family affected with infantile
      malignant osteopetrosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To detect potential mutation of the TCIRG1 gene in a boy with
      infantile malignant osteopetrosis. METHODS: Target sequence capture and next
      generation sequencing were applied for the proband and his parents to identify
      the causative mutation, and Sanger sequencing was used to verify the suspected
      mutation. RESULTS: The proband manifested at 4 months of age with symptoms
      including anemia, thrombocytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly, and cephalus quadratus. X
      ray revealed generalized increased bone density. A novel compound heterozygous
      mutation, c.796G to T (p.E266X) and c.1372G to A (p.G458S), were identified in
      the boy. His father and grandmother also carried the c.796G to T (p.E266X)
      mutation, and his mother carried the c.1372G to A (p.G458S) mutation. Neither
      mutation was found in the PubMed and ClinVar databases. CONCLUSION: The novel
      compound heterozygous mutation c.796G to T (p.E266X) and c.1372G to A (p.G458S)
      probably underlies the disease in the proband. Above results may enrich the
      mutation spectrum of the TCIRG1 gene and provide new evidence for the molecular
      basis of infantile malignant osteopetrosis.

PMID- 28604960
TI  - [Analysis of UQCRB gene mutation in a child with mitochondrial complex III
      deficiency].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To delineate the clinical, biochemical and genetic mutational
      characteristics of a child with mitochondrial complex III deficiency. METHODS:
      Clinical information and results of auxiliary examination of the patient were
      analyzed. Next-generation sequencing of the mitochondrial genome and related
      nuclear genes was carried out. Suspected mutation was confirmed in both parents
      with Sanger sequencing. Heterozygous deletion was mapped with chromosomal
      microarray analysis and confirmed with real-time PCR. RESULTS: The patient
      presented with vomiting, polypnea, fever, metabolic acidosis, hyperlactatemia,
      hypoglycemia, dysfunction of coagulation and immune system, in addition with
      increased lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase isoenzyme. Elevation of blood
      alanine and acylcarnitines as well as urinary ketotic dicarboxylic acid were also
      noted. The patient also presented development delay, mental retardation and
      hypotonia. Sequence analysis revealed two mutations in the nuclear gene UQCRB,
      which included a previously reported frameshift mutation
      c.306_309delAAAA(p.Arg105Lysfs*22) and a novel large deletion encompassing the
      entire UQCRB gene. CONCLUSION: The clinical, biochemical and gene mutation
      characteristics of a child with mitochondrial complex III deficiency caused by
      mutations of the UQCRB gene have been delineated.

PMID- 28604961
TI  - [Analysis of SLC39A4 gene mutation in a patient with acrodermatitis
      enteropathica].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To detect pathogenic mutation of the SLC39A4 gene in a male patient
      with acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE). METHODS: Peripheral venous blood sample
      and clinical data from the patient and his parents were collected. One hundred
      unrelated healthy individuals were recruited as controls. All coding exons and
      flanking exon-intron sequences of the SLC39A4 gene were analyzed by PCR and
      direct sequencing. RESULTS: The results revealed that the patient and his mother
      have both carried a novel frame-shift mutation c.1110InsG (p.Gly370GlyfsX47 to
      TGA) in exon 6. A novel nonsense mutation c.958C to T (p.Q320X) in exon 5 was
      also detected in the patient and his father and grandmother. This novel mutation
      was not detected in the unaffected family members and 100 unrelated healthy
      controls. CONCLUSION: The novel frame-shift mutation c.1110InsG (p.Gly370GlyfsX47
      to TGA) derived from the mother and nonsense mutation c.958C to T (p.Q320X) of
      the SLC39A4 gene derived from the father may underlie the disease in the patient.

PMID- 28604962
TI  - [Identification of a novel SLC26A4 mutation in a child with enlarge vestibular
      aqueduct syndrome].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze mutations of SLC26A4 gene and explore their origins for a
      patient with enlarge vestibuar aqueduct syndrome. METHODS: Clinical data and
      peripheral venous blood samples were collected from the patient and her parents.
      Genome DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood. All of the 21 exons of the
      SLC26A4 gene were amplified with PCR and subjected to directly sequencing.
      RESULTS: The patient was found to have carried two mutant alleles of the SLC26A4
      gene, namely c.1522A to G and c.1229C to T, which were inherited from her father
      and mother, respectively. CONCLUSION: SLC26A4 c.1522A to G is likely to be a
      pathogenic mutation. Above results may facilitate genetic counseling and prenatal
      diagnosis for this family.

PMID- 28604963
TI  - [Phenotypic and genotypic analysis of a fetus carrying an intermediate 22q11.2
      deletion encompassing the CRKL gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To delineate the phenotypic characteristics of 22q11.2 deletion
      syndrome and the role of CRKL gene in the pathogenesis of cardiac abnormalities.
      METHODS: G-banded karyotyping, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array and
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were performed on a fetus with
      tetralogy of Fallot detected by ultrasound. Correlation between the genotype and
      phenotype was explored after precise mapping of the breakpoints on chromosome
      22q11.2. SNP array was also performed on peripheral blood samples from both
      parents to clarify its origin. RESULTS: The fetus showed a normal karyotype of
      46,XY. SNP array performed on fetal blood sample revealed a 749 kb deletion
      (chr22: 20 716 876-21 465 659) at 22q11.21, which encompassed the CRKL gene but
      not TBX1, HIRA, COMT and MAPK1. Precise mapping of the breakpoints suggested that
      the deleted region has overlapped with that of central 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
      SNP array analysis of the parental blood samples suggested that the 22q11.21
      deletion has a de novo origin. The presence of 22q11.21 deletion in the fetus was
      also confirmed by FISH analysis. CONCLUSION: Central 22q11.21 deletion probably
      accounts for the cardiac abnormalities in the fetus, for which the CRKL gene
      should be considered as an important candidate.

PMID- 28604964
TI  - [Phenotypic and genetic analysis of a boy with partial trisomy of 1q].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To delineate the nature and origin of chromosomal aberration in a boy
      with mental retardation and multiple congenital deformities. METHODS: The
      karotypes of the proband and his parents were analyzed with routine G-banded
      chromosomal analysis. Genomic DNA was also analyzed with array comparative
      genomic hybridization (aCGH) assay. RESULTS: The karyotype of the proband was
      46,XY,add(1)(p36.3). No karyotypic abnormality was detected in either parent.
      aCGH has identified a de novo 25.1 Mb duplication at 1q42q44 in the proband.
      CONCLUSION: The de novo 1q42q44 duplication, which may be due to non-allelic
      homologous recombination mediated by low copy repeats, probably underlies the
      abnormalities in the proband.

PMID- 28604965
TI  - [Phenotypic and genetic analysis of an inv dup(15) case with a BP3:BP3
      rearrangement].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze a case of supernumerary marker chromosome (SMC) with
      combined genetic techniques and explore its correlation with the clinical
      phenotype. METHODS: The SMC was analyzed with G-banded karyotyping, multiplex
      ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA), fluorescence in situ hybridization
      (FISH), and single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP-array). RESULTS: G-banding
      analysis indicated that the patient has a karyotype of 47,XX,+mar. MLPA showed
      that there were duplications of proximal 15q. FISH assay using D15Z4 probes
      indicated that the SMC was a pseudodicentric chromosome derived from chromosome
      15. And SNP-array revealed that there were two extra copies of 15q11-13 region
      spanning from locus 20 161 372 to 29 071 810. CONCLUSION: The duplication of
      Prader-Willi/Angelman syndrome critical region probably underlies the abnormal
      phenotype of the inv dup(15) case with a BP3:BP3 rearrangement.

PMID- 28604966
TI  - [Detection of a patient with ring chromosome 15 by low-coverage massively
      parallel copy number variation sequencing].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic cause for a child with developmental delay.
      METHODS: The karotypes of the child and her parents were analyzed with G-banding
      analysis. Their genome DNA was analyzed with low-coverage massively parallel copy
      number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) and verified by single nucleotide
      polymorphism array (SNP-array). RESULTS: The karyotype of the child was
      ascertained as 46,XX,r(15)(p13q26.3), while both parents showed a normal
      karyotype. CNV-seq and SNP-array have identified a de novo 15q26.2-q26.3 deletion
      in the child with a size of approximately 3.60 Mb. CONCLUSION: The abnormal
      phenotype of the patient carrying the ring chromosome 15 may be attributed to the
      presence of the 15q26.2-q26.3 microdeletion. The deletion and haploinsufficiency
      of the IGF1R gene probably underlie the main clinical features of the patient.

PMID- 28604967
TI  - [Analysis of a multiple osteochondroma case caused by novel splice mutation
      (c.1164+1G to A) of EXT1 gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To detect potential mutation of EXT1 gene in a pedigree affected with
      multiple osteochondroma and explore its pathogenic mechanism. METHODS: The coding
      regions and their flanking sequences of the EXT1/EXT2 genes were subjected to PCR
      amplification and Sanger sequencing. Suspected mutations were verified by
      excluding possible single nucleotide polymorphisms and bioinformatics analysis.
      Transcripts of the EXT1 gene in the proband were analyzed by TA clone-sequencing,
      with its abundance compared with that of healthy controls. RESULTS: DNA
      sequencing has identified in the proband a novel heterozygous point mutation
      (c.1164+1G to A) at the 5'splice sites of intron 3 of the EXT1 gene. The same
      mutation was not found in the healthy controls. Bioinformatics analysis indicated
      that the mutation is highly conserved and can lead to skipping of exon 3 or
      aberrant splicing. TA clone-sequencing indicated that the numbers of transcripts
      with skipping of exon 3 has significantly increased in the proband (< 0.05)
      compared with the controls. CONCLUSION: The c.1164+1G to A mutation has resulted
      in skipping of exon 3 in a proportion of EXT1 gene transcripts. As the result,
      the number of transcripts with tumor suppressing function is relatively reduced
      and has ultimately led to the tumors.

PMID- 28604968
TI  - [Prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with 5p15.33 microdeletion].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To screen for genomic copy number variants (CNVs) in a fetus with one
      sibling affected with Prader-Willi syndrome using single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) array. METHODS: The fetus and its parents were subjected to chromosomal
      karyotyping and SNP array analysis. RESULTS: A 5p15.33 microdeletions was
      identified in the fetus and its phenotypically normal mother with a size of 344
      kb (113 576 to 457 213). The father was normal for both testing. Analysis of
      literature and CNVs database indicated the above CNV to be variant of unclear
      significance. The couple decided to continue with the pregnancy and gave birth to
      a healthy boy at full-term. No abnormalities were found during the follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: This study may provide further data for the phenotype-genotype
      correlation of 5p15.33 microdeletion, which differs from Cri du Chat syndrome.

PMID- 28604969
TI  - [Genetic study of a fetus with 9p direct duplication deletion syndrome].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To use next generation sequencing (NGS) to identify unknown
      abnormality of chromosome 9 in a fetus and explore its mechanism. METHODS: A
      pregnant woman with abnormal fetal ultrasound finding underwent amniocentesis for
      G-banded chromosomal analysis. Karyotyping was also performed on peripheral blood
      samples derived from its parents. Fetal blood sample was obtained for NGS testing
      to identify abnormality unrecognized by karyotyping. RESULTS: Analysis of
      amniocytes has revealed a 46,XX,der(9)(?::p21 to qter) karyotype, while both
      parents had a normal karyotype. NGS analysis of the fetus revealed a 20.67 Mb
      duplication (4 454 279-25 126 275) at 9p21.3p24.2, which overlapped with that of
      the 9p duplication syndrome, and a 4.43 Mb deletion at 9p24.2p24.3 (10 001-4 442
      364), which partially overlapped with that of 9p deletion syndrome and 46,XY sex
      reversal 4 region. Comparison of the sequencing data with reference genome
      database indicated direct duplication of 9p21.3p24.2, which was also supported by
      review of the morphology of chromosome 9p. Therefore, the karyotype of the fetus
      was verified to be 46,XX,der(9) dir dup(9)(p21.3p24.2), del(9)(p24.2p24.3).
      CONCLUSION: Combined G-banded karyotyping and NGS can identify dir dup del(9p)
      with accuracy. Delineation of the mechanism of dir dup del(9p) and its genotype
      phenotype correlation may facilitate genetic counseling and estimation of
      recurrence risk.

PMID- 28604971
TI  - [A case of Bw39 subtype caused by 562C to T mutation of exon 7 of alpha -1,3-D
      galactosyltransferase gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze a sample with ABO subgroup using serological and molecular
      methods. METHODS: The ABO phenotype of the sample was determined with a tube
      method, and the activity of glycosyltransferases was determined with an uridine
      diphosphate galactose transferring method. The ABO gene of the propositus was
      identified by PCR with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). In addition, exons 6
      and 7 of the ABO gene were cloned and sequenced. RESULTS: Neither A nor B antigen
      was identified in the propositus, despite that its anti-B antibody was found to
      be attenuated. No activity of alpha -1, 3-D-galactosyltransferase was detected in
      the serum. The presence of B and O alleles were confirmed by PCR-SSP, and a novel
      mutation (562C to T) of the exon 7 was confirmed by sequencing, which has led to
      an amino acid substitution (Arg to Cys) at position 188. The genotype of the
      propositus was determined as Bnew/O. CONCLUSION: A novel B allele has been
      identified, which was named as Bw39 by the Blood Group Antigen Gene Mutation
      Database (BGMUT).

PMID- 28604970
TI  - [Study of the molecular basis for an individual with Bel variant due to deletion
      of B glycosyltransferase gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the molecular basis of an individual with Bel variant of
      the ABO blood group. METHODS: The ABO antigen and serum antibody of the
      individual were detected by serological method. All coding regions and flanking
      introns of the ABO gene were amplified with PCR and sequenced bidirectionally.
      The haplotypes of the individual were analyzed by cloning and sequencing. A three
      dimensional model of the mutant protein was constructed and analyzed. RESULTS:
      The individual has expressed a very weak B antigen on its red blood cells by
      absorption and elution testing, which was identified as a Bel variant phenotype.
      The heterozygous sites in exon 6 (261del/G) and exon 7 (297A/G, 484del/G, 526C/G,
      657C/T, 703G/A, 796C/A, 803G/C, 930G/A) of the coding region of the ABO gene were
      identified by direct sequencing. Haplotype analysis showed that the individual
      has carried an O01 allele and a novel B allele. The sequence of the novel B
      allele was identical to B101 except for a del G at nucleotide position 484
      (484delG), which was nominated as B120 by the Blood Group Antigen Gene Mutation
      Database (dbRBC NCBI). The 484delG mutation of the B allele has led to a reading
      frame shift and created a premature terminal codon for the glycosyltransferase
      (GT) enzyme. Prediction of the 3D structure suggested that the GT enzyme has
      become an incomplete protein only with its N-terminal region. CONCLUSION: The
      484delG mutation of the glycosyltransferase B gene has probably abolished or
      reduced the enzymatic activity and resulted in the Bel variant phenotype.

PMID- 28604972
TI  - [Molecular mechanism for a case with ABO subtype Bx10/O01].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the molecular mechanism of a case with ABO subtype
      Bx10/O01. METHODS: The serological phenotype of the proband was determined with a
      conventional method, and the ABO genotype was determined by sequence-specific
      primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSP). Exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene were
      amplified with PCR and sequenced. The samples were collected from both parents
      and analyzed. RESULTS: The proband's erythrocytes were detected with B antigens,
      along with the presence of anti-B in serum and absence of B substance in saliva.
      The genotype B/O of the proband was identified by PCR-SSP. Direct sequencing of
      the proband revealed 261delG/G, 297A/G in exon 6 and 526C/G, 657C/T, 703A/G,
      796C/A, 803C/G, 829G/T, 930A/G heterozygote in exon 7, which was assigned as
      Bx10/O01 genotype. The Bx10 allele of the proband was inherited from his mother.
      CONCLUSION: The G to T mutation at position 829 of alpha -1,3
      galactosyltransferase enzyme gene has resulted in the Bx10 phenotype.

PMID- 28604973
TI  - [Serological and molecular analysis of a case with para-Bombay phenotype caused
      by a h328(nt328G to A) mutation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the serological characteristics and molecular basis for an
      individual with para-Bombay phenotype. METHODS: Blood type of the proband was
      determined with routine serological methods. Exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene and
      coding regions of the FUT1 and FUT2 genes were amplified by PCR and sequenced.
      RESULTS: The para-Bombay phenotype was confirmed to be of Ah-secretion type. The
      genotype of the individual was determined as A102/O01. Position 328 of the FUT1
      gene was mutated from A to G, resulting in replacement of Alanine (Ala) at
      position 110 by Threonine (Thr). CONCLUSION: The G to A mutation of nt328 of the
      FUT1 gene probably underlies the para-Bombay phenotype in this individual.

PMID- 28604974
TI  - [Study on the CFHR1 level and its genetic polymorphisms in type 2 diabetes
      mellitus patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics in CFHR1 concentration and the
      frequency of CFHR1 gene polymorphisms of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM) based on the high level of complement factor H (CFH) expression among such
      patients and the similarity between CFHR1 and CFH in terms of sequence and
      functions. METHODS: Fifty T2DM patients and 30 healthy controls were selected.
      The plasma samples were separated by pI with OFFGEL electrophoresis following
      solution digestion. Further separation and identification were carried out on a
      Nano HPLC-Chip-MS/MS system. Differentially expressed proteins were identified by
      comparison. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to validate the
      result. Genomic DNA of the two groups was extracted. Polymerase chain reaction
      and sequencing were used to determine the single nucleotide polymorphisms in the
      6 exons of the CFHR1 gene. RESULTS: The CFHR1 level in plasma of T2DM patients
      were significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (P=2.78* 10-11). A
      significant difference in allelic frequencies of rs12406079 of the fifth exon of
      the CFHR1 gene was found between the two groups (chi 2=5.692, P=0.017).
      CONCLUSION: The concentration of CFHR1 and frequencies of CFHR1 gene
      polymorphisms among patients with T2DM differ significantly from healthy
      subjects. Polymorphisms of the CFHR1 gene are associated with T2DM.

PMID- 28604975
TI  - [Advance in the methods of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for single gene
      diseases].
AB  - More than 7000 single gene diseases have been identified and most of them lack
      effective treatment. As an early form of prenatal diagnosis, preimplantation
      genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a combination of in vitro fertilization and genetic
      diagnosis. PGD has been applied in clinics for more than 20 years to avoid the
      transmission of genetic defects through analysis of embryos at early stages of
      development. In this paper, a review for the recent advances in PGD for single
      gene diseases is provided.

PMID- 28604976
TI  - [Progress of research on TXNDC5].
AB  - The protein encoded by TXNDC5 is a member the protein disulfide isomerase family,
      which has disulfide isomerase activity and can act as the molecular chaperone to
      reduce the synthesis of abnormal proteins. Its biological functions include anti
      oxidation, promoting angiogenesis, taking part in cellular inflammation, and
      energy metabolism, etc. Studies have demonstrated that the expression of TXNDC5
      is increased in many types of tumors including cervical carcinoma, gastric
      carcinoma and colorectal cancer. Moreover, TXNDC5 is also closely associated with
      rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, hepatic steatosis and vitiligo. This paper aims
      to summarize the latest progress in research on TXNDC5 in terms of biochemical
      function, relationship with diseases and the underlying mechanism.

PMID- 28604977
TI  - [Ichthyosis vulgaris: a pedigree with 13 cases].

PMID- 28604978
TI  - [A pedigree affected with spinocerebellar ataxia type III].

PMID- 28604979
TI  - Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract in vitreoretinal surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the safety and surgical results of femtosecond laser-assisted
      phacovitrectomy. METHODS: Fifteen patients over 50 years of age with coexisting
      vitreoretinal pathologies and cataract underwent combined femtosecond laser
      assisted cataract extraction and sutureless 25-G and 27-G vitreoretinal surgery.
      RESULTS: The indication for surgery was macular hole in 6 patients, epiretinal
      membrane in 6, vitreous hemorrhage in 2, and retinal detachment in 1. The mean
      preoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.64 +/- 0.23 logMAR and the
      mean postoperative BCVA was 0.19 +/- 0.11 logMAR. In 4 patients with epiretinal
      membrane with corneal astigmatism of 3.35 +/- 0.32 D as mean value, a toric
      intraocular lens (IOL) was implanted: mean residual refractive cylinder was 0.47
      +/- 0.23 D. Three months postoperatively, mean IOL rotation was 1.64 +/- 0.28
      degrees . All patients improved their visual acuity. The intraoperative
      complications of femtosecond laser were 1 subconjunctival hemorrhage, 1 case of
      miosis, and 1 suction loss. The surgeon was able to maintain a clear view of the
      retina at all times. After surgery, a better fundus examination was possible with
      no capsular opacification. Mean follow-up was 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Femtosecond
      laser cataract in vitreoretinal surgery appears a safe and effective technique
      with potential benefits: the precision and centration of the capsulorhexis may
      potentially reduce the risk of IOL prolapse into the anterior chamber in gas
      filled eyes. Implantation of the toric IOL was effective in reducing preexisting
      corneal astigmatism and provided good rotational stability and refractive
      outcome.

PMID- 28604980
TI  - Sealed implantation of foldable intraocular lenses.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of sealed implantation, a simple
      technique for implanting foldable intraocular lenses (IOLs). METHODS: This was a
      retrospective study including consecutive patients who underwent
      phacoemulsification cataract using the sealed implantation technique. Sealed
      implantation is a technique in which a single-piece, foldable IOL is implanted
      without an intraocular ophthalmic viscosurgical device (OVD) or continuous
      infusion (hydroimplantation) of balanced saline solution (BSS). Forty consecutive
      patients who underwent clear corneal incision cataract surgery with IOL
      implantation using this technique were included. A 3-step 2.75-mm incision was
      performed approximately 0.5 mm anterior to the limbus with a 1.50 to 1.75 mm
      length as well as a 0.9 mm side port incision. Prior to the insertion of the IOL,
      the capsular bag and anterior chamber are filled with BSS. Hydroxypropyl
      methylcellulose 2% is applied external to the main corneal incision. The foldable
      IOL injector tip is introduced into the main incision in one quick jabbing motion
      and the IOL injected. The IOL is dialed with a standard irrigating Simcoe
      cannula. The main outcomes were intraoperative complications and postoperative
      hypotony. RESULTS: Of 50 charts reviewed, sealed implantation was attempted in 40
      (80%), with success in all cases. The injection of the IOL was performed without
      anterior chamber loss in 92% of the cases (n = 36) and no complications were
      recorded. There were no events of postoperative hypotony or wound leakage.
      CONCLUSIONS: Sealed implantation is a safe and efficient alternative to
      hydroimplantation without the need for OVDs in suitable cases.

PMID- 28604981
TI  - Optic disc pit maculopathy after prone positioning spine surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of optic disc pit maculopathy after spine surgery
      performed in the prone position. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 32-year-old man
      underwent spine surgery for disc herniation repair. He complained of visual
      acuity loss immediately after the procedure. Optic disc maculopathy with internal
      limiting membrane detachment was found to be the cause. Vitrectomy was scheduled
      after a 12-month follow-up without resolution of the maculopathy. CONCLUSIONS:
      Optic disc maculopathy has not previously been associated with nonocular surgery
      or patient positioning. Physiologic changes induced by the prone position likely
      altered the pressure gradient in the eye and led to the development of the
      maculopathy.

PMID- 28604982
TI  - EDI-OCT evaluation of choroidal thickness in retinitis pigmentosa.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate choroidal thickness (CT) in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using
      enhanced depth imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis of a group of patients with RP who underwent EDI-OCT was
      performed. Choroidal thickness measurements were compared with those of age- and
      sex-matched healthy subjects. In the RP group, the possible association between
      subfoveal CT and some clinical parameters (visual acuity, age, age at disease
      onset, duration of the disease, macular thickness, visual field loss,
      electroretinography [ERG]) was evaluated. RESULTS: The study recruited 39
      patients with RP with an average age of 43.3 +/- 11.3 years while the control
      group consisted of 73 healthy subjects with an average age of 42.9 +/- 12.10
      years. On average, CT was significantly thinner in the RP group compared to the
      controls (p<0.0001). In the RP group, we could not find any significant
      association between CT and the considered clinical parameters even if there was a
      trend for decreasing CT with increasing age (r = -0.23, p = 0.096). In the
      control group, subfoveal CT showed a slightly significant correlation with age (r
      = -0.21, p = 0.04) but not with macular thickness and visual acuity. CONCLUSIONS:
      In our series, CT was significantly lower in the RP group in comparison with the
      controls, as measured by EDI-OCT, but did not correlate with age, age at onset,
      duration of the disease, macular thickness, visual acuity, visual field loss, or
      ERG responses. Although the clinical implications of choroidal changes in RP have
      not yet been clearly determined, the evaluation of choroidal features may provide
      information that could be useful to clarify the pathophysiology of the disease.

PMID- 28604983
TI  - Visual outcomes of the second eye in keratoconic patients who have a corneal
      graft in the first eye: analysis at 12 years.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze demographic, clinical, and keratometric outcomes of the
      second eye in keratoconic patients when the first eye has already been grafted,
      initially and finally at 12 years. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of initial and
      12 years visual and keratometric outcomes of the second eye in keratoconic
      patients when the first one has already been grafted. RESULTS: A total of 107
      patients were included: 66 patients were analyzed at the beginning of the follow
      up and at 12 years. There were no statistically significant differences with
      regard to the correction method from the beginning to the end of the follow-up;
      3% of patients underwent crosslinking and 4.5% an intracorneal ring segments
      implantation. There was no significant progress in corneal opacities (1.5% vs
      3.0% at 12 years) or visual comfort (90.9% vs 87.9%). The mean values of best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (0.69 vs 0.71 at 12 years, on a decimal scale),
      cylinder (-2.64 D vs -3.13 D), spherical equivalent, and keratometry (46.34 D vs.
      46.49 D) had not significantly changed during the follow-up period. During the
      follow-up, 41 patients (38.3%) received a penetrating or lamellar keratoplasty on
      the contralateral eye (63% in the 5 years after the first corneal graft). At the
      time of the keratoplasty procedure, corneal opacities were seen in 7 patients
      (17.1%), mean BCVA was 0.26 +/- 0.16, spherical equivalent mean was -3.70 D, mean
      cylinder was 3.89 D, mean keratometry values were 52.65 +/- 6.80 D, and mean
      pachymetry value was 335.50 um. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the period
      of risk of keratoplasty in the second eye is significant in the first 5 years
      following the first keratoplasty. New therapeutic treatments have been made
      available, allowing for stabilization of the keratoconus decreasing the impact of
      transplantation.

PMID- 28604984
TI  - Choroidal Thickness and Ametropia in Children: A Longitudinal Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the relationship of subfoveal choroidal thickness (ChT),
      refraction, and axial length in children, and evaluate the evolution of subfoveal
      ChT with time in myopic versus nonmyopic eyes. METHODS: A total of 229 eyes of
      115 children aged 2 to 16 years were included in the study. Refraction under
      cycloplegia, axial length, and subfoveal ChT were measured at baseline with
      comparative investigations at 15 months follow-up. RESULTS: The probability for
      the subfoveal ChT to be thinner in myopic children compared to nonmyopic children
      was 0.9999. We found a relation between subfoveal ChT and axial length. At 15
      months follow-up, subfoveal ChT was found to have increased in the nonmyopic
      eyes, but decreased in myopic patients. CONCLUSIONS: A number of studies have
      already shown the choroid to play an important role in the process of
      emmetropization. We found that ChT had a different evolution in myopic children
      compared to nonmyopic children. A thinner choroid may predict the onset, or
      progression, of myopia. Further studies, with longer follow-up, are necessary to
      confirm this hypothesis.

PMID- 28604985
TI  - Longitudinal assessment of intraocular pressure in premature infants.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the longitudinal change in intraocular pressure (IOP) in
      premature infants and to establish a normative IOP value. METHODS: Forty
      premature infants with a gestational age (GA) of 26 weeks were enrolled in this
      longitudinal study. Measurements were taken initially at 28 weeks
      postconceptional age (PCA) and at 2-week intervals up to 40 weeks PCA.
      Intraocular pressure was measured with a hand-held tonometer (Tono-Pen XL;
      Reichert Inc.). RESULTS: From 40 (22 male, 18 female) premature Caucasian
      infants, seven (for each eye) IOP measurements were obtained. Mean GA was 26
      weeks and mean birthweight was 820 +/- 112 grams. The mean IOP was 15.1 +/- 1.2
      mm Hg and 14.9 +/- 1.1 mm Hg for the right and left eyes, respectively. The mean
      IOP in both eyes for all measurements was 15.0 +/- 1.1 mm Hg. At 28 weeks PCA, 9
      (22.5%) preterm infants had IOP values greater than 20 mm Hg. The mean IOPs at 28
      weeks, 30 weeks, 32 weeks, 34 weeks, 36 weeks, 38 weeks, and 40 weeks PCA were
      18.7 +/- 1.1 mm Hg, 16.9 +/- 0.9 mm Hg, 15.3 +/- 0.9 mm Hg, 14.1 +/- 1.3 mm Hg,
      13.7 +/- 1.3 mm Hg, 13.4 +/- 1.4 mm Hg, and 13.1 +/- 1.3 mm Hg, respectively. A
      significant decrease in IOP measurements was found up to 34 weeks PCA, with no
      significant decline in IOP measurements after that point (F = 109.7, p<0.01).
      There was a negative correlation between IOP and PCA (r = -0.712, p<0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: The mean IOP of premature infants was 15.0 +/- 1.1 mm Hg and IOP
      values decreased significantly up to 34 weeks PCA, indicating a decline trend
      approaching the term period.

PMID- 28604986
TI  - Reduction of lung congestion following arteriovenous fistula flow reduction in
      renal graft recipient.

PMID- 28604987
TI  - Iatrogenic lymphocutaneous fistula secondary to right-sided pheresis catheter
      placement and its percutaneous treatment: a case report.
AB  - We present a case of an iatrogenic lymphocutaneous fistula secondary to placement
      of a tunneled, large bore (14.5 Fr) right-sided internal jugular vein for
      plasmapheresis to treat antibody-mediated kidney transplant rejection. While
      iatrogenic lymphatic leaks caused by neck and thoracic surgeries are well
      described in the literature, lymphatic leak or lymphocutaneous fistula resulting
      from image-guided placement of a central venous catheter through the right
      internal jugular vein has yet to be described. We also describe the successful
      percutaneous treatment of this lymphocutaneous fistula using a combination of n
      butyl cyanoacrylate glue and embolization coils.

PMID- 28604989
TI  - Cannulation of the internal jugular vein without head-down tilt positions: when
      it is safe.

PMID- 28604988
TI  - Efficacy of statin on vascular access patency in diabetic hemodialysis patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An effective approach to prevent hemodialysis vascular access
      dysfunction is still unclear despite previous studies, which have shown
      conflicting results of several drugs on vascular access outcomes. In this study,
      we focused on diabetic hemodialysis patients with native arteriovenous fistula
      and evaluated the impact of statin treatment on vascular access patency. METHODS:
      A retrospective cohort study of 268 consecutive patients who newly started
      hemodialysis due to diabetic nephropathy between January 2011 and December 2013
      at Japan Community Health Care Organization Sendai Hospital was performed and the
      patients were followed for two years. The primary outcome was vascular access
      dysfunction. Effect of statin treatment was examined using Kaplan Meier analysis
      and Cox proportional hazard, after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: The mean
      follow-up period was 426.7 days, and 117 (52.2%) patients developed vascular
      access dysfunction. The two-year patency rate was 55.0% among statin users and
      36.1% in non-users. Vascular access survival period was significantly longer
      among statin users (log-rank test, p = 0.004). In multivariable analysis, statin
      treatment is significantly associated with better vascular access outcomes, in
      which the hazard ratio was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.52 to 0.97; p = 0.028) in the
      unadjusted model and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.45 to 0.88; p = 0.007) after adjustment for
      covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Statin treatment could be associated with improved
      vascular access dysfunction among diabetic hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 28604990
TI  - Ultrasound-guided radial artery catheterisation increases the success rate among
      anaesthesiology residents: a randomised study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The palpation technique is generally used for radial artery
      catheterisation, but is associated with a high rate of failure and complications.
      Dynamic needle tip positioning (DNTP) is a new ultrasound-guided technique. We
      aimed to compare the traditional palpation technique with DNTP performed by four
      anaesthesiology residents. METHODS: The study was a randomised, controlled,
      patient-blinded, crossover study. Fourty patients underwent bilateral radial
      artery catheterisation using both techniques. The primary endpoint was the first
      attempt success rate. The secondary endpoints were: 1) number of skin
      perforations, 2) number of needle retractions, 3) needle manipulation time, 4)
      total time, 5) attempts lasting >180 seconds, 6) number of catheters used, 7)
      frequency of aborted attempts or crossovers, and 8) pain scores (VAS). RESULTS:
      The first attempt success rate was significantly higher in the DNTP group
      compared with the palpation group (36/40 vs. 28/40, p = 0.022).The palpation
      technique group required a higher number of skin perforations (44 vs. 60, p =
      0.016), needle retractions (p = 0.001) and catheters (42 vs. 52, p = 0.011)
      compared with the DNTP group. Neither the total time required for arterial
      catheterisation, the needle manipulation time nor the VAS scores were
      significantly different between the groups (all p>0.407). Aborted attempts were
      only seen in the palpation group (7/40, p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound
      guided arterial catheterisation using the DNTP technique is superior to the
      standard palpation technique. This study favours the ultrasound-guided DNTP
      technique as the first choice rather than merely being viewed as a rescue
      procedure.

PMID- 28604991
TI  - Ureteroscopy in the diagnosis of upper tract transitional cell cancer: a 10-year
      experience providing outcome data for informed consent.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of ureteroscopy and
      biopsy in the diagnosis and management of upper tract urothelial carcinoma.
      METHODS: We retrospectively collated data from pathology, radiology and operating
      theatre data sets from two large UK hospitals. During the 10-year period
      examined, 160 patients underwent ureteroscopy prior to nephro-ureterectomy
      (NU)/distal ureterectomy (DU). RESULTS: Of the 160 patients identified, 140 were
      ureteroscopically evaluated and biopsied, 104 (74.3%) had positive biopsies, 5
      (3.6%) had negative biopsies and 31 (22.1%) had nondiagnostic biopsies.One
      hundred and forty patients of 160 (88.8%) resulted in positive findings as a
      result of their ureteroscopy [positive biopsy/positive operative cytology/visible
      upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) at ureteroscopy)].A total of 108 patients
      had cytological samples sent for histological analysis where grade was able to be
      assessed at DU/NU. Of these samples, 35 had positive cytology, 58 had an abnormal
      result that was not diagnostic and 15 had negative cytology.Patients with
      positive biopsies had upstaging (58.4%) and/or upgrading (30.5%) of their initial
      ureteroscopic histology at NU/DU.The overall success rate of ureteroscopy for
      cancer diagnosis was 88.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Upper tract endoscopy and biopsy yielded
      positive biopsy results in 74.3% of cases and confirmed a cancer diagnosis in
      88.8%. Five patients had negative histology at biopsy, all of whom eventually
      underwent a NU/DU confirming cancer.

PMID- 28604992
TI  - A new bioinspired collagen-hydroxyapatite bone graft substitute in adult
      scoliosis surgery: results at 3-year follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal fusion is a common procedure used for surgical treatment of
      spinal deformity. In recent years, many bone graft substitutes (BGS) have been
      developed to provide good arthrodesis when the available autologous bone
      harvested from the patient is not enough. The aim of this study was to analyze
      the use of a new-generation composite material (RegenOss) made of Mg
      hydroxyapatite nanoparticles nucleated on type I collagen to obtain long
      posterolateral fusion in adult scoliosis surgery. METHODS: A total of 41 patients
      who underwent spinal fusion for the treatment of adult scoliosis were
      retrospectively analyzed. According to Lenke classification, visual analog scale
      (VAS) score and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score, radiographic rates of bone
      union were evaluated before surgery and at 6, 12 and 36 months of follow-up.
      Fusion was considered to be successful when criteria for Lenke grade A or B were
      satisfied. Patient-related risk factors were considered for the evaluation of the
      final outcome. RESULTS: At 36-month follow-up, radiographic evidence of spinal
      fusion was present in the majority of patients (95.1%). A time-dependent
      statistically significant improvement was evidenced after surgery for all
      clinical outcomes evaluated. Based on the demographic data collected, there were
      no statistically significant factors determining fusion. The correction of
      deformity was maintained at different time points. No intraoperative or
      postoperative complications were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      demonstrated that RegenOss can safely be used to achieve good arthrodesis when
      associated with autologous bone graft to obtain long spinal fusion in the
      treatment of adult scoliosis.

PMID- 28604994
TI  - EpCAM-expressing circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have raised the issue of the inadequacy of
      CellSearch(r) to detect the entire pool of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from
      blood of cancer patients, suggesting that cells expressing low levels of
      epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) are not recognized by the capture
      reagent. In this exploratory study, we aimed to evaluate the status of EpCAM in
      CTCs isolated from a group of metastatic colorectal cancer patients, in 40% of
      whom, CTC had been found to be undetected by the CellSearch(r) system. METHODS:
      CTCs were analyzed using both a microfiltration method (ScreenCell) and
      CellSearch(r) in parallel. Furthermore, since EpCAM exists in 2 different
      variants, we investigated the presence of both its intracellular domain (EpICD)
      and extracellular domain (EpEX) through immunofluorescence staining of CTCs on
      filters. RESULTS: Results from immunofluorescence experiments demonstrated that,
      overall, EpICD and/or EpEX was expressed in 176 CTCs detected by ScreenCell,
      while the CellSearch(r) system was able to capture only 10 CTCs. CONCLUSIONS:
      This is the first demonstration that the low sensitivity of CellSearch(r) to
      detect CTCs in colorectal cancer patients is not due to the lack of EpCAM.

PMID- 28604993
TI  - Association of N-acetyltransferase 1 polymorphism and bladder cancer risk: an
      updated meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individual studies of the association between N-acetyltransferase 1
      (NAT1)*10 allele and bladder cancer susceptibility have shown inconclusive
      results. To derive a more precise estimation of any such relationship, we
      performed this systemic review and updated meta-analysis based on 17
      publications. METHODS: A total of 17 studies were investigated with 4,322 bladder
      cancer cases and 4,944 controls. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association. Subgroup
      analyses were conducted based on ethnicity, sex, source of controls and detecting
      methods. Then trial sequential analysis was performed to evaluate whether the
      evidence of the results was sufficient and reduce the risk of type I error.
      RESULTS: There was no association between NAT1*10 allele and bladder cancer risk
      in a random-effects model (OR = 0.96, 95% CI, 0.84-1.10) or in a fixed-effects
      model (OR = 0.95, 95% CI, 0.87-1.03). In addition, no significantly increased
      risk of bladder cancer was found in any other subgroup analysis. Then, trial
      sequential analyses demonstrated that the results of our study need to be further
      verified. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its limitations, the results of the present meta
      analysis suggested that there was no association between NAT1*10 allele and
      bladder cancer risk. More importantly, our findings need to be further validated
      regarding whether being without the NAT1*10 allele could in the future be shown
      to be a potential marker for the risk of bladder cancer.

PMID- 28604995
TI  - Improving Healthcare in Pediatric Oncology: Development and Testing of Multiple
      Indicators to Evaluate a Hub-And-Spoke Model.
AB  - Purpose The hub-and-spoke is a new innovation model in healthcare that has been
      adopted in some countries to manage rare pathologies. We developed a set of
      indicators to assess current quality practices of the hub-and-spoke model adopted
      in the Interregional Pediatric Oncology Network in Northwest Italy and to promote
      patient, family, and professional healthcare empowerment. Methods Literature and
      evidence-based clinical guidelines were reviewed and multiprofessional team
      workshops were carried out to highlight some important issues on healthcare in
      pediatric oncology and to translate them into a set of multiple indicators. For
      each indicator, specific questions were formulated and tested through a series of
      questionnaires completed by 80 healthcare professionals and 50 pediatric patients
      and their parents. Results The results highlighted a positive perception of
      healthcare delivered by the hub-and-spoke model (MHP = 156, MPat = 93, MPar =
      104). Based on the participants' suggestions, some quality improvements have been
      implemented. Conclusions This study represents the first attempt to examine this
      new model of pediatric oncology care through the active involvement of patients,
      families, and healthcare professionals. Suggestions for adopting a hub-and-spoke
      model in pediatric oncology in other regions and countries are also highlighted.

PMID- 28604996
TI  - One-lung ventilation for thoracic surgery: current perspectives.
AB  - One-lung ventilation (OLV) is an anesthesiological technique that is increasingly
      being used beyond thoracic surgery. This requires specific skills and knowledge
      about airway management, maintenance of gas exchange and prevention of acute lung
      injury. Sometimes maintaining adequate gas exchange and minimizing acute lung
      injury may be opposing processes. Parameters validated for OLV titration still
      have not been found, but a multimodal approach based on low tidal volume, end
      expiratory pressure application and alveolar recruitment maneuvers is considered
      the best way to ensure protective ventilation and reduce lung damage. The purpose
      of this review is to analyze all these factors using the latest scientific
      evidence and the opinions of the most influential authors.

PMID- 28604997
TI  - Early diagnosis of radiotherapy failure for patients with head and neck cancer:
      the role of biochemical markers.
AB  - PURPOSE: There is a lack of effective diagnostic tools for early assessment of
      radiotherapy (RT) outcome in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). The timely
      diagnosis of treatment failure may facilitate use of salvage procedures to
      prevent disease progression. We assessed squamous cell carcinoma antigen and
      CYFRA 21-1 as early markers of radiotherapy failure in patients with HNC.
      METHODS: Between January 2009 and February 2012, 185 patients (median age 59
      years) with squamous cell carcinoma were treated with curative intent with RT
      alone or combined with chemotherapy (ChT). Markers were estimated in the serum 2
      times: before RT and after completion of treatment. RESULTS: The median of follow
      up was 40 months. Locoregional control (LRC) was 53% and locoregional failure
      (LRF) was 31%. When comparing LRC and LRF, there were no significant differences
      between markers concentration obtained before RT. After RT, CYFRA 21-1 (p =
      0.018) was significantly elevated in the LRF group. Patients with CYFRA 21-1
      <1.79 ng/mL had a higher disease-free survival rate compared to patients with
      CYFRA 21-1 >=1.79 ng/mL (74% vs 53%, respectively). After RT, CYFRA 21-1 was
      significantly related to the overall survival ratio in both univariate (p =
      0.049) and multivariate analysis (p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS: CYFRA 21-1 assessed at
      the end of RT or ChT seems to be a prognostic marker for tumor response. A high
      concentration of CYFRA 21-1 after treatment increases the risk of death. CYFRA 21
      1 might be suggested in the monitoring of carcinomas of HNC.

PMID- 28604998
TI  - Role of radiotherapy in the treatment of renal cell cancer: updated and critical
      review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The growing incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) raises many
      questions about the management of these patients. The late clinical presentation,
      the presence of locally advanced or metastatic disease at diagnosis, the
      difficulty of radical surgical excision, and radioresistance make it one of the
      more challenging tumors to treat. The primary objective of this article is to
      propose an updated and critical review of the role of radiotherapy (RT) in the
      treatment of RCC. METHODS: This literature review is based on data from meta
      analyses and randomized, prospective, and retrospective studies. We collected
      reports from 1970 to the present about preoperative RT, postoperative RT,
      stereotactic body RT, radiosurgery, and intraoperative RT in locally advanced
      renal cancer and in metastatic diseases. RESULTS: We emphasize the progress made
      in RT technology that allowed the creation of a more personalized and focused
      treatment with a minimum rate of complications. CONCLUSIONS: In the coming years,
      new studies will be published to confirm and increase the indications for use of
      RT.

PMID- 28605000
TI  - Hip arthroscopy in patients less than 25 years of age in the treatment of labral
      tears: aetiology and clinical outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hip arthroscopy has evolved into a well-established and rapidly
      growing field of orthopedic surgery for the management of labral tears. The
      purpose of this study was to review clinical outcomes of patients less than 25
      years of age undergoing hip arthroscopy for treatment of a labral tear. METHODS:
      From 2005 to 2013, 82 hips in 76 patients with mean age of 20.4 (16-25 range)
      underwent hip arthroscopy for treatment of labral-chondral damage. The Western
      Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and hip disability and
      osteoarthritis outcome score (HOOS) were recorded at latest follow-up. RESULTS:
      36 of 86 hips (42%) had isolated labral pathology with no associated bony
      pathology (normal alpha and centre-edge angle; no retroversion). Beck score
      (intraoperative cartilage damage) of 3 or more was significantly associated with
      an alpha angle of more than 55 degrees (odds ratio [OR], 3.6; confidence interval
      [CI], 1.2-11.0) and presence of femeroacetabular impingement (OR, 4.5; CI, 1.3
      15.2). HOOS pain, sports/recreation, and quality of life significantly improved
      from preoperative to one year after surgery (p<0.05). 8 patients had re
      operations for persistent pain; 5 underwent arthroscopic labral repair; 2
      underwent arthroscopy with subsequent periacetabular osteotomy (PAO); 1 had only
      a periacetabular osteotomy (PAO). Complications included 2 lateral femoral
      cutaneous nerve deficits and 1 deep vein thrombosis. CONCLUSIONS: Labral tears in
      patients less than 25 years of age occurs commonly without bony deformities, with
      those with normal head/neck contour demonstrating significantly less early
      cartilage damage than those with bony pathology. Hip arthroscopy in young
      patients can improve function and quality of life with minimal morbidity.

PMID- 28604999
TI  - Percutaneous cardiac support during myocardial infarction drastically reduces
      mortality: perspectives from a swine model.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with cardiogenic shock (CS)
      remains the leading cause of in-hospital death in acute coronary syndromes. In
      the AMI-CS pig model we tested the efficacy of temporary percutaneous
      cardiorespiratory assist device (PCRA) in rescuing the failing heart and reducing
      early mortality. METHODS: In open-chest pigs we induced AMI by proximal left
      anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) ligation. Eight animals without PCRA (C
      group) were compared with 12 animals otherwise treated with PCRA (T group),
      starting approximately at 60 minutes post-occlusion and lasting 120-180 minutes.
      In 3 animals of the T group, regional myocardial oxygen content was also imaged
      by two-dimensional near infrared spectroscopy (2D-NIRS) with and without PCRA,
      before and after LAD reperfusion. RESULTS: All animals without PCRA died despite
      unrelenting resuscitation maneuvers (120 minutes average survival time).
      Conversely, animals treated with PCRA showed a reduction in life-threatening
      arrhythmia and maintenance of aortic pressure, allowing interruption of PCRA in
      all cases early in the experiments, with sound hemodynamics at the end of the
      observation period. During LAD occlusion, NIRS showed severe de-oxygenation of
      the LAD territory that improved with PCRA. After PCRA suspension and LAD
      reperfusion, the residual de-oxygenated area proved to be smaller than the
      initial risk area. CONCLUSIONS: In AMI, PCRA initiated during advanced CS
      drastically reduced early mortality from 100% to 0% in a 4-5 hour observation
      period. PCRA promoted oxygenation of the ischemic area during LAD occlusion.
      Results support the use of PCRA as first line of treatment in AMI-CS, improving
      myocardial rescue and short-term survival.

PMID- 28605001
TI  - Determination of structural femoral head allograft viability and integrity with a
      novel diagnostic tool: SPECT/CT. A preliminary study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the viability and integrity of fresh frozen bulk femoral
      head allografts obtained from the institutional bone bank that were used to
      reconstruct severe acetabular defects and to validate the SPECT/CT method which
      gives both anatomical and functional data for this purpose. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed 9 patients (6 female, 3 male; mean age 63.6 years).
      Preoperative and postoperative leg lengths, existence of the Trendelenburg sign,
      range of motion of the hip, visual analogue score (VAS), Harris Hip Score (HHS)
      and any complication were assesed at each follow-up. Radiographically, position
      of the cup, signs of loosening or migration, and union of the graft were all
      determined. At the latest follow-up, patients were evaluated with hybrid
      SPECT/CT. RESULTS: The average duration of follow-up was 38.1 months (24-50
      months). The overall mean HHS and VAS scores were significantly improved
      (p<0.05). When hybrid SPECT/CT results were evaluated, the vascular phase of
      scintigraphy showed hyperaemia of the graft and the bone phase of scintigraphy
      showed normal or increased radiotracer uptake in the graft site in 7 patients.
      SPECT/CT images were used to determine the exact localisation of osteoblastic
      activity. 1 patient with minor resorption of the graft without clinical symptoms
      revealed mild osteoblastic activity. The patient who had no activity in the graft
      site was rerevised because of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Institutional bank
      allografts are still excellent options for treating large acetabular defects in
      revision total hip arthroplasty where trabecular metals are not available or in
      common use. The Hybrid SPECT/CT method is a reliable, noninvasive method for
      evaluating both the integrity and viability of a bulk graft in 3-D.

PMID- 28605002
TI  - Short-term outcomes of open hip preservation surgery for symptomatic
      extraarticular femoroacetabular impingement.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purposes of this study were to describe: (i) short-term disease
      specific patient-reported outcome scores (PROMs); and (ii) factors associated
      with reoperation or treatment failure in patients undergoing open hip
      preservation surgery for symptomatic extraarticular FAI. METHODS: Patients
      undergoing open hip preservation surgery for symptomatic extraarticular FAI were
      identified from a prospective, single-centre hip preservation registry (n = 51
      patients; median clinical follow-up 24 [range 11-49] months). Hip-specific PROMs
      were assessed preoperatively, 6 months, and each year subsequently. Patients
      undergoing reoperation or treatment failure (<10 point improvement in iHOT-33
      postoperatively) over the study period were identified. Preoperative associated
      factors were explored on a univariate basis. RESULTS: International Hip Outcome
      Tool-33 (iHOT-33) improved from 33 (standard deviation [SD] 18) to 62 (26) at
      most recent follow-up and 76% of patients improved by minimum clinically
      important difference (MCID). Harris Hip Score improved from 53 (15) to 75 (17) at
      most recent follow-up and 79% of patients improved by MCID. Hip Outcome Score
      (HOS) Sport improved from 45 (26) to 66 (28) at most recent follow-up and 60% of
      patients improved by MCID. Continued improvements in mean follow-up scores were
      seen from 1 year to 2 years. Overall, 7 patients underwent reoperation and 9
      patients failed to improve by MCID. Preoperative HOS Sport was higher in patients
      experiencing reoperation or treatment failure (58 [SD 19] vs. 40 [SD 27]
      respectively; p = 0.03). No other associated demographic, physical examination,
      or radiographic factors were found. CONCLUSIONS: Open treatment of extraarticular
      FAI results in short-term improvements in hip-specific PROMs in most patients.
      Higher HOS Sport scores were associated with reoperation or treatment failure.
      Longer-term follow-up is necessary to define maximum improvements in this
      challenging patient population.

PMID- 28605003
TI  - Outcomes of gluteus maximus and tensor fascia lata transfer for primary
      deficiency of the abductors of the hip.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to present 3 patients' results after undergoing gluteus
      maximus and tensor fascia lata (TFL) transfer for chronic abductor tears unable
      to be repaired primarily. METHODS: 3 patients were identified intraoperatively as
      having an abductor tear unable to be repaired primarily. The anterior 1/3 of the
      gluteus maximus and the posterior 1/3 of the TFL were mobilised and transferred
      to the greater trochanter in order to reproduce the normal force vector of the
      gluteus medius and minimus. Data was prospectively collected for changes in gait,
      abductor strength, and the following patient reported outcomes (PROs): modified
      Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Nonarthritic Hip Score (NAHS), Hip Outcome Score-Sports
      Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS), Hip Outcome Score-Activities of Daily Living (HOS
      ADL), visual analogue scale (VAS), and satisfaction. RESULTS: The patients were
      female, 63-75 years old, with BMIs of 23-28. All patients had follow-up at mean
      2.1 years (1.25-2.5) with positive Trendelenburg signs preoperatively; 2 patients
      normalised postoperatively. For 2 patients, abductor strength improved by 2
      grades postoperatively; the other patient maintained grade four. 2 patients' PROs
      all improved; the other patient's PROs all improved except mHHS. Postoperative
      VAS scores were 0, 0, 1. 2 patients reported maximum satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS:
      This case series suggests that gluteus maximus and TFL transfer for irreparable
      abductor deficiency may be effective for pain relief, improving abductor
      strength, and reconstructing abductor function. Although this is a small series,
      it is to our knowledge the first report of clinical outcomes of this procedure.

PMID- 28605004
TI  - Preoperative optimisation of anaemia for primary total hip arthroplasty: a
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 2009 NHS Blood and Transplant national comparative audit on blood
      use following primary total hip arthroplasty (THR) highlighted that preoperative
      anaemia was common and undertreated. They recommended that hospitals have a
      written policy for treating anaemia preoperatively. In our centre, we found that
      preoperative optimisation of anaemia, significantly reduced blood transfusion
      rate to <5%. The 2015 national audit showed that even though 48% of patients
      received tranexamic acid, 85% of patients required transfusion. By conducting a
      systematic review of literature on blood management for preoperative anaemia in
      primary THR; we aimed to validate the recommendations of the national audit and
      increase its awareness in the orthopaedic community. METHODS: A PubMed Search was
      performed to identify suitable literature limited to randomised controlled
      trials, cohort studies, meta-analyses and systematic reviews involving primary
      THR. We excluded any THRs performed for trauma and revision arthroplasty. Our
      exclusion criteria for the intervention was the use of autologous methods such as
      cell salvage techniques and preoperative autologous blood donation. RESULTS:
      Analysis of 13 publications showed widespread study heterogeneity, which
      precluded meta-analysis. Preoperative blood management (PBM) interventions
      included the use of recombinant human erythropoietin and oral iron
      supplementation in 12/13 and 11/13 studies respectively. There were significant
      differences in transfusion rates between PBM and control groups in 12/13 studies.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings overwhelmingly support preoperative optimisation of
      anaemia. The main barrier to wider implementation remains the cost effectiveness.
      We recommend using our validated protocol, which has shown to significantly
      reduce transfusion rates, length of stay and remain cost effective.

PMID- 28605005
TI  - Factors predicting the outcomes of incomplete triple pelvic osteotomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the present study, we identified factors affecting the outcomes
      of patients who underwent incomplete triple pelvic osteotomies due to acetabular
      dysplasia. METHODS: Data on a total of 58 hips in 50 patients for whom adequate
      data were available and who had undergone appropriate follow-up were
      retrospectively evaluated. We used Omeroglu scores for radiological evaluation,
      Harris Hip Scores for clinical evaluation, Tonnis scores to evaluate
      osteoarthritis progression and a modified Clavien-Dindo classification to
      evaluate complications. RESULTS: The average patient age was 23.26 (14-47) years,
      and the average follow-up duration 105.59 (18-191) months. The complication rate
      was 10.3%, and complications negatively influenced clinical outcomes. Patients
      with radiologically poorer outcomes had more advanced osteoarthritis. We found
      minimal improvements in lateral centre edge angle (LCEA), refined centre-edge
      angle (RCEA), and lateral acetabulum head index (LAHI) were associated with
      osteoarthritis progression and that good improvements in LCEA, RCEA, acetabular
      angle (AA), and LAHI were associated with radiological outcomes. Neither patient
      age at the time of operation nor development of a postoperative relative
      crossover sign affected osteoarthritis progression or clinical or radiological
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The most important factors influencing clinical outcomes
      were complications. However, neither postoperative acetabular retroversion nor a
      positive supra-equatorial crossover sign (often viewed as prognostically
      negative) directly affected clinical outcomes.When treating patients with
      acetabular dysplasia, either inadequate correction or overcorrection may
      negatively affect outcomes. In such patients, an incomplete triple pelvic
      osteotomy (allowing controlled correction) is both safe and effective.

PMID- 28605006
TI  - Treating periodontal disease for preventing adverse birth outcomes in pregnant
      women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periodontal disease has been linked with a number of conditions, such
      as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and adverse pregnancy outcomes, all
      likely through systemic inflammatory pathways. It is common in women of
      reproductive age and gum conditions tend to worsen during pregnancy. Some
      evidence from observational studies suggests that periodontal intervention may
      reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes. There is need for a comprehensive Cochrane
      review of randomised trials to assess the effect of periodontal treatment on
      perinatal and maternal health. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of treating
      periodontal disease in pregnant women in order to prevent or reduce perinatal and
      maternal morbidity and mortality. SEARCH METHODS: Cochrane Oral Health's
      Information Specialist searched the following databases: Cochrane Oral Health's
      Trials Register (to 6 October 2016), Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials
      Register (to 7 October 2016), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 9) in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 6 October
      2016), Embase Ovid (1980 to 6 October 2016), and LILACS BIREME Virtual Health
      Library (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information database; 1982
      to 6 October 2016). ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization
      International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched for ongoing trials
      on 6 October 2016. We placed no restrictions on the language or date of
      publication when searching the electronic databases. SELECTION CRITERIA: We
      included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of
      periodontal treatment in preventing or reducing perinatal and maternal morbidity
      and mortality. We excluded studies where obstetric outcomes were not reported.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened titles
      and abstracts and extracted data using a prepiloted data extraction form. Missing
      data were obtained by contacting authors and risk of bias was assessed using
      Cochrane's 'Risk of bias' tool. Where appropriate, results of comparable trials
      were pooled and expressed as risk ratios (RR) or mean differences (MD) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) . The random-effects model was used for pooling except
      where there was an insufficient number of studies. We assessed the quality of the
      evidence using GRADE. MAIN RESULTS: There were 15 RCTs (n = 7161 participants)
      meeting our inclusion criteria. All the included studies were at high risk of
      bias mostly due to lack of blinding and imbalance in baseline characteristics of
      participants. The studies recruited pregnant women from prenatal care facilities
      who had periodontitis (14 studies) or gingivitis (1 study).The two main
      comparisons were: periodontal treatment versus no treatment during pregnancy and
      periodontal treatment versus alternative periodontal treatment. The head-to-head
      comparison between periodontal treatments assessed a more intensive treatment
      versus a less intensive one.Eleven studies compared periodontal treatment with no
      treatment during pregnancy. The meta-analysis shows no clear difference in
      preterm birth < 37 weeks (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.10; 5671 participants; 11
      studies; low-quality evidence) between periodontal treatment and no treatment.
      There is low-quality evidence that periodontal treatment may reduce low birth
      weight < 2500 g (9.70% with periodontal treatment versus 12.60% without
      treatment; RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.95; 3470 participants; 7 studies).It is
      unclear whether periodontal treatment leads to a difference in preterm birth < 35
      weeks (RR 1.19, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.76; 2557 participants; 2 studies; ) and < 32
      weeks (RR 1.35, 95% CI 0.78 to 2.32; 2755 participants; 3 studies), low birth
      weight < 1500 g (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.38 to 1.70; 2550 participants; 2 studies),
      perinatal mortality (including fetal and neonatal deaths up to the first 28 days
      after birth) (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.43; 5320 participants; 7 studies; very
      low-quality evidence), and pre-eclampsia (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.62; 2946
      participants; 3 studies; very low-quality evidence). There is no evidence of a
      difference in small for gestational age (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.16; 3610
      participants; 3 studies; low-quality evidence) when periodontal treatment is
      compared with no treatment.Four studies compared periodontal treatment with
      alternative periodontal treatment. Data pooling was not possible due to clinical
      heterogeneity. The outcomes reported were preterm birth < 37 weeks, preterm birth
      < 35 weeks, birth weight < 2500 g, birth weight < 1500 g and perinatal mortality
      (very low-quality evidence). It is unclear whether there is a difference in < 37
      weeks, preterm birth < 35 weeks, birth weight < 2500 g, birth weight < 1500 g and
      perinatal mortality when different periodontal treatments are compared because
      the quality of evidence is very low.Maternal mortality and adverse effects of the
      intervention did not occur in any of the studies that reported on either of the
      outcomes. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: It is not clear if periodontal treatment during
      pregnancy has an impact on preterm birth (low-quality evidence). There is low
      quality evidence that periodontal treatment may reduce low birth weight (< 2500
      g), however, our confidence in the effect estimate is limited. There is
      insufficient evidence to determine which periodontal treatment is better in
      preventing adverse obstetric outcomes. Future research should aim to report
      periodontal outcomes alongside obstetric outcomes.

PMID- 28605008
TI  - Unpicking the Developmental Relationship Between Oral Language Skills and Reading
      Comprehension: It's Simple, But Complex.
AB  - Listening comprehension and word decoding are the two major determinants of the
      development of reading comprehension. The relative importance of different
      language skills for the development of listening and reading comprehension
      remains unclear. In this 5-year longitudinal study, starting at age 7.5 years (n
      = 198), it was found that the shared variance between vocabulary, grammar, verbal
      working memory, and inference skills was a powerful longitudinal predictor of
      variations in both listening and reading comprehension. In line with the simple
      view of reading, listening comprehension, and word decoding, together with their
      interaction and curvilinear effects, explains almost all (96%) variation in early
      reading comprehension skills. Additionally, listening comprehension was a
      predictor of both the early and later growth of reading comprehension skills.

PMID- 28605007
TI  - Racial Categorization Predicts Implicit Racial Bias in Preschool Children.
AB  - This research investigated the relation between racial categorization and
      implicit racial bias in majority and minority children. Chinese and Indian 3- to
      7-year-olds from Singapore (N = 158) categorized Chinese and Indian faces by race
      and had their implicit and explicit racial biases measured. Majority Chinese
      children, but not minority Indian children, showed implicit bias favoring own
      race. Regardless of ethnicity, children's racial categorization performance
      correlated positively with implicit racial bias. Also, Chinese children, but not
      Indian children, displayed explicit bias favoring own race. Furthermore,
      children's explicit bias was unrelated to racial categorization performance and
      implicit bias. The findings support a perceptual-social linkage in the emergence
      of implicit racial bias and have implications for designing programs to promote
      interracial harmony.

PMID- 28605009
TI  - Seeking and Finding Positive Youth Development Among Zulu Youth in South African
      Townships.
AB  - A cross-sectional study explored the presence and power of developmental assets
      in a sample of youth from rural South African townships. Learners (female = 58%;
      Mage  = 17.1; N = 505) attending three township high schools completed self
      report measures of developmental assets and thriving outcomes. Participants
      reported contextual assets (e.g., family, school, community) in the vulnerable
      ranges, with gender, family structure, and school type accounting for some
      differences. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that five asset
      contexts (family, school, community, personal, social) were uniquely predictive
      of thriving outcomes. Discussion focuses on contextual expressions of positive
      youth development among Zulu township youth in challenging environments.

PMID- 28605010
TI  - Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation during food cooking:
      Implications for the interpretation of the fossil human record.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Stable isotope data provide insight into the reconstruction of
      ancient human diet. However, cooking may alter the original stable isotope
      compositions of food due to losses and modifications of biochemical and water
      components. METHODS: To address this issue, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope
      ratios were measured on meat aliquots sampled from various animals such as pork,
      beef, duck and chicken, and also from the flesh of fishes such as salmon,
      European seabass, European pilchard, sole, gilt-head bream, and tuna. For each
      specimen, three pieces were cooked according to the three most commonly-known
      cooking practices: boiling, frying and roasting on a barbecue. RESULTS: Our data
      show that cooking produced isotopic shifts up to 1.80/00, 3.50/00, and 5.20/00
      for delta13 C, delta15 N, and delta18 O values, respectively. Such variations
      between raw and cooked food are much greater than previously estimated in the
      literature; they are more sensitive to the type of food rather than to the
      cooking process itself, except in the case of boiling. CONCLUSIONS:
      Reconstructions of paleodietary may thus suffer slight bias in cases of
      populations with undiversified diets that are restrained toward a specific raw or
      cooked product, or using a specific cooking mode. In cases of oxygen isotope
      compositions from skeletal remains (bones, teeth), they not only constitute a
      valuable proxy for reconstructing past climatic conditions, but they could also
      be used to improve our knowledge of past human diet.

PMID- 28605011
TI  - Use of the ketogenic diet to manage refractory epilepsy in CDKL5 disorder:
      Experience of >100 patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pathogenic variants involving the CDKL5 gene result in a severe
      epileptic encephalopathy, often later presenting with features similar to Rett
      syndrome. Cardinal features of epilepsy in the CDKL5 disorder include early onset
      at a median age of 6 weeks and poor response to antiepileptic drugs. The
      ketogenic diet (KD) was first introduced in the 1920s as a treatment option for
      refractory epilepsy in children. This study investigated use of the KD in the
      CDKL5 disorder and its influences on seizures. METHODS: The International CDKL5
      Disorder Database, established in 2012, collects information on individuals with
      the CDKL5 disorder. Families have provided information regarding seizure
      characteristics, use, and side effects of the KD treatment. Descriptive
      statistics and time to event analyses were performed. Clinical vignettes were
      also provided on patients attending Boston Children's Hospital. RESULTS: Data
      regarding KD use were available for 204 individuals with a pathogenic CDKL5
      variant. Median age of inclusion in the database was 4.8 years (range = 0.3-33.9
      years), with median age of 6 weeks (range = 1 day-65 weeks) at seizure onset.
      History of KD use was reported for 51% (104 of 204) of individuals, with a median
      duration of use of 17 months (95% confidence interval = 9-24). Changes in seizure
      activity after commencing KD were reported for two-thirds (69 of 104), with
      improvements in 88% (61 of 69). Nearly one-third (31.7%) experienced side effects
      during the diet. At ascertainment, only one-third (32%) remained on the diet,
      with lack of long-term efficacy as the main reason for diet cessation (51%, 36 of
      70). SIGNIFICANCE: Benefits of KD in the CDKL5 disorder are in keeping with
      previous trials on refractory epilepsies. However, poor long-term efficacy
      remains as a significant barrier. In view of its side effect profile, KD
      administration should be supervised by a pediatric neurologist and specialist
      dietician.

PMID- 28605012
TI  - Advancing research on animal-transported subsidies by integrating animal movement
      and ecosystem modelling.
AB  - Connections between ecosystems via animals (active subsidies) support ecosystem
      services and contribute to numerous ecological effects. Thus, the ability to
      predict the spatial distribution of active subsidies would be useful for ecology
      and conservation. Previous work modelling active subsidies focused on implicit
      space or static distributions, which treat passive and active subsidies
      similarly. Active subsidies are fundamentally different from passive subsidies,
      because animals can respond to the process of subsidy deposition and ecosystem
      changes caused by subsidy deposition. We propose addressing this disparity by
      integrating animal movement and ecosystem ecology to advance active subsidy
      investigations, make more accurate predictions of subsidy spatial distributions,
      and enable a mechanistic understanding of subsidy spatial distributions. We
      review selected quantitative techniques that could be used to accomplish
      integration and lead to novel insights. The ultimate objective for these types of
      studies is predictions of subsidy spatial distributions from characteristics of
      the subsidy and the movement strategy employed by animals that transport
      subsidies. These advances will be critical in informing the management of
      ecosystem services, species conservation and ecosystem degradation related to
      active subsidies.

PMID- 28605013
TI  - The strength of BCR signaling shapes terminal development of follicular helper T
      cells in mice.
AB  - Antibody production is key for effective immune response and relies on follicular
      helper T (Tfh) cells. B cell-Tfh cell interactions result either in an extra
      follicular low affinity B-cell response or in germinal center reactions producing
      high-affinity memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells. As Tfh cells influence
      B-cell commitment, it also became clear that B cells influence these interactions
      in ways that still remain unresolved. We observed that strong BCR signals
      decreased Tfh-cell differentiation in vitro, which correlated with decreased
      expression of ICOS-L at the surface of stimulated B cells. Further, we
      comprehensively demonstrated that ICOS-L expression correlated with the level of
      Tfh differentiation irrespective of antigen presentation at the surface of
      activated B cells. Our in vivo experiments could show that immunization with a
      high-affinity antigen for B cells resulted in much less Tfh development than
      immunization with low-affinity antigen. Furthermore, blocking ICOS-L in vivo
      inhibited Tfh development when using low-affinity antigen. Altogether, these
      results indicate that BCR affinity shapes Tfh-cell development in part through
      ICOS/ICOS-L interactions. Ultimately, we reveal new depths in the B cell-Tfh cell
      crosstalk that could eventually result in better vaccine protocols.

PMID- 28605014
TI  - Reply to Whiteman et al.: In-Deed wise to get some sensible sun exposure.

PMID- 28605015
TI  - Scavengers that fit beneath a microscope lens.

PMID- 28605016
TI  - Flexibility in the duration of parental care: Female leopards prioritise cub
      survival over reproductive output.
AB  - Deciding when to terminate care of offspring is a key consideration for parents.
      Prolonging care may increase fitness of current offspring, but it can also reduce
      opportunities for future reproduction. Despite its evolutionary importance, few
      studies have explored the optimal duration of parental care, particularly among
      large carnivores. We used a 40-year dataset to assess the trade-offs associated
      with the length of maternal care in leopards in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South
      Africa. We compared the costs imposed by care on the survival and residual
      reproductive value of leopard mothers against the benefits derived from maternal
      care in terms of increased offspring survival, recruitment and reproduction. We
      also examined the demographic and ecological factors affecting the duration of
      care in the light of five explanatory hypotheses: litter size, sex allocation,
      resource limitation, timing of independence and terminal investment. Duration of
      care exhibited by female leopards varied markedly, from 9 to 35 months. Mothers
      did not appear to suffer any short- or long-term survival costs from caring for
      cubs, but extending care reduced the number of litters that mothers could produce
      during their lifetimes. Interestingly, the duration of care did not appear to
      affect the post-independence survival or reproductive success of offspring
      (although it may have indirectly affected offspring survival by influencing
      dispersal distance). However, results from generalised linear mixed models showed
      that mothers prolonged care during periods of prey scarcity, supporting the
      resource limitation hypothesis. Female leopards also cared for sons longer than
      daughters, in line with the sex-allocation hypothesis. Cub survival is an
      important determinant of the lifetime reproductive success in leopards. By
      buffering offspring against environmental perturbation without jeopardising their
      own survivorship, female leopards apparently "hedge their bets" with current
      offspring rather than gamble on future offspring which have a small probability
      of surviving. In many species, parents put their own needs before that of their
      offspring. Leopard mothers appear sensitive to their offspring's demands, and
      adjust levels of care accordingly.

PMID- 28605017
TI  - The manual orienting response habituation to repeated tactile stimuli in preterm
      neonates: Discrimination of stimulus locations and interstimulus intervals.
AB  - Preterm infants frequently develop atypical sensory profiles, the tactile
      modality being particularly affected. However, there is a lack of recent
      investigation of neonatal tactile perception in a passive context, especially in
      preterms who are particularly exposed to this tactile stimuli. Our aims were to
      provide evidence of orienting responses (behavioral modifications directing
      subject's attention towards stimuli) and habituation to passive tactile stimuli
      in preterm neonates, to explore their ability to perceive spatial and temporal
      aspects of the stimulus, and to evaluate the effect of clinical factors on these
      abilities. We included 61 preterm neonates, born between 32 and 34 weeks of
      gestational age. At 35 weeks of corrected gestational age, we measured orienting
      responses (forearm, hand, and fingers movements) during vibrotactile stimulation
      of their hand and forearm; during a habituation and dishabituation paradigm, the
      dishabituation being either a location change or a pause in the stimulation
      sequence. Preterm newborns displayed a manual orienting response to vibrotactile
      stimuli which significantly decreased when the stimulus was repeated, regardless
      of the stimulated location on the limb. Habituation was delayed in subjects born
      at a younger gestational age, smaller birth weight, and having experienced more
      painful care procedures. Preterm neonates perceived changes in stimulus location
      and interstimulus time interval. Our findings provide insights on several aspects
      of the perception of repeated tactile stimuli by preterm neonates, and the first
      evidence of the early development of temporal processing abilities in the tactile
      modality. Future work will investigate the links between this ability and
      neurodevelopmental disorders.

PMID- 28605018
TI  - Contrasting drivers of reproductive ageing in albatrosses.
AB  - Age-related variation in reproductive performance is ubiquitous in wild
      vertebrate populations and has important consequences for population and
      evolutionary dynamics. The ageing trajectory is shaped by both within-individual
      processes, such as improvement and senescence, and the among-individual effects
      of selective appearance and disappearance. To date, few studies have compared the
      role of these different drivers among species or populations. In this study, we
      use nearly 40 years of longitudinal monitoring data to contrast the within- and
      among-individual processes contributing to the reproductive ageing patterns in
      three albatross species (two biennial and one annual breeder) and test whether
      these can be explained by differences in life histories. Early-life performance
      in all species increased with age and was predominantly influenced by within
      individual improvements. However, reproductive senescence was detected in only
      two of the species. In the species exhibiting senescent declines, we also
      detected a terminal improvement in breeding success. This is suggestive of a
      trade-off between reproduction and survival, which was supported by evidence of
      selective disappearance of good breeders. We demonstrate that comparisons of
      closely related species which differ in specific aspects of their life history
      can shed light on the ecological and evolutionary forces shaping variation in
      ageing patterns.

PMID- 28605019
TI  - The Late Neandertal permanent lower left third premolar from Walou Cave (Trooz,
      Belgium) and its context.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We describe a hominin permanent lower left third premolar unearthed
      in 1997 at Walou Cave (Belgium), found in direct association with a Mousterian
      lithic industry, in a layer directly dated to 40-38,000 years BP. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The taxonomical attribution of the tooth is addressed through
      comparative morphometric analyses, and stable isotope analyses aimed at
      determining the diet of the individual. RESULTS: The Walou P3 plots within the
      Neandertal range of variation and is significantly different from recent modern
      humans in all morphometric assessments. The isotope data showed that like other
      Neandertals, the Walou individual acquired its dietary proteins primarily from
      terrestrial food sources. DISCUSSION: We discuss the implications of the
      existence of a clearly Neandertal premolar dating to the period of the Middle to
      Upper Paleolithic transition in the Meuse river basin.

PMID- 28605020
TI  - Report of Increasing Overdose Deaths that include Acetyl Fentanyl in Multiple
      Counties of the Southwestern Region of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2015
      2016.
AB  - Acetyl fentanyl is a Schedule I controlled synthetic opioid that is becoming an
      increasingly detected "designer drug." Routine drug screening procedures in local
      forensic toxicology laboratories identified a total of 41 overdose deaths
      associated with acetyl fentanyl within multiple counties of the southwestern
      region of the state of Pennsylvania. The range, median, mean, and standard
      deviation of blood acetyl fentanyl concentrations for these 41 cases were 0.13
      2100 ng/mL, 11 ng/mL, 169.3 ng/mL, and 405.3 ng/mL, respectively. Thirty-six
      individuals (88%) had a confirmed history of substance abuse, and all but one
      case (96%) were ruled multiple drug toxicities. This report characterizes this
      localized trend of overdose deaths associated with acetyl fentanyl and provides
      further evidence supporting an alarmingly concentrated opiate and opioid epidemic
      of both traditional and novel drugs within this region of the United States.

PMID- 28605021
TI  - Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy-Dispersive X-Ray (SEM/EDX): A Rapid
      Diagnostic Tool to Aid the Identification of Burnt Bone and Contested Cremains.
AB  - This study investigates the use of Scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive
      X-ray (SEM-EDX) as a diagnostic tool for the determination of the osseous origin
      of samples subjected to different temperatures. Sheep (Ovis aries) ribs of two
      experimental groups (fleshed and defleshed) were burned at temperatures of
      between 100 degrees C and 1100 degrees C in 100 degrees C increments and
      subsequently analyzed with the SEM-EDX to determine the atomic percentage of
      present elements. Three-factor ANOVA analysis showed that neither the exposure
      temperature, nor whether the burning occurred with or without soft tissue present
      had any significant influence on the bone's overall elemental makeup (p > 0.05).
      The Ca/P ratio remained in the osseous typical range of between 1.6 and 2.58 in
      all analyzed samples. This demonstrates that even faced with high temperatures,
      the overall gross elemental content and atomic percentage of elements in bone
      remain stable, creating a unique "fingerprint" for osseous material, even after
      exposure to extreme conditions.

PMID- 28605022
TI  - Forensic Analysis of Stains on Fabric Using Direct Analysis in Real-time
      Ionization with High-Resolution Accurate Mass-Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - A rapid technique using direct analysis in real-time (DART) ambient ionization
      coupled to a high-resolution accurate mass-mass spectrometer (HRAM-MS) was
      employed to analyze stains on an individual's pants suspected to have been
      involved in a violent crime. The victim was consuming chocolate ice cream at the
      time of the attack, and investigators recovered the suspect's pants exhibiting
      splatter stains. Liquid chromatography with mass spectral detection (LC-MS) and
      stereoscopic light microscopy (SLM) were also utilized in this analysis. It was
      determined that the stains on the pants contained theobromine and caffeine, known
      components of chocolate. A shard from the ceramic bowl that contained the
      victim's ice cream and a control chocolate ice cream sample were also found to
      contain caffeine and theobromine. The use of DART-HRAM-MS was useful in this case
      due to its rapid analysis capability and because of the limited amount of sample
      present as a stain.

PMID- 28605023
TI  - The Modern Compound Bow.
AB  - Bows and arrows are ancient weapons that have risen and fallen as the preeminent
      armaments used by man. Because of the ubiquity of firearms, fatalities from
      archery injuries in the United States have radically declined. However, when
      deaths involving this weapon do present themselves, the paucity of reference
      materials can be a hurdle for forensic pathologists and other forensic
      scientists. This article will provide a brief history of the origins of the bow
      and the inception of the compound bow. Comparing and contrasting the structures
      comprising a traditional bow to those of the modern compound bow will provide
      insight into how these components function in unison to propel arrows.

PMID- 28605024
TI  - A Unique Type of Birth Trauma Mistaken for Abuse.
AB  - Pediatric abusive head trauma is a challenging subject across many disciplines.
      Of particular importance is the identification of mimics of abuse, so cause and
      manner of death can be properly assigned. We present the case of suspected child
      abuse involving an infant who presented unresponsive to the hospital with
      hypoglycemia, hypothermia, and bilateral parietal fractures. An autopsy revealed
      fractures associated with organizing scalp hemorrhage and gross leptomeningeal
      congestion and hemorrhage. The fractures were circular with external
      displacement, rounded margins, and subperiosteal new bone formation indicative of
      healing. Birth records revealed vacuum assist and cesarean section delivery.
      Although vacuum extraction-related injuries are typically cephalohematomas and/or
      linear fractures, the outbending and circular morphology of the fractures are
      consistent with vacuum extraction. Moreover, microscopic neuropathological
      examination revealed hemorrhagic purulent leptomeningitis. This unique case
      demonstrates the importance of considering birth trauma in the determination of
      cause and manner of death of an infant.

PMID- 28605025
TI  - Fingerprint Change: Not Visible, But Tangible.
AB  - Hand-foot syndrome, a chemotherapy-induced cutaneous toxicity, can cause an
      alteration in fingerprints causing a setback for cancer patients due to the
      occurrence of false rejections. A colon cancer patient was fingerprinted after
      not having been able to use fingerprint recognition devices after 6 months of
      adjuvant chemotherapy. The fingerprint images were digitally processed to improve
      fingerprint definition without altering the papillary design. No evidence of skin
      toxicity was present. Two months later, the situation returned to normal. The
      fingerprint evaluation conducted on 15 identification points highlighted the
      quantitative and qualitative fingerprint alteration details detected after the
      end of chemotherapy and 2 months later. Fingerprint alteration during
      chemotherapy has been reported, but to our knowledge, this particular case is the
      first ever reported without evident clinical signs. Alternative fingerprint
      identification methods as well as improved biometric identification systems are
      needed in case of unexpected situations.

PMID- 28605026
TI  - What's in a name? Atopic dermatitis or atopic eczema, but not eczema alone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ideal nomenclature of atopic dermatitis (AD) / atopic eczema (AE)
      has long been contested. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the
      disparate nomenclature of this disease may have important deleterious
      ramifications for clinical care and research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An
      electronic questionnaire regarding the preferred nomenclature for AD was sent to
      councilors of the International Eczema Council (IEC) (n=77), an international
      group of clinicians and researchers with expertise in AD/AE. The survey consisted
      of 2 questions for consensus regarding the preference for an atopic prefix, and
      preference for the term AD or AE, and an exploratory question about the
      acceptability of the terms AD, AE or eczema. Consensus was defined a priori as at
      least 90% agreement for each question with a response rate of at least 90%.
      RESULTS: Seventy-one of 77 (92.2%) IEC councilors and associates responded to the
      survey, with all respondents completing the entire survey. Consensus was reached
      for question 1, with 69 of 71 respondents (97.2%) preferring the atopic prefix.
      However, consensus was not reached for question 2, with 40 respondents (58.0%)
      preferring the term AD and 30 (43,5%) preferring AE. Sixty-three respondents
      (88.7%) and 55 (77.5%) felt that the terms AD and AE were acceptable, whereas
      only 11 (15.5%) felt that eczema was acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: The IEC noted that
      the term eczema is imprecise, and its use is confusing. The consensus of the IEC
      was to recommend use of the prefix "atopic" (i.e., AD or AE) in all publications,
      presentations and discussions about the disorder.

PMID- 28605027
TI  - Phenotyping of gut microbiota: Focus on capillary electrophoresis.
AB  - The analysis of the microbial metabolome is crucial to fully understand the
      symbiotic relation between humans and microbes. That is why an explosion of
      metabolomics took place in the area. So far, at least several hundreds of
      microbial metabolites have been shown to be statistically altered when humans
      undergo a plethora of commonly faced perturbations. NMR and MS, usually coupled
      with GC, LC and CE have revealed their identities. CE is a robust analytical
      platform for the analysis of polar and ionic metabolites that are essential in
      order to assess the cells' activity. Due to its novelty, only 5% of the
      metabolomics studies investigate gut microbiota using CE, even though the
      metabolites found by CE as being significantly altered in human microbiota
      represent around 23% of the total number of metabolites identified by
      metabolomics tools. Herein, we discuss the advances of metabolomics in the frame
      of other OMICS techniques for human gut microbiota analysis. Afterwards, we focus
      on sample treatment, analytical methods and data processing in CE coupled to any
      detector that have been reported to date in order to enhance metabolite coverage
      in the art, and to identify metabolite markers that cannot be covered by other
      platforms but are of key importance for determining microbial activity and human
      health.

PMID- 28605028
TI  - A robust protocol for the isolation of cellular proteins from Xanthomonas
      campestris to analyze the methionine effect in 2D-gel experiments.
AB  - Two-dimensional PAGE (2D-PAGE) is a key technique for the separation of complex
      protein samples to survey the protein inventory of prokaryotic microorganisms.
      Although the preparation of proteins is a critical step in 2D gel experiments,
      its effect on the outcome of proteome data is often underestimated. In this work,
      we show that the choice of protein isolation method can have a profound impact on
      the quality of 2D gels of protein extracts from prokaryotes. Based on Xanthomonas
      campestris, a commercially relevant producer of the thickening agent xanthan, we
      validated a phenol extraction protocol for the purification of bacterial proteins
      that provides excellent 2D gel separation. As a proof of concept, this method was
      used to study the effect of methionine-a medium compound that reduces the xanthan
      output of industrial fermentations-on the cellular proteome of Xanthomonas. The
      detection of nine regulated proteins associated with sulfur metabolism (Cgl,
      CysI, CysJ, CysK, MetH1, MetY) and sugar nucleotide biosynthesis (Pgi, Ugd, XanA)
      proved the efficiency of phenol extraction for the screening of statistically
      significant abundance changes in 2D gel spots and MALDI-TOF-MS based
      identification in bacteria. Since this method is very robust, it may be useful
      for the study of other prokaryotes that are relevant in industrial biotechnology.

PMID- 28605030
TI  - The challenge of cholangiocarcinoma diagnosis: The turning point is in
      extracellular vesicles?

PMID- 28605029
TI  - The pancreatic cancer microenvironment: A true double agent.
AB  - The tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer is a complex balance of pro- and
      anti-tumor components. The dense desmoplasia consists of immune cells,
      extracellular matrix, growth factors, cytokines, and cancer associated
      fibroblasts (CAF) or pancreatic stellate cells (PSC). There are a multitude of
      targets including hyaluronan, angiogenesis, focal adhesion kinase (FAK),
      connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), CD40, chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4
      (CXCR-4), immunotherapy, and Vitamin D. The developing clinical therapeutics will
      be reviewed.

PMID- 28605032
TI  - Contribution of the tricellular tight junction to paracellular permeability in
      leaky and tight epithelia.
AB  - The tricellular tight junction (tTJ) is a potential weak point of the
      paracellular barrier. For solving the proportional contribution of the tTJ, ion
      conductances and macromolecule permeabilities were analyzed in cell lines of
      different leakiness. MDCK II, Caco-2, and HT-29/B6 cells were subjected to two
      path impedance spectroscopy and morphological analyses in order to calculate the
      contribution of the tTJ to paracellular and total ion conductivity. The
      contribution to macromolecule permeability was evaluated by tricellulin
      overexpression or knockdown. Tricellulin-dependent macromolecule passage was
      comparably regulated in leaky and tight epithelia, but relative and absolute ion
      permeabilities of the tTJs were different. Assuming a minimal (50 pS) and maximal
      (146 pS) conductivity per single tTJ, the possible range of contribution of the
      tTJ to paracellular ion conductance amounted to only 0.3-1.1% in the leaky cell
      line MDCK II, but 3-25% in the moderately tight cell line Caco-2, and not less
      than 29% in the tight cell line HT-29/B6. In these cells, this resulted in a
      contribution to total epithelial conductance of 9-32%. In conclusion, in leaky
      epithelia the bicellular TJ accounts for nearly the entire paracellular ion
      conductance, whereas in tight epithelia the low bicellular TJ conductance has
      large impact on the tTJ.

PMID- 28605031
TI  - Dynamic modeling of the tight junction pore pathway.
AB  - Claudins define paracellular permeability to small molecules by forming ion
      selective pores within the tight junction. We recently demonstrated that claudin
      2 channels are gated and open and close on a submillisecond timescale. To
      determine if and how the ensemble behavior of this unique class of entirely
      extracellular gated ion channels could define global epithelial barrier function,
      we have developed an in silico model of local claudin-2 behavior. This model
      considers the complex anastomosing ultrastructure of tight junction strands and
      can be scaled to show that local behavior defines global epithelial barrier
      function of epithelial monolayers expressing different levels of claudin-2. This
      is the first mathematical model to describe global epithelial barrier function in
      terms of the dynamic behavior of single tight junction channels and establishes a
      framework to consider gating kinetics as a means to regulate barrier function.

PMID- 28605033
TI  - The befuddling nature of mouse lemur hands and feet at Beza Mahafaly, SW
      Madagascar.
AB  - The reddish-gray mouse lemur (Microcebus griseorufus) possesses striking
      phenotypic and behavioral variation. This project investigates differences in
      autopod proportions in neighboring populations of M. griseorufus from the Special
      Reserve at Beza Mahafaly in southwest Madagascar. One population resides in an
      environment generally preferred by M. griseorufus-a spiny forest with large
      trunked trees, vertically-oriented supports, and more open ground, while the
      other resides in a gallery forest with abundant small, often horizontal
      peripheral branches in high canopy. We demonstrate significant interpopulation
      differences in autopod morphophology despite no evidence of divergence in
      mitochondrial cytochrome b. We test two hypotheses regarding ultimate causation.
      The first, based on the Fine Branch Arborealism Hypothesis (FBAH), holds that
      autopod differences are related to different locomotor practices in the two
      environments, and the second, based on the Narrow Niche Hypothesis (NNH), holds
      that the observed differences reflect a relaxation (from ancestral to descendant
      conditions) of selective pressure for terrestrial locomotion and/or use of large,
      vertical supports combined with positive selection for locomoting in peripheral
      branch settings. Our data conform well to FBAH expectations and show some support
      for the NNH. Individuals from the gallery forest possess disproportionally long
      posterior digits that facilitate locomotion on small, flexible canopy supports
      while individuals from the spiny forest possess shorter posterior digits and a
      longer pollex/hallux that increase functional grasping diameter for large
      vertical supports and facilitate efficient ground locomotion. Focal individual
      data confirm differences in how often individuals descend to the ground and use
      vertical supports. We further show that predispersal juveniles, like adults,
      possess autopod morphologies suited to their natal forest. We explore two
      proximate mechanisms that could generate these cheiridial differences. The first
      posits an in vivo plastic response to different locomotor behaviors, the second
      posits differences that manifest in early development.

PMID- 28605034
TI  - Population-based values and abnormalities of the electrocardiogram in the general
      Dutch population: The LifeLines Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our aim is to present average values and prevalence of
      electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities among the general Dutch population in
      the LifeLines Cohort. HYPOTHESIS: The ECG values previously studied in the
      Caucasian population of smaller cohorts will be confirmed with ECG data from
      LifeLines. METHODS: ECG data of 152 180 individuals age 18 to 93 years were
      available. Individuals with cardiovascular risk factors were excluded to analyze
      the healthy population. Average values of the ECG for the healthy population were
      presented as means with 95% and 99% confidence intervals and as medians with
      first and 99th percentiles. RESULTS: Median heart rate was highest in the
      youngest and oldest individuals of the healthy population. Median duration of P
      wave, PQ interval, and QRS duration were longer in males compared with females.
      In contrast, median QT interval corrected for heart rate was higher in females.
      In general, the above-mentioned parameters increased with age. The prevalences of
      ECG abnormalities adjusted for the Dutch population were 0.9% for atrial
      fibrillation or flutter, 1.4% for premature atrial complexes, 0.5% for myocardial
      infarction, 2.1% for ventricular premature complexes, 1.0% for left ventricular
      hypertrophy, 8.1% for P-R interval >200 ms, and 0.8% for bundle branch block.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides an overview of average values and ECG
      abnormalities and confirms data of previous smaller studies. In addition, we
      evaluate the age- and sex-dependent normal limits of the P wave and QRS duration
      and confirm in detail the frontal plane QRS-T angle on the ECG.

PMID- 28605036
TI  - Still begging for a solution: The ongoing problem of device (CIED) infection.

PMID- 28605035
TI  - Cardiovascular adverse events in the drug-development program of bupropion for
      smoking cessation: A systematic retrospective adjudication effort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration requested that
      GlaxoSmithKline perform retrospective adjudication of cardiovascular (CV) events
      reported in the bupropion drug-development trials for smoking cessation.
      HYPOTHESIS: Retrospective adjudication of clinical trial data will not increase
      the identification of adverse events. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive
      retrospective analysis of adverse events in 19 previously completed controlled US
      clinical trials of bupropion marketed for the treatment of smoking cessation,
      yielding 9479 subjects (5290 bupropion, 2927 placebo, 1018 active control [ACT],
      and 244 treated concurrently with bupropion and ACT). All adverse events were
      sent to the Duke Clinical Research Institute for adjudication by Clinical Events
      Classification (CEC) physician reviewers. The primary endpoint was a composite of
      major adverse CV events: CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), and
      nonfatal stroke. RESULTS: Overall, 416 nonfatal CV events in 366 subjects, and 22
      deaths, were identified and processed for adjudication. Of these, 7 nonfatal MIs
      (4 bupropion, 3 placebo, 0 ACT), 5 nonfatal strokes (1 bupropion, 3 placebo, 1
      ACT), and 9 CV deaths (4 bupropion, 4 placebo, 1 ACT) were confirmed by the CEC
      Committee. The primary endpoint occurred in 3/4297 (0.07%) subjects in the
      bupropion group and in 4/2927 (0.14%) subjects in the placebo group (log-rank P
      value: 0.613). CONCLUSIONS: CV events in bupropion clinical trials for smoking
      cessation were uncommon, with no observed increase among subjects assigned to
      bupropion vs placebo. However, this effort was limited by a paucity of quality
      data.

PMID- 28605037
TI  - GaudiMM: A modular multi-objective platform for molecular modeling.
AB  - GaudiMM (for Genetic Algorithms with Unrestricted Descriptors for Intuitive
      Molecular Modeling) is here presented as a modular platform for rapid 3D
      sketching of molecular systems. It combines a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm
      with diverse molecular descriptors to overcome the difficulty of generating
      candidate models for systems with scarce structural data. Its grounds consist in
      transforming any molecular descriptor (i.e. those generally used for analysis of
      data) as a guiding objective for PES explorations. The platform is written in
      Python with flexibility in mind: the user can choose which descriptors to use for
      each problem and is even encouraged to code custom ones. Illustrative cases of
      its potential applications are included to demonstrate the flexibility of this
      approach, including metal coordination of multidentate ligands, peptide folding,
      and protein-ligand docking. GaudiMM is available free of charge from
      https://github.com/insilichem/gaudi. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28605038
TI  - The baroreflex effectiveness index as an early marker of autonomic dysfunction in
      heart failure.

PMID- 28605039
TI  - Infant titi monkey behavior in the open field test and the effect of early
      adversity.
AB  - The open field test is commonly used to measure anxiety-related behavior and
      exploration in rodents. Here, we used it as a standardized novel environment in
      which to evaluate the behavioral response of infant titi monkeys (Callicebus
      cupreus), to determine the effect of presence of individual family members, and
      to assess how adverse early experience alters infant behavior. Infants were
      tested in the open field for 5 days at ages 4 and 6 months in four successive 5
      min trials on each day. A transport cage, which was situated on one side of the
      open field, was either empty (non-social control) or contained the father,
      mother, or sibling. Infant locomotor, vocalization, and exploratory behavior were
      quantified. Results indicated that age, sex, social condition, and early
      experience all had significant effects on infant behavior. Specifically, infants
      were generally more exploratory at 6 months and male infants were more
      exploratory than females. Infants distinguished between social and non-social
      conditions but made few behavioral distinctions between the attachment figure and
      other individuals. Infants which had adverse early life experience demonstrated
      greater emotional and physical independence, suggesting that early adversity led
      to resiliency in the novel environment.

PMID- 28605041
TI  - Calcium-binding protein 39 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma growth and
      metastasis by activating extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling pathway.
AB  - : Calcium-binding protein (CAB39) is a key regulator of a group of sterile 20
      kinases. Here, we report that CAB39 was frequently up-regulated in hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC), which was significantly associated with tumor metastasis (P =
      0.000), poorer disease-free survival rate (P = 0.027), and poor prognosis (P =
      0.000). Ectopic expression of CAB39 in immortalized human liver cell line LO2 and
      HCC cell lines QGY-7703 and BEL-7402 could increase foci formation, colony
      formation in soft agar, tumor formation in nude mice, and cell motility.
      Silencing CAB39 expression in two HCC cell lines, Huh7 and MHCC97H, with short
      hairpin RNA could effectively abolish its oncogenic function. Further study found
      that CAB39 contributed to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway
      activation, and mutations of the key sites of CAB39 markedly decrease the level
      of phosphorylated ERK. In addition, CAB39 could promote epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition by up-regulating N-cadherin and Fibronectin and down-regulating E
      cadherin and alpha-E-catenin. As a result, beta-catenin nuclear translocation was
      increased and its downstream target gene, matrix metalloproteinase-9, was up
      regulated. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our findings suggested that CAB39 played
      very important oncogenic roles in HCC pathogenesis and progression by activating
      the ERK signaling pathway. Better understanding of CAB39 may lead to its clinical
      application as a biomarker for a prognosis predictor and a novel therapeutic
      target. (Hepatology 2017;66:1529-1545).

PMID- 28605042
TI  - How many phosphoproteins does it take to make muscle grow?

PMID- 28605040
TI  - Acute hepatic porphyrias: Recommendations for evaluation and long-term
      management.
AB  - The acute hepatic porphyrias are a group of four inherited disorders, each
      resulting from a deficiency in the activity of a specific enzyme in the heme
      biosynthetic pathway. These disorders present clinically with acute neurovisceral
      symptoms which may be sporadic or recurrent and, when severe, can be life
      threatening. The diagnosis is often missed or delayed as the clinical features
      resemble other more common medical conditions. There are four major subgroups:
      symptomatic patients with sporadic attacks (<4 attacks/year) or recurrent acute
      attacks (>=4 attacks/year), asymptomatic high porphyrin precursor excretors, and
      asymptomatic latent patients without symptoms or porphyrin precursor elevations.
      Given their clinical heterogeneity and potential for significant morbidity with
      suboptimal management, comprehensive clinical guidelines for initial evaluation,
      follow-up, and long-term management are needed, particularly because no
      guidelines exist for monitoring disease progression or response to treatment. The
      Porphyrias Consortium of the National Institutes of Health's Rare Diseases
      Clinical Research Network, which consists of expert centers in the clinical
      management of these disorders, has formulated these recommendations. These
      recommendations are based on the literature, ongoing natural history studies, and
      extensive clinical experience. Initial assessments should include diagnostic
      confirmation by biochemical testing, subsequent genetic testing to determine the
      specific acute hepatic porphyria, and a complete medical history and physical
      examination. Newly diagnosed patients should be counseled about avoiding known
      precipitating factors. The frequency of follow-up depends on the clinical
      subgroup, with close monitoring of patients with recurrent attacks who may
      require treatment modifications as well as those with clinical complications.
      Comprehensive care should include subspecialist referrals when needed. Annual
      assessments include biochemical testing and monitoring for long-term
      complications. These guidelines provide a framework for monitoring patients with
      acute hepatic porphyrias to ensure optimal outcomes. (Hepatology 2017;66:1314
      1322).

PMID- 28605045
TI  - A Reliability-Based Capability Approach.
AB  - This article proposes a rigorous mathematical approach, named a reliability-based
      capability approach (RCA), to quantify the societal impact of a hazard. The
      starting point of the RCA is a capability approach in which capabilities refer to
      the genuine opportunities open to individuals to achieve valuable doings and
      beings (such as being mobile and being sheltered) called functionings.
      Capabilities depend on what individuals have and what they can do with what they
      have. The article develops probabilistic predictive models that relate the value
      of each functioning to a set of easily predictable or measurable quantities
      (regressors) in the aftermath of a hazard. The predicted values of selected
      functionings for an individual collectively determine the impact of a hazard on
      his/her state of well-being. The proposed RCA integrates the predictive models of
      functionings into a system reliability problem to determine the probability that
      the state of well-being is acceptable, tolerable, or intolerable. Importance
      measures are defined to quantify the contribution of each functioning to the
      state of well-being. The information from the importance measures can inform
      decisions on optimal allocation of limited resources for risk mitigation and
      management.

PMID- 28605044
TI  - Periodontal status of candidates for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the periodontal profile of 
      candidates for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. METHODS: This
      cross-sectional prospective study was performed from March 2014 to March 2015.
      After an initial interview, eligible individuals were evaluated by the following
      clinical parameters: visible plaque, bleeding on probing, probing depth, and
      clinical attachment level at six sites per tooth, excluding third molars.
      RESULTS: Thirty-six candidates for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT) were clinically assessed. Eight (22%) patients were
      diagnosed with gingivitis and 21 (58%) of them with periodontitis. The gingival
      bleeding was statistically correlated with the percentage of sites with visible
      plaque (p < 0.0001; r = 0.630) and did not correlate with the number of platelets
      (p = 0.643, r = -0.082). CONCLUSIONS: The candidates for allogeneic HSCT studied
      showed a high prevalence of periodontal diseases with unmonitored local infection
      before transplantation.

PMID- 28605046
TI  - Smartphone and Tablet Applications for Crime Scene Investigation: State of the
      Art, Typology, and Assessment Criteria.
AB  - The use of applications on mobile devices is gradually becoming a new norm in
      everyday life, and crime scene investigation is unlikely to escape this reality.
      The article assesses the current state of research and practices by means of
      literature reviews, semistructured interviews, and a survey conducted among crime
      scene investigators from Canada and Switzerland. Attempts at finding a particular
      strategy to guide the development, usage, and evaluation of applications that can
      assist crime scene investigation prove to be rather challenging. Therefore, the
      article proposes a typology for these applications, as well as criteria for
      evaluating their relevance, reliability, and answer to operational requirements.
      The study of five applications illustrates the evaluation process. Far away from
      the revolution announced by some stakeholders, it is required to pursue
      scientific and pragmatic research to set the theoretical foundations that will
      allow a significant contribution of applications to crime scene investigation.

PMID- 28605043
TI  - Typical angina is associated with greater coronary endothelial dysfunction but
      not abnormal vasodilatory reserve.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Typical angina (TA) is defined as substernal chest pain precipitated
      by physical exertion or emotional stress and relieved with rest or nitroglycerin.
      Women and elderly patients are usually have atypical symptoms both at rest and
      during stress, often in the setting of nonobstructive coronary artery disease
      (CAD). HYPOTHESIS: To further understand this, we performed subgroup analysis
      comparing subjects who presented with TA vs nontypical angina (NTA) using
      baseline data of patients with nonobstructive CAD and coronary microvascular
      dysfunction (CMD) enrolled in a clinical trial. METHODS: 155 subjects from the
      RWISE study were divided into 2 groups based on angina characteristics: TA
      (defined as above) and NTA (angina that does not meet criteria for TA). Coronary
      reactivity testing (responses to adenosine, acetylcholine, and nitroglycerin),
      cardiac magnetic resonance-determined myocardial perfusion reserve index (MPRI),
      baseline Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ), and Duke Activity Status Index
      (DASI) scores were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age was 55 +/- 10 years; Overall,
      30% of subjects had TA. Baseline shortness of breath, invasively assessed
      acetylcholine-mediated coronary endothelial function, and SAQ score were worse in
      the TA group (all P < 0.05), whereas adenosine-mediated coronary flow reserve,
      MPRI, and DASI score were similar to the NTA group. CONCLUSIONS: Among subjects
      with CMD and no obstructive CAD, those with TA had more angina pectoris,
      shortness of breath, and worse quality of life, as well as more severe coronary
      endothelial dysfunction. Typical angina in the setting of CMD is associated with
      worse symptom burden and coronary endothelial dysfunction. These results indicate
      that TA CMD subjects represent a relatively new CAD phenotype for future study
      and treatment trials.

PMID- 28605047
TI  - Stratified exact tests for the weak causal null hypothesis in randomized trials
      with a binary outcome.
AB  - Fisher's exact test is commonly used to compare two groups when the outcome is
      binary in randomized trials. In the context of causal inference, this test
      explores the sharp causal null hypothesis (i.e. the causal effect of treatment is
      the same for all subjects), but not the weak causal null hypothesis (i.e. the
      causal risks are the same in the two groups). Therefore, in general, rejection of
      the null hypothesis by Fisher's exact test does not mean that the causal risk
      difference is not zero. Recently, Chiba (Journal of Biometrics and Biostatistics
      2015; 6: 244) developed a new exact test for the weak causal null hypothesis when
      the outcome is binary in randomized trials; the new test is not based on any
      large sample theory and does not require any assumption. In this paper, we extend
      the new test; we create a version of the test applicable to a stratified
      analysis. The stratified exact test that we propose is general in nature and can
      be used in several approaches toward the estimation of treatment effects after
      adjusting for stratification factors. The stratified Fisher's exact test of Jung
      (Biometrical Journal 2014; 56: 129-140) tests the sharp causal null hypothesis.
      This test applies a crude estimator of the treatment effect and can be regarded
      as a special case of our proposed exact test. Our proposed stratified exact test
      can be straightforwardly extended to analysis of noninferiority trials and to
      construct the associated confidence interval.

PMID- 28605048
TI  - Synthesis and Antiproliferative Activity of Thioxoflavones Mannich Base
      Derivatives.
AB  - Two series of 12 novel thioxoflavones Mannich base derivatives 5a-f and 6a-f were
      synthesized via Mannich reaction of 4',7-dimethoxy-5-hydroxyflavothione (3) or
      3',4',7-trimethoxy-5-hydroxyflavothione (4) with appropriate aliphatic amines or
      alicyclic amines and formaldehyde. Thioxoflavones 3 and 4 were prepared from 4',7
      dimethoxy-5-hydroxyflavone (1) and 3',4',7-trimethoxy-5-hydroxyflavone (2) with
      Lawesson's reagent, respectively. Their antiproliferative activities in vitro
      were evaluated on a panel of three human cell lines (HeLa, HCC1954, and SK-OV-3)
      by CCK-8 assay. The results showed that most of the thioxoflavones and their
      Mannich base derivatives exhibited potential antiproliferative activities on the
      tested cancer cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 9.16 to 55.50 MUM. In
      particular, thioxoflavone 4 and the thioxoflavone Mannich base derivatives 5a and
      5d showed the best antiproliferative activity on all three human cancer cell
      lines; they are promising candidates worthy of further development. The
      structures of all synthesized compounds were confirmed by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, IR,
      and MS techniques.

PMID- 28605049
TI  - Clinical Trial Designs to Support Clinical Utility of Pharmacogenomic Testing.
AB  - Advancing the use of biomarkers and pharmacogenomics has been a key priority area
      for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA offers prescribing
      recommendations to manage ~100 gene-drug interactions, and multiple institutions
      around the United States and abroad have incorporated genomic testing into
      patient care. However, the penetration of pharmacogenomic testing remains
      incomplete. In this perspective, we summarize the evidence streams to support the
      clinical utility of pharmacogenomic testing and its transition into clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28605050
TI  - The Abl-1 Kinase is Dispensable for NK Cell Inhibitory Signalling and is not
      Involved in Murine NK Cell Education.
AB  - Natural killer (NK) cell responsiveness in the mouse is determined in an
      education process guided by inhibitory Ly49 and NKG2A receptors binding to MHC
      class I molecules. It has been proposed that inhibitory signalling in human NK
      cells involves Abl-1 (c-Abl)-mediated phosphorylation of Crk, lowering NK cell
      function via disruption of a signalling complex including C3G and c-Cbl,
      suggesting that NK cell education might involve c-Abl. Mice deficient in c-Abl
      expression specifically in murine NK cells displayed normal inhibitory and
      activating receptor repertoires. Furthermore, c-Abl-deficient NK cells fluxed
      Ca2+ normally after triggering of ITAM receptors, killed YAC-1 tumour cells
      efficiently and showed normal, or even slightly elevated, capacity to produce IFN
      gamma after activating receptor stimulation. Consistent with these results, c-Abl
      deficiency in NK cells did not affect NK cell inhibition via the receptors
      Ly49G2, Ly49A and NKG2A. We conclude that signalling downstream of murine
      inhibitory receptors does not involve c-Abl and that c-Abl plays no major role in
      NK cell education in the mouse.

PMID- 28605051
TI  - Ultrastructural aspects of primary anetoderma.
AB  - Anetoderma is a rare cutaneous disorder characterized by focal loss of dermal
      elastic tissue due to unknown mechanisms. Primary anetoderma develops on clinical
      normal skin, without any preceding dermatosis and it can be associated with
      autoimmune conditions. Secondary anetoderma develops on the same area of a
      previous disorder, such as infectious, neoplastic or inflammatory diseases. A 37
      year-old female patient noticed for 4 years circumscribed, normochromic,
      asymptomatic herniated plaques on the trunk and upper limbs. Family history was
      negative. Only a positive antinuclear factor (ANF) test, with titer of 1:160 and
      nuclear homogeneous pattern was found. Light microscopy with Weigert staining
      showed a lessening of elastic fibers with fragmentation; the oxytalanic fibers
      were also affected or absent. Transmission electron microscopy showed
      fragmentation and granular degeneration of elastic fibers. With greater
      magnification, fragments similar to those seen with optical microscopy were
      identified. The collagen fibers did not present any alteration. The examination
      of the dermis with scanning electron microscopy also identified fragmentation and
      significant fissures of the elastic tissue, granular degeneration was also
      observed. With greater magnification fragmented elastic fibers were seen.

PMID- 28605052
TI  - Effects of pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation on human bladder function.
AB  - AIMS: The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) is a deep brain stimulation target for
      Parkinson's disease (PD). Unilateral PPN stimulation has been described in a
      previous case report to provoke urinary frequency, urgency and detrusor
      overactivity, due to probable activation of the pontine micturition center. Our
      aim was to evaluate the effect of bilateral PPN DBS on urodynamic parameters and
      to investigate the likely mechanisms using probabilistic tractography. METHODS:
      Six male PD subjects with bilateral PPN deep brain stimulators were recruited.
      Urodynamic bladder filling assessments were carried out with the stimulators ON
      and OFF. Two subjects also had diffusion-weighted and T1-weighted MRI scans
      performed and probabilistic tractography was carried out to describe white matter
      connections with the stimulated area. RESULTS: Five subjects completed urodynamic
      testing. PPN DBS did not give rise to detrusor overactivity or lower sensory
      thresholds during bladder filling. However, there was a significant increase in
      maximal bladder capacity with stimulation: mean bladder volume at maximal
      capacity was 199 mL (range 103-440) ON stimulation compared with 131 mL (range 39
      230) OFF stimulation. Tractography demonstrated extensive connectivity to
      cortical and subcortical regions, some of which have been implicated in bladder
      control. Fiber pathways also passed close to the vicinity of the pontine
      micturition center. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral PPN DBS did not have a detrimental
      effect on urodynamic filling parameters or produce detrusor overactivity, but did
      slightly increase maximal capacity. Possible mechanisms include long-range
      connectivity or local effects at the pontine micturition center.

PMID- 28605053
TI  - Prevalence of CYP3A5 Genomic Variances and Their Impact on Tacrolimus Dosing
      Requirements among Kidney Transplant Recipients in Eastern North Carolina.
AB  - To assess the prevalence of CYP3A5 genomic variances and their impact on
      tacrolimus (TAC) dosing requirements among kidney transplant recipients in
      eastern North Carolina, we conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study
      at a large tertiary care medical center. A total of 162 adults who received a
      kidney transplant between March 1, 2013, and February 28, 2015, and received oral
      TAC as part of their maintenance immunosuppression were enrolled. Of these
      patients, 85 patients expressed a genotype with a CYP3A5*1 variant (CYP3A5*1
      group), and 77 patients expressed genotypes with other CYP3A5 variants
      (nonexpressor group). All patients were followed for 1 year posttransplantation.
      The primary end point was the TAC total daily dose (TDD) required to achieve the
      first therapeutic trough level based on the presence or absence of the CYP3A5*1
      variant. The prevalence of different CYP3A5 variants across race/ethnicities in
      the study cohort was determined by CYP3A5 genotyping for each patient. The
      CYP3A5*1 and nonexpressor groups did not differ significantly with respect to
      sex, mean age, or mean weight. The CYP3A5*1 group was largely African American
      (93%, p<=0.0005) compared with other race/ethnicities. Among the CYP3A5*1
      expressors compared with nonexpressors, the mean TAC TDD in milligrams at the
      first therapeutic TAC level was significantly higher (12 vs 8 mg/day, p<=0.001).
      Similarly, the mean TAC TDD in milligrams/kilogram was 50% greater among CYP3A5*1
      expressors (0.15 vs 0.1 mg/kg/day, p<=0.0005). The predominant genotypic variants
      were CYP3A5*3/*3 (33%), CYP3A5*1/*3 (20%), and CYP3A5*1/*1 (19%). This study
      illustrates the prevalence of the CYP3A5*1 variant among African-American kidney
      transplant recipients and the effect of this gene expression on the TAC TDD.
      Patients with the CYP3A5*1 variant require higher TAC doses, on average, to
      achieve desirable drug levels. In addition, this study provides transplant
      clinicians with insight and support to dose TAC more aggressively in African
      American kidney transplant recipients who may be at higher risk for both
      toxicities as well as poor clinical outcomes related to inadequate
      immunosuppression.

PMID- 28605054
TI  - Personalized medicine in Parkinson's disease: Time to be precise.

PMID- 28605055
TI  - Geographic Hotspots of Critical National Infrastructure.
AB  - Failure of critical national infrastructures can result in major disruptions to
      society and the economy. Understanding the criticality of individual assets and
      the geographic areas in which they are located is essential for targeting
      investments to reduce risks and enhance system resilience. Within this study we
      provide new insights into the criticality of real-life critical infrastructure
      networks by integrating high-resolution data on infrastructure location,
      connectivity, interdependence, and usage. We propose a metric of infrastructure
      criticality in terms of the number of users who may be directly or indirectly
      disrupted by the failure of physically interdependent infrastructures. Kernel
      density estimation is used to integrate spatially discrete criticality values
      associated with individual infrastructure assets, producing a continuous surface
      from which statistically significant infrastructure criticality hotspots are
      identified. We develop a comprehensive and unique national-scale demonstration
      for England and Wales that utilizes previously unavailable data from the energy,
      transport, water, waste, and digital communications sectors. The testing of
      200,000 failure scenarios identifies that hotspots are typically located around
      the periphery of urban areas where there are large facilities upon which many
      users depend or where several critical infrastructures are concentrated in one
      location.

PMID- 28605056
TI  - Mild cognitive impairment as a risk factor for Parkinson's disease dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society criteria
      for mild cognitive impairment in PD were recently formulated. OBJECTIVES: The aim
      of this international study was to evaluate the predictive validity of the
      comprehensive (level II) version of these criteria by assessment of their
      contribution to the hazard of PD dementia. METHODS: Individual patient data were
      selected from four separate studies on cognition in PD that provided information
      on demographics, motor examination, depression, neuropsychological examination
      suitable for application of level II criteria, and longitudinal follow-up for
      conversion to dementia. Survival analysis evaluated the predictive value of level
      II criteria for cognitive decline toward dementia as expressed by the relative
      hazard of dementia. RESULTS: A total of 467 patients were included. The analyses
      showed a clear contribution of impairment according to level II mild cognitive
      impairment criteria, age, and severity of PD motor symptoms to the hazard of
      dementia. There was a trend of increasing hazard of dementia with declining
      neuropsychological performance. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large
      international study evaluating the predictive validity of level II mild cognitive
      impairment criteria for PD. The results showed a clear and unique contribution of
      classification according to level II criteria to the hazard of PD dementia. This
      finding supports their predictive validity and shows that they contribute
      important new information on the hazard of dementia, beyond known demographic and
      PD-specific factors of influence. (c) 2017 International Parkinson and Movement
      Disorder Society.

PMID- 28605057
TI  - Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of New Diarylpyrazole and Triarylimidazoline
      Derivatives as Selective COX-2 Inhibitors.
AB  - New series of diarylpyrazoles 8a-f and triarylimidazoline-5-ones 11a-g were
      synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and COX-2
      inhibitory activity and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity. The synthesized
      compounds showed good selectivity for COX-2; compounds 8a, 8d, 8f, 11a, and 11c
      exhibited the highest COX-2 selectivity indexes (SI = 4.77-5.43) compared to the
      reference drug celecoxib (SI = 7.8). All compounds showed good in vivo anti
      inflammatory activity, especially compounds 8a, 8f, 11c, and 11d, which also
      showed some similarities to the time interval pattern of celecoxib at all
      different time intervals (1, 3, and 6 h).

PMID- 28605059
TI  - Amniotic fluid stem cells ameliorate bladder dysfunction induced by chronic
      bladder ischemia in rat.
AB  - AIMS: This study investigated the protective effect of human amniotic fluid
      derived stem cells (hAFSCs) against bladder overactivity in rat model of
      atherosclerosis-induced chronic bladder ischemia. METHODS: Adult female Sprague
      Dawley rats were divided into six groups: (1) Normal control with a regular diet
      for 8 weeks, (2) Sham-operation, (3) arterial balloon endothelial injury (AEI) of
      common iliac artery (AEI only), and post-AEI consecutive hAFSCs treatment for (4)
      1 day, (5) 3 days, and (6) 7 days. Groups 2-6 were given 2% cholesterol diet for
      8 weeks after operation (sham or AEI). Bladder functions were analyzed by
      cystometry at 8 weeks in controls and after operation in groups 2-6. Wall
      morphology of common iliac artery was examined by hematoxylin and eosin stain.
      Bladder oxidative stress and inflammatory markers were studied by
      immunohistochemistry of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG), malondialdehyde
      (MDA), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). RESULTS: Bladder overactivity
      with decreased voided volumes and intercontraction intervals and increased
      residual volumes was seen in AEI only group, but improved after hAFSCs treatment
      for 1, 3, and 7 days. Compared with controls and shams, the wall thickness of
      iliac artery was increased in AEI only group, but improved after hAFSCs treatment
      for 3 and 7 days. The expressions of 8OHdG, MDA, and TNF-alpha were increased in
      AEI only group, but improved after hAFSCs treatment for 1, 3, and 7 days.
      CONCLUSIONS: Bladder overactivity caused by chronic bladder ischemia can be
      improved by hAFSCs treatment, probably by acting through down-regulation of
      oxidative stress and TNF-alpha expressions.

PMID- 28605058
TI  - Cardiovascular Pharmacogenomics and Cognitive Function in Patients with
      Schizophrenia.
AB  - The authors sought to examine the impact of multiple risk alleles for cognitive
      dysfunction and cardiovascular disease risk on cognitive function and to
      determine if these relationships varied by cognitive reserve (CR) or concomitant
      medication use in patients with schizophrenia. They conducted a cross-sectional
      study in ambulatory mental health centers. A total of 122 adults with a
      schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis who were maintained on a stable antipsychotic
      regimen for at least 6 months before study enrollment were included. Patients
      were divided into three CR groups based on years of formal education: no high
      school completion or equivalent (low-education group [18 patients]), completion
      of high school or equivalent (moderate-education group [36 patients], or any
      degree of post-high school education (high-education group [68 patients]). The
      following pharmacogenomic variants were genotyped for each patient: AGT M268T
      (rs699), ACE insertion/deletion (or ACE I/D, rs1799752), and APOE epsilon2,
      epsilon3, and epsilon4 (rs429358 and rs7412). Risk allele carrier status
      (identified per gene as AGT M268 T carriers, ACE D carriers, and APOE epsilon4
      carriers) was not significantly different among CR groups. The Brief Assessment
      of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) scale was used to assess cognitive function.
      The mean +/- SD patient age was 43.9 +/- 11.6 years. Cardiovascular risk factors
      such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia diagnoses, and use of antihypertensive
      and lipid-lowering agents, did not significantly differ among CR groups. Mixed
      modeling revealed that risk allele carrier status was significantly associated
      with lower verbal memory scores for ACE D and APOE epsilon4 carriers, but AGT T
      carrier status was significantly associated with higher verbal memory scores
      (p=0.0188, p=0.0055, and p=0.0058, respectively). These results were only
      significant in the low-education group. In addition, medication-gene interactions
      were not significant predictors of BACS scores. ACE D and APOE epsilon4 carrier
      status, independent of medication use, was associated with lower verbal memory
      scores in patients with schizophrenia who had relatively lower CR, as identified
      by formal education. These results suggest that increasing CR may be protective
      against cognitive impairment that may be worsened by select cardiovascular risk
      alleles in patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28605060
TI  - Modeling the benefits and harms of surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma:
      Information to support informed choices.
AB  - : Surveillance by ultrasonography for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for
      individuals with cirrhosis is recommended. There is debate regarding the
      effectiveness of surveillance in reducing mortality, and there is little
      information on the harms available to patients considering surveillance. The aim
      of this study was to provide estimates of both the benefit and harms of
      surveillance. A Markov model was built to simulate outcomes of individuals aged
      50 years with well-compensated cirrhosis entering surveillance. Following
      identification of a focal lesion by ultrasound surveillance, further
      investigations were defined by the European Association for the Study of the
      Liver/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer recall policy.
      Benefit and harm outcomes are expressed per 1,000 patients over 5 years. For
      every 1,000 patients in surveillance over 5 years, there are 13 fewer deaths (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 12-14) compared with no surveillance, equating to a
      number needed to screen to prevent one death from HCC of 77. In comparison, many
      more individuals experienced harm through surveillance. For every 1,000 patients,
      150 (95% CI, 146-154) had one or more false-positive tests equating to a number
      needed to harm from surveillance of 7. As a consequence of a false-positive test,
      65 individuals required at least one additional unnecessary computed tomography
      scan or magnetic resonance imaging and 39 required an unnecessary liver biopsy
      according to the recall policy. Surveillance benefits were sensitive to the
      incidence of HCC and the mortality benefit achieved by treatment. Harms were
      sensitive to the rates of false-positive testing and the frequency of liver
      biopsy. CONCLUSION: There is a balance between the small absolute mortality
      benefit to surveillance for HCC and the numerically more frequent harms resulting
      from false-positive testing. Implementation of the recently revised American
      Association for the Study of Liver Diseases recommendations is predicted to
      reduce harms from unnecessary liver biopsy. (Hepatology 2017;66:1546-1555).

PMID- 28605061
TI  - Symmetrization of the Crystal Lattice of MAPbI3 Boosts the Performance and
      Stability of Metal-Perovskite Photodiodes.
AB  - Semiconducting lead triiodide perovskites (APbI3 ) have shown remarkable
      performance in applications including photovoltaics and electroluminescence.
      Despite many theoretical possibilities for A+ in APbI3 , the current experimental
      knowledge is largely limited to two of these materials: methylammonium (MA+ ) and
      formamidinium (FA+ ) lead triiodides, neither of which adopts the ideal, cubic
      perovskite structure at room temperature. Here, a volume-based criterion is
      proposed for cubic APbI3 to be stable, and two perovskite materials MA1-x EAx
      PbI3 (MEPI, EA+ = ethylammonium) and MA1-y DMAy PbI3 (MDPI, DMA+ =
      dimethylammonium) are introduced. Powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction
      (XRD) results reveal that MEPI and MDPI are solid solutions possessing the cubic
      perovskite structure, and the EA+ and DMA+ cations play similar roles in the
      symmetrization of the crystal lattice of MAPbI3 . Single crystals of MEPI and
      MDPI are grown and made into plates of a range of thicknesses, and then into
      metal-perovskite photodiodes. These devices exhibit tripled diffusion lengths and
      about tenfold enhancement in stability against moisture, both relative to the
      current benchmark MAPbI3 . In this study, the systematic approach to materials
      design and device fabrication greatly expands the candidate pool of perovskite
      semiconductors, and paves the way for high-performance, single-crystal perovskite
      devices including solar cells and light emitters.

PMID- 28605062
TI  - Near-Unity Emitting Copper-Doped Colloidal Semiconductor Quantum Wells for
      Luminescent Solar Concentrators.
AB  - Doping of bulk semiconductors has revealed widespread success in optoelectronic
      applications. In the past few decades, substantial effort has been engaged for
      doping at the nanoscale. Recently, doped colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) have been
      demonstrated to be promising materials for luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs)
      as they can be engineered for providing highly tunable and Stokes-shifted
      emission in the solar spectrum. However, existing doped CQDs that are aimed for
      full solar spectrum LSCs suffer from moderately low quantum efficiency,
      intrinsically small absorption cross-section, and gradually increasing absorption
      profiles coinciding with the emission spectrum, which together fundamentally
      limit their effective usage. Here, the authors show the first account of copper
      doping into atomically flat colloidal quantum wells (CQWs). In addition to Stokes
      shifted and tunable dopant-induced photoluminescence emission, the copper doping
      into CQWs enables near-unity quantum efficiencies (up to ~97%), accompanied by
      substantially high absorption cross-section and inherently step-like absorption
      profile, compared to those of the doped CQDs. Based on these exceptional
      properties, the authors have demonstrated by both experimental analysis and
      numerical modeling that these newly synthesized doped CQWs are excellent
      candidates for LSCs. These findings may open new directions for deployment of
      doped CQWs in LSCs for advanced solar light harvesting technologies.

PMID- 28605063
TI  - Degradation-Restructuring Induced Anisotropic Epitaxial Growth for Fabrication of
      Asymmetric Diblock and Triblock Mesoporous Nanocomposites.
AB  - A novel degradation-restructuring induced anisotropic epitaxial growth strategy
      is demonstrated for the synthesis of uniform 1D diblock and triblock silica
      mesoporous asymmetric nanorods with controllable rod length (50 nm to 2 um) and
      very high surface area of 1200 m2 g-1 . The asymmetric diblock mesoporous silica
      nanocomposites are composed of a 1D mesoporous organosilicate nanorod with highly
      ordered hexagonal mesostructure, and a closely connected dense SiO2 nanosphere
      located only on one side of the nanorods. Furthermore, the triblock mesoporous
      silica nanocomposites constituted by a cubic mesostructured nanocube, a
      nanosphere with radial mesopores, and a hexagonal mesostructured nanorod can also
      be fabricated with the anisotropic growth of mesopores. Owing to the ultrahigh
      surface area, unique 1D mesochannels, and functionality asymmetry, the obtained
      match-like asymmetric Au-NR@SiO2 &EPMO (EPMO = ethane bridged periodic mesoporous
      organosilica) mesoporous nanorods can be used as an ideal nanocarrier for the
      near-infrared photothermal triggered controllable releasing of drug molecules.

PMID- 28605064
TI  - Characterization of the chloroquine-induced mouse model of pruritus using an
      automated behavioural system.
AB  - Pruritus is a major symptom of several dermatological diseases but has limited
      therapeutic options available. Animal models replicating the pathophysiology of
      pruritus are needed to support the development of new drugs. Induction of
      pruritus by chloroquine (CQ) in mice is widely used, although, as with similar
      models, it has low throughput and does not distinguish between antipruritic
      effects and confounding factors such as sedation. To overcome these issues, we
      incorporated into the model an automated system that measures both scratching and
      locomotor behaviour simultaneously. We combined this system with the
      determination of CQ levels in different tissues to understand the impact of the
      route of CQ administration on the pruritogenic response. We concluded that
      whereas oral CQ does not induce pruritus due to insufficient skin levels, the
      bell-shaped curve of pruritus observed following subcutaneous administration is
      due to toxicity at high doses. We validated the model with several drugs
      currently used in humans: nalfurafine, aprepitant, cyproheptadine and
      amitriptyline. By comparing the effects of the drugs on both scratching and
      locomotor activity, we concluded that nalfurafine and aprepitant can exhibit
      efficacy at doses devoid of central effects, whereas central effects drove the
      efficacy of the other two drugs. This was further confirmed using non-brain
      penetrant drugs. Moreover, as anticipated, anti-inflammatory drugs showed no
      efficacy. In conclusion, the use of an automated integrated behavioural
      assessment in CQ-induced pruritus makes the assay suitable for screening purposes
      and allows for a correct interpretation of the antipruritic effect of the
      compounds evaluated.

PMID- 28605065
TI  - Injuries in youth track and field are perceived to have multiple-level causes
      that call for ecological (holistic-developmental) interventions: A national
      sporting community perceptions and experiences.
AB  - Engaging in competitive sports as a youth can have many health benefits, but
      recent studies also report a high risk for injury. The long-term purpose of this
      Swedish research program is to develop a framework for safe track and field
      training for young athletes (aged 12-15 years). The aim of this study was to
      establish what is perceived to contribute and cause injuries in youth track and
      field by compiling the best available experiential knowledge about the underlying
      factors and use this knowledge to identify appropriate areas to handle these in
      practical ways. Nine focus group interviews with in total 74 participants and
      confirming interviews with five individuals were performed in seven Swedish
      regions. Qualitative research methods were used for data analysis. Injuries in
      youth athletes were not considered to be strictly the result of individual
      factors but rather the result of the interactions between factors at different
      levels. Three major factors emerged as follows: Insufficient knowledge for
      athletic development in daily practice; shortsighted communities of practice and
      sports policies not adjusted to youth; and societal health behaviors. The
      experiential knowledge in the national sporting community suggests that if
      effective and sustainable injury prevention processes are to be implemented for
      youth track and field, an ecological (holistic-developmental) approach to injury
      prevention is needed. Such an approach allows a longitudinal development-focused
      strategy for prevention that spans an athlete's entire career.

PMID- 28605066
TI  - Bulk Single Crystal-Like Structural and Magnetic Characteristics of Epitaxial
      Spinel Ferrite Thin Films with Elimination of Antiphase Boundaries.
AB  - Spinel ferrite NiFe2 O4 thin films have been grown on three isostructural
      substrates, MgAl2 O4 , MgGa2 O4 , and CoGa2 O4 using pulsed laser deposition.
      These substrates have lattice mismatches of 3.1%, 0.8%, and 0.2%, respectively,
      with NiFe2 O4 . As expected, the films grown on MgAl2 O4 substrate show the
      presence of the antiphase boundary defects. However, no antiphase boundaries
      (APBs) are observed for films grown on near-lattice-matched substrates MgGa2 O4
      and CoGa2 O4 . This demonstrates that by using isostructural and lattice-matched
      substrates, the formation of APBs can be avoided in NiFe2 O4 thin films.
      Consequently, static and dynamic magnetic properties comparable with the bulk can
      be realized. Initial results indicate similar improvements in film quality and
      magnetic properties due to the elimination of APBs in other members of the spinel
      ferrite family, such as Fe3 O4 and CoFe2 O4 , which have similar crystallographic
      structure and lattice constants as NiFe2 O4 .

PMID- 28605067
TI  - Nanometer-Scale Phase Transformation Determines Threshold and Memory Switching
      Mechanism.
AB  - Creation of nanometer-scale conductive filaments in resistive switching devices
      makes them appealing for advanced electrical applications. While in situ
      electrical probing transmission electron microscopy promotes fundamental
      investigations of how the conductive filament comes into existence, it does not
      provide proof-of-principle observations for the filament growth. Here, using
      advanced microscopy techniques, electrical, 3D compositional, and structural
      information of the switching-induced conductive filament are described. It is
      found that during in situ probing microscopy of a Ag/TiO2 /Pt device showing both
      memory- and threshold-switching characteristics, a crystalline Ag-doped TiO2
      forms at vacant sites on the device surface and acts as the conductive filament.
      More importantly, change in filament morphology varying with applied compliance
      currents determines the underlying switching mechanisms that govern either memory
      or threshold response. When focusing more on threshold switching features, it is
      demonstrated that the structural disappearance of the filament arises at the end
      of the constricted region and leads to the spontaneous phase transformation from
      crystalline conductive state into an initial amorphous insulator. Use of the
      proposed method enables a new pathway for observing nanosized features in a
      variety of devices at the atomic scale in three dimensions.

PMID- 28605068
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the topic of this review? This review highlights the
      emerging role of disruptions in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function, namely ER
      stress, as a contributor to hypertension. What advances does it highlight? This
      review presents an integrative view of ER stress in cardiovascular control
      systems, including systems within the brain, kidney and peripheral vasculature,
      as related to development of hypertension. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a
      cellular organelle specialized in the synthesis, folding, assembly and
      modification of proteins. In situations of increased protein demand, complex
      signalling pathways, termed the unfolded protein response, influence a series of
      cellular feedback loops to control ER function strictly. Although this is
      initially a compensatory attempt to maintain cellular homeostasis, chronic
      activation of the unfolded protein response, known as ER stress, leads to
      sustained changes in cellular function. A growing body of literature points to ER
      stress in diverse cardioregulatory systems, including the brain, kidney and
      vasculature, as central to the development of hypertension. Here, these recent
      findings from essential and obesity-related forms of hypertension are highlighted
      in an integrative manner, with discussion of the potential upstream causes and
      downstream consequences of ER stress. Given that hypertension is a leading
      medical and socio-economic global challenge, emerging findings suggest that
      targeting ER stress might represent a viable strategy for the treatment of
      hypertensive disease.

PMID- 28605070
TI  - Nanodiamonds That Swim.
AB  - Nanodiamonds are emerging as nanoscale quantum probes for bio-sensing and
      imaging. This necessitates the development of new methods to accurately
      manipulate their position and orientation in aqueous solutions. The realization
      of an "active" nanodiamond (ND) swimmer in fluids, composed of a ND crystal
      containing nitrogen vacancy centers and a light-driven self-thermophoretic
      micromotor, is reported. The swimmer is propelled by a local temperature gradient
      created by laser illumination on its metal-coated side. Its locomotion-from
      translational to rotational motion-is successfully controlled by shape-dependent
      hydrodynamic interactions. The precise engineering of the swimmer's geometry is
      achieved by self-assembly combined with physical vapor shadow growth. The optical
      addressability of the suspended ND swimmers is demonstrated by observing the
      electron spin resonance in the presence of magnetic fields. Active motion at the
      nanoscale enables new sensing capabilities combined with active transport
      including, potentially, in living organisms.

PMID- 28605069
TI  - The Bacillus subtilis germinant receptor GerA triggers premature germination in
      response to morphological defects during sporulation.
AB  - During sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, germinant receptors assemble in the
      inner membrane of the developing spore. In response to specific nutrients, these
      receptors trigger germination and outgrowth. In a transposon-sequencing screen,
      we serendipitously discovered that loss of function mutations in the gerA
      receptor partially suppress the phenotypes of > 25 sporulation mutants. Most of
      these mutants have modest defects in the assembly of the spore protective layers
      that are exacerbated in the presence of a functional GerA receptor. Several lines
      of evidence indicate that these mutants inappropriately trigger the activation of
      GerA during sporulation resulting in premature germination. These findings led us
      to discover that up to 8% of wild-type sporulating cells trigger premature
      germination during differentiation in a GerA-dependent manner. This phenomenon
      was observed in domesticated and undomesticated wild-type strains sporulating in
      liquid and on solid media. Our data indicate that the GerA receptor is poised on
      a knife's edge during spore development. We propose that this sensitized state
      ensures a rapid response to nutrient availability and also elicits premature
      germination of spores with improperly assembled protective layers resulting in
      the elimination of even mildly defective individuals from the population.

PMID- 28605071
TI  - Cold Isostatic-Pressured Silver Nanowire Electrodes for Flexible Organic Solar
      Cells via Room-Temperature Processes.
AB  - Transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) are considered to be an essential
      structural component of flexible organic solar cells (FOSCs). Silver nanowire
      (AgNW) electrodes are widely used as TCEs owing to their excellent electrical and
      optical properties. The fabrication of AgNW electrodes has faced challenges in
      terms of forming large uniform interconnected networks so that high conductivity
      and reproducibility can be achieved. In this study, a simple method for creating
      an intimate contact between AgNWs that uses cold isostatic pressing (CIP) is
      demonstrated. This method increases the conductivity of the AgNW electrodes,
      which enables the fabrication of high-efficiency inverted FOSCs that have a power
      conversion efficiency of 8.75% on flexible polyethylene terephthalate with no
      short circuiting occurring as the CIP process minimizes the surface roughness of
      the AgNW electrode. This allows to achieve 100% manufacturing yield of FOSCs.
      Furthermore, these highly efficient FOSCs are proven to only be 2.4% less
      efficient even for an extreme bending radius of R ~ 1.5 mm, compared with initial
      efficiency.

PMID- 28605072
TI  - In-Plane Electrical Connectivity and Near-Field Concentration of Isolated
      Graphene Resonators Realized by Ion Beams.
AB  - Graphene plasmons provide great opportunities in light-matter interactions
      benefiting from the extreme confinement and electrical tunability. Structured
      graphene cavities possess enhanced confinements in 3D and steerable plasmon
      resonances, potential in applications for sensing and emission control at the
      nanoscale. Besides graphene boundaries obtained by mask lithography, graphene
      defects engineered by ion beams have shown efficient plasmon reflections. In this
      paper, near-field responses of structured graphene achieved by ion beam direct
      writing are investigated. Graphene nanoresonators are fabricated easily and
      precisely with a spatial resolution better than 30 nm. Breathing modes are
      observed in graphene disks. The amorphous carbons around weaken the response of
      edge modes in the resonators, but meanwhile render the isolated resonators in
      plane electrical connections, where near-fields are proved gate-tunable. The
      realization of gate-tunable near-fields of graphene 2D resonators opens up
      tunable near-field couplings with matters. Moreover, graphene nonconcentric rings
      with engineered near-field confinement distributions are demonstrated, where the
      quadrupole plasmon modes are excited. Near-field mappings reveal concentrations
      at the scale of 3.8*10-4lambda02 within certain zones which can be engineered.
      The realization of electrically tunable graphene nanoresonators by ion beam
      direct-writing is promising for active manipulation of emission and sensing at
      the nanoscale.

PMID- 28605073
TI  - Antibody-Mimetic Peptoid Nanosheet for Label-Free Serum-Based Diagnosis of
      Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized by
      progressive cognitive decline. Current diagnosis of AD is based on symptoms,
      neuropsychological tests, and neuroimaging, and is usually evident years after
      the pathological process. Early assessment at the preclinical or prodromal stage
      is in a great demand since treatment after the onset can hardly stop or reverse
      the disease progress. However, early diagnosis of AD is challenging due to the
      lack of reliable noninvasive approaches. Here, an antibody-mimetic self
      assembling peptoid nanosheet containing surface-exposed Abeta42-recognizing loops
      is constructed, and a label-free sensor for the detection of AD serum is
      developed. The loop-displaying peptoid nanosheet is demonstrated to have high
      affinity to serum Abeta42, and to be able to identify AD sera with high
      sensitivity. The dense distribution of molecular recognition loops on the robust
      peptoid nanosheet scaffold not only mimics the architecture of antibodies, but
      also reduces the nonspecific binding in detecting multicomponent samples. This
      antibody-mimetic 2D material holds great potential toward the blood-based
      diagnosis of AD, and meanwhile provides novel insights into the antibody
      alternative engineering and the universal application in biological and chemical
      sensors.

PMID- 28605074
TI  - Covert Photonic Barcodes Based on Light Controlled Acidichromism in Organic Dye
      Doped Whispering-Gallery-Mode Microdisks.
AB  - Photonic barcodes with a small footprint have demonstrated a great value for
      multiplexed high-throughput bioassays and tracking systems. Attempts to develop
      coding technology tend to focus on the generation of featured barcodes both with
      high coding capacity and accurate recognition. In this work, a strategy to design
      photonic barcodes is proposed based on whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) modulations
      in dye-doped microdisk resonant cavities, where each modulated photoluminescence
      spectrum constitutes the fingerprint of a corresponding microdisk. The WGM-based
      barcodes can achieve infinite encoding capacity through tuning the dimensions of
      the microdisks. These photonic barcodes can be well disguised and decoded based
      on the light controlled proton release and acidichromism of the organic
      materials, which are essential to fulfill the functions of anti-counterfeiting,
      information security, and so on. The results will pave an avenue to new types of
      flexible WGM-based components for optical data recording and security labels.

PMID- 28605075
TI  - Divergent Access to (1,1) and (1,2)-Azidolactones from Alkenes using Hypervalent
      Iodine Reagents.
AB  - A versatile synthesis of azidolactones through azidation and cyclization of
      carboxylic acids onto alkenes has been developed. Based on either photoredox or
      palladium catalysis, (1,1) and (1,2) azido lactones can be selectively
      synthesized. The choice of catalyst and benziodoxol(on)e reagent serving as azide
      source was essential to initiate either a radical or Lewis acid mediated process
      with divergent outcome. These transformations were carried out under mild
      conditions using a low catalyst loading and gave access to a large scope of azido
      lactones.

PMID- 28605076
TI  - Analysis of Magnetic Anisotropy and the Role of Magnetic Dilution in Triggering
      Single-Molecule Magnet (SMM) Behavior in a Family of CoII YIII Dinuclear
      Complexes with Easy-Plane Anisotropy.
AB  - Three new closely related CoII YIII complexes of general formula [Co(MU-L)(MU
      X)Y(NO3 )2 ] (X- =NO3- 1, benzoate 2, or 9-anthracenecarboxylato 3) have been
      prepared with the compartmental ligand N,N',N''-trimethyl-N,N''-bis(2-hydroxy-3
      methoxy-5-methylbenzyl)diethylenetriamine (H2 L). In these complexes, CoII and
      YIII are triply bridged by two phenoxide groups belonging to the di-deprotonated
      ligand (L2- ) and one ancillary anion X- . The change of the ancillary bridging
      group connecting CoII and YIII ions induces small differences in the trigonally
      distorted CoN3 O3 coordination sphere with a concomitant tuning of the magnetic
      anisotropy and intermolecular interactions. Direct current magnetic, high
      frequency and -field EPR (HFEPR), frequency domain Fourier transform THz electron
      paramagnetic resonance (FD-FT THz-EPR) measurements, and ab initio theoretical
      calculations demonstrate that CoII ions in compounds 1-3 have large and positive
      D values (~50 cm-1 ), which decrease with increasing the distortion of the pseudo
      octahedral CoII coordination sphere. Dynamic ac magnetic susceptibility
      measurements indicate that compound 1 exhibits field-induced single-molecule
      magnet (SMM) behavior, whereas compounds 2 and 3 only display this behavior when
      they are magnetically diluted with diamagnetic ZnII (Zn/Co=10:1). In view of
      this, it is always advisable to use magnetically diluted complexes, in which
      intermolecular interactions and quantum tunneling of magnetism (QTM) would be at
      least partly suppressed, so that "hidden single-ion magnet (SIM)" behavior could
      emerge. Field- and temperature-dependence of the relaxation times indicate the
      prevalence of the Raman process in all these complexes above approximately 3 K.

PMID- 28605077
TI  - Highly Flexible and Efficient Solar Steam Generation Device.
AB  - Solar steam generation with subsequent steam recondensation has been regarded as
      one of the most promising techniques to utilize the abundant solar energy and sea
      water or other unpurified water through water purification, desalination, and
      distillation. Although tremendous efforts have been dedicated to developing high
      efficiency solar steam generation devices, challenges remain in terms of the
      relatively low efficiency, complicated fabrications, high cost, and inability to
      scale up. Here, inspired by the water transpiration behavior of trees, the use of
      carbon nanotube (CNT)-modified flexible wood membrane (F-Wood/CNTs) is
      demonstrated as a flexible, portable, recyclable, and efficient solar steam
      generation device for low-cost and scalable solar steam generation applications.
      Benefitting from the unique structural merits of the F-Wood/CNTs membrane-a black
      CNT-coated hair-like surface with excellent light absorbability, wood matrix with
      low thermal conductivity, hierarchical micro- and nanochannels for water pumping
      and escaping, solar steam generation device based on the F-Wood/CNTs membrane
      demonstrates a high efficiency of 81% at 10 kW cm-2 , representing one of the
      highest values ever-reported. The nature-inspired design concept in this study is
      straightforward and easily scalable, representing one of the most promising
      solutions for renewable and portable solar energy generation and other related
      phase-change applications.

PMID- 28605078
TI  - Morphology and Phylogenetic Analyses of Three Novel Naegleria Isolated from
      Freshwaters on Jeju Island, Korea, During the Winter Period.
AB  - The genus Naegleria is one of the best known heterolobosean groups, and is the
      causative agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. This group is rarely
      studied in temperate regions during winter. Here, three novel Naegleria were
      isolated from freshwaters on Jeju Island, Korea, during winter. Two isolates were
      amoeboflagellates, and one of the three amoebae did not undergo enflagellation.
      All amoebae had eruptive pseudopodia, and the layer of refractile granules around
      a large nucleus. They formed a cyst with ~2 pores in the cyst stage. The
      amoeboflagellate form had two flagella and no division in the flagellate stage,
      and no cytostome. These features are very similar to typical Naegleria.
      Furthermore, our isolates were able to grow at > 30  degrees C, suggesting that
      they had different thermophilicity from Naegleria in polar regions. All amoebae
      were largely encysted at 5 or 10  degrees C, indicating that they were likely
      encysted during winter. Based on the 18S rRNA gene and the ITS1-5.8S rRNA gene
      ITS2 sequences, the phylogenetic analyses consistently revealed that the isolates
      are members of the Naegleria group. However, the isolates differ from other
      species in both phylogenetic trees. Thus, Naegleria in cold habitats appeared to
      have a high degree of novelty, but their thermophilicity may be dependent on
      locality.

PMID- 28605079
TI  - Corrigendum for Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1216: 144-166.

PMID- 28605080
TI  - Carbon-Halogen Bond Activation by Selenium-Based Chalcogen Bonding.
AB  - Chalcogen bonding is a little explored noncovalent interaction similar to halogen
      bonding. This manuscript describes the first application of selenium-based
      chalcogen bond donors as Lewis acids in organic synthesis. To this end, the
      solvolysis of benzhydryl bromide served as a halide abstraction benchmark
      reaction. Chalcogen bond donors based on a bis(benzimidazolium) core provided
      rate accelerations relative to the background reactivity by a factor of 20-30.
      Several comparative experiments provide clear indications that the observed
      activation is due to chalcogen bonding. The performance of the chalcogen bond
      donors is superior to that of a related brominated halogen bond donor.

PMID- 28605081
TI  - Microfluidic Programming of Compositional Hydrogel Landscapes.
AB  - A droplet microfluidics strategy to rapidly synthesize, process, and screen up to
      hundreds of thousands of compositionally distinct synthetic hydrogels is
      presented. By programming the flow rates of multiple microfluidic inlet channels
      supplying individual hydrogel building blocks, microgel compositions and
      properties are systematically modulated. The use of fluorescent labels as proxies
      for the physical and chemical properties of the microgel permits the rapid
      screening and discovery of specific formulations through fluorescence microscopy
      or flow cytometry. This concept should accelerate the discovery of new hydrogel
      formulations for various novel applications.

PMID- 28605082
TI  - Toxoplasmosis in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

PMID- 28605084
TI  - New Approach to 1,4-Benzoxazin-3-ones by Electrochemical C-H Amination.
AB  - 1,4-Benzoxazin-3-ones are important structural motifs in natural products and
      bioactive compounds. Usually, the synthesis of benzoxazinones requires transition
      metal catalysts and pre-functionalized substrates such as aryl halides. However,
      the anodic C-H amination of phenoxy acetates offers a very efficient and
      sustainable access to these heterocycles. The presented electrochemical protocol
      can be applied to a broad scope of alkylated substrates. Even tert-butyl moieties
      or halogen substituents are compatible with this versatile method.

PMID- 28605107
TI  - Molecular Logic: From Single Logic Gates to Sophisticated Logic Circuits, from
      Fundamental Science to Practical Applications.

PMID- 28605083
TI  - Alkynes as Electrophilic or Nucleophilic Allylmetal Precursors in Transition
      Metal Catalysis.
AB  - Diverse late transition metal catalysts convert terminal or internal alkynes into
      transient allylmetal species that display electrophilic or nucleophilic
      properties. Whereas classical methods for the generation of allylmetal species
      often form stoichiometric by-products, the recent use of alkynes as allylmetal
      precursors enables completely atom-efficient catalytic processes to be carried
      out, including enantioselective transformations.

PMID- 28605108
TI  - Perforation of the gallbladder in a patient with acute cytomegalovirus
      cholecystitis shortly following renal transplantation.
AB  - A 74-year-old man with end-stage renal failure secondary to diabetes received a
      living donor renal transplant (cytomegalovirus [CMV]-seropositive recipient from
      a CMV-seropositive donor). Computed tomography scan revealed a gallbladder with
      hemorrhage. On postoperative day 27, cholecystography revealed gallbladder
      perforation; he underwent an emergency operation. Histological examination of the
      gallbladder wall was positive for multiple viral inclusion bodies. We report a
      very rare case of both hemorrhagic and perforated CMV cholecystitis within a
      month following renal transplantation.

PMID- 28605110
TI  - Methylenecyclopropane Annulation by Manganese(I)-Catalyzed Stereoselective C-H/C
      C Activation.
AB  - C-H/C-C functionalizations with methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) were accomplished
      with a versatile base-metal catalyst. A robust manganese(I) complex enabled the
      expedient annulation of MCPs by synthetically meaningful ketimines to deliver,
      upon one-pot hydroarylation, densely substituted polycylic anilines in a step
      economical fashion. Mechanistic studies provided strong support for a facile
      organometallic C-H manganation, while typical cobalt, ruthenium, rhodium, and
      palladium catalysts were found completely ineffective.

PMID- 28605109
TI  - A randomized, double-blind, placebo- and risperidone-controlled study on
      valnoctamide for acute mania.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Mood stabilizers administered for bipolar disorder during pregnancy,
      such as valproic acid, can increase the risk of congenital anomalies in
      offspring. Valnoctamide is a valproic acid derivative associated with a decreased
      risk for congenital abnormalities in animals. The present study evaluated the
      efficacy and safety of valnoctamide monotherapy, compared to placebo, in the
      treatment of patients in an acute manic episode. METHODS: A 3-week, double-blind,
      randomized, placebo- and risperidone-controlled, parallel group trial was
      conducted on 173 patients in an acute manic episode. Patients were randomized to
      receive valnoctamide 1500 mg/d (n=71), risperidone 6 mg/d (n=32), or matching
      placebo (n=70). The primary outcome measure was the change in Young Mania Rating
      Scale (YMRS) scores. RESULTS: Valnoctamide did not differ significantly from
      placebo on any of the study endpoints (YMRS, Positive and Negative Syndrome
      Scale, and the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Bipolar Disorder [CGI-BP]
      scales; all P>.60). Mixed models for repeated measures showed that risperidone
      produced significantly more improvement than placebo in the overall bipolar
      disorder CGI-BP severity scale (P=.036), and the CGI-BP severity scale for mania
      (P=.021). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve revealed higher all-cause
      discontinuation rates (mainly due to lack of efficacy) in the valnoctamide group
      compared to the other study groups (P=.026). Patients with higher valnoctamide
      plasma levels had a numerically higher YMRS response, but this was not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Valnoctamide was well tolerated at 1500
      mg/d but lacked efficacy in the treatment of symptoms in patients with acute
      mania. Possible differences between the biological mechanisms of action of
      valproic acid and valnoctamide are discussed.

PMID- 28605111
TI  - Mutation of Conserved Residues Increases in Vitro Activity of the Formylglycine
      Generating Enzyme.
AB  - The formylglycine-generating enzyme (FGE) recognizes proteins with a specific
      cysteine-containing six-amino-acid motif and converts this cysteine residue into
      formylglycine. The resulting aldehyde function provides a unique handle for
      selective protein labeling. We have identified two mutations in FGE from
      Thermomonospora curvata that increase this catalytic efficiency more than 40
      fold. The resulting activity and stability, as well as its ease of recombinant
      production, make this FGE variant a practical reagent for in vitro protein
      engineering.

PMID- 28605112
TI  - Candida albicans biofilms: comparative analysis of room-temperature and
      cryofixation for scanning electron microscopy.
AB  - Biofilms are frequently related to invasive fungal infections and are reported to
      be more resistant to antifungal drugs than planktonic cells. The structural
      complexity of the biofilm as well as the presence of a polymeric extracellular
      matrix (ECM) is thought to be associated with this resistant behavior. Scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM) after room temperature glutaraldehyde-based fixation,
      have been used to study fungal biofilm structure and drug susceptibility but they
      usually fail to preserve the ECM and, therefore, are not an optimised methodology
      to understand the complexity of the fungal biofilm. Thus, in this work, we
      propose a comparative analysis of room-temperature and cryofixation/freeze
      substitution of Candida albicans biofilms for SEM observation. Our experiments
      showed that room-temperature fixative protocols using glutaraldehyde and osmium
      tetroxide prior to alcohol dehydration led to a complete extraction of the
      polymeric ECM of biofilms. ECM from fixative and alcohol solutions were recovered
      after all processing steps and these structures were characterised by
      biochemistry assays, transmission electron microscopy and mass spectrometry.
      Cryofixation techniques followed by freeze-substitution lead to a great
      preservation of both ECM structure and C. albicans biofilm cells, allowing the
      visualisation of a more reliable biofilm structure. These findings reinforce that
      cryofixation should be the indicated method for SEM sample preparation to study
      fungal biofilms as it allows the visualisation of the EMC and the exploration of
      the biofilm structure to its fullest, as its structural/functional role in
      interaction with host cells, other pathogens and for drug resistance assays.

PMID- 28605114
TI  - Small-Molecule Kinase-Inhibitors-Loaded Boron Cluster as Hybrid Agents for Glioma
      Cell-Targeting Therapy.
AB  - The reported new anilinoquinazoline-icosahedral borane hybrids have been
      evaluated as glioma targeting for potential use in cancer therapy. Their anti
      glioma activity depends on hybrids' lipophilicity; the most powerful compound
      against glioma cells, a 1,7-closo-derivative, displayed at least 3.3 times higher
      activity than the parent drug erlotinib. According to the cytotoxic effects on
      normal glia cells, the hybrids were selective for epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR)-overexpressed tumor cells. These boron carriers could be used to
      enrich glioma cancer cells with boron for cancer therapy.

PMID- 28605115
TI  - Interventions Promoting Breast Cancer Screening Among Turkish Women With Global
      Implications: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a major health concern and remains the most common
      malignancy in women worldwide and in Turkey. Mammography, clinical breast
      examination (CBE), and breast self-examination (BSE) are recommended methods to
      detect early breast cancer in women. Many strategies have been developed to
      increase the rates of mammography, CBE, and BSE among Turkish women. Despite the
      benefits of breast cancer screening, these modalities are still underutilized by
      the majority of Turkish women. AIM: To systematically review the scientific
      evidence on the effectiveness of various strategies aimed at improving screening
      behaviors for breast cancer in Turkish women. METHODS: A systematic review of the
      literature published between 2000 and 2015 was conducted, searching 10 databases
      of Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL,
      PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Google Scholar, ULAKBIM Turkish Medical
      Database, and Council of Higher Education Thesis Center. RESULTS: Twenty-three
      studies were included in the final review. The majority of the studies
      investigated the effects of multiple strategies to improve BSE. Group education
      comprised educational sessions, printed and audiovisual materials, which
      significantly improved BSE, CBE, and mammography screening rates at 3 months, 6
      months, and 12 months after the intervention. One-to-one education demonstrated
      no significant difference in BSE rates at 6-month and 12-month follow-up.
      However, one-to-one education demonstrated significant differences in CBE and
      mammography rates at the 3-month follow-up. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: The use
      of group education comprising a multicomponent intervention demonstrated an
      increase in breast-screening behaviors among Turkish women. Further research
      investigating the duration of educational interventions is needed in order to
      suggest a "dose response."

PMID- 28605113
TI  - Muscle carnitine availability plays a central role in regulating fuel metabolism
      in the rodent.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Meldonium inhibits endogenous carnitine synthesis and tissue uptake,
      and accelerates urinary carnitine excretion, although the impact of meldonium
      mediated muscle carnitine depletion on whole-body fuel selection, and muscle fuel
      metabolism and its molecular regulation is under-investigated. Ten days of oral
      meldonium administration did not impact on food or fluid intake, physical
      activity levels or body weight gain in the rat, whereas it depleted muscle
      carnitine content (all moieties), increased whole-body carbohydrate oxidation and
      muscle and liver glycogen utilization, and reduced whole-body fat oxidation.
      Meldonium reduced carnitine transporter protein expression across muscles of
      different contractile and metabolic phenotypes. A TaqMan PCR low-density array
      card approach revealed the abundance of 189 mRNAs regulating fuel selection was
      altered in soleus muscle by meldonium, highlighting the modulation of discrete
      cellular functions and metabolic pathways. These novel findings strongly support
      the premise that muscle carnitine availability is a primary regulator of fuel
      selection in vivo. ABSTRACT: The body carnitine pool is primarily confined to
      skeletal muscle, where it regulates carbohydrate (CHO) and fat usage. Meldonium
      (3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium)-propionate) inhibits carnitine synthesis and
      tissue uptake, although the impact of carnitine depletion on whole-body fuel
      selection, muscle fuel metabolism and its molecular regulation is under
      investigated. Male lean Zucker rats received water (control, n = 8) or meldonium
      supplemented water (meldonium, n = 8) for 10 days [1.6 g kg-1 body mass (BM) day
      1 days 1-2, 0.8 g kg-1  BM day-1 thereafter]. From days 7-10, animals were housed
      in indirect calorimetry chambers after which soleus muscle and liver were
      harvested. Food and fluid intake, weight gain and physical activity levels were
      similar between groups from days 7 to 10. Compared to control, meldonium depleted
      muscle total carnitine (P < 0.001) and all carnitine esters. Furthermore, whole
      body fat oxidation was less (P < 0.001) and CHO oxidation was greater (P < 0.05)
      compared to the control, whereas soleus and liver glycogen contents were less (P
      < 0.01 and P < 0.01, respectively). In a second study, male Wistar rats received
      water (n = 8) or meldonium-supplemented water (n = 8) as above, and kidney, heart
      and extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL) and soleus muscles were collected.
      Compared to control, meldonium depleted total carnitine content (all P < 0.001),
      reduced carnitine transporter protein and glycogen content, and increased
      pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 mRNA abundance in the heart, EDL and soleus. In
      total, 189 mRNAs regulating fuel selection were differentially expressed in
      soleus in meldonium vs. control, and a number of cellular functions and pathways
      strongly associated with carnitine depletion were identified. Collectively, these
      data firmly support the premise that muscle carnitine availability is a primary
      regulator of fuel selection in vivo.

PMID- 28605116
TI  - Phaeochromocytoma in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2: RET codon-specific
      penetrance and changes in management during the last four decades.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We describe phaeochromocytoma (phaeo) penetrance in multiple
      endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2) according to RET protooncogene-specific
      mutations and report changes in phaeo diagnosis and management from 1968 to 2015.
      DESIGN: This retrospective chart review included 309 MEN2 patients from one
      specialized ambulatory care centre. Phaeo patients were categorized by diagnosis
      date: early, 1968-1996, n=40, and recent, 1997-2015, n=45. RESULTS:
      Phaeochromocytoma was diagnosed in 85/309 patients with RET mutations in the
      following exons (phaeos/all carriers, %): exon 11 (56/120, 46.6%); exon 16 (7/17,
      41.2%), exon 10 (14/47, 29.8%), and exon 13-15 (2/116, 1.7%). Age at phaeo
      diagnosis differed according to affected exon: 21.9+/-1.5 years, exon 16; 34.1+/
      11.6 years, exon 11; and 41.8+/-8.8 years, exon 10. Age-related phaeo penetrance
      differed among five amino acid substitutions at codon 634 and was highest for
      Cys634Arg and Cys634Tyr. Age at diagnosis was 34.4+/-11.6 years in the early and
      recent groups. Phaeochromocytoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) were
      diagnosed synchronously in 21/40 (early) vs 8/45 (recent) and metachronously in
      19/40 vs 37/45 cases. Diagnostic methods significantly changed from clinical
      (22/40 vs 4/45) to biochemical and/or imaging based (14/40 vs 35/45).
      Phaeochromocytoma diameter at diagnosis was 4.6 vs 2.6 cm. CONCLUSION:
      Phaeochromocytoma penetrance and age of diagnosis are highly correlated with MTC
      aggressiveness based on RET mutation status, with higher penetrance and younger
      age of diagnosis associated with more aggressive MTC. Penetrance steadily
      increases with age. At-risk patients require lifelong follow-up.

PMID- 28605117
TI  - Patient Perspectives on Nurse Practitioner Care in Oncology in Canada.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to add to what is known about patient
      satisfaction with nurse practitioner (NP) care, from the perspective of breast
      cancer patients who were followed by an NP. METHODS AND DESIGN: This study
      utilized Interpretive Description, a qualitative method aimed at making sense of
      the experiential aspects of health care and developing practical knowledge for
      improved care. Nine patients receiving NP-led care in an outpatient breast cancer
      clinic were interviewed about their perspectives on and experiences with NP-led
      care. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed. FINDINGS: The NP role has
      long been regarded as a way of addressing many contemporary health system
      problems, although there continue to be barriers to the effective utilization of
      the role, including public and patient misunderstandings. This study revealed
      that, despite persistent traditional role understandings about health
      professionals, the patient participants appreciated the benefits of NP care and
      were highly satisfied with both the physical care and holistic support they
      received during the course of their treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Today's healthcare system is characterized by accessibility issues,
      unmet patient need, workforce issues, and funding pressures. This research
      supports and enriches what is known about the benefits and usefulness of NP
      provided care from the viewpoint of those receiving the care. The findings offer
      guidance to NPs in the clinical setting regarding patient needs and optimal care
      strategies.

PMID- 28605118
TI  - Histone methyltransferase 1 regulates the encystation process in the parasite
      Giardia lamblia.
AB  - In eukaryotes, histone lysine methylation is associated with either active or
      repressed chromatin states, depending on the status of methylation. Even when the
      amino-terminus of Giardia lamblia histones diverges from other organisms, these
      regions contain lysine residues that are potential targets for methylation. When
      we examined the role of the histone methyltransferase 1 (HMT1) in the regulation
      of the encystation process by giardial histone methyltransferase 1 (GlHMT1)
      overexpression or downregulation, we observed an increase or a decrease in cyst
      production, respectively, compared to wild-type trophozoites. A time-lapse
      analysis of encystation showed that overexpression of GlHMT1 induced an earlier
      and faster process than in wild-type cells together with an upregulation of mRNA
      expression of cyst wall proteins. Subcellular localization studies indicated that
      GlHMT1-hemaglutinin was mainly associated with the nuclear and perinuclear region
      in both growing and encysting parasites, in agreement with bioinformatics
      analyses showing that GlHMT-1 possesses nuclear localization signals in addition
      to the classical SU(var)3-9, Enhancer-of-Zeste, Trithorax (SET), and post-SET
      domains. Altogether, these findings suggest that the function of HMT1 is critical
      for the success and timing of the encystation process, and reinforce the idea
      that epigenetic marks are critical for cyst formation in G. lamblia.

PMID- 28605119
TI  - Aromatherapy Massage for Neuropathic Pain and Quality of Life in Diabetic
      Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the effects of aromatherapy massage on
      neuropathic pain severity and quality of life (QoL) in patients suffering from
      painful diabetic neuropathy. DESIGN AND METHODS: This open-label randomized
      controlled clinical study was conducted in a university hospital endocrine
      outpatient clinic in Turkey. The study sample consisted of 46 patients, randomly
      allocated to an intervention group (n = 21) and a control group (n = 25). The
      intervention group received aromatherapy massage three times per week for a
      period of 4 weeks. The control group received only routine care. Data were
      collected from patients using the Douleur Neuropathique questionnaire, the visual
      analog scale, and the Neuropathic Pain Impact on Quality of Life questionnaire.
      FINDINGS: Neuropathic pain scores significantly decreased in the intervention
      group compared with the control group in the fourth week of the study. Similarly,
      QoL scores significantly improved in the intervention group in the fourth week of
      the study. CONCLUSIONS: Aromatherapy massage is a simple and effective
      nonpharmacological nursing intervention that can be used to manage neuropathic
      pain and improve QoL in patients with painful neuropathy. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
      Aromatherapy massage is a well-tolerated, feasible, and safe nonpharmacological
      method that can be readily integrated into clinical settings by nursing staff.
      The essential oils rosemary, geranium, lavender, eucalyptus, and chamomile can be
      safely used by nurses in the clinical setting, if applicable. However, training
      and experience of nurses in aromatherapy massage is critical to achieving
      positive results.

PMID- 28605120
TI  - Emerging 0D Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides for Sensors, Biomedicine, and Clean
      Energy.
AB  - Following research on two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides
      (TMDs), zero-dimensional (0D) TMDs nanostructures have also garnered some
      attention due to their unique properties; exploitable for new applications. The
      0D TMDs nanostructures stand distinct from their larger 2D TMDs cousins in terms
      of their general structure and properties. 0D TMDs possess higher bandgaps, ultra
      small sizes, high surface-to-volume ratios with more active edge sites per unit
      mass. So far, reported 0D TMDs can be mainly classified as quantum dots,
      nanodots, nanoparticles, and small nanoflakes. All exhibited diverse applications
      in various fields due to their unique and excellent properties. Of significance,
      through exploiting inherent characteristics of 0D TMDs materials, enhanced
      catalytic, biomedical, and photoluminescence applications can be realized through
      this exciting sub-class of TMDs. Herein, we comprehensively review the properties
      and synthesis methods of 0D TMDs nanostructures and focus on their potential
      applications in sensor, biomedicine, and energy fields. This article aims to
      educate potential adopters of these excitingly new nanomaterials as well as to
      inspire and promote the development of more impactful applications. Especially in
      this rapidly evolving field, this review may be a good resource of critical
      insights and in-depth comparisons between the 0D and 2D TMDs.

PMID- 28605121
TI  - Do laryngoscopic findings reflect the characteristics of reflux in patients with
      laryngopharyngeal reflux?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse the association between 24-hour multichannel intraluminal
      impedance-pH (24-h MII-pH) parameters and each item of the reflux finding score
      (RFS) to determine whether the laryngoscopic findings of the RFS could reflect
      the characteristics of reflux in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).
      STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTINGS: Tertiary care referral medical
      centre. PARTICIPANTS: Patients complaining of LPR symptoms were evaluated via a
      24-hour MII-pH. Among them, 99 patients whose LPR was confirmed via 24-hour MII
      pH were enrolled in this study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlations between RFS
      ratings and 24-hour MII-pH parameters were evaluated and compared between
      patients with or without each laryngoscopic finding used in the RFS. RESULTS:
      Subglottic oedema had a statistically significant positive correlation with
      number of non-acid LPR and non-acid full column reflux events. Ventricular
      obliteration and posterior commissure hypertrophy showed a significant
      correlation with non-acid exposure time and total reflux exposure time. We also
      found a significant correlation between granuloma/granulation score and number of
      acid LPR events. The numbers of non-acid LPR and full column reflux events in
      patients with subglottic oedema were significantly higher than those without
      subglottic oedema. CONCLUSION: Among the laryngoscopic findings used in the RFS,
      subglottic oedema is specific for non-acid reflux episodes, and
      granuloma/granulation is specific for acid reflux episodes.

PMID- 28605122
TI  - A comparison of hematology, plasma chemistry, and injuries in Hickory shad (Alosa
      mediocris) captured by electrofishing or angling during a spawning run.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Declines in Hickory shad (Alosa mediocris) populations in Chesapeake
      Bay have prompted efforts at captive propagation of wild broodfish for stock
      enhancement and research. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to
      evaluate injuries sustained, and immediate and delayed (24 hours) effects on
      blood variables related to 2 fish capturing methods (electrofishing [EF] and
      angling). METHODS: Blood specimens were collected from fish immediately following
      capture by EF and angling (n = 40 per sex and capture method) from the
      Susquehanna River (MD, USA). Additional fish (n = 25 per sex and capture method)
      were collected on the same day, placed in holding tanks and bled 24 hours
      following capture. Blood data that were non-Gaussian in distribution were
      transformed (Box-Cox), and effects of sex, method of capture, and holding time
      were tested using ANOVA with general linear models. Fish were evaluated for
      injuries by necropsy and radiography. RESULTS: Sex-specific differences were
      observed for RBC, HGB, PCV, MCH, MCHC, total proteins (TP), globulins, glucose,
      calcium, AST, CK, and lactate, while RBC, HGB, PCV, MCV, MCH, MCHC, TP, albumin,
      globulins, glucose, potassium, sodium, AST, CK, and lactate differed
      significantly by fish capturing method. Electrofishing may have induced greater
      disruption in blood variables, but mortality (4%) was not significantly different
      compared to angling. CONCLUSIONS: Electrofishing for Hickory shad using a
      constant DC voltage resulted in numerous hematologic and biochemical changes,
      with no additional injuries or deaths compared to angling. Capture method must be
      considered when evaluating fish condition, and blood variables should be
      partitioned by sex during spawning season.

PMID- 28605123
TI  - In vitro effects of dalteparin on thrombin generation in canine plasma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) is a functional thrombin
      generation (TG) assay that may provide a new approach for monitoring
      anticoagulant therapy in dogs. The effects of dalteparin on TG variables in dogs
      are unknown. OBJECTIVES: Objectives were to establish normal TG variable ranges
      in dogs and measure the in vitro TG variables in canine pooled platelet-poor
      plasma (PPP) spiked with different dalteparin concentrations. METHODS: In the
      first experiment, plasma samples from 25 adult healthy Beagle dogs and 11 client
      owned healthy dogs of multiple breeds was measured individually for obtaining
      normal TG values. In the second experiment, separate pools of the remaining PPP
      from 24 of the 25 previous adult Beagles and from 45 different client-owned dogs
      were spiked with dalteparin at 9 concentrations with increasing anti-factor Xa
      (anti-FXa) activity. Activated partial thromboplastin time, tissue factor-induced
      TG, and anti-FXa activity were measured for each concentration. Concentration
      response relationships were determined with ADAPT v.5, using various nonlinear
      regression models for stimulatory or inhibitory effects. RESULTS: Thrombin
      generation ranges of client-owned dogs and Beagles were equivalent only for time
      to-peak (P < .05). In vitro dalteparin resulted in a concentration-dependent
      decrease in endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) in pooled PPP. The estimated
      dalteparin concentration that produced half the maximal inhibition of baseline
      ETP (IC50 ) was 0.289 U/mL. Thrombin generation and anti-FXa activity were more
      sensitive than APTT to detect the effects of dalteparin. CONCLUSIONS: The CAT
      assay can measure the effects of dalteparin in canine plasma, resulting in
      significant dose-dependent decreases in ETP, prompting further in vivo
      investigation.

PMID- 28605124
TI  - Developing Abilities to Navigate Through the Grey Zones in Complex Environments:
      Nurses' Reasons for Applying to a Clinical Ethics Residency for Nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Nurses face complex ethical issues in practice and have
      to determine appropriate actions. An inability to conceptualize or follow a
      preferred course of action can give rise to moral uncertainty or moral distress.
      Both moral uncertainty and moral distress are problematic for nurses and their
      patients. A program designed to increase nurse confidence in moral decision
      making, the clinical ethics residency for nurses (CERN), was offered selectively
      to nurses affiliated with two academic medical centers. This is a report of the
      analysis of their application essays. DESIGN: Over a 3-year period, 67
      application essays were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Applicants
      comprised one third advanced practice nurses (APNs) and two thirds staff nurses.
      They were asked to describe their reasons for interest in the CERN and how they
      would apply the knowledge gained. METHODS: For conventional content analyses, no
      theoretical presumptions are used; rather, codes are identified from the data in
      an iterative manner and eventually collapsed into themes. Initially, broad themes
      were identified by the CERN team. Subsequently, in-depth and recursive readings
      were completed by a subset of three members, resulting in refinement of themes
      and subthemes. FINDINGS: The overarching theme identified was "developing
      abilities to navigate through the 'grey zones' in complex environments." Three
      subthemes were: (a) nurses encountering patients who are chronically critically
      ill, culturally diverse, and presenting with complex circumstances; (b) nurses
      desiring enhanced ethics knowledge and skills to improve quality of care,
      understand different perspectives, and act as a resource for others; and (c)
      nurses supporting and facilitating patient-centered ethical decision making.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings are consistent with those appearing in the international
      literature but provide a more cohesive and comprehensive account than previously,
      and hold promise for the development of educational and policy strategies to
      address moral distress and uncertainty. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study is
      relevant to clinical practice in its verification of the need nurses have for
      ethics knowledge, skill refinement, and application through communication. These
      findings affirmed the challenge that nurses feel in communicating their ethical
      concerns in an effective and engaging way and their commitment to advocacy and
      improvement in the quality of care for patients.

PMID- 28605125
TI  - Isoflavones and their metabolites influence the milk component synthesis ability
      of mammary epithelial cells through prolactin/STAT5 signaling.
AB  - SCOPE: Isoflavones are a class of polyphonic compounds present in legumes and are
      called phytoestrogens because of their estrogen-like activity. Estrogen
      influences the behavior of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) during pregnancy and
      lactation. In this study, we investigated the direct influences of isoflavones
      and their metabolites in milk production ability of MECs. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Mouse MECs were cultured with prolactin and dexamethasone (glucocorticoid analog)
      to induce milk production ability. Subsequently, lactating MECs were treated with
      each isoflavone. Coumestrol, biochanin A, genistein, and formononetin decreased
      the intracellular and secreted beta-casein. On the other hand, p-ethylphenol,
      daidzein, and equol did not significantly influence beta-casein production at any
      concentration. Coumestrol, biochanin A and genistein down-regulated the mRNA
      expression of whey acidic protein (WAP), lactoferrin and alpha-lactalbumin. In
      contrast, p-ethylphenol, daidzein and equol up-regulated beta-casein and/or WAP
      with alpha-lactalbumin. Furthermore, coumestrol and genistein down-regulated the
      expression of prolactin receptor and signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 5 (STAT5) accompanied by a decrease in STAT5 phosphorylation.
      CONCLUSION: Isoflavones and their metabolites influence the milk production
      ability of MECs through different interactions with prolactin/STAT5 signaling.
      Simultaneous intake of multiple isoflavones by consumption of legumes may induce
      promotive or adverse effects on lactating MECs.

PMID- 28605126
TI  - Tin Sulfide-Based Nanohybrid for High-Performance Anode of Sodium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Nanohybrid anode materials for Na-ion batteries (NIBs) based on conversion and/or
      alloying reactions can provide significantly improved energy and power
      characteristics, while suffering from low Coulombic efficiency and unfavorable
      voltage properties. An NIB paper-type nanohybrid anode (PNA) based on tin sulfide
      nanoparticles and acid-treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes is reported. In 1 m
      NaPF6 dissolved in diethylene glycol dimethyl ether as an electrolyte, the above
      PNA shows a high reversible capacity of ~1200 mAh g-1 and a large voltage plateau
      corresponding to a capacity of ~550 mAh g-1 in the low-voltage region of ~0.1 V
      versus Na+ /Na, exhibiting high rate capabilities at a current rate of 1 A g-1
      and good cycling performance over 250 cycles. In addition, the PNA exhibits a
      high first Coulombic efficiency of ~90%, achieving values above 99% during
      subsequent cycles. Furthermore, the feasibility of PNA usage is demonstrated by
      full-cell tests with a reported cathode, which results in high specific energy
      and power values of ~256 Wh kg-1 and 471 W kg-1 , respectively, with stable
      cycling.

PMID- 28605128
TI  - Tiny insects against the weather-flight and foraging patterns of Frankliniella
      schultzei (Thripidae) not altered by onset of rainfall.
AB  - To survive in nature, organisms may need to take direct action to mitigate
      specific dangers from their environmental surroundings. Tiny flying insects are
      thought to be at particular risk from rainfall that would be of negligible
      concern to larger animals. The study species Frankliniella schultzei is a thrips
      that inhabits flowers and feeds mostly on petal tissue and pollen. While found to
      respond in the laboratory to decreases in atmospheric pressure associated with
      cyclonic conditions (rather than merely heavy rainfall), their responses to
      conditions preceding rainfall have not been tested in the field. Initial field
      sampling investigated the relationship between floral development and sites at
      which male, female, and larval thrips were generally present on sunny days. We
      then designed a sampling strategy to test if these thrips can anticipate imminent
      rainfall or storms and so seek shelter deep within flowers, by sampling host
      flowers (in sections) on multiple days with different weather conditions. Sticky
      traps were used to intercept thrips in flight, thus providing a measure of flight
      behavior across different days. The initial sampling found adult thrips primarily
      at the petal apex of anthesis-stage flowers where pollen is distributed. We
      subsequently found that rainfall, atmospheric pressure change, temperature,
      humidity and wind had no effect on flight behavior of F. schultzei, or on their
      positions within flowers. These findings suggest rainfall is not a serious hazard
      for them. Perhaps thrips can survive raindrop collisions during flight, as
      impacts with water droplets are not expected to break the surface tension.

PMID- 28605127
TI  - Serum carotenoids and colorectal cancer risk: A case-control study in Guangdong,
      China.
AB  - SCOPE: Previous epidemiological studies on the association between circulating
      carotenoids and the risk of colorectal cancer drew inconclusive conclusions. This
      study aimed to examine serum carotenoids in relation to colorectal cancer risk in
      a Chinese population. METHODS AND RESULTS: One case-control study beginning from
      July 2010, consecutively recruited 538 eligible colorectal cancer cases and 564
      age (5-year interval) and sex frequency-matched controls. Serum levels of alpha
      carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein/zeaxanthin were
      detected by HPLC. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds
      ratio (OR) and 95% confidence internal (CI) after adjusting for various
      confounders. Serum levels of alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin and lycopene were
      found to be inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk. The adjusted ORs of
      the highest quartile relative to the lowest quartile serum level were 0.49 (95%
      CIs 0.33-0.72) for alpha-carotene, 0.44 (95% CIs 0.29-0.66) for beta
      cryptoxanthin, and 0.36 (95% CIs 0.24-0.54) for lycopene, respectively. The
      association between serum beta-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin and colorectal cancer
      risk was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that
      the incidence of colorectal cancer was associated with lower serum levels of
      alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin and lycopene among Chinese population residing
      in Guangdong.

PMID- 28605129
TI  - What is your diagnosis? Purple granules within neutrophils of a dog.

PMID- 28605131
TI  - Unveiling Molecular Changes in Water by Small Luminescent Nanoparticles.
AB  - Nowadays a large variety of applications are based on solid nanoparticles
      dispersed in liquids-so called nanofluids. The interaction between the fluid and
      the nanoparticles plays a decisive role in the physical properties of the
      nanofluid. A novel approach based on the nonradiative energy transfer between two
      small luminescent nanocrystals (GdVO4 :Nd3+ and GdVO4 :Yb3+ ) dispersed in water
      is used in this work to investigate how temperature affects both the processes of
      interaction between nanoparticles and the effect of the fluid on the
      nanoparticles. From a systematic analysis of the effect of temperature on the
      GdVO4 :Nd3+ -> GdVO4 :Yb3+ interparticle energy transfer, it can be concluded
      that a dramatic increase in the energy transfer efficiency occurs for
      temperatures above 45  degrees C. This change is properly explained by taking
      into account a crossover existing in diverse water properties that occurs at
      about this temperature. The obtained results allow elucidation on the molecular
      arrangement of water molecules below and above this crossover temperature. In
      addition, it is observed that an energy transfer process is produced as a result
      of interparticle collisions that induce irreversible ion exchange between the
      interacting nanoparticles.

PMID- 28605130
TI  - Effect of cocoa's theobromine on intestinal microbiota of rats.
AB  - SCOPE: To establish the role of cocoa theobromine on gut microbiota composition
      and fermentation products after cocoa consumption in rats. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Lewis rats were fed either a standard diet (RF diet), a diet containing 10% cocoa
      (CC diet) or a diet including 0.25% theobromine (TB diet) for 15 days. Gut
      microbiota (fluorescence in situ hybridization coupled to flow cytometry and
      metagenomics analysis), SCFA and IgA-coated bacteria were analyzed in fecal
      samples. CC and TB diets induced lower counts of E. coli whereas TB diet led to
      lower counts of Bifidobacterium spp., Streptococcus spp. and Clostridium
      histolyticum-C. perfingens group compared to RF diet. Metagenomics analysis also
      revealed a different microbiota pattern among the studied groups. The SCFA
      content was higher after both CC and TB diets, which was mainly due to enhanced
      butyric acid production. Furthermore, both diets decreased the proportion of IgA
      coated bacteria. CONCLUSION: Cocoa's theobromine plays a relevant role in some
      effects related to cocoa intake, such as the lower proportion of IgA-coated
      bacteria. Moreover, theobromine modifies gut microbiota although other cocoa
      compounds could also act on intestinal bacteria, attenuating or enhancing the
      theobromine effects.

PMID- 28605132
TI  - What is your diagnosis? Digit aspirate from a dog.

PMID- 28605133
TI  - Cationic Nanohydrogel Particles for Therapeutic Oligonucleotide Delivery.
AB  - Short pharmaceutical active oligonucleotides such as small interfering RNA
      (siRNA) or cytidine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG) are considered as powerful
      therapeutic alternatives, especially to medicate hard-to-treat diseases (e.g.,
      liver fibrosis or cancer). Unfortunately, these molecules are equipped with poor
      pharmacokinetic properties that prevent them from translation. Well-defined
      nanosized carriers can provide opportunities to optimize their delivery and guide
      them to their site of action. Among several concepts, this Feature Article
      focuses on cationic nanohydrogel particles as a universal delivery system for
      small anionic molecules including siRNA and CpG. Cationic nanohydrogels are
      derived from preaggregated precursor block copolymers, which are further cross
      linked to obtain well-defined nanoparticles of tunable sizes and with
      (degradable) cationic cores. Novel opportunities for oligonucleotide delivery in
      vitro and in vivo with respect to liver fibrosis therapies will be highlighted as
      well as perspectives toward modulating the immune system. In general, the
      approach of covalently stabilized cationic carrier systems can contribute to find
      advanced oligonucleotide therapeutics.

PMID- 28605134
TI  - Impact of direct epispinal stimulation on bladder and bowel functions in pigs: A
      feasibility study.
AB  - AIMS: This study assesses the potential of epispinal (subdural) stimulation
      application in the treatment of urinary and bowel neurological disorders. Acute
      experiments were performed on a large animal model - the domestic pig - to
      develop a new methodology facilitating future results and technology transfers to
      human. METHODS: After rectal and bladder catheterization, four Landrace pigs (45
      50 kg) underwent spinal cord surgery - that is, lumbosacral incision, laminectomy
      [L4-S4], dural opening and microsurgical arachnoid dissection. Three successive
      electrical stimulation sessions were carried out: 1) nerve roots stimulation, 2)
      epispinal stimulation with a matrix electrode, 3) epispinal stimulation with a
      small diameter needle electrode. Changes in rectal and bladder pressures were
      monitored throughout the various procedures to identify spinal areas inducing
      responses while evaluating the influence of electrode contacts size in the
      measured responses amplitudes. RESULTS: An interesting area was identified in the
      upper portion of the spinal myelomeres (ie, spinal cord segment delimited by two
      successive pairs of spinal roots) directly adjoining root with best pressures
      (either rectal or vesical). Significant responses (up to 40 cmH2 O) were also
      obtained with a needle electrode. Furthermore, bowel evacuation was triggered in
      one of the animals. Despite the use of smaller electrode contacts, no detrusor or
      rectum selective responses were observed in none of the sessions. CONCLUSION:
      This study showed, for the first time, that epispinal stimulation causes
      significant detrusor and rectal responses in pigs and allows considering further
      studies with the objective of treating urinary and rectal disorders in spinal
      cord injury patients.

PMID- 28605135
TI  - Mechanistic Insight Leads to a Ligand Which Facilitates the Palladium-Catalyzed
      Formation of 2-(Hetero)Arylaminooxazoles and 4-(Hetero)Arylaminothiazoles.
AB  - By using mechanistic insight, a new ligand (EPhos) for the palladium-catalyzed C
      N cross-coupling between primary amines and aryl halides has been developed.
      Employing an isopropoxy group at the C3-position favors the C-bound isomer of the
      ligand-supported palladium(II) complexes and leads to significantly improved
      reactivity. The use of a catalyst system based on EPhos with NaOPh as a mild
      homogeneous base proved to be very effective in the formation of 4
      arylaminothiazoles and highly functionalized 2-arylaminooxazoles. Previously,
      these were not readily accessible using palladium catalysis.

PMID- 28605136
TI  - A Polycation Antimicrobial Peptide Mimic without Resistance Buildup against
      Propionibacterium Acnes.
AB  - A preliminary study is reported for a polycation antimicrobial peptide (AMP)
      mimic against Propionibacterium acnes, which is associated with acne vulgaris, a
      common skin condition. Antibiotics are commonly used against P. acnes but buildup
      of resistance is well-known. Worse, antibiotic regimens build up resistance for
      more sensitive bacteria such as Staphylococcus epidermidis. The polycation AMP
      mimic C12-50, 1, is chosen for the present study as it has been previously shown
      to have high antimicrobial effectiveness. This study reports that C12-50 is
      active against P. acnes (strain ATCC 6919) with a minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) of 6.3 ug mL-1 . To monitor resistance build-up ten passages
      are conducted with C12-50 against P. acnes. The MIC remains constant with no
      resistance buildup. Parallel studies with erythromycin confirm previously
      reported resistance buildup. The results point to a promising pathway to
      applications for polycation AMP mimics against P. acnes.

PMID- 28605137
TI  - Peripheral Immunophenotyping Identifies Three Subgroups Based on T Cell
      Heterogeneity in Lupus Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the diversity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) based
      on immunophenotyping. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained
      from 143 SLE patients and 49 healthy individuals. Circulating B, T, and dendritic
      cells were defined using flow cytometric analysis as recommended by the Human
      Immunology Project Consortium. Based on these results, immunophenotypes were
      distinguished by principal components analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis was
      used to classify SLE patients into subgroups. RESULTS: The proportions of Treg
      and follicular helper T (Tfh) cells were higher in SLE patients than in healthy
      controls, whereas Th1 and Th17 cell proportions did not differ. Proportions of
      class-switched memory B cells and IgD-CD27- B cells were increased in SLE
      patients as well. The largest difference compared to the control group was
      observed in the proportion of plasmablasts, which was higher in SLE patients and
      correlated with disease activity as assessed with the British Isles Lupus
      Assessment Group index. PCA indicated that the immunophenotype of SLE patients
      consisted of abnormalities of the T and B cell axes. Cluster analysis showed that
      the SLE patients could be stratified into 3 subgroups (with high proportions of
      plasmablasts in all groups): patients who did not show the characteristic
      features (T cell-independent group), patients with a high percentage of Tfh cells
      (Tfh-dominant group), and patients with a high percentage of memory Treg cells
      (Treg-dominant group). The percentage of patients whose SLE was resistant to
      treatment was highest among the Tfh-dominant group. CONCLUSION: Our study
      indicates that patients with active SLE can be divided into 3 subgroups based on
      T cell heterogeneity. Further immunophenotyping studies should help elucidate the
      pathogenesis of SLE and provide important information for the development of new
      therapies.

PMID- 28605138
TI  - Pharmacoinformatic Study on the Selective Inhibition of the Protozoan
      Dihydrofolate Reductase Enzymes.
AB  - Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) is an essential enzyme of the folate metabolic
      pathway in protozoa and it is a validated, potential drug target in many
      infectious diseases. Information about unique conserved residues of the DHFR
      enzyme is required to understand residual selectivity of the protozoan DHFR
      enzyme. The three dimensional crystal structures are not available for all the
      protozoan DHFR enzymes. Enzyme-substrate/inhibitor interaction information is
      required for the binding mode characterization in protozoan DHFR for selective
      inhibitor design. In this work, multiple sequence analysis was carried out in all
      the studied species. Homology models were built for protozoan DHFR enzymes, for
      which 3D structures are not available in PDB. The molecular docking and Prime
      MMGBSA calculations of the natural substrate (dihydrofolate, DHF) and classical
      DHFR inhibitor (methotrexate, MTX) were performed in protozoan DHFR enzymes.
      Comparative sequence analysis showed that an overall sequence identity between
      the studied species ranging from 22.94 % (CfDHFR-BgDHFR) to 94.61 % (LdDHFR
      LmDHFR). Interestingly, it was observed that most of the active site residues
      were conserved in all the cases and all the enzymes exhibit similar key binding
      interactions with DHF and MTX in molecular docking analysis, but there are a few
      key binding residues which differ in protozoan species that makes it suitable for
      target selectivity. This information can be used to design selective and potent
      protozoan DHFR enzyme inhibitors.

PMID- 28605139
TI  - Clinical implications of pretreatment inflammatory biomarkers as independent
      prognostic indicators in prostate cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Research on the relationship between inflammatory biomarkers and
      malignant tumors has become a hotspot. Many studies have demonstrated that
      neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and red blood
      cell distribution width (RDW) could act as independent prognostic indicators for
      several solid tumors. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical implications of
      pretreatment inflammatory biomarkers, including NLR, PLR, and RDW as independent
      prognostic indicators in prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: A total of 226 PCa
      patients who were diagnosed at our institution from 2011 to 2016 were analyzed
      retrospectively. We compared the clinicopathological features, survival curves,
      and prognosis of the PCa patients between the high and low groups according to
      the cutoffs of NLR, PLR, and RDW. RESULTS: The pretreatment NLR, PLR, and RDW
      values were significantly higher in the patients with PCa than those in the
      controls (P<.05). Increased NLR and PLR values were significantly associated with
      high risk of progression, including higher Gleason scores, cell proliferation
      antigen 67 (Ki-67) indexes, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (P<.05),
      whereas an elevated RDW was only associated with an older age. An increased NLR
      was correlated with both overall survival (OS) (P=.025) and disease-free survival
      (DFS) (P=.017). In addition, a higher PLR only showed a significantly worse DFS
      (P=.040). Pretreatment NLR was an independent prognostic indicator of DFS.
      CONCLUSIONS: The pretreatment NLR and PLR might be beneficial to predict the
      progression and prognosis of PCa. Furthermore, NLR was more effective than PLR
      acting as an independent prognostic indicator for PCa.

PMID- 28605141
TI  - Anti-ENA antibody profiles in patients with hepatitis C virus infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) has been described
      following hepatitis C virus (HCV). Very few studies have investigated the
      presence of anti-extractable nuclear antigens (ENA) in HCV infection. METHODS:
      The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ENA antibodies in 100
      patients with HCV infection compared to the prevalence of ENA antibodies in 100
      healthy control patients. Sera from patients were tested for ENA using a
      multiplex microbead immunoassay. Sera positive for ENA were subsequently tested
      for ANA using an indirect immunofluorescence assay and titered if positive.
      RESULTS: Fourteen (14%) of the 100 patients with HCV infection had anti-ENA
      antibodies: four each showed anti-SSA antibodies and anti-dsDNA antibodies, three
      each had RNP antibodies and Scl-70 antibodies, and one each had anti-SSB,
      centromere B, Sm, and Sm/RNP antibodies. Ten of the 14 patients positive for anti
      ENA were positive by indirect immunofluorescence staining (IFA) with titers
      ranging from 1:40 to 1:160. Five had antinuclear patterns, one had combined
      antinuclear and cytoplasmic patterns, and four only had a cytoplasmic pattern.
      Three of the 100 healthy control patients had ANA positive titers (1:80 and
      1:320) and anti-ENA antibodies: one anti-Scl-70 and two anti-RNP. CONCLUSION: The
      prevalence of anti-ENA antibodies was significantly higher in the patients with
      HCV infections than in the healthy controls. Other studies of anti-ENA profiles
      in patients with HCV infection have identified similar patterns of positivity for
      anti-SSA, anti-SSB, anti-dsDNA, anti-RNP, anti- Sm/RNP, Scl-70, centromere B, and
      anti-Sm.

PMID- 28605140
TI  - Array-based molecular karyotyping in 115 VATER/VACTERL and VATER/VACTERL-like
      patients identifies disease-causing copy number variations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The acronym VATER/VACTERL refers to the rare nonrandom association of
      the following component features (CF): vertebral defects (V), anorectal
      malformations (A), cardiac defects (C), tracheoesophageal fistula with or without
      esophageal atresia, renal malformations (R), and limb defects (L). Patients
      presenting with at least three CFs are diagnosed as having VATER/VACTERL
      association while patients presenting with only two CFs are diagnosed as having
      VATER/VACTERL-like phenotypes. Recently, rare causative copy number variations
      (CNVs) have been identified in patients with VATER/VACTERL association and
      VATER/VACTERL-like phenotypes. METHODS: To detect further causative CNVs we
      performed array based molecular karyotyping in 75 VATER/VACTERL and 40
      VATER/VACTERL-like patients. RESULTS: Following the application of stringent
      filter criteria, we identified 13 microdeletions and seven microduplications in
      20 unrelated patients all of which were absent in 1,307 healthy inhouse controls
      (n < 0.0008). Among these, microdeletion at 17q12 was confirmed to be de novo.
      Three microdeletions at 5q23.1, 16q23.3, 22q11.21, and one microduplication at
      10q11.21 were all absent in the available parent. Microdeletion of chromosomal
      region 22q11.21 was previously found in VATER/VACTERL patients rendering it to be
      causative in our patient. The remaining 15 CNVs were inherited from a healthy
      parent. CONCLUSION: In two of 115 patients' causative CNVs were found (2%). The
      remaining identified rare CNVs represent candidates for further evaluation. Rare
      inherited CNVs may constitute modifiers of, or contributors to, multifactorial
      VATER/VACTERL or VATER/VACTERL-like phenotypes. Birth Defects Research 109:1063
      1069, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28605142
TI  - Aberrant expression of FLI-1 in melanoma.
AB  - Friend leukemia integration site 1 (FLI-1) nuclear transcription factor has been
      proposed as a suitable tool in the differential diagnosis of small round cell
      sarcomas. It has also been described as a nuclear marker of endothelial
      differentiation. Expression of FLI-1 has been demonstrated in Ewing's
      sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/PNET) and vascular neoplasms. In the
      present study, we describe 2 cases of metastatic melanoma with small round blue
      cell morphology that showed strong nuclear expression of FLI-1. Because of the
      small round blue cell morphology and negative immunohistochemical staining for
      pan-melanocytic cocktail (HMB45, anti MART1 and anti-tyrosinase) and SOX10 in
      both cases, FLI-1 immunostaining was requested as part of the tumors workup.
      Ultimately, both cases were established as being metastatic melanoma.
      Dermatopathologists should be aware that melanoma can be strongly positive for
      FLI-1 and not misinterpret these cases for ES/PNET or vascular lesions,
      especially when melanomas show unusual morphology.

PMID- 28605143
TI  - Enhanced serum levels of matrix Gla protein and bone morphogenetic protein in
      acute coronary syndrome patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vascular calcification has been found to be associated with increased
      risk of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. Various bone-associated
      proteins have been suggested to be related with this process. In this study, we
      aimed to evaluate whether serum levels of bone morphogenic protein-4 (BMP-4) and
      matrix Gla protein (MGP) differed in patients who were found to have normal
      epicardial coronary arteries or a culprit lesion in the coronary angiography
      leading to acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: Patients admitted to emergency
      department with the diagnosis of ACS who underwent primary percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) between October 2015 and April 2016 were consecutively
      recruited as the patient group. Age and gender-matched subjects who underwent
      coronary angiography following non-invasive ischemia assessment made the control
      group. RESULTS: A total of 90 subjects (63.00+/-14.02 years, 70% male) were
      included in this study. MGP (<0.001) and BMP-4 (<0.001) levels were significantly
      elevated when compared to subjects with normal coronary arteries. Fasting blood
      glucose (P=.024), HDL-cholesterol (P=.002), C-reactive protein (CRP) (P=.001)
      levels, and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (P=.021) were significantly
      correlated with serum MGP levels. HDL-cholesterol (P=.001) and CRP (P=.030)
      levels were also significantly correlated with serum BMP-4 levels. In the model
      including HDL-cholesterol, CRP, MGP, and BMP-4 levels, only MGP (odds ratio[OR]:
      1.018, P=.019) and BMP-4 (OR: 1.313, P=.023) were found to be independently
      associated with ACS. CONCLUSION: This study shows that serum BMP-4 and MGP are
      independently associated with ACS occurrence when adjusted for other CV risk
      factors. These biomarkers may have a diagnostic potential in ACS patients.

PMID- 28605145
TI  - A two-step strategy to visually identify molecularly imprinted polymers for
      tagged proteins.
AB  - A practical and relatively simple method to identify molecularly imprinted
      polymers capable of binding proteins via the molecular tagging (epitope-like)
      approach has been developed. In our two-step method, we first challenge a
      previously obtained anti-tag molecularly imprinted polymer with a small molecule
      including the said tag of choice (a biotin derivative as shown here or other)
      connected to a linker bound to a second biotin moiety. An avidin molecule
      partially decorated with fluorescent labels is then allowed to bind the available
      biotin derivative associated with the polymer matrix. At the end of this simple
      process, and after washing off all the low-affinity binding molecules from the
      polymer matrix, only suitable molecularly imprinted polymers binding avidin
      through its previously acquired small molecule tag (or epitope-like probe, in a
      general case) will remain fluorescent. For confirmation, we tested the selective
      performance of the anti-biotin molecularly imprinted polymer binding it to
      biotinylated alkaline phosphatase. Residual chemical activity of the enzyme on
      the molecularly imprinted polymer solid support was observed. In all cases, the
      corresponding nonimprinted polymer controls were inactive.

PMID- 28605146
TI  - Introduction: Humans in marginal environments: Adaptation among living and
      ancient peoples.

PMID- 28605144
TI  - Musculoskeletal Disease in MDA5-Related Type I Interferonopathy: A Mendelian
      Mimic of Jaccoud's Arthropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To define the molecular basis of a multisystem phenotype with
      progressive musculoskeletal disease of the hands and feet, including
      camptodactyly, subluxation, and tendon rupture, reminiscent of Jaccoud's
      arthropathy. METHODS: We identified 2 families segregating an autosomal-dominant
      phenotype encompassing musculoskeletal disease and variable additional features,
      including psoriasis, dental abnormalities, cardiac valve involvement, glaucoma,
      and basal ganglia calcification. We measured the expression of interferon (IFN)
      stimulated genes in the peripheral blood and skin, and undertook targeted Sanger
      sequencing of the IFIH1 gene encoding the cytosolic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)
      sensor melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA-5). We also assessed
      the functional consequences of IFIH1 gene variants using an in vitro IFNbeta
      reporter assay in HEK 293T cells. RESULTS: We recorded an up-regulation of type I
      IFN-induced gene transcripts in all 5 patients tested and identified a
      heterozygous gain-of-function mutation in IFIH1 in each family, resulting in
      different substitutions of the threonine residue at position 331 of MDA-5. Both
      of these variants were associated with increased IFNbeta expression in the
      absence of exogenous dsRNA ligand, consistent with constitutive activation of MDA
      5. CONCLUSION: These cases highlight the significant musculoskeletal involvement
      that can be associated with mutations in MDA-5, and emphasize the value of
      testing for up-regulation of IFN signaling as a marker of the underlying
      molecular lesion. Our data indicate that both Singleton-Merten syndrome and
      neuroinflammation described in the context of MDA-5 gain-of-function constitute
      part of the same type I interferonopathy disease spectrum, and provide possible
      novel insight into the pathology of Jaccoud's arthropathy.

PMID- 28605147
TI  - "But chieflye the anatomye".

PMID- 28605148
TI  - Effects of a dynamic core stability program on the biomechanics of cutting
      maneuvers: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Deficits in trunk control predict ACL injuries which frequently occur during high
      risk activities such as cutting. However, no existing trunk control/core
      stability program has been found to positively affect trunk kinematics during
      cutting activities. This study investigated the effectiveness of a 6-week dynamic
      core stability program (DCS) on the biomechanics of anticipated and unanticipated
      side and crossover cutting maneuvers. Thirty-one male, varsity footballers
      participated in this randomized controlled trial. Three-dimensional trunk and
      lower limb biomechanics were captured in a motion analysis laboratory during the
      weight acceptance phase of anticipated and unanticipated side and crossover
      cutting maneuvers at baseline and 6-week follow-up. The DCS group performed a DCS
      program three times weekly for 6 weeks in a university rehabilitation room. Both
      the DCS and control groups concurrently completed their regular practice and
      match play. Statistical parametric mapping and repeated measures analysis of
      variance were used to determine any group (DCS vs control) by time (pre vs post)
      interactions. The DCS resulted in greater internal hip extensor (P=.017, eta2
      =0.079), smaller internal knee valgus (P=.026, eta2 =0.076), and smaller internal
      knee external rotator moments (P=.041, eta2 =0.066) during anticipated side
      cutting compared with the control group. It also led to reduced posterior ground
      reaction forces for all cutting activities (P=.015-.030, eta2 =0.074-0.105). A 6
      week DCS program did not affect trunk kinematics, but it did reduce a small
      number of biomechanical risk factors for ACL injury, predominantly during
      anticipated side cutting. A DCS program could play a role in multimodal ACL
      injury prevention programs.

PMID- 28605149
TI  - Increase in multiple paternity across the reproductive lifespan in a sperm
      storing, hermaphroditic freshwater snail.
AB  - Polyandry is a common phenomenon and challenges the traditional view of stronger
      sexual selection in males than in females. In simultaneous hermaphrodites, the
      physical proximity of both sex functions was long thought to preclude the
      operation of sexual selection. Laboratory studies suggest that multiple mating
      and polyandry in hermaphrodites may actually be common, but data from natural
      populations are sparse. We therefore estimated the rate of multiple paternity and
      its seasonal variability in the annual, sperm-storing, simultaneously
      hermaphroditic freshwater snail Radix balthica for the entire duration of the
      reproductive lifespan. We also tested whether multiple paternity was associated
      with clutch size or embryonic development. To obtain these data, we measured and
      genotyped 60 field-collected egg clutches using nine highly polymorphic
      microsatellite markers. Overall, 50% of the clutches had multiple fathers, and
      both the frequency (20-93% of clutches) and magnitude of multiple paternity (mean
      1.3-3.8 fathers per clutch) substantially increased over time, probably because
      of extensive sperm storage. Most multiply sired clutches (83%) had a dominant
      father, but neither clutch size nor the proportion of developed embryos per
      clutch was associated with levels of multiple paternity. Both the evident
      promiscuity and the frequent skew of paternity shares suggest that sexual
      selection may be an important evolutionary force in the study population.

PMID- 28605150
TI  - Synthesis of Photocrosslinkable and Amine Containing Multifunctional
      Nanoparticles via Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly.
AB  - Photo-crosslinkable and amine-containing block copolymer nanoparticles are
      synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)
      polymerization-induced self-assembly of a multifunctional core-forming monomer, 2
      ((3-(4-(diethylamino)phenyl)acryloyl)oxy)ethyl methacrylate (DEMA), using poly(2
      hydroxypropyl methacrylate) macromolecular chain transfer agent as a steric
      stabilizer in methanol at 65  degrees C. By tuning the chain length of PDEMA, a
      range of nanoparticle morphologies (sphere, worm, and vesicle) can be obtained.
      Since cinnamate groups can easily undergo a [2 + 2] cycloaddition of the carbon
      carbon double bonds upon UV irradiation, the as-prepared block copolymer
      nanoparticles are readily stabilized by photo-crosslinking to produce anisotropic
      nanoparticles. The crosslinked block copolymer nanoparticles can be used as
      templates for in situ formation polymer/gold hybrid nanoparticles.

PMID- 28605151
TI  - Perceptions of Smartphone User-Centered Mobile Health Tracking Apps Across
      Various Chronic Illness Populations: An Integrative Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: This integrative review presents a synthesis of the current qualitative
      research addressing the motivating factors, usability, and experiences of mobile
      health tracking applications (apps) across various chronic disease populations.
      DESIGN: Integrative review of the literature. METHODS: Databases used to conduct
      this integrative review included: PubMed Plus, Cumulative Index of Nursing and
      Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Google Scholar, Science Direct, and EBSCO
      megafile. The following search terms were used in all five databases: smartphone
      apps, apps, mHealth, eHealth, mobile health apps, health tracking apps, user
      centered apps, wireless technology, engagement, qualitative, and usability.
      FINDINGS: The initial literature review yielded 689 results. Once inclusion and
      exclusion criteria were employed, 11 studies met the criteria set forth for this
      review. The reviewed studies provided insight into users' perceptions,
      experiences, and motivations to incorporate smartphone mobile health apps into
      their daily lives when living with chronic illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: This review
      indicates the growing interest in user-centered mobile health tracking apps, but
      with little understanding of motivating factors that foster sustained app use.
      Mobile health tracking apps targeted to users with chronic conditions need to
      have a high level of usability in order to motivate users to sustain engagement
      with their mobile health tracking app. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: User-centered mobile
      health tracking app technology is being used with increasing frequency to
      potentially provide individualized support to chronic illness populations.

PMID- 28605152
TI  - In Situ Industrial Bimetallic Catalyst Characterization using Scanning
      Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy at One
      Atmosphere and Elevated Temperature.
AB  - We have developed a new experimental platform for in situ scanning transmission
      electron microscope (STEM) energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) which
      allows real time, nanoscale, elemental and structural changes to be studied at
      elevated temperature (up to 1000  degrees C) and pressure (up to 1 atm). Here we
      demonstrate the first application of this approach to understand complex
      structural changes occurring during reduction of a bimetallic catalyst, PdCu
      supported on TiO2 , synthesized by wet impregnation. We reveal a heterogeneous
      evolution of nanoparticle size, distribution, and composition with large
      differences in reduction behavior for the two metals. We show that the data
      obtained is complementary to in situ STEM electron energy loss spectroscopy
      (EELS) and when combined with in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) allows
      correlation of bulk chemical state with nanoscale changes in elemental
      distribution during reduction, facilitating new understanding of the catalytic
      behavior for this important class of materials.

PMID- 28605153
TI  - Fabrication of pH- and Thermoresponsive Three-Layered Micelles via Host-Guest
      Interactions.
AB  - Well-defined beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD)-terminated double hydrophilic diblock
      copolymers (DHBCs), beta-CD- poly(di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)
      (PMEO2 MA)-b-poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDEA) (BP1) and beta-CD
      PDEA-b-PMEO2 MA (BP2), are synthesized via sequential atom transfer radical
      polymerizations of di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate and 2
      (diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate using alkynyl-functionalized initiator, followed
      by click reactions with an excess of mono-azido-substituted beta-cyclodextrin
      (beta-CD-N3 ). The micellization behavior of these as-prepared DHBCs in aqueous
      solutions suffers from insufficient colloidal stabilities at basic pH and high
      temperatures (e.g., pH 9 and 45  degrees C), resulting in the formation of
      macroscopic precipitations. However, the stabilities of colloidal nanoparticles
      can be remarkably enhanced as a result of the convenient formation of three
      layered micelles by taking advantage of host-guest interactions of BP1/BP2 and Ad
      terminated poly(ethylene glycol). The pH- and thermoresponsive three-layered
      micelles with enhanced stability may augur promising applications in targeted
      drug delivery and controlled intelligent release.

PMID- 28605154
TI  - Addition of a Cyclophosphine to Nitriles: An Inorganic Click Reaction Featuring
      Protio, Organo, and Main-Group Catalysis.
AB  - The addition of a cyclotriphosphine to a broad range of nitriles gives access to
      the first examples of free 1-aza-2,3,4-triphospholenes in a rapid, ambient
      temperature, one-pot, high-yield protocol. The reaction produces electron-rich
      heterocycles (four lone pairs) and features homoatomic sigma-bond heterolysis,
      thereby combining the key features of the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition chemistry of
      azides and cyclopropanes. Also reported is the first catalytic addition of P-P
      bonds to the C=N bond. The coordination chemistry of the new heterocycles is
      explored.

PMID- 28605155
TI  - TiO2 Anatase Solutions for Electron Transporting Layers in Organic Photovoltaic
      Cells.
AB  - Reflux of a solution of [Ti8 O12 (H2 O)24 ]Cl8 ?HCl?7 H2 O as titanium precursor
      at 120  degrees C for 24 h leads to a transparent colloidal solution of nanosized
      crystallized anatase TiO2 . The adjustment of the particle size and composition
      of the dispersant is monitored through the initial water content while
      controlling the conversion of propylene carbonate into propylene glycol during
      reflux. The solutions were processed as thin films to produce electron
      transporting layers in hybrid bulk heterojunction solar cells, by using a blend
      of P3HT:PCBM polymers as absorbers, in inverted architectures. The solutions
      obtained by reflux were demonstrated to produce suitable electron transporting
      layers.

PMID- 28605156
TI  - All-Aqueous Nanoprecipitation: Spontaneous Formation of Hydrogen-Bonded
      Nanoparticles and Nanocapsules Mediated by Phase Separation of Poly(N
      Isopropylacrylamide).
AB  - Spontaneous formation of polymer nanoparticles of well-defined, <100 nm sizes
      with controlled solid/hollow morphology and fluorescent properties is reported.
      The nanoparticle formation is assisted by temperature-triggered nucleation of an
      amphiphilic polymer-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-and mediated by hydrogen
      bonding of the emerged nuclei with tannic acid (TA). The pH of solution and
      TA/PNIPAM ratios are explored as parameters that define TA/PNIPAM assembly. Well
      defined nanoparticles are formed in a wide range of neutral pH when the TA/PNIPAM
      ratio exceeds its critical, pH-dependent value. Dynamic light scattering and zeta
      potential measurements as well as atomic force microscopy and electron energy
      loss spectroscopy indicate that solid nanoparticles or nanocapsules are formed
      depending on the solution pH and that enhanced ionization of TA favors hollow
      morphology. Nanocapsules exhibit label-free fluorescence at neutral pH values and
      therefore can be useful in imaging applications.

PMID- 28605157
TI  - Different mechanisms of Trichoderma virens-mediated resistance in tomato against
      Fusarium wilt involve the jasmonic and salicylic acid pathways.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated the role of Trichoderma virens
      (TriV_JSB100) spores or cell-free culture filtrate in the regulation of growth
      and activation of the defence responses of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants
      against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici by the development of a biocontrol
      plant-pathogen interaction system. Two-week-old tomato seedlings primed with
      TriV_JSB100 spores cultured on barley grains (BGS) or with cell-free culture
      filtrate (CF) were inoculated with Fusarium pathogen under glasshouse conditions;
      this resulted in significantly lower disease incidence in tomato Oogata-Fukuju
      plants treated with BGS than in those treated with CF. To dissect the pathways
      associated with this response, jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA)
      signalling in BGS- and CF-induced resistance was evaluated using JA- and SA
      impaired tomato lines. We observed that JA-deficient mutant def1 plants were
      susceptible to Fusarium pathogen when they were treated with BGS. However, wild
      type (WT) BGS-treated tomato plants showed a higher JA level and significantly
      lower disease incidence. SA-deficient mutant NahG plants treated with CF were
      also found to be susceptible to Fusarium pathogen and displayed low SA levels,
      whereas WT CF-treated tomato plants exhibited moderately lower disease levels and
      substantially higher SA levels. Expression of the JA-responsive defensin gene
      PDF1 was induced in WT tomato plants treated with BGS, whereas the SA-inducible
      pathogenesis-related protein 1 acidic (PR1a) gene was up-regulated in WT tomato
      plants treated with CF. These results suggest that TriV_JSB100 BGS and CF
      differentially induce JA and SA signalling cascades for the elicitation of
      Fusarium oxysporum resistance in tomato.

PMID- 28605158
TI  - Effect of liraglutide on dietary lipid-induced insulin resistance in humans.
AB  - AIMS: To test whether liraglutide suppresses postprandial elevations in lipids
      and thus protects against high saturated fatty acid (SFA) diet-induced insulin
      resistance. METHODS: In a randomized placebo-controlled crossover study, 32
      participants with normal or mildly impaired glucose tolerance received
      liraglutide and placebo for 3 weeks each. Insulin suppression tests (IST) were
      conducted at baseline and after a 24-hour SFA-enriched diet after each treatment.
      Plasma glucose, insulin, triglycerides and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were
      measured over the initial 8 hours (breakfast and lunch) on the SFA diet. A subset
      of participants underwent ex vivo measurements of insulin-mediated vasodilation
      of adipose tissue arterioles and glucose metabolism regulatory proteins in
      skeletal muscle. RESULTS: Liraglutide reduced plasma glucose, triglycerides and
      NEFA concentrations during the SFA diet (by 50%, 25% and 9%, respectively), and
      the SFA diet increased plasma glucose during the IST (by 36%; all P < .01 vs
      placebo). The SFA diet-induced impairment of vasodilation on placebo (-9.4% vs
      baseline; P < .01) was ameliorated by liraglutide (-4.8%; P = .1 vs baseline). In
      skeletal muscle, liraglutide abolished the SFA-induced increase in thioredoxin
      interacting protein (TxNIP) expression (75% decrease; P < .01 vs placebo) and
      increased 5'AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation (50% vs -3%; P =
      .04 vs placebo). CONCLUSIONS: Liraglutide blunted the SFA-enriched diet-induced
      peripheral insulin resistance. This effect may be related to improved
      microvascular function and modulation of TxNIP and AMPK pathways in skeletal
      muscle.

PMID- 28605159
TI  - Differential Impact of Weight Loss on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Resolution in a
      North American Cohort with Obesity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely associated with
      obesity. In this study, a North American cohort with obesity enrolled in a
      lifestyle modification program was examined to determine the impact of weight
      loss on NAFLD resolution and sarcopenia. METHODS: Nondiabetic individuals with
      World Health Organization Class II/III obesity enrolled in a 6-month weight loss
      intervention were included. Steatosis was measured using computed tomography (CT)
      derived liver:spleen attenuation ratio. Body composition was assessed using dual
      X-ray absorptiometry, air-displacement plethysmography, and CT anthropometry.
      RESULTS: At baseline, participants with NAFLD had greater visceral adipose tissue
      (VAT) but similar skeletal muscle area compared to those without NAFLD. After
      intervention, weight loss was similar in the two groups, but participants with
      NAFLD lost more VAT than those without NAFLD (-38.81 [-55.98 to -21.63] cm2 vs. 
      13.82 [-29.65 to -2.02] cm2 ; P = 0.017). In the subset with NAFLD at baseline,
      participants with NAFLD resolution after intervention lost more VAT than those
      with persistent NAFLD (-57.23 [-88.63 to -25.84) cm2 vs. -26.92 [-52.14 to 
      26.92] cm2 , P = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: In a Western cohort with obesity, NAFLD was
      not associated with sarcopenia. After lifestyle modification, there was a
      differential impact on NAFLD resolution, with twofold greater VAT loss in
      participants who resolved NAFLD compared with those with persistent NAFLD despite
      similar weight loss.

PMID- 28605160
TI  - Systematically Studying the Effect of Fluoride on the Properties of Cyclophanes
      Bearing Naphthalene Diimide and Dialkoxyaryl Groups.
AB  - Anion-pi interactions between the Lewis basic anion fluoride and pi-acidic
      naphthalene diimide was systematically studied in a series of cyclophanes in
      which the properties are modulated through the influence of a second, electron
      rich aromatic unit. The systems and subsequently generated radical anions, upon
      addition of fluoride, were studied by absorption spectroscopic and EPR
      techniques. The results infer a modulation as a result of the nature and strength
      of the pi-pi interaction in the macrocyclic structure.

PMID- 28605161
TI  - The use of therapeutic plasma exchange to reduce serum bilirubin in a dog with
      kernicterus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of a manual method of therapeutic plasma exchange
      to reduce total serum bilirubin, manage kernicterus, and halt progression of
      neurological dysfunction in a dog with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA).
      CASE SUMMARY: A 5-year-old male neutered Lhasa Apso diagnosed with IMHA developed
      acute onset neurologic signs consistent with kernicterus. Manual therapeutic
      plasma exchange was performed in an attempt to reduce total serum bilirubin. The
      initial exchange was performed at a lower plasma exchange volume due to the dog's
      critical status and the dog's clinical signs progressed. More aggressive plasma
      exchange was performed that resulted in a reduction in total serum bilirubin and
      no further progression of neurologic signs. The dog was euthanized due to
      suspicion of permanent neurologic changes and need for further blood
      transfusions. Histopathology postmortem confirmed a diagnosis of kernicterus. NEW
      OR UNIQUE INFORMATION PROVIDED: Kernicterus secondary to hyperbilirubinemia is
      well described in people, but has rarely been reported in dogs. Therapeutic
      plasma exchange has been used for decades in people to rapidly decrease serum
      bilirubin when hyperbilirubinemia progresses to neurologic signs, but to the
      authors' knowledge this has not been described in a dog.

PMID- 28605162
TI  - Targeted metabolomics analysis of aromatic amino acids and their gut microbiota
      host cometabolites in rat serum and urine by liquid chromatography coupled with
      tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Gut microbiota-host cometabolites are closely related to various diseases.
      Monitoring dynamic changes of cometabolites can provide a more comprehensive
      understanding of pathophysiology. Here, a novel liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry method was performed for the analysis of aromatic amino acids and
      their gut microbiota-host cometabolites in rat serum and urine. In the developed
      method, seven key gut microbiota-host cometabolites were chromatographically
      separated on a Kinetex Phenyl-Hexyl column by gradient elution, and the run time
      was 6 min. Serum and urine were extracted by protein precipitation. This method
      was linear between 10.20 and 1000.00 ng/mL for phenylalanine and p-cresyl
      sulfate; 25.60-2500.00 ng/mL for tryptophan; 51.20-5000.00 ng/mL for tyrosine,
      indole, and indoxyl sulfate; and 75.50-7500.00 ng/mL for p-cresol. The linearity,
      accuracy, precision, and recovery of seven analytes were all satisfactory. The
      method was sufficiently sensitive and robust. It was successfully applied to
      characterize the alterations of gut microbiota-host cometabolites in inflammatory
      disorders. All of these results suggest that the developed method is able to
      simultaneously monitor aromatic amino acids and their gut microbiota-host
      cometabolites. This method will be expected to be a valuable tool for clinical
      researches and comprehensive studies of the pathophysiological roles.

PMID- 28605164
TI  - Quality of Work Life, Nurses' Intention to Leave the Profession, and Nurses
      Leaving the Profession: A One-Year Prospective Survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the associations among quality of work life, nurses'
      intention to leave the profession, and nurses leaving the profession. DESIGN: A
      prospective study design was used. METHODS: Participants were 1,283 hospital
      nurses with a purposive sampling in Taiwan. The self-reported questionnaire
      consisted of three questionnaires: the Chinese version of the Quality of Nursing
      Work Life scale, an intention-to-leave profession questionnaire, and a
      demographic questionnaire. Records of nurses leaving the profession were surveyed
      1 year later. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferential
      statistics. FINDINGS: As many as 720 nurses (56.1%) had tendencies to leave their
      profession. However, only 31 nurses (2.5%) left their profession 1 year later.
      Nurses' intention to leave the profession mediated the relationship between the
      milieu of respect and autonomy, quality of work life, and nurses leaving the
      profession. CONCLUSIONS: The milieu of respect and autonomy describing the
      quality of work life predicts the nurses' intention to leave the profession, and
      together these predict nurses leaving the profession. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This
      study illustrates that nurse managers could provide effective interventions to
      ameliorate the milieu of respect and autonomy aspect of quality of work life to
      prevent nurses from leaving their profession.

PMID- 28605163
TI  - Associations of Bullying and Cyberbullying With Substance Use and Sexual Risk
      Taking in Young Adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims at identifying the sex-stratified associations of
      involvement in traditional bullying during middle and high school years and in
      cyberbullying during college years with multiple health risk behaviors in
      undergraduate students. DESIGN: This cross-sectional analysis draws on the data
      of the second wave of the LATO study (Lifestyle & Attitudes in a Student
      Population) in Greece. METHODS: During November and December 2013, 812 second
      year undergraduate students (mean age = 19.3 years; girls = 66.1%) provided data
      on substance use (smoking, alcohol abuse or drunkenness, illegal drug use
      including marijuana, hashish, and cannabis) and sexual risk taking (paying for
      sex and not using condoms) and completed the Cyberbullying and its Effects and
      the Retrospective Bullying Questionnaires. Logistic regression models performed
      were adjusted for potential confounders. FINDINGS: Both male and female late
      adolescents who were victims of bullying during middle and high school were less
      likely to use condoms during college years when compared to uninvolved students.
      Among males, being a bully or victim at school doubled the odds for past month
      drunkenness and tripled the odds of paying for sex. Greater likelihood to pay for
      sex was also evident in bullying victims. Cyberbully or cybervictim male students
      were more likely to report smoking. In female bullying victims, alcohol abuse
      associations were somewhat conflicting, with decreased lifetime but increased
      past month likelihood for drunkenness. CONCLUSIONS: Engagement in bullying and
      cyberbullying is associated with the manifestation of gender-specific health risk
      behaviors for the different involvement groups in college students. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Involvement in bullying and cyberbullying is a major public health
      concern due to the associations with multiple health risk behaviors. Nurses and
      healthcare professionals should adopt multifaceted prevention interventions
      tailored according to bullying status and gender that extend through all
      educational levels.

PMID- 28605166
TI  - Crista Supraventricularis Purkinje Network and Its Relation to Intraseptal
      Purkinje Network.
AB  - Using transparent specimens with a dual color injection, microscopy, and computer
      tomography, this report shows that the right and left ventricular subendocardial
      Purkinje networks are connected by an extensive septal network in the bovine
      heart. The septal network is present along the entire septum except at a free
      zone below ventricular valves. Being the only communication of the basal right
      septum with the right free wall, the supraventricular crest is an enigmatic but
      not, by any means, hidden muscular structure. It is one of the last structures to
      be activated in human heart. It is shown here that the supraventricular crest
      Purkinje network connects the anterosuperior right ventricular basal free wall
      Purkinje network to anterior right ventricular basal septal Purkinje network. It
      is suggested that the stimulus initiated at middle left ventricular endocardium
      will activate the supraventricular crest. The intraseptal connection found
      between the basal left ventricular subendocardial septal Purkinje network and the
      right ventricular basal septal Purkinje network is, probably, the pathway for the
      stimulus. An anatomic basis is provided to explain why the inflow tract contracts
      earlier than the outflow tract in the right ventricle systole. Anat Rec, 2017.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Anat Rec, 300:1793-1801, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28605165
TI  - REGgamma accelerates melanoma formation by regulating Wnt/beta-catenin signalling
      pathway.
AB  - It has been reported that the proteasome activator REGgamma is associated with
      multiple oncogenic pathways in human cancers. However, the role of REGgamma in
      the development of melanoma and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this
      study, we attempted to investigate the effects of REGgamma on human melanoma cell
      proliferation in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrated that knockdown of REGgamma
      inhibited melanoma cell growth and arrested melanoma cell at G1 phase.
      Furthermore, depletion of REGgamma also inhibited the xenograft growth of human
      melanoma. Mechanistically, REGgamma activates Wnt/beta-catenin signal pathway by
      degrading GSK-3beta in melanoma cell lines and mouse models. Transient knockdown
      of beta-catenin effectively blocked cell proliferation in REGgamma wild-type
      melanoma cells. In human melanoma samples, REGgamma was overexpressed and
      positively correlated with beta-catenin levels. This study demonstrates that
      REGgamma is a central molecule in the development of melanoma by regulating
      Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. This suggests that targeting REGgamma could be an
      alternative therapeutic approach for melanoma.

PMID- 28605167
TI  - Older Adult Residents' Perceptions of Daily Lives in Nursing Homes.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore older adults' perceptions of their daily
      lives in South Korean nursing homes. DESIGN: We employed a qualitative
      descriptive study using semistructured interviews. METHODS: We conducted
      individual, semistructured interviews with 21 older adult residents from five
      nursing homes in South Korea and analyzed the data using thematic analysis.
      FINDINGS: Five themes related to older adults' perceptions of their daily lives
      in nursing homes emerged: enhanced comfort, aspiring to maintain physical and
      cognitive functions as human beings, desire for meaningful interpersonal
      relationships, feelings of confinement and limited autonomy, and acceptance of
      and adaptation to life in a facility. These themes indicated the positive and
      negative aspects of nursing home residence, and facilitators and challenges to
      enhancing older adult residents' quality of life (QOL). CONCLUSIONS: Policy,
      practice, and research endeavors are required to improve older adult residents'
      QOL, such as adequate professional nursing care for physical and psychological
      comfort and residents' health and functional status, sufficient activity programs
      and meaningful relationships, person-centered care to enhance residents'
      autonomy, and homelike environments. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study demonstrates
      that healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers should consider nursing
      home residents' QOL to examine the quality of care within the setting and
      facilitate the development of appropriate strategies to improve QOL among this
      population.

PMID- 28605169
TI  - Stable Organic Radicals in Lignin: A Review.
AB  - Lignin and the quest for the origin of stable organic radicals in it have seen
      numerous developments. Although there have been various speculations over the
      years on the formation of these stable radicals, researchers have not been able
      to arrive at a solid, unequivocal hypothesis that applies to all treatments and
      types of lignin. The extreme complexity of lignin and its highly aromatic, cross
      linked, branched, and rigid structure has made such efforts rather cumbersome.
      Since the early 1950s, researchers in this field have dedicated their efforts to
      the establishment of methods for the detection and determination of spin content,
      theoretical simulations, and reactions on model compounds and spin-trapping
      studies. Although a significant amount of published research is available on
      lignin or its model compounds and the reactive intermediates involved during
      various chemical treatments (pulping, bleaching, extractions, chemical
      modifications, etc.), the literature provides a limited view on the origin,
      nature, and stability of such radicals. Consequently, this review is focused on
      examining the origin of such species in lignin, factors affecting their presence,
      reactions involved in their formation, and methods for their detection.

PMID- 28605168
TI  - Characteristics and Management of IgA Vasculitis (Henoch-Schonlein) in Adults:
      Data From 260 Patients Included in a French Multicenter Retrospective Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Data on adult IgA vasculitis (Henoch-Schonlein) (IgAV) are scarce.
      This survey was designed to better define the clinical spectrum of IgAV and
      efficacy of treatments in a French patient population. METHODS: Data on clinical
      characteristics, histologic features, and treatment response from 260 patients
      with IgAV included in a French multicenter retrospective survey were analyzed.
      Efficacy data were compared using different statistical models. RESULTS: The mean
      +/- SD age of the patients with IgAV at diagnosis was 50.1 +/- 18 years, and 63%
      of patients were male. Baseline manifestations included purpura (100%),
      arthralgias/arthritis/myalgia (61%), glomerulonephritis (70%), and/or
      gastrointestinal involvement (53%). Thirty percent of patients showed renal
      failure at baseline. In univariate analysis, the response to therapy was 80% (64
      of 80) in patients treated with corticosteroids (CS) alone, compared to 77% (23
      of 30) in patients treated with CS plus cyclophosphamide (CYC) and 59% (10 of 17)
      in patients treated with colchicine (P = 0.17). Multivariable analysis showed
      that treatment with CS or CS plus CYC was more effective than colchicine in
      achieving a response. Efficacy differences were demonstrated using different
      statistical models: in the multivariable logistic regression model, odds ratio
      (OR) 3.68, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.10-12.33 (P = 0.03); in the inverse
      probability weighting on propensity score model, OR 3.75, 95% CI 1.28-10.99 (P =
      0.02). The efficacy of CS plus CYC as compared to CS alone was discordant
      according to the analytic method used. Analysis with the multivariable logistic
      regression model did not demonstrate a difference between CS plus CYC and CS
      alone (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.29-2.67; P = 0.82). In contrast, inverse probability
      weighting on propensity score showed that CS plus CYC was more effective than CS
      alone (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.00-3.20; P = 0.049). CONCLUSION: This series constitutes
      the largest series of adults with IgAV reported in the literature so far. It
      provides data on clinical and histologic presentation and therapeutic efficacy,
      suggesting that CS alone appears to be a reasonable first-line therapy in
      patients with IgAV, while the benefit of adding CYC to CS remains uncertain.

PMID- 28605170
TI  - Pharmacokinetics-based adherence measures for antiretroviral therapy in HIV
      infected Kenyan children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional medication adherence measures do not account for the
      pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of the drugs, potentially misrepresenting true
      therapeutic exposure. METHODS: In a population of HIV-infected Kenyan children on
      antiretroviral therapy including nevirapine (NVP), we used a one-compartment
      model with previously established PK parameters and Medication Event Monitoring
      Systems (MEMS(r))-recorded dosing times to estimate the mean plasma concentration
      of NVP (Cp) in individual patients during 1 month of follow-up. Intended NVP
      concentration (Cp') was calculated under a perfectly followed dosing regimen and
      frequency. The ratio between the two (R = Cp/Cp') characterized the patient's NVP
      exposure as compared to intended level. Smaller R values indicated poorer
      adherence. We validated R by evaluating its association with MEMS(r)-defined
      adherence, CD4%, and spot-check NVP plasma concentrations assessed at 1 month.
      RESULTS: In data from 152 children (82 female), children were mean age 7.7 years
      (range 1.5-14.9) and on NVP an average of 2.2 years. Mean MEMS(r) adherence was
      79%. The mean value of R was 1.11 (SD 0.37). R was positively associated with
      MEMS(r) adherence (p < 0.0001), and lower-than-median R values were significantly
      associated with lower NVP drug concentrations (p = 0.0018) and lower CD4% (p =
      0.0178), confirming a smaller R value showed poorer adherence. CONCLUSION: The
      proposed adherence measures, R, captured patient drug-taking behaviours and PK
      properties.

PMID- 28605171
TI  - Human immunodeficiency virus care cascade among sub-populations in Rakai, Uganda:
      an observational study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To assess progress towards the UNAIDS 90-90-90 initiative targets,
      we examined the HIV care cascade in the population-based Rakai Community Cohort
      Study (RCCS) in rural Uganda and examined differences between sub-groups.
      METHODS: Self-reports and clinical records were used to assess the proportion
      achieving each stage in the cascade. Statistical inference based on a chi2 test
      for categorical variables and modified Poisson regression were used to estimate
      prevalence risk ratios (PRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for enrolment
      into care and initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART). RESULTS: From September
      2013 through December 2015, 3,666 HIV-positive participants were identified in
      the RCCS. As of December 2015, 98% had received HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT),
      74% were enrolled in HIV care, and 63% had initiated ART of whom 92% were virally
      suppressed after 12 months on ART. Engagement in care was lower among men than
      women (enrolment in care: adjPRR 0.84, 95% CI 0.77-0.91; ART initiation: adjPRR
      0.75, 95% CI 0.69-0.82), persons aged 15-24 compared to those aged 30-39
      (enrolment: adjPRR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63-0.82; ART: adjPRR 0.69, 95%CI 0.60-0.80),
      unmarried persons (enrolment: adjPRR 0.84, 95% CI 0.71-0.99; ART adjPRR 0.80, 95%
      CI 0.66-0.95), and new in-migrants (enrolment: adjPRR 0.75, 95% CI 0.67-0.83;
      ART: adjPRR 0.76, 95% CI 0.67-0.85). This cohort achieved 98-65-92 towards the
      UNAIDS "90-90-90" targets with an estimated 58% of the entire HIV-positive RCCS
      population virally suppressed. CONCLUSIONS: This cohort achieved over 90% in both
      HCT and viral suppression among ART users, but only 65% in initiating ART, likely
      due to both an ART eligibility criterion of <500 CD4 cells/mL and suboptimal
      entry into care among men, younger individuals, and in-migrants. Interventions
      are needed to promote enrolment in HIV care, particular for hard-to-reach sub
      populations.

PMID- 28605172
TI  - Pharmacy refill data can be used to predict virologic failure for patients on
      antiretroviral therapy in Brazil.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pharmacy adherence measures such as pharmacy dispensing ratios
      (PDRs) have previously been shown to be predictive of virologic outcomes. We
      aimed to determine the optimal interval of PDR assessment for predicting
      virologic failure for HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
      METHODS: Using national Brazilian ART pharmacy refill data, we examined PDRs for
      patients >=18 years of age with at least one HIV RNA level >=180 days after ART
      initiation on or after 1 January 2011. Patients with a documented ART change
      <=270 days prior to viral load test date were excluded. Logistic regression
      models were used to describe associations between virologic failure, defined as
      an HIV RNA level >=400 copies/mL and PDRs, defined as the number of days index
      drug dispensed (non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor or protease
      inhibitor) per 180- and 90-day, interval preceding viral load testing, adjusting
      for sex, age, race, time since ART initiation and index drug. Backward
      elimination of insignificant variables was performed after adjusting for PDR. A
      predictive probability of virologic failure was calculated using the
      corresponding odds ratios for the PDR and any other significant variables. The
      diagnostic performance of the PDR interval was assessed by calculating the area
      under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for the predictive
      probability with respect to virologic failure. Results and Discussion A total of
      1,025 patients were included (68% were male, median age 40 years, median time on
      ART 3.4 years). The PDR was found to be significantly associated with virologic
      failure for all of the PDR intervals (p < 0.001). There was an increased risk of
      virologic failure for all PDRs <0.95. The 90-180 days interval had a AUROC of
      0.842, compared to 0.841 and 0.829 for the 0-180 days and 0-90 days intervals,
      respectively. The PDR performed well as a predictive tool to identify patients in
      virologic failure with the 90-180-days interval prior to viral load testing being
      marginally more predictive. CONCLUSIONS: The validation and use of the pharmacy
      dispensing ratio using public pharmacy refill data could aid in early
      identification of patients with poor adherence and prevent development of
      treatment failure and drug resistance in Brazil.

PMID- 28605174
TI  - "Now that you are circumcised, you cannot have first sex with your wife": post
      circumcision sexual behaviours and beliefs among men in Wakiso district, Uganda.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Safe male circumcision is an important biomedical intervention in
      the comprehensive HIV prevention programmes implemented in 14 sub-Saharan African
      countries with high HIV prevalence. To sustain its partial protective benefit, it
      is important that perceived reduced HIV risk does not lead to behavioural risk
      compensation among circumcised men and their sexual partners. This study explored
      beliefs that may influence post circumcision sexual behaviours among circumcised
      men in a programme setting. METHODS: Forty-eight in-depth interviews were
      conducted with newly circumcised men in Wakiso district, central Uganda. Twenty
      five men seeking circumcision services at public health facilities in the
      district were recruited from May to June 2015 and, interviewed at baseline and
      after 6 months. Participants' beliefs and sexual behaviours were compared just
      after circumcision and at follow up to explore changes. Data were managed using
      atlas.ti7 and analysed following a thematic network analysis framework. RESULTS:
      Four themes following safe male circumcision emerged from this study. Beliefs
      related to: (1) sexual cleansing, (2) healing, (3) post SMC sexual capabilities
      and (4) continued HIV transmission risk. Most men maintained or adopted safer
      sexual behaviour; being faithful to their partner after circumcision or using
      condoms with extramarital partners following the knowledge that there was
      continued HIV risk post circumcision. The most prevalent risky belief was
      regarding sexual cleansing post circumcision, and as a result of this belief,
      some men had one off condom-less sexual intercourse with a casual partner. Some
      resumed sex before the recommended period due to misunderstanding of what
      comprised healing. CONCLUSIONS: Although most men maintained or adopted safer
      sexual behaviour, there were instances of risky sexual behaviour resulting from
      beliefs regarding the first sexual intercourse after circumcision or
      misunderstandings of what comprised wound healing. If not addressed, these may
      attenuate the safe male circumcision benefits of risk reduction for HIV.

PMID- 28605176
TI  - Reduction- and pH-Sensitive Hyaluronan Nanoparticles for Delivery of Iridium(III)
      Anticancer Drugs.
AB  - The organoiridium(III) complex (Ir(III)) [(eta5-Cpxbiph)Ir(phpy) (py)]PF6
      containing pi-bonded biphenyltetramethylcyclopentadienyl(Cpxbiph), C?N-chelated
      phenylpyridine(phpy), and pyridine (py) ligands has more potent antitumor
      activity as a new generation of drug than cisplatin toward various cancer cells.
      However, poor site-specific delivery, low solubility, and poor tumor penetration
      are common limitations of chemotherapy drugs. To develop CD44-targetable, pH-,
      and reduction-responsive drug delivery systems for Ir(III) drugs, the amphiphilic
      hyaluronan (HA)-based conjugates of HA-cystamin-pyrenyl (HA-ss-Py) containing
      disulfide bonds and HA-pyrenyl (HA-Py) were designed. The Ir(III) drug was
      readily loaded into these two amphiphilic conjugates and nanoparticles were
      formed. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies showed that the micelles formed
      from HA-ss-Py were sufficiently stable under physiological conditions, but were
      prone to rapid dissociation in reducing environments (20 mM glutathione (GSH)).
      In subsequent confocal microscopy analyses, A549 cancer cells efficiently
      internalized HA-based micelles. Moreover, in vitro cytotoxicity assays in A549
      cells demonstrat that Ir-loaded HA-based nanoparticles have higher cytotoxicity
      than the free Ir(III) anticancer drug. Finally, systemic administration of
      Ir(III)-loaded HA-ss-Py nanoparticles enhanced tumor inhibition in vivo, and the
      corresponding biodistribution experiments showed that HA-ss-Py micelles
      accumulate in tumors. Overall, our results suggest that HA-ss-Py micelles have a
      great potential to be used as an effective Ir(III) drug carrier for targeted
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 28605173
TI  - Barriers to HIV remission research in low- and middle-income countries.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: HIV eradication and remission research has largely taken place in
      high-income countries. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), there may be
      factors that have a substantial impact on the size of the latent HIV reservoir
      and the immunological response to infection. If a curative strategy is to be
      available to all HIV-infected individuals, these factors must be understood.
      METHODS: We use a scoping review to examine the literature on biological factors
      that may have an impact on HIV persistence in LMIC. Three databases were searched
      without date restrictions. RESULTS: Uncontrolled viral replication and higher
      coinfection prevalence may alter the immunological milieu of individuals in LMIC
      and increase the size of the HIV reservoir. Differences in HIV subtype could also
      influence the measurement and size of the HIV reservoir. Immune activation may
      differ due to late presentation to care, presence of chronic infections,
      increased gut translocation of bacterial products and poor nutrition.
      CONCLUSIONS: Research on HIV remission is urgently needed in LMIC. Research into
      chronic immune activation in resource poor environments, the immune response to
      infection, the mechanisms of HIV persistence and latency in different viral
      clades and the effect of the microbiological milieu must be performed. Geographic
      differences, which may be substantial and may delay access to curative
      strategies, should be identified.

PMID- 28605177
TI  - DNA Origami: Scaffolds for Creating Higher Order Structures.
AB  - DNA has become one of the most extensively used molecular building blocks for
      engineering self-assembling materials. DNA origami is a technique that uses
      hundreds of short DNA oligonucleotides, called staple strands, to fold a long
      single-stranded DNA, which is called a scaffold strand, into various designer
      nanoscale architectures. DNA origami has dramatically improved the complexity and
      scalability of DNA nanostructures. Due to its high degree of customization and
      spatial addressability, DNA origami provides a versatile platform with which to
      engineer nanoscale structures and devices that can sense, compute, and actuate.
      These capabilities open up opportunities for a broad range of applications in
      chemistry, biology, physics, material science, and computer science that have
      often required programmed spatial control of molecules and atoms in three
      dimensional (3D) space. This review provides a comprehensive survey of recent
      developments in DNA origami structure, design, assembly, and directed self
      assembly, as well as its broad applications.

PMID- 28605178
TI  - Epitaxial Templating of Two-Dimensional Metal Chloride Nanocrystals on Monolayer
      Molybdenum Disulfide.
AB  - We demonstrate the formation of ionic metal chloride (CuCl) two-dimensional (2D)
      nanocrystals epitaxially templated on the surface of monolayer molybdenum
      disulfide (MoS2). These 2D CuCl nanocrystals are single atomic planes from a
      nonlayered bulk CuCl structure. They are stabilized as a 2D monolayer on the
      surface of the MoS2 through interactions with the uniform periodic surface of the
      MoS2. The heterostructure 2D system is studied at the atomic level using
      aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy at 80 kV. Dynamics of
      discrete rotations of the CuCl nanocrystals are observed, maintaining two types
      of preferential alignments to the MoS2 lattice, confirming that the strong
      interlayer interactions drive the stable CuCl structure. Strain maps are produced
      from displacement maps and used to track real-time variations of local atomic
      bonding and defect production. Density functional theory calculations interpret
      the formation of two types of energetically advantageous commensurate
      superlattices via strong chemical bonds at interfaces and predict their
      corresponding electronic structures. These results show how vertical
      heterostructured 2D nanoscale systems can be formed beyond the simple assembly of
      preformed layered materials and provide indications about how different 2D
      components and their interfacial coupling mode could influence the overall
      property of the heterostructures.

PMID- 28605179
TI  - Component Matters: Paving the Roadmap toward Enhanced Electrocatalytic
      Performance of Graphitic C3N4-Based Catalysts via Atomic Tuning.
AB  - Atomically precise understanding of componential influences is crucial for
      looking into the reaction mechanism and controlled synthesis of efficient
      electrocatalysts. Herein, by means of comprehensive experimental and theoretical
      studies, we carefully examine the effects of component dopants on the catalytic
      performance of graphitic C3N4 (g-C3N4)-based electrocatalysts. The g-C3N4
      monoliths with three types of dopant elements (B, P, and S) embedded in different
      sites (either C or N) of the C-N skeleton are rationally designed and
      synthesized. The kinetics, intrinsic activity, charge-transfer process, and
      intermediate adsorption/desorption free energy of the selected catalysts in
      oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction are investigated both
      experimentally and theoretically. We demonstrate that the component aspect within
      the g-C3N4 motifs has distinct and substantial effects on the corresponding
      electroactivities, and proper component element engineering can be a viable yet
      efficient protocol to render the metal-free composites as competent catalysts
      rivaling the metallic counterparts. We hope that this study may shed light on the
      empirical trial-and-error exploration in design and development of g-C3N4-based
      materials as well as other metal-free catalysts for energy-related
      electrocatalytic reactions.

PMID- 28605180
TI  - A Hydrogel-Microsphere Drug Delivery System That Supports Once-Monthly
      Administration of a GLP-1 Receptor Agonist.
AB  - We have developed a chemically controlled very long-acting delivery system to
      support once-monthly administration of a peptidic GLP-1R agonist. Initially, the
      prototypical GLP-1R agonist exenatide was covalently attached to hydrogel
      microspheres by a self-cleaving beta-eliminative linker; after subcutaneous
      injection in rats, the peptide was slowly released into the systemic circulation.
      However, the short serum exenatide half-life suggested its degradation in the
      subcutaneous depot. We found that exenatide undergoes deamidation at Asn28 with
      an in vitro and in vivo half-life of approximately 2 weeks. The [Gln28]exenatide
      variant and exenatide showed indistinguishable GLP-1R agonist activities as well
      as pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects in rodents; however, unlike
      exenatide, [Gln28]exenatide is stable for long periods. Two different hydrogel
      [Gln28]exenatide conjugates were prepared using beta-eliminative linkers with
      different cleavage rates. After subcutaneous injection in rodents, the serum half
      lives for the released [Gln28]exenatide from the two conjugates were about 2
      weeks and one month. Two monthly injections of the latter in the Zucker diabetic
      fatty rat showed pharmacodynamic effects indistinguishable from two months of
      continuously infused exenatide. Pharmacokinetic simulations indicate that the
      delivery system should serve well as a once-monthly GLP-1R agonist for treatment
      of type 2 diabetes in humans.

PMID- 28605181
TI  - Occurrence, Removal, and Environmental Emission of Organophosphate Flame
      Retardants/Plasticizers in a Wastewater Treatment Plant in New York State.
AB  - The occurrence and fate of 14 triester organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs)
      and plasticizers and their two diester metabolites were investigated in a
      wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the Albany area of New York State. All
      target OPFRs were found in wastewater, with average concentrations that ranged
      from 20.1 ng/L for tris(methylphenyl) phosphate (TMPP) to 30 100 ng/L for tris(2
      butoxyethyl)phosphate (TBOEP) in influents and from 7.68 ng/L for TMPP to 12 600
      ng/L for TBOEP in final effluents. TBOEP was the dominant compound in influents
      (max: 69 500 ng/L) followed in decreasing order by tris(1-chloro-2
      propyl)phosphate (TCIPP; max: 14 500 ng/L), bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate
      (BDCIPP; max: 4550 ng/L), tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate (TDCIPP; max: 3150
      ng/L) and tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate (TCEP; max: 8450 ng/L). The fraction of
      TMPP sorbed to suspended particulate matter (SPM) was 56.4% of the total mass in
      wastewater, which was the highest among the target chemicals analyzed. The
      average concentrations of OPFRs in sludge were between 4.14 ng/g dw for tripropyl
      phosphate (TPP) and 7290 ng/g dw for TBOEP; for ash, they were between 2.17 ng/g
      dw for TMPP and 427 ng/g dw for triphenyl phosphate (TPhP). The mass loadings of
      OPFRs into the WWTP ranged from 0.02 mg/day/person for TPP to 28.7 mg/day/person
      for TBOEP, whereas the emission from the WWTP ranged from 0.01 mg/day/person for
      2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP) to 5.12 mg/day/person for TCIPP. The
      removal efficiencies for OPFRs were slightly above 60% for TMPP, TBOEP, and
      tris(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate (TEHP) whereas those for other OPFRs were <40% (TPhP
      and BDCIPP) to negative values, suggesting incomplete removal in WWTPs.

PMID- 28605182
TI  - alpha,omega-Diphenylalanine-End-Capping of PEG-PPG-PEG Polymers Changes the
      Micelle Morphology and Enhances Stability of the Thermogel.
AB  - Pluronics F127 (P, PEG-PPG-PEG triblock copolymer) was coupled with
      diphenylalanine (FF) to prepare FF-end-capped Pluronics (FFPFF). With increasing
      temperature from 10 to 60  degrees C, the FFPFF self-assembled to vesicles in
      water. The unimer-to-vesicle transition accompanies endothermic enthalpy of 53.9
      kcal/mol. Aqueous P and FFPFF solutions exhibited thermogelation in 15.0-24.0 wt
      %. The gel phase of FFPFF was stable up to 90  degrees C, whereas that of P
      turned into a sol again at 55-86  degrees C, indicating that end-capping with FF
      improved the gel stability against heat. In addition, the carboxylic acids of the
      FF end-groups can form coordination bonds with metal ions, and the gel modulus at
      37  degrees C increased from 15-21 KPa (P) to 20-25 KPa (FFPFF) to 24-28 KPa
      (FFPFF-Zn), and the duration of gel against water-erosion increased from 24 h (P)
      to 60 h (FFPFF-Zn), leading to a useful biomaterial for sustained drug delivery.
      The FFPFF-Zn gels implanted in the rats' subcutaneous layer induced a mild
      inflammatory responses. Contrary to the previous end-capping of Pluronics by
      poly(lactic acid), polycarprolactone, carboxylic acid, and so on that weakened
      the gel stability, the diphenylalanine end-capping strengthened the stability of
      Pluronics gel against heat and water-erosion. This paper suggests that the
      control of polymer nanoassemblies directed by FF end-groups improves the
      mechanical properties and stability of the resulting thermogel and, thus,
      provides a useful drug delivery carrier with prolonged durability.

PMID- 28605183
TI  - Directed Self-Assembly of Colloidal Particles onto Nematic Liquid Crystalline
      Defects Engineered by Chemically Patterned Surfaces.
AB  - In exploiting topological defects of liquid crystals as the targeting sites for
      trapping colloidal objects, previous work has relied on topographic features with
      uniform anchoring to create defects, achieving limited density and spacing of
      particles. We report a generalizable strategy to create topological defects on
      chemically patterned surfaces to assemble particles in precisely defined
      locations with a tunable interparticle distance at nanoscale dimensions. Informed
      by experimental observations and numerical simulations that indicate that liquid
      crystals, confined between a homeotropic-anchoring surface and a surface with
      lithographically defined planar-anchoring stripes in a homeotropic-anchoring
      background, display splay-bend deformation, we successfully create pairs of
      defects and subsequently trap particles with controlled spacing by designing
      patterns of intersecting stripes aligned at 45 degrees  with homeotropic
      anchoring gaps at the intersections. Application of electric fields allows for
      dynamic control of trapped particles. The tunability, responsiveness, and
      adaptability of this platform provide the opportunities for assembly of colloidal
      structures toward functional materials.

PMID- 28605184
TI  - Modeling Photosensitized Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation in Laboratory and
      Ambient Aerosols.
AB  - Photosensitized reactions involving imidazole-2-carboxaldehyde (IC) have been
      experimentally observed to contribute to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) growth.
      However, the extent of photosensitized reactions in ambient aerosols remains
      poorly understood and unaccounted for in atmospheric models. Here we use GAMMA
      4.0, a photochemical box model that couples gas-phase and aqueous-phase aerosol
      chemistry, along with recent laboratory measurements of the kinetics of IC
      photochemistry, to analyze IC-photosensitized SOA formation in laboratory and
      ambient settings. Analysis of the laboratory results of Aregahegn et al. (2013)
      suggests that photosensitized production of SOA from limonene, isoprene, alpha
      pinene, beta-pinene, and toluene by 3IC* occurs at or near the surface of the
      aerosol particle. Reactive uptake coefficients were derived from the experimental
      data using GAMMA 4.0. Simulations of aqueous aerosol SOA formation at remote
      ambient conditions including IC photosensitizer chemistry indicate less than 0.3%
      contribution to SOA growth from direct reactions of 3IC* with limonene, isoprene,
      alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, and toluene, and an enhancement of less than 0.04% of
      SOA formation from other precursors due to the formation of radicals in the bulk
      aerosol aqueous phase. Other, more abundant photosensitizer species, such as
      humic-like substances (HULIS), may contribute more significantly to aqueous
      aerosol SOA production.

PMID- 28605185
TI  - Soft-Matter Printed Circuit Board with UV Laser Micropatterning.
AB  - When encapsulated in elastomer, micropatterned traces of Ga-based liquid metal
      (LM) can function as elastically deformable circuit wiring that provides
      mechanically robust electrical connectivity between solid-state elements (e.g.,
      transistors, processors, and sensor nodes). However, LM-microelectronics
      integration is currently limited by challenges in rapid fabrication of LM
      circuits and the creation of vias between circuit terminals and the I/O pins of
      packaged electronics. In this study, we address both with a unique layup for soft
      matter electronics in which traces of liquid-phase Ga-In eutectic (EGaIn) are
      patterned with UV laser micromachining (UVLM). The terminals of the elastomer
      sealed LM circuit connect to the surface mounted chips through vertically aligned
      columns of EGaIn-coated Ag-Fe2O3 microparticles that are embedded within an
      interfacial elastomer layer. The processing technique is compatible with
      conventional UVLM printed circuit board (PCB) prototyping and exploits the
      photophysical ablation of EGaIn on an elastomer substrate. Potential applications
      to wearable computing and biosensing are demonstrated with functional
      implementations in which soft-matter PCBs are populated with surface-mounted
      microelectronics.

PMID- 28605186
TI  - Synthesis of Oil-Laden Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Hydrogel Nanocapsules
      from Double Nanoemulsions.
AB  - Multiple emulsions have received great interest due to their ability to be used
      as templates for the production of multicompartment particles for a variety of
      applications. However, scaling these complex droplets to nanoscale dimensions has
      been a challenge due to limitations on their fabrication methods. Here, we report
      the development of oil-in-water-in-oil (O1/W/O2) double nanoemulsions via a two
      step high-energy method and their use as templates for complex nanogels comprised
      of inner oil droplets encapsulated within a hydrogel matrix. Using a combination
      of characterization methods, we determine how the properties of the nanogels are
      controlled by the size, stability, internal morphology, and chemical composition
      of the nanoemulsion templates from which they are formed. This allows for
      identification of compositional and emulsification parameters that can be used to
      optimize the size and oil encapsulation efficiency of the nanogels. Our
      templating method produces oil-laden nanogels with high oil encapsulation
      efficiencies and average diameters of 200-300 nm. In addition, we demonstrate the
      versatility of the system by varying the types of inner oil, the hydrogel
      chemistry, the amount of inner oil, and the hydrogel network cross-link density.
      These nontoxic oil-laden nanogels have potential applications in food,
      pharmaceutical, and cosmetic formulations.

PMID- 28605187
TI  - Phytotoxicity Study on Bidens sulphurea Sch. Bip. as a Preliminary Approach for
      Weed Control.
AB  - Farmers of the Franca region in Brazil observed that Bidens sulphurea was able to
      eliminate the Panicum maximum weed, which infected coffee plantations, without
      affecting the crop. In an effort to determine if the inhibitory effects observed
      were due to the presence of phytotoxic compounds from leaves and roots, a
      biodirected isolation and spectroscopic characterization has been carried out.
      The leaf dichloromethane and root acetone extracts were the most active, and the
      former appeared to be more phytotoxic to the target species, including four
      weeds. A total of 26 compounds were isolated from leaves and roots, and four of
      them are described here for the first time. The major compounds in the leaf
      extract are the sesquiterpene lactones costunolide, reynosin, and santamarine,
      and these showed marked inhibition. Amaranthus viridis and Panicum maximum were
      the most sensitive species of the weeds tested. These three phytotoxic lactones
      were also evaluated on A. viridis and P. maximum under hydroponic conditions. A.
      viridis was the most affected species with the three lactones, and santamarine
      was the most phytotoxic compound on both. This is the first time that the
      phytotoxicity of sesquiterpene lactones has been evaluated on hydroponic culture.
      The work described here is a preliminary approach for the use of B. sulphurea for
      weed control in agriculture, both as a cover crop and by use of its components as
      natural herbicide leads.

PMID- 28605188
TI  - Poly[2,5-bis(3-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene] Oligomer Single
      Crystal Nanowires from Supercritical Solution and Their Anisotropic Exciton
      Dynamics.
AB  - Supercritical fluids, exhibiting a combination of liquid-like solvation power and
      gas-like diffusivity, are a relatively unexplored medium for processing and
      crystallization of oligomer and polymeric semiconductors whose optoelectronic
      properties critically depend on the microstructure. Here we report oligomer
      crystallization from the polymer organic semiconductor, poly[2,5-bis(3
      dodecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene] (PBTTT) in supercritical hexane,
      yielding needle-like single crystals up to several microns in length. We
      characterize the crystals' photophysical properties by time- and polarization
      resolved photoluminescence (TPRPL) spectroscopy. These techniques reveal two
      dimensional interchromophore coupling facilitated by the high degree of pi
      stacking order within the crystal. Furthermore, the crystals obtained from
      supercritical fluid were found to be similar photophysically as the crystallites
      found in solution-cast thin films and distinct from solution-grown crystals that
      exhibited spectroscopic signatures indicative of different packing geometries.

PMID- 28605191
TI  - Mussel-Inspired Polyglycerol Coatings with Controlled Wettability: From
      Superhydrophilic to Superhydrophobic Surface Coatings.
AB  - Facile approaches to substrate-independent surface coatings with special
      wettability properties, such as superhydrophobicity, superhydrophilicity, and
      superamphiphobicity, have been limited. To address this problem, we combined two
      separate biomimetic concepts of mussel-inspired adhesion and highly hierarchical
      lotuslike surface structures to develop a universal fabrication method for
      various superwetting systems on any kind of material. In this feature article, we
      summarize our work on mussel-inspired polyglycerol (MI-dPG) and its application
      in the area of superwetting interfacial materials. MI-dPG mimics not only the
      functional groups of mfp-5 but also their molecular weight and molecular
      structure, which results in strong and rapid adhesion to the substrate.
      Furthermore, the MI-dPG coating process provides precise roughness control. The
      construction of highly hierarchical and superhydrophilic structures was achieved
      either directly by pH-controlled aggregation or in combination with
      nanoparticles. Subsequent postmodification of these highly hierarchical
      structures with different fluorinated or nonfluorinated hydrophobic molecules
      yielded a surface with superhydrophobic and even superamphiphobic properties.

PMID- 28605190
TI  - A Role for Pd(IV) in Catalytic Enantioselective C-H Functionalization with
      Monoprotected Amino Acid Ligands under Mild Conditions.
AB  - Kinetic and mechanistic studies of the desymmetrization of benzhydrylamine using
      Pd/monoprotected amino acid ligands (Pd/MPAA) via C-H functionalization with
      molecular iodine provide mechanistic insight into the rate-determining step and
      the oxidation state of Pd in the C-H functionalization step. Enantiomeric excess
      is strikingly insensitive to temperature from ambient temperature up to over 70 
      degrees C, and reaction rate is insensitive to the electronic characteristics of
      the ligand's benzoyl protecting group. The reaction is highly robust with no
      evidence of catalyst deactivation. Intriguingly, C-H bond breaking does not occur
      prior to the addition of I2 to the reaction mixture. Electrochemical experiments
      demonstrate the viability of oxidative addition of I2 to Pd(II). Together with
      19F NMR studies, these observations suggest that iodine oxidizes Pd prior to
      addition of the amine substrate. This work may lead to a better general
      understanding of the subtle variations in the reaction mechanisms for C-H
      functionalization reactions that may be extant for this ligand class depending on
      substrate, amino acid ligand and protecting group, and reaction conditions.

PMID- 28605189
TI  - Cosolutes, Crowding, and Protein Folding Kinetics.
AB  - Long accepted as the most important interaction, recent work shows that steric
      repulsions alone cannot explain the effects of macromolecular cosolutes on the
      equilibrium thermodynamics of protein stability. Instead, chemical interactions
      have been shown to modulate, and even dominate, crowding-induced steric
      repulsions. Here, we use 19F NMR to examine the effects of small and large
      cosolutes on the kinetics of protein folding and unfolding using the metastable 7
      kDa N-terminal SH3 domain of the Drosophila signaling protein drk (SH3), which
      folds by a two-state mechanism. The small cosolutes consist of trimethylamine N
      oxide and sucrose, which increase equilibrium protein stability, and urea, which
      destabilizes proteins. The macromolecules comprise the stabilizing sucrose
      polymer, Ficoll, and the destabilizing globular protein, lysozyme. We assessed
      the effects of these cosolutes on the differences in free energy between the
      folded state and the transition state and between the unfolded ensemble and the
      transition state. We then examined the temperature dependence to assess changes
      in activation enthalpy and entropy. The enthalpically mediated effects are more
      complicated than suggested by equilibrium measurements. We also observed
      enthalpic effects with the supposedly inert sucrose polymer, Ficoll, that arise
      from its macromolecular nature. Assessment of activation entropies shows
      important contributions from solvent and cosolute, in addition to the
      configurational entropy of the protein that, again, cannot be gleaned from
      equilibrium data. Comparing the effects of Ficoll to those of the more
      physiologically relevant cosolute lysozyme reveals that synthetic polymers are
      not appropriate models for understanding the kinetics of protein folding in
      cells.

PMID- 28605192
TI  - Absolute Protein Quantification by Mass Spectrometry: Not as Simple as
      Advertised.
AB  - Stable isotopically labeled (SIL) tryptic peptides, cleavable SIL peptides, and a
      full-length SIL protein were compared for internal calibration (i.e., as internal
      calibrators) and external calibration (i.e., as internal standards) when
      quantifying three forms of unlabeled, human thyroglobulin (Tg) by bottom-up
      protein analysis. All SIL materials and human proteins were standardized by amino
      acid analysis to ensure traceability of measurements and allow confident
      assignment of accuracy. The three forms of human Tg quantified were (1) the
      primary reference material BCR457-a native protein purified from human thyroids,
      (2) a commercially available form also purified from human thyroids, and (3) a
      full-length recombinant form expressed and purified from a human embryonic kidney
      293 cell-line. Collectively, the results unequivocally demonstrate the lack of
      commutability of tryptic and cleavable SIL peptides as internal calibrators
      across various bottom-up assays (i.e., denaturing/digestion conditions). Further,
      the results demonstrate the potential during external calibration for surrogate
      protein calibrators (i.e., recombinant proteins) to produce inaccurate
      concentration assignments of native protein analytes by bottom-up analysis due to
      variance in digestion efficiency, which is not alleviated by altering
      denaturation/digestion stringency and indicates why protein calibrators may not
      be commutable in bottom-up protein assays. These results have implications
      regarding the veracity of "absolute" protein concentration assignments by bottom
      up assays using peptide calibrators, as well as protein calibrators, given that
      absolute accuracy was not universally observed. Nevertheless, these results
      support the use of recombinant SIL proteins as internal standards over SIL
      peptides due to their ability to better mimic the digestion of human-derived
      proteins and mitigate bias due to digestion-based matrix effects that were
      observed during external calibration.

PMID- 28605193
TI  - Visible-to-NIR Electrochromic Device Prepared from a Thermally Polymerizable
      Electroactive Organic Monomer.
AB  - A monomer (1) consisting of a benzothiadiazole core flanked by two
      triphenylamines and two styrene pendant moieties was prepared. The monomer was
      fluorescent with its emission spanning 145 nm in the visible, contingent on the
      organic solvent used for the measurement. In addition to its positive
      solvatochromism, the absolute fluorescence quantum yield (Phifl) was consistently
      >20% with values >80% being measured in hexane, toluene, diethyl ether, and
      toluene. 1 could be reversibly oxidized with an oxidation potential of 880 mV vs
      SCE. The monomer could be immobilized on ITO-coated glass substrates. The
      resulting 425 nm thick immobilized film (poly-1) was 15% thinner than the monomer
      coating deposited by spray- and spin-coating. The electroactive film did not
      delaminate from the electrode upon either washing or cycling electrochemically
      between its oxidized and neutral states. Its absorption at 460 nm bleached upon
      electrochemical oxidation with the formation of a strong absorption at 880 nm and
      in the NIR, similar to 1. The perceived reversible color change with applied
      potential switched between yellow and gray. The fluorescence intensity of poly-1
      could be switched with applied potentials. A passive transmissive device prepared
      from poly-1 was both electrochromic and fluorochromic, exhibiting reversible
      color change and fluorescence quenching.

PMID- 28605195
TI  - Flexible and Lightweight Fuel Cell with High Specific Power Density.
AB  - Flexible devices have been attracting great attention recently due to their
      numerous advantages. But the energy densities of current energy sources are still
      not high enough to support flexible devices for a satisfactory length of time.
      Although proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) do have a high-energy
      density, traditional PEMFCs are usually too heavy, rigid, and bulky to be used in
      flexible devices. In this research, we successfully invented a light and flexible
      air-breathing PEMFC by using a new design of PEMFC and a flexible composite
      electrode. The flexible air-breathing PEMFC with 1 * 1 cm2 working area can be as
      light as 0.065 g and as thin as 0.22 mm. This new PEMFC exhibits an amazing
      specific volume power density as high as 5190 W L-1, which is much higher than
      traditional (air-breathing) PEMFCs. Also outstanding is that the flexible PEMFC
      retains 89.1% of its original performance after being bent 600 times, and it
      retains its original performance after being dropped five times from a height of
      30 m. Moreover, the research has demonstrated that when stacked, the flexible
      PEMFCs are also useful in mobile applications such as mobile phones. Therefore,
      our research shows that PEMFCs can be made light, flexible, and suitable for
      applications in flexible devices. These innovative flexible PEMFCs may also
      notably advance the progress in the PEMFC field, because flexible PEMFCs can
      achieve high specific power density with small size, small volume, low weight,
      and much lower cost; they are also much easier to mass produce.

PMID- 28605194
TI  - Discovery of Two Bacterial Nitric Oxide-Responsive Proteins and Their Roles in
      Bacterial Biofilm Regulation.
AB  - Bacterial biofilms form when bacteria adhere to a surface and produce an
      exopolysaccharide matrix ( Costerton Science 1999 , 284 , 1318 ; Davies Science
      1998 , 280 , 295 ; Flemming Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2010 , 8 , 623 ). Because
      biofilms are resistant to antibiotics, they are problematic in many aspects of
      human health and welfare, causing, for instance, persistent fouling of medical
      implants such as catheters and artificial joints ( Brunetto Chimia 2008 , 62 ,
      249 ). They are responsible for chronic infections in the lungs of cystic
      fibrosis patients and in open wounds, such as those associated with burns and
      diabetes. They are also a major contributor to hospital-acquired infections (
      Sievert Infec. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2013 , 34 , 1 ; Tatterson Front. Biosci.
      2001 , 6 , D890 ). It has been hypothesized that effective methods of biofilm
      control will have widespread application ( Landini Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol.
      2010 , 86 , 813 ). A promising strategy is to target the mechanisms that drive
      biofilm dispersal, because dispersal results in biofilm removal and in the
      restoration of antibiotic sensitivity. First documented in Nitrosomonas europaea
      ( Schmidt J. Bacteriol. 2004 , 186 , 2781 ) and the cystic fibrosis-associated
      pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( Barraud J. Bacteriol. 2006 , 188 , 7344 ; J.
      Bacteriol. 2009 , 191 , 7333 ), regulation of biofilm formation by nanomolar
      levels of the diatomic gas nitric oxide (NO) has now been documented in numerous
      bacteria ( Barraud Microb. Biotechnol. 2009 , 2 , 370 ; McDougald Nat. Rev.
      Microbiol. 2012 , 10 , 39 ; Arora Biochemistry 2015 , 54 , 3717 ; Barraud Curr.
      Pharm. Des. 2015 , 21 , 31 ). NO-mediated pathways are, therefore, promising
      candidates for biofilm regulation. Characterization of the NO sensors and NO
      regulated signaling pathways should allow for rational manipulation of these
      pathways for therapeutic applications. Several laboratories, including our own,
      have shown that a class of NO sensors called H-NOX (heme-nitric oxide or oxygen
      binding domain) affects biofilm formation by regulating intracellular cyclic di
      GMP concentrations and quorum sensing ( Arora Biochemistry 2015 , 54 , 3717 ;
      Plate Trends Biochem. Sci. 2013 , 38 , 566 ; Nisbett Biochemistry 2016 , 55 ,
      4873 ). Many bacteria that respond to NO do not encode an hnoX gene, however. My
      laboratory has now discovered an additional family of bacterial NO sensors,
      called NosP (nitric oxide sensing protein). Importantly, NosP domains are widely
      conserved in bacteria, especially Gram-negative bacteria, where they are encoded
      as fusions with or in close chromosomal proximity to histidine kinases or cyclic
      di-GMP synthesis or phosphodiesterase enzyme, consistent with signaling. In this
      Account, we briefly review NO and H-NOX signaling in bacterial biofilms, describe
      our discovery of the NosP family, and provide support for its role in biofilm
      regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholerae, Legionella pneumophila,
      and Shewanella oneidensis.

PMID- 28605196
TI  - alpha-Ag2-2xZnxWO4 (0 <= x <= 0.25) Solid Solutions: Structure, Morphology, and
      Optical Properties.
AB  - A theoretical study was elaborated to support the experimental results of the Zn
      doped alpha-Ag2WO4. Theses alpha-Ag2-2xZnxWO4 (0 <= x <= 0.25) solid solutions
      were obtained by coprecipitation method. X-ray diffraction data indicated that
      all alpha-Ag2-2xZnxWO4 (0 <= x <= 0.25) microcrystals presented an orthorhombic
      structure. The experimental values of the micro-Raman frequencies were in
      reasonable agreement with both previously reported and calculated results.
      Microscopy images showed that the replacement of Ag+ by Zn2+ promoted a reduction
      in the average crystal size and modifications in the morphology, from rod-like
      with hexagonal shape to roll-like with a curved surface. A theoretical
      methodology based on the surfaces calculations and Wulff constructions was
      applied to study the particle shapes transformations and the surface energy
      variations in alpha-Ag2-2xZnxWO4 (0 <= x <= 0.25) system. The decrease in the
      band gap value (from 3.18 to 3.08 eV) and the red shift in photoluminescence with
      the Zn2+ addition were associated with intermediary energy levels between the
      valence and conduction bands. First-principles calculations with density
      functional theory associated with B3LYP hybrid functional were conducted. The
      calculated band structures revealed an indirect band gap for the alpha-Ag2
      2xZnxWO4 models. The electronic properties of alpha-Ag2WO4 and alpha-Ag2-2xZnxWO4
      microcrystals were linked to distortion effects and oxygen vacancies (VOx)
      present in the clusters, respectively. Finally, photoluminescence properties of
      alpha-Ag2WO4 and alpha-Ag2-2xZnxWO4 microcrystals were explained by means of
      distortional effects and oxygen vacancies (VOx) in [AgOy] (y = 2, 4, 6, and 7)
      and [WO6] clusters, respectively, causing a red shift. Calculations revealed that
      the substitution for Ag+ with Zn2+ occurred randomly in the alpha-Ag2WO4 lattice,
      and it was more favorable on the Ag4 site, where the local coordination of Ag+
      cations was four.

PMID- 28605197
TI  - Effects of Nanochitin on the Enhancement of the Grain Yield and Quality of Winter
      Wheat.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of different rates of nanochitin in soil on
      the grain yield and quality of winter wheat. Nanochitin obtained by acidic
      hydrolysis of shrimp chitin was a rod-like whisker possessing a hydrodynamic
      diameter of 143 nm and zeta potential of 55.7 mV. Two varieties of winter wheat,
      multi-spike wheat (MSW) and large spike wheat (LSW), were treated with the
      nanochitin suspension in outside pot experiments. The results showed that 0.006 g
      kg-1 of nanochitin in soil could significantly enhance the yield by 23.0% for MSW
      and 33.4% for LSW, with significant increases of net photosynthesis rate,
      stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentrations, and transpiration rate in
      flag leaf at the grain filling stage. Grain protein, iron, and zinc contents in
      wheat treated with nanochitin were also increased by 5.0, 10.3, and 22.1% for MSW
      and 33.4, 32.0, and 27.0% for LSW, respectively. This indicated that utilization
      of nanochitin has a great potential in future agriculture sustainability and crop
      production.

PMID- 28605198
TI  - Rapid Static Sensitizer Regeneration Enabled by Ion Pairing.
AB  - An anionic CoII complex, [Co(TTT) (NCS)3]- (TTT = 4,4',4"-tri-tert-butyl
      2,2':6',2"-terpyridine and NCS = isothiocyanate), was synthesized for use in dye
      sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The CoII complex was found to ion-pair with the
      hexacationic sensitizer [Ru(tmam)2(dcb)]6+ (tmam = 4,4'-bis(trimethylaminomethyl)
      2,2'-bipyridine and dcb = 4,4'-(CO2H)2-2,2'-bipyridine) anchored to TiO2 thin
      films immersed in acetonitrile solution. Visible light excitation of the ion
      pairs resulted in excited-state injection followed by rapid static regeneration
      of the oxidized sensitizer (<10 ns). The static component to regeneration gave an
      ion-pair equilibrium constant of 6000 M-1. This value is an order of magnitude
      smaller than the equilibrium constant determined for [Ru(tmam)2(deeb)]6+ (deeb =
      4,4'-(CO2Et)2-2,2'-bipyridine) dissolved in acetonitrile. DSSC studies employing
      [Co(TTT) (NCS)3]- or the cationic [Co(DTB)3]2+ (DTB = 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'
      bipyridine) as redox mediators revealed a 3 fold photocurrent increase in the
      presence of the anionic cobalt complex. As the regeneration step was greatly
      enhanced through the formation of Coulombic ion pairs, both electron injection
      and regeneration were complete within 10 ns which is unprecedented for dye
      sensitization. The results obtained reveal that ground-state ion-pairing can be a
      powerful strategy for DSSC optimization.

PMID- 28605199
TI  - Effect of Conformational Chirality on Optical Activity Observed in a Smectic of
      Achiral, Bent-Core Molecules.
AB  - Smectics of achiral, tilted bent-core liquid crystal molecules are chiral, but
      their optical activity is generally small. Here, we study the effect of
      conformational chirality on optical activity in smectic phases of an achiral,
      bent-core mesogen, W513. The neat material has a modulated B4 phase, which
      appears dark under crossed polarizers and shows no observable optical rotation
      under decrossed polarizers. However, mixtures of W513 with a rod-like mesogen,
      8CB, show a conventional B4 phase, in which distinct left- and right-handed
      chiral domains with opposite optical activity are observed. The optical behavior
      of the mixtures is consistent with NMR results, which show a splitting of the
      carbonyl peak of the bent-core molecules into two, indicating a twisted
      conformation between the two molecular arms of the bent-core molecules as in
      conventional B4 materials.

PMID- 28605200
TI  - Six States Switching of Redox-Active Molecular Tweezers by Three Orthogonal
      Stimuli.
AB  - A six level molecular switch based on terpyridine(Ni-salphen)2 tweezers and
      addressable by three orthogonal stimuli (metal coordination, redox reaction, and
      guest binding) is reported. By a metal coordination stimulus, the tweezers can be
      mechanically switched from an open "W"-shaped conformation to a closed "U"-shaped
      form. Theses two states can each be reversibly oxidized by the redox stimulus and
      bind to a pyrazine guest resulting in four additional states. All six states are
      stable and accessible by the right combination of stimuli and were studied by
      NMR, XRD, EPR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. The combination of the
      supramolecular concepts of mechanical motion and guest binding with the redox
      noninnocent and valence tautomerism properties of Ni-salphen complexes added two
      new dimensions to a mechanical switch.

PMID- 28605201
TI  - Molybdenum Disulfide-Black Phosphorus Hybrid Nanosheets as a Superior Catalyst
      for Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution.
AB  - Engineering electronic properties is a promising way to design nonprecious-metal
      or earth-abundant catalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we
      deposited catalytically active MoS2 flakes onto black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets
      to construct the MoS2-BP interfaces. In this case, electrons flew from BP to MoS2
      in MoS2-BP nanosheets because of the higher Fermi level of BP than that of MoS2.
      MoS2-BP nanosheets exhibited remarkable HER performance with an overpotential of
      85 mV at 10 mA cm-2. Due to the electron donation from BP to MoS2, the exchange
      current density of MoS2-BP reached 0.66 mA cm-2, which was 22 times higher than
      that of MoS2. In addition, both the consecutive cyclic voltammetry and
      potentiostatic tests revealed the outstanding electrocatalytic stability of MoS2
      BP nanosheets. Our finding not only provides a superior HER catalyst, but also
      presents a straightforward strategy to design hybrid electrocatalysts.

PMID- 28605202
TI  - Supramolecular Construction of an Aldehyde-Cyclobutane via the Solid State:
      Combining Reversible Imine Formation and Metal-Organic Self-Assembly.
AB  - A combination of metal-organic self-assembly and reversible imine formation is
      used to achieve an organic synthesis via the solid state. Imine bond formation is
      employed to install a pyridyl to the alkene trans-cinnamaldehyde while Ag(I) ions
      are used in a second step to assemble the pyridyl-functionalized alkene into a
      geometry in the solid state for an intermolecular [2 + 2] photodimerization. The
      alkene undergoes the cycloaddition reaction via a 1D coordination polymer to
      generate a pyridyl-functionalized cyclobutane stereoselectively and in
      quantitative yield. Removal of the pyridyl group affords the aldehyde
      functionalized cyclobutane alpha-truxilaldehyde.

PMID- 28605203
TI  - Extremozymes from metagenome: Potential applications in food processing.
AB  - The long-established use of enzymes for food processing and product formulation
      has resulted in an increased enzyme market compounding to 7.0% annual growth
      rate. Advancements in molecular biology and recognition that enzymes with
      specific properties have application for industrial production of infant, baby
      and functional foods boosted research toward sourcing the genes of microorganisms
      for enzymes with distinctive properties. In this regard, functional metagenomics
      for extremozymes has gained attention on the premise that such enzymes can
      catalyze specific reactions. Hence, metagenomics that can isolate functional
      genes of unculturable extremophilic microorganisms has expanded attention as a
      promising tool. Developments in this field of research in relation to food sector
      are reviewed.

PMID- 28605204
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals from fruits, vegetables, and food
      legumes: A review.
AB  - Inflammation is the first biological response of the immune system to infection,
      injury or irritation. Evidence suggests that the anti-inflammatory effect is
      mediated through the regulation of various inflammatory cytokines, such as nitric
      oxide, interleukins, tumor necrosis factor alpha-alpha, interferon gamma-gamma as
      well as noncytokine mediator, prostaglandin E2. Fruits, vegetables, and food
      legumes contain high levels of phytochemicals that show anti-inflammatory effect,
      but their mechanisms of actions have not been completely identified. The aim of
      this paper was to summarize the recent investigations and findings regarding in
      vitro and animal model studies on the anti-inflammatory effects of fruits,
      vegetables, and food legumes. Specific cytokines released for specific type of
      physiological event might shed some light on the specific use of each source of
      phytochemicals that can benefit to counter the inflammatory response. As natural
      modulators of proinflammatory gene expressions, phytochemical from fruits,
      vegetables, and food legumes could be incorporated into novel bioactive anti
      inflammatory formulations of various nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. Finally,
      these phytochemicals are discussed as the natural promotion strategy for the
      improvement of human health status. The phenolics and triterpenoids in fruits and
      vegetables showed higher anti-inflammatory activity than other compounds. In food
      legumes, lectins and peptides had anti-inflammatory activity in most cases.
      However, there are lack of human study data on the anti-inflammatory activity of
      phytochemicals from fruits, vegetables, and food legumes.

PMID- 28605205
TI  - Analysis of factors influencing drain amount, time to drain removal, and seroma
      formation in patients undergoing immediate expander-implant breast
      reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Placement of a closed suction drain is a common cause of patient
      complaints, such as postoperative pain or discomfort following immediate expander
      implant breast reconstruction. This study aims to identify factors that affect
      drainage volume, time to drain removal, and seroma formation. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review of prospectively collected data was conducted on
      patients who underwent immediate expander-implant breast reconstructions
      following nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy without skin excision (nipple
      areolar complex excision only) between February 2010 and April 2015. Daily
      drainage volume was measured until the drain was removed. Eight independent
      variables, including acellular dermal matrix (ADM) usage and inflation ratio (the
      rate of initial inflation volume to mastectomy weight) were analysed by
      univariable and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: A total of 162 breasts in 148
      patients were included in this study. The inflation ratio did not influence the
      drain amount or days to drain removal. Although the use of ADM was significantly
      associated with increased drainage during the first 5 postoperative days (p =
      0.015), it was not significant when adjusted for time. Old age, larger expander
      size, and larger drain amount on the first postoperative day were predictors for
      longer days to drain removal (p < 0.001). Old age had a trend toward higher risk
      of seroma formation that approached statistical significance (p = 0.057).
      CONCLUSIONS: The use of ADM and initial inflation ratio do not influence days to
      drain removal or seroma formation. A longer period of drain placement is expected
      when a larger expander is used or in elderly patients.

PMID- 28605206
TI  - The effect of a holistic self-management plan on asthma control.
AB  - The holistic self-management plan includes lifelong actions that enable patients
      to cope with their disease. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect
      of a holistic self-management plan on asthma control. A 12-month controlled study
      was conducted. Adult patients with mild-to-moderate asthma (n = 24) who attended
      the emergency asthma department were randomized to two groups: One group followed
      four educational sessions and three personal home sessions (n = 12), while a
      second group received a short manual with asthma information (n = 12). The main
      measure was the asthma control test (ACT), while secondary outcomes were self
      efficacy (general self-efficacy scale, GSE), end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2),
      respiratory rate (RR), breathing hold time (BHT), the Nijmegen Questionnaire
      (NQ), and spirometry (FEV1% predicted (forced expiratory volume in 1 second %
      predicted)) scores. The 2 * 4 ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect
      between intervention and time in ACT (p = 0.001), GSE (p < 0.001), ETCO2 (p <
      0.001), RR (p < 0.001), BHT (p < 0.001), NQ (p = 0.05), and FEV1% predicted (p <
      0.001). Predictors of asthma control were self-efficacy and ETCO2. In conclusion,
      this exploratory study provided support for the effectiveness of holistic self
      management in asthma control. Behavioral changes, as indicated by the development
      of self-efficacy and the reduction of hyperventilation, contributed to the
      effectiveness of the intervention.

PMID- 28605207
TI  - Kinesiophobia and maladaptive coping strategies prevent improvements in pain
      catastrophizing following pain neuroscience education in fibromyalgia/chronic
      fatigue syndrome: An explorative study.
AB  - Many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS) and/or fibromyalgia(FM) have
      little understanding of their condition, leading to maladaptive pain cognitions
      and coping strategies. These should be tackled during therapy, for instance by
      pain neurophysiology education (PNE). Although positive effects of PNE are well
      established, it remains unclear why some patients benefit more than others. This
      paper aims at exploring characteristics of patients responding poor to PNE to
      further improve its effectiveness. Data from two RCT's were pooled to search for
      baseline predictors. Subjects (n = 39) suffering from CFS/FM, as defined by the
      American College of Rheumatology, underwent PNE treatment. The Pain
      Catastrophizing Scale (PCS); Pain Coping Inventory (PCI); and Tampa Scale of
      Kinesiophobia (TSK) were defined as outcome measures. There was a significant
      negative relationship between baseline TSK and the change in both PCS total score
      (r = -0.584; p < 0.001) and PCS rumination (r = -0.346; p < 0.05). There was a
      significant negative relationship between the change in PCS total score and
      baseline PCI worrying (r = -0.795; p < 0.001) and retreating (r = -0.356; p <
      0.05). FM/CFS patients who tend to worry allot about their pain and with high
      levels of kinesiophobia are likely to experience less reductions in
      catastrophizing following PNE. It seems that PNE alone is insufficient to reduce
      catastrophic thinking regarding pain, and supplementary treatment is needed.

PMID- 28605208
TI  - Methods in Addiction Research section: notes from the Associate Editor.

PMID- 28605209
TI  - Pacing and Self-regulation: Important Skills for Talent Development in Endurance
      Sports.
AB  - Pacing has been characterized as a multifaceted goal-directed process of decision
      making in which athletes need to decide how and when to invest their energy
      during the race, a process essential for optimal performance. Both physiological
      and psychological characteristics associated with adequate pacing and performance
      are known to develop with age. Consequently, the multifaceted skill of pacing
      might be under construction throughout adolescence, as well. Therefore, the
      authors propose that the complex skill of pacing is a potential important
      performance characteristic for talented youth athletes that needs to be developed
      throughout adolescence. To explore whether pacing is a marker for talent and how
      talented athletes develop this skill in middle-distance and endurance sports,
      they aim to bring together literature on pacing and literature on talent
      development and self-regulation of learning. Subsequently, by applying the
      cyclical process of self-regulation to pacing, they propose a practical model for
      the development of performance in endurance sports in youth athletes. Not only is
      self-regulation essential throughout the process of reaching the long-term goal
      of athletic excellence, but it also seems crucial for the development of pacing
      skills within a race and the development of a refined performance template based
      on previous experiences. Coaches and trainers are advised to incorporate pacing
      as a performance characteristic in their talent-development programs by
      stimulating their athletes to reflect, plan, monitor, and evaluate their races on
      a regular basis to build performance templates and, as such, improve their
      performance.

PMID- 28605210
TI  - Pacing Strategy During Simulated Mountain Bike Racing.
AB  - Cross-country mountain biking (XCO) is a popular high-intensity endurance cycling
      event, but XCO pacing strategy has not been fully examined. This study examined
      the pacing strategies of different XCO athletes during a laboratory-simulated XCO
      performance test. Brazilian cyclists classified as performance-cohort level 3
      performed an XCO race simulation. The simulation consisted of four 10-km laps
      with a gradient of 0-10%. No group-vs-time interaction was found in lap time (P =
      .169), absolute (P = .719) and relative (P = .607) power output, ratings of
      perceived exertion (P = .182), or heart rate (P = .125). There was a time main
      effect, as athletes decreased power output by 0.3 W/kg throughout the XCO
      simulation, thereby resulting in a 1.6-min decrement per lap. The power output
      corresponding to the onset of blood lactate accumulation adequately represented
      the mean power of the first lap. These results showed that 2 groups of cyclists
      with different training status adopted similar pacing strategies during an XCO
      race simulation, as they both used a fast-starting pacing strategy followed by
      positive pacing that resulted in a linear decrease in power output at every lap.

PMID- 28605211
TI  - Profiles of vocal development in Korean children with and without cleft palate.
AB  - This study longitudinally investigated vocal development in Korean children from
      9 to 18 months of age with and without cleft palate (CP). Utterance samples were
      collected from 24 children with and without CP at 9, 12, 15 and 18 months of age.
      Each utterance was categorised into levels of vocalisation using the Korean
      translated version of the Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development-Revised
      (SAEVD-R). The results showed children with CP produced a significantly higher
      rate of precanonical vocalisations (the combination of Levels 1, 2, and 3) and a
      lower rate of Level 4 and 5 vocalisations than children without CP. Both groups
      showed decreases in Levels 1 and 2 and increases in Level 5 from 9 to 18 months
      of age. A significant increase in the proportion of Level 4 vocalisations across
      age was observed only in children without CP. Young Korean children with CP
      showed lower proportions of advanced vocalisation levels characterised by
      canonical and complex syllable structures across 9 and 18 months of age compared
      to children without CP.

PMID- 28605212
TI  - Comparing the test of practical judgment with the neuropsychological assessment
      battery judgment subtest in a neurodegenerative disease clinic population.
AB  - The Test of Practical Judgment (TOP-J) and the Judgment subtest from the
      Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB-JDG) are both brief interview-based
      measures that assess judgment. This study compared estimates of judgment obtained
      from these measures in a neurodegenerative disease population. Records from 61
      referrals seen for neuropsychological evaluation in a neurodegenerative disorders
      clinic were reviewed. Measures of interest included the TOP-J and NAB-JDG.
      Concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) and root mean square differences
      (RMSD) were calculated between judgment T-scores. Discrepancy scores were
      calculated by subtracting NAB-JDG scores from TOP-J scores. CCC showed poor
      agreement between the judgment measures, with evidence of fixed bias, such that
      the NAB-JDG systematically generates higher scores than the TOP-J. This fixed
      bias was present whether NAB-JDG scores are demographically adjusted or
      unadjusted. There was no evidence of proportional bias. In a neurodegenerative
      disease clinic population, the TOP-J and NAB-JDG provide estimates of judgment
      ability that are systematically different. These two measures may be assessing
      different aspects within the larger construct of judgment and the inconsistency
      between measures would contraindicate using them interchangeably. Clinicians will
      need to carefully consider patient characteristics, clinical needs, and review
      specific item content when selecting between these measures.

PMID- 28605213
TI  - Computerized cognitive testing norms in active-duty military personnel: Potential
      for contamination by psychologically unhealthy individuals.
AB  - Normative reference data used for clinical interpretation of neuropsychological
      testing results are only valid to the extent that the sample they are based on is
      composed of "normal" individuals. Accordingly, efforts are made to exclude
      individuals with histories and/or diagnoses that might bias test performance. In
      this report, we focus on these features in active-duty military personnel because
      published data on computerized neurocognitive testing norms for this population
      have not explicitly considered the consequences of neurobehavioral disorders
      (e.g., PTSD, depression), which are prevalent in this population and known to
      affect performance on some cognitive assessments. We administered DANA, a mobile,
      neurocognitive assessment tool, to a large sample of active-duty military
      personnel and found that scores on self-administered psychological assessments
      negatively impacted a number of neurocognitive tests. These results suggest that
      neurobehavioral disorders that are relatively common in this population should be
      controlled for when establishing normative datasets for neurocognitive outcomes.

PMID- 28605214
TI  - Influence of the Reactive Strength Index Modified on Force- and Power-Time
      Curves.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Reactive Strength Index Modified (RSImod) has been recently
      identified and validated as a method of monitoring countermovement-jump (CMJ)
      performance. The kinetic and kinematic mechanisms that optimize a higher RSImod
      score are, however, currently unknown. The purpose of this study, therefore, was
      to compare entire CMJ force-, power-, velocity-, and displacement-time curves
      (termed temporal-phase analysis) of athletes who achieve high versus low RSImod
      scores. METHODS: Fifty-three professional male rugby league players performed 3
      maximal-effort CMJs on a force platform, and variables of interest were
      calculated via forward dynamics. The top (high RSImod group) and bottom (low
      RSImod group) of 20 athletes' CMJ kinetic- and kinematic-time curves were
      compared. RESULTS: The high-RSImod group (0.53 +/- 0.05 vs 0.36 +/- 0.03) jumped
      higher (37.7 +/- 3.9 vs 31.8 +/- 3.2 cm) with a shorter time to takeoff (TTT)
      (0.707 +/- 0.043 vs 0.881 +/- 0.122 s). This was achieved by a more rapid
      unweighting phase followed by greater eccentric and concentric force, velocity,
      and power for large portions (including peak values) of the jump, but a similar
      countermovement displacement. The attainment of a high RSImod score therefore
      required a taller, but thinner, active impulse. CONCLUSIONS: Athletes who perform
      the CMJ with a high RSImod, as achieved by high jumps with a short TTT,
      demonstrate superior force, power, velocity, and impulse during both the
      eccentric and concentric phases of the jump. Practitioners who include the RSImod
      calculation in their testing batteries may assume that greater RSImod values are
      attributed to an increase in these underpinning kinetic and kinematic parameters.

PMID- 28605215
TI  - Experienced-Based Versus Scenario-Based Assessments of Shame and Guilt and Their
      Relationship to Alcohol Consumption and Problems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Empirical studies of the relationships between shame, guilt, and
      drinking are sparse and sometimes appear contradictory. However, a more coherent
      picture emerges when researchers differentiate between measures of experienced of
      guilt and shame (i.e., questionnaires that ask how often people experience
      thoughts, feelings, and sensations associated with the emotion) versus proneness
      to guilt and shame (i.e., self-report of likely responses to imagined situations)
      is understood. OBJECTIVES: Assess the extent to which experiential versus
      proneness measures of shame and guilt are associated with alcohol consumption and
      alcohol-related problems. METHODS: Between 2012 and 2013, 89 community-dwelling
      non-abstaining adults were interviewed on a single occasion about their drinking
      and completed self-report measures of shame, guilt, and drinking-related
      behaviors. RESULTS: Overall, shame and guilt were most strongly related to
      alcohol-related problems and not drinking amount per se, and shame was more
      strongly related to alcohol-related problems than was guilt. A measure of
      experienced shame, the Internalized Shame Scale, was the strongest predictor of
      drinking-related problems and predicted problems above and beyond other measures
      of shame and guilt. While guilt proneness was related to less problematic
      drinking, guilt experienced at the time of the assessment was related to more
      problematic drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Shame appears to be more central to the
      experience of problematic drinking than guilt. Results also support the idea that
      guilt/shame proneness is distinct from experienced shame and guilt. Incorporating
      this distinction appears to account for the inconsistencies in the literature
      regarding how shame and guilt are related to drinking.

PMID- 28605216
TI  - Drug-Avoidance Self-Efficacy Among Exclusive Cannabis Users vs. Other Drug Users
      Visiting the Emergency Department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical care in the emergency department (ED) is a growing and
      complex area of outpatient care, with about 256 visits made to EDs every minute
      in 2013. Studies report that, compared to people who do not use drugs, people who
      use illicit drugs are more likely to use the ED for their medical care. Self
      efficacy has been shown to be a predictor of abstinence or reduced use among drug
      using individuals. OBJECTIVES: The current study describes drug avoidance self
      efficacy among exclusive cannabis-using individuals and other drug-using
      individuals who use the ED for any reason. METHODS: Participants were 693 adult
      patients visiting the trauma units and EDs of two large urban "safety net"
      hospitals (i.e., providing care to low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable
      population) in Southern California who reported using illicit drugs in the past
      30 days. RESULTS: For people who use only cannabis, higher drug-avoidance self
      efficacy was associated with older age, lower drug involvement scores, lower drug
      severity scores, and higher readiness to change use. For people who use other
      drugs, higher drug avoidance self-efficacy scores was associated with lower drug
      severity scores, lower psychiatric severity scores, higher medical severity
      scores, and higher readiness to change use. CONCLUSION: This study identified
      several factors (some common, some unique) related to higher drug-avoidance self
      efficacy for both groups. Results may be important when designing intervention
      protocols for use in the ED.

PMID- 28605217
TI  - Differences between preschoolers with asthma and allergies in urban and rural
      environments.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have provided conflicting results about how living in
      a rural or urban environment influences schoolchildren with asthma and allergic
      diseases in different ways. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if
      recurrent wheezing preschoolers from rural or urban areas differ in asthma,
      allergic diseases, and atopy. METHODS: A cross-sectional-study in Rafaela,
      Argentina, on 143 preschoolers with recurrent wheezing from rural and urban
      settings was performed (2010-2012). Diagnosis of asthma (by positive asthma
      predictive index [API]), allergic diseases (rhinitis, dermatitis), and atopy (by
      skin prick test [SPT], peripheral blood eosinophils, and serum total IgE) were
      assessed. RESULTS: Preschoolers from rural settings had significantly higher
      prevalence of vaginal delivery, longer breastfeeding, earlier onset of wheezing,
      more parental smoking, siblings, shared a bedroom, and more exposure to chemicals
      used in plant fumigation or farm animals, and unpasteurized milk consumption, in
      comparison to preschoolers living in urban setting. In contrast, preschoolers
      from urban areas had significantly higher prevalence of parental history of
      allergy, positive skin prick test, and positive API. After multivariate analysis
      adjusting for covariates, maternal smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 3.44] and positive
      SPT (OR = 5.57) significantly increase the risk of asthma diagnosis (positive
      API); in contrast, living in rural setting (OR = 0.04), and having more siblings
      (OR = 0.51) decrease their risk. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent wheezing preschoolers
      from rural areas had a significant inverse odds of being diagnosed with asthma
      (type-2 inflammation) when compared to those from urban areas. Exposure to farm
      animals and consumption of unpasteurized milk might have a role.

PMID- 28605218
TI  - Family Structure and Adolescent Substance Use: An International Perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous studies indicate that family structure is a key correlate of
      adolescent substance use. Yet there are some important limitations to this
      research. Studies have been conducted mainly in the United States, with
      relatively few studies that have compared family structure and youth substance
      use across nations. There is also a lack of recognition of the complexity of
      family types prevalent in contemporary global society. Moreover, there remains a
      need to consider personal, interpersonal, and macro-level characteristics that
      may help account for the association between family structure and youth substance
      use. OBJECTIVE: This study uses data from 37 countries to examine several models
      that purport to explain the association between family structure and substance
      use. METHODS: The data are from the 2005-2006 WHO-sponsored Health Behaviour in
      School-Aged Children (HBSC) (n = 193,202). Multilevel models, including linear,
      probit, and structural equation models (SEMs), were used to test several
      hypotheses. RESULTS: The results suggest that time spent with friends largely
      accounted for the association between specific types of family structures and
      frequency of alcohol use and getting drunk, but that cannabis use was negatively
      associated with living with both biological parents irrespective of other
      factors.

PMID- 28605219
TI  - Retraction of: Azithromycin 1.5% Ophthalmic Solution for Blepharitis Treatment:
      Comparison of 14- Versus 30-Day Treatment; DOI: 10.1089/jop.2015.0099.

PMID- 28605220
TI  - Age Stratification and Sample Entropy Analysis Enhance the Limits of Stability
      Tests for Older Adults.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine if a foam testing condition and/or
      nonlinear analysis methods can be used to identify differences between age
      stratified subgroups of older adults when conducting the Limits of Stability
      assessment. Ninety older adults participated in this study. A force plate was
      used to record center of pressure data during Limits of Stability testing on a
      firm and foam surface. Participants were grouped into age-stratified subgroups:
      young-old (60-69 years), middle-old (70-79 years), and old-old (80+ years).
      Anterior-posterior (A/P) and medial-lateral (M/L) sway ranges and sample entropy
      values were calculated. The young-old group had significantly larger A/P and M/L
      sway ranges than the old-old group on both surfaces. A/P sample entropy increased
      significantly with age. M/L sample entropy increased significantly with age
      between the young-old and old-old and the middle-old and old-old groups. Sample
      entropy values between surfaces significantly differed for all groups. These
      results indicate Limits of Stability differences occur between older adults of
      different age groups and should be taken into consideration for clinical and
      research testing. Nonlinear analysis may help further identify differences in
      Limits of Stability performance while use of a foam surface is of limited
      additional value.

PMID- 28605221
TI  - The Association Between Self-Reported Adherence to Physical Activity
      Recommendations and Criteria for Maintaining Physical Independence of Older
      Adults.
AB  - While physical activity (PA) improves functions for activities of daily living,
      little is known of the association between meeting published PA Guidelines for
      Americans (PAGA) and meeting published physical function guidelines for
      maintaining independence. The purpose of this study was to examine the
      association between meeting the PAGA and meeting independence criteria on the
      Senior Fitness Tests (SFT). Older adults (N = 265) completed SFTs, assessing
      cardiorespiratory fitness, lower and upper body strength, mobility, and self
      reported aerobic and resistance PA. Chi-square tests and logistic regressions
      examined associations between meeting PAGA and SFT independence criteria. A
      significant relationship was found between meeting aerobic PAGA and
      cardiorespiratory and upper body SFT criteria; a significant relationship was
      found between meeting resistance PAGA and upper body strength criteria. Although
      research suggests that PAGA are effective in maintaining fitness in older adults
      when PA is structured and monitored, mixed results were found for self-reported
      PA and SFT criteria.

PMID- 28605222
TI  - Supporting Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: Oncology Provider
      Perceptions of Adolescent and Young Adult Unmet Needs.
AB  - Few studies have assessed oncology providers' perceptions of adolescent and young
      adult (AYA) cancer patients' unmet needs. In this statewide survey (N = 91), we
      found that most providers recognize the financial, insurance, and late effects
      needs of their AYA cancer patients. However, employment, education, behavioral
      health, sexuality, and social and family issues were endorsed by less than half
      of providers as areas where AYAs needed assistance. Few providers felt that their
      AYA cancer patients had unmet needs for these same concerns. Educational efforts
      are needed to improve providers' awareness of the impact of cancer for AYA cancer
      patients.

PMID- 28605223
TI  - Homeobox C10 inhibits the osteogenic differentiation potential of mesenchymal
      stem cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a reliable cell source for tissue
      regeneration. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the directed
      differentiation of MSCs remain unclear which impedes potential clinical
      applications. Recent studies have discovered that Homeobox (HOX) genes are
      involved in the differentiation regulation of MSCs and bone formation. In this
      study, we investigate the HOXC10 function in the osteogenic differentiation
      potential of MSCs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stem cells from apical papilla (SCAPs)
      and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were used in this study. Alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) activity assays, ALP staining, Alizarin red staining,
      quantitative calcium analysis, osteogenesis-associated gene expression, and in
      vivo transplantation experiments were used to study osteogenic differentiation
      potential. RESULTS: Our results showed that overexpression of HOXC10 in SCAPs
      inhibited ALP activity and mineralization in vitro and decreased the mRNA
      expression of collagen alpha-1 (I) chain, bone sialoprotein, osteocalcin, and a
      key transcription factor, runt-related transcription factor 2, in SCAPs.
      Depletion of HOXC10 promoted osteogenic differentiation in SCAPs in vitro. In
      addition, in vivo transplantation experiments in nude mice confirmed that SCAPs
      osteogenesis was triggered when HOXC10 was downregulated. Furthermore, depletion
      of HOXC10 also enhanced osteogenic differentiation in ADSCs. CONCLUSIONS: Taken
      together, these results indicated that HOXC10 decreased the MSC osteogenic
      differentiation potential. Thus, inhibition of HOXC10 in MSCs might have the
      potential to improve tissue regeneration and provide insight into the mechanism
      underlying the directed differentiation of MSCs.

PMID- 28605224
TI  - Effect of a Cooling Kit on Physiology and Performance Following Exercise in the
      Heat.
AB  - CONTEXT: Exercising in the heat leads to an increase in body temperature that can
      increase the risk of heat illness or cause detriments in exercise performance.
      OBJECTIVE: To examine a phase change heat emergency kit (HEK) on thermoregulatory
      and perceptual responses and subsequent exercise performance following exercise
      in the heat. DESIGN: Two randomized crossover trials that consisted of 30 minutes
      of exercise, 15 minutes of treatment (T1), performance testing (5-10-5 pro
      agility test and 1500-m run), and another 15 minutes of treatment (T2) identical
      to T1. SETTING: Outdoors in the heat (wet-bulb globe temperature: 31.5 degrees C
      [1.8 degrees C] and relative humidity: 59.0% [5.6%]). PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six
      (13 men and 13 women) individuals (aged 20-27 y). INTERVENTIONS: Treatment was
      performed with HEK and without HEK (control, CON) modality. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Gastrointestinal temperature, mean skin temperature, thirst sensation,
      and muscle pain. RESULTS: Maximum gastrointestinal temperature following exercise
      and performance was not different between trials (P > .05). Cooling rate was
      faster during T1 CON (0.053 degrees C/min [0.049 degrees C/min]) compared with
      HEK (0.043 degrees C/min [0.032 degrees C/min]; P = .01). Mean skin temperature
      was lower in HEK during T1 (P < .001) and T2 (P = .05). T2 thirst was lower in
      CON (P = .02). Muscle pain was lower in HEK in T2 (P = .03). Performance was not
      altered (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: HEK improved perception but did not enhance
      cooling or performance following exercise in the heat. HEK is therefore not
      recommended to facilitate recovery, treat hyperthermia, or improve performance.

PMID- 28605225
TI  - Effect of Shoes on Stiffness and Energy Efficiency of Ankle-Foot Orthosis: Bench
      Testing Analysis.
AB  - Understanding the mechanical properties of ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) is
      important to maximize their benefit for those with movement disorders during
      gait. Though mechanical properties such as stiffness and/or energy efficiency of
      AFOs have been extensively studied, it remains unknown how and to what extent
      shoes influence their properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      effect of shoes on stiffness and energy efficiency of an AFO using a custom
      mechanical testing device. Stiffness and energy efficiency of the AFO were
      measured in the plantar flexion and dorsiflexion range, respectively, under AFO
      alone and AFO-Shoe combination conditions. The results of this study demonstrated
      that the stiffness of the AFO-Shoe combination was significantly decreased
      compared to the AFO-alone condition, but no significant differences were found in
      energy efficiency. From the results, we recommend that shoes used with AFOs
      should be carefully selected not only based on their effect on alignment of the
      lower limb, but also their effects on overall mechanical properties of the AFO
      Shoe combination. Further study is needed to clarify the effects of differences
      in shoe designs on AFO-Shoe combination mechanical properties.

PMID- 28605226
TI  - The Role of Alcohol Expectancies in the Associations Between Close Friend,
      Typical College Student, and Personal Alcohol Use.
AB  - : Background Perceptions of peer drinking and alcohol expectancies have been
      consistently associated with alcohol use among college students. There is
      evidence that perceived peer drinking also shapes alcohol expectancies. Research
      has yet to address the potential differential impact of perceived drinking by
      close friends versus by typical college students on alcohol use among first
      semester college students. Relatedly, mediation of these associations by specific
      domains of alcohol expectancies has yet to be examined. OBJECTIVES: The first aim
      of the present study was to investigate whether perceptions of close friend
      drinking were more strongly associated with alcohol expectancies, alcohol use,
      and consequences of alcohol use than perceptions of typical college student
      drinking. The second aim focused on which alcohol expectancy domains partially
      accounted for the association between close friend drinking, typical college
      student drinking, and alcohol use and consequences. METHOD: Participants (n = 400
      first-semester college students) completed survey questionnaires, which included
      measures of perceived close friend/typical student alcohol use, alcohol
      expectancies, and drinking behaviors. RESULTS: Results showed that close friend
      alcohol use was more strongly associated with alcohol use and consequences
      compared to typical college student use both directly and indirectly through
      expectancies about alcohol enhancing social behaviors. Conclusions/Importance:
      These findings suggest that first-semester college student drinking is more
      influenced by perceived alcohol use among close friends than typical college
      students. Future intervention efforts for alcohol use on college campuses may
      benefit from including close friend network components along with targeting
      alcohol expectancies regarding social behaviors.

PMID- 28605227
TI  - A Qualitative Study of Means to Improve Partner Notification After an HIV
      Diagnosis Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Australia.
AB  - Improved partner notification (PN) after HIV diagnosis could help control HIV
      among men who have sex with men (MSM). However, there is little evidence
      exploring what this experience is like for Australian MSM and how achievable it
      is in the era of the Internet and smartphones. Fifteen of 39 invited MSM recently
      diagnosed with HIV undertook a semistructured interview about PN. Interviews were
      thematically analyzed using a combined deductive/inductive approach. Three main
      themes arose: fear of PN and HIV disclosure, partners' unexpected reactions, and
      the need for more patient support. MSM found PN difficult and uncomfortable and
      described fear about potential repercussions of PN; however, they felt it was the
      right thing to do. Regular partners were more likely to be notified, and in
      person, because of the availability of contact information but more notably
      because of a sense of moral responsibility. Men commonly had few contact details
      for casual partners and preferred PN strategies that allowed them to remain
      anonymous, largely reflecting the reasons for and ways in which they met casual
      partners: online or through apps and predominantly for once-off, anonymous sex.
      Most described unexpected positive responses from partners who were contacted
      personally by the men. Our study also showed that participants required
      professional support to carry out PN, especially with casual partners, as well as
      support around understanding the implications of and treatments relating to being
      HIV positive. PN could be improved by offering more options that allow the index
      patient to remain anonymous, particularly when notifying casual partners.

PMID- 28605228
TI  - Sexual Assault and HIV Postexposure Prophylaxis at an Urban African Hospital.
AB  - Antiretroviral postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) may be underutilized in sexual
      assault cases in Kenya. This study evaluated the characteristics of survivors of
      sexual violence attending the Gender-Based Violence Recovery Center (GBVRC) at
      the Kenyatta National Hospital and reviewed the uptake, adherence, and outcomes
      of those initiated on PEP. In a retrospective cohort, data from charts of the
      assaulted seen at the GBVRC from 2009 to 2012 were abstracted. Data were
      collected describing sociodemographic characteristics, nature of sexual assault,
      HIV serostatus, and aspects of the PEP care cascade. Characteristics of
      participants who received PEP were compared with those who did not receive PEP.
      We enrolled 385 assaulted persons; 331 (86%) were female; the median age of the
      assaulted persons was 21 (interquartile range 14-28) years; and 61 (15.8%) were
      children aged 10 years and younger. Of 379 assaults with descriptions, 330
      (85.7%) were vaginal assaults and 40 (10.3%) were penile-anal assaults. Most
      perpetrators were unknown to the assaulted 220 of 384 (57.3%). All assaulted
      persons were offered HIV testing and 359 (93%) accepted testing; 346 (96.4%) of
      359 assaulted persons tested HIV negative. In total, 207 (53.8%) of 385 sexual
      assault survivors initiated PEP. Only 70 (34%) completed 28 days of PEP, and only
      21 (10.1%) returned for repeat HIV test at 3 months. In conclusion, PEP was only
      initiated in 54% of sexual assault cases. The care cascade showed that late
      presentation and poor adherence were the greatest gaps in PEP provision. Earlier
      presentation for PEP should be promoted among sexual assault in areas of high HIV
      prevalence.

PMID- 28605229
TI  - Beliefs, Behaviors, and Contexts of Adolescent Caffeine Use: A Focus Group Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caffeinated products are widely available to adolescents, and
      consumption of caffeine products-energy drinks and coffee in particular-is on the
      rise in this age group (Branum, Rossen, & Schoendorf, 2014). Yet, little is known
      about the psychosocial context of caffeine use. Previous studies on adolescent
      caffeine use have focused on caffeine's acute physiological effects, rather than
      the psychosocial contexts and beliefs regarding different types of caffeinated
      beverages (e.g., coffee, energy drinks, soda). OBJECTIVES: The current research
      examines the contexts and beliefs associated with adolescents' use of caffeinated
      beverages (e.g., coffee, energy drinks, soda) using a focus group approach.
      METHODS: Eleven focus group interviews (49 total participants) addressed
      adolescents' motivations for and patterns of caffeine use; they were transcribed
      and axial coding was used to identify common themes. RESULTS: Coffee and energy
      drinks were perceived to be the most popular caffeinated beverages. Reasons for
      consuming caffeine included the effect of caffeine as a stimulant, the pleasant
      feelings experienced when drinking it, and the fact that caffeine was available.
      As for contexts, coffee was consumed in more diverse social contexts than other
      caffeinated beverages. Friends and sports were the most popular contexts for
      energy drink use. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings inform adolescent health
      promotion efforts and provide researchers and practitioners alike detailed
      information in adolescents' own words about how and why they use caffeine.
      Adolescents' beliefs about caffeinated products are not uniform; the reasons
      adolescents articulate regarding their use of coffee, soda, and energy drinks are
      different across contexts and beverage type.

PMID- 28605230
TI  - Effects of Structured Exercise Interventions for Older Adults Hospitalized With
      Acute Medical Illness: A Systematic Review.
AB  - This review examined effects of structured exercise (aerobic walking, with or
      without complementary modes of exercise) on cardiorespiratory measures, mobility,
      functional status, healthcare utilization, and quality of life in older adults
      (>=60 years) hospitalized for acute medical illness. Inclusion required exercise
      protocol, at least one patient-level or utilization outcome, and at least one
      physical assessment point during hospitalization or within 1 month of
      intervention. MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL databases were searched for studies
      published from 2000 to March 2015. Qualitative synthesis of 12 articles,
      reporting on 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental trials
      described a heterogeneous set of exercise programs and reported mixed results
      across outcome categories. Methodological quality was independently assessed by
      two reviewers using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool. Larger, well
      designed RCTs are needed, incorporating measurement of premorbid function,
      randomization with intention-to-treat analysis, examination of a targeted
      intervention with predefined intensity, and reported adherence and attrition.

PMID- 28605231
TI  - A Comparison of Both Motorized and Nonmotorized Treadmill Gait Kinematics to
      Overground Locomotion.
AB  - CONTEXT: Motorized treadmills (MTs) present an altered motor task compared to
      overground (OG) locomotion in that MT belt surfaces are motor-driven, whereas
      individuals walking/running OG must propel themselves. A possible solution may
      lie with novel nonmotorized treadmill (NMT) devices as the belt surface is
      propelled by the user. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare gait
      performance during both MT and NMT locomotion to OG. DESIGN: Crossover study.
      SETTING: A university research laboratory. PATIENTS: A total of 20 healthy adults
      (10 women) participated in the study. INTERVENTION: Each participant performed
      self-selected walking and running OG, and on both an MT and NMT. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: Shoulder, trunk, and lower-extremity kinematics were analyzed for each
      treadmill condition and compared to OG. RESULTS: The analyses demonstrated that
      there were no differences between MT and OG gait kinematics during either walking
      or running. However, NMT gait showed increased hip, knee, and ankle flexions in
      late swing and early stance compared to OG during both walking and running. For
      example, during walking, the NMT elicited hip-, knee-, and ankle
      flexion/extension angles of 34.7 degrees , 8.0 degrees , and 3.6 degrees  at foot
      strike compared to 24.8 degrees , -3.1 degrees , and -5.8 degrees  in the OG
      condition (P < .05). There was also a significant reduction in trunk
      flexion/extension range of motion during running compared to OG (7.7 degrees  in
      NMT vs 9.8 degrees  in OG). CONCLUSIONS: These differences may have implications
      for both training and rehabilitation on an NMT. Future studies should consider
      the influence of NMT familiarization on gait performance and should emphasize the
      assessment of neuromuscular performance.

PMID- 28605232
TI  - Sensorimotor Control of the Shoulder in Professional Volleyball Players With
      Isolated Infraspinatus Muscle Atrophy.
AB  - CONTEXT: Isolated infraspinatus muscle atrophy (IIMA) affects only the hitting
      shoulder of overhead-activity athletes and is caused by suprascapular nerve
      neuropathy. No study has assessed the static and dynamic stability of the
      shoulder in overhead professional athletes with IIMA to reveal possible shoulder
      sensorimotor alterations. OBJECTIVE: To assess the shoulder static stability,
      dynamic stability, and strength in professional volleyball players with IIMA and
      in healthy control players. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Research lab.
      PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of 24 male professional volleyball
      players (12 players with diagnosed IIMA and 12 healthy players) recruited from
      local volleyball teams. INTERVENTION(S): Static stability was evaluated with 2
      independent force platforms, and dynamic stability was assessed with the "Upper
      Quarter Y Balance Test." MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The static stability assessment
      was conducted in different support (single hand and both hands) and vision (open
      and closed eyes) conditions. Data from each test were analyzed with analysis of
      variance and paired t-test models to highlight statistical differences within and
      between groups. RESULTS: In addition to reduced abduction and external rotation
      strength, athletes with IIMA consistently demonstrated significant less static (P
      < .001) and dynamic stability (P < .001), compared with the contralateral
      shoulder and with healthy athletes. Closed eyes condition significantly enhanced
      the static stability deficit of the shoulder with IIMA (P = .04 and P = .03 for
      both hand and single hand support, respectively) but had no effect on healthy
      contralateral and healthy players' shoulders. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights
      an impairment of the sensorimotor control system of the shoulder with IIMA, which
      likely results from both proprioceptive and strength deficits. This condition
      could yield subtle alteration in the functional use of the shoulder and
      predispose it to acute or overuse injuries. The results of this study may help
      athletic trainers and physical/physiotherapists to prevent shoulder injuries and
      create to specific proprioceptive and neuromuscular training programs.

PMID- 28605233
TI  - Clinoptilolite for Treatment of Dyslipidemia: Preliminary Efficacy Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A tribomechanically activated clinoptilolite (natural aluminosilicate
      mineral) has been used to increase growth in meat-producing animals, as an
      adjuvant in cancer therapy, and a heavy metal remover in humans. Because of its
      unique cation exchanging and chelating properties, we hypothesized that
      clinoptilolite may be beneficial for the treatment of dyslipidemia in the manner
      similar to bile acid sequestrants. Thus, specific aims of this pilot study were
      to orally administer clinoptilolite in different doses and granule size
      combinations to determine magnitude and time profile of changes in blood lipids.
      DESIGN: A phase I/IIa prospective, open-label, uncontrolled, dose/granule size
      ranging study (treatment phase 8 weeks, follow-up 6 weeks). Blood lipids were
      examined every 2 weeks. SETTINGS: Outpatient clinic of a university-affiliated
      hospital. SUBJECTS: Forty-one subjects (all white, mean age 57.6 +/- 6.8 years,
      17 women) with blood lipids above the normative limits divided into three groups.
      INTERVENTION: A tribomechanically activated clinoptilolite was administered in
      three dose/grind combinations: 6 g/day of fine grind (6gF), 6 g/day of coarse
      grind (6gC), and 9 g/day of coarse grind (9gC). OUTCOME MEASURES: Blood
      concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (LDLc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), and triglycerides (TG).
      RESULTS: For the 3 groups combined, all lipid fractions significantly improved
      after 8 weeks of treatment (20-25%, p < 0.001), which reversed to baseline after
      6 weeks of clinoptilolite withdrawal. Early (week 2) and the most pronounced
      decrease in TC and LDLc was observed in the 6gF group (19% and 23% in week 8,
      respectively), with no difference in HDLc and TG between the three dose/grind
      groups. No side effects were reported. CONCLUSIONS: These pilot results suggest
      that oral administration of clinoptilolite may improve lipid profile in
      individuals with dyslipidemia, which warrants further investigations.

PMID- 28605234
TI  - The Impact of Training Load on Bone Mineral Density of Adolescent Swimmers: A
      Structural Equation Modeling Approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the mediating effect of muscle mass on the relationship
      between training load and bone density in adolescent swimmers. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study involving 87 control and 22 swimmers aged 10-19 years (overall
      sample: n = 109). Swimmers had a minimum of 1 year of competition in regional and
      national championships, and control adolescents reported 1 year without any
      organized sport. Bone density was the main outcome (dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry), which was measured in upper limbs, lower limbs, spine, and whole
      body. Monthly training load was the independent variable, while the mediation
      effect of lean soft tissue was assessed. Maturity offset, age, inflammation, and
      vitamin D intake were treated as covariates. RESULTS: Swimmers had lower bone
      density than controls; there was a significant and positive relationship between
      training load and muscle mass. In boys, training load presented a negative
      correlation with bone density in lower limbs [r = -.293; 95% confidence interval
      (CI), -.553 to -.034]. In girls, training load was negatively related to bone
      mineral density in lower limbs (r = .563; 95% CI, -.770 to -.356) and whole body
      (r = -.409; 95% CI, -.609 to -.209). CONCLUSION: Training load had a negative
      relationship on bone density of swimmers of both sexes, independently of the
      positive effect of lean soft tissue on bone density.

PMID- 28605235
TI  - Effects of Hip Strengthening on Neuromuscular Control, Hip Strength, and Self
      Reported Functional Deficits in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability.
AB  - CONTEXT: Deficits in ankle and hip strength and lower-extremity postural control
      are associated with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Following strength training,
      muscle groups demonstrate increased strength. This change is partially credited
      to improved neuromuscular control, and many studies have investigated ankle
      protocols for subjects with CAI. The effects of isolating hip musculature in
      strength training protocols in this population are not well understood.
      OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of hip strengthening on clinical and self
      reported outcomes in patients with CAI. DESIGN: Prospective randomized controlled
      clinical trial. SETTING: Athletic training facility. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six
      participants with CAI (12 males and 14 females; age = 20.9 [1.5] y, height =
      170.0 [12.7] cm, and mass = 77.5 [17.5] kg) were randomly assigned to training or
      control groups. INTERVENTION: Participants completed either 4 weeks of supervised
      hip strengthening (resistance bands 3 times a week) or no intervention. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants were assessed on 4 clinical measures (Star
      Excursion Balance Test in the anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral
      directions; Balance Error Scoring System; hip external rotation strength; and hip
      abduction strength) and a patient-reported measure (the Foot and Ankle Ability
      Measure activities of daily living and sports subscales) before and after the 4
      week training period. RESULTS: The training group displayed significantly
      improved posttest measures compared with the control group for hip abduction
      strength (training: 446.3 [77.4] N, control: 314.7 [49.6] N, P < .01); hip
      external rotation strength (training: 222.1 [48.7] N, control: 169.4 [34.6] N, P
      < .01); Star Excursion Balance Test reach in the anterior (training: 93.1%
      [7.4%], control: 90.2% [7.9%], P < .01), posteromedial (training: 96.3% [8.9%],
      control: 88.0% [8.8%], P < .01), and posterolateral (training: 95.4% [11.1%],
      control: 86.6% [9.6%], P < .01) directions; Balance Error Scoring System total
      errors (training: 9.9 [6.3] errors, control: 21.2 [6.3] errors, P < .01); and the
      Foot and Ankle Ability Measure-sports score (training: 88.0 [12.6], control: 84.8
      [10.9], P < .01). CONCLUSION: Improved clinical and patient-reported outcomes in
      the training group suggest hip strengthening is beneficial in the management and
      prevention of recurrent symptoms associated with CAI.

PMID- 28605236
TI  - Caffeine intake and its sources: A review of national representative studies.
AB  - Aim of this review is to summarize current daily caffeine intake of children,
      adolescents, and adults, and trends in caffeine intake over the past decade. A
      literature search was conducted (1997-2015) which yielded 18 reports on
      nationally representative studies, describing caffeine consumption of over
      275,000 children, adolescents and adults. The data revealed that mean total daily
      caffeine intake in children, adolescents, and adults is below caffeine intake
      recommendations such as those stated by Health Canada (2.5 mg/kg bw/day for
      children and adolescents, and 400 mg/day for adults) and the European Food Safety
      Authority, EFSA (3 mg/kg bw/day for children and adolescents, and 400 mg/day for
      adults). Total daily caffeine intake has remained stable in the last 10-15 years,
      and coffee, tea and soft drinks are the most important caffeine sources. Across
      all age groups, energy drinks contribute little to total caffeine intake. The
      highest potential for reducing daily caffeine intake is by limiting coffee
      consumption, and in some countries and age groups, by reducing tea and soft drink
      consumption.

PMID- 28605237
TI  - Beyond efficacy: A career evaluating the effectiveness of vaccines.

PMID- 28605239
TI  - Maintaining Hope in a Time of Hatred.

PMID- 28605238
TI  - Mucin 1 protects against severe Streptococcus pneumoniae infection.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterial pathogen that commonly resides in the
      human nasopharynx, typically without causing any disease. However, in some cases
      these bacteria migrate from the nasopharynx to other sites of the body such as
      the lungs and bloodstream causing pneumonia and sepsis, respectively. This study
      used a mouse model of infection to investigate the potential role of Mucin 1
      (MUC1), a cell membrane-associated glycoprotein known for playing a key barrier
      role at mucosal surfaces, in regulating this process. Wildtype (WT) and MUC1
      deficient (Muc1-/-) mice were infected intranasally with an invasive strain of S.
      pneumoniae and bacterial loads in the nasopharynx, lungs, and blood were
      analyzed. Lungs were graded histologically for inflammation and cytokine profiles
      in the lungs analyzed by ELISA. While there was no difference in pneumococcal
      colonization of the nasopharynx between WT and Muc1-/- mice, infected Muc1-/-
      mice showed high pneumococcal loads in their lungs 16 hours post-infection, as
      well as bacteremia. In contrast, infected WT mice cleared the pneumococci from
      their lungs and remained asymptomatic. Infection in Muc1-/- mice was associated
      with an elevation in lung inflammation, with cellular recruitment especially of
      monocytes/macrophages. While MUC1-deficiency has been shown to increase
      phagocytosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, macrophages from Muc1-/- mice exhibited a
      reduced capacity to phagocytose S. pneumoniae indicating diverse and bacterial
      specific effects. In conclusion, these findings indicate that MUC1 plays an
      important role in protection against severe pneumococcal disease, potentially
      mediated by facilitating macrophage phagocytosis.

PMID- 28605240
TI  - Ketamine and Other Glutamate Receptor Modulators for Depression in Bipolar
      Disorder in Adults.

PMID- 28605242
TI  - Sexual Behavior in Patients with Psychosis Admitted to a Hospital Unit.
AB  - The sexual dimension is part of a person's functionality. Patients with mental
      disorders have the same sexual needs as any other person, although they may not
      always be recognized. This is a retrospective observational study to describe the
      information on sexuality of patients with mental disorders, admitted to an acute
      short-stay inpatient unit between 2011 and 2015. We analyzed 293 clinical
      histories of patients, comprising diagnoses in the ICD-10 (International
      Classification of Diseases) between F20 and F29, inclusively. The information
      collected corresponded to the beginning of hospitalization, its duration and
      discharge. The results showed that 24% of the patients had sexual delusions.
      These delusions were more frequent in women, who in turn had more emotional
      symptoms, persecutory deception being the most common. There were few reports
      found on sexual dysfunction. In conclusion, the lack of data in the reports shows
      little recognition of sexuality in hospitalized patients with mental disorder,
      highlighting the need to promote the training of health personnel.

PMID- 28605243
TI  - Intimate Partner Violence and its Resolution among Mexican Americans.
AB  - Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects the mental and physical health of Mexican
      women in the United States, and culture is thought to play a role in its
      prevention and resolution. Qualitative investigations are ideal for explicating
      context-specific aspects of these phenomena. Thus, a systematic review of 19
      primary qualitative research reports was conducted to clearly articulate the
      process of IPV and its resolution among Mexican American women. Based on the
      findings, IPV is fueled by aspects of Mexican culture, and barriers exist that
      make its resolution challenging. Despite attempts to nurture themselves, abuse
      becomes intolerable, and women eventually reach out for help. Immigration, legal,
      criminal justice, and social service personnel assist Mexican American women to
      resolve IPV. In addition, health care providers play an integral role in
      broaching the topic, establishing trust, and providing key information to women
      and members of the Mexican American community at large.

PMID- 28605244
TI  - Qualitative Perspectives about Living with HIV from Seropositive African American
      MSM Aged 50 years and Older.
AB  - It has nearly been more than three decades; yet, the research on aging
      seropositive African American men who have sex with men (MSM) is scarce.
      Exploring issues for an aging population of seropositive MSM is critical given
      that earlier epidemiological data suggested that by 2015, half of the AIDS cases
      will be in adults aged 50 years and older. A qualitative approach with the aim to
      examine perspectives about HIV risk from a group of seropositive African American
      MSM 50 years of age and older was conducted. Two separate focus groups with a
      total N  =  30 were conducted. Four themes emerged: feeling left out, no place to
      call home, not a priority, and no one to grow older with.

PMID- 28605245
TI  - Biofeedback in Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren: Evaluating Intervention
      Parameters.
AB  - This study examined the six critical parameters for evaluating interventions,
      including necessity, acceptability, feasibility, safety, fidelity, and
      effectiveness, of a heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback training
      intervention in a sample of 20 grandmothers who were the primary caregivers of
      their grandchildren. After the grandmothers completed the HRV biofeedback
      training, they answered open-ended questions to provide data on the six
      parameters during face-to-face interviews. The findings of the study provided
      evidence for the necessity, acceptability, feasibility, safety, fidelity, and
      effectiveness of the HRV biofeedback intervention for reducing the stress
      experienced by grandmothers in raising their grandchildren.

PMID- 28605246
TI  - Competitiveness in the Workplace: Attributes and Team Benefits.

PMID- 28605247
TI  - The Distinct and Cooperative Roles of Toll-Like Receptor 9 and Receptor for
      Advanced Glycation End Products in Modulating In Vivo Inflammatory Responses to
      Select CpG and Non-CpG Oligonucleotides.
AB  - Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are widely accepted therapeutic agents that
      suppress RNA transcription. While the majority of ASOs are well tolerated in
      vivo, few sequences trigger inflammatory responses in absence of conventional CpG
      motifs. In this study, we identified non-CpG oligodeoxy-nucleotide (ODN) capable
      of triggering an inflammatory response resulting in B cell and macrophage
      activation in a MyD88- and TLR9-dependent manner. In addition, we found the
      receptor for advance glycation end product (RAGE) receptor to be involved in the
      initiation of inflammatory response to suboptimal concentrations of both CpG- and
      non-CpG-containing ODNs. In contrast, dosing RAGE KO mice with high doses of CpG
      or non-CpG ODNs lead to a stronger inflammatory response than observed in wild
      type mice. Together, our data provide a previously uncharacterized in vivo
      mechanism contingent on ODN-administered dose, where TLR9 governs the primary
      response and RAGE plays a distinct and cooperative function in providing a
      pivotal role in balancing the immune response.

PMID- 28605248
TI  - Noncircular Chainrings Do Not Influence Maximum Cycling Power.
AB  - Noncircular chainrings could increase cycling power by prolonging the powerful
      leg extension/flexion phases, and curtailing the low-power transition phases. We
      compared maximal cycling power-pedaling rate relationships, and joint-specific
      kinematics and powers across 3 chainring eccentricities (CON = 1.0; LOWecc =
      1.13; HIGHecc = 1.24). Part I: Thirteen cyclists performed maximal inertial-load
      cycling under 3 chainring conditions. Maximum cycling power and optimal pedaling
      rate were determined. Part II: Ten cyclists performed maximal isokinetic cycling
      (120 rpm) under the same 3 chainring conditions. Pedal and joint-specific powers
      were determined using pedal forces and limb kinematics. Neither maximal cycling
      power nor optimal pedaling rate differed across chainring conditions (all p >
      .05). Peak ankle angular velocity for HIGHecc was less than CON (p < .05), while
      knee and hip angular velocities were unaffected. Self-selected ankle joint-center
      trajectory was more eccentric than HIGHecc with an opposite orientation that
      increased velocity during extension/flexion and reduced velocity during
      transitions. Joint-specific powers did not differ across chainring conditions,
      with a small increase in power absorbed during ankle dorsiflexion with HIGHecc.
      Multiple degrees of freedom in the leg, crank, and pedal system allowed cyclists
      to manipulate ankle angular velocity to maintain their preferred knee and hip
      actions, suggesting maximizing extension/flexion and minimizing transition phases
      may be counterproductive for maximal power.

PMID- 28605250
TI  - Exercise for Bone in Childhood-Hitting the Sweet Spot.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of the current work is to challenge the enduring notion that
      prepuberty is the optimum timing for maximum bone response to exercise in
      childhood and to present the evidence that early puberty is a more potently
      receptive period. METHOD: The relevant literature is reviewed and the causes of
      the misconception are addressed in detail. RESULTS: Contrary to prevailing
      opinion, ample evidence exists to suggest that the peripubertal years represent
      the developmental period during which bone is likely to respond most robustly to
      exercise intervention. CONCLUSION: Public health initiatives that target bone
      specific exercise interventions during the pubertal years are likely to be the
      most effective strategy to harness the increased receptiveness of the growing
      skeleton to mechanical loading.

PMID- 28605251
TI  - Influence of pedestrian age and gender on spatial and temporal distribution of
      pedestrian crashes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Every year, about 1.24 million people are killed in traffic crashes
      worldwide and more than 22% of these deaths are pedestrians. Therefore,
      pedestrian safety has become a significant traffic safety issue worldwide. In
      order to develop effective and targeted safety programs, the location- and time
      specific influences on vehicle-pedestrian crashes must be assessed. The main
      purpose of this research is to explore the influence of pedestrian age and gender
      on the temporal and spatial distribution of vehicle-pedestrian crashes to
      identify the hotspots and hot times. METHODS: Data for all vehicle-pedestrian
      crashes on public roadways in the Melbourne metropolitan area from 2004 to 2013
      are used in this research. Spatial autocorrelation is applied in examining the
      vehicle-pedestrian crashes in geographic information systems (GIS) to identify
      any dependency between time and location of these crashes. Spider plots and
      kernel density estimation (KDE) are then used to determine the temporal and
      spatial patterns of vehicle-pedestrian crashes for different age groups and
      genders. RESULTS: Temporal analysis shows that pedestrian age has a significant
      influence on the temporal distribution of vehicle-pedestrian crashes.
      Furthermore, men and women have different crash patterns. In addition, results of
      the spatial analysis shows that areas with high risk of vehicle-pedestrian
      crashes can vary during different times of the day for different age groups and
      genders. For example, for those between ages 18 and 65, most vehicle-pedestrian
      crashes occur in the central business district (CBD) during the day, but between
      7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., crashes among this age group occur mostly around hotels,
      clubs, and bars. CONCLUSIONS: This research reveals that temporal and spatial
      distributions of vehicle-pedestrian crashes vary for different pedestrian age
      groups and genders. Therefore, specific safety measures should be in place during
      high crash times at different locations for different age groups and genders to
      increase the effectiveness of the countermeasures in preventing and reducing
      vehicle-pedestrian crashes.

PMID- 28605249
TI  - Product review on the monoclonal antibody palivizumab for prevention of
      respiratory syncytial virus infection.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) accounts for about 20% of all respiratory
      infections in children below the age of 5 y. It is associated with up to 63% of
      all acute respiratory infections and up to 81% of all viral lower respiratory
      tract infections causing hospitalization in infants and young children. RSV leads
      to seasonal epidemics between November and April in the northern hemisphere. Most
      severe infections (RSV accounts for 50 to 80% of all cause bronchiolitis) affect
      infants younger than 6 months of age and high-risk infants including those born
      preterm with or without bronchopulmonary dysplasia and those with hemodynamically
      significant congenital heart disease up to an age of 24 months. Palivizumab, a
      highly potent RSV-neutralizing monoclonal antibody (Mab), has been licensed in
      1998 for prophylactic use to prevent RSV associated hospitalizations in high-risk
      infants. This Mab is given by monthly intramuscular injection at a dose of 15
      mg/kg over the RSV season (up to 5 times). Palivizumab proved to be safe and well
      tolerated in this population. Concerns have been raised regarding cost
      effectiveness of palivizumab and thus, palivizumab prophylaxis is mainly limited
      to selected high-risk infants for the first RSV season. Long-lasting Mabs will be
      the next future approach in the prophylaxis of RSV hospitalization until a
      vaccine is developed.

PMID- 28605252
TI  - A Simple Method for Assessing Upper-Limb Force-Velocity Profile in Bench Press.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the reliability and validity of a field computation method
      based on easy-to-measure data to assess the mean force ([Formula: see text]) and
      velocity ([Formula: see text]) produced during a ballistic bench-press movement
      and to verify that the force-velocity profile (F-v) obtained with multiple loaded
      trials is accurately described. METHODS: Twelve participants performed ballistic
      bench presses against various lifted mass from 30% to 70% of their body mass. For
      each trial, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were determined from an
      accelerometer (sampling rate 500 Hz; reference method) and a simple computation
      method based on upper-limb mass, barbell flight height, and push-off distance.
      These [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] data were used to establish the
      F-v relationship for each individual and method. RESULTS: A strong to almost
      perfect reliability was observed between the 2 trials (ICC > .90 for [Formula:
      see text] and .80 for [Formula: see text], CV% < 10%), whatever the considered
      method. The mechanical variables ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text])
      measured with the 2 methods and all the variables extrapolated from the F-v
      relationships were strongly correlated (r2 > .80, P < .001). The practical
      differences between the methods for the extrapolated mechanical parameters were
      all <5%, indicating very probably no differences. CONCLUSION: The findings
      suggest that the simple computation method used here provides valid and reliable
      information on force and velocity produced during ballistic bench press, in line
      with that observed in laboratory conditions. This simple method is thus a
      practical tool, requiring only 3 simple parameters (upper-limb mass, barbell
      flight height, and push-off distance).

PMID- 28605253
TI  - Precooling With Crushed Ice: As Effective as Heat Acclimation at Improving
      Cycling Time-Trial Performance in the Heat.
AB  - This study compared the effects of precooling (ice ingestion) and heat
      acclimation training on cycling time-trial (CTT) performance in the heat. Fifteen
      male cyclists/triathletes completed two 800-kJ CTTs in the heat, with a 12-d
      training program in between. Initially, all participants consumed 7 g/kg of water
      (22 degrees C) in 30 min before completing an 800-kJ CTT in hot, humid conditions
      (pre-CTT) (35 degrees C, 50% relative humidity [RH]). Participants were then
      split into 2 groups, with the precooling group (n = 7) training in thermoneutral
      conditions and then undergoing precooling with ice ingestion (7 g/kg, 1 degrees
      C) prior to the final CTT (post-CTT) and the heat-acclimation group (n = 8)
      training in hot conditions (35 degrees C, 50% RH) and consuming water (7 g/kg)
      prior to post-CTT. After training in both conditions, improvement in CTT time was
      deemed a likely positive benefit (precooling -166 +/- 133 s, heat acclimation 
      105 +/- 62 s), with this result being similar between conditions (d = 0.22, -0.68
      1.08 90% confidence interval [CI]). Core temperature for post-CTT was lower in
      precooling than in heat acclimation from 20 min into the precooling period until
      the 100-kJ mark of the CTT (d > 0.98). Sweat onset occurred later in precooling
      (250 +/- 100 s) than in heat acclimation (180 +/- 80 s) for post-CTT (d = 0.65, 
      0.30-1.50 90% CI). Thermal sensation was lower at the end of the precooling
      period prior to post-CTT for the precooling trial than with heat acclimation (d =
      1.24, 0.90-1.58 90% CI). Precooling with ice ingestion offers an alternative
      method of improving endurance-cycling performance in hot conditions if heat
      acclimation cannot be attained.

PMID- 28605254
TI  - Impact of Immigration Status on Cancer Outcomes in Ontario, Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prior studies have documented inferior health outcomes in vulnerable
      populations, including racial minorities and those with disadvantaged
      socioeconomic status. The impact of immigration on cancer-related outcomes is
      less clear. METHODS: Administrative databases were linked to create a cohort of
      incident cancer cases (colorectal, lung, prostate, head and neck, breast, and
      hematologic malignancies) from 2000 to 2012 in Ontario, Canada. Cancer patients
      who immigrated to Canada (from 1985 onward) were compared with those who were
      Canadian born (or immigrated before 1985). Patients were followed from diagnosis
      until death (cancer-specific or all-cause). Cox proportional hazards models were
      estimated to determine the impact of immigration on mortality after adjusting for
      explanatory variables. Additional adjusted models studied the relationship of
      time since immigration and cancer-specific and overall mortality. RESULTS: From
      2000 to 2012, 11,485 cancer cases were diagnosed in recent immigrants (0 to 10
      years in Canada), 17,844 cases in nonrecent immigrants (11 to 25 years), and
      416,118 cases in nonimmigrants. After adjustment, the hazard of mortality was
      lower for recent immigrants (hazard ratio [HR], 0.843; 95% CI, 0.814 to 0.873)
      and nonrecent immigrants (HR, 0.902; 95% CI, 0.876 to 0.928) compared with
      nonimmigrants. Cancer-specific mortality was also lower for recent immigrants
      (HR, 0.857; 95% CI, 0.823 to 0.893) and nonrecent immigrants (HR, 0.907; 95% CI,
      0.875 to 0.94). Among immigrants, each year from the original landing was
      associated with increased mortality (HR, 1.004; 95% CI, 1.000 to 1.009) and a
      trend to increased cancer-specific mortality (HR, 1.005; 95% CI, 0.999 to 1.010).
      CONCLUSION: Immigrants demonstrate a healthy immigrant effect, with lower cancer
      specific mortality compared with Canadian-born individuals. This benefit seems to
      diminish over time, as the survival of immigrants from common cancers potentially
      converges with the Canadian norm.

PMID- 28605255
TI  - Financial Impact of Cancer Drug Wastage and Potential Cost Savings From
      Mitigation Strategies.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cancer drug wastage occurs when a parenteral drug within a fixed vial is
      not administered fully to a patient. This study investigated the extent of drug
      wastage, the financial impact on the hospital budget, and the cost savings
      associated with current mitigation strategies. METHODS: We conducted a cross
      sectional study in three University of Toronto-affiliated hospitals of various
      sizes. We recorded the actual amount of drug wasted over a 2-week period while
      using current mitigation strategies. Single-dose vial cancer drugs with the
      highest wastage potentials were identified (14 drugs). To calculate the
      hypothetical drug wastage with no mitigation strategies, we determined how many
      vials of drugs would be needed to fill a single prescription. RESULTS: The total
      drug costs over the 2 weeks ranged from $50,257 to $716,983 in the three
      institutions. With existing mitigation strategies, the actual drug wastage over
      the 2 weeks ranged from $928 to $5,472, which was approximately 1% to 2% of the
      total drug costs. In the hypothetical model with no mitigation strategies
      implemented, the projected drug cost wastage would have been $11,232 to $149,131,
      which accounted for 16% to 18% of the total drug costs. As a result, the
      potential annual savings while using current mitigation strategies range from 15%
      to 17%. CONCLUSION: The financial impact of drug wastage is substantial.
      Mitigation strategies lead to substantial cost savings, with the opportunity to
      reinvest those savings. More research is needed to determine the appropriate
      methods to minimize risk to patients while using the cost-saving mitigation
      strategies.

PMID- 28605258
TI  - AVP-825: a novel intranasal delivery system for low-dose sumatriptan powder in
      the treatment of acute migraine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Migraine is a common, disabling disorder, and many patients remain
      dissatisfied with existing treatments. AVP-825 (ONZETRA(r) Xsail(r)) is a Breath
      Powered(r) exhalation delivery system for low-dose sumatriptan nasal powder (22
      mg) that has been recently approved for use in the treatment of acute migraine
      with or without aura in adults. AVP-825 takes advantage of unique features of
      nasal anatomy and physiology to avoid limitations typically seen with other types
      of intranasal medication delivery. Areas covered: This review provides a summary
      of the pharmacology, clinical efficacy and tolerability of AVP-825 in clinical
      studies to date and also provides an overview of the unique aspects of the
      delivery system. Expert commentary: AVP-825 represents an improvement in nasal
      delivery of sumatriptan for migraine. PK studies indicate a distinct advantage of
      AVP-825 over traditional liquid nasal sprays in terms of absorption time, which
      may underlie the early efficacy observed with AVP-825. It offers the benefits of
      non-oral medications at a comparatively low sumatriptan dose, without the
      limitations associated with more invasive approaches. AVP-825 is suitable for use
      across multiple phases of a migraine attack from use as an early intervention to
      use in a more advanced migraine with nausea, given the non-oral application.

PMID- 28605256
TI  - Adolescent human papillomavirus vaccination in the United States: Opportunities
      for integrating pharmacies into the immunization neighborhood.
AB  - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination faces several barriers, including a social
      stigma which carries religious and philosophical implications among parents of
      adolescents as well as young adults. Hundreds of immunization interventions and
      programs have been developed to address these factors and boost HPV vaccination
      rates in the United States. We sought to review the existing literature
      highlighting barriers to HPV immunization, as well as programs targeting
      increased HPV vaccine uptake in effort to develop novel vaccination initiatives.
      The most impactful barriers identified were parental stigma and low quality of
      provider recommendations for the vaccine. Despite the implementation of many HPV
      initiatives, outcomes of these programs are largely limited to modest
      improvements in vaccine uptake in small, homogeneous populations. We describe
      pharmacies as distinctly advantageous but underutilized resources within the
      immunization neighborhood and propose a novel concept to improve vaccination
      rates as well as reduce HPV-related disease burden in all demographics.

PMID- 28605259
TI  - Is Young Age a Limiting Factor When Training Balance? Effects of Child-Oriented
      Balance Training in Children and Adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: Balance training (BT) studies in children reported conflicting results
      without evidence for improvements in children under the age of 8. The aim of this
      study therefore was to compare BT adaptations in children of different age groups
      to clarify whether young age prevents positive training outcomes. METHODS: The
      effects of 5 weeks of child-oriented BT were tested in 77 (38 girls and 39 boys)
      participants of different age groups (6-7 y, 11-12 y, and 14-15 y) and compared
      with age-matched controls. Static and dynamic postural control, explosive
      strength, and jump height were assessed. RESULTS: Across age groups, dynamic
      postural sway decreased (-18.7%; P = .012; [Formula: see text]) and explosive
      force increased (8.6%; P = .040; [Formula: see text]) in the intervention groups.
      Age-specific improvements were observed in dynamic postural sway, with greatest
      effects in the youngest group (-28.8%; P = .026; r = .61). CONCLUSION: In
      contrast to previous research using adult-oriented balance exercises, this study
      demonstrated for the first time that postural control can be trained from as
      early as the age of 6 years in children when using child-oriented BT. Therefore,
      the conception of the training seems to be essential in improving balance skills
      in young children.

PMID- 28605261
TI  - Criterion and Construct Validity of an Isometric Midthigh-Pull Dynamometer for
      Assessing Whole-Body Strength in Professional Rugby League Players.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the criterion and construct validity of an isometric midthigh
      pull dynamometer to assess whole-body strength in professional rugby league
      players. METHODS: Fifty-six male rugby league players (33 senior and 23 youth
      players) performed 4 isometric midthigh-pull efforts (ie, 2 on the dynamometer
      and 2 on the force platform) in a randomized and counterbalanced order. RESULTS:
      Isometric peak force was underestimated (P < .05) using the dynamometer compared
      with the force platform (95% LoA: -213.5 +/- 342.6 N). Linear regression showed
      that peak force derived from the dynamometer explained 85% (adjusted R2 = .85,
      SEE = 173 N) of the variance in the dependent variable, with the following
      prediction equation derived: predicted peak force = [1.046 * dynamometer peak
      force] + 117.594. Cross-validation revealed a nonsignificant bias (P > .05)
      between the predicted and peak force from the force platform and an adjusted R2
      (79.6%) that represented shrinkage of 0.4% relative to the cross-validation model
      (80%). Peak force was greater for the senior than the youth professionals using
      the dynamometer (2261.2 +/- 222 cf 1725.1 +/- 298.0 N, respectively; P < .05).
      CONCLUSION: The isometric midthigh pull assessed using a dynamometer
      underestimates criterion peak force but is capable of distinguishing muscle
      function characteristics between professional rugby league players of different
      standards.

PMID- 28605262
TI  - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: From Injury to Genomic Stability.
AB  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth cause of death in the
      world and it is currently presenting a major global public health challenge,
      causing premature death from pathophysiological complications and rising economic
      and social burdens. COPD develops from a combination of factors following
      exposure to pollutants and cigarette smoke, presenting a combination of both
      emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis, which causes lung airflow
      limitations that are not fully reversible by bronchodilators. Oxidative stress
      plays a key role in the maintenance and amplification of inflammation in tissue
      injury, and also induces DNA damages. Once the DNA molecule is damaged, enzymatic
      mechanisms act in order to repair the DNA molecule. These mechanisms are specific
      to repair of oxidative damages, such as nitrogen base modifications, or larger
      DNA damages, such as double-strand breaks. In addition, there is an enzymatic
      mechanism for the control of telomere length. All these mechanisms contribute to
      cell viability and homeostasis. Thus, therapies based on modulation of DNA repair
      and genomic stability could be effective in improving repair and recovery of lung
      tissue in patients with COPD.

PMID- 28605264
TI  - Testing a Model of Successful Aging in a Cohort of Masters Swimmers.
AB  - Due to their high physical functioning, masters athletes are regularly proposed
      to exemplify successful aging. However, successful aging research on masters
      athletes has never been undertaken using a multidimensional successful aging
      model. To determine the best model for future successful aging research on
      masters athletes, we had masters swimmers (N = 169, M age = 57.4 years, 61%
      women) self-report subjective successful aging, and physical, psychological,
      cognitive, and social functioning. Using this data we tested one hypothesized and
      three alternative successful aging models. The hypothesized model fit the data
      best (-2LL = 2052.32, AIC = 1717) with physical (beta = 0.31, SE = 0.11),
      psychological (beta = 0.25, SE = 0.11), and social (beta = 1.20, SE = 0.63)
      functioning factors significantly loading onto a higher order successful aging
      latent factor. Successful aging should be conceptualized as a multidimensional
      phenomenon in future masters athlete research.

PMID- 28605263
TI  - Acute Compensatory Responses to Interrupting Prolonged Sitting With Intermittent
      Activity in Preadolescent Children.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of intermittent
      activity performed at varying intensities and of prolonged sitting on physical
      activity compensation. METHODS: A total of 33 children (14 boys and 19 girls; age
      7-11 y; 24% overweight/obese; 61% nonwhite) completed 4 experimental conditions
      in random order: 8 hours of sitting interrupted with 20 two-minute low-, moderate
      , or high-intensity activity breaks or 20 two-minute sedentary computer game
      breaks. Physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) was assessed via
      accelerometry to establish baseline PAEE and throughout each condition day (8-h
      in-lab PAEE, out-of-lab PAEE, and 3-d postcondition). RESULTS: Compared with
      baseline PAEE, total daily PAEE was significantly higher during the high
      intensity condition day (153 +/- 43 kcal, P = .03), unchanged during the low
      intensity (-40 +/- 23 kcal, P > .05) and moderate-intensity condition days (-11
      +/- 18 kcal, P > .05), and decreased in response to prolonged sitting (-79 +/- 22
      kcal, P = .03). There were no significant differences in PAEE 3-day postcondition
      across conditions (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Despite the varying levels of PAEE
      accumulated during the 8-hour laboratory conditions, out-of-lab PAEE during each
      condition day and 3-day postcondition did not change from the baseline. These
      findings provide preliminary evidence that spontaneous physical activity in
      children does not change in response to intermittent activity or prolonged
      sitting.

PMID- 28605260
TI  - Cellular Therapies for Treatment of Radiation Injury: Report from a NIH/NIAID and
      IRSN Workshop.
AB  - In recent years, there has been increasing concern over the possibility of a
      radiological or nuclear incident occurring somewhere in the world. Intelligence
      agencies frequently report that terrorist groups and rogue nations are seeking to
      obtain radiological or nuclear weapons of mass destruction. In addition, there
      exists the real possibility that safety of nuclear power reactors could be
      compromised by natural (such as the tsunami and subsequent Fukushima accident in
      Japan in March, 2011) or accidental (Three Mile Island, 1979 and Chernobyl, 1986)
      events. Although progress has been made by governments around the world to
      prepare for these events, including the stockpiling of radiation countermeasures,
      there are still challenges concerning care of patients injured during a radiation
      incident. Because the deleterious and pathological effects of radiation are so
      broad, it is desirable to identify medical countermeasures that can have a
      beneficial impact on several tissues and organ systems. Cellular therapies have
      the potential to impact recovery and tissue/organ regeneration for both early and
      late complications of radiation exposure. These therapies, which could include
      stem or blood progenitor cells, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) or cells derived
      from other tissues (e.g., endothelium or placenta), have shown great promise in
      treating other nonradiation injuries to and diseases of the bone marrow, skin,
      gastrointestinal tract, brain, lung and heart. To explore the potential use of
      these therapies in the treatment of victims after acute radiation exposure, the
      National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases co-sponsored an
      international workshop in July, 2015 in Paris, France with the Institut de
      Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire. The workshop included discussions of data
      available from testing in preclinical models of radiation injury to different
      organs, logistics associated with the practical use of cellular therapies for a
      mass casualty incident, as well as international regulatory requirements for
      authorizing such drug products to be legally and readily used in such incidents.
      This report reviews the data presented, as well as key discussion points from the
      meeting.

PMID- 28605265
TI  - Associations Between Individual Lower-Limb Muscle Volumes and 100-m Sprint Time
      in Male Sprinters.
AB  - PURPOSE: To elucidate the relationship between the muscularity of individual
      lower-limb muscles and 100-m-race time (t100) in young-adult male sprinters.
      METHODS: Thirty-one young-adult male sprinters took part in this study (age 19.9
      +/- 1.4 y, height 173.5 +/- 4.6 cm, body mass 67.0 +/- 4.9 kg, t100 10.23-11.71
      s). Cross-sectional images from the origin to insertion of 12 lower-limb muscles
      were obtained with via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The absolute volume of
      each muscle, the ratio of total volume of measured muscles to body mass, the
      ratio of individual muscle volume to body mass, and the ratio between 2
      individual muscle volumes were calculated as indices of muscularity using the
      images. A stepwise multiple-regression analysis was performed to examine the
      association between the indices and t100. RESULTS: A stepwise multiple-regression
      analysis produced an equation (adjusted R2 = .234) with the gluteus maximus-to
      quadriceps femoris muscle-volume ratio (beta = -0.509, P = .003) as the
      explanatory variable. CONCLUSIONS: Individual differences in 100-m-race
      performance cannot be explained by the muscularity of specific muscles, and 23%
      of the variability in the performance can be explained by the relative difference
      between the muscularity of gluteus maximus and quadriceps femoris; faster runners
      have a greater gluteus maximus relative to quadriceps femoris.

PMID- 28605266
TI  - Estimated blood alcohol concentrations achieved by consuming supersized alcopops.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Producers of supersized alcopops have ignored requests from a number
      of state attorneys general to reduce the alcohol concentration in these products.
      To the contrary, new flavor options have since been released that contain even
      greater alcohol content so that some alcopop products now contain 5.5 standard
      alcoholic drinks in a single-serving can. Though alcohol content of supersized
      alcopops has risen, little attention has been paid to the blood alcohol
      concentration (BAC) level consumers can expect to achieve from drinking these
      products. OBJECTIVES: To estimate BAC levels expected from consuming one or two
      cans of supersized alcopop, relative to beer. METHODS: Median weight data from
      the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used in Matthews and
      Miller's (1979) BAC estimation formula. RESULTS: Consuming a single supersized
      alcopop over the course of 2 hours can put youth and young adults well over the
      legal per se driving limit of 0.08 g/dL. Consuming two cans puts them at risk of
      alcohol poisoning. CONCLUSIONS: Estimates provided here show that supersized
      alcopop consumers obtain dangerously high BAC levels. Reductions in the alcohol
      content of supersized alcopops should be an urgent priority for public health
      policy and law.

PMID- 28605267
TI  - Hoarding Behaviors and Alcohol Use: The Mediating Role of Emotion Dysregulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite recent research establishing high rates of comorbidity
      between hoarding disorder and alcohol use disorders (AUD), no studies have
      systemically examined the associations between symptoms of hoarding and alcohol
      use. Moreover, no studies have explored potential mechanisms that may help to
      explain these relations. OBJECTIVES: Thus, the current study was designed to
      examine the associations between hoarding and AUD symptoms, as well as the
      mediating role of emotion dysregulation. METHODS: Self-report measures of
      hoarding, depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and emotion regulation were collected
      in a sample of 574 adults (M age = 35.43, SD = 12.57; 62% female). RESULTS: Even
      when controlling for depression and anxiety, AUD symptoms were associated with
      overall hoarding severity (beta =.23, p <.001) as well as acquiring symptoms
      (beta =.16, p =.03). Further, the relation between hoarding symptoms and AUD
      symptoms was mediated by difficulties regulating emotions (B =.04, 95% CI
      [.02,.06]). Conclusions/Importance: Results of the current study suggest that
      increased alcohol use may be one way in which individuals with hoarding symptoms
      attempt to regulate their emotions.

PMID- 28605268
TI  - VA staff perceptions of the role of the extended care referral process in home
      and community-based services versus nursing home use posthospital discharge.
AB  - Little is known about how the extended care referral process-its structure and
      participants-influences Veterans' use of home and community-based services (HCBS)
      over nursing home care within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This
      study thus characterizes the extended care referral process within the VHA and
      its impact on HCBS versus nursing home use at hospital discharge. Data derive
      from 35 semistructured interviews at 12 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs).
      Findings indicate that the referral process is characterized by a commitment by
      care teams to consider HCBS if possible, varied practice depending on the
      clinician that most heavily influences care team recommendations, and care team
      emphasis on respecting Veteran/family preferences even when they are contrary to
      care team recommendations. Potential modifications include adopting systematic
      assessment practices; improving Veteran, family, and provider education; and
      promoting informed selection through shared decision making.

PMID- 28605270
TI  - Characteristics of acute occupational pesticide exposures reported to poison
      control centers in Texas, 2000-2015.
AB  - In the United States, there is limited literature on occupational pesticide
      exposures despite being associated with adverse health outcomes, including in
      large states such as Texas. The purpose of this article is to characterize
      occupational pesticide poison center exposures in Texas. Descriptive statistics
      were used to describe exposures (eg, exposure routes, type of pesticide, medical
      outcome, clinical effects, and temporal/seasonal patterns). From 2000 to 2015,
      there were 2,303 occupational pesticide poison center exposures. Common types of
      reported pesticides were insecticides (67.3%), herbicides (17.7%), and repellents
      (5.8%). The highest proportion of exposures were among those aged 20 to 29 years
      (24.9%). The top clinical effect categories were gastrointestinal (25.8%),
      neurological (19.2%), and dermal (14.9%). Characterizing occupational pesticide
      poison center exposures can support improved surveillance systems and guide
      future research or interventions.

PMID- 28605269
TI  - Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Function in Older Adults With
      Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - Older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience the combined effects of
      aging and a chronic, disabling neurological disease on physical activity,
      sedentary behavior, and physical function. This study examined associations among
      light and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (LPA and MVPA), sedentary
      behavior, and physical function in older adults with MS. Forty older adults with
      MS (median age = 60 years) who had a median Expanded Disability Status Scale
      score of 4.5 wore an accelerometer for a 7-day period and completed the Short
      Physical Performance Battery (SBBP), 6-minute walk (6MW), and timed 25-foot walk
      (T25FW). LPA was associated with SPPB (rs = .551, p < 0.01), 6MW (rs = .660, p <
      0.01), and T25FW (rs = .623, p < 0.01) scores; MVPA was associated with 6MW (rs =
      .529, p < 0.01) and T25FW (rs = .403, p < 0.01) scores. There were significant
      associations between LPA, but not MVPA, with SPPB (beta = .583, p < 0.01), 6MW
      (beta = .613, p < 0.01), and T25FW (beta = .627, p < 0.01) scores in linear
      regression analyses. Older adults with MS who engaged in more LPA demonstrated
      better physical function and therefore LPA might be a target of future behavioral
      interventions.

PMID- 28605271
TI  - Partner Knowledge and Involvement in Adult Baby/Diaper Lover Behavior.
AB  - Reported partner knowledge of and involvement in adult baby/diaper lover (ABDL)
      behavior were examined based on responses from 1,795 male and 139 female members
      of the ABDL community. Individuals in a relationship often divulge their ABDL
      interests early in dating. Some partners may try ABDL activity initially, but
      most are not involved. Involved nonpartners may be sanctioned ABDL friends.
      Nonpartners are usually not involved in ABDL practices because ABDL participants
      view this as infidelity. Individuals who have never been in a relationship may be
      working to reconcile their ABDL interests with building a romantic relationship.

PMID- 28605272
TI  - Methamphetamine Use among Iranian Youth: A Population-based Knowledge, Attitude,
      and Practice study.
AB  - Despite the increasing prevalence of methamphetamine use among the young
      population in Iran, the body of literature on their methamphetamine use remains
      slim. This study was designed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and
      practices of Iranian youth about methamphetamine to help inform harm reduction
      policies catered towards young men and women. In a cross-sectional study using
      multistage sampling in 13 provinces, 4868 participants aged 15-29 years old were
      recruited. Knowledge, attitude and practices of youth about methamphetamine were
      assessed through a pilot-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire.
      Descriptive statistics were presented and potential associations were assessed
      using Chi-square test and independent samples t-test. Mean age +/-SD of the
      participants was 21.8 +/- 5.6 years, and 49.5% were women. Overall, 21.7% and
      37.7% of the participants had high knowledge scores and positive attitudes,
      respectively. Among the 19-29 years old participants, ever methamphetamine use
      and injection was estimated at 5.74% (95% CI: 4.21, 7.90) and 1.8% (95% CI: 1.13,
      2.83), respectively. Most (44.3%) had started methamphetamine use for fun and
      media (69.1%) was reported as their main source of information on methamphetamine
      use. Methamphetamine use is a concerning health problem among Iranian youth.
      Comprehensive multi-sectoral downstream and upstream interventions that involve
      educational settings, as well as media, are urgently needed to help reduce the
      burden of methamphetamine use among Iranian youth.

PMID- 28605273
TI  - Improving the Prediction of Maturity From Anthropometric Variables Using a
      Maturity Ratio.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to improve the prediction accuracy of age at peak
      height velocity (APHV) from anthropometric assessment using nonlinear models and
      a maturity ratio rather than a maturity offset. METHODS: The dataset used to
      develop the original prediction equations was used to test a new prediction
      model, utilizing the maturity ratio and a polynomial prediction equation. This
      model was then applied to a sample of male youth academy soccer players (n =
      1330) to validate the new model in youth athletes. RESULTS: A new equation was
      developed to estimate APHV more accurately than the original model (new model:
      Akaike information criterion: -6062.1, R2 = 90.82%; original model: Akaike
      information criterion = 3048.7, R2 = 88.88%) within a general population of boys,
      particularly with relatively high/low APHVs. This study has also highlighted the
      successful application of the new model to estimate APHV using anthropometric
      variables in youth athletes, thereby supporting the use of this model in sports
      talent identification and development. CONCLUSION: This study argues that this
      newly developed equation should become standard practice for the estimation of
      maturity from anthropometric variables in boys from both a general and an
      athletic population.

PMID- 28605274
TI  - Expectation for Physical Activity to Minimize Dementia Risk and Physical Activity
      Level Among Older Adults.
AB  - This study aimed to examine whether the expectation for physical activity to
      minimize dementia risk was associated with physical activity level and whether
      this association was moderated by perceived high value of dementia prevention
      among older adults. Participants (n = 2,824) completed questionnaires and wore
      accelerometers to measure their average daily steps and levels of physical
      activity. The expectation for physical activity to minimize dementia risk,
      perceived value of dementia prevention, and potential covariates (expectation of
      other desirable outcomes, demographics, and health-related factors) were also
      measured. The main effects of the expectation and perceived value and their
      interaction were not significant for physical activity variables in generalized
      linear models. These findings indicate that expecting physical activity in
      minimizing dementia risk might not be sufficient to influence physical activity
      behavior regardless of perceived high value of dementia prevention among older
      adults.

PMID- 28605275
TI  - Exploring social work student education: The effect of a harm reduction
      curriculum on student knowledge and attitudes regarding opioid use disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the degree to which a harm reduction
      intervention course module impacted Master of Social Work (MSW) students'
      knowledge and attitudes towards addressing opioid use disorder issues and
      clients. METHODS: Using a mixed-methods approach, data from 124 MSW students were
      collected between 2011 and 2015. Students completed a 3-hour course module that
      focused on harm reduction philosophy and interventions specifically for opioid
      use disorders. Students completed pre- and posttest of the Harm Reduction
      Attitude Scale. Students were also engaged in focus groups to gain a better
      understanding of how and if their knowledge and attitudes changed. Results:
      Overall, attitudes towards harm reduction approaches for opioid use disorder
      shifted favorably following the course module. Paired t-test results show a
      statistically significant difference in the mean scores for pretest attitudes (M
      = 2.64, SD = 0.16) and posttest attitudes (M = 2.86, SD = 0.12) among social work
      students. This trend remained consistent despite treatment orientation and having
      a family history of substance use. Conclusion: Given the increased capacity for
      social work students to encounter clients with opioid use disorders, it is
      important to ensure that students are provided with relevant and accurate
      information related to client-centered approaches such as the harm reduction
      model to address opioid use disorders. Moreover, given the dearth of social work
      programs that have and required substance use disorder courses, it is imperative
      for schools of social work to ensure that students are provided with more than
      practical information, which is often gained during field placement.

PMID- 28605276
TI  - Substance use education in US schools of pharmacy: A systematic review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The authors sought to systematically review the quantity and quality
      of literature describing substance use disorders (SUDs) education in US schools
      of pharmacy and determine the effectiveness of the educational interventions
      employed. METHODS: The authors conducted a systematic review of SUDs education
      studies in US pharmacy schools. All literature database searches were performed
      on April 30, 2016, in 5 databases: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other
      Non-Indexed Citations, Embase.com, ERIC via FirstSearch, and CINAHL via
      EBSCOhost. The study authors conducted this systematic review according to the
      Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines and
      registered it with PROSPERO, which is an international prospective register of
      systematic reviews. The PROSPERO registration number is CRD42016037443. The study
      authors created a modified data extraction sheet based on the Best Evidence in
      Medical Education coding sheet. A Medical Education Research Study Quality
      Instrument (MERSQI) score was calculated for included articles. Results: From the
      1626 retrieved records, 7 were included in the present review. The studies
      assessed students' impressions and abilities regarding SUDs pre- and post
      intervention. The mean +/- SD MERSQI score of the 7 studies was 9.86 +/- 1.21
      (range: 8-11.5). The included articles assessed pharmacy students at various
      academic years, with the majority students in either their first or second year
      of pharmacy school, and described both required and elective courses. The
      educational interventions varied in design and outcomes measured. Education
      included nicotine, alcoholism, and SUDs in general. None of the included articles
      reported on education regarding opioid use disorders. Conclusions: The studies
      included in this systematic review demonstrate that teaching pharmacy students
      about SUDs produces a positive impact in their attitudes and knowledge on this
      subject.

PMID- 28605277
TI  - Ground Reaction Forces During Sprinting in Unilateral Transfemoral Amputees.
AB  - Understanding the characteristics of ground reaction forces (GRFs) on both limbs
      during sprinting in unilateral amputees wearing running-specific prostheses would
      provide important information that could be utilized in the evaluation of
      athletic performance and development of training methods in this population. The
      purpose of this study was to compare GRFs between intact and prosthetic limbs
      during sprinting in unilateral transfemoral amputees wearing running-specific
      prostheses. Nine sprinters with unilateral transfemoral amputation wearing the
      same type of prosthesis performed maximal sprinting on a 40-m runway. GRFs were
      recorded from 7 force plates placed in the center of the runway. Peak forces and
      impulses of the GRFs in each direction were compared between limbs. Peak forces
      in vertical, braking, propulsive, and medial directions were significantly
      greater in intact limbs than those in prosthetic limbs, whereas there were no
      significant differences in peak lateral force between limbs. Further,
      significantly less braking impulses were observed in prosthetic limbs than in
      intact limbs; however, the other measured impulses were not different between
      limbs. Therefore, the results of the present study suggest that limb-specific
      rehabilitation and training strategies should be developed for transfemoral
      amputees wearing running-specific prostheses.

PMID- 28605278
TI  - Prescription Opioid Misuse and Public Health Approach in Australia.
AB  - The number of opioid prescriptions has increased significantly over the last few
      years due to multiple factors, such as physicians' heightened attention to pain
      management, greater prevalence of chronic pain due to the aging population, and
      the availability of sustained-release opioid preparations. Correspondingly, this
      has been associated with a rise in considerable harm due to opioid misuse, which
      is recognized as a national health priority in Australia. This article outlines
      the major public health approaches that have been introduced in Australia to
      address this issue. Opioid misuse can be addressed through establishing a real
      time prescription drug monitoring program, ensuring adequate access to affordable
      and high quality medication-assisted treatment, and promoting physicians' use of
      the evidence-based guideline on appropriate opioid prescribing.

PMID- 28605279
TI  - The Effect of Shoulder Muscle Fatigue on Acromiohumeral Distance and Scapular
      Dyskinesis in Women With Generalized Joint Hypermobility.
AB  - Muscle fatigue is considered to be one cause of shoulder pain, and subjects with
      generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) are affected more by shoulder pain. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the effects of muscle fatigue on
      acromiohumeral distance (AHD) and scapular dyskinesis in women with GJH. Thirty
      six asymptomatic participants were assigned to either a GJH (n = 20) or control
      group (n = 16) using the Beighton scale. Before and after elevation fatigue
      trials, AHD was measured with ultrasonography at rest and when the arm was in 90
      degrees  active elevation. A scapular dyskinesis test was used to visually
      observe alterations in scapular movement. Our results showed that in both groups,
      the fatigue reduced AHD in the 90 degrees  elevation position and increased the
      presence of scapular dyskinesis; however, no differences were found between the
      two groups. Although GJH has been identified as a factor for developing
      musculoskeletal disorders, generalized joint hypermobility did not result in
      changes to scapular dyskinesis or AHD, even after an elevation fatigue task. More
      studies are needed to evaluate the effects of muscle fatigue in subjects with GJH
      and a history of shoulder instability.

PMID- 28605280
TI  - The Gut: A Key to the Pathogenesis of Type 2 Diabetes?
AB  - In this communication we discuss the role of the gut for the development of type
      2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Gastric emptying rates importantly determine
      postprandial glucose excursions and regulate postprandial secretion of the
      incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and
      glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). It thereby also determines their powerful,
      amplifying effect on glucose-induced insulin secretion and thus the ability of
      the body to regulate glucose disposal. Although disturbances in gastric emptying
      are not consistent findings in type 2 diabetes, the incretin system is seriously
      impaired, probably associated with insulin resistance and obesity. Both of the
      incretin hormones lose (part of) their insulinotropic activity resulting,
      together with (genetically) defective beta cell function, in the impaired
      postprandial insulin secretion of T2DM. In addition, glucagon responses are
      inappropriately increased and importantly contribute to both fasting and
      postprandial hyperglycemia. This may involve stimulation by GIP, but evidence
      also points to a role of circulating amino acids, which are elevated due to
      steatosis-induced impaired glucagon-mediated hepatic clearance, in line with
      recent work suggesting that the alpha cells and the liver are linked in a close,
      amino acid-mediated feedback circuit. Thus, the gut plays an important role in
      the development of T2DM spurred by overeating and defective beta cells.

PMID- 28605281
TI  - Re: "Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 and Pericardial Fat in Individuals with
      Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus" by Bayomi et al. (Metab Syndr Relat Disord 2017;15:269
      275).
AB  - Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is a member of the serine protease
      inhibitor (serpin) superfamily, which inactivates tissue plasminogen activator
      (tPA); therefore, increased level of PAI-1 antigen counteracts the anticoagulant
      effect of tPA and facilitates the fibrin clot formation. Plasma PAI-1 antigen and
      activity levels are associated with increased body mass index and with features
      of the insulin resistance syndrome like obesity and diabetes. Visceral adipose
      tissue produces more PAI-1 than subcutaneous adipose tissue: This increased
      production of PAI-1 from the visceral adipose tissue is one important link
      between visceral obesity and cardiovascular disease. Besides visceral adipose
      tissue, there is mounting evidence that epicardial adipose tissue may be an
      important source of PAI-1, especially in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28605282
TI  - Is Binge Drinking Onset Timing Related to Academic Performance, Engagement, and
      Aspirations Among Youth in the COMPASS Study?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some evidence suggests early initiation of alcohol use is associated
      with academic underachievement; however, substance use onset is an ambiguous
      concept, resulting in mixed findings across studies. Moreover, the quantity of
      early use is likely an important determinant. Binge drinking is a common pattern
      among younger cohorts, and is shown to magnify the risk of related problems.
      OBJECTIVES: The current study explored how students who initiated binge drinking
      early (grade 10 or earlier) or later in high school (grade 11 or 12) differed in
      relation to a variety of academic indices. METHODS: The sample consisted of
      19,764 grade 9 to 12 students with at least 2 years of linked-longitudinal data
      from Year 1(Y1: 2012-2013), Year 2(Y2: 2013-2014), and Year 3(Y3: 2014-2015) of
      the COMPASS study. Separate multinomial GEE models tested the likelihood of
      different responses to outcome measures of academic goals, engagement,
      preparedness, and performance based on the timing of binge drinking onset. Models
      adjusted for binge drinking initiation in varying frequencies, gender, grade,
      race/ethnicity, and smoking. RESULTS: Compared to students with earlier onsets of
      binge drinking, youth with later onsets were more likely to regularly attend
      class, complete their homework, value good grades, achieve high English or Math
      marks, have graduate/professional degree ambitions, and expect to obtain a
      college/trade school diploma after high school, yet they were less likely to
      expect to achieve a bachelor's degree. CONCLUSION: Results highlight the
      importance of substance use prevention programs targeting early adolescents. Both
      delaying and preventing binge drinking have the potential to improve scholastic
      outcomes.

PMID- 28605283
TI  - Interferon-beta controls non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection in mice.

PMID- 28605284
TI  - Physical Activity, Sedentary Time, and Frailty in Older Migrant Women From
      Ethnically Diverse Backgrounds: A Mixed-Methods Study.
AB  - There is limited evidence examining the association between physical activity
      (PA), sedentary time (ST), frailty, and factors influencing PA behaviors in
      migrant older women from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The aims of this mixed
      methods study were to: 1) examine PA levels and ST across frailty status; 2)
      identify any differences in PA/ST between ethnic and religious groups; and 3)
      qualitatively explore factors influencing PA among older (>=60 years) migrant
      women (n = 60). PA/ST were assessed using accelerometry and frailty status using
      the frailty phenotype. Key factors influencing PA were explored via semi
      structured interviews (n = 36) and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants
      were highly sedentary irrespective of frailty status. Moderate-to-vigorous
      physical activity (MVPA) was independently associated with frailty. Participants
      spent 69% of waking time in ST, with only 15% meeting current weekly PA
      recommendations. Health-related and socio-cultural factors were reported as
      common barriers to achieving PA recommendations. Maintaining independence,
      preventing physical decline and depression were key factors promoting PA.
      Understanding the challenges and needs of this population can help to inform
      strategies to promote PA and thus optimize physical function.

PMID- 28605285
TI  - Analysis of real-world health care costs among immunocompetent patients aged 50
      years or older with herpes zoster in the United States.
AB  - Few peer-reviewed publications present real-world United States (US) data
      describing resource utilization and costs associated with herpes zoster (HZ) and
      postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). The primary objective of this analysis (GSK study
      identifier: HO-14-14270) was to assess direct costs associated with HZ and PHN in
      the US using a retrospective managed care insurance claims database. Patients >=
      50 y at HZ diagnosis were selected. Patients were excluded if they were
      immunocompromised before diagnosis or received an HZ vaccine at any time. A
      subsample of patients with PHN was identified. Each patient with HZ was matched
      to <= 4 controls without HZ based on age, sex, and health plan enrollment.
      Incremental differences in mean HZ-related costs ("incremental costs") were
      assessed overall and stratified by age. Multivariable regression models
      controlled for the effect of demographic characteristics, prediagnosis costs, and
      comorbidity burden on costs using a recycled predictions approach. Overall,
      142,519 patients with HZ (9,470 patients [6.6%] had PHN) and 357,907 matched
      controls without HZ were identified. Resource utilization was greater among
      patients with HZ than controls. After adjusting for demographic and clinical
      characteristics, annual incremental health care costs for HZ patients vs.
      controls were $1,210 for patients aged 50-59 years, $1,629 for those 60-64 years,
      $1,876 for those 65-69 years, $2,643 for those 70-79 years, and $3,804 for those
      80+ years; adjusted annual incremental costs among PHN patients vs. controls were
      $4,670 for patients 50-59 years, $6,133 for those 60-64 years, $6,451 for those
      65-69 years, $8,548 for those 70-79 years, and $11,147 for those 80+ years. HZ is
      associated with a significant cost burden, which increases with advancing patient
      age. Vaccination may reduce costs associated with HZ through case avoidance.

PMID- 28605286
TI  - The Durability of Basal Insulin Affects Day-to-Day Glycemic Variability Assessed
      by Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Type 2 Diabetes Patients: A Randomized
      Crossover Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Not only within-day glycemic variability but also day-to-day glycemic
      variability is a risk factor for diabetic patients. However, the ways of
      controlling day-to-day glycemic variability are unclear. We hypothesized that the
      durability of basal insulin plays an important role in controlling day-to-day
      glycemic variability in type 2 diabetes patients, and we therefore aimed to
      evaluate whether glargine U300, which exhibits prolonged absorption compared with
      glargine U100 but the same composition as glargine U100, would lead to improved
      day-to-day glycemic variability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a single-center,
      randomized, open-label, crossover study in type 2 diabetes patients using basal
      insulin therapy. After switching from 4 weeks of treatment with glargine U100 or
      U300, the patients performed continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for 72 h in an
      environment with routine activities and mealtimes. The mean of daily difference
      (MODD) was assessed as day-to-day glycemic variability. RESULTS: We enrolled 22
      patients, and 17 patients completed the study. The MODD assessed as day-to-day
      glycemic variability was significantly lower with glargine U300 than with
      glargine U100 (1.8 +/- 0.6 mmol/L vs. 2.4 +/- 0.9 mmol/L, P = 0.006). No
      significant difference was observed in short-term glycemic variability between
      the two glargine formulations as measured by the standard deviation, coefficient
      of variation, mean amplitude of glucose excursion. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with
      glargine U100 treatment, glargine U300 treatment improved the MODD as assessed by
      CGM in type 2 diabetes patients. These findings suggest that the durability of
      basal insulin may be associated with day-to-day glycemic variability in type 2
      diabetes patients.

PMID- 28605288
TI  - Neck and Scapula-Focused Exercise Training on Patients With Nonspecific Neck
      Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of
      additional 6-week scapular stabilization training in patients with nonspecific
      neck pain (NNP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 patients with NNP were
      randomly allocated to the study. Fifteen participants in the intervention group
      received neck-focused exercise and scapular stabilization training, whereas 15
      participants in the control group received neck-focused exercise training. All
      groups were evaluated at baseline and after 6 weeks of rehabilitation. The pain
      intensity on the neck was measured with the visual analog scale (VAS). The self
      reported disability status was measured with the neck disability index (NDI).
      Three-dimensional scapular kinematics were recorded during dynamic shoulder
      elevation trials using an electromagnetic tracking device, and data were further
      analyzed at 30 degrees , 60 degrees , 90 degrees , and 120 degrees  of
      humerothoracic elevations. RESULTS: Comparisons revealed that, regardless of the
      received treatment, after 6 weeks of training both groups showed significant
      improvements in VAS (P < .001) and NDI (P < .001) scores. Both VAS and NDI
      outcomes have a large effect size (r = .618 and r = .619, respectively). For
      scapular kinematics, there were no group differences, especially for scapular
      upward-downward rotation and anterior-posterior tilt (P > .05). However, in the
      intervention group, the scapula was more externally rotated at 120 degrees 
      humerothoracic elevation (P = .04). CONCLUSION: Findings of this study showed
      that both manual therapy and active interventions, including neck-focused
      exercise and scapular stabilization training, are effective in decreasing pain
      and disability level in patients with NNP. More comprehensive studies with longer
      follow-up durations are needed to better understand the potential effects of
      scapular stabilization training in patients with NNP.

PMID- 28605287
TI  - Prdx1 (peroxiredoxin 1) deficiency reduces cholesterol efflux via impaired
      macrophage lipophagic flux.
AB  - Oxidative stress activates macroautophagy/autophagy and contributes to
      atherogenesis via lipophagic flux, a form of lipid removal by autophagy. However,
      it is not known exactly how endogenous antioxidant enzymes are involved in
      lipophagic flux. Here, we demonstrate that the antioxidant PRDX1 (peroxiredoxin
      1) has a crucial role in the maintenance of lipophagic flux in macrophages. PRDX1
      is more highly expressed than other antioxidant enzymes in monocytes and
      macrophages. We determined that Prdx1 deficiency induced excessive oxidative
      stress and impaired maintenance of autophagic flux in macrophages. Prdx1
      deficient macrophages had higher intracellular cholesterol mass and lower
      cholesterol efflux compared with wild type. This perturbation in cholesterol
      homeostasis was due to impaired lipophagic cholesterol hydrolysis caused by
      excessive oxidative stress, resulting in the inhibition of free cholesterol
      formation and the reduction of NR1H3 (nuclear receptor subfamily 1, group H,
      member 3) activity. Notably, impairment of both lipophagic flux and cholesterol
      efflux was restored by the 2-Cys PRDX-mimics ebselen and gliotoxin. Consistent
      with this observation, apoe -/- mice transplanted with bone marrow from prdx1-/
      apoe-/- mice had increased plaque formation compared with apoe-/- BM-transplanted
      recipients. This study reveals that PRDX1 is crucial to regulating lipophagic
      flux and maintaining macrophage cholesterol homeostasis against oxidative stress.
      We suggest that PRDX1-dependent control of oxidative stress may provide a
      strategy for treating atherosclerosis and autophagy-related human diseases.

PMID- 28605289
TI  - Effect of Sub-Lethal Concentrations of Biocides on the Structural Parameters and
      Viability of the Biofilms Formed by Salmonella Typhimurium.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the effect of sub-minimum inhibitory
      concentrations (sub-MICs) of three food-grade biocides (benzalkonium chloride 
      BZK-, trisodium phosphate -TSP-, and sodium hypochlorite -SHY-) on Salmonella
      biofilms. The structural parameters and bacterial viability of the biofilms
      formed by a S. Typhimurium isolate from poultry was investigated by means of
      confocal laser scanning microscopy after staining with SYTO9 and propidium
      iodide. The MIC values for Salmonella cells before exposure to subinhibitory
      concentrations of biocides were 8.0 MUg/mL (BZK), 18.0 mg/mL (TSP), and 6.0 mg/mL
      (SHY). The cultures exhibited a stable acquired tolerance to BZK and SHY. The
      maximum concentrations of biocides that allowed bacterial growth after several
      passages through gradually higher concentrations of such compounds were 30.4
      MUg/mL (BZK) and 10.1 mg/mL (SHY). The architecture and viability of S.
      Typhimurium biofilms varied in response to sub-MICs of different biocides.
      Previous adaptation to SHY enhanced (p < 0.001) biofilm formation (average
      biovolume in the observed field -14,161 MUm2-: 139,856.15 +/- 155,213.27 MUm3)
      relative to unexposed cells (53,779.05 +/- 55,535.62 MUm3) and cells previously
      exposed to BZK (58,216.97 +/- 58,644.45 MUm3) or TSP (30,052.13 +/- 28,290.56
      MUm3). This was particularly marked when biofilm was grown in the absence of
      biocides or in the presence of sub-MICs of SHY. The highest percentage of dead
      cells was shown by biofilms formed by cultures previously exposed to TSP relative
      to the other conditions tested (34.08% +/- 13.74% vs. 23.70% +/- 16.16%; p <
      0.001). The importance of maintaining higher than MICs of SHY during sanitizing
      procedures to fight foodborne infections by Salmonella biofilms is highlighted.

PMID- 28605290
TI  - Early Response-Based Therapy Stratification Improves Survival in Adult Early
      Thymic Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Group for Research on Adult
      Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Study.
AB  - Purpose Early thymic precursor (ETP) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an
      immunophenotypically defined subgroup of T-cell ALL (T-ALL) associated with high
      rates of intrinsic treatment resistance. Studies in children have shown that the
      negative prognostic impact of chemotherapy resistance is abrogated by the
      implementation of early response-based intensification strategies. Comparable
      data in adults are lacking. Patients and Methods We performed comprehensive
      clinicobiologic, genetic, and survival analyses of a large cohort of 213 adult
      patients with T-ALL, including 47 patients with ETP-ALL, treated in the GRAALL
      (Group for Research on Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) -2003 and -2005
      studies. Results Targeted next-generation sequencing revealed that the genotype
      of immunophenotypically defined adult T-ALL is similar to the pediatric
      equivalent, with high rates of mutations in factors involved in cytokine receptor
      and RAS signaling (62.2%), hematopoietic development (29.7%), and chemical
      modification of histones (48.6%). In contrast to pediatric cases, mutations in
      DNA methylation factor genes were also common (32.4%). We found that despite
      expected high levels of early bone marrow chemotherapy resistance (87%), the
      overall prognosis for adults with ETP-ALL treated using the GRAALL protocols was
      not inferior to that of the non-ETP-ALL group (5-year overall survival: ETP,
      59.6%; 95% CI, 44.2% to 72.0% v non-ETP, 66.5%; 95% CI, 58.7% to 73.2%; P = 0.33)
      and that allogeneic stem-cell transplantation had a beneficial effect in a large
      proportion of patients with ETP-ALL. Conclusion Our results suggest that the use
      of response-based risk stratification and therapy intensification abrogates the
      poor prognosis of adult ETP-ALL.

PMID- 28605291
TI  - Carboplatin and Etoposide With or Without Palifosfamide in Untreated Extensive
      Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Multicenter, Adaptive, Randomized Phase III Study
      (MATISSE).
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of the addition of palifosfamide to carboplatin
      and etoposide in extensive stage (ES) small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Patients and
      Methods MATISSE was a randomized, open-label, adaptive phase III study.
      Previously untreated patients with ES SCLC were randomly assigned in a 1:1
      fashion to receive carboplatin at area under the serum concentration-time curve 5
      on day 1 plus etoposide 100 mg/m2 per day on days 1 to 3 every 21 days (CE) or
      carboplatin at area under the serum concentration-time curve 4 on day 1 plus
      etoposide 100 mg/m2 per day plus palifosfamide 130 mg/m2 per day on days 1 to 3
      every 21 days (PaCE). The primary end point was overall survival. Results In all,
      188 patients were enrolled; 94 patients received CE and 94 patients received
      PaCE. The median age on both arms was 61 years. Six cycles of chemotherapy were
      completed on both arms of the study by approximately 50% of the patients. Serious
      adverse events were documented and did not differ significantly between patients
      receiving PaCE and those receiving CE. Median overall survival was similar
      between both arms with 10.03 months on PaCE and 10.37 months on CE ( P = .096).
      Conclusion The addition of palifosfamide to CE failed to improve survival in ES
      SCLC.

PMID- 28605292
TI  - Targeting the gram-negative bacteria peptidoglycan synthase MraY as a new
      approach for monoclonal antibody anti-bacterial activity.
AB  - The use of antibiotics to target bacteria is a well-validated approach for
      controlling infections in animals and humans. Peptidoglycan biosynthesis is a
      crucial process in bacteria, and the conserved peptidoglycan synthase MraY is an
      attractive target for drug design. However, due to the lack of detailed MraY
      structural information, antibiotics targeting MraY have not yet been developed.
      In the present study, 2 hydrophilic regions of MraY from Escherichia coli were
      expressed as a fusion protein and used to raise a monoclonal antibody in mice. We
      confirmed that the MraY amino acid sequence PESHFSKRGTPT forms the core epitope
      recognized by the monoclonal antibody M-H11. Furthermore, our results show that M
      H11 effectively controls Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) plysS infection, both in
      vitro and in vivo. Our results may be of great value in the search for novel
      approaches used to control bacterial infections.

PMID- 28605294
TI  - Safety and long-term immunological effects of CryJ2-LAMP plasmid vaccine in
      Japanese red cedar atopic subjects: A phase I study.
AB  - Japanese Red Cedar (JRC) pollen induced allergy affects one third of Japanese and
      the development of effective therapies remains an unachieved challenge. We
      designed a DNA vaccine encoding CryJ2 allergen from the JRC pollen and Lysosomal
      Associated Membrane Protein 1 (LAMP-1) to treat JRC allergy. These Phase IA and
      IB trials assessed safety and immunological effects of the investigational CryJ2
      LAMP DNA vaccine in both non-sensitive and sensitive Japanese expatriates living
      in Honolulu, Hawaii. In the Phase IA trial, 6 JRC non-sensitive subjects and 9
      JRC and/or Mountain Cedar (MC) sensitive subjects were given 4 vaccine doses
      (each 4mg/1ml) intramuscularly (IM) at 14-day intervals. Nine JRC and/or MC
      sensitive subjects were given 4 doses (2 mg/0.5 ml) IM at 14-day intervals. The
      safety and functional biomarkers were followed for 132 d. Following this, 17 of
      24 subjects were recruited into the IB trial and received one booster dose (2
      mg/0.5 ml) IM approximately 300 d after the first vaccination dose to which they
      were randomized in the first phase of the trial. All safety endpoints were met
      and all subjects tolerated CryJ2-LAMP vaccinations well. At the end of the IA
      trial, 10 out of 12 JRC sensitive and 6 out of 11 MC sensitive subjects
      experienced skin test negative conversion, possibly related to the CryJ2-LAMP
      vaccinations. Collectively, these data suggested that the CryJ2-LAMP DNA vaccine
      is safe and may be immunologically effective in treating JRC induced allergy.

PMID- 28605296
TI  - Filling out the forms: Health literacy among the uninsured.
AB  - This study addresses health literacy among patients at a free clinic in Syracuse,
      NY. Researchers conducted chart reviews of 600 patients and qualitative
      interviews with 22 patients and 7 providers. Most clinic patients had a high
      school, or higher, level education and no difficulty with reading comprehension.
      Nevertheless, a majority had at least some difficulty with comprehending and
      following through on health information. For many interviewees, the greatest
      difficulty was completing the required forms for entitlement programs. The
      findings demonstrate that low health literacy may occur even among well-educated
      patients and recommend that health literacy be assessed for all patients.

PMID- 28605295
TI  - An adjuvant-modulated vaccine response in human whole blood.
AB  - The restimulation of an immune memory response by in vitro culture of blood cells
      with a specific antigen has been used as a way to gauge immunity to vaccines for
      decades. In this commentary we discuss a less appreciated application to support
      vaccine process development. We report that human whole blood from pre-primed
      subjects can generate a profound adjuvant-modulated, antigen-specific response to
      several different vaccine formulations. The response is able to differentiate
      subtle changes in the quality of an immune memory response to vaccine
      formulations and can be used to select optimal conditions relating to a
      particular manufacture process step. While questions relating to closeness to in
      vivo vaccination remain, the approach is another big step nearer to the more
      relevant human response. It has special importance for new adjuvant development,
      complementing other preclinical in vivo and in vitro approaches to considerably
      de-risk progression of novel vaccines before and throughout early clinical
      development. Broader implications of the approach are discussed.

PMID- 28605297
TI  - Social work interventions in Sweden for patients newly diagnosed with type 1 or
      type 2 diabetes.
AB  - We evaluated psychosocial work with patients in ordinary clinical practice who
      were newly diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and experienced psychosocial
      problems at disease onset. We examined types of psychosocial problems, causes of
      these problems, psychosocial interventions, extent of achievement of psychosocial
      treatment goals, and whether the patients felt they benefited from the treatment.
      Eighty-nine working-age (18-65-year-old) Swedish adults newly diagnosed with
      diabetes were included. Each was interviewed and responded to questionnaires at
      the beginning and end of the study period. Thirty-four (38%) received
      psychosocial treatment as needed over 2 years. A psychosocial treatment plan with
      a defined goal was developed for each. Interventions included counseling, problem
      focused support, social information, and advice. The treatment process was
      documented. Eighteen patients had type 1, and 16 had type 2 diabetes. One-third
      had emotional problems directly caused by receiving a diagnosis. Several of them
      had crisis reactions. The rest had problems primarily caused by their life
      situations. Those with psychosocial problems caused by receiving a diagnosis
      achieved treatment goals more frequently than the others. Distinguishing the
      cause of the psychosocial problems of newly diagnosed patients may help ensure
      that social work resources in health care are used as effectively as possible.

PMID- 28605298
TI  - College Athletes With Ankle Sprain History Exhibit Greater Fear-Avoidance
      Beliefs.
AB  - CONTEXT: Postinjury, college athletes have reported elevated levels of fear.
      However, it is unclear how a history of ankle sprain impacts injury-related fear.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if Fear-Avoidance Beliefs
      Questionnaire (FABQ) scores differ between college athletes with a history of a
      single ankle sprain, those with recurrent ankle sprains, and healthy controls.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. SETTING: National Collegiate Athletic Association
      institutions. PATIENTS: From a large database of college athletes, 75
      participants with a history of a single ankle sprain, 44 with a history of
      recurrent ankle sprains (>=2), and 28 controls with no injury history were
      included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed an injury history
      questionnaire and the FABQ. On the injury history form, the participants were
      asked to indicate if they had ever sustained an ankle sprain and, if yes, to
      describe how many. FABQ scores ranged from 0 to 66 with higher scores
      representing greater fear. RESULTS: Athletes with a history of recurrent ankle
      sprains (median, 28.00; interquartile range, 18.25-38.00) reported higher levels
      of fear than those with a history of a single ankle sprain (21.00; 8.00-31.00; P
      = .03; effect size = 0.199) and healthy controls (5.50; 0.00-25.00; P < .001;
      effect size = 0.431). Athletes with a history of a single sprain reported greater
      fear than healthy controls (P = .01, effect size = 0.267). Athletes with a
      history of a single sprain reported greater fear than healthy controls (P = .02,
      effect size = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: College athletes with a history of ankle sprain
      exhibited greater levels of fear on the FABQ than healthy controls. These
      findings suggest that ankle sprains in general may increase injury-related fear
      and that those with a history of recurrent sprains are more vulnerable.

PMID- 28605300
TI  - The Development of a "Neighborhood in Solidarity" in Switzerland.
AB  - This article presents a case study based on the "Neighborhood in Solidarity" (NS)
      methodology to illustrate its application in a locality of 8,000 inhabitants in
      Switzerland. This specific project is proposed to exemplify the global aim of the
      NS methodology. That aim is to increase the integration of elderly persons in
      societies in order to improve their quality of life. The case study demonstrates
      the enhancement of the capacity of the older people to remain actively engaged in
      their neighborhood. The article focuses on the creation of an autonomous
      community of empowered older people who can resolve their own problems after a 5
      year project. The construction of the local community is presented throughout the
      six steps of the methodology: (1) preliminary analysis, (2) diagnostic, (3)
      construction, (4) project design, (5) project implementation, and (6) empowerment
      and with three degrees of involvement (community, participative, and integrative
      involvement). Performance and output indicators, quality indicators, and social
      determinants of health assess the development of the local project. The impacts
      of the projects which are illustrated in this specific example motivated this
      publication to inspire practitioners from other countries.

PMID- 28605299
TI  - Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus-Specific Antibody Detection in Cattle in
      Mauritania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) was detected for the
      first time in Mauritania in 1983 and several CCHFV outbreaks were reported in the
      following years. The last human case was diagnosed in 2015. However, no recent
      data exist about the prevalence of CCHFV in animals, although it is already
      described that prevalence studies in animals serve as good risk indicators. CCHFV
      can cause a severe hemorrhagic fever with a high case fatality rate in humans.
      Therefore, a precise risk assessment on the basis of updated data is very
      important. This article gives an overview about the current CCHFV prevalence in
      cattle in Mauritania. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A seroprevalence study was carried
      out using 495 cattle sera from Mauritania, which were collected in the year 2013.
      The sera were analyzed by an inhouse CCHFV-IgG-ELISA. As second screening test,
      an adapted commercial CCHFV-IgG-ELISA was performed. Inconclusive sera were
      additionally tested by a modified commercial CCHFV-IgG-IFA. All assays showed
      high diagnostic sensitivity (>95%) and specificity (>98%). The overall prevalence
      of CCHFV-specific antibodies found in Mauritanian cattle was 67%, ranging from
      56% to 90% in different provinces. CONCLUSION: This study shows a very high CCHFV
      specific antibody prevalence in cattle in Mauritania. It is the highest
      seroprevalence detected in Mauritania so far. This strengthens the hypothesis
      that CCHFV is a serious and ongoing threat for public health in Mauritania.

PMID- 28605302
TI  - A Brief Corrective to Levine's (2017) "Ethical Concerns About Treatment Paradigms
      for Gender Dysphoria".

PMID- 28605301
TI  - Cold Preparation of Heroin in a Black Tar Market.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Black tar heroin is typically prepared for injection with heat which
      decreases the risk of HIV transmission by inactivating the virus. We received
      reports that persons who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico,
      a black tar heroin market, were using only water to dissolve heroin. OBJECTIVES:
      Because Tijuana abuts San Diego County, CA, United States, we undertook the
      present analyses to determine the prevalence of this practice among PWID in San
      Diego, California. METHODS: PWID completed quarterly behavioral assessments and
      serological testing for blood-borne viruses. Bivariate and multivariable logistic
      regression models were constructed to assess for individual, social, and
      structural correlates of preparing heroin without heat within the preceding 6
      months. RESULTS: Nearly half of black tar heroin users (149/305) reported they
      had prepared heroin without heat within 6 months. In multivariable analysis, cold
      preparation was independently associated with younger age (10 year decrease; AOR
      = 1.25; 95% CI 1.03, 1.53), more drug injecting acquaintances (per 5 acquaintance
      increase; AOR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.01, 1.09) and prefilled syringe use (injecting
      drugs from syringes that are already filled with drugs before purchase; AOR =
      1.86; 95% CI 1.14, 3.02). Conclusions/Importance: To our knowledge, this is the
      first paper to report that PWID living in a black tar heroin market are preparing
      heroin without heat. Additional research is needed to determine whether this is
      an endemic practice or PWID are engaging in new forms of drug preparation in
      response to changes in the environment.

PMID- 28605304
TI  - Report on the International Workshop on Drug Prevention and Treatment in Rural
      Settings Organized by United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and World
      Health Organization (WHO).
AB  - Very little evidence has been reported in literature regarding the misuse of
      substances in rural areas. Despite the common perception of rural communities as
      a protective and risk-mitigating environment, the scientific literature
      demonstrated the existence of many risk factors in rural communities. The Drug
      Prevention and Health Branch (DHB) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
      Crime (UNODC), and the World Health Organization (WHO), in June 2016, organized a
      meeting of experts in treatment and prevention of SUDs in rural settings. The
      content presented during the meeting and the related discussion have provided
      materials for the preparation of an outline document, which is the basis to
      create a technical tool on SUDs prevention and treatment in rural settings. The
      UNODC framework for interventions in rural settings is a technical tool aimed to
      assist policy makers and managers at the national level. This paper is a report
      on UNODC/WHO efforts to improve the clinical conditions of people affected by
      SUDs and living in rural areas. The purpose of this article is to draw attention
      on a severe clinical and social problem in a reality forgotten by everyone.

PMID- 28605303
TI  - Diagnostic Value of Circulating microRNA-95 and -190 in the Differential
      Diagnosis of Thyroid Nodules: A Validation Study in 1000 Consecutive Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has recently been demonstrated that the combination of miRNA-190
      and -95 (expressed as probability of malignant risk: pmiRNA) in the serum of
      Caucasian patients with thyroid nodular disease allows the identification of
      nodules at high risk of malignancy with great accuracy. The present study aimed
      to validate these results in a larger cohort of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This study prospectively analyzed 1000 patients. Cytological diagnosis was
      available in 982/1000 (98.2%) and histological diagnosis in 445/1000 (44.5%). The
      expression levels of circulating miRNA-190 and -95 were determined by real time
      polymerase chain reaction with the 2-DeltaDeltact method. The diagnostic
      performance (sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy) of fine-needle aspiration
      cytology (FNAC), pmiRNA, and a combination of the two methods was correlated with
      the cytological and histological diagnoses. RESULTS: The combination of pmiRNA
      and FNAC significantly increased the sensitivity (96.3%) with respect to each
      method alone (88.9% for FNAC and 89.6% for pmiRNA) by reducing the rate of false
      negative results from 18 for FNAC and 17 for pmiRNA to only five. In patients in
      whom FNAC was not performed (n = 14) or in those with inadequate (n = 18) or
      indeterminate (n = 72) lesions submitted to surgery, pmiRNA correctly identified
      90.8% of patients with benign disease and 74.3% of patients with cancer.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that a combination of serum expression levels
      of miRNA-95 and -190 is an accurate and noninvasive tool for the differential
      diagnosis of thyroid nodules in the Italian population.

PMID- 28605305
TI  - Attitudes Toward Medical Cannabis Legalization Among Serbian Medical Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, medical cannabis polices are experiencing rapid changes,
      and an increasing number of nations around the world legalize medical cannabis
      for certain groups of patients, including those in Serbia. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine medical students' attitudes toward medical cannabis legalization and to
      examine the factors influencing their attitudes. METHODS: Fourth-year medical
      students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, had participated in
      a cross-sectional study. Data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire.
      RESULTS: Overall, 63.4% students supported medical cannabis legalization, and
      only 20.8% supported its legalization for recreational use. Students who
      previously used marijuana (p <.001) and alcohol (p =.004) were significantly more
      in favor of medical cannabis legalization compared with students who never used
      them. Support for marijuana recreational use was also related to prior marijuana
      (p <.001) and alcohol consumption (p =.006). Only cancer (90.4%) and chronic pain
      (74.2%) were correctly reported approved medical indications by more than half
      the students. Students who supported medical cannabis legalization showed better
      knowledge about indications, in contrast to opponents for legalization who showed
      better knowledge about side effects. Beliefs that using medical cannabis is safe
      and has health benefits were correlated with support for legalization, and
      previous marijuana and alcohol use, while beliefs that medical cannabis poses
      health risks correlated most strongly with previous marijuana use.
      Conclusions/Importance: The medical students' attitudes toward medical cannabis
      legalization were significantly correlated with previous use of marijuana and
      alcohol, knowledge about medical indications and side effects, and their beliefs
      regarding medical cannabis health benefits and risks.

PMID- 28605307
TI  - Dusty Allan Rediscovered: A Neurologist's Life, by Neil Anderson.

PMID- 28605306
TI  - Behavior Tracking and 3-Year Longitudinal Associations Between Physical Activity,
      Screen Time, and Fitness Among Young Children.
AB  - PURPOSE: Understanding the correlates of children's fitness as they develop is
      needed. The objectives of this study were to 1) examine the longitudinal
      associations between physical activity (PA), screen time (ST), and fitness; 2)
      determine if sex moderates associations; and 3) track PA and ST over 3 years.
      METHODS: Findings are based on 649 children [baseline = 4.5 (0.5) y; follow-up =
      7.8 (0.6) y] from Edmonton, Canada. Parental-reported hour per week of PA and ST
      were measured at baseline and 3 years later. Fitness (vertical jump, sit and
      reach, waist circumference, grip strength, predicted VO2max, push-ups, and
      partial curl-ups) was measured using established protocols at follow-up. Sex
      specific z scores or low/high fitness groups were calculated. Linear or logistic
      multiple regression models and Spearman correlations were conducted. RESULTS:
      Baseline ST was negatively associated with follow-up grip strength [beta = 
      0.010; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.019 to -0.001]. Associations between
      baseline PA and follow-up overall fitness (beta = 0.009; 95% CI, 0.002 to 0.016)
      were significant, whereas baseline PA and follow-up VO2max (beta = 0.014; 95% CI,
      0.000 to 0.027) approached significance (P < .06). No sex interactions were
      observed. Moderate and large tracking were observed for PA (rs = .30) and ST (rs
      = .53), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PA and ST may be important modifiable
      correlates of overall fitness in young children.

PMID- 28605309
TI  - Disordered Eating: The Young Male Side.
AB  - Disordered eating (DE) is known to predominate among girls, and historically
      studies have focused primarily on them. This cross-sectional study aimed to
      investigate the characteristics of adolescent and young adult males at risk of
      DE. Participants (N = 2269; 15-24 years) in a study assessing their lifestyle
      were divided into two groups based on the SCOFF five-question screening tool: a
      SCOFF[+] group for participants at risk of disordered eating, and a SCOFF[-]
      group for everyone else. SCOFF[+] participants were more likely to be overweight
      and obese; have a lower socio-economic status and non-Swiss parents; experience
      weight issues; and report a chronic condition, poorer emotional well-being and a
      less positive attitude towards life. With 10% of males at risk of DE, clinicians
      should be aware of their specific characteristics, which should be considered red
      flags. DE is no longer a female-specific issue.

PMID- 28605308
TI  - Prevalence of Heavy Alcohol Use Among People Receiving Methadone Following Change
      to Methadose.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A recent switch in methadone formulation from methadone (1 mg/mL) to
      Methadose (10 mg/mL) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, was associated with
      increased reports of opioid withdrawal and increases in illicit opioid use.
      Impacts on other forms of drug use have not been assessed. Since alcohol use is
      common among people receiving Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), we assessed if
      switch was associated with increased prevalence of heavy alcohol use. METHODS:
      Drawing on data from two open prospective cohort studies of people who inject
      drugs in Vancouver, BC, generalized estimating equations (GEE) model examined
      relationship between methadone formulation change and heavy alcohol use, defined
      by National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). A sub-analysis
      examined relationship with heavier drinking defined as at least eight drinks per
      day on average in last six months. RESULTS: Between June 2013 and May 2015, a
      total of 787 participants on methadone were eligible for the present analysis, of
      which 123 (15.6%) reported heavy drinking at least once in last six months. In an
      unadjusted GEE model, Methadose use was not significantly associated with an
      increased likelihood of heavy drinking [Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.03; 95% Confidence
      interval (CI) = 0.87-1.21]. Methadose use was not significantly associated with
      an increased likelihood of drinking at least eight drinks daily on average (OR =
      1.09, 95% CI = 0.72-1.65). CONCLUSIONS: Despite reported changes in opioid use
      patterns coinciding with the change, there appeared to be no effect of the
      methadone formulation change on heavy drinking in this setting.

PMID- 28605310
TI  - Stroboscopic Vision to Induce Sensory Reweighting During Postural Control.
AB  - CONTEXT: Patients with somatosensory deficits have been found to rely more on
      visual feedback for postural control. However, current balance tests may be
      limited in identifying increased visual dependence (sensory reweighting to the
      visual system), as options are typically limited to eyes open or closed
      conditions with no progressions between. OBJECTIVE: To assess the capability of
      stroboscopic glasses to induce sensory reweighting of visual input during single
      leg balance. DESIGN: Descriptive SETTING: Laboratory PARTICIPANTS: 18 healthy
      subjects without vision or balance disorders or lower extremity injury history (9
      females; age = 22.1 +/- 2.1 y; height = 169.8 +/- 8.5 cm; mass = 66.5 +/- 10.6
      kg) participated. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects performed 3 trials of unipedal stance
      for 10 s with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC), and with stroboscopic vision (SV)
      that was completed with specialized eyewear that intermittently cycled between
      opaque and transparent for 100 ms at a time. Balance tasks were performed on firm
      and foam surfaces, with the order randomized. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Ten center
      of-pressure parameters were computed. RESULTS: Separate ANOVAs with repeated
      measures found significant differences between the 3 visual conditions on both
      firm (Ps=<.001) and foam (Ps=<.001 to .005) surfaces for all measures. For trials
      on firm surface, almost all measures showed that balance with SV was
      significantly impaired relative to EO, but less impaired than EC. On the foam
      surface, almost all postural stability measures demonstrated significant
      impairments with SV compared with EO, but the impairment with SV was similar to
      EC. CONCLUSIONS: SV impairment of single-leg balance was large on the firm
      surface, but not to the same degree as EC. However, the foam surface disruption
      to somatosensory processing and sensory reweighting to vision lead to greater
      disruptive effects of SV to the same level as EC. This indicates that when the
      somatosensory system is perturbed even a moderate decrease in visual feedback
      (SV) may induce an EC level impairment to postural control during single-leg
      stance.

PMID- 28605311
TI  - Changes in intimate relationships following treatment for head and neck cancer-A
      qualitative study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine how patients with head and neck cancer
      experience changes within their intimate relationships at the end of treatment
      and detect detrimental and facilitating factors in the process of resuming
      intimate relationships. Interviews were conducted with 131 patients. A core
      category - "being open versus not sharing the cancer journey" - emerged from the
      patients' narratives and was based on the experiences of
      engagement/disengagement, openness/fear, and patronizing attitudes/sharing the
      burden. The findings point to the necessity of patients being open about the
      disease trajectory and might be understood in the light of theories about
      potential changes in identity and self-concept.

PMID- 28605312
TI  - Examination of Response Shift After Rehabilitation for Orthopedic Conditions: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - CONTEXT: There is an increased emphasis on the need to capture and incorporate
      self-reported function to make clinical decisions when providing patient-centered
      care. Response shift (RS), or a change in an individual's self-evaluation of a
      construct, may affect the accurate assessment of change in self-reported function
      throughout the course of rehabilitation. A systematic review of this phenomenon
      may provide valuable information regarding the accuracy of self-reported
      function. OBJECTIVES: To systematically locate and synthesize the existing
      evidence regarding RS during care for various orthopedic conditions. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: Electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and
      Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection) were searched from inception to
      November 2016. Two investigators independently assessed methodological quality
      using the modified Downs and Black Quality Index. The quality of evidence was
      assessed using the Strength-of-Recommendation Taxonomy. The magnitude of RS was
      examined through effect sizes. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Nine studies were included (7
      high quality and 2 low quality) with a median Downs and Black Quality Index score
      of 81.25% (range = 56.25%-93.75%). Overall, the studies demonstrated weak to
      strong effect sizes (range = -1.58-0.33), indicating the potential for RS. Of the
      36 point estimates calculated, 22 (61.11%), 2 (5.56%), and 12 (33.33%) were
      associated with weak, moderate negative, and strong negative effect sizes,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is grade B evidence that a weak RS, in which
      individuals initially underestimate their disability, may occur in people
      undergoing rehabilitation for an orthopedic condition. It is important for
      clinicians to be aware of the potential shift in their patients' internal
      standards, as it can affect the evaluation of health-related quality of life
      changes during the care of orthopedic conditions. A shift in the internal
      standards of the patient can lead to subsequent misclassification of health
      related quality of life changes that can adversely affect clinical decision
      making.

PMID- 28605313
TI  - Women's Heart Health: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices of Canadian Physicians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women.
      To date, the majority of knowledge regarding heart disease is based on research
      conducted in men. As a result, a male-oriented model of heart disease constitutes
      the basis for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for both sexes. This article
      reports findings from the first survey of Canadian physicians to examine their
      knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding heart disease in women. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This cross-sectional survey, adapted from an instrument used in the
      United States, was undertaken in the spring of 2015. A sample of 504 physicians
      from a randomly selected sample of online responses was produced. RESULTS:
      Overall, physician responses demonstrate a general lack of awareness regarding
      the prevalence and approaches to the identification of, and treatments for, heart
      disease in women. In addition, physicians did not provide high ratings of their
      own effectiveness in supporting female patients to prevent or manage heart
      disease. The barriers that physicians face and the strategies to support them in
      improving women's heart health were explored. CONCLUSIONS: There is a clear need
      to educate physicians about heart disease in women and its prevention and
      management. More female-specific research, prevention, and clinical programs will
      enhance our ability to significantly improve cardiovascular health in Canadian
      women.

PMID- 28605314
TI  - The Validity and Reliability of Knee Proprioception Measurement Performed With
      Inclinometer in Different Positions.
AB  - CONTEXT: Proprioception is the basic element of the spontaneous control of
      movement, balance and joint stability. Therefore, it is necessary for the
      execution of walking and daily and sport activities. Loss of proprioception of
      the knee, which may cause a new injury, is important to evaluate the position
      sense of the joint during the rehabilitation period. However, the evaluation
      methods that are used are very expensive, complicated and non-portable, or the
      measuring method is difficult to implement. OBJECTIVE: We demonstrated the
      validity and reliability of knee proprioception measurements performed in the
      open kinetic chain position and closed kinetic chain position with a dual
      inclinometer. DESIGN: We assessed the validity and intra-tester reliability of a
      digital inclinometer for measuring the knee joint position sense in different
      positions. SETTING: Clinical laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: We enrolled 22
      participants (age = 21.8 +/- 0.95 years, height = 172 +/- 9.1 cm, weight = 64.9
      +/- 14 kg) into the study. INTERVENTION: The same investigator used an
      inclinometer to take knee proprioception measurements in open and closed kinetic
      chain positions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The relative angular error was calculated
      by taking the arithmetic average of the difference between the target angle and
      reproduced angle and was the main outcome measure. RESULTS: We found that the
      dynamometer-inclinometer had a moderate ICC value (ICC = 0.594, SEM = 1.60, p =
      0.005), whereas inclinometer t1 vs inclinometer t2 (ICC = 0.778, SEM = 0.62, p <
      0.001) and closed kinetic chain position t1 and closed kinetic chain position t2
      (ICC = 0.888, SEM = 0.63, p < 0.001) had high ICC values. CONCLUSION: Knee
      proprioception measurements performed with a dual inclinometer were reliable in
      the closed kinetic chain position in healthy, sedentary individuals and were
      valid and reliable in the open kinetic chain position.

PMID- 28605315
TI  - Tracking Young Adults' Attitudes Toward Tobacco Marketing Using Ecological
      Momentary Assessment (EMA).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decades of research demonstrate the pernicious effects of targeted
      cigarette marketing on young people. Now, with tobacco marketing shifting toward
      greater incorporation of alternative products, it is critical to identify current
      attitudes toward the new landscape of tobacco advertisements. OBJECTIVES: The
      purpose of this study was to understand the present landscape of tobacco
      marketing to which young adults are exposed, and to assess how they respond to
      it. METHOD: During 2015-2016, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA), in
      which 44 young adults (aged 18-28) carried smartphones equipped with a survey
      app. Seventy-seven percent were ever-users of tobacco and 29.5% were intermittent
      users of tobacco (someday users of cigarettes and/or those who used another
      tobacco product >5 times within the past year). For ten days, participants were
      prompted at three random times/day to complete a brief survey about their
      exposures and responses to tobacco-related advertising. Analyses used t-test and
      multilevel modeling. RESULTS: Intermittent users reported greater exposure than
      non-intermittent users to tobacco advertising. Further, both intermittent and
      ever-users reported more positive attitudes toward the tobacco advertising. Of
      the tobacco advertisements reported, 22% were for products unregulated by the FDA
      at the time of data collection. Conclusions/Importance: These findings indicate
      that young adults, and especially young adults who use tobacco, are exposed to a
      fair amount of tobacco advertising on a weekly basis. As the tobacco users in our
      sample were largely experimental and occasional users, these marketing exposures
      could put young adults at risk for progression toward regular use.

PMID- 28605316
TI  - Examining Differences in Movement Competency in Professional Baseball Players
      Born in the United States and Dominican Republic.
AB  - CONTEXT: Dominican Republic (DR) players have different training norms, which can
      affect their resiliency and performance. The variance among DR players' training
      regimens may be influenced by the degree of training incorporating fundamental
      movement patterns. OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in fundamental movement
      patterns in United States (US)-born versus DR-born professional baseball players.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort. SETTING: Professional baseball athletic training
      room. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-two players (76 DR-born and 66 US-born) who
      were recently selected by a Major League Baseball team. INTERVENTION: Subjects
      completed the Functional Movement Screen using the standardized 7 movement tests
      and the 3 isolated clearing tests. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary variables
      studied were composite score, left and right asymmetry, and individual movement
      standard scores. Two-way chi-squared analysis was utilized for the statistical
      analysis with statistical significance being identified at P < .05. RESULTS: DR
      players had a larger number of 1s (7.8% vs 3.0%) and 3s (10.5% vs 1.5%) on the
      right-sided hurdle step and a greater percentage of 3s (82.8% vs 60.6%) on right
      sided shoulder mobility. US players had a larger percentage of 3s (33.3% vs
      13.4%) and a lower percentage of 1s (2.2% vs 15.1%) on the active straight leg
      raise and a greater percentage of passable scores (>=2; 99.5% vs 65.8%) on the
      trunk stability push-up. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that fundamental
      movement competency differs between US- and DR-born professional baseball
      players. Based on these movement competency differences, a player's country of
      origin may be taken into account to create an effective training program.

PMID- 28605317
TI  - Rationalized Insights on Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Elderly and Women:
      Special Emphasis on Treatment Strategies.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder distinguished by synovial
      inflammation followed by destruction of joint. The pathogenesis of arthritis
      involves immune imbalance of the endogenous system. Causative factors include
      immune imbalance, oxidative stress, genetics, and environment. Continued effort
      has been made to treat RA via chemical, enzymatic, genetic, and hormonal
      approaches. RA has been reported more in the aged and in women. Arthritis
      necessitates lifelong administration of drugs to maintain quality of life. The
      major challenges of treatment are the side effects associated with these drugs.
      Novel approaches and targets have been explored as alternative measures to
      relieve pain in RA sufferers. Customary treatment strategies have limited
      therapeutic capability with episodes of associated side effects. Thus,
      revolutionary advances in novel RA-targeted drug delivery strategies are needed
      for efficient therapies and to meet the demand for treatment. The current review
      summarizes the pathogenesis of RA, its causative factors, and therapeutic
      approaches. These approaches are discussed with regard to mode of action,
      pharmacokinetics, marketed products, side effects of individual RA drugs, recent
      developments, modifications in the delivery of various drugs through targeted
      ligands, novel drug carriers as vesicular, particulate, self assembled, cellular,
      ceramic systems, and future prospects.

PMID- 28605318
TI  - Supramolecular Delivery Systems for Non-Platinum Metal-Based Anticancer Drugs.
AB  - Stimulated by the enormous success of the inorganic complex cisplatin in tumor
      treatment, interest in metal complexes has recently grown. Within cells, metal
      complexes can participate in reactions that are not possible with conventional
      organic substances, and most of them have promising efficacy as anticancer drugs.
      However, to be effective in vivo metal complexes need adequate delivery systems
      able to increase their water solubility, the in vivo bioavailability, and the
      safe delivery to target organs. The present review reports on the state of the
      art of these new, nonplatinum, anticancer metallodrugs delivered by nanosized
      vehicles. The development of complexes of ruthenium, gold, cobalt, copper,
      gallium, and others that show promising antitumor efficacy is reported, and we
      emphasize the different approaches in the individuation of the most appropriate
      delivery system for each of them.

PMID- 28605319
TI  - Medicinal Mushrooms in Human Clinical Studies. Part I. Anticancer,
      Oncoimmunological, and Immunomodulatory Activities: A Review.
AB  - More than 130 medicinal functions are thought to be produced by medicinal
      mushrooms (MMs) and fungi, including antitumor, immunomodulating, antioxidant,
      radical scavenging, cardiovascular, antihypercholesterolemic, antiviral,
      antibacterial, antiparasitic, antifungal, detoxification, hepatoprotective,
      antidiabetic, and other effects. Many, if not all, higher Basidiomycetes
      mushrooms contain biologically active compounds in fruit bodies, cultured
      mycelia, and cultured broth. Special attention has been paid to mushroom
      polysaccharides. Numerous bioactive polysaccharides or polysaccharide-protein
      complexes from MMs seem to enhance innate and cell-mediated immune responses, and
      they exhibit antitumor activities in animals and humans. While the mechanism of
      their antitumor actions is still not completely understood, stimulation and
      modulation of key host immune responses by these mushroom compounds seems to be
      central. Most important for modern medicine are polysaccharides and low-molecular
      weight secondary metabolites with antitumor and immunostimulating properties.
      More than 600 studies have been conducted worldwide, and numerous human clinical
      trials on MMs have been published. Several of the mushroom compounds have
      proceeded through phase I, II, and III clinical studies and are used extensively
      and successfully in Asia to treat various cancers and other diseases. The aim of
      this review is to provide an overview of and analyze the literature on clinical
      trials using MMs with human anticancer, oncoimmunological, and immunomodulatory
      activities. High-quality, long-term, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
      clinical studies of MMs, including well-sized population studies are definitely
      needed in order to yield statistical power showing their efficacy and safety.
      Clinical trials must obtain sufficient data on the efficacy and safety of MM
      derived drugs and preparations. Discussion of results based on clinical studies
      of the anticancer, oncoimmunological, and immunomodulating activity of MMs are
      highlighted. Epidemiological studies with MMs are also discussed.

PMID- 28605320
TI  - Preparative Isolation of 5 Antioxidant Constituents from the Medicinal Mushroom
      Phellinus baumii (Agaricomycetes) by High-Speed Countercurrent Chromatography and
      Preparative High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.
AB  - Four extract fractions from the fruiting bodies of Phellinus baumii were
      acquired. Preliminary investigation of radical scavenging ability showed that the
      ethyl acetate extract exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity. To gain
      insight into the antioxidant mechanism, 5 antioxidant constituents were prepared
      from the ethyl acetate extract using high-speed countercurrent chromatography
      with a solvent system consisting of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water
      (0.8:3:1.5:2.5, v/v/v/v), and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography.
      Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra
      were used to analyze the structures of these compounds and revealed that they
      were caffeic acid (compound 1), inoscavin A (compound 2), 3,4-dihydroxy
      benzaldehyde (compound 3), coumarin (compound 4), and naringenin (compound 5).
      Compound 2 showed strong antioxidant activity, and compounds 1, 3, and 5 showed
      moderate antioxidant activity. Thus, a more clearly and usefully scientific
      background is provided herein for the development of relative functional foods or
      biomedical products using Ph. baumii as the raw material.

PMID- 28605321
TI  - Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities of Extracts from Wild Mushroom
      Species from Turkey.
AB  - The antioxidant and inhibitory effects of methanol and aqueous extracts from
      Hymenogaster aromaticus, Ramaria aurea, and Rhizopogon luteolus against
      cholinesterase, tyrosinase, alpha-amylase, and alpha-glucosidase are reported
      here, to our knowledge for the first time. Antioxidant activities were
      investigated using different assays, including 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl,
      2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), ferric ion-reducing
      antioxidant power, cupric ion-reducing antioxidant capacity, phosphomolybdenum,
      and metal-chelating assays. In general, the highest antioxidant and enzyme
      inhibitory effects were observed in methanol extracts, which had the highest
      concentrations of phenolics. (+)-Catechin, benzoic acid, and p-hydroxybenzoic
      acid were determined to be the main phenolics in H. aromaticus components both in
      methanol and in aqueous extracts, whereas the other 2 species present very
      different phenolic fingerprints, also at smaller quantities. These results
      suggest that these mushroom species may be considered sources of natural agents.

PMID- 28605322
TI  - Antioxidant and Cholesterol Esterase Inhibitory Properties of Supplementation
      with Coconut Water in Submerged Cultivation of the Medicinal Chinese Caterpillar
      Mushroom, Ophiocordyceps sinensis CS1197 (Ascomycetes).
AB  - We investigated the potential use of coconut water to supplement potato dextrose
      broth (PDB) in the production of Ophiocordyceps sinensis CS1197 by submerged
      cultivation. The basal PDB medium was modified by supplementation with tender
      coconut water (TCW) and mature coconut water (MCW) at 10% and 5% (v/v),
      respectively; these mixtures were cultured at 28 degrees C for 14 days, with a pH
      of 7 and an inoculum volume of 10%. The addition of optimized levels of TCW and
      MCW improved the biomass yield by 2.2- and 2.5-fold, respectively, and adenosine,
      cordycepin, and polysaccharide content by 58% and 69%, 50% and 55%, and 19% and
      27%, respectively. Antioxidant and cholesterol esterase (CE) inhibitory
      activities of the aqueous extract from O. sinensis CS1197 mycelia supplemented
      with TCW and MCW were high compared with those of the control, indicating that
      coconut water has a positive correlation with the enhanced antioxidant and CE
      inhibitory activities. These antioxidant and CE inhibitory responses were
      dependent on concentration, and the larger amounts of bioactives in O. sinensis
      CS1197 are beneficial in pharmaceutical formulations.

PMID- 28605323
TI  - A King Bolete, Boletus edulis (Agaricomycetes), RNA Fraction Stimulates
      Proliferation and Cytotoxicity of Natural Killer Cells Against Myelogenous
      Leukemia Cells.
AB  - Numerous studies indicate the crucial role of natural killer (NK) cells in the
      prevention of tumor growth and inhibition of their metastasis, which suggests the
      possibility of their use in cancer treatment. This therapeutic strategy required
      finding a selective NK cell stimulator that, upon administration, did not disturb
      organism homeostasis, unlike natural activators (interleukin-2 or interleukin
      12). Because the majority of anticancer agents derived from Basidiomycetes are
      able to stimulate lymphocytes, we describe the influence of Boletus edulis RNA on
      a human NK cell line (NK92). Our studies showed that a B. edulis RNA fraction was
      not toxic against NK92 cells. Furthermore, the tested fraction significantly
      stimulated NK92 cell proliferation and their cytotoxicity against tumor cells. We
      demonstrate here, to our knowledge for the first time, that B. edulis RNA
      enhances NK cell activity and possesses immunomodulatory potential.

PMID- 28605324
TI  - Sulfation of the Extracellular Polysaccharide Produced by the King Oyster
      Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Pleurotus eryngii (Agaricomycetes), and Its
      Antioxidant Properties In Vitro.
AB  - Extracellular polysaccharide from Pleurotus eryngii was sulfated; the optimum
      reaction conditions used pyridine as the reaction solvent, a temperature of 80
      degrees C, and a reaction time of 90 minutes. The structure and antioxidant
      activity of the sulfated and original polysaccharides (designated as SF-1 and Fr
      1, respectively) were investigated. The main functional groups of polysaccharides
      were determined by Fourier transform infrared, and the chain conformation was
      determined by size-exclusion chromatography with laser light scattering and
      viscometry. Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated that the sulfated group
      was linked to the polymer. The molecular weight of SF-1 was much lighter than
      that of Fr-1, which suggested that degradation occurred during sulfation. The
      stable globular shape conformation of Fr-1 was changed to the random coil
      conformation of SF-1 in the aqueous solution. Moreover, the sulfated derivative
      SF-1 was found to have a better scavenging ability on hydroxyl radicals and DPPH
      free radicals than Fr-1. It seems that the chemical modification of P. eryngii
      polysaccharides by sulfation effectively enhances their antioxidant activity.

PMID- 28605325
TI  - Turmeric Bioprocessed with Mycelia from the Shiitake Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom
      Lentinus edodes (Agaricomycetes) Protects Mice Against Salmonellosis.
AB  - This study investigated the suppressive mechanisms of an extract from
      bioprocessed Lentinus edodes mycelial liquid culture supplemented with turmeric
      (bioprocessed Curcuma longa extract [BPCLE]) against murine salmonellosis. The
      BPLCE extract from the bioprocessed mycelia of the Salmonella Typhimurium into
      murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, elimination of intracellular bacteria, and
      elevation of inducible nitric oxide synthase expression. Dietary administration
      of BPCLE activated leukocytes from the mice infected with Salmonella through the
      intraperitoneal route. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of the cytokines
      produced by splenocytes from infected mice showed significant increases in the
      levels of Th1 cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-12.
      Histology showed that dietary administration of BPCLE protected against necrosis
      of the liver resulting from a sublethal dose of Salmonella. In addition, the
      treatment (1) extended the lifespan of lethally infected mice, (2) suppressed the
      invasion of Salmonella into human Caco-2 colorectal adenocarcinoma cells, (3)
      increased excretion of the bacterium in the feces, (4) suppressed the
      translocation of the Salmonella to internal organs, and (5) increased total
      immunoglobulin A in both serum and intestinal fluids. BPCLE protected the mice
      against salmonellosis via cooperative effects that include the upregulation of
      the Th1 immune reaction, prevention of translocation of bacteria across the
      intestinal epithelial cells, and increased immunoglobulin A production in serum
      and intestinal fluids.

PMID- 28605326
TI  - Effect of Different Proportions of Agrowaste on Cultivation Yield and Nutritional
      Composition of the Culinary-Medicinal Jelly Mushroom Auricularia polytricha
      (Higher Basidiomycetes).
AB  - In this study, Auricularia polytricha was cultivated on a sawdust basal substrate
      supplemented with different proportions (30%, 45%, and 60%, respectively) of
      agrowastes-sugarcane bagasse (SB), rice straw (RS), and rice husk (RH)-to
      evaluate the alternative substrates. The mycelial growth rate, total colonization
      time, time to first primordia, biological efficiency, and chemical composition of
      the fruiting bodies were determined. Results indicated that the 60% SB substrate
      was the best substrate for mycelial growth of A. polytricha, with a corresponding
      total colonization period of 35.2 days, followed by the control (35.5 days) and
      45% SB (36.2 days) substrates. The most suitable substrate with a high biological
      efficiency was 60% RS substrate (159.14%), followed by the 45% SB (128.45%), and
      20% RH (124.47%) substrates. The nutrient values of fruiting bodies showed the
      largest amounts of ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and energy cultivated on 60%
      SB, 60% SB, 30% SB, 30% RH, and 30% RH/the control substrates, respectively. The
      results indicated that 60% RS was an appropriate substrate for A. polytricha
      cultivation.

PMID- 28605327
TI  - Impact of High Altitude on Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis after R0
      Resection for Gastric Cancer: A Population-Based Multicenter Study.
AB  - Geographic variation has an important role in both carcinogenesis and prognosis
      of gastric cancer (GC). High altitude is a special hypoxic environment that is
      also correlated with the occurrence of GC. Different onset features and prognoses
      of GC in high altitude with respect to plains are rarely reported and remain
      unknown. This multicenter study compared different clinicopathological
      characteristics and prognoses of patients with resected GC who were from
      locations of both high altitudes and plains in China. From December 2009 to
      December 2011, patients with resected GC were retrospectively recruited at four
      centers located at high altitudes and the plains. Clinicopathological data were
      analyzed to explore the differences between the two groups. The Cox proportional
      hazards model was used to investigate the prognostic factors for GC and estimate
      the independent impact of altitude on long-term survival after adjusting for
      covariates. Noncardia GC, from a moderate to well tumor grade, was more common in
      patients from high altitudes. Moreover, a higher proportion of moderate to well
      and moderate tumor grade and younger age of onset was found in patients with
      noncardia GC coming from high altitudes. Different overall survival (OS)
      presented in noncardia GC rather than cardia GC, with 69.94% GC-related 3-yr OS
      in high altitude versus 75.23% in the plains. High altitude was confirmed as a
      significant prognostic factor for noncardia GC (the hazard ratio for high
      altitude vs. plains was 1:50, with a 95% confidence interval; 1.06-1.82, p =
      0.018) through a multivariate Cox proportional-hazards model analysis. This
      prognostic value was independent of all other factors. High altitude has an
      important role in clinicopathological features and prognosis of GC. Improvements
      in GC diagnosis and management at high altitudes are urgently needed.

PMID- 28605328
TI  - Characterization of Microcystin-Induced Dualistic Toxic Effects on Primary Rat
      Hepatocytes.
AB  - Microcystins (MCs) comprise a group of widely characterized cyclic heptapeptides
      able to induce a series of liver injuries, including acute liver failure and
      primary liver cancer. Although the dualistic effects of MCs have been postulated,
      the specific action mode according to the exposure dosage of MCs remains unknown.
      In the present study, primarily cultured rat hepatocytes were used to
      systematically investigate hepatotoxic characteristics of MC-LR (one of the most
      abundant and toxic MCs variants). Results showed that the dualistic toxicity of
      MC-LR on hepatocytes is dose dependent. Specifically, MC-LR at a high dose (>10-8
      mol/L) induced a significant reduction in cell viability, whereas low-dose MC-LR
      (<10-8 mol/L) was observed to promote cell proliferation. Oxidative stress
      measurements showed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels undergo a massive
      and rapid increase in high-dose MC-LR-treated hepatocytes and a mild and slow
      increase in low-dose MC-LR-treated hepatocytes. These in vitro data suggest that
      MC-LR is able to exert dualistic toxic effects on hepatocytes through the "two
      faced" character of ROS, which causes cell death or even necrosis at high
      concentrations and promotes cell proliferation exclusively at low or transient
      concentrations.

PMID- 28605329
TI  - Immunohistochemical Profile of Tumor Pathways and Prognostic Significance in
      Colon Adenocarcinomas.
AB  - The current study examined the immunohistochemical expression levels of molecules
      on carcinogenesis pathway and evaluated their clinicopathologic significance in
      colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRA). A total of 189 CRA and 20 colonic mucosal tissue
      samples were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining using 38 antibodies
      targeting the known molecules that play roles in developmental pathways of
      various tumors. The immunoexpression data of the patients were compared to
      clinicopathologic parameters. Expression loss of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, PTEN,
      Smad4 and E-cadherin, and overexpression of ALDH1, CD44, CAIX, P504S (AMACR),
      TGFBeta, and ZEB1 were statistically significant in CRA compared to normal colon
      mucosa. Long-term clinical follow-up findings in our cases suggested that AMACR,
      CAIX, ALDH1, TGFBeta, ZEB1 overexpression, and cyclinD1, p53, E-cadherin, and
      PTEN inactivity might be useful markers of a poor prognosis in CRA. In survival
      analyses, the expression of CAIX and AMACR were significantly associated with
      overall survival in both the univariate and multivariate analyses (log-rank test;
      p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively).

PMID- 28605330
TI  - Effect of Antihypertensive Drug Treatment on Oxidative Stress Markers in Heart of
      Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat Models.
AB  - Oxidative stress has been suggested to play a role in hypertension- and
      hypertension-induced organ damage. The effect of antihypertensive drug treatments
      on oxidative stress markers has not been well assessed. Therefore, in this study
      we investigated the effect of enalapril on oxidative stress markers in hearts of
      hypertensive rat models such as spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and SHRs
      administered N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (SHR+L-NAME rats). Male rats were
      divided into four groups: SHRs, SHR+enalapril (SHR-E) rats, SHR+L-NAME rats,
      SHR+enalapril+L-NAME (SHRE+L-NAME) rats. Rats (SHREs) were administered enalapril
      (30 mg kg-1 day-1) in drinking water from week 4 to week 28 and L-NAME (25 mg kg
      1 day-1) from week 16 to week 28 in drinking water. At the end of 28 weeks,
      animals were sacrificed, and their hearts were collected for the assessment of
      oxidative stress markers and histological examination. Enalapril treatment
      significantly enhanced the total antioxidant status (TAS) (P < 0.001), reduced
      the oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH : GSSG) (P < 0.001), and reduced to
      thibarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) (P < 0.001) and protein carbonyl
      content (PCO) (P < 0.001), which thus reduced the oxidative stress in the heart.
      The fibrosis areas in SHRs and SHR+L-NAME rats were also markedly reduced. These
      findings suggest that enalapril might play a protective role in hypertension- and
      hypertension-induced organ damage.

PMID- 28605331
TI  - Classification, Source, and Effect of Environmental Pollutants and Their
      Biodegradation.
AB  - Any foreign chemical substance that is unusually present within an organism or is
      unexpectedly found in the environment at a higher concentration than the
      permissible limits can be termed a xenobiotic or a pollutant. Such substances
      include carcinogens, drugs, food additives, hydrocarbons, dioxins,
      polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides or even some natural compounds. Pollutants
      are known for their higher persistence and pervasiveness, and along with their
      transformed products, they can remain in and interact with the environment for
      prolonged periods. In this article, the classification of such substances based
      on their nature, use, physical state, pathophysiological effects, and sources is
      discussed. The effects of pollutants on the environment, their biotransformation
      in terms of bioaccumulation, and the different types of remediation such as in
      situ and ex situ remediation, are also presented.

PMID- 28605332
TI  - Protective Effect of Curcumin Against Carbofuran-Induced Toxicity in Wistar Rats.
AB  - Pesticide carbofuran (Furadan) is known to be an inhibitor of nerve impulses by
      its inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. Oral administration of carbofuran also
      produced tissue damage as evidenced by the increased the activities of creatine
      kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and gamma glutamyl transferase (gamma
      GT) in tissues and serum. Against carbofuran, curcumin restored the activities of
      acetylcholinesterase, LDH, CK and gamma- GT in animals. Curcumin also restored
      the reduced mitochondrial enzymes in rat liver caused by carbofuran. Liver
      carbohydrate metabolizing enzyme hexokinase was increased, and glucose 6
      phosphate dehydrogenase, fructose 1,6 diphosphatase, and glucose 6-phosphatase
      decreased after carbofuran treatment. Treatment with curcumin improved these
      enzyme activities in the liver. Carbofuran exposure resulted in increased lipid
      peroxidation (LPO), hydroperoxides, and conjugated diene in liver. Administration
      of curcumin during carbofuran administration lowered LPO, conjugated diene, and
      hydroperoxides. Moreover, levels of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase,
      catalase, and glutathione, which were significantly decreased after carbofuran
      exposure, were increased by curcumin administration. Marked impairment in the
      motor function was seen following carbofuran administration. Curcumin treatment
      significantly improved the carbofuran-induced neurobehavioral difficulties. These
      results indicate the ameliorating activity of carbofuran toxicity by curcumin.

PMID- 28605333
TI  - Prevention of Polyphenols Against Carcinogenesis Induced by Environmental
      Carcinogens.
AB  - Cancer is one of the major causes of death in humans. Of all cancers, 19% are
      attributed to exposure to environmental chemical carcinogens. Dietary polyphenols
      from teas, vegetables, fruits, and many others exhibit multiple activities
      against cancers. Exposure to environmental carcinogens such as ultraviolet B
      (UVB), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals has been
      demonstrated to cause cancer in humans. In this article, we specifically select
      UVB, PAHs, and metals as representative of three types of environmental
      carcinogens: physical, organic, and inorganic, respectively. We provide a
      comprehensive review on the role of various dietary polyphenols against
      carcinogenesis induced by those three types of carcinogens. We summarize the
      current knowledge of and prospects for prevention of those three groups of
      carcinogens induced by dietary polyphenols in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 28605334
TI  - An Overview of Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms in Neurodegeneration and
      Neurotrauma Research.
AB  - Culinary and medicinal mushrooms have been appreciated since prehistoric times as
      valuable resources for food and medicine. Edible mushrooms represent an untapped
      source of nutraceuticals and valuable palatable food. Long considered tonics,
      they are now treasured as functional foods that can improve human health and
      quality of life. Numerous studies have provided insights into the neuroprotective
      effects of edible mushrooms, which are attributed to their antioxidant,
      antineuroinflammatory, and cholinesterase inhibitory properties, and their
      ability to prevent neuronal death. Here we review the recent literature on the
      role of culinary and medicinal mushrooms in the management of neurodegenerative
      diseases and neurotrauma. We highlight some of the molecular mechanisms for how
      these alternative medicines provide health benefits that could help us to harness
      their neuroprotective effects.

PMID- 28605335
TI  - In Vitro Expression of Toll-Like Receptors and Proinflammatory Molecules Induced
      by Ergosta- 7,22-Dien-3-One Isolated from a Wild Mexican Strain of Ganoderma
      oerstedii (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - Compounds showing pharmacological activity on the immune system are of interest
      because of their therapeutic potential in the treatment of many diseases.
      However, data from primary human immune cells and in vivo studies are limited.
      The aim of this study was to analyze the ability to induce the expression of Toll
      like receptors (TLRs) and proinflammatory molecules on cells involved in the
      immune system using the compound ergosta-7,22-dien-3- one, isolated from a wild
      Mexican strain of Ganoderma oerstedii. According to our study, ergosta-7,22-dien
      3-one did not present any cytotoxic effect on HeLa or J774A.1 cells, and it was
      able to stimulate nitric oxide production, induce the expression of genes, and
      induce the production of TLRs, cytokines, chemokines, and cellular adhesion
      molecules in J774A.1 cells, based on reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain
      reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Here we report a new pro
      inflammatory property of ergosta-7,22-dien-3-one, which should be considered as a
      possible adjuvant property in view of its biological activity.

PMID- 28605336
TI  - Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and IL-23 Induced by
      Polysaccharide of the Black Hoof Medicinal Mushroom, Phellinus linteus
      (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has diverse roles associated with cell growth,
      migration, invasion, and angiogenesis. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1
      (TIMP-1) is known to inhibit MMP-9 by complexing with it at a 1:1 ratio.
      Suppressing MMP-9 activity through the overexpression of TIMP-1 allows for
      regulation of tumor growth and metastasis by blocking invasion and angiogenesis
      in the tumor microenvironment. We found that TIMP-1 and interleukin (IL)-23 are
      induced in RAW264.7 macrophage cells, a cell line established by Abelson leukemia
      virus transformation from the BALB/c mouse strain, in a dose-dependent pattern,
      at the transcriptional level by treatment with a crude polysaccharide fraction of
      Phellinus linteus (CPP) at a range of 10 to 1000 MUg/mL. We purified CPP into 2
      polysaccharide fractions, Fr-I and Fr-II, and one protein fraction, Fr-III. Among
      the 3 fractions, Fr-II increased TIMP-1 expression 6.8-fold compared with the
      control, according to quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain
      reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis in the RAW264.7 culture system. On the other hand,
      all 3 fractions increased IL-23 expression, with the highest increase brought
      about by Fr-II. qRT-PCR analysis showed that Fr-I and Fr-II increased IL-17
      expression in RAW264.7 cells by 13.3-fold and 19.6-fold, respectively. IL-17
      expression in lung tissue was increased 2.1-fold compared with the control group,
      whereas that in liver tissue was unaltered by oral administration of CPP for 7
      days. In a mouse model, qRT-PCR analysis showed that CPP induced liver TIMP-1 and
      lung IL-17 expressions 8.9-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively, without affecting MMP
      9 expression. Our in vitro and in vivo data suggest that inducing TIMP-1 without
      altering MMP-9 expression by administering the polysaccharide fraction of Ph.
      linteus could be a novel antitumor or antimetastasis mechanism of polysaccharide
      from the medicinal mushroom Ph. linteus.

PMID- 28605337
TI  - Antitumor Effect of By-1 from Spent Broth from Submerged Cultures of Stout
      Camphor Medicinal Mushroom, Taiwanofungus camphoratus (Higher Basidiomycetes), on
      A549 Adenocarcinoma Cells.
AB  - By-1 was obtained from spent broth from submerged cultures of Taiwanofungus
      camphoratus. This report evaluates the effects of By-1 on plate clone formation,
      wound healing, cell cycle, activated caspase-3 expression, and ROS release in
      A549 lung cancer cells. The result of plate clone formation assay revealed that
      By-1 could dramatically inhibit the viability of A549 cells in vitro. The
      inhibitory effect of By-1 on cell migration was tested using a wound healing
      assay. Proliferation rates of A549 cells were significantly inhibited following
      exposure to By-1 (12.5, 50, and 80 MUg/mL). Flow cytometry revealed that the
      extracts increased, in a concentration-dependent manner, the number of cells in
      the G0/G1 phases of the cell cycle. The results of the caspase-3 experiment
      suggested that By-1 could induce A549 cells apoptosis, and this apoptosis was
      related to the release of reactive oxygen species by the A549 cells. All these
      results indicate that By-1 has potential in anti-lung cancer drug development.

PMID- 28605338
TI  - Effect of Hispolon from Phellinus lonicerinus (Agaricomycetes) on Estrogen
      Receptors, Aromatase, and Cyclooxygenase II in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells.
AB  - Phytoestrogen has previously been proposed as an alternative to hormone
      replacement therapy. Hispolon has been found to have phytoestrogenic properties.
      However, the possible effects of hispolon on estrogen receptors and other related
      molecules remain to be determined. This study was performed mainly to confirm the
      estrogenic function of hispolon as it relates to estrogen receptors, aromatase,
      and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2). Hispolon was shown to increase the serum 17beta
      estradiol in vivo. Immunohistochemical staining methods showed that hispolon
      exhibited a biphasic effect on ERalpha/beta and aromatase expression in MCF-7
      cells. Hispolon could also significantly inhibit aromatase activity, assessed
      using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blotting showed that COX-2
      and aromatase could be inhibited by hispolon. These results further prove the
      phytoestrogenic features of hispolon and explore some pharmacological mechanisms
      that suggest that hispolon could be useful in the treatment of breast cancers or
      other gynecologic diseases.

PMID- 28605339
TI  - Anti-MRSA Activity of Fruiting Body Extracts of Spectacular Rustgill Mushroom,
      Gymnopilus junonius (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - Despite the great advances in chemotherapeutics, infectious diseases are still
      one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Among some of the clinically
      relevant pathogens, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ranks as
      one of the most difficult bacteria to treat. It is a common cause of skin, soft
      tissue, and endovascular infections, as well as pneumonia, septic arthritis,
      endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and sepsis. The research on Basidiomycota is
      extensive; many species show a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities,
      including antimicrobial activity. The vast majority of the literature to date
      generally focuses on screening the antibacterial properties of mushroom extracts.
      A gap still exists in the identification of the individual compounds responsible
      for these properties, and few low molecular weight compounds have been described.
      Gymnopilus junonius, the big laughter mushroom, grows wild in Uruguay, especially
      on Eucalyptus spp. plantations; it is known as the "eucalyptus fungus." In this
      work, we report the bioguided isolation, structural elucidation, and
      antistaphylococcal activity of the main antimicrobial components of fresh
      basidiocarps of G. junonius.

PMID- 28605340
TI  - Vitamin D2 Stability During the Refrigerated Storage of Ultraviolet B-Treated
      Cultivated Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms.
AB  - The effects of ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation on the synthesis of vitamin D2 and
      its stability during refrigerated storage was determined in fresh cultivated
      culinary-medicinal mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus ostreatus, and
      Lentinus edodes) after harvest. The irradiated mushrooms were stored at 4 degrees
      C for up to 10 days. The concentrations of vitamin D2 and ergosterol were
      determined using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass
      spectrometry. The cultivated mushrooms not treated with UVB were devoid of
      vitamin D2. After UVB irradiation, we obtained mushrooms with a large amount of
      ergocalciferol. A. bisporus showed the lowest vitamin D2 content (3.55 +/- 0.11
      MUg D2/g dry weight); P. ostreatus contained 58.96 +/- 1.15 MUg D2/g dry weight,
      and L. edodes contained 29.46 +/- 2.21 MUg/g dry weight. During storage at 4
      degrees C, the amount of vitamin D2 was gradually decreased in P. ostreatus and
      L. edodes, whereas in A. bisporus vitamin D2 gradually increased until the sixth
      day, then decreased. Mushrooms exposed to UVB radiation contain a significant
      amount of vitamin D2 and are therefore an excellent food source of vitamin D.

PMID- 28605341
TI  - Preclinical Assessment of Cardiovascular Alterations Induced by Birch Polypore
      Mushroom, Piptoporus betulinus (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - Piptoporus betulinus has been used in folk medicine for millennia. However, no
      data currently exist regarding its potential cardiovascular activity. In this
      work, the crude ethanolic extract and fractions (hexane, ethyl acetate, and
      water) with increased polarity from the partitioning process, as well as
      stigmasterol (the major metabolite isolated from P. betulinus), were administered
      orally at different doses to normotensive male Wistar rats an hour before
      recording mean arterial pressure, heart rate, renal blood flow, renal vascular
      conductance, arterial blood flow, and arterial vascular conductance. The acute
      oral administration of crude ethanolic extract and all fractions did not alter
      mean arterial pressure when compared with the control group, which received a
      vehicle. In addition, subchronic (14 days) oral administration of crude ethanolic
      extract, fractions, and stigmasterol did not alter cardiovascular parameters. In
      conclusion, our findings demonstrate that oral administration of organic extracts
      of P. betulinus did not induce cardiovascular alterations.

PMID- 28605342
TI  - Compositional Differences of the Winter Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Flammulina
      velutipes (Agaricomycetes), under Three Types of Light Conditions.
AB  - The focus of this study was to investigate the effect of light on the cultivation
      and the amounts of bio-active components in Flammulina velutipes. The mushrooms
      were cultivated under fluorescent tube (T8) grow lights, lightemitting diodes
      (LEDs), and cold-cathode fluorescent lamps. The biological efficiency of the T8
      lights was the highest, at 92%. The crude fat content, crude fiber content,
      polysaccharide content, and ergosterol content were highest under the LEDs, at
      2.9 g/100 g, 7.9 g/100 g, 3.9 g/100 g, and 1.4 mg/g, respectively. Moreover,
      vitamin D2 (1.9 MUg/g) was generated only under light from LEDs. Principal
      component analysis showed that F. velutipes cultivated under the 3 different
      lighting conditions showed different profiles for proximate composition,
      nutritional compounds, and principal fatty acids.

PMID- 28605346
TI  - Akirin2-Mediated Transcriptional Control by Recruiting SWI/SNF Complex in B
      Cells.
AB  - Extensive studies in last decade have demonstrated that dynamic control of gene
      transcription is key in the regulation of inflammatory responses. Although
      signaling pathways and transcription factors have a central role, growing
      evidence for the involvement of chromatin in the regulation of gene expression in
      immune cells has uncovered an evolutionarily conserved role of pathogen
      recognition and epigenetic regulation. The substantial potential of these
      responses to drive pathological inflammation and tissue damage highlights the
      need for rigorous control of these responses. Recently, an evolutionarily
      conserved nuclear factor, Akirin2, has been identified as an essential link
      between nuclear factor-kappaB and chromatin remodelers for transcriptional
      regulation in macrophages and B cells. In this review, we discuss current
      understanding of the molecular mechanisms that have instrumental roles in
      governing the inflammatory response with special emphasis on Akirin2 in B cells.

PMID- 28605345
TI  - Immunometabolic Signaling Pathways Contribute to Macrophage and Dendritic Cell
      Function.
AB  - Understanding of antigen-presenting cell (APC) participation in tissue
      inflammation and metabolism has advanced through numerous studies using systems
      biology approaches. Previously unrecognized connections between these research
      areas have been elucidated in the context of inflammatory disease involving
      innate and adaptive immune responses. A new conceptual framework bridges APC
      biology, metabolism, and cytokines in the generation of effective T-cell
      responses. Exploring these connections is paramount to addressing the rising tide
      of multi-organ system diseases, particularly chronic diseases associated with
      metabolic syndrome, infection, and cancer. Focused research in these areas will
      aid the development of strategies to harness and manipulate innate immunology to
      improve vaccine development, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor
      therapies. This review highlights recent advances in APC "immunometabolism"
      specifically related to chronic viral and metabolic disease in humans. The goal
      of this review is to develop an abridged and consolidated outlook on recent
      thematic updates to APC immunometabolism in the areas of regulation and crosstalk
      between metabolic and inflammatory signaling and the integrated stress response
      and how these signals dictate APC function in providing T-cell activation Signal
      3.

PMID- 28605347
TI  - Autoimmune Hepatitis: Factors Involved in Initiation and Methods of Diagnosis and
      Treatment.
AB  - Autoimmune hepatitis is an acute or mostly chronic liver disease that can affect
      both adults and children and has a clear prevalence for the female sex. A
      definite etiology has not been established, but it is known that genetic
      predisposing profiles and exogenous trigger factors are involved. The main
      diagnostic criteria include typical histological features, the occurrence of
      serum auto-antibodies, and increased levels of transaminases and gamma-globulins.
      Instances of autoimmune hepatitis sharing features with other autoimmune liver
      diseases have also been observed. An imbalance of the immune system with
      persistent activation of effector T cells has been emphasized to account for the
      sustained liver injury. Clinical manifestations are variable both at presentation
      and throughout the course of the disease, ranging from an asymptomatic state or
      the occurrence of non-specific symptoms to the features of end-stage liver
      disease such as jaundice, ascites, and gastrointestinal bleeding. A clinical and
      biochemical remission is achieved in at least 80% of patients receiving
      corticosteroids with or without the addition of azathioprine. Alternative
      therapeutic schedules have been proposed for unresponsive and intolerant
      patients. Given that relapse often occurs after therapy withdrawal, maintenance
      treatment is usually required.

PMID- 28605344
TI  - Flow Cytometric Characterization of Antigen-Specific T Cells Based on RNA and Its
      Advantages in Detecting Infections and Immunological Disorders.
AB  - Fluorescence in situ hybridization coupled with flow cytometry (FISH-Flow) is a
      highly quantitative, high-throughput platform allowing precise quantification of
      total mRNA transcripts in single cells. In undiagnosed infections posing a
      significant health burden worldwide, such as latent tuberculosis or asymptomatic
      recurrent malaria, an important challenge is to develop accurate diagnostic
      tools. Antigen-specific T cells create a persistent memory to pathogens, making
      them useful for diagnosis of infection. Stimulation of memory response initiates
      T-cell transitions between functional states. Numerous studies have shown that
      changes in protein levels lag real-time T-cell transitions. However, analysis at
      the single-cell transcriptional level can determine the differences. FISH-Flow is
      a powerful tool with which to study the functional states of T-cell subsets and
      to identify the gene expression profiles of antigen-specific T cells during
      disease progression. Advances in instrumentation, fluorophores, and FISH
      methodologies will broaden and deepen the use of FISH-Flow, changing the
      immunological field by allowing determination of functional immune signatures at
      the mRNA level and the development of new diagnostic tools.

PMID- 28605349
TI  - Ebers, DaVinci, and Euler: Calculating the Pulse. Assumptions, Challenges, and
      Opportunities in Mathematical Modeling of Aortic Flow.
AB  - Mathematical modeling of flow in the circulatory system, particularly the
      arterial system, has long relied on old equations derived from the study of fluid
      mechanics in rigid tubes, which does not account for the cyclic distension of the
      vessel or the effects of intraluminal forces on wall components. An understanding
      of the current scientific evidence and the limitations of such assumptions is
      essential for adequate computational modeling of the circulatory system. Improved
      interdisciplinary communication among the basic science, medical, surgical, and
      biomedical engineering communities should prove to be beneficial in developing
      safer, more effective, and more reliable tools and devices that are more
      consistent with physiological processes within the body.

PMID- 28605350
TI  - Current Status of Radiological Multimodality Imaging.
AB  - Multimodality imaging is driven by the rising demand for highly integrated
      diagnostic information from in vivo imaging. We provide a comprehensive review of
      multimodality imaging techniques available in nuclear medicine, including
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with ultrasound and MRI combined with
      stereotactic methods for image-guided breast biopsies and MR-guided stereotactic
      neurosurgery. Commercially available and investigative hardware- and software
      based platforms for multimodality imaging are evaluated critically and their
      advantages and limitations are outlined.

PMID- 28605348
TI  - Essential Mechanisms of Differential Activation of Eosinophils by IL-3 Compared
      to GM-CSF and IL-5.
AB  - Compelling evidence has demonstrated that the eosinophils bring negative
      biological outcomes in several diseases, including eosinophilic asthma and
      hypereosinophilic syndromes. Eosinophils produce and store a broad range of toxic
      proteins and other mediators that enhance the inflammatory response and lead to
      tissue damage. For instance, in asthma, a close relationship has been
      demonstrated between increased lung eosinophilia, asthma exacerbation, and loss
      of lung function. The use of an anti-IL-5 therapy in severe eosinophilic
      asthmatic patients is efficient to reduce exacerbations. However, anti-IL-5
      treated patients still display a relatively high amount of functional lung tissue
      eosinophils, indicating that supplemental therapies are required to damper the
      eosinophil functions. Our recent published works suggest that compared to IL-5,
      IL-3 can more strongly and differentially affect eosinophil functions. In this
      review, we summarize our and other investigations that have compared the effects
      of the three beta-chain receptor cytokines (IL-5, GM-CSF and IL-3) on eosinophil
      biology. We focus on how IL-3 differentially activates eosinophils compared to IL
      5 or GM-CSF.

PMID- 28605354
TI  - 5 Conferenza Nazionale dei Servizi Trasfusionali: Firenze, 25-27 maggio 2017.

PMID- 28605352
TI  - Asymmetry in Signal Oscillations Contributes to Efficiency of Periodic Systems.
AB  - Oscillations are an important feature of cellular signaling that result from
      complex combinations of positive- and negative-feedback loops. The encoding and
      decoding mechanisms of oscillations based on amplitude and frequency have been
      extensively discussed in the literature in the context of intercellular and
      intracellular signaling. However, the fundamental questions of whether and how
      oscillatory signals offer any competitive advantages-and, if so, what-have not
      been fully answered. We investigated established oscillatory mechanisms and
      designed a study to analyze the oscillatory characteristics of signaling
      molecules and system output in an effort to answer these questions. Two classic
      oscillators, Goodwin and PER, were selected as the model systems, and
      corresponding no-feedback models were created for each oscillator to discover the
      advantage of oscillating signals. Through simulating the original oscillators and
      the matching no-feedback models, we show that oscillating systems have the
      capability to achieve better resource-to-output efficiency, and we identify
      oscillatory characteristics that lead to improved efficiency.

PMID- 28605353
TI  - Comprehensive Review on Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly.
      However, definitive diagnosis of AD is only achievable postmortem and currently
      relies on clinical neurological evaluation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can
      evaluate brain changes typical of AD, including brain atrophy, presence of
      amyloid beta (Abeta) plaques, and functional and biochemical abnormalities.
      Structural MRI (sMRI) has historically been used to assess the inherent brain
      atrophy present in AD. However, new techniques have recently emerged that have
      refined sMRI into a more precise tool to quantify the thickness and volume of AD
      sensitive cerebral structures. Abeta plaques, a defining pathology of AD, are
      widely believed to contribute to the progressive cognitive decline in AD, but
      accurate assessment is only possible on autopsy. In vivo MRI of plaques, although
      currently limited to mouse models of AD, is a very promising technique. Measuring
      changes in activation and connectivity in AD-specific regions of the brain can be
      performed with functional MRI (fMRI). To help distinguish AD from diseases with
      similar symptoms, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can be used to look for
      differing metabolite concentrations in vivo. Together, these MR techniques,
      evaluating various brain changes typical of AD, may help to provide a more
      definitive diagnosis and ease the assessment of the disease over time,
      noninvasively.

PMID- 28605351
TI  - The Potential of Circadian Realignment in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - In this short review, we discuss evidence supporting the modulation of peripheral
      circadian systems as a therapeutic strategy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We
      first review the role of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress, two of
      the primary mediators of chronic inflammation in RA, and their regulation by
      circadian clock machinery. We further highlight the role of environmental and
      metabolic signals in regulating the central and peripheral circadian clocks, with
      an emphasis on seasonal variations in photoperiod and rhythmic metabolic input,
      respectively. Finally, we hypothesize that the entrainment and realignment of
      peripheral clock rhythms have the ability to modulate these mediators, improving
      clinical outcomes in RA patients. Our discussion emphasizes the use of light
      therapy and time-restricted feeding for entraining peripheral clocks either via
      the entrainment of the central circadian clock in suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) or
      directly by uncoupling the peripheral circadian clocks from SCN. In doing so, we
      highlight the use of nonpharmacologic interventions as a potential strategy for
      improving clinical outcomes in chronic inflammatory conditions such as RA.

PMID- 28605355
TI  - 2o Congresso Hispano-Portugues de Medicina Transfusional e Terapia Celular; 2o
      Encontro Hispano-Luso Afro-Latino-Americano de Transfusao de Sangue; X Congresso
      Nacional da Associacao Portuguesa de Imuno-hemoterapia (APIH); 28o Congresso da
      Sociedade Espanhola de Transfusao Sanguinea e Terapia Celular (SETS): Porto
      (Portugal), 1 a 3 de Junho 2017.

PMID- 28605356
TI  - Risk of Occult Uterine Sarcoma in Women Undergoing Hysterectomy for Benign
      Indications: Correction.

PMID- 28605357
TI  - Two-Year Outcomes After Sacrocolpopexy With and Without Burch to Prevent Stress
      Urinary Incontinence: Correction.

PMID- 28605359
TI  - Production of Metal Nanoparticles by Pulsed Laser-ablation in Liquids: A Tool for
      Studying the Antibacterial Properties of Nanoparticles.
AB  - The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria is a global clinical concern
      leading some to speculate about our return to a "pre-antibiotics" era of
      medicine. In addition to efforts to identify novel small-molecule antimicrobial
      drugs, there has been great interest in the use of metal nanoparticles as
      coatings for medical devices, wound dressings, and consumer packaging, due to
      their antimicrobial properties. The wide variety of methods available for
      nanoparticle synthesis results in a broad spectrum of chemical and physical
      properties which can affect antibacterial efficacy. This manuscript describes the
      pulsed laser-ablation in liquids (PLAL) method to create nanoparticles. This
      approach allows for the fine tuning of nanoparticle size, composition, and
      stability using post-irradiation methods as well as the addition of surfactants
      or volume excluders. By controlling particle size and composition, a large range
      of physical and chemical properties of metal nanoparticles can be explored which
      may contribute to their antimicrobial efficacy thereby opening new avenues for
      antibacterial development.

PMID- 28605360
TI  - Preparation of Herbal Medicine: Er-Xian Decoction and Er-Xian-containing Serum
      for In Vivo and In Vitro Experiments.
AB  - Traditional herbal medicine, an alternative medicine in the clinical setting, has
      received increased attention in recent years. Before delivery to the body, an
      additional extraction procedure is commonly required to release the active
      constituents from raw herbs. Water decoction is a classical extraction procedure
      that is still broadly used in the clinical settings. Here, we propose a detailed
      protocol for er-xian decoction (EXD) in order to apply herbal decoctions to
      experimental studies. The calculation of an animal-appropriate dose is described,
      as well as the four main steps of EXD: soaking, water decoction, filtration, and
      concentration. In addition, serum-containing EXD is introduced to rats as a means
      of in vitro validation. Here, rats were orally administered EXD for three days.
      Blood samples were then collected, inactivated, centrifuged, and filtered. The
      serum, diluted with the culture medium, can be utilized to treat cells or tissues
      in vitro. For example, EXD was applied to both in vivo and in vitro studies and
      demonstrated that EXD enhances osteogenesis. This protocol can be used as a
      reference for the preparation and application of herbal medicines.

PMID- 28605362
TI  - Recording EEG in Freely Moving Neonatal Rats Using a Novel Method.
AB  - EEG is a useful method to detect electrical activity in the brain. Moreover, it
      is a widely used diagnostic tool for various neurological conditions, such as
      epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders. However, it is technically difficult to
      obtain EEG recordings in neonates as it requires specialized handling and great
      care. Here, we present a novel method to record EEG in neonatal rat pups (P8
      P15). We designed a simple and reliable electrode using computer pin loci; it can
      be easily implanted into the skull of a rat pup to record high-quality EEG
      signals in the normal and epileptic brain. Pups were given an intraperitoneal
      (i.p.) injection of the neurotoxin kainic acid (KA) to induce epileptic seizures.
      The surgical implantation performed in this procedure is less expensive than
      other EEG procedures for neonates. This method allows one to record high-quality
      and stable EEG signals for more than 1 week. Furthermore, this procedure can also
      be applied to adult rats and mice to study epilepsy or other neurological
      disorders.

PMID- 28605361
TI  - Isolation of Type I and Type II Pericytes from Mouse Skeletal Muscles.
AB  - Pericytes are perivascular multipotent cells that show heterogeneity in different
      organs or even within the same tissue. In skeletal muscles, there are at least
      two pericyte subpopulations (called type I and type II), which express different
      molecular markers and have distinct differentiation capabilities. Using NG2-DsRed
      and Nestin-GFP double-transgenic mice, type I (NG2-DsRed+Nestin-GFP-) and type II
      (NG2-DsRed+Nestin-GFP+) pericytes have been successfully isolated. However, the
      availability of these double-transgenic mice prevents the widespread use of this
      purification method. This work describes an alternative protocol that allows for
      the easy and simultaneous isolation of type I and type II pericytes from skeletal
      muscles. This protocol utilizes the fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)
      technique and targets PDGFRbeta, rather than NG2, together with the Nestin-GFP
      signal. Following isolation, type I and type II pericytes show distinct
      morphologies. In addition, type I and type II pericytes isolated with this new
      method, like those isolated from the double-transgenic mice, are adipogenic and
      myogenic, respectively. These results suggest that this protocol can be used to
      isolate pericyte subpopulations from skeletal muscles and possibly from other
      tissues.

PMID- 28605363
TI  - Assaying Protein Kinase Activity with Radiolabeled ATP.
AB  - Protein kinases are able to govern large-scale cellular changes in response to
      complex arrays of stimuli, and much effort has been directed at uncovering
      allosteric details of their regulation. Kinases comprise signaling networks whose
      defects are often hallmarks of multiple forms of cancer and related diseases,
      making an assay platform amenable to manipulation of upstream regulatory factors
      and validation of reaction requirements critical in the search for improved
      therapeutics. Here, we describe a basic kinase assay that can be easily adapted
      to suit specific experimental questions including but not limited to testing the
      effects of biochemical and pharmacological agents, genetic manipulations such as
      mutation and deletion, as well as cell culture conditions and treatments to probe
      cell signaling mechanisms. This assay utilizes radiolabeled [gamma-32P] ATP,
      which allows for quantitative comparisons and clear visualization of results, and
      can be modified for use with immunoprecipitated or recombinant kinase, specific
      or typified substrates, all over a wide range of reaction conditions.

PMID- 28605364
TI  - Quantitative Visualization of Leukocyte Infiltrate in a Murine Model of Fulminant
      Myocarditis by Light Sheet Microscopy.
AB  - Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), in combination with chemical clearing
      protocols, has become the gold standard for analyzing fluorescently labelled
      structures in large biological specimens, and is down to cellular resolution.
      Meanwhile, the constant refinement of underlying protocols and the enhanced
      availability of specialized commercial systems enable us to investigate the
      microstructure of whole mouse organs and even allow for the characterization of
      cellular behavior in various live-cell imaging approaches. Here, we describe a
      protocol for the spatial whole-mount visualization and quantification of the
      CD45+ leukocyte population in inflamed mouse hearts. The method employs a
      transgenic mouse strain (CD11c.DTR)that has recently been shown to serve as a
      robust, inducible model for the study of the development of fulminant fatal
      myocarditis, characterized by lethal cardiac arrhythmias. This protocol includes
      myocarditis induction, intravital antibody-mediated cell staining, organ
      preparation, and LSFM with subsequent computer-assisted image post-processing.
      Although presented as a highly-adapted method for our particular scientific
      question, the protocol represents the blueprint of an easily adjustable system
      that can also target completely different fluorescent structures in other organs
      and even in other species.

PMID- 28605365
TI  - Medium-scale Preparation of Drosophila Embryo Extracts for Proteomic Experiments.
AB  - Analysis of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) has become an indispensable
      approach to study biological processes and mechanisms, such as cell signaling,
      organism development, and disease. It is often desirable to obtain PPI
      information using in vivo material, to gain the most natural and unbiased view of
      the interaction networks. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent
      platform to study PPIs in vivo, and lends itself to straightforward approaches to
      isolating material for biochemical experiments. In particular, fruit fly embryos
      represent a convenient type of tissue to study PPIs, due to the ease of
      collecting animals at this developmental stage and the fact that the majority of
      proteins are expressed in embryogenesis, thus providing a relevant environment to
      reveal most PPIs. Here we present a protocol for collection of Drosophila embryos
      at medium scale (0.5-1 g), which is an ideal amount for a wide range of proteomic
      applications, including analysis of PPIs by affinity purification-mass
      spectrometry (AP-MS). We describe our designs for 1 L and 5 L cages for embryo
      collections that can be easily and inexpensively set up in any laboratory. We
      also provide a general protocol for embryo collection and protein extraction to
      generate lysates that can be directly used in downstream applications such as AP
      MS. Our goal is to provide an accessible means for all researchers to carry out
      the analyses of PPIs in vivo.

PMID- 28605366
TI  - Automated Radiochemical Synthesis of [18F]3F4AP: A Novel PET Tracer for Imaging
      Demyelinating Diseases.
AB  - 3-[18F]fluoro-4-aminopyridine, [18F]3F4AP, is a radiofluorinated analog of the
      FDA-approved drug for multiple sclerosis 4-aminopyridine (4AP). This compound is
      currently under investigation as a PET tracer for demyelination. We recently
      described a novel chemical reaction to produce metafluorinated pyridines
      consisting of direct fluorination of a pyridine N-oxide and the utilization of
      this reaction for the radiochemical synthesis of [18F]3F4AP. In this article, we
      demonstrate how to produce this tracer using an automated synthesizer and an in
      house made flow hydrogenation reactor. We also show the standard quality control
      procedures performed before releasing the radiotracer for preclinical animal
      imaging studies. This semi-automated procedure may serve as the basis for future
      production of [18F]3F4AP for clinical studies.

PMID- 28605367
TI  - Fabrication of Polymer Microspheres for Optical Resonator and Laser Applications.
AB  - This paper describes three methods of preparing fluorescent microspheres
      comprising pi-conjugated or non-conjugated polymers: vapor diffusion, interface
      precipitation, and mini-emulsion. In all methods, well-defined, micrometer-sized
      spheres are obtained from a self-assembling process in solution. The vapor
      diffusion method can result in spheres with the highest sphericity and surface
      smoothness, yet the types of the polymers able to form these spheres are limited.
      On the other hand, in the mini-emulsion method, microspheres can be made from
      various types of polymers, even from highly crystalline polymers with coplanar,
      pi-conjugated backbones. The photoluminescent (PL) properties from single
      isolated microspheres are unusual: the PL is confined inside the spheres,
      propagates at the circumference of the spheres via the total internal reflection
      at the polymer/air interface, and self-interferes to show sharp and periodic
      resonant PL lines. These resonating modes are so-called "whispering gallery
      modes" (WGMs). This work demonstrates how to measure WGM PL from single isolated
      spheres using the micro-photoluminescence (u-PL) technique. In this technique, a
      focused laser beam irradiates a single microsphere, and the luminescence is
      detected by a spectrometer. A micromanipulation technique is then used to connect
      the microspheres one by one and to demonstrate the intersphere PL propagation and
      color conversion from coupled microspheres upon excitation at the perimeter of
      one sphere and detection of PL from the other microsphere. These techniques, u-PL
      and micromanipulation, are useful for experiments on micro-optic application
      using polymer materials.

PMID- 28605368
TI  - Murine Short Axis Ventricular Heart Slices for Electrophysiological Studies.
AB  - Murine cardiomyocytes have been extensively used for in vitro studies of cardiac
      physiology and new therapeutic strategies. However, multicellular preparations of
      dissociated cardiomyocytes are not representative of the complex in vivo
      structure of cardiomyocytes, non-myocytes and extracellular matrix, which
      influences both mechanical and electrophysiological properties of the heart. Here
      we describe a technique to prepare viable ventricular slices of adult mouse
      hearts with a preserved in vivo like tissue structure, and demonstrate their
      suitability for electrophysiological recordings. After excision of the heart,
      ventricles are separated from the atria, perfused with Ca2+-free solution
      containing 2,3-butanedione monoxime and embedded in a 4% low-melt agarose block.
      The block is placed on a microtome with a vibrating blade, and tissue slices with
      a thickness of 150-400 um are prepared keeping the vibration frequency of the
      blade at 60-70 Hz and moving the blade forward as slowly as possible. Thickness
      of the slices depends on the further application. Slices are stored in ice cold
      Tyrode's solution with 0.9 mM Ca2+ and 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) for 30 min.
      Afterwards, slices are transferred to 37  degrees C DMEM for 30 min to wash out
      the BDM. Slices can be used for electrophysiological studies with sharp
      electrodes or micro electrode arrays, for force measurements to analyze
      contractile function or to investigate the interaction of transplanted stem cell
      derived cardiomyocytes and host tissue. For sharp electrode recordings, a slice
      is placed into a 3 cm cell culture dish on the heating plate of an inverted
      microscope. The slice is stimulated with a unipolar electrode, and intracellular
      action potentials of cardiomyocytes within the slice are recorded with a sharp
      glass electrode.

PMID- 28605369
TI  - Real-time Tracking of DNA Fragment Separation by Smartphone.
AB  - Slab gel electrophoresis (SGE) is the most common method for the separation of
      DNA fragments; thus, it is broadly applied to the field of biology and others.
      However, the traditional SGE protocol is quite tedious, and the experiment takes
      a long time. Moreover, the chemical consumption in SGE experiments is very high.
      This work proposes a simple method for the separation of DNA fragments based on
      an SGE chip. The chip is made by an engraving machine. Two plastic sheets are
      used for the excitation and emission wavelengths of the optical signal. The
      fluorescence signal of the DNA bands is collected by smartphone. To validate this
      method, 50, 100, and 1,000 bp DNA ladders were separated. The results demonstrate
      that a DNA ladder smaller than 5,000 bp can be resolved within 12 min and with
      high resolution when using this method, indicating that it is an ideal substitute
      for the traditional SGE method.

PMID- 28605370
TI  - Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Pigmentation is a morphologically simple but highly variable trait that often has
      adaptive significance. It has served extensively as a model for understanding the
      development and evolution of morphological phenotypes. Abdominal pigmentation in
      Drosophila melanogaster has been particularly useful, allowing researchers to
      identify the loci that underlie inter- and intraspecific variations in
      morphology. Hitherto, however, D. melanogaster abdominal pigmentation has been
      largely assayed qualitatively, through scoring, rather than quantitatively, which
      limits the forms of statistical analysis that can be applied to pigmentation
      data. This work describes a new methodology that allows for the quantification of
      various aspects of the abdominal pigmentation pattern of adult D. melanogaster.
      The protocol includes specimen mounting, image capture, data extraction, and
      analysis. All the software used for image capture and analysis feature macros
      written for open-source image analysis. The advantage of this approach is the
      ability to precisely measure pigmentation traits using a methodology that is
      highly reproducible across different imaging systems. While the technique has
      been used to measure variation in the tergal pigmentation patterns of adult D.
      melanogaster, the methodology is flexible and broadly applicable to pigmentation
      patterns in myriad different organisms.

PMID- 28605371
TI  - Precise Cellular Ablation Approach for Modeling Acute Kidney Injury in Developing
      Zebrafish.
AB  - Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a common medical condition with a high mortality
      rate. With the repair abilities of the kidney, it is possible to restore adequate
      kidney function after supportive treatment. However, a better understanding of
      how nephron cell death and repair occur on the cellular level is required to
      minimize cell death and to enhance the regenerative process. The zebrafish
      pronephros is a good model system to accomplish this goal because it contains
      anatomical segments that are similar to the mammalian nephron. Previously, the
      most common model used to study kidney injury in fish was the pharmacological
      gentamicin model. However, this model does not allow for precise spatiotemporal
      control of injury, and hence it is difficult to study cellular and molecular
      processes involved in kidney repair. To overcome this limitation, this work
      presents a method through which, in contrast to the gentamicin approach, a
      specific Green Fuorescent Protein (GFP)-expressing nephron segment can be
      photoablated using a violet laser light (405 nm). This novel model of AKI
      provides many advantages that other methods of epithelial injury lack. Its main
      advantages are the ability to "dial" the level of injury and the precise
      spatiotemporal control in the robust in vivo animal model. This new method has
      the potential to significantly advance the level of understanding of kidney
      injury and repair mechanisms.

PMID- 28605372
TI  - A Component-resolved Diagnostic Approach for a Study on Grass Pollen Allergens in
      Chinese Southerners with Allergic Rhinitis and/or Asthma.
AB  - Sensitization to grass pollen imposes a global risk for allergic airway diseases.
      Although prevention relies on local investigation of the pollen allergens, data
      on this topic are limited in southern China. Any available data were obtained by
      self-report questionnaires, skin prick tests, and total or specific IgE tests
      using crude extracts. For many reasons, these methods are unreliable. Serum sIgE
      reactivity to Bermuda grass, Timothy grass, and Humulus scandens allergens in a
      cohort of patients from Greater Guangzhou (southern China's largest city and its
      outskirts) with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma were examined using a fully
      automated immunoassay analyzer as a component-resolved diagnostics (CRD) tool.
      For the first time, a considerably high prevalence of Bermuda grass sIgE
      positivity was demonstrated in Chinese southerners with allergic rhinitis and/or
      asthma. In these patients, a subtle prevalence of sensitization to Timothy grass
      and Humulus scandens was also noted, which may arise from cross-reactivity, as
      the latter two are not common in the region. This was also supported by the
      detection of allergen components. Fully-automated immunoassay analyzers may offer
      satisfactory consistency between regions, laboratories, and institutions and over
      time. The automaticity of the instrument may enable a standardized detection that
      would not have been readily revealed before the advent of CRD. This is a study
      that uses a CRD approach to investigate sensitization to grass pollen allergens
      in southern China. It adds to current evidence in the literature. Future studies
      are needed to validate these findings. However, although CRD is a useful tool,
      the findings made with the fully-automated immunoassay analyzer should not
      substitute for other laboratory investigations, clinical evaluations, and
      physician expertise.

PMID- 28605374
TI  - Laboratory Techniques Used to Maintain and Differentiate Biotypes of Vibrio
      cholerae Clinical and Environmental Isolates.
AB  - The aquatic Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae is the etiological agent of
      the infectious gastrointestinal disease cholera. Due to the global prevalence and
      severity of this disease, V. cholerae has been extensively studied in both
      environmental and laboratory settings, requiring proper maintenance and culturing
      techniques. Classical and El Tor are two main biotypes that compose the V.
      cholerae O1 serogroup, each displaying unique genotypic and phenotypic
      characteristics that provide reliable mechanisms for biotype characterization,
      and require distinct virulence inducing culturing conditions. Regardless of the
      biotype of the causative strain for any given infection or outbreak, the standard
      treatment for the disease involves rehydration therapy supplemented with a
      regimen of antibiotics. However, biotype classification may be necessary for
      laboratory studies and may have broader impacts in the biomedical field. In the
      early 2000's clinical isolates were identified which exhibit genotypic and
      phenotypic traits from both classical and El Tor biotypes. The newly identified
      hybrids, termed El Tor variants, have caused clinical and environmental isolate
      biotype identification to become more complex than previous traditional single
      assay identification protocols. In addition to describing V. cholerae general
      maintenance and culturing techniques, this manuscript describes a series of gene
      specific (ctxB and tcpA) PCR-based genetic screens and phenotypic assays
      (polymyxin B resistance, citrate metabolism, proteolytic activity, hemolytic
      activity, motility, and glucose metabolism via Voges-Proskauer assay)
      collectively used to characterize and/or distinguish between classical and El Tor
      biotypes. Together, these assays provide an efficient systematic approach to be
      used as an alternative, or in addition, to costly, labor-intensive experiments in
      the characterization of V. cholerae clinical (and environmental) isolates.

PMID- 28605373
TI  - Modeling Fast-scan Cyclic Voltammetry Data from Electrically Stimulated Dopamine
      Neurotransmission Data Using QNsim1.0.
AB  - Central dopaminergic (DAergic) pathways have an important role in a wide range of
      functions, such as attention, motivation, and movement. Dopamine (DA) is
      implicated in diseases and disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity
      disorder, Parkinson's disease, and traumatic brain injury. Thus, DA
      neurotransmission and the methods to study it are of intense scientific interest.
      In vivo fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is a method that allows for
      selectively monitoring DA concentration changes with fine temporal and spatial
      resolution. This technique is commonly used in conjunction with electrical
      stimulations of ascending DAergic pathways to control the impulse flow of
      dopamine neurotransmission. Although the stimulated DA neurotransmission paradigm
      can produce robust DA responses with clear morphologies, making them amenable for
      kinetic analysis, there is still much debate on how to interpret the responses in
      terms of their DA release and clearance components. To address this concern, a
      quantitative neurobiological (QN) framework of stimulated DA neurotransmission
      was recently developed to realistically model the dynamics of DA release and
      reuptake over the course of a stimulated DA response. The foundations of this
      model are based on experimental data from stimulated DA neurotransmission and on
      principles of neurotransmission adopted from various lines of research. The QN
      model implements 12 parameters related to stimulated DA release and reuptake
      dynamics to model DA responses. This work describes how to simulate DA responses
      using QNsim1.0 and also details principles that have been implemented to
      systematically discern alterations in the stimulated dopamine release and
      reuptake dynamics.

PMID- 28605375
TI  - Analysis of Protein-protein Interactions and Co-localization Between Components
      of Gap, Tight, and Adherens Junctions in Murine Mammary Glands.
AB  - Cell-cell interactions play a pivotal role in preserving tissue integrity and the
      barrier between the different compartments of the mammary gland. These
      interactions are provided by junctional proteins that form nexuses between
      adjacent cells. Junctional protein mislocalization and reduced physical
      associations with their binding partners can result in the loss of function and,
      consequently, to organ dysfunction. Thus, identifying protein localization and
      protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in normal and disease-related tissues is
      essential to finding new evidences and mechanisms leading to the progression of
      diseases or alterations in developmental status. This manuscript presents a two
      step method to evaluate PPIs in murine mammary glands. In protocol section 1, a
      method to perform co-immunofluorescence (co-IF) using antibodies raised against
      the proteins of interest, followed by secondary antibodies labeled with
      fluorochromes, is described. Although co-IF allows for the demonstration of the
      proximity of the proteins, it does make it possible to study their physical
      interactions. Therefore, a detailed protocol for co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP)
      is provided in protocol section 2. This method is used to determine the physical
      interactions between proteins, without confirming whether these interactions are
      direct or indirect. In the last few years, co-IF and co-IP techniques have
      demonstrated that certain components of intercellular junctions co-localize and
      interact together, creating stage-dependent junctional nexuses that vary during
      mammary gland development.

PMID- 28605377
TI  - An Anesthesia, Surgery, and Harvest Method for the Evaluation of Transpedicular
      Screws Using an In Vivo Porcine Lumbar Spine Model.
AB  - Pedicle screw fixation is the gold standard for the treatment of spinal diseases.
      However, many studies have reported the issue of loosening pedicle screws after
      spinal surgery, which is a serious concern. To address this problem, diverse
      types of pedicle screws have been examined to identify those with good fixation
      strength and osseointegration in spine bone. The porcine spine is a good
      alternative for the human spine in the evaluation of pedicle screws due to the
      anatomical size, mechanical characteristics, and cost. Although several studies
      have reported that pedicle screws are efficient in the porcine model, no study
      has described detailed protocols for the evaluation of a pedicle screw using the
      porcine model. Here, we describe a detailed method for evaluating transpedicular
      screws using an in vivo porcine lumbar spine model. The technical details for
      anesthesia, spine surgery, and harvest provided here will facilitate with the
      evaluation of the transpedicular screw fixation model.

PMID- 28605378
TI  - Functionalization and Dispersion of Carbon Nanomaterials Using an Environmentally
      Friendly Ultrasonicated Ozonolysis Process.
AB  - Functionalization of carbon nanomaterials is often a critical step that
      facilitates their integration into larger material systems and devices. In the as
      received form, carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene
      nanoplatelets (GNPs), may contain large agglomerates. Both agglomerates and
      impurities will diminish the benefits of the unique electrical and mechanical
      properties offered when CNTs or GNPs are incorporated into polymers or composite
      material systems. Whilst a variety of methods exist to functionalize carbon
      nanomaterials and to create stable dispersions, many the processes use harsh
      chemicals, organic solvents, or surfactants, which are environmentally unfriendly
      and may increase the processing burden when isolating the nanomaterials for
      subsequent use. The current research details the use of an alternative,
      environmentally friendly technique for functionalizing CNTs and GNPs. It produces
      stable, aqueous dispersions free of harmful chemicals. Both CNTs and GNPs can be
      added to water at concentrations up to 5 g/L and can be recirculated through a
      high-powered ultrasonic cell. The simultaneous injection of ozone into the cell
      progressively oxidizes the carbon nanomaterials, and the combined ultrasonication
      breaks down agglomerates and immediately exposes fresh material for
      functionalization. The prepared dispersions are ideally suited for the deposition
      of thin films onto solid substrates using electrophoretic deposition (EPD). CNTs
      and GNPs from the aqueous dispersions can be readily used to coat carbon- and
      glass-reinforcing fibers using EPD for the preparation of hierarchical composite
      materials.

PMID- 28605376
TI  - Anatomically Inspired Three-dimensional Micro-tissue Engineered Neural Networks
      for Nervous System Reconstruction, Modulation, and Modeling.
AB  - Functional recovery rarely occurs following injury or disease-induced
      degeneration within the central nervous system (CNS) due to the inhibitory
      environment and the limited capacity for neurogenesis. We are developing a
      strategy to simultaneously address neuronal and axonal pathway loss within the
      damaged CNS. This manuscript presents the fabrication protocol for micro-tissue
      engineered neural networks (micro-TENNs), implantable constructs consisting of
      neurons and aligned axonal tracts spanning the extracellular matrix (ECM) lumen
      of a preformed hydrogel cylinder hundreds of microns in diameter that may extend
      centimeters in length. Neuronal aggregates are delimited to the extremes of the
      three-dimensional encasement and are spanned by axonal projections. Micro-TENNs
      are uniquely poised as a strategy for CNS reconstruction, emulating aspects of
      brain connectome cytoarchitecture and potentially providing means for network
      replacement. The neuronal aggregates may synapse with host tissue to form new
      functional relays to restore and/or modulate missing or damaged circuitry. These
      constructs may also act as pro-regenerative "living scaffolds" capable of
      exploiting developmental mechanisms for cell migration and axonal pathfinding,
      providing synergistic structural and soluble cues based on the state of
      regeneration. Micro-TENNs are fabricated by pouring liquid hydrogel into a
      cylindrical mold containing a longitudinally centered needle. Once the hydrogel
      has gelled, the needle is removed, leaving a hollow micro-column. An ECM solution
      is added to the lumen to provide an environment suitable for neuronal adhesion
      and axonal outgrowth. Dissociated neurons are mechanically aggregated for precise
      seeding within one or both ends of the micro-column. This methodology reliably
      produces self-contained miniature constructs with long-projecting axonal tracts
      that may recapitulate features of brain neuroanatomy. Synaptic immunolabeling and
      genetically encoded calcium indicators suggest that micro-TENNs possess extensive
      synaptic distribution and intrinsic electrical activity. Consequently, micro
      TENNs represent a promising strategy for targeted neurosurgical reconstruction of
      brain pathways and may also be applied as biofidelic models to study
      neurobiological phenomena in vitro.

PMID- 28605379
TI  - Voltage-clamp Fluorometry in Xenopus Oocytes Using Fluorescent Unnatural Amino
      Acids.
AB  - Voltage-Clamp Fluorometry (VCF) has been the technique of choice to investigate
      the structure and function of electrogenic membrane proteins where real-time
      measurements of fluorescence and currents simultaneously report on local
      rearrangements and global function, respectively1. While high-resolution
      structural techniques such as cryo-electron microscopy or X-ray crystallography
      provide static images of the proteins of interest, VCF provides dynamic
      structural data that allows us to link the structural rearrangements
      (fluorescence) to dynamic functional data (electrophysiology). Until recently,
      the thiol-reactive chemistry used for site-directed fluorescent labeling of the
      proteins restricted the scope of the approach because all accessible cysteines,
      including endogenous ones, will be labeled. It was thus required to construct
      proteins free of endogenous cysteines. Labeling was also restricted to sites
      accessible from the extracellular side. This changed with the use of Fluorescent
      Unnatural Amino Acids (fUAA) to specifically incorporate a small fluorescent
      probe in response to stop codon suppression using an orthogonal tRNA and tRNA
      synthetase pair2. The VCF improvement only requires a two-step injection
      procedure of DNA injection (tRNA/synthetase pair) followed by RNA/fUAA co
      injection. Now, labelling both intracellular and buried sites is possible, and
      the use of VCF has expanded significantly. The VCF technique thereby becomes
      attractive for studying a wide range of proteins and - more importantly - allows
      investigating numerous cytosolic regulatory mechanisms.

PMID- 28605380
TI  - Establishment of a Clinic-based Biorepository.
AB  - The incidence of skin cancer (e.g., squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell
      carcinoma, and melanoma) has been increasing over the past several years. It is
      expected that there will be a parallel demand for cutaneous tumor samples for
      biomedical research studies. Tissue availability, however, is limited due the
      cost of establishing a biorepository and the lack of protocols available for
      obtaining clinical samples that do not interfere with clinical operations. A
      protocol was established to collect and process cutaneous tumor and associated
      blood and saliva samples that has minimal impact on routine clinical procedures
      on the date of a Mohs surgery. Tumor samples are collected and processed from
      patients undergoing their first layer of Mohs surgery for biopsy-proven cutaneous
      malignancies by the Mohs histotechnologist. Adjacent normal tissue is collected
      at the time of surgical closure. Additional samples that may be collected are
      whole-blood and buccal swabs. By utilizing tissue samples that are normally
      discarded, a biorepository was generated that offers several key advantages by
      being based in the clinic versus the laboratory setting. These include a wide
      range of collected samples; access to de-identified patient records, including
      pathology reports; and, for the typical donor, access to additional samples
      during follow-up visits.

PMID- 28605381
TI  - Ecotoxicological Method with Marine Bacteria Vibrio anguillarum to Evaluate the
      Acute Toxicity of Environmental Contaminants.
AB  - Bacteria are an important component of the ecosystem, and microbial community
      alterations can have a significant effect on biogeochemical cycling and food
      webs. Toxicity testing based on microorganisms are widely used because they are
      relatively quick, reproducible, cheap, and are not associated with ethical
      issues. Here, we describe an ecotoxicological method to evaluate the biological
      response of the marine bacterium Vibrio anguillarum. This method assesses the
      acute toxicity of chemical compounds, including new contaminants such as
      nanoparticles, as well as environmental samples. The endpoint is the reduction of
      bacterial culturability (i.e., the capability to replicate and form colonies) due
      to exposure to a toxicant. This reduction can be generally referred to as
      mortality. The test allows for the determination of the LC50, the concentration
      that causes a 50% decrease of bacteria actively replicating and forming colonies,
      after a 6 h exposure. The culturable bacteria are counted in terms of colony
      forming units (CFU), and the "mortality" is evaluated and compared to the
      control. In this work, the toxicity of copper sulphate (CuSO4) was evaluated. A
      clear dose-response relationship was observed, with a mean LC50 of 1.13 mg/L,
      after three independent tests. This protocol, compared to existing methods with
      microorganisms, is applicable in a wider range of salinity and has no limitations
      for colored/turbid samples. It uses saline solution as the exposure medium,
      avoiding any possible interferences of growth medium with the investigated
      contaminants. The LC50 calculation facilitates comparisons with other bioassays
      commonly applied to ecotoxicological assessments of the marine environment.

PMID- 28605382
TI  - Assessment of Spontaneous Alternation, Novel Object Recognition and Limb Clasping
      in Transgenic Mouse Models of Amyloid-beta and Tau Neuropathology.
AB  - Here we describe a staged, behavioral testing approach that can be used to screen
      for compounds that exhibit in vivo efficacy on cognitive and functional motor
      behaviors in transgenic mouse models of beta-amyloidosis and tauopathy. The
      paradigm includes tests for spontaneous alternation in a Y-maze, novel object
      recognition, and limb clasping. These tests were selected because they: 1)
      interrogate function of cognitive or motor domains and the correlate neural
      circuitry relevant to the human disease state, 2) have clearly defined endpoints,
      3) have easily implementable quality control checks, 4) can be run in a moderate
      throughput format, and 5) require little intervention by the investigator. These
      methods are designed for investigators looking to screen compounds for activity
      in short-term and working memory tasks, or functional motor behaviors associated
      with Alzheimer's disease mouse models. The methods described here use behavioral
      tests that engage a number of different brain regions including hippocampus and
      various cortical areas. Investigators that desire cognitive tests that
      specifically assess cognition mediated by a single brain region could use these
      techniques to supplement other behavioral tests.

PMID- 28605383
TI  - Quadruple Immunostaining of the Olfactory Bulb for Visualization of Olfactory
      Sensory Axon Molecular Identity Codes.
AB  - The mouse olfactory system is often used to study mechanisms of neural circuit
      formation because of its simple anatomical structure. An Olfactory Sensory Neuron
      (OSN) is a bipolar cell with a single dendrite and a single unbranched axon. An
      OSN expresses only one Olfactory Receptor (OR) gene, OSNs expressing a given type
      of OR converge their axons to a few sets of invariant glomeruli in the Olfactory
      Bulb (OB). A remarkable feature of OSN projection is that the expressed ORs play
      instructive roles in axonal projection. ORs regulate the expression of multiple
      axon-sorting molecules and generate the combinatorial molecular code of axon
      sorting molecules at the OSN axon termini. Thus, to understand the molecular
      mechanisms of OR-specific axon guidance mechanisms, it is vital to characterize
      their expression profiles at the OSN axon termini within the same glomerulus. The
      aim of this article was to introduce methods for collecting as many glomeruli as
      possible on a single OB section and for performing immunostaining using multiple
      antibodies. This would allow the comparison and analysis of the expression
      patterns of axon-sorting molecules without staining variation between OB
      sections.

PMID- 28605384
TI  - Analyzing Supercomplexes of the Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain with
      Native Electrophoresis, In-gel Assays, and Electroelution.
AB  - The mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) transduces the energy derived
      from the breakdown of various fuels into the bioenergetic currency of the cell,
      ATP. The ETC is composed of 5 massive protein complexes, which also assemble into
      supercomplexes called respirasomes (C-I, C-III, and C-IV) and synthasomes (C-V)
      that increase the efficiency of electron transport and ATP production. Various
      methods have been used for over 50 years to measure ETC function, but these
      protocols do not provide information on the assembly of individual complexes and
      supercomplexes. This protocol describes the technique of native gel
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), a method that was modified more than
      20 years ago to study ETC complex structure. Native electrophoresis permits the
      separation of ETC complexes into their active forms, and these complexes can then
      be studied using immunoblotting, in-gel assays (IGA), and purification by
      electroelution. By combining the results of native gel PAGE with those of other
      mitochondrial assays, it is possible to obtain a completer picture of ETC
      activity, its dynamic assembly and disassembly, and how this regulates
      mitochondrial structure and function. This work will also discuss limitations of
      these techniques. In summary, the technique of native PAGE, followed by
      immunoblotting, IGA, and electroelution, presented below, is a powerful way to
      investigate the functionality and composition of mitochondrial ETC
      supercomplexes.

PMID- 28605385
TI  - Time-dependent Increase in the Network Response to the Stimulation of Neuronal
      Cell Cultures on Micro-electrode Arrays.
AB  - Micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) can be used to investigate drug toxicity, design
      paradigms for next-generation personalized medicine, and study network dynamics
      in neuronal cultures. In contrast with more traditional methods, such as patch
      clamping, which can only record activity from a single cell, MEAs can record
      simultaneously from multiple sites in a network, without requiring the arduous
      task of placing each electrode individually. Moreover, numerous control and
      stimulation configurations can be easily applied within the same experimental
      setup, allowing for a broad range of dynamics to be explored. One of the key
      dynamics of interest in these in vitro studies has been the extent to which
      cultured networks display properties indicative of learning. Mouse neuronal cells
      cultured on MEAs display an increase in response following training induced by
      electrical stimulation. This protocol demonstrates how to culture neuronal cells
      on MEAs; successfully record from over 95% of the plated dishes; establish a
      protocol to train the networks to respond to patterns of stimulation; and sort,
      plot, and interpret the results from such experiments. The use of a proprietary
      system for stimulating and recording neuronal cultures is demonstrated. Software
      packages are also used to sort neuronal units. A custom-designed graphical user
      interface is used to visualize post-stimulus time histograms, inter-burst
      intervals, and burst duration, as well as to compare the cellular response to
      stimulation before and after a training protocol. Finally, representative results
      and future directions of this research effort are discussed.

PMID- 28605386
TI  - Simultaneous Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Functional Magnetic
      Resonance Imaging.
AB  - Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a promising tool for
      noninvasive investigation of brain oscillations. TACS employs frequency-specific
      stimulation of the human brain through current applied to the scalp with surface
      electrodes. Most current knowledge of the technique is based on behavioral
      studies; thus, combining the method with brain imaging holds potential to better
      understand the mechanisms of tACS. Because of electrical and susceptibility
      artifacts, combining tACS with brain imaging can be challenging, however, one
      brain imaging technique that is well suited to be applied simultaneously with
      tACS is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In our lab, we have
      successfully combined tACS with simultaneous fMRI measurements to show that tACS
      effects are state, current, and frequency dependent, and that modulation of brain
      activity is not limited to the area directly below the electrodes. This article
      describes a safe and reliable setup for applying tACS simultaneously with visual
      task fMRI studies, which can lend to understanding oscillatory brain function as
      well as the effects of tACS on the brain.

PMID- 28605387
TI  - A Simple Fractionated Extraction Method for the Comprehensive Analysis of
      Metabolites, Lipids, and Proteins from a Single Sample.
AB  - Understanding of complex biological systems requires the measurement, analysis
      and integration of multiple compound classes of the living cell, usually
      determined by transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomics and lipidomic measurements.
      In this protocol, we introduce a simple method for the reproducible extraction of
      metabolites, lipids and proteins from biological tissues using a single aliquot
      per sample. The extraction method is based on a methyl tert-butyl ether:
      methanol: water system for liquid: liquid partitioning of hydrophobic and polar
      metabolites into two immiscible phases along with the precipitation of proteins
      and other macromolecules as a solid pellet. This method, therefore, provides
      three different fractions of specific molecular composition, which are fully
      compatible with common high throughput 'omics' technologies such as liquid
      chromatography (LC) or gas chromatography (GC) coupled to mass spectrometers.
      Even though the method was initially developed for the analysis of different
      plant tissue samples, it has proved to be fully compatible for the extraction and
      analysis of biological samples from systems as diverse as algae, insects, and
      mammalian tissues and cell cultures.

PMID- 28605388
TI  - 2D and 3D Matrices to Study Linear Invadosome Formation and Activity.
AB  - Cell adhesion, migration, and invasion are involved in many physiological and
      pathological processes. For example, during metastasis formation, tumor cells
      have to cross anatomical barriers to invade and migrate through the surrounding
      tissue in order to reach blood or lymphatic vessels. This requires the
      interaction between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). At the cellular
      level, many cells, including the majority of cancer cells, are able to form
      invadosomes, which are F-actin-based structures capable of degrading ECM.
      Invadosomes are protrusive actin structures that recruit and activate matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs). The molecular composition, density, organization, and
      stiffness of the ECM are crucial in regulating invadosome formation and
      activation. In vitro, a gelatin assay is the standard assay used to observe and
      quantify invadosome degradation activity. However, gelatin, which is denatured
      collagen I, is not a physiological matrix element. A novel assay using type I
      collagen fibrils was developed and used to demonstrate that this physiological
      matrix is a potent inducer of invadosomes. Invadosomes that form along the
      collagen fibrils are known as linear invadosomes due to their linear organization
      on the fibers. Moreover, molecular analysis of linear invadosomes showed that the
      discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is the receptor involved in their formation.
      These data clearly demonstrate the importance of using a physiologically relevant
      matrix in order to understand the complex interactions between cells and the ECM.

PMID- 28605389
TI  - Genome-wide Mapping of Protein-DNA Interactions with ChEC-seq in Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae.
AB  - Genome-wide mapping of protein-DNA interactions is critical for understanding
      gene regulation, chromatin remodeling, and other chromatin-resident processes.
      Formaldehyde crosslinking followed by chromatin immunoprecipitation and high
      throughput sequencing (X-ChIP-seq) has been used to gain many valuable insights
      into genome biology. However, X-ChIP-seq has notable limitations linked to
      crosslinking and sonication. Native ChIP avoids these drawbacks by omitting
      crosslinking, but often results in poor recovery of chromatin-bound proteins. In
      addition, all ChIP-based methods are subject to antibody quality considerations.
      Enzymatic methods for mapping protein-DNA interactions, which involve fusion of a
      protein of interest to a DNA-modifying enzyme, have also been used to map protein
      DNA interactions. We recently combined one such method, chromatin endogenous
      cleavage (ChEC), with high-throughput sequencing as ChEC-seq. ChEC-seq relies on
      fusion of a chromatin-associated protein of interest to micrococcal nuclease
      (MNase) to generate targeted DNA cleavage in the presence of calcium in living
      cells. ChEC-seq is not based on immunoprecipitation and so circumvents potential
      concerns with crosslinking, sonication, chromatin solubilization, and antibody
      quality while providing high resolution mapping with minimal background signal.
      We envision that ChEC-seq will be a powerful counterpart to ChIP, providing an
      independent means by which to both validate ChIP-seq findings and discover new
      insights into genomic regulation.

PMID- 28605390
TI  - Retroviral Scanning: Mapping MLV Integration Sites to Define Cell-specific
      Regulatory Regions.
AB  - Moloney murine leukemia (MLV) virus-based retroviral vectors integrate
      predominantly in acetylated enhancers and promoters. For this reason, mLV
      integration sites can be used as functional markers of active regulatory
      elements. Here, we present a retroviral scanning tool, which allows the genome
      wide identification of cell-specific enhancers and promoters. Briefly, the target
      cell population is transduced with an mLV-derived vector and genomic DNA is
      digested with a frequently cutting restriction enzyme. After ligation of genomic
      fragments with a compatible DNA linker, linker-mediated polymerase chain reaction
      (LM-PCR) allows the amplification of the virus-host genome junctions. Massive
      sequencing of the amplicons is used to define the mLV integration profile genome
      wide. Finally, clusters of recurrent integrations are defined to identify cell
      specific regulatory regions, responsible for the activation of cell-type specific
      transcriptional programs. The retroviral scanning tool allows the genome-wide
      identification of cell-specific promoters and enhancers in prospectively isolated
      target cell populations. Notably, retroviral scanning represents an instrumental
      technique for the retrospective identification of rare populations (e.g. somatic
      stem cells) that lack robust markers for prospective isolation.

PMID- 28605391
TI  - Intranasal Delivery of Therapeutic Stem Cells to Glioblastoma in a Mouse Model.
AB  - The intrinsic tropism towards brain malignancies renders stem cells as promising
      carriers of therapeutic agents against malignant tumors. The delivery of
      therapeutic stem cells via the intranasal route is a recently discovered
      alternative strategy, with strong potential for clinical translation, due to its
      non-invasive nature compared to intracranial implantation or delivery via
      systemic routes. The lack of blood brain barrier further strengthens the
      therapeutic potential of stem cells undergoing intranasal brain entry. This
      article summarizes the essential techniques utilized in our studies and outlines
      the basic principles of intranasal strategy for stem cell delivery using a mouse
      model of intracranial glioma xenografts. We demonstrate the optimized procedures
      that generate consistent and reproducible results with specific predetermined
      experimental parameters and offer guidelines for streamlined work flow that
      ensure efficient execution and reliable experimental outcome. The article is
      designed to serve as a baseline for further experimental customization based on
      hypothesis, stem cell types, or tumor specifics.

PMID- 28605392
TI  - Transfer of Mammary Gland-forming Ability Between Mammary Basal Epithelial Cells
      and Mammary Luminal Cells via Extracellular Vesicles/Exosomes.
AB  - Cells can communicate via exosomes, ~100-nm extracellular vesicles (EVs) that
      contain proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Non-adherent/mesenchymal mammary
      epithelial cell (NAMEC)-derived extracellular vesicles can be isolated from NAMEC
      medium via differential ultracentrifugation. Based on their density, EVs can be
      purified via ultracentrifugation at 110,000 x g. The EV preparation from
      ultracentrifugation can be further separated using a continuous density gradient
      to prevent contamination with soluble proteins. The purified EVs can then be
      further evaluated using nanoparticle-tracking analysis, which measures the size
      and number of vesicles in the preparation. The extracellular vesicles with a size
      ranging from 50 to 150 nm are exosomes. The NAMEC-derived EVs/exosomes can be
      ingested by mammary epithelial cells, which can be measured by flow cytometry and
      confocal microscopy. Some mammary stem cell properties (e.g., mammary gland
      forming ability) can be transferred from the stem-like NAMECs to mammary
      epithelial cells via the NAMEC-derived EVs/exosomes. Isolated primary
      EpCAMhi/CD49flo luminal mammary epithelial cells cannot form mammary glands after
      being transplanted into mouse fat pads, while EpCAMlo/CD49fhi basal mammary
      epithelial cells form mammary glands after transplantation. Uptake of NAMEC
      derived EVs/exosomes by EpCAMhi/CD49flo luminal mammary epithelial cells allows
      them to generate mammary glands after being transplanted into fat pads. The
      EVs/exosomes derived from stem-like mammary epithelial cells transfer mammary
      gland-forming ability to EpCAMhi/CD49flo luminal mammary epithelial cells.

PMID- 28605393
TI  - Drosophila Courtship Conditioning As a Measure of Learning and Memory.
AB  - Many insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory have
      been elucidated through the use of simple behavioral assays in model organisms
      such as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila is useful for
      understanding the basic neurobiology underlying cognitive deficits resulting from
      mutations in genes associated with human cognitive disorders, such as
      intellectual disability (ID) and autism. This work describes a methodology for
      testing learning and memory using a classic paradigm in Drosophila known as
      courtship conditioning. Male flies court females using a distinct pattern of
      easily recognizable behaviors. Premated females are not receptive to mating and
      will reject the male's copulation attempts. In response to this rejection, male
      flies reduce their courtship behavior. This learned reduction in courtship
      behavior is measured over time, serving as an indicator of learning and memory.
      The basic numerical output of this assay is the courtship index (CI), which is
      defined as the percentage of time that a male spends courting during a 10 min
      interval. The learning index (LI) is the relative reduction of CI in flies that
      have been exposed to a premated female compared to naive flies with no previous
      social encounters. For the statistical comparison of LIs between genotypes, a
      randomization test with bootstrapping is used. To illustrate how the assay can be
      used to address the role of a gene relating to learning and memory, the pan
      neuronal knockdown of Dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase (Dhap-at) was
      characterized here. The human ortholog of Dhap-at, glyceronephosphate O
      acyltransferase (GNPT), is involved in rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata type
      2, an autosomal-recessive syndrome characterized by severe ID. Using the
      courtship conditioning assay, it was determined that Dhap-at is required for long
      term memory, but not for short-term memory. This result serves as a basis for
      further investigation of the underlying molecular mechanisms.

PMID- 28605394
TI  - A Novel Method for In Situ Electromechanical Characterization of Nanoscale
      Specimens.
AB  - Electrically assisted deformation (EAD) is increasingly being used to improve the
      formability of metals during processes such as sheet metal rolling and forging.
      Adoption of this technique is proceeding despite disagreement concerning the
      underlying mechanism responsible for EAD. The experimental procedure described
      herein enables a more explicit study compared to previous EAD research by
      removing thermal effects, which are responsible for disagreement in interpreting
      previous EAD results. Furthermore, as the procedure described here enables EAD
      observation in situ and in real time in a transmission electron microscope (TEM),
      it is superior to existing post-mortem methods that observe EAD effects post
      test. Test samples consist of a single crystal copper (SCC) foil having a free
      standing tensile test section of nanoscale thickness, fabricated using a
      combination of laser and ion beam milling. The SCC is mounted to an etched
      silicon base that provides mechanical support and electrical isolation while
      serving as a heat sink. Using this geometry, even at high current density (~3,500
      A/mm2), the test section experiences a negligible temperature increase (<0.02 
      degrees C), thus eliminating Joule heating effects. Monitoring material
      deformation and identifying the corresponding changes to microstructures, e.g.
      dislocations, are accomplished by acquiring and analyzing a series of TEM images.
      Our sample preparation and in situ experiment procedures are robust and versatile
      as they can be readily utilized to test materials with different microstructures,
      e.g., single and polycrystalline copper.

PMID- 28605396
TI  - Traffic-Related Pollutants: Exposure and Health Effects Among Hispanic Children.
AB  - We examined traffic-related pollution (TRP) exposure and respiratory health
      effects in Hispanic white (HW) children, both compared with non-Hispanic white
      (NHW) children and according to genetically determined Native American (NA)
      ancestry. The sample included over 5,000 children from the Children's Health
      Study in California, followed during 1993-2014. HW children were 1.47 (95%
      confidence interval (CI): 1.24, 1.73) times more likely to live close (<500 m) to
      a freeway and 1.54 (95% CI: 1.26, 1.87) times more likely to live close (<75 m)
      to a major nonfreeway road compared with NHW children. Among HW children, those
      with >50% NA ancestry were >40% more likely to live close to a freeway or to a
      major nonfreeway road, compared with those with <=50% NA ancestry. The
      association of TRP with ever having been diagnosed by a doctor as having asthma
      differed between HW and NHW children (P < 0.05), with the strongest association
      among HW children with >50% NA ancestry. Within this subgroup, those close to a
      major nonfreeway road were 2.16 (95% CI: 1.26, 3.69) times more likely to have
      ever reported asthma compared with those living further away. This paper provides
      evidence that HW children in southern California, especially those with greater
      NA ancestry, are more exposed to TRP and are potentially at greater risk for TRP
      related respiratory health effects.

PMID- 28605397
TI  - PAMPs, PRRs, effectors and R-genes associated with citrus-pathogen interactions.

PMID- 28605395
TI  - Possible type 1 diabetes risk prediction: Using ultrasound imaging to assess
      pancreas inflammation in the inducible autoimmune diabetes BBDR model.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Studies of human cadaveric pancreas specimens indicate that
      pancreas inflammation plays an important role in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis.
      Due to the inaccessibility of pancreas in living patients, imaging technology to
      visualize pancreas inflammation is much in need. In this study, we investigated
      the feasibility of utilizing ultrasound imaging to assess pancreas inflammation
      longitudinally in living rats during the progression leading to type 1 diabetes
      onset. METHODS: The virus-inducible BBDR type 1 diabetes rat model was used to
      systematically investigate pancreas changes that occur prior to and during
      development of autoimmunity. The nearly 100% diabetes incidence upon virus
      induction and the highly consistent time course of this rat model make
      longitudinal imaging examination possible. A combination of histology,
      immunoblotting, flow cytometry, and ultrasound imaging technology was used to
      identify stage-specific pancreas changes. RESULTS: Our histology data indicated
      that exocrine pancreas tissue of the diabetes-induced rats underwent dramatic
      changes, including blood vessel dilation and increased CD8+ cell infiltration, at
      a very early stage of disease initiation. Ultrasound imaging data revealed
      significant acute and persistent pancreas inflammation in the diabetes-induced
      rats. The pancreas micro-vasculature was significantly dilated one day after
      diabetes induction, and large blood vessel (superior mesenteric artery in this
      study) dilation and inflammation occurred several days later, but still prior to
      any observable autoimmune cell infiltration of the pancreatic islets.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that ultrasound imaging technology can detect
      pancreas inflammation in living rats during the development of type 1 diabetes.
      Due to ultrasound's established use as a non-invasive diagnostic tool, it may
      prove useful in a clinical setting for type 1 diabetes risk prediction prior to
      autoimmunity and to assess the effectiveness of potential therapeutics.

PMID- 28605398
TI  - Risk Factors for Shoulder Pain in a Cohort of French Workers: A Structural
      Equation Model.
AB  - Shoulder pain is common in the working population and causes loss of
      productivity, high economic costs, and long absences. Simultaneous evaluation of
      the complex relationships between work organization (e.g., work pace, application
      of quality standards), psychosocial and physical risk factors, stress, and
      shoulder pain is rare. The aim of this study was to explore the direct and
      indirect relationships between workplace risk factors, perceived stress, and
      occurrence of shoulder pain in workers of the Cohorte des Salaries Ligeriens
      study. A total of 3,710 workers in a French region were randomly selected for
      inclusion between 2002 and 2005. They completed a self-administered questionnaire
      about musculoskeletal symptoms, individual factors, and exposure to work
      constraints. In 2007, they responded to a follow-up questionnaire. The study
      sample comprised 1,400 workers free of shoulder pain at baseline. Structural
      equation models were used. For both sexes, exposure to factors related to work
      organization had an effect on physical and psychosocial risk factors.
      Psychological demand was the only psychosocial constraint that increased
      perceived stress. Shoulder pain was influenced directly by physical risk factors
      for both sexes and by perceived stress for men. In view of their distal action,
      work organization is an important target for strategies to prevent shoulder pain
      in the working population.

PMID- 28605399
TI  - Measurement Error Due to Patient Flow in Estimates of Intensive Care Unit Length
      of Stay.
AB  - Clinical endpoints measured in terms of duration, such as intensive care unit
      (ICU) length of stay (LOS), are widely used in randomized clinical trials (RCTs)
      and observational research. In analyses of patient-level data from a recent RCT,
      in which ICU LOS was the primary endpoint, and in administrative data, we showed
      that additional ICU time is often accrued by patients after they are deemed ready
      for discharge. This "immutable" time (which cannot plausibly be altered by
      interventions under study) varies by day, week, and year, adding on average one
      third of a day to total LOS. We then used statistical simulations, informed by
      the administrative data and RCT, to assess the impact of immutable time on the
      measurement and statistical comparison of patients' ICU LOS. These simulations
      demonstrated that immutable time combines with clinically necessary ICU time
      (neither of which is likely to be normally distributed) to produce overall LOS
      distributions that might either mask true treatment effects or suggest false
      treatment effects relative to analyses of time to discharge readiness. The extent
      and direction of bias were complex functions of the statistical method used,
      mortality rates and distributions, and the magnitude of immutable time relative
      to intervention-associated reductions in LOS.

PMID- 28605400
TI  - Proposed Terminology for Anal Squamous Lesions: Its Application and Interobserver
      Agreement Among Pathologists in Academic and Community Hospitals.
AB  - Objectives: To analyze interobserver reproducibility and compare practice
      patterns between academic and community settings of Lower Anogenital Squamous
      Terminology (LAST). Methods: In total, 132 anal biopsy slides were revised as
      well as p16 immunostains. Results: LAST was used in 49% of cases (academic
      center, 68%; satellite hospitals [community practice setting], 32%). After
      pathology review and consensus interpretation, 23 (17%) case diagnoses were
      reclassified: eight (34.8%) cases (benign or low-grade squamous intraepithelial
      lesion [LSIL]) were upgraded to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL)
      (p16 confirmed ordered during review); four (17.4%) cases originally classified
      as HSIL were downgraded to LSIL (p16 originally ordered in one case). There was
      no significant difference in discrepancies between original and consensus
      diagnosis in the community vs academic setting or by subspecialty (gynecological
      vs gastrointestinal). Overall interobserver agreement among reviewers was
      substantial (kappa = 0.63) and improved with the use of p16 immunostain in
      challenging cases (kappa = 0.71; P < .001). Conclusions: This new terminology is
      not yet uniformly used by pathologists in anal/perianal biopsy specimens; this
      two-tier system has a good interobserver agreement and is further improved with
      p16 use in appropriate cases.

PMID- 28605401
TI  - Comparison of pre-processing methods for Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip
      array.
AB  - Motivation: Microarrays are widely used to quantify DNA methylation because they
      are economical, require only small quantities of input DNA and focus on well
      characterized regions of the genome. However, pre-processing of methylation
      microarray data is challenging because of confounding factors that include
      background fluorescence, dye bias and the impact of germline polymorphisms.
      Therefore, we present valuable insights and a framework for those seeking the
      most optimal pre-processing method through a data-driven approach. Results: Here,
      we show that Dasen is the optimal pre-processing methodology for the Infinium
      HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array in prostate cancer, a frequently employed
      platform for tumour methylome profiling in both the TCGA and ICGC consortia. We
      evaluated the impact of 11 pre-processing methods on batch effects, replicate
      variabilities, sensitivities and sample-to-sample correlations across 809
      independent prostate cancer samples, including 150 reported for the first time in
      this study. Overall, Dasen is the most effective for removing artefacts and
      detecting biological differences associated with tumour aggressivity. Relative to
      the raw dataset, it shows a reduction in replicate variances of 67% and 76% for
      beta- and M-values, respectively. Our study provides a unique pre-processing
      benchmark for the community with an emphasis on biological implications.
      Availability and implementation: All software used in this study are publicly
      available as detailed in the article. Contact: paul.boutros@oicr.on.ca.
      Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics
      online.

PMID- 28605402
TI  - Sparse redundancy analysis of high-dimensional genetic and genomic data.
AB  - Motivation: Recent technological developments have enabled the possibility of
      genetic and genomic integrated data analysis approaches, where multiple omics
      datasets from various biological levels are combined and used to describe
      (disease) phenotypic variations. The main goal is to explain and ultimately
      predict phenotypic variations by understanding their genetic basis and the
      interaction of the associated genetic factors. Therefore, understanding the
      underlying genetic mechanisms of phenotypic variations is an ever increasing
      research interest in biomedical sciences. In many situations, we have a set of
      variables that can be considered to be the outcome variables and a set that can
      be considered to be explanatory variables. Redundancy analysis (RDA) is an
      analytic method to deal with this type of directionality. Unfortunately, current
      implementations of RDA cannot deal optimally with the high dimensionality of
      omics data (p?n). The existing theoretical framework, based on Ridge
      penalization, is suboptimal, since it includes all variables in the analysis. As
      a solution, we propose to use Elastic Net penalization in an iterative RDA
      framework to obtain a sparse solution. Results: We proposed sparse redundancy
      analysis (sRDA) for high dimensional omics data analysis. We conducted simulation
      studies with our software implementation of sRDA to assess the reliability of
      sRDA. Both the analysis of simulated data, and the analysis of 485 512
      methylation markers and 18,424 gene-expression values measured in a set of 55
      patients with Marfan syndrome show that sRDA is able to deal with the usual high
      dimensionality of omics data. Availability and implementation:
      http://uva.csala.me/rda. Contact: a.csala@amc.uva.nl. Supplementary information:
      Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605403
TI  - Power and sample size calculations for high-throughput sequencing-based
      experiments.
AB  - Power/sample size (power) analysis estimates the likelihood of successfully
      finding the statistical significance in a data set. There has been a growing
      recognition of the importance of power analysis in the proper design of
      experiments. Power analysis is complex, yet necessary for the success of large
      studies. It is important to design a study that produces statistically accurate
      and reliable results. Power computation methods have been well established for
      both microarray-based gene expression studies and genotyping microarray-based
      genome-wide association studies. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has greatly
      enhanced our ability to conduct biomedical studies at the highest possible
      resolution (per nucleotide). However, the complexity of power computations is
      much greater for sequencing data than for the simpler genotyping array data.
      Research on methods of power computations for HTS-based studies has been recently
      conducted but is not yet well known or widely used. In this article, we describe
      the power computation methods that are currently available for a range of HTS
      based studies, including DNA sequencing, RNA-sequencing, microbiome sequencing
      and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing. Most importantly, we review the
      methods of power analysis for several types of sequencing data and guide the
      reader to the relevant methods for each data type.

PMID- 28605404
TI  - Recent computational developments on CLIP-seq data analysis and microRNA
      targeting implications.
AB  - Cross-Linking Immunoprecipitation associated to high-throughput sequencing (CLIP
      seq) is a technique used to identify RNA directly bound to RNA-binding proteins
      across the entire transcriptome in cell or tissue samples. Recent technological
      and computational advances permit the analysis of many CLIP-seq samples
      simultaneously, allowing us to reveal the comprehensive network of RNA-protein
      interaction and to integrate it to other genome-wide analyses. Therefore, the
      design and quality management of the CLIP-seq analyses are of critical importance
      to extract clean and biological meaningful information from CLIP-seq experiments.
      The application of CLIP-seq technique to Argonaute 2 (Ago2) protein, the main
      component of the microRNA (miRNA)-induced silencing complex, reveals the direct
      binding sites of miRNAs, thus providing insightful information about the role
      played by miRNA(s). In this review, we summarize and discuss the most recent
      computational methods for CLIP-seq analysis, and discuss their impact on
      Ago2/miRNA-binding site identification and prediction with a regard toward human
      pathologies.

PMID- 28605405
TI  - Commentary on: Patient Satisfaction With an Early Smartphone-Based Cosmetic
      Surgery Postoperative Follow-Up.

PMID- 28605406
TI  - CloudNeo: a cloud pipeline for identifying patient-specific tumor neoantigens.
AB  - Summary: We present CloudNeo, a cloud-based computational workflow for
      identifying patient-specific tumor neoantigens from next generation sequencing
      data. Tumor-specific mutant peptides can be detected by the immune system through
      their interactions with the human leukocyte antigen complex, and neoantigen
      presence has recently been shown to correlate with anti T-cell immunity and
      efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor therapy. However computing capabilities to
      identify neoantigens from genomic sequencing data are a limiting factor for
      understanding their role. This challenge has grown as cancer datasets become
      increasingly abundant, making them cumbersome to store and analyze on local
      servers. Our cloud-based pipeline provides scalable computation capabilities for
      neoantigen identification while eliminating the need to invest in local
      infrastructure for data transfer, storage or compute. The pipeline is a Common
      Workflow Language (CWL) implementation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing
      using Polysolver or HLAminer combined with custom scripts for mutant peptide
      identification and NetMHCpan for neoantigen prediction. We have demonstrated the
      efficacy of these pipelines on Amazon cloud instances through the Seven Bridges
      Genomics implementation of the NCI Cancer Genomics Cloud, which provides
      graphical interfaces for running and editing, infrastructure for workflow sharing
      and version tracking, and access to TCGA data. Availability and implementation:
      The CWL implementation is at: https://github.com/TheJacksonLaboratory/CloudNeo.
      For users who have obtained licenses for all internal software, integrated
      versions in CWL and on the Seven Bridges Cancer Genomics Cloud platform
      (https://cgc.sbgenomics.com/, recommended version) can be obtained by contacting
      the authors. Contact: jeff.chuang@jax.org. Supplementary information:
      Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605407
TI  - Recent advances in functional perturbation and genome editing techniques in
      studying sea urchin development.
AB  - Studies on the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) of sea urchin embryos have
      provided a basic understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling animal
      development. The causal links in GRNs have been verified experimentally through
      perturbation of gene functions. Microinjection of antisense morpholino
      oligonucleotides (MOs) into the egg is the most widely used approach for gene
      knockdown in sea urchin embryos. The modification of MOs into a membrane
      permeable form (vivo-MOs) has allowed gene knockdown at later developmental
      stages. Recent advances in genome editing tools, such as zinc-finger nucleases,
      transcription activator-like effector-based nucleases and the clustered regularly
      interspaced short palindromic repeat/clustered regularly interspaced short
      palindromic repeat-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system, have provided
      methods for gene knockout in sea urchins. Here, we review the use of vivo-MOs and
      genome editing tools in sea urchin studies since the publication of its genome in
      2006. Various applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and their potential in
      studying sea urchin development are also discussed. These new tools will provide
      more sophisticated experimental methods for studying sea urchin development.

PMID- 28605408
TI  - Casparian bands and suberin lamellae in exodermis of lateral roots: an important
      trait of roots system response to abiotic stress factors.
AB  - Background and Aims: Root absorptive characteristics rely on the presence of
      apoplastic barriers. However, little is known about the establishment of these
      barriers within a complex root system, particularly in a major portion of them -
      the lateral roots. In Zea mays L., the exodermis differentiates under the
      influence of growth conditions. Therefore, the species presents a suitable model
      to elucidate the cross-talk among environmental conditions, branching pattern and
      the maturation of barriers within a complex root system involved in the
      definition of the plant-soil interface. The study describes the extent to which
      lateral roots differentiate apoplastic barriers in response to changeable
      environmental conditions. Methods: The branching, permeability of the outer cell
      layers and differentiation of the endo- and exodermis were studied in primary
      roots and various laterals under different types of stress of agronomic
      importance (salinity, heavy metal toxicity, hypoxia, etc.). Histochemical
      methods, image analysis and apoplastic tracer assays were utilized. Key Results:
      The results show that the impact of growth conditions on the differentiation of
      both the endodermis and exodermis is modulated according to the type/diameter of
      the root. Fine laterals clearly represent that portion of a complex root system
      with a less advanced state of barrier differentiation, but with substantial
      ability to modify exodermis differentiation in response to environmental
      conditions. In addition, some degree of autonomy in exodermal establishment of
      Casparian bands (CBs) vs. suberin lamellae (SLs) was observed, as the absence of
      lignified exodermal CBs did not always fit with the lack of SLs. Conclusions:
      This study highlights the importance of lateral roots, and provides a first look
      into the developmental variations of apoplastic barriers within a complex root
      system. It emphasizes that branching and differentiation of barriers in fine
      laterals may substantially modulate the root system-rhizosphere interaction.

PMID- 28605409
TI  - Hair product use and breast cancer risk among African American and White women.
AB  - Exposures to carcinogens in hair products have been explored as breast cancer
      risk factors, yielding equivocal findings. We examined hair product use (hair
      dyes, chemical relaxers and cholesterol or placenta-containing conditioners)
      among African American (AA) and White women, and explored associations with
      breast cancer. Multivariable-adjusted models were used to estimate odds ratios
      (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to describe the associations of interest
      among 2280 cases (1508 AA and 772 White) and 2005 controls (1290 AA and 715
      White). Among controls, hair dye use was more common among Whites than AAs (58
      versus 30%), while relaxer (88 versus 5%) and deep conditioner use (59 versus 6%)
      was more common among AAs. Among AAs, use of dark hair dye shades was associated
      with increased breast cancer risk (OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.20-1.90) and use of dark
      shades (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.30-2.26) and higher frequency of use (OR = 1.36, 95%
      CI: 1.01-1.84) were associated with ER+ disease. Among Whites, relaxer use (OR =
      1.74, 95% CI: 1.11-2.74) and dual use of relaxers and hair dyes (OR = 2.40, 95%
      CI: 1.35-4.27) was associated with breast cancer; use of dark hair dyes was
      associated with increased ER+ disease (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.01-2.33), and relaxer
      use was associated with increased ER- disease (OR = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.06-6.16).
      These novel findings provide support a relationship between the use of some hair
      products and breast cancer. Further examinations of hair products as important
      exposures contributing to breast cancer carcinogenesis are necessary.

PMID- 28605410
TI  - Abstract Representations of Object-Directed Action in the Left Inferior Parietal
      Lobule.
AB  - Prior neuroimaging and neuropsychological research indicates that the left
      inferior parietal lobule in the human brain is a critical substrate for
      representing object manipulation knowledge. In the present functional MRI study
      we used multivoxel pattern analyses to test whether action similarity among
      objects can be decoded in the inferior parietal lobule independent of the task
      applied to objects (identification or pantomime) and stimulus format in which
      stimuli are presented (pictures or printed words). Participants pantomimed the
      use of objects, cued by printed words, or identified pictures of objects.
      Classifiers were trained and tested across task (e.g., training data: pantomime;
      testing data: identification), stimulus format (e.g., training data: word format;
      testing format: picture) and specific objects (e.g., training data: scissors vs.
      corkscrew; testing data: pliers vs. screwdriver). The only brain region in which
      action relations among objects could be decoded across task, stimulus format and
      objects was the inferior parietal lobule. By contrast, medial aspects of the
      ventral surface of the left temporal lobe represented object function, albeit not
      at the same level of abstractness as actions in the inferior parietal lobule.
      These results suggest compulsory access to abstract action information in the
      inferior parietal lobe even when simply identifying objects.

PMID- 28605411
TI  - Estimating causal effects from a randomized clinical trial when noncompliance is
      measured with error.
AB  - Noncompliance or non-adherence to randomized treatment is a common challenge when
      interpreting data from randomized clinical trials. The effect of an intervention
      if all participants were forced to comply with the assigned treatment (i.e., the
      causal effect) is often of primary scientific interest. For example, in trials of
      very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes, policymakers are interested in their
      effect on smoking behavior if their use were to be compelled by regulation. A
      variety of statistical methods to estimate the causal effect of an intervention
      have been proposed, but these methods, including inverse probability of
      compliance weighted (IPCW) estimators, assume that participants' compliance
      statuses are reported without error. This is an untenable assumption when
      compliance is based on self-report. Biomarkers (e.g., nicotine levels in the
      urine) may provide more reliable indicators of compliance but cannot perfectly
      discriminate between compliers and non-compliers. However, by modeling the
      distribution of the biomarker as a mixture distribution and writing the
      probability of compliance as a function of the mixture components, we show how
      the probability of compliance can be directly estimated from the data even when
      compliance status is unknown. To estimate the causal effect, we develop a new
      approach which re-weights participants by the product of their probability of
      compliance given the observed data and the inverse probability of compliance
      given confounders. We show that our proposed estimator is consistent and
      asymptotically normal and show that in some situations the proposed approach is
      more efficient than standard IPCW estimators. We demonstrate via simulation that
      the proposed estimator achieves smaller bias and greater efficiency than ad hoc
      approaches to estimating the causal effect when compliance is measured with
      error. We apply our method to data from a recently completed randomized trial of
      VLNC cigarettes.

PMID- 28605412
TI  - Accuracy Profiles for Analyzing Residual Solvents in Textiles by GC-MS.
AB  - Excess residual solvents (RSs) in clothes or other textiles could be toxic and
      pose risks to both humans and the environment. N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N
      dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) are important
      chemicals frequently used as solvents in the textile industry. Several
      organizations have proposed limiting DMF, DMAc and NMP in textiles, but an
      appropriate detection method has not been proposed. A sensitive GC-MS method for
      the quantification of DMF, DMAc and NMP in textiles was developed. After
      extraction with ethyl acetate, these RSs were separated on a DB-5MS capillary
      column. The oven temperature was increased from 50 degrees C (held for 0.5 min)
      at 10 degrees C/min to 120 degrees C (held for 1 min). The method was fully
      validated according to the accuracy profile procedure, which is based on beta
      expectation tolerance intervals for the total measurement bias. Linearity was
      observed in the range of 0.5-10 mg/L for the solvents with limit of
      quantification values of 4.2, 3.5 and 2.5 mg/kg for DMF, DMAc and NMP,
      respectively. The repeatability and intermediate precision were <5.34% and 7.95%
      for DMF, 5.37% and 9.68% for DMAc, and 2.68% and 5.85% for NMP. The recoveries of
      DMF, DMAc and NMP were 91.2-106.3%, 89.5-97.7% and 85.6-101.3%, respectively.

PMID- 28605413
TI  - Acute bovine viral diarrhea virus infection inhibits expression of interferon tau
      stimulated genes in bovine endometrium.
AB  - Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) can evade host detection by downregulation of
      interferon signaling pathways. Infection of cows with noncytopathic (ncp) BVDV
      can cause early embryonic mortality. Upregulation of type I interferon stimulated
      genes (ISGs) by blastocyst-secreted interferon tau (IFNT) is a crucial component
      of the maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) in ruminants. This study
      investigated the potential of acute BVDV infection to disrupt MRP by modulating
      endometrial ISG expression. Endometrial cells from 10 BVDV-free cows were
      cultured and treated with 0 or 100 ng/ml IFNT for 24 h in the absence or presence
      of ncpBVDV infection to yield four treatment groups: CONT, ncpBVDV, IFNT, or
      ncpBVDV+IFNT. ncpBVDV infection alone only upregulated TRIM56, but reduced mRNA
      expression of ISG15, MX2, BST2, and the proinflammatory cytokine IL1B. As
      anticipated, IFNT treatment alone significantly increased expression of all 17
      ISGs tested. In contrast to the limited effect of ncpBVDV alone, the virus
      markedly inhibited IFNT-stimulated expression of 15 ISGs tested (ISG15, HERC5,
      USP18, DDX58, IFIH1, IFIT1, IFIT3, BST2, MX1, MX2, RSAD2, OAS1Y, SAMD9, GBP4, and
      PLAC8), together with ISG15 secreted protein. Only TRIM56 and IFI27 expression
      was unaltered. IL1B expression was reduced by the combined treatment. These
      results indicate that acute ncpBVDV infection may decrease uterine immunity and
      lead to MRP failure through inhibition of IFNT-stimulated endometrial ISG
      production. This in turn could reduce fertility and predispose cows to uterine
      disease, while evasion of the normal uterine immune response by ncpBVDV may
      contribute to maintenance and spreading of this economically important disease.

PMID- 28605415
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28605414
TI  - Childhood Deaths Attributable to Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in England and
      Wales, 2006-2014.
AB  - Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are highly effective in
      preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), but deaths due to IPD still
      occur. We aimed to describe children who died of IPD since PCV introduction in
      England and Wales. Methods: Public Health England conducts enhanced IPD
      surveillance in England and Wales. IPD cases in PCV-eligible children aged <5
      years (born since 4 September 2004 and diagnosed between 4 September 2006 and 3
      September 2014) were actively followed up by postal questionnaires and, for fatal
      cases, detailed information was requested prospectively from multiple sources.
      Results: During the 8-year period, there were 3146 IPD cases and 150 IPD-related
      deaths (case fatality rate, 4.8%). Overall, 132 isolates from fatal cases were
      serotyped (88%) and 35 distinct serotypes were identified, with no serotype
      predominance. Most deaths occurred in children aged <1 year (88/150 [59%]) and 1
      year-olds (36/150 [24%]). One-third (53/150 [35%]) had a known risk factor for
      IPD. Clinical presentation varied with age but not by serotypes in the different
      conjugate vaccines. Meningitis was diagnosed in nearly half the fatal cases
      (71/150 [47%]). The IPD-related mortality rate declined after 7-valent PCV
      introduction from 1.25/100000 children in 2006-2007 to 0.60/100000 in 2009-2010,
      with a further reduction following 13-valent PCV introduction from April 2010 to
      0.39/100000 in 2013-2014 (14 deaths; incidence rate ratio, 0.31 [95% confidence
      interval, .16-.61]; P = .0003), when most deaths were due to nonvaccine serotypes
      or in neonates. Conclusions: Most fatal IPD cases are currently not vaccine
      preventable. Additional strategies will be required to reduce childhood
      pneumococcal deaths in countries with established pneumococcal vaccination
      programs.

PMID- 28605416
TI  - Reply to Boysan and Ciri.

PMID- 28605417
TI  - Reply to Naktin.

PMID- 28605419
TI  - Diagnostic Utility of Erythema Migrans.

PMID- 28605418
TI  - Should We Be Testing for Baseline Integrase Resistance in Patients Newly
      Diagnosed With Human Immunodeficiency Virus?
AB  - Background: Current guidelines recommend genotype resistance testing at diagnosis
      to guide initial selection of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Many standard
      resistance genotypes exclude testing for resistance to integrase inhibitors ("IR
      testing"), although this class of drugs is a component of most recommended first
      line regimens. Methods: We compared the 96-week clinical outcomes and cost
      effectiveness of 2 strategies: no IR testing vs IR testing performed at human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis. The base case prevalence of transmitted
      integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-resistant (INSTI-R) virus is
      estimated at 0.1%. With no IR testing, all patients start dolutegravir (DTG)
      based ART after genotype; 12-week suppression rates are 90% (INSTI-susceptible
      [INSTI-S] virus) and 35% (INSTI-R virus). Those not suppressed at 12 weeks
      undergo IR testing; if diagnosed with INSTI-R virus, they change to ritonavir
      boosted darunavir (DRV/r)-based ART. With IR testing, all patients are diagnosed
      with INSTI-S/INSTI-R virus prior to ART initiation and start DTG- or DRV/r-based
      regimens, respectively. Costs include IR tests (175 US dollars [USD]) and ART
      (41100-44900 USD/year). We examined the impact of key parameters in sensitivity
      analyses. Results: IR testing resulted in worse clinical outcomes compared to no
      IR testing and increased costs by 200 USD/person/year. Prevalence of transmitted
      INSTI-R virus did not affect the favored strategy. No IR testing remained
      clinically preferred unless DTG suppression of INSTI-R virus was <20% or 96-week
      DRV/r suppression was >92%. If quality of life was worse with DRV/r- than DTG
      based ART, no IR testing was clinically preferred over an even broader range of
      parameters. Conclusions: In patients with newly diagnosed HIV, IR testing is
      projected to result in worse outcomes and is not cost-effective. Pretreatment
      assessment for INSTI resistance should not be recommended in treatment
      guidelines.

PMID- 28605420
TI  - Prognostic value of mean pulmonary artery pressure in the stable phase after
      heart transplantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In heart transplant recipients, elevated mean pulmonary artery
      pressure (mPAP) shortly before or after transplantation represents a powerful
      predictor for an adverse short-term outcome. Less is known on cardiac and
      pulmonary pressures measured in the stable phase after heart transplantation. The
      aim of this study was to assess the predictive value of mPAP, mean pulmonary
      capillary wedge pressure and mean central venous pressure in the stable phase
      after transplantation. METHODS: All patients (n = 260, mean age 47.4 +/- 12.7
      years, 224 males) who received a cardiac allograft at the University Hospital
      Zurich between September 1985 and August 2014 and who had undergone at least 1
      right heart catheterization after transplantation (median 358 days after
      transplantation) were included and survival analysis was performed (median follow
      up 11.9 years). RESULTS: The median mPAP, mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
      and mean central venous pressure were 15 mmHg (interquartile range 12-19 mmHg), 8
      mmHg (interquartile range 6-11 mmHg) and 3 mmHg (interquartile range 1-5 mmHg),
      respectively. In mPAP median split survival analysis, patients with an mPAP above
      the median had a significantly lower long-term survival than patients with or
      below median mPAP (P = 0.012). mPAP but not mean central venous pressure or mean
      pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was independently associated with long-term
      mortality in multivariable Cox-hazard survival analysis (hazard ratio 1.10,
      confidence interval 1.04-1.16, P = 0.001). Other factors independently associated
      with mortality were age at transplantation (hazard ratio 1.03 per year,
      confidence interval 1.01-1.04, P = 0.002) and serum creatinine (MUmol/l) (hazard
      ratio 1.003, confidence interval 1.001-1.010, P = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results demonstrate that mPAP measured in the stable phase after heart
      transplantation is an independent prognostic factor for long-term mortality.

PMID- 28605421
TI  - Diagnostic sensitivity of abdominal fat aspiration in cardiac amyloidosis.
AB  - Aims: Congo red staining of an endomyocardial biopsy is the diagnostic gold
      standard in suspected cardiac amyloidosis (CA), but the procedure is associated
      with the risk, albeit small, of serious complications, and delay in diagnosis due
      to the requirement for technical expertise. In contrast, abdominal fat pad fine
      needle aspiration (FPFNA) is a simple, safe and well-established procedure in
      systemic amyloidosis, but its diagnostic sensitivity in patients with suspected
      CA remains unclear. Methods and results: We assessed the diagnostic sensitivity
      of FPFNA in 600 consecutive patients diagnosed with CA [216 AL amyloidosis, 113
      hereditary transthyretin (ATTRm), and 271 wild-type transthyretin (ATTRwt)
      amyloidosis] at our Centre. Amyloid was detected on Congo red staining of FPFNAs
      in 181/216 (84%) patients with cardiac AL amyloidosis, including 100, 97, and 78%
      of those with a large, moderate, and small whole-body amyloid burden,
      respectively, as assessed by serum amyloid P (SAP) component scintigraphy (P <
      0.001); the deposits were successfully typed as AL by immunohistochemistry in
      102/216 (47%) cases. Amyloid was detected in FPFNAs of 51/113 (45%) patients with
      ATTRm CA, and only 42/271 (15%) cases with ATTRwt CA. Conclusions: FPFNA has
      reasonable diagnostic sensitivity in cardiac AL amyloidosis, particularly in
      patients with a large whole-body amyloid burden. Although the diagnostic
      sensitivity of FPFNA is substantially lower in transthyretin CA, particularly
      ATTRwt, it may nevertheless sometimes obviate the need for endomyocardial biopsy.

PMID- 28605422
TI  - Risk-Exposure Density and Mileage Bias in Crash Risk for Older Drivers.
AB  - Crash rates per mile indicate a high risk of vehicle crash in older drivers. A
      reliance on mileage alone may underestimate the risk exposure of older drivers
      because they tend to avoid highways and travel more on nonfreeways (e.g., urban
      roads), which present greater hazards. We introduce risk-exposure density as an
      index of exposure that incorporates mileage, frequency of travel, and travel
      duration. Population-wide driver fatalities in the United States during 2002-2012
      were assessed according to driver age range (in years: 16-20, 21-29, 30-39, 40
      49, 50-59, 60-69, >=70) and sex. Mileage, frequency, and duration of travel per
      person were used to assess risk exposure. Mileage-based fatal crash risk
      increased greatly among male (relative risk (RR) = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.62, 1.83) and
      female (RR = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.97, 2.19) drivers from ages 60-69 years to ages >=70
      years. Adjusting for their density of risk exposure, fatal crash risk increased
      only slightly from ages 60-69 years to ages >=70 years among male (RR = 1.09; 95%
      CI: 1.03, 1.15) and female (RR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.29) drivers. While
      ubiquitous in epidemiologic research, mileage-based assessments can produce
      misleading accounts of driver risk. Risk-exposure density incorporates multiple
      components of travel and reduces bias caused by any single indicator of risk
      exposure.

PMID- 28605423
TI  - SOURCE 3: 1-year outcomes post-transcatheter aortic valve implantation using the
      latest generation of the balloon-expandable transcatheter heart valve.
AB  - Aims: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has developed from a
      procedure for patients with aortic stenosis inoperable or high risk for surgery,
      into a treatment option even for intermediate risk elderly patients. This
      development has been facilitated by the clinical learning curve and constant
      improvements of transcatheter heart valves used. We present total 1-year results
      of SOURCE 3, the European post-approval multicentre registry of the latest
      generation balloon expandable SAPIEN 3TM (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA, USA).
      Methods and results: Participating centres have submitted their consecutive
      experience with the SAPIEN 3, dependent on patients consent. Data were
      prospectively collected and all end point-related outcomes adjudicated according
      to VARC-2 definitions by an independent committee. Between July 2014 and October
      2015, in total 1946 patients (mean age 81.6 +/- 6.7 years, 52% male) were
      enrolled in 80 centres from 10 European countries. At 1 year, all-cause mortality
      was 12.6%, cardiovascular mortality 8.0%, stroke 3.1%, disabling stroke 1.4%, and
      rate of new pacemakers 13.2%. Causes of death were 62.0% cardiovascular and 38.0%
      non-cardiovascular, with heart failure (13.4%) and pulmonary complications
      (12.7%) being the main reasons for fatal outcomes. Multivariable analysis
      identified New York Heart Association Class IV and renal insufficiency as
      predictors of mortality, while higher BMI's improved survival. Severe (zero) and
      moderate paravalvular leakage (2.6%) was rare at 1 year. Conclusion: In SOURCE 3,
      we observe a low complication rate and mortality at 1 year. Given the low
      incidence of higher degree paravalvular leakages, this variable did no longer
      affect outcome. Clinicaltrial.gov number: NCT02698956.

PMID- 28605424
TI  - Identification of Homophily and Preferential Recruitment in Respondent-Driven
      Sampling.
AB  - Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a link-tracing procedure used in
      epidemiologic research on hidden or hard-to-reach populations in which subjects
      recruit others via their social networks. Estimates from RDS studies may have
      poor statistical properties due to statistical dependence in sampled subjects'
      traits. Two distinct mechanisms account for dependence in an RDS study:
      homophily, the tendency for individuals to share social ties with others
      exhibiting similar characteristics, and preferential recruitment, in which
      recruiters do not recruit uniformly at random from their network alters. The
      different effects of network homophily and preferential recruitment in RDS
      studies have been a source of confusion and controversy in methodological and
      empirical research in epidemiology. In this work, we gave formal definitions of
      homophily and preferential recruitment and showed that neither is identified in
      typical RDS studies. We derived nonparametric identification regions for
      homophily and preferential recruitment and showed that these parameters were not
      identified unless the network took a degenerate form. The results indicated that
      claims of homophily or recruitment bias measured from empirical RDS studies may
      not be credible. We applied our identification results to a study involving both
      a network census and RDS on a population of injection drug users in Hartford,
      Connecticut (2012-2013).

PMID- 28605425
TI  - Urine albumin excretion and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation: predictive
      or aetiological relevance-Authors' reply.

PMID- 28605426
TI  - Biomarkers of Cerebral Injury and Inflammation in Pediatric Tuberculous
      Meningitis.
AB  - Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) leads to death or disability in half the
      affected individuals. Tools to assess severity and predict outcome are lacking.
      Neurospecific biomarkers could serve as markers of the severity and evolution of
      brain injury, but have not been widely explored in TBM. We examined biomarkers of
      neurological injury (neuromarkers) and inflammation in pediatric TBM and their
      association with outcome. Methods: Blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of
      children with TBM and hydrocephalus taken on admission and over 3 weeks were
      analyzed for the neuromarkers S100B, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and glial
      fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), in addition to multiple inflammatory markers.
      Results were compared with 2 control groups: patients with (1) a fatty filum
      (abnormal filum terminale of the spinal cord); and (2) pulmonary tuberculosis
      (PTB). Imaging was conducted on admission and at 3 weeks. Outcome was assessed at
      6 months. Results: Data were collected from 44 patients with TBM (cases; median
      age, 3.3 [min-max 0.3-13.1] years), 11 fatty filum controls (median age, 2.8 [min
      max 0.8-8] years) and 9 PTB controls (median age, 3.7 [min-max 1.3-11.8] years).
      Seven cases (16%) died and 16 (36%) had disabilities. Neuromarkers and
      inflammatory markers were elevated in CSF on admission and for up to 3 weeks, but
      not in serum. Initial and highest concentrations in week 1 of S100B and NSE were
      associated with poor outcome, as were highest concentration overall and an
      increasing profile over time in S100B, NSE, and GFAP. Combined neuromarker
      concentrations increased over time in patients who died, whereas inflammatory
      markers decreased. Cerebral infarcts were associated with highest overall
      neuromarker concentrations and an increasing profile over time. Tuberculomas were
      associated with elevated interleukin (IL) 12p40, interferon-inducible protein 10,
      and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 concentrations, whereas infarcts were
      associated with elevated tumor necrosis factor alpha, macrophage inflammatory
      protein 1alpha, IL-6, and IL-8. Conclusions: CSF neuromarkers are promising
      biomarkers of injury severity and are predictive of mortality. An increasing
      trend suggested ongoing brain injury, even though markers of inflammation
      declined with treatment. These findings could offer novel insight into the
      pathophysiology of TBM.

PMID- 28605427
TI  - Residential Proximity to Major Roadways, Fine Particulate Matter, and Hepatic
      Steatosis: The Framingham Heart Study.
AB  - We examined associations between ambient air pollution and hepatic steatosis
      among 2,513 participants from the Framingham (Massachusetts) Offspring Study and
      Third Generation Cohort who underwent a computed tomography scan (2002-2005),
      after excluding men who reported >21 drinks/week and women who reported >14
      drinks/week. We calculated each participant's residential-based distance to a
      major roadway and used a spatiotemporal model to estimate the annual mean
      concentrations of fine particulate matter. Liver attenuation was measured by
      computed tomography, and liver-to-phantom ratio (LPR) was calculated. Lower
      values of LPR represent more liver fat. We estimated differences in continuous
      LPR using linear regression models and prevalence ratios for presence of hepatic
      steatosis (LPR <= 0.33) using generalized linear models, adjusting for
      demographics, individual and area-level measures of socioeconomic position, and
      clinical and lifestyle factors. Participants who lived 58 m (25th percentile)
      from major roadways had lower LPR (beta = -0.003, 95% confidence interval: 
      0.006, -0.001) and higher prevalence of hepatic steatosis (prevalence ratio =
      1.16, 95% confidence interval: 1.05, 1.28) than those who lived 416 m (75th
      percentile) away. The 2003 annual average fine particulate matter concentration
      was not associated with liver-fat measurements. Our findings suggest that living
      closer to major roadways was associated with more liver fat.

PMID- 28605428
TI  - The COMMENCE trial: 2-year outcomes with an aortic bioprosthesis with RESILIA
      tissue.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The COMMENCE trial was conducted to evaluate the safety and
      effectiveness of a novel bioprosthetic tissue for surgical aortic valve
      replacement (AVR). METHODS: Patients underwent clinically indicated surgical AVR
      with the Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNTTM Magna EaseTM aortic valve with RESILIATM
      tissue (Model 11000A) in a prospective, multinational, multicentre (n = 27),
      single-arm, FDA Investigational Device Exemption trial. Events were adjudicated
      by an independent Clinical Events Committee; echocardiograms were analysed by an
      independent Core Laboratory. RESULTS: Between January 2013 and February 2016, 689
      patients received the study valve. Mean age was 67.0 +/- 11.6 years; 71.8% were
      male; 26.3% were New York Heart Association Class III/IV. Mean STS PROM was 2.0
      +/- 1.8 (0.3-17.5). Isolated AVR was performed in 59.1% of patients; others had
      additional concomitant procedures, usually CABG. Thirty-day outcomes for all
      patients included all-cause mortality 1.2%, thromboembolism 2.2%, bleeding 0.9%,
      major paravalvular leak 0.1% and permanent pacemaker implantation 4.7%. Median
      intensive care unit and hospital length of stay were 2 (range: 0.2-66) and 7 days
      (3.0-121.0), respectively. At 2 years, New York Heart Association class improved
      in 65.7%, effective orifice area was 1.6 +/- 0.5 cm2; mean gradient was 10.1 +/-
      4.3 mmHg; and paravalvular leak was none/trivial in 94.5%, mild in 4.9%, moderate
      in 0.5% and severe in 0.0%. One-year actuarial freedom from all-cause mortality
      for isolated AVR and for all patients was 98.2% and 97.6%, respectively. Two-year
      actuarial freedom from mortality in these groups was 95.3% and 94.3%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate excellent early safety and
      effectiveness of aortic valve replacement with a novel bioprosthetic tissue
      (RESILIATM). Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01757665.

PMID- 28605429
TI  - Application of an Individual-Based Transmission Hazard Model for Estimation of
      Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in a Household Cohort.
AB  - Household cohort studies are an important design for the study of respiratory
      virus transmission. Inferences from these studies can be improved through the use
      of mechanistic models to account for household structure and risk as an
      alternative to traditional regression models. We adapted a previously described
      individual-based transmission hazard (TH) model and assessed its utility for
      analyzing data from a household cohort maintained in part for study of influenza
      vaccine effectiveness (VE). Households with >=4 individuals, including >=2
      children <18 years of age, were enrolled and followed during the 2010-2011
      influenza season. VE was estimated in both TH and Cox proportional hazards (PH)
      models. For each individual, TH models estimated hazards of infection from the
      community and each infected household contact. Influenza A(H3N2) infection was
      laboratory-confirmed in 58 (4%) subjects. VE estimates from both models were
      similarly low overall (Cox PH: 20%, 95% confidence interval: -57, 59; TH: 27%,
      95% credible interval: -23, 58) and highest for children <9 years of age (Cox PH:
      40%, 95% confidence interval: -49, 76; TH: 52%, 95% credible interval: 7, 75). VE
      estimates were robust to model choice, although the ability of the TH model to
      accurately describe transmission of influenza presents continued opportunity for
      analyses.

PMID- 28605430
TI  - Intravenous retro-uterine echographic surveillance of the foetus during surgical
      thrombectomy for life-threatening pulmonary thromboembolism.
AB  - Pulmonary thromboembolism is a life-threatening disease, particularly during
      pregnancy. We report a case of successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation followed
      by surgical thrombectomy in a 35-year-old woman at 28 weeks of gestation.
      Intracardiac echocardiography was percutaneously located behind the uterus, and
      greatly assisted monitoring of the foetal condition and haemodynamic status.

PMID- 28605432
TI  - Molecular Diagnosis of Thalassemias and Hemoglobinopathies: An ACLPS Critical
      Review.
AB  - Objectives: To describe the use of molecular diagnostic techniques for patients
      with hemoglobin disorders. Methods: A clinical scenario is presented in which
      molecular diagnosis is important for genetic counseling. Globin disorders,
      techniques for their diagnosis, and the role of molecular genetic testing in
      managing patients with these disorders are described in detail. Results:
      Hemoglobin disorders, including thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies, are among
      the commonest genetic diseases, and the clinical laboratory is essential for the
      diagnosis of patients with these abnormalities. Most disorders can be diagnosed
      with protein-based techniques such as electrophoresis and chromatography. Since
      severe syndromes can result due to inheritance of combinations of globin genetic
      disorders, genetic counseling is important to prevent adverse outcomes. Protein
      based methods cannot always detect potentially serious thalassemia disorders; in
      particular, alpha-thalassemia may be masked in the presence of beta-thalassemia.
      Deletional forms of beta-thalassemia are also sometimes difficult to diagnose
      definitively with standard methods. Conclusions: Molecular genetic testing serves
      an important role in identifying individuals carrying thalassemia traits that can
      cause adverse outcomes in offspring. Furthermore, prenatal genetic testing can
      identify fetuses with severe globin phenotypes.

PMID- 28605431
TI  - Matrix exopolysaccharides; the sticky side of biofilm formation.
AB  - The Gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is found ubiquitously within
      the environment and is recognised as an opportunistic human pathogen that
      commonly infects burn wounds and immunocompromised individuals, or patients
      suffering from the autosomal recessive disorder cystic fibrosis (CF). During
      chronic infection, P. aeruginosa is thought to form structured aggregates known
      as biofilms characterised by a self-produced matrix which encases the bacteria,
      protecting them from antimicrobial attack and the host immune response. In many
      cases, antibiotics are ineffective at eradicating P. aeruginosa from chronically
      infected CF airways. Cyclic-di-GMP has been identified as a key regulator of
      biofilm formation; however, the way in which its effector proteins elicit a
      change in biofilm formation remains unclear. Identifying regulators of biofilm
      formation is a key theme of current research and understanding the factors that
      activate biofilm formation may help to expose potential new drug targets that
      slow the onset of chronic infection. This minireview outlines the contribution
      made by exopolysaccharides to biofilm formation, and describes the current
      understanding of biofilm regulation in P. aeruginosa with a particular focus on
      CF airway-associated infections.

PMID- 28605433
TI  - Sociodemographic Correlates of Clinical Laboratory Test Expenditures in a Major
      Canadian City.
AB  - Objectives: The increasing cost of clinical laboratory testing is a challenge in
      our health care system. This study aims to calculate the annual clinical
      laboratory test costs attributed to patients in a major Canadian city and to
      correlate them to their sociodemographic variables. Methods: Retrospective cohort
      study involving patients who received clinical chemistry, hematology, and
      microbiology tests in 2011 in Calgary, Canada (n = 610,409). Test volumes were
      obtained from a laboratory informatics database. Total expenditures per patient
      were calculated using estimated test costs and then combined with the 2011
      Canadian Census Household Survey results to infer sociodemographic correlates.
      Results: While more women received laboratory testing (58.4%), men had slightly
      higher testing costs per capita. Except for Chinese, visible minority and
      Aboriginal populations had higher testing costs. There was an inverse correlation
      between testing cost and household income, and accordingly, higher costs were
      found in those without postsecondary education and the unemployed. Furthermore,
      hotspot mapping revealed the geographical distribution of patient test costs
      within the city. Conclusions: There is variation in testing costs for patients
      among different sociodemographic variables.

PMID- 28605434
TI  - A knockin mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 exhibits prominent
      aggregate pathology and aberrant splicing of the disease gene transcript.

PMID- 28605435
TI  - AAV9 delivered bispecific nanobody attenuates amyloid burden in the gelsolin
      amyloidosis mouse model.

PMID- 28605436
TI  - Innovation in cardiovascular disease in Europe with focus on arrhythmias: current
      status, opportunities, roadblocks, and the role of multiple stakeholders.
AB  - The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) held an Innovation Forum in February
      2016, to consider issues around innovation. The objective of the forum was to
      extend the innovation debate outside of the narrow world of arrhythmia
      specialists and cardiology in general, and seek input from all stakeholders
      including regulators, strategists, technologists, industry, academia, health
      providers, medical societies, payers, and patients. Innovation is indispensable
      for a continuing improvement in health care, preferably at higher efficacy and
      lower costs. It requires people who have been trained in a good scientific
      environment, high-quality research for achieving ground breaking inventions and
      the certainty of return on innovation investments. In the context of
      cardiovascular disease, innovation can imply better risk assessment and
      stratification, device technology, drug development, and process design. Several
      areas of promising developments were identified as well as several roadblocks to
      innovation. To drive innovation forward all stakeholders need to play a
      significant role. In a globalized and extremely competitive world, the leading
      role of Europe in medical innovation can only be achieved through a combined and
      well-coordinated effort from all involved parties.

PMID- 28605437
TI  - Anatomical predisposing factors of transmural thermal injury after pulmonary vein
      isolation.
AB  - Aims: Transmural thermal injury (TTI), such as oesophageal erosion/ulcer and
      perioesophageal nerve injury leading to gastric hypomotility, is an important
      complication associated with pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). However, a predictor
      of TTI concerning anatomical structures surrounding the oesophagus has not yet
      been fully elucidated. Therefore, we sought to identify the predisposing factors
      of TTI after PVI. Methods and results: Consecutive 110 patients, who underwent
      PVI for atrial fibrillation, received oesophagogastroduodenoscopy 2 days later,
      were investigated. The relationships between TTI and clinical and anatomical
      parameters were examined. Based on the computed tomography data, we measured the
      angle of the left atrial (LA) posterior wall to the descending aorta (Ao) (LA-Ao
      angle), the branching angle of the left inferior pulmonary vein (LIPV) to the
      coronal plane (LIPV angle), and the minimum distance between the LA posterior
      wall and descending Ao enclosing the oesophagus (LA-Ao distance). Transmural
      thermal injuries occurred in 21 patients (oesophageal erosion in 5 and gastric
      hypomotility in 16). Age, gender, body mass index, LA diameter, and LA volume
      index in echocardiography were not associated with TTI. However, the LIPV angle
      was larger and the LA-Ao distance was shorter in the TTI (+) group compared to
      the TTI (-) group. With multivariate logistic regression analysis, the LIPV angle
      [odds ratio (OR): 2.144, P = 0.0031] and LA-Ao distance (OR: 0.392, P = 0.0229)
      were independent predictors of TTI. Conclusion: The anatomical proximities of the
      LA posterior wall, LIPV, and descending Ao surrounding the oesophagus are
      strongly associated with the prevalence of TTI.

PMID- 28605438
TI  - Illness Cognition among Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Preliminary Longitudinal
      Study.

PMID- 28605439
TI  - Antibiotic susceptibility in vitro of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica
      isolates from Germany.
AB  - Background: Tularaemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Francisella
      tularensis. In Germany, the disease is still rare (e.g. 34 human cases reported
      in 2015). There is a lack of data about the susceptibility of F. tularensis
      strains to antibiotics, because many cases are diagnosed using serological assays
      only. Objectives: The antibiotic susceptibility in vitro of F. tularensis subsp.
      holarctica strains isolated in Germany was assessed to determine whether the
      currently recommended empirical therapy is still adequate. Methods: A total of
      128 F. tularensis strains were investigated that were collected between 2005 and
      2014 in Germany from wild animals, ticks and humans. All isolates were genotyped
      using real-time PCR assays targeting canonical SNPs, and antibiotic
      susceptibility was tested using MIC test strips on agar plates. MIC values were
      interpreted using CLSI breakpoints. Results: The strains were susceptible to
      antibiotics commonly recommended for tularaemia therapy, i.e. aminoglycosides
      (MIC90 values: gentamicin 1 mg/L; streptomycin 4.0 mg/L), tetracyclines (MIC90
      values: tetracycline 0.5 mg/L; doxycycline 1.5 mg/L) and quinolones (MIC90 value:
      ciprofloxacin 0.064 mg/L). Chloramphenicol (MIC90 value: 3.0 mg/L) may be of
      value in treatment of tularaemia meningitis. Ninety-four isolates were
      susceptible to erythromycin, which defines biovar I (genotypes B.4 and B.6); 34
      were resistant (biovar II; genotype B.12). Conclusions: The F. tularensis
      isolates investigated in this study showed the typical antibiotic susceptibility
      pattern that was previously observed in other countries. Therefore,
      recommendations for empirical antibiotic therapy of tularaemia can remain
      unchanged. However, antibiotic susceptibility testing of clinical isolates should
      be performed whenever possible.

PMID- 28605440
TI  - How to prevent atrial-oesophageal fistula following ablation of atrial
      fibrillation: are there actually any effective methods?

PMID- 28605441
TI  - Aortopexy offers surgical options for a variety of pathological tracheal
      conditions in paediatric patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Aortopexy is widely used; however, many surgeons still regard it with
      suspicion. To date, there are only a few large series and minimal long-term data.
      Against this background, our goal was to report our experience, particularly with
      regard to the recent expansion of indications and modification of diagnostic
      routine and surgical strategy. METHODS: Between 1994 and 2012, 53 patients (mean
      age: 1.1 years; 5 weeks-10.2 years) were operated on. Tracheomalacia after the
      operation for oesophageal atresia was the main indication for aortopexy (74%),
      followed by tracheal compression by the innominate artery (17%) and other
      selected indications (9%). Computed tomography angiography has emerged in recent
      years as the method of choice for preoperative diagnosis. Median sternotomy has
      replaced lateral thoracotomy, and intraoperative bronchoscopy has become the
      standard. RESULTS: In contrast to magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography
      angiography resulted in perfect visualization of the condition. Median sternotomy
      and simultaneous bronchoscopy led to immediate readjustment of the aortopexy
      sutures in 6 patients. There were no surgical deaths or serious morbidities. The
      mean follow-up was 4.9 (0.3-14.9) years. Two patients with additional complex
      diseases died during the follow-up period. In all survivors, symptoms improved
      markedly or disappeared. However, we observed an increased susceptibility to
      lower respiratory tract infections over the long-term (32%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Aortopexy is effective for treating tracheomalacia of different origins and other
      pathological conditions as well. Preoperative computed tomography angiography
      offers excellent visualization of the condition. Median sternotomy and
      intraoperative bronchoscopy provide a combination for reliable operative and long
      term results. However, many patients still have an increased susceptibility to
      lower respiratory tract infections.

PMID- 28605442
TI  - Perioperative goal-directed therapy with uncalibrated pulse contour methods:
      impact on fluid management and postoperative outcome.
AB  - Previous meta-analyses suggest that perioperative goal-directed therapy (GDT) is
      useful to decrease postoperative morbidity. Most GDT studies analysed were done
      with pulmonary artery catheters, oesophageal Doppler and calibrated pulse contour
      methods. Uncalibrated pulse contour (uPC) techniques are an appealing alternative
      but their accuracy has been questioned. The effects of GDT on fluid management
      (volumes and volume variability) remain unclear. We performed a meta-analysis of
      randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of GDT with uPC methods on
      postoperative outcome. The primary endpoint was postoperative morbidity. Fluid
      volumes and fluid volume variability (standard deviation/mean) over the GDT
      period were also studied. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria (2159
      patients). Postoperative morbidity was reduced with GDT (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.30
      0.70, P<0.001). The volume of colloids was higher [weighted mean difference (WMD)
      +345 ml, 95% CI 148-541 ml, P<0.001] and the volume of crystalloids was lower
      (WMD -429 ml, 95% CI -634 to -224 ml, P<0.01) in the GDT group than in the
      control group. However, the total volume of fluid (WMD -220 ml, 95% CI -590 to
      150 ml, P=0.25) and the variability of fluid volume (34% vs 33%, P=0.98) were not
      affected by GDT. The use of GDT with uPC techniques was associated with a
      decrease in postoperative morbidity. It was not associated with an increase in
      total fluid volume nor with a decrease in fluid volume variability.

PMID- 28605443
TI  - Radiofrequency ablation of accessory pathways in patients with the Wolff
      Parkinson-White syndrome: long-term risk of mortality and coronary events.
AB  - Aims: The long-term outcomes of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) in
      patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) remain unclear. We
      investigated the impact of RFCA on the long-term risk of coronary events and
      mortality in WPW patients. Methods and results: We conducted a prospective cohort
      study utilizing the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Between
      2000 and 2003, WPW patients with no prior coronary artery disease (CAD) history,
      aged over 18 years, who underwent RFCA were identified. WPW patients without RFCA
      were matched with propensity-score 1:4 matching for confounding coronary risk
      factors. The study outcomes were total mortality and coronary events. A total of
      1524 matched non-ablated WPW patients (Group 1) and 381 ablated WPW patients
      (Group 2) were included. After a mean follow-up of 9.6 +/- 2.9 and 10.3 +/- 1.9
      years, respectively, ablation group demonstrated a lower incidence of mortality
      compared with non-ablation group (17 vs. 26/1000 person-years, P < 0.001;
      adjusted HR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.44-0.7). However, ablation group had a higher
      incidence of coronary events compared with non-ablation group (47 vs. 82/1000
      person-years, P < 0.001; adjusted HR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.4-2.04). Conclusion: The
      ablation-treated WPW patients had lower risk of total mortality but higher risk
      of coronary events than non-ablated WPW patients during the long-term follow-up.
      Coronary artery injury produced by RFCA may account for the increased risk of
      coronary events. Therefore, the ablation strategies to avoid coronary artery
      injury should be implemented.

PMID- 28605444
TI  - Is elimination of hepatitis C from the UK by 2030 a realistic goal?
AB  - Introduction: Highly effective, combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) infection is now available. Current cure rates are close to 100% and
      applicable to all patients irrespective of race, age, severity of liver disease
      or viral genotype. Remarkably for persistent infection, current treatment is
      recommended for as little as 12 weeks; recent studies suggest even shorter
      courses. In contrast to interferon-based therapy, present regimens have few side
      effects and serious adverse events are rare. The success and safety of these
      regimens has stimulated interest in the possible eventual elimination of HCV.
      Barriers to elimination include cost of drugs and finding patients in the
      community less likely to interact with medical services who are a potential
      reservoir of infection. Sources of data: Pubmed. Areas of agreement: Antiviral
      agents already available are highly effective. Areas of controversy: The cost of
      the newer antiviral agents is very high, restricting treatment numbers in the UK
      in 2015/16 and focusing therapy on those patients with significant fibrosis.
      Recently, patients with less severe disease have been offered therapy, but
      delivery may be slowed by high costs. Many believe that insufficient pressure has
      been brought to bear to reduce costs. Eventual elimination will depend first on
      reducing treatment costs for those known to have chronic HCV infection and then
      finding patients in the community with infection unaware of their illness or
      reluctant/unable to engage with medical services. Areas for developing research:
      Determining the most effective strategies to identify 'invisible' patients in the
      community with chronic HCV infection.

PMID- 28605445
TI  - Evaluation of two automated systems for colistin susceptibility testing of
      carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates.
AB  - Background: Colistin is commonly needed for the treatment of infections due to
      carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) and the determination of its
      in vitro activity is obviously important. However, the accurate routine
      antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of colistin is still challenging. The
      only acceptable method for colistin AST is broth microdilution (BMD); disc and
      gradient diffusion assays are inappropriate and the performance of semi-automated
      systems has not been validated. Objectives: In the present study, two commonly
      used semi-automated systems were evaluated for colistin AST of contemporary CRAB
      clinical isolates. Methods: A total of 117 single-patient CRAB isolates collected
      randomly during 2015 from distinct tertiary hospitals located throughout Greece
      were tested. Colistin MICs were determined using the semi-automated systems
      Phoenix100 and Vitek2 and also agar dilution (AD), compared with the reference
      BMD. Results: Colistin resistance rates for Phoenix100/Vitek2/AD/BMD were
      15.4%/16.2%/35.9%/24.8%. The essential/categorical agreement rates were as
      follows: Phoenix100, 91.5%/88.9%; Vitek2, 88.9%/89.7%; and AD, 93.2%/87.2%.
      Alarmingly high rates of very major errors (VMEs) were observed for Phoenix100
      (41.4%) and Vitek2 (37.9%), while major errors (MEs) were limited (1.1% by both
      systems); VMEs were much more common for isolates with MICs of 2 mg/L than for
      isolates with MICs of <= 1 mg/L, as determined by automated methods. AD produced
      considerably higher colistin MICs, yielding MEs of 15.9%. Conclusions: Colistin
      resistance of A. baumannii is greatly underestimated by Phoenix100/Vitek2,
      potentially leading to inappropriate colistin administration. Colistin AST
      results by automated systems within the susceptible range, particularly those at
      the susceptibility breakpoint (2 mg/L), need to be validated by BMD.

PMID- 28605446
TI  - Changes in Everyday and Digital Health Technology Use Among Seniors in Declining
      Health.
AB  - Background: U.S. seniors' digital health and everyday technology use when their
      health declines are unknown. Methods: Longitudinal cohort using the National
      Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative, annually administered
      sample of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries (n = 4,037). We used
      difference-in-differences to assess the adjusted difference (AD) in technology
      use from 2011 to 2014 between those with and without health declines. Health
      decline measures included new-onset dementia; new-onset depression; decreases in
      activities of daily living (ADLs), short physical performance battery (SPPB),
      grip strength, and self-reported health; relocation to nursing facility;
      increased hospitalizations; and new-onset comorbidity. Digital health included
      use of the Internet to research health conditions, contact clinicians, fill
      prescriptions, and address insurance matters. Results: Between 2011 and 2014,
      seniors experiencing health decline used various digital health technologies at
      low absolute rates (range: 1%-20%). Between 2011 and 2014, use of everyday
      technology decreased significantly among seniors with new-onset dementia (from
      73% to 51%; AD, -26%), decreased ADLs (from 76% to 67%; AD, -10%), decreased SPPB
      (from 88% to 86%; AD, -3%), and relocation to a nursing facility (from 49% to
      22%; AD, -31%) compared to seniors without comparable decline (all p < .05). Use
      of digital health decreased significantly among seniors with new-onset probable
      dementia (from 9% to 4%; AD, -6%) and decreased SPPB (from 24% to 25%; AD, -4%;
      all p < .05). Conclusions: The type of health decline a senior experiences
      predicts technology use, which may allow better targeting of digital health to
      specific seniors. Seniors with new dementia, relocation to a nursing home, and
      declining physical performance seem especially poor candidates for technology
      interventions.

PMID- 28605447
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28605449
TI  - FQC Dashboard: integrates FastQC results into a web-based, interactive, and
      extensible FASTQ quality control tool.
AB  - Summary: FQC is software that facilitates quality control of FASTQ files by
      carrying out a QC protocol using FastQC, parsing results, and aggregating quality
      metrics into an interactive dashboard designed to richly summarize individual
      sequencing runs. The dashboard groups samples in dropdowns for navigation among
      the data sets, utilizes human-readable configuration files to manipulate the
      pages and tabs, and is extensible with CSV data. Availability and Implementation:
      FQC is implemented in Python 3 and Javascript, and is maintained under an MIT
      license. Documentation and source code is available at:
      https://github.com/pnnl/fqc . Contact: joseph.brown@pnnl.gov.

PMID- 28605448
TI  - Efficacy of Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy for Functional Metastatic
      Paraganglioma and Pheochromocytoma.
AB  - Purpose: Treatment options for unresectable paraganglioma (PGL)/pheochromocytoma
      (PCC), especially with uncontrolled secondary hypertension (HTN), are limited.
      Preliminary studies with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) suggest
      efficacy, but data on HTN control and survival are lacking. We assessed PRRT
      outcomes in such patients from two referral centers. Methods: Twenty consecutive
      patients (13 men; age range, 21 to 77 years) with high somatostatin receptor
      (SSTR) expression treated with 177Lu-DOTA-octreotate, nine with radiosensitizing
      chemotherapy, were retrospectively reviewed. Median cumulative activity was 22
      GBq (median 4 cycles). Fourteen patients were treated for uncontrolled HTN and
      six for progressive or symptomatic metastatic disease or local recurrence.
      Results: Three months after PRRT, 8 of 14 patients treated for HTN required
      reduced medication doses, 5 had no change in anti-HTN doses, and 1 was lost to
      follow-up. Eighty-six percent had serum chromogranin-A reduction. Of the entire
      cohort, 36% had disease regression (29% partial and 7% minor response) on
      computed tomography, with stable findings in 50%. Three other patients had bony
      disease evaluable only on SSTR imaging (2 partial response and 1 stable). Median
      progression-free survival was 39 months; median overall survival was not reached
      (5 deaths; median follow-up, 28 months). Four patients had grade 3 lymphopenia; 2
      had grade 3 thrombocytopenia. Renal impairment in 2 patients was attributed to
      underlying disease processes. Conclusions: PRRT achieves worthwhile clinical and
      biochemical responses with low toxicity and encouraging survival in PGL/PCC.
      Because PRRT has logistic and radiation-safety advantages compared to 131I-MIBG
      therapy, further prospective evaluation is warranted.

PMID- 28605450
TI  - A spectral algorithm for fast de novo layout of uncorrected long nanopore reads.
AB  - Motivation: New long read sequencers promise to transform sequencing and genome
      assembly by producing reads tens of kilobases long. However, their high error
      rate significantly complicates assembly and requires expensive correction steps
      to layout the reads using standard assembly engines. Results: We present an
      original and efficient spectral algorithm to layout the uncorrected nanopore
      reads, and its seamless integration into a straightforward
      overlap/layout/consensus (OLC) assembly scheme. The method is shown to assemble
      Oxford Nanopore reads from several bacterial genomes into good quality (~99%
      identity to the reference) genome-sized contigs, while yielding more fragmented
      assemblies from the eukaryotic microbe Sacharomyces cerevisiae. Availability and
      implementation: https://github.com/antrec/spectrassembler. Contact:
      antoine.recanati@inria.fr. Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605451
TI  - Age at Menarche and Incidence of Diabetes: A Prospective Study of 300,000 Women
      in China.
AB  - Previous studies of predominantly Western populations have reported inconsistent
      associations between age at menarche and risk of diabetes. We examined this
      relationship among Chinese women, who generally experience menarche at a later
      age than Western women. In 2004-2008, China Kadoorie Biobank recruited 302,632
      women aged 30-79 years from 10 areas across China, and recorded 5,391 incident
      cases of diabetes during 7 years of follow-up among 270,345 women without
      baseline diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer. Cox regression models
      yielded adjusted hazard ratios for incident diabetes associated with age at
      menarche. Overall, the mean age at menarche was 15.4 years, and decreased across
      successive generations. Age at menarche was linearly and inversely associated
      with incident diabetes, with adjusted hazard ratio of 0.96 (95% confidence
      interval (CI): 0.94, 0.97) per year delay. Hazard ratios were greater in younger
      generations (for women born in the 1960s-1970s, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.93, 95% CI:
      0.90, 0.97; for women born in the 1950s, HR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.98; and for
      women born in the 1920s-1940s, HR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95, 0.99). Further adjustment
      for adulthood body mass index significantly attenuated the association (HR =
      0.99, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.00), especially among those born before 1950 (HR = 1.00,
      95% CI: 0.97, 1.02). Much of the inverse association between age at menarche and
      incident diabetes was mediated through increased adiposity associated with early
      menarche, especially in older generations.

PMID- 28605452
TI  - Optimizing preoperative prophylaxis in patients with reported beta-lactam
      allergy: a novel extension of antimicrobial stewardship.
AB  - Background: Use of alternative second-line antibiotics is associated with adverse
      events in patients reporting beta-lactam allergy. In the perioperative setting,
      we hypothesized that structured allergy histories, without the use of skin
      testing, can reduce alternative prophylactic antibiotic use. Objectives: Assess
      the impact of structured allergy histories on patients with self-reported beta
      lactam allergy (SRBA) undergoing elective surgical procedures. Methods:
      Structured allergy histories were performed by a pharmacist and reviewed with an
      infectious diseases physician. Patients were deemed safe to proceed with
      cefazolin prophylaxis if they did not describe a history of type I-mediated or
      severe reaction. Antibiotic prophylaxis orders (with approval by the surgical
      team) were scheduled into the computerized order entry system to be given prior
      to first incision of the operation. Results: Of the 485 patients with SRBA that
      underwent structured allergy histories, 117 (24.1%) reported a type I-mediated
      allergy history; 267 (55.1%) patients received cefazolin prophylaxis and none
      subsequently experienced an adverse reaction. After intervention implementation,
      the overall use of alternative antibiotic prophylaxis at Michael Garron Hospital
      (Toronto, Canada) among those with SRBA decreased from 81.9% to 55.9%. This drop
      was associated with the number of monthly assessments (P < 0.001) in a regression
      analysis. Conclusions: Using a simple structured history and the principles of
      prospective audit and feedback, we were able to increase the use of cefazolin
      perioperative prophylaxis without any serious adverse events and in the absence
      of skin testing or diagnostic challenges.

PMID- 28605453
TI  - Malignant Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma: 272 Patients Over 55 Years.
AB  - Context: Malignant pheochromocytoma (PHEO) and paraganglioma (PGL) are rare and
      knowledge of the natural history is limited. Objective: We aimed to describe
      baseline characteristics and outcomes of patients with malignant PHEO and PGL
      (PPGL) and to identify predictors of shorter survival. Design: Retrospective
      review of patients with malignant PPGL evaluated from 1960 to 2016. Setting:
      Referral center. Patients: The group comprised 272 patients. Main Outcome
      Measures: Baseline description, survival outcomes, and predictors of shorter
      survival were evaluated in patients with rapidly progressive (n = 29) and
      indolent disease (n = 188). Results: Malignant PPGL was diagnosed at a median age
      of 39 years (range, 7 to 83 years), with synchronous metastases in 96 (35%)
      patients. In 176 (65%) patients, metastases developed at a median of 5.5 years
      (range, 0.3 to 53.4 years) from the initial diagnosis. Median follow-up was 8.2
      years (range, 0.01 to 54.1 years). Median overall and disease-specific survivals
      were 24.6 and 33.7 years, respectively. Shorter survival correlated with male sex
      (P = 0.014), older age at the time of primary tumor (P = 0.0011), synchronous
      metastases (P < 0.0001), larger primary tumor size (P = 0.0039), elevated
      dopamine (P = 0.0195), and not undergoing primary tumor resection (P < 0.0001).
      There was no difference in the type of primary tumor or presence of SDHB
      mutation. Conclusions: The clinical course of patients with malignant PPGL is
      remarkably variable. Rapid disease progression is associated with male sex, older
      age at diagnosis, synchronous metastases, larger tumor size, elevated dopamine,
      and not undergoing resection of primary tumor. An individualized approach to
      patients with metastatic PPGL is warranted.

PMID- 28605454
TI  - Stacks off tracks: a role for the golgin AtCASP in plant endoplasmic reticulum
      Golgi apparatus tethering.
AB  - The plant Golgi apparatus modifies and sorts incoming proteins from the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and synthesizes cell wall matrix material. Plant cells
      possess numerous motile Golgi bodies, which are connected to the ER by yet to be
      identified tethering factors. Previous studies indicated a role for cis-Golgi
      plant golgins, which are long coiled-coil domain proteins anchored to Golgi
      membranes, in Golgi biogenesis. Here we show a tethering role for the golgin
      AtCASP at the ER-Golgi interface. Using live-cell imaging, Golgi body dynamics
      were compared in Arabidopsis thaliana leaf epidermal cells expressing
      fluorescently tagged AtCASP, a truncated AtCASP-DeltaCC lacking the coiled-coil
      domains, and the Golgi marker STtmd. Golgi body speed and displacement were
      significantly reduced in AtCASP-DeltaCC lines. Using a dual-colour optical
      trapping system and a TIRF-tweezer system, individual Golgi bodies were captured
      in planta. Golgi bodies in AtCASP-DeltaCC lines were easier to trap and the ER
      Golgi connection was more easily disrupted. Occasionally, the ER tubule followed
      a trapped Golgi body with a gap, indicating the presence of other tethering
      factors. Our work confirms that the intimate ER-Golgi association can be
      disrupted or weakened by expression of truncated AtCASP-DeltaCC and suggests that
      this connection is most likely maintained by a golgin-mediated tethering complex.

PMID- 28605455
TI  - Risk Profiles for Injurious Falls in People Over 60: A Population-Based Cohort
      Study.
AB  - Background: Although falls in older adults are related to multiple risk factors,
      these factors have commonly been studied individually. We aimed to identify risk
      profiles for injurious falls in older adults by detecting clusters of established
      risk factors and quantifying their impact on fall risk. Methods: Participants
      were 2,566 people, aged 60 years and older, from the population-based Swedish
      National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen. Injurious falls was defined as
      hospitalization for or receipt of outpatient care because a fall. Cluster
      analysis was used to identify aggregation of possible risk factors including
      chronic diseases, fall-risk increasing drugs (FRIDs), physical and cognitive
      impairments, and lifestyle-related factors. Associations between the clusters and
      injurious falls over 3, 5, and 10 years were estimated using flexible parametric
      survival models. Results: Five clusters were identified including: a "healthy", a
      "well-functioning with multimorbidity", a "well-functioning, with multimorbidity
      and high FRID consumption", a "physically and cognitively impaired", and a
      "disabled" cluster. The risk of injurious falls for all groups was significantly
      higher than for the first cluster of healthy individuals in the reference
      category. Hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) ranged from 1.71 (1.02-2.66)
      for the second cluster to 12.67 (7.38-21.75) for the last cluster over 3 years of
      follow-up. The highest risk was observed in the last two clusters with high
      burden of physical and cognitive impairments. Conclusion: Risk factors for
      injurious fall tend to aggregate, representing different levels of risk for
      falls. Our findings can be useful to tailor and prioritize clinical and public
      health interventions.

PMID- 28605456
TI  - Thyroid Function, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Incident Atherosclerotic
      Cardiovascular Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.
AB  - Context: Cardiovascular outcomes in mild thyroid dysfunction (treatment
      controversial) and moderate or severe dysfunction (treatment standard) remain
      uncertain. Objective: To examine cross-sectional and prospective associations of
      thyroid function with cardiovascular risk factors and events. Design: In the
      Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, we measured concentrations of
      thyrotropin, free thyroxine, and total triiodothyronine (T3) in stored serum
      samples originally collected in 1990-1992. We used multivariable linear
      regression to assess cross-sectional associations of thyroid function with
      cardiovascular risk factors and Cox regression to assess prospective associations
      with cardiovascular events. Follow-up occurred through 31 December 2014. Setting:
      General community. Participants: Black and white men and women from the United
      States, without prior myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or heart failure. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: Cross-sectional outcomes were blood pressure, glycemic
      markers, and blood lipids. Prospective outcomes were adjudicated fatal and
      nonfatal MI and stroke. Results: Among 11,359 participants (57 +/- 6 years, 58%
      women), thyroid function was more strongly associated with blood lipids than
      blood pressure or glycemic measures. Mean adjusted differences in low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol were +15.1 (95% confidence interval: 10.5 to 19.7) and
      +3.2 (0.0 to 6.4) mg/dL in those with moderate/severe and mild chemical
      hypothyroidism, relative to euthyroidism; an opposite pattern was seen in
      hyperthyroidism. Similar differences were seen in triglycerides and non-high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol. With a 22.5-year median follow-up, 1102 MIs and
      838 strokes occurred, with similar outcomes among baseline thyroid function
      groups and by T3 concentrations. Conclusions: Hypothyroidism is associated with
      hyperlipidemia, but the magnitude is small in mild chemical hypothyroidism, and
      cardiovascular outcomes are similar between thyroid function groups.

PMID- 28605457
TI  - Multimorbidity and Physical and Cognitive Function: Performance of a New
      Multimorbidity-Weighted Index.
AB  - Background: Multimorbidity is an important health outcome but is difficult to
      quantify. We recently developed a multimorbidity-weighted index (MWI) and herein
      assess its performance in an independent nationally-representative cohort.
      Methods: Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants completed an interview on
      physician-diagnosed chronic conditions and physical functioning. We determined
      the relationship of chronic conditions on physical functioning and validated
      these weights with the original, independently-derived MWI. We then determined
      the association between MWI with physical functioning, grip strength, gait speed,
      basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL/IADL) limitations, and the
      modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) in adjusted models.
      Results: Among 20,509 adults, associations between chronic conditions and
      physical functioning varied several-fold. MWI values based on weightings in the
      HRS and original cohorts correlated strongly (Pearson's r = .92) and had high
      classification agreement (kappa statistic = .80, p < .0001). Participants in the
      highest versus lowest MWI quartiles had weaker grip strength (-2.91 kg, 95%
      confidence interval [CI]: -3.51, -2.30), slower gait speed (-0.29 m/s, 95% CI: 
      0.35, -0.23), more ADL (0.79, 95% CI: 0.71, 0.87) and IADL (0.49, 95% CI: 0.44,
      0.55) limitations, and lower TICS-m (-0.59, 95% CI: -0.77, -0.41) (all p < .001).
      We observed monotonic graded relationships for all outcomes with increasing MWI
      quartiles. Conclusion: A multimorbidity index weighted to physical functioning
      performed nearly identically in a nationally-representative cohort as it did in
      its development cohorts, confirming broad generalizability. MWI was strongly
      associated with subjective and objective physical and cognitive performance.
      Thus, MWI serves as a valid patient-centered measure of multimorbidity, an
      important construct in research and clinical practice.

PMID- 28605458
TI  - Prioritizing tests of epistasis through hierarchical representation of genomic
      redundancies.
AB  - : Epistasis is defined as a statistical interaction between two or more genomic
      loci in terms of their association with a phenotype of interest. Epistatic loci
      that are identified using data from Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS)
      provide insights into the interplay among multiple genetic factors, with
      applications including assessment of susceptibility to complex diseases, decision
      making in precision medicine, and gaining insights into disease mechanisms. Since
      the number of genomic loci assayed by GWAS is extremely large (usually in the
      order of millions), identification of epistatic loci is a statistically difficult
      and computationally intensive problem. Even when only pairwise interactions are
      considered, the size of the search space ranges from hundreds of millions to
      billions of locus pairs. The large number of statistical tests performed also
      makes sufficient type one error correction imperative. Consequently, efficient
      algorithms are required to filter the tests that are performed and evaluate large
      GWAS data sets in a reasonable amount of computation time. It has been observed
      that many pairwise tests are redundant due to correlations in their genotype
      values across samples, known as linkage disequilibrium. However, algorithms that
      have been developed for efficient identification of epistatic loci do not
      systematically exploit linkage disequilibrium. Here, we propose a new algorithm
      for fast epistasis detection based on hierarchical representation of linkage
      disequilibrium (LinDen). We utilize redundancies in genotype patterns between
      neighboring loci to generate a hierarchical structure and execute a branch-and
      bound search to prioritize loci testing based on approximations of a test
      statistic for pairs of locus groups. The hierarchical organization of tests
      performed by LinDen allows for efficient scaling based on the screened loci. We
      test LinDen comprehensively on three data sets obtained from the Wellcome Trust
      Case Control Consortium: type two diabetes, psoriasis, and hypertension. Our
      results show that, as compared other state-of-the-art tools for fast epistasis
      detection, LinDen drastically reduces the number of tests performed while
      discovering statistically significant locus pairs. LinDen is implemented in C++
      and is available as open source at http://compbio. CASE: edu/linden/.

PMID- 28605460
TI  - MoDMaps3D: an interactive webtool for the quantification and 3D visualization of
      interrelationships in a dataset of DNA sequences.
AB  - Summary: MoDMaps3D (Molecular Distance Maps 3D) is an alignment-free, fast,
      computationally lightweight webtool for computing and visualizing the
      interrelationships within any dataset of DNA sequences, based on pairwise
      comparisons between their oligomer compositions. MoDMaps3D is a general-purpose
      interactive webtool that is free of any requirements on sequence composition,
      position of the sequences in their respective genomes, presence or absence of
      similarity or homology, sequence length, or even sequence origin (biological or
      computer-generated). Availability and implementation: MoDMaps3D is open source,
      cross-platform compatible, and is available under the MIT license at
      http://moleculardistancemaps.github.io/MoDMaps3D/. The source code is available
      at https://github.com/moleculardistancemaps/MoDMaps3D/. Contact:
      lila@uwaterloo.ca. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at
      Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605459
TI  - Copy Number Variants Are Enriched in Individuals With Early-Onset Obesity and
      Highlight Novel Pathogenic Pathways.
AB  - Context: Only a few genetic causes for childhood obesity have been identified to
      date. Copy number variants (CNVs) are known to contribute to obesity, both
      syndromic (15q11.2 deletions, Prader-Willi syndrome) and nonsyndromic (16p11.2
      deletions) obesity. Objective: To study the contribution of CNVs to early-onset
      obesity and evaluate the expression of candidate genes in subcutaneous adipose
      tissue. Design and Setting: A case-control study in a tertiary academic center.
      Participants: CNV analysis was performed on 90 subjects with early-onset obesity
      and 67 normal-weight controls. Subcutaneous adipose tissue from body mass index
      discordant siblings was used for the gene expression analyses. Main Outcome
      Measures: We used custom high-density array comparative genomic hybridization
      with exon resolution in 1989 genes, including all known obesity loci. The
      expression of candidate genes was assessed using microarray analysis of messenger
      RNA from subcutaneous adipose tissue. Results: We identified rare CNVs in 17
      subjects (19%) with obesity and 2 controls (3%). In three cases (3%), the
      identified variant involved a known syndromic lesion (22q11.21 duplication,
      1q21.1 deletion, and 16p11.2 deletion, respectively), although the others were
      not known. Seven CNVs in 10 families were inherited and segregated with obesity.
      Expression analysis of 37 candidate genes showed discordant expression for 10
      genes (PCM1, EFEMP1, MAMLD1, ACP6, BAZ2B, SORBS1, KLF15, MACROD2, ATR, and MBD5).
      Conclusions: Rare CNVs contribute possibly pathogenic alleles to a substantial
      fraction of children with early-onset obesity. The involved genes might provide
      insights into pathogenic mechanisms and involved cellular pathways. These
      findings highlight the importance of CNV screening in children with early-onset
      obesity.

PMID- 28605461
TI  - Determining the folding and binding free energy of DNA-based nanodevices and
      nanoswitches using urea titration curves.
AB  - DNA nanotechnology takes advantage of the predictability of DNA interactions to
      build complex DNA-based functional nanoscale structures. However, when DNA
      functional and responsive units that are based on non-canonical DNA interactions
      are employed it becomes quite challenging to predict, understand and control
      their thermodynamics. In response to this limitation, here we demonstrate the use
      of isothermal urea titration experiments to estimate the free energy involved in
      a set of DNA-based systems ranging from unimolecular DNA-based nanoswitches to
      more complex DNA folds (e.g. aptamers) and nanodevices. We propose here a set of
      fitting equations that allow to analyze the urea titration curves of these DNA
      responsive units based on Watson-Crick and non-canonical interactions (stem-loop,
      G-quadruplex, triplex structures) and to correctly estimate their relative
      folding and binding free energy values under different experimental conditions.
      The results described herein will pave the way toward the use of urea titration
      experiments in the field of DNA nanotechnology to achieve easier and more
      reliable thermodynamic characterization of DNA-based functional responsive units.
      More generally, our results will be of general utility to characterize other
      complex supramolecular systems based on different biopolymers.

PMID- 28605462
TI  - Increased Triacylglycerol Lipase Activity in Adipose Tissue of Lean and Obese Men
      During Endurance Exercise.
AB  - Context: Although there is increasing information on the mechanism of lipolysis
      in adipose tissue, the effect of exercise on individual factors of lipolysis is
      less well understood. Objective: We compared changes in adipose-tissue
      triacylglycerol lipase activity and gene expression of adipose triacylglycerol
      lipase (ATGL), hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), monoacylglycerol lipase, perilipin
      1, and comparative gene identification 58 (CGI-58) during exercise between lean
      and obese men. Design and Participants: Seven lean and nine obese men cycled for
      30 minutes at a heart rate of 130 to 140 beats per minute. At baseline and 5, 10,
      20, and 30 minutes of exercise, we sampled subcutaneous adipose tissue for
      triacylglycerol lipase activity and mRNA determination, and blood for glycerol,
      nonesterified fatty acid, glucose, lactate, insulin, and catecholamine
      determination. Setting: The study was conducted at a university research unit.
      Results: Triacylglycerol lipase activity increased at 10 minutes of exercise in
      the lean men and returned to baseline at 20 and 30 minutes. In the obese men, it
      was higher than baseline at 10, 20, and 30 minutes and higher than the
      corresponding values in the lean men at 20 and 30 minutes. No changes in mRNA
      levels were found during exercise, but the obese men had lower mRNA levels of
      ATGL, HSL, and CGI-58 compared with the lean men. Conclusion: Our findings
      suggest different patterns of lipolytic stimulation during endurance exercise
      between lean and obese men. Differences in lipolytic rates seem to be due to
      differences in protein amount or activity, not mRNA levels.

PMID- 28605463
TI  - Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Glioblastoma.
AB  - Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumor in adults. Standard therapy
      depends on patient age and performance status but principally involves surgical
      resection followed by a 6-wk course of radiation therapy given concurrently with
      temozolomide chemotherapy. Despite such treatment, prognosis remains poor, with a
      median survival of 16 mo. Challenges in achieving local control, maintaining
      quality of life, and limiting toxicity plague treatment strategies for this
      disease. Radiotherapy dose intensification through hypofractionation and
      stereotactic radiosurgery is a promising strategy that has been explored to meet
      these challenges. We review the use of hypofractionated radiotherapy and
      stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent
      glioblastoma.

PMID- 28605465
TI  - Beni Solow award 2016.

PMID- 28605464
TI  - Strand-specific CpG hemimethylation, a novel epigenetic modification functional
      for genomic imprinting.
AB  - Imprinted genes are regulated by allele-specific differentially DNA-methylated
      regions (DMRs). Epigenetic methylation of the CpGs constituting these DMRs is
      established in the germline, resulting in a 5-methylcytosine-specific pattern
      that is tightly maintained in somatic tissues. Here, we show a novel epigenetic
      mark, characterized by strand-specific hemimethylation of contiguous CpG sites
      affecting the germline DMR of the murine Peg3, but not Snrpn, imprinted domain.
      This modification is enriched in tetraploid cortical neurons, a cell type where
      evidence for a small proportion of formylmethylated CpG sites within the Peg3
      controlling DMR is also provided. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based
      transcriptional analysis indicated that these epigenetic modifications
      participate in the maintainance of the monoallelic expression pattern of the Peg3
      imprinted gene. Our results unexpectedly demonstrate that the methylation pattern
      observed in DMRs controlling defined imprinting regions can be modified in
      somatic cells, resulting in a novel epigenetic modification that gives rise to
      strand-specific hemimethylated domains functional for genomic imprinting. We
      anticipate the existence of a novel molecular mechanism regulating the transition
      from fully methylated CpGs to strand-specific hemimethylated CpGs.

PMID- 28605466
TI  - LHCGR Expression During Follicle Stimulating Hormone-Induced Follicle Growth Is
      Negatively Regulated by Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 5A.
AB  - We have shown that the transient changes in the expression of luteinizing
      hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) messenger RNA (mRNA) during the
      ovarian cycle occurs, at least in part, through a posttranscriptional mechanism
      involving an LHCGR mRNA-binding protein (LRBP). Eukaryotic initiation factor 5A
      (eIF5A), an LRBP-interacting protein, participates in this process. eIF5A
      undergoes hypusination, a unique posttranslational modification that is necessary
      for its functions. This study examined the role of eIF5A in follicle-stimulating
      hormone (FSH)-induced LHCGR expression during follicular growth. Treatment of
      primary cultures of rat granulosa cells with FSH and 17beta-estradiol (E2) showed
      a time-dependent increase in LHCGR mRNA expression. Conversely, inhibition of
      endogenous hypusination of eIF5A using N1-guanyl-1,7-diaminoheptane (GC7), a
      hypusination inhibitor, showed a greater increase in LHCGR mRNA expression over
      that produced by FSH and E2 alone. Further studies were carried out to determine
      the mechanism by which inhibition of hypusination of eIF5A causes an increase in
      LHCGR mRNA expression. Because LHCGR expression is negatively regulated by LRBP,
      the effect of inhibiting hypusination of eIF5A on LRBP expression was examined.
      The results showed a decrease in the expression of LRBP mRNA and protein when
      hypusination of eIF5A was inhibited by GC7. Because LRBP promotes LHCGR mRNA
      degradation, the results of this study support the notion that by inhibiting
      eIF5A hypusination, FSH reduces the expression of LRBP. This increases LHCGR mRNA
      expression by abrogating the inhibitory action of LRBP.

PMID- 28605467
TI  - Strategies for and Outcome of Repeat Revascularization Surgery for Moyamoya
      Disease: An American Institutional Series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Revascularization for moyamoya disease (MMD) effectively prevents
      future ischemic events. However, small subsets of patients with persistent or new
      symptoms due to inadequate collateralization require repeat revascularizations.
      OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical and radiological outcome of repeat
      revascularization in MMD patients with previous indirect or direct bypasses.
      METHODS: Single institution, retrospective analysis of a prospective MMD
      database. RESULTS: From 1991 to 2014, this institution performed 1244
      revascularization bypasses (1107 direct, 137 indirect) in 765 patients, of whom
      57 were repeat revascularizations (38 indirect, 19 direct bypass). When initially
      performed at the institution, the repeat revascularization rate was 4% for
      indirect and 1% for direct bypasses (P = .03). Cohorts with previous indirect vs
      direct bypass were slightly younger (mean age 23 vs 30 yr), with fewer females
      (61% vs 84%, P = .08), and a similar mean duration between initial bypass and
      repeat revascularization (49 vs 47 mo). Both groups had similar repeat
      revascularization due to transient ischemic attacks (66% vs 63%). One acute graft
      occlusion in the previous direct bypass group was revised within 1 wk
      postoperatively. Over 50% of the repeat revascularizations in both groups were
      direct bypasses; the major difference being that the repeat bypass in the direct
      group was to augment another vascular territory. At nearly 5 yr mean follow-up,
      over 80% of patients in both groups are well, free from stroke/transient ischemic
      attack symptoms, with excellent radiological results. CONCLUSION: Repeat
      revascularization can safely and effectively prevent future ischemic events.
      Indirect bypass has a higher rate of repeat revascularization than direct bypass.

PMID- 28605468
TI  - Attenuation of Insulin Action by an Allosteric Insulin Receptor Antibody in
      Healthy Volunteers.
AB  - Background: XOMA 358 (X358) is a fully human monoclonal antibody to the insulin
      receptor that acts as a negative allosteric modulator of insulin signaling. It is
      being developed as a novel treatment of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. This
      report describes pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data from a first
      in-human clinical trial. Methods: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, single
      ascending-dose study was performed with 29 healthy adult males randomized to
      intravenous infusion of placebo or X358 at 0.1-, 0.3-, 1-, 3-, 6-, or 9-mg/kg
      dose levels. The primary objective was to assess safety and tolerability, and
      secondary objectives included PK and PD analyses. A short insulin tolerance test
      (ITT) was implemented in the 3- to 9-mg/kg dose cohorts at baseline and
      postinfusion. Results: There were no deaths, serious adverse events (AEs), or
      subject discontinuations due to AEs. There were no clinically meaningful safety
      findings. X358 exhibited dose-proportional PK with a half-life of 21 days. Dose
      dependent elevations of circulating insulin levels, likely related to reduced
      insulin clearance via monoclonal antibody action at receptors, represented a
      sensitive biomarker of X358 exposure. X358-dependent increases in postprandial
      glucose levels and fasting homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance
      values were observed and persisted for at least 1 week at the higher dose levels.
      In all the ITT cohorts, the slope for glucose lowering was substantially
      attenuated after X358 infusion of a similar magnitude, but with increasing
      duration with rising dose level. Conclusion: Single X358 infusions were well
      tolerated and resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in insulin sensitivity.
      Clinical development of X358 in hyperinsulinemic, hypoglycemic conditions is
      proceeding.

PMID- 28605469
TI  - Surgical ablation for persistent atrial fibrillation in concomitant cardiac
      surgery: mid-long-term result.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Surgical ablation is an option for patients with atrial fibrillation
      (AF) undergoing concomitant cardiac surgery. This study aims to evaluate the
      outcome of surgical ablation during concomitant cardiac surgery and to identify
      the independent predictors for a primary end-point consisting of AF or atrial
      flutter (AFL) recurrence, death, permanent pacemaker implantation and necessity
      for anti-arrhythmic drugs and the effects of reintervention for AF/AFL
      recurrence. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for 1028 patients who
      underwent surgical ablation during concomitant cardiac surgery from October 2004
      to April 2015. Nine hundred and twenty-seven of 1017 (91.2%) discharged patients
      were followed up. Sixty-three recurrent patients received reintervention.
      Predictors of ablation failure were identified using univariate analysis and the
      Cox regression model. RESULTS: The mean follow-up length was 29.0 +/- 22.7
      months. The New York Heart Association class, ejection fraction, left atrial and
      right atrial diameters and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter were improved
      at follow-up compared with the preoperative status. The rate of freedom from the
      primary end-point at 1, 2 and 3 years was 86.8, 79.4 and 68.3%. Independent
      predictors of reaching the primary end-point were AF/AFL at discharge,
      preoperative right atrial diameter, hypertension, diabetes and smoking. The rate
      of sinus rhythm without anti-arrhythmic drugs at 12, 24 and 36 months after
      reintervention was 78.3, 62.8 and 49.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical
      ablation has a high success rate and may improve cardiac function
      postoperatively. AF/AFL at discharge, preoperative right atrial diameter,
      hypertension, diabetes and smoking are the major independent predictors for
      ablation failure. Reintervention in AF/AFL recurrent patients can achieve a
      favourable clinical outcome.

PMID- 28605470
TI  - Spontaneous lung herniation distant to port sites following video-assisted
      thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy.

PMID- 28605471
TI  - Berlin Grading System Can Stratify the Onset and Predict Perioperative
      Complications in Adult Moyamoya Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The grading system for moyamoya disease is not established.
      OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of a recently proposed grading system for
      stratifying the clinical severity and predicting postoperative morbidity in adult
      moyamoya disease. METHODS: We investigated 176 hemispheres from 89 adult patients
      who were diagnosed with moyamoya disease in Japan. Their data were analyzed using
      the Berlin grading system with minor modifications. After summarizing the
      numerical values for digital subtraction angiography (1-3 points), magnetic
      resonance imaging (0-1 points), and single-photon emission computed tomography (0
      2 points), 3 grades of moyamoya disease were defined: mild (grade I) = 1 to 2
      points, moderate (grade II) = 3 to 4 points, and severe (grade III) = 5 to 6
      points. In total, 82 of 161 hemispheres underwent superficial temporal artery to
      middle cerebral artery anastomosis and indirect synangiosis. Postoperative
      neurological morbidity was included within 30 d after surgery. RESULTS:
      Preoperative examinations categorized 87 hemispheres as grade I, 39 as grade II,
      and 50 as grade III. There was a significant correlation between the Berlin
      grading system and clinical severity (P < .001). Perioperative complications
      occurred in 12 of 82 (14.6%) hemispheres, including transient ischemic attack in
      3 hemispheres, ischemic stroke in 4 hemispheres, symptomatic hyperperfusion in 4
      hemispheres, and intracerebral hemorrhage in 1 hemisphere. The Berlin grading
      system was related to their occurrence (P < .001). CONCLUSION: The Berlin grading
      system facilitates the stratification of clinical severity and predicting
      postoperative neurological morbidity in adult moyamoya disease, thereby
      suggesting its general usage in clinical practice.

PMID- 28605474
TI  - Digital innovations and emerging technologies for enhanced recovery programmes.
AB  - Enhanced recovery programmes (ERPs) are increasingly used to improve post
      surgical recovery. However, compliance to various components of ERPs-a key
      determinant of success-remains sub-optimal. Emerging technologies have the
      potential to help patients and caregivers to improve compliance with
      ERPs.Preoperative physical condition, a major determinant of postoperative
      outcome, could be optimized with the use of text messages (SMS) or digital
      applications (Apps) designed to facilitate smoking cessation, modify physical
      activity, and better manage hypertension and diabetes. Several non-invasive
      haemodynamic monitoring techniques and decision support tools are now available
      to individualize perioperative fluid management, a key component of ERPs.
      Objective nociceptive assessment may help to rationalize the use of pain
      medications, including opioids. Wearable sensors designed to monitor cardio
      respiratory function may help in the early detection of clinical deterioration
      during the postoperative recovery and to address 'failure to rescue'. Activity
      trackers may be useful to monitor early mobilization, another major element of
      ERPs. Finally, electronic checklists have been developed to ensure that none of
      the above-mentioned ERP elements is omitted during the surgical journey.By
      optimizing compliance to the multiple components of ERPs, digital innovations,
      non-invasive techniques and wearable sensors have the potential to magnify the
      clinical and economic benefits of ERPs. Among the growing number of technical
      innovations, studies are needed to clarify which tools and solutions have real
      clinical value and are cost-effective.

PMID- 28605473
TI  - Effects of statins on plaque rupture assessed by optical coherence tomography in
      patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes: insights from the optical
      coherence tomography (OCT)-FORMIDABLE registry.
AB  - Aims: Chronic pre-treatment with statins may reduce mortality and morbidity in
      patients experiencing acute coronary syndromes (ACS), but mechanisms accounting
      for these findings are not completely understood. Methods and results: The
      optical coherence tomography (OCT)-Formidable registry retrospectively enrolled
      285 consecutive patients with ACS undergoing OCT in 9 European centres. Mean age
      was 60.4 +/- 12.8 years, 148 (51.9%) patients had hyperlipemia, 45 (15.8%)
      diabetes mellitus and 142 (49.8%) presented with ST Segment Elevation Myocardial
      Infarction (STEMI). Patients were stratified according to statin prescription:
      150 (52.6%) were on chronic pre-treatment with statins before ACS and were more
      likely to present with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE
      ACS) at admission (111, 74%) rather than STEMI, while the opposite was observed
      for patients not on statins. The primary end-point of ruptured plaque at OCT
      occurred significantly less frequently in the patients on chronic pre-treatment
      with statins [odds ratio (OR) 0.375, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.185-0.759, P
      = 0.006]. The secondary end-point of thin-cap fibro-atheroma (TCFA) at any site
      was significantly less frequent in the statin group (OR 0.423, 95%CI 0.213-0.840,
      P = 0.014). No differences were observed for the secondary end-point of not
      ruptured TCFA as the culprit lesion. Pre-specified sensitivity analysis was
      conducted according to the pattern of ACS: the reported differences were
      confirmed for NSTE-ACS patients, with a trend towards less plaque rupture and a
      significant reduction of TCFA at any site with statins, but not for STEMI.
      Conclusions: Chronic pre-treatment with statins is associated with a reduced
      prevalence of ruptured plaques in patients presenting with ACS, particularly in
      those with NSTE-ACS. Statins bear hence the potential to reduce morbidity during
      the acute phase of ACS.

PMID- 28605475
TI  - Protecting Against Bias in PTJ.

PMID- 28605472
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Adding a Single Low Dose of Primaquine to the Treatment of
      Adult Patients With Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in Senegal, to Reduce
      Gametocyte Carriage: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - Introduction: More information is needed about the safety of low-dose primaquine
      in populations where G6PD deficiency is common. Methods: Adults with Plasmodium
      falciparum malaria were randomized to receive 1 of 3 artemisinin combination
      therapies (ACTs) with or without primaquine (0.25 mg/kg). Glucose-6-phosphate
      dehydrogenase (G6PD) status was determined using a rapid test. Patients were
      followed for 28 days to record hemoglobin concentration, adverse events, and
      gametocyte carriage. The primary end point was the change in Hb at day 7.
      Results: In sum, 274 patients were randomized, 139 received an ACT alone, and 135
      received an ACT + primaquine. The mean reduction in Hb at day 7 was similar in
      each group, a difference in the ACT + PQ versus the ACT alone group of -0.04 g/dL
      (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.23, 0.31), but the effect of primaquine differed
      according to G6PD status. In G6PD-deficient patients the drop in Hb was 0.63 g/dL
      (95% CI 0.03, 1.24) greater in those who received primaquine than in those who
      received an ACT alone. In G6PD-normal patients, the reduction in Hb was 0.22 g/dL
      (95% CI -0.08, 0.52) less in those who received primaquine (interaction P = .01).
      One G6PD normal patient who received primaquine developed moderately severe
      anaemia (Hb < 8 g/dL). Dark urine was more frequent in patients who received
      primaquine. Primaquine was associated with a 73% (95% CI 24-90) reduction in
      gametocyte carriage (P = .013). Conclusion: Primaquine substantially reduced
      gametocyte carriage. However, the fall in Hb concentration at day 7 was greater
      in G6PD-deficient patients who received primaquine than in those who did not and
      one patient who received primaquine developed moderately severe anemia. Clinical
      Trial registration: PACTR201411000937373 (www.pactr.org).

PMID- 28605476
TI  - Challenges in conducting clinical nutrition research.
AB  - Clinical nutrition research has played a pivotal role in establishing causality
      between diet or nutrient intake and health outcome measures and in the
      determination of dietary requirements and levels of supplementation to achieve
      specific outcomes. Because the studies are performed with humans, clinical
      nutrition research can be readily translated into public health messages.
      However, there are many challenges and considerations unique to the field, such
      as the baseline nutritional status of study participants, defining appropriate
      control groups, effective blinding of participants and investigators, the
      evolving ethics of randomized control trials, and a tension in a priori decisions
      regarding inclusion of nutritionally vulnerable participants versus
      representative samples of general populations. Regulatory approvals that place
      increasing burdens on the ability of investigators to carry out and complete
      research protocols have grown dramatically in recent years. There is much room
      for improved efficiency in the approval and reporting processes aimed at
      protecting volunteers and providing transparency to the public. Decreased
      redundancy would have a direct benefit to clinical nutrition research and
      investigators. Despite these challenges, the information to be gained and the
      rewards of clinical nutrition research remain high.

PMID- 28605478
TI  - Smoke Shop Misclassification May Cloud Studies on Vape Shop Density.

PMID- 28605477
TI  - MerTK as a therapeutic target in glioblastoma.
AB  - Background: Glioma-associated macrophages and microglia (GAMs) are components of
      the glioblastoma (GBM) microenvironment that express MerTK, a receptor tyrosine
      kinase that triggers efferocytosis and can suppress innate immune responses. The
      aim of the study was to define MerTK as a therapeutic target using an orally
      bioavailable inhibitor, UNC2025. Methods: We examined MerTK expression in tumor
      cells and macrophages in matched patient GBM samples by double-label
      immunohistochemistry. UNC2025-induced MerTK inhibition was studied in vitro and
      in vivo. Results: MerTK/CD68+ macrophages increased in recurrent tumors while
      MerTK/glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive tumor cells did not.
      Pharmacokinetic studies showed high tumor exposures of UNC2025 in a syngeneic
      orthotopic allograft mouse GBM model. The same model mice were randomized to
      receive vehicle, daily UNC2025, fractionated external beam radiotherapy (XRT), or
      UNC2025/XRT. Although median survival (21, 22, 35, and 35 days, respectively) was
      equivalent with or without UNC2025, bioluminescence imaging (BLI) showed
      significant growth delay with XRT/UNC2025 treatment and complete responses in
      19%. The responders remained alive for 60 days and showed regression to 1%-10% of
      pretreatment BLI tumor burden; 5 of 6 were tumor free by histology. In contrast,
      only 2% of 98 GBM mice of the same model treated with XRT survived 50 days and
      none survived 60 days. UNC2025 also reduced CD206+ macrophages in mouse tumor
      samples. Conclusions: These results suggest that MerTK inhibition combined with
      XRT has a therapeutic effect in a subset of GBM. Further mechanistic studies are
      warranted.

PMID- 28605479
TI  - Collapsed stent graft and severe malperfusion 2 years after endovascular aortic
      repair.
AB  - Late collapsing of a stent graft is an extremely rare event, with one existing
      report describing this phenomenon. A 65-year-old man with a history of
      endovascular aortic repair for an abdominal aortic aneurysm presented with
      paraplegia and bilateral lower limb ischaemia. Contrast-enhanced computed
      tomography showed a dissection of the descending thoracic aorta and a collapsed
      stent graft, resulting in bilateral lower limb ischaemia. Subsequent axillo
      bifemoral bypass resolved his lower extremity functions. The patient required
      haemodialysis due to acute kidney failure. The follow-up computed tomography scan
      demonstrated re-expansion of the collapsed stent graft, and his renal function
      recovered. The case highlights the rare manifestation of late stent collapse and
      subsequent re-expansion of the collapsed stent and restoration of visceral and
      lower extremity perfusions following axillo-bifemoral bypass.

PMID- 28605480
TI  - Cannabis increased the risk of primary spontaneous pneumothorax in tobacco
      smokers: a case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Previous smaller case series suggested that cannabis smoking may
      cause spontaneous pneumothorax, but this finding remains controversial. We
      investigated the possible association between smoking tobacco and cannabis and
      the risk of having a primary spontaneous pneumothorax in a large, homogeneous
      cohort of young, healthy individuals. METHODS: In a case-control study, we
      prospectively investigated young (<=40 years) patients admitted in Western
      Denmark from 2009 to 2016 with their first episode of primary spontaneous
      pneumothorax. Baseline characteristics and smoking habits including both tobacco
      and cannabis were obtained from questionnaires presented on admittance. We
      compared our findings with those of a population-based control group matched by
      age, sex and geographical area. Calculated odds ratios were compared using the
      Fisher's exact test for small frequencies and the chi2 test or the Mann-Whitney
      test for larger frequencies. RESULTS: A total of 416 patients participated
      (male/female ratio = 3.9). We observed a significantly increased risk of primary
      spontaneous pneumothorax in daily smokers compared with female never smokers
      (odds ratio = 8.10, 95% confidence interval: 4.61-14.14, P < 0.001) and male
      never smokers (odds ratio = 4.85, 95% confidence interval: 3.23-7.19, P < 0.001).
      The combination of smoking both cannabis and tobacco in men increased the risk of
      spontaneous pneumothorax significantly (odds ratio = 8.74, 95% confidence
      interval: 4.30-19.51, P < 0.001). In contrast, the cannabis habits of female
      patients did not differ from those of the Danish population in general.
      CONCLUSIONS: Combined smoking of tobacco and cannabis significantly aggravates
      the risk of having a primary spontaneous pneumothorax in young men compared to
      both never smokers and daily smokers.

PMID- 28605481
TI  - Measurement Properties of Short Lower Extremity Functional Exercise Tests in
      People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Systematic Review.
AB  - Background: An increasing variety of short functional exercise tests are reported
      in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Systematic review of
      the psychometric properties of these exercise tests is indicated. Purpose: The
      aim of this study was to determine the reliability, validity, and responsiveness
      of short (duration < 6 min) lower extremity functional exercise tests in people
      with COPD. Data Sources: Five databases were searched: MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus,
      AMED, and CINAHL. Study Selection: Studies reporting psychometric properties of
      short functional exercise tests in people with COPD were included. Data
      Extraction: Two reviewers independently extracted data and rated the quality of
      each measurement property using the COnsensus-based Standards for the Selection
      of Health Measurement INstrument (COSMIN). Data Synthesis: Twenty-nine studies
      were identified reporting properties of 11 different tests. Four-meter gait speed
      [4MGS] and 5 repetition sit-to-stand [5STS] demonstrated high reliability (ICC =
      .95-.99; .97) with no learning effect (COSMIN study ratings = good--excellent).
      Their validity for use as a stratification tool anchored against an established
      prognostic indicator (area under receiver operator characteristics curve [AUC] =
      0.72-0.87; 0.82) and responsiveness to change after pulmonary rehabilitation was
      greatest in more frail people with COPD. Studies of the Timed "Up and Go" [TUG]
      test support use of a practice test and show discriminative ability to detect
      falls history and low six-minute walk distance (AUC = 0.77; 0.82, COSMIN ratings
      = fair-excellent). Limitations: Earlier studies were limited by small sample
      size. Limited data of lower study quality was identified for step tests and the
      Two-Minute Walk Test. Conclusions: Selected short functional exercise tests can
      complement established exercise capacity measures, in stratification and
      measuring responsiveness to change especially in people with COPD and lower
      functional ability.

PMID- 28605482
TI  - Substantial Toxic Effect of Water-Pipe Smoking on the Early Stage of Embryonic
      Development.
AB  - Background: Water-pipe smoking (WPS) is the most widespread tobacco use in the
      Middle-East, and is rapidly spreading globally. Smoke from WP contains most of
      the compounds present in cigarette smoke, although in different proportions. WPS
      is associated with the risk of several human diseases; however, its impact on the
      early stage of normal development has not been investigated yet. Thus, in this
      investigation, we assess the effect of WPS on the embryo at the early stage of
      development. Methods: Chicken embryos at 3 days of incubations were used in this
      study. Meanwhile, we explored the outcome of WPS on angiogenesis using the
      chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of the chicken embryos. Finally, quantitative real
      time polymerase chain reaction was used to study the regulation of some key
      control genes of cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. Results: Our data
      reveal that WPS inhibits angiogenesis of the CAM and in embryos in comparison
      with their matched controls; in addition, WPS-exposed embryos show slight
      reduction in their sizes. We also noted that around 80% of WPS-exposed embryos
      die before 10 days of incubation. More significantly, WPS induces upregulations
      of BCL-2, Caspase-8, ATF-3, INHIB-A, and Cadherin 6 genes, which are important
      key regulators of cell apoptosis, proliferation, and migration. Conclusion: Our
      data reveal, for the first time, that WPS has very toxic effects during the early
      stage of embryogenesis. Thus, we believe that further studies are required to
      elucidate the pathogenic effect of WPS on human health especially on the embryo
      at the early stage of its development. Implications: This investigation addresses
      an important gap on the outcome of WPS during the early stage of embryogenesis.
      Data of this study point out that WPS can have a very toxic effect on the embryo
      at this stage. Additionally, results from this report display for the first time
      that WPS can damage normal angiogenesis of the embryo thus provoking a
      significant number of embryonic death. Moreover, this study reveals that this
      effect can occur via the deregulation of several genes related to cell apoptosis,
      proliferation, and migration.

PMID- 28605483
TI  - Vedolizumab in Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Retrospective Multi
      Centre Experience From the Paediatric IBD Porto Group of ESPGHAN.
AB  - Background: Vedolizumab, an anti-integrin antibody, has proven to be effective in
      adults with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], but the data in paediatrics are
      limited. We describe the short-term effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab in a
      European multi-centre paediatric IBD cohort. Method: Retrospective review of
      children [aged 2-18 years] treated with vedolizumab from 19 centres affiliated
      with the Paediatric IBD Porto group of ESPGHAN. Primary outcome was Week 14
      corticosteroid-free remission [CFR]. Results: In all, 64 children were included
      (32 [50%] male, mean age 14.5 +/- 2.8 years, with a median follow-up 24 weeks
      [interquartile range 14-38; range 6-116]); 41 [64%] cases of ulcerative
      colitis/inflammatory bowel disease unclassified [UC/IBD-U] and 23 [36%] Crohn's
      disease [CD]. All were previously treated with anti-tumour necrosis factor [TNF]
      [28% primary failure, 53% secondary failure]. Week 14 CFR was 37% in UC, and 14%
      in CD [P = 0.06]. CFR by last follow-up was 39% in UC and 24% in CD [p = 0.24].
      Ten [17%] children required surgery, six of whom had colectomy for UC.
      Concomitant immunomodulatory drugs did not affect remission rate [42% vs 35%; p =
      0.35 at Week 22]. There were three minor drug-related adverse events. Only 3 of
      16 children who underwent endoscopic evaluation had mucosal healing after
      treatment (19%). Conclusions: Vedolizumab was safe and effective in this cohort
      of paediatric refractory IBD. These data support previous findings of slow
      induction rate of vedolizumab in CD and a trend to be less effective compared
      with patients with UC.

PMID- 28605485
TI  - Follow-up of Children with Kernicterus in Kano, Nigeria.
AB  - Introduction: Acute bilirubin encephalopathy (ABE) is associated with long-term
      sequelae (kernicterus). It continues to be a significant issue in our region of
      Nigeria, accounting for much morbidity and mortality. Herein we report the
      outcome of neonates with ABE seen at our centre. Methodology: We established a
      surveillance of children who had ABE and returned to follow-up from prospective
      cases of ABE (2012-2014). ABE was diagnosed based on a bilirubin-induced
      neurologic dysfunction score of >= 1. Kernicterus was subsequently established
      based on a history of developmental delays, hearing impairments and abnormal
      physical and neurologic examinations at follow-up age >=3 months. Result: Five
      hundred fifty-one neonates had hyperbilirubinaemia of whom 104 (18.8%) had ABE.
      Mean transcutaneous bilirubin using the Ingram icterometer was 18.3 mg/dl  +/- 
      SD 1.9 [(12.5-19.1), total serum bilirubin of 18.1 +/- 10.9] (range: 10.3-64
      mg/dl). Sixty-five infants returned for follow-up (41 males and 24 females); mean
      age 9 months (22 days to 17 months). Most (58 of 65; 89.2%) had abnormal
      neurological findings and 15 (25.9%) had probable kernicterus. Conclusion: There
      is a critical need for a National Kernicterus Registry to document all cases of
      kernicterus and formulate an effective treatment and prevention policy.

PMID- 28605484
TI  - Infants Born Preterm Demonstrate Impaired Exploration of Their Bodies and
      Surfaces Throughout the First 2 Years of Life.
AB  - Background: Non-object-oriented exploratory behaviors infants perform with their
      bodies and surfaces have been proposed to be key precursors of infants' object
      exploration, early learning, and future cognitive development. Little is known
      about the developmental trajectories of these behaviors, especially for infants
      born preterm. Objective: The purpose of the study was to longitudinally compare
      non-object-oriented exploratory behaviors performed by full-term and preterm
      infants. Design: The study followed 24 full-term and 30 preterm infants (6 with
      significant brain injury) performing non-object-oriented exploratory behaviors in
      prone, supine, and sitting from birth through 24 months. Methods: Infants were
      observed without objects or direct social interaction for 3 minutes in prone and
      supine (0 through 9 months) and in sitting (3 through 24 months). Behavioral
      coding produced data that were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling.
      Developmental trajectories of behaviors were compared among full-term infants,
      preterm infants without significant brain injury, and preterm infants with
      significant brain injury. Results: Compared to full-term peers, preterm infants
      showed poorer postural control (less head lifting in prone), midline behavior
      (holding the head in midline, holding both hands in midline), hand-to-mouth and
      visual-motor behaviors against gravity, and more asymmetrical one-handed fisting.
      Preterm infants performed fewer bouts of non-object-oriented exploratory
      behaviors, and their behaviors were less variable with fewer combinations.
      Limitations: There was a limited sample of infants born preterm with significant
      brain injury. Conclusions: Non-object-oriented exploratory behaviors are
      important for early perceptual-motor development. Key differences were noted in
      these behaviors for infants born preterm. These differences may lead to impaired
      reaching, object exploration, and cognition. Early intervention programs should
      utilize assessments and interventions that target these very early non-object
      oriented exploratory behaviors.

PMID- 28605486
TI  - Aneurysm Morphology and Prediction of Rupture: An International Study of
      Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are conflicting data between natural history studies suggesting
      a very low risk of rupture for small, unruptured intracranial aneurysms and
      retrospective studies that have identified a much higher frequency of small,
      ruptured aneurysms than expected. OBJECTIVE: To use the prospective International
      Study of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms cohort to identify morphological
      characteristics predictive of unruptured intracranial aneurysm rupture. METHODS:
      A case-control design was used to analyze morphological characteristics
      associated with aneurysm rupture in the International Study of Unruptured
      Intracranial Aneurysms database. Fifty-seven patients with ruptured aneurysms
      during follow-up were matched (by size and location) with 198 patients with
      unruptured intracranial aneurysms without rupture during follow-up. Twelve
      morphological metrics were measured from cerebral angiograms in a blinded
      fashion. RESULTS: Perpendicular height (P = .008) and size ratio (ratio of
      maximum diameter to the parent vessel diameter; P = .01) were predictors of
      aneurysm rupture on univariate analysis. Aspect ratio, daughter sacs, multiple
      lobes, aneurysm angle, neck diameter, parent vessel diameter, and calculated
      aneurysm volume were not statistically significant predictors of rupture. On
      multivariate analysis, perpendicular height was the only significant predictor of
      rupture (Chi-square 7.1, P-value .008). CONCLUSION: This study underscores the
      importance of other morphological factors, such as perpendicular height and size
      ratio, that may influence unruptured intracranial aneurysm rupture risk in
      addition to greatest diameter and anterior vs posterior location.

PMID- 28605487
TI  - Comment on: Decreased platelet size is associated with platelet activation and
      anti-phospholipid syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus: reply.

PMID- 28605488
TI  - In vitro activity of the novel antifungal compound F901318 against difficult-to
      treat Aspergillus isolates.
AB  - Background: F901318 is a new antifungal agent with a novel mechanism of action
      with activity against Aspergillus species. We investigated the in vitro activity
      of F901318 against a collection of Aspergillus isolates. Methods: A total of 213
      Aspergillus isolates were used in this study. A total of 143 Aspergillus
      fumigatus sensu stricto isolates were used, of which 133 were azole resistant [25
      TR34/L98H; 25 TR46/Y121F/T289A; 33 A. fumigatus with cyp51A-associated point
      mutations (25 G54, 1 G432 and 7 M220); and 50 azole-resistant A. fumigatus
      without known resistance mechanisms]. Ten azole-susceptible A. fumigatus isolates
      were used as WT controls. The in vitro activity was also determined against
      Aspergillus calidoustus (25 isolates), Aspergillus flavus (10), Aspergillus
      nidulans (10) and Aspergillus tubingensis (25). F901318 activity was compared
      with that of itraconazole, voriconazole, posaconazole, isavuconazole,
      amphotericin B and anidulafungin. Minimum effective concentrations and MICs were
      determined using the EUCAST broth microdilution method. Results: F901318 was
      active against all tested isolates: A. fumigatus WT, MIC90 0.125 mg/L (range
      0.031-0.125); TR34/L98H,TR46/Y121F/T289A and azole resistant without known
      resistance mechanisms, MIC90 0.125 mg/L (range 0.031-0.25); A. fumigatus with
      cyp51A-associated point mutations, MIC90 0.062 mg/L (range 0.015-0.125); and
      other species, A. calidoustus MIC90 0.5 mg/L (range 0.125-0.5), A. flavus MIC90
      0.062 mg/L (range 0.015-0.62), A. nidulans MIC90 0.125 mg/L (range 0.062-0.25)
      and A. tubingensis MIC90 0.062 mg/L (range 0.015-0.25). Conclusions: F901318
      showed potent and consistent in vitro activity against difficult-to-treat
      Aspergillus spp. with intrinsic and acquired antifungal resistance due to known
      and unknown resistance mechanisms, suggesting no significant implications of
      azole resistance mechanisms for the mode of action of F901318.

PMID- 28605489
TI  - Message from the ISCB: 2017 ISCB Accomplishment by a Senior Scientist Award Given
      to Pavel Pevzner.

PMID- 28605490
TI  - Adequate plasma drug concentrations suggest that amoxicillin can be administered
      by continuous infusion using elastomeric pumps.
AB  - Background: Elastomeric pumps can be useful for the administration of antibiotics
      in the outpatient setting. Objectives: To determine amoxicillin degradation in
      elastomeric pumps, as well as the effectiveness of amoxicillin treatment
      administered by elastomeric pumps. Methods: Antibiotic degradation was measured
      in elastomeric pumps filled with 6 g of amoxicillin in 240 mL of NaCl 0.9% by
      drawing samples at 12 h intervals when stored in the fridge for 48 h and when
      worn around the waist for 24 h. Subsequently nine patients were treated with
      continuous infusions of 8 or 12 g of amoxicillin per day. Plasma amoxicillin
      concentrations were measured on each visit to the outpatient parenteral
      antibiotic therapy unit. Clinical outcome was verified 3 months after the end of
      treatment. Results: Amoxicillin degradation in elastomeric pumps reached 10%
      after 48 h in the fridge and an additional 30% when worn around the waist for 24
      h. Mean plasma drug concentrations achieved with 12 g of amoxicillin per day were
      18.5 mg/L (95% CI 13.5-23.5), which is largely above the MIC of amoxicillin
      susceptible bacteria. Nine patients treated for various complicated infections
      were cured and had no unexpected adverse effects. Conclusions: Adequate plasma
      drug concentrations and favourable clinical outcomes suggest that amoxicillin can
      be administered by continuous infusion using elastomeric pumps. This treatment
      modality does not fulfil formal requirements regarding pharmaceutical stability,
      but the resulting safety impact in patients is probably limited. Therapeutic drug
      monitoring and a close clinical follow-up are recommended if this route of
      administration is chosen.

PMID- 28605492
TI  - Growth-Related Major Recanalization of Coiled Aneurysms: Incidence and Risk
      Factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Though endovascular techniques and procedural devices continue to
      advance, recurrence of embolized aneurysms is still problematic. Enlarging size
      during follow-up is the presumed basis of recanalization in some lesions, but
      such growth has not been adequately investigated. OBJECTIVE: To generate
      estimates of growth in coiled aneurysms with major recanalization, focusing on
      incidence and risk factors involved. METHODS: A cohort of 134 patients harboring
      139 aneurysms were retrospectively reviewed, each subjected to re-embolization
      for major recanalization after initial coil embolization. Cumulative medical
      records and radiological data were assessed. The aneurysms were grouped by nature
      of recanalization, either related or unrelated to growth. Growth was defined as
      >50% increase in aneurysm volume (including coil mass) at the time of re
      embolization, compared initial status. Aneurysm volumes were determined by volume
      of coil mass within full confines of the aneurysm. Univariate and multivariate
      analyses were performed to identify risk factors predisposing to growth. RESULTS:
      Major recanalization was growth related in 74 coiled aneurysms (53.2%) and
      unrelated to growth (by coil compaction) in 65 (46.8%). Multiple logistic
      regression analysis indicated that growth of coiled aneurysm was linked to
      aneurysms initially ruptured at presentation (P = .002) and aneurysm size <7 mm
      (P < .001). Cumulative growth rates were as follows: 14 (18.9%), 6 mo; 18
      (24.3%), 12 mo; 13 (17.6%), 24 mo; 10 (13.5%), 36 mo; and 19 (25.7%), >36 mo.
      CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that aneurysms presenting with hemorrhage and small
      sized aneurysms (<7 mm) are predisposed major recanalization by growth after coil
      embolization, as opposed to coil compaction.

PMID- 28605491
TI  - Photoperiod- and temperature-mediated control of growth cessation and dormancy in
      trees: a molecular perspective.
AB  - Background: How plants adapt their developmental patterns to regular seasonal
      changes is an important question in biology. The annual growth cycle in perennial
      long-lived trees is yet another example of how plants can adapt to seasonal
      changes. The two main signals that plants rely on to respond to seasonal changes
      are photoperiod and temperature, and these signals have critical roles in the
      temporal regulation of the annual growth cycle of trees. Scope: This review
      presents the latest findings to provide insight into the molecular mechanisms
      that underlie how photoperiodic and temperature signals regulate seasonal growth
      in trees. Conclusion: The results point to a high level of conservation in the
      signalling pathways that mediate photoperiodic control of seasonal growth in
      trees and flowering in annual plants such as arabidopsis. Furthermore, the data
      indicate that symplastic communication may mediate certain aspects of seasonal
      growth. Although considerable insight into the control of phenology in model
      plants such as poplar and spruce has been obtained, the future challenge is
      extending these studies to other, non-model trees.

PMID- 28605493
TI  - Antiretroviral therapy in geriatric HIV patients: the GEPPO cohort study.
AB  - Background: GEPPO is a prospective observational multi-centric cohort including
      HIV-infected geriatric patients. We hypothesized that the GEPPO cohort may help
      characterize antiretroviral (ARV) prescribing criteria used in real life by
      Italian infectious disease (ID) physicians. Methods: This was a cross-sectional
      study describing the current ARV regimen in a geriatric HIV population (>=65
      years). Antiretroviral strategies were categorized as follows: (i) multidrug
      regimens (MDRs), which comprised triple or mega ART combinations; (ii) less drug
      regimens (LDRs), which comprised fewer than three ART compounds. Multi-morbidity
      (MM) was defined as the presence of three or more non-communicable diseases, and
      polypharmacy (PP) as the use of five or more medications in chronic use. Four
      alternative combinations (MM+PP+, MM+PP-, MM-PP+, MM-PP-) were used in logistic
      regression analyses. Results: A total of 1222 HIV-positive patients were included
      (median age 70 years). Females composed 16% of the cohort. Median duration of HIV
      infection was 17 years; 335 population members had been infected for >20 years.
      MM was present in 64% and PP in 37% of the patients. Treatment consisted of
      triple therapy in 66.4%, dual therapy in 25.3%, monotherapy in 6.5% and 'mega
      ART' with more than three drugs in 1.64% of the patients. In multivariate
      logistic regression MM and PP were predictive for mono-dual, NRTI-sparing and
      tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-sparing combinations. Female gender and age
      were predictors of unboosted ARV regimens. Conclusions: High prevalence of non
      conventional ARV regimens in elderly HIV patients suggests that clinicians try to
      tailor ARV regimens according to age, HIV duration, MM and PP.

PMID- 28605495
TI  - Green tea and epigallocatechin-3-gallate are bactericidal against Bacillus
      anthracis.
AB  - Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, is listed as a category A
      biothreat agent by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
      The virulence of the organism is due to expression of two exotoxins and capsule,
      which interfere with host cellular signaling, alter host water homeostasis and
      inhibit phagocytosis of the pathogen, respectively. Concerns regarding the past
      and possible future use of B. anthracis as a bioterrorism agent have resulted in
      an impetus to develop more effective protective measures and therapeutics. In
      this study, green tea was found to inhibit the in vitro growth of B. anthracis.
      Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a compound found abundantly in green tea, was
      shown to be responsible for this activity. EGCG was bactericidal against both the
      attenuated B. anthracis ANR and the virulent encapsulated B. anthracis Ames
      strain. This study highlights the antimicrobial activity of green tea and EGCG
      against anthrax and suggests the need for further investigation of EGCG as a
      therapeutic candidate against B. anthracis.

PMID- 28605496
TI  - Validation of microbiological testing in cardiovascular tissue banks: results of
      a quality round trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Surgeons needing human cardiovascular tissue for implantation in
      their patients are confronted with cardiovascular tissue banks that use different
      methods to identify and decontaminate micro-organisms. To elucidate these
      differences, we compared the quality of processing methods in 20 tissue banks and
      1 reference laboratory. We did this to validate the results for accepting or
      rejecting tissue. We included the decontamination methods used and the influence
      of antibiotic cocktails and residues with results and controls. The minor details
      of the processes were not included. METHODS: To compare the outcomes of
      microbiological testing and decontamination methods of heart valve allografts in
      cardiovascular tissue banks, an international quality round was organized. Twenty
      cardiovascular tissue banks participated in this quality round. The quality round
      method was validated first and consisted of sending purposely contaminated human
      heart valve tissue samples with known micro-organisms to the participants. The
      participants identified the micro-organisms using their local decontamination
      methods. RESULTS: Seventeen of the 20 participants correctly identified the micro
      organisms; if these samples were heart valves to be released for implantation, 3
      of the 20 participants would have decided to accept their result for release.
      Decontamination was shown not to be effective in 13 tissue banks because of
      growth of the organisms after decontamination. Articles in the literature
      revealed that antibiotics are effective at 36 degrees C and not, or less so, at 2
      8 degrees C. The decontamination procedure, if it is validated, will ensure that
      the tissue contains no known micro-organisms. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrates that the quality round method of sending contaminated tissues and
      assessing the results of the microbiological cultures is an effective way of
      validating the processes of tissue banks. Only when harmonization, based on
      validated methods, has been achieved, will surgeons be able to fully rely on the
      methods used and have confidence in the consistent sterility of the tissue
      grafts. Tissue banks should validate their methods so that all stakeholders can
      trust the outcomes.

PMID- 28605497
TI  - Message from the ISCB: 2017 Outstanding Contributions to ISCB Award Given to Fran
      Lewitter.

PMID- 28605494
TI  - Glutamate Transport: A New Bench to Bedside Mechanism for Treating Drug Abuse.
AB  - Drug addiction has often been described as a "hijacking" of the brain circuits
      involved in learning and memory. Glutamate is the principal excitatory
      neurotransmitter in the brain, and its contribution to synaptic plasticity and
      learning processes is well established in animal models. Likewise, over the past
      20 years the addiction field has ascribed a critical role for glutamatergic
      transmission in the development of addiction. Chronic drug use produces enduring
      neuroadaptations in corticostriatal projections that are believed to contribute
      to a maladaptive deficit in inhibitory control over behavior. Much of this
      research focuses on the role played by ionotropic glutamate receptors directly
      involved in long-term potentiation and depression or metabotropic receptors
      indirectly modulating synaptic plasticity. Importantly, the balance between
      glutamate release and clearance tightly regulates the patterned activation of
      these glutamate receptors, emphasizing an important role for glutamate
      transporters in maintaining extracellular glutamate levels. Five excitatory amino
      acid transporters participate in active glutamate reuptake. Recent evidence
      suggests that these glutamate transporters can be modulated by chronic drug use
      at a variety of levels. In this review, we synopsize the evidence and mechanisms
      associated with drug-induced dysregulation of glutamate transport. We then
      summarize the preclinical and clinical data suggesting that glutamate
      transporters offer an effective target for the treatment of drug addiction. In
      particular, we focus on the role that altered glutamate transporters have in
      causing drug cues and contexts to develop an intrusive quality that guides
      maladaptive drug seeking behaviors.

PMID- 28605498
TI  - Effect of Home Blood Pressure on Inducing Remission/Regression of
      Microalbuminuria in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Home Blood Pressure for Diabetic Nephropathy study is a
      prospective observational study conducted to determine the effect of home blood
      pressure (HBP) on remission/regression of microalbuminuria in patients with type
      2 diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: Patients with type 2 DM having
      microalbuminuria were followed-up for 3 years. Remission of microalbuminuria was
      defined as shift from microalbuminuria to normoalbuminuria. Regression of
      microalbuminuria was defined as a 50% reduction in urinary albumin-creatinine
      ratio from baseline. All measurements of morning and evening HBP were averaged
      every year and defined as all HBP. RESULTS: In total, 235 patients were followed
      up. The 3-year cumulative incidences of remission and regression were 32.3% and
      44.7%, respectively. Following analysis of all cases, the degree of decline in
      all home systolic blood pressure (AHSBP), rather than mean AHSBP, influenced the
      incidence of remission/regression. There was a strong relationship between the
      decline in AHSBP during the follow-up period and AHSBP at baseline. Therefore,
      separate analyses of the patients with AHSBP below 140 mm Hg at baseline were
      performed, which revealed that mean AHSBP during the follow-up period
      independently affected the incidence of remission/regression. The hazard ratio
      for inducing remission/regression was significantly lower in patients with AHSBP
      during the follow-up period above 130 mm Hg than in those with AHSBP below 120 mm
      Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal AHSBP for the induction of remission/regression of
      microalbuminuria might be below 130 mm Hg. It is required to confirm whether
      keeping AHSBP below 130 mm Hg leads to subsequent renoprotection or not. CLINICAL
      TRIALS REGISTRATION: Trial Number UMIN000000804.

PMID- 28605499
TI  - Perspectives on implementing smoke-free prison policies in England and Wales.
AB  - This paper explores prisoner and staff views of the current smoking policy in
      English and Welsh prisons (a partial ban permitting smoking in prison cells) and
      gauges perceptions of the implications of the forthcoming policy change which
      will see a total smoking ban within all parts of the institution. Five focus
      group discussions in one medium security male prison in England were undertaken.
      Three focus groups were undertaken with prisoners (both smokers and non-smokers)
      and two focus groups with staff. The findings suggest that smoking is embedded in
      the fabric of prison life and serves several functions, including alleviating
      anxiety in prisoners. The current smoking policy was perceived as being a fair
      policy that both supported smoking and non-smoking prisoners. There were
      concerns, however, that a total smoking ban would have adverse outcomes for
      prisoners and staff, including deleterious effects on mental health and the
      potential for violence. The paper concludes by suggesting that the incoming
      policy, which sees a total smoking ban in prisons, is laudable, but this research
      suggests that without careful implementation there may be adverse health and
      organisational outcomes.

PMID- 28605500
TI  - Focus on an unusual rise in pancreatic cancer incidence in France.
AB  - Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal. Most countries have
      exhibited a stable or decreasing incidence over time. The aim of this study was
      to provide updated French temporal trends in pancreatic cancer incidence and
      mortality over the past three decades. Methods: Incidence was estimated using the
      French National Network of Cancer Registries (FRANCIM) and mortality using the
      French Mortality Statistics Office. World age-standardized incidence and
      mortality were modelled by age-period-cohort models. The net cumulative risk of
      developing pancreatic cancer by birth cohort was calculated, as were annual
      percentage changes (APCs) in incidence and mortality. Results: Between 1982 and
      2012, age-standardized incidence increased from 4.8 in 1980 to 9.6 per 100 000 in
      men and from 2.3 to 6.8 in women. The mean APC was 2.3% (2.1-2.6) and 3.6% (3.3
      3.9), respectively. The cumulative risk of developing pancreatic cancer before
      age 75 rose from 0.62% for males born around 1920 to 1.17% for those born around
      1950. It was respectively 0.31% and 0.86% for women. Mortality did not vary in
      men (8.1 per 100 000). It slightly increased in women from 4.0 in 1982 to 5.4 in
      2012. Conclusion: Pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality exhibited diverging
      trends. Incidence increased over the last 30 years in France whereas mortality
      did not vary in men and moderately increased in women. Incidence remained lower
      than mortality up to 2002. One cannot exclude the possibility that a similar
      trend may appear in other countries. Etiological studies are required to further
      explain this increase.

PMID- 28605501
TI  - EpiCompare: an online tool to define and explore genomic regions with tissue or
      cell type-specific epigenomic features.
AB  - Motivation: The Human Reference Epigenome Map, generated by the Roadmap
      Epigenomics Consortium, contains thousands of genome-wide epigenomic datasets
      that describe epigenomes of a variety of different human tissue and cell types.
      This map has allowed investigators to obtain a much deeper and more comprehensive
      view of our regulatory genome, e.g. defining regulatory elements including all
      promoters and enhancers for a given tissue or cell type. An outstanding task is
      to combine and compare different epigenomes in order to identify regions with
      epigenomic features specific to certain types of tissues or cells, e.g. lineage
      specific regulatory elements. Currently available tools do not directly address
      this question. This need motivated us to develop a tool that allows investigators
      to easily identify regions with epigenetic features unique to specific epigenomes
      that they choose, making detection of common regulatory elements and/or cell type
      specific regulatory elements an interactive and dynamic experience. Results: An
      online tool EpiCompare was developed to assist investigators in exploring the
      specificity of epigenomic features across selected tissue and cell types.
      Investigators can design their test by choosing different combinations of
      epigenomes, and choosing different classification algorithms provided by our
      tool. EpiCompare will then identify regions with specified epigenomic features,
      and provide a quality assessment of the predictions. Investigators can interact
      with EpiCompare by investigating Roadmap Epigenomics data, or uploading their own
      data for comparison. We demonstrate that by using specific combinations of
      epigenomes we can detect developmental lineage-specific enhancers. Finally,
      prediction results can be readily visualized and further explored in the WashU
      Epigenome Browser. Availability and implementation: EpiCompare is freely
      available on the web at http://epigenome.wustl.edu/EpiCompare/. Contact:
      twang@genetics.wustl.edu. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605502
TI  - Fast bootstrapping-based estimation of confidence intervals of expression levels
      and differential expression from RNA-Seq data.
AB  - Summary: This note presents IsoEM2 and IsoDE2, new versions with enhanced
      features and faster runtime of the IsoEM and IsoDE packages for expression level
      estimation and differential expression. IsoEM2 estimates fragments per kilobase
      million (FPKM) and transcript per million (TPM) levels for genes and isoforms
      with confidence intervals through bootstrapping, while IsoDE2 performs
      differential expression analysis using the bootstrap samples generated by IsoEM2.
      Both tools are available with a command line interface as well as a graphical
      user interface (GUI) through wrappers for the Galaxy platform. Availability and
      implementation: The source code of this software suite is available at
      https://github.com/mandricigor/isoem2. The Galaxy wrappers are available at
      https://toolshed.g2.bx.psu.edu/view/saharlcc/isoem2_isode2/. Contact:
      imandric1@student.gsu.edu or ion@engr.uconn.edu. Supplementary information:
      Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605503
TI  - Behavioural, not biological, factors drive the HCV epidemic among HIV-positive
      MSM: HCV and HIV modelling analysis including HCV treatment-as-prevention impact.
AB  - Background: Uncertainty surrounds why hepatitis C virus (HCV) is concentrated
      among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). We used mathematical
      modelling to explore reasons for these infection patterns, and implications for
      HCV treatment-as-prevention. Methods: Using a joint MSM HIV/HCV transmission
      model parameterized with UK behavioural data, we considered how biological
      (heightened HCV infectivity and reduced spontaneous clearance among HIV-positive
      MSM) and/or behavioural factors (preferential sexual mixing by HIV status and
      risk heterogeneity) could concentrate HCV infection in HIV-positive MSM as
      commonly observed (5-20 times the HCV prevalence in HIV-negative MSM; defined as
      the HCV ratio). We explored how HCV treatment-as-prevention impact varies under
      differing HCV ratios. Results: Biological factors produced low HCV ratios (< 3),
      not explaining the skewed epidemic. However, combining preferential mixing by HIV
      status with sexual risk behaviour heterogeneity produced high HCV ratios (> 10)
      that were highly sensitive to both factors. Irrespective of the HCV ratio or
      behavioural/biological factors, HCV treatment of HIV-diagnosed MSM markedly
      reduced the HCV prevalence among HIV-positive MSM, but less impact was achieved
      among all MSM for lower HCV ratios. Conclusions: Sexual behaviour patterns likely
      drive observed HCV infection patterns among HIV-positive MSM. Changes in these
      patterns could disseminate HCV amongst HIV-negative MSM, limiting the impact of
      targeting HCV treatment to HIV-diagnosed MSM.

PMID- 28605505
TI  - Impact of Young Age on the Presentation of Saccular Intracranial Aneurysms:
      Population-Based Analysis of 4082 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Formation and rupture of saccular intracranial aneurysms (sIAs) may
      have different pathobiologies in patients with younger age at first diagnosis of
      sIA disease. OBJECTIVE: To study the phenotype of sIA disease and formation of
      new (de novo) sIAs in patients below 40 yr. METHODS: A population-based cohort
      study was conducted in 613 young (<40 yr) sIA patients with first diagnosis
      between 1980 and 2014 and total angiographic follow-up of 3768 yr. RESULTS: Of
      the 613 sIA patients <40 yr, 508 had aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (sIA-SAH)
      and 105 unruptured sIA(s) at first sIA diagnosis. Hypertension was 2 times less
      common among <40 than >40-yr-old patients (unruptured and ruptured). Smoking was
      very prevalent in <40-yr-old patients (33% in SAH, 68% unruptured). SAH patients
      <40 yr more often had family history of sIA, and lower PHASES scores (age
      omitted, P < .001). Ruptured sIAs were small (<7 mm) in 33% of 39 to 30 yr
      patients, in 44% of 29 to 20 yr patients, and 57% of <19 yr patients. Their shape
      was irregular in 90%, 94%, and 95%, respectively. Smoking history (hazard ratio
      [HR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-7.0), family history for sIAs (HR 3.1,
      95% CI 1.3-7.7), and age at presentation (HR .91 per year, 95% CI .85-.98) were
      risk factors for de novo sIA formation, diagnosed in 4% even after 20 yr (median
      11.8 yr). CONCLUSION: Smoking and family history are risk factors for sIA
      formation and aneurysmal SAH at young age. Young aneurysmal SAH patients had
      lower PHASES scores and often rupture from a small sIA, suggesting need for more
      aggressive management.

PMID- 28605504
TI  - Projecting 10-year, 20-year, and Lifetime Risks of Cardiovascular Disease in
      Persons Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the United States.
AB  - Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an increasing cause of morbidity
      among persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; PLWH). We projected
      cumulative CVD risk in PLWH in care compared to the US general population and
      persons HIV-uninfected, but at high risk for HIV. Methods: We used a mathematical
      model to project cumulative CVD incidence. We simulated a male and female cohort
      for each of 3 populations: US general population; HIV-uninfected, at high risk
      for HIV; and PLWH. We incorporated the higher smoking prevalence and increased
      CVD risk due to smoking into the HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected, at high risk
      for HIV populations. We incorporated HIV-attributable CVD risk, independent of
      smoking. Results: For men, life expectancy ranged from 70.2 to 77.5 years and for
      women from 67.0 to 81.1 years (PLWH, US general population). Without
      antiretroviral therapy, lifetime CVD risk for HIV-infected males and females was
      12.9% and 9.0%. For males, by age 60, cumulative CVD incidence was estimated at
      20.5% in PLWH in care, 14.6% in HIV-uninfected high-risk persons, and 12.8% in
      the US general population. For females, cumulative CVD incidence was projected to
      be 13.8% in PLWH in care, 9.7% for high-risk HIV-uninfected persons, and 9.4% in
      the US general population. Lifetime CVD risk was 64.8% for HIV-infected males
      compared to 54.8% for males in the US general population, but similar among
      females. Conclusions: CVD risks should be a part of treatment evaluation among
      PLWH. CVD prevention strategies could offer important health benefits for PLWH
      and should be evaluated.

PMID- 28605507
TI  - Comparison of the Tastes of L-Alanine and Monosodium Glutamate in C57BL/6J Wild
      Type and T1r3 Knockout Mice.
AB  - Previous research showed that L-alanine and monosodium L-glutamate elicit similar
      taste sensations in rats. This study reports the results of behavioral
      experiments designed to compare the taste capacity of C57BL/6J wild type and T1r3
      mice for these 2 amino acids. In conditioned taste aversion (CTA) experiments,
      wild-type mice exhibited greater sensitivity than knockout mice for both L-amino
      acids, although knockout mice were clearly able to detect both amino acids at 50
      mM and higher concentrations. Generalization of CTA between L-alanine and L
      glutamate was bidirectionally equivalent for both mouse genotypes, indicating
      that both substances elicited similar tastes in both genotypes. This was verified
      by the discrimination experiments in which both mouse genotypes performed at or
      near chance levels at 75 and 150 mM. Above 150 mM, discrimination performance
      improved, suggesting the taste qualities of the 2 L-amino acids are not
      identical. No differences between knockout and wild-type mice in discrimination
      ability were detected. These results indicate that while the T1r3 receptor is
      important for tasting L-alanine and L-glutamate, other receptors are also
      important for tasting these amino acids.

PMID- 28605506
TI  - Multi-locus and long amplicon sequencing approach to study microbial diversity at
      species level using the MinIONTM portable nanopore sequencer.
AB  - The miniaturized and portable DNA sequencer MinIONTM has demonstrated great
      potential in different analyses such as genome-wide sequencing, pathogen outbreak
      detection and surveillance, human genome variability, and microbial diversity. In
      this study, we tested the ability of the MinIONTM platform to perform long
      amplicon sequencing in order to design new approaches to study microbial
      diversity using a multi-locus approach. After compiling a robust database by
      parsing and extracting the rrn bacterial region from more than 67000 complete or
      draft bacterial genomes, we demonstrated that the data obtained during sequencing
      of the long amplicon in the MinIONTM device using R9 and R9.4 chemistries were
      sufficient to study 2 mock microbial communities in a multiplex manner and to
      almost completely reconstruct the microbial diversity contained in the HM782D and
      D6305 mock communities. Although nanopore-based sequencing produces reads with
      lower per-base accuracy compared with other platforms, we presented a novel
      approach consisting of multi-locus and long amplicon sequencing using the
      MinIONTM MkIb DNA sequencer and R9 and R9.4 chemistries that help to overcome the
      main disadvantage of this portable sequencing platform. Furthermore, the nanopore
      sequencing library, constructed with the last releases of pore chemistry (R9.4)
      and sequencing kit (SQK-LSK108), permitted the retrieval of the higher level of
      1D read accuracy sufficient to characterize the microbial species present in each
      mock community analysed. Improvements in nanopore chemistry, such as minimizing
      base-calling errors and new library protocols able to produce rapid 1D libraries,
      will provide more reliable information in the near future. Such data will be
      useful for more comprehensive and faster specific detection of microbial species
      and strains in complex ecosystems.

PMID- 28605508
TI  - Message from the ISCB: 2017 ISCB Overton Prize Awarded to Christoph Bock.

PMID- 28605509
TI  - A novel homozygous UMOD mutation reveals gene dosage effects on uromodulin
      processing and urinary excretion.
AB  - Heterozygous mutations in UMOD encoding the urinary protein uromodulin are the
      most common genetic cause of autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease
      (ADTKD). We describe the exceptional case of a patient from a consanguineous
      family carrying a novel homozygous UMOD mutation (p.C120Y) affecting a conserved
      cysteine residue within the EGF-like domain III of uromodulin. Comparison of
      heterozygote and homozygote mutation carriers revealed a gene dosage effect with
      unprecedented low levels of uromodulin and aberrant uromodulin fragments in the
      urine of the homozygote proband. Despite an amplified biological effect of the
      homozygote mutation, the proband did not show a strikingly more severe clinical
      evolution nor was the near absence of urinary uromodulin associated with urinary
      tract infections or kidney stones.

PMID- 28605510
TI  - Phase I study of oral sonidegib (LDE225) in pediatric brain and solid tumors and
      a phase II study in children and adults with relapsed medulloblastoma.
AB  - Background: Sonidegib (LDE225) is a potent, selective hedgehog (Hh) inhibitor of
      Smoothened. This study explored the safety and pharmacokinetics of sonidegib in
      children with relapsed/recurrent tumors followed by a phase II trial in pediatric
      and adult patients with relapsed medulloblastoma (MB) to assess tumor response.
      Methods: Pediatric patients aged >=1 to <18 years were included according to a
      Bayesian design starting at 372 mg/m2 of continuous once daily oral sonidegib.
      Tumor samples were analyzed for Hh pathway activation using a validated 5-gene Hh
      signature assay. In phase II, pediatric patients were treated at the recommended
      phase II dose (RP2D) while adults received 800 mg daily. Results: Sixteen adult
      (16 MB) and 60 pediatric (39 MB, 21 other) patients with an age range of 2-17
      years were enrolled. The RP2D of sonidegib in pediatric patients was established
      at 680 mg/m2 once daily. The phase II study was closed prematurely. The 5-gene Hh
      signature assay showed that the 4 complete responders (2 pediatric and 2 adult)
      and 1 partial responder (adult) all had Hh-activated tumors, while 5 patients
      with activated Hh had either stable disease (n = 3) or progressive disease (n =
      2). No patient with an Hh-negative signature (n = 50) responded. The safety
      profile for pediatric patients was generally consistent with the one established
      for adult patients; however, growth plate changes were observed in prepubertal
      pediatric patients. Conclusions: Sonidegib was well tolerated and the RP2D in
      pediatric patients was 680 mg/m2 once daily. Five of the 10 MB patients with
      activated Hh pathway demonstrated complete or partial responses.

PMID- 28605511
TI  - Identification of Potential Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Sterol
      Carrier Protein-2 Inhibitors Through High-Throughput Virtual Screening.
AB  - Helicoverpa armigera sterol carrier protein-2 (HaSCP-2) is a validated target for
      development of novel insecticides due to its divergent protein structure and
      function from the vertebrate SCP-2. HaSCP-2 is important for normal development
      and fertility in Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner). The discovery of chemical
      inhibitors of HaSCP-2 through a structure-based virtual screening is reported
      here. Bioassay indicated that H1 and H14 had inhibitory effect on the growth of
      H. armigera larvae. The results suggest that H1 and H14 are promising as useful
      lead compounds for further optimization and development of novel SCP-2-specific
      pesticides.

PMID- 28605513
TI  - A Quadrantic Bias in Prefrontal Representation of Visual-Mnemonic Space.
AB  - Single neurons in primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) are known to
      encode working memory (WM) representations of visual space. Psychophysical
      studies have shown that the horizontal and vertical meridians of the visual field
      can bias spatial information maintained in WM. However, most studies and models
      have tacitly assumed that dLPFC neurons represent mnemonic space homogenously.
      The anatomical organization of these representations has also eluded clear
      parametric description. We investigated these issues by recording from neuronal
      ensembles in macaque dLPFC with microelectrode arrays while subjects performed an
      oculomotor delayed-response task. We found that spatial WM representations in
      macaque dLPFC are biased by the vertical and horizontal meridians of the visual
      field, dividing mnemonic space into quadrants. This bias is reflected in single
      neuron firing rates, neuronal ensemble representations, the spike count
      correlation structure, and eye movement patterns. We also found that dLPFC
      representations of mnemonic space cluster anatomically in a nonretinotopic manner
      that partially reflects the organization of visual space. These results provide
      an explanation for known WM biases, and reveal novel principles of WM
      representation in prefrontal neuronal ensembles and across the cortical surface,
      as well as the need to reconceptualize models of WM to accommodate the observed
      representational biases.

PMID- 28605512
TI  - Low-coverage resequencing detects meiotic recombination pattern and features in
      tomato RILs.
AB  - Traditional plant breeding relies on meiotic recombination for mixing of parental
      alleles to create novel allele combinations. Detailed analysis of recombination
      patterns in model organisms shows that recombination is tightly regulated within
      the genome, but frequencies vary extensively along chromosomes. Despite being a
      model organism for fruit developmental studies, high-resolution recombination
      patterns are lacking in tomato. In this study, we developed a novel methodology
      to use low-coverage resequencing to identify genome-wide recombination patterns
      and applied this methodology on 60 tomato Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs). Our
      methodology identifies polymorphic markers from the low-coverage resequencing
      population data and utilizes the same data to locate the recombination
      breakpoints in individuals by using a variable sliding window. We identified
      1,445 recombination sites comprising 112 recombination prone regions enriched for
      AT-rich DNA motifs. Furthermore, the recombination prone regions in tomato
      preferably occurred in gene promoters over intergenic regions, an observation
      consistent with Arabidopsis thaliana, Zea mays and Mimulus guttatus. Overall, our
      cost effective method and findings enhance the understanding of meiotic
      recombination in tomato and suggest evolutionarily conserved recombination
      associated genomic features.

PMID- 28605516
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 28605515
TI  - FRI-2 carbapenemase-producing Enterobacter cloacae complex in the UK.
AB  - Objectives: Detection of rarer carbapenemases is challenging, as it requires
      molecular assays with comprehensive coverage or the use of phenotypic methods for
      the detection of carbapenemase activity. We describe a new class A carbapenemase,
      FRI-2, in an Enterobacter cloacae complex isolate following implementation of an
      in-house multiplex PCR for the detection of 'rare' class A carbapenemases.
      Methods: MICs were determined by agar dilution. A carbapenem-resistant E. cloacae
      complex isolate was tested by PCR for the class A carbapenemases blaKPC, blaFRI,
      blaIMI, blaGES and blaSME. Carbapenemase activity was assessed using Carba NP and
      the carbapenem inactivation method. Whole genome and plasmid analyses of the
      clinical isolate and the FRI-2 transformant were performed by WGS, respectively.
      Typing was carried out by PFGE. Results: The E. cloacae complex isolate showed
      resistance to imipenem (MIC = 16 mg/L), meropenem (MIC = 8 mg/L) and ertapenem
      (MIC = 8 mg/L), but remained susceptible to piperacillin/tazobactam (MIC = 8
      mg/L). Carbapenemase activity was confirmed in the isolate by both phenotypic
      methods. A blaFRI-1-like gene was detected by PCR and analysis of WGS data of the
      clinical isolate identified an ORF of 885 bp, which showed 97% nucleotide
      identity with blaFRI-1 and was named blaFRI-2. WGS of the transformant indicated
      blaFRI-2 was located on a 108 kb IncF/IncR plasmid. The FRI-2-positive E. cloacae
      complex isolate belonged to a novel ST (ST829). Conclusions: The possible
      circulation of rarer carbapenemases in clinical settings highlights the role of
      phenotypic tests to detect carbapenemase activity when molecular assays are
      negative for the 'big 5' carbapenemase families.

PMID- 28605514
TI  - Flipping states: a few key residues decide the winning conformation of the only
      universally conserved transcription factor.
AB  - Transcription factors from the NusG family bind to the elongating RNA polymerase
      to enable synthesis of long RNAs in all domains of life. In bacteria, NusG
      frequently co-exists with specialized paralogs that regulate expression of a
      small set of targets, many of which encode virulence factors. Escherichia coli
      RfaH is the exemplar of this regulatory mechanism. In contrast to NusG, which
      freely binds to RNA polymerase, RfaH exists in a structurally distinct
      autoinhibitory state in which the RNA polymerase-binding site is buried at the
      interface between two RfaH domains. Binding to an ops DNA sequence triggers
      structural transformation wherein the domains dissociate and RfaH refolds into a
      NusG-like structure. Formation of the autoinhibitory state, and thus sequence
      specific recruitment, represents the decisive step in the evolutionary history of
      the RfaH subfamily. We used computational and experimental approaches to identify
      the residues that confer the unique regulatory properties of RfaH. Our analysis
      highlighted highly conserved Ile and Phe residues at the RfaH interdomain
      interface. Replacement of these residues with equally conserved Glu and Val
      counterpart residues in NusG destabilized interactions between the RfaH domains
      and allowed sequence-independent recruitment to RNA polymerase, suggesting a
      plausible pathway for diversification of NusG paralogs.

PMID- 28605517
TI  - Perspective: The One Health Concept - the Aztec empire and beyond.

PMID- 28605519
TI  - CancerSubtypes: an R/Bioconductor package for molecular cancer subtype
      identification, validation and visualization.
AB  - Summary: Identifying molecular cancer subtypes from multi-omics data is an
      important step in the personalized medicine. We introduce CancerSubtypes, an R
      package for identifying cancer subtypes using multi-omics data, including gene
      expression, miRNA expression and DNA methylation data. CancerSubtypes integrates
      four main computational methods which are highly cited for cancer subtype
      identification and provides a standardized framework for data pre-processing,
      feature selection, and result follow-up analyses, including results computing,
      biology validation and visualization. The input and output of each step in the
      framework are packaged in the same data format, making it convenience to compare
      different methods. The package is useful for inferring cancer subtypes from an
      input genomic dataset, comparing the predictions from different well-known
      methods and testing new subtype discovery methods, as shown with different
      application scenarios in the Supplementary Material. Availability and
      implementation: The package is implemented in R and available under GPL-2 license
      from the Bioconductor website (http://bioconductor.org/packages/CancerSubtypes/).
      Contact: thuc.le@unisa.edu.au or jiuyong.li@unisa.edu.au. Supplementary
      information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605518
TI  - Public Health Impact of Congenital Toxoplasmosis and Cytomegalovirus Infection in
      Belgium, 2013: A Systematic Review and Data Synthesis.
AB  - Congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) and cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV) may cause
      significant morbidity and even fetal or neonatal mortality. We aimed to quantify
      the disease burden of CT and cCMV in Belgium in terms of disability-adjusted life
      years (DALYs) and identify data gaps. The public health impact of CT and cCMV in
      Belgium in 2013 was 188 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 43-419) and 1976 (95% UI,
      757-4067) DALYs, respectively. The major data gaps identified were representative
      Belgian studies; information on important sequelae, intrauterine mortality, and
      termination of pregnancy; and late onset sequelae. A scenario analysis showed
      important increases in years of life lost when the burden due to fetal losses was
      included and decreases in DALYs when comprehensive CT prevention measures were
      conducted. Addressing the key data gaps identified may allow generation of the
      data needed to break the vicious circle of underrecognition.

PMID- 28605520
TI  - Serial Tuberculosis Screening in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Receiving
      Anti-TNFalpha Therapy.
AB  - Background and Aims: One of the adverse effects of the tumour necrosis factor
      alpha [[TNFalpha] monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of immune-mediated
      inflammatory diseases is a higher propensity for tuberculosis development. The
      aim of this study was to explore the utility and sensitivity of serial
      tuberculosis screening during anti-TNFalpha treatment. Methods: A cohort of 46
      inflammatory bowel disease patients receiving infliximab was prospectively
      recruited and followed for 26 months. During this period of time, a tuberculosis
      skin test and two different interferon Upsilon release assays [QFT-GIT and T
      SPOT.TB] were applied at 4-6-month intervals. Results: Overall, 16 patients were
      diagnosed with latent tuberculosis infection after having at least one test
      conversion: 12 patients had a positive tuberculosis skin test, seven patients had
      a positive T-SPOT.TB, and two patients had a positive QFT-GIT. Active
      tuberculosis was excluded in all; 15 were treated with isoniazid. A comparison
      between tests showed a moderate accuracy [72% to 85%] but low kappa values [0.063
      to 0.377]. Concerning association with demographic and clinical characteristics,
      test conversion was more common among the male gender and those with a longer
      disease duration. Conclusions: Tuberculosis tests conversions were common in
      inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with infliximab alone or in
      association with immunomodulators. In these immunosuppressed individuals, the
      classical tuberculosis skin test seems to have a higher sensitivity than the
      modern tests based on the release of interferonUpsilon.

PMID- 28605521
TI  - Recorded and Reported Sleepiness: The Association Between Brain Arousal in
      Resting State and Subjective Daytime Sleepiness.
AB  - Objectives: Daytime sleepiness is a significant public health concern. Early
      evidence points toward the computerized VIGALL (Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig) as
      time-efficient tool to assess sleepiness objectively. In the present study, we
      investigated the association between VIGALL variables of EEG vigilance
      (indicating brain arousal in resting state) and subjective daytime sleepiness in
      the LIFE cohort study. Additionally, we validated VIGALL against the self-rated
      likelihood of having fallen asleep during the conducted resting EEG and against
      heart periods. Methods: Participants of the primary sample LIFE 60+ (N = 1927, 60
      79 years) and replication sample LIFE 40+ (N = 293, 40-56 years) completed the
      Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). After an average interval of 3 weeks (LIFE 60+)
      and 65 weeks (LIFE 40+), respectively, participants underwent a single 20-minute
      resting EEG, analyzed using VIGALL 2.1. Results: Analyses revealed significant
      associations between ESS and EEG vigilance in LIFE 60+ (rho = -0.17, p = 1E-14)
      and LIFE 40+ (rho = -0.24, p = 2E-5). Correlations between EEG vigilance and self
      rated sleep likelihood reached rho = -0.43 (p = 2E-91) in LIFE 60+ and rho = 
      0.50 (p = 5E-20) in LIFE 40+. Overall, strongest correlations were obtained for
      EEG vigilance variable "slope index." Furthermore, lower EEG vigilance was
      consistently associated with longer heart periods. Conclusions: The present study
      contributes to the validation of VIGALL. Despite the considerable interval
      between ESS and EEG assessment dates, the strength of ESS-VIGALL association
      approximates prior ESS-Multiple Sleep Latency Test results. In this light, VIGALL
      might constitute an economical choice for the objective assessment of daytime
      sleepiness in large cohort studies. The discriminative power to identify
      disorders of hypersomnolence, however, remains to be addressed.

PMID- 28605522
TI  - Seasonality and Temperature-Dependent Flight Dispersal of Triatoma infestans
      (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and Other Vectors of Chagas Disease in Western Argentina.
AB  - Flight dispersal of Triatominae is affected by climatic conditions and determines
      the spatiotemporal patterns of house invasion and transmission of Trypanosoma
      cruzi Chagas (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). We investigated the detailed
      time structure and temperature dependencies of flight occurrence of Triatoma
      infestans Klug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and other triatomine species in a rural
      village of western Argentina by taking advantage of the attraction of adult
      triatomines to artificial light sources. Most of the village's streetlight posts
      were systematically inspected for triatomines twice between sunset and midnight
      over 425 nights in the spring-summer seasons of 1999-2002, an unprecedented light
      trap sampling effort for any triatomine species. In total, 288 adults were
      captured, including 122 Triatoma guasayana Wygodzinsky and Abalos, 89 T.
      infestans, 72 Triatoma eratyrusiformis Del Ponte, and 5 Triatoma garciabesi
      Carcavallo et al. Adult sex ratios were balanced in T. infestans and strongly
      male-biased in other species. Nearly all flight-dispersing triatomines were
      caught when temperatures at sunset were >20  degrees C (range, 16.6-31.7  degrees
      C), suggesting a putative threshold around 17-18  degrees C. Triatomine catches
      were rare on rainy days. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the
      proportion of nights in which at least an adult T. infestans was caught increased
      highly significantly with increasing temperature at sunset and was modified by
      collection month, with greater catches in early spring and no sex differential.
      This study confirms that spring represents a previously overlooked, important
      dispersal period of T. infestans, and shows large variations among and within
      Triatominae in their temporal patterns of flight occurrence, abundance, and sex
      ratio.

PMID- 28605524
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of low voltage zones in the left atrium in patients
      with atrial fibrillation.
AB  - Aims: To describe the extent and distribution of low voltage zones (LVZ) in a
      large cohort of patients undergoing ablation for paroxysmal and persistent atrial
      fibrillation (AF), and to explore baseline predictors of LVZ in these patients.
      Methods and results: Consecutive patients who underwent a bipolar voltage map
      guided AF ablation, were enrolled. Voltage maps were conducted for each patient
      using 3-dimensional electroanatomical mapping system and LVZ were defined as
      areas of bipolar voltage < 0.5 mV. A total of 539 patients (309 male, age 65 +/-
      10 years) were included. Low voltage zones was present in 58 out of 292 patients
      with paroxysmal and 134 out of 247 persistent AF (P < 0.001). The area of LVZ was
      larger in patients with persistent as compare to paroxysmal AF, 5 cm2 (IQR 3
      18.6) vs. 12.1 cm2 (IQR 3.6-28.5), P = 0.026, respectively. In the multivariate
      analysis age (OR 1.07, 95%CI 1.05-1.10, P < 0.001), female gender (OR 2.18, 95%CI
      1.38-3.43, P = 0.001), sinoatrial node dysfunction (OR 3.90, 95%CI 1.24-12.21, P
      = 0.020), larger surface area of left atrium pr. cm2 (OR 1.01, 95%CI 1.00-1.02, P
      = 0.016), and persistent AF (OR 5.03, 95%CI 3.20-7.90, P<0.001) were associated
      with presence of LVZ. Conclusion: In a large cohort of patients undergoing
      ablation for AF, the prevalence of LVZ was higher and LVZ areas larger in
      patients with persistent as compared with paroxysmal AF. The most frequent
      localization of LVZ was anterior wall, septum and posterior wall. Presence of LVZ
      was associated with higher age, female gender, larger LA surface area, and
      sinoatrial node dysfunction.

PMID- 28605523
TI  - Retrotransposons are specified as DNA replication origins in the gene-poor
      regions of Arabidopsis heterochromatin.
AB  - Genomic stability depends on faithful genome replication. This is achieved by the
      concerted activity of thousands of DNA replication origins (ORIs) scattered
      throughout the genome. The DNA and chromatin features determining ORI
      specification are not presently known. We have generated a high-resolution genome
      wide map of 3230 ORIs in cultured Arabidopsis thaliana cells. Here, we focused on
      defining the features associated with ORIs in heterochromatin. In pericentromeric
      gene-poor domains ORIs associate almost exclusively with the retrotransposon
      class of transposable elements (TEs), in particular of the Gypsy family. ORI
      activity in retrotransposons occurs independently of TE expression and while
      maintaining high levels of H3K9me2 and H3K27me1, typical marks of repressed
      heterochromatin. ORI-TEs largely colocalize with chromatin signatures defining GC
      rich heterochromatin. Importantly, TEs with active ORIs contain a local GC
      content higher than the TEs lacking them. Our results lead us to conclude that
      ORI colocalization with retrotransposons is determined by their transposition
      mechanism based on transcription, and a specific chromatin landscape. Our
      detailed analysis of ORIs responsible for heterochromatin replication has
      implications on the mechanisms of ORI specification in other multicellular
      organisms in which retrotransposons are major components of heterochromatin and
      of the entire genome.

PMID- 28605525
TI  - Infectious Diseases Team for the Early Management of Severe Sepsis and Septic
      Shock in the Emergency Department.
AB  - Background: The impact on patient survival of an infectious disease (ID) team
      dedicated to the early management of severe sepsis/septic shock (SS/SS) in
      Emergency Department (ED) has yet to be assessed. Methods: A quasiexperimental
      pre-post study was performed at the general ED of our hospital. During the pre
      phase (June 2013-July 2014), all consecutive adult patients with SS/SS were
      managed according to the standard of care, data were prospectively collected.
      During the post phase (August 2014-October 2015), patients were managed in
      collaboration with a dedicated ID team performing a bedside patient evaluation
      within 1 hour of ED arrival. Results: Overall, 382 patients were included, 195 in
      the pre phase and 187 in the post phase. Median age was 82 years (interquartile
      range, 70-88). The most common infection sources were lung (43%) and urinary
      tract (17%); in 22% of cases, infection source remained unknown. During the post
      phase, overall compliance with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) bundle and
      appropriateness of initial antibiotic therapy improved from 4.6% to 32% (P <
      .001) and from 30% to 79% (P < .001), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed
      that predictors of all-cause 14-day mortality were quick sepsis-related organ
      failure assessment >=2 (hazard ratio [HR], 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.15-2.45; P = .007), serum lactate >=2 mmol/L (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.39-3.25; P <
      .001), and unknown infection source (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.42-3.02; P < .001);
      being attended during the post phase was a protective factor (HR, 0.64; 95% CI,
      0.43-0.94; P = .026). Conclusion: Implementation of an ID team for the early
      management of SS/SS in the ED improved the adherence to SSC recommendations and
      patient survival.

PMID- 28605526
TI  - Anti-NXP2 antibody-associated extensive subcutaneous calcinosis in adult-onset
      myositis.

PMID- 28605527
TI  - Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Motor Cortex on Visceral
      Pain in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is frequently associated with visceral
      pain. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been proven to reduce
      chronic pain; however, its effectiveness in malignant visceral pain is unknown.
      This study aimed to investigate the effects of tDCS in patients with visceral
      pain due to HCC. Design: This is a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind,
      prospective study. Forty patients with visceral pain due to HCC were enrolled and
      randomly assigned into two groups: a real and a sham group; tDCS was applied over
      the primary motor area (M1) for 10 consecutive days (2 mA, 30 minutes). Patient's
      pain was evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) and verbal descriptor scale (VDS)
      and for depression by Hamilton rating scale (HAM-D). Evaluation was done at
      prestimulation, after the first, fifth, and 10th sessions, and one month after
      the end of stimulation sessions. Results: Real tDCS showed a reduction of VDS (P
      = 0.001, F = 4.01) and VAS (P = 0.001, F = 6.817) for HAM-D (P = 0.012, F =
      5,077); the effect started from the fifth session and continued to one month
      after stimulation, while in the sham group the effect persisted for five days
      only. Percentage reduction in all scales in the real group after the 10th session
      was as follows: VDS P = 0.008, VAS P = 0.001, HAM-D = 0.001; for one month after
      the end of stimulation, it was as follows: VDS P = 0.001, VAS P = 0.037, HAM-D =
      0.002. Conclusions: tDCS proved to be an effective and clinically relevant
      therapeutic strategy for visceral pain due to HCC.

PMID- 28605528
TI  - Abnormal Resting-State Connectivity in a Substantia Nigra-Related Striato-Thalamo
      Cortical Network in a Large Sample of First-Episode Drug-Naive Patients With
      Schizophrenia.
AB  - Objective: The dopamine hypothesis is one of the most influential theories of the
      neurobiological background of schizophrenia (SCZ). However, direct evidence for
      abnormal dopamine-related subcortical-cortical circuitry disconnectivity is still
      lacking. The aim of this study was therefore to test dopamine-related substantia
      nigra (SN)-based striato-thalamo-cortical resting-state functional connectivity
      (FC) in SCZ. Method: Based on our a priori hypothesis, we analyzed a large sample
      resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset from first
      episode drug-naive SCZ patients (n = 112) and healthy controls (n = 82) using the
      SN as the seed region for an investigation of striato-thalamo-cortical FC. This
      was done in the standard band of slow frequency oscillations and then in its
      subfrequency bands (Slow4 and Slow5). Results: The analysis showed in SCZ: (1)
      reciprocal functional hypo-connectivity between SN and striatum, with
      differential patterns for Slow5 and Slow4; (2) functional hypo-connectivity
      between striatum and thalamus, as well as functional hyper-connectivity between
      thalamus and sensorimotor cortical areas, specifically in Slow4; (3) correlation
      of thalamo-sensorimotor functional hyper-connectivity with psychopathological
      symptoms. Conclusions: We demonstrate abnormal dopamine-related SN-based striato
      thalamo-cortical FC in slow frequency oscillations in first-episode drug-naive
      SCZ. This suggests that altered dopaminergic function in the SN leads to abnormal
      neuronal synchronization (as indexed by FC) within subcortical-cortical
      circuitry, complementing the dopamine hypothesis in SCZ on the regional level of
      resting-state activity.

PMID- 28605530
TI  - Transapical implantation of a transcatheter aortic valve prosthesis into a mitral
      annuloplasty ring guided by real-time three-dimensional cardiac computed
      tomography-fluoroscopy fusion imaging.

PMID- 28605531
TI  - The British Society for Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout.

PMID- 28605533
TI  - The Promise of Assistive Technology to Enhance Work Participation.

PMID- 28605529
TI  - The Genomic Impact of Gene Retrocopies: What Have We Learned from Comparative
      Genomics, Population Genomics, and Transcriptomic Analyses?
AB  - Gene duplication is a major driver of organismal evolution. Gene retroposition is
      a mechanism of gene duplication whereby a gene's transcript is used as a template
      to generate retroposed gene copies, or retrocopies. Intriguingly, the formation
      of retrocopies depends upon the enzymatic machinery encoded by retrotransposable
      elements, genomic parasites occurring in the majority of eukaryotes. Most
      retrocopies are depleted of the regulatory regions found upstream of their
      parental genes; therefore, they were initially considered transcriptionally
      incompetent gene copies, or retropseudogenes. However, examples of functional
      retrocopies, or retrogenes, have accumulated since the 1980s. Here, we review
      what we have learned about retrocopies in animals, plants and other eukaryotic
      organisms, with a particular emphasis on comparative and population genomic
      analyses complemented with transcriptomic datasets. In addition, these data have
      provided information about the dynamics of the different "life cycle" stages of
      retrocopies (i.e., polymorphic retrocopy number variants, fixed retropseudogenes
      and retrogenes) and have provided key insights into the retroduplication
      mechanisms, the patterns and evolutionary forces at work during the fixation
      process and the biological function of retrogenes. Functional genomic and
      transcriptomic data have also revealed that many retropseudogenes are
      transcriptionally active and a biological role has been experimentally determined
      for many. Finally, we have learned that not only non-long terminal repeat
      retroelements but also long terminal repeat retroelements play a role in the
      emergence of retrocopies across eukaryotes. This body of work has shown that mRNA
      mediated duplication represents a widespread phenomenon that produces an array of
      new genes that contribute to organismal diversity and adaptation.

PMID- 28605534
TI  - Selection on MHC in a Context of Historical Demographic Change in 2 Closely
      Distributed Species of Tuco-tucos (Ctenomys australis and C. talarum).
AB  - Selection necessarily acts within the same current and historical demographic
      framework as neutral evolutionary processes, and the outcome of the interplay
      between these forces may vary according to their relative strength. In this
      study, we compare the variation at a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus
      (DRB exon 2), typically subject to strong diversifying selection, and
      mitochondrial diversity (D-loop) across populations encompassing the entire
      distribution of 2 species of South American subterranean rodents: Ctenomys
      australis and C. talarum (tuco-tucos). Although these species are parapatric
      along most of their distribution, historically they have followed distinct
      demographic trajectories associated with sea level changes during the Quaternary.
      We surveyed 8 populations of C. australis and 15 of C. talarum, from which we
      analyzed 70 and 212 D-loop haplotypes and 91 and 346 DRB genotypes, respectively.
      Both species have gone through a recent demographic expansion; however, the
      signal of this process only encompasses the entire distribution of one of the
      species: C. australis. While balancing selection on MHC in C. talarum-enhanced
      DRB diversity at the local level compared to D-loop, although not promoting
      divergence among populations, in C. australis local diversifying selection may
      have driven higher population differentiation at DRB than at D-loop. Our findings
      reinforce the idea that the relative strength of selection acting on MHC genes
      varies spatially and temporally within and among species, even between species
      using the same macrohabitat and exposed to similar immune challenges.

PMID- 28605532
TI  - PET imaging in patients with meningioma-report of the RANO/PET Group.
AB  - Meningiomas are the most frequent nonglial primary brain tumors and represent
      about 30% of brain tumors. Usually, diagnosis and treatment planning are based on
      neuroimaging using mainly MRI or, rarely, CT. Most common treatment options are
      neurosurgical resection and radiotherapy (eg, radiosurgery, external fractionated
      radiotherapy). For follow-up after treatment, a structural imaging technique such
      as MRI or CT is used. However, these structural imaging modalities have
      limitations, particularly in terms of tumor delineation as well as diagnosis of
      posttherapeutic reactive changes. Molecular imaging techniques such as PET can
      characterize specific metabolic and cellular features which may provide
      clinically relevant information beyond that obtained from structural MR or CT
      imaging alone. Currently, the use of PET in meningioma patients is steadily
      increasing. In the present article, we provide recommendations for the use of PET
      imaging in the clinical management of meningiomas based on evidence generated
      from studies being validated by histology or clinical course.

PMID- 28605535
TI  - Muscle wasting in male TNF-alpha blocker naive ankylosing spondylitis patients: a
      comparison of gender differences in body composition.
AB  - Objective: To assess gender differences in body composition (BC) in a cohort of
      AS patients naive to TNF-alpha blockers. Methods: Patients included fulfilled the
      Modified New York criteria for AS. Demographic information and disease activity
      measures (ASDAS and BASDAI) were reported. BC was measured by whole body DXA.
      Body fat percentage (BF%), fat mass index (FMI), fat free mass index (FFMI) and
      android/gynoid fat ratio were reported and compared between men and women and
      with the reference population (percentiles). Results: Seventy consecutive
      patients were included; 60% were men. Demographic variables were similar, except
      for dyslipidaemia (57.1% of men; 14.3% of women). Women had significantly more
      fat (BF%, FMI), and less muscle (FFMI) than men, but below the median of the
      reference population. Male AS patients had a markedly low FFMI (31.7th
      percentile) compared with the reference population. In the whole group, after
      multivariate analysis, an ASDAS CRP >3.5 was related to lower fat free mass
      content. In men, a significant relationship between having a high disease
      activity (ASDAS, BASDAI) and lower BF% or FMI percentile was found, but in women
      it was the opposite. Conclusion: Muscle wasting, measured as low FFMI compared
      with the reference population, was found in male TNF-alpha blocker naive AS
      patients, especially in those with active disease. Women had higher volumes of
      body fat than men, but near the median of the reference population. The
      relationships between fat content and disease activity support the complex
      association between adipose tissue and inflammation.

PMID- 28605536
TI  - Quick change: post-transcriptional regulation in Pseudomonas.
AB  - Pseudomonas species have evolved dynamic and intricate regulatory networks to
      fine-tune gene expression, with complex regulation occurring at every stage in
      the processing of genetic information. This approach enables Pseudomonas to
      generate precise individual responses to the environment in order to improve
      their fitness and resource economy. The weak correlations we observe between RNA
      and protein abundance highlight the significant regulatory contribution of a
      series of intersecting post-transcriptional pathways, influencing mRNA stability,
      translational activity and ribosome function, to Pseudomonas environmental
      responses. This review examines our current understanding of three major post
      transcriptional regulatory systems in Pseudomonas spp.; Gac/Rsm, Hfq and RimK,
      and presents an overview of new research frontiers, emerging genome-wide
      methodologies, and their potential for the study of global regulatory responses
      in Pseudomonas.

PMID- 28605538
TI  - Reliability of axillary artery cannulation.

PMID- 28605537
TI  - Aggressive Behavior Among Persons With Schizophrenia and Those Who Are Developing
      Schizophrenia: Attempting to Understand the Limited Evidence on Causality.
AB  - People with, and those who are developing, schizophrenia are at increased risk to
      engage in aggressive behavior (AGB). Some incidents lead to criminal prosecution.
      Most people with schizophrenia who commit crimes engage in delinquency and/or AGB
      prior to first episode. A large proportion of these individuals have a history of
      childhood conduct disorder (CD) and brain abnormalities suggestive of abnormal
      neural development distinctive from that of others with schizophrenia. Factors
      contributing to schizophrenia that is preceded by CD include failing to learn not
      to-behave aggressively in early childhood, impairments in understanding emotions
      in the faces of others, maltreatment, and subsequent re-victimization. Others
      with no history of antisocial behavior begin engaging in AGB as positive symptoms
      increase and illness onsets. They too are at elevated risk to be victimized.
      Specific genetic variants linked to stress regulation in combination with
      adversity have been associated both with AGB and psychotic symptoms. Effectively
      treating conduct problems and preventing victimization would reduce AGB by
      persons with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28605539
TI  - runBNG: a software package for BioNano genomic analysis on the command line.
AB  - Summary: We developed runBNG, an open-source software package which wraps BioNano
      genomic analysis tools into a single script that can be run on the command line.
      runBNG can complete analyses, including quality control of single molecule maps,
      optical map de novo assembly, comparisons between different optical maps, super
      scaffolding and structural variation detection. Compared to existing software
      BioNano IrysView and the KSU scripts, the major advantages of runBNG are that the
      whole pipeline runs on one single platform and it has a high customizability.
      Availability and implementation: runBNG is written in bash, with the requirement
      of BioNano IrysSolve packages, GCC, Perl and Python software. It is freely
      available at https://github.com/appliedbioinformatics/runBNG. Contact:
      dave.edwards@uwa.edu.au. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 28605540
TI  - Quality Improvement in Nursing Homes: Alignment Among Leaders Across the
      Organizational Chart.
AB  - Background and Objectives: This article describes nursing home (NH) leaders'
      involvement in quality improvement (QI) decisions, with an emphasis on the
      concept of alignment in QI decisions across leaders. Research Design and Methods:
      We used a qualitative approach and semistructured interviews to collect data from
      a convenience sample of 39 NH leaders, including corporate/executive-level
      leaders and facility-level leaders. Thematic analysis was used to inductively
      capture key patterns in data. Results: Variations in alignment emerged as a major
      theme to describe the interface and interaction among facility- and
      corporate/executive-level leaders around QI decision making and implementation of
      QI decisions. For this study, alignment refers to the extent of shared
      understanding, beliefs, motivations, and implied or explicit agreement among
      leaders in regards to: (a) goals, values, priorities, and expectations for
      quality or QI (and/or applicable resources); and (b) expectations for leaders to
      carry out QI decisions made by other leaders. Discussion and Implications: This
      study offers new insights into the complexities associated with leadership
      alignment toward improving NH quality. The findings provide a glimpse into
      leaders' involvement in QI based on their position on the facility's
      organizational chart and extend our understanding of the centrality of the
      concept of alignment in promoting QI. These findings may inform future research
      on facility- and corporate/executive-level leader interactions and how these
      interactions impact quality outcomes.

PMID- 28605541
TI  - An Essential Component of Integrated Health Care.

PMID- 28605542
TI  - Alternative Measures of Hyperglycemia and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease in the
      Community: The Hisayama Study.
AB  - Context and Objective: We investigated the associations of hemoglobin A1c
      (HbA1c), glycated albumin (GA), GA/HbA1c ratio, and 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG)
      with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Design and Participants: A
      total of 1187 community-dwelling Japanese subjects aged >=65 years without
      dementia were followed up for an average of 4.8 years. Results: The age- and sex
      adjusted incidence of AD increased significantly with higher quartiles of
      GA/HbA1c ratio, and a similar tendency was seen for GA, whereas no such
      association was observed for HbA1c and 1,5-AG. After adjusting for potential
      confounding factors, positive association of GA/HbA1c ratio with the risk of AD
      remained significant: the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was
      significantly higher in the third [HR = 2.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.16
      to 3.82] and fourth (HR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.09 to 3.68) quartile than in the first
      quartile. Among subjects with normal glucose tolerance, those with high GA/HbA1c
      ratio had a higher risk of AD than those with low GA/HbA1c ratio (HR = 1.82, 95%
      CI = 1.05 to 3.16), and a similar tendency was found in those with glucose
      intolerance (HR = 1.73, 95% CI = 0.96 to 3.13). No such associations were
      observed for HbA1c, GA, and 1,5-AG, regardless of glucose tolerance status.
      Conclusions: Our findings suggest that elevated GA/HbA1c ratio-but not HbA1c, GA,
      or 1,5-AG level-is significantly associated with the risk of AD in subjects both
      with and without glucose intolerance. GA/HbA1c ratio may be a useful biomarker
      for predicting incident AD.

PMID- 28605543
TI  - Dual action of bacteriocin PLNC8 alphabeta through inhibition of Porphyromonas
      gingivalis infection and promotion of cell proliferation.
AB  - Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is characterised by
      accumulation of pathogenic bacteria, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, in
      periodontal pockets. The lack of effective treatments has emphasised in an
      intense search for alternative methods to prevent bacterial colonisation and
      disease progression. Bacteriocins are bacterially produced antimicrobial peptides
      gaining increased consideration as alternatives to traditional antibiotics. We
      show rapid permeabilisation and aggregation of P. gingivalis by the two-peptide
      bacteriocin PLNC8 alphabeta. In a cell culture model, P. gingivalis was cytotoxic
      against gingival fibroblasts. The proteome profile of fibroblasts is severely
      affected by P. gingivalis, including induction of the ubiquitin-proteasome
      pathway. PLNC8 alphabeta enhanced the expression of growth factors and promoted
      cell proliferation, and suppressed proteins associated with apoptosis. PLNC8
      alphabeta efficiently counteracted P. gingivalis-mediated cytotoxicity, increased
      expression of a large number of proteins and restored the levels of inflammatory
      mediators. In conclusion, we show that bacteriocin PLNC8 alphabeta displays dual
      effects by acting as a potent antimicrobial agent killing P. gingivalis and as a
      stimulatory factor promoting cell proliferation. We suggest preventive and
      therapeutical applications of PLNC8 alphabeta in periodontitis to supplement the
      host immune defence against P. gingivalis infection and support wound healing
      processes.

PMID- 28605544
TI  - Functional Analysis Reveals Geographical Variation in Inhibitory Immune Responses
      Against a Polymorphic Malaria Antigen.
AB  - Background: Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte-binding protein homologue 2b
      (PfRh2b) is an invasion ligand that is a potential blood-stage vaccine candidate
      antigen; however, a naturally occurring deletion within an immunogenic domain is
      present at high frequencies in Africa and has been associated with alternative
      invasion pathway usage. Standardized tools that provide antigenic specificity in
      in vitro assays are needed to functionally assess the neutralizing potential of
      humoral responses against malaria vaccine candidate antigens. Methods: Transgenic
      parasite lines were generated to express the PfRh2b deletion. Total
      immunoglobulin G (IgG) from individuals residing in malaria-endemic regions in
      Tanzania, Senegal, and Mali were used in growth inhibition assays with transgenic
      parasite lines. Results: While the PfRh2b deletion transgenic line showed no
      change in invasion pathway utilization compared to the wild-type in the absence
      of specific antibodies, it outgrew wild-type controls in competitive growth
      experiments. Inhibition differences with total IgG were observed in the different
      endemic sites, ranging from allele-specific inhibition to allele-independent
      inhibitory immune responses. Conclusions: The PfRh2b deletion may allow the
      parasite to escape neutralizing antibody responses in some regions. This
      difference in geographical inhibition was revealed using transgenic
      methodologies, which provide valuable tools for functionally assessing
      neutralizing antibodies against vaccine-candidate antigens in regions with
      varying malaria endemicity.

PMID- 28605547
TI  - Biological Traits of Cadra cautella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Reared on Khodari
      Date Fruits Under Different Temperature Regimes.
AB  - The almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a serious
      worldwide pest of dates and other crops, both in the field and in storage.
      Infestation by this pest significantly limits the sale and export of dates.
      Modified atmospheres, the temperature manipulations, are the best eco-friendly
      alternatives in stored product protection. We examined temperature regulation as
      an ecologically friendly method of pest management in stored food commodities, in
      particular, its effects on characteristics of C. cautella biology, including
      development time, oviposition period, fecundity, fertility, and longevity of
      adults reared on date cultivar 'Khodari,' at temperatures of 15, 25, and 35 +/- 1
      degrees C, with 65 +/- 5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 15:9 (L:D) h.
      Six larval instars were recorded at each temperature. Larval development was
      sluggish at 15  degrees C; therefore, daily observations were terminated after
      180 d of the larval span for this temperature. Total larval spans of 48.95 +/-
      0.76 and 32.12 +/- 1.08 d were recorded at 25  degrees C and 35  degrees C,
      respectively. A mean ovipositional period of 5.80 +/- 0.44 d yielding 213.60 +/-
      13.41 eggs per female, with hatchability of 85.94 +/- 2.97%, was recorded at 25 
      degrees C, whereas at 35  degrees C, a mean ovipositional period of 1.60 +/- 0.26
      d yielded 19.80 +/- 5.11 eggs per female, with no hatchability. These differences
      were highly significant. Our observations of poor development at 15  degrees C,
      lower numbers of eggs and absence of hatchability at 35  degrees C, together with
      head capsule measurements and growth ratios, can be of benefit when planning
      management strategies to reduce C. cautella infestation.

PMID- 28605545
TI  - Atypical Forms of Congenital Hyperinsulinism in Infancy Are Associated With
      Mosaic Patterns of Immature Islet Cells.
AB  - Objectives: We aimed to characterize mosaic populations of pancreatic islet cells
      from patients with atypical congenital hyperinsulinism in infancy (CHI-A) and the
      expression profile of NKX2.2, a key transcription factor expressed in beta-cells
      but suppressed in delta-cells in the mature pancreas. Patients/Methods: Tissue
      was isolated from three patients with CHI-A following subtotal pancreatectomy.
      CHI-A was diagnosed on the basis of islet mosaicism and the absence of
      histopathological hallmarks of focal and diffuse CHI (CHI-D).
      Immunohistochemistry was used to identify and quantify the proportions of insulin
      secreting beta-cells and somatostatin-secreting delta-cells in atypical islets,
      and results were compared with CHI-D (n = 3) and age-matched control tissues (n =
      3). Results: In CHI-A tissue, islets had a heterogeneous profile. In
      resting/quiescent islets, identified by a condensed cytoplasm and nuclear
      crowding, beta-cells were reduced to <50% of the total cell numbers in n = 65/70
      islets, whereas delta-cell numbers were increased with 85% of islets (n = 49/57)
      containing >20% delta-cells. In comparison, all islets in control tissue (n = 72)
      and 99% of CHI-D islets (n = 72) were composed of >50% beta-cells, and >20% delta
      cells were found only in 12% of CHI-D (n = 8/66) and 5% of control islets (n =
      3/60). Active islets in CHI-A tissue contained proportions of beta-cells and
      delta-cells similar to those of control and CHI-D islets. Finally, when compared
      with active islets, quiescent islets had a twofold higher prevalence of
      somatostatin/NKX2.2+ coexpressed cells. Conclusions: Marked increases in NKX2.2
      expression combined with increased numbers of delta-cells strongly imply that an
      immature delta-cell profile contributed to the pathobiology of CHI-A.

PMID- 28605546
TI  - Plasticity-Related Gene Expression During Eszopiclone-Induced Sleep.
AB  - Study Objectives: Experimental evidence suggests that restorative processes
      depend on synaptic plasticity changes in the brain during sleep. We used the
      expression of plasticity-related genes to assess synaptic plasticity changes
      during drug-induced sleep. Methods: We first characterized sleep induced by
      eszopiclone in mice during baseline conditions and during the recovery from sleep
      deprivation. We then compared the expression of 18 genes and two miRNAs
      critically involved in synaptic plasticity in these mice. Gene expression was
      assessed in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus by the TaqMan reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction and correlated with sleep parameters.
      Results: Eszopiclone reduced the latency to nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep
      and increased NREM sleep amounts. Eszopiclone had no effect on slow wave activity
      (SWA) during baseline conditions but reduced the SWA increase during recovery
      sleep (RS) after sleep deprivation. Gene expression analyses revealed three
      distinct patterns: (1) four genes had higher expression either in the cortex or
      hippocampus in the group of mice with increased amounts of wakefulness; (2) a
      large proportion of plasticity-related genes (7 out of 18 genes) had higher
      expression during RS in the cortex but not in the hippocampus; and (3) six genes
      and the two miRNAs showed no significant changes across conditions. Even at a
      relatively high dose (20 mg/kg), eszopiclone did not reduce the expression of
      plasticity-related genes during RS period in the cortex. Conclusions: These
      results indicate that gene expression associated with synaptic plasticity occurs
      in the cortex in the presence of a hypnotic medication.

PMID- 28605548
TI  - Early- and mid-term aortic remodelling after the frozen elephant trunk technique
      for retrograde type A acute aortic dissection using the new Japanese J Graft open
      stent graft.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We previously performed the frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique for
      acute type A aortic dissection to try to improve the long-term prognosis. In this
      study, we report the mid-term results of the FET technique for treating
      retrograde type A acute aortic dissection using a new device, the J Graft open
      stent graft (JOSG). METHODS: Between January 2008 and December 2015, 24 patients
      (mean age: 59.3 +/- 13.9 years) underwent total arch replacement with the FET
      technique using the JOSG for retrograde type A acute aortic dissection. All
      patients had at least 1 year of follow-up imaging. RESULTS: The average outer
      diameter of the JOSG was 28 +/- 2.8 mm (range: 25-35 mm). The average position of
      the distal edge of the JOSG was Th 6.6 +/- 1.1. The cumulative survival rate at 1
      year was 91.6%. Postoperative computed tomography 1 year after surgery showed
      that complete thrombosis was present in all patients at the level of the distal
      edge of the stent graft and the aortic valve. At the diaphragmatic level,
      complete thrombosis was seen in 14 (70%) patients, the false lumen was patent in
      most patients (90%) at the superior mesenteric artery level. CONCLUSIONS: The use
      of the FET technique with the JOSG for retrograde type A acute aortic dissection
      provides good outcomes. With the proper use of the JOSG, it is possible to expand
      the true lumen and eliminate antegrade false-lumen flow, resulting in good aortic
      remodelling. Furthermore, there should be obliteration of the false lumen from
      the stent graft to the aortic valve, and this might reduce long-term
      complications.

PMID- 28605549
TI  - Socio-Ecological Mechanisms Supporting High Densities of Aedes albopictus
      (Diptera: Culicidae) in Baltimore, MD.
AB  - Social, ecological, and climatic factors interact creating a heterogeneous matrix
      that determines the spatiotemporal distribution of mosquitoes and human risks of
      exposure to the diseases they transmit. We explore linkages between the social
      and institutional processes behind residential abandonment, urban ecology, and
      the interactions of socio-ecological processes with abiotic drivers of mosquito
      production. Specifically, we test the relative roles of infrastructure
      degradation and vegetation for explaining the presence of Aedes albopictus Skuse
      1894 to better predict spatial heterogeneity in mosquito exposure risk within
      urban environments. We further examine how precipitation interacts with these
      socially underpinned biophysical variables. We use a hierarchical statistical
      modeling approach to assess how environmental and climatic conditions over 3
      years influence mosquito ecology across a socioeconomic gradient in Baltimore,
      MD. We show that decaying infrastructure and vegetation are important
      determinants of Ae. albopictus infestation. We demonstrate that both
      precipitation and vegetation influence mosquito production in ways that are
      mediated by the level of infrastructural decay on a given block. Mosquitoes were
      more common on blocks with greater abandonment, but when precipitation was low,
      mosquitoes were more likely to be found in higher-income neighborhoods with
      managed container habitat. Likewise, although increased vegetation was a negative
      predictor of mosquito infestation, more vegetation on blocks with high
      abandonment was associated with the largest mosquito populations. These findings
      indicate that fine spatial scale modeling of mosquito habitat within urban areas
      is needed to more accurately target vector control.

PMID- 28605551
TI  - ABC/2 Method Does not Accurately Predict Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation
      Volume.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a treatment option for cerebral
      arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) to prevent intracranial hemorrhage. The
      decision to proceed with SRS is usually based on calculated nidal volume.
      Physicians commonly use the ABC/2 formula, based on digital subtraction
      angiography (DSA), when counseling patients for SRS. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      whether AVM volume calculated using the ABC/2 method on DSA is accurate when
      compared to the exact volume calculated from thin-cut axial sections used for SRS
      planning. METHODS: Retrospective search of neurovascular database to identify
      AVMs treated with SRS from 1995 to 2015. Maximum nidal diameters in orthogonal
      planes on DSA images were recorded to determine volume using ABC/2 formula. Nidal
      target volume was extracted from operative reports of SRS. Volumes were then
      compared using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. RESULTS: Ninety
      intracranial AVMs were identified. Median volume was 4.96 cm3 [interquartile
      range (IQR) 1.79-8.85] with SRS planning methods and 6.07 cm3 (IQR 1.3-13.6) with
      ABC/2 methodology. Moderate correlation was seen between SRS and ABC/2 (r =
      0.662; P < .001). Paired sample t-tests revealed significant differences between
      SRS volume and ABC/2 (t = -3.2; P = .002). When AVMs were dichotomized based on
      ABC/2 volume, significant differences remained (t = 3.1, P = .003 for ABC/2
      volume < 7 cm3; t = -4.4, P < .001 for ABC/2 volume > 7 cm3). CONCLUSION: The
      ABC/2 method overestimates cerebral AVM volume when compared to volumetric
      analysis from SRS planning software. For AVMs > 7 cm3, the overestimation is even
      greater. SRS planning techniques were also significantly different than values
      derived from equations for cones and cylinders.

PMID- 28605550
TI  - Effect of selenium supplementation on pigeon reproductive performance, selenium
      concentration and antioxidant status.
AB  - The effects of dietary supplementation of sodium selenite (SS) on the
      reproductive performance and the concentration of selenium, glutathione
      peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were
      determined, and expression of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4) and bone
      morphogenic protein 15 (BMP15) was evaluated. Paired pigeons (n = 864) were fed:
      T1 received no SS, while T2, T3, and T4 received 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg of SS/kg of
      dry matter (DM), respectively. Treatments were performed in triplicate with 72
      pairs in each replicate. The results showed that selenium supplementation
      significantly affected pigeon reproductive performance. Birds fed 1.0 mg of SS/kg
      displayed higher egg production (P > 0.05), higher birth rate, and lower dead
      sperm rate than the control group (P < 0.05). Selenium and biochemical analyses
      revealed a higher selenium concentration in the 1.5 mg of SS/kg group than in the
      control group (P < 0.05), while GSH-Px was higher in the 0.5 mg of SS/kg group
      than in the control group (P < 0.05). Neither the MDA nor the SOD content were
      affected significantly in liver, chest muscle, or leg muscle (P > 0.05); however,
      in plasma, MDA was lower in the control group (P < 0.05), while SOD was higher in
      the control group (P < 0.05). qRT-PCR results revealed up-regulation of GPx4 in
      hypothalamus, pituitary and testis tissues in supplemented groups (P < 0.05).
      However, expression in ovary differed; GPx4 mRNA levels were lower in the 1.5 mg
      of SS/kg and control groups than in the 1.0 or 0.5 mg of SS/kg groups (P < 0.05).
      Expression of BMP15 in the hypothalamus, pituitary, and testis tissues was
      unaffected (P > 0.05), while in ovary, BMP15 was down-regulated in the 1.5 mg of
      SS/kg group (P < 0.05). These results suggest pigeons supplemented with SS up
      regulated GPx4, 1.0 mg of SS/kg exhibited superior reproductive performance,
      while 1.5 mg of SS/kg increased the selenium concentration, and 0.5 mg of SS/kg
      up-regulated GSH-Px activity.

PMID- 28605552
TI  - Impact of Discharge Disposition on 30-Day Readmissions Following Elective Spine
      Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Readmissions are a significant economic burden on the health care
      system and increasingly being utilized as a metric of quality. Patients
      discharged to home vs an inpatient facility have different characteristics, which
      might influence the readmissions following spine surgery. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      the effect of discharge disposition on readmission rates and causes of
      readmission after spine surgery. METHODS: Patients enrolled in a prospective
      registry and undergoing elective spine surgery were analyzed. Readmissions (30
      d), demographic, clinical variables, and baseline patient-reported outcomes were
      recorded. Patients were dichotomized as discharged home vs inpatient facility.
      RESULTS: Of total 1631 patients, 1444 (89%) patients were discharged home and 187
      (11%) discharged to an inpatient facility. Sixty-five (4%) patients were
      readmitted at 30 d. There was no significant difference in readmissions between
      patients discharged to a facility 10 (5%) vs home 55 (4%; P = .210). In a
      multivariable analysis, adjusting for all the comorbidities, the discharge
      destination was not associated with readmission within 30 d. The medical
      complications (80%) were the most common cause of readmission in those discharged
      to a facility. Patients discharged home had significantly higher readmissions
      related to surgical wound issues (67%; P = .034). CONCLUSION: Despite the older
      age and higher comorbidities in patients discharged to an inpatient facility, the
      proportion of readmissions was comparable to those discharged home. Patients
      discharged home had a higher proportion of readmissions related to surgical wound
      complications and those discharged to facility had higher readmissions associated
      with medical complications. Understanding causes of readmission based on
      discharge destination may allow targeted intervention to reduce the readmission
      rates following spine surgery.

PMID- 28605553
TI  - Pyruvate Kinase and Fcgamma Receptor Gene Copy Numbers Associated With Malaria
      Phenotypes.
AB  - Genetic factors are associated with susceptibility to many infectious diseases
      and may be determinants of clinical progression. Gene copy number variation (CNV)
      has been shown to be associated with phenotypes of numerous diseases, including
      malaria. We quantified gene copy numbers of the pyruvate kinase, liver, and red
      blood cell (PKLR) gene as well as of the Fcgamma receptor 2A and Fcgamma receptor
      2C (FCGR2A, FCGR2C) and Fcgamma receptor 3 (FCGR3) genes using real-time
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays in Gabonese children with
      severe (n = 184) or and mild (n = 189) malaria and in healthy Gabonese and white
      individuals (n = 76 each). The means of PKLR, FCGR2A, FCGR2C, and FCGR3 copy
      numbers were significantly higher among children with severe malaria compared to
      those with mild malaria (P < .002), indicating that a surplus of copies of those
      genes is significantly associated with malaria severity. Copy numbers of the
      FCGR2A and FCGR2C genes were significantly lower (P = .005) in Gabonese
      individuals compared with white individuals. In conclusion, CNV of the PKLR,
      FCGR2A, FCGR2C, and FCGR3 genes is associated with malaria severity, and our
      results provide evidence for a role of CNV in host responses to malaria.

PMID- 28605554
TI  - Religious Heterogamy and Partnership Quality in Later Life.
AB  - Objectives: Prior research points to the importance of couple-level religious
      similarity for multiple dimensions of partnership quality and stability but few
      studies have investigated whether this association holds for older couples.
      Method: The current article uses dyadic data from the National Social Life,
      Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a representative sample of 953 individuals age
      62-91 plus their marital or cohabiting partners. We use modified actor-partner
      interdependence models. Results: Religious service heterogamy predicted lower
      relationship happiness and satisfaction. Both associations were partially
      explained by the fact that religiously dissimilar partners report relatively
      little free time in joint activity. Further, religiously heterogamous couples had
      less frequent sex and engaged in less nonsexual touch than their more similar
      counterparts. Conclusions: Taken together, results attest to the ongoing
      importance of religious similarity-service attendance, in particular-for
      partnership quality in late life. Future research is needed to more fully examine
      which mechanisms account for these patterns.

PMID- 28605555
TI  - Operationalizing Multidisciplinary Assessment and Treatment as a Quality Metric
      for Interventional Pain Practices.
AB  - Objective: Quality improvement (QI) is an underutilized approach among pain
      medicine specialists to improve comprehensive pain assessment and the delivery of
      multimodal pain care. We report the results of a QI program that utilized peer
      review and financial incentives to improve these processes in interventional pain
      clinics. Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Eight academic and
      community-based practices that included separate hospital-based and non-hospital
      based interventional pain clinics. Subjects: Results of chart audits by nine
      academic pain medicine physicians. Methods: An audit of a random sample of each
      pain physician's charts was periodically examined for mention and discussion of
      specific components of multidisciplinary pain care. A portion of the physician's
      incentive payment was withheld if less than 70% of charts were compliant. The
      rates of compliance after the intervention for the group were compared. Results:
      Before this program was instituted, an audit of 10 patient charts from each of
      the nine pain medicine physicians revealed only a 13% baseline rate of
      compliance. After the audit system was implemented, 90% of all patient charts
      were compliant during the first 12-month period (P < 0.01 for the change in rate
      of compliance). Conclusions: The results of this QI project suggest that pain
      clinics can make this value-based transition and offer high-quality
      multidisciplinary assessment and treatment, with good compliance among a group of
      physicians in primarily intervention-based practices.

PMID- 28605556
TI  - Family-specific scaling laws in bacterial genomes.
AB  - Among several quantitative invariants found in evolutionary genomics, one of the
      most striking is the scaling of the overall abundance of proteins, or protein
      domains, sharing a specific functional annotation across genomes of given size.
      The size of these functional categories change, on average, as power-laws in the
      total number of protein-coding genes. Here, we show that such regularities are
      not restricted to the overall behavior of high-level functional categories, but
      also exist systematically at the level of single evolutionary families of protein
      domains. Specifically, the number of proteins within each family follows family
      specific scaling laws with genome size. Functionally similar sets of families
      tend to follow similar scaling laws, but this is not always the case. To
      understand this systematically, we provide a comprehensive classification of
      families based on their scaling properties. Additionally, we develop a
      quantitative score for the heterogeneity of the scaling of families belonging to
      a given category or predefined group. Under the common reasonable assumption that
      selection is driven solely or mainly by biological function, these findings point
      to fine-tuned and interdependent functional roles of specific protein domains,
      beyond our current functional annotations. This analysis provides a deeper view
      on the links between evolutionary expansion of protein families and the
      functional constraints shaping the gene repertoire of bacterial genomes.

PMID- 28605557
TI  - Practice Patterns for Neurosurgical Utilization and Outcome in Acute
      Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral
      Hemorrhage Trials 1 and 2 Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognosis in acute spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is
      related to hematoma volume, where >30 mL is commonly used to define large ICH as
      a threshold for neurosurgical decompression but without clear supporting
      evidence. OBJECTIVES: To determine the factors associated with large ICH and
      neurosurgical intervention among participants of the Intensive Blood Pressure
      Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trials (INTERACT). METHODS: We performed
      pooled analysis of the pilot INTERACT1 (n = 404) and main INTERACT2 (n = 2839)
      studies of ICH patients (<6 h of onset) with elevated systolic blood pressure
      (SBP, 150-220 mm Hg) who were randomized to intensive (target SBP < 140 mm Hg) or
      contemporaneous guideline-recommended (target SBP < 180 mm Hg) management.
      Neurosurgical intervention data were collected at 7 d postrandomization.
      Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine associations. RESULTS:
      There were 372 (13%) patients with large ICH volume (>30 mL), which was
      associated with nonresiding in China, nondiabetic status, severe neurological
      deficit (National Institutes of Health stroke scale [NIHSS] score >= 15), lobar
      location, intraventricular hemorrhage extension, raised leucocyte count, and
      hyponatremia. Significant predictors of those patients who underwent surgery (226
      of 3233 patients overall; 83 of 372 patients with large ICH) were younger age,
      severe neurological deficit (lower Glasgow coma scale score, and NIHSS score >=
      15), baseline ICH volume > 30 mL, and intraventricular hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS:
      Early identification of severe ICH, based on age and clinical and imaging
      parameters, may facilitate neurosurgery and intensive monitoring of patients.

PMID- 28605558
TI  - Overcoming Ignorance and Ineptitude in 21st Century Rehabilitation.

PMID- 28605559
TI  - Evisceration following Abdominal Scarification in Neonates.
AB  - Invasive traditional practices which are frequently harmful are common in the
      care of children including neonates in developing countries. We report two cases
      of evisceration of intra-abdominal viscera in two neonates subjected to abdominal
      scarification with razor blades following febrile illnesses. The greater omentum
      and a loop of jejunum, respectively, were eviscerated. Both were successfully
      managed and discharged home. Consent was obtained from the parents for the use of
      the photos. These cases highlight the dangers of invasive traditional practices
      on neonates and the urgent need for enlightenment campaigns as well as enactment
      of policies to help protect these children in developing countries.

PMID- 28605560
TI  - Effects of dietary energy and lysine levels on growth performance and carcass
      yields of Pekin ducks from hatch to 21 days of age.
AB  - A 2 * 6 factorial experiment, using 2 dietary apparent metabolizable energy (AME)
      levels (2,750 and 3,050 Kcal/kg) and 6 supplemental lysine (Lys) levels (0, 0.10,
      0.20, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.50%), was conducted to study the effects of dietary
      energy and lysine levels on growth performance and carcass yields of Pekin ducks
      from hatch to 21 d of age. A total of 576 one-day-old male White Pekin ducks was
      randomly allotted to 12 dietary treatments, each containing 6 replicate pens with
      8 birds per pen. At 21 d of age, body weight gain, feed intake, and feed/gain
      were measured, and then 2 ducks selected randomly from each pen were slaughtered
      to evaluate the yields of abdominal fat, breast meat, and leg meat. As a result,
      birds that were fed basal diets with no Lys supplementation showed growth
      depression, and significant positive effects of dietary Lys supplementation on
      body weight gain (P < 0.001), feed intake (P < 0.001), and feed/gain (P = 0.002)
      were observed as dietary Lys increased gradually among all the groups. In
      addition, increasing energy levels did not affect overall body weight gain (P >
      0.05), but feed intake (P = 0.001) and feed/gain (P = 0.009) decreased
      significantly between the groups. Dietary Lys levels influenced the yields of
      breast (P < 0.001) and leg (P = 0.001) meat among all the groups, but dietary
      energy levels had a significant positive effect only on abdominal fat yield (P =
      0.014). The interaction between dietary energy and Lys influenced body weight
      gain of ducks significantly (P = 0.004). According to the broken-line regression
      analysis, Lys requirements of Pekin ducks for weight gain at 2,750 and 3,050 Kcal
      of AME/kg were 0.94 and 0.98%, respectively. It suggested that Lys requirement
      was higher at 3,050 Kcal of AME/kg than at 2,750 Kcal of AME/kg. Dietary energy
      content determined feed intake of the ducks, and high-energy diets will require a
      higher amino acid concentration to compensate for a lower feed intake.

PMID- 28605561
TI  - Comment on: Decreased platelet size is associated with platelet activation and
      anti-phospholipid syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus.

PMID- 28605563
TI  - The contribution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence factors and host factors in
      the establishment of urinary tract infections.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause complicated urinary tract infections,
      particularly in people with catheters, which can lead to pyelonephritis. Whilst
      some subgroups appear more susceptible to infection, such as the elderly and
      women, the contribution of other host factors and bacterial virulence factors to
      successful infection remains relatively understudied. In this review, we explore
      the potential role of P. aeruginosa virulence factors including phenazines,
      quorum sensing, biofilm formation and siderophores along with host factors such
      as Tamm-Horsfall protein, osmotic stress and iron specifically on establishment
      of successful infection in the urinary niche. P. aeruginosa urinary tract
      infections are highly antibiotic resistant and require costly and intensive
      treatment. By understanding the infection dynamics of this organism within this
      specific niche, we may be able to identify novel therapeutic strategies to
      enhance the use of existing antibiotics.

PMID- 28605562
TI  - Microorganisms Associated With Pneumonia in Children <5 Years of Age in
      Developing and Emerging Countries: The GABRIEL Pneumonia Multicenter,
      Prospective, Case-Control Study.
AB  - Background: Pneumonia, the leading infectious cause of child mortality globally,
      mainly afflicts developing countries. This prospective observational study aimed
      to assess the microorganisms associated with pneumonia in children aged <5 years
      in developing and emerging countries. Methods: A multicenter, case-control study
      by the GABRIEL (Global Approach to Biological Research, Infectious diseases and
      Epidemics in Low-income countries) network was conducted between 2010 and 2014 in
      Cambodia, China, Haiti, India (2 sites), Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, and
      Paraguay. Cases were hospitalized children with radiologically confirmed
      pneumonia; controls were children from the same setting without any features
      suggestive of pneumonia. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from all subjects;
      19 viruses and 5 bacteria were identified by reverse-transcription polymerase
      chain reaction. Associations between microorganisms and pneumonia were quantified
      by calculating the adjusted population attributable fraction (aPAF) after
      multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for sex, age, time period,
      other pathogens, and site. Results: Overall, 888 cases and 870 controls were
      analyzed; >=1 microorganism was detected in respiratory samples in 93.0% of cases
      and 74.4% of controls (P < .001). Streptococcus pneumoniae, Mycoplasma
      pneumoniae, human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),
      parainfluenza virus 1, 3, and 4, and influenza virus A and B were independently
      associated with pneumonia; aPAF was 42.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 35.5%
      48.2%) for S. pneumoniae, 18.2% (95% CI, 17.4%-19.0%) for RSV, and 11.2% (95% CI,
      7.5%-14.7%) for rhinovirus. Conclusions: Streptococcus pneumoniae, RSV, and
      rhinovirus may be the major microorganisms associated with pneumonia infections
      in children <5 years of age from developing and emerging countries. Increasing S.
      pneumoniae vaccination coverage may substantially reduce the burden of pneumonia
      among children in developing countries.

PMID- 28605564
TI  - Foraging Distance and Population Size of Juvenile Colonies of the Formosan
      Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Laboratory Extended Arenas.
AB  - The relationship between colony size and foraging distance was examined in
      extended foraging arenas with juvenile colonies of the Formosan subterranean
      termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. Our results showed that as long as royal
      pairs are present, larger colonies foraged at longer distances, and the oldest
      workers distributed farther away from the central nest. The results agree with
      the scaling model that predicts a large foraging range for animals of larger body
      size. An analysis of published data from population survey studies and field
      trials of bait toxicants showed that field colonies of the eastern subterranean
      termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), follow the scaling model, while C.
      formosanus colonies were inconsistent with the model prediction. Reasons for the
      inconsistency with field data of C. formosanus are discussed.

PMID- 28605565
TI  - Puncture of Cerebellar Horizontal Fissure for Retrosigmoid Approach: A
      Prospective and Quantitative Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage is important in retrosigmoid
      approached surgery; however, in some cases, it is not feasible due to cerebellar
      swelling. OBJECTIVE: To introduce a method, puncture of the horizontal fissure of
      the cerebellum, which can reduce the cerebellum to easily obtain a good operative
      corridor and slowly drain CSF. METHODS: Between January and December 2014, we
      estimated the precise location of the horizontal fissure in 56 patients who
      underwent surgery via a retrosigmoid approach. Then, we collected and analyzed
      CSF drained by puncturing the horizontal fissure. We investigated whether a good
      operative corridor was obtained with this method. RESULTS: The location of the
      precise horizontal fissure was a mean of 3.97 mm caudal to transverse sinus and
      the mean amount of CSF drained in 56 patients was 50.4 mL. A good corridor was
      obtained in 46 (82.1%) of 56 patients without additional cistern puncture.
      CONCLUSION: The puncture of the horizontal fissure can be useful in retrosigmoid
      approach surgery. Moreover, inexperienced surgeons can use this method to
      effectively avoid injury of the cerebellum.

PMID- 28605566
TI  - Stopping Aerobic Oxidation in Its Tracks: Chemoselective Synthesis of
      Benzaldehydes from Methylarenes.
AB  - A practical and elegant solution to the long-standing challenge of methylarene
      partial oxidation has recently been provided by Pappo and co-workers who devised
      a catalytic aerobic route to benzaldehydes. The solution hinges on the unique
      hydrogen-bonding capacity of hexafluoroisopropanol, which prevents overoxidation
      of the aldehyde to the carboxylic acid.

PMID- 28605568
TI  - Technical Note: Ion chamber angular dependence in a magnetic field.
AB  - PURPOSE: There have been several studies investigating dose deposition effects
      within radiation detectors in the presence of a magnetic field. However, to date
      there has only been a passing investigation which explicitly investigates
      detector dose-response as a function of detector orientation. Herein we will
      investigate the dose-response as a function angular orientation of a PR06C
      ionization chamber. We will also benchmark the Monte Carlo code PENELOPE with the
      newly developed magnetic field Fano test. METHODS: The PENELOPE Monte Carlo
      package was used to simulate a PR06C ionization chamber in 0.35 T through 1.5 T
      magnetic fields oriented either parallel or orthogonal to an incident 6 MV
      radiation beam. The ionization chamber was rotated through a number of polar and
      azimuthal angles. The dose deposited within the chamber at each angular position
      and magnetic field strength was scored then normalized to that deposited in the
      same orientation with no magnetic field. The simulation was also benchmarked via
      a Fano test in magnetic field. RESULTS: The Fano test yielded a 0.4% difference
      between simulation and expected result, which is similar to previous findings and
      sufficient for the purposes of this study. The angular dose-response map in all
      cases where the magnetic field is oriented orthogonal to the radiation beam is
      quite varied and can range from 0.89 to 1.08. Angular deviations as small as 3
      degrees  can lead to dose-response changes in excess of 1%. When the magnetic
      field is parallel to the photon beam, the angular dose-response map is
      homogeneous and less than 1% below 1.0 T. CONCLUSIONS: Within a magnetic field
      oriented orthogonal to the radiation beam, the ionization chamber dose-response
      fluctuates greatly as a function of polar and azimuthal angle, where a parallel
      field yields a more homogeneous dose-response.

PMID- 28605567
TI  - MiR-30a increases MDSC differentiation and immunosuppressive function by
      targeting SOCS3 in mice with B-cell lymphoma.
AB  - Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), including granulocytic (G)-MDSCs and
      monocytic (M)-MDSCs, play a critical role in tumor-induced T cell tolerance. MDSC
      immunosuppressive function and differentiation are significantly promoted in
      patients and B-cell lymphoma model mice. However, the mechanisms regulating these
      processes remain largely unclear. In the present study, we observed increased
      microRNA (miR)-30a expression both in G-MDSCs and in M-MDSCs from B cell lymphoma
      model mice. After transfection with miR-30a mimics, the differentiation and
      suppressive capacities of MDSCs were significantly increased via up-regulation of
      arginase-1. Moreover, we showed that the 3'-UTR of suppressor of cytokine
      signaling 3 (SOCS3) mRNA is a direct target of miR-30a. Decreased SOCS3
      expression and activated Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 3 signaling promote MDSC differentiation and suppressive
      activities. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms
      underlying MDSC expansion and function during B cell lymphoma development.

PMID- 28605569
TI  - Aleksei Yevgen'evich Chichibabin (1871-1945): A Century of Pyridine Chemistry.
AB  - Tutor, journalist, patriot, and defector: Aleksei Yevgen'evich Chichibabin made
      seminal contributions to the chemistry of pyridines. As the Chichibabin reaction
      enters its second century, it is appropriate to re-examine the life of this
      remarkable chemist and his legacy to heterocyclic chemistry.

PMID- 28605570
TI  - New Members and Foreign Members of the National Academy of Engineering.

PMID- 28605571
TI  - Synthesis, DNA Cleavage Activity, Cytotoxicity, Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition,
      and Acute Murine Toxicity of Redox-Active Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complexes.
AB  - Four mononuclear [(L-L)2 Ru(tatpp)]2+ and two dinuclear [(L-L)2 Ru(tatpp)Ru(L-L)2
      ]4+ ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes (RPCs) containing the 9,11,20,22
      tetraazatetrapyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c:3'',2''-l:2''',3'''-n]pentacene (tatpp) ligand
      were synthesized, in which L-L is a chelating diamine ligand such as 2,2'
      bipyridine (bpy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10
      phenanthroline (Me4 phen) or 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Ph2 phen). These
      Ru-tatpp analogues all undergo reduction reactions with modest reducing agents,
      such as glutathione (GSH), at pH 7. These, plus several structurally related but
      non-redox-active RPCs, were screened for DNA cleavage activity, cytotoxicity,
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition, and acute mouse toxicity, and their
      activities were examined with respect to redox activity and lipophilicity. All of
      the redox-active RPCs show single-strand DNA cleavage in the presence of GSH,
      whereas none of the non-redox-active RPCs do. Low-micromolar cytotoxicity (IC50 )
      against malignant H358, CCL228, and MCF7 cultured cell lines was mainly
      restricted to the redox-active RPCs; however, they were substantially less toxic
      toward nonmalignant MCF10 cells. The IC50 values for AChE inhibition in cell-free
      assays and the acute toxicity of RPCs in mice revealed that whereas most RPCs
      show potent inhibitory action against AChE (IC50 values <15 MUm), Ru-tatpp
      complexes as a class are surprisingly well tolerated in animals relative to other
      RPCs.

PMID- 28605572
TI  - Manganese-Mediated Homolytic Aromatic Substitution with Phosphinylidenes.
AB  - Carbon-phosphorus (C-P) bond-forming reactions via homolytic aromatic
      substitution (HAS) of non-functionalized substrates with phosphinylidene P(O)H
      compounds is becoming a useful synthetic tool for the preparation of aryl and
      heteroaryl phosphonates, phosphinates, and phosphine oxides. This review
      specifically covers recent work using manganese-mediated free radical processes.
      Several research groups employ expensive Mn(OAc)3 , whereas our own contributions
      focus on the novel and inexpensive Mn(OAc)2 /MnO2 system.

PMID- 28605573
TI  - Prediction of biliary anastomotic stricture after deceased donor liver
      transplantation: the impact of platelet counts - a retrospective study.
AB  - Biliary stricture is a common cause of morbidity after liver transplantation
      (LT). This study aimed to determine the risk factors for post-transplant biliary
      anastomotic strictures (BAS), focusing on perioperative platelet counts. We
      enrolled 771 consecutive recipients who underwent ABO-identical/compatible
      deceased donor LT with duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction from January 2000 to
      June 2012. BAS was identified in 142 cases. The median time for stricture
      development was 176 days. Preoperative and postoperative platelet counts within 5
      days after LT were significantly lower in patients with BAS than those without
      BAS. Using cutoff values acquired by the receiver operating characteristic curve
      analysis, persistent postoperative thrombocytopenia was defined as platelet
      counts <41 * 1000/MUl and <53 * 1000/MUl on postoperative day (POD) 3 and POD 5,
      respectively. Multivariate analysis indicated persistent postoperative
      thrombocytopenia (OR = 2.38) was the only independent risk factor for BAS. No
      significant associations were observed in terms of donor and surgical factors.
      Multivariate analysis demonstrated estimated blood loss (OR = 1.01, per 100 ml)
      was an independent contributing factor for persistent postoperative
      thrombocytopenia. We demonstrated low platelet count was associated with
      progression of post-transplant BAS. Minimizing intraoperative blood loss
      potentially contributes to maintain post-transplant platelet count, which may
      reduce incidence of BAS.

PMID- 28605574
TI  - Selection of a Single Isotope of Multiply Charged Xenon (A Xez+ , A=128-136, z=1
      6) by Using a Bradbury-Nielsen Ion Gate.
AB  - The inclusion of an ion gate in a tandem mass spectrometer allows a specific
      precursor ion to be selected, and the fragment ions are then used for structure
      analysis and to investigate chemical reactions. However, the performance of an
      ion gate has been judged simply by whether or not the target ion was selected. In
      this study, we designed, manufactured, constructed, and characterized a Bradbury
      Nielsen ion gate (BNG). The actual ion selection ability, i.e. the gate function,
      of the BNG was measured for isotopes of Xez+ (z=1-6). The gate function of the
      BNG was 36.5+/-0.5 ns in width and 3-13 ns in rise and fall times. The BNG
      provides a simple way to select multiply charged molecular cations of small
      organic molecules as well as large molecules such as proteins and peptides.

PMID- 28605575
TI  - Bullous pemphigoid and chronic kidney graft rejection.

PMID- 28605576
TI  - Increasing the efficiency of CRISPR-Cas9-VQR precise genome editing in rice.
AB  - Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9
      (CRISPR-Cas9) is a revolutionary technology that enables efficient genomic
      modification in many organisms. Currently, the wide use of Streptococcus pyogenes
      Cas9 (SpCas9) primarily recognizes sites harbouring a canonical NGG protospacer
      adjacent motif (PAM). The newly developed VQR (D1135V/R1335Q/T1337R) variant of
      Cas9 has been shown to cleave sites containing NGA PAM in rice, which greatly
      expanded the range of genome editing. However, the low editing efficiency of the
      VQR variant remains, which limits its wide application in genome editing. In this
      study, by modifying the single guide RNA (sgRNA) structure and strong endogenous
      promoters, we significantly increased the editing efficiency of the VQR variant.
      The modified CRISPR-Cas9-VQR system provides a robust toolbox for multiplex
      genome editing at sites containing noncanonical NGA PAM.

PMID- 28605577
TI  - A toolkit for Nannochloropsis oceanica CCMP1779 enables gene stacking and genetic
      engineering of the eicosapentaenoic acid pathway for enhanced long-chain
      polyunsaturated fatty acid production.
AB  - Nannochloropsis oceanica is an oleaginous microalga rich in omega3 long-chain
      polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) content, in the form of eicosapentaenoic
      acid (EPA). We identified the enzymes involved in LC-PUFA biosynthesis in N.
      oceanica CCMP1779 and generated multigene expression vectors aiming at increasing
      LC-PUFA content in vivo. We isolated the cDNAs encoding four fatty acid
      desaturases (FAD) and determined their function by heterologous expression in S.
      cerevisiae. To increase the expression of multiple fatty acid desaturases in N.
      oceanica CCMP1779, we developed a genetic engineering toolkit that includes an
      endogenous bidirectional promoter and optimized peptide bond skipping 2A
      peptides. The toolkit also includes multiple epitopes for tagged fusion protein
      production and two antibiotic resistance genes. We applied this toolkit, towards
      building a gene stacking system for N. oceanica that consists of two vector
      series, pNOC-OX and pNOC-stacked. These tools for genetic engineering were
      employed to test the effects of the overproduction of one, two or three
      desaturase-encoding cDNAs in N. oceanica CCMP1779 and prove the feasibility of
      gene stacking in this genetically tractable oleaginous microalga. All FAD
      overexpressing lines had considerable increases in the proportion of LC-PUFAs,
      with the overexpression of Delta12 and Delta5 FAD encoding sequences leading to
      an increase in the final omega3 product, EPA.

PMID- 28605579
TI  - Treating Subvalence Correlation Effects in Domain Based Pair Natural Orbital
      Coupled Cluster Calculations: An Out-of-the-Box Approach.
AB  - The validity of the main approximations used in canonical and domain based pair
      natural orbital coupled cluster methods (CCSD(T) and DLPNO-CCSD(T), respectively)
      in standard chemical applications is discussed. In particular, we investigate the
      dependence of the results on the number of electrons included in the correlation
      treatment in frozen-core (FC) calculations and on the main threshold governing
      the accuracy of DLPNO all-electron (AE) calculations. Initially, scalar
      relativistic orbital energies for the ground state of the atoms from Li to Rn in
      the periodic table are calculated. An energy criterion is used for determining
      the orbitals that can be excluded from the correlation treatment in FC coupled
      cluster calculations without significant loss of accuracy. The heterolytic
      dissociation energy (HDE) of a series of metal compounds (LiF, NaF, AlF3, CaF2,
      CuF, GaF3, YF3, AgF, InF3, HfF4, and AuF) is calculated at the canonical CCSD(T)
      level, and the dependence of the results on the number of correlated electrons is
      investigated. Although for many of the studied reactions subvalence correlation
      effects contribute significantly to the HDE, the use of an energy criterion
      permits a conservative definition of the size of the core, allowing FC
      calculations to be performed in a black-box fashion while retaining chemical
      accuracy. A comparison of the CCSD and the DLPNO-CCSD methods in describing the
      core-core, core-valence, and valence-valence components of the correlation energy
      is given. It is found that more conservative thresholds must be used for electron
      pairs containing at least one core electron in order to achieve high accuracy in
      AE DLPNO-CCSD calculations relative to FC calculations. With the new settings,
      the DLPNO-CCSD method reproduces canonical CCSD results in both AE and FC
      calculations with the same accuracy.

PMID- 28605580
TI  - Structures, Interconversions, and Spectroscopy of Iron Carbonyl Clusters with an
      Interstitial Carbide: Localized Metal Center Reduction by Overall Cluster
      Oxidation.

PMID- 28605578
TI  - Roflupram, a Phosphodiesterase 4 Inhibitior, Suppresses Inflammasome Activation
      through Autophagy in Microglial Cells.
AB  - Inhibition of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) suppressed the inflammatory responses in
      the brain. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Roflupram
      (ROF) is a novel PDE4 inhibitor. In the present study, we found that ROF enhanced
      the level of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 II (LC3-II) and
      decreased p62 in microglial BV-2 cells. Enhanced fluorescent signals were
      observed in BV-2 cells treated with ROF by Lysotracker red and acridine orange
      staining. In addition, immunofluorescence indicated a significant increase in
      punctate LC3. Moreover, beta amyloid 25-35 (Abeta25-35) or lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS) with ATP was used to activate inflammasome. We found that both LPS plus ATP
      and Abeta25-35 enhanced the conversion of pro-caspase-1 to cleaved-caspase-1 and
      increased the production of mature IL-1beta in BV-2 cells. Interestingly, these
      effects were blocked by the treatment of ROF. Consistently, knocking down the
      expression of PDE4B in primary microglial cells led to enhanced level of LC-3 II
      and decreased activation of inflammasome. What's more, Hoechst staining showed
      that ROF decreased the apoptosis of neuronal N2a cells in conditioned media from
      microglia. Our data also showed that ROF dose-dependently enhanced autophagy,
      reduced the activation of inflammasome and suppressed the production of IL-1beta
      in mice injected with LPS. These effects were reversed by inhibition of
      microglial autophagy. These results put together demonstrate that ROF inhibits
      inflammasome activities and reduces the release of IL-1beta by inducing
      autophagy. Therefore, ROF could be used as a potential therapeutic compound for
      the intervention of inflammation-associated diseases in the brain.

PMID- 28605581
TI  - Optically Transparent Thin-Film Electrode Chip for Spectroelectrochemical
      Sensing.
AB  - A novel microfabricated optically transparent thin-film electrode chip for
      fluorescence and absorption spectroelectrochemistry has been developed. The
      working electrode was composed of indium tin oxide (ITO); the quasi-reference and
      auxiliary electrodes were composed of platinum. The stability of the platinum
      quasi-reference electrode was improved by coating it with a planar, solid state
      Ag/AgCl layer. The Ag/AgCl reference was characterized with scanning electron
      microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry
      measurements showed that the electrode chip was comparable to a standard
      electrochemical cell. Randles-Sevcik analysis of 10 mM K3[Fe(CN)6] in 0.1 M KCl
      using the electrode chip gave a diffusion coefficient of 1.59 * 10-6 cm2/s, in
      comparison to the value of 2.38 * 10-6 cm2/s using a standard electrochemical
      cell. By using the electrode chip in an optically transparent thin-layer
      electrode (OTTLE), the absorption based spectroelectrochemical modulation of
      [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- was demonstrated, as well as the fluorescence based modulation of
      [Ru(bpy)3]2+/3+. For the fluorescence spectroelectrochemical determination of
      [Ru(bpy)3]2+, a detection limit of 36 nM was observed.

PMID- 28605582
TI  - Assessing Antibiotic Permeability of Gram-Negative Bacteria via Nanofluidics.
AB  - While antibiotic resistance is increasing rapidly, drug discovery has proven to
      be extremely difficult. Antibiotic resistance transforms some bacterial
      infections into deadly medical conditions. A significant challenge in antibiotic
      discovery is designing potent molecules that enter Gram-negative bacteria and
      also avoid active efflux mechanisms. Critical analysis in rational drug design
      has been hindered by the lack of effective analytical tools to analyze the
      bacterial membrane permeability of small molecules. We design, fabricate, and
      characterize the nanofluidic device that actively loads more than 200 single
      bacterial cells in a nanochannel array. We demonstrate a gigaohm seal between the
      nanochannel walls and the loaded bacteria, restricting small molecule transport
      to only occur through the bacterial cell envelope. Quantitation of clindamycin
      translocation through wild-type and efflux-deficient (DeltatolC) Escherichia coli
      strains via nanofluidic-interfaced liquid chromatography mass spectrometry shows
      higher levels of translocation for wild-type E. coli than for an efflux-deficient
      strain. We believe that the assessment of compound permeability in Gram-negative
      bacteria via the nanofluidic analysis platform will be an impactful tool for
      compound permeation and efflux studies in bacteria to assist rational antibiotic
      design.

PMID- 28605583
TI  - Multiple Sulfur Isotope Constraints on Sources and Formation Processes of Sulfate
      in Beijing PM2.5 Aerosol.
AB  - Recently air pollution is seriously threatening the health of millions of people
      in China. The multiple sulfur isotopic composition of sulfate in PM2.5 samples
      collected in Beijing is used to better constrain potential sources and formation
      processes of sulfate aerosol. The Delta33S values of sulfate in PM2.5 show a
      pronounced seasonality with positive values in spring, summer and autumn and
      negative values in winter. Positive Delta33S anomalies are interpreted to result
      from SO2 photolysis with self-shielding, and may reflect air mass transport
      between the troposphere and the stratosphere. The negative Delta33S signature (
      0.3000/00 < Delta33S < 00/00) in winter is possibly related to incomplete
      combustion of coal in residential stoves during the heating season, implying that
      sulfur dioxide released from residential stoves in more rural areas is an
      important contributor to atmospheric sulfate. However, negative Delta33S
      anomalies (-0.6640/00 < Delta33S <- 0.3000/00) in winter and positive Delta33S
      anomalies (0.3000/00 < Delta33S < 0.4800/00) in spring, summer, and autumn
      suggest sulfur isotopic equilibrium on an annual time frame, which may provide an
      implication for the absence of mass-independent fractionation of sulfur isotopes
      (S-MIF) in younger sediments. Results obtained here reveal that reducing the
      usage of coal and improving the heating system in rural areas will be important
      for efficiently decreasing the emissions of sulfur in China and beyond.

PMID- 28605584
TI  - Statistical Analysis, Investigation, and Prediction of the Water Positions in the
      Binding Sites of Proteins.
AB  - Water molecules play a crucial role in biomolecular associations by mediating a
      hydrogen bond network or filling spaces with van der Waals interactions. Although
      current drug design technologies have taken water molecule interactions into
      account, their applications are still limited to their reliance on either
      excessive computer resources or a particular potential energy model. Here, we
      introduce a statistical method that is based on experimentally determined water
      molecules in the binding sites of high-resolution X-ray crystal structures to
      predict the potential hydration sites in the binding sites of crystal structures
      of interest. By clustering and analyzing the various interaction patterns of
      water molecules in the training data set, we derived a tetrahedron-water-cluster
      model based on a series of residue group triplets that form feature triangles of
      different shapes. In the tetrahedral-water-cluster model, a triplet of three
      polar atoms in the residue group triplet acts as the vertices of the bottom
      triangle of the tetrahedron, and the water molecule that interacts with these
      three polar atoms is set as the top vertex of the tetrahedron. By comparing the
      shapes of the bottom triangles in the training data set with the shape of the
      triangle in the residue group triplets in the crystal structure of interest, we
      can identify the bottom triangle that is most similar to the one in the residue
      group triplet of the crystal structure of interest. According to the tetrahedron
      water-cluster model, the hydration site for the residue group triplet in the
      crystal structure of interest can be predicted based on the height of the
      tetrahedron that has the most similar bottom triangle in the training data set. A
      test set containing 193 crystal structures was used to evaluate model
      performance, and extensive comparison with the recently published program
      Dowser++ revealed that our model is at least as good at providing an accurate set
      of the potential hydration sites in crystal structures of interest.

PMID- 28605585
TI  - Analyses of Levofloxacin Adsorption on Pretreated Barley Straw with Respect to
      Temperature: Kinetics, pi-pi Electron-Donor-Acceptor Interaction and Site Energy
      Distribution.
AB  - Levofloxacin, representative of an important class of fluoroquinolone
      antibiotics, has been considered to be one of the emerging pollutants in various
      water sources. In this paper, adsorption of levofloxacin from artificial
      contaminated water was done by pretreated barley straw adsorbent obtained from
      raw barley straw after modification by H3PO4 impregnation and microwave heating.
      The adsorption kinetics was investigated at various temperatures and levofloxacin
      concentrations, and the activation energy was determined. In addition, site
      energy distribution of the pretreated barley straw for levofloxacin adsorption
      was estimated based on the equilibrium adsorption data. The average site energy
      and standard deviation of the distribution were determined and applied to analyze
      the interaction strength between the adsorbent and adsorbate, and adsorption site
      heterogeneity. The pi-pi electron-donor-acceptor interactions between the pi*
      aromatic C?C of pretreated barley straw adsorbent and pi* carbon atom in benzene
      ring attached to fluorine of levofloxacin was investigated by C K-edge X-ray
      absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy. The results and methodologies in
      this work could be transferrable to investigate extended systems of water
      treatment.

PMID- 28605586
TI  - Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Nitroalkanes to Enones Using a Sulfonamide
      Thiourea Organocatalyst.
AB  - The asymmetric conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to alpha,beta-unsaturated
      ketones in the presence of a catalytic amount of a novel sulfonamide-thiourea
      organocatalyst resulted in the corresponding gamma-nitro carbonyl products in
      high yields with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 97% ee).

PMID- 28605587
TI  - Allosteric Regulation of Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase III Beta by an
      Antipicornavirus Compound MDL-860.
AB  - MDL-860 is a broad-spectrum antipicornavirus compound discovered in 1982 and one
      of the few promising candidates effective in in vivo virus infection. Despite the
      effectiveness, the target and the mechanism of action of MDL-860 remain unknown.
      Here, we have characterized antipoliovirus activity of MDL-860 and identified
      host phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase III beta (PI4KB) as the target. MDL-860
      treatment caused covalent modification and irreversible inactivation of PI4KB. A
      cysteine residue at amino acid 646 of PI4KB, which locates at the bottom of a
      surface pocket apart from the active site, was identified as the target site of
      MDL-860. This work reveals the mechanism of action of this class of PI4KB
      inhibitors and offers insights into novel allosteric regulation of PI4KB
      activity.

PMID- 28605588
TI  - Halogen Bonding in Nucleic Acid Complexes.
AB  - Halogen bonding (X-bonding) has attracted notable attention among noncovalent
      interactions. This highly directional attraction between a halogen atom and an
      electron donor has been exploited in knowledge-based drug design. A great deal of
      information has been gathered about X-bonds in protein-ligand complexes, as
      opposed to nucleic acid complexes. Here we provide a thorough analysis of nucleic
      acid complexes containing either halogenated building blocks or halogenated
      ligands. We analyzed close contacts between halogens and electron-rich moieties.
      The phosphate backbone oxygen is clearly the most common halogen acceptor. We
      identified 21 X-bonds within known structures of nucleic acid complexes. A vast
      majority of the X-bonds is formed by halogenated nucleobases, such as
      bromouridine, and feature excellent geometries. Noncovalent ligands have been
      found to form only interactions with suboptimal interaction geometries. Hence,
      the first X-bonded nucleic acid binder remains to be discovered.

PMID- 28605589
TI  - Determination of Absolute Orientation of Protein alpha-Helices at Interfaces
      Using Phase-Resolved Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy.
AB  - Understanding the structure of proteins at surfaces is key in fields such as
      biomaterials research, biosensor design, membrane biophysics, and drug design. A
      particularly important factor is the orientation of proteins when bound to a
      particular surface. The orientation of the active site of enzymes or protein
      sensors and the availability of binding pockets within membrane proteins are
      important design parameters for engineers developing new sensors, surfaces, and
      drugs. Recently developed methods to probe protein orientation, including
      immunoessays and mass spectrometry, either lack structural resolution or require
      harsh experimental conditions. We here report a new method to track the absolute
      orientation of interfacial proteins using phase-resolved sum frequency generation
      spectroscopy in combination with molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical
      spectral calculations. As a model system we have determined the orientation of a
      helical lysine-leucine peptide at the air-water interface. The data show that the
      absolute orientation of the helix can be reliably determined even for
      orientations almost parallel to the surface.

PMID- 28605590
TI  - Correction to "Molecular Cobalt Complexes with Pendant Amines for Selective
      Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formic Acid".

PMID- 28605591
TI  - Influencing Mechanism of Ocean Acidification on Byssus Performance in the Pearl
      Oyster Pinctada fucata.
AB  - The byssus is an important adhesive structure by which bivalves robustly adhere
      to underwater substrates. It is susceptible to carbon dioxide-driven ocean
      acidification (OA). Previous investigations have documented significant adverse
      effects of OA on the performance of byssal threads, but the mechanisms remain
      largely unknown. In this study, multiple approaches were employed to reveal the
      underlying mechanisms for the effects of OA on byssus production and mechanical
      properties in the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata. The results showed that OA
      altered the abundance and secondary structure of byssal proteins and affected the
      contents of metal ions in distal threads, which together reduced the byssus
      diameter and amplified byssus nanocavity, causing reductions in mechanical
      properties (strength and extensibility). Expression analysis of key foot protein
      genes further confirmed changes in byssal protein abundance. Moreover,
      comparative transcriptome analysis revealed enrichment of ion transportation- and
      apoptosis-related categories, up-regulation of apoptosis-related pathways, and
      down-regulation of the "extracellular matrix-receptor interaction" pathway, which
      may influence foot locomotion physiology, leading to a decrease in byssus
      production. This study provides mechanistic insight into the effects of OA on
      pearl oyster byssus, which should broaden our overall understanding of the
      impacts of OA on marine ecosystem.

PMID- 28605592
TI  - Arbitrary Angular Momentum Electron Repulsion Integrals with Graphical Processing
      Units: Application to the Resolution of Identity Hartree-Fock Method.
AB  - A resolution of identity based implementation of the Hartree-Fock method on
      graphical processing units (GPUs) is presented that is capable of handling basis
      functions with arbitrary angular momentum. For practical reasons, only functions
      up to (ff|f) angular momentum are presently calculated on the GPU, thus leaving
      the calculation of higher angular momenta integrals on the CPU of the hybrid CPU
      GPU environment. Speedups of up to a factor of 30 are demonstrated relative to
      state-of-the-art serial and parallel CPU implementations. Benchmark calculations
      with over 3500 contracted basis functions (def2-SVP or def2-TZVP basis sets) are
      reported. The presented implementation supports all devices with OpenCL support
      and is capable of utilizing multiple GPU cards over either MPI or OpenCL itself.

PMID- 28605593
TI  - Simultaneous Drug Targeting of the Promoter MYC G-Quadruplex and BCL2 i-Motif in
      Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Delays Tumor Growth.
AB  - Secondary DNA structures are uniquely poised as therapeutic targets due to their
      molecular switch function in turning gene expression on or off and scaffold-like
      properties for protein and small molecule interaction. Strategies to alter gene
      transcription through these structures thus far involve targeting single DNA
      conformations. Here we investigate the feasibility of simultaneously targeting
      different secondary DNA structures to modulate two key oncogenes, cellular
      myelocytomatosis (MYC) and B-cell lymphoma gene-2 (BCL2), in diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma (DLBCL). Cotreatment with previously identified ellipticine and
      pregnanol derivatives that recognize the MYC G-quadruplex and BCL2 i-motif
      promoter DNA structures lowered mRNA levels and subsequently enhanced sensitivity
      to a standard chemotherapy drug, cyclophosphamide, in DLBCL cell lines. In vivo
      repression of MYC and BCL2 in combination with cyclophosphamide also
      significantly slowed tumor growth in DLBCL xenograft mice. Our findings
      demonstrate concurrent targeting of different DNA secondary structures offers an
      effective, precise, medicine-based approach to directly impede transcription and
      overcome aberrant pathways in aggressive malignancies.

PMID- 28605594
TI  - Rational Design of Branched Nanoporous Gold Nanoshells with Enhanced Physico
      Optical Properties for Optical Imaging and Cancer Therapy.
AB  - Reported procedures on the synthesis of gold nanoshells with smooth surfaces have
      merely demonstrated efficient control of shell thickness and particle size, yet
      no branch and nanoporous features on the nanoshell have been implemented to date.
      Herein, we demonstrate the ability to control the roughness and nanoscale
      porosity of gold nanoshells by using redox-active polymer poly(vinylphenol)-b
      (styrene) nanoparticles as reducing agent and template. The porosity and size of
      the branches on this branched nanoporous gold nanoshell (BAuNSP) material can be
      facilely adjusted by control of the reaction speed or the reaction time between
      the redox-active polymer nanoparticles and gold ions (Au3+). Due to the strong
      reduction ability of the redox-active polymer, the yield of BAuNSP was virtually
      100%. By taking advantage of the sharp branches and nanoporous features, BAuNSP
      exhibited greatly enhanced physico-optical properties, including photothermal
      effect, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and photoacoustic (PA) signals.
      The photothermal conversion efficiency can reach as high as 75.5%, which is
      greater than most gold nanocrystals. Furthermore, the nanoporous nature of the
      shells allows for effective drug loading and controlled drug release. The
      thermoresponsive polymer coated on the BAuNSP surface serves as a gate keeper,
      governing the drug release behavior through photothermal heating. Positron
      emission tomography imaging demonstrated a high passive tumor accumulation of
      64Cu-labeled BAuNSP. The strong SERS signal generated by the SERS-active BAuNSP
      in vivo, accompanied by enhanced PA signals in the tumor region, provide
      significant tumor information, including size, morphology, position, and
      boundaries between tumor and healthy tissues. In vivo tumor therapy experiments
      demonstrated a highly synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy effect of drug
      loaded BAuNSPs, guided by three modes of optical imaging.

PMID- 28605595
TI  - Efficient Codelivery of Paclitaxel and Curcumin by Novel Bottlebrush Copolymer
      based Micelles.
AB  - The novel self-assembling bottlebrush polyethylene glycol-polynorbornene
      thiocresol block copolymers (PEG-PNB-TC) were synthesized by the ring opening
      metathesis polymerization (ROMP), followed by functionalization of the polymer
      backbone via the thio-bromo "click" postpolymerization strategy. The PEG-PNB-TC
      copolymers could easily self-assemble into the nanoscale core-shell polymeric
      micelles. The hydrophobic anticancer drugs, such as paclitaxel (PTX), could be
      loaded into their hydrophobic core to form a stable drug-loaded micelle with a
      superior drug loading capacity of up to ~35% (w/w). The sustained drug release
      behavior of the PEG-PNB-TC micelles was observed under a simulated "sink
      condition". Compared with commercial PTX formulation (Taxol), the PTX-loaded PEG
      PNB-TC micelles showed the enhanced in vitro cellular uptake and comparable
      cytotoxicity in the drug-sensitive cancer cells, while the copolymers were much
      safer than Cremophor EL, the surfactant used in Taxol. Furthermore, curcumin
      (CUR), a natural chemotherapy drug sensitizer, was successfully coloaded with PTX
      into the PEG-PNB-TC micelles. High drug loading capacity of the PEG-PNB-TC
      micelles allowed for easy adjustment of drug doses and the ratio of the coloaded
      drugs. The combination of PTX and CUR showed synergistic anticancer effect in
      both the drug mixture and drug coloaded micelles at high CUR/PTX ratio, while low
      CRU/PTX ratio only exhibited additive effects. The combinatorial effects
      remarkably circumvented the PTX resistance in the multidrug resistant (MDR)
      cancer cells. Due to the easy polymerization and functionalization, excellent
      self-assembly capability, high drug loading capability, and great stability, the
      PEG-PNB-TC copolymers might be a promising nanomaterial for delivery of the
      hydrophobic anticancer drugs, especially for combination drug therapy.

PMID- 28605596
TI  - Mechanism of Triplet Energy Transfer in Photosynthetic Bacterial Reaction
      Centers.
AB  - In purple bacterial reaction centers, triplet excitation energy transfer occurs
      from the primary donor P, a bacteriochlorophyll dimer, to a neighboring
      carotenoid to prevent photodamage from the generation of reactive oxygen species.
      The BB bacteriochlorophyll molecule that lies between P and the carotenoid on the
      inactive electron transfer branch is involved in triplet energy transfer between
      P and the carotenoid. To expand the high-resolution spectral and kinetic
      information available for describing the mechanism, we investigated the triplet
      excited state formation and energy transfer pathways in the reaction center of
      Rhodobacter sphaeroides using pump-probe transient absorption spectroscopy over a
      broad spectral region on the nanosecond to microsecond time scale at both room
      temperature and at 77 K. Wild-type reaction centers were compared with a reaction
      center mutant (M182HL) in which BB is replaced by a bacteriopheophytin (Phi), as
      well as to reaction centers that lack the carotenoid. In wild-type reaction
      centers, the triplet energy transfer efficiency from P to the carotenoid was
      essentially unity at room temperature and at 77 K. However, in the M182HL mutant
      reaction centers, both the rate and efficiency of triplet energy transfer were
      decreased at room temperature, and at 77 K, no triplet energy transfer was
      observed, attributable to a higher triplet state energy of the bacteriopheophytin
      that replaces bacteriochlorophyll in this mutant. Finally, detailed time-resolved
      spectral analysis of P, carotenoid, and BB (Phi in the M182HL mutant) reveals
      that the triplet state of the carotenoid is coupled fairly strongly to the
      bridging intermediate BB in wild-type and Phi in the M182HL mutant, a fact that
      is probably responsible for the lack of any obvious intermediate 3BB/3Phi
      transient formation during triplet energy transfer.

PMID- 28605597
TI  - Bacterial GtfB Augments Candida albicans Accumulation in Cross-Kingdom Biofilms.
AB  - Streptococcus mutans is a biofilm-forming oral pathogen commonly associated with
      dental caries. Clinical studies have shown that S. mutans is often detected with
      Candida albicans in early childhood caries. Although the C. albicans presence has
      been shown to enhance bacterial accumulation in biofilms, the influence of S.
      mutans on fungal biology in this mixed-species relationship remains largely
      uncharacterized. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how the presence of S. mutans
      influences C. albicans biofilm development and coexistence. Using a newly
      established haploid biofilm model of C. albicans, we found that S. mutans
      augmented haploid C. albicans accumulation in mixed-species biofilms. Similarly,
      diploid C. albicans also showed enhanced biofilm formation in the presence of S.
      mutans. Surprisingly, the presence of S. mutans restored the biofilm-forming
      ability of C. albicans bcr1Delta mutant and bcr1Delta/Delta mutant, which is
      known to be severely defective in biofilm formation when grown as single species.
      Moreover, C. albicans hyphal growth factor HWP1 as well as ALS1 and ALS3, which
      are also involved in fungal biofilm formation, were upregulated in the presence
      of S. mutans. Subsequently, we found that S. mutans-derived glucosyltransferase B
      (GtfB) itself can promote C. albicans biofilm development. Interestingly, GtfB
      was able to increase the expression of HWP1, ALS1, and ALS3 genes in the C.
      albicans diploid wild-type SC5314 and bcr1Delta/Delta, leading to enhanced fungal
      biofilms. Hence, the present study demonstrates that a bacterial exoenzyme (GtfB)
      augments the C. albicans counterpart in mixed-species biofilms through a BCR1
      independent mechanism. This novel finding may explain the mutualistic role of S.
      mutans and C. albicans in cariogenic biofilms.

PMID- 28605598
TI  - Dental Status and Compression of Life Expectancy with Disability.
AB  - This study examined whether the number of teeth contributes to the compression of
      morbidity, measured as a shortening of life expectancy with disability, an
      extension of healthy life expectancy, and overall life expectancy. A prospective
      cohort study was conducted. A self-reported baseline survey was given to 126,438
      community-dwelling older people aged >=65 y in Japan in 2010, and 85,161 (67.4%)
      responded. The onset of functional disability and all-cause mortality were
      followed up for 1,374 d (follow-up rate = 96.1%). A sex-stratified illness-death
      model was applied to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for 3 health
      transitions (healthy to dead, healthy to disabled, and disabled to dead).
      Absolute differences in life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and life
      expectancy with disability according to the number of teeth were also estimated.
      Age, denture use, socioeconomic status, health status, and health behavior were
      adjusted. Compared with the edentulous participants, participants with >=20 teeth
      had lower risks of transitioning from healthy to dead (adjusted HR, 0.58 [95%
      confidence interval (CI), 0.50-0.68] for men and 0.70 [95% CI, 0.57-0.85] for
      women) and from healthy to disabled (adjusted HR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.44-0.61] for
      men and 0.58 [95% CI, 0.49-0.68] for women). They also transitioned from disabled
      to dead earlier (adjusted HR, 1.26 [95% CI, 0.99-1.60] for men and 2.42 [95% CI,
      1.72-3.38] for women). Among the participants aged >=85 y, those with >=20 teeth
      had a longer life expectancy (men: +57 d; women: +15 d) and healthy life
      expectancy (men: +92 d; women: +70 d) and a shorter life expectancy with
      disability (men: -35 d; women: -55 d) compared with the edentulous participants.
      Similar associations were observed among the younger participants and those with
      1 to 9 or 10 to 19 teeth. The presence of remaining teeth was associated with a
      significant compression of morbidity: older Japanese adults' life expectancy with
      disability was compressed by 35 to 55 d within the follow-up of 1,374 d.

PMID- 28605599
TI  - STAT3 Induces Immunosuppression by Upregulating PD-1/PD-L1 in HNSCC.
AB  - Head and neck cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers around the world. Head
      and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) accounts for nearly 90% of head and neck
      cancer. In recent years, significant advances have been made in immunotherapy for
      HNSCC. Although some clinical trials targeting immune checkpoints have shown
      success, the molecular mechanism for regulation of programmed death 1 (PD-1) and
      its ligand (PD-L1) is partially understood. In an effort to explore the effect of
      activation of signal transducers and activators of transcriptions (STAT3) on PD
      1/PD-L1, the expression and correlation between phosphorylation of STAT3 and PD
      1/PD-L1 were determined with immunostaining of human and mouse HNSCC tissue
      sections. PD-1/PD-L1 overexpression was found to be significantly associated with
      p-STAT3 in human and mouse HNSCC. Targeting STAT3 by a small molecule effectively
      inhibited the expression of PD-L1 in the CAL27 cell line. Furthermore, we found
      that blockade of STAT3 signaling downregulated PD-1/PD-L1 in a Tgfbr1/Pten 2cKO
      HNSCC mouse model. These findings suggest that STAT3 signaling plays an important
      role in PD-1/PD-L1 regulation and the antitumor immune response of HNSCC.

PMID- 28605600
TI  - Activin and Bmp4 Signaling Converge on Wnt Activation during Odontogenesis.
AB  - Previous studies show that both activin and Bmp4 act as crucial mesenchymal
      odontogenic signals during early tooth development. Remarkably, mice lacking
      activin-betaA ( Inhba-/-) and mice with neural crest-specific inactivation of
      Bmp4 ( Bmp4ncko/ncko) both exhibit bud-stage developmental arrest of the
      mandibular molar tooth germs while their maxillary molar tooth germs completed
      morphogenesis. In this study, we found that, whereas expression of Inhba and Bmp4
      in the developing tooth mesenchyme is independent of each other,
      Bmp4ncko/nckoInhba-/- compound mutant mice exhibit early developmental arrest of
      all tooth germs. Moreover, genetic inactivation of Osr2, a negative regulator of
      the odontogenic function of the Bmp4-Msx1 signaling pathway, rescues mandibular
      molar morphogenesis in Inhba-/- embryos. We recently reported that Osr2 and the
      Bmp4-Msx1 pathway control the bud-to-cap transition of tooth morphogenesis
      through antagonistic regulation of expression of secreted Wnt antagonists,
      including Dkk2 and Sfrp2, in the developing tooth mesenchyme. We show here that
      expression of Dkk2 messenger RNAs was significantly upregulated and expanded into
      the tooth bud mesenchyme in Inhba-/- embryos in comparison with wild-type
      littermates. Furthermore, in utero treatment with either lithium chloride, an
      agonist of canonical Wnt signaling, or the DKK inhibitor IIIC3a rescued
      mandibular molar tooth morphogenesis in Inhba-/- embryos. Together with our
      finding that the developing mandibular molar tooth bud mesenchyme expresses
      significantly higher levels of Dkk2 than the developing maxillary molar tooth
      mesenchyme, these data indicate that Bmp4 and activin signaling pathways converge
      on activation of the Wnt signaling pathway to promote tooth morphogenesis through
      the bud-to-cap transition and that the differential effects of loss of activin or
      Bmp4 signaling on maxillary and mandibular molar tooth morphogenesis are mainly
      due to the differential expression of Wnt antagonists, particularly Dkk2, in the
      maxillary and mandibular tooth mesenchyme.

PMID- 28605601
TI  - A New Sugarcane Cystatin Strongly Binds to Dental Enamel and Reduces Erosion.
AB  - Cystatin B was recently identified as an acid-resistant protein in acquired
      enamel pellicle; it could therefore be included in oral products to protect
      against caries and erosion. However, human recombinant cystatin is very
      expensive, and alternatives to its use are necessary. Phytocystatins are
      reversible inhibitors of cysteine peptidases that are found naturally in plants.
      In plants, they have several biological and physiological functions, such as the
      regulation of endogenous processes, defense against pathogens, and response to
      abiotic stress. Previous studies performed by our research group have reported
      high inhibitory activity and potential agricultural and medical applications of
      several sugarcane cystatins, including CaneCPI-1, CaneCPI-2, CaneCPI-3, and
      CaneCPI-4. In the present study, we report the characterization of a novel
      sugarcane cystatin, named CaneCPI-5. This cystatin was efficiently expressed in
      Escherichia coli, and inhibitory assays demonstrated that it was a potent
      inhibitor of human cathepsins B, K, and L ( Ki = 6.87, 0.49, and 0.34 nM,
      respectively). The ability of CaneCPI-5 to bind to dental enamel was evaluated
      using atomic force microscopy. Its capacity to protect against initial enamel
      erosion was also tested in vitro via changes in surface hardness. CaneCPI-5
      showed a very large force of interaction with enamel (e.g., compared with mucin
      and casein) and significantly reduced initial enamel erosion. These results
      suggest that the inclusion of CaneCPIs in dental products might confer protection
      against enamel erosion.

PMID- 28605602
TI  - Role of Primary Cilia in Odontogenesis.
AB  - Primary cilium is a solitary organelle that emanates from the surface of most
      postmitotic mammalian cells and serves as a sensory organelle, transmitting the
      mechanical and chemical cues to the cell. Primary cilia are key coordinators of
      various signaling pathways during development and maintenance of tissue
      homeostasis. The emerging evidence implicates primary cilia function in tooth
      development. Primary cilia are located in the dental epithelium and mesenchyme at
      early stages of tooth development and later during cell differentiation and
      production of hard tissues. The cilia are present when interactions between both
      the epithelium and mesenchyme are required for normal morphogenesis. As the
      primary cilium coordinates several signaling pathways essential for
      odontogenesis, ciliary defects can interrupt the latter process. Genetic or
      experimental alterations of cilia function lead to various developmental defects,
      including supernumerary or missing teeth, enamel and dentin hypoplasia, or teeth
      crowding. Moreover, dental phenotypes are observed in ciliopathies, including
      Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, Weyers acrofacial dysostosis,
      cranioectodermal dysplasia, and oral-facial-digital syndrome, altogether
      demonstrating that primary cilia play a critical role in regulation of both the
      early odontogenesis and later differentiation of hard tissue-producing cells.
      Here, we summarize the current evidence for the localization of primary cilia in
      dental tissues and the impact of disrupted cilia signaling on tooth development
      in ciliopathies.

PMID- 28605604
TI  - Upper Extremity Muscle Activity During In-Phase and Anti-Phase Continuous Pushing
      Tasks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of anti-phase, in-phase bimanual and unimanual
      simulated industrial pushing tasks and frequency on upper extremity muscle
      activity. BACKGROUND: Research investigating symmetrical (in-phase) and
      asymmetrical (anti-phase) pushing exertions is limited despite a high prevalence
      in industry. METHODS: Fifteen female participants completed five pushing tasks
      using a dual handle apparatus at three frequencies: 15 cycles per minute (cpm),
      30 cpm, and self-selected. Tasks included two bimanual symmetrical pushes
      (constrained and unconstrained), two bimanual asymmetrical pushes (reciprocating
      and continuous), and one right unimanual push. Surface electromyography (EMG)
      from the right anterior, middle, and posterior deltoid (AD, MD, and PD); right
      and left trapezius (RT and LT); right pectoralis major (PM); and right and left
      external obliques (REO and LEO) was collected and normalized to maximum voluntary
      effort. RESULTS: There was a task by frequency interaction in the AD, MD, PD, and
      RT ( p < .005), where activity in AD, MD, and PD was highest in the continuous
      task at 15 cpm, but activity was similar across task in 30 cpm and self-selected.
      Muscle activity coefficient of variation was lowest during continuous task across
      all frequencies. CONCLUSION: Continuous, anti-phase pushes and constrained, in
      phase pushes had the highest muscle activity demands and the least amount of
      variability in muscle activity and therefore may present the greatest risk of
      injury. APPLICATION: Anti-phase pushing is known to have a greater cognitive
      demand, and this study demonstrated that it also has a greater physical demand
      when performed continuously.

PMID- 28605606
TI  - Multianalyte Physiological Microanalytical Devices.
AB  - Advances in scientific instrumentation have allowed experimentalists to evaluate
      well-known systems in new ways and to gain insight into previously unexplored or
      poorly understood phenomena. Within the growing field of multianalyte physiometry
      (MAP), microphysiometers are being developed that are capable of
      electrochemically measuring changes in the concentration of various metabolites
      in real time. By simultaneously quantifying multiple analytes, these devices have
      begun to unravel the complex pathways that govern biological responses to
      ischemia and oxidative stress while contributing to basic scientific discoveries
      in bioenergetics and neurology. Patients and clinicians have also benefited from
      the highly translational nature of MAP, and the continued expansion of the
      repertoire of analytes that can be measured with multianalyte microphysiometers
      will undoubtedly play a role in the automation and personalization of medicine.
      This is perhaps most evident with the recent advent of fully integrated
      noninvasive sensor arrays that can continuously monitor changes in analytes
      linked to specific disease states and deliver a therapeutic agent as required
      without the need for patient action.

PMID- 28605605
TI  - Nanosensor Technology Applied to Living Plant Systems.
AB  - An understanding of plant biology is essential to solving many long-standing
      global challenges, including sustainable and secure food production and the
      generation of renewable fuel sources. Nanosensor platforms, sensors with a
      characteristic dimension that is nanometer in scale, have emerged as important
      tools for monitoring plant signaling pathways and metabolism that are
      nondestructive, minimally invasive, and capable of real-time analysis. This
      review outlines the recent advances in nanotechnology that enable these
      platforms, including the measurement of chemical fluxes even at the single
      molecule level. Applications of nanosensors to plant biology are discussed in the
      context of nutrient management, disease assessment, food production, detection of
      DNA proteins, and the regulation of plant hormones. Current trends and future
      needs are discussed with respect to the emerging trends of precision agriculture,
      urban farming, and plant nanobionics.

PMID- 28605607
TI  - Analyzing the Heterogeneous Hierarchy of Cultural Heritage Materials: Analytical
      Imaging.
AB  - Objects of cultural heritage significance are created using a wide variety of
      materials, or mixtures of materials, and often exhibit heterogeneity on multiple
      length scales. The effective study of these complex constructions thus requires
      the use of a suite of complementary analytical technologies. Moreover, because of
      the importance and irreplaceability of most cultural heritage objects,
      researchers favor analytical techniques that can be employed noninvasively, i.e.,
      without having to remove any material for analysis. As such, analytical imaging
      has emerged as an important approach for the study of cultural heritage. Imaging
      technologies commonly employed, from the macroscale through the micro- to
      nanoscale, are discussed with respect to how the information obtained helps us
      understand artists' materials and methods, the cultures in which the objects were
      created, how the objects may have changed over time, and importantly, how we may
      develop strategies for their preservation.

PMID- 28605610
TI  - Effect of Light-Curing Exposure Time, Shade, and Thickness on the Depth of Cure
      of Bulk Fill Composites.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of different light exposure times, shades, and
      thicknesses on the depth of cure (DOC) of bulk fill composites. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Two bulk fill composites, Tetric EvoCeram Bulk Fill (TBF) and Sonic
      Fill (SF), and a conventional composite, Filtek Supreme Ultra (FSU), were
      evaluated. Samples (n=10) were made using two different shades (light and dark),
      thicknesses (2 and 4 mm) and exposure times (20 and 40 seconds). A Tukon 2100B
      testing machine was used to obtain three Knoop hardness numbers (KHNs) measured
      at the top and bottom of each sample, and DOC was calculated as the bottom/top
      ratio. Statistical analysis was done using a Student t-test for comparisons
      between groups with a Bonferroni correction of p < 0.004. RESULTS: Top hardness
      values ranged from 79.79 to 85.07 for FSU, 69.49 to 91.65 for SF, and 51.01 to
      57.82 for TBF. Bottom KHNs ranged from 23.54 to 73.25 for FSU, 45.74 to 77.12 for
      SF, and 36.95 to 52.51 for TBF. TBF had the lowest overall KHNs. Light-curing
      exposure time, shade, and material thickness influenced the DOC in most groups,
      especially at 4-mm depths. A higher bottom/top ratio was achieved when a 40
      second cure was compared to a 20-second cure, when light shades were compared to
      dark shades, and when 2-mm increments were compared to 4-mm increments.

PMID- 28605609
TI  - Effects of macro- and micronutrients on exercise-induced hepcidin response in
      highly trained endurance athletes.
AB  - Iron deficiency has ergolytic effects on athletic performance. Exercise-induced
      inflammation impedes iron absorption in the digestive tract by upregulating the
      expression of the iron regulatory protein, hepcidin. Limited research indicates
      the potential of specific macro- and micronutrients on blunting exercise-induced
      hepcidin. Therefore, we investigated the effects of postexercise supplementation
      with protein and carbohydrate (CHO) and vitamins D3 and K2 on the postexercise
      hepcidin response. Ten highly trained male cyclists (age: 26.9 +/- 6.4 years;
      maximal oxygen uptake: 67.4 +/- 4.4 mL.kg-1.min-1 completed 4 cycling sessions in
      a randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blinded, triple-crossover study.
      Experimental days consisted of an 8-min warm-up at 50% power output at maximal
      oxygen uptake, followed by 8 * 3-min intervals at 85% power output at maximal
      oxygen uptake with 1.5 min at 60% power output at maximal oxygen uptake between
      each interval. Blood samples were collected pre- and postexercise, and at 3 h
      postexercise. Three different drinks consisting of CHO (75 g) and protein (25 g)
      with (VPRO) or without (PRO) vitamins D3 (5000 IU) and K2 (1000 MUg), or a zero
      calorie control drink (PLA) were consumed immediately after the postexercise
      blood sample. Results showed that the postexercise drinks had no significant (p
      >= 0.05) effect on any biomarker measured. There was a significant (p < 0.05)
      increase in hepcidin and interleukin-6 following intense cycling intervals in the
      participants. Hepcidin increased significantly (p < 0.05) from baseline (nmol.L
      1: 9.94 +/- 8.93, 14.18 +/- 14.90, 10.44 +/- 14.62) to 3 h postexercise (nmol.L
      1: 22.27 +/- 13.41, 25.44 +/- 11.91, 22.57 +/- 15.57) in VPRO, PRO, and PLA,
      respectively. Contrary to our hypothesis, the drink compositions used did not
      blunt the postexercise hepcidin response in highly trained athletes.

PMID- 28605611
TI  - Short- and Long-Term Bond Strength Between Resin Cement and Glass-Ceramic Using a
      Silane-Containing Universal Adhesive.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the effect of various silane-containing solutions on
      bonding between resin cement and glass ceramic after 24 hours and after six
      months of water storage. Glass-ceramic plaques (IPS e.max CAD) were sandblasted
      with aluminum oxide, etched with 10% hydrofluoric acid (HF), and divided into
      five "silane treatment" groups: RelyX Ceramic Primer (RCP), RelyX Ceramic Primer
      and Single Bond Plus (RCP+SB), Scotchbond Universal (SBU), Clearfil Ceramic
      Primer (CP), and no solution (HF-only control). Each group was divided into two
      "storage time" subgroups: 24 hours or six months in 37 degrees C water. Eighteen
      resin cement cylinders (RelyX Ultimate) were bonded to each treatment group
      substrate (n=18) and then subjected to microshear testing. Failure mode was
      analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. Debond data were analyzed using a
      two-way analysis of variance and the Tukey post hoc test (alpha=0.05) as well as
      Weibull distributions. The factors "silane treatment," "storage time,"
      (p<0.0001), and their interaction were statistically significant (p<0.0010).
      Group means (MPa+/-SD), RCP (24 hours: 27.2+/-3.1; six months: 18.0+/-4.9), and
      HF-only control (24 hours: 21.1+/-3.4; six months: 15.7+/-5.8) showed a reduced
      bond strength after six months of water storage, while RCP + SB (24 hours: 23.4+/
      4.4; six months: 22.2+/-5.4), SBU (24 hours: 18.8+/-3.0; six months: 17.2+/-3.6),
      and CP (24 hours: 21.7+/-4.3; six months: 17.4+/-4.8) remained constant. Weibull
      analysis revealed that more reliable bond strengths were obtained after six
      months for SBU and RCP + SB. Evaluation by scanning electron microscopy revealed
      that all groups demonstrated hydrolytic degradation at six months of storage, but
      RCP + SB and SBU indicated less. Use of a separate application of silane and
      adhesive system improved short and long-term ceramic/resin cement bond strength.

PMID- 28605612
TI  - Influence of Different Curing Modes on Polymerization Behavior and Mechanical
      Properties of Dual-Cured Provisional Resins.
AB  - This study determined the influence of curing mode on polymerization behavior and
      mechanical properties of dual-cured provisional resins. Three dual-cured bisacryl
      based provisional resins were used: Tempsmart (TS; GC Corp), Luxatemp Automix
      Solar (LX; DMG Chemisch Pharmazeutishe Fabrik GmbH), and Integrity Multi.Cure
      (IG; Dentsply Caulk). A self-cured bisacryl-based provisional resin, Protemp Plus
      (PP; 3M ESPE) and a conventional poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) provisional
      resin, Unifast III (UF; GC Corp) were used as controls. The inorganic filler
      content and coefficients of linear thermal expansion of the test materials were
      measured. Six specimens of each material were used to determine the flexural
      strength, elastic modulus, and resilience. The changes in ultrasound velocity
      during polymerization were measured. The average inorganic filler contents of the
      provisional resins, apart from UF, ranged from 24.4 to 39.3 wt%. The highest
      inorganic filler content was determined for LX, whereas TS showed the lowest
      value among the tested materials. The average coefficients of thermal expansion
      of the tested provisional resins ranged from 77.3 to 107.7 (*10-6/ degrees C). TS
      and IG showed significantly lower thermal expansions than the other tested
      provisional resins. The mean flexural strengths of the provisional resins ranged
      from 70.4 to 122.6 MPa, the mean elastic moduli ranged from 1.8 to 3.7 GPa, and
      the mean resilience of the provisional resins ranged from 1.1 to 2.3 MJ/mm3,
      respectively. Dual-cured provisional resins showed significantly higher flexural
      strengths than the PMMA resin. However, in all cases, the light-curing mode
      showed significantly higher flexural strengths than the self-curing mode. In the
      initial polymerization phase, dual-cured resins in the light-curing mode showed a
      rapid increase in the speed of sound (V) during light irradiation, followed by a
      slower increase. Conversely, the dual-cured resins in the self-curing mode showed
      a slower initial increase, followed by a rapid increase. Although no significant
      difference in V was observed between 10 and 15 minutes in the light-curing mode
      of all tested dual-cured resins, a significantly higher V value was obtained at
      15 minutes than at 10 minutes in the self-curing modes for LX and IG. Regardless
      of the curing mode, tested dual-cured provisional resins showed superior
      mechanical properties than the conventional PMMA provisional resin. However, dual
      cured provisional resin flexural properties and polymerization behavior were
      affected by the curing mode. This study indicated that the light-curing mode
      might be recommended for all dual-cured provisional resins because of the
      enhancement of their mechanical properties and reduction of chair time.

PMID- 28605613
TI  - Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Global Disease in Need of Individualized Treatment
      Strategies.

PMID- 28605614
TI  - Medical Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) typically occurs in patients with advanced liver
      disease, so therapeutic decisions must account for the degree of underlying liver
      dysfunction and patient performance status in addition to tumor burden. Curative
      treatment options, including liver transplantation, surgical resection, and local
      ablative therapies, offer 5-year survival rates exceeding 60% but are restricted
      to patients with early-stage HCC. Surgical resection and local ablative therapies
      are also limited by high recurrence rates, highlighting a need for adjuvant
      and/or neoadjuvant therapies. A majority of patients with HCC are diagnosed
      beyond an early stage, when the tumor is no longer amenable to curative options.
      For patients with liver-localized HCC in whom curative options are not possible,
      transarterial therapies, either chemoembolization or radioembolization, can
      prolong survival but are rarely curative. Sorafenib and regorafenib are the only
      approved first-line and second-line systemic therapies, respectively, with a
      survival benefit for patients with advanced HCC; however, the benefit is
      primarily observed in patients with intact liver function and good performance
      status. There are several ongoing phase II and III trials evaluating novel
      systemic therapies, including immunotherapies. Patients with poor performance
      status or severe hepatic dysfunction do not derive any survival benefit from HCC
      directed therapy and have a median survival of approximately 6 months. These
      patients should be treated with best supportive care, with a focus on maximizing
      quality of life. Multidisciplinary care has been shown to improve appropriateness
      of treatment decisions and overall survival and should be considered standard of
      care for patients with HCC.

PMID- 28605615
TI  - Cancer Drugs: An International Comparison of Postlicensing Price Inflation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The cost of cancer drugs forms a rising proportion of health care
      budgets worldwide. A number of studies have examined international comparisons of
      initial cost, but there is little work on postlicensing price increases. To
      examine this, we compared cancer drug prices at initial sale and subsequent price
      inflation in the United States and United Kingdom and also reviewed relevant
      price control mechanisms. METHODS: The 10 top-selling cancer drugs were selected,
      and their prices at initial launch and in 2015 were compared. Standard
      nondiscounted prices were obtained from the relevant annual copies of the RED
      BOOK and the British National Formulary. RESULTS: At initial marketing, prices
      were on average 42% higher in the United States than in the United Kingdom. After
      licensing in the United States, all 10 drugs had price rises averaging an overall
      annual 8.8% (range, 1.4% to 24.1%) increase. In comparison, in the United
      Kingdom, six drugs had unchanged prices, two had decreased prices, and two had
      modest price increases. The overall annual increase in the United Kingdom was
      0.24%. CONCLUSION: Cancer drug prices are rising substantially, both at their
      initial marketing price and, in the United States, at postlicensing prices. In
      the United Kingdom, the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, an agreement
      between the government and the pharmaceutical industry, controls health care
      costs while allowing a return on investment and funds for research. The
      increasing costs of cancer drugs are approaching the limits of sustainability,
      and a similar government-industry agreement may allow stability for both health
      care provision and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States.

PMID- 28605616
TI  - Managing Patients With TP53-Deficient Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
AB  - Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) having a chromosomal loss on the
      short arm of chromosome 17 including the TP53 gene locus (17p deletion) and/or
      having mutations in TP53 have a short overall survival and, until recently,
      limited treatment options. The recent introduction of two novel substance
      classes, B-cell receptor inhibitors and BH3 mimetics, into CLL treatment has
      provided enormous clinical progress in this previously difficult-to-treat patient
      subgroup characterized by high risk for treatment failure with standard
      chemoimmunotherapy and rapid disease progression. Compounds now approved for the
      treatment of TP53-deficient CLL are the two B-cell receptor inhibitors ibrutinib
      and idelalisib and the BH3 mimetic venetoclax. All three compounds were approved
      on the basis of favorable response rates that, importantly, revealed no
      differences between TP53-competent and TP53-deficient CLL cases. Using these
      compounds, longer-lasting remissions in patients with TP53-deficient CLL could be
      demonstrated for the first time. Whether TP53 alterations will maintain their
      significance as adverse prognostic factors in treatment strategies involving
      novel compounds needs to be assessed. This review provides an overview of current
      treatment options for 17p-deleted/ TP53-mutated CLL, including those compounds
      that are already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or are under
      advanced clinical investigation. Available clinical trial data are discussed, as
      is the use of novel targeted treatment options in the context of transplant
      strategies, and an algorithm for off-study treatment of 17p-deficient CLL is
      suggested.

PMID- 28605617
TI  - Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia With TP53 Aberrations: Breakthroughs and Challenges.

PMID- 28605618
TI  - Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Slow Progress in a Booming Epidemic.

PMID- 28605619
TI  - Progress in TP53-Deficient Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: More Questions Than
      Answers.

PMID- 28605620
TI  - Case report of diffusely metastatic rectal GIST.
AB  - This is a case report of an aggressive, diffusely disseminated Stage IV rectal
      gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) in a 57-year-old male that presented for
      symptoms of malaise, constipation, and twenty pound weight loss in 2 months. Upon
      rectal examination, a hard 4centimeter submucosal mass was found at the 9-12
      o'clock position. Liver and lung metastases were visualized on computerized
      tomography (CT) of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis on metastatic work-up. He was
      deemed a poor surgical candidate due to diffuse metastatic disease and referred
      for palliative chemotherapy. The patient had suffered a perforation of his rectal
      wall two weeks after his initial presentation and passed away shortly thereafter.
      He never received palliative chemotherapy. We present a case report as a unique
      case of an extremely aggressive and quickly fatal GIST tumor.

PMID- 28605621
TI  - The association between pain catastrophising and kinesiophobia with pain and
      function in people with plantar heel pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychological variables, including catastrophic thoughts and
      kinesiophobia, are common in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain and are
      associated with pain and function. However, the role of each factor has not been
      evaluated in people with plantar heel pain (plantar fasciitis). METHODS: Thirty
      six participants diagnosed with plantar heel pain were recruited. Main outcome
      measures included the Pain Catastrophising Scale, Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia,
      the Foot Health Status Questionnaire and a Visual Analogue Scale. Hierarchical
      regression models were developed to evaluate the association between each
      psychological variable with variations in foot pain, first step pain and foot
      function. RESULTS: In a full model with age, sex and BMI, kinesiophobia
      contributed to 21% of the variability in foot function and was a significant
      predictor in this model (Beta=-0.49, P=0.006). In a separate model,
      catastrophising explained 39% of the variability in foot function and was a
      significant predictor in this model (Beta=-0.65, P<0.001). Finally, pain
      catastrophising accounted for 18% of the variability in first step pain and was a
      significant predictor in a model that also included age, sex and BMI (Beta=0.44,
      P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for age, sex and BMI, kinesiophobia and
      catastrophising were significantly associated with foot function, while
      catastrophising was associated with first step pain in people with plantar heel
      pain. In addition to addressing biological factors in the management of plantar
      heel pain, clinicians should consider the potential role of pain catastrophising
      and kinesiophobia in this population.

PMID- 28605622
TI  - Factors associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among community
      volunteers during the Sewol ferry disaster in Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics
      associated with volunteerism and identify the factors that contributed to
      posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among community volunteers following the
      Sewol ferry disaster in Korea. METHODS: In total, 2,298 adults (aged 30-70 years)
      from the Jin-do area, where the Sewol ferry disaster occurred, participated in
      this study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted 1 month after the disaster.
      Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms were
      assessed using the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R), Center for
      Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI).
      RESULTS: Clinically relevant PTSD symptoms were observed in 151 (19.7%) community
      volunteers. Age, education, socioeconomic status, religion, and lifetime
      experiences of natural disasters were associated with volunteering following the
      disaster. Logistic regression analysis revealed that volunteering was a
      significant risk factor for the development of PTSD symptoms in this sample.
      Personal experience with property damage associated with a traumatic event,
      depression, and anxiety were also significantly associated with the PTSD symptoms
      of community volunteers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the need for assessment
      and mental health programs for community volunteers performing rescue work to
      prevent posttraumatic stress symptoms following a community disaster.

PMID- 28605623
TI  - Heterogeneity in the long term health effects of warfare.
AB  - This paper estimates the long-term heterogeneous legacies of exposures to war in
      utero and during early childhood on height in adulthood. Using a novel dataset on
      the regional WWII destruction in Germany, combined with the German Socio-Economic
      Panel (SOEP), we find that individuals who experienced warfare in utero and
      during childhood are an average of 2cm shorter as adults, suggesting that the
      negative scarring effect of WWII dominated the positive effect coming from a
      selection. Among war survivors, children from less privileged families who
      resided in highly destroyed regions, particularly girls, suffered the greatest
      health consequences of warfare. Our analyses also show that wartime children who
      lost their parents during the war years are an average of 1.3cm shorter as
      adults. However, the father's conscription during WWII had no long-term effect on
      adult height.

PMID- 28605624
TI  - The application of chromatographic breath analysis in the search of volatile
      biomarkers of chronic kidney disease and coexisting type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Chromatographic studies on breath composition are aimed at finding volatile
      markers useful for medical diagnostics or in screening investigations. Studies
      leading to the development of screening breath tests are especially important for
      the diagnostics of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM). The aim of the presented study was to confirm diagnostic usefulness of
      chosen volatile compounds detected in breath, which are suggested as potential
      biomarkers of renal dysfunction and diabetes. Breath analysis were carried out in
      three groups: 10 healthy volunteers, 10 patients with CKD and 10 patients with
      CKD and T2DM. All exhaled air samples were analyzed using gas chromatograph
      (Agilent 6890GC) coupled with mass spectrometer (5975MSD). Thermal desorption was
      applied as the enrichment method. TMA was detected only in CKD patients. Higher
      breath concentrations of methanethiol (MeSH) were observed in CKD patients with
      coexisting diabetes than in patients with renal dysfunction only or in the
      healthy group. There was a tendency of increasing MeSH concentration in breath
      with increasing total glutathione in plasma (r=0.53, p=0.0026). Also, a trend of
      increasing dimethylsulfide (DMS) levels detected in breath was noticed with an
      increase of hydrogen sulfide concentration in plasma (r=0.74; p=0.00001) as well
      as with aspartate aminotransferase (AST), (r=0.61; p=0.001). The presented
      results suggest the possibility of applying TMA, MeSH, and DMS detection in
      breath as diagnostic methods.

PMID- 28605625
TI  - High stability of the immunomodulatory GK-1 synthetic peptide measured by a
      reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography method.
AB  - The 18-mer anionic peptide GK-1 has been successfully employed to improve the
      immunogenicity and protective response induced by the influenza vaccine and
      exhibited some degree of protection against experimental murine melanoma. In this
      study, a sensitive and quantitative reversed-phase HPLC method was developed to
      study GK-1 stability under different pH, temperature and storage time. The
      analysis was carried out on a Sunfire C18 column with mobile phase of
      acetonitrile-water containing 0.02% TFA. The detection was performed on an UV/Vis
      Detector at 220nm. The method was validated with respect to linearity, limits of
      detection and quantification, precision and selectivity. The linear calibration
      curves were obtained in the concentration range of 0.015-0.24mg/mL (r2=0.99) with
      lower limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of 0.001 and 0.018mg/mL,
      respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision (relative standard deviation,
      R.S.D.) values were below 3% at all quality control levels. Forced degradation
      studies were conducted by introducing a sample of GK-1 peptide standard solution
      to different conditions of pH (from 2 to 8), temperature (4, 25 and 40 degrees C)
      and storage time (10days to 6 months). The peptide GK-1 showed to be stable under
      different ranges of pH and temperature; however it was susceptible to prolonged
      storage at room temperature. Results shown in this study sustain the high
      stability of the GK-1 peptide using a reliable new selective and precise method
      suitable for its analysis.

PMID- 28605626
TI  - Factor structure of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale - Expanded (BPRS-E) in a
      large hospitalized sample.
AB  - Meta-analytically derived models of the BPRS-E factor structure were tested on a
      large (n = 33,903) hospitalized sample using confirmatory factor analysis. A
      modified four factor model (Positive symptoms, Negative symptoms, Affect, and
      Activation) containing 12 core BPRS-E symptoms based on the meta-analytic models
      had excellent model fit. An additional five factor, 15 core symptom model, which
      added a Disorganization factor consistent with the pentagonal model of
      schizophrenic symptoms also had support with generally good fit. These factors
      demonstrated acceptable reliability as measured by coefficient alpha (M = 0.77).
      These factors were compared across three major diagnostic classes and indicated
      clinically relevant differences between these groups such as depressed patients
      having higher Affect scores (d = 1.03), manic-mixed episode patients having
      higher Activation scores (d = 0.83) and schizophrenic patients having higher
      Positive Symptom scores (d = 0.89) providing evidence for the validity of these
      factors. Further exploratory factor analyses provided support for the factors of
      Positive symptoms, Negative symptoms, Affect, and Activation with additional
      smaller and less robust factors corresponding to Resistance emerging as a fifth
      factor and Disorganization emerging as a sixth factor.

PMID- 28605627
TI  - Impaired responsibility dimension of self-esteem of Brazilian adolescents with
      epilepsy.
AB  - This study aimed to compare the self-esteem of Brazilian adolescents with
      epilepsy and Brazilian adolescents without this condition and the correlations
      between self-esteem of these adolescents with depression and anxiety symptoms.
      Study participants were 101 adolescents of both sexes, aged 10-19years old, from
      elementary and high school education. Fifty patients diagnosed with uncomplicated
      epilepsy attending the pediatric epilepsy clinic of University Hospital composed
      the case group. The other fifty-one adolescents without this diagnosis were
      attending public schools in Campinas-SP region. The instruments used were:
      identification card with demographics and epilepsy data, Multidimensional Self
      Esteem Scale, Beck Depression Inventory and Inventory of State-Trait Anxiety -
      IDATE. A statistically significant result was found in the Responsibility Self
      esteem Dimension favoring the control group. Significant correlations between
      self-esteem scores and anxiety and depression symptoms were also found. The
      development of a chronic disease such as epilepsy leads to a change in the way
      the individual perceives himself and the social environment he is inserted,
      influencing his behavior. The way people with epilepsy experience their seizures
      is a subjective measure that will control his/her well-being. Childhood and
      adolescence form the basis for a healthy emotional development; thus, our results
      show the importance of studying how subjective variables relate to the physical
      aspects of a chronic disease in these life stages.

PMID- 28605628
TI  - Topiramate-associated sexual dysfunction: A systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sexual pharmacotoxicity renders patients with epilepsy at a risk
      for sexual dysfunction (SD). This study is aimed to analyze the relationship
      between sexual function and topiramate to avoid topiramate-associated SD.
      METHODS: A systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines was performed to
      elucidate any SD occurrence in patients receiving topiramate. RESULTS: A total of
      17 publications were reviewed. Based on limited polytherapy observational
      studies, the frequency of self-reported topiramate-associated SD, libido
      disorder, and orgasmic disorder in patients with polytherapy was 9.0%, 9.0%, and
      2.6%, respectively (grade C evidence). Female patients mainly had anorgasmia,
      whereas male patients principally had erectile dysfunction. The daily dose of
      topiramate in patients with SD was within the recommended dose. Sexual adversity
      usually occurred from 4weeks after topiramate use but favorably subsided without
      eventful complications after topiramate substitution or dose reduction in all
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: Topiramate can elicit different patterns of SD, especially
      anorgasmia in women and erectile dysfunction in men, even with a therapeutic
      dose. Detailed drug education and careful monitoring are necessary to maximize
      sexual health, especially in persons undergoing polytherapy and with other risks
      for SD. Moreover, a rapid response, such as substitution or reduction of the
      dose, is suggested when SD occurs during its use.

PMID- 28605630
TI  - Cognitive outcome after epilepsy surgery in children: A controlled longitudinal
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the determinants of cognitive outcome two years after
      surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy in a cohort of 31 children when compared to a
      control group of 14 surgical candidates who had yet to undergo surgery two years
      after the first neuropsychological assessment. METHODS: Controlled longitudinal
      study including three evaluations of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) scores or GDQ
      (General Developmental Quotient) for each group depending on the patient's age:
      prior to surgery (T0), one year (T1) and two years (T2) after surgery for the
      surgical group; baseline (T0) and one year (T1) and 2years (T2) after the first
      evaluation for the control-group. At follow-up, 25 children (80%) of the surgical
      group were seizure free, while seizure outcome was unsatisfactory in the
      remaining six (20%). To analyze language, visuomotor skills, memory, reading,
      visual attention, and behavior, we selected 11 school age children in the
      surgical group and nine controls. We reported performance prior to (T0) and one
      year after surgery (T1). RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between
      earlier age at seizure onset and lower IQ/GDQ at T0 (r=0.39; p=0.03) in the
      overall cohort. IQ/GDQ scores did not significantly differ between the surgical
      and control groups when analyzed at T0 and T2. However, they evolved differently
      with an improved developmental trajectory becoming identifiable only in the
      surgical group (F1,31=5.33 p=0.028; eta2=0.15). There was also a significant
      increase of forward digit span (Z=2.33; p=0.02) and Rey recall scores (Z=1.97;
      p=0.049) in the surgical school age subgroup at T1 versus T0. SIGNIFICANCE: We
      identified significantly different developmental trajectories in operated versus
      non- operated children with improved IQ/GDQ scores in operated children only. We
      also observed a significant increase of digit span scores and Rey recall scores a
      year after surgery. Further studies including larger samples with longer follow
      ups are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

PMID- 28605629
TI  - Analytic information processing style in epilepsy patients.
AB  - Relevant to the study of epileptogenesis is learning processing, given the
      pivotal role that neuroplasticity assumes in both mechanisms. Recently, evoked
      potential analyses showed a link between analytic cognitive style and altered
      neural excitability in both migraine and healthy subjects, regardless of
      cognitive impairment or psychological disorders. In this study we evaluated
      analytic/global and visual/auditory perceptual dimensions of cognitive style in
      patients with epilepsy. Twenty-five cryptogenic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE)
      patients matched with 25 idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) sufferers and 25
      healthy volunteers were recruited and participated in three cognitive style
      tests: "Sternberg-Wagner Self-Assessment Inventory", the C. Cornoldi test series
      called AMOS, and the Mariani Learning style Questionnaire. Our results
      demonstrate a significant association between analytic cognitive style and both
      IGE and TLE and respectively a predominant auditory and visual analytic style
      (ANOVA: p values <0,0001). These findings should encourage further research to
      investigate information processing style and its neurophysiological correlates in
      epilepsy.

PMID- 28605631
TI  - Care coordination in epilepsy: Measuring neurologists' connectivity using social
      network analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study sought to quantify coordination of epilepsy care, over time,
      between neurologists and other health care providers using social network
      analysis (SNA). METHODS: The Veterans Health Administration (VA) instituted an
      Epilepsy Center of Excellence (ECOE) model in 2008 to enhance care coordination
      between neurologists and other health care providers. Provider networks in the 16
      VA ECOE facilities (hub sites) were compared to a subset of 33 VA facilities
      formally affiliated (consortium sites) and 14 unaffiliated VA facilities. The
      number of connections between neurologists and each provider (node degree) was
      measured by shared epilepsy patients and tallied to generate estimates at the
      facility level separately within and across facilities. Mixed models were used to
      compare change of facility-level node degree over time across the three facility
      types, adjusted for number of providers per facility. RESULTS: Over the time
      period 2000-2013, epilepsy care coordination both within and across facilities
      significantly increased. These increases were seen in all three types of
      facilities namely hub, consortium, and unaffiliated site, relatively equally. The
      increase in connectivity was more dramatic with providers across facilities
      compared to providers within the same facilities. CONCLUSION: Establishment of
      the ECOE hub and spoke model contributed to an increase in epilepsy care
      coordination both within and across facilities from 2000 to 2013, but there was
      substantial variation across different facilities. SNA is a tool that may help
      measure coordination of specialty care.

PMID- 28605608
TI  - Canagliflozin and Cardiovascular and Renal Events in Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - Background Canagliflozin is a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor that
      reduces glycemia as well as blood pressure, body weight, and albuminuria in
      people with diabetes. We report the effects of treatment with canagliflozin on
      cardiovascular, renal, and safety outcomes. Methods The CANVAS Program integrated
      data from two trials involving a total of 10,142 participants with type 2
      diabetes and high cardiovascular risk. Participants in each trial were randomly
      assigned to receive canagliflozin or placebo and were followed for a mean of
      188.2 weeks. The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular
      causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. Results The mean age
      of the participants was 63.3 years, 35.8% were women, the mean duration of
      diabetes was 13.5 years, and 65.6% had a history of cardiovascular disease. The
      rate of the primary outcome was lower with canagliflozin than with placebo
      (occurring in 26.9 vs. 31.5 participants per 1000 patient-years; hazard ratio,
      0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75 to 0.97; P<0.001 for noninferiority;
      P=0.02 for superiority). Although on the basis of the prespecified hypothesis
      testing sequence the renal outcomes are not viewed as statistically significant,
      the results showed a possible benefit of canagliflozin with respect to the
      progression of albuminuria (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.79) and the
      composite outcome of a sustained 40% reduction in the estimated glomerular
      filtration rate, the need for renal-replacement therapy, or death from renal
      causes (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.77). Adverse reactions were
      consistent with the previously reported risks associated with canagliflozin
      except for an increased risk of amputation (6.3 vs. 3.4 participants per 1000
      patient-years; hazard ratio, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.41 to 2.75); amputations were
      primarily at the level of the toe or metatarsal. Conclusions In two trials
      involving patients with type 2 diabetes and an elevated risk of cardiovascular
      disease, patients treated with canagliflozin had a lower risk of cardiovascular
      events than those who received placebo but a greater risk of amputation,
      primarily at the level of the toe or metatarsal. (Funded by Janssen Research and
      Development; CANVAS and CANVAS-R ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01032629 and
      NCT01989754 , respectively.).

PMID- 28605632
TI  - Seizure-related variables are predictive of attention and memory in children with
      epilepsy.
AB  - Children with epilepsy (CWE) are at greater risk for cognitive deficits and
      behavioral difficulties than are typically developing healthy children, and
      particular epileptic symptoms and treatments may contribute to this risk. The
      current study examined the relationships between four seizure-related variables
      and attention and memory functioning in a sample of 207 CWE (ages 6-16) using
      both neurocognitive and parent/teacher-report measures. Sociodemographic,
      medical, and neuropsychological data were collected from patients' medical charts
      in a retrospective fashion. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed with
      sociodemographic variables (age, gender, race) entered as step one and seizure
      related variables (number of anti-epileptic drugs [AEDs], EEG laterality, EEG
      lobe of focus, lifetime seizure duration) entered as step two. Results indicated
      that seizure-related variables were consistently predictive of poor cognitive
      performances above and beyond sociodemographic variables, although only minimally
      predictive of parent/teacher-reports. A longer duration of seizure burden and
      greater number of AEDs were robust predictors of performances on most cognitive
      measures. These findings indicate that CWE with long lifetime seizure durations
      and multiple AEDs are at risk for inefficiencies in attention and memory.
      Knowledge of this risk will allow treating providers greater accuracy and
      precision when planning medical treatment and making recommendations to families.

PMID- 28605633
TI  - Epileptic vs psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: a video-based survey.
AB  - Psychogenic non epileptic seizures (PNES) are present in up to 30% of patients
      undergoing video EEG. Delay in PNES diagnosis is an average of 7.2years. Patients
      are exposed to costly, hazardous medications and other iatrogenic morbidities.
      Our aim was to investigate the ability to correctly diagnose ES from PNES in
      different groups and seniorities of medical professionals based on video alone.
      We showed ten video episodes' recordings (5 PNES, 5 ES) to doctors and nurses
      from ER, Internal Medicine ward and Neurology department, and inquired about the
      episodes' nature. 46 participants, 26 non-neurological and 20 neurological
      personnel. Seniority of responders varied. Epileptologists diagnosed correctly
      87.5% of cases, General neurologists 72.8%. Neurology nurses 69.8%, ER nurses
      58%, Internal Medicine physicians 54.1% and ER physicians 44.4%. Statistical
      significant difference between the general physicians to all neurology group
      professions was >0.05. We pointed out the lack of awareness of first responders
      to patients presenting with seizures. Neurologist ability to recognize seizures
      using semiology alone is higher than other medical personnel. Take home messages
      is the need for video taking of episodes and education plan to first responders.

PMID- 28605634
TI  - Atomoxetine, a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, reduces seizure-induced
      respiratory arrest.
AB  - Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a devastating epilepsy
      complication, and no effective preventive strategies are currently available for
      this fatal disorder. Clinical and animal studies of SUDEP demonstrate that
      seizure-induced respiratory arrest (S-IRA) is the primary event leading to death
      after generalized seizures in many cases. Enhancing brain levels of serotonin
      reduces S-IRA in animal models relevant to SUDEP, including the DBA/1 mouse.
      Given that serotonin in the brain plays an important role in modulating
      respiration and arousal, these findings suggest that deficits in respiration
      and/or arousal may contribute to S-IRA. It is well known that norepinephrine is
      an important neurotransmitter that modulates respiration and arousal in the brain
      as well. Therefore, we hypothesized that enhancing noradrenergic
      neurotransmission suppresses S-IRA. To test this hypothesis, we examined the
      effect of atomoxetine, a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI), on S-IRA evoked
      by either acoustic stimulation or pentylenetetrazole in DBA/1 mice. We report the
      original observation that atomoxetine specifically suppresses S-IRA without
      altering the susceptibility to seizures evoked by acoustic stimulation, and
      atomoxetine also reduces S-IRA evoked by pentylenetetrazole in DBA/1 mice. Our
      data suggest that the noradrenergic signaling is importantly involved in S-IRA,
      and that atomoxetine, a medication widely used to treat attention deficit
      hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is potentially useful to prevent SUDEP.

PMID- 28605635
TI  - Expression of HERV-K108 envelope interferes with HIV-1 production.
AB  - The human endogenous retroviruses (HERV)-K of the HML-2 group include full-length
      or near full-length elements encoding functional proteins, and are classified as
      type-1 or type-2 (type-1 has a deletion in the 5' end of the env gene). Because
      proteins of different retroviruses can interact, we hypothesized that HERV-K
      envelope (Env) could influence HIV-1 replication. Here we describe the negative
      effect of envelope expression of certain type-2 HERV-Ks on HIV-1 production. All
      HIV-1 and SIV strains tested were susceptible to various degrees to inhibition by
      the HERV-K108 envelope. We identified four residues within HERV-K108 Env as being
      critical to inhibit HIV-1 production. No inhibition was observed on EGFP
      expression, indicating that HERV-K Env does not affect general protein
      production. These findings demonstrate that envelope proteins from some
      endogenous retroviruses can limit production of exogenous lentiviruses such as
      HIV-1. Future studies will elucidate the mechanism mediating HIV-1 inhibition by
      HERV Envs.

PMID- 28605637
TI  - Hepatitis B surface antigen on subviral particles reduces the neutralizing effect
      of anti-HBs antibodies on hepatitis B viral particles in vitro.
AB  - During hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections subviral particles (SVP) consisting
      mainly of hepatitis B surface antigen are present at much higher concentration
      than viral particles (VP) in serum. To investigate reasons for this excess of SVP
      production, SVP and VP were fractionated on a Nycodenz gradient and analyzed for
      HBV infection of HepG2-NTCP cells with and without anti-HBs antibodies. Our
      findings showed that SVP significantly reduced the neutralization of VP by anti
      HBs, while SVP had little effect on viral entry, supporting the assumption that
      SVP serve as decoy facilitating cell-to-cell spread of HBV in the presence of
      neutralizing antibodies.

PMID- 28605636
TI  - A Sendai virus recombinant vaccine expressing a gene for truncated human
      metapneumovirus (hMPV) fusion protein protects cotton rats from hMPV challenge.
AB  - Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infections pose a serious health risk to young
      children, particularly in cases of premature birth. No licensed vaccine exists
      and there is no standard treatment for hMPV infections apart from supportive
      hospital care. We describe the production of a Sendai virus (SeV) recombinant
      that carries a gene for a truncated hMPV fusion (F) protein (SeV-MPV-Ft). The
      vaccine induces binding and neutralizing antibody responses toward hMPV and
      protection against challenge with hMPV in a cotton rat system. Results encourage
      advanced development of SeV-MPV-Ft to prevent the morbidity and mortality caused
      by hMPV infections in young children.

PMID- 28605639
TI  - Ginsenoside Rg1 attenuates the inflammatory response in DSS-induced mice colitis.
AB  - Ginsenoside Rg1 is a major active constituent of Panax ginseng and possesses anti
      inflammatory effects. It has been reported to have therapeutic effects on various
      diseases. In the present study, we investigated the role of ginsenoside Rg1 in
      dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mouse colitis. Our results showed that
      ginsenoside Rg1 markedly reduces proinflammatory cytokines release upon DSS
      stimulation of mouse dendritic cells, that ginsenoside Rg1 suppresses IL-1beta
      (Interleukin 1 beta) and TNF-alpha (Tumor necrosis factor alpha) release via up
      regulation of NLRP12 (NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 12)
      expression, and that ginsenoside Rg1 significantly decreases the inflammatory
      response to DSS-induced mouse colitis, as evidenced by increased body weight,
      reduced colonic damage scores and disease activity index (DAI), and lowered
      proinflammatory cytokines levels. These results highlight the potential
      therapeutic use of ginsenoside Rg1 as an anti-inflammatory agent in the treatment
      of colitis.

PMID- 28605638
TI  - Deriving, regenerating, and engineering CNS tissues using human pluripotent stem
      cells.
AB  - Progress in deriving a spectrum of central nervous system cell phenotypes from
      human pluripotent stem cells has spurred significant advances in in vitro
      modeling and development of regenerative therapies for neurological disorders.
      While the clinical impact of these advances is still being evaluated, their
      integration with advanced tissue engineering methodologies and therapeutic
      approaches that induce neural circuit plasticity, respectively, remain
      underexplored frontiers.

PMID- 28605640
TI  - Linking primary study data with administrative and claims data in a German cohort
      study on work, age, health and work participation: is there a consent bias?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We analysed the degree and impact of consent bias in the prospective
      study 'leben in der Arbeit (lidA)' after linking primary interview data with
      claims data from German statutory health insurance funds as well as with
      administrative data provided by the German Federal Employment Agency. STUDY
      DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Within two study waves (2011, 2014)
      primary data were collected based on computer-assisted personal interviews.
      During interview informed consent to data linkage was obtained. We used binary
      logistic regression analyses with participants' consent for record linkage as the
      dependent variable calculating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals
      (95% CIs) for independent variables. Several sociodemographic, socio-economic and
      work-related factors were modelled as potential determinants of consent. RESULTS:
      A total of 4244 participants took part in both waves. After excluding invalid
      consent, 4178 participants were included in the analysis. About 3918 (93.8%) of
      these participants gave their consent to link their primary data with data from
      at least one source. Within regression analyses only moderate bias was found due
      to region of residence, apprenticeship, professional affiliations, income and
      number of diseases. Participants from former West Germany were less likely to
      have their study data linked with both data sources (OR 0.63 [95% CI 0.42-0.96])
      than those from the former East Germany. Participants with no information on
      income were more likely to refuse consent to both data sources compared to the
      reference group (net income: under EUR 1000; OR 0.15 [95% CI 0.08-0.30]).
      Respondents with two (OR 1.37 [95% CI 1.06-1.77]) or three and more diseases (OR
      1.30 [95% CI 1.02-1.66]) diagnosed by a doctor agreed more frequently to linking
      both data sources than participants without disease. There is just a small
      proportion of variance in consenting explained by the models (R2: 0.063-0.085).
      Also, only small changes of factors' prevalence were observed in consenters.
      CONCLUSIONS: For the first time in Germany, the lidA-study links primary survey
      data with health claims and administrative employment data. We conclude that
      there is only a minor relation between the analysed factors and consent behaviour
      of the participants. A linked data set may be used in further analyses without
      substantial biases.

PMID- 28605641
TI  - Spectral and temporal auditory processing in the superior colliculus of aged
      rats.
AB  - Presbyacusis reflects dysfunctions present along the central auditory pathway.
      Given that the topographic representation of the auditory directional spatial map
      is deteriorated in the superior colliculus of aged animals, therefore, are
      spectral and temporal auditory processes altered with aging in the rat's superior
      colliculus? Extracellular single-unit recordings were conducted in the superior
      colliculus of anesthetized Sprague-Dawley adult (10 months) and aged (22 months)
      rats. In the spectral domain, level thresholds in aged rats were significantly
      increased when superior colliculus auditory neurons were stimulated with pure
      tones or Gaussian noise bursts. The sharpness of the frequency response tuning
      curve at 10 dB SPL above threshold was also significantly broader among the aged
      rats. Furthermore, in the temporal domain, the minimal silent gap thresholds to
      Gaussian noises were significantly longer in aged rats. Hence, these results
      highlight that spectral and temporal auditory processing in the superior
      colliculus are impaired during aging.

PMID- 28605643
TI  - Dispositional hope and life satisfaction among older adults attending lifelong
      learning programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to explore the indirect effects of
      dispositional hope in the life satisfaction of older adults attending a lifelong
      learning program at the University of Valencia, Spain. We examine the mediating
      impact of dispositional hope regarding its ability to impact life satisfaction
      while considering affective and confidant social support, perceived health and
      leisure activities, consciousness and spirituality as predictors. METHODS:
      Analysis were based on survey data (response rate 77.4%) provided by 737 adults
      55 years old or more (Mean age=65.41, SD=6.60; 69% woman). A structural model
      with latent variables was specified and estimated in Mplus. RESULTS: The results
      show the ability of just a few variables to sum up a reasonable model to apply to
      successful aging population. All these variables are correlated and significantly
      predict hope with the exception of health. The model additionally includes
      significant positive indirect effects from spirituality, affective support and
      consciousness on satisfaction. The model has a good fit in terms of both the
      measurement and structural model. Regarding predictive power, these comprehensive
      four main areas of successful aging account for 42% of hope and finally for one
      third of the life satisfaction variance. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the
      mediating role of dispositional hope on the life satisfaction among older adults
      attending lifelong learning programs. These findings also support the MacArthur
      model of successful aging adapted to older adults with high levels of functional,
      social and cognitive ability. Dispositional hope, perceived health, and social
      support were the strongest predictors of satisfaction with life.

PMID- 28605642
TI  - Applicability of [11C]PIB micro-PET imaging for in vivo follow-up of anti-amyloid
      treatment effects in APP23 mouse model.
AB  - In this study, we evaluated the anti-amyloid effect of functionalized
      nanoliposomes (mApoE-PA-LIP) in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease with use of
      positron emission tomography and beta-amyloid (Abeta)-targeted tracer
      [11C]Pittsburgh compound B ([11C]PIB). APP23 mice were injected with mApoE-PA-LIP
      or saline (3 times per week for 3 weeks) and [11C]PIB imaging was performed at
      baseline, after the treatment and after 3 months follow-up period, accompanied by
      Abeta immunohistochemistry and ELISA. After the treatment, [11C]PIB binding
      ratios between mApoE-PA-LIP and saline groups were equivalent in all analyzed
      brain regions; however, in the saline group, binding ratios increased from the
      baseline, whereas no increase was detected in the mApoE-PA-LIP group. During the
      additional follow-up, [11C]PIB binding increased significantly from baseline in
      both groups, and binding ratios correlated with the immunohistochemically defined
      Abeta load. This study further supports the use of [11C]PIB positron emission
      tomography imaging as a biomarker of Abeta deposition in APP23 mice and
      highlights the benefits of noninvasive follow-up, that is, using baseline data
      for animal stratification and normalization of treatment effects to baseline
      values, for future anti-amyloid treatment studies.

PMID- 28605644
TI  - Gender differences in positive life orientation among the nursing home elders in
      China: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Life orientation among the nursing home elders would differ from
      those of community-dwelling elders due to the different living environment, but
      may have greater differences in gender. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to
      investigate the positive life orientation and explore the potential risk factors
      including gender disparities among nursing home elders in China. METHODS: This
      cross-sectional study was conducted in Northeast China. Two steps cluster
      sampling procedure were chosen. Basic activities of daily living (BADL) and
      instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) systems were used to estimate the
      functional status. Positive life orientation was measured using the six-question
      life orientation scale (LOS). RESULTS: 2512 nursing home elders were enrolled in
      the study. The mean age of the participants was 73.14+/-6.746years. Of the 1308
      men and 1204 women, 14.9% had a positive life orientation in women and 16.1% in
      men. Higher level of education, independent in BADL and IADL were related to
      positive life orientation both in men and women. Age and BMI were also found to
      be significantly associated with positive life orientation in men (OR=0.587,
      1.132, respectively). For women, the influence of income and vision on positive
      life orientation was also significant (OR=1.967, 1.926, respectively).
      CONCLUSION: The positive life orientation was higher in men than women. The
      gender-specific differences contribute to take more effective measures to improve
      the positive life orientation.

PMID- 28605645
TI  - Novel in vivo experimental viability assays with high sensitivity and throughput
      capacity using a bdelloid rotifer.
AB  - Rotifers have been used in biological research as well-characterized models of
      aging. Their multi-organ characters and their sensitivity for chemicals and
      environmental changes make them useful as in vivo toxicological and lifespan
      models. Our aim was to create a bdelloid rotifer model to use in high-throughput
      viability and non-invasive assays. In order to identify our species Philodina
      acuticornis odiosa (PA), 18S rDNA-based phylogenetic analysis was carried out and
      their species-specific morphological markers identified. To execute the rotifer
      based experiments, we developed an oil-covered water-drop methodology adapted
      from human in vitro fertilization techniques. This enables toxicological
      observations of individual one-housed rotifers in a closed and controllable micro
      environment for up to several weeks. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium azide
      (NaN3) exposures were used as well-understood toxins. The toxicity and survival
      lifespan (TSL), the bright light disturbance (BLD) the mastax contraction
      frequency (MCF) and the cellular reduction capacity (CRC), indices were recorded.
      These newly developed assays were used to test the effects of lethal and
      sublethal doses of the toxins. The results showed the expected dose-dependent
      decrease in indices. These four different assays can either be used independently
      or as an integrated system for studying rotifers. These new indices render the PA
      invertebrate rotifer model a quantitative system for measuring viability,
      toxicity and lifespan (with TSL), systemic reaction capacity (with BLD), organic
      functionality (with MCF) and reductive capability of rotifers (with CRC), in
      vivo. This novel multi-level system is a reliable, sensitive and replicable
      screening tool with potential application in pharmaceutical science.

PMID- 28605646
TI  - Imidacloprid application changes microbial dynamics and enzymes in rice soil.
AB  - Extensive use of imidacloprid in rice ecosystem may alter dynamics of
      microorganisms and can change soil biochemical properties. The objective of this
      study was to assess the effect of imidacloprid on growth and activities of
      microbes in tropical rice soil ecosystem. Four treatments, namely, recommended
      dose (at 25g a.i. ha-1, RD), double the recommended dose (at 50g a.i. ha-1, 2RD),
      five times the recommended dose (at 125g a.i. ha-1, 5RD) & ten times the
      recommended dose (at 250g a.i. ha-1, 10RD) along with control were imposed under
      controlled condition. Dissipation half lives of imidacloprid in soil were 19.25,
      20.38, 21.65 and 33.00 days for RD, 2RD, 5RD and 10RD, respectively. In general
      bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi and phosphate solubilising bacteria population
      were disturbed due to imidacloprid application. Changes in diversity indices
      within bacterial community confirmed that imidacloprid application significantly
      affected distribution of bacteria. Total soil microbial biomass carbon content
      was reduced on imidacloprid application. Except dehydrogenase and alkaline
      phosphatase activities, all other soil enzymes namely, beta-glycosidase,
      fluorescien diacetate hydrolase, acid phosphatase and urease responded negatively
      to imidacloprid application. The extent of negative effect of imidacloprid
      depends on dose and exposure time. This study concludes imidacloprid application
      had transient negative effects on soil microbes.

PMID- 28605647
TI  - Physiological determinants of individual variation in sensitivity to an
      organophosphate pesticide in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus.
AB  - Individual variation in sub-lethal sensitivity to the organophosphate pesticide
      trichlorfon was investigated in Nile tilapia, using critical swimming speed
      (Ucrit) as an indicator. Tilapia exposed for 96h to 500MUgl-1 trichlorfon at 26
      degrees C (Tcfn group, n=27) showed a significant decline in mean Ucrit, compared
      to their own control (pre-exposure) performance in clean water (-14.5+/-2.3%,
      mean+/-SEM), but also compared to a Sham group (n=10) maintained for 96h in clean
      water. Individuals varied in their relative sensitivity to the pesticide, with
      the decline in Ucrit after exposure varying from 1 to 41%. The Ucrit of the Tcfn
      group did not recover completely after 96h in clean water, remaining 9.4+/-3.2%
      below their own control performance. The decline in performance was associated
      with a significant increase in net cost of aerobic swimming, of +28.4+/-6.5% at a
      sustained speed of 2bodylengthss-1, which translated into a significant decline
      in swimming efficiency (Eswim) of -17.6+/-4.0% at that speed. Within the Tcfn
      group, individual Eswim was a strong positive determinant of individual Ucrit
      across all trials, and a strong negative determinant of individual% decline in
      Ucrit after pesticide exposure (P<0.001, linear mixed effect models). Trichlorfon
      had no effects on standard metabolic rate or active metabolic rate (AMR) but,
      nonetheless, individual Ucrit in all trials, and% decline in Ucrit after
      exposure, were strongly associated with individual AMR (positively and
      negatively, respectively, P<0.001). Individual Ucrit under control conditions was
      also a strong positive determinant of Ucrit after trichlorfon exposure (P<0.001),
      but not of the% decline in Ucrit performance. In conclusion, the OP pesticide
      impaired Ucrit performance by reducing Eswim but individual tilapia varied widely
      in their relative sensitivity. Intrinsic individual physiology determined effects
      of the pesticide on performance and, in particular, good swimmers remained better
      swimmers after exposure.

PMID- 28605648
TI  - Impacts of triclosan exposure on zebrafish early-life stage: Toxicity and
      acclimation mechanisms.
AB  - Triclosan (TCS) is a broad spectrum antibacterial agent widely used in personal
      care products and present in most aquatic ecosystems. This study investigated the
      occurrence of triclosan acclimation and the biological mechanisms underlying the
      stress response triggered in early-life stage of zebrafish. Zebrafish eggs were
      first exposed to four different sublethal concentrations of TCS (2, 20, 50 and
      100MUg/L) for 7days following fertilization and subsequently exposed to a lethal
      concentration of TCS (1000MUg/L). During the time-to-death exposure (TTD),
      mortality was continuously recorded to evaluate if increased resistance occurred.
      Overall, larvae exposed to 50MUg/L of TCS demonstrated higher sensitivity, with
      delayed hatching and increased mortality during the sub-lethal exposure and
      significant lower mean time-to-death (TTD) value compared to the other groups.
      Interestingly, fish exposed to the highest concentration of TCS (100MUg/L)
      presented a similar mean TTD value as controls and a significantly better
      survival in comparison with embryos exposed to 50MUg/L, suggesting that
      acclimation process has been triggered at this concentration. Proteomic and
      enzymatic analyses were conducted on 7days post fertilization (dpf) larvae
      exposed to 50MUg/L and 100MUg/L of TCS giving insights into the functional
      changes triggered at those specific concentrations. TCS seemed to affect proteins
      involved in cytoskeleton, stress response, eyes and neuronal development. This
      was endorsed by the enzymatic results, which suggest impairment in glutathione
      metabolism and acute neurotoxicity. A significant 2.5-fold and 3-fold increase of
      AChE activity was observed following TCS exposure. Moreover, GPx activity was
      significantly increased whereas a significant inhibition of GR activity was
      observed, suggesting that de novo synthesis of reduced GSH might occur in order
      to maintain the ratio between reduced and oxidized GSH. Proteomic results
      revealed possible candidate protein involved in the acclimation process of larvae
      exposed to 100MUg/L of TCS. Our integrative analysis revealed complex non
      monotonic concentration-related effects on zebrafish early-life stages with
      increased resistance between 50 and 100MUg/L exposures. This research highlighted
      oxidative stress and neurotoxicity as major toxicity mechanisms of TCS during
      development.

PMID- 28605649
TI  - Direct-STR typing from presumptively-tested and untreated body fluids.
AB  - Body fluids provide key pieces of information for a forensic investigation.
      However, sometimes only a small amount of body fluids is found and/or DNA are
      also degraded by environmental factors at the crime scene. In extreme cases, a
      forensic analyst may have to decide whether to perform a presumptive test on the
      stains or proceed straightaway to DNA profiling, which could be wasteful for non
      biological stains. Additionally, due to the inefficient DNA extraction process,
      the amount of DNA may not be enough for STR typing, especially if parts of the
      evidence had been subjected to presumptive testing. To overcome these problems,
      we developed a direct PCR method for STR profiling of stains (blood, saliva, and
      semen) that had been subjected to presumptive tests and also those that had not
      undergone presumptive tests. Using the optimized protocols, 86 of 90 untreated
      samples (95.6%) resulted in a full DNA profile. For presumptively-tested samples,
      both the type of presumptive test used and the surfaces where the stains are
      deposited affected the quality of the STR profiles. With blood, we obtained full
      STR profiles from 88% of samples tested with luminol and 78% with Hemastix. The
      acid phosphatase test for semen and Phadebas test for saliva resulted in full STR
      profiles from 85% and 73% of samples, respectively. Different substrates also
      affected the resulting STR profiles, but there was no clear trend based on
      absorbency or texture. The interactions of types of body fluids, presumptive
      tests, and substrates must be considered together. Our direct PCR protocol can be
      used to detect DNA even with 6 months-old biological samples. The benefits of the
      developed protocol include increasing amount of DNA obtained from evidence,
      decreasing chances of DNA contamination from complex or lengthy extraction steps,
      using minimal sample amount for analysis, and most importantly, improving STR
      profiles. Also, the process could save analysis time and cost due to the omission
      of DNA extraction and quantification. Our developed method could be beneficial to
      cases with limited stains available, as forensic analysts can perform indirect
      presumptive testing on the suspected stains and direct PCR could be carried out
      from the filter paper used, thus leaving the original stain for subsequent DNA
      extraction or re-analysis.

PMID- 28605650
TI  - Body fluid prediction from microbial patterns for forensic application.
AB  - The association of a DNA profile with a certain body fluid can be of essential
      importance in the evaluation of biological evidence. Several alternative methods
      for body fluid prediction have been proposed to improve the currently used
      presumptive tests. Most of them measure gene expression. Here we present a novel
      approach based on microbial taxonomic profiles obtained by standard 16S rRNA gene
      sequencing. We used saliva deposited on skin as a forensically relevant study
      model, but the same principle can be applied for predicting other bacteria rich
      body fluids. For classification we used standard pattern recognition based on
      principal component analysis in combination with linear discriminant analysis. A
      cross-validation of the experimental data shows that the new method is able to
      successfully classify samples from saliva deposited on skin and samples from pure
      skin in 94% of the cases. We found that there is a person-effect influencing the
      result, especially from skin, indicating that a reference sample of pure skin
      microbiota from the same person could improve accuracy. In addition the pattern
      recognition methods could be further optimized. Although there is room for
      improvement, this study shows the potential of microbial profiles as a new
      forensic tool for body fluid prediction.

PMID- 28605651
TI  - Fast STR allele identification with STRait Razor 3.0.
AB  - The short tandem repeat allele identification tool (STRait Razor), a program used
      to characterize the haplotypes of short tandem repeats (STRs) in massively
      parallel sequencing (MPS) data, was redesigned. STRait Razor v3.0 performs ~660*
      faster allele identification than its previous version (v2s), a speedup that is
      largely due to a novel indexing strategy used to perform "fuzzy" (approximate)
      string matching of anchor sequences. Written in a portable compiled language,
      C++, STRait Razor v3.0 functions on all major operating systems including
      Microsoft Windows, and it has cross-platform multithreading support. In silico
      estimates of precision and accuracy of STRait Razor v3.0 were 100% in this
      evaluation and results were highly concordant with those of Strait Razor v2s.
      STRait Razor v3.0 adds several key features that simplify the haplotype reporting
      process, including simple filters to remove low frequency haplotypes as well as
      merging haplotypes within a locus encoded on opposite strands of the DNA
      molecule.

PMID- 28605652
TI  - Screening and confirmation of microRNA markers for distinguishing between
      menstrual and peripheral blood.
AB  - The identification of menstrual blood (MB) and peripheral blood (PB) left at a
      crime scene is crucial for crime reconstruction, especially in sexual assaults.
      MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of non-protein coding molecules, have been
      demonstrated to be a viable tool for body fluid identification in forensic
      casework. Several groups have searched for miRNAs that are specific to different
      body fluids. Blood has been studied the most extensively. However, menstrual
      blood was only involved in five studies, and the results confirming the presence
      of specific miRNAs could not be reproduced in other studies. In this study, we
      attempted to screen new markers that can differentiate between menstrual blood
      and peripheral blood by using Exiqon's miRCURYTM LNA Array. Five miRNAs were
      selected based on the microarray results, namely, miR-141-3p, miR-373-3p, miR-497
      5p, miR-143-5p, and miR-136-5p, whose expression levels exhibited 27.95-, 17.96-,
      16.74-, 10.14-, and 9.21-fold changes, respectively, compared to the level in
      peripheral blood. Two classic quantitative methods, TaqMan hydrolysis probes
      (TaqMan for short) and SYBR Green fluorochrome (SYBR Green for short), were
      applied in the confirmation step to study the impact of different quantitative
      methods on the results. Three miRNAs (miR-141-3p, miR-497-5p, and miR-143-5p)
      were confirmed by TaqMan and one (miR-141-3p) by SYBR Green. Furthermore,
      bioinformatic methods were applied to interpret the candidate miRNAs. Our results
      established a multi-step procedure for body fluid identification and showed that
      the choice of quantitative method is important when miRNAs are used to identify
      the origin of blood samples.

PMID- 28605653
TI  - Left ventricle remodeling in patients with beta-thalassemia major. An emerging
      differential diagnosis with left ventricle noncompaction disease.
AB  - To differentiate left ventricle non-compaction (LVNC) from hypertrabeculated
      myocardium due to LV remodeling in beta-thalassemia major (beta-TM) patients,
      cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images of 38 beta-TM patients and 10 LVNC
      patients were compared using 3 diagnostic criteria: ratio of diastolic segmental
      non-compacted to compacted myocardium (NC/C ratio) >2.5, percentage of non
      compacted LV mass (NC-LVM%) >20% and >25% of global LV mass. Specificity of NC/C
      ratio of >2.5 was the lowest (58%) and of NC-LVM% of >25% the highest (93%). A NC
      LVM% >20% showed sensitivity 100% and specificity 87%. Disease differentiation
      depends on the selected CMR criterion and is better with NC-LVM%.

PMID- 28605654
TI  - The impact of installing an MR scanner in the emergency department for patients
      presenting with acute stroke-like symptoms.
AB  - PURPOSE: We examined the impact of an MR scanner in the emergency department (ED)
      on ED length of stay (LOS), hospital (H) LOS, hospital admission rate,
      hospitalization costs, and ED re-presentation rate of patients presenting with
      stroke-like symptoms (SLS). We hypothesized that the ED MR would increase
      efficiency of patient care. METHODS: The number of MRIs performed in the ED vs.
      inpatient setting, EDLOS, HLOS, hospitalization charges, admission rate,
      discharge diagnoses, and 30-60-day ED re-presentation rates were determined for
      ED patients with SLS six months before (2011) and after (2012) ED MR
      installation. RESULTS: 362 and 448 patients with SLS presented to the ED, and 196
      and 176 patients were admitted in 2011 and 2012 respectively. In 2011, 36 (18.4%)
      admitted patients, and, in 2012, 68 (38.6%) had MRIs in the ED, p<0.001. In 2011,
      74 (37.8%) admitted patients were diagnosed with ischemic stroke, compared to 92
      (52.3%) in 2012, p=0.007. HLOS was longer and charges higher for patients with
      stroke. No patients returned with a confirmed diagnosis of CVA or TIA within 0
      60days after being discharged from the ED with negative MR. CONCLUSIONS: With the
      ED MR, more admitted patients 1) got scanned in the ED and 2) were diagnosed with
      stroke. Because this led to more patients on the stroke service actually
      suffering from strokes (and not other diagnoses), the overall HLOS and charges of
      patients presenting with SLS were not reduced by ED MR screening. Discharge after
      a negative ED MR did not incur risk of TIAs or strokes over the ensuing 60days.
      Therefore, not only does a dedicated MR scanner in the ED aid in the acute
      diagnosis of a CVA or other neurologic disorder, but it does so without the risk
      of under-diagnosing TIAs or evolving strokes in the presence of a negative MRI.

PMID- 28605655
TI  - Aluminum chloride caused liver dysfunction and mitochondrial energy metabolism
      disorder in rat.
AB  - Aluminum (Al) is known to exert hepatotoxicity. However, the mechanisms mostly
      are unclear. Liver is a metabolism organ that maintains the energy level and
      structural stability of body, mitochondria are the main sites of energy
      metabolism, thus, we hypothesized that mitochondrial energy metabolism disorder
      contributes to liver dysfunction in aluminum chloride (AlCl3) treatment rat. To
      verify the hypothesis, forty male Wistar rats were randomly allocated and orally
      exposed to 0, 64mg/kg, 128mg/kg and 256mg/kg body weight AlCl3 in drinking water
      for 120days, respectively. We found that AlCl3 exposure reduced the electron
      transport chain complexes I-V activities and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level,
      as well as disturbed mitochondrial DNA transcript, presenting as the inhibited
      mRNA expressions of NADH dehydrogenase 1, NADH dehydrogenase 2, cytochrome b,
      cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 and ATP synthase
      6, indicating that AlCl3 exposure disturbs the mitochondrial energy metabolism,
      and it caused an increase in liver enzymes (Aspartate aminotransferase and
      Alanine aminotransferase) and histopathological lesions. Additionally, we found
      that reactive oxygen species accumulation and decreased superoxide dismutase
      activity in mitochondria, and increased 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine levels in
      mitochondrial DNA, demonstrating AlCl3 exposure promotes mitochondrial oxidative
      stress, which may be a contributing factor to mitochondrial energy metabolism
      disorder and liver dysfunction. The study displayed that mitochondria are the
      potential target of liver damage induced by AlCl3, providing considerable
      direction for the prevention and clinical intervention of liver diseases.

PMID- 28605656
TI  - Metabolism shapes the tumor microenvironment.
AB  - Tumors are strongly influenced by the surrounding normal tissue, which forms a
      specialized niche termed the tumor microenvironment (TME). The TME is modeled by
      cancer cells for their own benefit through a complex array of interactions. The
      identification of new forms of communication within the TME, which are dependent
      on the tumor's metabolic activity, has expanded our understanding of this
      heterocellular regulation and has revealed potential therapeutic targets. This
      review will summarize recent findings on the metabolic regulation of tumor cells
      by the TME. The concepts to be discussed include the existence of metabolic
      intratumoral heterogeneity, the contribution of cancer associated fibroblasts
      (CAFs) to tumor progression, and the regulation of tumor immunology by tumor
      secreted metabolites.

PMID- 28605657
TI  - Muscle as a paracrine and endocrine organ.
AB  - Skeletal muscle cells are highly abundant and metabolically active and are known
      to 'communicate' their energy demands to other organs through active secretion.
      Muscle-derived secretory proteins include a variety of cytokines and peptides
      collectively referred to as 'myokines' that exert autocrine, paracrine or
      endocrine effects. Analyses of the skeletal muscle secretome revealed that
      numerous myokines are secreted in response to contraction or strength training,
      and that these factors not only regulate energy demand but also contribute to the
      broad beneficial effects of exercise on cardiovascular, metabolic, and mental
      health. Herein we review recent studies on the myokines that regulate muscle
      function and those that mediate cross talk between skeletal muscle and other
      organs including adipose tissue, liver, pancreas, the cardiovascular system,
      brain, bones, and skin.

PMID- 28605658
TI  - Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in pregnancy: The role of placental
      and breast-milk mediated transfer of ADAMTS13-autoantibodies.

PMID- 28605659
TI  - Trimester-specific coagulation and anticoagulation reference intervals for
      healthy pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the normal physiological need of pregnancy and childbirth, the
      haemostatic system of pregnant women is different from that of healthy non
      pregnant women. The aim of this study was to establish trimester-specific
      reference intervals of coagulation screening tests and thrombophilia markers in
      pregnancies without complications of females with Han ethnicity from North China.
      METHODS: In total 744 Han healthy pregnant women (first trimester 207 cases,
      second trimester 222 cases and third trimester 315 cases) and 121 healthy non
      pregnant women were recruited in North China. Eight tests-activated partial
      thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen
      (Fib), d-Dimer, antithrombin (AT), protein C (PC) and free protein S (fPS)-were
      processed on ACL TOP automated coagulation analyzer. The non-parametric 2.5th
      97.5th percentiles reference intervals were calculated to establish trimester
      specific reference intervals. RESULTS: The reference intervals for APTT, PT, TT,
      Fib, d-Dimer, AT, PC, and fPS at first trimester were 26.4-41.9s, 9.7-12.5s, 11.7
      17.0s, 2.38-4.44g/L, 0.01-0.31MUg/mL, 72-120%, 29-150%, 21-143%, respectively. At
      second trimester, the reference intervals were 24.4-35.8s, 8.5-13.2s, 10.0-16.0s,
      2.40-5.97g/L, 0.05-0.73MUg/mL, 68-125%, 20-138%, 24-155%, respectively. At third
      trimester, the reference intervals were 25.6-34.9s, 8.6-12.4s, 11.1-15.5s, 2.79
      5.91g/L, 0.14-2.82MUg/mL, 56-119%, 20-134%, 17-140%, respectively. From the first
      trimester to the third trimester, APTT, PT and TT presented shortened trends, Fib
      and d-Dimer presented increasing trends, AT, PC and fPS activity presented
      decreasing trends, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The trimester-specific reference
      intervals of coagulation screening tests and thrombophilia markers in pregnancies
      without complications of females with Han ethnicity from North China are
      presented in this study, which may provide effective evidence for doctors to
      accurately diagnose and treat the disease during pregnancy.

PMID- 28605660
TI  - Elevated annexin A5 plasma levels in term pregnancies of M2/ANXA5 carriers.

PMID- 28605661
TI  - Seizure management by preschool teachers: A training concept focussing on
      practical skills.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prolonged seizures can cause severe harm and even death. For seizures
      lasting longer than 5min, an administration of rescue medication is therefore
      recommended. Caregivers such as preschool teachers should be able to administer
      correctly anticonvulsive rescue medication to children. METHODS: A training
      concept for preschool teachers on seizure management focussing on practical
      skills was developed. To assess the success of the training, a structured
      interview on attitudes relating to rescue medication administration was
      conducted. The number of committed errors during administration of a
      rectal/buccal rescue medication to dummy dolls was compared before and after
      training. RESULTS: 210 teachers from 115 preschools participated while all
      teachers from 303 preschools had been invited. The self-reported level of
      confidence in their own skills to administer anticonvulsive rescue medication
      increased from 5 to 8 on a scale from 1 to 10 (p<0.001). The number of
      participants who agreed to administer rescue medication rose from 195/210 (92.8%)
      before training to 209/210 (99.5%, p<0.001) after training for the rectal route,
      and from 173/210 (82.4%) to 209/210 (99.5%, p<0.001) for the buccal route. For
      teachers who administered rescue medication before and after training, the number
      of administrations without any administration errors rose from 1/195 (0.5%) to
      117/195 (60.0%, p<0.001) for the rectal route, and from 13/173 (7.5%) to 95/173
      (54.9%, p<0.001) for the buccal route. CONCLUSION: A training for preschool
      teachers boosted the level of self-confidence relating to administration of
      anticonvulsive rescue medication. Teachers also committed fewer errors when
      administering rescue medication to dummy dolls.

PMID- 28605663
TI  - Patients with bulimia nervosa do not show typical neurodevelopment of cognitive
      control under emotional influences.
AB  - Bulimia nervosa (BN) emerges in the late teen years and is characterized by binge
      eating and related compensatory behaviors. These behaviors often co-occur with
      periods of negative affect suggesting an association between emotions and control
      over eating behavior. In the current study, we examined how cognitive control and
      neural processes change under emotional states of arousal in 46 participants with
      (n=19) and without (n=27) BN from the ages of 18-33 years. Participants performed
      a go/nogo task consisting of brief negative, positive and neutral emotional cues
      and sustained negative, positive and neutral emotional states of arousal during
      functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Overall task performance improved
      with age for healthy participants, but not for patients with BN. These age
      dependent behavioral effects were paralleled by diminished recruitment of
      prefrontal control circuitry in patients with BN with age. Although patients with
      BN showed no difference in performance on the experimental manipulations of
      negative emotions, sustained positive emotions related to improved performance
      among patients with BN. Together the findings highlight a neurodevelopmental
      approach towards understanding markers of psychopathology and suggest that
      sustained positive affect may have potential therapeutic effects on maintaining
      behavioral control in BN.

PMID- 28605662
TI  - Computerized cognitive training for children with neurofibromatosis type 1: A
      pilot resting-state fMRI study.
AB  - In this pilot study, we examined training effects of a computerized working
      memory program on resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
      measures in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). We contrasted pre- with
      post-training resting state fMRI and cognitive measures from 16 participants
      (nine males; 11.1 +/- 2.3 years) with NF1 and documented working memory
      difficulties. Using non-parametric permutation test inference, we found
      significant regionally specific differences (family-wise error corrected) in two
      of four voxel-wise resting state measures: fractional amplitude of low frequency
      fluctuations (indexing peak-to-trough intensity of spontaneous oscillations) and
      regional homogeneity (indexing local intrinsic synchrony). Some cognitive task
      improvement was observed as well. These preliminary findings suggest that
      regionally specific changes in resting state fMRI indices may be associated with
      treatment-related cognitive amelioration in NF1. Nevertheless, current results
      must be interpreted with caution pending independent controlled replication.

PMID- 28605665
TI  - The effects of fatty acid composition on cardiac hypertrophy and function in
      mouse models of diet-induced obesity.
AB  - High-fat diets (HFDs) are used frequently to study the development of cardiac
      dysfunction in animal models of obesity and diabetes. However, impairment in
      systolic function, often reported as declining ejection fraction, may not
      consistently occur in a given time frame which could be contributable to a
      variety of factors within the experimental design. One major factor may be the
      amounts of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) that are present in the
      diet. To determine whether the FA content and composition were critical
      determinants in the development of cardiac dysfunction in response to high-fat
      feeding, we fed adult, male mice Western diet (45% fat, 60% saturated), Surwit
      diet (60% fat, 90% saturated), milk-fat-based diet (60% fat, 60% saturated) or
      high-fat Western diet (HFWD, 60% fat, 32% saturated) for 12 weeks. We report that
      neither the amount of total fat nor the ratio of saturated to unsaturated FAs in
      the diets differentially affects body weight and adiposity in mice. In addition,
      no evidence of systolic dysfunction is present after 12 weeks. Interestingly, the
      HFWD, with equal parts saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated FAs,
      induces mild cardiac hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction after 12 weeks, which
      coincides with elevated serum levels of arachidonic acid. Our results suggest
      that the dietary FA content and composition may be a primary determinant of
      diastolic, but not systolic, dysfunction in animal models of diet-induced
      obesity.

PMID- 28605664
TI  - Soy compared with milk protein in a Western diet changes fecal microbiota and
      decreases hepatic steatosis in obese OLETF rats.
AB  - Soy protein is effective at preventing hepatic steatosis; however, the mechanisms
      are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that soy vs. dairy protein-based
      diet would alter microbiota and attenuate hepatic steatosis in hyperphagic Otsuka
      Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) rats. Male OLETF rats were randomized to
      "Western" diets containing milk protein isolate (MPI), soy protein isolate (SPI)
      or 50:50 MPI/SPI (MS) (n=9-10/group; 21% kcal protein) for 16 weeks. SPI
      attenuated (P<.05) fat mass and percent fat by ~10% compared with MS, but not
      compared with MPI. Serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substance and total and low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were lower (P<.05) with dietary
      SPI vs. MPI and MS. Histological hepatic steatosis was lower (P<.05) in SPI
      compared with MPI or MS. Lipidomic analyses revealed reductions (P<.05) in
      hepatic diacylglycerols but not triacylglycerols in SPI compared with MPI, which
      was associated with lower hepatic de novo lipogenesis (ACC, FAS and SCD-1 protein
      content, and hepatic 16:1 n-7 and 18:1 n-7 PUFA concentrations) (P<.05) compared
      with MPI and MS; however, MPI displayed elevated hepatic mitochondrial function
      compared with SPI and MS. Fecal bacterial 16S rRNA analysis revealed SPI-intake
      elicited increases (P<.05) in Lactobacillus and decreases (P<.05) in Blautia and
      Lachnospiraceae suggesting decreases in fecal secondary bile acids in SPI rats.
      SPI and MS exhibited greater (P<.05) hepatic Fxr, Fgfr4, Hnf4a, HmgCoA reductase
      and synthase mRNA expression compared with MPI. Overall, dietary SPI compared
      with MPI decreased hepatic steatosis and diacylglycerols, changed microbiota
      populations and altered bile acid signaling and cholesterol homeostasis in a
      rodent model of obesity.

PMID- 28605666
TI  - Feasibility of screening and prevalence of prenatal depression in an obstetric
      setting in Spain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Prenatal depression is a significant public health problem and one of
      the main risk factors for postpartum depression. Limited research in perinatal
      depression has been conducted in Spain. The objectives of this study was to: (1)
      examine the feasibility of integrating a screening program for prenatal
      depression in an obstetrics setting in a large urban hospital in Spain; and (2)
      provide an initial estimate of the prevalence rate of the severity of depressive
      symptoms during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: Screening for prenatal depression was
      conducted during the first trimester in an obstetrics setting in an urban
      hospital in Madrid, Spain 2014-2015. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was
      used as the main screener. RESULTS: Of the 730 women asked to complete the
      screening protocol, 445 (60.9%) completed the PHQ-9 during the first trimester.
      Those who did not complete the screening were more likely to be immigrants and
      did not read Spanish. The prevalence of moderate to high severity of prenatal
      depressive symptoms prenatal depressive is 14.8% (PHQ-9>=10). CONCLUSION: It is
      possible to integrate screening for prenatal depression in an urban obstetrics
      setting, but there are significant structural barriers to implementation. The
      prevalence of significant prenatal depressive symptoms is similar to previous
      research in Spain and adds to the limited research in this area.

PMID- 28605667
TI  - Single versus double intrauterine insemination (IUI) for pregnancy: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - This study is focused in appraising the current evidence comparing double and
      single IUI for achieving a pregnancy. The primary outcomes were live birth and
      ectopic pregnancy per women randomized. Secondary outcomes included clinical
      pregnancy and miscarriage. The evaluation of the risk of bias within each study
      was structured using the Cochrane risk of bias and the overall quality of the
      body of evidence was assessed through the GRADE criteria. Electronic searches
      were run in 4 databases and resulted in 15 studies included encompassing 3795
      women. The subgroup 'mild male infertility' included 1246 women whilst the
      subgroup 'normal semen quality' included 1188 women. Clinical pregnancy was
      reported by all studies, and there is no evidence of a difference between single
      and double IUI (RR 1.22, CI 0.97 to 1.54, 15 RCTs, 3795 women, I2=45%). In the
      subgroup analysis, we could not identify a particular group that could benefit
      from the intervention. No conclusion can be drawn regarding live birth, ectopic
      pregnancy, and miscarriage because they were reported by too few studies and the
      estimates were too imprecise. Currently, there is no evidence to support the use
      of double IUI in clinical practice. It requires a second appointment and
      insemination, thus making the treatment more complex and expensive, without a
      clear evidence of a benefit. Nevertheless, evidence is still of low quality and
      our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: the true effect may be
      substantially different from the hereby demonstrated.

PMID- 28605668
TI  - Association of endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene variants (-786 T>C, intron
      4 b/a VNTR and 894 G>T) with idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss: A case-control
      study with haplotype and in silico analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE(S): Many lines of evidence suggest that reduced production of nitric
      oxide (NO) due to single nucleotide polymorphisms in endothelial nitric oxide
      synthase (eNOS) gene may affect the implantation and maintenance of pregnancy.
      Accordingly, our objective was to investigate whether the eNOS polymorphisms (
      786 T>C, intron 4 b/a VNTR and 894 G>T) and haplotypes may be associated with
      increased susceptibility to recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). STUDY DESIGN: A total
      of 130 women with a history of two or more unexplained consecutive first
      trimester miscarriages and 110 ethnically matched women with at least two normal
      pregnancies and no history of pregnancy loss were included in the study as cases
      and controls, respectively. To identify the genotypes, we used polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)
      methods In addition, an in silico analysis was conducted to predict the possible
      effects of the eNOS 894 G>T polymorphism on the structure and function of eNOS
      mRNA and protein using prediction servers. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that
      the prevalence of eNOS -786 T>C polymorphism, eNOS -786C allele and TC+CC
      genotype in cases were significantly higher than those in healthy controls
      (p<0.05). Also, the combination genotypes -786TT/4b4a and -786TT/894GG were
      significantly associated with reduced risk of RPL. We also found that the C-4a-G
      haplotype of the eNOS gene studied polymorphisms was significantly associated
      with a predisposition to RPL (odds ratio, 3.219; 95% confidence interval, 1.649
      6.282; p=0.0003). The in silico analysis showed that the eNOS 894 G>T
      polymorphism couldn't affects eNOS mRNA and protein significantly. CONCLUSION:
      Our findings provide evidence to support the hypothesis that eNOS -786 T>C
      polymorphism and the -786C-4a-894G haplotype are associated with the high risk of
      RPL.

PMID- 28605669
TI  - DNA polymerases eta and kappa exchange with the polymerase delta holoenzyme to
      complete common fragile site synthesis.
AB  - Common fragile sites (CFSs) are inherently unstable genomic loci that are
      recurrently altered in human tumor cells. Despite their instability, CFS are
      ubiquitous throughout the human genome and associated with large tumor suppressor
      genes or oncogenes. CFSs are enriched with repetitive DNA sequences, one feature
      postulated to explain why these loci are inherently difficult to replicate, and
      sensitive to replication stress. We have shown that specialized DNA polymerases
      (Pols) eta and kappa replicate CFS-derived sequences more efficiently than the
      replicative Pol delta. However, we lacked an understanding of how these enzymes
      cooperate to ensure efficient CFS replication. Here, we designed a model of
      lagging strand replication with RFC loaded PCNA that allows for maximal activity
      of the four-subunit human Pol delta holoenzyme, Pol eta, and Pol kappa in
      polymerase mixing assays. We discovered that Pol eta and kappa are both able to
      exchange with Pol delta stalled at repetitive CFS sequences, enhancing Normalized
      Replication Efficiency. We used this model to test the impact of PCNA mono
      ubiquitination on polymerase exchange, and found no change in polymerase
      cooperativity in CFS replication compared with unmodified PCNA. Finally, we
      modeled replication stress in vitro using aphidicolin and found that Pol delta
      holoenzyme synthesis was significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner,
      preventing any replication past the CFS. Importantly, Pol eta and kappa were
      still proficient in rescuing this stalled Pol delta synthesis, which may explain,
      in part, the CFS instability phenotype of aphidicolin-treated Pol eta and Pol
      kappa-deficient cells. In total, our data support a model wherein Pol delta
      stalling at CFSs allows for free exchange with a specialized polymerase that is
      not driven by PCNA.

PMID- 28605670
TI  - SSB recruitment of Exonuclease I aborts template-switching in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Misalignment of a nascent strand and the use of an alternative template during
      DNA replication, a process termed "template-switching", can give rise to frequent
      mutations and genetic rearrangements. Mutational hotspots are frequently found
      associated with imperfect inverted repeats ("quasipalindromes" or "QPs") in many
      organisms, including bacteriophage, bacteria, yeast and mammals. Evidence
      suggests that QPs mutate by a replication template-switch whereby one copy of the
      inverted repeat templates synthesis of the other. To study quasipalindrome
      associated mutagenesis ("QPM") more systematically, we have engineered mutational
      reporters in the lacZ gene of Escherichia coli, that revert to Lac+ specifically
      by QPM. We and others have shown that QPM is more efficient during replication of
      the leading strand than it is on the lagging strand. We have previously shown
      that QPM is elevated and that the leading-strand bias is lost in mutants lacking
      the major 3' ssDNA exonucleases, ExoI and ExoVII. This suggests that one or both
      of these exonucleases more efficiently abort template-switches on the lagging
      strand. Here, we show that ExoI is primarily responsible for this bias and that
      its ability to be recruited by single-strand DNA binding protein plays a critical
      role in QPM avoidance and strand bias. In addition to these stand-alone
      exonucleases, loss of the 3' proofreading exonuclease activity of the replicative
      DNA polymerase III also greatly elevates QPM. This may be because template
      switching is initiated by base misincorporation, leading to polymerase
      dissociation and subsequent nascent strand misalignment; alternatively or
      additionally, the proofreading exonuclease may scavenge displaced 3' DNA that
      would otherwise be free to misalign.

PMID- 28605672
TI  - Intercellular transfer of organelles during body pigmentation.
AB  - The intercellular transfer of the melanin-producing organelle, called melanosome,
      from melanocytes to adjacent keratinocytes, is largely responsible for the coat
      colors and skin pigmentation of amniotes (birds, reptiles, and mammals). Although
      several hypotheses of melanin-transfer were proposed mainly by in vitro studies
      and electron microscopies, how the melanosome transfer takes place in the actual
      skin remained unclear. With advances in technologies of gene manipulations and
      high-resolution microscopy that allow direct visualization of plasma membrane, we
      are beginning to understand the amazing behaviors and dynamics of melanocytes.
      Studies in melanosome transfer further provide a clue to understand a general
      principle of intercellular organelle transport, including the intercellular
      translocations of mitochondria.

PMID- 28605671
TI  - Targeted protein knockdown using small molecule degraders.
AB  - Small molecule probes of biological systems have traditionally been designed to
      bind to and inhibit the active sites of their protein targets. While this class
      of pharmacological agents has been broadened by the development of a small number
      of allosteric and protein-protein interaction (PPI) inhibitors, conventional drug
      design still excludes 'undruggable' proteins that are neither enzymes nor
      receptors. Recent years have seen the emergence of new classes of small molecules
      that can target hitherto undruggable proteins by recruiting the cellular
      proteostasis machinery to selectively tag them for degradation. These molecules,
      especially the class known as Proteolysis Targeting Chimera (PROTACs), represent
      a paradigm shift in chemical genetics, but their most tantalizing potential is as
      novel therapeutic agents. This review briefly summarizes the preclinical
      development of small molecule-based protein degraders, and describes the recent
      improvements in the technology that have positioned PROTACs on the cusp of
      entering the clinic.

PMID- 28605673
TI  - Oxidative transformation of tunichromes - Model studies with 1,2-dehydro-N
      acetyldopamine and N-acetylcysteine.
AB  - Tunichromes are 1,2-dehydrodopa containing bioactive peptidyl derivatives found
      in blood cells of several tunicates. They have been implicated in metal
      sequestering, tunic formation, wound healing and defense reaction. Earlier
      studies conducted on these compounds indicate their extreme liability, high
      reactivity and easy oxidative polymerization. Their reactions are also
      complicated by the presence of multiple dehydrodopyl units. Since they have been
      invoked in crosslinking and covalent binding, to understand the reactivities of
      these novel compounds, we have taken a simple model compound that possess the
      tunichrome reactive group viz., 1,2-dehydro-N-acetyldopamine (Dehydro NADA) and
      examined its reaction with N-acetylcysteine in presence of oxygen under both
      enzymatic and nonenzymatic conditions. Ultraviolet and visible spectral studies
      of reaction mixtures containing dehydro NADA and N-acetylcysteine in different
      molar ratios indicated the production of side chain and ring adducts of N
      acetylcysteine to dehydro NADA. Liquid chromatography and mass spectral studies
      supported this contention and confirmed the production of several different
      products. Mass spectral analysis of these products show the potentials of dehydro
      NADA to form side chain adducts that can lead to polymeric products. This is the
      first report demonstrating the ability of dehydro dopyl units to form adducts and
      crosslinks with amino acid side chains.

PMID- 28605674
TI  - A procedure to detect abnormal sensorimotor control in adolescents with
      idiopathic scoliosis.
AB  - This work identifies, among adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis, those
      demonstrating impaired sensorimotor control through a classification procedure
      comparing the amplitude of their vestibular-evoked postural responses. The
      sensorimotor control of healthy adolescents (n=17) and adolescents with
      idiopathic scoliosis (n=52) with either mild (Cobb angle>=15 degrees  and <=30
      degrees ) or severe (Cobb angle >30 degrees ) spine deformation was assessed
      through galvanic vestibular stimulation. A classification procedure sorted out
      adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis whether the amplitude of their vestibular
      evoked postural response was dissimilar or similar to controls. Compared to
      controls, galvanic vestibular stimulation evoked larger postural response in
      adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. Nonetheless, the classification procedure
      revealed that only 42.5% of all patients showed impaired sensorimotor control.
      Consequently, identifying patients with sensorimotor control impairment would
      allow to apply personalized treatments, help clinicians to establish prognosis
      and hopefully improve the condition of patients with adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis.

PMID- 28605676
TI  - Isoxazole ring as a useful scaffold in a search for new therapeutic agents.
AB  - Due to its relatively easy synthesis, isoxazole ring has been as an object of
      interest for chemists and pharmacologists from research groups all over the
      world. Its chemical modifications include both connection of isoxazole with other
      aromatic, heteroaromatic or non aromatic rings and substitution with different
      alkyl groups. Thanks to their usually low cytotoxicity, isoxazole derivatives are
      still popular scaffolds for the development of new agents with variable
      biological activities, such as antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, anti
      inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anticonvulsant or anti-diabetic properties. This
      review discusses the chemical structure of recently developed isoxazole
      derivatives with regards to their activity and potential therapeutic use.

PMID- 28605675
TI  - Isosteroidal alkaloids as potent dual-binding site inhibitors of both
      acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase from the bulbs of Fritillaria
      walujewii.
AB  - Five new isosteroidal alkaloids, walujewine A (1), walujewine B (4), walujewine C
      (5), walujewine D (6), walujewine E (10) were isolated from the bulbs of
      Fritillaria walujewii together with seven known isosteroidal alkaloids (2, 3, 7
      9, 11, 12). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of IR, ESI-MS, HR-ESI
      MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data analyses and single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction. All the isolates were tested for ChE inhibiting activity by the
      Ellman's method. Compounds 3-5 and 8-10 were potent dual AChE-BChE inhibitors,
      and compound 1 showed highly selective AChE inhibition. The structure-activity
      relationship of compounds 1-12 was discussed in details. And kinetic analysis
      showed that compounds 1, 3-5, and 8-10 were mixed-type reversible inhibitors of
      AChE, simultaneously binding to the catalytic and peripheral anionic sites, which
      was verified by in silico docking studies. The docking simulation also showed
      that active compound 3 and 8 created many interactions with the CAS and PAS
      gorges of BChE, revealing their mixed-type inhibition. ADMET analysis further
      confirmed the therapeutic potential of some isosteroidal alkaloids based on their
      high BBB-penetration.

PMID- 28605677
TI  - Glucose metabolism in nerve terminals.
AB  - Nerve terminals in the brain carry out the primary form of intercellular
      communication between neurons. Neurotransmission, however, requires adequate
      supply of ATP to support energetically demanding steps, including the maintenance
      of ionic gradients, reversing changes in intracellular Ca2+ that arise from
      opening voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, as well recycling synaptic vesicles. The
      energy demands of the brain are primarily met by glucose which is oxidized
      through glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP. The pathways of
      ATP production have to respond rapidly to changes in energy demand at the synapse
      to sustain neuronal activity. In this review, we discuss recent progress in
      understanding the mechanisms regulating glycolysis at nerve terminals, their
      contribution to synaptic function, and how dysregulation of glycolysis may
      contribute to neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28605679
TI  - A re-investigation of the phytochemical composition of the edible herb Amaranthus
      retroflexus L.
AB  - In this paper the presence of selected prenylated and unprenylated
      phenylpropanoids of nutraceutical value, namely umbelliferone, apigenin, 4'
      geranyloxyferulic acid, 7-isopentenyloxycoumarin, auraptene, and umbelliprenin
      have been determined in all parts of the edible herb Amaranthus retroflexus
      extracted with different methodologies. Roots were seen to contain the widest
      variety of unprenylated and prenylated phenylpropanoids both in terms of number
      of secondary metabolites and their quantitites. Findings described in the present
      study underline how A. retroflexus can be considered as a potential nutraceutical
      for human welfare.

PMID- 28605680
TI  - Surrogate CD16-expressing effector cell lines for determining the bioactivity of
      therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
AB  - Traditional antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) assays use donor
      derived natural killer (NK) or peripheral blood mononuclear cells, but donor
      genetic variability and the technically challenging nature of the assay means
      that alternative in vitro assay formats are required. We explored the utility of
      two reporter gene cell lines, the J2 and J9, as surrogate effector cells for ADCC
      assays. Both express the ADCC relevant Fcgamma receptor CD16, crosslinking of
      which leads to firefly luciferase expression. For anti-CD20 rituximab and anti
      HER2 trastuzumab (both IgG1 monoclonal antibodies, mAbs) a dose dependent firefly
      luciferase response was observed exclusively in the presence of their respective
      targets, representing the molecular interaction which potentiates ADCC activity.
      Importantly, both surrogate effector and NK cell based assays gave statistically
      similar values for rituximab ADCC activity. Increased engagement with target cell
      bound mAbs was determined to be cytotoxic for the J2 and J9 cell lines at the
      assay end point (at which luciferase expression is measured). However, use of the
      J9 cells containing the constitutively expressed renilla luciferase gene enabled
      data normalisation and corrected for fluctuations in both cell number and
      viability providing an advantage over currently available surrogate effector cell
      lines. Abrogated ADCC activity with IgG4 mAbs, but enhanced activity with an IgG1
      non-fucosylated mAb, was seen with the J9 cell line, as expected. Additionally,
      two rituximab products (biosimilars in development) with similar binding by flow
      cytometry, N-glycan profiles using HPLC and CD16 binding by surface plasmon
      resonance showed comparable ADCC activity to Mabthera. The ADCC activity of
      another anti-CD20 mAb, ofatumumab, reported only with primary cell based assays
      to date was also measured. This is the first report of a dual reporter gene based
      ADCC assay.

PMID- 28605678
TI  - Trends in utilization of smoking cessation agents before and after the passage of
      FDA boxed warning in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2009, the FDA required a black box warning (BBW) on bupropion and
      varenicline, the two commonly prescribed smoking cessation agents due to reports
      of adverse neuropsychiatric events. We investigated if there was a decline in use
      of bupropion and varenicline after the BBW by comparing the percent using these
      medications before and after BBW. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective
      observational study using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from
      2007 to 2014. The study sample consisted of adult smokers, who were advised by
      their physicians to quit smoking. We divided the time period into "pre-warning",
      "post-warning: immediate", and "post-warning: late." Unadjusted analysis using
      chi-square tests and adjusted analyses using logistic regressions were conducted
      to evaluate the change in bupropion and varenicline use before and after the BBW.
      Secondary analyses using piecewise regression were also conducted. RESULTS: On an
      average, 49.04% of smokers were advised by their physicians to quit smoking. We
      observed a statistically significant decline in varenicline use from 22.1% in
      year 2007 to 9.23% in 2014 (p value<0.001). In the logistic (Adjusted Odds
      Ratio=0.36, 95% CI=0.22-0.58) and piecewise regressions (Odds Ratio=0.64, 95%
      CI=0.41-0.99) smokers who were advised to quit smoking by their physicians were
      less likely to use varenicline in the immediate post-BBW period as compared to
      pre-BBW period. While the use of varenicline continued to be significantly low in
      the late post-BBW period (AOR=0.45, 95% CI=0.31-0.64) as compared to the pre-BBW
      period, the trend in use as seen in piecewise regression remained stable
      (OR=0.90, 95% CI=0.75-1.06). We did not observe significant differences in
      bupropion use between the pre- and post-BBW periods. CONCLUSION: The passage of
      the FDA boxed warning was associated with a significant decline in the use of
      varenicline, but not in the use of bupropion.

PMID- 28605681
TI  - A vote for robustness: Monitoring serum enzyme activity by thin-layer
      chromatography of dabsylated bradykinin products.
AB  - High-end analytical methods provide excellent data but may lack the robustness
      required in large analytical studies. In particular complex chemical matrices may
      cause difficulties and increase the need for extensive sample preparation. For
      screening of patients we thus developed a low-tech assay to monitor bradykinin
      degradation by serum proteases. The bradykinin concentration mirrors the activity
      of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Dabsylated bradykinin (DBK) and its
      labeled fragments DBK1-8 and DBK1-5 were visualized by thin-layer chromatography
      using only 3MUL of serum. Lower DBK1-5 levels indicated reduced ACE activity due
      to medication (ACE-inhibitors) or disease. Provided that purified DBK is
      available, the assay protocol itself is very simple and does not require any
      expensive high-end equipment.

PMID- 28605682
TI  - A UHPLC method for the rapid separation and quantification of anthocyanins in
      acai berry and dry blueberry extracts.
AB  - The presented work describes the development and validation of a rapid UHPLC-UV
      method using a core-shell particle column with a pentafluorophenyl stationary
      phase for the separation and quantitative analysis of the six anthocyanins in
      acai berry and dry blueberry extracts. The anthocyanins (cyanidin-3-glucoside,
      cyanidin-3-rutenoside, delphinidin-3-galactoside, delphinidin-3-glucoside,
      delphinidin-3-rutenoside, and peonidin-3-glucoside) were separated and analyzed
      in 5min. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Kinetex PFP
      (150*2.1mm) core-shell column with a particle size of 1.7MUm at a temperature of
      50 degrees C. Acetonitrile was used as mobile phase B and 5% formic acid,
      filtrated through a 0.22MUm filter, as mobile phase A. They were delivered at a
      flow rate of 0.55mLmin-1 according to the elution gradient program. The detection
      wavelength was set at 520nm. A solid-liquid extraction with a solution of
      methanol and a 5% water solution of formic acid (25+75v/v) using an ultrasonic
      bath was chosen for the preparation of the available commercial samples of food
      supplements with a content of acai berry extract and blueberry extract. Under
      optimal chromatographic conditions, the method was validated. Recoveries for all
      analyzed anthocyanins were 97.8-102.6% and the relative standard deviation ranged
      from 0.4% to 3.0% for within-day and from 0.6% to 3.1% for between-day
      repeatability. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.11-0.14MUgmL-1.

PMID- 28605683
TI  - Four intracranial injury cases with peripapillary scleral hemorrhage
      Reconsidering the mechanism of hemorrhage.

PMID- 28605684
TI  - Child maltreatment as a function of cumulative family risk: Findings from the
      intensive family preservation program.
AB  - This study examined child maltreatment as a function of cumulative family risk in
      a sample of at-risk families (N=837) who were referred to an intensive family
      preservation program because of child behavior problems or suspected child abuse
      and neglect. The goal of this intensive family preservation program is to improve
      parenting skills and reduce immediate family stressors that may lead to an
      increased risk of child abuse and neglect. The findings indicate that the most
      prominent family risks comprising the cumulative risk scale in our sample were
      socio-economic disadvantage (e.g., income, unemployment, housing instability) and
      parental characteristics (e.g., mental/physical health, parental use of alcohol,
      domestic violence). Further, the results demonstrated a strong quadratic trend in
      the relationship between cumulative family risk and child maltreatment, and
      identified a risk threshold effect at three cumulative family risks after which
      the child risk for maltreatment increased exponentially. These findings are
      interpreted in the light of the current research on differentiative
      interventions, supporting differentiated services to the families with low vs.
      higher risk for child maltreatment.

PMID- 28605685
TI  - Adopting a dyadic perspective to better understand the association between
      physical attractiveness and dieting motivations and behaviors.
AB  - The relationship between women's objective physical attractiveness and their
      dieting motivations and behaviors may depend upon their social environment
      specifically, their romantic partners' attractiveness-such that less attractive
      women with more attractive partners may be particularly motivated to diet.
      Theoretically, men's dieting motivations should not depend on their partners'
      attractiveness. We tested this possibility using a sample of 223 U.S. newlywed
      spouses. After completing measures assessing dieting motivations, each
      participant was photographed; we used those photographs to code spouses'
      objective facial and body attractiveness. Results demonstrated that own and
      partner attractiveness interacted to predict only women's dieting motivations and
      behaviors. Less attractive wives married to more (versus less) attractive
      husbands reported more dieting motivations and behaviors. In contrast, men's
      dieting motivations were not significantly associated with their own and their
      partners' attractiveness. These findings highlight the value of adopting a dyadic
      approach to understanding dieting motivations.

PMID- 28605686
TI  - Solid-state cocrystal formation between acyclovir and fumaric acid: Terahertz and
      Raman vibrational spectroscopic studies.
AB  - The vibrational spectra of solid-state acyclovir, fumaric acid and their
      cocrystal have been investigated by using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz
      TDS) and Raman spectroscopy at room temperature. In experimental THz spectra, the
      cocrystal has absorption peaks in 0.65, 0.94 and 1.10THz respectively, while the
      raw materials are absolutely different in this region. Raman spectra also show
      similar results about differences between the cocrystal and raw materials.
      Density functional theory (DFT) was performed to simulate vibrational modes of
      different theoretical forms between acyclovir and fumaric acid. The calculation
      of theoretical THz spectra shows that O8C7N1H27 and the carboxyl group COOH
      establish a dimer theoretical cocrystal form by the hydrogen bonding effect,
      which makes contributions to the formation of absorption peaks in 0.70, 1.01 and
      1.34THz, and agrees well with experimental observations. The theoretical Raman
      result also indicates that this dimer form matches with experimental results. The
      characteristic bands of the cocrystal between acyclovir and fumaric acid are also
      assigned based on the simulation results from the DFT calculation.

PMID- 28605687
TI  - Anesthetic-dependent changes in the chain-melting phase transition of DPPG
      liposomes studied using near-infrared spectroscopy supported by PCA.
AB  - The effect of inhalation anesthetics (enflurane, isoflurane, sevoflurane or
      halothane) on the lipid chain-melting phase transition of negatively charged
      phospholipid membranes was studied using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy
      supported by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). NIR spectra of anesthetics-mixed
      dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) membranes were recorded in a range of the
      first overtone of the symmetric and antisymmetric stretching vibrations of CH2
      groups of lipid aliphatic chains as a function of increasing temperature.
      Anesthetic-dependent changes in the trans to gauche conformers ratio of CH2
      groups in the hydrocarbon lipid chains were characterized in detail and compared
      with the zwitterionic lipid membranes, which were built of
      dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) molecules.

PMID- 28605688
TI  - Enzyme-less electrochemical displacement heterogeneous immunosensor for
      diclofenac detection.
AB  - We describe an electrochemical immunosensor based on functionalization of a
      working electrode by electrografting two functional diazonium salts. The first
      one is a molecular probe, diclofenac, coupled with an arylamine onto which a
      specific antibody is immobilized by affinity interactions; the second is a redox
      probe (a quinone) also coupled with an arylamine, able to transduce the hapten
      antibody association into a change in electroactivity. The steric hindrance
      induced by the antibody leads to a current decrease upon binding of the antibody
      on the grafted molecular probe; conversely, when diclofenac is present in
      solution, a displacement equilibrium occurs between the target diffusing into the
      solution and the grafted probe. This leads to dissociation of the antibody from
      the electrode surface, event which is transduced into a current increase ("signal
      on" detection). The detection limit is ca. 20 fM, corresponding to 6pgL-1
      diclofenac, which is competitive compared to other label-free immunosensors. We
      demonstrate that the sensor is selective and is able to quantify diclofenac in
      tap water.

PMID- 28605689
TI  - Folic acid use by women with epilepsy: Findings of the Epilepsy Birth Control
      Registry.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence and predictors of folic acid (FA) use by
      women with epilepsy (WWE) at risk of unintended pregnancy. METHODS: These
      retrospective data come from the Epilepsy Birth Control Registry (EBCR) web-based
      survey of 1144 WWE in the community, 18-47years, who provided demographic,
      epilepsy, AED, contraception, pregnancy, healthcare visits and FA data. We report
      prevalence and predictors of FA use in relation to risk of pregnancy (not at
      risk, at risk, seeking pregnancy, pregnant), demographics, seizure types and AED
      and contraception categories. RESULTS: 368 (47.6%) of the 773 WWE at risk of
      unintended pregnancy in the EBCR took FA supplement. Being at risk was a
      significant predictor in comparison to WWE not at risk (OR=1.464 [1.103-1.944],
      p=0.008). In comparison to WWE at risk, FA use trended greater for WWE actively
      seeking pregnancy (29/47, 61.7% v 368/773, 47.6%; p=0.0605) and was greater for
      pregnant WWE (17/19, 89.5% v 368/773, 47.6%; p=0.0007). Demographic predictors
      for WWE at risk were race (p=0.003), education (p=0.012) and income (0.043) with
      significantly greater FA use by Caucasians than minorities and direct
      correlations between FA use and levels of education and household income. Seizure
      type, AED use, category and dosage, polytherapy and contraceptive category were
      not predictors. A healthcare provider visit during the year prior to the survey
      was not a predictor. Prevalence of FA use was similar following visits with
      gynecologists - 51.7%, neurologists - 48.7% and primary care - 48.6%. FA
      supplementation by prescription was greater for WWE at risk on AED versus no AED
      (190/355, 53.5% v 3/13, 23.1%; p=0.045). CONCLUSION: Low prevalence of
      preconception FA use may reflect a need for more education. In addition, further
      research is needed to provide definitive evidence that FA reduces congenital
      malformations in the offspring of WWE.

PMID- 28605690
TI  - Potential implications of Luria's work for the neuropsychology of epilepsy and
      epilepsy surgery: A perspective for re-examination.
AB  - The pioneeristic work of Alexander Romanovic Luria into the field of human
      neuropsychology offered eminent contributions to clinical praxis by providing
      theory guided methods and instruments for the study of higher cortical functions.
      However, lots of this knowledge corpus either remains untranslated and thus
      inaccessible, or in some cases selectively overlooked by academic authorities and
      consequently not passed to the future generations of experts. Although Luria was
      not exclusively devoted to the study of epilepsy, his theories and clinical
      approaches actually penetrate the whole neuropathology spectrum. His holistic and
      systemic approach to the brain sounds nowadays more than opportune and consistent
      with the network approach of the modern neuroimaging era. As to epilepsy, the
      logic underlying the Lurian approach (cognitive functions organized into complex
      functional systems with intra- and/or inter-hemispheric distribution, as opposed
      to the modularistic view of the brain) seems consistent with our current
      knowledge in epileptology with respect to epileptic networks, as well as the
      modern construct of the functional deficit zone. These contributions seem to be
      highly promising for the neuropsychology of epilepsy and epilepsy surgery, since
      they provide clinicians with valuable methods and theories to assist them in the
      localization -and lateralization- of cognitive deficits. Consequently they are of
      great applicability in the context of the preoperative neuropsychological
      monitoring of patients candidates for epilepsy surgery, where neuropsychologist
      are called upon to provide surgeons with anatomical data.

PMID- 28605691
TI  - Psychiatric outcomes associated with chronic illness in adolescence: A systematic
      review.
AB  - Recent years have seen an increased focus on the high rates of psychiatric
      comorbidities in adults with chronic illness. This systematic review explored
      whether chronic illness in adolescents was similarly associated with poor
      psychiatric outcomes. The literature search identified 129 articles, only 5 of
      which were indicated to be at a low risk of methodological bias. Four of these
      articles found a strong relationship between asthma in adolescence and an
      increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders, while the
      remaining article, which focused on diabetes mellitus, indicated similarly
      increased rates of psychiatric illness. Trends among the remaining studies
      suggested that many illnesses were not associated with poor adolescent mental
      health. Please note that chronic conditions with a neurological aetiology were
      excluded from the main review due to indications of qualitative differences in
      comorbidities. Findings highlight that the well-being of adolescents with chronic
      illness warrants a specific research focus.

PMID- 28605692
TI  - Predictors of driving outcomes including both crash involvement and driving
      cessation in a prospective study of Japanese older drivers.
AB  - The first aim of this study was to investigate predictors of future traffic crash
      involvement, taking into account bias in the handling of data for former drivers.
      The second aim was to compare characteristics of former drivers and crash
      involved drivers in order to gain an understanding of appropriate driving
      cessation among older drivers. In all, 154 drivers aged 70 years or older
      participated in the baseline interview and the follow-up survey conducted two
      years later. In the baseline interview, participants were asked to respond to a
      questionnaire, take the Useful Field of View test(r) (UFOV), and complete the
      Mini-Mental State Examination. In the follow-up survey, participants were asked
      by mail or telephone whether they had stopped driving. Participants reporting
      that they still drove were invited to participate in a subsequent interview.
      Based on the information obtained in the follow-up survey, participants were
      classified as follows: driving cessation group (n=26); crash-involved group
      (n=18); and crash-free group (n=110). A multinomial logistic regression was then
      used to analyse the data. Contrary to the results of previous studies, we found
      older age to be associated with crash involvement but not with driving cessation.
      The cessation group had more decreased cognitive processing speed than the crash
      involved and crash-free groups. Crash history was also predictive of crash
      involvement. Participants who were subject to license renewal between baseline
      and follow-up had a greater tendency to continue driving. Results suggested that
      age and crash history could potentially identify high-risk older drivers. The
      predictive power of cognitive processing speed is reduced under certain
      conditions. License-renewal procedures may induce Japanese older adults to
      continue driving. Future studies should use a large national sample to confirm
      the results of the present study.

PMID- 28605693
TI  - Evaluation of flunixin meglumine pour-on administration on prostaglandin E2
      concentration in inflammatory exudate after induction of inflammation in cattle.
AB  - The effect of flunixin transdermal pour-on solution (Finadyne(r) Transdermal; MSD
      Animal Health) on prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis in bovine inflammatory
      exudate was evaluated in a tissue cage model of acute inflammation. Twelve calves
      were randomly allocated to two-treatment groups over two sequences. Three weeks
      prior to the first period, sterile hollow perforated polyethylene balls were
      surgically embedded in the subcutis at four distinct sites in each animal. On the
      first day of each period, an aseptic inflammation was induced by injecting 0.5mL
      of a 2% carrageenan solution into the lumen of each tissue cage. Treatment with
      either flunixin transdermal or negative control (NaCl) immediately followed.
      0.5mL of exudate was collected prior to challenge, and at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and
      48h after challenge. Exudate PGE2 concentrations were analyzed using ultra-high
      pressure liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry method. Mean
      PGE2 concentrations were consistently lower in calves treated with flunixin
      transdermal than those measured in calves treated with negative control,
      indicating an inhibitory activity on cyclooxygenase. Inhibition was the highest
      at 8h after treatment, and differences with the negative control were significant
      at +8, 24, 36 and 48h. The flunixin transdermal formulation was effective in
      reducing PGE2 concentrations in bovine exudate following an induced inflammation.
      Its anti-inflammatory action started in the first hours after treatment and
      lasted up to 48h.

PMID- 28605694
TI  - Effect of increased kick frequency on propelling efficiency and muscular co
      activation during underwater dolphin kick.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the effects of increased kick frequency on the
      propelling efficiency and the muscular co-activation during underwater dolphin
      kick. Participants included eight female collegiate swimmers. The participants
      performed seven 15-m underwater dolphin kick swimming trials at different kick
      frequencies, which is 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, and 115% of their maximum
      effort. The Froude (propelling) efficiency of the dolphin kick was calculated
      from the kinematic analysis. The surface electromyography was measured from six
      muscles (rectus abdominis, erector spinae, rectus femoris, biceps femoris,
      tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius). From the EMG data, the co-active phase
      during one cycle in the trunk, thigh, and leg was evaluated. Our results show
      that the Froude efficiency decreased at the supra-maximum kick frequency (e.g.
      100%F: 0.72+/-0.03 vs. 115%F: 0.70+/-0.03, p<.05). The co-active phase in the
      trunk, thigh, and leg increased with increasing the kick frequency (e.g. 85%F vs.
      115%F, p<0.05). Furthermore, it was observed that there was a negative
      relationship between the trunk co-active phase and the Froude efficiency (r=
      0.527, p<0.05). Therefore, both the propelling efficiency and the muscular
      activation pattern became inefficient when the swimmer increased their kick
      frequency above their maximum effort.

PMID- 28605695
TI  - Bimanual tapping of a syncopated rhythm reveals hemispheric preferences for
      relative movement frequencies.
AB  - In bimanual multifrequency tapping, right-handers commonly use the right hand to
      tap the relatively higher rate and the left hand to tap the relatively lower
      rate. This could be due to hemispheric specializations for the processing of
      relative frequencies. An extension of the double-filtering-by-frequency theory to
      motor control proposes a left hemispheric specialization for the control of
      relatively high and a right hemispheric specialization for the control of
      relatively low tapping rates. We investigated timing variability and rhythmic
      accentuation in right handers tapping mono- and multifrequent bimanual rhythms to
      test the predictions of the double-filtering-by-frequency theory. Yet,
      hemispheric specializations for the processing of relative tapping rates could be
      masked by a left hemispheric dominance for the control of known sequences.
      Tapping was thus either performed in an overlearned quadruple meter (tap of the
      slow rhythm on the first auditory beat) or in a syncopated quadruple meter (tap
      of the slow rhythm on the fourth auditory beat). Independent of syncopation, the
      right hand outperformed the left hand in timing accuracy for fast tapping. A left
      hand timing benefit for slow tapping rates as predicted by the double-filtering
      by-frequency theory was only found in the syncopated tapping group. This suggests
      a right hemisphere preference for the control of slow tapping rates when rhythms
      are not overlearned. Error rates indicate that overlearned rhythms represent
      hierarchically structured meters that are controlled by a single timer that could
      potentially reside in the left hemisphere.

PMID- 28605696
TI  - You changed your mind! Infants interpret a change in word as signaling a change
      in an agent's goals.
AB  - Language provides information about our psychological states. For instance,
      adults can use language to convey information about their goals or preferences.
      The current research examined whether 14- and 12-month-old infants could
      interpret a change in an agent's word as signaling a change in her goals. In two
      experiments, 14-month-olds (Experiment 1) and 12-month-olds (Experiment 2) were
      first familiarized to an event in which an agent uttered a novel word and then
      reached for one of two novel objects. During the test trials, the agent uttered a
      different novel word (different-word condition) or the same word (same-word
      condition) and then reached for the same object or the other object. Both 14- and
      12-month-olds in the different-word condition expected the agent to change her
      goal and reach for the other object. In contrast, the infants in the same-word
      condition expected the agent to maintain her goal. In Experiment 3, 12-month-olds
      who heard two distinct sounds instead of the agent's novel words expected the
      agent to maintain her goal regardless of the change in the nonlinguistic sounds.
      Together, these results indicate that by 12months of age infants can use an
      agent's verbal information to detect a change in her goals.

PMID- 28605697
TI  - Development of children's identity and position processing for letter, digit, and
      symbol strings: A cross-sectional study of the primary school years.
AB  - Letter recognition and digit recognition are critical skills for literate adults,
      yet few studies have considered the development of these skills in children. We
      conducted a nine-alternative forced-choice (9AFC) partial report task with
      strings of letters and digits, with typographical symbols (e.g., $, @) as a
      control, to investigate the development of identity and position processing in
      children. This task allows for the delineation of identity processing (as overall
      accuracy) and position coding (as the proportion of position errors). Our
      participants were students in Grade 1 to Grade 6, allowing us to track the
      development of these abilities across the primary school years. Our data suggest
      that although digit processing and letter processing end up with many
      similarities in adult readers, the developmental trajectories for identity and
      position processing for the two character types differ. Symbol processing showed
      little developmental change in terms of identity or position accuracy. We discuss
      the implications of our results for theories of identity and position coding:
      modified receptive field, multiple-route model, and lexical tuning. Despite
      moderate success for some theories, considerable theoretical work is required to
      explain the developmental trajectories of letter processing and digit processing,
      which might not be as closely tied in child readers as they are in adult readers.

PMID- 28605699
TI  - Intergroup visual perspective-taking: Shared group membership impairs self
      perspective inhibition but may facilitate perspective calculation.
AB  - Reasoning about what other people see, know, and want is essential for navigating
      social life. Yet, even neurodevelopmentally healthy adults make perspective
      taking errors. Here, we examined how the group membership of perspective-taking
      targets (ingroup vs. outgroup) affects processes underlying visual perspective
      taking. In three experiments using two bases of group identity (university
      affiliation and minimal groups), interference from one's own differing
      perspective (i.e., egocentric intrusion) was stronger when responding from an
      ingroup versus an outgroup member's perspective. Spontaneous perspective
      calculation, as indexed by interference from another's visual perspective when
      reporting one's own (i.e., altercentric intrusion), did not differ across target
      group membership in any of our experiments. Process-dissociation analyses, which
      aim to isolate automatic processes underlying altercentric-intrusion effects,
      further revealed negligible effects of target group membership on perspective
      calculation. Meta-analytically, however, there was suggestive evidence that
      shared group membership facilitates responding from others' perspectives when
      self and other perspectives are aligned.

PMID- 28605698
TI  - Intuitive proportion judgment in number-line estimation: Converging evidence from
      multiple tasks.
AB  - How children's understanding of numerical magnitudes changes over the course of
      development remains a key question in the study of numerical cognition. In an
      ongoing debate about the source of developmental change, some argue that children
      maintain and access different mental representations of number, with evidence
      coming largely from common number-line estimation tasks. In contrast, others
      argue that a theoretical framework based on psychophysical models of proportion
      estimation accounts for typical performance on these tasks. The current study
      explored children's (n=71) and adults' (n=27) performance on two number-line
      tasks: the "number to position" (or NP) task and the inverse "position to number"
      (or PN) task. Estimates on both tasks are consistent with the predictions of the
      proportion estimation account and do not support the hypothesis that a
      fundamental shift in mental representations underlies developmental change in
      numerical estimation and, in turn, mathematical ability. Converging evidence
      across the tasks also calls into question the utility of bounded number-line
      tasks as an evaluation of mental representations of number.

PMID- 28605700
TI  - A novel resveratrol-salinomycin combination sensitizes ER-positive breast cancer
      cells to apoptosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resveratrol is a dietary compound that has been widely reported for
      its anticancer activities. However, successful extrapolation of its effects to
      pre-clinical studies is met with limited success due to inadequate
      bioavailability. We investigated the potential of combination therapy to improve
      the efficacy of resveratrol in a more physiologically relevant dose range.
      METHODS: The effect of resveratrol on canonical Wnt signaling was evaluated by
      Western blotting. Wnt modulators HLY78 (activator) and salinomycin (inhibitor)
      were evaluated in combination with resveratrol for their effect on breast cancer
      cell viability (MTT assay), cell cycle progression and apoptosis (Western
      blotting). Bliss independency model was used to evaluate combinatorial effects of
      resveratrol-salinomycin combination. RESULTS: Resveratrol downregulated canonical
      Wnt signaling proteins in treated breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA
      MB-468) in the dose range of 50-200MUM, which also affected cellular viability.
      However, at very low doses (0-50MUM), resveratrol exhibited no cellular toxicity.
      Co-treatment with salinomycin significantly potentiated the anti-cancer effects
      of resveratrol, whereas HLY78 co-treatment had minimal effect. Bliss independency
      model revealed that Wnt inhibition synergistically potentiates the effects of
      resveratrol in MCF-7 and BT474 cells. Significantly downregulated canonical Wnt
      signaling proteins and marker of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT),
      vimentin were observed in cells treated with resveratrol-salinomycin combination.
      Cell cycle arrest, caspase activation and apoptosis induction in cells treated
      with resveratrol-salinomycin combination further confirmed the efficacy of the
      combination. CONCLUSION: We report a novel resveratrol-salinomycin combination
      for targeting ER-positive breast cancer cells and present evidence for successful
      pre-clinical implementation of resveratrol.

PMID- 28605603
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Degludec versus Glargine in Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Degludec is an ultralong-acting, once-daily basal insulin that is
      approved for use in adults, adolescents, and children with diabetes. Previous
      open-label studies have shown lower day-to-day variability in the glucose
      lowering effect and lower rates of hypoglycemia among patients who received
      degludec than among those who received basal insulin glargine. However, data are
      lacking on the cardiovascular safety of degludec. METHODS: We randomly assigned
      7637 patients with type 2 diabetes to receive either insulin degludec (3818
      patients) or insulin glargine U100 (3819 patients) once daily between dinner and
      bedtime in a double-blind, treat-to-target, event-driven cardiovascular outcomes
      trial. The primary composite outcome in the time-to-event analysis was the first
      occurrence of an adjudicated major cardiovascular event (death from
      cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke) with a
      prespecified noninferiority margin of 1.3. Adjudicated severe hypoglycemia, as
      defined by the American Diabetes Association, was the prespecified, multiplicity
      adjusted secondary outcome. RESULTS: Of the patients who underwent randomization,
      6509 (85.2%) had established cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or
      both. At baseline, the mean age was 65.0 years, the mean duration of diabetes was
      16.4 years, and the mean (+/-SD) glycated hemoglobin level was 8.4+/-1.7%; 83.9%
      of the patients were receiving insulin. The primary outcome occurred in 325
      patients (8.5%) in the degludec group and in 356 (9.3%) in the glargine group
      (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 1.06; P<0.001 for
      noninferiority). At 24 months, the mean glycated hemoglobin level was 7.5+/-1.2%
      in each group, whereas the mean fasting plasma glucose level was significantly
      lower in the degludec group than in the glargine group (128+/-56 vs. 136+/-57 mg
      per deciliter, P<0.001). Prespecified adjudicated severe hypoglycemia occurred in
      187 patients (4.9%) in the degludec group and in 252 (6.6%) in the glargine
      group, for an absolute difference of 1.7 percentage points (rate ratio, 0.60;
      P<0.001 for superiority; odds ratio, 0.73; P<0.001 for superiority). Rates of
      adverse events did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients
      with type 2 diabetes at high risk for cardiovascular events, degludec was
      noninferior to glargine with respect to the incidence of major cardiovascular
      events. (Funded by Novo Nordisk and others; DEVOTE ClinicalTrials.gov number,
      NCT01959529 .).

PMID- 28605702
TI  - Uncertainty quantification applied to the radiological characterization of
      radioactive waste.
AB  - This paper describes the process adopted at the European Organization for Nuclear
      Research (CERN) to quantify uncertainties affecting the characterization of very
      low-level radioactive waste. Radioactive waste is a by-product of the operation
      of high-energy particle accelerators. Radioactive waste must be characterized to
      ensure its safe disposal in final repositories. Characterizing radioactive waste
      means establishing the list of radionuclides together with their activities. The
      estimated activity levels are compared to the limits given by the national
      authority of the waste disposal. The quantification of the uncertainty affecting
      the concentration of the radionuclides is therefore essential to estimate the
      acceptability of the waste in the final repository but also to control the
      sorting, volume reduction and packaging phases of the characterization process.
      The characterization method consists of estimating the activity of produced
      radionuclides either by experimental methods or statistical approaches. The
      uncertainties are estimated using classical statistical methods and uncertainty
      propagation. A mixed multivariate random vector is built to generate random input
      parameters for the activity calculations. The random vector is a robust tool to
      account for the unknown radiological history of legacy waste. This analytical
      technique is also particularly useful to generate random chemical compositions of
      materials when the trace element concentrations are not available or cannot be
      measured. The methodology was validated using a waste population of legacy copper
      activated at CERN. The methodology introduced here represents a first approach
      for the uncertainty quantification (UQ) of the characterization process of waste
      produced at particle accelerators.

PMID- 28605701
TI  - An application based on the decision tree to classify the marbling of beef by
      hyperspectral imaging.
AB  - The aim of this study was to develop a system to classify the marbling of beef
      using the hyperspectral imaging technology. The Japanese standard classification
      of the degree of marbling of beef was used as reference and twelve standards were
      digitized to obtain the parameters of shape and spatial distribution of marbling
      of each class. A total of 35 samples M. longissmus dorsi muscle were scanned by
      the hyperspectral imaging system of 400-1000 nm in reflectance mode. The
      wavelength of 528nm was selected to segment the sample and the background, and
      440nm was used for classified the samples. Processing algorithms on image, based
      on decision tree method, were used in the region of interest obtaining a
      classification error of 0.08% in the building stage. The results showed that the
      proposed technique has a great potential, as a non-destructive and fast
      technique, that can be used to classify beef with respect to the degree of
      marbling.

PMID- 28605703
TI  - Potential effects of triclosan on spatial displacement and local population
      decline of the fish Poecilia reticulata using a non-forced system.
AB  - Triclosan (TCS) is an emerging contaminant of concern in environmental studies
      due to its potential adverse effects on fish behavior. Since avoidance has been
      shown to be a relevant behavioral endpoint, our aims were: (i) to determine if
      TCS is able to trigger an avoidance response in Poecilia reticulata; (ii) to
      predict the population immediate decline (PID) caused by TCS exposure, by
      integrating lethality and avoidance responses; and (iii) to verify the
      overestimation of risk when mortality is assessed under forced exposure. Fish
      were exposed to TCS in a forced exposure system, to assess mortality, and to a
      TCS gradient in a non-forced exposure (NFE) system. Two NFE scenarios were
      simulated: (#1) a spatially permanent gradient, including low and high
      concentrations; and (#2) a scenario with high concentrations, simulating a local
      discharge. The fish avoided TCS concentrations as low as 0.2 MUg L-1 (avoidance
      of 22%). The AC50 obtained from scenario #1 (8.04 MUg L-1) was about 15 times
      more sensitive than that from scenario #2 (118.4 MUg L-1). In general, up to the
      highest concentration tested (2000 MUg L-1), the PID was determined by the
      avoidance. Mortality from the forced exposure was overestimated (48 h-LC50 of
      1650 mg L-1), relative to the NFE. The reduced mortality in a non-forced
      environment does not imply a lower effect, because part of the population is
      expected to disappear by moving towards favorable environments. TCS is a
      potential environmental disturber, since at environmentally relevant
      concentrations (<2 MUg L-1) it could cause a decline in the fish population.

PMID- 28605706
TI  - Comparing polyethylene and polyoxymethylene passive samplers for measuring
      sediment porewater concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls: Mutual validation
      and possible correction by polymer-polymer partition experiment.
AB  - Two sediment passive samplers, polyethylene (PE) and polyoxymethylene (POM), were
      compared and mutually validated for measuring freely dissolved concentrations
      (Cfree) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediment porewater. PE and POM
      strips in commonly used dimensions (30 and 76 MUm in thickness, respectively)
      were exposed to sediment slurries for 28 d. The Cfree values calculated using
      literature polymer-water partition coefficients were consistently higher for PE
      than for POM by a factor of 2 on average. Time series experiments over 96 d show
      that 28 d are sufficient for attaining partition equilibrium of PCBs for PE,
      whereas even 96 d may not be enough for POM. To gain additional insight, POM and
      PE strips were co-exposed to bovine serum albumin suspension spiked with PCBs.
      The POM/PE concentration ratios increased over 56 d, and the ratios at 28 d were
      in agreement with the POM-to-PE ratios of PCB concentrations from the 28-d
      sediment slurry experiments. This agreement suggests that the use of apparent POM
      water partition coefficients (i.e., non-equilibrium concentration ratios)
      suitable for a 28-d exposure to sediment slurries may correct the non-attainment
      of equilibrium and could provide more accurate Cfree values.

PMID- 28605705
TI  - Graphene sponge decorated with copper nanoparticles as a novel bactericidal
      filter for inactivation of Escherichia coli.
AB  - Nanotechnology has great potential in water purification. However, the
      limitations such as aggregation and toxicity of nanomaterials have blocked their
      practical application. In this work, a novel copper nanoparticles-decorated
      graphene sponge (Cu-GS) was synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method. Cu-GS
      consisting of three-dimensional (3D) porous graphene network and well-dispersed
      Cu nanoparticles exhibited high antibacterial efficiency against Esherichia coli
      when used as a bactericidal filter. The morphological changes determined by
      scanning electron microscope and fluorescence images measured by flow cytometry
      confirmed the involvement of membrane damage induced by Cu-GS in their
      antibacterial process. The oxidative ability of Cu-GS and intercellular reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) were also determined to elucidate the possible antibacterial
      mechanism of Cu-GS. Moreover, the concentration of released copper ions from Cu
      GS was far below the drinking water standard, and the copper ions also have an
      effect on the antibacterial activity of Cu-GS. Results suggested that Cu-GS as a
      novel bactericidal filter possessed a potential application of water
      disinfection.

PMID- 28605704
TI  - 4,5-Dichloro-2-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (DCOIT) modifies synaptic transmission
      in hippocampal CA3 neurons of rats.
AB  - 4,5-Dichloro-2-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (DCOIT) is an alternative to organotin
      antifoulants, such as tributyltin and triphenyltin. Since DCOIT is found in
      harbors, bays, and coastal areas worldwide, this chemical compound may have some
      impacts on ecosystems. To determine whether DCOIT possesses neurotoxic activity
      by modifying synaptic transmission, we examined the effects of DCOIT on synaptic
      transmission in a 'synaptic bouton' preparation of rat brain. DCOIT at
      concentrations of 0.03-1 MUM increased the amplitudes of evoked synaptic currents
      mediated by GABA and glutamate, while it reduced the amplitudes of these currents
      at 3-10 MUM. However, the currents elicited by exogenous applications of GABA and
      glutamate were not affected by DCOIT. DCOIT at 1-10 MUM increased the frequency
      of spontaneous synaptic currents mediated by GABA. It also increased the
      frequency of glutamate-mediated spontaneous currents at0.3-10 MUM. The
      frequencies of miniature synaptic currents mediated by GABA and glutamate,
      observed in the presence of tetrodotoxin under external Ca2+-free conditions,
      were increased by 10 MUM DCOIT. With the repetitive applications of DCOIT, the
      frequency of miniature synaptic currents mediated by glutamate was not increased
      by the second and third applications of DCOIT. Voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels
      were not affected by DCOIT, but DCOIT slowed the inactivation of voltage
      dependent Na+ channels. These results suggest that DCOIT increases Ca2+ release
      from intracellular Ca2+ stores, resulting in the facilitation of both action
      potential-dependent and spontaneous neurotransmission, possibly leading to
      neurotoxicity.

PMID- 28605707
TI  - Characterization of oxidized oligomers from polyethylene films by mass
      spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy before and after biodegradation by a
      Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain.
AB  - The objective of this work was to develop a new approach to assess the
      specificity and the efficiency of biodegradation of oxidized oligomers extracted
      from aged HDPE polyethylene films and to bring insight on the mechanisms
      occurring during biodegradation. 1H NMR spectroscopy and LC OrbitrapTM mass
      spectrometry were combined together with data processing using Kendrick mass
      defect calculation and Van Krevelen Diagram. We showed that the molecular weight
      of extracted oligomers was lower than 850 Da with maximum chain length of 55
      carbon atoms. The oligomers were divided into 11 classes of molecules with
      different oxidation state ranging from 0 to 10. All classes included series of
      chemically related compounds including up to 19 molecules. 95% of the soluble
      oligomers were assimilated by a strain of Rhodococcus rhodocchrous after 240 days
      of incubation. Large highly oxidized molecules completely disappeared while the
      other classes of molecules were still represented. Molecules containing 0-1
      oxygen atom were less degraded. A strong shift to smaller molecules (<450 Da, 25
      carbon atoms) was observed suggesting that longer molecules disappeared more
      rapidly than the smaller ones. It opens new perspectives on biodegradation
      processes as not only intracellular beta-oxidation must be considered but also
      extracellular mechanisms leading to chain cleavages.

PMID- 28605708
TI  - The sulfur depot in the rhizosphere of a common wetland plant, Juncus effusus,
      can support long-term dynamics of inorganic sulfur transformations.
AB  - The sulfur cycle in the rhizosphere of constructed wetlands is frequently
      interlaced with transformations of carbon and nitrogen. Knowledge about the
      manifold sulfur transformations may thus aid in improving treatment performance
      of constructed wetlands. In this study, two laboratory-scale constructed wetland
      models (planted fixed bed reactors; PFR1 and PFR2) were used to investigate
      inorganic sulfur transformations at various total loads of sulfate and organic
      carbon. Sulfate, sulfide and elemental sulfur were the most abundant sulfur
      compounds detected, thus providing evidence for the simultaneous occurrence of
      dissimilatory sulfate reduction and sulfide oxidation. This co-occurrence was
      likely enabled by oxygen micro-gradients in the root-near environment, i.e.
      aerobic sulfide and elemental sulfur oxidation took place mostly at the roots
      while sulfate and elemental sulfur reduction occurred in the pore water under
      reduced redox conditions. The rhizosphere was found to be first sink, then source
      for sulfur during the course of the experiment. Immobilization of reduced sulfur
      was triggered by catabolism of organic matter coupled to dissimilatory sulfate
      reduction and the subsequent partial oxidation of generated sulfide. Good plant
      status was critical for sulfur deposition in the systems. Without externally
      provided sulfate the sulfur depot of the rhizosphere was a prolonged source for
      sulfur, which was remobilized into the pore water. Oscillations between sulfide
      and sulfur (PFR1) or sulfide and sulfate (PFR2) suggested a dynamic interplay
      between plants and various microbial guilds, i.e. dissimilatory sulfate and
      sulfur reducers on one side and sulfide and sulfur oxidizers on the other.

PMID- 28605709
TI  - Facial emotion recognition and borderline personality pathology.
AB  - The impact of borderline personality pathology on facial emotion recognition has
      been in dispute; with impaired, comparable, and enhanced accuracy found in high
      borderline personality groups. Discrepancies are likely driven by variations in
      facial emotion recognition tasks across studies (stimuli type/intensity) and
      heterogeneity in borderline personality pathology. This study evaluates facial
      emotion recognition for neutral and negative emotions
      (fear/sadness/disgust/anger) presented at varying intensities. Effortful control
      was evaluated as a moderator of facial emotion recognition in borderline
      personality. Non-clinical multicultural undergraduates (n = 132) completed a
      morphed facial emotion recognition task of neutral and negative emotional
      expressions across different intensities (100% Neutral; 25%/50%/75% Emotion) and
      self-reported borderline personality features and effortful control. Greater
      borderline personality features related to decreased accuracy in detecting
      neutral faces, but increased accuracy in detecting negative emotion faces,
      particularly at low-intensity thresholds. This pattern was moderated by effortful
      control; for individuals with low but not high effortful control, greater
      borderline personality features related to misattributions of emotion to neutral
      expressions, and enhanced detection of low-intensity emotional expressions.
      Individuals with high borderline personality features may therefore exhibit a
      bias toward detecting negative emotions that are not or barely present; however,
      good self-regulatory skills may protect against this potential social-cognitive
      vulnerability.

PMID- 28605710
TI  - Chronic dexamethasone treatment results in hippocampal neurons injury due to
      activate NLRP1 inflammasome in vitro.
AB  - Neuroinflammation mediated by NLRP-1 inflammasome plays an important role in the
      pathogenesis of neurodegeneration diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      Chronic glucocorticoids (GCs) exposure has deleterious effect on the structure
      and function of neurons and was found to be correlated with development and
      progression of AD. We hypothesize that chronic glucocorticoids may down-regulate
      the expression of glucocorticoids receptor (GR) and activate NLRP-1 inflammasome
      in hippocampal neurons, which may promote neuroinflammation and induce neuronal
      injury. The present results showed that chronic DEX exposure significantly
      increased LDH release and apoptosis, decreased MAP2 and GR expression in
      hippocampal neurons. DEX (5MUMU) exposure for 3d significantly increased the
      expression of NLRP-1, ASC, caspase-1 and IL-1beta in the hippocampal neurons and
      the release of IL-1beta and IL-18 in the supernatants. Moreover, DEX (1, 5MUMU)
      treatment for 3d significantly increased the expression of NF-kappaB in
      hippocampal neurons. The GR antagonist, mifepristone (RU486), had protective
      effects on chronic DEX induced hippocampal neurons injury and NLRP1 inflammasome
      activation. The results suggest that chronic GCs exposure can decrease GR
      expression and increase neuroinflammation via NLRP1 inflammasome and promote
      hippocampal neurons degeneration, which may play an important role in the
      progression and development of AD.

PMID- 28605711
TI  - Numerical modelling of flow through foam's node.
AB  - In this work, for the first time, a three-dimensional model to describe the
      dynamics of flow through geometric Plateau border and node components of foam is
      presented. The model involves a microscopic-scale structure of one interior node
      and four Plateau borders with an angle of 109.5 from each other. The majority of
      the surfaces in the model make a liquid-gas interface where the boundary
      condition of stress balance between the surface and bulk is applied. The three
      dimensional Navier-Stoke equation, along with continuity equation, is solved
      using the finite volume approach. The numerical results are validated against the
      available experimental results for the flow velocity and resistance in the
      interior nodes and Plateau borders. A qualitative illustration of flow in a node
      in different orientations is shown. The scaled resistance against the flow for
      different liquid-gas interface mobility is studied and the geometrical
      characteristics of the node and Plateau border components of the system are
      compared to investigate the Plateau border and node dominated flow regimes
      numerically. The findings show the values of the resistance in each component, in
      addition to the exact point where the flow regimes switch. Furthermore, a more
      accurate effect of the liquid-gas interface on the foam flow, particularly in the
      presence of a node in the foam network is obtained. The comparison of the
      available numerical results with our numerical results shows that the velocity of
      the node-PB system is lower than the velocity of single PB system for mobile
      interfaces. That is owing to the fact that despite the more relaxed geometrical
      structure of the node, constraining effect of merging and mixing of flow and
      increased viscous damping in the node component result in the node-dominated
      regime. Moreover, we obtain an accurate updated correlation for the dependence of
      the scaled average velocity of the node-Plateau border system on the liquid-gas
      interface mobility described by Boussinesq number.

PMID- 28605712
TI  - Continuous hydrothermal synthesis of Ca2Al-NO3 layered double hydroxides: The
      impact of reactor temperature, pressure and NaOH concentration on crystal
      characteristics.
AB  - Continuous hydrothermal synthesis (CHS) of nanoparticles is most commonly
      associated with the production of metal oxides and ceramics. However, recent work
      has demonstrated that layered double hydroxides (LDH) can also be synthesised via
      this method. This research investigates how altering temperature, pressure and
      precursor base concentration affects growth and nucleation rates which impact on
      LDH characteristics. Experiments examined the separate effects of increased
      temperature, pressure and NaOH concentration on crystal domain length (CDL) and
      surface area. Adjustments to temperature and pressure in the reactor system
      resulted in variations in CDL. High temperature (200 degrees C) with increasing
      pressure resulted in an increase in CDL between 50bar and 100bar, then a decrease
      up to 200bar. Crystal domain length of samples synthesised at 75 degrees C and
      150 degrees C showed increases between 50bar and 150bar but a decrease at higher
      pressure. Variation in CDL showed little impact on specific surface area (4-7m2g
      1). Increasing NaOH decreased CDL. High precursor NaOH causes rapid nucleation to
      occur to the detriment of crystal growth. Samples with 1M and 0.5M NaOH exhibit
      Ca(OH)2 impurities as the increased NaOH causes precipitation of Ca2+.

PMID- 28605713
TI  - Humic acid desorption from a positively charged nanocellulose surface.
AB  - Trimethyl-ammonium functionalized cellulose nanofibers (CNF) display a positively
      charged surface over a wide pH and ionic strength range, and constitute therefore
      not only an interesting biobased sorbent material, but also a positively charged
      model surface to investigate sorption phenomena. In the current work, CNF were
      totally or partially covered by humic acid (HA) at pH ~6, and the desorption
      process of HA from CNF was thereafter studied in batch and continuous filtration
      experiments at various pH and ionic strength. It is found that the desorbed
      amount of HA increases and the kinetic of desorption is faster via increasing the
      pH and ionic strength of the solution. Moreover, the desorption is affected by
      the extent of CNF coverage with HA and by the presence of free HA in solution.
      The present work gives insights into the interaction of HA with permanently
      positively charged surfaces and was successfully exploited for the removal of HA
      from CNF filters for regeneration allowing multiple filter utilization.

PMID- 28605714
TI  - Electrosynthesis and pseudocapacitance performance of ionic liquid - Cr (eta6
      C6H5) complex functionalized reduced graphene oxide/poly ortho aminophenol
      nanocomposite film.
AB  - In present work, RGO/IL-Cr composites were synthesized via chemical routes. The
      structural and valance state of the prepared samples was characterized by X-ray
      diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. For improving the electrochemical
      performance of conductive polymer, POAP/RGO/IL-Cr composite films have been
      fabricated by POAP electropolymerization in the presence of RGO/IL-Cr as active
      electrodes for electrochemical supercapacitors. Different electrochemical methods
      including galvanostatic charge discharge experiments, cyclic voltammetry and
      electrochemical impedance spectroscopy have been applied to study the system
      performance. The supercapacity behavior of the composite film was attributed to
      the i) high active surface area of the composite, ii) charge transfer along the
      polymer chain due to the conjugation form of the polymer and finally iii)
      synergism effect between conductive polymer and RGO/IL-Cr.

PMID- 28605715
TI  - Construction of novel Pd/CeO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites as efficient visible-light
      photocatalysts for hexavalent chromium detoxification.
AB  - In this study, we report a series of novel palladium nanoparticles (Pd) supported
      cerium oxide (CeO2)/graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanocomposites, fabricated
      via the simple strategy, which were used for the detoxification of toxic
      hexavalent chromium to benign trivalent chromium under visible light irradiation.
      The synthesized Pd/CeO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were characterized by various tools
      including powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X
      ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS/UV
      vis), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and energy
      dispersive X-ray spectra (EDS). The wrapping with surface of graphitic carbon
      nitride nanosheets can efficiently promote the interface charge separation and
      transmission over the ternary photocatalyst, which was studied by
      photoluminescence spectra (PL) analysis and electrochemical impedance
      spectroscopy (EIS) spectra. The obtained 3% Pd/CeO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite
      photocatalyst exhibit an excellent photocatalytic performance when compared to
      other single and composite counter parts. The 3% Pd/CeO2/g-C3N4 exhibits a strong
      synergistic effect which arises due to the interactions between palladium
      nanoparticles, CeO2 and graphitic carbon nitride resulting in the lower
      recombination of photo-induced charge carriers with enhanced photocatalytic
      activity. This work implies that the synergistic Pd/CeO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites
      would be a new kind of high-efficiency visible-light-driven photocatalysts
      materials for the detoxification of public safety and security.

PMID- 28605716
TI  - Tuning the optical properties of poly(p-phenylene ethynylene) nanoparticles as
      bio-imaging probes by side chain functionalization.
AB  - Conjugated polymers are versatile bio-imaging probes as their optical properties
      can be readily fine-tuned. In this manuscript, fluorescent conjugated polymer
      nanoparticles are fabricated using three different poly(p-phenylene ethynylene)
      (PPE) derivatives. The polymers have the same backbone but carry different side
      chains, i.e. regular octyloxy substituents, half of the octyloxy chains azide
      terminated, or azide functionalized tetraethylene glycol (TEG) moieties. The
      azide groups are specifically chosen to allow coupling of (bio)molecules to the
      surface of the particles using straightforward azide-alkyne click reactions,
      enabling different bioconjugation and targeting strategies. The influence of the
      functionalization pattern on the size and optical properties of the nanoparticles
      is studied using transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, UV
      Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The polymer containing the azide
      functionalized TEG chains affords larger particles, which can be attributed to
      hydration of the outer layer of the more hydrophilic polymer particles. However,
      this does not impact the fluorescence quantum yield. The two azide functionalized
      PPE particles exhibit the highest quantum yields (13%). Despite the presence of
      azide groups on two of the three materials, all particles are biocompatible and
      taken up by A549 human lung carcinoma cells. A proof of concept click reaction
      was performed as well.

PMID- 28605717
TI  - Calorimetric study of alkali and alkaline-earth cation adsorption and exchange at
      the quartz-solution interface.
AB  - Cations in natural solutions significantly impact interfacial processes,
      particularly dissolution and surface charge measurements for quartz and silica,
      which are amongst the most naturally abundant and technologically important
      solids. Thermodynamic parameters for cation-specific interfacial reactions have
      heretofore been mostly derived instead of directly measured experimentally. This
      work investigates the energetics of adsorption and exchange reactions of alkali
      metal (M+) and alkaline earth (M2+) cations with the quartz surface by flow
      adsorption microcalorimetry, in tandem with in-situ pH measurements. The
      magnitudes of the heats of adsorption and exchange were found to increase along
      the Hofmeister series i.e., Li+<Na+<K+<Rb+<Cs+ and Mg2+<Ca2+<Sr2+<Ba2+, and
      exhibited strong correlations to bulk cation hydration enthalpies (DeltaHhyd).
      These results suggest inner-sphere adsorption for all studied cations and
      highlight the role DeltaHhyd plays in rationalizing these reactions and
      controlling their net overall enthalpy. pH measurements demonstrate that quartz
      surface charge will vary depending on the cation present, as is well known for
      amorphous forms of silica. Along with calorimetric signals, pH data revealed
      kinetic differences between the adsorption and desorption reactions of M+ and
      M2+, and individual cations within each group.

PMID- 28605719
TI  - Probabilistic forecasting for extreme NO2 pollution episodes.
AB  - In this study, we investigate the convenience of quantile regression to predict
      extreme concentrations of NO2. Contrarily to the usual point-forecasting, where a
      single value is forecast for each horizon, probabilistic forecasting through
      quantile regression allows for the prediction of the full probability
      distribution, which in turn allows to build models specifically fit for the tails
      of this distribution. Using data from the city of Madrid, including NO2
      concentrations as well as meteorological measures, we build models that predict
      extreme NO2 concentrations, outperforming point-forecasting alternatives, and we
      prove that the predictions are accurate, reliable and sharp. Besides, we study
      the relative importance of the independent variables involved, and show how the
      important variables for the median quantile are different than those important
      for the upper quantiles. Furthermore, we present a method to compute the
      probability of exceedance of thresholds, which is a simple and comprehensible
      manner to present probabilistic forecasts maximizing their usefulness.

PMID- 28605718
TI  - Diversity, classification and evolution of CRISPR-Cas systems.
AB  - The bacterial and archaeal CRISPR-Cas systems of adaptive immunity show
      remarkable diversity of protein composition, effector complex structure, genome
      locus architecture and mechanisms of adaptation, pre-CRISPR (cr)RNA processing
      and interference. The CRISPR-Cas systems belong to two classes, with multi
      subunit effector complexes in Class 1 and single-protein effector modules in
      Class 2. Concerted genomic and experimental efforts on comprehensive
      characterization of Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems led to the identification of two
      new types and several subtypes. The newly characterized type VI systems are the
      first among the CRISPR-Cas variants to exclusively target RNA. Unexpectedly, in
      some of the class 2 systems, the effector protein is additionally responsible for
      the pre-crRNA processing. Comparative analysis of the effector complexes
      indicates that Class 2 systems evolved from mobile genetic elements on multiple,
      independent occasions.

PMID- 28605720
TI  - Hydrocarbon composition and concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico sediments in the
      3 years following the Macondo well blowout.
AB  - In April of 2010, the Macondo well blowout in the northern Gulf of Mexico
      resulted in an unprecedented release of oil into the water column at a depth of
      approximately 1500 m. A time series of surface and subsurface sediment samples
      were collected to the northwest of the well from 2010 to 2013 for molecular
      biomarker and bulk carbon isotopic analyses. While no clear trend was observed in
      subsurface sediments, surface sediments (0-3 cm) showed a clear pattern with
      total concentrations of n-alkanes, unresolved complex mixture (UCM), and
      petroleum biomarkers (terpanes, hopanes, steranes) increasing from May to
      September 2010, peaking in late November 2010, and strongly decreasing in the
      subsequent years. The peak in hydrocarbon concentrations were corroborated by
      higher organic carbon contents, more depleted Delta14C values and biomarker
      ratios similar to those of the initial MC252 crude oil reported in the
      literature. These results indicate that at least part of oil discharged from the
      accident sedimented to the seafloor in subsequent months, resulting in an
      apparent accumulation of hydrocarbons on the seabed by the end of 2010. Sediment
      resuspension and transport or biodegradation may account for the decrease in
      sedimented oil quantities in the years following the Macondo well spill.

PMID- 28605721
TI  - Dynamic analysis of bulk-fill composites: Effect of food-simulating liquids.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of food simulating liquids on visco-elastic
      properties of bulk-fill restoratives using dynamic mechanical analysis. One
      conventional composite (Filtek Z350 [FZ]), two bulk-fill composites (Filtek Bulk
      fill [FB] and Tetric N Ceram [TN]) and a bulk-fill giomer (Beautifil-Bulk
      Restorative [BB]) were evaluated. Specimens (12 * 2 * 2mm) were fabricated using
      customized stainless steel molds. The specimens were light-cured, removed from
      their molds, finished, measured and randomly divided into six groups. The groups
      (n = 10) were conditioned in the following mediums for 7 days at 37 degrees C:
      air (control), artificial saliva (SAGF), distilled water, 0.02N citric acid,
      heptane, 50% ethanol-water solution. Specimens were assessed using dynamic
      mechanical testing in flexural three-point bending mode and their respective
      mediums at 37 degrees C and a frequency range of 0.1-10Hz. The distance between
      the supports were fixed at 10mm and an axial load of 5N was employed. Data for
      elastic modulus, viscous modulus and loss tangent were subjected to ANOVA/Tukey's
      tests at significance level p < 0.05. Significant differences in visco-elastic
      properties were observed between materials and mediums. Apart from bulk-fill
      giomer, elastic modulus was the highest after conditioning in heptane. No
      apparent trends were noted for viscous modulus. Generally, loss tangent was the
      highest after conditioning in ethanol. The effect of food-simulating liquids on
      the visco-elastic properties of bulk-fill composites was material and medium
      dependent.

PMID- 28605722
TI  - Functional trade-off between strength and thermal capacity of dermal armor:
      Insights from girdled lizards.
AB  - The presence of dermal armor is often unambiguously considered the result of an
      evolutionary predator-prey arms-race. Recent studies focusing predominantly on
      osteoderms - mineralized elements embedded in the dermis layer of various extant
      and extinct vertebrates - have instead proposed that dermal armor might exhibit
      additional functionalities besides protection. Multiple divergent functionalities
      could impose conflicting demands on a phenotype, yet, functional trade-offs in
      dermal armor have rarely been investigated. Here, we use high-resolution micro
      computed tomography and voxel-based simulations to test for a trade-off between
      the strength and thermal capacity of osteoderms using two armored cordylid
      lizards as model organisms. We demonstrate that high vascularization, associated
      with improved thermal capacity might limit the strength of osteoderms. These
      results call for a holistic, cautionary future approach to studies investigating
      dermal armor, especially those aiming to inspire artificial protective materials.

PMID- 28605723
TI  - A combined cognitive and gait quantification to identify normal pressure
      hydrocephalus from its mimics: The Geneva's protocol.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is very prevalent in
      aging, underdiagnosed, and represents a rare cause of reversible neurological
      condition. The clinical triad of iNPH - gait, cognitive and urinary symptoms -
      and its neuroradiological features (i.e. ventriculomegaly) are not specific and
      found a various neurodegenerative and/or vascular conditions. We present our iNPH
      standardized protocol at the Geneva University Hospitals involving a
      multispecialty team of behavioral neurologists, neurosurgeons,
      neuropsychologists, engineers, and physical therapists. Based on a pragmatic
      approach, the goal of this protocol is to improve the identification of older
      patients with iNPH from its mimics (i.e. vascular dementia or other parkinsonian
      syndromes). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used a novel standardized paradigm with a
      simultaneous quantification of cognition and gait (dual task gait assessment and
      mental imagery of locomotion) before and 24h after CSF tapping. RESULTS: We
      assessed 125 patients with suspicion of iNPH (age: 75.9+/-7.4years; 34.4% female)
      in 5 years: 54.4% of probable/possible iNPH and 45.6% of mimics. Among the
      mimics, vascular dementia (24.6%) and patients with multifactorial conditions
      (19.9%) were the two most common diagnoses. A total of 27 patients with iNPH
      (39.7%) accepted the neurosurgical shunt procedure. CONCLUSION: This report shows
      that a quantified gait and cognitive assessment - using dual-task paradigms -
      before and after CSF tapping is feasible among older adults with suspicion of
      iNPH and that this multidisciplinary approach contributes to the identification
      of patients with iNPH from its mimics.

PMID- 28605724
TI  - Human parechovirus cluster in the UK, 8 May-2 August 2016-sequence analysis.

PMID- 28605725
TI  - A general reaction network and kinetic model of the hydrothermal liquefaction of
      microalgae Tetraselmis sp.
AB  - In this work, the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgal Tetraselmis sp.
      was conducted at various reaction temperatures (250-350 degrees C) and reaction
      times (10-60min). A general reaction network and a quantitative kinetic model
      were proposed for the HTL of microalgae. In this reaction network, the primary
      decomposition of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates generated heavy oil (HO),
      light oil (LO), and aqueous-phase (AP) products. Then, reversible
      interconversions and further decomposition of these product fractions to produce
      gas product were followed. The model accurately captures the trends observed in
      the experimental data. Analyses of the kinetic parameters (reaction rate
      constants and activation energies) suggested the dominant reaction pathways as
      well as the contribution of the biochemical compositions to the bio-oil yield.
      Finally, the kinetic parameters calculated from the model were utilized to
      explore the parameter space in order to predict the liquefaction product yields
      depending on the reaction time and temperature.

PMID- 28605726
TI  - The exploration of monochromatic near-infrared LED improved anoxygenic
      photosynthetic bacteria Rhodopseudomonas sp. for wastewater treatment.
AB  - The future wastewater treatment requires high-efficiency and energy-saving
      technology. Anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (APB) is deemed as an eco-friendly
      microorganism, which could be employed in wastewater treatment. Here,
      monochromatic near-infrared (MNIR) light emitting diode (LED) was used, and three
      key factors (light quality, light intensity and photoperiod) of it were analyzed
      by a response surface methodology (RSM) in APB wastewater treatment. The results
      showed that light quality was the biggest impact factor in APB wastewater
      treatment, and nearly 58.07% of NH4+-N and 70.62% of chemical oxygen demand (COD)
      could be removed based on 46.4% of that theoretically possible. The light
      quality's study revealed that APB had the highest NH4+-N and COD removal, biomass
      production, and bacteriochlorophyll a production with 850nm IR LED. Moreover, the
      application of optimal MNIR LED could not only save energy, but also avoid algae
      bloom of photo-bioreactors (PBR).

PMID- 28605727
TI  - Parametric study for the optimization of ionic liquid pretreatment of corn
      stover.
AB  - A parametric study of the efficacy of the ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment (PT) of
      corn stover (CS) using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2C1Im][OAc]) and
      cholinium lysinate ([Ch][Lys]) was conducted. The impact of 50% and 15% biomass
      loading for milled and non-milled CS on IL-PT was evaluated, as well the impact
      of 20 and 5mg enzyme/g glucan on saccharification efficiency. The glucose and
      xylose released were generated from 32 conditions - 2 ionic liquids (ILs), 2
      temperatures, 2 particle sizes (S), 2 solid loadings, and 2 enzyme loadings.
      Statistical analysis indicates that sugar yields were correlated with lignin and
      xylan removal and depends on the factors, where S did not explain variation in
      sugar yields. Both ILs were effective in pretreating large particle sized CS,
      without compromising sugar yields. The knowledge from material and energy
      balances is an essential step in directing optimization of sugar recovery at
      desirable process conditions.

PMID- 28605728
TI  - Biological caproate production by Clostridium kluyveri from ethanol and acetate
      as carbon sources.
AB  - Caproate is a valuable industrial product and chemical precursor. In this study,
      batch tests were conducted to investigate the fermentative caproate production
      through chain elongation from acetate and ethanol. The effect of acetate/ethanol
      ratio and initial ethanol concentration on caproate production was examined. When
      substrate concentration was controlled at 100mM total carbon, hydrogen was used
      as an additional electron donor. The highest caproate concentration of 3.11g/L
      was obtained at an ethanol/acetate ratio of 7:3. No additional electron donor was
      needed upon an ethanol/acetate ratio >=7:3. Caproate production increased with
      the increase of carbon source until ethanol concentration over 700mM, which
      inhibited the fermentation process. The highest caproate concentration of 8.42g/L
      was achieved from high ethanol strength wastewater with an ethanol/acetate ratio
      of 10:1 (550mM total carbon). Results obtained in this study can pave the way
      towards efficient chain elongation from ethanol-rich wastewater.

PMID- 28605729
TI  - Carbohydrate based polymeric materials as slow release electron donors for
      sulphate removal from wastewater.
AB  - Many industrial sulphate rich wastewaters are deficient in electron donors to
      achieve complete sulphate removal. Therefore, pure and expensive chemicals are
      supplied externally. In this study, carbohydrate based polymers (CBP) as potato
      (2 and 5 mm3), filter paper (2 and 5 mm2) and crab shell (2 and 4 mm O) were
      tested as slow release electron donors (SRED) for biological sulphate reduction
      at 30  degrees C and initial pH of 7.0. Using the CBP as SRED, sulphate reduction
      was carried out at different rates: filter paper 0.065-0.050 > potato 0.022-0.034
      > crab shell 0.006-0.009 mg SO42-.mg VSS-1d-1. These were also affected by the
      hydrolysis-fermentation rates: potato 0.087-0.070 > filter paper 0.039-0.047 >
      crab shell 0.011-0.028 mg CODS.mg VSS-1d-1, respectively. Additionally, the
      sulphate removal efficiencies using filter paper (cellulose, > 98%), potato
      (starch, > 82%) and crab shell (chitin, > 32%) were achieved only when using CBP
      as SRED and in the absence of other easily available electron donors. This study
      showed that the natural characteristics of the CBP limited the hydrolysis
      fermentation step and, therefore, the sulphate reduction rates.

PMID- 28605731
TI  - Why All the Pushback against Counterpulsation?

PMID- 28605730
TI  - Gemcitabine and Vinorelbine Combination Chemotherapy in Taxane-Pretreated
      Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Phase II Study of the Kinki
      Multidisciplinary Breast Oncology Group (KMBOG) 1015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety
      of the chemotherapy combination of gemcitabine and vinorelbine in taxane
      pretreated Japanese metastatic breast cancer patients. METHODS: In this
      multicenter, phase II, single-arm study, patients with recurrent or metastatic
      HER2-negative breast cancer were administered gemcitabine (1,200 mg/m2) and
      vinorelbine (25 mg/m2) intravenously on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks. The primary
      endpoint was the objective response rate, and other endpoints included
      progression-free survival, overall survival, and safety. RESULTS: A total of 42
      patients were enrolled in this study. The objective response rate and clinical
      benefit rate were 24 and 43%, respectively. The median progression-free survival
      was 4.0 months. The median overall survival was 11.1 months. Grade 3/4
      neutropenia was the most common hematologic toxicity, occurring in 22 patients
      (54%). Nonhematologic toxicity was moderate and transient, with fatigue (48%)
      being the most common condition and no severe adverse event reported. CONCLUSION:
      The combination of gemcitabine and vinorelbine is an effective and tolerable
      regimen for HER2-negative, taxane-pretreated, metastatic breast cancer patients
      in Japan.

PMID- 28605732
TI  - Progress in Bacillus subtilis Spore Surface Display Technology towards
      Environment, Vaccine Development, and Biocatalysis.
AB  - Spore surface display is the most desirable with enhanced effects, low cost, less
      time consuming and the most promising technology for environmental, medical, and
      industrial development. Spores have various applications in industry due to their
      ability to survive in harsh industrial processes including heat resistance,
      alkaline tolerance, chemical tolerance, easy recovery, and reusability. Yeast and
      bacteria, including gram-positive and -negative, are the most frequently used
      organisms for the display of various proteins (eukaryotic and prokaryotic), but
      unlike spores, they can rupture easily due to nutritive properties,
      susceptibility to heat, pH, and chemicals. Hence, spores are the best choice to
      avoid these problems, and they have various applications over nonspore formers
      due to amenability for laboratory purposes. Various strains of Clostridium and
      Bacillus are spore formers, but the most suitable choice for display is Bacillus
      subtilis because, according to the WHO, it is safe to humans and considered as
      "GRAS" (generally recognized as safe). This review focuses on the application of
      spore surface display towards industries, vaccine development, the environment,
      and peptide library construction, with cell surface display for enhanced protein
      expression and high enzymatic activity. Different vectors, coat proteins, and
      statistical analyses can be used for linker selection to obtain greater
      expression and high activity of the displayed protein.

PMID- 28605733
TI  - The Association between Fever and Prognosis in Lung Cancer Patients with Bone
      Metastases Receiving Zoledronic Acid.
AB  - Zoledronic acid is an established agent used in the management of metastatic bone
      disease. The administration of zoledronic acid improves overall survival (OS) of
      lung cancer patients with bone metastases receiving chemotherapy. However, it is
      currently unknown whether zoledronic acid-induced fever is associated with OS.
      The purpose of this study was to examine the association between zoledronic acid
      induced fever and prognosis in lung cancer patients with bone metastases. We
      retrospectively analyzed 98 lung cancer patients with bone metastases who had
      received zoledronic acid. The end point outcome measure was OS. Multivariate
      analyses were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for OS due to fever after
      adjusting for covariates. In multivariate analysis, white blood cell (WBC) count,
      lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, fever, chemotherapy, and hypercalcemia were
      independent prognostic factors, with HRs of 2.834 for WBC count (<10 * 103/MUL
      vs. >=10 * 103/MUL, p < 0.001), 3.044 for LDH level (<250 vs. >=250 IU/L, p <
      0.001), 0.603 for fever (<37.0 vs. >=37.0 degrees C, p = 0.039), 0.481 for
      chemotherapy (chemotherapy not administered vs. administered, p = 0.006), and
      2.453 for hypercalcemia (<11.0 vs. >=11.0 mg/dL, p = 0.001). Zoledronic acid
      induced fever was the most important prognostic factor in this cohort of lung
      cancer patients with bone metastases.

PMID- 28605734
TI  - Cervical Spine Aneurysmal Bone Cysts in the Pediatric Population: A Systematic
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - Cervical spine aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) in pediatric patients have not been
      thoroughly studied. Using PubMed and Google Scholar, a systematic review of the
      literature was conducted for publications that included patients aged <=15 years
      with a confirmed diagnosis of ABC in the cervical spine. Thirty-five studies with
      a total of 71 patients met the inclusion criteria. Nearly 80% of patients
      presented with neck or shoulder pain. The axis was the level most frequently
      involved (34.28%), followed by C5 (24.28%). Posterior elements were most likely
      to be affected (88.46%) while exclusive involvement of the body was uncommon. To
      our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of the literature regarding
      ABCs of the cervical spine in a pediatric population. Spinal ABCs are rarely
      found in the cervical region, and their treatment remains challenging due to
      their location, vascularization, and a high overall recurrence rate even with
      surgical resection.

PMID- 28605736
TI  - Selected Abstracts from the 35th Vicenza Course onAKI & CRRT, Vicenza, June 13
      16, 2017: Abstracts.

PMID- 28605735
TI  - Relationship between Changes in Fatty Acid Composition of the Erythrocyte
      Membranes and Fatty Acid Intake during Pregnancy in Pregnant Japanese Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an important nutrient required by
      pregnant women and fetuses. Several studies suggest that fatty acid composition
      changes during pregnancy. However, the association of longitudinal changes in
      erythrocyte fatty acid composition and dietary fatty acid intake during pregnancy
      is not well understood. We assessed the relationship between fatty acid
      composition of the erythrocyte membranes and fatty acid intake at each trimester
      in pregnant Japanese women. METHODS: We conducted a prospective hospital-based
      cohort study. We investigated fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membranes
      and intake of fatty acids during the three trimesters in 178 healthy, pregnant
      Japanese women. RESULTS: The eicosapentaenoic acid and arachidonic acid
      percentage of the erythrocyte membranes significantly decreased. The percentages
      of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid significantly increased during
      pregnancy. The DHA percentage in the erythrocyte membranes decreased from the
      second to the third trimester. The DHA percentage in the erythrocyte membranes
      positively correlated with DHA intake in the third trimester. CONCLUSION: In
      pregnant Japanese women, the fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membranes
      markedly changed throughout pregnancy. The DHA intake in the third trimester may
      be insufficient to maintain DHA percentage in the maternal erythrocyte membranes.

PMID- 28605737
TI  - A Nationwide Study of Stereotactic Radiosurgery in a Newly Diagnosed Spine
      Metastasis Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), a technique that is emerging as a
      new treatment option, has been reported to be an effective, noninvasive treatment
      for spine metastasis patients. OBJECTIVE: This nationwide study aimed to
      understand the current state of SRS for spine metastasis. METHODS: Patients in
      this study were first diagnosed with a metastatic spine tumor between 1 July and
      31 December 2011. One group (the SRS group) received SRS at least once within 1
      year of diagnosis and the other (the non-SRS group) did not receive SRS. We
      analyzed the characteristics, medication, and survival of each group. RESULTS: In
      628 new patients, there were no significant differences between groups regarding
      gender, age, type of health insurance, and comorbidities. There were significant
      differences with regard to the medical costs (USD 23,276 vs. 18,458; p = 0.001)
      and the duration of hospital stay (101.3 vs. 86.5 days; p = 0.023). Median
      survival was significantly longer in the SRS group (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS:
      There was no significant pretreatment baseline demographic difference between the
      SRS and the non-SRS group. There was a tendency for greater use of medication in
      the SRS group. Patients with a longer overall survival tended to be those who
      underwent SRS treatment.

PMID- 28605738
TI  - Spatial Neglect Predicts Upper Limb Use in the Activities of Daily Living.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Motor tests performed at stroke onset have been shown to
      predict the recovery of upper limb motor impairment. Less is known about upper
      limb recovery at the level of functional activity or of participation and how
      spatial neglect may influence the integration of the upper limb in the activities
      of daily living (ADL). Our objective was to investigate whether the initial
      severity of spatial neglect may predict upper limb use in ADL. METHODS: Eighty
      two patients with a right-hemispheric stroke (RHS) were prospectively included in
      the study. They were assessed twice in the acute/subacute and in the
      subacute/chronic phases (mean time interval of 45 days) after stroke. The
      Catherine Bergego Scale (CBS) was used to quantify the influence of spatial
      neglect on the ADL. Contralesional upper limb use in the ADL was evaluated with
      the Lucerne international classification of function, disability and health-based
      Multidisciplinary Observation Scale. Hand strength was measured using the Jamar,
      dexterity with the Nine Hole Peg test, and tactile perception using the
      stereognosis subtest of the Nottingham Sensory Assessment. Cognitive functions
      were assessed with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. RESULTS: Regression
      analyses revealed that spatial neglect is an independent and a significant
      predictor of upper limb outcome. A CBS score of <=5 at the time of admission to
      neurorehabilitation care was highly predictive for good upper limb use in the ADL
      45 days later. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that spatial neglect
      severity, as observed in the ADL, is a significant and an independent predictor
      of upper limb outcome. Neglect therapy is thus needed to further improve
      contralesional upper limb use in the ADL in RHS patients.

PMID- 28605739
TI  - Satellite Sign: A Poor Outcome Predictor in Intracerebral Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of high-density starry dots around the intracerebral
      hemorrhage (ICH), which we termed as a satellite sign, is occasionally observed
      in CT. The relationship between ICH with a satellite sign and its functional
      outcome has not been identified. This study aimed to determine whether the
      presence of a satellite sign could be an independent prognostic factor for
      patients with ICH. METHODS: Patients with acute spontaneous ICH were
      retrospectively identified and their initial CT scans were reviewed. A satellite
      sign was defined as scattered high-density lesions completely separate from the
      main hemorrhage in at least the single axial slice. Functional outcome was
      evaluated using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at discharge. Poor functional
      outcome was defined as mRS scores of 3-6. Univariate and multivariate logistic
      regression analyses were applied to assess the presence of a satellite sign and
      its association with poor functional outcome. RESULTS: A total of 241 patients
      with ICH were enrolled in the study. Of these, 98 (40.7%) had a satellite sign.
      Patients with a satellite sign had a significantly higher rate of poor functional
      outcome (95.9%) than those without a satellite sign (55.9%, p < 0.0001).
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that higher age (OR 1.06; 95%
      CI 1.03-1.10; p = 0.00016), large hemorrhage size (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.03-1.11; p =
      0.00015), and ICH with a satellite sign (OR 13.5; 95% CI 4.42-53.4; p < 0.0001)
      were significantly related to poor outcome. A satellite sign was significantly
      related with higher systolic blood pressure (p = 0.0014), higher diastolic blood
      pressure (p = 0.0117), shorter activated partial thromboplastin time (p =
      0.0427), higher rate of intraventricular bleeding (p < 0.0001), and larger main
      hemorrhage (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a satellite sign in the
      initial CT scan is associated with a significantly worse functional outcome in
      ICH patients.

PMID- 28605740
TI  - A Randomized, Double-Blind, Pilot Study of the Effect of Famotidine on Acotiamide
      Treatment for Functional Dyspepsia.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Acotiamide, a prokinetic drug, is used to treat functional
      dyspepsia (FD), especially postprandial distress syndrome (PDS). However, a
      treatment for FD patients with PDS and/or epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) has not
      been established. We investigated the efficacy of famotidine in combination with
      acotiamide for FD. METHODS: Fifty blindly randomized FD patients received placebo
      with acotiamide, or famotidine with acotiamide, for 4 weeks. Treatment efficacy
      was assessed by overall treatment effects (OTE), total, PDS and EPS symptom
      scores, and impairment of quality of life (QOL). RESULTS: After OTE assessment,
      patients who felt affected by treatment comprised 40.9 and 57.9% of famotidine
      and placebo groups, respectively, after 4 weeks' treatment, with no significant
      difference between groups. A significant decrease was seen in total, PDS, and EPS
      symptom scores, and in QOL impairment, after 4 weeks' treatment compared with
      pretreatment scores for famotidine and placebo groups, but was not observed
      between groups. The proportion of patients showing a >=50% decrease in EPS
      symptom scores was greater in the famotidine than that in the placebo group for
      every observation point, with the greatest difference observed after 2 weeks'
      treatment. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of famotidine and acotiamide combination
      therapy in FD was similar to the effectiveness of acotiamide therapy alone.

PMID- 28605741
TI  - Electroencephalography Patterns and Prognosis in Acute Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The prognostic significance of interictal epileptiform
      discharges (IED) and periodic patterns (PP) after ischemic stroke has not been
      assessed. We sought to test whether IED and PP, detected on standard
      Electroencephalography (EEG) performed during the acute phase of ischemic stroke
      are associated with a worse functional outcome. METHODS: One-hundred-fifty-seven
      patients 18 years or older with a diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke presenting
      within 72 h from stroke onset were prospectively enrolled and followed. Patients
      with a pre-stroke history of seizures or epilepsy, previous debilitating
      neurological disease or conditions that precluded the performance of EEG were
      excluded. Interpretation was performed by a blinded board certified
      neurophysiologist. IED and PP (grouped as epileptiform activity [EA]) were
      defined according to proposed guidelines. Univariable and multivariable analyses
      were used to identify predictors of outcome (modified Rankin Scale dichotomized
      <=2 vs. >=3) at 3 months. RESULTS: In the univariable analysis, admission NIHSS
      (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.12-1.28, p = 0.001), age (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.05, p =
      0.02), and presence of EA (OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.51-5.88, p = 0.001) were
      significantly associated with the outcome at 3 months. In the multivariable
      analysis, only admission NIHSS (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.11-1.28, p < 0.001) and the
      presence of EA (OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.04-5.00, p = 0.04) were independently
      associated with the prognosis. SIGNIFICANCE: The importance of EEG in the
      prognosis of acute ischemic stroke warrants additional research, examining the
      role of medication therapy on the outcome and the occurrence of seizures for
      those patients with specific EEG patterns.

PMID- 28605742
TI  - Endotoxin Exposure Increases LL-37 - but Not Calprotectin - in Healthy Human
      Airways.
AB  - RATIONALE: The antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) LL-37 and calprotectin are important
      players in the innate immunity of human airways. In patients with diseases
      characterized by bacterial colonization, the airway concentrations of these AMPs
      are increased. Less is known about their presence and release patterns in healthy
      humans. Our aim was to determine whether LL-37 and calprotectin are released
      after the activation of the innate immune response in the peripheral airways.
      METHODS: Healthy volunteers underwent exposure to endotoxin and vehicle in
      contralateral segment bronchi. After 12 or 24 h, samples of bronchoalveolar
      lavage fluid (BALf) were collected bilaterally from exposed segments. Cell and
      AMP concentrations were assessed, as were the pro-form and active form of LL-37.
      RESULTS: Both LL-37 and calprotectin were detected in cell-free BALf from both
      endotoxin- and vehicle-exposed segments. The concentrations of precursor and
      active LL-37 and neutrophils were significantly higher in endotoxin-exposed
      segments after 12 and 24 h, and the concentrations of LL-37 and neutrophils
      correlated positively. The concentrations of calprotectin were not markedly
      affected by exposure to endotoxin. CONCLUSIONS: Local endotoxin exposure elicits
      the release and activation of LL-37 but not calprotectin in healthy human
      peripheral airways, suggesting an inducible involvement of LL-37 in the local
      innate immune response.

PMID- 28605743
TI  - Incomplete Large Vessel Occlusions in Mechanical Thrombectomy: An Independent
      Predictor of Favorable Outcome in Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral large vessel occlusion (LVO) in acute ischemic
      stroke (AIS) may be complete (CLVO) or incomplete (ILVO). The influence of ILVO
      on clinical outcome after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) remains unclear. We
      investigated primarily the clinical outcome in patients with AIS due to ILVO or
      CLVO. METHODS: Five hundred three consecutive AIS patients with LVO treated with
      stent-retriever or direct aspiration-based MT between 2010 and 2016 were
      analyzed. The primary endpoint was favorable clinical outcome (modified Rankin
      Scale <=2) at 90 days; secondary endpoints were periprocedural parameters.
      RESULTS: Forty-nine patients (11.3%) with a median National Institutes of Health
      Stroke Scale (NIHSS) of 11 presented with ILVO and the remainder presented with
      CLVO and median NIHSS of 15 (p < 0.001). The median groin puncture-to-reperfusion
      time was 30 vs. 67 min, respectively (p < 0.001). Successful reperfusion was
      reached in 47 out of 49 ILVO (95.9%) vs. 298 out of 381 CLVO (78.2%; p < 0.005)
      with less retrieval maneuvers (1.7 +/- 2.2 vs. 3.0 +/- 2.5; p < 0.001). The
      favorable outcome at 90 days was 81% in patients with ILVO vs. 29.1% in CLVO (p <
      0.001); respective all-cause mortality rates were 6.4 vs. 28.5% (p < 0.001).
      Periprocedural complications (6.9%) occurred exclusively in CLVO patients (p <
      0.05). ILVO was associated with favorable clinical outcome independent of age and
      NIHSS in multivariate logistic regression both in the anterior (OR 3.6; 95% CI
      1.8-6.9; p < 0.001) and posterior circulation (OR 3.5; 95% CI 1.8-6.9; p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: AIS due to ILVO is frequent and is associated with a nearly
      threefold higher chance of favorable clinical outcome at 90 days, independent of
      age and initial NIHSS compared to CLVO.

PMID- 28605744
TI  - A Clinical Case of Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia: The
      Clinical Suspicious and the Need of Genetics.
AB  - Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a very rare
      genetic cardiac channelopathy, which has not been sufficiently studied yet. The
      first clinical manifestation has been described during the first decade of life,
      linked to strenuous exercise or acute emotion. The absence of structural heart
      disease and a family history of possible arrhythmogenic disorder generally guide
      the diagnosis towards a potential channelopathy. The opportunity to perform an
      extensive genetic analysis allows physicians to make the correct diagnosis and to
      optimize clinical management. The identification of more CPVT cases could affirm
      what we already know and primarily implement the current knowledge.

PMID- 28605745
TI  - Current Standard and Future Perspectives in Non-Surgical Therapy for
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive liver tumor with a
      poor 5-year survival rate. Many HCCs are not amenable to surgical resection,
      because of tumor size, location, or because of the patient's poor liver function,
      a common obstacle to HCC therapy, because HCCs almost always develop in
      chronically inflamed livers. SUMMARY: In recent years, many efforts have been
      made to improve patient survival by conducting clinical trials investigating
      local and systemic treatment options for patients with unresectable tumors. These
      treatment options include radiofrequency ablation (RFA), transarterial
      chemoembolization (TACE), selective internal radiotherapy with yttrium-90 (SIRT),
      stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), proton beam therapy, molecular
      targeted therapy, and checkpoint inhibition. In this "to-the-point" article, we
      review the current standard and summarize the most recent findings in
      unresectable HCC treatment. KEY POINTS: (1) RFA is currently the preferred
      treatment for patients with tumor burden restricted to the liver and not eligible
      for surgical resection; (2) TACE is utilized in patients who are not eligible for
      RFA because of tumor location and/or number of tumor lesions; (3) SIRT might
      improve treatment responses achieved by TACE and is feasible in patients with
      portal vein thrombosis; (4) new radiation therapy treatment modalities such as
      SBRT and proton beam therapy show promising results for local tumor control; and
      (5) sorafenib remains the first-line systemic treatment option after several
      large clinical trials have failed to show superiority of other molecular targeted
      therapies in HCC patients.

PMID- 28605746
TI  - PLS3 Mutations in X-Linked Osteoporosis: Clinical and Bone Characteristics of Two
      Novel Mutations.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Plastin 3 (PLS3) mutations are associated with an X
      linked osteoporosis. Here we describe two new families with novel mutations,
      including one with a whole gene PLS3 deletion, and review the literature on 9
      previously reported cases. RESULTS: Hemizygous male carriers presented with
      multiple peripheral bone fractures, low bone mineral density (BMD), and vertebral
      compression fractures. Heterozygous female carriers did not have a history of
      fragility fractures, although 1 individual presented with low BMD. Apart from
      greyish-tinged sclera, no other extraskeletal features of osteogenesis imperfecta
      were identified. Histomorphometry from a transiliac bone biopsy in one of our
      index patients demonstrated significantly low trabecular bone volume with
      increased bone turnover. Bisphosphonate treatment was associated with a reduction
      in the fracture rate and increased bone density. CONCLUSION: Hemizygous mutations
      in PLS3 may cause a monogenic form of X-linked osteoporosis presenting in
      childhood with a nonspecific phenotype. No characteristic ocular, dental, or
      joint abnormalities are defined. When genetic testing is undertaken to
      investigate for primary causes of bone fragility, we suggest PLS3 be included in
      order not to miss this diagnosis.

PMID- 28605747
TI  - Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Findings in Congenital Pouch Colon: A
      Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of literature on the histopathological aspects of
      congenital pouch colon (CPC) and immunohistochemical (IHC) assessment has not
      been reported. So we planned to study the histopathological and IHC findings
      within the spectrum of CPC and compare the findings with the normal colon.
      METHODS: This is a descriptive prospective study on CPC patients. There were 49
      cases of CPC (42 males and 7 females) and 13 controls. Histological examination
      was done using hematoxylin and eosin and Masson trichrome stain. IHC analysis was
      done with actin, myosin, and desmin antibodies, and neuron-specific enolase and
      S100 markers for counting ganglionic cells. RESULTS: Histologically, congestion,
      edema and hemorrhage were seen in mucosa, submucosa, and serosa. Muscle layers
      were disrupted and divided into bands. An additional muscle coat inside of the
      muscularis propria was seen in CPC types 1 and 2. Mature ganglionic cells were
      reduced and muscle layers showed reduced and patchy positivity for smooth muscle
      actin, myosin, and desmin compared to a normal colon. CONCLUSIONS:
      Histopathological and IHC findings suggest that CPC has distinct defects in the
      neuromusculature.

PMID- 28605748
TI  - Characterization of the Phenotype Associated with Microduplication Reciprocal to
      NF1 Microdeletion Syndrome.
AB  - 17q11.2 microduplication syndrome is a recently described relatively rare
      condition associated with a nonspecific phenotype. Intellectual disability,
      developmental delay, and dysmorphisms are the only clinical features common to a
      majority of cases. Seventeen patients have been reported so far. Here, we present
      another patient with 17q11.2 duplication and no signs of neurofibromatosis type
      1, identified by array-CGH. We compared clinical features and genetic data with
      those of previously reported patients with 17q11.2 microduplications. We also
      analyzed the gene content of the duplicated region in order to investigate the
      possible role of specific genes in the clinical phenotype of our patient.

PMID- 28605749
TI  - Radiculopathy in a patient with chronic tophaceus gout: vertebral imaging.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Spinal involvement is infrequent in chronic gout. However, some
      cases of back pain with radiculopathy secondary to this etiology have been
      reported. CASE REPORT: 56-year old male patient, with history of arterial
      hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, obesity, glucose intolerance and alcohol
      abuse, diagnosed with gout in his fifth decade of life. The patient was started
      on urate lowering therapy, with poor compliance, and evolved with sustained
      hyperuricemia, recurrent episodes of arthritis, and growth of gouty tophi on the
      elbows, wrists, hands and knees. In 2011, the patient presented with
      radiculopathy. When pain recurred, a Computed Tomography was performed and it
      showed alterations compatible with spinal tophi formation and nerve root
      involvement. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Our clinical case is another example of how
      gout can produce spinal inflammation and nerve damage and superimpose on
      previously damaged joints and how patients' compliance to therapeutics may have
      an important impact on prognosis.

PMID- 28605750
TI  - Anticentromere antibody positive Ackerman's Syndrome with Granulomatous Anterior
      Uveitis.
AB  - Ackerman's Syndrome or Intersticial Granulomatous Dermatitis with Arthritis has
      been an issue of increasing number of reports in the last decade which had
      focused its heterogeneous cutaneous and rheumatologic expression besides the
      initial manifestations reported by Ackerman and his group. Granulomatosis
      anterior uveitis has not been previously described. Some patients are reported to
      have positive autoantibodies but association with anticentromere antibodies has
      not been previously described as well, to our knowledge. We report a new case of
      Ackerman Syndrome with cutaneous, articular and ocular involvement with positive
      anticentromere antibodies successfully treated with systemic steroids,
      methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine and cyclosporine. The ocular involvement and the
      association of anticentromere antibodies lead us to hypothesize that
      constellation of symptoms and autoimmune mechanisms of this uncommon
      multisystemic syndrome are yet to be clarified.

PMID- 28605752
TI  - Variability in the Relationship of Hemoglobin A1c and Average Glucose
      Concentrations: How Much Does Race Matter?

PMID- 28605751
TI  - Improved maize reference genome with single-molecule technologies.
AB  - Complete and accurate reference genomes and annotations provide fundamental tools
      for characterization of genetic and functional variation. These resources
      facilitate the determination of biological processes and support translation of
      research findings into improved and sustainable agricultural technologies. Many
      reference genomes for crop plants have been generated over the past decade, but
      these genomes are often fragmented and missing complex repeat regions. Here we
      report the assembly and annotation of a reference genome of maize, a genetic and
      agricultural model species, using single-molecule real-time sequencing and high
      resolution optical mapping. Relative to the previous reference genome, our
      assembly features a 52-fold increase in contig length and notable improvements in
      the assembly of intergenic spaces and centromeres. Characterization of the
      repetitive portion of the genome revealed more than 130,000 intact transposable
      elements, allowing us to identify transposable element lineage expansions that
      are unique to maize. Gene annotations were updated using 111,000 full-length
      transcripts obtained by single-molecule real-time sequencing. In addition,
      comparative optical mapping of two other inbred maize lines revealed a prevalence
      of deletions in regions of low gene density and maize lineage-specific genes.

PMID- 28605762
TI  - Machine Learning Versus Standard Techniques for Updating Searches for Systematic
      Reviews: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study.

PMID- 28605763
TI  - Public health goals for a post-Brexit world.

PMID- 28605764
TI  - Border control in a healthcare setting is not in the public's best interests.

PMID- 28605765
TI  - Workflow and web application for annotating NCBI BioProject transcriptome data.
AB  - Abstract: The volume of transcriptome data is growing exponentially due to rapid
      improvement of experimental technologies. In response, large central resources
      such as those of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) are
      continually adapting their computational infrastructure to accommodate this large
      influx of data. New and specialized databases, such as Transcriptome Shotgun
      Assembly Sequence Database (TSA) and Sequence Read Archive (SRA), have been
      created to aid the development and expansion of centralized repositories.
      Although the central resource databases are under continual development, they do
      not include automatic pipelines to increase annotation of newly deposited data.
      Therefore, third-party applications are required to achieve that aim. Here, we
      present an automatic workflow and web application for the annotation of
      transcriptome data. The workflow creates secondary data such as sequencing reads
      and BLAST alignments, which are available through the web application. They are
      based on freely available bioinformatics tools and scripts developed in-house.
      The interactive web application provides a search engine and several browser
      utilities. Graphical views of transcript alignments are available through
      SeqViewer, an embedded tool developed by NCBI for viewing biological sequence
      data. The web application is tightly integrated with other NCBI web applications
      and tools to extend the functionality of data processing and interconnectivity.
      We present a case study for the species Physalis peruviana with data generated
      from BioProject ID 67621. Database: URL:
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/physalis/.

PMID- 28605767
TI  - Strategies towards digital and semi-automated curation in RegulonDB.

PMID- 28605766
TI  - GeneHancer: genome-wide integration of enhancers and target genes in GeneCards.
AB  - : A major challenge in understanding gene regulation is the unequivocal
      identification of enhancer elements and uncovering their connections to genes. We
      present GeneHancer, a novel database of human enhancers and their inferred target
      genes, in the framework of GeneCards. First, we integrated a total of 434 000
      reported enhancers from four different genome-wide databases: the Encyclopedia of
      DNA Elements (ENCODE), the Ensembl regulatory build, the functional annotation of
      the mammalian genome (FANTOM) project and the VISTA Enhancer Browser. Employing
      an integration algorithm that aims to remove redundancy, GeneHancer portrays 285
      000 integrated candidate enhancers (covering 12.4% of the genome), 94 000 of
      which are derived from more than one source, and each assigned an annotation
      derived confidence score. GeneHancer subsequently links enhancers to genes,
      using: tissue co-expression correlation between genes and enhancer RNAs, as well
      as enhancer-targeted transcription factor genes; expression quantitative trait
      loci for variants within enhancers; and capture Hi-C, a promoter-specific genome
      conformation assay. The individual scores based on each of these four methods,
      along with gene-enhancer genomic distances, form the basis for GeneHancer's
      combinatorial likelihood-based scores for enhancer-gene pairing. Finally, we
      define 'elite' enhancer-gene relations reflecting both a high-likelihood enhancer
      definition and a strong enhancer-gene association.GeneHancer predictions are
      fully integrated in the widely used GeneCards Suite, whereby candidate enhancers
      and their annotations are displayed on every relevant GeneCard. This assists in
      the mapping of non-coding variants to enhancers, and via the linked genes, forms
      a basis for variant-phenotype interpretation of whole-genome sequences in health
      and disease. Database URL: http://www.genecards.org/.

PMID- 28605768
TI  - Surveying the Maize community for their diversity and pedigree visualization
      needs to prioritize tool development and curation.
AB  - : The Maize Genetics and Genomics Database (MaizeGDB) team prepared a survey to
      identify breeders' needs for visualizing pedigrees, diversity data and haplotypes
      in order to prioritize tool development and curation efforts at MaizeGDB. The
      survey was distributed to the maize research community on behalf of the Maize
      Genetics Executive Committee in Summer 2015. The survey garnered 48 responses
      from maize researchers, of which more than half were self-identified as breeders.
      The survey showed that the maize researchers considered their top priorities for
      visualization as: (i) displaying single nucleotide polymorphisms in a given
      region for a given list of lines, (ii) showing haplotypes for a given list of
      lines and (iii) presenting pedigree relationships visually. The survey also asked
      which populations would be most useful to display. The following two populations
      were on top of the list: (i) 3000 publicly available maize inbred lines used in
      Romay et al. (Comprehensive genotyping of the USA national maize inbred seed
      bank. Genome Biol, 2013;14:R55) and (ii) maize lines with expired Plant Variety
      Protection Act (ex-PVP) certificates. Driven by this strong stakeholder input,
      MaizeGDB staff are currently working in four areas to improve its interface and
      web-based tools: (i) presenting immediate progenies of currently available stocks
      at the MaizeGDB Stock pages, (ii) displaying the most recent ex-PVP lines
      described in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) on the MaizeGDB
      Stock pages, (iii) developing network views of pedigree relationships and (iv)
      visualizing genotypes from SNP-based diversity datasets. These survey results can
      help other biological databases to direct their efforts according to user
      preferences as they serve similar types of data sets for their communities.
      Database URL: https://www.maizegdb.org.

PMID- 28605769
TI  - TriatoKey: a web and mobile tool for biodiversity identification of Brazilian
      triatomine species.
AB  - : Triatomines are blood-sucking insects that transmit the causative agent of
      Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. Despite being recognized as a difficult task,
      the correct taxonomic identification of triatomine species is crucial for vector
      control in Latin America, where the disease is endemic. In this context, we have
      developed a web and mobile tool based on PostgreSQL database to help healthcare
      technicians to overcome the difficulties to identify triatomine vectors when the
      technical expertise is missing. The web and mobile version makes use of real
      triatomine species pictures and dichotomous key method to support the
      identification of potential vectors that occur in Brazil. It provides a user
      example-driven interface with simple language. TriatoKey can also be useful for
      educational purposes. Database URL: http://triatokey.cpqrr.fiocruz.br.

PMID- 28605771
TI  - CHOmine: an integrated data warehouse for CHO systems biology and modeling.
AB  - : The last decade has seen a surge in published genome-scale information for
      Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which are the main production vehicles for
      therapeutic proteins. While a single access point is available at
      www.CHOgenome.org, the primary data is distributed over several databases at
      different institutions. Currently research is frequently hampered by a plethora
      of gene names and IDs that vary between published draft genomes and databases
      making systems biology analyses cumbersome and elaborate. Here we present
      CHOmine, an integrative data warehouse connecting data from various databases and
      links to other ones. Furthermore, we introduce CHOmodel, a web based resource
      that provides access to recently published CHO cell line specific metabolic
      reconstructions. Both resources allow to query CHO relevant data, find
      interconnections between different types of data and thus provides a simple,
      standardized entry point to the world of CHO systems biology. Database URL:
      http://www.chogenome.org.

PMID- 28605770
TI  - Improving biocuration of microRNAs in diseases: a case study in idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - : MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small and non-coding RNA molecules that inhibit gene
      expression posttranscriptionally. They play important roles in several biological
      processes, and in recent years there has been an interest in studying how they
      are related to the pathogenesis of diseases. Although there are already some
      databases that contain information for miRNAs and their relation with illnesses,
      their curation represents a significant challenge due to the amount of
      information that is being generated every day. In particular, respiratory
      diseases are poorly documented in databases, despite the fact that they are of
      increasing concern regarding morbidity, mortality and economic impacts. In this
      work, we present the results that we obtained in the BioCreative Interactive
      Track (IAT), using a semiautomatic approach for improving biocuration of miRNAs
      related to diseases. Our procedures will be useful to complement databases that
      contain this type of information. We adapted the OntoGene text mining pipeline
      and the ODIN curation system in a full-text corpus of scientific publications
      concerning one specific respiratory disease: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the
      most common and aggressive of the idiopathic interstitial cases of pneumonia. We
      curated 823 miRNA text snippets and found a total of 246 miRNAs related to this
      disease based on our semiautomatic approach with the system OntoGene/ODIN. The
      biocuration throughput improved by a factor of 12 compared with traditional
      manual biocuration. A significant advantage of our semiautomatic pipeline is that
      it can be applied to obtain the miRNAs of all the respiratory diseases and offers
      the possibility to be used for other illnesses. Database URL:
      http://odin.ccg.unam.mx/ODIN/bc2015-miRNA/.

PMID- 28605772
TI  - AnnoSys-implementation of a generic annotation system for schema-based data using
      the example of biodiversity collection data.

PMID- 28605773
TI  - BioM2MetDisease: a manually curated database for associations between microRNAs,
      metabolites, small molecules and metabolic diseases.
AB  - : BioM2MetDisease is a manually curated database that aims to provide a
      comprehensive and experimentally supported resource of associations between
      metabolic diseases and various biomolecules. Recently, metabolic diseases such as
      diabetes have become one of the leading threats to people's health. Metabolic
      disease associated with alterations of multiple types of biomolecules such as
      miRNAs and metabolites. An integrated and high-quality data source that
      collection of metabolic disease associated biomolecules is essential for
      exploring the underlying molecular mechanisms and discovering novel therapeutics.
      Here, we developed the BioM2MetDisease database, which currently documents 2681
      entries of relationships between 1147 biomolecules (miRNAs, metabolites and small
      molecules/drugs) and 78 metabolic diseases across 14 species. Each entry includes
      biomolecule category, species, biomolecule name, disease name, dysregulation
      pattern, experimental technique, a brief description of metabolic disease
      biomolecule relationships, the reference, additional annotation information etc.
      BioM2MetDisease provides a user-friendly interface to explore and retrieve all
      data conveniently. A submission page was also offered for researchers to submit
      new associations between biomolecules and metabolic diseases. BioM2MetDisease
      provides a comprehensive resource for studying biology molecules act in metabolic
      diseases, and it is helpful for understanding the molecular mechanisms and
      developing novel therapeutics for metabolic diseases. Database URL:
      http://www.bio-bigdata.com/BioM2MetDisease/.

PMID- 28605774
TI  - GenomeHubs: simple containerized setup of a custom Ensembl database and web
      server for any species.
AB  - Database URL: http://GenomeHubs.org. : As the generation and use of genomic
      datasets is becoming increasingly common in all areas of biology, the need for
      resources to collate, analyse and present data from one or more genome projects
      is becoming more pressing. The Ensembl platform is a powerful tool to make genome
      data and cross-species analyses easily accessible through a web interface and a
      comprehensive application programming interface. Here we introduce GenomeHubs,
      which provide a containerized environment to facilitate the setup and hosting of
      custom Ensembl genome browsers. This simplifies mirroring of existing content and
      import of new genomic data into the Ensembl database schema. GenomeHubs also
      provide a set of analysis containers to decorate imported genomes with results of
      standard analyses and functional annotations and support export to flat files,
      including EMBL format for submission of assemblies and annotations to
      International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration.

PMID- 28605775
TI  - Biocuration in the structure-function linkage database: the anatomy of a
      superfamily.

PMID- 28605776
TI  - Exploring convolutional neural networks for drug-drug interaction extraction.
AB  - Drug-drug interaction (DDI), which is a specific type of adverse drug reaction,
      occurs when a drug influences the level or activity of another drug. Natural
      language processing techniques can provide health-care professionals with a novel
      way of reducing the time spent reviewing the literature for potential DDIs. The
      current state-of-the-art for the extraction of DDIs is based on feature
      engineering algorithms (such as support vector machines), which usually require
      considerable time and effort. One possible alternative to these approaches
      includes deep learning. This technique aims to automatically learn the best
      feature representation from the input data for a given task. The purpose of this
      paper is to examine whether a convolutional neural network (CNN), which only uses
      word embeddings as input features, can be applied successfully to classify DDIs
      from biomedical texts. Proposed herein, is a CNN architecture with only one
      hidden layer, thus making the model more computationally efficient, and we
      perform detailed experiments in order to determine the best settings of the
      model. The goal is to determine the best parameter of this basic CNN that should
      be considered for future research. The experimental results show that the
      proposed approach is promising because it attained the second position in the
      2013 rankings of the DDI extraction challenge. However, it obtained worse results
      than previous works using neural networks with more complex architectures.

PMID- 28605778
TI  - The Past, Present, and Future of Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy Duration in
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

PMID- 28605777
TI  - Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin
      A1c Levels.
AB  - Background: Debate exists as to whether the higher hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels
      observed in black persons than in white persons are due to worse glycemic control
      or racial differences in the glycation of hemoglobin. Objective: To determine
      whether a racial difference exists in the relationship of mean glucose and HbA1c.
      Design: Prospective, 12-week observational study. Setting: 10 diabetes centers in
      the United States. Participants: 104 black persons and 104 white persons aged 8
      years or older who had had type 1 diabetes for at least 2 years and had an HbA1c
      level of 6.0% to 12.0%. Measurements: Mean glucose concentration, measured by
      using continuous glucose monitoring and compared by race with HbA1c, glycated
      albumin, and fructosamine values. Results: The mean HbA1c level was 9.1% in black
      persons and 8.3% in white persons. For a given HbA1c level, the mean glucose
      concentration was significantly lower in black persons than in white persons (P =
      0.013), which was reflected in mean HbA1c values in black persons being 0.4
      percentage points (95% CI, 0.2 to 0.6 percentage points) higher than those in
      white persons for a given mean glucose concentration. In contrast, no significant
      racial differences were found in the relationship of glycated albumin and
      fructosamine levels with the mean glucose concentration (P > 0.20 for both
      comparisons). Limitation: There were too few participants with HbA1c levels less
      than 6.5% to generalize the results to such individuals. Conclusion: On average,
      HbA1c levels overestimate the mean glucose concentration in black persons
      compared with white persons, possibly owing to racial differences in the
      glycation of hemoglobin. However, because race only partially explains the
      observed HbA1c differences between black persons and white persons, future
      research should focus on identifying and modifying barriers impeding improved
      glycemic control in black persons with diabetes. Primary Funding Source: Helmsley
      Charitable Trust.

PMID- 28605779
TI  - Use of the Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy Score to Guide Treatment Duration After
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.
AB  - Background: The dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) score was developed to identify
      patients more likely to derive harm (score <2) or benefit (score >=2) from
      prolonged DAPT after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Objective: To
      evaluate the safety and efficacy of DAPT duration according to DAPT score.
      Design: Retrospective assessment of DAPT score-guided treatment duration in a
      randomized clinical trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00611286). Setting: PCI
      patients. Patients: 1970 patients undergoing PCI. Intervention: DAPT (aspirin and
      clopidogrel) for 24 versus 6 months. Measurements: Primary efficacy outcomes were
      death, myocardial infarction, or cerebrovascular accident. The primary safety
      outcome was type 3 or 5 bleeding according to the Bleeding Academic Research
      Consortium definition. Outcomes were assessed between 6 and 24 months. Results:
      884 patients (44.9%) had a DAPT score of at least 2, and 1086 (55.1%) had a score
      less than 2. The reduction in the primary efficacy outcome with 24- versus 6
      month DAPT was greater in patients with high scores (risk difference [RD] for
      score >=2, -2.05 percentage points [95% CI, -5.04 to 0.95 percentage points]; RD
      for score <2, 2.91 percentage points [CI, -0.43 to 6.25 percentage points]; P =
      0.030). However, the difference by score for the primary efficacy outcome varied
      by stent type; prolonged DAPT with high scores was effective only in patients
      receiving paclitaxel-eluting stents (RD, -7.55 percentage points [CI, -12.85 to 
      2.25 percentage points]). The increase in the primary safety outcome with 24-
      versus 6-month DAPT was greater in patients with low scores (RD for score >=2,
      0.20 percentage point [CI, -1.20 to 1.60 percentage points]; RD for score <2,
      2.58 percentage points [CI, 0.71 to 4.46 percentage points]; P = 0.046).
      Limitation: Retrospective calculation of the DAPT score. Conclusion: Prolonged
      DAPT resulted in harm in patients with low DAPT scores undergoing PCI but reduced
      risk for ischemic events in patients with high scores receiving paclitaxel
      eluting stents. Whether prolonged DAPT benefits patients with high scores treated
      with contemporary drug-eluting stents requires further study. Primary Funding
      Source: None.

PMID- 28605780
TI  - Uremia induces adipose tissue inflammation and muscle mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - Background.: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with inflammation and
      increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inflammation and oxidative stress are
      associated with several complications of ESRD. The aim of this study was to
      determine histological characteristics of adipose tissue and muscle mitochondrial
      function in uremia and its relationship with inflammation. Methods.: ESRD
      patients ( n  = 18) and controls ( n  = 6) were enrolled for studies of adipose
      and muscle tissue by immunohistochemistry and western blot. In a uremic muscle
      cell model, C2C12 cells were exposed to uremic serum and inflammatory cytokines.
      Mitochondrial function was studied by MitoTracker Orange, translocase of the
      mitochondrial outer membrane 20 (TOMM20) and mitochondrial oxidative
      phosphorylation complex subunit expression. Results.: ESRD patients had increased
      macrophage infiltration in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue compared with
      controls, even in nonobese ESRD patients (P < 0.05). Compared with controls,
      TOMM20 expression in muscle tissue was lower in ESRD, consistent with reduced
      mitochondrial function (P < 0.05). C2C12 exposed to uremia had decreased
      mitotracker intensity (P < 0.05) and the reduced mitochondrial function was
      rescued by N-acetyl cysteine (P < 0.01). Similarly, C2C12 cells exposed to tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)/interleukin-6 (IL-6) have decreased mitotracker
      intensity (P < 0.01) that was rescued with adiponectin (P < 0.05). C2C12 exposed
      to TNF-alpha, IL-6 and buthionine sulfoximine had decreased TOMM20 expression and
      cells exposed to TNF-alpha showed a decrease in subunits of mitochondrial
      complexes I and III. Conclusion.: Our data indicate that uremia is associated
      with increased adipose tissue macrophage infiltration and concurrent muscle
      tissue mitochondrial dysfunction induced by inflammation/ROS. Adipose tissue is a
      potential source of inflammation in ESRD that is not due to increased adiposity
      and may contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction in uremia.

PMID- 28605793
TI  - Of elephants and epidemiology.

PMID- 28605781
TI  - Everolimus with cyclosporine withdrawal or low-exposure cyclosporine in kidney
      transplantation from Month 3: a multicentre, randomized trial.
AB  - Background.: Randomized trials have shown that early adoption of everolimus-based
      immunosuppressive regimens without a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) improves long
      term kidney graft function, but the optimal strategy for CNI minimization remains
      uncertain. Methods.: In a prospective, randomized, multicentre, 12-month trial,
      499 de novo kidney transplant patients were randomized at Month 3 to (i) remain
      on standard CNI (cyclosporine) therapy with mycophenolic acid, (ii) convert to
      everolimus with mycophenolic acid or (iii) start everolimus with reduced CNI and
      no mycophenolic acid (clinical trials registry: ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT00514514).
      Results.: The primary endpoint, change in estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (eGFR) (Nankivell) from randomization to Month 12, was significantly greater in
      the CNI-free arm versus standard CNI therapy: mean difference 5.6 mL/min/1.73 m 2
      [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.8-8.3 mL/min/1.73 m 2 , P < 0.001]. The
      improvement in eGFR in the CNI-free arm was also higher than in the low-CNI group
      (mean difference 5.5 mL/min/1.73 m 2 , 95% CI 2.8-8.2 mL/min/1.73 m 2 , P <
      0.001), while results were similar in the low-CNI and standard CNI arms. The post
      randomization incidence of biopsy-proven acute rejection was 11.7%, 8.1% and 7.9%
      in the CNI-free, low-CNI and standard CNI groups, respectively (CNI-free versus
      standard CNI, P = 0.27; low-CNI versus standard CNI, P = 1.00). Adverse events
      led to study drug discontinuation in 28.7%, 15.5% and 15.2% of CNI-free, low-CNI
      and standard CNI patients, respectively. Conclusions.: Everolimus initiation with
      CNI withdrawal at Month 3 after kidney transplantation achieves a significant
      improvement in renal function at 12 months, with a similar rate of acute
      rejection.

PMID- 28605794
TI  - Subdural Extra-Arachnoid Flow Pattern Visualized in a Contralateral Oblique View
      During a Cervical Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injection.

PMID- 28605795
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 28605796
TI  - Expert Opinion #1.

PMID- 28605797
TI  - Expert Opinion #2.

PMID- 28605798
TI  - Expert Opinion #3.

PMID- 28605799
TI  - Expert Opinion #4.

PMID- 28605800
TI  - Fact Finders for Patient Safety: Routine Intravenous Access for Epidural Steroid
      Injections Without Sedation.

PMID- 28605801
TI  - Stemming the Tide of the Pain and Opioid Crisis: AAPM Reaffirms Its Commitment to
      Multidisciplinary Biopsychosocial Care and Training.

PMID- 28605802
TI  - Computer-Aided Systematic Review Screening Comes of Age.

PMID- 28605806
TI  - Hyperammonemia After Blood Transfusion.

PMID- 28605807
TI  - Visual Sensory and Visual-Cognitive Function and Rate of Crash and Near-Crash
      Involvement Among Older Drivers Using Naturalistic Driving Data.
AB  - Purpose: An innovative methodology using naturalistic driving data was used to
      examine the association between visual sensory and visual-cognitive function and
      rates of future crash or near-crash involvement among older drivers. Methods: The
      Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study was used
      for this prospective analysis. The sample consisted of N = 659 drivers aged >=70
      years and study participation lasted 1 or 2 years for most participants. Distance
      and near visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, peripheral vision, visual
      processing speed, and visuospatial skills were assessed at baseline. Crash and
      near-crash involvement were based on video recordings and vehicle sensors.
      Poisson regression models were used to generate crude and adjusted rate ratios
      (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals, while accounting for person-miles of travel.
      Results: After adjustment, severe impairment of the useful field of view (RR =
      1.33) was associated with an increased rate of near-crash involvement. Crash,
      severe crash, and at-fault crash involvement were associated with impaired
      contrast sensitivity in the worse eye (RRs = 1.38, 1.54, and 1.44, respectively)
      and far peripheral field loss in both eyes (RRs = 1.74, 2.32, and 1.73,
      respectively). Conclusions: Naturalistic driving data suggest that contrast
      sensitivity in the worse eye and far peripheral field loss in both eyes elevate
      the rates of crash involvement, and impaired visual processing speed elevates
      rates of near-crash involvement among older drivers. Naturalistic driving data
      may ultimately be critical for understanding the relationship between vision and
      driving safety.

PMID- 28605808
TI  - Rat Limbal Niche Cells Prevent Epithelial Stem/Progenitor Cells From
      Differentiation and Proliferation by Inhibiting Notch Signaling Pathway In Vitro.
AB  - Purpose: Limbal niche cells (LNCs) play a pivotal role in regulating limbal
      epithelial stem/progenitor cells (LESCs). This study aimed to investigate whether
      Notch signaling is involved in LNCs' regulation of LESCs. Methods: Rat limbus was
      digested by dispase and collagenase, respectively. Limbal niche cells were
      isolated by serial passage of collagenase-digested cells on coated Matrigel in a
      modified embryonic stem cell medium (MESCM). Dispase-isolated cells, with or
      without LNCs, were seeded on three-dimensional (3D) Matrigel. The effects of
      LNCs, Notch inhibition (by N-(N-[3, 5-difluorophenacetyl]-lalanyl)-S
      phenylglycine t-butyl ester [DAPT] or Notch1-siRNA) and activation (by Jagged1)
      on LESCs were analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR, immunostaining, and Western
      blot. Results: Dispase isolated pan cytokeratin (PCK)+ limbal epithelial cells
      (LECs). Collagenase isolated subjacent native LNCs, which were purified and
      expanded with expression of Oct4, Rex1, Sox2, Nanog, SSEA4, N-cadherin, and CD34.
      Limbal niche cells reunited with p63alpha+ LESCs to form clusters and prevented
      their differentiation on 3D Matrigel. Notch signaling was unactivated in rat
      corneal and limbal epithelium in vivo, but activated in cultured LECs in vitro.
      Limbal niche cells inhibited the Notch signaling of LECs in culture. Notch
      inhibition (by DAPT or Notch1-siRNA) increased p63alpha expression and decreased
      CK12 expression in LECs to the level of LNCs' effects. Notch inhibition by DAPT
      also decreased Ki67 expression in LECs to the level of LNCs' effects.
      Conclusions: Rat LNCs prevent LESCs from differentiation and proliferation
      primarily via inhibiting the Notch signaling in vitro. Manipulating the Notch
      signaling pathway may help to preserve LESCs for corneal epithelial tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 28605809
TI  - Retinal Macrophages Synthesize C3 and Activate Complement in AMD and in Models of
      Focal Retinal Degeneration.
AB  - Purpose: Complement system dysregulation is strongly linked to the progression of
      age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Deposition of complement including C3
      within the lesions in atrophic AMD is thought to contribute to lesion growth,
      although the contribution of local cellular sources remains unclear. We
      investigated the role of retinal microglia and macrophages in complement
      activation within atrophic lesions, in AMD and in models of focal retinal
      degeneration. Methods: Human AMD donor retinas were labeled for C3 expression via
      in situ hybridization. Rats were subject to photo-oxidative damage, and lesion
      expansion was tracked over a 2-month period using optical coherence tomography
      (OCT). Three strategies were used to determine the contribution of local and
      systemic C3 in mice: total C3 genetic ablation, local C3 inhibition using
      intravitreally injected small interfering RNA (siRNA), and depletion of serum C3
      using cobra venom factor. Results: Retinal C3 was expressed by
      microglia/macrophages located in the outer retina in AMD eyes. In rodent photo
      oxidative damage, C3-expressing microglia/macrophages and complement activation
      were located in regions of lesion expansion in the outer retina over 2 months.
      Total genetic ablation of C3 ameliorated degeneration and complement activation
      in retinas following damage, although systemic depletion of serum complement had
      no effect. In contrast, local suppression of C3 expression using siRNA inhibited
      complement activation and deposition, and reduced cell death. Conclusions: These
      findings implicate C3, produced locally by retinal microglia/macrophages, as
      contributing causally to retinal degeneration. Consequently, this suggests that
      C3-targeted gene therapy may prove valuable in slowing the progression of AMD.

PMID- 28605811
TI  - Parapapillary Deep-Layer Microvasculature Dropout in Glaucoma: Topographic
      Association With Glaucomatous Damage.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this article was to compare the frequencies of the
      parapapillary deep-layer microvasculature dropout (MvD) detected by optical
      coherence tomography angiography in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)
      and healthy eyes and to determine the topographic correlation between the MvD and
      the glaucomatous retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) defect in POAG eyes. Methods:
      Microvasculature in the peripapillary deep-layer was evaluated in 150 POAG
      patients and 45 healthy controls using swept-source optical coherence tomography
      angiography to identify an MvD. Frequencies of MvDs were compared between the
      POAG and control groups. In POAG eyes with MvD, topographic correlation was
      assessed between the MvD and the RNFL defect defined based on the optical
      coherence tomography circumpapillary RNFL thickness measurement. Results: MvD was
      observed as a sectoral filling defect in the parapapillary deep-layer in 53.9% (n
      = 62) of the POAG eyes, whereas none of the control eyes exhibited an MvD. POAG
      eyes with MvD had a thinner global RNFL (P < 0.001) and worse visual field mean
      deviation (P = 0.042) and were more myopic (P = 0.029), with axial length being
      longer (P = 0.046) than those without MvD. There was a good agreement between the
      circumferential extent and location of MvD and those of RNFL defect (95% limits
      of agreement of the difference ranged from -23.4 to 21.9 degrees  and -16.2 to
      17.0 degrees , respectively). Conclusions: MvD was identified in the
      parapapillary deep layer exclusively in POAG eyes at the location of glaucomatous
      damage using optical coherence tomography angiography. The finding suggests that
      peripapillary deep-layer circulation is directly related to the glaucomatous
      optic neuropathy.

PMID- 28605810
TI  - A Compact Whole-Eye Perfusion System to Evaluate Pharmacologic Responses of
      Outflow Facility.
AB  - Purpose: To discover novel therapies that lower IOP by increasing aqueous humor
      outflow facility, ex vivo ocular perfusion systems provide a valuable tool.
      However, currently available designs are limited by their throughput. Here we
      report the development of a compact, scalable perfusion system with improved
      throughput and its validation using bovine and porcine eyes. Methods: At a fixed
      IOP of 6 mm Hg, flow rate was measured by flow sensors. We validated the system
      by measuring the outflow responses to Y-39983 (a Rho kinase inhibitor),
      endothelin-1 (ET-1), ambrisentan (an antagonist for endothelin receptor A [ETA]),
      sphigosine-1-phosphate (S1P), JTE-013 (antagonist for S1P receptor 2 [S1P2]), S
      nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP, a nitric oxide [NO] donor), and 3-Morpholino
      sydnonimine (SIN-1, another NO donor). Results: The instrument design enabled
      simultaneous measurements of 20 eyes with a footprint of 1 m2. Relative to
      vehicle control, Y-39983 increased outflow by up to 31% in calf eyes. On the
      contrary, ET-1 decreased outflow by up to 79%, a response that could be blocked
      by pretreatment with ambrisentan, indicating a role for ETA receptors.
      Interestingly, the effect of ET-1 was also inhibited by up to 70% to 80% by
      pretreatment with NO donors, SNAP and SIN-1. In addition to testing in calf eyes,
      similar effects of ET-1 and ambrisentan were observed in adult bovine and porcine
      eyes. Conclusions: The compact eye perfusion platform provides an opportunity to
      efficiently identify compounds that influence outflow facility and may lead to
      the discovery of new glaucoma therapies.

PMID- 28605812
TI  - Transforming Growth Factor beta1-Induced NADPH Oxidase-4 Expression and Fibrotic
      Response in Conjunctival Fibroblasts.
AB  - Purpose: Fibrotic scarring after ocular surgeries and chemical burn injuries can
      impede clarity of the cornea and cause vision impairment. Transforming growth
      factor beta (TGFbeta) signaling pathway is known to mediate fibrotic scarring,
      and NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species has been shown to be an
      effector molecule that facilitates TGFbeta1-mediated responses. The present study
      explores the expression profile and functional importance of NADPH oxidase (Nox)
      in conjunctival fibroblasts. In addition, the effect of curcumin on the TGFbeta1
      induced NADPH oxidase expression and collagen synthesis was also investigated.
      Methods: The mRNA expression of Nox isoforms in rabbit conjunctival fibroblasts
      was measured by real-time PCR. The production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and
      total collagen by these cells was measured by Amplex Red assay and Picro-Sirius
      red assay, respectively. Nox4 was knocked down by adenovirus-mediated siRNA
      targeting Nox4 (Adv-Nox4i). Results: We describe for the first time that
      conjunctival fibroblasts express mRNA encoding for Nox2, Nox3, Nox4, and Nox5.
      TGFbeta1 was found to induce Nox4 mRNA expression and total collagen release by
      these cells (P < 0.05; n = 4), and both responses are blocked by Smad3 inhibitor
      SIS3. Suppressing Nox4 gene transcription with Adv-Nox4i completely attenuated
      TGFbeta1-stimulated H2O2 release and collagen production by conjunctival
      fibroblasts (P < 0.05; n = 4-6). Similarly, curcumin also inhibited TGFbeta1
      induced Smad3 phosphorylation, Nox4-derived H2O2 production, and total collagen
      synthesis by conjunctival fibroblasts (P < 0.05; n = 4-6). Conclusions: The
      present study suggests that TGFbeta1-mediated production of collagen by
      conjunctival fibroblasts involves Nox4-derived H2O2 pathway and this effect of
      Nox4 is abrogated by curcumin. This mechanism might be exploited to prevent
      fibrotic scarring after surgeries and chemical burn injuries in the eye.

PMID- 28605813
TI  - Overexpression of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Ameliorates Amyloid beta
      Induced Inflammatory Response in Human Primary Retinal Pigment Epithelium.
AB  - Purpose: Amyloid-beta (Abeta) is a major constituent of drusen, which is a
      hallmark of early AMD. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether
      enhancement of ACE2, an important component of the protective angiotensin
      converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)/Ang-(1-7)/Mas axis of the renin angiotensin system
      (RAS), ameliorates Abeta-induced inflammatory response in human RPE cells.
      Methods: Annexin-V FITC/propidium iodide assay for detecting apoptosis rate was
      used to determine the optimum concentration and incubation time of Abeta1-42.
      ACE2 plasmid was transfected into primary cultured human RPE (hRPE) and ARPE-19
      cells for 6 hours followed by stimulation with Abeta1-42 at the concentration of
      1 MUM for 48 hours. Gene expression was detected by real-time PCR and protein
      levels were determined by Western blotting or ELISA. A779, an antagonist of Ang
      (1-7), was used to further confirm the involvement of ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas axis.
      Results: Flow cytometry showed that the optimal concentration of Abeta1-42 was 1
      MUM and the optimal incubation time was 48 hours. Abeta1-42 upregulated the
      expression of IL-1beta and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. ACE2 plasmid
      significantly upregulated the expression of ACE2 and Ang-(1-7) in hRPE and ARPE
      19 cells. Activation of ACE2 reduced the overproduction of inflammatory cytokines
      at both mRNA and protein levels in hRPE and ARPE-19 cells stimulated with Abeta1
      42. Furthermore, an antagonist of Ang-(1-7), A779 reversed the anti-inflammatory
      effect of ACE2. Conclusions: Overexpression of ACE2 ameliorates Abeta-induced
      inflammatory response by activating the ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas axis in human RPE
      cells. Our data suggest that ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas axis may be a promising target
      for developing novel therapies for inflammation response in AMD.

PMID- 28605814
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28605815
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28605817
TI  - [Handling and reprocessing of semicritical medical devices in the ENT - a
      prospective study].
AB  - Numerous laws, guidelines and recommendations govern the handling and
      reprocessing of semi-critical medical devices in the field of ENT. Although
      mechanically reprocessing is characterized as a preferential, manual reprocessing
      is still conducted in most ENT clinics and medical practices for reasons of cost
      and practicability. In the presented study, we developed an optimized hygienic
      concept for reprocessing of medical products in the field of ENT.A demand
      analysis of rigid endoscopes and of ENT equipment was carried out based on
      hypothesis that only mechanical reprocessing was performed for the entire
      instrumentation. Additionally, patient-free activities like preparing
      instrumentation for examination were investigated. As a result, we could
      demonstrate that such patient-free activities represent a considerable time
      factor and as a consequence a cost factor in daily patient care. Necessary
      investments for only mechanical reprocessing of instrumentation including rigid
      endoscopes are considerably high, since number of endoscopes have to be kept very
      high.

PMID- 28605818
TI  - [Phonomicrosurgery - a retrospective analysis of 400 cases].
AB  - Introduction Voice disorders caused by pseudotumors of the vocal folds or
      paralysis of the vocal folds with incomplete glottis closure frequently require
      phonomicrosurgery. These interventions were analyzed with regard to quality of
      voice after surgery and safety of the intervention. Methods Retrospective
      analysis of 400 consecutive phonomicrosurgery interventions. The following
      parameters were collected: distribution of pathologies of the vocal folds, rating
      of the voice quality by both the surgeon (RBH-system) and patient and
      videolaryngstroboscopy six weeks after the intervention compared to the state
      prior to surgery, complications and results of histological examination. Results
      In our collective vocal fold polyps (36 %), cysts (12 %) and paralysis (10 %)
      dominated. After the intervention the quality of voice improved in 90 % of all
      cases. In 14 % voice therapy was needed postoperatively because of
      hyperfunction.After vocal fold augmentation one patient developed an edema of the
      larynx and another patient a temporary paralysis of the vocal fold of the
      opposite side. The histological examination showed as incidental findings a
      malignant osteoclastic giant cell tumor, a granular cell tumor and a carcinoma in
      situ of the vocal fold requiring further surgery and follow up. Discussion
      Phonomicrosurgery is a safe and effective therapy. The histological examination
      is also useful in patients with macroscopically non suspicious lesions to
      recognize rare or malignant tumor entities. Patient observation with early
      detection as well as therapy of complications like edema of the larynx or vocal
      fold paralysis is recommended.

PMID- 28605820
TI  - New Definition of Fetal Growth Restriction: Consensus Regarding a Major Obstetric
      Complication.

PMID- 28605819
TI  - Efficacy, Safety, and Duration of a Frameless Fiducial-Less Brain Biopsy versus
      Frame-based Stereotactic Biopsy: A Prospective Randomized Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: We compared the efficacy, duration, safety, length of
      hospital stay of a frameless fiducial-less brain biopsy with those of the
      standard frame-based stereotactic biopsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective
      cohort study enrolled 56 adult patients: (1) for whom no conclusive diagnosis
      could be reached noninvasively; (2a) who had lesions involving deep-seated and
      eloquent areas, multifocal lesions, or lesions for which craniotomy and lesion
      removal was not indicated, or (2b) were poor candidates for craniotomy (> 80
      years of age and/or with serious comorbidities). Frameless and frame-based biopsy
      were performed in 28 patients each RESULTS: A diagnosis was not made in four
      cases (14.3%) of the frame-based biopsy group and in three cases (10.7%) of the
      frameless biopsy group, in spite of accurate targeting (p = 1.0). The mean
      duration of the whole procedure (preparatory steps outside the operating room
      [OR], inside the OR, surgery) was 111.3 minutes for the frame-based biopsy and
      79.1 minutes for the frameless biopsy (p = 0.001). No statistically significant
      differences between the two methods were found concerning new neurologic
      symptoms, new abnormal findings in postoperative computed tomography (CT) and
      length of postoperative hospital stay (LOS). The smallest diameter of a
      successfully biopsied lesion was 15 mm for both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The
      frameless fiducial-less brain biopsy was equally efficacious and safe compared
      with the standard stereotactic frame-based biopsy. The overall duration of
      frameless biopsy is shorter than that of frame-based biopsy, mainly because the
      preparatory steps in frameless biopsy require less time. However, the overall
      time spent in the OR did not differ between the two groups. The LOS also did not
      differ significantly.

PMID- 28605821
TI  - Abnormal Uterine Bleeding.
AB  - Abnormal uterine bleeding is a frequent condition in Gynecology. It may impact
      physical, emotional sexual and professional aspects of the lives of women,
      impairing their quality of life. In cases of acute and severe bleeding, women may
      need urgent treatment with volumetric replacement and prescription of hemostatic
      substances. In some specific cases with more intense and prolonged bleeding,
      surgical treatment may be necessary. The objective of this chapter is to describe
      the main evidence on the treatment of women with abnormal uterine bleeding, both
      acute and chronic. Didactically, the treatment options were based on the current
      International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) classification
      system (PALM-COEIN). The etiologies of PALM-COEIN are: uterine Polyp (P),
      Adenomyosis (A), Leiomyoma (L), precursor and Malignant lesions of the uterine
      body (M), Coagulopathies (C), Ovulatory dysfunction (O), Endometrial dysfunction
      (E), Iatrogenic (I), and Not yet classified (N). The articles were selected
      according to the recommendation grades of the PubMed, Cochrane and Embase
      databases, and those in which the main objective was the reduction of uterine
      menstrual bleeding were included. Only studies written in English were included.
      All editorial or complete papers that were not consistent with abnormal uterine
      bleeding, or studies in animal models, were excluded. The main objective of the
      treatment is the reduction of menstrual flow and morbidity and the improvement of
      quality of life. It is important to emphasize that the treatment in the acute
      phase aims to hemodynamically stabilize the patient and stop excessive bleeding,
      while the treatment in the chronic phase is based on correcting menstrual
      dysfunction according to its etiology and clinical manifestations. The treatment
      may be surgical or pharmacological, and the latter is based mainly on hormonal
      therapy, anti-inflammatory drugs and antifibrinolytics.

PMID- 28605822
TI  - Psychosocial and Aesthetic Advantages of Reconstruction after Prophylactic
      Mastectomy: A Quality of Life and Aesthetic Analysis.

PMID- 28605823
TI  - Women with Symptomatic Preterm Birth Have a Distinct Cervicovaginal Metabolome.

PMID- 28605824
TI  - Improving Shoulder Dystocia Management and Outcomes with a Targeted Quality
      Assurance Program.

PMID- 28605825
TI  - Using a State Birth Registry as a Quality Improvement Tool (Podcast).

PMID- 28605826
TI  - Inhibition of hazardous compound formation in muscle foods by antioxidative
      phytophenols.
AB  - Individual and mixed herbal extracts, as well as plant spices, are widely used in
      the preparation of muscle foods to enhance the organoleptic attributes.
      Abundantly rich in phenolic compounds, many of the phytochemical extracts have
      been shown to possess strong radical-scavenging and metal ion-binding properties
      and hence exert antioxidant activity in meat products. Because of their
      antiradical nature, phenolic acids and flavonoids, such as tea catechins, caffeic
      acid, chlorogenic acid, and mixed polyphenols derived from rosemary, licorice,
      and other herbal materials, are capable of inhibiting the formation of harmful
      secondary products from oxidized lipids and proteins. The inactivation of
      carcinogenic compounds produced in some nitrite-cured and high temperature
      processed meats (e.g., nitrosamines and aromatic amines) by phytophenols has also
      been demonstrated in recent studies. Here, I describe the application of
      phytochemical-rich food ingredients in prepared meat and discuss the mechanisms
      by which plant-derived phenolic antioxidants mitigate toxicant and mutagen
      production in muscle foods.

PMID- 28605828
TI  - Crystal structures of claudins: insights into their intermolecular interactions.
AB  - Claudins are four-transmembrane proteins that constitute the backbone of tight
      junction strands via self-polymerization in the apicolateral membranes of
      epithelial cells. Together with their cell-cell adhesion function, claudin
      proteins form the paracellular barrier and/or channels through epithelial cell
      sheets whose permeability is primarily dependent on the claudin subtype. Recently
      determined crystal structures of several claudins revealed the unique claudin
      fold of four transmembrane helices in a left-handed helical bundle with an
      extracellular beta-sheet domain. Here, we focus on the structural basis of the
      intermolecular interactions between claudin molecules and between the Clostridium
      perfringens enterotoxin and its receptor claudins.

PMID- 28605827
TI  - Predischarge Injectable Versus Oral Naltrexone to Improve Postdischarge Treatment
      Engagement Among Hospitalized Veterans with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized
      Pilot Proof-of-Concept Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injectable naltrexone for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) has been
      efficacious in several studies. It has not been (i) compared head-to-head with
      oral naltrexone or (ii) examined in the hospital setting as an intervention that
      might facilitate treatment attendance after hospital discharge. METHODS: Fifty
      four hospitalized veterans identified as having DSM-IV-TR alcohol dependence were
      randomized to receive (i) a 50 mg oral naltrexone plus a 30-day prescription or
      (ii) a 380 mg intramuscular naltrexone injection prior to discharge. Of 113
      veteran inpatients deemed eligible based on screening criteria, 54 met final
      eligibility criteria and were enrolled and randomized. Baseline data included
      demographics, alcohol consumption, and comorbidity. Measures of treatment
      initiation and engagement and alcohol consumption were reassessed at 14- and 45
      day follow-ups. RESULTS: Thirty-five participants (64.8%) completed the entire
      study protocol (received a study medication and completed 14- and 45-day follow
      ups). Among those who received a study medication (n = 45), 77.8% completed all
      follow-up interviews. This pilot study was not designed to have sufficient
      statistical power for hypothesis testing, and thus, as expected, there were no
      significant differences between groups in medication adherence (self-report of
      >80% of daily doses taken in oral group; receipt of second injection in the
      injection group), treatment engagement (at least treatment 3 visits in the 30
      days postdischarge, and 2 or more visits per month in each of the 3 months
      following discharge) or alcohol consumption at 14 or at 45 days (p > 0.05). The
      median number of drinks among the entire cohort in the 2 weeks prior to
      hospitalization (128 drinks) was significantly higher than at day 14 (0 drinks, p
      < 0.001) or day 45 (0 drinks, p < 0.001). Rates of medication adherence were 62%
      in the oral group and 61% in the injection group. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate
      feasibility for larger, more definitive study. Both groups had significant
      reductions in alcohol consumption over time and high-treatment engagement rates.
      Both oral and injectable formulations are feasible to initiate prior to discharge
      for hospital inpatients identified as having an AUD.

PMID- 28605829
TI  - Application of Metabolomics to Quality Control of Natural Product Derived
      Medicines.
AB  - Metabolomics has been used as a powerful tool for the analysis and quality
      assessment of the natural product (NP)-derived medicines. It is increasingly
      being used in the quality control and standardization of NP-derived medicines
      because they are composed of hundreds of natural compounds. The most common
      techniques that are used in metabolomics consist of NMR, GC-MS, and LC-MS in
      combination with multivariate statistical analyses including principal components
      analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA).
      Currently, the quality control of the NP-derived medicines is usually conducted
      using HPLC and is specified by one or two indicators. To create a superior
      quality control framework and avoid adulterated drugs, it is necessary to be able
      to determine and establish standards based on multiple ingredients using
      metabolic profiling and fingerprinting. Therefore, the application of various
      analytical tools in the quality control of NP-derived medicines forms the major
      part of this review. Veregen(r) (Medigene AG, Planegg/Martinsried, Germany),
      which is the first botanical prescription drug approved by US Food and Drug
      Administration, is reviewed as an example that will hopefully provide future
      directions and perspectives on metabolomics technologies available for the
      quality control of NP-derived medicines.

PMID- 28605830
TI  - Sustained Intracellular Acidosis Triggers the Na+/H+ Exchager-1 Activation in
      Glutamate Excitotoxicity.
AB  - The Na+/H+ exchanger-1 (NHE-1) is a ubiquitously expressed pH-regulatory membrane
      protein that functions in the brain, heart, and other organs. It is increased by
      intracellular acidosis through the interaction of intracellular H+ with an
      allosteric modifier site in the transport domain. In the previous study, we
      reported that glutamate-induced NHE-1 phosphorylation mediated by activation of
      protein kinase C-beta (PKC-beta) in cultured neuron cells via extracellular
      signal-regulated kinases (ERK)/p90 ribosomal s6 kinases (p90RSK) pathway results
      in NHE-1 activation. However, whether glutamate stimulates NHE-1 activity solely
      by the allosteric mechanism remains elusive. Cultured primary cortical neuronal
      cells were subjected to intracellular acidosis by exposure to 100 MUM glutamate
      or 20 mM NH4Cl. After the desired duration of intracellular acidosis, the
      phosphorylation and activation of PKC-beta, ERK1/2 and p90RSK were determined by
      Western blotting. We investigated whether the duration of intracellular acidosis
      is controlled by glutamate exposure time. The NHE-1 activation increased while
      intracellular acidosis sustained for >3 min. To determine if sustained
      intracellular acidosis induced NHE-1 phosphorylation, we examined phosphorylation
      of NHE-1 induced by intracellular acidosis by transient exposure to NH4Cl.
      Sustained intracellular acidosis led to activation and phosphorylation of NHE-1.
      In addition, sustained intracellular acidosis also activated the PKC-beta,
      ERK1/2, and p90RSK in neuronal cells. We conclude that glutamate stimulates NHE-1
      activity through sustained intracellular acidosis, which mediates NHE-1
      phosphorylation regulated by PKC-beta/ERK1/2/p90RSK pathway in neuronal cells.

PMID- 28605831
TI  - Age-Related Changes in Sulfur Amino Acid Metabolism in Male C57BL/6 Mice.
AB  - Alterations in sulfur amino acid metabolism are associated with an increased risk
      of a number of common late-life diseases, which raises the possibility that
      metabolism of sulfur amino acids may change with age. The present study was
      conducted to understand the age-related changes in hepatic metabolism of sulfur
      amino acids in 2-, 6-, 18- and 30-month-old male C57BL/6 mice. For this purpose,
      metabolite profiling of sulfur amino acids from methionine to taurine or
      glutathione (GSH) was performed. The levels of sulfur amino acids and their
      metabolites were not significantly different among 2-, 6- and 18-month-old mice,
      except for plasma GSH and hepatic homocysteine. Plasma total GSH and hepatic
      total homocysteine levels were significantly higher in 2-month-old mice than
      those in the other age groups. In contrast, 30-month-old mice exhibited increased
      hepatic methionine and cysteine, compared with all other groups, but decreased
      hepatic S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), S-adenosylhomocysteine and homocysteine,
      relative to 2-month-old mice. No differences in hepatic reduced GSH, GSH
      disulfide, or taurine were observed. The hepatic changes in homocysteine and
      cysteine may be attributed to upregulation of cystathionine beta-synthase and
      down-regulation of gamma-glutamylcysteine ligase in the aged mice. The elevation
      of hepatic cysteine levels may be involved in the maintenance of hepatic GSH
      levels. The opposite changes of methionine and SAM suggest that the regulatory
      role of SAM in hepatic sulfur amino acid metabolism may be impaired in 30-month
      old mice.

PMID- 28605832
TI  - Comparison of Reprogramming Methods for Generation of Induced-Oligodendrocyte
      Precursor Cells.
AB  - Direct conversion by trans-differentiation is of growing interest in cell therapy
      for incurable diseases. The efficiency of cell reprogramming and functionality of
      converted cells are important considerations in cell transplantation therapy.
      Here, we compared two representative protocols for the generation of induced
      oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (iOPCs) from mouse and rat fibroblasts. Then, we
      showed that induction of Nkx6.2, Olig2, and Sox10 (NOS) was more effective in
      mouse fibroblasts and that induction of Olig2, Sox10, and Zfp536 (OSZ) was more
      effective at reprogramming iOPCs from rat fibroblasts. However, OSZ-iOPCs did not
      show greater proliferation than NOS-induced cells. Because the efficiency of
      iOPCs generation appears to differ between cell species depending on
      transcription factors and culture conditions, it is important to select
      appropriate methods for efficient reprogramming.

PMID- 28605834
TI  - Absorption Study of Genistein Using Solid Lipid Microparticles and Nanoparticles:
      Control of Oral Bioavailability by Particle Sizes.
AB  - In this study, the effect of particle size of genistein-loaded solid lipid
      particulate systems on drug dissolution behavior and oral bioavailability was
      investigated. Genistein-loaded solid lipid microparticles and nanoparticles were
      prepared with glyceryl palmitostearate. Except for the particle size, other
      properties of genistein-loaded solid lipid microparticles and nanoparticles such
      as particle composition and drug loading efficiency and amount were similarly
      controlled to mainly evaluate the effect of different particle sizes of the solid
      lipid particulate systems on drug dissolution behavior and oral bioavailability.
      The results showed that genistein-loaded solid lipid microparticles and
      nanoparticles exhibited a considerably increased drug dissolution rate compared
      to that of genistein bulk powder and suspension. The microparticles gradually
      released genistein as a function of time while the nanoparticles exhibited a
      biphasic drug release pattern, showing an initial burst drug release, followed by
      a sustained release. The oral bioavailability of genistein loaded in solid lipid
      microparticles and nanoparticles in rats was also significantly enhanced compared
      to that in bulk powders and the suspension. However, the bioavailability from the
      microparticles increased more than that from the nanoparticles mainly because the
      rapid drug dissolution rate and rapid absorption of genistein because of the
      large surface area of the genistein-solid lipid nanoparticles cleared the drug to
      a greater extent than the genistein-solid lipid microparticles did. Therefore,
      the findings of this study suggest that controlling the particle size of solid
      lipid particulate systems at a micro-scale would be a promising strategy to
      increase the oral bioavailability of genistein.

PMID- 28605833
TI  - PIG3 Regulates p53 Stability by Suppressing Its MDM2-Mediated Ubiquitination.
AB  - Under normal, non-stressed conditions, intracellular p53 is continually
      ubiquitinated by MDM2 and targeted for degradation. However, in response to
      severe genotoxic stress, p53 protein levels are markedly increased and apoptotic
      cell death is triggered. Inhibiting the ubiquitination of p53 under conditions
      where DNA damage has occurred is therefore crucial for preventing the development
      of cancer, because if cells with severely damaged genomes are not removed from
      the population, uncontrolled growth can result. However, questions remain about
      the cellular mechanisms underlying the regulation of p53 stability. In this
      study, we show that p53-inducible gene 3 (PIG3), which is a transcriptional
      target of p53, regulates p53 stability. Overexpression of PIG3 stabilized both
      endogenous and transfected wild-type p53, whereas a knockdown of PIG3 lead to a
      reduction in both endogenous and UV-induced p53 levels in p53-proficient human
      cancer cells. Using both in vivo and in vitro ubiquitination assays, we found
      that PIG3 suppressed both ubiquitination- and MDM2-dependent proteasomal
      degradation of p53. Notably, we demonstrate that PIG3 interacts directly with
      MDM2 and promoted MDM2 ubiquitination. Moreover, elimination of endogenous PIG3
      in p53-proficient HCT116 cells decreased p53 phosphorylation in response to UV
      irradiation. These results suggest an important role for PIG3 in regulating
      intracellular p53 levels through the inhibition of p53 ubiquitination.

PMID- 28605835
TI  - Predicting island biosecurity risk from introduced fauna using Bayesian Belief
      Networks.
AB  - Around the globe, islands are the last refuge for many threatened and endemic
      species. Islands are frequently also important sites for recreation, cultural
      activities, and industrial development, all of which facilitate the establishment
      of invasive species. Surveillance is employed on islands to detect the
      establishment of invasive species after their arrival, leading to decisions about
      follow-up actions. Unless surveillance is prioritised according to risk of
      establishment of invasives, it may be infeasible to implement efficiently over
      large tracts of publicly accessible land, especially in data-deficient areas. The
      key biosecurity problem for many regions is one of prioritizing sites for
      surveillance activities and identifying invasive species most likely to disperse
      to, and establish, and proliferate on those sites. We created a series of
      Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs), linked by Java computing code and the freely
      available GeNIe application to automate the creation and computation of species-
      and site-specific biosecurity BBNs. The BBNs require data on island attributes,
      recreational or industrial visitor load, infrastructure, habitat availability,
      and animal behaviour and dispersal via swimming, flying, human movement, land
      bridges, or flood plumes. We used this biosecurity BBN to estimate the risk of 11
      invasive faunal species arriving and establishing on 600 islands along the
      Pilbara coastline, Western Australia. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to
      identify nodes within the BBNs that required refined data inputs. Propagule
      pressure was the node with the greatest influence over the number of arrivals.
      Other nodes such as the number of visitors to islands and swimming capabilities
      of invasive animals greatly influenced the model results. Across the 11 species
      studied, our models predicted one arrival per 300 visitors. The biosecurity BBN
      can be used to identify the islands at highest risk from establishment of
      invasive species within any archipelago/s, and the invasive species most likely
      to establish on each island.

PMID- 28605836
TI  - Brominated flame retardants in marine environment focused on aquaculture area:
      Occurrence, source and bioaccumulation.
AB  - Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers
      (PBDEs), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), were
      investigated in bivalve (i.e., oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and mussel (Mytilus
      coruscus)), sediment, and seawater samples collected from aquaculture areas in
      South Korea to identify their occurrence, sources, and bioaccumulation. Among the
      studied chemicals, HBCDs predominated in bivalves and sediment, with
      concentrations of ND-67.52ng/g lipid weight and 3.47-168ng/g dry weight,
      respectively, while TBBPA was the highest contributor in seawater (ND-2.79ng/L).
      Compared with a non-aquaculture area, HBCD and PBDE concentrations were
      significantly higher in all matrices in the aquaculture area (Mann-Whitney U
      test, p<0.05), suggesting that sources may be located near or associated with the
      aquaculture areas, such as industrial complexes and expanded polystyrene buoys.
      Finally, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and biota-sediment accumulation factor
      (BSAF) were estimated. Among the studied BFRs, BDE-47 (BCF: 1.70*106L/kg; BSAF:
      20.92) and alpha-HBCD (BCF: 1.05*106L/kg; BSAF: 0.13) showed the highest
      accumulation potentials in bivalves.

PMID- 28605837
TI  - From waste plastics to industrial raw materials: A life cycle assessment of
      mechanical plastic recycling practice based on a real-world case study.
AB  - Mechanical recycling of waste plastics is an environmental solution to the
      problem of waste plastic disposal, and has already become a common practice in
      industry. However, limited information can be found on either the industralised
      plastic recycling or the recycled materials, despite the use of recycled plastics
      has already extended to automobile production. This study investigates the life
      cycle environmental impacts of mechanical plastic recycling practice of a plastic
      recycling company in China. Waste plastics from various sources, such as
      agricultural wastes, plastic product manufacturers, collected solid plastic
      wastes and parts dismantled from waste electric and electronic equipments, are
      processed in three routes with products end up in different markets. The results
      of life cycle assessments show that the extrusion process has the largest
      environmental impacts, followed by the use of fillers and additives. Compared to
      production of virgin plastics and composites, the mechanical recycling is proved
      to be a superior alternative in most environmental aspects. Substituting virgin
      plastic composites with recycled plastic composites has achieved the highest
      environmental benefits, as virgin composite production has an impact almost 4
      times higher that of the recycled composite production in each ReCiPe endpoint
      damage factor. Sensitivity analysis shows that the coverage of collecting network
      contribute affect little to overall environmental impact, and centralisation
      plays an important role in reducing overall environmental impacts. Among the
      fillers and additives, impact modifiers account for the most significant
      contributions to the environmental impacts of recycled composites. This study
      provides necessary information about the existing industrialised plastic
      recycling practice, and recommendations are given. Research implications are
      presented with the purpose to achieve higher substitution rate and lower
      environmental impact.

PMID- 28605838
TI  - Dietary risk assessment of pesticides from vegetables and drinking water in
      gardening areas in Burkina Faso.
AB  - Vegetables and water samples have been collected around the lake of Loumbila in
      Burkina Faso. Pesticides residues in food commodities were analyzed using a
      modified QuEChERS extraction method prior analysis on GC-MS and UPLC-MS/MS of 31
      pesticides. Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) were exceeded in 36% of the samples for
      seven pesticides: acetamiprid, carbofuran, chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin,
      dieldrin, imidacloprid and profenofos. Exceedance of MRLs suggests a risk for the
      consumers and limits the opportunities of exportation. In order to define
      estimated daily intake, dietary surveys were conducted on 126 gardeners using a
      24hours recall method. Single pesticide and cumulative exposure risks were
      assessed for children and adults. Risk was identified for: chlorpyrifos and
      lambda-cyhalothrin in acute and chronic exposure scenarios. Hazardous chronic
      exposure to the endocrine disruptor and probable carcinogen dieldrin was also
      detected. In the studied population, cumulative dietary exposure presented a risk
      (acute and chronic) for children and adults in respectively >17% and 4% of the
      cases when considering the worst case scenarios. Processing factor largely
      influenced the risk of occurrence suggesting that simple washing of vegetables
      with water considerably reduced the risk of hazardous exposure.

PMID- 28605839
TI  - Combined effects of hydrologic alteration and cyprinid fish in mediating
      biogeochemical processes in a Mediterranean stream.
AB  - Flow regimes are important drivers of both stream community and biogeochemical
      processes. However, the interplay between community and biogeochemical responses
      under different flow regimes in streams is less understood. In this study, we
      investigated the structural and functional responses of periphyton and
      macroinvertebrates to different densities of the Mediterranean barbel (Barbus
      meridionalis, Cyprinidae) in two stream reaches differing in flow regime. The
      study was conducted in Llemena Stream, a small calcareous Mediterranean stream
      with high nutrient levels. We selected a reach with permanent flow (permanent
      reach) and another subjected to flow regulation (regulated reach) with periods of
      flow intermittency. At each reach, we used in situ cages to generate 3 levels of
      fish density. Cages with 10 barbels were used to simulate high fish density
      (>7indm-2); cages with open sides were used as controls (i.e. exposed to actual
      fish densities of each stream reach) thus having low fish density; and those with
      no fish were used to simulate the disappearance of fish that occurs with stream
      drying. Differences in fish density did not cause significant changes in
      periphyton biomass and macroinvertebrate density. However, phosphate uptake by
      periphyton was enhanced in treatments lacking fish in the regulated reach with
      intermittent flow but not in the permanent reach, suggesting that hydrologic
      alteration hampers the ability of biotic communities to compensate for the
      absence of fish. This study indicates that fish density can mediate the effects
      of anthropogenic alterations such as flow intermittence derived from hydrologic
      regulation on stream benthic communities and associated biogeochemical processes,
      at least in eutrophic streams.

PMID- 28605840
TI  - An assessment of yield gains under climate change due to genetic modification of
      pearl millet.
AB  - Developing cultivars with traits that can enhance and sustain productivity under
      climate change will be an important climate smart adaptation option. The modified
      CSM-CERES-Pearl millet model was used to assess yield gains by modifying plant
      traits determining crop maturity duration, potential yield and tolerance to
      drought and heat in pearl millet cultivars grown at six locations in arid (Hisar,
      Jodhpur, Bikaner) and semi-arid (Jaipur, Aurangabad and Bijapur) tropical India
      and two locations in semi-arid tropical West Africa (Sadore in Niamey and Cinzana
      in Mali). In all the study locations the yields decreased when crop maturity
      duration was decreased by 10% both in current and future climate conditions;
      however, 10% increase in crop maturity significantly (p<0.05) increased yields at
      Aurangabad and Bijapur, but not at other locations. Increasing yield potential
      traits by 10% increased yields under both the climate situations in India and
      West Africa. Drought tolerance imparted the lowest yield gain at Aurangabad (6%),
      the highest at Sadore (30%) and intermediate at the other locations under current
      climate. Under climate change the contribution of drought tolerance to the yield
      of cultivars either increased or decreased depending upon changes in rainfall of
      the locations. Yield benefits of heat tolerance substantially increased under
      climate change at most locations, having the greatest effects at Bikaner (17%) in
      India and Sadore (13%) in West Africa. Aurangabad and Bijapur locations had no
      yield advantage from heat tolerance due to their low temperature regimes. Thus
      drought and heat tolerance in pearl millet increased yields under climate change
      in both the arid and semi-arid tropical climates with greater benefit in
      relatively hotter environments. This study will assists the plant breeders in
      evaluating new promising plant traits of pearl millet for adapting to climate
      change at the selected locations and other similar environments.

PMID- 28605841
TI  - Characterizing copper flows in international trade of China, 1975-2015.
AB  - Since the economic reform, China has actively participated in the global market
      with rapid industrialization and gradually dominated the utilization and
      consumption of some critical materials, one of which is copper. China has reigned
      the global anthropogenic cycle of copper since 2004. We explore copper flows
      along with the international trade of China during 1975-2015, through life cycle
      lens, from ore to final products. Our main finding is that China has become more
      active in the copper-related trade, indicated by its great increase in trade
      volume and the number of trade partners. The physical volume of copper flows
      through trade increased over 119 times between 1975 and 2015, mainly because of
      more imported raw materials of copper and exported copper products. Generally,
      China is a net importer of copper, with increasing import dependence through the
      study period, whereas the degree of dependence slightly decreased from 2010 to
      2015. The indicator of Export Support Rate took a decreasing percentage, which
      has fallen about 35% since 2010. It suggests China's changing position in the
      global resource and manufacturing market. In terms of trade price of different
      copper products, the price of imported copper concentrate was noticeably higher
      than that of exported one, revealing the poor copper resource endowment of China;
      while the different trend of copper semis in recent years signifies that China is
      in urgent need to improve its capability of producing high value-added semis.
      From international trade perspective, the copper resource of China presented
      stable supply as well as demand. The One Belt One Road strategy proposed by the
      state will further expand both the resource and market of copper.

PMID- 28605842
TI  - Suspect screening of micropollutants and their transformation products in
      advanced wastewater treatment.
AB  - Transformation products (TPs) of organic micropollutants are still rarely
      considered in monitoring of wastewater and aquatic environments. For example,
      occurrence data of ozonated TPs in full-scale wastewater systems is largely
      lacking. In this study, the efficiency of a suspect screening strategy including
      245 previously reported compounds and their TPs was evaluated for assessing the
      occurrence of different compound classes and their ozonated TPs in wastewater
      samples collected at different steps of an advanced treatment process including
      ozonation. After applying blank subtraction and filtering by mass accuracy (5ppm
      tolerance), peak height (minimum 1000 counts) and isotopic pattern score (>=80%)
      189 of the 245 compounds were detected. A decrease in relative concentration
      levels was observed for parent compounds in wastewater after ozonation and after
      a subsequent biological treatment process, while formation of tentative TPs after
      ozonation accompanied by subsequent degradation in a following biological
      treatment step was found. Plausibility of structural assignments for tentatively
      identified TPs could be successfully tested by using relative retention time
      information as comparison criteria. Overall, the screening approach was fast and
      successful and can be expanded to other compound classes and TPs where reference
      standards are not readily available.

PMID- 28605843
TI  - Evaluation of fertilizer and water management effect on rice performance and
      greenhouse gas intensity in different seasonal weather of tropical climate.
AB  - Intensively double cropping rice increases greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in
      tropical countries, and hence, finding better management practices is imperative
      for reducing global warming potential (GWP), while sustaining rice yield. This
      study demonstrated an efficient fertilizer and water management practice
      targeting seasonal weather conditions effects on rice productivity, nitrogen use
      efficiency (NUE), GWP, and GHG intensity (GHGI). Two-season experiments were
      conducted with two pot-scale experiments using urea and urea+cattle manure (CM)
      under continuous flooding (CF) during the wet season (2013WS), and urea
      with/without CaSiO3 application under alternate wetting and drying (AWD) during
      the dry season (2014DS). In 2013WS, 120kgNha-1 of urea fertilizer resulted in
      lower CH4 emission and similar rice production compared to urea+CM. In 2014DS,
      CaSiO3 application showed no difference in yields and led to significant
      reduction of N2O emission, but increased CH4 emission and GWP. Due to significant
      increases in GHG emissions in urea+CM and CaSiO3 application, we compared a
      seasonal difference in a local rice cultivation to test two water management
      practices. CF was adopted during 2013WS while AWD was adopted during 2014DS.
      Greater grain yields and yield components and NUE were obtained in 2014DS than in
      2013WS. Furthermore, higher grain yields contributed to similar values of GHGI
      although GWP of cumulative GHG emissions was increased in 2014DS. Thus, utilizing
      urea only application under AWD is a preferred practice to minimize GWP without
      yield decline for double cropping rice in tropical countries.

PMID- 28605844
TI  - Combination of aquatic species and safeners improves the remediation of copper
      polluted water.
AB  - In the last decades, many anthropogenic activities have resulted in heavy metal
      contamination of freshwaters and surrounding environments. This poses serious
      threats to human health. Phytoremediation is a cost-effective technology which is
      useful for remediating polluted soils and water. Recently, the use of aquatic
      free-floating plants has been proposed to remediate polluted water. In this
      context, a study on the capacity of two aquatic plants, Lemna minor (duckweed)
      and Salvinia auriculata (salvinia), to remediate Cu+2 (Cu) polluted water was
      carried out. Initially, the species were exposed to different copper
      concentrations (1, 5, 10, 20 and 50MUmolL-1) in order to assess Cu+2 toxicity to
      the plants. In addition, plants were treated with two safeners (benoxacor and
      dichlormid), with the aim of pointing out any safening effect of these compounds
      on the aquatic species. Toxicity tests showed that safened plants had a greater
      Cu resistance, especially at the higher Cu doses. Finally, unsafened and safened
      plants were tested in the decontamination of water polluted by copper (1.2mgL-1).
      In general, duckweed removed higher amounts of Cu from polluted water than
      salvinia, and, surprisingly, for both the species the safeners significantly
      increased the plants' capacity to remove the metal from the polluted waters.
      Lastly, an HPLC-based method was developed and standardized to monitor the
      residual amounts of the two safeners in the water. While dichlormid was
      completely absorbed by duckweed within few days after the treatments, some
      residual amounts of both safeners were found in salvinia vegetated water after
      two weeks. In conclusion, the results of this research show that the use of
      aquatic species in combination with safeners is an attractive and reliable tool
      to make plants more effective in phytoremediation of water polluted with metals
      (or other toxic compounds).

PMID- 28605845
TI  - Hydraulic and biotic impacts on neutralisation of high-pH waters.
AB  - The management of alkaline (pH11-12.5) leachate is an important issue associated
      with the conditioning, afteruse or disposal of steel slags. Passive in-gassing of
      atmospheric CO2 is a low cost option for reducing Ca(OH)2 alkalinity, as Ca(OH)2
      is neutralised by carbonic acid to produce CaCO3. The relative effectiveness of
      such treatment can be affected by both the system geometry (i.e. stepped cascades
      versus settlement ponds) and biological colonization. Sterilized mesocosm
      experiments run over periods of 20days showed that, due to more water mixing and
      enhanced CO2 dissolution at the weirs, the cascade systems (pH11.2->9.6) are more
      effective than settlement ponds (pH11.2->11.0) for lowering leachate alkalinity
      in all the tested conditions. The presence of an active microbial biofilm
      resulted in significantly more pH reduction in ponds (pH11.2->9.5), but had a
      small impact on the cascade systems (pH11.2->9.4). The pH variation in biofilm
      colonized systems shows a diurnal cycle of 1 to 1.5pH units due to CO2 uptake and
      release associated with respiration and photosynthesis. The results demonstrate
      that, where gradient permits, aeration via stepped cascades are the best option
      for neutralisation of steel slag leachates, and where feasible, the development
      of biofilm communities can also help reduce alkalinity.

PMID- 28605846
TI  - Impacts of water and nitrogen addition on nitrogen recovery in Haloxylon
      ammodendron dominated desert ecosystems.
AB  - Desert ecosystems are likely to change in response to global climate change and
      nitrogen (N) deposition. The effects of increased precipitation and N deposition
      on plant growth and the N cycle largely depend on N allocation and N recovery
      efficiency in the plant-soil ecosystem, but there is limited research on this in
      desert ecosystems. Here we report results using double-labeled 15NH415NO3 (30 and
      60kgNha-1yr-1) as a tracer under ambient (no additional water addition) and
      enhanced precipitation (60mm water addition) in a Haloxylon ammodendron dominated
      ecosystem in the Gurbantunggut Desert of Northwest China. Herbaceous plants were
      a significantly larger sink for added 15N than the H. ammodendron trees, and N
      retention varied with water and N addition, relative to growing season
      precipitation. The retention of added 15N varied within the components of H.
      ammodendron, with the stems retaining most, followed by the assimilation
      branches. Soil was the dominant sink for added 15N, in which the topsoil and
      subsoil respond differently to water and N addition over the two-year period.
      Nitrogen relative recovery percentage in the whole ecosystem ranged from 43% to
      61%, lower than average recovery rate in temperate forests; N tracer recovery
      percentage significantly increased with water addition but decreased with
      enhanced N deposition. Future N cycling in central Asian deserts will depend on
      changes in precipitation.

PMID- 28605847
TI  - Impact of on-site, small and large scale wastewater treatment facilities on
      levels and fate of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, artificial
      sweeteners, pesticides, and perfluoroalkyl substances in recipient waters.
AB  - One of the main risks associated with effluents from both wastewater treatment
      plants (WWTPs) and on-site sewage treatment facilities (OSSFs) is the release of
      micropollutants (MPs) in receiving water bodies. However, the impact of MPs
      present in the effluents of OSSFs in the aquatic environment has not been studied
      so far. The current study evaluates the impact of the effluents of OSSFs and
      small-to-large scale WWTPs on natural waters. The discharge of 74 MPs was
      assessed including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides,
      artificial sweeteners and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). The sampling was
      carried out within a Swedish catchment and included three sites that are
      exclusively affected by OSSFs and other sites that are mainly affected by WWTPs
      or a mixture of sources (7 sites, 28 samples). Results show that although OSSFs
      serve a much smaller total number of people, the MPs emitted from OSSFs reached
      the aquatic environment in significant quantities (concentrations of >150ngL-1 of
      ?MPs). The composition profiles for sites affected by WWTPs were similar and were
      dominated by sucralose (27% of the ?MPs), caffeine (27% of the ?MPs), lamotrigine
      (10% of the ?MPs), desvenlafaxine (5% of the ?MPs), and diclofenac (4% of the
      ?MPs). In contrast, the sites affected by OSSFs showed high variability,
      exhibiting a different profile from those affected by WWTPs and also from each
      other, demonstrating that OSSFs are not homogeneous sources of MPs. Some specific
      compounds, such as diethyltoluamide (DEET) and caffeine, were proportionally much
      more important at sites affected by OSSFs than at sites affected by WWTPs
      (representing a much higher percentage of the ?MPs in the OSSFs). In contrast,
      PFASs did not show high concentration variation among the different sampling
      sites and the composition profiles were relatively similar, indicating that these
      substances follow different routes of entry into the aquatic environment.

PMID- 28605848
TI  - Projected burden of disease for bacillary dysentery due to flood events in
      Guangxi, China.
AB  - Many researchers have been studying the influence of floods on intestinal
      infection in recent years. This study aimed to project the future disease burden
      of bacillary dysentery associated with floods in Guangxi, China. Relying on the
      longitudinal data, a generalized additive mixed model was applied to quantify the
      relationship between the monthly morbidity of bacillary dysentery and floods with
      two severity levels from 2004 to 2010, controlling for other meteorological
      variables. Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) was used as the measure of the
      burden of bacillary dysentery in the future of Guangxi, China. According to the
      generalized additive mixed model, the relative risks (RR) of moderate and severe
      floods on the morbidity of bacillary dysentery were 1.17 (95% CI: 1.03-1.33) and
      1.39 (95% CI: 1.14-1.70), respectively. The regression analysis also indicated
      that the flood duration was negatively associated with the morbidity of bacillary
      dysentery (with RR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.44-0.90). Considering the effects of floods
      only, compared with the YLDs in 2010, increasing flood events may lead to a 4.0%
      increase in the YLDs for bacillary dysentery by 2020, 2100, 0.0% by 2050, and an
      8.0% increase by 2030 in Guangxi, if other factors remain constant. Considering
      all potential changes include floods, temperature and population size, the YLDs
      for bacillary dysentery may increase by up to 16.0% by 2020, 20.0% by 2030, 2050,
      and 0.0% by 2100, compared to that in 2010 under the moderate flood scenario;
      Under the severe flood scenario, the YLDs for bacillary dysentery may increase by
      up to 16.0% by 2020, 20.0% by 2030, 2050, and 4.0% by 2100.

PMID- 28605849
TI  - A next generation sequencing approach with a suitable bioinformatics workflow to
      study fungal diversity in bioaerosols released from two different types of
      composting plants.
AB  - Composting is used all over the world to transform different types of organic
      matter through the actions of complex microbial communities. Moving and handling
      composting material may lead to the emission of high concentrations of
      bioaerosols. High exposure levels are associated with adverse health effects
      among compost industry workers. Fungal spores are suspected to play a role in
      many respiratory illnesses. There is a paucity of information related to the
      detailed fungal diversity in compost as well as in the aerosols emitted through
      composting activities. The aim of this study was to analyze the fungal diversity
      of both organic matter and aerosols present in facilities that process domestic
      compost and facilities that process pig carcasses. This was accomplished using a
      next generation sequencing approach that targets the ITS1 genomic region.
      Multivariate analyses revealed differences in the fungal community present in
      samples coming from compost treating both raw materials. Furthermore, results
      show that the compost type affects the fungal diversity of aerosols emitted.
      Although 8 classes were evenly distributed in all samples, Eurotiomycetes were
      more dominant in carcass compost while Sordariomycetes were dominant in domestic
      compost. A large diversity profile was observed in bioaerosols from both compost
      types showing the presence of a number of pathogenic fungi newly identified in
      bioaerosols emitted from composting plants. Members of the family
      Herpotrichiellaceae and Gymnoascaceae which have been shown to cause human
      diseases were detected in compost and air samples. Moreover, some fungi were
      identified in higher proportion in air compared to compost. This is the first
      study to identify a high level of fungal diversity in bioaerosols present in
      composting plants suggesting a potential exposure risk for workers. This study
      suggests the need for creating guidelines that address human exposure to
      bioaerosols. The implementation of technical and organizational measure should be
      a top priority. However, skin and respiratory protection for compost workers
      could be used to reduce the exposure as a second resort.

PMID- 28605850
TI  - Offspring Hg exposure relates to parental feeding strategies in a generalist bird
      with strong individual foraging specialization.
AB  - Generalist species can potentially exploit a wide variety of resources, but at
      the individual level they often show a certain degree of foraging specialization.
      Specific foraging strategies, however, may increase exposure to environmental
      contaminants that can alter the cost-benefit balance of consuming particular food
      items. The Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) is known to opportunistically
      feed on a wide range of marine and terrestrial prey that differ in contaminant
      load, such as mercury (Hg) that strongly biomagnifies through the aquatic food
      web. The hypothesis tested in this study were: i) a predominant use of marine
      prey by females during egg-formation and by both parents during chick rearing
      increases the exposure to Hg during embryonic development and chick growth, and
      ii) this affects parental investment in clutch volume, chick growth and body
      condition. Total Hg burden and isotopic signatures of carbon (delta13C) and
      nitrogen (delta15N) were determined for eggs, down feathers, and primary feathers
      of L. fuscus chicks collected at a coastal colony in Belgium. As expected, eggs
      and feathers of chicks from parents with a stable isotope signature that
      suggested a predominantly marine diet had higher levels of Hg. The use of marine
      resources by females during the egg-formation period positively correlated to
      maternal investment in egg size, though entailing the cost of increased Hg
      concentrations which in turn negatively affected clutch volume. Furthermore, it
      is shown that the use of chick down feathers is a suitable matrix to non-lethally
      estimate Hg concentrations in eggs. Contrary to our expectations, no relationship
      between Hg exposure and chick growth or chick body condition was found, which may
      be due the low concentrations found. We conclude that currently Hg contamination
      does not constitute a risk for development and condition of L. fuscus offspring
      at the levels currently observed at the Belgian coast.

PMID- 28605851
TI  - Temperature modulates AgNP impacts on microbial decomposer activity.
AB  - Silver nanoparticles (AgNP)s can have toxic effects on aquatic species and
      compromise important ecosystem processes. AgNP impacts have been the focus of
      much research, but their effects under different environmental contexts, such as
      the increase in global temperature are difficult to predict. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the interactive effects of AgNPs and temperature on the
      activity and diversity of microbial decomposers of plant litter in streams.
      Litter-associated microbial communities were exposed in microcosms to increased
      concentrations of AgNPs (50 to 75000MUgL-1) and AgNO3 (5 to 7500MUgL-1) and kept
      for 21days at 10 degrees C, 16 degrees C and 23 degrees C. Effects of AgNPs and
      AgNO3 were assessed based on leaf mass loss and litter-associated microbial
      communities by measuring microbial diversity, the activity of fungal
      extracellular enzymes, and fungal biomass and reproduction. Increase in
      temperature stimulated leaf mass loss, but not fungal biomass and reproduction.
      Increased AgNP and AgNO3 concentrations inhibited fungal reproduction and
      diversity, particularly at 23 degrees C. Activities of the extracellular enzymes
      phenol oxidase and beta-glucosidase were generally higher at 23 degrees C.
      Microbial communities were mainly structured by AgNP and AgNO3 concentrations
      more than by temperature. The negative effects of nano and ionic Ag on microbial
      activity were more pronounced at 10 and 23 degrees C. The behavior of AgNPs was
      more related to water physical and chemical characteristics (pH) than to
      temperature. Results highlight the importance of considering different
      environmental scenarios when examining NP toxicity to freshwater biota and
      ecosystem processes.

PMID- 28605852
TI  - Simultaneous determination of brominated and phosphate flame retardants in flame
      retarded polyester curtains by a novel extraction method.
AB  - The use of novel brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and phosphate-based flame
      retardants (PFRs) has increased as substitutes for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)
      in many consumer products. To facilitate collection of data on chemicals used as
      flame retardants in textiles and fabrics, we developed an analytical method using
      liquid chromatography interfaced with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We
      compared two extraction methods, one involving ultrasonic extraction (traditional
      method) using dichloromethane, toluene or acetone and the other encompassing
      complete dissolution of textile with 25% 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2
      propanol/chloroform. The dissolution method extracted up to 204 times more BFRs
      and PFRs than the traditional ultrasonic extraction. Tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)
      isocyanurate (TDBP-TAZTO), triphenylphosphine oxide (TPhPO), tris(1,3-dichloro-2
      propyl) phosphate (TDCPP), tricresyl phosphate (TCsP), and triphenyl phosphate
      (TPhP) were found in 40 flame-retarded curtain samples purchased from Japanese
      market in 2014. TDBP-TAZTO was detected in polyester curtains for the first time.
      Some of the flame-retarded curtain samples did not contain any of the known
      target analytes, which suggested the presence of other unknown flame retardants
      in those fabrics.

PMID- 28605853
TI  - Assessing drivers of benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in African
      highland streams: An exploration using multivariate analysis.
AB  - Understanding the drivers of community structure is fundamental for adequately
      managing ecosystems under global change. Here we used a large dataset of eighty
      four headwater stream sites in three catchments in the Eastern Highlands of
      Zimbabwe, which represent a variety of abiotic conditions and levels of
      impairment, to examine the drivers of benthic macroinvertebrate community
      structure. We focused our assessment on macroinvertebrate family level community
      composition and functional feeding group classifications. Taxonomic richness was
      weakly positively correlated with ammonium, phosphates and pH, and weakly
      negatively correlated with detrital cover and dissolved oxygen. Measured abiotic
      variables, however, had limited influence on both macroinvertebrate diversity and
      functional feeding group structure, with the exception of ammonium, channel width
      and phosphates. This reflected the fact that many macroinvertebrate families and
      functional feeding guilds were well represented across a broad range of habitats.
      Predatory macroinvertebrates were relatively abundant, with collector-filterers
      having the lowest relative abundances. The findings of the study suggest that for
      certain ecological questions, a more detailed taxonomic resolution may be
      required to adequately understand the ecology of aquatic macroinvertebrates
      within river systems. We further recommend management and conservation
      initiatives on the Save River system, which showed significant impact from
      catchment developmental pressures, such as urbanisation, agriculture and illegal
      mining.

PMID- 28605854
TI  - Central Tibetan Plateau atmospheric trace metals contamination: A 500-year record
      from the Puruogangri ice core.
AB  - A ~500-year section of ice core (1497-1992) from the Puruogangri ice cap has been
      analyzed at high resolution for 28 trace elements (TEs: Ag, Al, As, Ba, Bi, Cd,
      Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sn, Sr, Ti, Tl, U, V
      and Zn) to assess different atmospheric contributions to the ice and provide a
      temporal perspective on the diverse atmospheric influences over the central
      Tibetan Plateau (TP). At least two volcanic depositions have significantly
      impacted the central TP over the past 500years, possibly originating from the
      Billy Mitchell (1580, Papua New Guinea) and the Parker Peak (1641, Philippines)
      eruptions. A decreasing aeolian dust input to the ice cap allowed the detection
      of an atmospheric pollution signal. The anthropogenic pollution contribution
      emerges in the record since the early 1900s (for Sb and Cd) and increases
      substantially after 1935 (for Ag, Zn, Pb, Cd and Sb). The metallurgy (Zn, Pb and
      steel smelting) emission products (Cd, Zn, Pb and Ag) from the former Soviet
      Union and especially from central Asia (e.g., Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) likely
      enhanced the anthropogenic deposition to the Puruogangri ice cap between 1935 and
      1980, suggesting that the westerlies served as a conveyor of atmospheric
      pollution to central Tibet. The impact of this industrial pollution cumulated
      with that of the hemispheric coal and gasoline combustion which are respectively
      traced by Sb and Pb enrichment in the ice. The Chinese steel production
      accompanying the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) and the Chinese Cultural
      Revolution (1966-1976) is proposed as a secondary but proximal source of Pb
      pollution affecting the ice cap between 1958 and 1976. The most recent decade
      (1980-1992) of the enrichment time series suggests that Puruogangri ice cap
      recorded the early Sb, Cd, Zn, Pb and Ag pollution originating from developing
      countries of South (i.e., India) and East (i.e., China) Asia and transported by
      the summer monsoonal circulation.

PMID- 28605855
TI  - The effects of the anthropic actions on the sandy beaches of Guardamar del
      Segura, Spain.
AB  - There are many activities and uses in the coastal environment, which has
      historically attracted the humans. This attraction has led to many anthropic
      actions that have generated imbalances, more important as the human pressure
      increases. This research focuses on the effects of these pressures along of 11km
      of the coastline of Guardamar del Segura, a high-value environmental area where
      is the Segura River mouth and one of the last dune systems of the southeast of
      Spain. The historic evolution of the shoreline position has been analysed using
      60years of aerial images from 1950s to 2014, the seabed depth changes, the
      maritime climate, the distribution of the sediment grain size and the anthropic
      actions such as urban development or the channelling of the river. All data were
      integrated and processed using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The results
      show that the lack of sediment supply by Segura River and the cut-off in the
      longshore transport due to the breakwaters and others anthropic actions has led
      into an increase in the beaches erosion rates, with a loss of >3.2millionm3 of
      sand in the last 58years (~55,200m3/year). The conclusions of this research could
      be useful to the coastal managers at the moment of making the decisions of action
      and/or conservation on a coastal system to achieve positive results in the medium
      and long term.

PMID- 28605856
TI  - Nitrogen transformations and removal efficiency enhancement of a constructed
      wetland in subtropical Taiwan.
AB  - Urbanization condenses reactive nitrogen into cities leaving threats of nitrogen
      pollution onto nearby environments when sewage is not properly treated.
      Constructed wetland is an ecological and economical way to remove reactive
      nitrogen. We investigated the seasonal nitrogen transformations and removal
      pathways in a surface-flow constructed wetland (93,000m2 with five treatment
      cells), which treats domestic wastewater in subtropical Taiwan. By using isotopic
      pairing technique, we found denitrification exceeds anammox dominated the
      nitrogen removal pathway throughout seasons. The potential denitrification (0.09
      to 2.84gNm-2d-1) in the overlying water was in the same magnitude relative to
      that in sediments (1.26 to 4.14gNm-2d-1). The denitrification rates in sediments
      were highest in summer followed by autumn and winter. The concentration removal
      efficiencies of ammonium and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were both highest
      in summer, then decreased significantly in autumn and winter. Temperature is a
      significant regulator for seasonal nitrogen removal. However, a positive
      correlation was observed between the potential denitrification rates and the
      amount of 15NO3- addition, indicating that nitrate addition may still stimulate
      denitrification under low temperature condition in winter (15.2-16.3 degrees C).
      Since nitrate concentrations in porewater were much lower than that in water
      column for autumn and winter, we speculated NOx--N (nitrite and nitrate) supply
      to the sediments was a limiting factor for low DIN removal efficiency. We
      proposed to enhance nitrate removal efficiency via denitrification by physically
      promoting NOx--N and oxygen exchanges through the sediment-water interface.

PMID- 28605857
TI  - Effects of warming and nitrogen fertilization on GHG flux in an alpine swamp
      meadow of a permafrost region.
AB  - Uncertainties in the seasonal changes of greenhouse gases (GHG) fluxes in
      wetlands limit our accurate understanding of the responses of permafrost
      ecosystems to future warming and increased nitrogen (N) deposition. Therefore, in
      an alpine swamp meadow in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a
      simulated warming with N fertilization experiment was conducted to investigate
      the key GHG fluxes (ecosystem respiration [Re], CH4 and N2O) in the early (EG),
      mid (MG) and late (LG) growing seasons. Results showed that warming (6.2  degrees
      C) increased the average seasonal Re by 30.9% and transformed the alpine swamp
      meadow from a N2O sink to a source, whereas CH4 flux was not significantly
      affected. N fertilization (4 g N m-2 a-1) alone had no significant effect on the
      fluxes of GHGs. The interaction of warming and N fertilization increased CH4
      uptake by 69.6% and N2O emissions by 26.2% compared with warming, whereas the Re
      was not significantly affected. During the EG, although the soil temperature
      sensitivity of the Re was the highest, the effect of warming on the Re was the
      weakest. The primary driving factor for Re was soil surface temperature, whereas
      soil moisture controlled CH4 flux, and the N2O flux was primarily affected by
      rain events. The results indicated: (i) increasing N deposition has both positive
      and negative feedbacks on GHG fluxes in response to climate warming; (ii) during
      soil thawing process at active layer, low temperature of deep frozen soils have a
      negative contribution to Re in alpine ecosystems; and (iii) although these alpine
      wetland ecosystems are buffers against increased temperature, their feedbacks on
      climate change cannot be ignored because of the large soil organic carbon pool
      and high temperature sensitivity of the Re.

PMID- 28605858
TI  - Optimal implementation of green infrastructure practices to minimize influences
      of land use change and climate change on hydrology and water quality: Case study
      in Spy Run Creek watershed, Indiana.
AB  - Nutrient loading from the Maumee River watershed is a significant reason for the
      harmful algal blooms (HABs) problem in Lake Erie. The nutrient loading from urban
      areas needs to be reduced with the installation of green infrastructure (GI)
      practices. The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment-Low Impact Development 2.1
      (L-THIA-LID 2.1) model was used to explore the influences of land use (LU) and
      climate change on water quantity and quality in Spy Run Creek watershed (SRCW)
      (part of Maumee River watershed), decide whether and where excess phosphorus
      loading existed, identify critical areas to understand where the greatest amount
      of runoff/pollutants originated, and optimally implement GI practices to obtain
      maximum environmental benefits with the lowest costs. Both LU/climate changes
      increased runoff/pollutants generated from the watershed. Areas with the highest
      runoff/pollutant amount per area, or critical areas, differed for various
      environmental concerns, land uses (LUs), and climates. Compared to optimization
      considering all areas, optimization conducted only in critical areas can provide
      similar cost-effective results with decreased computational time for low levels
      of runoff/pollutant reductions, but critical area optimization results were not
      as cost-effective for higher levels of runoff/pollutant reductions.
      Runoff/pollutants for 2011/2050 LUs/climates could be reduced to amounts of 2001
      LU/climate by installation of GI practices with annual expenditures of $0.34 to
      $2.05 million. The optimization scenarios that were able to obtain the 2001
      runoff level in 2011/2050, can also reduce all pollutants to 2001 levels in this
      watershed.

PMID- 28605859
TI  - Cis-bromadiolone diastereoisomer is not involved in bromadiolone Red Kite (Milvus
      milvus) poisoning.
AB  - Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are widely used pesticides to control rodent
      populations. Bromadiolone, a second generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGARs),
      is authorized in France to control the population of water voles (Arvicola
      scherman). The persistence of SGARs in rodents is responsible for secondary
      exposure or poisoning of predators and scavengers, and is of ecological concern
      for the conservation of endangered species. Commercial formulations are a mixture
      of two diastereoisomers of bromadiolone: 70-90% is trans-bromadiolone and 10-30%
      is cis-bromadiolone. Both diastereoisomers have been shown to inhibit coagulation
      function with the same potency. On the other hand, cis-bromadiolone has been
      shown to be less tissue-persistent than trans-bromadiolone in rats. This
      difference led to residue levels in rats with substantially weakened proportion
      in cis-bromadiolone compared to the composition of baits. In this study, a multi
      residue LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of the diastereoisomers of SGARs
      was used to investigate their proportions in field samples of predators. In 2011,
      28 red kites (Milvus milvus) were found dead within a few months of bromadiolone
      application in grassland to control water vole outbreaks. In this study, we
      report the concentrations of the two diastereoisomers of bromadiolone measured in
      the livers of thirteen red kites. Exposure to bromadiolone was apparent in all
      the kites with hepatic concentrations of trans-bromadiolone ranging from 390 to
      870ng/g (89 to 99% of summed SGARs). However, cis-bromadiolone was not detected
      in 5 of 13 red kites and was present at very low concentrations (below 2.2ng/g)
      in 8 of 13 kites, demonstrating that cis-bromadiolone is not involved in this red
      kite poisoning event. The results suggest that a change of the proportions of
      bromadiolone diastereoisomers in baits could reduce the risk of secondary
      poisoning of predators, but retain primary toxicity for control rodent outbreaks.

PMID- 28605860
TI  - Transport of silver nanoparticles by runoff and erosion - A flume experiment.
AB  - Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are being used in many products as they have unique
      antimicrobial-biocidal properties. After disposal of these products AgNPs can
      reach the soil environment possibly affecting soil organisms and disrupting
      plants. This work aimed to study the transport of AgNPs by water and sediment
      during overland flow and soil erosion. This was done in a laboratory setting,
      using a flume and rainfall simulator. A low concentration of AgNPs (50MUg.kg-1)
      was applied to two soil-flumes with slope percentages of 20% and 10%. The
      rainfall was applied in four events of 15min each with a total amount of rainfall
      of 15mm during each event. After applying the rainfall, samples of the non
      transported background soil (BS) and the transported sediment (Sf) were collected
      from the flume surface. Runoff sediment (RS) and water (RW) were collected from
      the outlet. AgNPs were detected in all samples collected. However, concentration
      varied according to sample type (soil or water), time of collection (for runoff
      water and sediment) and the slope of the soil flume. Higher concentrations of
      AgNPs in soil were detected in the BS than in the Sf likely due to the BS having
      more fine particles (silt and clay). The AgNPs concentration in the runoff
      sediments increased with subsequent applied rain events. In addition, increasing
      the slope of the flume from 10% to 20% increased the total AgNPs transported with
      the runoff sediment by a factor 1.5. The study confirms that AgNPs can be
      transported by both overland flow and sediment due to erosion.

PMID- 28605861
TI  - Sensitivity of the glochidia (larvae) of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionida:
      Hyriidae) to cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, nickel and zinc: Differences between
      metals, species and exposure time.
AB  - Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionida) are among the most threatened freshwater
      faunal groups worldwide. Metal contamination is one threat that has been linked
      to declining mussel population distribution and abundance. This study determined
      the sensitivity (valve closure) of the glochidia (larvae) of six species of
      Australian freshwater mussels to cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), lead
      (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn), key metal contaminants impacting urbanized
      coastal rivers in south-eastern Australia (home to ~50% of the population), in a
      soft reconstituted freshwater (hardness 42mgCaCO3L-1; alkalinity 22mgCaCO3L-1 and
      pH7.0) over 72h. The sensitivity of each mussel species to each metal increased
      2.5-fold with increasing exposure time from 24 to 72h. The most sensitive mussel
      species (Cucumerunio novaehollandiae), across all metals and exposure times, was
      ~60% more sensitive than the least sensitive species (Velesunio ambiguus). The
      relative sensitivity of glochidia to the six selected metals, across all mussel
      species and exposure times, was: Cu>Cd>Pb>Co=Ni>Zn. Glochidia were most sensitive
      to Cu and least sensitive to Zn. Quantitatively, the toxicity of Cu was 3-fold
      more than Cd, 8-fold more than Pb, 14-fold more than Co or Ni and 16-fold more
      than Zn. The cell surface binding affinities (conditional log K values) of Cd
      (range 6.65-6.94), Co (6.04-6.29), Cu (7.17-7.46), Ni (6.02-6.29), Pb (6.24-6.53)
      or Zn (5.96-6.23), pooled for all mussel species after 72h exposure, were
      positively related to metal sensitivity. The chronic no effect concentrations
      (NECs) of Cu, Ni and Zn were below (i.e. glochidia were more sensitive than)
      their national freshwater guideline values, indicating that freshwater mussels
      may not be adequately protected for these metals in urbanized coastal rivers
      within south-eastern Australia.

PMID- 28605862
TI  - A pilot-scale microwave technology for sludge sanitization and drying.
AB  - Large volumes of sludge are produced from onsite sanitation systems in densely
      populated areas (e.g. slums and emergency settlements) and wastewater treatment
      facilities that contain high amounts of pathogens. There is a need for
      technological options which can effectively treat the rapidly accumulating sludge
      under these conditions. This study explored a pilot-scale microwave (MW) based
      reactor as a possible alternative for rapid sludge treatment. The reactor
      performance was examined by conducting a series of batch tests using centrifuged
      waste activated sludge (C-WAS), non-centrifuged waste activated sludge (WAS),
      faecal sludge (FS), and septic tank sludge (SS). Four kilograms of each sludge
      type were subjected to MW treatment at a power of 3.4kW for various time
      durations ranging from 30 to 240min. During the treatment the temperature change,
      bacteria inactivation (E. coli, coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, and
      enterococcus faecalis) and sludge weight/volume reduction were measured.
      Calorific values (CV) of the dried sludge and the nutrient content (total
      nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP)) in both the dried sludge and the
      condensate were also determined. It was found that MW treatment was successful to
      achieve a complete bacterial inactivation and a sludge weight/volume reduction
      above 60%. Besides, the dried sludge and condensate had high energy (>=16MJ/kg)
      and nutrient contents (solids; TN>=28mg/g TS and TP>=15mg/g TS; condensate
      TN>=49mg/L TS and TP>=0.2mg/L), having the potential to be used as biofuel, soil
      conditioner, fertilizer, etc. The MW reactor can be applied for the rapid
      treatment of sludge in areas such as slums and emergency settlements.

PMID- 28605863
TI  - Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate change and human activities on
      runoff change in a typical karst watershed, SW China.
AB  - The Yinjiang River watershed is a typical karst watershed in Southwest China. The
      present study explored runoff change and its responses to different driving
      factors in the Yinjiang River watershed over the period of 1984 to 2015. The
      methods of cumulative anomaly, continuous wavelet analysis, Mann-Kendall rank
      correlation trend test, and Hurst exponent were applied to analyze the impacts of
      climate change and human activities on runoff change. The contributions of
      climate change and human activities to runoff change were quantitatively assessed
      using the comparative method of the slope changing ratio of cumulative quantity
      (SCRCQ). The following results were obtained: (1) From 1984 to 2015, runoff and
      precipitation exhibited no-significant increasing trend, whereas evaporation
      exhibited significant decreasing trend. (2) In the future, runoff, precipitation,
      and evaporation will exhibit weak anti-persistent feature with different
      persistent times. This feature indicated that in their persistent times, runoff
      and precipitation will continuously decline, whereas evaporation will
      continuously increase. (3) Runoff and precipitation were well-synchronized with
      abrupt change features and stage characteristics, and exhibited consistent multi
      timescale characteristics that were different from that of evaporation. (4) The
      contribution of precipitation to runoff change was 50%-60% and was considered
      high and stable. The contribution of evaporation to runoff change was 10%-90% and
      was variable with a positive or negative effects. The contribution of human
      activities to runoff change was 20%-60% and exerted a low positive or negative
      effect. (5) Climatic factors highly contributed to runoff change. By contrast,
      the contribution of human activities to runoff change was low. The contribution
      of climatic factors to runoff change was highly variable because of differences
      among base periods. In conclusion, this paper provides a basic theoretical
      understanding of the main factors that contribute to runoff change in a karst
      watershed.

PMID- 28605864
TI  - Time trends in radiocaesium in the Japanese diet following nuclear weapons
      testing and Chernobyl: Implications for long term contamination post-Fukushima.
AB  - Estimation of time changes in radiocaesium in foodstuffs is key to predicting the
      long term impact of the Fukushima accident on the Japanese diet. We have modelled
      >4000 measurements, spanning 50 years, of 137Cs in foodstuffs and whole diet in
      Japan after nuclear weapons testing (NWT) and the Chernobyl accident. Broadly
      consistent long term trends in 137Cs activity concentrations are seen between
      different agricultural foodstuffs; whole diet follows this general trend with
      remarkably little variation between averages for different regions of Japan.
      Model blind tests against post-NWT data for the Fukushima Prefecture showed good
      predictions for radiocaesium in whole diet, spinach and Japanese radish (for
      which good long term test data were available). For the post-Fukushima period to
      2015, radiocaesium in the average diet followed a declining time trend consistent
      with that seen after NWT and Chernobyl. Data for different regions post-Fukushima
      show a high degree of mixing of dietary foodstuffs between regions: significant
      over-estimates of average dietary 137Cs were made when it was assumed that only
      regionally-produced food was consumed. Predictions of mean committed effective
      internal doses from dietary 137Cs (2011 to 2061) in non-evacuated parts of the
      Fukushima Prefecture show that average internal dose is relatively low. This
      study focused on average regional ingestion dose rates and does not attempt to
      make site specific predictions. However, temporal trends identified could form a
      basis for site specific predictions of long term activity concentrations in
      agricultural products and diet both outside and (to assess potential re-use)
      inside currently evacuated areas.

PMID- 28605865
TI  - Source apportionment of fine particulate matter in China in 2013 using a source
      oriented chemical transport model.
AB  - China has been suffering high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
      Designing effective PM2.5 control strategies requires information about the
      contributions of different sources. In this study, a source-oriented Community
      Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was applied to quantitatively estimate the
      contributions of different source sectors to PM2.5 in China. Emissions of primary
      PM2.5 and gas pollutants of SO2, NOx, and NH3, which are precursors of
      particulate sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium (SNA, major PM2.5 components in
      China), from eight source categories (power plants, residential sources,
      industries, transportation, open burning, sea salt, windblown dust and
      agriculture) were separately tracked to determine their contributions to PM2.5 in
      2013. Industrial sector is the largest source of SNA in Beijing, Xi'an and
      Chongqing, followed by agriculture and power plants. Residential emissions are
      also important sources of SNA, especially in winter when severe pollution events
      often occur. Nationally, the contributions of different source sectors to annual
      total PM2.5 from high to low are industries, residential sources, agriculture,
      power plants, transportation, windblown dust, open burning and sea salt.
      Provincially, residential sources and industries are the major anthropogenic
      sources of primary PM2.5, while industries, agriculture, power plants and
      transportation are important for SNA in most provinces. For total PM2.5,
      residential and industrial emissions are the top two sources, with a combined
      contribution of 40-50% in most provinces. The contributions of power plants and
      agriculture to total PM2.5 are about 10%, respectively. Secondary organic aerosol
      accounts for about 10% of annual PM2.5 in most provinces, with higher
      contributions in southern provinces such as Yunnan (26%), Hainan (25%) and Taiwan
      (21%). Windblown dust is an important source in western provinces such as Xizang
      (55% of total PM2.5), Qinghai (74%), Xinjiang (59%). The large variation in
      sources of PM2.5 across China suggests that PM2.5 mitigation programs should be
      designed separately for different regions/provinces.

PMID- 28605866
TI  - Effect of temporary open-air markets on the sound environment and acoustic
      perception based on the crowd density characteristics.
AB  - The sound environment and acoustic perception of open-air markets, which are very
      common in high-density urban open spaces, play important roles in terms of the
      urban soundscape. Based on objective and subjective measurements of a typical
      temporary open-air market in Harbin city, China, the effects of the temporary
      open-air market on the sound environment and acoustic perception were studied,
      considering different crowd densities. It was observed that a temporary open-air
      market without zoning increases the sound pressure level and subjective loudness
      by 2.4dBA and 0.21dBA, respectively, compared to the absence of a temporary
      market. Different from the sound pressure level and subjective loudness, the
      relationship between crowd density and the perceived acoustic comfort is
      parabolic. Regarding the effect of a temporary open-air market with different
      zones on the sound environment and acoustic perception, when the crowd densities
      were the same, subjective loudness in the fruit and vegetable sales area was
      always higher than in the food sales area and the clothing sales area. In terms
      of acoustic comfort, with an increase in crowd density, acoustic comfort in the
      fruit and vegetable sales area decreased, and acoustic comfort in the food sales
      area and the clothing sales area exhibited a parabolic change trend of increase
      followed by decrease. Overall, acoustic comfort can be effectively improved by
      better planning temporary open-air markets in high-density urban open spaces.

PMID- 28605867
TI  - Hybrid brown coal-urea fertiliser reduces nitrogen loss compared to urea alone.
AB  - Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilisers, such as urea, are susceptible to rapid
      dissipation from soil. More gradual release of mineral N from fertiliser may
      reduce the off-site movement of mineral N, thereby enhancing N supply to crops
      and minimising negative off-site impacts. We hypothesised that granulation of
      urea with humified brown coal (BC) delays mineral N release and maintains higher
      concentrations of N in soil than conventional urea granules. Four different brown
      coal-urea granules, with C:N ratios of 1-10, were prepared by pan granulation.
      Advanced spectroscopic and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) techniques confirmed
      loading of urea-N into the BC structure. Nitrogen-release from BCU granules was
      slower than from urea, resulting in higher N retention over a longer period for
      increasing growth and N uptake by crop plants. This trend increased with higher
      loading of BC, emphasising the significant role of BC in N retention. These
      findings support the hypothesis that BC is suitable for developing slow release N
      fertilisers.

PMID- 28605868
TI  - Different responses of asymbiotic nitrogen fixation to nitrogen addition between
      disturbed and rehabilitated subtropical forests.
AB  - Asymbiotic nitrogen (N) fixation is an important source of new N in ecosystems,
      and is sensitive to atmospheric N deposition. However, there is limited
      understanding of asymbiotic N fixation and its response to N deposition in the
      context of forest rehabilitation. In this study, we measured N fixation rates
      (acetylene reduction) in different ecosystem compartments (i.e. soil, forest
      floor, moss Syrrhopodon armatus, and canopy leaves) in a disturbed and a
      rehabilitated subtropical forest in southern China, under 12years of N
      treatments: control, low N addition (50kgNha-1yr-1), and medium N addition
      (100kgNha-1yr-1). The rehabilitated forest had higher nutrient (e.g. N)
      availability than the disturbed forest. In control plots, N fixation rates in
      forest floor were higher in the rehabilitated forest than in the disturbed
      forest, but N fixation rates in other compartments (soil, S. armatus, and canopy
      leaves) were comparable between the forests. Nitrogen addition significantly
      suppressed N fixation in soil, forest floor, S. armatus, and canopy leaves in the
      disturbed forest, but had no significant effect on those compartments in the
      rehabilitated forest. The main reasons for the negative effects of N addition on
      N fixation in the disturbed forest were NH4+ inhibition (soil), the P and C
      limitation (forest floor), and the reduced N dependence on canopy N-fixers (S.
      armatus and canopy leaves). We conclude that asymbiotic N fixation does not
      decline with increasing N availability after rehabilitation in the study forests.
      The inhibitory effects of N addition on asymbiotic N fixation occurred in the
      disturbed forest but not in the rehabilitated forest, indicating that forest
      rehabilitation may change the response of ecosystem function (i.e. N fixation) to
      N deposition, which merits further study in other tropical and subtropical
      regions.

PMID- 28605869
TI  - Does the responses of Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara to high nitrogen loading
      differ between the summer high-growth season and the low-growth season?
AB  - Loss of submersed macrophytes is a world-wide phenomenon occurring when shallow
      lakes become eutrophic due to excess nutrient loading. In addition to the well
      known effect of phosphorus, nitrogen as a trigger of macrophyte decline has
      received increasing attention. The precise impact of high nitrogen concentrations
      is debated, and the role of different candidate factors may well change over the
      season. In this study, we conducted experiments with Vallisneria natans during
      the growing season (June-September) in 10 ponds subjected to substantial
      differences in nitrogen loading (five targeted total nitrogen concentrations:
      control, 2, 10, 20, and 100mgL-1) and compared the results with those obtained in
      our earlier published study from the low-growth season (December-April). Like in
      the low-growth season, growth of V. natans in summer declined with increasing
      ammonium (NH4) concentrations and particularly with increasing phytoplankton
      chlorophyll a (ChlaPhyt). Accordingly, we propose that shading by phytoplankton
      might be of key importance for macrophyte decline, affecting also periphyton
      growth as periphyton chlorophyll a (ChlaPeri) decreased with increasing ChlaPhyt.
      Free amino acid contents (FAA) of plants tended to increase with increasing NH4
      concentrations, while the relationships between FAA with growth indices were all
      weak, suggesting that FAA might be a useful indicator of the physiological stress
      of the plants but not of macrophyte growth. Taken together, the results from the
      two seasons indicate that although a combination of high nitrogen concentrations
      (ammonium) and shading by phytoplankton may cause severe stress on macrophytes,
      active growth in the growing season enabled them to partly overcome the stress.

PMID- 28605870
TI  - Foraging in maize field areas: A risky business?
AB  - In Quebec, Canada, the cultivation of maize dominates the agricultural territory.
      This crop requires a sustained supply of fertilizers from different sources:
      chemical, natural or from residual materials (sludge). These amendments contain
      metallic trace elements, which may lead to metal-contaminated maize pollen, a
      possible source of prooxidants for the foraging bees. Our objective was to
      determine whether maize fields environment influences the oxidation processes and
      the accumulation of metals in bees. A few days prior to pollen shedding, beehives
      were installed in maize fields: one organically grown (site A) and three
      conventionally grown (sites B, C and D). Soil, maize pollen and bees were
      analyzed for metal content. Every 15days, bees were collected and analyzed for
      peroxidation of lipids, metallothionein-like proteins (MTLPs), proteins,
      retinoids and lipophilic antioxidants (carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol). The
      compound beta-carotene was the most abundant in bees from all sites, followed by
      alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein.
      Retinaldehyde and retinol varied according to times and sites without
      demonstrating clear trends. However, significant differences between sites were
      noted in 13-cis-retinoic acid and two retinoic acid metabolites measured in bees,
      suggesting alteration in the reduction-oxidation processes. In line with these
      results, the level of lipid peroxidation was globally higher in sites B, C and D
      compared with the organic site. Higher concentrations of metals were observed in
      soil and pollen from the field A, but bees metal contents were equal or less than
      those measured in bees from other sites. Higher bee MTLP levels were measured in
      sites B, C and D. For most sampling times, the discriminant analysis revealed
      that the conditions were distinguished by the oxidation processes in bees. Our
      data suggest that bees foraging in conventionally grown maize fields are at risk
      of increased oxidative damages which can alter the fine regulation of retinoids.

PMID- 28605872
TI  - Characteristics of dissolved organic phosphorus inputs to freshwater lakes: A
      case study of Lake Erhai, southwest China.
AB  - In this study, we made the first estimate of the annual dissolved organic
      phosphorus (DOP) load to Lake Erhai, a typical mesotrophic-eutrophic lake in
      China. We also evaluated what proportion of DOP was bioavailable using
      enzymatically hydrolyzable phosphorus (EHP), and further assessed the potential
      impacts of DOP on lake water quality. We estimated that the annual DOP load into
      Lake Erhai accounted for nearly 50% of total dissolved phosphorus, while EHP
      accounted for about 30% of the bioavailable phosphorus (BAP) pool. The DOP load
      increased and accounted for a greater proportion of total dissolved phosphorus
      and BAP loads during the wet season, and helped maintain algal blooms. Inflowing
      rivers were the main source of DOP with high bioavailability to Lake Erhai,
      especially in the wet season. The EHP concentrations of the inflowing rivers were
      positively correlated with algal biomass. The observation suggests that, as a
      significant source of BAP, the contribution of the DOP load to eutrophication of
      the lake should not be ignored, especially given the low soluble reactive
      phosphorus concentrations in the lake water during the algal biomass period.
      Information on the contributions from different pollution sources is needed to
      support the development of effective P pollution control strategies. Short-term
      strategies to protect Lake Erhai include better management of the inflowing
      rivers, especially in the northern part during the wet season, while, over the
      long-term, strategies to decrease P release from lake sediments should be
      considered.

PMID- 28605871
TI  - Private-well stewardship among a general population based sample of private well
      owners.
AB  - Private well stewardship, including on-going testing and treatment, can ensure
      private well users are able to maintain source-water quality and prevent
      exposures to potentially harmful constituents in primary drinking water supplies.
      Unlike municipal water supplies, private well users are largely responsible for
      their own testing and treatment and well stewardship is often minimal. The
      importance of factors influencing regular testing, and treatment behaviors,
      including knowledge, risk perception, convenience and social norms, can vary by
      geography and population characteristics. The primary goals of this study were to
      survey a general statewide population of private well users in Wisconsin in order
      to quantify testing and treatment patterns and gather data on motivations and
      barriers to well stewardship. The majority of respondents reported using and
      drinking well water daily but only about one half of respondents reported testing
      their wells in the last ten years and of these, only 10% reported testing in the
      last 12months. Bacteria and nitrates were contaminants most often tested; and, a
      private laboratory most often conducted testing. The most commonly reported water
      treatment was a water softener. Living in a particular geographic region and
      income were the most significant predictors of water testing and treatment. Iron
      and hardness, which influence water aesthetics but not always safety, were the
      most commonly reported water quality problems. Health concerns or perceived lack
      thereof were, respectively, motivators and barriers to testing and treatment.
      Limited knowledge of testing and treatment options were also identified as
      barriers. Results confirm previous findings that well stewardship practices are
      minimal and often context specific. Understanding the target population's
      perceptions of risk and knowledge are important elements to consider in
      identifying vulnerable populations and developing education and policy efforts to
      improve well stewardship.

PMID- 28605873
TI  - Associations of urban environmental pollution with health-related physiological
      traits in a free-living bird species.
AB  - Urban environmental pollution results in contamination of the tissues of
      synanthropic organisms by toxic trace elements with potential impacts on human
      health. Passerine birds may serve as convenient indicators of such contamination.
      In this study we investigated the effect of blood and plumage contamination with
      heavy metals (lead Pb, cadmium Cd, copper Cu, chromium Cr) and arsenic metalloid
      (As) on condition, health and ornamental colour in free-living great tit (Parus
      major) males from 13 cities across the Czech Republic (EU), mist netted during
      the early breading season (April-May). Our results showed a significant
      association of heavy metal tissue contamination with immune function, namely
      leukocyte composition in the avian blood circulation. High heavy metal
      contamination in bird feathers was linked to a high heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L)
      ratio, indicating long-term stress in individuals inhabiting heavily polluted
      environments. In contrast, males with higher concentrations of heavy metals in
      blood had a lower H/L ratio, assumingly due to the direct toxicity of heavy
      metals in certain cell types. This is also supported by traits indicative of
      anaemia-like haemolytic conditions (decreased absolute erythrocyte count) and
      increased haematopoiesis (a tendency for increased frequencies of immature
      erythrocytes). We did not find any association of heavy metal contamination with
      the bacteriolytic activity of plasma complement, feather growth or ornamentation
      (black breast stripe area and yellow colouration). There was no significant
      relationship between heavy metal contamination in blood or feathers and PM10
      pollution at the study sites. Our correlational study is the first to show on a
      large geographic scale that despite strict European air pollution regulations and
      regular monitoring that have allowed general improvements in atmospheric
      contamination, non-degradable heavy metals persistently contaminate animal blood
      and feathers in anthropogenic environments at levels that may have subclinical
      yet physiological effects with varied influence on health.

PMID- 28605874
TI  - The pharmacological efficacy of the anti-IL17 scFv and sTNFR1 bispecific fusion
      protein in inflammation mouse stimulated by LPS.
AB  - Acute lung injury (ALI) is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in
      critically ill patients. Recently, our study found that a bispecific fusion
      protein treatment can ameliorate the lung injury induced by LPS. However, the
      molecular mechanisms which bispecific fusion protein ameliorates acute lung
      injury remain unclear. In this study, we found that the bispecific fusion protein
      treatment inhibited the nuclear transcription of NF-kappaB in confocal laser
      scanning fluorescence microscopy, the bispecific fusion protein exert protective
      effects in the cell model of ALI induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) via
      inhibiting the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway and mediate
      inflammation. Moreover, the treatment of the bispecific fusion protein show its
      efficacy in animal models stimulated by LPS, the results of real-time PCR and
      ELISA demonstrate that bispecific fusion protein treatment effectively inhibited
      the over-expression of inflammatory cytokines(tumor necrosis factor alpha,
      interleukin 1beta and interleukin 17). In addition, LPS-challenged mice exhibited
      significant lung injury characterized by the deterioration of histopathology,
      which was meliorated by bispecific fusion protein treatment. Collectively, these
      results demonstrate that bispecific fusion protein treatment ameliorates LPS
      induced ALI through reducing inflammatory cytokines and lung inflammation, which
      may be associated with the decreased the nuclear transcription of NF-kappaB. The
      bispecific fusion protein may be useful as a novel therapy to treat ALI.

PMID- 28605875
TI  - miR-1254 promotes lung cancer cell proliferation by targeting SFRP1.
AB  - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, many miRNAs play
      critical role in lung cancer initiation and progression. Here, we demonstrated
      that miR-1254 was upregulated in lung cancer tissues and cells. miR-1254
      overexpression promoted lung cancer cell proliferation determined by MTT assay,
      colony formation assay, soft agar growth ability assay and BrdU incorporation
      assay, miR-1254 knockdown suppressed lung cancer cell proliferation. Mechanism
      analysis revealed that Wnt/beta-catenin pathway antagonist secreted frizzled
      related protein 1 (SFRP1) was its target, its expression was opposite to SFRP1
      level, and directly bound to the 3'UTR of SFRP1. Double knockdown of miR-1254 and
      SFRP1 promoted lung cancer cell proliferation, suggesting miR-1254 promoted lung
      cancer cell proliferation by targeting SFRP1.

PMID- 28605876
TI  - E2F8 confers cisplatin resistance to ER+ breast cancer cells via
      transcriptionally activating MASTL.
AB  - MASTL (microtubule-associated serine/threonine kinase-like) is a critical kinase
      modulating mitotic entry. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of its
      dysregulation in breast cancer and its involvement in cisplatin resistance in ER+
      breast cancer cells. Data mining in Kaplan-Meier Plotter showed that high MASTL
      expression was associated with worse distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) and
      relapse free survival (RFS) in ER+ breast cancer patients. In TCGA breast cancer
      cohort (TCGA-BRCA), MASTL was strongly co-upregulated with E2F8. High E2F8
      expression was also strongly associated with unfavorable DMFS and RFS in ER+
      breast cancer patients. Promoter scanning in JASPAR Database showed that the
      MASTL promoter region has a highly possible E2F8 binding site upstream the TSS
      site. The following western blot, dual luciferase assay and ChIP-qPCR validated
      this binding site. In MCF-7 cells, E2F8 overexpression alleviated cisplatin
      induced cell apoptosis by shortening G2/M arrest and promoting mitotic entry, the
      effect of which was largely canceled by inhibiting MASTL. Therefore, we infer
      that E2F8 can shorten cisplatin induced G2/M arrest by promoting MASTL mediated
      mitotic progression in ER+ breast cancer cells. These findings might help to
      explain why high MASTL or high E2F8 expression is associated with worse RFS in
      ER+ breast cancer.

PMID- 28605877
TI  - Ginsenoside Rb2 inhibits osteoclast differentiation through nuclear factor-kappaB
      and signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 signaling pathway.
AB  - Ginsenoside-Rb2 (Rb2) is a 20(S)-protopanaxadiol glycoside extracted from ginseng
      possessing various bioactivities which has drawn considerable interest regarding
      the area of bone metabolism. However, the effect of Rb2 on osteoclast
      differentiation remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the
      potential role of Rb2 in regulating osteoclast differentiation and the underlying
      molecular mechanisms. Osteoclast differentiation was induced by receptor
      activator nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) ligand (RANKL) and macrophage colony
      stimulating factor (M-CSF) in mouse RAW 264.7 cells. The results showed that Rb2
      dose-dependently inhibited the formation of the tartrate resistant acid
      phosphatase (TRAP)-positive multinucleated cells and TRAP expression.
      Furthermore, Rb2 promoted osteoprotegerin expression and bone resorption. The
      expression of osteoclast marker genes including nuclear factor of activated T
      cells c1 (NFATc1), c-Fos, OSCAR, and cathepsin K were also markedly inhibited by
      Rb2 treatment. Moreover, Rb2 significantly inhibited the RANKL-induced NF-kappaB
      activation. In addition, Rb2 also markedly suppressed the activation of signal
      transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway.
      Interestingly, the knockdown of STAT3 significantly strengthened the inhibitory
      effect of Rb2 on osteoclast differentiation. Taken together, our study suggests
      that Rb2 inhibits osteoclast differentiation associated with blocking NF-kappaB
      and STAT3 signaling pathways.

PMID- 28605878
TI  - An oasis in the desert of cancer chemotherapeutic resistance: The enlightenment
      from reciprocal crosstalk between signaling pathways of UPR and autophagy in
      cancers.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER), principal but complex, functions as the pleiotropic
      organelle for proper protein folding, Ca2+ storage as well as lipid and
      carbohydrate metabolisms. Diverse microenviromental insults including, but not
      limited to, inflammatory reaction, glucose imbalance and hypoxia, elicit the
      accumulation of potentially toxic unfolded proteins in the ER lumen. Under the
      condition of these cellular threats, the autophagy with the well-orchestrated
      program containing over 30 autophagy-related genes (ATGs) might be initiated for
      degrading and recycling of the cumulative misfolded proteins and other related
      abnormal cytoplasmic components. The link between UPR and autophagy has been
      verified as the PERK-eIF2alpha-ATF4 signaling pathway by ongoing research, and
      the transcription factor C/EBP homologous (CHOP) mediated by ATF4 were further
      substantiated to regulate a dozen of ATG genes transcriptionally. Recent
      researches showed that the crosstalk between these signaling systems might mainly
      account for chemotherapy resistance in many cancers because the chemoresistant
      phenotypes are usually concomitant with increasing autophagy when drugs were
      administrated to trigger inflammatory microenvironment and other dyshomeostasis.
      We summarized recent researches in the molecular link between UPR and autophagy
      signaling pathways as well as the perspectives of potential inhibitors targeting
      the Achilles heel for further clinical use.

PMID- 28605879
TI  - A RCT study of Rivaroxaban, low-molecular-weight heparin, and sequential
      medication regimens for the prevention of venous thrombosis after internal
      fixation of hip fracture.
AB  - : The guidelines for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in orthopedic
      surgeries have reached a consensus on the postoperative conventional
      anticoagulation. However, the choice of anticoagulant drugs is yet controversial.
      The use of the drug rivaroxaban is expensive. Since the compliance of patients
      with low-molecular-weight heparin is considerably low, a cost-effective,
      efficacious and convenient anticoagulant program is essential. The present study
      investigated the efficacy, safety, patient compliance, and cost-effectiveness of
      low-molecular-weight heparin with sequential Rivaroxaban anticoagulant therapy in
      patients with a hip fracture, following internal fixation. A total of 287
      patients with hip fractures were randomized into three groups: Rivaroxaban alone,
      Enoxaparin alone, and Enoxaparin followed by Rivaroxaban. The primary endpoint
      was the incidence of postoperative VTE, whereas the secondary endpoints were the
      compliance and treatment costs. Adverse reactions included bleeding and wound
      complications. The incidences of VTE were 5.21%, 14.74%, and 10.42% in the
      Rivaroxaban, low-molecular-weight heparin, and sequential therapy groups,
      respectively. The VTE-related mortality rates were 0%, 1.05%, and 1.04%. The
      average hospital stay was 12+/-8,15+/-7, and 11+/-5d, whereas the compliance
      rates of the three groups were 82.3%, 71.6%, and 88.5%, respectively. The
      incidences of adverse incisions were 14.6%, 4.2%, and 6.3% for the three groups
      examined. The effects and the incidence of postoperative bleeding in the
      treatment of low-molecular-weight heparin followed by Rivaroxaban did not differ
      significantly from that of Rivaroxaban alone. However, the postoperative
      drainage, the cost of treatment and the incidence of VTE reduced significantly,
      whereas the incidences of adverse incisions and the patient compliance were
      increased. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR-INR-17010495.

PMID- 28605880
TI  - JS-K, a nitric oxide prodrug, induces DNA damage and apoptosis in HBV-positive
      hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2.2.15 cell.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most important cause of cancer-related
      death, and 85% of HCC is caused by chronic HBV infection, the prognosis of
      patients and the reduction of HBV DNA levels remain unsatisfactory. JS-K, a
      nitric oxide-releasing diazeniumdiolates, is effective against various tumors,
      but little is known on its effects on HBV positive HCC. We found that JS-K
      reduced the expression of HBsAg and HBeAg in HBV-positive HepG2.2.15 cells. This
      study aimed to further examine anti-tumor effects of JS-K on HepG2.2.15 cells.
      The MTT assay and colony forming assay were used to study the cell growth
      inhibition of JS-K; scratch assay and transwell assay were performed to detect
      cell migration. The cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. The
      immunofluorescence, flow cytometry analysis, and western blot were used to study
      DNA damage and cell apoptosis. JS-K inhibited HepG2.2.15 cell growth in a dose
      dependent manner, suppressed cell colony formation and migration, arrested cells
      gather in the G2 phase. JS-K (1-20MUM) increased the expression of DNA damage
      associated protein phosphorylation H2AX (gammaH2AX), phosphorylation of
      checkpoint kinase 1 (p-Chk1), phosphorylation of checkpoint kinase 2 (p-Chk2),
      ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), phosphorylation of ataxia-telangiectasia
      mutated rad3-related (p-ATR) and apoptotic-associated proteins cleaved caspase-3,
      cleaved caspase-7, cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase (cleaved PARP). The study
      demonstrated JS-K is effective against HBV-positive HepG2.2.15 cells, the
      mechanisms are not only related to inhibition of HBsAg and HBeAg secretion, but
      also related with induction of DNA damage and apoptosis. JS-K is a promising anti
      cancer candidate against HBV-positive HCC.

PMID- 28605881
TI  - Scorpion neurotoxin AaIT-expressing Beauveria bassiana enhances the virulence
      against Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
AB  - To improve the insecticidal efficacy of this entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana,
      the fungus was genetically modified to express an insect-specific scorpion
      neurotoxin AaIT. The virulence of the recombinant B. bassiana strain (Bb-AaIT)
      against Aedes albopictus adults (which occurs via penetration through the cuticle
      during spore germination or by conidia ingestion), and the larvae (by conidia
      ingestion) was measured with bioassays. The median lethal concentration (LC50) of
      Bb-AaIT against A. albopictus larvae was 313.3-fold lower on day 4 and 11.3-fold
      lower on day 10 than that of the wild type (WT). Through conidia feeding or body
      contact, Bb-AaIT killed 50% of adult female mosquitoes at 3.9- or 1.9-fold
      reduced concentrations on day 4 and at 2.1- or 2.4-fold reduced concentrations on
      day 10. Compared with the results for the WT, the median lethal time (LT50) of Bb
      AaIT was reduced by 28.6% at 1 * 107 conidia ml-1 and 34.3% at 1 * 106 conidia ml
      1 in the larvae bioassay by conidia ingestion, while it decreased 32.3% at 1 *
      107 conidia ml-1 by conidia ingestion and 24.2% at 1 * 108 conidia ml-1 by
      penetrating through the cuticle in the adult bioassay. All the differences were
      significant. Our findings indicated that Bb-AaIT had higher virulence and faster
      action than the WT in killing the larval and adult mosquitoes, and therefore, it
      is valuable for development as a commercial mosquito pesticide.

PMID- 28605882
TI  - Toward a cell-free hydantoinase process: screening for expression optimization
      and one-step purification as well as immobilization of hydantoinase and
      carbamoylase.
AB  - The hydantoinase process is applied for the industrial synthesis of optically
      pure amino acids via whole cell biocatalysis, providing a simple and well
      established method to obtain the catalyst. Nevertheless, whole cell approaches
      also bear disadvantages like intracellular degradation reactions, transport
      limitations as well as low substrate solubility. In this work the hydantoinase
      and carbamoylase from Arthrobacter crystallopoietes DSM 20117 were investigated
      with respect to their applicability in a cell-free hydantoinase process. Both
      enzymes were heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21DE3. Cultivation
      and induction of the hydantoinase under oxygen deficiency resulted in markedly
      higher specific activities and a further increase in expression was achieved by
      codon-optimization. Further expression conditions of the hydantoinase were tested
      using the microbioreactor system BioLector(r), which showed a positive effect
      upon the addition of 3% ethanol to the cultivation medium. Additionally, the
      hydantoinase and carbamoylase were successfully purified by immobilized metal ion
      affinity using Ni Sepharose beads as well as by functionalized magnetic beads,
      while the latter method was clearly more effective with respect to recovery and
      purification factor. Immobilization of both enzymes via functionalized magnetic
      beads directly from the crude cell extract was successful and resulted in
      specific activities that turned out to be much higher than those of the purified
      free enzymes.

PMID- 28605883
TI  - High-Efficient Excitation-Independent Blue Luminescent Carbon Dots.
AB  - Blue luminescent carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method.
      Blue-shifts of the maximum emission wavelength from 480 to 443 nm were observed
      when the concentration of CD solution decreased. The photoluminescence (PL)
      spectra of CDs at low concentration showed an excitation-independent behaviour,
      which is very different from the previous reports. Two different emitting
      mechanisms might work: the intrinsic luminescence from sp2-carbon networks can be
      responsible for the shorter wavelength part of emission (excitation-independent)
      at low concentration and the high polarity of nanosized clusters led to the
      excitation-dependent behaviour of the longer wavelength part at high
      concentration of CD solution. The photophysical property and concentration
      dependent behaviour of the CDs offered new insights into CDs from the viewpoints
      of both experiments and mechanisms, which will promote diverse potential
      applications of CDs in the near future.

PMID- 28605884
TI  - Seroreactivity to Q Fever Among Slaughterhouse Workers in South Korea.
AB  - Objectives: Q fever is a zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide; however, little
      is known about its prevalence in South Korea. We attempted to determine the
      prevalence of Q fever seroreactivity among Korean slaughterhouse workers and the
      risk factors for seroreactivity according to the type of work. Methods: The study
      was conducted among 1503 workers at a total of 73 slaughterhouses and 62 residual
      product disposal plants. During the study period, sites were visited and surveys
      were administered to employees involved in slaughterhouse work, and serological
      tests were performed on blood samples by indirect immunofluorescence assays.
      Serological samples were grouped by job classification into those of slaughter
      workers, residual-product handlers, inspectors and inspection assistants, and
      grading testers and testing assistants. Employee risk factors were analyzed
      according to the type of work. Results: Out of 1481 study subjects who provided a
      blood sample, 151 (10.2%) showed reactive antibodies. When these results were
      analyzed in accordance with the type of work, the result of slaughter workers
      (11.3%) was similar to the result of residual-product handlers (11.4%), and the
      result of inspectors and assistants (5.3%) was similar to the result of grading
      testers and assistants (5.4%). Among those who answered in the affirmative to the
      survey question, "Has there been frequent contact between cattle blood and your
      mouth while working?" the proportions were 13.4 and 4.6%, respectively, and this
      was identified as a risk factor that significantly varied between job categories
      among slaughterhouse workers. Conclusions: This study found a Q fever
      seroreactivity rate of 10.2% for slaughterhouse workers, who are known to be a
      high-risk population. Contact with cattle blood around the mouth while working
      was the differential risk factor between job categories among slaughterhouse
      workers.

PMID- 28605885
TI  - Epidemiology of Animal Bites and Factors Associated With Delays in Initiating
      Post-exposure Prophylaxis for Rabies Prevention Among Animal Bite Cases: A
      Population-based Study.
AB  - Objectives: One way to prevent deaths due to rabies is the timely utilization of
      post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Therefore, in addition to an understanding of
      the epidemiological distribution of animal bites, it is necessary to explore the
      factors leading to delays in PEP initiation. Methods: This cross-sectional study
      was conducted in Iran in 2011, and included 7097 cases of animal bites recorded
      at the Rabies Treatment Center of the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences using
      the census method. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated
      with delays in PEP. Results: Among the patients studied, 5387 (75.9%) were males.
      The prevalence of animal bites in Fars province was 154.4 per 100 000 people.
      Dogs were the most frequent source of exposure (67.1%), and the most common
      bitten part of the body was the hands (45.5%). A delay in the initiation of PEP
      was found among 6.8% of the studied subjects. This delay was more likely in
      housewives (odds ratio [OR], 4.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.12 to 10.23)
      and less likely in people with deep wounds (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.97).
      Conclusions: Although all animal bite victims received complete PEP, in some
      cases, there were delays. Further, the type of animal involved, the depth of the
      bite, and the patient's occupation were the major factors associated with a delay
      in the initiation of PEP for rabies prevention.

PMID- 28605886
TI  - Socioeconomic Inequality in Malnutrition in Under-5 Children in Iran: Evidence
      From the Multiple Indicator Demographic and Health Survey, 2010.
AB  - Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the socioeconomic inequality in
      malnutrition in under-5 children in Iran in order to help policymakers reduce
      such inequality. Methods: Data on 8443 under-5 children were extracted from the
      Iran Multiple Indicator Demographic and Health Survey. The wealth index was used
      as proxy for socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic inequality in stunting,
      underweight, and wasting was calculated using the concentration index. The
      concentration index was calculated for the whole sample, as well as for
      subcategories defined in terms of categories such as area of residence (urban and
      rural) and the sex of children. Results: Stunting was observed to be more
      prevalent than underweight or wasting. The results of the concentration index at
      the national level, as well as in rural and urban areas and in terms of
      children's sex, showed that inequality in stunting and underweight was
      statistically significant and that children in the lower quintiles were more
      malnourished. The wasting index was not sensitive to socioeconomic status, and
      its concentration index value was not statistically significant. Conclusions:
      This study showed that it can be misleading to assess the mean levels of
      malnutrition at the national level without knowledge of the distribution of
      malnutrition among socioeconomic groups. Significant socioeconomic inequalities
      in stunting and underweight were observed at the national level and in both urban
      and rural areas. Regarding the influence of nutrition on the health and economic
      well-being of preschool-aged children, it is necessary for the government to
      focus on taking targeted measures to reduce malnutrition and to focus on poorer
      groups within society who bear a greater burden of malnutrition.

PMID- 28605887
TI  - Perceived Environmental Pollution and Its Impact on Health in China, Japan, and
      South Korea.
AB  - Objectives: Environmental pollution is a significant global issue. Both objective
      (scientifically measured) environmental pollution and perceived levels of
      pollution are important predictors of self-reported health. The purpose of this
      study was to compare the associations between perceived environmental pollution
      and health in China, Japan, and South Korea. Methods: Data were obtained from the
      East Asian Social Survey and the Cross-National Survey Data Sets: Health and
      Society in East Asia, 2010 (n=7938; China, n=3866; Japan, n=2496; South Korea,
      n=1576). Results: South Koreans perceived environmental pollution to be the most
      severe, while Japanese participants perceived environmental pollution to be the
      least severe. Although the Japanese did not perceive environmental pollution to
      be very severe, their self-rated physical health was significantly related to
      perceived environmental pollution, while the analogous relationships were not
      significant for the Chinese or Korean participants. Better mental health was
      related to lower levels of perceived air pollution in China, as well as lower
      levels of perceived all types of pollution in Japan and lower levels of perceived
      noise pollution in South Korea. Conclusions: Physical and mental health and
      individual socio-demographic characteristics were associated with levels of
      perceived environmental pollution, but with different patterns among these three
      countries.

PMID- 28605888
TI  - Origins and Evolution of Social Medicine and Contemporary Social Medicine in
      Korea.
AB  - Social medicine is recognized as one of medical specialties in many countries.
      However, social medicine has never been formally introduced to Korea, presumably
      because the term and its principles were not accepted for some years in the past
      in American medicine, which has strongly influenced Korean medicine. This paper
      describes the origins and evolution of social medicine and briefly discusses
      contemporary social medicine in Korea. Social medicine was initiated in France
      and Germany in 1848. Since then, it has expanded globally and developed in
      diverse ways. Included in core principles of social medicine is that social and
      economic conditions have important effects on health and disease, and that these
      relationships must be subjected to scientific investigation. The term 'social
      medicine' is rarely used in Korea, but many of its subject matters are
      incorporated into preventive medicine which, besides prevention, deals with
      population health that is inescapably social. However, the Korean preventive
      medicine directs little attention to the basic concepts and principles of social
      medicine, upon which systematic development of social medicine can be based.
      Thus, it is necessary to supplement the social medicine contents of preventive
      medicine through formalizing the linkages between the two fields. One way of
      doing so would be to change the title of 'preventive medicine' course in medical
      colleges to 'preventive and social medicine,' as in many other countries, and to
      adjust the course contents accordingly.

PMID- 28605889
TI  - Assessment of Tobacco Habits, Attitudes, and Education Among Medical Students in
      the United States and Italy: A Cross-sectional Survey.
AB  - Objectives: Medical students represent a primary target for tobacco cessation
      training. This study assessed the prevalence of medical students' tobacco use,
      attitudes, clinical skills, and tobacco-related curricula in two countries, the
      US and Italy, with known baseline disparities in hopes of identifying potential
      corrective interventions. Methods: From September to December 2013, medical
      students enrolled at the University of Bologna and at Brown University were
      recruited via email to answer survey questions assessing the prevalence of
      medical students' tobacco use, attitudes and clinical skills related to patients'
      smoking, and elements of medical school curricula related to tobacco use.
      Results: Of the 449 medical students enrolled at Brown and the 1426 enrolled at
      Bologna, 174 Brown students (38.7%) and 527 Bologna students (36.9%) participated
      in this study. Italian students were more likely to smoke (29.5% vs. 6.1%;
      p<0.001) and less likely to receive smoking cessation training (9.4% vs. 80.3%;
      p<0.001) than their American counterparts, even though the majority of students
      in both countries desired smoking cessation training (98.6% at Brown, 85.4% at
      Bologna; p<0.001). Additionally, negative beliefs regarding tobacco usage, the
      absence of formal training in smoking cessation counseling, and a negative
      interest in receiving specific training on smoking cessation were associated with
      a higher risk of not investigating a patient's smoking status during a routine
      history and not offering tobacco cessation treatment to patients. Conclusions:
      Medical curricula on tobacco-related health hazards and on smoking cessation
      should be mandatory in order to reduce smoking among medical students,
      physicians, and patients, thereby improving tobacco-related global health.

PMID- 28605890
TI  - Risk of Hemorrhage Attributed to Underlying Chronic Diseases and Uninterrupted
      Aspirin Therapy of Patients Undergoing Minor Oral Surgical Procedures: A
      Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the risk of bleeding following minor
      oral surgical procedures and uninterrupted aspirin therapy in high-risk patients
      or patients with existing chronic diseases compared to patients who did not use
      aspirin during minor oral surgery at a public hospital. Methods: This
      retrospective cohort study analyzed the data of 2912 patients, aged 20 years or
      older, who underwent 5251 minor oral surgical procedures at a district hospital
      in Thailand. The aspirin group was comprised of patients continuing aspirin
      therapy during oral surgery. The non-aspirin group (reference) included all those
      who did not use aspirin during surgery. Immediate and late-onset bleeding was
      evaluated in each procedure. The risk ratio of bleeding was estimated using a
      multilevel Poisson regression. Results: The overall cumulative incidence of
      immediate bleeding was 1.3% of total procedures. No late-onset bleeding was
      found. A significantly greater incidence of bleeding was found in the aspirin
      group (5.8% of procedures, p<0.001). After adjusting for covariates, a multilevel
      Poisson regression model estimated that the bleeding risk in the aspirin group
      was 4.5 times higher than that of the non-aspirin group (95% confidence interval,
      2.0 to 10.0; p<0.001). However, all bleeding events were controlled by simple
      hemostatic measures. Conclusions: High-risk patients or patients with existing
      chronic diseases who continued aspirin therapy following minor oral surgery were
      at a higher risk of hemorrhage than general patients who had not used aspirin.
      Nonetheless, bleeding complications were not life-threatening and could be
      promptly managed by simple hemostatic measures. The procedures could therefore be
      provided with an awareness of increased bleeding risk, prepared hemostatic
      measures, and postoperative monitoring, without the need for discontinuing
      aspirin, which could lead to more serious complications.

PMID- 28605891
TI  - Bacterial Contamination and Disinfection Status of Laryngoscopes Stored in
      Emergency Crash Carts.
AB  - Objectives: To identify bacterial contamination rates of laryngoscope blades and
      handles stored in emergency crash carts by hospital and area according to the
      frequency of intubation attempts. Methods: One hundred forty-eight handles and 71
      blades deemed ready for patient use from two tertiary hospitals were sampled with
      sterile swabs using a standardized rolling technique. Samples were considered
      negative (not contaminated) if no colonies were present on the blood agar plate
      after an 18-hour incubation period. Samples were stratified by hospital and
      according to the frequency of intubation attempts (10 attempts per year) using
      the chi2-test and Fisher exact test. Results: One or more species of bacteria
      were isolated from 4 (5.6%) handle tops, 20 (28.2%) handles with knurled
      surfaces, and 27 (18.2%) blades. No significant differences were found in
      microbial contamination levels on the handle tops and blades between the two
      hospitals and two areas according to the frequency of intubation attempts.
      However, significant differences were found between the two hospitals and two
      areas in the level of microbial contamination on the handles with knurled
      surfaces (p<0.05). Conclusions: Protocols and policies must be reviewed to
      standardize procedures to clean and disinfect laryngoscope blades and handles;
      handles should be re-designed to eliminate points of contact with the blade; and
      single-use, one-piece laryngoscopes should be introduced.

PMID- 28605892
TI  - Improvement of Thermal Stability of BCG Vaccine
AB  - BAckground: Thermal stability (TS) is a part of the BCG vaccine characterization
      by which the consistency of process in BCG vaccine production could be confirmed.
      To enhance the TS of the vaccine, some prevalent stabilizers in different
      concentrations were added to the final formulation of BCG bulk prior to Freeze
      drying process. We found a formulation more effective than the current stabilizer
      for retaining the higher viability of lyophilized BCG vaccine produced by Pasteur
      Institute of Iran. Methods: In the design of experiments using Taguchi method,
      lactose, trehalose, glucose, dextran, and monosodium glutamate were added to the
      final formulation of BCG bulk prior to freeze-drying process. Viability of the
      samples was determined by counting the colony forming unit. Results: Maximum
      signal-to-noise ratio equal to maximum TS and viability was obtained by adding
      lactose, dextran, and glutamate in defined concentrations. Conclusion: Adding the
      stabilizers had a significant impact on TS of BCG vaccine to meet the quality
      requirements.

PMID- 28605893
TI  - Quantitative Determination of the Differential Raman Scattering Cross Sections of
      Glucose by Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Scattering.
AB  - Femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) is a vibrational spectroscopy
      technique that has been used in a wide variety of applications: from transient
      vibrational signature tracking to amplifying weak normal Raman scattering
      signals. Presented here is an application of FSRS to quantify the differential
      Raman scattering cross sections (DRSCs) of glucose. In using FSRS to determine
      the DRSCs of multiple glucose vibrational modes, we demonstrate the applicability
      of both stimulated Raman loss (SRL) spectroscopy and stimulated Raman gain (SRG)
      FSRS. Using the two analogous FSRS techniques, SRG and SRL, we determine that the
      DRSCs of glucose excited at 514.5 nm range from a low of 5.0 +/- 1.1 * 10-30 to a
      high of 8.9 +/- 0.9 * 10-30 cm2 molecule-1 sr-1. This work establishes both the
      compatibility of SRL for measuring DRSCs and values for the DRSC of multiple
      vibrational modes of glucose.

PMID- 28605894
TI  - High Density of Free-Standing Holey Graphene/PPy Films for Superior Volumetric
      Capacitance of Supercapacitors.
AB  - The volumetric performance is a vitally important metric for portable electronic
      and wearable devices with limited space. However, it is contradictory for the
      most supercapacitors in the connection between the volumetric and gravimetric
      capacitances. Herein, we report a simple strategy to prepare a free-standing and
      binder-free holey graphene/PPy film that possesses a dense microstructure but
      still high gravimetric capacitances. The holey graphene/PPy film own high
      efficiency ion transport channels and big ion-accessible surface area to achieve
      high-powered supercapacitor electrodes, which have a superior volumetric
      capacitance (416 F cm-3) and high gravimetric capacitance (438 F g-1) at 1.0 A g
      1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Meanwhile, it possesses high rate capability and good
      cycling performance (82.4% capacitance retention even after 2000 cycles).
      Furthermore, the volumetric energy density of assembled holey graphene/PPy film
      symmetric supercapacitor can show high as 22.3 Wh L-1. Such densely packed free
      standing holey graphene/PPy film is a very significant electrode material for
      compact and miniaturized energy storage equipment in the further.

PMID- 28605895
TI  - Hydrogel Patches on Live Cells through Surface-Mediated Polymerization.
AB  - Many naturally occurring cells possess an intrinsic ability to cross biological
      barriers that block conventional drug delivery, and these cells offer a possible
      mode of active transport across the blood-brain barrier or into the core of tumor
      masses. While many technologies for the formation of complete, nanoparticle
      loaded coatings on cells exist, a complete coating on the cell surface would
      disrupt the interaction of cells with their environments. To address this issue,
      cell surface patches that partially cover cell surfaces might provide a superior
      approach for cell-mediated therapeutic delivery. The goal of this study is to
      establish a simplified approach to producing polymeric patches of arbitrary
      shapes on a live cell via surface-mediated photopolymerization. Cell surfaces
      were nonspecifically labeled with eosin, and polyethylene (glycol) diacrylate
      (PEGDA) coatings were directed to specific sites using 530 nm irradiation through
      a chrome-coated photomask. These coatings may entrap drug-loaded or imaging
      particles. The extent of nonspecific formation of PEGDA hydrogel coatings
      increased with irradiation time, light intensity, and initiating species; 40
      mW/cm2 irradiation for 5 min delivered high-resolution patterns on the surface of
      A549 cells, and these cells remained viable for 48 h postpatterning with
      fluorescent nanoparticle-loaded coatings. This work first demonstrated the
      feasibility of photopatterning polymer patches directly on the surface of cells.

PMID- 28605896
TI  - Liposome-Coated Persistent Luminescence Nanoparticles as Luminescence Trackable
      Drug Carrier for Chemotherapy.
AB  - Near-infrared persistent luminescence nanoparticles (NIR-PLNPs) are promising
      imaging agents due to deep tissue penetration, high signal-to-noise ratio, and
      repeatedly charging ability. Here, we report liposome-coated NIR-PLNPs (Lipo
      PLNPs) as a novel persistent luminescence imaging guided drug carrier for
      chemotherapy. The Lipo-PLNP nanocomposite shows the advantages of superior
      persistent luminescence and high drug loading efficiency and enables
      autofluorescence-free and long-term tracking of drug delivery carriers with
      remarkable therapeutic effect.

PMID- 28605897
TI  - Nanocomposite Films of Laponite/PEG-Grafted Polymers and Polymer Brushes with
      Nonfouling Properties.
AB  - We explore the suitability of nanocomposite thin films based on laponite
      nanomaterial and grafted antiadhesive polymers as transparent nonfouling
      surfaces. For this purpose, two polymers were chosen: a linear poly(ethylene
      glycol) (PEG) silane, 2-[methoxy(polyethyleneoxy)propyl]-trimethoxysilane), and
      thermoresponsive poly(oligo ethylene glycol)-methyl ether-methacrylate (POEGMA)
      brushes. PEG silane was grafted on the laponite nanoparticles in solution
      yielding homogeneous and transparent thin films via a dip coating procedure on
      glass and silicon substrates. POEGMA was grafted on laponite-(3
      Aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS) nanocomposite films that were processed
      similarly to PEG-silane using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Film
      characterization with, among others, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)
      spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) attests
      to successful grafting of the polymers to the laponite nanoparticles. In
      particular, evidence of basal plane expansion of laponite with increasing silane
      concentration are obtained using XRD, while patent morphological changes are
      revealed with AFM. The results are discussed in terms of the different grafting
      sites on laponite and compared with literature. While LP-PEG-silane is easily
      applied to a surface from a precursor solution via a dip coating procedure LP
      APTMS-OEGMA requires lots more chemicals, a thorough control of reaction
      parameters, and longer reaction time in order to generate films with the
      desirable properties. We therefore also addressed the antifouling properties of
      the films. These were tested together with control samples of bare glass and
      laponite thin films for 30 days in an algae container. More tests were conducted
      with fibroblast cell cultures. Our preliminary results show that grafting of PEG
      containing polymers and polymer brushes alters the properties of the laponite
      films from fouling to nonfouling surfaces. As a first estimate, the adhesion of
      particles (diatoms, algae, etc.) to surfaces is reduced by approximately 85% in
      the case of LP-PEG-silane and up to 92% in the case of LP-APTMS-POEGMA, in
      comparison to the control surfaces. Furthermore, practically no cell adhesion on
      such surfaces could be observed.

PMID- 28605898
TI  - Following a Chemical Reaction on the Millisecond Time Scale by Simultaneous X-ray
      and UV/Vis Spectroscopy.
AB  - An innovative approach aimed at disclosing the mechanism of chemical reactions
      occurring in solution on the millisecond time scale is presented. Time-resolved
      energy dispersive X-ray absorption and UV/vis spectroscopies with millisecond
      resolution are used simultaneously to directly follow the evolution of both the
      oxidation state and the local structure of the metal center in an iron complex.
      Two redox reactions are studied, the former involving the transformation of FeII
      into two subsequent FeIII species and the latter involving the more complex FeII
      FeIII-FeIV-FeIII sequence. The structural modifications occurring around the iron
      center are correlated to the reaction mechanisms. This combined approach has the
      potential to provide unique insights into reaction mechanisms in the liquid phase
      and represents a new powerful tool to characterize short-lived intermediates that
      are silent to common spectroscopic techniques.

PMID- 28605899
TI  - Generation and Characterization of Gas-Phase Doubly Charged Biradical Peptide
      Ions (M2+**).
AB  - The gas-phase chemistry of peptide radical ions is attracting considerable
      interest in the fields of biology and mass spectrometry owing to its capability
      to provide sequence information on peptides and proteins. In this study, we
      observed that doubly charged peptide ions (M2+) can be produced from the
      collision-induced dissociation (CID) of Hg(II)-adducted peptide ions. The
      chemical nature and, thus, the dissociation pathways of this hydrogen-deficient
      biradical M2+ species is intriguing. We investigated the generation and
      dissociation behavior of this M2+ species under electron-capture dissociation
      (ECD) and CID conditions. The side-chain loss in the CID of the charge-reduced
      M+* ions formed by single-electron capture suggested that M2+ existed as a
      biradical ion. This ion underwent the combination of the two radical sites and
      conversion to hydrogen surplus species through structural rearrangement with
      increased energies. This study demonstrated a promising method to generate
      reactive doubly charged biradical precursor ions and, thus, help characterize
      novel biomolecules.

PMID- 28605900
TI  - Bioluminescence Sensing of gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase Activity In Vitro and In
      Vivo.
AB  - gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) is an important tumor biomarker but using a
      bioluminescence (BL) probe to real time monitor its activity has not been
      reported. Herein, we rationally designed two GGT-cleavable BL probes Glu-AmLH2
      (1) and Glu-p-aminobenzyloxycarbonyl-AmLH2 (2), and successfully applied them for
      sensing GGT activity with high sensitivity and excellent selectivity both in
      vitro and in vivo. The results indicated that, although 2 had lower background BL
      signal than 1, GGT had higher catalytic efficiency for 1 than 2, and 1 was
      superior to 2 for sensing GGT activity in living cells and tumors. We envision
      that our probe 1 could be widely applied for the diagnosis of important GGT
      related diseases in animal models in the near future.

PMID- 28605901
TI  - Graphite-Templated Amyloid Nanostructures Formed by a Potential Pentapeptide
      Inhibitor for Alzheimer's Disease: A Combined Study of Real-Time Atomic Force
      Microscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - Self-assembly of peptides is closely related to many diseases, including
      Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and prion diseases. Understanding the basic mechanism
      of this assembly is essential for designing ultimate cure and preventive
      measures. Template-assisted self-assembly (TASA) of peptides on inorganic
      substrates can provide fundamental understanding of substrate-dependent peptides
      assemble, including the role of hydrophobic interface on the peptide
      fibrillization. Here, we have studied the self-assembly process of a potential
      pentapeptide inhibitor on the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite
      (HOPG) using real time atomic force microscopy (RT-AFM) as well as molecular
      dynamics (MD) simulation. Experimental and simulation results show nanofilament
      formation consisting of beta-sheet structures and epitaxial growth on HOPG.
      Height analysis of the nanofilaments and MD simulation indicate that the peptides
      adopt a lying down configuration of double-layered antiparallel beta-sheets for
      its epitaxial growth, and the number of nanofilament layers is concentration
      dependent. These findings provide new perspective for the mechanism of peptide
      based fibrillization in amyloid diseases as well as for designing well-ordered
      micrometrical and nanometrical structures.

PMID- 28605902
TI  - Template-Induced Structuring and Tunable Polymorphism of Three-Dimensionally
      Ordered Mesoporous (3DOm) Metal Oxides.
AB  - Convectively assembled colloidal crystal templates, composed of size-tunable (ca.
      15-50 nm) silica (SiO2) nanoparticles, enable versatile sacrificial templating of
      three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous (3DOm) metal oxides (MOx) at both
      mesoscopic and microscopic size scales. Specifically, we show for titania (TiO2)
      and zirconia (ZrO2) how this approach not only enables the engineering of the
      mesopore size, pore volume, and surface area but can also be leveraged to tune
      the crystallite polymorphism of the resulting 3DOm metal oxides. Template
      mediated volumetric (i.e., interstitial) effects and interfacial factors are
      shown to preserve the metastable crystalline polymorphs of each corresponding
      3DOm oxide (i.e., anatase TiO2 (A-TiO2) and tetragonal ZrO2 (t-ZrO2)) during high
      temperature calcination. Mechanistic investigations suggest that this polymorph
      stabilization is derived from the combined effects of the template-replica
      (MOx/SiO2) interface and simultaneous interstitial confinement that limit the
      degree of coarsening during high-temperature calcination of the template-replica
      composite. The result is the identification of a facile yet versatile templating
      strategy for realizing 3DOm oxides with (i) surface areas that are more than an
      order of magnitude larger than untemplated control samples, (ii) pore diameters
      and volumes that can be tuned across a continuum of size scales, and (iii)
      selectable polymorphism.

PMID- 28605903
TI  - Influence of Surface Charge of the Nanostructures on the Biocatalytic Activity.
AB  - The physicochemical properties of abiotic nanostructures determine the structure
      and function of biological counterparts in biotic-abiotic nanohybrids. A
      comprehensive understanding of the interfacial interactions and the predictive
      capability of their structure and function is paramount for virtually all fields
      of bionanotechnology. In this study, using plasmonic nanostructures as a model
      abiotic system, we investigate the effect of the surface charge of nanostructures
      on the biocatalytic reaction kinetics of a bound enzyme. We found that the
      surface charge of nanostructures profoundly influences the structure,
      orientation, and activity of the bound enzyme. Furthermore, the interactions of
      the enzyme with nanoparticles result in stable conjugates that retain their
      functionality at elevated temperatures, unlike their free counterparts that lose
      their secondary structure and biocatalytic activity.

PMID- 28605904
TI  - Kalata B1 and Kalata B2 Have a Surfactant-Like Activity in
      Phosphatidylethanolomine-Containing Lipid Membranes.
AB  - Cyclotides are cyclic disulfide-rich peptides that are chemically and thermally
      stable and possess pharmaceutical and insecticidal properties. The activities
      reported for cyclotides correlate with their ability to target
      phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)-phospholipids and disrupt cell membranes. However,
      the mechanism by which this disruption occurs remains unclear. In the current
      study we examine the effect of the prototypic cyclotides, kalata B1 (kB1) and
      kalata B2 (kB2), on tethered lipid bilayer membranes (tBLMs) using swept
      frequency electrical impedance spectroscopy. We confirmed that kB1 and kB2 bind
      to bilayers only if they contain PE-phospholipids. We hypothesize that the
      increase in membrane conduction and capacitance observed upon addition of kB1 or
      kB2 is unlikely to result from ion channel like pores but is consistent with the
      formation of lipidic toroidal pores. This hypothesis is supported by the
      concentration dependence of effects of kB1 and kB2 being suggestive of a critical
      micelle concentration event rather than a progressive increase in conduction
      arising from increased channel insertion. Additionally, conduction behavior is
      readily reversible when the peptide is rinsed from the bilayer. Our results
      support a mechanism by which kB1 and kB2 bind to and disrupt PE-containing
      membranes by decreasing the overall membrane critical packing parameter, as would
      a surfactant, which then opens or increases the size of existing membrane
      defects. The cyclotides need not participate directly in the conductive pore but
      might exert their effect indirectly through altering membrane packing constraints
      and inducing purely lipidic conductive pores.

PMID- 28605905
TI  - Yes, Biochemistry Now Publishes Communications and Something New-From the Bench.

PMID- 28605906
TI  - Micellization and Antimicrobial Properties of Surface-Active Ionic Liquids
      Containing Cleavable Carbonate Linkages.
AB  - Imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) containing cleavable carbonate linkages, 1
      alkyloxycarbonyloxyethyl-3-methylimidazolium chlorides with alkyl chains of 10,
      12, and 14 carbon atoms, were synthesized, and their self-assembly behavior and
      antimicrobial activity were investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry and
      polarized optical microscopy studies reveal that carbonate-functionalized ILs
      form stable thermotropic smectic liquid-crystalline phases over a wide range of
      temperature. The surface activity and aggregation behavior of these new ILs were
      investigated by tensiometry, conductometry, potentiometry, and
      spectrofluorimetry. The size of aggregates was examined by dynamic light
      scattering (DLS). Carbonate-functionalized ILs display a higher adsorption
      efficiency and a lower critical micelle concentration (cmc) than simple alkyl
      chain-substituted ILs. The insertion of a carbonate ester moiety in the alkyl
      side chain favors adsorption at the air-water interface and micellization in the
      bulk solution when compared to nonfunctionalized ILs. DLS measurements show that
      small micellelike aggregates are spontaneously formed above the cmc. Furthermore,
      carbonate-functionalized ILs were examined for their antimicrobial activity
      against a panel of clinically relevant microorganisms. Biological activity was
      found to increase with hydrophobicity. The presence of a carbonate ester moiety
      significantly enhances the antimicrobial efficiency as compared to
      nonfunctionalized ILs, with the susceptibility of Staphylococcus sp. toward the
      action of these compounds being particularly remarkable. It has been demonstrated
      that the functionalization of the alkyl side chain of the imidazolium salts can
      not only modify the aggregation behavior but also lead to differences in both
      efficiency and the spectrum of antimicrobial activity of amphiphilic ILs.

PMID- 28605907
TI  - Visible-Light Photoinduced Electron Transfer Promoted by Cucurbit[8]uril-Enhanced
      Charge Transfer Interaction: Toward Improved Activity of Photocatalysis.
AB  - Visible-light photoinduced electron transfer (Vis-PET) is highly important for
      optoelectronic devices and photoredox catalysis. Herein, we propose a
      supramolecular strategy to promote the Vis-PET process by charge transfer (CT)
      interactions. As a proof of concept, a molecular system containing 1,5-alkoxy
      substituted naphthalene and viologen moieties was designed to form a CT complex
      in water. The HOMO/LUMO energy gap was lowered by CT interaction, which turned on
      the Vis-PET process to generate viologen radical cations. Moreover, when CT
      interaction was enhanced by cucurbit[8]uril, the efficiency of the Vis-PET
      process was further promoted and the required irradiation wavelength could be
      further red-shifted by 100 nm. The Vis-PET system exhibited an improved activity
      of photocatalysis, as supported by the fast photoreduction of Cytochrome c. This
      study represents a facile supramolecular way to fabricate radicals with
      maintained activity under mild conditions, which holds potential to enrich the
      scope of visible-light photoredox catalysis by the rational utilization of CT
      systems.

PMID- 28605909
TI  - Decreased Charge Transport Barrier and Recombination of Organic Solar Cells by
      Constructing Interfacial Nanojunction with Annealing-Free ZnO and Al Layers.
AB  - To overcome drawbacks of the electron transport layer, such as complex surface
      defects and unmatched energy levels, we successfully employed a smart
      semiconductor-metal interfacial nanojunciton in organic solar cells by
      evaporating an ultrathin Al interlayer onto annealing-free ZnO electron transport
      layer, resulting in a high fill factor of 73.68% and power conversion efficiency
      of 9.81%. The construction of ZnO-Al nanojunction could effectively fill the
      surface defects of ZnO and reduce its work function because of the electron
      transfer from Al to ZnO by Fermi level equilibrium. The filling of surface
      defects decreased the interfacial carrier recombination in midgap trap states.
      The reduced surface work function of ZnO-Al remodulated the interfacial
      characteristics between ZnO and [6,6]-phenyl C71-butyric acid methyl ester
      (PC71BM), decreasing or even eliminating the interfacial barrier against the
      electron transport, which is beneficial to improve the electron extraction
      capacity. The filled surface defects and reduced interfacial barrier were
      realistically observed by photoluminescence measurements of ZnO film and the
      performance of electron injection devices, respectively. This work provides a
      simple and effective method to simultaneously solve the problems of surface
      defects and unmatched energy level for the annealing-free ZnO or other metal
      oxide semiconductors, paving a way for the future popularization in photovoltaic
      devices.

PMID- 28605908
TI  - Chondroitin Sulfate-Based Biomineralizing Surface Hydrogels for Bone Tissue
      Engineering.
AB  - Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is the major component of glycosaminoglycan in
      connective tissue. In this study, we fabricated methacrylated PEGDA/CS-based
      hydrogels with varying CS concentration (0, 1, 5, and 10%) and investigated them
      as biomineralizing three-dimensional scaffolds for charged ion binding and
      depositions. Due to its negative charge from the sulfate group, CS exhibited an
      osteogenically favorable microenvironment by binding charged ions such as calcium
      and phosphate. Particularly, ion binding and distribution within negatively
      charged hydrogel was dependent on CS concentration. Furthermore, CS dependent
      biomineralizing microenvironment induced osteogenic differentiation of human
      tonsil-derived mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. Finally, when we transplanted
      PEGDA/CS-based hydrogel into a critical sized cranial defect model for 8 weeks,
      10% CS hydrogel induced effective bone formation with highest bone mineral
      density. This PEGDA/CS-based biomineralizing hydrogel platform can be utilized
      for in situ bone formation in addition to being an investigational tool for in
      vivo bone mineralization and resorption mechanisms.

PMID- 28605910
TI  - Unveiling the Crystal Formation of Cesium Lead Mixed-Halide Perovskites for
      Efficient and Stable Solar Cells.
AB  - Thermal instability of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites will be an inevitable
      hurdle for commercialization. Recently, all-inorganic cesium lead halide
      perovskites, in particular, CsPbI2Br, have emerged as thermally stable and
      efficient photovoltaic light absorbers. However, the fundamental properties of
      this material have not been studied in detail. The crystal formation behavior of
      CsPbI2Br is investigated by examining the surface morphology, crystal structure,
      and chemical state of the perovskite films. We discover a previously
      uncharacterized feature that the formation of black polymorph through optimal
      annealing temperature proves to be critical to both solar cell efficiency and
      phase stability. Our optimized planar heterojunction solar cell exhibits a J-V
      scan efficiency of 10.7% and open-circuit voltage of 1.23 V, which far
      outperforms the preceding literature.

PMID- 28605911
TI  - Aluminate Red Phosphor in Light-Emitting Diodes: Theoretical Calculations, Charge
      Varieties, and High-Pressure Luminescence Analysis.
AB  - Searching for a non-rare-earth-based oxide red-emitting phosphor is crucial for
      phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this study, we optimized a
      blue and UV-light excited Sr4Al14O25:Mn phosphor exhibiting red emission peaked
      at ~653 nm, which was successfully synthesized by solid-state reaction. The
      crystal structure, micromorphology, and luminescent properties of Sr4Al14O25:Mn
      phosphors were characterized by X-ray Rietveld refinement, high-resolution
      transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence spectra. The band gap and
      electronic structure of Sr4Al14O25 were analyzed by density functional theory
      calculations using the hybrid exchange-correlation functional. The crystal field
      environment effect of Al sites from introducing activator Mn ions was
      investigated with the aid of Raman 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and
      electron spin resonance. The pressure dependent luminescent properties and decay
      time of this compound were presented. The tricolor display spectrum by combining
      blue InGaN chips, commercial beta-SiAlON:Eu2+ green phosphor, and Sr4Al14O25:Mn
      red phosphor were evaluated for commercial applications: using the present
      Sr4Al14O25:Mn red phosphor converted LED as a backlighting source.

PMID- 28605912
TI  - Base-Mediated Cascade Substitution-Cyclization of 2H-Azirines: Access to Highly
      Substituted Oxazoles.
AB  - A novel strategy to synthesize highly functionalized oxazoles has been
      successfully developed via a base-mediated intermolecular substitution between 2
      acyloxy-2H-azirines and N-nucleophile or O-nucleophile with a subsequent ring
      expansion of a 2H-azirine intermediate. This method provides straightforward
      access to highly substituted oxazoles with high efficiency and excellent
      functional group compatibility under metal-free reaction conditions.

PMID- 28605913
TI  - Synthesis, Optical Properties, and Regioselective Functionalization of 4a-Aza-10a
      boraphenanthrene.
AB  - 4a-Aza-10a-boraphenanthrene has been synthesized in only four steps from
      commercially available materials with a remarkable overall yield of 62%. In
      contrast to other BN-isosteres of phenathrene, this isomer is weakly fluorescent,
      which has been explained by means of computational studies that found a low
      energy conical intersection for the nonradiative deactivation of the excited
      state. Moreover, a completely regioselective functionalization of 4a-aza-10a
      boraphenanthrene at C-1 by reaction with activated electrophiles has been
      achieved.

PMID- 28605914
TI  - Transition-Metal-Free Homologative Cross-Coupling of Aldehydes and Ketones with
      Geminal Bis(boron) Compounds.
AB  - We report a transition-metal-free coupling of aldehydes and ketones with geminal
      bis(boron) building blocks which provides the coupled, homologated carbonyl
      compound upon oxidation. This reaction not only extends an alkyl chain containing
      a carbonyl group, it also simultaneously introduces a new carbonyl substituent.
      We demonstrate that enantiopure aldehydes with an enolizable stereogenic center
      undergo this reaction with complete retention of stereochemistry.

PMID- 28605915
TI  - Palladium-Catalyzed Carboamination of Allylic Alcohols Using a
      Trifluoroacetaldehyde-Derived Tether.
AB  - The selective palladium-catalyzed carboamination of allylic alcohols is reported
      on the basis of the use of an easily introduced trifluoroacetaldehyde-derived
      tether. Aminoalkynylation reactions were realized using alkynyl bromides and
      commercially available phosphine ligands. For aminoarylations, a new biaryl
      phosphine ligand, "Fu-XPhos", was introduced to overcome a competitive Heck
      pathway. The carboamination products were obtained in high yields and
      diastereoselectivity. The tether could be easily removed to give value-added
      amino alcohol building blocks.

PMID- 28605917
TI  - Valence Bond Theory Reveals Hidden Delocalized Diradical Character of Polyenes.
AB  - The nature of the electronic-structure of polyenes, their delocalization
      features, and potential diradicaloid characters constitute a fundamental problem
      in chemistry. To address this problem, we used valence bond self-consistent field
      (VBSCF) calculations and modeling of polyenes, C2nH2n+2 (n = 2-10). The
      theoretical treatment shows that starting with n = 5, the polyene's wave function
      is mainly a shifting 1,4-diradicaloid, a character that increases as the chain
      length increases, while the contribution of the fundamental Lewis structure with
      alternating double and single bonds (1) decays quite fast and becomes minor
      relative to the diradicaloid pack. We show how, nevertheless, it is this wave
      function that predicts that polyenes will still exhibit alternating short/long CC
      bonds like the fundamental structure 1. Furthermore, despite the decay of the VB
      contribution of 1, it remains the single structure with the largest weight among
      all the individual structures. The mixing of all the 1,4-diradicaloid structures
      into 1 follows perturbation theory rules, with the result that the delocalization
      energy due to this mixing is additive and behaves as a linear function of the
      number of the double bonds, DeltaEdel = -6.9 * n (kcal mol-1). The VB modeling
      shows that while the conjugation stabilizes structure 1, this stabilization
      energy is energetically overridden by the Pauli repulsion between two adjacent
      double bonds. Nevertheless, unsubstituted polyenes remain planar; this
      observation is addressed. Potential manifestations of the diradicaloid nature of
      polyenes are discussed, and it is concluded that the diradicaloid character is
      clearly not a well-defined physical property as in real diradicals. Thus, we went
      full circle to realize that our philosophical question may not be strictly
      resolved. The localized/delocalized properties of polyenes seem to define a
      "chemical duality principle". This duality of molecular wave functions is a
      ubiquitous beguiling phenomenon.

PMID- 28605916
TI  - Identification and Heterologous Production of a Benzoyl-Primed Tricarboxylic Acid
      Polyketide Intermediate from the Zaragozic Acid A Biosynthetic Pathway.
AB  - Zaragozic acid A (1) is a potent cholesterol lowering, polyketide natural product
      made by various filamentous fungi. The reconstitution of enzymes responsible for
      the initial steps of the biosynthetic pathway of 1 is accomplished using an
      engineered fungal heterologous host. These initial steps feature the priming of a
      benzoic acid starter unit onto a highly reducing polyketide synthase (HRPKS),
      followed by oxaloacetate extension and product release to generate a
      tricarboxylic acid containing product 2. The reconstitution studies demonstrated
      that only three enzymes, HRPKS, citrate synthase, and hydrolase, are needed in A.
      nidulans to produce the structurally complex product.

PMID- 28605918
TI  - Chemical Disorder in Topological Insulators: A Route to Magnetism Tolerant
      Topological Surface States.
AB  - We show that the chemical inhomogeneity in ternary three-dimensional topological
      insulators preserves the topological spin texture of their surface states against
      a net surface magnetization. The spin texture is that of a Dirac cone with
      helical spin structure in the reciprocal space, which gives rise to spin
      polarized and dissipation-less charge currents. Thanks to the nontrivial topology
      of the bulk electronic structure, this spin texture is robust against most types
      of surface defects. However, magnetic perturbations break the time-reversal
      symmetry, enabling magnetic scattering and loss of spin coherence of the charge
      carriers. This intrinsic incompatibility precludes the design of
      magnetoelectronic devices based on the coupling between magnetic materials and
      topological surface states. We demonstrate that the magnetization coming from
      individual Co atoms deposited on the surface can disrupt the spin coherence of
      the carriers in the archetypal topological insulator Bi2Te3, while in Bi2Se2Te
      the spin texture remains unperturbed. This is concluded from the observation of
      elastic backscattering events in quasiparticle interference patterns obtained by
      scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The mechanism responsible for the protection is
      investigated by energy resolved spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, and it
      is ascribed to the distorted adsorption geometry of localized magnetic moments
      due to Se-Te disorder, which suppresses the Co hybridization with the surface
      states.

PMID- 28605919
TI  - Happy 70th birthday to Buddy Ratner!!

PMID- 28605920
TI  - Knowledge of disease and access to a specialist reported by Spanish patients with
      ulcerative colitis. UC-LIFE survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Education of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) about
      their disease and access to a specialist are important to improve health
      outcomes. Our objective was to determine, by collecting information directly from
      the patients, their information sources and knowledge of the disease, and the
      options for access to the gastroenterologist. METHODS: The information was
      collected using a printed survey handed out by 39 gastroenterologists to 15
      consecutive adult patients with UC. Patients answered anonymously from their
      home. The responses were stratified by hospital size (> 900; 500-900; < 500
      beds). RESULTS: A total of 585 patients received the survey and 436 responded
      (74.5%; mean age of 46 years [13.5], 53% men). The main information source was
      the specialist physician (89.2%). Between 32% and 80% of patients had areas of
      improvement regarding knowledge of their disease. Knowledge of the disease was
      better in patients from small hospitals (< 500 beds). The frequency of routine
      visits was also higher in small hospitals. In case of a flare-up, 60% stated they
      were able to contact their doctor by phone and 37%, that they could get an
      appointment on the same day. The percentage stating that they had to ask for an
      appointment and wait until their physician was available was lower in small
      hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: There are areas of improvement with regard to knowledge
      of their disease in patients with UC followed in hospital clinics. Patients
      followed in small hospitals seem to know their disease better, are followed more
      frequently in the clinic, and have better access in case of a flare-up.

PMID- 28605921
TI  - Duodenal diverticular bleeding: an endoscopic challenge.
AB  - Duodenal diverticula are an uncommon cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
      Until recently, it was primarily managed with surgery, but advances in the field
      of endoscopy have made management increasingly less invasive. We report a case of
      duodenal diverticular bleeding that was endoscopically managed, and review the
      literature about the various endoscopic therapies thus far described.

PMID- 28605922
TI  - Surgical coronary revascularization on-pump versus off-pump in patients with
      stenosis of the main tree of the left coronary artery and carotid stenosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to show perioperative complications of CABG
      procedure with and without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in patients with combined
      coronary and carotid disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective survey
      included patients with left main stenosis greater than 50% and carotid stenosis
      over 50%, who had undergone CABG without carotid endarterectomy at the BH Heart
      Centre, from May 2009 to May 2014. The patients were divided into two groups
      according to the surgical method used. Group A consisted of 50 patients who
      underwent surgery without CPB and the second group of 50 patients with CPB,
      conformed according to gender, ejection fraction values, EuroSCORE and the number
      of bypass grafts performed. RESULTS: Analysis of the basic results indicates
      significant differences between the groups in the time spent on a respirator or
      time in the ICU, the amount of postoperative bleeding or compensated blood, as
      well as subsequent complications. The overall incidence of neurological
      complications showed a difference in the observed groups. CONCLUSION: With ever
      easier technical performance, complete planned revascularization and the quality
      of performed grafts, the conditions have been created for a comparative analysis.
      According to the results we can say that CABG without CPB has a number of
      advantages over the other method, in patients with the combined disease.

PMID- 28605923
TI  - Bacterial sepsis in neonates: Single centre study in a Neonatal intensive care
      unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence, mortality, risk
      factors, aetiology and the susceptibility to antibiotics of the bacteria
      responsible for sepsis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A single centre, prospective,
      observational study, involving 200 neonates admitted over 12 months to the NICU
      of the University Children's Hospital, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. RESULTS:
      The crude incidence of all neonatal sepsis was 68.0% (136/200) and that of late
      onset sepsis (LOS) was 48.5% (97/200), yelding an incidence density of LOS of
      41.6/1000 patient days. LOS represented the most frequent infection and was
      significantly more frequent than early-onset sepsis (EOS) (71.3% versus 28.7%
      p<0.001). The overall mortality was 14.0%, and 18.4% among infected neonates.
      Risk factors associated with LOS were: mechanical ventilation, intravascular
      catheter, surgical procedures, birth weight <=1500 g, gestational age <= 28 weeks
      and Apgar score <= 3 at 5 minutes. Culture proven sepsis developed in 43.4% of
      neonates. Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis were the predominant
      bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria were susceptible to amikacin, imipenem and
      meropenem; gram-positive bacteria to vancomycin and amikacin. CONCLUSION:
      Neonatal sepsis in our NICU showed a high incidence rate, and gram-negative
      bacteria were predominant. Low gestational age, mechanical ventilation and an
      intra-vascular catheter were significantly associated with sepsis. It is
      necessary to develop a multidisciplinary approach for routine surveillance of
      nosocomial infections, to improve the asepsis of therapeutic procedures, and to
      implement the more appropriate use of antibiotics.

PMID- 28605924
TI  - Marijuana smoking among school-aged adolescents in the Brcko District of Bosnia
      and Herzegovina: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the prevalence of marijuana smoking among
      school-aged adolescents in the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with
      particular regard to their gender, age and residence, and the frequency of
      marijuana smoking in the past thirty days in relation to their peers in the rest
      of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This research, designed as a cross-sectional study and
      based on the ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs)
      questionnaire, adjusted to this research, encompassed 4,188 adolescents from
      elementary and secondary schools. The data were collected by means of
      questionnaires tailored to each respondent. RESULTS: A significantly lower number
      of adolescents smoke marijuana in comparison to those who do not smoke, but male
      adolescents smoke more often than female adolescents (p<0.001), as well as urban
      youth in comparison to rural youth (p=0.04). Every fourth adolescent, regardless
      of gender, who smoked marijuana, used it before the age of thirteen (p<0.001),
      male adolescents more often than females (p=0.002). In the previous thirty days a
      higher percentage of all the respondents from the Brcko District had smoked
      marijuana than those from the Republika Srpska and the RS (p<0.001), and there is
      no difference between them and their peers from the Federation of Bosnia and
      Herzegovina and the RC (p=0.382 and p=0.608). CONCLUSION: Smoking marijuana in
      the Brcko District is a major public health problem. Male adolescents smoke
      marijuana more often than female adolescents, and urban youth more in comparison
      to rural youth. In the previous thirty days adolescents from the Brcko District
      smoked more often than their peers from the Republic of Serbia and the Republika
      Srpska, and with the same intensity but less frequently compared to adolescents
      from the Republic of Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

PMID- 28605925
TI  - The prevalence of orthodontic treatment needs of school children in northern
      Herzegovina.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted to evaluate the Index of Orthodontic Treatment
      Need based on the Dental Health Component (DHC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 300
      students aged 12-15 years were included in this study. The examinations were
      performed in two elementary schools in the municipality of Prozor-Rama, using
      standard dental instruments. Children were ranked into five grades according to
      the DHC. RESULTS: Only 12% of children were found not to have a need for
      orthodontic treatment. Of the others, 45.33% had a great, and 10% a very great
      need for orthodontic treatment. The rest of the children were found to have a
      need for minor or moderate orthodontic treatment. Slightly more girls than boys
      had a great or a very great need for treatment, although the difference by gender
      was not statistically significant. Analysis of the level of need by age of
      children showed no significant difference; children with a great need of
      orthodontic treatment prevailed in all age groups. About 85% of children with a
      great and a very great need for orthodontic treatment would agree to orthodontic
      treatment, while the rate of non-acceptance was about 5%. CONCLUSION: The high
      rate of need for orthodontic treatment in the examined students is explained by
      the lack of programs for this type of health care, the insufficient number of
      qualified orthodontic specialists, and the very low percentage of allocations
      from the state budget for oral health.

PMID- 28605927
TI  - The position of the mental foramen in the north and south Indian populations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine and compare the position of the
      mental foramen MF in the north and south Indian populations using Panoramic
      radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 Panoramic radiographs were
      selected from the archives of PMNM Dental College and the Department of Oral
      Medicine and Radiology, of which 50 radiographs belonged to a north Indian
      population and 50 radiographs belonged to a local population of Bagalkot
      Karnataka. The position of the MF was classified into 6 positions depending on
      the relationship to the mandibular teeth. The distance from the superior border
      of the MF to the lower border of the mandible was also measured. RESULTS: The
      most common position of the MF was along the long axis of the second premolar in
      the north Indian population and in south Indian populations it was found to be
      between the first and second premolar. Descriptive analysis was used to compare
      the distance between the superior border of the mental foramen and the lower
      border of the mandible bilaterally. CONCLUSION: There was a significant
      difference in the position of the MF between the north and south Indian
      populations.

PMID- 28605926
TI  - Cystatin C, but not urinary or serum NGAL, may be associated with contrast
      induced nephropathy after percutaneous coronary invasive procedures: A single
      center experience on a limited number of patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test the association of both the baseline values
      and post-procedural variations of urinary and serum Neutrophil Gelatinase
      Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) and Cystatin C (CysC) with contrast induced
      nephropathy (CIN) occurrence in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary
      invasive procedures (PCIP), and compare them to serum creatinine and the
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). METHODS: In 43 patients admitted to
      our Cardiac Step-Down Unit and submitted to PCIP, we measured serum creatinine
      and eGFR as the standard markers for CIN diagnosis, and compared them to both
      serum and urinary NGAL as well as serum CysC, assessed before and 4 hours after
      PCIP. RESULTS: Patients who developed CIN (16%) were older, with significantly
      higher discharge creatinine values, lower eGFR values at creatinine peak, and
      higher baseline and post-PCIP CysC values. We did not detect any significant
      association between baseline serum and urinary NGAL values and their 4 hour
      variations after contrast medium administration and CIN occurrence. Furthermore,
      we observed that the baseline values of both serum and urinary NGAL were
      significantly higher in patients with greater neutrophil count. CONCLUSION: In
      our population submitted to PCIP, neither baseline serum and urinary NGAL nor
      their variations after PCIP were related to CIN occurrence, while CysC results
      were associated with CIN development, earlier than creatinine and eGFR
      variations.

PMID- 28605928
TI  - Targeted temperature management after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in three
      young patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present the use of targeted temperature management in a tertiary
      level intensive care unit, in three patients who experienced an out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest. CASE REPORT: Three young patients experienced an out-of-hospital
      non-coronary cardiac arrest. The causes of the cardiac arrest were: Wolf
      Parkinson-White syndrome, drug overdose and long-QT syndrome. All patients were
      resuscitated according to the advanced cardiac life support guidelines, and
      treated with targeted temperature management, with a target temperature of 33
      degrees C for 24 hours. After completion of targeted temperature management, all
      the patients regained full consciousness and were discharged from hospital
      without any neurological sequelae. CONCLUSION: Targeted temperature management
      may improve survival and neurological outcome in patients after out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest.

PMID- 28605929
TI  - Tissue necrosis following extravasation of acyclovir in an adolescent: A case
      report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Extravasation of intravenously infused vesicant solutions is a common
      problem in medical practice, which can lead to severe and progressive tissue
      dysfunction, ranging from persistent tissue oedema and fibrosis to delayed tissue
      necrosis. Acyclovir is a known vesicant medication administrated in paediatric
      patients, which appears to irritate venous and soft tissue if extravasated. CASE
      REPORT: We present the first case involving the extravasation of intravenously
      infused acyclovir in a female adolescent patient, which caused tissue necrosis
      and left behind a residual scar lesion. Nursing and medical staff should be aware
      of the potential dermatological side effects of intravenously infused acyclovir
      and other medications, even a long time after infusion, and the possible lack of
      initial local symptoms and signs. CONCLUSION: Early recognition of extravasation
      and prompt management are critical in preventing further morbidity, and
      optimizing outcomes.

PMID- 28605930
TI  - Central retinal vein occlusion after coronary artery bypass surgery: A case
      report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to report a case of central retinal vein
      occlusion (CRVO) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. In this
      report, we present the third case in the literature with CRVO after
      cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and the first case after CABG. CASE REPORT: A 59
      year-old male patient complaining of chest pain was admitted to our hospital. The
      patient underwent an elective coronary angiography and was diagnosed with three
      vessel coronary artery disease. An uneventful coronary artery bypass graft
      operation was performed using CPB. On the second postoperative day, the patient
      described blurring and decreased vision in his left eye, whereas the right eye
      was normal. The anterior-posterior segment was examined by an ophthalmologist who
      diagnosed central retinal vein occlusion, using a visual acuity test, fundoscopy.
      After 5 months of treatment, there has been no improvement in the patient's
      visual acuity. CONCLUSION: As two previous case reports indicated CRVO can be a
      rare complication after CPB, this study demonstrated that CRVO can also be a
      complication of CABG. Therefore, CRVO should always be considered as a potential
      complication after cardiac surgery.

PMID- 28605931
TI  - Renal nutcracker syndrome.
AB  - No abstract available.

PMID- 28605932
TI  - Anal extrusion of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheter.
AB  - No abstract available.

PMID- 28605933
TI  - Should the definition of the term "children born of war" and vulnerabilities of
      children from recent conflict and post-conflict settings be broadened?
AB  - No abstract available.

PMID- 28605934
TI  - Olanzapine modulates the default-mode network homogeneity in recurrent drug-free
      schizophrenia at rest.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies on brain function alterations associated with
      antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia have produced conflicting results
      because they used short treatment periods and different designs. METHODS: Resting
      state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained from 17 drug-free
      patients with recurrent schizophrenia and 24 healthy controls. The patients were
      treated with olanzapine for 6 months and were scanned at three time points
      (baseline, 6 weeks of treatment and 6 months of treatment). Network homogeneity
      was used to analyze the imaging data to examine default-mode network homogeneity
      alterations associated with antipsychotic treatment. RESULTS: Compared with the
      controls, the patients at baseline showed increased network homogeneity in the
      bilateral precuneus and decreased network homogeneity in the bilateral middle
      temporal gyrus. Network homogeneity values in the bilateral precuneus decreased,
      and network homogeneity values in the left superior medial prefrontal cortex and
      the right middle temporal gyrus increased in patients administered olanzapine as
      antipsychotic treatment. By contrast, network homogeneity values in the left
      middle temporal gyrus remained unchanged in patients after treatment. CONCLUSION:
      This study provides evidence that antipsychotic treatment with olanzapine
      modulates the default-mode network homogeneity in schizophrenia. These findings
      contribute to the understanding of antipsychotic treatment effects on brain
      functions.

PMID- 28605935
TI  - Onychotillomania and secondary foot cellulitis.

PMID- 28605937
TI  - Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitors: Are the Panacea for Several Urologic Diseases?

PMID- 28605938
TI  - A guide to approaching regulatory considerations for lentiviral-mediated gene
      therapies.
AB  - Lentiviral vectors are increasingly the gene transfer tool of choice for gene or
      cell therapies, with multiple clinical investigations showing promise for this
      viral vector in terms of both safety and efficacy. The third-generation vector
      system is well-characterized, effectively delivers genetic material and maintains
      long-term stable expression in target cells, delivers larger amounts of genetic
      material than other methods, is non-pathogenic and does not cause an inflammatory
      response in the recipient. This report aims to help academic scientists and
      regulatory managers negotiate the governance framework to achieve successful
      translation of a lentiviral vector-based gene therapy. The focus is on European
      regulations, and how they are administered in the United Kingdom, although many
      of the principles will be similar for other regions including the United States.
      The report justifies the rationale for using third-generation lentiviral vectors
      to achieve gene delivery for in vivo and ex vivo applications; briefly summarises
      the extant regulatory guidance for gene therapies, categorised as advanced
      therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs); provides guidance on specific regulatory
      issues regarding gene therapies; presents an overview of the key stakeholders to
      be approached when pursuing clinical trials authorization for an ATMP; and
      includes a brief catalogue of the documentation required to submit an application
      for regulatory approval of a new gene therapy.

PMID- 28605936
TI  - Vascular Disease and Kidney Stones: Abdominal Aortic Calcifications Are
      Associated with Low Urine pH and Hypocitraturia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vascular calcifications are associated with nephrolithiasis. Although
      studies have demonstrated correlations with vascular disease and calcium stones
      in kidney stone formers (KSF), an etiologic link has remained elusive. As a
      noncontrast CT (NCCT) scan is typically part of a stone evaluation, our objective
      was to evaluate the association of NCCT-based assessment of abdominal aortic
      calcifications (AACs) with 24-hour urine parameters and stone composition.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-seven KSF were included with CT imaging and 24-hour
      urine studies. For each patient, semi-automated CT software was utilized to
      provide an AAC Agatston score from the celiac axis to the aortic bifurcation.
      Univariate analysis was performed to compare patients with or without AAC.
      Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess for variables associated
      with 24-hour urine parameters and stone composition. RESULTS: The presence of AAC
      was associated with hypertension, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and
      coronary artery disease. Patients with any AAC showed lower 24-hour urine citrate
      (399 vs 593 mg/day, p < 0.001) and lower 24-hour urine pH (5.862 vs 6.328, p =
      0.003). When controlling for age, system comorbidities, the presence of AAC was
      associated with low urine pH <6 (odds ratio [OR] 2.86, p = 0.032) and
      hypocitraturia <320 mg/day (OR 4.37, p = 0.005). The receiver operating
      characteristic curve showed that increasing AAC was associated with low urine pH
      (area under the curve [AUC] 0.683, p = 0.002) and uric acid stone formation (AUC
      0.698, p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: NCCT-based diagnosis of AAC is associated with
      low urine pH, hypocitraturia, and uric acid stone formation. The presence of AAC
      could be considered an additional prognosticator for the utility of
      alkalinization therapy.

PMID- 28605939
TI  - Real-world treatment outcomes in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma
      treated with chemotherapy in the USA.
AB  - AIM: This retrospective study of patients in the USA with metastatic Merkel cell
      carcinoma (mMCC) aimed to assess patient responses to second-line and later (2L+)
      and first-line (1L) chemotherapy. PATIENTS & METHODS: Out of 686 patients with
      MCC identified in The US Oncology Network, 20 and 67 patients with mMCC qualified
      for the 2L+ and 1L study, respectively; the primary analysis population was
      restricted to immunocompetent patients. RESULTS: In the 2L+ primary analysis
      population, objective response rate (ORR) was 28.6%, median duration of response
      (DOR) was 1.7 months and median progression-free survival was 2.2 months. In the
      1L primary analysis population, ORR was 29.4%, median DOR was 6.7 months and
      median progression-free survival was 4.6 months. CONCLUSION: The low ORR and
      brief DOR underscore the need for novel therapies.

PMID- 28605940
TI  - Striving for balance between participation and protection in research involving
      prison populations.

PMID- 28605942
TI  - Current attitudes regarding surgical treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome in the
      UK.

PMID- 28605941
TI  - Application and possible benefits of high hydrostatic pressure or high-pressure
      homogenization on beer processing: A review.
AB  - Beer is the most consumed beverage in the world, especially in countries such as
      USA, China and Brazil.It is an alcoholic beverage made from malted cereals, and
      the barley malt is the main ingredient, added with water, hops and yeast. High
      pressure processing is a non-traditional method to preserve food and beverages.
      This technology has become more interesting compared to heat pasteurization, due
      to the minimal changes it brings to the original nutritional and sensory
      characteristics of the product, and it comprises two processes: high hydrostatic
      pressure, which is the most industrially used process, and high-pressure
      homogenization. The use of high pressure almost does not affect the molecules
      that are responsible for the aroma and taste, pigments and vitamins compared to
      the conventional thermal processes. Thus, the products processed by high-pressure
      processing have similar characteristics compared to fresh products, including
      beer. The aim of this paper was to review what has been investigated about beer
      processing using this technology regarding the effects on physicochemical,
      microbiology and sensory characteristics and related issues. It is organized by
      processing steps, since high pressure can be applied to malting, mashing,
      boiling, filtration and pasteurization. Therefore, the beer processed with high
      pressure processing may have an extended shelf-life because this process can
      inactivate beer spoilage microorganisms and result in a superior sensory quality
      related to freshness and preservation of flavors as it does to juices that are
      already commercialized. However, beyond this application, high-pressure
      processing can modify protein structures, such as enzymes that are present in the
      malt, like alpha- and beta-amylases. This process can activate enzymes to
      promote, for example, saccharification, or instead inactivate at the end of
      mashing, depending on the pressure the product is submitted, besides being
      capable of isomerizing hops to raise beer bitterness. As a consequence, the
      process may reduce steam demand and residue generation. Therefore, the use of
      high-pressure processing can potentially replace or be combined with heat
      processes usually applied to beer, thus bringing benefits to the sensory quality
      of the product and to the environment.

PMID- 28605943
TI  - Passive descent in the second stage: evaluation of variation in practice
      patterns.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the length of the second stage in nulliparous women with
      respect to a range of factors related to staffing and outcomes at a community
      hospital. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of nulliparous women
      presenting for delivery over a 2-year period. The primary outcomes were the
      presence of passive descent and length of the second stage. Secondary outcomes
      were mode of delivery, chorioamnionitis, and postpartum hemorrhage. RESULTS:
      Passive descent was observed in 198 women in the second stage. When passive
      descent occurred, the differences in the median length of the second stage in
      relation to the nursing shift increments were statistically significant, with the
      longest times corresponding to the middle 4 h of the nursing shifts (p = .046).
      Physician patients were more likely than midwife patients to undergo passive
      descent on weekdays (36% vs. 26%, p = .034) but not on weekends (32% for both).
      Though the likelihood of a vaginal delivery remained high up to 6 h into the
      second stage, the rate of hemorrhage and chorioamnionitis increased
      significantly. CONCLUSIONS: When passive descent occurred, second stage length
      varied depending on the time of day. These findings suggest provider behaviors
      impact the length of the second stage.

PMID- 28605944
TI  - A comparison of laser with radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of benign
      thyroid nodules: a propensity score matching analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare technique efficacy and safety of laser ablation (LA) and
      radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in treatment of benign thyroid nodules. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval was obtained, and patients'
      consent was waived. 601 nodules were treated from May 2009 to December 2014 at
      eight centres, 449 (309 females, age 57 +/- 14 years) with LA and 152 (107
      females, age 57 +/- 14 years) with RFA. A matched cohort composed of 138 patients
      from each group was selected after adjustment with propensity score matching.
      Factors influencing volume reduction at 6 and 12 months and complications were
      evaluated. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in the baseline
      characteristics between groups after propensity score matching adjustment. Mean
      nodule reduction at 6 and 12 months was -67 +/- 19% vs. -57 +/- 21% (p < 0.001) -
      70 +/- 19% vs. -62 +/- 22% (p = 0.001) in LA group and in RFA group,
      respectively. Nodules with volume >30 mL had significantly higher percentage
      volume reduction at 6 and 12 months (-69 +/- 19 vs. -50 +/- 21, p = 0.001) and (
      73 +/- 18 vs. -54 +/- 23 8, p = 0.001) in the LA group than in the RFA group,
      respectively. In both groups, operator's skills affected the results. Major
      complications occurred in 4 cases in each group (p = 0.116) Conclusions: LA and
      RFA showed nearly similar outcome but LA was slightly more effective than RFA in
      large nodules. Operator's skills could be crucial in determining the extent of
      nodule volume reduction regardless of the used technique.

PMID- 28605945
TI  - High- but not low-grade histologic chorioamnionitis is associated with
      spontaneous preterm birth in a Swedish cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether different grades of placenta inflammation are
      associated with risk for spontaneous preterm birth, taking into consideration
      maternal and delivery factors. Placentas from spontaneous preterm births were
      compared with a control group from full-term deliveries. METHODS: Placentas from
      98 full-term, 71 late preterm (gestational week 34-37), and 65 early preterm
      (gestational week 22-33) singleton deliveries were analysed from the Karolinska
      University Hospital in Stockholm. The placentas were examined for histologic
      chorioamnionitis (HCA) grade 1 (low) and 2 (high). Mother, child, and delivery
      parameters were collected from maternity centre and delivery forms. RESULTS:
      There was a relatively low incidence of HCA in the preterm groups (26.7% and
      38.5% in the late and early preterm groups, respectively). HCA 2 was most common
      in the early preterm group and HCA 1 was most common in the full-term group. The
      odds of early preterm birth was lower for placentas with HCA 1 compared to HCA 2
      (OR = 0.17) and higher for placentas with HCA 2 compared to no HCA (OR = 2.17).
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite a relatively low incidence of HCA in the preterm groups, HCA
      2 seems to be associated with early preterm birth whereas HCA 1 seems to be part
      of the full-term delivery.

PMID- 28605946
TI  - Design and characterisation of a phased antenna array for intact breast
      hyperthermia.
AB  - PURPOSE: Currently available hyperthermia technology is not well suited to
      treating cancer malignancies in the intact breast. This study investigates a
      microwave applicator incorporating multiple patch antennas, with the goal of
      facilitating controllable power deposition profiles for treating lesions at
      diverse locations within the intact breast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 3D
      computational model was implemented to assess power deposition profiles with 915
      MHz applicators incorporating a hemispheric groundplane and configurations of 2,
      4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 antennas. Hemispheric breast models of 90 mm and 150 mm
      diameter were considered, where cuboid target volumes of 10 mm edge length (1
      cm3) and 30 mm edge length (27 cm3) were positioned at the centre of the breast,
      and also located 15 mm from the chest wall. The average power absorption
      (alphaPA) ratio expressed as the ratio of the PA in the target volume and in the
      full breast was evaluated. A 4-antenna proof-of-concept array was fabricated and
      experimentally evaluated. RESULTS: Computational models identified an optimal
      inter-antenna spacing of 22.5 degrees  along the applicator circumference.
      Applicators with 8 and 12 antennas excited with constant phase presented the
      highest alphaPA at centrally located and deep-seated targets, respectively.
      Experimental measurements with a 4-antenna proof-of-concept array illustrated the
      potential for electrically steering power deposition profiles by adjusting the
      relative phase of the signal at antenna inputs. CONCLUSIONS: Computational models
      and experimental results suggest that the proposed applicator may have potential
      for delivering conformal thermal therapy in the intact breast.

PMID- 28605947
TI  - Characterization of folic acid-PAMAM conjugates: drug loading efficacy and
      dendrimer morphology.
AB  - We report the loading efficacy of folic acid (FA) by polyamidoamine (PAMAM-G3 and
      PAMAM-G4) nanoparticles in aqueous solution at physiological pH. Thermodynamic
      parameters DeltaH = -47.57 (kJ Mol-1), DeltaS = -122.78 (J Mol-1, K-1) and DeltaG
      = -10.96 (kJ Mol-1) showed FA-PAMAM bindings occur via H-bonding and van der
      Waals contacts. The stability of acid-PAMAM conjugate increased as polymer size
      increased. The acid loading efficacy was 40 to 50%. TEM images exhibited major
      polymer morphological changes upon acid encapsulation. PAMAM dendrimers are
      capable of FA delivery in vitro.

PMID- 28605948
TI  - Vascular anatomy of the capitate determined by micro-computed tomography
      angiography.

PMID- 28605949
TI  - Venous flaps for coverage of traumatic soft tissue defects of the hand: a
      systematic review.
AB  - : A PRISMA-guided systematic review was performed of all published cases that
      detail the use of venous flaps for soft tissue reconstruction of the hand
      following trauma. Outcome measures examined included flap survival rates, venous
      congestion, and return to theatre. Database searches were performed on Medline,
      Embase, AHMED, CINAHL. A total of 381 articles were identified. Data were
      extracted from 45 articles that met inclusion criteria. A total of 756 flaps were
      described and their data analysed. A total of 75% of flaps were arterialized and
      25% were pure venous flaps. There was no difference in survival rate for
      arterialized or pure venous flaps. Unplanned return to theatre occurred in 5.3%
      due to flap compromise or necrosis. Early venous congestion was present in 60% of
      cases. Total early failure requiring re-operation occurred in 19 flaps (2.5%) of
      cases. Venous flaps offer a versatile and well-tolerated reconstructive option.
      Early venous congestion is common, but can be managed non-operatively. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 28605950
TI  - Serum ceruloplasmin levels in preeclampsia: a meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences in serum ceruloplasmin levels between
      patients with preeclampsia and healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      searched the Medline (1966-2017), Scopus (2004-2017), Clinicaltrials.gov (2008
      2017), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials CENTRAL (1999-2017), and
      Google Scholar (2004-2017) databases. Meta-analysis was performed with the RevMan
      5.3 software. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were finally included in the present
      review, with a total number of 1927 women. Maternal serum ceruloplasmin
      concentration was significantly higher in preeclamptic than in the healthy
      pregnant women (mean differences (MD): 12.57 mg/dl, 95% CI: [8.81, 16.33]).
      Ceruloplasmin levels were significantly higher both in mild (MD: 13.8 mg/dl, 95%
      CI: [2.64, 23.53]) and severe (MD: 21.84 mg/dl, 95% CI: [0.97, 42.71])
      preeclampsia, when compared to the control group. The severity of the disease did
      not significantly affect the levels of the protein (MD: -9.34 mg/dl, 95% CI: [
      20.93, 2.26]). CONCLUSIONS: Serum ceruloplasmin may be a useful screening and
      follow-up tool for the evaluation of pregnant women with an indicative history of
      developing preeclampsia. Future studies are needed to evaluate the levels of this
      specific protein throughout the pregnancy course and provide data on its
      sensitivity and specificity by introducing cut-off values.

PMID- 28605951
TI  - A novel approach to find and optimize bin locations and collection routes using a
      geographic information system.
AB  - One of the major challenges in big cities is planning and implementation of an
      optimized, integrated solid waste management system. This optimization is crucial
      if environmental problems are to be prevented and the expenses to be reduced. A
      solid waste management system consists of many stages including collection,
      transfer and disposal. In this research, an integrated model was proposed and
      used to optimize two functional elements of municipal solid waste management
      (storage and collection systems) in the Ahmadabad neighbourhood located in the
      City of Mashhad - Iran. The integrated model was performed by modelling and
      solving the location allocation problem and capacitated vehicle routing problem
      (CVRP) through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The results showed that the
      current collection system is not efficient owing to its incompatibility with the
      existing urban structure and population distribution. Application of the proposed
      model could significantly improve the storage and collection system. Based on the
      results of minimizing facilities analyses, scenarios with 100, 150 and 180 m
      walking distance were considered to find optimal bin locations for Alamdasht, C
      metri and Koohsangi. The total number of daily collection tours was reduced to
      seven as compared to the eight tours carried out in the current system (12.50%
      reduction). In addition, the total number of required crews was minimized and
      reduced by 41.70% (24 crews in the current collection system vs 14 in the system
      provided by the model). The total collection vehicle routing was also optimized
      such that the total travelled distances during night and day working shifts was
      cut back by 53%.

PMID- 28605952
TI  - Migration of contraceptive implant into the left pulmonary arterial system.
AB  - An 18-year-old woman had an etonogestrel implant inserted into her left upper arm
      2 years earlier for menorrhagia. Her symptoms were not well controlled and she
      requested the implant to be removed. However, clinicians were unable to locate
      the implant on her left arm. Computed tomography showed that the implant had
      migrated to a sub-lobar branch of the left lower lobe pulmonary artery. The long
      term effect of leaving an etonogestrel implant in the pulmonary arterial system
      is unknown. This report adds to the small body of evidence on intravascular
      migration of a subdermally placed contraceptive implant.

PMID- 28605953
TI  - Posterior mediastinal Mullerian cyst: a rare cause of pain in a young woman.
AB  - Thoracic pain in a young woman carries a wide differential diagnosis. We present
      the case of a 37-year-old woman who presented with thoracic pain due to a
      posterior mediastinal Mullerian cyst. Excision was performed by left uniportal
      video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. This is the first report to describe
      thoracic pain that resolved with excision of the cyst.

PMID- 28605954
TI  - Surgical resection of pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors: long-term outcome.
AB  - Background Pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors are rare lesions that remain
      problematic in several aspects, especially regarding the therapeutic strategy.
      The goal of this study was to evaluate long-term survival in a multicenter series
      of patients who required surgery for pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors. Methods
      Thirty-six cases of pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors, operated on in 3 French
      thoracic surgery departments between 1989 and 2015, were studied retrospectively.
      We recorded pre-, peri- and postoperative data for each patient, and long-term
      survival was analyzed. Results There were 22 men and 14 women. Mean age was 53.5
      years (range 14-81 years). Three pneumonectomies, 1 bilobectomy, 19 lobectomies,
      2 segmentectomies, 10 wedge resections, and 1 biopsy were performed. Complete
      resection was carried out in 32 (88.8%) patients. Median follow-up was 76 months.
      Five-year and 10-year survival rates were respectively 86.8% and 81.7% (96% and
      90% for patients with R0 resection). Conclusions Long-term survival was excellent
      for patients with pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors who benefited from surgery,
      especially when surgical resection was complete. These results confirm that
      surgical resection must be proposed as the first-line treatment for patients with
      pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors.

PMID- 28605955
TI  - Solitary thymic metastasis of breast cancer 13 years after surgery.
AB  - A 59-year-old woman was noted to have an anterior mediastinal mass on computed
      tomography at a regular follow-up 13 years after initial surgery for left breast
      cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an anterior mediastinal mass. A total
      thymectomy with excision of surrounding lymphoid tissue was performed.
      Pathological examination of the resected tumor confirmed the diagnosis of thymic
      metastasis from breast cancer. The patient has been alive for 6 years after
      thymectomy. Metastases to the thymus are rare, but long-term survival can be
      expected with appropriate treatment.

PMID- 28605956
TI  - Generation of PCV2 in PK15 cells transfected with recombinant baculovirus
      containing a 1.1 copy of the PCV2 genome.
AB  - Porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD) caused by PCV2 are responsible for
      severe economic losses in the swine industry. The mechanism of PCV2 replication
      has not been fully elucidated yet. PCV2 may be successfully rescued by means of
      either an infectious DNA clone containing the full length of the viral genomic
      DNA, or from PCV2-infected clinical tissues in PK15 cell culture. However,
      viruses harvested by both methods have low titres. In this study, PCV2 was
      prepared with a higher titre from PK15 cells infected by recombinant
      baculoviruses containing 1PCV2 (one stem-loop structure) or 1.1PCV2 (two stem
      loop structure) genomic DNA copy. In addition, infectious DNA clones containing
      two stem-loop structures in either plasmid or baculovirus backbones are capable
      of generating a higher virus titre than the DNA clones with only one copy of stem
      loop structure.

PMID- 28605957
TI  - Antimicrobial susceptibility of Riemerella anatipestifer strains isolated from
      geese and ducks in Hungary.
AB  - Riemerella anatipestifer causes anatipestifer disease in many avian species. A
      total of 185 R. anatipestifer strains isolated in Hungary between 2000 and 2014
      from geese and ducks were tested against 13 antibiotics (ampicillin, doxycycline,
      enrofloxacin, erythromycin, florfenicol, flumequine, gentamicin, penicillin,
      spectinomycin, streptomycin, sulphamethoxazole-trimethoprim, sulphonamide
      compounds, and tetracycline) by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The
      majority of the strains were susceptible to florfenicol (97.9%), ampicillin
      (95.1%), penicillin (93%), sulphamethoxazole-trimethoprim (92.4%), and
      spectinomycin (86.5%). The highest resistance rates were observed for flumequine,
      tetracycline, erythromycin and streptomycin (94%, 91.4%, 75.1% and 71.4%
      resistance, respectively). The resistance patterns showed some variation
      depending on the geographical origin of the strains. The average rate of
      extensive drug resistance was 30.3%, and its proportion tended to increase in the
      period examined.

PMID- 28605958
TI  - The first report of prion-related protein gene (PRNT) polymorphisms in goat.
AB  - Prion protein is encoded by the prion protein gene (PRNP). Polymorphisms of
      several members of the prion gene family have shown association with prion
      diseases in several species. Recent studies on a novel member of the prion gene
      family in rams have shown that prion-related protein gene (PRNT) has a linkage
      with codon 26 of prion-like protein (PRND). In a previous study, codon 26
      polymorphism of PRND has shown connection with PRNP haplotype which is strongly
      associated with scrapie vulnerability. In addition, the genotype of a single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at codon 26 of PRND is related to fertilisation
      capacity. These findings necessitate studies on the SNP of PRNT gene which is
      connected with PRND. In goat, several polymorphism studies have been performed
      for PRNP, PRND, and shadow of prion protein gene (SPRN). However, polymorphism on
      PRNT has not been reported. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine
      the genotype and allelic distribution of SNPs of PRNT in 238 Korean native goats
      and compare PRNT DNA sequences between Korean native goats and several ruminant
      species. A total of five SNPs, including PRNT c.-114G > T, PRNT c.-58A > G in the
      upstream of PRNT gene, PRNT c.71C > T (p.Ala24Val) and PRNT c.102G > A in the
      open reading frame (ORF) and c.321C > T in the downstream of PRNT gene, were
      found in this study. All five SNPs of caprine PRNT gene in Korean native goat are
      in complete linkage disequilibrium (LD) with a D' value of 1.0. Interestingly,
      comparative sequence analysis of the PRNT gene revealed five mismatches between
      DNA sequences of Korean native goats and those of goats deposited in the GenBank.
      Korean native black goats also showed 5 mismatches in PRNT ORF with cattle. To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the first genetic research of the PRNT gene in
      goat.

PMID- 28605959
TI  - Screening of Hungarian cattle herds for seropositivity to Mycoplasma bovis.
AB  - A total of 860 serum samples collected at 86 cattle farms in different parts of
      Hungary were screened for the presence of antibodies to Mycoplasma bovis using an
      ELISA test with a recombinant M. bovis membrane protein as antigen. Antibodies to
      M. bovis were detected in sera collected on all farms, and no farms negative for
      M. bovis were found. In 88.38% of the herds more than 50% of the sampled animals
      were infected by M. bovis. A total of 82.91% of the animals had antibodies to M.
      bovis. The proportion of seropositive animals was higher in the older age groups,
      and a significant difference was seen in the level of seropositivity between
      young and older age groups. The results show that M. bovis infection is
      widespread on Hungarian dairy farms, and its prevalence has increased in the
      recent decade. The high infection rate of Hungarian cattle herds with M. bovis
      shows that special attention should be paid to evaluating the aetiological role
      of M. bovis in bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) cases because M. bovis
      has an immunosuppressive effect and can predispose cattle to other respiratory
      infections, too.

PMID- 28605960
TI  - Heart rate, heart rate variability, faecal glucocorticoid metabolites and
      avoidance response of dairy cows before and after changeover to an automatic
      milking system.
AB  - The heart rate variability (HRV) parameters of dairy cows were monitored during
      parlour (PARL) and the later installed automatic (AMS) milking on a small-scale
      commercial dairy farm in Hungary. The aim of the study was to assess stress in
      relation to the type of milking and the frequency of human interaction. Parlour
      milking involved regular moving and crowding of the animals with frequent human
      interaction, which were much less frequent in automatic milking. The first phase
      of the study was conducted prior to the changeover [n = 27] and the second two
      months afterwards [n = 19 (of the cows from the first phase)]. Heart rate (HR)
      was recorded by the Polar RS800 CX recording system. HRV parameters indicative of
      sympathovagal balance were calculated for periods of lying and standing in the
      barn, waiting before milking and milking, respectively. Morning and evening
      faecal glucocorticoid concentrations were also measured. Fear of humans was
      tested by an avoidance distance test. Baseline HRV parameters showed no
      difference (P > 0.05) between the two systems. In the periods before, during and
      after milking a higher sympathetic tone was detected in cows in the PARL phase.
      Mean faecal glucocorticoid concentrations were higher at the time of parlour
      milking. The avoidance distance did not differ between the two phases. The
      results suggest that automatic milking might be less stressful for cows than
      parlour milking, possibly due to the shorter duration of restraint after milking
      and the less frequent human interaction.

PMID- 28605961
TI  - Species distribution, antibiotic resistance and virulence traits in canine and
      feline enterococci in Tunisia.
AB  - In order to investigate the possible role of dogs and cats in the carriage and
      potential dissemination of resistant enterococci, seventy faecal samples from
      dogs and cats were tested for enterococci. Fifty-eight enterococci were
      recovered. Isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium (n = 31) and E.
      faecalis (n = 14) E. durans (n = 6), E. casseliflavus (n = 2), E. hirae and E.
      gallinarum (2 isolates each). Enterococcal isolates showed resistance to
      ciprofloxacin (n = 35), erythromycin (n = 31), tetracycline (n = 25), kanamycin
      (n = 15), streptomycin (n = 13), pristinamycin (n = 11), gentamicin (n = 10),
      chloramphenicol (n = 8), and linezolid (n = 6). The gene erm(B) was detected in
      22 out of 31 erythromycin-resistant enterococci. All tetracycline-resistant
      enterococci carried tet(M) and/or tet(L) genes. The gene aac(6')-Ie-aph(2")-Ia
      was identified in five of high-level gentamicin-resistant isolates, the genes
      aph(3')-IIIa and/or aac(6')-Ie-aph(2")-Ia in eleven high-level kanamycin
      resistant isolates and the gene ant(6)-Ia in eleven high-level streptomycin
      resistant isolates. Only one strain harboured cat(A) gene, and five strains
      contained vat(E) or vat(D) genes. Virulence genes gel(E) (21 strains), esp (11
      strains) and cylA/cylB (5 strains) were detected. High genetic diversity was
      demonstrated among E. faecium isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
      (PFGE). Dogs and cats can be carriers of antibiotic-resistant enterococci in
      their faeces that could shed into the household environment.

PMID- 28605962
TI  - Novel approach to magnetic resonance imaging of epileptic dogs - T2 relaxometry
      of the brain with emphasised hippocampus.
AB  - Hippocampal sclerosis is the most common imaging finding of intractable human
      epilepsy, and it may play an important role in canine and feline epileptogenesis
      and seizure semiology, too. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria of
      hippocampal sclerosis are T2 hyperintensity, shrinkage and loss of internal
      structure. The detection of these changes is often challenging by subjective
      visual assessment of qualitative magnetic resonance (MR) images. The recognition
      is more reliable with quantitative MR methods, such as T2 relaxometry. In the
      present prospective study including 31 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy and 15
      control dogs showing no seizure activity, we compared the T2 relaxation times of
      different brain areas. Furthermore, we studied correlations between the
      hippocampal T2 values and age, gender and skull formation. We found higher
      hippocampal T2 values in the epileptic group than in the control; however, these
      findings were not statistically significant. No correlations were found with age,
      gender or skull formation. In the individual analysis six epileptic dogs
      presented higher hippocampal T2 relaxation times than the cut-off value. Two of
      these dogs were also evaluated as abnormal in the visual assessment. Individual
      analysis of hippocampal T2 relaxation times may be a helpful method to understand
      hippocampal involvement in canine epilepsy.

PMID- 28605963
TI  - A molecular and haematological study of Theileria equi in Balkan donkeys.
AB  - Equine piroplasmosis in donkeys has been recognised as a serious problem of major
      economic importance. The present molecular study is the first investigation of
      the presence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in Balkan donkeys and of the
      possible haematological alterations related to it. A total of 70 apparently
      healthy donkeys from Serbia were included in this study. The overall prevalence
      of T. equi infection in donkeys tested with multiplex PCR was 50%. There was no
      B. caballi-positive sample. Infections in donkeys included in this study seem to
      be associated with decreased red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration,
      haematocrit and platelet count, and with increased white blood cell count, mean
      corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. Altered
      haematological parameters in donkeys can lead to a decrease in working capacity
      and production performance. Further molecular research and long-term monitoring
      of equine piroplasmosis is needed in Serbia and throughout Europe.

PMID- 28605964
TI  - Impact of a freeway on the dispersal of ticks and Ixodes ricinus-borne pathogens:
      forested resting areas may become Lyme disease hotspots.
AB  - Man-made barriers are well known for their effects on ecosystems. Habitat
      fragmentation, for instance, is a recognised consequence of modern-day
      infrastructure. The aim of the present study was to investigate the diversity and
      abundance of tick species, as well as the risks of acquiring tick-borne
      infections in habitats adjacent to a freeway. Therefore, ixodid ticks were
      collected from the vegetation at two-week intervals (in the main tick season,
      from March to June) in eight habitats of different types (forest, grove,
      grassland) along both sides of a freeway. Ixodes ricinus females were molecularly
      screened for three species of tick-borne bacteria. In the study period, 887
      ixodid ticks were collected. These included 704 I. ricinus (79.4%), 51
      Dermacentor reticulatus (5.7%), 78 D. marginatus (8.8%), 35 Haemaphysalis inermis
      (3.9%) and 19 H. concinna (2.1%). There was no significant difference in the
      abundance of tick species between similar habitats separated by the freeway,
      except for the absence of Dermacentor spp. on one side. In I. ricinus females,
      the overall prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum was low, and (in part due to
      this low rate) did not show significant difference between the two sides of the
      freeway. Rickettsia helvetica had significantly different overall prevalence
      between two distant habitats along the same side of the freeway (12.3% vs.
      31.4%), but not between habitats on the opposite sides. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.
      showed significantly different overall prevalence between habitats both on the
      same and on the opposite sides of the freeway (8.6-35.9%), and the difference was
      higher if relevant habitats were also separated by the freeway. Importantly, the
      prevalence rate of the Lyme disease agent was highest in a forested resting area
      of the freeway, and was significantly inversely proportional to the prevalence of
      A. phagocytophilum (taking into account all evaluated habitats), apparently
      related to deer population density. Prevalence rates of these bacteria also
      differed significantly on single sampling occasions between: (1) closely situated
      habitats of different types; (2) distant and either similar or different habitat
      types; and (3) habitats on the opposite sides of the freeway. In conclusion, the
      findings of the present study show that a fenced freeway may contribute to
      differences in tick species diversity and tick-borne pathogen prevalence along
      its two sides, and this effect is most likely a consequence of its barrier role
      preventing deer movements.

PMID- 28605965
TI  - Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus with a recombinant S gene detected in Hungary,
      2016.
AB  - Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) can cause a severe enteric disease
      affecting pigs of all ages. In January 2016, diarrhoea with occasional vomiting
      was observed in a small pig farm in Hungary. All animals became affected, while
      mortality (of up to 30%) was only seen in piglets. Samples from different age
      groups and the carcass of a piglet were examined by various methods including
      pathology, bacteriology and molecular biology. PEDV was confirmed by PCR and its
      whole genome sequence was determined. The sequence PEDV HUN/5031/2016 showed high
      identity with recently reported European viruses. Differences were found mostly
      in the S gene, where recombination was detected with a newly identified and
      already recombinant swine enteric coronavirus (Se-CoV) from Italy. The present
      report describes the first porcine epidemic diarrhoea outbreak in Hungary after
      many years and gives an insight into the genetics of the Hungarian PEDV.

PMID- 28605966
TI  - Molecular detection and genome analysis of circoviruses of European eel (Anguilla
      anguilla) and sichel (Pelecus cultratus).
AB  - The prevalence and distribution of piscine circoviruses (CVs) were tested in a
      routine virus monitoring programme in Lake Balaton, Hungary. A high prevalence of
      European eel CV (EeCV) was found in the apparently healthy eel population
      (35.5%). The copy number of the viral DNA in different organs was determined by
      quantitative real-time PCR. The results suggested that some eel specimens were in
      active viraemic status despite their asymptomatic condition. Furthermore, a
      novel, previously undescribed CV was also detected in eel and sichel samples.
      Full genome characterisation confirmed that the virus represents a novel EeCV
      species (EeCV-2). The genome contains an integrated eel chromosome-derived
      fragment, suggesting that the original host of the virus was the eel and it
      probably emerged subsequently in the sichel by host switching. In some samples,
      an additional, 1,111-nt-long circular ssDNA was also observed involving a CV-like
      stem-loop structure and an ORF showing homology to CV capsid protein genes,
      without any sign of a replication initiator protein sequence.

PMID- 28605968
TI  - Molecular biological studies of adult and metacercarial stages of Petasiger
      exaeretus Dietz, 1909 (Digenea: Echinostomatidae).
AB  - Molnar et al. (2015) reported two types of echinostomatid metacercariae in the
      lateral line organ of Hungarian fish species. Type 1 metacercariae possessed 27
      collar spines and 16 uniform and three larger dorsal spines, whereas Type 2
      metacercariae bore 27 collar spines and 19 equal-sized dorsal spines. In the
      recent work, molecular studies carried out on the ITS region and partial 28S rDNA
      sequences of two types of echinostomatid metacercariae and the sequences of adult
      stages of the species of Petasiger Dietz, 1909 collected from cormorants
      (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) showed that some of the Type 2 metacercariae
      corresponded to Petasiger exaeretus Dietz, 1909, whereas other morphologically
      similar metacercariae were identified as Petasiger phalacrocoracis (Yamaguti,
      1939). The sequences of the Type 1 metacercariae with three larger dorsal spines
      could not be identified with any of the known sequences from echinostomatid
      trematodes.

PMID- 28605969
TI  - Control of Hymenolepis nana infection as a measure to improve mouse colony
      welfare.
AB  - After cannibalism had appeared in the reproductive units of a white mouse colony,
      treatment against confirmed Hymenolepis nana, a tapeworm with zoonotic potential,
      was performed on 67 mice in the reproductive and nursery units. Faecal droppings
      were evaluated by flotation and sedimentation methods. The sedimentation method
      revealed a higher number of positive results before, during and after the
      treatment, but the flotation method yielded some additional positive cases. In
      the reproductive unit, H. nana eggs were confirmed in 50% of the tested mice by
      the flotation and in 70% by the sedimentation method. In the nursery units, H.
      nana eggs were detected in 10.5% of the tested mice by the flotation and in 24.6%
      by the sedimentation method. A colony of mice was treated against the tapeworm H.
      nana with praziquantel and emodepside in doses of 2.574 mg praziquantel/100 g
      body mass and of 0.642 mg emodepside/100 g body mass. The content of the original
      pipettes (Profender(r)) was applied as a spot-on on the back of the neck in the
      area between the shoulders. The application was repeated three times at 14-day
      intervals. Seven days after the third therapy no H. nana was found in any of the
      tested mice in the reproductive or the nursery units. After the treatment,
      cannibalism was no longer observed. This treatment represented one of the steps
      aimed at improving animal welfare and preventing potential zoonotic disease. The
      public health significance of this cestode should receive more attention,
      especially among people who take care of mice, have them as pets, or feed them to
      reptiles.

PMID- 28605970
TI  - Intestinal helminths of the white stork (Ciconia ciconia Linnaeus 1758) from an
      inter-route site in Turkey.
AB  - In Turkey, a study was conducted during the years 2009-2015 to detect the
      gastrointestinal helminth species of 18 white storks (Ciconia ciconia Linnaeus,
      1758 (Aves: Ciconiiformes) sampled from aquatic or swamp areas of Bursa Province,
      one of the inter-route sites where storks intensely stay. The results of
      postmortem examination revealed that 17 (94.44%) white storks harboured one or
      more helminth species. Eight species of helminths were detected at the following
      prevalence rates: Dictymetra discoidea (38.88%), Chaunocephalus ferox (37.50%),
      Schistocephalus solidus (27.77%), Stephanoprora (Monilifer) spinulosa (18.75%),
      Echinoparyphium sp. (12.50%), Tylodelphys excavata (6.25%), T. clavata (6.25%),
      and Syncuaria ciconiae (6.25%). This study is the first report on the presence of
      all the above species except T. excavata from white storks in Turkey.
      Stephanoprora (M.) spinulosa was found in Ciconiiform birds for the first time in
      this study.

PMID- 28605971
TI  - Impaired Baroreflex Function during Orthostatic Challenge in Patients after
      Spinal Cord Injury.
AB  - The level of spinal cord injury (SCI) affects baroreflex regulation of blood
      pressure. While a parasympathetic cardiac chronotropic effect is preserved,
      baroreflex response could be impaired by sympathetic dysfunction under the SCI
      level. This study was aimed to evaluate the baroreflex function in SCI patients
      by the analysis of causal interaction between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and
      inter-beat intervals (IBI). Blood pressure was continuously recorded in 13
      cervical SCI patients (CSCI), nine thoracic SCI (ThSCI) and 13 able-bodied
      controls (Con) during two phases: sitting (PS) and orthostatic challenge (PO).
      Beat-to-beat SBP and IBI sequences were obtained from continuous blood pressure
      recording. Closed loop of SBP-IBI interaction was mathematically opened by
      bivariate autoregressive model; causal coherence and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS)
      were calculated in baroreflex direction. Coherence quantifies causal
      synchronicity between SBP and IBI. The gain of transfer function from SBP to IBI
      represents BRS. PS (medians of CSCI/ThSCI/Con) coherence was 0.28/0.33/0.25 (no
      significant difference) and PS BRS was 6.98/7.54/6.66 (no difference). PO
      coherence was 0.18/0.58/0.45 (CSCI < ThCSI and Con; p < 0.01) and PO BRS was
      2.38/5.87/6.22 (CSCI < ThCSI and Con; p < 0.01). For position change effect,
      there was no change in CSCI coherence; for ThSCI and Con, PS < PO (p < 0.05). For
      BRS in the CSCI group, PS < PO (p < 0.01); for ThSCI and Con, there was no
      change. BRS and coherence correlated negatively with SCI level (p < 0.01). In
      conclusion, baroreflex dysfunction in SCI patients was detected using causal
      analysis methods during orthostatic challenge only. Baroreflex dysfunction is
      probably an important mechanism of the more expressed blood pressure decrease
      associated with CSCI. The severity of autonomic dysfunction was related to SCI
      level.

PMID- 28605972
TI  - Resting state connectivity between default mode network and insula encodes acute
      migraine headache.
AB  - Background Previous functional MRI studies have revealed that ongoing clinical
      pain in different chronic pain syndromes is directly correlated to the
      connectivity strength of the resting default mode network (DMN) with the insula.
      Here, we investigated seed-based resting state DMN-insula connectivity during
      acute migraine headaches. Methods Thirteen migraine without aura patients (MI)
      underwent 3 T MRI scans during the initial six hours of a spontaneous migraine
      attack, and were compared to a group of 19 healthy volunteers (HV). We evaluated
      headache intensity with a visual analogue scale and collected seed-based MRI
      resting state data in the four core regions of the DMN: Medial prefrontal cortex
      (MPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and left and right inferior parietal
      lobules (IPLs), as well as in bilateral insula. Results Compared to HV, MI
      patients showed stronger functional connectivity between MPFC and PCC, and
      between MPFC and bilateral insula. During migraine attacks, the strength of MPFC
      to-insula connectivity was negatively correlated with pain intensity. Conclusion
      We show that greater subjective intensity of pain during a migraine attack is
      associated with proportionally weaker DMN-insula connectivity. This is at
      variance with other chronic extra-cephalic pain disorders where the opposite was
      found, and may thus be a hallmark of acute migraine head pain.

PMID- 28605973
TI  - A comparative study on assessment procedures and metric properties of two scoring
      systems of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised items: standard and modified scores.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study compared the metric characteristics (discriminant capacity
      and factorial structure) of two different methods for scoring the items of the
      Coma Recovery Scale-Revised and it analysed scale scores collected using the
      standard assessment procedure and a new proposed method. DESIGN: Cross sectional
      design/methodological study. SETTING: Inpatient, neurological unit. PARTICIPANTS:
      A total of 153 patients with disorders of consciousness were consecutively
      enrolled between 2011 and 2013. INTERVENTION: All patients were assessed with the
      Coma Recovery Scale-Revised using standard (rater 1) and inverted (rater 2)
      procedures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Coma Recovery Scale-Revised score, number of
      cognitive and reflex behaviours and diagnosis. RESULTS: Regarding patient
      assessment, rater 1 using standard and rater 2 using inverted procedures obtained
      the same best scores for each subscale of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised for all
      patients, so no clinical (and statistical) difference was found between the two
      procedures. In 11 patients (7.7%), rater 2 noted that some Coma Recovery Scale
      Revised codified behavioural responses were not found during assessment, although
      higher response categories were present. A total of 51 (36%) patients presented
      the same Coma Recovery Scale-Revised scores of 7 or 8 using a standard score,
      whereas no overlap was found using the modified score. Unidimensionality was
      confirmed for both score systems. CONCLUSION: The Coma Recovery Scale Modified
      Score showed a higher discriminant capacity than the standard score and a
      monofactorial structure was also supported. The inverted assessment procedure
      could be a useful evaluation method for the assessment of patients with disorder
      of consciousness diagnosis.

PMID- 28605974
TI  - HPLC method for measurement of human salivary alpha-amylase inhibition by aqueous
      plant extracts.
AB  - Control of hyperglycemia is an important treatment in metabolic disorders such as
      type II diabetes and obesity. alpha-Amylase, as the first enzyme of glucose
      release from dietary polysaccharides, is a potential target to identify new
      sources of novel anti-obesity and anti-diabetic drugs. In this work, different
      herbal extracts as alpha-amylase inhibitors were studied by measuring the rate of
      the cleavage of a maltooligomer substrate 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl-beta-D
      maltoheptoside. Measurement of chromophore containing products after reversed
      phase HPLC separation was used for alpha-amylase activity measurement. Rates of
      hydrolysis catalysed by human salivary alpha-amylase were determined in the
      presence and absence of lyophilised water extracts of eleven herbs. Remarkable
      bioactivities were found for extracts of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (bark),
      Camellia sinensis L. (leaf), Ribes nigrum L. (leaf), Laurus nobilis L. (leaf),
      Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton (fruit) and Syzygium aromaticum L. (bud). Determined
      IC50 values were in 0.017-41 MUg/ml range for these six selected plant extracts.
      Our results confirm the applicability of this HPLC-based method for the quick and
      reliable comparison of plants as alpha-amylase inhibitors.

PMID- 28605975
TI  - Evaluation of antiproliferative and hepatoprotective effects of wheat grass
      (Triticum aestivum).
AB  - This study was aimed to evaluate the pharmacological potential of various
      extracts (hexane, chloroform, methanol and aqueous) of dried shoots of Triticum
      aestivum (wheat grass) in terms of antiproliferative and hepatoprotective
      potential of T. aestivum. The total chlorophyll content in dried shoots of T.
      aestivum was 0.54 +/- 0.016 g/L (chlorophyll-a: 0.288 +/- 0.05 g/L; and
      chlorophyll-b; 0.305 +/- 0.05 g/L), while total carotene content was 0.42 +/-
      0.066 g/L. In addition, the chloroform extract of dried shoots of T. aestivum
      (250 MUg/mL) exhibited 87.23% inhibitory effect with potent cytotoxicity against
      human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cancer cell line. Moreover, chloroform and
      methanol extracts significantly reduced the levels of SGOT, and SGPT enzymes, as
      well as total bilirubin content, while raised the level of total protein in a
      concentration-gradient manner, confirming the potent hepatoprotective effect of
      T. aestivum. A possible mechanism of apoptosis of the chloroform extract of dried
      shoots of T. aestivum in terms of its potent antiproliferative activity against
      HepG2 cancer cell line can also be proposed in this study. Our findings clearly
      demonstrate that T. aestivum has a significant pharmacological potential that
      night be used for antiproliferative and hepatoprotective purposes.

PMID- 28605976
TI  - Anti-mutagenic potential of algal extracts on chromosomal aberrations in Allium
      cepa L.
AB  - In the present study, sodium azide (SA) toxicity and the anti-mutagenic effects
      of different algal extracts at 0.1% and 0.2% concentrations were studied on the
      mitotic index (MI), chromosomal and nuclear aberrations using Allium cepa L. root
      assay. Moreover, phytochemical screening of photosynthetic pigments, antioxidants
      compounds, total antioxidant, DPPH scavenging activity, polysaccharides, and
      phenolic contents were done for two red seaweeds (Laurencia obtusa (Hudson)
      Lamouroux and Polysiphonia morrowii Harvey) and for one brown seaweed
      (Dictyopteris delicatula Lamouroux). Treatment with 300 MUg/ml sodium azide (SA)
      induced the highest number of aberrations in A. cepa root. A highly significant
      decrease in the MI appeared after treatment with SA, whereas its value increased
      following different algal extracts treatments. The highest anti-mutagenic
      inhibition activity of Dictyopteris delicatula added at 0.2% concentration was
      72.96%, 69.84%, 56.89% and 43.59% with the algal polyphenol, polysaccharide,
      aqueous and methanol extract treatments, respectively. The different algal
      extracts minimized the genotoxicity and exhibited anti-mutagenic potential
      against SA in a dose-dependent manner. Phytochemical studies showed that
      Dictyopteris delicatula contained the highest total phenol, chlorophyll-a and
      carotenoid quantity. Moreover it exhibited the highest total antioxidant and DPPH
      scavenging activities. Total polysaccharides and the weight percentage of
      sulphated polysaccharides were relatively higher in Polysiphonia morrowii
      followed by Laurencia obtusa. Hydroquinone and bromophenol were detected only in
      the studied brown and red seaweeds, respectively. Polysiphonia morrowii and
      Laurencia obtusa contained the highest quantity of galactose, rhmnose and xylose,
      while Dictyopteris delicatula contained fucose and mannitol as main
      monosaccharide units. In conclusion, the studied seaweeds may be considered as
      rich sources of natural antioxidants. Meanwhile the investigated different algal
      extracts can minimize the genotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner and exhibit
      anti-mutagenic potential against the mutagenic substance sodium azide.

PMID- 28605977
TI  - Linalool-induced oxidative stress processes in the human pathogen Candida
      albicans.
AB  - The present study investigated the linalool (Lol)-induced effects in acute
      toxicity tests in the human pathogen Candida albicans (C. albicans). Lol
      treatments induced reduced germ tube formation of the pathogen, which plays a
      crucial role in the virulence. In comparison with the untreated control, the
      exposure of 107 cells ml-1 to 0.7 mM or 1.4 mM Lol for one hour induced 20% and
      30% decrements, respectively, in the colony-forming ability. At the same time,
      these treatments caused dose-dependent decrease in the levels of superoxide anion
      radical and total reactive oxygen species, while there was 1.5 and 1.8-fold
      increases in the concentrations of peroxides and lipid peroxides, respectively,
      indicating oxidative stress induction in the presence of Lol. Lol treatments
      resulted in different adaptive modifications of the antioxidant system. In 0.7 mM
      treated cells, decreased specific activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase
      were detected, while exposure to 1.4 mM Lol resulted in the up-regulation of
      catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidases.

PMID- 28605978
TI  - Isolation and preliminary characterization of a bacteriocin-producer Bacillus
      strain inhibiting methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - In a multivalent approach to discover new antimicrobial substance, a total of 160
      Bacilli were isolated from termitarium soil, characterized on the basis of their
      morphological and physiological characters and screened for their antimicrobial
      activity by agar well diffusion method against certain drug resistant pathogenic
      bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus and common food contaminating bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. After
      preliminary screening, sixteen isolates showed inhibitory activity against test
      pathogens. Among them Bacillus isolate TSH58 exhibited maximum inhibitory
      activity against MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. Based on
      morphological, physiological, biochemical and 16S rDNA characteristics isolate
      TSH58 was identified as a member of the Bacillus cereus species group. Various
      nutrient sources and culture conditions were optimized, the partially purified
      antimicrobial metabolite was subjected to various treatments such as heat, pH and
      proteolytic enzymes. Complete loss in the activity observed when the crude
      metabolite was treated with proteolytic enzymes suggesting its proteinaceous
      nature and termed as bacteriocin like inhibitory substance (BLIS). Minimal
      inhibitory concentration of the partially purified bacteriocin determined by
      microtiter plate assay was 80 MUg/ml for MRSA and 40 MUg/ml for L. monocytogenes.
      Tricine SDS PAGE analysis revealed that the partially purified bacteriocin
      produced by the Bacillus strain TSH58 had an apparent molecular weight of about
      4.0 KDa.

PMID- 28605979
TI  - Phytochemical investigation of Rumex thyrsiflorus Fingerh.
AB  - In the course of our pharmacological screening of Polygonaceae species occurring
      in the Carpathian Basin the extracts prepared from the roots of Rumex
      thyrsiflorus showed promising antiproliferative, xanthine oxidase inhibitory and
      antibacterial activities. The present work deals with the isolation of compounds
      from the root of the plant. After multistep separation process, four compounds
      were obtained from the n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate soluble fractions
      of the methanol extract of the root. The structures of the isolated compounds
      were determined as 1-palmitoylglycerol, beta-sitosterol, (-)-epicatechin, and
      procyanidin B5.

PMID- 28605981
TI  - Hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide regulation of phenolic metabolism under water
      stress and ABA in wheat.
AB  - Wheat cultivar PBW644 (drought tolerant) and PBW343 (drought sensitive) were
      found as ABA-higher sensitive and ABA-lesser sensitive, respectively, in the
      screen of six wheat cultivars. Both cultivars were studied for H2O2 (ROS)/nitric
      oxide (NO)-regulation of growth and phenolic metabolism under ABA and water
      stress (WS) by supplying ROS/NO producers as well as scavengers. Endogenous
      ROS/NO under ABA/WS increased growth, such effect was higher in PBW644. In
      PBW343, reduced growth under WS was improved by exogenous ROS/NO. Exogenous
      ROS/NO under ABA/WS decreased lignin and increased phenolics in PBW343 but such
      relation was not found in PBW644. Endogenous NO under WS increased flavonoids in
      both cultivars. Both ROS/NO under ABA/WS increased flavonoids in PBW644, however,
      in PBW343, only ROS increased these in roots. Under WS, PBW644 showed higher
      levels of cell wall peroxidase (CW-POX) and lower levels of soluble peroxidase (S
      POX) than PBW343. However, under ABA, it showed higher levels of both
      peroxidases. ROS/NO signals under ABA increased both types of POX in both
      cultivars while under WS, these signals increased both types in PBW343 but CW-POX
      only in PBW644. Polyphenol oxidases were ABA-upregulated in PBW644 only. Under
      WS, these enzymes were maintained higher in PBW343. This study indicated that
      tolerant cultivar under WS contained sufficient endogenous ROS/NO signalling to
      which susceptible cultivar lacked but showed improvement on exogenous
      applications. Secondly, tolerant cultivar was using less phenolic activity under
      WS which could be due to the presence of sufficient levels of primary
      antioxidants.

PMID- 28605980
TI  - Indoleacetic acid production and plant growth promoting potential of bacterial
      endophytes isolated from rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds.
AB  - Bacterial endophytes from the phyllosphere and rhizosphere have been used to
      produce bioactive metabolites and to promote plant growth. However, little is
      known about the endophytes residing in seeds. This study aimed to isolate and
      identify seed-borne bacterial endophytes from rice and elucidate their potential
      for phytohormone production and growth enhancement. The isolated endophytes
      included Micrococcus yunnanensis RWL-2, Micrococcus luteus RWL-3, Enterobacter
      soli RWL-4, Leclercia adecarboxylata RWL-5, Pantoea dispersa RWL-6, and
      Staphylococcus epidermidis RWL-7, which were identified using 16S rRNA sequencing
      and phylogenetic analysis. These strains were analyzed for indoleacetic acid
      (IAA) production by using GC-MS and IAA was found in the range of 11.50 +/- 0.77
      MUg ml-1 to 38.80 +/- 1.35 MUg ml-1. We also assessed the strains for plant
      growth promoting potential because these isolates were able to produce IAA in
      pure culture. Most of the growth attributes of rice plants (shoot and root
      length, fresh and dry biomass, and chlorophyll content) were significantly
      increased by bacterial endophytes compared to the controls. These results show
      that IAA producing bacterial endophytes can improve hostplant growth traits and
      can be used as bio-fertilizers.

PMID- 28605983
TI  - Phytotoxic property of the invasive plant Tithonia diversifolia and a phytotoxic
      substance.
AB  - Tithonia diversifolia (Hermsl.) A. Gray is a perennial invasive plant and spreads
      quickly in the invasive areas. The extracts of T. diversifolia were found to be
      toxic to several crop plant species such as rice, maize, sorghum, lettuce and
      cowpea, and several putative allelopathic substances were identified. However,
      there is limited information available for the effects of T. diversifolia on wild
      plants including weed plant species. We investigated the allelopathic potential
      of T. diversifolia extracts on weed plants, and searched for phytotoxic
      substances with allelopathic activity. An aqueous methanol extract of T.
      diversifolia leaves inhibited the growth of weed plants, Lolium multiflorum Lam.,
      Phleum pretense L., Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. The extract was then
      purified by several chromatographic runs and a phytotoxic substance with
      allelopathic activity was isolated and identified by spectral analysis as
      tagitinin C. The substance inhibited the growth of Lolium multiflorum, Phleum
      pratense and Echinochloa crus-galli at concentrations greater than 0.1 - 0.3 mM.
      The present results suggest that T. diversifolia may possess allelopathic
      potential on weed plants and tagitinin C may be responsible for the allelopathic
      effects of T. diversifolia. The allelopathic potential of T. diversifolia may
      contribute to its invasive characteristics.

PMID- 28605982
TI  - Chemical composition and antifungal activity of Hedera helix leaf ethanolic
      extract.
AB  - The 50% ethanol extract obtained from Hedera helix leaves was investigated
      regarding the presence and quantity of polyphenols, sterols and in vitro
      antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi. The chemical analysis revealed
      the presence of rutin, quercetin and kaempferol in the non-hydrolysed sample and
      quercetin and kaempferol in the hydrolysed sample and stigmasterol in the ivy
      leaf extract (nonhydrolysed sample). The antifungal activity against
      phytopathogenic fungi (Aspergillus niger, Botrytis cinerea, B. tulipae, Fusarium
      oxysporum f. sp. tulipae, Penicillium gladioli, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) was
      assessed using an agar dilution assay. The results are expressed as the minimum
      inhibitory concentration (MIC = 10-14%) and were compared to a synthetic
      antifungal drug - fluconazole (MIC = 8-30%). This report presents the first
      screening of the antifungal activity of the ivy leaf extract on these plant
      pathogenic fungi species, aiming to use the ivy leaf extract for controlling
      different diseases of vegetables and ornamental plants, in addition to human
      disorders.

PMID- 28605984
TI  - Is the Intrinsic Genomic Activity of Thyroxine Relevant In Vivo? Effects on Gene
      Expression in Primary Cerebrocortical and Neuroblastoma Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The possibility that the intrinsic genomic activity of thyroxine (T4)
      is of physiological relevance has been frequently hypothesized. It might explain
      gene expression patterns in the brain found in type 2-deiodinase (Dio2)-deficient
      mice. These mice display normal expression of most thyroid hormone-dependent
      genes, despite decreased brain triiodothyronine (T3). METHODS: The relative
      effects of T4 and T3 on gene expression were analyzed in mouse neuro-2a (N2a)
      cells stably expressing the thyroid hormone receptor alpha1, and in primary mouse
      cerebrocortical cells enriched in astrocytes or in neurons. Cortical cells were
      derived from Dio2-deficient mice to prevent conversion of T4 to T3. T4 and T3
      were measured in the media at the beginning and end of incubation, and T4 and T3
      antibodies were used to block T4 and T3 action. RESULTS: In all cell types, T4
      had intrinsic genomic activity. In N2a cells, T4 activity was higher on negative
      regulation (1/5th of T3 activity) than on positive regulation (1/40th of T3
      activity). T4 activity on positive regulation was dependent on the cell context,
      and was higher in primary cells than in N2a cells. CONCLUSION: T4 has intrinsic
      genomic activity. Positive regulation depends on the cell context, and primary
      cells appear much more sensitive than neuroblastoma cells. In all cells, negative
      regulation is more sensitive to T4 than positive regulation. These properties may
      explain the mostly normal gene expression in the brain of Dio2-deficient mice.

PMID- 28605985
TI  - Diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy in assessment and management of patients
      with appendiceal neoplasms.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Radiological imaging often underestimates the extent of low volume
      peritoneal disease. The benefit of laparoscopy in assessing peritoneal metastases
      from colorectal and gastric cancer is accepted, but is inconclusive for
      appendiceal malignancy. We report our experience of diagnostic (DL) and
      therapeutic laparoscopy (TL) in patients with appendiceal tumours to determine
      indications and role in assessment and management. METHODS: A retrospective
      review of a National Peritoneal Malignancy Centre's prospectively maintained
      database was performed. All patients with appendiceal neoplasms who underwent DL
      or TL between September 2011 and January 2016 were included. The indications and
      outcomes of the laparoscopy, complications and interval to laparotomy were
      evaluated. RESULTS: Six hundred and eighty-five patients underwent surgery for
      appendiceal neoplasms during the study period, of which 73 (10.6%) underwent
      laparoscopy (50 DL, 23 TL). The main indications for DL were to clarify imaging
      and stage patients with high-risk histology. Indications for TL were an abnormal
      appendix without gross pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) or with low volume PMP, and
      concerns for fertility in the presence of PMP. DL resulted in 16 patients (32%)
      avoiding laparotomy because of extensive disease or no tumour found. Overall, 28
      patients were assessed to have resectable disease and at laparotomy, 25/28 had
      complete cytoreduction with three patients unresectable. In the TL group,
      appendicectomy and peritoneal lavage was achieved in all four women with
      fertility concerns, allowing them to conceive thereafter. There were no
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with high-risk appendiceal neoplasm may
      benefit from DL, and potentially avoid unnecessary laparotomy. TL is useful in
      patients with low volume PMP and may aid fertility in selected patients.

PMID- 28605986
TI  - Perceived stress, disturbed sleep, and cognitive impairments in patients with
      work-related stress complaints: a longitudinal study.
AB  - Patients on sick leave due to work-related stress often present with cognitive
      impairments as well as sleep disturbances. The aim of this longitudinal study was
      to examine the role of perceived stress and sleep disturbances in the
      longitudinal development in cognitive impairments in a group of patients with
      prolonged work-related stress (N = 60) during a period of 12 months following
      initial professional care-seeking. Objective cognitive impairments
      (neuropsychological tests) were measured on two occasions - at initial
      professional care-seeking and at 12-month follow-up. Questionnaires on perceived
      stress, sleep disturbances, and cognitive complaints were completed seven times
      during the 12 months which facilitated multilevel analysis with segregation of
      within-person (change) and between-person (baseline level) components of the time
      varying predictors (perceived stress and sleep disturbances). Change in perceived
      stress was associated with concurrent and subsequent change in self-reported
      cognitive complaints over the period of 12 months and to a lesser extent the
      change in performance on neuropsychological tests of processing speed from
      baseline to 12-month follow-up. Change in sleep disturbances was also associated
      with concurrent and subsequent change in self-reported cognitive complaints over
      the 12 months but not with change on neuropsychological test performance.
      Although the mechanism behind the improvement in cognitive impairments in
      patients with work-related stress should be further explored in future studies,
      the results could suggest that improvement in cognitive impairments is partly
      mediated by decreasing levels of perceived stress and, to a lesser extent,
      decreasing levels of sleep disturbances. Lay summary This study examines the role
      of perceived stress and sleep disturbances in respect to the development of
      cognitive impairments (e.g. memory and concentration) in a group of patients with
      work-related stress. We found that change in cognitive impairments seems to be
      partly explained by change in perceived stress and, to a lesser extent, sleep
      disturbances over time. This could suggest that cognitive impairments can be
      reduced by stress management interventions which aim to reduce perceived stress
      and sleep disturbances but future studies are needed to confirm this
      interpretation.

PMID- 28605987
TI  - Longitudinal study of changing psychological outcomes following the Victorian
      Black Saturday bushfires.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To map the changing prevalence and predictors of psychological
      outcomes in affected communities 5 years following the Black Saturday bushfires
      in Victoria. METHOD: Follow-up assessment of longitudinal cohort study in high,
      medium and non-affected communities in Victoria, Australia. Participants included
      1017 respondents (Wave 1) interviewed via telephone and web-based survey between
      December 2011 and January 2013, and 735 (76.1%) eligible participants were
      retested between July and November 2014 (Wave 2). The survey included measures of
      fire-related and subsequent stressful events, probable posttraumatic stress
      disorder, major depressive episode, alcohol use and severe distress. RESULTS:
      There were reduced rates of fire-related posttraumatic stress disorder (8.7% vs
      12.1%), general posttraumatic stress disorder (14.7% vs 18.2%), major depressive
      episode (9.0% vs 10.9%) and serious mental illness (5.4% vs 7.8%). Rates of
      resilience increased over time (81.8% vs 77.1%), and problem alcohol use remained
      high across Wave 1 (22.1%) and Wave 2 (21.4%). The most robust predictor of later
      development of fire-related posttraumatic stress disorder (odds ratio: 2.11; 95%
      confidence interval: [1.22, 3.65]), general posttraumatic stress disorder (odds
      ratio: 3.15; 95% confidence interval: [1.98, 5.02]), major depressive episode
      (odds ratio: 2.86; 95% confidence interval: [1.74, 4.70]), serious mental illness
      (odds ratio: 2.67; 95% confidence interval: [0.57, 1.72]) or diminished
      resilience (odds ratio: 2.01; 95% confidence interval: [1.32, 3.05]) was extent
      of recent life stressors. CONCLUSION: Although rates of mental health problems
      diminished over time, they remained higher than national levels. Findings suggest
      that policy-makers need to recognize that the mental health consequences of
      disasters can persist for many years after the event and need to allocate
      resources towards those who are most at risk as a result of substantive losses
      and ongoing life stressors.

PMID- 28605988
TI  - Effect of curing time on selected properties of soil stabilized with fly ash,
      marble dust and waste sand for road sub-base materials.
AB  - The properties of sub-base filling materials in highway construction are
      essential, as they can determine the performance of the road in service.
      Normally, the existing materials are removed and replaced with new materials that
      have adequate load-bearing capacity. Rising environmental concern and new
      environmental legislations have made construction professionals consider other
      methods. These methods include stabilizing the existing materials with other
      additives to improve their performance. Additives can be waste materials
      generated by different industries. In this work, the existing excavated soil is
      stabilized with waste materials. The wastes consisted of fly ash, marble dust and
      waste sand. The percentage addition of waste materials was 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%
      (by mass) of the existing soil. The soil/waste specimens were cured for 1, 7, 28,
      56, 90 and 112 days before testing. Testing included the dry unit weight and
      unconfined compressive strength ( qu) as well as X-ray diffraction analysis and
      scanning electron microscopy observation. Also, the California Bearing Ratio
      values were obtained and are reported in this investigation. The results showed
      that the qu values increased with the increase in waste materials content. Also,
      there is tendency for the dry unit weight to increase with the increase in waste
      materials.

PMID- 28605989
TI  - Sinus Floor Augmentation Comparing an In Situ Hardening Biphasic Calcium
      Phosphate (Hydroxyapatite/beta-Tricalcium Phosphate) Bone Graft Substitute with a
      Particulate Biphasic Calcium Phosphate (Hydroxyapatite/beta-Tricalcium Phosphate)
      Bone Graft Substitute: An Experimental Study in Sheep.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present split-mouth study in sheep was to assess the
      influence of in situ hardening properties of a biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP)
      bone graft substitute (BGS) (ratio hydroxyapatite/beta-tricalcium phosphate =
      60/40) compared with a particulate BGS with the same biphasic core-granule
      composition without in situ hardening properties on sinus floor augmentation.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Therefore, bilateral sinus floor augmentation was
      performed in eight sheep. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-coated, in situ
      hardening biphasic BGS (PLGA-NMP [N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone]-BCP) was placed at the
      test site, and a particulate biphasic BGS without PLGA coating (BCP) was used for
      the contralateral site as a control. Animals were sacrificed after 21 weeks.
      Sinus augmentation sites were analyzed histologically. The volume was analyzed by
      computed tomography. Histomorphometric parameters were assessed for the 12 and 21
      weeks' time points. Slopes of new bone formation over time were compared with a
      linear growth regression model. RESULTS: Bone formation after 12 and 21 weeks of
      healing was 8.94% (+/-3.74) and 19.82% (+/-6.29) for PLGA-NMP-BCP and 7.00% (+/
      2.58) and 14.38% (+/-4.51) for BCP, respectively. The bone growth rate for PLGA
      NMP-BCP was higher than the growth rate for BCP (probability 97.5%). The total
      fraction of calcified hard tissue (% bone fraction + % biomaterial) was around
      46% for both tested biomaterials, 21 weeks after sinus floor augmentation.
      CONCLUSION: The in situ hardening BGS (PLGA-NMP-BCP) performed better than the
      particulate material (BCP) in terms of bone formation rate. The in situ hardening
      properties of the PLGA-NMP-BCP material mediated by the PLGA coating and NMP
      solution as plasticizer had no negative influence on the bone formation.

PMID- 28605990
TI  - MiR-25 protects PC-12 cells from H2O2 mediated oxidative damage via WNT/beta
      catenin pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with modulation of different
      microRNAs (miRs). This study aims to explore the role of miR-25 in PC-12 cells to
      reveal the potential of miR-25 in SCI treatment. METHODS: SCI model was
      established in C57BL/6 mice, then miR-expression in the injured spinal cords were
      detected by qRT-PCR. PC-12 cells were exposed to H2O2 conditions to establish an
      in vitro model of SCI. PC-12 cells were transfected with expressing vector or
      antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) of miR-25. The effects of miR-25 expression on
      H2O2-induced oxidative damage was evaluated by detection of cell viability,
      apoptosis, ROS activity, HIF-alpha and gammaH2A expression, and the level of
      inflammatory mediators. The expression of Nrf2 in cells was silenced by
      transfection with Nrf2 siRNA, and the effects of Nrf2 silence on miR-25-mediated
      PC-12 cells were detected. Besides, the expression of main proteins in Wnt/beta
      catenin and PI3 K/AKT/ERK signaling were assessed. RESULTS: miR-25 was low
      expressed in injured spinal cords. miR-25 protected PC-12 cells against H2O2
      induced oxidative damage, as evidenced by significant suppression in cell
      apoptosis, increase in cell viability, decrease in the level of ROS, HIF-alpha
      and gammaH2A, and decrease in inflammatory mediators (IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6,
      and MCP-1). However, Nrf2 silence abolished the protective functions of miR-25 on
      H2O2-induced damage. Furthermore, we found that Wnt/beta-catenin and PI3
      K/AKT/ERK signaling were activated by miR-25. CONCLUSIONS: miR-25 protects PC-12
      cells against H2O2-induced oxidative damage though regulation of Nrf2 and
      activation of Wnt/beta-catenin and PI3 K/AKT/ERK signaling.

PMID- 28605991
TI  - In Vivo Assessment of Engineered Skin Cell Delivery with Multimodal Optical
      Microscopy.
AB  - The healing process is often significantly impaired under conditions of chronic
      or large area wounds, which are often treated clinically using autologous split
      thickness skin grafts. However, in many cases, harvesting of donor tissue
      presents a serious problem such as in the case of very large area burns. In
      response to this, engineered biomaterials have emerged that attempt to mimic the
      natural skin environment or deliver a suitable therapy to assist in the healing
      process. In this study, a custom-built multimodal optical microscope capable of
      noninvasive structural and functional imaging is used to investigate both the
      engineered tissue microenvironment and the in vivo wound healing process.
      Investigation of various engineered scaffolds show the strong relationship among
      the microenvironment of the scaffold, the organization of the cells within the
      scaffold, and the delivery pattern of these cells onto the healing wound. Through
      noninvasive tracking of these processes and parameters, multimodal optical
      microscopy provides an important tool in the assessment of engineered scaffolds
      both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 28605994
TI  - Structure-based screening and molecular dynamics simulations offer novel natural
      compounds as potential inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isocitrate lyase.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the etiological agent of tuberculosis in humans and
      is responsible for more than two million deaths annually. M. tuberculosis
      isocitrate lyase (MtbICL) catalyzes the first step in the glyoxylate cycle, plays
      a pivotal role in the persistence of M. tuberculosis, which acts as a potential
      target for an anti-tubercular drug. To identify the potential anti-tuberculosis
      compound, we conducted a structure-based virtual screening of natural compounds
      from the ZINC database (n = 1,67,748) against the MtbICL structure. The ligands
      were docked against MtbICL in three sequential docking modes that resulted in 340
      ligands having better docking score. These compounds were evaluated for Lipinski
      and ADMET prediction, and 27 compounds were found to fit well with re-docking
      studies. After refinement by molecular docking and drug-likeness analyses, three
      potential inhibitors (ZINC1306071, ZINC2111081, and ZINC2134917) were identified.
      These three ligands and the reference compounds were further subjected to
      molecular dynamics simulation and binding energy analyses to compare the dynamic
      structure of protein after ligand binding and the stability of the MtbICL and
      bound complexes. The binding free energy analyses were calculated to validate and
      capture the intermolecular interactions. The results suggested that the three
      compounds had a negative binding energy with -96.462, -143.549, and -122.526 kJ
      mol-1 for compounds with IDs ZINC1306071, ZINC2111081, and ZINC2134917,
      respectively. These lead compounds displayed substantial pharmacological and
      structural properties to be drug candidates. We concluded that ZINC2111081 has a
      great potential to inhibit MtbICL and would add to the drug discovery process
      against tuberculosis.

PMID- 28605993
TI  - In vitro sensitivity to antimalarial drugs and polymorphisms in Pfg377 gene in
      Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from Mewat, India.
AB  - The malaria infection is the interplay of several complex factors, among which
      drug resistance and gametocyte biology are the crucial ones. Measurements of the
      drug sensitivity assays and prevalence of gametocyte genes play a major role in
      malaria eradication programmes. The purpose of this study was to assess the
      current drug sensitivity profile in the field isolates and type the Pfg377 gene.
      In vitro drug sensitivity assay was used to assess the susceptibility of
      Plasmodium falciparum field isolates collected from Mewat (Haryana), located in
      Northern region of India to four anti-malarial drugs. The inhibitory
      concentrations (IC50) for the four drugs viz Chloroquine (CQ), Artesunate (AS),
      Sulphadoxine (SD) and Pyrimethamine (PYR) were in the range of 10.11-113.2, 2.26
      4.08, 13.31-43.91 and 0.76-4.91 nM respectively in the evaluated 25 field
      isolates. The Pfg377 allele typing in the 26 field isolates revealed different
      types of haplotypes (A, B, C and D) varying by the size and number of repeats and
      deletions. The Pfg377 allelic types in the cryopreserved and adapted isolates of
      P. falciparum were compared to determine the parasite lines in them. The allele
      types or presence of different clones in the same sample could not be correlated
      significantly with resistance to any of the four drugs tested in the study. Our
      study revealed different drug sensitivity profiles of field isolates from Mewat
      region and allele typing of Pfg377 gene revealed different haplotypes of field
      isolates were circulating in parasite population.

PMID- 28605995
TI  - DNA trinucleotide (GAA) repeats in human genome: hint for disease pathogenesis?

PMID- 28605996
TI  - In vitro exposure of bull sperm cells to DMSA-coated maghemite nanoparticles does
      not affect cell functionality or structure.
AB  - Magnetic nanoparticles can be used in different areas of biology. It is therefore
      important to know the effects of such nanomaterials on germline cells as they may
      traverse the blood-testis barrier. This work aimed to evaluate the response of
      bull sperm after exposure to a magnetic fluid containing DMSA-coated maghemite
      nanoparticles (MNP-DMSA) in order to determine nanotoxicity. Bull sperm was
      incubated with MNP-DMSA at final concentrations of 0.06, 0.03 or 0.015 mg Fe/mL.
      Sperm kinetics, plasma membrane integrity and acrosome reaction were evaluated
      over a 4 h incubation period. The sperm cells were also evaluated by transmission
      electron microscopy. Exposure of bull sperm to MNP-DMSA did not affect sperm
      kinetics or integrity. Neither ultrastructural damage of sperm cells nor uptake
      of nanoparticles by the spermatozoa was observed. In conclusion, MNP-DMSA does
      not affect sperm function or structure under the conditions tested.

PMID- 28605997
TI  - Predictors of Desire to Institutionalization in Dementia Caregivers From a
      Developing Country.
AB  - Older adults with dementia have higher rates of institutionalization than those
      without dementia. Desire to institutionalization (DTI) is an important factor
      influencing the actual institutionalization but is less well studied. This cross
      sectional study examines the DTI with the scale of same name developed by Morycz,
      in 1985, in a sample of 50 caregivers of patients with dementia in a tertiary
      clinical care setting in a developing country. Caregiver burden associated with
      personal strain (by factor analyzed Zarit Burden Interview scale), and stress
      perceived out of caregiving (by Perceived Stress Scale) predicted higher DTI.
      Besides, those who were married had lower DTI scores. The factors which didn't
      affect DTI were total caregiver burden, family and social support, age of patient
      and caregiver, education of caregiver, severity and duration of dementia, and
      treatment duration. These results were different from those of developed country
      based DTI studies and may indicate sociocultural differences.

PMID- 28605998
TI  - Primary Cutaneous CD4+ Small/Medium Pleomorphic T-Cell Lymphoproliferative
      Disorder: A Case Series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative
      disorder (CD4+ PCSM-LPD) is defined by a predominance of small- to medium-sized
      CD4+ pleomorphic T cells and a favorable clinical course. OBJECTIVE: We performed
      a retrospective analysis of 6 patients with CD4+ PCSM-LPD and reviewed the
      literature to address questions about its diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.
      METHODS: Patients were 3 men and 3 women with a median age of 50 years. All
      patients presented with a single erythematous nodule, localised on the head in 4
      patients and the upper trunk in 2 cases. No patients showed extracutaneous
      disease at any evaluation. Histopathologic features were characterised by
      nodular, diffuse, or, in 1 case, a superficial dense infiltrate of small/medium
      sized pleomorphic CD4+/PD1+ T lymphocytes. T-cell receptor clonality was
      demonstrated in 5 cases. Treatment was surgical excision in 5 cases and
      radiotherapy in 1 case. RESULTS: All patients achieved complete resolution
      without relapses, during a median follow-up of 3 years. A review of the
      literature confirmed that CD4+ PCSM-LPD presents predominantly with a solitary
      nodular lesion on the face, neck, or upper trunk in adult patients. Surgical
      excision is the preferred treatment. Spontaneous resolution after biopsy may
      occur. CONCLUSIONS: CD4+ PCSM-LPD is a rare disorder with a favorable course.

PMID- 28606000
TI  - A controlled trial of trauma-focused therapy versus problem-solving in Islamic
      children affected by civil conflict and disaster in Aceh, Indonesia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relative efficacies of trauma-focused cognitive
      behavior therapy and problem-solving therapy in treating post-traumatic stress
      disorder in children affected by civil conflict in Aceh, Indonesia. METHOD: A
      controlled trial of children with post-traumatic stress disorder ( N = 64)
      randomized children to either five individual weekly sessions of trauma-focused
      cognitive behavior therapy or problem-solving therapy provided by lay-counselors
      who were provided with brief training. Children were assessed by blind
      independent assessors at pretreatment, posttreatment and 3-month follow-up on
      post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anger, as well as caregiver
      ratings of the child's post-traumatic stress disorder levels. RESULTS: Intent-to
      treat analyses indicated no significant linear time * treatment condition
      interaction effects for post-traumatic stress disorder at follow-up ( t(129.05) =
      -0.55, p = 0.58), indicating the two conditions did not differ. Across both
      conditions, there were significant reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder
      on self-reported ( t(131.26) = -9.26, p < 0.001) and caregiver-reported (
      t(170.65) = 3.53, p = 0.001) measures and anger ( t(127.66) = -7.14, p < 0.001).
      Across both conditions, there was a large effect size for self-reported post
      traumatic stress disorder (cognitive behavior therapy: 3.73, 95% confidence
      interval = [2.75, 3.97]; problem-solving: 2.68, 95% confidence interval = [2.07,
      3.29]). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that trauma-focused cognitive
      behavior therapy and problem-solving approaches are comparably successful in
      reducing post-traumatic stress disorder and anger in treating mental health in
      children in a post-conflict setting. This pattern may reflect the benefits of non
      specific therapy effects or gains associated with trauma-focused or problem
      solving approaches.

PMID- 28605999
TI  - The Influence of Psychosocial and Cognitive Factors on Perceived Threat of
      Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - This study explored psychosocial and cognitive predictors of perceived threat of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Respondents were 1641 adults (mean age: 64.4; 54%
      female; 82% white) who completed a module in the Health and Retirement Study, a
      nationally representative survey of adults aged >=50. Findings show that
      perceived threat was significantly higher for those aged 50 to 64 ( P < .001) and
      65 to 74 ( P < .05) than for those >=75. Respondents with a family history of AD
      had significantly greater perceived threat ( P < .001) than those with no
      experience. Stronger endorsement of the beliefs that stress ( P < .01) or
      genetics ( P < .01) are important AD risk factors was significantly associated
      with greater perceived threat, as was having more depressive symptoms ( P < .01),
      poorer self-rated memory ( P < .01), and lower cognitive function ( P < .01).
      Personal experience moderated the relationship between perceived threat and 2
      variables: age and self-rated memory. Understanding perceived AD threat may
      inform practice and policies centered on early and accurate diagnosis.

PMID- 28606001
TI  - Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).

PMID- 28606002
TI  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension due to an intratumoral shunt: an unexpected side
      effect of sunitinib.

PMID- 28606003
TI  - Patient Satisfaction Is Linked to Nursing Workload in a Singapore Hospital.
AB  - No studies have examined the association between patient satisfaction and the
      allocation of nursing care hours using a workload management system. The aim of
      this study is to examine the correlation between inpatients' perceived
      satisfaction with nursing care and nursing workload management in a Singapore
      hospital. A secondary data analysis was performed based on the results of 270
      patients' perceived satisfaction measured by the Revised Humane Caring Scale and
      nursing workload management data extracted from the TrendCare Patient Acuity
      System. Data were collected from March to October 2013. There were weak positive
      ( rs = .212 to rs = .120) and negative ( rs = -.120 to rs = -.196) correlations
      between patient satisfaction and nursing workload. Nursing leaders should build
      positive work environment through maximizing efficient resource allocation and
      adequate staffing to deliver safe patient care. Future studies could involve
      other patient outcomes such as incidences of fall and pressure ulcer.

PMID- 28606004
TI  - Smartphone Usage, Social Media Engagement, and Willingness to Participate in
      mHealth Weight Management Research Among African American Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African American women (AAW) are in a unique position to be recruited
      into mobile (mHealth) weight management research and programs due to their high
      rates of obesity and their high ownership of smartphones. AIM: This study
      examined smartphone usage, social media engagement, and willingness to
      participate in mHealth weight management among AAW in north-central Florida,
      United States. METHODS: A self-administered survey was completed by a convenience
      sample of 425 smartphone owners in north-central Florida. RESULTS: Mean age was
      34.84 +/- 13.74, with age distribution of 18 to 29 (45%), 30 to 50 (39%), and 51+
      years (17%). Mean body mass index was 29.52 +/- 8.18. Most used smartphones to
      access the Internet daily and were engaged with eight social media sites, such as
      Facebook (85%), YouTube (75%), and Google+ (57%). Compared to those 51+, those 18
      to 29 were more likely to use YouTube (odds ratio [OR] = 2.52, p = .017) and
      Instagram (OR = 10.90, p < .0001), but they were less likely to use Google+ (OR =
      0.40, p = .009). Compared to those 51+, those 30 to 50 were more likely to use
      Instagram (beta = 1.28, OR = 3.61, p = .014) and Facebook (beta = 1.04, OR =
      2.84, p < .006). Most were willing to participate in research that used text
      messages (73%), smartwatches/fitness trackers (69%), and smartphone apps (68%).
      Compared to those 51+, women 18 to 29 were more likely to report willingness to
      use a smartphone app (OR = 5.45, p < .0001) as were those 30 to 50 (OR = 3.14, p
      < .0001). CONCLUSION: AAW's high ownership of smartphones, use of mHealth apps
      and tools, and willingness to participate in mHealth research has the potential
      to curb the obesity epidemic by participating in mHealth weight management
      programs and research.

PMID- 28606005
TI  - Group assessment of key indicators of sustainable waste management in developing
      countries.
AB  - Decision makers in developing countries are struggling to solve the present
      problems of solid waste management. Prioritisation and ranking of the most
      important indicators that influence the waste management system is very useful
      for any decision maker for the future planning and implementation of a
      sustainable waste management system. The aim of this study is to evaluate key
      indicators and their related sub-indicators in a group decision-making
      environment. In order to gain insight into the subject it was necessary to obtain
      the qualified opinions of decision makers from different countries who understand
      the situation in the sector of waste management in developing countries. An
      assessment is performed by 43 decision makers from both developed and developing
      countries, and the applied methodology is based on a combined use of the analytic
      hierarchy process, from the multi-criteria decision-making set of tools, and the
      preferential voting method known as Borda Count, which belongs to social choice
      theory. Pairwise comparison of indicators is performed with the analytic
      hierarchy process, and the ranking of indicators once obtained is assessed with
      Borda Count. Detailed analysis of the final results showed that the Institutional
      Administrative indicator was the most important one, with the maximum weight as
      derived by both groups of decision makers. The results also showed that the
      combined use of the analytic hierarchy process and Borda Count contributes to the
      credibility and objectivity of the decision-making process, allowing its use in
      more complex waste management group decision-making problems to be recommended.

PMID- 28606006
TI  - A beginner's guide to the literature search in medical education.
AB  - Conducting a literature search can be a daunting prospect if you have not done it
      before. This article aims to provide a beginner's guide to searching the medical
      education literature, by describing how to construct an effective search
      strategy, the resources that are available and the basics of how searching works.

PMID- 28606008
TI  - Paradoxical embolism in the setting of inferior vena cava filter removal.

PMID- 28606007
TI  - Dimethyl fumarate improves white matter function following severe hypoperfusion:
      Involvement of microglia/macrophages and inflammatory mediators.
AB  - The brain's white matter is highly vulnerable to reductions in cerebral blood
      flow via mechanisms that may involve elevated microgliosis and pro-inflammatory
      pathways. In the present study, the effects of severe cerebral hypoperfusion were
      investigated on white matter function and inflammation. Male C57Bl/6J mice
      underwent bilateral common carotid artery stenosis and white matter function was
      assessed at seven days with electrophysiology in response to evoked compound
      action potentials (CAPs) in the corpus callosum. The peak latency of CAPs and
      axonal refractoriness was increased following hypoperfusion, indicating a marked
      functional impairment in white matter, which was paralleled by axonal and myelin
      pathology and increased density and numbers of microglia/macrophages. The
      functional impairment in peak latency was significantly correlated with increased
      microglia/macrophages. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF; 100 mg/kg), a drug with anti
      inflammatory properties, was found to reduce peak latency but not axonal
      refractoriness. DMF had no effect on hypoperfusion-induced axonal and myelin
      pathology. The density of microglia/macrophages was significantly increased in
      vehicle-treated hypoperfused mice, whereas DMF-treated hypoperfused mice had
      similar levels to that of sham-treated mice. The study suggests that increased
      microglia/macrophages following cerebral hypoperfusion contributes to the
      functional impairment in white matter that may be amenable to modulation by DMF.

PMID- 28606009
TI  - A novel method of suspending sheep for clinical research.
AB  - The slinging of sheep is a commonly reported, yet poorly described procedure,
      which is useful for the advancement of veterinary and medical preclinical
      research. We have described a novel, flexible and repeatable method of suspending
      sheep to varying degrees while not affecting mobility and thereby improving
      animal husbandry and welfare.

PMID- 28606010
TI  - Orthographic Input and the Acquisition of German Final Devoicing by Native
      Speakers of English.
AB  - We present an artificial lexicon study designed to test the hypothesis that
      native English speakers experience interference from written input when acquiring
      surface voicing in German words. Native English speakers were exposed to German
      like words (e.g., /?talphait/ and /?talphaid/, both pronounced [?talphait]) along
      with pictured meanings, and in some cases, their written forms (e.g., <Steit> and
      <Steid>). At test, participants whose input included the written forms were more
      likely to produce final voiced obstruents when naming the pictures, indicating
      that access to the written forms in the input interfered with their acquisition
      of target-like surface forms. In a separate experiment, we attempted to moderate
      this negative impact of the written input by explicitly telling participants
      about the misleading nature of the words' written forms, with no beneficial
      effect on their pronunciation accuracy. Together these findings indicate a
      powerful influence of orthographic input on second language lexical-phonological
      development that is not readily overcome by a simple intervention.

PMID- 28606011
TI  - Delayed Endovascular Stenting of Right Subclavian Artery Pseudoaneurysm Caused by
      Gunshot Accident in a Syrian Refugee: A Case Report.
AB  - Sharp penetrating injuries causing right subclavian artery pseudoaneurysm are
      considered rare. Surgical repair is reportedly associated with a high mortality
      rate and is considered technically challenging. 1 In this case report, we report
      the successful endovascular repair of a delayed pseudoaneurysm of the right
      subclavian artery caused by a gunshot injury in a 22-year-old Syrian refugee that
      was associated with significant right brachial panplexopathy. The patient was
      successfully managed with angioplastic ballooning of the stenotic region of the
      artery and a covered self-expanding stent. The patient recovered uneventfully,
      and follow-up evaluation revealed significant improvement in neurological
      deficit.

PMID- 28606012
TI  - Scurvy - surprisingly not yet extinct.

PMID- 28606013
TI  - Decrease of CD69 levels on TCR Valpha7.2+CD4+ innate-like lymphocytes is
      associated with impaired cytotoxic functions in chronic hepatitis B virus
      infected patients.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of chronic liver disease that
      may progress to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Host immune
      responses represent the key determinants of HBV clearance or persistence. Here,
      we investigated the role of the early activation marker, CD69 and effector
      cytokines, granzyme B (GrB) and IFN-gamma in the exhaustion of innate-like TCR
      Valpha7.2+CD4+T cells, in 15 individuals with chronic HBV (CHB) infection where
      six were HBV DNA+ and nine were HBV DNA-. The percentage of cytokine-producing T
      cells and MAIT cells were significantly perturbed in HBV patients relative to
      healthy controls (HCs). The intracellular expression of GrB and IFN-gamma was
      significantly reduced in MAIT cells derived from HBV-infected patients as
      compared to HCs, and the levels correlated with the percentage and levels [mean
      fluorescence intensity (MFI)] of CD69 expression. The total expression of CD69
      (iMFI) was lower in CHB patients as compared to HCs. The frequency of CD69+ cells
      correlated with the levels of cytokine expression (MFI), particularly in CHB
      patients as compared to HCs. In summary, the polyfunctionality of peripheral T
      cells was significantly reduced among CHB patients, especially in the TCR
      Valpha7.2+CD4+T cells, and the levels of cytokine expression correlated with
      functional cytokine levels.

PMID- 28606014
TI  - TLR2-stimulating contaminants in glycoconjugate fractions prepared from
      Bacteroides fragilis.
AB  - Bacteroides fragilis is a member of the normal intestinal flora and is involved
      in host immunostimulation via TLR2. On the bacterial cell surface,
      glycoconjugates, such as LPS and capsular polysaccharide A (PSA), have been
      reported to participate in host immunostimulation via TLR2. Previously, we
      identified a TLR2-stimulating lipoprotein in B. fragilis cells. In this study, we
      demonstrated that TLR2-stimulating principal molecules in glycoconjugate
      fractions prepared from B. fragilis are contaminating proteinous molecules, which
      may also be lipoproteins. The glycoconjugate fractions were prepared by phenol
      hot water extraction of B. fragilis wild type and PSA-deficient strains, followed
      by hydrophobic interaction chromatography. TLR2-stimilating activities of the
      fractions were not affected by PSA deficiency. By in-gel TLR2-stimulation assay,
      molecules in high-molecular-mass area, where capsular polysaccharides were
      migrated, were found not to stimulate TLR2, but those in the range of 15-40 kDa
      were active. Further, proteinase K could digest the latter molecules and the TLR2
      stimulating activities were migrated to the area of below 15 kDa. These results
      support that proteinous molecules, which are estimated to be lipoproteins, are
      responsible for almost all TLR2-stimulating activity in the glycoconjugate
      fractions prepared from B. fragilis.

PMID- 28606015
TI  - Retrospective analysis of premedication, glucocorticosteroids, and H1
      antihistamines for preventing infusion reactions associated with cetuximab
      treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.
AB  - Objectives We evaluated infusion-related reactions associated with cetuximab
      combination chemotherapy comprising an H1-receptor antagonist plus dexamethasone
      as anti-allergy premedications for patients with head and neck cancer. Methods We
      retrospectively evaluated 248 patients who received a cetuximab combination
      regimen between December 2012 and August 2015. All patients received 5 mg
      intravenous dichlorpheniramine (H1-receptor antagonist), and dexamethasone (DEX)
      was adjusted from 6.6 mg to 13.2 mg according to the emetogenic risk. Results We
      identified 248 subjects, including 13 (5.2%) with infusion-related reactions
      (grade 1 in five [2.0%], grade 2 in seven [2.8%], and grade 4 in one [0.4%]). The
      incidence of these reactions in cetuximab combination regimens, each employing an
      H1-receptor antagonist, using a higher dose of dexamethasone (13.2 mg) was not
      significantly lower compared with those using 6.6 mg DEX (2.4% vs 8.3%,
      respectively; p = 0.43). Twelve patients experienced infusion-related reactions
      associated with the first cetuximab administration, and one reaction occurred
      after the third administration. Conclusions The incidence of infusion-related
      reactions was lower compared with those of previous studies. Dexamethasone
      combined with an H1-receptor antagonist was useful for preventing allergic
      responses. The incidence of infusion-related reactions was not lower with 13.2 mg
      dexamethasone, and 6.6 mg DEX prevented infusion-related reactions.

PMID- 28606016
TI  - Research in the precaution of recombinant human erythropoietin to steroid-induced
      osteonecrosis of the rat femoral head.
AB  - Objective To elucidate the effects of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO)
      on steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head in rats. Methods Twenty-four
      adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups of eight rats each. The
      rats in the positive control group were injected with dexamethasone at 1 mg/kg
      twice a week for 5 weeks. The rats in the negative control group were injected
      with sodium chloride alone. The rats in the experimental group were injected with
      dexamethasone at 1 mg/kg twice a week for 5 weeks and rHuEPO (500 u/d/kg) daily
      for 5 weeks. The femoral head on one side was examined by hematoxylin and eosin
      staining, and that on the other side was examined by CD31 staining of the
      capillaries. Results Hematoxylin and eosin staining in the positive control group
      showed that the bony trabeculae had become obviously narrow and sparse with
      discontinuity of the integrity. The integrity of the trabeculae was better in the
      experimental group than positive control group. The CD31 expression was lower in
      the positive control group than in the other two groups. Conclusion rHuEPO can
      effectively prevent osteocyte apoptosis, delaying or decreasing osteonecrosis of
      the femoral head.

PMID- 28606017
TI  - Histoplasmosis mimicking metastatic spinal tumour.
AB  - Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by a fungus called Histoplasma. Diagnosis
      of histoplasmosis is based on the culture of biological samples and detection of
      fungus in tissues. Histoplasmosis can mimic malignant lesions. We report a 65
      year-old, immunocompetent, male patient with back pain. We describe the main
      clinical and radiological characteristics in our patient who had vertebral
      histoplasmosis that mimicked cancer. A computed tomography scan showed lytic
      lesions of the right side of T4, T5, and T6 vertebral bodies. Magnetic resonance
      imaging displayed abnormal marrow signals in T4, T5, and T6 vertebral bodies (low
      signal on T1, high on T2 and short time inversion recovery (STIR)). Which was
      mimicking malignancy, such as haematological malignancy and metastatic bone
      cancer. Therefore, thoracic spinal surgery using the anterior approach was
      performed. An intraoperative frozen section examination and routine postoperative
      pathology showed thoracic histoplasmosis infection. Treatment of histoplasmosis
      was performed with oral itraconazole. The lesions did not progress and the
      patient symptomatically improved at a follow-up of 26 months.

PMID- 28606018
TI  - A saprophytic fungus ( Sepedonium) associated with fatal pneumonia in a patient
      undergoing stem cell transplantation.
AB  - Sepedonium sp . is a saprophytic fungus that inhabits soil and plant material.
      Few cases of infection with this fungus have been reported. We describe a case of
      a child who received haploidentical stem cell transplantation. The patient
      developed Sepedonium sp . infection after graft failure accompanied by
      cytomegalovirus infection. This was associated with two genotypes corresponding
      to a gB1 and gB3 mixture, which suggested involvement of two strains. Throughout
      the clinical course, immunosuppression and subsequent development of the fungal
      infection was observed. Our findings add to the available evidence regarding the
      potential for acquisition of fungal infection from the environment in patients at
      high risk because of immunosuppression. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first case of Sepedonium sp . infection following graft failure accompanied by
      previous cytomegalovirus infection in a patient with hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation.

PMID- 28606019
TI  - Low plasma PDGF-BB levels are associated with estradiol in postmenopausal
      osteoporosis: PDGF-BB mediated by estradiol in women.
AB  - Objective This study aimed to investigate the association between low plasma
      Platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) levels and oestradiol in
      Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP). Methods This prospective study measured
      plasma PDGF-BB and oestradiol levels in outpatients who were admitted to our
      hospital. Participants were screened and then allocated to three groups: normal
      young women, postmenopausal control, and PMOP. Additionally, Sprague-Dawley rats
      underwent either sham surgery or bilateral ovariectomy (OVX), and were divided
      into the following groups: sham, OVX, OVX + oestradiol, and OVX + PDGF-BB. Plasma
      oestradiol and PDGF-BB levels were measured using commercially available ELISA
      kits. Results A total of 121 participants, including 69 normal young women, 28
      patients with primary PMOP, and 24 age-matched postmenopausal women were
      enrolled. Plasma oestradiol and PDGF-BB levels were lower in postmenopausal
      women, especially in PMOP ( P < 0.01). Pearson correlations analysis showed that
      PDGF-BB levels were positively correlated with oestradiol levels and inversely
      correlated with age ( P < 0.01). The OVX rat model showed that oestradiol
      replacement increased plasma PDGF-BB levels, while PDGF-BB systematic treatment
      had no effect on plasma oestradiol levels. Conclusions Plasma PDGF-BB levels are
      maintained by oestrogen in normal young women and play a major role in PMOP.

PMID- 28606020
TI  - Neonatal hearing screening in remote areas of China: a comparison between rural
      and urban populations.
AB  - Objectives Universal neonatal hearing screening (UNHS) started late in some
      underdeveloped areas in China, with relatively scarce screening resources and a
      wide regional distribution. This study aimed to compare the screening performance
      between rural and urban populations, and to examine the characteristics and
      problems of UNHS in underdeveloped regions in China. Methods A two-step hearing
      screening program was used in neonates born in Liuzhou Maternal and Child Health
      Hospital and in patients who were born in other hospitals, but admitted to the
      neonatal intensive care unit. This program involved distortion product
      otoacoustic emission and automated auditory brainstem response. Characteristics
      of each newborn, as well as the screening outcomes and performance were compared
      between rural and urban populations. Results A total of 19,098 newborns were
      screened with a referral rate of 17.9% at the first step. Sixty-three (0.33%)
      newborns had hearing loss. The prevalence of permanent hearing loss was 2.250/00.
      The average screening age was significantly older in the rural population than in
      the urban population in the first ( P < 0.01) and second steps of screening ( P <
      0.05). The rural population had a higher referral rate in both steps than the
      urban population ( P < 0.01). The follow-up rate was much lower in the rural
      population than in the urban population ( P < 0.05), but dramatically increased
      in 2014 compared with the previous 2 years. Conclusions A low follow-up rate is a
      critical issue when carrying out UNHS in developing countries, such as China,
      especially for rural populations. The government should establish more hearing
      referral centres to increase service coverage and supply financial assistance for
      low-income populations.

PMID- 28606021
TI  - Epileptic seizures with reversible lesions in bilateral frontoparietal lobes: A
      case report and literature review.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recommended for patients with epileptic
      seizures to rule out an underlying focal lesion. However, the radiological
      characteristics of epilepsy are not well elucidated. Transient periictal MRI
      abnormality (TPMA) refers to reversible MRI signal changes observed in epileptic
      patients. A 32-year-old man presented with a 2-week history of epileptic
      seizures, which initially manifested as focal aware seizures and progressed to a
      generalized tonic-clonic seizure on the third day. Electroencephalography showed
      sharp waves, sharp and slow wave complexes, and irregular delta waves over
      bilateral temporal lobes. After admission, brain MRI showed abnormal signals in
      the bilateral frontoparietal lobes. He was administered oral oxcarbazepine (75 
      mg twice daily). During follow-up he was seizure-free; the abnormal MRI signals
      persisted at 2 weeks, but were completely resolved at 4 months. The possibility
      of TPMA should be considered in patients with epileptic disorders, and
      differentiated from a potential epileptogenic lesion.

PMID- 28606022
TI  - Severity and frequency of restless legs syndrome in patients with familial
      Mediterranean fever.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common sensory motor disorder. RLS
      an urge to move the extremities that may be accompanied by dysesthesias, and
      significantly affects quality of life of affected patients. The frequency of RLS
      is higher in different systemic inflammatory diseases. Familial Mediterranean
      fever (FMF) is an inherited inflammatory disease characterized by attacks of
      polyserositis, arthritis, and fever. The prevalence of RLS in patients with FMF
      is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence rate of RLS in a sample
      of patients with FMF and compare this prevalence with that of a matched normal
      population. METHOD: A total of 60 patients with FMF and 60 healthy controls were
      studied. All participants underwent a neurological examination. Diagnostic
      criteria as proposed by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group
      (IRLSSG) were used to define RLS. The IRLSSG rating scale for the severity of RLS
      was applied to determine the severity of symptoms. RESULTS: The prevalence of RLS
      was not significantly different between patients and controls. Although the mean
      International Restless Legs Syndrome Rating Scale (IRLSRS) scores tended to be
      higher in patients compared with controls, this difference was not significant.
      When each item of the severity scale was compared between the two groups,
      significantly higher scores were found in some items of the IRLSRS in patients
      with FMF compared with controls. CONCLUSION: According to this result, RLS
      symptoms in patients with FMF were more frequent and lasted longer than those in
      controls.

PMID- 28606023
TI  - Over-expansion of drug-eluting stents in patients with left main coronary artery
      disease: An in vivo study.
AB  - Objective We aimed to determine the capacity of drug-eluting stent (DES) over
      expansion in left main coronary artery disease. Methods Left main interventions
      with the largest available DES platforms (4.0 mm) and post-dilation performed
      with large non-compliant balloons (>= 4.5 mm) were included. Maximal stent
      diameter (mm) and area (mm2) were measured using post-intervention intravascular
      ultrasound (IVUS). Stent diameter and area were calculated with the balloon
      diameter and inflation pressure. The diameter and area expansion indices were
      defined as follows: maximal/calculated stent diameter and maximal/calculated
      stent area, respectively. Results Twenty-three consecutive patients were
      included. The maximal stent diameter was 4.40 mm (4.30-4.80 mm), and 22 of 23
      patients showed a diameter expansion index greater than 0.90. The area expansion
      index was 0.862. The expansion index < 0.85 group had a significantly higher
      percentage of calcification >= 90 degrees  on IVUS than did the expansion index
      >= 0.85 group (72.7% versus 16.7%, P = 0.007). One stent fracture occurred during
      over-expansion and one ischemic event occurred during follow-up. Conclusions DESs
      with a nominal diameter of 4.0 mm can be effectively over-expanded in left main
      coronary artery disease. Achievement of predicted stent area can be affected by
      calcification.

PMID- 28606024
TI  - Effects of the acetabular fracture index and other factors of posterior wall
      acetabular fracture on functional outcome.
AB  - Objective To analyze the effects of the acetabular fracture index (AFI) and other
      factors on the functional outcome of patients with acetabular fractures involving
      the posterior wall. Methods Forty-eight patients who underwent surgery in our
      department were reviewed. According to the AFI, which indicates the percentage of
      remaining intact posterior acetabular arc, the patients were divided into Group A
      (AFI <= 25%, 11 patients), Group B (25% < AFI <= 50%, 23 patients), Group C (50%
      < AFI <= 75%, 7 patients), and Group D (75% < AFI <= 100%, 7 patients). The AFI
      was measured with a computed tomography picture archiving and communication
      system or calculated with the cosine theorem. A nonparametric test and ordinal
      regression were used to determine the role of the AFI and other factors on the
      functional outcome. Perioperative information, including demographic and fracture
      related data, reduction quality, physical therapy duration, association with a
      lower limb fracture and avascular necrosis of the femoral head were prospectively
      gathered. Results The mean AFIs of A, B, C, and D groups were 14.3%, 35.9%,
      59.5%, and 81.2%, respectively. No statistically significant differences were
      observed among the groups for demographic and fracture-related data. A better
      reduction quality (OR = 4.21, 95%CI 1.42 ~ 12.43, chi2 = 6.781, P = 0.009) and a
      larger value of AFI (OR = 2.56, 95%CI 1.18 ~ 5.55, chi2 = 5.648, P = 0.017)
      result in a higher functional score. The functional outcome of a physical therapy
      duration of more than 12 months (OR = 0.15, 95%CI 0.02 ~ 0.90, chi2 = 4.324, P =
      0.038) was better than that of less than 12 months. Lower limb fracture (OR =
      0.13, 95%CI 0.02 ~ 0.74, chi2 = 5.235, P = 0.022) and avascular necrosis of
      femoral head (OR = 0.02, 95%CI 0.00 ~ 0.87, chi2 = 4.127, P = 0.042) were found
      to correlate with a lower functional score. Conclusion With a greater of AFI, the
      functional outcome score would be better. Other factors, including reduction
      quality, physical therapy duration, association with a lower limb fracture, and
      avascular necrosis of the femoral head, most likely also affect hip functional
      recovery.

PMID- 28606025
TI  - Esophageal foreign bodies in adults with different durations of time from
      ingestion to effective treatment.
AB  - Objective This study was performed to identify the differences in clinical
      characteristics, operative methods, complications, and postoperative
      hospitalization stays for adults with esophageal foreign bodies with different
      durations of time from ingestion to effective treatment. Methods We
      retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 221 patients with a diagnosis of
      a foreign body in the esophagus, confirmed by rigid esophagoscopy, flexible
      esophagoscopy, or surgery. The differences between the two groups (Group A, <=24
      hours from ingestion to effective treatment; Group B, >24 hours from ingestion to
      effective treatment) were analyzed. Results Sharp foreign bodies comprised the
      majority of objects in the two groups, including jujube pits, bones (excluding
      fish bones), fish bones, dentures, and seafood shells. Foreign bodies located in
      the upper esophagus were more commonly observed in Group A than B. Significant
      differences were observed in the complication rate and length of postoperative
      hospitalization stays. Adults with esophageal foreign bodies had a high
      complication rate. Conclusions Rigid esophagoscopy can be used to remove sharp
      and bulky foreign bodies if more effective methods are unavailable. Effective
      treatment within 24 hours resulted in fewer complications and shorter
      postoperative hospitalization stays.

PMID- 28606026
TI  - Subclinical myocardial disease by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and
      spectroscopy in healthy HIV/Hepatitis C virus-coinfected persons.
AB  - Objective The contribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to the risk of
      heart failure in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-coinfected persons is
      unknown. The objective was to characterize cardiac function and morphology in HIV
      treated coinfected persons. Methods In a cross-sectional study, HIV-infected
      patients virologically suppressed on antiretroviral therapy without known
      cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus underwent cardiac magnetic resonance
      imaging and spectroscopy for measures of cardiac function, myocardial fibrosis,
      and steatosis. Results The study included 18 male patients with a median age of
      44 years. Of these, 10 had untreated HCV coinfection and eight had HIV
      monoinfection. Global systolic and diastolic function in the cohort were normal,
      and median myocardial fat content was 0.48% (interquartile range 0.35-1.54). Left
      ventricular (LV) mass index and LV mass/volume ratio were significantly greater
      in the HIV/HCV-coinfected group compared with the HIV-monoinfected group. In the
      HIV-monoinfected group, there was more myocardial fibrosis as measured by
      extracellular volume fraction. Conclusions There were differences between HIV/HCV
      coinfected and HIV-monoinfected patients in cardiac structure and morphology.
      Larger studies are needed to examine whether HIV and HCV independently contribute
      to mechanisms of heart failure.

PMID- 28606027
TI  - Factors affecting improvement of children and adolescents who were treated in the
      child and adolescent psychiatry inpatient unit.
AB  - Objective This study aimed to assess the correlates and predictors of improvement
      in general functioning of children and adolescents who are treated in the child
      and adolescent psychiatry (CAMHS) inpatient unit. Methods Hospital records of 308
      children and adolescents who were treated for at least 1 month in the CAMHS
      inpatient unit from 2005-2016 were included. Associations with individual,
      familial, and clinical variables and the difference in Children's Global
      Assessment Scale (DeltaCGAS) scores at admission and discharge were evaluated.
      Results Positive predictors of DeltaCGAS were older age and lower CGAS scores at
      admission, whereas high familial risk scores at admission and diagnosis of early
      onset schizophrenia negatively predicted DeltaCGAS (B = 0.698, p = 0002; B = 
      0.620, p < 0.001; B = -0.842, p = 0.002; B =-9.184, p = 0.000, respectively).
      Familial risk scores were significantly and negatively correlated with DeltaCGAS
      (p = 0.004, Spearman's rho = -0.2). Conclusions This study indicates that
      improvement in general functioning during inpatient treatment in CAMHS is better
      at an older age and with lower general functioning at admission. However, high
      familial risks and diagnosis of early-onset schizophrenia weakens this
      improvement.

PMID- 28606028
TI  - An Investigation of Perspectives of Respite Admission Among People Living With
      Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and the Hospitals That Support Them.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive disease with rapid
      degeneration. Respite care is an essential service for improving the well-being
      of both patients with this disease and their family caregivers, but accessibility
      of respite services is limited. This study investigates perspectives on respite
      admission among people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the
      hospitals supporting them. METHOD: We conducted semistructured interviews among 3
      patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 12 family members, exploring
      demographic information and their awareness and experience of respite admission.
      We also interviewed 16 representatives from hospitals about awareness of and
      preparation for respite admission for patients with this disease, the role of
      regional networks for intractable diseases, and knowledge about communication
      support schemes. RESULTS: We found significant differences in the revised
      Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale between patients who had
      and had not received respite admission. Qualitative analysis of the data
      indicated that respite admission was a contributory factor in continuing and
      stabilizing home care. Limited provision of social services and hospital care
      quality were barriers to respite admission. CONCLUSION: Respite admission was
      essential to continued home care for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
      Severe-stage patients were eligible for respite admission. Its accessibility,
      however, was limited, especially for patients living in rural areas. Supporting
      hospitals had limited capacity to respond to patients' needs. Individualized care
      and communication were internal barriers to respite admission.

PMID- 28606029
TI  - The Role of Community Health Centers in Reducing Racial Disparities in Spatial
      Access to Primary Care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Racial minorities are more likely to live in primary care shortage
      areas. We sought to understand community health centers' (CHCs) role in reducing
      disparities. METHODS: We surveyed all primary care practices in an urban area,
      identified low access areas, and examined how CHCs influence spatial
      accessibility. RESULTS: Census tracts with higher rates of public insurance
      (>=40% vs <10%, odds ratio [OR] = 31.06, P < .001; 30-39% vs 10%, OR = 7.84, P =
      0.001) were more likely to be near a CHC and those with moderate rates of
      uninsurance (10%-19% vs <10%, OR = 0.42, P = .045) were less likely. Racial
      composition was not associated with proximity. Tracts close to a CHC were less
      likely (OR = 0.11, P < .0001) to be in a low access area. This association did
      not differ based on racial composition. DISCUSSION: Although CHCs were more
      likely to be in areas with a greater fraction of racial minorities, location was
      more strongly influenced by public insurance rates. CHCs reduced the likelihood
      of being in low access areas but the effect did not vary by tract racial
      composition.

PMID- 28606030
TI  - Assessing Breast Cancer Risk Estimates Based on the Gail Model and Its Predictors
      in Qatari Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Gail model is the most widely used breast cancer risk assessment
      tool. An accurate assessment of individual's breast cancer risk is very important
      for prevention of the disease and for the health care providers to make decision
      on taking chemoprevention for high-risk women in clinical practice in Qatar. AIM:
      To assess the breast cancer risk among Arab women population in Qatar using the
      Gail model and provide a global comparison of risk assessment. SUBJECTS AND
      METHODS: In this cross-sectional study of 1488 women (aged 35 years and older),
      we used the Gail Risk Assessment Tool to assess the risk of developing breast
      cancer. Sociodemographic features such as age, lifestyle habits, body mass index,
      breast-feeding duration, consanguinity among parents, and family history of
      breast cancer were considered as possible risks. RESULTS: The mean age of the
      study population was 47.8 +/- 10.8 years. Qatari women and Arab women constituted
      64.7% and 35.3% of the study population, respectively. The mean 5-year and
      lifetime breast cancer risks were 1.12 +/- 0.52 and 10.57 +/- 3.1, respectively.
      Consanguineous marriage among parents was seen in 30.6% of participants. We found
      a relationship between the 5-year and lifetime risks of breast cancer and
      variables such as age, age at menarche, gravidity, parity, body mass index,
      family history of cancer, menopause age, occupation, and level of education. The
      linear regression analysis identified the predictors for breast cancer in women
      such as age, age at menarche, age of first birth, family history and age of
      menopausal were considered the strong predictors and significant contributing
      risk factors for breast cancer after adjusting for ethnicity, parity and other
      variables. CONCLUSION: The current study is the first to evaluate the performance
      of the Gail model for Arab women population in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Gail
      model is an appropriate breast cancer risk assessment tool for female population
      in Qatar.

PMID- 28606031
TI  - How Socioeconomic Status Affects Patient Perceptions of Health Care: A
      Qualitative Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Clinician perceptions of patients with low socioeconomic status
      (SES) have been shown to affect clinical decision making and health care delivery
      in this group. However, it is unknown how and if low SES patients perceive
      clinician bias might affect their health care. METHODS: In-depth interviews with
      80 enrollees in a state Medicaid program were analyzed to identify recurrent
      themes in their perceptions of care. RESULTS: Most subjects perceived that their
      SES affected their health care. Common themes included treatment provided, access
      to care, and patient-provider interaction. DISCUSSION: This study highlights
      complex perceptions patients have around how SES affects their health care. These
      results offer opportunities to reduce health care disparities through better
      understanding of their impact on the individual patient-provider relationship.
      This work may inform interventions that promote health equity via a multifaceted
      approach, which targets both providers and the health care system as a whole.

PMID- 28606032
TI  - Metformin, A New Era for an Old Drug in the Treatment of Immune Mediated Disease?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metformin, a widely prescribed blood glucose normalizing antidiabetic
      drug, is now beginning to receive increasing attention due to its anti
      inflammatory properties. OBJECTIVE: To provide a critical and comprehensive
      review of the available literature describing the effects of metformin on the
      immune system and on auto-inflammatory diseases. RESULTS: Based on the available
      scientific literature, metformin suppresses immune responses mainly through its
      direct effect on the cellular functions of various immune cell types by induction
      of AMPK and subsequent inhibition of mTORC1, and by inhibition of mitochondrial
      ROS production. Among key immune events, this results in inhibited monocyte to
      macrophage differentiation and restrained inflammatory capacity of activated
      macrophages. In addition, metformin treatment increases differentiation of T
      cells into both regulatory and memory T cells, as well as decreasing the capacity
      of neutrophils to commence in NETosis. Due to its inhibitory effect on the
      proinflammatory phenotype of immune cells, metformin seems to reduce auto-immune
      disease burden not only in several animal models, but has also shown beneficial
      results in some human trials. CONCLUSIONS: Based on its immunomodulatory
      properties and high tolerability as a drug, metformin is an interesting add-on
      drug for future trials in treatment of immune mediated inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 28606033
TI  - Tc-99m Radiolabeled Alendronate Sodium Microemulsion: Characterization and
      Permeability Studies Across Caco-2 Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alendronate sodium (ALD) is used orally but it is poorly absorbed
      from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. For this reason, microemulsion system was
      chosen to evaluate ALD from the GI tract after oral delivery. OBJECTIVE: This
      study was aimed to prepare water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsion formulation of ALD
      and evaluate the permeability of ALD microemulsion from Caco-2 cell lines with
      radioactive and nonradioactive studies. METHOD: The ALD microemulsion was
      developed by using pseudo-ternary phase diagram and composed of Soybean oil,
      Colliphor EL, Tween 80, Transcutol and distilled water. The prepared ALD
      microemulsion was characterized by physical appearance, droplet size, viscosity,
      pH, electrical conductivity and refractive index. The stability of the
      formulation was investigated for 6 months at 25+/-2 degrees C/60+/-5% of relative
      humidity (RH) as well as at 40+/-2 degrees C/75+/-5% RH. After that 1 mg of ALD
      was radiolabeled with 99mTc and added to microemulsion. The permeability studies
      were performed with both 99mTc-ALD microemulsion and ALD microemulsion. RESULTS:
      The experimental results suggested that ALD microemulsion presented adequate
      stability with droplet size varying from 37.8+/-0.9 to 39.9+/-1.2 nm during
      incubation time. In addition, ALD microemulsion was radiolabeled with high
      labeling efficiency (>95%). In a non-radioactive study, ALD permeability was
      found to be 45 ug.mL-1 and microemulsion has high permeability percentage when
      compared to another study. CONCLUSION: The novel w/o microemulsion formulation
      has been developed for oral delivery of ALD. Based on the results, permeability
      of ALD could be significantly improved by the microemulsion formulation. In
      addition, 99mTc-ALD microemulsion in capsule can be used for bone disease
      treatment and diagnosis.

PMID- 28606034
TI  - High Seroprevalence of Human Herpesvirus 8 Infection in HIV-positive Homosexual
      Men in Jiangsu Province, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-infected homosexual men are more frequently diagnosed with
      Kaposi's sarcoma. With the increase of HIV-infected homosexual men in China, we
      urgently need to know the KS-related human herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV-8)
      seroprevalence in this population. To investigate HHV-8 prevalence among HIV
      positive homosexual men, we recruited 183 patients naive of antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) whose blood samples presented with HIV-antibody positive as
      confirmed by western blot. METHODS: HIV viral load was tested using Cobas TaqMan
      HIV-1 test Version 2.0, and CD4 T cell counts were tested using a Flow cytometry
      instrument. All HIV-positive blood samples were collected and screened for KSHV.
      Immunofluorescence (IFA) test was conducted for HHV-8-Specific antibodies (anti
      LANA) in the plasma. HHV-8 DNA in whole blood cells of IFA-positive subjects was
      quantified with Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: All
      samples showed HIV RNA positive. CD4+ T cell count was 23% cases (42/183) which
      showed <=200 cells/MUL, 51.3% cases (94/183) showed 201-500 cells/MUL and 25.7%
      cases (47/183) showed >=501 cells/MUL. Immunofluorescence (IFA) test demonstrated
      an HHV-8 prevalence of 50.8% (93/183), among which 20.4% of the cases (19/93)
      were HHV-8 DNA positive. HHV-8 infection showed no difference among different age
      groups (p=0.96). Similarly, HHV-8 infection exhibited no significant difference
      among different HIV viral load groups (p=0.08). However, HHV-8 infection among
      different CD4+ T cell count showed significant difference (P=0.0004). CONCLUSION:
      This study showed a high seroprevalence of human herpesvirus 8 infection in
      HIVpositive homosexual men.

PMID- 28606035
TI  - Potential Minor Haplotypes of CYP2D6 in the Japanese Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CYP2D6 is one of the most significant polymorphic genes of
      drugmetabolizing enzymes due to its association with different metabolic
      activities and the pharmacokinetics of CYP2D6 substrates. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of this study was to explore for a novel haplotype of CYP2D6 in the
      Japanese population by using a large database of previous clinical studies.
      METHODS: We analyzed CYP2D6 genotype data from a total of 723 Japanese
      individuals for 8 loci (100C>T, 1758G>A, 1846G>A, 2573 insertion of C, 2850C>T,
      2988G>A, 4125 insertion of 9bp, and 4180G>C) and gene deletion. Genotypes were
      determined by the designated alleles CYP2D6*2, *4, *5, *10, *14A, *14B, *18, *21,
      and *41. RESULTS: The frequencies of the common major haplotypes CYP2D6*1, *10,
      and *2 in the Japanese population were respectively 43.5%, 38.0%, and 11.3%. In
      11 subjects, diplotypes of CYP2D6 were not identified and the genotypes at the 8
      loci suggested that there were 2 minor haplotypes, one with only a variation at
      4180G>C compared with the wild type CYP2D6*1 (Hap1, frequency: 0.4%) and one with
      only a variation at 100C>T (Hap2, frequency: 0.4%). The Hap1 haplotype is
      considered to have no effect on metabolic activity, while it is estimated that
      the Hap2 haplotype does have an effect on metabolic activity. By comparing with
      the allele nomenclature for CYP2D6, the Hap2 haplotype was considered to be a
      potentially novel haplotype involving 100C>T without 4180G>C. CONCLUSION: Using a
      large database of CYP2D6 genotypes in the Japanese population, we found a novel
      haplotype which involves 100C>T without 4180G>C. Although the haplotype will need
      to be confirmed by full sequencing, it may be a unique haplotype with an
      exception to the strong linkage disequilibrium between 100C>T and 4180G>C.

PMID- 28606036
TI  - Scleroderma-like Disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scleroderma is a term used to describe diseases that involve
      hardening and tightening of the skin and the underlying subcutaneous connective
      tissue. It could be localized to skin and subcutaneous tissue, or may involve the
      internal organs too in systemic sclerosis. OBJECTIVE: There are disorders that
      can cause hardening and tightening of skin and mimic scleroderma but are rarely
      associated with Raynaud phenomenon, sclerodactyly, and autoantibodies in the
      serum, features specific to scleroderma/systemic sclerosis. CONCLUSION: These are
      termed as "scleroderma variants" or "scleroderma like disorders". This review
      discusses the various "scleroderma variants" e.g. scleromyxedema, scleredema,
      nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, and eosinophilic fasciitis.

PMID- 28606037
TI  - Is There a Role for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment in the
      Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnea-related Hypertension?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major cause of secondary
      hypertension. Moreover, a considerable proportion of patients with essential
      hypertension have OSA. OSA also appears to increase the risk for cardiovascular
      disease and all-cause mortality. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
      treatment substantially reduces daytime somnolence and improves quality of life
      in patients with OSA. However, the effects of CPAP treatment on blood pressure
      (BP) are questionable. The aim of the present review is to summarize the evidence
      regarding the association between OSA with hypertension and the effects of CPAP
      treatment on BP in patients with OSA. The severity of OSA directly correlates
      with the increase in BP. Moreover, patients with OSA are at increased risk for
      developing hypertension. However, CPAP treatment does not result in substantial
      reductions in BP in unselected patients with OSA with moderate adherence to this
      treatment. Nevertheless, these effects are more pronounced in patients with more
      severe hypertension, more severe OSA and more importantly, in those who adhere to
      CPAP treatment. CONCLUSION: Therefore, it is essential to improve the adherence
      to CPAP treatment in order to optimally manage this important cause of
      hypertension.

PMID- 28606038
TI  - Site-related Effects of Relaxin in the Gastrointestinal Tract Through Nitric
      Oxide Signalling: An Updated Report.
AB  - The peptide hormone relaxin (RLX), in addition to its effects on reproduction,
      has been reported to influence gastrointestinal motility. Interestingly, the
      digestive tract has been shown to express RLX receptors and the hormone appears
      to exert site-specific effects acting at the neural or at the smooth muscle
      level, mainly by a nitric oxide (NO)-mediated mechanism. NO, released by the
      enteric nerves and/or smooth muscle cells, is one of the main mediators of
      gastrointestinal relaxation. In fact, in murine in vitro preparations, RLX
      depresses organ motility acting at the neural level in the stomach and at the
      muscular level in the small intestine; conversely, in the colon, this hormone
      paradoxically increases contractility operating at both neural and muscle levels.
      These effects are ascribable to the ability of RLX to selectively regulate the
      expression of the different nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms in the different
      gastrointestinal tracts. Furthermore, recent electrophysiological experiments
      have shown that RLX can directly affect the biophysical properties of ileal and
      colonic smooth muscle cells. This mini-review is intended to offer an update on
      the site-related actions of RLX on gastrointestinal tract motility in relation
      with its site-specific effects on NOS isoforms expression. Based on these
      properties, RLX might be considered a potential therapeutic approach to
      gastrointestinal motor dysfunctions related to an altered NO production.

PMID- 28606040
TI  - Recent Advances in Pathophysiology of Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitutes the primary reason for
      mortality and morbidity in persons worldwide below 45 years of age. 1.7 million
      Traumatic events occur yearly in the United States alone, considering for 50,000
      deaths. In severe traumatic brain injury sufferers, a considerable achievement
      attained in treating short-term consequences; but till date, huge failures are
      occurring in researcher's capability to render severe traumatic brain injury
      sufferers to an elevated degree of performing. METHODS: Initial damage force
      results in Primary brain injury, causing tissue destruction and distortion in the
      early post-injury period. These secondary injuries from TBI cause changes in cell
      performance and dissemination of trauma via activities like free-radical
      generation, depolarization, and formation of edema, excitotoxicity, and
      disruption of blood brain barrier, calcium homeostasis, and intracranial
      hematoma. The expectation for developing effect in TBI sufferers is the best
      knowledge of these activities and enhancement of remedies that restrict secondary
      brain damage. RESULTS: The focal point of this study is on knowing the complex
      outburst of secondary impairments and studying the pathophysiology of TBI which
      provides alternative treatment benefits. CONCLUSION: While injured persons
      demonstrate dissimilar levels of harm and every case is novel with specific
      recovery profiles, this article strengthens the recent pathophysiological sight
      of TBI mainly attention on oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, cerebral oxygenation
      and cerebral blood flow (CBF), development of edema, and inflammatory activities.
      For initial research acknowledgment of these recurring factors could permit
      clarification of possible beneficial targets.

PMID- 28606041
TI  - Mechanisms of Action, Resistance and Toxicity of Insecticides Targeting GABA
      Receptors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors play a central role in fast
      inhibitory neurotransmission in insects. Several classes of insecticides
      targeting insect GABA-gated chloride channels have been developed. The important
      resistant to dieldrin GABA receptor subunit (RDL) has been used to investigate
      insecticide sites of action using radioligands, electrophysiology and site
      directed mutagenesis. Although this important subunit readily forms robust
      functional homomeric receptors when expressed, alternative splicing and RNA A-to
      I editing can generate diverse forms of the receptor. METHODS: We have reviewed
      studies on native and recombinant insect GABA-gated chloride channels, their
      interactions with ligands acting at orthosteric and allosteric sites and their
      interactions with insecticides. Since some GABA receptor modulators act on L
      glutamate-gated chloride channels, some comparisons are included. RESULTS: The
      actions on GABA-gated chloride channels of polychlorocycloalkanes, cyclodienes,
      macrocyclic lactones, phenylpyrazoles, isoxazolines, and metadiamides are
      described and the mechanisms of action of members of these insecticide classes
      are addressed. Mutations that lead to resistance are discussed as they can be
      important in developing field diagnostic tests. Toxicity issues relating to
      insecticides targeting GABA-gated chloride channels are also addressed. An
      overview of all major insecticide classes targeting insect GABA-gated chloride
      channels has enhanced our understanding of these important receptors and their
      insecticide binding sites. However, the subunit composition of native GABA
      receptors remains unknown and studies to clarify this are needed. Also, the
      precise sites of action of the recently introduced isoxazolines and meta-diamides
      will be of interest to pursue.

PMID- 28606042
TI  - Isolation of Chlorogenic Acid from Soil Borne Fungi Screlotium rolfsii, their
      Reversal of Multidrug Resistance and Anti-proliferative in Mouse Lymphoma Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fungi performing a wide range of function in soil by secreting low
      molecular weight compound known as secondary metabolites. S. rolfsii is a soil
      borne phytopathogenic fungi was used for the production of bioactive compounds.
      OBJECTIVE: The present study belongs to evaluate the anticancer potentials of a
      secondary metabolites isolated from S. rolfsii, their multidrug resistance (MDR),
      and molecular docking study. METHOD: (1S,3R,4R,5R,E)-3-(3-(3,4
      Dihydroxyphenyl)acryloyloxy)-1,4,5 trihydroxycyclohexanecarboxylic acid (1), or
      best known as chlorogenic acid, was isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of
      crude secondary metabolites produced by the soil borne Fungus Screlotium rolfsii.
      Structure of chlorogenic acid (1) was confirmed by means of FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C
      NMR, and mass spectrometry as well as by melting point. RESULTS: Effect of
      compound 1 on the reversion of multidrug resistant (MDR) mediated by
      Pglycoprotein (P-gp) against cancer cells was evaluated with a rhodamine-123
      exclusion screening test on human mdr1 gene transfected mouse gene transfected
      L5178 and L5178Y mouse T-cell lymphoma. Compound 1 was also evaluated for Anti
      proliferative effect on the L5178 mouse Tcell lymphoma cell line. CONCLUSION:
      Results from the present investigation revealed that compound 1 exhibits
      excellent MDR reversing effect in a dose-dependent manner against mouse T
      lymphoma cell line. Compound 1 also showed anti-proliferative effect on L5178Y
      mouse T-lymphoma cell line.

PMID- 28606043
TI  - A Study of Extrapyramidal Manifestations Accompanying Decompensated Viral Hepatic
      Cirrhosis Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of viral hepatic cirrhosis all over the
      world, the characteristic motor features of related Parkinsonism (extrapyramidal
      manifestations) are not well described. The current study aimed to characterize
      such disorder in a sample of Egyptian patients with chronic viral liver disease
      (CLD), and their clinical correlates. METHODS: Ninety-six (96) patients with CLD
      were examined for the presence of extrapyramidal signs. Parkinsonism was assessed
      using the UPDRS-III scale and its sub scores. Ataxia and dystonia were also
      assessed by related scales. Patients with Parkinsonism were compared to other
      patients and correlations with clinical features of CLD were done. RESULTS: The
      clinical diagnosis of extrapyramidal manifestations was justified in 57 patients
      (59.4%) with predominant akinetic rigid syndrome (ARS) (87.7%). Bradykinesia and
      axial features were the most frequent signs (89.5% and 70.2%, respectively).
      38.6% of patients had postural tremors, whereas only 3.5% had rest tremors. Gait
      and postural abnormalities were detected in 38.6% and 36.8% respectively.
      Parkinsonism was associated with advanced hepatic cirrhosis (p=0.02) and
      increased episodes of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) (p=0.006). Severity of
      parkinsonian features was correlated to patients' age, age of onset of CLD and
      rapid progression, while impaired speech and gait were rather correlated to a
      number of episodes of HE. CONCLUSION: Advanced viral cirrhosis is associated with
      high prevalence of parkinsonism that is characterized by symmetrical ARS with
      frequent axial features, postural tremor, gait and postural impairment. Severity
      of these signs is correlated to age, age of onset, rapid progression and
      frequency of HE.

PMID- 28606039
TI  - The Progress of Epilepsy after Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is the second most common disease caused by multiple factors
      and characterized by an excessive discharge of certain neurons in the nervous
      system. Cerebrovascular disease, including stroke, is viewed as the most common
      cause of epilepsy in the elderly population, accounting for 30%-50% of the newly
      diagnosed cases of epilepsy cases in this age group. METHODS: Data were collected
      from Web of Science, Medline, Pubmed, Scopus, through searching of these
      keywords: "Stroke" and "epilepsy". RESULTS: Depending on the underlying
      cerebrovascular disease, 3%-30% of patients after stroke may develop post-stroke
      epilepsy (PSE), which has a negative effect on stroke prognosis and the quality
      of life. CONCLUSION: In this review, we summarized new aspects emerging from
      research into PSE, including definition, epidemiology, risk factors, mechanism,
      accessory examination and treatment strategies for post-stroke epilepsy, which
      will enrich our knowledge of this disorder.

PMID- 28606044
TI  - The Formation Mechanism of Hydrogels.
AB  - Hydrogels are degradable polymeric networks, in which cross-links play a vital
      role in structure formation and degradation. Cross-linking is a stabilization
      process in polymer chemistry that leads to the multi-dimensional extension of
      polymeric chains, resulting in network structures. By crosslinking, hydrogels are
      formed into stable structures that differ from their raw materials. Generally,
      hydrogels can be prepared from either synthetic or natural polymers. Based on the
      types of cross-link junctions, hydrogels can be categorized into two groups: the
      chemically cross-linked and the physically cross-linked. Chemically cross-linked
      gels have permanent junctions, in which covalent bonds are present between
      different polymer chains, thus leading to excellent mechanical strength. Although
      chemical cross-linking is a highly resourceful method for the formation of
      hydrogels, the cross-linkers used in hydrogel preparation should be extracted
      from the hydrogels before use, due to their reported toxicity, while, in
      physically cross-linked gels, dissolution is prevented by physical interactions,
      such as ionic interactions, hydrogen bonds or hydrophobic interactions.
      Physically cross-linked methods for the preparation of hydrogels are the
      alternative solution for cross-linker toxicity. Both methods will be discussed in
      this review.

PMID- 28606045
TI  - Patient Impressions of Possible Catastrophic Outcomes after Diabetic Foot
      Ulceration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and its complications are well studied;
      patients with diabetes may suffer from neuropathy and vascular issues, and
      associated with these, lower extremity ulceration. Ulcers are often refractory to
      treatment, and can be difficult for both patients and clinicians to manage. Such
      complications may lead to amputations, which in turn are a risk factor for death.
      However, in certain situations amputation may be the only option available, and
      may be used as reconstructive surgery, restoring function. The impacts of
      ulceration, amputation, use of prostheses, and other complications of diabetes on
      Quality of Life (QOL) are well studied. Similarly, the impact of QOL on overall
      health has been studied in some detail. OBJECTIVE: Not as well understood are
      patient expectations regarding amputation and ulceration, and patient knowledge
      of these outcomes. Specifically, it is not fully understood how patients view
      these complications prior to their occurrence. In this review we survey the
      literature for studies discussing these attitudes. Our objective was to perform a
      systematic review of the medical literature to understand how patients understand
      and anticipate the potential negative outcomes of ulceration and amputation. We
      also aimed to identify areas where there are gaps in patient knowledge, which
      could be addressed by clinicians. RESULTS: Our study yielded articles regarding
      impressions of patients with diabetes about their general health and outcomes.
      However, we did not discover much literature directly concerning attitudes toward
      catastrophic lower extremity outcomes before they occurred. We also identified
      that patients lack knowledge of management and complications of diabetes; both of
      these gaps provide an opportunity to better direct care for such patients.

PMID- 28606046
TI  - Converting Enzymes into Tools of Industrial Importance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enzymes have applications in numerous biotechnological products and
      processes that are commonly used in the production of food and beverages,
      cleaning supplies, clothing, paper products, transportation fuels,
      pharmaceuticals, and monitoring devices. Enzymes, however, are optimized to
      function under physiological conditions. Any change in reaction conditions
      results in their activity as well as stability being compromised. Hence, most of
      the natural biomolecules are not suitable for industrial applications.
      Modifications are required to develop efficient and successful reagents as per
      demand. Protein engineering can be applied to cope up with these situations.
      METHODS: This review describes some of the novel uses/unusual properties of
      enzymes as biological catalysts. It explains the different ways in which enzymes
      can be and have been used under non-native conditions. Different strategies have
      been discussed regarding stabilization of enzyme as well optimum conditions of
      its uses in different industries. The following patents databases were consulted:
      European Patent Office (EPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office
      (USPTO), Patent scope Search International and National Patent Collections (WIPO)
      and Google Patents. RESULTS: The review illustrates the width of the umbrella of
      applications covered by biocatalysts. Employing the tools of solvent and protein
      engineering, viz. non-aqueous media, additives, immobilization, mutagenesis, to
      name a few; biotechnology has been able to make enzyme catalyzed processes an
      essential components of the industrialist's armoury. CONCLUSION: The article
      lists a number of successful examples, both of patented technology as well as
      biocatalysts which are currently being used in the industry, to highlight the
      accomplishments of technologies which have been adopted till now for making
      enzyme technology industrially viable.

PMID- 28606047
TI  - Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Vanillin Hydroxamic Acid
      Derivatives as Novel Peptide Deformylase Inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infectious disease is increasingly hampering human health, which
      challenge the discovery of new antibacterial target. Peptide deformylase (PDF), a
      metalloenzyme responsible for catalyzing the removal of the N-formyl group from
      nascent proteins, was considered as an important target in antibacterial drug
      discovery. OBJECTIVE: Reported here are the design, synthesis and biological
      evaluation of vanillin hydroxamic acid derivatives. METHODS AND RESULTS: Analysis
      of the structure-activity relationships lead to the discovery of compound 8,
      which exhibits promising antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli,
      Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus oryzae, and Aspergillus foetidus with the MIC
      value of 0.32 ug/ml, 0.32 ug/ml, 0.16 ug/ml and 0.16 ug/ml, respectively.
      Furthermore, molecular docking study was applied to elucidate binding interaction
      between compound 8 and PDF, which indicate that compound 8 not only shares the
      same binding pocket with actinonin, but also has a similar binding pattern. In
      silico pharmacokinetic and toxicity prediction studies also suggested that
      compound 8 has a relatively high drug score of 0.80, and has no risk of toxicity.
      CONCLUSION: Compound 8 might represent a promising scaffold for the further
      development of novel antibacterial drugs.

PMID- 28606048
TI  - Immunomodulatory Strategies for Huntington's Disease Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant,
      progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective loss of neurons
      in the striatum and cortex, which leads to progressive motor dysfunction,
      cognitive decline and behavioral symptoms. HD is caused by a trinucleotide (CAG)
      repeat expansion in the gene encoding the protein huntingtin. Despite the fact
      that the HD gene was identified over 20 years ago, there is no effective disease
      modifying therapy for HD and only symptomatic therapies are available to date.
      Recently, new agents and procedures have been investigated for HD and many of
      them have focused on immunomodulatory and/or anti- inflammatory strategies.
      CONCLUSION: The objective of the current review is to summarize data on the
      therapeutic strategies to treat HD that are based on immunomodulatory effects.

PMID- 28606049
TI  - The Blood Brain Barrier and its Role in Alzheimer's Therapy: An Overview.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent age related
      neurodegenerative disorder. It represents 70% of all dementia. Millions of people
      have been affected by AD worldwide. It is a complex illness characterized
      pathologically by accumulation of protein aggregates of amyloid and
      neurofibrillary tangles containing hyperphosphorylated neuronal tau protein. AD
      requires drugs that can circumvent the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which is not a
      simple physical barrier between blood and brain, but acts as an iron curtain,
      allowing only selective molecules to enter the brain. Unfortunately, this dynamic
      barrier restricts transport of drugs to the brain; due to which, currently very
      few drugs are available for AD treatment. OBJECTIVE: The present review focuses
      mainly on strategies used for administration of drug to the CNS by-passing BBB
      for the treatment of AD. RESULTS: Many studies have proved to be effective in
      overcoming BBB and targeting drugs to CNS by using different strategies. Here we
      have discussed some of the most important drug permeability and drug targeting
      approaches. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, concentrating solely in development of
      drug discovery programs is not enough but it is important to maintain balance
      between the drug discovery and drug delivery systems that are more specific and
      effective in targeting CNS of AD patients.

PMID- 28606050
TI  - Insights into the Targeting Potential of Thymoquinone for Therapeutic
      Intervention Against Triple-negative Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thymoquinone (TQ) is a bioactive phytoconstituent obtained from
      Nigella sativa (black seeds). It has promising potential in cancer prevention.
      OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that TQ can modulate signaling pathways
      responsible for cancer progression, thus enhancing the efficacy and improving the
      safety profile of clinically used anticancer drugs. METHOD: TQ acts on cell cycle
      and inhibits progression from G1 to S phase by targeting various proteins (cyclin
      D1, cyclin E, and p27). It also exhibits histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory
      effects, targets p21 and Maspin, and induces pro-apoptotic gene, Bax and
      downregulates anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2. Breast cancer (BC) is reported as one of
      the most common malignancies in women. RESULTS: Despite the research and
      advancement, it remains one of the most common causes of cancer related deaths
      among women. Recent advancements in molecular screening of BC led to the
      identification of clinically challenging condition of triple negative breast
      cancer (TNBC). TNBC is characterized by the absence of targetable receptors viz.
      estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth
      factor receptor 2 (HER2) expressions. It is also characterized by reduced or
      absence of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression, a tumor suppressor
      gene having diverse functions including regulation of apoptosis, cell cycle, and
      metastasis. CONCLUSION: Since TQ has been reported to up-regulate several growth
      factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), EGF and PTEN
      expression, the present review article discusses the targeting potential of TQ
      for therapeutic intervention against such types of breast cancer.

PMID- 28606052
TI  - Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment by Intervention in Interleukin-1 Biology.
AB  - The importance of anti-tumor immunity in the outcome of cancer is now
      unequivocally established and recent achivements in the field have stimulated the
      development of new immunotherapeutical approaches. In invasive tumors, widespread
      inflammation promotes invasiveness and concomitantly also inhibits anti-tumor
      immune responses. We suggest that efficient tumor treatment should target both
      the malignant cells and the tumor microenvironment. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a pro
      inflammatory as well as an immunostimulatory cytokine that is abundant in the
      tumor microenvironment. Manipulation of IL-1 can thus serve as an
      immunotherapeutical approach to reduce inflammation/immunosuppression and thus
      enhance anti-tumor immunity. The two major IL-1 agonistic molecules are IL-1alpha
      and IL-1beta, which bind to the same IL-1 signaling receptor and induce the same
      array of biological activities. The IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-Ra) is a
      physiological inhibitor of IL-1 that binds to its receptor without transmition of
      activation signals and thus serves as a decoy target. We have demonstrated that
      IL-1alpha and IL-1beta are different in terms of the producing cells and their
      compartmentalization and the amount. IL-1alpha is mainly expressed
      intracellularly, in the cytosol, in the nucleus or exposed on the cell membrane,
      however, it is rarely secreted. IL-1beta is active only as a secreted molecule
      that is mainly produced by activated myeloid cells. We have shown different
      functions of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta in the malignant process. Thus, in its
      membrane- associated form, IL-1alpha is mainly immunostimulatory, while IL-1beta
      that is secreted into the tumor microenvironment is mainly pro-inflammatory and
      promotes tumorigenesis, tumor invasiveness and immunosuppression. These distinct
      functions of the IL-1 agonistic molecules are mainly manifested in early stages
      of tumor development and the patterns of their expression dictate the direction
      of the malignant process. Here, we suggest that IL-1 modulation can serve as an
      effective mean to tilt the balance between inflammation and immunity in tumor
      sites, towards the latter. Different agents that neutralize IL-1, mainly the IL
      Ra and specific antibodies, exist. They are safe and FDA-approved. The IL-1Ra has
      been widely and successfully used in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis,
      autoinflammatory diseases and various other diseases that have an inflammatory
      component. Here, we provide the rationale and experimental evidence for the use
      of anti-IL-1 agents in cancer patients, following first line therapy to debulk
      the major tumor's mass. The considerations and constraints of using anti-IL-1
      treatments in cancer are also discussed. We hope that this review will stimulate
      studies that will fasten the application of IL-1 neutralization at the bedside of
      cancer patients.

PMID- 28606051
TI  - Comparison of Bone Mineral Density in Common Variable Immunodeficiency and X
      Linked Agammaglobulinaemia Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary antibody deficiency (PAD) is the most common group of primary
      immunodeficiency disorders, resulting from different defects in the development
      and function of B cell lineage. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) and X
      linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) are two of the major types of PADs. Optimal
      growth and subsequently bone health could potentially compromise due to the
      interference of several factors in PAD with childhood onset. In the present
      study, our aim was to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) of patients with CVID
      and XLA. METHODS: BMD of 37 CVID and 19 XLA patients was examined. Total BMD was
      determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and the calculated scores were
      compared internally and externally with age-sex matched and ethnic-specific
      reference. Related factors associated with bone density including immune-related
      complications, serum calcium, phosphate, total alkaline phosphatase, 25(OH)
      vitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels were recorded. RESULTS: The median age
      at the time of study was 20 years among all patients and was not statistically
      different between CVID and XLA groups and the mean of body mass index (BMI) was
      19.4+/-4.6 kg/cm2. Thirty-eight (67.9%) of total patients had normal BMD and 18
      (32.1%) patients had a low BMD. BMI was positively correlated with BMD at lumbar
      spine and femoral neck. The number of low BMD patients in CVID (40.5%) group was
      more than the XLA (15.8%). CONCLUSION: Beside nutritional, gastrointestinal and
      infectious complications which are shared in both groups of patients, CVID
      patients are more prone to alteration of BMD due to association with
      lymphoproliferative and endocrine diseases. Therefore routine evaluation of bone
      density and treatment adjustment should be considered in all PAD patients
      particularly in CVID patients.

PMID- 28606053
TI  - Protein Kinase Inhibitors as Potential Antimicrobial Drugs Against Tuberculosis,
      Malaria and HIV.
AB  - Infectious diseases that are caused by pathogenic microbes such as bacteria,
      viruses, parasites or fungi remain the top major cause of death across the world,
      particularly in low income countries, and may be transmitted from person to
      person, or from insects or animals. In general, infectious diseases may be
      treated with antimicrobial agents including antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal or
      antiparasitic medications. The therapeutic application of antimicrobial drugs in
      the 20th century substantially contributed to the global control of infectious
      diseases worldwide. However, pathogenic microbes have evolved various mechanisms
      to render the antimicrobial drugs less effective. This has resulted in an
      increasing number of people infected with pathogenic microbes that are resistant
      to antimicrobial drugs, and in some cases leading to untreatable infections.
      Therefore, new antimicrobial drugs are urgently needed to prevent possible
      recurrence and emergence of previously treatable infectious diseases. In the past
      decades, protein kinase inhibitors have become an attractive area in the
      development of novel antimicrobial drugs. In the current review, we will describe
      the recent efforts in the development of microbial and host protein kinase
      targeting inhibitors as potential antimicrobial drugs against HIV, tuberculosis
      and malaria.

PMID- 28606054
TI  - Variable-order sequence modeling improves bacterial strain discrimination for Ion
      Torrent DNA reads.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome sequencing provides a powerful tool for pathogen detection and
      can help resolve outbreaks that pose public safety and health risks. Mapping of
      DNA reads to genomes plays a fundamental role in this approach, where accurate
      alignment and classification of sequencing data is crucial. Standard mapping
      methods crudely treat bases as independent from their neighbors. Accuracy might
      be improved by using higher order paired hidden Markov models (HMMs), which model
      neighbor effects, but introduce design and implementation issues that have
      typically made them impractical for read mapping applications. We present a
      variable-order paired HMM that we term VarHMM, which addresses central issues
      involved with higher order modeling for sequence alignment. RESULTS: Compared
      with existing alignment methods, VarHMM is able to model higher order
      distributions and quantify alignment probabilities with greater detail and
      accuracy. In a series of comparison tests, in which Ion Torrent sequenced DNA was
      mapped to similar bacterial strains, VarHMM consistently provided better strain
      discrimination than any of the other alignment methods that we compared with.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate the advantages of higher ordered probability
      distribution modeling and also suggest that further development of such models
      would benefit read mapping in a range of other applications as well.

PMID- 28606055
TI  - Improved mitochondrial amino acid substitution models for metazoan evolutionary
      studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amino acid substitution models play an essential role in inferring
      phylogenies from mitochondrial protein data. However, only few empirical models
      have been estimated from restricted mitochondrial protein data of a hundred
      species. The existing models are unlikely to represent appropriately the amino
      acid substitutions from hundred thousands metazoan mitochondrial protein
      sequences. RESULTS: We selected 125,935 mitochondrial protein sequences from
      34,448 species in the metazoan kingdom to estimate new amino acid substitution
      models targeting metazoa, vertebrates and invertebrate groups. The new models
      help to find significantly better likelihood phylogenies in comparison with the
      existing models. We noted remarkable distances from phylogenies with the existing
      models to the maximum likelihood phylogenies that indicate a considerable number
      of incorrect bipartitions in phylogenies with the existing models. Finally, we
      used the new models and mitochondrial protein data to certify that Testudines,
      Aves, and Crocodylia form one separated clade within amniotes. CONCLUSIONS: We
      introduced new mitochondrial amino acid substitution models for metazoan
      mitochondrial proteins. The new models outperform the existing models in
      inferring phylogenies from metazoan mitochondrial protein data. We strongly
      recommend researchers to use the new models in analysing metazoan mitochondrial
      protein data.

PMID- 28606057
TI  - Assessing the knowledge of expectant mothers on mother-to-child transmission of
      viral hepatitis B in Upper West region of Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viral Hepatitis B is of a major public health concern globally,
      especially in developing countries. Expectant mothers' knowledge of Mother-To
      Child Transmission (MTCT) of the disease is significant in preventing the spread
      from an infected mother to her child. This study sought to assess the expectant
      mothers' knowledge of Mother-To-Child Transmission of viral hepatitis B in the Wa
      Municipality and Lawra District of Upper West Region, Ghana. METHODS: A
      descriptive cross-sectional study with a multi-stage sampling technique was
      employed to select a total of 450 study respondents (expectant mothers), and a
      semi-structured questionnaire was used for the data collection. Respondents were
      interviewed using face-to-face interview technique. RESULTS: Majority (54.0%) of
      the respondents were aged between 25 and 35 years and the results were similar in
      both districts. Overall, 62.4% (281/450) of the respondents had at least Junior
      High level education, and 76.2% (343/450) were multigravida. Educational levels
      among respondents in the two areas were above 50.0% and considered relatively
      high. Respondents' general knowledge of hepatitis B infection and disease was
      46.0% (208/450). However, there was a slight difference between the two districts
      (40.1% in Lawra District and 51.6% in Wa Municipality). The overall knowledge
      level on MTCT of viral hepatitis B among the respondents was 34.7% (156/450): the
      Wa Municipality recorded higher knowledge (43.3%) compared to 24.8% in Lawra
      District. CONCLUSION: The knowledge level of the expectant mothers on MTCT of
      viral hepatitis B is relatively low in Upper West Region, Ghana. Majority of the
      respondents had some form of formal education. The age, marital status,
      education, occupation, gravity and family setup were found to be associated with
      knowledge of Hepatitis B infection and MTCT. Thus, there is urgent need to
      intensify efforts of health staff to educate expectant mothers. In addition, home
      education and outreach activities should be intensified on HBV infection as well
      as MTCT. Consequently, planning, implementation and execution of preventive
      activities, especially in the antenatal clinics should critically consider the
      social and demographic variations of mothers.

PMID- 28606056
TI  - Comparative genome and transcriptome analysis reveals distinctive surface
      characteristics and unique physiological potentials of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      ATCC 27853.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was isolated from a hospital blood
      specimen in 1971 and has been widely used as a model strain to survey antibiotics
      susceptibilities, biofilm development, and metabolic activities of Pseudomonas
      spp.. Although four draft genomes of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 have been
      sequenced, the complete genome of this strain is still lacking, hindering a
      comprehensive understanding of its physiology and functional genome. RESULTS:
      Here we sequenced and assembled the complete genome of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853
      using the Pacific Biosciences SMRT (PacBio) technology and Illumina sequencing
      platform. We found that accessory genes of ATCC 27853 including prophages and
      genomic islands (GIs) mainly contribute to the difference between P. aeruginosa
      ATCC 27853 and other P. aeruginosa strains. Seven prophages were identified
      within the genome of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853. Of the predicted 25 GIs, three
      contain genes that encode monoxoygenases, dioxygenases and hydrolases that could
      be involved in the metabolism of aromatic compounds. Surveying virulence-related
      genes revealed that a series of genes that encode the B-band O-antigen of LPS are
      lacking in ATCC 27853. Distinctive SNPs in genes of cellular adhesion proteins
      such as type IV pili and flagella biosynthesis were also observed in this strain.
      Colony morphology analysis confirmed an enhanced biofilm formation capability of
      ATCC 27853 on solid agar surface compared to Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. We then
      performed transcriptome analysis of ATCC 27853 and PAO1 using RNA-seq and
      compared the expression of orthologous genes to understand the functional genome
      and the genomic details underlying the distinctive colony morphogenesis. These
      analyses revealed an increased expression of genes involved in cellular adhesion
      and biofilm maturation such as type IV pili, exopolysaccharide and electron
      transport chain components in ATCC 27853 compared with PAO1. In addition,
      distinctive expression profiles of the virulence genes lecA, lasB, quorum sensing
      regulators LasI/R, and the type I, III and VI secretion systems were observed in
      the two strains. CONCLUSIONS: The complete genome sequence of P. aeruginosa ATCC
      27853 reveals the comprehensive genetic background of the strain, and provides
      genetic basis for several interesting findings about the functions of surface
      associated proteins, prophages, and genomic islands. Comparative transcriptome
      analysis of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and PAO1 revealed several classes of
      differentially expressed genes in the two strains, underlying the genetic and
      molecular details of several known and yet to be explored morphological and
      physiological potentials of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853.

PMID- 28606058
TI  - Risk factors of lower limb cellulitis in a level-two healthcare facility in
      Cameroon: a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cellulitis is a common infection of the skin and subcutaneous
      tissues. It is associated with significant morbidity from necrosectomies and
      amputations especially in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed at identifying the risk
      factors and burden of lower limb cellulitis to inform preventive strategies in
      Cameroon. METHODS: This was a hospital-based case-control study carried out in
      the Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH) between September 2015 and August 2016. Cases
      were defined as consenting adults admitted to the surgical unit who presented
      with a localised area of lower limb erythema, warmth, oedema and pain, associated
      with fever (temperature >= 38  degrees C) and/or chills of sudden onset. Controls
      were adults hospitalised for diseases other than cellulitis, necrotising
      fasciitis, myositis, abscess or other variants of dermo-hypodermitis. Cases and
      controls were matched (1:2) for age and sex. RESULTS: Of the 183 participants (61
      cases of cellulitis and 122 controls) included in the study, the median age was
      52 years [Interquartile range (IQR): 32.5-74.5]. After controlling for potential
      confounders, obesity [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.7, 95% CI (1.5-14.7); p =
      0.009], history of skin disruption [AOR = 12.4 (3.9-39.1); p < 0.001], and
      presence of toe-web intertrigo [AOR = 51.4 (11.7-225.6); p < 0.001] were
      significantly associated with cellulitis. Median hospital stay was longer (14
      days [IQR: 6-28]) in cases compared to the controls (3 days [IQR: 2-7]). Among
      the cases, Streptococci species were the most frequent (n = 50, 82%) isolated
      germ followed by staphylococci species (n = 9, 15%). Patients with cellulitis
      were more likely to undergo necrosectomy (OR: 21.2; 95% CI: 7.6-59.2). Toe-web
      intertrigo had the highest (48.9%) population attributable risk for cellulitis,
      followed by history of disruption of skin barrier (37.8%) and obesity (20.6%).
      CONCLUSION: This study showed a high disease burden among patients with
      cellulitis. While risk factors identified are similar to prior literature, this
      study provides a contextual evidence-base for clinicians in this region to be
      more aggressive in management of these risk factors to prevent disease
      progression and development of cellulitis.

PMID- 28606059
TI  - Observed versus predicted cardiovascular events and all-cause death in HIV
      infection: a longitudinal cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the applicability of an algorithm
      predicting 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) generated in the setting of the
      Framingham Heart Study to a real-life, contemporary Italian cohort of HIV
      positive subjects. METHODS: The study was an observational longitudinal cohort
      study. The probability for 10-year CVD events according to the Framingham
      algorithm was assessed in 369 consecutive HIV-positive participants free from
      overt CVD enrolled in 2004, who were followed for a median of 10.0 years
      (interquartile range, 9.1-10.1). Cardiovascular events included myocardial
      infarction, hospitalized heart failure, revascularized angina, sudden cardiac
      death, stroke, peripheral arterial disease. RESULTS: Over 3097 person-years of
      observation, we observed a total of 34 CVD events, whereas Framingham algorithm
      predicted the occurrence of 34.3 CVD events. CVD event rate was 11.0/1000 person
      years of follow-up. In a receiver operating characteristics curve analysis,
      Framingham risk equation showed an excellent predictive value for incident CVD
      events (c-statistics, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.76-0.90). In a
      multivariable Cox analysis, age, smoking and diabetes were independent predictors
      of CVD events. All-cause death rate was 20.0/1000 person-years of follow-up (n =
      62 deaths). Causes of death included liver diseases (18), malignancies (14), AIDS
      related (11); cardiovascular (9) and others (10). In a Cox analysis, age, AIDS
      diagnosis and chronic hepatitis were independent predictors of death.
      CONCLUSIONS: Observed CVD events in HIV-infected patients were well predicted by
      Framingham algorithm. Established major CVD risk factors are the strongest
      determinants of CVD morbidity in an Italian contemporary cohort of HIV-positive
      subjects. Interventions to modify traditional risk factors are urgently needed in
      HIV people.

PMID- 28606060
TI  - Antiangiogenic agents targeting different angiogenic pathways have opposite
      effects on tumor hypoxia in R-18 human melanoma xenografts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies comparing the effect of antiangiogenic agents targeting
      different angiogenic pathways are sparse. The purpose of this study was to
      compare the effect of properdistatin and sunitinib treatment in a preclinical
      model of malignant melanoma. Properdistatin is a small peptide derived from the
      thrombospondin-1 domain of the plasma protein properdin, and sunitinib is a
      tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting several receptors including the vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptors. METHODS: R-18 human melanoma xenografts
      growing in dorsal window chambers were treated with properdistatin, sunitinib, or
      vehicle. Parameters describing the morphology of tumor vasculature were assessed
      from high-resolution transillumination images, and BST (blood supply time; the
      time needed for arterial blood to flow from the main supplying artery to
      downstream microvessels) was assessed from first-pass imaging movies recorded
      after a bolus of fluorescence-labeled dextran had been administered
      intravenously. Tumor hypoxia was assessed from immunohistochemical preparations
      of the imaged tissue by using pimonidazole as a hypoxia marker. RESULTS:
      Properdistatin treatment selectively removed small-diameter vessels and reduced
      BST, whereas sunitinib treatment reduced the density of small- and large-diameter
      vessel similarly and did not change BST. These observations imply that
      properdistatin treatment reduced geometric resistance to blood flow and improved
      vascular function, whereas sunitinib treatment did not affect vascular function.
      Accordingly, sunitinib-treated tumors showed higher hypoxic fractions than
      properdistatin-treated tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Properdistatin and sunitinib both
      inhibited angiogenesis, but had distinctly different effects on vascular
      morphology, vascular function, and extent of hypoxia in R-18 human melanoma
      xenografts.

PMID- 28606061
TI  - A pilot study on feasibility, acceptance and effectiveness of metacognitive
      oriented social skills training in schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In preparation for a randomized controlled trial, a pilot study was
      conducted to investigate the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of a
      psychotherapy group based on metacognitive-oriented social skills training
      (MOSST). METHODS: Twelve outpatients with schizophrenia were offered 16 group
      sessions of MOSST. Effect sizes were calculated for changes from baseline to
      treatment end for both psychosocial functioning and metacognitive abilities
      measured by the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) and the Metacognition
      Assessment Scale-Abbreviated (MAS-A) respectively. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Ten
      patients finished the full treatment protocol and nonsignificant moderate effect
      sizes were obtained on PSP and MAS-A scores. To date, this is the first study in
      Spain to suggest that outpatients with schizophrenia will accept metacognitive
      therapy for social skills training and evidence improvements in psychosocial
      functioning and metacognition. CONCLUSION: Despite limitations inherent in a
      pilot study, including a small sample size and the absence of a control group,
      sufficient evidence of effectiveness was found to warrant further investigation.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN10917911 . Retrospectively registered 30 November 2016.

PMID- 28606062
TI  - Unmet need for contraception and its association with unintended pregnancy in
      Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy are important
      public health concerns both in developing and developed countries. Previous
      researches have attempted to study the factors that influence unintended
      pregnancy. However, the association between unmet need for contraception and
      unwanted pregnancy is not studied adequately. The aim of the present study was to
      measure the prevalence of unmet need for contraception and unwanted pregnancy,
      and to explore the association between these two in a nationally representative
      sample in Bangladesh. METHODS: Data for the present study were collected from
      Bangladesh demographic and health survey conducted in 2011. Participants were
      7338 mothers ageing between 13 and 49 years selected from both rural and urban
      residencies. Planning status of last pregnancy was the main outcome variable and
      unmet need for contraception was the explanatory variable of primary interest.
      Cross tabulation, chi-square tests and logistic regression (Generalised
      estimating equations) methods were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Mean age of
      the sample population was 25.6 years (SD 6.4). Prevalence of unmet need for
      contraception was 13.5%, and about 30% of the women described their last
      pregnancy as unintended. In the adjusted model, the odds of unintended pregnancy
      were about 16 fold among women who reported facing unmet need for contraception
      compared to those who did not (95% CI = 11.63-23.79). CONCLUSION: National rates
      of unintended pregnancy and of unmet need for contraception remain considerably
      high and warrant increased policy attention. Findings suggests that programs
      targeting to reduce unmet need for contraception could contribute to a lower rate
      of unintended pregnancy in Bangladesh. More in-depth and qualitative studies on
      the underlying sociocultural causes of unmet need can help develop context
      specific solutions to unintended pregnancies.

PMID- 28606063
TI  - On predicting time to completion for the first stage of spontaneous labor at term
      in multiparous women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Labor that progresses faster than anticipated may lead to unplanned
      out-of-hospital births. With the aim to improve planning of transportation to
      birthing institutions, this study investigated predictors of time to completion
      for the first stage of labor conditional on cervical opening (conditional time)
      in multiparous women at term. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of
      partograms for women in Robson's group 3 who delivered at one hospital from 2003
      to 2013. A generalized additive mixed model was fitted, accounting for possible
      non-linear relationships between the predictor variables and outcome, e.g. the
      time from each cervical measurement to full dilation, using multiple measurements
      for each woman. The following predictors were included: cervical dilation (cm),
      parity (1, 2, or >=3 previous vaginal births), oxytocin infusion (no/yes),
      epidural (no/yes), maternal age (years), maternal height (cm), body mass index
      (BMI, kg/m2), birthweight (kg), spontaneous rupture of membranes (no/yes). A
      modified regression model with gestational age (days) instead of birthweight was
      used to predict conditional time to full cervical dilation for combinations of
      the most relevant predictors. RESULTS: A total of 1753 partograms were included
      in the analysis. The strongest predictors were birthweight, epidural and oxytocin
      use, and spontaneous rupture of membranes, along with cervical measurements. For
      birthweight, there was an almost 40% increase in time to full cervical dilation
      for each 1-kg increment. Conditional time was on average 23% longer in cases with
      epidural use and 53% longer in cases requiring oxytocin augmentation. Spontaneous
      rupture of the membranes shortened conditional time by 31%. Maternal age was not
      associated with the outcome, while increasing BMI and parity modestly reduced
      conditional time. CONCLUSIONS: Higher parity, lower fetal weight (gestational
      age), and spontaneous rupture of the membranes are associated with more rapid
      labor.

PMID- 28606064
TI  - Bacteremia due to Gordonia polyisoprenivorans: case report and review of
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gordonia polyisoprenivorans is a ubiquitous aerobic actinomycetes
      bacterium that rarely cause infections in humans. Here, we report a case of G.
      polyisoprenivorans catheter-related bacteremia in an AIDS patient. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old man with a past medical history of AIDS-related
      lymphoma suffered bacteremia caused by a Gram-positive corynebacterium. The
      strain was identified as a Gordonia species by matrix-assisted laser desorption
      ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry and confirmed to G.
      polyisoprenivorans by 16S rRNA combined with gyrB gene sequencing analyses. The
      patient was treated with imipenem and had a good outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings from our case and previously reported cases indicate that malignant
      hematologic disease, immunosuppression, and indwelling catheter heighten the risk
      for G. polyisoprenivorans infection. Molecular methods should be employed for
      proper identification of G. polyisoprenivorans to the species level.

PMID- 28606065
TI  - Neurocognitive function in HIV-infected persons with asymptomatic cryptococcal
      antigenemia: a comparison of three prospective cohorts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-infected persons with detectable cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) in
      blood have increased morbidity and mortality compared with HIV-infected persons
      who are CrAg-negative. This study examined neurocognitive function among persons
      with asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia. METHODS: Participants from three
      prospective HIV cohorts underwent neurocognitive testing at the time of
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Cohorts included persons with
      cryptococcal meningitis (N = 90), asymptomatic CrAg + (N = 87), and HIV-infected
      persons without central nervous system infection (N = 125). Z-scores for each
      neurocognitive test were calculated relative to an HIV-negative Ugandan
      population with a composite quantitative neurocognitive performance Z-score (QNPZ
      8) created from eight tested domains. Neurocognitive function was measured pre
      ART for all three cohorts and additionally after 4 weeks of ART (and 6 weeks of
      pre-emptive fluconazole) treatment among asymptomatic CrAg + participants.
      RESULTS: Cryptococcal meningitis and asymptomatic CrAg + participants had lower
      median CD4 counts (17 and 26 cells/MUL, respectively) than the HIV-infected
      control cohort (233 cells/MUL) as well as lower Karnofsky performance status (60
      and 70 vs. 90, respectively). The composite QNPZ-8 for asymptomatic CrAg + (-1.80
      Z-score) fell between the cryptococcal meningitis cohort (-2.22 Z-score, P =
      0.02) and HIV-infected controls (-1.36, P = 0.003). After four weeks of ART and
      six weeks of fluconazole, the asymptomatic CrAg + cohort neurocognitive
      performance improved (-1.0 Z-score, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Significant deficits
      in neurocognitive function were identified in asymptomatic CrAg + persons with
      advanced HIV/AIDS even without signs or sequelae of meningitis. Neurocognitive
      function in this group improves over time after initiation of pre-emptive
      fluconazole treatment and ART, but short term adherence support may be necessary.

PMID- 28606066
TI  - Treatment outcome of children with persistent Diarrhoea admitted to an Urban
      Hospital, Dhaka during 2012-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite availability of treatment guidelines, persistent diarrhoea
      (PD) has been a major contributor of diarrhoeal deaths in low and middle income
      countries. We evaluated the outcome of children under the age of 5 years who were
      treated for PD using management algorithm with locally available foods in a
      diarrhoeal disease hospital in Dhaka. METHODS: We extracted retrospective data
      from electronic database for all the under-five children admitted for PD in the
      Longer Stay Ward and Intensive Care Unit of the Dhaka hospital at icddr,b between
      2012 and 2013. Descriptive analysis was done to explore available baseline socio
      demographic, nutritional, and co-morbid statuses, pathogens from stool isolates,
      duration of treatment, use of antibiotics, duration of hospital stay and
      treatment success rates. We sought to investigate above mentioned descriptive
      features in addition to associated factors with time to recover from PD using
      survival analysis with Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: A total number of
      426 children with a median age of 7.46 (inter-quartile range IQR; 5.39, 9.43)
      months were admitted for PD during the study period. Of these, 95% of children
      were recovered from PD and discharged from the hospital. The median duration of
      treatment response was 6 (IQR 4, 9) days. The case fatality rate was 1.17%.
      Multivariate analysis among the children of 6 months or less showed that the rate
      of recovery from PD was 57% lower in children with severe stunting compared to
      those without severe stunting (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.22, 0.88, p < 0.05), 42% lower
      in children with severe wasting (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.36, 0.95, p < 0.05), and 81%
      reduced in children who developed hospital acquired infection (HAI) compared to
      those without HAI (HR 0.19, 95% CI 0.06, 0.62, p < 0.05). Among the children who
      were more than 6 months old, age in months (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02, 1.09) and
      female gender (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.09, 1.84) had better rates of recovery from PD
      (p < 0.05). Moreover, among children more than 6 months of age, HAI (HR 0.44, 95%
      CI 0.26, 0.75), and antibiotic use (HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.28, 0.56) were associated
      with impeded recovery rates from PD (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The treatment
      guideline for persistent diarrhoea patients followed at icddr,b Dhaka hospital
      was found to be successful and can be used in other treatment facilities of
      Bangladesh and other developing countries where any treatment algorithm for PD is
      unavailable. More emphasis is required to be given for the prevention of hospital
      acquired infection that may help to limit the use of antibiotic in order to
      enhance the recovery rate from PD.

PMID- 28606067
TI  - Through the client's eyes: using narratives to explore experiences of care
      transfers during pregnancy, childbirth, and the neonatal period.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The client experience is an important outcome in the evaluation and
      development of perinatal healthcare. But because clients meet different
      professionals, measuring such experiences poses a challenge. This is especially
      the case in the Netherlands, where pregnant women are often transferred between
      professionals due to the nation's approach to risk selection. This paper explores
      questions around how clients experience transfers of care during pregnancy,
      childbirth, and the neonatal period, as well as how these experiences compare to
      the established quality of care aspects the Dutch Patient Federation developed.
      METHOD: Narratives from 17 Dutch women who had given birth about their
      experiences with transfers were collected in the Netherlands. The narratives, for
      which informed consent was obtained, were collected on paper and online.
      Storyline analysis was used to identify story types. Story types portray patterns
      that indicate how clients experience transfers between healthcare providers. A
      comparative analysis was performed to identify differences and similarities
      between existing quality criteria and those clients mentioned. RESULTS: Four
      story types were identified: 1) Disconnected transfers of care lead to
      uncertainties; 2) Seamless transfers of care due to proper collaboration lead to
      positive experiences; 3) Transfers of care lead to disruption of patient-provider
      connectedness; 4) Transfer of care is initiated by the client to make pregnancy
      and childbirth dreams come true. Most of the quality aspects derived from these
      story types were identified as being similar or complementary to the Dutch
      Patient Federation list. A 'new' aspect identified in the clients' stories was
      the influencing role of prior experiences with transfers of care on current
      expectations, fears, and wishes. CONCLUSIONS: Transfers of care affect clients
      greatly and influence their experiences. Good communication, seamless transfers,
      and maintaining autonomy contribute to more positive experiences. The stories
      also show that previous experiences influence client's expectations for the next
      pregnancy, childbirth, and transfers of care.

PMID- 28606068
TI  - Prognostic factors and outcome of Liposarcoma patients: a retrospective
      evaluation over 15 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas are rare entities with over 50 histological
      subtypes. Liposarcoma (LS) is the most common neoplasm in this group; it is a
      complex neoplasm that is divided into different histological subtypes. Different
      therapy options, such as surgical resection, radiation, and chemotherapy, are
      available. Depending on the subtype, location, status of the resection margins
      and metastatic status, different therapy options are used. Therefore, the aim of
      this study was to determine the prognostic factors influencing the survival of
      patients affected by LS with consideration for the grading, histological subtype,
      state of the resection margin, size, location, metastases and local recurrence in
      a retrospective, single-centre analysis over 15 years. METHODS: We included 133
      patients (male/female = 67/66) in this study. We recorded the histologic subtype,
      grade, TNM classification, localization, biopsy technique, tumour margins, number
      of operations, complications, radiation and dose, chemotherapy, survival,
      recrudescence, metastases and follow-up. Survivorship analysis was performed.
      RESULTS: We detected 56 (43%; 95%-CI 34.6-51.6%) atypical LS cases, 21 (16.2%;
      95%-CI 9.8-22.5) dedifferentiated LS cases, 40 (30.8%; 95%-CI 22.8-38.7) myxoid
      LS cases and 12 (9.2%; 95%-CI 4.3-14.2) pleomorphic LS cases. G1 was the most
      common grade, which was followed by G3. Negative margins (R0) were detected in 67
      cases (53.6%; 95%-CI 44.9-62.3) after surgical resection. Local recurrence was
      detected in 23.6% of cases. The presence of metastases and dedifferentiated LS
      subtype as well as negative margins, grade and tumour size are significant
      prognostic factors of the survival rates (p < 0.015). CONCLUSION: Grading, LS
      subtype, negative margins after surgery, metastases and tumour size are
      independently associated with disease-specific survival, and patients with local
      recurrence had lower survival rates. We hope our investigation may facilitate a
      further prospective study and clinical decision-making in LS.

PMID- 28606069
TI  - When to perform bone scintigraphy in patients with newly diagnosed prostate
      cancer? a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine when a bone scintigraphy investigation is appropriate in
      patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed 703 newly diagnosed PCa patients who were referred for bone
      scintigraphy. The association between age, prostate specific antigen (PSA),
      Gleason score (GS) and bone scintigraphy result were investigated by series of
      crude or stratified analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 15.08% (106/703) patients had
      bone metastases. PSA and GS between positive bone scan group and negative bone
      scan group were significantly different, while age was not. The incidence of bone
      metastasis in patient with PSA < 20 ng/ml or GS < 8 was less than 10%, but
      increased dramatically with rising PSA and upgrading GS. In multivariate
      analysis, PSA >= 20 ng/ml (OR = 5.10, 95%CI (2.12-12.27)) and GS >= 8 (OR = 3.61,
      95%CI (1.55-8.41)) were independently predictive of positive bone scan.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PSA >= 20 ng/ml or GS >= 8 were in higher risk of bone
      metastasis, bone scintigraphy was recommended. But a bone scintigraphy is of
      limited value in PCa patients with PSA <= 20 ng/ml and GS <= 7.

PMID- 28606070
TI  - Efficacy and safety of conbercept as a primary treatment for choroidal
      neovascularization secondary to punctate inner choroidopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal conbercept
      (KH902) as the primary treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to
      punctate inner choroidopathy. METHODS: This study was a retrospective,
      consecutive, observational case series. We reviewed medical records of 16 eyes
      (16 patients) with naive subfoveal or juxtafoveal choroidal neovascularization
      secondary to punctuate inner choroidopathy that were treated with intravitreal
      conbercept injections. All patients completed at least six months of follow-up.
      Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was measured, and anatomical features were
      assessed with fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, and optical
      coherence tomography. RESULTS: At the month-6 follow-up visit, best-corrected
      visual acuity improved from 0.70 +/- 0.36 (with approximate Snellen equivalent of
      20/100) to 0.44 +/- 0.25 (20/50 in Snellen) logarithm of the minimum angle of
      resolution (logMAR) (P = 0.003). Mean improvement of vision was 2.6 lines, with
      50% treated eyes (8 eyes of 16) showing an improvement of >=3 lines and 62.5% (10
      eyes of 16), obtaining an improvement of >=2 lines; all 16 eyes had stable or
      improved vision. Mean central retinal thickness decreased from 294.94 +/- 102.68
      MUm to 206.56 +/- 61.71 MUm (P = 0.005). Fifteen eyes (93.75%) showed absence of
      CNV leakage at the end of the study period. No conbercrept-related systemic or
      ocular adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal injection of
      conbercept significantly improved visual and anatomical outcomes in choroidal
      neovascularization secondary to punctate inner choroidopathy over a 6-month
      follow-up period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN85678307 , retrospectively registered
      on May 11, 2017.

PMID- 28606071
TI  - The increasing prevalence of myopia in junior high school students in the Haidian
      District of Beijing, China: a 10-year population-based survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myopia is a leading cause of preventable blindness. Although,
      multiple cross-sectional epidemiological studies have confirmed that there is a
      high prevalence of myopia in high school-aged students in China. However, few
      longitudinal studies have been performed to assess junior high school students.
      In the present study, we investigate changes in the prevalence of myopia in third
      year junior high school (grade 9) students in the Haidian District of Beijing,
      China, from 2006 to 2015. METHODS: A retrospective, longitudinal cohort study was
      performed over 10 years. A total of 37,424 third-year middle school (grade 9)
      students from 8 junior high schools in Haidian district, Beijing, were included.
      Participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination in which they were
      evaluated using autorefraction under cycloplegia and submitted to retinoscopy to
      assess accuracy. According to the spherical equivalent refraction (SER) of the
      right eye, subjects were separated into the following groups: non-myopia, -0.5 <=
      SER diopters (D); low myopia, -3.0 <= SER < -0.5 D; moderate myopia, -6.0 <= SER
      < -3.0 D; and high myopia, SER > -6.0 D. The following characteristics were
      measured: refractive error; the proportion of subjects with non- myopia, low
      myopia, moderate myopia and high myopia; and the difference in the prevalence of
      myopia between male and female subjects. RESULTS: From 2006 to 2015, the
      prevalence of non-myopia (from 44.05% to 34.52%) and low myopia (from 32.27% to
      20.73%) decreased, while the prevalence of moderate myopia (from 19.72% to
      38.06%) and high myopia (from 3.96% to 6.69%) significantly increased. For
      refractive error, the worse eye was -2.23 +/- 2.42 D (median, -1.75; range -
      12.75 to +8.50) in 2006 and -3.13 +/- 2.66 D (median, -2.75; range - 12.75 to
      +8.50) in 2015. When the entire population was considered, the overall prevalence
      of myopia increased from 55.95% in 2005 to 65.48% in 2015. There was a
      significant positive relationship between the year and the prevalence of myopia
      in both girls and boys. Girls were more likely than boys to have myopia (odds
      ratio, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.14-1.96]), especially moderate myopia, and the prevalence
      of moderate and high myopia were higher in girls than in boys. CONCLUSIONS:
      During the last 10 years, the prevalence of myopia significantly increased on an
      annual basis among third-year junior high school students in the Haidian District
      of Beijing, China. The total prevalence of myopia was significantly higher in
      girl than in boy participants. The refractive status of this age group deserves
      particular attention.

PMID- 28606072
TI  - The mitochondrial inhibitor oligomycin induces an inflammatory response in the
      rat knee joint.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent findings support a connection between mitochondrial
      dysfunction and activation of inflammatory pathways in articular cells. This
      study investigates in vivo in an acute model whether intra-articular
      administration of oligomycin, an inhibitor of mitochondrial function, induces an
      oxidative and inflammatory response in rat knee joints. METHODS: Oligomycin was
      injected into the rat left knee joint on days 0, 2, and 5 before joint tissues
      were obtained on day 6. The right knee joint served as control. Results were
      evaluated by macroscopy and histopathology and by measuring cellular and
      mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE, a marker
      of lipid peroxidation), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and
      CD68 (macrophages) and chemokine levels. The marker of mitochondrial mass COX-IV
      was also evaluated. RESULTS: The macroscopic findings showed significantly
      greater swelling in oligomycin-injected knees than in control knees. Likewise,
      the histological score of synovial damage was also increased significantly.
      Immunohistochemical studies showed high expression of IL-8, coinciding with a
      marked infiltration of polymorphonuclears and CD68+ cells in the synovium.
      Mitochondrial mass was increased in the synovium of oligomycin-injected joints,
      as well as cellular and mitochondrial ROS production, and 4-HNE. Relatedly,
      expression of the oxidative stress-related transcription factor Nrf2 was also
      increased. As expected, no histological differences were observed in the
      cartilage; however, cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 mRNA and
      protein expression were up-regulated in this tissue. CONCLUSIONS: Mitochondrial
      failure in the joint is able to reproduce the oxidative and inflammatory status
      observed in arthritic joints.

PMID- 28606073
TI  - Associations between patient factors and adverse events in the home care setting:
      a secondary data analysis of two canadian adverse event studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early identification of patients at who have a higher risk for the
      occurrence of harm can provide patient safety improvement opportunities. Patient
      factors contribute to adverse event occurrence. The study aim was to identify a
      single, parsimonious model of home care patient factors that, regardless of
      location and differences in home care program management and design factors,
      could provide a means of locating patients at higher and lower risk of harm.
      METHODS: Split modeling using secondary analyses of data from two recent Canadian
      home care patient safety studies was undertaken. Patient factors from the Minimum
      Data Set Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) for Home Care and diagnoses
      consistent with ICD-10 and RAI-Mental Health assessment were used. Continuous and
      categorical measures of factors were considered. Adverse events were defined
      using World Health Organization taxonomy and measured on a dichotomous yes/no
      scale. Patient factors significantly associated (Pearson's Chi Square, p <= .05)
      with the occurrence of adverse events in both earlier studies were entered in
      forward selection regression analyses to locate factors predictive of adverse
      event occurrence. RESULTS: Instrumental activities of daily living dependency and
      escalating co-morbidity counts are associated with patient vulnerability to
      adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Instrumental activities of daily living dependency
      and burden of illness, both easily identifiable early in the episode of care, are
      significantly associated with the risk of adverse event occurrence, however there
      is regional variability in the relationships.

PMID- 28606074
TI  - Modulatory influence of Acacia hydaspica R. Parker ethyl acetate extract against
      cisplatin inveigled hepatic injury and dyslipidemia in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cisplatin (CP) is recommended as a first-line chemotherapeutic agent
      for solid tumors, however its usage outcomes in severe adverse effects. Acacia
      hydaspica possesses various phytochemicals and pharmacological activities. The
      current study aimed to investigate the protective effect of A. hydaspica ethyl
      acetate extract (AHE) against CP induced aberrations in lipid profile and
      hepatotoxicity. METHODS: Rats were randomly separated into six groups (n = 6).
      Group 1 (control) received distilled water orally for 21 days. Groups 2 (CP
      control) received a single dose of CP (7.5 mg/kg bw, i.p) on day 16, group 3
      (Plant control) received AHE (400 mg/kg b.w, oral) for 21 days, group 4 (post
      treated group); CP received on day 16 and AHE (400 mg/kg b.w/day, p.o.) was
      administered after CP till day 21, Group 5 (pretreated group) received AHE (400
      mg/kg b.w/day, p.o.) for 21 days and CP (7.5 mg/kg b.w., i.p.) on day 16, group 6
      (Silymarin + CP) received 100 mg/kg b.w., p.o. (11 doses/21 days) and CP (7.5
      mg/kg b.w., i.p.) on day 16. Lipid profile, liver functional tests, oxidative
      stress markers, antioxidant enzymes status and histopathological changes were
      examined. RESULTS: The present study revealed that CP caused body weights loss
      and increase liver index. CP significantly increased serum total lipid,
      triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol levels. Conversely, it significantly decreased
      serum HDL-cholesterol level. CP induced marked deteriorations in serum liver
      function biomarkers, reduced antioxidant enzymes in tissue, while elevated tissue
      oxidative stress markers along with morphological injuries compared to control
      rats. Treatment with AHE ameliorated CP induced alterations in lipid profile,
      serum ALT, AST, ALP and total bilirubin levels and liver weight. Furthermore AHE
      treatment improved the total protein and antioxidant enzymes levels while
      decreased the level of MDA, H2O2, and NO. The altered parameters were returned to
      the control level with AHE pretreatment. Histopathological analysis also
      supported the biochemical findings. Pretreatment seems to be more effective
      compared to post treatment indicating protective effect. CONCLUSION: These
      results reveal that treatment of AHE may be useful in the prevention of CP
      induced hepatotoxicity due to its antioxidant potential and polyphenolic
      constituents.

PMID- 28606075
TI  - Comparison of the surgical outcomes of minimally invasive and open surgery for
      octogenarian and older compared to younger gastric cancer patients: a
      retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As life expectancy continues to increase around the world, the use of
      minimally invasive surgery (MIS) could be beneficial for octogenarian and older
      gastric cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 359 gastric cancer patients who
      underwent curative surgery between March 2011 and March 2015 were enrolled; 80 of
      these patients (22.2%) were octogenarians and older. Surgical approaches included
      MIS (50 laparoscopic and 65 robotic) and open surgery (n = 244). Surgical
      outcomes of MIS and open surgery in octogenarian and older patients were compared
      with younger patients. RESULTS: Among octogenarian and older patients, relative
      to open surgery (n = 53), MIS (n = 27) was associated with less operative blood
      loss, a shorter postoperative hospital stay and similar rates of surgical
      complications and mortality. For MIS (n = 115), octogenarian and older patients
      exhibited similar postoperative outcomes to those of younger patients. For open
      surgery (n = 244), relative to younger patients, octogenarian and older patients
      experienced longer postoperative hospital stays, a higher rate of wound infection
      and a higher incidence of pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: MIS for gastric cancer is
      beneficial and can be performed safely in octogenarian and older patients.

PMID- 28606076
TI  - Flocculating performance of a bioflocculant produced by Arthrobacter humicola in
      sewage waste water treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The discharge of poorly treated effluents into the environment has
      far reaching, consequential impacts on human and aquatic life forms. Thus, we
      evaluated the flocculating efficiency of our test bioflocculant and we report for
      the first time the ability of the biopolymeric flocculant produced by
      Arthrobacter humicola in the treatment of sewage wastewater. This strain was
      isolated from sediment soil sample at Sterkfontein dam in the Eastern Free State
      province of South Africa. RESULTS: Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST)
      analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the 16S rDNA revealed the bacteria to have
      99% similarity to Arthrobacter humicola strain R1 and the sequence was deposited
      in the Gene bank as Arthrobacter humicola with accession number KC816574.1.
      Flocculating activity was enhanced with the aid of divalent cations, pH 12, at a
      dosage concentration of 0.8 mg/mL. The purified bioflocculant was heat stable and
      could retain more than 78% of its flocculating activity after heating at 100 
      degrees C for 25 min. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis
      demonstrated the presence of hydroxyl and carboxyl moieties as the functional
      groups. The thermogravimetric analysis was used to monitor the pyrolysis profile
      of the purified bioflocculant and elemental composition revealed C: O: Na: P: K
      with 13.90: 41.96: 26.79: 16.61: 0.74 weight percentage respectively. The
      purified bioflocculant was able to remove chemical oxygen demand, biological
      oxygen demand, suspended solids, nitrate and turbidity from sewage waste water at
      efficiencies of 65.7%, 63.5%, 55.7%, 71.4% and 81.3% respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      The results of this study indicate the possibility of using the bioflocculant
      produced by Arthrobacter humicola as a potential alternative to synthesized
      chemical flocculants in sewage waste water treatment and other industrial waste
      water.

PMID- 28606077
TI  - Evaluation of Gaussia luciferase and foot-and-mouth disease virus 2A
      translational interrupter chimeras as polycistronic reporters for transgene
      expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Gaussia princeps luciferase is used as a stand-alone reporter of
      transgene expression for in vitro and in vivo expression systems due to the rapid
      and easy monitoring of luciferase activity. We sought to simultaneously
      quantitate production of other recombinant proteins by transcriptionally linking
      the Gaussia princeps luciferase gene to other genes of interest through the foot
      and-mouth disease virus 2A translational interrupter sequence. RESULTS: We
      produced six plasmids, each encoding a single open reading frame, with the foot
      and-mouth disease virus 2A sequence placed either N-terminal or C-terminal to the
      Gaussia princeps luciferase gene. Two plasmids included novel Gaussia princeps
      luciferase variants with the position 1 methionine deleted. Placing a foot-and
      mouth disease virus 2A translational interrupter sequence on either the N- or C
      terminus of the Gaussia princeps luciferase gene did not prevent the secretion or
      luminescence of resulting chimeric luciferase proteins. We also measured the
      ability of another polycistronic plasmid vector with a 2A-luciferase sequence
      placed downstream of the foot-and-mouth disease virus P1 and 3C protease genes to
      produce of foot-and-mouth disease virus-like particles and luciferase activity
      from transfected cells. Incorporation of the 2A-luciferase sequence into a
      transgene encoding foot-and-mouth disease virus structural proteins retained
      luciferase activity and the ability to form virus-like particles. CONCLUSIONS: We
      demonstrated a mechanism for the near real-time, sequential, non-destructive
      quantitative monitoring of transcriptionally-linked recombinant proteins and a
      valuable method for monitoring transgene expression in recombinant vaccine
      constructs.

PMID- 28606078
TI  - How to select a proper early warning threshold to detect infectious disease
      outbreaks based on the China infectious disease automated alert and response
      system (CIDARS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: China Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the
      China Infectious Disease Automated Alert and Response System (CIDARS) in 2005.
      The CIDARS was used to strengthen infectious disease surveillance and aid in the
      early warning of outbreak. The CIDARS has been integrated into the routine
      outbreak monitoring efforts of the CDC at all levels in China. Early warning
      threshold is crucial for outbreak detection in the CIDARS, but CDCs at all level
      are currently using thresholds recommended by the China CDC, and these
      recommended thresholds have recognized limitations. Our study therefore seeks to
      explore an operational method to select the proper early warning threshold
      according to the epidemic features of local infectious diseases. METHODS: The
      data used in this study were extracted from the web-based Nationwide Notifiable
      Infectious Diseases Reporting Information System (NIDRIS), and data for
      infectious disease cases were organized by calendar week (1-52) and year (2009
      2015) in Excel format; Px was calculated using a percentile-based moving window
      (moving window [5 week*5 year], x), where x represents one of 12 centiles (0.40,
      0.45, 0.50....0.95). Outbreak signals for the 12 Px were calculated using the
      moving percentile method (MPM) based on data from the CIDARS. When the outbreak
      signals generated by the 'mean + 2SD' gold standard were in line with a Px
      generated outbreak signal for each week during the year of 2014, this Px was then
      defined as the proper threshold for the infectious disease. Finally, the
      performance of new selected thresholds for each infectious disease was evaluated
      by simulated outbreak signals based on 2015 data. RESULTS: Six infectious
      diseases were selected in this study (chickenpox, mumps, hand foot and mouth
      diseases (HFMD), scarlet fever, influenza and rubella). Proper thresholds for
      chickenpox (P75), mumps (P80), influenza (P75), rubella (P45), HFMD (P75), and
      scarlet fever (P80) were identified. The selected proper thresholds for these 6
      infectious diseases could detect almost all simulated outbreaks within a shorter
      time period compared to thresholds recommended by the China CDC. CONCLUSIONS: It
      is beneficial to select the proper early warning threshold to detect infectious
      disease aberrations based on characteristics and epidemic features of local
      diseases in the CIDARS.

PMID- 28606079
TI  - Costs of major intracranial, gastrointestinal and other bleeding events in
      patients with atrial fibrillation - a nationwide cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of oral anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial
      fibrillation (AF) involves a trade-off between a reduced risk of ischemic stroke
      and an increased risk of bleeding events. Different anticoagulation therapies
      have different safety profiles and data on the societal costs of both ischemic
      stroke and bleeding events are necessary for assessing the cost-effectiveness and
      budgetary impact of different treatment options. To our knowledge, no previous
      studies have estimated the societal costs of bleeding events in patients with AF.
      The objective of this study was to estimate the 3-years societal costs of first
      incident intracranial, gastrointestinal and other major bleeding events in Danish
      patients with AF. METHODS: The study was an incidence-based cost-of-illness study
      carried out from a societal perspective and based on data from national Danish
      registries covering the period 2002-2012. Costs were estimated using a propensity
      score matching and multivariable regression analysis (first difference OLS) in a
      cohort design. RESULTS: Average 3-years societal costs attributable to
      intracranial, gastrointestinal and other major bleeding events were 27,627,
      17,868, and 12,384 EUR per patient, respectively (2015 prices). Existing evidence
      shows that the corresponding costs of ischemic stroke were 24,084 EUR per patient
      (2012 prices). The average costs of bleeding events did not differ between
      patients with AF who were on oral anticoagulation therapy prior to the event and
      patients who were not. CONCLUSIONS: The societal costs attributable to major
      bleeding events in patients with AF are significant. Intracranial haemorrhages
      are most costly to society with average costs of similar magnitude as the costs
      of ischemic stroke. The average costs of gastrointestinal and other major
      bleeding events are lower than the costs of intracranial haemorrhages, but still
      substantial. Knowledge about the relative size of the costs of bleeding events
      compared to ischemic stroke in patients with AF constitutes valuable evidence for
      decisions-makers in Denmark as well as in other countries.

PMID- 28606080
TI  - The challenges of emerging HISs in bridging the communication gaps among
      physicians and nurses in China: an interview study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the current situation, existing problems and possible
      causes of said problems with regards to physician-nurse communication under an
      environment of increasingly widespread usage of Hospital Information Systems and
      to seek out new potential strategies in information technology to improve
      physician-nurse communication. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted
      with 20 physicians and nurses in five leading tertiary grade A hospitals in
      Beijing, China (two physicians and two nurses in each hospital). The interviews
      primarily included three aspects comprising the current situation and problems of
      clinical physician-nurse communication, the application and problems of Hospital
      Information Systems, and assessments on the improvement of physician-nurse
      communication through the usage of information technology. The inductive
      conventional content analysis approach was employed. RESULTS: (1) Physicians and
      nurses are generally quite satisfied with the current situation of communication.
      However, the information needs of nurses are prone to being overlooked, and the
      communication methods are primarily synchronous communication such as face-to
      face and phone communication. (2) Hospital Information Systems are gradually
      being used for physician-nurse communication; in the meantime, physicians and
      nurses face challenges with regards to the improvement of physician-nurse
      communication through the usage of information technology. Challenges differ
      based on the different stages of using the system and the different levels of
      understanding of physicians and nurses towards information technology. Their
      dissatisfaction mainly deals with system errors and the level of convenience in
      using the system. (3) In-depth interviews found that in general, physicians and
      nurses have a strong interest and trust in improving physician-nurse
      communication through appropriate information technology, e.g., communication
      methods such as information reminders for physicians and nurses through mobile
      devices and instant voice-to-text conversion methods. CONCLUSIONS: There are
      objective risks in physician-nurse communication in Chinese hospitals, and
      clinical information systems lack solutions to the relevant problems. Developing
      a dedicated, mobile, quick and convenient module for physician-nurse
      communication within existing hospital information system with automatic
      reminders for important information that segregates between synchronous and
      asynchronous communication according to the different types of information could
      help improve physician-nurse communication.

PMID- 28606081
TI  - Isolation of anti-mycobacterial compounds from Curtisia dentata (Burm.f.) C.A.Sm
      (Curtisiaceae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis is counted amongst the most infectious and lethal
      illnesses worldwide and remains one of the major threats to human health. The aim
      of the current study was to isolate and characterize anti-mycobacterial compounds
      present in Curtisia dentata (Burm.f.) C.A.Sm , a medicinal plant reportedly used
      in the treatment of tuberculosis, stomach ailments and sexually transmitted
      infections. METHODS: The bioassay guided principle was followed to isolate the
      anti-mycobacterial compounds. The crude ethanol extracts of the leaves was
      partitioned with various solvents four compounds such as beta-sitosterol,
      betulinic acid, ursolic acid and lupeol were successfully isolated. The compounds
      and their derivatives were evaluated for anti-mycobacterial activity using
      Microplate Alamar Blue Assay (MABA) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37RV
      (ATCC 27294). Furthermore, the derivatives were investigated for their toxicity
      against HepG2 and HEK293 using the MTT assay. RESULTS: The methanol fraction had
      the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 22.2 MUg/ml against the
      selected Mycobacterium strain when compared to other fractions. Ursolic acid
      acetate (UAA) was the most active compound with MIC value of 3.4 MUg/ml. The
      derivatives had varying degrees of toxicity, but were generally non-toxic to the
      selected cell lines. Derivatives also exhibited highest selectivity index and
      offers a higher safety margin. CONCLUSIONS: The derivatives had better
      antimicrobial activity and low cytotoxic effects compared to isolated compounds.
      These increased their selectivity. It appears that acetylation of both betulinic
      acid and ursolic acid increased their activity against the selected Mycobacterium
      species. The results obtained in this study gives a clear indication that
      Curtisia dentata may serve as major source of new alternative medicines that may
      be used to treat TB. Furthermore, there is a need to explore the activity of
      these tested plant against other pathogenic Mycobacterium species.

PMID- 28606083
TI  - The spiritual history in outpatient practice: attitudes and practices of health
      professionals in the Adventist Health System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A screening spiritual history (SSH) is how health professionals (HP)
      identify patients' spiritual values, beliefs and preferences (VBPs) in the
      outpatient setting. We report on attitudes and practices of HPs in the largest
      Protestant health system in the U.S., the Adventist Health System (AHS). METHOD:
      Physicians or mid-level practitioners (N = 1082) in AHS-affiliated practices were
      approached and 513 (47%) agreed to participate. Participants were asked to
      identify a "spiritual care coordinator" (nurse/staff) and complete a
      questionnaire that assessed demographics, practice characteristics, religious
      involvement, and attitudes/practices concerning the SSH. Prevalence and
      predictors of attitudes/practices were identified. RESULTS: Questionnaires were
      completed by 427 physicians, 86 mid-level practitioners, and 224 nurses/staff
      (i.e., spiritual care coordinators). Among physicians, 45% agreed that HPs should
      take a SSH; of mid-level practitioners, 56% agreed; and of nurses/staff, 54%
      agreed. A significant proportion (range 31-54%) agreed that physicians should
      take the SSH. Participants indicated a SSH is appropriate for all outpatients (46
      57%), well-visit exams (50-60%), the chronically ill (71-75%) and terminally ill
      (79-82%). A majority agreed the SSH should be documented in the medical record
      (67-80%). Few (11-17%) currently took a SSH, although most were at least
      sometimes willing to take a SSH (87-94%) or review the results thereof (86-98%).
      Self-rated importance of religion was the strongest predictor of SSH
      attitudes/practices. CONCLUSIONS: Many in the AHS say a SSH should be done, are
      willing to do it, and are willing to review the results, although few currently
      do so. Education, training, and support may help HPs identify and address
      patients' spiritual VBPs.

PMID- 28606082
TI  - Expression and functional analyses of a Kinesin gene GhKIS13A1 from cotton
      (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cotton fiber, a natural fiber widely used in the textile industry, is
      differentiated from single cell of ovule epidermis. A large number of genes are
      believed to be involved in fiber formation, but so far only a few fiber genes
      have been isolated and functionally characterized in this developmental process.
      The Kinesin13 subfamily was found to play key roles during cell division and cell
      elongation, and was considered to be involved in the regulation of cotton fiber
      development. RESULTS: The full length of coding sequence of GhKIS13A1 was cloned
      using cDNA from cotton fiber for functional characterization. Expression pattern
      analysis showed that GhKIS13A1 maintained a lower expression level during cotton
      fiber development. Biochemical assay showed that GhKIS13A1 has microtubule
      binding activity and basal ATPase activity that can be activated significantly by
      the presence of microtubules. Overexpression of GhKIS13A1 in Arabidopsis reduced
      leaf trichomes and the percentage of three-branch trichomes, and increased two
      branch and shriveled trichomes compared to wild-type. Additionally, the
      expression of GhKIS13A1 in the Arabidopsis Kinesin-13a-1 mutant rescued the
      defective trichome branching pattern of the mutant, making its overall trichome
      branching pattern back to normal. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that
      GhKIS13A1 is functionally compatible with AtKinesin-13A regarding their role in
      regulating the number and branching pattern of leaf trichomes. Given the
      developmental similarities between cotton fibers and Arabidopsis trichomes, it is
      speculated that GhKIS13A1 may also be involved in the regulation of cotton fiber
      development.

PMID- 28606084
TI  - Effect of oral cinnamon intervention on metabolic profile and body composition of
      Asian Indians with metabolic syndrome: a randomized double -blind control trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nutritional modulation remains central to the management of metabolic
      syndrome. Intervention with cinnamon in individuals with metabolic syndrome
      remains sparsely researched. METHODS: We investigated the effect of oral cinnamon
      consumption on body composition and metabolic parameters of Asian Indians with
      metabolic syndrome. In this 16-week double blind randomized control trial, 116
      individuals with metabolic syndrome were randomized to two dietary intervention
      groups, cinnamon [6 capsules (3 g) daily] or wheat flour [6 capsules (2.5 g)
      daily]. Body composition, blood pressure and metabolic parameters were assessed.
      RESULTS: Significantly greater decrease [difference between means, (95% CI)] in
      fasting blood glucose (mmol/L) [0.3 (0.2, 0.5) p = 0.001], glycosylated
      haemoglobin (mmol/mol) [2.6 (0.4, 4.9) p = 0.023], waist circumference (cm) [4.8
      (1.9, 7.7) p = 0.002] and body mass index (kg/m2 ) [1.3 (0.9, 1.5) p = 0.001] was
      observed in the cinnamon group compared to placebo group. Other parameters which
      showed significantly greater improvement were: waist-hip ratio, blood pressure,
      serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum
      triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Prevalence of defined
      metabolic syndrome was significantly reduced in the intervention group (34.5%)
      vs. the placebo group (5.2%). CONCLUSION: A single supplement intervention with 3
      g cinnamon for 16 weeks resulted in significant improvements in all components of
      metabolic syndrome in a sample of Asian Indians in north India. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: The clinical trial was retrospectively registered (after the
      recruitment of the participants) in ClinicalTrial.gov under the identification
      number: NCT02455778 on 25th May 2015.

PMID- 28606085
TI  - Care cascade structural intervention versus standard of care in the diagnosis and
      treatment of HIV in China: a cluster-randomized controlled trial protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The high rate of attrition along the care cascade of infection with
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in lost opportunities to provide
      timely antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to prevent unnecessarily high mortality.
      This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a structural intervention, the one
      stop ("One4All") strategy that streamlines China's HIV care cascade with the
      intent to improve testing completeness, ART initiation, viral suppression, and
      mortality. METHOD: A two-arm, cluster-randomized controlled trial was implemented
      in twelve county hospitals in Guangxi China to test the effectiveness of the
      One4All strategy (intervention arm) compared to the current standard of care
      (SOC; control arm). The twelve study hospitals were selected for homogeneity and
      allocated one-to-one to the intervention and control arms. All patients screening
      HIV positive in study hospitals were enrolled. Target study enrollment was 180
      participants per arm, 30 participants per hospital. Basic demographic information
      was collected as well as HIV risk behavior and route of infection. In
      intervention hospitals, patients then went on to receive point-of-care CD4
      testing and in-parallel viral load (VL) testing whereas patients in control
      hospitals progressed through the usual SOC cascade. The primary outcome measure
      was testing completeness within 30 days of positive initial HIV screening result.
      Testing completeness was defined as receipt of all tests, test results, and post
      test counseling. The secondary outcome measure was ART initiation (receipt of
      first ART prescriptions) within 90 days of positive initial HIV screening result.
      Tertiary outcome measures were viral suppression (<=200 copies/mL) and all-cause
      mortality at 12 months. DISCUSSION: We expect that this first-ever, cluster
      randomized controlled trial of a bundle of interventions intended to streamline
      the HIV care cascade in China (the One4All strategy) will provide strong evidence
      for the benefit of accelerating diagnosis, thorough clinical assessment, and ART
      initiation via an optimized HIV care cascade. We furthermore anticipate that this
      evidence will be valuable to policymakers looking to elevate China's overall
      HIV/AIDS response to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets and the broader, global
      goal of eradication of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT02084316 . (Registered on March 7, 2014).

PMID- 28606086
TI  - Analysis and prediction of single-stranded and double-stranded DNA binding
      proteins based on protein sequences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: DNA-binding proteins perform important functions in a great number of
      biological activities. DNA-binding proteins can interact with ssDNA (single
      stranded DNA) or dsDNA (double-stranded DNA), and DNA-binding proteins can be
      categorized as single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) and double-stranded
      DNA-binding proteins (DSBs). The identification of DNA-binding proteins from
      amino acid sequences can help to annotate protein functions and understand the
      binding specificity. In this study, we systematically consider a variety of
      schemes to represent protein sequences: OAAC (overall amino acid composition)
      features, dipeptide compositions, PSSM (position-specific scoring matrix
      profiles) and split amino acid composition (SAA), and then we adopt SVM (support
      vector machine) and RF (random forest) classification model to distinguish SSBs
      from DSBs. RESULTS: Our results suggest that some sequence features can
      significantly differentiate DSBs and SSBs. Evaluated by 10 fold cross-validation
      on the benchmark datasets, our prediction method can achieve the accuracy of
      88.7% and AUC (area under the curve) of 0.919. Moreover, our method has good
      performance in independent testing. CONCLUSIONS: Using various sequence-derived
      features, a novel method is proposed to distinguish DSBs and SSBs accurately. The
      method also explores novel features, which could be helpful to discover the
      binding specificity of DNA-binding proteins.

PMID- 28606087
TI  - Suppression of experimental cerebral malaria by disruption of malate:quinone
      oxidoreductase.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aspartate, which is converted from oxaloacetate (OAA) by aspartate
      aminotransferase, is considered an important precursor for purine salvage and
      pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis, and is thus indispensable for the growth of
      Plasmodium parasites at the asexual blood stages. OAA can be produced in malaria
      parasites via two routes: (i) from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) by
      phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) in the cytosol, or (ii) from fumarate by
      consecutive reactions catalyzed by fumarate hydratase (FH) and malate:quinone
      oxidoreductase (MQO) in the mitochondria of malaria parasites. Although PEPC
      deficient Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei (rodent malaria) parasites
      show a growth defect, the mutant P. berghei can still cause experimental cerebral
      malaria (ECM) with similar dynamics to wild-type parasites. In contrast, the
      importance of FH and MQO for parasite viability, growth and virulence is not
      fully understood because no FH- and MQO-deficient P. falciparum has been
      established. In this study, the role of FH and MQO in the pathogenicity of
      asexual-blood-stage Plasmodium parasites causing cerebral malaria was examined.
      RESULTS: First, FH- and MQO-deficient parasites were generated by inserting a
      luciferase-expressing cassette into the fh and mqo loci in the genome of P.
      berghei ANKA strain. Second, the viability of FH-deficient and MQO-deficient
      parasites that express luciferase was determined by measuring luciferase
      activity, and the effect of FH or MQO deficiency on the development of ECM was
      examined. While the viability of FH-deficient P. berghei was comparable to that
      of control parasites, MQO-deficient parasites exhibited considerably reduced
      viability. FH activity derived from erythrocytes was also detected. This result
      and the absence of phenotype in FH-deficient P. berghei parasites suggest that
      fumarate can be metabolized to malate by host or parasite FH in P. berghei
      infected erythrocytes. Furthermore, although the growth of FH- and MQO-deficient
      parasites was impaired, the development of ECM was suppressed only in mice
      infected with MQO-deficient parasites. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that
      MQO-mediated mitochondrial functions are required for development of ECM of
      asexual-blood-stage Plasmodium parasites.

PMID- 28606088
TI  - Developing a standardized healthcare cost data warehouse.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research addressing value in healthcare requires a measure of cost.
      While there are many sources and types of cost data, each has strengths and
      weaknesses. Many researchers appear to create study-specific cost datasets, but
      the explanations of their costing methodologies are not always clear, causing
      their results to be difficult to interpret. Our solution, described in this
      paper, was to use widely accepted costing methodologies to create a service
      level, standardized healthcare cost data warehouse from an institutional
      perspective that includes all professional and hospital-billed services for our
      patients. METHODS: The warehouse is based on a National Institutes of Research
      funded research infrastructure containing the linked health records and medical
      care administrative data of two healthcare providers and their affiliated
      hospitals. Since all patients are identified in the data warehouse, their costs
      can be linked to other systems and databases, such as electronic health records,
      tumor registries, and disease or treatment registries. RESULTS: We describe the
      two institutions' administrative source data; the reference files, which include
      Medicare fee schedules and cost reports; the process of creating standardized
      costs; and the warehouse structure. The costing algorithm can create inflation
      adjusted standardized costs at the service line level for defined study cohorts
      on request. CONCLUSION: The resulting standardized costs contained in the data
      warehouse can be used to create detailed, bottom-up analyses of professional and
      facility costs of procedures, medical conditions, and patient care cycles without
      revealing business-sensitive information. After its creation, a standardized cost
      data warehouse is relatively easy to maintain and can be expanded to include data
      from other providers. Individual investigators who may not have sufficient
      knowledge about administrative data do not have to try to create their own
      standardized costs on a project-by-project basis because our data warehouse
      generates standardized costs for defined cohorts upon request.

PMID- 28606090
TI  - Comparative efficacy analysis of anti-microbial peptides, LL-37 and indolicidin
      upon conjugation with CNT, in human monocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have the potential to serve as an
      alternative to antibiotic. AMPs usually exert bactericidal activity via direct
      killing of microbial pathogens. Reports have proposed that by harnessing innate
      immune activation, AMPs can regulate pathogen invasion and may control infection.
      It has been reported that AMPs could be utilized to activate the innate mucosal
      immune response in order to eliminate pathogenic infections. This way of
      controlling pathogen infection, by activating host immunity, confers the
      potential to the select AMPs to alleviate the problem of antibiotic resistance.
      Among various AMPs tested LL-37 and indolicidin, showed promise to be potential
      candidates for eliciting enhanced host innate immune responses. LL-37 and
      indolicidin had exhibited substantial innate immune activation in both human and
      murine macrophages. Dosage for each of the AMPs, however, was high with adverse
      side effects. RESULTS: In this study, we reported that upon conjugation with
      carbon nanotubes (CNT), each AMP remained biologically functional at a
      concentration that was 1000-fold less than the dosage required for free AMP to
      remain active in the cells. CONCLUSIONS: Current study also revealed that while
      indolicidin induced signalling events mediated through the TNFRSF1A pathway in
      THP1 cells, followed by activation of NFkappaB and c-JUN pathways, treatment of
      cells with LL-37 induced signalling events by activating IL1R, with subsequent
      activation of NFkappaB and NFAT2. Thp1 cells, primed with CNT conjugated LL-37 or
      indolicidin, are protected against Salmonella typhimurium infection at 16 h post
      challenge.

PMID- 28606089
TI  - Alterations of anti-inflammatory lipids in plasma from women with chronic
      widespread pain - a case control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic widespread pain conditions (CWP) such as the pain associated
      with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are significant health problems with unclear
      aetiology. Although CWP and FMS can alter both central and peripheral pain
      mechanisms, there are no validated markers for such alterations. Pro- and anti
      inflammatory components of the immune system such as cytokines and endogenous
      lipid mediators could serve as systemic markers of alterations in chronic pain.
      Lipid mediators associated with anti-inflammatory qualities - e.g.,
      oleoylethanolamide (OEA), palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), and stearoylethanolamide
      (SEA) - belong to N-acylethanolamines (NAEs). Previous studies have concluded
      that these lipid mediators may modulate pain and inflammation via the activation
      of peroxisome proliferator activating receptors (PPARs) and the activation of
      PPARs may regulate gene transcriptional factors that control the expression of
      distinct cytokines. METHODS: This study investigates NAEs and cytokines in 17
      women with CWP and 21 healthy controls. Plasma levels of the anti-inflammatory
      lipids OEA, PEA, and SEA, the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL
      6, and IL-8, and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were investigated. T-test
      of independent samples was used for group comparisons. Bivariate correlation
      analyses, and multivariate regression analysis were performed between lipids,
      cytokines, and pain intensity of the participants. RESULTS: Significantly higher
      levels of OEA and PEA in plasma were found in CWP. No alterations in the levels
      of cytokines existed and no correlations between levels of lipids and cytokines
      were found. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that altered levels of OEA and PEA might
      indicate the presence of systemic inflammation in CWP. In addition, we believe
      our findings contribute to the understanding of the biochemical mechanisms
      involved in chronic musculoskeletal pain.

PMID- 28606091
TI  - LASP2 suppresses colorectal cancer progression through JNK/p38 MAPK pathway
      meditated epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LASP2 (LIM and SH3 Protein 2) is a small focal adhesion protein
      belongs to nebulin protein family. As the newest member of nebulette family, the
      function of LASP2 remains to be identified. METHODS: The relationship between
      LASP2 expression and clinical characteristics of CRC was analyzed in 89 paraffin
      embedded archived CRC specimens by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The effects of
      LASP2 on cell growth and migration were examined in vitro, using CCK-8 and
      transwell assays. Western blotting was performed to examine the impact of LASP2
      on the SAPK/JNK and MAPK signaling pathways. RESULTS: In the present study, we
      observed a decreased LASP2 expression in clinical colorectal cancer samples
      compared with paired normal tissues. A negative correlation was also found
      between LASP2 and poor prognosis of CRC patients. Gain- and loss-of-function
      approaches revealed that LASP2 plays inhibitory effects on the growth and
      migration of human CRC cells in vitro. Western-blot results showed that LASP2
      could attenuate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to accomplish its
      suppression on CRC aggression. In LASP2 knocked down CRC cells, EMT was inhibited
      along with the inactivation of JNK/p38 MAPK pathway. Consistently, treatment of
      JNK inhibitor (JNK inhibitor II) together with p38 inhibitor (SB203580) could
      resume the process of EMT. Interestingly, we found a negative relationship
      between LASP2 and LASP1 expression in both CRC cell lines and tumors tissues,
      which suggests their converse function in CRC progression. CONCLUSIONS: All the
      findings indicated that LASP2 may play a significant role in suppressing CRC
      progression and provided a novel biomarker for CRC therapy.

PMID- 28606092
TI  - Hyperlipidemic microenvironment conditionates damage mechanisms in human
      chondrocytes by oxidative stress.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, two pathogenic pathways describe the role of obesity in
      osteoarthritis (OA); one through biomechanical stress, and the other by the
      contribution of systemic inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      effect of free fatty acids (FFA) in human chondrocytes (HC) expression of
      proinflammatory factors and reactive oxygen species (ROS). METHODS: HC were
      exposed to two different concentrations of FFA in order to evaluate the secretion
      of adipokines through cytokines immunoassays panel, quantify the protein
      secretion of FFA-treated chondrocytes, and fluorescent cytometry assays were
      performed to evaluate the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. RESULTS: HC
      injury was observed at 48 h of treatment with FFA. In the FFA-treated HC the
      production of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide radical, hydrogen
      peroxide, and the reactive nitrogen species increased significantly in a at the
      two-dose tested (250 and 500 MUM). In addition, we found an increase in the
      cytokine secretion of IL-6 and chemokine IL-8 in FFA-treated HC in comparison to
      the untreated HC. CONCLUSION: In our in vitro model of HC, a hyperlipidemia
      microenvironment induces an oxidative stress state that enhances the inflammatory
      process mediated by adipokines secretion in HC.

PMID- 28606093
TI  - Two steps forward, one step back: current harm reduction policy and politics in
      the United States.
AB  - Harm reduction policies and attitudes in the United States have advanced
      substantially in recent years but still lag behind more advanced jurisdictions in
      Europe and elsewhere. The Obama administration, particularly in its last years,
      embraced some harm reduction policies that had been rejected by previous
      administrations but shied away from more cutting edge interventions like
      supervised consumption sites and heroin-assisted treatment. The Trump
      administration will undermine some of the progress made to date but significant
      state and local control over drug policies in the US, as well as growing
      Republican support for pragmatic drug policies, motivated in part by the opioid
      crisis, ensures continuing progress for harm reduction.

PMID- 28606094
TI  - What is the impact of PCSK9 rs505151 and rs11591147 polymorphisms on serum lipids
      level and cardiovascular risk: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PCSK9 rs505151 and rs11591147 polymorphisms are identified as gain-
      and loss-of-function mutations, respectively. The effects of these polymorphisms
      on serum lipid levels and cardiovascular risk remain to be elucidated. METHODS:
      In this meta-analysis, we explored the association of PCSK9 rs505151 and
      rs11591147 polymorphisms with serum lipid levels and cardiovascular risk by
      calculating the standardized mean difference (SMD) and odds ratios (OR) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Pooled results analyzed under a dominant
      genetic model indicated that the PCSK9 rs505151 G allele was related to higher
      levels of triglycerides (SMD: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.26, P = 0.021, I2 = 0) and
      low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL-C) (SMD: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.00 to 0.35, P
      = 0.046, I2 = 75.9%) and increased cardiovascular risk (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.19 to
      1.89, P = 0.0006, I2 = 48%). The rs11591147 T allele was significantly associated
      with lower levels of total cholesterol (TC) and LDL-C (TC, SMD: -0.45, 95% CI: 
      0.57 to -0.32, P = 0.000, I2 = 0; LDL-C, SMD: -0.44, 95% CI: -0.55 to -0.33, P =
      0.000, I2 = 0) and decreased cardiovascular risk (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60 to 0.98,
      P = 0.031, I2 = 59.9) in Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the
      variant G allele of PCSK9 rs505151 confers increased triglyceride (TG) and LDL-C
      levels, as well as increased cardiovascular risk. Conversely, the variant T
      allele of rs11591147 protects carriers from cardiovascular disease susceptibility
      and lower TC and LDL-C levels in Caucasians. These findings provide useful
      information for researchers interested in the fields of PCSK9 genetics and
      cardiovascular risk prediction not only for designing future studies, but also
      for clinical and public health applications.

PMID- 28606095
TI  - Evaluation of the impact of once weekly dulaglutide on patient-reported outcomes
      in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes: comparisons with liraglutide, insulin
      glargine, and placebo in two randomized studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Standardized patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires can be
      utilized to evaluate treatment satisfaction (subjective evaluation of treatment)
      in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). These outcomes are important because they
      may affect patient adherence and overall study results. METHODS: PROs were
      evaluated in two randomized 26-week clinical trials in Japanese patients with T2D
      taking dulaglutide 0.75 mg (dulaglutide) once weekly; comparators were once-daily
      liraglutide (0.9 mg/day) and once-weekly placebo in one study and once-daily
      insulin glargine (glargine) in the other study. The Perceptions About Medications
      Diabetes 21 Questionnaire - Japanese version (PAM-D21-J) and the Injectable
      Diabetes Medication Questionnaire - Japanese version (IDMQ-J) were completed by
      patients in both studies. These measures were both considered exploratory
      endpoints. All scale scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting
      better outcomes. RESULTS: Patients reported that dulaglutide was more convenient
      and flexible than liraglutide (PAM-D21-J Convenience/Flexibility subscale:
      dulaglutide least-square mean [LSM], 84.58; liraglutide LSM, 78.94; p = .026),
      and that they were more satisfied with dulaglutide than with liraglutide (IDMQ-J
      Satisfaction subscale: dulaglutide, 75.24; liraglutide, 69.53; p = .012).
      Patients also reported that dulaglutide was more convenient and flexible than
      glargine (PAM-D21-J Convenience/Flexibility subscale: dulaglutide, 87.89;
      glargine, 79.22; p < .001), and that they were more satisfied with dulaglutide
      than with glargine (IDMQ-J Satisfaction subscale: dulaglutide, 78.86; glargine,
      69.66; p < .001), and felt dulaglutide was more effective than glargine, with
      fewer symptoms and adverse events (PAM-D21-J Perceived Effectiveness subscale:
      dulaglutide, 77.61; glargine, 67.22; p < .001; Emotional Effects subscale:
      dulaglutide, 93.02; glargine, 89.55; p = .017; IDMQ-J Blood Glucose Control
      subscale: dulaglutide, 76.33; glargine, 67.57; p < .001). In addition, patients
      responded that dulaglutide was superior to placebo in the PAM-D21-J
      Convenience/Flexibility, Perceived Effectiveness, and Emotional Effects subscales
      and all IDMQ-J subscales (Satisfaction, Ease of Use, Lifestyle Impact, Blood
      Glucose Control). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, after 26 weeks of once-weekly dulaglutide
      administration in Japanese patients with T2D, PROs were generally positive versus
      the three comparator treatments (liraglutide, glargine, and placebo), suggesting
      increased treatment satisfaction through better blood glucose control and
      convenience/flexibility and reduced negative emotional effects of diabetes. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (monotherapy study: NCT01558271 , registered
      March 12, 2012; combination therapy study: NCT01584232 , registered April 23,
      2012).

PMID- 28606097
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterization of SnRK2 gene family in cotton
      (Gossypium hirsutum L.).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sucrose non-fermenting-1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) is a plant
      specific serine/threonine kinase family involved in the abscisic acid (ABA)
      signaling pathway and responds to osmotic stress. A genome-wide analysis of this
      protein family has been conducted previously in some plant species, but little is
      known about SnRK2 genes in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). The recent
      release of the G. hirsutum genome sequence provides an opportunity to identify
      and characterize the SnRK2 kinase family in upland cotton. RESULTS: We identified
      20 putative SnRK2 sequences in the G. hirsutum genome, designated as GhSnRK2.1 to
      GhSnRK2.20. All of the sequences encoded hydrophilic proteins. Phylogenetic
      analysis showed that the GhSnRK2 genes were classifiable into three groups. The
      chromosomal location and phylogenetic analysis of the cotton SnRK2 genes
      indicated that segmental duplication likely contributed to the diversification
      and evolution of the genes. The gene structure and motif composition of the
      cotton SnRK2 genes were analyzed. Nine exons were conserved in length among all
      members of the GhSnRK2 family. Although the C-terminus was divergent, seven
      conserved motifs were present. All GhSnRK2s genes showed expression patterns
      under abiotic stress based on transcriptome data. The expression profiles of five
      selected genes were verified in various tissues by quantitative real-time RT-PCR
      (qRT-PCR). Transcript levels of some family members were up-regulated in response
      to drought, salinity or ABA treatments, consistent with potential roles in
      response to abiotic stress. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first comprehensive
      analysis of SnRK2 genes in upland cotton. Our results provide the fundamental
      information for the functional dissection of GhSnRK2s and vital availability for
      the improvement of plant stress tolerance using GhSnRK2s.

PMID- 28606096
TI  - Pan-cancer analysis reveals technical artifacts in TCGA germline variant calls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer research to date has largely focused on somatically acquired
      genetic aberrations. In contrast, the degree to which germline, or inherited,
      variation contributes to tumorigenesis remains unclear, possibly due to a lack of
      accessible germline variant data. Here we called germline variants on 9618 cases
      from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database representing 31 cancer types.
      RESULTS: We identified batch effects affecting loss of function (LOF) variant
      calls that can be traced back to differences in the way the sequence data were
      generated both within and across cancer types. Overall, LOF indel calls were more
      sensitive to technical artifacts than LOF Single Nucleotide Variant (SNV) calls.
      In particular, whole genome amplification of DNA prior to sequencing led to an
      artificially increased burden of LOF indel calls, which confounded association
      analyses relating germline variants to tumor type despite stringent indel
      filtering strategies. The samples affected by these technical artifacts include
      all acute myeloid leukemia and practically all ovarian cancer samples.
      CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate how technical artifacts induced by whole genome
      amplification of DNA can lead to false positive germline-tumor type associations
      and suggest TCGA whole genome amplified samples be used with caution. This study
      draws attention to the need to be sensitive to problems associated with a lack of
      uniformity in data generation in TCGA data.

PMID- 28606098
TI  - Determining the longitudinal validity and meaningful differences in HRQL of the
      PedsQLTM Sickle Cell Disease Module.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detecting change in health status over time and ascertaining
      meaningful changes are critical elements when using health-related quality of
      life (HRQL) instruments to measure patient-centered outcomes. The PedsQLTM Sickle
      Cell Disease module, a disease specific HRQL instrument, has previously been
      shown to be valid and reliable. Our objectives were to determine the longitudinal
      validity of the PedsQLTM Sickle Cell Disease module and the change in HRQL that
      is meaningful to patients. METHODS: An ancillary study was conducted utilizing a
      multi-center prospective trial design. Children ages 4-21 years with sickle cell
      disease admitted to the hospital for an acute painful vaso-oclusive crisis were
      eligible. Children completed HRQL assessments at three time points (in the
      Emergency Department, one week post-discharge, and at return to baseline (One to
      three months post-discharge). The primary outcome was change in HRQL score. Both
      distribution (effect size, standard error of measurement (SEM)) and anchor
      (global change assessment) based methods were used to determine the longitudinal
      validity and meaningful change in HRQL. Changes in HRQL meaningful to patients
      were identified by anchoring the change scores to the patient's perception of
      global improvement in pain. RESULTS: Moderate effect sizes (0.20-0.80) were
      determined for all domains except the Communication I and Cognitive Fatigue
      domains. The value of 1 SEM varied from 3.8-14.6 across all domains. Over 50% of
      patients improved by at least 1 SEM in Total HRQL score. A HRQL change score of 7
      10 in the pain domains represented minimal perceived improvement in HRQL and a
      HRQL change score of 18 or greater represented moderate to large improvement.
      CONCLUSIONS: The PedsQLTM Sickle Cell Disease Module is responsive to changes in
      HRQL in patients experiencing acute painful vaso-occlusive crises. The study data
      establish longitudinal validity and meaningful change parameters for the PedsQLTM
      Sickle Cell Disease Module. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (study
      identifier: NCT01197417 ). Date of registration: 08/30/2010.

PMID- 28606099
TI  - Pulmonary hemodynamics and effects of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibition in
      heart failure: a meta-analysis of randomized trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested that phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors
      (PDE5i) have a beneficial effect in patients with heart failure (HF), although
      the results were inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the
      effect of PDE5i in HF patients, and investigated the relationship between PDE5i
      effects and pulmonary hemodynamics. METHOD: We searched PubMed, EMBASE and the
      Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared PDE5i with
      placebo in HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) or HF with preserved EF
      (HFpEF). PDE5i effects were interpolated according to baseline pulmonary arterial
      pressure (PAP) or according to changes in PAP after PDE5i treatment. RESULTS:
      Thirteen RCTs enrolling 898 HF patients, and two sub-analysis studies with
      different study outcomes, were included in the meta-analysis. Among patients with
      HFrEF, PDE5i improved peak VO2 (mean difference [MD], 3.76 mL/min/kg; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 3.27 to 4.25; P < 0.00001), VE/VCO2 slope (MD, -6.04;
      95% CI, -7.45 to -4.64; P < 0.00001), LVEF (MD, 4.30%; 95% CI, 2.18 to 6.42; P <
      0.0001), and pulmonary vascular resistance (MD, -80.74 dyn.sec/cm5; 95% CI, 
      110.69 to -50.79; P < 0.00001). The effects of PDE5i in patients with HFpEF were
      heterogeneous. Meta-regression analyses indicated that the beneficial effect of
      PDE5i was related to the baseline PAP as well as the extent of PDE5i-mediated PAP
      decrease. CONCLUSION: PDE5i improved pulmonary hemodynamics and exercise capacity
      in patients with HFrEF, but not in HFpEF. The relationship between the benefits
      by PDE5i with the baseline PAP and the changes in PAP indicates the therapeutic
      potential of PDE5i in HF according to pulmonary hemodynamics.

PMID- 28606100
TI  - Joint Bayesian modeling of time to malaria and mosquito abundance in Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This paper studies the effect of mosquito abundance and malaria
      incidence in the last 3 weeks, and their interaction, on the hazard of time to
      malaria in a previously studied cohort of children in Ethiopia. METHODS: We model
      the mosquito abundance and time to malaria data jointly in a Bayesian framework.
      RESULTS: We found that the interaction of mosquito abundance and incidence plays
      a prominent role on malaria risk. We quantify and compare relative risks of
      various factors, and determine the predominant role of the interaction between
      incidence and mosquito abundance in describing malaria risk. Seasonal rain
      patterns, distance to a water source of the households, temperature and relative
      humidity are all significant in explaining mosquito abundance, and through this
      affect malaria risk. CONCLUSION: Analyzing jointly the time to malaria data and
      the mosquito abundance allows a precise comparison of factors affecting the
      spread of malaria. The effect of the interaction between mosquito abundances and
      local presence of malaria parasites has an important effect on the hazard of time
      to malaria, beyond abundance alone. Each additional one km away from the dam
      gives an average reduction of malaria relative risk of 5.7%. The importance of
      the interaction between abundance and incidence leads to the hypothesis that
      preventive intervention could advantageously target the infectious population, in
      addition to mosquito control, which is the typical intervention today.

PMID- 28606101
TI  - International physician survey on management of FOP: a modified Delphi study.
AB  - Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a disabling disorder of progressive
      heterotopic ossification (HEO), is caused by heterozygous gain-of- function
      mutations in Activin receptor A, type I (ACVR1, also known as ALK2), a bone
      morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptor. Presently, symptomatic management is
      possible, but no definitive treatments are available. Although extensive
      guidelines for symptomatic management are widely used, regional preferences
      exist. In order to understand if there was worldwide consensus among clinicians
      treating FOP patients, an expert panel of physicians directly involved in FOP
      patient care was convened. Using a modified Delphi method, broad international
      consensus was reached on four main topics: diagnosis, prevention of flare-ups,
      patient and family-centered care and general clinical management issues. This
      study of physician preferences provides a basis for standardization of clinical
      management for FOP.

PMID- 28606102
TI  - Choosing the target difference ('effect size') for a randomised controlled trial 
      DELTA2 guidance protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A key step in the design of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) is
      the estimation of the number of participants needed. By far the most common
      approach is to specify a target difference and then estimate the corresponding
      sample size; this sample size is chosen to provide reassurance that the trial
      will have high statistical power to detect such a difference between the
      randomised groups (at the planned statistical significance level). The sample
      size has many implications for the conduct of the study, as well as carrying
      scientific and ethical aspects to its choice. Despite the critical role of the
      target difference for the primary outcome in the design of an RCT, the manner in
      which it is determined has received little attention. This article reports the
      protocol of the Difference ELicitation in TriAls (DELTA2) project, which will
      produce guidance on the specification and reporting of the target difference for
      the primary outcome in a sample size calculation for RCTs. METHODS/DESIGN: The
      DELTA2 project has five components: systematic literature reviews of recent
      methodological developments (stage 1) and existing funder guidance (stage 2); a
      Delphi study (stage 3); a 2-day consensus meeting bringing together researchers,
      funders and patient representatives, as well as one-off engagement sessions at
      relevant stakeholder meetings (stage 4); and the preparation and dissemination of
      a guidance document (stage 5). DISCUSSION: Specification of the target difference
      for the primary outcome is a key component of the design of an RCT. There is a
      need for better guidance for researchers and funders regarding specification and
      reporting of this aspect of trial design. The aim of this project is to produce
      consensus based guidance for researchers and funders.

PMID- 28606103
TI  - Occupational therapy and physiotherapy education and workforce in Anglophone sub
      Saharan Africa countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries are faced with the challenge of
      educating a critical mass of occupational therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists
      (PTs) to meet the growing demand for health and rehabilitation services. The
      World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) and World Confederation of
      Physical Therapy (WCPT) have argued for the need of graduate-level training for
      OTs and PTs for decades. However, very few studies have been conducted to
      determine the availability of OT and PT training programs and practitioners in
      SSA countries. METHODS: Initial data were collected and compiled from an
      extensive literature search conducted using MEDLINE and PubMed to examine the
      availability of OT and PT education and training programs in SSA countries.
      Additional data were collected, compiled, and collated from academic
      institutions, ministries of health, health professions associations, and
      licensing authorities in SSA countries. Secondary data were also collected from
      the websites of organizations such as the World Bank, World Health Organization
      (WHO), WFOT, and WCPT. RESULTS: This investigation revealed that there are
      limited number of OT and PT training programs and that these training programs in
      Anglophone SSA countries are offered at or below the bachelor's level. More than
      half of the countries do not have OT or PT training programs. The number of
      qualified OTs and PTs appears to be insufficient to meet the demand for
      rehabilitation services. Nigeria and South Africa are the only countries offering
      post-entry-level masters and doctoral-level training programs in physiotherapy
      and occupational therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Higher learning institutions in SSA
      countries need to collaborate and partner with other regional and foreign
      universities to elevate the educational training and increase the supply of PTs
      and OTs in the region.

PMID- 28606104
TI  - Unlocking echocardiogram measurements for heart disease research through natural
      language processing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to investigate the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in
      HIV infected and uninfected patients, an analysis of echocardiogram reports is
      required for a large longitudinal multi-center study. IMPLEMENTATION: A natural
      language processing system using a dictionary lookup, rules, and patterns was
      developed to extract heart function measurements that are typically recorded in
      echocardiogram reports as measurement-value pairs. Curated semantic bootstrapping
      was used to create a custom dictionary that extends existing terminologies based
      on terms that actually appear in the medical record. A novel disambiguation
      method based on semantic constraints was created to identify and discard
      erroneous alternative definitions of the measurement terms. The system was built
      utilizing a scalable framework, making it available for processing large
      datasets. RESULTS: The system was developed for and validated on notes from three
      sources: general clinic notes, echocardiogram reports, and radiology reports. The
      system achieved F-scores of 0.872, 0.844, and 0.877 with precision of 0.936,
      0.982, and 0.969 for each dataset respectively averaged across all extracted
      values. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is the most frequently
      extracted measurement. The precision of extraction of the LVEF measure ranged
      from 0.968 to 1.0 across different document types. CONCLUSIONS: This system
      illustrates the feasibility and effectiveness of a large-scale information
      extraction on clinical data. New clinical questions can be addressed in the
      domain of heart failure using retrospective clinical data analysis because key
      heart function measurements can be successfully extracted using natural language
      processing.

PMID- 28606105
TI  - Credentialing and retention of visa trainees in post-graduate medical education
      programs in Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Visa trainees are international medical graduates (IMG) who come to
      Canada to train in a post-graduate medical education (PGME) program under a
      student or employment visa and are expected to return to their country of origin
      after training. We examined the credentialing and retention of visa trainees who
      entered PGME programs between 2005 and 2011. METHODS: Using the Canadian Post-MD
      Education Registry's National IMG Database linked to Scott's Medical Database, we
      examined four outcomes: (1) passing the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying
      Examination Part 2 (MCCQE2), (2) obtaining a specialty designation (CCFP,
      FRCPC/SC), and (3) working in Canada after training and (4) in 2015. The National
      IMG Database is the most comprehensive source of information on IMG in Canada;
      data were provided by physician training and credentialing organizations. Scott's
      Medical Database provides data on physician locations in Canada. RESULTS: There
      were 233 visa trainees in the study; 39.5% passed the MCCQE2, 45.9% obtained a
      specialty designation, 24.0% worked in Canada after their training, and 53.6%
      worked in Canada in 2015. Family medicine trainees (OR = 8.33; 95% CI = 1.69
      33.33) and residents (OR = 3.45; 95% CI = 1.96-6.25) were more likely than other
      specialist and fellow trainees, respectively, to pass the MCCQE2. Residents (OR =
      7.69; 95% CI = 4.35-14.29) were more likely to obtain a specialty credential than
      fellows. Visa trainees eligible for a full license were more likely than those
      not eligible for a full license to work in Canada following training (OR = 3.41;
      95% CI = 1.80-6.43) and in 2015 (OR = 3.34; 95% CI = 1.78-6.27). CONCLUSIONS:
      Visa training programs represent another route for IMG to qualify for and enter
      the physician workforce in Canada. The growth in the number of visa trainees and
      the high retention of these physicians warrant further consideration of the
      oversight and coordination of visa trainee programs in provincial and in pan
      Canadian physician workforce planning.

PMID- 28606106
TI  - Perceptions of measles, pneumonia, and meningitis vaccines among caregivers in
      Shanghai, China, and the health belief model: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In China, the measles vaccine is offered for free whereas the
      pneumococcal vaccine is a for-fee vaccine. This difference has the potential to
      influence how caregivers evaluate whether a vaccine is important or necessary for
      their child, but it is unclear if models of health behavior, such as the Health
      Belief Model, reveal the same associations for different diseases. This study
      compares caregiver perceptions of different diseases (measles, pneumonia and
      meningitis); and characterizes associations between Health Belief Model
      constructs and both pneumococcal vaccine uptake and perceived vaccine necessity
      for pneumonia, measles, and meningitis. METHODS: Caregivers of infants and young
      children between 8 months and 7 years of age from Shanghai (n = 619) completed a
      written survey on their perceptions of measles, pneumonia, and meningitis. We
      used logistic regression models to assess predictors of pneumococcal vaccine
      uptake and vaccine necessity. RESULTS: Only 25.2% of children had received a
      pneumococcal vaccine, although most caregivers believed that pneumonia (80.8%)
      and meningitis (92.4%), as well as measles (93.2%), vaccines were serious enough
      to warrant a vaccine. Perceived safety was strongly associated with both
      pneumococcal vaccine uptake and perceived vaccine necessity, and non-locals had
      1.70 times higher odds of pneumonia vaccine necessity than non-locals (95% CI:
      1.01, 2.88). CONCLUSIONS: Most factors had a similar relationship with vaccine
      necessity, regardless of disease, indicating a common mechanism for how Chinese
      caregivers decided which vaccines are necessary. Because more caregivers believed
      meningitis needed a vaccine than pneumonia, health care workers should emphasize
      pneumococcal vaccination's ability to protect against meningitis.

PMID- 28606107
TI  - Minimally access via left anterior mini-thoracotomy for repair of adult
      subarterial ventricular septal defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive cardiac surgical techniques are increasingly
      applied in the treatment and management of a variety of adult ventricular septal
      defects (VSDs). However, repair of adult subarterial VSDs via left anterior mini
      thoracotomy is rarely reported. The present study aimed to determine the
      feasibility and safety of the left anterior mini-thoracotomy for the repair of
      adult subarterial VSDs. METHODS: Twenty-seven adult patients underwent repair of
      subarterial VSDs via left anterior mini-thoracotomy. The approach includes two
      options for skin incision access, longitudinal and transverse skin incisions. The
      skin incision length was 4.1-6.1 cm (mean, 5.1 +/- 0.6 cm). The closure of the
      VSDs was obtained through the main pulmonary artery under direct visualization.
      RESULTS: Successful repair of the defects was achieved in all the patients. No
      patients died or converted to median sternotomy. Average durations of
      cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and aortic cross-clamp were 102.5 +/- 13.6 min
      (range, 85-127 min) and 54.6 +/- 6.9 min (range, 45-66 min), respectively. No
      patients required blood transfusion. The average postoperative hospital stay was
      5.1 +/- 0.7 days (range, 4-6 days). There were no postoperative complications
      related to the operative procedures or peripheral cannulation. During the follow
      up of 5.4-32.3 months, no patients were found to have residual shunt, wound
      infections, pericardial effusion, neurologic or other complications. CONCLUSION:
      Our experiences demonstrate that minimally invasive cardiac surgical technique
      via left anterior mini-thoracotomy can be served as a novel, feasible and safe
      alternative for the repair of adult subarterial VSDs.

PMID- 28606109
TI  - Neurophysiological assessment of spinal cord injuries in dogs using somatosensory
      and motor evoked potentials.
AB  - Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) are
      non-invasive neurophysiological tests that reflect the functional integrity of
      sensory and motor pathways. Despite their extensive use and description in human
      medicine, reports in veterinary medicine are scarce. SSEPs are obtained via
      peripheral stimulation of sensory or mixed nerves; stimulation induces spinal and
      cortical responses, which are recorded when sensory pathways integrity is
      preserved. MEPs can be obtained via transcranial electrical or magnetic
      stimulation; in this case, thoracic and pelvic limb muscle responses are captured
      if motor pathways are preserved. This review describes principles, methodology
      and clinical applicability of SSEPs and MEPs in companion animal medicine.
      Potential interferences of anesthesia with SSEP and MEP recording are also
      discussed.

PMID- 28606108
TI  - Detection of gene-environment interactions in the presence of linkage
      disequilibrium and noise by using genetic risk scores with internal weights from
      elastic net regression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For the analysis of gene-environment (GxE) interactions commonly
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are used to characterize genetic
      susceptibility, an approach that mostly lacks power and has poor reproducibility.
      One promising approach to overcome this problem might be the use of weighted
      genetic risk scores (GRS), which are defined as weighted sums of risk alleles of
      gene variants. The gold-standard is to use external weights from published meta
      analyses. METHODS: In this study, we used internal weights from the marginal
      genetic effects of the SNPs estimated by a multivariate elastic net regression
      and thereby provided a method that can be used if there are no external weights
      available. We conducted a simulation study for the detection of GxE interactions
      and compared power and type I error of single SNPs analyses with Bonferroni
      correction and corresponding analysis with unweighted and our weighted GRS
      approach in scenarios with six risk SNPs and an increasing number of highly
      correlated (up to 210) and noise SNPs (up to 840). RESULTS: Applying weighted GRS
      increased the power enormously in comparison to the common single SNPs approach
      (e.g. 94.2% vs. 35.4%, respectively, to detect a weak interaction with an OR ~
      1.04 for six uncorrelated risk SNPs and n = 700 with a well-controlled type I
      error). Furthermore, weighted GRS outperformed the unweighted GRS, in particular
      in the presence of SNPs without any effect on the phenotype (e.g. 90.1% vs.
      43.9%, respectively, when 20 noise SNPs were added to the six risk SNPs). This
      outperforming of the weighted GRS was confirmed in a real data application on
      lung inflammation in the SALIA cohort (n = 402). However, in scenarios with a
      high number of noise SNPs (>200 vs. 6 risk SNPs), larger sample sizes are needed
      to avoid an increased type I error, whereas a high number of correlated SNPs can
      be handled even in small samples (e.g. n = 400). CONCLUSION: In conclusion,
      weighted GRS with weights from the marginal genetic effects of the SNPs estimated
      by a multivariate elastic net regression were shown to be a powerful tool to
      detect gene-environment interactions in scenarios of high Linkage disequilibrium
      and noise.

PMID- 28606110
TI  - A C9ORF72 BAC mouse model recapitulates key epigenetic perturbations of ALS/FTD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal and progressive
      neurodegenerative disorder with identified genetic causes representing a
      significant minority of all cases. A GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE)
      mutation within the C9ORF72 gene has recently been identified as the most
      frequent known cause of ALS. The expansion leads to partial
      heterochromatinization of the locus, yet mutant RNAs and dipeptide repeat
      proteins (DPRs) are still produced in sufficient quantities to confer
      neurotoxicity. The levels of these toxic HRE products positively correlate with
      cellular toxicity and phenotypic severity across multiple disease models.
      Moreover, the degree of epigenetic repression inversely correlates with some
      facets of clinical presentation in C9-ALS patients. Recently, bacterial
      artificial chromosomes (BAC) have been used to generate transgenic mice that
      harbor the HRE mutation, complementing other relevant model systems such as
      patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). While epigenetic features
      of the HRE have been investigated in various model systems and post-mortem
      tissues, epigenetic dysregulation at the expanded locus in C9-BAC mice remains
      unexplored. METHODS AND RESULTS: Here, we sought to determine whether clinically
      relevant epigenetic perturbations caused by the HRE are mirrored in a C9-BAC
      mouse model. We used complementary DNA methylation assessment and
      immunoprecipitation methods to demonstrate that epigenetic aberrations caused by
      the HRE, such as DNA and histone methylation, are recapitulated in the C9-BAC
      mice. Strikingly, we found that cytosine hypermethylation within the promoter
      region of the human transgene occurred in a subset of C9-BAC mice similar to what
      is observed in patient populations. Moreover, we show that partial
      heterochromatinization of the C9 HRE occurs during the first weeks of the mouse
      lifespan, indicating age-dependent epigenetic repression. Using iPSC neurons, we
      found that preventing R-loop formation did not impede heterochromatinization of
      the HRE. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these observations provide further insight
      into mechanism and developmental time-course of epigenetic perturbations
      conferred by the C9ORF72 HRE. Finally, we suggest that epigenetic repression of
      the C9ORF72 HRE and nearby gene promoter could impede or delay motor neuron
      degeneration in C9-BAC mouse models of ALS/FTD.

PMID- 28606111
TI  - Is time of birth a predictor of adverse perinatal outcome? A hospital-based cross
      sectional study in a low-resource setting, Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inconsistent evidence of a higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes
      during off-hours compared to office hours necessitated a search for clear
      evidence of an association between time of birth and adverse perinatal outcomes.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary referral hospital
      compared perinatal outcomes across three working shifts over 24 h. A checklist
      and a questionnaire were used to record parturients' socio-demographic and
      obstetric characteristics, mode of delivery and perinatal outcomes, including 5th
      minute Apgar score, and early neonatal mortality. Risks of adverse outcomes
      included maternal age, parity, referral status and mode of delivery, and were
      assessed for their association with time of delivery and prevalence of fresh
      stillbirth as a proxy for poor perinatal outcome at a significance level of p =
      0.05. RESULTS: Off-hour deliveries were nearly twice as likely to occur during
      the night shift (odds ratio (OR), 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.50-1.72),
      but were unlikely during the evening shift (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.45-0.71) (all p <
      0.001). Neonatal distress (O.R, 1.48, 95% CI; 1.07-2.04, p = 0.02), early
      neonatal deaths (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.07-2.72, p = 0.03) and fresh stillbirths
      (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.31-2.90, p = 0.001) were more significantly associated with
      deliveries occurring during night shifts compared to evening and morning shifts.
      However, fresh stillbirths occurring during the night shift were independently
      associated with antenatal admission from clinics or wards, referral from another
      hospital, and abnormal breech delivery (OR 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3-2.9, p = 0.001, for
      fresh stillbirths; OR, 5.0; 95% CI 1.7-8.3, p < 0.001, for antenatal admission;
      OR, 95% CI, 1.1-2.9, p < 0.001, for referral form another hospital; and OR 1.6;
      95% CI 1.02-2.6, p = 0.004, for abnormal breech deliveries). CONCLUSION: Off
      hours deliveries, particularly during the night shift, were significantly
      associated with higher proportions of adverse perinatal outcomes, including low
      Apgar score, early neonatal death and fresh stillbirth, compared to morning and
      evening shifts. Labour room admissions from antenatal wards, referrals from
      another hospital and abnormal breech delivery were independent risk factors for
      poor perinatal outcome, particularly fresh stillbirths.

PMID- 28606112
TI  - Acute cerebellitis in children: an eleven year retrospective multicentric study
      in Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute cerebellitis (AC) and acute cerebellar ataxia (ACA) are the
      principal causes of acute cerebellar dysfunction in childhood. Nevertheless.
      there is no accepted consensus regarding the best management of children with
      AC/ACA: the aim of the study is both to assess clinical, neuroimaging and
      electrophysiologic features of children with AC/ACA and to evaluate the
      correlation between clinical parameters, therapy and outcome. METHODS: A
      multicentric retrospective study was conducted on children <= 18 years old
      admitted to 12 Italian paediatric hospitals for AC/ACA from 01/01/2003 to
      31/12/2013. A score based on both cerebellar and extracerebellar signs/symptoms
      was computed for each patient. One point was given for each sign/symptom
      reported. Severity was divided in three classes: low, moderate, severe. RESULTS:
      A total of 124 children were included in the study. Of these, 118 children
      received a final diagnosis of ACA and 6 of AC. The most characteristic finding of
      AC/ACA was a broad-based gait disturbance. Other common symptoms included balance
      disturbances, slurred speech, vomiting, headache and fever. Neurological sequelae
      were reported in 6 cases (5%) There was no correlation among symptoms,
      cerebrospinal fluid findings, clinical outcome. There was no correlation between
      clinical manifestations and clinical score on admission and length of hospital
      stay, sex, age and EEG findings with sequelae (P > 0.05). Children with
      pathological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) had a
      higher probability of having clinical sequelae. Treatment was decided
      independently case by case. Patients with a higher clinical score on admission
      had a higher probability of receiving intravenous steroids. CONCLUSIONS: We
      confirmed the literature data about the benign course of AC/ACA in most cases but
      we also highlighted a considerable rate of patients with neurological sequelae
      (5%). Pathological MRI or CT findings at admission correlate to neurological
      sequelae. These findings suggest the indication to perform an instrumental
      evaluation in all patients with AC/ACA at admission to identify those at higher
      risk of neurological outcome. These patients may benefit from a more aggressive
      therapeutic strategy and should have a closer follow-up. Randomized controlled
      trials are needed to confirm these observations. The ultimate goal of these
      studies could be to develop a standardized protocol on AC/ACA. The MRI/CT data,
      associated with the clinical manifestations, may allow us to define the class
      risk of patients for a neurological outcome.

PMID- 28606113
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography as tools for the investigation
      of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) teeth and eye.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scanning techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and
      computed tomography (CT) are useful tools in veterinary and human medicine. Here
      we demonstrate the usefulness of these techniques in the study of the anatomy of
      wild marine mammals as part of a necropsy. MRI and CT scans of sperm whale teeth
      (n = 4) were performed. The methods were compared and further compared to current
      standard methods for evaluation of tooth layering. For MRI a zero echo time
      sequence was used, as previously done for imaging of intact human teeth. For CT
      two different clinical scanners were used. RESULTS: The three scanners did not
      provide sufficient information to allow age estimation, but both MRI and CT
      provided anatomical information about the tooth cortex and medulla without the
      need for sectioning the teeth. MRI scanning was also employed for visualizing the
      vascularization of an intact eye from one of the stranded sperm whale.
      CONCLUSIONS: Clearly, MRI was useful for investigation of the retinal
      vasculation, but optimum results would require well-preserved tissue. It was not
      possible to estimate age based on CT scans of tooth growth lines. Further
      research is needed to clarify the usability of MRI and CT as tools for marine
      mammal research when samples need to remain intact or when a spatial (three
      dimensional) arrangement of features needs to be determined.

PMID- 28606114
TI  - The order of complexity of visuomotor learning.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Learning algorithms come in three orders of complexity: zeroth-order
      (perturbation), first-order (gradient descent), and second-order (e.g., quasi
      Newton). But which of these are used in the brain? We trained 12 people to shoot
      targets, and compared them to simulated subjects that learned the same task using
      various algorithms. RESULTS: Humans learned significantly faster than optimized
      zeroth-order algorithms, but slower than second-order ones. CONCLUSIONS: Human
      visuomotor learning is too fast to be explained by zeroth-order processes alone,
      and must involve first or second-order mechanisms.

PMID- 28606115
TI  - Peripheral neuropathy in a diabetic child treated with linezolid for multidrug
      resistant tuberculosis: a case report and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug
      resistant (MDR)-TB with additional resistance to injectable agents or
      fluoroquinolones are challenging to treat due to lack of available, effective
      drugs. Linezolid is one of the few drugs that has shown promise in treating these
      conditions. Long-term linezolid use is associated with toxicities such as
      peripheral and optic neuropathies. Diabetes mellitus (DM), especially when
      uncontrolled, can also result in peripheral neuropathy. The global burden of DM
      is increasing, and DM has been associated with a three-fold increased risk of
      developing TB disease. TB and DM can be a challenging combination to treat. DM
      can inhibit the host immune response to tuberculosis infection; and TB and some
      anti-TB drugs can worsen glycaemic control. A child experiencing neuropathy that
      is a possible complication of both DM and linezolid used to treat TB has not been
      reported previously. We report peripheral neuropathy in a 15-year-old boy with
      type 1 DM, diagnosed with MDR-TB and additional resistance to injectable TB
      medications. CASE PRESENTATION: The boy was treated with a linezolid-based
      regimen, but after 8 months developed peripheral neuropathy. It was unclear
      whether the neuropathy was caused by the DM or the linezolid therapy. He had
      clinical improvement following cessation of linezolid and was declared cured
      following 21 months of treatment. Following completion of treatment, nerve
      conduction studies demonstrated significant improvement in neuropathy.
      CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of peripheral
      neuropathy reported in a diabetic child on long-term linezolid therapy for
      tuberculosis. This case study underlines the importance of stringent follow-up
      for side effects of linezolid, especially when associated with co-morbidity such
      as DM that increases the chances of adverse effects. The presence of both DM and
      TB should alert a physician to strive for optimal glycaemic control to minimize
      the risk of complications as well as optimizing the chances of recovery from TB.
      Our case report shows the need for close and frequent monitoring for neuropathy
      to enable early intervention and thereby a favourable outcome in children who may
      otherwise suffer a long-lasting, debilitating, and painful neuropathy.

PMID- 28606116
TI  - Characterization of serotonin-induced inhibition of excitatory synaptic
      transmission in the anterior cingulate cortex.
AB  - Excitatory synaptic transmission in central synapses is modulated by serotonin (5
      HT). The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is an important cortical region for pain
      perception and emotion. ACC neurons receive innervation of projecting
      serotonergic nerve terminals from raphe nuclei, but the possible effect of 5-HT
      on excitatory transmission in the ACC has not been investigated. In the present
      study, we investigated the role of 5-HT on glutamate neurotransmission in the ACC
      slices of adult mice. Bath application of 5-HT produced dose-dependent inhibition
      of evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs). Paired pulse ratio (PPR) was
      significantly increased, indicating possible presynaptic effects of 5-HT.
      Consistently, bath application of 5-HT significantly decreased the frequency of
      spontaneous and miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs and mEPSCs).
      By contrast, amplitudes of sEPSCs and mEPSCs were not significantly affected.
      After postsynaptic application of G protein inhibitor GDP-beta-S, 5-HT produced
      inhibition of eEPSCs was significantly reduced. Finally, NAN-190, an antagonist
      of 5-HT1A receptor, significantly reduced postsynaptic inhibition of 5-HT and
      abolished presynaptic inhibition. Our results strongly suggest that presynaptic
      as well as postsynaptic 5-HT receptor including 5-HT1A subtype receptor may
      contribute to inhibitory modulation of glutamate release as well as postsynaptic
      responses in the ACC.

PMID- 28606117
TI  - Investigating the impact of electrical stimulation temporal distribution on
      cortical network responses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The brain is continuously targeted by a wealth of stimuli with
      complex spatio-temporal patterns and has presumably evolved in order to cope with
      those inputs in an optimal way. Previous studies investigating the response
      capabilities of either single neurons or intact sensory systems to external
      stimulation demonstrated that stimuli temporal distribution is an important, if
      often overlooked, parameter. RESULTS: In this study we investigated how cortical
      networks plated over micro-electrode arrays respond to different stimulation
      sequences in which inter-pulse intervals followed a 1/f beta distribution, for
      different values of beta ranging from 0 to infinity. Cross-correlation analysis
      revealed that network activity preferentially synchronizes with external input
      sequences featuring beta closer to 1 and, in any case, never for regular (i.e.
      fixed-frequency) stimulation sequences. We then tested the interplay between
      different average stimulation frequencies (based on the intrinsic firing/bursting
      frequency of the network) for two selected values of beta, i.e. 1 (scale free)
      and infinity (regular). In general, we observed no preference for stimulation
      frequencies matching the endogenous rhythms of the network. Moreover, we found
      that in case of regular stimulation the capability of the network to follow the
      stimulation sequence was negatively correlated to the absolute stimulation
      frequency, whereas using scale-free stimulation cross-correlation between input
      and output sequences was independent from average input frequency. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results point out that the preference for a scale-free distribution of the
      stimuli is observed also at network level and should be taken into account in
      designing more efficient protocols for neuromodulation purposes.

PMID- 28606118
TI  - Neighborhood educational disparities in active commuting among women: the effect
      of distance between the place of residence and the place of work/study (an ACTI
      Cites study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Active transportation has been associated with favorable health
      outcomes. Previous research highlighted the influence of neighborhood educational
      level on active transportation. However, little is known regarding the effect of
      commuting distance on social disparities in active commuting. In this regard,
      women have been poorly studied. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the
      relationship between neighborhood educational level and active commuting, and to
      assess whether the commuting distance modifies this relationship in adult women.
      METHODS: This cross-sectional study is based on a subsample of women from the
      Nutrinet-Sante web-cohort (N = 1169). Binomial, log-binomial and negative
      binomial regressions were used to assess the associations between neighborhood
      education level and (i) the likelihood of reporting any active commuting time,
      and (ii) the share of commuting time made by active transportation modes.
      Potential effect measure modification of distance to work on the previous
      associations was assessed both on the additive and the multiplicative scales.
      RESULTS: Neighborhood education level was positively associated with the
      probability of reporting any active commuting time (relative risk = 1.774; p <
      0.05) and the share of commuting time spent active (relative risk = 1.423; p <
      0.05). The impact of neighborhood education was greater at long distances to work
      for both outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that neighborhood educational
      disparities in active commuting tend to increase with commuting distance among
      women. Further research is needed to provide geographically driven guidance for
      health promotion intervention aiming at reducing disparities in active
      transportation among socioeconomic groups.

PMID- 28606119
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of Avian Rotaviruses Group A and D shed by different bird
      species in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Avian rotaviruses (RVs) cause gastrointestinal diseases of birds
      worldwide. However, prevalence, diversity, epidemiology and phylogeny of RVs
      remain largely under-investigated in Africa. METHODS: Fecal samples from 349
      birds (158 symptomatic, 107 asymptomatic and 84 birds without recorded health
      status) were screened by reverse transcription PCR to detect RV groups A and D
      (RVA and RVD). Partial gene sequences of VP4, VP6, VP7 and NSP4 for RVA, and of
      VP6 and VP7 for RVD were obtained and analyzed to infer phylogenetic
      relationship. Fisher's exact test and logistic regression were applied to
      identify factors potentially influencing virus shedding in chickens. RESULTS: A
      high prevalence of RVA (36.1%; 126/349) and RVD (31.8%; 111/349) shedding was
      revealed in birds. In chickens, RV shedding was age-dependent and highest RVD
      shedding rates were found in commercial farms. No negative health effect could be
      shown, and RVA and RVD shedding was significantly more likely in asymptomatic
      chickens: RVA/RVD were detected in 51.9/48.1% of the asymptomatic chickens,
      compared to 18.9/29.7% of the symptomatic chickens (p < 0.001/p = 0.01). First
      RVA sequences were obtained from mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and guinea
      fowls (Numida meleagris). Phylogenetic analyses illustrated the high genetic
      diversity of RVA and RVD in Nigerian birds and suggested cross-species
      transmission of RVA, especially at live bird markets. Indeed, RVA strains highly
      similar to a recently published fox rotavirus (RVA/Fox
      tc/ITA/288356/2011/G18P[17]) and distantly related to other avian RVs were
      detected in different bird species, including pigeons, ducks, guinea fowls,
      quails and chickens. CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights into
      epidemiology, diversity and classification of avian RVA and RVD in Nigeria. We
      show that cross-species transmission of host permissive RV strains occurs when
      different bird species are mixed.

PMID- 28606120
TI  - Household food insecurity is associated with a higher burden of obesity and risk
      of dietary inadequacies among mothers in Beirut, Lebanon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mixed evidence exists with respect to the association between
      household food insecurity (HFIS) and obesity in low-to-middle income countries
      (LMICs), particularly among women. This study aimed to measure socioeconomic
      correlates of HFIS and explores its association with dietary intake and odds of
      obesity among mothers in Lebanon, a middle-income country undergoing nutrition
      transition. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a representative
      sample of households (n = 378) in Beirut, Lebanon. Surveys were completed with
      mothers of children <18 years. HFIS was measured using a locally-validated,
      Arabic-translated Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Dietary intake
      was assessed using the multiple pass 24-h recall method. Associations between
      HFIS (food vs food insecure) and socio-demographic characteristics were reported
      using crude and adjusted odds ratios. The odds of consuming <2/3rd Dietary
      Reference Intakes (DRIs) for nutrients among mothers from food secure and food
      insecure households were explored. In addition, logistic regression analyses were
      conducted to explore the association of HFIS with obesity (BMI >= 30 kg/m2) and
      at-risk waist circumference (WC >= 80 cm) among mothers. RESULTS: HFIS was found
      among 50% of study sample and was inversely associated with household income and
      mother's educational level, even after adjusting for other socioeconomic
      variables (p < 0.01). Mothers in food insecure households reported consuming
      significantly less dairy products, fruits, and nuts yet more breads and sweets;
      and they had higher odds of consuming <2/3rd the DRI's for key micronutrients
      (potassium, folate, and vitamin C) compared to secure ones. Adjusting for
      socioeconomic correlates, food insecure mothers had 1.73 odds of obesity (95% CI:
      1.02-2.92) compared to food secure mothers. CONCLUSIONS: High HFIS prevalence was
      reported among urban Lebanese households. Mothers from food insecure households
      had a high risk of dietary inadequacy and obesity. Adequate evidence-based public
      health strategies are needed to reduce the vulnerability of mothers to food
      insecurity in LMIC settings and alleviate their risk of a high burden of nutrient
      insecurity and obesity.

PMID- 28606121
TI  - The risk factors of failed reimplantation arthroplasty for periprosthetic hip
      infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two-stage reimplantation arthroplasty is one of the standard
      treatments for chronic periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Scanty data exist
      regarding the risk factors for failure after two-stage reimplantation for
      periprosthetic hip infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate and
      identify the risk factors associated with failure after two-stage reimplantation
      hip arthroplasty. METHODS: Sixty-two patients with hip PJI treated with a two
      stage reimplantation protocol at our institution from 2005 to 2012 were reviewed.
      Patients requiring medical treatment or reoperation for recurrent infection were
      defined as treatment failure. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was
      used to analyze the risk factors associated with treatment failure. RESULTS: Of
      the 62 patients, 11 (17.7%) patients had developed reinfection after the two
      stage reimplantation with a mean follow-up of 5.7 years. The implant survival was
      82.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 75.19-92.55) at 10 years. Multivariate
      analysis revealed BMI >=30 kg/m2 (hazard ratio [HR] 9.16; 95% CI 1.51-55.3; p =
      0.0158), liver cirrhosis (HR 6.39; 95% CI 1.09-37.4; p = 0.0398), gram-negative
      organism (HR 5.68; 95% CI 1.18-27.4; p = 0.0303), and presence of sinus tract (HR
      18.2; 95% CI 2.15-153; p = 0.0077) as the independent risk factors for treatment
      failure. CONCLUSIONS: We found obesity, liver cirrhosis, gram-negative organism,
      and the presence of sinus tract were significantly related to the risks of
      failure after reimplantation arthroplasties.

PMID- 28606122
TI  - Anterior tibial curved cortex is a reliable landmark for tibial rotational
      alignment in total knee arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotational alignment of the tibial component is important for long
      term success of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This study aimed to compare five
      axes in normal and osteoarthritic (OA) knees to determine a reliable landmark for
      tibial rotational alignment in TKA. METHODS: One hundred twenty patients with OA
      knees and 40 with normal knees were included. The angle between a line
      perpendicular to the surgical transepicondylar axis and each of five axes were
      measured on preoperative computed tomography. The five axes were as follows: a
      line from the center of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) to the medial
      border of the patellar tendon (PCL-PT), medial border of the tibial tuberosity
      (PCL-TT1), medial one-third of the tibial tuberosity (PCL-TT2), and apex of the
      tibial tuberosity (PCL-TT3), as well as the anteroposterior axis of the tibial
      prosthesis along the anterior tibial curved cortex (ATCC). RESULTS: For all five
      axes tested, the mean angles were smaller in OA knees than in normal knees. In
      normal knees, the angle of the ATCC axis had the smallest mean value and
      narrowest range (1.6 degrees  +/- 2.8 degrees ; range, -1.7 degrees -7.7 degrees
      ). In OA knees, the mean angle of the ATCC axis (0.8 degrees  +/- 2.7 degrees ;
      range, -7.9 degrees -9.2 degrees ) was larger than that of the PCL-TT1 axis (0.3
      degrees  +/- 5.5 degrees ; range, -19.7 degrees -10.6 degrees ) (P = 0.461),
      while the angle of the ATCC axis had the smallest SD and narrowest range.
      CONCLUSION: The ATCC was found to be the most reliable and useful anatomical
      landmark for tibial rotational alignment in TKA.

PMID- 28606123
TI  - Preventing graft restenosis after coronary artery bypass grafting with tissue
      type plasminogen activator.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility and safety of using tissue-type plasminogen
      activator (t-PA) to prevent graft restenosis after coronary artery bypass
      grafting (CABG). METHODS: In this prospective observational study, 37 patients
      underwent CABG between June 2009 and May 2013. These patients were grouped
      according to the anti-coagulation strategy after surgery: t-PA (n = 12) and
      conventional treatments (n = 25). In the t-PA group, the patients received
      acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and clopidogrel plus intravenous infusion of t-PA
      (0.25 mg/kg/day) starting at 24 h after surgery and that lasted for 3 days. In
      the conventional group, the patients received only ASA and clopidogrel. 64-row
      spiral computed tomographic coronary angiography was performed at 1 week, 1, and
      3 months after surgery to evaluate the patency of the graft vessel. RESULTS: The
      mean stenosis severity of the saphenous vein grafts was lower in the t-PA group
      compared with the conventional group at 3 months after surgery (p < 0.05), but
      there was no significant difference at 1 week and 1 month (p > 0.05). The patency
      rate of the grafts was not significantly different between the two groups at 1
      week, 1, and 3 months after surgery (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Early application of
      t-PA after CABG was feasible and safe, and might help prevent early restenosis of
      SV grafts. Additional clinical randomized trials are necessary to address this
      issue.

PMID- 28606124
TI  - Remodeling adipose tissue through in silico modulation of fat storage for the
      prevention of type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is one of the leading non-infectious diseases
      worldwide and closely relates to excess adipose tissue accumulation as seen in
      obesity. Specifically, hypertrophic expansion of adipose tissues is related to
      increased cardiometabolic risk leading to type 2 diabetes. Studying mechanisms
      underlying adipocyte hypertrophy could lead to the identification of potential
      targets for the treatment of these conditions. RESULTS: We present iTC1390adip, a
      highly curated metabolic network of the human adipocyte presenting various
      improvements over the previously published iAdipocytes1809. iTC1390adip contains
      1390 genes, 4519 reactions and 3664 metabolites. We validated the network
      obtaining 92.6% accuracy by comparing experimental gene essentiality in various
      cell lines to our predictions of biomass production. Using flux balance analysis
      under various test conditions, we predict the effect of gene deletion on both
      lipid droplet and biomass production, resulting in the identification of 27 genes
      that could reduce adipocyte hypertrophy. We also used expression data from
      visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues to compare the effect of single gene
      deletions between adipocytes from each compartment. CONCLUSIONS: We generated a
      highly curated metabolic network of the human adipose tissue and used it to
      identify potential targets for adipose tissue metabolic dysfunction leading to
      the development of type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28606125
TI  - Age is associated with prognosis in serous ovarian carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: The survival duration of elderly patients with epithelial ovarian
      carcinoma is shorter than that of their younger counterparts. This variation in
      survival duration is likely attributed to differences in the distribution of
      histological type or grade, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
      (FIGO) staging, and undertreatment, but this observation remains controversial.
      This study aimed to investigate the biological factors other than selection bias
      associated with the decreased survival of elderly patients with ovarian
      carcinoma. METHODS: A total of 314 serous ovarian cancer (SOC) patients from
      Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research (JICR, PRC) between 2002 and 2012 were
      retrospectively analyzed, and 774 cases from MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC,
      USA) between 1992 and 2012 were used for validation. The 8-hydroxy-2'
      deoxyguanine (8-OHdG) concentration in leukocyte DNA was evaluated by using
      commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits, and tissue
      expression was assayed through immunohistochemistry. The associations between
      survival durations and covariates were assessed by using a Cox proportional
      hazards model and by conducting a log-rank test. RESULTS: Advanced age >= 65
      years was correlated with high histological grade (p = 0.02), performance status
      (p = 0.03), primary treatment (p = 0.00), and suboptimal surgery outcome (p =
      0.04) in SOC patients from JICR. Age, FIGO stage, histological grade, and optimal
      surgery were independently associated with the progression-free survival (PFS; p
      = 0.03, p = 0.03, p = 0.02, and p = 0.04, respectively) and overall survival (OS;
      p = 0.02, p = 0.04, p = 0.02, and p = 0.02, respectively) of the SOC patients
      from JICR. The 8-OHdG concentration in the leukocyte DNA was higher in the
      elderly patients than in the younger cases. The high 8-OHdG concentration in the
      leukocyte DNA indicated poorer median OS (30.0 months, confidence interval [CI]:
      23.5-36.5 vs. 42.8 months, [CI] 38.3-47.2) and PFS (14.6 months, [CI] 11.9-17.2
      vs. 18.9 months, [CI] 14.4-23.4) than those of their corresponding counterparts
      in the SOC patients who achieved a clinical complete response from primary
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with younger cases, elderly patients with SOC
      were commonly characterized by high tumor grade, poor performance status, and
      undertreatment. High 8-OHdG concentration in leukocyte DNA was associated with
      advanced age and poor prognosis in SOC patients.

PMID- 28606126
TI  - Pooled safety analyses of ALK-TKI inhibitor in ALK-positive NSCLC.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anaplastic lymphoma kinase tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ALK-TKIs)
      have been administered to patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer
      for a long period of time and show a promising response. However, the differences
      in the toxicity profiles among these drugs are still unclear. METHODS: We
      performed a comprehensive search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE and
      COCHRANE databases from the drugs' inception to May 2016 to identify clinical
      trials. Severe adverse events (AEs) (grade >= 3) based on the ALK-TKI type were
      analysed. RESULTS: Seventeen trials published between 2011 and 2016, including a
      total of 1826 patients, were eligible for analysis. Patients in 10 trials (n =
      1000) received crizotinib, patients in 5 trials (n = 601) received ceritinib and
      patients in 2 trials (n = 225) received alectinib. The overall frequencies of
      treatment-related death and AEs due to treatment withdrawal were 0.9% (12/1365)
      and 5.5% (85/1543), respectively. Moreover, the frequency of severe AEs in
      patients treated with ceritinib was significantly higher than patients treated
      with crizotinib or alectinib, especially for hepatotoxicity, fatigue and some of
      gastrointestinal symptoms. Additionally, significant difference in the elevated
      lipase and amylase levels (grade >= 3) were detected between ceritinib and
      crizotinib/alectinib, whereas neutropenia was less frequent. CONCLUSIONS: ALK
      TKIs were safe for ALK-positive patients. Moreover, statistically significant
      differences in some severe AEs among ceritinib, crizotinib and alectinib were
      detected in present study.

PMID- 28606127
TI  - Augmentation of the anticancer activity of CYT997 in human prostate cancer by
      inhibiting Src activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormalities of tubulin polymerization and microtubule assembly are
      often seen in cancer, which make them very suitable targets for the development
      of therapeutic approach against rapidly dividing and aggressive cancer cells.
      CYT997 is a novel microtubule-disrupting agent with anticancer activity in
      multiple cancer types including prostate cancer. However, the molecular
      mechanisms of action of CYT997 in prostate cancer have not been well
      characterized. METHODS: Src knockdown cells were achieved by lentiviral-mediated
      interference. The drug effects on cell proliferation were measured by MTS. The
      drug effects on cell viability and death were determined by Cell Titer-Glo(r)
      Luminescent cell viability kit and flow cytometry with Zombie AquaTM staining.
      The drug effects on apoptosis were assessed by Cell Death Detection Elisa kit and
      Western blot with a cleaved PARP antibody. The drug effects on cell invasion were
      examined by Matrigel-coated Boyden chambers. Oxidative stress was detected by
      DCFH-DA staining and electrochemical biosensor. Mouse models generated by
      subcutaneous or intracardiac injection were used to investigate the in vivo drug
      efficacy in tumor growth and metastasis. RESULTS: CYT997 effectively inhibited
      proliferation, survival, and invasion of prostate cancer cells via blocking
      multiple oncogenic signaling cascades but not the Src pathway. Inhibition of Src
      expression by small hairpin RNA or inactivation of Src by dasatinib increased the
      CYT997-induced cytotoxicity of in vitro. Moreover, the combination of dasatinib
      and CYT997 exhibited a superior inhibitory effect on tumor growth and metastasis
      compared with either of the drugs alone. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate
      that blockage of Src augments the anticancer effect of CYT997 on prostate cancer
      and suggest that co-treatment of dasatinib and CYT997 may represent an effective
      therapeutic regimen for limiting prostate cancer.

PMID- 28606128
TI  - Outcomes of cement beads and cement spacers in the treatment of bone defects
      associated with post-traumatic osteomyelitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cement spacers (Masquelet technique) have traditionally been used for
      the treatment of segmental bone defects. However, no reports have used cement
      spacers for the treatment of small/partial segmental bone defects associated with
      osteomyelitis and compared the outcomes with cement beads. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analysed 40 patients with post-traumatic osteomyelitis of the
      tibia who underwent treatment, which was performed in two stages. In the first
      stage, thorough debridement was performed, and bone defects were filled with
      either antibiotic-impregnated cement beads (bead group, 18 patients) or spacers
      (spacer group, 22 patients). In the second stage, the cement beads or spacers
      were removed (for the spacer group, the induced membrane formed by the spacer was
      preserved) and the bone defects were filled with cancellous autografts. RESULTS:
      All patients in the bead group had small/partial segmental bone defects after
      debridement, while 3 patients in the spacer group had large/segmental bone
      defects. The mean volume of bone defects of the spacer group (40.4 cm3) was
      significantly larger than that of the bead group (32.4 cm3). The infection
      control rate (88.9%,16/18 vs 90.9%, 20/22), bone healing time (8.5 months vs 7.5
      months) and complication rates (22.2%, 4/18 vs 27.2%, 6/22) were comparable
      between bead group and spacer group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study
      suggest that cement spacers may have an infection control rate comparable to
      cement beads in the treatment of bone defects associated with post-traumatic
      osteomyelitis. Furthermore, cement spacers could be used for the reconstruction
      of small/partial segmental bone defects as well as for large/segmental bone
      defects, whereas cement beads were not suitable for the reconstruction of
      large/segmental bone defects.

PMID- 28606130
TI  - ANGPTL1 attenuates colorectal cancer metastasis by up-regulating microRNA-138.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Angiopoietin-like protein 1 (ANGPTL1) has been reported to suppress
      migration and invasion in lung and breast cancer, acting as a novel tumor
      suppressor candidate. Nevertheless, its effects on colorectal cancer (CRC) remain
      poorly defined. In this study, we aim to demonstrate the biological function of
      ANGPTL1 in CRC cells. METHODS: We explored ANGPTL1 mRNA expression in human CRC
      tissues and its association with prognosis. CRC cell lines overexpressing ANGPTL1
      or with ANGPTL1 knocked down were constructed and analyzed for changes in
      proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion. ANGPTL1-regulated
      microRNAs were analyzed, and microRNA inhibitor and mimics were used to explore
      the role of microRNA in ANGPTL1-associated biological function. RESULTS: ANGPTL1
      mRNA expression was down-regulated in CRC tissues, and high ANGPTL1 expression
      predicted better survival in CRC patients. ANGPTL1 overexpression resulted in
      suppressed migration and invasion in vitro, and it prolonged overall survival in
      mouse models. By contrast, its down-regulation enhanced migration and invasion of
      CRC cells. MicroRNA-138 expression was positively correlated with ANGPTL1 mRNA
      level in CRC tissues and up-regulated by ANGPTL1 in CRC cells. In addition, the
      microRNA-138 inhibitor or mimics could reverse or promote the ANGPTL1-mediated
      inhibition of the migratory capacity of CRC cells, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study is the first to demonstrate the biological function of ANGPTL1 in CRC
      cells. ANGPTL1 expression was down-regulated in CRC tissues and inversely
      correlated with poor survival. ANGPTL1 repressed migration and invasion of CRC
      cells, and microRNA-138 was involved in this process.

PMID- 28606131
TI  - Improving primary health care facility performance in Ghana: efficiency analysis
      and fiscal space implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health centers in Ghana play an important role in health care
      delivery especially in deprived communities. They usually serve as the first line
      of service and meet basic health care needs. Unfortunately, these facilities are
      faced with inadequate resources. While health policy makers seek to increase
      resources committed to primary healthcare, it is important to understand the
      nature of inefficiencies that exist in these facilities. Therefore, the
      objectives of this study are threefold; (i) estimate efficiency among primary
      health facilities (health centers), (ii) examine the potential fiscal space from
      improved efficiency and (iii) investigate the efficiency disparities in public
      and private facilities. METHODS: Data was from the 2015 Access Bottlenecks, Cost
      and Equity (ABCE) project conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and
      Evaluation. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) was used to estimate
      efficiency of health facilities. Efficiency scores were then used to compute
      potential savings from improved efficiency. Outpatient visits was used as output
      while number of personnel, hospital beds, expenditure on other capital items and
      administration were used as inputs. Disparities in efficiency between public and
      private facilities was estimated using the Nopo matching decomposition procedure.
      RESULTS: Average efficiency score across all health centers included in the
      sample was estimated to be 0.51. Also, average efficiency was estimated to be
      about 0.65 and 0.50 for private and public facilities, respectively. Significant
      disparities in efficiency were identified across the various administrative
      regions. With regards to potential fiscal space, we found that, on average,
      facilities could save about GH?11,450.70 (US$7633.80) if efficiency was improved.
      We also found that fiscal space from efficiency gains varies across rural/urban
      as well as private/public facilities, if best practices are followed. The
      matching decomposition showed an efficiency gap of 0.29 between private and
      public facilities. CONCLUSION: There is need for primary health facility managers
      to improve productivity via effective and efficient resource use. Efforts to
      improve efficiency should focus on training health workers and improving facility
      environment alongside effective monitoring and evaluation exercises.

PMID- 28606129
TI  - Impairment of early fracture healing by skeletal muscle trauma is restored by
      FK506.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heightened local inflammation due to muscle trauma or disease is
      associated with impaired bone regeneration. METHODS: We hypothesized that FK506,
      an FDA approved immunomodulatory compound with neurotrophic and osteogenic
      effects, will rescue the early phase of fracture healing which is impaired by
      concomitant muscle trauma in male (~4 months old) Lewis rats. FK506 (1 mg/kg;
      i.p.) or saline was administered systemically for 14 days after an endogenously
      healing tibia osteotomy was created and fixed with an intermedullary pin, and the
      overlying tibialis anterior (TA) muscle was either left uninjured or incurred
      volumetric muscle loss injury (6 mm full thickness biopsy from middle third of
      the muscle). RESULTS: The salient observations of this study were that 1)
      concomitant TA muscle trauma impaired recovery of tibia mechanical properties 28
      days post-injury, 2) FK506 administration rescued the recovery of tibia
      mechanical properties in the presence of concomitant TA muscle trauma but did not
      augment mechanical recovery of an isolated osteotomy (no muscle trauma), 3) T
      lymphocytes and macrophage presence within the traumatized musculature were
      heightened by trauma and attenuated by FK506 3 days post-injury, and 4) T
      lymphocyte but not macrophage presence within the fracture callus were attenuated
      by FK506 at 14 days post-injury. FK506 did not improve TA muscle isometric torque
      production CONCLUSION: Collectively, these findings support the administration of
      FK506 to ameliorate healing of fractures with severe muscle trauma comorbidity.
      The results suggest one potential mechanism of action is a reduction in local T
      lymphocytes within the injured musculoskeletal tissue, though other mechanisms to
      include direct osteogenic effects of FK506 require further investigation.

PMID- 28606132
TI  - Erratum to: Surface layer proteins from virulent Clostridium difficile ribotypes
      exhibit signatures of positive selection with consequences for innate immune
      response.

PMID- 28606133
TI  - Employment-related difficulties and distressed living condition in patients with
      hepatitis B virus: A qualitative and quantitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Japan, an estimated 400,000 people have the hepatitis B virus
      (HBV), many of whom were infected as a result of group vaccinations. People with
      HBV face many challenges, including disease progression, employment-related
      difficulties, and increased medical expenses. The relationship between HBV
      victims' daily life suffering and poverty associated with HBV-related employment
      changes has not been examined. We aimed to clarify the employment-related
      hardships experienced by Japanese HBV victims, and the relationships between
      these hardships and daily life suffering, including poverty, through qualitative
      and quantitative analyses. METHODS: The study population comprised 11,046 people
      infected with HBV via group vaccination who filed lawsuits in Japan's District
      Courts by 2014. First, we conducted a qualitative study (2013) using the KJ
      method, with 107 participants (68 men, mean age 58.9 years; 39 women, mean age
      55.3 years). Semi-structured interviews were conducted covering participants'
      current condition, treatment, medical expenses, and life difficulties (employment
      and family-related problems). In 2014, we conducted a quantitative study. We
      mailed questionnaires to the entire study population, investigating the topics
      covered in the interviews (response rate 60.1%). Daily life suffering was
      determined by responses to the question "What do you think about your everyday
      life situation?" We performed binomial logistic regression analyses to verify the
      relationships between daily life suffering and disease, employment, and income
      status. RESULTS: Interview data were integrated into seven islands: intention to
      work, lack of understanding of HBV in the workplace, inability to buy life
      insurance, burden due to medical expenses, life failure, dissatisfaction with the
      system, and wishing for life balance. The quantitative analyses showed
      significant positive correlations between daily life suffering and liver cancer
      (odds ratio [OR] 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00-2.17, p < 0.05), being
      a part-time/casual employee (OR 1.46, 95% CI: 1.11-1.92 p < 0.01), and an income
      below the national average (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: We qualitatively and
      quantitatively demonstrated that employment-related hardships and daily life
      suffering are prevalent in people with HBV. Their likelihood of experiencing
      distress in daily life increases with increasing medical expenses, insecure
      employment status (e.g., job loss) attributable to HBV, and the resulting
      poverty.

PMID- 28606134
TI  - Body surface area is a novel predictor for surgical complications following video
      assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung adenocarcinoma: a retrospective cohort
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Body surface area (BSA) is a biometric unit to measure the body size.
      Its clinical significance in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) was
      rarely understood. We aimed to estimate the predictive value of BSA for surgical
      complications following VATS anatomical resections for lung adenocarcinoma (LAC).
      METHODS: A single-center retrospective analysis was performed on the consecutive
      patients between July 2014 and January 2016 in our institution. The differences
      in mean BSA values were evaluated between groups of patients classified by the
      development of postoperative surgical complications (PSCs), overall morbidity and
      cardiopulmonary complications, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic
      (ROC) analysis was performed to determine a threshold value of BSA on prediction
      of PSC occurrence. A multivariate logistic-regression model involving this
      optimal cut-off value and other significant parameters was established to
      identify the predictors for PSCs. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of
      442 patients undergoing VATS anatomical resections for LAC were enrolled in this
      study. There were 135 patients developed with one or more complications (rate =
      30.5%). PSCs occupied the largest percentages of all these complications (n = 81,
      rate = 18.3%). The mean BSA in PSC group was significantly higher than that in
      non-PSC group (1.76 +/- 0.15 m2 vs 1.71 +/- 0.16 m2; P = 0.016). No difference
      was found in mean BSA values between groups classified by any other complication.
      The ROC analysis determined a BSA value of 1.68 m2 to be the threshold value with
      the maximum joint sensitivity of 72.8% and specificity of 48.5%. Compared to
      patients with BSA <= 1.68 m2, patients with BSA > 1.68 m2 had significantly
      higher incidences of prolonged air leak (P = 0.006) and chylothorax (P = 0.004).
      Further multivariate logistic-regression analysis indicated that BSA > 1.68 m2
      could be an independent risk factor for PSCs (odds ratio: 2.03; P = 0.025).
      CONCLUSIONS: BSA is an excellent categorical predictor for surgical complications
      following VATS anatomical resections for LAC. It may be considered when informing
      patients about surgical risks and selecting cases in the early learning curve.
      Large-scale and multi-institutional studies are expected to confirm and modify
      our findings in the future.

PMID- 28606135
TI  - Wogonin suppresses stem cell-like traits of CD133 positive osteosarcoma cell via
      inhibiting matrix metallopeptidase-9 expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several efforts have been deployed to cure osteosarcoma, a high-grade
      malignant bone tumour in children and adolescents. However, some challenges such
      as drug resistance, relapse, and tumour metastasis remain owing to the existence
      of cancer stem cells (CSC). There is an urgent need to develop cost-effective and
      safe therapies. METHODS: Wogonin, an extract from the root of Scutellaria
      baicalensis, has long been considered as a promising natural and safe compound
      for anti-tumourigenesis, particularly to inhibit tumour invasion and metastasis.
      Hoechst 33,342 staining, wound healing assay, sphere formation assay, western
      blotting, and gelatin zymography assays were performed in CD133 positive
      osteosarcoma cell. RESULTS: In this study, we examined the effect of Wogonin on
      the mobility of human osteosarcoma CSC. Wogonin induces apoptosis of human
      osteosarcoma CSC, inhibits its mobility in vitro via downregulation of MMP-9
      expression, and represses its renewal ability. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that
      Wogonin decreases the renewal capacity of CSC. By inhibiting the formation of and
      reducing the size of spheres, Wogonin at a concentration of 40-80 MUM effectively
      minimizes potential risk from CSC. Taken together, we have demonstrated a new
      approach for developing a potential therapy for osteosarcoma.

PMID- 28606136
TI  - Cost analysis of a school-based comprehensive malaria program in primary schools
      in Sikasso region, Mali.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The expansion of malaria prevention and control to school-aged
      children is receiving increasing attention, but there are still limited data on
      the costs of intervention. This paper analyses the costs of a comprehensive
      school-based intervention strategy, delivered by teachers, that included
      participatory malaria educational activities, distribution of long lasting
      insecticide-treated nets (LLIN), and Intermittent Parasite Clearance in schools
      (IPCs) in southern Mali. METHODS: Costs were collected alongside a randomised
      controlled trial conducted in 80 primary schools in Sikasso Region in Mali in
      2010-2012. Cost data were compiled between November 2011 and March 2012 for the
      40 intervention schools (6413 children). A provider perspective was adopted.
      Using an ingredients approach, costs were classified by cost category and by
      activity. Total costs and cost per child were estimated for the actual
      intervention, as well as for a simpler version of the programme more suited for
      scale-up by the government. Univariate sensitivity analysis was performed.
      RESULTS: The economic cost of the comprehensive intervention was estimated to
      $10.38 per child (financial cost $8.41) with malaria education, LLIN distribution
      and IPCs costing $2.13 (20.5%), $5.53 (53.3%) and $2.72 (26.2%) per child
      respectively. Human resources were found to be the key cost driver, and training
      costs were the greatest contributor to overall programme costs. Sensitivity
      analysis showed that an adapted intervention delivering one LLIN instead of two
      would lower the economic cost to $8.66 per child; and that excluding LLIN
      distribution in schools altogether, for example in settings where malaria control
      already includes universal distribution of LLINs at community-level, would reduce
      costs to $4.89 per child. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive school-based control
      strategy may be a feasible and affordable way to address the burden of malaria
      among schoolchildren in the Sahel.

PMID- 28606137
TI  - Male-benefit sexually antagonistic genotypes show elevated vulnerability to
      inbreeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is theoretical and empirical evidence for strong sexual
      selection in males having positive effects on population viability by serving to
      purify the genome of its mutation load at a low demographic cost. However, there
      is also theoretical and empirical evidence for negative effects of sexual
      selection on female fitness, and therefore population viability, known as the
      gender load. This can take the form of sexually antagonistic (SA) genetic
      variation where alleles with a selective advantage in males pose a detriment to
      female fitness, and vice versa. Here, using seed beetles, we shed light on a
      previously unexplored manifestation of the gender load: the effect of SA genetic
      variation on tolerance to inbreeding. RESULTS: We found that genotypes encoding
      high male, but low female fitness exhibited significantly greater rates of
      extinction upon enforced inbreeding relative to genotypes encoding high female
      but low male fitness. Also, genotypes encoding low fitness in both sexes
      exhibited greater rates of extinction relative to generally high-fitness
      genotypes (though marginally non-significant), an expected finding attributable
      to variation in mutation load across genotypes. Despite follow-up investigations
      aiming to identify the mechanism(s) underlying these findings, it remains unclear
      whether the gender load and the mutation load have independent consequences for
      tolerance to inbreeding, or whether these two types of genetic architecture
      interact epistatically to render male-benefit genetic variation relatively
      intolerant to inbreeding. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of the underlying mechanism(s),
      our results show that male-benefit/female-detriment SA genetic variation poses a
      previously unseen detriment to population viability due to its elevated
      vulnerability to inbreeding/homozygosity. This suggests that sexual selection in
      the context of SA genetic variance for fitness may enhance the gender load on
      population viability more than previously appreciated, due to selecting for male
      benefit SA genetic variation that engenders lineages to extinction upon
      inbreeding. We note that our results imply that SA alleles that are sexually
      selected for in males may be underrepresented or even lacking in panels of inbred
      lines.

PMID- 28606138
TI  - Exploring shared risks through public-private partnerships in public health
      programs: a mixed method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The natural assimilation of the process through which health partners
      sustain long-term relationships is a key issue in maintaining social well-being,
      reducing health risk factors, and sustaining public health programs. One global
      initiative in building effective healthcare systems is public-private
      partnerships (PPPs). This study elucidates the proposed key performance
      indicators initiated by the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia based on the
      projections of the government, known as Vision 2030, from the perspective of
      health risk factors. METHODS: Through an inductive content analysis, this study
      assessed primary and secondary data in relation to the Saudi National
      Transformation Program (NTP). To identify the institutions that played a role in
      formulating the new Saudi Healthcare System, health policies, regulations, and
      reports published between 1996 and 2016 were categorized. After ranking the risk
      factors, the investigator selected 13 healthcare professionals in four focus
      group interviews to insightfully explore the challenges that the NTP faces from a
      health risk perspective. Thus, the study employed qualitative data gathered
      through focus group interviews with key figures as well as data extracted from
      written sources to identify distinct but interrelated partnerships practiced
      within risk management. RESULTS: A methodological overview of NTP priority and
      implementation offered practical guidance in the healthcare context. The five
      critical factors in maintaining successful and sustainable PPPs were (1)
      trustworthiness, (2) technological capability, (3) patient-centeredness, (4)
      competence, and (5) flexibility. Concession on primary and secondary healthcare
      services might be a good option based on the literature review and considering
      its popularity in other countries. A high outcome-based risk of PPPs was found as
      the most commonly shared perspective in risk management. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      the impact of the NTP rise has yet to be explored, its potential for challenging
      health consequences requires consideration and substantial regulatory action.
      This study contributes to the emerging critical analysis on local health
      initiatives by highlighting how integration may only be possible with a more
      radical conceptualization of national health governance.

PMID- 28606139
TI  - A loss of Pdxk model of Parkinson disease in Drosophila can be suppressed by
      Buffy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of a DNA variant in pyridoxal kinase (Pdxk)
      associated with increased risk to Parkinson disease (PD) gene led us to study the
      inhibition of this gene in the Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc)-expressing neurons of the
      well-studied model organism Drosophila melanogaster. The multitude of biological
      functions attributable to the vitamers catalysed by this kinase reveal an
      overabundance of possible links to PD, that include dopamine synthesis,
      antioxidant activity and mitochondrial function. Drosophila possesses a single
      homologue of Pdxk and we used RNA interference to inhibit the activity of this
      kinase in the Ddc-Gal4-expressing neurons. We further investigated any
      association between this enhanced disease risk gene with the established PD model
      induced by expression of alpha-synuclein in the same neurons. We relied on the
      pro-survival functions of Buffy, an anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 homologue, to rescue the
      Pdxk-induced phenotypes. RESULTS: To drive the expression of Pdxk RNA
      interference in DA neurons of Drosophila, we used Ddc-Gal4 which drives
      expression in both dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons, to result in decreased
      longevity and compromised climbing ability, phenotypes that are strongly
      associated with Drosophila models of PD. The inhibition of Pdxk in the alpha
      synuclein-induced Drosophila model of PD did not alter longevity and climbing
      ability of these flies. It has been previously shown that deficiency in vitamers
      lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal decay, therefore, co-expression of
      Pdxk-RNAi with the sole pro-survival Bcl-2 homologue Buffy in the Ddc-Gal4
      expressing neurons, resulted in increased survival and a restored climbing
      ability. In a similar manner, when we inhibited Pdxk in the developing eye using
      GMR-Gal4, we found that there was a decrease in the number of ommatidia and the
      disruption of the ommatidial array was more pronounced. When Pdxk was inhibited
      with the alpha-synuclein-induced developmental eye defects, the eye phenotypes
      were unaltered. Interestingly co-expression with Buffy restored ommatidia number
      and decreased the severity of disruption of the ommatidial array. CONCLUSIONS:
      Though Pdxk is not a confirmed Parkinson disease gene, the inhibition of this
      kinase recapitulated the PD-like symptoms of decreased lifespan and loss of
      locomotor function, possibly producing a new model of PD.

PMID- 28606140
TI  - Imepitoin is well tolerated in healthy and epileptic cats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epilepsy in the cat is a serious medical condition. To date there are
      no licensed treatments for feline epilepsy and no well-controlled clinical
      studies on the efficacy or safety of antiepileptic drugs in cats. The aim of this
      study was to collect tolerability  data  and first exploratory efficacy data of
      imepitoin in both healthy and epileptic cats. RESULTS: In two tolerability
      studies, 30 healthy cats received imepition twice daily in doses of 0, 30, 40 or
      80 mg/kg bodyweight for 30 days. No serious adverse events were observed in any
      of the dose groups. In the imepitoin treated groups, emesis was observed in some
      animals temporarily and intermittently mainly in the second and third weeks of
      treatment. In a small, single-arm, open label, uncontrolled clinical trial eight
      cats suffering from idiopathic epilepsy were treated with imepitoin twice daily
      at doses of 30 mg/kg bodyweight for 30 days. Four of these cats (50%) achieved
      seizure freedom for at least 8 weeks under treatment. Adverse events, mostly
      lethargy, decreased appetite and emesis, were often mild and transient.
      CONCLUSION: In summary, imepitoin was well tolerated in healthy and epileptic
      cats and showed in a pilot trial indication for efficacy in treating feline
      epilepsy.

PMID- 28606141
TI  - Metaproteomic analysis of human gut microbiota: where are we heading?
AB  - The human gut is home to complex microbial populations that change dynamically in
      response to various internal and external stimuli. The gut microbiota provides
      numerous functional benefits that are crucial for human health but in the setting
      of a disturbed equilibrium, the microbial community can cause deleterious
      outcomes such as diseases and cancers. Characterization of the functional
      activities of human gut microbiota is fundamental to understand their roles in
      human health and disease. Metaproteomics, which refers to the study of the entire
      protein collection of the microbial community in a given sample is an emerging
      area of research that provides informative details concerning functional aspects
      of the microbiota. In this mini review, we present a summary of the progress of
      metaproteomic analysis for studying the functional role of gut microbiota. This
      is followed by an overview of the experimental approaches focusing on fecal
      specimen for metaproteomics and is concluded by a discussion on the challenges
      and future directions of metaproteomic research.

PMID- 28606142
TI  - Erratum to: Expression of the Clonostachys rosea lactonohydrolase gene by
      Lactobacillus reuteri to increase its zearalenone-removing ability.

PMID- 28606143
TI  - Effectiveness of reactive case detection for malaria elimination in three
      archetypical transmission settings: a modelling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reactive case detection could be a powerful tool in malaria
      elimination, as it selectively targets transmission pockets. However, field
      operations have yet to demonstrate under which conditions, if any, reactive case
      detection is best poised to push a region to elimination. This study uses
      mathematical modelling to assess how baseline transmission intensity and local
      interconnectedness affect the impact of reactive activities in the context of
      other possible intervention packages. METHODS: Communities in Southern Province,
      Zambia, where elimination operations are currently underway, were used as
      representatives of three archetypes of malaria transmission: low-transmission,
      high household density; high-transmission, low household density; and high
      transmission, high household density. Transmission at the spatially-connected
      household level was simulated with a dynamical model of malaria transmission, and
      local variation in vectorial capacity and intervention coverage were
      parameterized according to data collected from the area. Various potential
      intervention packages were imposed on each of the archetypical settings and the
      resulting likelihoods of elimination by the end of 2020 were compared. RESULTS:
      Simulations predict that success of elimination campaigns in both low- and high
      transmission areas is strongly dependent on stemming the flow of imported
      infections, underscoring the need for regional-scale strategies capable of
      reducing transmission concurrently across many connected areas. In historically
      low-transmission areas, treatment of clinical malaria should form the cornerstone
      of elimination operations, as most malaria infections in these areas are
      symptomatic and onward transmission would be mitigated through health system
      strengthening; reactive case detection has minimal impact in these settings. In
      historically high-transmission areas, vector control and case management are
      crucial for limiting outbreak size, and the asymptomatic reservoir must be
      addressed through reactive case detection or mass drug campaigns. CONCLUSIONS:
      Reactive case detection is recommended only for settings where transmission has
      recently been reduced rather than all low-transmission settings. This is
      demonstrated in a modelling framework with strong out-of-sample accuracy across a
      range of transmission settings while including methodologies for understanding
      the most resource-effective allocations of health workers. This approach
      generalizes to providing a platform for planning rational scale-up of health
      systems based on locally-optimized impact according to simplified stratification.

PMID- 28606144
TI  - A reverse genetics system for avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus based
      on targeted RNA recombination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a respiratory
      pathogen of chickens that causes severe economic losses in the poultry industry
      worldwide. Major advances in the study of the molecular biology of IBV have
      resulted from the development of reverse genetics systems for the highly
      attenuated, cell culture-adapted, IBV strain Beaudette. However, most IBV
      strains, amongst them virulent field isolates, can only be propagated in
      embryonated chicken eggs, and not in continuous cell lines. METHODS: We
      established a reverse genetics system for the IBV strain H52, based on targeted
      RNA recombination in a two-step process. First, a genomic and a chimeric
      synthetic, modified IBV RNA were co-transfected into non-susceptible cells to
      generate a recombinant chimeric murinized (m) IBV intermediate (mIBV). Herein,
      the genomic part coding for the spike glycoprotein ectodomain was replaced by
      that of the coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), allowing for the selection
      and propagation of recombinant mIBV in murine cells. In the second step, mIBV was
      used as the recipient. To this end a recombination with synthetic RNA comprising
      the 3'-end of the IBV genome was performed by introducing the complete IBV spike
      gene, allowing for the rescue and selection of candidate recombinants in
      embryonated chicken eggs. RESULTS: Targeted RNA recombination allowed for the
      modification of the 3'-end of the IBV genome, encoding all structural and
      accessory genes. A wild-type recombinant IBV was constructed, containing several
      synonymous marker mutations. The in ovo growth kinetics and in vivo
      characteristics of the recombinant virus were similar to those of the parental
      IBV strain H52. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted RNA recombination allows for the generation
      of recombinant IBV strains that are not able to infect and propagate in
      continuous cell lines. The ability to introduce specific mutations holds promise
      for the development of rationally designed live-attenuated IBV vaccines and for
      studies into the biology of IBV in general.

PMID- 28606145
TI  - Three steps in one pot: biosynthesis of 4-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols using
      immobilized whole cells of two genetically engineered Escherichia coli strains.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 4-Hydroxycinnamyl alcohols are a class of natural plant secondary
      metabolites that include p-coumaryl alcohol, caffeyl alcohol, coniferyl alcohol
      and sinapyl alcohol, and have physiological, ecological and biomedical
      significance. While it is necessary to investigate the biological pathways and
      economic value of these alcohols, research is hindered because of their limited
      availability and high cost. Traditionally, these alcohols are obtained by
      chemical synthesis and plant extraction. However, synthesis by biotransformation
      with immobilized microorganisms is of great interest because it is
      environmentally friendly and offers high stability and regenerable cofactors.
      Therefore, we produced 4-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols using immobilized whole cells
      of engineered Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst. RESULTS: In this study, we
      used the recombinant E. coli strain, M15-4CL1-CCR, expressing the fusion protein
      4-coumaric acid: coenzyme A ligase and the cinnamoyl coenzyme A reductase and a
      recombinant E. coli strain, M15-CAD, expressing cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase
      from Populus tomentosa (P. tomentosa). High performance liquid chromatography and
      mass spectrometry showed that the immobilized whole cells of the two recombinant
      E. coli strains could effectively convert the phenylpropanoic acids to their
      corresponding 4-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols. Further, the optimum buffer pH and the
      reaction temperature were pH 7.0 and 30  degrees C. Under these conditions, the
      molar yield of the p-coumaryl alcohol, the caffeyl alcohol and the coniferyl
      alcohol was around 58, 24 and 60%, respectively. Moreover, the highly sensitive
      and selective HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSn method used in this study could be applied to the
      identification and quantification of these aromatic polymers. CONCLUSIONS: We
      have developed a dual-cell immobilization system for the production of 4
      hydroxycinnamyl alcohols from inexpensive phenylpropanoic acids. This
      biotransformation method is both simple and environmental-friendly, which is
      promising for the practical and cost effective synthesis of natural products.
      Graphical abstract Biotransformation process of phenylpropanoic acids by
      immobilized whole-cells.

PMID- 28606146
TI  - Determinants of lifestyle behavior change to prevent type 2 diabetes in high-risk
      individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there are many effective lifestyle interventions for type 2
      diabetes (T2DM) prevention, insight into effective intervention pathways,
      especially of long-term interventions, is often lacking. This study aims to
      provide insight into the effective intervention pathways of the SLIMMER diabetes
      prevention intervention using mediation analyses. METHODS: In total, 240
      participants at increased risk of T2DM were included in the analyses over 18
      months. The intervention was a combined lifestyle intervention with a dietary and
      a physical activity (PA) component. The primary and secondary outcomes were
      change in fasting insulin (pmol/L) and change in body weight (kg) after 18
      months, respectively. Firstly, in a multiple mediator model, we investigated
      whether significant changes in these outcomes were mediated by changes in dietary
      and PA behavior. Secondly, in multiple single mediator models, we investigated
      whether changes in dietary and PA behavior were mediated by changes in behavioral
      determinants and the participants' psychological profile. The mediation analyses
      used linear regression models, where significance of indirect effects was
      calculated with bootstrapping. RESULTS: The effect of the intervention on
      decreased fasting insulin was 40% mediated by change in dietary and PA behavior,
      where dietary behavior was an independent mediator of the association (34%). The
      effect of the intervention on decreased body weight was 20% mediated by change in
      dietary and PA behavior, where PA behavior was an independent mediator (17%). The
      intervention significantly changed intake of fruit, fat from bread spread, and
      fiber from bread. Change in fruit intake was mediated by change in action control
      (combination of consciousness, self-control, and effort), motivation, self
      efficacy, intention, and skills. Change in fat intake was mediated by change in
      action control and psychological profile. No mediators could be identified for
      change in fiber intake. The change in PA behavior was mediated by change in
      action control, motivation, and psychological profile. CONCLUSION: The effect of
      the SLIMMER intervention on fasting insulin and body weight was mediated by
      changes in dietary and PA behavior, in distinct ways. These results indicate that
      changing dietary as well as PA behavior is important in T2DM prevention.

PMID- 28606147
TI  - The variation in the health status of immigrants and Italians during the global
      crisis and the role of socioeconomic factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of the recent global economic and financial crisis
      especially affected the most vulnerable social groups. Objective of the study was
      to investigate variation of self-perceived health status in Italians and
      immigrants during the economic global crisis, focusing on demographic and
      socioeconomic factors. METHODS: Through a cross-sectional design we analyzed the
      national sample of multipurpose surveys "Health conditions and use of health
      services" (2005 and 2013) conducted by the Italian National Institute of
      Statistics (ISTAT). Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary
      (MCS) scores, derived from SF-12 questionnaire, were assumed as study outcome,
      dichotomizing variables distribution at 1st quartile. Prevalence rate ratios
      (PRR) were estimated through log-binomial regression models, stratified by
      citizenship and gender, evaluating the association between PCS and MCS with
      surveys' year, adjusting for age, educational level, employment status, self
      perceived economic resources, smoking habits, body mass index. RESULTS: From 2005
      to 2013 the proportion of people not employed or reporting scarce/insufficient
      economic resources increased, especially among men, in particular immigrants.
      Compared with 2005 we observed in 2013 among Italians a significant lower
      probability of worse PCS (PRR = 0.96 both for males and females), while no
      differences were observed among immigrants; a higher probability of worse MCS was
      observed, particularly among men (Italians: PRR = 1.26;95%CI:1.22-1.29;
      immigrants: PRR = 1.19;95%CI:1.03-1.38). Self-perceived scarce/insufficient
      economic resources were strongly and significantly associated with worse PCS and
      MCS for all subgroups. Lower educational level was strongly associated with worse
      PCS in Italians and slightly associated with worse MCS for all subgroups. Being
      not employed was associated with worse health status, especially mental health
      among men. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the hypothesis that economic global
      crisis could have negatively affected health status, particularly mental health,
      of Italians and immigrants. Furthermore, results suggest socioeconomic
      inequalities increase, in economic resources availability dimension. In a context
      of public health resources' limitation due to financial crisis, policy decision
      makers and health service managers must face the challenge of equity in health.

PMID- 28606148
TI  - Development of a stochastic agent-based model to evaluate surveillance strategies
      for detection of emergent porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome strains.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study was to develop a stochastic agent
      based model using empirical data from Ontario (Canada) swine sites in order to
      evaluate different surveillance strategies for detection of emerging porcine
      reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains at the regional
      level. Four strategies were evaluated, including (i) random sampling of fixed
      numbers of swine sites monthly; (ii) risk-based sampling of fixed numbers,
      specifically of breeding sites (high-consequence sites); (iii) risk-based
      sampling of fixed numbers of low biosecurity sites (high-risk); and (iv) risk
      based sampling of breeding sites that are characterized as low biosecurity sites
      (high-risk/high-consequence). The model simulated transmission of a hypothetical
      emerging PRRSV strain between swine sites through three important industry
      networks (production system, truck and feed networks) while considering sites'
      underlying immunity due to past or recent exposure to heterologous PRRSV strains,
      as well as demographic, geographic and biosecurity-related PRRS risk factors.
      Outcomes of interest included surveillance system sensitivity and time to
      detection of the three first cases over a period of approximately three years.
      RESULTS: Surveillance system sensitivities were low and time to detection of
      three first cases was long across all examined scenarios. CONCLUSION: Traditional
      modes of implementing high-risk and high-consequence risk-based surveillance
      based on site's static characteristics do not appear to substantially improve
      surveillance system sensitivity. Novel strategies need to be developed and
      considered for rapid detection of this and other emerging swine infectious
      diseases. None of the four strategies compared herein appeared optimal for early
      detection of an emerging PPRSV strain at the regional level considering model
      assumptions, the underlying population of interest, and absence of other forms of
      surveillance.

PMID- 28606149
TI  - Malaria research in Malawi from 1984 to 2016: a literature review and
      bibliometric analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria research can play a vital role in addressing the malaria
      burden in Malawi. An organized approach in addressing malaria in Malawi started
      in 1984 by the establishment of the first National Malaria Control Programme and
      research was recognized to be significant. This study aimed to assess the type
      and amount of malaria research conducted in Malawi from 1984 to 2016 and its
      related source of funding. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted
      in the Medline/PubMed database for Malawian publications and approved malaria
      studies from two Ethical Committees were examined. Bibliometric analysis was
      utilized to capture the affiliations of first and senior/last authors, funding
      acknowledgements, while titles, abstracts and accessed full text were examined
      for research type. RESULTS: A total of 483 publications and 165 approved studies
      were analysed. Clinical and basic research in the fields of malaria in pregnancy
      105 (21.5%), severe malaria 97 (20.1%) and vector and/or agent dynamics 69
      (14.3%) dominated in the publications while morbidity 33 (20%), severe malaria 28
      (17%) and Health Policy and Systems Research 24 (14.5%) dominated in the approved
      studies. In the publications, 146 (30%) first authors and 100 (21%) senior
      authors, and 88 (53.3%) principal investigators in approved studies were
      affiliated to Malawian-based institutions. Most researchers were affiliated to
      the Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust, College of Medicine, Blantyre Malaria
      Project, Ministry of Health, and Malaria Alert Centre. The major malaria research
      funders were the National Institute for Health/USA, Wellcome Trust and the US
      Agency for International Development. Only three (2.5%) out of 118 journals
      publishing research on malaria in Malawi were from Africa and the Malaria
      Journal, with 76 (15.7%) publications, published most of the research from
      Malawi, followed by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene with 57
      (11.8%) in comparison to only 13 (2.7%) published in the local Malawi Medical
      Journal. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and basic research, which is mostly funded
      externally, in the fields of malaria in pregnancy, severe malaria and vector
      and/or agent dynamics dominated, while health policy and system research was
      least supported. The quantity may reflect scientific research activity but the
      initial primary impact is contribution to policy development.

PMID- 28606150
TI  - Severe hypertriglyceridemia in Norway: prevalence, clinical and genetic
      characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a lack of comprehensive patient-datasets regarding
      prevalence of severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG; triglycerides >=10 mmol/L),
      frequency of co-morbidities, gene mutations, and gene characterization in sHTG.
      Using large surveys combined with detailed analysis of sub-cohorts of sHTG
      patients, we here sought to address these issues. METHODS: We used data from
      several large Norwegian surveys that included 681,990 subjects, to estimate the
      prevalence. Sixty-five sHTG patients were investigated to obtain clinical
      profiles and candidate disease genes. We obtained peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells (PBMC) from six male patients and nine healthy controls and examined
      expression of mRNAs involved in lipid metabolism. RESULTS: The prevalence of sHTG
      was 0.13 (95% CI 0.12-0.14)%, and highest in men aged 40-49 years and in women 60
      69 years. Among the 65 sHTG patients, a possible genetic cause was found in four
      and 11 had experienced acute pancreatitis. The mRNA expression levels of
      carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT)-1A, CPT2, and hormone-sensitive lipase, were
      significantly higher in patients compared to controls, whereas those of ATP
      binding cassette, sub-family G, member 1 were significantly lower. CONCLUSIONS:
      In Norway, sHTG is present in 0.1%, carries considerable co-morbidity and is
      associated with an imbalance of genes involved in lipid metabolism, all
      potentially contributing to increased cardiovascular morbidity in sHTG.

PMID- 28606151
TI  - Tobacco-free policies at worksites in Kansas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study sought to examine the relationship between tobacco-free
      policies at worksites to worksite demographics such as company size and
      geographic location. METHODS: Worksites participating in a worksite wellness
      workshop were asked to complete a worksite wellness instrument, which provided an
      assessment of their wellness practices already in place in the worksite,
      including the degree to which tobacco-free policies were in place at the
      worksite. RESULTS: At a bivariate level, those more likely to have tobacco-free
      policies included: urban employers (76.8% versus 50% rural employers, p =
      0.0001); large employers (> = 250 employees) (74.3% versus 43.1% small employers
      (<50 employees), p = 0.0003); and schools (69.4%) and hospitals (61.5%) (versus
      35.5%, agricultural/ manufacturing employers, p = 0.0125). At the multivariate
      level, rural employers (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.23, 0.95) and small employers (AOR =
      0.34, 95% CI 0.16, 0.71) had decreased odds, compared to their urban and large
      employer counterparts, of having tobacco-free policies. CONCLUSIONS: Rural and
      smaller employers are less likely to have tobacco-free policies than their urban
      and large counterparts.

PMID- 28606153
TI  - Pregnancy risk during menstrual cycle: misconceptions among urban men in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India, where men take most decisions in the family, it is useful
      that they have adequate knowledge about pregnancy risks during women's menstrual
      cycles. Since traditional contraceptive methods are still employed by a large
      population in India, the knowledge regarding the pregnancy risk during the
      menstrual cycle is indispensable. This research paper attempts to assess the
      knowledge among urban men in Uttar Pradesh, India about the fertile window of the
      menstrual cycle; it also attempts to discover the rationales behind the
      misconceptions about the concept. METHODS: This study utilizes the baseline data
      of the Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation project for the Urban Reproductive
      Health Initiative in Uttar Pradesh. Descriptive Statistics has been used to
      assess the prevalence of knowledge among urban men regarding the concept. Using
      the Discriminant Analysis, we also investigate the rationales behind the
      misconceptions among urban men about the concept. RESULTS: Only one-fifth of the
      men have the correct knowledge about the concept. Further, we find that
      education, societal perception, caste, and spousal discussion about the
      reproductive issues are the primary factors affecting the knowledge about the
      pregnancy risk during the menstrual cycle. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need
      for sex education in the region to make the urban men more educated about the
      reproductive process of women; this may reduce unwanted births and abortion due
      to an unwanted pregnancy as well. The study promotes the higher education and
      motivates couples to discuss the reproductive health issues among them. In this
      manner, we can provide better reproductive health to the women of urban India.

PMID- 28606152
TI  - Heterologous expression of cytotoxic sesquiterpenoids from the medicinal mushroom
      Lignosus rhinocerotis in yeast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome mining facilitated by heterologous systems is an emerging
      approach to access the chemical diversity encoded in basidiomycete genomes. In
      this study, three sesquiterpene synthase genes, GME3634, GME3638, and GME9210,
      which were highly expressed in the sclerotium of the medicinal mushroom Lignosus
      rhinocerotis, were cloned and heterologously expressed in a yeast system.
      RESULTS: Metabolite profile analysis of the yeast culture extracts by GC-MS
      showed the production of several sesquiterpene alcohols (C15H26O), including
      cadinols and germacrene D-4-ol as major products. Other detected sesquiterpenes
      include selina-6-en-4-ol, beta-elemene, beta-cubebene, and cedrene. Two purified
      major compounds namely (+)-torreyol and alpha-cadinol synthesised by GME3638 and
      GME3634 respectively, are stereoisomers and their chemical structures were
      confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that GME3638 and
      GME3634 are a pair of orthologues, and are grouped together with terpene
      synthases that synthesise cadinenes and related sesquiterpenes. (+)-Torreyol and
      alpha-cadinol were tested against a panel of human cancer cell lines and the
      latter was found to exhibit selective potent cytotoxicity in breast
      adenocarcinoma cells (MCF7) with IC50 value of 3.5 +/- 0.58 MUg/ml while alpha
      cadinol is less active (IC50 = 18.0 +/- 3.27 MUg/ml). CONCLUSIONS: This
      demonstrates that yeast-based genome mining, guided by transcriptomics, is a
      promising approach for uncovering bioactive compounds from medicinal mushrooms.

PMID- 28606154
TI  - MicroRNA-1296 inhibits metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of
      hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting SRPK1-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing evidences demonstrate that miRNAs contribute to
      development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Underexpression of
      miR-1296 is recently reported to promote growth and metastasis of human cancers.
      However, the expression and role of miR-1296 in HCC remain unknown. METHODS: The
      levels of miR-1296 in HCC tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR.
      Immunoblotting and immunofluorescence were used for detection of epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression in HCC cells. Transwell assays were
      performed to determine migration and invasion of HCC cells. A lung metastasis
      mouse model was used to evaluated metastasis of HCC in vivo. The putative targets
      of miR-1296 were disclosed by public databases and a dual-luciferase reporter
      assay. RESULTS: We found that the expression of miR-1296 was reduced in HCC
      tissues and cell lines, and it was associated with metastasis and recurrence of
      HCC. Notably, miR-1296 overexpression inhibited migration, invasion and EMT
      progress of HCCLM3 cells, while miR-1296 loss facilitated these biological
      behaviors of Hep3B cells in vitro and in vivo. In addition, miR-1296 inversely
      regulated SRPK1 abundance by directly binding to its 3'-UTR, which subsequently
      resulted in suppression of p-AKT. Either SRPK1 re-expression or PI3K/AKT pathway
      activation, at least partially, abolished the effects of miR-1296 on migration,
      invasion and EMT progress of HCC cells. Furthermore, miR-1296 and SRPK1
      expression were markedly correlated with adverse clinical features and poor
      prognosis of HCC patients. We showed that hypoxia was responsible for the
      underexpression of miR-1296 in HCC. And the promoting effects of hypoxia on
      metastasis and EMT of HCC cells were reversed by miR-1296. CONCLUSIONS:
      Underexpression of miR-1296 potentially serves as a prognostic biomarker in HCC.
      Hypoxia-induced miR-1296 loss promotes metastasis and EMT of HCC cells probably
      by targeting SRPK1/AKT pathway.

PMID- 28606155
TI  - Complete genome sequence of T'Ho virus, a novel putative flavivirus from the
      Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously reported the discovery of a novel, putative flavivirus
      designated T'Ho virus in Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes in the Yucatan
      Peninsula of Mexico. A 1358-nt region of the NS5 gene was amplified and sequenced
      but an isolate was not recovered. RESULTS: The complete genome of T'Ho virus was
      sequenced using a combination of unbiased high-throughput sequencing, 5' and 3'
      rapid amplification of cDNA ends, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
      and Sanger sequencing. The genome contains a single open reading frame of 10,284
      nt which is flanked by 5' and 3' untranslated regions of 97 and 556-nt,
      respectively. Genome sequence alignments revealed that T'Ho virus is most closely
      related to Rocio virus (67.4% nucleotide identity) and Ilheus virus (65.9%), both
      of which belong to the Ntaya group, followed by other Ntaya group viruses (58.8
      63.3%) and Japanese encephalitis group viruses (62.0-63.7%). Phylogenetic
      inference is in agreement with these findings. CONCLUSIONS: This study furthers
      our understanding of flavivirus genetics, phylogeny and diagnostics. Because the
      two closest known relatives of T'Ho virus are human pathogens, T'Ho virus could
      be an unrecognized cause of human disease. It is therefore important that future
      studies investigate the public health significance of this virus.

PMID- 28606156
TI  - Expression of mRNA IL-17F and sIL-17F in atopic asthma patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of airway that involves
      many cells and elements. Chronic inflammation caused by increase Airway
      hyperresponsiveness that cause recurrent episodic symptoms of breathlessness,
      wheezing, chest tightness and coughing, especially at night or early morning.
      Interleukin 17F is a cytokine that plays an important role in the pathophysiology
      of asthma attacks. Some studies show a variety of IL-17F roles in the
      pathogenesis of airway inflammation due to an allergic reaction. RESULTS: The
      study was conducted at the Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Manado Hospital, Indonesia.
      Samples were taken continuously until the number of meant samples was achieved.
      Blood samples were collected from 40 atopic asthmatic patients. From statistical
      analysis based on the hypothesis, there was positive correlation between mRNA
      levels of IL-17F and IL-17F in atopic asthmatic patient (p = 0.000 and r =
      0.988). CONCLUSIONS: According these data suggest that levels of mRNA IL-17F and
      IL17F might be useful parameters for the diagnosis of atopic asthma patient.

PMID- 28606157
TI  - Semiarid ethnoagroforestry management: Tajos in the Sierra Gorda, Guanajuato,
      Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The semi-arid environments harbor nearly 40% of biodiversity, and
      half of indigenous cultures of Mexico. Thousands of communities settled in these
      areas depend on agriculture and using wild biodiversity for their subsistence.
      Water, soil, and biodiversity management strategies are therefore crucial for
      people's life. The tajos, from Sierra Gorda, are important, poorly studied,
      biocultural systems established in narrow, arid alluvial valleys. The systems are
      constructed with stone-walls for capturing sediments, gradually creating fertile
      soils in terraces suitable for agriculture in places where it would not be
      possible. We analyzed biocultural, ecological, economic and technological
      relevance of the artificial oasis-like tajos, hypothesizing their high capacity
      for maintaining agricultural and wild biodiversity while providing resources to
      people. METHODS: We conducted our research in three sections of the Mezquital
      Xichu River, in three communities of Guanajuato, Mexico. Agroforestry management
      practices were documented through semi-structured and in-depth qualitative
      interviews. Vegetation composition of local forests and that maintained in tajos
      was sampled and compared. RESULTS: Tajos harbor high agrobiodiversity, including
      native varieties of maize and beans, seven secondary crops, 47 native and 25
      introduced perennial plant species. Perennial plants cover on average 26.8% of
      the total surface of plots. Tajos provide nearly 70% of the products required by
      households' subsistence and are part of their cultural identity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Tajos are heritage of TEK and land management forms of pre-Columbian Mexican and
      Mediterranean agricultural techniques, adapting and integrating modern
      agricultural practices. Tajos are valuable biocultural systems adapted to local
      semiarid conditions and sources of technology for similar areas of the World.

PMID- 28606158
TI  - Open surgical implantation of a viable cryopreserved placental membrane after
      decompression and neurolysis of common peroneal nerve: a case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to report on the rehabilitative outcomes
      associated with common peroneal nerve (CPN) decompression and neurolysis revision
      when performed with open surgical implantation of a viable cryopreserved
      placental membrane (vCPM). METHODS: Seven patients who underwent secondary CPN
      decompression and neurolysis with open surgical implantation of a viable
      cryopreserved placental membrane (vCPM) after previously failed surgery without
      vCPM utilization were identified through a retrospective medical record review
      and outcomes were analyzed. Primary mechanism of injury, severity of symptoms at
      time of referral, pre-operative and post-operative evaluations on edema with
      ultrasound, Medical Research Council (MRC) scale for motor strength, range of
      motion, nerve conduction velocity (NCV), and electromyography (EMG) were
      analyzed. RESULTS: Five patients (71.4%) achieved full recovery of motor function
      MRC grade 5/5, and the remaining two patients achieved MRC grade 4/5. At the 7
      month follow-up visit, NCV tests indicated improved conduction velocity and
      normal amplitude for all 7 patients, and all patients demonstrated proper gait
      pattern with a return to normal activities of daily living. There were no vCPM
      related adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The use of vCPM wrap as an adjunct to
      surgical repairs of CPN injuries may contribute to positive clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28606159
TI  - Thresholds for Oxford Knee Score after total knee replacement surgery: a novel
      approach to post-operative evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a prospective cohort study, we wanted to detect thresholds
      distinguishing between patients with a satisfactory and an unsatisfactory outcome
      after total knee replacement (TKR) based on Patient-Reported Outcome Measures
      (PROMs), namely the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), using patient satisfaction and
      patient-perceived function as global transition items. METHODS: Seventy-three TKR
      patients completed the OKS questionnaire before surgery and were invited to
      complete the same questionnaire again 6 (4 to 9) months after surgery.
      Correlations between outcome measures and anchors were calculated using Pearson's
      correlation coefficient. Thresholds were established by receiver operating
      characteristics (ROC) analysis, using multiple anchor-based approaches. RESULTS:
      Patients showed a mean increase of 16.5 (SD 9.5) in OKS following TKR.
      Significant positive correlations were found between outcome measures and
      anchors. Six different thresholds were determined for outcome measures coupled
      with satisfaction, patient-perceived function and a combination thereof using a
      cut-off of 50 and 70. CONCLUSIONS: This study has established a set of clinically
      meaningful thresholds for Oxford Knee scores that may help to detect TKR patients
      who might be in need of post-operative evaluation.

PMID- 28606160
TI  - Consumption coagulopathy in acute aortic dissection: principles of management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of acute aortic dissection itself on coagulopathy or
      surgery-related coagulopathy has never been specifically studied. The aim of the
      present study was to perioperatively describe consumption coagulopathy in
      patients with acute aortic dissection. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with acute
      type A aortic dissection were enrolled in this study from January 2015 to
      September 2016. Thirty-six patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms were used as a
      control group during the same period. Consumption coagulopathy was evaluated
      using standard laboratory tests, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and
      thromboelastograghy at five perioperative time-points. RESULTS: A significant
      reduction in clotting factors and fibrinogen was observed at the onset of acute
      aortic dissection. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and thromboelastograghy also
      revealed a persistent systemic activation of the coagulation system and the
      consumption of clotting factors. In contrast, although platelet counts were
      consistently low, we did not find that platelet function was more impaired in the
      acute aortic dissection group than the control group. CONCLUSIONS: After surgery,
      clotting factors and fibrinogen were more impaired than platelet function. Thus,
      we proposed that hemostatic therapy should focus on the rapid and sufficient
      supplementation of clotting factors and fibrinogen to improve consumption
      coagulopathy in patients with acute aortic dissection.

PMID- 28606161
TI  - Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by right ventricular fibroma
      in a 5-month-old infant: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac fibroma is rarely encountered in children, and even more rare
      in neonates. We herein report a case of a 5-month-old female with severe right
      ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by a large right ventricle fibroma
      that was successfully surgically resected. CASE PRESENTATION: This report
      describes the case of a 5-month-old female infant with a large mass measuring 26
      * 22 mm in the right ventricle cured successfully with surgery. Physical
      examination revealed a harsh S1 sound and a grade IV systolic murmur on the left
      sternal border. Surgical resection was indicated due to severe right ventricular
      outflow tract obstruction and further follow-up evaluation was uneventful.
      CONCLUSION: The surgical procedure to excise such a large cardiac fibroma in a 5
      month-old infant is feasible and safe.

PMID- 28606162
TI  - How behavioural science can contribute to health partnerships: the case of The
      Change Exchange.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health partnerships often use health professional training to change
      practice with the aim of improving quality of care. Interventions to change
      practice can learn from behavioural science and focus not only on improving the
      competence and capability of health professionals but also their opportunity and
      motivation to make changes in practice. We describe a project that used
      behavioural scientist volunteers to enable health partnerships to understand and
      use the theories, techniques and assessments of behavioural science. CASE
      STUDIES: This paper outlines how The Change Exchange, a collective of volunteer
      behavioural scientists, worked with health partnerships to strengthen their
      projects by translating behavioural science in situ. We describe three case
      studies in which behavioural scientists, embedded in health partnerships in
      Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique, explored the behaviour change techniques
      used by educators, supported knowledge and skill development in behaviour change,
      monitored the impact of projects on psychological determinants of behaviour and
      made recommendations for future project developments. DISCUSSION: Challenges in
      the work included having time and space for behavioural science in already very
      busy health partnership schedules and the difficulties in using certain methods
      in other cultures. Future work could explore other modes of translation and
      further develop methods to make them more culturally applicable. CONCLUSION:
      Behavioural scientists could translate behavioural science which was understood
      and used by the health partnerships to strengthen their project work.

PMID- 28606163
TI  - Tobacco smoking trends in Samoa over four decades: can continued globalization
      rectify that which it has wrought?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The island country of Samoa (population 188,000 in 2011) forms part
      of Polynesia in the South Pacific. Over the past several decades Samoa has
      experienced exceptional modernization and globalization of many sectors of
      society, with noncommunicable diseases (NCD) now the leading cause of morbidity
      and mortality. The evolution of risk factor prevalence underpinning the increase
      in NCDs, however, has not been well described, including tobacco smoking which is
      related to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease. METHODS: The present study examines tobacco smoking in relation to
      different forms and effects of globalization in Samoa using 7 population-based
      surveys (n = 9223) over 1978-2013. RESULTS: The prevalence of daily tobacco
      smoking steadily decreased over 1978-2013 from 76% to 36% in men, and from 27% to
      15% in women (p < 0.0001 both sexes). During 1991-2013, current tobacco smoking
      also steadily decreased from 64% to 40% in men (p < 0.0001), and from 21% to 17%
      in women (p < 0.05). Declines were similar in younger (25-44 years) and older (45
      64 years) men and women. Colonial globalization facilitated the introduction and
      prolific spread of tobacco trade and consumption in the Pacific Islands from the
      sixteenth century, with many populations inexorably pulled into trade relations
      and links to the global economy. It has also been a different globalization which
      may have led to the decline in smoking prevalence in Samoa in recent decades,
      through global dissemination since the 1950s of information on the harmful
      effects of tobacco smoking derived from research studies in the USA and Europe.
      CONCLUSIONS: Over the past 35 years tobacco smoking has steadily declined among
      Samoan adults; the only NCD risk factor to demonstrate marked declines during
      this period. By 2013 tobacco smoking in women had decreased to levels similar to
      Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), however in men smoking prevalence remained more
      than three times higher than ANZ. The impact on smoking prevalence of the variety
      of tobacco control interventions that have been implemented so far in Samoa need
      to be evaluated in order to determine the most effective initiatives that should
      be prioritized and strengthened.

PMID- 28606164
TI  - The importance of patient compliance in repeated rounds of mass drug
      administration (MDA) for the elimination of intestinal helminth transmission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic non-compliance to chemotherapeutic treatment among a
      portion of the eligible population is thought to be a major obstacle to the
      elimination of helminth infections by mass drug administration (MDA). MDA for
      helminths is repeated at defined intervals such as yearly or every 2 years, as a
      consequence of the inability of the human host to develop fully protective
      immunity to reinfection. As such, how an individual complies to these repeated
      rounds of MDA can have a significant impact on parasite transmission. The
      importance of this factor is poorly understood at present. Few epidemiological
      studies have examined longitudinal trends in compliance in the many communities
      in areas of endemic helminth infection that are undergoing MDA. Reducing
      systematic non-compliance will obviously increase the number of individuals
      treated, but it may also alter the dynamics of parasite transmission. METHODS:
      Here we develop an individual-based stochastic model of helminth transmission and
      MDA treatment to investigate how different patterns of compliance influence the
      impact of MDA for two groups of helminths, the soil transmitted nematode
      infections and the schistosome parasites. We study the effect of several
      alternative treatment and compliance patterns on the dynamics of transmission.
      RESULTS: We find that the impact of different compliance patterns, ranging from
      random treatment at each round of chemotherapy to systematic non-compliance by a
      proportion of the population, is very dependent on both transmission intensity in
      a defined setting and the type of infection that the treatment is targeted at.
      Systematic non-compliance has a greater impact on the potential for elimination
      of Schistosoma mansoni transmission by intensive MDA, than it does on Ascaris
      lumbricoides. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss the implications of our findings for the
      prioritisation of resources in MDA programmes and for monitoring and evaluation
      programme design. The key message generated by the analyses is that great care
      must be taken to record individual longitudinal patterns of compliance at each
      round of MDA as opposed to just recording overall coverage.

PMID- 28606166
TI  - Poncet's disease in human immunodeficiency virus: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poncet's disease is a rare reactive polyarthritis associated with
      active tuberculosis and no evidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the affected
      joint. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 35 year old Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus positive Kenyan male of Kikuyu ethnicity from Kiambu
      County who presented to hospital with a 6 day history of bilateral knee pain and
      swelling, bilateral ankle pain with right ankle swelling. The patient reported 6
      months history of cough and weight loss. Chest radiograph had features consistent
      with pulmonary tuberculosis and sputum smear was positive for acid fast bacilli.
      Analysis of fluid from knee effusion showed no evidence of tuberculosis.
      Resolution of joint swelling was seen after 3 weeks of tuberculosis chemotherapy
      suggesting that this was reactive arthritis following pulmonary tuberculosis in a
      patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus. CONCLUSION: This case
      represents a rare manifestation of tuberculosis presenting as a reactive
      arthritis. There are very few cases of Poncet's disease reported in literature
      and the diagnosis of Poncet's disease in Human Immunodeficiency
      Virus/tuberculosis coinfected patient is extremely uncommon. This case report has
      been presented to raise awareness of this unusual tuberculosis complication and
      review its diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 28606165
TI  - Pitfalls in TAMVI: experience with the repositionable Lotus(r) Valve System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Simultaneous transapical implantation of transcatheter heart valves
      in the native mitral and aortic position may be considered as an alternative to
      surgical valve replacement in high-risk patients presenting with combined valve
      disease. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old female with severe aortic stenosis,
      severe mitral stenosis with mild mitral insufficiency, persistent atrial
      fibrillation, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and NYHA class of IV
      was evaluated by our interdisciplinary heart team. Due to the calculated
      Euroscore II, logistic Euroscore with 10% and 17% a decision was made towards a
      transapical TAVI approach. The implantation of a Sapien 3 (Edwards Lifesciences)
      valve in the aortic position was performed and the perioperative TEE showed a
      good result. The preoperative imaging revealed a narrow LVOT with risk for post
      interventional left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Accordingly, it was
      decided against the use of balloon-expanding valves for the mitral valve position
      in the interdisciplinary team, as it is not repositionable. Instead, it was
      decided for the use of a Lotus (Boston Scientific) valve, as it is repositionable
      and therefore possible to retract in case of LVOT obstruction. In the present
      case of double valve intervention, the implantation attempt of a fully
      repositionable transcatheter heart valve into the native mitral annulus resulted
      in acute LVOT obstruction requiring immediate removal of the device. The patient
      was extubated and experienced uneventful postoperative recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The
      case shows that improved preoperative work-up is necessary for better prediction
      of significant LVOT obstruction following transcatheter mitral valve
      implantation. In borderline cases, the use of a fully repositionable device is
      preferred.

PMID- 28606167
TI  - rdml: A Mathematica package for parsing and importing Real-Time qPCR data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose and objective of the research presented is to provide a
      package for easy importing of Real-Time PCR data markup language (RDML) data to
      Mathematica. RESULTS: Real-Time qPCR is the most widely used experimental method
      for the accurate quantification of gene expression. To enable the straightforward
      archiving and sharing of qPCR data and its associated experimental information,
      an XML-based data standard was developed-the Real-Time PCR data markup language
      (RDML)-devised by the RDML consortium. Here, we present rdml, a package to parse
      and import RDML data into Mathematica, allowing the quick loading and extraction
      of relevant data, thus promoting the re-analysis, meta-analysis or experimental
      re-validation of gene expression data deposited in RDML format.

PMID- 28606168
TI  - Direct cost comparison of minimally invasive punch technique versus traditional
      approaches for percutaneous bone anchored hearing devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally Invasive Ponto Surgery (MIPS) was recently described as a
      new technique to facilitate the placement of percutaneous bone anchored hearing
      devices. The procedure has resulted in a simplification of the surgical steps and
      a dramatic reduction in surgical time while maintaining excellent patient
      outcomes. Given these developments, our group sought to move the procedure from
      the main operating suite where they have traditionally been performed. This study
      aims to test the null hypothesis that MIPS and open approaches have the same
      direct costs for the implantation of percutaneous bone anchored hearing devices
      in a Canadian public hospital setting. METHODS: A retrospective direct cost
      comparison of MIPS and open approaches for the implantation of bone conduction
      implants was conducted. Indirect and future costs were not included in the fiscal
      analysis. A simple cost comparison of the two approaches was made considering
      time, staff and equipment needs. All 12 operations were performed on adult
      patients from 2013 to 2016 by the same surgeon at a single hospital site.
      RESULTS: MIPS has a total mean reduction in cost of CAD$456.83 per operation from
      the hospital perspective when compared to open approaches. The average duration
      of the MIPS operation was 7 min, which is on average 61 min shorter compared with
      open approaches. CONCLUSION: The MIPS technique was more cost effective than
      traditional open approaches. This primarily reflects a direct consequence of a
      reduction in surgical time, with further contributions from reduced staffing and
      equipment costs. This simple, quick intervention proved to be feasible when
      performed outside the main operating room. A blister pack of required equipment
      could prove convenient and further reduce costs.

PMID- 28606169
TI  - Profound perturbation induced by triclosan exposure in mouse gut microbiome: a
      less resilient microbial community with elevated antibiotic and metal resistomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Environmental chemical-induced perturbations of gut microbiome are
      associated with a series of adverse health outcomes. The effects of triclosan on
      human health have been controversial in recent years. The purpose of this study
      is to investigate the functional impact of triclosan on the mouse gut microbiome
      and the link between triclosan exposure and resistomes in gut bacteria. METHODS:
      We combined 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics sequencing to
      examine the compositional and functional impact of triclosan exposure on the gut
      microbiota of C57BL/6 mice. RESULTS: 16S rRNA sequencing results revealed that 13
      week triclosan exposure in drinking water induced significant perturbations in
      mouse gut bacterial assemblages with distinct trajectories compared to controls.
      Metagenomics sequencing results indicated a remarkable enrichment of gut
      bacterial genes related to triclosan resistance, stress response, antibiotic
      resistance and heavy metal resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Triclosan exposure has a
      profound impact on the mouse gut microbiome by inducing perturbations at both
      compositional and functional levels. To our best knowledge, this is the first
      evidence regarding the functional alterations of gut microbiome induced by
      triclosan exposure, which may provide novel mechanistic insights into triclosan
      exposure and associated diseases.

PMID- 28606170
TI  - Predictors of glucose control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes:
      results of a cross-sectional study in Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa the prognosis of children with type 1 diabetes
      is poor. Many are not diagnosed and those diagnosed have a dramatically reduced
      life expectancy (less than one year). The purpose of this study was to identify
      the predictors of glucose control in children and adolescents with type 1
      diabetes. METHODS: This hospital based cross-sectional study involved 76
      children/adolescents (35 boys and 41 girls, mean age of 15.1 +/- 3.1 years) with
      type 1 diabetes included in the "Changing Diabetes in Children" (CDiC) program
      and attending the clinics for children living with type 1 diabetes in the North
      West Region of Cameroon. Data on glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was obtained
      from hospital records of participants. Information on socio-demographic
      characteristics and diabetes related practices were obtained from participants
      using a structured questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated using logistic
      regression models to assess the association between determinants and good
      glyceamic control. RESULTS: The study population had a mean HbA1c of 10.3 +/-
      2.9%. Bivariate analysis indicated that having a mother as the primary caregiver
      (OR 0.07, 95% CI 0.02-0.2), being on 2 daily insulin injections (OR 0.2, 95% CI
      0.1-0.5) and good blood glucose monitoring (BGM) adherence (OR 0.1, 95% CI 0.04
      0.3) were significantly (p < 0.001) associated with better HbA1c.
      Minimal/moderate caregiver involvement in BGM (OR 7.7, 95% CI 2.7-22.0) and
      insulin injection (OR 14.9, 95% CI 4.8-46.5) were significantly (p < 0.001)
      associated with poor outcome. Multivariate analysis showed that having a mother
      as the primary caregiver (OR 0.02, 95% CI 0.002-0.189) was an independent
      predictor of good glucose control. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that the
      mother's involvement in the diabetes management of their children and
      minimal/moderate caregiver involvement in the task of insulin injection are the
      most important determinants for good and poor glucose control respectively. It is
      currently unclear whether the direct involvement of the mother is causal or
      whether "mother as a primary caregiver" is just an indicator for a setting in
      which good diabetes treatment is possible.

PMID- 28606171
TI  - Latrine coverage and its utilisation in a rural village of Eastern Nepal: a
      community-based cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A little more than 1/3rd of the rural households in Nepal have
      improved latrine facility. The government of Nepal is working towards making an
      open defecation free area all over Nepal. There is no data found in literature
      searches regarding the status of latrines and its utilisation in Nepal. This
      study aims to estimate the coverage and utilisation of latrine and its associated
      factors in a rural community of Nepal. METHODS: We conducted a cross sectional
      study in March 2015-September 2015 among 625 households in Hattimuda Village,
      Morang district in Eastern Nepal using semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire
      with observational checklists. RESULTS: Out of 623 households, 473 (76.9%) have
      latrine facilities. There is an increase in latrine coverage in Hattimuda by 37%
      (38.9% in 2011 to 75.9% in 2016). Majority of the latrines (89.9%) were
      functional, however 32.3% needs maintenance. The extent of latrine utilisation
      among those households with a toilet at home was satisfactory (94.3%). Presence
      of child below 5 years of age at home (OR 2.37, 95% CI 0.05-0.46), functional
      latrine (OR 27.37, 95% CI 6.84-109.45), frequency of cleaning (OR 3.66, 95% CI
      1.09-12.29) and latrine constructed with self-initiation (OR 4.21, 95% CI 1.06
      16.66) are factors significantly associated with the utilisation of the latrine.
      CONCLUSIONS: While the coverage needs to be increased, appropriate interventions
      to increase the utilisation of latrine needs to be in place so that the village
      moves closer to open defecation free (ODF) status. As other studies are not found
      from Nepal, the findings from this study can be used a reference for other rural
      areas of Nepal.

PMID- 28606172
TI  - The characterisation of microsatellite markers reveals tetraploidy in the Greater
      Water Parsnip, Sium latifolium (Apiaceae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Greater Water Parsnip, Sium latifolium (Apiaceae), is a marginal
      aquatic perennial currently endangered in England and consequently the focus of a
      number of conservation translocation projects. Microsatellite markers were
      developed for S. latifolium to facilitate comparison of genetic diversity and
      composition between natural and introduced populations. RESULTS: We selected 65
      S. latifolium microsatellite (MiSeq) sequences and designed primer pairs for
      these. Primer sets were tested in 32 individuals. We found 15 polymorphic loci
      that amplified consistently. For the selected 15 loci, the number of alleles per
      locus ranged from 8 to 17. For all loci, S. latifolium individuals displayed up
      to four alleles indicating polyploidy in this species. CONCLUSIONS: These are the
      first microsatellite loci developed for S. latifolium and each individual
      displayed 1-4 alleles per locus, suggesting polyploidy in this species. These
      markers provide a valuable resource in evaluating the population genetic
      composition of this endangered species and thus will be useful for guiding
      conservation and future translocations of the species.

PMID- 28606173
TI  - Tuberculosis caseload in children with severe acute malnutrition related with
      high hospital based mortality in Lusaka, Zambia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children pose a
      major treatment and care challenge in high HIV burden countries in Africa. We
      investigated the prevalence of Tuberculosis notifications among hospitalised
      under-five children with severe acute malnutrition. A retrospective review of
      medical records for all children aged 0-59 months admitted to the University
      Teaching Hospital from 2009 to 2013 was performed. Descriptive statistics were
      employed to estimate TB caseload. Logistic regression was used to identify
      predictors of the TB caseload. RESULTS: A total of (n = 9540) under-five children
      with SAM were admitted over the period reviewed. The median age was 16 months
      (IQR 11-24) and the proportion diagnosed with TB was 1.58% (95% CI 1.3, 1.8)
      representing 151 cases. Of these, only 37 (25%) were bacteriologically confirmed
      cases. The HIV seroprevalence of children with SAM and TB was 46.5%. Children
      with SAM and TB were 40% more likely to die than children with SAM and without
      TB. CONCLUSIONS: Tuberculosis contributes to mortality among children with SAM in
      high TB and HIV prevalence settings. The under detection of cases and association
      of TB with HIV infection in malnutrition opens up opportunities to innovate
      integrative case finding approaches beyond just HIV counselling and testing
      within existing mother and child health service areas to include TB screening and
      prevention interventions, as these are critical primary care elements.

PMID- 28606175
TI  - Differences in utilization of Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) within
      human services (HHS) regions and metropolitan megaregions in the U.S.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anecdotal evidence suggests that US practice patterns for ART differ
      by geographical region. The purpose of this study was to determine whether use of
      ICSI differs by region and to evaluate whether these rates are correlated with
      differences in live birth rates. METHODS: Public data for 2012 were obtained from
      the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinics with >=100 fresh, non
      donor cycles were grouped by 10 nationally recognized Department of Health &
      Human Services regions and 11 metropolitan Megaregions and were compared for use
      of ICSI, frequency of male factor infertility, and live birth rate in women <35
      years. RESULTS: There were 274 clinics in the Health & Human Services regions and
      247 in the Megaregions. ICSI utilization rates in Health & Human Services groups
      ranged between 52.5-78.2% (P < 0.0001). Live birth rates per cycle in women <35
      years differed (34.1-47.6%; P < 0.0001) but did not correlate with rates of ICSI
      (R2 = 0.2096; P = 0.18) per cycle. For Megaregions, rates of ICSI per cycle
      differed (63.4%-93.5%, P < 0.0001) as did live birth rates per cycle for women
      <35 (36.0%-59.0%, P = 0.001) but there was only minimal correlation between them
      (R2 = 0.5347; P = 0.01). Highest rates of ICSI occurred in Front Range (93.5%)
      and Gulf Coast (83.1%) Megaregions. Lowest rates occurred in the Northeast
      (63.4%) and Florida (64.8%) Megaregions. Male factor infertility rates did not
      differ across regions. CONCLUSIONS: ICSI utilization and live birth rates per
      cycle for each clinic group were significantly different across geographical
      regions of the U.S. However, higher ICSI utilization rate was not associated with
      higher rates of male factor infertility nor were they strongly correlated with
      higher live birth rates per cycle. Studies are needed to understand factors that
      may influence ICSI overutilization in the U.S.

PMID- 28606174
TI  - Using multiclass classification to automate the identification of patient safety
      incident reports by type and severity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 10% of admissions to acute-care hospitals are
      associated with an adverse event. Analysis of incident reports helps to
      understand how and why incidents occur and can inform policy and practice for
      safer care. Unfortunately our capacity to monitor and respond to incident reports
      in a timely manner is limited by the sheer volumes of data collected. In this
      study, we aim to evaluate the feasibility of using multiclass classification to
      automate the identification of patient safety incidents in hospitals. METHODS:
      Text based classifiers were applied to identify 10 incident types and 4 severity
      levels. Using the one-versus-one (OvsO) and one-versus-all (OvsA) ensemble
      strategies, we evaluated regularized logistic regression, linear support vector
      machine (SVM) and SVM with a radial-basis function (RBF) kernel. Classifiers were
      trained and tested with "balanced" datasets (n_ Type  = 2860, n_ SeverityLevel  =
      1160) from a state-wide incident reporting system. Testing was also undertaken
      with imbalanced "stratified" datasets (n_ Type  = 6000, n_ SeverityLevel =5950)
      from the state-wide system and an independent hospital reporting system.
      Classifier performance was evaluated using a confusion matrix, as well as F
      score, precision and recall. RESULTS: The most effective combination was a OvsO
      ensemble of binary SVM RBF classifiers with binary count feature extraction. For
      incident type, classifiers performed well on balanced and stratified datasets (F
      score: 78.3, 73.9%), but were worse on independent datasets (68.5%). Reports
      about falls, medications, pressure injury, aggression and blood products were
      identified with high recall and precision. "Documentation" was the hardest type
      to identify. For severity level, F-score for severity assessment code (SAC) 1
      (extreme risk) was 87.3 and 64% for SAC4 (low risk) on balanced data. With
      stratified data, high recall was achieved for SAC1 (82.8-84%) but precision was
      poor (6.8-11.2%). High risk incidents (SAC2) were confused with medium risk
      incidents (SAC3). CONCLUSIONS: Binary classifier ensembles appear to be a
      feasible method for identifying incidents by type and severity level. Automated
      identification should enable safety problems to be detected and addressed in a
      more timely manner. Multi-label classifiers may be necessary for reports that
      relate to more than one incident type.

PMID- 28606176
TI  - Rituximab-containing reduced-intensity conditioning improves progression-free
      survival following allogeneic transplantation in B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), rituximab-containing reduced
      intensity conditioning regimens (R-RIC) have been shown to provide favorable
      outcomes in single-arm studies; however, large multicenter studies comparing R
      RIC and non-rituximab-containing reduced-intensity conditioning regimens (nonR
      RIC) have not been performed. Using the CIBMTR database, we report the outcomes
      of R-RIC versus nonR-RIC regimens in B-NHL. METHODS: We evaluated 1401 adult B
      NHL patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT)
      who received nonR-RIC (n = 1022) or R-RIC (n = 379) regimens. Graft-versus-host
      disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was limited to calcineurin inhibitor-based approaches.
      RESULTS: Median follow-up of survivors in the R-RIC and nonR-RIC groups was 47
      and 37 months, respectively. On multivariate analysis, no difference was seen
      between the R-RIC and nonR-RIC cohorts in terms of acute GVHD grade II-IV (RR =
      1.14, 95%CI = 0.83-1.56, p = 0.43) or grade III-IV (RR = 1.16, 95%CI = 0.72-1.89,
      p = 0.54), chronic GVHD (RR = 1.15, 95%CI = 0.92-1.46, p = 0.22), non-relapse
      mortality (RR = 0.90; 95%CI = 0.67-1.22; p = 0.51), relapse/progression (RR =
      0.79; 95%CI = 0.63-1.01; p = 0.055), and mortality (RR = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.69-1.02,
      p = 0.08) risk. However, R-RIC was associated with a significantly improved
      progression-free survival (RR = 0.76; 95%CI 0.62-0.92; p = 0.006). On subgroup
      analysis, mortality benefit was noted in the R-RIC group patients not receiving
      busulfan-based RIC (RR = 0.76; 95%CI = 0.60-0.96; p = 0.02) and with the use of a
      higher cumulative rituximab dose (RR = 0.43; 95%CI = 0.21-0.90; p = 0.02).
      CONCLUSION: Our analysis shows that inclusion of rituximab in RIC regimens
      improves progression-free survival in patients with B cell NHL. These data
      supports the use of R-RIC in B-NHL patients undergoing allo-HCT.

PMID- 28606177
TI  - Recent household transmission of tuberculosis in England, 2010-2012:
      retrospective national cohort study combining epidemiological and molecular
      strain typing data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We estimate the proportion of tuberculosis (TB) in England due to
      recent household transmission, identify factors associated with being a household
      transmitter, and investigate the impact that identification of a case has on time
      to treatment of subsequent cases. METHODS: TB cases notified between 2010 and
      2012 in England in the same household as another case were identified; 24 locus
      MIRU-VNTR strain typing (ST) was used to identify household cases with likely
      recent transmission. Treatment delay in index and subsequent cases was compared.
      Risk factors for being a household transmitter were identified in univariable and
      multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Overall, 7.7% (1849/24,060) of TB cases lived in
      a household with another case. We estimate that 3.9% were due to recent household
      transmission. ST data was unavailable for 67% (1242) of household pairs. For
      those with ST data, 64% (386) had confirmed, 11% probable (66) and 25% (155)
      refuted household transmission. The median treatment delay was 65 days for index
      cases and 37 days for subsequent asymptomatic cases. Risk factors for being a
      household transmitter included being under 25 years old, UK-born with Black
      African, Indian or Pakistani ethnicity, or born in Somalia or Romania.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study has a number of implications for household TB contact
      tracing in low incidence countries, including the potential to reduce the
      diagnostic delay for subsequent household cases and the benefit of using ST to
      identify when to conduct source contact tracing outside the household. As 25% of
      TB cases in households had discordant strains, households with multiple TB cases
      do not necessarily represent household transmission. The additional fact that 25%
      of index cases within households only had extra-pulmonary TB demonstrates that,
      if household contact tracing is limited to pulmonary TB cases (as recently
      recommended in UK guidelines), additional cases of active TB in households will
      be missed. Our finding that no lineage of TB was associated with recent household
      transmission and with no increased transmissibility in the Beijing lineage
      compared to others, suggests that the lineage need not impact contact tracing
      efforts. Improvements in contact tracing have the potential to reduce
      transmission of TB in low incidence countries.

PMID- 28606178
TI  - Low birth weight and macrosomia in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: who are the mothers
      at risk?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infant birth weight, which is classified into low birth weight,
      normal birth weight and macrosomia, is associated with short and long-term health
      consequences, such as neonatal mortality and chronic disease in life. Macrosomia
      and low birth weight are double burden problems in developing counties, such as
      Ethiopia, but the paucity of evidence has made it difficult to assess the extent
      of this situation. As a result there has been inconsistency in the reported
      prevalence of low birth weight and macrosomia in Ethiopia. This study aimed to
      determine the incidence and predictors of low birth weight and macrosomia in
      Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among a
      cohort of 1152 neonates delivered in Tigray Region at randomly selected hospitals
      between April and July 2014. We used the birth weight category described
      previously as an outcome variable. Data were collected using structured
      questionnaire by midwives. We entered and analyzed data using STATATM Version
      11.0. Data were described using a frequency, percentage, relative risk ratio, and
      95% confidence interval. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to
      identify independent predictors of low birth weight and macrosomia. RESULT: In
      this study, we found a 10.5% and 6.68% incidence of low birth weight and
      macrosomia, respectively. Seventy (57.8%) of all low birth weight neonates were
      term births. The predictors for low birth weight were: early marriage (<18 year)
      (RRR: 0.59, CI: 0.35-0.97); rural residence (RRR: 0.53, CI: 0.32-0.9);
      prematurity (RRR: 15.4, CI: 9.18-25.9); no antenatal follow-up (RRR: 6.78, CI:
      2.39-19.25); and female sex (RRR: 1.77, CI: 1.13-2.77). Predictors for macrosomia
      were: female gender (RRR: 0.58, CI: 0.35-0.9); high body mass index (RRR: 5.0,
      CI: 1.56-16); post-maturity (RRR: 2.23, CI: 1.06-4.6); and no maternal
      complication (RRR: 0.46, CI: 0.27-0.8). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found
      gestational age and gender of the neonate to be common risk factors for both low
      birth weight and macrosomia. Strengthening antenatal follow up, prevention of pre
      and post maturity, controlling body mass index, and improving socioeconomic
      status of mothers are recommendations to prevent the double burden (low birth
      weight and macrosomia) and associated short and long-term consequences.

PMID- 28606179
TI  - Modifying upper-limb inter-joint coordination in healthy subjects by training
      with a robotic exoskeleton.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The possibility to modify the usually pathological patterns of
      coordination of the upper-limb in stroke survivors remains a central issue and an
      open question for neurorehabilitation. Despite robot-led physical training could
      potentially improve the motor recovery of hemiparetic patients, most of the state
      of-the-art studies addressing motor control learning, with artificial virtual
      force fields, only focused on the end-effector kinematic adaptation, by using
      planar devices. Clearly, an interesting aspect of studying 3D movements with a
      robotic exoskeleton, is the possibility to investigate the way the human central
      nervous system deals with the natural upper-limb redundancy for common activities
      like pointing or tracking tasks. METHODS: We asked twenty healthy participants to
      perform 3D pointing or tracking tasks under the effect of inter-joint velocity
      dependant perturbing force fields, applied directly at the joint level by a 4-DOF
      robotic arm exoskeleton. These fields perturbed the human natural inter-joint
      coordination but did not constrain directly the end-effector movements and thus
      subjects capability to perform the tasks. As a consequence, while the
      participants focused on the achievement of the task, we unexplicitly modified
      their natural upper-limb coordination strategy. We studied the force fields
      direct effect on pointing movements towards 8 targets placed in the 3D
      peripersonal space, and we also considered potential generalizations on 4
      distinct other targets. Post-effects were studied after the removal of the force
      fields (wash-out and follow up). These effects were quantified by a kinematic
      analysis of the pointing movements at both end-point and joint levels, and by a
      measure of the final postures. At the same time, we analysed the natural inter
      joint coordination through PCA. RESULTS: During the exposition to the
      perturbative fields, we observed modifications of the subjects movement
      kinematics at every level (joints, end-effector, and inter-joint coordination).
      Adaptation was evidenced by a partial decrease of the movement deviations due to
      the fields, during the repetitions, but it occurred only on 21% of the motions.
      Nonetheless post-effects were observed in 86% of cases during the wash-out and
      follow up periods (right after the removal of the perturbation by the fields and
      after 30 minutes of being detached from the exoskeleton). Important inter
      individual differences were observed but with small variability within subjects.
      In particular, a group of subjects showed an over-shoot with respect to the
      original unexposed trajectories (in 30% of cases), but the most frequent
      consequence (in 55% of cases) was the partial persistence of the modified upper
      limb coordination, adopted at the time of the perturbation. Temporal and spatial
      generalizations were also evidenced by the deviation of the movement
      trajectories, both at the end-effector and at the intermediate joints and the
      modification of the final pointing postures towards targets which were never
      exposed to any field. CONCLUSIONS: Such results are the first quantified
      characterization of the effects of modification of the upper-limb coordination in
      healthy subjects, by imposing modification through viscous force fields
      distributed at the joint level, and could pave the way towards opportunities to
      rehabilitate pathological arm synergies with robots.

PMID- 28606180
TI  - Moderating effects of coping on work stress and job performance for nurses in
      tertiary hospitals: a cross-sectional survey in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Work stress is a major problem for nurses and it can negatively
      influence job performance. Therefore, it is critical to explore variables that
      can reduce or buffer the negative effects of work stress. This study explores the
      moderating effects of coping strategies on the relationship between work stress
      and job performance for nurses in China. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 852
      nurses from four tertiary hospitals in Heilongjiang Province, China, was
      conducted in 2013. Descriptive statistics were reported for socioeconomic status
      and demographic characteristics, level of work stress, coping strategies, and job
      performance. Regression analysis was conducted to test the interaction between
      work stress and coping strategies on job performance. RESULTS: Three subscales of
      work stress were negatively related to job performance. Positive coping
      strategies moderated Patient Care and job performance while negative coping
      strategies moderated Workload and Time and performance, and between Working
      Environment and Resources and performance. CONCLUSIONS: Positive coping
      strategies reduce or buffer the negative effects of work stress on job
      performance and negative coping strategies increased the negative effects.

PMID- 28606181
TI  - Women's views and experiences of a mobile phone-based intervention to support
      post-abortion contraception in Cambodia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The MObile Technology for Improved Family Planning (MOTIF) trial
      assessed a mobile phone-based intervention comprising voice messages and
      counsellor support to increase post-abortion contraception at four Marie Stopes
      International clinics in Cambodia. The aim of this process evaluation was to
      assess women's views and experiences of receiving the MOTIF intervention, gain
      insights into the mechanism of action of the intervention and seek
      recommendations for improvements. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study
      comprising15 semi-structured interviews with women who had received the
      intervention and undertook a simple thematic analysis. RESULTS: We identified
      themes relating to communication via mobile phone, supporting contraception use,
      broader post-abortion care, interaction with family and friends and suggestions
      for improvement. The majority of women were positive about the mobile phone-based
      intervention to support contraception use and reported it to be a convenient way
      to ask questions or get advice without going to a health centre, although a few
      women found the voice messages intrusive. The intervention supported
      contraception use by provision of information, encouragement, reminders to return
      to clinic, reassurance and advice for problems and had a positive effect on
      contraceptive uptake and continuation. Women reported a sense of being cared for
      and received support for additional physical and emotional issues. Most women
      thought that the duration of the intervention and frequency of messages were
      acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of women were positive about the mobile
      phone-based intervention which provided support for contraception use as well as
      additional physical and emotional issues. The study provides some insights into
      how the intervention might have worked and considers how the intervention could
      be improved.

PMID- 28606182
TI  - Microglia limit the expansion of beta-amyloid plaques in a mouse model of
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microglia are known as resident immune cells in the brain. beta
      amyloid (Abeta) plaques in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are surrounded
      by microglia, but whether and how microglia affect the formation and maintenance
      of plaques remains controversial. METHODS: We depleted microglia by injecting
      diphtheria toxin (DT) in CX 3 CR1 CreER/+ :R26 DTR/+ (CX 3 CR1-iDTR) mice crossed
      with APPswe/PSEN1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice. Intravital time-lapse imaging was performed
      to examine changes in the number and size of Congo Red-labeled amyloid plaques
      over 1-2 weeks. We also examined spine density and shaft diameter of dendrites
      passing through plaques in a PSAPP mouse model of AD (PS1 M146L line 6.2 *
      Tg2576) crossed with Thy1 YFP H-line mice. RESULTS: We found that DT
      administration to CX 3 CR1-iDTR mice efficiently ablated microglia within one
      week and that microglia repopulated in the second week after DT administration.
      Microglia depletion didn't affect the number of amyloid plaques, but led to ~13%
      increase in the size of Abeta plaques within one week. Moreover, microglia
      repopulation was associated with the stabilization of plaque size during the
      second week. In addition, we found dendritic spine loss and shaft atrophy in the
      distal parts of dendrites passing through plaques. CONCLUSION: Our results
      demonstrate the important role of microglia in limiting the growth of Abeta
      plaques and plaque-associated disruption of neuronal connection.

PMID- 28606183
TI  - Allergenic activity of Pseudoterranova decipiens (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in BALB/c
      mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anisakis simplex is the only fishery-product associated parasite
      causing clinical allergic responses in humans so far. However, other anisakids,
      due to the presence of shared or own allergens, could also lead to allergic
      reactions after sensitization. The aim of this study was to determine if
      Pseudoterranova decipiens belonging to the family Anisakidae has allergenic
      activity and is able to induce sensitization after oral administration in a
      murine (BALB/c mice) model. RESULTS: The ingestion of A. pegreffii proteins by
      BALB/c mice, which had been previously sensitized by intraperitoneal inoculation
      with the corresponding live L3 larvae, triggers signs of allergy within 60 min,
      whereas P. decipiens did to a lesser extent. Beside symptoms, allergic reactions
      were furtherly supported by the presence of histamine in sera of sensitized mice.
      Specific IgG1 and IgE responses were detected in sera of all sensitized mice from
      week four. Specific IgG2a response was detected in sera from mice sensitized to
      P. decipiens. After polyclonal or specific activation with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 or
      antigens, respectively, splenocytes from mice infected i.p. with A. pegreffii or
      P. decipiens larvae showed significantly higher production of IL-10 than naive
      mice. After stimulation with specific antigens, significantly higher IL-5 and IL
      13 amounts were produced by specific antigen stimulated splenocytes than by the
      naive cells; only P. decipiens proteins induced IFN-gamma. CONCLUSIONS: The
      overall results suggest that infection with P. decipiens can sensitize mice to
      react to subsequent oral challenge with anisakid proteins, as described for A.
      simplex (sensu stricto) and A. pegreffii infections. The results show that
      anisakid proteins induce a dominant Th2 response, although P. decipiens could
      also induce a mixed type 1/type 2 pattern.

PMID- 28606184
TI  - Multicomponent intervention versus usual care for management of hypertension in
      rural Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka: study protocol for a cluster randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High blood pressure (BP) is the leading attributable risk for
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). In rural South Asia, hypertension continues to be a
      significant public health issue with sub-optimal BP control rates. The goal of
      the trial is to compare a multicomponent intervention (MCI) to usual care to
      evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the MCI for lowering BP
      among adults with hypertension in rural communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan and
      Sri Lanka. METHODS/DESIGN: This study is a stratified, cluster randomized
      controlled trial with a qualitative component for evaluation of processes and
      stakeholder feedback. The MCI has five components: (1) home health education by
      government community health workers (CHWs), (2) BP monitoring and stepped-up
      referral to a trained general practitioner using a checklist, (3) training public
      and private providers in management of hypertension and using a checklist, (4)
      designating hypertension triage counter and hypertension care coordinators in
      government clinics and (5) a financing model to compensate for additional health
      services and provide subsidies to low income individuals with poorly controlled
      hypertension. Usual care will comprise existing services in the community without
      any additional training. The trial will be conducted on 2550 individuals aged
      >=40 years with hypertension (with systolic BP >=140 mm Hg or diastolic BP >=90
      mm Hg, based on the mean of the last two of three measurements from two separate
      days, or on antihypertensive therapy) in 30 rural communities in Bangladesh,
      Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The primary outcome is change in systolic BP from
      baseline to follow-up at 24 months post-randomization. The incremental cost of
      MCI per CVD disability-adjusted life years averted will be computed. Stakeholders
      including policy makers, provincial- and district-level coordinators of relevant
      programmes, physicians, CHWs, key community leaders, hypertensive individuals and
      family members in the identified clusters will be interviewed. DISCUSSION: The
      study will provide evidence of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MCI
      strategies for BP control compared to usual care in the rural public health
      infrastructure in South Asian countries. If shown to be successful, MCI may be a
      long-term sustainable strategy for tackling the rising rates of CVD in low
      resourced countries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02657746 .
      Registered on 14 January 2016.

PMID- 28606186
TI  - Comparison of chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts from three
      Bupleurum species based on a UHPLC-QTOF-MS metabolomics approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bupleuri Radix (Chaihu) represents one of the most successful and
      widely used herbal medicines in Asia for the treatment of many diseases such as
      inflammatory disorders and infectious diseases over the past 2000 years. In the
      Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Chaihu is recorded as the dried roots of Bupleurum
      chinense DC. and B. scorzonerifolium Willd. (Umbelliferae). However, the
      widespread demand for the herb has tended to far outstrip the supply. Whether the
      aerial parts, which account for 70 ~ 85% of the dry weights of Bupleurum species,
      could be used as an alternative for the root has become an important scientific
      issue for the sustainable utilization of Bupleurum species. On the other hand, in
      some areas including the southeast of China as well as in Spain, the aerial parts
      of Bupleurum species have already been used in the folk medications. Therefore,
      to clarify whether the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species are
      "equivalent" in the types and quantities of chemical constituents which
      subsequently influence their biological activities and therapeutic effects is of
      great importance for both the rational and sustainable use of this herb. METHODS:
      In the present study, the chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts of
      Bupleurum species from different species and collected from various locations
      were analyzed and compared by the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography
      quadrupole/time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS). RESULTS: A total of
      56 peaks were identified in the root and/or aerial parts from different batches
      of Bupleurum species, by comparison of references standards or with those
      reported in the literature. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted for
      displaying the differentiating clustering between these two parts. CONCLUSION:
      The results disclosed the distinct variations between them, which indicated that
      the aerial parts could not be used as an alternative of root from a
      chemodiversity perspective. The differentiating markers resulted from the PCA
      analysis could also be utilized for the differentiation between them. Further
      validation of their biological differences is anticipated in the future study.

PMID- 28606185
TI  - Non-malarial infectious diseases of antenatal care in pregnant women in
      Franceville, Gabon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In sub-tropical countries, infectious diseases remain one of the main
      causes of mortality. Because of their lack of active immunity, pregnant women and
      their unborn children represent the most susceptible people. In Gabon, data on
      infectious diseases of pregnant women such as syphilis and rubella are either
      scarce or very old. Few studies have assessed T. gondii infection during
      pregnancy in the country. Here, we evaluate seroprevalence of HIV, HTVL-1,
      syphilis and T. gondii and rubella infection during antenatal care among women
      living in Franceville, Gabon. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on
      data collected from May 2007 to July 2010. After signing an informed written
      consent form, all pregnant women consulting in two hospitals of Franceville
      (Gabon) and in offices of maternity and childbirth health centers were included.
      Demographic and clinical data were collected. Serum samples were collected and
      analysed using immunological assays relevant for HIV (Genscreen HIV-1 version 2,
      Bio-Rad(r), Marne la Roquette, France).HTLV-1 (Vironostika HTLV-1, Biomerieux(r),
      Marcy l'Etoile, France), T. pallidum (TPHA/VDRL), BIOLABO(r)SA), rubella virus
      (Vidas Biomerieux(r), Marcy l'Etoile, France) and T. gondii (Vidas Biomerieux(r),
      Marcy l'Etoile, France) diagnoses were performed. Data analysis was done using
      the Stat view 5.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 973 pregnant women were assessed.
      The mean age was 25.84 +/- 6.9 years, with a minimum age of 14.0 years and a
      maximum of 45.0 years. Women from 26 to 45 years old and unemployed women were
      the most prevalent: 41.93% and 77.18%, respectively. The prevalence of studied
      infectious diseases were 2.50% for syphilis, 2.88% for HTLV-1, 4.00% for HIV with
      no significant difference between them (p = 0.1). Seropositivity against rubella
      was higher (87.56%, n = 852) than seropositivity against T. gondii (57.35%, n =
      557), (p < 0.0001). Only 5 (0.51%) co-infection cases were found: 2 co-infected
      with HIVand T. pallidum, 2 co-infected with HIV and HTLV-1, and one co-infected
      with T. pallidum and HTLV-1. Sixty-two pregnant women were seronegative against
      toxoplasmosis and rubella (6.37%). CONCLUSION: High levels of seropositivity
      against T. gondii and the rubella virus were observed. The prevalence of T.
      pallidum and HTLV-1 were lowest but HIV prevalence in young women was worrying.

PMID- 28606189
TI  - Therapeutic efficacy of Artemisia absinthium against Hymenolepis nana: in vitro
      and in vivo studies in comparison with the anthelmintic praziquantel.
AB  - Hymenolepis nana is a common intestinal tapeworm that affects humans. Drugs are
      available for the treatment of this infection, including praziquantel (PZQ),
      nitazoxanide and niclosamide. Although the drug of choice is praziquantel, due to
      its high cure rates, indicators of the development of PZQ resistance by different
      parasites have begun to appear over recent decades. Therefore, this study was a
      trial to find an alternative to PZQ by assessing the activity of the crude
      aqueous extract of the medicinal herb Artemisia absinthium against H. nana. In
      vitro, the extract was used against adult worms at concentrations of 1 and 5
      mg/ml, in comparison with 1 mg/ml of PZQ. The times of worm paralysis and death
      were determined. Ultrastructural morphological changes were studied using
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For the in vivo study, infected mice were
      divided into untreated, PZQ-treated and A. absinthium-treated groups (400 mg/kg
      and 800 mg/kg). Pre- and post-treatment egg counts per gram of faeces (EPG) were
      performed; then, the reduction percentages of the EPG and worm burden were
      calculated. The best results were obtained with praziquantel. Artemisia
      absinthium induced worm paralysis, death and ultrastructural alterations, such as
      tegumental damage, lipid accumulation, and destruction of the nephridial canal
      and the intrauterine eggs, in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, significant
      reductions in the EPG and worm burden were recorded in A. absinthium-treated
      mice. Although the results obtained with A. absinthium were promising and
      comparable to PZQ, further studies using different extracts, active ingredients
      and concentrations against different parasites should be conducted.

PMID- 28606188
TI  - Joint trajectories of depression and perfectionism across adolescence and
      childhood risk factors.
AB  - The codevelopment of symptoms of depression and socially prescribed perfectionism
      across adolescence (age 12-17) and non-age-overlapping childhood predictors (age
      10-11) of joint trajectory group membership were examined in a sample of 700
      Canadian youth. Results indicated that most adolescents (75.8%) followed a
      trajectory of low depression symptoms (low stable), whereas 15.7% followed an
      increasing trajectory (increasing), and 8.5% followed a trajectory that began
      high and decreased over time (high decreasing). More girls than boys were found
      in the increasing and high decreasing depression trajectories. Adolescents
      followed three distinct trajectories of socially prescribed perfectionism: 41.6%
      were in a low stable group, 40.5% in a moderate increasing group, and 17.9% in a
      high increasing group. Eight percent followed a high-risk dual trajectory of
      increasing depression and high increasing socially prescribed perfectionism. This
      joint trajectory was predicted by being bullied, anxious, and relationally
      aggressive (compared to the low-risk trajectory of low stable depression and
      perfectionism) at ages 10 and 11. These same predictors, along with poorer family
      functioning and lower family income, differentiated the joint high decreasing
      depression/high increasing perfectionism group from the low/low joint group,
      which comprised of 3.8% of the sample. The developmental progression was best
      characterized as depression leading to socially prescribed perfectionism.
      Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

PMID- 28606187
TI  - Investigation on left ventricular multi-directional deformation in patients of
      hypertension with different LVEF.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study is aimed at investigating myocardial multi-directional
      systolic deformation in hypertensive with different left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF), and exploring its contribution to LVEF. METHODS: One hundred and
      twenty-three patients with primary hypertension (HT) were divided into group A
      (LVEF >= 55%), group B (45% <= LVEF < 50%, or 50% <= LVEF < 55% + LVEDVI >= 97
      ml/m2), and group C (LVEF < 45%). Two-dimensional strain echocardiography (2DSE)
      including LV longitudinal strain (SL), radial strain (SR) and circumferential
      strain (SC) were measured. RESULTS: SL decreased gradually from group A, B to C
      (all p < 0.05) while SR and SC were reduced only in group B and C (all p < 0.05).
      All strain measurements correlated to LVEF, with the strongest correlation in SC
      (r = -0.82, p < 0.01) and the second in SL (r = -0.76). The diastolic E/e
      increased from group A, B to C. CONCLUSIONS: Left ventricular multi-directional
      deformation correlated well to LVEF in hypertension and particularly SC,
      indicating that it was SC, not SL or SR, that makes the prominent contribution to
      left ventricular pump function.

PMID- 28606190
TI  - Performance associated effect variations of public reporting in promoting
      antibiotic prescribing practice: a cluster randomized-controlled trial in primary
      healthcare settings.
AB  - : Aim To evaluate the variations in effect of public reporting in antibiotic
      prescribing practice among physicians with different performance in primary
      healthcare settings. BACKGROUND: Overprovision of antibiotics is a major public
      health concern. Public reporting has been adopted to encourage good antibiotic
      prescribing practices. However, which group, for instance, high, average or low
      antibiotic prescribers, accounted for antibiotic prescription reduction has not
      been fully understood. METHODS: A cluster randomized-controlled trial was
      conducted. In total, 20 primary healthcare institutions in Qianjiang city were
      paired through a six indicators-synthesized score. Coin flipping was used to
      assign control-intervention status; 10 were then subjected to intervention where
      prescription indicators were publicly reported monthly over a one-year period.
      Prescriptions for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) before and after the
      intervention were collected. Physicians were divided into high, average and low
      antibiotic prescribers based on their antibiotic prescribing rates last month,
      which were publicly reported in intervention arm. Multilevel difference-in
      differences logit regressions were performed to estimate intervention effect in
      each physician group on three outcome indicators: prescriptions containing
      antibiotics, two or more antibiotics and antibiotic injections. Findings In
      total, 31 460 URTI prescriptions were collected (16 170 in intervention arm and
      15 290 in control arm). Reduction in antibiotic prescription attributed to
      intervention was 2.82% [95% confidence intervals (CI): -4.09, -1.54%, P<0.001],
      least significant in low prescribers (-1.41%, 95% CI: -3.81, 0.99%, P=0.249) and
      most significant in average prescribers (-5.01%, 95% CI: -6.94, -3.07%, P<0.001).
      Reduction in combined antibiotics prescriptions attributed to intervention was
      3.81% (95% CI: -5.23, -2.39%, P<0.001), least significant in low prescribers (
      2.42%, 95% CI: -4.39, -0.45%, P=0.016) and most significant in average
      prescribers (-5.01%, 95% CI: -7.47, -2.56%, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Public
      reporting can positively influence antibiotic prescribing patterns of physicians
      for URTIs in primary care settings, with reduction in antibiotic and combined
      antibiotic prescriptions. The reduction was mainly attributed to average and high
      antibiotic prescribers.

PMID- 28606191
TI  - No Calm After the Storm: A Systematic Review of Human Health Following Flood and
      Storm Disasters.
AB  - : Introduction How the burden of disease varies during different phases after
      floods and after storms is essential in order to guide a medical response, but it
      has not been well-described. The objective of this review was to elucidate the
      health problems following flood and storm disasters. METHODS: A literature search
      of the databases Medline (US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of
      Health; Bethesda, Maryland USA); Cinahl (EBSCO Information Services; Ipswich,
      Massachusetts USA); Global Health (EBSCO Information Services; Ipswich,
      Massachusetts USA); Web of Science Core Collection (Thomson Reuters; New York,
      New York USA); Embase (Elsevier; Amsterdam, Netherlands); and PubMed (National
      Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda,
      Maryland USA) was conducted in June 2015 for English-language research articles
      on morbidity or mortality and flood or storm disasters. Articles on mental
      health, interventions, and rescue or health care workers were excluded. Data were
      extracted from articles that met the eligibility criteria and analyzed by
      narrative synthesis. RESULTS: The review included 113 studies. Poisonings,
      wounds, gastrointestinal infections, and skin or soft tissue infections all
      increased after storms. Gastrointestinal infections were more frequent after
      floods. Leptospirosis and diabetes-related complications increased after both.
      The majority of changes occurred within four weeks of floods or storms.
      CONCLUSION: Health changes differently after floods and after storms. There is a
      lack of data on the health effects of floods alone, long-term changes in health,
      and the strength of the association between disasters and health problems. This
      review highlights areas of consideration for medical response and the need for
      high-quality, systematic research in this area. Saulnier DD , Brolin Ribacke K ,
      von Schreeb J . No calm after the storm: a systematic review of human health
      following flood and storm disasters. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):568-579.

PMID- 28606193
TI  - Referential interactions of Turkish-learning children with their caregivers about
      non-absent objects: integration of non-verbal devices and prior discourse.
AB  - This paper examines the way children younger than two use non-verbal devices
      (i.e., deictic gestures and communicative functional acts) and pay attention to
      discourse status (i.e., prior mention vs. newness) of referents in interactions
      with caregivers. Data based on semi-naturalistic interactions with caregivers of
      four children, at ages 1;00, 1;05, and 1;09, are analyzed. We report that
      children employ different types of non-verbal devices to supplement their
      inadequate referential forms before gaining mastery in language. By age 1;09,
      children show sensitivity to discourse status by using deictic gestures to
      accompany their non-lexical forms for new referents. A comparison of children's
      patterns with those in the input they receive reveals that caregivers choose
      their referential forms in accordance with discourse status information and tend
      to use different types of non-verbal devices to accompany their lexical and non
      lexical referential forms. These results show that non-verbal devices play an
      important role in early referential discourse.

PMID- 28606192
TI  - Assessment of Healthcare Worker Protocol Deviations and Self-Contamination During
      Personal Protective Equipment Donning and Doffing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE To evaluate healthcare worker (HCW) risk of self-contamination when
      donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) using fluorescence and
      MS2 bacteriophage. DESIGN Prospective pilot study. SETTING Tertiary-care
      hospital. PARTICIPANTS A total of 36 HCWs were included in this study: 18
      donned/doffed contact precaution (CP) PPE and 18 donned/doffed Ebola virus
      disease (EVD) PPE. INTERVENTIONS HCWs donned PPE according to standard protocols.
      Fluorescent liquid and MS2 bacteriophage were applied to HCWs. HCWs then doffed
      their PPE. After doffing, HCWs were scanned for fluorescence and swabbed for MS2.
      MS2 detection was performed using reverse transcriptase PCR. The donning and
      doffing processes were videotaped, and protocol deviations were recorded. RESULTS
      Overall, 27% of EVD PPE HCWs and 50% of CP PPE HCWs made >=1 protocol deviation
      while donning, and 100% of EVD PPE HCWs and 67% of CP PPE HCWs made >=1 protocol
      deviation while doffing (P=.02). The median number of doffing protocol deviations
      among EVD PPE HCWs was 4, versus 1 among CP PPE HCWs. Also, 15 EVD PPE protocol
      deviations were committed by doffing assistants and/or trained observers.
      Fluorescence was detected on 8 EVD PPE HCWs (44%) and 5 CP PPE HCWs (28%), most
      commonly on hands. MS2 was recovered from 2 EVD PPE HCWs (11%) and 3 CP PPE HCWs
      (17%). CONCLUSIONS Protocol deviations were common during both EVD and CP PPE
      doffing, and some deviations during EVD PPE doffing were committed by the HCW
      doffing assistant and/or the trained observer. Self-contamination was common. PPE
      donning/doffing are complex and deserve additional study. Infect Control Hosp
      Epidemiol 2017;38:1077-1083.

PMID- 28606194
TI  - Four-year-old Cantonese-speaking children's online processing of relative
      clauses: a permutation analysis.
AB  - We report on an eye-tracking study that investigated four-year-old Cantonese
      speaking children's online processing of subject and object relative clauses
      (RCs). Children's eye-movements were recorded as they listened to RC structures
      identifying a unique referent (e.g. "Can you pick up the horse that pushed the
      pig?"). Two RC types, classifier (CL) and ge3 RCs, were tested in a between
      participants design. The two RC types differ in their syntactic analyses and
      frequency of occurrence, providing an important point of comparison for theories
      of RC acquisition and processing. A permutation analysis showed that the two
      structures were processed differently: CL RCs showed a significant object-over
      subject advantage, whereas ge3 RCs showed the opposite effect. This study shows
      that children can have different preferences even for two very similar RC
      structures within the same language, suggesting that syntactic processing
      preferences are shaped by the unique features of particular constructions both
      within and across different linguistic typologies.

PMID- 28606195
TI  - A mismatch between supply and demand of social support in dementia care: a
      qualitative study on the perspectives of spousal caregivers and their social
      network members.
AB  - : ABSTRACTBackground:Access to social support contributes to feelings of
      independence and better social health. This qualitative study aims to investigate
      multi-informant perspectives on informal social support in dementia care
      networks. METHODS: Ten spousal caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) completed
      an ecogram, a social network card and a semi-structured interview. The ecogram
      aimed to trigger subjective experiences regarding social support. Subsequently,
      17 network members were interviewed. The qualitative analyses identified codes,
      categories, and themes. RESULTS: Sixth themes emerged: (1) barriers to ask for
      support; (2) facilitators to ask for support; (3) barriers to offer support; (4)
      facilitators to offer support; (5) a mismatch between supply and demand of social
      support; and (6) openness in communication to repair the imbalance. DISCUSSION:
      Integrating social network perspectives resulted in a novel model identifying a
      mismatch between the supply and demand of social support, strengthened by a
      cognitive bias: caregivers reported to think for other social network members and
      vice versa. Openness in communication in formal and informal care systems might
      repair this mismatch.

PMID- 28606196
TI  - Prescribing an automated external defibrillator for children at increased risk of
      sudden arrhythmic death.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Automated external defibrillators can be life-saving in out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to review our experience of
      prescribing automated external defibrillators for children at increased risk of
      sudden arrhythmic death. METHODS: We reviewed all automated external
      defibrillators issued by the Scottish Paediatric Cardiac Electrophysiology
      Service from 2005 to 2015. All parents were given resuscitation training
      according to the Paediatric Resuscitation Guidelines, including the use of the
      automated external defibrillator. RESULTS: A total of 36 automated external
      defibrillators were issued to 36 families for 44 children (27 male). The mean age
      at issue was 8.8 years. Diagnoses at issue included long QT syndrome (50%), broad
      complex tachycardia (14%), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (11%), and
      catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (9%). During the study
      period, the automated external defibrillator was used in four (9%) children, and
      in all four the automated external defibrillator correctly discriminated between
      a shockable rhythm - polymorphic ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation
      in three patients with one or more shocks delivered - and non-shockable rhythm -
      sinus rhythm in one patient. Of the three children, two of them who received one
      or more shocks for ventricular fibrillation/polymorphic ventricular tachycardia
      survived, but one died as a result of recurrent torsades de pointes. There were
      no other deaths. CONCLUSION: Parents can be taught to recognise cardiac arrest,
      apply resuscitation skills, and use an automated external defibrillator.
      Prescribing an automated external defibrillator should be considered for children
      at increased risk of sudden arrhythmic death, especially where the risk/benefit
      ratio of an implantable defibrillator is unclear or delay to defibrillator
      implantation is deemed necessary.

PMID- 28606197
TI  - Dynamic four-dimensional CT angiography for the assessment of pulmonary perfusion
      in an adult patient with pulmonary artery occlusion and major aortopulmonary
      collateral after multistage repair of Fallot's Pentalogy.
AB  - Dynamic CT angiography provides haemodynamic assessment combined with detailed
      information on complex cardiac anatomy in patients with congenital malformations
      such as multistage correction of Fallot's Pentalogy.

PMID- 28606198
TI  - Clinical Information Transfer between EMS Staff and Emergency Medicine Assistants
      during Handover of Trauma Patients.
AB  - : Introduction Clinical handover by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff, as
      the first people who have contact with trauma patients, in the emergency
      department (ED), is very important. Therefore, effective communication to
      transfer clinical information about patients in a concise, rational, clear, and
      time-bound manner is essential. In Iran, the transfer of necessary information in
      clinical handover in EDs was carried out orally and without following standard
      instructions. This study aimed to audit the current clinical handover according
      to the Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation (ISBAR)
      tool and survey the effect of training the ISBAR tool to Emergency Medicine
      Assistants (EMAs) and EMS staff on improvement of the clinical handover of
      patients to the ED. METHODS: This is a clinical audit study in three phases in
      Imam Hossein Hospital (Tehran, Iran) during 2016. In the first phase, the
      clinical handover between EMS staff and EMAs for 178 trauma patients admitted to
      the ED using ISBAR was audited and information was recorded. In the second phase,
      the correct approach of clinical handover according to the ISBAR tool was taught
      to EMS staff and EMAs using pamphlets and lectures. In the third phase, again,
      the clinical handover between EMS staff and EMAs for 168 trauma patients admitted
      to the ED was audited using the ISBAR tool and information was recorded. At the
      end, clinical audit assessment indicators of handover were evaluated before and
      after training. RESULTS: Clinical audit of the current situation in the ED showed
      that the clinical handover process does not follow standard ISBAR (0.0%).
      However, after training, 65.3% of clinical handover processes were performed in
      accordance with ISBAR. In the current study, there was an increase in all
      parameters of the ISBAR tool after training, most of which increased
      significantly compared to the first phase of the study (before the intervention).
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate that patient handover in the ED did not
      initially follow the ISBAR standard guideline. After providing education as
      pamphlets and lectures to EMS staff and EMAs, a high percentage of patient
      handovers were conducted in accordance with the ISBAR instructions. Fahim Yegane
      SA , Shahrami A , Hatamabadi HR , Hosseini-Zijoud SM . Clinical information
      transfer between EMS staff and Emergency Medicine Assistants during handover of
      trauma patients. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):541-547.

PMID- 28606199
TI  - Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) Training Improves First Responder Confidence
      to Face Mass-Casualty Incidents in Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical response to mass-casualty incidents (MCIs) requires
      specialized training and preparation. Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) is a
      course designed to prepare health care workers for a MCI. The purpose of this
      study was to evaluate the confidence of health care professionals in Thailand to
      face a MCI after participating in a BDLS course. METHODS: Basic Disaster Life
      Support was taught to health care professionals in Thailand in July 2008.
      Demographics and medical experience were recorded, and participants rated their
      confidence before and after the course using a five-point Likert scale in 11
      pertinent MCI categories. Survey results were compiled and compared with P<.05
      statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 162 health care professionals
      completed the BDLS course and surveys, including 78 physicians, 70 nurses, and 14
      other health care professionals. Combined confidence increased among all
      participants (2.1 to 3.8; +1.7; P<.001). Each occupation scored confidence
      increases in each measured area (P<.001). Nurses had significantly lower pre
      course confidence but greater confidence increase, while physicians had higher
      pre-course confidence but lower confidence increase. Active duty military also
      had lower pre-course confidence with significantly greater confidence increases,
      while previous disaster courses or experience increased pre-course confidence but
      lower increase in confidence. Age and work experience did not influence
      confidence. CONCLUSION: Basic Disaster Life Support significantly improves
      confidence to respond to MCI situations, but nurses and active duty military
      benefit the most from the course. Future courses should focus on these groups to
      prepare for MCIs. Kuhls DA , Chestovich PJ , Coule P , Carrison DM , Chua CM ,
      Wora-Urai N , Kanchanarin T . Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) training
      improves first responder confidence to face mass-casualty incidents in Thailand.
      Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):492-500 .

PMID- 28606200
TI  - Exomic and Epigenomic Analyses in a Pair of Monozygotic Twins Discordant for
      Cryptorchidism.
AB  - Cryptorchidism represents one of the most common human congenital anomalies. In
      most cases, its etiology remains unclear and seems to be multifactorial. In the
      present study, a pair of monozygotic twins discordant for cryptorchidism was
      identified. Twin zygosity was confirmed by microsatellite genotyping. Whole exome
      sequencing and methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-Seq) of DNA
      extract from leucocytes were performed to, respectively, evaluate their exomes
      and epigenomes. No differences in exome sequencing data were found between the
      twins after validation. MeDIP-Seq analysis detected 5,410 differentially
      hypermethylated genes and 2,383 differentially hypomethylated genes.
      Bioinformatic analysis showed that these genes belonged to several biological
      processes and signaling pathways, including regulation of actin cytoskeleton,
      which has been previously implicated in the etiology of cryptorchidism. The
      findings of the present study suggest that non-genetic factors might contribute
      to the pathogenesis of cryptorchidism.

PMID- 28606201
TI  - The writer's guide to education scholarship in emergency medicine: Systematic
      reviews and the scholarship of integration (part 4).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Reviews help scholars consolidate evidence and guide their educational
      practice. However, few papers describe how to effectively publish review papers.
      We completed a scoping review to develop a set of quality indicators that will
      assist junior authors to publish reviews and integrative scholarship. METHODS:
      MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, and Google Scholar were searched for English language
      articles published between 2012 and January 2016 using the terms review, medical
      education, how to publish, and emergency medicine. Titles and abstracts were
      reviewed by two authors and included if they focused on how to publish a review
      or outlined reporting guidelines of reviews. The articles were reviewed in
      parallel for calibration, and disagreements were resolved through a consensus.
      RESULTS: A full text review of the 25 articles was conducted, and 196
      recommendations were extracted from 13 articles. A hand search of the included
      articles' reference lists and expert recommendation found an additional eight
      articles. These recommendations were thematically analysed into a list of seven
      themes and 32 items. Additionally, seven evaluation tools and reporting
      guidelines were found to guide researchers in optimizing their reviews for
      publication. CONCLUSION: In emergency medicine education, review articles can
      help synthesize educational research so that educators can engage in evidence
      based scholarly teaching. We hope that this work will act as an introduction to
      those interested in engaging in integrative scholarship by providing them with a
      guide to key quality markers and important checklists for improving their
      research.

PMID- 28606202
TI  - An Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Los Angeles (California USA)
      Hospitals, Wildfires Highest Priority.
AB  - : Introduction Although many studies have delineated the variety and magnitude of
      impacts that climate change is likely to have on health, very little is known
      about how well hospitals are poised to respond to these impacts.
      Hypothesis/Problem The hypothesis is that most modern hospitals in urban areas in
      the United States need to augment their current disaster planning to include
      climate-related impacts. METHODS: Using Los Angeles County (California USA) as a
      case study, historical data for emergency department (ED) visits and projections
      for extreme-heat events were used to determine how much climate change is likely
      to increase ED visits by mid-century for each hospital. In addition, historical
      data about the location of wildfires in Los Angeles County and projections for
      increased frequency of both wildfires and flooding related to sea-level rise were
      used to identify which area hospitals will have an increased risk of climate
      related wildfires or flooding at mid-century. RESULTS: Only a small fraction of
      the total number of predicted ED visits at mid-century would likely to be due to
      climate change. By contrast, a significant portion of hospitals in Los Angeles
      County are in close proximity to very high fire hazard severity zones (VHFHSZs)
      and would be at greater risk to wildfire impacts as a result of climate change by
      mid-century. One hospital in Los Angeles County was anticipated to be at greater
      risk due to flooding by mid-century as a result of climate-related sea-level
      rise. CONCLUSION: This analysis suggests that several Los Angeles County
      hospitals should focus their climate-change-related planning on building
      resiliency to wildfires. Adelaine SA , Sato M , Jin Y , Godwin H . An assessment
      of climate change impacts on Los Angeles (California USA) hospitals, wildfires
      highest priority. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):556-562.

PMID- 28606203
TI  - Importance of bovine mastitis in Africa.
AB  - Bovine mastitis is an important animal production disease that affects the dairy
      industry globally. Studies have estimated the prevalence of this disease in
      approximately 30% of African countries, with the highest prevalence found in
      Ethiopia. This is despite the wide cattle distribution in Africa, and the largest
      number of dairy farms and herds in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and
      Uganda. Furthermore, the estimated financial losses due to direct and indirect
      impacts of bovine mastitis are lacking in this continent. Therefore, intensive
      research efforts will help determine the continent-wide economic impacts and
      advance careful monitoring of disease prevalence and epidemiology. Here,
      published cases supporting the occurrence and importance of bovine mastitis in
      certain regions of Africa are outlined.

PMID- 28606204
TI  - Commentary on 'dietary magnesium intake and fracture risk: data from a large
      prospective study'.

PMID- 28606205
TI  - The Contribution of Genes and the Environment to Educational and Socioeconomic
      Attainments in Australia.
AB  - This article analyzes the contribution of genetics and the environment to
      educational attainment, occupational status, and income using data from over
      1,100 monozygotic and 400 dizygotic Australian twin pairs aged from 18 to 99. The
      respective heritability estimates were 0.54, 0.37, and 0.18. The bivariate
      heritabilities were 0.71 for educational attainment and occupational status, 0.37
      for education and income, and 0.61 for occupational status and income. There were
      no gender and cohort differences in the heritabilities for education and
      occupation, but for income, contrary to expectations, the heritabilities were
      significantly higher among women and for the older cohort (aged 50 or older). The
      sizable contribution of genes to these socioeconomic outcomes suggests that
      standard sociological and economic theories on the socioeconomic career require
      substantial modification to accommodate the role of genetics.

PMID- 28606206
TI  - Antenatal depressed mood and child cognitive and physical growth at 18-months in
      South Africa: a cluster randomised controlled trial of home visiting by community
      health workers.
AB  - AIM: To examine the child outcomes at 18-months post-birth of a population cohort
      of women with antenatal depressed mood, half of whom were randomly chosen to
      receive perinatal home visits from community health workers during pregnancy.
      METHOD: Pregnant women in 24 neighbourhoods (98% participation) were randomised
      by neighbourhood to: (1) standard clinic care (SC; 12 neighbourhoods; n = 594) or
      (2) the Philani Intervention Program, a home visiting intervention plus standard
      care (12 neighbourhoods; n = 644). The physical and cognitive outcomes of
      children of mothers with antenatally depressed mood (Edinburg Perinatal
      Depression Scale >13) in the intervention condition were compared at 18-months
      post-birth to children of mothers without depressed mood in pregnancy in both
      conditions. RESULTS: More than a third of mothers had heightened levels of
      antenatal depressed mood (35%), similar across conditions. Antenatal depressed
      mood was significantly associated with being a mother living with HIV, using
      alcohol and food insecurity. At 18-months, the overall cognitive and motor scale
      scores on the Bayley Scales of Development were similar. However, 10.3% fewer
      children of mothers with antenatal depressed mood in the intervention condition
      had cognitive scores on the Bayley Scales that were less than 85 (i.e., s.d. = 2
      lower than normal) compared with children of mothers with antenatal depressed
      mood in the SC condition. Intervention children of mothers with antenatal
      depressed mood were also significantly less likely to be undernourished (Weight
      for-Age Z-scores < -2). CONCLUSION: Cognitive development and child growth among
      children born to mothers with antenatal depressed mood can be improved by mentor
      mother home visitors, probably resulting from better parenting and care received
      early in life.

PMID- 28606207
TI  - Utilizing a Pediatric Disaster Coalition Model to Increase Pediatric Critical
      Care Surge Capacity in New York City.
AB  - A mass casualty event can result in an overwhelming number of critically injured
      pediatric victims that exceeds the available capacity of pediatric critical care
      (PCC) units, both locally and regionally. To address these gaps, the New York
      City (NYC) Pediatric Disaster Coalition (PDC) was established. The PDC includes
      experts in emergency preparedness, critical care, surgery, and emergency medicine
      from 18 of 25 major NYC PCC-capable hospitals. A PCC surge committee created
      recommendations for making additional PCC beds available with an emphasis on
      space, staff, stuff (equipment), and systems. The PDC assisted 15 hospitals in
      creating PCC surge plans by utilizing template plans and site visits. These plans
      created an additional 153 potential PCC surge beds. Seven hospitals tested their
      plans through drills. The purpose of this article was to demonstrate the need for
      planning for disasters involving children and to provide a stepwise, replicable
      model for establishing a PDC, with one of its primary goals focused on
      facilitating PCC surge planning. The process we describe for developing a PDC can
      be replicated to communities of any size, setting, or location. We offer our
      model as an example for other cities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness.
      2017;11:473-478).

PMID- 28606208
TI  - Medical Requirements During a Natural Disaster: A Case Study on WhatsApp Chats
      Among Medical Personnel During the 2015 Nepal Earthquake.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore a log of WhatsApp messages
      exchanged among members of the health care group Doctors For You (DFY) while they
      were providing medical relief in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake in April
      2015. Our motivation was to identify medical resource requirements during a
      disaster in order to help government agencies and other responding organizations
      to be better prepared in any upcoming disaster. METHODS: A large set of WhatsApp
      (WhatsApp Inc, Mountain View, CA) messages exchanged among DFY members during the
      Nepal earthquake was collected and analyzed to identify the medical resource
      requirements during different phases of relief operations. RESULTS: The study
      revealed detailed phase-wise requirements for various types of medical resources,
      including medicines, medical equipment, and medical personnel. The data also
      reflected some of the problems faced by the medical relief workers in the
      earthquake-affected region. CONCLUSIONS: The insights from this study may help
      not only the Nepalese government, but also authorities in other earthquake-prone
      regions of the world to better prepare for similar disasters in the future.
      Moreover, real-time analysis of such online data during a disaster would aid
      decision-makers in dynamically formulating resource-mapping strategies. (Disaster
      Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:652-655).

PMID- 28606209
TI  - Massive aortic root aneurysm in an infant with the Loeys-Dietz syndrome.
AB  - A 10-month-old girl with type I Loeys-Dietz syndrome developed a conspicuous
      aortic root aneurysm that was well demonstrated on chest X-ray/CT reconstruction.
      She underwent successful valve-spare repair of the ascending aorta.

PMID- 28606210
TI  - Impulsivity as a mechanism linking child abuse and neglect with substance use in
      adolescence and adulthood.
AB  - Emerging developmental perspectives suggest that adverse rearing environments
      promote neurocognitive adaptations that heighten impulsivity and increase
      vulnerability to risky behavior. Although studies document links between harsh
      rearing environments and impulsive behavior on substance use, the developmental
      hypothesis that impulsivity acts as mechanism linking adverse rearing
      environments to downstream substance use remains to be investigated. The present
      study investigated the role of impulsivity in linking child abuse and neglect
      with adult substance use using data from (a) a longitudinal sample of youth
      (Study 1, N = 9,421) and (b) a cross-sectional sample of adults (Study 2, N =
      1,011). In Study 1, the links between child abuse and neglect and young adult
      smoking and marijuana use were mediated by increases in adolescent impulsivity.
      In Study 2, indirect links between child abuse and neglect and substance use were
      evidenced via delayed reward discounting and impulsivity traits. Among
      impulsivity subcomponents, robust indirect effects connecting childhood
      experiences to cigarette use emerged for negative urgency. Negative urgency,
      positive urgency, and sensation seeking mediated the effect of child abuse and
      neglect on cannabis and alcohol use. Results suggest that child abuse and neglect
      increases risk for substance use in part, due to effects on impulsivity.
      Individuals with adverse childhood experiences may benefit from substance use
      preventive intervention programs that target impulsive behaviors.

PMID- 28606211
TI  - Specialized palliative care in advanced cancer: What is the efficacy? A
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Due to the multiple physical, psychological, existential, and social
      symptoms involved, patients with advanced cancer often have a reduced quality of
      life (QoL), which requires specialized palliative care (SPC) interventions. The
      primary objective of the present systematic review was to review the existing
      literature about SPC and its effect on QoL, on physical and psychological
      symptoms, and on survival in adult patients with advanced cancer. METHOD: We
      utilized a search strategy based on the PICO (problem/population, intervention,
      comparison, and outcome) framework and employed terminology related to cancer,
      QoL, symptoms, mood, and palliative care. The search was performed in Embase,
      PubMed, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Selected studies
      were analyzed and categorized according to methods, results, quality of evidence,
      and strength of recommendation. RESULTS: Six randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
      were selected for analysis (out of a total of 1,115 studies). Two other studies
      were found by hand search, one of which was only published in conference abstract
      form. The RCTs differed in terms of aims, interventions, control groups, and
      outcomes; however, the primary aim of all of them was to investigate the effect
      of SPC on patient QoL. Five studies found improved QoL in the intervention group.
      Physical symptom intensity decreased in two studies, and three studies found
      improved mood in the intervention group. However, physical and psychological
      symptoms were secondary outcomes in these studies. Survival was improved in two
      studies. All the studies offered generalizability, but the level of evidence
      validity varied among them. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: Due to several
      methodological limitations, the evidence offered in these studies ranged from low
      to high. The evidence in this field of study in general is still nascent, but
      there is growing support for the utilization of SPC to improve the quality of
      life of adult patients with advanced cancer. The evidence that SPC reduces
      physical and psychological symptoms is moderate, while the evidence that it
      prolongs survival is low.

PMID- 28606212
TI  - Knowledge, attitude and practice of Lebanese primary care physicians in nutrition
      counseling: a self-reported survey.
AB  - : Aim This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of primary
      care physicians (PCPs) in Lebanon regarding nutrition counseling and to
      investigate possible related barriers. BACKGROUND: Nutrition counseling is an
      important aspect of patient care, especially with the increase in nutrition
      related disorders. METHODS: This is a descriptive study among a convenience
      sample of PCPs in Lebanon at two annual conferences in 2014 using an anonymous
      questionnaire. Findings Response rate was 54.6%. Overall, physicians considered
      that they have good to very good nutritional knowledge. Although they rated their
      formal nutritional education poorly, they had a positive attitude towards
      nutritional counseling and reported practicing general nutritional counseling
      with their patients. Barriers to nutritional counseling were: time, perceived
      poor patient adherence to diet, gap in physician's nutritional knowledge and lack
      of insurance coverage for dietitian fees. Changes should be made to medical
      education curricula to include nutrition courses related to prevalent health
      problems.

PMID- 28606213
TI  - Is Emotional Intelligence Impaired in Unaffected Siblings of Patients with
      Schizophrenia?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Social cognitive deficits have been discussed to be endophenotypes
      for schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. The current study aimed to
      assess emotional intelligence (EI) in unaffected siblings of schizophrenia
      patients to investigate its potential role as endophenotype for schizophrenia.
      METHODS: EI was measured in 56 schizophrenia patients, 57 unaffected siblings,
      and 127 healthy control subjects by using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional
      Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). In addition, non-social cognition was assessed with
      the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Linear mixed models
      with compound symmetric correlation structure were used for of the three groups
      with respect to EI and non-social cognition. RESULTS: Schizophrenia patients
      showed significantly lower overall EI and performed significantly worse in three
      out of four MSCEIT branches compared to unaffected siblings and control subjects,
      whereas the two latter groups had comparable EI levels. Similar performance
      patterns (patients<unaffected siblings=control subjects) were found with respect
      to non-social cognition. Solely in the "Tower of London" test, siblings achieved
      significantly lower task scores compared to control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Based
      on our results, EI as measured with the MSCEIT does not seem to represent a
      marker of risk for schizophrenia. Further investigations should concentrate on
      other EI measures to reassess this finding. (JINS, 2017, 23, 577-583).

PMID- 28606214
TI  - Differential susceptibility effects of oxytocin gene (OXT) polymorphisms and
      perceived parenting on social anxiety among adolescents.
AB  - Social anxiety is one of the most commonly reported mental health problems among
      adolescents, and it has been suggested that parenting style influences an
      adolescent's level of anxiety. A context-dependent effect of oxytocin on human
      social behavior has been proposed; however, research on the oxytocin gene (OXT)
      has mostly been reported without considering contextual factors. This study
      investigated the interactions between parenting style and polymorphic variations
      in the OXT gene in association with social anxiety symptoms in a community sample
      of adolescents (n = 1,359). Two single nucleotide polymorphisms linked to OXT,
      rs4813625 and rs2770378, were genotyped. Social anxiety and perceived parenting
      style were assessed by behavioral questionnaires. In interaction models adjusted
      for sex, significant interaction effects with parenting style were observed for
      both variants in relation to social anxiety. The nature of the interactions was
      in line with the differential susceptibility framework for rs4813625, whereas for
      rs2770378 the results indicated a diathesis-stress type of interaction. The
      findings may be interpreted from the perspective of the social salience
      hypothesis of oxytocin, with rs4813625 affecting social anxiety levels along a
      perceived unsafe-safe social context dimension.

PMID- 28606215
TI  - High intake of fatty fish, but not of lean fish, improved postprandial glucose
      regulation and increased the n-3 PUFA content in the leucocyte membrane in
      healthy overweight adults: a randomised trial.
AB  - The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is low in populations with a high fish
      intake; however prospective studies with fish intake have shown positive,
      negative or no association between fish intake and the risk for T2D. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the effects of high intake of lean or fatty fish on
      glucose tolerance, leucocyte membrane fatty acid composition and leucocyte
      function in overweight/obese adults. In this randomised clinical trial, sixty
      eight healthy overweight/obese participants consumed 750 g/week of either lean or
      fatty fish as dinners, or were instructed to continue their normal eating habits
      but to avoid fish intake (control group), for 8 weeks. Energy and macronutrient
      intake and physical activity were not changed within the groups during the study
      period. High intake of fatty fish, but not of lean fish, significantly improved
      glucose regulation 120 min postprandially (P=0.012), but did not affect fasting
      glucose concentration. A smaller increase in fasting to 120 min postprandial
      insulin C-peptide concentration was seen after fatty fish intake (P=0.012). Lean
      fish increased the DHA content in leucocyte membranes (P=0.010), and fatty fish
      increased the total content of n-3 PUFA (P=0.00016) and reduced the content of n
      6 PUFA (P=0.00057) in leucocyte membranes. Lean and fatty fish intake did not
      affect phagocytosis of bacteria ex vivo. The findings suggest that high intake of
      fatty fish, but not of lean fish, beneficially affected postprandial glucose
      regulation in overweight/obese adults, and may therefore prevent or delay the
      development of T2D in this population.

PMID- 28606216
TI  - Comparable reductions in hyperpnoea-induced bronchoconstriction and markers of
      airway inflammation after supplementation with 6.2 and 3.1 g/d of long-chain n-3
      PUFA in adults with asthma.
AB  - Although high dose n-3 PUFA supplementation reduces exercise- and hyperpnoea
      induced bronchoconstriction (EIB/HIB), there are concurrent issues with cost,
      compliance and gastrointestinal discomfort. It is thus pertinent to establish the
      efficacy of lower n-3 PUFA doses. Eight male adults with asthma and HIB and eight
      controls without asthma were randomly supplemented with two n-3 PUFA doses (6.2
      g/d (3.7 g EPA and 2.5 g DHA) and 3.1 g/d (1.8 g EPA and 1.3 g DHA)) and a
      placebo, each for 21 d followed by 14 d washout. A eucapnic voluntary hyperpnoea
      (EVH) challenge was performed before and after treatments. Outcome measures
      remained unchanged in the control group. In the HIB group, the peak fall in
      forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) after EVH at day 0 (-1005 (sd 520) ml, -30
      (sd 18) %) was unchanged after placebo. The peak fall in FEV1 was similarly
      reduced from day 0 to day 21 of 6.2 g/d n-3 PUFA (-1000 (sd 460) ml, -29 (sd 17)
      % v. -690 (sd 460) ml, -20 (sd 15) %) and 3.1 g/d n-3 PUFA (-970 (sd 480) ml, -28
      (sd 18) % v. -700 (sd 420) ml, -21 (sd 15) %) (P<0.001). Baseline fraction of
      exhaled nitric oxide was reduced by 24 % (P=0.020) and 31 % (P=0.018) after 6.2
      and 3.1 g/d n-3 PUFA, respectively. Peak increases in 9alpha, 11beta PGF2 after
      EVH were reduced by 65 % (P=0.009) and 56 % (P=0.041) after 6.2 and 3.1 g/d n-3
      PUFA, respectively. In conclusion, 3.1 g/d n-3 PUFA supplementation attenuated
      HIB and markers of airway inflammation to a similar extent as a higher dose.
      Lower doses of n-3 PUFA thus represent a potentially beneficial adjunct treatment
      for adults with asthma and EIB.

PMID- 28606217
TI  - Nutritional support for low birth weight infants: insights from animal studies.
AB  - Infants born with low birth weights (<2500 g, LBW), accounting for about 15 % of
      newborns, have a high risk for postnatal growth failure and developing the
      metabolic syndromes such as type 2 diabetes, CVD and obesity later in life.
      Improper nutrition provision during critical stages, such as undernutrition
      during the fetal period or overnutrition during the neonatal period, has been an
      important mediator of these metabolic diseases. Considering the specific
      physiological status of LBW infants, nutritional intervention and optimisation
      during early life merit further attention. In this review, the physiological and
      metabolic defects of LBW infants were summarised from a nutritional perspective.
      Available strategies for nutritional interventions and optimisation of LBW
      infants, including patterns of nutrition supply, macronutrient proportion,
      supplementation of amino acids and their derivatives, fatty acids, nucleotides,
      vitamins, minerals as well as hormone and microbiota manipulators, were reviewed
      with an aim to provide new insights into the advancements of formulas and human
      milk fortifiers.

PMID- 28606219
TI  - Dietary calcium intake and rate of bone loss in men.
AB  - A high Ca intake has been recommended for osteoporosis prevention; however,
      little research has examined the relationship between dietary Ca and bone health
      in men. We examined associations between dietary Ca intake, bone mineral density
      (BMD) and change in BMD at the total body, hip and spine over 2 years in a cohort
      of men (mean age 57 years, BMI 26 kg/m2) from a trial. Data from the total cohort
      (n 323) were used in the analysis of Ca intake and BMD at baseline, and data from
      the placebo group (n 99) were used in the longitudinal analysis of Ca intake and
      change in BMD. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and the markers of bone turnover serum
      total alkaline phosphatase activity, serum C-telopeptide and serum procollagen
      type-1 N-terminal propeptide were measured in a subset of participants at
      baseline (n 150), and associations with dietary Ca at baseline were examined.
      Mean Ca intake was 870 mg/d. Baseline BMD was not related to dietary Ca intake at
      any site, before or after adjustment for covariables. Similarly, bone loss over 2
      years was not related to Ca intake at any site, before or after adjustment.
      Dietary Ca intake was inversely correlated with PTH at baseline (r -0.19,
      P=0.02), but was not associated with the markers of bone turnover. BMD and rates
      of bone loss were unrelated to Ca intake in these men. This suggests that
      strategies to increase Ca intake are unlikely to impact on the prevalence of and
      morbidity from male osteoporosis.

PMID- 28606218
TI  - Dietary supplement use in the older population of Iceland and association with
      mortality.
AB  - Dietary supplements are often used by the elderly to improve their nutritional
      status. However, intake above the recommended dietary levels may be detrimental,
      and uncertainty exists on the potential health benefits of supplementation in
      this population. The aim of this study was to describe supplement use among
      Icelandic older adults and to assess its association with total mortality and CVD
      related mortality. This study used data from the Age Gene/Environment
      Susceptibility-Reykjavik study, which recruited 5764 participants aged 66-98
      years in 2002-2006. Intake of vitamins and minerals from dietary supplements was
      estimated from interviews. Hazard ratios (HR) for mortality were estimated in
      multivariate analyses with follow-up ending in 2009. The results showed that most
      (77 %) of the participants used supplements. Overall, the consumption of vitamins
      and minerals from supplements was moderate although 22 and 14 % of users exceeded
      the upper recommended intake levels for vitamin B6 and Zn, respectively.
      Supplement users followed in general a healthier lifestyle than non-users. There
      were 1221 deaths including 525 CVD-related deaths during the follow-up period.
      When comparing multivitamin users with non-users in multivariable models, no
      associations with total mortality (HR 0.91; 95 % CI: 0.77, 1.08) or CVD-related
      mortality (HR 0.91; 95 % CI 0.70, 1.18) were observed. In conclusion, users of
      supplements generally lead healthier lifestyles than non-users and supplements
      did not confer any added advantage or harm relative to mortality risk. However,
      the intake of vitamin B6 and Zn from dietary supplements exceeded the recommended
      daily intake for almost a quarter of the supplement users.

PMID- 28606220
TI  - Current and future strategies for the nutritional management of cardiometabolic
      complications of androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.
AB  - Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is used widely as part of a combined modality
      for the treatment of prostate cancer. However, ADT has also been associated with
      the development of cardiometabolic complications that can increase mortality from
      cardiovascular events. There is emerging evidence to suggest that ADT-related
      cardiometabolic risk can be mitigated by diet and lifestyle modification. While
      the clinical focus for a nutritional approach for achieving this effect is
      unclear, it may depend upon the timely assessment and targeting of dietary
      changes to the specific risk phenotype of the patient. The present review aims to
      address the metabolic origins of ADT-related cardiometabolic risk, existing
      evidence for the effects of dietary intervention in modifying this risk, and the
      priorities for future dietary strategies.

PMID- 28606221
TI  - Dietary inflammatory index before diagnosis and survival in an Italian cohort of
      women with breast cancer.
AB  - The dietary inflammatory indexTM (DII) has been shown to correlate with
      concentrations of several inflammatory markers and a variety of chronic disease
      endpoints, including cancers of various anatomic sites. We investigated whether
      the DII was associated with the risk for death among women with breast cancer
      (BrCa). This retrospective cohort study included 1453 women with BrCa, diagnosed
      between 1990 and 1994, and previously enrolled in a case-control study in
      northern Italy. With a median follow-up of 12.6 years, we observed 503 deaths,
      among which 398 were due to BrCa. The usual diet was assessed at BrCa diagnosis
      using a validated FFQ. DII scores were calculated using thirty-one
      foods/nutrients. Hazard ratios (HR) of death from all causes or from BrCa, with
      corresponding 95 % CI, were calculated using the Cox models, adjusted for age at
      diagnosis, tumour stage, oestrogen/progesterone receptor status and other
      potential confounders. The median DII score of the study women was -1.23, with a
      relatively narrow range (interquartile range -2.24 to -0.11), indicating a mainly
      anti-inflammatory diet. There was no difference in survival according to DII
      tertiles, neither considering all-cause mortality (HRtertile III v. I 1.00; 95 %
      CI 0.78, 1.28) nor BrCa-specific mortality (HRtertile III v. I 0.97; 95 % CI
      0.73, 1.27). Study findings did not suggest an association between the
      inflammatory potential of diet, measured by the DII, and the survival of BrCa
      women. However, further studies are needed in populations reporting higher DII
      scores and a broader range of variability in the scores.

PMID- 28606222
TI  - Association of flavonoid-rich foods and flavonoids with risk of all-cause
      mortality.
AB  - Flavonoids are bioactive compounds found in foods such as tea, red wine, fruits
      and vegetables. Higher intakes of specific flavonoids, and flavonoid-rich foods,
      have been linked to reduced mortality from specific vascular diseases and
      cancers. However, the importance of flavonoid-rich foods, and flavonoids, in
      preventing all-cause mortality remains uncertain. As such, we examined the
      association of intake of flavonoid-rich foods and flavonoids with subsequent
      mortality among 93 145 young and middle-aged women in the Nurses' Health Study
      II. During 1 838 946 person-years of follow-up, 1808 participants died. When
      compared with non-consumers, frequent consumers of red wine, tea, peppers,
      blueberries and strawberries were at reduced risk of all-cause mortality
      (P<0.05), with the strongest associations observed for red wine and tea;
      multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios 0.60 (95 % CI 0.49, 0.74) and 0.73 (95 % CI
      0.65, 0.83), respectively. Conversely, frequent grapefruit consumers were at
      increased risk of all-cause mortality, compared with their non-grapefruit
      consuming counterparts (P<0.05). When compared with those in the lowest
      consumption quintile, participants in the highest quintile of total-flavonoid
      intake were at reduced risk of all-cause mortality in the age-adjusted model;
      0.81 (95 % CI 0.71, 0.93). However, this association was attenuated following
      multivariable adjustment; 0.92 (95 % CI 0.80, 1.06). Similar results were
      observed for consumption of flavan-3-ols, proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins.
      Flavonols, flavanones and flavones were not associated with all-cause mortality
      in any model. Despite null associations at the compound level and select foods,
      higher consumption of red wine, tea, peppers, blueberries and strawberries, was
      associated with reduced risk of total and cause-specific mortality. These
      findings support the rationale for making food-based dietary recommendations.

PMID- 28606224
TI  - [Experts' consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of neonatal arterial ischemic
      stroke].

PMID- 28606225
TI  - [Clinical characteristics and prognostic analysis of children and adolescents
      over 10 years of age with acute lymphoblastic leukemia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics and prognosis of children and
      adolescents over 10 years of age with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
      METHODS: A total of 86 newly diagnosed ALL children and adolescents over 10 years
      of age (62 cases of B-ALL and 24 cases of T-ALL) were enrolled. Clinical
      characteristics, therapeutic effect and prognostic factors were retrospectively
      analyzed. Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were
      estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic factors were evaluated by COX
      regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 86 patients, 62 were in medium risk, and 24 in
      high risk. At diagnosis, 53 patients (62%) had hepatomegaly, 50 patients (58%)
      had splenomegaly, and 46 patients (54%) had lymphoadenopathy. Twenty-nine
      patients (34%) showed high leukocyte counts (>=50*109/L) at diagnosis. The
      karyotype analysis was performed on 78 patients. The percentage of hyperdiploidy
      was 19% (15 cases), and that of hypodiploidy was 5% (4 cases). Eleven patients
      (14%) had abnormalities of chromosome structure. Of them, one patient was
      Philadelphia chromosome-positive, and another patient had the t (1; 19)
      chromosomal translocation. Three patients (4%) were positive for TEL/AML1, 3 (4%)
      were positive for E2A/PBX1, 6 were positive for BCR/ABL (7%), and 4 (5%) were
      positive for SIL/TAL1. During 4 weeks of induction therapy, 85 patients (99%)
      achieved complete remission (CR). In 86 patients, the 5-year anticipated EFS and
      OS were (64+/-6)% and (75+/-5)% respectively. The 5-year EFS and OS in the medium
      risk group were significantly higher than those in the high risk group (P<0.05).
      The 5-year EFS in B-ALL patients was significantly higher than that in T-ALL
      patients (P<0.05). COX multivariate analysis showed that white blood counts at
      diagnosis and minimal residual disease (MRD) after induction therapy were
      independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents with ALL
      over 10 years of age often have clinical characteristics of unfavorable
      prognosis. White blood counts at diagnosis and MRD after induction therapy may be
      important factors for the long-term prognosis.

PMID- 28606226
TI  - [Expression of beta-integrin family members in children with T-cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of beta-integrin family members in children
      with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and their significance. METHODS:
      Quantitative real-time PCR analyses were performed to assess the expression
      levels of beta-integrin family members in bone marrow samples from 22 children
      with newly-diagnosed T-ALL and 21 controls (16 children with non-malignant
      hematologic disease and 5 healthy donors with bone marrow transplantation).
      Jurkat cells were treated with integrin inhibitor arginine-glycine-aspartate (Arg
      Gly-Asp, RGD) peptide. The cell viability and apoptosis rate were determined by
      CCK8 assay and flow cytometry respectively. RESULTS: The mRNA levels of integrins
      beta2, beta3, and beta5 were significantly lower in children with T-ALL than in
      controls (P<0.05). In T-ALL patients, high integrin beta3 expression was
      associated with lower white blood cell counts (<100*109/L), minimal residual
      disease (MRD) positivity, and day 33 bone marrow negative remission (P<0.05). In
      T-ALL patients, higher integrin beta5 expression was associated with relapse of T
      ALL (P<0.05). Based on survival curve analysis, higher integrin beta3 expression
      was related to lower event-free survival and overall survival rates. RGD peptide
      treatment inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells and increased their
      apoptosis rate (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: beta-Integrin may play a role in the
      occurrence and development of T-ALL by affecting cell proliferation and
      apoptosis. The expression of integrin beta5 is closely related to the risk of
      relapse of T-ALL. The expression of integrin beta3 is closely related the
      treatment response and prognosis of T-ALL.

PMID- 28606227
TI  - [Clinical features and prognosis of Langerhans cell histiocytosis in children: an
      analysis of 34 cases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of children with
      Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was
      performed for the clinical data of 34 children with newly diagnosed LCH. RESULTS:
      The 34 children had a median age of 14.5 months (range: 22 d to 60 months). Of
      all 34 children, 23 were aged 0-2 years and 11 were aged >2 years. There were 17
      children in the high-risk group and 17 in the low-risk group. Thirty children
      received chemotherapy, and the 6-week and 12-month overall response rates were
      67% (20/30) and 87% (26/30), respectively. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate
      was 86%+/-6% and the 3-year event-free survival (EFS) rate was 64%+/-9%. Compared
      with the low-risk group, the high-risk group had significantly lower 6-week
      chemotherapy response rate (47% vs 87%; P<0.05), 3-year OS rate (72%+/-12% vs
      100%; P<0.05), and 3-year EFS rate (46%+/-13% vs 82%+/-9%; P<0.05). There was no
      significant difference in the 12-month chemotherapy response rate between the
      high-risk and low-risk groups (80% vs 93; P>0.05). The high-risk group had a
      recurrence rate of 27% and a mortality rate of 27%. There were no recurrence or
      deaths in the low-risk group. CONCLUSIONS: Children with LCH have a high overall
      survival rate, but the high-risk patient has a low 6-week response rate of
      induction chemotherapy and poor long-term prognosis.

PMID- 28606228
TI  - [Fat emulsion tolerance in preterm infants of different gestational ages in the
      early stage after birth].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the fat emulsion tolerance in preterm infants of
      different gestational ages in the early stage after birth. METHODS: A total of 98
      preterm infants were enrolled and divided into extremely preterm infant group
      (n=17), early preterm infant group (n=48), and moderate-to-late preterm infant
      group (n=33). According to the dose of fat emulsion, they were further divided
      into low- and high-dose subgroups. The umbilical cord blood and dried blood
      filter papers within 3 days after birth were collected. Tandem mass spectrometry
      was used to measure the content of short-, medium-, and long-chain
      acylcarnitines. RESULTS: The extremely preterm infant and early preterm infant
      groups had a significantly lower content of long-chain acylcarnitines in the
      umbilical cord blood and dried blood filter papers within 3 days after birth than
      the moderate-to-late preterm infant group (P<0.05), and the content was
      positively correlated with gestational age (P<0.01). On the second day after
      birth, the low-dose fat emulsion subgroup had a significantly higher content of
      short-, medium-, and long-chain acylcarnitines than the high-dose fat emulsion
      subgroup among the extremely preterm infants (P<0.05). In the early preterm
      infant and moderate-to-late preterm infant groups, there were no significant
      differences in the content of short-, medium-, and long-chain acylcarnitines
      between the low- and high-dose fat emulsion subgroups within 3 days after birth.
      CONCLUSIONS: Compared with moderate-to-late preterm infants, extremely preterm
      infants and early preterm infants have a lower capacity to metabolize long-chain
      fatty acids within 3 days after birth. Early preterm infants and moderate-to-late
      preterm infants may tolerate high-dose fat emulsion in the early stage after
      birth, but extremely preterm infants may have an insufficient capacity to
      metabolize high-dose fat emulsion.

PMID- 28606229
TI  - [Early postnatal application of glucocorticoids for preventing bronchopulmonary
      dysplasia in preterm infants: a Meta analysis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical effect and safety of early postnatal application
      of glucocorticoids in the prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in
      preterm infants. METHODS: The databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library,
      Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP were comprehensively searched for articles on
      early postnatal application of glucocorticoids in the prevention of BPD in
      preterm infants published up to June 2016. Review Manager 5.3 was used for the
      Meta analysis of 16 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that met the inclusion
      criteria. RESULTS: A total of 2 962 participants were enrolled in the 16 RCTs,
      with 1 486 patients in the trial group and 1 476 in the control group. The Meta
      analysis showed that early postnatal application of glucocorticoids reduced the
      incidence rate of BPD at a corrected gestational age of 36 weeks (OR=0.73, 95%CI:
      0.61-0.87, P=0.0004), but there was an increase in the risk of hyperglycemia
      (OR=1.61, 95%CI: 1.24-2.09, P=0.0003), hypertension (OR=1.63, 95%CI: 1.11-2.38,
      P=0.01), and intestinal perforation (OR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.12-2.04, P=0.007).
      CONCLUSIONS: At present, it is not recommended to use glucocorticoids to prevent
      BPD in preterm infants. Its advantages and disadvantages need further studies,
      with special focuses on the adverse effects of hyperglycemia, hypertension, and
      intestinal perforation.

PMID- 28606230
TI  - [A survey of pubertal development in children born with assisted reproductive
      technology].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status of pubertal development in children born
      with assisted reproductive technology (ART). METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      was performed on the pubertal development data of children born with ART in
      Peking University Third Hospital from 1994 to 2003 (ART group). The data in the
      cross-sectional study "Reports on the Physical Fitness and Health Research of
      Chinese School Students in 2010" were used as a control. The age at menarche and
      the age at spermarche were compared between the two groups. The status of
      pubertal development in the overweight and obese children in the ART group was
      evaluated to investigate the correlation between pubertal development and body
      mass index (BMI). RESULTS: A total of 200 children born with ART were enrolled in
      this study, and 72 of them (41 males and 31 females) completed the survey
      (response rate=36.0%). In the ART group, the mean age at spermarche and the mean
      age at menarche were 13.9 years (95%CI: 13.7-14.3 years) and 12.2 years (95%CI:
      11.8-12.6 years), respectively. There were no significant differences in the age
      at spermarche and the age at menarche between the ART and control groups
      (P>0.05). In the ART group, there were no significant differences in the age at
      spermarche and the age at menarche between the overweight and obese children and
      the normal weight children (P>0.05). There were also no significant differences
      in overweight rate and obesity rate between the children in the ART group and the
      adolescents in Beijing (P>0.05). In the ART group, there was no significant
      correlation between the age at spermarche or menarche and BMI (P>0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: No delayed or precocious puberty is observed in children born with
      ART. This is consistent with the normal control data. And there is no significant
      correlation between pubertal development and BMI in children born with ART.

PMID- 28606231
TI  - [NKX2.5 and TBX5 gene mutations in in vitro fertilization children with
      congenital heart disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the differences of NKX2.5 and TBX5 gene mutations between
      in vitro fertilization (IVF) children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and
      naturally conceived children with CHD. METHODS: Blood samples from 68 IVF
      children with CHD and 98 naturally conceived children with CHD were collected.
      The mutations in coding regions 1 and 2 of the NKX2.5 gene, and coding regions 4,
      5, and 8 of the TBX5 gene were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and
      DNA sequencing. RESULTS: An A-to-G mutation at nucleotide 63 (c.63A>G) in coding
      region 1 of the NKX2.5 gene was found in both IVF and naturally conceived
      children with CHD. There were no significant differences in genotype and allele
      frequencies at c.63A>G locus of the NKX2.5 gene between the two groups. No
      mutations were detected in coding region 2 of the NKX2.5 gene and coding regions
      4, 5 and 8 of the TBX5 gene. CONCLUSIONS: There is no difference in NKX2.5 and
      TBX5 gene mutations between IVF and naturally conceived children with CHD.
      Therefore, it is presumed that assisted reproductive technology may not lead to
      mutations in the NKX2.5 and TBX5 genes.

PMID- 28606233
TI  - [Changes in electrocardiographic parameters in children with complete left bundle
      branch block early after transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defect].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the changes in electrocardiographic parameters in children
      with complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) after the transcatheter closure of
      simple ventricular septal defect (VSD). METHODS: A total of 21 children with
      CLBBB early after transcatheter closure of perimembranous VSD were recruited.
      Another 21 children without any type of arrhythmia after transcatheter closure of
      perimembranous VSD were enrolled as the control group. The sex, age, and the size
      of occluder were matched between the two groups. The changes in the following
      indices were compared between the two groups: left ventricular voltage, QT
      interval, corrected QT interval (QTc), QT dispersion (QTd), corrected QT
      dispersion (QTcd), JT dispersion (JTd), and corrected JT dispersion (JTcd) on the
      electrocardiogram before transcatheter closure and at 1, 3, 5, 30 days after
      transcatheter closure. RESULTS: Left ventricular voltage and JTcd changed with
      operation time in the CLBBB and control groups (P<0.05). There were interaction
      effects between time and grouping in the changes in left ventricular voltage and
      QTd (P<0.05). There was a significant difference in JTcd between the CLBBB and
      control groups (P<0.05). There was also a significant difference in left
      ventricular voltage between the CLBBB and control groups at 3 and 5 days after
      the transcatheter closure (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There are significant
      differences in electrocardiographic left ventricular voltage and JTcd between VSD
      children with and without CLBBB early after transcatheter closure. JTcd might be
      useful in predicting the development of CLBBB early after transcatheter closure
      of VSD.

PMID- 28606232
TI  - [A clinical analysis of 15 children with systemic lupus erythematosus accompanied
      by pulmonary hypertension].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical features, laboratory findings, diagnosis and
      treatment, and prognosis of children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
      accompanied by pulmonary hypertension (PH). METHODS: The clinical symptoms,
      laboratory findings, echocardiographic features, SLE disease activity index, and
      treatment outcome of 15 hospitalized children with SLE accompanied by PH were
      retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 15 patients, the median interval
      from diagnosis of SLE to diagnosis of PH was 0.1 year (range: 0-6.5 years). Aside
      from PH-related symptoms, Raynaud's phenomenon was observed in 6 (40%) of the 15
      patients. There was no significant difference in SLE disease activity (evaluated
      by complements 3 and 4 levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and positive rate
      of anti-double-stranded DNA) between patients with mild-to-moderate PH and those
      with severe PH (P<0.05). As for treatment, 13 patients received immunosuppressive
      therapy with glucocorticoids, and among them 2 patients received PH-targeted
      therapy. During a median follow-up of 8.0 years (range: 0.5-18.1 years) since the
      diagnosis of PH, 2 deaths were noted with class III or IV cardiac function (World
      Health Organization), while the other patients were in a stable condition.
      CONCLUSIONS: Raynaud's phenomenon is a common clinical manifestation in children
      with SLE accompanied by pulmonary hypertension (PH). PH severity is not
      significantly associated with SLE disease activity, and thus greater focus should
      be placed upon early screening of pulmonary arterial pressure in SLE patients.
      Early diagnosis and early treatment can improve the prognosis of children with
      SLE.

PMID- 28606234
TI  - [Efficacy and safety of cyclophosphamide as a sequential immunotherapy drug for
      anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis in children].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of cyclophosphamide as a second
      line drug in the treatment of children with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor
      (NMDAR) encephalitis. METHODS: Six children with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, who
      showed poor response to steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin, were given
      cyclophosphamide as a second-line immunotherapy. Follow-up was performed to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of cyclophosphamide. RESULTS: After first-line
      immunotherapy for 1-4 weeks, the six patients had reduced psychiatric symptoms,
      seizures, and involuntary movements; three patients had an improved level of
      consciousness and were able to make simple conversations. However, all the
      patients still showed slow response, as well as cortical dysfunction symptoms
      such as aphasia, alexia, agraphia, acalculia, apraxia, and movement disorders.
      The six patients continued to receive cyclophosphamide as a sequential therapy.
      They were able to answer simple questions 7 days after treatment. Three school
      aged patients were able to make simple calculation, had greatly improved reading
      and writing ability, and almost recovered self-care ability 2-3 weeks later. The
      cognitive function of the six patients was almost restored to the level before
      the onset of disease, and their living ability returned to normal 2-3 months
      later. During the treatment period, there were no adverse reactions or abnormal
      results of routine blood test and liver and kidney function tests. CONCLUSIONS:
      Children with anti-NMDAR encephalitis should be given appropriate immunotherapy
      as soon as possible. Cyclophosphamide as a sequential therapy has good efficacy
      and safety.

PMID- 28606235
TI  - [Clinical effects of different therapeutic regimens for Helicobacter pylori
      infection in children].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effects of sequential therapy, triple
      therapy, sequential therapy combined with Lactobacillus, and triple therapy
      combined with Lactobacillus in the eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori)
      infection in children. METHODS: A total of 416 children with H.pylori infection
      were randomly assigned to sequential group (102 children), triple group (100
      children), sequential-Lactobacillus group (109 children), and triple
      Lactobacillus group (105 children). The clinical outcome, H.pylori eradication
      rate, cost-effect ratio, and incidence of adverse events were compared between
      the four groups. RESULTS: The sequential-Lactobacillus and triple-Lactobacillus
      groups had significantly better clinical outcomes than the sequential group and
      the triple group (P<0.05). The sequential-Lactobacillus group had the highest
      marked response rate, followed by the triple-Lactobacillus group. The triple
      group had the lowest marked response rate. The sequential-Lactobacillus group
      also had the highest H.pylori eradication rate, followed by the triple
      Lactobacillus group. The triple group had the lowest H.pylori eradication rate
      (P<0.05). The sequential group had the lowest cost-effect ratio, followed by the
      sequential-Lactobacillus group. The triple group had the highest cost-effect
      ratio (P<0.01). The sequential-Lactobacillus group had the lowest incidence rate
      of adverse events, followed by the triple-Lactobacillus group. The triple group
      had the highest incidence rate. CONCLUSIONS: Sequential therapy combined with
      Lactobacillus seems to be the best regimen for the eradication of H.pylori
      infection in children.

PMID- 28606236
TI  - [Expression of interferon-lambda1 in respiratory epithelial cells of children
      with RSV infection and its relationship with RSV load].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of IFN-lambda1 in respiratory epithelial
      cells of children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and its
      relationship with RSV load. METHODS: The nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from
      the children who were hospitalized with respiratory tract infection from June
      2015 to June 2016. A direct immunofluorescence assay was used to detect the
      antigens of seven common respiratory viruses (including RSV) in the
      nasopharyngeal swabs. A total of 120 children who were only RSV positive were
      selected as the RSV infection group. A total of 50 children who had negative
      results in the detection of all viral antigens were selected as the healthy
      control group. Fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the
      RSV load and the expression of IFN-lambda1 mRNA in the nasopharyngeal swabs of
      children in the two groups. RESULTS: The expression of IFN-lambda1 in the RSV
      infection group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group
      (P<0.05). The expression of IFN-lambda1 was positively correlated with RSV load
      (r=0.56, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: RSV can induce the expression of IFN-lambda1 in
      respiratory epithelial cells, suggesting that IFN-lambda1 may play an important
      role in anti-RSV infection.

PMID- 28606237
TI  - [Evaluation of quality of life of children with atopic dermatitis before and
      after treatment].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the quality of life of children with atopic dermatitis
      (AD) and their families, and to assess the changes in quality of life after
      treatment. METHODS: The Infants' Dermatitis Quality of Life Index (IDQOL),
      Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI), and Dermatitis Family Impact
      (DFI) questionnaires were used to evaluate quality of life in 109 children with
      AD and 55 normal children. The Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) was
      used to evaluate disease severity. The children were given external application
      of glucocorticoids according to the SCORAD index, and the clinical outcome and
      changes in quality of life were observed after 3 months of treatment. RESULTS:
      The three items in both IDQOL and CDLQI questionnaires with higher scores were
      itching/scratching, mood problems, and sleeping disturbance in the AD patients.
      Sleeping disturbance, fatigue and mood problems were the three items in the DFI
      questionnaire with higher scores. There was a positive correlation between
      IDQOL/CDLQI score and SCORAD index (r=0.358, 0.386 respectively; P<0.05). In the
      younger group (1-4 years), there was a positive correlation between DFI score and
      SCORAD index (r=0.297; P<0.05). After treatment the severity of AD and quality of
      life in the children and their families (P<0.05) were significantly improved.
      CONCLUSIONS: AD has an adverse effect on quality of life in children with AD and
      their families. Topical glucocorticoids may control the symptoms of AD and
      improve the quality of life in children and their families.

PMID- 28606238
TI  - [Efficacy of sleep position correction for treating infants with positional
      plagiocephaly].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of 2-month course of sleeping position
      correction in the treatment of positional plagiocephaly in infants aged <8
      months. METHODS: A total of 73 infants with positional plagiocephaly between
      January 2015 and June 2016 were divided into treatment group (n=46) and control
      group (n=27) according to parents' wishes. The treatment group received sleeping
      position correction, while the control group received sleep curve mattress. The
      oblique diameters A and B in the two groups were measured and the cranial vault
      asymmetry (CVA) was calculated before and after treatment. The severity of
      positional plagiocephaly based on CVA was compared between the two groups before
      and after treatment. The Gesell Developmental Scale was used to determine the
      developmental quotients (DQs) in the motor, adaptive, language, and social
      domains in the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: Before treatment,
      there were no significant differences in oblique diameters A and B, CVA, and DQs
      in the four specific domains between the two groups (P>0.05). After 2 months of
      treatment, the treatment group had a significantly greater oblique diameter B and
      a significantly smaller CVA than the control group (P<0.05); there were no
      significant differences in DQs in the four specific domains between the two
      groups (P>0.05). After treatment, both groups had significant improvements in
      oblique diameters A and B, CVA, and DQs in the motor and adaptive domains
      (P<0.01); moreover, the treatment group showed a significant improvement in the
      DQs in the social domain (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the
      severity of positional plagiocephaly between the two groups before and after
      treatment (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For infants with positional plagiocephaly,
      sleeping position correction has better efficacy and is more convenient and
      economical than the sleep curve mattress, so it holds promise for clinical
      application.

PMID- 28606239
TI  - [Effect of eicosapentaenoic acid on mRNA expression of tight junction protein ZO
      1 in intestinal epithelial cells after Escherichia coli LF82 infection].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the change in the expression of tight junction protein
      ZO-1 in intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2 cells) and the protective effect of
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) after adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (E.coli)
      LF82 infection. METHODS: The Caco-2 cell line was used to establish an in vitro
      model of tight junction of intestinal epithelial cells. Caco-2 cells were divided
      into EPA treatment groups (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 MUmol/L EPA) and EPA (0, 25,
      50, 100, and 200 MUmol/L EPA)+E.coli LF82 treatment (0, 6, and 12 hours) groups.
      A microscope was used to observe the morphological characteristics of the cells.
      MTT assay was used to determine the cell growth curve. The activity of alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) at both sides of the cell membrane was compared to evaluate the
      Caco-2 cell model. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to investigate the
      effects of different concentrations of EPA on the survival rate and apoptosis
      rate of Caco-2 cells. RT-qPCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of ZO-1 in
      Caco-2 cells after EPA and/or E.coli LF82 treatment. ELISA was used to measure
      the change in the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in culture
      supernatant. RESULTS: After EPA treatment (25 and 50 MUmol/L), the proliferation
      of Caco-2 cells was induced in a dose-dependent manner. The survival rates of the
      cells were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The EPA
      treatment (100 and 200 MUmol/L) groups had a significant inhibitory effect on the
      proliferation of Caco-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The survival rates of
      the cells were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The
      EPA treatment (100 and 200 MUmol/L) groups had a significant increase in cell
      apoptosis rate compared with the control group (P<0.05). The 6- and 12-hour
      E.coli LF82 treatment groups had decreasing mRNA expression of ZO-1 in Caco-2
      cells over the time of treatment and had significantly lower mRNA expression of
      ZO-1 than the untreated group (P<0.05). The Caco-2 cells treated with E.coli LF82
      and 25 or 50 MUmol/L EPA for 6 or 12 hours showed an increase in the mRNA
      expression of ZO-1 with the increasing concentration of EPA, as well as
      significantly higher mRNA expression of ZO-1 than the Caco-2 cells treated with
      E.coli LF82 alone (P<0.05). The Caco-2 cells treated with E.coli LF82 alone for 6
      or 12 hours had increasing secretion of TNF-alpha over the time of treatment and
      had significantly higher secretion than the untreated Caco-2 cells (P<0.05). The
      Caco-2 cells treated with E.coli LF82 and 25 or 50 MUmol/L EPA for 6 or 12 hours
      showed a reduction in the secretion of TNF-alpha with the increasing
      concentration of EPA and had significantly lower secretion than the Caco-2 cells
      treated with E.coli LF82 alone (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: EPA can effectively prevent
      the destruction of tight junction of intestinal epithelial cells induced by
      E.coli LF82 infection and inhibit the secretion of inflammatory factors.
      Therefore, it has a certain protective effect on intestinal mucosal barrier.

PMID- 28606240
TI  - [Effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide on airway inflammation and Th17/Treg
      balance in asthmatic mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on
      the airway inflammation and its regulatory effect on Th17/Treg imbalance in
      asthmatic mice. METHODS: A total of 30 BALB/c mice were equally and randomly
      divided into three groups: control, asthma, and VIP. An acute asthmatic mouse
      model was established by sensitization and challenge with ovalbumin (OVA). The
      control group received normal saline instead of OVA. Before the challenge with
      OVA, the VIP group was administered VIP (20 MUg/mL) by aerosol inhalation for 30
      minutes. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and the lung tissue were
      collected from mice. The pathological changes in the lung tissue were observed by
      hematoxylin and eosin staining. The levels of Th17/Treg-related cytokines in BALF
      were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of retinoid
      related orphan receptor gamma t (RORgammat) and forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) were
      measured by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry.
      RESULTS: The histopathological results showed that the VIP group had milder
      symptoms of airway inflammation than the asthma group. The level of IL-17 in BALF
      in the asthma group was significantly higher than that in the control group and
      the VIP group (P<0.01), but the level of IL-17 in the control group was
      significantly lower than that in the VIP group (P<0.01). The level of IL-10 in
      BALF in the asthma group was significantly lower than that in the control group
      and the VIP group (P<0.01, but the level of IL-10 in the VIP group was
      significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). The asthma group
      showed significantly higher expression levels of RORgammat mRNA and protein in
      the lung tissue and significantly lower expression levels of Foxp3 mRNA and
      protein than the control group (P<0.01). The VIP group had significantly lower
      expression levels of RORgammat mRNA and protein in the lung tissue and
      significantly higher expression levels of Foxp3 mRNA and protein than the asthma
      group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Th17/Treg imbalance may be closely related to
      the airway inflammation in asthmatic mice. VIP can improve airway inflammation by
      regulating the Th17/Treg imbalance in asthmatic mice.

PMID- 28606241
TI  - [Effects of recombinant fusion protein interleukin-18 on expression of immune
      inflammatory factors in mice infected with Staphylococcus aureus].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of recombinant fusion protein interleukin (IL)
      18 on the expression of immune-inflammatory factors in the mice infected with
      Staphylococcus aureus (SA), and to investigate the mechanism of action of IL-18
      in defense of SA infection in vivo. METHODS: A total of 40 specific pathogen-free
      female BLAB/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: control, SA infection,
      immunized, and intervention. A mouse model of SA infection was established by
      nasal inoculation with SA liquid. The immunized group and the intervention group
      were intranasally given IL-18 before SA modeling, and then the SA infection group
      and the intervention group received the nasal inoculation with SA liquid; the
      control group was treated with phosphate buffered saline instead. The levels of
      IL-4, interferon (IFN)-gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), granulocyte colony
      stimulating factor (G-CSF), IgM in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid
      (BALF) of mice were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression
      of macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha mRNA and MIP-2beta mRNA in the
      lung tissue of mice were determined by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.
      RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the SA infection group and the
      immunized group had significantly higher levels of IL-4, G-CSF, and IgM in the
      serum and BALF and expression of MIP-1alpha mRNA and MIP-2beta mRNA in the lung
      tissue (P<0.05); the SA infection group had a significantly lower level of IFN
      gamma and a significantly higher level of TNF in the serum and BALF (P<0.05); the
      immunized group had a significantly higher level of IFN-gamma in the serum and
      BALF (P<0.05). Compared with the SA infection group, the intervention group had
      significantly higher levels of IL-4, IFN-gamma, G-CSF, and IgM in the serum and
      BALF and expression of MIP-1alpha mRNA in the lung tissue. In contrast, the
      intervention group showed a significantly lower level of TNF in the serum and
      BALF and expression of MIP-2beta mRNA in the lung tissue (P<0.05). All the above
      indicators in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the
      control group (P<0.05), except the serum level of IFN-gamma. CONCLUSIONS: In the
      mice infected with SA, the recombinant fusion protein IL-18 by mucosal immunity
      can affect inflammatory factors in the serum and BALF and the expression of MIP
      1alpha mRNA and MIP-2beta mRNA in the lung tissue to promote the anti-infective
      immune response and enhance the ability to clear pathogens.

PMID- 28606242
TI  - [Effects of microRNA-145 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition of TGF-beta1
      induced human renal proximal tubular epithelial cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of microRNA-145 (miR-145) on epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) of TGF-beta1-induced human renal proximal tubular
      epithelial (HK-2) cells. METHODS: The gene sequence of miR-145 was synthesized
      and cloned into pCMV-myc to construct recombinant plasmid pCMV-miR-145. HK-2
      cells were divided into four groups: control (untreated), TGF-beta1 (treated with
      TGF-beta1), blank+TGF-beta1 (treated with TGF-beta1 after HK-2 cells transfected
      with blank plasmid) and miR-145+TGF-beta1 (treated with TGF-beta1 after HK-2
      cells transfected with pCMV-miR-145 recombinant plasmid). Expression of miR-145
      was detected by real-time PCR (RT-PCR). TGF-beta1, Smad3, Smad2/3, p-Smad2/3,
      alpha-SMA, FN and type I collagen (Col I) protein levels were detected by Western
      blot. Concentrations of fibronectin (FN) and Col I in cell culture supernatants
      were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: pCMV-miR-145 recombinant plasmid was
      successfully transfected into HK-2 cells. Compared with the control group, the
      miR-145+TGF-beta1 group showed a significant up-regulation in the expression
      level of miR-145 (P<0.01). However, the TGF-beta1 and blank+TGF-beta1 groups
      showed a significant down-regulation in the expression level of miR-145 compared
      with that in the control and miR-145+TGF-beta1 groups (P<0.01). Compared with the
      TGF-beta1 and blank+TGF-beta1 groups, the miR-145+TGF-beta1 group showed
      significantly reduced levels of the signal proteins TGF-beta1, Smad3, Smad2/3 and
      p-Smad2/3 (P<0.05), as well as significantly reduced levels of the biomarkers
      alpha-SMA, FN and Col I (P<0.05). Meanwhile, concentrations of FN and Col I in
      cell culture supernatants also decreased (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: miR-145 modulates
      the EMT of HK-2 cells treated with TGF-beta1, possibly by inhibition of the
      activation of TGF-beta-dependent Smad signaling pathway.

PMID- 28606243
TI  - [Research advances in the protective effect of all-trans retinoic acid against
      podocyte injury].
AB  - All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is a vitamin A derivative and plays an important
      role in the regulation of cell aggregation, differentiation, apoptosis,
      proliferation, and inflammatory response. In recent years, some progress has been
      made in the role of ATRA in renal diseases, especially its protective effect on
      podocytes. This article reviews the research advances in podocyte injury,
      characteristics of ATRA, podocyte differentiation and regeneration induced by
      ATRA, and the protective effect of ATRA against proliferation, deposition of
      fibers, and apoptosis.

PMID- 28606244
TI  - [Mitophagy and nervous system disease].
AB  - Mitophagy is a process during which the cell selectively removes the mitochondria
      via the mechanism of autophagy. It is crucial to the functional completeness of
      the whole mitochondrial network and determines cell survival and death. On the
      one hand, the damaged mitochondria releases pro-apoptotic factors which induce
      cell apoptosis; on the other hand, the damaged mitochondria eliminates itself via
      autophagy, which helps to maintain cell viability. Mitophagy is of vital
      importance for the development and function of the nervous system. Neural cells
      rely on autophagy to control protein quality and eliminate the damaged
      mitochondria, and under normal circumstances, mitophagy can protect the neural
      cells. Mutations in genes related to mitophagy may cause the development and
      progression of neurodegenerative diseases. An understanding of the role of
      mitophagy in nervous system diseases may provide new theoretical bases for
      clinical treatment. This article reviews the research advances in the
      relationship between mitophagy and different types of nervous system diseases.

PMID- 28606246
TI  - [Prevention first, standardized diagnosis and treatment, strengthen the
      management of critical infection in neurosurgical patients].

PMID- 28606247
TI  - [Strengthen multidisciplinary cooperation to promote early rehabilitation of
      patients with severe traumatic brain injury].

PMID- 28606245
TI  - Prefrontal brain responsiveness to negative stimuli distinguishes familial risk
      for major depression from acute disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identifying reliable trait markers of familial risk for major
      depressive disorder (MDD) is a challenge in translational psychiatric research.
      In individuals with acute MDD, dysfunctional connectivity patterns of prefrontal
      areas have been shown repeatedly. However, it has been unclear in which neuronal
      networks functional alterations in individuals at familial risk for MDD might be
      present and to what extent they resemble findings previously reported in those
      with acute MDD. METHODS: We investigated differences in blood oxygen level
      dependent (BOLD) response of the medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to aversive stimuli between acute MDD and
      familial risk for the disorder in healthy first-degree relatives of acutely
      depressed patients with MDD (HC-FH+), healthy age- and sex-matched controls
      without any family history of depression (HC-FH-), and acutely depressed patients
      with MDD with (MDD-FH+) and without a family history of depression (MDD-FH-)
      during a frequently used emotional face-matching paradigm. Analyses of task
      specific network connectivity were conducted in terms of psychophysiological
      interactions (PPI). RESULTS: The present analysis included a total of 100
      participants: 25 HC-FH+, 25 HC-FH-, 25 MDD-FH+ and 25 MDD-FH-. Patients with MDD
      exhibited significantly increased activation in the medial OFC to negative
      stimuli irrespective of familial risk status, whereas healthy participants at
      familial risk and patients with MDD alike showed significant hypoactivation in
      the DLPFC compared with healthy participants without familial risk. The PPI
      analyses revealed significantly enhanced task-specific coupling between the
      medial OFC and differing cortical areas in individuals with acute MDD and those
      with familial risk for the disorder. LIMITATIONS: The main limitation of our
      study is its cross-sectional design. CONCLUSION: Whereas hypoactivation during
      negative emotion processing in the DLPFC appears as a common feature in both
      healthy high-risk individuals and acutely depressed patients, activation patterns
      of the medial OFC and its underlying connectivity seem to distinguish familial
      risk from acute disorder.

PMID- 28606248
TI  - [The importance of early rehabilitation for the traumatic brain injury patients
      based on rehabilitation medicine].

PMID- 28606249
TI  - [Truths, myths or lies: who is indicated for coronary thrombectomy?]

PMID- 28606250
TI  - [Three dimensional finite element model of a modified posterior cervical single
      open-door laminoplasty].
AB  - Objective: To build a three-dimensional finite element models of a modified
      posterior cervical single open-door laminoplasty with short-segmental lateral
      mass screws fusion. Methods: The C(2)-C(7) segmental data were obtained from
      computed tomography (CT) scans of a male patient with cervical spondylotic
      myelopathy and spinal stenosis.Three-dimensional finite element models of a
      modified cervical single open-door laminoplasty (before and after surgery) were
      constructed by the combination of software package MIMICS, Geomagic and
      ABAQUS.The models were composed of bony vertebrae, articulating facets,
      intervertebral disc and associated ligaments.The loads of moments 1.5Nm at
      different directions (flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation)were
      applied at preoperative model to calculate intersegmental ranges of motion.The
      results were compared with the previous studies to verify the validation of the
      models. Results: Three-dimensional finite element models of the modified cervical
      single open- door laminoplasty had 102258 elements (preoperative model) and 161
      892 elements (postoperative model) respectively, including C(2-7) six bony
      vertebraes, C(2-3)-C(6-7) five intervertebral disc, main ligaments and lateral
      mass screws.The intersegmental responses at the preoperative model under the
      loads of moments 1.5 Nm at different directions were similar to the previous
      published data. Conclusion: Three-dimensional finite element models of the
      modified cervical single open- door laminoplasty were successfully established
      and had a good biological fidelity, which can be used for further study.

PMID- 28606251
TI  - [Quantitative comparison of diffusion weighted image in liver at two field
      strengths for chronic hepatitis B].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate whether there were differences between apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC) values derived from 3.0 T and 1.5 T MR diffusion-weighted
      imaging (DWI) in liver of patients with chronic hepatitis B. Methods: From
      January 2016 to November 2016, a total of 40 chronic hepatitis B prospectively
      underwent both 1.5 T and 3.0 T DWI before liver biopsy, the interval between two
      scans was within 15 minutes, the protocol was respiratory-triggered DWI(RT-DWI).
      The ADC values were measured at both field strengths using ROI method. Bland
      Altman tests and paired t-tests were used to compare ADC values obtained at 1.5 T
      and 3.0 T. Results: The ADC values of different b values for patients with mild
      inflammation at 1.5 T were(1.22-1.48(1.35+/-0.08)*10(-3) mm(2)/s), the ADC values
      of different b values for patients with mild inflammation at 3.0 T were(1.18
      1.45(1.30+/-0.08)*10(-3) mm(2)/s); the ADC values of different b values for
      patients with moderate to severe inflammation at 1.5 T were(1.11-1.37(1.25+/
      0.06)*10(-3) mm(2)/s), the ADC values of different b values for patients with
      moderate to severe inflammation at 3.0 T were(1.08-1.31(1.20+/-0.06)*10(-3)
      mm(2)/s). There were significantly differences between the ADC values of
      different b values for patients with chronic hepatitis B obtained at two field
      strengths (P<0.01). Conclusions: Different field strengths have influence on ADC
      values in liver, the ADC values derived from 3.0 T are lower than the ADC values
      derived from 1.5 T.

PMID- 28606252
TI  - [Research on the effect of iodinate contrast agent on the DNA radiation damage at
      CT].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the effect of iodinate contrast agent (ICA) on the
      formation of DNA double-stand breaks (DSBs) in human peripheral blood lymphocytes
      during computed tomography (CT) examinations. Methods: Peripheral venous blood
      (16 ml/person) of 36 volunteers were collected during the period of February to
      May 2016. Each blood sample was divided into 8 tubes and 4 groups on average,
      which were marked as groups of A, B, C, D randomly. 25 MUl ICA was respectively
      added into one tube of each group and the groups of B, C, D accepted the same CT
      scan for once, twice and three times. The lymphocytes in these blood samples were
      separated by using density-gradient centrifugation, fixed and immunostained with
      gammaH2AX antibody. The average number of phosphorylated histone H2AX (gammaH2AX)
      foci per lymphocyte was counted under a fluorescence microscopy. Results: The
      numbers of gammaH2AX foci were increased approximately 82.9% ((0.064+/-0.025) vs
      (0.035+/-0.010) foci/cell) if ICA was simply added into the blood. With the
      increase of CT radiation, the foci numbers of the groups of B, C, D would
      increase and the samples containing ICA could have a more amount of foci numbers
      than those without ICA (B: (1.217+/-0.158) vs (0.774+/-0.258); C: (2.128+/-0.185)
      vs (1.569+/-0.201); D: (3.812+/-0.490) vs (2.938+/-0.480) foci/cell). The more
      radiation it had, the more significant the difference of foci numbers would be
      ((0.489+/-0.323), (0.549+/-0.278), (0.692+/-0.462) foci/cell). Conclusion: The
      ICA itself can lead to an increase of the DSBs level and the application of ICA
      can amplify the DNA damage as assessed with gammaH2AX foci formation during
      diagnostic X-ray procedures.

PMID- 28606253
TI  - [Effect of preoperative depression on early postoperative cognitive function in
      laparoscopic colon cancer patients during general anesthesia].
AB  - Objective: To analyze the effect of preoperative depression on early
      postoperative cognitive function after general anesthesia during laparoscopic
      colon cancer surgery. Methods: One hundred and fifty ASA I-II general aneasthesia
      patients (male70, female 80)from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in May of 2015 to
      April of 2016, aged 50-85, undergoing selective laparoscopic colon cancer
      patients were included. Evaluated preoperative depression by self-rating
      depression scale and evaluated postoperative cognitive function on 1, 3, 7 days
      by post-operative quality recovery scale. Use the multi-factor logistic
      regression to select the risk factors. Results: There were 115 (76.7%) patients
      occurred poor cognitive function. According to SDS, The results of logistic
      regression analysis showed that the risk factors for postoperative poor cognitive
      function was severe depression(OR 1.295, 95% CI 1.012-13.184, P=0.048).
      Conclusion: Preoperative severe depression is a risk factor on postoperative
      cognitive function in laparoscopic colon cancer patients during general
      anesthesia.

PMID- 28606254
TI  - [Internal fixation and hemiarthroplasty for the treatment of displaced femoral
      neck fracture: a cost-utility analysis].
AB  - Objective: To compare the cannulated screw internal fixation (IF) and
      hemiarthroplasty (HA) for displaced femoral neck fracture with cost-utility
      analysis (CUA). Methods: From January 2014 to August 2015, a total of 87 patients
      above 60 years old with displaced femoral neck fracture were admitted into the
      study and divided into 2 groups according to surgery type. There were 41 cases in
      IF group and 46 cases in HA group. During 1 year follow-up we collected the total
      cost due to fracture and applied EQ-5D index to evaluate the clinical effects.
      The value of EQ-5D index will be transformed to quality adjusted life year
      (QALY). Eventually the data including cost and QALY were used to calculate the
      cost utility ratio (CUR) for patients in each group. Results: All the patients
      completed the operation successfully. The total cost of IF and HA was 45 796 yuan
      and 56 657 yuan (P<0.05), while the QALY was 0.79 and 0.83 respectively (P>0.05).
      The CUR showed that patients in IF and HA group spent 57 970 yuan and 68 261 yuan
      for each QALY which means patients in HA group spent more 10 292 yuan for each
      QALY than that in IF group. Conclusions: Both IF and HA can provide satisfactory
      clinical outcome in 1 year follow-up, however the total cost of IF was obviously
      less than HA. Therefore IF may be more cost-effective for the treatment of
      displaced femoral neck fracture in terms of health economics.

PMID- 28606255
TI  - [Incidence and risk factors of recurrence after endovascular treatment of
      vertebrobasilar dissecting aneurysms].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the incidence and risk factors of recurrence after
      endovascular treatment of vertebrobasilar dissecting aneurysms (VBDAs). Methods:
      Retrospective analysis was used for the clinical information of 40 cases of
      vertebrobasilar dissecting aneurysms treated with endovascular methods in our
      department between January 2007 and December 2015.According to whether recurrence
      occurred, the patients were divided into recurrence group (10 patients) and non
      recurrence group (30 patients). The data of the patients' age, sex, hypertension
      history, smoking history, aneurismal size, presenting symptoms, degree of
      embolization, GCS scores, aneurismal localization and treatment methods were
      analyzed to evaluate the risk factors for recurrence after endovascular
      treatment. Results: There were 40 patients performed long-term angiographic
      follow-up.The recurrence rate after endovascular treatment was 25.0% (10/40) in
      the present study, and they all occurred in reconstructive group.Among the
      patients who underwent stent-assisted coil embolization, recurrence in aneurismal
      body occurred in 6 patients, and recurrence in aneurismal neck 3 cases. In these
      cases, 7 recurrences occurred with complete embolization, and 2 recurrences
      occurred with partial embolization.Recurrence occurred in 1 case that underwent
      single stent placement.The incidence of recurrence in reconstructive group was
      higher than that in destructive group (33.3% vs 0.0) with significant difference.
      Conclusions: The recurrence rate was high in VBDAs treated with endovascular
      methods.The only independent risk factor for recurrence was reconstructive
      methods and that suggests the necessity of long-term angiographic follow-up.

PMID- 28606256
TI  - [Sirt1 inhibited oxidized low-density lipoprotein induced smooth muscle cells
      inflammatory response].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the mechanism of inflammation of smooth muscle cells
      induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein through Sirt1 in the atherosclerosis.
      Methods: The expression of Sirt1 had been measured in the plaque tissues of human
      and mice. The affection of overexpression of SIRT1 on the oxLDL induced
      inflammatory response and ROS generation had been detected in this study.
      Results: Sirt1 decreased in smooth muscle cells region of human plaque. And in
      the smooth muscle cells region of mice plaque, Sirt1 was also significantly
      decreased about 5-fold (P<0.05). Although, oxLDL promoted inflammatory cytokines
      secretion and ROS generation, but this affection had been reversed by
      upregulating Sirt1. Conclusion: oxLDL regulated smooth muscle cells inflammatory
      response via Sirt1. Thus, Sirt1 is a signaling molecular regulating smooth
      muscles inflammatory response in the process of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28606257
TI  - [Microflora changes in upper digestive tract and bile in acute liver failure
      mice].
AB  - Objective: To study the changes of upper digestive tract and bile flora
      associated with acute liver failure in mice. Methods: Mice were randomly divided
      into 2 groups: control group and acute liver failure group (group M). Acute liver
      failure in group M was induced by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine (D
      GaIN). The information of relative abundance and diversity were observed by high
      throughput sequencing of V3 + V4 region in 16 S rDNA from bacteria of oral
      cavity, stomach, duodenal and bile.Bacterial translocation and changes associated
      with acute liver injury were identified by LEfSe (LDA effect size) analysis.
      Results: At the phylum level, compared with control group, the relative abundance
      of TM7 in oral cavity and stomach increased in group M. At the family level,
      compared with control group, group M resulted in a significant decrease in
      Pasteurellaceae in the stomach (P<0.05) and a increase in Lactobacillaceae in the
      bile (P<0.05). Conclusion: The diversity of bacteria and relative abundance of
      each bacterium in upper digestive tract and the bile are significantly changed
      during the process of acute liver injure in mice.

PMID- 28606258
TI  - [Meta analysis of the efficacy and safety of drainage after total hip
      arthroplasty].
AB  - Objective: To determine whether suction drainage is safe and effective compared
      with no-drainage in total hip arthroplasty. Methods: The research was based on
      PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Highwire, the Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and
      WFSD.The data were analysed using RevMan 5.2.Twenty-seven randomised controlled
      trials involving 3 603 hips were included in the analysis. Results: The meta
      analysis indicate that suction drainage increases the rate of homologous blood
      transfusion (OR=1.98, 95%CI: 1.49-2.64, P<0.000 01)and the length of stay
      (OR=0.66, 95%CI: -0.01-1.33, P=0.05) (P<0.05). No significant difference was
      observed in the incidence of infection(OR=0.80, 95%CI: 0.52-1.22, P=0.30), wound
      haematomas(OR=0.47, 95%CI: 0.21-1.10, P=0.08), oozing (OR=0.93, 95%CI: 0.63-1.36,
      P=0.71) , deep venous thrombosis(OR=2.12, 95%CI: 0.68-6.56, P=0.19), VAS(OR=
      0.06, 95%CI: -0.37-0.24, P=0.68) when the drainage group was compared with the no
      drainage group. Conclusions: The comparison between suction drainage and no
      drainage in THA have indicated that no-drainage for easy total hip arthroplasty
      may be a better choice. However, orthopedic surgeon need to weigh the pros and
      cons of no-drainage in some complicated THAs.

PMID- 28606259
TI  - [Re-evaluate the value of orbital decompression for thyroid associated
      ophthalmopathy].
AB  - Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is a common autoimmune syndrome affecting
      the thyroid and orbit. It can result in the fibrosis of extraoular muscles and
      hyperplasia of adipose tissue. The mechanism of TAO is not clear and there was
      few effective treatment. Recently, orbital decompression was performed on more
      and more patients. The surgery can improve the appearance of the patient and
      relieve the symptoms caused by the high orbital pressure. Therefore, it is
      necessary to re-evaluate the clinical value of the orbital decompression and
      surgical indications. The principles and techniques of orbital decompression with
      relative factors were discussed in this review. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 401
      403).

PMID- 28606260
TI  - [The stepwise establishment of standardized treatment for the thyroid eye
      disease].
AB  - Thyroid associated ophthalmopathy is a complex autoimmune disease characterized
      by inflammation of the orbital tissue, hyaluronan deposition and tissue
      remodeling due to a skewed production of preadipocytic fibroblasts and increased
      adipogenesis in the late stage. Its progression is strongly related to the
      functional status of thyroid. So far, there is no consensus on staging, grading
      and treatment worldwide owning to the complexity of its clinical manifestations
      and therapies. However, it is of great importance to accurately judge its status
      and make individualized therapeutic regimen. Therefore, we propose how to
      standardize the TAO diagnosis and treatment. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 404
      407).

PMID- 28606261
TI  - [Investigation of reason and treatment methods for active, refractory and
      recurrence thyroid associated ophthalmopathy].
AB  - TAO is a common autoimmune orbital disease. 20% to 30% patients in active phase
      of moderate to severe TAO have no reponse to treatment or relapse after
      treatment, which become a difficult problem in clinical treatment. In this paper,
      the necessity of the treatment, etiology, treatment difficulties and treatment
      measures of TAO are discussed, in order to make great efforts to solve the
      clinical problems and to treat such patients. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 408
      412).

PMID- 28606262
TI  - [Therapeutic outcomes and influence factors of maximal orbital decompression in
      the treatment of severe dysthyroid optic neuropathy].
AB  - : Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of maximal orbital decompression in
      treatment for severe dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON) of thyroid associated
      ophthalmopathy (TAO) and predictive factors of this therapy. Methods: The group
      consisted of 21 patients (30 eyes) with DON. The diagnosis was based on the
      following criteria: Deterioration of best corrected visual acuity (VA<=0.1),
      enlargement of extraocular muscles and sign of apical crowding in CT imaging,
      loss of colour vision. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: VA of DON>0.1 or other diseases with
      visual function damage. Maximal 3-wall orbital decompression was undergone.
      Clinical outcomes were recorded and assessed including pre- and postoperative VA,
      age, clinical activity score (CAS), thyroid hormonal status and duration of DON.
      The pre- and postoperative VA were compared by Wlicoxon signed rank analysis. The
      relationships between the change of VA and age(<50 years vs >=50 years), thyroid
      hormonal status(hyperthyroidism vs hypothyroidism), CAS(<3 vs >=3), duration (<3
      months vs >=3 months), pre-VA(<0.01 vs >=0.01) were made statistically by Mann
      Whitney U-test, rank correlation analysis,and Logistic regression analysis.
      Results: Thirty eyes of 21 patients (11 male, 10 female) were included in this
      study. Hyperthyroidism was recorded in 13 cases, the other 8 cases with
      hypothyroidism. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 52.9 years (range,
      33.0-71.0 years). The median of the duration of DON was 4.5 months (range, 1.0
      12.0 months). Twenty-eight eyes (28/30, 93%) showed improvement of visual acuity
      after surgery (Z=-4.62, P=0.000). There was positive correlation between pre- and
      postoperative VA(r=0.38, P<0.05 ). Patients with VA of 0.01 or better had better
      postoperative VA than those with poorer VA (0.10 vs 0.50, Z=-2.09, P=0.037).
      There was negative correlation between the duration and degree of improvement of
      postoperative VA (r=-0.44, P<0.05). Other factors such as age, thyroid hormonal
      status, CAS were not statistical factors for postoperative VA (Z=-1.83--0.97,
      P>0.05 ) and improvement of postoperative VA (Z=-1.80--0.82, P>0.05).
      Conclusions: Maximal orbital decompression is safe and effective for management
      of visual damage in severe DON in this small sample study. Preoperative VA and
      duration of DON were important predictive factors for surgical outcome. Earlier
      diagnosis and treatment are possibly useful for improvement of prognosis of DON
      but large sample data are needed.(Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53:416-423).

PMID- 28606263
TI  - [Three-dimensional vector analysis after decompression surgery in thyroid
      associated ophthalmopathy].
AB  - Objective: To analyze the change of globe position after different orbital
      decompression in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). Methods: It was a
      retrosective case series study. Twenty-nine TAO patients (33 eyes) underwent
      orbital decompression were collected between October 2014 and December 2016 at
      Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University. There were 17 males and 12 females, and
      the average age was 46 years (ranging from 21 to 66 years). Fifteen patients (17
      eyes) underwent balanced decompression, 11 patients (11 eyes) underwent deep
      lateral decompression, and 4 patients (5 eyes) underwent medial decompression. CT
      scan was performed pre and postoperatively for each patient and a reference
      coordinate system was established on the three-dimensional reconstructed image.
      The eyeball vector EC from the eyeball center to the corneal apex was defined and
      the coordinates (X(E), Y(E), Z(E))(X(C), Y(C), Z(C)) were calculated. The angle M
      between EC and the midsagittal plane and the angle F between EC and the Frankfort
      plane were also calculated. Paired t test and one way ANOVA were used for
      statistical analysis. Results: The average value of X(C) before and after deep
      lateral decompression was 19.53 mm and 17.25 mm (t=10.87, P<0.05) and average
      value of X(E) was 7.73 mm and 5.69 mm (t=12.22, P<0.05). The average value of
      X(C) before and after medial decompression was 20.24 mm and 18.17 mm (t=7.93,
      P<0.05) and average value of X(E) was 7.14 mm and 5.52 mm (t=9.24, P<0.05). The
      average value of X(C) before and after balanced decompression was 22.16 mm and
      18.83 mm (t=12.71 , P<0.05) and average value of X(E) was 10.20 mm and 6.67 mm
      (t=11.91, P<0.05). The average value of horizontal deviation angle M before and
      after medial decompression was 6.48 degrees  and 13.34 degrees  (t=- 8.41,
      P<0.05). The average value of angle M before and after balanced decompression was
      1.42 degrees  and 6.76 degrees  (t=- 2.86, P<0.05). The average value of angle M
      before and after deep lateral decompression was 5.18 degrees  and 1.39 degrees 
      (t=2.57, P<0.05). Conclusions: The proptosis reduction was significant after deep
      lateral decompression, balanced decompression and medial decompression.
      Additionally, the horizontal deviation tended to increase after medial and
      balanced decompression, whereas the horizaontal deviation tended to decrease
      after deep lateral decompression. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 424-429).

PMID- 28606264
TI  - [The value of DCE-MRI in assessing the course of thyroid associated
      ophthalmopathy].
AB  - Objective: To explore the feasibility of the semi-quantitative rectus extraocular
      muscle (EOM) parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced magetic resonance imaging
      (DCE-MRI) in assessing the clinical course of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy
      (TAO). Methods: It was a retrospective case series study. A total of 136 cases of
      TAO were recruited from March 2011 to October 2012 in the Tianjin the first
      center hospital including 63 males and 72 females, aged 24.0-65.0 years, with an
      average age of (40.5+/-10.9) years. Forty healthy volunteers were recruited as
      control group (CG). According to clinical activity score (CAS), all TAO patients
      were divided into 2 groups, activity group (AG) and inactivity group (IAG). MRI
      and DCE-MRI orbit scan were performed in each subject. Drew time-intensity curves
      (TIC) by Siemens 3.0 MR (syngo) post-processing workstation. The semi
      quantitative parameters of DCE-MRI were calculated. The semi-quantitative
      paramters based on TIC include early enhancement coefficient (EEC), maximum
      enhancement coefficient (Emax) and wash-out coefficient (WC(5min)). Kruskal
      Wallis H rank test was used for comparing signal intensity among 3 groups, and
      Nemenyi test for pairwise comparison between groups. The DCE-MRI parameters (EEC,
      Emax, WC(5 min)) among groups were compared by one-way ANOVA, and Bonferroni t
      test is for pairwise comparison between groups. The diagnostic value of mean EEC,
      mean Emax, WC(5min) for assessment of the clinical course in TAO was analyzed by
      ROC curve. Results: There were significant difference in signal intensity (SI) of
      rectus EOM on T(2)WI among CG, AG and IAG, which is significantly different in 88
      cases of AG including 45 cases of high intensity 51.1%, 23 cases of moderate
      intensity 26.1%, and 20 cases of low intensity 22.7%,compared with CG and IAG.
      EEC (P<0.05), Emax and WC5min values of rectus EOM of TAO group were
      significantly lower than those of CG(P<0.05), which values of rectus EOM of TAO
      active group of EEC are 0.63+/-0.06,0.61+/-0.05,0.56+/-0.09,0.57+/-0.09, and
      values of rectus EOM of TAO inactive group of EEC are 0.49+/-0.05,0.50+/
      0.08,0.57+/-0.10,0.55+/-0.09. The values of rectus EOM of TAO active group of
      Emax are 1.35+/-0.09,1.28+/-0.09,1.21+/-0.17,1.25+/-0.10, and the values of
      rectus EOM of TAO inactive group of Emax are 1.04+/-0.06,1.05+/-0.10,1.20+/
      0.19,1.16+/-0.11. The values of rectus EOM of TAO active group of WC(5 min) are
      0.13+/-0.03,0.13+/-0.03,0.13+/-0.06,0.13+/-0.03 and the values of rectus EOM of
      TAO inactive group of WC5min are 0.08+/-0.02,0.79+/-0.03,0.11+/-0.06,0.09+/-
      0.03. EEC (chi(2)=9.20, P<0.05), Emax and WC(5min) values of rectus EOM of TAO
      group were significantly lower than those of CG (P<0.05). EEC, Emax and WC(5min)
      values of medial rectus and inferior rectus EOM of IAG were significantly lower
      than those of AG(P<0.05). WC(5min) values of superior rectus EOM of IAG were
      significantly lower than those of AG (P<0.05). There were no differences in EEC
      and Emax values of lateral rectus and superior rectus EOM between IAG and AG
      (P>0.05). There were no differences in WC(5min) values of lateral rectus EOM
      between IAG and AG (P>0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) were 0.771, 0.879,
      0.898 for mean EEC, mean Emax, and mean WC(5min), respectively. Conclusion: The
      semi-quantitative paramters of DCE-MRI can show the clinical activity of TAO
      patients and can be considered as the quantitative index of TAO activity staging.
      (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 430-435).

PMID- 28606265
TI  - [The fundus manifestations and SD-OCT findings of patients with acute Vogt
      Koyanagi-Harada disease].
AB  - Objective: To conclude the characteristics of fundus appearance and spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT) findings of patients with acute Vogt
      Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease. Methods: The clinical data of 17 patients (34
      eyes) diagnosed of acute VKH in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from Jan.
      2012 to Dec. 2014 were studied retrospectively.Examinations included visual
      acuity, slit lamp, fundus, color fundus pictures, FFA and SD-OCT. Results: Eight
      men and 9 women were enrolled with mean age of (40.5+/-11.6) years old ranging
      from 26.0 to 62.0 years old. Vision acuity of their first consultations were as
      follows: 14 eyes (41.2%) were below 0.01-0.09, 17 eyes(50%) were among 0.1-0.3, 3
      eyes (8.8%) were among 0.4-0.7. All patients were divided into 3 groups according
      to their fundus appearance: 14 eyes (41.2%) were optic disc swelling-type, 10
      eyes (29.4%) were retinal detachment type and 10 eyes(29.4%)were mixed type.
      Subretinal fluid and serous retinal detachment appears in SD-OCT of all 34 eyes,
      with highly reflective signals in detached area. Other common characters were
      also noticeable, suh as RPE folds(19 eyes, 55.9%), subretinal septa (16 eyes,
      47.1%) and internal limiting membrane(ILM) fluctuation (8 eyes, 23.5%). In
      addition, SD-OCT features were in accordance with multilobular dye pooling at
      late period of FFA. Conclusion: SD-OCT of acute VKH presents some typical
      features: subretinal fluid and serous retinal detachment, RPE folds, ILM
      fluctuation, and subretinal septa.(Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 436-439).

PMID- 28606266
TI  - [Reproducibility and comparison study of two methods evaluating the optic nerve
      subarachnoid space sectional area using MRI].
AB  - Objective: To optimize the method of acquiring the ONSAS parameter and to access
      the repeatability of the new method comparing with the traditional one. Methods:
      This is a cross-sectional study. Standard operation procedure of an optimized
      method of acquiring the ONSAS sectional area was made against the defect of the
      traditional method. Ten healthy volunteers (20 eyes) in different ages were
      recruited from March 2016 to October. Two times of MRI scan were proceeded with
      the interval of one week. The optimized and traditional methods were both applied
      for each scanning. The images were analyzed by two ophthalmologists. The rate of
      high quality images between two groups was compared with matching chi-square
      test. The orbital subarachnoid space areas between groups at different locations
      were compared using analysis of variance of repeated measurement data. The ICC
      between different scans and different ophthalmologists was calculated. Results:
      The mean age of the volunteers was 43.8+/-13.1 years old. Male/Female was 1?1.
      The rates of high quality images from the optimized method (100%, 83%, 78%) was
      higher than those of the traditional method(80%, 78%, 70%). The orbital
      subarachnoid space area at 3 mm, 9 mm and 15 mm behind the eye ball acquired from
      the new method(7.2+/-1.8, 6.1+/-1.8, 5.9+/-1.4 mm(2)) were bigger than those of
      the traditional method (9.0+/-2.9, 7.6+/-2.4, 7.1+/-1.6 mm(2)). Statistical
      significances were found at 9 mm(F=4.30, P=0.048) and 15 mm(F=5.67, P=0.026)
      behind the eye ball. The ICC between two different scans (0.879, 0.857, 0.857 vs
      0.741, 0.762, 0.639) and two different ophthalmologists (0.864, 0.890, 0.894 vs
      0.785, 0.609, 0.753) were higher in the new method group than in the traditional
      method group. Conclusions: The optimized method of acquiring the parameters of
      optic nerve subarachnoid space is easier to get the sectional cross area. The
      measuring reproducibility is better than the traditional one. (Chin J Ophthalmol,
      2017, 53: 440-444).

PMID- 28606267
TI  - [Comparison of two kinds of artificial tears on the dry eye after
      phacoemulsification].
AB  - Objective: To compare the curative effect of two different artificial tears on
      dry eye after phacoemulsification. Methods: Prospective randomized controlled
      clinical trial. From March to June in 2012, 102 patients (102 eyes) with age
      related cataract were treated with phacoemulsification at Beijing Tongren
      Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, and these eyes were randomly
      divided into blank group (group A ) 32 cases, treatment group 1 (group B) 35
      cases and treatment group 2 (group C) 35 cases. Group A was treated with
      conventional antibiotics. Group B was sodium hyaluronate eye drop, group C was
      lipid-containing carbomer gel respectively. All patients finished a dry eye
      questionnaire called Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), and Schimmer's test
      (SIt), break up time (BUT) and fluorescein staining (FL) tests were performed
      before surgery and at 7, 30 and 90 days after surgery respectively. Optometry
      were performed at 90 days after surgery. The chi(2) test was used to analyze the
      sex of the patients, and the age of the patients was analyzed by one-way ANOVA.
      Partial data in eye tests and in OSDI does not meet the normal distribution.
      Therefore, they were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis H test. If significant difference
      existed, these data were then analyzed by independent sample Wilcoxon rank sum
      test. Results: Twelve patients were lost to visit within 3 months. A total of 90
      patients were followed up for 90 days. The mean age of all patients was (69.5+/
      9.5) years (46.0-89.0 years), 38 males and 64 females. There were 30 patients in
      Group A, group B and group C respectively. The prevalence of dry eye was 56. 7%
      (60/102). There was no significant difference among the three groups (P>0.05).
      OSDI questionnaire showed that OSDI score was significantly different among the
      three groups at 7, 30 and 90 days after operation (H=9.89, 55.53, 45.43, P<0.05).
      At 30 and 90 days after operation, the median OSDI scores were 12.50 and 10.42 in
      group C, respectively, which were better than those of group A scores 27.09 and
      20. 8 (Z=- 6.30, -5.94, P<0.05), and were better than those of group B scores
      17.71 and 13. 54 (Z=-3.40, -3.52, P<0.05). At 90 days after operation, the median
      BUT of B and C treatment groups was 9. 00, which was better than that of group A
      (4.00). The difference was statistically significant (H=21.51, P<0.05), There was
      no significant difference between group B and group C (Z=-0.34, P>0.05).
      Conclusion: The treatment of artificial tears with lipid composition in the early
      stage after phacoemulsification is beneficial to the improvement of postoperative
      symptoms and signs of dry eye. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 445-450).

PMID- 28606268
TI  - [Clinical observation on monovision of cataract surgery with different near
      addition].
AB  - Objective: To observe the influence on spectacle independence, satisfaction and
      visual function after cataract surgery monovision with different ADD. Methods:
      Prospective clinical study. All patients were collected from the department of
      ophthalmology, Shanghai JiaoTong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital
      who were diagnosed as bilateral cataract from Oct. 2013 to Mar. 2015. This study
      comprised 64 cases (128 eyes). All consecutive patients scheduled to undergo
      bilateral cataract phacoemulsification and implantation of a monofocal AcrySof IQ
      IOL. The average age of patients was (65.4+/- 6.0) years old, ranged from 51 to
      70 years. 28 males and 36 females. According to the different demands of
      spectacle independence and living habits of patients, all cases were divided into
      two groups: MV1 group (32 patients), whose near addition being 1.25-1.75 D and
      MV2 group (32 patients), whose near addition being 2.25-2.75 D. Parameters 6
      months postoperatively included binocular uncorrected distance, intermediate, and
      near visual acuities, stereo vision and refractive states were analyzed.
      Parameters of spectacle independence, subjective visual symptoms and patient
      satisfaction according to visual function questionnaire were analyzed at the same
      time. T test was used to compare uncorrected visual acuity. Whitney U test was
      operated in stereo vision comparison. Chi-square test was applied in sex
      distribution comparison and visual function questionnaire between two groups.
      Results: The uncorrected distance vision in MV1 group was (0.09+/-0.09), while it
      was (0.11+/-0.08) in MV2 group. The uncorrected intermediate vision in MV1 group
      was (0.27+/-0.25), and it was (0.30+/-0.22) in MV2 group. There were no
      significant difference between two groups in bilateral uncorrected distance
      vision (t=1.62, P=0.264, LogMAR), intermediate (t=- 0.23, P=0.876, LogMAR).
      However, there was significant difference between two groups in uncorrected near
      vision (t=2.38, P=0.021, LogMAR). It was (0.06+/-0.06) in MV1 group and (0.02+/
      0.07) in MV2 group. Moreover, near stereo vision was better in MV1 group than MV2
      group (Z=- 1.29, P=0.031). On the questionnaire, all patients in two groups had
      no significant difference in their daily lives discomfort (chi(2)=0.10, P=0.756).
      In MV2 group, there were 2 patients complained obstacles while walking stairs
      dimly. In MV1 group, there were 3 patients had to wear low degrees of presbyopic
      glasses when they were on near work. Percentage of patients spectacle
      independence was less than 90% in MV1 groups. In MV2 group, one case needed low
      degrees of myopic glasses when he was on intermediate computer work and playing
      table games. Conclusion: Different near addition has similar advantages to
      different patients on spectacle independence, satisfaction and visual function
      after cataract surgery. (Chin J Ophthalmol,2017,53: 451-454).

PMID- 28606269
TI  - [Application of gene capture technology on mutation screening of RB1 gene in
      retinoblastoma patients].
AB  - Objectives: To analyze RB1 gene mutation in retinoblastoma (RB) patients using
      gene capture technology. Methods: Experimental research. The clinical data of 17
      RB patients were collected at Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University
      People's Hospital from June 2010 to Jun 2014. Peripheral blood samples of
      seventeen RB patients and their parents were collected and genomic DNA were
      extracted. DNA library from RB patients was mixed with designed gene capture
      probe of RB1 exons and its flanking sequences. The data were analyzed using
      bioinformatics software. To avoid the false positive, the abnormal sites were
      verified using the Sanger sequencing method. Results: Totally, there were 17 RB
      patients, including 12 males and 5 females, from 0.5 to 23 years old, average
      ages were (3.2+/-5.2) years old. Both eyes were involved in 6 patients. The other
      11 cases were only one eye was attacked. Four RB patients were found to have
      germline mutations, among whom 2 had bilateral tumors and 2 had unilateral
      tumors. 2 novel missense mutations were identified, including 15(th) exon
      c.1408A>T (p. Ile470Phe) and c.1960G>C (p. Val654Leu) at 19(th) exon. No RB1
      mutation was identified in any of their parents. We also identified 2 mutations
      reported previously. One is c.1030C>T termination mutation at 10(th) exon in a
      bilateral RB patients and his father, who was diagnosed with unilateral RB. The
      other is c.371-372delTA frame shift mutation at 3(rd) exon. No mutation was found
      in their parents. Conclusions: Two novel germline RB1 mutations were found using
      gene capture technology, which enriched RB1 mutations library.(Chin J Ophthalmol,
      2017, 53: 455-459).

PMID- 28606271
TI  - [Bone marrow-derived fibrocytes and thyroid-associated opthalmopathy].
AB  - Thyroid-associated opthalmopathy(TAO) is a common autoimmune syndrome affecting
      the thyroid and orbit, which can result in the fibrosis of extraoular muscles and
      hyperplasia of adipose tissue. Advanced TAO patients could even lose vision
      caused by cornea ulcer and congestion of optic nerve from expansion of the
      extraocular muscles and orbit fat. Currently, there are no therapies shown to
      prevent it, because its cellular and molecular mechanisms are not clear. Some
      studies have recently implicated bone marrow-derived fibroblast-like, called
      fibrocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of TAO. We reviewed and summarized
      the research advances of TAO and also the relationship between the fibrocytes and
      pathogenesis of TAO in the paper. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 470-473).

PMID- 28606270
TI  - [Keratoplasty classification and primary disease spectrum analysis of 315 cases].
AB  - Objective: To identify the primary disease spectrum and trends of surgical
      procedure of keratoplasty patients. Methods: Retrospective case series study. To
      review all patients who underwent keratoplasty at Department of ophthalmology in
      Tongji Hospital from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015. The data collected
      included age, sex, birthplace, and primary corneal disease and associated
      surgical procedures. Then the data were compared with similar papers domestic and
      foreign. Results: A total of 315 keratoplasties were performed during this 4-year
      period. The average age of patients at time of surgery was (42.0+/- 1.8) years,
      range from 33 days to 89 years, 229 cases (72.7%) were from 18 to 65 years; male:
      female ratio was 2.06:1. Totally 289 cases (91.8%)came from Hubei province, 26
      cases (8.2%) were from other provinces. The leading indications for corneal
      transplantation were keratitis in 125 cases (39.7%), followed by corneal scar in
      71 cases (22.5%), keratoconus in 41 cases (13.0%), pseudophakic bullous
      keratopathy in 26 cases (8.3%), corneal dermoid in 18 cases (5.7%), corneal
      dystrophy and degeneration in 16 cases (5.1%), and others (including chemical
      injuries, thermal burns, post-traumatic corneal scar and corneal opacity) in 18
      cases (5.7%). Of the 125 keratitis cases, 51 cases (40.8%) were associated with
      fungus, 43 cases (34.4%)were associated with virus, and 24 cases (19.2%)were
      associated with bacterial. In accordance with the classification of corneal
      transplant surgery, penetrating keratoplasty was performed in 212 cases (67.3% ),
      lamellar keratoplasty was completed in 87 cases (27.6% ), corneal endothelial
      transplantation was made in 16 patients (5.1%). Conclusions: Infectious keratitis
      was the leading indication for corneal transplantation followed by corneal scar,
      keratoconus and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy in Tongji hospital patients who
      underwent keratoplasty. And fungus was the first cause of infectious keratitis.
      Penetrating keratoplasty was still the main part of corneal transplantation.
      (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 460-463).

PMID- 28606272
TI  - [Progression of the pathogenesis of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy].
AB  - Thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is a common complication of Graves'
      disease (GD). The clinical manifestations are mainly swelling and retracted
      eyelid, protopsis and limited eye movements, and optic neuropathy can be seen in
      severe cases. The mechanism of TAO is not yet clear. A large number of studies
      have found that the disorders of autoimmunity play an important role in TAO,
      while genetic factors, oxidative stress, and environmental factors such as
      smoking participate in it. Therefore, we consult a large number of studies and
      expound the pathogenesis from the aspects of genetic susceptibility, immune
      mechanism, oxidative stress, and the effects of smoking to provide referrences
      for clinical associated studies. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 474-480).

PMID- 28606273
TI  - [The bladder function of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia should be
      highlighted].

PMID- 28606274
TI  - [Evidence-based evaluation of recent clinical practice guidelines for the
      diagnosis and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia].
AB  - Objective: To systematically evaluate the quality of clinical practice guidelines
      for the diagnosis and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and to
      compare the context of recommendations in order to provide references for
      clinical application. Methods: We searched databases such as the National
      Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC), Guidelines International Network (GIN), National
      Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Scottish Intercollegiate
      Guidelines Network (SIGN) and World Health Organization (WHO), PubMed, Embase,
      CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, CBM, and Medlive from their establishment until August
      13, 2016, to collect evidence-based guidelines and/or consensus on BPH. Method:
      Methodological quality of included guidelines was assessed according to the AGREE
      II instrument, and differences and similarities among recommendations were
      compared. Results: A total of 15 guidelines were included. According to the AGREE
      II instrument, the score of scope and purpose, stakeholder involvement, rigour of
      formulate, clarity of presentation, applicability, and editorial independence was
      72%, 38%, 30%, 58%, 16%, and 40%, respectively. The recommendations of different
      guidelines were basically similar, only with conflicts in some areas.
      Conclusions: The quality of included guidelines remains to be unified, the
      context of them can provide valuable implications for development or improvement.

PMID- 28606275
TI  - [Study on the choice of medication time and with drawal time of intermittent
      endocrine therapy for prostate cancer].
AB  - Objective: To determine the best timing of discontinuance of intermittent
      endocrine therapy for prostate cancer (PCa). Methods: From February 2012 to
      September 2014, 120 PCa patients confirmed by biopsy at the Department of Urology
      Surgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, were
      included. They were divided into high-, moderate- and low-risk groups according
      to EAU Guidelines in 2015. All patients received intermittent endocrine therapy.
      When the serum level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) dropped to 0.2 MUg/L, the
      medication was not discontinued until 3 months later for the observation group;
      however, the medication was immediately discontinued after reaching the above
      mentioned threshold for the control group. When the PSA level during the period
      of medication discontinuance increased to 4 MUg/L, another course of intermittent
      endocrine therapy was administered until the occurrence of the failure event. The
      Cox proportional regression model was used to compare the difference between the
      two groups in the androgen-independent signs, progression of PCa and severe
      adverse events. Result: After correction for multiple confounding factors,
      including severity grading before treatment, average duration of medication,
      average duration of medication discontinuance and the number of courses of
      therapy, it was found that the medication scheme adopted in the observation group
      was a protective factor against androgen-independent signs in the high-risk PCa
      patients (HR: 0.535, 95% CI: 0.458-0.612; P<0.001); it was also a protective
      factor against disease progression for the high- and moderate-risk patients (high
      risk group, HR: 0.387, 95% CI: 0.297-0.477; P<0.001; moderate-risk group, HR:
      0.697, 95% CI: 0.581-0.813; P<0.001). However, there was no significant
      difference in the incidence of severe adverse events among PCa patients treated
      by different medication schemes (HR: 1.003, 95% CI: 0.906-1.100; P=0.798). The
      medication scheme adopted in the observation group was an independent risk factor
      for severe adverse events in the low-risk PCa patients (HR: 1.489, 95% CI: 1.305
      1.673; P<0.001). Conclusion: As compared with the scheme of immediately
      discontinuing the medication after reaching the indicator threshold, maintenance
      medication for another 3 months was beneficial for the high- and moderate-risk
      PCa cases. The maintenance medication could reduce the androgen-independent signs
      and disease progression, without increasing the risk of severe adverse events.
      However, for the low-risk patients, there was no major difference between the two
      medication schemes, immediate discontinuance and maintenance medication for
      another 3 months. Instead, further medication may bring about a higher risk of
      severe adverse events.

PMID- 28606276
TI  - [The comparation of fusion targeting biopsy and systematic biopsy in the clinical
      diagnosis of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis].
AB  - Objective: To systematically compare the differences in the detection rate of
      prostate cancer with fusion targeting biopsy and systemic biopsy. Methods: A
      computer-based search of PubMed, Medline, China Biomedical Literature Database
      and Wanfang database (from the beginning of establishment of library to October
      2016) on the detection rate of prostate cancer by fusion targeting biopsy and
      systemic biopsy was performed manually.The inclusion and exclusion criteria were
      formulated by 2 reviewers, and the data were extracted and evaluated
      respectively. RevMan5.3 software was used to analyze the detection rate of
      prostate cancer by two biopsy methods. Results: A total of 15 related clinical
      studies were included, 5 337 cases were enrolled in the study, including 2 667
      cases of targeted fusion biopsy and 2 670 cases of routine systemic biopsy. The
      results showed that the overall detection rate of prostate cancer in targeting
      fusion biopsy was significantly higher than that of conventional systemic biopsy
      (OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.04-1.30, P=0.007). The detection rates of prostate cancer with
      different risk grades by two biopsy methods were conducted. We found that
      targeted fusion biopsy had a significant advantage compared with conventional
      system biopsy (OR=1.37, 95% CI 1.19-1.58, P<0.05) in middle and high risk
      prostate cancer with Gleason >= 7 points. In low-risk prostate cancer patients
      with Gleason score <7, the detection rate of prostate cancer by targeted fusion
      biopsy was lower (OR=0.76, 95% CI 0.65-0.89, P<0.05) than that of conventional
      systemic biopsy. Conclusions: Targeted fusion biopsy was significantly better
      than systemic biopsy in the overall detection rate of prostate cancer and the
      detection rate of the middle and high risk prostate cancer with Gleason >=7
      points. However, systemic biopsy performed better in patients with Gleason<7
      points of low-risk prostate cancer.

PMID- 28606277
TI  - [Study and analysis of national current status and problems of anticoagulant
      proteins assay].
AB  - Objective: To investigate current status and problems of anticoagulant proteins
      assay in domestic laboratories so as to provide suggestions for implementing the
      standardization and quality improvement. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-four
      laboratories those had developed or prepared to do anticoagulant proteins assay
      were selected from one thousand and five hundred participants in the national
      coagulation screening External Quality Assessment(EQA) program by an internet
      survey and then a questionnaire and quality control materials were sent to them
      to carry out a further survey. The questionnaire information was analyzed
      statistically. The results of quality control materials were grouped by the
      reagents and the average, median, standard deviation(s), coefficient
      variation(CV) of each group were calculated. The deviations or percentage
      deviations were determined by comparing the results of each laboratory to the
      target defined as the peer-group median after exclusion of outliers, and then the
      pass rates were calculated based on the criterion of RCPA, DGKL and the allowable
      total error based on biological variation. Results: Two hundred and thirty-five
      questionnaires were collected. The number of laboratories testing
      antithrombin(AT), protein C(PC) and protein S(PS) activity were 194, 63 and 50
      respectively. The instruments and reagents were mainly from abroad (more than
      96%), the matching rate of which were above 94%. For AT, PC and PS activity
      testing, there were 30.4%, 33.3%, 34.0% of laboratories did not perform
      verification assays respectively, and 8.8%, 7.9%, 14.0% of laboratories did not
      renew calibration curve when the reagent lots were changed. 11.3%, 17.5%, 16.0%
      of laboratories didn't run internal quality control, and 34.9%, 26.9%, 21.4% of
      laboratories only performed a single level of quality control. 4.1% of
      laboratories set the reference intervals of AT activity according to different
      age groups, and the percentage of that of PC and PS activity were 1.6% and 2.0%.
      16.0% of laboratories set the reference interval of PS activity by sex. For
      normal control materials, the CV of AT, PC and PS activity results were 5.7%
      12.9%, 4.2%-7.7% and 18.4%-33.1% while the CV for abnormal level were 13.3%
      38.3%, 6.1%-14.4% and 31.5%-34.5% respectively. The pass rate was different when
      it was judged by different criteria. A suitable criterion for each item should be
      selected according to the concentration level of quality control materials.
      Conclusion: The comparability between laboratory results are not satisfactory and
      in order to promote quality improvement, it is necessary to develop guidelines,
      organize trainings and establish a national EQA scheme.

PMID- 28606278
TI  - [Efficacy of mitral valve repair versus replacement in severe ischemic mitral
      regurgitation].
AB  - Objective: To compare the mortality, survival rate and the therapeutic efficacy
      between mitral valve repair and replacement as treatment for severe ischemic
      mitral regurgitation (IMR), and explore the middle- and long-term outcomes.
      Methods: Between January 2000 and January 2016, 378 patients with severe IMR
      underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) combined with mitral valve
      repair (n=162) or mitral valve replacement (n=216) in the Department of
      Cardiovascular Surgery of Nanjing First Hospital. Clinical data, in-hospital
      morbidity and mortality of patients were retrospectively reviewed. The patients
      were followed up for the long term survival rate, heart function and re
      admission. Results: No statistically significant differences of baseline data and
      operation details were found between the two groups except for left ventricular
      end-diastolic diameter[(61.3+/-10.2)mm in replacement group vs (56.2+/-9.0)mm in
      repair group, P<0.001]. Seven patients died during the perioperative period, with
      a total operation mortality of 1.9%.No significant difference of mortality was
      found between the two groups (5 cases in the replacement group and 2 cases in the
      repair group). The early outcome after the surgery showed that the rate of low
      cardiac output and ventricular arrhythmia of patients were significantly higher
      in the replacement group compared with the repair group (both P<0.05). The
      mortality of patients received mitral valve replacement was better than who
      received mitral valve repair when left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was
      over 65 mm (5.9% vs 10.0%, P=0.036). No significant differences were observed
      between the two groups in the middle- and -long term survival rate (87% for
      replacement group vs 85% for repair group, P=0.568). The follow-up time was 1-85
      (52.8+/-21.5) months and the follow-up rate was 93%. The rate of valve-related
      complications was significantly higher in the repair group compared with the
      replacement group (8.82% vs 3.82%, P=0.003). Conclusions: We should choose the
      surgical methods carefully (replacement or repair) for severe IMR patients
      according to degree of left ventricular remodeling and pathological changes of
      mitral valve. Mitral valve replacement with preservation of the subvalvular
      apparatus is a safe and effective surgical alternative for mitral valve repair,
      especially for patients with complications or complex reflux.

PMID- 28606279
TI  - [Long-term outcomes of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the long-term outcomes of off-pump coronary artery
      bypass grafting (OPCABG). Methods: Clinical data of 1 129 consecutive patients (
      937 males and 192 females) with coronary artery disease receiving OPCABG at
      Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital between
      January 2000 and December 2015 was retrospectively analyzed.The age of patients
      ranged from 29 to 83 years, with a mean age of (62.0+/-9.6) years. The follow-up
      data of the patients, including the graft patency and repeated revascularization
      rate, were analyzed. Results: Of the 1 129 patients analyzed, 1 059 cases (93.8%)
      were available for follow-up for 29-192 months[with a mean time of (95.6+/-34.1)
      months]. The 5-year, 10-year, 15-year and 16-year graft patency rate of arterial
      graft was 96.1%, 95.4%, 93.7% and 93.2%, respectively. The 5-year, 10-year, 15
      year and 16-year graft patency rate of venous graft was 92.8%, 81.4%, 70.9% and
      68.3%, respectively. During the follow-up, 69 (6.11%) patients underwent repeated
      revascularization procedures. Conclusion: OPCABG is safe and effective with a
      good long-term graft patency rate.

PMID- 28606280
TI  - [Importance of segmental lymph nodes in the pathological staging of non-small
      cell lung cancer].
AB  - Objective: To explore the role of the segmental lymph node dissection in the
      pathologic staging of non-small cell lung cancer. Methods: A total of 370
      consecutive non-small cell lung cancer patients who underwent radical resection
      between August 2008 and July 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. All the
      operations were performed by the same group of surgeons. The relationship of the
      segmental lymph nodes with pathological stages after radical resection was
      analyzed in order to explore the role of the lymph node dissection in the
      pathologic staging of non-small cell lung cancer (using the 7th edition of the
      American Joint Committee on Cancer and Union for International Cancer Control TNM
      classification for lung cancer ). Results: The detection rates of hilar nodes,
      interlobar nodes, lobar nodes and segmental nodes were 69.7%, 86.8%, 84.0%,
      67.0%, respectively. The metastasis rates of hilar nodes, interlobar nodes, lobar
      nodes and segmental nodes were 6.5%, 10.8%, 15.7% and 10.3%, respectively. There
      were 238 cases of N0 disease, 62 cases of N1 disease, 69 cases of N2 disease and
      1 case of N3 disease. If the analysis of segmental lymph nodes had been omitted,
      16 patients (25.8% of N1 disease) would have been down-staged to N0, and 5 cases
      of multiple-station N1 disease would have been misdiagnosed as single-station N1
      disease, 2 patients would have been misdiagnosed as N2 disease with skip
      metastases. Conclusion: Segmental nodes play an important role in the accurate
      staging of non-small cell lung cancer.

PMID- 28606281
TI  - [Effect of different anesthetic techniques on the prognosis of hepatocellular
      carcinoma after hepatectomy].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the influence of different anesthetic techniques on the
      prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)after hepatectomy. Methods: A total of
      185 consecutive patients with HCC confirmed underwent surgery in Cancer Hospital,
      Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were recruited from January 2006 to January
      2008. The patients were assessed as American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)I
      III, with body mass index (BMI) (22.8+/-4.6)kg/m(2). There were 169 males, with
      an average age of 56 years old and 16 females, with an average age of 53 years
      old. According to the different anesthesia methods, 185 patients were divided
      into two groups: total intravenous anesthesia group (TIVA) (n=53) and intravenous
      inhalation combined anesthesia group (n=132). Postoperative pain and adverse
      reactions were compared in recent follow-up, prognosis were compared in long-term
      follow-up. Results: Recent follow-up showed that the NRS scores 2 hours after
      operation in TIVA group was 2.0 (0-2.0), whereas those in intravenous-inhalation
      combined anesthesia group was 3.0 (1.0-3.0). The pain in TIVA groups was
      significantly lower than that in intravenous-inhalation combined anesthesia group
      (Z=-3.261, P=0.001). But for 24 hours after operation, the NRS scores in these
      two groups were 3.0 (2.0-5.0) and 3.0 (3.0-4.0), respectively. There was no
      significant difference in the two groups (Z=-0.035, P=0.972). In addition, there
      was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidence of
      sedation, nausea/vomiting, restlessness and other adverse reactions (all P>0.05).
      Long-term follow-up indicated that anesthetic techniques have no correlation with
      HCC prognosis in Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox's regression analysis. Conclusion:
      There is no significant effect of two anesthesia methods on the long-term
      prognosis of HCC.

PMID- 28606282
TI  - [Risk factors of rupture of internal carotid artery during surgical resection of
      carotid body tumor].
AB  - Objective: To investigate risk factors of rupture of internal carotid artery
      resection during carotid body tumor resection and to summarize our treatment
      experience. Methods: During the period from 1991 to 2016, rupture of internal
      carotid artery occurred in 27 patients (28 tumors) during surgical resection of
      carotid body tumor in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
      Their clinical and follow-up data were retrospectively collected and analyzed.
      For all patients underwent surgical resection during this period, Logistic
      regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors of intraoperative
      rupture of internal carotid artery. Results: Of these 28 tumors, there were 15
      (53.6%) tumors with diameter>=5 cm and 20 (71.4%) Shamblin III tumors.
      Intraoperatively, shunt was applied for 8 (28.6%) cases. Thirteen (46.4%)
      patients underwent ligation of external carotid artery, while 2 (7.1%) patients
      accepted resection of cranial nerves. Direct closure/patchplasty, autologous
      vessels or graft reconstruction was used in 16, 10 and 2 cases, respectively.
      Postoperatively, stroke occurred in 4(14.3%) cases and cranial nerve deficit in
      15 (53.6%) cases. During a median length of 36 (14-125) months, cranial nerve
      deficit persisted in 5 cases. Follow-up radiologic examination indicated 3
      (10.7%) cases of targeted vessel occlusion. However, no new-onset stroke was
      identified. Among all patients underwent surgical resection of carotid body
      tumor, female (OR=3.650, P=0.012), age<=25 years old (OR=3.710, P=0.013) and
      Shamblin III tumor (OR=4.631, P=0.008) increase the risks of intraoperative
      carotid artery rupture. Conclusions: Shamblin III tumor is the predictor of
      rupture of internal carotid artery. Intraoperative, properly increased blood
      pressure, intraoperative heparinization and use of shunt for those cases without
      well-compensated cranial collateral arteries are likely to decreasing the
      incidence of stroke.

PMID- 28606283
TI  - [Assessment of the radial and ulnar arteries hemodynamic changes by ultrasound in
      patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis after thoracic sympathetic block].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the value of radial and ulnar arteries hemodynamic changes
      by ultrasound in patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis after thoracic
      sympathetic block. Methods: This was a prospective study, from January 2016 to
      September 2016, 23 patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis were admitted to
      the First Hospital of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, 92 arteries of these
      patients who underwent thoracic sympathetic block were enrolled into this study.
      Diameters, peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV) and
      resistive index (RI) of the radial and ulnar arteries were examined one day
      before and after the operation by color Doppler ultrasound. Spectral waveforms of
      these arteries were observed, and palms temperature (T), oxygen saturation
      (SpO(2)), perfusion index (PI) were also measured. Diameters, PSV, EDV, RI, T,
      SpO(2) and PI of the patients with PH were compared before and after the surgery.
      The effect of operation was also evaluated. Results: Before surgery, diameters
      and EDV of the radial and ulnar arteries of the patients with PH were(2.12+/
      0.36) mm, (1.50+/-0.32) mm, (4.90+/-1.84) cm/s, (4.71+/-1.65) cm/s, respectively,
      after surgery, the diameter of the RA, UA and EDV were (2.45+/-0.54) mm, (1.87+/
      0.44) mm, (9.37+/-1.69) cm/s and (9.12+/-1.54) cm/s, which were significantly
      increased.Before surgery, RI of the RA and UA of the patients were (0.85+/-0.05),
      (0.97+/-0.07) , respectively, after surgery, RI of the RA and UA were (0.57+/
      0.04), (0.64+/-0.09), respectively, which were significantly decreased after
      surgery. The difference was statistically significant (t=-5.23, -2.33, -19.80, 
      14.68, 3.31, 3.48, all P<0.01). Before surgery, PSV of the RA and UA of the
      patients were (46.38+/-15.12) cm/s, (45.60+/-14.88) cm/s , respectively, after
      surgery, PSV of the RA and UA were (46.93+/-16.02) cm/s, (46.19+/-15.30) cm/s ,
      respectively. The difference was not statistically significant (t=-0.23, -1.39,
      all P>0.05). Before surgery, T, SpO(2) and PI of the patients were(29.7+/-1.04)
      C, (93.24+/-2.23) %, (1.11+/-0.13) % , respectively, after surgery, T, SpO(2) and
      PI of the patients were (35.09+/-1.21) C, (98.10+/-1.34) %, (4.77+/-1.22)% ,
      respectively. The difference was statistically significant (t=-20.174, -1.140, 
      23.601, all P<0.05). The symptoms of hyperhidrosis of the patients were
      disappeared immediately after the surgery in both hands. All of the patients were
      cured within 3 months and there was no severe complications. Conclusion: Thoracic
      sympathetic block increase Diameters and EDV but decrease RI of the radial and
      ulnar arteries of the patients with PH and increase the palms temperature. Artery
      diameters, EDV, and RI measured by ultrasound can be used as parameters to
      evaluate the effect of thoracic sympathetic block in patients with PH. It's
      objective, non-invasive and convenient.

PMID- 28606284
TI  - [Efficacy of clindamycin-primaquine as the salvage treatment for pneumocystis
      pneumonia in non-HIV-infected patients].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of clindamycin-primaquine as the salvage
      treatment for pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in non-HIV-infected patients. Methods:
      Clinical data of non-HIV-infected patients with PCP who were treated with
      clindamycin-primaquine as the salvage treatment in Peking University First
      Hospital from Jan 2010 to May 2016 were collected and reviewed in this
      retrospective study. Clinical outcomes were analyzed to evaluate the efficacy of
      clindamycin-primaquine as a salvage treatment. Results: A total of 19 non-HIV
      infected patients with PCP were included. The average age was 44.6+/-16.1 years
      old. All patients had a history of glucocorticoids usage, and presented with
      fever, nonproductive cough and progressive dyspnea. The diagnoses were confirmed
      by positive methenamine silver staining in the induced sputum or bronchoalveolar
      lavage fluid. The reasons for the change of treatment were either failure of the
      first line therapy (13 cases) or severe adverse effects of the original treatment
      (6 cases). Ten patients were cured with the salvage treatment, while nine
      patients died. Four of thirteen patients who were switched due to treatment
      failure responded to clindamycin-primaquine treatment, while all the 6 patients
      who switched the treatment due to the severe adverse effects of trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole were cured, the difference was statistically significant
      (P=0.011). Adverse reactions occurred in 3 cases, all of which were
      methemoglobinemia. Conclusion: In non-HIV-infected patients with PCP who have
      failed or can not tolerate the first-line therapy, clindamycin-primaquine may
      still be effective as a salvage treatment.

PMID- 28606285
TI  - [The application of short stent in root of aorta for the treatment of Stanford
      type A aortic dissection].
AB  - Objective: To explore the effect of implanting short stent in root of aorta for
      the treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection. Methods: Clinical data of 39
      patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection who underwent surgical procedure
      at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of Luoyang Central Hospital
      Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, between January 2013 and December 2015 were
      retrospectively analyzed. There were 31 males and 8 females aged 27 to 75 (49.3+/
      10.3) years. All patients received short stent implanting in aortic root, total
      arch replacement and stented elephant trunk implantation were performed at the
      same time. Results: All the operations were successfully performed. Two patients
      died during hospitalization. Four patients underwent reexploration for
      postoperative bleeding. Postoperative mortality was 5.1%(2/39). Follow-up
      duration was 3 to 24 months, with a median time of 14 months. One patient died of
      lung infection, gastrointestinal bleeding and renal faliure during follow-up.
      Conclusion: Patients with aortic intimal tear located at higher root of aorta may
      be suitable for short stent implanting, and the procedure has satisfactory
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28606286
TI  - [Effect of water-soluble C(60) fullerenes on pulmonary fibrosis induced by
      bleomycin in mice].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the role of water-soluble C(60) fullerenes in mice model
      of lung injury and fibrosis that induced by bleomycin. Methods: A total of 20
      healthy C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into normal control group, bleomycin
      group, high dose C(60) group, low dose C(60) group, each group with 5 mice. Mice
      were induced pulmonary fibrosis by intratracheal injection of bleomycin except
      the normal control group, which was induced by saline instead. In low dose C(60)
      group and high dose C(60) group, 1 mg.kg(-1).d(-1) and 10 mg.kg(-1).d(-1) water
      soluble C(60) fullerenes was injected into mice intraperitoneally every day,
      which began from one day before intratracheal instillation of bleomycin until the
      end of observation. Saline was given to mice in the same way in normal control
      and bleomycin group. This study investigated the variation of weight and survival
      rate of mice for 14 d. HE-staining and Masson's trichrome staining were used to
      assess the severity of fibrosis according to the method proposed by Ashcroft at
      14th day. Total lung collagen content was determined by hydroxyproline assay. The
      changes of transforming growth factor-beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)) and tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in plasma, bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and
      lung tissue were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). And, the
      amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was tested by 2, 7-dichlorofuorescin
      diacetate (DCFH-DA), and determined by the ratio of fluorescence intensity and
      protein content (OD/MUg). Results: C(60) can protect mice that injured by
      bleomycin from weight loss. According the method proposed by Ashcroft et al.HE
      and Masson's trichrome staining showed that collagen deposition in lung tissue
      were markedly attenuated in C(60) (1 mg.kg(-1).d(-1) and 10 mg.kg(-1).d(-1))
      treated mice compared with bleomycin model mice[(4.08+/-0.52), (3.00+/-0.41) vs
      (6.75+/-0.75) points, both P<0.01]. In low dose C(60) group and high dose C(60)
      group, the content of hydroxyproline in lung tissue were significantly lower than
      that in bleomycin group[(0.36+/-0.06), (0.35+/-0.08) vs (0.55+/-0.16) MUg/mg,
      both P<0.05]. The level of TGF-beta(1) in BALF and lung tissue were also
      decreased in mice treated with C(60) (10 mg.kg(-1).d(-1)) compared with bleomycin
      model mice, but the difference had no statistical significance[(9.38+/-5.32) vs
      (23.60+/-8.96) pg/ml, (2.89+/-0.35) vs (6.44+/-2.95) pg/mg, both P>0.05]. Also,
      in high dose C(60) group, the content of TNF-alpha in plasma, BALF and lung
      tissue were significantly lower than those in bleomycin group[(4.56+/-0.73) vs
      (7.21+/-2.26) pg/ml, (34.58+/-23.30) vs (151.00+/-27.34) pg/ml, (22.99+/-5.83) vs
      (122.90+/-22.04) pg/mg, all P<0.05]. In addition, Compared with bleomycin group,
      ROS in lung tissue was significantly decreased after treatment with C(60) (10
      mg.kg(-1).d(-1))[(19.68+/-0.91) vs (22.92+/-1.71) OD/MUg, P<0.05]. Conclusion:
      Water-soluble C(60) fullerenes reduce the severity of pulmonary fibrosis induced
      by bleomycin in mice.

PMID- 28606287
TI  - [Homology of Legionella strains isolated from clinical cases and environmental
      water in Shenyang].
AB  - Objective: To study the homology of Legionella pneumophila (LP) strains which
      were isolated from clinical specimens and environmental water. Methods: Twenty
      two Legionella strains were collected in which 2 strains were isolated from 2
      cases of LP infection patients, and others were isolated from domestic water or
      air conditioning cooling tower water of 2 hospitals and 13 companies from July
      2012 to September 2014 in Shenyang. They were recovered and analyzed by the pulse
      field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with AscI restriction enzymes. Data were cluster
      analyzed using SPSS 19.0. Results: Twenty of 22 strains were LP1, and others were
      LP7 and LP8. Twenty-two strains could be divided into 14 genotypes, and 7 strains
      belonged to SYC banding pattern. The same bacterial serotype presented with
      different genotypes. Different bacterial serotypes and genotypes of LP strains
      can be found in the same place, and homology could be observed between LP strains
      isolated from cooling tower water and domestic water within the same hospital.
      Conclusion: In Shenyang area, LP strains which are isolated from clinical cases
      and environmental water have the characteristics of gene polymorphism. Legionella
      strains isolated from different water system in the same hospital have homology.

PMID- 28606288
TI  - Factors associated with unwanted sexual experiences of young Australian females:
      an observational study.
AB  - : Background Behavioural and lifestyle factors associated with childhood unwanted
      sexual experiences (USE) have yet to be investigated in Australian females aged
      less than 18 years. METHODS: Women aged 16-25 years living in Victoria were
      recruited via targeted advertising on Facebook. A web-based validated
      questionnaire was used to collect information on participant demographics, mental
      health, USE and sexual behaviours. Multivariable logistic regression was used to
      determine associations between a history of childhood (<16 years) and adolescent
      (16-18 years) USE and indices of sexual orientation. RESULTS: Data were collected
      from 639 females (mean+/-s.d. age 22+/-3 years). Approximately 14% reported
      childhood USE and 15% reported adolescent USE. Approximately 37% of survivors of
      childhood USE reported penile-genital contact in relation to their USE.
      Participants who reported depression were almost four times as likely to have
      experienced childhood USE than those who did not report suffering from depression
      (odds ratio 3.6, 95% confidence interval 2.1-6.0, P<0.001). Positive associations
      between childhood USE, same-sex relationships and smoking were also detected.
      CONCLUSIONS: A strong relationship between childhood USE, depression and same-sex
      sexual behaviours was found, but results did not determine the direction of this
      association. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to investigate whether
      there are groups of individuals who are at a high risk of experiencing childhood
      USE, so that appropriate support systems can be put in place.

PMID- 28606289
TI  - Integrated care among healthcare providers in shared maternity care: what is the
      role of paper and electronic health records?
AB  - This study examines a paper hand-held record and a shared electronic health
      record in an Australian tertiary hospital healthcare maternity setting and the
      role that both types of records play in facilitating integrated care among
      healthcare providers. A qualitative research design was used where five focus
      groups were conducted in two phases with 69 hospital healthcare providers. In
      total, 32 interviews were also carried out with general practitioners.
      Transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Three key themes
      were identified: (1) selective use of records; (2) records as communication of
      care; and (3) negativity about the use of records. This study demonstrates that
      healthcare providers do not effectively share information using either a paper
      hand-held record or a shared electronic health record. Considering a national
      commitment to e-health innovation, a multi-professional input, organisational
      support and continuing education are identified as crucial to realising the
      potential of a maternity shared electronic health record to facilitate integrated
      care.

PMID- 28606290
TI  - ?

PMID- 28606291
TI  - ?

PMID- 28606293
TI  - ?

PMID- 28606294
TI  - [Lungehernie].

PMID- 28606292
TI  - ?

PMID- 28606295
TI  - [Diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder].
AB  - The post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis has undergone large
      developments. With the changes in DSM-5 and the proposed changes in ICD-11, the
      two systems move in different directions. Treatment for PTSD is developing, but
      the evidence for the effect is lacking behind. Trauma-focused cognitive
      behavioural therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing remain
      first choice. Pharmacotherapy is secondary. There is evidence for the effect of
      paroxetine, venlafaxine and fluoxetine and less so for sertraline.

PMID- 28606296
TI  - [Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease].
AB  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic
      disorder which causes end stage renal disease. In Denmark, estimated 5,000
      patients are living with the disease. Most of the patients are in regular contact
      with physicians due to the progression of kidney failure causing hypertension as
      well as cyst infections, back pain, abdominal distension and other symptoms
      caused by the enlarged kidneys. In this article we describe the clinical
      presentation, the genetics, the pathophysiology and the current and future
      treatment modalities of the disease.

PMID- 28606297
TI  - [Spontaneous renal rupture of fornix due to obstructing urethral stone].
AB  - A 53-year-old man was hospitalized due to acute right-sided flank pain. The pain
      went from right flank to right fossa. A non-contrast computed tomography (CT) of
      the abdomen showed pronounced stranding, hydronephrosis and proximal hydroureter.
      A CT urography showed oedema proximally around the right kidney and pyelogram.
      Due to lack of contrast excretion in the right kidney, initially "white kidney",
      there was need of an acute JJ-stent placement. No cause of obstruction was found
      during operation, however, after the stent placement, the patient was completely
      relieved of pain.

PMID- 28606298
TI  - [Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome in a young man].
AB  - A 24-year-old man presented with orofacial swelling, peripheral facial palsy and
      fissured tongue. Apart from a previous episode of peripheral palsy, he had no
      history of illness. Biopsy of the lip, blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging of
      the head and lumbar puncture showed no pathology. He received systemic prednisone
      for ten days, and follow-up showed sparse improvement in facial movements. The
      patient could have been misdiagnosed with Bell's palsy, but the symptoms rather
      indicated a case of Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome. This rare syndrome is
      presenting in oligo- or monosymptomatic forms and is often mistaken for Bell's
      palsy. There is no existing gold standard of treatment, and different modalities
      have been considered with no consistent response.

PMID- 28606299
TI  - [Physical exercise is a help for lean women with polycystic ovary syndrome].
AB  - Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 12-21% of women in the childbearing age
      and is the most common cause of hyperandrogenaemia and anovulatory infertility.
      There is an increase in insulin resistance in both overweight and lean women with
      PCOS. Exercise treatment is mandatory among the overweight women due to
      sufficient evidence that it can improve the signs and symptoms of PCOS. This has
      not been fully investigated among the lean. However, new randomized controlled
      trials show that structured physical exercise can also improve insulin
      sensitivity, hyperandrogenaemia and menstrual frequency in lean women with PCOS.

PMID- 28606300
TI  - [Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo treatment].
AB  - Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) remains the most frequent cause of
      vertigo. The TRV chair is a mechanical device suited for optimization of managing
      complex cases of BPPV. Although the use of repositioning devices in the
      management of BPPV is increasing, no applicable guide for the TRV management of
      the different BPPV subtypes exists. This article presents the techniques for
      addressing canalolithiasis and cupulolithiasis in the TRV chair for each affected
      semicircular canal. In a tertiary referral centre like our unit the TRV chair is
      an asset in the management of BPPV.

PMID- 28606301
TI  - [Treating hoarding disorder in a 12-year-old boy].
AB  - In this case report hoarding disorder is described in a 12-year-old boy who
      suffered from obsessive collection of things. The disorder is a separate
      diagnostic entity in DSM-5, and it will probably be a separate disorder in ICD-11
      called hoarding disorder. The disorder is generally considered difficult to
      treat, but this case report describes significant reduction in hoarding symptoms
      on cognitive behavioural therapy and treatment with selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibitors.

PMID- 28606302
TI  - [Brain abscesses caused by Nocardia farcinica in a kidney transplanted man].
AB  - Nocardiosis is primarily an opportunistic infection caused by aerobic Gram
      positive bacteria of the genus Nocardia. In this case report we describe a male
      patient who previously received a kidney transplant and was admitted to hospital
      with chills, headache and pain in the neck and left eye, tremor and coordination
      problems. A magnetic resonance scan of the brain showed multiple abscesses, and
      blood culture was positive for Nocardia farcinica. Nocardiosis of the central
      nervous system is a rare, but serious differential diagnosis in immunosuppressed
      patients with signs of high intracranial pressure.

PMID- 28606305
TI  - Why mother rats protect their children.
AB  - The presence of the hormone oxytocin in the central amygdala makes a mother rat
      willing to put her life in danger in order to protect her offspring.

PMID- 28606303
TI  - Effects of myosin variants on interacting-heads motif explain distinct
      hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy phenotypes.
AB  - Cardiac beta-myosin variants cause hypertrophic (HCM) or dilated (DCM)
      cardiomyopathy by disrupting sarcomere contraction and relaxation. The locations
      of variants on isolated myosin head structures predict contractility effects but
      not the prominent relaxation and energetic deficits that characterize HCM. During
      relaxation, pairs of myosins form interacting-heads motif (IHM) structures that
      with other sarcomere proteins establish an energy-saving, super-relaxed (SRX)
      state. Using a human beta-cardiac myosin IHM quasi-atomic model, we defined
      interactions sites between adjacent myosin heads and associated protein partners,
      and then analyzed rare variants from 6112 HCM and 1315 DCM patients and 33,370
      ExAC controls. HCM variants, 72% that changed electrostatic charges,
      disproportionately altered IHM interaction residues (expected 23%; HCM 54%,
      p=2.6*10-19; DCM 26%, p=0.66; controls 20%, p=0.23). HCM variant locations
      predict impaired IHM formation and stability, and attenuation of the SRX state -
      accounting for altered contractility, reduced diastolic relaxation, and increased
      energy consumption, that fully characterizes HCM pathogenesis.

PMID- 28606307
TI  - Infections in the Breast-Common Imaging Presentations and Mimics.

PMID- 28606304
TI  - Presynaptic LRP4 promotes synapse number and function of excitatory CNS neurons.
AB  - Precise coordination of synaptic connections ensures proper information flow
      within circuits. The activity of presynaptic organizing molecules signaling to
      downstream pathways is essential for such coordination, though such entities
      remain incompletely known. We show that LRP4, a conserved transmembrane protein
      known for its postsynaptic roles, functions presynaptically as an organizing
      molecule. In the Drosophila brain, LRP4 localizes to the nerve terminals at or
      near active zones. Loss of presynaptic LRP4 reduces excitatory (not inhibitory)
      synapse number, impairs active zone architecture, and abolishes olfactory
      attraction - the latter of which can be suppressed by reducing presynaptic GABAB
      receptors. LRP4 overexpression increases synapse number in excitatory and
      inhibitory neurons, suggesting an instructive role and a common downstream
      synapse addition pathway. Mechanistically, LRP4 functions via the conserved
      kinase SRPK79D to ensure normal synapse number and behavior. This highlights a
      presynaptic function for LRP4, enabling deeper understanding of how synapse
      organization is coordinated.

PMID- 28606306
TI  - Freezing suppression by oxytocin in central amygdala allows alternate defensive
      behaviours and mother-pup interactions.
AB  - When animals and their offspring are threatened, parents switch from self-defense
      to offspring protection. How self-defense is suppressed remains elusive. We
      postulated that suppression of the self-defense response, freezing, is gated via
      oxytocin acting in the centro-lateral amygdala (CeL). We found that rat dams
      conditioned to fear an odor, froze when tested alone, whereas if pups were
      present, they remained in close contact with them or targeted the threat.
      Furthermore, blocking oxytocin signaling in the CeL prevented the suppression of
      maternal freezing. Finally, pups exposed to the odor in the presence of the
      conditioned dam later froze when re-exposed alone. However, if oxytocin signaling
      in the dam had been blocked, pups failed to learn. This study provides a
      functional role for the well-described action of oxytocin in the central
      amygdala, and demonstrates that self-defense suppression allows for active pup
      protection and mother-pup interactions crucial for pup threat learning.

PMID- 28606309
TI  - Nuclear Medicine Imaging of Infection.

PMID- 28606308
TI  - Uncommon Infections in the Breast.

PMID- 28606310
TI  - Infections of the Gastrointestinal Tract.

PMID- 28606311
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Hepatic Abscesses.

PMID- 28606312
TI  - Imaging of Infections of the Urinary and Male Reproductive Tracts.

PMID- 28606313
TI  - Imaging of Obstetrical and Gynecological Infections.

PMID- 28606314
TI  - Image-Guided Treatment of Abdominal and Pelvic Abscesses.

PMID- 28606315
TI  - Spatial cognition.

PMID- 28606316
TI  - Protective immune responses during prepatency in goat kids experimentally
      infected with Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae.
AB  - During the first schizogony, the goat coccidia Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae develops
      macroschizonts in lacteal duct endothelial cells, whose rupture leads to severe
      ileal damage and clinical signs during the prepatent period. The immune response
      elicited against early stages of the parasite development still requires to be
      investigated. In the present study we have evaluated immune reactions in goat
      kids primary- and challenged-infected with Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae, and
      sacrificed during prepatency (7days after challenge). The oocyst output during
      the primary infection, body weight and clinical condition of all the animals were
      examined and, at the end of the experiment, all the goat kids were euthanized and
      subjected to necropsy. Samples were taken from different sections of the ileum,
      colon and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of primary- and challenged E.
      ninakohlyakimovae-infected animals. Intestinal leukocyte subpopulations were
      characterized in E. ninakohlyakimovae-infected mucosa and counts of lymphocytes,
      eosinophils, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), globular leukocytes and mast
      cells were recorded. Additionally, gene expression of caprine IL-2, IL-4, IL-10
      and INFgamma of ileal, colonic and MLN tissues were performed, as well as the
      immunohistochemical characterization of immune cells. The E. ninakohlyakimovae
      primary infection resulted in moderate to severe enteritis with different degrees
      of diarrhoea and was accompanied by high OPG counts and an increase of most
      immune cells analyzed when compared to uninfected control animals. Furthermore,
      eosinophil-, lymphocyte-, globular leukocyte- and mast cell-counts were
      significantly higher in the challenge group compared to the primary infected
      animals, whilst the opposite was true for PMN counts. The challenge infection was
      also associated with moderate increased levels of local mucosal IgA.
      Interestingly, the number of immature schizonts found at the ileal mucosa was
      statistically higher in the challenge infected group compared to the challenged
      control animals. Furthermore, in the challenged E. ninakohlyakimovae-infected
      animals a significantly higher number of mucosal CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes were
      observed, indicating that these T cell subpopulations might be involved in
      protective host immune response elicited against early stages of parasite
      development. The immune response was however very complex, as antigen presenting
      cells and other effector cell populations of the innate immune system, as well as
      certain cytokines, were involved. In summary, the results of this study
      contribute to the better understanding of local cellular and humoral immune
      responses against caprine E. ninakohlyakimovae, particularly during the
      prepatency.

PMID- 28606317
TI  - Molecular occurrence of trypanosomes, erythrocyte and serum sialic acid
      concentrations of Muturu and Bunaji cattle in Benue State, Nigeria.
AB  - One hundred each, of Muturu and Bunaji cattle were screened, using polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR), for trypanosomes in Makurdi and Gboko Local Government
      Areas of Benue State, Nigeria. Erythrocyte surface sialic acid (ESSA) and free
      serum sialic acid (FSSA) concentrations were determined and compared in both
      breeds with the aim of providing baseline data for research and diagnostic
      purposes. Five per cent (5%) and 23% of the Muturu and Bunaji cattle,
      respectively, were positive for trypanosomes. The result at p=0.005 was
      significantly different, with p value of 0.0002 and odd ratio of 0.1762. The
      Trypanosoma species circulating in Benue State, as detected in the two breeds of
      cattle, were Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax, T. brucei and T. evansi. This
      study, therefore, reports for the first time a natural infection of cattle with
      T. evansi and the use of a novel PCR in the diagnosis of trypanosome infections
      in cattle in Benue State, Nigeria. The determination of the ESSA and FSSA
      concentrations in Muturu cattle in Nigeria is also reported for the first time.
      The Muturu cattle have a significantly higher ESSA than the Bunaji cattle, this
      may be responsible for their relative trypanotolerance.

PMID- 28606318
TI  - Integrative taxonomy of Goezia spinulosa (Nematoda: Raphidascarididae) from
      arapaimas in the northwestern Brazil.
AB  - Arapaima gigas, a fish with a high market value, has been farmed in different
      localities within Brazil. Among its parasites, adults of Goezia spinulosa are
      reported to cause ulcers in the stomach and to result in the death of farmed
      fingerlings. Due to the veterinary importance of this nematode in cultured
      arapaimas, an integrative taxonomic study is proposed, combining morphological,
      ultrastructural and genetic profiles of this parasite. The fish were obtained
      from semi-intensive fish farming in Acre State, Brazil. The fish measured 7-42cm
      in total length and the intensity of infection was 1-60 parasites per fish. The
      site of infection was mainly the stomach. Morphological and ultrastructural
      analyses of G. spinulosa showed the importance of its spiny body in firmly
      attaching the worm to the gastric mucosa, resulting in lesions, ulcers and deep
      gastric perforations of the stomach wall. New sequences for partial 18S rDNA,
      ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 rDNA, partial 28S rDNA, cox1 mtDNA and for cox2 mtDNA are
      presented. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on the partial 18S and 28S rDNA
      shows species of Goezia occur in a clade well separated from other genera in both
      analyses. Both the partial 18S and 28S rDNA genes represented good genetic
      markers for distinguishing genera of the Raphidascarididae, with exception of
      Hysterothylacium. This integrated taxonomic study produced a robust profile for
      G. spinulosa that will aid the diagnosis of both adults and larval stages from
      arapaimas and possible intermediate hosts.

PMID- 28606319
TI  - Seroprevalence of and risk factors for Neospora caninum infection in yaks (Bos
      grunniens) in China.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to detect the seroprevalence of Neospora caninum
      infection in yaks in Gansu province, China. Serum samples from 974 white yaks and
      610 black yaks were tested by a commercial competitive-inhibition ELISA for the
      detection of specific anti-N. caninum antibodies.; N. caninum antibodies were
      detected in 10.4% of yaks with higher prevalence in black (11.5% of 610) than
      white yak (8.6% of 974). Age, regions and sampling times were considered as risk
      factors associated with N. caninum infection. These results revealed the
      seroprevalence of N. caninum in white yaks for the first time in China.

PMID- 28606320
TI  - Lice induced immuno-oxidative wreckage of goats.
AB  - The present study aimed to evaluate the immuno-oxidative patho-biology of lice
      infestation in goats. Sixty goats were divided into five groups; sucking lice
      (Linognathus africanus) infested (Group 1, n=12), chewing lice (Bovicola caprae)
      infested-mild (Group 2, n=12), chewing lice (B. caprae) infested-moderate (Group
      3, n=12), chewing lice (B. caprae) infested-severe (Group 4, n=12) and healthy
      control (Group 5, n=12). To assess the pathological changes, markers of oxidative
      stress (lipid peroxidation-LPO, reduced glutathione-GSH, superoxide dismutase
      SOD, Catalase-CAT and total antioxidant capacity-TAC), the markers of immune
      status (Tumour necrosis factor alpha- TNF-alpha, Interleukin-10- IL-10,
      Transforming growth factor beta 1- TGF-beta1, ratios of TNF-alpha/IL-10 and TNF
      alpha/TGF-beta1) and hemato-biochemical status were evaluated. Significant
      anemia, hypoglycemia, hypoproteinemia and hypoalbuminemia were observed in
      caprine pediculosis irrespective of the type of lice infested. Remarkably
      increased oxidative stress was observed in chewing lice infested goats and no
      significant changes in oxidative stress markers were observed in sucking lice
      infested goats. TGF-beta mediated suppression of Th1 and Th2 immune responses was
      observed in sucking lice infested goats; whereas, a Th2 cytokine dominant
      inflammatory response was observed in chewing lice infested goats. From the
      present study, it may be concluded that sucking lice infestation produces
      remarkable immunosuppression and chewing lice infestation produces significant
      oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in goats.

PMID- 28606321
TI  - Characterization of glutathione S-transferase and its immunodiagnostic potential
      for detecting Taenia multiceps.
AB  - Taenia multiceps is a widespread zoonotic tapeworm parasite which infects cloven
      hoofed animals around the world. Animal infection with Coenurus cerebralis, the
      coenurus larvae of T. multiceps (Tm), is often fatal, which is a major cause of
      economic losses in stockbreeding. This study amplified the glutathione S
      transferase (GST) gene from the total RNA of C. cerebralis. The resulting
      protein, Tm-GST, consisted of 201 amino acids, and had a predicted molecular mass
      of 23.1kDa. Its amino acid sequence shares 77.61% similarity with Echinococcus
      granulosus GST. Recombinant Tm-GST (rTm-GST) was expressed in Escherichia coli.
      The protein reacted with serum from goats infected with T. multiceps.
      Immunofluorescence signals indicated that Tm-GST was largely localized in the
      parenchymatous area of adult T. multiceps; in addition, it was also apparent in
      the coenurus. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on rTm-GST showed
      specificity of 92.8% (13/14) and sensitivity of 90% (18/20) in detecting anti-GST
      antibodies in serum from naturally infected animals. This study suggests that Tm
      GST has the potential to be used as a diagnostic antigen for Coenurosis.

PMID- 28606322
TI  - Peripheral and placental immune responses in goats after primoinfection with
      Neospora caninum at early, mid and late gestation.
AB  - Neospora caninum can cause reproductive failure in goats. However, the
      pathogenesis of neosporosis in this domestic species remains largely unknown. We
      recently demonstrated that the outcome of experimental infection by N. caninum in
      pregnant goats is highly dependent on the time of gestation, during which
      infection occurs. In the present study, we examined the peripheral and placental
      immune responses in these groups of goats infected with 106 tachyzoites of the Nc
      Spain7 isolate at early (G1, at day 40 of gestation, dg), mid (G2, 90 dg) and
      late (G3, 120 dg) gestation, together with a group of non-infected goats as a
      control group (G4). Seroconversion was observed as early as day 10 post-infection
      (pi) in all goats from G1 that aborted earlier (10-11 pi). The remaining infected
      goats had seroconverted by day 14 pi. Similar IFN-gamma kinetic profiles were
      found in sera from goats in G1 and G2 with a significant increase in the IFN
      gamma levels on days 7 and 10 pi. This increase was not observed in G3. A similar
      pattern of placental cytokine expression was found in all infected groups. IFN
      gamma and IL-4 showed the highest increase, followed by a weaker up-regulation in
      TNF-alpha and IL-10. The lowest up-regulation was observed for IL-12 expression.
      In summary, this study provides information regarding the dynamics of immune
      responses and their relationship with the outcome of N. caninum infection in
      goats during gestation.

PMID- 28606323
TI  - Coprodiagnosis of Echinococcus granulosus infection in dogs from Ankara, Turkey.
AB  - The present study were undertaken to compare two isolation techniques
      (centrifugal flotation and sedimentation) for recovering taeniid eggs from faecal
      samples, to identify E. granulosus DNA from taeniid eggs by PCR, and to determine
      the prevalence of E. granulosus in dogs in villages. Faecal samples were
      collected from 100 dogs in Ankara province. Taenia spp. eggs were found in 27% of
      dogs faeces. Echinococcus granulosus-specific PCR was obtained in 14 (51.85%) of
      the taeniid eggs-positive samples. As well as finding Taenia eggs in dogs'
      faeces, we also found eggs of some helminthic parasites; such as Dipylidium
      caninum, Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina, Trichuris sp., Capillaria sp.,
      Filaroides sp., Dioctophyme renale, Linguatula serrata, hookworm, Dicrocoelium
      sp., Fasciola sp. and Ascaridia galli. Significantly, more dogs excreting taeniid
      eggs were diagnosed with the sedimentation method (n=27) as compared to the
      flotation method (n=10).

PMID- 28606324
TI  - Serological lessons from the bovine lungworm Dictyocaulus viviparus: Antibody
      titre development is independent of the infection dose and reinfection shortens
      seropositivity.
AB  - Infections with the bovine lungworm Dictyocaulus viviparus, the causative agent
      of parasitic bronchitis, are accompanied by substantial economic losses due to
      impacts on production, clinical respiratory disease or even death of diseased
      cattle. To detect lungworm antibodies in cattle, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay (ELISA) based on recombinant major sperm protein (MSP) has been developed.
      However, it remained unknown whether the infection dose influences antibody
      levels, and how acquired immunity influences antibody level patterns during
      reinfections. The latter may lead to low within-herd seroprevalence and thus to
      negative MSP-ELISA results in examination of bulk tank milk (BTM). Thus,
      infection experiments with 12 different doses ranging from 10 to 3000 D.
      viviparus larvae were performed to assess whether the antibody response is dose
      dependent. Second, the impact of reinfections on the antibody response was
      evaluated in infection experiments, and third, antibody patterns in dairy cows
      during naturally occurring reinfections were assessed in a longitudinal field
      study based on individual milk samples. Results of this study demonstrate that
      the rise in MSP antibodies during first infection is dose-independent at
      infection doses of 25 lungworm larvae and above. However, following reinfections
      the magnitude and duration of the MSP antibody response are reduced or lacking,
      depending on the interval to reinfection. The field study revealed short periods
      of seropositivity as a common pattern in dairy cows subjected to natural D.
      viviparus reinfections. Low within-herd seroprevalence in dairy herds can thus be
      a result of continuous reinfections. Low infection doses should not be a barrier
      to serodiagnosis of lungworm infection in first-time infected cattle.

PMID- 28606325
TI  - Quantification of anti-Leishmania antibodies in saliva of dogs.
AB  - Detection of serum anti-Leishmania antibodies by quantitative or qualitative
      techniques has been the most used method to diagnose Canine Leishmaniosis (CanL).
      Nevertheless, saliva may represent an alternative to blood because it is easy to
      collect, painless and non-invasive in comparison with serum. In this study, two
      time-resolved immunofluorometric assays (TR-IFMAs) for quantification of anti
      Leishmania IgG2 and IgA antibodies in saliva were developed and validated and
      their ability to distinguish Leishmania-seronegative from seropositive dogs was
      evaluated. The analytical study was performed by evaluation of assay precision,
      sensitivity and accuracy. In addition, serum from 48 dogs (21 Leishmania
      seropositive and 27 Leishmania-seronegative) were analyzed by TR-IFMAs. The
      assays were precise, with an intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation
      lower than 11%, and showed high level of accuracy, as determined by linearity
      under dilution (R2=0.99) and recovery tests (>88.60%). Anti-Leishmania IgG2
      antibodies in saliva were significantly higher in the seropositive group compared
      with the seronegative (p<0.0001), whereas no significant differences for anti
      Leishmania IgA antibodies between both groups were observed. Furthermore, TR-IFMA
      for quantification of anti-Leishmania IgG2 antibodies in saliva showed higher
      differences between seropositive and seronegative dogs than the commercial assay
      used in serum. In conclusion, TR-IFMAs developed may be used to quantify anti
      Leishmania IgG2 and IgA antibodies in canine saliva with an adequate precision,
      analytical sensitivity and accuracy. Quantification of anti-Leishmania IgG2
      antibodies in saliva could be potentially used to evaluate the humoral response
      in CanL. However, IgA in saliva seemed not to have diagnostic value for this
      disease. For future studies, it would be desirable to evaluate the ability of the
      IgG2 assay to detect dogs with subclinical disease or with low antibody titers in
      serum and also to study the antibodies behaviour in saliva during the treatment
      of CanL.

PMID- 28606326
TI  - Evaluation of the transcription of interleukin-12 in the intestinal mucosa of
      mice subjected to experimental toxocariasis and supplemented with Saccharomyces
      boulardii.

PMID- 28606327
TI  - Evaluation of oxidant/antioxidant balance in Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica)
      experimentally infested with Sarcoptes scabiei.
AB  - Oxidative stress (OS) is an imbalance between radical-generating and radical
      scavenging activity, resulting in oxidation products and tissue damage. Although
      some studies have been done in other species, there is a lack of information
      about the oxidative/antioxidant status in the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica)
      affected by sarcoptic mange. To clarify this fact, albumin, catalase (CAT),
      glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), paraoxonase-1 (PON
      1), glutathione reductase (GR), reduced glutathione (GSH): oxidized glutathione
      (GSSG) ratio, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and total oxidant
      status (TOS) concentrations were measured in peripheral blood of ibexes
      experimentally infested with Sarcoptes scabiei (n=25), as well as in the healthy
      control group (n=14). During the course of the experiment, the infected ibexes
      were visually assigned to four categories according to the percentage of skin
      surface affected by mites. In the infested ibexes, the levels of albumin, PON-1,
      CAT, SOD, GSH-Px and GSH:GSSG ratio showed a significant (p<0.01) decrease with
      disease progression. With respect to the control group, this decrease was
      significantly (p<0.001) lower in the more severe clinical stages. No significant
      changes were observed in GR activity during disease or with respect to the
      control group. Conversely, the concentrations of TOS and TBARS increased with
      lesion severity, and with respect to the control group, this increase was
      significant (p<0.01) in the more advanced stages of the infection. Additionally,
      to explore the possible effects of sex, age, haplotype, mange status, and days
      post infection (dpi) on each of the OS biomarkers, generalized additive mixed
      models were applied. According to our results, the mange status and dpi explained
      the highest percentages in the observed changes in the biomarkers analyzed,
      whereas the haplotype only influenced the observed variability of albumin and
      TOS. The contribution of sex and age was not significant in any of the OS
      biomarkers. From the present study, it may be concluded that sarcoptic mange
      infestation increases OS and decreases antioxidant status in ibex. This imbalance
      may contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease.

PMID- 28606328
TI  - Influence of physical and chemical factors on the embryonation, hatching and
      infectivity of Spirocerca lupi.
AB  - Spirocerca lupi is a parasitic nematode which causes spirocercosis, a severe
      disease of dogs. Its life cycle involves dung beetles as intermediate hosts and
      canids as definitive hosts. The effect of different physical conditions and
      chemical factors on the embryonation and hatching of S. lupi eggs were
      investigated in this study in order to understand the triggers for progression in
      the early development of this parasite. Exposure to potassium dichromate
      significantly enhanced the embryonation of eggs compared to formaldehyde and
      controls (p<0.0001), reaching the maximum embryonation level of 83% within 2days
      of incubation. Hatching of eggs was significantly (p<0.05) enhanced in the
      presence of 2.5% trypsin, pH 6.0 and 8.0, a temperature of 26 degrees C, 20% CO2
      and mechanical force by stirring with 3-mm beads. Dissection of Onthophagus
      sellatus beetles 8h post-feeding with eggs showed that 13% of the ingested eggs
      hatched in the buccal cavity and the midgut. Finally, the pH range of the
      beetle's gut was 6.0-6.2 compared to 7.2+/-0.4 in dog feces suggesting that this
      pH change may induce hatching in the beetle. These findings contribute to the
      understanding of the early steps in the life cycle of S. lupi and may be used in
      the future to block the development of S. lupi and prevent dog infection and
      disease.

PMID- 28606329
TI  - The adaptation of a 360 degrees  camera utilising an alternate light source (ALS)
      for the detection of biological fluids at crime scenes.
AB  - One of the most important and commonly encountered evidence types that can be
      recovered at crime scenes are biological fluids. Due to the ephemeral nature of
      biological fluids and the valuable DNA that they can contain, it is fundamental
      that these are documented extensively and recovered rapidly. Locating and
      identifying biological fluids can prove a challenging task but can aid in
      reconstructing a sequence of events. Alternate light sources (ALS) offer powerful
      non-invasive methods for locating and enhancing biological fluids utilising
      different wavelengths of light. Current methods for locating biological fluids
      using ALS's may be time consuming, as they often require close range searching of
      potentially large crime scenes. Subsequent documentation using digital cameras
      and alternate light sources can increase the investigation time and due to the
      cameras low dynamic range, photographs can appear under or over exposed. This
      study presents a technique, which allows the simultaneous detection and
      visualisation of semen and saliva utilising a SceneCam 360 degrees  camera
      (Spheron VR AG), which was adapted to integrate a blue Crime Lite XL
      (Foster+Freeman). This technique was investigated using different volumes of
      semen and saliva, on porous and non-porous substrates, and the ability to detect
      these at incremental distances from the substrate. Substrate type and colour had
      a significant effect on the detection of the biological fluid, with limited fluid
      detection on darker substrates. The unique real-time High Dynamic range (HDR)
      ability of the SceneCam significantly enhanced the detection of biological fluids
      where background fluorescence masked target fluorescence. These preliminary
      results are presented as a proof of concept for combining 360 degrees 
      photography using HDR and an ALS for the detection of biological stains, within a
      scene, in real time, whilst conveying spatial relationships of staining to other
      evidence. This technique presents the opportunity to presumptively screen a crime
      scene for biological fluids and will facilitate simultaneous location and
      visualisation of biological evidence.

PMID- 28606330
TI  - Recognition of children on age-different images: Facial morphology and age-stable
      features.
AB  - The situation of missing children is one of the most emotional social issues
      worldwide. The search for and identification of missing children is often
      hampered, among others, by the fact that the facial morphology of long-term
      missing children changes as they grow. Nowadays, the wide coverage by
      surveillance systems potentially provides image material for comparisons with
      images of missing children that may facilitate identification. The aim of study
      was to identify whether facial features are stable in time and can be utilized
      for facial recognition by comparing facial images of children at different ages
      as well as to test the possible use of moles in recognition. The study was
      divided into two phases (1) morphological classification of facial features using
      an Anthropological Atlas; (2) algorithm developed in MATLAB(r) R2014b for
      assessing the use of moles as age-stable features. The assessment of facial
      features by Anthropological Atlases showed high mismatch percentages among
      observers. On average, the mismatch percentages were lower for features
      describing shape than for those describing size. The nose tip cleft and the chin
      dimple showed the best agreement between observers regarding both categorization
      and stability over time. Using the position of moles as a reference point for
      recognition of the same person on age-different images seems to be a useful
      method in terms of objectivity and it can be concluded that moles represent age
      stable facial features that may be considered for preliminary recognition.

PMID- 28606331
TI  - The chronology of the radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament and the
      root pulp in the lower third molars.
AB  - Eruption and mineralization of third molars are the main criteria for dental age
      estimation in living adolescents. As the validation of completion of the 18th
      year of life appears not to be possible with the forensically necessary
      probability even if all the third molars of a person are completely mineralized,
      degenerative dental characteristics might be used for this purpose. In previous
      publications by Olze et al. (2010a,b) the radiographic visibility of the
      periodontal ligament and the root pulp in lower third molars were suggested as
      methods for this purpose. The aim of this study was to validate these
      characteristics in a large study population with a wide age range. In a material
      of 2346 orthopantomograms of 1167 female and 1179 male Germans aged from 15 to
      70years the radiographic visibility of the root pulp in the lower third molars
      with completed mineralization were studied according to stage classifications
      proposed by Olze et al. (2010a,b). 1541 orthopantomograms of 705 females and 836
      males with a sufficient quality of the radiograph showed at least one third
      molar. The suitability of the studied characteristics for age estimation in
      living individuals could be confirmed. Males and females presenting stage 1 of
      both characteristics were older than 18years of life. Males and females
      presenting stage 2 of both characteristics were older than 21years of life. The
      high number of missing third molars in the studied age group (46-60%) must be
      considered as a limitation of the methods. In further studies the influence of
      ethnicity, dietary habits and modern dental health care on the characteristics in
      question should be investigated.

PMID- 28606332
TI  - Sample-specific odontometric sex estimation: A method with potential application
      to burned remains.
AB  - Metric features are often the only preserved sexually dimorphic features to allow
      sex estimation in burned human remains, but this is complicated by heat-induced
      dimensional changes. The potential of odontometry for sex estimation was
      investigated. A sample of permanent lower second pre-molars from 20 males and 20
      females was experimentally burned at 900 degrees C to assess heat-induced changes
      in the sexual dimorphism of seven dimensions of the cementum-enamel junction and
      the root. Four of them, cementum-enamel junction perimeter; mesiodistal,
      buccolingual and perimeter at the mid-root level, were investigated for the first
      time. Also, five measurements combining some of the isolated standard
      measurements were investigated. Additionally, 10 permanent upper central incisors
      and 10 permanent lower first molars were experimentally burned at 400 degrees C
      and 700 degrees  C to document heat-induced dimensional changes and serve as
      comparison with the 900 degrees C sample. Results showed that most of the
      standard measurements, although presenting significant sex differences, were not
      reliable enough to allow for correct sex classifications close to 100% both
      before and after the burning. Nonetheless, the perimeter at the cementum-enamel
      junction and the combined measurements of the mesiodistal and buccolingual
      diameters, at the same level, were quite promising in the post-burning analysis
      with correct sex classifications above 80%. At 900 degrees C, females were
      slightly more affected by shrinkage in this measure than males thus artificially
      increasing sexual dimorphism after burning. Therefore, and although additional
      research is needed, this feature was not discarded as having potential for
      skeletal sex estimation.

PMID- 28606333
TI  - Sex estimation from the scapula in a contemporary Thai population: Applications
      for forensic anthropology.
AB  - The impact of climate change is estimated to be particularly severe in Thailand.
      Overall, the country faces an increase in surface temperatures, severe storms and
      floods, and a possible increase in the number of mass disasters in the region. It
      is extremely important that forensic scientists have access to sex estimation
      methods developed for use on a Thai population. The goal of this project is to
      evaluate the accuracy of sex estimation discriminant functions, created using
      contemporary Mexican and Greek populations, when applied to a contemporary Thai
      sample. The length of the glenoid cavity (LGC) and breadth of the glenoid cavity
      (BGC) were measured. The sample included 191 individuals (95 males and 96
      females) with age ranges from 19 to 96years old. Overall, when the Mexican and
      Greek discriminant functions were applied to the Thai sample they showed higher
      accuracy rates for sexing female scapulae (83% to 99%) than for sexing male
      scapulae (53% to 92%). Size comparisons were made to Chilean, Mexican,
      Guatemalan, White American, and Greek populations. Overall, in males and females
      of the Thai sample, the scapulae were smaller than in the Chilean, Mexican, White
      American, and Greek populations. However, the male and female Thai scapulae were
      larger than in the Guatemalan sample. Population-specific discriminant functions
      were created for the Thai population with an overall sex classification accuracy
      rate of 83% to 88%.

PMID- 28606334
TI  - An investigation into the cause of the inner dark areas and outer lighter areas
      (ghosting) seen in dynamically-created two-dimensional bare footprints.
AB  - Dynamic bare footprints differ from static bare footprints through the presence
      of additional, lighter markings around the rear of the heel print and apices of
      the toe print areas. These images can appropriately be described as inner dark
      and outer ghosting features. To date, the functional cause of both features has
      not been understood. To gain such an understanding could potentially allow the
      further development and use of these features in forensic identification. The aim
      of this project was to investigate the causes of the inner dark and outer
      ghosting features seen in dynamic bare footprints through an observational,
      practice-based action research approach within a gait laboratory. Volunteer male
      participants provided bare footprints on inkless paper taped to a Kistler force
      plate with video cameras situated either side. Ground reaction force data were
      collected as the footprints were formed and the event recorded using video
      cameras to allow these data to be correlated later. The findings suggest that the
      ghosting at the heel is the result of splaying of the fibro fatty pad, while that
      at the toes is the result of the distal ends of the toes coming into contact with
      the ground as the heel is lifted. Footprint, ground reaction force and video data
      comparisons showed that the inner dark area of the heel print corresponded with
      the main body of the heel contacting the ground. Outer ghosting corresponded with
      a backward splaying of the fat pad and the heel strike transient spike in
      vertical ground reaction force during increased loading. The inner dark area of
      the toes corresponded with a longer period of toe contact with the ground. Outer
      ghosting corresponded with the decreasing vertical ground reaction force and
      shorter contact time as the toes were leaving the ground towards the end of the
      contact phase of gait. Although the sample size was limited, these are new
      appreciations which could facilitate the use of the inner dark features in
      identification to provide additional points for comparison in cases involving
      dynamic bare footprints. Further work is now indicated to study these features in
      different populations and under varying conditions.

PMID- 28606335
TI  - ATR-FTIR characterization of generic brand-named and counterfeit sildenafil- and
      tadalafil-based tablets found on the Brazilian market.
AB  - Viagra and Cialis are among the most counterfeited medicines in many parts of the
      world, including Brazil. Despite the many studies that have been made regarding
      discrimination between genuine and counterfeit samples, most published works do
      not contemplate generic and similar versions of these medicines and also do not
      explore excipients/adjuvants contributions when characterizing genuine and
      suspected samples. In this study, we present our findings in exploring ATR-FTIR
      spectral profiles for characterizing both genuine and questioned samples of
      several generic and brand-name sildenafil- and tadalafil-based tablets available
      on the Brazilian market, including Viagra and Cialis. Multi-component spectral
      matching (deconvolution), objective visual comparison and correlation tests were
      used during analysis. Besides from allowing simple and quick identification of
      counterfeits, results obtained evidenced the strong spectral similarities between
      generic and brand-named tablets employing the same active ingredient and the
      indistinguishability between samples produced by the same manufacturer, generic
      or not. For all sildenafil-based and some tadalafil-based tablets tested,
      differentiation between samples from different manufacturers, attributed to
      slight variations in excipients/adjuvants proportions, was achieved, thus
      allowing the possibility of tracing an unknown/unidentified tablet back to a
      specific manufacturer.

PMID- 28606336
TI  - Identification at the crime scene: The sooner, the better? The interpretation of
      rapid identification information by CSIs at the crime scene.
AB  - New technologies will allow Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs) in the near future
      to analyse traces at the crime scene and receive identification information while
      still conducting the investigation. These developments could have considerable
      effects on the way an investigation is conducted. CSIs may start reasoning based
      on possible database-matches which could influence scenario formation (i.e. the
      construction of narratives that explain the observed traces) during very early
      phases of the investigation. The goal of this study is to gain more insight into
      the influence of the rapid identification information on the reconstruction of
      the crime and the evaluation of traces by addressing two questions, namely 1) is
      scenario formation influenced from the moment that ID information is provided and
      2) do database matches influence the evaluation of traces and the reconstruction
      of the crime. We asked 48 CSIs from England to investigate a potential murder
      crime scene on a computer. Our findings show that the interpretation of the crime
      scene by CSIs is affected by the moment identification information is provided.
      This information has a higher influence on scenario formation when provided after
      an initial scenario has been formed. Also, CSIs seem to attach great value to
      traces that produce matches with databases and hence yield a name of a known
      person. Similar traces that did not provide matches were considered less
      important. We question whether this kind of selective attention is desirable as
      it may cause ignorance of other relevant information at the crime scene.

PMID- 28606337
TI  - Patterns of exchange of forensic DNA data in the European Union through the Prum
      system.
AB  - This paper presents a study of the 5-year operation (2011-2015) of the
      transnational exchange of forensic DNA data between Member States of the European
      Union (EU) for the purpose of combating cross-border crime and terrorism within
      the so-called Prum system. This first systematisation of the full official
      statistical dataset provides an overall assessment of the match figures and
      patterns of operation of the Prum system for DNA exchange. These figures and
      patterns are analysed in terms of the differentiated contributions by
      participating EU Member States. The data suggest a trend for West and Central
      European countries to concentrate the majority of Prum matches, while DNA
      databases of Eastern European countries tend to contribute with profiles of
      people that match stains in other countries. In view of the necessary
      transparency and accountability of the Prum system, more extensive and
      informative statistics would be an important contribution to the assessment of
      its functioning and societal benefits.

PMID- 28606339
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 28606338
TI  - Forensic intelligence applied to questioned document analysis: A model and its
      application against organized crime.
AB  - The capability of forensic sciences to fight crime, especially against organized
      criminal groups, becomes relevant in the recent economic downturn and the war on
      terrorism. In view of these societal challenges, the methods of combating crime
      should experience critical changes in order to improve the effectiveness and
      efficiency of the current resources available. It is obvious that authorities
      have serious difficulties combating criminal groups of transnational nature.
      These are characterized as well structured organizations with international
      connections, abundant financial resources and comprised of members with
      significant and diverse expertise. One common practice among organized criminal
      groups is the use of forged documents that allow for the commission of illegal
      cross-border activities. Law enforcement can target these movements to identify
      counterfeits and establish links between these groups. Information on document
      falsification can become relevant to generate forensic intelligence and to design
      new strategies against criminal activities of this nature and magnitude. This
      article discusses a methodology for improving the development of forensic
      intelligence in the discipline of questioned document analysis. More
      specifically, it focuses on document forgeries and falsification types used by
      criminal groups. It also describes the structure of international criminal
      organizations that use document counterfeits as means to conduct unlawful
      activities. The model presented is partially based on practical applications of
      the system that have resulted in satisfactory outcomes in our laboratory.

PMID- 28606340
TI  - Cardiovascular Protection in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes: A Review of
      Clinical Trial Results Across Drug Classes.
AB  - Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have a significantly higher risk of
      developing cardiovascular disease (CVD)-namely myocardial infarction, heart
      failure, and stroke. Despite clear advances in the prevention and treatment of
      CVD, the impact of T2DM on CVD outcome remains high and continues to escalate.
      Available evidence indicates that the risk of macrovascular complications
      increases with the severity of hyperglycemia, thus suggesting that the relation
      between metabolic disturbances and vascular damage is approximately linear.
      Although current antidiabetic drugs are highly effective for the management of
      hyperglycemia, most T2DM patients remain exposed to a substantial and concrete
      risk of CVD. Over the last decade many glucose-lowering agents have been tested
      for their safety and efficacy in T2DM with CVD. Noteworthy, most of these studies
      failed to show a significant benefit in terms of CV morbidity and mortality,
      despite intensive glycemic control. The recent trials Empagliflozin
      Cardiovascular Outcome Event Trial in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-Removing
      Excess Glucose (EMPA-REG OUTCOME); Trial to Evaluate Cardiovascular and Other
      Long-term Outcomes with Semaglutide in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes (SUSTAIN-6);
      Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcome
      Results (LEADER); and Insulin Resistance Intervention After Stroke (IRIS) have
      shed some light on this important clinical issue, thus showing a convincing
      effect of empagliflozin, liraglutide, and pioglitazone on CVD outcomes. Here we
      provide a critical and updated overview of the main glucose-lowering agents and
      their risk/benefit ratio for the prevention of CVD in patients with T2DM.

PMID- 28606341
TI  - Cardiovascular Protection by Sodium Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors: Potential
      Mechanisms.
AB  - The mechanism of action of empagliflozin in reducing the risk of adverse
      cardiovascular outcomes vs placebo in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and
      a high risk of cardiovascular disease in the Empagliflozin Cardiovascular Outcome
      Event Trial in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-Removing Excess Glucose (EMPA
      REG OUTCOME) trial is currently unknown. An antiatherosclerotic effect is
      considered unlikely given the speed of the observed decrease in cardiovascular
      mortality. Hemodynamic effects, such as reductions in blood pressure and
      intravascular volume, and involving osmotic diuresis, may provide a more
      plausible explanation. Metabolic effects, such as cardiac fuel energetics, and
      hormonal effects, such as increased glucagon release, may also contribute to the
      results observed during EMPA-REG OUTCOME. This review discusses the main
      hypotheses suggested to date.

PMID- 28606343
TI  - Pharmacologic Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Available Therapies.
AB  - Choices for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have multiplied as
      our understanding of the underlying pathophysiologic defects has evolved.
      Treatment should target multiple defects in T2DM and follow a patient-centered
      approach that considers factors beyond glycemic control, including cardiovascular
      risk reduction. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists/American
      College of Endocrinology and the American Diabetes Association recommend an
      initial approach consisting of lifestyle changes and monotherapy, preferably with
      metformin. Therapy choices are guided by glycemic efficacy, safety profiles,
      particularly effects on weight and hypoglycemia risk, tolerability, patient
      comorbidities, route of administration, patient preference, and cost. Balancing
      management of hyperglycemia with the risk of hypoglycemia and consideration of
      the effects of pharmacotherapy on weight figure prominently in US-based T2DM
      recommendations, whereas less emphasis has been placed on the ability of specific
      medications to affect cardiovascular outcomes. This is likely because, until
      recently, specific glucose-lowering agents have not been shown to affect
      cardiorenal outcomes. The Empagliflozin Cardiovascular Outcome Event Trial in
      Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-Removing Excess Glucose (EMPA-REG OUTCOME), the
      Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcome
      Results (LEADER) trial, and the Trial to Evaluate Cardiovascular and Other Long
      term Outcomes with Semaglutide in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes 6 (SUSTAIN-6)
      recently showed a reduction in overall cardiovascular risk with empagliflozin,
      liraglutide, and semaglutide treatment, respectively. Moreover, empagliflozin has
      become the first glucose-lowering agent indicated to reduce the risk of
      cardiovascular death in adults with T2DM and established cardiovascular disease.
      Results from cardiovascular outcomes trials have prompted an update to the 2017
      American Diabetes Association standards of care, which now recommend
      consideration of empagliflozin or liraglutide for patients with suboptimally
      controlled long-standing T2DM and established atherosclerotic cardiovascular
      disease because these agents have been shown to reduce cardiovascular and all
      cause mortality when added to standard care.

PMID- 28606342
TI  - Diabetes Mellitus and Heart Failure.
AB  - Epidemiologic and clinical data from the last 2 decades have shown that the
      prevalence of heart failure in diabetes is very high, and the prognosis for
      patients with heart failure is worse in those with diabetes than in those without
      diabetes. Experimental data suggest that various mechanisms contribute to the
      impairment in systolic and diastolic function in patients with diabetes, and
      there is an increased recognition that these patients develop heart failure
      independent of the presence of coronary artery disease or its associated risk
      factors. In addition, current clinical data demonstrated that treatment with the
      sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor empagliflozin reduced hospitalization
      for heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and high
      cardiovascular risk. This review article summarizes recent data on the
      prevalence, prognosis, pathophysiology, and therapeutic strategies to treat
      patients with diabetes and heart failure.

PMID- 28606344
TI  - EMPA-REG OUTCOME: The Endocrinologist's Point of View.
AB  - For many years, it was widely accepted that control of plasma lipids and blood
      pressure could lower macrovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM), whereas the benefits of lowering plasma glucose were largely limited to
      improvements in microvascular complications. The Empagliflozin Cardiovascular
      Outcome Event Trial in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-Removing Excess Glucose
      (EMPA-REG OUTCOME) study demonstrated for the first time that a glucose-lowering
      agent, the sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin, could
      reduce major adverse cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality,
      hospitalization for heart failure, and overall mortality when given in addition
      to standard care in patients with T2DM at high cardiovascular risk. These results
      were entirely unexpected and have led to much speculation regarding the potential
      mechanisms underlying cardiovascular benefits. In this review, the results of
      EMPA-REG OUTCOME are summarized and put into perspective for the endocrinologist
      who is treating patients with T2DM and cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28606345
TI  - EMPA-REG OUTCOME: The Cardiologist's Point of View.
AB  - Cardiologists could view empagliflozin as a cardiovascular drug that also has a
      beneficial effect on reducing hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2DM). The effects of empagliflozin in lowering the risk of
      cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure in T2DM patients with
      high cardiovascular risk during the recent Empagliflozin Cardiovascular Outcome
      Event Trial in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-Removing Excess Glucose (EMPA
      REG OUTCOME) trial may be explained principally in terms of changes to
      cardiovascular physiology; namely, by the potential ability of empagliflozin to
      reduce cardiac workload and myocardial oxygen consumption by lowering blood
      pressure, improving aortic compliance, and improving ventricular arterial
      coupling. These concepts and hypotheses are discussed in this report.

PMID- 28606346
TI  - EMPA-REG OUTCOME: The Nephrologist's Point of View.
AB  - There is increasing evidence that sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2)
      inhibitors have renoprotective effects, as demonstrated by the renal analyses
      from clinical trials including Empagliflozin Cardiovascular Outcome Event Trial
      in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-Removing Excess Glucose (EMPA-REG OUTCOME),
      CANagliflozin Treatment And Trial Analysis versus SUlphonylurea (CANTATA-SU), and
      the dapagliflozin renal study. The potential mechanisms responsible are likely
      multifactorial, and direct renovascular and hemodynamic effects are postulated to
      play a central role. This report reviews the renal outcomes data from key SGLT2
      inhibitor clinical trials, discusses the hypotheses for SGLT2 inhibitor
      associated renoprotection, and considers the main renal safety issues associated
      with SGLT2 inhibitor treatment.

PMID- 28606347
TI  - Peptides and Peptide Conjugates in Medicine.

PMID- 28606348
TI  - About Ganoderma boninense in oil palm plantations of Sumatra and peninsular
      Malaysia: Ancient population expansion, extensive gene flow and large scale
      dispersion ability.
AB  - Wood rot fungi form one of the main classes of phytopathogenic fungus. The group
      includes many species, but has remained poorly studied. Many species belonging to
      the Ganoderma genus are well known for causing decay in a wide range of tree
      species around the world. Ganoderma boninense, causal agent of oil palm basal
      stem rot, is responsible for considerable yield losses in Southeast Asian oil
      palm plantations. In a large-scale sampling operation, 357 sporophores were
      collected from oil palm plantations spread over peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra
      and genotyped using 11 SSR markers. The genotyping of these samples made it
      possible to investigate the population structure and demographic history of G.
      boninense across the oldest known area of interaction between oil palm and G.
      boninense. Results show that G. boninense possesses a high degree of genetic
      diversity and no detectable genetic structure at the scale of Sumatra and
      peninsular Malaysia. The fact that few duplicate genotypes were found in several
      studies including this one supports the hypothesis of spore dispersal in the
      spread of G. boninense. Meanwhile, spatial autocorrelation analysis shows that G.
      boninense is able to disperse across both short and long distances. These results
      bring new insight into mechanisms by which G. boninense spreads in oil palm
      plantations. Finally, the use of approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) modelling
      indicates that G. boninense has undergone a demographic expansion in the past,
      probably before the oil palm was introduced into Southeast Asia.

PMID- 28606349
TI  - Genetic diversity within and among aecia of the wheat rust fungus Puccinia
      striiformis on the alternate host Berberis vulgaris.
AB  - An isolate of the fungus Puccinia striiformis, causing yellow (stripe) rust on
      cereals and grasses, was selfed on the alternate (sexual) host, Berberis
      vulgaris. This enabled us to investigate genetic variability of progeny isolates
      within and among aecia. Nine aecial clusters each consisting of an aecium (single
      aecial cup) and nine clusters containing multiple aecial cups were selected from
      18 B. vulgaris leaves. Aeciospores from each cluster were inoculated on
      susceptible wheat seedlings and 64 progeny isolates were recovered. Molecular
      genotyping using 37 simple sequence repeat markers confirmed the parental origin
      of all progeny isolates. Thirteen molecular markers, which were heterozygous in
      the parental isolate, were used to analyse genetic diversity within and among
      aecial cups. The 64 progeny isolates resulted in 22 unique recombinant multilocus
      genotypes and none of them were resampled in different aecial clusters. Isolates
      derived from a single cup were always of the same genotype whereas isolates
      originating from clusters containing up to nine aecial cups revealed one to three
      genotypes per cluster. These results implied that each aecium was the result of a
      successful fertilization in a corresponding pycnium and that an aecium consisted
      of genetically identical aeciospores probably multiplied via repetitive mitotic
      divisions. Furthermore, the results suggested that aecia within a cluster were
      the result of independent fertilization events often involving genetically
      different pycniospores. The application of molecular markers represented a major
      advance in comparison to previous studies depending on phenotypic responses on
      host plants. The study allowed significant conclusions about fundamental aspects
      of the biology and genetics of an important cereal rust fungus.

PMID- 28606350
TI  - Genetic analysis reveals efficient sexual spore dispersal at a fine spatial scale
      in Armillaria ostoyae, the causal agent of root-rot disease in conifers.
AB  - Armillaria ostoyae (sometimes named Armillaria solidipes) is a fungal species
      causing root diseases in numerous coniferous forests of the northern hemisphere.
      The importance of sexual spores for the establishment of new disease centres
      remains unclear, particularly in the large maritime pine plantations of
      southwestern France. An analysis of the genetic diversity of a local fungal
      population distributed over 500 ha in this French forest showed genetic
      recombination between genotypes to be frequent, consistent with regular sexual
      reproduction within the population. The estimated spatial genetic structure
      displayed a significant pattern of isolation by distance, consistent with the
      dispersal of sexual spores mostly at the spatial scale studied. Using these
      genetic data, we inferred an effective density of reproductive individuals of 0.1
      0.3 individuals/ha, and a second moment of parent-progeny dispersal distance of
      130-800 m, compatible with the main models of fungal spore dispersal. These
      results contrast with those obtained for studies of A. ostoyae over larger
      spatial scales, suggesting that inferences about mean spore dispersal may be best
      performed at fine spatial scales (i.e. a few kilometres) for most fungal species.

PMID- 28606351
TI  - Ultrastructural characterization of the host-parasite interface between Allomyces
      anomalus (Blastocladiomycota) and Rozella allomycis (Cryptomycota).
AB  - Rozella allomycis is an obligate endoparasite of the water mold Allomyces and a
      member of a clade (= Opisthosporidia) sister to the traditional Fungi. Gaining
      insights into Rozella's development as a phylogenetically pivotal endoparasite
      can aid our understanding of structural adaptations and evolution of the
      Opisthosporidia clade, especially within the context of genomic information. The
      purpose of this study is to characterize the interface between R. allomycis and
      Allomyces anomalus. Electron microscopy of developing plasmodia of R. allomycis
      in host hyphae shows that the interface consists of three-membrane layers,
      interpreted as the parasite's plasma membrane (inner one layer) and a host
      cisterna (outer two layers). As sporangial and resting spore plasmodia develop,
      host mitochondria typically cluster at the surface of the parasite and eventually
      align parallel to the three-membrane layered interface. The parasite's
      mitochondria have only a few cristae and the mitochondrial matrix is sparse,
      clearly distinguishing parasite mitochondria from those of the host. Consistent
      with the expected organellar topology if the parasite plasmodia phagocytize host
      cytoplasm, phagocytic vacuoles are at first bounded by three-membrane layers with
      host-type mitochondria lining the inner membrane. Thus, Rozella's nutrition, at
      least in part, is phagotrophic in contrast to osmotrophic nutrition of
      traditional fungi.

PMID- 28606352
TI  - Applications of volatile compounds acquired from Muscodor heveae against white
      root rot disease in rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis Mull. Arg.) and relevant
      allelopathy effects.
AB  - The bioactive compounds of the volatile metabolite-producing endophytic fungus,
      Muscodor heveae, were examined by the process of biofumigation for the purposes
      of controlling white root rot disease in rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis Mull.
      Arg.). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of M. heveae possess antimicrobial
      activity against Rigidoporus microporus in vitro with 100 % growth inhibition.
      The synthetic volatile compounds test confirmed that the major component, 3
      methylbutan-1-ol, and the minor compounds, 3-methylbutyl acetate and 2
      methylpropanoic acid, inhibited root and shoot growth in the tested plants 3
      methylbutan-1-ol showed ED50 value and MIQ value on seed germination of ruzi
      grass, Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 and tomato at 10, 5 and 5 MUL-1 airspace,
      respectively. In vivo tests were carried out under greenhouse conditions using M.
      heveae inoculum fumigated soil that had been inoculated with R. microporus
      inoculum. After which, all seven treatments were compared. Significant
      differences were observed with a disease score at 150 d after treatment.
      Biofumigation by M. heveae showed great suppression of the disease. Biocontrol
      treatments; RMH40 (40 g kg-1M. heveae inoculum) and RMH80 (80 g kg-1M. heveae
      inoculum) were not found to be significantly different when compared with
      fungicide treatment (RT) and the non-infected control, but results were found to
      be significantly different from R. microporus infested (R) treatment. RMH40 and
      RMH80 revealed a low disease scores with a high survival rate of rubber tree
      seedling at 100 %, while R treatment showed the highest disease score of 4.8 +/-
      0.5 with a survival rate of rubber tree seedling at 25 %. The infected roots,
      appearing as a white colour. We have concluded that the bioactive VOCs of M.
      heveae would be an alternative method for the control of white root rot disease
      in rubber trees.

PMID- 28606353
TI  - Extracellular redox cycling and hydroxyl radical production occurs widely in
      lichenized Ascomycetes.
AB  - Some free-living Ascomycetes and white and brown rot Basidiomycetes can generate
      hydroxyl radicals using extracellular redox cycling. However, the mechanisms of
      hydroxyl radical production differ between white and brown rot Basidiomycetes,
      and are unknown for Ascomycetes. Here, we present a survey of extracellular
      hydroxyl radical production by a range of lichenized Ascomycetes. Results show
      that given a quinone and chelated ferric ions, many lichens can readily produce
      hydroxyl radicals, and this is accompanied by the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+. In
      white rot fungi, extracellular redox enzymes have been proposed to be involved in
      hydroxyl radical generation. However, a survey of a wide range of lichens
      suggests that in these fungi hydroxyl radical production does not directly
      correlate with the activity of laccases and peroxidases. Rather, radicals are
      probably produced by a mechanism like that proposed for brown rot fungi.
      Potential roles of hydroxyl radicals produced by lichens include the breakdown of
      lignocellulosic residues in the soil which may allow lichens to live a partially
      saprotrophic existence, the breakdown of toxic soil chemicals and the formation
      of an 'oxidative burst' to deter potential pathogens.

PMID- 28606354
TI  - The StLAC2 gene is required for cell wall integrity, DHN-melanin synthesis and
      the pathogenicity of Setosphaeria turcica.
AB  - Laccases are blue multicopper oxidases, play important roles in various
      biological processes. These processes include fungal dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN)
      melanin biosynthesis and pathogenicity, cellular growth, morphogenesis, and
      differentiation. This study investigated functions of the laccase gene StLAC2 in
      Setosphaeria turcica. The Deltalac2 mutant colony color was distinct from that of
      the S. turcica wild-type (WT) isolate, and the mutants exhibited defective
      conidial formation. In contrast to the WT, the mutants exhibited a lighter color
      on the 2, 2-azino-di-[3-ethylbenzo-thia-zolin-sulphonate] (ABTS) plates, and the
      intracellular laccase activity was lower. Notably, StLAC2 gene loss correlated
      with decreased DHN-melanin biosynthesis and affected the integrity of the cell
      wall, where the StLAC2 gene mutants showed thinner, more transparent walls with a
      higher number of mitochondria than the WT. The Deltalac2 mutants also lost their
      pathogenicity in maize. The results indicated that the StLAC2 gene involved in
      cell wall integrity, melanin biosynthesis and appressorial and conidial
      formation.

PMID- 28606355
TI  - Analysis of multiple components involved in the interaction between Cryptococcus
      neoformans and Acanthamoeba castellanii.
AB  - Cryptococcus neoformans is an environmental fungus that can cause lethal
      meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised individuals. The mechanisms by which
      environmental microbes become pathogenic to mammals are still obscure, but
      different studies suggest that fungal virulence evolved from selection imposed by
      environmental predators. The soil-living Acanthamoeba castellanii is a well-known
      predator of C. neoformans. In this work, we evaluated the participation of C.
      neoformans virulence-associated structures in the interaction of fungal cells
      with A. castellanii. Fungal extracellular vesicles (EVs) and the polysaccharide
      glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) were internalized by A. castellanii with no impact on
      the viability of amoebal cells. EVs, but not free GXM, modulated antifungal
      properties of A. castellanii by inducing enhanced yeast survival. Phagocytosis of
      C. neoformans by amoebal cells and the pathogenic potential in a Galleria
      mellonella model were not affected by EVs, but previous interactions with A.
      castellanii rendered fungal cells more efficient in killing this invertebrate
      host. This observation was apparently associated with marked amoeba-induced
      changes in surface architecture and increased resistance to both oxygen- and
      nitrogen-derived molecular species. Our results indicate that multiple components
      with the potential to impact pathogenesis are involved in C. neoformans
      environmental interactions.

PMID- 28606356
TI  - Deletion of ligD significantly improves gene targeting frequency in the
      lignocellulolytic filamentous fungus Penicillium oxalicum.
AB  - To improve the gene targeting frequency (GTF) in the lignocellulolytic
      filamentous fungus Penicillium oxalicum HP7-1, the non-homologous end-joining
      (NHEJ) gene ligD was deleted. The obtained PoligD deletion mutant DeltaPoligD
      showed no apparent defect in cellulase production, growth rate, and sensitivity
      towards osmotic stress and mutagen ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS), while increased
      sensitivity to high concentrations of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). Deletion of
      PoligD gene resulted in significantly increased GTFs at three different loci in
      P. oxalicum, which are even higher than those in Poku70 deletion mutant. The GTF
      in DeltaPoligD at PoargB (reached 97 %) and PoagaA (reached 90 %) loci increased
      5.1- and 1.2-fold compared with that in wild-type strain (WT), while at the
      Podpp4 locus GTF was up to 27 % in DeltaPoligD but close to 0 % in WT, with 0.5
      kb homologous flanking regions. Furthermore, the argB and agaA nutritional
      selection in P. oxalicum was demonstrated and the PoargB and PoagaA genes could
      be used as selective markers in this fungus. Thus, the PoligD deletion mutant can
      be an important tool for the functional analysis of genes in P. oxalicum.

PMID- 28606357
TI  - Quinolone-induced hypersensitivity reactions and the Kounis syndrome.

PMID- 28606358
TI  - Mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin and ST2 in heart failure: Contributions to
      diagnosis and prognosis.
AB  - Heart failure has a high prevalence in developed countries. It is a frequent
      cause of hospital admission and has an important impact on morbidity, mortality
      and healthcare costs. Biomarkers have been widely studied in heart failure, as
      they improve diagnosis and prognostic assessment. Natriuretic peptides are
      already a part of daily clinical practice but several other biomarkers are being
      studied. This review focuses on mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) and
      ST2. Neither of these biomarkers is useful in the diagnosis of acute heart
      failure. However, both have considerable short- and long-term prognostic value in
      patients with acute and with stable chronic heart failure. The utility of these
      two biomarkers in guiding heart failure treatment is yet to be established. ST2
      appears to have some advantages compared to MR-proADM, because it is more closely
      associated with ventricular remodeling and fibrosis.

PMID- 28606359
TI  - Opposite ERP effects for conscious and unconscious semantic processing under
      continuous flash suppression.
AB  - We examined whether semantic processing occurs without awareness using continuous
      flash suppression (CFS). In two priming tasks, participants were required to
      judge whether a target was a word or a non-word, and to report whether the masked
      prime was visible. Experiment 1 manipulated the lexical congruency between the
      prime-target pairs and Experiment 2 manipulated their semantic relatedness.
      Despite the absence of behavioral priming effects (Experiment 1), the ERP results
      revealed that an N4 component was sensitive to the prime-target lexical
      congruency (Experiment 1) and semantic relatedness (Experiment 2) when the prime
      was rendered invisible under CFS. However, these results were reversed with
      respect to those that emerged when the stimuli were perceived consciously. Our
      findings suggest that some form of lexical and semantic processing can occur
      during CFS-induced unawareness, but are associated with different
      electrophysiological outcomes.

PMID- 28606360
TI  - Sex differences in regulatory cells in experimental stroke.
AB  - Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Sex differences,
      including smaller infarcts in females and greater involvement of immune-mediated
      inflammation in males may affect the efficacy of immune-modulating interventions.
      To address these differences, we sought to identify distinct stroke-modifying
      mechanisms in female vs. male mice. The current study demonstrated smaller
      infarcts and increased levels of regulatory CD19+CD5+CD1dhi B10 cells as well as
      anti-inflammatory CD11b+CD206+ microglia/macrophages in the ipsilateral vs.
      contralateral hemisphere of female but not male mice undergoing 60min middle
      cerebral artery occlusion followed by 96h of reperfusion. Moreover, female mice
      with MCAO had increased total spleen cell numbers but lower B10 levels in
      spleens. These results elucidate differing sex-dependent regulatory mechanisms
      that account for diminished stroke severity in females and underscore the need to
      test immune-modulating therapies for stroke in both males and females.

PMID- 28606362
TI  - Cost of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus at individual farm
      level - An economic disease model.
AB  - Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is reported to be among the
      diseases with the highest economic impact in modern pig production worldwide.
      Yet, the economic impact of the disease at farm level is not well understood as,
      especially in endemically infected pig herds, losses are often not obvious. It is
      therefore difficult for farmers and veterinarians to appraise whether control
      measures such as virus elimination or vaccination will be economically beneficial
      for their farm. Thus, aim of this study was to develop an epidemiological and
      economic model to determine the costs of PRRS for an individual pig farm. In a
      production model that simulates farm outputs, depending on farm type, farrowing
      rhythm or length of suckling period, an epidemiological model was integrated. In
      this, the impact of PRRS infection on health and productivity was estimated.
      Financial losses were calculated in a gross margin analysis and a partial budget
      analysis based on the changes in health and production parameters assumed for
      different PRRS disease severities. Data on the effects of endemic infection on
      reproductive performance, morbidity and mortality, daily weight gain, feed
      efficiency and treatment costs were obtained from literature and expert opinion.
      Nine different disease scenarios were calculated, in which a farrow-to-finish
      farm (1000 sows) was slightly, moderately or severely affected by PRRS, based on
      changes in health and production parameters, and either in breeding, in nursery
      and fattening or in all three stages together. Annual losses ranged from a median
      of ? 75'724 (90% confidence interval (C.I.): ? 78'885-? 122'946), if the farm was
      slightly affected in nursery and fattening, to a median of ? 650'090 (90% C.I. ?
      603'585-? 698'379), if the farm was severely affected in all stages. Overall
      losses were slightly higher if breeding was affected than if nursery and
      fattening were affected. In a herd moderately affected in all stages, median
      losses in breeding were ? 46'021 and ? 422'387 in fattening, whereas costs were ?
      25'435 lower in nursery, compared with a PRRSV-negative farm. The model is a
      valuable decision-support tool for farmers and veterinarians if a farm is proven
      to be affected by PRRS (confirmed by laboratory diagnosis). The output can help
      to understand the need for interventions in case of significant impact on the
      profitability of their enterprise. The model can support veterinarians in their
      communication to farmers in cases where costly disease control measures are
      justified.

PMID- 28606361
TI  - Repeated isolation of virulent Newcastle disease viruses in poultry and captive
      non-poultry avian species in Pakistan from 2011 to 2016.
AB  - Virulent viruses of the panzootic Avian avulavirus 1 (AAvV-1) of sub-genotype
      VIIi were repeatedly isolated (2011-2016) from commercial chickens and from
      multiple non-poultry avian species in Pakistan. These findings provide evidence
      for the existence of epidemiological links between Newcastle disease outbreaks in
      commercial poultry and infections with virulent AAvV-1 strains in other avian
      species kept in proximity to poultry. Our results suggest that the endemicity of
      Newcastle disease in Pakistan involves multiple hosts and environments.

PMID- 28606363
TI  - Patterns of calving and young stock movement in Ireland and their implications
      for BVD serosurveillance.
AB  - The Republic of Ireland has a national eradication programme for bovine viral
      diarrhoea virus (BVDv) based on tissue-tag testing of calves to identify
      persistently infected animals (PIs). It has been proposed that serological
      testing of a sample of home-bred young stock would be a more cost effective
      surveillance mechanism than continued tissue-tag testing in herds which have
      previously been found to be BVD-free. These animals would have to be at least 6
      months of age to avoid interference from maternal antibodies in test results. To
      examine the potential practicality of this system, we identified birth profiles
      and movements of calves born in Ireland during 2014 and 2015. We found that birth
      profiles for both beef and dairy animals were more evenly distributed throughout
      the year than often assumed, which should be borne in mind when evaluating the
      suitability of a single round of serological testing in the autumn for every
      herd. A large amount of movement was identified, with approximately 43% of calves
      experiencing a move before they reached 10 months of age, including moves to
      another Irish herd, to a knackery, to export, or to slaughter. Approximately 19%
      of calves had moved to other breeding herds in Ireland within this period. There
      were distinct patterns according to movement type, month of birth and herd type.
      The majority of herds moved either all or none of their calves in the first 10
      months of life. These results indicate that young stock serological testing is
      unlikely to be an appropriate surveillance mechanism for all BVDv-free herds, as
      (i) many herds would not be able to supply a large enough sample of suitably aged
      home-bred young stock at a single point in time and (ii) PIs which would have
      been picked up by tissue-tag testing soon after birth would have moved from their
      home herd, to infect other herds, before serological testing could be conducted.

PMID- 28606364
TI  - Cefotaxime-resistant E. coli in dairy and beef cattle farms-Joint analyses of two
      cross-sectional investigations in Germany.
AB  - Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and other beta-lactam antibiotics
      is of major concern for animal and human health. Knowledge of the prevalence of
      resistant bacteria in primary production is an important element to estimate
      transmission along the stages in the food production chain and the exposure of
      the human population. The primary objective of this study was to determine the
      prevalence of cefotaxime-resistant commensal E. coli in dairy and beef cattle
      production units throughout Germany. Secondarily, the association between
      management factors and the presence of cefotaxime resistance was investigated. In
      total, 60 beef cattle and 52 dairy cattle production units all over Germany were
      included. Cefotaxime-resistant E. coli were isolated from at least one sample in
      70% (95% CI: 58-83%) of the farms keeping beef cattle and 85% (95% CI: 75-94%) of
      the farms keeping dairy cattle. The sample prevalence was 35% (161/455; 95% CI:
      31-40%) and 48% (156/323; 95% CI: 43-54%), respectively. Most factors associated
      with resistance to cefotaxime indicate that less intensive production results in
      a lower number of positive samples. For beef cattle, antimicrobial treatment of
      the whole animal group was significantly associated with an increased proportion
      of samples containing cefotaxime resistant E. coli. In addition, our results
      indicate that better hygiene management could improve the resistance situation on
      cattle farms.

PMID- 28606365
TI  - Estimate of the economic impact of mastitis: A case study in a Holstein dairy
      herd under tropical conditions.
AB  - The aim of this study was to estimate the economic impact of mastitis at the herd
      level and the weight (percent) of the components of this impact in a Holstein
      dairy herd under tropical conditions. Three estimates of the economic impact of
      mastitis were performed. In estimates 1 and 2 the real production and economic
      indices from February 2011 to January 2012 were considered. In the estimate 1,
      indices for mastitis classified as ideal were considered, whereas in the estimate
      2, the mastitis indices used were those recorded at the farm and at Holstein
      Cattle Association of Minas Gerais State database (real indices). Ideal mastitis
      indices were bulk milk somatic cell counts less than 250,000 cells/mL, incidence
      of clinical mastitis less than 25 cases/100 cows/year, number of culls due to
      udder health problems less than 5% and the percentage of cows with somatic cell
      counts greater than 200,000 cells/mL less than 20%. Considering the ideal indices
      of mastitis, the economic impact was US$19,132.35. The three main components of
      the economic impact were culling cows (39.4%) and the reduction in milk
      production due to subclinical and clinical mastitis (32.3% and 18.2%,
      respectively). Estimate 2 using real mastitis indices showed an economic impact
      of US$61,623.13 and the reduction in milk production due to mastitis (77.7%) and
      milk disposal (14.0%) were the most relevant components. The real impact of
      culling cows was approximately 16 times less than the weight that was considered
      ideal, indicating that this procedure could have been more frequently adopted.
      The reduction in milk production was 27.2% higher than the reduction in Estimate
      1, indicating a need to control and prevent mastitis. The estimate 3 considered
      the same indices as estimate 2, but for the period from February 2012 to January
      2013. Its economic impact was US$91,552.69. During this period, 161 treatments of
      cows with an intramammary antibiotic were performed to eliminate Streptococcus
      agalactiae, and eight cows chronically infected with Staphylococcus aureus were
      culled. The reduction in milk production due to mastitis was the main component
      of the economic impact (54.9%). The culling of cows with chronic infection was
      associated with an increase in the economic impact of mastitis and a reduction in
      the average productivity per cow. At the herd level reduction in milk production
      was the component that presented the largest weight in the economic impact of the
      disease.

PMID- 28606366
TI  - Herd-level seroprevalence and associated risk factors for bovine cysticercosis in
      the State of Paraiba, Northeastern Brazil.
AB  - This study focused on estimating the herd-level and animal-level prevalences, and
      identifying risk factors associated with bovine cysticercosis in the State of
      Paraiba, Northeastern Brazil. The state was divided into three sampling strata:
      Sertao, Borborema and Zona da Mata/Agreste. For each sampling stratum, herd-level
      and animal-level prevalences were estimated by a two-stage sampling survey.
      First, a pre-established number of herds (primary sampling units) were randomly
      selected; second, within each herd a pre-established number of cows aged
      >=24months were systematically selected (secondary sampling units). Ten animals
      were sampled in herds with up to 99 cows aged over 24 months; 15 animals were
      sampled in herds with 100 or more cows aged over 24 months; and all animals were
      sampled in those with up to 10 cows aged over 24 months. In total, 2382 animals
      were sampled from 474 herds. Serological diagnosis was initially performed by the
      indirect ELISA, and positive sera were confirmed by immunoblot. A herd was deemed
      positive if it included at least one positive animal in herds of up to 29
      females, and two positive animals in herds with more than 29 females. The herd
      level prevalence in the State of Paraiba was 10.8% (95% CI=8.1%-14.1%), 10.3%
      (95% CI=6.4%-16.1%) in the region of Sertao, 6.9% (95% CI=3.9%-12.1%) in
      Borborema, and 13.8% (95% CI=9.3%-20.2%) in Agreste/Zona da Mata. The animal
      level prevalence was 2.3% (95% CI=1.6%-3.3%) in the State of Paraiba, 1.4% (95%
      CI=0.8%-2.5%) in Sertao, 3.6% (95% CI=1.7%-7.4%) in Borborema, and 3.2% (95%
      CI=1.9%-5.4%) in Agreste/Zona da Mata. The risk factors identified were as
      follows: animal purchasing (OR=2.19) and presence of flooded pastures (OR=1.99).
      Our findings suggest that bovine cysticercosis herd-level seroprevalence in the
      State of Paraiba, Northeastern Brazil, is high, and support the idea that
      prevention measures should be applied at herd level and farmers should restrict
      the access of their cattle to flooded pastures.

PMID- 28606367
TI  - Assessment of hygienic conditions of live bird markets on avian influenza in
      Chittagong metro, Bangladesh.
AB  - Live Bird Markets (LBMs) in Asian countries are considered as hubs for the spread
      and maintenance of different infectious diseases. In Bangladesh, LBMs are the
      major source of live and dressed poultry to consumers and until now only a few
      studies have been conducted targeting infectious agent status such as avian
      influenza virus (AIV) prevalence of LBMs in Bangladesh. Therefore, a cross
      sectional study was conducted using all 40 LBMs within the Chittagong
      Metropolitan Area (CMA) of Bangladesh targeting demographic information and
      hygienic status of LBMs in concurrence with AIV prevalence and its subtype
      distribution, as well as the associated risk factors for AIV. Pooled
      environmental swab samples were collected from 2 to 9 different sites per stall,
      with epidemiological data being obtained from a total of 290 stalls across 40
      LBMs. The samples were evaluated by Real Time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase
      Chain Reaction. The prevalence of AIV was 40% (95% CI: 20-60%; N=40) at a LBM
      level followed by 20.3% (CI: 10-30%, N=290) at a stall level. Specifically, the
      prevalence of H5, H7 and H9 subtypes at stall level were 2.8% (95% CI: 1-5%), 0%
      (CI: 0-1.3%) and 3.1% (CI: 1-6%), respectively. Generalized Estimating Equation
      model identified that the type of species sold (OR=2.5: Chicken and non-duck
      species versus Duck with other species), bird holding areas (OR=1.9: Cage versus
      Floor) and Hygienic score (OR=3.1: Score 3 or more versus score less than 3) as
      potential risk factors for the detection of AIV at stall level. These results
      suggest that housing chickens and ducks together in the stalls, birds kept on
      floors, and lack of adequate hygienic measures of the stall were the crucial
      factors for spreading AIV. This research outcome could be used to develop a proof
      based program concerning environmental sanitation along with development of an
      effective surveillance system to reduce the AIV transmission through LBMs in
      Bangladesh.

PMID- 28606368
TI  - Xanthomas and atheromas.

PMID- 28606369
TI  - Intensive multidisciplinary intervention for pediatric feeding disorders.

PMID- 28606370
TI  - Factors Influencing Pediatrician Retirement: A Survey of American Academy of
      Pediatrics Chapter Members.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the factors that may influence physicians' desire to retire
      through an analysis of data collected through the American Academy of Pediatrics
      (AAP) State Pediatrician Workforce Survey. STUDY DESIGN: An electronic survey was
      sent to retired and nonretired US pediatricians who held AAP membership. The
      respondents were asked about the importance of 12 factors that would influence or
      had influenced their decision to retire. The physicians who were not yet retired
      also were asked: "If you could afford to today, would you retire from medicine?"
      RESULTS: The survey was completed by 8867 pediatricians. Among the nonretired
      respondents, 27% reported that they would retire today if it were affordable.
      Increasing regulation of medicine, decreasing clinical autonomy, and insufficient
      reimbursement were rated as very important factors by >50% of these
      pediatricians. Among retired pediatricians, 26.9% identified the effort to keep
      up with clinical advances and changes in practice as a very important factor in
      their decision to retire. Younger physicians were significantly more likely to
      rate maintenance of certification requirements, insufficient reimbursement, lack
      of professional satisfaction, and family responsibilities as very important
      factors. Rural pediatricians were more interested in retiring than those working
      in academic settings. There were no sex differences. CONCLUSIONS: Twenty-seven
      percent of pediatricians in practice today would retire today if it were
      affordable. Identifying and addressing the important factors that influence a
      pediatrician's desire to retire can potentially reduce the retirement rate of
      pediatricians and thus increase access to care for children.

PMID- 28606371
TI  - Stability of Developmental Problems after School Entry of Moderately-Late Preterm
      and Early Preterm-Born Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the stability of developmental problems in moderately-late
      preterm-born children compared with early preterm and full term-born children
      before school entry at age 4 years and 1 year after school entry at age 5 years.
      STUDY DESIGN: We included 376 early preterm, 688 born moderately-late preterm,
      and 403 full term-born children from the Longitudinal Preterm Outcome Project
      (LOLLIPOP) cohort study. Developmental problems were assessed by the total score
      and the 5 domain scores of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire at ages 4 (ASQ-4)
      and 5 (ASQ-5). From the combinations of normal and abnormal ASQ-4 and ASQ-5
      scores we constructed 4 categories: consistently normal, emerging, resolving, and
      persistent problems. RESULTS: The ASQ-4 total score was abnormal more frequently
      in moderately-late preterm (7.9%, P = .016) and early preterm-born children
      (13.0%, P < .001) than in full term-born children (4.1%). Compared with the ASQ-5
      total score, moderately-late preterm-born children had persistence and change
      comparable with full term-born children, and early preterm-born children had
      significantly greater rates than full term-born children of persistent (8.4% vs
      2.2%, P < .001) and emerging problems (7.8% vs 2.7% P = .001). On the underlying
      domains, both early preterm and moderately-late preterm-born children had mainly
      emerging motor problems and resolving communication problems, but the changing
      rates of moderately-late preterm-born children were lower. CONCLUSIONS: After
      school entry, the overall development of moderately-late preterm-born children
      had stability patterns comparable with full term-born children, whereas early
      preterm-born children had greater rates of persistent and emerging problems. On
      the underlying domains, moderately-late preterm-born children had patterns
      comparable with early preterm-born children but at lower rates.

PMID- 28606372
TI  - Attrition and Mortality of Children Receiving Antiretroviral Treatment through
      the Universal Coverage Health Program in Thailand.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess mortality and loss to follow-up of children with HIV
      infection who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the Universal Coverage
      Health Program (UC) in Thailand. STUDY DESIGN: Children with HIV infection who
      initiated ART at age <15 years through the UC between 2008 and 2013 were included
      in the analysis. Death was ascertained through linkage with the National Death
      Registry. A competing-risks method was used to calculate subdistribution hazard
      ratios (SHRs) of predictors for loss to follow-up. Death was considered a
      competing risk. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess predictors of
      mortality. RESULTS: A total of 4618 children from 497 hospitals in Thailand were
      included in the study. Median age at ART initiation was 9 years (IQR, 6-12
      years), and the median duration of tracking was 4.1 years (a total of 18 817
      person-years). Three hundred and ninety-five children (9%) died, for a mortality
      rate of 2.1 (95% CI, 1.9-2.3) per 100 person-years, and 525 children (11%) were
      lost to follow-up, for a lost to follow-up rate of 2.9 (95% CI, 2.7-3.2) per 100
      person-years. The cumulative incidence of loss to follow-up increased from 4% at
      1 year to 8.8% at 3 years. Children who started ART at age >=12 years were at the
      greatest risk of loss to follow-up. The probability of death was 3.2% at 6 months
      and 6.4% at 3 years. Age >=12 years at ART initiation, lower baseline CD4%,
      advanced HIV staging, and loss to follow-up were associated with mortality.
      CONCLUSION: The Thai national HIV treatment program has been very effective in
      treating children with HIV infection, with low mortality and modest rates of loss
      to follow-up.

PMID- 28606373
TI  - Marcus Gunn Phenomenon.

PMID- 28606374
TI  - How Do We Regard the Preemie at the Margins of Viability?

PMID- 28606377
TI  - Comparative morphology and phagocytic capacity of primary human adult microglia
      with time-lapse imaging.
AB  - Microglia provide immune surveillance within the brain and spinal cord. Various
      microglial morphologies include ramified, amoeboid, and pseudopodic. The link
      between form and function is not clear, especially for human adult microglia
      which are limited in availability for study. Here, we examined primary human
      microglia isolated from normal-appearing white matter. Pseudopodic and amoeboid
      microglia were effective phagocytes, taking up E. coli bioparticles using ruffled
      cell membrane sheets and retrograde transport. Pseudopodic and amoeboid microglia
      were more effective phagocytes as compared to ramified microglia or monocyte
      derived dendritic cells. Thus, amoeboid and pseudopodic microglia may both be
      effective as brain scavengers.

PMID- 28606376
TI  - Enhanced Delivery and Effects of Acid Sphingomyelinase by ICAM-1-Targeted
      Nanocarriers in Type B Niemann-Pick Disease Mice.
AB  - Acid sphingomyelinase deficiency in type B Niemann-Pick disease leads to
      lysosomal sphingomyelin storage, principally affecting lungs, liver, and spleen.
      Infused recombinant enzyme is beneficial, yet its delivery to the lungs is
      limited and requires higher dosing than liver and spleen, leading to potentially
      adverse reactions. Previous studies showed increased enzyme pulmonary uptake by
      nanocarriers targeted to ICAM-1, a protein overexpressed during inflammation.
      Here, using polystyrene and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanocarriers, we
      optimized lung delivery by varying enzyme dose and nanocarrier concentration,
      verified endocytosis and lysosomal trafficking in vivo, and evaluated delivered
      activity and effects. Raising the enzyme load of nanocarriers progressively
      increased absolute enzyme delivery to all lung, liver, and spleen, over the naked
      enzyme. Varying nanocarrier concentration inversely impacted lung versus liver
      and spleen uptake. Mouse intravital and postmortem examination verified
      endocytosis, transcytosis, and lysosomal trafficking using nanocarriers. Compared
      to naked enzyme, nanocarriers increased enzyme activity in organs and reduced
      lung sphingomyelin storage and macrophage infiltration. Although old mice with
      advanced disease showed reactivity (pulmonary leukocyte infiltration) to
      injections, including buffer without carriers, antibody, or enzyme, younger mice
      with mild disease did not. We conclude that anti-ICAM nanocarriers may result in
      effective lung enzyme therapy using low enzyme doses.

PMID- 28606378
TI  - Predictors of talc slurry pleurodesis success in patients with malignant pleural
      effusions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malignant pleural effusions are an important burden of malignant
      disease. Slurry talc pleurodesis remains one of the most common and effective
      therapeutic options. AIM: Investigate the predictive factors related with the
      efficacy of this technique in malignant pleural effusions. METHODS: Retrospective
      analysis of all pleurodesis performed during a 10-year period in a Pulmonology
      Unit. All demographic and clinical data were collected, including the histologic
      tumoral type and the biochemical, microbiological and cytological fluid features.
      Efficacy was defined as the lack of recurrence of pleural effusion. It was used
      Kaplan-Meyer analysis to estimate overall survival. RESULTS: From a total of 202
      patients submitted to pleurodesis (47% men; mean age 66.9+/-12.02 years). Light's
      criteria identified 86.6% as exudates. We found 85.1% survival at 30-day post
      pleurodesis, which means the therapy used has significant success. A logistic
      regression model applied explained that variance in post-pleurodesis events was
      mostly due to age and gender rather than pleural biochemical factors
      (X2(5)=44.648, p<0.001, R2 28.3%). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that clinical
      evaluation of biochemical values, bacteriological results and malignant tumor
      diagnosis may not be enough to predict post-pleurodesis relapse with high
      accuracy. Furthermore, we observed, in ten years of pleurodesis performed in our
      Hospital, that pleurodesis is an effective life prolonging therapy for patients
      that fit the criteria for this intervention.

PMID- 28606375
TI  - Circulating Lipoproteins: A Trojan Horse Guiding Squalenoylated Drugs to LDL
      Accumulating Cancer Cells.
AB  - Selective delivery of anticancer drugs to rapidly growing cancer cells can be
      achieved by taking advantage of their high receptor-mediated uptake of low
      density lipoproteins (LDLs). Indeed, we have recently discovered that
      nanoparticles made of the squalene derivative of the anticancer agent gemcitabine
      (SQGem) strongly interacted with the LDLs in the human blood. In the present
      study, we showed both in vitro and in vivo that such interaction led to the
      preferential accumulation of SQGem in cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) with high LDL
      receptor expression. As a result, an improved pharmacological activity has been
      observed in MDA-MB-231 tumor-bearing mice, an experimental model with a low
      sensitivity to gemcitabine. Accordingly, we proved that the use of squalene
      moieties not only induced the gemcitabine insertion into lipoproteins, but that
      it could also be exploited to indirectly target cancer cells in vivo.

PMID- 28606379
TI  - Launchpad for Onboarding New Faculty Into Academic Life.
AB  - We developed a faculty professional development seminar series in order to
      facilitate the integration of our numerous new faculty into academics. The
      changing nature of the healthcare system, increasing clinical and administrative
      responsibility, and lack of access to senior mentors can hinder junior faculty
      productivity and possibly increase attrition. Given that no ready-made resources
      existed to address these issues we established a Professional Development
      Committee, developed a curriculum that covers relevant topics including
      promotion, mentorship, conflict management and feedback, and effective
      presentation of scientific data, and instituted changes iteratively based upon
      feedback. We used surveys from successive years of this seminar series to assess
      effectiveness, and our data demonstrate that our Professional Development Seminar
      Series was valued by its participants and that individual lectures improved from
      year to year. While it is too early to determine whether our efforts will lead to
      long-term changes in promotion success or faculty retention, our initial data are
      promising.

PMID- 28606380
TI  - Empowerment Evaluation's 21st Anniversary: A Celebration, Comment & Critique.

PMID- 28606381
TI  - Which origin for polycystic ovaries syndrome: Genetic, environmental or both?
AB  - Polycystic ovaries syndrome (PCOS), the most common female endocrine disorder,
      affects 7-10% of women of childbearing age. It includes ovarian hyperandrogenism,
      impaired follicular maturation, anovulation and subfertility. Insulin resistance,
      although present in most cases, is not necessary for diagnosis. It increases
      hyperandrogenism and long-term metabolic, cardiovascular and oncological risks.
      The origin of hyperandrogenism and hyperinsulinemia has a genetic component, as
      demonstrated by familial aggregation studies and recent identification of
      associated genomic variants, conferring a particular susceptibility to the
      syndrome. However, experimental and epidemiological evidences also support a
      developmental origin via a deleterious foetal environment, concerning the
      endocrine status (foetal hyperandrogenism), the nutritional level (intrauterine
      growth retardation), or the toxicological exposure (endocrine disruptors).
      Epigenetic changes recently reported in the literature as associated with PCOS,
      enhance this hypothesis of foetal reprogramming of the future adult ovarian
      function by environmental factors. Better characterisation of these genetic,
      epigenetic, or environmental factors, could lead to earlier prevention and more
      efficient treatments.

PMID- 28606382
TI  - A phase I randomized postcoital testing and safety study of the Caya diaphragm
      used with 3% Nonoxynol-9 gel, ContraGel or no gel.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Caya(r) Diaphragm is a newly approved single-size, nonlatex
      diaphragm. Contragel(r) is a personal lubricant containing lactic acid approved
      in Europe and other countries for use with vaginal barrier devices. This study
      assessed the effectiveness in preventing sperm from penetrating midcycle cervical
      mucus of Caya with Contragel, Caya with 3% nonoxynol-9 (N-9) and Caya alone.
      STUDY DESIGN: Phase I multicenter, single-blind, randomized, crossover,
      nonsignificant risk study at two sites: Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk,
      VA, USA, and Profamilia, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Healthy, sexually
      active women 18-45years old, not at risk for pregnancy due to tubal occlusion,
      were eligible. Each participant was seen in nine visits, completing a baseline
      cycle (without product use) followed by three test cycles (sequence determined by
      randomization), each consisting of a cervical mucus check visit and a postcoital
      test visit. To proceed to test cycles, the baseline postcoital test had to show
      adequate cervical mucus and >5 progressively motile sperm per high power field
      (PMS/HPF). RESULTS: All women had an average of <5 PMS/HPF during the test cycle
      of each study arm, the primary endpoint. Caya with ContraGel and Caya with N-9
      reduced the average number of PMS/HPF from 22.5 to 0. Caya alone reduced the
      average number of PMS/HPF from 22.5 to 0.4. There were two possibly product
      related mild adverse events. CONCLUSION: This study supports that Caya with
      ContraGel is safe and functions as well as Caya with N-9 in preventing PMS from
      reaching midcycle cervical mucus. IMPLICATIONS: A single-size diaphragm used with
      a personal lubricant gel containing lactic acid appears to be safe and to
      function as well as the same diaphragm used with N-9 in preventing PMS from
      reaching midcycle cervical mucus.

PMID- 28606384
TI  - Emerging Microbiological Methods.

PMID- 28606383
TI  - A case series of removal of nickel-titanium sterilization microinserts from the
      uterine cornua using laparoscopic electrocautery for salpingectomy.
AB  - Nickel-Titanium sterilization microinserts are surgically removed for various
      indications, including persistent pain. Previously described removal techniques
      include salpingostomy and cornuectomy with judicious use of electrocautery to
      avoid potential injury to adjacent structures or fracturing the micoinsert. This
      case series presents our technique of laparoscopic salpingectomy, utilizing
      electrocautery on the microinsert.

PMID- 28606385
TI  - Isolation of Kaeng Khoi virus (KKV) from Eucampsipoda sundaica bat flies in
      China.
AB  - A virus strain (WDBC1210) was isolated from specimens of bat flies (Eucampsipoda
      sundaica) associated with Leschenault's Rousette (Rousettus leschenaultii) in the
      China-Myanmar border area of Yunnan Province, China. Both BHK-21 and VeroE6 cells
      infected with WDBC1210 showed evident cytopathic effects (CPE), and the highest
      propagation titer was 1*105.6. The virus particles were spherical, 70nm in
      diameter. Virus plaques could be observed in BHK-21 cells. The whole genome of
      WDBC1210 contained three RNA segments: the small gene (S), 975 nucleotides long;
      the medium gene (M), 4568 nucleotides long; and the large gene (L), 6866
      nucleotides long. The nucleotide homologies of the S, M, and L genes between
      WDBC1210 and the original isolate of Kaeng Khoi virus (KKV; PSC-19 strain) were
      96.9%, 94.1%, and 95.2%, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses based on the S, M,
      and L segments indicated that WDBC1210 belongs within the same clade as the KKV
      strain PSC-19, a member of the Bunyaviridae family. This is the first report on
      the isolation of KKV from bat flies (Eucampsipoda sundaica) and from an inland
      area, nearly 2000km north from the original isolation site of KKV in Thailand,
      suggesting that KKV virus not only has a diverse set of vectors, but also a wide
      geographic distribution.

PMID- 28606386
TI  - Comparison of the Nuss versus Ravitch procedure for pectus excavatum repair: an
      updated meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To evaluate surgical outcomes of Nuss versus Ravitch repair
      of pectus excavatum via a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Medline,
      PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases were searched up to
      September 5, 2016 using the following search terms: pectus excavatum, funnel
      chest, Nuss; Ravitch, minimally invasive, and open surgery. Randomized controlled
      trials, two-arm prospective, and two-arm retrospective studies were eligible for
      inclusion. RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included with a total of 1731 patients:
      989 treated with Nuss and 742 treated with Ravitch. The overall analysis revealed
      that patients in the Nuss group had significantly shorter operation time (pooled
      SMD=-2.83, 95% CI=-3.76 to -1.90, p<0.001) and less blood loss (pooled SMD=-1.68,
      95% CI=-2.28 to -1.09, P<0.001) than the Ravitch group. However, the length of
      hospital stay was similar between groups (pooled SMD=-0.55, 95% CI=-1.44 to 0.35,
      p=0.230). These findings were similar in the subgroup analysis for randomized and
      non-randomized controlled studies. Complications were not assessed due to
      inconsistent reporting across the included studies. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta
      analysis demonstrate that the Nuss procedure has a shorter operative time and
      less operative blood loss than the Ravitch procedure while the postoperative
      length of stay was similar. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

PMID- 28606387
TI  - The effect of integration masking on visual processing in perceptual
      categorization.
AB  - Learning to recognize and categorize objects is an essential cognitive skill
      allowing animals to function in the world. However, animals rarely have access to
      a canonical view of an object in an uncluttered environment. Hence, it is
      essential to study categorization under noisy, degraded conditions. In this
      article, we explore how the brain processes categorization stimuli in low signal
      to-noise conditions using multivariate pattern analysis. We used an integration
      masking paradigm with mask opacity of 50%, 60%, and 70% inside a magnetic
      resonance imaging scanner. The results show that mask opacity affects blood
      oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in visual processing areas (V1, V2, V3, and
      V4) but does not affect the BOLD signal in brain areas traditionally associated
      with categorization (prefrontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus). This suggests
      that when a stimulus is difficult to extract from its background (e.g., low
      signal-to-noise ratio), the visual system extracts the stimulus and that activity
      in areas typically associated with categorization are not affected by the
      difficulty level of the visual conditions. We conclude with implications of this
      result for research on visual attention, categorization, and the integration of
      these fields.

PMID- 28606388
TI  - The role of dorsal premotor cortex in mental rotation: A transcranial magnetic
      stimulation study.
AB  - Although activation of dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) has been consistently
      observed in the neuroimaging studies of mental rotation, the functional meaning
      of PMd activation is still unclear and multiple alternative explanations have
      been suggested. The present study used repetitive transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (rTMS) to investigate the role of PMd in mental rotation. Two tasks
      were used, involving mental rotation of hands and abstract objects, with either
      matching (same stimuli) or mirror stimuli. Compared to sham stimulation, TMS over
      right and left PMd regions significantly affected accuracy in the object task,
      specifically for the same stimuli. Furthermore, response times were longer
      following right PMd stimulation in both the object and the hand tasks, but again,
      selectively for the same stimuli. The effect of rotational angle on response
      times and accuracies was greater for the same stimuli. Moreover TMS over PMd
      impaired the performance accuracy selectively in these stimuli, mainly in a task
      that included abstract objects. For these reasons, the present findings indicate
      a contribution of PMd to mental rotation.

PMID- 28606391
TI  - Tensions in relation: How peer support is experienced and received in a hepatitis
      C treatment intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peer support and involvement is recognised as a vital component of
      hepatitis C (HCV) treatment provision for marginalised populations, such as
      people who inject drugs (PWID). Developments in HCV treatments enable increased
      provision in community settings - expanding the possibilities for meaningful peer
      involvement in HCV treatment plans. To date, HCV peer support has generally been
      viewed as a positive intervention, with little critical reflection on the ways
      social structures, policies, health and drug services and social identity impact
      on how peer support is experienced and received. METHODS: We report on the
      qualitative component of a UK-based intervention designed to increase HCV
      diagnosis and treatment in primary care and drug treatment settings. Data were
      collected between 2014 and 2016. Pre-intervention, a total of 35 PWID clients
      took part in nine in-depth interviews and four focus groups. In addition, 22 drug
      services and intervention providers took part in two focus groups and nine
      interviews. Post-intervention, one focus group and eight interviews were
      conducted with 13 PWID clients, and four focus groups and ten interviews were
      conducted with 26 drug services and intervention providers. Our data generation
      and thematic analysis focused on the peer education and buddy support component
      of the intervention. RESULTS: Participants had common expectations of the peer
      role (to 'just be there') and its occupants' attributes (empathy, trustworthy,
      etc.). However, in practice, peers faced constraints on realising these
      expectations. A 'recovery' dominated drug treatment ethos in the UK appeared to
      influence the selection of 'recovery champions' as peers for the intervention.
      This created tensions in relations with clients, particularly when risk-adverse
      discourses were internalised by the peers. Peers were poorly integrated and
      supported within the service, affecting opportunities to relate and build trust
      with clients. Thus, the scope for peer support to impact on the nature and extent
      of clients' testing and treatment for HCV was limited. CONCLUSION: The efficacy
      of peer involvement can be constrained by organisational structures and
      boundaries - especially regarding who is deemed to be 'a peer'. Peer programmes
      take time and care to implement and weave into wider recovery and harm reduction
      frameworks.

PMID- 28606390
TI  - Reproducibility in light microscopy: Maintenance, standards and SOPs.
AB  - Light microscopy has grown to be a valuable asset in both the physical and life
      sciences. It is a highly quantitative method available in individual research
      laboratories and often centralized in core facilities. However, although
      quantitative microscopy is becoming a customary tool in research, it is rarely
      standardized. To achieve accurate quantitative microscopy data and reproducible
      results, three levels of standardization must be considered: (1) aspects of the
      microscope, (2) the sample, and (3) the detector. The accuracy of the data is
      only as reliable as the imaging system itself, thereby imposing the need for
      routine standard performance testing. Depending on the task some maintenance
      procedures should be performed once a month, some before each imaging session,
      while others conducted annually. This text should be implemented as a resource
      for researchers to integrate with their own standard operating procedures to
      ensure the highest quality quantitative microscopy data.

PMID- 28606392
TI  - HIV and hepatitis C treatment uptake among people who use drugs participating in
      the Amsterdam Cohort Studies, 1985-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-positive people who use drugs (PWUD) start antiretroviral therapy
      (ART) later than other risk groups, and among HCV-positive PWUD, HCV treatment
      uptake is low. Nowadays, HCV direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are available and
      reimbursed in the Netherlands (since 2014). The Amsterdam Cohort Studies (ACS),
      initiated in 1985, provides us the opportunity to describe temporal trends in ART
      and HCV-treatment uptake among PWUD through 2015. METHODS: We analyzed data from
      PWUD participating in the ACS between 1985 and 2015. ART and HCV-treatment data
      were obtained from ACS questionnaires and medical records. Treatment uptake was
      defined by: treatment initiation (the proportion initiating any kind of ART/HCV
      treatment when treatment-naive) and coverage (the proportion ever treated for
      HIV/HCV) among all HIV-/HCV-RNA-positive PWUD. Each was calculated per calendar
      year. We estimated the cumulative probability of ART uptake in the pre-cART
      (<1996) and cART era (January 1, 1996) among HIV seroconverters, with all-cause
      mortality as a competing risk. RESULTS: Of 1305 PWUD, 263 (20.2%) were HIV
      antibody positive and 810 (62.1%) were HCV-antibody positive, at study entry. ART
      coverage increased over time, from 5.7% in 1990 and 42.2% in 1996 to 91.7% in
      2015. The proportion initiating ART ranged from 4.8% in 1990 to 33.3% in 2011. At
      8 years after HIV seroconversion, cumulative probability of ART uptake was 42.5%
      in the pre-cART era and 61.5% in the cART era. HCV treatment initiation peaked in
      2006 (9.7%). HCV-treatment coverage was 43.9% in 2015 but lower among HIV
      coinfected (23.5%) than HCV-monoinfected PWUD (52.5%). In 2015, 3.0% initiated
      HCV treatment with DAAs. CONCLUSION: We observed an increase in ART and HCV
      treatment coverage among PWUD over time. As expected, ART uptake was higher in
      the cART era than the pre-cART era. Although in 2015 HCV treatment coverage was
      relatively high, DAA uptake was still low.

PMID- 28606393
TI  - Endothelial keratoplasty for failed penetrating keratoplasty grafts.

PMID- 28606389
TI  - Etiology of alcoholic cardiomyopathy: Mitochondria, oxidative stress and
      apoptosis.
AB  - Putative mechanisms leading to the development of alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM)
      include the interrelated cellular processes of mitochondria metabolism, oxidative
      stress and apoptosis. As mitochondria fuel the constant energy demands of this
      continually contracting tissue, it is not surprising that alcohol-induced
      molecular changes in this organelle contribute to cardiac dysfunction and ACM. As
      the causal relationship of these processes with ACM has already been established,
      the primary objective of this review is to provide an update of the experimental
      findings to more completely understand the aforementioned mechanisms.
      Accordingly, recent data indicate that alcohol impairs mitochondria function
      assessed by membrane potential and respiratory chain activity. Indictors of
      oxidative stress including superoxide dismutase, glutathione metabolites and
      malondialdehyde are also adversely affected by alcohol oftentimes in a sex
      dependent manner. Additionally, myocardial apoptosis is increased based on
      assessment of TUNEL staining and caspase activity. Recent work has also emerged
      linking alcohol-induced oxidative stress with apoptosis providing new insight on
      the codependence of these interrelated mechanisms in ACM. Attention is also given
      to methodological differences including the dose of alcohol, experimental model
      system and the use of males versus females to highlight inconsistencies and areas
      that would benefit from establishment of a consistent model.

PMID- 28606394
TI  - Editorial overview: Physiology and metabolism: Light responses from
      photoreceptors to photosynthesis and photoprotection.

PMID- 28606395
TI  - Novel nonresectional posterior leaflet remodeling approach for minimally invasive
      mitral repair.

PMID- 28606396
TI  - Modified internal ligation of the left atrial appendage.

PMID- 28606397
TI  - Appropriate Use Criteria for coronary revascularization in patients with stable
      ischemic heart disease: What the surgeon needs to know.

PMID- 28606398
TI  - Round and round we go . . .

PMID- 28606399
TI  - Pediatric continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices: No longer just a
      bridge? The changing of a mindset!

PMID- 28606400
TI  - Autosomal dominant distal myopathy due to a novel ACTA1 mutation.
AB  - Mutations in skeletal muscle alpha-actin 1-encoding gene (ACTA1) cause autosomal
      dominant or recessive myopathies with marked clinical and pathological
      heterogeneity. Patients typically develop generalized or limb-girdle pattern of
      weakness, but recently a family with scapuloperoneal myopathy was reported. We
      describe a father and 2 children with childhood-to-juvenile onset distal
      myopathy, carrying a novel dominant ACTA1 variant, c.757G>C (p.Gly253Arg). Father
      had delayed motor development and developed significant proximal weakness later
      in life; he was initially misdiagnosed as having spinal muscular atrophy based on
      electromyographic findings. His children had predominant anterior distal leg and
      finger extensor involvement. Nemaline rods were abundant on the daughter's
      biopsy, absent on the father's initial biopsy, and extremely rare on the father's
      subsequent biopsy a decade later. The father's second biopsy also showed
      myofibrillar pathology and rare fibers with actin filament aggregates. The
      present family expands the spectrum of actinopathy to include a distal myopathy.

PMID- 28606401
TI  - Monoclonal gammopathy with both nemaline myopathy and amyloid myopathy.
AB  - Monoclonal gammopathies due to plasma cell dyscrasias can induce diverse rare
      neuromuscular disorders. Deposition of monoclonal antibody light chains in
      skeletal muscle causes amyloid myopathy. Monoclonal gammopathy is occasionally
      associated with sporadic late-onset nemaline myopathy. Here we report a
      monoclonal gammopathy patient with both sporadic late-onset nemaline myopathy and
      amyloid myopathy. The diagnoses were based on immunofixation electrophoresis of
      urine, and serum for free light chain assay, Congo red staining and Thioflavin S
      staining of muscle biopsies, as well as immunohistochemical staining and electron
      microscopic observation. Nemaline myopathy and amyloid myopathy can present in
      the same patient with monoclonal gammopathy.

PMID- 28606402
TI  - Clinical, histological and radiological responses to methylprednisolone in HIV
      associated rod myopathy.
AB  - Skeletal muscle involvement as a neurologic manifestation in individuals with HIV
      is rare, especially as rod myopathy. We describe a 41-year-old male with HIV
      infection who presented progressive proximal muscle weakness and limb-girdle
      atrophy. A muscle magnetic resonance image showed bilateral fatty infiltration
      and post-contrast enhancement in the arm and thigh muscles. The muscle biopsy
      revealed intracytoplasmic aggregates with appearance of nemaline rod bodies with
      Gomori trichrome staining and electron microscopy in most fibers. The patient
      underwent six cycles of intravenous methylprednisolone pulses, presenting
      clinical improvement. Post-treatment muscle biopsy showed fewer nemaline bodies
      and muscle magnetic resonance image depicted a pronounced reduction of muscular
      edema. These findings corroborate that deposition of nemaline bodies in these
      patients might be related to an immune response triggered by the virus.

PMID- 28606403
TI  - Diaphragmatic dysfunction in SEPN1-related myopathy.
AB  - SEPN1-related myopathy (SEPN1-RM) is characterized by predominant axial muscle
      weakness, early scoliosis, rigid spine and severe respiratory insufficiency. The
      aim of the study was to characterize the mechanisms of respiratory dysfunction in
      SEPN1-RM patients. Breathing pattern and respiratory muscle strength were
      measured by means of esophageal (Pes) and gastric (Pgas) pressures. Seven
      patients aged 7-55 years (1 adult) at first respiratory muscle test were studied.
      Five patients were treated by nocturnal noninvasive ventilation (NIV)  >= 4
      months. Mean DeltaPes was within normality during tidal breathing, but the
      DeltaPgas/DeltaPes index indicated an increased contribution of the rib cage and
      expiratory muscles, as compared to the diaphragm, in the pediatric patients and
      bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis in the adult patient. Forced vital capacity
      (FVC) was reduced in all patients (52 +/- 19%pr) with mean FVC seated-supine drop
      of 24 +/- 7%. Global inspiratory muscle and diaphragmatic strengths were
      moderately reduced in 2 patients, highly reduced in 4 patients and severely
      reduced in the adult patient. Expiratory muscle strength was moderately reduced
      in 6 patients and severely reduced in the adult patient. FVC and respiratory
      muscle strength remained stable in 2 patients treated by nocturnal NIV within a 3
      year follow-up. This study confirms that diaphragmatic dysfunction is a
      characteristic feature of SEPN1-RM and NIV may stabilize the decline in
      respiratory muscle strength.

PMID- 28606404
TI  - Dietary inclusion of fish oil changes the semen lipid composition but does not
      improve the post-thaw semen quality of ram spermatozoa.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary fish oil (FO)
      time-response on the fatty acid profile, cholesterol levels and sperm
      cryosurvival in ram semen. Criollo Araucano rams were randomly assigned to two
      groups (n=4) according to the type of supplementation: a control group without FO
      and a supplemented group fed a diet with 3% FO for 8 weeks. The semen lipid
      profile and post-thaw sperm quality were analyzed at weeks 0 (pre
      supplementation), 4, 8, 12 and 16 (post-supplementation) to evaluate the effects
      of FO supplementation by time interaction. Post-thaw sperm quality was determined
      by CASA and flow cytometry. In spermatozoa, the supplemented group increased the
      linoleic acid (C18:2n6c) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6n3) with levels
      higher at week 16 (P<0.05). The effect of FO on cholesterol concentration in
      sperm was significant at the end of the experiment (week 16). In seminal plasma,
      statistical differences of butyric acid (C4:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic
      acid (C18:0), eicosatrienoic acid (C20:3n3) and DHA were observed at week 12. The
      cholesterol concentration was not affected by dietary treatments (P>0.05).
      However, the post-thaw sperm quality of the FO treatment group decreased.
      Motility percentage decreased 50% and spermatozoa with permeable plasma membrane
      and reacted acrosome were higher (63%) at week 16 than the control group. These
      results showed that DHA was effectively incorporated into semen through dietary
      supplementation with FO, but evaluations of post-thaw sperm quality confirm
      alteration specificity related to the structure of the lipid bilayer.

PMID- 28606406
TI  - [Quality of life in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease].
AB  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is an inherited disease that
      usually occurs in adulthood. The majority of affected patients will develop renal
      complications related to cysts during their life, but may sometimes also develop
      severe extrarenal complications. The aim of this study is to review quantitative
      and qualitative results of researches that have investigated quality of life of
      patients suffering ADPKD. The results obtained with health-relative quality of
      life scales are contradictory and lack of sensibility according to the special
      features of ADPKD, for psychological impact for instance. Quality of life is
      decreased according to the quality of life scales specific to the ADPKD and
      qualitative studies from the early stages of the kidney failure with respect to
      physical (pain) and psychological impact of the disease. Untreated anxiety and
      depression are diagnosed for a significant part of patients. Uncertainty of
      prognosis, genetic guilt, precariousness of parental future, feelings of
      powerlessness and hopelessness are responsible at least in part of these
      disorders. According to the patients, pain remains underestimated by physicians
      and treatments are considered as insufficiently effective.

PMID- 28606405
TI  - Biotechnological Advances for Restoring Degraded Land for Sustainable
      Development.
AB  - Global land resources are under severe threat due to pollution and unsustainable
      land use practices. Restoring degraded land is imperative for regaining ecosystem
      services, such as biodiversity maintenance and nutrient and water cycling, and to
      meet the food, feed, fuel, and fibre requirements of present and future
      generations. While bioremediation is acknowledged as a promising technology for
      restoring polluted and degraded lands, its field potential is limited for various
      reasons. However, recent biotechnological advancements, including producing
      efficient microbial consortia, applying enzymes with higher degrees of
      specificity, and designing plants with specific microbial partners, are opening
      new prospects in remediation technology. This review provides insights into such
      promising ways to harness biotechnology as ecofriendly methods for remediation
      and restoration.

PMID- 28606407
TI  - Munchausen syndrome by proxy and pediatric nephrology.
AB  - Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a persistent fabrication of illness done by a
      person to another. Renal and urologic forms of this syndrome are not as uncommon
      as can be thought; a review of all the cases of Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome
      reveals that 25% of the children had renal or urologic issues. This syndrome can
      result in a serious diagnostic dilemma for the physicians; knowing this entity
      can allow early recognition of falsification and limit the physical and
      psychological damages caused in the victim. In this study, we reviewed the
      pediatric nephrology cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, grouping them through
      the principal signs of presentation.

PMID- 28606408
TI  - [Common therapeutic approaches of sarcopenia in the elderly and uremic myopathy].
AB  - The gradual loss of weight and function of muscle in patients with chronic kidney
      disease as in the elderly impacts the quality of life. Early management should
      help slow the functional limitation. Physical activity is the first therapy to
      propose that ensures stability of muscle mass and improved function. Resistance
      training programs have proven effective but are not yet widely available in
      nephrology units. The nutritional management should not be forgotten because
      there is a resistance to anabolism and protein intake should be involved in
      physical activity program. Associated treatments should not be neglected: vitamin
      D, anti-inflammatory, androgens. Some are still under evaluation. Therapeutic
      option, tomorrow, could be anti-myostatin antibodies and glitazones.

PMID- 28606409
TI  - Microstructural analysis and reliability of monolithic zirconia after simulated
      adjustment protocols.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the microstructural properties and reliability of
      zirconia partially stabilized by yttrium oxide (Y-TZP) for use in monolithic form
      (Vita YZ HT, Vita Zahnfabrik, Germany) after different clinical adjustment
      protocols simulation. One-hundred and sixty two Y-TZP discs of high translucency
      were divided into 6 groups (n=27), according to simulated adjustments: S-Y-TZP as
      sintered; G-glazed Y-TZP; DbG-Y-TZP with diamond bur adjustment simulation
      followed by glaze application; GDb-glazed Y-TZP adjusted with diamond bur; DbDrG
      Y-TZP with adjustment simulation with diamond bur and polishing kit (diamond
      rubber), followed by glaze; GDbDr-glazed Y-TZP with adjustment simulation with
      diamond bur followed by polishing kit. METHODS: After monotonic testing under
      biaxial flexure (n=3), remaining specimens were distributed into 3:2:3 ratio and
      tested under step-stress accelerated life testing. Specimens were evaluated in a
      stereomicroscope and SEM. Microstructure was analyzed by X-ray diffraction and
      mean surface roughness (Ra). Survival data were used to calculate Weibull's beta
      value (beta) and reliability for missions of 300,000 and 600,000 cycles at 200N.
      Ra data were statistically analyzed by 1-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (both, a=5%).
      RESULTS: The untreated HT zirconia (S) presented a lower probability of survival
      after 600,000 cycles at 200N, compared to HT zirconia adjusted with diamond bur
      and glazed (DbG), and after final polishing with polishing kit (GDbDr). Final
      polishing with diamond rubber (GDbDr) resulted in a more homogeneous surface
      compared to glazed samples (G, DbG and DbDrG). SIGNIFICANCE: HT zirconia is more
      likely to present increased survival when glazed after diamond adjustments (DbG)
      or when it is finished with polishing kit (GDbDr).

PMID- 28606410
TI  - Effects of silane- and MDP-based primers application orders on zirconia-resin
      adhesion-A ToF-SIMS study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the 3-methacryloyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS)- and 10
      methacryloyloxydecyl-dihydrogen-phosphate (MDP)-base primers, in their single or
      sequential applications, with regard to modifying zirconia surfaces and improving
      resin-zirconia adhesion. METHODS: Zirconia disks received different treatments:
      without primer (Zr), MPS-base primer (S), MDP-base primer (M), MPS/MDP mixture
      (SMmix), MPS followed by MDP (SM), and MDP followed by MPS (MS). The compositions
      and chemical interactions of the coatings to zirconia were analyzed using time-of
      flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and reconstructed 3D ion
      images. Surface wettability of these coatings to water and resin adhesive was
      assessed. The shear bond strength (SBS) between resin and the treated zirconia
      was also examined before and after thermocycling. RESULTS: Groups S and MS
      presented substantial OH- ions in the coatings and zirconia substrate. PO2- and
      PO3- fragments existed in all MDP-treatment groups with various proportions and
      distributions, while groups M and SM showed higher proportions of PO3- and the
      zirconium phosphate related ions. In 3D ion images, PO3- in groups M and SM was
      denser and segregated to the interface, but was dispersed or overlaid above PO2-
      in SMmix and MS. All the primers increased the surface wettability to water and
      resin, with M and SM presenting superhydrophilic surfaces. All MDP-treatment
      groups showed improved SBS before thermocycling, while M and SM retained higher
      SBS after this. SIGNIFICANCE: The MDP-base primer shows a relevant function in
      facilitating POZr bonding and enhancing resin-zirconia bonding. The co-treated
      MPS impairs the chemical activity of MDP, especially if it is the final coat.

PMID- 28606411
TI  - Can Parasitic Worms Cure the Modern World's Ills?
AB  - There has been increasing recognition that the alarming surge in allergy and
      autoimmunity in the industrialised and developing worlds shadows the rapid
      eradication of pathogens, such as parasitic helminths. Appreciation of this has
      fuelled an explosion in research investigating the therapeutic potential of these
      worms. This review considers the current state-of-play with a particular focus on
      exciting recent advances in the identification of potential novel targets for
      immunomodulation that can be exploited therapeutically. Furthermore, we
      contemplate the prospects for designing worm-derived immunotherapies for an ever
      widening range of inflammatory diseases, including, for example, obesity,
      cardiovascular disease, and ageing as well as neurodevelopmental disorders like
      autism.

PMID- 28606412
TI  - Diagnosing acute aortic dissection with aneurysmal degeneration with point of
      care ultrasound.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present a case with visual images of an aortic dissection with
      aneurysmal degeneration. METHODS: A case report was described of a patient
      presenting to the emergency department with back pain. An aortic dissection with
      aneurysmal degeneration was rapidly identified with bedside ultrasound in the
      emergency department. RESULTS: An aortic dissection was detected rapidly by
      emergency physician preformed bedside ultrasound. This led to rapid
      identification and treatment CONCLUSION: Rapid bedside emergency ultrasound can
      quickly and accurately diagnosis an aortic dissection and lead to rapid
      treatment.

PMID- 28606413
TI  - Leishmania donovani infection activates Toll-like receptor 2, 4 expressions and
      Transforming growth factor-beta mediated apoptosis in renal tissues.
AB  - The present study was aimed to identify the underlying mechanisms of improper
      renal function in Leishmania donovani infection that causes VL. Mice (BALB/c)
      were infected with L. donovani and different parameters for proteinuria were
      assessed. The levels of superoxide anion (O2-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), lipid
      peroxidation (MDA), inflammatory cytokines, and toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and 4
      expression were found significantly elevated at 60th day in these animals and
      declined at 90th day post infection. However, TGF-beta and caspase 3 activities
      were higher at 90th day in comparison to 60th day post infection. These findings
      suggested that exacerbated inflammatory conditions correlate with abnormal renal
      functions in L. donovani infection, which is further augmented by activated TLRs
      expressions by circulating leishmanial antigens. Further, the increased levels of
      TGF-beta and caspase 3 at 90th day suggested TGF-beta mediated apoptotic cell
      death of renal and other cells during later stages of disease that may eventually
      result in release of host and parasitic factors in urine during visceral
      leishmaniasis.

PMID- 28606414
TI  - High prevalence of hepatitis E virus antibodies in Sao Paulo, Southeastern
      Brazil: analysis of a group of blood donors representative of the general
      population.
AB  - Brazil is a non-endemic country for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection with
      seroprevalence from 1% to 4% in blood donors and the general population. However,
      data on seroprevalence of HEV in the country are still limited. This study
      evaluated the prevalence of past or present HEV infection in a group of blood
      donors representative of the general population of the city of Sao Paulo,
      Southeastern Brazil. Serum samples from 500 blood donors were tested from July to
      September 2014 by serological and molecular methods. Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were
      detected in 49 (9.8%) subjects and categorized age groups revealed an age
      dependent increase of HEV seroprevalence. Among the anti-HEV IgG positive
      subjects, only 1 had anti-HEV IgM while none tested positive for HEV-RNA. The
      present data demonstrate a higher seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG than previously
      reported in the region.

PMID- 28606415
TI  - Identification of hepatitis B virus A1762T/G1764A double mutant strain in
      patients in Southern Brazil.
AB  - Infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a worldwide public health problem.
      Chronic HBV infection with high viral replication may lead to cirrhosis and/or
      hepatocellular carcinoma. Mutant HBV strains, such as the HBV A1762T/G1764A
      double mutant, have been associated with poor prognosis and higher risk of the
      patient for developing cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma. This study
      analyzed the presence of the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant in patients with
      chronic HBV and its association with clinical parameters such as viral load,
      aminotransferases, and HBV antigens. A total of 49 patients with chronic
      hepatitis B were included in the study, and the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant
      strain was detected in four samples (8.16%) by polymerase chain reaction followed
      by restriction fragment length analysis (PCR-RFLP). The viral load was not
      significantly different between patients with or without the double mutant strain
      (p=0.43). On the other hand, carriers of the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant had
      higher levels of ALT (p=0.0028), while AST levels did not differ between groups
      (p=0.051). In this study, 75% of the samples with the HBV A1762T/G1764A double
      mutation were HBeAg negative and anti-HBe positive, reflecting seroconversion
      even though they still displayed high viral loads. Our study has shown that the
      HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant strain circulates in Brazilian patients, and is
      associated with elevated levels of ALT and HBeAg seroconversion.

PMID- 28606416
TI  - Intrauterine fetal death due to congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

PMID- 28606417
TI  - Synthesis of single and interplant non-isothermal water networks.
AB  - This paper addresses the synthesis problem of non-isothermal water networks using
      a mathematical programming approach. A heat-integrated water network
      superstructure and its corresponding mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP)
      model is proposed for the synthesis of individual as well as interplant water
      networks. A new feature of the proposed model includes piping installation cost
      within the objective function minimising the total annual cost of the network.
      This introduces additional trade-offs between operating and investment costs that
      can impact a final network design. Three examples were solved in order to
      demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed model and
      solution approach. The results show that additional saving in total annual cost
      can be achieved by enabling direct water integration between plants. Improved
      solutions were obtained compared to those reported in the literature considering
      freshwater and utilities consumption as well as total annual cost.

PMID- 28606418
TI  - Impact of fugitive sources and meteorological parameters on vertical distribution
      of particulate matter over the industrial agglomeration.
AB  - The aim of the study was to characterize vertical distribution of particulate
      matter, in an area well known by highest air pollution levels in Europe. A
      balloon filled with helium with measuring instrumentation was used for vertical
      observation of air pollution over the fugitive sources in Moravian-Silesian
      metropolitan area during spring and summer. Synchronously, selected
      meteorological parameters were recorded together with particulate matter for
      exploration its relationship with particulate matter. Concentrations of
      particulate matter in the vertical profile were significantly higher in the
      spring than in the summer. Significant effect of fugitive sources was observed up
      to the altitude ~255 m (~45 m above ground) in both seasons. The presence of
      inversion layer was observed at the altitude ~350 m (120-135 m above ground) at
      locations with major source traffic load. Both particulate matter concentrations
      and number of particles for the selected particle sizes decreased with increasing
      height. Strong correlation of particulate matter with meteorological parameters
      was not observed. The study represents the first attempt to assess the vertical
      profile over the fugitive emission sources - old environmental burdens in
      industrial region.

PMID- 28606419
TI  - The Evolving Practice of Psychiatry in the Era of Integrated Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Integrating behavioral health care into the primary care setting is
      increasingly recognized as an effective way to manage mental illness and
      substance use disorders on a population level in the United States. The term
      "integrated care," however, is used in many ways and encompasses several
      different models. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to provide a conceptual
      framework to understand the landscape of models of integrated care and to use
      this framework to contrast the roles of behavioral health providers in integrated
      settings with those in traditional behavioral health delivery models. We will
      also review some of the advantages and limitations of integrated care for health
      care delivery systems, patients, and primary care providers.

PMID- 28606420
TI  - Pressure transmission area and maximum pressure transmission of different
      thermoplastic resin denture base materials under impact load.
AB  - PURPOSES: The purposes of the present study were to examine the pressure
      transmission area and maximum pressure transmission of thermoplastic resin
      denture base materials under an impact load, and to evaluate the modulus of
      elasticity and nanohardness of thermoplastic resin denture base. METHODS: Three
      injection-molded thermoplastic resin denture base materials [polycarbonate (Basis
      PC), ethylene propylene (Duraflex), and polyamide (Valplast)] and one
      conventional heat-polymerized acrylic resin (PMMA, SR Triplex Hot) denture base,
      all with a mandibular first molar acrylic resin denture tooth set in were
      evaluated (n=6). Pressure transmission area and maximum pressure transmission of
      the specimens under an impact load were observed by using pressure-sensitive
      sheets. The modulus of elasticity and nanohardness of each denture base (n=10)
      were measured on 15*15*15*3mm3 specimen by using an ultramicroindentation system.
      The pressure transmission area, modulus of elasticity, and nanohardness data were
      statistically analyzed with 1-way ANOVA, followed by Tamhane or Tukey HSD post
      hoc test (alpha=.05). The maximum pressure transmission data were statistically
      analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis H test, followed by Mann-Whitney U test (alpha=.05).
      RESULTS: Polymethyl methacrylate showed significantly larger pressure
      transmission area and higher maximum pressure transmission than the other groups
      (P<.001). Significant differences were found in modulus of elasticity and
      nanohardness among the four types of denture bases (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Pressure transmission area and maximum pressure transmission varied among the
      thermoplastic resin denture base materials. Differences in the modulus of
      elasticity and nanohardness of each type of denture base were demonstrated.

PMID- 28606421
TI  - Spontaneous jaw muscle activity in patients with acquired brain injuries
      Preliminary findings.
AB  - PATIENTS: High or excessive parafunctional jaw muscle activity is a frequent
      complication of acquired brain injury (ABI) and may have some similarities to
      bruxism. Bruxism has been associated with increased tooth wear, masseter
      hypertrophy and headaches. The aim of this observational study was to identify
      the levels of jaw muscle activity from fourteen ABI patients having different
      functional and cognitive levels in their early phase of neurological
      rehabilitation (according to their Ranchos Los Amigos Scale (RLAS) score). Nine
      patients were severely cognitive impairement (RLAS score 1-3): with no or little
      response to any external stimuli due to low arousal and five patients were with
      RLAS score 4-8: depending on responses to stimuli and confusion level i.e.
      defining that patients had enough arousal to respond and react and therefore were
      able to follow the instructions. A single-channel electromyographic (EMG) device
      was used to assess the jaw muscle EMG activity in ABI patients for two hours
      continuously at two different days. DISCUSSION: The mean (+/-SD) jaw muscle
      activity observed in patients with ABI was 46.9+/-6.5 EMG events/h with a wide
      range between 1-163 EMG events/h but with no significant difference between days
      (P=0.230). CONCLUSION: Irrespective of functional and cognitive ability scores
      patients with ABI had a wide range of EMG activity. The use of ambulatory single
      channel EMG devices might open a path for further studies to determine levels of
      jaw muscle activity associated with potential side effects in ABI patients.

PMID- 28606423
TI  - Unraveling the presence of multi-class toxins from Trichodesmium bloom in the
      Gulf of Mannar region of the Bay of Bengal.
AB  - Trichodesmium is an enigmatic bloom forming, non-heterocystous cyanobacterium
      reported most frequently in the coastal waters of India. However, the toxigenic
      potential of this globally significant N2 fixing cyanobacterium has not been
      characterized. In this study, we report for the first time the presence of potent
      multi-class neurotoxins such as Anatoxin-a, Saxitoxins, Gonyautoxin and
      hepatotoxins like MC-LR, MC-YA from a bloom material of Trichodesmium sp. MBDU
      524 collected at the Gulf of Mannar region. Toxins were determined using liquid
      chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analysis of
      HPLC purified aqueous and solvent fractions. Molecular phylogenetic analysis
      through 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed the close relationship with Trichodesmium
      erythraeum clade. The toxigenic potential was validated through brine shrimp
      toxicity assay and showed 100% mortality after 48 h of incubation. The results
      suggest the potential toxigenic and environmental impacts of Trichodesmium bloom
      sample from the Gulf of Mannar region.

PMID- 28606422
TI  - Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Markers of Bone Metabolism of Overweight and Obese
      Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise
      on markers of bone metabolism in overweight and obese nondialysis-dependent
      patients with chronic kidney disease. METHODS: This is a post-hoc study with 39
      sedentary patients (55.5 +/- 8.3 years, body mass index 31.2 +/- 4.4 kg/m2,
      estimated glomerular filtration rate 26.9 +/- 11.7 mL/minute) who were randomly
      assigned to the aerobic exercise group (n = 24) or the control group (n = 15).
      The aerobic training (walking) was prescribed according to ventilatory threshold
      and was performed 3 times per week during 24 weeks. Carboxylated and
      undercarboxylated osteocalcin (GLA and GLU), sclerostin and tartrate-resistant
      acid phosphatase isoform 5b (TRAP-5b), parathyroid hormone, total alkaline
      phosphatase (AP), body composition, cardiorespiratory, and functional capacity
      tests were measured at baseline and after the follow-up. RESULTS: At baseline,
      carboxylated osteocalcin (GLA) and undercarboxylated osteocalcin (GLU) were
      inversely correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (r = -0.64; r = 
      0.38, respectively). Both osteocalcin fragments were positively correlated with
      total AP (GLA: r = 0.36; GLU: r = 0.53). An inverse correlation was found between
      GLA and sclerostin with body fat (r = -0.36; r = -0.46, respectively). GLU was
      negatively correlated with markers of muscle mass (r = -0.34). TRAP-5b and
      sclerostin were inversely correlated with 6-minute walk test and time up and go
      test, respectively (r = -0.34; r = -0.35, respectively). After 24 weeks, all
      physical capacity parameters increased in the exercise group (P < .001). Except
      for total AP that increased after 24 weeks in the exercise group (P < .05), no
      other changes were observed in both groups in relation to the bone metabolism
      biomarkers investigated. CONCLUSION(S): In this post-hoc study, the aerobic
      training used did not promote relevant changes in the bone metabolism markers
      investigated.

PMID- 28606424
TI  - Influence of composition and degradation on the shear strength of municipal solid
      waste.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the shear strength of municipal solid waste (MSW) of
      different landfilling ages exhumed from disposal sites in a subtropical humid
      environment. Wastes which had been landfilled from ages of 2 up to 25years were
      characterized using physical, chemical and biochemical tests and were tested in a
      large scale direct shear device. The results indicate that the tested wastes
      older than five years had reached similar decomposition stages, but showed
      different compositions in terms of soft plastics, incompressible material and
      reinforcing elements. Different composition was also noticed between less
      degraded and more degraded samples. In the former, the soil-like materials, that
      is the particles smaller than 19mm, are essentially reinforcing components while
      in the later it is formed mainly by incompressible components. Although MSW
      composition did not vary significantly throughout the years, some difference in
      the originally landfilled waste could account for the observed variations.
      However, they are mainly the result of exhuming and preparation methods, whose
      influence is discussed in the paper, as well as the waste degradation state. The
      reinforcing components, rather than the soft plastics content, correlated well
      with cohesion intercept increase, both for the less and more degraded waste
      samples. The results also indicate that as MSW degrades the waste material
      evolves from an initially highly cohesive material to one that loses cohesion yet
      gains in shear strength angle over time.

PMID- 28606425
TI  - Why Sex? A Pluralist Approach Revisited.
AB  - Why sexual reproduction predominates in nature remains a mystery. The mystery
      stems in part from the fact that many of the plausible hypotheses for sex have
      restrictive assumptions. Two decades ago these limitations inspired the
      formulation of a 'pluralist' approach in which standalone hypotheses for sex were
      considered together. Here we review representative literature to address whether
      this strategy has deepened our understanding of sex. We found surprisingly few
      papers adopting such an approach, probably reflecting challenges associated with
      testing multiple mechanisms. Nevertheless, these studies provided new insights,
      highlighting in particular the potential importance of interaction between
      parasites and harmful mutations. We conclude with strategies for moving forward,
      including broader formulations of pluralism and the application of more
      qualitative types of testing.

PMID- 28606426
TI  - Electrochemical label-free and sensitive nanobiosensing of DNA hybridization by
      graphene oxide modified pencil graphite electrode.
AB  - Based on the strong interaction between single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) and graphene
      material, we have constructed a novel label-free electrochemical biosensor for
      rapid and facile detection of short sequences ss-DNA molecules related to
      hepatitis C virus 1a using graphene oxide modified pencil graphite electrode. The
      sensing mechanism is based on the superior adsorption of single-stranded DNA to
      GO over double stranded DNA (ds-DNA). The intrinsic guanine oxidation signal
      measured by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) has been used for duplex DNA
      formation detection. The probe ss-DNA adsorbs onto the surface of GO via the pi-
      pi* stacking interactions leading to a strong background guanine oxidation
      signal. In the presence of complementary target, formation of helix which has
      weak binding ability to GO induced ds-DNA to release from the electrode surface
      and significant variation in differential pulse voltammetric response of guanine
      bases. The results indicated that the oxidation peak current was proportional to
      the concentration of complementary strand in the range of 0.1 nM-0.5 MUM with a
      detection limit of 4.3 * 10-11 M. The simple fabricated electrochemical biosensor
      has high sensitivity, good selectivity, and could be applied as a new platform
      for a range of target molecules in future.

PMID- 28606427
TI  - Illumina-based analysis of endophytic bacterial diversity of tree peony (Paeonia
      Sect. Moutan) roots and leaves.
AB  - Diverse communities of bacteria inhabit plant tissues and those bacteria play a
      crucial role for plant health and growth. Tree peony (Paeonia Sect. Moutan) is
      known for its excellent ornamental and medicinal values as Chinese traditional
      plant, but little is known about its associated bacterial community under natural
      conditions. To examine how endophytic bacteria in tree peony vary across tissues
      and cultivars, PCR-based Illumina was applied to reveal the diversity of
      endophytic bacteria in tree peony. A total of 149,842 sequences and 21,463
      operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained. The OTU abundance of roots was
      higher than leaves across other three cultivars except for 'Kinkaku' and
      'Luoyanghong'. The community was composed of five dominant groups
      (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria) in
      all samples. Endophytic bacteria community structures had changed in leaves and
      roots. Sequences of Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae were prevalent in root
      samples, whereas Succinivibrio and Acinetobacter were the dominant genus in leaf
      samples. Otherwise, the distribution of each dominant genus among the 5 cultivars
      was either varied. These findings suggested that both plant genotype and tissues
      contribute to the shaping of the bacterial communities associated with tree
      peony.

PMID- 28606428
TI  - Cytotoxicity and immunomodulatory effects of sol-gel combustion based titanium
      dioxide (TiO2) particles of large surface area on RAW 264.7 macrophages.
AB  - The current study was designed to investigate the cytotoxicity and
      immunomodulatory effects of sol-gel combustion based TiO2 particles (glycine and
      l-alanine as reducing agents) of large surface area on RAW 264.7 macrophages. RAW
      264.7 macrophages exposed to varying concentrations of TiO2 particles (0.001 to
      1000MUg/ml) were assessed after 24h and showed a reduced cell viability at 100
      and 1000MUg/ml and increased LDH release at 10MUg/ml. Furthermore, TiO2 particles
      (0.1, 1 and 10MUg/ml) were utilized to assess the immune responses and
      intracellular ROS levels on RAW 264.7 macrophages. TiO2 particles at 10MUg/ml
      showed increased mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-1beta
      and IL-6), inflammatory mediators (iNOS and COX-2) and transcription factor
      (NFkappaB) similar to that of LPS stimulated macrophages. However, the mRNA
      expression levels were found near normal levels at lower concentrations (0.1 and
      1MUg/ml). In addition, TiO2 particles at 10MUg/ml also increased the production
      of inflammatory cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-1beta and IL-6) and intracellular ROS
      levels in RAW 264.7 macrophages similar to that of LPS stimulated macrophages.
      Conclusively, TiO2 particles prepared through this method at a
      concentration<=0.1MUg/ml can be used for various biological applications with
      minimal immunomodulatory effects.

PMID- 28606429
TI  - Mebendazole, an antiparasitic drug, inhibits drug transporters expression in
      preclinical model of gastric peritoneal carcinomatosis.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate whether MBZ down-regulates drug
      transporter expression (ABCB1, ABCC1, SLC47A1). mRNA expression level of ABCB1,
      ABCC1 and SLC47A1 was evaluated by qPCR and protein expression levels MDR-1 was
      performed by western blotting in malignant ascites cells (AGP-01) treated with
      MBZ for 24h. The mRNA expression level of ABCB1 and ABCC1 significantly decreased
      at a 1.0MUM of MBZ compared to negative control, while SLC47A1 extremely
      decreased at all tested concentrations of MBZ. Protein expression levels MDR-1
      significantly decreased at a 1.0MUM of MBZ compared to negative control.
      Therefore, our results showed MBZ may play an important role in inhibiting MDR
      gene expression in malignant ascites cells.

PMID- 28606430
TI  - Long-term results after endoscopic drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts: A single
      center experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic pseudocysts (PPC) are collections of fluid encapsulated
      within a well-defined inflammatory wall that develop during pancreatic
      inflammation. Internal drainage represents the standard of care in lesions that
      persist and lead to symptoms and complications. Only limited data are available
      on long-term results and recurrence of PPC after drainage procedures. Thus, the
      aim of the present study was to analyse the long-term outcome after endoscopic
      drainage of PPC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patient data were retrospectively
      collected by review of clinical records of the University Medical Center
      Mannheim. We assessed the clinical short-term outcome (results in the first 30
      days after initial drainage procedure), medium-term outcome (results 6 months
      after initial drainage procedure) and long-term outcome (results after stent
      removal). We performed statistical analysis to identify possible risk factors for
      recurrence of PPC. RESULTS: We identified 51 patients with initially successful
      endoscopic drainage of the PPC (n = 51/53, 96%). Among this cohort, 43 patients
      were available for assessment of medium-term results. In 82.9% of these 43
      patients the drainage could be removed after successful treatment of the PPC.
      Thirty patients were available for long term follow-up with a mean observation
      period of 42.2 months (SD 32.8 months). Among these patients, seven (n = 7/30,
      23.3%) had recurrent PPC. Approximately half of the recurrent cysts arose in
      different anatomical regions and most patients with recurrence had chronic
      pancreatitis. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic drainage represents an effective treatment
      for PPC. Approximately one quarter of the patients developed recurrent PPC. Half
      of recurrent PPC developed in different pancreatic regions than the initial PPC.

PMID- 28606431
TI  - How Does Social Network Position Influence Prosocial Behavior?

PMID- 28606432
TI  - A cohort-study of patients suspected for MERS-CoV in a referral hospital in Saudi
      Arabia.

PMID- 28606433
TI  - Plate Osteosynthesis of Proximal Ulna Fractures-A Biomechanical Micromotion
      Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Double plating has been promoted, in recent years, as an alternative
      treatment method for proximal ulna fractures. This study aimed to compare the
      biomechanical properties of double-plate osteosynthesis with posterior plate
      fixation using a novel investigational design utilizing a 3-dimensional camera
      system to analyze fracture micromotion. METHODS: Fourteen fresh-frozen specimens
      were available for this study. Mayo type IIA fractures of the olecranon were
      created and internal fixation was performed with either an angular stable
      posterior plate or angular stable double plates. Fracture micromotion was
      evaluated by means of digital image correlation with a 3-dimensional camera
      system before and after dynamic cyclic loading from 15 degrees  to 90 degrees  of
      elbow flexion with a pulling force of 25 N to 80 N. RESULTS: Micromotion of
      fragments was less pronounced in double-plate osteosynthesis when compared with
      single plates before and after cyclic loading. However, overall results were
      similar. Two of the single plates failed during cyclic loading but there were no
      failures in the double plates. CONCLUSIONS: This biomechanical analysis shows
      that single and double plating results in comparable stability of fixation.
      Although the double-plating technique tends to provide more stable fixation,
      relevant differences were not observed. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Double plating
      potentially represents an efficient option for fixation of proximal ulna
      fractures. It could decrease the risk of soft tissue complications owing to their
      low profile and the superior soft tissue coverage.

PMID- 28606434
TI  - The Relationships Between Surface Measurements and Underlying Tendon Autograft
      Length for Upper Extremity Reconstructive Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: The availability of tendon grafts is an important consideration for
      successful upper extremity reconstructive surgery, including flexor or extensor
      tendon reconstructions, tendon transfers, and ligament reconstructions. Graft
      selection is based on availability, expendability, ease of harvest, and length.
      Given variations in patient height and extremity length, existing average values
      may provide suboptimal insight into actual tendon lengths available. The purpose
      of this study is, therefore, to pursue a method of estimating available donor
      tendon lengths based on easily measured anatomical surface landmarks. METHODS:
      Thirty cadaveric upper and lower extremity limbs were dissected and the length of
      commonly harvested tendon grafts including the palmaris longus, extensor indicis
      proprius, extensor digiti minimi, plantaris, and second long toe extensor was
      measured. Surface forearm length (from finger tip to cubital fossa) and surface
      fibular length (from lateral malleolus to fibular head) were also measured.
      Correlations between surface measurements and underlying tendon lengths were
      analyzed, and linear models were generated that predicted tendon length as a
      function of surface measurements. RESULTS: Surface measurements were correlated
      with underlying tendon length (R = 0.46 - 0.66). Linear models could predict
      tendon lengths based on surface measurements. A ratio of donor tendon length
      compared with the limb segment measured was established for each tendon and can
      be applied to estimate donor tendon length. For the upper extremity tendons, the
      multipliers for the palmaris longus, extensor indicis proprius, and extensor
      digiti minimi were 0.51, 0.20, and 0.18, respectively. Lower extremity tendon
      ratios for the plantaris and extensor digitorum longus were 0.69 and 0.60,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although length of available donor tendon can be a
      limiting variable at the time of surgery, surgeons may be better able to estimate
      underlying tendon lengths using easily obtained superficial measurements.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Information obtained from these cadaveric measurements may
      aid in preoperative planning in hand and upper extremity surgery.

PMID- 28606436
TI  - A Comparative Outcome Study of Hamstring Versus Tibialis Anterior and Synthetic
      Grafts for Deltoid to Triceps Transfers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess elbow extension strength and complications after deltoid
      triceps transfers using hamstring tendon graft compared with tibialis anterior
      and synthetic tendon grafts. METHODS: A retrospective review of deltoid-triceps
      transfers in patients with tetraplegia performed between 1983 and 2014. RESULTS:
      Seventy-five people (136 arms) had surgery performed, with the majority
      undergoing simultaneous bilateral surgery (n = 61; 81%). Tibialis anterior tendon
      grafts were used in 68 arms, synthetic grafts in 23 arms, and hamstring tendon
      grafts in 45 arms. The average age at surgery was 31 years. Sixty-three arms
      (46%) were assessed between 12 and 24 months after surgery. Seventy percent of
      the group (n = 54) were able to extend their elbow against gravity (grade 3 of 5
      or greater) following surgery. Seventy-nine percent of those with hamstring
      grafts achieved grade 3 of 5 or more compared with 77% with tibialis anterior and
      33% with synthetic grafts. There was a statistically significant difference in
      postsurgery elbow extension between the tibialis anterior group and the synthetic
      graft group and the hamstring and the synthetic graft group but not between the
      tibialis anterior and the hamstring group. Complications occurred in 19 arms
      (14%), the majority occurring immediately after surgery and associated with the
      wounds. The remaining complications were with the synthetic graft group in which
      dehiscence of the proximal attachment occurred in 30% of the arms. CONCLUSIONS:
      Autologous tendon grafting is associated with achievement of antigravity elbow
      extension in a greater proportion of individuals than with prosthetic grafting.
      TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic IV.

PMID- 28606435
TI  - Cost Minimization Analysis of Ganglion Cyst Excision.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cost minimization analysis can be employed to determine the least costly
      option when multiple treatments lead to equivalent outcomes. We present a cost
      minimization analysis from the payers' perspective, of the direct per patient
      cost of arthroscopic versus open ganglion cyst excision. We tested the null
      hypothesis that there is no difference in cost between the 2 procedures from the
      payer perspective. METHODS: We utilized data from a private payer administrative
      claims database comprising 16 million individuals from 2007 to 2015. Using
      Current Procedural Terminology codes to identify open and arthroscopic ganglion
      excisions, we extracted demographic data and fees paid to providers and
      facilities for the procedure. RESULTS: We identified 5,119 patients undergoing
      open ganglion cyst excision and 20 patients undergoing arthroscopic ganglion
      excision. The average cost of an open excision was significantly lower than an
      arthroscopic excision ($1,821 vs $3,668). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical costs from
      arthroscopic ganglion excision are significantly more than open excision. This
      data can inform health systems participating in value-based models. TYPE OF
      STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Economic and Decision Analysis IV.

PMID- 28606438
TI  - Periosteal elevation induces supracortical peri-implant bone formation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the possibility of supracortical
      peri-implant bone formation after periosteal elevation. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Periosteal elevation with an elevation height of 5 or 10 mm was performed in an
      animal experiment with 24 female domestic pigs. For this purpose, four implants
      were inserted in the frontal bone of each animal. The implants protruded from the
      local bone by 5 or 10 mm. In the test groups, the periosteum was attached to the
      protruding implants. In the control groups, the implants were covered with
      biocompatible degradable periosteal-shielding devices. Each 8 animals were
      sacrificed after 20, 40 and 60 days. De novo bone formation was evaluated
      radiographically and histologically. RESULTS: Bone formation rate was higher in
      the test groups compared to the control groups after 20, 40 and 60 days. After 40
      and 60 days, a statistically significant higher (P < 0.01) bone formation rate
      was found for both elevation heights. The maximum height of the generated bone
      was statistically significantly higher (P < 0.01) in the test groups for both
      elevation heights, compared to the control groups for all time points
      investigated. CONCLUSION: Periosteal elevation by dental implants is a treatment
      option for supracortical peri-implant bone formation.

PMID- 28606437
TI  - The Effect of Price on Surgeons' Choice of Implants: A Randomized Controlled
      Survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: Surgical costs are under scrutiny and surgeons are being held
      increasingly responsible for cost containment. In some instances, implants are
      the largest component of total procedure cost, yet previous studies reveal that
      surgeons' knowledge of implant prices is poor. Our study aims to (1) understand
      drivers behind implant selection and (2) assess whether educating surgeons about
      implant costs affects implant selection. METHODS: We surveyed 226 orthopedic
      surgeons across 6 continents. The survey presented 8 clinical cases of upper
      extremity fractures with history, radiographs, and implant options. Surgeons were
      randomized to receive either a version with each implant's average selling price
      ("price-aware" group), or a version without prices ("price-naive" group).
      Surgeons selected a surgical implant and ranked factors affecting implant choice.
      Descriptive statistics and univariate, multivariable, and subgroup analyses were
      performed. RESULTS: For cases offering implants within the same class (eg, volar
      locking plates), price-awareness reduced implant cost by 9% to 11%. When offered
      different models of distal radius volar locking plates, 25% of price-naive
      surgeons selected the most expensive plate compared with only 7% of price-aware
      surgeons. For cases offering different classes of implants (eg, plate vs external
      fixator), there was no difference in implant choice between price-aware and price
      naive surgeons. Familiarity with the implant was the most common reason for
      choosing an implant in both groups (35% vs 46%). Price-aware surgeons were more
      likely to rank cost as a factor (29% vs 21%). CONCLUSIONS: Price awareness
      significantly influences surgeons' choice of a specific model within the same
      implant class. Merely including prices with a list of implants leads surgeons to
      select less expensive implants. This implies that an untapped opportunity exists
      to reduce surgical expenditures simply by enhancing surgeons' cost awareness.
      TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Economic/Decision Analyses I.

PMID- 28606439
TI  - The epidemiological analysis of maxillofacial fractures in Italy: The experience
      of a single tertiary center with 1720 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Maxillofacial fractures represent a serious public health problem. Their
      epidemiology is extremely variable, and its analysis is crucial to establish
      effective treatment and prevention of these injuries. However only two works have
      been published about maxillofacial fracture epidemiology in Italy. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The records of 1720 patients diagnosed with maxillofacial fractures in a
      15-years period (2001-2015) in our department were retrospectively reviewed.
      RESULTS: A total of 1108 male and 612 female patients were included in the study.
      The most frequent aetiology of fracture was road traffic injuries (57.1%),
      followed by assault (21.7%), falls (14.2%), work accidents (3.5%), sport
      accidents (3.3%) and other causes (0.2%). Significant variations of aetiology
      were detected between males and females and between Italians and individuals from
      other countries. The most frequently observed fracture involved the mandible (861
      cases, 36%), followed by zygoma (489 cases, 20.4%), orbital walls (386 cases,
      16.1%) and maxilla (282 cases, 11.8%). CONCLUSION: Road traffic legislation
      enforcement and continuous public education regarding the use of security devices
      remain an ongoing problem in our region and should be encouraged. In the same
      way, as migration flows influence and change the epidemiology of facial traumas,
      it is crucial to establish social support programs that avoid these disadvantaged
      categories of victims of violence and crime.

PMID- 28606440
TI  - Mandible reconstruction with free fibula flaps: Outcome of a cost-effective
      individual planning concept compared with virtual surgical planning.
AB  - PURPOSE: The free osteomyocutaneous fibular flap has become one of the primary
      options for mandibular reconstruction, because of the later introduction and
      development of virtual surgical planning (VSP). However, VSP is associated with
      high additional pre-operative effort and costs. Therefore, the purpose of the
      study was to develop a new individual cost-effective pre-operative planning
      concept for free fibula mandible reconstruction and to compare it with VSP
      regarding clinical parameters and post-operative outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      31 patients undergoing mandibular reconstruction with a microvascular free
      fibular flap were divided into two groups and retrospectively reviewed. For the
      first group A (18 of 31 patients), an individual method with stererolithographic
      (STL) models, silicon templates and hand-made cutting guides was used (about 250
      ? planning costs/patient). For the second group B (13 of 31 patients), VSP
      including pre-fabricated cutting guides was used (about 2500 ? planning
      costs/patient). RESULTS: We found no statistically significant differences with
      respect to intra-operative time of mandibular reconstruction, duration of
      hospitalisation or post-operative complications between the two groups (p >=
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The surgical outcomes and operative efficiency of this
      individual and cost-effective planning concept are comparable with the much more
      expensive complete VSP concept.

PMID- 28606441
TI  - Effects of high-dose parenteral vitamin D therapy on lipid profile and blood
      pressure in patients with diabetic nephropathy: A randomized double-blind
      clinical trial.
AB  - AIMS: Aim of this study was to determine the effect of high dose vitamin D given
      to patients with early diabetic renal disease on systolic and diastolic blood
      pressure, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), triglycerides
      (TG) and high density lipoproteins (HDL) in a randomized controlled trial
      MATERIALS AND METHOD: Patients with early diabetic nephropathy were recruited.
      Selected patients were allocated to two groups by Block randomization method.
      Treatment group received 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 intramuscularly and the control
      group was given an equal volume of distilled water (0.25mL) monthly for six
      months. Blood and urine were collected at the baseline for biochemical analyses
      and blood pressure was measured. After six months all the measurements done at
      the baseline were repeated. RESULTS: Of 155 patients invited, 85 were randomly
      assigned to two groups. No significant differences were found between treatment
      and control groups at the baseline. Vitamin D therapy significantly reduced DBP,
      total cholesterol and LDL but the between group differences were not significant.
      There was an increase in HDL cholesterol level in the treatment group while there
      was no change in the control group Between groups difference was significant
      (P=<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant improvement of serum HDL level
      with six months therapy of high dose vitamin D in patients with early diabetic
      nephropathy.

PMID- 28606442
TI  - Modeling anthropometric indices in relation to 10-year (2002-2012) incidence of
      cardiovascular disease, among apparently healthy individuals: The ATTICA study.
AB  - AIMS: Body fat accumulation is implicated in the development of cardiovascular
      disease (CVD). Our objective was to explore potential associations between
      anthropometric indices and the 10-year CVD incidence in Greek adults without
      previous CVD. METHODS: During 2001-2, we enrolled 3042 adults without CVD from
      the general population of Attica, Greece. In 2011-2, the 10-year study follow-up
      was performed, recording the CVD incidence in 1958 participants with baseline
      body mass index (BMI) >=18.5kg/m2. RESULTS: The study 10-year CVD incidence was
      15.8%, exhibiting a gradual increase according to the baseline body mass index
      (BMI) category. Baseline BMI >=30kg/m2 was related with significantly higher 10
      year CVD risk compared to BMI <25kg/m2, even after adjustment for age and other
      known CVD risk factors. Baseline BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio,
      waist-to-height ratio and waist-to-hip-to-height ratio were independently
      associated with the 10-year CVD risk in multi-adjusted models. Gender-specific
      analyses showed that these associations were more evident in men compared to
      women, with baseline BMI exhibiting an independent association with the 10-year
      CVD incidence in men. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that even simple
      anthropometric indices exhibit independent associations with CVD risk in a
      representative sample of the Greek general population without previous CVD.

PMID- 28606443
TI  - Non-invasive assessment determine the swallowing and respiration dysfunction in
      early Parkinson's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dysphagia is common among patients with Parkinson's disease.
      Swallowing and its coordination with respiration is extremely important to
      achieve safety swallowing. Different tools have been used to assess this
      coordination, however the results have been inconsistent. We aimed to investigate
      this coordination in patients with Parkinson's disease using a non-invasive
      method. METHODS: Signals of submental muscle activity, thyroid cartilage
      excursion, and nasal airflow during swallowing were recorded simultaneously. Five
      different water boluses were swallowed three times, and the data were recorded
      and analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty-seven controls and 42 patients with early-stage
      Parkinson's disease were included. The rates of non-expiratory/expiratory pre-
      and post-swallowing respiratory phase patterns were higher in the patients than
      in the controls (P < 0.001). The rates of piecemeal deglutition when swallowing
      10-ml and 20-ml water boluses and overall were also significantly higher in the
      patients (all P < 0.001). There were differences in oropharyngeal swallowing
      parameters between the patients and controls, including a pharyngeal phase delay
      with longer total excursion duration and excursion time in the patients
      swallowing small water boluses (1 ml, 3 ml and 5 ml), but no difference in the
      length of swallowing respiratory pause. CONCLUSION: Oropharyngeal swallowing and
      its coordination with respiration are affected in patients with early-stage
      Parkinson's disease, and safety compensation mechanisms were used more than
      efficiency during swallowing. The results of this study may serve as a baseline
      for further research into new treatment regimens and to improve the management of
      swallowing in patients with Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28606444
TI  - Comparative mitochondrial genomics among Spirometra (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae)
      and the molecular phylogeny of related tapeworms.
AB  - The larva of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei can parasitize humans, causing a serious
      parasitic zoonosis known as sparganosis. Although it is medically important, our
      knowledge about the phylogenetic position of S. erinaceieuropaei and its
      evolutionary history is fragmentary. In this study, complete mitochondrial (mt)
      genomes of 4 geographically distinct isolates of S. erinaceieuropaei spargana
      collected from 4 frog hosts (Hylarana guentheri, Rana nigromaculata, R. rugulosa,
      R. temporaria) were characterized using an Illumina sequencing platform. In
      addition, all available mt genomes of Cestoda in GenBank were included to
      reconstruct the phylogeny and to explore the evolutionary history of these
      tapeworms. The genome features of S. erinaceieuropaei contained 12 protein-coding
      genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 2 non-coding
      regions. Nucleotide sequences of mtDNA from different frog hosts were similar.
      Three genes, cox1, cytb and nad4, had high levels of nucleotide diversity.
      Phylogenetic analyses supported the sibling relationship between
      Bothriocephalidae and Diphyllobothriidae. Molecular dating analysis indicated
      that the divergence between Diphyllobothrium and Diplogonoporus started in the
      late Miocene. The mt genomes of S. erinaceieuropaei will serve as a useful
      dataset for studying the genetics and systematics of the species of Spirometra
      genus in particular and diphyllobothriid tapeworms in general.

PMID- 28606445
TI  - Multilocus coalescent species delimitation to evaluate traditionally defined
      morphotypes in Hydrangea sect. Asperae (Hydrangeaceae).
AB  - The number of species recognized in section Asperae of the flowering plant genus
      Hydrangea differs widely between subsequent revisions. This variation is largely
      centered around the H. aspera species complex, with numbers of recognized species
      varying from one to nearly a dozen. Despite indications of molecular variation in
      this complex, no sequence-based species delimitation methods have been employed
      to evaluate the primarily morphology-based species boundaries. In the present
      study, a multi-locus coalescent-based approach to species delimitation is
      employed in order to identify separate evolutionary lines within H. sect.
      Asperae, using four chloroplast and four nuclear molecular markers. Eight
      lineages were recovered within the focal group, of which five correspond with
      named morphotypes. The other three lineages illustrate types of conflict between
      molecular species delimitation and traditional morphology-based taxonomy. One
      molecular lineage comprises two named morphotypes, which possibly diverged
      recently enough to not have developed sufficient molecular divergence. A second
      conflict is found in H. strigosa. This morphotype is recovered as a separate
      lineage when occurring in geographic isolation, but when occurring in sympatry
      with two other morphotypes (H. aspera and H. robusta), the coalescent species
      delimitation lumps these taxa into a single putative species.

PMID- 28606446
TI  - Plasticity of Mitochondrial Translation.
AB  - Mitochondria maintained a genome during evolution to synthesize core subunits of
      the oxidative phosphorylation system. Expression of the mitochondrial genome
      requires intraorganellar replication, transcription, and translation. Membrane
      associated ribosomes translate mitochondrial-encoded proteins and facilitate co
      translational insertion of newly synthesized polypeptides into the inner
      membrane. Considering that mitochondrial-encoded proteins assemble with imported,
      nuclear-encoded proteins into enzyme complexes of the oxidative phosphorylation
      system, it is expected that expression of mitochondrial genes should adapt to the
      availability of their nuclear-encoded partners. Recent work shows that
      mitochondrial translation is influenced by the cellular environment. We discuss
      how mitochondrial translation is affected by the cellular environment and propose
      models of translational plasticity that modulate mitochondrial translation in
      response to the availability of imported proteins.

PMID- 28606448
TI  - Platelet transfusion in thrombocytopenic cancer patients: Sometimes justified but
      likely insidious.
AB  - The transfusion of platelet concentrates prepared from allogeneic single or
      pooled donations is a standard procedure in transfusion medicine to stop or
      prevent bleeding in cancer patients with thrombocytopenia undergoing surgery,
      chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. While platelet transfusion may appear
      reasonable in many instances, greater scientific and medical attention should
      however be given to the possibly insidious impact of transfused platelets on the
      outcome of cancers. Indeed platelets and the microvesicles they release possess
      all the biological ingredients capable of supporting tumor growth, protecting
      circulating tumor cells, and to contributing to metastatic invasion. Until any
      randomized controlled trials can objectively document their effects on survival
      or cancer recurrence, minimizing the use of platelet transfusion in cancer
      patients appears to represent a reasonable precautionary measure.

PMID- 28606449
TI  - Transfusion-related immunomodulation and cancer.
AB  - Blood and blood-component therapy triggers immunological reactions in recipients.
      Transfusion-related immunomodulation [TRIM] is an important complex biological
      immune reaction to transfusion culminating in immunosuppression. The mechanisms
      underlying TRIM include the presence of residual leukocytes and apoptotic cells,
      the transfusion of immunosuppressive cytokines either present in donor components
      or generated during blood processing, the transfer of metabolically active growth
      factor-loaded microparticles and extracellular vesicles and the presence of free
      hemoglobin or extracellular vesicle-bound hemoglobin. TRIM variables include
      donor-specific factors as well as processing variables. TRIM may explain, at
      least in part, the controversial negative clinical outcomes observed in cancer
      patients receiving transfusion in the context of curative-intent surgeries. The
      use of novel technologies including metabolomics and proteomics on stored blood
      may pave the way for a deeper understanding of TRIM in general and its impact on
      cancer progression.

PMID- 28606450
TI  - Delirium prevention in critically ill adults through an automated reorientation
      intervention - A pilot randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Explore the effect of an automated reorientation intervention on ICU
      delirium in a prospective randomized controlled trial. BACKGROUND: Delirium is
      common in ICU patients, and negatively affects outcomes. Few prevention
      strategies have been tested. METHODS: Thirty ICU patients were randomized to 3
      groups. Ten received hourly recorded messages in a family member's voice during
      waking hours over 3 ICU days, 10 received the same messages in a non-family
      voice, and 10 (control) did not receive any automated reorientation messages. The
      primary outcome was delirium free days during the intervention period (evaluated
      by CAM-ICU). Groups were compared by Fisher's Exact Test. RESULTS: The family
      voice group had more delirium free days than the non-family voice group, and
      significantly more delirium free days (p = 0.0437) than the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reorientation through automated, scripted messages reduced incidence
      of delirium. Using identical scripted messages, family voice was more effective
      than non-family voice.

PMID- 28606451
TI  - Peak Serum Estradiol Level During Controlled Ovarian Stimulation Is not
      Associated with Lower Levels of Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A or Small
      for Gestational Age Infants: A Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: During controlled ovarian stimulation in IVF, supraphysiologic levels
      of estradiol (E2) have been associated with poor placentation and adverse
      pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether high peak E2 on the
      day of human chorionic gonadotropin trigger is associated with low pregnancy
      associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and adverse perinatal outcomes. METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective cohort study at a private, university-affiliated
      fertility centre in Vancouver, BC. We enrolled 216 patients with a singleton
      pregnancy after fresh embryo transfer who also underwent first trimester
      screening. Adverse perinatal outcomes were collected from a local registry and
      included preterm birth, hypertension in pregnancy, antepartum hemorrhage,
      intrauterine growth restriction, SGA, stillbirth, admission to the NICU, and
      neonatal death. RESULTS: High serum E2 (>=13 035 pmol/L) at controlled ovarian
      stimulation was not correlated with low PAPP-A (<0.4 multiples of the median) at
      first trimester screening (P = 0.46). When each adverse outcome was analysed
      separately, there was no association between high E2 and any of the outcomes (P >
      0.05 for all). High peak E2 was not associated with a total composite of maternal
      and neonatal adverse birth outcomes (P = 0.30). CONCLUSION: Our results do not
      support the theory that high E2 at fresh embryo transfer impedes placentation. We
      found no association between peak E2 and low PAPP-A levels or adverse pregnancy
      outcomes.

PMID- 28606452
TI  - Abdominal Wall Endometriosis.

PMID- 28606453
TI  - ?

PMID- 28606454
TI  - High oestradiol concentration after ovarian stimulation is associated with lower
      maternal serum beta-HCG concentration and neonatal birth weight.
AB  - In this retrospective study, the relationship between maternal serum oestradiol
      and progesterone levels after fresh embryo transfer or frozen embryo transfer
      (FET), and serum beta-HCG levels in early pregnancy and neonatal birth weight was
      examined. Included for analysis were 5643 conceived singletons: 2610 after FET
      and 3033 after fresh embryo transfer. Outcome measures included maternal serum
      oestradiol, progesterone, beta-HCG levels during the peri-implantation period,
      birth weight and small-for-gestational-age (SGA). Results at 4, 5 and 6 weeks'
      gestation were as follows: serum oestradiol and progesterone levels were
      significantly higher in women who underwent fresh embryo transfer compared with
      FET (all P < 0.0001 except progesterone at 6 weeks; P = 0.009); for fresh embryo
      transfers, serum beta-HCG levels were significantly lower than in women who
      underwent FET (P < 0.0001); beta-HCG levels were negatively correlated with serum
      oestradiol; and birth weight was negatively correlated with serum oestradiol.
      Incidence of SGA in fresh embryo transfer was increased significantly compared
      with FET (P < 0.001). Higher maternal oestradiol levels after fresh embryo
      transfer was correlated with lower beta-HCG in early pregnancy, lower birth
      weight and higher incidence of SGA.

PMID- 28606455
TI  - Some pathological and clinical factors are important to describe association
      between Ki67 expression and recurrences in breast cancer patients receiving
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy-reply.

PMID- 28606457
TI  - Reply to Pontus Eriksson, Gottfrid Sjodahl, and Fredrik Liedberg's Letter to the
      Editor re: Thomas Powles, Robert A. Huddart, Tony Elliott, et al. Phase III,
      Double-blind, Randomized Trial that Compared Maintenance Lapatinib versus Placebo
      after First-line Chemotherapy in Patients with Human Epidermal Growth Factor
      Receptor 1/2-positive Metastatic Bladder Cancer. J Clin Oncol 2017;35:48-55.
      Knowing HER2 Status is Not Enough: A Molecular Subtype Approach to Bladder Cancer
      is Also Needed: Protein Expression to Predict Outcome to Targeted Therapy in
      Bladder Cancer: Too Little, Too Late?

PMID- 28606456
TI  - Extended depth of focus contact lenses vs. two commercial multifocals: Part 1.
      Optical performance evaluation via computed through-focus retinal image quality
      metrics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the computed optical performance of prototype lenses designed
      using deliberate manipulation of higher-order spherical aberrations to extend
      depth-of-focus (EDOF) with two commercial multifocals. METHODS: Emmetropic,
      presbyopic, schematic eyes were coupled with prototype EDOF and commercial
      multifocal lenses (Acuvue Oasys for presbyopia, AOP, Johnson & Johnson & Air
      Optix Aqua multifocal, AOMF, Alcon). For each test configuration, the through
      focus retinal image quality (TFRIQ) values were computed over 21 vergences,
      ranging from -0.50 to 2.00D, in 0.125D steps. Analysis was performed considering
      eyes with three different inherent aberration profiles: five different pupils and
      five different lens decentration levels. RESULTS: Except the LOW design, the AOP
      lenses offered 'bifocal' like TFRIQ performance. Lens performance was relatively
      independent to pupil and aberrations but not centration. Contrastingly, AOMF
      demonstrated distance centric performance, most dominant in LOW followed by MED
      and HIGH designs. AOMF lenses were the most sensitive to pupil, aberrations and
      centration. The prototypes demonstrated a 'lift-off' in the TFRIQ performance,
      particularly at intermediate and near, without trading performance at distance.
      When compared with AOP and AOMF, EDOF lenses demonstrated reduced sensitivity to
      pupil, aberrations and centration. CONCLUSION: With the through focus retinal
      image quality as the gauge of optical performance, we demonstrated that the
      prototype EDOF designs were less susceptible to variations in pupil, inherent
      ocular aberrations and decentration, compared to the commercial designs. To
      ascertain whether these incremental improvements translate to a clinically
      palpable outcome requires investigation through human trials.

PMID- 28606458
TI  - Is Adductor Canal Block Better Than Femoral Nerve Block in Primary Total Knee
      Arthroplasty? A GRADE Analysis of the Evidence Through a Systematic Review and
      Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is associated with intense
      postoperative pain with a need for early ambulation to gain function and prevent
      postoperative complications. Compared with femoral nerve block (FNB), adductor
      canal block (ACB) can relieve postoperative pain and preserve quadriceps muscle
      strength. This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate which analgesic method
      provides better pain relief and functional recovery after TKA. METHOD: We
      conducted a meta-analysis to identify relevant randomized controlled trials
      involving ACB and FNB after TKA in electronic databases, including Web of
      Science, Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library, up to November 2016. Finally,
      9 randomized controlled trials involving 609 patients (668 knees) were included
      in our study. Review Manager Software and Grading of Recommendations Assessment,
      Development, and Evaluation profiler were used to perform the meta-analysis.
      RESULTS: Compared with FNB, ACB resulted in better quadriceps muscle strength and
      mobilization ability. There were no significant differences in the visual analog
      scale at rest, visual analog scale with mobilization, rescue opioid consumption,
      patient satisfaction, and length of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Compared with FNB,
      ACB shows similar pain control after TKA. However, ACB can better preserve
      quadriceps muscle strength and improve mobilization ability. In conclusion, ACB
      showed better functional recovery after TKA without compromising pain control.
      Therefore, ACB is recommended as an alternative analgesic method for early
      ambulation after TKA.

PMID- 28606460
TI  - Dual-Mobility vs Fixed-Bearing Total Hip Arthroplasty in Patients Under 55 Years
      of Age: A Single-Institution, Matched-Cohort Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prosthetic dislocation of total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common
      cause for revision surgery. Dual-mobility (DM) bearings were introduced to
      mitigate complications; however, their performance in younger patients is
      unknown. This study compared results of patients <55 years of age with DM vs
      fixed-bearing (FB) primary THA. METHODS: Our total joint registry was used to
      evaluate primary THA patients <55 years of age, and then, an age-matched
      comparative analysis was performed for 136 THAs using third-generation highly
      cross-linked polyethylene DM bearings and 136 THAs using FB from the same
      manufacturer with mean follow-up of 3.2 and 3.4 years, respectively. Mean age at
      surgery was 48.4 and 48.5 years, respectively. There was no difference in gender
      distribution. Incidence of complications (eg, dislocation) was evaluated and
      compared statistically. Patient-reported outcomes using the Modified Harris Hip
      Score were available. Normally distributed continuous data were compared using
      the Student t test, and discrete data were compared using the Fisher exact test
      (P < .05). RESULTS: There were no dislocations or intraprosthetic dissociations
      (0%) in the DM group and 7 (5.1%) dislocations in the FB group (P = .01) at the
      mean follow-up of 3 years postoperatively. Two of the 7 unstable patients in the
      FB cohort were revised for recurrent instability (1.5%). There was no difference
      in postoperative Modified Harris Hip Score between the DM (87.2 +/- 16.6) and the
      control cohorts (87.9 +/- 13.7; P = .78). CONCLUSION: DM bearings in patients <55
      years of age show excellent results for prosthetic stability when compared with
      patients who undergo FB.

PMID- 28606461
TI  - The cost of childhood disadvantage for future generations.

PMID- 28606459
TI  - Comparison of Low-, Moderate-, and High-Molecular-Weight Hyaluronic Acid
      Injections in Delaying Time to Knee Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We compared the effectiveness of low-molecular-weight (MW) hyaluronic
      acid (HA) injections (LMWHA), moderate-MW HA injections (MMWHA), and high-MW HA
      injections (HMWHA) for prevention or delay of knee surgery in patients with knee
      osteoarthritis. METHODS: An observational cohort study using LifeLink Plus claims
      (2006-2015) was used. The primary outcome measure of the study included all
      surgical interventions of the knee. The secondary outcome measures were the
      following: (1) unicompartmental knee arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty and
      (2) total knee arthroplasty only. A high-dimensional propensity score (hdPS)
      using 1:1 matching was used to adjust for confounding. The likelihood of each
      outcome was assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: A cohort of
      30,417 incident HA users with knee osteoarthritis met our inclusion-exclusion
      criteria. There was no difference in the likelihood of composite surgical events
      between LMWHA users (hazard ratio, 0.939; 95% confidence interval, 0.870-1.013)
      and MMWHA users (hazard ratio, 1.032; 95% confidence interval, 0.952-1.119) when
      compared with HMWHA users in a matched hdPS analysis. However, a significantly
      lower likelihood for all outcome measures was demonstrated in LMWHA and MMWHA
      users compared with HMWHA users when hdPS was not used. CONCLUSION: There was no
      significant difference in the likelihood of surgical interventions between LMWHA,
      MMWHA, and HMWHA users after accounting for empirically derived confounders.

PMID- 28606463
TI  - Therapeutic Hypothermia, Propofol, and High Lactate Levels: A Suspicious
      Combination.

PMID- 28606462
TI  - Growing literature but limited evidence: A systematic review regarding prebiotic
      and probiotic interventions for those with traumatic brain injury and/or
      posttraumatic stress disorder.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is highly prevalent among a wide range of
      populations, including civilians, military personnel, and Veterans. TBI sequelae
      may be further exacerbated by symptoms associated with frequently occurring
      comorbid psychiatric conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
      This is particularly true among the population of military personnel from recent
      conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a history of mild TBI (mTBI) and PTSD.
      The need for efficacious treatments for TBI and comorbid PTSD is significant, and
      evidence-based interventions for these frequently co-occurring conditions are
      limited. Based on findings suggesting that inflammation may be an underlying
      mechanism of both conditions, anti-inflammatory/immunoregulatory agents,
      including probiotics, may represent a novel strategy to treat TBI and/or PTSD
      related symptoms. The focus of this systematic review was to identify and
      evaluate existing research regarding prebiotic and probiotic interventions for
      the populations of individuals with a history of TBI and/or PTSD. Only 4 studies
      were identified (3 severe TBI, 1 PTSD, 0 co-occurring TBI and PTSD). Although
      findings suggested some promise, work in this area is nascent and results to date
      do not support some claims within the extensive coverage of probiotics in the
      popular press.

PMID- 28606464
TI  - Corrigendum to 'Phase Ib dose-finding study of abiraterone acetate plus
      buparlisib (BKM120) or dactolisib (BEZ235) in patients with castration-resistant
      prostate cancer' [European Journal of Cancer 76 (2017) 36-44].

PMID- 28606465
TI  - Ubiquitin-proteasome system and ER stress in the retina of diabetic rats.
AB  - PURPOSE: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most frequently occurring complication
      of diabetes. Alterations in ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) have been
      associated with several degenerative disorders. Hence, in this study, we
      investigated the status and role of UPS and ER stress in the retina of diabetic
      rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced in rats by streptozotocin. Retinal markers,
      ER stress markers, components of UPS, ERAD, and autophagy were analyzed after 2-
      and 4-months of diabetes. Apoptosis was analyzed by TUNEL Assay. RESULTS: There
      were increased acellular capillaries and pericyte loss in diabetic rat retina.
      Decreased protein expression of UPS components - ubiquitin activating enzyme
      (E1), deubiquitinating enzymes (UCHL1 and UCHL5), SIAH1 (E3 ligase) and free
      ubiquitin were observed in the diabetic rats. Increased ER stress markers (ATF6,
      XBP1, and CHOP), decreased expression of HRD1, declined autophagy (LC3B) and
      increased apoptosis were observed in diabetic rats. Interestingly, treatment of
      diabetic rats with a chemical chaperone (4-PBA) restored the levels of DUBs and
      ameliorated ER stress-induced retinal cell death in type 1 diabetic rats.
      CONCLUSION: The declined UPS components: E1 and HRD1 in the retina of diabetic
      rats could elicit ER stress, and the prolonged ER stress may trigger CHOP
      mediated neuronal apoptosis.

PMID- 28606466
TI  - Hip rate of force development and strength are impaired in females with
      patellofemoral pain without signs of altered gluteus medius and maximus
      morphology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare rate of force development (RFD) and isometric muscle
      strength of the hip abductors and extensors; and the thickness and the amount of
      non-contractile tissue of the gluteus medius and maximus between females with and
      without patellofemoral pain (PFP). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Fifty
      four physically active females (27 with PFP and 27 healthy individuals) were
      studied. Hip muscle isometric strength and RFD was evaluated using isokinetic
      dynamometry. RFD was measured until 30%, 60%, and 90% of the maximal isometric
      torque (MIT). Hip muscle morphology was evaluated using ultrasonography. RESULTS:
      The PFP group possessed slower RFD compared to the control group by 33% for hip
      abductors until 90%MIT (-0.23%/ms, 95%CI -0.44 to -0.02, ES=0.59); by 51% for hip
      extensors until 30%MIT (-0.42%/ms, 95%CI -0.66 to -0.18, ES=0.97); and by 55% for
      hip extensors until 60%MIT (-0.36%/ms, 95%CI -0.60 to -0.12, ES=0.81). The PFP
      group possessed reduced isometric torque compared to the control group by 10% for
      hip abduction (-16.0Nm/kg*100, 95% CI -30.2 to -1.9, ES=0.61) and by 15% for hip
      extension (-30.1Nm/kg*100, 95%CI -51.4 to -8.9, ES=0.76). No significant between
      group differences for the thickness and the amount of non-contractile tissue of
      the gluteus medius and maximus were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Females with PFP
      have deficits in isometric strength and RFD in hip abduction and extension. RFD
      deficits are greater than strength deficits which may highlight their potential
      importance. Hip muscle strength and RFD deficits do not appear to be explained by
      muscle thickness or proportion of non-contractile tissue of the gluteal
      musculature as measured by ultrasound.

PMID- 28606468
TI  - Protective effect of rutin on humoral and cell mediated immunity in rat model.
AB  - Diet and dietary intake can persuade the development, safeguard and proper
      functioning of immune system. Ruin, an important bioflavonoid, is abundantly
      found in various foodstuffs. Rutin has been acknowledged for its protective and
      beneficial effects on various aspects of the biological system. The present study
      was aimed to examine the effect of rutin on the regulation of the immune response
      in experimental animal models. Effect of rutin of cellular immunity was
      determined by delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response, carbon clearance
      assay, leucocyte mobilization test, and cyclophosphamide-induced
      myelosuppression, whereas humoral immunity was analyzed by the haemagglutinating
      antibody (HA) titre assay. Rutin (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) evoked a
      significant increase in antibody titre in the haemagglutination test, increased
      immunoglobulin levels, and enhanced the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction
      induced by sheep red blood cells. It also significantly restored the functioning
      of leucocytes in cyclophosphamide treated rats and augmented phagocytic index in
      the carbon clearance assay. The outcomes from the present study indicate that
      rutin possesses sufficient potential for increasing immune activity by cellular
      and humoral mediated mechanisms.

PMID- 28606469
TI  - Potential chemoprotective role of resveratrol against cisplatin induced
      testicular damage in mice.
AB  - Semen banking is often advised to male patients undergoing chemotherapy as the
      damage induced is profound and often irreversible. However, low success rates of
      assisted reproductive techniques (ART) using banked semen have led to the quest
      for alternative methods to treat chemotherapy-induced infertility. The present
      study therefore aimed to study the role of resveratrol against cisplatin induced
      testicular damage. Male albino mice were divided into five groups (n = 6 each),
      viz. normal control, resveratrol vehicle (4% ethanol), Cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg
      b.wt/week for 4 weeks), Resveratrol (1 mg/kg b.wt./orally for 28 days) and
      Resveratrol and Cisplatin combination group. Cisplatin treatment led to an
      increase in the activity of lactate dehydrogenase and an increase in the levels
      of lipid peroxidation. Glutathione levels were found to decrease with a
      concomitant increase in the levels of oxidized glutathione and altered status of
      antioxidant enzymes. Increased DNA fragmentation was also evident which was
      further confirmed by histopathological and FT-IR analysis. Resveratrol treatment
      in combination with cisplatin showed great promise in bringing down the damage
      statistics to near normal values in most of the parameters studied. Further
      studies in this direction are however needed to develop an alternative to current
      procedures adopted to treat chemotherapy-induced male infertility.

PMID- 28606470
TI  - Mechanistic evaluation of gastroprotective effects of Kangfuxin on ethanol
      induced gastric ulcer in mice.
AB  - This study was designed to evaluate the gastroprotective effect of Kangfuxin
      (KFX), a Chinese patent medicine constituent isolated from American cockroach, on
      ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in mice and to elucidate the potential mechanisms
      of the effect involved. According to the results, mice treated with alcohol
      appeared obvious gastric mucosal injury, while treatment with Cimetidine (a
      positive control) and KFX significantly relieved the damage, along with decreased
      oxidative stress and apoptosis indexes. Subsequently, we conducted a label-free
      quantitative proteomic (LFQ) and found that NF-kappaB and PI3K/AKT signaling
      pathway participated in gastroprotective effect of KFX. Furthermore, Western blot
      analysis revealed that KFX treatment inhibited the expression of TNF-alpha, IL
      1beta, greatly reduced the phosphorylation level of IkappaB and repressed the
      nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB p65, which demonstrated that KFX inhibited the
      activation of NF-kappaB pathway. Meanwhile, the PI3K/AKT pathway was also
      involved in regulating the anti-inflammation effect. These findings define for
      the first time that the gastroprotective effects of KFX against gastric ulcer can
      be attributed to its role in NF-kappaB inhibition.

PMID- 28606467
TI  - Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR): "pioneer member" of the basic-helix/loop/helix
      per-Arnt-sim (bHLH/PAS) family of "sensors" of foreign and endogenous signals.
AB  - The basic-helix/loop/helix per-Arnt-sim (bHLH/PAS) family comprises many
      transcription factors, found throughout all three kingdoms of life; bHLH/PAS
      members "sense" innumerable intracellular and extracellular "signals" - including
      endogenous compounds, foreign chemicals, gas molecules, redox potential, photons
      (light), gravity, heat, and osmotic pressure. These signals then initiate
      downstream signaling pathways involved in responding to that signal. The term
      "PAS", abbreviation for "per-Arnt-sim" was first coined in 1991. Although the
      mouse Arnt gene was not identified until 1991, evidence of its co-transcriptional
      binding partner, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), was first reported in 1974 as a
      "sensor" of foreign chemicals, up-regulating cytochrome P450 family 1 (CYP1) and
      other enzyme activities that usually metabolize the signaling chemical. Within a
      few years, AHR was proposed also to participate in inflammation. The mouse [Ah]
      locus was shown (1973-1989) to be relevant to chemical carcinogenesis,
      mutagenesis, toxicity and teratogenesis, the mouse Ahr gene was cloned in 1992,
      and the first Ahr(-/-) knockout mouse line was reported in 1995. After thousands
      of studies from the early 1970s to present day, we now realize that AHR
      participates in dozens of signaling pathways involved in critical-life processes,
      affecting virtually every organ and cell-type in the animal, including many
      invertebrates.

PMID- 28606471
TI  - Impact of anxiety symptoms and problematic alcohol use on error-related brain
      activity.
AB  - Anxiety disorders are associated with enhanced defensive reactivity to errors,
      measured via the error-related negativity (ERN). There is some evidence to
      suggest that problematic alcohol use is also associated with an enhanced ERN;
      although prior studies have been almost exclusively in men and have yet to
      examine the potential interactive effects of anxiety and alcohol abuse symptoms.
      The aim of the current study was to address the gaps in this literature by
      examining the unique and interactive effects of anxiety symptoms and problematic
      alcohol use on the ERN in a sample of 79 heterogeneous internalizing disorder
      patients. All participants completed a flanker task designed to robustly elicit
      the ERN and questionnaires assessing current internalizing symptoms and
      problematic alcohol use. As expected, results revealed that greater anxiety
      symptoms, but not depressive symptoms, were associated with a more enhanced ERN.
      There was no main effect of problematic alcohol use but there was a significant
      anxiety by problematic alcohol use interaction. At high anxiety symptoms, greater
      problematic alcohol use was associated with a more enhanced ERN; at low anxiety
      symptoms, alcohol use was unrelated to the ERN. There was no depression by
      alcohol abuse interaction. The findings suggest that within anxious individuals,
      heightened reactivity to errors/threat may be related to risk for alcohol abuse.
      The findings also converge with a broader literature suggesting that heightened
      reactivity to threat may be a shared vulnerability factor for anxiety and alcohol
      abuse and a novel prevention and intervention target for anxiety-alcohol abuse
      comorbidity.

PMID- 28606472
TI  - Autonomic specificity in emotion: The induction method matters.
AB  - Research on the autonomic specificity of emotion has spanned decades, yet the
      findings of this research are still highly debated. Although many studies have
      explored the autonomic specificity of emotions, few have concurrently explored
      the influence by which the induction methods themselves have had in directing
      autonomic change. The current study was conducted to assess whether the methods
      for emotion elicitation could be meaningfully captured by multivariate pattern
      classification techniques that have been previously used to explore autonomic
      specificity of emotion. This aim was achieved by using three separate emotion
      elicitation methods to elicit five separate emotions. A sample of 64 college-aged
      students watched film clips, read imagery scripts, and recalled personal memories
      for five emotion states. Using multivariate pattern classification analysis, the
      evidence from the current study lends further support for autonomic specificity
      of emotion, but also highlights the role that the specific induction technique
      contributes to autonomic changes that accompany emotions in the laboratory.

PMID- 28606473
TI  - Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Exercise Training in African Americans.
AB  - African Americans (AAs) have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD)
      compared to their Caucasian American (CA) counterparts, which represents a major
      health disparity. Low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a well-established
      independent risk factor for all-cause and CVD mortality, which has been shown
      across many epidemiological and clinical trials to be lower in AAs compared to
      CAs. While much attention has been given to traditional health disparity risk
      factors (e.g. blood pressure, obesity, insulin resistance), the impact of racial
      differences in CRF on CVD mortality has not been widely considered. Thus, the
      purpose of this paper is to review the literature on: 1) the magnitude of racial
      differences in CRF and the potential clinical significance, 2) examine the
      relationships between CRF and mortality in AAs and CAs, 3) Potential
      physiological and behavioral etiologies for racial difference in CRF, and 4) the
      impact of exercise training on CRF and other cardiometabolic risk factors in AAs
      compared to CAs. Given that both CRF and change in CRF are associated with
      reduced CVD mortality, advocating aerobic exercise training or moderate to
      vigorous activities in AAs has the potential to reduce racial cardiovascular
      health disparities.

PMID- 28606474
TI  - Regulation of intracellular trafficking and secretion of adiponectin by myosin
      II.
AB  - Adiponectin is a protein secreted by white adipocytes that plays an important
      role in insulin action, energy homeostasis and the development of
      atherosclerosis. The intracellular localization and trafficking of GLUT4 and
      leptin in adipocytes has been well studied, but little is known regarding the
      intracellular trafficking of adiponectin. Recent studies have demonstrated that
      constitutive adiponectin secretion is dependent on PIP2 levels and the integrity
      of cortical F-actin. Non-muscle myosin II is an actin-based motor that is
      associated with membrane vesicles and participates in vesicular trafficking in
      mammalian cells. Therefore, we investigated the role of myosin II in the
      trafficking and secretion of adiponectin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Confocal
      microscopy revealed that myosin IIA and IIB were dispersed throughout the
      cytoplasm of the adipocyte. Both myosin isoforms were localized in the Golgi/TGN
      region as evidenced by colocalization with the cis-Golgi marker, p115 and the
      trans-Golgi marker, gamma-adaptin. Inhibition of myosin II activity by
      blebbistatin or actin depolymerization by latrunculin B dispersed myosin IIA and
      IIB towards the periphery while significantly inhibiting adiponectin secretion.
      Therefore, the constitutive trafficking and secretion of adiponectin in 3T3-L1
      adipocytes occurs by an actin-dependent mechanism that involves the actin-based
      motors, myosin IIA and IIB.

PMID- 28606475
TI  - Coptisine protects cardiomyocyte against hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced damage via
      inhibition of autophagy.
AB  - Coptisine is a natural occurring isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the
      traditional Chinese medicinal herb Rhizoma coptidis. Coptisine has been reported
      to have protective effects on reperfusion injury in cardiomyocytes, however, the
      underlying mechanism remains uncertain. Here, we used a hypoxia/reoxygenation
      (H/R)-treated H9c2 cell model to study the protective effects of coptisine on
      cardiomyocyte. The results showed that NaS2O4 induced hypoxia/reoxygenation model
      increased apoptosis and up-regulated autophagy marker LC3-II and cleaved Caspase
      3, Beclin1 and Sirt1 levels. Coptisine treatment increased cell survival,
      inhibited apoptosis, and reduced the protein level of LC3-II, cleaved Caspase-3,
      Beclin1 and Sirt1. Further, we showed that coptisine combined with chloroquine
      (CQ), the inhibitor of autolysosome, reduced LC3-II, suggesting that coptisine
      may inhibit autophagosome formation than induction of autolysosome in the
      autophagy events. Our results indicate that coptisine may protect cardiomyocyte
      damage by H/R through suppressing autophagy. Overall, our study provides a new
      mechanism for the treatment of coptisine on H/R-induced cardiomyocyte damage and
      death.

PMID- 28606476
TI  - Vitamin D supplement ameliorates hippocampal metabolism in diabetic rats.
AB  - Vitamin D deficiency induced by diabetes mellitus is tightly associated with
      neurodegenerative diseases, but the mechanism is still unknown. Endoplasmic
      reticulum stress (ER stress) is involved in hippocampal lesion and promote
      diabetic neuropathy, so we focus on the effects of 1, 25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 on
      ER stress in hippocampus of diabetic rats. Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic
      rats were administrated with different doses of vitamin D and divided into 3
      groups: high, low, and blank, compared to wild-type rats which were received the
      same treatment. At the end of 12 weeks of treatment, the brains of the rats were
      analyzed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Rats were then
      weighed, tested for blood glucose, serum Ca, P, and vitamin D3, and sacrificed
      for histopathological analysis of the hippocampus. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase
      (nNOS) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression were measured, as well as ER
      stress markers, including glucose-regulated protein78 (GRP78), protein kinase
      like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) phosphorylation, eukaryotic initiation
      factor 2alpha(eIF-2alpha) phosphorylation, and CCAAT enhancer-binding protein
      homologous protein (CHOP). Our study showed that treated with appropriate
      concentration of active vitamin D could decrease the number of pathological
      pyramidal neurons, improve hippocampal nerve metabolism, and reduce the over
      expression of nNOS, along with the relieved activation of ER stress in
      hippocampus of diabetic rats. These results suggest that 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin
      D3 treatment can ameliorate hyperglycemia-induced damage on hippocampal
      metabolism, possibly through alleviating the aberrant activation of ER stress.

PMID- 28606477
TI  - N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched lipid emulsion improves Paneth cell
      function via the IL-22/Stat3 pathway in a mouse model of total parenteral
      nutrition.
AB  - Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is a life-saving therapy for patients with
      gastrointestinal dysfunction or failure. Long-term TPN impairs gut barrier
      function and contributes to infections and poor clinical outcomes. However, the
      underlying mechanisms of TPN-related gut barrier damage have not been fully
      elucidated, and effective measures are still rare. Here, we compared the effects
      of a predominantly n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids emulsion (PUFAs; Intralipid)
      and a lipid emulsion containing n-3 PUFAs (Intralipid plus Omegaven) on
      antimicrobial peptides produced by Paneth cells. Our results show for the first
      time that n-3 PUFAs markedly ameliorated intestine atrophy, and increased protein
      levels of lysozyme, RegIIIgamma, and alpha-cryptdin 5, and their mRNA expression,
      compared to the n-6 PUFAs emulsion. Importantly, our study reveals that
      downregulation of IL-22 and phosphorylated Stat3 (p-Stat3) is associated with
      Paneth cell dysfunction, which may mediate TPN-related gut barrier damage.
      Lastly, n-3 PUFAs upregulated levels of IL-22 and increased the p-Stat3/Stat3
      ratio in ileal tissue, suggesting that n-3 PUFAs improve Paneth cell function
      through activation of the IL-22/Stat3 pathway. Therefore, our study provides a
      cogent explanation for the beneficial effects of n-3 PUFAs, and indicates the IL
      22/Stat3 pathway as a promising target in the treatment of TPN-related gut
      barrier damage.

PMID- 28606478
TI  - Withdrawal of inhaled corticosteroids in COPD: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conflicting findings exist on the benefit of withdrawal of inhaled
      corticosteroid (ICS) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We
      performed a quantitative synthesis in order to assess real impact of ICS
      discontinuation in COPD patients. METHODS: We carried out a meta-analysis via
      random-effects model on the available clinical evidence to evaluate the effect of
      ICS discontinuation in COPD. Randomized clinical trials and observational real
      life studies investigating the effects of ICS withdrawal on the risk of COPD
      exacerbation, lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1]) and quality
      of life (St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire [SGRQ]) were identified by
      searching from published studies and repository databases. RESULTS: ICS
      withdrawal did not significantly (P > 0.05) increase the overall rate of COPD
      exacerbation, although a clinically important increased risk of severe
      exacerbation was detected (Relative Risk >1.2). ICS withdrawal significantly (P <
      0.001) impaired both lung function (-30 ml FEV1) and quality of life (+1.24 SGRQ
      units), although in a non-clinically important manner. The time to the first
      exacerbation was significantly (P < 0.05) shorter in the patients who
      discontinued ICS. CONCLUSIONS: The discrepancy between statistical analysis and
      clinical interpretation of this meta-analytic evaluation demonstrates the strong
      clinical need in understanding what is the real impact of ICS withdrawal in COPD.
      ICS discontinuation is a complex procedure that requires a well planned and
      tailored strategy. Further well designed studies on withdrawal of ICS should be
      performed by clustering COPD patients with regard to the phenotype
      characteristics, rate of exacerbations/year, decline of lung function, and
      quality of life.

PMID- 28606479
TI  - Therapeutic Potential of Ranibizumab in Corneal Neovascularization.
AB  - Ranibizumab is a humanized, affinity-matured vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) antibody fragment that neutralizes all isoforms of VEGF and is FDA
      approved for use in ophthalmology. Recently it was suggested that ranibizumab may
      be useful in the treatment of corneal neovascularization, but in reality this
      therapy is not yet evidence based.

PMID- 28606480
TI  - Sphingosine Kinase 2 in Autoimmune/Inflammatory Disease and the Development of
      Sphingosine Kinase 2 Inhibitors.
AB  - The purpose of this Opinion is to present a case for targeting sphingosine kinase
      2 (SK2) in autoimmune/inflammatory disease. Data obtained using Sphk2-/- mice
      suggest that SK2 is an anti-inflammatory enzyme, although this might be
      misleading because of a compensatory increase in the expression of a second
      isoform, sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1), which functions as a proinflammatory enzyme.
      SK2 is involved in regulating interleukin (IL)-12/interferon gamma (IFN-gamma)
      and histone deacetylase-1/2 (HDAC-1/2) signalling and, potentially, retinoid
      related orphan receptor gamma t (ROR-gammat) stability linked with T helper (Th)
      17 cell polarisation. Therefore, there is a need to develop highly potent SK2
      inhibitors with selectivity over SK1 to clearly define the role of SK2 in
      autoimmune/inflammatory disease. Structural determinants of SK2 relative to SK1
      will enable the design of selective SK2 inhibitors.

PMID- 28606481
TI  - Micropuncture and pressure assisted Schwann cell seeding of nerve allograft.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue processing to create immunotolerant nerve allograft removes
      neurosupportive cells. Few strategies have been described for implanting new
      cells into the graft to support axonal regeneration. NEW METHOD: Micropuncture of
      the nerve allograft surface combined with immersion into a pressurized cell-rich
      solution to potentiate the introduction of viable Schwann cells (SC) into
      processed nerve allograft. Allografts were used to repair rodent sciatic nerve
      defects. At 3, 7, and 21days, grafts were harvested, stained for SCs, and
      analyzed using total cross sectional area (CSA) occupied by SCs to quantify SC
      presence. RESULTS: At days 3 and 7, SC CSA was significantly greater for the
      injection group compared to all other groups. At day 21, SC CSA for the injection
      group (0.2252%+/-0.2730) was significantly greater compared to following groups:
      pressurized-punctured (0.0653%+/-0.0934), nonpressurized-nonpunctured (0.0607%+/
      0.0709), punctured-control (0.0246%+/-0.0398), and nonpunctured-control
      (0.0126%+/-0.0151). A significant decrease in percent CSA occupied by SCs from
      day 3 to day 21 was noted in nonpressurized-punctured group (p=0.0106),
      pressurized-nonpunctured group (p=0.0477), and injection group (p=0.0010).
      COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Most studies have used small caliber
      hypodermic needles to inject the cells into grafts. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a
      presumed decrease in cell viability over the three weeks of the study, the large
      initial inoculum achieved by injection technique results in higher levels of
      final SC seeding in acellular nerve allograft compared with bathing techniques
      with or without micropuncture or pressurization.

PMID- 28606482
TI  - The neuron-astrocyte-microglia triad in CA3 after chronic cerebral hypoperfusion
      in the rat: Protective effect of dipyridamole.
AB  - We investigated the quantitative and morphofunctional alterations of neuron
      astrocyte-microglia triads in CA3 hippocampus, in comparison to CA1, after 2
      Vessel Occlusion (2VO) and the protective effect of dipyridamole. We evaluated 3
      experimental groups: sham-operated rats (sham, n=15), 2VO-operated rats treated
      with vehicle (2VO-vehicle, n=15), and 2VO-operated rats treated with dipyridamole
      from day 0 to day 7 (2VO-dipyridamole, n=15), 90days after 2VO. We analyzed
      Stratum Pyramidalis (SP), Stratum Lucidum (SL) and Stratum Radiatum (SR) of CA3.
      1) ectopic neurons increased in SL and SR of 2VO-vehicle, and 2VO-dipyridamole
      rats; 2) apoptotic neurons increased in SP of 2VO-vehicle rats and dipyridamole
      reverted this effect; 3) astrocytes increased in SP, SL and SR of 2VO-vehicle and
      2VO-dipyridamole rats; 4) TNF-alpha expression increased in astrocytes, blocked
      by dipyridamole, and in dendrites in SR of 2VO-vehicle rats; 5) total microglia
      increased in SL and SR of 2VO-vehicle and 2VO-dipyridamole rats; 6) triads
      increased in SR of 2VO-vehicle rats and dipyridamole reverted this effect.
      Microglia cooperated with astrocytes to phagocytosis of apoptotic neurons and
      debris, and engulfed ectopic non-fragmented neurons in SL of 2VO-vehicle and 2VO
      dipyridamole rats, through a new mechanism called phagoptosis. CA3 showed a
      better adaptive capacity than CA1 to the ischemic insult, possibly due to the
      different behaviour of astrocytes and microglial cells. Dipyridamole had
      neuroprotective effects.

PMID- 28606483
TI  - A Novel Approach to Mesh Fixation in Retrorectus Ventral Hernia Repair Using
      Fibrin Sealant.

PMID- 28606484
TI  - Short- and Long-Term Outcomes after a Reconstituting and Fenestrating Subtotal
      Cholecystectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple surgical techniques are recommended to perform
      cholecystectomy safely in difficult cases, such as conversion to open operation
      or subtotal cholecystectomy (STC). Reconstituting and fenestrating STC are 2
      techniques for STC. The aim of this study was to investigate the short and long
      term morbidity and quality of life associated with STC and to compare the
      outcomes after reconstituting and fenestrating STC. STUDY DESIGN: Patients who
      underwent STC were identified. Short-term morbidity assessed included bile
      leakage, bile duct injury, intra-abdominal infection, reinterventions, and
      readmittance. Long-term morbidity included bile duct stenosis and recurrent
      biliary events. Differences in the outcomes of fenestrating and reconstituting
      STC were assessed. Quality of life was assessed by EuroQol 5 Dimensions, Short
      Form 36 Questionnaire, and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index questionnaires.
      RESULTS: Subtotal cholecystectomy was performed in 191 patients, of which 102
      (53%) underwent fenestrating STC and 73 (38%) underwent reconstituting STC. Bile
      leakage was significantly more common after fenestrating STC (18% vs 7%,
      respectively; p < 0.022). After a median of 6 years follow-up (interquartile
      range 5 to 10 years), recurrence rate of biliary events was lower after
      fenestrating than reconstituting STC (9% vs 18%, respectively; p < 0.022).
      Overall reintervention rate did not differ between the 2 groups: 32% in the
      fenestrating STC group and 26% in the reconstituting STC group (p = 0.211).
      Completion cholecystectomy was performed significantly more in patients after
      fenestrating STC (9% vs 4%; p < 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Subtotal cholecystectomy is
      a safe and feasible technique for difficult cases for which conversion only will
      not solve the difficulty of an inflamed hepatocystic triangle. The choice for
      reconstituting or fenestrating STC depends on intraoperative conditions and both
      techniques are associated with specific complications.

PMID- 28606485
TI  - A 10-year surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Shigella
      sonnei isolates circulating in Jiangsu Province, China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The rapid emergence of drug-resistant Shigella sonnei is a serious
      public health problem. This study aimed to characterise the antimicrobial
      resistance patterns, molecular subtypes, and integron types and resistance gene
      cassettes in S. sonnei from Jiangsu Province, China. METHODS: In total, 340 S.
      sonnei were collected in 2002-2011 throughout Jiangsu Province. Antimicrobial
      susceptibility testing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), PCR
      amplification of integrons, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and
      DNA sequencing of cassette regions were performed. RESULTS: Resistance rates to
      ampicillin (67.7%), nalidixic acid (75.2%), tetracycline (73.7%) and
      trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (68.7%) remained high. Strains from Centre and
      South Jiangsu showed higher resistance and multiresistance rates compared with
      the North. PFGE analysis indicated that large-scale clonal transmission among
      different cities occurred several times during 10 years. Among all strains, 55.9%
      (190/340) harboured class 1 integrons, 80.3% (273/340) harboured class 2
      integrons and 49.4% (168/340) harboured an atypical class 1 integron. Resistance
      rates to nine antimicrobials in the class 1 integron-positive group were
      significantly higher than in the negative group (P<0.05). Seven different gene
      cassettes were detected in class 1 integrons. The most prevalent type was aacA4
      cmlA1 (114/286). Class 2 integrons carried the gene cassette array dfrA1-sat1
      aadA1, and the atypical class 1 integron carried blaOXA-30-aadA1. CONCLUSIONS:
      The increasing antimicrobial resistance and significant clonal transmission of S.
      sonnei circulating in Jiangsu were closely related to the high prevalence of
      integrons and gene cassettes. Long-term cross-regional monitoring of
      antimicrobial resistance is urgently required for S. sonnei.

PMID- 28606486
TI  - Guidelines and attitudes; what should we pay attention to?

PMID- 28606488
TI  - Illness perceptions in patients with heart failure and an implantable
      cardioverter defibrillator: Dimensional structure, validity, and correlates of
      the brief illness perception questionnaire in Dutch, French and German patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients' illness perceptions are associated with psychological
      wellbeing and can be measured with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B
      IPQ). However, little is known about illness perceptions in patients with heart
      failure. We examined the dimensional structure, validity and clinical and
      psychological correlates of the B-IPQ in Dutch, French and German patients with
      heart failure and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). METHOD:
      European heart failure patients (n=585) participating in the REMOTE-CIED study
      completed a set of questionnaires 1-2weeks post ICD-implantation, including the B
      IPQ. Information on clinical data was captured from patients' medical records.
      RESULTS: A two-factor structure (I='Consequences'; II='Control') represented 7
      out of 8 B-IPQ items in the total sample and Dutch, German and French subgroups.
      The total B-IPQ had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.69, with the 'Consequences' subscale
      being more internally consistent (alpha=0.80). Both the B-IPQ and its
      'Consequences' subscale were significantly correlated with a number of
      psychological characteristics, but not with clinical characteristics.
      Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that threatening illness
      perceptions as measured with the total B-IPQ were associated with poor health
      status (OR=2.66, 95%CI=1.72-4.11), anxiety (OR=1.79, 95%CI=1.001-3.19),
      depression (OR=2.81, 95%CI=1.65-4.77), negative affectivity (OR=1.93, 95%CI=1.21
      3.09) and poor ICD acceptance (OR=2.68, 95%CI=1.70-4.22). CONCLUSION: The B-IPQ
      demonstrated good psychometric properties in Dutch, French and German patients
      with heart failure. Psychological factors were the most important correlates of
      patients' perceptions of heart failure, emphasizing the importance of targeting
      maladaptive illness perceptions in this population, due to their impact on
      patients' wellbeing and quality of life.

PMID- 28606489
TI  - Affective symptoms in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia: A systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Affective disorders are prevalent in different somatic conditions and
      influence somatic symptom bother and quality of life. Mood and anxiety disorders
      impact patients' compliance and adherence to treatment. This systematic review
      summarizes published studies on affective complaints in patients with
      oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) in order to determine the quality of studies
      concerning any association of OD with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.
      METHODS: A literature search was carried out using electronic databases Embase,
      Medline, Web-of-science, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and Google scholar. Two
      reviewers made the preselecting cut by screening all articles on title and
      abstract and independently screened the full texts of this initial set of
      articles. Methodological quality of the studies that met the inclusion criteria
      was assessed independently. RESULTS: Twenty-six articles were included in the
      analysis after full-text screening and by applying the inclusion and exclusion
      criteria. All studies concluded that symptoms of depression were associated with
      impaired swallowing function, and 9 out of 12 studies concluded that symptoms of
      anxiety were associated with functional impairment of swallowing. The reviewers
      found heterogeneous outcomes and methodological limitations, which prevented data
      from pooling. CONCLUSION: Although no meta-analytic conclusions can be drawn, it
      appears that symptoms of anxiety and depression are common in OD. Caregivers have
      to be aware of this in order to detect affective comorbidity. Given that
      affective conditions influence patients' treatment adherence and compliance,
      integrated care approaches should be advocated in case of comorbidity. Studies on
      treatment effect are lacking and well-designed prospective research is needed.

PMID- 28606490
TI  - Illuminating the clinical significance of alexithymia subtypes: A cluster
      analysis of alexithymic traits and psychiatric symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alexithymia is a personality construct involving difficulties
      identifying and verbalizing feelings, and an externally oriented thinking style.
      There is preliminary evidence for alexithymia subtypes that may carry different
      risk profiles for psychiatric illness. The aim of this study was to gain support
      for the existence of alexithymia subtypes and further characterize their clinical
      relevance. METHODS: To identify possible subtypes, a cluster analysis was
      conducted for individuals with high alexithymic traits (N=113). Current
      depressive and anxiety symptoms, self-reported psychiatric medical history, and
      self-reported early life adversity were compared between subtypes. The cluster
      analysis was replicated with the low (N=2471) and moderate (N=290) alexithymia
      groups. RESULTS: We identified two alexithymia subtypes. Compared to type A, type
      B alexithymia was associated with higher levels of difficulties in identifying
      feelings, and was more strongly associated with current depressive (Cohen's
      d=0.77, p<0.001) and anxiety symptoms (Cohen's d=0.82, p<0.001), and self
      reported early life adversity (Cohen's d 0.42, p=0.048). Compared to type A, type
      B alexithymia was also associated with a higher prevalence of self-reported
      diagnosis of major depressive- (30.2% vs. 8.3%) and anxiety disorder (18.9% vs.
      3.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the hypothesis of
      alexithymia subtypes, and add support to the growing evidence showing that
      alexithymia is likely a heterogeneous and dimensional phenomenon. The subtype
      (type B) with most pronounced difficulties in identifying feelings may be
      associated with a higher risk for psychiatric illness compared to type A
      alexithymia, and may exhibit a more severe history of early life adversity.

PMID- 28606492
TI  - Syndromes of bodily distress or functional somatic syndromes - Where are we
      heading. Lecture on the occasion of receiving the Alison Creed award 2017.

PMID- 28606491
TI  - Cesarean section and risk of postpartum depression: A meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The association of cesarean section (CS) with the risk of postpartum
      depression (PPD) remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis
      to explore the association between CS and the risk of PPD. METHODS: A systematic
      literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases
      for relevant articles up to November 2016. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with fixed-effects model or random
      effects model. RESULTS: A total of 28 studies from 27 articles involving 532,630
      participants were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled OR of the
      association between CS and PPD risk was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.16-1.36). In subgroup
      analyses stratified by study design [cohort studies: (1.25, 95% CI: 1.10-1.41);
      case-control studies: (1.25, 95% CI: 1.00-1.56); cross-sectional studies: (1.44,
      95% CI: 1.14-1.82)] and adjustment status of complications during pregnancy
      [adjusted for: (1.29, 95% CI: 1.12-1.48); not-adjusted for: (1.24, 95% CI: 1.13
      1.36)], the above-mentioned associations remained consistent. The pooled ORs of
      PPD were 1.15 (95% CI: 0.92-1.43) for elective cesarean section (ElCS) and 1.47
      (95% CI: 1.33-1.62) for emergency cesarean section (EmCS). CONCLUSION: This meta
      analysis suggests that CS and EmCS increase the risk of PPD. Further evidence is
      needed to explore the associations between the specific types of CS and the risk
      of PPD.

PMID- 28606493
TI  - Patient-provider relationship as mediator between adult attachment and self
      management in primary care patients with multiple chronic conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The conceptual model of attachment theory has been applied to
      understand the predispositions of patients in medical care and the patient
      provider relationship. In patients with chronic conditions insecure attachment
      was connected to poorer self-management. The patient-provider relationship is
      associated with a range of health related outcomes and self-management skills. We
      determined whether the quality of the patient-provider relationship mediates the
      link between adult attachment and self-management among primary care patients
      with multiple chronic diseases. METHOD: 209 patients with a minimum of three
      chronic diseases (including type II diabetes, hypertension and at least one other
      chronic condition) between the ages of 50 and 85 from eight general practices
      were included in the APRICARE cohort study. Adult attachment was measured via
      self-report (ECR-RD), self-management skills by the FERUS and the patient
      provider relationship by the PRA-D. The health status and chronicity were
      assessed by the GP. Multiple mediation analyses were used to examine whether
      aspects of the patient-provider relationship (communication, information,
      affectivity) are a mediators of associations between adult attachment and self
      management. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that the quality of the patient
      provider relationship mediated the effect of attachment on self-management in
      patients with multiple chronic conditions. Particularly the quality of
      communication and information over the course of treatment has a significant
      mediating influence. CONCLUSION: A personalized, attachment-related approach that
      promotes active patient-provider communication and gives information about the
      treatment to the patient may improve self-management skills in patients.

PMID- 28606494
TI  - Screening for depression: Rasch analysis of the structural validity of the PHQ-9
      in acutely injured trauma survivors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is widely used for screening
      of depression in acutely injured trauma survivors. Rasch analysis has been used
      to evaluate its measurement characteristics. This paper aims: 1) to assess the
      psychometric properties of the nine PHQ-9 items and 2) to determine the
      structural validity of using the total PHQ-9 score as a clinical outcome measure.
      METHODS: PHQ-9 data for 937 persons aged 18-60years admitted to 20 level 1 trauma
      centers in the United States were included. Good model fit indicates that all
      items contribute to a single underlying trait. RESULTS: Item 2 demonstrated
      misfit to the Rasch model, and six items showed disordered response categories.
      Ordered response categories were achieved for all nine items after modifying the
      original four-point scoring system into a three-point system. Person separation
      reliability was acceptable (0.80) for discriminating between groups of patients.
      Dimensionality testing supported combining the nine items into a total score. No
      significant differential item functioning was observed for sex and age group.
      CONCLUSION: Despite some minor problems with its measurement structure, the short
      nine-item version of the PHQ seems to be an economic and valid instrument for the
      screening of depression in adults admitted to level 1 trauma centers.

PMID- 28606495
TI  - Personality traits in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and psychogenic
      movement disorder (PMD): Neuroticism and perfectionism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Psychogenic movement disorder (PMD) and psychogenic nonepileptic
      seizures (PNES) are two subtypes of conversion disorder (CD). In this case
      control study, we asked whether these subtypes varied as a function of
      personality and history of childhood abuse. METHODS: Fifty-nine patients with PMD
      from the Human Motor Control Section Clinic at the National Institutes of Health,
      43 patients with PNES from the Rhode Island Hospital Neuropsychiatry and
      Behavioral Neurology Division, and 26 healthy volunteers (HC) received a battery
      of neurological, psychiatric and psychological assessments, including the NEO
      Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire
      (CTQ), and the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ). RESULTS: One-way ANOVA
      between the three groups indicated significant differences in overall domains of
      Neuroticism (p=0.001) and Conscientiousness (p=0.009): Patients with PNES
      reported significantly greater levels of Neuroticism (p=0.002) and lower levels
      of Conscientiousness (p=0.023) than patients with PMD. Levels of Neuroticism
      remained significantly higher in both PMD and PNES than HC following correction
      for multiple comparisons. Patients with PNES reported greater levels of
      depressive and anxiety symptoms, overall psychopathology, greater history of
      sexual abuse, greater levels of alexithymia, higher levels of dissociative
      symptoms, and an earlier age at which they experienced their most distressing
      traumatic event than patients with PMD. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that
      personality traits, type of abuse and age of onset of trauma varies as a function
      of CD subtype. Patients with PNES rated greater Neuroticism and lower
      Conscientiousness than patients with PMD. These differing psychological profiles
      may inform differing treatment approaches such as psychological therapies for
      PNES and physiotherapy (with/without psychotherapy) for PMD.

PMID- 28606496
TI  - Emotional distress as a predictor of statin non-adherence among Swedish first
      time myocardial infarction patients, 2006-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emotional distress (depression and anxiety) has been known to affect
      mortality after a myocardial infarction (MI). One possible mechanism is through
      medication non-adherence. Few studies have investigated the link between statin
      adherence and emotional distress, and results are not consistent. We aimed to
      explore whether emotional distress affects adherence among first-time MI patients
      younger than 75years old receiving a prescription for the first time. METHODS: We
      identified first-MI individuals younger than 75years from the SWEDEHEART national
      quality registers discharged with a statin prescription. The main exposure was
      the anxiety/depression portion of the EQ-5D from Interview 1 (6-10weeks post-MI)
      and Interview 2 (12-14months post-MI). We calculated adherence from the Swedish
      Prescribed Drugs Register during three observation periods (OP): [1] Interview 1
      to Interview 2, [2] one year post Interview 2, and [3] two years post Interview
      1. RESULTS: Emotional distress at Interview 1 was not associated with statin
      adherence for OP1 (RR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.01). Emotional distress at Interview
      2 was associated with lower adherence one year later (RR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93,
      0.98). Emotional distress at Interview 1 was associated with a small decrease in
      adherence in the complete OP for adherence (RR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96, 0.99).
      CONCLUSION: Emotional distress was marginally, but independently, associated with
      lower adherence to statin two years after the MI. Our study suggests that
      emotional distress may be an important factor for long-term statin adherence,
      and, thus, may play a clinically important role in long-term outcome.

PMID- 28606497
TI  - Validity of a commercial wearable sleep tracker in adult insomnia disorder
      patients and good sleepers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the accuracy of the commercial Fitbit Flex device (FF)
      with polysomnography (PSG; the gold-standard method) in insomnia disorder
      patients and good sleepers. METHODS: Participants wore an FF and actigraph while
      undergoing overnight PSG. Primary outcomes were intraclass correlation
      coefficients (ICCs) of the total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE), and
      the frequency of clinically acceptable agreement between the FF in normal mode
      (FFN) and PSG. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of detecting sleep
      epochs were compared among FFN, actigraphy, and PSG. RESULTS: The ICCs of the TST
      between FFN and PSG in the insomnia (ICC=0.886) and good-sleepers (ICC=0.974)
      groups were excellent, but the ICC of SE was only fair in both groups. The TST
      and SE were overestimated for FFN by 6.5min and 1.75%, respectively, in good
      sleepers, and by 32.9min and 7.9% in the insomnia group with respect to PSG. The
      frequency of acceptable agreement of FFN and PSG was significantly lower
      (p=0.006) for the insomnia group (39.4%) than for the good-sleepers group
      (82.4%). The sensitivity and accuracy of FFN in an epoch-by-epoch comparison with
      PSG was good and comparable to those of actigraphy, but the specificity was poor
      in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The ICC of TST in the FFN-PSG comparison was
      excellent in both groups, and the frequency of agreement was high in good
      sleepers but significantly lower in insomnia patients. These limitations need to
      be considered when applying commercial sleep trackers for clinical and research
      purposes in insomnia.

PMID- 28606499
TI  - Excess costs from functional somatic syndromes in Germany - An analysis using
      entropy balancing.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to calculate disorder-specific excess costs in
      patients with functional somatic syndromes (FSS). METHODS: We compared 6-month
      direct and indirect costs in a patient group with FSS (n=273) to a control group
      of the general adult population in Germany without FSS (n=2914). Data on the
      patient group were collected between 2007 and 2009 in a randomized controlled
      trial (speciAL). Data on the control group were obtained from a telephone survey,
      representative for the general German population, conducted in 2014. Covariate
      balance between the patient group and the control group was achieved using
      entropy balancing. Excess costs were calculated by estimating generalized linear
      models and two-part models for direct costs and indirect costs. Further, we
      estimated excess costs according to the level of somatic symptom severity (SSS).
      RESULTS: FSS patients differed significantly from the control group regarding 6
      month costs of outpatient physicians (+?280) and other outpatient providers
      (+?74). According to SSS, significantly higher outpatient physician costs were
      found for mild (+?151), moderate (+?306) and severe (+?376) SSS. We also found
      significantly higher costs of other outpatient providers in patients with mild,
      moderate and severe SSS. Regarding costs of rehabilitation and hospital
      treatments, FSS patients did not differ significantly from the control group for
      any level of SSS. Indirect costs were significantly higher in patients with
      severe SSS (+?760). CONCLUSION: FSS were of major importance in the outpatient
      sector. Further, we found significantly higher indirect costs in patients with
      severe SSS.

PMID- 28606498
TI  - Long-term follow-up after cognitive behaviour therapy for chronic fatigue
      syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for
      chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Main aim was to determine whether treatment
      effects were maintained up to 10years after treatment. METHODS: Participants
      (n=583) of previously published studies on the effects of CBT for CFS were
      contacted for a long-term follow-up assessment. They completed questionnaires on
      main outcomes fatigue severity (CIS) and physical functioning (SF-36). The course
      of these outcomes since post-treatment assessment was examined using mixed model
      analyses. RESULTS: Between 21 and 125months after finishing CBT, 511 persons
      (response rate 88%) completed a follow-up assessment. At follow-up, mean fatigue
      severity was significantly increased to 37.60 (SD=12.76) and mean physical
      functioning significantly decreased to 73.16 (SD=23.56) compared to post
      treatment assessment. At follow-up still 37% of the participants had fatigue
      scores in the normal range and 70% were not impaired in physical functioning.
      CONCLUSION: Positive effects of CBT for CFS on fatigue and physical functioning
      were partly sustained at long-term follow-up. However, a subgroup of patients
      once again reported severe fatigue, and compromised physical functioning. Further
      research should elucidate the reasons for this deterioration to facilitate the
      development of treatment strategies for relapse prevention.

PMID- 28606500
TI  - Is there a specific psychiatric background or personality profile in functional
      dystonia?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify if there was a
      specific difference between patients with functional dystonia (DysF) and those
      with adult-onset, isolated idiopathic ("primary") dystonia (DysP) in terms of
      psychiatric disorders, psychological stressor, dissociation correlates, and
      personality traits. METHODS: Thirty-nine clinically definite DysF and 30 DysP
      patients matched by age, gender and dystonia distribution underwent psychiatric
      interview based on DSM-5 criteria and additional testings for global cognitive
      and psychiatric functions (Mini-Mental State Examination, Hamilton Depression and
      Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Apathy Scale, Somatoform Dissociation
      Questionnaire-20, Dissociative Experiences Scale II, and the five-dimensional
      Revised Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness Personality Inventory). RESULTS: Almost
      half of our DysF patients had prior psychiatric treatment, which was
      significantly more frequent when compared to DysP. Patients with DysF in
      comparison to DysP also had considerably more frequent preceding stress, higher
      apathy, dissociative and somatoform scores, as well as significantly higher rate
      of la belle indifference sign. This sign, stress before dystonia and prior
      psychiatric disorder independently predicted having DysF. Some of psychiatric
      disorders (i.e. substance-related disorders, schizophrenia, adjustment disorder,
      borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic
      depression, delusional disorder) were exclusively present among DysF patients.
      DysF compared to DysP patients had lower scores for both extroversion and
      openness to experiences. CONCLUSION: Our data found different pattern of
      psychiatric comorbidity and personality traits between DysF and DysP patients,
      including a higher prevalence of psychological stressor and dissociative
      correlates, indicating at least a partial role of psychological mechanisms in the
      pathogenesis of DysF.

PMID- 28606501
TI  - Childhood trauma and lifetime syncope burden among older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vasovagal syncope is governed by the autonomic nervous system and
      often precipitated by highly salient emotional situations. We hypothesized that a
      lifetime tendency towards vasovagal syncope may be precipitated by exposure to
      childhood trauma. METHODS: We examined data from the first wave of The Irish
      Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) of adults aged 50+ (n=6497) who were asked
      to report lifetime syncope frequency and any history of childhood sexual or
      physical abuse. Mediation analysis was used to assess the relative importance of
      pathways via which childhood trauma could plausibly increase risk of later life
      recurrent syncope including via depression, mid-life cardiovascular disease and
      frequent syncope in youth. RESULTS: 18.2% reported a lifetime syncopal event:
      4.0% frequent syncope in youth and 1.5% recurrent syncope in the last year. 10.9%
      reported childhood sexual or physical abuse, rising to 14.2% among those
      reporting any lifetime syncopal event, 21.0% with frequent syncope in youth and
      20.2% with recurrent syncope in later life. In fully adjusted logistic regression
      models the report of childhood sexual or physical abuse was independently
      associated with frequent syncope in youth (OR 1.85 (CI 95% 1.27-2.71); p=0.001;
      OR 2.14 (1.48-3.10); p<0.001 respectively). A history of frequent syncope in
      youth and depression partially mediated the relationship between childhood sexual
      and physical abuse and recurrent syncope in later life, while mid-life
      cardiovascular disease was less important. CONCLUSION: Childhood trauma may
      contribute to a lifelong vasovagal tendency. Early attention should be given to
      the potential precipitating and perpetuating psychosocial factors affecting
      recurrent syncope.

PMID- 28606502
TI  - The construct validity of the Major Depression Inventory: A Rasch analysis of a
      self-rating scale in primary care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the measurement properties of the ten-item Major
      Depression Inventory when used on clinical suspicion in general practice by
      performing a Rasch analysis. METHODS: General practitioners asked consecutive
      persons to respond to the web-based Major Depression Inventory on clinical
      suspicion of depression. We included 22 practices and 245 persons. Rasch analysis
      was performed using RUMM2030 software. The Rasch model fit suggests that all
      items contribute to a single underlying trait (defined as internal construct
      validity). Mokken analysis was used to test dimensionality and scalability.
      RESULTS: Our Rasch analysis showed misfit concerning the sleep and appetite items
      (items 9 and 10). The response categories were disordered for eight items. After
      modifying the original six-point to a four-point scoring system for all items, we
      achieved ordered response categories for all ten items. The person separation
      reliability was acceptable (0.82) for the initial model. Dimensionality testing
      did not support combining the ten items to create a total score. The scale
      appeared to be well targeted to this clinical sample. No significant differential
      item functioning was observed for gender, age, work status and education. The
      Rasch and Mokken analyses revealed two dimensions, but the Major Depression
      Inventory showed fit to one scale if items 9 and 10 were excluded. CONCLUSION:
      Our study indicated scalability problems in the current version of the Major
      Depression Inventory. The conducted analysis revealed better statistical fit when
      items 9 and 10 were excluded.

PMID- 28606504
TI  - The Somatic Symptom Disorder - B Criteria Scale (SSD-12): Factorial structure,
      validity and population-based norms.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Somatic Symptom Disorder - B Criteria Scale (SSD-12) assesses the
      psychological features of DSM-5 Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD). The present study
      investigates the dimensionality and psychometric properties in a general
      population sample and provides norm values. METHOD: Test dimensionality was
      evaluated via confirmatory factor analysis and nonparametric item response
      theory. Correlational analyses and logistic regression models based on related
      measures (SSS 8, PHQ-2, GAD-2, Health Care Utilization) were used to derive
      predictive validity. Age and gender specific norms were derived via quantile
      regression. RESULTS: The SSD-12 has good item characteristics and excellent
      reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.95). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed a high
      correlation between the three proposed psychological subscales interpreted as
      cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects, indicating a general factor model of
      the SSD-12 in the general population (n=2362, CFI=0.99, TLI=0.998, RMSEA=0.09,
      90% CI: 0.09-0.1). SSD-12 total sum-score was significantly associated with
      somatic symptom burden (r=0.73, p<0.001), general anxiety (r=0.63, p<0.001) and
      depressive symptoms (r=0.64, p<0.001). Patients with a higher SSD-12 symptom
      burden reported higher general physical and mental health impairment and a
      significantly higher health care use. CONCLUSION: The SSD-12 is a reliable and
      valid self-report measure of the psychological characteristics of DSM-5 Somatic
      Symptom Disorder. The provided norms enable researchers and clinicians to compare
      SSD-12 scores with reference values of a general population sample.

PMID- 28606503
TI  - Optimizing preoperative expectations leads to a shorter length of hospital stay
      in CABG patients: Further results of the randomized controlled PSY-HEART trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of a preoperative expectation-optimizing
      psychological intervention on length of stay in the hospital and time spent in
      the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery.
      METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, 124 patients prior to undergoing
      coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or CABG combined with heart valve surgery
      were randomized to either a) standard medical care alone (SMC) or an additional
      preoperative intervention, b) an additional expectation manipulation intervention
      (EXPECT) to optimize patients' expectations, or c) an additional supportive
      therapy (SUPPORT), containing the same amount of therapeutic attention but
      without a specific focus. Participants were followed-up post-operatively to
      assess their length of hospital stay and the time spent in the ICU. RESULTS:
      Patients in both psychological intervention groups spent significantly less days
      in the hospital then patients in the SMC group (M(EXPECT)=12.62,
      M(SUPPORT)=14.13, M(SMC)=17.27, p=0.028). There was a significant linear trend
      (F(1112)=7.68, p=0.009) showing that the more specific the intervention patients
      received the shorter they stayed in the hospital. The effect of the intervention
      on time spent in the ICU was only marginally significant (M(EXPECT)=103.76,
      M(SUPPORT)=103.10, M(SMC)=158.45, p=0.066). CONCLUSION: Changing patients'
      preoperative expectations via a psychological intervention leads to less days
      spent in the hospital. The psychological interventions are associated with
      positive cost-benefit ratios. Specific psychological mechanisms underlying the
      effect of our intervention remain unclear and need to be investigated further.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01407055).

PMID- 28606505
TI  - The relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and anxiety symptoms in older
      persons: Results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (25(OH)D<50nmol/L) are common in
      older persons and associated with depressive symptoms. Depression and anxiety are
      highly interrelated, but only very few studies examined the association between
      25(OH)D and anxiety. This study investigated whether 25(OH)D levels are related
      to anxiety symptoms in older persons, both cross-sectionally and over time.
      METHODS: Data from two samples of a large population-based cohort study were used
      (sample 1: N=1259, 64-88years; sample 2: N=892, 60-98years). Anxiety symptoms
      were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Anxiety subscale
      at baseline and after three years; serum 25(OH)D was measured at baseline. Cross
      sectional and longitudinal relationships between 25(OH)D and anxiety were
      examined using logistic regression analysis, taking into account relevant
      confounding variables. RESULTS: Of the participants, 48.0% (sample 1) and 26.4%
      (sample 2) had 25(OH)D levels <50nmol/L, whereas 8.1% (sample 1) and 6.5% (sample
      2) had clinically relevant anxiety symptoms. Cross-sectionally, persons with
      25(OH)D<50nmol/L experienced more anxiety symptoms than persons with
      25(OH)D>=50nmol/L (sample 1: OR=1.55; 95% CI: 1.03-2.32, p=0.035; sample 2:
      OR=1.74; 95% CI: 1.03-2.96, p=0.040). However, after adjustment for demographic
      and lifestyle variables and depressive symptoms, significant associations were no
      longer observed (p=0.25-0.72). Similarly, 25(OH)D levels were not significantly
      related to anxiety symptoms after three years in both samples. CONCLUSIONS: After
      adjustment for confounding, there was no cross-sectional or longitudinal
      association between 25(OH)D levels and anxiety symptoms, independently from
      depression, in two large samples of older persons.

PMID- 28606506
TI  - Longitudinal associations of multiple physical symptoms with recurrence of
      depressive and anxiety disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine longitudinal associations of multiple physical symptoms
      with recurrence of depressive and anxiety disorders. METHODS: Follow-up data of
      584 participants with remitted depressive or anxiety disorders were used from the
      Netherlands Study of Depressive and Anxiety disorders. Multiple physical symptoms
      were measured at baseline (T1) and two-year follow-up (T2) by the Four
      Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) somatization subscale. Recurrence of
      depressive and anxiety disorders was assessed at two-year (T2) and four-year (T4)
      follow-up with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Logistic
      Generalized Estimating Equations were used to examine associations of multiple
      physical symptoms with recurrence of depressive and anxiety disorders. Depressive
      (IDS-SR) and anxiety symptoms (BAI), and other relevant covariates were taken
      into account. RESULTS: Multiple physical symptoms were significantly associated
      with recurrence of depression (OR=1.04, 95%CI=1.00-1.08), anxiety (OR=1.07,
      95%CI=1.03-1.12), and depressive or anxiety disorders (OR=1.06, 95%CI=1.02-1.10),
      on average over time. Odds ratios did not change substantially when the IDS-SR
      mood-cognition and BAI subjective scale were included as covariates. CONCLUSION:
      The presence of multiple physical symptoms was positively related to recurrence
      of depressive and anxiety disorders, independent of depressive and anxiety
      symptoms. Knowledge of risk factors for recurrence of depressive and anxiety
      disorders, such as the presence of multiple physical symptoms, could provide
      possibilities for better targeting interventions to prevent recurrence.

PMID- 28606507
TI  - Analysis of pellet coating uniformity using a computer scanner.
AB  - A fast method for pellet coating uniformity analysis, using a commercial computer
      scanner was developed. The analysis of the individual particle coating
      thicknesses was based on using a transparent orange colored coating layer
      deposited on white pellet cores. Besides the analysis of the coating thickness
      the information of pellet size and shape was obtained as well. Particle size
      dependent coating thickness and particle size independent coating variability was
      calculated by combining the information of coating thickness and pellet size.
      Decoupling coating thickness variation sources is unique to presented method. For
      each coating experiment around 10000 pellets were analyzed, giving results with a
      high statistical confidence. Proposed method was employed for the performance
      evaluation of classical Wurster and swirl enhanced Wurster coater operated at
      different gap settings and air flow rates.

PMID- 28606508
TI  - Tumor-specific delivery of doxorubicin through conjugation of pH-responsive
      peptide for overcoming drug resistance in cancer.
AB  - The major obstacles opposed to doxorubicin (Dox) based chemotherapy are the
      induction of drug resistance, together with non-specific toxicities for healthy
      cells. In this study, we prepared a peptide-Dox conjugate aimed at offering Dox
      molecules a tumor-specific functionality and improving the therapeutic effects of
      Dox against resistant tumor cells. A slightly acidic pH-sensitive peptide (SAPSP)
      with high selectivity for cancer cells was attached to Dox to obtain SAPSP-Dox
      prodrug. The structures and properties of this prodrug were characterized,
      confirming several merits, including desirable pH-sensitive property, good serum
      stability and favorable release behavior. Cellular uptake studies demonstrated
      that SAPSP-Dox was preferably accumulated in cancer cells (Dox-sensitive MCF-7
      and Dox-resistant MCF-7/ADR), followed by displaying 26-fold less toxic toward
      noncancerous MCF-10A cells than free Dox do. The conjugated peptides enabled Dox
      to escape the efflux effect of P-glycoprotein mediated pump via endocytotic
      pathway, giving rise to remarkable cytotoxicity and apoptotic effect on MCF-7/ADR
      cells. Moreover, the superior inhibition efficacy of SAPSP-Dox in vivo was more
      evident in the both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant xenograft tumor animal
      models, which enabled Dox to primarily accumulated in tumor. The conjugates also
      demonstrated a longer half-life in plasma and a lower side effect, for example,
      reduced cardiac toxicity. Evidence of this study suggests that SAPSP-Dox has the
      potential to be a potent prodrug for treating drug resistant cancers.

PMID- 28606509
TI  - Targeting integrin-rich tumors with temoporfin-loaded vitamin-E-succinate-grafted
      chitosan oligosaccharide/d-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate
      nanoparticles to enhance photodynamic therapy efficiency.
AB  - A major challenge in cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT) is the poor tumor
      selectivity of the photosensitizer. Therefore, temoporfin (mTHPC)-loaded
      nanoparticles, based on vitamin-E-succinate-grafted chitosan oligosaccharide and
      cyclic (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-d-phenylalanine-lysine) (c[RGDfK])
      modified d-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate, were prepared
      (RGD-NPs) and were expected to enhance the accumulation of mTHPC in integrin-rich
      U87MG tumors. The RGD-NPs generated were 144.9nm in diameter and uniformly
      spherical. After irradiation, RGD-NPs effectively generated singlet oxygen, and
      displayed enhanced cellular uptake and cytotoxicity in U87MG cells. The RGD-NPs
      also penetrated deep into U87MG tumor spheroids, with a tumor-targeting ability
      and antitumor efficacy superior to those of unmodified nanoparticles in
      subcutaneous-tumor-bearing nude mice. A histopathological analysis confirmed the
      increased anticancer efficacy of RGD-NPs, with less systemic toxicity than
      unmodified nanoparticles. Therefore, the RGD-NPs developed in this study
      potentially target integrin-rich tumors and enhance the efficiency of PDT.

PMID- 28606510
TI  - In vitro inhibitory mechanisms and molecular docking of 1'-S-1'-acetoxychavicol
      acetate on human cytochrome P450 enzymes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The compound, 1'-S-1'-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA), isolated from
      the rhizomes of a Malaysian ethno-medicinal plant, Alpinia conchigera Griff.
      (Zingiberaceae), was previously shown to have potential in vivo antitumour
      activities. In the development of a new drug entity, potential interactions of
      the compound with the cytochrome P450 superfamily metabolizing enzymes need to be
      ascertain. PURPOSE: The concomitant use of therapeutic drugs may cause potential
      drug-drug interactions by decreasing or increasing plasma levels of the
      administered drugs, leading to a suboptimal clinical efficacy or a higher risk of
      toxicity. Thus, evaluating the inhibitory potential of a new chemical entity, and
      to clarify the mechanism of inhibition and kinetics in the various CYP enzymes is
      an important step to predict drug-drug interactions. STUDY DESIGN: This study was
      designed to assess the potential inhibitory effects of Alpinia conchigera Griff.
      rhizomes extract and its active constituent, ACA, on nine c-DNA expressed human
      cytochrome P450s (CYPs) enzymes using fluorescent CYP inhibition assay.
      METHODS/RESULTS: The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of Alpinia
      conchigera Griff. rhizomes extract and ACA was determined for CYP1A2, CYP2A6,
      CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5. A. conchigera extract
      only moderately inhibits on CYP3A4 (IC50 = 6.76 +/- 1.88ug/ml) whereas ACA
      moderately inhibits the activities of CYP1A2 (IC50 = 4.50 +/- 0.10uM), CYP2D6
      (IC50 = 7.50 +/- 0.17uM) and CYP3A4 (IC50 = 9.50 +/- 0.57uM) while other
      isoenzymes are weakly inhibited. In addition, mechanism-based inhibition studies
      reveal that CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 exhibited non-mechanism based inhibition whereas
      CYP2D6 showed mechanism-based inhibition. Lineweaver-Burk plots depict that ACA
      competitively inhibited both CYP1A2 and CYP3A4, with a Ki values of 2.36 +/- 0.03
      uM and 5.55 +/- 0.06uM, respectively, and mixed inhibition towards CYP2D6 with a
      Ki value of 4.50 +/- 0.08uM. Further, molecular docking studies show that ACA is
      bound to a few key amino acid residues in the active sites of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4,
      while one amino residue of CYP2D6 through predominantly Pi-Pi interactions.
      CONCLUSION: Overall, ACA may demonstrate drug-drug interactions when co
      administered with other therapeutic drugs that are metabolized by CYP1A2, CYP2D6
      or CYP3A4 enzymes. Further in vivo studies, however, are needed to evaluate the
      clinical significance of these interactions.

PMID- 28606511
TI  - The ESCOP-monographs for universities.

PMID- 28606512
TI  - Heme oxygenase-1 mediates anti-adipogenesis effect of raspberry ketone in 3T3-L1
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity is caused by excessive accumulation of body fat and is
      closely related to complex metabolic diseases. Raspberry ketone (RK), a major
      aromatic compound in red raspberry, was recently reported to possess anti-obesity
      effects. However, its mechanisms are unclear. AIM: Adipogenesis plays a critical
      role in obesity and, therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect and
      mechanisms of action of RK on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were differentiated in medium containing insulin,
      dexamethasone, and 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine. Adipocyte lipid contents were
      determined using oil-red O staining while adipogenic transcription factor and
      lipogenic protein expressions were determined using western blotting. RESULTS: RK
      (300-400uM) strongly inhibited lipid accumulation during 3T3-L1 preadipocyte
      differentiation into adipocytes. RK reduced the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein
      alpha (C/EBP-alpha), peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR
      gamma), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4)
      expressions and increased heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), Wnt10b, and beta-catenin
      expressions in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Additionally, RK inhibited lipid accumulation,
      and adipogenic transcription factor and lipogenic protein expressions were all
      decreased by inhibiting HO-1 or beta-catenin using tin protoporphyrin (SnPP) or
      beta-catenin short-interfering RNA (siRNA), respectively. Furthermore, Wnt10b and
      beta-catenin expressions were negatively regulation by SnPP. CONCLUSION: RK may
      exert anti-adipogenic effects through modulation of the HO-1/Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 28606513
TI  - Serum metabolomics analysis reveals that obvious cardioprotective effects of low
      dose Sini decoction against isoproterenol-induced myocardial injury in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sini decoction (SND) is used for cardiovascular disease over
      thousands of years in China. However, it is still lacking of dose-response
      relationship of SND in cardiovascular disease at the metabolic level. PURPOSE:
      The present study is designed to explore the cardioprotective effects of
      different dosages of SND pretreatment on the isoproterenol (ISO)-induced
      myocardial injury and elucidate the mechanism underlying this protective effect.
      METHODS: The cardioprotective effects of different dosages of SND pretreatment on
      the isoproterenol-induced myocardial injury were compared through a serum
      metabolomics approach based on ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled to
      quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). In addition, the
      cardioprotective effects were evaluated by serum biochemical analysis and
      histopathological examination of myocardial tissue. Finally, in view of the fact
      that these perturbed bile acid and phospholipid metabolisms are connected with NF
      kappaB signaling pathway, nuclear expression of NF-kappaB p65 and the activation
      of NF-kappaB were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and
      electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), respectively. RESULTS: The
      cardioprotective effect was observed in SND pretreatment groups, especially in
      low dosage SND group. The results of serum enzyme activities and histopathology
      were consistent with the above effect. Meanwhile, fifteen latent biomarker
      candidates were identified involving glucose, phospholipid, bile acid and amino
      acid metabolisms. Among them, five bile acids including ursodeoxycholic acid,
      murideoxycholic acid, muricholic acid, hyodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid, were
      for the first time identified as latent pathological biomarkers related to ISO
      induced myocardial injury. Further, different dose SND groups exerted different
      of inhibition degrees to the activation of NF-kappaB, which was obvious in the
      SND-L group. CONCLUSION: The results revealed that Sini decoction protreatment
      protects myocardium better at a low dose level and one of possible
      cardioprotective mechanisms is modulating NF-kappaB signaling pathway against
      isoproterenol-induced myocardial injury through regulating phospholipid and bile
      acid metabolisms.

PMID- 28606514
TI  - Fabrication of photo-active trans-3-(4-pyridyl)acrylic acid modified chitosan.
AB  - Photo-active trans-3-(4-pyridyl)acrylic acid (PYA) modified chitosan (CSPA) was
      synthesized with different functionalization degrees and extensively examined
      using Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic
      resonance (NMR) in order to elucidate the chemical structure of the modified
      biopolymer. The modified CSPA with various substitution degrees were casted in
      form of thin membranes and cross-linked under photo-chemical condition by
      exposure to ultra-violet light via [2pi+2pi] cycloaddition reaction of the
      incorporated PYA units. The photo-induced reaction was examined using UV-vis
      light spectra and the cross-linked hydrogel were investigated using both XRD and
      scanning electron microscope (SEM). Also, the mechanical properties of the
      hydrogel membranes were studied by measuring the variations of both tensile
      strength and elongation against corss-linking densities.

PMID- 28606515
TI  - Properties of soluble dietary fiber-polysaccharide from papaya peel obtained
      through alkaline or ultrasound-assisted alkaline extraction.
AB  - Soluble dietary fiber (SDF) from the peel of papaya (Carica papaya Linn.) was
      recovered through alkaline extraction (alkaline-extracted SDF, a-SDF) and
      ultrasound-assisted alkaline extraction (ultrasound-treated SDF, u-SDF)
      processes, and the composition, structure and properties of the extracts were
      compared. The optimal parameters for obtaining the maximum extraction yield of u
      SDF were evaluated through response surface methodology. Under optimal
      conditions, the maximum yield of u-SDF was 36.99%, and u-SDF had a lower total
      amino acid content but a higher essential amino acid (16.18%) than a-SDF. A
      monosaccharide analysis indicated that the primary sugars in a-SDF and u-SDF were
      neutral sugars and pectic saccharides, respectively. An X-ray diffraction
      analysis confirmed that u-SDF was less crystalline than a-SDF. Moreover, a
      thermal analysis indicated that u-SDF exhibited higher thermal stability. In
      addition, u-SDF exhibited higher water-holding, oil-holding and swelling
      capacities than a-SDF. These results indicate that papaya peel is a potential
      inexpensive source of natural dietary fiber and a potential functional food
      ingredient.

PMID- 28606516
TI  - On importance of impurities, potential leachables and extractables in algal
      nanocellulose for biomedical use.
AB  - Nanocellulose-based biomaterials for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications
      have been extensively explored. However, studies on different levels of
      impurities in the nanocellulose and their potential risks are lacking. This
      article is the most comprehensive to date survey of the importance and
      characterization of possible leachables and extractables in nanocellulose for
      biomedical use. In particular, the (1,3)-beta-d-glucan interference in endotoxin
      detection in algal nanocellulose was addressed. Potential lipophilic and
      hydrophilic leachables, toxic heavy metals, and microbial contaminants are also
      monitored. As a model system, nanocellulose from Cladophora sp. algae is
      investigated. The leachable (1,3)-beta-d-glucan and endotoxin, which possess
      strong immunogenic potential, from the cellulose were minimized to clinically
      insignificant levels of 4.7MUg/g and 2.5EU/g, respectively. The levels of various
      impurities in the Cladophora cellulose are acceptable for future biomedical
      applications. The presented approach could be considered as a guideline for other
      types of nanocellulose.

PMID- 28606517
TI  - Enzymatic single-step preparation and antioxidant activity of hetero
      chitooligosaccharides using non-pretreated housefly larvae powder.
AB  - A novel chitinolytic enzyme-producing bacterium Chitiniphilus sp. LZ32 was
      isolated. Non-pretreated Housefly larvae powder (HLP) was used as an adsorbent to
      purify chitinolytic enzymes. The optimal conditions for hydrolysis of HLP by
      purifying enzymes chitinolytic enzymes were investigated. HPLC and MALDI-TOF
      analyses indicated that HLP enzymatic hydrolyzates mainly contain N
      acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and hetero-chitooligosaccharides (COS) composed of
      GlcN and GlcNAc. The hetero-chitooligosaccharides (COS) had a degree of
      polymerization (DP) in the 2-6 range. The maximum production of COS was
      158.3MUg/mL after 72h of incubation. Maximum pentamer (51.2MUg/mL) and hexamer
      concentrations (36.1MUg/mL) were achieved at hydrolysis times of 72 and 84h,
      respectively. Antioxidant activities of purified COS products (PCOS) from
      different hydrolysis times were investigated in vitro. PCOS produced by
      hydrolysis times of 72h (PCOS-72) exhibited the strongest hydroxyl-scavenging
      ability and reducing power. These results indicate the potential of Chitiniphilus
      sp. LZ32 for COS production using HLP.

PMID- 28606518
TI  - On the representative elementary size concept to evaluate the compatibilisation
      of a plasticised biopolymer blend.
AB  - This study combines experimental and numerical approaches to investigate the
      microstructure and mechanical behaviour of non-miscible plasticised starch/zein
      blends. The concept of Representative Elementary Size (RES) is used to rank the
      effect of five different plasticisers (cholinium acetate, glycerol, butyl methyl
      imidazolium chloride, glycerol-choline chloride, urea-choline chloride) inducing
      microstructural and mechanical changes in the blends. Microstructural and
      mechanical RESs are derived from microscopy image analysis and Finite Element
      Modelling of elasticity behaviour of studied blends. Compared to the usual
      consideration of ultimate mechanical properties (elongation and stress at break),
      the RES-based approach allows detecting the presence of perfect or imperfect
      interface between starch and zein particles depending on the nature of
      plasticiser.

PMID- 28606519
TI  - Folate-conjugated thermosensitive O-maleoyl modified chitosan micellar
      nanoparticles for targeted delivery of erlotinib.
AB  - In the present work, new self-assembled nanoparticles (NPs) were engineered using
      biocompatible and biodegradable natural polymer, chitosan (CS). The complexation
      of CS with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) facilitated the regioselective chemical
      modification of CS hydroxyl groups with maleic anhydride, and produced
      polymerizable precursor of CS that was further grafted with N-isopropylacrylamide
      (NIPAAm) as temperature-sensitive moiety and oleic acid (OA) as hydrophobic
      monomer. After removal of SDS complex, the free amino groups were functionalized
      with folic acid (FA) to form folate-(PNIPAAm-co-OA)-g-CS micellar NPs. The NPs
      were loaded with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib (ETB), which was carried
      out above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of micelles solution.
      The structure, size distribution, zeta potential, thermal stability, elemental
      composition, morphology and LCST of the synthesized micelles were characterized.
      The cellular uptake and cell cytotoxicity analyses revealed that the developed
      smart folate-(PNIPAAm-co-OA)-g-CS micellar NPs could be used for effective cancer
      therapy as an injectable tumor targeting nanocarrier.

PMID- 28606520
TI  - Alginate/chitosan polyelectrolyte complexes: A comparative study of the influence
      of the drying step on physicochemical properties.
AB  - Polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) based on Alginate and Chitosan were prepared for
      biomedical application. These two biopolymers are valuable resources for
      biomedical applications. In the present work, three PECs materials were produced
      using three different drying techniques: hot air drying, lyophilization and
      supercritical CO2 drying. The choice of the drying technique allowed producing
      different type of structures, with different porosity scale. In order to evaluate
      their potential as intra-abdominal wound dressings, swelling ability in various
      media, enzymatic resistance and drug release behavior of the resulting materials
      was studied. It was shown that the increase of the porosity improved the swelling
      ability, without altering the resistance of the materials, whereas drug release
      studies revealed that the majority of the drug was released within the first 24h
      whatever the drying process.

PMID- 28606521
TI  - Enzyme-resistant dextrins from potato starch for potential application in the
      beverage industry.
AB  - The objective of this study was to produce soluble enzyme-resistant dextrins by
      microwave heating of potato starch acidified with small amounts of hydrochloric
      and citric acids and to characterize their properties. Twenty five samples were
      initially made and their solubility was determined. Three samples with the
      highest water solubility were selected for physico-chemical (dextrose equivalent,
      molecular weight distribution, pasting characteristics, retrogradation tendency),
      total dietary fiber (TDF) analysis, and stability tests. TDF content averaged
      25%. Enzyme-resistant dextrins practically did not paste, even at 20% samples
      concentration, and were characterized by low retrogradation tendency. The
      stability of the samples, expressed as a percentage increase of initial and final
      reducing sugar content, at low pH and during heating at low pH averaged 10% and
      15% of the initial value, respectively. The results indicate that microwave
      heating could be an effective and efficient method of producing highly-soluble,
      low-viscous, and enzyme-resistant potato starch dextrins.

PMID- 28606522
TI  - Functionality and nutritional aspects of microcrystalline cellulose in food.
AB  - Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is among the most commonly used cellulose
      derivatives in the food industry. In order assess the recent advances of MCC in
      food product development and its associated nutraceutical implications, google
      scholar and database of journals subscribed by Jiangnan university, China were
      used to source literature. Recently published research articles that reported
      physicochemical properties of MCC for food application or potential application
      in food and nutraceutical functions were reviewed and major findings outlined.
      The selected literature reviewed demonstrated that the material has been
      extensively explored as a functional ingredient in food including meat products,
      emulsions, beverages, dairy products, bakery, confectionary and filling. The
      carbohydrate polymer also has many promising applications in functional and
      nutraceutical food industries. Though widely used as control for many dietary
      fiber investigations, MCC has been shown to provide positive effects on
      gastrointestinal physiology, and hypolipidemic effects, influencing the
      expression of enzymes involved in lipid metabolism. These techno-functional and
      nutraceutical properties of MCC are influenced by the physicochemical of the
      material, which are defined by the raw material source and processing conditions.
      Apart from these functional properties, this review also highlighted limitations
      and gaps regarding the application of material in food and nutritional realms.
      Functional, Nutritional and health claims of MCC.

PMID- 28606523
TI  - Chitosan-dextran sulfate hydrogels as a potential carrier for probiotics.
AB  - Physical and chemical (crosslinked with genipin) hydrogels based on chitosan and
      dextran sulfate were developed and characterized as novel bio-materials suitable
      for probiotic encapsulation. The swelling of the hydrogels was dependent on the
      composition and weakly influenced by the pH of the media. The morphology analysis
      supports the swelling data showing distinct changes in microstructure depending
      on the composition. The viability and culturability tests showed approx. 3.6 log
      CFU/mL decrease of cells (L. acidophilus as model) incorporated into chemical
      hydrogels when compared to the number of viable native cells. However, the
      live/dead viability assay evidenced that a considerable amount of viable cells
      were still entrapped in the hydrogel network and therefore the viability is most
      likely underestimated. Overall, the developed systems are robust and their
      structure, rheology and swelling properties can be tuned by changing the blend
      ratio, thus constituting appealing bio-matrices for cell encapsulation.

PMID- 28606524
TI  - Supramolecular structure of methyl cellulose and lambda- and kappa-carrageenan in
      water: SAXS study using the string-of-beads model.
AB  - A detailed data analysis utilizing the string-of-beads model was performed on
      experimental small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) curves in a targeted structural
      study of three, very important, industrial polysaccharides. The results
      demonstrate the quality of performance for this model on three polymers with
      quite different thermal structural behavior. Furthermore, they show the
      advantages of the model used by way of excellent fits in the ranges where the
      classic approach to the small-angle scattering data interpretation fails and an
      additional 3D visualization of the model's molecular conformations and
      anticipated polysaccharide supramolecular structure. The importance of this study
      is twofold: firstly, the methodology used and, secondly, the structural details
      of important biopolymers that are widely applicable in practice.

PMID- 28606526
TI  - Cross-linked graphene oxide sheets via modified extracted cellulose with high
      metal adsorption.
AB  - We have studied the extraction of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from different types of
      aqueous solution by novel cross-linked graphene oxide sheets by modified
      extracted cellulose. The novel sorbent cellulose was extracted from the mangrove
      trees (Avicennia marina) and it was then grafted with acrylamide and immobilized
      by ethylenediamine for cross-linking process. The cross-linked graphene oxide
      sheets were identified by means of FT-IR, SEM and XRD. The adsorption studies of
      synthesized sorbent was optimized. Langmuir and Freundlich models were used for
      establish sorption equilibria. The cross-linked graphene oxide sheets showed
      maximum adsorption capacity 46.39 and 186.48mgg-1 for Cu(II) and Pb(II),
      respectively. The potential applications of this sorbent was applied to remove
      Cu(II) and Pb(II) metal ions from hard water samples by using a multi-stage micro
      column technique.

PMID- 28606525
TI  - Inhaled hyaluronic acid microparticles extended pulmonary retention and
      suppressed systemic exposure of a short-acting bronchodilator.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using hyaluronic acid
      (HA), a biomucoadhesive carbohydrate polymer to prolong the pulmonary retention
      and reduce the systemic exposure of inhaled medicine. Salbutamol sulphate (SAS),
      a model bronchodilator, was co-spray dried with HA into inhalable microparticles,
      which were subsequently characterized as spherical shape with wrinkled surface.
      The fine particle fraction of the microparticles tested by using the Next
      Generation Impactor was over 30% without the aid of any carrier, and the in vitro
      release of SAS lasted for 20h. Compared to spray-dried plain SAS powders, the SAS
      loaded HA microparticles possessed enhanced biomucoadhesive property in vitro and
      had much longer pulmonary retention and reduced systemic exposure in vivo. By
      incorporation, the pulmonary retention time of SAS was prolonged from 2h to 8h
      while the maximum concentration in plasma was reduced significantly from
      2267.7ng/mL to 566.38ng/mL. These results suggested that inhaled HA
      microparticles could be a promising formulation strategy to enhance the
      therapeutic efficacy of inhaled medicines.

PMID- 28606527
TI  - Tin(IV) cross-linked chitosan for the removal of As(III).
AB  - Chitosan, a potent amino polysaccharide, has been cross-linked with Sn(IV)
      chloride. The material was thoroughly characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM, EDX,
      TGA-DTA and BET studies. This Sn(IV) chloride cross-linked chitosan (Sn-Ch) has
      been exploited for As(III) adsorption. Various parameters like pH, amount of
      adsorbent, adsorption time etc have been optimized to achieve maximum adsorption
      efficiency. Under optimum conditions of pH 7.0+/-0.2, adsorption time of 45min
      and adsorbent dose 200mg, Sn-Ch was found to have adsorption capacity of
      17.10mg/g at 298K. Adsorption of As(III) by Sn-Ch follow non-linear Freundlich
      isotherm model. The equilibrium studies showed that the experimental data fits
      well with non-linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Adsorption process was
      found to be exothermic and spontaneous. Column study proves the applicability of
      Sn-Ch to the larger sample volumes. It was found to be recyclable material and
      could be regenerated and reused multiple times adding a greener dimension.

PMID- 28606529
TI  - Controlled synthesis, immobilization and chiral recognition of carboxylic acid
      functionalized cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate).
AB  - Traditional cellulose-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) are prepared by
      physically coating cellulose derivatives onto substrates and only compatible with
      a very limited range of solvents as the mobile phase. Therefore, chemical
      immobilization of cellulose derivatives onto silica gel has been efficiently
      applied to improve the solvent compatibility of cellulose-based CSPs. Here we
      developed a novel approach to homogeneously modifying cellulose tris(3,5
      dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC). A series of carboxylic acid functionalized
      CDMPCs (CC-Xs) with controlled amounts and randomly distributed carboxylic acid
      groups was synthesized. CC-Xs were effectively immobilized onto amine-modified
      silica gel to afford immobilized CSPs. Compared to coated-type CSPs, immobilized
      CSPs significantly improved the solvent compatibility while maintaining similar
      chiral recognition abilities, but the introduction of excessive functional groups
      led to a deteriorated performance for columns. Moreover, a commercial drug,
      atenolol, was also sufficiently separated on the immobilized CSPs.

PMID- 28606528
TI  - Molecular structures and properties of starches of Australian wild rice.
AB  - Australian wild rices have significant genetic differences from domesticated
      rices, which might provide rices with different starch molecular structure and
      thus different functional properties. Molecular structure, gelatinization
      properties, and pasting behaviours of starch of three Australian wild rices
      (Oryza australiensis, taxa A (O. rufipogon like) and taxa B (O. meridionalis
      like)) were determined and compared to domesticated indica and japonica rice.
      These had higher amylose content, more shorter amylose chains and fewer short
      amylopectin chains, resulted in a high gelatinization temperature in these wild
      rices. Compared to domesticated japonica rice, taxa A had a lower pasting
      viscosity; taxa B had a similar pasting viscosity but lower final viscosity. The
      significantly different starch molecular structure from that of normal
      domesticated rices, and concomitantly different properties, suggest advantageous
      uses in products such as rice crackers or rice pudding, and a source of
      nutritionally-desirable slowly digestible starch.

PMID- 28606530
TI  - Conversion of cellulose into reducing sugar by solution plasma process (SPP).
AB  - In the present study, cellulose colloids are treated with the solution plasma
      process in order to prepare reducing sugar. The investigated parameters are
      treatment time, type of electrodes, and applied pulse frequency of the bipolar
      supply. The reducing sugar was characterized by DNS method and the%yield of total
      reducing sugar (TRS) was then calculated. The crystal structure and chemical
      structure of plasma-treated cellulose was measured by XRD and FT-IR,
      respectively. The%yield of TRS was greatly enhanced by solution plasma treatment
      using Fe electrode. SEM and TEM micrograph indicated that Fe electrode yield the
      incidental Fe nanoparticles, hypothesized to catalyze the cellulose degradation
      during SPP treatment. The crystal structure of cellulose was destroyed. Solution
      plasma treatment of cellulose using Fe electrode at the high applied frequency
      pulse provided the highest%TRS.

PMID- 28606531
TI  - All-natural bio-plastics using starch-betaglucan composites.
AB  - Grain polysaccharides represent potential valuable raw materials for next
      generation advanced and environmentally friendly plastics. Thermoplastic starch
      (TPS) is processed using conventional plastic technology, such as casting,
      extrusion, and molding. However, to adapt the starch to specific functionalities
      chemical modifications or blending with synthetic polymers, such as
      polycaprolactone are required (e.g. Mater-Bi). As an alternative, all-natural and
      compostable bio-plastics can be produced by blending starch with other
      polysaccharides. In this study, we used a maize starch (ST) and an oat beta
      glucan (BG) composite system to produce bio-plastic prototype films. To optimize
      performing conditions, we investigated the full range of ST:BG ratios for the
      casting (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100 BG). The plasticizer used was
      glycerol. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), using TEMPO (2,2,6,6
      tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) as a spin probe, showed that the composite films
      with high BG content had a flexible chemical environment. They showed decreased
      brittleness and improved cohesiveness with high stress and strain values at the
      break. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction displayed a decrease in crystallinity at high
      BG content. Our data show that the blending of starch with other natural
      polysaccharides is a noteworthy path to improve the functionality of all-natural
      polysaccharide bio-plastics systems.

PMID- 28606532
TI  - Spray-dried chitosan/acid/NaCl microparticles enhance saltiness perception.
AB  - The composition, physicochemical properties and salinity of spray-dried
      chitosan/acid/NaCl microparticles were tested to ensure a low-sodium and high
      salinity salty agent. The spray-dried chitosan/acid/NaCl microparticles were
      hollow and had a favourable hygroscopicity, and increased NaCl content and
      decreased organic acid content. Their size of the microparticles was 15.4-32.0MUm
      and increased with NaCl concentration. The microparticles of acetic and lactic
      acid groups had a NaCl crystal size of 1-2 and 1-4MUm, respectively. The NaCl
      crystals of acetic, lactic and citric acid group microparticles were distributed
      on the microparticle matrices, mostly on the microparticle surface and mainly on
      the inner walls of the microparticles walls, respectively. The acetic and lactic
      acid group microparticles were relatively smaller than general salt, with NaCl
      crystals distributed on the particle surfaces. Consequently, they were perceived
      as saltier than general salt and could potentially be regarded as a low-sodium
      salt for surface-salted foods.

PMID- 28606534
TI  - Ternary polysaccharide complexes: Colloidal drug delivery systems stabilized in
      physiological media.
AB  - Chitosan-hyaluronan (HYA) polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) were designed to
      maintain their colloidal stabilities in physiological ionic strength and pH, via
      a new concept of ternary complexes. This strategy relied on the formation of a
      binary PEC between chitosan and a strong polyacid, dextran sulphate (DS) or
      heparin (HEP), and further functionalization with HYA. The major parameter
      leading to stabilized colloids was a high ratio of the degrees of polymerization
      of chitosan versus the strong polyacid. The process afforded either positive or
      negative particles when HYA was used in default or in excess (vs. chitosan) for
      the functionalization of the binary complexes. The most stable formulations were
      loaded with an antiretroviral drug tenofovir (TF), and could be surface
      functionalized with targeting IgAs. In vitro, the cationic TF loaded ternary
      complexes exhibited an inhibition of infection of PBMCs by the HIV-1 virus,
      superior to the free drug.

PMID- 28606533
TI  - Study of a new biodegradable hernia patch to repair abdominal wall defect in
      rats.
AB  - A novel biodegradable chitin hernia patch was prepared by acetylation of chitosan
      fabric in our study. Physicochemical properties, cell compatibility and
      biodegradability of the chitin patch were quantified. Histopathological study of
      the functional experiment showed that this newly designed hernia patch promoted
      collagen deposition and neovascularization by significantly promoting the
      secretion of FGF1 and TGF-beta1 in the early postoperative (P<0.01). Chitin patch
      caused less inflammation by inhibiting excessive expression of IL-6 and TNF-alpha
      when compared to the polypropylene mesh (P<0.01). Acceptable fibrosis was
      consistent with the results of immunohistochemistry studies. The density of FGF1
      and TGF-beta1 positive cells in the chitin patch group at 7 d was reduced to a
      lower level at 15 d (P<0.01). With regeneration of the defect abdominal wall,
      chitin patch degraded gradually, avoiding foreign body response and chronic
      complications. Our studies demonstrated that the newly designed chitin patch
      showed good promise for the hernia treatment.

PMID- 28606535
TI  - Durable flame retardant finishing of cotton fabrics with halogen-free
      organophosphonate by UV photoinitiated thiol-ene click chemistry.
AB  - Cotton fabrics are treated with a synthetic non-halogenated organophosphorus
      flame retardant by UV photoinitiated thiol-ene click chemistry. Thiol reactive
      precursors on cotton surface were prepared by 3-Mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane.
      The flame retardant property has been tested with different concentrations of
      flame retardant treatment (i.e., wt 2%, 5%, and 8%) by limited oxygen index (LOI)
      and vertical burning tests and maintained after 30 washing cycles, which was
      improved with concentration increases. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the
      treatment greatly enhanced the char forming ability of cellulose and the highest
      residue was left as much as 48.1% char in nitrogen and 19.8% char in air after
      heating to 600 degrees C, which obviously more than those of untreated fabric.
      Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) revealed that the weave structure and fiber
      shape in all treated fabrics were preserved. These results demonstrate that UV
      photoinitiated thiol-ene click chemistry is a facile method for imparting cotton
      fabric with durable flame-retardant properties.

PMID- 28606536
TI  - Preparation and characterization of poly(maleic acid)-grafted cross-linked
      chitosan microspheres for Cd(II) adsorption.
AB  - A novel adsorbent, composed of poly(maleic acid)-grafted cross-linked chitosan
      microspheres (PMACCMs), was prepared via cross-linking with glutaraldehyde and
      modification by grafting maleic acid. FTIR, zeta potential, elemental analysis,
      13C NMR, DTG, laser particle size analysis, SEM, and BET methods were applied to
      characterize PMACCMs, exhibiting a successful fabrication, good thermostability,
      and well-defined surface microstructure beneficial to Cd(II) adsorption. The
      effects of pH, contact time, and initial concentration on Cd(II) adsorption were
      also investigated, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 39.2mgg-1, indicating
      a great improvement as compared with that (14.5mgg-1) of cross-linked chitosan
      microspheres. The experimental data were well fitted with pseudo-second-order
      kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models. Five-cycle reusability tests demonstrated
      PMACCMs could be repeatedly used with a small adsorption capacity loss (<15%).
      Additionally, the adsorption mechanism was proposed. All the results confirmed
      that PMACCMs, which presented outstanding adsorption capability and reusability,
      could be a good candidate for wastewater purification.

PMID- 28606537
TI  - Enhanced mechanical properties of hydrothermal carbamated cellulose nanocomposite
      film reinforced with graphene oxide.
AB  - Cellulose carbamate (CC) was synthesized via hydrothermal process and mixed with
      graphene oxide (GO) to form a homogeneous cellulose matrix nanocomposite films.
      The properties of CC/GO nanocomposite films fabricated using simple solution
      mixing method with different GO loadings were studied. Transmission electron
      microscope analysis showed the exfoliation of self-synthesized GO nanosheets
      within the CC matrix. X-ray diffraction results confirmed the crystalline
      structure of CC/GO films as the CC/GO mass ratio increased from 100/0 to 100/4.
      The mechanical properties of CC/GO film were significantly improved as compared
      to neat CC film. From thermogravimetric analysis result, the introduction of GO
      enhanced the thermal stability and carbon yields. The 3D homogeneous porous
      structures of the CC/GO films were observed under Field emission scanning
      electron microscope. These improvements in nanocomposite film properties could be
      confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy due to the strong and good
      interactions between CC and GO.

PMID- 28606538
TI  - Antibacterial activity and mechanisms of depolymerized fucoidans isolated from
      Laminaria japonica.
AB  - Fucoidans, sulfated polysaccharides in brown algae, were depolymerized though
      high-pressure hydrolysis, and their antibacterial activity, structural
      properties, and antibacterial mechanisms were investigated in this work. The
      fucoidans from Laminaria japonica show no antibacterial activity before
      depolymerization; however, their depolymerized products can effectively (p<0.05)
      inhibit the proliferation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus
      (S. aureus). The structure-activity study demonstrated that lower molecular
      weight and stronger polyanionic property can promote the antibacterial activity.
      And the depolymerized fucoidans exhibited better antibacterial activity against
      E. coli than against S. aureus. The results also indicated that the bactericidal
      pathway of depolymerized fucoidans should be through destruction of the
      cytomembranes and the target molecules are the membrane proteins, which can
      result in changed membrane fluidity and/or activated autophagocytosis. Therefore,
      the depolymerized fucoidans possess potential appliance values in partly or
      totally replacing antibiotics in our daily life.

PMID- 28606539
TI  - Polysaccharides with immunomodulating activity from roots of Gentiana
      crassicaulis.
AB  - Two polysaccharides, GCP-I-I and GCP-II-I, were obtained from 100 degrees C water
      extracts of Gentiana crassicaulis roots by DEAE anion exchange chromatography and
      gel filtration. The results from methanolysis, methylation, FT-IR and NMR,
      indicated that these two fractions are typical pectic polysaccharides, with HG
      and RG-I regions and AG-I/AG-II side chains, and some of the galacturonic acid
      units of fraction GCP-I-I were methyl esterified. Fractions GCP-I-I and GCP-II-I,
      both exhibited potent complement fixation, and fraction GCP-I-I was more potent
      than positive control BPII. The higher complement fixation activity obtained in
      fraction GCP-I-I may be due to the higher Mw and/or higher amount of AG-II
      present in fraction GCP-I-I than fraction GCP-II-I. The polysaccharides from G.
      crassicaulis could be used as a potential natural immunomodulator.

PMID- 28606540
TI  - Dielectric behaviour of montmorillonite/cyanoethylated cellulose nanocomposites.
AB  - A dielectric nanocomposite based oncyanoethylatedcellulose (CRS) and MMT nanoclay
      was successfully prepared with different weight percentages (5%, 10% and 15%) of
      MMT. MMT nanoplatets obtained via sonication of MMT nanoclay in acetone for a
      prolonged period was used in the preparation of CRS-MMT nanocomposites. CRS-MMT
      thin films on SiO2/Si wafers are used to form metal-insulator-metal (MIM) type
      capacitors. At 1kHz CRS-MMT nanocomposites exhibited high dielectric constants
      (epsilonr) of 71, 55 and 42 with low leakage current densities (10-6-10-7A/cm2)
      for nanocomposites with 5%, 10% and 15% weight of MMT respectively, higher than
      values of pure CRS (21), Na-MMT(10). Reduction of epsilonr with higher MMT
      loading can be attributed to a network formation as evidenced via strong bonding
      interactions between CRS and MMT leading to a lower molecular mobility. The
      leakage is studied using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) indicates
      that leakage pathways are associated with MMT nanoplatelets embedded in the CRS
      polymer matrix.

PMID- 28606541
TI  - Pectin-conjugated silica microcapsules as dual-responsive carriers for increasing
      the stability and antimicrobial efficacy of kasugamycin.
AB  - Kasugamycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic originally isolated from Streptomyces
      kasugaensis, which has been widely used for the management of plant diseases.
      However, photo-thermal instability and low efficiency limit its application.
      Therefore, it is an urgent task to prevent unwanted loss of kasugamycin and
      ensure maximum bioactivity at target site. In this work, a novel formulation of
      kasugamycin that responds to different biological stimuli produced by pests was
      prepared using silica microcapsules crosslinked with pectin via special disulfide
      bonds. The results demonstrated that the silica-SS-pectin microcapsules had a
      high loading efficiency (20% w/w) and could effectively enhance the thermal and
      light stability of kasugamycin. The microcapsules displayed excellent pectinase
      and glutathione dual-responsive properties and the release kinetics investigated
      by Riger-Peppas model suggested combination of various release mechanisms.
      Compared with kasugamycin wettable powder, the microcapsules possessed sustained
      and improved antimicrobial efficacy against Erwinia carotovora. Thus, the dual
      responsive microcapsules potentially have agricultural application as a
      controlled release system.

PMID- 28606542
TI  - Hydroxyapatite crystallization in shrimp cephalothorax wastes during subcritical
      water treatment for chitin extraction.
AB  - The extraction of calcareous chitin from shrimp cephalothorax was successfully
      achieved using a subcritical water treatment to attain a deproteinization up to
      96%. The treatments also increased the crystalline domain size in the alpha
      chitin fibers. An experimental design of Taguchi allowed the optimization of
      experiments. The macroelements identified in all samples were Ca, P, S, K, Cl and
      Al, whereas Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br and Sr were also detected as
      microelements. The assigned crystalline phases by XRD were alpha-chitin, calcite,
      HAP and traces of quartz. The presence of these phases was corroborated by ATR
      FTIR and SEM-EDS analyses. The highest content of alpha-chitin (82.2wt%) was
      obtained for the 0.17 chitin:dH2O (wt/wt) ratio for 30min treatment at 260
      degrees C. Noteworthy, this treatment promotes the crystallization of both
      minerals as microcrystals of calcite and nanocrystals of hydroxyapatite with
      needle and flake shapes as well as intermediate morphologies.

PMID- 28606543
TI  - Structural investigations on arabinogalactan-proteins from a lycophyte and
      different monilophytes (ferns) in the evolutionary context.
AB  - Today, understanding of cell wall evolution is incomplete due to limited
      knowledge of cell wall structure of non-flowering plants. Besides
      polysaccharides, proteoglycans like arabinogalactan-proteins are important
      constituents of the cell wall of most if not all seed plants. This article
      provides the first detailed characterization of AGPs from a lycophyte and
      different ferns, which are the closest living relatives to seed plants. The
      amount of protein in fern AGPs (6-12%) was in a range comparable to most seed
      plant AGPs. However, it was higher for Lycopodium AGP (17%). The carbohydrate
      moieties of investigated AGPs showed typical features known for type-II
      arabinogalactans from seed plants and showed cross-reaction with polyclonal
      antibodies raised against Echinacea AGP. On the other hand, unusual structural
      components like high quantities of pyranosidic arabinose residues for Lycopodium
      AGP and 3-O-methyl-rhamnose for fern AGPs have been detected.

PMID- 28606545
TI  - Wheat starch carbamate: Production, molecular characterization, and film forming
      properties.
AB  - Wheat starch carbamates of different degrees of substitution were produced in
      laboratory experiments and for the first time their film forming performance were
      investigated. The carbamation reaction between urea and starch was investigated
      using a factorial design. Long reaction time, 2h, and high urea content, 10 and
      25%, resulted in a high degree of substitution, 0.07 and 0.15, respectively.
      These starch carbamates were assumed to be cross-linked and showed best film
      forming properties resulting in continuous and firm films. Furthermore, a high
      degree of carbamate substitution favored a decrease in glass transition
      temperature (Tg) in cast films. The addition of acid as a catalyst for
      carbamation of starch produced inconsistent results and mainly lead to
      degradation of starch molecules that caused brittle films. FTIR and 13C NMR
      analyses confirmed the covalent bonding between urea and starch in starch
      carbamates. In a final step, production of starch carbamates was successfully
      scaled up. A potential industrial use of these starches is as oxygen barrier in
      multilayer food packaging.

PMID- 28606544
TI  - Mining marine shell wastes for polyelectrolyte chitosan anti-biofoulants:
      Fabrication of high-performance economic and ecofriendly anti-biofouling
      coatings.
AB  - Banning organotins as antifouling biocides in 2003 was the starting point for
      many researchers to search for novel economic and environmentally-friendly anti
      fouling biocides. In our present contribution, we have successfully
      functionalized a natural biopolymer, chitosan (CS), isolated from marine wastes
      with polyelectrolyte brushes akin to ionic liquids. These antifouling biopolymers
      anchoring polyelectrolyte brushes were in vitro assessed for their ability to
      eradicate or inhibit the Staphylococcal/Escherichia biofilms. Moreover, these
      anti-fouling candidates were incorporated into the matrix of commercial paint to
      formulate antifouling coatings which were subjected to a field static immersion
      test in the Mediterranean Sea in comparison to a standard antifoulant, Diuron(r).
      The obtained results revealed the prevention of biofilms along with a promising
      anti-fouling performance. So the new polyelectrolyte chitosan architectures may
      offer promising anti-foulants additives for biofouling coating applications.

PMID- 28606546
TI  - Advanced multi-targeted composite biomaterial dressing for pain and infection
      control in chronic leg ulcers.
AB  - This study aimed to develop advanced biomaterial polysaccharide based dressings
      to manage pain associated with infected chronic leg ulcers in older adults.
      Composite carrageenan (CARR) and hyaluronic acid (HA) dressings loaded with
      lidocaine (LID) and AgNPs were formulated as freeze-dried wafers and functionally
      characterized for porous microstructure (morphology), mechanical strength,
      moisture handling properties, swelling, adhesion and LID release. Antimicrobial
      activity of AgNPs was evaluated (turbidity assay) against Escherichia coli,
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus whilst cell viability studies
      (MTT) was performed on normal adult human primary epidermal keratinocyte cells.
      The wafers were soft, flexible and elegant in appearance. HA affected the wafer
      structure by increasing the resistance to compression but still possessed a
      balance between toughness and flexibility to withstand normal stresses and
      prevent damage to newly formed skin tissue respectively. Water uptake was
      influenced by HA, whilst equilibrium water content and LID release were similar
      for all the formulations, showing controlled release up to 6h. AgNPs loaded
      CARR/HA wafers were effective in inhibiting the growth of both Gram positive and
      Gram negative bacteria. MTT assay showed evidence that the AgNPs/LID loaded
      wafers did not interfere with cell viability and growth. CARR/HA wafers seem to
      be a promising system to simultaneously deliver LID and AgNPs, directly to
      infected chronic leg ulcers.

PMID- 28606547
TI  - Self-assembled supermolecular hydrogel based on hydroxyethyl cellulose:
      Formation, in vitro release and bacteriostasis application.
AB  - Self-assembly of cellulose-based hydrogel is a new supermolecular architecture
      with potential for biomedical applications. In this study, a novel cellulose
      based, supermolecular self-assembled hydrogel (gel-(beta)CDP-HEC) was studied,
      which was based on the host-guest interaction between hydrophobic lauryl side
      chains grafting on hydroxyethyl cellulose (HECC12) and the cavities in poly(beta
      cyclodextrin) (beta-CDP). The critical concentrations of HECC12 and beta-CDP
      should be both fixed at 30mgmL-1 by the results of dynamic viscosity, rheological
      property and swelling ratio. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR),
      1HNuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Gel
      Permeation Chromatography (GPC) studies were used to characterize the synthesized
      samples. Furthermore, the encapsulation capacity of gel-(beta)CDP-HEC was
      determined as 21.89wt% by phenolphthalein probe method. The loading and in vitro
      release of Eugenol (EG) were investigated. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) was
      used to characterize the thermal stability of the EG-loaded gel-(beta)CDP-HEC
      (gel-(beta)CDP-HEC/EG). The bacteriostasis characteristics against Escherichia
      coli had been proved by agar cup-plate diffusion method. The results demonstrated
      that gel-(beta)CDP-HEC had a potential advantage as efficient bacteriostasis
      materials for biomedical applications.

PMID- 28606548
TI  - Mechanical properties of waste paper/jute fabric reinforced polyester resin
      matrix hybrid composites.
AB  - Hybrid composites were prepared with jute fabric and un-shredded newspaper in
      polyester resin matrix. The experiment was designed 1:2 weights ratio jute and
      unshredded newspaper to have 42 (w/w)% fibre content hybrid composites and two
      different sequences jute/paper/jute and paper/jute/paper of waste newspaper and
      jute fabric arrangement. Reinforcing material is characterized by chemically, X
      ray diffraction methods, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and tensile
      testing. The tensile, flexural and interlaminar shear strength and fracture
      surface morphology of composites were evaluated and compared. It was found that
      tensile and flexural properties of the hybrid composite are higher than that of
      pure paper-based composite but less than pure woven jute composite. The
      hybridization effect of woven jute fabric and layering pattern effect on
      mechanical properties of newspaper/woven jute fabric hybrid composites were
      studied. The test results of composites were analyzed by one-way ANOVA
      (alpha=0.05), it showed significant differences among the groups.

PMID- 28606549
TI  - Molecular weight and helix conformation determine intestinal anti-inflammatory
      effects of exopolysaccharide from Schizophyllum commune.
AB  - Intestinal anti-inflammatory activities of exopolysaccharide from S. commune were
      assessed using dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice model. The
      changes of molecular weight (MW), atomic force microscope morphology, X-ray
      diffraction, particle size distribution, and viscosity were recorded after
      sonication treatment. The results indicated that the triple helical structure of
      exopolysaccharide was dissociated into single helical structure and random coiled
      structure by ultrasonication via breaking of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen
      bonds. The medium (936kDa) and high MW (1437kDa) exopolysaccharide had the
      mixture of triple helix and single helix conformation, while the low MW (197kDa)
      exopolysaccharide exhibit random coiled conformation. The intestinal anti
      inflammatory activity study showed that oral administration of medium and high MW
      (1437kDa) exopolysaccharide significantly recovered DSS-induced colitis in
      inflamed tissues and reduced inflammation induced infiltration of macrophages.
      These results showed that medium (936kDa) and high MW (1437kDa) exopolysaccharide
      had intestinal anti-inflammatory activity. The intestinal anti-inflammatory
      activity of exopolysaccharide was related to helical structure and molecular
      weight.

PMID- 28606550
TI  - Chitosan-mediated synthesis of flowery-CuO, and its antibacterial and catalytic
      properties.
AB  - In the current investigation, CuO with a flower-like morphology has been
      successfully synthesized in situ in a chitosan medium (0.0015gmL-1) from copper
      nitrate (Cu(NO3)2.3H2O) and ammonia solution via a facile microwave-induced
      method. The as-prepared CuO was characterized by SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR and
      TGA. The antibacterial activity of the flower-CuO against Escherichia coli was
      examined by analyzing colony forming units, and it was proved that the flower-CuO
      was able to kill >99% bacteria. Further, the flower-CuO exhibited excellent
      catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the
      presence of NaBH4. The reaction kinetics followed a pseudo-first-order rate law
      with a rate constant of 0.183min-1. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first time that copper oxide with the flower-like morphology has been synthesized
      by using a chitosan solution.

PMID- 28606551
TI  - Carboxymethylation of polysaccharide from Morchella angusticepes Peck enhances
      its cholesterol-lowering activity in rats.
AB  - The chemically carboxymethylated polysaccharide (CPMEP), which is derived from
      the purified polysaccharide from Morchella angusticepes Peck (PMEP), was
      prepared. The degree of substitution of CPMEP was 0.461. Fourier transform
      infrared spectra analysis and 13C, 1H, and DEPT135 degrees  NMR spectra indicated
      C6 position was partially substituted by CH2COOH. Moreover, serum total
      cholesterol of hypercholesterolemic rats treated with the high dose of PMEP and
      CPMEP was 1.54mmol/L and 1.29mmol/L compared with that of rats fed with a 2%
      cholesterol diet (1.74mmol/L), respectively, indicating CPMEP had a stronger
      cholesterol-lowering activity than PMEP. CPMEP had a trend in reducing liver
      total cholesterol while increasing the excretion of total fecal and intestinal
      bile acids, which were probably mediated by down-regulation of hepatic 3-hydroxy
      3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase while up-regulation of cholesterol-7alpha
      hydroxylase. It was therefore concluded that carboxymethylation of PMEP could
      enhance its cholesterol-lowering ability at least in rats.

PMID- 28606552
TI  - Self-assembly of nitrogen-doped carbon dots anchored on bacterial cellulose and
      their application in iron ion detection.
AB  - Nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal
      method using citric acid (CA) and ethanediamine (EDA) as precursors. A green and
      simple fluorescence biosensor was obtained by biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose
      (BC)/N-CDs. As-prepared N-CDs with rich functional groups exhibited a blue
      emission under the excitation wavelength of 350nm. Biosynthesis of BC/N-CDs was
      analyzed by Digital photos, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Transmission
      Electron Microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that N-CDs were successfully
      anchored on BC. As-prepared BC/N-CDs were applied to the detection of Fe3+ in
      aqueous solution. Spectroscopic data revealed that, fluorescence materials
      prepared presented an sensitive response to Fe3+ in acceptable range of 0.5
      600MUM and ultralow detection limit of 84nM as a fluorescence sensor.
      Furthermore, the results also indicate that a novel BC/N-CDs composite has great
      potential for the detection of Fe3+ ions based on membrane fluorescence
      materials.

PMID- 28606553
TI  - Differences in Dietary Glycemic Load and Hormones in New York City Adults with No
      and Moderate/Severe Acne.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) may be implicated in acne
      pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study examined differences between
      GI/GL and biological factors associated with acne among adults with and without
      moderate/severe acne. Secondary objectives included examining differences between
      food-aggravated acne beliefs and acne-specific quality of life among adults with
      and without moderate/severe acne. DESIGN: As part of a cross-sectional study,
      participants completed a 5-day food record; blood draw to measure biological
      factors associated with acne (ie, glucose, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1,
      insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and sex hormone-binding globulin
      concentrations); body composition assessment; and questionnaire to evaluate food
      aggravated acne beliefs and acne-specific quality of life. Food records were
      analyzed using Nutrition Data Services for Research. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-four
      participants (no acne, n=32; moderate/severe acne, n=32) from New York City, NY,
      were included in this study. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Independent sample t tests and
      Mann-Whitney tests examined differences in anthropometric measurements, dietary
      intakes, biological factors associated with acne, insulin resistance, and acne
      specific quality of life between acne groups. A chi2 test for independence
      assessed differences in food-aggravated acne beliefs between acne groups.
      RESULTS: Participants with moderate/severe acne consumed greater total
      carbohydrate (P=0.003), available carbohydrate (P<0.001), percent energy from
      carbohydrate (P<0.001), and GL (P<0.001) compared to participants without acne.
      Participants with moderate/severe acne had greater insulin (P=0.002) and insulin
      like growth factor-1 (P=0.009) concentrations, greater insulin resistance
      (P=0.001), and lower sex hormone-binding globulin (P=0.015) concentrations
      compared to participants without acne. Although there were no differences between
      groups, 61% of participants reported food-influenced acne. Participants with
      moderate/severe acne reported a lower quality of life compared to participants
      without acne (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results from this cross-sectional study
      suggest a relationship between dietary carbohydrate, including GL, and acne.
      Future research is necessary to determine the effect of medical nutrition therapy
      on biological factors associated with acne and acne severity.

PMID- 28606555
TI  - A Methodological Review of Confidence Measurement Scales for Dietitians Working
      with Individuals.
AB  - Confidence is frequently used to assess practitioner effectiveness, and its
      evaluation requires valid and reliable domain-specific tools. However, the
      quality of existing measures is unknown. This review identifies studies measuring
      dietitians' confidence in working with individuals; assesses psychometric
      (measurement) qualities of relevant tools; and identifies areas for future
      research. Seven electronic databases, the internet, and reference lists were
      searched to identify the development or use of relevant confidence measurement
      scales. A quality assessment of psychometric properties was conducted using
      guidelines developed by Terwee and colleagues. Of the 15 measures reviewed, 4
      were subject to factor analysis. Overall, content validity was strong. However,
      many measures rated poorly due to lack of factor analysis, inadequate sampling,
      or poor reporting. Of the dietetics-specific instruments, the Dietetic Confidence
      Scale and Nutrition Counselling Self-Efficacy Scale received the best ratings.
      The General Self-Efficacy Subscale also rated highly due to validation with the
      general population. This article highlights the need for dietitians to
      incorporate evidence-based methods into practice evaluation and instrument
      development. Dietitians need an awareness of the terminology and key criteria
      used to evaluate instrument quality to effectively collaborate with statisticians
      and scale development experts, and critically evaluate the quality of existing
      measures. Future scale development and reporting must incorporate psychometric
      evaluation, such as factor analysis, which should be used to explore and/or
      confirm scale dimensionality. There is broad scope for future methodological
      research with existing and new measures for nutrition and dietetics
      practitioners.

PMID- 28606554
TI  - Examining the Association between Intervention-Related Changes in Diet, Physical
      Activity, and Weight as Moderated by the Food and Physical Activity Environments
      among Rural, Southern Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have been conducted in rural areas assessing the
      influence of community-level environmental factors on residents' success
      improving lifestyle behaviors. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to examine whether 6-month
      changes in diet, physical activity, and weight were moderated by the food and
      physical activity environment in a rural adult population receiving an
      intervention designed to improve diet and physical activity. DESIGN: We examined
      associations between self-reported and objectively measured changes in diet,
      physical activity, and weight, and perceived and objectively measured food and
      physical activity environments. Participants were followed for 6 months.
      PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Participants were enrolled in the Heart Healthy Lenoir
      Project, a lifestyle intervention study conducted in Lenoir County, located in
      rural southeastern North Carolina. Sample sizes ranged from 132 to 249, depending
      on the availability of the data. INTERVENTION: Participants received four
      counseling sessions that focused on healthy eating (adapted Mediterranean diet
      pattern) and increasing physical activity. POTENTIAL MODERATING FACTORS: Density
      of and distance to food and physical activity venues, modified food environment
      index, Walk Score, crime, and perceived nutrition and physical activity
      neighborhood barriers were the potential mediating factors. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Diet quality, physical activity, and weight loss were the outcomes measured.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Statistical analyses included correlation and linear
      regression and controlling for potential confounders (baseline values of the
      dependent variables, age, race, education, and sex). RESULTS: In adjusted
      analysis, there was an inverse association between weight change and the food
      environment, suggesting that participants who lived in a less-healthy food
      environment lost more weight during the 6-month intervention period (P=0.01).
      Also, there was a positive association between self-reported physical activity
      and distance to private gyms (P=0.04) and an inverse association between private
      gym density and pedometer-measured steps (P=0.03), indicating that those who
      lived farther from gyms and in areas with lower density of gyms had greater
      increases in physical activity and steps, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to
      our hypotheses, results indicated that those living in less-favorable food and
      physical activity environments had greater improvements in diet, physical
      activity, and weight, compared to those living in more favorable environments.
      Additional research should be undertaken to address these paradoxical findings
      and, if confirmed, to better understand them.

PMID- 28606556
TI  - Is the atrophic phenotype of tibiofemoral osteoarthritis associated with faster
      progression of disease? The MOST study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the associations of atrophic tibiofemoral osteoarthritis
      (OA) with progression of radiographic joint space narrowing (JSN) and magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI)-defined progression of cartilage damage. DESIGN:
      Participants of the Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) Study with available
      radiographic and MRI assessments at baseline and 30 months were included. The
      atrophic OA phenotype was defined as Osteoarthritis Research Society
      International (OARSI) grades 1 or 2 for JSN and grade 0 for osteophytes. Based on
      MRI, atrophic OA was defined as tibiofemoral (TF) cartilage damage grades >=3 in
      at least 2 of 10 subregions with absent or tiny osteophytes in all TF subregions.
      Progression of JSN and cartilage loss on MRI, was defined as (1) no, (2) slow,
      and (3) fast progression. Co-variance and logistic regression with generalized
      estimated equations were performed to assess the association of atrophic knee OA
      with any progression, compared to non-atrophic OA knees. RESULTS: A total of 476
      knees from 432 participants were included. There were 50 (10.5%) knees with
      atrophic OA using the radiographic definition, and 16 (3.4%) knees with atrophic
      OA using MRI definition. Non-atrophic OA knees more commonly exhibited fast
      progression of JSN and cartilage damage. Logistic regression showed that the
      atrophic phenotype of knee OA was associated with a decreased likelihood of
      progression of JSN and cartilage loss. CONCLUSION: In this sample, the atrophic
      phenotype of knee OA was associated with a decreased likelihood of progression of
      JSN and cartilage loss compared to the non-atrophic knee OA phenotype.

PMID- 28606557
TI  - Is superolateral Hoffa's fat pad hyperintensity a marker of local patellofemoral
      joint disease? - The MOST study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the relation of superolateral Hoffa's fat pad (SHFP)
      hyperintensity to cartilage damage and bone marrow lesions (BMLs) in the
      patellofemoral joint (PFJ) and tibiofemoral joint (TFJ). METHODS: We used data
      from the 60 and 84-month study visits from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST)
      study. SHFP hyperintensity and Hoffa-synovitis were graded from 0 to 3. Cartilage
      damage and BMLs were scored in the PFJ and TFJ. Structural damage was defined as:
      any cartilage damage, full-thickness cartilage damage and any BML. Worsening
      structural damage was defined as any increase in cartilage and BML scores.
      Logistic regression was used to determine the relation of SHFP hyperintensity and
      Hoffa-synovitis (>0) to structural damage, adjusting for age, sex and body mass
      index (BMI). RESULTS: 1,094 knees were included in the study. Compared to knees
      without SHFP hyperintensity, those with SHFP hyperintensity had 1.2 (95%
      Confidence Interval (CI), 1.1-1.4), 1.7 (1.3-2.3) and 1.6 (1.3-1.9) times the
      prevalence of any cartilage damage, full-thickness cartilage damage, and BMLs in
      the lateral PFJ respectively, and 1.1 (1.0-1.2), 1.3 (1.0-1.8), and 1.2 (1.0-1.4)
      times the prevalence of any cartilage damage, full-thickness cartilage damage,
      and BMLs in the medial PFJ. SHFP hyperintensity was associated with worsening
      BMLs in the medial PFJ (RR: 1.4 (1.0-1.9)). In general, there was no relation
      between SHFP hyperintensity and TFJ outcomes. Hoffa-synovitis was associated both
      cross-sectionally and longitudinally with structural damage, regardless of
      definition, in all compartments. CONCLUSION: SHFP hyperintensity may be a local
      marker of PFJ structural damage.

PMID- 28606559
TI  - Adiponectin at physiological level glucose-independently enhances inhibitory
      postsynaptic current onto NPY neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus.
AB  - Adiponectin regulates glucose and lipid metabolism, acting against
      atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome. Accumulating evidences suggest that
      adiponectin acts on the brain including the arcuate nucleus of hypothalamus
      (ARC). The ARC contains orexigenic neuropeptide Y (NPY)/agouti related peptide
      (AgRP) neurons and anorexigenic proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons, the first
      order neurons for feeding regulation. We recently reported that
      intracerebroventricular injection of adiponectin at low glucose level suppressed
      food intake, while at elevated glucose level it promoted food intake, exhibiting
      glucose-dependent reciprocal effects. As an underlying neuronal mechanism,
      physiological level of adiponectin at low glucose activated ARC POMC neurons and
      at high glucose inactivated them. Now, whether physiological level of adiponectin
      also affects NPY/AgRP neurons is essential for fully understanding the
      adiponectin action, but it remains to be clarified. We here report that a
      physiological dose of adiponectin, in both high and low glucose conditions,
      attenuated action potential firing without altering resting membrane potential in
      ARC NPY neurons. This adiponectin effect was abolished by GABAA receptor
      blockade. Adiponectin enhanced amplitude but not frequency of inhibitory
      postsynaptic current (IPSC) onto NPY neurons. These results demonstrate that
      adiponectin enhances IPSC onto NPY neurons to attenuate action potential firing
      in NPY neurons in a glucose-independent manner, being contrasted to its glucose
      dependent effect on POMC neurons.

PMID- 28606558
TI  - 3D histopathological grading of osteochondral tissue using contrast-enhanced
      micro-computed tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Histopathological grading of osteochondral (OC) tissue is widely used
      in osteoarthritis (OA) research, and it is relatively common in post-surgery in
      vitro diagnostics. However, relying on thin tissue section, this approach
      includes a number of limitations, such as: (1) destructiveness, (2) sample
      processing artefacts, (3) 2D section does not represent spatial 3D structure and
      composition of the tissue, and (4) the final outcome is subjective. To overcome
      these limitations, we recently developed a contrast-enhanced MUCT (CEMUCT)
      imaging technique to visualize the collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM) of
      articular cartilage (AC). In the present study, we demonstrate that
      histopathological scoring of OC tissue from CEMUCT is feasible. Moreover, we
      establish a new, semi-quantitative OA MUCT grading system for OC tissue. RESULTS:
      Pathological features were clearly visualized in AC and subchondral bone (SB)
      with MUCT and verified with histology, as demonstrated with image atlases.
      Comparison of histopathological grades (OARSI or severity (0-3)) across the
      characterization approaches, CEMUCT and histology, excellent (0.92, 95% CI =
      [0.84, 0.96], n = 30) or fair (0.50, 95% CI = [0.16, 0.74], n = 27) intra-class
      correlations (ICC), respectively. A new MUCT grading system was successfully
      established which achieved an excellent cross-method (MUCT vs histology) reader
      to-reader intra-class correlation (0.78, 95% CI = [0.58, 0.89], n = 27).
      CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that histopathological information relevant to OA
      can reliably be obtained from CEMUCT images. This new grading system could be
      used as a reference for 3D imaging and analysis techniques intended for
      volumetric evaluation of OA pathology in research and clinical applications.

PMID- 28606560
TI  - Post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer: Characteristics and predictive factors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: A high quality colonoscopy is key in preventing colorectal
      cancer, but the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) exists. The aims of the study
      were to investigate the incidence, characteristics and predictive factors of post
      colonoscopy colorectal cancer (PCCRC). MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective and
      prospective observational study was designed. A population undergoing colonoscopy
      between 1-01-1997 and 31-12-2014 was included. We analysed demographic variables,
      characteristics of the diagnostic colonoscopy of CRC, of the previous ones and
      the lesions found in them. To compare the PCCRC group versus the CRC group
      without previous colonoscopy, the Student's t-test and multiple logistic
      regression were used to determine predictive factors of PCCRC (SPSS(r) 15). The
      statistical significance was P<.05. RESULTS: A total of 56,984 colonoscopies,
      1,977 CRC and 132 patients (mean 70.8 years old, 56.8% male) with at least one
      colonoscopy in 10 years before were registered (PCCRC). Seventy and a half
      percent of the previous colonoscopies were completed and 63.7% had an adequate
      bowel preparation. Predictive factors of PCCRC were personal history of polyps
      (OR 35.01; 95% CI 11.1-110.8; P<.001), previous CRC (OR 176.64; 95% CI 51.5
      606.1); P<.001), family history of CRC (OR 3.14; 95% CI 1.5-6.4); P=.002) and
      proximal CRC (OR 3.15; 95% CI 2.1-4.9; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: PCCRC rate in 10
      years was 6.7%. An adequate follow-up and a high-quality colonoscopy could
      prevent PCCRC, especially in patients with risk factors.

PMID- 28606562
TI  - The Efficacy and Safety of 3 Types of Interventions for Stroke Prevention in
      Patients With Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases: A Network Meta
      analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to compare the relative efficacy and safety
      of different types of interventions for stroke prevention in patients with
      cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. METHODS: This network meta-analysis
      (NMA) was conducted with a random effects model of Bayesian framework using Stata
      version 12.0. Odds ratios (ORs) and their credible intervals (CrIs) were applied
      for the efficacy and safety evaluation of various medical interventions,
      including aspirin, dipyridamole, ticlopidine, warfarin, and apixaban. In
      addition, the ranking of probability of every clinical outcome was estimated by
      comparing the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. FINDINGS: Compared with
      dabigatran, both edoxaban and aspirin + warfarin exhibited a higher rate of all
      cause stroke (OR, 2.84 [95% CrI, 1.17-6.97]; OR, 3.42 [95% CrI, 1.20-9.84]). With
      respect to intracranial hemorrhage, aspirin + clopidogrel yielded worse outcomes
      than 7 treatments, including placebo, apixaban, aspirin, aspirin + dipyridamole,
      cilostazol, clopidogrel, and dabigatran (OR, 2.21 [95% CrI, 1.45-3.40]; OR, 2.11
      [95% CrI, 1.05-4.17]; OR, 1.53 [95% CrI, 1.11-2.15]; OR, 1.78 [95% CrI, 1.01
      3.03]; OR, 4.17 [95% CrI, 1.37-14.28]; OR, 1.85 [95% CrI, 1.22-2.86]; and OR,
      2.56 [95% CrI, 1.37-4.76]). In terms of ischemic stroke, dabigatran provided
      better efficacy than placebo, aspirin, and aspirin + dipyridamole (OR, 0.36 [95%
      CrI, 0.18-0.72]; OR, 0.43 [95% CrI, 0.21-0.84]; and OR, 0.41 [95% CrI, 0.17
      0.94]). As for mortality, dabigatran resulted in a lower mortality compared with
      aspirin, aspirin + clopidogrel, edoxaban, and warfarin (OR, 0.48 [95% CrI, 0.23
      0.97]; OR, 0.40 [95% CrI, 0.17-0.92]; OR, 0.27 [95% CrI, 0.10-0.72]; and OR, 0.52
      [95% CrI, 0.28-0.92]). IMPLICATIONS: There are still some limitations to our NMA
      research. For instance, the lack of direct evidence for some therapies resulted
      in inconsistencies, particularly for warfarin compared with placebo and
      clopidogrel under different end points. Moreover, the included randomized
      controlled trials for patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
      are relatively broad, involving atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, and
      large-artery atherosclerosis stroke. Although further research is needed,
      dabigatran is highly recommended based on the present NAM for the treatment of
      cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases due to the drug's efficacy and
      safety.

PMID- 28606561
TI  - STAT5 deletion in macrophages alters ductal elongation and branching during
      mammary gland development.
AB  - Macrophages are required for proper mammary gland development and maintaining
      tissue homeostasis. However, the mechanisms by which macrophages regulate this
      process remain unclear. Here, we identify STAT5 as an important regulator of
      macrophage function in the developing mammary gland. Analysis of mammary glands
      from mice with STAT5-deficient macrophages demonstrates delayed ductal
      elongation, enhanced ductal branching and increased epithelial proliferation.
      Further analysis reveals that STAT5 deletion in macrophages leads to enhanced
      expression of proliferative factors such as Cyp19a1/aromatase and IL-6.
      Mechanistic studies demonstrate that STAT5 binds directly to the Cyp19a1 promoter
      in macrophages to suppress gene expression and that loss of STAT5 results in
      enhanced stromal expression of aromatase. Finally, we demonstrate that STAT5
      deletion in macrophages cooperates with oncogenic initiation in mammary
      epithelium to accelerate the formation of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive
      hyperplasias. These studies establish the importance of STAT5 in macrophages
      during ductal morphogenesis in the mammary gland and demonstrate that altering
      STAT5 function in macrophages can affect the development of tissue-specific
      disease.

PMID- 28606563
TI  - Participants with pharmacologically impaired taste function seek out more
      intense, higher calorie stimuli.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Research suggests a weaker sense of taste in people with obesity, with
      the assumption that a debilitated taste response increases the desire for more
      intensely tasting stimuli to compensate for decreased taste input. However,
      empirical testing of this supposition remains largely absent. METHOD: In a
      randomized, repeated measures design, 51 healthy subjects were treated with
      varying concentrations of a tea containing Gymnema sylvestre (GS), to temporarily
      and selectively diminish sweet taste perception, or a control tea. Following
      treatment in the four testing sessions, taste intensity ratings for various sweet
      stimuli were captured on the generalized Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS), liking
      for real foods assessed on the hedonic gLMS, and optimal level of sweetness
      quantified via an ad-libitum mixing task. Data were analyzed with mixed models
      assessing both treatment condition and each subject's resultant sweet response
      with various taste-related outcomes, controlling for covariates. RESULTS: GS
      treatment diminished sweet intensity perception (p < 0.001), reduced liking for
      sweet foods (p < 0.001), and increased the desired sucrose content of these foods
      (p < 0.001). Regression modeling revealed a 1% reduction in sweet taste response
      was associated with a 0.40 g/L increase in optimal concentration of sucrose (p <
      0.001). DISCUSSION: Our results show that an attenuation in the perceived taste
      intensity of sweeteners correlates with shifted preference and altered hedonic
      response to select sweet foods. This suggests that those with a diminished sense
      of taste may desire more intense stimuli to attain a satisfactory level of
      reward, potentially influencing eating habits to compensate for a lower gustatory
      input.

PMID- 28606564
TI  - No influence of carbonation on glycemic response, gastric emptying, and satiety
      of sweetened drinks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of carbonation of
      sweetened beverages on glycemic response, gastric emptying, and satiety. METHODS:
      After an overnight fast, 15 healthy individuals (6 women, 9 men) consumed a 500
      mL beverage containing 50 g glucose that was noncarbonated (NC), low carbonated
      (LC), or high carbonated (HC) at a standardized rate of consumption (100 mL/min).
      Blood glucose was measured at baseline and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min
      after beverage consumption. Antral cross-sectional area was measured using
      ultrasound at baseline, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, and 120 min; for the
      estimation of gastric volume and gastric emptying rate. Satiety was assessed
      using electronic visual analog scales at the same time points as the blood
      glucose measurement. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in glycemic
      response among the test beverages. Higher carbonation levels significantly
      increased antral cross-sectional area during the first 20 min after beverage
      consumption (P < 0.010) but did not translate into significant differences in
      gastric volume or gastric emptying rates. There was no significant effect of
      carbonation on satiety, but the area under the curve for thirst was significantly
      lower for HC compared with NC (P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: The carbonation of a
      simple glucose solution did not increase glycemic response nor alter gastric
      emptying and subjective feelings of satiety (with the exception of thirst). The
      present study suggests that carbonation does not alter glycemic response.

PMID- 28606565
TI  - Milk basic protein increases ghrelin secretion and bone mineral density in
      rodents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Milk basic protein (MBP), a mixture of proteins isolated from bovine
      milk, is known to increase bone formation. Ghrelin, a stomach-derived peptide
      hormone, also has been reported to stimulate osteoblast formation. The aim of
      this study was to determine whether MBP-induced bone formation is mediated via
      ghrelin. METHODS: MBP was chronically administered to mice in their drinking
      water for 3 wk, and body weight, water intake, and bone mineral density were
      measured. Additionally, plasma bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, tartrate
      resistant acid phosphatase isoform 5b, and ghrelin concentrations were determined
      by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To examine the direct effect of MBP on
      ghrelin secretion, gastric tissue culture and primary mucosal cells were
      stimulated by MBP. RESULTS: The in vivo study of young, growing mice showed that
      chronic MBP intake for 3 wk increased the plasma ghrelin concentration and bone
      mineral density of the hind limb tibia. In vitro studies using minced rat gastric
      mucosa tissues and primary murine isolated gastric mucosal cells revealed that
      MBP stimulated ghrelin release in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, MBP-induced
      ghrelin secretion was partly inhibited by adrenergic blockers. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest a novel mechanism by which MBP directly acts on ghrelin
      secretion. Additionally, the elevated ghrelin level induced by MBP may act as a
      mediator for bone formation.

PMID- 28606566
TI  - Quantitative proteomic analysis reveals the role of tea polyphenol EGCG in egg
      whites in response to vanadium stress.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Tea polyphenol (TP) epigallo-catechin-3-gallate (EGCG) can alleviate
      vanadium (V) stress in laying hens; however, our understanding of the molecular
      mechanisms and proteomic changes occurring in the egg albumen remains limited.
      The aim of the present study is to better understand the response in layers under
      V challenge and mechanism of EGCG detoxification. METHOD: We divided 120 layers
      into four treatments in the absence and presence of 130 mg/kg EGCG, supplemented
      with either 0 or 5 mg/kg V. RESULTS: The Haugh unit (HU) was decreased and the
      apoptosis rate of magnum and V residual in egg was increased by the effect of
      vanadium and EGCG alleviated the detrimental effect in HU and apoptosis rate
      induced by vanadium (interactive effect, P < 0.05). In all, 379 proteins were
      identified and 28 differential proteins were observed with and without EGCG and
      V. Eight proteins, which respond to stress stimuli (five immune response proteins
      [F1P3B2, P21760, A2N881, F2Z4L6, and P02789], and one cell redox homeostasis
      protein [Q5F472] were presented in the albumen of laying hens with EGCG
      administration. Proteins involved in heavy metal binding (E1C5J4) and cell
      proliferation (F1NX05 and E1BT2) also were changed in EGCG-treated albumen.
      CONCLUSION: The detoxification mechanism of EGCG under V stress may act through
      regulating metal-binding mediation, cell proliferation, and immune function
      related proteins.

PMID- 28606567
TI  - Yeast-derived beta-1,3/1,6 glucan, upper respiratory tract infection and innate
      immunity in older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to test whether yeast-derived beta-1,3/1,6
      glucan can prevent the occurrence or reduce the severity of upper respiratory
      tract infection (URTI) and modulate innate immune responses during winter months
      in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: This was a double-blind placebo
      controlled trial of community-dwelling adults ages 50 to 70 y randomized to once
      daily beta-1,3/1,6 glucan (Wellmune 250 mg/d; n = 50) or identical placebo
      capsule (n = 50) over 90 d during winter. URTI episodes were medically confirmed.
      Symptom severity was recorded via self-reported daily Wisconsin Upper Respiratory
      Tract Infection Score 21. Blood and saliva samples were collected at days 0, 45,
      and 90 for measurements of innate immune parameters. RESULTS: Forty-nine
      participants completed the trial in each group. Supplementation was well
      tolerated. Forty-five URTIs were confirmed: 28 in the placebo group and 17 in the
      Wellmune group (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-1.26; P = 0.149).
      There was a strong trend for Wellmune to decrease the number of symptom days (P =
      0.067). Symptom severity did not differ significantly between groups. Compared
      with the placebo group, lipopolysaccharide-stimulated blood from participants in
      the Wellmune group showed an increase in interferon-gamma concentration from
      baseline at day 45 (P = 0.016) and smaller decreases in monokine induced by
      interferon-gamma concentration from baseline at days 45 and 90 (P = 0.032 and
      0.046, respectively). No difference was seen in serum or nonstimulated blood
      cytokines and chemokines or in salivary immunoglobulin A. CONCLUSION: Daily oral
      beta-1,3/1,6 glucan may protect against URTIs and reduce the duration of URTI
      symptoms in older individuals once infected. This may be linked to effects on
      innate immune function. Larger studies are needed to confirm the benefits of beta
      1,3/1,6 glucan on URTIs in this older population.

PMID- 28606568
TI  - Energy expenditure in the immediate postpartum period: Indirect calorimetry
      versus predictive equations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the resting energy expenditure
      (REE) of postpartum women by indirect calorimetry and to provide the most
      appropriate predictive equations to estimate it. METHODS: This was a cross
      sectional study with 79 women in the maternity unit of a Brazilian city hospital.
      Information regarding age, income, gestational age, and breastfeeding was
      collected. Height, weight, and body composition were measured. We measured REE by
      indirect calorimetry and predicted REE using eight equations. Analysis of
      comparison, correlation, agreement, and accuracy was performed. RESULTS: The
      median of measured REE was 1224 kcal (95% confidence interval [CI], 1157.4-1330),
      and the predicted REE ranged from 1213.8 (95% CI, 1207.3-1261.9) to 1553.1 kcal
      (95% CI, 1430.8-1488.5). No difference was found in REE between mothers who
      breastfed and those who did not (P = 0.994); however, there was a positive
      correlation with lean mass (r = 0.336; P = 0.003) and weight (r = 0.237; P =
      0.036). The best predictor of REE was the Harris Benedict equation, with lower
      difference (P = 0.876), better median of adequacy (99.8%), and better interclass
      correlation coefficient (0.289). The Schofield equation was next, with greater
      percentage of accuracy (33.3%) and lower opposite agreement (7.6%). CONCLUSIONS:
      All predictive equations showed low agreement and accuracy, and, in most cases,
      the results were overestimated. These findings indicate the need for continued
      studies to propose more suitable methods to determine the energy requirements for
      this population.

PMID- 28606569
TI  - Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry metabolic maps to resting energy expenditure
      estimation, and body size dependence in Brazilian young men.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The model most suitable for estimating resting energy expenditure
      (REE) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) metabolic maps is not known;
      moreover, the applicability in individuals with different body sizes also is
      uncertain. The aim of this study was to test the accuracy of REE estimation from
      models of DXA metabolic maps with four, five, and six tissue-organ components in
      young men, stratified by body size. METHODS: We studied 52 young men between the
      ages of 18 and 29 y. Participants were clustered to small (SW; n = 32) and large
      (LW; n = 20) weight, and small (SWH; n = 25) and large (LWH; n = 27) weight
      height. REE was measured by indirect calorimetry (REEm), and predicted from DXA
      metabolic maps with four (REEc1), five (REEc2) and six (REEc3) tissue-organ
      components. RESULTS: REEc1, REEc2, and REEc3 explained 54% (P < 0.001), 56% (P <
      0.001), and 58% (P < 0.001) of REEm variance in all participants, respectively.
      However, REEc2 showed mean difference between REEm (P < 0.001), and REEc3 showed
      trends in estimating the REE (P < 0.05). In contrast, REEc1 showed limits of
      agreement (95%) of -248.3 to 285.8 kcal/d, 18.7 +/- 136.3 kcal/d of bias, and no
      trends in the Bland-Altman analysis. The relationship between all predicted
      models and measured REE decreased in LW and LWH. CONCLUSIONS: REEc1 can be
      considered the best accurate model of REE estimation in Brazilian young men,
      providing the REE and metabolically active tissue-organ of four components.
      Caution should be exercised with the use of DXA metabolic maps in populations
      with greater weight and greater weight-height.

PMID- 28606570
TI  - Comparing nutritional requirements, provision and intakes among patients
      prescribed therapeutic diets in hospital: An observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Nutrition is an important part of recovery for hospitalized patients.
      The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional adequacy of meals provided to
      and consumed by patients prescribed a therapeutic diet. METHODS: Patients (N =
      110) prescribed a therapeutic diet (texture-modified, low-fiber, oral fluid, or
      food allergy or intolerance diets) for medical or nutritional reasons were
      recruited from six wards of a tertiary hospital. Complete (24-h) dietary
      provisions and intakes were directly observed and analyzed for energy (kJ) and
      protein (g) content. A chart audit gathered demographic, clinical, and nutrition
      related information to calculate each patient's disease-specific estimated energy
      and protein requirements. Provisions and intake were considered adequate if they
      met >=75% of the patient's estimated requirements. RESULTS: Mean energy and
      protein provided to patients (5844 +/- 2319 kJ, 53 +/- 30 g) were significantly
      lower than their mean estimated requirements (8786 +/- 1641 kJ, 86 +/- 18 g).
      Consequently, mean nutrition intake (4088 +/- 2423 kJ, 37 +/- 28 g) were
      significantly lower than estimated requirements. Only 37% (41) of patients were
      provided with and 18% (20) consumed adequate nutrition to meet their estimated
      requirements. No therapeutic diet provided adequate food to meet the energy and
      protein requirements of all recipients. Patients on oral fluid diets had the
      highest estimated requirements (9497 +/- 1455 kJ, 93 +/- 16 g) and the lowest
      nutrient provision (3497 +/- 1388 kJ, 25 +/- 19 g) and intake (2156 +/- 1394 kJ,
      14 +/- 14 g). CONCLUSION: Hospitalized patients prescribed therapeutic diets
      (particularly fluid-only diets) are at risk for malnutrition. Further research is
      required to determine the most effective strategies to improve nutritional
      provision and intake among patients prescribed therapeutic diets.

PMID- 28606571
TI  - Effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on arthritic pain: A systematic
      review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pain is a significant problem in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is
      associated with prostaglandins derived from the omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty
      acid (PUFA) arachidonic acid. The omega-3 PUFAs eicosapentaenoic acid and
      docosahexaenoic acid have been shown to reduce inflammation, with some studies
      showing clinical improvements in RA. The aim of this systematic review was to
      investigate the effect of omega-3 PUFAs on arthritic pain. METHOD: A systematic
      literature review of omega-3 PUFAs and pain associated with RA was performed up
      to December 2015. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effect of
      omega-3 PUFAs (>2 g/d) on patient or physician assessment of pain, or assessment
      by both patient and physician, were included. The Cochrane Collaboration's tool
      for assessing risk for bias was employed. Data for outcomes of interest were
      extracted and collated for interpretation. RESULTS: Eighteen RCTs published
      between 1985 and 2013 involving 1143 patients were included. Dosage of omega-3
      PUFAs used was 2.1 to 9.1 g/d, with study durations of 12 to 52 wk. Ten studies
      supported the hypothesis that there is a reduction in patient or physician
      assessment of pain associated with RA after intake of omega-3 PUFAs. Eight
      studies found no statistically significant effect of omega-3 PUFAs on arthritic
      pain. CONCLUSIONS: omega-3 PUFAs may have a therapeutic role in decreasing pain
      associated with RA, with doses of 3 to 6 g/d appearing to have a greater effect.
      Due to the limitations identified in the RCTs included in this review, more
      research is needed to investigate omega-3 PUFAs in larger populations and over
      extended periods of time.

PMID- 28606572
TI  - Effect of dietary fatty acid and micronutrient intake/energy ratio on serum
      diamine oxidase activity in healthy women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Serum diamine oxidase (DAO) activity varies to a greater extent in
      women than in men. DAO activity during the luteal phase was higher than that
      during the follicular phase in healthy women. Recent reports have indicated that
      duodenal lipid infusion increased DAO activity in the intestinal lymph in rats.
      The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of dietary nutrient intake on
      serum DAO activity in healthy women. METHODS: Thirty-four healthy Japanese women
      were recruited. Food surveys were performed using dietary records for 3 d during
      both the follicular and luteal phases. Nutrient intake was calculated and
      expressed as the energy intake ratio. The correlation between DAO activity and
      nutrient intake was analyzed. RESULTS: Serum DAO activity in both phases was
      positively correlated with intake of long-chain fatty acids, saturated fatty
      acids, and monounsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05). Intake of phosphorus, calcium,
      zinc, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B12 during the luteal phase was positively
      correlated with serum DAO activity (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In healthy women,
      serum DAO activity was influenced by dietary fatty acid and micronutrient intake.

PMID- 28606573
TI  - A modeling study of beverage substitution and obesity outcomes among Australian
      adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional
      associations among sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, its substitution
      with beverage alternatives, and obesity outcomes in an Australian population.
      METHODS: We used data from 9341 adults ages >=19 y from the 2011-2012 Australian
      National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Multivariate linear regression
      with adjustment for covariates was used to examine the associations between SSB
      consumption and body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Substitution
      modeling was used to simulate the effect of replacing SSB with water, coffee/tea,
      fruit juice, and milk. RESULTS: SSB intake (100 g/d) was associated with higher
      BMI (beta = 0.06 kg/m2; P = 0.001) and WC (beta = 0.19 cm; P < 0.001). A linear
      trend with BMI and WC also was seen when SSB intake was examined as categories of
      servings per day (Ptrend <= 0.001). Replacing SSB with water, coffee/tea, or milk
      was inversely associated with BMI (beta = -0.07 to -0.09 kg/m2; P < 0.001) and WC
      (beta = -0.25 to -0.28 cm; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present
      study suggested that SSB intake is associated with obesity and that coffee/tea,
      water, and milk may be good alternatives for SSB. Further longitudinal and
      intervention studies are warranted to examine the effects of beverage
      substitution on obesity.

PMID- 28606574
TI  - Dietary habits; concentration of copper, zinc, and Cu-to-Zn ratio in serum and
      ability status of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Dietary habits and adequate intake of antioxidants in the diet-for
      example, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn)-may be an environmental factor in the
      occurrence of multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to estimate the
      influence of dietary habits on the concentration of Cu, Zn in the serum, and the
      effect of Cu-to-Zn ratio on the ability status of patients with relapsing
      remitting MS. METHODS: This was an observational case-control study that included
      101 individuals with MS and 68 healthy individuals (controls). Food frequency
      questionnaires were used to collect dietary data. Serum concentrations of Cu and
      Zn were determined by the electrothermal and flame atomic absorption spectrometry
      method, respectively. The ratio of Cu to Zn was calculated and compared with the
      Expanded Disability Status Scale of patients. RESULTS: The concentration of Zn
      was significantly lower in the serum of individuals with MS (0.776 +/- 0.195
      mg/L) than in the control group (0.992 +/- 0.315 mg/L). The ratio of Cu to Zn was
      higher in the examined patients (1.347 +/- 0.806) than in the healthy volunteers
      (1.012 +/- 0.458). Lower ability status (P < 0.05) was revealed in patients with
      an abnormal ratio of Cu to Zn, particularly, in cerebellar function, pyramidal
      tracts, and emotional conditions. Selected dietary habits have a significant
      influence on Cu and Zn concentration in the serum of patients with MS.
      CONCLUSIONS: Lower serum concentrations of Zn and higher ratio of Cu to Zn in
      patients with MS can suggest a relationship between MS and oxidative stress.
      Products that are a source of Zn should be included in the diet, which can
      improve the clinical condition of people with MS.

PMID- 28606575
TI  - Good adherence to the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk for NASH and diabetes
      in pediatric patients with obesity: The results of an Italian Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the last decade, it was demonstrated that the Mediterranean diet
      (MD) represents an ideal diet for all age groups and has an important role in the
      prevention of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, as well as nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of the present study was to analyze the
      association between adherence to the MD and NAFLD, with laboratory and histologic
      evaluation, in a group of children and adolescents with obesity. METHODS: We
      enrolled 243 patients with obesity referred to our department from March 2014 to
      November 2015. In all patients, we performed abdominal ultrasound and laboratory
      assays. In selected cases (100 patients) liver biopsy was performed. Level of
      adherence to the MD was evaluated by a clinical questionnaire, the Mediterranean
      Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents (KIDMED). RESULTS: The prevalence
      of low KIDMED score was significantly higher in patients with nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis compared with other groups; poor adherence to the MD correlated
      with liver damage, the NAFLD activity score >5, and grade 2 fibrosis. Moreover,
      in patients with poor adherence to the MD, higher values of C-reactive protein,
      fasting insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, and
      homeostatic model assessment of beta cell function were observed. CONCLUSION: The
      MD could be a safe and inexpensive therapeutic option for children with obesity
      and NAFLD.

PMID- 28606576
TI  - Insulin sensitizers improve the GLP-1 secretion and the amount of intestinal L
      cells on high-fat-diet-induced catch-up growth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether insulin resistance
      can result in impaired glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 secretion and to determine
      whether insulin-sensitizing drugs could improve the secretion of GLP-1 in catch
      up growth rats. METHODS: Male Sprague Dawley rats were used to establish a catch
      up growth model. At the end of weeks 6 and 14, these rats were euthanized to
      measure energy intake, body weight, plasma triacylglycerol, and nonesterified
      fatty acid. Fat mass percentage was analyzed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry
      scan. The GLP-1 concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay, the glucose infusion rates were measured by hyperinsulinemic-glucose clamp
      experiment. Quantification of the GLP-1 positive cells in distal ileum was done
      by immunohistochemical staining method. The L cell line NCI-H716 cells were
      treated in vitro with palmitate acid, the cells' viability, the carnitine
      palmitoyl transferase-1, and the insulin signaling pathway were detected.
      RESULTS: Rats fed a high-fat diet rats had rapidly developed insulin resistance,
      impaired incretin effect, and a reduction in the number of intestinal L cells.
      The insulin sensitizers, metformin and pioglitazone, improved insulin resistance
      and the concentration of circulating GLP-1, increased the relative number of
      intestinal L cells to a certain degree. In vitro, the NCI-H716 cell viability was
      decreased and impaired insulin signaling pathway with palmitate acid treatment,
      metformin treatment could reverse these effects, whereas pioglitazone could not.
      CONCLUSIONS: Insulin resistance caused by a high-fat diet could result in reduced
      GLP-1 secretion; the insulin sensitizing drugs were able to improve the incretin
      effect in catch-up growth rats.

PMID- 28606577
TI  - Effect of Footprint Preparation on Tendon-to-Bone Healing: A Histologic and
      Biomechanical Study in a Rat Rotator Cuff Repair Model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the histologic and biomechanical effects of 3 different
      footprint preparations for repair of tendon-to-bone insertions and to assess the
      behavior of bone marrow-derived cells in each method of insertion repair.
      METHODS: We randomized 81 male Sprague-Dawley rats and green fluorescent protein
      bone marrow chimeric rats into 3 groups. In group A, we performed rotator cuff
      repair after separating the supraspinatus tendon from the greater tuberosity and
      removing the residual tendon tissue. In group B, we also drilled 3 holes into the
      footprint. The native fibrocartilage was preserved in groups A and B. In group C,
      we excavated the footprint until the cancellous bone was exposed. Histologic
      repair of the tendon-to-bone insertion, behavior of the bone marrow-derived
      cells, and ultimate force to failure were examined postoperatively. RESULTS: The
      areas of metachromasia in groups A, B, and C were 0.033 +/- 0.019, 0.089 +/-
      0.022, and 0.002 +/- 0.001 mm2/mm2, respectively, at 4 weeks and 0.029 +/- 0.022,
      0.090 +/- 0.039, and 0.003 +/- 0.001 mm2/mm2, respectively, at 8 weeks. At 4 and
      8 weeks postoperatively, significantly higher cartilage matrix production was
      observed in group B than in group C (4 weeks, P = .002; 8 weeks, P < .001). In
      green fluorescent protein-bone marrow chimeric rats in group B, bone marrow
      derived chondrogenic cells infiltrated the fibrocartilage layer. Ultimate force
      to failure was significantly higher in group B (19.7 +/- 3.4 N) than in group C
      (16.7 +/- 2.0 N) at 8 weeks (P = .031). CONCLUSIONS: Drilling into the footprint
      and preserving the fibrocartilage improved the quality of repair tissue and
      biomechanical strength at the tendon-to-bone insertion after rotator cuff repair
      in an animal model. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Drilling into the footprint and
      preserving the fibrocartilage can enhance repair of tendon-to-bone insertions.
      This method may be clinically useful in rotator cuff repair.

PMID- 28606578
TI  - A Case of Ecchordosis Physaliphora in the Prepontine Cistern: A Rare Entity in
      the Differential Diagnosis of an Epidermoid Cyst.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ecchordosis physaliphora (EP) is a benign notochordal remnant that is
      usually asymptomatic. We report a case of a symptomatic large EP mimicking an
      epidermoid cyst. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 44-year-old woman presented with right
      facial dysesthesia. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed a mass with a
      diameter of 3.2 cm that was hypointense on T1-weighted imaging, hyperintense on
      T2-weighted imaging, isointense to hyperintense on diffusion-weighted imaging,
      and hyperintense on apparent diffusion coefficient map (1.2-1.6 * 10-3
      mm2/second). There was no apparent contrast enhancement. Differential diagnoses
      included epidermoid cyst, dermoid cyst, EP, chordoma, chondrosarcoma, neurenteric
      cyst, and arachnoid cyst. Clinicopathologic examination revealed that the mass
      was an EP. CONCLUSIONS: EP in the prepontine cistern should be considered in the
      differential diagnosis of epidermoid cyst.

PMID- 28606580
TI  - Comparison of Operative Time with Conventional Fluoroscopy Versus Spinal
      Neuronavigation in Instrumented Spinal Tumor Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Spinal neuronavigation improves accuracy of pedicle screw placement
      but may increase operative time, and its use in oncologic operations remains
      relatively unstudied. We compared the use of two-dimensional (2D) fluoroscopy and
      three-dimensional (3D) spinal neuronavigation relative to operative time in
      instrumented oncology procedures. METHODS: Consecutive instrumented oncologic
      spinal operations for multiple myeloma or metastatic disease performed between
      2012 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were placed in 2 groups
      based on the method used for pedicle screw placement: 2D fluoroscopy versus
      spinal neuronavigation with 3D imaging. These groups were compared by age, number
      of screws placed, number of laminectomy levels, operative time, estimated blood
      loss, length of hospital stay after surgery, and rate of reoperation as a result
      of screw misplacement. RESULTS: Fourteen operations used 2D fluoroscopy and 25
      used spinal neuronavigation. In the fluoroscopy and neuronavigation groups,
      respectively, patient ages were 64.71 +/- 7.21 years and 63.24 +/- 6.95 years (P
      = 0.534), number of screws was 8.07 +/- 1.98 and 7.84 +/- 1.34 (P = 0.667),
      laminectomy levels were 2.18 +/- 1.25 and 1.60 +/- 1.02 (P = 0.126), operative
      time was 200.79 +/- 34.99 minutes and 193.48 +/- 43.77 minutes (P = 0.596),
      estimated blood loss was 790.00 +/- 769.61 mL and 389.80 +/- 551.43 mL (P =
      0.068), and length of stay after the operation was 7.64 +/- 4.63 days and 6.40 +/
      3.23 days (P = 0.331). One patient in the 2D fluoroscopy group and no patients
      in the spinal neuronavigation group required a reoperation for screw
      misplacement. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in length of
      operative time when neuronavigation was compared with fluoroscopy for
      instrumented oncologic spinal surgery. There was a trend toward a decrease in
      estimated blood loss in the neuronavigation cases.

PMID- 28606579
TI  - Antiplatelet Resumption after Antiplatelet-Related Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A
      Retrospective Hospital-Based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiplatelet resumption in patients who developed intracerebral
      hemorrhage (ICH) while on antiplatelet therapy (antiplatelet-related ICH)
      represents an important medical dilemma. We aimed to study the long-term
      cardiovascular outcomes of antiplatelet-related ICH survivors, and the risk of
      recurrent ICH with antiplatelet resumption. METHODS: This was an observational
      study of 109 antiplatelet-related ICH survivors. The clinical end points were
      recurrent ICH, ischemic vascular events, and vascular death (fatal ICH or
      ischemic vascular events). Predictors of recurrent ICH and vascular death were
      derived using a multivariable Cox regression model. RESULTS: The median duration
      of follow-up was 3.5 years (interquartile range, 1.6-5.8 years). Ischemic
      vascular events were more common than recurrent ICHs (6.8 per 100 patient-years
      vs. 2.6 per 100 patient-years; P = 0.028). Antiplatelet use was not associated
      with an elevated risk of recurrent ICH (hazard ratio [HR], 1.11, 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.27-4.62). A mean follow-up systolic blood pressure of >140 mmHg
      increased the risk of both recurrent ICH (HR, 4.28; 95% CI, 1.01-18.11) and
      vascular death (HR, 11.14; 95% CI, 2.72-45.62). Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)
      was an independent predictor for recurrent ICH (HR, 24.34; 95% CI, 2.80-211.47).
      CONCLUSIONS: Antiplatelet resumption after antiplatelet-related ICH did not
      appear to carry a clinically significant risk of recurrent ICH, whereas
      inadequate blood pressure control and CAA contributed to a more robust risk.
      Antiplatelet resumption should be considered, especially in survivors with
      adequate blood pressure control and without CAA.

PMID- 28606581
TI  - The Effect of Single-Level Disc Degeneration on Dynamic Response of the Whole
      Lumbar Spine to Vertical Vibration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of single
      level disc degeneration on dynamic response of the whole lumbar spine to vertical
      whole body vibration that is typically present when driving vehicles. METHODS:
      Ligamentous finite element models of the lumbar L1-S1 motion segment in different
      grades of degeneration (healthy, mild, and moderate) at the L4-L5 level were
      developed with consideration of changing disc height and material properties of
      the nucleus pulpous. All models were loaded with a compressive follower preload
      of 400 N and a sinusoidal vertical vibration load of +/-40 N. After transient
      dynamic analyses, computational results for the 3 models in terms of disc bulge,
      von-Mises stress in annulus ground substance, and nucleus pressure were plotted
      as a function of time and compared. RESULTS: All the predicted results showed a
      cyclic response with time. At the degenerated L4-L5 disc level, as degeneration
      progressed, maximum value of the predicted response showed a decrease in disc
      bulge and von-Mises stress in annulus ground substance but a slight increase in
      nucleus pressure, and their vibration amplitudes were all decreased. At the
      adjacent levels of the degenerated disc, there was a slight decrease in maximum
      value and vibration amplitude of these predicted responses with the degeneration.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that single-level disc degeneration can alter
      vibration characteristics of the whole lumbar spine especially for the
      degenerated disc level, and increasing the degeneration did not deteriorate the
      effect of vertical vibration on the spine.

PMID- 28606582
TI  - Patients' Perioperative Experience of Awake Deep-Brain Stimulation for Parkinson
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Awake craniotomy for tumor resection and epilepsy surgery is a well
      tolerated procedure. Qualitative data on patients' experience of awake deep-brain
      stimulation (DBS) are, however, lacking. We collected qualitative data on
      patients' experience of awake DBS with a view to identifying areas for
      improvement. METHODS: Forty-one patients undergoing DBS for Parkinson disease
      between 2009 and 2015 were surveyed with a structured questionnaire designed to
      receive patient feedback regarding perioperative management of the awake stage of
      the procedure. RESULTS: More than 90% of patients felt well-informed. Most
      remembered the procedure, and almost all were happy that they did. One half of
      the patients experienced pain, often significant, during the procedure. This
      mainly occurred during burr-hole drilling and stereotactic frame placement.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although awake DBS is well-tolerated, pain and off-period symptoms
      are an issue for a significant number of patients. Efforts should be made to
      minimize these unpleasant aspects of awake DBS.

PMID- 28606583
TI  - Corrigendum to "Genetic epidemiology of motor neuron disease-associated variants
      in the Scottish population." [Neurobiol. Aging 51 (2017) 178.e11-178.e20].

PMID- 28606584
TI  - Impact of a modified anti-thrombotic guideline on stroke in children supported
      with a pediatric ventricular assist device.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke is the most feared complication associated with the Berlin
      Heart EXCOR pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD), the most commonly used VAD
      in children, and affects 1 in 3 children. We sought to determine whether a
      modified anti-thrombotic guideline, involving more intense platelet inhibition
      and less reliance on platelet function testing, is associated with a lower
      incidence of stroke. METHODS: All children supported with the EXCOR at Stanford
      from 2009 to 2014 were divided into 2 cohorts based on the primary anti
      thrombotic guideline used to prevent pump thrombosis: (1) the Edmonton Anti
      thrombotic Guideline (EG) cohort, which included children implanted before
      September 2012 when dual anti-platelet therapy was used with doses titrated to
      Thromboelastrography/PlateletMapping (TEG/PM); and (2) the Stanford Modified Anti
      thrombotic Guideline (SG) cohort, which included children implanted on or after
      September 2012 when triple anti-platelet therapy was used routinely and where
      doses were uptitrated to high, weight-based dosing targets, with low-dose
      steroids administered as needed for inflammation. RESULTS: At baseline, the EG (N
      = 16) and SG (N = 11) cohorts were similar. The incidence rate of stroke in the
      SG cohort was 84% lower than in the EG cohort (0.8 vs 4.9 events per 1,000 days
      of support, p = 0.031), and 86% lower than in the previous Investigational Device
      Exemption trial (p = 0.006). The bleeding rate was also lower in the SG cohort (p
      = 0.015). Target doses of aspirin, clopidogrel and dipyridamole were higher (all
      p < 0.003), with less dosing variability in the SG cohort than in the EG cohort.
      There was no difference in adenosine diphosphate inhibition by TEG/PM, but
      arachidonic acid inhibition was higher in the SG cohort (median 75% vs 39%, p =
      0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Stroke was significantly less common in pediatric patients
      supported with the Berlin Heart EXCOR VAD using a triple anti-platelet regimen
      uptitrated to high, weight-based dosing targets as compared with the dual anti
      platelet regimen titrated to PM, and without a higher risk of bleeding. Larger
      studies are needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 28606586
TI  - Identification of CD146 as a novel molecular actor involved in systemic
      sclerosis.

PMID- 28606587
TI  - Asthma control status in pregnancy, body mass index, and maternal vitamin D
      levels.

PMID- 28606585
TI  - Cancer in primary immunodeficiency diseases: Cancer incidence in the United
      States Immune Deficiency Network Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We evaluated the overall and site-specific incidence of cancer in
      subjects with primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD) enrolled in the United
      States Immune Deficiency Network (USIDNET) registry compared with age-adjusted
      cancer incidence in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER)
      database. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that subjects with PIDD would have an
      increased incidence of cancer due to impaired immune function. METHODS: Overall
      and site-specific cancer incidence rates were evaluated in subjects with PIDD (n
      = 3658) enrolled in the USIDNET registry from 2003 to 2015 and compared with age
      adjusted incidence rates in the SEER database. RESULTS: We observed a 1.42-fold
      excess relative risk of cancer in subjects with PIDD compared with the age
      adjusted SEER population (P < .001). Men with PIDD had a 1.91-fold excess
      relative risk of cancer compared with the age-adjusted male population (P <
      .001), while women with PIDD had similar overall cancer rates compared with the
      age-adjusted female population. Of the 4 most common malignancies in men and
      women in SEER (lung, colon, breast, and prostate cancers), we found no
      significant increase in these diagnoses in subjects with PIDD. Significant
      increases in lymphoma in both men (10-fold increase, P < .001) and women (8.34
      fold increase, P < .001) with PIDD were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Excess incidence
      of cancer occurred in subjects with PIDD. An excess of lymphoma in specific PIDD
      populations principally drove this increased incidence, while no increased risk
      of the most common solid tumor malignancies was observed. These data point to a
      restricted role of the immune system in protecting from specific cancers.

PMID- 28606588
TI  - Age-specific profiling of cutaneous allergy at high temporal resolution suggests
      age-related alterations in regulatory immune function.

PMID- 28606589
TI  - Regulatory effects of IL-15 on allergen-induced airway obstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Airway obstruction is a physiologic feature of asthma, and IL-15
      might have an important role in asthma pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: We tested the
      hypothesis that regulation of IL-15 is critical for preservation of allergen
      induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway resistance, and compliance in
      response to methacholine. METHODS: Airway inflammation, AHR, resistance, and
      compliance were assessed in Il15 gene-deficient mice and IL-15-overexpressing
      mice in an allergen-induced murine model of asthma. We assessed eosinophil
      numbers by using anti-major basic protein immunostaining, goblet cell hyperplasia
      by using periodic acid-Schiff staining, and cytokine and chemokine levels by
      performing quantitative PCR and ELISA. RESULTS: We made a novel observation that
      IL-15 deficiency promotes baseline airway resistance in naive mice. Moreover, rIL
      15 delivery to the lung downregulates expression of proinflammatory cytokines and
      improves allergen-induced AHR, airway resistance, and compliance. These
      observations were further validated in doxycycline-inducible CC10-IL-15
      bitransgenic mice. Doxycycline-exposed, Aspergillus species extract-challenged
      CC10-IL-15 bitransgenic mice exhibited significantly reduced levels of
      proinflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) and decreased goblet cell
      hyperplasia. Airway obstruction, including AHR and airway resistance, was
      diminished in allergen-challenged doxycycline-exposed compared with non
      doxycycline-exposed CC10-IL-15 bitransgenic mice. Mechanistically, we observed
      that IL-15-mediated protection of airway obstruction is associated with induced
      IFN-gamma- and IL-10-producing regulatory CD4+CD25+ forkhead box p3 (Foxp3)+ T
      cells. Additionally, we found that a human IL-15 agonist (ALT-803) improved
      airway resistance and compliance in an experimental asthma model. CONCLUSION: We
      report our novel finding that IL-15 has a potent inhibitory effect on the airway
      obstruction that occurs in response to environmental allergens.

PMID- 28606590
TI  - A new fluorescent-avidin-based method for quantifying basophil activation in
      whole blood.

PMID- 28606592
TI  - Advances in Ebola virus vaccination.

PMID- 28606594
TI  - Biodanza Reduces Acute Pain Severity in Women with Fibromyalgia.
AB  - Biodanza is a useful therapy for the fibromyalgia management; however, there is
      no evidence of its effectiveness on acute pain. The objectives of the present
      study were: to determine the changes of a 3-month Biodanza program on acute pain
      severity (before vs. after session) and cumulative pain severity in women with
      fibromyalgia; and to check the associations of acute pain severity reduction with
      presession pain severity, body fat percentage, and satisfaction with the session.
      This was a 3-month low-moderate intensity (rate of perceived exertion around 12,
      based on a 6-20 point scale) Biodanza intervention study (1 session/week). Twenty
      seven women with fibromyalgia (54.2 +/- 6.2 years) participated. Pain severity
      was assessed before and after each single session with a visual analog scale.
      There were immediate changes in all sessions (p = .001-.028), except in the
      first, second, and fourth sessions. An overall 16% decrease of acute pain
      severity before and after each session was noted (mean presession pain vs.
      postsession pain, 5.8 +/- 2.1 vs. 4.9 +/- 2.4; respectively). There was an
      independent association of pain severity reduction (presession-postsession) with
      presession pain severity (unstandardized coefficient B = .21 +/- .05;
      standardized coefficient beta = .25; p < .001), body fat percentage (B = -.05 +/-
      .02; beta = -.18; p = .003), and satisfaction with the session (B = .40 +/- .15;
      beta = .16; p = .007). There was a significant cumulative effect decrease in
      postsession pain severity (p < .001; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -.14, -.05)
      and presession-postsession pain severity (p = .007; 95% CI = .02, .12) along the
      3-month intervention. No significant cumulative effect in presession pain
      severity was identified (p > .05). In conclusion, Biodanza is an alternative
      therapy that reduced acute pain severity in women with fibromyalgia. The
      intervention also yielded cumulative pain severity reduction, which were higher
      in those women with fibromyalgia presenting higher presession pain severity and
      lower body fat percentage. The satisfaction with the session was also a key
      factor positively associated with pain reduction.

PMID- 28606591
TI  - Safety and immunogenicity of the rVSV?G-ZEBOV-GP Ebola virus vaccine candidate in
      healthy adults: a phase 1b randomised, multicentre, double-blind, placebo
      controlled, dose-response study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 2014 Zaire Ebola virus outbreak highlighted the need for a safe,
      effective vaccine with a rapid onset of protection. We report the safety and
      immunogenicity of the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-Zaire Ebola virus
      envelope glycoprotein vaccine (rVSV?G-ZEBOV-GP) across a 6 log10 dose range in
      two sequential cohorts. METHODS: In this phase 1b double-blind, placebo
      controlled, dose-response study we enrolled and randomly assigned healthy adults
      (aged 18-61 years) at eight study sites in the USA to receive a single injection
      of vaccine or placebo, administered by intramuscular injection. In cohort 1,
      participants were assigned to receive 3 * 103, 3 * 104, 3 * 105, or 3 * 106 PFU
      doses of rVSV?G-ZEBOV-GP or placebo. In cohort 2, participants were assigned to
      receive 3 * 106, 9 * 106, 2 * 107, or 1 * 108 PFU doses of rVSV?G-ZEBOV-GP or
      placebo. Participants were centrally allocated by the study statistician to
      vaccine groups or placebo through computer-generated randomisation lists. The
      primary safety outcome was incidence of adverse events within 14 days in the
      modified intention-to-treat population (all randomly assigned participants who
      received vaccine or placebo), and the primary outcome for immunogenicity was IgG
      ELISA antibody titres at day 28 in the per-protocol population. Surveillance was
      enhanced for arthritis and dermatitis through to day 56. This study is registered
      with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02314923. FINDINGS: Between Dec 26, 2014, and
      June 8, 2015, 513 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned; one was not
      immunised because of unsuccessful phlebotomy. In cohort 1, 256 participants
      received vaccine (3 * 103 [n=64], 3 * 104 [n=64], 3 * 105 [n=64], or 3 * 106 PFU
      [n=64]) and 74 received placebo. In cohort 2, 162 participants received vaccine
      (3 * 106 [n=20], 9 * 106 [n=47], 2 * 107 [n=47], or 1 * 108 PFU [n=48]) and 20
      received placebo. Most adverse events occurred in the first day after
      vaccination, and were mild to moderate in intensity, of a short duration, and
      more frequent at high vaccine doses (9 * 106 PFU and greater). At the 2 * 107 PFU
      dose (used in phase 3 trials), the most common local adverse events versus
      placebo within the first 14 days were arm pain (57.4% [27 of 47] vs 7.4% [seven
      of 94]) and local tenderness (59.6% [28 of 47] vs 8.5% [eight of 94]). The most
      common systemic adverse events at the 2 * 107 PFU dose versus placebo, occurring
      in the first 14 days, were headache (46.8% [22 of 47] vs 27.7% [26 of 94]),
      fatigue (38.3% [18 of 47] vs 19.1% [18 of 94]), myalgia (34.0% [16 of 47] vs
      10.6% [10 of 94]), subjective fever (29.8% [14 of 47] vs 2.1% [two of 94]),
      shivering or chills (27.7% [13 of 47] vs 7.4% [seven of 94]), sweats (23.4% [11
      of 47] vs 3.2% [three of 94]), joint aches and pain (19.1% [nine of 47] vs 7.4%
      [seven of 94]), objective fever (14.9% [seven of 47] vs 1.1% [one of 94]), and
      joint tenderness or swelling (14.9% [seven of 47] vs 2.1% [two of 94]). Self
      limited, post-vaccination arthritis occurred in 4.5% (19 of 418) of vaccinees
      (median onset 12.0 days [IQR 10-14]; median duration 8.0 days [6-15]) versus 3.2%
      (three of 94) of controls (median onset 15.0 days [6-20]; median duration 47.0
      days [37-339]), with no apparent dose relationship. Post-vaccination dermatitis
      occurred in 5.7% (24 of 418) of vaccinees (median onset 9.0 days [IQR 2-12];
      median duration 7.0 days [4-9]) versus 3.2% (three of 94) of controls (median
      onset 5.0 days [3-53]; median duration 33.0 days [5-370]). A low-level,
      transient, dose-dependent viraemia occurred in concert with early reactogenicity.
      Antibody responses were observed in most participants by day 14. IgG and
      neutralising antibody titres were dose-related (p=0.0003 for IgG ELISA and
      p<0.0001 for the 60% plaque-reduction neutralisation test [PRNT60] by linear
      trend). On day 28 at the 2 * 107 PFU dose, the geometric mean IgG ELISA endpoint
      titre was 1624 (95% CI 1146-2302) and seroconversion was 95.7% (95% CI 85.5
      98.8); the geometric mean neutralising antibody titre by PRNT60 was 250 (176-355)
      and seroconversion was 95.7% (85.5-98.8). These robust immunological responses
      were sustained for 1 year. INTERPRETATION: rVSV?G-ZEBOV-GP was well tolerated and
      stimulated a rapid onset of binding and neutralising antibodies, which were
      maintained through to day 360. The immunogenicity results support selection of
      the 2 * 107 PFU dose. FUNDING: Biomedical Advanced Research and Development
      Authority, US Department of Health and Human Services.

PMID- 28606593
TI  - Sub-solid Nodule Detection Performance on Reduced-dose Computed Tomography with
      Iterative Reduction: Comparison Between 20 mA (7 mAs) and 120 mA (42 mAs)
      Regarding Nodular Size and Characteristics and Association with Size-specific
      Dose Estimate.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare sub-solid nodule detection
      performances (SSNDP) on chest computed tomography (CT) with Adaptive Iterative
      Dose Reduction using Three Dimensional Processing (AIDR 3D) between 7 mAs (0.21
      mSv) and 42 mAs (1.28 mSv) in total and in subgroups classified by nodular size,
      characteristics, and location, and analyze the association of SSNDP with size
      specific dose estimate (SSDE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: As part of the Area
      detector Computed Tomography for the Investigation of Thoracic Diseases Study, a
      Japanese multicenter research project, 68 subjects underwent chest CT with 120
      kV, 0.35 seconds per rotation, and three tube currents: 240 mA (84 mAs), 120 mA
      (42 mAs), and 20 mA (7 mAs). The research committee of the study project outlined
      and approved our study protocols. The institutional review board of each
      institution approved this study. Axial 2-mm-thick CT images were reconstructed
      using AIDR 3D. Standard reference was determined by CT images at 84 mAs. Four
      radiologists recorded SSN presence by continuously distributed rating on CT at 7
      mAs and 42 mAs. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate
      SSNDP at both doses in total and in subgroups classified by nodular longest
      diameter (LD) (>=5 mm), characteristics (pure and part-solid), and locations
      (ventral, intermediate, or dorsal; central or peripheral; and upper, middle, or
      lower). Detection sensitivity was compared among five groups of SSNs classified
      based on particular SSDE to nodule on CT with AIDR 3D at 7 mAs. RESULTS: Twenty
      two part-solid and 86 pure SSNs were identified. For larger SSNs (LD >= 5 mm) as
      well as subgroups classified by nodular locations and part-solid nodules, SSNDP
      was similar in both methods (area under the receiver operating characteristics
      curve: 0.96 +/- 0.02 in CT at 7 mAs and 0.97 +/- 0.01 in CT at 42 mAs), with
      acceptable interobserver agreements in five locations. For larger SSNs (LD >= 5
      mm), on CT at 42 mAs, no significant differences in detection sensitivity were
      found among the five groups classified by SSDE, whereas on CT with 7 mAs, four
      groups with SSDE of 0.65 or higher were superior in detection sensitivity to the
      other group, with SSDE less than 0.65 mGy. CONCLUSIONS: For SSNs with 5 mm or
      more in cases with normal range of body habitus, CT at 7 mAs was demonstrated to
      have comparable SSNDP to CT at 42 mAs regardless of nodular location and
      characteristics, and SSDE higher than 0.65 mGy is desirable to obtain sufficient
      SSNDP.

PMID- 28606595
TI  - A Multisite Retrospective Study Evaluating the Implementation of the Pasero
      Opioid-Induced Sedation Scale (POSS) and Its Effect on Patient Safety Outcomes.
AB  - The Joint Commission recommended the Pasero Opioid-induced Sedation Scale (POSS)
      to minimize opioid-induced respiratory depression. However, there is a paucity of
      data describing its impact on patient safety. This study assessed the impact of
      POSS implementation or reeducation on naloxone use in patients receiving
      hydromorphone. This retrospective, Institutional Review Board-approved study
      performed with the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety was conducted in two
      phases, 3 months before and after intervention. The intervention was POSS
      implementation or reeducation at six sites in a variety of practice settings. A
      total of 212 patients were evaluated. For the primary endpoint, naloxone use
      occurred in 1.9% of patients in each group and occurred in 3.1 versus 3.5
      patients per 1,000 patient days pre- versus postintervention (p = .902). For
      secondary endpoints, POSS documentation increased post- versus preintervention,
      78.1% versus 26.4% (p < .001). More patients experienced unintended sedation
      based on the Richmond Agitation and Sedation Scale or POSS post- versus
      preintervention, 12.2% versus 3.8% (p = .04). When the POSS was used, unintended
      sedation was likely detected before respiratory depression occurred and before
      naloxone was required. The lack of change in naloxone use and increased sedation
      postintervention may reflect that a POSS score 3 or 4 is a better marker of
      unintended sedation and should be considered as an endpoint instead of naloxone
      in future studies. The implementation or reeducation of the POSS at six area
      health-systems resulted in increased documentation of POSS and opioid-induced
      unintended sedation detection with no change in naloxone use.

PMID- 28606596
TI  - Mini review: Recombinant production of tailored bio-pharmaceuticals in different
      Bacillus strains and future perspectives.
AB  - Bio-pharmaceuticals like antibodies, hormones and growth factors represent about
      one-fifth of commercial pharmaceuticals. Host candidates of growing interest for
      recombinant production of these proteins are strains of the genus Bacillus, long
      being established for biotechnological production of homologous and heterologous
      proteins. Bacillus strains benefit from development of efficient expression
      systems in the last decades and emerge as major industrial workhorses for
      recombinant proteins due to easy cultivation, non-pathogenicity and their ability
      to secrete recombinant proteins directly into extracellular medium allowing cost
      effective downstream processing. Their broad product portfolio of
      pharmaceutically relevant recombinant proteins described in research include
      antibody fragments, growth factors, interferons and interleukins, insulin,
      penicillin G acylase, streptavidin and different kinases produced in various
      cultivation systems like microtiter plates, shake flasks and bioreactor systems
      in batch, fed-batch and continuous mode. To further improve production and
      secretion performance of Bacillus, bottlenecks and limiting factors concerning
      proteases, chaperones, secretion machinery or feedback mechanisms can be
      identified on different cell levels from genomics and transcriptomics via
      proteomics to metabolomics and fluxomics. For systematical identification of
      recurring patterns characteristic of given regulatory systems and key genetic
      targets, systems biology and omics-technology provide suitable and promising
      approaches, pushing Bacillus further towards industrial application for
      recombinant pharmaceutical protein production.

PMID- 28606597
TI  - Resident Involvement in Microsurgery: An American College of Surgeons National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the current healthcare climate, there is increased focus on medical
      errors, patient outcomes, and the influence of resident participation on these
      metrics. Other studies have examined the influence of resident involvement on
      surgical outcomes, but the arena of microsurgery, with added complexity and
      learning curve, has yet to be investigated. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of
      the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      database was performed to find patients undergoing procedures with free tissue
      transfer by screening for Current Procedural Terminology codes. Primary outcomes
      measured include flap failure, wound, infectious, and major and minor
      complications. SETTING: This study was conducted at the Methodist Hospital, an
      academic hospital located in Houston, Texas. PARTICIPANTS: Patients in the
      National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database between the years 2005 and
      2012 undergoing microsurgical procedures were included in this analysis. RESULTS:
      A total of 1466 patients met inclusion criteria. There was a statistically
      significant association of major complications with age, peripheral vascular
      disease, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification of 3 or
      greater, total operative time, and year of operation. Multivariate analysis on
      minor complications demonstrated significant association with ASA class of 3 or
      4. Resident involvement was not a significant factor among any outcome measures
      including major complications, minor complications, flap failure, wound
      complications, infectious complications, bleeding requiring transfusion, and
      unexpected reoperation rates within 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides
      further evidence in support of the claim that resident involvement in
      microsurgery is safe and effective, with similar rates of major complications,
      minor complications, flap failure, and unexpected reoperation. High ASA
      classification and history of peripheral vascular disease were strong predictors
      of major complications and should be optimized preoperatively before free tissue
      transfer. Later years were associated with decreased major complication rates,
      which may be reflective of enhanced supervision standards.

PMID- 28606598
TI  - Practical Measures of Clinical Benefit With Ruxolitinib Therapy: An Exploratory
      Analysis of COMFORT-I.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The phase III COMFORT (Controlled Myelofibrosis Study With Oral JAK
      inhibitor Treatment)-I and COMFORT-II trials in patients with intermediate-2 or
      high-risk myelofibrosis (MF) showed that ruxolitinib was superior to placebo and
      best available therapy, respectively, for improvements in spleen volume, MF
      related symptoms, and overall survival (OS). However, patients managed in
      community settings might not have access to the methods used in the COMFORT
      trials. In this exploratory analysis we summarize efficacy findings of COMFORT-I
      using practical, community-oriented measures of patient outcomes. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: In this post hoc analysis of data from COMFORT-I we evaluated changes
      from baseline to week 12 in spleen size (palpable length and volume), patient
      reported outcomes (Patient Global Impression of Change; Myelofibrosis Symptom
      Assessment Form; Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System Fatigue Scale),
      body weight, and serum albumin levels in 5 subgroups of ruxolitinib-treated
      patients on the basis of week 12 spleen length changes from baseline: (1-4) >=
      50%, 25% to < 50%, 10% to < 25%, or < 10% reduction; and (5) worsening. OS was
      evaluated in ruxolitinib-treated patients with week 12 spleen length reductions
      from baseline >= 50%, 25% to < 50%, or < 25% (including worsening). RESULTS: In
      all spleen length subgroups, including patients with worsening spleen length at
      week 12, ruxolitinib (n = 150) was associated with improvements in spleen volume,
      patient-reported symptom burden, body weight, and serum albumin levels. Greater
      reductions in spleen length were associated with prolonged OS. CONCLUSION: A
      variety of assessment methods beyond palpable spleen length that are easily
      accessible in the community setting might be useful in evaluating the clinical
      benefit of ruxolitinib over time in patients with MF.

PMID- 28606599
TI  - Clinical and imaging mimickers of axial spondyloarthritis.
AB  - The first step in the diagnosis of a patient with suspected axial
      spondyloarthritis is to differentiate the signs and symptoms of the disease from
      other disorders, potentially manifesting with similar clinical and imaging
      features. This review examines diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, osteitis
      condensans ilii, and other developmental and metabolic disorders that may mimic
      axial spondyloarthritis, highlighting the diagnostic caveats and discussing
      shared and distinguishing aspects of these conditions in order to improve the
      clinician's ability to set them apart.

PMID- 28606601
TI  - Changes at the Dinner Table and Beyond: Nourishing Our Patients Throughout the
      Trajectory of Their Cancer Journey.
AB  - Patients with head and neck cancers (HNC) can experience significant distress
      from presentation of symptoms to surveillance/survivorship and end-of-life. It is
      of value to all members of the HNC team to practice patient-centered care in
      assessment and interventions with patients and their support systems to achieve
      the best possible outcome given patient health status. Early assessment and
      referral to ancillary support provide a strong foundation across the illness
      trajectory. Specific attention should be given to the psychosocial implications
      of changes in physiologic functioning. Support around these changes involves a
      strong multidisciplinary team familiar with the biopsychosocial effects of HNC
      and its treatment.

PMID- 28606600
TI  - Maximizing Functional Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer Survivors: Assessment and
      Rehabilitation.
AB  - With increases in survivorship for patients with head and neck cancer, attention
      is turning to quality-of-life issues for survivors. Care for these patients is
      multifaceted. Dysphagia and issues of voice/speech, airway obstruction, neck and
      shoulder dysfunction, lymphedema, and pain control are important to address.
      Rehabilitation interventions are patient-specific and aim to prevent, restore,
      compensate, and palliate symptoms and sequelae of treatment for optimal
      functioning. Central to providing comprehensive interdisciplinary care are the
      head and neck surgeon, laryngologist, and speech-language pathologist. Routine
      functional assessment, long-term follow-up, and regular communication and
      coordination among these specialists helps maximize quality of life in this
      challenging patient population.

PMID- 28606602
TI  - It Takes a Village: The Importance of Multidisciplinary Care.
AB  - This article explores the evolving world of cancer care that requires increasing
      collaboration and is focused on value, quality, and efficiency, while placing the
      utmost importance on patient autonomy and individualized care plans. The
      expanding membership of the multidisciplinary team and the role of integrated
      patient care units are reviewed in the context of care for the patient with head
      and neck cancer.

PMID- 28606603
TI  - Identification of enzymes responsible for nitrazepam metabolism and toxicity in
      human.
AB  - Nitrazepam (NZP) is a hypnotic agent that rarely causes liver injuries in humans
      and teratogenicity in rodents. In humans, NZP is primarily metabolized to 7
      aminonitrazepam (ANZP) by reduction and subsequently to 7-acetylamino nitrazepam
      (AANZP) by acetylation. ANZP can be regenerated from AANZP by hydrolysis in
      rodents, but it is still unclear whether this reaction occurs in humans. In
      rodents, AANZP may be associated with teratogenicity, while in humans, it is
      known that drug-induced liver injuries may be caused by NZP reactive
      metabolite(s). In this study, we attempted to identify the enzymes responsible
      for NZP metabolism to obtain a basic understanding of this process and the
      associated metabolite toxicities. We found that the NZP reductase activity in
      human liver cytosol (HLC) was higher than that in human liver microsomes (HLM).
      We purified the responsible enzyme(s) from HLC and found that the NZP reductase
      was aldehyde oxidase 1 (AOX1). The role of AOX1 was confirmed by an observed
      increase in the NZP reductase activity upon addition of N1-methylnicotinamide, an
      electron donor of AOX1, as well as inhibition of this activity in HLC in the
      presence of AOX1 inhibitors. ANZP was acetylated to form AANZP by N
      acetyltransferase (NAT) 2. An experiment using recombinant esterases in an
      inhibition study using HLM revealed that AANZP is hydrolyzed by arylacetamide
      deacetylase (AADAC) in the human liver. N-Hydroxylamino NZP, which is suspected
      to be a reactive metabolite, was detected as a conjugate with N-acetyl-l-cysteine
      through NZP reduction and ANZP hydroxylation reactions. In the latter reaction,
      the conjugate was readily formed by recombinant CYP3A4 among the various P450
      isoforms tested. In sum, we found that AOX1, NAT2, AADAC, and CYP3A4 are the
      determinants for the pharmacokinetics of NZP and that they confer interindividual
      variability in sensitivity to NZP side effects.

PMID- 28606604
TI  - The ability of the wide range CRP assay to classify individuals with low grade
      inflammation into cardiovascular risk groups.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) has become a routine
      assessment tool to discriminate between patients at low, intermediate or high
      risk for cardiovascular events using the threshold values of 1 and 3mg/L,
      respectively. Over the past years, several studies have proposed the wide range C
      reactive protein (wrCRP) as an alternative to the hsCRP in various clinical
      scenarios. However, the potential use of wrCRP in assessing the cardiovascular
      risk has not yet been evaluated. METHODS: Both wrCRP and hsCRP were evaluated in
      15,780 apparently healthy individuals who underwent a routine annual checkup in
      the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Individuals with CRP levels >5mg/L were
      excluded. Agreement between the two methods was observed using the Bland-Altman
      method and the concordance correlation coefficient. Deming regression was used to
      build a calibration equation. Reclassification of individuals' risk level was
      observed and Cohen's kappa was used to evaluate risk agreement. RESULTS: A high
      correlation (r=0.98) along with a significant difference (p<0.001) between hsCRP
      and wrCRP raised the need for calibration. A simple calibration equation
      (Adjusted wrCRP=0.3136+0.8803*wrCRP) led to high agreement which enabled 8.4%
      reclassification of the risk group. A change in the intermediate risk threshold
      value from 1 to 0.9mg/L led to an almost perfect agreement (kappa=0.87, p<0.001)
      and a low reclassification rate (7.6%), with under 0.05% of the population
      undergoing a major reclassification (from high to low risk or vice versa).
      CONCLUSIONS: In the era of limited financial resources, wrCRP assay may be used
      as a reasonable routine assay to evaluate the cardiovascular risk in patients
      undergoing a routine annual checkup.

PMID- 28606605
TI  - Cervical and thoracic intervertebral disc hydration increases with recumbency: a
      study in 101 healthy volunteers.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Variation in the water content and the size of lumbar
      intervertebral discs (IVDs) is known to occur because of recumbency and has been
      associated with lumbar IVD herniation risk through the impact of IVD hydration on
      tissue mechanical properties. It is not clear if similar changes in cervical or
      thoracic IVDs occur with recumbency. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to
      determine whether increases in hydration of thoracic and cervical IVDs occur with
      short-duration recumbency. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: This study used a test-retest
      design in a magnetic resonance imaging facility. METHODS: We examined expansion
      of all IVDs in the spine in 101 healthy individuals (54 women) aged 25-35 years
      on sagittal T2-weighted magnetic resonance images after a mean of 26.9 minutes
      lying in the scanner bore. All scans were performed after midday. To mitigate
      false positives, p-values were adjusted by the false discovery rate method.
      RESULTS: At the end of lying, the cervical spine IVD volume increased by a mean
      (standard deviation) of 2.6 (5.6)% (p<.001) compared with a 1.0 (4.0)% (p=.024)
      increase in the upper thoracic spine IVD volume and a 2.0 (3.2)% (p<.001)
      increase at the lower thoracic spine. Lumbar IVD volume increased by 1.2 (2.4)%
      (p<.001). C2-C3 IVD volume (+4.1 [13.8]%, p=.011) increased the most at the
      cervical spine, followed by C5-C6 (+3.9 [9.8]%, p<.001) and C3-C4 (+3.8 [13.5]%,
      p=.014). Lumbar IVDs with higher degeneration grades showed more expansion with
      lying (p=.0031). CONCLUSIONS: We established that cervical and thoracic IVD
      volumes increase with recumbency. We expect diurnal variation in cervical and
      thoracic IVD hydration will occur in the general population, with greater
      cervical and thoracic IVD hydration and size upon rising in the morning.

PMID- 28606606
TI  - Potential risks of using cement-augmented screws for spinal fusion in patients
      with low bone quality.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Dramatic increases in the average life expectancy have led to
      increases in the variety of degenerative changes and deformities observed in the
      aging spine. The elderly population can present challenges for spine surgeons,
      not only because of increased comorbidities, but also because of the quality of
      their bones. Pedicle screws are the implants used most commonly in spinal surgery
      for fixation, but their efficacy depends directly on bone quality. Although
      polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-augmented screws represent an alternative for
      patients with osteoporotic vertebrae, their use has raised some concerns because
      of the possible association between cement leakages (CLs) and other morbidities.
      PURPOSE: To analyze potential complications related to the use of cement
      augmented screws for spinal fusion and to investigate the effectiveness of using
      these screws in the treatment of patients with low bone quality. STUDY DESIGN: A
      retrospective single-center study. PATIENT SAMPLE: This study included 313
      consecutive patients who underwent spinal fusion using a total of 1,780 cement
      augmented screws. METHODS AND OUTCOME MEASURES: We analyzed potential
      complications related to the use of cement-augmented screws, including CL,
      vascular injury, infection, screw extraction problems, revision surgery, and
      instrument failure. There are no financial conflicts of interest to report.
      RESULTS: A total of 1,043 vertebrae were instrumented. Cement leakage was
      observed in 650 vertebrae (62.3%). There were no major clinical complications
      related to CL, but two patients (0.6%) had radicular pain related to CL at the S1
      foramina. Of the 13 patients (4.1%) who developed deep infections requiring
      surgical debridement, two with chronic infections had possible spondylitis that
      required instrument removal. All patients responded well to antibiotic therapy.
      Revision surgery was performed in 56 patients (17.9%), most of whom had long
      construction. A total of 180 screws were removed as a result of revision. There
      were no problems with screw extraction. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate
      the efficacy and safety of cement-augmented screws for the treatment of patients
      with low bone mineral density.

PMID- 28606607
TI  - State of the Art Review: Atrial Fibrillation in Athletes.
AB  - Exercise has substantial health benefits with pleomorphic vascular, metabolic,
      psychological and anti-neoplastic actions resulting in improved quality of life
      and longevity. Despite these many benefits, numerous studies have shown that
      endurance athletes are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation (AF) than non
      athletes. The type, intensity and amount of sport appears to influence the risk
      of developing AF. Several endurance sport activities have been shown to increase
      the risk of developing AF but an excess in AF has not been shown in non-endurance
      sports. Furthermore, lifetime hours of participation appear to increase the risk
      of developing AF. Intriguingly, women appear relatively protected and an
      association between endurance sport and AF has not been clearly demonstrated
      amongst female endurance athletes. The mechanisms by which endurance sport
      promotes the development of AF are unclear. There are, however, a number of
      pathophysiological mechanisms which are known to increase the risk of AF in non
      athletes which have correlates in athletes. These include structural remodelling
      of the left atrium, elevated left atrial pressure, inflammation, myocardial
      fibrosis, vagal tone, sinus bradycardia and genetic predisposition. In this
      article, we explore how some of these mechanisms may contribute to the
      development of AF in endurance athletes.

PMID- 28606608
TI  - Clinical Characteristics and Burden of Risk Factors Among Patients With Early
      Onset Acute Coronary Syndromes: The ANZACS-QI New Zealand National Cohort (ANZACS
      QI 17).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular (CV) risk factor profiles of people experiencing acute
      coronary syndromes (ACS) vary with age, and in New Zealand (NZ), Maori and people
      of Pacific Island descent typically present with ACS at a younger age. We aimed
      to explore age- and ethnicity-related differences in CV risk factors in a large
      NZ cohort with first-time ACS. METHODS: The All NZ Acute Coronary Syndrome
      Quality Improvement program (ANZACS-QI) registry collects comprehensive data for
      patients admitted with ACS at NZ hospitals. This analysis includes patients with
      no prior atherosclerotic CV disease enrolled from 1 July, 2012 to 30 June, 2015.
      RESULTS: 14,190 patients had confirmed ACS, 8493 (60%) patients with no prior CVD
      comprised the study cohort. The mean age was 64 years, 25% were aged <55years,
      and 66% were male. Those aged <55years were more likely than older patients to be
      current smokers (48% vs 19%), have higher body mass index (BMI) (48% vs 34% with
      BMI>=30kg/m2), and higher total cholesterol:HDL ratios (>=4.0, 70% vs 50%), all
      p<0.001. Sixteen per cent of those <55years had diabetes; these patients often
      had a BMI>=30kg/m2 (67%) and higher median HbA1c than older patients with
      diabetes (69mmol/mol vs 55mmol/mol). Maori and people of Pacific Island descent
      were overrepresented in the younger age group; these patients had a very high
      risk factor burden. CONCLUSIONS: A quarter of NZ patients admitted to hospital
      with a first-time CV disease event are aged <55years. Younger patients have a
      very high risk factor burden: half are current smokers, half have a BMI>=30kg/m2,
      and 16% have diabetes.

PMID- 28606609
TI  - Retrograde Type A Dissection after Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair: Surgical
      Strategy and Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we investigated the surgical strategy for managing
      retrograde type A dissection (RTAD) after thoracic endovascular aortic repair
      (TEVAR) by reporting our experience and literature review. METHODS: From June
      2011 to January 2014, nine patients with RTAD received surgical repair in our
      institution. The mean age of these patients was 49.3+/-10.7 years. Data on these
      RTAD patients was retrospectively collected for further analysis. Literature
      related to RTAD after TEVAR from 2006 to 2014 was reviewed using the following
      terms: thoracic endovascular aortic repair, retrograde type A dissection, stent
      induced new entry, and surgical repair. RESULTS: We adopted a total arch
      replacement combined with a stented elephant trunk implantation and partly
      preserved the previous TEVAR stent during operation. In-hospital death rate was
      11.1% (one of nine). One patient (11.1%) developed paraparesis after operation.
      No late deaths or complications occurred during follow-up. Literature review
      identified four articles on the surgical management of RTAD after TEVAR. Our
      literature review also showed total arch replacement with the stented elephant
      trunk implantation might be associated with a better prognosis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Retrograde type A dissection is a serious complication after TEVAR. The induced
      factors of RTAD were various and complicated. Our experience and literature
      review indicates a combination of total arch replacement, stented elephant trunk
      implantation and partly preserving the previous TEVAR stent is feasible for the
      surgical repair of RTAD after TEVAR.

PMID- 28606610
TI  - Data management and data enrichment for systems biology projects.
AB  - Collecting, curating, interlinking, and sharing high quality data are central to
      de.NBI-SysBio, the systems biology data management service center within the
      de.NBI network (German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure). The work of
      the center is guided by the FAIR principles for scientific data management and
      stewardship. FAIR stands for the four foundational principles Findability,
      Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability which were established to
      enhance the ability of machines to automatically find, access, exchange and use
      data. Within this overview paper we describe three tools (SABIO-RK, Excemplify,
      SEEK) that exemplify the contribution of de.NBI-SysBio services to FAIR data,
      models, and experimental methods storage and exchange. The interconnectivity of
      the tools and the data workflow within systems biology projects will be
      explained. For many years we are the German partner in the FAIRDOM initiative
      (http://fair-dom.org) to establish a European data and model management service
      facility for systems biology.

PMID- 28606611
TI  - BioInfra.Prot: A comprehensive proteomics workflow including data
      standardization, protein inference, expression analysis and data publication.
AB  - The analysis of high-throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomics data must
      address the specific challenges of this technology. To this end, the
      comprehensive proteomics workflow offered by the de.NBI service center
      BioInfra.Prot provides indispensable components for the computational and
      statistical analysis of this kind of data. These components include tools and
      methods for spectrum identification and protein inference, protein
      quantification, expression analysis as well as data standardization and data
      publication. All particular methods of the workflow which address these tasks are
      state-of-the-art or cutting edge. As has been shown in previous publications,
      each of these methods is adequate to solve its specific task and gives
      competitive results. However, the methods included in the workflow are
      continuously reviewed, updated and improved to adapt to new scientific
      developments. All of these particular components and methods are available as
      stand-alone BioInfra.Prot services or as a complete workflow. Since BioInfra.Prot
      provides manifold fast communication channels to get access to all components of
      the workflow (e.g., via the BioInfra.Prot ticket system: bioinfraprot@rub.de)
      users can easily benefit from this service and get support by experts.

PMID- 28606612
TI  - Combining critical care nurses decision making with human and technological
      resources for patient safety: Do we fulfil our obligations?

PMID- 28606613
TI  - Distribution of heavy metals and environmental assessment of surface sediment of
      typical estuaries in eastern China.
AB  - Estuary sediment is a major pollutant enrichment medium and is an important
      biological habitat. This sediment has attracted the attention of the marine
      environmental scientists because it is a more stable and effective medium than
      water for monitoring regional environmental quality conditions and trends. Based
      on a large amount of measurement data, we analyzed the concentrations,
      distribution, and sources of seven heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn)
      in the surface sediment of typical estuaries that empty into the sea in eastern
      China: the Liaohe River Estuary, Yellow River Estuary, Yangtze River Estuary,
      Minjiang River Estuary, and Pearl River Estuary. The heavy metal concentrations
      in the sediments vary considerably from one estuary to the next. The Liaohe River
      Estuary sediment contains elevated levels of Cd, Hg, and Zn. The Yellow River
      Estuary sediment contains elevated levels of As. The sediments in the Yangtze
      River and Minjiang River estuaries contain elevated levels of Cd and Cu and of Pb
      and Zn, respectively. The sediment in the Pearl River Estuary contains elevated
      levels of all seven heavy metals. We used the Nemerow index method to assess the
      environment quality. The heavy metal pollution in the Liaohe River and Pearl
      River estuaries is more severe than that in the other estuaries. Additional work
      indicates that the heavy metal pollution in the Liaohe River and Pearl River
      estuaries is caused mainly by human activity.

PMID- 28606614
TI  - Plastic ingestion in oceanic-stage loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) off
      the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.
AB  - Juvenile oceanic-stage sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to the increasing
      quantity of plastic coming into the oceans. In this study, we analysed the
      gastrointestinal tracts of 24 juvenile oceanic-stage loggerheads (Caretta
      caretta) collected off the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, in the Azores region,
      a key feeding ground for juvenile loggerheads. Twenty individuals were found to
      have ingested marine debris (83%), composed exclusively of plastic items
      (primarily polyethylene and polypropylene) identified by MU-Fourier Transform
      Infrared Spectroscopy. Large microplastics (1-5mm) represented 25% of the total
      number of debris and were found in 58% of the individuals sampled. Average number
      of items was 15.83+/-6.09 (+/-SE) per individual, corresponding to a mean dry
      mass of 1.07+/-0.41g. The results of this study demonstrate that plastic
      pollution acts as another stressor for this critical life stage of loggerhead
      turtles in the North Atlantic.

PMID- 28606615
TI  - Oral glucose-stimulated growth hormone (GH) test in adult GH deficiency patients
      and controls: Potential utility of a novel test.
AB  - CONTEXT: The diagnosis of adult GH deficiency requires confirmation with a GH
      stimulation test. Oral glucose (OG) administration affects GH secretion,
      initially decreasing and subsequently stimulating GH secretion. OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic efficacy and safety of a long
      OG test (LOGT) as a stimulus of GH secretion for the diagnosis of adult GH
      deficiency (AGHD). DESIGN: Prospective experimental cross-sectional study.
      SETTINGS: The study was conducted at the Endocrinology department of the
      University Hospital of a Coruna, Spain. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: We included 60
      (40 women) AGHD patients (15) and controls (45) paired 1:3, of similar age, sex
      and BMI. The area under the curve (AUC) and peak were calculated for GH. The Mann
      Whitney test was used to compare the different groups. ROC curve analyses were
      used. p-Values<0.05 were considered as statistically significant. INTERVENTIONS:
      The intervention consisted of orally administering 75g oral glucose
      administration; GH was obtained every 30min for a total of 300min. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASUREMENT: Peak GH area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC)
      following LOGT. RESULTS: Peak GH (MUg/L) levels were lower in the AGHD patients
      (0.26+/-0.09) than in the controls (4.00+/-0.45), p<0.001. After LOGT, with the
      ROC plot analysis the best peak GH cut-point was 1.0MUg/L, with 100% sensitivity,
      78% specificity, ROC-AUC of 0.9089 and 81.82% accuracy. There were no relevant
      adverse events during any of the LOGT. CONCLUSIONS: The LOGT could be a cheap,
      safe, convenient and effective test for the diagnosis of AGHD.

PMID- 28606616
TI  - The effect of previous soft contact lens wear on corneal refractive surgery
      outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the influence of previous soft contact lens (SCL) wear on
      corneal refractive surgery (CRS) outcomes when SCL wear is ceased for two weeks
      versus twenty-four hours, and also when compared to no wear, prior to CRS.
      METHODS: A retrospective examination of CRS patient records was carried out for
      two groups of patients- who ceased SCL wear for two weeks (n=45) and for twenty
      four hours (n=49) prior to CRS and compared to a non-contact lens (NCL) control
      group (n=45 and n=49, respectively). CRS outcomes (efficacy, predictability,
      visual acuity and refractive error) were compared pre-operatively and one and six
      months post-operatively. RESULTS: One month post-operative results found unaided
      distance visual acuity (UDVA) was significantly better for LASEK/PRK patients who
      had ceased SCL wear for two weeks prior to CRS (-0.05+/-0.09), compared with the
      NCL group (0.02+/-0.09; p=0.04). Furthermore, six month post-operative results
      found UDVA was significantly better for both LASIK and LASEK/PRK patients who had
      ceased SCL wear for two weeks prior to CRS, and for LASEK/PRK patients who had
      ceased SCL wear for twenty-four hours prior to CRS compared with the NCL group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Given the current setup and methods followed, it was concluded that
      previous SCL wear had no negative impact on visual outcomes following CRS
      compared with a NCL control group, regardless of previous SCL cessation time
      prior to CRS.

PMID- 28606617
TI  - Management of Patients with Predicted Difficult Airways in an Academic Emergency
      Department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with difficult airways are sometimes encountered in the
      emergency department (ED), however, there is a little data available regarding
      their management. OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence, management, and
      outcomes of patients with predicted difficult airways in the ED. METHODS: Over
      the 1-year period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, data were prospectively
      collected on all patients intubated in an academic ED. After each intubation, the
      operator completed an airway management data form. Operators performed a pre
      intubation difficult airway assessment and classified patients into routine,
      challenging, or difficult airways. All non-arrest patients were included in the
      study. RESULTS: There were 456 patients that met inclusion criteria. Fifty (11%)
      had predicted difficult airways. In these 50 patients, neuromuscular blocking
      agents (NMBAs) were used in 40 (80%), an awake intubation technique with light
      sedation was used in 7 (14%), and no medications were used in 3 (6%). In the 40
      difficult airway patients who underwent NMBA facilitated intubation, a video
      laryngoscope (GlideScope 21, Verathon, Bothell, WA and C-MAC 19, Karl Storz,
      Tuttlingen, Germany) was used in each of these, with a first-pass success of 90%.
      In the 7 patients who underwent awake intubation, a video laryngoscope was used
      in 5, and a flexible fiberoptic scope was used in 2. Ketamine was used in 6 of
      the awake intubations. None of these difficult airway patients required rescue
      with a surgical airway. CONCLUSIONS: Difficult airways were predicted in 11% of
      non-arrest patients requiring intubation in the ED, the majority of which were
      managed using an NMBA and a video laryngoscope with a high first-pass success.

PMID- 28606618
TI  - Hypoxic postconditioning attenuates apoptosis via activation of adenosine A2a
      receptors on dermal microvascular endothelial cells of human flaps.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, many studies have demonstrated that endogenous
      adenosine induced by ischemia postconditioning reduces apoptosis in various
      models, but no study has clearly elucidated the effects of hypoxic
      postconditioning (HPC) in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs)
      of flaps, and the subtype of adenosine receptors involved remains unknown. In our
      study, we sought to identify the role of adenosine A2a receptor in the
      antiapoptotic effects of HPC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The HDMECs were isolated
      from human upper eyelid tissue. After hypoxia for 6 h, the HDMECs were either
      abruptly reperfused with medium for 12 h (reoxygenation) or postconditioned by
      three cycles of 5 min of transitory reoxygenation and 5 min of rehypoxia followed
      by 11.5 h of reoxygenation. CGS-21680 was used as an adenosine A2a agonist.
      RESULTS: Adenosine A2a receptors were found in the cytoplasm of HDMECs.
      Hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) resulted in severe injury in HDMECs as evidenced by
      an increase in apoptosis percentage and an increase in expressions of apoptosis
      related proteins (the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and caspase-3), which can be
      significantly attenuated by HPC treatment or exposure to CGS-21680, a selective
      adenosine A2a receptor agonist (all P values < 0.05). Meanwhile, HPC treatment or
      CGS-21680 significantly activated A2a receptors compared with the
      hypoxia/reoxygenation group (P < 0.05 versus P < 0.05, respectively). Statistical
      analysis showed that the increase of cell apoptosis closely correlated inversely
      with the increase of relative protein level of adenosine A2a receptors (r2 =
      0.8177, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: HPC protects against apoptosis induced by
      reoxygenation via activation of adenosine A2a receptors on HDMECs.

PMID- 28606619
TI  - Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance-regulator modulators for children.

PMID- 28606621
TI  - Studying the blood pressures of antegrade and retrograde internal mammary
      vessels: Do they really work as recipient vessels?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The proximal ends of internal mammary (IM) vessels are now the most
      common recipient vessels for breast reconstruction. On the other hand, bilateral
      deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flaps are often needed
      according to the territory and the volume required for reconstruction. The
      usefulness of retrograde IM vessels as second recipients has recently been
      reported, but there are very few quantitative studies on the hydrodynamics of the
      retrograde IM vessels. Because the flow is dependent on the pressure
      differential, the blood pressures of the antegrade IM artery (AIMA), antegrade IM
      vein (AIMV), retrograde IM artery (RIMA), retrograde IM vein (RIMV), and
      recirculated intraflap vein (FV) were investigated to solve this question and to
      confirm the reliability and usefulness of the retrograde IM vessels. METHODS: Ten
      free flap breast reconstructions were included in this study. The IM vessels were
      exposed, and the pressures were measured. After recirculation, the FV pressures
      were measured when the flap was not ischemic or congestive. Systemic blood
      pressure was also recorded during the whole measurement period. RESULTS: The AIMA
      and RIMA pressures were 70.4 +/- 8.2 mmHg and 54.0 +/- 8.6 mmHg (p = 0.000003),
      respectively, while the systemic pressure was 65.1 +/- 10.0 mmHg. The AIMV
      pressure was always smaller than the RIMV pressure; the mean AIMV pressure was
      5.3 +/- 1.6 mmHg. In addition, the FV pressure was greater (p = 0.03) than the
      RIMV pressure (17.7 +/- 9.9 mmHg), while the RIMV pressure was 8.7 +/- 2.0 mmHg.
      CONCLUSIONS: Both the RIMA and RIMV are useful and reliable as second recipients
      for bipedicled free flap transfers. This is a great benefit because it would
      provide two recipients in one surgical site and would be especially useful in
      thin patients or patients with previous abdominal scars requiring double pedicled
      DIEP flaps. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Study, Level IV.

PMID- 28606620
TI  - Efficacy and safety of lumacaftor and ivacaftor in patients aged 6-11 years with
      cystic fibrosis homozygous for F508del-CFTR: a randomised, placebo-controlled
      phase 3 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lumacaftor and ivacaftor combination treatment showed efficacy in
      patients aged 12 years or older with cystic fibrosis homozygous for F508del
      cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in placebo-controlled
      studies and patients aged 6-11 years with cystic fibrosis homozygous for F508del
      CFTR in an open-label study. We report efficacy and safety of lumacaftor and
      ivacaftor in patients with cystic fibrosis aged 6-11 years homozygous for F508del
      CFTR. METHODS: In this phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled,
      multicentre study, patients were enrolled at 54 hospitals and medical centres in
      nine countries (the USA, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany,
      Sweden, and the UK). Eligible patients weighed at least 15 kg, with a confirmed
      diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s
      (FEV1) of 70 or more, and lung clearance index2.5 (LCI2.5) of 7.5 or more at
      screening (values less than these thresholds were permitted at day 1). All
      patients were tested for CFTR genotype at screening; eligible patients had to
      have the F508del-CFTR mutation on both alleles. Exclusion criteria included any
      comorbidity or laboratory abnormality that might confound the study results or
      pose additional risk to the patient. Patients were stratified by weight (<25 kg
      vs >=25 kg) and ppFEV1 severity (<90 vs >=90) determined at the screening visit,
      and randomly assigned 1:1 to treatment using an interactive web response system
      to receive 200 mg lumacaftor and 250 mg ivacaftor every 12 hours or placebo for
      24 weeks. Patients, all site personnel including the investigator and the site
      monitor, and the study team were blinded, with the exception of site personnel
      needing this information in the event of medical emergency or pregnancy and
      patient safety and regulatory affairs personnel to meet serious adverse event
      reporting requirements. The primary endpoint was the mean absolute change in
      LCI2.5 from all on-treatment study visits up to and including week 24. All
      randomly assigned patients who were exposed to any amount of study drug, with
      treatment assignment as assigned were included in primary and other efficacy
      analyses. All patients who were exposed to any amount of study drug, with
      treatment assignment as treated, were included in the safety analysis. This study
      was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02514473. FINDINGS: Between
      July 23, 2015, and Sept 20, 2016, a total of 206 patients were enrolled and
      randomly assigned to receive lumacaftor and ivacaftor (n=104) or placebo (n=102).
      Two randomly assigned patients were never dosed with study drug (one in the
      placebo arm due to ineligibility arising from a streptococcal throat infection
      and one in the lumacaftor and ivacaftor arm due to withdrawal based on refusal to
      provide blood tests) and were not included in the analyses. 103 patients received
      at least one dose of lumacaftor and ivacaftor and 101 patients received at least
      one dose of placebo. For the primary endpoint, the average absolute change in
      LCI2.5 from baseline over all study visits up to and including the week 24 visit,
      least squares mean difference was -1.09 units (95% CI -1.43 to -0.75, p<0.0001)
      for lumacaftor and ivacaftor versus placebo. For the key secondary endpoint of
      sweat chloride concentration, the least squares mean difference versus placebo
      was -20.8 mmol/L (95% CI -23.4 to -18.2, average absolute change at day 15/week
      4; p<0.0001). The least squares mean difference compared with placebo in absolute
      change in ppFEV1 from all on-treatment study visits until week 24 was 2.4 (95% CI
      0.4-4.4, p=0.0182). 196 (96%) of 204 patients reported adverse events, most of
      which were mild (87 [43%]) or moderate (98 [48%]). Treatment was discontinued due
      to adverse events in three (3%) of 103 patients in the lumacaftor and ivacaftor
      group and two (2%) of 101 patients in the placebo group. Serious adverse events
      were reported in 13 (13%) of 103 patients in the lumacaftor and ivacaftor group
      and 11 (11%) of 101 patients in the placebo group. INTERPRETATION: Treatment with
      lumacaftor and ivacaftor was associated with statistically significant
      improvements in lung function, as measured by LCI2.5 and ppFEV1, versus placebo
      in patients aged 6-11 years with cystic fibrosis homozygous for F508del-CFTR. The
      overall safety profile was consistent with previous phase 3 studies of lumacaftor
      and ivacaftor. FUNDING: Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

PMID- 28606622
TI  - Reconstruction of combined thumb amputation at the metacarpal base level and
      index amputation at the metacarpal level with pollicization and bilateral double
      toe composite transfer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe the technique and report our experience
      with the reconstruction of combined proximal thumb amputations at the metacarpal
      base level and index finger amputation at the metacarpal level with pollicization
      and bilateral double toe composite transfer. METHODS: The technique consists of
      pollicization of the remnant index ray. Then a contralateral composite medial
      great toe pulp and vascularized second toe proximal interphalangeal joint flap
      are harvested to reconstruct the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb.
      Subsequently, an ipsilateral composite great toe wrap-around and second toe
      proximal interphalangeal joint flap are harvested to reconstruct the thumb
      interphalangeal joint and the distal thumb. A neurotized superthin anterolateral
      thigh flap is used to reconstruct the ipsilateral toe defect, while the bone
      defects of the bilateral second toes are reconstructed with corticocancellous
      iliac crest bone grafts. Between 2010 and 2014, eight patients underwent
      reconstruction. Four patients could be recalled for follow-up, with a mean
      duration of 22 months. RESULTS: All flaps survived. The contour and length of the
      reconstructed thumbs was similar to the contralateral one. The mean Michigan hand
      outcomes questionnaire score was 80.5. The mean disabilities of the arm, shoulder
      and hand score was 7.5. The mean foot and ankle disability index score was 94.2.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reconstruction of thumb amputations at the metacarpal base level
      with pollicization and double toe composite transfer results in excellent contour
      and functional outcome, with a natural-appearing thumb. In addition, all toes are
      preserved. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, Level IV.

PMID- 28606624
TI  - [Impact of education program and clinical posting in psychiatry on medical
      students' stigmatizing attitudes towards psychiatry and psychiatric disorders].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore whether a medical student
      education program and clinical posting in psychiatry had an impact on medical
      students' stigmatizing attitudes towards psychiatry and psychiatric disorders.
      METHODS: Medical students from the University of Bordeaux were recruited during
      their 4-year course at the beginning of the academic education program in
      psychiatry. Medical students who were concomitantly in a clinical posting in
      wards of psychiatry or neurology were invited to participate in the study. The
      medical student version of the scale Mental Illness: Clinicians' Attitudes (MICA)
      was used to measure their attitudes towards psychiatry and persons with
      psychiatric disorder. This 16-item scale is designed to measure attitudes of
      health care professionals towards people with mental illness, a higher score
      indicating more stigmatizing attitudes. Items exploring history of psychiatric
      disorders in close persons were added at the end of the MICA scale. The
      questionnaire was completed twice by each student, at the beginning and the end
      of the 11-week clinical posting. All questionnaires were strictly anonymized.
      Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify the variables
      independently associated with MICA total score. RESULTS: At the beginning of the
      education program and clinical posting, 174 students completed the MICA scale:
      the mean MICA total score was equal to 46.4 (SD 6.9) in students in clinical
      posting in psychiatry (n=72) and 45.1 (SD 7.01) in those in neurology (n=102). At
      the end of the academic and clinical training, 138 students again completed the
      questionnaire, with mean MICA total scores equal to 41.4 (SD 8.1) in students in
      clinical posting in psychiatry (n=51) and 43.5 (SD 7.3) in those in neurology
      (n=87). Multivariate analyses showed that lower total MICA scores were
      independently associated with the time of assessment (lower scores at the end of
      education program and clinical posting) (b=-2.8; P=0.001), female gender (b=-1.8;
      P=0.03) and history of a psychiatric disorder in a close person (b=-1.92;
      P=0.02). Type of clinical posting (psychiatry vs. neurology) was not
      independently associated with MICA total scores (b=-0.02; P=0.98). A significant
      interaction was found between the variables "time of assessment" and "type of
      clinical posting" (P=0.05): stratified analyses showed that MICA total scores
      decreased significantly only when the clinical posting was in psychiatry (b=
      4.66; P=0.001), with no significant change in medical students in neurology wards
      (b=-1.45; P=0.16). CONCLUSION: Stigmatizing attitudes of medical students towards
      psychiatry and psychiatric disorders are reduced by an education program in
      psychiatry, with a positive impact more marked when the education program is
      concomitant to a clinical posting in psychiatry. As future health professionals
      in charge of persons with psychiatric disorders, medical students are key targets
      of actions aimed at reducing stigma towards mental health disorders. It is hence
      of great importance to promote clinical training in psychiatric wards during
      medical studies for all future practitioners, irrespective of their future
      specialty.

PMID- 28606625
TI  - [Terrorism and human behavior].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Theories of religion are essential for understanding current trends
      in terrorist activities. The aim of this work is to clarify religion's role in
      facilitating terror and outline in parallel with recent theoretical developments
      on terrorism and human behaviour. METHODS: Several databases were used such as
      PubCentral, Scopus, Medline and Science Direct. The search terms "terrorism",
      "social psychology", "religion", "evolution", and "cognition" were used to
      identify relevant studies in the databases. RESULTS: This work examines, in a
      multidimensional way, how terrorists employ these features of religion to achieve
      their goals. In the same way, it describes how terrorists use rituals to
      conditionally associate emotions with sanctified symbols that are emotionally
      evocative and motivationally powerful, fostering group solidarity, trust, and
      cooperation. Religious beliefs, including promised rewards in the afterlife,
      further serve to facilitate cooperation by altering the perceived payoffs of
      costly actions, including suicide bombing. The adolescent pattern of brain
      development is unique, and young adulthood presents an ideal developmental stage
      to attract recruits and enlist them in high-risk behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: This
      work offers insights, based on this translational analysis, concerning the links
      between religion, terrorism and human behavior.

PMID- 28606623
TI  - The interaction between alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and nuclear
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha represents a new antinociceptive
      signaling pathway in mice.
AB  - Recently, alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), primarily activated
      by binding of orthosteric agonists, represent a target for anti-inflammatory and
      analgesic drug development. These receptors may also be modulated by positive
      allosteric modulators (PAMs), ago-allosteric ligands (ago-PAMs), and alpha7
      silent agonists. Activation of alpha7 nAChRs has been reported to increase the
      brain levels of endogenous ligands for nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptors type-alpha (PPAR-alpha), palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and
      oleoylethanolamide (OEA), in a Ca2+-dependent manner. Here, we investigated
      potential crosstalk between alpha7 nAChR and PPAR-alpha, using the formalin test,
      a mouse model of tonic pain. Using pharmacological and genetic approaches, we
      found that PNU282987, a full alpha7 agonist, attenuated formalin-induced
      nociceptive behavior in alpha7-dependent manner. Interestingly, the selective
      PPAR-alpha antagonist GW6471 blocked the antinociceptive effects of PNU282987,
      but did not alter the antinociceptive responses evoked by the alpha7 nAChR PAM
      PNU120596, ago-PAM GAT107, and silent agonist NS6740. Moreover, GW6471
      administered systemically or spinally, but not via the intraplantar surface of
      the formalin-injected paw blocked PNU282987-induced antinociception. Conversely,
      exogenous administration of the naturally occurring PPAR-alpha agonist PEA
      potentiated the antinociceptive effects of PNU282987. In contrast, the
      cannabinoid CB1 antagonist rimonabant and the CB2 antagonist SR144528 failed to
      reverse the antinociceptive effects of PNU282987. These findings suggest that
      PPAR-alpha plays a key role in a putative antinociceptive alpha7 nicotinic
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 28606626
TI  - Serum alarm antiproteases in systemic sclerosis patients.
AB  - Alarm antiproteases, i.e. secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor ad elafin, are
      key mediators in innate immune response and integrate innate and adaptive
      immunity systems. The aim of the study was to assess clinical significance of
      serum levels of alarm antiproteases, elafin and secretory leukocyte protease
      inhibitor (SLPI) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Twenty-eight patients
      with SSc, 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 22 healthy controls were
      recruited. Serum elafin and SLPI levels were examined using enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The patients with SSc had significantly increased
      serum levels of SLPI in comparison with the RA patients and the healthy controls
      (p<0.01), and the RA patients presented significantly higher serum levels of
      elafin in comparison with the controls (p=0.003). In the SSc subgroup serum SLPI
      level negatively correlated with diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon
      monoxide (DLCO) (r=-0.41, p=0.03) and total lung capacity (r=-0.42, p=0.03). Both
      alarm antiproteases, elafin and SLPI could be potentially implicated in the
      pathogenesis of SSc and SLPI may be considered a candidate for serum biomarker of
      lung involvement in SSc.

PMID- 28606627
TI  - Re-evaluation of the reward comparison hypothesis for alcohol abuse.
AB  - This study examined whether various doses of ethanol induced reward or aversion
      and then evaluated Grigson's reward comparison hypothesis (1997). Rats were given
      a 0.1% saccharin solution (conditioned stimulus 1 [CS1]) 15min prior to
      administration of a 0, 0.05, 0.125, 0.20, 0.35, or 0.50g/kg dose of ethanol
      (unconditioned stimulus [US]). The rats were then exposed to a paired compartment
      (CS2) for 30min. The low dose of 0.05g/kg ethanol did not induce conditioned
      suppression (i.e., conditioned taste aversion [CTA]) or conditioned place
      preference (CPP). The dose of 0.125g/kg ethanol induced CPP but not CTA. High
      doses of ethanol, including 0.35g/kg and 0.50g/kg, produced CTA but not CPP. The
      middle dose of 0.20g/kg ethanol simultaneously induced CTA and CPP. As a result,
      the reward comparison hypothesis cannot explain the present finding that the
      middle dose of ethanol induced CTA and CPP. Meanwhile, the high doses of ethanol
      induced motivationally aversive CTA but not rewarding CPP. The reward comparison
      hypothesis should be updated further.

PMID- 28606628
TI  - Hippocampal and cerebellar histological changes and their behavioural
      repercussions caused by brain ischaemic hypoxia experimentally induced by sodium
      nitrite.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Brain ischaemic hypoxia can produce severe neurological damage that
      leads to behavioural disorders. This research analysed the hippocampal and
      cerebellar histological alterations caused by brain ischaemic hypoxia
      experimentally induced by sodium nitrite (NaNO2) and possible direct
      repercussions of this hypoxia on behaviour. METHODOLOGY: An experimental study
      was carried out by administering 60mg/kg NaNO2 to 10 Wistar rats at 3 months of
      age for 15 consecutive days. Ten control rats did not receive NaNO2. To assess
      behavioural repercussions, the animals were evaluated in Open Field, Elevated
      Plus-Maze (EPM), and Forced Swim tests before and after injury to evaluate
      locomotion, anxiety, and depression, respectively. Markers of stress were
      evaluated by measuring the blood levels of cortisol, glucose, cholesterol, and
      lactate. The presence of hippocampal lesions was verified by histologically
      studying the CA1-CA4 areas. Sections of the cerebellum were also evaluated
      because Purkinje cells are highly sensitive to ischaemic hypoxia and may serve as
      markers for this process. RESULTS: The number of neurons with lesions was
      significantly higher in animals exposed to NaNO2 in the hippocampus areas CA2,
      CA3, and CA4. The cerebellum was also very vulnerable to hypoxia, presenting
      extensive lesion areas. These results are correlated with the parameters of the
      anxiety and depression tests. CONCLUSION: NaNO2 promoted brain damage due to
      ischaemic hypoxia in rats. Intoxicated animals showed decreased brain weights;
      damage in hippocampus and cerebellum; and anxiogenic and depressive behaviour.

PMID- 28606629
TI  - Neural substrates underlying balanced time perspective: A combined voxel-based
      morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity study.
AB  - Balanced time perspective (BTP), which is defined as a mental ability to switch
      flexibly among different time perspectives Zimbardo and Boyd (1999), has been
      suggested to be a central component of positive psychology Boniwell and Zimbardo
      (2004). BTP reflects individual's cognitive flexibility towards different time
      frames, which leads to many positive outcomes, including positive mood,
      subjective wellbeing, emotional intelligence, fluid intelligence, and executive
      control. However, the neural basis of BTP is still unclear. To address this
      question, we quantified individual's deviation from the BTP (DBTP), and
      investigated the neural substrates of DBTP using both voxel-based morphometry
      (VBM) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) methods VBM analysis found
      that DBTP scores were positively correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the
      ventral precuneus. We further found that DBTP scores were negatively associated
      with RSFCs between the ventral precuneus seed region and medial prefrontal cortex
      (mPFC), bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), parahippocampa gyrus (PHG), and
      middle frontal gyrus (MFG). These brain regions found in both VBM and RSFC
      analyses are commonly considered as core nodes of the default mode network (DMN)
      that is known to be involved in many functions, including episodic and
      autobiographical memory, self-related processing, theory of mind, and imagining
      the future. These functions of the DMN are also essential to individuals with
      BTP. Taken together, we provide the first evidence for the structural and
      functional neural basis of BTP, and highlight the crucial role of the DMN in
      cultivating an individual's BTP.

PMID- 28606630
TI  - Long-term contextual memory in infant rats as evidenced by an ethanol conditioned
      tolerance procedure.
AB  - Conditioned tolerance can be conceptualized as a particular case of Pavlovian
      conditioning in which contextual cues play the role of the conditioned stimulus.
      Although the evidence is contradictory, it is frequently assumed that long-term
      contextual conditioning in pre-weanling rats is weak or even absent. This
      hypothesis comes from and is sustained mainly by behavioral studies that explored
      different contextual effects in 16-18day-old rats using a fear-conditioning
      paradigm, but their conclusions are stated in terms of an immature (hippocampal
      dependent) declarative memory system. The main goal of the present manuscript was
      based on a recent antecedent from our laboratory, to analyze whether context
      dependent tolerance induced by ethanol during the pre-weanling period persists
      over time. Results showed that the context was able to modulate ethanol-induced
      tolerance in 2- and 3-week-old rats. Interestingly, contextual conditioned
      tolerance was stronger (in terms of persistence) during the third than during the
      second postnatal week. When subjects were tested 8days after training, when the
      context presumably lost its influence over tolerance, the opposite effect emerged
      (sensitization). These results are important for the ethanol literature, adding
      new evidence of long-term retention of ethanol effects acquired during infancy,
      whilst also showing striking ontogenetic differences in the sensitivity to
      ethanol between the 2nd and 3rd postnatal weeks. Importantly, contextual
      information modulates the expression of these ethanol effects even eight days
      after training, a result that is particularly relevant to the discussion of the
      ontogeny of contextual memory.

PMID- 28606631
TI  - Restraint stress enhances alcohol intake in adolescent female rats but reduces
      alcohol intake in adolescent male and adult female rats.
AB  - Adolescents may be more sensitive to stress-induced alcohol drinking than adults,
      which would explain the higher prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in late
      adolescence than in adulthood. The present study analyzed the impact of restraint
      stress on the initiation of alcohol intake across 2 weeks of intermittent, two
      bottle choice intake in male and female adolescent rats and adult female rats.
      Restraint stress significantly increased alcohol intake and preference in female
      adolescent rats but decreased alcohol intake and preference in male adolescent
      and female adult rats. The effects of restraint stress on alcohol intake were
      mitigated in adolescent females following administration of the kappa opioid
      receptor antagonist norbinaltorphimine. Adolescent but not adult female rats that
      were subjected to restraint stress spent more time on the open arms of the
      elevated plus maze. Female adolescents exposed to stress also exhibited greater
      risk-taking behaviors in a concentric square field test compared with non
      stressed controls. These results indicate age- and sex-related differences in the
      sensitivity to alcohol-stress interactions that may facilitate the initiation of
      alcohol use in female adolescents. The facilitatory effect of stress on alcohol
      intake was related to greater exploratory and risk-taking behaviors in young
      females after stress exposure.

PMID- 28606632
TI  - Viral Posterior Uveitis-Author's reply.

PMID- 28606633
TI  - Leadless pacing meets the real world: The maturation of clinical evidence behind
      a miniaturized pacemaker.

PMID- 28606634
TI  - The subcutaneous defibrillator: Modest step or quantum leap?

PMID- 28606635
TI  - Atrial and ventricular activation sequence after ventricular
      induction/entrainment pacing during fast-slow atrioventricular nodal reentrant
      tachycardia: New insight into the use of V-A-A-V for the differential diagnosis
      of supraventricular tachycardia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The atrial and ventricular response observed immediately after
      cessation of ventricular induction/entrainment pacing is commonly analyzed to
      discriminate atrial tachycardia from other supraventricular tachycardias during
      electrophysiologic studies. However, the response in fast-slow atrioventricular
      nodal reentrant tachycardia (F/S-AVNRT) remains poorly investigated. OBJECTIVE:
      The purpose of this study was to analyze the atrial and ventricular activation
      patterns after ventricular pacing in F/S-AVNRT. METHODS: We enrolled 28 patients
      with F/S-AVNRT incorporating a typical slow pathway (typ-F/S-AVNRT) and 9
      patients with F/S-AVNRT incorporating a superior slow pathway (sup-F/S-AVNRT).
      RESULTS: The V-A-A-V response was observed in 14 patients (38%) with F/S-AVNRT,
      more commonly in patients with sup-F/S-AVNRT than in those with typ-F/S-AVNRT
      (89% vs 21%, P = .0003). The underlying mechanisms included (1) a double atrial
      response (DAR) in 13 patients; (2) an anterograde block at the lower common
      pathway once after ventricular pacing in 2 patients; and (3) a pseudo-A-A-V
      response in 2 patients. The DAR was characterized by a V-A-A-V interatrial
      interval that was 55 +/- 60 ms shorter than the tachycardia cycle length, whereas
      the block at the lower common pathway or infrahisian block had a V-A-A-V
      interatrial interval that was almost equal to or longer than the tachycardia
      cycle length. CONCLUSION: The V-A-A-V activation sequence immediately after
      ventricular induction/entrainment pacing is observed in patients with F/S-AVNRT,
      particularly in patients with sup-F/S-AVNRT, and is caused by multiple
      mechanisms, including a DAR, which is the major etiology.

PMID- 28606636
TI  - Statins protect against arrhythmogenic calcium alternans in the post-myocardial
      infarction diabetic heart: Pleiotropy on steroids.

PMID- 28606637
TI  - Three-dimensional shoulder motion after teres major or latissimus dorsi tendon
      transfer for posterosuperior rotator cuff tears.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Teres major (TM) transfer and latissimus dorsi (LD) transfer are
      essential treatment options in patients with posterosuperior rotator cuff (RC)
      tears. The purpose of this study was to quantify shoulder kinematics before and
      after TM transfer and LD transfer in posterosuperior RC tear patients. METHODS:
      In this prospective cohort study, we quantitatively measured shoulder movements
      using an electromagnetic tracking device (Flock of Birds) preoperatively and 1
      year after either TM (n = 13) or LD (n = 9) tendon transfer. Additional outcome
      measures included the Constant score (CS), patient-reported pain, and
      quantitative range of motion. Scapular kinematics were evaluated during arm
      abduction. RESULTS: By use of a quantitative assessment, forward flexion (from 87
      degrees  to 106 degrees , P = .007), abduction (from 86 degrees  to 106 degrees ,
      P = .010), and external rotation in abduction (from 52 degrees  to 70 degrees , P
      = .019) improved. Both transfers reduced pain (from 50 to 10 mm, P < .001), and
      the CS improved (from 37 to 62 points, P < .001). No significant differences in
      postoperative improvement in pain and function were found between TM and LD
      tendon transfers. The TM transfer group showed increased scapular lateral
      rotation compared with the LD transfer group (13 degrees ; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 4.8 degrees  to 21.7 degrees ; P = .003). We were unable to detect
      differences between TM transfer and LD transfer in the change in protraction (3.2
      degrees ; 95% CI, -6.3 degrees  to 12.8 degrees ; P = .489) and posterior tilt
      (3.5 degrees ; 95% CI, -3.5 degrees  to 10.5 degrees ; P = .313). CONCLUSION:
      Tendon transfer surgery resulted in an overall improvement in CS, pain relief,
      and quantitative range of motion in the treatment of an irreparable
      posterosuperior RC tear. Scapular lateral rotation gradually increased after TM
      transfer, reminiscent of RC function, whereas such an increase was not observed
      after LD transfer.

PMID- 28606638
TI  - Retrospective cohort study on radial head replacements comparing results between
      smooth and porous stem designs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When necessary, radial head integrity after a fracture can be re
      created by the use of a radial head arthroplasty if the radial head is judged
      irreparable. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and
      radiographic outcomes of metal modular radial head replacements with a smooth vs.
      a porous stem. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of radial head replacements
      performed in the first 4 weeks after a trauma in an adult patient at our
      institution between 2000 and 2014 was completed. Patients were divided into 2
      groups: a porous stem group (ExploR; Biomet Orthopedics, Warsaw, IN, USA) and a
      smooth stem group (EVOLVE; Wright Medical Group, Memphis, TN, USA). Primary
      outcomes were the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand and Mayo Elbow
      Performance Index scores. Secondary outcomes were the visual analog scale score
      for pain, range of motion, grip strength, and radiographic evaluations. RESULTS:
      Of the 80 eligible patients, 57 agreed to participate (porous stem group, 36;
      smooth stem group, 21). Demographic data were similar between the 2 groups.
      Average follow-up was 6.3 years. Average Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and
      Hand and Mayo Elbow Performance Index scores were similar between the 2 groups.
      Porous implants were more prone to osteolysis (64.3% vs. 23.5%; P = .01) and were
      associated with a greater loss of elbow flexion (6 degrees  vs. 1 degrees ; P =
      .02). The porous stem group showed a tendency toward more overstuffing (24.0% vs.
      5.9%; P = .21). CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that outcomes between smooth and
      porous stem metal modular radial head implants are equivalent. However, the
      smooth stem implant may represent the preferred option as it is associated with a
      lower rate of complications.

PMID- 28606639
TI  - Isolated serratus palsy etiology influences its long-term outcome.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS AND BACKGROUND: The cause of isolated serratus palsy is
      multifactorial, but evaluation of the mechanism of the injury indicates that the
      lesion to the long thoracic nerve is mechanical in origin in most cases. What is
      unknown, however, is how etiology influences its long-term outcome. We believed
      that overuse injuries may recover sooner and better than acute traumatic,
      infectious, or inflammatory injuries. METHODS: We determined the presumed
      etiology of isolated serratus palsy in 92 patients treated by brace or
      observation only and compared it with its long-term outcome after a mean follow
      up of 18.1 years (range, 2.1-26.9) by measuring pain, range of motion, and
      winging of the scapula. RESULTS: Trauma preceded 22 (24%) of the cases, exertion
      37 (40%), infection 14 (15%), and surgery/anesthesia 10 (11%). In 9 (10%) cases,
      no etiologic factor was evident. Serratus palsy preceded by infection recovered
      better than did cases with no infection, and those with palsy preceded by
      surgery/anesthesia had a poorer outcome than did those with no surgery (axilla,
      chest, or any other areas) or anesthesia. Those palsies caused by acute trauma or
      acute or chronic overuse/exertion had the same recovery course. DISCUSSION AND
      CONCLUSION: Etiology of isolated serratus palsy influenced long-term outcome less
      than we had expected. It seems, however, that palsies caused by infection recover
      better and those caused by surgery wherever in the body recover most poorly.

PMID- 28606640
TI  - Medical comorbidities and perioperative allogeneic red blood cell transfusion are
      risk factors for surgical site infection after shoulder arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple perioperative factors have been implicated in infection risk
      after shoulder arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to determine surgical
      site infection (SSI) risk due to medical comorbidities or blood transfusion after
      primary or revision shoulder arthroplasty. METHODS: Comprehensive data on medical
      comorbidities, surgical indication, perioperative transfusion, and SSI were
      obtained for 707 patients who underwent primary or revision hemiarthroplasty or
      total shoulder arthroplasty in a single hospital system. Multivariate Poisson
      regression was used to determine the independent association between allogeneic
      red blood cell transfusion, medical comorbidities, and SSI after controlling for
      procedure. RESULTS: The SSI rate was 1.9% for primary hemiarthroplasties and 1.3%
      for primary total shoulder arthroplasties. Among patients without prior shoulder
      infection, revision arthroplasty or prior open reduction and internal fixation
      had higher SSI risk than primary arthroplasties (incidence risk ratio [IRR],
      11.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.84-34.0; P < .001); among primary
      arthroplasties, SSI risk factors included male gender (IRR, 60.0; CI, 4.39-819; P
      = .002), rheumatoid arthritis (IRR, 8.63; CI, 1.84-40.4; P = .006), and long-term
      corticosteroid use (IRR, 37.4; CI, 5.79-242; P < .001). Perioperative allogeneic
      red blood cell transfusion significantly increased SSI risk and was dose
      dependent (IRR, 1.68 per unit packed red blood cell; CI, 1.21-2.35; P = .002).
      CONCLUSION: Gender, rheumatoid arthritis, and long-term (>1 year) corticosteroid
      use affect SSI risk after shoulder arthroplasty. Revision surgery, particularly
      in the setting of prior infection, increased risk of future infection. Finally,
      allogeneic red blood cell transfusion increases SSI risk after shoulder
      arthroplasty in a dose-dependent manner.

PMID- 28606642
TI  - A new series of reviews in CMI: 'How to ... '.

PMID- 28606641
TI  - Fatty infiltration of stage 1 or higher significantly compromises long-term
      healing of supraspinatus repairs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fatty infiltration (FI) compromises outcomes of rotator cuff repairs.
      Most clinicians consider FI of the infraspinatus, whether it is torn or intact,
      because it is most rapidly affected. The purpose of this study was to report long
      term outcomes of isolated supraspinatus repairs and to determine their
      associations with FI of the infraspinatus and supraspinatus. METHODS: The records
      of 182 patients who underwent repair of isolated supraspinatus tears and had
      preoperative magnetic resonance imaging were retrieved. Of these, 147 patients
      were evaluated at 10 years' follow-up using the Constant score and magnetic
      resonance imaging scans. RESULTS: Preoperative FI was greater in the
      supraspinatus (52% stage >=1) than in the infraspinatus (29% stage >=1). The 10
      year Constant scores were influenced by FI of the supraspinatus (P = .006) but
      not of the infraspinatus (P = .422). Multivariable regression confirmed that
      Constant scores were significantly lower for female patients, repetitive work,
      and stage 1 and stage 2 FI of the supraspinatus in addition to open surgery.
      Retear rates (Sugaya types IV-V) were also influenced by FI of the supraspinatus
      (P = .001) but not of the infraspinatus (P = .979). Shoulders with supraspinatus
      FI at stages 0, 1, and 2 had retear rates of 10%, 22%, and 31%, respectively.
      Multivariable regression affirmed that the odds of retears are significantly
      increased by both stage 1 and stage 2 FI of the supraspinatus. CONCLUSIONS: The
      Constant scores and retear rates were significantly associated with FI of the
      torn supraspinatus (stage >=1) but not of the intact infraspinatus. The authors
      recommend that rapid surgical intervention be considered, before accumulation of
      fat, especially for young, active patients.

PMID- 28606643
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of a rapid E1-antigen test for chikungunya virus infection in
      a reference setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Rapid diagnostic tests targeting virus-specific antigen could
      significantly enhance the diagnostic capacity for chikungunya virus infections.
      We evaluated the accuracy of an immunochromatographic antigen test for diagnosis
      of chikungunya in a reference laboratory for arboviruses. METHODS: An
      immunochromatographic rapid test that uses mouse monoclonal antibodies as a
      tracer against the E1-envelope protein of chikungunya (ARKRAY, Inc. Kyoto, Japan)
      was evaluated. Sensitivity was tested in sera from travellers with RT-PCR
      confirmed chikungunya virus infection (Eastern/Central/Southern African (ECSA)
      genotype) (n=9) and from patients diagnosed during the 2014-2015 chikungunya
      outbreak on Aruba (Asian genotype, n=30). Samples from patients with other
      febrile and non-febrile illnesses (n=26), sera spiked with Flavivirus and
      Alphavirus reference strains (n=13, including non-spiked serum), and samples
      containing other selected pathogens (n=20) were used to test specificity of the
      E1-antigen test. RESULTS: Sensitivity of the E1-antigen test was 8/9 (88.9%, 95%
      CI 56.5-98.0) for the ECSA genotype, but only 10/30 (33.3%, 95% CI 19.2-51.2) for
      the Asian genotype. Overall diagnostic specificity was 49/59 (83.1%, 95% CI 71.5
      90.5). CONCLUSIONS: The E1-antigen test we evaluated had fair diagnostic
      sensitivity for ECSA genotype chikungunya, but low sensitivity for Asian
      genotype, and poor overall specificity. Antibodies that react across genotypes
      will be required for further development of a rapid test for chikungunya.
      Performance of new tests should be evaluated against different chikungunya
      genotypes.

PMID- 28606644
TI  - Comparison of methods for detection of plasmid-mediated and chromosomally encoded
      colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Because of the emergence of plasmid-mediated (mcr-1 and mcr-2 genes)
      and chromosomally encoded colistin resistance, reliable methods for detecting
      colistin resistance/susceptibility in routine laboratories are required. We
      evaluated the respective performances of the BD Phoenix automated system, the
      newly developed Rapid Polymyxin NP test and the broth microdilution (BMD)
      reference method to detect colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae, and
      particularly those producing mcr-1 and mcr-2. METHODS: Colistin susceptibility of
      123 enterobacterial clinical isolates (40 colistin-susceptible and 83 colistin
      resistant isolates) was tested with the BD Phoenix automated system, the Rapid
      Polymyxin NP test and the BMD method. Molecular mechanisms responsible for
      plasmid-mediated and chromosomally encoded colistin resistance mechanisms were
      investigated by PCR and sequencing. RESULTS: Considering BMD as a reference
      method, the BD Phoenix system failed to detect ten colistin-resistant isolates
      (one Escherichia coli, one Klebsiella pneumoniae, seven Enterobacter species and
      one Salmonella enterica). The Rapid Polymyxin NP test failed to detect the same
      single E. coli isolate. Those two latter methods detected the 16 E. coli, K.
      pneumoniae and S. enterica isolates producing the plasmid-encoded mcr-1 and mcr
      2. CONCLUSIONS: The BD Phoenix system and the Rapid Polymyxin NP test are
      reliable techniques for detecting plasmid-mediated mcr-1 and mcr-2-related
      colistin resistance. However, a high rate of false susceptibility was observed
      with the BD Phoenix system, indicating that susceptibility results obtained with
      that system should be confirmed by BMD method. By contrast, the Rapid Polymyxin
      NP test showed a good agreement with the BMD method, and results were obtained
      rapidly (within 2 hours). The BMD method should be performed if minimum
      inhibitory concentration values are needed.

PMID- 28606645
TI  - Detection of causative agents of tick-borne rickettsioses in Western Siberia,
      Russia: identification of Rickettsia raoultii and Rickettsia sibirica DNA in
      clinical samples.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The main causative agent of tick-borne rickettsioses in Siberia is
      considered to be Rickettsia sibirica; however, only a few cases have been
      genetically confirmed. Other pathogenic species of Rickettsia have been detected
      in ixodid ticks in Western Siberia. The aim of this study was to detect the
      aetiological agents of tick-borne rickettsioses in Western Siberia and compare
      their clinical manifestations. METHODS: A total of 273 blood and 44 cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) samples from 273 patients hospitalized because of tick-transmitted
      infection in April-September 2016 were examined for the presence of Rickettsia
      spp., using nested PCR with subsequent sequencing. RESULTS: DNA of Rickettsia
      spp. was found in samples from 10 patients. The gltA gene fragment sequence
      analysis revealed R. sibirica DNA in seven patients (blood samples) and
      Rickettsia raoultii DNA in three patients (two blood and one CSF sample). Most
      patients infected with R. sibirica showed typical clinical symptoms, including
      high-grade fever (38.9-39.5 degrees S), myalgia, rash, eschar at the site of the
      tick bite, and elevated levels of serum aminotransferases. In contrast, patients
      infected with R. raoultii showed nonspecific symptoms with short-term fever (37.2
      37.7 degrees S); one patient had a short episode of meningeal syndrome.
      CONCLUSIONS: We report the first finding of R. raoultii DNA in clinical samples
      from Russian patients. The clinical manifestations of this rickettsiosis were
      nonspecific and differed from those caused by R. sibirica.

PMID- 28606646
TI  - Current Use and Trends in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in the United
      States.
AB  - Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT) is an established curative treatment for
      a number of malignant and nonmalignant diseases involving the hematopoietic
      system and some solid tumors. In this report, we provide information about the
      number of HCT procedures performed in the United States in 2015, and analyze
      trends and outcomes of HCT as reported to the Center for International Blood and
      Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). We show that the number of HCTs performed
      annually continues to increase, as the indications for HCT, preferred donor
      sources, and graft-versus-host prophylaxis continue to evolve. We report on
      general overall survival by indication, by disease status at transplantation, and
      by transplant type. This report provides a current perspective on transplantation
      activity in the United States with a focus on recent trends in alternative donors
      and contemporary transplantation practices.

PMID- 28606647
TI  - Multiplex quantification of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Vibrio cholera
      with three DNA targets in single reaction assay.
AB  - Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella typhi and Vibrio cholera harmful
      pathogens, which causes various diseases in humans. Rapid diagnosis of bacterial
      infection is an important for patient management and appropriate therapy during
      the early phase of the bacterial infected diseases. Among the existing techniques
      for identifying pathogens were less sensitive and time-consuming processes. In
      the present study total, 48 clinical 31 blood and 17 urine samples of patients
      suspected with the infections were collected from SVRR Hospital and used to
      detect the pathogens. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was set to
      design for the identification of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Vibrio
      cholera from the different clinical samples. Rapid diagnosis of Escherichia coli
      (E. coli), Salmonella and Vibrio cholera pathogens can be done with
      simultaneously in a single multiplex PCR assay by using specific primers with
      adjusted PCR conditions. Through this approach, the results represented with out
      of 31 blood samples 1-15 shows the positive with E. coli and remaining 14 only 11
      were correlated with multiplex results of Vibrio cholera, remaining the urine
      samples all are positive with 17 samples correlate with the Salmonella typhi.
      Through the high specificity benefits of excellent sensitivity, with high
      resolution and reproducibility. This method of results proved and illustrates the
      best potential system for diagnosing the infectious disease with modern trendy.

PMID- 28606648
TI  - Reliability of Sonographic Assessment of Biceps Femoris Distal Tendon Strain
      during Passive Stretching.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the intra-rater, inter-examiner and
      inter-observer reliability of biceps femoris long head (BFlh) tendon strain using
      ultrasound imaging. Nineteen patients (age: 20.4 +/- 0.35 y) were tested twice
      with a 1-wk interval. Each session included passive stretching from three
      different hip positions. Tests were performed independently by two examiners
      while BFlh tendon displacement (mm) and strain (%) were manually extracted from
      ultrasound video footages by two observers. Intra-rater comparisons revealed an
      intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) range of 0.87 to 0.98 and a
      variability less than 4.74%. Inter-examiner comparisons revealed an ICC2,1 range
      of 0.83 to 0.99 and less than 4.69% variability. Inter-observer ICCs ranged from
      0.93 to 0.97 with variability less than 4.89%. Using a well-defined scanning
      protocol, two experienced examiners attained high levels of intra-rater
      agreement, with similarly excellent results for inter-rater and inter-observer
      reliability for BFlh tendon displacement and strain.

PMID- 28606649
TI  - Accuracy of Lung Ultrasound in Patients with Acute Dyspnea: The Influence of Age,
      Multimorbidity and Cognitive and Motor Impairment.
AB  - Discriminating between causes of dyspnea may be difficult, particularly in the
      elderly. The aim of this retrospective study of 83 inpatients with acute dyspnea
      was to assess the influence of age, multimorbidity and cognitive or motor
      impairment on the diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound (LUS) in discriminating
      acute heart failure (AHF) from noncardiogenic dyspnea (NCD). Univariate analysis
      indicates that LUS misdiagnosis was associated with the following parameters:
      history of stroke (p = 0.037), lower activity of daily living (p = 0.039), higher
      modified-Rankin scale (mRS) (p = 0.027) and need of two operators to complete LUS
      because of reduced patient compliance (p = 0.030). Regression analysis identified
      only history of stroke (p = 0.048) as an independent predictor of LUS
      misdiagnosis. This study supports LUS usefulness to differentiate AHF from NCD.
      Our data suggest that diagnostic accuracy of LUS is affected by history of stroke
      as a proxy for severe motor impairment but not by age, cognitive impairment and
      multimorbidity.

PMID- 28606650
TI  - Low level laser therapy accelerates the extracellular matrix reorganization of
      inflamed tendon.
AB  - In tendon lesions, inflammation indicates the beginning of tissue repair and
      influences cell proliferation and the remodeling of the extracellular matrix
      (ECM). Low level laser (LLL) therapy has been an important method to induce
      tissue repair, and several studies have sought to better understand the
      therapeutic possibilities of this modality. This study analyzed the effect of LLL
      on the ECM of rat tendons during the early phase of the inflammatory process.
      Wistar rats received an intratendinous application of carrageenan adjacent to the
      osteotendinous region in the right paw. The animals were divided into the
      following groups: G1-intact, G2-animals with no treatment after the inflammation
      induction, G3-animals treated with LLL 1 and 3h after induction of inflammation
      (4J/cm2 continuous). After 4h of application, the animals of the two groups were
      euthanized with isoflurane overdose. Our results demonstrate that LLL therapy can
      promote decrease in non-collagenous protein and glycosaminoglycans content, as
      well as an increase in metalloproteinases -9, which proved, for the first time,
      that LLL therapy promotes alterations in the inflamed tendons even when analyzed
      only four hours after this process occur and could be a useful tool to improve
      the balance in inflamed tissues.

PMID- 28606652
TI  - Rocuronium versus suxamethonium for rapid sequence induction of general
      anaesthesia for caesarean section: influence on neonatal outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a previous study we compared rocuronium and suxamethonium for
      rapid-sequence induction of general anaesthesia for caesarean section and found
      no difference in maternal outcome. There was however, a significant difference in
      Apgar scores. As this was a secondary outcome, we extended the study to explore
      this finding on a larger sample. METHODS: We included 488 parturients of whom 240
      were women from the original study. Women were randomly assigned to receive
      either rocuronium 1mg/kg (ROC n=245) or suxamethonium 1mg/kg (SUX n=243) after
      propofol 2mg/kg. Anaesthesia was maintained with up to 50% nitrous oxide and up
      to one minimum alveolar concentration of sevoflurane until the umbilical cord was
      clamped. We compared neonatal outcome using Apgar scores and umbilical cord blood
      gases. RESULTS: Data were analysed for 525 newborns (ROC n=263vs. SUX n=262).
      There was a statistically significant difference in the proportion of Apgar
      scores <7 at 1min (ROC 17.5% vs. SUX 10.3%, P=0.023) but no difference at 5min
      (ROC 8% vs. SUX 4.2%, P=0.1) or 10min (ROC 3.0% vs. SUX 1.9%, P=0.58). There was
      no difference between groups in other measured outcomes. CONCLUSION: The use of
      rocuronium was associated with lower Apgar scores at 1min compared with
      suxamethonium. The clinical significance of this is unclear and warrants further
      investigation.

PMID- 28606653
TI  - General anaesthesia for caesarean section in a woman with tuberous sclerosis.

PMID- 28606654
TI  - Management of Marfan Syndrome during pregnancy: A real world experience from a
      Joint Cardiac Obstetric Service.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnancy in Marfan Syndrome (MFS) is associated with increased
      maternal risk of cardiovascular events. Given the maternal and genetic risks, pre
      conception counselling is essential to facilitate informed choices.
      Multidisciplinary antenatal care with regular imaging is mandatory and best
      delivered through a Joint Cardiac Obstetric Service (JCOS). The aim of this study
      was to compare the care delivered in a JCOS against recognised international
      standards (European Society of Cardiology (ESC)). METHODS: Pregnancies in women
      with MFS from 2005 to 2015 were identified from our institutional database.
      Patient records were reviewed and practice assessed against pre-determined
      standards based on ESC guidelines. RESULTS: There were 23 pregnancies in 15 women
      with MFS. 13/23 (57%) occurred in women with aortic dilatation at baseline. There
      were 3 important maternal cardiac events (type A dissection; deterioration in
      left ventricular function; significant left ventricular and progressive aortic
      dilatation). Four women did not have access to expert pre-conception counselling.
      These women were all referred to the JCOS late in established pregnancy. Imaging
      was often delayed and only 7/23 cases (30%) met the standard for minimum
      frequency of echocardiographic surveillance. Only 12/23 (52%) had pre-conception
      imaging of the whole aorta with CT/MRI. Distal aortic dilatation was identified
      in 7/23 cases but none of these underwent further MRI evaluation during
      pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Despite having a dedicated JCOS, our data show that
      facilitating complete obstetric and cardiac care for this group remains
      challenging. Education of local care providers and timely referral for expert pre
      conception counselling in a JCOS are key.

PMID- 28606651
TI  - Mechanisms of bile acid mediated inflammation in the liver.
AB  - Bile acids are synthesized in the liver and are the major component in bile.
      Impaired bile flow leads to cholestasis that is characterized by elevated levels
      of bile acid in the liver and serum, followed by hepatocyte and biliary injury.
      Although the causes of cholestasis have been extensively studied, the molecular
      mechanisms as to how bile acids initiate liver injury remain controversial. In
      this chapter, we summarize recent advances in the pathogenesis of bile acid
      induced liver injury. These include bile acid signaling pathways in hepatocytes
      as well as the response of cholangiocytes and innate immune cells in the liver in
      both patients with cholestasis and cholestatic animal models. We focus on how
      bile acids trigger the production of molecular mediators of neutrophil
      recruitment and the role of the inflammatory response in this pathological
      process. These advances point to a number of novel targets where drugs might be
      judged to be effective therapies for cholestatic liver injury.

PMID- 28606655
TI  - Mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension due to congenital heart disease:
      Serial changes improve prognostication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension due to congenital
      heart disease (PAH-CHD) suffer from high mortality. This underlines the
      importance of adequate risk stratification to guide treatment decisions. Several
      baseline parameters are associated with mortality, however, their prognostic
      value may weaken after years of follow-up. Therefore we investigated the
      prognostic value of serial changes in standard clinical parameters in PAH-CHD.
      METHODS: In this prospective observational cohort study we included consecutive
      PAH-CHD adults, between 2005 and 2016. Control visits to the outpatient clinic
      were standardized, including functional, biochemical and echocardiographic tests,
      according to the guidelines. The prognostic value of serial changes was
      determined with time-dependent Cox regression. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients with
      PAH-CHD were included (age 43+/-15years, 34% male, 38% Down, 73% Eisenmenger).
      During a median follow-up of 6.0 (IQR 3.7-9.3) years, 35 (38%) patients died.
      Serial changes in World Health Organization functional classification (WHO-FC, HR
      18.34 for onset class IV), six-minute walk distance (6-MWD, HR 0.65 per 50m),
      oxygen saturation at peak exercise (peak SaO2, HR 0.74 per 5%), NTproBNP (HR 2.25
      per 1000ng/l) and echocardiographic right ventricular function (TAPSE, HR 0.80
      per 0.5cm) significantly predicted mortality. Moreover, serial changes in these
      parameters were more potent predictors compared to baseline parameters, based on
      reduction in -2 log likelihood. CONCLUSIONS: Serial changes in standard clinical
      parameters have more prognostic value compared to baseline parameters in PAH-CHD.
      Our results emphasize the importance of screening for serial changes since
      periodical assessment could guide treatment decisions to delay disease
      progression.

PMID- 28606656
TI  - Divergent antiarrhythmic effects of resveratrol and piceatannol in a whole-heart
      model of long QT syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The polyphenol resveratrol and its metabolite piceatannol have
      beneficial health effects including antiarrhythmic properties in
      ischemia/reperfusion. The objective of this study was to determine potential
      antiarrhythmic effects in acquired long-QT-syndrome (LQTS). METHODS AND RESULTS:
      26 rabbit hearts were isolated and Langendorff-perfused. The IKr-blocker sotalol
      (100MUM) was infused to mimic LQTS-2. Hearts were assigned to two groups. Sotalol
      significantly prolonged action potential duration (APD90) and QT-interval in both
      groups (group 1:APD90: +18ms, p<0.01;QT: +59ms, p<0.01; group 2: APD90: +22ms,
      p<0.01; QT: +30ms, p<0.01) and also significantly increased dispersion of
      repolarization (group 1: +21ms, p<0.01; group 2: +23ms, p<0.01). Thereafter,
      hearts were additionally perfused either with resveratrol (50MUM, group 1, n=14)
      or with piceatannol (10MUM, group 2, n=12). Administration of resveratrol
      significantly reduced APD90 (-29ms, p<0.01), QT-interval(-60ms, p<0.01) and
      dispersion of repolarization (-26ms, p<0.01). In contrast, piceatannol did not
      significantly alter APD90 (+/-0ms) but shortened QT-interval (-19ms, p<0.01) and
      increased dispersion of repolarization (+15ms, p<0.01). With sotalol, 7 of 14
      bradycardic, AV-blocked hearts in group 1 and 8 of 12 in group 2 showed early
      afterdepolarizations (EAD) after lowering potassium concentration (p<0.01each).
      Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PVT) occurred in 5 of 14 (p<0.05) and 4 of
      12 hearts (p=0.09) with a total number of 42 (p<0.05) and 44 episodes (p=0.07),
      respectively. Additional infusion of resveratrol reduced EAD (2 of 14, p=0.11)
      and PVT (1 of 14 hearts, p=0.16, 3 episodes, p<0.05). Piceatannol did not
      suppress EAD or TdP (EAD in 9 of 12 and TdP in 7 of 12 hearts,50 episodes).
      CONCLUSION: Resveratrol showed beneficial antiarrhythmic properties in acquired
      LQTS. Underlying mechanism is a substantial decrease dispersion of repolarization
      leading to a suppression of triggered activity.

PMID- 28606657
TI  - The effects of fibroblast growth factor-2 delivered via a Gelfoam patch on the
      regeneration of myringosclerotic traumatic eardrum perforations lying close to
      the malleus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effects of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2)
      delivered via a Gelfoam patch on the regeneration of myringosclerotic traumatic
      tympanic membrane perforations (TMPs) lying close to the malleus. STUDY DESIGN: A
      prospective, randomized, controlled clinical study. SETTING: A university
      affiliated teaching hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We prospectively analyzed, in
      a randomized manner, the outcomes of treatment for traumatic TMPs constituting
      >25% of the tympanic membrane. The closure rates, closure times, and otorrhea
      rates were compared among patients treated via FGF-2-containing Gelfoam patches,
      Gelfoam patches alone, and observation only. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 138
      patients. The perforation closure rates in the FGF-2 plus Gelfoam patch, Gelfoam
      patch, and observation alone groups were 97.9, 89.8, and 70.7%, respectively.
      Both the FGF-2 plus Gelfoam and Gelfoam alone groups exhibited significantly
      higher closure rates than the observational group (both p<0.05).The mean closure
      times were 15.7+/-5.1, 24.8+/-4.9, and 35.7+/-9.2days in the FGF-2 plus Gelfoam
      patch, Gelfoam patch alone, and observation alone groups, respectively. The FGF-2
      plus Gelfoam patch group exhibited a significantly shorter closure time than the
      Gelfoam patch alone and observation alone groups (p<0.05). The incidences of
      purulent otorrhea were 14.6, 6.1, and 4.9% in the FGF-2 plus Gelfoam patch,
      Gelfoam patch alone, and observation alone groups, respectively. Surprisingly, 7
      of 7 (100.0%) perforations associated with purulent otorrhea completely closed in
      the FGF-2 plus Gelfoam patch group; however, no such perforation healed in either
      the Gelfoam alone or observation alone group. CONCLUSIONS: FGF-2 plus Gelfoam
      patching significantly shortened the closure time compared to observation and
      Gelfoam patching alone, and it significantly improved the closure rate (compared
      to observation alone) of myringosclerotic perforations lying close the malleus.
      FGF-2 plus Gelfoam patching is a valuable, minimally invasive alternative
      treatment that may be readily applied to outpatient settings.

PMID- 28606658
TI  - Various combinations of velopharyngeal and hypopharyngeal surgical procedures for
      treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: Single-stage, multilevel surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and outcomes of
      velopharyngeal surgeries combined with hypopharyngeal surgeries as single-stage
      interventions for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS:
      Retrospective analysis of operated patients. The velopharyngeal surgical
      interventions were uvulopalatal flap, anterior palatoplasty, expansion sphincter
      pharyngoplasty, transpalatal advancement pharyngoplasty, Cahali lateral
      pharyngoplasty, Z-palatoplasty, and modified uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. The
      hypopharyngeal surgical interventions were tongue base suspension, mucosal
      sparing partial glossectomy, genioglossus advancement, mandibulohyoid suspension,
      thyrohyoid suspension, and epiglottoplasty. RESULTS: Forty-one patients were
      enrolled after inclusion and exclusion criteria. The evaluation of symptoms and
      polysomnographic findings were performed preoperatively and at a minimum of
      3months postoperatively. The mean age was 42.17+/-9.50years and the mean follow
      up time was 6.8+/-6.0months. After single-stage multilevel surgery, the mean
      apnea hypopnea index (AHI) improved from 29.13+/-15.87events/h to 14.28+/
      16.14events/h (p<0.001). According to the classical definition of success
      criteria (>50% reduction in AHI and postoperative AHI<20events/h), the surgical
      success rate was 56%, with cure of OSA (AHI<5events/h) in 41% of study
      population. The combined surgeries also improved Epworth scores, snoring scores,
      and respiratory parameters significantly (in all p<0.05). The major complications
      were bleeding requiring re-admission in surgery room and severe tongue base edema
      which regressed by steroid administration. The minor complications were pain,
      difficulty in swallowing, velopharyngeal insufficiency, regurgitation, minor
      bleeding, and occlusion disorder. The mean postoperative period to beginning of
      normal feeding was 1.81+/-1.01days. The percentage of pain, the number of
      patients with major bleeding, and the need for patient-controlled analgesia were
      higher in patients undergoing tissue resection/ablative hypopharyngeal
      procedures. The mean postoperative period to beginning of normal feeding was
      shorter in patients undergoing suture/repositioning hypopharyngeal procedures.
      CONCLUSION: According to outcomes of this study, OSA patients with multilevel
      obstructions can benefit from combined surgeries for velopharyngeal and
      hypopharyngeal regions at the same operation stage, without experiencing
      persistent complaints. It is promising that, despite multiple levels of
      obstruction was operated at single-stage, airway safety was preserved in all
      patients.

PMID- 28606659
TI  - M2 Monocyte Microparticles Are Increased in Intracerebral Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a severe neurologic condition with
      no proven treatment. Recent evidence suggests that monocytes, a heterogenous
      group of cells with M1 and M2 phenotypes, contribute to secondary damage
      following ICH. Microparticles are vesicles .1-1 um in size that are released from
      cells. We hypothesized that M1 and M2 monocyte microparticles (mMP) would be
      differentially expressed in ICH cases and controls. METHODS: In a single-center,
      prospective, observational study, consecutive ICH cases were enrolled within 12
      hours of symptom onset. Age (+/-5 years)-, race-, and sex-matched controls were
      recruited. M1 and M2 mMP numbers were determined in plasma samples using flow
      cytometry and protein biomarkers using standardized assays. The Mann-Whitney U
      test compared M1 and M2 mMP counts between cases and controls. Standardized
      regression coefficients compared M1 and M2 mMP with C-reactive protein (CRP) and
      serum amyloid A (SAA). RESULTS: Nineteen ICH case-control pairs were enrolled.
      The median number of M1 mMP was not significantly different between ICH cases
      (8.63 * 107/milliliter (mL)) compared with controls (8.64 * 107/mL), (P = .525).
      The median number of M2 mMP was significantly higher in ICH cases (1.61 * 106/mL)
      compared with controls (4.46 * 105/mL) (P = .027). There were no significant
      associations for M1 or M2 mMP with CRP or SAA. CONCLUSION: Higher numbers of M2
      mMP in ICH cases compared with controls is hypothesis generating. It may
      represent differences in the chronic inflammatory status in patients susceptible
      to ICH, such as cellular activation or apoptosis. Further research is needed,
      including serial plasma samples, to elucidate the pathophysiology of monocytes
      and mMP following ICH.

PMID- 28606661
TI  - Effects of Virtual Reality Training using Xbox Kinect on Motor Function in Stroke
      Survivors: A Preliminary Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the Kinect gaming system (Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA) has
      been shown to be of therapeutic benefit in rehabilitation, the applicability of
      Kinect-based virtual reality (VR) training to improve motor function following a
      stroke has not been investigated. This study aimed to investigate the effects of
      VR training, using the Xbox Kinect-based game system, on the motor recovery of
      patients with chronic hemiplegic stroke. METHODS: This was a randomized
      controlled trial. Twenty patients with hemiplegic stroke were randomly assigned
      to either the intervention group or the control group. Participants in the
      intervention group (n = 10) received 30 minutes of conventional physical therapy
      plus 30 minutes of VR training using Xbox Kinect-based games, and those in the
      control group (n = 10) received 30 minutes of conventional physical therapy only.
      All interventions consisted of daily sessions for a 6-week period. All
      measurements using Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-LE), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS),
      the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), and the 10-meter Walk Test (10mWT) were performed
      at baseline and at the end of the 6 weeks. RESULTS: The scores on the FMA-LE,
      BBS, TUG, and 10mWT improved significantly from baseline to post intervention in
      both the intervention and the control groups after training. The pre-to-post
      difference scores on BBS, TUG, and 10mWT for the intervention group were
      significantly more improved than those for the control group (P <.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from the present study supports the use of additional VR
      training with the Xbox Kinect gaming system as an effective therapeutic approach
      for improving motor function during stroke rehabilitation.

PMID- 28606660
TI  - The Addition of Endovascular Intervention for Dural Venous Sinus Thrombosis:
      Single-Center Experience and Review of Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dural venous sinus thrombosis (DVST) is a cause of infarction and
      intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) that can lead to significant morbidity.
      Endovascular therapy has emerged as an adjunctive therapy in select cases but has
      been associated with increased hemorrhagic complications. We present our
      experience with a large single-center cohort of DVST cases treated with current
      generation thrombectomy devices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective
      cohort study, a chart review was performed to compare presentations and outcomes
      of patients treated with anticoagulation alone with those treated with additional
      interventional therapy, using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at discharge
      and at 90 days' follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 66 patients were included; 37 were
      treated with anticoagulation alone, and 29 underwent additional interventional
      therapy. Patients presenting with ICH or infarction had a significantly greater
      likelihood of disability at the time of discharge (odds ratio [OR] of 64.5 and
      45.8, respectively; P < .0001) and at 90 days (OR of 28.4 and 22.8, respectively;
      P < .0001). Patients presenting with ICH or infarction were more likely to be
      selected for endovascular therapy (P < .05). Endovascular therapy was typically
      performed within 24 hours of admission; 9 patients (31%) had post-treatment
      hemorrhage, with 2 being (6.9%) symptomatic. There were fewer patients with
      slight disability (mRS score <=1) in the endovascular group compared with the
      anticoagulation group at discharge (P = .05), but outcomes were not significantly
      different at 90 days (P = .19). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a higher rate of ICH or
      infarction at presentation in the endovascular group and an increased risk of
      postprocedural ICH, both treatment groups had similarly good functional outcomes
      at 90 days.

PMID- 28606662
TI  - Comparison of cerato-platanin family protein BcSpl1 produced in Pichia pastoris
      and Escherichia coli.
AB  - The Botrytis cinerea BcSpl1 protein is a member of the cerato-platanin family,
      and consists of 137 amino acids and two disulfide bridges. This protein induces
      the onset of necrosis in infiltrated plant hosts. Recombinant BcSpl1 proteins
      produced in Pichia pastoris (pBcSpl1) and Escherichia coli (eBcSpl1) were
      initially compared regarding their abilities to induce necrosis and systemic
      acquired resistance (SAR). The pBcSpl1 and eBcSpl1 treatments led to the
      development of necrotic lesions on tomato leaves, and provided tomato plants with
      SAR to B. cinerea. The lesion area of leaves infiltrated with the BcSpl1 proteins
      decreased by 22.7% (pBcSpl1) and 21.8% (eBcSpl1). Additionally, eBcSpl1 up
      regulated the expression levels of some defense-related genes, including PR-1a,
      prosystemin, PI I, and PI II, as well as SIPK and TPK1b, which encode two protein
      kinases. Furthermore, eBcSpl1 exhibited chitin-binding properties. Our data
      revealed that the E. coli expression system produces higher BcSpl1 yields than
      the P. pastoris system. This high-yield expression of BcSpl1 may be relevant for
      future large-scale applications of this elicitor to improve crop production.

PMID- 28606663
TI  - Changes After Voice Therapy in Acoustic Voice Analysis of Chinese Patients With
      Voice Disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of voice therapy on patients
      with voice disorders by comparing the acoustic parameter changes before and after
      treatment. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. METHODS: Forty-five
      female patients with early-stage vocal nodules or polyps, postoperative patients,
      and patients with chronic laryngitis were divided into three subgroups.
      Videostroboscopic, acoustic analysis (fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer,
      mean harmonics-to-noise ratio), and maximum phonation time (MPT) were measured
      before and after treatment. Fifty healthy female volunteers were the control
      group. RESULTS: After treatment, 24.4% of nodules or polyps had decreased in
      size, 11.1% of patients with chronic laryngitis and postoperative patients had
      reduced edema, and the mucosal wave of vocal folds had different degrees of
      recovery in postoperative patients. All acoustic analysis values and MPT in the
      patient group were statistically worse than in the control group, except for
      fundamental frequency before treatment (P > 0.05). After treatment, the acoustic
      analysis and MPT values were improved. However, the jitter, mean harmonics-to
      noise ratio, and MPT values in the patient group were still worse after voice
      therapy than in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Most of acoustic
      analysis values can be useful as a complementary tool in diagnosis and assessment
      of voice disorders; however, it is not recommended to use a single parameter to
      assess voice quality. Voice therapy can improve voice quality in patients with
      voice disorders, but a period longer than 8 weeks is recommended for these
      patients.

PMID- 28606664
TI  - Diagnostic strategies for urinary tract infections in French general practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe the diagnostic management procedures for
      detection of urinary tract infections in general practice and their correlated
      factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from the ECOGEN study on urinary
      tract infections, collected in France between November 2011 and April 2012. This
      national cross-sectional study was carried out in general practices. Data was
      coded according to the International Classification of Primary Care. RESULTS: A
      total of 340 consultations or home visits were held for urinary tract infections.
      The five most frequent diagnostic procedures were (in descending order) clinical
      examination (67.6%), urine cytobacteriological examination (UCBE) (47.9%), urine
      dipstick test (15.6%), blood test (8.5%), and imaging (6.5%). No urine dipstick
      test or UCBE was performed in 43% of cases. Factors correlated with diagnostic
      procedures were age and gender of patients, annual number of consultations held
      by family physicians, and duration of consultation. CONCLUSION: Family physicians
      did not comply with guidelines on diagnostic management for detection of urinary
      tract infections. We hypothesized that this non-compliance could be due to the
      family physicians' environment and characteristics, and to clinical practice
      guidelines.

PMID- 28606665
TI  - Tuberculous limbic encephalitis: A case report.

PMID- 28606666
TI  - Development of Periapical Lesions in Endodontically Treated Teeth with and
      without Periodontal Involvement: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of
      apical periodontitis (AP) in endodontically treated teeth with and without
      periodontal involvement. METHODS: The records of 602 patients with 775 root canal
      treated teeth were initially examined. Only teeth with adequate root canal
      filling, adequate coronal restoration, and no AP (periapical index = 1) were
      selected for further investigation. A total of 194 teeth were included in this
      cohort study. Age, sex, history of diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypertension, and
      immunodeficiency disorders were recorded. Two groups were made according to the
      periodontal status of the patients. The control group included periodontally
      healthy patients and the periodontal group patients with periodontal disease
      receiving nonsurgical periodontal treatment. After an observation period of at
      least 2 years, the incidence of AP was scored using the periapical index. The
      relationship between patients' variables and AP was conducted using the Cohen
      kappa test, the chi-square test, odds ratio (OR), and logistic regression
      analysis. RESULTS: Newly emerged AP was found in 14% of periodontally involved
      teeth and in 3% of nonperiodontal involved teeth (P < .05, OR = 5.19, 95%
      confidence interval). The periodontal condition and hypertension were the only
      significant factors associated with the presence of AP in the follow-up after
      univariate logistic regression. Adjusting for hypertension, multivariate logistic
      regressions showed that periodontal status remained significant (OR = 5.25, 95%
      CI, P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of developing AP in endodontically treated
      teeth is 5.19 times higher for patients with periodontal disease compared with
      patients without periodontal disease.

PMID- 28606667
TI  - A Comparative Study of ProTaper Universal and ProTaper Next Used by Undergraduate
      Students to Prepare Root Canals.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine whether final-year
      undergraduate dental students achieved better shaping outcomes using the new
      ProTaper Next (PTN; Dentsply Sirona, Ballaigues, Switzerland) system to prepare
      root canals for the first time compared with the existing ProTaper Universal
      (PTU, Dentsply Sirona) system on which they had trained. A secondary aim was to
      explore the attitudes and preferences of the students toward both systems.
      METHODS: Forty students prepared 1 simulated S-shaped canal using PTN and another
      with PTU. Images of the canals were saved before and after preparation, and the
      outcomes assessed included the formation of aberrations and the amount of resin
      removed at specific points along the canal length. Student opinions relating to
      PTN and PTU were collected via a questionnaire completed immediately after using
      the systems. For statistical analysis, the McNemar test was used to compare the
      incidence of aberrations, and a paired t test was used to analyze the width
      measurements. Responses to the questionnaire were analyzed using frequencies.
      Thus, the McNemar test was used for paired binary data and the marginal
      homogeneity test for categoric data when more than 2 categories were used.
      Finally, the overall preferences (either PTN or PTU) were analyzed using the
      sign/binomial test, which is a standard statistical test that allows us to
      determine if the proportion preferring one or the other is equal or not. RESULTS:
      Canal ledges were formed in 30% of the canals prepared with PTU, whereas no
      ledges were formed with PTN (P < .001). A middle constriction, a form of canal
      aberration, was created by both systems although it occurred significantly (P =
      .006) more often with PTN. The "number of files" was judged by students to be
      significantly higher (P < .001) for PTU compared with PTN. Even though using PTN
      for the first time, students were more likely to recommend the system to other
      students for preparing S-shaped canals than PTU (P = .018) and preferred to use
      PTN in the future (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The students who had previous
      experience with the use of PTU were able to produce comparable shaping outcomes
      when they used PTN for the first time. For the preparation of S-shaped canals,
      the students preferred PTN over PTU in terms of the number of files and would
      prefer to use it in the future.

PMID- 28606668
TI  - Detectability of Middle Mesial Root Canal Orifices by Troughing Technique in
      Mandibular Molars: A Micro-computed Tomographic Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of the present study was to measure the orifice depth
      of middle mesial canals (MMCs) and evaluate the detectability of orifices using
      troughing preparation. METHODS: For this study, 85 mandibular molar teeth with
      MMCs were selected from the scanned micro-computed tomographic images. The MMCs
      were categorized, and the distances between the MMC orifices and the
      cementoenamel junctions (CEJ) were recorded as the depth of the orifice. Data
      were evaluated with frequency analysis and a chi-square test using SPSS (SPSS
      Inc, Chicago, IL), and the results indicated a 5% significance level. RESULTS: It
      was found that 77.41% of the MMC orifices were at the CEJ level, whereas 5.38%
      and 9.69% of the MMC orifices were detectable within 1-mm and 2-mm depths from
      the CEJ, respectively. Of the specimens, 7.52% had MMC orifices deeper than 2 mm
      from the CEJ. Confluent anatomy was the most frequent configuration. No
      significant relation was detected between the orifice depth and MMC configuration
      (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that 77.41% of the specimens did not
      require troughing preparation, the remaining 15.07% would require troughing, and
      7.52% could not be accessed even with the troughing preparation.

PMID- 28606670
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Warm Vertical Compaction and Its Influence on the
      Properties of Root Canal Sealers.

PMID- 28606669
TI  - Effectiveness in the Removal of Endotoxins and Microbiological Profile in Primary
      Endodontic Infections Using 3 Different Instrumentation Systems: A Randomized
      Clinical Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This clinical study was conducted to correlate the microbiological
      profile and levels of endotoxins found in primary endodontic infection with the
      presence of clinical features and to evaluate the removal of microorganisms and
      endotoxins using rotary, reciprocating, and hybrid systems for biomechanical
      preparation. METHODS: Thirty single root canals with primary endodontic infection
      were evaluated with signs and symptoms and were randomly divided into 3 groups
      according to the instrumentation system used (n = 10) as follows: rotary Mtwo
      instruments (VDW, Munich, Germany) with 8 files, the reciprocating Reciproc
      system (VDW) with a single file, and Genius hybrid instruments with 3 files (1
      rotary and 2 reciprocating files) with irrigation using 24 mL 2.5% sodium
      hypochlorite. Samples were collected before (S1) and after instrumentation (S2)
      before being submitted to microbiological culture (colony-forming units/mL) and
      the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization test. Endotoxins were quantified using the
      limulus amebocyte lysate assay. RESULTS: Microbiological culture showed
      statistical differences in the reduction of colony-forming units/mL with all
      systems tested (P < .05), but no statistical difference was found among the
      groups. The most frequently detected species were Capnocytophaga ochracea (53%)
      and Fusobacterium nucleatum (53%) at S1 and F. nucleatum (50%) and Leptotrichia
      buccalis (50%) at S2. As for the reduction of endotoxins at S2, Mtwo presented
      the best results (95.05%) followed by the Genius (91.85%) and Reciproc (64.68%)
      groups, but no statistical difference was found among the groups. Previous pain,
      tenderness to percussion, and presence of a sinus tract were associated with
      specific microorganisms (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Signs and symptoms were
      correlated with microorganisms. Endodontic treatment was effective in reducing
      bacteria and endotoxins but was not capable of completely removing them from the
      root canal.

PMID- 28606671
TI  - External Cervical Resorption: A New Oral Manifestation of Systemic Sclerosis.
AB  - Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex, chronic, and progressive autoimmune
      disease. SSc causes bone resorption of mandible and distal phalanges of fingers
      through a known mechanism, and it has also been pointed out as a possible cause
      of apical root resorption of teeth, because tooth resorption is regulated by
      similar mechanisms to those controlling bone resorption. The objective of this
      article was to report the first case in the literature of external cervical
      resorption (ECR) as an oral manifestation of SSc. A 66-year-old female patient
      with a 35-year history of SSc was diagnosed with multiple ECRs through a
      computerized axial tomography and clinical examination. All known causes of ECR
      were discarded after a detailed anamnesis and clinical examination. This report
      details SSc as a possible cause of ECR and discusses the pathogenesis of ECR in
      relation with SSc. The systemic alterations provoked by SSc can be related to the
      etiopathogenesis of cervical root resorption. It is extremely relevant that
      dental care providers be aware that external cervical resorptions could be
      present in patients suffering from SSc, consciously look for these lesions, treat
      them early in case they are present, and advise the patient with SSc of the
      importance of continuous dental controls.

PMID- 28606672
TI  - Three-dimensional Sphere-forming Cells Are Unique Multipotent Cell Population in
      Dental Pulp Cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are typically cultured as adherent
      monolayer using a conventional tissue culture technique. However, this technique
      incompletely reproduces an in vivo microenvironment of stem cells and results in
      the loss of stemness properties. Three-dimensional (3D) sphere culture is one of
      the most widely used 3D culture techniques that have been developed to
      recapitulate the in vivo microenvironment. However, the stemness and multilineage
      differentiation capacity of spheres derived from dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs)
      have not been well investigated. METHODS: DPSCs were cultured and examined for
      the sphere-forming ability in serum-free, nonadherent conditions. The expression
      of pluripotency transcription factors was assayed by reverse transcription
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. The expression
      of MSC-associated markers was determined by flow cytometry. Multilineage
      differentiation capacity was examined by alkaline phosphatase, alizarin red S,
      and oil red O assays. Subcutaneous transplantation in nude mice was used to
      examine the in vivo mineralized tissue-forming ability of sphere and adherent
      monolayer cells derived from DPSCs. RESULTS: We showed that DPSCs form spheres.
      DPSC spheres exhibited a distinct stem cell phenotype characterized by robust
      expression of pluripotency transcription factors and decreased expression of MSC
      associated markers compared with their corresponding adherent monolayer cells.
      Functionally, DPSC spheres exhibited enhanced in vitro multilineage
      differentiation capacity. The expression of multilineage differentiation-related
      genes was also highly increased in DPSC spheres. Furthermore, DPSC sphere cells
      possessed higher in vivo mineralized tissue-forming ability than adherent
      monolayer cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that sphere-forming cells are
      unique multipotent cell populations in DPSCs. Our study further suggests that
      DPSC spheres may provide a unique opportunity for pulp tissue regeneration.

PMID- 28606673
TI  - Corrigendum to "Urban rainwater harvesting systems: Research, implementation and
      future perspectives" [Water Res. 115 (2017) 195-209].

PMID- 28606675
TI  - Unlike for PCI, for TAVR smaller is better.

PMID- 28606674
TI  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with an extremely small
      native aortic annulus: The OCEAN-TAVI registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been reported to
      be advantageous over surgical aortic valve replacement owing to the low incidence
      of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) and large effective orifice area (EOA).
      However, data on TAVI for extremely small annuli are limited. The present study
      aimed to compare post-procedural hemodynamics and morphology between 20-mm and 23
      mm Sapien XT (SXT) transcatheter heart valves (THVs) with extremely small annuli
      (<314mm2). METHODS: All patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with TAVI at
      eight Japanese centers between October 2013 and January 2016 were prospectively
      included in the Optimized CathEter vAlvular iNtervention (OCEAN-TAVI) registry.
      In the overall cohort of 20-mm (19 patients) and 23-mm SXTs (492 patients) with
      extremely small annuli, the patient groups were matched one-to-one using
      propensity scores, and post-procedural echocardiography and multidetector
      computed tomography data were compared for 18 matched patients from each group
      (matched cohort). RESULTS: In the matched cohort, the mean gradient was higher
      (15.4+/-4.1 vs. 12.2+/-4.8mmHg, p=0.04), EOA was lower (1.22+/-0.25 vs. 1.44+/
      0.37cm2, p=0.02) and THV area was lower (245.6+/-19.1 vs. 298.5+/-33.3mm2,
      p<0.01) in the 20-mm group than in the 23-mm group. However, all patients in both
      groups were asymptomatic. Although moderate PPM was more prevalent in the 20-mm
      group than in the 23-mm group (31.6% vs. 7.9%, p<0.01), the incidence of severe
      PPM was low and similar between the groups (0% vs. 0.4%, p=1.00) in the overall
      cohort. CONCLUSION: A 20-mm SXT in patients who require a small bioprosthesis
      leads to favorable short-term outcomes.

PMID- 28606677
TI  - Do we need to operate when we can?

PMID- 28606676
TI  - Burden and impact of congenital syndromes and comorbidities among adults with
      congenital heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our aim was to assess the overall burden of congenital syndromes and
      non-cardiac comorbidities among adults with congenital heart disease and to
      assess their impact on circumstances of living and outcomes. METHODS: Within a
      cohort of 1725 adults with congenital heart defects (65% defects of moderate or
      great complexity) followed at a single tertiary care center, congenital syndromes
      and comorbidities were identified by chart review. Their association with
      arrhythmias, circumstances of living and survival was analyzed. RESULTS: Within
      the study cohort, 232 patients (13%) had a genetic syndrome, 51% at least one
      comorbidity and 23% >=2 comorbidities. Most prevalent comorbidities were systemic
      arterial hypertension (11%), thyroid dysfunction (9%), psychiatric disorders
      (9%), neurologic disorders (7%), chronic lung disease (7%), and previous stroke
      (6%). In contrast to higher congenital heart defect complexity, the presence of
      comorbidities had no impact on living circumstances but patients with
      comorbidities were less likely to work full-time. Atrial arrhythmias were more
      common among patients with moderate/great disease complexity and those with
      comorbidities but were less common among patients with congenital syndromes
      (p<0.01 for all comparisons). Patients with >=2 comorbidities had lower survival
      estimates compared to those with <=1 comorbidity (p=0.013). CONCLUSION:
      Congenital syndromes and comorbidities are highly prevalent in adults with
      congenital heart disease followed at specialist centers and add to the overall
      complexity of care. The presence of these additional factors has an impact on
      living circumstances, is associated with arrhythmias and needs to be further
      explored as prognostic markers.

PMID- 28606678
TI  - Atrial fibrillation inducibility during cavo-tricuspid isthmus dependent atrial
      flutter ablation for the prediction of clinical atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and cavo-tricuspid isthmus (CTI) dependent
      atrial flutter (AFL) are two separate entities that coexist in a significant
      percentage of patients. METHODS: We sought to investigate whether AF inducibility
      during CTI AFL ablation predicted the occurrence of AF at follow up after AFL
      ablation. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total
      of 154 patients (male: 72%, age: 61+/-13) with AFL and without history of AF were
      included. All patients underwent successful CTI dependent AFL ablation
      demonstrated by bidirectional block. During ablation, AF was seen or induced in
      28 (18%) patients. After a mean follow up of 34+/-24months a total of 50 patients
      (32%) were noted with clinically manifest AF. From the patients who had inducible
      AF during AFL ablation, 50% developed post-procedural AF. From those in whom AF
      could not be induced, only 29% were documented with AF after ablation. Univariate
      and multivariate analyses revealed that only age and AF inducibility during AFL
      ablation were predictors of AF. Univariate analysis (age p=0.038 and inducible AF
      p=0.032 with odds ratio of 1.030 [95% CI (1.002-1.059)] and 2.500 [95% CI (1.084
      5.765)], respectively) and multivariate analyses (age p=0.011 and inducible AF
      p=0.016 with adjusted odds ratio of 1.043 [95% CI (1.010-1.077)] and 3.293 [95%
      CI (1.250-8.676)], respectively). CONCLUSION: AF inducibility in patients
      undergoing CTI AFL without history of AF is a strong predictor of AF occurrence
      in the future. Appropriate cardiology follow-up must be encouraged in this high
      risk population as stroke prevention strategies can be appropriately introduced
      in a timely matter especially in patients with elevated CHA2DS2-VASc scores
      (>=2).

PMID- 28606679
TI  - Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter: Two sides of the same coin!

PMID- 28606680
TI  - Pulmonary congestion evaluated by lung ultrasound predicts decompensation in
      heart failure outpatients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary congestion is the main cause of hospital admission among
      heart failure (HF) patients. Lung ultrasound (LUS) assessment of B-lines has been
      recently proposed as a reliable and easy tool for evaluating pulmonary
      congestion. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prognostic value of LUS in predicting
      adverse events in HF outpatients. METHODS: Single-center prospective cohort of 97
      moderate-to-severe systolic HF patients (53+/-13years; 61% males) consecutively
      enrolled between November 2011 and October 2012. LUS evaluation was performed
      during the regular outpatient visit to evaluate the presence of pulmonary
      congestion, determined by B-lines number. Patients were followed up for 4months
      to assess admission due to acute pulmonary edema. RESULTS: During follow-up
      period (106+/-12days), 21 hospitalizations for acute pulmonary edema occurred. At
      Cox regression analysis, B-lines number>=30 (HR 8.62; 95%CI: 1.8-40.1; p=0.006)
      identified a group at high risk for acute pulmonary edema admission at 120days,
      and was the strongest predictor of events compared to other established clinical,
      laboratory and instrumental findings. No acute pulmonary edema occurred in
      patients without significant pulmonary congestion at LUS (number of B-lines<15).
      CONCLUSION: In a HF outpatient setting, B-line assessment by LUS identifies
      patients more likely to be admitted for decompensated HF in the following
      4months. This simple evaluation could allow prompt therapy optimization in those
      patients who, although asymptomatic, carry a significant degree of extravascular
      lung water. CONDENSED ABSTRACT: Pulmonary congestion is the main cause of
      hospital admissions among heart failure patients. Lung ultrasound can be used as
      a reliable and easy way to evaluate pulmonary congestion through assessment of B
      lines. In a cohort of heart failure outpatients, a B-lines cutoff>=30 (HR 8.62;
      95%CI: 1.8-40.1) identified patients most likely to develop acute pulmonary edema
      at 120-days.

PMID- 28606681
TI  - Lung ultrasound predicts decompensation in heart failure outpatients: Another
      piece to the puzzle but still an incomplete picture.

PMID- 28606682
TI  - The mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmia in Chagas disease.

PMID- 28606684
TI  - Cardiovascular risk in adolescents.

PMID- 28606683
TI  - Prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health in European adolescents: The HELENA
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ideal cardiovascular health (iCVH) construct consists of 4 health
      behaviours and 3 health factors and is strongly related to later cardiovascular
      disease. However, the prevalence of iCVH in European adolescents is currently
      unknown. METHODS: The Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence
      (HELENA) study is a cross-sectional, multicentre study conducted in 9 European
      countries during 2006-2007 and included 3528 adolescents (1683 boys and 1845
      girls) between 12.5 and 17.5years of age. Status (ideal vs. non-ideal) for the
      health behaviours (smoking status, body mass index, physical activity and diet)
      and health factors (total cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting glucose) were
      determined. RESULTS: Overall, the prevalence of ideal health behaviours was low;
      non-smoking (60.9% ideal), body mass index (76.8%), physical activity (62.1%),
      and diet (1.7%). The prevalence of ideal health factors was; total cholesterol
      (65.8%), blood pressure (62.0%) and plasma glucose (88.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The low
      prevalence of iCVH behaviours, especially diet and physical activity, identified
      in European adolescents is likely to influence later cardiovascular health which
      strongly motivates efforts to increase ideal health behaviours in this
      population.

PMID- 28606685
TI  - Data-driven research: How it can and should influence care policies.

PMID- 28606687
TI  - SUDEP: A steep increase in publication since its definition.

PMID- 28606686
TI  - Adults with an epilepsy history fare significantly worse on positive mental and
      physical health than adults with other common chronic conditions-Estimates from
      the 2010 National Health Interview Survey and Patient Reported Outcome
      Measurement System (PROMIS) Global Health Scale.
AB  - Healthy People 2020, a national health promotion initiative, calls for increasing
      the proportion of U.S. adults who self-report good or better health. The Patient
      Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health Scale
      (GHS) was identified as a reliable and valid set of items of self-reported
      physical and mental health to monitor these two domains across the decade. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the percentage of adults with an epilepsy
      history who met the Healthy People 2020 target for self-reported good or better
      health and to compare these percentages to adults with history of other common
      chronic conditions. Using the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, we compared
      and estimated the age-standardized prevalence of reporting good or better
      physical and mental health among adults with five selected chronic conditions
      including epilepsy, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and hypertension. We
      examined response patterns for physical and mental health scale among adults with
      these five conditions. The percentages of adults with epilepsy who reported good
      or better physical health (52%) or mental health (54%) were significantly below
      the Healthy People 2020 target estimate of 80% for both outcomes. Significantly
      smaller percentages of adults with an epilepsy history reported good or better
      physical health than adults with heart disease, cancer, or hypertension.
      Significantly smaller percentages of adults with an epilepsy history reported
      good or better mental health than adults with all other four conditions. Health
      and social service providers can implement and enhance existing evidence-based
      clinical interventions and public health programs and strategies shown to improve
      outcomes in epilepsy. These estimates can be used to assess improvements in the
      Healthy People 2020 Health-Related Quality of Life and Well-Being Objective
      throughout the decade.

PMID- 28606688
TI  - TBC1D24 gene mutations are associated with high risk of sudden unexpected death.

PMID- 28606689
TI  - Sexual dysfunction and topiramate: What does lie beneath the tip of the iceberg?

PMID- 28606691
TI  - Transcranial direct current stimulation for refractory major depressive disorder
      temporal lobe epilepsy: A quantitative electroencephalography study.

PMID- 28606690
TI  - Antiparasitic treatment of neurocysticercosis - The effect of cyst destruction in
      seizure evolution.
AB  - Antiparasitic agents against Taenia solium cysticercosis have been in use since
      1979, although its use has been questioned on the basis that cysts would die
      naturally and thus treatment-induced inflammation is unnecessary. In addition,
      isolated reports have also questioned whether neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a cause
      of epilepsy. After more than three and a half decades, a large body of evidence
      is available. Little if any doubt exists about NCC as a cause of seizures - NCC
      is consistently associated with seizures when appropriate groups are compared,
      and in a large subset of cases, seizure semiology correlates with the anatomical
      location of lesions. Cyst degeneration and the subsequent inflammatory reaction
      increase seizure expression, although patients with non-inflamed cysts may have
      seizures, as do patients with long-standing, not inflamed calcified scars.
      Assessment of the evidence on cysticidal efficacy, safety, and the impact of cyst
      destruction in decreasing seizures leads to the conclusion that the benefits of
      antiparasitic treatment in parenchymal brain cysticercosis clearly outweigh the
      risks, and have provided substantive evidence of the role of NCC as a cause of
      seizures and epilepsy. Antiparasitic therapy should be considered a primary
      option in the management of patients with live or degenerating brain NCC cysts.
      This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Neurocysticercosis and
      Epilepsy".

PMID- 28606692
TI  - Percutaneous sclerotherapy of pediatric lymphatic malformations: experience and
      outcomes according to the agent used.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Analyze statistically the success, number of sessions required and
      complete duration of treatment of agents used in pediatric percutaneous
      sclerotherapy of lymphatic malformations, to determine the most suitable.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study based on outcomes from percutaneous
      sclerotherapy performed on lymphatic malformations of 56 patients conducted by
      pediatric interventional radiologist for 14 years. As first approach, the
      procedure consists of ultrasound-guided introduction of sclerosing agent.
      Sessions were repeated until clinical resolution. Success, number of sessions and
      the duration of treatment were recorded and statistical treatment of the data was
      performed to obtain further conclusions. RESULTS: Lost patients in follow up and
      other minority agents used were excluded from the data. Eventually, 52 patients
      treated with OK432 (n=29), Ethibloc (n=5) and combination therapy (n=18) were
      included. The average number of sessions and duration in months of treatment was
      respectively 2.38 and 8.6 for OK432, 1.4 and 5.6 for Ethibloc, and 1.83 and 2.30
      for dual therapy. The results were statistically significant for the difference
      in duration between OK432 and dual therapy. Also, 60-80% of patients reached
      proper results related to success, but the difference was no significant among
      the agents. Other demographic and anatomical variables were analyzed, not showing
      any difference, which supports the homogeneity of the sample. CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite of no significant difference in success and number of sessions among
      agents, longer duration of treatment with OK432 than dual therapy could mean
      greater health costs and probably greater disturb for patient and family.

PMID- 28606693
TI  - Etiological diagnosis, prognostic significance and role of electrophysiological
      study in patients with Brugada ECG and syncope.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Syncope is considered a risk factor for life-threatening arrhythmias
      in Brugada patients. Distinguishing a benign syncope from one due to ventricular
      arrhythmias is often difficult, unless an ECG is recorded during the episode. Aim
      of the study was to analyze the characteristics of syncopal episodes in a large
      population of Brugada patients and evaluate the role of electrophysiological
      study (EPS) and the prognosis in the different subgroups. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      One hundred ninety-five Brugada patients with history of syncope were considered.
      Syncope were classified as neurally mediated (group 1, 61%) or unexplained (group
      2, 39%) on the basis of personal and family history, clinical features, triggers,
      situations, associated signs, concomitant therapy. Most patients underwent EPS;
      they received ICD or implantable loop-recorder on the basis of the result of
      investigations and physician's judgment. At 62+/-45months of mean follow-up,
      group 1 showed a significantly lower incidence of arrhythmic events (2%) as
      compared to group 2 (9%, p<0.001). Group 2 patients with positive EPS showed the
      highest risk of arrhythmic events (27%). No ventricular events occurred in
      subjects with negative EPS. CONCLUSION: Etiological definition of syncope in
      Brugada patients is important, as it allows identifying two groups with different
      outcome. Patients with unexplained syncope and ventricular fibrillation induced
      at EPS have the highest risk of arrhythmic events. Patients presenting with
      neurally mediated syncope showed a prognosis similar to that of the asymptomatic
      and the role of EPS in this group is unproven.

PMID- 28606694
TI  - Syncope in Brugada syndrome: A plea for thorough anamnesis and EPS. The lessons
      from our journey in the region of Piedmont, Italy.

PMID- 28606695
TI  - Cardio-oncology: What is the Best Practice we can all strive for?

PMID- 28606696
TI  - Targeted gene knockdown validates the essential role of lactate dehydrogenase in
      Cryptosporidium parvum.
AB  - Cryptosporidium parvum is a zoonotic protozoan that can cause a life-threatening
      gastrointestinal syndrome in children and in immunocompromised adults. Currently,
      the only approved drug for treatment of Cryptosporidium infections in humans is
      nitazoxanide, but it is not effective in immunocompromised individuals or in
      children with malnutrition. This is compounded by the lack of genetic methods for
      studying and validating potential drug targets in the parasite. Therefore, in
      this study, we endeavoured to adapt the use of a phosphorodiamidate morpholino
      oligomer (morpholino) antisense approach to develop a targeted gene knockdown
      assay for use in C. parvum. We show that morpholinos, at non-toxic
      concentrations, are rapidly internalised by both C. parvum and host cells (HCT
      8), and distribute diffusely throughout the cytosol. Using morpholinos to
      separately target C. parvum lactate dehydrogenase and putative arginine n
      methyltransferase genes, within 36h of in vitro culture, we achieved over 10-fold
      down-regulation of the respective encoded proteins in C. parvum. Pursuant to
      this, we observed that knockdown of C. parvum lactate dehydrogenase produced a
      dramatic reduction in intracellular growth and development of C. parvum by 56h of
      culture. On the other hand, C. parvum putative arginine n-methyltransferase
      knockdown did not appear to have any effect on parasite growth, but nevertheless
      provided the proof-of-principle that the morpholino knockdown assay in C. parvum
      was consistent. Together, our findings present a gene regulation approach for
      interrogating gene function in C. parvum in vitro, and further provide genetic
      evidence for the essential role of C. parvum lactate dehydrogenase in fueling the
      growth and development of intracellular C. parvum.

PMID- 28606697
TI  - Whipworm kinomes reflect a unique biology and adaptation to the host animal.
AB  - Roundworms belong to a diverse phylum (Nematoda) which is comprised of many
      parasitic species including whipworms (genus Trichuris). These worms have adapted
      to a biological niche within the host and exhibit unique morphological
      characteristics compared with other nematodes. Although these adaptations are
      known, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. The availability of
      genomes and transcriptomes of some whipworms now enables detailed studies of
      their molecular biology. Here, we defined and curated the full complement of an
      important class of enzymes, the protein kinases (kinomes) of two species of
      Trichuris, using an advanced and integrated bioinformatic pipeline. We
      investigated the transcription of Trichuris suis kinase genes across
      developmental stages, sexes and tissues, and reveal that selectively transcribed
      genes can be linked to central roles in developmental and reproductive processes.
      We also classified and functionally annotated the curated kinomes by integrating
      evidence from structural modelling and pathway analyses, and compared them with
      other curated kinomes of phylogenetically diverse nematode species. Our findings
      suggest unique adaptations in signalling processes governing worm morphology and
      biology, and provide an important resource that should facilitate experimental
      investigations of kinases and the biology of signalling pathways in nematodes.

PMID- 28606699
TI  - Integrated assessment of exposure to PM2.5 in South India and its relation with
      cardiovascular risk: Design of the CHAI observational cohort study.
AB  - While there is convincing evidence that fine particulate matter causes
      cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, little of the evidence is based on
      populations outside of high income countries, leaving large uncertainties at high
      exposures. India is an attractive setting for investigating the cardiovascular
      risk of particles across a wide concentration range, including concentrations for
      which there is the largest uncertainty in the exposure-response relationship.
      CHAI is a European Research Council funded project that investigates the
      relationship between particulate air pollution from outdoor and household sources
      with markers of atherosclerosis, an important cardiovascular pathology. The
      project aims to (1) characterize the exposure of a cohort of adults to
      particulate air pollution from household and outdoor sources (2) integrate
      information from GPS, wearable cameras, and continuous measurements of personal
      exposure to particles to understand where and through which activities people are
      most exposed and (3) quantify the association between particles and markers of
      atherosclerosis. CHAI has the potential to make important methodological
      contributions to modeling air pollution exposure integrating outdoor and
      household sources as well as in the application of wearable camera data in
      environmental exposure assessment.

PMID- 28606701
TI  - Association between breastfeeding duration and postpartum weight retention of
      lactating mothers: A meta-analysis of cohort studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: To clarify the relationship between different breastfeeding
      duration and postpartum weight retention through meta-analysis. METHODS: In this
      study, all relevant studies that described the effect of breastfeeding duration
      on postpartum weight retention were identified from Pubmed, Cochrane, and
      WANGFANG databases and so on (1960-2016). This meta-analysis had been registered
      in International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42016038409).
      RESULTS: Fourteen cohort studies involving 66 comparisons were included. Compared
      with bottle-feeding mothers, breastfeeding mothers had significantly lower
      postpartum weight retention of -0.38 kg (95% confidence interval: -0.64, -0.11
      kg). Subgroup analysis showed that, mothers who were primipara, less than 30
      years old or normal pre-pregnancy body mass index had lower postpartum weight
      retention. When breastfeeding duration were stratified into <12 weeks, 12 weeks
      24 weeks, 24 weeks-48 weeks, and >=48 weeks, postpartum weight retention in
      breastfeeding women presented a U-shaped trend: a decline during early
      breastfeeding duration (year 1) (from 0.23 kg at < 12 weeks to -1.58 kg at 24-48
      weeks) and then an increase in the follow-up duration (from -1.58 kg at 24-48
      weeks to -0.97 kg at more than 48 weeks). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that
      breastfeeding including exclusive breastfeeding and mixed breastfeeding were
      inversely related to postpartum weight retention. The decreasing influence of
      breastfeeding was more significant when the lactating mothers were less than 30
      years old, primipara, normal pre-pregnant body mass index, or breastfeeding
      duration for 6-12 months.

PMID- 28606700
TI  - The distribution of blood concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium
      (Cr) and manganese (Mn) in residents of the German Ruhr area and its potential
      association with occupational exposure in metal industry and/or other risk
      factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the metal distribution in blood samples from
      the general population and the risk of having high metal concentration for metal
      workers. METHODS: Metal concentrations were determined in archived blood samples
      from 1411 men and 1410 women (median age 59 and 57 years, respectively) collected
      at baseline (2000-2003) of the prospective Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.
      Retrospective information on working in metal industry was obtained from previous
      follow-up survey (2011-2014). Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals
      (CI) of having a metal concentration >90th percentile (P90) for working in metal
      industry were calculated using logistic regression with adjustment for
      covariates. RESULTS: More men than women worked in metal industry (57 vs. 3 at
      baseline). Male metal workers had increased blood lead (Pb) (OR: 2.86; 95% CI:
      1.38-5.91) and manganese (Mn) (OR: 2.92; 95% CI: 1.46-5.81). Smoking (>=30
      cigarettes/day) strongly influenced cadmium (Cd) in blood (OR: 168; 95% CI: 55
      510). Women had higher Mn (8.92MUg/L) and Cd (0.36MUg/L) concentrations than men
      (Mn: 8.11MUg/L; Cd: 0.29MUg/L). Blood Pb in women (29.2MUg/L) was lower than in
      men (33.2MUg/L). None of the studied risk factors was significantly associated
      with chromium and nickel concentrations above their 90th percentiles.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this population-based cohort we found evidence that working in
      metal industry was predictive for having elevated blood Pb and Mn concentrations.
      However, the 95th percentiles of all investigated metals were not significantly
      influenced by metal-related occupations. The present study is supportive for
      gender-specific reference values to limit occupational exposure to Mn and Pb. The
      strong influence of smoking on blood Cd hinders establishing reference values.

PMID- 28606698
TI  - Comparative analyses of whole genome sequences of Leishmania infantum isolates
      from humans and dogs in northeastern Brazil.
AB  - The genomic sequences of 20 Leishmania infantum isolates collected in
      northeastern Brazil were compared with each other and with the available genomic
      sequences of 29 L. infantum/donovani isolates from Nepal and Turkey. The
      Brazilian isolates were obtained in the early 1990s or since 2009 from patients
      with visceral or non-ulcerating cutaneous leishmaniasis, asymptomatic humans, or
      dogs with visceral leishmaniasis. Two isolates were from the blood and bone
      marrow of the same visceral leishmaniasis patient. All 20 genomic sequences
      display 99.95% identity with each other and slightly less identity with a
      reference L. infantum genome from a Spanish isolate. Despite the high identity,
      analysis of individual differences among the 32 million base pair genomes showed
      sufficient variation to allow the isolates to be clustered based on the primary
      sequence. A major source of variation detected was in chromosome somy, with only
      four of the 36 chromosomes being predominantly disomic in all 49 isolates
      examined. In contrast, chromosome 31 was predominantly tetrasomic/pentasomic,
      consistent with its regions of synteny on two different disomic chromosomes of
      Trypanosoma brucei. In the Brazilian isolates, evidence for recombination was
      detected in 27 of the 36 chromosomes. Clustering analyses suggested two
      populations, in which two of the five older isolates from the 1990s clustered
      with a majority of recent isolates. Overall the analyses do not suggest
      individual sequence variants account for differences in clinical outcome or
      adaptation to different hosts. For the first known time, DNA of isolates from
      asymptomatic subjects were sequenced. Of interest, these displayed lower
      diversity than isolates from symptomatic subjects, an observation that deserves
      further investigation with additional isolates from asymptomatic subjects.

PMID- 28606702
TI  - Effect of hazelnut on serum lipid profile and fatty acid composition of
      erythrocyte phospholipids in children and adolescents with primary
      hyperlipidemia: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIM: Regular intake of nuts improves lipid profile and thus reduces
      the cardiovascular (CV) risk associated with hyperlipidemia. The aim of the study
      was to investigate the effect of a dietary intervention with hazelnuts (HZNs, 15
      30 g/day, depending on patient weight) on serum lipid profile, anthropometric
      parameters and fatty acids (FAs) composition of erythrocyte phospholipids in
      children and adolescents with primary hyperlipidemia. METHODS: Eight-week
      randomized, single blind, controlled, three-arm, parallel-group study. Sixty-six
      subjects were enrolled and randomized in 3 groups receiving: 1) hazelnuts with
      skin (HZN+S); 2) hazelnuts without skin (HZN-S); 3) dietary advices for
      hyperlipidemia only (controls). Before and after intervention, clinical
      parameters were measured and blood samples were collected for the evaluation of
      serum lipid levels and phospholipid FA composition of erythrocytes. RESULTS: Two
      way ANOVA showed a significant effect of time on serum low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)/LDL-C ratio and
      non-HDL-C (p <= 0.001), but not of treatment and time * treatment interaction. In
      particular, HZN+S and HZN-S significantly reduced the concentrations of LDL-C and
      increased HDL-C/LDL-C ratio. HZNs also had a favorable impact on FAs composition
      of erythrocyte phospholipids, as demonstrated by time * treatment interaction,
      with a significant increase of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) (p = 0.008)
      and MUFAs/saturated fatty acids (SFAs) ratio (p = 0.002) with respect to the
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we documented a positive effect
      of HZN consumption on lipid profile and FA composition of erythrocyte
      phospholipids in children with primary hyperlipidemia. Further studies are
      encouraged to better define HZN impact on the markers of CV risk in this
      population. The trial was registered under ISRCTN.com, ID no. ISRCTN12261900.

PMID- 28606703
TI  - Epicardial adipose tissue and cardiometabolic risk.

PMID- 28606704
TI  - Commentary on "Predictors Associated with Increased Prevalence of Abdominal
      Aortic Aneurysm in Chinese Patients with Atherosclerotic Risk Factors".

PMID- 28606705
TI  - Improving food choices and nutrient adequacy in adolescents/young adults with
      developmental disabilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (DD) have
      higher incidences of overweight and obesity than the general population and are
      currently underserved in health promotion programs. Restricted diets due to
      sensory sensitivity and physiological difference are often followed by persons
      with DD resulting in nutrient inadequacies, which may contribute to overweight
      and obesity. Closing the gap of healthcare disparities for persons with DD must
      start by increasing awareness of factors causing overweight and obesity, and
      development of strategies and programs to reduce incidences of overweight and
      obesity for persons with DD. OBJECTIVE: To investigate if implementation of an
      appropriately planned nutrition education program resulted in changes in food
      choices that improve the nutrient adequacy of the diet as a method of combatting
      or controlling incidences of obesity and overweight in persons with DD. METHODS:
      Pre-study, post-intervention questionnaires were administered to assess
      participants' nutritional needs, aid in program design, and evaluate program
      appropriateness. Parental group discussions and nutrition education lessons were
      conducted over a 6-week period. Three-day food logs were collected and analyzed
      pre-study and post-intervention using the National Cancer Institute's ASA24-2014
      software. RESULTS: Results showed reductions of intake of fat, saturated fat,
      sodium, and sugar, and increases in intake of fiber, Vitamins A, C, and D, but
      there were no statistically significant differences from pre-study to post
      intervention for any nutrient at the p < 0.05 level except cholesterol.
      CONCLUSIONS: Qualitative data indicated program success; changes in nutrient
      intake were insignificant, supporting the need for further research in this area.

PMID- 28606706
TI  - Self-reported physical activity using International Physical Activity
      Questionnaire in adolescents and young adults with visual impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Young people with visual impairment (VI) face many environmental
      barriers that influence physical activity. OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were
      to assess the level of physical activity (PA) in students with VI, with regard to
      their age, gender, level of VI, body mass index and abdominal obesity (AO), and
      to identify the percentage of study participants who did not meet the
      international recommendations for PA. METHODS: Anthropometric measurements were
      taken to assess the body mass index and waist-to-height ratio. The PA level was
      measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire- Long Form. A
      sample of 122 students with VI aged 15.1-22.7 years were included in the study.
      RESULTS: The mean total PA was 8514.5 +/- 7201.0 Metabolic Equivalents min/week.
      Students with normal weight and excess weight had much greater total PA scores
      than those who were underweight (p < 0.05). Students with abdominal obesity had
      slightly lower total PA than those without AO. Blind students were engaged less
      in PA in most of the domains than partially-sighted students. Overall, 39.3% of
      participants did not meet the recommendation of 75 min/week of vigorous PA, and
      23.8% did not meet the recommendation of almost 150 min/week of moderate PA. In
      total, 32.8% of participants did not meet the international recommendations of
      420 min/week moderate or vigorous PA. CONCLUSION: To improve the PA level of
      students with VI, health promotion initiatives focused on promoting PA during
      their school days and free time are required, based on innovative methods
      adjusted to their needs.

PMID- 28606707
TI  - Disparities in compliance with the Oncotype DX breast cancer test in the United
      States: A National Cancer Data Base assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oncotype DX (ODX) is a multi-gene tumor assay for breast cancer
      patients. Our objective is to assess whether eligible ODX patients received the
      test and whether recommendations were followed based on respective risk. METHODS:
      We retrospectively analyzed testing in patients deemed eligible for ODX using the
      National Cancer Data Base. RESULTS: A total of 158,235 patients met ODX
      eligibility criteria. Sixty-four percent of eligible patients did not receive the
      test. Non-testing rose with age. White patients were more likely to be tested
      (56%) versus black patients (46%, p < 0.0001). Testing was highest at academic
      facilities (40%). Privately insured patients were more likely to get the test
      compared to uninsured (45 versus 34%, p < 0.0001). Those in the highest income
      quartile were more likely to be tested (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ODX is under
      utilized, with racial and socio-economic factors influencing testing. Further
      studies are necessary to identify ways to remove disparities and increase testing
      when appropriate.

PMID- 28606708
TI  - Hurwitz stability analysis of fractional order LTI systems according to principal
      characteristic equations.
AB  - With power mapping (conformal mapping), stability analyses of fractional order
      linear time invariant (LTI) systems are carried out by consideration of the root
      locus of expanded degree integer order polynomials in the principal Riemann
      sheet. However, it is essential to show the left half plane (LHP) stability
      analysis of fractional order characteristic polynomials in the s plane in order
      to close the gap emerging in stability analyses of fractional order and integer
      order systems. In this study, after briefly discussing the relation between the
      characteristic root orientations and the system stability, the author presents a
      methodology to establish principal characteristic polynomials to perform the LHP
      stability analysis of fractional order systems. The principal characteristic
      polynomials are formed by factorizing principal characteristic roots. Then, the
      LHP stability analysis of fractional order systems can be carried out by using
      the root equivalency of fractional order principal characteristic polynomials.
      Illustrative examples are presented to explain how to find equivalent roots of
      fractional order principal characteristic polynomials in order to carry out the
      LHP stability analyses of fractional order nominal and interval systems.

PMID- 28606709
TI  - A review and comparison of fault detection and diagnosis methods for squirrel
      cage induction motors: State of the art.
AB  - Preventing induction motors (IMs) from failure and shutdown is important to
      maintain functionality of many critical loads in industry and commerce. This
      paper provides a comprehensive review of fault detection and diagnosis (FDD)
      methods targeting all the four major types of faults in IMs. Popular FDD methods
      published up to 2010 are briefly introduced, while the focus of the review is
      laid on the state-of-the-art FDD techniques after 2010, i.e. in 2011-2015 and
      some in 2016. Different FDD methods are introduced and classified into four
      categories depending on their application domains, instead of on fault types like
      in many other reviews, to better reveal hidden connections and similarities of
      different FDD methods. Detailed comparisons of the reviewed papers after 2010 are
      given in tables for fast referring. Finally, a dedicated discussion session is
      provided, which presents recent developments, trends and remaining difficulties
      regarding to FDD of IMs, to inspire novel research ideas and new research
      possibilities.

PMID- 28606710
TI  - Leisure-time physical activity and risk of disability incidence: A 12-year
      prospective cohort study among young elderly of the same age at baseline.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To clarify the role of physical activity in preventing disability in
      Japan, we investigated the association between amount of leisure-time physical
      activity and incidence of disability among the young elderly. METHODS: In the New
      Integrated Suburban Seniority Investigation (NISSIN) project conducted from 1996
      to 2013, we followed 2888 community-dwelling adults aged 64-65 years with no
      history of cerebrovascular disease for a median follow-up of 11.6 years.
      Disabilities were defined as follows based on the classifications of the Japanese
      long-term care insurance system: 1) support or care levels (support levels 1-2 or
      care levels 1-5); 2) care levels 2-5; 3) support or care levels with dementia;
      and 4) care levels 2-5 or death. In addition, we also assessed 5) all-cause
      mortality. RESULTS: After controlling for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and
      medical factors, male participants reporting an activity level of 18.1 metabolic
      equivalent (MET)-hours/week (the median among those with activities) or more had
      52% less risk of being classified as support or care levels with dementia
      compared with the no activity group (hazard ratio 0.48; 95% confidence interval,
      0.25-0.94). No significant association was found among women between amount of
      leisure-time physical activity and incidence of disability. CONCLUSION: We
      identified an inverse dose-response relationship between the amount of leisure
      time physical activity and the risk of disability with dementia in men.
      Therefore, a higher level of physical activity should be recommended to young
      elderly men to prevent disability with dementia.

PMID- 28606711
TI  - Impact of atopic dermatitis on health-related quality of life and productivity in
      adults in the United States: An analysis using the National Health and Wellness
      Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given its public health impact, there is need for broad and
      representative data on the humanistic burden of atopic dermatitis (AD).
      OBJECTIVE: To establish the humanistic burden of AD in US adults. METHODS: Data
      were from the 2013 US National Health and Wellness Survey; AD self-reports were
      propensity-matched with non-AD controls and with psoriasis controls. Bivariate
      analyses were conducted on burden outcomes between the AD and control groups.
      RESULTS: Demographics and baseline characteristics were comparable between
      matched groups. Subjects with AD (n = 349) versus non-AD controls (n = 698) had
      significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders (29.8%,
      31.2%, and 33.2% vs 16.1%, 17.3%, and 19.2%, respectively [all P < .001]); a
      lower Short Form-36 v2 mental component summary score (44.5 vs 48.0, respectively
      [P < .001]); a lower physical component summary score (47.6 vs 49.5, respectively
      [P = .004]), and lower health utilities (0.67 vs 0.72, respectively [P < .001])
      in addition to a higher work absenteeism rate (9.9% vs 3.6%, respectively [P <
      .001]) and activity impairment rate (33.6% vs 25.2%, respectively [P < .001]).
      Subjects with AD and psoriasis controls (n = 260 each) showed similar impairment
      in health-related quality of life and productivity. LIMITATIONS: Data were self
      reported. CONCLUSION: AD is associated with a substantial humanistic burden that
      is similar in magnitude to that of psoriasis, which is also recognized for its
      debilitating symptoms, indicating the need for more effective treatments for AD.

PMID- 28606712
TI  - Development of classification criteria for discoid lupus erythematosus: Results
      of a Delphi exercise.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No classification criteria currently exist for discoid lupus
      erythematosus (DLE), which has led to problematic heterogeneity in both
      observational and interventional research efforts. OBJECTIVES: We sought to
      develop DLE classification criteria based on consensus of international expert
      opinion of relevant stakeholders in the field. METHODS: Using a Delphi consensus
      process and nominal group techniques, potential items for classification criteria
      were generated. Experts ranked items in terms of their appropriateness and
      ability to discriminate DLE from other diagnoses, and items were subsequently
      eliminated using consensus exercises. RESULTS: A final list of 12 clinical and
      histopathologic items was generated for potential inclusion into a set of DLE
      classification criteria through a formal ongoing validation process. LIMITATIONS:
      The participants are predominantly composed of DLE experts in North America and
      Europe. CONCLUSION: This work represents a key step toward the development of
      formal DLE classification criteria.

PMID- 28606713
TI  - Rhabdomyolysis and coeliac disease: A causal or casual association? A case report
      and review of literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rhabdomyolysis is a rare, potentially life-threatening condition,
      caused by multiple disorders. The association with Coeliac Disease (CD) has been
      rarely reported and in these cases muscular damage was imputed to hypokalemia.
      Herein we describe a new case of severe rhabdomyolysis in a child subsequently
      diagnosed as affected by CD, and review previous reports. CASE PRESENTATION: A 3
      year-old boy was referred for diarrhea, brown urine, muscular pain/weakness, and
      no history of muscular trauma. At entry, laboratory tests showed elevated levels
      of creatine kinase (CK) (x100 unv) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (x10
      unv), alanine aminotrasferase (ALT) (x5 unv); electrolytes were within the
      reference range. Twenty-four hours after admission serum CK peaked 115,000 U/L
      and transaminases increased up to 30 times unv. Hyperhydration treatment was
      started with renal function monitoring. Urine output decreased little, while
      serum creatinine and urea nitrogen stayed within the reference range. Serum
      potassium levels went down to 2.8 mEq/L at day 3, in spite of supplementation.
      The patient completely recovered at day 16. Main metabolic causes of
      rhabdomyolysis were ruled out by appropriate tests. Because of rarely reported
      cases of CD/rhabdomyolysis, anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies were
      measured and found positive (IgA 34 U/mL, unv <9). HLA typing was DQA1 05:02,
      DQB1 03:02. As jejunal biopsy showed patchy villous atrophy, gluten free diet
      (GFD) was prescribed. One year after starting GFD, histology was normal. REVIEW
      OF LITERATURE: Literature (search engines: PUB MED and GOOGLE SCHOLAR) from 1980
      to 2016 retrieved 8 cases (age range: 12 to 75 years old) previously described.
      CONCLUSION: The present case suggests to check for CD in children with severe
      rhabdomyolysis. Because severe rhabdomyolysis itself may elevate the serum
      potassium levels, hypokalemia might go unrecognized as the cause of muscular
      damage.

PMID- 28606714
TI  - Effect of physical exercise on brain and lipid metabolism in mouse models of
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous demyelinating disease characterized
      by cyclic loss and repair of myelin sheaths associated with chronic inflammation
      and neuronal loss. This degenerative pathology is accompanied by modified levels
      of oxysterols (oxidative derivatives of cholesterol, implicated in cholesterol
      metabolism), highlighted in the brain, blood and cerebrospinal fluid of MS
      patients. The pathological accumulation of such derivatives is thought to
      participate in the onset and progression of the disease through their implication
      in inflammation, oxidative stress, demyelination and neurodegeneration. In this
      context, physical exercise is envisaged as a complementary resource to ameliorate
      therapeutic strategies. Indeed, physical activity exerts beneficial effects on
      neuronal plasticity, decreases inflammation and oxidative stress and improves
      blood-brain integrity in extents that could be beneficial for brain health. The
      present review attempts to summarize the available data on the positive effect of
      physical exercise to highlight possible links between physical activity and
      modulation of cholesterol/oxysterol homeostasis in MS.

PMID- 28606715
TI  - The interaction of antimicrobial peptides with membranes.
AB  - The interaction of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with biological membranes is in
      the focus of research since several years, and the most important features and
      modes of action of AMPs are described in this review. Different model systems can
      be used to understand such interactions on a molecular level. As a special
      example, we use 2D and 3D model membranes to investigate the interaction of the
      natural cyclic (Ar-1) and the synthetic linear molecule arenicin with selected
      amphiphiles and phospholipids. A panoply of sophisticated methods has been used
      to analyze these interactions on a molecular level. As a general trend, one
      observes that cationic antimicrobial peptides do not interact with cationic
      amphiphiles due to electrostatic repulsion, whereas with non-ionic amphiphiles,
      the peptide interacts only with aggregated systems and not with monomers. The
      interaction is weak (hydrophobic interaction) and requires an aggregated state
      with a large surface (cylindrical micelles). Anionic amphiphiles (as monomers or
      micelles) exhibit strong electrostatic interactions with the AMPs leading to
      changes in the peptide conformation. Both types of peptides interact strongly
      with anionic phospholipid monolayers with a preference for fluid layers. The
      interaction with a zwitterionic layer is almost absent for the linear derivative
      but measurable for the cyclic arenicin Ar-1. This is in accordance with
      biological experiments showing that Ar-1 forms well defined stable pores in
      phospholipid and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) membranes (cytotoxicity). The synthetic
      linear arenicin, which is less cytotoxic, does not affect the mammalian lipids to
      such an extent. The interaction of arenicin with bacterial membrane lipids is
      dominated by hydrogen bonding together with electrostatic and hydrophobic
      interactions.

PMID- 28606716
TI  - The relation between given volume and heart rate during newborn resuscitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During delivery room resuscitation of depressed newborns, provision
      of appropriate tidal volume (TV) with establishment of functional residual
      capacity (FRC) is essential for circulatory recovery. Effective positive pressure
      ventilation (PPV) is associated with a rapid increase in heart rate (HR). The
      relationship between delivery of TV and HR responses remains unclear. OBJECTIVES:
      The study objectives were to determine (1) the relationship between a given TV
      during initial PPV and HR responses of depressed newborns, and (2) the optimal
      delivered TV associated with a rapid increase in HR. METHODS: In a Tanzanian
      rural hospital, ventilation and ECG signals were recorded during neonatal
      resuscitation and stored in Neonatal Resuscitation Monitors. Resuscitators
      without positive end-expiratory pressure were used for PPV. No oxygen was used.
      Perinatal events were observed and recorded by research assistants. RESULTS: 215
      newborns of gestational age 37.3+/-1.9 weeks and birth weight 3115+/-579g were
      included. There was a non-linear relationship between delivered TV and HR
      increase. TV of 9.3ml/kg produced the largest increase in HR during PPV. Frequent
      interruptions of PPV sequences to provide stimulation/suctioning occurred in all
      cases and were associated with further HR increases, especially for newborns with
      initial HR<100 beats/minute. CONCLUSIONS: There was a consistent positive
      relationship between HR increase and delivered TV. The unanticipated finding of a
      further increase in HR with PPV pauses to provide stimulation/suctioning suggests
      that most newborns were in primary rather than secondary apnea.

PMID- 28606717
TI  - ERC Research NET-The network for sudden cardiac arrest and resuscitation research
      in Europe.

PMID- 28606718
TI  - Abdominal imaging post bariatric surgery: predictors, usage and utility.
AB  - PURPOSE: A lack of well-defined postoperative imaging guidelines for bariatric
      patients may lead to false-positive findings, radiation exposure, additional
      cost, and patient anxiety. We investigated our institutional usage and utility of
      nonroutine postoperative abdominal imaging. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Laparoscopic
      gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients over a 5-year period were
      retrospectively identified. All bariatric-related nonroutine initial and all
      subsequent prompted abdominal and pelvic imaging was included. RESULTS: A total
      of 578 patients were included (399 gastric bypass, 179 sleeve gastrectomy); 907
      nonroutine studies in 69% of patients were performed, and 36% patients underwent
      computed tomography (CT). Only 20.3% of findings were symptom-related, 26% had
      benign incidental findings, and 50% were negative. Incidental findings prompted
      71 additional studies. Bypass procedure (sleeve versus bypass, odds ratio [OR]
      .3), older age (median 43 versus 48 years), and lower initial body mass index
      (BMI) (median 43 versus 45) increased the likelihood of imaging. History of prior
      abdominal surgery and dyspepsia increased the probability of undergoing CT by an
      odds ratio of 1.8 and 2.0, respectively (P<.05). History of ulcer (OR .6) or
      reflux on routine upper gastrointestinal imaging (OR .3) decreased probability
      (P<.05). Patients who underwent CT were more likely to undergo other abdominal
      imaging (3 versus 1 study per patient, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative
      abdominal imaging in the bariatric population is common, with almost 70% of
      patients undergoing imaging and 70% of findings not related to patient symptoms.
      Bypass procedure, older age, and lower initial BMI were associated with a higher
      likelihood of patients undergoing imaging. Heightened understanding of this
      important subject is necessary to help streamline cost-effective imaging
      protocols for these patients.

PMID- 28606720
TI  - The Magical Revolution.

PMID- 28606719
TI  - [Alcohol or coffee to help keep melanoma at bay].

PMID- 28606722
TI  - Fully automated breast boundary and pectoral muscle segmentation in mammograms.
AB  - Breast and pectoral muscle segmentation is an essential pre-processing step for
      the subsequent processes in computer aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. Estimating
      the breast and pectoral boundaries is a difficult task especially in mammograms
      due to artifacts, homogeneity between the pectoral and breast regions, and low
      contrast along the skin-air boundary. In this paper, a breast boundary and
      pectoral muscle segmentation method in mammograms is proposed. For breast
      boundary estimation, we determine the initial breast boundary via thresholding
      and employ Active Contour Models without edges to search for the actual boundary.
      A post-processing technique is proposed to correct the overestimated boundary
      caused by artifacts. The pectoral muscle boundary is estimated using Canny edge
      detection and a pre-processing technique is proposed to remove noisy edges.
      Subsequently, we identify five edge features to find the edge that has the
      highest probability of being the initial pectoral contour and search for the
      actual boundary via contour growing. The segmentation results for the proposed
      method are compared with manual segmentations using 322, 208 and 100mammograms
      from the Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS), INBreast and Breast Cancer
      Digital Repository (BCDR) databases, respectively. Experimental results show that
      the breast boundary and pectoral muscle estimation methods achieved dice
      similarity coefficients of 98.8% and 97.8% (MIAS), 98.9% and 89.6% (INBreast) and
      99.2% and 91.9% (BCDR), respectively.

PMID- 28606721
TI  - Why does cervical cancer occur in a state-of-the-art screening program?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of cervical screening is to detect and treat precancers
      before some become cancer. We wanted to understand why, despite state-of-the-art
      methods, cervical cancers occured in relationship to programmatic performance at
      Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), where >1,000,000 women aged
      >=30years have undergone cervical cancer screening by triennial HPV and cytology
      cotesting since 2003. METHODS: We reviewed clinical histories preceding cervical
      cancer diagnoses to assign "causes" of cancer. We calculated surrogate measures
      of programmatic effectiveness (precancers/(precancers and cancers)) and
      diagnostic yield (precancers and cancers per 1000 cotests), overall and by age at
      cotest (30-39, 40-49, and >=50years). RESULTS: Cancer was rare and found mainly
      in a localized (treatable) stage. Of 623 cervical cancers with at least one
      preceding or concurrent cotest, 360 (57.8%) were judged to be prevalent
      (diagnosed at a localized stage within one year or regional/distant stage within
      two years of the first cotest). Non-compliance with recommended screening and
      management preceded 9.0% of all cancers. False-negative cotests/sampling errors
      (HPV and cytology negative), false-negative histologic diagnoses, and treatment
      failures preceded 11.2%, 9.0%, and 4.3%, respectively, of all cancers. There was
      significant heterogeneity in the causes of cancer by histologic category (p<0.001
      for all; p=0.002 excluding prevalent cases). Programmatic effectiveness (95.3%)
      and diagnostic yield were greater for squamous cell versus adenocarcinoma
      histology (p<0.0001) and both decreased with older ages (ptrend<0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: A state-of-the-art intensive screening program results in very few
      cervical cancers, most of which are detected early by screening. Screening may
      become less efficient at older ages.

PMID- 28606723
TI  - Changes in cortical excitability during paired associative stimulation in
      Parkinson's disease patients and healthy subjects.
AB  - Paired associative stimulation (PAS) combines repetitive peripheral nerve
      stimulation with motor cortex (M1) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), to
      induce plastic-like changes of cortical excitability. While much attention has
      been dedicated to post-PAS effects little is known about processes during PAS. We
      compared the time-course of changes in M1 excitability during standard
      facilitatory PAS intervention among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), known
      to have diminished post-PAS response, and healthy subjects. Compared to baseline
      pre-PAS MEPs, conditioned MEPs during PAS decreased significantly in both groups.
      The decrease was significantly larger in healthy subjects than in PD patients,
      regardless whether patients were drug-naive or not. Although post-PAS
      excitability increase was also larger in healthy subjects than in PD patients,
      there was no significant correlation between the two phenomena, i.e. the extent
      of MEP decrease during PAS and the extent of the post-PAS excitability increase.
      The results highlight an apparent physiological paradox that repetitive
      application of an inhibitory stimulation pattern leads to subsequent prolonged
      facilitation, thus broadening the understanding of the phenomenology of PAS
      response. Results also suggest that in PD cortical circuits involved in conveying
      inhibition during PAS, are impaired at the clinical onset of the disease and are
      not influenced by subsequent PD treatment.

PMID- 28606724
TI  - Sonodynamic therapy, a treatment developing from photodynamic therapy.
AB  - Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) as a new non-invasive treatment developed from
      photodynamic (PDT), it can kill tumor cells specifically and selectively.
      Moreover, recently studies showed SDT has potential to treat solid tumor,
      leukemia and atherosclerosis, remove proliferative scars and kill pathogenic
      microorganism. As SDT has an extensive application prospect, SDT has attracted
      more and more research recently. This thesis aims to be an informative
      introduction on SDT. With the assistance of related literature from 2012 to 2016,
      we introduce the progress of SDT research in six aspects: the therapeutic
      mechanism of SDT, development of the sound sensitizer, exploration of the size
      and frequency of ultrasonic energy, application of SDT, comparison between SDT
      and PDT, and current situation and future of SDT.

PMID- 28606725
TI  - Do packed red blood cell transfusions really worsen oncologic outcomes in colon
      cancer?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data from small retrospective studies have argued that perioperative
      packed red blood cell transfusions may increase the risk of developing metastatic
      recurrence in cancer patients. This study tests this assumption in a large cohort
      spanning a decade of operatively treated colon cancer patients. METHODS: All
      patients undergoing primary resection of a colon cancer at a tertiary care center
      between 2004-2014 (n = 1,423) were included in a retrospective review of a
      prospectively maintained data repository. Survival and disease-free survival were
      compared and also adjusted in multivariable Cox regression standardized for
      follow-up, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, age, sex, postoperative
      chemotherapy, baseline staging, and tumor grade. RESULTS: Of the 1,423 patients,
      305 (21.4%) received a perioperative packed red blood cell transfusion during
      their index admission. During follow-up, overall mortality was greater in
      patients who received perioperative packed red blood cell (53.1% vs 30.9%; P <
      .001); however, there were no appreciable differences in rates of long-term
      distant recurrence (in patients without baseline metastasis 11.1% vs 13.9%; P =
      .25), or disease-specific mortality (21.3% vs 17.3%; P = .104; without baseline
      metastasis: 8.6% vs 8.9%; P = .89). Similarly, multivariable Cox regression
      showed no statistical difference in recurrence (hazard ratio: 0.83, 95%
      confidence interval, 0.83-1.26; P = .38) or disease-specific mortality (hazard
      ratio: 1.12, 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.51; P = .47). CONCLUSION: Mortality
      rates were significantly greater in patients with perioperative packed red blood
      cell transfusions, a finding that is backed by a body of evidence that associates
      perioperative packed red blood cell transfusion with comorbidity and serious
      illness, but contrary to earlier evidence, findings in our cohort do not support
      a hypothesis that perioperative perioperative packed red blood cell transfusions
      have a detrimental effect on recurrence rates of operatively treated colon cancer
      patients.

PMID- 28606726
TI  - Patients are well served by Collis gastroplasty when indicated.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Debate persists over the impact of Collis gastroplasty (CG) on
      outcomes after anti reflux surgery. This study analyzed operative and quality of
      life (QOL) outcomes from one of the largest series of laparoscopic anti reflux
      surgery (LARS) with CG reported to date. METHODS: A retrospective review was
      conducted to compare outcomes between patients undergoing LARS with CG versus
      without CG at two large centers with expertise in foregut surgery from October
      2004-December 2011 and July 2012-September 2016. Demographic, perioperative, and
      QOL data were reviewed. Four validated surveys were used for QOL outcomes: reflux
      symptom index (RSI), gastroesophageal reflux disease health-related QOL (GERD
      HRQL), laryngopharyngeal reflux health-related QOL (LPR-HRQL), and swallowing QOL
      (SWAL-QL). RESULTS: 480 patients consisted of 149 Collis vs 331 non-Collis with
      mean age of 66.3 vs 58.9 years (P <= .001), BMI of 28.6 vs 29.7 (P = .040) and
      ASA score of 2.4 vs 2.2 (P = .005) were included. Collis patients underwent
      longer duration operations (133.2 mins vs 94.2; P <= .001) with greater duration
      of hospital stay (3.1 vs 1.8; P <= .001). Thirty-day readmission and reoperation
      rates were equivalent between the two groups. Wound and non-wound related
      complications were also comparable. After mean 12 month follow up, QOL assessment
      revealed significant improvements for all patients post-surgery with comparable
      results between Collis and non-Collis patients. Furthermore, CG did not
      contribute to post-operative dysphagia, reflux, or a significant leak rate.
      CONCLUSION: Patients who require a CG to address a true short esophagus during
      LARS have comparable operative and QOL benefits as non-Collis patients without
      added morbidity or mortality.

PMID- 28606727
TI  - Expression patterns of p38alphaMAPK during follicular development in the ovaries
      of neonatal rats.
AB  - The p38alphaMAPK signaling pathway plays a critical role in female reproduction,
      but an understanding of its expression in rats remains elusive. This study was
      carried out to investigate the temporal and spatial expression of p38alphaMAPK
      and p-p38alphaMAPK. Ovarian tissue samples were collected from 2-, 4-, 8-, 12-,
      16-, 20- and 30-day-old female rats. Western blotting was used to examine the
      relative expression of p38alphaMAPK and p-p38alphaMAPK in ovarian tissue, and
      subcellular localization was examined using immunohistochemistry of the rat
      ovaries at different ages of postpartum. The immunohistochemical results showed
      that p38alphaMAPK and p-p38alphaMAPK were widely expressed in the rat ovaries,
      mainly localized in the follicle cells and granulosa cells. The expression of
      p38alphaMAPK was relatively stable for the different stages of oocytes, whereas
      the expression of p-p38alphaMAPK gradually increased. At different stages of
      granulosa cells, the expression of p38alphaMAPK was also relatively stable, and
      the p-p38alphaMAPK expression showed an upward trend during follicular
      development. Western blotting revealed that the expression of p38alphaMAPK in the
      ovaries was relatively stable, where as p-p38alphaMAPK expression initially
      exhibited an increasing trend and subsequently decreased, with a maximum at day
      20. The expression patterns of p38alphaMAPK and p-p38alphaMAPK in the rat ovaries
      indicate their possible involvement in folliculogenesis. Taken together, the
      stage- and cell-specific expression of p-p38alphaMAPK in rat ovaries indicated
      that p-p38alphaMAPK might play a vital role during rat follicular development.

PMID- 28606728
TI  - A histomorphometric study on the effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) combined
      with a high-calorie diet (HCD) on aortic perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT).
AB  - Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), surrounding arteries is metabolically active.
      Obesity and antiretroviral therapy (ART) may cause pathophysiological conditions
      in the aortic wall and surrounding PVAT. The aim of the study was to determine
      the histological effects on the aortic wall, aortic PVAT adipocyte morphology and
      leptin staining intensity in obese rats treated with ART. Wistar rats (N=36) were
      divided into four groups; a lean control (C/ART-), ART control (C/ART+), high
      calorie diet (HCD) untreated (HCD/ART-) and HCD and ART experimental (HCD/ART+).
      The aorta and surrounding PVAT were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and
      anti-leptin antibodies for immunohistochemistry (IHC). The C/ART+ group had a
      thinner tunica media compared to the HCD/ART- group. The tunica adventitia was
      thicker in the ART groups (C/ART+ and HCD/ART+) compared to the lean control
      group. White adipocytes in the HCD/ART- group was larger in size compared to the
      other three groups. The high-calorie diet groups (HCD/ART- and HCD/ART+) had
      increased adipocyte sizes, for both brown and differentiating adipocytes,
      compared to the control groups (C/ART- and C/ART+). The unilocular and
      differentiating adipocytes in the C/ART+ group showed intense leptin staining.
      Unilocular and differentiating adipocytes in the HCD/ART- and HCD/ART+ groups
      showed weak to no leptin staining intensity. The present study indicated that ART
      and a HCD, separately and combined, altered both the tunica media and adventitia
      of the aortic wall, whereas the HCD alone caused adipocytes to increase in size.
      The leptin staining intensity suggested that ART alone may lead to increased
      leptin expression, whereas ART combined with a HCD may cause leptin deficiency.
      Changes seen with ART in a rat model suggest that aortic wall thickness and PVAT
      adipocyte morphology alterations should be considered by clinicians in obese
      individuals receiving ART.

PMID- 28606729
TI  - Person-centred type 2 diabetes care: time for a paradigm shift.

PMID- 28606730
TI  - Treating to Target in Older Hypertensive Patients: Where Is the Bull's Eye?

PMID- 28606732
TI  - Constitutive and acquired mechanisms of resistance to immune checkpoint blockade
      in human cancer.
AB  - Cancer immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies directed against regulatory
      pathways in T lymphocytes has been revolutionizing medical oncology, and the
      clinical success of monoclonal antibodies targeting either cytotoxic T lymphocyte
      antigen-4 (CTLA-4) or program death-1 (PD-1) in patients affected by melanoma,
      Hodgkin's lymphoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, and head and neck, bladder, renal cell
      or non-small cell lung cancer is way beyond the most optimistic expectation.
      However, immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has failed to arrest progression in a
      consistent amount of patients affected by those tumors, and various histological
      types, including breast, colon and prostate cancer, are less sensitive to this
      therapeutic approach. Such clinical findings have fueled massive research efforts
      in the attempt to identify pre-existing and acquired mechanisms of resistance to
      ICB. Here we focus on evidences emerging from studies in humans on how tumor
      cells and the tumor microenvironment contribute to the heterogeneous clinical
      responses, and we propose strategies stemming from pre-clinical models that might
      improve clinical outcomes for patients.

PMID- 28606733
TI  - Tumor-derived factors affecting immune cells.
AB  - Tumor progression is accompanied by the production of a wide array of
      immunosuppressive factors by tumor and non-tumor cells forming the tumor
      microenvironment. These factors belonging to cytokines, growth factors,
      metabolites, glycan-binding proteins and glycoproteins are responsible for the
      establishment of immunosuppressive networks leading towards tumor promotion,
      invasion and metastasis. In pre-clinical tumor models, the inactivation of some
      of these suppressive networks reprograms the phenotypic and functional features
      of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, ultimately favoring effective anti-tumor
      immune responses. We will discuss factors and mechanisms identified in both mouse
      and human tumors, and the possibility to associate drugs inhibiting these
      mechanisms with new immunotherapy strategies already entered in the clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28606731
TI  - Cognitive Function and Kidney Disease: Baseline Data From the Systolic Blood
      Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease is common and is associated with
      cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cognitive function, although
      the nature of this relationship remains uncertain. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      cohort using baseline data from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial
      (SPRINT). SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: Participants in SPRINT, a randomized clinical
      trial of blood pressure targets in older community-dwelling adults with
      cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or high cardiovascular disease
      risk and without diabetes or known stroke, who underwent detailed neurocognitive
      testing in the cognition substudy, SPRINT-Memory and Cognition in Decreased
      Hypertension (SPRINT-MIND). PREDICTORS: Urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) and
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). OUTCOMES: Cognitive function, a
      priori defined as 5 cognitive domains based on 11 cognitive tests using z scores,
      and abnormal white matter volume quantified by brain magnetic resonance imaging.
      RESULTS: Of 9,361 SPRINT participants, 2,800 participated in SPRINT-MIND and
      2,707 had complete data; 637 had brain imaging. Mean age was 68 years, 37% were
      women, 30% were black, and 20% had known cardiovascular disease. Mean eGFR was
      70.8+/-20.9mL/min/1.73m2 and median urine ACR was 9.7 (IQR, 5.7-22.5) mg/g. In
      adjusted analyses, higher ACR was associated with worse global cognitive
      function, executive function, memory, and attention, such that each doubling of
      urine ACR had the same association with cognitive performance as being 7, 10, 6,
      and 14 months older, respectively. Lower eGFR was independently associated with
      worse global cognitive function and memory. In adjusted models, higher ACR, but
      not eGFR, was associated with larger abnormal white matter volume. LIMITATIONS:
      Cross-sectional only, no patients with diabetes were included. CONCLUSIONS: In
      older adults, higher urine ACR and lower eGFR have independent associations with
      global cognitive performance with different affected domains. Albuminuria
      concurrently identifies a higher burden of abnormal brain white matter disease,
      suggesting that vascular disease may mediate these relationships.

PMID- 28606734
TI  - The interplay between histone deacetylases and rho kinases is important for
      cancer and neurodegeneration.
AB  - Rho associated coiled-coil containing kinases (ROCKs) respond to defined extra-
      and intracellular stimuli to control cell migration, cell proliferation, and
      apoptosis. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are epigenetic modifiers that regulate
      nuclear and cytoplasmic signaling through the deacetylation of histones and non
      histone proteins. ROCK and HDAC functions are important compounds of basic and
      applied research interests. Recent evidence suggests a physiologically important
      interplay between HDACs and ROCKs in various cells and organisms. Here we
      summarize the crosstalk between these enzymatic families and its implications for
      cancer and neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28606735
TI  - Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients
      Treated With Daily Oral Corticosteroids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been shown to be highly
      prognostic across many tumor types, and predictive of treatment outcome in
      advanced prostate cancer, and has been postulated to be an indirect measure of
      tumor inflammation. We evaluated the effect of low-dose steroids on NLR in men
      suffering from castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      The NLR was evaluated in a prospective randomized phase II trial that compared
      prednisolone 5 mg twice daily and dexamethasone 0.5 mg daily administered to 75
      chemotherapy and abiraterone/enzalutamide-naive CRPC patients. NLR was examined
      at baseline (BL), after 6 and 12 weeks of corticosteroid treatment; associations
      with >50% prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response, duration of response (PSA
      progression-free interval), and overall survival (OS) were tested using logistic
      regression and Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: The median NLR for all evaluable
      patients was 2.6 at BL; 2.9 at 6 weeks; and 4.0 at 12 weeks. After low-dose
      corticosteroid initiation, 46 patients had a decline in PSA with 24 confirmed
      responders. BL NLR (log10) associated with a PSA response (odds ratio, .029, 95%
      confidence interval [CI], .002-.493; P = .014), and with the extent of the PSA
      decline (P = .009). A favorable BL NLR (less than median) associated with a 5.5
      fold higher odds of a PSA >50% response (95% CI, 1.3-23.9; P = .02). Higher BL
      NLR (log10) associated with a shorter time to PSA progression (hazard ratio [HR],
      9.5; 95% CI, 2.3-39.9; P = .002). In multivariate analysis BL NLR as a discrete
      variable was independently associated with PSA progression (HR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5
      8.1; P = .003). NLR at 6 weeks was also associated with duration of benefit; in
      the favorable NLR category time to PSA progression was 10.8 months, for those who
      converted to an unfavorable (greater than median) category 4.5 months, and for
      those remaining in a unfavorable category only 1.5 months (95% CI, 0.5-2.5; P =
      .003). OS was 33.1 months (95% CI, 24.2-42.0) and 21.9 months (95% CI, 19.3-24.4)
      for those with an favorable and unfavorable BL NLR, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Treatment-naive CRPC patients with a high BL or during-treatment NLR appear not
      to benefit from low-dose corticosteroids. The immunological implications of an
      unfavorable NLR, and whether corticosteroids might drive prostate cancer
      progression in patients harboring a high NLR, warrant further study.

PMID- 28606736
TI  - Clinical Features and Outcomes of Tunica Vaginalis Mesothelioma: A Case Series
      From the National Institutes of Health.

PMID- 28606737
TI  - Long-Term Survival in a Patient With Metastatic DDR2-Positive Adrenal Cortical
      Carcinoma.

PMID- 28606738
TI  - Engineering high-level production of fatty alcohols by Saccharomyces cerevisiae
      from lignocellulosic feedstocks.
AB  - Fatty alcohols in the C12-C18 range are used in personal care products,
      lubricants, and potentially biofuels. These compounds can be produced from the
      fatty acid pathway by a fatty acid reductase (FAR), yet yields from the preferred
      industrial host Saccharomyces cerevisiae remain under 2% of the theoretical
      maximum from glucose. Here we improved titer and yield of fatty alcohols using an
      approach involving quantitative analysis of protein levels and metabolic flux,
      engineering enzyme level and localization, pull-push-block engineering of carbon
      flux, and cofactor balancing. We compared four heterologous FARs, finding highest
      activity and endoplasmic reticulum localization from a Mus musculus FAR. After
      screening an additional twenty-one single-gene edits, we identified increasing
      FAR expression; deleting competing reactions encoded by DGA1, HFD1, and ADH6;
      overexpressing a mutant acetyl-CoA carboxylase; limiting NADPH and carbon usage
      by the glutamate dehydrogenase encoded by GDH1; and overexpressing the Delta9
      desaturase encoded by OLE1 as successful strategies to improve titer. Our final
      strain produced 1.2g/L fatty alcohols in shake flasks, and 6.0g/L in fed-batch
      fermentation, corresponding to ~ 20% of the maximum theoretical yield from
      glucose, the highest titers and yields reported to date in S. cerevisiae. We
      further demonstrate high-level production from lignocellulosic feedstocks derived
      from ionic-liquid treated switchgrass and sorghum, reaching 0.7g/L in shake
      flasks. Altogether, our work represents progress towards efficient and renewable
      microbial production of fatty acid-derived products.

PMID- 28606740
TI  - Chronic treatment with estradiol restores depressive-like behaviors in female
      Wistar rats treated neonatally with clomipramine.
AB  - Neonatal administration of clomipramine (CMI) induces diverse behavioral and
      neurochemical alterations in adult male rats that resemble major depression
      disorder. However, the possible behavioral alterations in adult female rats
      subjected to neonatal treatment with clomipramine are unknown. Therefore, the aim
      of this study was to explore the effect of neonatal treatment with CMI on adult
      female rats in relation to locomotion and behavioral despair during the estrus
      cycle. Also evaluated was the effect of chronic treatment with E2 on these female
      CMI rats. We found no effects on spontaneous locomotor activity due to neonatal
      treatment with CMI, or after 21days of E2 administration. In the FST, neonatal
      treatment with CMI increased immobility and decreased active swimming and
      climbing behaviors. Influence of the ovarian cycle was detected only in relation
      to climbing behavior, as the rats in the MD phase displayed less climbing
      activity. Chronic E2 administration decreased immobility but increased only
      swimming in CMI rats. These results suggest that neonatal treatment with CMI
      induces despair-like behavior in female rats, but that chronic E2 administration
      generates antidepressant-like behavior by decreasing immobility and increasing
      swimming, perhaps through interaction with the serotonergic system.

PMID- 28606741
TI  - [Disinfection of dental instruments in dental settings of the Galician Health
      Service].

PMID- 28606742
TI  - Recurrence rate of the Paine retinaculotome carpal tunnel release in diabetic and
      non-diabetic patients at long-term follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carpal tunnel release (CTR) is considered effective in treating
      carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and diabetes is considered to complicate the
      outcome and recovery. However, the difference in recurrence rate between diabetic
      and non-diabetic patients after mini-open CTR in the long-term has not yet
      determined. METHODS: This study enrolled 1251 wrists (1091 patients), with 841
      (67%) females and 480 (33%) males at a mean age of 58.5 years at operation.
      Patients were followed for a mean duration of 10.5 years. We retrospectively
      compared the recurrence rates of the Paine retinaculotome for mini-open CTR at
      wrist in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. RESULTS: In our study, a total of
      161 wrists (13%) were in the diabetic patients and 1090 wrists (87%) were in the
      non-diabetic patients. Two wrists (1.24%) in the diabetic group and seven (0.6%)
      in the non-diabetic group exhibited recurrence (p = 0.325). CONCLUSION: The mini
      open CTR with the Paine retinaculotome in diabetic patients didn't show
      significantly higher recurrence rate than that in non-diabetic patients in the
      long term.

PMID- 28606743
TI  - Alpha1-adrenergic receptor blockade in the VTA modulates fear memories and stress
      responses.
AB  - Activity of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and its terminals has been
      implicated in the Pavlovian associative learning of both stressful and rewarding
      stimuli. However, the role of the VTA noradrenergic signaling in fear responses
      remains unclear. We aimed to examine how alpha1-adrenergic receptor (alpha1-AR)
      signaling in the VTA affects conditioned fear. The role of alpha1-AR was assessed
      using the micro-infusions into the VTA of the selective antagonists (0.1
      1ug/0.5ul prazosin and 1ug/0.5ul terazosin) in acquisition and expression of fear
      memory. In addition, we performed control experiments with alpha1-AR blockade in
      the mammillary bodies (MB) - a brain region with alpha1-AR expression adjacent to
      the VTA. Intra-VTA but not intra-MB alpha1-AR blockade prevented formation and
      retrieval of fear memories. Importantly, local administration of alpha1-AR
      antagonists did not influence footshock sensitivity, locomotion or anxiety-like
      behaviors. Similarly, alpha1-AR blockade in the VTA had no effects on negative
      affect measured as number of 22kHz ultrasonic vocalizations during fear
      conditioning training. We propose that noradrenergic signaling in the VTA via
      alpha1-AR regulates formation and retrieval of fear memories but not other
      behavioral responses to stressful environmental stimuli. It enhances the encoding
      of environmental stimuli by the VTA to form and retrieve conditioned fear
      memories and to predict future behavioral outcomes. Our results provide novel
      insight into the role of the VTA alpha1-AR signaling in the regulation of stress
      responsiveness and fear memory.

PMID- 28606744
TI  - Metabolism of steroidal lactones by the fungus Corynespora cassiicola CBS 161.60
      results in a mechanistically unique intramolecular ring-D cyclization resulting
      in C-14 spiro-lactones.
AB  - The fungus Corynespora cassiicola metabolises exogenous steroids in a unique and
      highly specific manner. Central to this, is the ability of this organism to
      functionalise substrates (androgens, progestogens) at the highly stereochemically
      hindered 8beta-position of the steroid nucleus. A recent study has identified
      that 8beta-hydroxylation occurs through inverted binding in a 9alpha-hydroxylase.
      In order to discern the metabolic fate of more symmetrical molecules, we have
      investigated the metabolism of a range of steroidal analogues functionalised with
      ring-D lactones, but differing in their functional group stereochemistry at
      carbon-3. Remarkably, the 3alpha-functionalised steroidal lactones underwent a
      mechanistically unique two step intramolecular cyclisation resulting in the
      generation of a ring-D spiro-carbolactone. This rapid rearrangement initiated
      with hydroxylation at carbon 14 followed by transesterification, resulting in
      ring contraction with formation of a butyrolactone at carbon-14. Remarkably this
      rearrangement was found to be highly dependent on the stereochemistry at carbon
      3, with the beta-analogues only undergoing 9alpha-hydroxylation. The implications
      of these findings and their mechanistic bases are discussed.

PMID- 28606739
TI  - Covalent nano delivery systems for selective imaging and treatment of brain
      tumors.
AB  - Nanomedicine is a rapidly evolving form of therapy that holds a great promise for
      superior drug delivery efficiency and therapeutic efficacy than conventional
      cancer treatment. In this review, we attempt to cover the benefits and the
      limitations of current nanomedicines with special attention to covalent nano
      conjugates for imaging and drug delivery in the brain. The improvement in brain
      tumor treatment remains dismal despite decades of efforts in drug development and
      patient care. One of the major obstacles in brain cancer treatment is the poor
      drug delivery efficiency owing to the unique blood-brain barrier (BBB) in the
      CNS. Although various anti-cancer agents are available to treat tumors outside of
      the CNS, the majority fails to cross the BBB. In this regard, nanomedicines have
      increasingly drawn attention due to their multi-functionality and versatility.
      Nano drugs can penetrate BBB and other biological barriers, and selectively
      accumulate in tumor cells, while concurrently decreasing systemic toxicity.

PMID- 28606746
TI  - Present status and future orientation of rivaroxaban application in patients with
      nonvulvular atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 28606745
TI  - The characteristics of patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare
      complex disease diagnosed by bronchial lavage culture compared to those diagnosed
      by sputum culture.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The utility of bronchoscopy for the diagnosis of
      pulmonary Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC) disease has been
      reported; however, which patients require bronchoscopy remains unclear. Our
      objective was to identify the characteristics of the patients in whom
      bronchoscopy is needed for the diagnosis of MAC disease. METHODS: Fifty-four
      patients with pulmonary MAC disease were divided into two groups according to
      established diagnostic criteria: 39 patients were diagnosed by sputum culture and
      15 patients were diagnosed by bronchial lavage culture. We analysed the
      differences in demographic and clinical characteristics as well as
      microbiological and radiological data between the two groups. RESULTS: There were
      no significant differences in age, sex, smoking status, MAC species, underlying
      diseases, or steroid use. Significantly more patients diagnosed by sputum culture
      than bronchial lavage culture had a positive sputum smear for acid-fast bacilli
      (79.5% vs. 0.0%, respectively; p < 0.001) and any symptoms (75.3% vs. 46.2%,
      respectively; p = 0.0059). No significant differences were found in the
      prevalence of each computed tomography finding, including nodules, air-space
      disease, bronchiectasis, and cavities. However, more patients diagnosed by sputum
      culture than bronchial lavage culture had abnormalities in the left upper
      division (48.7% vs. 13.3%, respectively; p = 0.017) and higher numbers of
      affected lobes (4.3 +/- 1.4 vs. 3.3 +/- 1.6, respectively; p = 0.034).
      CONCLUSION: If patients suspected of having pulmonary MAC disease have a negative
      sputum smear, no symptoms, no abnormal findings in the left upper division, or
      fewer affected lobes on computed tomography, bronchoscopy might be needed for the
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28606747
TI  - Hot tea and tiny tots don't mix: A cross-sectional survey on hot beverage scalds.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hot beverage scalds are a leading cause of burns in young children.
      The aim of this study was to look at the circumstances surrounding these injuries
      in terms of setting, mechanism, supervision and first aid to inform a prevention
      campaign. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was delivered via iPad to parents and
      caregivers presenting with a child aged 0-36 months with a hot beverage scald at
      a major paediatric burns centre. RESULTS: Of the 101 children aged 0-36 months
      that presented with a hot beverage scald over a 12-month period, 54 participants
      were included. The scald aetiology was as expected with the peak prevalence in
      children aged 6-24 months, pulling a cup of hot liquid down over themselves. The
      majority of injuries occurred in the child's home and were witnessed by the
      caregiver or parent. The supervising adult was often in close proximity when the
      scald occurred. Less than a third (28%) of participants received recommended
      first aid treatment at the scene, with an additional 18% receiving this treatment
      with three hours of the injury-usually at an emergency department. CONCLUSIONS:
      While the aetiology of these scalds were as expected, the low use of recommended
      burn first aid was of concern. Although supervision was present in almost all
      cases, with the parent/caregiver close-by, this proximity still permitted injury.
      Attentiveness and continuity of supervision, which can be difficult with
      competing parental demands, appear to play a more important role role; as do
      considerations of other safety mechanisms such as hazard reduction through
      keeping hot drinks out of reach and engineering factors such as improved cup
      design. By incorporating the findings from this study and other research into a
      hot beverage scald prevention campaign, we hope to see a change in knowledge and
      behaviour in parents and caregivers of young children, and ultimately a reduction
      in the incidence of hot beverage scalds.

PMID- 28606749
TI  - Cardiovascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus: A comprehensive update.
AB  - Heightened rates of both cardiovascular (CV) events and subclinical
      atherosclerosis, documented by imaging and vascular function techniques are well
      established in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). While traditional CV factors
      such as smoking, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, central
      obesity and hyperhomocysteinemia have been reported to be prevalent in lupus
      patients, they do not fully explain the high rates of ischemic events so far
      reported, implying that other factors inherent to disease itself could account
      for the enhanced risk, including disease duration, activity and chronicity,
      psychosocial factors, medications, genetic variants and altered immunological
      mechanisms. Though the exact pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in the setting of
      lupus remains ill defined, an imbalance between endothelial damage and
      atheroprotection seems to be a central event. Insults leading to endothelial
      damage in the setting of lupus include oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL),
      autoantibodies against endothelial cells and phospholipids, type I interferons
      (IFN) and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) directly or through activation of
      type I IFN pathway. Increased oxidative stress, reduced levels of the normally
      antioxidant high density lipoprotein (HDL), increased levels of proinflammatory
      HDL (piHDL) and reduced paraoxonase activity have been related to increased oxLDL
      levels. On the other hand, impaired atheroprotective mechanisms in lupus include
      decreased capacity of endothelial repair-partly mediated by type I IFN- and
      dampened production of atheroprotective autoantibodies. In the present review,
      traditional and disease related risk factors for CV disease (CVD) in the setting
      of chronic autoimmune disorders with special focus on SLE will be discussed.

PMID- 28606748
TI  - Long term mortality in critically ill burn survivors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little is known about long term survival risk factors in critically
      ill burn patients who survive hospitalization. We hypothesized that patients with
      major burns who survive hospitalization would have favorable long term outcomes.
      METHODS: We performed a two center observational cohort study in 365 critically
      ill adult burn patients who survived to hospital discharge. The exposure of
      interest was major burn defined a priori as >20% total body surface area burned
      [TBSA]. The modified Baux score was determined by age + %TBSA+ 17(inhalational
      injury). The primary outcome was all-cause 5year mortality based on the US Social
      Security Administration Death Master File. Adjusted associations were estimated
      through fitting of multivariable logistic regression models. Our final model
      included adjustment for inhalational injury, presence of 3rd degree burn, gender
      and the acute organ failure score, a validated ICU risk-prediction score derived
      from age, ethnicity, surgery vs. medical patient type, comorbidity, sepsis and
      acute organ failure covariates. Time-to-event analysis was performed using Cox
      proportional hazard regression. RESULTS: Of the cohort patients studied, 76% were
      male, 29% were non white, 14% were over 65, 32% had TBSA >20%, and 45% had
      inhalational injury. The mean age was 45, 92% had 2nd degree burns, 60% had 3rd
      degree burns, 21% received vasopressors, and 26% had sepsis. The mean TBSA was
      20.1%. The mean modified Baux score was 72.8. Post hospital discharge 5year
      mortality rate was 9.0%. The 30day hospital readmission rate was 4%. Patients
      with major burns were significantly younger (41 vs. 47 years) had a significantly
      higher modified Baux score (89 vs. 62), and had significantly higher comorbidity,
      acute organ failure, inhalational injury and sepsis (all P<0.05). There were no
      differences in gender and the acute organ failure score between major and non
      major burns. In the multivariable logistic regression model, major burn was
      associated with a 3 fold decreased odds of 5year post-discharge mortality
      compared to patients with TBSA<20% [OR=0.29 (95%CI 0.11-0.78; P=0.014)]. The
      adjusted model showed good discrimination [AUC 0.81 (95%CI 0.74-0.89)] and
      calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow chi2 P=0.67). Cox proportional hazard multivariable
      regression modeling, adjusting for inhalational injury, presence of 3rd degree
      burn, gender and the acute organ failure score, showed that major burn was
      predictive of lower mortality following hospital admission [HR=0.34 (95% CI 0.15
      0.76; P=0.009)]. The modified Baux score was not predictive for mortality
      following hospital discharge [OR 5year post-discharge mortality=1.00 (95%CI 0.99
      1.02; P=0.74); HR for post-discharge mortality=1.00 (95% CI 0.99-1.02; P=0.55)].
      CONCLUSIONS: Critically ill patients with major burns who survive to hospital
      discharge have decreased 5year mortality compared to those with less severe
      burns. ICU Burn unit patients who survive to hospital discharge are younger with
      less comorbidities. The observed relationship is likely due to the relatively
      higher physiological reserve present in those who survive a Burn ICU course which
      may provide for a survival advantage during recovery after major burn.

PMID- 28606750
TI  - Error thresholds for RNA replication in the presence of both point mutations and
      premature termination errors.
AB  - We consider a spatial model of replication in the RNA World in which polymerase
      ribozymes use neighbouring strands as templates. Point mutation errors create
      parasites that have the same replication rate as the polymerase. We have shown
      previously that spatial clustering allows survival of the polymerases as long as
      the error rate is below a critical error threshold. Here, we additionally
      consider errors where a polymerase prematurely terminates replication before
      reaching the end of the template, creating shorter parasites that are replicated
      faster than the functional polymerase. In well-known experiments where Qbeta RNA
      is replicated by an RNA polymerase protein, the virus RNA is rapidly replaced by
      very short non-functional sequences. If the same thing were to occur when the
      polymerase is a ribozyme, this would mean that termination errors could
      potentially destroy the RNA World. In this paper, we show that this is not the
      case in the RNA replication model studied here. When there is continued
      generation of parasites of all lengths by termination errors, the system can
      survive up to a finite error threshold, due to the formation of travelling wave
      patterns; hence termination errors are important, but they do not lead to the
      inevitable destruction of the RNA World by short parasites. The simplest
      assumption is that parasite replication rate is inversely proportional to the
      strand length. In this worst-case scenario, the error threshold for termination
      errors is much lower than for point mutations. We also consider a more realistic
      model in which the time for replication of a strand is the sum of a time for
      binding of the polymerase, and a time for polymerization. When the binding step
      is considered, termination errors are less serious than in the worst case. In the
      limit where the binding time is dominant, replication rates are equal for all
      lengths, and the error threshold for termination is the same as for point
      mutations.

PMID- 28606751
TI  - Risk stratification in compartmental epidemic models: Where to draw the line?
AB  - Economic evaluations of infectious disease control interventions frequently use
      dynamic compartmental epidemic models. Such models capture heterogeneity in risk
      of infection by stratifying the population into discrete risk groups, thus
      approximating what is typically continuous variation in risk. An important open
      question is whether and how different risk stratification choices influence model
      predictions of intervention effects. We develop equivalent Susceptible-Infected
      Susceptible (SIS) dynamic transmission models: an unstratified model, a model
      stratified into a high-risk and low-risk group, and a model with an arbitrary
      number of risk groups. Absent intervention, the models produce the same overall
      prevalence of infected individuals in steady state. We consider an intervention
      that either reduces the contact rate or increases the disease clearance rate. We
      develop analytical and numerical results characterizing the models and the
      effects of the intervention. We find that there exist multiple feasible choices
      of risk stratification, contact distribution, and within- and between-group
      contact rates for models that stratify risk. We show analytically and empirically
      that these choices can generate different estimates of intervention
      effectiveness, and that these differences can be significant enough to alter
      conclusions from cost-effectiveness analyses and change policy recommendations.
      We conclude that the choice of how to discretize risk in compartmental epidemic
      models can influence predicted effectiveness of interventions. Therefore,
      analysts should examine multiple alternatives and report the range of results.

PMID- 28606753
TI  - Molecular characterization of CO2 sequestration and assimilation in microalgae
      and its biotechnological applications.
AB  - Microalgae are renewable feedstock for sustainable biofuel production, cell
      factory for valuable chemicals and promising in alleviation of greenhouse gas
      CO2. However, the carbon assimilation capacity is still the bottleneck for higher
      productivity. Molecular characterization of CO2 sequestration and assimilation in
      microalgae has advanced in the past few years and are reviewed here. In some
      cyanobacteria, genes for 2-oxoglytarate dehydrogenase was replaced by four
      alternative mechanisms to fulfill TCA cycle. In green algae Coccomyxa
      subellipsoidea C-169, alternative carbon assimilation pathway was upregulated
      under high CO2 conditions. These advances thus provide new insights and new
      targets for accelerating CO2 sequestration rate and enhancing bioproduct
      synthesis in microalgae. When integrated with conventional parameter
      optimization, molecular approach for microalgae modification targeting at
      different levels is promising in generating value-added chemicals from green
      algae and cyanobacteria efficiently in the near future.

PMID- 28606752
TI  - How does the interaction of presumed timing, location and extent of the
      underlying brain lesion relate to upper limb function in children with unilateral
      cerebral palsy?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Upper limb (UL) function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy
      (CP) vary largely depending on presumed timing, location and extent of brain
      lesions. These factors might exhibit a complex interaction and the combined
      prognostic value warrants further investigation. This study aimed to map lesion
      location and extent and assessed whether these differ according to presumed
      lesion timing and to determine the impact of structural brain damage on UL
      function within different lesion timing groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy
      three children with unilateral CP (mean age 10 years 2 months) were classified
      according to lesion timing: malformations (N = 2), periventricular white matter
      (PWM, N = 42) and cortical and deep grey matter (CDGM, N = 29) lesions.
      Neuroanatomical damage was scored using a semi-quantitative MRI scale. UL
      function was assessed at body function and activity level. RESULTS: CDGM lesions
      were more pronounced compared to PWM lesions (p = 0.0003). Neuroanatomical scores
      were correlated with a higher degree to UL function in the CDGM group (rs = -0.39
      to rs = -0.84) compared to the PWM group (rrb = -0.42 to rs = -0.61). Regression
      analysis found lesion location and extent to explain 75% and 65% (p < 0.02)
      respectively, of the variance in AHA performance in the CDGM group, but only 24%
      and 12% (p < 0.03) in the PWM group. CONCLUSIONS: In the CDGM group, lesion
      location and extent seems to impact more on UL function compared to the PWM
      group. In children with PWM lesions, other factors like corticospinal tract
      (re)organization and structural connectivity may play an additional role.

PMID- 28606754
TI  - Deletion of acetate transporter gene ADY2 improved tolerance of Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae against multiple stresses and enhanced ethanol production in the
      presence of acetic acid.
AB  - The aim of this work was to study the effects of deleting acetate transporter
      gene ADY2 on growth and fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the presence
      of inhibitors. Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed that three genes
      encoding plasma membrane carboxylic acid transporters, especially ADY2, were
      significantly downregulated under the zinc sulfate addition condition in the
      presence of acetic acid stress, and the deletion of ADY2 improved growth of S.
      cerevisiae under acetic acid, ethanol and hydrogen peroxide stresses.
      Consistently, a concomitant increase in ethanol production by 14.7% in the
      presence of 3.6g/L acetic acid was observed in the ADY2 deletion mutant of S.
      cerevisiae BY4741. Decreased intracellular acetic acid, ROS accumulation, and
      plasma membrane permeability were observed in the ADY2 deletion mutant. These
      findings would be useful for developing robust yeast strains for efficient
      ethanol production.

PMID- 28606755
TI  - Recommendations of the Spanish Working Group on Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative
      Colitis (GETECCU) on the monitoring, prevention and treatment of post-operative
      recurrence in Crohn's disease.
AB  - Despite the availability of new, powerful drugs for Crohn's disease, a
      significant proportion of patients will undergo an intestinal resection to
      control the disease as it develops. In the absence of an effective preventative
      treatment, the appearance of new intestinal lesions after surgery for Crohn's
      disease is the norm; this is known as post-operative recurrence and may appear
      very early on, even a few weeks after the surgical resection. Furthermore, the
      drugs that are currently available for the prevention of post-operative
      recurrence have a limited effect; up to 50% of cases present recurrent Crohn's
      disease activity despite the preventative treatment, which may require further
      surgery with the consequent loss of intestinal function, leading some patients to
      suffer from short bowel syndrome as an irreversible complication. The management
      of Crohn's disease patients who undergo an intestinal resection should thus be
      geared towards prevention, early detection and, in the worst case scenario, the
      treatment of post-operative recurrence. This article reviews the natural history,
      diagnostic measures, monitoring, prevention and treatment of post-operative
      recurrence, and proposes recommendations based on existing knowledge.

PMID- 28606756
TI  - Lasting Retinal Injury in a Mouse Model of Blast-Induced Trauma.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury due to blast exposure is currently the most prevalent of
      war injuries. Although secondary ocular blast injuries due to flying debris are
      more common, primary ocular blast exposure resulting from blast wave pressure has
      been reported among survivors of explosions, but with limited understanding of
      the resulting retinal pathologies. Using a compressed air-driven shock tube
      system, adult male and female C57BL/6 mice were exposed to blast wave pressure of
      300 kPa (43.5 psi) per day for 3 successive days, and euthanized 30 days after
      injury. We assessed retinal tissues using immunofluorescence for glial fibrillary
      acidic protein, microglia-specific proteins Iba1 and CD68, and phosphorylated tau
      (AT-270 pThr181 and AT-180 pThr231). Primary blast wave pressure resulted in
      activation of Muller glia, loss of photoreceptor cells, and an increase in
      phosphorylated tau in retinal neurons and glia. We found that 300-kPa blasts
      yielded no detectable cognitive or motor deficits, and no neurochemical or
      biochemical evidence of injury in the striatum or prefrontal cortex,
      respectively. These changes were detected 30 days after blast exposure,
      suggesting the possibility of long-lasting retinal injury and neuronal
      inflammation after primary blast exposure.

PMID- 28606757
TI  - Myeloid sarcoma of the sigmoid colon: An unusual presentation of a rare
      condition.

PMID- 28606758
TI  - Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt in a patient with Caroli's disease
      and portal cavernoma.

PMID- 28606759
TI  - Novel phenanthrene and isocoumarin from the rhizomes of Dioscorea nipponica
      Makino subsp. rosthornii (Prain et Burkill) C. T. Ting (Dioscoreaceae).
AB  - The investigation of the constituents in the rhizomes of Dioscorea nipponica
      Makino subsp. rosthornii (Prain et Burkill) C. T. Ting afforded one new
      phenanthrene 2,2',7,7'-tetramethoxy-[1,1'-biphenanthrene]-4,4',6,6'-tetrol (7)
      and one new isocoumarin diorosthornoumarin (8), together with 16 known compounds
      (1-6 and 9-18). Their structures were established on the basis of extensive
      spectroscopic evidences (IR, HR-ESI-MS, NMR and optical rotation), as well as
      comparison with literature values. All the compounds 1-18 were firstly isolated
      from Dioscorea nipponica Makino subsp. Rosthornii (Prain et Burkill) C. T. Ting,
      and compound 9 was firstly obtained as a natural product from plants, while the
      compounds 11 and 14 were obtained from both the genus Dioscorea and the family
      Dioscoreaceae for the first time. Moreover, the antitumor activities of the
      compounds were tested against lung carcinoma NCI-H460 cell line. Compound 12, 13,
      15 and 16 showed significant cytotoxic activities, whereas 7 displayed moderate
      cytotoxicity.

PMID- 28606760
TI  - Progress in the discovery of small molecule modulators of the Cys-loop
      superfamily receptors.
AB  - The vertebrate Cys-loop family of ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) are comprised
      of nicotinic acetylcholine (nAChR), serotonin type 3 (5-HT3R), gamma-aminobutyric
      acid (GABAAR), and glycine (GlyR) receptors. Here, we review efforts to discover
      selective small molecules targeting one or more Cys-loop receptors, with a focus
      on state-of-the-art modulators that have been reported over the past five years.
      Several highlighted compounds offer robust oral bioavailability and central
      exposure and have thus been useful in delineating pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic
      relationships in pre-clinical disease models. Others offer high levels of subtype
      and/or inter-superfamily selectivity and have facilitated understanding of
      complex SAR and pharmacodynamics.

PMID- 28606761
TI  - Inhibition of bromodomain-containing protein 9 for the prevention of
      epigenetically-defined drug resistance.
AB  - Bromodomain-containing protein 9 (BRD9), an epigenetic "reader" of acetylated
      lysines on post-translationally modified histone proteins, is upregulated in
      multiple cancer cell lines. To assess the functional role of BRD9 in cancer cell
      lines, we identified a small-molecule inhibitor of the BRD9 bromodomain. Starting
      from a pyrrolopyridone lead, we used structure-based drug design to identify a
      potent and highly selective in vitro tool compound 11, (GNE-375). While this
      compound showed minimal effects in cell viability or gene expression assays, it
      showed remarkable potency in preventing the emergence of a drug tolerant
      population in EGFR mutant PC9 cells treated with EGFR inhibitors. Such tolerance
      has been linked to an altered epigenetic state, and 11 decreased BRD9 binding to
      chromatin, and this was associated with decreased expression of ALDH1A1, a gene
      previously shown to be important in drug tolerance. BRD9 inhibitors may therefore
      show utility in preventing epigenetically-defined drug resistance.

PMID- 28606762
TI  - Transient warming events occurring after freezing impairs umbilical cord-derived
      mesenchymal stromal cells functionality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown promising results for the
      treatment of refractory acute graft-versus-host disease. While safety of MSC
      infusion has been demonstrated, the use of cryopreserved MSCs in clinical trials
      has raised concerns regarding the retention of their functional activity. This
      has led to the recommendation by experts in the field to use freshly harvested
      MSCs, even though this approach is much less practical from a logistic point of
      view. In the present study, we revisited the impact of cryopreservation on MSC
      functionality and addressed the possibility that warming events on frozen cells
      rather than cryopreservation per se could impact MSC functionality. METHODS:
      Following controlled-rate freezing to -130 degrees C, umbilical cord-derived MSCs
      were left at room temperature (RT) for 2-10 min or on dry ice for 10 min, before
      being transferred into liquid nitrogen (LqN2). MSCs of each group were
      subsequently tested (viability, functionality and cellular damage) and compared
      with their freshly harvested counterparts. RESULTS: We demonstrated that freshly
      harvested MSCs as well as cryopreserved MSCs that were left on dry ice following
      step-down freezing have comparable viability, functionality and integrity. In
      contrast, cryopreserved MSCs that were left at RT before being transferred into
      LqN2 were functionally impaired and showed cellular damage upon thawing even
      though they exhibited high viability. DISCUSSION: Warming events after freezing
      and not cryopreservation per se significantly impair MSC functionality,
      indicating that cryopreserved MSCs can be an advantageous alternative to freshly
      harvested cells for therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 28606763
TI  - Application of eye tracking in medicine: A survey, research issues and
      challenges.
AB  - The performance and quality of medical procedures and treatments are inextricably
      linked to technological development. The application of more advanced techniques
      provides the opportunity to gain wider knowledge and deeper understanding of the
      human body and mind functioning. The eye tracking methods used to register eye
      movement to find the direction and targets of a person's gaze are well in line
      with the nature of the topic. By providing methods for capturing and processing
      images of the eye it has become possible not only to reveal abnormalities in eye
      functioning but also to conduct cognitive studies focused on learning about
      peoples' emotions and intentions. The usefulness of the application of eye
      tracking technology in medicine was proved in many research studies. The aim of
      this paper is to give an insight into those studies and the way they utilize eye
      imaging in medical applications. These studies were differentiated taking their
      purpose and experimental paradigms into account. Additionally, methods for eye
      movement visualization and metrics for its quantifying were presented. Apart from
      presenting the state of the art, the aim of the paper was also to point out
      possible applications of eye tracking in medicine that have not been exhaustively
      investigated yet, and are going to be a perspective long-term direction of
      research.

PMID- 28606764
TI  - Transcriptional profiling of male F344 rats suggests the involvement of calcium
      signaling in the mode of action of acrylamide-induced thyroid cancer.
AB  - Acrylamide (AA) exposure in 2-year cancer bioassays leads to thyroid, but not
      liver, adenomas and adenocarcinomas in rats. Hypothesized modes of action (MOAs)
      include genotoxicity/mutagenicity, or thyroid hormone dysregulation. To examine
      the plausibility of these two or any alternative MOAs, RNA-sequencing was
      performed on the thyroids and livers of AA-exposed rats, in parallel with
      measurement of genotoxicity (blood micronucleus and Pig-a mutant frequency) and
      serum thyroid hormone levels, following the exposure of male Fischer 344/DuCrl
      rats to 0.0, 0.5, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, or 12.0 mg AA/kg bw-day in drinking water for 5,
      15, or 31 days. Differentially expressed genes in both tissues provided marginal
      support for hormonal and genotoxic MOAs, which was consistent with
      negative/equivocal genotoxicity assay and marginal changes in thyroid hormone
      levels. Instead, there was a pronounced effect on calcium signaling/cytoskeletal
      genes in the thyroid. Benchmark dose modeling of RNA-sequencing data for the
      calcium signaling pathway suggests a point of departure (POD) of 0.68 mg/kg bw
      day, which is consistent with a POD of 0.82 mg/kg bw-day derived from the thyroid
      2-year cancer bioassay data. Overall, this study suggests a novel MOA for AA
      induced thyroid carcinogenicity in male rats centered around perturbation of
      calcium signaling.

PMID- 28606765
TI  - Genotoxicity assessment of piperitenone oxide: An in vitro and in silico
      evaluation.
AB  - Piperitenone oxide, a natural flavouring agent also known as rotundifolone, has
      been studied for the genotoxicity assessment by an integrated in vitro and in
      silico experimental approach, including the bacterial reverse mutation assay, the
      micronucleus test, the comet assay and the computational prediction by Toxtree
      and VEGA tools. Under our experimental conditions, the monoterpene showed to
      induce both point mutations (i.e. frameshift, base-substitution and/or oxidative
      damage) and DNA damage (i.e. clastogenic or aneuploidic damage, or single-strand
      breaks). Computational prediction for piperitenone oxide agreed with the
      toxicological data, and highlighted the presence of the epoxide function and the
      alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl as possible structural alerts for DNA damage.
      However, improving the toxicological libraries for natural occurring compounds is
      required in order to favour the applicability of in silico models to the
      toxicological predictions. Further in vivo evaluations are strictly needed in
      order to evaluate the role of the bioavailability of the substance and the
      metabolic fate on its genotoxicity profile. To the best of our knowledge, these
      data represent the first evaluation of the genotoxicity for this flavour compound
      and suggest the need of further studies to assess the safety of piperitenone
      oxide as a flavouring agent.

PMID- 28606766
TI  - Medicinal species as MTDLs: Turnera diffusa Willd. Ex Schult inhibits CNS enzymes
      and delays glutamate excitotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells via oxidative damage.
AB  - One of the most promising approaches to confront the complexity of central
      nervous system disorders are new multi-target directed ligands (MTDLs). Five
      medicinal species (Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill., Hyssopus officinalis L.,
      Acorus calamus L., Silybum marianum L. Gaertn. and Turnera diffusa Willd. Ex
      Schult), selected for their ethnopharmacological relevance, were object for in
      vitro screening. The aqueous extract of T. diffusa revealed the strongest
      neuroactive potential, inhibiting monoamine oxidase-A (IC50 = 129.80 +/- 11.97
      MUg/mL), and acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase (IC25 = 0.352 +/- 0.011 and 0.370
      +/- 0.036 mg/mL, respectively). Its phenolic profile was established for the
      first time by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn. Twenty-six out of thirty-seven compounds were
      newly identified in this species. The pre-treatment with this flavonoid-rich
      extract promoted a rightward shift of the glutamate concentration neuronal cell
      (SH-SY5Y) death response curve. Furthermore, it significantly reduced the early
      phase formation of intracellular reactive species after glutamate and t-BHP
      exposure, suggesting that neuroprotection in SH-SY5Y cells was, in part, mediated
      by antioxidant mechanisms.

PMID- 28606767
TI  - Model identifies causes of nasal drying during pressurised breathing.
AB  - Patients nasally breathing pressurised air frequently experience symptoms
      suggestive of upper airway drying. While supplementary humidification is often
      used for symptom relief, the cause(s) of nasal drying symptoms remains
      speculative. Recent investigations have found augmented air pressure affects
      airway surface liquid (ASL) supply and inter-nasal airflow apportionment. However
      the influence these two factors have on ASL hydration is unknown. The purpose of
      this study is to determine how ASL supply and airflow apportionment affect ASL
      hydration status for both ambient and pressurised air breathing conditions. This
      is done by modifying and adapting a nasal air-conditioning and ASL supply model.
      Model predictions of change in inter-nasal airflow apportionment closely follow
      in-vivo results and demonstrate for the first time abnormal ASL dehydration
      occurring during augmented pressure breathing. This work quantitatively
      establishes why patients nasal breathing pressurised air frequently report
      adverse airway drying symptoms. The findings from this investigation demonstrate
      that both nasal airways simultaneously experience severe ASL dehydration during
      pressurised breathing.

PMID- 28606768
TI  - Genetic analysis of the RIC3 gene in Han Chinese patients with Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second-most common etiologically complex
      neurodegenerative disease. Genetic abnormalities are thought to play an important
      role in the development of PD. Recently, mutations in the resistance to
      inhibitors of cholinesterase 3 gene (RIC3) have been reported to cause autosomal
      dominant PD in Indian population. To determine whether RIC3 gene coding
      variant(s) are associated with PD in Han Chinese population, the RIC3 gene coding
      region in 218 mainland Han Chinese patients with PD and the identified variants
      in 242 normal controls were examined using direct sequencing analysis. Four known
      single nucleotide variants (c.354C>A, p.L118L, rs10839976; c.389G>A, p.C130Y,
      rs55990541; c.403C>T, p.P135S, rs73411617; and c.1054G>A, p.D352N, rs11826236)
      were identified in the RIC3 gene coding region. No significant differences were
      observed in either genotypic or allelic distributions between the PD patients and
      the normal controls (all P>0.05) for these four variants. Haplotype analysis
      showed that the presence of haplotype A-G-C-G (rs10839976-rs55990541-rs73411617
      rs11826236) was associated with a 0.764-fold decreased risk (P=0.049, OR=0.764,
      95% CI=0.585-0.999) for PD, whereas the presence of haplotype C-A-C-A was
      associated with a 2.143-fold increased risk (P=0.039, OR=2.143, 95% CI=1.023
      4.488) for PD. The findings indicate that four variants: rs10839976, rs55990541,
      rs73411617 and rs11826236 in the RIC3 gene coding region may play little or no
      role in the development of PD. Two RIC3 gene haplotypes of four variants: A-G-C
      G, and C-A-C-A might relate to either protection against or increased
      susceptibility to PD in the Han Chinese population, respectively.

PMID- 28606769
TI  - Computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation on freezing of gait in Parkinson's
      disease: A pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Parkinson's Disease (PD), effects of a cognitive training have
      been systematically evaluated only for cognitive and behavioral outcome measures,
      with mild to moderate effects. Despite the demonstrated interplay between
      cognition and gait, no studies have investigated the effect of cognitive
      rehabilitation protocols on gait in PD. METHODS: Patients affected by PD with
      freezing of gait were treated twice a week for six weeks with one hour sessions
      of computer-assisted training of attention ability and information processing
      tasks. Gait parameters were recorded at baseline, after six weeks and at three
      months. RESULTS: Seven patients completed the evaluations at six weeks, six
      patients at three months. We observed at six weeks a significant reduction in
      both legs cycle duration, with an increment in mean velocity and cadence.
      Bilateral cycle and step lengths increased even if not significantly. No
      significant differences in gait parameters were detected at three months with
      respect to the baseline. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that a computer
      assisted rehabilitation protocol based on executive functions training could
      improve walking in PD patients with freezing of gait.

PMID- 28606770
TI  - P50 suppression deficits and psychopathology in Han Chinese patients with
      schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies have reported P50 gating deficits in schizophrenia,
      though with mixed results. Moreover, few studies have explored the association
      between P50 gating deficits and psychopathology in Chinese patients with
      schizophrenia. In the present study, we investigated the P50 auditory sensory
      gating patterns and their correlations with clinical symptoms in a large sample
      of Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: We assessed P50 sensory
      gating with a 64-channel electroencephalography system in 133 patients with
      schizophrenia and 148 healthy controls. The schizophrenia symptomatology was
      assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). RESULTS: Patients
      with schizophrenia had a significantly higher P50 gating ratio (p<0.001), longer
      S1 latency (p<0.05), lower S1 amplitude (p<0.01), and lower P50 difference
      (p<0.001) than did controls. No significant correlations were found between the
      P50 gating measures and the PANSS total score or subscale scores in patients with
      schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the P50 sensory gating
      deficits identified in Chinese patients with schizophrenia may not be involved in
      the psychopathology of the illness.

PMID- 28606771
TI  - Inter-hemispheric frontal alpha synchronization of event-related potentials
      reflects memory-induced mental fatigue.
AB  - Mental fatigue is often associated with continuous brain activities in our daily
      life. It can diminish efficiency and increase errors. However, the related
      physiological features are still not clear and under exploration. The present
      study investigated changes of inter-hemispheric synchronization in event-related
      potentials (ERPs) due to mental fatigue during sustained memory processing.
      Twenty-six participants performed a continuous two-back memory task for around
      2.5h. Prefrontal and frontal synchronies in the alpha frequency band (8-13Hz)
      were analyzed because of their close relationships with memory functions.
      Coherence was used to examine bilateral synchronization changes of ERP power and
      phase. We compared ERP coherences in both non-fatigued and fatigued states. We
      also observed the variation of ERP coherences during the continuous task. High
      overlaps of inter-hemispheric ERP waveforms were observed at prefrontal and
      frontal cortex in both non-fatigued and fatigued conditions. During the whole
      experimental procedure, ERP alpha coherences at frontal regions (FP1-FP2 and F3
      F4) were significantly higher than at central (C3-C4), parietal (P3-P4) and
      occipital (O1-O2) regions. Alpha synchronization in anterior electrode pairs
      showed significant declines with increasing mental fatigue during the memory
      task. Our findings about changes in frontal ERP alpha synchronization might be
      used as biomarkers to assess mental fatigue induced by prolonged memory demands.

PMID- 28606773
TI  - Muscle activation during resistance training with no external load - effects of
      training status, movement velocity, dominance, and visual feedback.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the acute effects of training status, movement velocity,
      dominance, and visual feedback on muscle activation and rating of perceived
      exertion (RPE) during resistance training with no external load (no-load
      resistance training; NLRT). METHODS: Thirty-three men (17 untrained and 16
      trained), performed elbow flexions in four NLRT sessions: 1) slow velocity with
      EMG visual feedback, 2) slow velocity without EMG visual feedback, 3) fast
      velocity with EMG feedback, and 4) fast velocity without EMG feedback. RPE was
      measured using the Borg Discomfort scale. EMG for the biceps and triceps were
      recorded for both arms. RESULTS: EMG feedback had no influence on RPE. The peak
      and mean EMG values were not different for the biceps (93.8+/-11.5% and 50+/
      13.1%) and triceps (93.7+/-23.9% and 49.6+/-16.2%). The results revealed a
      difference in the training status, with higher peak EMG for untrained than for
      trained participants (96.9+/-20% vs. 90.2+/-15.6%). However the values for mean
      EMG were not different between the untrained and trained (50.3+/-15.7% vs. 49.2+/
      13.7%) participants. There was no difference in the peak (92.8+/-19% vs. 94.7+/
      20.4%) and mean (49.8+/-15.0% vs. 49.7+/-14.5%) EMG values for the dominant and
      non-dominant sides. Peak EMG values were not different between faster and slower
      velocities (93.6+/-19.6% and 93.9+/-17.8%). However, mean EMG was higher for
      slower (50.5+/-14.4%) than for faster (48.5+/-15.4%) velocities. The peak and
      mean EMG during contractions with (93.3+/-17.5% and 49.5+/-14.1%) and without
      visual feedback (94.2+/-19.9% and 50+/-15.4%) were not significantly different.
      CONCLUSION: NLRT produces high levels of muscle activation independent of
      training, status, dominance, movement velocity, and visual feedback.

PMID- 28606772
TI  - Dominance status alters restraint-induced neural activity in brain regions
      controlling stress vulnerability.
AB  - Understanding the cellular mechanisms that control resistance and vulnerability
      to stress is an important step toward identifying novel targets for the
      prevention and treatment of stress-related mental illness. In Syrian hamsters,
      dominant and subordinate animals exhibit different behavioral and physiological
      responses to social defeat stress, with dominants showing stress resistance and
      subordinates showing stress vulnerability. We previously found that dominant and
      subordinate hamsters show different levels of defeat-induced neural activity in
      brain regions that modulate coping with stress, although the extent to which
      status-dependent differences in stress vulnerability generalize to non-social
      stressors is unknown. In this study, dominant, subordinate, and control male
      Syrian hamsters were exposed to acute physical restraint for 30min and restraint
      induced c-Fos immunoreactivity was quantified in select brain regions.
      Subordinate animals showed less restraint-induced c-Fos immunoreactivity in the
      infralimbic (IL), prelimbic (PL), and ventral medial amygdala (vMeA) compared to
      dominants, which is consistent with the status-dependent effects of social defeat
      stress. Subordinate animals did not show increased c-Fos immunoreactivity in the
      rostroventral dorsal raphe nucleus (rvDRN), which is in contrast to the effects
      of social defeat stress. These findings indicate that status-dependent changes in
      neural activity generalize from one stressor to another in a brain region
      dependent manner. These findings further suggest that while some neural circuits
      may support a generalized form of stress resistance, others may provide
      resistance to specific stressors.

PMID- 28606774
TI  - Primary Realignment for Pelvic Fracture Urethral Injury Is Associated With
      Prolonged Time to Urethroplasty and Increased Stenosis Complexity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical courses of patients with pelvic fracture
      urethral injury (PFUI) according to initial management strategy. METHODS: We
      reviewed the clinical courses of 63 patients with PFUI who were initially treated
      elsewhere and underwent delayed anastomotic urethroplasty by a single surgeon
      between 2008 and 2015. Patients were grouped according to their initial
      treatment: by suprapubic tube placement alone (49 patients, SPT group) or primary
      realignment (14 patients, PR group). Time to urethroplasty was defined as the
      period between injury and delayed urethroplasty. Clinical data regarding the
      status of urethral stenosis, urethroplasty procedure, and treatment outcome were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The mean time to urethroplasty in the PR group was about 3
      times than that in the SPT group (133 months vs 47 months, P = .035). Fifty
      percent of the PR group (7 of 14) had a history of repeated urethrotomy or
      dilation before referral, a percentage significantly higher than that of the SPT
      group (20.4%, 10 of 49, P = .027). The percentage of patients having a false
      passage and iatrogenic scar was significantly higher in the PR group (42.9% vs
      16.3%, P = .035), but there was no significant between-group difference in
      urethral stenosis length, operative time, operative blood loss, or the percentage
      of patients requiring inferior pubectomy or urethral rerouting. CONCLUSION: PR
      does not facilitate delayed urethroplasty, and patients who undergo PR are at
      high risk of having a more complicated stenosis and longer time to urethroplasty,
      presumably because of repeated transurethral procedures.

PMID- 28606775
TI  - Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose (Fibrillar) Reduces Risk of Postoperative Corporal
      Bleeding Following Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report our initial experience with oxidized regenerated cellulose
      (ORC; Surgicel Fibrillar) as a hemostatic adjunct during inflatable penile
      prosthesis (IPP) surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Beginning in April 2016, ORC
      pledgets were placed within the corporotomy closures of all men undergoing IPP
      insertion. Perioperative characteristics and outcomes including cumulative
      postoperative drain output were evaluated among consecutive cases with (April
      2016 to October 2016) and without ORC (December 2015 to March 2016) using an
      identical surgical technique by a single surgeon. RESULTS: During the study
      period, 64 men underwent IPP implantation, of whom 32 (50%) received ORC. There
      was a significant reduction in median drain output relative to controls (33 mL vs
      65 mL; P = .01). Postoperatively, ORC use was associated with a reduction in the
      number of patient phone calls for scrotal-related concerns in the immediate
      postoperative period (average 0.5 vs 1.1; P = .03). There were 3 IPP
      explantations in the non-ORC group (2/3 for infection)-one of which was directly
      related to an infected hematoma. After controlling for other clinical features,
      the use of ORC (beta -32, 95% confidence interval: -61 to -5; P = .02) was
      independently associated with a reduction in drain output. CONCLUSION: ORC use
      during IPP corporotomy closure reduces postoperative drain output, a known risk
      factor for hematoma-related complications.

PMID- 28606776
TI  - Extraperitoneal Laparoscopic Radical Nephroureterectomy and Lymph Node Dissection
      in Modified Supine Position.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of extraperitoneal laparoscopic radical
      nephroureterectomy (EL-RNU) and lymph node dissection in a modified supine
      position for managing urothelial carcinomas in the renal pelvis or in the upper
      two-thirds of the ureter. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Consecutively from January 2014
      to October 2015, 15 patients with high-risk urothelial carcinoma in the renal
      pelvis or in the upper two-thirds of the ureter underwent EL-RNU and
      extraperitoneal laparoscopic lymph node dissection (EL-LND). Clinical and
      pathologic data, histologic nodal status, perioperative complications, and
      recurrence data were collected. RESULTS: All of the 15 patients were treated with
      EL-RNU and EL-LND in a modified supine position, and none was converted to open
      surgery. The mean operation time was 178 +/- 18 minutes. The mean estimated blood
      loss was 140 +/- 40 mL. The mean postoperative intestinal function recovery time
      was 2 days. The mean postoperative hospitalization was 7 +/- 1 days. Pathologic
      studies revealed positive lymph nodes in 3 patients (20%). The mean number of
      harvested lymph nodes was 12 +/- 3. No local recurrence and distant metastasis
      were found after a median follow-up of 14.4 months (7-23 months). CONCLUSION: EL
      RNU and EL-LND in the modified supine position are mini-invasive and feasible for
      patients with urothelial carcinoma in the renal pelvis or in the upper two-thirds
      of the ureter. Good exposure and dissection of the abdominal aorta and inferior
      vena cava and the integrity of the peritoneum are key to the operational success
      of this approach.

PMID- 28606777
TI  - The clinical outcomes of vaginoplasty using tissue-engineered biomaterial mesh in
      patients with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to evaluate the clinical outcomes of
      vaginoplasty using tissue-engineered biomaterial mesh in the patients with Mayer
      Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with
      MRKH syndrome underwent the vaginoplasty using tissue-engineered biomaterial mesh
      between January 2006 and August 2014 in PLA general hospital. We analyzed the
      anatomic results and collected the standardized FSFI (Female Sexual Function
      Index) questionnaire from each patient. RESULTS: Totally forty patients with MRKH
      syndrome were enrolled in the present study. The surgical procedures were
      performed without any major complication except that intraoperative bladder
      injury occurred in one case and was repaired successfully. The mean duration of
      surgery was 85.3 min (SD = 8.7), the mean blood loss was 58.7 ml (SD = 36.5). The
      mean hospital stay after surgery was 8.8 days (SD = 4.7). Three monthes after
      surgery, superduper mucosa was found in the neovagina of all enrolled patients.
      Twelve weeks after surgery, a satisfactory vaginal length of at least 9 cm was
      attained in all patients, and vaginal cross-sectional diameter more than 2 cm.
      The scar contracture, necrosis or rejection did not occurred in any patient. The
      anatomic success rate was 100%. All these sexually active patients answered the
      FSFI questionnaire and completed all the 19 items in the questionnaire. The mean
      total FSFI score of these patients was 25.2. CONCLUSIONS: The vaginoplasty using
      tissue-engineered biomaterial mesh procedure can act as a safe and effective
      surgical strategy for patients with MRKH syndrome. However, larger scale studies
      with longer follow-up profiles are needed to justify its widespread utilization.

PMID- 28606778
TI  - HMGB1 promotes neurovascular remodeling via Rage in the late phase of
      subarachnoid hemorrhage.
AB  - High-mobility group box1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear protein widely expressed in the
      central nervous system. Extracellular HMGB1 serves as a proinflammatory cytokine
      and contributes to brain injury during the acute stage post-stroke. Recently,
      increasing evidence has demonstrated beneficial effects of HMGB1 in some types of
      brain injury, but little is known about its effects during the late phase of
      subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). This study was designed to explore the potential
      roles and mechanisms of HMGB1 and its receptor, receptor for advanced glycation
      end-products (Rage), on brain recovery in the late stage of experimental SAH. Two
      inhibitors of HMGB1, ethyl pyruvate and glycyrrhizin (EP and GA), and Rage
      antagonist FPS-ZM1 were used to determine whether HMGB1 promotes brain recovery
      after SAH. The administration of EP, GA, and FPS-ZM1 effectively reduced HMGB1
      and Rage expression. Correspondingly, protein levels of beneficial growth factors
      (NGF, BDNF, and VEGF) and numbers of BrdU and DCX positive neurons in the cortex
      were also decreased. The biphasic roles of HMGB1 may be based on the different
      redox modifications of cysteine residues. In this research, rats injected with
      two different redox status HMGB1 showed different prognosises at 7-14day after
      SAH. Recombinant HMGB1 can promote cytokine stimulating activity and aggravate
      brain injury. However, oxidized HMGB1 was unable to stimulate TNF production but
      can promote brain recovery by promoting neurotrophin expression. In conclusion,
      our investigation identified that HMGB1 promotes neurovascular recovery via Rage
      and may act in the oxidized state in the late stage of SAH.

PMID- 28606780
TI  - Sexual dimorphic expression of TrkB, TrkB-T1, and BDNF in the medial preoptic
      area of the Syrian hamster.
AB  - Neurotrophins regulate many aspects of neuronal function and activity.
      Specifically, the binding of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to Tyrosine
      receptor kinase-B (TrkB) or its truncated version, TrkB-T1, can cause growth and
      differentiation or dominant inhibition of receptor signaling, respectively. There
      is evidence that these neurotropic effects on nervous tissue, in both the central
      and peripheral nervous system, behave differently between the sexes. This study
      used western blots to examine the expression of these neurotrophins in the medial
      preoptic area (MPOA), a sexually dimorphic region of the hamster brain that
      controls male sex behavior. We report that TrkB-FL and BDNF show greater
      expression in male MPOA tissue, when compared to female. On the contrary, TrkB-T1
      is expressed in greater abundance in the female MPOA. Our results indicate a
      clear sexual dimorphism of neurotrophins in the MPOA of the Syrian hamster.
      Furthermore, the greater expression of TrkB-FL and BDNF in the male MPOA suggests
      that these neurotrophins could be promoting synaptic growth to facilitate male
      typical copulation. In contrast, the greater TrkB-T1 expression in the female
      MPOA suggests a possible inhibition of synaptic growth, and may contribute to the
      lack of male-typical copulation. Altogether, our data suggests that neurotrophins
      may play a larger role sexual differentiation than previously thought.

PMID- 28606779
TI  - 2-Arachidonoylglycerol as a possible treatment for anorexia nervosa in animal
      model in mice.
AB  - We have investigated the effects of 0.001mg/kg 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)
      administered in combination with compounds present in the body alongside 2-AG
      like 2-palmitoylglycerol and 2-linoleylglycerol (also termed "entourage"), on
      cognitive function,food intake, and neurotransmitter levels in the hippocampus
      and hypothalamus of mice under diet restriction. Young female Sabra mice were
      treated with vehicle, 2-AG, 2-AG+entourage, 2-AG+entourage+5-(4-Chlorophenyl)-1
      (2,4-dichloro-phenyl)- 4-methyl-N-(piperidin-1-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide
      (SR141716A, a CB1 antagonist) and SR141716A. The mice were fed for 2.5h a day for
      14days. Cognitive function was evaluated by the eight arm maze test, and
      neurotransmitter (norepinephrine, dopamine, L-DOPA and serotonin) levels were
      measured in the hippocampus and hypothalamus by high-performance liquid
      chromatography-electrochemical detection. Food intake was increased by 2-AG and,
      to an even greater extent, by 2-AG+entourage. SR141716A reversed the effect of 2
      AG+entourage. The administration of 2-AG+entourage improved cognitive function
      compared to the vehicle mice, and this improvement was blocked by SR141716A. 2
      AG+entourage-treated mice showed an increase in norepinephrine (NE), dopamine and
      L-DOPA levels in the hippocampus. SR141716A normalized NE and L-DOPA levels.
      There were no significant changes in hypothalamic neurotransmitter levels. The
      use of very low doses of the endocannabinoid 2-AG+entourage can improve cognitive
      function by elevating norepinephrine and L-DOPA levels in the hippocampus,
      without cannabinomimetic side effects. These findings may have implications for
      cognitive enhancement in anorexia nervosa.

PMID- 28606781
TI  - Sab is differentially expressed in the brain and affects neuronal activity.
AB  - Sab (SH3 binding protein 5 or SH3BP5) is a mitochondrial scaffold protein
      involved in signaling associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis;
      furthermore, Sab is a crucial signaling platform for neurodegenerative disease.
      To determine how this signaling nexus could have a significant effect on disease,
      we examined the regional abundance of Sab in the brain and sub-neuronal
      distribution, and we monitored the effect of Sab-mediated signaling on neuronal
      activity. We found that Sab is widely expressed in the adult mouse brain with
      increased abundance in hippocampus, ventral midbrain, and cerebellum. Sab was
      found in purified synaptosomes and in cultures of hippocampal neurons and
      astrocytes. Confocal and electron microscopy of mouse hippocampal sections
      confirmed the mitochondrial localization of Sab in the soma, dendrites, and
      axons. Given the localization and sub-neuronal distribution of Sab, we postulated
      that Sab-mediated signaling could affect neuronal function, so we measured the
      impact of inhibiting Sab-mediated events on the spontaneous activity in cultured
      hippocampal neurons. Treatment with a Sab-inhibitory peptide (Tat-SabKIM1), but
      not a scrambled control peptide, decreased the firing frequency and spike
      amplitudes. Our results demonstrate that brain-specific Sab-mediated signaling
      plays a role in neuronal activity through the manipulation of mitochondrial
      physiology by interacting kinases.

PMID- 28606782
TI  - Role of peripheral and central TRPV1 receptors in facial heat hyperalgesia in
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - There is increasing evidence that diabetes may be related to sensory changes in
      the trigeminal system. Long lasting facial heat hyperalgesia has been described
      in diabetic rats, but the mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Herein, the
      contribution of peripheral and central TRPV1 receptors to facial heat
      hyperalgesia in diabeticrats was investigated. Diabetes was induced in male
      Wistar rats by streptozotocin (60mg/kg, i.p) and facial heat hyperalgesia was
      assessed once a week up to four weeks. The role of TRPV1 receptors in the heat
      hyperalgesia in diabetic rats was evaluated through: 1) the ablation of TRPV1
      receptors by resiniferatoxin (RTX) treatment and 2) injection of the TRPV1
      antagonist, capsazepine, into the upper lip, trigeminal ganglion or medullary
      subarachnoid space, at doses that completed prevented the heat hyperalgesia
      induced by capsaicin in naive rats. Western blot was used to estimate the changes
      in TRPV1 expression in diabetic rats. Diabetic rats exhibited facial heat
      hyperalgesia from the first up to the fourth week after streptozotocin injection,
      which was prevented by insulin treatment. Ablation of TRPV1-expressing fibers
      prevented facial hyperalgesia in diabetic rats. Capsazepine injection in all
      sites resulted in significant reduction of facial heat hyperalgesia in diabetic
      rats. Diabetic rats exhibited a significant decrease in TRPV1 expression in the
      trigeminal nerve, increased expression in the trigeminal ganglion and no changes
      in subnucleus caudalis when compared to normoglycemic ones. In conclusion, our
      results suggest that facial heat hyperalgesia in diabetic rats is maintained by
      peripheral and central TRPV1 receptors activation.

PMID- 28606783
TI  - Methylprednisolone as a memory enhancer in rats: Effects on aversive memory, long
      term potentiation and calcium influx.
AB  - It is well recognized that stress or glucocorticoids hormones treatment can
      modulate memory performance in both directions, either impairing or enhancing it.
      Despite the high number of studies aiming at explaining the effects of
      glucocorticoids on memory, this has not yet been completely elucidated. Here, we
      demonstrate that a low daily dose of methylprednisolone (MP, 5mg/kg, i.p.)
      administered for 10-days favors aversive memory persistence in adult rats,
      without any effect on the exploring behavior, locomotor activity, anxiety levels
      and pain perception. Enhanced performance on the inhibitory avoidance task was
      correlated with long-term potentiation (LTP), a phenomenon that was strengthen in
      hippocampal slices of rats injected with MP (5mg/kg) during 10days. Additionally,
      in vitro incubation with MP (30-300uM) concentration-dependently increased
      intracellular [Ca2+]i in cultured hippocampal neurons depolarized by KCl (35mM).
      In conclusion, a low daily dose of MP for 10days may promote aversive memory
      persistence in rats.

PMID- 28606785
TI  - Successful rapid desensitization to intravenous bevacizumab using a 14-step
      protocol: Case report.

PMID- 28606784
TI  - An Economic Analysis of a Peanut Oral Immunotherapy Study in Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peanut oral immunotherapy (POIT) decreases the probability of
      accidental recurrent systemic reactions but reactions from the therapy itself are
      frequent. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this economic analysis was to characterize
      the potential cost-effectiveness of POIT. METHODS: Cohort simulations were used
      to evaluate the effect of POIT for children with peanut allergy. A POIT with
      probiotic was used in the base-case simulation and long-term survival was modeled
      using age-adjusted mortality together with the risk of food allergy-associated
      mortality. RESULTS: The incremental POIT cost-effectiveness ratio was $2142 per
      quality-adjusted life-year. A mean number of 12.3 (95% CI, 12.0-12.5) and 2.0
      (95% CI, 1.9-2.1) allergic reactions occurred in the POIT and avoidance groups
      over 20 years of simulation, with 2.3 (95% CI, 2.2-2.3) episodes of anaphylaxis
      treated with intramuscular epinephrine per subject in the POIT group and 1.1 (95%
      CI, 1.0-1.2) episodes per subject in the avoidance group. In sensitivity
      analyses, POIT was associated with lower rates of anaphylaxis than strict
      avoidance when the annual rate of accidental allergic reactions in the peanut
      avoidance group exceeded 25%, the annual rate of anaphylaxis in the POIT group
      dropped below 6%, or the probability of sustained unresponsiveness after 4 years
      of POIT was 68% or greater. CONCLUSIONS: POIT may be cost-effective in a long
      term economic model. However, treated patients may experience a greater rate of
      peanut-associated allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. The analysis was sensitive
      to rates of accidental allergic reactions, therapy-associated adverse events, and
      likelihood of therapy-induced tolerance.

PMID- 28606786
TI  - The Utility of the Reflux Symptom Index for Diagnosis of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux
      in an Allergy Patient Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is associated with asthma, vocal cord
      dysfunction, cough, postnasal drainage, and throat irritation. The Reflux Symptom
      Index (RSI) is a clinical tool to predict the presence of LPR, but a threshold
      RSI score has never been validated for the diagnosis of LPR in an allergic
      patient population. OBJECTIVE: To identify the optimal threshold RSI score
      predictive of LPR in an allergy clinic population. METHODS: The 9-question RSI
      questionnaire was administered to 84 patients in the Kaiser Permanente San Diego
      Allergy Department. The patient's allergist (who was blinded to the patient's RSI
      responses) was asked to determine whether the patient had symptoms consistent
      with LPR. Each subject's RSI score was then compared with a corresponding
      physician-based diagnosis. After determining the correlation between the
      subject's RSI score and physician-diagnosed LPR/supraesophageal reflux, a cutoff
      level above which LPR/supraesophageal reflux would be highly suspected was
      calculated on the basis of most optimal balance of sensitivity and specificity
      determined via a receiver-operating curve analysis. RESULTS: Thirty of the 84
      patients (36%) were diagnosed with LPR. The mean RSI score for the group without
      LPR was 18.3 +/- 9.8 (out of 45 possible), while the LPR group's mean was 25.0 +/
      8.3 (P < .01). The optimal RSI score cutoff was determined to be 19. An
      abbreviated questionnaire was also generated using 6 of the RSI questions found
      to be significantly different between patients with and without LPR. CONCLUSIONS:
      An RSI score of 19 appears to represent the best threshold for predicting LPR in
      an allergy clinic patient population.

PMID- 28606787
TI  - Bermuda Triangle: Chronic kidney disease, contrast-induced nephropathy, and
      atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 28606788
TI  - Coronary bifurcation model created using a novel directional heat injury
      catheter.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to develop a swine coronary bifurcation
      model. BACKGROUND: In human coronary bifurcation lesion, atherosclerotic plaques
      are usually observed in the lateral wall, whereas the flow divider regions are
      spared. There is currently no suitable coronary bifurcation animal model, on
      which a new stent can be tested. METHODS: We developed a novel directional heat
      injury catheter, which comprised of a non-compliant balloon catheter (diameter:
      3.0mm, length: 15mm), and two electrode cables, that were attached to either side
      of the balloon catheter. The technique was performed on 4 healthy pigs, and
      assessed in 7 lesions. We inflated the balloon at the main bifurcation branch,
      following which a high frequency generator was used to transmit heat to the
      opposite side of the electrode, towards the bifurcation carina (duration: 5min,
      frequency: 2 times). We performed a post-angiography 28days after the pre
      angiography, to observe the distribution of neointima. The neointimal area was
      divided into the carina side and the opposite side of carina, and the 2 sides
      were compared. RESULTS: The neointimal area at the opposite side of the carina
      was significantly larger than the carina side (1.51+/-0.40mm2 vs. 0.95+/-0.27mm2,
      p<0.0001). The percentage of area of stenosis on the opposite side of carina was
      also higher than that on the carina side (55.4+/-7.0% vs. 34.9+/-4.2%, p<0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: We successfully developed a novel swine coronary bifurcation model
      using directional heat injury catheter.

PMID- 28606789
TI  - Plate Fixation With Autogenous Calcaneal Dowel Grafting Proximal Fourth and Fifth
      Metatarsal Fractures: Technique and Case Series.
AB  - Metaphyseal and proximal diaphyseal fractures of the lateral column metatarsals
      can have problems with healing. In particular, those involving the fifth
      metatarsal have been associated with a high nonunion rate with nonoperative
      treatment. Although intramedullary screw fixation results in a high union rate,
      delayed healing and complications can occur. We describe an innovative technique
      to treat both acute and chronic injuries involving the metatarsal base from the
      metaphysis to the proximal diaphyseal bone of the fourth and fifth metatarsals.
      The surgical technique involves evacuation of sclerotic bone at the fracture
      site, packing the fracture site with compact cancellous bone, and plate fixation.
      In our preliminary results, 4 patients displayed 100% radiographic union at a
      mean of 4.75 (range 4 to 6) weeks with no incidence of refracture, at a mean
      follow-up point of 3.5 (range 1 to 5) years. The early results with our small
      series suggest that this technique is a useful treatment choice for metaphyseal
      and proximal diaphyseal fractures of the fourth and fifth metatarsals.

PMID- 28606790
TI  - Unstable Open Posterior Subtalar Dislocation Treated With a Ring External
      Fixator: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Traumatic dislocation of the subtalar joint is an infrequently occurring injury,
      with open true posterior dislocation an even rarer injury. We describe our
      treatment of a young motorcyclist who was brought into hospital after a road
      traffic accident, having sustained an open posterior subtalar dislocation. After
      initial reduction and resuscitation in the emergency department, he was taken to
      the operating theater for emergent wound debridement and external fixation of his
      ankle using a unilateral external fixator device. After 2 subsequent repeat
      debridements, this was changed to a ring external fixator device, followed by
      split-thickness skin grafting of his wound. He was allowed full weightbearing and
      was discharged from hospital 10 days after his last operation. He continued to
      improve clinically at his outpatient appointments to the 1-year follow-up point,
      with his external fixator removed at 6 weeks postoperatively. At the last follow
      up appointment, he had successfully returned to his previous employment. To the
      best of our knowledge, only 1 other description of an open posterior dislocation
      has been reported, which was managed nonoperatively after wound debridement. Ours
      is the first reported case of an open posterior dislocation managed surgically
      using a ring external fixator. We believe the ability to allow immediate
      weightbearing resulting from the additional stability provided by this type of
      fixation is advantageous, with a theoretical reduction in the risk of
      periarticular osteoporosis and calf muscle atrophy. The early mobilization
      afforded by this treatment is hoped to improve the typically poor long-term
      outcomes for these patients.

PMID- 28606791
TI  - Chondrolipoma of the Ankle in a Child: A Case Report.
AB  - Chondrolipoma is an extremely rare variant of lipoma with cartilaginous
      metaplasia. The presence of nonlipomatous components can lead to a variety of
      entities in the differential diagnosis from the radiologic findings. We describe
      an unusual case of a chondrolipoma occurring in the right ankle of a 9-year-old
      female. Physical examination showed a 3.5-cm, elastic-hard, poorly mobile,
      nontender mass adherent to the Achilles tendon. Plain radiographs revealed a
      faintly calcified soft tissue mass without bone involvement. Magnetic resonance
      imaging showed a well-defined mass with 2 components with heterogeneous signal
      intensity, suggesting the coexistence of a fatty area and another nonlipomatous
      component. Marginal excision of the tumor was performed. Histologically, the
      tumor was composed of mature adipose tissue studded with islands of mature
      hyaline cartilage. Based on these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as a
      chondrolipoma. The patient had no evidence of local recurrence within 9 months of
      follow-up. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of chondrolipoma
      originating from the ankle in a child.

PMID- 28606792
TI  - Improved method for rapid and accurate isolation and identification of
      Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus from human plaque samples.
AB  - Mutans streptococci (MS), specifically Streptococcus mutans (SM) and
      Streptococcus sobrinus (SS), are bacterial species frequently targeted for
      investigation due to their role in the etiology of dental caries. Differentiation
      of S. mutans and S. sobrinus is an essential part of exploring the role of these
      organisms in disease progression and the impact of the presence of either/both on
      a subject's caries experience. Of vital importance to the study of these
      organisms is an identification protocol that allows us to distinguish between the
      two species in an easy, accurate, and timely manner. While conducting a 5-year
      birth cohort study in a Northern Plains American Indian tribe, the need for a
      more rapid procedure for isolating and identifying high volumes of MS was
      recognized. We report here on the development of an accurate and rapid method for
      MS identification. Accuracy, ease of use, and material and time requirements for
      morphological differentiation on selective agar, biochemical tests, and various
      combinations of PCR primers were compared. The final protocol included
      preliminary identification based on colony morphology followed by PCR
      confirmation of species identification using primers targeting regions of the
      glucosyltransferase (gtf) genes of SM and SS. This method of isolation and
      identification was found to be highly accurate, more rapid than the previous
      methodology used, and easily learned. It resulted in more efficient use of both
      time and material resources.

PMID- 28606793
TI  - MiR-20b inhibits mycobacterium tuberculosis induced inflammation in the lung of
      mice through targeting NLRP3.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is one of immune-related disorders. Although dysregulation of
      miRNAs has been implicated in innate and adaptive immune response, the specific
      effect of miR-20b on TB has not been documented. In this study, downregulation of
      miR-20b and upregulation of NLRP3 were observed in macrophages of TB patients,
      increased levels of inflammatory factors secretion were observed in serum of TB
      patients. Next, we established a TB mice model by using M. tuberculosis infection
      and intravenous injection of miR-20b mimic. HE staining showed a denser
      lymphocytic infiltration and extensive tissue necrosis in the lung of TB mice.
      Lesions in the TB mice displayed a higher bacterial load by plating of lung
      homogenates. At the same time, lessened miR-20b and activated NLRP3/caspase-1/IL
      1beta pathway were observed in TB mice. MiR-20b mimic alleviated the inflammatory
      response and deactivated the NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1beta pathway in TB mice.
      Subsequently, we found that miR-20b induced M2 macrophage polarization by using
      flow cytometry. In addition, luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-20b
      directly bind to the 3'-UTR of NLRP3 and regulated its expression negatively.
      Further, we found that miR-20b mitigated the inflammation and pyroptosis in
      alveolar epithelial cells co-cultured with macrophages. Our results indicate that
      miR-20b could alleviate the inflammatory response in TB mice via targeting the
      NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1beta pathway, which provides a novel potential molecular
      mechanism of miR-20b therapy for TB.

PMID- 28606794
TI  - Antifibrotic Actions of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor gamma Ligands
      in Corneal Fibroblasts Are Mediated by beta-Catenin-Regulated Pathways.
AB  - Wound healing after corneal injury typically involves fibrosis, with transforming
      growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) as one of its strongest mediators. A class of
      small molecules-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma)
      ligands-exert potent antifibrotic effects in the cornea by blocking
      phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). However, why this
      blocks fibrosis remains unknown. Herein, we show that PPARgamma ligands
      (rosiglitazone, troglitazone, and 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2) decrease
      levels of beta-catenin. We also show that beta-catenin siRNA and the
      Wingless/integrated (Wnt) inhibitor pyrvinium block the ability of corneal
      fibroblasts to up-regulate synthesis of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA),
      collagen 1 (COL1), and fibronectin (FN) in response to TGF-beta1. Activation of
      TGF-beta receptors and p38 MAPK increased glycogen synthase kinase 3beta
      (GSK3beta) phosphorylation, whereas a chemical inhibitor of p38 MAPK (SB203580)
      reduced the phosphorylation of GSK3beta, decreasing active beta-catenin levels in
      both cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions. Finally, lithium chloride, a GSK3
      inhibitor, also attenuated the TGF-beta1-induced increase in alpha-SMA, COL1, and
      FN expression. All in all, our results suggest that TGF-beta1 stimulation
      increases active beta-catenin concentration in cultured corneal fibroblasts
      through p38 MAPK regulation of canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, increasing
      alpha-SMA, COL1, and FN synthesis. Thus, PPARgamma ligands, by blocking TGF-beta1
      induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation, prevent increases in both total and active beta
      catenin through p38 MAPK-GSK3beta signaling.

PMID- 28606796
TI  - Post-Polio-Like Syndrome.

PMID- 28606795
TI  - Endothelium-Independent Primitive Myxoid Vascularization Creates Invertebrate
      Like Channels to Maintain Blood Supply in Optic Gliomas.
AB  - Optic gliomas are brain tumors characterized by slow growth, progressive loss of
      vision, and limited therapeutic options. Optic gliomas contain various amounts of
      myxoid matrix, which can represent most of the tumor mass. We sought to
      investigate biological function and protein structure of the myxoid matrix in
      optic gliomas to identify novel therapeutic targets. We reviewed histological
      features and clinical imaging properties, analyzed vasculature by
      immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy, and performed liquid chromatography
      mass spectrometry on optic gliomas, which varied in the amount of myxoid matrix.
      We found that although subtypes of optic gliomas are indistinguishable on
      imaging, the microvascular network of pilomyxoid astrocytoma, a subtype of optic
      glioma with abundant myxoid matrix, is characterized by the presence of
      endothelium-free channels in the myxoid matrix. These tumors show normal
      perfusion by clinical imaging and lack histological evidence of hemorrhage
      organization or thrombosis. The myxoid matrix is composed predominantly of the
      proteoglycan versican and its linking protein, a vertebrate hyaluronan and
      proteoglycan link protein 1. We propose that pediatric optic gliomas can maintain
      blood supply without endothelial cells by using invertebrate-like channels, which
      we termed primitive myxoid vascularization. Enzymatic targeting of the
      proteoglycan versican/hyaluronan and proteoglycan link protein 1 rich myxoid
      matrix, which is in direct contact with circulating blood, can provide novel
      therapeutic avenues for optic gliomas of childhood.

PMID- 28606797
TI  - Do Factor V Leiden and Prothrombin G20210A Mutations Predict Recurrent Venous
      Thromboembolism in Older Patients?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The value of genetic thrombophilia testing in elderly patients with
      an unprovoked venous thromboembolism is unclear. We assessed whether the Factor V
      Leiden and the prothrombin G20210A mutation are associated with recurrent venous
      thromboembolism in elderly patients in a prospective multicenter cohort study.
      METHODS: We genotyped the Factor V Leiden and the prothrombin G20210A mutation in
      354 consecutive in- and outpatients aged >=65 years with a first unprovoked
      venous thromboembolism from 9 Swiss hospitals. Patients and managing physicians
      were blinded to testing results. The outcome was recurrent symptomatic venous
      thromboembolism during follow-up. We examined the association between the Factor
      V Leiden and the prothrombin G20210A mutation and venous thromboembolism
      recurrence using competing risk regression, adjusting for age, sex, and periods
      of anticoagulation as a time-varying covariate. RESULTS: Overall, 9.0% of
      patients had a Factor V Leiden and 3.7% had a prothrombin G20210A mutation. At 36
      months of follow-up, patients with a Factor V Leiden and a prothrombin G20210A
      mutation had a cumulative incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism of 12.9%
      (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.1%-30.8%) and 18.5% (95% CI, 4.9%-56.5%),
      respectively, compared with 16.7% (95% CI, 12.5%-22.1%) of patients without
      mutation (P = .91 by the log-rank test). After adjustment, neither the Factor V
      Leiden (sub-hazard ratio 0.98; 95% CI, 0.35-2.77) nor the prothrombin G20210A
      mutation (sub-hazard ratio 1.15; 95% CI, 0.25-5.19) was associated with recurrent
      venous thromboembolism. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that testing for genetic
      thrombophilia may not be beneficial in elderly patients with a first unprovoked
      venous thromboembolism.

PMID- 28606798
TI  - The Coronary (Cardiac) Care Unit at 50 Years: A Major Advance in the Practice of
      Hospital Medicine.

PMID- 28606800
TI  - Physical Exercise Positively Influences Breast Cancer Evolution.
AB  - Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of cancer in women. Its
      pathogenesis involves genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. A large body
      of evidence indicates that physical activity has positive effects on every aspect
      of breast cancer evolution, including prevention, medical treatment, and
      aftercare clinical settings. Thus, different types of exercise can influence the
      prevention and progression of the disease through several common mechanisms, such
      as reduction of insulin resistance and improvement of immunity and cardiovascular
      function. Furthermore, acute and chronic symptoms of breast cancer, such as
      cachexia, muscle mass loss, fatigue, cardiotoxicity, weight gain, hormone
      alterations, bone loss, and psychologic adverse effects, may all be favorably
      influenced by regular exercise. We review the relation of intensity and duration
      of exercise with potential pathophysiologic pathways, including obesity-related
      hormones and sex steroid hormone production, oxidative stress, epigenetic
      alterations such as DNA hypomethylation, and changes in telomere length, within
      the context of the beneficial effects of exercise. The potential role of exercise
      in reducing the intensity of the adverse effects that result from breast cancer
      and anticancer treatment is also discussed.

PMID- 28606799
TI  - Patterns of Readmissions for Three Common Conditions Among Younger US Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thirty-day readmissions among elderly Medicare patients are an
      important hospital quality measure. Although plans for using 30-day readmission
      measures are under consideration for younger patients, little is known about
      readmission in younger patients or the relationship between readmissions in
      younger and elderly patients at the same hospital. METHODS: By using the 2014
      Nationwide Readmissions Database, we examined readmission patterns in younger
      patients (18-64 years) using hierarchical models to evaluate associations between
      hospital 30-day, risk-standardized readmission rates in elderly Medicare patients
      and readmission risk in younger patients with acute myocardial infarction, heart
      failure, or pneumonia. RESULTS: There were 87,818, 98,315, and 103,251 admissions
      in younger patients for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and
      pneumonia, respectively, with overall 30-day unplanned readmission rates of 8.5%,
      21.4%, and 13.7%, respectively. Readmission risk in younger patients was
      significantly associated with hospital 30-day risk-standardized readmission rates
      for elderly Medicare patients for all 3 conditions. A decrease in an average
      hospital's 30-day, risk-standardized readmission rates from the 75th percentile
      to the 25th percentile was associated with reduction in younger patients' risk of
      readmission from 8.8% to 8.0% (difference: 0.7%; 95% confidence interval, 0.5
      0.9) for acute myocardial infarction; 21.8% to 20.0% (difference: 1.8%; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.4-2.2) for heart failure; and 13.9% to 13.1% (difference:
      0.8%; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.0) for pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: Among younger
      patients, readmission risk was moderately associated with hospital 30-day, risk
      standardized readmission rates in elderly Medicare beneficiaries. Efforts to
      reduce readmissions among older patients may have important areas of overlap with
      younger patients, although further research may be necessary to identify specific
      mechanisms to tailor initiatives to younger patients.

PMID- 28606801
TI  - Molecular cloning, characterization and expression analysis of (B-cell lymphoma
      2) Bcl-2 in the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides).
AB  - Bcl-2 is a pro-survival member of Bcl-2 like superfamily, playing an important
      role in regulating the apoptotic process. In this study, the full-length Bcl-2
      (EcBcl-2) was obtained, consisting of a 5'UTR of 290 bp, an ORF of 699 bp and a
      3'UTR of 920 bp. EcBcl-2 gene encoded a polypeptide of 232 amino acids with an
      estimated molecular mass of 26.12 KDa and a predicted isoelectric point (pI) of
      6.93. The deduced amino acid sequence analysis showed that EcBcl-2 consisted of
      the conserved residues and characteristic domains known to the critical
      functionality for Bcl-2. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that EcBcl-2 transcript was
      expressed in all the examined tissues, while the strongest expression level was
      observed in liver, followed by the expression in blood, gill, kidney, spleen,
      heart, intestine and muscle. The groupers challenged with V. alginolyticus showed
      a significant increase of EcBcl-2 mRNA in immune tissues. In addition, western
      blotting analysis confirmed that the up-regulation of EcBcl-2 protein expression
      was detected in liver. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that EcBcl-2
      was localized in both nucleus and cytoplasm. Overexpression of EcBcl-2 can
      inhibit the LPS-induced apoptosis and activate the transcription activity of NF
      kappaB and AP-1, while the deletion of BH1, BH2, BH3 or BH4 domain from EcBcl-2
      can impede the signaling transduction. These results indicate that EcBcl-2 may
      play a regulatory role in the apoptotic process.

PMID- 28606802
TI  - Quantification and modeling of nanomechanical properties of chlorpropamide alpha,
      beta, and gamma conformational polymorphs.
AB  - The nanomechanical properties of the alpha-, beta-, and gamma- conformational
      polymorphs of chlorpropamide were determined by the dynamic contact module
      continuous stiffness measurement at nanoindenter. The mechanical anisotropy of
      the alpha-polymorph was confirmed by indenting different faces, and its
      deformational behavior was assigned as ductile. Based on the nanoindentation
      results, the beta and gamma forms are moderately hard with plastic flow at
      contact points. The results revealed a correlation between Young's modulus and
      inter-planar interaction energy with regard to crystal orientation.
      Interpretation of the measurements was assisted by two- and three-dimensional
      periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations, yielding inter-planar
      energies of polymorphs along the cell vectors and exhibiting a very good match
      with the experimental observations. The results suggest that the inter-planar
      interaction energy could serve as a first-order indicator for ranking the
      mechanical propensity of crystalline active ingredients. The study confirms the
      practical aspect of using the alpha- form for preparing chlorpropamide tablets
      with a direct compression procedure due to its substantial level of ductility.

PMID- 28606803
TI  - Pharmaceutical counselling about different types of tablet-splitting methods
      based on the results of weighing tests and mechanical development of splitting
      devices.
AB  - The division of tablets and adequate methods of splitting them are a complex
      problem in all sectors of health care. Although tablet-splitting is often
      required, this procedure can be difficult for patients. Four tablets were
      investigated with different external features (shape, score-line, film-coat and
      size). The influencing effect of these features and the splitting methods was
      investigated according to the precision and "weight loss" of splitting
      techniques. All four types of tablets were halved by four methods: by hand, with
      a kitchen knife, with an original manufactured splitting device and with a
      modified tablet splitter based on a self-developed mechanical model. The
      mechanical parameters (harness and friability) of the products were measured
      during the study. The "weight loss" and precision of splitting methods were
      determined and compared by statistical analysis. On the basis of the results, the
      external features (geometry), the mechanical parameters of tablets and the
      mechanical structure of splitting devices can influence the "weight loss" and
      precision of tablet-splitting. Accordingly, a new decision-making scheme was
      developed for the selection of splitting methods. In addition, the skills of
      patients and the specialties of therapy should be considered so that
      pharmaceutical counselling can be more effective regarding tablet-splitting.

PMID- 28606804
TI  - A human challenge model for respiratory syncytial virus kinetics, the
      pharmacological effect of a novel fusion inhibitor, and the modelling of symptoms
      scores.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes acute lower respiratory tract
      infections, and is a major cause of hospital admissions and death in young
      children. Limited treatments currently exist that can prevent or minimise
      exacerbation of the disease. The aims of this work were: 1) to develop a
      population pharmacodynamic model to describe RSV kinetics (RSVK) in nasal lavage,
      2) evaluate the impact of an investigational fusion inhibitor, JNJ-53718678, on
      RSVK, and 3) determine the relationship between RSVK and symptoms scores. The
      best model to fit the RSVK data was a target-cell limited viral kinetics model
      previously developed for influenza A infections (Baccam et al., 2006), which
      included a series of compartments for infected, non-producing and infected, and
      producing cell populations. The model was adapted to account for longer
      incubation times seen in RSV, by including 4 additional transit compartments,
      with the virus elimination rate constant and initial number of target cells fixed
      to literature values to ensure model parameter identifiability. Between-subject
      variability was included on the infection rate constant and virus production rate
      constant. The effect of JNJ-53718678 on RSVK was best described by a non-dose
      dependent transformation of the infectious virions into a non-infectious state,
      with a proportional odds model successfully describing symptoms scores, using
      individual model predicted viral loads as predictor.

PMID- 28606805
TI  - Decision ambiguity is mediated by a late positive potential originating from
      cingulate cortex.
AB  - People often make decisions in the face of ambiguous information, but it remains
      unclear how ambiguity is represented in the brain. We used three types of
      ambiguous stimuli and combined EEG and fMRI to examine the neural representation
      of perceptual decisions under ambiguity. We identified a late positive potential,
      the LPP, which differentiated levels of ambiguity, and which was specifically
      associated with behavioral judgments about choices that were ambiguous, rather
      than passive perception of ambiguous stimuli. Mediation analyses together with
      two further control experiments confirmed that the LPP was generated only when
      decisions are made (not during mere perception of ambiguous stimuli), and only
      when those decisions involved choices on a dimension that is ambiguous. A further
      control experiment showed that a stronger LPP arose in the presence of ambiguous
      stimuli compared to when only unambiguous stimuli were present. Source modeling
      suggested that the LPP originated from multiple loci in cingulate cortex, a
      finding we further confirmed using fMRI and fMRI-guided ERP source prediction.
      Taken together, our findings argue for a role of an LPP originating from
      cingulate cortex in encoding decisions based on task-relevant perceptual
      ambiguity, a process that may in turn influence confidence judgment, response
      conflict, and error correction.

PMID- 28606807
TI  - Recent pharmaceutical evidence on the compatibility rationality of traditional
      Chinese medicine.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Chinese herbs have been used in China for
      thousands of years and are also becoming popular in Western medicine. Formulae of
      traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which contain two or more herbs, can often
      obtain better curative efficacies and fewer side effects than single herbs.
      Though there are many reports on pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, and
      pharmacodynamics of TCM, there remains a serious lack of summarization and
      systemic analyses of these reported data to help uncover the compatibility
      rationale of TCM. This review therefore aims to provide such an overview mainly
      based on the reports published in the last decade. It could be served as an
      informative reference for researchers interested in compound prescriptions and
      holistic therapies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant information was collected
      from various resources, including books on Chinese herbs, China Knowledge
      Resource Integrated (CNKI), and international databases, such as Web of Science,
      Scopus, and PubMed. RESULTS: Thirty-six relevant TCM formulae were collected to
      illustrate the compatibility rationality of TCM from the perspective of
      pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, and/or pharmacodynamics. CONCLUSIONS:
      Compatibility is a key characteristic of multi-herb prescriptions. It often
      results in the change of the therapeutic material basis and, thus, produces the
      effect of reducing toxicity and/or increasing curative efficacy.

PMID- 28606806
TI  - BCL2 induced by LAMTOR3/MAPK is a druggable target of chemoradioresistance in
      mesenchymal lung cancer.
AB  - Mesenchymal-type cancers after epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) were
      recently shown to acquire chemoresistance through expressing EMT specific
      transcription factors. However, druggable (or actionable) target(s) for
      chemoresistance in mesenchymal-type lung cancers remain unidentified. Here, we
      used a public clinical genomic database and mesenchymal lung cancer cells (MLCC)
      model derived from the A549 lung adenocarcinoma cell line to demonstrate that
      BCL2 expression, which is highly induced in mesenchymal-type lung cancers, as a
      predictor of poor prognosis in mesenchymal lung cancer patients and association
      with acquired chemoradioresistance. Thereby, combination treatment with BH3
      mimetics, such as ABT-263 and ABT-737, clearly attenuated chemoresistance in
      MLCCs. BCL2 expression in MLCCs was induced by ERK1 activity through the
      upregulation of the MEK1/ERK1 scaffold protein MEK partner-1 (MP1). Interfering
      with the MEK1/MP1/ERK1 axis using a MEK1 inhibitor or MP1 depletion repressed
      BCL2 expression and sensitized MLCCs to chemoradiotherapy. Taken together, our
      results suggest that targeting druggable proteins in the MEK1/MP1/ERK1/BCL2 axis,
      such as MEK1 or BCL2, with currently available FDA approved drugs is a currently
      feasible approach to improve clinical outcomes of mesenchymal lung cancer
      patients.

PMID- 28606808
TI  - Sambulin A and B, non-glycosidic iridoids from Sambucus ebulus, exert significant
      in vitro anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages via
      inhibition of MAPKs's phosphorylation.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The leaves of Sambucus ebulus L. (Adoxaceae) are
      widely used in Turkish folk medicine particularly against inflammatory disorders.
      The fresh leaves after wilted over fire or the poultices prepared are directly
      applied externally to heal burns, edema, eczema, urticarial and abscess. Two
      iridoids were recently isolated (sambulin A, sambulin B) from the leaves of S.
      ebulus. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to investigate the in vitro anti
      inflammatory activities of these iridoids on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Raw 264.7 macrophages were treated with 12.5, 25 and
      50ug/ml Sambulin A and 6.25, 12.5 and 25ug/ml Sambulin B and induced with 1ug/ml
      lipopolysaccaharides (LPS). Effect of the compounds on nitric oxide (NO)
      production and cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-6) were determined by Griess and ELISA
      assays respectively. iNOS and the phosphorylation levels of MAPKs (ERK, JNK) were
      examined by Western Blot. RESULTS: Sambulin A and sambulin B inhibited 52.82% and
      72.88% of NO production at 50 and 25ug/ml concentrations respectively. The levels
      of iNOS were significantly decreased by both molecules, sambulin B at 25ug/ml
      almost completely decreased iNOS levels (97.53%). Both molecules significantly
      inhibited TNFalpha productions. However, only sambulin B inhibited IL-6
      production. Consequently, it was shown that sambulin B exerted its effect through
      the inhibition of ERK and JNK phosphorylations. CONCLUSION: The prominent
      bioactivities exerted by two iridoids will contribute to explanation of the usage
      of S. ebulus in traditional medicine against rheumatoid diseases.

PMID- 28606809
TI  - Animal-derived natural products of Sowa Rigpa medicine: Their pharmacopoeial
      description, current utilization and zoological identification.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The Bhutanese Sowa Rigpa medicine (BSM) uses
      animal parts in the preparation of numerous polyingredient traditional remedies.
      Our study reports the taxonomical identification of medicinal animals and the
      description of traditional uses in English medical terminologies. AIM OF THE
      STUDY: To taxonomically identify the medicinal animals and their derived natural
      products used as a zootherapeutic agents in BSM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First,
      the traditional textbooks were reviewed to generate a list of animal products
      described as ingredients. Second, animal parts that are currently used in Bhutan
      were identified. Third, the ethnopharmacological uses of each animal ingredients
      were translated into English medical terminologies by consulting Traditional
      Physicians, clinical assistants, pharmacognosists, and pharmacists in Bhutan.
      Fourth, the animal parts were taxonomically identified and their Latin names were
      confirmed by crosschecking them with online animal databases and relevant
      scientific literature. RESULTS: The study found 73 natural products belonging to
      29 categories derived from 45 medicinal animals (36 vertebrates and 9
      invertebrates), comprising of 9 taxonomic categories and 30 zoological families.
      Out of 116 formulations currently produced, 87 of them contain one or more
      extracts and products obtained from 13 medicinal animals to treat more than 124
      traditionally classified illnesses. Only five animal ingredients were found
      available in Bhutan and rest of the animal parts are being imported from India.
      CONCLUSIONS: Out of 73 natural products described in the traditional textbooks,
      only 13 of them (some omitted and few substituted by plants) are currently
      included in 87 formulations of BSM.

PMID- 28606810
TI  - Tailored design of multifunctional and programmable pH-responsive self-assembling
      polypeptides as drug delivery nanocarrier for cancer therapy.
AB  - : Breast cancer has become the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality
      in female wherein more than 90% of breast cancer-related death results from
      cancer metastasis to distant organs at advanced stage. The purpose of this study
      is to develop biodegradable nanoparticles composed of natural polypeptides and
      calcium phosphate (CaP) with sequential pH-responsivity to tumor
      microenvironments for active targeted drug delivery. Two different amphiphilic
      copolymers, poly(ethylene glycol)3400-aconityl linkage-poly(l-glutamic acid)15
      poly(l-histidine)10-poly(l-leucine)10 and LyP1-poly(ethylene glycol)1100-poly(l
      glutamic acid)15-poly(l-histidine)10-poly(l-leucine)10, were exploited to self
      assemble into micelles in aqueous phase. The bio-stable nanoparticles provide
      three distinct functional domains: the anionic PGlu shell for CaP mineralization,
      the protonation of PHis segment for facilitating anticancer drug release at
      target site, and the hydrophobic core of PLeu for encapsulation of anticancer
      drugs. Furthermore, the hydrated PEG outer corona is used for prolonging
      circulation time, while the active targeting ligand, LyP-1, is served to bind to
      breast cancer cells and lymphatic endothelial cells in tumor for inhibiting
      metastasis. Mineralized DOX-loaded nanoparticles (M-DOX NPs) efficiently prevent
      the drug leakage at physiological pH value and facilitate the encapsulated drug
      release at acidic condition when compared to DOX-loaded nanoparticles (DOX NPs).
      M-DOX NPs with LyP-1 targeting ligand effectively accumulated in MDA-MB-231
      breast cancer cells. The inhibition effect on cell proliferation also enhances
      with time, illustrating the prominent anti-tumor efficacy. Moreover, the in vitro
      metastatic inhibition model shows the profound inhibition effect of inhibitory
      nanoparticles. In brief, this self-assembling peptide-based drug delivery
      nanocarrier with multifunctionality and programmable pH-sensitivity is of great
      promise and potential for anti-cancer therapy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: This
      tailored-design polypeptide-based nanoparticles with self-assembling and
      programmable stimulus-responsive properties enable to 1) have stable pH in
      physiological value with a low level of drug loss and effectively release the
      encapsulated drug with pH variations according to the tumor microenvironment, 2)
      enhance targeting ability to hard-to-treat breast cancer cells and activate
      endothelial cells (tumor region), 3) significantly inhibit the growth and prevent
      from malignant metastasis of cancer cells in consonance with promising anti-tumor
      efficacy, and 4) make tumors stick to localized position so that these confined
      solid tumors can be more accessible by different treatment modalities. This work
      contributes to designing a programmable pH-responsive drug delivery system based
      on the tailor-designed polypeptides.

PMID- 28606811
TI  - Modeling the costs and benefits of temporary recommendations for poliovirus
      exporting countries to vaccinate international travelers.
AB  - Recognizing that infectious agents readily cross international borders, the
      International Health Regulations Emergency Committee issues Temporary
      Recommendations (TRs) that include vaccination of travelers from countries
      affected by public health emergencies, including serotype 1 wild polioviruses
      (WPV1s). This analysis estimates the costs and benefits of TRs implemented by
      countries with reported WPV1 during 2014-2016 while accounting for numerous
      uncertainties. We estimate the TR costs based on programmatic data and prior
      economic analyses and TR benefits by simulating potential WPV1 outbreaks in the
      absence of the TRs using the rate and extent of WPV1 importation outbreaks per
      reported WPV1 case during 2004-2013 and the number of reported WPV1 cases that
      occurred in countries with active TRs. The benefits of TRs outweigh the costs in
      77% of model iterations, resulting in expected incremental net economic benefits
      of $210 million. Inclusion of indirect costs increases the costs by 13%, the
      expected savings from prevented outbreaks by 4%, and the expected incremental net
      benefits by 3%. Despite the considerable costs of implementing TRs, this study
      provides health and economic justification for these investments in the context
      of managing a disease in advanced stages of its global eradication.

PMID- 28606812
TI  - Novel CTL epitopes identified through a Y. pestis proteome-wide analysis in the
      search for vaccine candidates against plague.
AB  - The causative agent of Plague, Yersinia pestis, is a highly virulent pathogen and
      a potential bioweapon. Depending on the route of infection, two prevalent
      occurrences of the disease are known, bubonic and pneumonic. The latter has a
      high fatality rate. In the absence of a licensed vaccine, intense efforts to
      develop a safe and efficacious vaccine have been conducted, and humoral-driven
      subunit vaccines containing the F1 and LcrV antigens are currently under clinical
      trials. It is well known that a cellular immune response might have an essential
      additive value to immunity and protection against Y. pestis infection.
      Nevertheless, very few documented epitopes eliciting a protective T-cell response
      have been reported. Here, we present a combined high throughput computational and
      experimental effort towards identification of CD8 T-cell epitopes. All 4067
      proteins of Y. pestis were analyzed with state-of-the-art recently developed
      prediction algorithms aimed at mapping potential MHC class I binders. A
      compilation of the results obtained from several prediction methods revealed a
      total of 238,000 peptide candidates, which necessitated downstream filtering
      criteria. Our previously established and proven approach for enrichment of true
      positive CTL epitopes, which relies on mapping clusters rich in tandem or
      overlapping predicted MHC binders ("hotspots"), was applied, as well as
      considerations of predicted binding affinity. A total of 1532 peptides were
      tested for their ability to elicit a specific T-cell response by following the
      production of IFNgamma from splenocytes isolated from vaccinated mice.
      Altogether, the screen resulted in 178 positive responders (11.8%), all novel Y.
      pestis CTL epitopes. These epitopes span 113 Y. pestis proteins. Substantial
      enrichment of membrane-associated proteins was detected for epitopes selected
      from hotspots of predicted MHC binders. These results considerably expand the
      repertoire of known CTL epitopes in Y. pestis and pave the way to attest their
      protective potential, and hence their contribution to a future potent subunit
      vaccine.

PMID- 28606813
TI  - Comparative Efficacy of Intramuscular and Scarification Routes of Administration
      of Live Smallpox Vaccine in a Murine Challenge Model.
AB  - In recent years concern has mounted regarding the possibility of a re-emergence
      of smallpox through biowarfare or bioterrorism. There is also concern over the
      incidence of human monkeypox in endemic areas and the potential for monkeypox to
      be accidentally transported to non-endemic areas. In the event of re-emergence of
      smallpox or emergence of monkeypox, the accepted route of administration for live
      replicating smallpox vaccine is dermal scarification, which generates a virus
      shedding lesion that persists for several days at the vaccination site. The
      lesion is a potential source of contact transmission of vaccine to individuals
      who may be contra-indicated for receipt of the live vaccine. In this study, we
      compare dermal scarification with intramuscular vaccination for replicating
      smallpox vaccine in a mouse lethal challenge model. Comparisons are made over
      multiple vaccine and challenge doses and data recorded for lethality, disease
      severity, and antibody responses. Qualitative and quantitative differences
      between the two routes are observed, and for the intramuscular route the febrile
      response is not suppressed after subsequent virulent vaccinia virus challenge.
      However both routes generate an immune response and protect from severe disease
      and death. Although dermal scarification is the preferred route of vaccination
      for the general population, intramuscular vaccination may be an option for people
      who are not contraindicated for the live vaccine, but who are close contacts of
      people who are contraindicated for the live vaccine, in an emergency situation.

PMID- 28606814
TI  - Does cost-effectiveness of influenza vaccine choice vary across the U.S.? An
      agent-based modeling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a prior agent-based modeling study, offering a choice of influenza
      vaccine type was shown to be cost-effective when the simulated population
      represented the large, Washington DC metropolitan area. This study calculated the
      public health impact and cost-effectiveness of the same four strategies: No
      Choice, Pediatric Choice, Adult Choice, or Choice for Both Age Groups in five
      United States (U.S.) counties selected to represent extremes in population age
      distribution. METHODS: The choice offered was either inactivated influenza
      vaccine delivered intramuscularly with a needle (IIV-IM) or an age-appropriate
      needle-sparing vaccine, specifically, the nasal spray (LAIV) or intradermal (IIV
      ID) delivery system. Using agent-based modeling, individuals were simulated as
      they interacted with others, and influenza was tracked as it spread through each
      population. Influenza vaccination coverage derived from Centers for Disease
      Control and Prevention (CDC) data, was increased by 6.5% (range 3.25%-11.25%) to
      reflect the effects of vaccine choice. RESULTS: Assuming moderate influenza
      infectivity, the number of averted cases was highest for the Choice for Both Age
      Groups in all five counties despite differing demographic profiles. In a cost
      effectiveness analysis, Choice for Both Age Groups was the dominant strategy.
      Sensitivity analyses varying influenza infectivity, costs, and degrees of vaccine
      coverage increase due to choice, supported the base case findings. CONCLUSION:
      Offering a choice to receive a needle-sparing influenza vaccine has the potential
      to significantly reduce influenza disease burden and to be cost saving.
      Consistent findings across diverse populations confirmed these findings.

PMID- 28606815
TI  - Predictors of self and parental vaccination decisions in England during the 2009
      H1N1 pandemic: Analysis of the Flu Watch pandemic cohort data.
AB  - During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, UK uptake of the pandemic influenza vaccine was
      very low. Furthermore, attitudes governing UK vaccination uptake during a
      pandemic are poorly characterised. To the best of our knowledge, there is no
      published research explicitly considering predictors of both adult self
      vaccination and decisions regarding whether or not to vaccinate one's children
      among the UK population during the H1N1 pandemic. We therefore aimed to identify
      predictors of both self-vaccination decisions and parental vaccination decisions
      using data collected during the H1N1 pandemic as part of the Flu Watch cohort
      study. Data were analysed separately for 798 adults and 85 children: exploratory
      factor analysis facilitated reduction of 16 items on attitudes to pandemic
      vaccine into a smaller number of factors. Single variable analyses with vaccine
      uptake as the outcome were used to identify variables that were predictive of
      vaccination in children and adults. Potential predictors were: attitudinal
      factors created by data reduction, age group, sex, region, deprivation,
      ethnicity, chronic condition, vocation, healthcare-related occupation and
      previous influenza vaccination. Consistent with previous literature concerning
      adult self-vaccination decisions, we found that vaccine efficacy/safety and
      perceived risk of pandemic influenza were significant predictors of both self
      vaccination decisions and parental vaccination decisions. This study provides the
      first systematic attempt to understand both the predictors of self and parental
      vaccination uptake among the UK general population during the H1N1 pandemic. Our
      findings indicate that concerns about vaccine safety, and vaccine effectiveness
      may be a barrier to increased uptake for both self and parental vaccination.

PMID- 28606817
TI  - Phylogenetic analysis of G1P[8] and G12P[8] rotavirus A samples obtained in the
      pre- and post-vaccine periods, and molecular modeling of VP4 and VP7 proteins.
AB  - Reduction in morbimortality rates for acute gastroenteritis (AGE) by Rotavirus A
      (RVA) has been observed after the introduction of vaccines, however the agent
      continues to circulate. The present study described the genomic characterization
      of the 11 dsRNA segments of two RVA samples G1P[8] obtained in the pre- and post
      vaccination periods and one of G12P[8] sample (post-vaccine), compared to
      RotarixTM vaccine. Analysis by molecular sequencing of the samples showed that
      the three samples belonged to genogroup I. In addition, the analysis of VP7 gene
      revealed that the samples G1 (pre-vaccine), G1 (post-vaccine) and G12 were
      characterized as lineages II, I and III, respectively. Regarding to VP4 and NSP4
      gene it was observed that all samples belonged to lineage III, whereas for VP6
      gene, the sample of the pre- and post-vaccine belonged to the lineage IV and I,
      respectively. Considering the VP7 gene, it was observed high nucleotide and amino
      acid identity for the two G1 samples when compared to RotarixTM vaccine and
      lesser identity for the G12 sample. In relation to antigenic epitope of VP7
      greater modifications were observed for the G12 sample in the 7-2 epitope that
      was confirmed by molecular modeling. On the other hand, for VP4, some changes in
      the 8-1 and 8-3 antigenic epitopes was observed for the three samples. This data
      could be interpreted as a low selective pressure exerted by vaccination in
      relation to G1P[8] samples and lesser protection in relation to G12P[8]. Thus,
      the continuous monitoring of RVA circulating samples remains important.

PMID- 28606816
TI  - Altered distribution of peripheral blood dendritic cell subsets in patients with
      pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis.
AB  - Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic mycosis caused by fungi from the genus
      Paracoccidioides in Latin America. PCM-patients (PCM-p) are classified as having
      acute/subacute or chronic (CF) clinical forms. CF is responsible for 75%-90% of
      all cases, affects mainly adults over 30 years old and the clinical manifestation
      are associated mainly with lungs and mucosa of upper airdigestive tract. In
      addition, the CF patients exhibit fibrosis of the lungs, oral mucous membranes
      and adrenals, and pulmonary emphysema. Consequently, CF PCM-p with active
      disease, as well as those that have been apparently cured, seem to be an
      interesting model for studies aiming to understand the long-term host-fungi
      relationship and hypoxia. Dendritic cells (DCs) constitute a system that serve as
      a major link between innate and adaptive immunity composed of several
      subpopulations of cells including two main subsets: myeloid (mDCs) and
      plasmacytoid (pDCs). The present study aimed to access the distribution of PBDC
      subsets of CF PCM-p who were not treated (NT) or treated (apparently cured - AC).
      CF PCM-p were categorized into two groups, consisting of 9 NTs and 9 ACs. Twenty
      one healthy individuals were used as the control group. The determination of the
      PBDC subsets was performed by FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) and the
      dosage of serum TNF-alpha, IL1beta, IL-18, CCL3, IL-10 and basic fibroblast
      growth factor (bFGF) by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). A high count
      and percentage of mDCs was observed before treatment, along with a low count of
      pDCs in treated patients. Furthermore, the mDC:pDC ratio and serum levels of TNF
      alpha was higher in both of the PCM-p groups than in the control group. In
      conclusion, our findings demonstrated that active PCM influences the distribution
      of mDCs and pDCs, and after treatment, PCM-p retained a lower count of pDCs
      associated with pro-inflammatory profile. Therefore, we identified new evidences
      of persistent immunological abnormalities in PCM-p after treatment. Even these
      patients showing fungal clearance after successful antifungal treatment; the
      hypoxia, triggered by the persistent pulmonary sequelae, possibly continues to
      interfere in the immune response.

PMID- 28606818
TI  - Investigating unlicensed retail drug vendors' preparedness and knowledge about
      malaria: An exploratory study in rural Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite major efforts to increase the uptake of preventive measures
      and timely use of the first line antimalarial treatment artemisinin-based
      combination therapies (ACT), Uganda continues to fall short of meeting its
      national malaria control targets. One of the challenges has been scaling up
      effective measures in rural and remote areas where the unlicensed private retail
      sector remains the first point of contact and a common source of treatment. The
      current paper discusses unlicensed vendors' (1) training related to malaria case
      management for children aged five and under, and (2) knowledge related to the
      cause of malaria, preventive measures, common signs, and symptoms, diagnostic
      procedures, and best treatment options. METHODS: A qualitative study using semi
      structured interviews was conducted in the rural district of Butaleja, Uganda in
      2011. All 88 unlicensed drug outlets enumerated in the study area were visited by
      six locally recruited research assistants, with one vendor from each outlet
      invited to participate. The transcripts were analyzed using acceptable
      qualitative research protocols. RESULTS: About half of the 75 vendors interviewed
      had received some sort of formal training on malaria at a post-secondary
      institution, although only 6.7% had qualifications which met licensure
      requirements. The study found widespread misconceptions relating to the cause, as
      well as prevention and treatment of malaria. A large majority of the vendors
      relied primarily on non-specific symptoms and limited physical exams for
      diagnoses, with less than one-tenth of the vendors recognizing that rapid or
      microscopic blood testing was necessary to confirm a clinical diagnosis of
      malaria. While most recognized mosquitoes as the primary vector for malaria, over
      two-fifths of the vendors held misconceptions about the factors that could
      increase the risk of malaria, and nearly a third believed that malaria could not
      be prevented. With respect to acute case management, three-quarters viewed as the
      best option a medicine other than the government's first-line antimalarial,
      artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT). Almost three-fifths specified
      quinine as their preferred option, with about one-fifth recommending quinine
      injection. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study confirm significant gaps in
      unlicensed vendors' knowledge related to malaria. With increased utilization of
      unlicensed drug outlets in rural and remote settings such as Butaleja, findings
      from this study strongly supports the need to implement strategies to improve the
      quality of care delivered at these outlet.

PMID- 28606819
TI  - Cytotoxicity of Cerastes cerastes snake venom: Involvement of imbalanced redox
      status.
AB  - Envenomation caused by Cerastes cerastes snake venom is characterized by a local
      and a systemic tissue damage due to myonecrosis, hemorrhage, edema and acute
      muscle damage. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the
      pro/anti-oxidants status and the cytotoxicity of C. cerastes snake venom. The in
      vivo cytotoxicity analysis was undertaken by the injection of C. cerastes venom
      (48MUg/20g body weight) by i.p. route, mice were then sacrificed at 3, 24 and 48h
      post injection, organs were collected for further analysis. In vitro cytotoxicity
      analysis was investigated on cultured PBMC, hepatocytes and isolated liver. The
      obtained results showed a significant cell infiltration characterized by a
      significant increase of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and eosinoperoxidase (EPO)
      activities. These results showed also a potent oxidative activity of C. cerastes
      venom characterized by increased levels of residual nitrites and lipid
      peroxidation associated with a significant decrease of glutathione and catalase
      activity in sera and tissues (heart, lungs, liver and kidneys). The in vitro
      cytotoxicity of C. cerastes venom on PBMC seems to be dose-dependent (IC50 of
      21MUg/ml/106 cells) and correlated with an imbalanced redox status at high doses
      of venom. However, in the case of cultured hepatocytes, the LDH release and
      oxidative stress were observed only at high doses of the venom. The obtained
      results of in vivo study were confirmed by the culture of isolated liver.
      Therefore, these results suggest that the venom induces a direct cytotoxic effect
      which alters the membrane integrity causing a leakage of the cellular contents.
      This cytotoxic effect can lead indirectly to inflammatory response and oxidative
      stress. These data suggest that an early anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
      treatment could be useful in the management of envenomed victims.

PMID- 28606820
TI  - Analysis of population structure and insecticide resistance in mosquitoes of the
      genus Culex, Anopheles and Aedes from different environments of Greece with a
      history of mosquito borne disease transmission.
AB  - Greece has been recently affected by several mosquito borne diseases with the
      West Nile Virus (WNV) outbreak in 2010 being one of the largest reported in
      Europe. Currently at the epicenter of an economic and refugee crisis and visited
      by over 16 million tourists a year the integrated management of diseases
      transmitted by mosquitoes is a public health and economic priority. Vector
      control programs rely mainly on insecticides, however data on insecticide
      resistance and the mosquito fauna is essential for successful applications. We
      determined the mosquito species composition and population dynamics in areas of
      increased vulnerability to vector borne disease transmission, as well as
      investigated the resistance status of major nuisance and disease vectors to
      insecticides. High mosquito densities were recorded in Thessaloniki and Evros,
      with Aedes caspius, a nuisance species, Culex pipiens, a known vector of WNV and
      Anopheles hyrcanus a potential vector of malaria being among the most prevalent
      species. Both vector species populations reached their peak in late summer. Aedes
      albopictus was recorded at high densities in Thessaloniki, but not in Evros.
      Notably, Cx. pipiens hybrids, which show an opportunistic biting behavior and are
      suspected to be involved in the transmission of the WNV, were recorded in
      considerable numbers in Thessaloniki and Attica. Culex pipiens and An. hyrcanus,
      but not Ae. caspius mosquitoes, showed moderate levels of resistance to
      deltamethrin. The presence of resistance in areas not exposed to vector control
      indicates that other factors could be selecting for resistance, i.e. pesticide
      applications for agriculture. Both L1014F and L101C kdr mutations were detected
      in Cx. pipiens populations. Anopheles hyrcanus resistance was not associated with
      mutations at the L1014 site. The Ace-1 mutations conferring insensitivity to
      organophosphates and carbamates were detected at low frequencies in all Cx.
      pipiens populations. Increased activity of P450s and esterases was found in Cx.
      pipiens individuals from Thessaloniki. Our study contributes evidence for
      sustainable and efficient vector control strategies and the prevention of disease
      outbreaks.

PMID- 28606821
TI  - Analysis of synonymous codon usage in Zika virus.
AB  - Zika virus is a zoonotic pathogen, which have made frequent incursion into the
      human population in Africa and South East Asia over the course of several decades
      but never reached to the pandemic proportions until the most recent outbreak.
      Viruses are solely dependent on host synthetic machinery for their replication
      cycle; therefore, replication and persistence in a host species of different
      genetic background requires certain degree of adaptation. These adaptations are
      necessary to avoid detection from host immune surveillance and maximize the
      utilization of available resources for efficient viral replication. Study of
      genomic composition and codon usage pattern not only offer an insight into the
      adaptation of viruses to their new host, but may also provide some information
      about pathogenesis and spread of the virus. To elucidate the genetic features and
      synonymous codon usage bias in ZIKV genome, a comprehensive analysis was
      performed on 80 full-length ZIKV sequences. Our analyses shows that the overall
      extent of codon usage bias in ZIKV genome is low and affected by nucleotide
      composition, protein properties, natural selection, and gene expression level.

PMID- 28606822
TI  - Genistein, a dietary soy isoflavone, exerts antidepressant-like effects in mice:
      Involvement of serotonergic system.
AB  - Genistein, a principal isoflavone property of soybeans, possesses multiple
      pharmacological activities such as neuroprotection. Recently, it was reported
      that genistein exerted antidepressant-like effects in animal models, but the
      mechanism of action remains ambiguous. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the antidepressant-like effect of genistein in mice and explore the
      underlying mechanism(s), using two mouse models of depression, i.e. forced swim
      test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Chronic, but not acute (single dose),
      genistein treatment (5, 15 or 45 mg/kg, p.o., once per day for three weeks)
      exerted dose-dependently antidepressant-like effect in mice, concomitant with
      escalated levels of brain monoamines and suppressed monoamine oxidase (MAO)
      activity. Chemical depletion of brain serotonin by PCPA abrogated the
      antidepressant-like action of genistein, but it was not the case for ablation of
      NA by DSP-4. Moreover, the anti-depression by genistein was preferentially
      counteracted by co-administration of 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635,
      suggesting a pivotal role for 5-HT system coupled with 5-HT1A receptors in
      mediating such genistein anti-depression. This point was further validated by the
      fact that genistein action was potentiated by co-treatment with 8-OH-DPAT, a
      selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist. Collectively, these findings confirm that
      chronic genistein administration to mice engenders antidepressant-like efficacy
      evidenced by lessened behavioral despair. Serotonergic system that preferentially
      couples with 5-HT1A receptors may be critically responsible for the present
      genistein anti-depression.

PMID- 28606824
TI  - A quantitative approach to the stabilizing role of dispersal in metapopulations.
AB  - We study a classical model for a population that reproduces and disperses in a
      landscape of heterogeneous patches. Under symmetrical dispersal, we provide a
      sufficient condition to ensure the existence of a globally attracting fixed
      point. This condition is used in order to prove that certain patches with complex
      dynamics can be stabilized by the combination with stable patches. Specifically,
      given a patch with complex dynamics, we estimate the necessary number of patches
      with simple dynamics so that the whole metapopulation has a globally attracting
      equilibrium.

PMID- 28606823
TI  - Alpha-lipoic acid attenuates acute neuroinflammation and long-term cognitive
      impairment after polymicrobial sepsis.
AB  - Sepsis is a complication of an infection which imbalance the normal regulation of
      several organ systems, including the central nervous system (CNS). Evidence
      points towards inflammation and oxidative stress as major steps associated with
      brain dysfunction in sepsis. Thus, we investigated the alpha-lipoic acid (ALA)
      effect as an important antioxidant compound on brain dysfunction in rats. Wistar
      rats were subjected to sepsis by cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) or sham
      (control) and treated orally with ALA (200 mg/kg after CLP) or vehicle. Animals
      were divided into sham + saline, sham + ALA, CLP + saline and CLP + ALA groups.
      Twelve, 24 h and 10 days after surgery, the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and
      cortex were obtained and assayed for levels of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta, blood
      brain barrier (BBB) permeability, nitrite/nitrate concentration, myeloperoxidase
      (MPO) activity, thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) formation, protein
      carbonyls, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity and
      neurotrophins levels. Behavioral tasks were performed 10 days after surgery. ALA
      reduced BBB permeability and TNF-alpha levels in hippocampus in 24 h and IL-1beta
      levels and MPO activity in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in 24 h. ALA reduced
      nitrite/nitrate concentration and lipid peroxidation in 24 h in all structures
      and protein carbonylation in 12 and 24 h in hippocampus and cortex. CAT activity
      increased in the hippocampus and cortex in all times. ALA enhanced NGF levels in
      hippocampus and cortex and prevented cognitive impairment. Our data demonstrates
      that ALA reduces the consequences of polymicrobial sepsis in rats by decreasing
      inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters in the brain.

PMID- 28606825
TI  - Assessment of motor skill task performance with a task progress-weighted error
      measure.
AB  - A quantitative measure has been developed for the assessment and skill ordering
      of target-cued motor control and coordination task performances. It is similar to
      the classical root mean square error (RMSE) measure but modified with task
      progress weighting that attenuates with target proximity to its destination and
      amplifies as data sampling occurrences accumulate prior to task completion. The
      measure has the same mathematical form whether the task design is of the tracing
      type or of the tracking type, and thus can be used in cross task type
      comparisons. The new measure is applied to a few simple hypothetical task
      performances in order to illustrate some of its properties, and then applied to
      actual experimental data from a tracing task and a tracking task to demonstrate
      its use.

PMID- 28606826
TI  - Oral squamous cell carcinoma associated with oral submucous fibrosis have better
      oncologic outcome than those without.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a potentially malignant disorder
      associated with the use of areca nut, and is mainly seen in the parts of
      Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. We hypothesized that oral cancers
      occurring in presence of OSMF are clinicopathologically a distinct entity. STUDY
      DESIGN: We analyzed 289 treatment naive patients of oral cancer. They were
      followed up for a median of 44 months. Association of presence of OSMF with other
      histopathological factors was done using the chi2 test. Kaplan-Meier analysis was
      used for survival analysis. RESULTS: Oral squamous cell carcinoma along with OSMF
      was seen more often in younger patients (P < .001) and males (P < .007), and had
      a lower T-stage (P < .002) and N-stage (P < .000). These were thinner (P < .002),
      less infiltrative (P < .04) tumors and required adjuvant therapy less frequently
      (P < .017). The mean disease specific survival, overall for those with and
      without OSMF was 58.8 and 48.6 months (P < .002), and specifically for stages III
      and IV was 49.4 and 38.5 months, respectively (P < .053). CONCLUSIONS: Oral
      squamous cell carcinomas associated with OSMF are associated with good
      clinicopathologic profile and have better prognosis and oncological outcomes.

PMID- 28606827
TI  - A new method of volumetric assessment of alveolar bone grafting for cleft
      patients using cone beam computed tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to propose a new method for volumetric
      assessment of alveolar bone grafting and to quantitatively assess alveolar bone
      grafting based on this method. STUDY DESIGN: Cone beam computed tomography images
      of 18 patients with unilateral cleft alveolus were selected. Volume of the
      alveolar cleft before grafting operation (VOLcleft), graft bone filled into cleft
      immediately after operation (VOLgraft), and bony bridge formed 1 year after
      operation (VOLbridge) were obtained. The grafting fill rate (VOLgraft/VOLcleft *
      100%), bony bridge formation rate (VOLbridge/VOLcleft * 100%), and grafting
      resorption rate [(VOLgraft - VOLbridge)/VOLgraft * 100%] were calculated.
      Correlations between these parameters were investigated. Intraobserver and
      interobserver reliability of this method was assessed. RESULTS: Intraobserver and
      interobserver reliability was good as no statistically significant difference was
      seen, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was significant (intraobserver R >=
      .953; interobserver, R >= .859). A positive linear correlation (R2 = .808; P <
      .001) between grafting fill rate and bony bridge formation rate and a negative
      linear correlation (R2 = .458, P = .002) between grafting fill rate and grafting
      resorption rate were found. CONCLUSIONS: This method was practical and valuable
      for quantitative assessment of alveolar bone grafting.

PMID- 28606828
TI  - Commentary on "Comparison of intraoperative blood loss between four different
      surgical procedures in the treatment of bimaxillary protrusion".

PMID- 28606829
TI  - Incidence and risk factors predisposing plate removal following orthognathic
      surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and reasons for
      titanium fixation plate removal following orthognathic surgery, identify risk
      factors predisposing removal, and explore if discomfort was reduced
      postoperatively. STUDY DESIGN: Medical records of 404 consecutive cases were
      retrospectively reviewed. All patients received a questionnaire for follow-up,
      and 323 patients answered the questionnaire, thus forming the sample group.
      RESULTS: Of all the responding patients, 15% had plates removed, and 92% of these
      patients experienced relief from discomfort after removal of the plates.
      Infection was the most common reason for plate removal (10%). Smoking (hazard
      ratio 2.74) and surgery performed in the mandible (hazard ratio 2.40) increased
      the need for plate removal. For each plate added in the mandible, the risk for
      removal increased by 34%. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking, osteotomies, and additional
      numbers of plates in the mandible resulted in a higher incidence of plate
      removal. Most of the patients experienced relief from discomfort after plate
      removal.

PMID- 28606830
TI  - Safety and tolerability of topical clonazepam solution for management of oral
      dysesthesia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the absolute and relative
      safety of treatment with 2 concentrations of topical clonazepam solution (0.1
      mg/mL, 0.5 mg/mL) for management of oral dysesthesia. STUDY DESIGN: The study was
      a retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with oral dysesthesia and
      managed with topical clonazepam solution (swish and spit) between 2008 and 2015.
      The relative safety of the 2 concentrations was evaluated in terms of occurrence
      of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and occurrence of change to treatment plan
      secondary to ADRs. RESULTS: For the study, 162 patients were included-84 patients
      in the 0.1 mg/mL cohort and 78 in the 0.5 mg/mL cohort, who were evaluated for a
      median follow-up period of 6 weeks. Thirty-eight (23%) patients developed ADRs.
      The most frequently reported ADR was sedation (62% of ADRs), followed by altered
      mental status and dizziness (7% each). Dose adjustments were required in 9
      patients (6%) and treatment discontinuation in 13 (8%). ADRs were more frequently
      reported in the 0.5 mg/mL cohort, but no significant difference was found in
      terms of occurrence of ADRs, change to treatment plan secondary to ADRs, or types
      of ADRs (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with topical clonazepam solution in
      either 0.5 mg/mL or 0.1 mg/mL concentration appears to be safe and well
      tolerated. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding.

PMID- 28606831
TI  - Relationship between dental status and development of osteoradionecrosis of the
      jaw: a multicenter retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Osteoradionecrosis of the jaw is a serious late adverse event in
      patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy. The aim of this study
      is to investigate the relationship between dental status and development of
      osteoradionecrosis. STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter, retrospective observational study.
      A total of 392 patients with head and neck cancer who underwent radiotherapy were
      investigated for correlations between the development of osteoradionecrosis and
      various factors. The cumulative occurrence rate of osteoradionecrosis was
      calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by Cox regression and log-rank
      test. RESULTS: Osteoradionecrosis developed in 30 of 392 patients. In 23
      patients, osteoradionecrosis occurred in the mandibular molar region. A
      univariate analysis showed that oral or oropharyngeal cancer, jaw radiotherapy
      dose exceeding 50 Gy, periapical periodontitis, and tooth extraction after
      radiotherapy were significantly correlated with the occurrence of
      osteoradionecrosis. Among these, oral and oropharyngeal cancer, periapical
      periodontitis, and tooth extraction after radiotherapy were significant
      independent risk factors by multivariate analysis. Further, caries that occurred
      after radiotherapy and progressed rapidly, resulting in periapical periodontitis,
      carious stump, or extraction, was a major cause of osteoradionecrosis.
      CONCLUSION: Extraction of mandibular molars with periapical periodontitis before
      radiotherapy and strict dental management after radiotherapy may reduce the risk
      of osteoradionecrosis.

PMID- 28606832
TI  - Extramammary Paget's disease of the oral mucosa and perioral skin.
AB  - Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is an unusual intraepidermal adenocarcinoma.
      Only 2 cases of EMPD in the oral mucosa have been reported previously. Here, we
      present the first report of a rare case of Paget's disease of the oral mucosa and
      perioral skin with extensive contiguous erythematous and erosive manifestations.
      Ultimately, the patient was treated with oral thalidomide for 8 weeks. We noticed
      an improvement with resolution of symptoms. A 3-year follow-up showed no relapse.
      Thus, this case may provide new insights to clinicians about treatment of EMPD.
      More importantly, we advise that dentists be vigilant about the possibility of
      some clinically significant conditions in patients with extensive nonspecific
      clinical lesions mimicking inflammatory or infectious diseases in the oral and
      maxillofacial regions, especially lesions that are refractory to long-term
      treatment. Requesting consultations with relevant clinical departments promptly
      and obtaining histopathologic confirmation at an early stage are crucial for
      early therapy and a better prognosis.

PMID- 28606833
TI  - Impact of physiological breathing motion for breast cancer radiotherapy with
      proton beam scanning - An in silico study.
AB  - This study investigates the impact of breathing motion on proton breast treatment
      plans. Twelve patients with CT datasets acquired during breath-hold-at-inhalation
      (BHI), breath-hold-at-exhalation (BHE) and in free-breathing (FB) were included
      in the study. Proton plans were designed for the left breast for BHI and
      subsequently recalculated for BHE or designed for FB and recalculated for the
      extreme breath-hold phases. The plans were compared from the point of view of
      their target coverage and doses to organs-at-risk. The median amplitude of
      breathing motion determined from the positions of the sternum was 4.7mm (range
      0.5-14.6mm). Breathing motion led to a degradation of the dose coverage of the
      target (heterogeneity index increased from 4-7% to 8-11%), but the degraded
      values of the dosimetric parameters of interest fulfilled the clinical criteria
      for plan acceptance. Exhalation decreased the lung burden [average dose 3.1-4.5Gy
      (RBE)], while inhalation increased it [average dose 5.8-6.8Gy (RBE)]. The
      individual values depended on the field arrangement. Smaller differences were
      seen for the heart [average dose 0.1-0.2Gy (RBE)] and the LAD [1.9-4.6Gy (RBE)].
      Weak correlations were generally found between changes in dosimetric parameters
      and respiratory motion. The differences between dosimetric parameters for various
      breathing phases were small and their expected clinical impact is consequently
      quite small. The results indicated that the dosimetric parameters of the plans
      corresponding to the extreme breathing phases are little affected by breathing
      motion, thus suggesting that this motion might have little impact for the chosen
      beam orientations with scanned proton beams.

PMID- 28606834
TI  - greb1 regulates convergent extension movement and pituitary development in
      zebrafish.
AB  - greb1, growth regulation by estrogen in breast cancer 1, is an important estrogen
      response gene, which participates in breast cancer formation. However, the role
      of greb1 in development is largely unknown. In this study, we have characterized
      greb1 expression patterns and revealed its regulative role in convergent
      extension movement and pituitary development in zebrafish. In zebrafish adults,
      greb1 was revealed to be expressed mainly in pituitary, hypothalamus, liver, and
      gonads. During embryogenesis, RT-PCR and WISH revealed its spatial and temporal
      expression specific to embryonic margin during gastrulation, central nervous
      system during segmentation and brain ventricular regions from 24hpf. To
      investigate its function, we utilized TALEN-mediated knockout strategy and
      obtained a greb1 mutant zebrafish line. greb1 mutation caused convergent
      extension (CE) movement defect and developmental delay during gastrulation, and
      resulted in significant growth defects in zebrafish adults. Moreover, four
      pituitary cells including somatotropes, thyrotropes, lactotropes and gonadotropes
      were specifically reduced during embryogenesis. Importantly, pituitary hormones
      encoding genes and their serum products, such as GH, TSH, PRL, FSH, and LH, were
      severely diminished in greb1 mutants, and high mortality and significant growth
      defects were observed. Therefore, our present study indicates that greb1 is a
      novel regulator for CE movement and pituitary development in zebrafish.

PMID- 28606835
TI  - Identification and characterization of mobile genetic elements LINEs from
      Brassica genome.
AB  - Among transposable elements (TEs), the LTR retrotransposons are abundant followed
      by non-LTR retrotransposons in plant genomes, the lateral being represented by
      LINEs and SINEs. Computational and molecular approaches were used for the
      characterization of Brassica LINEs, their diversity and phylogenetic
      relationships. Four autonomous and four non-autonomous LINE families were
      identified and characterized from Brassica. Most of the autonomous LINEs
      displayed two open reading frames, ORF1 and ORF2, where ORF1 is a gag protein
      domain, while ORF2 encodes endonuclease (EN) and a reverse transcriptase (RT).
      Three of four families encoded an additional RNase H (RH) domain in pol gene
      common to 'R' and 'I' type of LINEs. The PCR analyses based on LINEs RT fragments
      indicate their high diversity and widespread occurrence in tested 40 Brassica
      cultivars. Database searches revealed the homology in LINE sequences in closely
      related genera Arabidopsis indicating their origin from common ancestors
      predating their separation. The alignment of 58 LINEs RT sequences from Brassica,
      Arabidopsis and other plants depicted 4 conserved domains (domain II-V) showing
      similarity to previously detected domains. Based on RT alignment of Brassica and
      3 known LINEs from monocots, Brassicaceae LINEs clustered in separate clade,
      further resolving 4 Brassica-Arabidopsis specific families in 2 sub-clades. High
      similarities were observed in RT sequences in the members of same family, while
      low homology was detected in members across the families. The investigation led
      to the characterization of Brassica specific LINE families and their diversity
      across Brassica species and their cultivars.

PMID- 28606836
TI  - Cephalad Lead Migration During a Spinal Cord Stimulation Trial: A Case
      Presentation.
AB  - : Spinal cord stimulation is used in the treatment of a variety of pain
      conditions. Lead migration is among the most common complications associated with
      spinal cord stimulation. Although there have been reports of caudal lead
      migration, there have been no reports of significant cephalad lead migration
      during a spinal cord stimulation trial. Here we report what is potentially the
      first case of significant cephalad lead migration (from the initial T8 position
      to C2) during a spinal cord stimulation trial. This case demonstrates that
      significant lead migration is possible, and this case highlights the importance
      of adequately securing leads during a trial. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V.

PMID- 28606837
TI  - Where Are the Women? The Underrepresentation of Women Physicians Among
      Recognition Award Recipients From Medical Specialty Societies.
AB  - Membership in medical societies is associated with a number of benefits to
      members that may include professional education, opportunities to present
      research, scientific and/or leadership training, networking, and others. In this
      perspective article, the authors address the value that medical specialty society
      membership and inclusion have in the development of an academic physician's
      career and how underrepresentation of women may pose barriers to their career
      advancement. Because society membership itself is not likely sufficient to
      support the advancement of academic physicians, this report focuses on one key
      component of advancement that also can be used as a measure of inclusion in
      society activities-the representation of women physicians among recipients of
      recognition awards. Previous reports demonstrated underrepresentation of women
      physicians among recognition award recipients from 2 physical medicine and
      rehabilitation specialty organizations, including examples of zero or near-zero
      results. This report investigated whether zero or near-zero representation of
      women physicians among recognition award recipients from medical specialty
      societies extended beyond the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation.
      Examples of the underrepresentation of women physicians, as compared with their
      presence in the respective field, was found across a range of additional
      specialties, including dermatology, neurology, anesthesiology, orthopedic
      surgery, head and neck surgery, and plastic surgery. The authors propose a call
      for action across the entire spectrum of medical specialty societies to: (1)
      examine gender diversity and inclusion data through the lens of the
      organization's mission, values, and culture; (2) transparently report the results
      to members and other stakeholders including medical schools and academic medical
      centers; (3) investigate potential causes of less than proportionate
      representation of women; (4) implement strategies designed to improve inclusion;
      (5) track outcomes as a means to measure progress and inform future strategies;
      and (6) publish the results to engage community members in conversation about the
      equitable representation of women.

PMID- 28606838
TI  - The Role of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound on Cartilage Healing in Knee
      Osteoarthritis: A Review.
AB  - : Ultrasound (US) is a therapeutic modality that has been used in the treatment
      of musculoskeletal conditions for decades. In recent years, there have been
      technological advancements using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) as a
      clinical modality. The purpose of this review was to critically examine the
      medical literature to determine the effects of LIPUS on the chondrogenic
      properties of knee osteoarthritis. A literature search of 3 major databases
      (PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE) was performed. Two independent physician reviewers
      screened titles and abstracts, yielding a total of 18 relevant articles after the
      inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Results favored that LIPUS has a
      promising effect on the cellular elements in articular cartilage, specifically on
      chondrocytes in knee osteoarthritis. Although the use of LIPUS is encouraging
      based on basic science and preclinical data, there is a paucity of evidence with
      respect to humans. Consequently, there is insufficient evidence to recommend for
      or against LIPUS in clinical OA populations. We suggest future directions for
      research centered on LIPUS in both human and animal models to delineate the
      effect on the biologic properties of cartilage in knee osteoarthritis. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 28606839
TI  - Brachial Plexus Injury in a 6-Year-Old Boy with 100% Displaced Proximal Humeral
      Metaphyseal Fracture: A Case Presentation.
AB  - : Posttraumatic brachial plexopathies can occur following displaced proximal
      humeral fractures, causing profound functional deficits. Described here is an
      unusual case of a displaced proximal humeral metaphyseal fracture in a young
      child. The patient underwent closed reduction and serial casting, but hand
      weakness and forearm sensory loss persisted. Needle electromyography localized
      the injury to the mid/proximal arm near the fracture site, resulting in damage to
      the posterior and medial cords of the brachial plexus with profound involvement
      of the radial, ulnar, and median nerves and sparing of the axillary nerve. After
      months of occupational therapy, hand strength improved, with a nearly full return
      of function. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V.

PMID- 28606840
TI  - Open reduction in pilon variant posterior malleolar fractures: Radiological and
      clinical evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pilon variant posterior malleolar (PVPM) fractures significantly
      disrupt joint congruency and cause tibiotalar instability. They are often
      underestimated and inadequately treated. PURPOSE: This study assessed the
      outcomes of surgical treatment of this subtype of malleolar fracture, and
      examined the importance of computed tomography (CT) in diagnosis and surgical
      treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CT images and radiographs of 67 patients with
      trimalleolar ankle fractures were retrospectively analyzed. Fourteen patients (6
      women and 8 men) were studied. The mean age was 37.7 (range, 21-58) years, and
      mean follow-up period was 17.1 (range, 12-24) months. All patients underwent open
      reduction. Reconstruction of the joint surface was assessed with postoperative CT
      images. The outcomes were assessed with the American Academy of Orthopaedic
      Surgeons (AAOS) and Osteoarthritis (OA) scoring systems. RESULTS: The ratio of
      PVPM fractures to trimalleolar ankle fractures was 20.1%. Postoperative CT images
      demonstrated that anatomic reconstruction was achieved in 11 patients. The mean
      AAOS scores were 85.6 in Type 1 and 81.1 in Type 2 cases. The mean OA scores were
      1 in Type 1 and 1.1 in Type 2 cases (P>0.05). The only statistically significant
      difference between the 2 groups was in osteochondral impaction (P<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: CT imaging is essential for the accurate diagnosis and management of
      PVPM fractures. Posteromedial and posterolateral incisions enable direct
      exposure, and therefore facilitate joint surface reconstruction. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level IV. Retrospective study.

PMID- 28606841
TI  - Effects of adding corn oil and soy protein to corn starch on the physicochemical
      and digestive properties of the starch.
AB  - This study aimed to understand effects of adding corn oil (CO) and soy protein
      (SP) to corn starch on the physicochemical properties and digestive rates of
      annealed starch complex and mechanisms of interactions between corn starch (CS),
      CO and SP. Binary and ternary blends were prepared using CS mixed with CO (10%,
      dsb) and/or SP (10%, dsb) and incubated in a water bath at 50 degrees C for 14h.
      Results showed that more agglomerates of the granules were in the ternary blends.
      With the addition of CO and/or SP, the CS displayed a decreased pasting
      temperature, an increased peak viscosity and a decreased enthalpy change of
      amylose-lipid complex dissociation. The CO can reinforce but SP hinder the
      annealing phenomenon. Results also showed that CO decreased retrogradation of CS,
      whereas SP increased it. The digestibility studies showed that the addition of CO
      and SP decreased the content of rapidly digestible starch and increased the sum
      of slowly digestible starch and resistant starch contents. SP displayed more
      impact on the digestibility of the ternary blends than CO. The physical barrier
      of CO, and amylose-lipid complex and protein-starch matrix can provide resistance
      to starch digestion.

PMID- 28606842
TI  - Physical and mechanical properties of a new edible film made of pea starch and
      guar gum as affected by glycols, sugars and polyols.
AB  - The influence of different plasticizers (glycols, sugars and polyols) on the
      moisture sorption, mechanical, physical, optical, and microstructure
      characteristics of pea starch-guar gum (PSGG) film was studied. All plasticizers
      formed homogeneous, transparent, and smooth films, while PEG-400 did not produce
      film with suitable characteristics. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
      spectroscopy results indicated some interaction between plasticizers and the
      polymers. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations of the films presented
      surfaces without cracks, breaks, or openings which were indicator of the
      miscibility and compatibility of employed plasticizers with PSGG films. The
      results showed that the films containing plasticizers with higher functional
      groups had lower equilibrium moisture content at aw <0.4. In general, a reduction
      in tensile strength and Young's modulus and an increase in elongation at break
      were detected when molecular weight of plasticizers and relative humidity
      increased in all film formulations. Films plasticized with monosaccharide showed
      similar mechanical properties to those with sorbitol, but lower solubility and
      water vapour permeability (WVP), higher transparency and moisture content than
      the sorbitol-plasticized films. The most noticeable plasticization effect was
      exerted by following order: glycerol > EG > PG > xylitol > fructose > sorbitol >
      mannitol > galactose > glucose > sucrose > maltitol.

PMID- 28606843
TI  - The effect of Diosmin on the blood proteome in a rat model of venous thrombosis.
AB  - Diosmin is the aglycone moiety of diosmetin (3',5,7 trihydroxy-4'methoxy radicals
      flavonoids), a naturally occurring flavone glycoside, whose antithrombotic effect
      was studied in rats. This study was designed to find the protein changes of
      venous thrombosis in Wistar rats comparing conditions with and without Diosmin
      treatment by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), and investigate the
      effect of a crucial protein known as CEP350 on human vascular endothelial cell
      growth. Through prior chromatographic purification with macroporous absorption
      resin (AB-8) and polyamide, Diosmin was isolated from Galium verum L. by solvent
      extraction, then purified to 98% purity using HPLC. Wistar rats were divided into
      control group, model group, and prevention group. And their venous thrombosis
      tissue segments were dissected and prepared for histopathological examination and
      detection of plasma protein C (PC). Next, proteomic analysis was performed with
      the samples. Low-abundance proteins of the three groups were separated by two
      dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). 2-DE analysis revealed that 191 protein
      spots were differentially expressed among those three groups. For protein
      identification, we selected six spots to use matrix assisted laser
      desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) detection,
      and then do the homology search in NCBI database. Considering characteristics of
      these proteins, we proposed CEP350 is related to spindle assembly. Furthermore,
      we used Lipofectamine 2000 to transfect HUVECs with CEP350 siRNA and evaluated
      the extent of silencing using real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Cells
      were stained for immunofluorescence with tubulin-tracker red, and structural
      changes were analyzed using laser scanning confocal microscope. We concluded that
      CEP350 depletion decreased microtubule stability. Dosmin could modulate the
      assemble of spindle from unevenly distributing and protect body from varicose
      veins by regulating CEP350.

PMID- 28606844
TI  - Societal Perspectives and Patient/Public Involvement in Direct-Acting Antiviral
      Agent Coverage of Hepatitis C Treatment in the United States.

PMID- 28606845
TI  - Effects of Community Screening for Helicobacter pylori: 13-Year Follow-Up
      Evaluation of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Helicobacter pylori eradication improves the prognosis of
      peptic ulcer disease (PUD), dyspepsia, and possibly gastric cancer. H pylori
      screening tests are accurate and eradication therapy is effective. H pylori
      population screening seems attractive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      long-term effect of H pylori population screening and eradication on dyspepsia
      prevalence and the incidence of PUD, and as secondary outcomes to assess the
      effect on health care consumption and quality of life. METHODS: At baseline in
      1998 to 1999, 20,011 individuals aged 40 to 65 years were randomized to H pylori
      screening and eradication or a control group with no screening. Both groups
      received a questionnaire on dyspepsia and quality of life. Register data were
      obtained for all randomized individuals. RESULTS: The baseline questionnaire
      response rate was 63%. Of the 5749 individuals screened, 1007 (17.5%) were H
      pylori positive. Complete symptom data were obtained for 8658 (69%) individuals
      after 13 years. Dyspepsia prevalence decreased in both groups during the follow
      up period, but multivariate analysis showed no effect of H pylori screening and
      eradication (adjusted odds ratio, 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-1.04);
      compared with usual care. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses of
      register data provided similar results. H pylori screening neither reduced PUD
      incidence significantly (adjusted odds ratio, 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.70
      1.11) nor did it have a beneficial effect on health care consumption. H pylori
      screening had no long-term effect on quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: This
      randomized clinical trial with 13 years of follow-up evaluation, designed to
      provide evidence on the effect of H pylori population screening, showed no
      significant long-term effect when compared with usual care in this low-prevalence
      area. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02001727.

PMID- 28606846
TI  - Agreement Between Home-Based Measurement of Stool Calprotectin and ELISA Results
      for Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease Activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: An increasing number of physicians use repeated measurements
      of stool calprotectin to monitor intestinal inflammation in patients with
      inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). A lateral flow-based rapid test allows
      patients to measure their own stool calprotectin values at home. The test comes
      with a software application (IBDoc; Buhlmann Laboratories AG, Schonenbuch,
      Switzerland) that turns a smartphone camera into a results reader. We compared
      results from this method with those from the hospital-based reader (Quantum Blue;
      Buhlmann Laboratories AG) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis.
      METHODS: In a single-center comparison study, we asked 101 participants (10 years
      of age or older) in the Netherlands to perform the IBDoc measurement on stool
      samples collected at home, from June 2015 to October 2016. Participants then sent
      the residual extraction fluid and a fresh specimen from the same bowel movement
      to our pediatric and adult IBD center at the University Medical Center Groningen,
      where the level of calprotectin was measured by the Quantum Blue reader and ELISA
      analysis, respectively. The primary outcome was the agreement of results between
      IBDoc and the Quantum Blue and ELISA analyses, determined by Bland-Altman plot
      analysis. RESULTS: We received 152 IBDoc results, 138 samples of residual
      extraction fluid for Quantum Blue analysis, and 170 fresh stool samples for ELISA
      analysis. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was 0.94 for results obtained
      by IBDoc vs Quantum Blue and 0.85 for results obtained by IBDoc vs ELISA. At the
      low range of calprotectin level (<500 MUg/g), 91% of IBDoc-Quantum Blue results
      were within the predefined limits of agreement (+/-100 MUg/g), and 71% of IBDoc
      ELISA results were in agreement. At the high range of calprotectin level (>=500
      MUg/g), 81% of IBDoc-Quantum Blue results were within the predefined limits of
      agreement (+/-200 MUg/g) and 64% of IBDoc-ELISA results were in agreement.
      CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of fecal levels of calprotectin made with home-based
      lateral flow method were in agreement with measurements made by Quantum Blue and
      ELISA, as long as concentrations were <500 MUg/g. For patients with
      concentrations of fecal calprotectin above this level, findings from IBDoc should
      be confirmed by another method. (Netherlands Trial Registration Number: NTR5133).

PMID- 28606847
TI  - Occurrence of IgG4 in Esophageal Lichen Planus.

PMID- 28606848
TI  - Association Between Endoscopist and Center Endoscopic Retrograde
      Cholangiopancreatography Volume With Procedure Success and Adverse Outcomes: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has
      become a predominantly therapeutic intervention with a resultant increase in
      complexity. The relationship between ERCP volume and outcomes is unclear. We
      aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the relationship
      between endoscopist and center ERCP volume with ERCP success and adverse event
      (AE) rates. METHODS: A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials was conducted from inception to January
      2017. Studies providing outcomes stratified by endoscopist and/or center volume
      were included in the final analysis. Endoscopist/center volume was stratified as
      low volume (LV) and high volume (HV). The definition of ERCP success varied
      between studies. The overall AE rate was a composite rate including pancreatitis,
      perforation, and bleeding. RESULTS: A literature search resulted in 1264
      citations. Of those, 13 articles (n = 59,437 ERCPs) met inclusion criteria. LV
      endoscopist (<25 to <156 annual ERCPs) and center (<87 to <200 annual ERCPs)
      definitions varied between studies. HV endoscopists were significantly more
      likely to achieve ERCP success compared with LV endoscopists (odds ratio [OR],
      1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-2.1). HV centers were significantly more
      likely to achieve ERCP success (OR, 2; 95% CI, 1.6-2.5). The post-ERCP AE risk
      was lower for HV endoscopists (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.5-0.8) but not HV centers (OR,
      0.7; 95% CI, 0.3-1.5). CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies a significant
      relationship between increasing endoscopist and center ERCP volume with overall
      procedure success. Increasing endoscopist volume also was associated with a
      decreased AE rate. Given these compelling findings, we propose that providers and
      payers consider consolidating ERCP to HV endoscopists to improve ERCP outcomes
      and value.

PMID- 28606849
TI  - Genetically modified mesenchymal stem/stromal cells transfected with adiponectin
      gene can stably secrete adiponectin.
AB  - AIMS: Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) hold promises for the treatment of
      diverse diseases and regeneration of injured tissues. Genetic modification of
      MSCs through gene delivery might enhance their therapeutic potential. Adiponectin
      has been appeared as a potential biomarker for predicting various diseases.
      Plasma adiponectin levels are negatively correlated with various metabolic and
      vascular diseases and supplementation of exogenous adiponectin ameliorates the
      diseases. This study aims to develop adiponectin secreting genetically modified
      MSCs (GM-MSCs) as a potent strategic tool to complement endogenous adiponectin
      for the treatment of adiponectin deficiency diseases. MAIN METHODS: Human bone
      marrow derived MSCs were isolated, expanded in vitro and transfected with
      adiponectin gene containing plasmid vector. Total RNA was extracted and cDNA was
      prepared by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The
      expression of adiponectin gene and protein in GM-MSCs was analyzed by PCR and
      Western blotting respectively. The secretion of adiponectin protein from GM-MSCs
      was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. KEY FINDINGS: The expression
      of adiponectin gene and plasmid DNA was detected in GM-MSCs but not in control
      group of MSCs. Adiponectin gene expression was detected in GM-MSCs at 2, 7, 14,
      21 and 28days after transfection. Western blotting analysis revealed the
      expression of adiponectin protein only in GM-MSCs. The GM-MSCs stably secreted
      adiponectin protein into culture media at least for 4weeks. SIGNIFICANCE: GM-MSCs
      express and secret adiponectin protein. Therefore, these adiponectin secreting GM
      MSCs could be instrumental for the supplementation of adiponectin in the
      treatment of adiponectin deficiency related diseases.

PMID- 28606850
TI  - The impact of alpha-Lipoic acid on cell viability and expression of nephrin and
      ZNF580 in normal human podocytes.
AB  - Human podocytes (hPC) are essential for maintaining normal kidney function and
      dysfunction or loss of hPC play a pivotal role in the manifestation and
      progression of chronic kidney diseases including diabetic nephropathy.
      Previously, alpha-Lipoic acid (alpha-LA), a licensed drug for treatment of
      diabetic neuropathy, was shown to exhibit protective effects on diabetic
      nephropathy in vivo. However, the effect of alpha-LA on hPC under non-diabetic
      conditions is unknown. Therefore, we analyzed the impact of alpha-LA on cell
      viability and expression of nephrin and zinc finger protein 580 (ZNF580) in
      normal hPC in vitro. Protein analyses were done via Western blot techniques. Cell
      viability was determined using a functional assay. hPC viability was dynamically
      modulated via alpha-LA stimulation in a concentration-dependent manner. This was
      associated with reduced nephrin and ZNF580 expression and increased nephrin
      phosphorylation in normal hPC. Moreover, alpha-LA reduced nephrin and ZNF580
      protein expression via 'kappa-light-chain-enhancer' of activated B-cells (NF
      kappaB) inhibition. These data demonstrate that low alpha-LA had no negative
      influence on hPC viability, whereas, high alpha-LA concentrations induced
      cytotoxic effects on normal hPC and reduced nephrin and ZNF580 expression via NF
      kappaB inhibition. These data provide first novel information about potential
      cytotoxic effects of alpha-LA on hPC under non-diabetic conditions.

PMID- 28606851
TI  - Cardiorespiratory action of opioid/tachykinin agonist peptide hybrid in
      anaesthetized rats: Transduction pathways.
AB  - AWL3106 composed of opioid (dermorphin) and tachykinin (substance P7-11)
      pharmacophores is a new compound with high analgesic potency and markedly reduced
      ability to induce tolerance and dependence. The present study aimed to determine
      the respiratory and cardiovascular responses evoked by this peptide in urethane
      chloralose anaesthetized, spontaneously breathing rats in the presence or absence
      of vagal connection. Intravenous injection of AWL3106 at a dose of 0.3MUmol/kg in
      intact rats resulted in apnoea lasting 5.1 +/- 0.7s. Breathing that followed was
      of diminished frequency (F) and augmented tidal volume (VT) with no significant
      impact on minute ventilation. AWL3106-challenge induced biphasic fall in arterial
      blood pressure with no effect on heart rate. Midcervical and supranodosal
      sectioning the vagal nerves prevented the occurrence of the apnoea and abrogated
      the post-AWL3106 reduction in F but failed to eliminate the increase in VT.
      Hypotensive response appeared to be less profound following supranodose vagotomy.
      NaloxoneHCl abolished solely the occurrence of apnoea. However additional
      blockade of tachykinin NK1 receptors with SR140333 was required to abolish VT
      increase, deceleration of breathing and to markedly suppress AWL3106-induced
      hypotension. The present study shows that extravagally controlled stimulation of
      VT maintains fairly regular ventilation by levelling the bradypnoeic effects.
      Although the peptide showed no cardiac effects, hypotension occurring beyond the
      vagal loop may limit future therapeutic benefits of this chimeric compound.

PMID- 28606852
TI  - New prodrugs of metformin do not influence the overall haemostasis potential and
      integrity of the erythrocyte membrane.
AB  - Although metformin, an oral anti-diabetic drug, has been found to have
      multidirectional effects over the past decade, it is characterised by
      unfavourable pharmacokinetic properties. This study discusses the effects of
      metformin, phenformin and three prodrugs of metformin on the haemostasis and
      integrity of Red Blood Cells (RBCs). The influence of examined biguanide
      derivatives on haemostasis was evaluated spectrophotometrically by clot formation
      and lysis test (CL-test) at 405nm. The extrinsic and intrinsic coagulation
      pathway were examined by measuring the PT (Prothrombin Time) and aPTT (Activated
      Partial Tromboplastin Time). Haemolysis assay, microscopy and flow cytometry
      studies were used to assess the effect of the tested compounds on RBCs. Although
      none of the tested biguanide derivatives significantly influenced the overall
      potential of clot formation and fibrinolysis (CLAUC constants), statistically
      significant changes were seen in the values of the kinetic parameters of
      fibrinolysis. Furthermore, only prodrug 2, with an 8-carbon alkyl chain,
      unfavourably affected RBCs by interaction with the erythrocyte membrane leading
      to significant haemolysis. Our results provide a further insight into the effects
      of metformin and its prodrugs on haemostasis and RBCs and underscore the
      necessity for further research.

PMID- 28606853
TI  - Proteomic analysis of the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus antenna.
AB  - Reception of odorants is essential in insects' life since the chemical signals in
      the environment (=semiochemicals) convey information about availability of hosts
      for a blood meal, mates for reproduction, sites for oviposition and other
      relevant information for fitness in the environment. Once they reach the
      antennae, these semiochemicals bind to odorant-binding proteins and are
      transported through the sensillar lymph until reach the odorant receptors. Such
      perireceptor events, particularly the interactions with transport proteins, are
      the liaison between the external environment and the entire neuroethological
      system and, therefore, a potential target to disrupt insect chemical
      communication. In this study, a proteomic profile of female and male antennae of
      Rhodnius prolixus, a vector of Chagas disease, was obtained in an attempt to
      unravel the entire repertoire of olfactory proteins involved in perireceptor
      events. Using shotgun proteomics and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis
      approaches followed by nano liquid chromatography coupled with tandem LTQ Velos
      Orbitrap mass spectrometry, we have identified 581 unique proteins. Putative
      olfactory proteins, including 17 odorant binding proteins, 6 chemosensory
      proteins, 2 odorant receptors, 3 transient receptor channels and 1 gustatory
      receptor were identified. Proteins involved in general cellular functions such as
      generation of precursor metabolites, energy generation and catabolism were
      expressed at high levels. Additionally, proteins that take part in signal
      transduction, ion binding, and stress response, kinase and oxidoreductase
      activity were frequent in antennae from both sexes. This proteome strategy
      unraveled for the first time the complex nature of perireceptor and other
      olfactory events that occur in R. prolixus antennae, including evidence for
      phosphorylation of odorant-binding and chemosensory proteins. These findings not
      only increase our understanding of the olfactory process in triatomine species,
      but also identify potential molecular targets to be explored for population
      control of such insect vectors.

PMID- 28606854
TI  - Divergent roles of the Drosophila melanogaster globins.
AB  - In contrast to long-held assumptions, the gene repertoire of most insects
      includes hemoglobins. Analyses of the genome of the fruitfly Drosophila
      melanogaster identified three distinct hemoglobin genes (glob1, glob2, and
      glob3). While glob1 is predominantly associated with the tracheal system and fat
      body, glob2 and glob3 are almost exclusively expressed in the testis. The
      physiological role of globins in Drosophila is uncertain. Here, we studied the
      functions of the three globins in a cell culture system. Drosophila Schneider 2
      (S2) cells were stably transfected with each of the three globins and the empty
      vector as control. Under hypoxia (1% atmospheric O2), only glob1 overexpression
      enhanced the activity of mitochondrial oxidases and the ATP content. However, the
      positive effect of glob1 expression disappeared after 24h hypoxia, suggesting
      metabolic adaptations of the S2 cells. glob2 and glob3 had no positive effect on
      hypoxia-survival. After application of oxidative stress by H2O2, glob2
      dramatically enhanced the viability of S2 cells. Evaluation of the intracellular
      localization of the globins using specific antibodies and green fluorescent
      protein-fusion constructs suggested that glob1 and glob2 most likely reside in
      the cytoplasm, while glob3 is associated with structures that may represent parts
      of the intracellular transport machinery. In silico analyses of public RNA-Seq
      data from different developmental stages provided that glob1 is co-expressed with
      genes of the aerobic energy metabolism, while glob2 and glob3 expression can be
      related to spermatogenesis and reproduction. Together, the results indicate
      divergent functions of the Drosophila globins: glob1 may play a role in the O2
      dependent metabolism while glob2 may protect spermatogenesis from reactive oxygen
      species.

PMID- 28606855
TI  - Variation in the web-based chemical cues of Argiope keyserlingi.
AB  - Pheromones are chemical compounds used to transmit information between
      individuals of the same species. Pheromone composition is influenced by both
      genetic and environmental factors. Numerous studies, predominately of insects,
      have demonstrated a role for diet in pheromone expression. The chemical
      composition of spider web-silk varies with diet and in many species these
      chemicals are crucial to mate choice processes. Here, we investigated individual
      variation in the chemical compounds found on the surface of web-silk of female
      Argiope keyserlingi, and further explored the degree to which they are influenced
      by diet, investment in egg sac production and site of collection. We observed
      variation in the web-based chemical cues both between and within individuals.
      Additionally, we found that some of this variation could be explained by diet and
      gravid status but not by collection site. We discuss our findings in relation to
      mate choice processes and the costs and benefits of the observed variation in
      these web-based chemicals.

PMID- 28606856
TI  - Antinociceptive effect of botulinum toxin A involves alterations in AMPA receptor
      expression and glutamate release in spinal dorsal horn neurons.
AB  - The use of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) for various clinical therapeutic
      applications is increasing. It is widely believed that peripheral therapeutic or
      toxic effects of BTX-A are exclusively mediated by SNAP-25 cleavage. There is
      growing evidence of long-distance retrograde axonal transport of BTX-A on
      entering the central nervous system, subsequent to a local injection of the
      toxin. However, the prevalence of central antinociceptive effects after BTX-A
      peripheral application and its underlying mechanisms are unclear. Our results
      show that (1) BTX-A can undergo retrograde axonal transport to the dorsal horn
      after peripheral application; (2) Peripheral pretreatment with BTX-A decreases
      the expression and function of AMPA receptors in the spinal cord dorsal horn
      neurons; (3) Peripheral pretreatment with BTX-A does not change basal glutamate
      release, but decreases the effect of formalin-evoked release of glutamate in
      spinal cord dorsal horn neurons. These results suggest that peripheral
      application of BTX-A can change AMPA receptor expression in, and glutamate
      release from, spinal dorsal horn neurons, which may have significance in its
      central antinociceptive effects.

PMID- 28606857
TI  - Mycobacterium chimaera: an under-diagnosed pathogen in developing countries?

PMID- 28606858
TI  - Comparison of Text Messages Versus E-mail When Communicating and Querying With
      Mothers About Safe Infant Sleep.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess how mothers' choice of e-mail or text messages (SMS) to
      receive safe sleep communications is associated with educational video viewing
      and responses to care practice queries. METHODS: Seven hundred ninety-two new
      mothers received safe sleep-related communications for 60 days after newborn
      hospital discharge as part of a trial of health education interventions on infant
      care practices. Mothers chose e-mail or SMS for study communications and were
      sent 22 short safe sleep videos and 41 queries regarding infant care practices.
      RESULTS: Study communications via e-mail were elected by 55.7% of participants.
      The SMS group had a modestly higher overall view rate of videos (59.1% vs 54.4%;
      adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.81) and a
      substantially higher response rate to queries (70.0% vs 45.2%; aOR, 3.48; 95% CI,
      2.74-4.43). CONCLUSIONS: Participants more commonly opted to receive infant care
      practice videos and queries via e-mail. SMS was associated with higher viewing
      and response rates, especially for query responses. These results highlight the
      importance of understanding how specific modalities of communication might vary
      in reach.

PMID- 28606859
TI  - Disclosing Study Information to Children and Adolescents: Is What They Want, What
      Their Parents Think They Want?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Despite the importance of child assent, there is little consensus on
      what information should be disclosed and what information is most important to
      children for decision-making. This study was designed to compare
      children's/adolescents' priorities for research information with the information
      parents believe is most important to their children. METHODS: Child-parent dyads
      completed separate and independent surveys regarding information (risks,
      benefits, etc) that they perceived to be most important to the child to make
      decisions about participating in a hypothetical randomized controlled trial.
      Parents responded in the context of what information they believed their child
      (not themselves) would think important. RESULTS: Fifty-five parent-child dyads
      completed surveys. Although all information was deemed important,
      children/adolescents put greater emphasis on privacy and less on knowing the
      purpose of the study and the benefits compared with what their parents believed
      was important to their child. Adolescents (13-17 years old) placed greater
      importance on knowing the procedures, direct benefits, and the voluntary nature
      of participation compared with younger children (8-12 years old). Parents of
      older girls in particular placed greater emphasis on their daughter's need to
      know the purpose of the study, the procedures, benefits, and voluntary nature,
      compared with parents of boys. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that the information
      priorities of children/adolescents considering participation in a randomized
      controlled trial differ from that which their parents think is important to them.
      Pediatric researchers can use this knowledge to ensure that parents do not
      conflate their own expectations/priorities with those of their child and that
      children receive the information they need.

PMID- 28606860
TI  - Effects of partial replacement of fish meal by yeast hydrolysate on complement
      system and stress resistance in juvenile Jian carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian).
AB  - A 10-week feeding trial was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary
      fish meal replacement by yeast hydrolysate (YH) on growth performance, complement
      system and stress resistance of juvenile Jian carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian)
      (initial average weight 19.44 +/- 0.06 g). In the study, there were five groups:
      one control group was fed with a basal diet (YH0), and four treatment groups were
      fed with dietary fish meal replaced by 1% YH (YH1), 3% (YH3), 5% (YH5) and 7%
      (YH7), respectively. Each group had four replicates. At the end of feeding trial,
      twelve fish from each group (three fish per replicate) were randomly selected for
      assessing the growth and immunity. Meanwhile, 20 fish per replicate were injected
      by Aeromonas hydrophila. The results showed that (1) Replacement levels of YH
      significantly affected the growth of the fish with the highest values of weight
      gain (WG) occurred in fish fed YH3 diet. However, no significant difference in
      feed conversion ratios (FCR) was observed among all groups. (2) Pre-stressed
      plasma lysozyme activity, total protein and albumin contents and complement
      component 3 (C3) and complement component 4 (C4) levels of fish fed YH3 diet were
      significantly higher than those of fish fed YH0 diet. However, post-stressed
      immune parameters of fish in all groups were significantly lower. (3) There was a
      trend that the expression levels of the complement-related genes (c1r/s-A, c4-1,
      c3-H1, c5-1, fb/c2-A, mbl-2 and masp) initially increased and then decreased
      except mbl-2 and masp, with the maximum values observed in fish fed YH3 diet.
      Before stress, the expression levels of the inflammation-related genes (alp, il
      1beta and tnf-alpha) in the hepatopancreas and spleen of fish fed YH1 diet and
      YH7 diet were significant higher than that of fish fed YH0 diet. After stress, no
      significant difference in the expression levels of those genes was observed among
      all groups. These results indicated that FM replacement by YH could improve
      growth performance, enhance innate immunity, and activate complement via the
      alternative complement pathway (ACP) and the classical complement pathway (CCP).

PMID- 28606861
TI  - The molecular characterizations of Cu/ZnSOD and MnSOD and its responses of mRNA
      expression and enzyme activity to Aeromonas hydrophila or lipopolysaccharide
      challenge in Qihe crucian carp Carassius auratus.
AB  - Superoxide dismutases (SODs), as the prime antioxidant enzymes, present the first
      line of defense against oxidative stress caused by excessive reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) in organism. In the study, two distinct members of SOD family were
      cloned and analyzed in Qihe crucian carp Carassius auratus (designated as
      CaCu/ZnSOD and CaMnSOD, respectively). The full-length cDNA of CaCu/ZnSOD is 759
      bp, containing a 5' -untranslated region (UTR) of 39 bp, a ORF (including stop
      codon, TAG) of 465 bp and a 3'-UTR of 255 bp. The ORF of CaCu/ZnSOD encodes a
      protein of 154 amino acids (aa), in which, two Cu/ZnSOD signature
      (45GFHVHAFGDNT55 and 139GNAGGRLACGVI150) and four conserved amino acids for
      Cu/Zn2+-binding sites (H64, H72, H81 and D84) were observed. The full-length
      CaMnSOD cDNA (960 bp) consists of a 5'-UTR of 114 bp, a ORF of 675 bp and a 3'
      UTR of 231 bp, the ORF of CaMnSOD encodes a 224 aa protein with a 26 aa
      mitochondrial-targeting sequence (MTS) in the N-terminus, and four conserved
      amino acids for manganese binding (H52, H100, D185 and H189) were observed.
      Multiple alignment and the structural analysis revealed two Cu/ZnSOD signature
      motifs and a MnSOD signature motif as well as the invariant binding sites for
      Cu2+/Zn2+ in CaCu/ZnSOD and Mn2+ in CaMnSOD. The phylogenetic analysis indicated
      that CaCu/ZnSOD was homologous to cytosolic Cu/ZnSODs, and CaMnSOD was high
      similarity with mitochondrial MnSODs from other fish. The tissue distribution
      analysis demonstrated that CaCu/ZnSOD and CaMnSOD were highly expressed in liver,
      heart and muscle. The dynamic expressions of CaCu/ZnSOD and CaMnSOD were observed
      after the challenges with Aeromonas hydrophila or LPS, which generally increased
      in liver, gill, kidney and spleen, while, the mRNA expressions were down
      regulated at some time points in head kidney. The enzyme activities increased
      after A. hydrophila or LPS challenge, compared to the control. In this study, the
      molecular structures and functional motifs of CaCu/ZnSOD and CaMnSOD were
      determined, and it is crucial for us to understand the biological functions of
      SODs. The highest level in liver showed that the function of liver to remove ROS
      is much more important. The obvious responses of mRNA expression levels and
      enzyme activities to pathogens indicate the important roles of CaCu/ZnSOD and
      CaMnSOD in antioxidant defense in C. auratus.

PMID- 28606862
TI  - Pathogenicity profile of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in farmed Pacific white shrimp,
      Penaeus vannamei.
AB  - A pathobiological study was conducted using Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP) strain
      isolated from vibriosis affected shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) farms in Kancheepuram
      and Thiruvallur districts of Tamil Nadu during August 2014 to February 2015. The
      isolate was identified based on the morphological, physiological, biochemical and
      molecular characters. LD50 value with intramuscular injection was determined as
      2.6 * 104 cfu/shrimp and sequential pathology was studied giving 6.1 * 103
      cfu/shrimp (LD25). Total plate count (TPC) and total Vibrio count (TVC) in water,
      pond sediment, haemolymph, muscle, HP and gut were found significantly (P < 0.01)
      higher in natural cases than the experimental set up. Clinical signs and lesions
      observed in the natural and experimental cases were anorexia, lethargy, cuticle
      softening, loose shells, abdominal muscle cramp, red discoloration, opaque and
      whitish abdominal and tail musculature, necrosis of exoskeleton or splinter
      burns, reddish pleural borders of antennae, uropods and telson, swollen tail fan,
      ulcers, moribund shrimp sinking to bottom, and mortalities with shrunken
      discoloured HP with empty gut. Total haemocyte count (THC), small nongranular
      haemocyte (SNGH), large nongranular haemocyte (LNGH), small granular haemocyte
      (SGH) and large granular haemocyte (LGH) counts lowered significantly (P < 0.01)
      at 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 and 192 h post injection (p.i). No LGH were found after
      96 h of challenge. The post injection qPCR analyses of haemocytes showed up
      regulations of penaeidin-3a, lysozyme, prophenoloxidase I, prophenoloxidase II
      and serine protein at 3 and 6 h of infection. There was total down-regulation of
      crustin from 3 to 192 h p.i. There was a remarkable elevation in the level of
      proPO I with concomitant depletion of proPO II. The pattern of up- and down
      regulations in proPO I and SP were similar. The post infection qPCR analyses
      showed that these immune related genes could be used as markers for assessing the
      immune status of P. vannamei. Major histopathological manifestations observed
      were haemocyte infiltration/nodule in the epidermis, skeletal and cardiac
      muscles, atrophy of the excretory organ, and disrupted HP tubules with diffuse
      interstitial edema and haemocytic infiltration. Further HP showed that there was
      thickening of intertubular space, karyomegaly with prominent nucleoli, rounding
      and sloughing of HP tubular epithelium, many mitotic figures with bacterial
      colonies and apoptotic bodies, separation of shrunken tubule epithelium from
      myoepithelial fibers, regeneration of tubules, cystic, dilated and vacuolated
      appearance of HP tubules, hypoplastic changes in the tubules with no B, R and F
      cells, granuloma formation, concretions in tubules, calcification, necrosis, and
      washed out appearance with complete loss of architecture. The progression of the
      degenerative changes in the HP tubular epithelial cells was from proximal to
      distal end. In haematopoietic organ, increased mitotic activities with focal to
      extensive depletion and degeneration were observed. Degeneration of the stromal
      matrix with spheroid formation in lymphoid organ was observed among the Vp
      infected natural and experimental animals. Degeneration of glandular structures
      in the prehensile appendages with bacterial colonies, melanization and loss of
      epithelial layer in oesophagus, swelling and loss of architecture with mucinous
      secretion in the stomach, degeneration of peritrophic membrane in the lumen of
      intestine were observed in field cases but not in the experimental studies.
      Further, this study established the pathobiology of the Vp isolate to P.
      vannamei.

PMID- 28606863
TI  - Transcriptome analysis of the immune reaction of the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata
      to xenograft from Pinctada maxima.
AB  - The pearl oyster Pinctada maxima exhibits great difficulty to culture pearls
      through nuclear insertion with an allograft, but it is easy for P. fucata to
      culture pearls after allografting. If P. fucata could be used as a surrogate
      mother to culture P. maxima pearls, it would benefit the pearl culture industry
      of P. maxima. However, this is blocked by the immune rejection of P. fucata
      against P. maxima mantle grafts. In this study, the immune responses of P. fucata
      hemocyte to allograft and xenograft were investigated after transplantation by
      transcriptome analysis. In total, 107.93 Gb clean reads were produced and
      assembled using the reference genome of P. fucata. Gene Ontology Term enrichment
      and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that apoptosis, hippo signaling pathway,
      oxidation-reduction, MAPK signaling pathway, ribosome, protein processing in
      endoplasmic reticulum, purine metabolism, NF-kappa B signaling pathway, oxidative
      phosphorylation, Ras signaling pathway, and ubiquitin mediated proteolysis were
      involved in response to transplantation. Many genes related to oxidation
      reduction reactions, the MAPK signaling pathway, and apoptosis were identified by
      comparison of the allograft group and the xenograft group at 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24
      h, 48 h, 72 h, and 96 h post-transplantation. Among them, the expression levels
      of NADH dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase and other dehydrogenases were
      increased significantly in the xenograft groups compared with allograft groups at
      0 h post transplantation, indicating that a respiratory burst of neutrophils
      occurred immediately after xenograft transplantation. Additionally, HSP70 was
      highly expressed from 0 h to 96 h in the xenograft groups, indicating an oyster
      immune response to the xenograft. The genes enriched in the ribosome and hippo
      signaling pathways were also identified, and expression patterns of these DEGs
      were different as compared between transplantation and control groups. Finally,
      altered expression levels of 10 randomly selected immune-related DEGs were
      confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. These results indicated that oxidation
      reduction is likely the key factor responsible for immune rejection to
      transplantation. The findings should provide some new insight into the molecular
      mechanism of immune rejection of the host against xenograft, and thus benefit to
      development of immunosuppressive reagents to facilitate effective xenograft
      pearling.

PMID- 28606864
TI  - Suppression of NF-kappaB signal pathway by NLRC3-like protein in stony coral
      Acropora aculeus under heat stress.
AB  - Heat stress is the most common factor for coral bleaching, which has increased
      both in frequency and severity due to global warming. In the present study, the
      stony coral Acropora aculeus was subjected to acute heat stress and entire
      transcriptomes were sequenced via the next generation sequencing platform. Four
      paired-end libraries were constructed and sequenced in two groups, including a
      control and a heat stress group. A total of 120,319,751 paired-end reads with
      lengths of 2 * 100 bp were assembled and 55,021 coral-derived genes were
      obtained. After read mapping and abundance estimation, 9110 differentially
      expressed genes were obtained in the comparison between the control and heat
      stress group, including 4465 significantly upregulated and 4645 significantly
      downregulated genes. Twenty-three GO terms in the Biological Process category
      were overrepresented for significantly upregulated genes, and divided into six
      groups according to their relationship. These three groups were related to the NF
      kappaB signal pathway, and the remaining three groups were relevant for pathogen
      response, immunocyte activation and protein ubiquitination. Forty-three common
      genes were found in four GO terms, which were directly related to the NF-kappaB
      signal pathway. These included 2 NACHT, LRR, PYD domains-containing protein, 5
      nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein, 29 NLRC3-like
      protein, 4 NLRC5-like protein, and 3 uncharacterized protein. For significantly
      downregulated genes, 27 overrepresented GO terms were found in the Biological
      Process category, which were relevant to protein ubiquitination and ATP
      metabolism. Our results indicate that heat stress suppressed the immune response
      level via the NLRC3-like protein, the fine-tuning of protein turnover activity,
      and ATP metabolism. This might disrupt the balance of coral-zooxanthellae
      symbiosis and result in the bleaching of the coral A. aculeus.

PMID- 28606866
TI  - Adverse health effects of androgen use.
AB  - Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are performance enhancing drugs commonly used
      by athletes and bodybuilders to improve appearance and athletic capability.
      Unfortunately, these testosterone derivatives can be associated with serious and
      potentially irreversible side effects, and can impact multiple organ systems. It
      is important that physicians be familiar with these adverse consequences so that
      they can appropriately counsel patients whom they suspect of AAS-abuse. In this
      chapter, we will review the negative effects of these compounds on various organ
      systems in men using AAS.

PMID- 28606867
TI  - Testosterone deficiency prevents left ventricular contractility dysfunction after
      myocardial infarction.
AB  - Testosterone may affect myocardial contractility since its deficiency decreases
      the contraction and relaxation of the heart. Meanwhile, testosterone replacement
      therapy has raised concerns because it may worsen cardiac dysfunction and
      remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). In this study, we evaluate cardiac
      contractility 60 days after MI in rats with suppressed testosterone. Male Wistar
      rats underwent bilateral orchidectomy one week before the ligation of the
      anterior descending left coronary artery. The animals were divided into
      orchidectomized (OCT); MI; orchidectomized + MI (OCT + MI); orchidectomized + MI
      + testosterone (OCT + MI + T) and control (Sham) groups. Eight weeks after MI,
      papillary muscle contractility was analyzed under increasing calcium (0.62, 1.25,
      2.5 and 3.75 mM) and isoproterenol (10-8 to 10-2 M) concentrations. Ventricular
      myocytes were isolated for intracellular calcium measurements and assessment of
      Ca2+ handling proteins. Contractility was preserved in the orchidectomized
      animals after myocardial infarction and was reduced when testosterone was
      replaced (Ca2+ 3.75 mM: Sham: 608 +/- 70 (n = 11); OCT: 590 +/- 37 (n = 16); MI:
      311 +/- 33* (n = 9); OCT + MI: 594 +/- 76 (n = 7); OCT + MI + T: 433 +/- 38*
      (n=4), g/g *p < 0.05 vs Sham). Orchidectomy also increased the Ca2+ transient
      amplitude of the ventricular myocytes and SERCA-2a protein expression levels. PLB
      phosphorylation levels at Thr17 were not different in the orchidectomized animals
      compared to the Sham animals but were reduced after testosterone replacement.
      CAMKII phosphorylation and protein nitrosylation increased in the orchidectomized
      animals. Our results support the view that testosterone deficiency prevents MI
      contractility dysfunction by altering the key proteins involved in Ca2+ handling.

PMID- 28606865
TI  - Use of growth hormone, IGF-I, and insulin for anabolic purpose: Pharmacological
      basis, methods of detection, and adverse effects.
AB  - Hormones with anabolic properties such as growth hormone (GH), insulin-like
      growth factor-1 (IGF-I), and insulin are commonly abused among professional and
      recreational athletes to enhance physical ability. Performance enhancing drugs
      (PEDs) such as these are also commonly used by recreational athletes to improve
      body aesthetics. The perception of increased muscle mass due to supraphysiologic
      hormone supplementation, or doping, is widespread among PED users despite a
      paucity of evidence-based data in humans. Even still, athletes will continue to
      abuse PEDs in hopes of replicating anecdotal results. It is important to educate
      the general public and potential treating physicians of the risks of PED use,
      including the dangers of polypharmacy and substance dependence. It will also be
      important for the research community to address the common challenges associated
      with studying PED use such as the ethical considerations of PED administration,
      the general reticence of the PED-using community to volunteer information, and
      the constant need to improve or create new detection methods as athletes
      continually attempt to circumvent current methods. This review highlights the
      anabolic mechanisms and suggestive data implicating GH, IGF-I, and insulin for
      use as PEDs, the specific detection methods with cutoff ranges that may be
      utilized to diagnose abuse of each substance, and their respective side effects.

PMID- 28606868
TI  - Vitamin D endocrinology of bone mineralization.
AB  - Bone is a dynamic tissue that is strongly influenced by endocrine factors to
      restore the balance between bone resorption and bone formation. Bone formation
      involves the mineralization of the extracellular matrix formed by osteoblasts. In
      this process the role of vitamin D (1alpha,25(OH)2D3) is both direct and
      indirect. The direct effects are enabled via the Vitamin D Receptor (VDR); the
      outcome is dependent on the presence of other factors as well as origin of the
      osteoblasts, treatment procedures and species differences. Vitamin D stimulates
      mineralization of human osteoblasts but is often found inhibitory for
      mineralization of murine osteoblasts. In this review we will overview the current
      knowledge of the role of the vitamin D endocrine system in controlling the
      mineralization process in bone.

PMID- 28606869
TI  - Predicting mental conditions based on "history of present illness" in psychiatric
      notes with deep neural networks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Applications of natural language processing to mental health notes
      are not common given the sensitive nature of the associated narratives. The CEGS
      N-GRID 2016 Shared Task in Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) changed
      this scenario by providing the first set of neuropsychiatric notes to
      participants. This study summarizes our efforts and results in proposing a novel
      data use case for this dataset as part of the third track in this shared task.
      OBJECTIVE: We explore the feasibility and effectiveness of predicting a set of
      common mental conditions a patient has based on the short textual description of
      patient's history of present illness typically occurring in the beginning of a
      psychiatric initial evaluation note. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We clean and process
      the 1000 records made available through the N-GRID clinical NLP task into a key
      value dictionary and build a dataset of 986 examples for which there is a
      narrative for history of present illness as well as Yes/No responses with regards
      to presence of specific mental conditions. We propose two independent deep neural
      network models: one based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) and another
      based on recurrent neural networks with hierarchical attention (ReHAN), the
      latter of which allows for interpretation of model decisions. We conduct
      experiments to compare these methods to each other and to baselines based on
      linear models and named entity recognition (NER). RESULTS: Our CNN model with
      optimized thresholding of output probability estimates achieves best overall mean
      micro-F score of 63.144% for 11 common mental conditions with statistically
      significant gains (p<0.05) over all other models. The ReHAN model with
      interpretable attention mechanism scored 61.904% mean micro-F1 score. Both
      models' improvements over baseline models (support vector machines and NER) are
      statistically significant. The ReHAN model additionally aids in interpretation of
      the results by surfacing important words and sentences that lead to a particular
      prediction for each instance. CONCLUSIONS: Although the history of present
      illness is a short text segment averaging 300 words, it is a good predictor for a
      few conditions such as anxiety, depression, panic disorder, and attention deficit
      hyperactivity disorder. Proposed CNN and RNN models outperform baseline
      approaches and complement each other when evaluating on a per-label basis.

PMID- 28606870
TI  - A deep learning approach for predicting the quality of online health expert
      question-answering services.
AB  - Recently, online health expert question-answering (HQA) services (systems) have
      attracted more and more health consumers to ask health-related questions
      everywhere at any time due to the convenience and effectiveness. However, the
      quality of answers in existing HQA systems varies in different situations. It is
      significant to provide effective tools to automatically determine the quality of
      the answers. Two main characteristics in HQA systems raise the difficulties of
      classification: (1) physicians' answers in an HQA system are usually written in
      short text, which yields the data sparsity issue; (2) HQA systems apply the
      quality control mechanism, which refrains the wisdom of crowd. The important
      information, such as the best answer and the number of users' votes, is missing.
      To tackle these issues, we prepare the first HQA research data set labeled by
      three medical experts in 90days and formulate the problem of predicting the
      quality of answers in the system as a classification task. We not only
      incorporate the standard textual feature of answers, but also introduce a set of
      unique non-textual features, i.e., the popular used surface linguistic features
      and the novel social features, from other modalities. A multimodal deep belief
      network (DBN)-based learning framework is then proposed to learn the high-level
      hidden semantic representations of answers from both textual features and non
      textual features while the learned joint representation is fed into popular
      classifiers to determine the quality of answers. Finally, we conduct extensive
      experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of including the non-textual
      features and the proposed multimodal deep learning framework.

PMID- 28606871
TI  - Higher-Ordered Actin Structures Remodeled by Arabidopsis ACTIN-DEPOLYMERIZING
      FACTOR5 Are Important for Pollen Germination and Pollen Tube Growth.
AB  - Dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton are essential for pollen germination and
      pollen tube growth. ACTIN-DEPOLYMERIZING FACTORs (ADFs) typically contribute to
      actin turnover by severing/depolymerizing actin filaments. Recently, we
      demonstrated that Arabidopsis subclass III ADFs (ADF5 and ADF9) evolved F-actin
      bundling function from conserved F-actin-depolymerizing function. However, little
      is known about the physiological function, the evolutional significance, and the
      actin-bundling mechanism of these neofunctionalized ADFs. Here, we report that
      loss of ADF5 function caused delayed pollen germination, retarded pollen tube
      growth, and increased sensitive to latrunculin B (LatB) treatment by affecting
      the generation and maintenance of actin bundles. Examination of actin filament
      dynamics in living cells revealed that the bundling frequency was significantly
      decreased in adf5 pollen tubes, consistent with its biochemical functions.
      Further biochemical and genetic complementation analyses demonstrated that both
      the N- and C-terminal actin-binding domains of ADF5 are required for its
      physiological and biochemical functions. Interestingly, while both are atypical
      actin-bundling ADFs, ADF5, but not ADF9, plays an important role in mature pollen
      physiological activities. Taken together, our results suggest that ADF5 has
      evolved the function of bundling actin filaments and plays an important role in
      the formation, organization, and maintenance of actin bundles during pollen
      germination and pollen tube growth.

PMID- 28606872
TI  - Missed opportunities for intervention in alcohol-related liver disease in the UK.

PMID- 28606878
TI  - Resolution of inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease at present mainly targets mediators of
      inflammation to stop or suppress pro-inflammatory processes. Typical examples are
      steroids, suppression of T cells by thioguanine nucleotides, or antibodies
      against cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor, interleukin 12, or interleukin
      23. In addition to suppression of inflammation, development of therapeutic
      strategies that support resolution of inflammation or that actively resolve
      inflammation might be desirable. Resolution of inflammation is now seen as an
      active process involving specific mediators (eg, lipid mediators or specific
      cytokines) that is mandatory to restore organ function and completely shut down
      inflammation. The molecular pathways involved in resolution of inflammation have
      been investigated in recent years and could be adopted in treatment strategies
      for inflammatory bowel disease. Among these approaches are anti-integrin
      strategies and means to produce or locally increase restitution or resolution
      factors, such as restoration of the activity of transforming growth factor-beta
      by anti-SMAD7 antisense oligonucleotides. The potential role of inflammation
      resolving lipid mediators (eg, resolvins), however, still warrants further study
      and clinical development. This Review focuses on the specific role of active
      resolution of inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease pathophysiology.
      Potential therapeutic targets based on these pathways are also discussed.

PMID- 28606879
TI  - Can immunosuppression be stopped after liver transplantation?
AB  - Liver transplantation has improved dramatically over the past three decades,
      mainly as a result of advances in surgical techniques and management of post
      transplant complications. The focus has now turned towards rescuing additional
      organs in the face of scarce organ supply, or prevention of long-term toxicity
      associated with immunosuppression. The liver appears to be privileged in terms of
      immune tolerance, with a low incidence of antibody-mediated rejection, which is
      in sharp contrast to other solid organ transplants, such as kidney, lung, and
      heart transplants. However, tolerogenic processes remain poorly understood, and
      strategies for complete drug withdrawal should be selected carefully to avoid
      graft rejection. In this Review, we summarise the current understanding of liver
      specific immune responses and provide an outlook on future approaches.

PMID- 28606881
TI  - Correction to Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2017; 2: 23-31.

PMID- 28606880
TI  - Spontaneous rectus sheath haematoma.

PMID- 28606882
TI  - The effect of coronary bifurcation and haemodynamics in prediction of
      atherosclerotic plaque development: a serial computed tomographic coronary
      angiographic study.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the daughter branches on
      the haemodynamics and the potential prediction of atherosclerotic plaque
      development as well as the best flow division model for accurate blood flow
      modelling. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed computed tomography coronary
      angiography retrospective data portraying 17 coronary artery bifurcations in 15
      patients recruited into the PROSPECT MSCT study. Baseline and three-year follow
      up imaging data were used to reconstruct coronary artery anatomy. In the baseline
      models blood flow simulations were performed using three flow division
      approaches: stress-free, Murray's law and Doriot's fit. Blood flow simulation was
      also performed omitting the daughter branch. The association between ESS
      estimated in models that incorporated the daughter branches and lumen reduction
      was higher than the cases where the side branch was omitted. Murray's law
      provides the most accurate results when comparing the different flow division
      models. More specifically, low ESS is a predictor of significant lumen reduction
      (p=0.007), plaque burden increase (p=0.0006) and necrotic core change (p=0.025).
      CONCLUSIONS: The ESS distribution in coronary models including the daughter
      branches and based on the calculations implementing Murray's law allows more
      accurate prediction of atherosclerotic evolution than ESS estimated in models
      including only the main vessel.

PMID- 28606883
TI  - Physiological assessment of left main coronary artery disease.
AB  - The left main coronary artery (LMCA) is responsible for supplying the majority of
      the left ventricular myocardium. Visual estimation of stenosis severity on
      angiography has major limitations and methods to assess functional significance,
      such as fractional flow reserve (FFR), have been shown to yield better outcomes;
      however, to date, major trials examining the use of such physiological indices
      have excluded LMCA disease. Furthermore, LMCA disease commonly co-exists with
      downstream disease, which complicates the interpretation of coronary
      physiological data. This review summarises existing evidence for physio-?logy
      guided management of LMCA disease. It will also explore the difficulties posed
      when functionally assessing LMCA lesions and outline potential solutions.
      Finally, we aim to provide insight into how novel physiological tools may improve
      the management of LMCA disease in the future.

PMID- 28606884
TI  - Transcatheter mitral annuloplasty to treat residual mitral regurgitation after
      MitraClip implantation.

PMID- 28606885
TI  - Going the extra mile: percutaneous transseptal valve-in-valve implantation and
      leak closure.

PMID- 28606887
TI  - Comparison of the prognostic value of non-ischaemic fractional flow reserve using
      intracoronary versus intravenous adenosine.
AB  - AIMS: Intracoronary adenosine (ICA) yields similar fractional flow reserve (FFR)
      results to the "gold standard" of intravenous adenosine (IVA). Whether they have
      similar prognostic significance is unknown. We therefore sought to study the
      prognostic value of the route of adenosine administration for the measurement of
      FFR in deferred coronary lesions in a large, real-world cohort. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Five hundred and seventy-six patients with 787 lesions in whom PCI was
      deferred based on FFR >0.75 were studied. The primary outcome was the first major
      adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; defined as death, myocardial infarction [MI],
      or target vessel revascularisation [TVR]), and the secondary outcome was a
      composite of MI and target vessel failure (TVF). FFR was measured with ICA in 426
      lesions and IVA in 361 lesions. Median follow-up duration was 3.2 years
      (interquartile range: 1.7- 4.6). Propensity-matched cohorts of ICA and IVA were
      well matched for baseline clinical, angiographic and haemodynamic
      characteristics. In the propensity-matched cohort, MACE occurred in 23.5% of the
      ICA group and in 22.3% of the IVA group (p=0.29). On multivariate analysis, acute
      coronary syndrome, FFR and prior MI/revascularisation were independent predictors
      of MACE and MI/TVF. The route of adenosine administration was not predictive of
      MACE or MI/TVF. CONCLUSIONS: ICA and IVA yield similar FFR values and show
      comparable long-term prognostic utility in a deferred population. These findings
      provide confirmation that non-ischaemic FFR using a simpler ICA protocol provides
      prognostic data similar to the gold standard IVA.

PMID- 28606886
TI  - Safety and efficacy of early anticoagulation drug regimens after WATCHMAN left
      atrial appendage closure: three-month data from the EWOLUTION prospective,
      multicentre, monitored international WATCHMAN LAA closure registry.
AB  - AIMS: While LAA closure has recently been incorporated into both European and US
      guidelines for stroke prevention, uncertainties regarding post-procedural drug
      therapy so far limit its adoption. The aim of this analysis is to compare real
      world outcome data stratified for the post-procedural drug regimen employed.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: One thousand and five patients were implanted with a
      WATCHMAN device in the prospective EWOLUTION study at 47 centres; 73.5% of the
      patients were deemed contraindicated for long-term OAC therapy. Here we report on
      three-month data including the first follow-up TOE exam for 94% of the study
      population. Following LAA closure, patients received DAPT, VKA, NOAC, single
      antiplatelet or no therapy (60.3%, 15.4%, 10.9%, 7% and 6.5%, respectively).
      Device thrombus (2.6%), stroke (0.4%) and major bleeding SAE (2.6%) rates were
      low overall and did not vary by post-implantation medication strategy. Patients
      on NOAC had the lowest bleeding rate, without an increase in device thrombus or
      stroke rates. CONCLUSIONS: LAA closure with the WATCHMAN device is feasible in
      patients with a relative or absolute contraindication to oral anticoagulation.
      Neither DAPT nor NOAC therapy leads to a significant increase in device thrombus,
      stroke or bleeding compared to the standard VKA regimen. Numerically, NOAC
      therapy had the lowest event rate.

PMID- 28606888
TI  - Neointima and neoatherosclerotic characteristics in bare metal and first- and
      second-generation drug-eluting stents in patients admitted with cardiovascular
      events attributed to stent failure: an optical coherence tomography study.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess neoatherosclerotic plaque morphology in
      bare metal (BMS) and first- and second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) in
      patients presenting with an event attributed to stent failure. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Thirty-five patients (11 implanted with BMS, 13 with a first-generation
      and 11 with a second-generation DES) admitted with an event due to stent failure
      who had neoatherosclerotic lesions on optical coherence tomography were included
      in the analysis. The lumen and stent borders were detected and the lipid and
      calcific tissue were identified in the neointima and their burden was estimated.
      The neointima attenuation and backscatter indices were computed and compared
      between the different stent types. Although there were no differences in the
      neointima burden, the BMS group exhibited thinner fibrous caps (p<0.001), and a
      numerically increased incidence of lipid-rich plaques (p=0.052) and macrophage
      accumulation (p=0.012). Neointima discontinuities (p=0.009) and thrombus
      (p=0.032) were seen more often in first-generation DES. In all stent types,
      neoatherosclerosis had focal manifestations. In neoatherosclerotic lesions the
      attenuation and backscatter indices were increased in BMS (p=0.031 and p=0.018,
      respectively) compared to DES; however, there were no differences between stents
      in the attenuation indices in subsegments located distally to neoatherosclerotic
      lesions which had low values in all stent types. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are
      differences in lipid burden and neointima characteristics in different stent
      types, in all stents neoatherosclerosis has focal manifestations indicating that,
      irrespective of the stent type, focal triggers are involved in the generation of
      vulnerable neolesions.

PMID- 28606889
TI  - Parallel suture technique with ProGlide: a novel method for management of
      vascular access during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate vascular complications using the
      "parallel suture technique" in patients receiving an Edwards SAPIEN XT (SXT) or
      SAPIEN S3 (S3) transcatheter heart valve (THV). METHODS AND RESULTS: Two hundred
      consecutive patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis treated with TF-TAVI
      were included in this study where the "parallel suture technique" was applied for
      vascular access-site closure. This was achieved by placing the sutures medial and
      lateral to the puncture site. Vascular access-site complications were defined as
      vascular dissection, perforation, obstruction, arteriovenous fistula or
      pseudoaneurysms, and classified according to the Valve Academic Research
      Consortium-2 (VARC-2) criteria. Duplex sonography was performed routinely in
      every patient. In patients receiving the S3, the sheath to femoral and iliac
      artery ratio was significantly lower than in the SXT group, reflecting reduction
      in sheath sizes for S3. More endovascular interventions were required after SXT
      implantation as compared to S3 (4% versus 1%, p=0.02). This was due to vascular
      obstruction or device failure. Moreover, increased life-threatening, major
      bleedings, and pseudoaneurysms were found in the SXT group (6% versus 1%, p=0.06,
      13% versus 3%, p=0.009, 7% versus 1%, p=0.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The
      "parallel suture technique" using the ProGlide is associated with a low number of
      vascular complications, even when using larger sheath sizes.

PMID- 28606890
TI  - How to plan an overlap-free projection on CTA or fluoroscopy to facilitate
      quantitative analysis of aortic regurgitation.

PMID- 28606891
TI  - Reduced periprocedural mortality and bleeding rates of radial approach in ST
      segment elevation myocardial infarction. Propensity score analysis of data from
      the ORPKI Polish National Registry.
AB  - AIMS: We sought to evaluate bleeding complications and periprocedural outcomes of
      the radial approach (RA) as compared to the femoral approach (FA) during
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in "real-world" patients with ST-segment
      elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS AND RESULTS: The study group
      consisted of 22,812 consecutive patients with STEMI treated with PCI and stent
      implantation between January 2014 and June 2015 in 151 tertiary invasive
      cardiology centres in Poland (the ORPKI Polish National Registry). Patients
      treated using the RA and FA were compared using a propensity score analysis to
      avoid possible selection bias. The analysis was carried out in an "as-treated"
      manner. The FA was used in 9,334 (40.9%) and the RA in 13,478 (59.1%) patients.
      After propensity score matching, a higher total amount of contrast (191.8+/-8.0
      vs. 174.8+/-68.8 ml; p=0.001) and lower radiation doses (1,279.5+/-1,346.3 vs.
      1,182.6+/-887 mGy; p=0.02) were reported in FA. More access-site-related bleeding
      complications after both angiography (0.17% vs. 0.02%; p=0.004) and PCI (0.23%
      vs. 0.09%; p=0.049) were reported in the FA group. Periprocedural death (1.94%
      vs. 0.93%; p=0.001) was more common after PCI performed with the FA. CONCLUSIONS:
      The radial approach was associated with a lower incidence of periprocedural death
      in STEMI patients as well as a significant reduction of bleeding complications at
      the access site.

PMID- 28606892
TI  - Systematic and Iterative Development of a Smartphone App to Promote Sun
      Protection Among Holidaymakers: Design of a Prototype and Results of Usability
      and Acceptability Testing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sunburn and intermittent exposure to ultraviolet rays are risk
      factors for melanoma. Sunburn is a common experience during holidays, making
      tourism settings of particular interest for skin cancer prevention. Holidaymakers
      are a volatile populations found at different locations, which may make them
      difficult to reach. Given the widespread use of smartphones, evidence suggests
      that this might be a novel, convenient, scalable, and feasible way of reaching
      the target population. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to
      describe and appraise the process of systematically developing a smartphone
      intervention (mISkin app) to promote sun-protection during holidays. METHODS: The
      iterative development process of the mISkin app was conducted over four
      sequential stages: (1) identify evidence on the most effective behavior change
      techniques (BCTs) used (active ingredients) as well as theoretical predictors and
      theories, (2) evidence-based intervention design, (3) co-design with users of the
      mISkin app prototype, and (4) refinement of the app. Each stage provided key
      findings that were subsequently used to inform the design of the mISkin app.
      RESULTS: The sequential approach to development integrates different strands of
      evidence to inform the design of an evidence-based intervention. A systematic
      review on previously tested interventions to promote sun-protection provided cues
      and constraints for the design of this intervention. The development and design
      of the mISkin app also incorporated other sources of information, such as other
      literature reviews and experts' consultations. The developed prototype of the
      mISkin app was evaluated by engaging potential holidaymakers in the refinement
      and further development of the mISkin app through usability (ease-of-use) and
      acceptability testing of the intervention prototype. All 17 participants were
      satisfied with the mISkin prototype and expressed willingness to use it. Feedback
      on the app was integrated in the optimization process of the mISkin app.
      CONCLUSIONS: The mISkin app was designed to promote sun-protection among
      holidaymakers and was based on current evidence, experts' knowledge and
      experience, and user involvement. Based on user feedback, the app has been
      refined and a fully functional version is ready for formal testing in a
      feasibility pilot study.

PMID- 28606893
TI  - Young People, Adult Worries: Randomized Controlled Trial and Feasibility Study of
      the Internet-Based Self-Support Method "Feel the ViBe" for Adolescents and Young
      Adults Exposed to Family Violence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are of special interest in a
      group of children exposed to family violence (FV). Past-year prevalence of
      exposure to FV is known to be highest in AYAs and has severe consequences. Peer
      support is an effective approach to behavior change and the Internet is
      considered suitable as a mode of delivery. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate
      both effectiveness and feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and
      feasibility study of the Internet-based self-support method "Feel the ViBe" (FtV)
      using mixed-methods approach to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of
      a new intervention. METHODS: AYAs aged 12-25 years and exposed to FV were
      randomized in an intervention group (access to FtV + usual care) and a control
      group (minimally enhanced usual care) after they self-registered themselves. From
      June 2012 to July 2014, participants completed the Impact of Event Scale (IES)
      and Depression (DEP) and Anxiety (ANX) subscales of the Symptom CheckList-90-R
      (SCL-90) every 6 weeks. The Web Evaluation Questionnaire was completed after 12
      weeks. Quantitative usage data were collected using Google analytics and content
      management system (CMS) logs and data files. A univariate analysis of variance
      (UNIANOVA) and mixed model analysis (intention-to-treat [ITT], complete case)
      were used to compare groups. Pre-post t tests were used to find within-group
      effects. Feasibility measures structurally address the findings. The CONsolidated
      Standards Of Reporting Trials of Electronic and Mobile HEalth Applications and
      onLine TeleHealth (CONSORT-EHEALTH) checklist was closely followed. RESULTS: In
      total, 31 out of 46 participants in the intervention group and 26 out of 47
      participants in the control group started FtV. Seventeen participants
      (intervention: n=8, control: n=9) completed all questionnaires. Mixed model
      analysis showed significant differences between groups on the SCL-90 DEP (P=.04)
      and ANX (P=.049) subscales between 6 and 12 weeks after participation started.
      UNIANOVA showed no significant differences. Pre-post paired sample t tests showed
      significant improvements after 12 weeks for the SCL-90 DEP (P=.03) and ANX
      (P=.046) subscales. Reported mean Web-based time per week was 2.83 with a session
      time of 36 min. FtV was rated a mean 7.47 (1-10 Likert scale) with a helpfulness
      score of 3.16 (1-5 Likert scale). All participants felt safe. Two-thirds of the
      intervention participants started regular health care. CONCLUSIONS: No changes on
      the IES were found. SCL-90 DEP and ANX showed promising results; however, the
      calculated sample size was not reached (n=18). FtV functions best as a first step
      for adolescents and young adults in an early stage of change. FtV can be easily
      implemented without extensive resources and fits best in the field of public
      health care or national governmental care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands
      National Trial Register (NTR): NTR3692;
      http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/ rctview.asp?TC=3692 (Archived by
      WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6qIeKyjA4).

PMID- 28606894
TI  - Developing a Curriculum for Information and Communications Technology Use in
      Global Health Research and Training: A Qualitative Study Among Chinese Health
      Sciences Graduate Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rapid development of information and communications technology (ICT)
      during the last decade has transformed biomedical and population-based research
      and has become an essential part of many types of research and educational
      programs. However, access to these ICT resources and the capacity to use them in
      global health research are often lacking in low- and middle-income country (LMIC)
      institutions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to assess the practical issues
      (ie, perceptions and learning needs) of ICT use among health sciences graduate
      students at 6 major medical universities of southern China. METHODS: Ten focus
      group discussions (FGDs) were conducted from December 2015 to March 2016,
      involving 74 health sciences graduate students studying at 6 major medical
      universities in southern China. The sampling method was opportunistic, accounting
      for the graduate program enrolled and the academic year. All FGDs were audio
      recorded and thematic content analysis was performed. RESULTS: Researchers had
      different views and arguments about the use of ICT which are summarized under six
      themes: (1) ICT use in routine research, (2) ICT-related training experiences,
      (3) understanding about the pros and cons of Web-based training, (4) attitudes
      toward the design of ICT training curriculum, (5) potential challenges to
      promoting ICT courses, and (6) related marketing strategies for ICT training
      curriculum. Many graduate students used ICT on a daily basis in their research to
      stay up-to-date on current development in their area of research or study or
      practice. The participants were very willing to participate in ICT courses that
      were relevant to their academic majors and would count credits. Suggestion for an
      ICT curriculum included (1) both organized training course or short lecture
      series, depending on the background and specialty of the students, (2) a mixture
      of lecture and Web-based activities, and (3) inclusion of topics that are career
      focused. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that a need exists for a
      specialized curriculum related to ICT use in health research for health sciences
      graduate students in China. The results have important implications for the
      design and implementation of ICT-related educational program in China or other
      developing countries.

PMID- 28606896
TI  - Cardiologist convicted of presenting false prescription escapes suspension.

PMID- 28606895
TI  - Direct Adherence Measurement Using an Ingestible Sensor Compared With Self
      Reporting in High-Risk Cardiovascular Disease Patients Who Knew They Were Being
      Measured: A Prospective Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of appropriate cardioprotective medication is a cornerstone of
      cardiovascular disease prevention, but less-than-optimal patient adherence is
      common. Thus, strategies for improving adherence are recommended to adopt a
      multifaceted approach. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to test a system
      comprising a biodegradable, ingestible sensor for direct measurement of
      medication ingestion in a group of patients at elevated cardiovascular risk
      attending a cardiac prevention and rehabilitation program. METHODS: In this
      prospective intervention trial in a single group of 21 patients running from
      April 2014 to June 2015, we measured adherence by self-report and adherence
      determined objectively by the system. The sensor emits a signal when it
      encounters the acidic environment of the stomach, detectable by an externally
      worn patch and linked software app. Longitudinal adherence data in the form of
      daily progress charts for sensed dosing events as compared with scheduled dosing
      are visible to patients on their tablet computer's medication dosing app, thus
      providing patients with continuous medication adherence feedback. We sought
      feedback on patient acceptability by questionnaire assessment. Participants used
      the system for the 12-week period of their cardiac prevention and rehabilitation
      program. RESULTS: Only 1 patient at initial assessment and 1 patient at end-of
      program assessment reported often missing medication. The remaining patients
      reported never missing medication or had missing data. Only 12 (57%) of patients
      overall achieved system-determined adherence of 80% or more, and 3 patients had
      scores below 40%. Participants reported high levels of acceptability.
      CONCLUSIONS: This integrated system was well tolerated in a group of 21 patients
      over an appreciable time frame. Its ability to measure adherence reveals the
      sizeable disconnect between patient self-reported adherence and actual medication
      taking and has promising potential for clinical use as a tool to encourage better
      medication-taking behavior due to its ability to provide continuous patient-level
      feedback.

PMID- 28606897
TI  - Melatonin attenuates phenotypic flexibility of energy metabolism in a
      photoresponsive mammal, the Siberian hamster.
AB  - The duration of melatonin (MEL) secretion conveys information about day length
      and initiates a cascade of seasonal phenotypic adjustments in photoresponsive
      mammals. With shortening days, animals cease reproduction, minimize energy
      expenditure, enhance thermoregulatory capacity and adjust functioning of the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to match the winter increase in energy
      demands. Within each season, stress plays an important role in the flexible
      adjustments of a phenotype to environmental perturbations. Recent studies have
      shown that thermal reaction norms of energy metabolism were narrower in winter
      acclimated Siberian hamsters, Phodopus sungorus We tested the hypothesis that
      physiological changes occurring in response to prolonged MEL signals, including
      changes in the secretion of stress hormones, are responsible for the seasonal
      decrease in phenotypic flexibility of energy metabolism in photoresponsive
      mammals. To quantify reaction norms for basal metabolic rate (BMR) and cortisol
      (CORT) secretion, male Siberian hamsters maintained at a long (16 h:8 h
      light:dark) photoperiod were acclimated repeatedly for 12 days to 10 and 28
      degrees C. As predicted, the phenotypic flexibility of BMR decreased when animals
      were supplemented with MEL. However, at the same time, mean CORT concentration
      and the reaction norm for its secretion in response to changes in acclimation
      temperature increased. These results suggest that decreased sensitivity of HPA
      axis to CORT signal, rather than changes in CORT level itself, is responsible for
      the decreased phenotypic flexibility in photoresponsive species. Our results
      suggest that decreased phenotypic flexibility in winter, together with increased
      stress hormone secretion, make photosensitive species more vulnerable to climate
      change.

PMID- 28606898
TI  - Carotenoids buffer the acute phase response on fever, sickness behavior and rapid
      bill color change in zebra finches.
AB  - Carotenoids are finite resources that animals can allocate to self-maintenance,
      attractiveness or reproduction. Here we test how carotenoids affect the acute
      phase response (APR), an intense rapid systemic response characterized by fever,
      sickness behavior and production of acute phase proteins, which serves to reduce
      pathogen persistence. We conducted a 2*2 factorial design experiment in captive
      adult male and female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to determine the
      effects of carotenoid supplementation on the intensity of the APR. We measured
      changes in feeding rate, activity level and body temperature of the birds. We
      found that, relative to unsupplemented controls, carotenoid-supplemented birds
      exhibited less severe reductions in feeding and activity, smaller increases in
      body temperature and lower circulating levels of haptoglobin (an acute phase
      protein) 24 h after inducing an APR. Among supplemented individuals, those with
      higher blood carotenoid levels exhibited a lower reduction in activity rate after
      24 h. Forty-eight hours after APR induction, birds exhibited a significant
      decrease in plasma carotenoid levels and a decrease in bill hue, with less
      reduction in hue in carotenoid-supplemented individuals. These results
      demonstrate that carotenoids can alleviate several important behavioral and
      physiological effects of an APR and that bill color can change rapidly following
      induction of the costly APR immune defense. In particular, immune activation may
      have caused birds to preferentially draw down carotenoids from the bloodstream,
      ostensibly for use in health. Rapid bill color changes over a 48-h period support
      growing evidence that bills may serve as short-term signals of health and
      condition.

PMID- 28606899
TI  - Timothy Hugh Moss.

PMID- 28606900
TI  - Fetal Outcomes After Diabetic Ketoacidosis During Pregnancy.

PMID- 28606901
TI  - The Enzyme Activity and Substrate Specificity of Two Major Cinnamyl Alcohol
      Dehydrogenases in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), SbCAD2 and SbCAD4.
AB  - Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyzes the final step in monolignol
      biosynthesis, reducing sinapaldehyde, coniferaldehyde, and p-coumaraldehyde to
      their corresponding alcohols in an NADPH-dependent manner. Because of its
      terminal location in monolignol biosynthesis, the variation in substrate
      specificity and activity of CAD can result in significant changes in overall
      composition and amount of lignin. Our in-depth characterization of two major CAD
      isoforms, SbCAD2 (Brown midrib 6 [bmr6]) and SbCAD4, in lignifying tissues of
      sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), a strategic plant for generating renewable chemicals
      and fuels, indicates their similarity in both structure and activity to
      Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) CAD5 and Populus tremuloides sinapyl alcohol
      dehydrogenase, respectively. This first crystal structure of a monocot CAD
      combined with enzyme kinetic data and a catalytic model supported by site
      directed mutagenesis allows full comparison with dicot CADs and elucidates the
      potential signature sequence for their substrate specificity and activity. The
      L119W/G301F-SbCAD4 double mutant displayed its substrate preference in the order
      coniferaldehyde > p-coumaraldehyde > sinapaldehyde, with higher catalytic
      efficiency than that of both wild-type SbCAD4 and SbCAD2. As SbCAD4 is the only
      major CAD isoform in bmr6 mutants, replacing SbCAD4 with L119W/G301F-SbCAD4 in
      bmr6 plants could produce a phenotype that is more amenable to biomass
      processing.

PMID- 28606902
TI  - Prevalence, clinical features and risk assessment of pre-diabetes in Spain: the
      prospective Mollerussa cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Mollerussa prospective cohort was created to study pre-diabetes in a
      population-based sample from the primary care setting in the semirural area of
      Pla d'Urgell in Catalonia (Spain). The aims of the study were to assess the
      prevalence of pre-diabetes in our population, the likelihood to develop overt
      diabetes over time and to identify risk factors associated with the progression
      of the condition. PARTICIPANTS: The cohort includes 594 subjects randomly
      selected between March 2011 and July 2014 from our primary care population, who
      were older than 25 years, consented to participate and did not have a recorded
      diagnosis of diabetes. FINDINGS TO DATE: At baseline, we performed a clinical
      interview to collect demographic, clinical and lifestyle (including a nutritional
      survey) characteristics; carotid ultrasound imaging to assess subclinical
      cardiovascular disease was also performed, and a blood sample was collected, with
      an overall <5% rate of missing data. An additional blood draw was performed 12
      months after initial recruitment to reassess laboratory results in patients
      initially identified as having pre-diabetes, with an 89.6% retention rate.
      Several studies investigating various hypotheses are currently ongoing. FUTURE
      PLANS: All subjects recruited during the cohort creation will be followed long
      term through annual extraction of data from health records stored in the
      electronic Clinical station in Primary Care database. The Mollerussa cohort will
      thus be a sound population-based sample for multiple future research projects to
      generate insights into the epidemiology and natural history of pre-diabetes in
      Spain.

PMID- 28606903
TI  - Estimating the incidence and the economic burden of third and fourth-degree
      obstetric tears in the English NHS: an observational study using propensity score
      matching.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obstetric care is a high-risk area in healthcare delivery, so it is
      essential to have up-to-date quantitative evidence in this area to inform policy
      decisions regarding these services. In light of this, the objective of this study
      is to investigate the incidence and economic burden of third and fourth-degree
      lacerations in the English National Health Service (NHS) using recent national
      data. METHODS: We used coded inpatient data from Hospital Episode Statistics
      (HES) for the financial years from 2010/2011 to 2013/2014 for all females that
      gave birth during that period in the English NHS. Using HES, we used pre-existing
      safety indicator algorithms to calculate the incidence of third and fourth-degree
      obstetric tears and employed a propensity score matching method to estimate the
      excess length of stay and economic burden associated with these events. RESULTS:
      Observed rates per 1000 inpatient episodes in 2010/2011 and 2013/2014,
      respectively: Patient Safety Indicator-trauma during vaginal delivery with
      instrument (PSI 18)=84.16 and 91.24; trauma during vaginal delivery without
      instrument (PSI 19)=29.78 and 33.43; trauma during caesarean delivery (PSI
      20)=3.61 and 4.56. Estimated overall (all PSIs) economic burden for
      2010/2011=L10.7 million and for 2013/2014=L14.5 million, expressed in 2013/2014
      prices. CONCLUSIONS: Despite many initiatives targeting the quality of maternity
      care in the NHS, the incidence of third and fourth-degree lacerations has
      increased during the observed period which signals that quality improvement
      efforts in obstetric care may not be reducing incidence rates. Our conservative
      estimates of the financial burden of these events appear low relative to total
      NHS expenditure for these years.

PMID- 28606905
TI  - What impact has the NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) scheme had on
      clinical academic careers in England over the last 10 years? A retrospective
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) was introduced to support the
      early career clinical and research training of potential future clinical
      academics in England. The driver for the model was concern about falling numbers
      of clinical academic trainees. This study examines the impact of the ACF model,
      over its first 10 years, in developing clinical academic careers by tracking the
      progression of ACF trainees. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of National Institute
      for Health Research (NIHR) ACF career progression. This was performed using mixed
      methods including routine data collections of career destination, analysis of
      application rates to doctoral level fellowships and supplemented by survey
      information that captured the perceived benefits and challenges from previous
      ACFs and their current career activities. PARTICIPANTS: 1239 NIHR ACFs who
      completed or left their posts between 2006 and March 2015. RESULTS: ACFs are
      perceived by the candidate population as attractive posts, with high numbers of
      applications leading to high fill rates. Balancing clinical and academic
      commitments is one of the reported challenges when completing an ACF. We have
      found that undertaking an ACF was shown to increase the likelihood of securing an
      externally funded doctoral training award and the vast majority of ACFs move into
      academic roles, with many completing PhDs. Previous ACFs continue to show
      positive career progression, predominantly in translational and clinical
      research. The knowledge acquired during the ACF continues to be useful in
      subsequent roles and trainees would recommend the scheme to others. CONCLUSIONS:
      The NIHR ACF scheme is successful as part of an integrated training pathway in
      developing careers in academic medicine and dentistry.

PMID- 28606904
TI  - Transition structures and timing of transfer from paediatric to adult-based care
      after kidney transplantation in Germany: a qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: It is known that transition, as a shift of care, marks a vulnerable
      phase in the adolescents' lives with an increased risk for non-adherence and
      allograft failure. Still, the transition process of adolescents and young adults
      living with a kidney transplant in Germany is not well defined. The present
      research aims to assess transition-relevant structures for this group of young
      people. Special attention is paid to the timing of the process. SETTING: In an
      observational study, we visited 21 departments of paediatric nephrology in
      Germany. Participants were doctors (n=19), nurses (n=14) and psychosocial staff
      (n=16) who were responsible for transition in the relevant centres. Structural
      elements were surveyed using a short questionnaire. The experiential viewpoint
      was collected by interviews which were transcribedverbatim before thematic
      analysis was performed. RESULTS: This study highlights that professionals working
      within paediatric nephrology in Germany are well aware of the importance of
      successful transition. Key elements of transitional care are well understood and
      mutually agreed on. Nonetheless, implementation within daily routine seems
      challenging, and the absence of written, structured procedures may hamper
      successful transition. CONCLUSIONS: While professionals aim for an individual
      timing of transfer based on medical, social, emotional and structural aspects,
      rigid regulations on transfer age as given by the relevant health authorities add
      on to the challenge. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN Registry no 22988897;
      results (phase I) and pre-results (phase II).

PMID- 28606906
TI  - A randomised comparison of Conventional versus Intentional straTegy in patients
      with high Risk prEdiction of Side branch OccLusion in coronary bifurcation
      interVEntion: rationale and design of the CIT-RESOLVE trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The intentional strategy (aggressive side branch (SB) protection
      strategy: elective two-stent strategy or jailed balloon technique) is thought to
      be associated with lower SB occlusion rate than conventional strategy
      (provisional two-stent strategy or jailed wire technique). However, most previous
      studies showed comparable outcomes between the two strategies, probably due to no
      risk classification of SB occlusion when enrolling patients. There is still no
      randomised trial compared the intentional and conventional strategy when treating
      bifurcation lesions with high risk of SB occlusion. We aim to investigate if
      intentional strategy is associated with significant reduction of SB occlusion
      rate compared with conventional strategy in high-risk patients. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: The Conventional versus Intentional straTegy in patients with high Risk
      prEdiction of Side branch OccLusion in coronary bifurcation interVEntion (CIT
      RESOLVE) is a prospective, randomised, single-blind, multicentre clinical trial
      comparing the rate of SB occlusion between the intentional strategy group and the
      conventional strategy group (positive control group) in a consecutive cohort of
      patients with high risk of side branch occlusion defined by V-RESOLVE score,
      which is a validated angiographic scoring system to evaluate the risk of SB
      occlusion in bifurcation intervention and used as one of the inclusion criteria
      to select patients with high SB occlusion risk (V-RESOLVE score >=12). A total of
      21 hospitals from 10 provinces in China participated in the present study. 566
      patients meeting all inclusion/exclusion criteria are randomised to either
      intentional strategy group or conventional strategy group. The primary endpoint
      is SB occlusion (defined as any decrease in thrombolysis in myocardial infarction
      flow grade or absence of flow in SB after main vessel stenting). All patients are
      followed up for 12-month postdischarge. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The protocol
      has been approved by all local ethics committee. The ethics committee have
      approved the study protocol, evaluated the risk to benefit ratio, allowed
      operators with a minimum annual volume of 200 cases to participate in the
      percutaneous coronary intervention procedure and permitted them to perform both
      conventional and intentional strategies. Written informed consent would be
      acquired from all participants. The findings of the trial will be shared by the
      participant hospitals and disseminated through peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02644434; Pre-results.

PMID- 28606907
TI  - FIRST-line support for Assistance in Breathing in Children (FIRST-ABC): protocol
      for a multicentre randomised feasibility trial of non-invasive respiratory
      support in critically ill children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Over 18 000 children are admitted annually to UK paediatric
      intensive care units (PICUs), of whom nearly 75% receive respiratory support
      (invasive and/or non-invasive). Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has
      traditionally been used to provide first-line non-invasive respiratory support
      (NRS) in PICUs; however, high-flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNC), a novel mode of
      NRS, has recently gained popularity despite the lack of high-quality trial
      evidence to support its effectiveness. This feasibility study aims to inform the
      design and conduct of a future definitive randomised clinical trial (RCT)
      comparing the two modes of respiratory support. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will
      conduct a three-centre randomised feasibility study over 12 months. Patients
      admitted to participating PICUs who satisfy eligibility criteria will be
      recruited to either group A (primary respiratory failure) or group B
      (postextubation). Consent will be obtained from parents/guardians prior to
      randomisation in 'planned' group B, and deferred in emergency situations (group A
      and 'rescue' group B). Participants will be randomised (1:1) to either CPAP or
      HFNC using sealed, opaque envelopes, from a computer-generated randomisation
      sequence with variable block sizes. The study protocol specifies algorithms for
      the initiation, maintenance and weaning of HFNC and CPAP. The primary outcomes
      are related to feasibility, including the number of eligible patients in each
      group, feasibility of randomising >50% of eligible patients and measures of
      adherence to the treatment protocols. Data will also be collected on patient
      outcomes (eg, mortality and length of PICU stay) to inform the selection of an
      appropriate outcome measure in a future RCT. We aim to recruit 120 patients to
      the study. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was granted by the National
      Research Ethics Service Committee North East-Tyne&Wear South (15/NE/0296). Study
      findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, national and
      international conferences. TRIALS REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02612415; pre-results.

PMID- 28606908
TI  - Knowledge, facilitators and barriers to cervical cancer screening among women in
      Uganda: a qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore community knowledge, facilitators and barriers to cervical
      cancer screening among women in rural Uganda so as to generate data to inform
      interventions. DESIGN: A qualitative study using focus group discussions and key
      informant interviews. SETTING: Discussions and interviews carried out in the
      community within two districts in Eastern Uganda. PARTICIPANTS: Ten (10) focus
      group discussions with 119 screening-eligible women aged between 25 and 49 years
      and 11 key informant interviews with healthcare providers and administrators.
      RESULTS: Study participants' knowledge about cervical cancer causes, signs and
      symptoms, testing methods and prevention was poor. Many participants attributed
      the cause of cervical cancer to use of contraception while key informants said
      that some believed it was due to witchcraft. Perceptions towards cervical cancer
      and screening were majorly positive with many participants stating that they were
      at risk of getting cervical cancer. The facilitators to accessing cervical cancer
      screening were: experiencing signs and symptoms of cervical cancer, family
      history of the disease and awareness of the disease/screening service. Lack of
      knowledge about cervical cancer and screening, health system challenges, fear of
      test outcome and consequences and financial constraints were barriers to cervical
      cancer screening. CONCLUSION: Whereas perceptions towards cervical cancer and
      screening were positive, knowledge of study participants on cervical cancer was
      poor. To improve cervical cancer screening, effort should be focused on reducing
      identified barriers and enhancing facilitators.

PMID- 28606909
TI  - 'Treated as a number, not treated as a person': a qualitative exploration of the
      perceived barriers to effective pain management of patients with chronic pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify barriers to effective pain management encountered by
      patients with chronic pain within the UK's National Health Service (NHS). DESIGN:
      Secondary analysis of face-to-face, semistructured qualitative interviews using
      thematic analysis. SETTING: A community-based chronic pain clinic jointly managed
      by a nurse and pharmacist located in the North of England. PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen
      adult (>18 years) patients with chronic pain discharged from a pain clinic, with
      the ability to understand and speak the English language. RESULTS: In general,
      patients were highly disappointed with the quality of pain management services
      provided both within primary and secondary care, and consequently were willing to
      seek private medical care. Barriers to effective pain management were divided
      into two main themes: healthcare professional-related and health systems-related.
      Three subthemes emerged under healthcare professionals-related barriers, namely
      (1) healthcare professionals' lack of interest and empathy, (2) general
      practitioners' (GP) lack of specialised knowledge in pain management and (3) lack
      of communication between healthcare professionals. Three subthemes emerged under
      health system-related barriers: (1) long waiting time for appointments in
      secondary care, (2) short consultation times with GPs and (3) lack of an
      integrated multidisciplinary approach. CONCLUSIONS: The patients expressed a
      clear desire for the improved provision and quality of chronic pain management
      services within the NHS to overcome barriers identified in this study. An
      integrated holistic approach based on a biopsychosocial model is required to
      effectively manage pain and improve patient satisfaction. Future research should
      explore the feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of integrated care
      delivery models for chronic pain management within primary care.

PMID- 28606911
TI  - Overinterpretation of Research Findings: Evidence of "Spin" in Systematic Reviews
      of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We wished to assess the frequency of overinterpretation in systematic
      reviews of diagnostic accuracy studies. METHODS: MEDLINE was searched through
      PubMed from December 2015 to January 2016. Systematic reviews of diagnostic
      accuracy studies in English were included if they reported one or more
      metaanalyses of accuracy estimates. We built and piloted a list of 10 items that
      represent actual overinterpretation in the abstract and/or full-text conclusion,
      and a list of 9 items that represent potential overinterpretation. Two
      investigators independently used the items to score each included systematic
      review, with disagreements resolved by consensus. RESULTS: We included 112
      systematic reviews. The majority had a positive conclusion regarding the accuracy
      or clinical usefulness of the investigated test in the abstract (n = 83; 74%) and
      full-text (n = 83; 74%). Of the 112 reviews, 81 (72%) contained at least 1 actual
      form of overinterpretation in the abstract, and 77 (69%) in the full-text. This
      was most often a "positive conclusion, not reflecting the reported summary
      accuracy estimates," in 55 (49%) abstracts and 56 (50%) full-texts and a
      "positive conclusion, not taking high risk of bias and/or applicability concerns
      into account," in 47 abstracts (42%) and 26 full-texts (23%). Of these 112
      reviews, 107 (96%) contained a form of potential overinterpretation, most
      frequently "nonrecommended statistical methods for metaanalysis performed" (n =
      57; 51%). CONCLUSIONS: Most recent systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy
      studies present positive conclusions and a majority contain a form of
      overinterpretation. This may lead to unjustified optimism about test performance
      and erroneous clinical decisions and recommendations.

PMID- 28606910
TI  - Na/K pump inactivation, subsarcolemmal Na measurements, and cytoplasmic ion
      turnover kinetics contradict restricted Na spaces in murine cardiac myocytes.
AB  - Decades ago, it was proposed that Na transport in cardiac myocytes is modulated
      by large changes in cytoplasmic Na concentration within restricted subsarcolemmal
      spaces. Here, we probe this hypothesis for Na/K pumps by generating constitutive
      transsarcolemmal Na flux with the Na channel opener veratridine in whole-cell
      patch-clamp recordings. Using 25 mM Na in the patch pipette, pump currents decay
      strongly during continuous activation by extracellular K (tau, ~2 s). In
      contradiction to depletion hypotheses, the decay becomes stronger when pump
      currents are decreased by hyperpolarization. Na channel currents are nearly
      unchanged by pump activity in these conditions, and conversely, continuous Na
      currents up to 0.5 nA in magnitude have negligible effects on pump currents.
      These outcomes are even more pronounced using 50 mM Li as a cytoplasmic Na
      congener. Thus, the Na/K pump current decay reflects mostly an inactivation
      mechanism that immobilizes Na/K pump charge movements, not cytoplasmic Na
      depletion. When channel currents are increased beyond 1 nA, models with
      unrestricted subsarcolemmal diffusion accurately predict current decay (tau ~15
      s) and reversal potential shifts observed for Na, Li, and K currents through Na
      channels opened by veratridine, as well as for Na, K, Cs, Li, and Cl currents
      recorded in nystatin-permeabilized myocytes. Ion concentrations in the pipette
      tip (i.e., access conductance) track without appreciable delay the current
      changes caused by sarcolemmal ion flux. Importantly, cytoplasmic mixing volumes,
      calculated from current decay kinetics, increase and decrease as expected with
      osmolarity changes (tau >30 s). Na/K pump current run-down over 20 min reflects a
      failure of pumps to recover from inactivation. Simulations reveal that pump
      inactivation coupled with Na-activated recovery enhances the rapidity and
      effectivity of Na homeostasis in cardiac myocytes. In conclusion, an
      autoregulatory mechanism enhances cardiac Na/K pump activity when cytoplasmic Na
      rises and suppresses pump activity when cytoplasmic Na declines.

PMID- 28606912
TI  - A New Start for Triglycerides and Remnant Cholesterol-Nonfasting.

PMID- 28606913
TI  - MIQE: A Step Toward More Robust and Reproducible Quantitative PCR.

PMID- 28606914
TI  - Raising the Bar: Further Improvement is Required to Make More Test Accuracy
      Research Fit for Decision-making.

PMID- 28606915
TI  - Baseline Circulating FGF21 Concentrations and Increase after Fenofibrate
      Treatment Predict More Rapid Glycemic Progression in Type 2 Diabetes: Results
      from the FIELD Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is not known whether circulating fibroblast growth factor 21
      (FGF21) concentrations are associated with glycemic progression in patients with
      established type 2 diabetes. This study reports this relationship in type 2
      diabetes patients participating in the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event
      Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) trial. METHODS: Plasma FGF21 was quantified in 9697
      study participants. Among patients with lifestyle-only glucose control measures
      at baseline, glycemic progression was defined as the initiation of oral
      hypoglycemic agents or insulin therapy. We assessed the relationship of FGF21
      concentrations with glycohemoglobin (Hb A1c), the homeostasis model assessment of
      beta-cell function (HOMA-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and glycemic
      progression. RESULTS: Among 2584 patients with lifestyle-only glycemic therapy at
      baseline, plasma FGF21 concentrations were positively associated with HOMA-IR
      (5.1% increase per 100% increase in FGF21 concentrations). Patients with higher
      baseline plasma FGF21 concentrations had higher risk of glycemic progression over
      a 5-year period (P = 0.02), but the association was not significant after further
      adjusting for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) enzyme activity. During the
      fenofibrate active run-in phase, higher tertiles of fenofibrate-induced increase
      in FGF21 concentrations were associated with higher risk of glycemic progression
      (adjusted hazards ratio = 1.09 and 1.18 for tertiles 2 and 3, respectively, P for
      trend = 0.01), even after adjusting for ALT enzyme activity. This association was
      statistically significant in the fenofibrate group only (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Higher baseline and fenofibrate-induced increase in FGF21 concentrations predict
      more rapid glycemic progression in type 2 diabetes patients. This association may
      be partly explained by hepatic function.

PMID- 28606916
TI  - John Richard Newton.

PMID- 28606918
TI  - Evaluation of Tumor-Derived Exosomal miRNA as Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers for
      Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Next-Generation Sequencing.
AB  - Purpose: To identify tumor-derived exosomal biomarkers that are able to
      discriminate between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) as a
      noninvasive method in the early diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC).Experimental Design: Tumor-derived exosomes from the plasma of early
      stage NSCLC patients were isolated. Exosomal miRNA profiling of 46 stage I NSCLC
      patients and 42 healthy individuals was performed using miRNA-seq to identify and
      validate adenocarcinoma- and SCC-specific miRNAs. The diagnostic accuracy of
      select miRNAs was tested further with an additional 60 individuals.Results: There
      were 11 and 6 miRNAs expressed at remarkably higher levels, 13 and 8 miRNAs
      expressed at lower levels in adenocarcinoma and SCC patients, respectively,
      compared with healthy volunteers. Distinct adenocarcinoma- and SCC-specific
      exosomal miRNAs were validated. The reliability of miRNA-seq data was verified
      with several demonstrated diagnostic potential miRNAs for NSCLC and other
      carcinomas, as reported in previous studies, such as let-7, miR-21, miR-24, and
      miR-486. The results indicated that miR-181-5p, miR-30a-3p, miR-30e-3p, and miR
      361-5p were adenocarcinoma-specific, and miR-10b-5p, miR-15b-5p, and miR-320b
      were SCC-specific. The diagnostic accuracy of three combination miRNA panels was
      evaluated using an AUC value of 0.899, 0.936, and 0.911 for detecting NSCLC,
      adenocarcinoma, and SCC, respectively.Conclusions: Tumor-derived exosomal miRNAs,
      adenocarcinoma-specific miR-181-5p, miR-30a-3p, miR-30e-3p and miR-361-5p, and
      SCC-specific miR-10b-5p, miR-15b-5p, and miR-320b were observed by next
      generation sequencing, and their diagnostic accuracy were verified. These miRNAs
      may be promising and effective candidates in the development of highly sensitive,
      noninvasive biomarkers for early NSCLC diagnosis. Clin Cancer Res; 23(17); 5311
      9. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28606917
TI  - Quantitative Temporal Viromics of an Inducible HIV-1 Model Yields Insight to
      Global Host Targets and Phospho-Dynamics Associated with Protein Vpr.
AB  - The mechanisms by which human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) circumvents and coopts
      cellular machinery to replicate and persist in cells are not fully understood.
      HIV accessory proteins play key roles in the HIV life cycle by altering host
      pathways that are often dependent on post-translational modifications (PTMs).
      Thus, the identification of HIV accessory protein host targets and their PTM
      status is critical to fully understand how HIV invades, avoids detection and
      replicates to spread infection. To date, a comprehensive characterization of HIV
      accessory protein host targets and modulation of their PTM status does not exist.
      The significant gap in knowledge regarding the identity and PTMs of HIV host
      targets is due, in part, to technological limitations. Here, we applied current
      mass spectrometry techniques to define mechanisms of viral protein action by
      identifying host proteins whose abundance is affected by the accessory protein
      Vpr and the corresponding modulation of down-stream signaling pathways,
      specifically those regulated by phosphorylation. By utilizing a novel, inducible
      HIV-1 CD4+ T-cell model system expressing either the wild type or a vpr-negative
      viral genome, we overcame challenges associated with synchronization and
      infection-levels present in other models. We report identification and abundance
      dynamics of over 7000 proteins and 28,000 phospho-peptides. Consistent with Vpr's
      ability to impair cell-cycle progression, we observed Vpr-mediated modulation of
      spindle and centromere proteins, as well as Aurora kinase A and cyclin-dependent
      kinase 4 (CDK4). Unexpectedly, we observed evidence of Vpr-mediated modulation of
      the activity of serine/arginine-rich protein-specific kinases (SRPKs), suggesting
      a possible role for Vpr in the regulation of RNA splicing. This study presents a
      new experimental system and provides a data-resource that lays the foundation for
      validating host proteins and phosphorylation-pathways affected by HIV-1 and its
      accessory protein Vpr.

PMID- 28606919
TI  - Expression and Therapeutic Potential of SOX9 in Chordoma.
AB  - Purpose: Conventional chemotherapeutic agents are ineffective in the treatment of
      chordoma. We investigated the functional roles and therapeutic relevance of the
      sex-determining region Y (SRY)-box 9 (SOX9) in chordoma.Experimental Design: SOX9
      expression was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using 50 chordoma tissue
      samples. SOX9 expression in chordoma cell lines was examined by Western blot and
      immunofluorescent assays. We used synthetic human SOX9 siRNA to inhibit the
      expression of SOX9. Cell proliferation ability and cytotoxicity of inhibiting
      SOX9 were assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium
      bromide (MTT) and clonogenic assays. The effect of SOX9 knockdown on chordoma
      cell motility was evaluated by a wound-healing assay and a Transwell invasion
      chamber assay. Knockdown of SOX9 induced apoptosis, cell-cycle arrest, as well as
      decreased expression of cancer stem cell markers were determined by Western blot
      and flow cytometric assays. The effect of the combination of SOX9 siRNA and the
      chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin/cisplatin on chordoma cells was assessed by an
      MTT assay.Results: Tissue microarray and IHC analysis showed that SOX9 is broadly
      expressed in chordomas and that higher expression levels of SOX9 correlated with
      a poor prognosis. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of SOX9 inhibited
      chordoma cell growth, decreased cell motility, and induced apoptosis as well as
      cell-cycle arrest. Moreover, the combination of SOX9 inhibition and
      chemotherapeutic drugs had an enhanced anti-cancer effect on chordoma
      cells.Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that SOX9 plays a crucial role in
      chordoma. Targeting SOX9 provides a new rationale for treatment of chordoma. Clin
      Cancer Res; 23(17); 5176-86. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28606920
TI  - Single-Cell Dynamics Determines Response to CDK4/6 Inhibition in Triple-Negative
      Breast Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous subgroup of
      breast cancer that is associated with a poor prognosis. We evaluated the activity
      of CDK4/6 inhibitors across the TNBC subtypes and investigated mechanisms of
      sensitivity.Experimental Design: A panel of cell lines representative of TNBC was
      tested for in vitro and in vivo sensitivity to CDK4/6 inhibition. A fluorescent
      CDK2 activity reporter was used for single-cell analysis in conjunction with time
      lapse imaging.Results: The luminal androgen receptor (LAR) subtype of TNBC was
      highly sensitive to CDK4/6 inhibition both in vitro (P < 0.001 LAR vs. basal
      like) and in vivo in MDA-MB-453 LAR cell line xenografts. Single-cell analysis of
      CDK2 activity demonstrated differences in cell-cycle dynamics between LAR and
      basal-like cells. Palbociclib-sensitive LAR cells exit mitosis with low levels of
      CDK2 activity, into a quiescent state that requires CDK4/6 activity for cell
      cycle reentry. Palbociclib-resistant basal-like cells exit mitosis directly into
      a proliferative state, with high levels of CDK2 activity, bypassing the
      restriction point and the requirement for CDK4/6 activity. High CDK2 activity
      after mitosis is driven by temporal deregulation of cyclin E1 expression. CDK4/6
      inhibitors were synergistic with PI3 kinase inhibitors in PIK3CA-mutant TNBC cell
      lines, extending CDK4/6 inhibitor sensitivity to additional TNBC
      subtypes.Conclusions: Cell-cycle dynamics determine the response to CDK4/6
      inhibition in TNBC. CDK4/6 inhibitors, alone and in combination, are a novel
      therapeutic strategy for specific subgroups of TNBC. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18);
      5561-72. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28606921
TI  - Overexpression of RCC2 Enhances Cell Motility and Promotes Tumor Metastasis in
      Lung Adenocarcinoma by Inducing Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.
AB  - Purpose: Investigate the role of regulator of chromosome condensation 2 (RCC2) on
      lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) metastasis.Experimental Design: Clinical specimens
      were used to assess the impact of RCC2 on LUAD metastasis. Mouse models,
      cytobiology, and molecular biology assays were performed to elucidate the
      function and underlying mechanisms of RCC2 in LUAD.Results: RCC2 expression was
      frequently increased in LUADs (88/122, 72.13%). It was confirmed by analysis of a
      larger cohort of TCGA RNA-seq data containing 488 LUADs and 58 normal lung
      tissues (P < 0.001). Importantly, increased level of RCC2 was significantly
      associated with T status of tumor (P = 0.002), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.004),
      and advanced clinical stage (P = 0.001). Patients with LUAD with higher
      expression of RCC2 had shorter overall survival. Cox regression analysis
      demonstrated that RCC2 was an independent poorer prognostic factor for patients
      with LUAD. Moreover, forced expression of RCC2 promoted intrapulmonary metastasis
      in vivo and significantly enhanced LUAD cell migration, invasion, and
      proliferation in vitro Further study found that RCC2 induced epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) and also stimulated the expression of MMP-2 and MMP
      9. In addition, RCC2 was able to activate JNK, while inhibition of JNK suppressed
      the effect of RCC2 on LUAD cell migration, invasion, EMT, and the expression of
      MMP-2 and MMP-9.Conclusions: RCC2 plays a pivotal role in LUAD metastasis by
      inducing EMT via activation of MAPK-JNK signaling. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5598
      610. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28606922
TI  - In Situ Vaccination after Accelerated Hypofractionated Radiation and Surgery in a
      Mesothelioma Mouse Model.
AB  - Purpose: How best to sequence and integrate immunotherapy into standard of care
      is currently unknown. Clinical protocols with accelerated nonablative
      hypofractionated radiation followed by surgery could provide an opportunity to
      implement immune checkpoint blockade.Experimental Design: We therefore assessed
      the impact of nonablative hypofractionated radiation on the immune system in
      combination with surgery in a mouse mesothelioma model. Blunt surgery (R1
      resection) was used to analyze the short-term effect, and radical surgery (R0
      resection) was used to analyze the long-term effect of this radiation protocol
      before surgery.Results: Nonablative hypofractionated radiation led to a specific
      immune activation against the tumor associated with significant upregulation of
      CD8+ T cells, limiting the negative effect of an incomplete resection. The same
      radiation protocol performed 7 days before radical surgery led to a long-term
      antitumor immune protection that was primarily driven by CD4+ T cells. Radical
      surgery alone or with a short course of nonablative radiation completed 24 hours
      before radical surgery did not provide this vaccination effect. Combining this
      radiation protocol with CTLA-4 blockade provided better results than radiation
      alone. The effect of PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade with this radiation protocol was less
      effective than the combination with CTLA-4 blockade.Conclusions: A specific
      activation of the immune system against the tumor contributes to the benefit of
      accelerated, hypofractionated radiation before surgery. Nonablative
      hypofractionated radiation combined with surgery provides an opportunity to
      introduce immune checkpoint blockades in the clinical setting. Clin Cancer Res;
      23(18); 5502-13. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28606923
TI  - Detection of Driver and Resistance Mutations in Leptomeningeal Metastases of
      NSCLC by Next-Generation Sequencing of Cerebrospinal Fluid Circulating Tumor
      Cells.
AB  - Purpose: Leptomeningeal metastases are more common in non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC) with EGFR mutations. The diagnosis is difficult by traditional imaging
      only, and leads to poor understanding of resistance mechanisms of leptomeningeal
      metastases.Experimental Design: We compared the CellSearch Assay, the Thinprep
      cytologic test (TCT), and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 21 NSCLC
      patients with suspected leptomeningeal metastases. Next-generation sequencing
      that included 416 cancer-associated genes was also performed on cerebrospinal
      fluid circulating tumor cells (CSFCTC) of 19 patients.Results: Twenty-one
      patients were diagnosed with leptomeningeal metastases, and CSFCTCs were captured
      by CellSearch in 20 patients (median, 969 CSFCTCs/7.5 mL; range, 27-14,888).
      CellSearch had a sensitivity of 95.2% for leptomeningeal metastases diagnosis,
      which was higher than that of TCT (12/21, 57.1%), MRI (10/21, 47.6%), and MRI
      plus TCT (19/21, 90.5%), respectively. CTCs were found only in 5 of 14 patients
      (median, 2 CTCs/7.5 mL; range, 2-4), which was a much lower ratio than CSFCTCs.
      Genetic profiles of CSFCTCs were highly concordant with molecular mutations
      identified in the primary tumor (17/19, 89.5%). The resistance gene EGFR T790M
      was detected in 7 of 9 patients with extracranial lesions, but was detected in
      only 1 of 14 CSFCTC samples. Other potential resistant mutations, such as MET
      amplification and ERBB2 mutation, were also identified in CSFCTCs.Conclusions:
      CSFCTCs captured by CellSearch may be a more sensitive and effective way to
      diagnose leptomeningeal metastases, and may serve as a liquid biopsy medium for
      gene profiles in NSCLC patients with leptomeningeal metastases. Clin Cancer Res;
      23(18); 5480-8. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28606924
TI  - Age and Gender Associations of Virus Positivity in Merkel Cell Carcinoma
      Characterized Using a Novel RNA In Situ Hybridization Assay.
AB  - Purpose: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumor
      of the skin. Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) plays an oncogenic role in the
      majority of MCCs. Detection of MCPyV in MCCs has diagnostic utility and
      prognostic potential. We investigated whether RNAscope, an RNA in situ
      hybridization (ISH) assay for detection of RNA transcripts in tissues, is useful
      for MCPyV detection.Experimental Design: We applied an RNAscope probe targeting
      MCPyV T antigen transcripts on tissue microarrays (TMA) and whole-tissue sections
      encompassing 87 MCCs from 75 patients, 14 carcinomas of other types, and benign
      tissues. For comparison, qPCR was performed on 57 cases of MCC from 52
      patients.Results: RNA-ISH demonstrated the presence of MCPyV in 37 of 75 cases
      (49.3%). Notably, tumors from younger patients (<73 years) had a significantly
      higher virus positivity than those from elderly patients (>=73 years; 64.9% vs.
      34.2%, P = 0.011). Female patients had a higher positive rate of MCPyV than male
      patients (66.7% vs. 39.6%, P = 0.032). Data from both RNA-ISH and qPCR were
      available for 57 samples. Considering MCPyV qPCR as the gold standard for
      determining MCPyV status, RNAscope had 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
      There was a strong correlation between qPCR copy number and RNA-ISH product score
      (Spearman correlation coefficient R2 = 0.932, P < 0.0001).Conclusions: RNA-ISH is
      comparably sensitive to qPCR for detection of MCPyV and allows for correlation
      with tissue morphology. This study also reveals a significant association between
      age, gender, and MCPyV positivity. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5622-30. (c)2017
      AACR.

PMID- 28606927
TI  - mTORC in beta cells: more Than Only Recognizing Comestibles.
AB  - The pathways regulating pancreatic beta cell survival in diabetes are poorly
      understood. Here, Chau et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol.
      https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201701085) demonstrate that mTOR regulates the
      apoptotic machinery through binding to the ChREBP-Mlx complex to suppress TXNIP,
      thereby protecting pancreatic beta cells in the diabetic setting by inhibiting
      oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.

PMID- 28606925
TI  - Polarity of varicosity initiation in central neuron mechanosensation.
AB  - Little is known about mechanical regulation of morphological and functional
      polarity of central neurons. In this study, we report that mechanical stress
      specifically induces varicosities in the axons but not the dendrites of central
      neurons by activating TRPV4, a Ca2+/Na+-permeable mechanosensitive channel. This
      process is unexpectedly rapid and reversible, consistent with the formation of
      axonal varicosities in vivo induced by mechanical impact in a mouse model of mild
      traumatic brain injury. In contrast, prolonged stimulation of glutamate receptors
      induces varicosities in dendrites but not in axons. We further show that axonal
      varicosities are induced by persistent Ca2+ increase, disassembled microtubules
      (MTs), and subsequently reversible disruption of axonal transport, and are
      regulated by stable tubulin-only polypeptide, an MT-associated protein. Finally,
      axonal varicosity initiation can trigger action potentials to antidromically
      propagate to the soma in retrograde signaling. Therefore, our study demonstrates
      a new feature of neuronal polarity: axons and dendrites preferentially respond to
      physical and chemical stresses, respectively.

PMID- 28606928
TI  - mTOR controls ChREBP transcriptional activity and pancreatic beta cell survival
      under diabetic stress.
AB  - Impaired nutrient sensing and dysregulated glucose homeostasis are common in
      diabetes. However, how nutrient-sensitive signaling components control glucose
      homeostasis and beta cell survival under diabetic stress is not well understood.
      Here, we show that mice lacking the core nutrient-sensitive signaling component
      mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in beta cells exhibit reduced beta cell mass
      and smaller islets. mTOR deficiency leads to a severe reduction in beta cell
      survival and increased mitochondrial oxidative stress in chemical-induced
      diabetes. Mechanistically, we find that mTOR associates with the carbohydrate
      response element-binding protein (ChREBP)-Max-like protein complex and inhibits
      its transcriptional activity, leading to decreased expression of thioredoxin
      interacting protein (TXNIP), a potent inducer of beta cell death and oxidative
      stress. Consistent with this, the levels of TXNIP and ChREBP were highly elevated
      in human diabetic islets and mTOR-deficient mouse islets. Thus, our results
      suggest that a nutrient-sensitive mTOR-regulated transcriptional network could be
      a novel target to improve beta cell survival and glucose homeostasis in diabetes.

PMID- 28606929
TI  - Targeting Oxygen-Sensing Prolyl Hydroxylase for Metformin-Associated Lactic
      Acidosis Treatment.
AB  - Metformin is one of the most widely used therapeutics for type 2 diabetes
      mellitus and also has anticancer and antiaging properties. However, it is known
      to induce metformin-associated lactic acidosis (MALA), a severe medical condition
      with poor prognosis, especially in individuals with renal dysfunction. Inhibition
      of prolyl hydroxylase (PHD) is known to activate the transcription factor hypoxia
      inducible factor (HIF) that increases lactate efflux as a result of enhanced
      glycolysis, but it also enhances gluconeogenesis from lactate in the liver that
      contributes to reducing circulating lactate levels. Here, we investigated the
      outcome of pharmaceutical inhibition of PHD in mice with MALA induced through the
      administration of metformin per os and an intraperitoneal injection of lactic
      acid. We found that the PHD inhibitors significantly increased the expression
      levels of genes involved in gluconeogenesis in the liver and the kidney and
      significantly improved the survival of mice with MALA. Furthermore, the PHD
      inhibitor also improved the rate of survival of MALA induced in mice with chronic
      kidney disease (CKD). Thus, PHD represents a new therapeutic target for MALA,
      which is a critical complication of metformin therapy.

PMID- 28606930
TI  - FOXN1 Transcription Factor in Epithelial Growth and Wound Healing.
AB  - FOXN1 is a prodifferentiation transcription factor in the skin epithelium.
      Recently, it has also emerged as an important player in controlling the skin
      wound healing process, as it actively participates in reepithelialization and is
      thought to be responsible for scar formation. FOXN1 positivity is also a feature
      of pigmented keratinocytes, including nevi, and FOXN1 is an attribute of benign
      epithelial tumors. The lack of FOXN1 favors the skin regeneration process
      displayed by nude mice, pointing to FOXN1 as a switch between regeneration and
      reparative processes. The stem cell niche provides a functional source of cells
      after the loss of tissue following wounding. The involvement of
      prodifferentiation factors in the regulation of this pool of stem cells is
      suggested. However, the exact mechanism is still under question, and we speculate
      that the FOXN1 transcription factor is involved in this process. This review
      analyzes the pleiotropic effects of FOXN1 in the skin, its function in the
      tumorigenesis process, and its potential role in depletion of the stem cell niche
      after injury, as well as its suggested mechanistic role, acting in a cell
      autonomous and a non-cell-autonomous manner during skin self-renewal.

PMID- 28606931
TI  - Multiplication of Ribosomal P-Stalk Proteins Contributes to the Fidelity of
      Translation.
AB  - The P-stalk represents a vital element within the ribosomal GTPase-associated
      center, which represents a landing platform for translational GTPases. The
      eukaryotic P-stalk exists as a uL10-(P1-P2)2 pentameric complex, which contains
      five identical C-terminal domains, one within each protein, and the presence of
      only one such element is sufficient to stimulate factor-dependent GTP hydrolysis
      in vitro and to sustain cell viability. The functional contribution of the P
      stalk to the performance of the translational machinery in vivo, especially the
      role of P-protein multiplication, has never been explored. Here, we show that
      ribosomes depleted of P1/P2 proteins exhibit reduced translation fidelity at
      elongation and termination steps. The elevated rate of the decoding error is
      inversely correlated with the number of the P-proteins present on the ribosome.
      Unexpectedly, the lack of P1/P2 has little effect in vivo on the efficiency of
      other translational GTPase (trGTPase)-dependent steps of protein synthesis,
      including translocation. We have shown that loss of accuracy of decoding caused
      by P1/P2 depletion is the major cause of translation slowdown, which in turn
      affects the metabolic fitness of the yeast cell. We postulate that the
      multiplication of P-proteins is functionally coupled with the qualitative aspect
      of ribosome action, i.e., the recoding phenomenon shaping the cellular proteome.

PMID- 28606932
TI  - Cadmium Causes Misfolding and Aggregation of Cytosolic Proteins in Yeast.
AB  - Cadmium is a highly poisonous metal and is classified as a human carcinogen.
      While its toxicity is undisputed, the underlying in vivo molecular mechanisms are
      not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that cadmium induces aggregation of
      cytosolic proteins in living Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Cadmium primarily
      targets proteins in the process of synthesis or folding, probably by interacting
      with exposed thiol groups in not-yet-folded proteins. On the basis of in vitro
      and in vivo data, we show that cadmium-aggregated proteins form seeds that
      increase the misfolding of other proteins. Cells that cannot efficiently protect
      the proteome from cadmium-induced aggregation or clear the cytosol of protein
      aggregates are sensitized to cadmium. Thus, protein aggregation may contribute to
      cadmium toxicity. This is the first report on how cadmium causes misfolding and
      aggregation of cytosolic proteins in vivo The proposed mechanism might explain
      not only the molecular basis of the toxic effects of cadmium but also the
      suggested role of this poisonous metal in the pathogenesis of certain protein
      folding disorders.

PMID- 28606933
TI  - Multitiered and Cooperative Surveillance of Mitochondrial Phosphatidylserine
      Decarboxylase 1.
AB  - Phosphatidylserine decarboxylase 1 (Psd1p), an ancient enzyme that converts
      phosphatidylserine to phosphatidylethanolamine in the inner mitochondrial
      membrane, must undergo an autocatalytic self-processing event to gain activity.
      Autocatalysis severs the protein into a large membrane-anchored beta subunit that
      noncovalently associates with the small alpha subunit on the intermembrane space
      side of the inner membrane. Here, we determined that a temperature sensitive (ts)
      PSD1 allele is autocatalytically impaired and that its fidelity is closely
      monitored throughout its life cycle by multiple mitochondrial quality control
      proteases. Interestingly, the proteases involved in resolving misfolded Psd1ts
      vary depending on its autocatalytic status. Specifically, the degradation of a
      Psd1ts precursor unable to undergo autocatalysis requires the unprecedented
      cooperative and sequential actions of two inner membrane proteases, Oma1p and
      Yme1p. In contrast, upon heat exposure postautocatalysis, Psd1ts beta subunits
      accumulate in protein aggregates that are resolved by Yme1p acting alone, while
      the released alpha subunit is degraded in parallel by an unidentified protease.
      Importantly, the stability of endogenous Psd1p is also influenced by Yme1p. We
      conclude that Psd1p, the key enzyme required for the mitochondrial pathway of
      phosphatidylethanolamine production, is closely monitored at several levels and
      by multiple mitochondrial quality control mechanisms present in the intermembrane
      space.

PMID- 28606934
TI  - Cell lineage of timed cohorts of Tbx6-expressing cells in wild-type and Tbx6
      mutant embryos.
AB  - Tbx6 is a T-box transcription factor with multiple roles in embryonic development
      as evidenced by dramatic effects on mesoderm cell fate determination, left/right
      axis determination, and somite segmentation in mutant mice. The expression of
      Tbx6 is restricted to the primitive streak and presomitic mesoderm, but some of
      the phenotypic features of mutants are not easily explained by this expression
      pattern. We have used genetically-inducible fate mapping to trace the fate of
      Tbx6-expressing cells in wild-type and mutant embryos to explain some of the
      puzzling features of the mutant phenotype. We created an inducible Tbx6-creERT2
      transgenic mouse in which cre expression closely recapitulates endogenous Tbx6
      expression both temporally and spatially. Using a lacZ-based Cre reporter and
      timed tamoxifen injections, we followed temporally overlapping cohorts of cells
      that had expressed Tbx6 and found contributions to virtually all mesodermally
      derived embryonic structures as well as the extraembryonic allantois.
      Contribution to the endothelium of major blood vessels may account for the
      embryonic death of homozygous mutant embryos. In mutant embryos, Tbx6-creERT2
      traced cells contributed to the abnormally segmented anterior somites and formed
      the characteristic ectopic neural tubes. Retention of cells in the mutant tail
      bud indicates a deficiency in migratory behavior of the mutant cells and the
      presence of Tbx6-creERT2-traced cells in the notochord, a node derivative
      provides a possible explanation for the heterotaxia seen in mutant embryos.

PMID- 28606935
TI  - GATA6 is essential for endoderm formation from human pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - Protocols have been established that direct differentiation of human pluripotent
      stem cells into a variety of cell types, including the endoderm and its
      derivatives. This model of differentiation has been useful for investigating the
      molecular mechanisms that guide human developmental processes. Using a directed
      differentiation protocol combined with shRNA depletion we sought to understand
      the role of GATA6 in regulating the earliest switch from pluripotency to
      definitive endoderm. We reveal that GATA6 depletion during endoderm formation
      results in apoptosis of nascent endoderm cells, concomitant with a loss of
      endoderm gene expression. We show by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by
      DNA sequencing that GATA6 directly binds to several genes encoding transcription
      factors that are necessary for endoderm differentiation. Our data support the
      view that GATA6 is a central regulator of the formation of human definitive
      endoderm from pluripotent stem cells by directly controlling endoderm gene
      expression.

PMID- 28606936
TI  - Notch2 and Notch3 suppress the proliferation and mediate invasion of trophoblast
      cell lines.
AB  - Notch signaling pathways play important roles in cell fate and many diseases,
      including preeclampsia, the dysregulation of which may be the main cause of
      maternal mortality. This study aimed to investigate the roles of Notch2 and
      Notch3 in proliferation and invasion in trophoblast cell lines (BeWo and JAR).
      Small hairpin RNAs targeting Notch2/Notch3 and Notch2/Notch3-overexpression
      vectors were designed, constructed and transfected into BeWo and JAR cells.
      Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting
      were then used to detect Notch2 and Notch3 mRNA and protein levels, and confirm
      the efficiency of silence and overexpression. Flow cytometry assays were
      conducted to evaluate the cell cycle of the two cell lines, and transwell assays
      were used to detect migration and invasion. Western blot analysis was also
      performed to show the alteration of the cell lines' physiological activities at
      protein level.When Notch2 was downregulated in BeWo cells, proliferation was
      dramatically promoted, while migration and invasion were significantly inhibited.
      When Notch2 was upregulated in JAR cells, proliferation was inhibited, but
      migration and invasion were promoted. After overexpression of Notch3 in BeWo
      cells, proliferation was downregulated, but migration and invasion were both
      upregulated. By contrast, the silencing of Notch3 expression in JAR cells
      significantly enhanced proliferation, but suppressed migration and invasion.
      These data indicated that Notch2 and Notch3 mediate the invasion and migration of
      BeWo and JAR cells, and may play a potential role in early onset severe
      preeclampsia.

PMID- 28606937
TI  - Effects of starvation on the carbohydrate metabolism in Harmonia axyridis
      (Pallas).
AB  - Trehalose plays an important role in energy storage, metabolism, and protection
      from extreme environmental conditions in insects. Trehalose is the main blood
      sugar in insects, and it can be rapidly used as an energy source in times of
      need. To elucidate the mechanisms of the starvation response, we observed the
      effects of starvation on trehalose and glycogen, trehalase activity, and the
      relative gene expression of genes in the trehalose and glycogen metabolic
      pathways in the invasive beetle Harmonia axyridis Our results show that trehalose
      levels and the activities of two types of trehalases decreased significantly in
      the first 8 h of starvation, while the relative expression of HaTreh1-1
      increased. While trehalose remained nearly constant at a relatively high level
      from 8 to 24 h, glycogen levels decreased significantly from 8 h to 24 h of
      starvation. Likewise, glycogen phosphorylase (HaGP) expression was significantly
      higher at 12 to 24 h starvation than the first 8 h, while the expression of
      glycogen synthase (HaGS) was relatively stable. Furthermore, trehalose decreased
      significantly from 24 h starvation to 72 h starvation, while trehalase activities
      and the relative expression of some HaTreh genes generally increased toward the
      end of the starvation period. The expression of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase
      (HaTPS) increased significantly, supporting the increase in trehalose synthesis.
      These results show that trehalose plays a key role in the energy provided during
      the starvation process through the molecular and biochemical regulation of
      trehalose and glycogen metabolism.

PMID- 28606938
TI  - Peptide-mediated mast cell activation: ligand similarities for receptor
      recognition and protease-induced regulation.
AB  - MCs are crucial regulators of the innate immune response. MC degranulation is a
      rapid response mechanism that allows for the release of a stored plethora of
      inflammatory mediators, including histamine, heparin, various serine proteases,
      chemokines, and cytokines. The activation of MCs can lead to the de novo
      expression of a variety of chemokines and cytokines that can influence a variety
      of outcomes: inflammation, angiogenesis, and others. A variety of IgE-independent
      mediators, including IgG, cytokines, chemokines, exogenous molecules, drugs, and
      cationic peptides, and others, can directly trigger MC activation. For decades,
      various peptide stimuli, including peptide toxins, neuropeptides, antimicrobial
      peptides, and endogenous bioactive peptides, have been associated with MC
      allergic reactions in various physiologic and pathologic conditions. Recently, an
      activation mechanism has been established, whereby the MRGPRX2 receptor is
      involved in most of the peptide stimuli-related activation of human MCs.
      Interestingly, most of these peptide sequences seem to have a strong structural
      similarity that includes abundant positive charges and aromatic/aliphatic amino
      acids. In this review, we discuss the structures of known peptide stimuli and the
      receptors with which they interact for the express purpose of highlighting
      peptide elements as building blocks for tissue engineering applications.

PMID- 28606939
TI  - Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of T cell hyporesponsiveness.
AB  - Naive CD8+ T cells differentiate into effector and memory cytolytic T cells
      (CTLs) during an acute infection. In contrast, in scenarios of persistent antigen
      stimulation, such as chronic infections and cancer, antigen-specific CTLs show a
      gradual decrease in effector function, a phenomenon that has been termed CD8+ T
      cell "exhaustion" or "dysfunction." Another hyporesponsive state, termed
      "anergy", is observed when T cells are activated in the absence of positive
      costimulatory signals. Among the many negative regulators induced in
      hyporesponsive T cells are inhibitory cell-surface receptors, such as PD-1, LAG
      3, CTLA-4, and TIM-3; "checkpoint blockade" therapies that involve treatment of
      patients with cancer with blocking antibodies to those receptors show
      considerable promise in the clinic because the blocking antibodies can mitigate
      hyporesponsiveness and promote tumor rejection. In this review, we describe
      recent advances in our molecular understanding of these hyporesponsive states. We
      review evidence for the involvement of diverse transcription factors, metabolic
      programs, and chromatin accessibility changes in hyporesponsive T cells, and we
      discuss how checkpoint blockade therapies affect the molecular program of CD8+ T
      cell exhaustion.

PMID- 28606941
TI  - Authors' response: Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation probably good,
      but adoption should not be too fast and furious!

PMID- 28606943
TI  - Role of the terminator hairpin in the biogenesis of functional Hfq-binding sRNAs.
AB  - Rho-independent transcription terminators of the genes encoding bacterial Hfq
      binding sRNAs possess a set of seven or more T residues at the 3' end, as noted
      in previous studies. Here, we have studied the role of the terminator hairpin in
      the biogenesis of sRNAs focusing on SgrS and RyhB in Escherichia coli. We
      constructed variant sRNA genes in which the GC-rich inverted repeat sequences are
      extended to stabilize the terminator hairpins. We demonstrate that the extension
      of the hairpin stem leads to generation of heterogeneous transcripts in which the
      poly(U) tail is shortened. The transcripts with shortened poly(U) tails no longer
      bind to Hfq and lose the ability to repress the target mRNAs. The shortened
      transcripts are generated in an in vitro transcription system with purified RNA
      polymerase, indicating that the generation of shortened transcripts is caused by
      premature transcription termination. We conclude that the terminator structure of
      sRNA genes is optimized to generate functional sRNAs. Thus, the Rho-independent
      terminators of sRNA genes possess two common features: a long T residue stretch
      that is a prerequisite for generation of functional sRNAs and a moderate strength
      of hairpin structure that ensures the termination at the seventh or longer
      position within the consecutive T stretch. The modulation of the termination
      position at the Rho-independent terminators is critical for biosynthesis of
      functional sRNAs.

PMID- 28606940
TI  - Shp1 function in myeloid cells.
AB  - The motheaten mouse was first described in 1975 as a model of systemic
      inflammation and autoimmunity, as a result of immune system dysregulation. The
      phenotype was later ascribed to mutations in the cytoplasmic tyrosine phosphatase
      Shp1. This phosphatase is expressed widely throughout the hematopoietic system
      and has been shown to impact a multitude of cell signaling pathways. The
      determination of which cell types contribute to the different aspects of the
      phenotype caused by global Shp1 loss or mutation and which pathways within these
      cell types are regulated by Shp1 is important to further our understanding of
      immune system regulation. In this review, we focus on the role of Shp1 in myeloid
      cells and how its dysregulation affects immune function, which can impact human
      disease.

PMID- 28606945
TI  - Elective waiting times rise again after relaxation of targets.

PMID- 28606946
TI  - Perspectives on the Overall Risks of Living With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28606947
TI  - New Promises for Refining Risk Stratification From Anatomical and Functional
      Assessment of Stable Chest Pain.

PMID- 28606944
TI  - Cytonuclear Epistasis Controls the Density of Symbiont Wolbachia pipientis in
      Nongonadal Tissues of Mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus.
AB  - Wolbachia pipientis, a bacterial symbiont infecting arthropods and nematodes, is
      vertically transmitted through the female germline and manipulates its host's
      reproduction to favor infected females. Wolbachia also infects somatic tissues
      where it can cause nonreproductive phenotypes in its host, including resistance
      to viral pathogens. Wolbachia-mediated phenotypes are strongly associated with
      the density of Wolbachia in host tissues. Little is known, however, about how
      Wolbachia density is regulated in native or heterologous hosts. Here, we measure
      the broad-sense heritability of Wolbachia density among families in field
      populations of the mosquito Culex pipiens, and show that densities in ovary and
      nongonadal tissues of females in the same family are not correlated, suggesting
      that Wolbachia density is determined by distinct mechanisms in the two tissues.
      Using introgression analysis between two different strains of the closely related
      species C. quinquefasciatus, we show that Wolbachia densities in ovary tissues
      are determined primarily by cytoplasmic genotype, while densities in nongonadal
      tissues are determined by both cytoplasmic and nuclear genotypes and their
      epistatic interactions. Quantitative-trait-locus mapping identified two major
      effect quantitative-trait loci in the C. quinquefasciatus genome explaining a
      combined 23% of variance in Wolbachia density, specifically in nongonadal
      tissues. A better understanding of how Wolbachia density is regulated will
      provide insights into how Wolbachia density can vary spatiotemporally in insect
      populations, leading to changes in Wolbachia-mediated phenotypes such as viral
      pathogen resistance.

PMID- 28606948
TI  - Holy Smokes-An Interaction!

PMID- 28606949
TI  - Reverse Causality in Cardiovascular Epidemiological Research: More Common Than
      Imagined?

PMID- 28606952
TI  - How Pregnancy Impacts Adult Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease: A Multicenter
      Observational Study.

PMID- 28606950
TI  - Pathophysiology of Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - Originally described by Japanese authors in the 1990s, Takotsubo syndrome (TTS)
      generally presents as an acute myocardial infarction characterized by severe left
      ventricular dysfunction. TTS, however, differs from an acute coronary syndrome
      because patients have generally a normal coronary angiogram and left ventricular
      dysfunction, which extends beyond the territory subtended by a single coronary
      artery and recovers within days or weeks. The prognosis was initially thought to
      be benign, but subsequent studies have demonstrated that both short-term
      mortality and long-term mortality are higher than previously recognized. Indeed,
      mortality reported during the acute phase in hospitalized patients is ~4% to 5%,
      a figure comparable to that of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction in the
      era of primary percutaneous coronary interventions. Despite extensive research,
      the cause and pathogenesis of TTS remain incompletely understood. The aim of the
      present review is to discuss the pathophysiology of TTS with particular emphasis
      on the role of the central and autonomic nervous systems. Different emotional or
      psychological stressors have been identified to precede the onset of TTS. The
      anatomic structures that mediate the stress response are found in both the
      central and autonomic nervous systems. Acute stressors induce brain activation,
      increasing bioavailability of cortisol and catecholamine. Both circulating
      epinephrine and norepinephrine released from adrenal medullary chromaffin cells
      and norepinephrine released locally from sympathetic nerve terminals are
      significantly increased in the acute phase of TTS. This catecholamine surge
      leads, through multiple mechanisms, that is, direct catecholamine toxicity,
      adrenoceptor-mediated damage, epicardial and microvascular coronary
      vasoconstriction and/or spasm, and increased cardiac workload, to myocardial
      damage, which has a functional counterpart of transient apical left ventricular
      ballooning. The relative preponderance among postmenopausal women suggests that
      estrogen deprivation may play a facilitating role, probably mediated by
      endothelial dysfunction. Despite the substantial improvement in our understanding
      of the pathophysiology of TTS, a number of knowledge gaps remain.

PMID- 28606953
TI  - Targeting Cadherin-11 Prevents Notch1-Mediated Calcific Aortic Valve Disease.

PMID- 28606954
TI  - Letter by Stamler et al Regarding Article, "Nitrite and S-Nitrosohemoglobin
      Exchange Across the Human Cerebral and Femoral Circulation: Relationship to Basal
      and Exercise Blood Flow Responses to Hypoxia".

PMID- 28606955
TI  - Response by Bailey to Letter Regarding Article, "Nitrite and S-Nitrosohemoglobin
      Exchange Across the Human Cerebral and Femoral Circulation: Relationship to Basal
      and Exercise Blood Flow Responses to Hypoxia".

PMID- 28606956
TI  - Letter by Roozenbeek et al Regarding Article, "Impact of Computed Tomography
      Perfusion Imaging on the Response to Tenecteplase in Ischemic Stroke: Analysis of
      2 Randomized Controlled Trials".

PMID- 28606957
TI  - Response by Bivard et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Impact of Computed
      Tomography Perfusion Imaging on the Response to Tenecteplase in Ischemic Stroke:
      Analysis of 2 Randomized Controlled Trials".

PMID- 28606958
TI  - Correction to: Part 9: First Aid: 2015 International Consensus on First Aid
      Science With Treatment Recommendations.

PMID- 28606959
TI  - Correction to: Management of Patients on Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral
      Anticoagulants in the Acute Care and Periprocedural Setting: A Scientific
      Statement From the American Heart Association.

PMID- 28606961
TI  - Long-term outcomes after disease activity-guided dose reduction of TNF inhibition
      in rheumatoid arthritis: 3-year data of the DRESS study - a randomised controlled
      pragmatic non-inferiority strategy trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) are effective in rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA), but disadvantages include adverse events (AEs) and high costs.
      This can be improved by disease activity-guided dose reduction (DR). We aimed to
      assess long-term outcomes of TNFi DR in RA by using 3-year data from the DRESS
      study (Dose REduction Strategy of Subcutaneous TNF inhibitors study). METHODS: In
      the intervention phase (month 0-18) of the DRESS study (Dutch trial register, NTR
      3216), patients were randomised to DR or usual care (UC). In the extension phase
      (month 18-36), treatment strategies in both groups converged to continuation of
      protocolised tight control and allowed dose optimisation. Intention-to-treat
      analyses were done on flare, disease activity (28 joint count-based disease
      activity score with C reactive protein (DAS28-CRP)), functioning (health
      assessment questionnaire-disability index (HAQ-DI)), quality of life (Euroqol 5
      dimensions 5 levels questionnaire (EQ5D-5L)), medication use, radiographic
      progression (Sharp van der Heijde score (SvdH)) and AE. RESULTS: 172/180 patients
      included in the DRESS study were included in the extension phase. Cumulative
      incidences of major flare were 10% and 12% (-2%, 95% CI -8 to 15) in DR and UC
      groups in the extension phase, and 17% and 14% (3%, 95% CI -9 to 13) from 0 to 36
      months. Cumulative incidences of short-lived flares were 43% (33 to 52%)%) and
      35% (23 to 49%)%) in DR and UC groups in the extension phase, and 83% (75 to
      90%)%) and 44% (31 to 58%)%) from 0 to 36 months. Mean DAS28-CRP, HAQ-DI, EQ5D-5L
      and SvdH remained stable and not significantly different between groups. TNFi use
      remained low in the DR group and decreased in the UC group. Cumulative incidences
      of AE were not significantly different between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Safety and
      efficacy of disease activity guided TNFi DR in RA are maintained up to 3 years,
      with a large reduction in TNFi use, but no other benefits. Implementation of DR
      would vastly improve the cost-effective use of TNFi.

PMID- 28606962
TI  - Endothelin-1 promotes vascular smooth muscle cell migration across the artery
      wall: a mechanism contributing to vascular remodelling and intimal hyperplasia in
      giant-cell arteritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Giant-cell arteritis (GCA) is an inflammatory disease of large/medium
      sized arteries, frequently involving the temporal arteries (TA). Inflammation
      induced vascular remodelling leads to vaso-occlusive events. Circulating
      endothelin-1 (ET-1) is increased in patients with GCA with ischaemic
      complications suggesting a role for ET-1 in vascular occlusion beyond its
      vasoactive function. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether ET-1 induces a migratory
      myofibroblastic phenotype in human TA-derived vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC)
      leading to intimal hyperplasia and vascular occlusion in GCA. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Immunofluorescence/confocal microscopy showed increased ET-1 expression
      in GCA lesions compared with control arteries. In inflamed arteries, ET-1 was
      predominantly expressed by infiltrating mononuclear cells whereas ET receptors,
      particularly ET-1 receptor B (ETBR), were expressed by both mononuclear cells and
      VSMC. ET-1 increased TA-derived VSMC migration in vitro and alpha-smooth muscle
      actin (alphaSMA) expression and migration from the media to the intima in
      cultured TA explants. ET-1 promoted VSMC motility by increasing activation of
      focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a crucial molecule in the turnover of focal
      adhesions during cell migration. FAK activation resulted in Y397
      autophosphorylation creating binding sites for Src kinases and the p85 subunit of
      PI3kinases which, upon ET-1 exposure, colocalised with FAK at the focal adhesions
      of migrating VSMC. Accordingly, FAK or PI3K inhibition abrogated ET-1-induced
      migration in vitro. Consistently, ET-1 receptor A and ETBR antagonists reduced
      alphaSMA expression and delayed VSMC outgrowth from cultured GCA-involved artery
      explants. CONCLUSIONS: ET-1 is upregulated in GCA lesions and, by promoting VSMC
      migration towards the intimal layer, may contribute to intimal hyperplasia and
      vascular occlusion in GCA.

PMID- 28606964
TI  - Differences in the symptomatic phase preceding ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative
      RA: a longitudinal study in arthralgia during progression to clinical arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although anticitrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive and ACPA
      negative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have different aetiopathology, the clinical
      presentation at the time of diagnosis is similar. This study evaluated whether
      there are phenotypic differences in the symptomatic pre-RA phase. METHODS:
      Patients with arthralgia included in the Leiden clinically suspect arthralgia
      cohort who developed arthritis during follow-up were studied (n=67). Symptoms at
      symptom onset, symptoms and signs at presentation with arthralgia and time to
      arthritis development were compared between ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative
      patients. RESULTS: In ACPA-negative patients (n=37), the location of initial
      symptoms less often included the lower extremities (22% vs 50%, p=0.014). At
      presentation with arthralgia, ACPA-positive patients had a longer symptom
      duration (median 22 vs 14 weeks, p=0.005), less tender joints (mean 5 vs 9,
      p=0.007) and less difficulty making a fist (11% vs 43%, p=0.004). However, after
      presentation with arthralgia, ACPA-positive patients developed arthritis more
      quickly (median 6 vs 18 weeks, p=0.015). A partial least squares regression
      analysis showed clustering of ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative patients based on
      the above-mentioned clinical variables. CONCLUSION: This study is the first
      showing that ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative patients have clinical differences
      in the symptomatic phase preceding clinical arthritis. This contributes to the
      notion that ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative RA develop differently.

PMID- 28606963
TI  - A single nucleotide polymorphism in the NCF1 gene leading to reduced oxidative
      burst is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ncf1 polymorphisms leading to low production of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) are strongly associated with autoimmune diseases in animal models.
      The human NCF1 gene is very complex with both functional and non-functional gene
      copies and genotyping requires assays specific for functional NCF1 genes. We
      aimed at investigating association and function of the missense single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP), rs201802880 (here denoted NCF1-339) in NCF1 with systemic
      lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: We genotyped the NCF1-339 SNP in 973 Swedish
      patients with SLE and 1301 controls, using nested PCR and pyrosequencing. ROS
      production and gene expression of type 1 interferon-regulated genes were measured
      in isolated cells from subjects with different NCF1-339 genotypes. RESULTS: We
      found an increased frequency of the NCF1-339 T allele in patients with SLE, 11%
      compared with 4% in controls, OR 3.0, 95% CI 2.4 to 3.9, p=7.0*10-20. The NCF1
      339 T allele reduced extracellular ROS production in neutrophils (p=0.004) and
      led to an increase expression of type 1 interferon-regulated genes. In addition,
      the NCF1-339 T allele was associated with a younger age at diagnosis of SLE; mean
      age 30.3 compared with 35.9, p=2.0*1-6. CONCLUSIONS: These results clearly
      demonstrate that a genetically controlled reduced production of ROS increases the
      risk of developing SLE and confirm the hypothesis that ROS regulate chronic
      autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 28606965
TI  - Low disease activity (DAS28<=3.2) reduces the risk of first cardiovascular event
      in rheumatoid arthritis: a time-dependent Cox regression analysis in a large
      cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Systemic inflammation appears to contribute to the excess risk of
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective of this
      study was to investigate the effect of different levels of disease activity over
      time, particularly low disease activity and remission, on CVD risk in patients
      with RA. METHODS: Data from the Nijmegen early RA inception cohort were used. The
      primary outcome was first CVD events within the first 10 years of follow-up. Cut
      points of the DAS28 for remission (<2.6) and low (<=3.2), moderate (3.2-5.1) and
      high (>5.1) disease activity were used. The effect of disease activity on CVD
      risk was analysed using Cox-proportional hazards regression with DAS28 as a time
      dependent covariate and also conventionally with time-averaged DAS28 as the
      primary dependent variable. RESULTS: Low DAS28 (<=3.2) was significantly
      associated with a reduced risk of CVD (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.99) compared
      with DAS28 >3.2, both when included as a time-dependent covariate and as time
      averaged DAS28 <=3.2 (HR 0.52, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.81). Remission had a modest, non
      significant protective effect against CVD (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.43 to 1.07).
      CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest that low disease activity is sufficient
      to achieve a protective effect against CVD in RA. Apparently, remission defined
      as DAS28 <2.6 has no additional protective effect against CVD compared with low
      disease activity. Our results strengthen the use of tight control strategies in
      daily clinical practice to achieve low stable disease activity or remission in
      patients with RA as soon as possible.

PMID- 28606967
TI  - ANCA-associated vasculitis: mission incomplete.

PMID- 28606966
TI  - Obesity and rates of clinical remission and low MRI inflammation in rheumatoid
      arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Obesity has been proposed as a risk factor for refractory rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). We evaluated the impact of obesity on achieving clinical and
      imaging definitions of low disease activity. METHODS: This study evaluated 470
      patients with RA from GO-BEFORE and GO-FORWARD randomised clinical trials.
      Included patients had blinded clinical disease activity measures and MRI at
      baseline, 24 and 52 weeks. Synovitis, osteitis and total inflammation scores were
      determined using the RA MRI scoring system. Multivariable logistic regression
      analyses compared odds of achieving Disease Activity Score using 28 joints and C
      reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) remission, low component measures, or low MRI
      inflammation measures at 24 weeks in patients with obesity versus no obesity.
      RESULTS: At 24 weeks, patients with obesity were significantly less likely to
      achieve DAS28(CRP) remission (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.24 to 0.92, p=0.03). In contrast,
      patients with obesity had similar odds of achieving low synovitis (OR 0.94; 95%
      CI 0.51 to 1.72, p=0.84) and inflammation scores (OR 1.16; 95% CI 0.61 to 2.22,
      p=0.64) and greater odds of achieving low osteitis scores (OR 2.06; 95% CI 1.10
      to 3.84, p=0.02) versus normal weight patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with RA and
      obesity have lower rates of DAS28 remission but similar rates of low MRI activity
      compared with patients without obesity, suggesting that obesity and its
      associated comorbidities can bias clinical disease activity measures. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00361335 and NCT00264550; Post-results.

PMID- 28606968
TI  - Dendritic cells should not be overlooked when studying the effect of IL-38
      administration in arthritis.

PMID- 28606969
TI  - Faecal microbiota study reveals specific dysbiosis in spondyloarthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Altered microbiota composition or dysbiosis is suspected to be
      implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as
      spondyloarthritis (SpA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: 16S ribosomal RNA
      gene sequencing was performed on faecal DNA isolated from stool samples in two
      consecutive cross-sectional cohorts, each comprising three groups of adult
      volunteers: SpA, RA and healthy controls (HCs). In the second study, HCs
      comprised a majority of aged-matched siblings of patients with known HLA-B27
      status. Alpha and beta diversities were assessed using QIIME, and comparisons
      were performed using linear discriminant analysis effect size to examine
      differences between groups. RESULTS: In both cohorts, dysbiosis was evidenced in
      SpA and RA, as compared with HCs, and was disease specific. A restriction of
      microbiota biodiversity was detected in both disease groups. The most striking
      change was a twofold to threefold increased abundance of Ruminococcus gnavus in
      SpA, as compared with both RA and HCs that was significant in both studies and
      positively correlated with disease activity in patients having a history of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Among HCs, significant difference in microbiota
      composition were also detected between HLA-B27+ and HLA-B27 negative siblings,
      suggesting that genetic background may influence gut microbiota composition.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that distinctive dysbiosis characterise both SpA
      and RA and evidence a reproducible increase in R. gnavus that appears specific
      for SpA and a marker of disease activity. This observation is consistent with the
      known proinflammatory role of this bacteria and its association with IBD. It may
      provide an explanation for the link that exists between SpA and IBD.

PMID- 28606971
TI  - Response to: 'Does IL-38 act on macrophages and/or dendritic cells in arthritis?'
      by Jiang et al.

PMID- 28606970
TI  - The dynamics of response as measured by multiple composite outcome tools in the
      TIght COntrol of inflammation in early Psoriatic Arthritis (TICOPA) trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the dynamics of treatment response with
      different composite measures in the TIght COntrol of inflammation in early
      Psoriatic Arthritis (TICOPA) trial. METHODS: Participants with early disease
      modifying antirheumatic drug-naive psoriatic arthritis (PsA) were randomised 1:1
      to either tight control (TC; 4 weekly review with therapy escalation if criteria
      not met) or standard care (SC; 12 weekly review). We calculated modified versions
      of the Psoriatic ArthritiS Disease Activity Score (PASDAS), Group for Research
      and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) Composite scorE
      (GRACE) and Composite Psoriatic Disease Activity Index (CPDAI) at baseline and 12
      weekly to 48 weeks by blinded assessor. For missing data, we used the last
      observation carried forward. Comparison between groups was made by analysis of
      covariance and comparison of area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: 206 people were
      randomised to TC (n=101) or SC (n=105). Significant differences between treatment
      groups were seen (p<0.0001 for all composite measures). AUC analysis demonstrated
      a significant difference between groups for the PASDAS but not GRACE and CPDAI.
      For participants with oligoarthritis, a significant difference between groups was
      seen for each measure, although the significance levels were greatly diminished
      (PASDAS, p=0.04; GRACE p=0.01; CPDAI p=0.04). For oligoarthritis using AUC
      analysis, none of the measures could distinguish between groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Composite measures of disease activity were able to distinguish between TICOPA
      treatment arms, although differences were diminished for those with
      oligoarthritis. Further data are needed to inform the preferred composite measure
      for use as the primary outcome in PsA trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01106079) and ISCRCTN registry (ISCRCTN30147736).

PMID- 28606972
TI  - Patient-Driven Second Opinions in Oncology: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although patient-driven second opinions are increasingly sought in
      oncology, the desirability of this trend remains unknown. Therefore, this
      systematic review assesses evidence on the motivation for and frequency of
      requests for second opinions and examines how they evolve and their consequences
      for oncological practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant databases were sought
      using the terms "cancer," "second opinion," and "self-initiated." Included were
      peer-reviewed articles that reported on patient-initiated second opinions within
      oncology. Selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed and
      discussed by two researchers. RESULTS: Of the 25 included studies, the
      methodological designs were qualitative (n = 4), mixed (n = 1), or quantitative
      (n = 20). Study quality was rated high for 10 studies, moderate for eight, and
      low for seven studies. Reported rates of second opinion seeking ranged from 1%
      88%. Higher education was most consistently related to seeking a second opinion.
      Patients' primary motivations were a perceived need for certainty or
      confirmation, a lack of trust, dissatisfaction with communication, and/or a need
      for more (personalized) information. Reported rates of diagnostic or therapeutic
      discrepancies between the first and second opinions ranged from 2%-51%.
      DISCUSSION: Additional studies are required to further examine the medical,
      practical, and psychological consequences of second opinions for patients and
      oncologists. Future studies could compare the potential advantages and
      disadvantages of second opinion seeking, and might offer guidance to patients and
      physicians to better facilitate the second opinion process. Some practical
      recommendations are provided for oncologists to optimally discuss and conduct
      second opinions with their patients. The Oncologist 2017;22:1197-1211
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Although cancer patients increasingly seek a second
      opinion, the benefits of this process remain unclear. Results of this systematic
      review suggest that the available studies on this topic are highly variable in
      both methodology and quality. Moreover, reported rates for a second opinion (1%
      88%) as well as for disagreement between the first and second opinion (2%-51%)
      range widely. The primary motivations of patients are a need for certainty, lack
      of trust, dissatisfaction with communication, and/or a need for more
      (personalized) information. Additional research should evaluate how unnecessary
      second opinions might be avoided. Practical suggestions are provided for
      oncologists to optimize second opinions.

PMID- 28606973
TI  - On the Receiving End of Autonomy and Law.

PMID- 28606974
TI  - Drug prices: How do we get to a better place?

PMID- 28606975
TI  - Drivers of expenditure on primary care prescription drugs in 10 high-income
      countries with universal health coverage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Managing expenditures on pharmaceuticals is important for health
      systems to sustain universal access to necessary medicines. We sought to estimate
      the size and sources of differences in expenditures on primary care medications
      among high-income countries with universal health care systems. METHODS: We
      compared data on the 2015 volume and cost per day of primary care prescription
      drug therapies purchased in 10 high-income countries with various systems of
      universal health care coverage (7 from Europe, in addition to Australia, Canada
      and New Zealand). We measured total per capita expenditure on 6 categories of
      primary care prescription drugs: hypertension treatments, pain medications, lipid
      lowering medicines, noninsulin diabetes treatments, gastrointestinal preparations
      and antidepressants. We quantified the contributions of 5 drivers of the observed
      differences in per capita expenditures. RESULTS: Across countries, the average
      annual per capita expenditure on the primary care medicines studied varied by
      more than 600%: from $23 in New Zealand to $171 in Switzerland. The volume of
      therapies purchased varied by 41%: from 198 days per capita in Norway to 279 days
      per capita in Germany. Most of the differences in average expenditures per capita
      were driven by a combination of differences in the average mix of drugs selected
      within therapeutic categories and differences in the prices paid for medicines
      prescribed. INTERPRETATION: Significant international differences in average
      expenditures on primary care medications are driven primarily by factors that
      contribute to the average daily cost of therapy, rather than differences in the
      volume of therapy used. Average expenditures were lower among single-payer
      financing systems that appeared to promote lower prices and the selection of
      lower-cost treatment options.

PMID- 28606976
TI  - A fatal case of pneumococcal sepsis years after splenectomy.

PMID- 28606977
TI  - Loperamide abuse.

PMID- 28606978
TI  - Ocular ischemic syndrome.

PMID- 28606979
TI  - Translating futility.

PMID- 28606980
TI  - About the "surprise question".

PMID- 28606981
TI  - Response to: "About the 'surprise question'".

PMID- 28606982
TI  - CMPA refocuses on preventing complaints.

PMID- 28606983
TI  - Specialty medical education being transformed.

PMID- 28606984
TI  - Massive cuts to science and medicine in Trump budget.

PMID- 28606985
TI  - Author wins award for CMAJ article on hospital architecture.

PMID- 28606986
TI  - What happened to you?

PMID- 28606987
TI  - The fate and lifespan of human monocyte subsets in steady state and systemic
      inflammation.
AB  - In humans, the monocyte pool comprises three subsets (classical, intermediate,
      and nonclassical) that circulate in dynamic equilibrium. The kinetics underlying
      their generation, differentiation, and disappearance are critical to
      understanding both steady-state homeostasis and inflammatory responses. Here,
      using human in vivo deuterium labeling, we demonstrate that classical monocytes
      emerge first from marrow, after a postmitotic interval of 1.6 d, and circulate
      for a day. Subsequent labeling of intermediate and nonclassical monocytes is
      consistent with a model of sequential transition. Intermediate and nonclassical
      monocytes have longer circulating lifespans (~4 and ~7 d, respectively). In a
      human experimental endotoxemia model, a transient but profound monocytopenia was
      observed; restoration of circulating monocytes was achieved by the early release
      of classical monocytes from bone marrow. The sequence of repopulation
      recapitulated the order of maturation in healthy homeostasis. This developmental
      relationship between monocyte subsets was verified by fate mapping grafted human
      classical monocytes into humanized mice, which were able to differentiate
      sequentially into intermediate and nonclassical cells.

PMID- 28606990
TI  - The formin DAAM is required for coordination of the actin and microtubule
      cytoskeleton in axonal growth cones.
AB  - Directed axonal growth depends on correct coordination of the actin and
      microtubule cytoskeleton in the growth cone. However, despite the relatively
      large number of proteins implicated in actin-microtubule crosstalk, the
      mechanisms whereby actin polymerization is coupled to microtubule stabilization
      and advancement in the peripheral growth cone remained largely unclear. Here, we
      identified the formin Dishevelled-associated activator of morphogenesis (DAAM) as
      a novel factor playing a role in concerted regulation of actin and microtubule
      remodeling in Drosophilamelanogaster primary neurons. In vitro, DAAM binds to F
      actin as well as to microtubules and has the ability to crosslink the two
      filament systems. Accordingly, DAAM associates with the neuronal cytoskeleton,
      and a significant fraction of DAAM accumulates at places where the actin
      filaments overlap with that of microtubules. Loss of DAAM affects growth cone and
      microtubule morphology, and several aspects of microtubule dynamics; and
      biochemical and cellular assays revealed a microtubule stabilization activity and
      binding to the microtubule tip protein EB1. Together, these data suggest that,
      besides operating as an actin assembly factor, DAAM is involved in linking actin
      remodeling in filopodia to microtubule stabilization during axonal growth.

PMID- 28606988
TI  - Recurrent rhinovirus infections in a child with inherited MDA5 deficiency.
AB  - MDA5 is a cytosolic sensor of double-stranded RNA (ds)RNA including viral
      byproducts and intermediates. We studied a child with life-threatening, recurrent
      respiratory tract infections, caused by viruses including human rhinovirus (HRV),
      influenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We identified in her a
      homozygous missense mutation in IFIH1 that encodes MDA5. Mutant MDA5 was
      expressed but did not recognize the synthetic MDA5 agonist/(ds)RNA mimic
      polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid. When overexpressed, mutant MDA5 failed to drive
      luciferase activity from the IFNB1 promoter or promoters containing ISRE or NF
      kappaB sequence motifs. In respiratory epithelial cells or fibroblasts, wild-type
      but not knockdown of MDA5 restricted HRV infection while increasing IFN
      stimulated gene expression and IFN-beta/lambda. However, wild-type MDA5 did not
      restrict influenza virus or RSV replication. Moreover, nasal epithelial cells
      from the patient, or fibroblasts gene-edited to express mutant MDA5, showed
      increased replication of HRV but not influenza or RSV. Thus, human MDA5
      deficiency is a novel inborn error of innate and/or intrinsic immunity that
      causes impaired (ds)RNA sensing, reduced IFN induction, and susceptibility to the
      common cold virus.

PMID- 28606989
TI  - TLR7/8 activation in neutrophils impairs immune complex phagocytosis through
      shedding of FcgRIIA.
AB  - Neutrophils play a crucial role in host defense. However, neutrophil activation
      is also linked to autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),
      where nucleic acid-containing immune complexes (IC) drive inflammation. The role
      of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling in processing of SLE ICs and downstream
      inflammatory neutrophil effector functions is not known. We observed that TLR7/8
      activation leads to a furin-dependent proteolytic cleavage of the N-terminal part
      of FcgRIIA, shifting neutrophils away from phagocytosis of ICs toward the
      programmed form of necrosis, NETosis. TLR7/8-activated neutrophils promoted
      cleavage of FcgRIIA on plasmacytoid dendritic cells and monocytes, resulting in
      impaired overall clearance of ICs and increased complement C5a generation.
      Importantly, ex vivo derived activated neutrophils from SLE patients demonstrated
      a similar cleavage of FcgRIIA that was correlated with markers of disease
      activity, as well as complement activation. Therapeutic approaches aimed at
      blocking TLR7/8 activation would be predicted to increase phagocytosis of
      circulating ICs, while disarming their inflammatory potential.

PMID- 28606992
TI  - Indian Medical Association's call to relax pregnancy scan data angers
      campaigners.

PMID- 28606991
TI  - A mutation in keratin 18 that causes caspase-digestion resistance protects
      homozygous transgenic mice from hepatic apoptosis and injury.
AB  - Cytoskeletal keratin 18 (K18) undergoes caspase-mediated digestion during
      apoptosis, which leads to dramatic disassembly of keratin filaments. We studied
      the significance of K18 caspase digestion in a mouse model and generated
      transgenic mice expressing the human K18 caspase digestion-resistant double
      mutant K18-D238/397E in a mouse (m) K18-null background, and compared their
      response to injury mediated by administration of antibody against tumor necrosis
      factor receptor superfamily member 6 (Fas), anti-FasAb. Notably, K18
      D238/397E;mK18-null mice were significantly more resistant to anti-FasAb-induced
      injury as compared with K18-WT;mK18-null mice (23% vs 57% lethality,
      respectively; P<0.001). The same applied when the toxin microcystin-LR (MLR) was
      used to induce liver injury, i.e. lethality of K18-D238/397E;mK18-null mice in
      response to MLR treatment was reduced compared with the control mouse strain. The
      lesser rate of apoptosis in K18-D238/397E;mK18-null livers is associated with
      delayed degradation and, thus, sustained activation of cell-survival-related
      protein kinases, including stress-activated protein kinases and the NF-kappaB
      transcription factor, up to 6-8 h after administration of anti-FasAb. However,
      activation of the kinases and NF-kappaB in K18-WT-reconstituted livers decreases
      dramatically 8 h after anti-FasAb administration. In addition, the D238/397E
      double-mutation results in prolonged stability of K18 protein in transfected
      cells and transgenic livers. Therefore, our results show that the caspase
      digestion-resistant K18 helps to maintain keratin filament organization and
      delays apoptosis, thereby resulting in protection from liver injury.

PMID- 28606993
TI  - ACA Replacement Battle Moves To Senate.
AB  - As the Senate struggles to craft its version of legislation replacing Obamacare,
      the Trump administration puts its stamp on health care regulation.

PMID- 28606994
TI  - Calcineurin-NFAT signalling in myeloid leucocytes: new prospects and pitfalls in
      immunosuppressive therapy.
AB  - Myeloid leucocytes mediate host protection against infection and critically
      regulate inflammatory responses in body tissues. Pattern recognition receptor
      signalling is crucial for myeloid cell responses to pathogens, but growing
      evidence suggests an equally potent role for Calcineurin-NFAT signalling in
      control of myeloid cell function. All major subsets of myeloid leucocytes employ
      Calcineurin-NFAT signalling during immune responses to pathogens and/or tissue
      damage, but the influence this pathway exerts on pathogen clearance and host
      susceptibility to infection is not fully understood. Recent data from
      experimental models indicate that Calcineurin-NFAT signalling is essential for
      infection control, and calcineurin inhibitors used in transplantation medicine
      (including cyclosporine A and tacrolimus) are now being tested for efficacy in a
      diverse range of inflammatory conditions and autoimmune pathologies. Efforts to
      repurpose calcineurin inhibitor drugs for new therapeutic applications may yield
      rapid improvements in clinical outcomes, but the potential impact of these
      compounds on myeloid cell function in treated patients is largely unknown. Here
      we discuss Calcineurin-NFAT control of myeloid leucocyte function in the context
      of recent therapeutic developments and ongoing clinical studies.

PMID- 28606995
TI  - Synergistic antibacterial effect of silver and ebselen against multidrug
      resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections.
AB  - Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria account for a majority of fatal
      infections, and development of new antibiotic principles and drugs is therefore
      of outstanding importance. Here, we report that five most clinically difficult-to
      treat MDR Gram-negative bacteria are highly sensitive to a synergistic
      combination of silver and ebselen. In contrast, silver has no synergistic
      toxicity with ebselen on mammalian cells. The silver and ebselen combination
      causes a rapid depletion of glutathione and inhibition of the thioredoxin system
      in bacteria. Silver ions were identified as strong inhibitors of Escherichia coli
      thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase, which are required for ribonucleotide
      reductase and DNA synthesis and defense against oxidative stress. The
      bactericidal efficacy of silver and ebselen was further verified in the treatment
      of mild and acute MDR E. coli peritonitis in mice. These results demonstrate that
      thiol-dependent redox systems in bacteria can be targeted in the design of new
      antibacterial drugs. The silver and ebselen combination offers a proof of concept
      in targeting essential bacterial systems and might be developed for novel
      efficient treatments against MDR Gram-negative bacterial infections.

PMID- 28606996
TI  - Targeting endothelin receptor signalling overcomes heterogeneity driven therapy
      failure.
AB  - Approaches to prolong responses to BRAF targeting drugs in melanoma patients are
      challenged by phenotype heterogeneity. Melanomas of a "MITF-high" phenotype
      usually respond well to BRAF inhibitor therapy, but these melanomas also contain
      subpopulations of the de novo resistance "AXL-high" phenotype. > 50% of melanomas
      progress with enriched "AXL-high" populations, and because AXL is linked to de
      differentiation and invasiveness avoiding an "AXL-high relapse" is desirable. We
      discovered that phenotype heterogeneity is supported during the response phase of
      BRAF inhibitor therapy due to MITF-induced expression of endothelin 1 (EDN1).
      EDN1 expression is enhanced in tumours of patients on treatment and confers drug
      resistance through ERK re-activation in a paracrine manner. Most importantly,
      EDN1 not only supports MITF-high populations through the endothelin receptor B
      (EDNRB), but also AXL-high populations through EDNRA, making it a master
      regulator of phenotype heterogeneity. Endothelin receptor antagonists suppress
      AXL-high-expressing cells and sensitize to BRAF inhibition, suggesting that
      targeting EDN1 signalling could improve BRAF inhibitor responses without
      selecting for AXL-high cells.

PMID- 28606997
TI  - HPV/E7 induces chemotherapy-mediated tumor suppression by ceramide-dependent
      mitophagy.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is linked to improved survival in response
      to chemo-radiotherapy for patients with oropharynx head and neck squamous cell
      carcinoma (HNSCC). However, mechanisms involved in increased HNSCC cell death by
      HPV signaling in response to therapy are largely unknown. Here, using molecular,
      pharmacologic and genetic tools, we show that HPV early protein 7 (E7) enhances
      ceramide-mediated lethal mitophagy in response to chemotherapy-induced cellular
      stress in HPV-positive HNSCC cells by selectively targeting retinoblastoma
      protein (RB). Inhibition of RB by HPV-E7 relieves E2F5, which then associates
      with DRP1, providing a scaffolding platform for Drp1 activation and mitochondrial
      translocation, leading to mitochondrial fission and increased lethal mitophagy.
      Ectopic expression of a constitutively active mutant RB, which is not inhibited
      by HPV-E7, attenuated ceramide-dependent mitophagy and cell death in HPV(+) HNSCC
      cells. Moreover, mutation of E2F5 to prevent Drp1 activation inhibited mitophagy
      in HPV(+) cells. Activation of Drp1 with E2F5-mimetic peptide for inducing Drp1
      mitochondrial localization enhanced ceramide-mediated mitophagy and led to tumor
      suppression in HPV-negative HNSCC-derived xenograft tumors in response to
      cisplatin in SCID mice.

PMID- 28606998
TI  - Defining Prolonged Dwell Time: When Are Advanced Inferior Vena Cava Filter
      Retrieval Techniques Necessary? An Analysis in 762 Procedures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite growth in placement of retrievable inferior vena cava
      filters, retrieval rates remain low. Filters with extended implantation times
      present a challenge to retrieval, where standard techniques often fail. The
      development of advanced retrieval techniques has positively impacted retrieval of
      retrievable inferior vena cava filters with prolonged dwell times; however, there
      is no precise definition of the time point when advanced techniques become
      necessary. We aim to define prolonged retrievable inferior vena cava filters
      dwell time by determining the inflection point when the risk of standard
      retrieval technique failure increases significantly, necessitating advanced
      retrieval techniques to maintain overall technical success of retrieval. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: From January 2009 to April 2015, 762 retrieval procedures were
      identified from a prospectively acquired database. We assessed patient age/sex,
      filter dwell time, procedural technical success, the use of advanced techniques,
      and procedure-related adverse events. Overall retrieval success rate was 98%
      (n=745). When standard retrieval techniques failed, advanced techniques were
      used; this was necessary 18% of the time (n=138). Logistic regression identified
      that dwell time was the only risk factor for failure of standard retrieval
      technique (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.10; P<0.001). Spline
      function regression analysis demonstrated that if dwell time exceeded 7 months,
      the risk of standard technique failure was 40.9%. Adverse events occurred at a
      rate of 2% (n=18; 15 minor and 3 major). CONCLUSIONS: The necessity of advanced
      techniques to maintain technical success of retrieval increases with dwell time.
      Patients with retrievable inferior vena cava filters in place beyond 7 months may
      benefit from referral to centers with expertise in advanced filter retrieval.

PMID- 28606999
TI  - Invasive Management Strategies and Antithrombotic Treatments in Patients With Non
      ST-Segment-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome in China: Findings From the
      Improving CCC Project (Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early invasive strategies and antithrombotic treatments are key
      treatments of non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Few
      studies have examined the use of these strategies in patients with NSTE-ACS in
      China. This study aimed to assess the applications of invasive strategies and
      antithrombotic treatments in patients with NSTE-ACS and compare their outcomes.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: A nationwide registry study, Improving CCC (Care for
      Cardiovascular Disease in China) ACS project, was launched in 2014 as a
      collaborative study of the American Heart Association and Chinese Society of
      Cardiology (CSC), with 142 participating hospitals reporting details of clinical
      management and outcomes of patients with NSTE-ACS. The use of invasive strategies
      and antithrombotic treatments was examined based on updated guidelines. Major
      adverse cardiovascular events were analyzed. A total of 9953 patients with NSTE
      ACS were enrolled. Angiography was performed in 63.1% of these patients, and
      58.2% underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, 40.6% of
      patients did not undergo early risk assessment, and very-high-risk patients had
      the lowest proportion of PCI (41.7%). PCI was performed within recommended times
      in 11.1% of very-high-risk patients and 26.3% of high risk patients. Those who
      underwent PCI within 2 hours had higher mortality in high-risk and very-high-risk
      patients who received PCI. Early dual antiplatelet treatment was given in 88.3%
      of patients. CONCLUSIONS: There are notable differences between guideline
      recommendations and the clinical management of patients with NSTE-ACS in China.
      The reasons for very-high-risk NSTE-ACS patients not undergoing PCI, and the
      optimal timing of PCI, require further clarification. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02306616.

PMID- 28607001
TI  - Acute Mitral Regurgitation Secondary to Papillary Muscle Tear: Is Transcatheter
      Edge-to-Edge Mitral Valve Repair a New Paradigm?

PMID- 28607000
TI  - Percutaneous Coronary Intervention of Left Main Disease: Pre- and Post-EXCEL
      (Evaluation of XIENCE Everolimus Eluting Stent Versus Coronary Artery Bypass
      Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularization) and NOBLE (Nordic
      Baltic-British Left Main Revascularization Study) Era.
AB  - For nearly half a century, coronary artery bypass grafting has been the standard
      treatment for patients with obstructive left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease.
      However, there has been considerable evolution in the field of percutaneous
      coronary intervention, and especially, percutaneous coronary intervention for
      LMCA disease has been rapidly expanded with adoption of drug-eluting stents.
      Some, but not all randomized trials, have shown that percutaneous coronary
      intervention with drug-eluting stents might be a suitable alternative for
      selected patients with LMCA disease instead of bypass surgery. However, none of
      previous trials involving early-generation drug-eluting stents was sufficiently
      powered and comparative trials using contemporary drug-eluting stents were
      limited. Recently, primary results of 2 new trials of EXCEL (Evaluation of XIENCE
      Everolimus Eluting Stent Versus Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Effectiveness
      of Left Main Revascularization) and NOBLE (Nordic-Baltic-British Left Main
      Revascularization Study) were reported. However, these trials showed conflicting
      results, which might pose uncertainty on the optimal revascularization strategy
      for LMCA disease. In this article, with the incorporation of a key review on
      evolution of LMCA treatment, we summarize the similarity or disparity of the
      EXCEL and NOBLE trials, focus on how they relate to previous trials in the field,
      and finally speculate on how the treatment strategy may be changed or recommended
      for LMCA treatment.

PMID- 28607002
TI  - ATM/Wip1 activities at chromatin control Plk1 re-activation to determine G2
      checkpoint duration.
AB  - After DNA damage, the cell cycle is arrested to avoid propagation of mutations.
      Arrest in G2 phase is initiated by ATM-/ATR-dependent signaling that inhibits
      mitosis-promoting kinases such as Plk1. At the same time, Plk1 can counteract ATR
      dependent signaling and is required for eventual resumption of the cell cycle.
      However, what determines when Plk1 activity can resume remains unclear. Here, we
      use FRET-based reporters to show that a global spread of ATM activity on
      chromatin and phosphorylation of ATM targets including KAP1 control Plk1 re
      activation. These phosphorylations are rapidly counteracted by the chromatin
      bound phosphatase Wip1, allowing cell cycle restart despite persistent ATM
      activity present at DNA lesions. Combining experimental data and mathematical
      modeling, we propose a model for how the minimal duration of cell cycle arrest is
      controlled. Our model shows how cell cycle restart can occur before completion of
      DNA repair and suggests a mechanism for checkpoint adaptation in human cells.

PMID- 28607003
TI  - p21 maintains senescent cell viability under persistent DNA damage response by
      restraining JNK and caspase signaling.
AB  - Cellular senescence is a permanent state of cell cycle arrest that protects the
      organism from tumorigenesis and regulates tissue integrity upon damage and during
      tissue remodeling. However, accumulation of senescent cells in tissues during
      aging contributes to age-related pathologies. A deeper understanding of the
      mechanisms regulating the viability of senescent cells is therefore required.
      Here, we show that the CDK inhibitor p21 (CDKN1A) maintains the viability of DNA
      damage-induced senescent cells. Upon p21 knockdown, senescent cells acquired
      multiple DNA lesions that activated ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and
      nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB kinase, leading to decreased cell survival. NF-kappaB
      activation induced TNF-alpha secretion and JNK activation to mediate death of
      senescent cells in a caspase- and JNK-dependent manner. Notably, p21 knockout in
      mice eliminated liver senescent stellate cells and alleviated liver fibrosis and
      collagen production. These findings define a novel pathway that regulates
      senescent cell viability and fibrosis.

PMID- 28607004
TI  - RPA activates the XPF-ERCC1 endonuclease to initiate processing of DNA
      interstrand crosslinks.
AB  - During replication-coupled DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair, the XPF-ERCC1
      endonuclease is required for the incisions that release, or "unhook", ICLs, but
      the mechanism of ICL unhooking remains largely unknown. Incisions are triggered
      when the nascent leading strand of a replication fork strikes the ICL Here, we
      report that while purified XPF-ERCC1 incises simple ICL-containing model
      replication fork structures, the presence of a nascent leading strand, modelling
      the effects of replication arrest, inhibits this activity. Strikingly, the
      addition of the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding replication protein A (RPA)
      selectively restores XPF-ERCC1 endonuclease activity on this structure. The 5'-3'
      exonuclease SNM1A can load from the XPF-ERCC1-RPA-induced incisions and digest
      past the crosslink to quantitatively complete the unhooking reaction. We
      postulate that these collaborative activities of XPF-ERCC1, RPA and SNM1A might
      explain how ICL unhooking is achieved in vivo.

PMID- 28607006
TI  - NR4A2 Promotes DNA Double-strand Break Repair Upon Exposure to UVR.
AB  - Exposure of melanocytes to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) induces the formation of
      UV lesions that can produce deleterious effects in genomic DNA. Encounters of
      replication forks with unrepaired UV lesions can lead to several complex
      phenomena, such as the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). The NR4A
      family of nuclear receptors are transcription factors that have been associated
      with mediating DNA repair functions downstream of the MC1R signaling pathway in
      melanocytes. In particular, emerging evidence shows that upon DNA damage, the
      NR4A2 receptor can translocate to sites of UV lesion by mechanisms requiring post
      translational modifications within the N-terminal domain and at a serine residue
      in the DNA-binding domain at position 337. Following this, NR4A2 aids in DNA
      repair by facilitating chromatin relaxation, allowing accessibility for DNA
      repair machinery. Using A2058 and HT144 melanoma cells engineered to stably
      express wild-type or mutant forms of the NR4A2 proteins, we reveal that the
      expression of functional NR4A2 is associated with elevated cytoprotection against
      UVR. Conversely, knockdown of NR4A2 expression by siRNA results in a significant
      loss of cell viability after UV insult. By analyzing the kinetics of the ensuing
      53BP1 and RAD51 foci following UV irradiation, we also reveal that the expression
      of mutant NR4A2 isoforms, lacking the ability to translocate, transactivate, or
      undergo phosphorylation, display compromised repair capacity.Implications: These
      data expand the understanding of the mechanism by which the NR4A2 nuclear
      receptor can facilitate DNA DSB repair. Mol Cancer Res; 15(9); 1184-96. (c)2017
      AACR.

PMID- 28607005
TI  - OPA1 deficiency promotes secretion of FGF21 from muscle that prevents obesity and
      insulin resistance.
AB  - Mitochondrial dynamics is a conserved process by which mitochondria undergo
      repeated cycles of fusion and fission, leading to exchange of mitochondrial
      genetic content, ions, metabolites, and proteins. Here, we examine the role of
      the mitochondrial fusion protein optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) in differentiated
      skeletal muscle by reducing OPA1 gene expression in an inducible manner. OPA1
      deficiency in young mice results in non-lethal progressive mitochondrial
      dysfunction and loss of muscle mass. Mutant mice are resistant to age- and diet
      induced weight gain and insulin resistance, by mechanisms that involve activation
      of ER stress and secretion of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) from skeletal
      muscle, resulting in increased metabolic rates and improved whole-body insulin
      sensitivity. OPA1-elicited mitochondrial dysfunction activates an integrated
      stress response that locally induces muscle atrophy, but via secretion of FGF21
      acts distally to modulate whole-body metabolism.

PMID- 28607008
TI  - The dipole potential correlates with lipid raft markers in the plasma membrane of
      living cells.
AB  - The dipole potential generating an electric field much stronger than any other
      type of membrane potential influences a wide array of phenomena, ranging from
      passive permeation to voltage-dependent conformational changes of membrane
      proteins. It is generated by the ordered orientation of lipid carbonyl and
      membrane-attached water dipole moments. Theoretical considerations and indirect
      experimental evidence obtained in model membranes suggest that the dipole
      potential is larger in liquid-ordered domains believed to correspond to lipid
      rafts in cell membranes. Using three different dipole potential-sensitive
      fluorophores and four different labeling approaches of raft and nonraft domains,
      we showed that the dipole potential is indeed stronger in lipid rafts than in the
      rest of the membrane. The magnitude of this difference is similar to that
      observed between the dipole potential in control and sphingolipid-enriched cells
      characteristic of Gaucher's disease. The results established that the
      heterogeneity of the dipole potential in living cell membranes is correlated with
      lipid rafts and imply that alterations in the lipid composition of the cell
      membrane in human diseases can lead to substantial changes in the dipole
      potential.

PMID- 28607007
TI  - Synergistic Activity with NOTCH Inhibition and Androgen Ablation in ERG-Positive
      Prostate Cancer Cells.
AB  - The oncogenic activation of the ETS-related gene (ERG) due to gene fusions is
      present in over half of prostate cancers in Western countries. Because of its
      high incidence and oncogenic role, ERG and components of ERG network have emerged
      as potential drug targets for prostate cancer. Utilizing gene expression
      datasets, from matched normal and prostate tumor epithelial cells, an association
      of NOTCH transcription factors with ERG expression status was identified,
      confirming that NOTCH factors are direct transcriptional targets of ERG.
      Inhibition of ERG in TMPRSS2-ERG-positive VCaP cells led to decreased levels of
      NOTCH1 and 2 proteins and downstream transcriptional targets and partially
      recapitulated the phenotypes associated with ERG inhibition. Regulation of NOTCH1
      and 2 genes by ERG were also noted with ectopic ERG expression in LNCaP (ERG
      negative prostate cancer) and RWPE-1 (benign prostate-derived immortalized)
      cells. Furthermore, inhibition of NOTCH by the small-molecule gamma-secretase
      inhibitor 1, GSI-1, conferred an increased sensitivity to androgen receptor (AR)
      inhibitors (bicalutamide and enzalutamide) or the androgen biosynthesis inhibitor
      (abiraterone) in VCaP cells. Combined treatment with bicalutamide and GSI-1
      showed strongest inhibition of AR, ERG, NOTCH1, NOTCH2, and PSA protein levels
      along with decreased cell growth, cell survival, and enhanced apoptosis.
      Intriguingly, this effect was not observed in ERG-negative prostate cancer cells
      or immortalized benign/normal prostate epithelial cells. These data underscore
      the synergy of AR and NOTCH inhibitors in reducing the growth of ERG-positive
      prostate cancer cells.Implications: Combinational targeting of NOTCH and AR
      signaling has therapeutic potential in advanced ERG-driven prostate cancers. Mol
      Cancer Res; 15(10); 1308-17. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28607009
TI  - The vanishing lung.

PMID- 28607010
TI  - Comparison of Two Phenotypic Algorithms To Detect Carbapenemase-Producing
      Enterobacteriaceae.
AB  - A novel algorithm designed for the screening of carbapenemase-producing
      Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), based on faropenem and temocillin disks, was compared
      to that of the Committee of the Antibiogram of the French Society of Microbiology
      (CA-SFM), which is based on ticarcillin-clavulanate, imipenem, and temocillin
      disks. The two algorithms presented comparable negative predictive values (98.6%
      versus 97.5%) for CPE screening among carbapenem-nonsusceptible
      Enterobacteriaceae However, since 46.2% (n = 49) of the CPE were correctly
      identified as OXA-48-like producers by the faropenem/temocillin-based algorithm,
      it significantly decreased the number of complementary tests needed (42.2% versus
      62.6% with the CA-SFM algorithm).

PMID- 28607011
TI  - Retrospective Cohort Analysis of Liposomal Amphotericin B Nephrotoxicity in
      Patients with Hematological Malignancies.
AB  - We retrospectively examined the incidence, onset, risk factors, and outcomes of
      renal injury during 103 treatment courses of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AMB) in
      97 adult patients with hematological malignancies. All the patients were analyzed
      before, during, and after the administration of L-AMB, and renal injury was
      graded according to the RIFLE criteria (risk, injury, failure, loss of function,
      end-stage renal disease). Most patients (87.3%) received L-AMB at 3 mg/kg of body
      weight/day. Nearly two-thirds (61.7%) of the treatment courses did not meet any
      RIFLE category for renal injury, while 19.4% of patients were classified at risk,
      13.6% met an injury classification, and 5.8% were categorized as developing renal
      failure. However, 15% of the patients developed renal injury within 48 h of the
      onset of multiorgan failure associated with sepsis, bleeding, or progressing
      malignancy. When these patients were analyzed as a competing risk for L-AMB
      associated renal injury (RIFLE category I or above) in a multivariate Cox
      regression model, receipt of cyclosporine (subhazard ratio [SHR], 2.62; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.10 to 6.27; P = 0.03), cyclosporine plus furosemide
      at >=40 mg/day (SHR, 5.46; 95% CI, 1.89 to 15.74; P = 0.002), or cyclosporine
      plus foscarnet (SHR, 9.03; 95% CI, 3.68 to 22.14; P < 0.0001) were the only
      comedications significantly associated with increased rates of renal injury. The
      cumulative incidence of L-AMB renal injury during the first 10 days of therapy
      was 7% overall but only 3% in patients who were not receiving cyclosporine.
      Hence, the renal risk of L-AMB therapy may be lessened if patients are switched
      to alternative agents after 7 to 10 days or if aggressive diuresis and/or
      foscarnet is avoided, especially among patients receiving calcineurin inhibitors.

PMID- 28607012
TI  - Potent In Vitro Synergism of Fluconazole and Osthole against Fluconazole
      Resistant Candida albicans.
AB  - Osthole is a natural coumarin that exhibits wide biological and pharmacological
      activities such as neuroprotective, osteogenic, immunomodulation, antitumor, and
      anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we investigated the antifungal effects
      of osthole in vitro A checkerboard microdilution assay showed that osthole has
      significant synergistic effect with fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant
      Candida albicans Similar results were obtained from a growth curve assay.
      Meanwhile, XTT reduction assay demonstrated the synergism of fluconazole and
      osthole against C. albicans biofilm formation. Microarray results showed that the
      expression of genes involved in the oxidation-reduction process, energy
      metabolism, and transportation changed significantly after the combined treatment
      with fluconazole and osthole, and further results showed that endogenous reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) was significantly increased in the combination group. In
      conclusion, these results demonstrate the synergism of fluconazole and osthole
      against fluconazole-resistant C. albicans and indicate that endogenous ROS
      augmentation might contribute to the synergism of fluconazole and osthole.

PMID- 28607013
TI  - penA, ponA, porB1, and mtrR Mutations and Molecular Epidemiological Typing of
      Neisseria gonorrhoeae with Decreased Susceptibility to Cephalosporins.

PMID- 28607014
TI  - NP108, an Antimicrobial Polymer with Activity against Methicillin- and Mupirocin
      Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is a clinically significant human pathogen that causes
      infectious diseases ranging from skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) and
      health care-associated infections (HAI) to potentially fatal bacteremia and
      endocarditis. Nasal carriage of S. aureus, especially for persistent carriage, is
      associated with an increased risk of subsequent infection, particularly
      nosocomial and surgical site infections (SSI), usually via autoinfection. NP108
      is a cationic antimicrobial polymer composed of generally recognized as safe
      (GRAS) amino acid building blocks. NP108 is broad spectrum and rapidly
      bactericidal (3-log kill in <=3 h), killing bacteria by membrane disruption and
      cell lysis. NP108, contrary to many antibiotics, shows equally effective
      antimicrobial activity against a variety of S. aureus (MIC100 = 8 to 500
      mg/liter) and S. epidermidis (MIC100 = 4 to 8 mg/liter) isolates, whether
      exponentially growing or in stationary phase. NP108 is antimicrobially active
      under nutrient-limiting conditions similar to those found in the anterior nares
      (MIC100 = 8 mg/liter) and kills antibiotic-resilient small colony variants
      (MIC100 = 32 mg/liter) and S. aureus biofilms (prevention, MIC100 = 1 to 4
      mg/liter; eradication, MIC100 >= 31.25 mg/liter). NP108 is active against
      isolates of S. aureus resistant to the current standard-of-care decolonization
      agent, mupirocin, with no significant increase in the MIC100 NP108 is water
      soluble and has been formulated into compatible aqueous gel vehicles for human
      use in which antimicrobial efficacy is retained (2.0% [wt/vol]). NP108 is a
      potential nonantibiotic antimicrobial alternative to antibiotics for the nasal
      decolonization of S. aureus, with clear advantages in its mechanism of action
      over the existing gold standard, mupirocin.

PMID- 28607015
TI  - Resistance to the Cyclotide Cycloviolacin O2 in Salmonella enterica Caused by
      Different Mutations That Often Confer Cross-Resistance or Collateral Sensitivity
      to Other Antimicrobial Peptides.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential components of innate immunity in all
      living organisms, and these potent broad-spectrum antimicrobials have inspired
      several antibacterial development programs in the past 2 decades. In this study,
      the development of resistance to the Gram-negative bacterium-specific peptide
      cycloviolacin O2 (cyO2), a member of the cyclotide family of plant miniproteins,
      was characterized in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2. Mutants
      isolated from serial passaging experiments in increasing concentrations of cyO2
      were characterized by whole-genome sequencing. The identified mutations were
      genetically reconstituted in a wild-type background. The additive effect of
      mutations was studied in double mutants. Fitness costs, levels of resistance, and
      cross-resistance to another cyclotide, other peptide and nonpeptide antibiotics,
      and AMPs were determined. A variety of resistance mutations were identified. Some
      of these reduced fitness and others had no effect on fitness in vitro, in the
      absence of cyO2. In mouse competition experiments, four of the cyO2-resistant
      mutants showed a significant fitness advantage, whereas the effects of the
      mutations in the others appeared to be neutral. The level of resistance was
      increased by combining several individual resistance mutations. Several cases of
      cross-resistance and collateral sensitivity between cyclotides, other AMPs, and
      antibiotics were identified. These results show that resistance to cyclotides can
      evolve via several different types of mutations with only minor fitness costs and
      that these mutations often affect resistance to other AMPs.

PMID- 28607016
TI  - Drug Sensitivity and Resistance Mechanism in Aspergillus Section Nigri Strains
      from Japan.
AB  - Aspergillus niger and its related species, known as Aspergillus section Nigri,
      are ubiquitously distributed across the globe and are often isolated from
      clinical specimens. In Japan, Aspergillus section Nigri is second most often
      isolated from clinical specimens following Aspergillus fumigatus We determined
      the species of Aspergillus section Nigri isolated in Japan by DNA sequencing of
      partial beta-tubulin genes and investigated drug susceptibility by the CLSI M38
      A2 method. The collection contained 20 Aspergillus niger, 59 Aspergillus
      welwitschiae, and 39 Aspergillus tubingensis strains. Drug susceptibility testing
      revealed 30 to 55% of A. niger, 6.8 to 18.6% of A. welwitschiae, and 79.5 to
      89.7% of A. tubingensis isolates to be less susceptible (so-called resistant) to
      itraconazole (ITC) and/or voriconazole (VRC) according to the epidemiologic
      cutoff values (ECVs) proposed for A. niger previously. MIC distributions of ITC
      or VRC showed no remarkable differences between clinical and environmental
      isolates. When the cyp51A sequences were compared between susceptible and
      resistant strains, 18 amino acid mutations were specific for resistant isolates
      of A. niger and A. tubingensis; however, none of them were confirmed to be
      associated with azole resistance. Three nonrelated A. welwitschiae isolates
      possessed a partial deletion in cyp51A, likely attributable to being more
      susceptible to azoles than other isolates. One of five ITC-resistant A.
      tubingensis isolates showed higher expression of cyp51A than did susceptible
      strains. Our results show that cyp51A point mutations may have no association
      with azole resistance but that in some cases the overexpression of cyp51A may
      lead to the azole resistance in these species.

PMID- 28607017
TI  - High Accumulation and In Vivo Recycling of the New Antimalarial Albitiazolium
      Lead to Rapid Parasite Death.
AB  - Albitiazolium is the lead compound of bisthiazolium choline analogues and exerts
      powerful in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activities. Here we provide new
      insight into the fate of albitiazolium in vivo in mice and how it exerts its
      pharmacological activity. We show that the drug exhibits rapid and potent
      activity and has very favorable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties.
      Pharmacokinetic studies in Plasmodium vinckei-infected mice indicated that
      albitiazolium rapidly and specifically accumulates to a great extent (cellular
      accumulation ratio, >150) in infected erythrocytes. Unexpectedly, plasma
      concentrations and the area under concentration-time curves increased by 15% and
      69% when mice were infected at 0.9% and 8.9% parasitemia, respectively.
      Albitiazolium that had accumulated in infected erythrocytes and in the spleen was
      released into the plasma, where it was then available for another round of
      pharmacological activity. This recycling of the accumulated drug, after the
      rupture of the infected erythrocytes, likely extends its pharmacological effect.
      We also established a new viability assay in the P. vinckei-infected mouse model
      to discriminate between fast- and slow-acting antimalarials. We found that
      albitiazolium impaired parasite viability in less than 6 and 3 h at the ring and
      late stages, respectively, while parasite morphology was affected more belatedly.
      This highlights that viability and morphology are two parameters that can be
      differentially affected by a drug treatment, an element that should be taken into
      account when screening new antimalarial drugs.

PMID- 28607018
TI  - Antibiotic-Mediated Modulations of Outer Membrane Vesicles in Enterohemorrhagic
      Escherichia coli O104:H4 and O157:H7.
AB  - Ciprofloxacin, meropenem, fosfomycin, and polymyxin B strongly increase
      production of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) in Escherichia coli O104:H4 and
      O157:H7. Ciprofloxacin also upregulates OMV-associated Shiga toxin 2a, the major
      virulence factor of these pathogens, whereas the other antibiotics increase OMV
      production without the toxin. These two effects might worsen the clinical outcome
      of infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli Our data support the
      existing recommendations to avoid antibiotics for treatment of these infections.

PMID- 28607019
TI  - In Vitro-In Vivo Discordance with Humanized Piperacillin-Tazobactam Exposures
      against Piperacillin-Tazobactam-Resistant/Pan-beta-Lactam-Susceptible Klebsiella
      pneumoniae Strains.
AB  - Recent findings have identified Klebsiella pneumoniae strains that are pan-beta
      lactam susceptible (PBL-S) but piperacillin-tazobactam resistant (TZP-R) in vitro
      We assessed the efficacy of a humanized exposure of piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP)
      against 12 TZP-R/PBL-S K. pneumoniae isolates in an immunocompromised murine lung
      infection model. Discordance between the in vitro resistance profile and the in
      vivo efficacy of human-simulated TZP exposures against this phenotypic profile
      was observed. Additional studies are required to define the clinical implications
      of these TZP-R/PBL-S strains.

PMID- 28607020
TI  - Signal Biosynthesis Inhibition with Ambuic Acid as a Strategy To Target
      Antibiotic-Resistant Infections.
AB  - There has been major interest by the scientific community in antivirulence
      approaches against bacterial infections. However, partly due to a lack of viable
      lead compounds, antivirulence therapeutics have yet to reach the clinic. Here we
      investigate the development of an antivirulence lead targeting quorum sensing
      signal biosynthesis, a process that is conserved in Gram-positive bacterial
      pathogens. Some preliminary studies suggest that the small molecule ambuic acid
      is a signal biosynthesis inhibitor. To confirm this, we constructed a methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain that decouples autoinducing peptide
      (AIP) production from regulation and demonstrate that AIP production is inhibited
      in this mutant. Quantitative mass spectrometric measurements show that ambuic
      acid inhibits signal biosynthesis (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] of 2.5 +/-
      0.1 MUM) against a clinically relevant USA300 MRSA strain. Quantitative real-time
      PCR confirms that this compound selectively targets the quorum sensing regulon.
      We show that a 5-MUg dose of ambuic acid reduces MRSA-induced abscess formation
      in a mouse model and verify its quorum sensing inhibitory activity in vivo
      Finally, we employed mass spectrometry to identify or confirm the structure of
      quorum sensing signaling peptides in three strains each of S. aureus and
      Staphylococcus epidermidis and single strains of Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria
      monocytogenes, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, and Staphylococcus lugdunensis By
      measuring AIP production by these strains, we show that ambuic acid possesses
      broad-spectrum efficacy against multiple Gram-positive bacterial pathogens but
      does not inhibit quorum sensing in some commensal bacteria. Collectively, these
      findings demonstrate the promise of ambuic acid as a lead for the development of
      antivirulence therapeutics.

PMID- 28607021
TI  - Selective Killing of Dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Marine Natural
      Products.
AB  - The dormant phenotype acquired by Mycobacterium tuberculosis during infection
      poses a major challenge in disease treatment, since these bacilli show tolerance
      to front-line drugs. Therefore, it is imperative to find novel compounds that
      effectively kill dormant bacteria. By screening 4,400 marine natural product
      samples against dual-fluorescent M. tuberculosis under both replicating and
      nonreplicating conditions, we have identified compounds that are selectively
      active against dormant M. tuberculosis This validates our strategy of screening
      all compounds in both assays as opposed to using the dormancy model as a
      secondary screen. Bioassay-guided deconvolution enabled the identification of
      unique pharmacophores active in each screening model. To confirm the activity of
      samples against dormant M. tuberculosis, we used a luciferase reporter assay and
      enumerated CFU. The structures of five purified active compounds were defined by
      nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry. We identified two lipid
      compounds with potent activity toward dormant and actively growing M.
      tuberculosis strains. One of these was commercially obtained and showed similar
      activity against M. tuberculosis in both screening models. Furthermore,
      puupehenone-like molecules were purified with potent and selective activity
      against dormant M. tuberculosis In conclusion, we have identified and
      characterized antimycobacterial compounds from marine organisms with novel
      activity profiles which appear to target M. tuberculosis pathways that are
      conditionally essential for dormancy survival.

PMID- 28607023
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Assessment of Vancomycin Loading Dose in Critically Ill Patients.
AB  - The vancomycin loading dose (LD) of 25 to 30 mg/kg is a frequently practiced
      strategy to achieve effective concentrations from the first-treatment dose.
      However, considering only the body weight for dosing might be inadequate in
      critically ill patients due to pharmacokinetics changes. We sought to assess
      achieving optimal trough serum levels of vancomycin and AUC0-24/MIC in the first
      24 h of treatment by using an LD based on population pharmacokinetic parameters
      of critically ill patients. We performed a concurrent cohort study over 22 months
      of patients with severe sepsis who received intravenous vancomycin. The patients
      were treated with three different strategies to initiate vancomycin: without an
      LD (group A), with an LD of 25 to 30 mg/kg (group B), and with an LD based on
      population pharmacokinetic parameters of the critically ill patient (group C). An
      optimal trough serum concentration was achieved in 5, 9, and 83% of patients in
      groups A, B, and C, respectively. The number of patients that reached optimal
      AUC0-24 was 2 of 18 (11%), 5 of 11 (46%), and 11 of 12 (92%) in groups A, B, and
      C, respectively. The statistical analysis for both parameters revealed
      significant differences in group C with respect to other groups. The
      administration of the LD calculated from population pharmacokinetic parameters
      from the beginning of therapy is a more efficient strategy to obtain adequate
      trough serum concentrations and AUC0-24/MIC in critical patients.

PMID- 28607022
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of Pyrazinamide and Optimal Dosing Regimens for Drug-Sensitive
      and -Resistant Tuberculosis.
AB  - Pyrazinamide is used in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) because its
      sterilizing effect against tubercle bacilli allows the shortening of treatment.
      It is part of standard treatment for drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB, and
      it is being considered as a companion drug in novel regimens. The aim of this
      analysis was to characterize factors contributing to the variability in exposure
      and to evaluate drug exposures using alternative doses, thus providing evidence
      to support revised dosing recommendations for drug-susceptible and multidrug
      resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Pyrazinamide pharmacokinetic (PK) data from 61
      HIV/TB-coinfected patients in South Africa were used in the analysis. The
      patients were administered weight-adjusted doses of pyrazinamide, rifampin,
      isoniazid, and ethambutol in fixed-dose combination tablets according to WHO
      guidelines and underwent intensive PK sampling on days 1, 8, 15, and 29. The data
      were interpreted using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling. PK profiles were best
      described using a one-compartment model with first-order elimination. Allometric
      scaling was applied to disposition parameters using fat-free mass. Clearance
      increased by 14% from the 1st day to the 29th day of treatment. More than 50% of
      patients with weight less than 55 kg achieved lower pyrazinamide exposures at
      steady state than the targeted area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to
      24 h of 363 mg . h/liter. Among patients with drug-susceptible TB, adding 400 mg
      to the dose for those weighing 30 to 54 kg improved exposure. Average
      pyrazinamide exposure in different weight bands among patients with MDR-TB could
      be matched by administering 1,500 mg, 1,750 mg, and 2,000 mg to patients in the
      33- to 50-kg, 51- to 70-kg, and greater than 70-kg weight bands, respectively.

PMID- 28607024
TI  - Population Pharmacokinetics of Tigecycline in Critically Ill Patients with Severe
      Infections.
AB  - We sought to describe the population pharmacokinetics of tigecycline in
      critically ill patients and to determine optimized dosing regimens of tigecycline
      for different bacterial infections. This prospective study included 10 critically
      ill patients given a standard dose of tigecycline. Blood samples were collected
      during one dosing interval and were analyzed using validated chromatography.
      Population pharmacokinetics and Monte Carlo dosing simulations were undertaken
      using Pmetrics. Three target exposures, expressed as ratios of the 24-h area
      under the curve to MICs (AUC0-24/MIC), were evaluated (>=17.9 for skin
      infections, >=6.96 for intra-abdominal infections, >=4.5 for hospital-acquired
      pneumonia). The median age, total body weight, and body mass index (BMI) were 67
      years, 69.1 kg, and 24.7 kg/m2, respectively. A two-compartment linear model best
      described the time course of tigecycline concentrations. The parameter estimates
      (expressed as means +/- standard deviations [SD]) from the final model were as
      follows: clearance (CL), 7.50 +/- 1.11 liters/h; volume in the central
      compartment, 72.50 +/- 21.18 liters; rate constant for tigecycline distribution
      from the central to the peripheral compartment, 0.31 +/- 0.16 h-1; and rate
      constant for tigecycline distribution from the peripheral to the central
      compartment, 0.29 +/- 0.30 h-1 A larger BMI was associated with increased CL of
      tigecycline. Licensed doses were found to be sufficient for Enterobacter cloacae,
      Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus for an AUC0-24/MIC target of 4.5 or 6.96. For a therapeutic target of
      17.9, an increased tigecycline dose is required, especially for patients with
      higher BMI. The dosing requirements of tigecycline differ with the indication,
      with pathogen susceptibility, and potentially with patient BMI.

PMID- 28607025
TI  - Pharmacodynamic Evaluation of Fosfomycin against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella
      spp. from Urinary Tract Infections and the Influence of pH on Fosfomycin
      Activities.
AB  - Fosfomycin is widely used for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract
      infection (UTI), and it has recently been recommended that fosfomycin be used to
      treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacilli.
      Whether urine acidification can improve bacterial susceptibility to fosfomycin
      oral dosing regimens has not been analyzed. The MIC of fosfomycin for 245 Gram
      negative bacterial isolates, consisting of 158 Escherichia coli isolates and 87
      Klebsiella isolates which were collected from patients with urinary tract
      infections, were determined at pH 6.0 and 7.0 using the agar dilution method.
      Monte Carlo simulation of the urinary fosfomycin area under the concentration
      time curve (AUC) after a single oral dose of 3,000 mg fosfomycin and the MIC
      distribution were used to determine the probability of target attainment (PTA).
      Fosfomycin was effective against E. coli (MIC90 <= 16 MUg/ml) but not against
      Klebsiella spp. (MIC90 > 512 MUg/ml). Acidification of the environment increased
      the susceptibility of 71% of the bacterial isolates and resulted in a
      statistically significant decrease in bacterial survival. The use of a regimen
      consisting of a single oral dose of fosfomycin against an E. coli isolate with an
      MIC of <=64 mg/liter was able to achieve a PTA of >=90% for a target
      pharmacodynamic index (AUC/MIC) of 23 in urine; PTA was not achieved when the MIC
      was higher than 64 mg/liter. The cumulative fractions of the bacterial responses
      (CFR) were 99% and 55% against E. coli and Klebsiella spp., respectively, based
      on simulated drug exposure in urine with an acidic pH of 6.0. A decrease of the
      pH from 7.0 to 6.0 improved the PTA and CFR of the target pharmacodynamic index
      in both E. coli and Klebsiella isolates.

PMID- 28607026
TI  - Efficacy of Paromomycin-Chloroquine Combination Therapy in Experimental Cutaneous
      Leishmaniasis.
AB  - The 4-aminoquinoline chloroquine (CQ) is clinically used in combination with
      doxycycline to cure chronic Q fever, as it enhances the activity of the
      antibiotic against the causative bacterium Coxiella burnetii residing within
      macrophage phagolysosomes. As there is a similar cellular host-pathogen biology
      for Leishmania parasites, this study aimed to determine whether such an approach
      could also be the basis for a new, improved treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis
      (CL). We have evaluated the in vitro and in vivo activities of combinations of CQ
      with the standard drugs paromomycin (PM), miltefosine, and amphotericin B against
      Leishmania major and Leishmania mexicana In 72-h intracellular antileishmanial
      assays, outcomes were variable for different drugs. Significantly, the addition
      of 10 MUM CQ to PM reduced 50% effective concentrations (EC50s) by over 5-fold
      against L. major and against normally insensitive L. mexicana parasites. In
      murine models of L. major and L. mexicana CL, daily coadministration of 50 mg/kg
      of body weight PM and 25 mg/kg CQ for 10 days resulted in a significant reduction
      in lesion size but not in parasite load compared to those for mice given the same
      doses of PM alone. Overall, our data indicate that PM-CQ combination therapy is
      unlikely to be a potential candidate for further preclinical development.

PMID- 28607027
TI  - Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae Isolates from Edo State, Nigeria.

PMID- 28607029
TI  - Age-dependent Protein Abundance of Cytosolic Alcohol and Aldehyde Dehydrogenases
      in Human Liver.
AB  - Hepatic cytosolic alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases (ADHs and ALDHs) catalyze
      the biotransformation of xenobiotics (e.g., cyclophosphamide and ethanol) and
      vitamin A. Because age-dependent hepatic abundance of these proteins is unknown,
      we quantified protein expression of ADHs and ALDH1A1 in a large cohort of
      pediatric and adult human livers by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem
      mass spectrometry proteomics. Purified proteins were used as calibrators. Two to
      three surrogate peptides per protein were quantified in trypsin digests of liver
      cytosolic samples and calibrator proteins under optimal conditions of
      reproducibility. Neonatal levels of ADH1A, ADH1B, ADH1C, and ALDH1A1 were 3-, 8-,
      146-, and 3-fold lower than the adult levels, respectively. For all proteins, the
      abundance steeply increased during the first year of life, which mostly reached
      adult levels during early childhood (age between 1 and 6 years). Only for ADH1A
      protein abundance in adults (age > 18 year) was ~40% lower relative to the early
      childhood group. Abundances of ADHs and ALDH1A1 were not associated with sex in
      samples with age > 1 year compared with males. Known single nucleotide
      polymorphisms had no effect on the protein levels of these proteins.
      Quantification of ADHs and ALDH1A1 protein levels could be useful in predicting
      disposition and response of substrates of these enzymes in younger children.

PMID- 28607028
TI  - Chemoenzymatic Synthesis, Nanotization, and Anti-Aspergillus Activity of
      Optically Enriched Fluconazole Analogues.
AB  - Despite recent advances in diagnostic and therapeutic methods in antifungal
      research, aspergillosis still remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality.
      One strategy to address this problem is to enhance the activity spectrum of known
      antifungals, and we now report the first successful application of Candida
      antarctica lipase (CAL) for the preparation of optically enriched fluconazole
      analogues. Anti-Aspergillus activity was observed for an optically enriched
      derivative, (-)-S-2-(2',4'-difluorophenyl)-1-hexyl-amino-3
      (1''',2''',4''')triazol-1'''-yl-propan-2-ol, which exhibits MIC values of 15.6
      MUg/ml and 7.8 MUg/disc in broth microdilution and disc diffusion assays,
      respectively. This compound is tolerated by mammalian erythrocytes and cell lines
      (A549 and U87) at concentrations of up to 1,000 MUg/ml. When incorporated into
      dextran nanoparticles, the novel, optically enriched fluconazole analogue
      exhibited improved antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus (MIC, 1.63
      MUg/ml). These results not only demonstrate the ability of biocatalytic
      approaches to yield novel, optically enriched fluconazole derivatives but also
      suggest that enantiomerically pure fluconazole derivatives, and their nanotized
      counterparts, exhibiting anti-Aspergillus activity may have reduced toxicity.

PMID- 28607030
TI  - miRNA-340 inhibits osteoclast differentiation via repression of MITF.
AB  - Many miRNAs play critical roles in modulating various biological processes of
      osteoclast differentiation and function. Microphthalmia-associated transcription
      factor (MITF), a target of miR-340, served as pivotal transcription factor
      involved in osteoclast differentiation. However, the role of miR-340 and MITF
      during osteoclast differentiation has not yet been clearly established. Tartrate
      resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining assay was performed to identify
      osteoclasts differentiated from bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs).
      Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) or Western blotting was
      undertaken to examine the mRNA or protein expression respectively. Luciferase
      reporter assay was performed to investigate the interaction between miR-340 and
      MITF. MITF was knocked down and miR-340 was overexpressed and transfected into
      BMMs to detect their effects on osteoclast differentiation. Firstly, qRT-PCR
      analysis showed that miR-340 was down-regulated during osteoclast differentiation
      stimulated by macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and receptor activator
      of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB (RANK) ligand (RANKL). Besides, we found that
      overexpression of miRNA-340 inhibited osteoclast differentiation and suppressed
      both the mRNA and protein level of MITF. Finally, Western blot and qRT-PCR
      analysis revealed that silencing MITF inhibited TRAP, calcitonin receptor, V
      ATPase d2, and cathepsin K. miR-340 suppresses osteoclast differentiation by
      inhibiting MITF. Our findings may provide promising therapeutic targets for
      osteoclast-associated diseases.

PMID- 28607031
TI  - The mechanism of TGF-beta/miR-155/c-Ski regulates endothelial-mesenchymal
      transition in human coronary artery endothelial cells.
AB  - Human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) have the potential to undergo
      fibrogenic endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT), which results in matrix
      producing fibroblasts and thereby contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiac
      fibrosis. Recently, the profibrotic cytokine transforming growth factor-beta (TGF
      beta) is shown to be the crucial pathogenic driver which has been verified to
      induce EndMT. C-Ski is an important regulator of TGF-beta signaling. However, the
      detailed role of c-Ski and the molecular mechanisms by which c-Ski affects TGF
      beta-induced EndMT in HCAECs are not largely elucidated. In the present study, we
      treated HCAECs with TGF-beta of different concentrations to induce EndMT. We
      found that overexpression of c-Ski in HCAECs either blocked EndMT via hindering
      Vimentin, Snail, Slug, and Twist expression while enhancing CD31 expression, with
      or without TGF-beta treatment. In contrast, suppression of c-Ski further enhanced
      EndMT. Currently, miRNA expression disorder has been frequently reported
      associating with cardiac fibrosis. By using online tools, we regarded miR-155 as
      a candidate miRNA that could target c-Ski, which was verified using luciferase
      assays. C-Ski expression was negatively regulated by miR-155. TGF-beta-induced
      EndMT was inhibited by miR-155 silence; the effect of TGF-beta on Vimentin, CD31,
      Snail, Slug, and Twist could be partially restored by miR-155. Altogether, these
      findings will shed light on the role and mechanism by which miR-155 regulates TGF
      beta-induced HCAECs EndMT via c-Ski to affect cardiac fibrosis, and miR-155/c-Ski
      may represent novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in the treatment of
      cardiac fibrosis.

PMID- 28607032
TI  - Characterization of an androgen-responsive, ornithine decarboxylase-related
      protein in mouse kidney.
AB  - We have investigated and characterized a novel ornithine decarboxylase (ODC)
      related protein (ODCrp) also annotated as gm853. ODCrp shows 41% amino acid
      sequence identity with ODC and 38% with ODC antizyme inhibitor 1 (AZIN1). The
      Odcrp gene is selectively expressed in the epithelium of proximal tubuli of mouse
      kidney with higher expression in males than in females. Like Odc in mouse kidney,
      Odcrp is also androgen responsive with androgen receptor (AR)-binding loci within
      its regulatory region. ODCrp forms homodimers but does not heterodimerize with
      ODC. Although ODCrp contains 20 amino acid residues known to be necessary for the
      catalytic activity of ODC, no decarboxylase activity could be found with
      ornithine, lysine or arginine as substrates. ODCrp does not function as an AZIN,
      as it neither binds ODC antizyme 1 (OAZ1) nor prevents OAZ-mediated inactivation
      and degradation of ODC. ODCrp itself is degraded via ubiquination and mutation of
      Cys363 (corresponding to Cys360 of ODC) appears to destabilize the protein.
      Evidence for a function of ODCrp was found in ODC assays on lysates from
      transfected Cos-7 cells where ODCrp repressed the activity of endogenous ODC
      while Cys363Ala mutated ODCrp increased the enzymatic activity of endogenous ODC.

PMID- 28607033
TI  - Perception of root-active CLE peptides requires CORYNE function in the phloem
      vasculature.
AB  - Arabidopsis root development is orchestrated by signaling pathways that consist
      of different CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION (CLE) peptide ligands and their
      cognate CLAVATA (CLV) and BARELY ANY MERISTEM (BAM) receptors. How and where
      different CLE peptides trigger specific morphological or physiological changes in
      the root is poorly understood. Here, we report that the receptor-like protein
      CLAVATA 2 (CLV2) and the pseudokinase CORYNE (CRN) are necessary to fully sense
      root-active CLE peptides. We uncover BAM3 as the CLE45 receptor in the root and
      biochemically map its peptide binding surface. In contrast to other plant peptide
      receptors, we found no evidence that SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR KINASE (SERK)
      proteins act as co-receptor kinases in CLE45 perception. CRN stabilizes BAM3
      expression and thus is required for BAM3-mediated CLE45 signaling. Moreover,
      protophloem-specific CRN expression complements resistance of the crn mutant to
      root-active CLE peptides, suggesting that protophloem is their principal site of
      action. Our work defines a genetic framework for dissecting CLE peptide signaling
      and CLV/BAM receptor activation in the root.

PMID- 28607034
TI  - Tctex-1 controls ciliary resorption by regulating branched actin polymerization
      and endocytosis.
AB  - The primary cilium is a plasma membrane-protruding sensory organelle that
      undergoes regulated assembly and resorption. While the assembly process has been
      studied extensively, the cellular machinery that governs ciliary resorption is
      less well understood. Previous studies showed that the ciliary pocket membrane is
      an actin-rich, endocytosis-active periciliary subdomain. Furthermore, Tctex-1,
      originally identified as a cytoplasmic dynein light chain, has a dynein
      independent role in ciliary resorption upon phosphorylation at Thr94. Here, we
      show that the remodeling and endocytosis of the ciliary pocket membrane are
      accelerated during ciliary resorption. This process depends on phospho(T94)Tctex
      1, actin, and dynamin. Mechanistically, Tctex-1 physically and functionally
      interacts with the actin dynamics regulators annexin A2, Arp2/3 complex, and
      Cdc42. Phospho(T94)Tctex-1 is required for Cdc42 activation before the onset of
      ciliary resorption. Moreover, inhibiting clathrin-dependent endocytosis or
      suppressing Rab5GTPase on early endosomes effectively abrogates ciliary
      resorption. Taken together with the epistasis functional assays, our results
      support a model in which phospho(T94)Tctex-1-regulated actin polymerization and
      periciliary endocytosis play an active role in orchestrating the initial phase of
      ciliary resorption.

PMID- 28607038
TI  - WHO downgrades oseltamivir on drugs list after reviewing evidence.

PMID- 28607037
TI  - International comparison of emergency hospital use for infants: data linkage
      cohort study in Canada and England.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare emergency hospital use for infants in Ontario (Canada) and
      England. METHODS: We conducted a population-based data linkage study in infants
      born >=34 weeks' gestation between 2010 and 2013 in Ontario (n=253 930) and
      England (n=1 361 128). Outcomes within 12 months of postnatal discharge were
      captured in hospital records. The primary outcome was all-cause unplanned
      admissions. Secondary outcomes included emergency department (ED) visits, any
      unplanned hospital contact (either ED or admission) and mortality. Multivariable
      regression was used to evaluate risk factors for infant admission. RESULTS: The
      percentage of infants with >=1 unplanned admission was substantially lower in
      Ontario (7.9% vs 19.6% in England) while the percentage attending ED but not
      admitted was higher (39.8% vs 29.9% in England). The percentage of infants with
      any unplanned hospital contact was similar between countries (42.9% in Ontario,
      41.6% in England) as was mortality (0.05% in Ontario, 0.06% in England). Infants
      attending ED were less likely to be admitted in Ontario (7.3% vs 26.2%), but
      those who were admitted were more likely to stay for >=1 night (94.0% vs 55.2%).
      The strongest risk factors for admission were completed weeks of gestation
      (adjusted OR for 34-36 weeks vs 39+ weeks: 2.44; 95% CI 2.29 to 2.61 in Ontario
      and 1.66; 95% CI 1.62 to 1.70 in England) and young maternal age. CONCLUSIONS:
      Children attending ED in England were much more likely to be admitted than those
      in Ontario. The tendency towards more frequent, shorter admissions in England
      could be due to more pressure to admit within waiting time targets, or less
      availability of paediatric expertise in ED. Further evaluations should consider
      where best to focus resources, including in-hospital, primary care and paediatric
      care in the community.

PMID- 28607035
TI  - Murine cytomegalovirus IE3-dependent transcription is required for DAI/ZBP1
      mediated necroptosis.
AB  - DNA-dependent activator of interferon regulatory factors/Z-DNA binding protein 1
      (DAI/ZBP1) is a crucial sensor of necroptotic cell death induced by murine
      cytomegalovirus (MCMV) in its natural host. Here, we show that viral capsid
      transport to the nucleus and subsequent viral IE3-dependent early transcription
      are required for necroptosis. Necroptosis induction does not depend on input
      virion DNA or newly synthesized viral DNA A putative RNA-binding domain of
      DAI/ZBP1, Zalpha2, is required to sense virus and trigger necroptosis. Thus, MCMV
      IE3-dependent transcription from the viral genome plays a crucial role in
      activating DAI/ZBP1-dependent necroptosis. This implicates RNA transcripts
      generated by a large double-stranded DNA virus as a biologically relevant ligand
      for DAI/ZBP1 during natural viral infection.

PMID- 28607039
TI  - Origin of magnetotaxis: Vertical inheritance or horizontal transfer?

PMID- 28607040
TI  - Reply to van Hoorn: Social comparisons of "enough" are an informational signal.

PMID- 28607041
TI  - Informational content of relative deprivation as a channel linking economic
      inequality to risk taking.

PMID- 28607042
TI  - Reply to Slooten et al.: Viewing fisheries management challenges in a global
      context.

PMID- 28607043
TI  - Evidence of bias in assessment of fisheries management impacts.

PMID- 28607045
TI  - Mio-Pliocene aridity in the south-central Andes associated with Southern
      Hemisphere cold periods.
AB  - Although Earth's climate history is best known through marine records, the
      corresponding continental climatic conditions drive the evolution of terrestrial
      life. Continental conditions during the latest Miocene are of particular interest
      because global faunal turnover is roughly synchronous with a period of global
      glaciation from ~6.2-5.5 Ma and with the Messinian Salinity Crisis from ~6.0-5.3
      Ma. Despite the climatic and ecological significance of this period, the
      continental climatic conditions associated with it remain unclear. We address
      this question using erosion rates of ancient watersheds to constrain Mio-Pliocene
      climatic conditions in the south-central Andes near 30 degrees  S. Our results
      show two slowdowns in erosion rate, one from ~6.1-5.2 Ma and another from 3.6 to
      3.3 Ma, which we attribute to periods of continental aridity. This view is
      supported by synchrony with other regional proxies for aridity and with the
      timing of glacial "cold" periods as recorded by marine proxies, such as the M2
      isotope excursion. We thus conclude that aridity in the south-central Andes is
      associated with cold periods at high southern latitudes, perhaps due to a
      northward migration of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies, which disrupted the
      South American Low Level Jet that delivers moisture to southeastern South
      America. Colder glacial periods, and possibly associated reductions in
      atmospheric CO2, thus seem to be an important driver of Mio-Pliocene ecological
      transitions in the central Andes. Finally, this study demonstrates that paleo
      erosion rates can be a powerful proxy for ancient continental climates that lie
      beyond the reach of most lacustrine and glacial archives.

PMID- 28607044
TI  - Regulation of spinogenesis in mature Purkinje cells via mGluR/PKC-mediated
      phosphorylation of CaMKIIbeta.
AB  - Dendritic spines of Purkinje cells form excitatory synapses with parallel fiber
      terminals, which are the primary sites for cerebellar synaptic plasticity.
      Nevertheless, how density and morphology of these spines are properly maintained
      in mature Purkinje cells is not well understood. Here we show an activity
      dependent mechanism that represses excessive spine development in mature Purkinje
      cells. We found that CaMKIIbeta promotes spine formation and elongation in
      Purkinje cells through its F-actin bundling activity. Importantly, activation of
      group I mGluR, but not AMPAR, triggers PKC-mediated phosphorylation of
      CaMKIIbeta, which results in dissociation of the CaMKIIbeta/F-actin complex.
      Defective function of the PKC-mediated CaMKIIbeta phosphorylation promotes excess
      F-actin bundling and leads to abnormally numerous and elongated spines in mature
      IP3R1-deficient Purkinje cells. Thus, our data suggest that phosphorylation of
      CaMKIIbeta through the mGluR/IP3R1/PKC signaling pathway represses excessive
      spine formation and elongation in mature Purkinje cells.

PMID- 28607046
TI  - Females manipulate behavior of caring males via prenatal maternal effects.
AB  - In species with biparental care, there is sexual conflict as each parent is under
      selection to minimize its personal effort by shifting as much as possible of the
      workload over to the other parent. Most theoretical and empirical work on the
      resolution of this conflict has focused on strategies used by both parents, such
      as negotiation. However, because females produce the eggs, this might afford
      females with an ability to manipulate male behavior via maternal effects that
      alter offspring phenotypes. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated the prenatal
      conditions (i.e., presence or absence of the male), performed a cross-fostering
      experiment, and monitored the subsequent effects of prenatal conditions on
      offspring and parental performance in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides
      We found that offspring were smaller at hatching when females laid eggs in
      presence of a male, suggesting that females invest less in eggs when expecting
      male assistance. Furthermore, broods laid in the presence of a male gained more
      weight during parental care, and they did so at the expense of male weight gain.
      Contrary to our expectations, males cared less for broods laid in the presence of
      a male. Our results provide experimental evidence that females can alter male
      behavior during breeding by adjusting maternal effects according to prenatal
      conditions. However, rather than increasing the male's parental effort, females
      appeared to suppress the male's food consumption, thereby leaving more food for
      their brood.

PMID- 28607047
TI  - Numbers of presynaptic Ca2+ channel clusters match those of functionally defined
      vesicular docking sites in single central synapses.
AB  - Many central synapses contain a single presynaptic active zone and a single
      postsynaptic density. Vesicular release statistics at such "simple synapses"
      indicate that they contain a small complement of docking sites where vesicles
      repetitively dock and fuse. In this work, we investigate functional and
      morphological aspects of docking sites at simple synapses made between cerebellar
      parallel fibers and molecular layer interneurons. Using immunogold labeling of
      SDS-treated freeze-fracture replicas, we find that Cav2.1 channels form several
      clusters per active zone with about nine channels per cluster. The mean value and
      range of intersynaptic variation are similar for Cav2.1 cluster numbers and for
      functional estimates of docking-site numbers obtained from the maximum numbers of
      released vesicles per action potential. Both numbers grow in relation with
      synaptic size and decrease by a similar extent with age between 2 wk and 4 wk
      postnatal. Thus, the mean docking-site numbers were 3.15 at 2 wk (range: 1-10)
      and 2.03 at 4 wk (range: 1-4), whereas the mean numbers of Cav2.1 clusters were
      2.84 at 2 wk (range: 1-8) and 2.37 at 4 wk (range: 1-5). These changes were
      accompanied by decreases of miniature current amplitude (from 93 pA to 56 pA),
      active-zone surface area (from 0.0427 MUm2 to 0.0234 MUm2), and initial success
      rate (from 0.609 to 0.353), indicating a tightening of synaptic transmission with
      development. Altogether, these results suggest a close correspondence between the
      number of functionally defined vesicular docking sites and that of clusters of
      voltage-gated calcium channels.

PMID- 28607048
TI  - Intraoperative assessment of tumor margins during glioma resection by desorption
      electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry.
AB  - Intraoperative desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) is
      used to characterize tissue smears by comparison with a library of DESI mass
      spectra of pathologically determined tissue types. Measurements are performed in
      the operating room within 3 min. These mass spectra provide direct information on
      tumor infiltration into white or gray brain matter based on N-acetylaspartate
      (NAA) and on membrane-derived complex lipids. The mass spectra also indicate the
      isocitrate dehydrogenase mutation status of the tumor via detection of 2
      hydroxyglutarate, currently assessed postoperatively on biopsied tissue using
      immunohistochemistry. Intraoperative DESI-MS measurements made at surgeon-defined
      positions enable assessment of relevant disease state of tissue within the tumor
      mass and examination of the resection cavity walls for residual tumor. Results
      for 73 biopsies from 10 surgical resection cases show that DESI-MS allows
      detection of glioma and estimation of high tumor cell percentage (TCP) at
      surgical margins with 93% sensitivity and 83% specificity. TCP measurements from
      NAA are corroborated by indirect measurements based on lipid profiles. Notably,
      high percentages (>50%) of unresected tumor were found in one-half of the margin
      biopsy smears, even in cases where postoperative MRI suggested gross total tumor
      resection. Unresected tumor causes recurrence and malignant progression, as
      observed within a year in one case examined in this study. These results
      corroborate the utility of DESI-MS in assessing surgical margins for maximal safe
      tumor resection. Intraoperative DESI-MS analysis of tissue smears, ex vivo, can
      be inserted into the current surgical workflow with no alterations. The data
      underscore the complexity of glioma infiltration.

PMID- 28607049
TI  - Crystal structures and atomic model of NADPH oxidase.
AB  - NADPH oxidases (NOXs) are the only enzymes exclusively dedicated to reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) generation. Dysregulation of these polytopic membrane
      proteins impacts the redox signaling cascades that control cell proliferation and
      death. We describe the atomic crystal structures of the catalytic flavin adenine
      dinucleotide (FAD)- and heme-binding domains of Cylindrospermum stagnale NOX5.
      The two domains form the core subunit that is common to all seven members of the
      NOX family. The domain structures were then docked in silico to provide a generic
      model for the NOX family. A linear arrangement of cofactors (NADPH, FAD, and two
      membrane-embedded heme moieties) injects electrons from the intracellular side
      across the membrane to a specific oxygen-binding cavity on the extracytoplasmic
      side. The overall spatial organization of critical interactions is revealed
      between the intracellular loops on the transmembrane domain and the NADPH
      oxidizing dehydrogenase domain. In particular, the C terminus functions as a
      toggle switch, which affects access of the NADPH substrate to the enzyme. The
      essence of this mechanistic model is that the regulatory cues conformationally
      gate NADPH-binding, implicitly providing a handle for activating/deactivating the
      very first step in the redox chain. Such insight provides a framework to the
      discovery of much needed drugs that selectively target the distinct members of
      the NOX family and interfere with ROS signaling.

PMID- 28607050
TI  - Mouse model of hematogenous implant-related Staphylococcus aureus biofilm
      infection reveals therapeutic targets.
AB  - Infection is a major complication of implantable medical devices, which provide a
      scaffold for biofilm formation, thereby reducing susceptibility to antibiotics
      and complicating treatment. Hematogenous implant-related infections following
      bacteremia are particularly problematic because they can occur at any time in a
      previously stable implant. Herein, we developed a model of hematogenous infection
      in which an orthopedic titanium implant was surgically placed in the legs of mice
      followed 3 wk later by an i.v. exposure to Staphylococcus aureus This procedure
      resulted in a marked propensity for a hematogenous implant-related infection
      comprised of septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and biofilm formation on the
      implants in the surgical legs compared with sham-operated surgical legs without
      implant placement and with contralateral nonoperated normal legs. Neutralizing
      human monoclonal antibodies against alpha-toxin (AT) and clumping factor A
      (ClfA), especially in combination, inhibited biofilm formation in vitro and the
      hematogenous implant-related infection in vivo. Our findings suggest that AT and
      ClfA are pathogenic factors that could be therapeutically targeted against
      Saureus hematogenous implant-related infections.

PMID- 28607051
TI  - Computationally optimized deimmunization libraries yield highly mutated enzymes
      with low immunogenicity and enhanced activity.
AB  - Therapeutic proteins of wide-ranging function hold great promise for treating
      disease, but immune surveillance of these macromolecules can drive an antidrug
      immune response that compromises efficacy and even undermines safety. To
      eliminate widespread T-cell epitopes in any biotherapeutic and thereby mitigate
      this key source of detrimental immune recognition, we developed a Pareto optimal
      deimmunization library design algorithm that optimizes protein libraries to
      account for the simultaneous effects of combinations of mutations on both
      molecular function and epitope content. Active variants identified by high
      throughput screening are thus inherently likely to be deimmunized. Functional
      screening of an optimized 10-site library (1,536 variants) of P99 beta-lactamase
      (P99betaL), a component of ADEPT cancer therapies, revealed that the population
      possessed high overall fitness, and comprehensive analysis of peptide-MHC II
      immunoreactivity showed the population possessed lower average immunogenic
      potential than the wild-type enzyme. Although similar functional screening of an
      optimized 30-site library (2.15 * 109 variants) revealed reduced population-wide
      fitness, numerous individual variants were found to have activity and stability
      better than the wild type despite bearing 13 or more deimmunizing mutations per
      enzyme. The immunogenic potential of one highly active and stable 14-mutation
      variant was assessed further using ex vivo cellular immunoassays, and the variant
      was found to silence T-cell activation in seven of the eight blood donors who
      responded strongly to wild-type P99betaL. In summary, our multiobjective library
      design process readily identified large and mutually compatible sets of epitope
      deleting mutations and produced highly active but aggressively deimmunized
      constructs in only one round of library screening.

PMID- 28607052
TI  - Efficient, ultra-high-affinity chromatography in a one-step purification of
      complex proteins.
AB  - Protein purification is an essential primary step in numerous biological studies.
      It is particularly significant for the rapidly emerging high-throughput fields,
      such as proteomics, interactomics, and drug discovery. Moreover, purifications
      for structural and industrial applications should meet the requirement of high
      yield, high purity, and high activity (HHH). It is, therefore, highly desirable
      to have an efficient purification system with a potential to meet the HHH
      benchmark in a single step. Here, we report a chromatographic technology based on
      the ultra-high-affinity (Kd ~ 10-14-10-17 M) complex between the Colicin E7 DNase
      (CE7) and its inhibitor, Immunity protein 7 (Im7). For this application, we
      mutated CE7 to create a CL7 tag, which retained the full binding affinity to Im7
      but was inactivated as a DNase. To achieve high capacity, we developed a protocol
      for a large-scale production and highly specific immobilization of Im7 to a solid
      support. We demonstrated its utility with one-step HHH purification of a wide
      range of traditionally challenging biological molecules, including eukaryotic,
      membrane, toxic, and multisubunit DNA/RNA-binding proteins. The system is simple,
      reusable, and also applicable to pulldown and kinetic activity/binding assays.

PMID- 28607053
TI  - Trigger loop of RNA polymerase is a positional, not acid-base, catalyst for both
      transcription and proofreading.
AB  - The active site of multisubunit RNA polymerases (RNAPs) is highly conserved from
      humans to bacteria. This single site catalyzes both nucleotide addition required
      for RNA transcript synthesis and excision of incorrect nucleotides after
      misincorporation as a proofreading mechanism. Phosphoryl transfer and
      proofreading hydrolysis are controlled in part by a dynamic RNAP component called
      the trigger loop (TL), which cycles between an unfolded loop and an alpha-helical
      hairpin [trigger helices (TH)] required for rapid nucleotide addition. The
      precise roles of the TL/TH in RNA synthesis and hydrolysis remain unclear. An
      invariant histidine residue has been proposed to function in the TH form as a
      general acid in RNA synthesis and as a general base in RNA hydrolysis. The
      effects of conservative, nonionizable substitutions of the TL histidine (or a
      neighboring TL arginine conserved in bacteria) have not yet been rigorously
      tested. Here, we report that glutamine substitutions of these residues, which
      preserve polar interactions but are incapable of acid-base chemistry, had little
      effect on either phosphoryl transfer or proofreading hydrolysis by Escherichia
      coli RNAP. The TL substitutions did, however, affect the backtracking of RNAP
      necessary for proofreading and potentially the reactivity of the backtracked
      nucleotide. We describe a unifying model for the function of the RNAP TL, which
      reconciles available data and our results for representative RNAPs. This model
      explains diverse effects of the TL basic residues on catalysis through their
      effects on positioning reactants for phosphoryl transfer and easing barriers to
      transcript backtracking, rather than as acid-base catalysts.

PMID- 28607054
TI  - Electron-shuttling antibiotics structure bacterial communities by modulating
      cellular levels of c-di-GMP.
AB  - Diverse organisms secrete redox-active antibiotics, which can be used as
      extracellular electron shuttles by resistant microbes. Shuttle-mediated
      metabolism can support survival when substrates are available not locally but
      rather at a distance. Such conditions arise in multicellular communities, where
      the formation of chemical gradients leads to resource limitation for cells at
      depth. In the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14, antibiotics
      called phenazines act as oxidants to balance the intracellular redox state of
      cells in anoxic biofilm subzones. PA14 colony biofilms show a profound
      morphogenic response to phenazines resulting from electron acceptor-dependent
      inhibition of ECM production. This effect is reminiscent of the developmental
      responses of some eukaryotic systems to redox control, but for bacterial systems
      its mechanistic basis has not been well defined. Here, we identify the regulatory
      protein RmcA and show that it links redox conditions to PA14 colony morphogenesis
      by modulating levels of bis-(3',5')-cyclic-dimeric-guanosine (c-di-GMP), a second
      messenger that stimulates matrix production, in response to phenazine
      availability. RmcA contains four Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) domains and domains with the
      potential to catalyze the synthesis and degradation of c-di-GMP. Our results
      suggest that phenazine production modulates RmcA activity such that the protein
      degrades c-di-GMP and thereby inhibits matrix production during oxidizing
      conditions. RmcA thus forms a mechanistic link between cellular redox sensing and
      community morphogenesis analogous to the functions performed by PAS-domain
      containing regulatory proteins found in complex eukaryotes.

PMID- 28607055
TI  - Brain circuit-gene expression relationships and neuroplasticity of multisensory
      cortices in blind children.
AB  - Sensory deprivation reorganizes neurocircuits in the human brain. The biological
      basis of such neuroplastic adaptations remains elusive. In this study, we applied
      two complementary graph theory-based functional connectivity analyses, one to
      evaluate whole-brain functional connectivity relationships and the second to
      specifically delineate distributed network connectivity profiles downstream of
      primary sensory cortices, to investigate neural reorganization in blind children
      compared with sighted controls. We also examined the relationship between
      connectivity changes and neuroplasticity-related gene expression profiles in the
      cerebral cortex. We observed that multisensory integration areas exhibited
      enhanced functional connectivity in blind children and that this reorganization
      was spatially associated with the transcription levels of specific members of the
      cAMP Response Element Binding protein gene family. Using systems-level analyses,
      this study advances our understanding of human neuroplasticity and its genetic
      underpinnings following sensory deprivation.

PMID- 28607057
TI  - Family-transmitted stress in a wild bird.
AB  - Recent data suggest that, in animals living in social groups, stress-induced
      changes in behavior have the potential to act as a source of information, so that
      stressed individuals could themselves act as stressful stimuli for other
      individuals with whom they interact repeatedly. Such form of cross-over of stress
      may be beneficial if it enhances adaptive responses to ecological stressors in
      the shared environment. However, whether stress can be transferred among
      individuals during early life in natural populations remains unknown. Here we
      tested the effect of living with stressed siblings in a gull species where, as in
      many vertebrates, family represents the basic social unit during development. By
      experimentally modifying the level of stress hormones (corticosterone) in brood
      mates, we demonstrate that the social transfer of stress level triggers similar
      stress responses (corticosterone secretion) in brood bystanders. Corticosterone
      implanted chicks and their siblings were faster in responding to a potential
      predator attack than control chicks. In gulls, fast and coordinated reactions to
      predators may increase the chances of survival of the whole brood, suggesting a
      beneficial fitness value of cross-over of stress. However, our data also indicate
      that living with stressed brood mates early in life entails some long-term costs.
      Near independence, fledglings that grew up with stressed siblings showed reduced
      body size, high levels of oxidative damage in lipids and proteins, and a fragile
      juvenile plumage. Overall, our results indicate that stress cross-over occurs in
      animal populations and may have important fitness consequences.

PMID- 28607056
TI  - Microsymbiont discrimination mediated by a host-secreted peptide in Medicago
      truncatula.
AB  - The legume-rhizobial symbiosis results in the formation of root nodules that
      provide an ecological niche for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. However, plant-bacteria
      genotypic interactions can lead to wide variation in nitrogen fixation
      efficiency, and it is not uncommon that a bacterial strain forms functional
      (Fix+) nodules on one plant genotype but nonfunctional (Fix-) nodules on another.
      Host genetic control of this specificity is unknown. We herein report the cloning
      of the Medicago truncatula NFS1 gene that regulates the fixation-level
      incompatibility with the microsymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti Rm41. We show that
      NFS1 encodes a nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptide. In contrast to the
      known role of NCR peptides as effectors of endosymbionts' differentiation to
      nitrogen-fixing bacteroids, we demonstrate that specific NCRs control
      discrimination against incompatible microsymbionts. NFS1 provokes bacterial cell
      death and early nodule senescence in an allele-specific and rhizobial strain
      specific manner, and its function is dependent on host genetic background.

PMID- 28607058
TI  - Host-secreted antimicrobial peptide enforces symbiotic selectivity in Medicago
      truncatula.
AB  - Legumes engage in root nodule symbioses with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria known
      as rhizobia. In nodule cells, bacteria are enclosed in membrane-bound vesicles
      called symbiosomes and differentiate into bacteroids that are capable of
      converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Bacteroid differentiation and
      prolonged intracellular survival are essential for development of functional
      nodules. However, in the Medicago truncatula-Sinorhizobium meliloti symbiosis,
      incompatibility between symbiotic partners frequently occurs, leading to the
      formation of infected nodules defective in nitrogen fixation (Fix-). Here, we
      report the identification and cloning of the M. truncatula NFS2 gene that
      regulates this type of specificity pertaining to S. meliloti strain Rm41. We
      demonstrate that NFS2 encodes a nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptide that
      acts to promote bacterial lysis after differentiation. The negative role of NFS2
      in symbiosis is contingent on host genetic background and can be counteracted by
      other genes encoded by the host. This work extends the paradigm of NCR function
      to include the negative regulation of symbiotic persistence in host-strain
      interactions. Our data suggest that NCR peptides are host determinants of
      symbiotic specificity in M. truncatula and possibly in closely related legumes
      that form indeterminate nodules in which bacterial symbionts undergo terminal
      differentiation.

PMID- 28607059
TI  - Human genome-wide repair map of DNA damage caused by the cigarette smoke
      carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene.
AB  - Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, is the major cause of
      lung cancer. BaP forms covalent DNA adducts after metabolic activation and
      induces mutations. We have developed a method for capturing oligonucleotides
      carrying bulky base adducts, including UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers
      (CPDs) and BaP diol epoxide-deoxyguanosine (BPDE-dG), which are removed from the
      genome by nucleotide excision repair. The isolated oligonucleotides are ligated
      to adaptors, and after damage-specific immunoprecipitation, the adaptor-ligated
      oligonucleotides are converted to dsDNA with an appropriate translesion DNA
      synthesis (TLS) polymerase, followed by PCR amplification and next-generation
      sequencing (NGS) to generate genome-wide repair maps. We have termed this method
      translesion excision repair-sequencing (tXR-seq). In contrast to our previously
      described XR-seq method, tXR-seq does not depend on repair/removal of the damage
      in the excised oligonucleotides, and thus it is applicable to essentially all DNA
      damages processed by nucleotide excision repair. Here we present the excision
      repair maps for CPDs and BPDE-dG adducts generated by tXR-Seq for the human
      genome. In addition, we report the sequence specificity of BPDE-dG excision
      repair using tXR-seq.

PMID- 28607060
TI  - Dynamics of avian haemosporidian assemblages through millennial time scales
      inferred from insular biotas of the West Indies.
AB  - Although introduced hemosporidian (malaria) parasites (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida)
      have hastened the extinction of endemic bird species in the Hawaiian Islands and
      perhaps elsewhere, little is known about the temporal dynamics of endemic malaria
      parasite populations. Haemosporidian parasites do not leave informative fossils,
      and records of population change are lacking beyond a few decades. Here, we take
      advantage of the isolation of West Indian land-bridge islands by rising
      postglacial sea levels to estimate rates of change in hemosporidian parasite
      assemblages over a millennial time frame. Several pairs of West Indian islands
      have been connected and separated by falling and rising sea levels associated
      with the advance and retreat of Pleistocene continental glaciers. We use island
      isolation following postglacial sea-level rise, ca. 2.5 ka, to characterize long
      term change in insular assemblages of hemosporidian parasites. We find that
      assemblages on formerly connected islands are as differentiated as assemblages on
      islands that have never been connected, and both are more differentiated than
      local assemblages sampled up to two decades apart. Differentiation of parasite
      assemblages between formerly connected islands reflects variation in the
      prevalence of shared hemosporidian lineages, whereas differentiation between
      islands isolated by millions of years reflects replacement of hemosporidian
      lineages infecting similar assemblages of avian host species.

PMID- 28607061
TI  - When the appeal of a dominant leader is greater than a prestige leader.
AB  - Across the globe we witness the rise of populist authoritarian leaders who are
      overbearing in their narrative, aggressive in behavior, and often exhibit
      questionable moral character. Drawing on evolutionary theory of leadership
      emergence, in which dominance and prestige are seen as dual routes to leadership,
      we provide a situational and psychological account for when and why dominant
      leaders are preferred over other respected and admired candidates. We test our
      hypothesis using three studies, encompassing more than 140,000 participants,
      across 69 countries and spanning the past two decades. We find robust support for
      our hypothesis that under a situational threat of economic uncertainty (as
      exemplified by the poverty rate, the housing vacancy rate, and the unemployment
      rate) people escalate their support for dominant leaders. Further, we find that
      this phenomenon is mediated by participants' psychological sense of a lack of
      personal control. Together, these results provide large-scale, globally
      representative evidence for the structural and psychological antecedents that
      increase the preference for dominant leaders over their prestigious counterparts.

PMID- 28607062
TI  - Biomechanical coupling facilitates spinal neural tube closure in mouse embryos.
AB  - Neural tube (NT) formation in the spinal region of the mammalian embryo involves
      a wave of "zippering" that passes down the elongating spinal axis, uniting the
      neural fold tips in the dorsal midline. Failure of this closure process leads to
      open spina bifida, a common cause of severe neurologic disability in humans.
      Here, we combined a tissue-level strain-mapping workflow with laser ablation of
      live-imaged mouse embryos to investigate the biomechanics of mammalian spinal
      closure. Ablation of the zippering point at the embryonic dorsal midline causes
      far-reaching, rapid separation of the elevating neural folds. Strain analysis
      revealed tissue expansion around the zippering point after ablation, but
      predominant tissue constriction in the caudal and ventral neural plate zone. This
      zone is biomechanically coupled to the zippering point by a supracellular F-actin
      network, which includes an actin cable running along the neural fold tips.
      Pharmacologic inhibition of F-actin or laser ablation of the cable causes neural
      fold separation. At the most advanced somite stages, when completion of spinal
      closure is imminent, the cable forms a continuous ring around the neuropore, and
      simultaneously, a new caudal-to-rostral zippering point arises. Laser ablation of
      this new closure initiation point causes neural fold separation, demonstrating
      its biomechanical activity. Failure of spinal closure in pre-spina bifida Zic2Ku
      mutant embryos is associated with altered tissue biomechanics, as indicated by
      greater neuropore widening after ablation. Thus, this study identifies
      biomechanical coupling of the entire region of active spinal neurulation in the
      mouse embryo as a prerequisite for successful NT closure.

PMID- 28607063
TI  - Dynamic maps of UV damage formation and repair for the human genome.
AB  - Formation and repair of UV-induced DNA damage in human cells are affected by
      cellular context. To study factors influencing damage formation and repair genome
      wide, we developed a highly sensitive single-nucleotide resolution damage mapping
      method [high-sensitivity damage sequencing (HS-Damage-seq)]. Damage maps of both
      cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine-pyrimidone (6-4)
      photoproducts [(6-4)PPs] from UV-irradiated cellular and naked DNA revealed that
      the effect of transcription factor binding on bulky adducts formation varies,
      depending on the specific transcription factor, damage type, and strand. We also
      generated time-resolved UV damage maps of both CPDs and (6-4)PPs by HS-Damage-seq
      and compared them to the complementary repair maps of the human genome obtained
      by excision repair sequencing to gain insight into factors that affect UV-induced
      DNA damage and repair and ultimately UV carcinogenesis. The combination of the
      two methods revealed that, whereas UV-induced damage is virtually uniform
      throughout the genome, repair is affected by chromatin states, transcription, and
      transcription factor binding, in a manner that depends on the type of DNA damage.

PMID- 28607064
TI  - Impact of nutrition on social decision making.
AB  - Food intake is essential for maintaining homeostasis, which is necessary for
      survival in all species. However, food intake also impacts multiple biochemical
      processes that influence our behavior. Here, we investigate the causal
      relationship between macronutrient composition, its bodily biochemical impact,
      and a modulation of human social decision making. Across two studies, we show
      that breakfasts with different macronutrient compositions modulated human social
      behavior. Breakfasts with a high-carbohydrate/protein ratio increased social
      punishment behavior in response to norm violations compared with that in response
      to a low carbohydrate/protein meal. We show that these macronutrient-induced
      behavioral changes in social decision making are causally related to a lowering
      of plasma tyrosine levels. The findings indicate that, in a limited sense, "we
      are what we eat" and provide a perspective on a nutrition-driven modulation of
      cognition. The findings have implications for education, economics, and public
      policy, and emphasize that the importance of a balanced diet may extend beyond
      the mere physical benefits of adequate nutrition.

PMID- 28607065
TI  - Maintenance of antiangiogenic and antitumor effects by orally active low-dose
      capecitabine for long-term cancer therapy.
AB  - Long-term uninterrupted therapy is essential for maximizing clinical benefits of
      antiangiogenic drugs (AADs) in cancer patients. Unfortunately, nearly all
      clinically available AADs are delivered to cancer patients using disrupted
      regimens. We aim to develop lifetime, nontoxic, effective, orally active, and low
      cost antiangiogenic and antitumor drugs for treatment of cancer patients. Here we
      report our findings of long-term maintenance therapy with orally active,
      nontoxic, low cost antiangiogenic chemotherapeutics for effective cancer
      treatment. In a sequential treatment regimen, robust antiangiogenic effects in
      tumors were achieved with an anti-VEGF drug, followed by a low-dose chemotherapy.
      The nontoxic, low dose of the orally active prodrug capecitabine was able to
      sustain the anti-VEGF-induced vessel regression for long periods. In another
      experimental setting, maintenance of low-dose capecitabine produced greater
      antiangiogenic and antitumor effects after AAD plus chemotherapy. No obvious
      adverse effects were developed after more than 2-mo of consecutive treatment with
      a low dose of capecitabine. Together, our findings provide a rationalized concept
      of effective cancer therapy by long-term maintenance of AAD-triggered
      antiangiogenic effects with orally active, nontoxic, low-cost, clinically
      available chemotherapeutics.

PMID- 28607067
TI  - A recruiting protein of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase controls metabolic
      flux toward chlorophyll biosynthesis in rice.
AB  - In plants, geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) is produced by plastidic GGPP
      synthase (GGPPS) and serves as a precursor for vital metabolic branches,
      including chlorophyll, carotenoid, and gibberellin biosynthesis. However,
      molecular mechanisms regulating GGPP allocation among these biosynthetic pathways
      localized in the same subcellular compartment are largely unknown. We found that
      rice contains only one functionally active GGPPS, OsGGPPS1, in chloroplasts. A
      functionally active homodimeric enzyme composed of two OsGGPPS1 subunits is
      located in the stroma. In thylakoid membranes, however, the GGPPS activity
      resides in a heterodimeric enzyme composed of one OsGGPPS1 subunit and GGPPS
      recruiting protein (OsGRP). OsGRP is structurally most similar to members of the
      geranyl diphosphate synthase small subunit type II subfamily. In contrast to
      members of this subfamily, OsGRP enhances OsGGPPS1 catalytic efficiency and
      specificity of GGPP production on interaction with OsGGPPS1. Structural biology
      and protein interaction analyses demonstrate that affinity between OsGRP and
      OsGGPPS1 is stronger than between two OsGGPPS1 molecules in homodimers. OsGRP
      determines OsGGPPS1 suborganellar localization and directs it to a large protein
      complex in thylakoid membranes, consisting of geranylgeranyl reductase (OsGGR),
      light-harvesting-like protein 3 (OsLIL3), protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase
      (OsPORB), and chlorophyll synthase (OsCHLG). Taken together, genetic and
      biochemical analyses suggest OsGRP functions in recruiting OsGGPPS1 from the
      stroma toward thylakoid membranes, thus providing a mechanism to control GGPP
      flux toward chlorophyll biosynthesis.

PMID- 28607068
TI  - How temporal patterns in rainfall determine the geomorphology and carbon fluxes
      of tropical peatlands.
AB  - Tropical peatlands now emit hundreds of megatons of carbon dioxide per year
      because of human disruption of the feedbacks that link peat accumulation and
      groundwater hydrology. However, no quantitative theory has existed for how
      patterns of carbon storage and release accompanying growth and subsidence of
      tropical peatlands are affected by climate and disturbance. Using comprehensive
      data from a pristine peatland in Brunei Darussalam, we show how rainfall and
      groundwater flow determine a shape parameter (the Laplacian of the peat surface
      elevation) that specifies, under a given rainfall regime, the ultimate, stable
      morphology, and hence carbon storage, of a tropical peatland within a network of
      rivers or canals. We find that peatlands reach their ultimate shape first at the
      edges of peat domes where they are bounded by rivers, so that the rate of carbon
      uptake accompanying their growth is proportional to the area of the still-growing
      dome interior. We use this model to study how tropical peatland carbon storage
      and fluxes are controlled by changes in climate, sea level, and drainage
      networks. We find that fluctuations in net precipitation on timescales from hours
      to years can reduce long-term peat accumulation. Our mathematical and numerical
      models can be used to predict long-term effects of changes in temporal rainfall
      patterns and drainage networks on tropical peatland geomorphology and carbon
      storage.

PMID- 28607066
TI  - Socioeconomic disadvantage, gestational immune activity, and neurodevelopment in
      early childhood.
AB  - Children raised in economically disadvantaged households face increased risks of
      poor health in adulthood, suggesting that inequalities in health have early
      origins. From the child's perspective, exposure to economic hardship may begin as
      early as conception, potentially via maternal neuroendocrine-immune responses to
      prenatal stressors, which adversely impact neurodevelopment. Here we investigate
      whether socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with gestational immune activity
      and whether such activity is associated with abnormalities among offspring during
      infancy. We analyzed concentrations of five immune markers (IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8,
      IL-10, and TNF-alpha) in maternal serum from 1,494 participants in the New
      England Family Study in relation to the level of maternal socioeconomic
      disadvantage and their involvement in offspring neurologic abnormalities at 4 mo
      and 1 y of age. Median concentrations of IL-8 were lower in the most
      disadvantaged pregnancies [-1.53 log(pg/mL); 95% CI: -1.81, -1.25]. Offspring of
      these pregnancies had significantly higher risk of neurologic abnormalities at 4
      mo [odds ratio (OR) = 4.61; CI = 2.84, 7.48] and 1 y (OR = 2.05; CI = 1.08,
      3.90). This higher risk was accounted for in part by fetal exposure to lower
      maternal IL-8, which also predicted higher risks of neurologic abnormalities at 4
      mo (OR = 7.67; CI = 4.05, 14.49) and 1 y (OR = 2.92; CI = 1.46, 5.87). Findings
      support the role of maternal immune activity in fetal neurodevelopment,
      exacerbated in part by socioeconomic disadvantage. This finding reveals a
      potential pathophysiologic pathway involved in the intergenerational transmission
      of socioeconomic inequalities in health.

PMID- 28607069
TI  - Cu metal embedded in oxidized matrix catalyst to promote CO2 activation and CO
      dimerization for electrochemical reduction of CO2.
AB  - We propose and validate with quantum mechanics methods a unique catalyst for
      electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) in which selectivity and activity of CO
      and C2 products are both enhanced at the borders of oxidized and metallic surface
      regions. This Cu metal embedded in oxidized matrix (MEOM) catalyst is consistent
      with observations that Cu2O-based electrodes improve performance. However, we
      show that a fully oxidized matrix (FOM) model would not explain the
      experimentally observed performance boost, and we show that the FOM is not stable
      under CO2 reduction conditions. This electrostatic tension between the Cu+ and
      Cu0 surface sites responsible for the MEOM mechanism suggests a unique strategy
      for designing more efficient and selective electrocatalysts for CO2RR to valuable
      chemicals (HCOx), a critical need for practical environmental and energy
      applications.

PMID- 28607070
TI  - Network dynamics of social influence in the wisdom of crowds.
AB  - A longstanding problem in the social, biological, and computational sciences is
      to determine how groups of distributed individuals can form intelligent
      collective judgments. Since Galton's discovery of the "wisdom of crowds" [Galton
      F (1907) Nature 75:450-451], theories of collective intelligence have suggested
      that the accuracy of group judgments requires individuals to be either
      independent, with uncorrelated beliefs, or diverse, with negatively correlated
      beliefs [Page S (2008) The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better
      Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies]. Previous experimental studies have
      supported this view by arguing that social influence undermines the wisdom of
      crowds. These results showed that individuals' estimates became more similar when
      subjects observed each other's beliefs, thereby reducing diversity without a
      corresponding increase in group accuracy [Lorenz J, Rauhut H, Schweitzer F,
      Helbing D (2011) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108:9020-9025]. By contrast, we show
      general network conditions under which social influence improves the accuracy of
      group estimates, even as individual beliefs become more similar. We present
      theoretical predictions and experimental results showing that, in decentralized
      communication networks, group estimates become reliably more accurate as a result
      of information exchange. We further show that the dynamics of group accuracy
      change with network structure. In centralized networks, where the influence of
      central individuals dominates the collective estimation process, group estimates
      become more likely to increase in error.

PMID- 28607071
TI  - Ca2+-induced movement of tropomyosin on native cardiac thin filaments revealed by
      cryoelectron microscopy.
AB  - Muscle contraction relies on the interaction of myosin motors with F-actin, which
      is regulated through a translocation of tropomyosin by the troponin complex in
      response to Ca2+ The current model of muscle regulation holds that at relaxing
      (low-Ca2+) conditions tropomyosin blocks myosin binding sites on F-actin, whereas
      at activating (high-Ca2+) conditions tropomyosin translocation only partially
      exposes myosin binding sites on F-actin so that binding of rigor myosin is
      required to fully activate the thin filament (TF). Here we used a single-particle
      approach to helical reconstruction of frozen hydrated native cardiac TFs under
      relaxing and activating conditions to reveal the azimuthal movement of the
      tropomyosin on the surface of the native cardiac TF upon Ca2+ activation. We
      demonstrate that at either relaxing or activating conditions tropomyosin is not
      constrained in one structural state, but rather is distributed between three
      structural positions on the surface of the TF. We show that two of these
      tropomyosin positions restrain actomyosin interactions, whereas in the third
      position, which is significantly enhanced at high Ca2+, tropomyosin does not
      block myosin binding sites on F-actin. Our data provide a structural framework
      for the enhanced activation of the cardiac TF over the skeletal TF by Ca2+ and
      lead to a mechanistic model for the regulation of the cardiac TF.

PMID- 28607072
TI  - Adaptor protein mediates dynamic pump assembly for bacterial metal efflux.
AB  - Multicomponent efflux complexes constitute a primary mechanism for Gram-negative
      bacteria to expel toxic molecules for survival. As these complexes traverse the
      periplasm and link inner and outer membranes, it remains unclear how they operate
      efficiently without compromising periplasmic plasticity. Combining single
      molecule superresolution imaging and genetic engineering, we study in living
      Escherichia coli cells the tripartite efflux complex CusCBA of the resistance
      nodulation-division family that is essential for bacterial resistance to drugs
      and toxic metals. We find that CusCBA complexes are dynamic structures and shift
      toward the assembled form in response to metal stress. Unexpectedly, the
      periplasmic adaptor protein CusB is a key metal-sensing element that drives the
      assembly of the efflux complex ahead of the transcription activation of the cus
      operon for defending against metals. This adaptor protein-mediated dynamic pump
      assembly allows the bacterial cell for efficient efflux upon cellular demand
      while still maintaining periplasmic plasticity; this could be broadly relevant to
      other multicomponent efflux systems.

PMID- 28607075
TI  - Broken flow symmetry explains the dynamics of small particles in deterministic
      lateral displacement arrays.
AB  - Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a technique for size fractionation of
      particles in continuous flow that has shown great potential for biological
      applications. Several theoretical models have been proposed, but experimental
      evidence has demonstrated that a rich class of intermediate migration behavior
      exists, which is not predicted. We present a unified theoretical framework to
      infer the path of particles in the whole array on the basis of trajectories in a
      unit cell. This framework explains many of the unexpected particle trajectories
      reported and can be used to design arrays for even nanoscale particle
      fractionation. We performed experiments that verify these predictions and used
      our model to develop a condenser array that achieves full particle separation
      with a single fluidic input.

PMID- 28607073
TI  - Vector development and vitellogenin determine the transovarial transmission of
      begomoviruses.
AB  - The majority of plant viruses are transmitted by insect vectors between hosts,
      and transovarial transmission of viruses from vector parents to offspring has
      great significance to their epidemiology. Begomoviruses are transmitted by the
      whitefly Bemisia tabaci in a circulative manner and are maintained through a
      plant-insect-plant cycle. Other routes of begomovirus transmission are not
      clearly known. Here, we report that transovarial transmission from female
      whiteflies to offspring often happens for one begomovirus, Tomato yellow leaf
      curl virus (TYLCV), and may have contributed significantly to its global spread.
      We found that TYLCV entry of the reproductive organ of its vector mainly depended
      on the developmental stage of the whitefly ovary, and the transovarial
      transmission of TYLCV to offspring increased with whitefly adult age. The
      specific interaction between virus coat protein (CP) and whitefly vitellogenin
      (Vg) was vital for virus entry into whitefly ovary. When knocking down the
      expression of Vg, the entry of TYLCV into ovary was inhibited and the
      transovarial transmission efficiency decreased. In contrast, another begomovirus,
      Papaya leaf curl China virus (PaLCuCNV), CP did not interact with whitefly Vg,
      and PaLCuCNV could not be transovarially transmitted by whiteflies. We further
      showed that TYLCV could be maintained for at least two generations in the absence
      of virus-infected plants, and the adult progenies were able to infect healthy
      plants in both the laboratory and field. This study reports the transovarial
      transmission mechanism of begomoviruses, and it may help to explain the evolution
      and global spread of some begomoviruses.

PMID- 28607074
TI  - Carbohydrate microarrays and their use for the identification of molecular
      markers for plant cell wall composition.
AB  - Genetic improvement of the plant cell wall has enormous potential to increase the
      quality of food, fibers, and fuels. However, the identification and
      characterization of genes involved in plant cell wall synthesis is far from
      complete. Association mapping is one of the few techniques that can help identify
      candidate genes without relying on our currently incomplete knowledge of cell
      wall synthesis. However, few cell wall phenotyping methodologies have proven
      sufficiently precise, robust, or scalable for association mapping to be conducted
      for specific cell wall polymers. Here, we created high-density carbohydrate
      microarrays containing chemically extracted cell wall polysaccharides collected
      from 331 genetically diverse Brassica napus cultivars and used them to obtain
      detailed, quantitative information describing the relative abundance of selected
      noncellulosic polysaccharide linkages and primary structures. We undertook genome
      wide association analysis of data collected from 57 carbohydrate microarrays and
      identified molecular markers reflecting a diversity of specific xylan,
      xyloglucan, pectin, and arabinogalactan moieties. These datasets provide a
      detailed insight into the natural variations in cell wall carbohydrate moieties
      between B. napus genotypes and identify associated markers that could be
      exploited by marker-assisted breeding. The identified markers also have value
      beyond B. napus for functional genomics, facilitated by the close genetic
      relatedness to the model plant Arabidopsis Together, our findings provide a
      unique dissection of the genetic architecture that underpins plant cell wall
      biosynthesis and restructuring.

PMID- 28607076
TI  - Functional proteogenomics reveals biomarkers and therapeutic targets in
      lymphomas.
AB  - Identification of biomarkers and therapeutic targets is a critical goal of
      precision medicine. N-glycoproteins are a particularly attractive class of
      proteins that constitute potential cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets for
      small molecules, antibodies, and cellular therapies. Using mass spectrometry
      (MS), we generated a compendium of 1,091 N-glycoproteins (from 40 human primary
      lymphomas and cell lines). Hierarchical clustering revealed distinct subtype
      signatures that included several subtype-specific biomarkers. Orthogonal
      immunological studies in 671 primary lymphoma tissue biopsies and 32 lymphoma
      derived cell lines corroborated MS data. In anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive
      (ALK+) anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), integration of N-glycoproteomics
      and transcriptome sequencing revealed an ALK-regulated cytokine/receptor
      signaling network, including vulnerabilities corroborated by a genome-wide
      clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic screen. Functional targeting of
      IL-31 receptor beta, an ALCL-enriched and ALK-regulated N-glycoprotein in this
      network, abrogated ALK+ALCL growth in vitro and in vivo. Our results highlight
      the utility of functional proteogenomic approaches for discovery of cancer
      biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28607078
TI  - Retroviral host range extension is coupled with Env-activating mutations
      resulting in receptor-independent entry.
AB  - The extent of virus transmission among individuals and species is generally
      determined by the presence of specific membrane-embedded virus receptors required
      for virus entry. Interaction of the viral envelope glycoprotein (Env) with a
      specific cellular receptor is the first and crucial step in determining host
      specificity. Using a well-established retroviral model-avian Rous sarcoma virus
      (RSV)-we analyzed changes in an RSV variant that had repeatedly been able to
      infect rodents. By envelope gene (env) sequencing, we identified eight mutations
      that do not match the already described mutations influencing the host range. Two
      of these mutations-one at the beginning (D32G) of the surface Env subunit (SU)
      and the other at the end of the fusion peptide region (L378S)-were found to be of
      critical importance, ensuring transmission to rodent, human, and chicken cells
      lacking the appropriate receptor. Furthermore, we carried out assays to examine
      the virus entry mechanism and concluded that these two mutations cause
      conformational changes in the Env variant and that these changes lead to an
      activated, or primed, state of Env (normally induced after Env interaction with
      the receptor). In summary, our results indicate that retroviral host range
      extension is caused by spontaneous Env activation, which circumvents the need for
      original cell receptor. This activation is, in turn, caused by mutations in
      various env regions.

PMID- 28607079
TI  - Age of Jupiter inferred from the distinct genetics and formation times of
      meteorites.
AB  - The age of Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System, is still unknown. Gas
      giant planet formation likely involved the growth of large solid cores, followed
      by the accumulation of gas onto these cores. Thus, the gas-giant cores must have
      formed before dissipation of the solar nebula, which likely occurred within less
      than 10 My after Solar System formation. Although such rapid accretion of the gas
      giant cores has successfully been modeled, until now it has not been possible to
      date their formation. Here, using molybdenum and tungsten isotope measurements on
      iron meteorites, we demonstrate that meteorites derive from two genetically
      distinct nebular reservoirs that coexisted and remained spatially separated
      between ~1 My and ~3-4 My after Solar System formation. The most plausible
      mechanism for this efficient separation is the formation of Jupiter, opening a
      gap in the disk and preventing the exchange of material between the two
      reservoirs. As such, our results indicate that Jupiter's core grew to ~20 Earth
      masses within <1 My, followed by a more protracted growth to ~50 Earth masses
      until at least ~3-4 My after Solar System formation. Thus, Jupiter is the oldest
      planet of the Solar System, and its solid core formed well before the solar
      nebula gas dissipated, consistent with the core accretion model for giant planet
      formation.

PMID- 28607077
TI  - Selective oxidation of aliphatic C-H bonds in alkylphenols by a chemomimetic
      biocatalytic system.
AB  - Selective oxidation of aliphatic C-H bonds in alkylphenols serves significant
      roles not only in generation of functionalized intermediates that can be used to
      synthesize diverse downstream chemical products, but also in biological
      degradation of these environmentally hazardous compounds. Chemo-, regio-, and
      stereoselectivity; controllability; and environmental impact represent the major
      challenges for chemical oxidation of alkylphenols. Here, we report the
      development of a unique chemomimetic biocatalytic system originated from the Gram
      positive bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum The system consisting of CreHI (for
      installation of a phosphate directing/anchoring group), CreJEF/CreG/CreC (for
      oxidation of alkylphenols), and CreD (for directing/anchoring group offloading)
      is able to selectively oxidize the aliphatic C-H bonds of p- and m-alkylated
      phenols in a controllable manner. Moreover, the crystal structures of the central
      P450 biocatalyst CreJ in complex with two representative substrates provide
      significant structural insights into its substrate flexibility and reaction
      selectivity.

PMID- 28607080
TI  - Structural studies of viperin, an antiviral radical SAM enzyme.
AB  - Viperin is an IFN-inducible radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzyme that
      inhibits viral replication. We determined crystal structures of an anaerobically
      prepared fragment of mouse viperin (residues 45-362) complexed with S
      adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) or 5'-deoxyadenosine (5'-dAdo) and l-methionine (l
      Met). Viperin contains a partial (betaalpha)6-barrel fold with a disordered N
      terminal extension (residues 45-74) and a partially ordered C-terminal extension
      (residues 285-362) that bridges the partial barrel to form an overall closed
      barrel structure. Cys84, Cys88, and Cys91 located after the first beta-strand
      bind a [4Fe-4S] cluster. The active site architecture of viperin with bound SAH
      (a SAM analog) or 5'-dAdo and l-Met (SAM cleavage products) is consistent with
      the canonical mechanism of 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical generation. The viperin
      structure, together with sequence alignments, suggests that vertebrate viperins
      are highly conserved and that fungi contain a viperin-like ortholog. Many
      bacteria and archaebacteria also express viperin-like enzymes with conserved
      active site residues. Structural alignments show that viperin is similar to
      several other radical SAM enzymes, including the molybdenum cofactor biosynthetic
      enzyme MoaA and the RNA methyltransferase RlmN, which methylates specific
      nucleotides in rRNA and tRNA. The viperin putative active site contains several
      conserved positively charged residues, and a portion of the active site shows
      structural similarity to the GTP-binding site of MoaA, suggesting that the
      viperin substrate may be a nucleoside triphosphate of some type.

PMID- 28607081
TI  - Bioengineered silkworms with butterfly cytotoxin-modified silk glands produce
      sericin cocoons with a utility for a new biomaterial.
AB  - Genetically manipulated organisms with dysfunction of specific tissues are
      crucial for the study of various biological applications and mechanisms. However,
      the bioengineering of model organisms with tissue-specific dysfunction has not
      progressed because the challenges of expression of proteins, such as cytotoxins,
      in living cells of individual organisms need to be overcome first. Here, we
      report the establishment of a transgenic silkworm (Bombyx mori) with posterior
      silk glands (PSGs) that was designed to express the cabbage butterfly (Pieris
      rapae) cytotoxin pierisin-1A (P1A). P1A, a homolog of the apoptosis inducer
      pierisin-1, had relatively lower DNA ADP ribosyltransferase activity than
      pierisin-1; it also induced the repression of certain protein synthesis when
      expressed in B. mori-derived cultured cells. The transgene-derived P1A domain
      harboring enzymatic activity was successfully expressed in the transgenic
      silkworm PSGs. The glands showed no apoptosis-related morphological changes;
      however, an abnormal appearance was evident. The introduced truncated P1A
      resulted in the dysfunction of PSGs in that they failed to produce the silk
      protein fibroin. Cocoons generated by the silkworms solely consisted of the glue
      like glycoprotein sericin, from which soluble sericin could be prepared to form
      hydrogels. Embryonic stem cells could be maintained on the hydrogels in an
      undifferentiated state and proliferated through stimulation by the cytokines
      introduced into the hydrogels. Thus, bioengineering with targeted P1A expression
      successfully produced silkworms with a biologically useful trait that has
      significant application potential.

PMID- 28607083
TI  - Unfinished synchrony.

PMID- 28607082
TI  - Interface-induced multiferroism by design in complex oxide superlattices.
AB  - Interfaces between materials present unique opportunities for the discovery of
      intriguing quantum phenomena. Here, we explore the possibility that, in the case
      of superlattices, if one of the layers is made ultrathin, unexpected properties
      can be induced between the two bracketing interfaces. We pursue this objective by
      combining advanced growth and characterization techniques with theoretical
      calculations. Using prototype La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 (LSMO)/BaTiO3 (BTO) superlattices,
      we observe a structural evolution in the LSMO layers as a function of thickness.
      Atomic-resolution EM and spectroscopy reveal an unusual polar structure phase in
      ultrathin LSMO at a critical thickness caused by interfacing with the adjacent
      BTO layers, which is confirmed by first principles calculations. Most important
      is the fact that this polar phase is accompanied by reemergent ferromagnetism,
      making this system a potential candidate for ultrathin ferroelectrics with
      ferromagnetic ordering. Monte Carlo simulations illustrate the important role of
      spin-lattice coupling in LSMO. These results open up a conceptually intriguing
      recipe for developing functional ultrathin materials via interface-induced spin
      lattice coupling.

PMID- 28607085
TI  - Unconventional secretion of hepatitis A virus.

PMID- 28607084
TI  - Systems-guided forward genetic screen reveals a critical role of the replication
      stress response protein ETAA1 in T cell clonal expansion.
AB  - T-cell immunity requires extremely rapid clonal proliferation of rare, antigen
      specific T lymphocytes to form effector cells. Here we identify a critical role
      for ETAA1 in this process by surveying random germ line mutations in mice using
      exome sequencing and bioinformatic annotation to prioritize mutations in genes of
      unknown function with potential effects on the immune system, followed by
      breeding to homozygosity and testing for immune system phenotypes. Effector CD8+
      and CD4+ T-cell formation following immunization, lymphocytic choriomeningitis
      virus (LCMV) infection, or herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) infection was profoundly
      decreased despite normal immune cell development in adult mice homozygous for two
      different Etaa1 mutations: an exon 2 skipping allele that deletes Gly78-Leu119,
      and a Cys166Stop truncating allele that eliminates most of the 877-aa protein.
      ETAA1 deficiency decreased clonal expansion cell autonomously within the
      responding T cells, causing no decrease in their division rate but increasing
      TP53-induced mRNAs and phosphorylation of H2AX, a marker of DNA replication
      stress induced by the ATM and ATR kinases. Homozygous ETAA1-deficient adult mice
      were otherwise normal, healthy, and fertile, although slightly smaller, and
      homozygotes were born at lower frequency than expected, consistent with partial
      lethality after embryonic day 12. Taken together with recently reported evidence
      in human cancer cell lines that ETAA1 activates ATR kinase through an exon 2
      encoded domain, these findings reveal a surprisingly specific requirement for
      this ATR activator in adult mice restricted to rapidly dividing effector T cells.
      This specific requirement may provide new ways to suppress pathological T-cell
      responses in transplantation or autoimmunity.

PMID- 28607087
TI  - Remodeling vancomycin yields a victory in the battle against bacteria.

PMID- 28607086
TI  - Specific targeting of TGF-beta family ligands demonstrates distinct roles in the
      regulation of muscle mass in health and disease.
AB  - The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) network of ligands and
      intracellular signaling proteins is a subject of intense interest within the
      field of skeletal muscle biology. To define the relative contribution of
      endogenous TGF-beta proteins to the negative regulation of muscle mass via their
      activation of the Smad2/3 signaling axis, we used local injection of adeno
      associated viral vectors (AAVs) encoding ligand-specific antagonists into the
      tibialis anterior (TA) muscles of C57BL/6 mice. Eight weeks after AAV injection,
      inhibition of activin A and activin B signaling produced moderate (~20%), but
      significant, increases in TA mass, indicating that endogenous activins repress
      muscle growth. Inhibiting myostatin induced a more profound increase in muscle
      mass (~45%), demonstrating a more prominent role for this ligand as a negative
      regulator of adult muscle mass. Remarkably, codelivery of activin and myostatin
      inhibitors induced a synergistic response, resulting in muscle mass increasing by
      as much as 150%. Transcription and protein analysis indicated that this
      substantial hypertrophy was associated with both the complete inhibition of the
      Smad2/3 pathway and activation of the parallel bone morphogenetic protein
      (BMP)/Smad1/5 axis (recently identified as a positive regulator of muscle mass).
      Analyses indicated that hypertrophy was primarily driven by an increase in
      protein synthesis, but a reduction in ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation
      pathways was also observed. In models of muscular dystrophy and cancer cachexia,
      combined inhibition of activins and myostatin increased mass or prevented muscle
      wasting, respectively, highlighting the potential therapeutic advantages of
      specifically targeting multiple Smad2/3-activating ligands in skeletal muscle.

PMID- 28607088
TI  - Skin-specific regulation of SREBP processing and lipid biosynthesis by glycerol
      kinase 5.
AB  - The recessive N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea-induced phenotype toku is characterized by
      delayed hair growth, progressive hair loss, and excessive accumulation of dermal
      cholesterol, triglycerides, and ceramides. The toku phenotype was attributed to a
      null allele of Gk5, encoding glycerol kinase 5 (GK5), a skin-specific kinase
      expressed predominantly in sebaceous glands. GK5 formed a complex with the sterol
      regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) through their C-terminal regulatory
      domains, inhibiting SREBP processing and activation. In Gk5toku/toku mice,
      transcriptionally active SREBPs accumulated in the skin, but not in the liver;
      they were localized to the nucleus and led to elevated lipid synthesis and
      subsequent hair growth defects. Similar defective hair growth was observed in
      kinase-inactive GK5 mutant mice. Hair growth defects of homozygous toku mice were
      partially rescued by treatment with the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor simvastatin.
      GK5 exists as part of a skin-specific regulatory mechanism for cholesterol
      biosynthesis, independent of cholesterol regulation elsewhere in the body.

PMID- 28607089
TI  - Weak protein-protein interactions in live cells are quantified by cell-volume
      modulation.
AB  - Weakly bound protein complexes play a crucial role in metabolic, regulatory, and
      signaling pathways, due in part to the high tunability of their bound and unbound
      populations. This tunability makes weak binding (micromolar to millimolar
      dissociation constants) difficult to quantify under biologically relevant
      conditions. Here, we use rapid perturbation of cell volume to modulate the
      concentration of weakly bound protein complexes, allowing us to detect their
      dissociation constant and stoichiometry directly inside the cell. We control cell
      volume by modulating media osmotic pressure and observe the resulting complex
      association and dissociation by FRET microscopy. We quantitatively examine the
      interaction between GAPDH and PGK, two sequential enzymes in the glycolysis
      catalytic cycle. GAPDH and PGK have been shown to interact weakly, but the
      interaction has not been quantified in vivo. A quantitative model fits our
      experimental results with log Kd = -9.7 +/- 0.3 and a 2:1 prevalent stoichiometry
      of the GAPDH:PGK complex. Cellular volume perturbation is a widely applicable
      tool to detect transient protein interactions and other biomolecular interactions
      in situ. Our results also suggest that cells could use volume change (e.g., as
      occurs upon entry to mitosis) to regulate function by altering biomolecular
      complex concentrations.

PMID- 28607090
TI  - Gel-forming mucins form distinct morphologic structures in airways.
AB  - Gel-forming mucins, the primary macromolecular components of airway mucus,
      facilitate airway clearance by mucociliary transport. In cystic fibrosis (CF)
      altered mucus properties impair mucociliary transport. Airways primarily secrete
      two closely related gel-forming mucins, MUC5B and MUC5AC. However, their
      morphologic structures and associations in airways that contain abundant
      submucosal glands and goblet cells are uncertain. Moreover, there is limited
      knowledge about mucins in airways not affected by inflammation, infection, or
      remodeling or in CF airways. Therefore, we examined airways freshly excised from
      newborn non-CF pigs and CF pigs before secondary manifestations develop. We found
      that porcine submucosal glands produce MUC5B, whereas goblet cells produce
      predominantly MUC5AC plus some MUC5B. We found that MUC5B emerged from submucosal
      gland ducts in the form of strands composed of multiple MUC5B filaments. In
      contrast, MUC5AC emerged from goblet cells as wispy threads and sometimes formed
      mucin sheets. In addition, MUC5AC often partially coated the MUC5B strands.
      Compared with non-CF, MUC5B more often filled CF submucosal gland ducts. MUC5AC
      sheets also accumulated in CF airways overlying MUC5B strands. These results
      reveal distinct morphology and interactions for MUC5B and MUC5AC and suggest that
      the two mucins make distinct contributions to mucociliary transport. Thus, they
      provide a framework for understanding abnormalities in disease.

PMID- 28607092
TI  - Subsurface oxide plays a critical role in CO2 activation by Cu(111) surfaces to
      form chemisorbed CO2, the first step in reduction of CO2.
AB  - A national priority is to convert CO2 into high-value chemical products such as
      liquid fuels. Because current electrocatalysts are not adequate, we aim to
      discover new catalysts by obtaining a detailed understanding of the initial steps
      of CO2 electroreduction on copper surfaces, the best current catalysts. Using
      ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy interpreted with quantum
      mechanical prediction of the structures and free energies, we show that the
      presence of a thin suboxide structure below the copper surface is essential to
      bind the CO2 in the physisorbed configuration at 298 K, and we show that this
      suboxide is essential for converting to the chemisorbed CO2 in the presence of
      water as the first step toward CO2 reduction products such as formate and CO.
      This optimum suboxide leads to both neutral and charged Cu surface sites,
      providing fresh insights into how to design improved carbon dioxide reduction
      catalysts.

PMID- 28607091
TI  - Selective replication of oncolytic virus M1 results in a bystander killing effect
      that is potentiated by Smac mimetics.
AB  - Oncolytic virotherapy is a treatment modality that uses native or genetically
      modified viruses that selectively replicate in and kill tumor cells. Viruses
      represent a type of pathogen-associated molecular pattern and thereby induce the
      up-regulation of dozens of cytokines via activating the host innate immune
      system. Second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases (Smac) mimetic
      compounds (SMCs), which antagonize the function of inhibitor of apoptosis
      proteins (IAPs) and induce apoptosis, sensitize tumor cells to multiple
      cytokines. Therefore, we sought to determine whether SMCs sensitize tumor cells
      to cytokines induced by the oncolytic M1 virus, thus enhancing a bystander
      killing effect. Here, we report that SMCs potentiate the oncolytic effect of M1
      in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo. This strengthened oncolytic efficacy resulted
      from the enhanced bystander killing effect caused by the M1 virus via cytokine
      induction. Through a microarray analysis and subsequent validation using
      recombinant cytokines, we identified IL-8, IL-1A, and TRAIL as the key cytokines
      in the bystander killing effect. Furthermore, SMCs increased the replication of
      M1, and the accumulation of virus protein induced irreversible endoplasmic
      reticulum stress- and c-Jun N-terminal kinase-mediated apoptosis. Nevertheless,
      the combined treatment with M1 and SMCs had little effect on normal and human
      primary cells. Because SMCs selectively and significantly enhance the bystander
      killing effect and the replication of oncolytic virus M1 specifically in cancer
      cells, this combined treatment may represent a promising therapeutic strategy.

PMID- 28607093
TI  - Prostaglandin E2 is essential for efficacious skeletal muscle stem-cell function,
      augmenting regeneration and strength.
AB  - Skeletal muscles harbor quiescent muscle-specific stem cells (MuSCs) capable of
      tissue regeneration throughout life. Muscle injury precipitates a complex
      inflammatory response in which a multiplicity of cell types, cytokines, and
      growth factors participate. Here we show that Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is an
      inflammatory cytokine that directly targets MuSCs via the EP4 receptor, leading
      to MuSC expansion. An acute treatment with PGE2 suffices to robustly augment
      muscle regeneration by either endogenous or transplanted MuSCs. Loss of PGE2
      signaling by specific genetic ablation of the EP4 receptor in MuSCs impairs
      regeneration, leading to decreased muscle force. Inhibition of PGE2 production
      through nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) administration just after
      injury similarly hinders regeneration and compromises muscle strength.
      Mechanistically, the PGE2 EP4 interaction causes MuSC expansion by triggering a
      cAMP/phosphoCREB pathway that activates the proliferation-inducing transcription
      factor, Nurr1 Our findings reveal that loss of PGE2 signaling to MuSCs during
      recovery from injury impedes muscle repair and strength. Through such gain- or
      loss-of-function experiments, we found that PGE2 signaling acts as a rheostat for
      muscle stem-cell function. Decreased PGE2 signaling due to NSAIDs or increased
      PGE2 due to exogenous delivery dictates MuSC function, which determines the
      outcome of regeneration. The markedly enhanced and accelerated repair of damaged
      muscles following intramuscular delivery of PGE2 suggests a previously
      unrecognized indication for this therapeutic agent.

PMID- 28607095
TI  - Reply to Wang and Chen: An ancient origin of magnetotactic bacteria.

PMID- 28607094
TI  - Pharmacology of the Nav1.1 domain IV voltage sensor reveals coupling between
      inactivation gating processes.
AB  - The Nav1.1 voltage-gated sodium channel is a critical contributor to excitability
      in the brain, where pathological loss of function leads to such disorders as
      epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and autism. This voltage-gated sodium (Nav)
      channel subtype also plays an important role in mechanical pain signaling by
      primary afferent somatosensory neurons. Therefore, pharmacologic modulation of
      Nav1.1 represents a potential strategy for treating excitability disorders of the
      brain and periphery. Inactivation is a complex aspect of Nav channel gating and
      consists of fast and slow components, each of which may involve a contribution
      from one or more voltage-sensing domains. Here, we exploit the Hm1a spider toxin,
      a Nav1.1-selective modulator, to better understand the relationship between these
      temporally distinct modes of inactivation and ask whether they can be
      distinguished pharmacologically. We show that Hm1a inhibits the gating movement
      of the domain IV voltage sensor (VSDIV), hindering both fast and slow
      inactivation and leading to an increase in Nav1.1 availability during high
      frequency stimulation. In contrast, ICA-121431, a small-molecule Nav1.1
      inhibitor, accelerates a subsequent VSDIV gating transition to accelerate entry
      into the slow inactivated state, resulting in use-dependent block. Further
      evidence for functional coupling between fast and slow inactivation is provided
      by a Nav1.1 mutant in which fast inactivation removal has complex effects on slow
      inactivation. Taken together, our data substantiate the key role of VSDIV in Nav
      channel fast and slow inactivation and demonstrate that these gating processes
      are sequential and coupled through VSDIV. These findings provide insight into a
      pharmacophore on VSDIV through which modulation of inactivation gating can
      inhibit or facilitate Nav1.1 function.

PMID- 28607097
TI  - Correction: Adaptive Reprogramming of De Novo Pyrimidine Synthesis Is a Metabolic
      Vulnerability in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

PMID- 28607098
TI  - Correlates of self-reported exposure to advertising of tobacco products and
      electronic cigarettes across 28 European Union member states.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite advertising bans in most European Union (EU) member states,
      outlets for promotion of tobacco products and especially e-cigarettes still
      exist. This study aimed to assess the correlates of self-reported exposure to
      tobacco products and e-cigarettee advertising in the EU. METHODS: We analysed
      data from wave 82.4 of the Eurobarometer survey (November-December 2014),
      collected through interviews in 28 EU member states (n=27 801 aged >=15 years)
      and data on bans of tobacco advertising extracted from the Tobacco Control Scale
      (TCS, 2013). We used multilevel logistic regression to assess sociodemographic
      correlates of self-reported exposure to any tobacco and e-cigarette
      advertisements. RESULTS: 40% and 41.5% of the respondents reported having seen
      any e-cigarette and tobacco product advertisement respectively within the past
      year. Current smokers, males, younger respondents, those with financial
      difficulties, people who had tried e-cigarettes and daily internet users were
      more likely to report having seen an e-cigarette and a tobacco product
      advertisement. Respondents in countries with more comprehensive advertising bans
      were less likely to self-report exposure to any tobacco advertisements (OR 0.87;
      95% CI 0.79 to 0.96 for one-unit increase in TCS advertising score), but not e
      cigarette advertisements (OR 1.08; 95% CI 0.95 to 1.22). CONCLUSION: Ten years
      after ratification of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, self-reported
      exposure to tobacco and e-cigarette advertising in the EU is higher in e
      cigarette and tobacco users, as well as those with internet access. The
      implementation of the Tobacco Products Directive may result in significant
      changes in e-cigarette advertising, therefore improved monitoring of advertising
      exposure is required in the coming years.

PMID- 28607096
TI  - The somatic mutation landscape of premalignant colorectal adenoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are few studies which characterised the molecular alterations in
      premalignant colorectal adenomas. Our major goal was to establish colorectal
      adenoma genome atlas and identify molecular markers of progression from
      colorectal adenoma to adenocarcinoma. DESIGN: Whole-exome sequencing and targeted
      sequencing were carried out in 149 adenoma samples and paired blood from patients
      with conventional adenoma or sessile serrated adenoma to characterise the somatic
      mutation landscape for premalignant colorectal lesions. The identified somatic
      mutations were compared with those in colorectal cancer (CRC) samples from The
      Cancer Genome Atlas. A supervised random forest model was employed to identify
      gene panels differentiating adenoma from CRC. RESULTS: Similar somatic mutation
      frequencies, but distinctive driver mutations, were observed in sessile serrated
      adenomas and conventional adenomas. The final model included 20 genes and was
      able to separate the somatic mutation profile of colorectal adenoma and
      adenocarcinoma with an area under the curve of 0.941. CONCLUSION: The findings of
      this project hold potential to better identify patients with adenoma who may be
      candidates for targeted surveillance programmes and preventive interventions to
      reduce the incidence of CRC.

PMID- 28607099
TI  - Inhibition of Host Cell Lysosome Spreading by Trypanosoma cruzi Metacyclic Stage
      Specific Surface Molecule gp90 Downregulates Parasite Invasion.
AB  - Successful infection by Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas' disease, is
      critically dependent on host cell invasion by metacyclic trypomastigote (MT)
      forms. Two main metacyclic stage-specific surface molecules, gp82 and gp90, play
      determinant roles in target cell invasion in vitro and in oral T. cruzi infection
      in mice. The structure and properties of gp82, which is highly conserved among T.
      cruzi strains, are well known. Information on gp90 is still rather sparse. Here,
      we attempted to fill that gap. gp90, purified from poorly invasive G strain MT
      and expressing gp90 at high levels, inhibited HeLa cell lysosome spreading and
      the gp82-mediated internalization of a highly invasive CL strain MT expressing
      low levels of a diverse gp90 molecule. A recombinant protein containing the
      conserved C-terminal domain of gp90 exhibited the same properties as the native G
      strain gp90: it counteracted the host cell lysosome spreading induced by
      recombinant gp82 and exhibited an inhibitory effect on HeLa cell invasion by CL
      strain MT. Assays to identify the gp90 sequence associated with the property of
      downregulating MT invasion, using synthetic peptides spanning the gp90 C-terminal
      domain, revealed the sequence GVLYTADKEW. These data, plus the findings that
      lysosome spreading was induced upon HeLa cell interaction with CL strain MT, but
      not with G strain MT, and that in mixed infection CL strain MT internalization
      was inhibited by G strain MT, suggest that the inhibition of target cell lysosome
      spreading is the mechanism by which the gp90 molecule exerts its downregulatory
      role.

PMID- 28607100
TI  - Control of mucosal candidiasis in the zebrafish swimbladder depends on
      neutrophils that block filament invasion and drive extracellular trap production.
AB  - Candida albicans is a ubiquitous mucosal commensal that is normally prevented
      from causing acute or chronic invasive disease. Neutrophils contribute to
      protection in oral infection but exacerbate vulvovaginal candidiasis. To dissect
      the role of neutrophils during mucosal candidiasis we took advantage of a new,
      transparent zebrafish swimbladder infection model. Intravital microscopic
      tracking of individual animals revealed that blocking neutrophil recruitment
      leads to rapid mortality in this model through faster disease progression.
      Conversely, artificial recruitment of neutrophils during early infection reduces
      disease pressure. Non-invasive longitudinal tracking showed that mortality is a
      consequence of C. albicans breaching the epithelial barrier and invading
      surrounding tissues. Accordingly, we found that a hyperfilamentous C. albicans
      strain breaches the epithelial barrier more frequently and causes mortality in
      immunocompetent zebrafish. Lack of neutrophils at the infection site is
      associated with less fungal-associated extracellular DNA and less damage to
      fungal filaments, suggesting that neutrophil extracellular traps help to protect
      the epithelial barrier from C. albicans breach. We propose a homeostatic model
      where C. albicans disease pressure is balanced by neutrophil-mediated damage of
      fungi, maintaining this organism as a commensal while minimizing risk of damage
      to host tissue. The unequalled ability to dissect infection dynamics at high
      spatio-temporal resolution makes this zebrafish model a unique tool for
      understanding mucosal host-pathogen interactions.

PMID- 28607101
TI  - Positive- and Negative-Control Pathways by Blood Components for Intermedilysin
      Production in Streptococcus intermedius.
AB  - Streptococcus intermedius is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen secreting a
      human-specific cytolysin called intermedilysin (ILY) as a major pathogenic
      factor. This bacterium can degrade glycans into monosaccharides using two
      glycosidases, multisubstrate glycosidase A (MsgA) and neuraminidase (NanA). Here,
      we detected a stronger hemolytic activity mediated by ILY when S. intermedius
      PC574 was cultured in fetal bovine serum (FBS) than when it was grown in the
      standard culture medium. FBS-cultured cells also showed higher MsgA and NanA
      activity, although overproduction of ILY in FBS was undetectable in mutants nanA
      null and msgA-null. Addition of purified MsgA and NanA to the FBS resulted in a
      release of 2.8 mM galactose and 4.3 mM N-acetylneuraminic acid; these sugar
      concentrations were sufficient to upregulate the expression of ILY, MsgA, and
      NanA. Conversely, when strain PC574 was cultured in human plasma, no similar
      increase in hemolytic activity was observed. Moreover, addition of human plasma
      to the culture in FBS appeared to inhibit the stimulatory effect of FBS on ILY,
      MsgA, and NanA, although there were individual differences among the plasma
      samples. We confirmed that human plasma contains immunoglobulins that can
      neutralize ILY, MsgA, and NanA activities. In addition, human plasma had a
      neutralizing effect on cytotoxicity of S. intermedius toward HepG2 cells in FBS,
      and a higher concentration of human plasma was necessary to reduce the
      cytotoxicity of an ILY-high-producing strain than an ILY-low-producing strain.
      Overall, our data show that blood contains factors that stimulate and inhibit ILY
      expression and activity, which may affect pathogenicity of S. intermedius.

PMID- 28607102
TI  - The Dendritic Cell Receptor DNGR-1 Promotes the Development of Atherosclerosis in
      Mice.
AB  - RATIONALE: Necrotic core formation during the development of atherosclerosis is
      associated with a chronic inflammatory response and promotes accelerated plaque
      development and instability. However, the molecular links between necrosis and
      the development of atherosclerosis are not completely understood. Clec9a (C-type
      lectin receptor) or DNGR-1 (dendritic cell NK lectin group receptor-1) is
      preferentially expressed by the CD8alpha+ subset of dendritic cells (CD8alpha+
      DCs) and is involved in sensing necrotic cells. We hypothesized that sensing of
      necrotic cells by DNGR-1 plays a determinant role in the inflammatory response of
      atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVE: We sought to address the impact of total, bone marrow
      restricted, or CD8alpha+ DC-restricted deletion of DNGR-1 on atherosclerosis
      development. METHODS AND RESULTS: We show that total absence of DNGR-1 in Apoe
      (apolipoprotein e)-deficient mice (Apoe-/-) and bone marrow-restricted deletion
      of DNGR-1 in Ldlr (low-density lipoprotein receptor)-deficient mice (Ldlr-/-)
      significantly reduce inflammatory cell content within arterial plaques and limit
      atherosclerosis development in a context of moderate hypercholesterolemia. This
      is associated with a significant increase of the expression of interleukin-10 (IL
      10). The atheroprotective effect of DNGR-1 deletion is completely abrogated in
      the absence of bone marrow-derived IL-10. Furthermore, a specific deletion of
      DNGR-1 in CD8alpha+ DCs significantly increases IL-10 expression, reduces
      macrophage and T-cell contents within the lesions, and limits the development of
      atherosclerosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results unravel a new role of DNGR-1 in
      regulating vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis and potentially identify a
      new target for disease modulation.

PMID- 28607104
TI  - The general election, the NHS, and social care.

PMID- 28607105
TI  - Acyl-CoA Thioesterase 1 (ACOT1) Regulates PPARalpha to Couple Fatty Acid Flux
      With Oxidative Capacity During Fasting.
AB  - Hepatic acyl-CoA thioesterase 1 (ACOT1) catalyzes the conversion of acyl-CoAs to
      fatty acids (FAs) and CoA. We sought to determine the role of ACOT1 in hepatic
      lipid metabolism in C57Bl/6J male mice 1 week after adenovirus-mediated Acot1
      knockdown. Acot1 knockdown reduced liver triglyceride (TG) as a result of
      enhanced TG hydrolysis and subsequent FA oxidation. In vitro experiments
      demonstrated that Acot1 knockdown led to greater TG turnover and FA oxidation,
      suggesting that ACOT1 is important for controlling the rate of FA oxidation.
      Despite increased FA oxidation, Acot1 knockdown reduced the expression of
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) target genes,
      whereas overexpression increased PPARalpha reporter activity, suggesting ACOT1
      regulates PPARalpha by producing FA ligands. Moreover, ACOT1 exhibited partial
      nuclear localization during fasting and cAMP/cAMP-dependent protein kinase
      signaling, suggesting local regulation of PPARalpha. As a consequence of
      increased FA oxidation and reduced PPARalpha activity, Acot1 knockdown enhanced
      hepatic oxidative stress and inflammation. The effects of Acot1 knockdown on
      PPARalpha activity, oxidative stress, and inflammation were rescued by
      supplementation with Wy-14643, a synthetic PPARalpha ligand. We demonstrate
      through these results that ACOT1 regulates fasting hepatic FA metabolism by
      balancing oxidative flux and capacity.

PMID- 28607103
TI  - Dynamin-Related Protein 1 Inhibition Attenuates Cardiovascular Calcification in
      the Presence of Oxidative Stress.
AB  - RATIONALE: Mitochondrial changes occur during cell differentiation and
      cardiovascular disease. DRP1 (dynamin-related protein 1) is a key regulator of
      mitochondrial fission. We hypothesized that DRP1 plays a role in cardiovascular
      calcification, a process involving cell differentiation and a major clinical
      problem with high unmet needs. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of osteogenic
      promoting conditions on DRP1 and whether DRP1 inhibition alters the development
      of cardiovascular calcification. METHODS AND RESULTS: DRP1 was enriched in
      calcified regions of human carotid arteries, examined by immunohistochemistry.
      Osteogenic differentiation of primary human vascular smooth muscle cells
      increased DRP1 expression. DRP1 inhibition in human smooth muscle cells
      undergoing osteogenic differentiation attenuated matrix mineralization,
      cytoskeletal rearrangement, mitochondrial dysfunction, and reduced type 1
      collagen secretion and alkaline phosphatase activity. DRP1 protein was observed
      in calcified human aortic valves, and DRP1 RNA interference reduced primary human
      valve interstitial cell calcification. Mice heterozygous for Drp1 deletion did
      not exhibit altered vascular pathology in a proprotein convertase
      subtilisin/kexin type 9 gain-of-function atherosclerosis model. However, when
      mineralization was induced via oxidative stress, DRP1 inhibition attenuated mouse
      and human smooth muscle cell calcification. Femur bone density was unchanged in
      mice heterozygous for Drp1 deletion, and DRP1 inhibition attenuated oxidative
      stress-mediated dysfunction in human bone osteoblasts. CONCLUSIONS: We
      demonstrate a new function of DRP1 in regulating collagen secretion and
      cardiovascular calcification, a novel area of exploration for the potential
      development of new therapies to modify cellular fibrocalcific response in
      cardiovascular diseases. Our data also support a role of mitochondrial dynamics
      in regulating oxidative stress-mediated arterial calcium accrual and bone loss.

PMID- 28607106
TI  - UBASH3A Mediates Risk for Type 1 Diabetes Through Inhibition of T-Cell Receptor
      Induced NF-kappaB Signaling.
AB  - Although over 40 type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk loci have been mapped in humans, the
      causative genes and variants for T1D are largely unknown. Here, we investigated a
      candidate gene in the 21q22.3 risk locus-UBASH3A, which is primarily expressed in
      T cells where it is thought to play a largely redundant role. Genetic variants in
      UBASH3A have been shown to be associated with several autoimmune diseases in
      addition to T1D. However, the molecular mechanism underlying these genetic
      associations is unresolved. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized role of
      UBASH3A in human T cells: UBASH3A attenuates the NF-kappaB signal transduction
      upon T-cell receptor (TCR) stimulation by specifically suppressing the activation
      of the IkappaB kinase complex. We identify novel interactions of UBASH3A with
      nondegradative polyubiquitin chains, TAK1 and NEMO, suggesting that UBASH3A
      regulates the NF-kappaB signaling pathway by an ubiquitin-dependent mechanism.
      Finally, we show that risk alleles at rs11203203 and rs80054410, two T1D
      associated variants in UBASH3A, increase UBASH3A expression in human primary CD4+
      T cells upon TCR stimulation, inhibiting NF-kappaB signaling via its effects on
      the IkappaB kinase complex and resulting in reduced IL2 gene expression.

PMID- 28607107
TI  - Myeloid Sirtuin 6 Deficiency Causes Insulin Resistance in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice
      by Eliciting Macrophage Polarization Toward an M1 Phenotype.
AB  - Obesity-related insulin resistance is closely associated with macrophage
      accumulation and subsequent cytokine release in local tissues. Sirtuin 6 (Sirt6)
      is known to exert an anti-inflammatory function, but its role in macrophages in
      the context of obesity has not been investigated. We generated myeloid-specific
      Sirt6 knockout (mS6KO) mice and investigated the metabolic characteristics after
      high-fat diet (HFD) feeding for 16 weeks. Compared with their wild-type
      littermates, HFD-fed mS6KO mice exhibited greater increases in body weight,
      fasting blood glucose and insulin levels, hepatic steatosis, glucose intolerance,
      and insulin resistance. Gene expression, histology, and flow cytometric analyses
      demonstrated that liver and adipose tissue inflammation were elevated in HFD-fed
      mS6KO mice relative to wild type, with a greater accumulation of
      F4/80+CD11b+CD11c+ adipose tissue macrophages. Myeloid Sirt6 deletion facilitated
      proinflammatory M1 polarization of bone marrow macrophages and augmented the
      migration potential of macrophages toward adipose-derived chemoattractants.
      Mechanistically, Sirt6 deletion in macrophages promoted the activation of nuclear
      factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and endogenous production of interleukin-6, which led
      to STAT3 activation and the positive feedback circuits for NF-kappaB stimulation;
      this cross talk expedited an M1 polarization. We conclude that Sirt6 in
      macrophages is required for the prevention of obesity-associated tissue
      inflammation and insulin resistance.

PMID- 28607109
TI  - Christopher William Burke.

PMID- 28607108
TI  - Kv2.1 Clustering Contributes to Insulin Exocytosis and Rescues Human beta-Cell
      Dysfunction.
AB  - Insulin exocytosis is regulated by ion channels that control excitability and
      Ca2+ influx. Channels also play an increasingly appreciated role in microdomain
      structure. In this study, we examine the mechanism by which the voltage-dependent
      K+ (Kv) channel Kv2.1 (KCNB1) facilitates depolarization-induced exocytosis in
      INS 832/13 cells and beta-cells from human donors with and without type 2
      diabetes (T2D). We find that Kv2.1, but not Kv2.2 (KCNB2), forms clusters of 6-12
      tetrameric channels at the plasma membrane and facilitates insulin exocytosis.
      Knockdown of Kv2.1 expression reduces secretory granule targeting to the plasma
      membrane. Expression of the full-length channel (Kv2.1-wild-type) supports the
      glucose-dependent recruitment of secretory granules. However, a truncated channel
      (Kv2.1-DeltaC318) that retains electrical function and syntaxin 1A binding, but
      lacks the ability to form clusters, does not enhance granule recruitment or
      exocytosis. Expression of KCNB1 appears reduced in T2D islets, and further
      knockdown of KCNB1 does not inhibit Kv current in T2D beta-cells. Upregulation of
      Kv2.1-wild-type, but not Kv2.1-DeltaC318, rescues the exocytotic phenotype in T2D
      beta-cells and increases insulin secretion from T2D islets. Thus, the ability of
      Kv2.1 to directly facilitate insulin exocytosis depends on channel clustering.
      Loss of this structural role for the channel might contribute to impaired insulin
      secretion in diabetes.

PMID- 28607110
TI  - The Bile Acid Receptor GPBAR1 Regulates the M1/M2 Phenotype of Intestinal
      Macrophages and Activation of GPBAR1 Rescues Mice from Murine Colitis.
AB  - GPBAR1 (TGR5 or M-BAR) is a G protein-coupled receptor for secondary bile acids
      that is highly expressed in monocytes/macrophages. In this study, we aimed to
      determine the role of GPBAR1 in mediating leukocyte trafficking in chemically
      induced models of colitis and investigate the therapeutic potential of BAR501, a
      small molecule agonist for GPBAR1. These studies demonstrated that GPBAR1 gene
      ablation enhanced the recruitment of classically activated macrophages in the
      colonic lamina propria and worsened the severity of inflammation. In contrast,
      GPBAR1 activation by BAR501 reversed intestinal inflammation in the
      trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid and oxazolone models by reducing the trafficking of
      Ly6C+ monocytes from blood to intestinal mucosa. Exposure to BAR501 shifted
      intestinal macrophages from a classically activated (CD11b+, CCR7+, F4/80-) to an
      alternatively activated (CD11b+, CCR7-, F4/80+) phenotype, reduced the expression
      of inflammatory genes (TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-1beta, IL-6, and CCL2 mRNAs), and
      attenuated the wasting syndrome and severity of colitis (~70% reduction in the
      Colitis Disease Activity Index). The protective effect was lost in Gpbar1-/-
      mice. Exposure to BAR501 increased the colonic expression of IL-10 and TGF-beta
      mRNAs and the percentage of CD4+/Foxp3+ cells. The beneficial effects of BAR501
      were lost in Il-10-/- mice. In a macrophage cell line, regulation of IL-10 by
      BAR501 was GPBAR1 dependent and was mediated by the recruitment of CREB to its
      responsive element in the IL-10 promoter. In conclusion, GPBAR1 is expressed in
      circulating monocytes and colonic macrophages, and its activation promotes a IL
      10-dependent shift toward an alternatively activated phenotype. The targeting of
      GPBAR1 may offer therapeutic options in inflammatory bowel diseases.

PMID- 28607112
TI  - Cutting Edge: Active TGF-beta1 Released from GARP/TGF-beta1 Complexes on the
      Surface of Stimulated Human B Lymphocytes Increases Class-Switch Recombination
      and Production of IgA.
AB  - Production of active TGF-beta is regulated at a posttranslational level and
      implies release of the mature cytokine dimer from the inactive, latent TGF-beta
      precursor. There are several cell-type specific mechanisms of TGF-beta
      activation. We identified a new mechanism operating on the surface of human
      regulatory T cells and involving membrane protein GARP, which binds latent TGF
      beta1. The paracrine activity of regulatory T cell-derived TGF-beta1 contributes
      to immunosuppression and can be inhibited with anti-GARP Abs. Whether other
      immune cell types use surface GARP to activate latent TGF-beta1 was not known. We
      show in this study that stimulated, human B lymphocytes produce active TGF-beta1
      from surface GARP/latent TGF-beta1 complexes with isotype switching to IgA
      production.

PMID- 28607111
TI  - A Distinct Inhibitory Function for miR-18a in Th17 Cell Differentiation.
AB  - Th17 cell responses orchestrate immunity against extracellular pathogens but also
      underlie autoimmune disease pathogenesis. In this study, we uncovered a distinct
      and critical role for miR-18a in limiting Th17 cell differentiation. miR-18a was
      the most dynamically upregulated microRNA of the miR-17-92 cluster in activated T
      cells. miR-18a deficiency enhanced CCR6+ RAR-related orphan receptor (ROR)gammat+
      Th17 cell differentiation in vitro and increased the number of tissue Th17 cells
      expressing CCR6, RORgammat, and IL-17A in airway inflammation models in vivo.
      Sequence-specific miR-18 inhibitors increased CCR6 and RORgammat expression in
      mouse and human CD4+ T cells, revealing functional conservation. miR-18a directly
      targeted Smad4, Hif1a, and Rora, all key transcription factors in the Th17 cell
      gene-expression program. These findings indicate that activating signals
      influence the outcome of Th cell differentiation via differential regulation of
      mature microRNAs within a common cluster.

PMID- 28607113
TI  - Antigen Availability and DOCK2-Driven Motility Govern CD4+ T Cell Interactions
      with Dendritic Cells In Vivo.
AB  - Parenchymal migration of naive CD4+ T cells in lymph nodes (LNs) is mediated by
      the Rac activator DOCK2 and PI3Kgamma and is widely assumed to facilitate
      efficient screening of dendritic cells (DCs) presenting peptide-MHCs (pMHCs). Yet
      how CD4+ T cell motility, DC density, and pMHC levels interdependently regulate
      such interactions has not been comprehensively examined. Using intravital imaging
      of reactive LNs in DC-immunized mice, we show that pMHC levels determined the
      occurrence and timing of stable CD4+ T cell-DC interactions. Despite the
      variability in interaction parameters, ensuing CD4+ T cell proliferation was
      comparable over a wide range of pMHC levels. Unexpectedly, decreased intrinsic
      motility of DOCK2-/- CD4+ T cells did not impair encounters with DCs in dense
      paracortical networks and, instead, increased interaction stability, whereas
      PI3Kgamma deficiency had no effect on interaction parameters. In contrast,
      intravital and whole-organ imaging showed that DOCK2-driven T cell motility was
      required to detach from pMHClow DCs and to find rare pMHChigh DCs. In sum, our
      data uncover flexible signal integration by scanning CD4+ T cells, suggesting a
      search strategy evolved to detect low-frequency DCs presenting high cognate pMHC
      levels.

PMID- 28607115
TI  - Surface LAMP-2 Is an Endocytic Receptor That Diverts Antigen Internalized by
      Human Dendritic Cells into Highly Immunogenic Exosomes.
AB  - The lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP) family includes the dendritic
      cell endocytic receptors DC-LAMP and CD68, as well as LAMP-1 and LAMP-2. In this
      study we identify LAMP-1 (CD107a) and LAMP-2 (CD107b) on the surface of human
      monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDC) and show only LAMP-2 is internalized
      after ligation by specific Abs, including H4B4, and traffics rapidly but
      transiently to the MHC class II loading compartment, as does Ag conjugated to
      H4B4. However, pulsing MoDC with conjugates of primary (keyhole limpet
      hemocyanin; KLH) and recall (Bet v 1) Ags (H4B4*KLH and H4B4*Bet v 1) induced
      significantly less CD4 cell proliferation than pulsing with native Ag or Ag
      conjugated to control mAb (ISO*KLH and ISO*Bet v 1). In H4B4*KLH-pulsed MoDC, the
      duration of KLH residence in MHC class II loading compartments was significantly
      reduced, as were surface HLA-DR and DR-bound KLH-derived peptides. Paradoxically,
      MoDC pulsed with H4B4*KLH, but not the other KLH preparations, induced robust
      proliferation of CD4 cells separated from them by a transwell membrane,
      indicating factors in the supernatant were responsible. Furthermore,
      extracellular vesicles from supernatants of H4B4*KLH-pulsed MoDC contained
      significantly more HLA-DR and KLH than those purified from control MoDC, and KLH
      was concentrated specifically in exosomes that were a uniquely effective source
      of Ag in standard T cell proliferation assays. In summary, we identify LAMP-2 as
      an endocytic receptor on human MoDC that routes cargo into unusual Ag processing
      pathways, which reduces surface expression of Ag-derived peptides while
      selectively enriching Ag within immunogenic exosomes. This novel pathway has
      implications for the initiation of immune responses both locally and at distant
      sites.

PMID- 28607114
TI  - Varicella-Zoster Virus-Specific Cellular Immune Responses to the Live Attenuated
      Zoster Vaccine in Young and Older Adults.
AB  - The incidence and severity of herpes zoster (HZ) increases with age. The live
      attenuated zoster vaccine generates immune responses similar to HZ. We compared
      the immune responses to zoster vaccine in young and older to adults to increase
      our understanding of the immune characteristics that may contribute to the
      increased susceptibility to HZ in older adults. Young (25-40 y; n = 25) and older
      (60-80 y; n = 33) adults had similar magnitude memory responses to varicella
      zoster virus (VZV) ex vivo restimulation measured by responder cell-frequency and
      flow cytometry, but the responses were delayed in older compared with young
      adults. Only young adults had an increase in dual-function VZV-specific CD4+ and
      CD8+ T cell effectors defined by coexpression of IFN-gamma, IL-2, and CD107a
      after vaccination. In contrast, older adults showed marginal increases in VZV
      specific CD8+CD57+ senescent T cells after vaccination, which were already higher
      than those of young adults before vaccination. An increase in VZV-stimulated
      CD4+CD69+CD57+PD1+ and CD8+CD69+CD57+PD1+ T cells from baseline to
      postvaccination was associated with concurrent decreased VZV-memory and CD8+
      effector responses, respectively, in older adults. Blocking the PD1 pathway
      during ex vivo VZV restimulation increased the CD4+ and CD8+ proliferation, but
      not the effector cytokine production, which modestly increased with TIM-3
      blockade. We conclude that high proportions of senescent and exhausted VZV
      specific T cells in the older adults contribute to their poor effector responses
      to a VZV challenge. This may underlie their inability to contain VZV reactivation
      and prevent the development of HZ.

PMID- 28607117
TI  - Primary orthostatic tremor: is deep brain stimulation better than spinal cord
      stimulation?

PMID- 28607118
TI  - A step forward towards personalised immunosuppressive therapy in neuromyelitis
      optica spectrum disorder.

PMID- 28607116
TI  - Elimination of Babesia microti Is Dependent on Intraerythrocytic Killing and CD4+
      T Cells.
AB  - Babesiosis is a tick-borne zoonosis caused by protozoans of the genus Babesia,
      apicomplexan parasites that replicate within erythrocytes. However, unlike
      related Plasmodium species, the pathogenesis of Babesia infection remains poorly
      understood. The primary etiological agent of babesiosis in the United States is
      B. microti. In healthy individuals, tick-transmitted infection with Babesia
      causes no specific clinical manifestations, with many having no symptoms at all.
      However, even in asymptomatic people, a Babesia carriage state can be established
      that can last up to a year or more. Current blood bank screening methods do not
      identify infected donors, and Babesia parasites survive blood-banking procedures
      and storage. Thus, Babesia can also be transmitted by infected blood, and it is
      currently the number one cause of reportable transfusion-transmitted infection in
      the United States. Despite a significant impact on human health, B. microti
      remains understudied. In this study, we evaluated the course of Babesia infection
      in three strains of mice, C57BL/6J, BALB/cJ, and C3H-HeJ, and examined the
      contribution of multiple immune parameters, including TLRs, B cells, CD4+ cells,
      IFN-gamma, and NO, on the level of parasitemia and parasite clearance during
      acute babesiosis. We found that B. microti reaches high parasitemia levels during
      the first week of infection in all three mice strains before resolving
      spontaneously. Our results indicate that resolution of babesiosis requires CD4 T
      cells and a novel mechanism of parasite killing within infected erythrocytes.

PMID- 28607119
TI  - Geographical differences in preventative therapies for neuromyelitis optica
      spectrum disorder.

PMID- 28607120
TI  - Novel evidence associates higher plasma alpha-synuclein levels and cognitive
      impairment in Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28607121
TI  - A remotely supervised home-based aerobic exercise programme is feasible for
      patients with Parkinson's disease: results of a small randomised feasibility
      trial.

PMID- 28607122
TI  - Brian Webb.

PMID- 28607123
TI  - Plasma levels of intact and cleaved urokinase plasminogen activator receptor
      (uPAR) in men with clinically localised prostate cancer.
AB  - AIMS: Lymph node metastasis (N1) is an adverse prognostic factor for men with
      clinically localised prostate cancer (PCa), but the prediction of N1 disease
      remains difficult. Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) plays an
      important role in angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. We analysed whether plasma
      levels of the soluble uPAR forms uPAR(I-III), uPAR(II-III) and uPAR(I) were
      associated with the risk of N1 disease in men with clinically localised PCa.
      METHODS: The present study includes all men (n=518) who underwent radical
      prostatectomy (RP) for clinically localised PCa, 29 of whom had N1 disease.
      Soluble uPAR forms were measured using three time-resolved fluorescence
      immunoassays. The prognostic value of the different uPAR forms together with
      clinicopathological parameters for N1 disease were analysed using logistic
      regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) regression analysis and
      quantified using the areas under the ROC curve (AUC). RESULTS: All soluble uPAR
      levels were significantly (p=0.03) higher in patients with N1 disease compared
      with patients with N0/x disease. ROC curves including clinical tumour stage,
      biopsy Gleason score, prostate-specific antigen and percent positive biopsies had
      an AUC of 87.7% for prediction of N1 disease. With the addition of uPAR(I) to the
      model, the AUC increased to 88.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Addition of uPAR(I) level to
      known diagnostic parameters did not increase the prediction of N1 disease
      following RP in men with clinically localised PCa. Our results indicate that the
      plasma levels at diagnosis of the different uPAR forms do not hold important
      predictive or prognostic information in men with clinically localised PCa.

PMID- 28607124
TI  - Placental Vesicles Carry Active Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Their
      Activity is Reduced in Preeclampsia.
AB  - Preeclampsia, a multisystem hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, is associated
      with increased systemic vascular resistance. Placentae from patients with
      preeclampsia have reduced levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and,
      thus, less nitric oxide (NO). Syncytiotrophoblast extracellular vesicles (STBEV),
      comprising microvesicles (STBMV) and exosomes, carry signals from the
      syncytiotrophoblast to the mother. We hypothesized that STBEV-bound eNOS (STBEV
      eNOS), capable of producing NO, are released into the maternal circulation. Dual
      lobe ex vivo placental perfusion and differential centrifugation was used to
      isolate STBEV from preeclampsia (n=8) and normal pregnancies (NP; n=11). Plasma
      samples of gestational age-matched preeclampsia and NP (n=6) were used to isolate
      circulating STBMV. STBEV expressed placental alkaline phosphatase, confirming
      placental origin. STBEV coexpressed eNOS, but not inducible nitric oxide
      synthase, confirmed using Western blot, flow cytometry, and immunodepletion.
      STBEV-eNOS produced NO, which was significantly inhibited by N  G-nitro-l
      arginine methyl ester (eNOS inhibitor; P<0.05) but not by N-(3-(aminomethyl)
      bezyl) acetamidine) (inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor). STBEV-eNOS
      catalytic activity was confirmed by visualizing eNOS dimerization. STBEV-eNOS was
      more abundant in uterine vein compared with peripheral blood, indicating
      placental origin. STBEV isolated from preeclampsia-perfused placentae had lower
      levels of STBEV-eNOS (STBMV; P<0.05) and overall lower NO activity (STBMV, not
      significant; syncytiotrophoblast extracellular exosomes, P<0.05) compared with
      those from NP. Circulating plasma STBMV from preeclampsia women had lower STBEV
      eNOS expression compared with that from NP women (P<0.01). This is the first
      observation of functional eNOS expressed on STBEV from NP and preeclampsia
      placentae, as well as in plasma. The lower STBEV-eNOS NO production seen in
      preeclampsia may contribute to the decreased NO bioavailability in this disease.

PMID- 28607125
TI  - Effects of Folic Acid Therapy on the New-Onset Proteinuria in Chinese
      Hypertensive Patients: A Post Hoc Analysis of the Renal Substudy of CSPPT (China
      Stroke Primary Prevention Trial).
AB  - : We aimed to test the hypothesis that treatment with enalapril and folic acid is
      more effective in preventing new-onset proteinuria than enalapril alone among
      hypertensive patients. This is a post hoc analysis of the renal substudy of the
      CSPPT (China Stroke Primary Prevention Trial). A total of 13 071 eligible
      participants without proteinuria were randomized to receive a double-blind daily
      treatment of a single tablet containing 10-mg enalapril and 0.8-mg folic acid
      (n=6511) or 10-mg enalapril alone (n=6560). The primary outcome was new-onset
      proteinuria, defined as a urine dipstick reading of >=1+ at the exit visit.
      Secondary outcomes included a composite of the primary outcome and all-cause
      death and the annual rate of estimated glomerular filtration rate decline. After
      a median 4.4 years of treatment, the primary event occurred in 213 (3.9%) and 188
      (3.5%) participants, respectively, in the enalapril and the enalapril-folic acid
      group (odds ratio, 0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.74-1.11). However, among
      participants with diabetes mellitus at baseline, folic acid therapy resulted in a
      significant reduction in the risk for the primary event (3.7% in the enalapril
      folic acid group versus 7.4% in the enalapril group; odds ratio, 0.48; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.29-0.81) and the composite event (odds ratio, 0.62; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.42-0.92) and a 55% slower annual rate of estimated
      glomerular filtration rate decline (0.5% versus 1.1% per year; P=0.002). Among
      those without diabetes mellitus at baseline, there were no between-group
      differences in all the outcomes. In conclusion, enalapril-folic acid therapy,
      compared with enalapril alone, significantly reduced the development of
      proteinuria in diabetic patients with hypertension. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      URL: http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00794885.

PMID- 28607126
TI  - Mechanisms and Treatment of Halogen Inhalation-Induced Pulmonary and Systemic
      Injuries in Pregnant Mice.
AB  - Inhalation of oxidant gases has been implicated in adverse outcomes in pregnancy,
      but animal models to address mechanisms and studies to identify potential
      pregnancy-specific therapies are lacking. Herein, we show that inhalation of
      bromine at 600 parts per million for 30 minutes by pregnant mice on the 15th day
      of embryonic development results in significantly lower survival after 96 hours
      than an identical level of exposure in nonpregnant mice. On the 19th embryonic
      day, bromine-exposed pregnant mice have increased systemic blood pressure,
      abnormal placental development, severe fetal growth restriction, systemic
      inflammation, increased levels of circulating antiangiogenic short fms-like
      tyrosine kinase-1, and evidence of pulmonary and cardiac injury. Treatment with
      tadalafil, an inhibitor of type 5 phosphodiesterase, by oral gavage 1 hour post
      exposure and then once daily thereafter, attenuated systemic blood pressures,
      decreased inflammation, ameliorated pulmonary and cardiac injury, and improved
      maternal survival (from 36% to 80%) and fetal growth. These pathological changes
      resemble those seen in preeclampsia. Nonpregnant mice did not exhibit any of
      these pathological changes and were not affected by tadalafil. These findings
      suggest that pregnant women exposed to bromine may require particular attention
      and monitoring for signs of preeclampsia-like symptoms.

PMID- 28607127
TI  - Role of the Primary Cilia on the Macula Densa and Thick Ascending Limbs in
      Regulation of Sodium Excretion and Hemodynamics.
AB  - We investigated the significance of the primary cilia on the macula densa and
      thick ascending limb (TAL) in regulation of renal hemodynamics, sodium excretion,
      and blood pressure in this study. A tissue-specific primary cilia knock-out (KO)
      mouse line was generated by crossing NKCC2-Cre mice with IFT88-Delta/flox mice
      (NKCC2CRE; IFT88Delta/flox), in which the primary cilia were deleted from the
      macula densa and TAL. NO generation was measured with a fluorescent dye (4,5
      diaminofluorescein diacetate) in isolated perfused juxtaglomerular apparatus.
      Deletion of the cilia reduced NO production by 56% and 42% in the macula densa
      and TAL, respectively. NO generation by the macula densa was inhibited by both a
      nonselective and a selective nitric oxide synthesis inhibitors, whereas TAL
      produced NO was inhibited by a nonselective and not by a selective NO synthesis 1
      inhibitor. The tubuloglomerular feedback response was enhanced in the KO mice
      both in vitro measured with isolated perfused juxtaglomerular apparatuses and in
      vivo measured with micropuncture. In response to an acute volume expansion, the
      KO mice exhibited limited glomerular filtration rate elevation and impaired
      sodium excretion compared with the wild-type mice. The mean arterial pressure
      measured with telemetry was the same for wild-type and KO mice fed a normal salt
      diet. After a high salt diet, the mean arterial pressure increased by 17.4+/-1.6
      mm Hg in the KO mice. On the basis of these findings, we concluded that the
      primary cilia on the macula densa and TAL play an essential role in the control
      of sodium excretion and blood pressure.

PMID- 28607129
TI  - S1PR (Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor) Signaling in the Regulation of Vascular
      Tone and Blood Pressure: Is S1PR1 Doing the Trick?

PMID- 28607130
TI  - S1PR1 (Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor 1) Signaling Regulates Blood Flow and
      Pressure.
AB  - Nitric oxide is one of the major endothelial-derived vasoactive factors that
      regulate blood pressure (BP), and the bioactive lipid mediator S1P (sphingosine-1
      phosphate) is a potent activator of endothelial nitric oxide synthase through G
      protein-coupled receptors. Endothelial-derived S1P and the autocrine/paracrine
      activation of S1PR (S1P receptors) play an important role in preserving vascular
      functions and BP homeostasis. Furthermore, FTY720 (fingolimod), binding to 4 out
      of 5 S1PRs recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat
      autoimmune conditions, induces a modest and transient decrease in heart rate in
      both animals and humans, suggesting that drugs targeting sphingolipid signaling
      affect cardiovascular functions in vivo. However, the role of specific S1P
      receptors in BP homeostasis remains unknown. The aim of this study is to
      determine the role of the key vascular S1P receptors, namely, S1PR1 and S1PR3, in
      BP regulation in physiological and hypertensive conditions. The specific loss of
      endothelial S1PR1 decreases basal and stimulated endothelial-derived nitric oxide
      and resets BP to a higher-than-normal value. Interestingly, we identified a novel
      and important role for S1PR1 signaling in flow-mediated mechanotransduction.
      FTY720, acting as functional antagonist of S1PR1, markedly decreases endothelial
      S1PR1, increases BP in control mice, and exacerbates hypertension in angiotensin
      II mouse model, underlining the antihypertensive functions of S1PR1 signaling.
      Our study identifies S1P-S1PR1-nitric oxide signaling as a new regulatory pathway
      in vivo of vascular relaxation to flow and BP homeostasis, providing a novel
      therapeutic target for the treatment of hypertension.

PMID- 28607131
TI  - Trends in Prehypertension and Hypertension Risk Factors in US Adults: 1999-2012.
AB  - Prehypertension is associated with increased risk for hypertension and
      cardiovascular disease. Data are limited on the temporal changes in the
      prevalence of prehypertension and risk factors for hypertension and
      cardiovascular disease among US adults with prehypertension. We analyzed data
      from 30 958 US adults >=20 years of age who participated in the National Health
      and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 1999 and 2012. Using the mean of 3
      blood pressure (BP) measurements from a study examination, prehypertension was
      defined as systolic BP of 120 to 139 mm Hg and diastolic BP <90 mm Hg or
      diastolic BP of 80 to 89 mm Hg and systolic BP <140 mm Hg among participants not
      taking antihypertensive medication. Between 1999-2000 and 2011-2012, the
      percentage of US adults with prehypertension decreased from 31.2% to 28.2% (P
      trend=0.007). During this time period, the prevalence of several risk factors for
      cardiovascular disease and incident hypertension increased among US adults with
      prehypertension, including prediabetes (9.6% to 21.6%), diabetes mellitus (6.0%
      to 8.5%), overweight (33.5% to 37.3%), and obesity (30.6% to 35.2%). There was a
      nonstatistically significant increase in no weekly leisure-time physical activity
      (40.0% to 43.9%). Also, the prevalence of adhering to the Dietary Approaches to
      Stop Hypertension eating pattern decreased (18.4% to 11.9%). In contrast, there
      was a nonstatistically significant decline in current smoking (25.9% to 23.2%).
      In conclusion, the prevalence of prehypertension has decreased modestly since
      1999-2000. Population-level approaches directed at adults with prehypertension
      are needed to improve risk factors to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular
      disease.

PMID- 28607132
TI  - Impaired Muscle Oxygenation and Elevated Exercise Blood Pressure in Hypertensive
      Patients: Links With Vascular Stiffness.
AB  - This study examined in vivo (1) skeletal muscle oxygenation and microvascular
      function, at rest and during handgrip exercise, and (2) their association with
      macrovascular function and exercise blood pressure (BP), in newly diagnosed,
      never-treated patients with hypertension and normotensive individuals. Ninety-one
      individuals (51 hypertensives and 40 normotensives) underwent office and 24-hour
      ambulatory BP, arterial stiffness, and central aortic BP assessment, followed by
      a 5-minute arterial occlusion and a 3-minute submaximal handgrip exercise.
      Changes in muscle oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin and tissue oxygen
      saturation were continuously monitored by near-infrared spectroscopy and beat-by
      beat BP by Finapres. Hypertensives had higher (P<0.001) central aortic BP and
      pulse wave velocity versus normotensives and exhibited (1) a blunted tissue
      oxygen saturation response during occlusion, with slower (P=0.006) deoxygenation
      rate, suggesting reduced muscle oxidative capacity, and (2) a slower
      reoxygenation rate and blunted hyperemic response (P<0.05), showing reduced
      microvascular reactivity. Muscle oxygenation responses were correlated with
      aortic systolic and pulse pressure and augmentation index (P<0.05; age and body
      mass index (BMI) adjusted). When exercising at the same submaximal intensity,
      hypertensives required a significantly greater (P<0.001) increase in BP for
      achieving similar muscle oxygenation levels as normotensives. This response was
      correlated with the magnitude of microvascular hyperemia and aortic BP. In
      conclusion, nontreated patients with hypertension exhibit prominent reductions in
      in vivo indices of skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, suggestive of
      mitochondrial dysfunction, and blunted muscle microvascular reactivity. These
      dysfunctions were associated with higher aortic systolic BP and arterial
      stiffness. Dysregulations in muscle oxygen delivery/utilization and microvascular
      stiffness, in hypertensive patients, partially contribute to their exaggerated BP
      during exercise.

PMID- 28607128
TI  - Relationship of Hypertension to Coronary Atherosclerosis and Cardiac Events in
      Patients With Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography.
AB  - Hypertension is an atherosclerosis factor and is associated with cardiovascular
      risk. We investigated the relationship between hypertension and the presence,
      extent, and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in coronary computed tomographic
      angiography and cardiac events risk. Of 17 181 patients enrolled in the CONFIRM
      registry (Coronary CT Angiography Evaluation for Clinical Outcomes: An
      International Multicenter Registry) who underwent >=64-detector row coronary
      computed tomographic angiography, we identified 14 803 patients without known
      coronary artery disease. Of these, 1434 hypertensive patients were matched to
      1434 patients without hypertension. Major adverse cardiac events risk of
      hypertension and non-hypertensive patients was evaluated with Cox proportional
      hazards models. The prognostic associations between hypertension and no
      hypertension with increasing degree of coronary stenosis severity (nonobstructive
      or obstructive >=50%) and extent of coronary artery disease (segment involvement
      score of 1-5, >5) was also assessed. Hypertension patients less commonly had no
      coronary atherosclerosis and more commonly had nonobstructive and 1-, 2-, and 3
      vessel disease than the no-hypertension group. During a mean follow-up of 5.2+/
      1.2 years, 180 patients experienced cardiac events, with 104 (2.0%) occurring in
      the hypertension group and 76 (1.5%) occurring in the no-hypertension group
      (hazard ratios, 1.4; 95% confidence intervals, 1.0-1.9). Compared with no
      hypertension patients without coronary atherosclerosis, hypertension patients
      with no coronary atherosclerosis and obstructive coronary disease tended to have
      higher risk of cardiac events. Similar trends were observed with respect to
      extent of coronary artery disease. Compared with no-hypertension patients,
      hypertensive patients have increased presence, extent, and severity of coronary
      atherosclerosis and tend to have an increase in major adverse cardiac events.

PMID- 28607135
TI  - Spotlight on the June 13 issue.

PMID- 28607136
TI  - Square patches of light remember you.

PMID- 28607133
TI  - Loss of thymic innate lymphoid cells leads to impaired thymopoiesis in
      experimental graft-versus-host disease.
AB  - Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and posttransplant immunodeficiency are
      frequently related complications of allogeneic hematopoietic transplantation.
      Alloreactive donor T cells can damage thymic epithelium, thus limiting new T-cell
      development. Although the thymus has a remarkable capacity to regenerate after
      injury, endogenous thymic regeneration is impaired in GVHD. The mechanisms
      leading to this regenerative failure are largely unknown. Here we demonstrate in
      experimental mouse models that GVHD results in depletion of intrathymic group 3
      innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) necessary for thymic regeneration. Loss of thymic
      ILC3s resulted in deficiency of intrathymic interleukin-22 (IL-22) compared with
      transplant recipients without GVHD, thereby inhibiting IL-22-mediated protection
      of thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and impairing recovery of thymopoiesis.
      Conversely, abrogating IL-21 receptor signaling in donor T cells and inhibiting
      the elimination of thymic ILCs improved thymopoiesis in an IL-22-dependent
      fashion. We found that the thymopoietic impairment in GVHD associated with loss
      of ILCs could be improved by restoration of IL-22 signaling. Despite uninhibited
      alloreactivity, exogenous IL-22 administration posttransplant resulted in
      increased recovery of thymopoiesis and development of new thymus-derived
      peripheral T cells. Our study highlights the role of innate immune function in
      thymic regeneration and restoration of adaptive immunity posttransplant.
      Manipulation of the ILC-IL-22-TEC axis may be useful for augmenting immune
      reconstitution after clinical hematopoietic transplantation and other settings of
      T-cell deficiency.

PMID- 28607138
TI  - Editors' Note.

PMID- 28607137
TI  - A prepontine subarachnoid abscess by Escherichia coli.

PMID- 28607139
TI  - Letter re: Practice guideline summary: Treatment of restless legs syndrome in
      adults: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation
      Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology.

PMID- 28607134
TI  - Dysfunctional diversity of p53 proteins in adult acute myeloid leukemia:
      projections on diagnostic workup and therapy.
AB  - The heterogeneous nature of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its poor prognosis
      necessitate therapeutic improvement. Current advances in AML research yield
      important insights regarding AML genetic, epigenetic, evolutional, and clinical
      diversity, all in which dysfunctional p53 plays a key role. As p53 is central to
      hematopoietic stem cell functions, its aberrations affect AML evolution, biology,
      and therapy response and usually predict poor prognosis. While in human solid
      tumors TP53 is mutated in more than half of cases, TP53 mutations occur in less
      than one tenth of de novo AML cases. Nevertheless, wild-type (wt) p53 dysfunction
      due to nonmutational p53 abnormalities appears to be rather frequent in various
      AML entities, bearing, presumably, a greater impact than is currently
      appreciated. Hereby, we advocate assessment of adult AML with respect to
      coexisting p53 alterations. Accordingly, we focus not only on the effects of
      mutant p53 oncogenic gain of function but also on the mechanisms underlying
      nonmutational wtp53 inactivation, which might be of therapeutic relevance.
      Patient-specific TP53 genotyping with functional evaluation of p53 protein may
      contribute significantly to the precise assessment of p53 status in AML, thus
      leading to the tailoring of a rationalized and precision p53-based therapy. The
      resolution of the mechanisms underlying p53 dysfunction will better address the
      p53-targeted therapies that are currently considered for AML. Additionally, a
      suggested novel algorithm for p53-based diagnostic workup in AML is presented,
      aiming at facilitating the p53-based therapeutic choices.

PMID- 28607140
TI  - Author response: Practice guideline summary: Treatment of restless legs syndrome
      in adults: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation
      Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology.

PMID- 28607141
TI  - Letter re: Gram-negative bacterial molecules associate with Alzheimer disease
      pathology.

PMID- 28607142
TI  - Author response: Gram-negative bacterial molecules associate with Alzheimer
      disease pathology.

PMID- 28607143
TI  - Education Research: Positive effect of scheduled faculty modeling on clerkship
      student bedside skills exposure and learning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of scheduled bedside skills modeling for third
      year medical students on their neurology clerkship. METHODS: During the 2012-2014
      academic years, 56 third-year medical students participated in a curricular pilot
      program involving a scheduled bedside skills modeling experience during the first
      week of their neurology clerkship, whereas 131 students underwent the typical
      rotation. The experience consisted of observing a faculty member conduct a
      comprehensive encounter on a new outpatient. To promote active learning, students
      were provided an observation guide to document questions and observations. An
      anonymous survey was conducted at the end of each clerkship block assessing
      student exposure to bedside skills modeling. Using qualitative thematic analysis,
      observation guide statements were transcribed and coded into emergent learning
      themes. RESULTS: A total of 57.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 43.3%-71.5%) of
      students in the modeling group reported observing both a comprehensive history
      and neurologic examination vs 37.5% (95% CI 28.2%-46.8%) in the nonmodeling
      groups (p = 0.023). A total of 253 observation statements were transcribed and
      coded from the observation guides. The most common learning themes included (1)
      strategies for performing a neurologic examination, (2) techniques for eliciting
      a neurologic history, and (3) importance of detail and thoroughness of the
      history and examination. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that there was a
      significant increase in structured observation by students of neurologic bedside
      skills with the inclusion of a scheduled modeling experience, and we provide a
      qualitative description of the most common learning themes associated with this
      experience.

PMID- 28607144
TI  - Clinical Reasoning: Acute onset facial droop in a 36-year-old pregnant woman.

PMID- 28607145
TI  - Pearls & Oy-sters: Retrievable and awake: A case report of solitaire stent
      employment for venous pulsatile tinnitus.

PMID- 28607147
TI  - Loss of the clock protein PER2 shortens the erythrocyte life span in mice.
AB  - Cell proliferation and release from the bone marrow have been demonstrated to be
      controlled by circadian rhythms in both humans and mice. However, it is unclear
      whether local circadian clocks in the bone marrow influence physiological
      functions and life span of erythrocytes. Here, we report that loss of the clock
      gene Per2 significantly decreased erythrocyte life span. Mice deficient in Per2
      were more susceptible to acute stresses in the erythrocytes, becoming severely
      anemic upon phenylhydrazine, osmotic, and H2O2 challenges. 1H NMR-based
      metabolomics analysis revealed that the Per2 depletion causes significant changes
      in metabolic profiles of erythrocytes, including increased lactate and decreased
      ATP levels compared with wild-type mice. The lower ATP levels were associated
      with hyperfunction of Na+/K+-ATPase activity in Per2-null erythrocytes, and
      inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase activity by ouabain efficiently rescued ATP levels.
      Per2-null mice displayed increased levels of Na+/K+-ATPase alpha1 (ATP1A1) in the
      erythrocyte membrane, and transfection of Per2 cDNA into the erythroleukemic cell
      line TF-1 inhibited Atp1a1 expression. Furthermore, we observed that PER2
      regulates Atp1a1 transcription through interacting with trans-acting
      transcription factor 1 (SP1). Our findings reveal that Per2 function in the bone
      marrow is required for the regulation of life span in circulating erythrocytes.

PMID- 28607146
TI  - Epigenetic Transcriptional Memory of GAL Genes Depends on Growth in Glucose and
      the Tup1 Transcription Factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Previously expressed inducible genes can remain poised for faster reactivation
      for multiple cell divisions, a conserved phenomenon called epigenetic
      transcriptional memory. The GAL genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae show faster
      reactivation for up to seven generations after being repressed. During memory,
      previously produced Gal1 protein enhances the rate of reactivation of GAL1,
      GAL10, GAL2, and GAL7 These genes also interact with the nuclear pore complex
      (NPC) and localize to the nuclear periphery both when active and during memory.
      Peripheral localization of GAL1 during memory requires the Gal1 protein, a memory
      specific cis-acting element in the promoter, and the NPC protein Nup100 However,
      unlike other examples of transcriptional memory, the interaction with NPC is not
      required for faster GAL gene reactivation. Rather, downstream of Gal1, the Tup1
      transcription factor and growth in glucose promote GAL transcriptional memory.
      Cells only show signs of memory and only benefit from memory when growing in
      glucose. Tup1 promotes memory-specific chromatin changes at the GAL1 promoter:
      incorporation of histone variant H2A.Z and dimethylation of histone H3, lysine 4.
      Tup1 and H2A.Z function downstream of Gal1 to promote binding of a preinitiation
      form of RNA Polymerase II at the GAL1 promoter, poising the gene for faster
      reactivation. This mechanism allows cells to integrate a previous experience
      (growth in galactose, reflected by Gal1 levels) with current conditions (growth
      in glucose, potentially through Tup1 function) to overcome repression and to
      poise critical GAL genes for future reactivation.

PMID- 28607148
TI  - Autophagy downstream of endosomal Toll-like receptor signaling in macrophages is
      a key mechanism for resistance to Leishmania major infection.
AB  - Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania In
      mammalians, these parasites survive and replicate in macrophages and parasite
      elimination by macrophages is critical for host resistance. Endosomal Toll-like
      receptors (TLRs) have been shown to be crucial for resistance to Leishmania major
      in vivo For example, mice in the resistant C57BL/6 genetic background that are
      triple-deficient for TLR3, -7, and -9 (Tlr3/7/9-/-) are highly susceptible to L.
      major infection. Tlr3/7/9-/- mice are as susceptible as mice deficient in MyD88
      or UNC93B1, a chaperone required for appropriate localization of endosomal TLRs,
      but the mechanisms are unknown. Here we found that macrophages infected with L.
      major undergo autophagy, which effectively accounted for restriction of parasite
      replication. Signaling via endosomal TLRs was required for autophagy because
      macrophages deficient for TLR3, -7, and 9, UNC93B1, or MyD88 failed to undergo L.
      major-induced autophagy. We also confirmed that Myd88-/-, Tlr3/7/9-/-, and
      Unc93b1-/- cells were highly permissive to L. major replication. Accordingly,
      shRNA-mediated suppression of Atg5, an E3 ubiquitin ligase essential for
      autophagosome elongation, in macrophages impaired the restriction of L. major
      replication in C57BL/6, but did not affect parasite replication in Myd88-/- or
      Unc93b1-/- macrophages. Rapamycin treatment reduced inflammatory lesions formed
      in the ears of Leishmania-infected C57BL/6 and Tlr3/7/9-/- mice, indicating that
      autophagy operates downstream of TLR signaling and is relevant for disease
      development in vivo Collectively, our results indicate that autophagy contributes
      to macrophage resistance to L. major replication, and mechanistically explain the
      previously described endosomal TLR-mediated resistance to L. major infection.

PMID- 28607149
TI  - Polycomb repressive complex 2 in an autoinhibited state.
AB  - Polycomb-group proteins control many fundamental biological processes, such as
      anatomical development in mammals and vernalization in plants. Polycomb
      repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is responsible for methylation of histone H3 lysine
      27 (H3K27), and trimethylated H3K27 (H3K27me3) is implicated in epigenetic gene
      silencing. Recent genomic, biochemical, and structural data indicate that PRC2 is
      broadly conserved from yeast to human in many aspects. Here, we determined the
      crystal structure of an apo-PRC2 from the fungus Chaetomium thermophilum captured
      in a bona fide autoinhibited state, which represents a novel conformation of PRC2
      associated with enzyme regulation in light of the basal and stimulated states
      that we reported previously. We found that binding by the cofactor S
      adenosylmethionine mitigates this autoinhibited structural state. Using steady
      state enzyme kinetics, we also demonstrated that disrupting the autoinhibition
      results in a vastly activated enzyme complex. Autoinhibition provides a novel
      structural platform that may enable control of PRC2 activity in response to
      diverse transcriptional states and chromatin contexts and set a ground state to
      allow PRC2 activation by other cellular mechanisms as well.

PMID- 28607150
TI  - Wnt3a induces the expression of acetylcholinesterase during osteoblast
      differentiation via the Runx2 transcription factor.
AB  - Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) hydrolyzes acetylcholine to terminate cholinergic
      transmission in neurons. Apart from this AChE activity, emerging evidence
      suggests that AChE could also function in other, non-neuronal cells. For
      instance, in bone, AChE exists as a proline-rich membrane anchor (PRiMA)-linked
      globular form in osteoblasts, in which it is proposed to play a noncholinergic
      role in differentiation. However, this hypothesis is untested. Here, we found
      that in cultured rat osteoblasts, AChE expression was increased in parallel with
      osteoblastic differentiation. Because several lines of evidence indicate that
      AChE activity in osteoblast could be triggered by Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, we
      added recombinant human Wnt3a to cultured osteoblasts and found that this
      addition induced expression of the ACHE gene and protein product. This Wnt3a
      induced AChE expression was blocked by the Wnt-signaling inhibitor Dickkopf
      protein-1 (DKK-1). We hypothesized that the Runt-related transcription factor 2
      (Runx2), a downstream transcription factor in Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, is
      involved in AChE regulation in osteoblasts, confirmed by the identification of a
      Runx2-binding site in the ACHE gene promoter, further corroborated by ChIP. Of
      note, Runx2 overexpression in osteoblasts induced AChE expression and activity of
      the ACHE promoter tagged with the luciferase gene. Moreover, deletion of the
      Runx2-binding site in the ACHE promoter reduced its activity during osteoblastic
      differentiation, and addition of 5-azacytidine and trichostatin A to
      differentiating osteoblasts affected AChE expression, suggesting epigenetic
      regulation of the ACHE gene. We conclude that AChE plays a role in osteoblastic
      differentiation and is regulated by both Wnt3a and Runx2.

PMID- 28607152
TI  - Margaret McCartney: Remember that doctors are more trusted than journalists.

PMID- 28607153
TI  - 2017 ACC/AHA/HFSA/ISHLT/ACP Advanced Training Statement on Advanced Heart Failure
      and Transplant Cardiology (Revision of the ACCF/AHA/ACP/HFSA/ISHLT 2010 Clinical
      Competence Statement on Management of Patients With Advanced Heart Failure and
      Cardiac Transplant): A Report of the ACC Competency Management Committee.

PMID- 28607151
TI  - The transcriptional co-repressor TLE3 regulates myogenic differentiation by
      repressing the activity of the MyoD transcription factor.
AB  - Satellite cells are skeletal muscle stem cells that provide myonuclei for
      postnatal muscle growth, maintenance, and repair/regeneration in adults.
      Normally, satellite cells are mitotically quiescent, but they are activated in
      response to muscle injury, in which case they proliferate extensively and exhibit
      up-regulated expression of the transcription factor MyoD, a master regulator of
      myogenesis. MyoD forms a heterodimer with E proteins through their basic helix
      loop-helix domain, binds to E boxes in the genome and thereby activates
      transcription at muscle-specific promoters. The central role of MyoD in muscle
      differentiation has increased interest in finding potential MyoD regulators. Here
      we identified transducin-like enhancer of split (TLE3), one of the Groucho/TLE
      family members, as a regulator of MyoD function during myogenesis. TLE3 was
      expressed in activated and proliferative satellite cells in which increased TLE3
      levels suppressed myogenic differentiation, and, conversely, reduced TLE3 levels
      promoted myogenesis with a concomitant increase in proliferation. We found that,
      via its glutamine- and serine/proline-rich domains, TLE3 interferes with MyoD
      function by disrupting the association between the basic helix-loop-helix domain
      of MyoD and E proteins. Our findings indicate that TLE3 participates in skeletal
      muscle homeostasis by dampening satellite cell differentiation via repression of
      MyoD transcriptional activity.

PMID- 28607156
TI  - Neoliberal policies threaten the FDA's regulatory mission.

PMID- 28607157
TI  - Anaerobic Cysteine Degradation and Potential Metabolic Coordination in Salmonella
      enterica and Escherichia coli.
AB  - Salmonella enterica has two CyuR-activated enzymes that degrade cysteine, i.e.,
      the aerobic CdsH and an unidentified anaerobic enzyme; Escherichia coli has only
      the latter. To identify the anaerobic enzyme, transcript profiling was performed
      for E. coli without cyuR and with overexpressed cyuR Thirty-seven genes showed at
      least 5-fold changes in expression, and the cyuPA (formerly yhaOM) operon showed
      the greatest difference. Homology suggested that CyuP and CyuA represent a
      cysteine transporter and an iron-sulfur-containing cysteine desulfidase,
      respectively. E. coli and S. enterica DeltacyuA mutants grown with cysteine
      generated substantially less sulfide and had lower growth yields. Oxygen affected
      the CyuR-dependent genes reciprocally; cyuP-lacZ expression was greater
      anaerobically, whereas cdsH-lacZ expression was greater aerobically. In E. coli
      and S. enterica, anaerobic cyuP expression required cyuR and cysteine and was
      induced by l-cysteine, d-cysteine, and a few sulfur-containing compounds. Loss of
      either CyuA or RidA, both of which contribute to cysteine degradation to
      pyruvate, increased cyuP-lacZ expression, which suggests that CyuA modulates
      intracellular cysteine concentrations. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CyuA
      homologs are present in obligate and facultative anaerobes, confirming an
      anaerobic function, and in archaeal methanogens and bacterial acetogens,
      suggesting an ancient origin. Our results show that CyuA is the major anaerobic
      cysteine-catabolizing enzyme in both E. coli and S. enterica, and it is proposed
      that anaerobic cysteine catabolism can contribute to coordination of sulfur
      assimilation and amino acid synthesis.IMPORTANCE Sulfur-containing compounds such
      as cysteine and sulfide are essential and reactive metabolites. Exogenous sulfur
      containing compounds can alter the thiol landscape and intracellular redox
      reactions and are known to affect several cellular processes, including swarming
      motility, antibiotic sensitivity, and biofilm formation. Cysteine inhibits
      several enzymes of amino acid synthesis; therefore, increasing cysteine
      concentrations could increase the levels of the inhibited enzymes. This
      inhibition implies that control of intracellular cysteine levels, which is the
      immediate product of sulfide assimilation, can affect several pathways and
      coordinate metabolism. For these and other reasons, cysteine and sulfide
      concentrations must be controlled, and this work shows that cysteine catabolism
      contributes to this control.

PMID- 28607158
TI  - The Two-Component Signal Transduction System VxrAB Positively Regulates Vibrio
      cholerae Biofilm Formation.
AB  - Two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs), typically composed of a sensor
      histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator (RR), are the primary mechanism by
      which pathogenic bacteria sense and respond to extracellular signals. The
      pathogenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae is no exception and harbors 52 RR genes.
      Using in-frame deletion mutants of each RR gene, we performed a systematic
      analysis of their role in V. cholerae biofilm formation. We determined that 7 RRs
      impacted the expression of an essential biofilm gene and found that the recently
      characterized RR, VxrB, regulates the expression of key structural and regulatory
      biofilm genes in V. choleraevxrB is part of a 5-gene operon, which contains the
      cognate HK vxrA and three genes of unknown function. Strains carrying DeltavxrA
      and DeltavxrB mutations are deficient in biofilm formation, while the DeltavxrC
      mutation enhances biofilm formation. The overexpression of VxrB led to a decrease
      in motility. We also observed a small but reproducible effect of the absence of
      VxrB on the levels of cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP). Our work reveals a new function
      for the Vxr TCS as a regulator of biofilm formation and suggests that this
      regulation may act through key biofilm regulators and the modulation of cellular
      c-di-GMP levels.IMPORTANCE Biofilms play an important role in the Vibrio cholerae
      life cycle, providing protection from environmental stresses and contributing to
      the transmission of V. cholerae to the human host. V. cholerae can utilize two
      component systems (TCS), composed of a histidine kinase (HK) and a response
      regulator (RR), to regulate biofilm formation in response to external cues. We
      performed a systematic analysis of V. cholerae RRs and identified a new regulator
      of biofilm formation, VxrB. We demonstrated that the VxrAB TCS is essential for
      robust biofilm formation and that this system may regulate biofilm formation via
      its regulation of key biofilm regulators and cyclic di-GMP levels. This research
      furthers our understanding of the role that TCSs play in the regulation of V.
      cholerae biofilm formation.

PMID- 28607159
TI  - Mechanisms of pyocyanin toxicity and genetic determinants of resistance in
      Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are commonly isolated from
      polymicrobial infections, such as wound infections and chronic respiratory
      infections of persons with cystic fibrosis. Despite their co-isolation, P.
      aeruginosa produces substances toxic to S. aureus, including pyocyanin, a blue
      pigmented molecule that functions in P. aeruginosa virulence. Pyocyanin inhibits
      S. aureus respiration, forcing it to derive energy from fermentation and adopt a
      small colony variant (SCV) phenotype. The mechanisms by which S. aureus sustains
      infection in the presence of pyocyanin are not clear. We sought to clarify the
      mechanisms of pyocyanin toxicity in S. aureus as well as identify the
      staphylococcal factors involved in resistance to pyocyanin toxicity. Non
      respiring S. aureus SCVs are inhibited by pyocyanin through pyocyanin-dependent
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, indicating that pyocyanin toxicity is
      mediated through respiratory inhibition and ROS generation. Selection on
      pyocyanin yielded a menadione auxotrophic SCV capable of growth on high
      concentrations of pyocyanin. Genome sequencing of this isolate identified
      mutations in four genes including saeS, menD, NWMN_0006, and qsrR QsrR is a
      quinone-sensing repressor of quinone detoxification genes. Inactivation of qsrR
      resulted in significant pyocyanin resistance and additional pyocyanin resistance
      was achieved through combined inactivation of qsrR and menadione biosynthesis.
      Pyocyanin-resistant S. aureus has enhanced capability to inactivate pyocyanin,
      suggesting QsrR-regulated gene products may degrade pyocyanin to alleviate
      toxicity. These findings demonstrate pyocyanin-mediated ROS generation as an
      additional mechanism of pyocyanin toxicity, and define QsrR as a key mediator of
      pyocyanin resistance in S. aureusImportance Many bacterial infections occur in
      the presence of other microbes, where interactions between different microbes and
      the host impact disease. In patients with cystic fibrosis, chronic lung infection
      with multiple microbes results in the most severe disease manifestations.
      Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are prevalent CF pathogens, and
      infection with both is associated with worse outcomes. These organisms have
      evolved mechanisms of competing with one another. For example, P. aeruginosa
      produces pyocyanin which inhibits S. aureus growth. Our research has identified
      how pyocyanin inhibits S. aureus growth and how S. aureus can adapt to survive in
      the presence of pyocyanin. Understanding how S. aureus sustains infection in the
      presence of P. aeruginosa may identify means of disrupting these microbial
      communities.

PMID- 28607160
TI  - A priA Mutant Expressed in Two Pieces Has Almost Full Activity in Escherichia
      coli K-12.
AB  - The ability to restart broken DNA replication forks is essential across all
      domains of life. In Escherichia coli, the priA, priB, priC, and dnaT genes encode
      the replication restart proteins (RRPs) to accomplish this task. PriA plays a
      critical role in replication restart such that its absence reveals a dramatic
      phenotype: poor growth, high basal levels of SOS expression, poorly partitioned
      nucleoids (Par-), UV sensitivity, and recombination deficiency (Rec-). PriA has
      733 amino acids, and its structure is composed of six domains that enable it to
      bind to DNA replication fork-like structures, remodel the strands of DNA,
      interact with SSB (single-stranded DNA binding protein), PriB, and DnaT, and
      display ATPase, helicase, and translocase activities. We have characterized a new
      priA mutation called priA316::cat It is a composite mutation involving an
      insertion that truncates the protein within the winged-helix domain (at the 154th
      codon) and an ACG (Thr)-to-ATG (Met) mutation that allows reinitiation of
      translation at the 157th codon such that PriA is expressed in two pieces.
      priA316::cat phenotypes are like those of the wild type for growth,
      recombination, and UV resistance, revealing only a slightly increased level of
      SOS expression and defects in nucleoid partitioning in the mutant. Both parts of
      PriA are required for activity, and the N-terminal fragment can be optimized to
      yield wild-type activity. A deletion of the lon protease suppresses priA316::cat
      phenotypes. We hypothesize the two parts of PriA form a complex that supplies
      most of the PriA activity needed in the cell.IMPORTANCE PriA is a highly
      conserved multifunctional protein that plays a crucial role in the essential
      process of replication restart. Here we characterize an insertion mutation of
      priA with an intragenic suppressor such that it is now made in two parts. These
      two pieces split the winged-helix domain to separate the N-terminal 3' DNA
      binding domain from the C-terminal domain of PriA. It is hypothesized that the
      two pieces form a complex that is capable of almost wild type priA function. The
      composite mutation leads to a moderate level of SOS expression and defects in
      partitioning of the chromosomes. Full function is restored by deletion of lon,
      suggesting that stability of this complex may be a reason for the partial
      phenotypes seen.

PMID- 28607161
TI  - Uncharacterized bacterial structures revealed by electron cryotomography.
AB  - Electron cryotomography (ECT) can reveal the native structure and arrangement of
      macromolecular complexes inside intact cells. This technique has greatly advanced
      our understanding of the ultrastructure of bacterial cells. Rather than
      undifferentiated bags of enzymes, we now view bacteria as structurally complex
      assemblies of macromolecular machines. To date, our group has applied ECT to
      nearly 90 different bacterial species, collecting more than 15,000 cryotomograms.
      In addition to known structures, we have observed several, to our knowledge,
      uncharacterized features in these tomograms. Some are completely novel
      structures; others expand the features or species range of known structure types.
      Here we present a survey of these uncharacterized bacterial structures in the
      hopes of accelerating their identification and study, and furthering our
      understanding of the structural complexity of bacterial cells.IMPORTANCE Bacteria
      are more structurally complex than is commonly appreciated and we present here a
      number of interesting structures that will initiate new lines of research
      investigating their identities and roles.

PMID- 28607163
TI  - Emergency interventions for the treatment of decompensated aortic stenosis.

PMID- 28607162
TI  - Impact of age on the association between cardiac high-energy phosphate metabolism
      and cardiac power in women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Diminished cardiac high-energy phosphate metabolism (phosphocreatine
      to-ATP (PCr:ATP) ratio) and cardiac power with age may play an important roles in
      development of cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. The study defines the
      impact of age on PCr:ATP ratio and cardiac power and their relationship. METHODS:
      Thirty-five healthy women (young<=50 years, n=20; and old>=60 years, n=15)
      underwent cardiac MRI with 31P spectroscopy to assess PCr:ATP ratio and performed
      maximal graded cardiopulmonary exercise testing with simultaneous gas-exchange
      and central haemodynamic measurements. Peak cardiac power output, as the best
      measure of pumping capability and performance of the heart, was calculated as the
      product of peak exercise cardiac output and mean arterial blood pressure.
      RESULTS: PCr:ATP ratio was significantly lower in old compared with young age
      group (1.92+/-0.48 vs 2.29+/-0.55, p=0.03), as were peak cardiac power output
      (3.35+/-0.73 vs 4.14+/-0.81W, p=0.01), diastolic function (ie, early-to-late
      diastolic filling ratio, 1.33+/-0.54 vs 3.07+/-1.84, p<0.01) and peak exercise
      oxygen consumption (1382.9+/-255.0 vs 1940.3+/-434.4 mL/min, p<0.01). Further
      analysis revealed that PCr:ATP ratio shows a significant positive relationship
      with early-to-late diastolic filling ratio (r=0.46, p=0.02), peak cardiac power
      output (r=0.44, p=0.02) and peak oxygen consumption (r=0.51, p=0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: High-energy phosphate metabolism and peak power of the heart decline
      with age. Significant positive relationship between PCr:ATP ratio, early-to-late
      diastolic filling ratio and peak cardiac power output suggests that cardiac high
      energy phosphate metabolism may be an important determinant of cardiac function
      and performance.

PMID- 28607164
TI  - Cochrane Corner: stem cell therapy for chronic ischaemic heart disease and
      congestive heart failure.

PMID- 28607165
TI  - The Cumulative Effects of Predictability on Synaptic Gain in the Auditory
      Processing Stream.
AB  - Stimulus predictability can lead to substantial modulations of brain activity,
      such as shifts in sustained magnetic field amplitude, measured with
      magnetoencephalography (MEG). Here, we provide a mechanistic explanation of these
      effects using MEG data acquired from healthy human volunteers (N = 13, 7 female).
      In a source-level analysis of induced responses, we established the effects of
      orthogonal predictability manipulations of rapid tone-pip sequences (namely,
      sequence regularity and alphabet size) along the auditory processing stream. In
      auditory cortex, regular sequences with smaller alphabets induced greater gamma
      activity. Furthermore, sequence regularity shifted induced activity in frontal
      regions toward higher frequencies. To model these effects in terms of the
      underlying neurophysiology, we used dynamic causal modeling for cross-spectral
      density and estimated slow fluctuations in neural (postsynaptic) gain. Using the
      model-based parameters, we accurately explain the sensor-level sustained field
      amplitude, demonstrating that slow changes in synaptic efficacy, combined with
      sustained sensory input, can result in profound and sustained effects on neural
      responses to predictable sensory streams.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Brain activity
      can be strongly modulated by the predictability of stimuli it is currently
      processing. An example of such a modulation is a shift in sustained magnetic
      field amplitude, measured with magnetoencephalography. Here, we provide a
      mechanistic explanation of these effects. First, we establish the oscillatory
      neural correlates of independent predictability manipulations in hierarchically
      distinct areas of the auditory processing stream. Next, we use a biophysically
      realistic computational model to explain these effects in terms of the underlying
      neurophysiology. Finally, using the model-based parameters describing neural gain
      modulation, we can explain the previously unexplained effects observed at the
      sensor level. This demonstrates that slow modulations of synaptic gain can result
      in profound and sustained effects on neural activity.

PMID- 28607166
TI  - Unique versus Redundant Functions of Neuroligin Genes in Shaping Excitatory and
      Inhibitory Synapse Properties.
AB  - Neuroligins are evolutionarily conserved postsynaptic cell adhesion molecules
      that interact with presynaptic neurexins. Neurons express multiple neuroligin
      isoforms that are targeted to specific synapses, but their synaptic functions and
      mechanistic redundancy are not completely understood. Overexpression or RNAi
      mediated knockdown of neuroligins, respectively, causes a dramatic increase or
      decrease in synapse density, whereas genetic deletions of neuroligins impair
      synapse function with only minor effects on synapse numbers, raising fundamental
      questions about the overall physiological role of neuroligins. Here, we have
      systematically analyzed the effects of conditional genetic deletions of all major
      neuroligin isoforms (i.e., NL1, NL2, and NL3), either individually or in
      combinations, in cultured mouse hippocampal and cortical neurons. We found that
      conditional genetic deletions of neuroligins caused no change or only a small
      change in synapses numbers, but strongly impaired synapse function. This
      impairment was isoform specific, suggesting that neuroligins are not functionally
      redundant. Sparse neuroligin deletions produced phenotypes comparable to those of
      global deletions, indicating that neuroligins function in a cell-autonomous
      manner. Mechanistically, neuroligin deletions decreased the synaptic levels of
      neurotransmitter receptors and had no effect on presynaptic release
      probabilities. Overexpression of neuroligin-1 in control or neuroligin-deficient
      neurons increased synaptic transmission and synapse density but not spine
      numbers, suggesting that these effects reflect a gain-of-function mechanism;
      whereas overexpression of neuroligin-3, which, like neuroligin-1 is also targeted
      to excitatory synapses, had no comparable effect. Our data demonstrate that
      neuroligins are required for the physiological organization of neurotransmitter
      receptors in postsynaptic specializations and suggest that they do not play a
      major role in synapse formation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Human neuroligin genes
      have been associated with autism, but the cellular functions of different
      neuroligins and their molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here,
      we performed comparative analyses in cultured mouse neurons of all major
      neuroligin isoforms, either individually or in combinations, using conditional
      knockouts. We found that neuroligin deletions did not affect synapse numbers but
      differentially impaired excitatory or inhibitory synaptic functions in an isoform
      specific manner. These impairments were due, at least in part, to a decrease in
      synaptic distribution of neurotransmitter receptors upon deletion of neuroligins.
      Conversely, the overexpression of neuroligin-1 increased synapse numbers but not
      spine numbers. Our results suggest that various neuroligin isoforms perform
      unique postsynaptic functions in organizing synapses but are not essential for
      synapse formation or maintenance.

PMID- 28607167
TI  - The Role of CREB, SRF, and MEF2 in Activity-Dependent Neuronal Plasticity in the
      Visual Cortex.
AB  - The transcription factors CREB (cAMP response element binding factor), SRF (serum
      response factor), and MEF2 (myocyte enhancer factor 2) play critical roles in the
      mechanisms underlying neuronal plasticity. However, the role of the activation of
      these transcription factors in the different components of plasticity in vivo is
      not well known. In this study, we tested the role of CREB, SRF, and MEF2 in
      ocular dominance plasticity (ODP), a paradigm of activity-dependent neuronal
      plasticity in the visual cortex. These three proteins bind to the synaptic
      activity response element (SARE), an enhancer sequence found upstream of many
      plasticity-related genes (Kawashima et al., 2009; Rodriguez-Tornos et al., 2013),
      and can act cooperatively to express Arc, a gene required for ODP (McCurry et
      al., 2010). We used viral-mediated gene transfer to block the transcription
      function of CREB, SRF, and MEF2 in the visual cortex, and measured visually
      evoked potentials in awake male and female mice before and after a 7 d monocular
      deprivation, which allowed us to examine both the depression component (Dc-ODP)
      and potentiation component (Pc-ODP) of plasticity independently. We found that
      CREB, SRF, and MEF2 are all required for ODP, but have differential effects on Dc
      ODP and Pc-ODP. CREB is necessary for both Dc-ODP and Pc-ODP, whereas SRF and
      MEF2 are only needed for Dc-ODP. This finding supports previous reports
      implicating SRF and MEF2 in long-term depression (required for Dc-ODP), and CREB
      in long-term potentiation (required for Pc-ODP).SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Activity
      dependent neuronal plasticity is the cellular basis for learning and memory, and
      it is crucial for the refinement of neuronal circuits during development.
      Identifying the mechanisms of activity-dependent neuronal plasticity is crucial
      to finding therapeutic interventions in the myriad of disorders where it is
      disrupted, such as Fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, epilepsy, major depressive
      disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. Transcription factors are essential
      nuclear proteins that trigger the expression of gene programs required for long
      term functional and structural plasticity changes. Our results elucidate the
      specific role of the transcription factors CREB, SRF, and MEF2 in the depression
      and potentiation components of ODP in vivo, therefore better informing future
      attempts to find therapeutic targets for diseases where activity-dependent
      plasticity is disrupted.

PMID- 28607169
TI  - Cdc25A Is a Critical Mediator of Ischemic Neuronal Death In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - Dysregulation of cell cycle machinery is implicated in a number of neuronal death
      contexts, including stroke. Increasing evidence suggests that cyclin-dependent
      kinases (Cdks) are inappropriately activated in mature neurons under ischemic
      stress conditions. We previously demonstrated a functional role for the cyclin
      D1/Cdk4/pRb (retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein) pathway in delayed neuronal
      death induced by ischemia. However, the molecular signals leading to cyclin
      D/Cdk4/pRb activation following ischemic insult are presently not clear. Here, we
      investigate the cell division cycle 25 (Cdc25) dual-specificity phosphatases as
      potential upstream regulators of ischemic neuronal death and Cdk4 activation. We
      show that a pharmacologic inhibitor of Cdc25 family members (A, B, and C)
      protects mouse primary neurons from hypoxia-induced delayed death. The major
      contributor to the death process appears to be Cdc25A. shRNA-mediated knockdown
      of Cdc25A protects neurons in a delayed model of hypoxia-induced death in vitro
      Similar results were observed in vivo following global ischemia in the rat. In
      contrast, neurons singly or doubly deficient for Cdc25B/C were not significantly
      protective. We show that Cdc25A activity, but not level, is upregulated in vitro
      following hypoxia and global ischemic insult in vivo Finally, we show that shRNA
      targeting Cdc25A blocks Ser795 pRb phosphorylation. Overall, our results indicate
      a role for Cdc25A in delayed neuronal death mediated by ischemia.SIGNIFICANCE
      STATEMENT A major challenge in stroke is finding an effective neuroprotective
      strategy to treat cerebral ischemic injury. Cdc25 family member A (Cdc25A) is a
      phosphatase normally activated during cell division in proliferating cells. We
      found that Cdc25A is activated in neurons undergoing ischemic stress mediated by
      hypoxia in vitro and global cerebral ischemia in rats in vivo We show that
      pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of Cdc25A activity protects neurons from
      delayed death in vitro and in vivo Downregulation of Cdc25A led to reduction in
      retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) phosphorylation. An increase in pRb
      phosphorylation has been previously linked to ischemic neuronal death. Our
      results identify Cdc25A as a potential target for neuroprotectant strategy for
      the treatment of delayed ischemic neuronal death.

PMID- 28607168
TI  - Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Employs trkB Signaling for
      Neuroprotection and Functional Restoration.
AB  - Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is the most common
      neurosurgical treatment for Parkinson's disease motor symptoms. In preclinical
      models, STN DBS provides neuroprotection for substantia nigra (SN) dopamine
      neurons and increases BDNF in the nigrostriatal system and primary motor cortex.
      However, whether BDNF signaling in the SN participates in the neuroprotective
      effects of DBS remains unknown. We demonstrate that STN DBS in male rats
      activates signaling downstream of tropomyosin receptor kinase type B (trkB),
      namely, phosphorylation of Akt and ribosomal protein S6, in SN neurons. Long-term
      trkB blockade abolished STN DBS-mediated neuroprotection of SN neurons following
      progressive 6-hydroxydopamine lesion and was associated with decreased
      phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6 immunoreactivity. Acute trkB blockade in rats
      with stable nigrostriatal denervation attenuated the forelimb akinesia
      improvement normally induced by STN DBS. These results suggest that STN DBS
      increases BDNF-trkB signaling to contribute to the neuroprotective and
      symptomatic efficacy of STN DBS.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Subthalamic nucleus deep
      brain stimulation (STN DBS) is increasingly used in mid- to late-stage
      Parkinson's disease (PD) but with an incomplete knowledge of its molecular
      mechanisms. STN DBS is neuroprotective against neurotoxicants in animal models
      and increases BDNF. This study is the first to show that BDNF signaling through
      the cognate tropomyosin receptor kinase type B (trkB) receptor occurs in
      substantia nigra pars compacta neurons and is required for neuroprotection. In
      addition, blockade of trkB unexpectedly reduced the functional benefit of STN DBS
      on a short timescale that is inconsistent with canonical trkB signaling pathways,
      suggesting a noncanonical role for trkB in STN DBS-mediated behavioral effects.
      Together, these data implicate trkB signaling in the symptomatic efficacy and
      disease-modifying potential of STN DBS.

PMID- 28607170
TI  - Oxytocin and Serotonin Brain Mechanisms in the Nonhuman Primate.
AB  - Oxytocin (OT) is increasingly studied for its therapeutic potential in
      psychiatric disorders, which are associated with the deregulation of several
      neurotransmission systems. Studies in rodents demonstrated that the interaction
      between OT and serotonin (5-HT) is critical for several aspects of social
      behavior. Using PET scan in humans, we have recently found that 5-HT 1A receptor
      (5-HT1AR) function is modified after intranasal oxytocin intake. However, the
      underlying mechanism between OT and 5-HT remains unclear. To understand this
      interaction, we tested 3 male macaque monkeys using both [11C]DASB and [18F]MPPF,
      two PET radiotracers, marking the serotonin transporter and the 5-HT1AR,
      respectively. Oxytocin (1 IU in 20 MUl of ACSF) or placebo was injected into the
      brain lateral ventricle 45 min before scans. Additionally, we performed
      postmortem autoradiography. Compared with placebo, OT significantly reduced
      [11C]DASB binding potential in right amygdala, insula, and hippocampus, whereas
      [18F]MPPF binding potential increased in right amygdala and insula.
      Autoradiography revealed that [11C]DASB was sensitive to physiological levels of
      5-HT modification, and that OT does not act directly on the 5-HT1AR. Our results
      show that oxytocin administration in nonhuman primates influences serotoninergic
      neurotransmission via at least two ways: (1) by provoking a release of serotonin
      in key limbic regions; and (2) by increasing the availability of 5-HT1AR
      receptors in the same limbic areas. Because these two molecules are important for
      social behavior, our study sheds light on the specific nature of their
      interaction, therefore helping to develop new mechanisms-based therapies for
      psychiatric disorders.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Social behavior is largely
      controlled by brain neuromodulators, such as oxytocin and serotonin. While these
      are currently targeted in the context of psychiatric disorders such as autism and
      schizophrenia, a new promising pharmaceutical strategy is to study the
      interaction between these systems. Here we depict the interplay between oxytocin
      and serotonin in the nonhuman primate brain. We found that oxytocin provokes the
      release of serotonin, which in turn impacts on the serotonin 1A receptor system,
      by modulating its availability. This happens in several key brain regions for
      social behavior, such as the amygdala and insula. This novel finding can open
      ways to advance treatments where drugs are combined to influence several
      neurotransmission networks.

PMID- 28607171
TI  - Astrocyte Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 Protects Synapses against Abeta
      Oligomers in Alzheimer's Disease Model.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive cognitive decline,
      increasingly attributed to neuronal dysfunction induced by amyloid-beta oligomers
      (AbetaOs). Although the impact of AbetaOs on neurons has been extensively
      studied, only recently have the possible effects of AbetaOs on astrocytes begun
      to be investigated. Given the key roles of astrocytes in synapse formation,
      plasticity, and function, we sought to investigate the impact of AbetaOs on
      astrocytes, and to determine whether this impact is related to the deleterious
      actions of AbetaOs on synapses. We found that AbetaOs interact with astrocytes,
      cause astrocyte activation and trigger abnormal generation of reactive oxygen
      species, which is accompanied by impairment of astrocyte neuroprotective
      potential in vitro We further show that both murine and human astrocyte
      conditioned media (CM) increase synapse density, reduce AbetaOs binding, and
      prevent AbetaO-induced synapse loss in cultured hippocampal neurons. Both a
      neutralizing anti-transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) antibody and siRNA
      mediated knockdown of TGF-beta1, previously identified as an important
      synaptogenic factor secreted by astrocytes, abrogated the protective action of
      astrocyte CM against AbetaO-induced synapse loss. Notably, TGF-beta1 prevented
      hippocampal dendritic spine loss and memory impairment in mice that received an
      intracerebroventricular infusion of AbetaOs. Results suggest that astrocyte
      derived TGF-beta1 is part of an endogenous mechanism that protects synapses
      against AbetaOs. By demonstrating that AbetaOs decrease astrocyte ability to
      protect synapses, our results unravel a new mechanism underlying the synaptotoxic
      action of AbetaOs in AD.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Alzheimer's disease is
      characterized by progressive cognitive decline, mainly attributed to
      synaptotoxicity of the amyloid-beta oligomers (AbetaOs). Here, we investigated
      the impact of AbetaOs in astrocytes, a less known subject. We show that
      astrocytes prevent synapse loss induced by AbetaOs, via production of
      transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1). We found that AbetaOs trigger
      morphological and functional alterations in astrocytes, and impair their
      neuroprotective potential. Notably, TGF-beta1 reduced hippocampal dendritic spine
      loss and memory impairment in mice that received intracerebroventricular
      infusions of AbetaOs. Our results describe a new mechanism underlying the
      toxicity of AbetaOs and indicate novel therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's
      disease, mainly focused on TGF-beta1 and astrocytes.

PMID- 28607172
TI  - Tweety-Homolog 1 Drives Brain Colonization of Gliomas.
AB  - Early and progressive colonization of the healthy brain is one hallmark of
      diffuse gliomas, including glioblastomas. We recently discovered ultralong (>10
      to hundreds of microns) membrane protrusions [tumor microtubes (TMs)] extended by
      glioma cells. TMs have been associated with the capacity of glioma cells to
      effectively invade the brain and proliferate. Moreover, TMs are also used by some
      tumor cells to interconnect to one large, resistant multicellular network. Here,
      we performed a correlative gene-expression microarray and in vivo imaging
      analysis, and identified novel molecular candidates for TM formation and
      function. Interestingly, these genes were previously linked to normal CNS
      development. One of the genes scoring highest in tests related to the outgrowth
      of TMs was tweety-homolog 1 (TTYH1), which was highly expressed in a fraction of
      TMs in mice and patients. Ttyh1 was confirmed to be a potent regulator of normal
      TM morphology and of TM-mediated tumor-cell invasion and proliferation. Glioma
      cells with one or two TMs were mainly responsible for effective brain
      colonization, and Ttyh1 downregulation particularly affected this cellular
      subtype, resulting in reduced tumor progression and prolonged survival of mice.
      The remaining Ttyh1-deficient tumor cells, however, had more interconnecting TMs,
      which were associated with increased radioresistance in those small tumors. These
      findings imply a cellular and molecular heterogeneity in gliomas regarding
      formation and function of distinct TM subtypes, with multiple parallels to
      neuronal development, and suggest that Ttyh1 might be a promising target to
      specifically reduce TM-associated brain colonization by glioma cells in
      patients.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In this report, we identify tweety-homolog 1
      (Ttyh1), a membrane protein linked to neuronal development, as a potent driver of
      tumor microtube (TM)-mediated brain colonization by glioma cells. Targeting of
      Ttyh1 effectively inhibited the formation of invasive TMs and glioma growth, but
      increased network formation by intercellular TMs, suggesting a functional and
      molecular heterogeneity of the recently discovered TMs with potential
      implications for future TM-targeting strategies.

PMID- 28607174
TI  - Aqueous humour dynamics and biometrics in the ageing Chinese eye.
AB  - AIMS: This study evaluates ocular biometrics and aqueous humour dynamics (AHD) in
      healthy Chinese volunteers to determine how the various ocular parameters
      interact to maintain physiological intraocular pressure (IOP) at all ages.
      METHODS: Sixty-nine volunteers enrolled in this cross-sectional study and were
      categorised into young (20-30 years) and old (>=50 years) groups. Measurements
      included IOP, ocular biometrics and AHD. Data were analysed using mixed model
      with random sampling to account for both eyes from the same individual.
      Spearman's rank correlation with bootstrap resampling was used to find
      associations between parameters. RESULTS: Compared with young subjects, old
      subjects had significantly (p<0.05) thinner corneas (CCT; 549.7+/-5.7 vs 530.6+/
      5.3 um; mean+/-SEM), shallower anterior chambers (3.14+/-0.05 vs 2.37+/-0.05 mm)
      and slower aqueous flow (Fa; 3.0+/-0.1 vs 2.7+/-0.1 uL/min). Uveoscleral outflow
      slowed (Fu; 1.0+/-0.2 vs 0.7+/-0.1) but not significantly. A positive linear
      association between IOP and episcleral venous pressure was found (young: R2=0.16;
      old: R2=0.08). Negative correlation between Fa and CCT (R2=0.06) and positive
      correlation between Fa and outflow facility (R2=0.08) was found in old
      participants. CONCLUSIONS: In the healthy ageing Chinese eye, IOP remains
      unchanged, while Fa slows, which is counterbalanced by slowing of Fu. Aqueous
      humour exits the eye preferentially through the trabecular route at all ages.
      Ageing is also associated with shallowing of the anterior chamber and thinning of
      the cornea. A slower Fa with lower outflow facility supports existence of
      autoregulatory mechanisms.

PMID- 28607175
TI  - Environmental factors explain socioeconomic prevalence differences in myopia in 6
      year-old children.
AB  - PURPOSE: High myopia (<=-6 D) usually has its onset before 10 years of age and
      can lead to blinding complications later in life. We examined whether differences
      in myopia prevalences in socioeconomic risk groups could be explained by
      differences in lifestyle factors. METHODS: A total of 5711 six-year-old children
      participating in the prospective population-based birth cohort study Generation R
      underwent a stepwise ophthalmic examination, which included visual acuity and
      objective cycloplegic refraction to identify children with myopia (<=-0.5D).
      Daily activities, ethnicity, factors representing family socioeconomic status and
      housing were ascertained by questionnaire. Risk assessments of myopia and
      mediation analyses were performed using logistic regression; attenuation of risks
      was calculated by bootstrapping. RESULTS: Prevalence of myopia was 2.4% (n=137).
      Myopic children spent more time indoors and less outdoors than non-myopic
      children (p<0.01), had lower vitamin D (p=0.01), had a higher body mass index and
      participated less in sports (p=0.03). Children of non-European descent (OR 2.60;
      95% CI 1.84 to 3.68), low maternal education (OR 2.27; 95% CI 1.57 to 3.28) and
      low family income (OR 2.62; 95% CI 1.8 to 3.74) were more often myopic. Lifestyle
      factors explained the majority of the increased risk for ethnicity (82%; 95% CI
      55 to 120), maternal education (69%; 95% CI 45 to 109) and family socioeconomic
      status (71%; 95% CI 46 to 104). CONCLUSION: This study found environmental
      factors to be strong risk factors for myopia already at the age of 6 years. The
      myopia prevalence differences in socioeconomic groups were greatly determined by
      differences in distribution of these environmental risk factors, highlighting the
      importance of lifestyle adjustments in young children developing myopia.

PMID- 28607173
TI  - Tactile Defensiveness and Impaired Adaptation of Neuronal Activity in the Fmr1
      Knock-Out Mouse Model of Autism.
AB  - Sensory hypersensitivity is a common symptom in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs),
      including fragile X syndrome (FXS), and frequently leads to tactile
      defensiveness. In mouse models of ASDs, there is mounting evidence of neuronal
      and circuit hyperexcitability in several brain regions, which could contribute to
      sensory hypersensitivity. However, it is not yet known whether or how sensory
      stimulation might trigger abnormal sensory processing at the circuit level or
      abnormal behavioral responses in ASD mouse models, especially during an early
      developmental time when experience-dependent plasticity shapes such circuits.
      Using a novel assay, we discovered exaggerated motor responses to whisker
      stimulation in young Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice (postnatal days 14-16), a model of
      FXS. Adult Fmr1 KO mice actively avoided a stimulus that was innocuous to wild
      type controls, a sign of tactile defensiveness. Using in vivo two-photon calcium
      imaging of layer 2/3 barrel cortex neurons expressing GCaMP6s, we found no
      differences between wild-type and Fmr1 KO mice in overall whisker-evoked
      activity, though 45% fewer neurons in young Fmr1 KO mice responded in a time
      locked manner. Notably, we identified a pronounced deficit in neuronal adaptation
      to repetitive whisker stimulation in both young and adult Fmr1 KO mice. Thus,
      impaired adaptation in cortical sensory circuits is a potential cause of tactile
      defensiveness in autism.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We use a novel paradigm of
      repetitive whisker stimulation and in vivo calcium imaging to assess tactile
      defensiveness and barrel cortex activity in young and adult Fmr1 knock-out mice,
      the mouse model of fragile X syndrome (FXS). We describe evidence of tactile
      defensiveness, as well as a lack of L2/3 neuronal adaptation in barrel cortex,
      during whisker stimulation. We propose that a defect in sensory adaptation within
      local neuronal networks, beginning at a young age and continuing into adulthood,
      likely contributes to sensory overreactivity in FXS and perhaps other ASDs.

PMID- 28607176
TI  - Clinical features of HLA-B27-positive acute anterior uveitis with or without
      ankylosing spondylitis in a Chinese cohort.
AB  - AIMS: To characterise the clinical features of human leucocyte antigen (HLA)
      B27+acute anterior uveitis (AAU) patients with or without ankylosing spondylitis
      (AS) and investigate the retinal vascular involvement in these patients. METHODS:
      A total of 1056 HLA-B27+ AAU patients (1525 eyes) were retrospectively studied
      from April 2008 to February 2016. Patients were divided into human leucocyte
      antigen (HLA)-B27+AS+ and HLA-B27+AS- group. Clinical features including the
      onset of uveitis, laterality, the age at first attack, clinical examinations,
      best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), abnormalities in fundus fluorescence
      angiography (FFA) and complications were determined and compared between these
      two groups. RESULTS: There were 581 (55.0%) and 475 (45.0%) patients respectively
      classified into HLA-B27+AS+ and HLA-B27+AS- group. Males had a higher prevalence
      than females in the HLA-B27+AS+ group (75.2%) as compared with the HLA-B27+AS-
      group (51.8%, p<0.001). The HLA-B27+AS+ patients showed a higher percentage of
      bilateral/alternating involvement (47.3%) as compared with the HLA-B27+AS- group
      (36.6%, p=0.001). A higher percentage of fibrinous exudation, synechiae as well
      as complications including complicated cataract and secondary glaucoma were found
      in the HLA-B27+AS+ group as compared with the HLA-B27+AS- group. Worse visual
      outcome as indicated by a higher percentage of patients with BCVA <0.5 and with
      BCVA <0.05 was noted in the HLA-B27+AS+ group as compared with the HLA-B27+AS-
      group both before and after treatment. FFA showed mild capillary fluorescence
      leakage in the late phase with indistinctly defined margins on the peripheral
      retina in 39.3% of HLA-B27+ AAU patients. There was no difference concerning the
      retinal vascular involvement between these two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      confirmed that HLA-B27+AS+ patients show a higher percentage of males, more
      common bilateral involvement, a higher frequency of fibrinous exudates, synechiae
      and secondary glaucoma as compared with HLA-B27+AS- patients. Visual outcome was
      poorer, possibly due to the higher prevalence of complicated cataract in HLA
      B27+AS+ patients. Retinal vascular involvement was not uncommon in HLA-B27+ AAU
      patients.

PMID- 28607177
TI  - Burden of vision loss associated with eye disease in China 1990-2020: findings
      from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.
AB  - AIMS: To assess the burden of vision loss due to eye disease in China between
      1990 and 2015, and to predict the burden in 2020. METHODS: Data from the GBD 2015
      (Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015) were used. The
      main outcome measures were prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs) for
      vision loss due to cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, other vision loss,
      refraction and accommodation disorders and trachoma. RESULTS: Prevalence for eye
      diseases increased steadily from 1990 to 2015, and will increase until 2020. From
      1990 to 2015, the most common eye disorder was refraction and accommodation
      disorders. From 1990 to 2015, the vision loss burden due to eye disease decreased
      for those aged 0-14 years, and increased for those aged 15 years and above, with
      the most notable increases occurring among those aged 50 years and above. China
      ranked 10th when comparing YLDs for vision loss due to eye disease with the other
      members of the G20 (Group of Twenty, an international forum for the governments
      from 20 major economies) . Age-standardised YLD rates for vision loss due to eye
      disease declined in all 19 countries, except for China. The burden from vision
      loss due to eye disease ranked 12th and 11th among all causes of health loss in
      China in 1990 and 2015, respectively. CONCLUSION: Alone among major economies,
      China has experienced an increase in the burden of age-standardised vision loss
      from eye disease over the last two decades. In the future, China may expect a
      growing burden of vision loss due to population growth and ageing.

PMID- 28607179
TI  - PHF6 regulates phenotypic plasticity through chromatin organization within
      lineage-specific genes.
AB  - Developmental and lineage plasticity have been observed in numerous malignancies
      and have been correlated with tumor progression and drug resistance. However,
      little is known about the molecular mechanisms that enable such plasticity to
      occur. Here, we describe the function of the plant homeodomain finger protein 6
      (PHF6) in leukemia and define its role in regulating chromatin accessibility to
      lineage-specific transcription factors. We show that loss of Phf6 in B-cell
      leukemia results in systematic changes in gene expression via alteration of the
      chromatin landscape at the transcriptional start sites of B-cell- and T-cell
      specific factors. Additionally, Phf6KO cells show significant down-regulation of
      genes involved in the development and function of normal B cells, show up
      regulation of genes involved in T-cell signaling, and give rise to mixed-lineage
      lymphoma in vivo. Engagement of divergent transcriptional programs results in
      phenotypic plasticity that leads to altered disease presentation in vivo,
      tolerance of aberrant oncogenic signaling, and differential sensitivity to
      frontline and targeted therapies. These findings suggest that active maintenance
      of a precise chromatin landscape is essential for sustaining proper leukemia cell
      identity and that loss of a single factor (PHF6) can cause focal changes in
      chromatin accessibility and nucleosome positioning that render cells susceptible
      to lineage transition.

PMID- 28607180
TI  - p53 is essential for DNA methylation homeostasis in naive embryonic stem cells,
      and its loss promotes clonal heterogeneity.
AB  - DNA methylation is a key regulator of embryonic stem cell (ESC) biology,
      dynamically changing between naive, primed, and differentiated states. The p53
      tumor suppressor is a pivotal guardian of genomic stability, but its
      contributions to epigenetic regulation and stem cell biology are less explored.
      We report that, in naive mouse ESCs (mESCs), p53 restricts the expression of the
      de novo DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b while up-regulating Tet1 and
      Tet2, which promote DNA demethylation. The DNA methylation imbalance in p53
      deficient (p53-/-) mESCs is the result of augmented overall DNA methylation as
      well as increased methylation landscape heterogeneity. In differentiating p53-/-
      mESCs, elevated methylation persists, albeit more mildly. Importantly,
      concomitant with DNA methylation heterogeneity, p53-/- mESCs display increased
      cellular heterogeneity both in the "naive" state and upon induced
      differentiation. This impact of p53 loss on 5-methylcytosine (5mC) heterogeneity
      was also evident in human ESCs and mouse embryos in vivo. Hence, p53 helps
      maintain DNA methylation homeostasis and clonal homogeneity, a function that may
      contribute to its tumor suppressor activity.

PMID- 28607181
TI  - Clean energy and the hydrogen economy.
AB  - In recent years, new-found interest in the hydrogen economy from both industry
      and academia has helped to shed light on its potential. Hydrogen can enable an
      energy revolution by providing much needed flexibility in renewable energy
      systems. As a clean energy carrier, hydrogen offers a range of benefits for
      simultaneously decarbonizing the transport, residential, commercial and
      industrial sectors. Hydrogen is shown here to have synergies with other low
      carbon alternatives, and can enable a more cost-effective transition to de
      carbonized and cleaner energy systems. This paper presents the opportunities for
      the use of hydrogen in key sectors of the economy and identifies the benefits and
      challenges within the hydrogen supply chain for power-to-gas, power-to-power and
      gas-to-gas supply pathways. While industry players have already started the
      market introduction of hydrogen fuel cell systems, including fuel cell electric
      vehicles and micro-combined heat and power devices, the use of hydrogen at grid
      scale requires the challenges of clean hydrogen production, bulk storage and
      distribution to be resolved. Ultimately, greater government support, in
      partnership with industry and academia, is still needed to realize hydrogen's
      potential across all economic sectors.This article is part of the themed issue
      'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607183
TI  - Lattice discontinuities affecting the generation and annihilation of diffusible
      hydrogen and vice versa.
AB  - Lattice discontinuities include lattice defects and surfaces both providing traps
      for hydrogen atoms. It will be discussed under which conditions discontinuities
      of a given distribution either release trapped hydrogen to become diffusible or
      capture diffusible H-atoms to become trapped. It will be shown that for any
      distribution, the self-diffusion coefficient of hydrogen is determined by the
      product of the H-diffusion in the perfect lattice times the fraction of hydrogen
      being diffusible. In this context, the quantities diffusible hydrogen, lattice
      hydrogen, thermodynamic activity of hydrogen and chemical potential of hydrogen
      are interchangeable in a general way. New discontinuities are generated during
      hydrogen embritllement (fracture surfaces, voids, dislocations) and dislocations
      move by kink pair formation. The production rate of these discontinuities depends
      on the chemical potential of hydrogen within the defactant concept or the
      generalized Gibbs adsorption isotherm. Thus, the chemical potential of hydrogen
      determines both the amount of trapping and the defect generation rate. For a
      crack propagating by dislocations generation, the chemical potential affects its
      velocity independent of the accompanying concentration enhancement in front of
      the crack tip or the related adsorption on the freshly generated crack
      surface.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and
      metals'.

PMID- 28607182
TI  - Hydrogen behaviour at twist {110} grain boundaries in alpha-Fe.
AB  - The behaviour of hydrogen at structural defects such as grain boundaries plays a
      critical role in the phenomenon of hydrogen embrittlement. However,
      characterization of the energetics and diffusion of hydrogen in the vicinity of
      such extended defects using conventional ab initio techniques is challenging due
      to the relatively large system sizes required when dealing with realistic grain
      boundary geometries. In order to be able to access the required system sizes, as
      well as high-throughput testing of a large number of configurations, while
      remaining within a quantum-mechanical framework, an environmental tight-binding
      model for the iron-hydrogen system has been developed. The resulting model is
      applied to study the behaviour of hydrogen at a class of low-energy {110}
      terminated twist grain boundaries in alpha-Fe. We find that, for particular Sigma
      values within the coincidence site lattice description, the atomic geometry at
      the interface plane provides extremely favourable trap sites for H, which also
      possess high escape barriers for diffusion. By contrast, via simulated tensile
      testing, weakly trapped hydrogen at the interface plane of the bulk-like Sigma3
      boundary acts as a 'glue' for the boundary, increasing both the energetic barrier
      and the elongation to rupture.This article is part of the themed issue 'The
      challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607184
TI  - A kinetic Monte Carlo approach to diffusion-controlled thermal desorption
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Atomistic simulations of thermal desorption spectra for effusion from bulk
      materials to characterize binding or trapping sites are a challenging task as
      large system sizes as well as extended time scales are required. Here, we
      introduce an approach where we combine kinetic Monte Carlo with an analytic
      approximation of the superbasins within the framework of absorbing Markov chains.
      We apply our approach to the effusion of hydrogen from BCC iron, where the
      diffusion within bulk grains is coarse grained using absorbing Markov chains,
      which provide an exact solution of the dynamics within a superbasin. Our analytic
      approximation to the superbasin is transferable with respect to grain size and
      elliptical shapes and can be applied in simulations with constant temperature as
      well as constant heating rate. The resulting thermal desorption spectra are in
      close agreement with direct kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, but the calculations
      are computationally much more efficient. Our approach is thus applicable to much
      larger system sizes and provides a first step towards an atomistic understanding
      of the influence of structural features on the position and shape of peaks in
      thermal desorption spectra.This article is part of the themed issue 'The
      challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607185
TI  - Isotopic tracing of hydrogen transport and trapping in nuclear materials.
AB  - Some illustrations of the use of deuterium or tritium for isotopic tracing of
      hydrogen absorption, transport and trapping in nuclear materials are presented.
      Isotopic tracing of hydrogen has been shown to be successful for the
      determination of the boundaries conditions for hydrogen desorption or absorption
      in a material exposed to a hydrogen source. Also, the unique capabilities of
      isotopic tracing and related techniques to characterize H interactions with point
      defects and dislocations acting as moving traps has been demonstrated. Such
      transport mechanisms are considered to play a major role in some stress corrosion
      cracking and hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607186
TI  - Alloy and composition dependence of hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility in high
      strength steel fasteners.
AB  - High-strength steel fasteners characterized by tensile strengths above 1100 MPa
      are often used in critical applications where a failure can have catastrophic
      consequences. Preventing hydrogen embrittlement (HE) failure is a fundamental
      concern implicating the entire fastener supply chain. Research is typically
      conducted under idealized conditions that cannot be translated into know-how
      prescribed in fastener industry standards and practices. Additionally,
      inconsistencies and even contradictions in fastener industry standards have led
      to much confusion and many preventable or misdiagnosed fastener failures. HE
      susceptibility is a function of the material condition, which is comprehensively
      described by the metallurgical and mechanical properties. Material strength has a
      first-order effect on HE susceptibility, which increases significantly above 1200
      MPa and is characterized by a ductile--brittle transition. For a given
      concentration of hydrogen and at equal strength, the critical strength above
      which the ductile-brittle transition begins can vary due to second-order effects
      of chemistry, tempering temperature and sub-microstructure. Additionally, non
      homogeneity of the metallurgical structure resulting from poorly controlled heat
      treatment, impurities and non-metallic inclusions can increase HE susceptibility
      of steel in ways that are measurable but unpredictable. Below 1200 MPa, non
      conforming quality is often the root cause of real-life failures.This article is
      part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607187
TI  - Hydrogen-related challenges for the steelmaker: the search for proper testing.
AB  - The modern steelmaker of advanced high-strength steels has always been challenged
      with the conflicting targets of increased strength while maintaining or improving
      ductility. These new steels help the transportation sector, including the
      automotive sector, to achieve the goals of increased passenger safety and reduced
      emissions. With increasing tensile strengths, certain steels exhibit an increased
      sensitivity towards hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The ability to characterize the
      material's sensitivity in an as-delivered condition has been developed and
      accepted (SEP1970), but the complexity of the stress states that can induce an
      embrittlement together with the wide range of applications for high-strength
      steels make the development of a standardized test for HE under in-service
      conditions extremely challenging. Some proposals for evaluating the material's
      sensitivity give an advantage to materials with a low starting ductility. Despite
      this, newly developed materials can have a higher original elongation with only a
      moderate reduction in elongation due to hydrogen. This work presents a
      characterization of new materials and their sensitivity towards HE.This article
      is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607188
TI  - Analysis of electro-permeation of hydrogen in metallic alloys.
AB  - A reaction-diffusion type modelling framework is presented to analyse both
      electro-permeation (EP) and thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS) measurements of
      hydrogen in metallic alloys. It is assumed that the kinetics of hydrogen motion
      is governed by diffusion through the lattice, along with trapping/detrapping at
      specific sites such as dislocations, grain boundaries, etc. It is shown that the
      trapping and detrapping rates are typically much faster than the diffusion rate,
      and consequently a simplification of the governing equations suffices such that
      local equilibrium exists between lattice and trapped hydrogen. Using this local
      equilibrium assumption, we then present an asymptotic analysis of the governing
      kinetic equation for the EP test. This asymptotic analysis reveals that four
      regimes of behaviour exist, ranging from negligible trapping to the complete
      filling of deep traps. The analysis suggests that EP tests should be so-arranged
      that three regimes of behaviour are spanned, in order to extract the relevant
      material properties associated with hydrogen transport. The numerical solutions
      presented in this study support the asymptotic analysis. The hydrogen kinetics
      framework is also deployed to analyse both EP and TDS tests on the same
      martensitic steel. The EP measurements all lie in regime I and are thus
      insufficient to uniquely determine both the trap density and binding energy.
      Reasonable agreement is obtained between measurements and numerical predictions
      of TDS tests using parameters estimated from the EP tests. Further improvements
      in measurements are required to confirm the fidelity of this modelling
      approach.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and
      metals'.

PMID- 28607189
TI  - Hydrogen enhanced cracking studies on Fe-3wt%Si single and bi-crystal
      microcantilevers.
AB  - Hydrogen (H) enhanced cracking was studied in Fe-3wt%Si by means of in situ
      electrochemical microcantilever bending test. It was clearly shown that the
      presence of H causes hydrogen embrittlement (HE) by triggering crack initiation
      and propagation at the notch where stress concentration is existing.
      Additionally, the effect of carbon content and the presence of a grain boundary
      (GB) in the cantilever were studied. It was shown that in the presence of H the
      effect of carbon atom on pinning the dislocations is reduced. On the other hand,
      the presence of a GB, while the chemical composition of material kept constant,
      will promote the HE. Crack initiation and propagation occur in the presence of H,
      while the notch blunting was observed for both single and bi-crystalline beams
      bent in air. Post-mortem analysis of the crack propagation path showed that a
      transition from transgranular fracture to intragranular fracture mechanism is
      highly dependent on the position of the stress concentration relative to the
      GB.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and
      metals'.

PMID- 28607190
TI  - A review of cohesive zone modelling as an approach for numerically assessing
      hydrogen embrittlement of steel structures.
AB  - Simulation of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) requires a coupled approach; on one
      side, the models describing hydrogen transport must account for local mechanical
      fields, while, on the other side, the effect of hydrogen on the accelerated
      material damage must be implemented into the model describing crack initiation
      and growth. This study presents a review of coupled diffusion and cohesive zone
      modelling as a method for numerically assessing HE of a steel structure. While
      the model is able to reproduce single experimental results by appropriate fitting
      of the cohesive parameters, there appears to be limitations in transferring these
      results to other hydrogen systems. Agreement may be improved by appropriately
      identifying the required input parameters for the particular system under
      study.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and
      metals'.

PMID- 28607191
TI  - Hydrogen-enhanced fatigue crack growth in steels and its frequency dependence.
AB  - In the context of the fatigue life design of components, particularly those
      destined for use in hydrogen refuelling stations and fuel cell vehicles, it is
      important to understand the hydrogen-induced, fatigue crack growth (FCG)
      acceleration in steels. As such, the mechanisms for acceleration and its
      influencing factors are reviewed and discussed in this paper, with a special
      focus on the peculiar frequency dependence of the hydrogen-induced FCG
      acceleration. Further, this frequency dependence is debated by introducing some
      potentially responsible elements, along with new experimental data obtained by
      the authors.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen
      and metals'.

PMID- 28607192
TI  - Atomic level characterization in corrosion studies.
AB  - Atomic level characterization brings fundamental insight into the mechanisms of
      self-protection against corrosion of metals and alloys by oxide passive films and
      into how localized corrosion is initiated on passivated metal surfaces. This is
      illustrated in this overview with selected data obtained at the subnanometre,
      i.e. atomic or molecular, scale and also at the nanometre scale on single-crystal
      copper, nickel, chromium and stainless steel surfaces passivated in well
      controlled conditions and analysed in situ and/or ex situ by scanning tunnelling
      microscopy/spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. A selected example of
      corrosion modelling by ab initio density functional theory is also presented. The
      discussed aspects include the surface reconstruction induced by hydroxide
      adsorption and formation of two-dimensional (hydr)oxide precursors, the atomic
      structure, orientation and surface hydroxylation of three-dimensional ultrathin
      oxide passive films, the effect of grain boundaries in polycrystalline passive
      films acting as preferential sites of passivity breakdown, the differences in
      local electronic properties measured at grain boundaries of passive films and the
      role of step edges at the exposed surface of oxide grains on the dissolution of
      the passive film.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of
      hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607193
TI  - Hydrogen embrittlement: the game changing factor in the applicability of nickel
      alloys in oilfield technology.
AB  - Precipitation hardenable (PH) nickel (Ni) alloys are often the most reliable
      engineering materials for demanding oilfield upstream and subsea applications
      especially in deep sour wells. Despite their superior corrosion resistance and
      mechanical properties over a broad range of temperatures, the applicability of PH
      Ni alloys has been questioned due to their susceptibility to hydrogen
      embrittlement (HE), as confirmed in documented failures of components in upstream
      applications. While extensive work has been done in recent years to develop
      testing methodologies for benchmarking PH Ni alloys in terms of their HE
      susceptibility, limited scientific research has been conducted to achieve
      improved foundational knowledge about the role of microstructural particularities
      in these alloys on their mechanical behaviour in environments promoting hydrogen
      uptake. Precipitates such as the gamma', gamma'' and delta-phase are well known
      for defining the mechanical and chemical properties of these alloys. To elucidate
      the effect of precipitates in the microstructure of the oil-patch PH Ni alloy 718
      on its HE susceptibility, slow strain rate tests under continuous hydrogen
      charging were conducted on material after several different age-hardening
      treatments. By correlating the obtained results with those from the
      microstructural and fractographic characterization, it was concluded that HE
      susceptibility of oil-patch alloy 718 is strongly influenced by the amount and
      size of precipitates such as the gamma' and gamma'' as well as the delta-phase
      rather than by the strength level only. In addition, several HE mechanisms
      including hydrogen-enhanced decohesion and hydrogen-enhanced local plasticity
      were observed taking place on oil-patch alloy 718, depending upon the
      characteristics of these phases when present in the microstructure.This article
      is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607194
TI  - Solute hydrogen and hydride phase implications on the plasticity of zirconium and
      titanium alloys: a review and some recent advances.
AB  - In this contribution, we propose a review of the possible implications of
      hydrogen on mechanical behaviour of Zr and Ti alloys with emphasis on the
      mechanisms of plasticity and strain hardening. Recent advances on the impact of
      oxygen and hydrogen on the activation volume show that oxygen content hinders
      creep but hydrogen partially screens this effect. Both aspects are discussed in
      terms of a locking-unlocking model of the screw dislocation mobility in prismatic
      slip. Additionally, possible extension of this behaviour is suggested for the
      [Formula: see text] pyramidal slip. The low hydrogen solubility in both Zr and Ti
      leads in many cases to hydride precipitation. The nature of these phases depends
      on the hydrogen content and can show crystallographic orientation relationships
      with the hexagonal compact structure of the alloys. Some advances on the thermal
      stability of these phases are illustrated and discussed in relation with the
      deepening of the misfit dislocations. Under tensile loading, we showed that
      hydrides enhance the hardening process in relation with internal stress due to
      strain incompatibilities between the Zr and Ti matrix and hydride phases.
      Different plastic yielding processes of hydrides were identified, which
      progressively reduce these strain incompatibilities.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607195
TI  - Hydrogen in Ti and Zr alloys: industrial perspective, failure modes and
      mechanistic understanding.
AB  - Titanium is widely used in demanding applications, such as in aerospace. Its
      strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance make it well suited to highly
      stressed rotating components. Zirconium has a no less critical application where
      its low neutron capture cross section and good corrosion resistance in hot water
      and steam make it well suited to reactor core use, including fuel cladding and
      structures. The similar metallurgical behaviour of these alloy systems makes it
      alluring to compare and contrast their behaviour. This is rarely undertaken,
      mostly because the industrial and academic communities studying these alloys have
      little overlap. The similarities with respect to hydrogen are remarkable, albeit
      potentially unsurprising, and so this paper aims to provide an overview of the
      role hydrogen has to play through the material life cycle. This includes the
      relationship between alloy design and manufacturing process windows, the role of
      hydrogen in degradation and failure mechanisms and some of the underpinning
      metallurgy. The potential role of some advanced experimental and modelling
      techniques will also be explored to give a tentative view of potential for
      advances in this field in the next decade or so.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607196
TI  - Political, economic and environmental concerns: discussion.
AB  - This session concerned the political, economic and environmental impact on the
      hydrogen economy due to hydrogen embrittlement.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607197
TI  - Hydrogen in steels: discussion.
AB  - This session contained talks concerning hydrogen in steels from the point of view
      of simulation, experiment and industry.This article is part of the themed issue
      'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607198
TI  - Hydrogen effects in corrosion: discussion.
AB  - This session contained talks on the characterization of hydrogen-enhanced
      corrosion of steels and nickel-based alloys, emphasizing the different
      observations across length scales, from atomic-scale spectrographic to macro
      scale fractographic examinations.This article is part of the themed issue 'The
      challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607199
TI  - Hydrogen embrittlement: future directions-discussion.
AB  - The final session of the meeting consisted of a discussion panel to propose
      future directions for research in the field of hydrogen embrittlement and the
      potential impact of this research on public policy.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607200
TI  - Hydrogen effects in non-ferrous alloys: discussion.
AB  - This is a transcript of the discussion session on the effects of hydrogen in the
      non-ferrous alloys of zirconium and titanium, which are anisotropic hydride
      forming metals. The four talks focus on the hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms
      that affect zirconium and titanium components, which are respectively used in the
      nuclear and aerospace industries. Two specific mechanisms are delayed hydride
      cracking and stress corrosion cracking.This article is part of the themed issue
      'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607201
TI  - Hydrogen transport and trapping: from quantum effects to alloy design:
      discussion.
AB  - This discussion session concerned experimental and theoretical investigations of
      the atomistic properties underlying the energetics and kinetics of hydrogen
      trapping and diffusion in metallic systems.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607202
TI  - Mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement in steels: discussion.
AB  - This discussion session interrogated the current understanding of hydrogen
      embrittlement mechanisms in steels.This article is part of the themed issue 'The
      challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607203
TI  - Hydrogen-enhanced cracking revealed by in situ micro-cantilever bending test
      inside environmental scanning electron microscope.
AB  - To evaluate the hydrogen (H)-induced embrittlement in iron aluminium
      intermetallics, especially the one with stoichiometric composition of 50 at.% Al,
      a novel in situ micro-cantilever bending test was applied within an environmental
      scanning electron microscope (ESEM), which provides both a full process
      monitoring and a clean, in situ H-charging condition. Two sets of cantilevers
      were analysed in this work: one set of un-notched cantilevers, and the other set
      with focused ion beam-milled notch laying on two crystallographic planes: (010)
      and (110). The cantilevers were tested under two environmental conditions: vacuum
      (approximately 5 * 10-4 Pa) and ESEM (450 Pa water vapour). Crack initiation at
      stress-concentrated locations and propagation to cause catastrophic failure were
      observed when cantilevers were tested in the presence of H; while no cracking
      occurred when tested in vacuum. Both the bending strength for un-notched beams
      and the fracture toughness for notched beams were reduced under H exposure. The
      hydrogen embrittlement (HE) susceptibility was found to be orientation dependent:
      the (010) crystallographic plane was more fragile to HE than the (110) plane.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607204
TI  - The challenges of hydrogen and metals.
AB  - The Royal Society Scientific Discussion Meeting 'The challenges of hydrogen and
      metals' was held in Carlton House Terrace, London, UK, on 16-18 January 2017.
      This is the introductory article to the discussion meeting issue which includes
      contributed papers and seven discussion papers. Here, we introduce the motivation
      to hold the Meeting and give a brief overview of the contents. We conclude with
      acknowledgements.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of
      hydrogen and metals'.

PMID- 28607205
TI  - Brain Injury and Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Congenital Heart Disease: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - CONTEXT: Brain injury during prenatal and preoperative postnatal life might play
      a major role in neurodevelopmental impairment in infants with congenital heart
      disease (CHD) who require corrective or palliative surgery during infancy. A
      systematic review of cerebral findings during this period in relation to
      neurodevelopmental outcome (NDO), however, is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To assess the
      association between prenatal and postnatal preoperative cerebral findings and NDO
      in infants with CHD who require corrective or palliative surgery during infancy.
      DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, reference lists. STUDY SELECTION: We conducted 3
      different searches for English literature between 2000 and 2016; 1 for prenatal
      cerebral findings, 1 for postnatal preoperative cerebral findings, and 1 for the
      association between brain injury and NDO. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers
      independently screened sources and extracted data on cerebral findings and
      neurodevelopmental outcome. Quality of studies was assessed using the Newcastle
      Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. RESULTS: Abnormal cerebral findings are common
      during the prenatal and postnatal preoperative periods. Prenatally, a delay of
      cerebral development was most common; postnatally, white matter injury,
      periventricular leukomalacia, and stroke were frequently observed. Abnormal
      Doppler measurements, brain immaturity, cerebral oxygenation, and abnormal EEG or
      amplitude-integrated EEG were all associated with NDO. LIMITATIONS: Observational
      studies, different types of CHD with different pathophysiological effects, and
      different reference values. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal and postnatal preoperative
      abnormal cerebral findings might play an important role in neurodevelopmental
      impairment in infants with CHD. Increased awareness of the vulnerability of the
      young developing brain of an infant with CHD among caregivers is essential.

PMID- 28607209
TI  - Physical Growth, Morbidity Profile and Mortality Among Healthy Late Preterm
      Neonates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the physical growth outcomes, morbidity profile and
      mortality at an age of 12 months among late preterm (34 0/7to 36 6/7) neonates to
      term (37 0/7to 41 6/7) neonates. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING:
      A tertiary care center of Northern India during 2014-2015. PARTICIPANTS: 200
      apparently healthy late preterms and term infants, followed up to 12 months of
      age. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physical growth parameters, morbidity profile and
      mortality. RESULTS: At mean age of 12 months, mean (SD) weight, length and head
      circumference of late preterms were 7.4 (0.8) kg, 69.2 (2.5) cm and 43.0 (1.1)
      cm, respectively; which were significantly lower than that of the full term
      infants [8.7 (1.6) kg, 72.2 (3.1) cm and 44.2 (1.1) cm] (P< 0.001). On univariate
      analysis, late preterm group was associated with higher odds (95% CI) of being
      underweight [5.6 (3.4, 5.5)], stunted [3.5 (2.1, 5.8)] and wasted [3.6 (1.9,
      6.9)]. On multivariate analysis, only adjusted odds of late preterms becoming
      underweight by one year was significant [OR 4.1; 95% CI (1.6, 10.4)]. Feeding
      difficulties, jaundice and re-hospitalization rates were significantly higher in
      the late preterm group. The median (IQR) episodes per baby for late preterms as
      compared to terms for diarrhea [1.84 (0,3) vs 1.14 (0,2) (P <0.001)], and fever
      [1.33 (0,2) vs. 0.95 (0,2) (P = 0.01)] were higher. CONCLUSION: Healthy late
      preterms are at significantly higher risk of being underweight in the first year
      of life, in addition to having significantly higher morbidity.

PMID- 28607210
TI  - Tachypnea and Other Danger Signs vs Pulse Oximetry for Prediction of Hypoxia in
      Severe Pneumonia/Very Severe Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of respiratory rate and other clinical
      signs against pulse oximetry for predicting hypoxia in children with Severe
      pneumonia/Very severe disease as per Integrated Management of Neonatal and
      Childhood Illness (IMNCI) classification. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING:
      Pediatric emergency department of a tertiary-care hospital in Delhi, India.
      SUBJECTS: 112 hospitalized children (2 mo - 5 y) with Severe pneumonia/Very
      severe disease as per IMNCI classification. METHODS: Respiratory rate was
      recorded at enrolment, along with other clinical signs and symptoms. Oxygen
      saturation (SpO2) was measured by a pulse oximeter. Clinical predictors of
      hypoxia (SpO2 <90%) and their combinations (index test) were evaluated for their
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value
      for diagnosis of hypoxia, against pulse oximetry (reference test). RESULTS:
      Hypoxia was present in 57 (50.9%) children. Presence of tachypnea, head nodding,
      irritability, inability to drink/breastfeed, vomiting, and altered sensorium was
      significantly associated with hypoxia (P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression
      revealed that age-specific tachypnea (RR>=70/min for 2-12 mo, and RR >=60/min for
      >=12 mo), head nodding, and inability to drink/breastfeed were independent
      predictors for hypoxia with sensitivity of 70.2%, 50.9% and 75.4%, respectively;
      and specificity of 88.9%, 96.4%, and 90.9%, respectively. When all three
      predictors were used in conjunction, the sensitivity increased to 91.2% and
      specificity was 81.8%. CONCLUSION: No single clinical sign can perform as well as
      pulse oximetry for predicting hypoxia in children with severe pneumonia. In
      settings where pulse oximetry is not available, combination of signs, age
      specific tachypnea, head nodding, and inability to drink/breastfeeding has
      acceptable sensitivity and specificity.

PMID- 28607211
TI  - Consensus Statement of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics on Newborn Hearing
      Screening.
AB  - JUSTIFICATION: Hearing impairment is one of the most critical sensory impairments
      with significant social and psychological consequences. Evidence-based,
      standardized national guidelines are needed for professionals to screen for
      hearing impairment during the neonatal period. PROCESS: The meeting on
      formulation of national consensus guidelines on developmental disorders was
      organized by Indian Academy of Pediatrics in Mumbai, on 18th and 19th December,
      2015. The invited experts included Pediatricians, Developmental Pediatricians,
      Pediatric Neurologists and Clinical Psychologists. The participants framed
      guidelines after extensive discussions. OBJECTIVE: To provide guidelines on
      newborn hearing screening in India. RECOMMENDATIONS: The first screening should
      be conducted before the neonate's discharge from the hospital - if it 'fails',
      then it should be repeated after four weeks, or at first immunization visit. If
      it 'fails' again, then Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) audiometry should be
      conducted. All babies admitted to intensive care unit should be screened via ABR.
      All babies with abnormal ABR should undergo detailed evaluation, hearing aid
      fitting and auditory rehabilitation, before six months of age. The goal is to
      screen newborn babies before one month of age, diagnose hearing loss before three
      months of age and start intervention before six months of age.

PMID- 28607212
TI  - Macronutrients in Breastmilk of Mothers of Preterm Infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the variability in macronutrient and energy content of
      breastmilk of Indian women delivering at <=34 weeks of gestation. METHODS: In
      this cross-sectional study, samples of breastmilk expressed manually for feeding
      of preterm neonates were collected from 106 mothers at 3+/-1 (n=26), 7+/-2
      (n=34), 14+/-2 (n=24), 21+/-3 (n=12) and 28+/-3 (n=10) days after birth. Protein,
      fat and carbohydrate content were estimated and total energy content was
      calculated. RESULTS: Protein content in the human milk declined from 4.1+/-2.1
      g/dL on the 3rd postpartum day to 2.2+/-0.6 g/dL by the 28th day postpartum.
      Lactose (from 2.2+/-0.7 g/dL to 3.0+/-0.9 g/dL), fat (1.9+/-1.8 g/dL to 3.4+/-2.1
      g/dL) and energy (42.3+/-18.8 Kcal/dL to 51.9+/-21.5 Kcal/dL) contents increased
      from day 3 to day 28. CONCLUSION: Preterm human milk has high temporal and inter
      individual variation in the macronutrient composition and without fortification
      is unlikely to meet the nutritional requirement of preterm neonates.

PMID- 28607213
TI  - Consensus Guidelines on Evaluation and Management of the Febrile Child Presenting
      to the Emergency Department in India.
AB  - JUSTIFICATION: India, home to almost 1.5 billion people, is in need of a country
      specific, evidence-based, consensus approach for the emergency department (ED)
      evaluation and management of the febrile child. PROCESS: We held two consensus
      meetings, performed an exhaustive literature review, and held ongoing web-based
      discussions to arrive at a formal consensus on the proposed evaluation and
      management algorithm. The first meeting was held in Delhi in October 2015, under
      the auspices of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) Section of Academic College of
      Emergency Experts in India (ACEE-INDIA); and the second meeting was conducted at
      Pune during Emergency Medical Pediatrics and Recent Trends (EMPART 2016) in March
      2016. The second meeting was followed with futher e-mail-based discussions to
      arrive at a formal consensus on the proposed algorithm. OBJECTIVE: To develop an
      algorithmic approach for the evaluation and management of the febrile child that
      can be easily applied in the context of emergency care and modified based on
      local epidemiology and practice standards. RECOMMENDATIONS: We created an
      algorithm that can assist the clinician in the evaluation and management of the
      febrile child presenting to the ED, contextualized to health care in India. This
      guideline includes the following key components: triage and the timely
      assessment; evaluation; and patient disposition from the ED. We urge the
      development and creation of a robust data repository of minimal standard data
      elements. This would provide a systematic measurement of the care processes and
      patient outcomes, and a better understanding of various etiologies of febrile
      illnesses in India; both of which can be used to further modify the proposed
      approach and algorithm.

PMID- 28607214
TI  - Breaking Bad News - Perceptions of Pediatric Residents.
AB  - The present study evaluated the perceptions and practice of 92 final year
      pediatric residents with regard to breaking bad news. Only 16% of residents had
      received any training in communication skills. Majority (65%) of the residents
      were not comfortable while breaking bad news.

PMID- 28607215
TI  - Undernutrition Amongst Under-five Children Belonging to High Income Group
      Communities in India.
AB  - According to RSOC (2013-2014) data, high prevalence of stunting (26.7%) and
      wasting (13.0%) exists amongst under-five children belonging to highest wealth
      index communities. India possibly cannot achieve the 2025 Global nutrition
      targets for reducing the rate of stunting and wasting amongst Under-five
      children, unless efforts are also directed towards this group.

PMID- 28607216
TI  - Utilization of Preventive and Curative Services in Five Rural Blocks in Vellore,
      India.
AB  - This health utilization survey of 720 children (age <2 y) from 5 rural blocks in
      Vellore district identified that 80% used government facilities for preventive
      care while >80% used private facilities for curative services. Only 0.7% were
      home deliveries, 46% reported illness in the two-week recall, and 83% sought care
      for these illness.

PMID- 28607218
TI  - Improved signal recovery for flow cytometry based on 'spatially modulated
      emission'.
AB  - Recently, the technique of 'spatially modulated emission' has been introduced
      (Babetaler et al 2008 US Patent 0080181827A1; Kiesel et al 2009 Appl. Phys. Lett.
      94 041107; Kiesel et al 2011 Cytometry A 79A 317-24) improving the signal-to
      noise ratio (SNR) for detecting bio-particles in the field of flow cytometry.
      Based on this concept, we developed two advanced signal processing methods which
      further enhance the SNR and selectivity for cell detection. The improvements are
      achieved by adapting digital filtering methods from RADAR technology and mainly
      address inherent offset elimination, increased signal dynamics and moreover
      reduction of erroneous detections due to processing artifacts. We present a
      comprehensive theory on SNR gain and provide experimental results of our
      concepts.

PMID- 28607217
TI  - Hotspots in PTPN11 Gene Among Indian Children With Noonan Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test for PTPN11 mutations in clinically diagnosed cases of Noonan
      syndrome. METHODS: 17 individuals with clinical diagnosis of Noonan syndrome were
      included in the study. Sanger sequencing of all the 15 exons of PTPN11 was done.
      A genotype-phenotype correlation was attempted. RESULTS: Mutation in PTPN11 was
      detected in 11 out of 17 (64.7%) patients with Noonan syndrome; 72% had mutation
      in exon 3 and 27 % had mutation in exon 13. CONCLUSION: PTPN11 mutation accounts
      for 64.7% of cases with clinical features of Noonan syndrome in India. Majority
      of the mutations are in exon 3 and exon 13 of PTPN11, making them the hotspots in
      Indian population.

PMID- 28607219
TI  - Transcranial direct current stimulation versus user training on improving online
      myoelectric control for amputees.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and user training (UT)
      are two types of methods to improve myoelectric control performance for amputees.
      In this study, we compared the independent effect between tDCS and UT, and
      investigated the combined effect of tDCS and UT. APPROACH: An online paradigm of
      simultaneous and proportional control (SPC) based on electromyography (EMG) was
      adopted. The proposed experiments were conducted on six naive unilateral trans
      radial amputees. The subjects each received three types of 20 min interventions:
      active tDCS with motor training (tDCS  +  UT), active tDCS with quiet sitting
      (tDCS), and sham tDCS with motor training (UT). The interventions were applied at
      one week intervals in a randomized order. The subjects performed online control
      of a feedback arrow with two degrees of freedom (DoFs) to accomplish target
      reaching motor tasks in pre-sessions and post-sessions. We compared the
      performance, measured by completion rate, completion time, and efficiency
      coefficient, between pre-sessions and post-sessions. MAIN RESULTS: The results
      showed that the intervention tDCS  +  UT and tDCS significantly improved the
      online SPC performance (i.e. improved the completion rate; reduced the completion
      time; and improved the efficiency coefficient), while intervention UT did not
      significantly change the performance. The results also showed that the online SPC
      performance after intervention tDCS  +  UT and tDCS was not significantly
      different, but both were significantly better than that after intervention UT.
      SIGNIFICANCE: tDCS could be an effective intervention to improve the online SPC
      performance in a short time.

PMID- 28607220
TI  - The role of short-range magnetic correlations in the gap opening of topological
      Kondo insulators.
AB  - In this article we investigate the effects of short-range anti-ferromagnetic
      correlations on the gap opening of topological Kondo insulators. We add a
      Heisenberg term to the periodic Anderson model at the limit of strong
      correlations in order to allow a small degree of hopping of the localized
      electrons between neighboring sites of the lattice. This new model is adequate
      for studying topological Kondo insulators, whose paradigmatic material is the
      compound [Formula: see text]. The main finding of the article is that the short
      range antiferromagnetic correlations, present in some Kondo insulators,
      contribute decisively to the opening of the Kondo gap in their density of states.
      These correlations are produced by the interaction between moments on the
      neighboring sites of the lattice. For simplicity, we solve the problem on a two
      dimensional square lattice. The starting point of the model is the [Formula: see
      text] ions orbitals, with [Formula: see text] multiplet in the presence of spin
      orbit coupling. We present results for the Kondo and for the antiferromagnetic
      correlation functions. We calculate the phase diagram of the model, and as we
      vary the [Formula: see text] level position from the empty regime to the Kondo
      regime, the system develops metallic and topological Kondo insulator phases. The
      band structure calculated shows that the model describes a strong topological
      insulator.

PMID- 28607221
TI  - Vastus lateralis and rectus femoris echo intensity fail to reflect knee extensor
      specific tension in middle-school boys.
AB  - : The potential dissociation between muscle strength and size has led to interest
      in the ability to assess muscle quality across the lifespan. OBJECTIVES: We
      examined the association between echo intensity and specific tension in middle
      school boys. APPROACH: Twenty-five boys participated in this study. Sixteen (mean
      +/-  SD age  =  12  +/-  1 years) engaged in a 16-week after-school strength and
      conditioning program. Nine boys (12  +/-  1 years) served as controls. The
      program involved two 90 min sessions per week of lower-body speed, power, and
      resistance training. Before and after the intervention, ultrasound imaging was
      used to quantify vastus lateralis and rectus femoris echo intensity. MAIN
      RESULTS: Specific tension was calculated as voluntary isometric peak torque
      divided by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived thigh lean mass (Nm kg-1).
      The pretest echo intensity and specific tension data were not significantly
      correlated (r  =  0.040, p  =  0.850). Training resulted in a small mean increase
      in specific tension (change  =  1.93 Nm kg-1; d  =  0.42). The echo intensity
      values were not affected by training or maturation (training change  =  -1.13
      arbitrary units (A.U.); control  =  0.00 A.U.). Both variables showed no
      interaction and no group or time main effects. The echo intensity and specific
      tension change scores were not correlated for all subjects (r  =  -0.080, p  = 
      0.705) or groups (training r  =  -0.095, p  =  0.727; control r  =  -0.004, p  = 
      0.992). SIGNIFICANCE: In middle-school boys, a relationship between echo
      intensity and the ratio of muscle strength relative to lean mass does not exist.

PMID- 28607222
TI  - Indium-doped SnO2 nanobelts for high-performance transparent and flexible
      photosensors by a facile assembly.
AB  - Flexible and transparent electronics is the emerging future technology for
      optoelectronic devices. Recently, it has attracted considerable attention from
      the research community due to its prodigious commercial applications. Herein, we
      report highly flexible and transparent ultraviolet photosensors based on indium
      doped tin oxide nanobelts with enhanced simultaneous photosensitivity and
      recovery speed, compared to pure SnO2 nanobelts. Optoelectronic properties of the
      nanobelt photosensors have been found to be strongly related to the indium doping
      concentration and grain size of the nanobelts. A facile assembly method has been
      used to prepare the well-aligned nanobelt device for UV photosensors. Excellent
      flexible properties of the nanobelts have been explored, which show a superior
      response during bending tests and almost maintain their properties after 300
      bending cycles. The enhanced photosensitivity of about 70 times that of undoped
      SnO2 nanobelts along with a highly enhanced recovery speed of less than 1.75 s
      have been achieved by the precise doping of In3+ into SnO2 lattice nanobelts. All
      these results show that our prepared photosensors demonstrate superior
      mechanical, electrical, and optical properties for their use in flexible and
      transparent electronics.

PMID- 28607223
TI  - Graphene oxide improves the biocompatibility of collagen membranes in an in vitro
      model of human primary gingival fibroblasts.
AB  - Commercial collagen membranes are used in oral surgical procedures as scaffolds
      for bone deposition in guided bone regeneration. Here, we have enriched them with
      graphene oxide (GO) via a simple non-covalent functionalization, exploiting the
      capacity of oxygenated carbon functional moieties of GO to interact through
      hydrogen bonding with collagen. In the present paper, the GO-coated membranes
      have been characterized in terms of stability, nano-roughness, biocompatibility
      and induction of inflammatory response in human primary gingival fibroblast
      cells. The obtained coated membranes are demonstrated not to leak GO in the bulk
      solution, and to change some features of the membrane, such as stiffness and
      adhesion between the membrane and the atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip.
      Moreover, the presence of GO increases the roughness and the total surface
      exposed to the cells, as demonstrated by AFM analyses. The obtained material is
      biocompatible, and does not induce inflammation in the tested cells.

PMID- 28607225
TI  - Hydrogen bond symmetrization and elastic constants under pressure of delta-AlOOH.
AB  - The elastic constants of delta-AlOOH have been calculated for applied pressures
      in the range 0-40 GPa using three exchange-correlation functionals, i.e. PBEsol,
      TCAsol and PBE. PBEsol and TCAsol, which describe the geometry of this system
      very well, give similar results, while the PBE values are smaller, a consequence
      of the fact that the PBE lattice parameters are too large. In agreement with the
      experiments, the calculations show that at low pressure the axial compressibility
      is greater in the b direction and smaller in the c direction, while the opposite
      is true at high pressure. This change takes place 5 GPa before the calculated
      hydrogen bond symmetrization transition. Combining this result with those
      reported in the experimental papers, one obtains a strong indication that
      symmetrization takes place at about 15 GPa, in excellent agreement with the
      PBEsol and TCAsol predictions.

PMID- 28607224
TI  - Evaluation of focused multipolar stimulation for cochlear implants: a preclinical
      safety study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cochlear implants (CIs) have a limited number of independent
      stimulation channels due to the highly conductive nature of the fluid-filled
      cochlea. Attempts to develop highly focused stimulation to improve speech
      perception in CI users includes the use of simultaneous stimulation via multiple
      current sources. Focused multipolar (FMP) stimulation is an example of this
      approach and has been shown to reduce interaction between stimulating channels.
      However, compared with conventional biphasic current pulses generated from a
      single current source, FMP is a complex stimulus that includes extended periods
      of stimulation before charge recovery is achieved, raising questions on whether
      chronic stimulation with this strategy is safe. The present study evaluated the
      long-term safety of intracochlear stimulation using FMP in a preclinical animal
      model of profound deafness. APPROACH: Six cats were bilaterally implanted with
      scala tympani electrode arrays two months after deafening, and received
      continuous unilateral FMP stimulation at levels that evoked a behavioural
      response for periods of up to 182 d. Electrode impedance, electrically-evoked
      compound action potentials (ECAPs) and auditory brainstem responses (EABRs) were
      monitored periodically over the course of the stimulation program from both the
      stimulated and contralateral control cochleae. On completion of the stimulation
      program cochleae were examined histologically and the electrode arrays were
      evaluated for evidence of platinum (Pt) corrosion. MAIN RESULTS: There was no
      significant difference in electrode impedance between control and chronically
      stimulated electrodes following long-term FMP stimulation. Moreover, there was no
      significant difference between ECAP and EABR thresholds evoked from control or
      stimulated cochleae at either the onset of stimulation or at completion of the
      stimulation program. Chronic FMP stimulation had no effect on spiral ganglion
      neuron (SGN) survival when compared with unstimulated control cochleae. Long-term
      implantation typically evoked a mild foreign body reaction proximal to the
      electrode array; however stimulated cochleae exhibited a small but statistically
      significant increase in the tissue response. Finally, there was no evidence of Pt
      corrosion following long-term FMP stimulation; stimulated electrodes exhibited
      the same surface features as the unstimulated control electrodes. SIGNIFICANCE:
      Chronic intracochlear FMP stimulation at levels used in the present study did not
      adversely affect electrically-evoked neural thresholds or SGN survival but evoked
      a small, benign increase in inflammatory response compared to control ears.
      Moreover chronic FMP stimulation does not affect the surface of Pt electrodes at
      suprathreshold stimulus levels. These findings support the safe clinical
      application of an FMP stimulation strategy.

PMID- 28607226
TI  - Psychotherapy for torture survivors - Suggested pathways for research.
AB  - Editorial.

PMID- 28607227
TI  - An evaluation of combined narrative exposure therapy and physiotherapy for
      comorbid PTSD and chronic pain in torture survivors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Torture is associated with adverse health consequences, with
      especially high rates of PTSD, depression and chronic pain. Despite increased
      awareness of the relationship between pain and posttraumaticsymptoms, and the
      accompanying need for effective treatment strategies, few studies have examined
      an integrated treatment of comorbid PTSD and pain. METHODS: In this study, using
      an A-B case series design with three and six month follow-up, six refugee torture
      survivors with comorbid PTSD, depression and chronic pain received 20 sessions of
      Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) and 10 sessions of physiotherapy. Outcome
      variables included symptoms of PTSD and depression, pain intensity, physical
      functioning and quality of life. Symptoms of PTSD and pain were also rated after
      each treatment session. RESULTS: Two patients achieved clinically significant
      reduction in symptoms of PTSD. Only one patient achieved clinically significant
      change in depressive symptoms, and two experienced clinically significant
      reduction in pain intensity. Clinical descriptions of the course of treatment for
      all patients are provided. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Despite its limitations,
      the study suggests that some torture survivors who suffer high symptom loads may
      benefit from a combined treatment of NET and physiotherapy. Appreciating
      individual differences and how they affect treatment can provide valuable insight
      and inform clinicians working with torture survivors. Directions for future
      researchregarding the improvement of rehabilitation strategies of torture
      survivors are discussed, and highlighted through descriptions from the six
      therapy cases.

PMID- 28607228
TI  - Mercy for money: Torture's link to profit in Sri Lanka, a retrospective review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this retrospective study is to describe the pattern of
      bribe taking in exchange for release from torture, during and after the decades
      long war in Sri Lanka. METHODS: We reviewed the charts of 98 refugee claimants
      from Sri Lanka referred to the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture for medical
      assessments prior to their refugee hearings in Toronto between 1989 and 2013. We
      tallied the number of incidents in which claimants described paying cash or
      jewelry to end torture, and collected other associated data such as demographics,
      organizations of the perpetrators, locations, and, if available, amounts paid. We
      included torture perpetrated by both governmental and nongovernmental militant
      groups. Collected data was coded and evaluated. FINDINGS: We found that 78 of the
      95 subjects (82.1%) whose reported ordeals met the United Nations Convention
      Against Torture/International Criminal Court definitions of torture described
      paying to end torture at least once. 43 subjects paid to end torture more than
      once. Multiple groups (governmental and non-governmental) practiced torture and
      extorted money by doing so. A middleman was described in 32 percent of the
      incidents. Payment amounts as reported were high compared to average Sri Lankan
      annual incomes. The practice of torture and related monetary extortion was still
      reported after the end of the war, inclusive of 2013. INTERPRETATION: Torture in
      Sri Lanka is unlikely to end while profit motives remain unchallenged. As well as
      health injuries, victims of torture and their families suffer significant
      economic injuries while their assailants are enriched. The frequent link between
      torture and impunity means multiple populations the world over are vulnerable to
      this abuse.

PMID- 28607229
TI  - Recognition and treatment of law enforcement violence against detainees and
      prisoners: A survey among Israeli physicians and medical students.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Physicians regularly encounter victims of violence. Although some
      at-risk groups are increasingly recognized as such, the risks faced by prisoners
      and detainees are often overlooked. The scope of violence against them is unknown
      and their treatment is often hampered by unique social and institutional
      impediments. This article reviews the need for improved recognition and
      protection of such patients and the associated obstacles, while presenting
      information on the experience, knowledge and attitudes of physicians in Israel
      regarding the maltreatment of prisoners and detainees. METHODS: We sent a
      questionnaire to physicians and medical students in Israel to enquire about their
      knowledge concerning examination and treatment of persons under police custody
      who appear to be victims of violence as well as their attitude concerning
      torture. RESULTS: We received answers from 443 physicians and 114 medical
      students. Most physicians would correctly examine and document the injuries, but
      only 59% would report their suspicions of violence to the Ministry of Health.
      Though 60% of physicians objected in principle to the use of torture, a majority
      endorsed the use of physical and psychological pressure during interrogation.
      Moreover, 29% of physicians thought it is permissible for physicians to examine
      detainees and verify their health so that torture can begin or continue.
      DISCUSSION: Our study shows that there is a need for development and
      implementation of treatment and reporting protocols as well as educational
      programs concerning the ethical and legal requirements of physicians towards
      detainees and prisoners in Israel. Limitations of our study are discussed.

PMID- 28607230
TI  - Preventing torture for people deprived of freedom: The Atlantic Hope and Black
      Swan Prison Model.
AB  - International law and minimum standards provide certain protection for detainees
      and prisoners of war (POW) against torture and ill-treatment. Places of detention
      and parties to conflicts are often monitored to ensure that they adhere to the
      required standards through, for example, visits to individual detainees and the
      assessment of facilities. However, monitoring between the point of arrest and
      eventual remand in prisons is largely inadequate. This paper explains an emerging
      model to enhance protection of prisoners through readiness training for
      prospective humanitarian personnel. The Atlantic Hope simulation exercise on
      monitoring detainees and visits to the mock Black Swan prison represents a
      teaching model to enhance sustainable protection of detainees and POW during
      incarceration. The simulation entails comprehensive monitoring, assessment,
      visits and provision of services to prisoners from the point of arrest, during
      the transition to places of custody, and imprisonment. These enhance protection
      of detainees to avoid deaths in custody, disappearance and torture throughout the
      chain of imprisonment.

PMID- 28607231
TI  - Reorienting the focus towards the Sustainable Development Goals: challenges and
      opportunities for Sri Lanka.

PMID- 28607232
TI  - Maintaining momentum in Sri Lanka to ensure that malaria is gone - but not
      forgotten.

PMID- 28607233
TI  - Universal health coverage and the health Sustainable Development Goal:
      achievements and challenges for Sri Lanka.
AB  - With state-funded health care that is free at the point of delivery, a sound
      primary health-care policy and widespread health-care services, Sri Lanka seems a
      good example of universal health coverage. Yet, health transition and disparities
      in provision and financing threaten this situation. Sri Lanka did well on the
      Millennium Development Goal health indicators, but the Sustainable Development
      Goal (SDG) for health has a wider purview, which is to "ensure healthy lives and
      promote well-being for all at all ages". The gender gap in life expectancy and
      the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy make achievement of
      the health SDG more challenging. Although women and children do well overall, the
      comparative health disadvantage for men in Sri Lanka is a cause for concern. From
      a financing perspective, high out-of-pocket expenditure and high utilization of
      the private sector, even by those in the lowest income quintile, are concerns, as
      is the emerging "third tier", where some individuals accessing state health care
      that is free at the point of delivery actually bear some of the costs of drugs,
      investigations and surgery. This cost sharing is resulting in catastrophic health
      expenditure for individuals, and delays in and non-compliance with treatment.
      These concerns about provision and financing must be addressed, as health
      transition will intensify the morbidity burden and loss of well-being, and could
      derail plans to achieve the health SDG.

PMID- 28607234
TI  - Healthy Lifestyle Centres: a service for screening noncommunicable diseases
      through primary health-care institutions in Sri Lanka.
AB  - The Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka initiated the Healthy Lifestyle Centres
      (HLCs) in 2011, to address the lack of a structured noncommunicable disease (NCD)
      screening service through the lowest level of primary health-care institutions.
      The main service objective of the HLCs is to reduce the risk of NCDs of 40-65
      year olds by detecting risk factors early and improving access to specialized
      care for those with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The screened
      clients are managed at HLCs, based on the total-risk approach to assess their 10
      year CVD risk, using the World Health Organization/International Society of
      Hypertension risk-prediction chart. Those with a 10-year CVD risk of more than
      30% are referred to the specialized medical clinics, while others are managed
      with lifestyle modification and are requested to visit the HLC for rescreening,
      based on the levels of CVD risk and intermediate risk factors. Identified
      challenges to date include: underutilization of services, especially by men; weak
      staff adherence to protocols; lack of integration into pre-existing NCD-screening
      services; non-inclusion of screening for all the major NCDs; and human resources.
      The government plans to address these challenges as a priority, within the
      context of the National multisectoral action plan for the prevention and control
      of NCDs in Sri Lanka 2016-2020. Key interventions include: extended opening hours
      for HLCs, outreach activities in workplaces, and integration with "well woman
      clinics". Costs related to actions have been realistically estimated. Some
      actions have already been initiated, while others are being designed with
      identified funds.

PMID- 28607235
TI  - Meeting the current and future health-care needs of Sri Lanka's ageing
      population.
AB  - Sri Lanka is one of the fastest-ageing countries in the world. This rapid
      demographic transition is expected to result in one quarter of the population
      being elderly by the year 2041. Profound challenges face the country as a result,
      especially with respect to planning adequate elderly-oriented services in the
      social-care and health-care sectors. In response to this need, many initiatives
      have been put in place to promote and protect the welfare of older people, and
      these rights have been inscribed in law. Within the health sector, despite the
      wealth of policies and initiatives in recent years, it is clear that the existing
      health infrastructure and systems still require strengthening, reorientation and
      coordination, to meet the needs of the growing population of elderly individuals.
      Lessons learnt from the successes in reducing the maternal mortality ratio can be
      applied to strengthening preventive services at the community level, to ensure
      active healthy ageing in Sri Lanka. Engagement of specialist medical officers of
      health and general practitioners to provide preventive and curative primary-care
      services would reduce current pressures on higher-level services. Expansion of
      dedicated elderly-care wards and units at the tertiary level would restructure
      care towards changing patient demographics. The key to success in these
      strategies will be increasing the proportions of the medical, nursing and allied
      professional cadres who have been trained in geriatric medicine. Such capacity
      building in the care of the elderly will allow a move towards provision of
      multidisciplinary teams that can manage the complex physical, social and
      psychological needs of the older patient.

PMID- 28607236
TI  - Sri Lanka's national assessment on innovation and intellectual property for
      access to medical products.
AB  - In 2008, the Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and
      intellectual property (GSPA-PHI) was launched by the World Health Organization,
      to stimulate fresh thinking on innovation in, and access to, medicines and to
      build sustainable research on diseases disproportionately affecting low- and
      middle-income countries. As part of the activities of the GSPA-PHI, Sri Lanka has
      been the first country to date to assess the national environment for medical
      technology and innovation. This year-long, multistakeholder, participative
      analysis facilitated identification of clear and implementable policy
      recommendations, for the government to increase its effectiveness in promoting
      innovation in health products through institutional development, investment and
      coordination among all areas relevant to public health. The assessment also
      highlighted areas for priority action, including closing the technology gap in
      development of health products, facilitating technology transfer, and building
      the health-research and allied workforces. The Sri Lankan experience will inform
      the ongoing independent external evaluation of the GSPA-PHI worldwide. The
      assessment process coincided with the passing of the National Medicines
      Regulatory Authority Act in 2015. In addition, there is growing recognition that
      regional cooperation will be critical to improving access to medical products in
      the future. Sri Lanka is therefore actively promoting cooperation to establish a
      regional regulatory affairs network. Lessons learnt from the Sri Lankan
      assessment may also benefit other countries embarking on a national GSPA-PHI
      assessment.

PMID- 28607237
TI  - Sustainable dengue prevention and control through a comprehensive integrated
      approach: the Sri Lankan perspective.
AB  - Dengue is a leading public health problem in Sri Lanka. All 26 districts and all
      age groups are affected, with high disease transmission; the estimated average
      annual incidence is 175/100 000 population. Harnessing the World Health
      Organization Global strategy for dengue prevention and control, 2012-2020, Sri
      Lanka has pledged in its National Strategic Framework to achieve a mortality from
      dengue below 0.1% and to reduce morbidity by 50% (from the average of the last 5
      years) by 2020. Turning points in the country's dengue-control programme have
      been the restructuring and restrategizing of the core functions; this has
      involved establishment of a separate dengue-control unit to coordinate integrated
      vector management, and creation of a presidential task force. There has been
      great progress in disease surveillance, clinical management and vector control.
      Enhanced real-time surveillance for early warning allows ample preparedness for
      an outbreak. National guidelines with enhanced diagnostics have significantly
      improved clinical management of dengue, reducing the case-fatality rate to 0.2%.
      Proactive integrated vector management, with multisector partnership, has created
      a positive vector-control environment; however, sustaining this momentum is a
      challenge. Robust surveillance, evidence-based clinical management, sustainable
      vector control and effective communication are key strategies that will be
      implemented to achieve set targets. Improved early detection and a standardized
      treatment protocol with enhanced diagnostics at all medical care institutions
      will lead to further reduction in mortality. Making the maximum effort to
      minimize outbreaks through sustainable vector control in the three dimensions of
      risk mapping, innovation and risk modification will enable a reduction in
      morbidity.

PMID- 28607238
TI  - Sri Lanka takes action towards a target of zero rabies death by 2020.
AB  - Rabies is a 100% vaccine-preventable and 100% fatal zoonotic, viral disease. It
      is usually spread to humans by saliva, through bites or scratches. Dogs are the
      source of the vast majority of human deaths from rabies. Political will and
      leadership have been the main drivers for success of the Sri Lankan effort to
      reduce the burden of disease attributable to rabies. Post-exposure prophylaxis,
      which is available in government health facilities, at no cost, to all bite
      patients, has been a main axis of the rabies-elimination strategy. To attain the
      last mile in rabies elimination in Sri Lanka by 2020, more will need to be done
      to scale up dog vaccination, enforce responsible dog ownership, strengthen
      surveillance for animals and humans and conduct mass awareness programmes. Sri
      Lanka is the first country in the World Health Organization South-East Asia
      Region to develop a national strategy for elimination of dog-mediated rabies and
      is a key country in sharing knowledge, expertise and capacity-building in the
      region, towards a global target of zero rabies deaths by 2030.

PMID- 28607239
TI  - Scrub typhus in Bhutan: a synthesis of data from 2009 to 2014.
AB  - Scrub typhus is an acute, febrile illness, caused by the bacterium Orientia
      tsutsugamushi, that affects millions annually in the endemic Asia-Pacific region.
      In untreated cases, the case-fatality rates range from 6% to 35%. In Bhutan,
      there was a probable outbreak in Gedu in 2009, which resulted in heightened
      awareness of the disease. Nevertheless, information on scrub typhus in Bhutan is
      limited and scattered and the epidemiology has yet to be established. To report
      the current picture of scrub typhus in Bhutan, this review gathered data from
      scholarly databases, surveillance reports, the Annual health bulletin, research
      publications and laboratory test reports from hospitals. The weight of evidence
      indicates an increasing burden of scrub typhus since the Gedu incident, coupled
      with increased awareness and testing. Another outbreak in a rural primary school
      in 2014 resulted in two deaths. More hospitals now have testing facilities and
      laboratory-confirmed cases have been increasing since 2009, with seasonal trends.
      This review highlights the need for in-depth surveillance and reporting,
      increased awareness among health-care workers, and initiation of prevention and
      control programmes in the country.

PMID- 28607241
TI  - Composition and distribution of the health workforce in India: estimates based on
      data from the National Sample Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The availability of reliable and comprehensive information on the
      health workforce is crucial for workforce planning. In India, routine information
      sources on the health workforce are incomplete and unreliable. This paper
      addresses this issue and provides a comprehensive picture of India's health
      workforce. METHODS: Data from the 68th round (July 2011 to June 2012) of the
      National Sample Survey on the Employment and unemployment situation in India were
      analysed to produce estimates of the health workforce in India. The estimates
      were based on self-reported occupations, categorized using a combination of both
      National Classification of Occupations (2004) and National Industrial
      Classification (2008) codes. RESULTS: Findings suggest that in 2011-2012, there
      were 2.5 million health workers (density of 20.9 workers per 10 000 population)
      in India. However, 56.4% of all health workers were unqualified, including 42.3%
      of allopathic doctors, 27.5% of dentists, 56.1% of Ayurveda, yoga and
      naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy (AYUSH) practitioners, 58.4% of nurses
      and midwives and 69.2% of health associates. By cadre, there were 3.3 qualified
      allopathic doctors and 3.1 nurses and midwives per 10 000 population; this is
      around one quarter of the World Health Organization benchmark of 22.8 doctors,
      nurses and midwives per 10 000 population. Out of all qualified workers, 77.4%
      were located in urban areas, even though the urban population is only 31% of the
      total population of the country. This urban-rural difference was higher for
      allopathic doctors (density 11.4 times higher in urban areas) compared to nurses
      and midwives (5.5 times higher in urban areas). CONCLUSION: The study highlights
      several areas of concern: overall low numbers of qualified health workers; a
      large presence of unqualified health workers, particularly in rural areas; and
      large urban-rural differences in the distribution of qualified health workers.

PMID- 28607240
TI  - Social impacts on adult use of tobacco: findings from the International Tobacco
      Control Project India, Wave 1 Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social impacts on tobacco use have been reported but not well
      quantified. This study investigated how strongly the use of smoked and smokeless
      tobacco may be influenced by other users who are close to the respondents.
      METHODS: The International Tobacco Control Project (TCP), India, used stratified
      multistage cluster sampling to survey individuals aged >=15 years in four areas
      of India about their tobacco use and that of their close associates. The present
      study used logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for tobacco use for
      each type of close associate. RESULTS: Among the 9780 respondents, tobacco use
      was significantly associated with their close associates' (father's, mother's,
      friends', spouse's) tobacco use in the same form. After adjusting for confounding
      variables, women smokers were nine times more likely to have a mother who ever
      smoked (OR: 9.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.3-24.7) and men smokers five
      times more likely (OR: 5.4; 95% CI: 2.1-14.1) than non-smokers. Men smokers were
      seven times more likely to have close friends who smoked (OR: 7.2; 95% CI: 5.6
      9.3). Users of smokeless tobacco (SLT) were five times more likely to have
      friends who used SLT (OR: 5.3; 95% CI: 4.4-6.3 [men]; OR: 5.0; 95% CI: 4.3-5.9
      [women]) and four times more likely to have a spouse who used SLT (OR: 4.1; 95%
      CI: 3.0-5.8 [men]; OR: 4.3; 95% CI: 3.6-5.3 [women]), than non-users. The ORs for
      the association of the individuals' tobacco use, whether smoked or smokeless,
      increased with the number of close friends using it in the same form. CONCLUSION:
      The influence of family members and friends on tobacco use needs to be
      appropriately addressed in tobacco-control interventions.

PMID- 28607242
TI  - Factors enabling women with pelvic organ prolapse to seek surgery at mobile
      surgical camps in two remote districts in Nepal: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a major reproductive health problem in
      Nepal, though many women delay seeking treatment. To address this, the Nepalese
      government has been providing free vaginal hysterectomies with pelvic floor
      repair to women in mobile surgical camps. Studies exploring factors that enable
      women to attend these camp settings are limited. This study aimed to identify
      factors that affected women seeking surgical treatment for POP at mobile surgical
      camps. METHODS: The study used a qualitative approach. Twenty-one women with POP
      were recruited in two week-long mobile surgical camps held in two remote
      districts in Nepal during April and May 2013. Data were collected from individual
      face-to-face interviews and were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Three themes and
      six subthemes emerged from the analysis. The first theme, "health-system
      factors", suggests that accessibility and affordability of the treatment, and the
      supportive role of female community health volunteers facilitate women to seek
      treatment in the camp. The second theme, "factors related to sociocultural
      norms", reveals that reaching the end of reproductive years and approval by
      relevant influential family members empowers women to take up surgical treatment
      in the mobile surgical camp. Similarly, the third theme, "individual-level
      factors", includes women's experience of POP, such as worsening symptoms and fear
      of development of cancer, as factors enabling women to seek treatment.
      CONCLUSION: Enablers to seeking treatment at mobile surgical camps for women are
      related to the Nepalese health system, sociocultural norms and individual
      experiences of women. Each of these factors should be considered when conducting
      mobile surgical camps, if women's uptake of treatment is to be enhanced.

PMID- 28607243
TI  - Costing of immunization service provision in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka: a
      cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunization is regarded as the single most cost-effective way to
      prevent vaccine-preventable diseases. With the rising cost of the National
      Immunization Programme (NIP) in Sri Lanka, immunization costing studies could
      help programme managers to ensure sustainable immunization financing in the
      country. METHODS: Four medical officer of health (MOH) divisions in Kalutara
      district were included, to estimate the cost incurred for the NIP programme.
      Fifteen immunization clinics from urban and rural settings were selected from the
      selected MOH divisions, by a simple random sampling method. Data were collected
      for a period of 3 months, using pretested check-lists. In addition, related data
      at national and district levels were also collected. Cost estimates were made for
      direct capital and recurrent costs. RESULTS: The cost of vaccines under the
      national immunization schedule for infants was 1361.84 SL Rs (US$ 10.32). For
      children under 5 years of age, it was 1535.64 SL Rs (US$ 11.63). The majority of
      these costs were direct recurrent costs (93.4%). Vaccines (84.3%) and staff
      salaries (6.4%) were the main components of direct recurrent costs, while cold
      chain equipment (5.3%) was the main contributor to direct capital cost.
      CONCLUSION: The cost of vaccine is the highest proportion among all other cost
      components in the NIP in Sri Lanka, and this is largely attributable to new
      costly vaccines. Staff payments are not significant, as they are a shared cost of
      public health service providers. Studies exploring the costing of the NIP in the
      country would be beneficial, to ensure sustainable immunization financing.

PMID- 28607244
TI  - Policy opportunities and limitations of evidence-based planning for immunization:
      lessons learnt from a field trial in Bangladesh.
AB  - Despite success in scaling up immunization, the national immunization programme
      in Bangladesh remains challenged by persisting inequities in health access
      related to geographic location and social factors, including income and education
      status. In order to tackle these inequities in access, the national immunization
      programme has conducted a field trial of the evidence-based planning model in
      Bangladesh between 2011 and 2013, in 11 low-performing districts and 3 city
      corporations. The main elements of this intervention included bottleneck analysis
      in local areas, action planning and budgeting to correct the bottlenecks, and
      establishment of a monitoring system to track progress. Coverage improved in 8
      out of 14 districts post intervention. The main success factors associated with
      the intervention included more analytic approaches to situation assessment and
      taking action on health inequities at the local level, as well as more considered
      use of local data to track immunization drop-outs. The main factors associated
      with coverage declines in trial areas (6 districts) included poor financial
      resourcing and supervisory support, and gaps and turnover in human resources. In
      order to sustain and improve coverage, it will be necessary in future to link pro
      equity approaches to subdistrict planning to higher-level health-system
      strengthening strategy and planning systems. This will ensure that local area
      planners have the required resources, comprehensive operational plans and
      political support to sustain implementation of corrective actions to address
      identified system bottlenecks and inequities in health access at the local level.

PMID- 28607246
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 28607245
TI  - Opportunities in oral health policy for Timor-Leste.
AB  - Timor-Leste faces an urgent set of challenges in oral health. The impact of oral
      diseases in terms of reduced quality of life and cost of treatment is
      considerable. This paper reviews progress on policy recommendations since the
      National Oral Health Survey in 2002, the first such national survey. Few
      proposals have been implemented to date, owing to (i) lack of local support for
      the recommendations, particularly on promotion of oral health; (ii) lack of
      financial and budgetary provisions for oral health; (iii) lack of focus on
      services, human resources and dental personnel; (iv) poor focus, design and
      implementation of policy and planning in oral health; and (v) lack of transport
      to facilitate health-care workers' access to remote areas. Based on this
      assessment, the present paper presents a reconfigured set of policies and
      recommendations for oral health that take into consideration the reasons for low
      uptake of previous guidance. Key priorities are promotion of oral health,
      legislative interventions, education of the oral-health workforce, dental
      outreach programmes, targeted dental treatment, dental infrastructure programmes,
      and research and evaluation. Interventions include promotion of oral health for
      schoolchildren, salt fluoridation, fluoride toothpaste and banning sweet stalls
      and use of tobacco and betel nut in, or near, schools. Timor-Leste should
      strengthen the availability and quality of outreach programmes for oral health.
      Dental therapists and dental nurses who can supply preventive and atraumatic
      restorative dental care should continue to be trained, and the planned dentistry
      school should be established. Ongoing research and evaluation is needed to ensure
      that the approach being used in Timor-Leste is leading to improved outcomes in
      oral health.

PMID- 28607247
TI  - Vector-borne diseases in South-East Asia: burdens and key challenges to be
      addressed.

PMID- 28607248
TI  - Expediency of dengue illness classification: The Sri Lankan perspective.

PMID- 28607249
TI  - Expediency of dengue illness classification: the Sri Lankan perspective Highly
      infectious tick-borne viral diseases: Kyasanur forest disease and Crimean-Congo
      haemorrhagic fever in India.
AB  - Ticks are distributed worldwide and can harbourand transmit a range of pathogenic
      microorganisms that affect livestock and humans. Most tick-borne diseases are
      caused by tick-borne viruses. Two major tick-borne virus zoonotic diseases,
      Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), are
      notifiable in India and are associated with highmortality rates. KFD virus was
      first identified in 1957 in Karnataka state; the tick Haemaphysalis spinigera is
      the main vector. During 2012-2013, cases were reported from previouslyunaffected
      areas in Karnataka, and newer areas of Kerala and Tamil Nadu states. These
      reports may be the result of improved active surveillance or may reflect altered
      virus transmission because of environmental change. CCHF is distributed in Asia,
      Africa and some part of Europe; Hyalomma spp. ticks are the main vectors. The
      existence of CCHF in India was first confirmed in 2011 in Gujaratstate. In 2013,
      a non-nosocomial CCHF outbreak in Amreli district, as well as positive tick,
      animal and human samples in various areas of Gujarat state, suggested that the
      virus is widespread in Gujarat state, India. The emergence of KFDand CCHF in
      various Indian states emphasizes the need for nationwide surveillance among
      animals and humans. There is a need for improved diagnostic facilities, more
      containment laboratories, better public awareness, and implementation ofthorough
      tick control in affected areas during epidemics.

PMID- 28607250
TI  - Current status of dengue and chikungunya in India.
AB  - Dengue, a Flavivirus and chikungunya, an Alphavirus, transmitted by Aedes
      mosquitoes, are a cause of great concern to public health in India. Every year,
      thousands of individuals are affected and contribute to the burden of health
      care. Dengue outbreaks have continued since the 1950s but severity of disease has
      increased in the last two decades. Chikungunya outbreaks started in the 1960s and
      dwindled to sporadic cases until a resurgence in 2006. Based on the data of
      National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), the number of cases
      reported in 2013 was about 74 454 for dengue with 167 deaths and 18 639 for
      chikungunya. The number of cases reported is increasing, probably because of the
      availability of IgM detection kits produced and distributed by National Institute
      of Virology through NVBDCP and better reporting. In the absence of well
      structured epidemiological studies, this review attempts to summarize reports on
      dengue and chikungunya outbreaks from various regions of India. For dengue, young
      adults are the major group affected; the severity of disease in India is still
      lower than that reported elsewhere in South-East Asia; and paediatric cases of
      dengue haemorrhagic fever have a high mortality. For chikungunya, all age groups
      are affected but severe manifestations are more often seen in children.
      Persisting arthralgia, neurological syndromes and non-neurological manifestations
      are recorded. Changes in the genotype and mutations in the genome have been
      detected for both dengue and chikungunya viruses. The review ends with a short
      summary of the most recent vector-control studies.

PMID- 28607251
TI  - Vector-borne diseases in central India, with reference to malaria, filaria,
      dengue and chikungunya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) caused by parasites and viruses are a
      major cause of morbidity and mortality in Madhya Pradesh (MP), central India.
      These diseases are malaria, lymphatic filariasis, dengue and chikungunya.
      Epidemiological information is lacking on different VBDs that are commonly
      prevalent in rural-tribal areas of MP, except on malaria. METHODS: The studies
      were carried out at the request of Government of Madhya Pradesh, in three
      locations where many VBDs are endemic. Data on malaria/filaria prevalence were
      collected by repeatedly undertaking cross-sectional parasitological surveys in
      the same areas for 3 years. For dengue and chikungunya, suspected cases were
      referred to the research centre. RESULTS: Monitoring of results revealed that all
      the diseases are commonly prevalent in the region, and show year-to-year
      variation. Malaria slide positivity (the number of malaria parasitaemic cases,
      divided by the total number of blood smears made) was 18.7% (190/1018), 16.4%
      (372/2266) and 20.4% (104/509) respectively in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.
      There was a strong age pattern in both Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum. The
      slide vivax rate was highest among infants, at 5% (odds ratio [OR] = 3.8; 95%
      confidence interval [CI] - 1.5 to 9.4; P<0.05) and the highest slide falciparum
      rate was 20% in children aged 1-4 years (OR = 2.0; 95%CI 1.5 to 2.7; p<0.0001).
      This age-related pattern was not seen in other VBDs. The microfilaria rate was
      7.5%, 7.6% and 7.8% in the years 2010, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Overall,
      microfilaria rates were higher in males (8.7%) as compared to females 6.4% (OR =
      1.5; 95% CI = 1.1 to 2.0; P < 0.01). The prevalence of dengue was 48% (dengue
      viruses 1 and 4 - DENV-1 and DENV-4), 59% (DENV-1) and 34% (DENV-3) respectively,
      in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 among referred samples, while for chikungunya
      very few samples were found to be positive. CONCLUSION: Despite recent advances
      in potential vaccines and new therapeutic schemes, the control of VBDs remains
      difficult. Therefore, interruption of transmission still relies on vector-control
      measures. A coordinated, consistent, integrated vector-management approach is
      needed to control malaria, filaria, dengue and chikungunya.

PMID- 28607252
TI  - Co-circulation of dengue virus serotypes with chikungunya virus in Madhya
      Pradesh, central India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue and chikungunya present with very similar signs and symptoms
      in the initial stage of illness and so it is difficult to distinguish them
      clinically. Both are transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus
      mosquitoes. This study was conducted with the aim to explore the co-circulation
      of dengue and chikungunya viruses in central India. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Samples from suspected dengue cases were subjected to dengue immunoglobulin M
      (lgM) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and dengue-negative samples were
      tested with chikungunya-specific IgM ELISA. The samples collected in acute phase
      of illness were tested by nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction
      (nRT-PCR). Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) sequences were analysed to determine their
      genotype. RESULTS: Of 138 samples screened for dengue, 21 (15.2%) were positive,
      and of 119samples screened for chikungunya, 13 (10.9%) were positive. Dengue
      viruses 1 and 4 were found co-circulating with chikungunya virus in Jabalpur,
      central India. The chikungunya virus detected belonged to the East Central South
      African genotype. CONCLUSION: Accurate and timely diagnosis would help in patient
      management and use of resources. It is advocated to simultaneously test samples
      for these two diseases in endemic areas. This will also aid in understanding the
      epidemiology of chikungunya.

PMID- 28607253
TI  - Barriers to malaria control in rural south-west Timor-Leste: a qualitative
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria is an important health problem in Timor-Leste. Although
      funding has been provided to reduce the burden of this disease, few studies have
      investigated whether this has improved malaria-related knowledge, management of
      symptoms, and treatment in rural communities. The aim of this study was to
      explore the perceptions and practices undertaken in relation to all aspects of
      malaria control by members of two rural communities in Timor-Leste. METHODS: A
      qualitative study was undertaken in two rural hamlets in Timor-Leste. Research
      methods included transect walks, focus groups and semi-structured interviews.
      Content analysis was used to identify themes. RESULTS: The location of the
      hamlets near rice fields, leaking taps, inadequate water supplies and dumping of
      waste from the local hospital provided opportunities for mosquitoes to breed.
      Most participants were aware of the link between mosquitoes and malaria, but a
      lack of control over their environment was a major barrierto preventing malaria.
      The distribution ofbed nets had occurred once, and was the only intervention
      undertaken bythe National Malaria Control Programme. However, limiting the
      distribution of bed nets to pregnant women and children aged under 5 years had
      resulted in some focus group respondents believing that only those in these
      groups could be affected by malaria. Self-diagnosis and home treatmentwere
      common. Treatment for unresolved infections depended on access to transport
      funds, and belief in the power of traditional healers. CONCLUSION: Improvements
      in infrastructure, empowerment of rural communities, and better access to
      treatment are recommended if the incidence of malaria is to be reduced throughout
      the country.

PMID- 28607254
TI  - Dengue fever in a rural area of West Bengal, India, 2012: an outbreak
      investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During September 2012, an increased number of fever cases was
      reported from Ramnagar-II block, Purba Medinipur district. This study
      investigated the outbreak, with the following objectives: to describe the
      distribution of fever cases, to determine the risk factors and to recommend
      preventive measures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical features, date of onset
      and outcome of all cases of fever were listed. Blood specimens were collected
      from affected patients and sent for serological examination. An epidemic curve
      was plotted and environmental and entomological surveys were carried out.
      RESULTS: There was a total of 100 cases, of which 56% (56/100) were men.Among the
      four villages studied, the highest number of cases was from Gopalpur 37%
      (37/100), followed by Badalpur 26% (26/100); 19% (19/100) of cases had a history
      of migration from dengue-endemic areas. The majority of cases were in age group
      15-45 years - 52% (52/100), followed by the age group >45 years - 28% (28/100).
      All the cases had history of fever (100%), followed by myalgia - 82%, headache -
      78%, and retro-orbital pain - 73%. The outbreak started on 7 September 2012,
      peaked on 18 September, then gradually declined and no further cases were noted
      after 28 September 2012. Seventy-nine percent (79/100) of cases were NS1 test
      positive (non-structural antigen-1) and 72% (13/18) cases were positive on a
      dengue monoclonal antibody (IgM) capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC
      ELISA) test. All recovered except one (case-fatality ratio: 1%). The values for
      Household Index, Container lndex and Breteau Index of the four villages were:
      Badalpur, 3%, 10% and 5%; Gopalpur, 13%, 23% and 18%; Ramchandrapur, 9%, 11%, and
      13%; and Tajpur, 2%, 2% and 2%. CONCLUSION: The outbreak was probably due to
      dengue fever. The study led to a recommendation to destroy water containers and
      use mosquito nets. The outbreak was controlled.

PMID- 28607255
TI  - Dengue vectors in urban and suburban Assam, India: entomological observations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue is rapidly becoming established in north-east India and
      spreading, on account of rapid urbanization and population movement, with
      reported morbidity and attributable death cases. This study aims to determine the
      seasonal abundance of Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus and Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti
      in Guwahati metropolis and suburban settlements; to characterize the breeding
      resources for these mosquitoes; and to ascertain the status of their
      susceptibility to adulticides and larvicides. METHODS: Mosquito larval surveys
      were carried out in different localities in both Guwahati city and adjoining
      suburbs from January to December 2013, to determine the seasonal abundance of
      disease vectors and their breeding preferences. The insecticide susceptibility
      status of mosquito adults and larval populations of both Aedes aegypti and Aedes
      albopictus was ascertained, using World Health Organization standard diagnostic
      concentrations and test procedures. RESULTS: The study revealed that both Aedes
      aegypti and Aedes albopictus are widely abundant in Guwahati city and suburbs,
      and breeding in a wide variety of resources. Aedes albopictus, however, was the
      predominant mosquito species in suburbs, breeding preferentially in flower vases,
      cut-bamboo stumps and leaf axils. Aedes aegypti was the most common in the city,
      breeding predominantly in discarded tyres, cement tanks and used battery boxes.
      Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus were resistant to
      dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT; 4%), but susceptible to malathion (5%), and
      exhibited a varied response to pyrethroids. However, larval populations of both
      these mosquito species were susceptible to larvicides, including malathion (1.0
      mg/L), temephos (0.02 mg/L) and fenthion (0.05 mg/L), at much lower dosages than
      diagnostic concentrations. CONCLUSION: Given the seasonal abundance and case
      incidence in city areas, it is highly probable that Aedes aegypti is the
      predominant mosquito vector transmitting dengue virus. The study results have
      direct relevance for the state dengue-control programme, for targeting
      interventions and averting outbreaks and spread of disease.

PMID- 28607257
TI  - Atypical presentation of visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) from non-endemic
      area.
AB  - Leishmaniasis is a major public health problem in various part of world; it has
      also emerged in new geographic areas and host populations. Visceral infection can
      remain subclinical or become symptomatic, with an acute, subacute or chronic
      course. Kala-azar, or visceral leishmaniasis (VL), presents as fever,
      pancytopenia and hypergammaglobulinaemia. The presence of splenomegaly is
      characteristic of VL. It may be absent in immunocompromised patients, who may
      present atypically. Absence of splenomegaly is rare in immunocompetent patients,
      though it may occur in the early stages. Atypical presentations can be
      challenging to the clinician. This paper presents an atypical presentation of
      kala-azar, with multi-organ failure in the absence of splenomegaly or fever.

PMID- 28607256
TI  - An evaluation of the surveillance system for dengue virus infections in Maldives.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue is endemic in Maldives. The largest epidemic to date was in
      2011. This study evaluates the surveillance system for dengue during 2011,
      identifies gaps and suggests ways to improve. METHODS: This evaluation of the
      national surveillance system for dengue was done in September to October 2012,
      using an evaluation tool based on United States Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention (US CDC) guidelines, staff involved in surveillance of different
      levels, and doctors expected to notify, were interviewed, and surveillance data
      from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) were compared by use of an independent
      database of the country's national referral hospital in Male, Indira Gandhi
      Memorial Hospital (IGMH), to assess sensitivity and timeliness. RESULTS: National
      surveillance is conducted by HPA, which collects information daily from a network
      of health facilities. Standard case definitions were published, butthey were not
      easily accessible to clinicians. The quality of data was acceptable. Information
      is disseminated as annual communicable disease reports to health facilities and
      uploaded onto the official website. The timeliness of reporting was good (median
      2 days). However, the usefulness for early warning of outbreaks was limited,
      owing to central and peripheral resource limitations. Data were useful for
      planning. Sensitivity was 0.54. Acceptability by clinicians was poor, owing to
      the lack of feedback reaching them. The reporting rate was high from the
      paediatric ward in IGMH (85%), where the responsibility of notifying was also
      assigned to ward in-charge and support staff, but it was extremely low from the
      medical ward (1.7%), where only doctors were given the responsibility.
      CONCLUSION: This evaluation shows the performance of the dengue surveillance
      system was good overall. However, clinicians need more regular feedback. The
      performance could be improved significantly by written protocols, legislature and
      assigning the responsibility of surveillance in hospitals to ward managers in
      addition to doctors.

PMID- 28607258
TI  - Profile of dengue infection in Jamnagar city and district, west India.
AB  - Background and Methods India is one of the countries in the World Health
      Organization South-East Asia Region that regularly reports outbreaks of dengue
      fever (DF)/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). As effective control and preventive
      programmes depend upon improved surveillance data, this study was carried out to
      report the seroprevalence of dengue virus infection in an area around Jamnagar
      city, Western India. [1] Methods The laboratory records of clinically suspected
      dengue patients from July 2008 to June 2011 were analysed retrospectively for the
      results of immunoglobulin M (IgM) anti-dengue antibodies, tested by dengue
      monoclonal antibody (IgM) capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC ELISA).
      Variations in disease incidence by sex, age group and season were assessed.
      Results A total of 903 serum samples were tested, of which 253 were positive. The
      majority were males (72%) and in the age group of 16-30 years. The incidence of
      dengue peaked in October and slowly tapered by December. Conclusion Dengue cases
      were higher during September to December, in the post-monsoon season. This
      observation is useful for planning special preventive strategies. The study draws
      attention to the susceptibility of the male, young adult age group.

PMID- 28607259
TI  - Mass primaquine preventive treatment for control of Plasmodium vivax malaria in
      the Democratic People's Republic of Korea: a country success story.
AB  - In 1998, the resurgence of Plasmodium vivax malaria in the Democratic People's
      Republic of Korea quickly increased to an epidemic, with 601 013 cases reported I
      during 1999-2001. The introduction of mass primaquine preventive treatment (MPPT)
      in 2002 was followed by a rapid reduction of malaria disease burden. The
      intervention has been well accepted by the community. Doctors were part of a
      strong functional health system with the ability to deliver interventions at the
      household J level. MPPT was considered for control of malaria after a study
      conducted in two J neighbouring endemic villages (ris) involving 320 healthy
      adults demonstrated that presence of parasitaemia was significantly lower among
      those receiving MPPT than those who did not. Similarly, in a mass blood survey
      conducted in the study sites during May, 2002 involving 5138 persons in study and
      4215 in comparison areas, the total positive results were 7-10 times rarer in the
      treatment group both before and after the malaria transmission season. In
      addition, the number of malaria cases in the MPPT treatment ris was strikingly
      lower than control ris in every month during the malaria transmission season of
      2002. The prevalence of G6PDD deficiency in DPR Korea is low, haemolytic events
      are rare and deaths due to MPPT have not been reported. MPPT in itself is a
      powerful intervention and the decision to deploy it depends on the epidemiology
      of malaria, urgency of malaria control and resources available in the country.

PMID- 28607260
TI  - Monitoring the durability of long-lasting insecticidal nets in field conditions
      in Nepal.
AB  - Understanding and improving the durability of long-lasting insecticidal nets
      (LLINs) in the field is critical for the success of malaria prevention using
      mosquito nets, as well as contributing to procurement decisions based on the
      number of years of protection, rather than the current practice of unit cost.
      Using the recently published guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO)
      some progress has been made in the monitoring and assessment of performance of
      nets in the field. This paper describes the protocol of an ongoing retrospective
      study of the attrition rate, physical integrity and bioefficacy of three
      polyester LLIN products that were distributed during 2010 to 2013 in Nepal. It is
      hoped that robust and auditable data on net survival (physical integrity and
      bioefficacy) of these three brands in different environments will assist the
      Nepal National Malaria Control Programme in planning future LLIN-replacement
      strategies, including behaviour-change communication about LLIN care and
      maintenance. The advantages and disadvantages of prospective and retrospective
      cross-sectional approaches are discussed, including appropriate strategies to
      validate the timing for mass distribution of nets. Similar studies should be done
      in other countries to (i) track LLIN durability to support management of
      resupply, and (ii) inform procurement decisions at the global level. New, more
      predictive, textile laboratory testing is also urgently needed.

PMID- 28607261
TI  - Malaria elimination in Sri Lanka: what it would take to reach the goal.
AB  - Fifty years after narrowly missing the opportunity to eliminate malaria from Sri
      Lanka in the 1960s, the country has now interrupted malaria transmission and
      sustained this interruption for more than 12 months - no indigenous malaria cases
      have been reported since October 2012. This was achieved through a period
      overlapping with a 30-year separatist war in areas that were endemic for malaria.
      The challenge now, of sustaining a malaria-free country and preventing the
      reintroduction of malaria to Sri Lanka, is examined here in the context of rapid
      postwar developments in the country. Increased travel to and from the country to
      expand development projects, businesses and a booming tourist industry, and the
      influx of labour and refugees from neighbouring malarious countries combine with
      the continued presence of malaria vectors in formerly endemic areas, to make the
      country both receptive and vulnerable to the reintroduction of malaria. The
      absence of indigenous malaria has led to a loss of awareness among the medical
      profession, resulting in delayed diagnosis of malaria despite the availability of
      an extensive malaria diagnosis service. Highly prevalent vector-borne diseases
      such as dengue are competing for health-service resources. Interventions that are
      necessary at this critical time include sustaining a state-of-the-art
      surveillance and response system for malaria, and advocacy to maintain awareness
      among the medical profession and at high levels of government, sustained funding
      for the Anti-Malaria Campaign and for implementation research and technical
      guidance on elimination. The malaria-elimination effort should be supported by
      rigorous analyses to demonstrate the clear economic and health benefits of
      eliminating malaria, which exceed the cost of a surveillance and response system.
      An annual World Health Organization review of the programme may also be required.

PMID- 28607262
TI  - Containing artemisinin resistance of Plasmodium falciparum in Myanmar:
      achievements, challenges and the way forward.
AB  - Artemisinin resistance is a major threat to global malaria control and
      elimination efforts. Myanmar detected the first indication of the resistance in
      2009 in the eastern part of the country, bordering Thailand. Since 2010, WHO has
      played a vital role in ensuring that a comprehensive programme on the containment
      of the resistance is in place. This paper documents achievement made in terms of
      output, outcomes and early impact on malaria from July 2011 to December 2013. It
      also identifies enabling factors to success and, most importantly, challenges
      awaiting the national programme and its partners.

PMID- 28607263
TI  - Economic burden of malaria in India: The need for effective spending.
AB  - About 95%of India's population resides in malaria-endemic areas and, according to
      government sources, 80%of malaria reported in the country is confined to
      populations residing in tribal, hilly, difficult and inaccessible areas. Using a
      nationally representative sample, this study has estimated the economic burden of
      malaria in India by applying the cost-of-illness approach, using the information
      on cost of treatment, days lost and earnings foregone, from the National Sample
      Survey data. A sensitivity analysis was carried out, by presenting two
      alternative scenarios of deaths. The results indicate that the total economic
      burden from malaria in India could be around US$ 1940 million. The major burden
      comes from lost earnings (75%), while 24%comes from treatment costs. Since
      mortality is low, this is not a major source of economic burden of malaria. An
      analysis of the trend and patterns in public expenditure by the National Vector
      Borne Disease Control Programme shows a declining focus of the central government
      on vector-borne diseases.Also, allocation of financial resources among states
      does not reflect the burden of malaria, the major vector-borne disease in the
      country.

PMID- 28607264
TI  - Towards universal health coverage: an example of malaria intervention in Nepal.
AB  - A comprehensive and integrated assessment of health-system functioning requires
      measurement of universal health coverage (UHC) for disease-specific
      interventions. This paper aims to contribute to measurement of UHC by utilizing
      locally available data related to malaria in Nepal. This paper utilizes the
      elements of UHC as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The concept
      of UHC represents both improvements in health outcomes and protection of people
      from poverty induced by health-care costs. Measuring UHC focusing on a tropical
      disease highlights the progress made towards elimination of the disease and
      exhibits health-system bottlenecks in achieving elimination of the disease.
      Several bottlenecks are found in the Nepalese health system that strongly suggest
      the need to focus on health-system strengthening to shift the health production
      function of malaria intervention. The disaggregated data clearly show the
      inequality of service coverage among subgroups of the population. Analysis of
      effective coverage of malaria interventions indicates the insufficient quality of
      current interventions. None of households faced catastrophic impact due to
      payment for malaria care in Nepal. However, the costs of hospital-based care of
      malaria were not captured in this analysis. The paper provides the current status
      of UHC for malaria interventions and reveals system bottlenecks on which policy
      makers and stakeholders should focus to improve Nepal's malaria control strategy.
      It concludes that financial coverage of the malaria intervention is at an
      acceptable level; however, service coverage needs to be improved.

PMID- 28607265
TI  - The National Academy of Vectors and Vector Borne Diseases in India: two decades
      of progress.
AB  - The National Academy of Vector Borne Diseases (NAVBD) was founded at Bhubaneswar
      in 1994, by Dr AP Dash, along with 15 like-minded scientists from all over India.
      NAVBD is a non-profit academic organization in India, dedicated to advancing and
      promoting knowledge on vectors and vector-borne diseases, and encouraging
      scientists and members of the academy to conduct research on vectors and vector
      borne diseases. NAVBD convenes national and international seminars, symposia and
      workshops to exchange knowledge on recent advances in the field of vectors and
      vector-borne diseases and raise public awareness. Plans are under way to expand
      the Academy's activities to the rest of the South-East Asia Region.

PMID- 28607267
TI  - Towards sustainable access to safe drinking water in South-East Asia.

PMID- 28607266
TI  - Public health classic.

PMID- 28607268
TI  - Family Planning - friendly Health facility Initiative to promote contraceptive
      utilization.

PMID- 28607269
TI  - A review of the Sri Lankan health-sector response to intimate partner violence:
      looking back, moving forward.
AB  - Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major health concern for women worldwide.
      Prevalence rates for IPV are high in the World Health Organization South-East
      Asia Region, but little is known about health-sector responses in this area.
      Health-care professionals can play an important role in supporting women who are
      seeking recourse from IPV. A comprehensive search was conducted to identify
      relevant published and grey literature over the last 35 years that focused on
      IPV, partner/ spousal violence, wife beating/abuse/battering, domestic violence,
      and Sri Lanka. Much of the information about current health-sector response to
      IPV in Sri Lanka was not reported in published and grey literature. Therefore,
      key personnel from the Ministry of Health, hospitals, universities and
      nongovernmental organizations were also interviewed to gain additional, accurate
      and timely information. It was found that the health-sector response to IPV in
      Sri Lanka is evolving, and consists of two models of service provision: (i)
      gender based violence desks, which integrate selective services at the
      provider/facility level; and (ii) Mithuru Piyasa (Friendly Abode) service points,
      which integrate comprehensive services at the provider/facility level and some at
      the system level. This paper presents each model's strengths and limitations in
      providing comprehensive and integrated health services for women who experience
      IPV in the Sri Lankan context.

PMID- 28607271
TI  - Mosquito-borne diseases in Assam, north-east India: current status and key
      challenges.
AB  - Mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, Japanese encephalitis (JE), lymphatic
      filariasis and dengue, are major public health concerns in the north-eastern
      state of Assam, deterring equitable socioeconomic and industrial development.
      Among these, malaria and JE are the predominant infections and are spread across
      the state. The incidence of malaria is, however, gradually receding, with a
      consistent decline in cases over the past few years, although entry and spread of
      artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum remains a real threat in the country.
      JE, formerly endemic in upper Assam, is currently spreading fast across the
      state, with confirmed cases and a high case-fatality rate affecting all ages.
      Lymphatic filariasisis is prevalent but its distribution is confined to a few
      districts and disease transmission is steadily declining. Dengue has recently
      invaded the state, with a large concentration of cases in Guwahati city that are
      spreading to suburban areas. Control of these diseases requires robust disease
      surveillance and integrated vector management on a sustained basis, ensuring
      universal coverage of evidence-based key interventions based on sound
      epidemiological data. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the
      status of vector-borne diseases in Assam and to address the key challenges.

PMID- 28607272
TI  - Association between household air pollution sand neonatal mortality: an analysis
      of Annual Health Survey results, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India, household air pollution (HAP) is one of the leading risk
      factors contributing to the national burden of disease. Estimates indicate that
      7.6% of all deaths in children aged under 5 years in the country can be
      attributed to HAP. This analysis attempts to establish the association between
      HAP and neonatal mortality rate (NMR). METHODS: Secondary data from the Annual
      Health Survey, conducted in 284 districts of nine large states covering 1 404 337
      live births, were analysed. The survey was carried out from July 2010 to March
      2011 (reference period: January 2007 to December 2009). The primary outcome was
      NMR. The key exposure was the use of firewood/crop residues/cow dung as fuel. The
      covariates were: sociodemographic factors (place of residence, literacy status of
      mothers, proportion of women aged less than 18 years who were married, wealth
      index); health-system factors (three or more antenatal care visits made during
      pregnancy; institutional deliveries; proportion of neonates with a stay in the
      institution for less than 24 h; percentage of neonates who received a check-up
      within 24 h of birth); and behavioural factors (initiation of breast feeding
      within 1 h). Descriptive analysis, with district as the unit of analysis, was
      performed for rural and urban areas. Bivariate and multivariable linear
      regression analysis was carried out to investigate the association between HAP
      and NMR. RESULTS: The mean rural NMR was 42.4/1000 live births (standard
      deviation [SD] = 11.4/1000) and urban NMR was 33.1/1000 live births
      (SD=12.6/1000). The proportion of households with HAP was 92.2% in rural areas,
      compared to 40.8% in urban areas, and the difference was statistically
      significant (P < 0.001). HAP was found to be strongly associated with NMR after
      adjustment (beta = 0.22; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.09 to 0.35) for urban
      and rural areas combined. For rural areas separately, the association was
      significant (beta = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.13 to 0.45) after adjustment. In univariable
      analysis, the analysis showed a significant association in urban areas (beta =
      0.23; 95% CI = 0.12 to 2.34) but failed to demonstrate an association in
      multivariable analysis (beta = 0.001; 95% CI = -0.15 to 0.15). CONCLUSION:
      Secondary data from district level indicate that HAP is associated with NMR in
      rural areas, but not in urban areas in India.

PMID- 28607273
TI  - The validity of self-reported helmet use among motorcyclists in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Motorcyclists are the most vulnerable vehicle users in India. No
      published study has assessed the validity of self-reported estimates of helmet
      use in India. The objectives of this study were to assess helmet use by comparing
      observed and self-reported use and to identify factors influencing use among
      motorcyclists in Hyderabad, India. METHODS: Population-based observations were
      recorded for 68 229 motorcyclists and 21 777 pillion riders (co-passengers).
      Concurrent roadside observations and interviews were conducted with 606
      motorcyclists, who were asked whether they "always wear a helmet". Multivariate
      logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine factors influencing
      helmet use. RESULTS: In the population-based study, 22.6% (n = 15,426) of
      motorcyclists and 1.1% (n = 240) of pillion riders (co-passengers) were observed
      wearing helmets. In roadside interviews, 64.7% (n = 392) of the respondents
      reported always wearing a helmet, 2.2 times higher than the observed helmet use
      (29.4%, n = 178) in the same group. Compared with riders aged >=40 years, riders
      in the age groups 30-39 years and 18-29 years had respectively 40% (95%
      confidence interval [CI]: 0.4 to 1.0, P < 0.05) and 70% (95% CI: 0.2 to 0.5, P <
      0.001) lower odds of wearing a helmet after controlling for other covariates.
      Riders with postgraduate or higher education had higher odds of wearing a helmet
      (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 4.1, 95% CI: 2.5 to 6.9, P < 0.001) than those with
      fewer than 12 grades of schooling. After adjusting for other covariates, younger
      riders also had 40% (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.9, P< 0.05) lower odds of self-reporting
      helmet use, while those with postgraduate or higher education had 2.1 times
      higher odds (95% CI: 1.3 to 3.3, P < 0.01) of reporting that they always wear a
      helmet. Police had stopped only 2.3% of respondents to check helmet use in the
      three months prior to the interview. CONCLUSION: Observed helmet use is low in
      Hyderabad, yet a larger proportion of motorcyclists claim to always wear a
      helmet, which suggests that observational studies can provide more valid
      estimates of helmet use. Interview findings suggest that a combination of
      increased enforcement, targeted social marketing and increased supply of standard
      helmets could be a strategy to increase helmet use in Hyderabad.

PMID- 28607274
TI  - A cross-sectional study of exposure to mercury in schoolchildren living near the
      eastern seaboard industrial estate of Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Industrial activity in Thailand's coastal areas has significantly
      increased mercury concentrations in seawater, causing accumulation through the
      food chain. Continuous exposure to mercury has been linked to bioaccumulation in
      living organisms and potential adverse health effects in children. METHODS: Blood
      samples were collected from 873 schoolchildren aged 6-13 years living in four
      sites near the eastern seaboard industrial estates of the Gulf of Thailand in
      2011. Total mercury level in whole blood (Hg-B) was compared with standard
      reference values. RESULTS: Mean (+/- standard deviation) concentrations of Hg-B
      from schoolgirls (2.19 +/- 0.5 MUg/L; n = 405) and schoolboys (2.29 +/- 0.3
      MUg/L; n = 468) did not exceed the regulatory limits of the United States
      Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the German Commission on Human
      Biological Monitoring (HBM I, II) or Clarke's analysis of drugs and poisons
      reference values. Nevertheless, 67 children (34 girls and 33 boys) had individual
      values that exceeded the lowest of these standards (4 MUg/L). CONCLUSION: The
      relatively low concentrations of Hg-B detected in this study suggested a
      relatively low risk for schoolchildren. However, 67 children had elevated mean
      total Hg-B concentrations, especially in the two sites located nearest the
      industrial area. This information may serve as an early warning of the potential
      for pollution to affect children living around industrial areas. Further regular
      monitoring, including studies assessing the health impact of mercury pollution in
      this region of Thailand, is to be encouraged.

PMID- 28607275
TI  - Inequality in maternal health-care services and safe delivery in eastern India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The target for Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG-5) is to reduce the
      maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. The United
      Nations 2014 report on MDG-5 concluded that little progress had been made in the
      South Asian countries, including India, which accounts for 17% of all maternal
      deaths globally. In resource-poor economies with widespread disparities even
      within the same country, it is very important to explore inequalities in safe
      delivery during childbirth by key socioeconomic factors in order to provide
      insights for future programming and policy actions. METHODS: Data from the Indian
      District Level Household and Facility Survey 3 were analysed to examine
      inequalities in safe delivery in eastern India. Univariate and multivariate
      logistic regression models were used. RESULTS: There were substantial
      inequalities in safe delivery by asset quintile, education of the woman and her
      husband, area of residence (rural or urban), religion and age at marriage (<18
      years or >=18 years); however, not all inequalities were the same. After
      adjusting for education levels of both parents, area of residence, religion and
      mother's age at marriage, the odds of having a safe delivery were almost
      eightfold higher for those in the highest asset quintiles compared with those in
      the lowest quintiles. The odds for a safe pregnancy were three times higher for
      educated women compared with a base case of no education. The chances of having a
      safe delivery were twofold higher for women living in urban areas compared with
      those in rural areas (odds ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.91-2.17).
      CONCLUSION: Addressing inequalities in maternal health should be viewed as a
      central policy goal together with the achievement of MDG-5 targets. In addition
      to following the indirect route of improving maternal health via poverty
      alleviation, direct interventions are needed urgently. Women's education has a
      strong potential to improve access for poor pregnant women to safe delivery
      services and to reduce disparities in maternal health outcomes in resource-poor
      economies.

PMID- 28607276
TI  - Prevalence of household drinking-water contamination and of acute diarrhoeal
      illness in a periurban community in Myanmar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A major health consequence of rapid population growth in urban areas
      is the increased pressure on existing overstretched water and sanitation
      services. This study of an expanding periurban neighbourhood of Yangon Region,
      Myanmar, aimed to ascertain the prevalence of acute diarrhoea in children under 5
      years; to identify household sources of drinking-water; to describe purification
      and storage practices; and to assess drinking-water contamination at point-of
      use. METHODS: A survey of the prevalence of acute diarrhoea in children under 5
      years was done in 211 households in February 2013; demographic data were also
      collected, along with data and details of sources of drinking water, water
      purification, storage practices and waste disposal. During March-August, a subset
      of 112 households was revisited to collect drinking water samples. The samples
      were analysed by the multiple tube fermentation method to count thermotolerant
      (faecal) coliforms and there was a qualitative determination of the presence of
      Escherichia coli. RESULTS: Acute diarrhoea in children under 5 years was reported
      in 4.74% (10/211, 95% CI: 3.0-9.0) of households within the past two weeks. More
      than half of the households used insanitary pit latrines and 36% disposed of
      their waste into nearby streams and ponds. Improved sources of drinking water
      were used, mainly the unchlorinated ward reservoir, a chlorinated tube well or
      purified bottled water. Nearly a quarter of households never used any method for
      drinking-water purification. Ninety-four per cent (105/112) of water samples were
      contaminated with thermotolerant (faecal) coliforms, ranging from 2.2 colony
      forming units (CFU)/100 mL (21.4%) to more than 1000 CFU/100 mL (60.7%). Of
      faecal (thermotolerant)-coliform-positive water samples, 70% (47/68) grew E.
      coli. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of acute diarrhoea reported for children under 5
      years was high and a high level of drinking-water contamination was detected,
      though it was unclear whether this was due to contamination at source or at point
      of-use. Maintenance of drinking-water quality in study households is complex.
      Further research is crucial to prove the cost effectiveness in quality
      improvement of drinking water at point-of-use in resource-limited settings. In
      addition, empowerment of householders to use measures of treating water by
      boiling, filtration or chlorination, and safe storage with proper handling is
      essential.

PMID- 28607277
TI  - Innovative social protection mechanism for alleviating catastrophic expenses on
      multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients in Chhattisgarh, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) incur huge
      expenditures for diagnosis and treatment; these costs can be reduced through a
      well-designed and implemented social health insurance mechanism. The State of
      Chhattisgarh in India successfully established a partnership between the Revised
      National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) and the Health Insurance Programme, to form
      a universal health insurance scheme for all, by establishing Rashtriya Swasthya
      Bima Yojna (RSBY) and Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana (MSBY) MDR-TB packages.
      The objective of this partnership was to absorb the catastrophic expenses
      incurred by patients with MDR-TB, from diagnosis to treatment completion, in the
      public and private sector. This paper documents the initial experience of a
      tailor-made health insurance programme, linked to covering catastrophic health
      expenditure for patients with MDR-TB. METHODS: In this descriptive study, data on
      uptake of insurance claims through innovative MDR-TB packages from January 2013
      to April 2014 were collected. A simple survey of costs for clinical investigation
      and inpatient care was conducted across two major urban districts in
      Chhattisgarh. In these selected districts, three health facilities from the
      private sector and one medical college from the public sector with a functional
      drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) centre were chosen by the RSBY and MSBY State
      Nodal Agency to complete a simple, structured questionnaire on existing market
      rates. The mean costs for clinical investigations and hospital stay were
      calculated for an individual patient with MDR-TB who would seek services from the
      private or public sector. RESULTS: A total of 207 insurance claims for RSBY and
      MSBY MDR-TB packages were processed, of which 20 were from private and 187 from
      public health establishments, covered under the health insurance programme, free
      of charge. An estimated catastrophic expenditure, of approximately US$ 20 000,
      was saved through the RSBY and MSBY health insurance mechanism during the study
      period. CONCLUSION: The innovative RSBY and MSBY MDR-TB insurance package is a
      step towards reducing catastrophic expenses associated with treatment for MDR-TB.

PMID- 28607278
TI  - A cross-sectional survey of the models in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, India for pooled
      procurement of medicines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India, access to medicine in the public sector is significantly
      affected by the efficiency of the drug procurement system and allied processes
      and policies. This study was conducted in two socioeconomically different states:
      Bihar and Tamil Nadu. Both have a pooled procurement system for drugs but follow
      different models. In Bihar, the volumes of medicines required are pooled at the
      state level and rate contracted (an open tender process invites bidders to quote
      for the lowest rate for the list of medicines), while actual invoicing and
      payment are done at district level. In Tamil Nadu, medicine quantities are also
      pooled at state level but payments are also processed at state level upon receipt
      of laboratory quality-assurance reports on the medicines. METHODS: In this cross
      sectional survey, a range of financial and non-financial data related to
      procurement and distribution of medicine, such as budget documents, annual
      reports, tender documents, details of orders issued, passbook details and policy
      and guidelines for procurement were analysed. In addition, a so-called ABC
      analysis of the procurement data was done to to identify high-value medicines.
      RESULTS: It was observed that Tamil Nadu had suppliers for 100% of the drugs on
      their procurement list at the end of the procurement processes in 2006, 2007 and
      2008, whereas Bihar's procurement agency was only able to get suppliers for 56%,
      59% and 38% of drugs during the same period. Further, it was observed that
      Bihar's system was fuelling irrational procurement; for example, fluconazole
      (antifungal) alone was consuming 23.4% of the state's drug budget and was being
      procured by around 34% of the districts during 2008-2009. Also, the ratios of
      procurement prices for Bihar compared with Tamil Nadu were in the range of 1.01
      to 22.50. For 50% of the analysed drugs, the price ratio was more than 2, that
      is, Bihar's procurement system was procuring the same medicines at more than
      twice the prices paid by Tamil Nadu. CONCLUSION: Centralized, automated pooled
      procurement models like that of Tamil Nadu are key to achieving the best
      procurement prices and highest possible access to medicines.

PMID- 28607279
TI  - Barriers and facilitators to development of standard treatment guidelines in
      India.
AB  - This paper describes 15 years' experience of the development process of the first
      set of comprehensive standard treatment guidelines (STGs) for India and their
      adoption or adaptation by various state governments. The aim is to shorten the
      learning curve for those embarking on a similar exercise, given the key role of
      high-quality STGs that are accepted by the clinical community in furthering
      universal health coverage. The main overall obstacles to STG development are: (i)
      weak understanding of the concept; (ii) lack of time, enthusiasm and availability
      of local expertise; and (iii) managing consensus between specialists and
      generalists. Major concerns to prescribers are: encroachment on professional
      autonomy, loss of treating the patient as an individual and applying the same
      standards at all levels of health care. Processes to address these challenges are
      described. At the policy level, major threats to successful completion and
      focused implementation are: frequent changes in governance, shifts in priorities
      and discontinuity. In the authors' experience, compared with each state
      developing their own STGs afresh, adaptation of pre-existing valid guidelines
      after an active adaptation process involving local clinical leaders is not only
      simpler and quicker but also establishes local ownership and facilitates
      acceptance of a quality document. Executive orders and in-service sensitization
      programmes to introduce STGs further enhance their adoption in clinical practice.

PMID- 28607280
TI  - Demand-supply gaps in human resources to combat vector-borne disease in India:
      capacity-building measures in medical entomology.
AB  - Vector-borne diseases account for a significant proportion of the global burden
      of infectious disease. They are one of the greatest contributors to human
      mortality and morbidity in tropical settings, including India. The World Health
      Organization declared vector-borne diseases as theme for the year 2014, and thus
      called for renewed commitment to their prevention and control. Human resources
      are critical to support public health systems, and medical entomologists play a
      crucial role in public health efforts to combat vector-borne diseases. This paper
      aims to review the capacity-building initiatives in medical entomology in India,
      to understand the demand and supply of medical entomologists, and to give future
      direction for the initiation of need-based training in the country. A systematic,
      predefined approach, with three parallel strategies, was used to collect and
      assemble the data regarding medical entomology training in India and assess the
      demand-supply gap in medical entomologists in the country. The findings suggest
      that, considering the high burden of vector-borne diseases in the country and the
      growing need of health manpower specialized in medical entomology, the
      availability of specialized training in medical entomology is insufficient in
      terms of number and intake capacity. The demand analysis of medical entomologists
      in India suggests a wide gap in demand and supply, which needs to be addressed to
      cater for the burden of vector-borne diseases in the country.

PMID- 28607281
TI  - Challenges in conducting community-based trials of primary prevention of
      cardiovascular diseases in resource-constrained rural settings.
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases account for almost half of all deaths from
      noncommunicable diseases, and almost 80% of these deaths occur in low- and middle
      income countries such as India. The PrePAre (Primary pREvention strategies at the
      community level to Promote treatment Adherence to pREvent cardiovascular disease)
      trial was a primary prevention trial of community health workers aimed at
      improving adherence to prescribed pharmacological and nonpharmacological
      therapies in cardiovascular diseases. It was conducted at three geographically,
      culturally and linguistically diverse sites across India, comprising 28 villages
      and 5699 households. Planning and implementing large-scale community-based trials
      is filled with numerous challenges that must be tackled, while keeping in mind
      the local community dynamics. Some of the challenges are especially pronounced
      when the focus of the activities is on promoting health in communities where
      treating disease is considered a priority rather than maintaining health. This
      report examines the challenges that were encountered while performing the
      different phases of the trial, along with the solutions and strategies used to
      tackle those difficulties. We must strive to find feasible and cost-effective
      solutions to these challenges and thereby develop targeted strategies for primary
      prevention of cardiovascular diseases in resource-constrained rural settings.

PMID- 28607282
TI  - Laparoendoscopic single-site adnexal surgery: Preliminary Indian experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) is an emerging
      technique in gynaecology. The proposed advantages of the LESS include better
      cosmesis and reduction in pain. We report our preliminary experience with LESS in
      the treatment of adnexal pathology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After a preoperative
      workup, LESS was offered to 37 patients between July 2009 and April 2015. All the
      procedures were carried out through a 2-2.5 cm transumbilical incision using
      conventional laparoscopic instruments. A single-incision, multiport (SIMP)
      approach (utilising one 7 mm and two 5 mm ports) was used in 27 patients and a
      homemade glove port (HMGP) was utilised in ten patients. All the specimens were
      extracted after placement in a plastic bag or inside the glove port avoiding
      contact with the wound. Umbilical fascial incisions were meticulously closed with
      non-absorbable sutures. RESULTS: Two patients with a history of previous
      abdominal surgery required omental adhesiolysis. Seventeen patients with breast
      cancer underwent bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, ten had ovarian cystectomy (6
      had cystadenoma, 2 had endometriotic cysts and 2 had dermoid cyst), six had
      excision of paraovarian cysts (one along with partial salpingectomy) and four
      with ruptured ectopic pregnancy underwent salpingectomy. LESS was completed in
      all but one patient, who required insertion of an additional 5 mm port. There
      were no intra- or post-operative complications. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience
      confirms the feasibility and safety of LESS in a variety of benign adnexal
      pathology. Both the SIMP and HMGP approaches seem comparable. Performing LESS
      without the use of specialised access ports or instruments makes it cost
      effective and suitable for wider application.

PMID- 28607283
TI  - Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (hybrid) cholecystectomy: The
      Dhillon technique.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study presents a novel technique to perform cholecystectomy
      and assess its outcome and feasibility. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study presents
      the novel Dhillon technique and experience of hybrid natural orifice transluminal
      endoscopic surgery (NOTES) technique, that is, laparoscopic-assisted transvaginal
      cholecystectomy. We have evaluated the outcomes in terms of cosmesis, post
      operative recovery and analgesic requirement. The study included 257 patients who
      underwent hybrid NOTES cholecystectomy at single tertiary hospital. The
      biographical data, surgical time, pain score on day 1 and 2, need of analgesia,
      intra- and post-operative complication and aesthetic assessment on day 7 were
      recorded. RESULTS: Out of a total of 1100 cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy
      257 had hybrid NOTES cholecystectomy. Only two of these cases were converted to
      standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The mean operative time was 31.5 +/- 5.1
      (25-40) min. None of the patients had any complication or biliary leakage. The
      mean pain score on day 1 and 2 was 3.6 +/- 0.4 (3-4) and 1.0 +/- 0.06 (1-2),
      respectively. The mean paracetamol (analgesic) dose requirement was 6.1 +/- 0.6
      (4-6.9) g. The aesthetic score was excellent in all the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Using
      the present technique of hybrid NOTES is beneficial in terms of cosmetic results,
      lesser need of analgesic and shorter hospital stay.

PMID- 28607284
TI  - A comparison of clinical outcomes between endoscopic and open surgery to repair
      neonatal diaphragmatic hernia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacies of
      open versus endoscopic surgery in the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia (CDH) and investigate the feasibility and safety of endoscopic surgery as
      an alternative to open surgery in these cases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was performed from June 2002 to February 2014. A total of
      59 cases were attempted. The neonates were divided into either an endoscopic or
      open surgery group. The pre-, intra- and post-operative data on the neonates were
      analysed, and the surgery-related complications, survival rates and recurrence
      rates were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Demographic characteristics
      were not significantly different between the two groups. Compared with open
      group, the hospital stay and post-operative mechanical ventilation time were
      significantly shorter, while surgery duration was significantly longer in the
      endoscopic surgery group. The recurrence rate was higher and the survival rate
      was lower in the endoscopic surgery group with no statistically significant and
      the recurrence rate has decreased over the past 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: We have
      demonstrated that the endoscopic surgery is safe and effective for repairing CDH.
      The endoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure with fast post-operative
      recovery and a good cosmetic outcome.

PMID- 28607285
TI  - Rationalisation of the surgical technique for minimally invasive laparoscopic
      ileal pouch-anal anastomosis after previous total colectomy for ulcerative
      colitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: No previous study clearly focuses on laparoscopic technique to
      perform the second stage surgery (proctectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis
      [IPAA]) after total colectomy for acute/severe ulcerative colitis (UC). We
      describe the procedural steps for a simple and rational minimally invasive second
      stage surgery, reporting intra- and short-term post-operative results. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: During the period December 2014-December 2015, 10 consecutive
      patients (8 males and 2 females) with mean age of 48 years underwent laparoscopic
      proctectomy and IPAA adopting our novel approach. They were operated 3 months
      after the previous total colectomy which has been performed, respectively, for
      acute (three patients) or severe (seven patients) UC. Intraoperative data and
      post-operative complications, divided as minor and major, were recorded and
      analysed. A body image questionnaire was administered to all patients to evaluate
      the cosmetic results of the procedure. RESULTS: Overall mean surgical time was
      235 +/- 49 min. During the post-operative course, three patients required
      morphine for >48 h, no patient needed blood transfusion and bowel movements
      recovery happened as mean during the 2nd day. No early major complications
      happened. Two patients (20%) developed peri-ileostomic wound infection at the
      right flank. Only one patient (10%) suffered from ileal-anal anastomotic
      dehiscence, conservatively treated till resolution. The average length of
      hospital stay was 8 +/- 2 days. The body image questionnaire showed in all
      patients an extreme satisfaction about the results obtained (mean value = 59/64
      points). CONCLUSIONS: Through three standardised surgical steps easily
      reproducible, we describe an almost scar-less procedure able to optimise the
      intraoperative time with good post-operative results in terms of complications
      and cosmesis.

PMID- 28607286
TI  - Morbidity analysis in minimally invasive esophagectomy for oesophageal cancer
      versus conventional over the last 10 years, a single institution experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been an increasing inclination towards minimally invasive
      esophagectomies (MIEs) at our institute recently for resectable oesophageal
      cancer. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study is to report peri-operative
      and long-term procedure specific outcomes of the two groups and analyse their
      changing pattern at our institute. METHODS: All adult patients with a diagnosis
      of oesophageal cancer managed at our institute from 2005 to 2015 were included in
      this retrospective study. Patients' demographic and clinical characteristics were
      recorded through our hospital information system. The cohort of esophagectomies
      was allocated into two groups, conventional open esophagectomy (OE) or total
      laparoscopic MIE; hybrid esophagectomies were taken as a separate group. The
      short-term outcome measures are an operative time in minutes, length of hospital
      and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay in days, post-operative complications and 30
      days in-hospital mortality. Complications are graded according to the Clavien
      Dindo classification system. Long-term outcomes are long-term procedure related
      complications over a minimum follow-up of 1 year. Trends were analysed by
      visually inspecting the graphic plots for mean number of events in each group
      each year. RESULTS: Our results showed no difference in mortality, length of
      hospital and ICU stays and incidence of major complications between three groups
      on uni- and multi-variate analysis (P > 0.05). The operative time was
      significantly longer in MIE group (odds ratio [OR]: 1.66, confidence interval
      [CI]: 2.4-11.5). The incidence of long-term complication was low for MIE (OR:
      1.0, CI: 133-1.017). However, all post-operative surgical outcomes trended to
      improve in both groups over the course of this study and stayed better for MIE
      group except for the operative time. CONCLUSION: MIE has overall comparable
      surgical outcomes to its conventional counterpart. Furthermore, the peri
      operative outcomes tend to improve in our centre with the maturation of program
      and experience.

PMID- 28607288
TI  - Role of routine pre-operative screening venous duplex ultrasound in morbidly
      obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is well established that obesity is a strongly associated
      risk factor for post-operative deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Physical effects and
      pro-thrombotic, pro-inflammatory and hypofibrinolytic effects of severe obesity
      may predispose to idiopathic DVT (pre-operatively) because of which bariatric
      patients are routinely screened before surgery. The aim of this study was to
      audit the use of routine screening venous duplex ultrasound in morbidly obese
      patients before undergoing bariatric surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed 180 patients who underwent bariatric surgery from August 2013 to August
      2014 who had undergone pre-operative screening bilateral lower-extremity venous
      duplex ultrasound for DVT. Data were collected on patient's demographics, history
      of venous thromboembolism, prior surgeries and duplex ultrasound details of the
      status of the deep veins and superficial veins of the lower limbs. RESULTS: No
      patients had symptoms or signs of DVT pre-operatively. No patient gave history of
      DVT. No patient was found to have iliac, femoral or popliteal vein thrombosis.
      Superficial venous disease was found in 17 (8%). One patient had a right lower
      limb venous ulcer. CONCLUSION: Thromboembolic problems in the morbidly obese
      before bariatric surgery are infrequent, and screening venous duplex ultrasound
      can be done in high-risk patients only.

PMID- 28607287
TI  - Does carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum affect the renal function in donors
      following laparoscopic donor nephrectomy? A prospective study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although the technical feasibility of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy
      (LDN) has been established, concerns have been raised about the impaired renal
      function resulting from pneumoperitoneum and its short- and long-term effects.
      AIMS: We used urinary biomarkers of acute kidney injury including urinary
      neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D
      glucosaminidase (uNAG) to study the injury caused to the donor's retained kidney
      by pneumoperitoneum. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study of
      thirty consecutive patients who underwent LDN at our hospital. SUBJECTS AND
      METHODS: We measured urinary creatinine, uNAG and uNGAL at the time of induction
      of anaesthesia, at 1 h after starting surgery, at 5 min after clamping the
      ureter, at the time of skin closure and then at 4, 8 and 24 h after the surgery.
      RESULTS: The uNAG level showed a gradual increase from the start of the surgery
      and reached the peak at the time of the closure. Thereafter, there was a gradual
      fall in the level and reached to pre-operative level at 24 h post-surgery.
      Similarly, the uNGAL also showed a similar trend although it did not reach pre
      operative value by 24 h. CONCLUSIONS: We objectively confirm that although there
      is acute injury to the retained kidney in the donor after LDN due to the
      CO2pneumoperitoneum, the renal function improves and reaches close to the pre
      operative level within 24 h after surgery.

PMID- 28607289
TI  - A long-term evaluation of the quality of life after laparoscopic Nissen-Rossetti
      anti-reflux surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The quality of life (QoL) has been suggested to be the most relevant
      parameter to assess and monitor the long-term outcome in patients who underwent
      surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective evaluation was conducted on patients who underwent Laparoscopic
      Nissen-Rossetti Fundoplication for GERD between January 1998 and December 2010.
      To evaluate the long-term results a telephone interview was made using the VISICK
      score and the GERD-health-related QoL (HRQL) questionnaire at 1, 3, 5 years and
      at the end of the study. If the questionnaires resulted unsatisfactory, a
      complete diagnostic revaluation was performed. RESULTS: A total of 168 patients
      underwent laparoscopic surgery for GERD. When evaluated at the end of the study,
      the number of unsatisfied patients according to the VISICK score was
      significantly higher than the one obtained with the GERD-HRQL questionnaire.
      CONCLUSIONS: Many data suggest a possible recurrence of the symptoms after
      surgery in a long follow-up period. Our data seem to demonstrate a slight but
      significant trend in symptoms relapse after surgery. Considering the non-specific
      and specific nature of the two scores, VISICK and GERD HRQL, our result showed a
      significantly more relevant trend of symptoms relapse only for the non-specific
      ones. Such QoL scores seem to be important in selecting patients who need to be
      instrumentally examined. Consequently, our work proves that only a few patients
      out of the total number of followed up patients, are to be recalled to undergo
      instrumental examination.

PMID- 28607290
TI  - Technique of totally robotic delta-shaped anastomosis in distal gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to clarify the utility of delta-shaped anastomosis (Delta),
      an intracorporeal Billroth-I anastomosis-based reconstruction technique used
      after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG), in robot-assisted distal
      gastrectomy (RADG). METHODS: RADG was performed in patients with clinical Stage I
      gastric cancer, and reconstruction was performed using Delta. The Delta procedure
      was the same as that performed after LADG, and the operator practiced the
      procedure in simulated settings with surgical assistants before the operation.
      After gastrectomy, the scope and robotic first arm were reinserted from separate
      ports on the right side of the patient. Then, a port on the left side of the
      abdomen was used as the assistant port from which a stapler was inserted, with
      the robotic arm in a coaxial mode. The surgical assistant performed functional
      end-to-end anastomosis of the remnant stomach and duodenal stump using a powered
      stapler. RESULTS: The mean anastomotic time in four patients who underwent Delta
      after RADG was 16.5 min. All patients were discharged on the post-operative day 7
      without any post-operative complications or need for readmission. CONCLUSIONS:
      Pre-operative simulation, changes in ports for insertion of the scope and robotic
      first arm, continuation of the coaxial operation, and use of a powered stapler
      made Delta applicable for RADG. Delta can be considered as a useful
      reconstruction method.

PMID- 28607291
TI  - 'Natural orifice' transcolostomy full-thickness excision of colonic tumour.
AB  - This technical note describes a novel technique, not previously found in the
      surgical or endoscopic literature: A combined endoscopic and surgical approach to
      perform a full-thickness excision of a colonic tumour. At the time of colonoscopy
      via stoma, a large sessile polyp in the descending colon was detected but could
      not be safely resected endoscopically. The lesion was exteriorised by prolapsing
      the distal colon through the colostomy, then excised surgically with adequate
      margins in a full-thickness fashion. This approach was more complete than an
      endoscopic approach and less invasive than a segmental colectomy and redo
      colostomy. It may prove useful to surgical endoscopists facing a similar clinical
      situation in their practice.

PMID- 28607292
TI  - Laparoscopic total colectomy for ulcerative colitis after liver transplantation
      is feasible.
AB  - Ulcero-haemorrhagic rectocolitis can occur after liver transplantation for
      sclerosing cholangitis. Total colectomy with or without proctectomy may be
      indicated in case of chronic drug-resistant colitis, dysplasia or cancer. Today,
      laparoscopic approach is the standard for such procedure in non-operated
      patients. We performed a completely laparoscopic total colectomy 5 years after a
      liver transplantation. There were a few peritoneal adherences, and we could
      safely perform the procedure almost as usual. It provided all the advantages of
      the laparoscopic approach in the post-operative course.

PMID- 28607293
TI  - Transperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy in acute Grade 4 renal trauma with
      literature review and a note on some unusual complications.
AB  - Most renal traumas are successfully managed conservatively. Grade 4 and 5 trauma,
      however, can require nephrectomy which is almost always by laparotomy and
      laparoscopic nephrectomy (LN) is still considered contraindicated in acute trauma
      setting. We report successful transperitoneal LN in an acute grade 4 renal trauma
      with retroperitoneal haematoma, extensive parenchymal devascularisation and
      urinary extravasation though retroperitoneoscopic nephrectomy in trauma has been
      reported recently. However, we believe transperitoneal approach is more logical
      and replicates all the principles of open renal trauma surgery more accurately. A
      review of LN in renal trauma and some unusual problems to be anticipated during
      laparoscopic procedures in acute trauma setting is presented.

PMID- 28607294
TI  - The use of over-the-scope clip in the treatment of persistent staple line leak
      after re-sleeve gastrectomy: Review of the literature.
AB  - Staple line leak after sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is a severe complication
      associated with increased mortality rates and the potential need for reoperation.
      We report the successful management of a re-SG staple line leak with the use of
      an endoscopic over-the-scope clip.

PMID- 28607295
TI  - Laparoscopic management of 'Y-shaped' gallbladder duplication with review of
      literature.
AB  - Gallbladder duplication is a rare congenital malformation that occurs in about
      1:4000 cases. Congenital anomalies of the gallbladder and anatomical variations
      of their position are associated with an increased risk of complications during
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We report a case of gallbladder duplication with
      symptomatic cholelithiasis, who presented with recurrent episodes of biliary
      colic and subsequently underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy with intraoperative
      cholangiography. We also discussed in brief about the available literature
      support in relation to incidence of this disorder, imaging modalities used,
      intraoperative strategies and recommended measures for safe outcomes.

PMID- 28607296
TI  - A case report of oesophageal schwannoma with thoracoscopic surgery.
AB  - Oesophageal schwannomas is a rare tumour and most commonly found incidentally or
      from diagnostic workup of dysphagia or dyspnoea. Most oesophageal schwannomas are
      benign and more frequently occurs in female than in the male. To date, <40 cases
      have been described in the English literature. In this study, we reported the
      case of a 57-year-old woman visited our hospital with the symptom of long-time
      dysphagia. A thoracic computed tomography demonstrated an upper oesophageal well
      marginated and homogeneous mass that adhered to the right wall of the oesophagus.
      Oesophageal endoscopy showed an extrinsic bulge 21 cm distal to the incisors with
      normal overlying mucosa. Strictly on a clinical and radiologic basis, this entity
      is impossible to definitively diagnose, the final diagnosis was based on
      histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Tumour cells stain positive for S100, a
      characteristic marker of Schwann cell. A minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery
      was performed. The post-operative period was uneventful.

PMID- 28607298
TI  - Measles elimination by 2020: a feasible goal for the South-East Asia Region?

PMID- 28607297
TI  - Incidence of incisional hernia after single-incision laparoscopic surgery in
      children.

PMID- 28607299
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of cognitive impairment in a north Indian elderly
      population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment, an age-related condition, is often considered a
      precursor to more serious diseases such as depression/dementia/Alzheimer's
      disease. Alzheimer's disease, which is characterized by cognitive impairment,
      could have a devastating impact on low- and middle-income countries whose
      populations are ageing rapidly. The disease has, so far, largely remained
      neglected by researchers and national health services in India. In view of the
      growing elderly population and diverse sociocultural and geographical milieu of
      India, epidemiological data for the condition are desirable for different
      populations. Moreover, there is a dearth of population-based epidemiological
      studies on cognitive impairment in the Punjab state of India. METHODS: Three
      thousand and thirty-eight consenting elderly adults aged over 60 years, of both
      sexes, residing in Ludhiana, Punjab state, India were examined for cognitive
      functioning, using a modified Hindi Mental State Examination, and a score of <=25
      was considered to be indicative of cognitive impairment. Data analysis included
      calculations of proportions; odds ratio and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
      were also calculated. The chi-square test and multiple logistic regression model
      were used to determine the association of cognitive impairment with various
      sociodemographic parameters. RESULTS: The prevalence of cognitive impairment in
      the study population was 8.8% (95% CI = 8.06 to 9.54). Increasing age,
      unmarried/widowed status, illiteracy, unemployment and poverty were found to be
      independently associated with cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence
      of cognitive impairment in this north Indian population of elderly individuals is
      higher than that found in northern India. With emerging focus on geriatric health
      services, cognitive impairment, which is a precursor of Alzheimer's
      disease/dementias, needs to be included in priority care within the national
      primary health-care framework.

PMID- 28607300
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for psychological distress and functional disability
      in urban Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a close association between poor mental health status and
      both poor physical health and decreased productivity. An evidence base on the
      risk factors for psychological distress in low-income countries is lacking and is
      much needed to help develop appropriate interventions. We aimed to estimate the
      prevalence of psychological distress in urban Pakistan and identify associated
      risk factors and functional disability. METHODS: This was a population-based
      study of 18-75-year-olds in urban Pakistan. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire
      (SRQ) was offered to 1000 adults to measure psychological distress. The Life
      Events Checklist, Oslo-3 for Social Support and Brief Disability Questionnaires
      were used to establish social stressors, support and functional disability.
      RESULTS: Questionnaires were completed by 880 (94%) eligible participants, of
      whom 41% of women and 19% of men scored 9 or more on the SRQ (possible range 0
      20). Low educational status was associated with high rates of psychological
      distress. Women had significantly higher levels of distress than men and were
      less likely to receive practical support. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of
      psychological distress was lower in urban Karachi than that reported previously
      for rural Punjab province, Pakistan. However, in urban Karachi, as in rural
      Punjab, socioeconomic status seemed to have more of an impact on the mental
      health of women than that of men.

PMID- 28607301
TI  - Package of essential noncommunicable disease (PEN) interventions in primary
      health-care settings of Bhutan: a performance assessment study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A World Health Organization (WHO) package of essential
      noncommunicable (PEN) disease interventions was piloted in two districts of
      Bhutan by non-physician health workers. They conducted risk assessment among
      patients aged over 40 years who visited the outpatient department of health
      institutions. Blood glucose was also measured among those who were overweight/
      obese (body mass index >=23 kg/m2) or had a high waist circumference (>80 cm in
      women and >90 cm in men). Appropriate counselling, treatment and referral were
      provided to the patients. The performance of the PEN project in detecting and
      managing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors was assessed.
      METHODS: All health institutions of Paro (one district hospital and three basic
      health units [BHUs]) and Bumthang districts (one district hospital and four
      BHUs), were included in the PEN pilot assessment study. All patients who had
      presented to the clinics in the pilot districts from 1 June to 31 August 2012
      constituted the study population. The data were collected from the clinical form,
      supervisor's report and monthly report of the PEN project. The characteristics of
      patients with an NCD at registration and at the third follow-up visit were
      compared in a before-after analysis. Absolute changes in the characteristics of
      patients were computed for those who had completed the required followups during
      a 3-month assessment period. RESULTS: In a 3-month period, 39 079 patients had
      attended clinics in the pilot districts. About 10% of the clinic attendees
      (3818/39 079) were aged over 40 years; of these, 22.6% (864/3818) had a high
      blood pressure, and 49.7% (1896/3818) were overweight/obese or had a high waist
      circumference. Screening of overweight/ obese/high waist circumference cases
      revealed that 26.1% (494/1896) had high blood sugar levels. Out of the 896
      patients who were registered on PEN protocols, 13% had >20% risk of developing
      cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in next 10 years as per the WHO/International
      Society of Hypertension risk-assessment charts. Among 444 who had three follow-up
      visits, high 10-year-CVD risk (>20%) had declined from 13% to 7.3%. Among 400
      persons with hypertension, use of medication increased and high blood pressure
      declined from 42.3% to 21.5%. Among 115 persons with diabetes, use of anti
      diabetes medication increased and high blood sugar declined from 68/100 to
      51/100. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the PEN intervention in the primary health
      care setting of Bhutan led to improvement in blood pressure and diabetes control,
      and reduction in CVD risk.

PMID- 28607302
TI  - Challenges to the implementation of the integrated management of childhood
      illness (IMCI) at community health centres in West Java province, Indonesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) is a
      comprehensive approach to child health, which has been adopted in Indonesia since
      1997. This study aims to provide an overview of IMCI implementation at community
      health centres (puskesmas) in West Java province, Indonesia. METHODS: Data were
      derived from a cross-sectional study conducted in 10 districts of West Java
      province, from November to December 2012. Semi-structured interviews were used to
      obtain information from staff at 80 puskesmas, including the heads (80
      informants), pharmacy staff (79 informants) and midwives/nurses trained in IMCI
      (148 informants), using semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were
      analysed using frequency tabulations and qualitative data were analysed by
      identifying themes that emerged in informants' responses. RESULTS: Almost all (N
      = 79) puskesmas implemented the IMCI strategy; however, only 64% applied it to
      all visiting children. Several barriers to IMCI implementation were identified,
      including shortage of health workers trained in IMCI (only 43% of puskesmas had
      all health workers in the child care unit trained in IMCI and 40% of puskesmas
      conducted on-the-job training). Only 19% of puskesmas had all the essential drugs
      and equipment for IMCI. Nearly all health workers acknowledged the importance of
      IMCI in their routine services and very few did not perceive its benefits. Lack
      of supervision from district health office staff and low community awareness
      regarding the importance of IMCI were reported. Complaints received from
      patients'families were generally related to the long duration of treatment and no
      administration of medication after physical examination. CONCLUSION:
      Interventions aiming to create local regulations endorsing IMCI implementation;
      promoting monitoring and supervision; encouraging on-the-job training for health
      workers; and strengthening training programmes, counselling and other promotional
      activities are important for promoting IMCI implementation in West Java province,
      and are also likely to be useful elsewhere in the country.

PMID- 28607303
TI  - Benefits and costs of alternative healthcare waste management: an example of the
      largest hospital of Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Management of health-care waste is an essential task, which has
      important consequences for public health and the well-being of society. Economic
      evaluation is important for strategic planning and investment programming for
      health-care waste management (HWM). A cost-benefit analysis of an alternative
      method of HWM in Bir hospital, Nepal was carried out using data recently
      collected from primary sources. METHODS: Data were collected using mixed
      quantitative and qualitative methods. Costs and benefits were measured in
      Nepalese rupees. The values of all inputs were costs associated with the
      alternative HWM. Benefits were defined as the reduction in cost of
      transportation; money obtained from selling of recycled waste; and risk
      reduction, among others. Break-even analysis and calculations of benefit-cost
      ratio were used to assess the alternative HWM. RESULTS: The alternative HWM
      reduces the cost of waste disposal by almost 33% per month, owing to reduction in
      the amount of waste for disposal. The hospital earns 3 Nepalese rupees per bed
      per day. The results suggest that a break-even point for costs and benefits
      occurs when 40% of the total beds of the hospital are covered by the alternative
      HWM, if the bed occupancy rate is at least 68%. If the alternative HWM is
      introduced in the hospital system, hospitals can reach the break-even point at 40
      to 152 beds, depending on their performance in HWM. CONCLUSIONS: The results show
      the economic feasibility and financial sustainability of the alternative HWM.
      This alternative method of HWM is a successful candidate for replication in all
      public and private hospitals in Nepal.

PMID- 28607304
TI  - Clustered tuberculosis incidence in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the city of Bandar Lampung,
      Indonesia, increased during the period 2009-2011, although the cure rate for TB
      cases treated under the directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS) strategy
      in the city has been maintained at more than 85%. Cluster analysis is recognized
      as an interactive tool that can be used to identify the significance of spatially
      grouping sites of TB incidence. This study aimed to identify space-time clusters
      of TB during January to July 2012 in Bandar Lampung, and assess whether
      clustering co-occurred with locations of high population density and poverty.
      METHODS: Medical records were obtained of smear-positive TB patients who were
      receiving treatment at DOTS facilities, located at 27 primary health centres and
      one hospital, during the period January to July 2012. Data on home addresses from
      all cases were geocoded into latitude and longitude coordinates, using global
      positioning system (GPS) tools. The coordinate data were then analysed using
      SaTScan. RESULTS: Two significant clusters were identified with P value of 0.05
      for the primary cluster and 0.1 for the secondary cluster. Clusters occurred in
      areas with high population density and a high proportion of poor families and
      poor housing conditions. The short radius of the clusters also indicated the
      possibility of local transmission of TB. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of TB in
      Bandar Lampung was not randomly distributed, but significantly concentrated in
      two clusters. Identification of clusters of TB, together with its etiological
      factors such as social determinants, and risk factors, can be used to support TB
      control programmes, particularly those aiming to reach vulnerable populations,
      and intensified case-finding.

PMID- 28607305
TI  - Psychoactive substance use by psychiatric patients in the National Referral
      Hospital, Bhutan: a retrospective analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The costs to the individual and to society of psychoactive substance
      use is of growing concern in Bhutan. This study aimed to assess the relation
      between the demographic variables of patients admitted to the National Referral
      Hospital for first-time detoxification and the psychoactive substances used.
      METHODS: The demographic variables and types of psychoactive substance used by
      284 substance users were reviewed. Data were collected through patients' history
      sheets and admission registers, and analysed through descriptive statistics, one
      way analysis of variance and independent t test. RESULTS: The commonest
      psychoactive substance used was alcohol, followed by cannabis, nitrazepam,
      dextropropoxyphene, glue (inhaled) and chlorphenamine/ pseudoephedrine/codeine
      containing cough syrup. Only 14% of participants were aged 45 years or older.
      Most patients used more than one substance; the mean number of psychoactive
      substances used was highest among males, individuals aged 15-24 years and those
      who were unemployed. CONCLUSION: Among patients admitted for first-time
      detoxification, harmful use of alcohol is the most common, followed by cannabis
      and illicit prescription drugs. Preventive measures should be prioritized on a
      need-based strategy. The findings of this study indicate that some of these
      preventive measures should be focused on males, unemployed groups and youth, and
      should involve raising awareness of harmful use of substances and the services
      available to treat substance use disorders.

PMID- 28607306
TI  - Assessment of cold-chain maintenance in vaccine carriers during Pulse Polio
      National Immunization Day in a rural block of India.
AB  - India was certified polio free on 27 March 2014. Supplementary immunization
      activities, in the form of national immunization days, is one of the core
      strategies for eradication, where oral polio vaccine is administered to children
      aged under 5 years throughout the country. Oral polio vaccine is heat sensitive
      and requires maintenance of a stringent cold chain. Therefore, vaccine carriers
      with ice packs are used in the Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) programme. This
      study assessed whether the cold chain is maintained during National Immunization
      Day in Beed district. A cross-sectional study was conducted at six randomly
      selected booths, one each from six primary health centres in Georai block of Beed
      district in Maharashtra. Electronic data loggers, configured to measure half
      hourly temperatures, were kept in vaccine carriers throughout the day of PPI. The
      vaccine carrier temperature was below 8  degrees C at all six booths; minimum
      temperature recorded was -9.5  degrees C, while the maximum was 4.5  degrees C.
      The vaccine vial monitor did not reach discard point in any booth. A vaccine
      carrier with four ice packs very effectively maintains the cold chain required
      for oral polio vaccine.

PMID- 28607307
TI  - Helpline facility to assist reporting of adverse drug reactions in India.

PMID- 28607308
TI  - Making "prevention and preparedness" a recovery priority: lessons from the
      response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

PMID- 28607309
TI  - Opportunities and obstacles in child and adolescent mental health services in low
      and middle-income countries: a review of the literature.
AB  - Lower-income, less developed countries have few child and adolescent mental
      health professionals and a low availability of paediatric community mental health
      care. Child mental health professionals in low- and middle-income countries
      (LMICs) must therefore balance comprehensive tertiary care for the minority and
      provision of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) within primary
      health care to serve the majority. This review aimed to identify the obstacles
      to, and opportunities for, providing CAMHS in LMICs. Articles from PsychInfo and
      PubMed, published up to November 2011, were retrieved using the search terms
      "child and adolescent", "mental health services", "child psychiatry", "low- and
      middle-income countries", "low-income countries" and "developing countries".
      Articles were then retrieved from PubMed alone, using these search terms plus the
      individual country names of 154 LMICs. Fifty-four articles were retrieved from
      PsychInfo and 632 from PubMed. Searching PubMed with 154 LMIC names retrieved
      seven related articles. Inclusion criteria were (i) articles relating to CAMHS or
      child psychiatric services; (ii) subjects included in the articles were
      inhabitants of LMICs or developing countries; (iii) articles reported in English.
      After removal of duplicates, 22 articles remained. The contents of these articles
      were categorized and analysed by use of the six domains of the World Health
      Organization assessment instrument for mental health systems (WHO-AIMS), a tool
      developed to collect information on available resources within mental health
      systems. The provision of CAMHS in LMICs clearly needs a specific strategy to
      maximize the potential of limited resources. Mental health-policy and awareness
      campaigns are powerful measures to drive CAMHS. Training in CAMH for primary
      health-care professionals, and integration of CAMHS into existing primary health
      care services, is essential in resource-constrained settings. A wide gap in
      research into CAMHS still needs to be filled. To overcome these challenges, the
      child mental health professional's role in LMICs must encompass both clinical and
      public-health-related activities.

PMID- 28607310
TI  - HIV drug-resistance early-warning indicators and quality care in India:
      preliminary findings from a pilot study in Pune city.
AB  - BACKGROUND: India has rapidly scaled up its programme for antiretroviral therapy
      (ART). There is high potential for the emergence of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR),
      with an increasing number of patients on ART. It is not feasible to perform
      testing for HIVDR using laboratory genotyping, owing to economic constraints.
      This study piloted World Health Organization (WHO) early-warning indicators
      (EWIs) for HIVDR, and quality-of-care indicators (QCIs), in four ART clinics in
      Pune city. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in 2015, among four ART
      clinics in Pune city, India. The data on four standardized EWIs (EWI 1: On-time
      pill pick-up, EWI 2: Retention of patients in ART care at 12 months after
      initiation, EWI 3: Pharmacy stock-out, EWI 4: Pharmacy dispensing practices) and
      three QCIs (QCI 1: Regularity in CD4 testing in patients taking ART, QCI 2:
      Percentage of patients initiating ART within 30 days of medical eligibility, QCI
      3: Percentage of patients initiating ART within 30 days of initiation of anti
      tuberculosis therapy) were abstracted into WHO Excel HIV data abstractor tools,
      from the patient records from April 2013 to March 2014. RESULTS: All four ART
      clinics met the EWI 4 target (100%) for ART dispensing practices. The target for
      EWIs on-time pill-pick (EWI 1 >90%) and pharmacy stock-outs (EWI 3: no stock
      outs, 100%) were achieved in one clinic. None of the clinics met the EWI 2 target
      for retention in care at 12 months (>90%) and the overall retention was 76% (95%
      confidence interval: 73% to 79%). The targets for QCI 1 and QCI 2 (>90% each)
      were achieved in one and two clinics respectively. None of the clinics achieved
      the target for QCI 3 (>90%). CONCLUSION: ART dispensing practices (EWI 4) were
      excellent in all clinics. Efforts are required to strengthen retention in care
      and timely pill pick-up and ensure continuity of clinic-level drug supply among
      the programme clinics in Pune city. The clinics should focus on regularity in
      testing CD4 count and timely initiation of ART.

PMID- 28607311
TI  - Lessons for addressing noncommunicable diseases within a primary health-care
      system from the Ballabgarh project, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most patients with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) can be managed
      appropriately at the primary care level, using a simplified standard protocol
      supported by low-cost drugs. The primary care response to common NCDs is often
      unstructured and inadequate in low- and middle-income countries. This study
      assessed the feasibility of integration of NCD prevention and control within the
      primary health-care system of India. METHODS: This study was done among 12
      subcentres, 2 primary health centres (PHCs) and one subdistrict hospital in a
      block in north India. All 28 multipurpose health workers of these subcentres
      underwent 3-day training for delivering the package of NCD interventions as a
      part of their routine functioning. A time-motion study was conducted before and
      after this, to assess the workload on a sample of the workers with and without
      the NCD work. Screening for risk assessment was done at domiciliary level as well
      as at health-facility level (opportunistic screening), and the cost was estimated
      based on standard costing procedures. Individuals who screened positive were
      investigated with electrocardiography and fasting blood sugar. PHCs were
      strengthened with provision of essential medicines and technologies. RESULTS:
      After training, 6% of the time of workers (n = 7) was spent in the NCD-related
      activities, and introduction of NCD activities did not impact the coverage of
      other major national health programmes. Loss during referral of "at-risk"
      subjects (37.5% from home to subcentre and 33% from subcentre to PHC) resulted in
      screening efficiency being lowest at domiciliary level (1.3 cases of NCDs
      identified per 1000 screened). In comparison to domiciliary screening (?21 830.6;
      US$ 363.8 per case identified), opportunistic screening at subdistrict level
      (?794.6; US$ 13.2) was 27.5 times and opportunistic screening at PHC (?1457.5;
      US$ 24.3) was 15.0 times lower. There was significant utilization of NCD services
      provided at PHCs, including counselling. CONCLUSION: Opportunistic screening
      appears to be feasible and a cost-effective strategy for risk screening. It is
      possible to integrate NCD prevention and control into primary health care in
      India.

PMID- 28607312
TI  - Regional variation in maternal and childhood undernutrition in Bangladesh:
      evidence from demographic and health surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Undernutrition among mothers and children is currently a major public
      health and development concern in Bangladesh. In literature relating to
      nutritional determinants, of particular interest is the geography, as regions
      with poor nutrition tend to pull down the overall nutritional status of the
      country. As such, reducing the regional gap can alone reduce overall
      undernutrition significantly, especially when regional gaps are high. The aim of
      this study is, therefore, to assess the magnitude of inequalities in
      undernutrition in children aged under 5 years in Bangladesh and their mothers,
      and relate this to the administrative divisions of the country. METHODS: The
      Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (1996-1997, 1999-2000, 2004 and 2007)
      were the sources of data, and a total of 16 278 mother-child pairs whose records
      were complete for the required individual and household-level variables were
      included in the analysis. Maternal nutritional status was measured by the body
      mass index (BMI). Weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height z-scores
      were calculated by use of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth
      Standards to assess the nutritional status of children aged under 5 years.
      General linear model, sequential linear and multinomial logistic regression
      analyses were done to assess the inequalities in maternal and child nutritional
      status among the six administrative divisions of Bangladesh. Socioeconomic
      variables that were controlled for were residency, education and occupation of
      the mothers and their husbands, house type and possession score in the household.
      RESULTS: Maternal BMI and prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting in
      children aged under 5 years were found to vary significantly according to
      administrative division. Of the six divisions, Sylhet was found to have highest
      prevalence of undernourished mothers and children. The trends from 1996 to 2007
      also established Sylhet as the poorest-performing region overall. CONCLUSION: The
      Sylhet administrative division needs specially focused attention from policy
      makers if the overall performance of the health, nutrition and population sector
      is to reach the targets set by the country.

PMID- 28607313
TI  - Exploring the factors that influence the perceptions of disability: a qualitative
      study of mothers of children with disabilities at a community-based
      rehabilitation centre in Sri Lanka.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of disability is growing worldwide; however,
      perceptions regarding disability are not well understood. The aim of this study
      was to explore factors that influence the perception of disability among mothers
      of children with disabilities who were attending a community-based rehabilitation
      facility in Sri Lanka. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative research design was
      employed. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants
      receiving rehabilitation services at a community-based facility. Interviews were
      recorded, transcribed and coded using software for qualitative data. RESULTS:
      Three major themes emerged from the analysis: (i) level of family and community
      support; (ii) spiritual and cultural interpretations of disability; and (iii)
      outcomes of rehabilitation services. Perceptions of disability appeared to be
      strongly influenced by the social, community and spiritual/cultural support
      structure in which the mothers lived. In particular, the support from the
      participant's spouse emerged as a primary factor exerting strong influence on
      perception, and future outlook, among the participants. Engagement in community
      based rehabilitation programming also reinforced positive perceptions, created a
      sense of hope among participants regarding their child's future, and established
      aspirations for future education and employment opportunities alongside social
      integration. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of factors that influence the perception of
      disability can inform future implementation of public-health and community-based
      initiatives, and may improve social integration of children with disabilities in
      lower-resource settings.

PMID- 28607315
TI  - Access to free health-care services for the poor in tertiary hospitals of western
      Nepal: a descriptive study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nepal is an underdeveloped country in which half of the total health
      expenditure is from out-of-pocket payments. Thus, the Government of Nepal
      introduced universal free health-care services up to the level of district
      hospitals, and targeted these services to poor and marginalized people in
      regional and subregional hospitals. The aim of this descriptive study was to
      explore the implementation and utilization of free health-care services by the
      target population (poor and marginalized people) in two tertiary-care hospitals
      in western Nepal, one with a social care unit (Western Regional Hospital) and one
      without a social care unit (Lumbini Zonal Hospital). METHODS: Medical records
      maintained by the two hospitals for one Nepali calendar year were collected and
      analysed, along with information from key informant interviews with staff from
      each hospital and patient exit interviews. RESULTS: Utilization of free health
      care services by poor and marginalized people in the two tertiary-care hospitals
      was suboptimal: only 8.4% of patients using services were exempted from payment
      in Western Regional Hospital, whereas it was even fewer, at 2.7%, in Lumbini
      Zonal Hospital. There was also unintended use of services by nontarget people.
      Qualitative analysis indicated a lack of awareness of free health-care services
      among clients, and lack of awareness regarding target groups among staff at the
      hospitals. Importantly, many services were utilized by people from rural areas
      adjoining the district in which the hospital was situated. CONCLUSION:
      Utilization of free health-care services by the target population in the two
      tertiary-care hospitals was very low. This was the result of poor dissemination
      of information about the free health-care programme by the hospitals to the
      target population, and also a lack of knowledge regarding free services and
      target groups among staff working in these hospitals. Thus, it is imperative to
      implement educational programmes for hospital staff and for poor and marginalized
      people. Unintended use of free services was also seen by nontarget groups; this
      suggests that there should further simplification of the process to identify
      target groups.

PMID- 28607314
TI  - Tobacco-promotional activities in rural Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study of
      knowledge, exposure and responses among adolescent schoolchildren.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tobacco promotions are linked to tobacco consumption in adolescents.
      The aim of this study was to determine knowledge of and exposure and responses to
      tobacco-promotional activities and factors associated with knowledge among
      adolescents in a rural setting in Sri Lanka. METHODS: Seven schools in
      Polonnaruwa district were randomly selected for this cross-sectional study.
      Adolescents (n = 500) aged 14-15 years in grade 10 were selected using
      convenience sampling and studied by using a self-administered questionnaire
      during June-October 2014. The questions on exposure to tobacco-promotional
      activities were based on the validated questionnaire of the Global Youth Tobacco
      Survey. Adolescents were categorized into two levels of knowledge, exposure and
      responses to tobacco promotions, based on the scores obtained. Selected factors
      associated with knowledge of tobacco promotions were assessed using univarate and
      multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The response rate was 99.6% (498/500). The mean
      age of the adolescents was 14.9 years (standard deviation +/-0.37) and the
      proportion of females was slightly higher (n = 280, 56.2%) than for males. The
      prevalence of current smoking was 3.2% (n = 16). Half (48.6%, n = 242) of the
      adolescents had a good level of knowledge of tobacco-promotional activities. Most
      (64.9%, n = 323) had experienced a low level of exposure to tobacco-promotional
      activities, while 85.7% (n = 427) indicated that they had responded/would respond
      assertively to exposure to tobacco promotion. In the univariate analysis, having
      a mother with a high level of education (odds ratio [OR] 1.742), having a father
      with a high level of education (OR 1.997) and the student attending a type 1AB
      school (OR 1.310) were significant factors associated with a good level of
      knowledge of tobacco-promotional activities. A father with a high level of
      education (adjusted OR 1.772) and the student attending a type 1AB school
      (adjusted OR 1.455) were the factors associated with a good level of knowledge
      for tobacco-promotional activities, when confounding effects of the variables
      were taken into consideration. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of tobacco-promotional
      activities was poor among the adolescents in the rural setting in Sri Lanka.
      Nevertheless, most of the adolescents in the study population indicated that
      their responses to such exposures were/ would be assertive.

PMID- 28607316
TI  - HIV prevalence in blood donors and recipients in Pakistan: a meta-analysis and
      analysis of blood-bank data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The first instances of HIV-antibody detection in donated blood in
      Pakistan were reported in 1988. Since then, documentation of HIV in blood donors
      and of rates of transmission via transfusion has been limited. Previously assumed
      to have a low prevalence, HIV is an increasing health concern in Pakistan. Since
      there is no national, centralized blood-banking system, there are no reliable
      data on which to base estimated risks of transfusion-associated HIV infection.
      This study was therefore conducted to estimate the prevalence of HIV in blood
      donors and recipients in Pakistan between 1988 and 2012. METHODS: Meta-analyses
      were undertaken of reported prevalences of HIV in blood donors and recipients
      published during 1988-2012. Papers were identified by searching PubMed, Google,
      CINAHL and PakMediNet and the websites of the World Health Organization, the
      national HIV/AIDS Surveillance Project and the National AIDS Control Programme of
      Pakistan. In addition, the 1998-2012 records of the Aga Khan University blood
      bank were analysed. RESULTS: The 254 abstracts identified at the preliminary
      search were reviewed and, after removal of duplications, case-reports, editorials
      and reviews, 32 papers were selected that met the inclusion criteria. All studies
      that reported on HIV antibodies in blood donors/recipients were included,
      irrespective of the methodology used. Since seroconversion had only been
      confirmed through supplemental testing in a few papers, the results were analysed
      separately for reports based on screening only and confirmed cases. A total of
      142 of 2 023 379 blood donors and 4 of 3632 blood recipients were HIV positive,
      giving an overall pooled seroprevalence of 0.00111% in blood donors and 0.00325%
      in blood recipients. The annual prevalences of HIV in donors at the Aga Khan
      University blood banks were similar, ranging from 0.013% to 0.116%. CONCLUSION:
      Very few reports on HIV in blood donors in Pakistan could be retrieved, and the
      overall pooled prevalence is low. However, the limited data and confounding
      factors mean that that these results may significantly underestimate the true
      situation. It is recommended that a complete survey of blood banks should be
      conducted throughout the country, in order to provide a more reliable estimate of
      the risk of transfusion-associated HIV infection in Pakistan.

PMID- 28607317
TI  - Feasibility of implementing an integrated tool for improvement of treatment
      quality and early-warning indicators for HIV drug resistance: a pilot study of
      centres in India.
AB  - With the rapid scale-up in use of antiretroviral therapy (ART), monitoring the
      quality of care and factors that may lead to emergence of HIV drug resistance
      (HIVDR) is an important focus point for programme managers. The National AIDS
      Control Organisation of India embarked on strengthening the ART programme for
      continuous quality improvement (CQI), using defined quality-of-care indicators
      (QCIs), including World Health Organization (WHO) early-warning indicators (EWIs)
      for HIVDR. In this feasibility study, done during July 2014, an integrated QCI
      and EWI tool developed by WHO India was pilot tested across 18 purposively
      selected ART centres. At seven ART centres, the EWI 1 target of >90% on-time pill
      pick-up was achieved for adult patients, while among the paediatric age group
      (<15 years old) it was not achieved by any centre. EWI 2 (retention of patients
      in ART care at 12 months after initiation) showed that two centres had retention
      of both adult and paediatric patients of >85% at 12 months of ART, while 11
      centres had retention between 75% and 85%. EWI 3 (pharmacy stock-out) for adult
      and paediatric patients showed that 11 ART centres reported a minimum of one
      stock-out for the first-line ART drugs in the reporting period, while EWI 4
      targets (pharmacy dispensing practices) were achieved by all the centres, for
      both adults and children. Average retention in care at 6, 12 and 24 months after
      ART initiation was 82%, 77% and 71%, respectively. This feasibility study showed
      that EWI analyses were much simpler to conduct if information was sought only for
      patients receiving ART, for whom the quality of record-keeping is better and more
      consistent. The activity has highlighted the need for improved quality of record
      keeping at the facilities and implementation of specific interventions to ensure
      better patient follow-up. After modifications, use of the tool will be phased in
      across all the ART centres in India.

PMID- 28607318
TI  - Impact of rubella vaccination on elimination of congenital rubella syndrome in
      Sri Lanka: progress and challenges.
AB  - Rubella infection in pregnancy can lead to pathologies, including miscarriage,
      stillbirth and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in the neonate. Rubella
      vaccination can prevent all occurrences of CRS. In Sri Lanka, significant
      outbreaks of CRS occurred in 1994 and 1995, with 275 and 212 reported cases. In
      1996, Sri Lanka introduced rubella vaccination for women aged 16-44 years, to
      stop CRS. Measles-rubella vaccine was introduced into the routine immunization
      schedule in 2001 and additional campaigns were carried out in 2003 (all 11-15
      year olds) and 2004 (all 16-20 year olds). Reported immunization coverage with a
      single dose of a rubella-containing vaccine has been more than 95% since 2000.
      Laboratory-supported surveillance for rubella and CRS was started in 1992.
      Reported rubella cases fell from 364 (incidence 19/million population) in 1999 to
      96 cases (incidence 5/million population) in 2002 and further to 12 cases
      (incidence 0.6/ million population) in 2014. Laboratory-supported CRS
      surveillance was started in 1990 and the highest number of CRS cases, 275
      (incidence 77/100 000 live births), was diagnosed in 1994. Reported CRS cases
      fell from 22 cases (incidence 7/100 000 live births) in 2002 to 3 cases
      (incidence <1/100 000 live births) in 2014. Almost 20 years of routine rubella
      vaccination has resulted in >96% reduction in reported rubella cases and a
      corresponding >98% reduction in CRS cases. Despite this great achievement, work
      remains to eliminate rubella and CRS from Sri Lanka.

PMID- 28607319
TI  - Towards elimination of parent-to-child transmission of syphilis in India: a rapid
      situation review to inform national strategy.
AB  - In February 2015, India's National AIDS Control Organisation, Ministry of Health
      and Family Welfare, launched a national strategy towards elimination of parent-to
      child transmission (E-PTCT) of syphilis, with a goal to reduce the incidence of
      congenital syphilis to 0.3 cases per 1000 live births by 2017. As part of the
      development of the national strategy, a rapid situation analysis was undertaken
      to ascertain the current practices, challenges and barriers for E-PTCT of
      syphilis in India. The analysis was conducted during February and March 2014 in
      five states selected from five different regions of India. Key informant
      interviews were conducted with key stakeholders at facility, state and district
      level. Content analysis was used to identify the themes. Key barriers identified
      for E-PTCT of syphilis were: low priority for antenatal syphilis testing among
      providers, limited access to testing, untrained human resources, shortage of test
      kits and benzathine penicillin, nonadherence to the national protocol for
      syphilis testing, and poor recording and reporting of antenatal syphilis data.
      The analysis also identified opportunities for functional integration of E-PTCT
      within existing maternal and child health programmes. Health-care providers and
      programme managers expressed a need for training in the programme for E-PTCT of
      syphilis. The situation analysis identified that, for successful implementation
      of E-PTCT of syphilis, it is essential that state and district programme managers
      adopt this initiative; coordinate the programme; plan for an adequate budget in
      their programme implementation plan; ensure an uninterrupted supply of
      standardized diagnostics kits and drugs at all levels of health care; and adhere
      to E-PTCT guidelines when implementing the programme.

PMID- 28607320
TI  - Landscaping capacity-building initiatives in epidemiology in India: bridging the
      demand-supply gap.
AB  - India, the second most populous country in the world, has 17% of the world's
      population but its total share of global disease burden is 21%. With
      epidemiological transition, the challenge of the public health system is to deal
      with a high burden of noncommunicable diseases, while still continuing the battle
      against communicable diseases. To combat this progression, public health capacity
      building initiatives for the health workforce are necessary to develop essential
      skills in epidemiology and competencies in other related fields of public health.
      This study is an effort to systematically explore the training programmes in
      epidemiology in India and to understand the demand-supply dynamics of
      epidemiologists in the country. A systematic, predefined approach, with three
      parallel strategies, was used to collect and assemble the data regarding
      epidemiology training in India and assess the demand-supply of epidemiologists in
      the country. The programmes offering training in epidemiology included degree and
      diploma courses offered by departments of preventive and social
      medicine/community medicine in medical colleges and 19 long-term academic
      programmes in epidemiology, with an estimated annual output of 1172 per year. The
      demand analysis for epidemiologists estimated that there is need for at least
      3289 epidemiologists to cater for the demand of various institutions in the
      country. There is a wide gap in demand-supply of epidemiologists in the country
      and an urgent need for further strengthening of epidemiology training in India.
      More capacity-building and training initiatives in epidemiology are therefore
      urgently required to promote research and address the public health challenges
      confronting the country.

PMID- 28607321
TI  - Innovative use of social media platform WhatsApp during influenza outbreak in
      Gujarat, India.

PMID- 28607322
TI  - Assessment of the mechanical properties of the muscle-tendon unit by supersonic
      shear wave imaging elastography: a review.
AB  - This review aimed to describe the state of the art in muscle-tendon unit (MTU)
      assessment by supersonic shear wave imaging (SSI) elastography in states of
      muscle contraction and stretching, during aging, and in response to injury and
      therapeutic interventions. A consensus exists that MTU elasticity increases
      during passive stretching or contraction, and decreases after static stretching,
      electrostimulation, massage, and dry needling. There is currently no agreement
      regarding changes in the MTU due to aging and injury. Currently, the application
      of SSI for the purpose of diagnosis, rehabilitation, and physical training
      remains limited by a number of issues, including the lack of normative value
      ranges, the lack of consensus regarding the appropriate terminology, and an
      inadequate understanding of the main technical limitations of this novel
      technology.

PMID- 28607323
TI  - Ultrasound-guided drug delivery in cancer.
AB  - Recent advancements in ultrasound and microbubble (USMB) mediated drug delivery
      technology has shown that this approach can improve spatially confined delivery
      of drugs and genes to target tissues while reducing systemic dose and toxicity.
      The mechanism behind enhanced delivery of therapeutics is sonoporation, the
      formation of openings in the vasculature, induced by ultrasound-triggered
      oscillations and destruction of microbubbles. In this review, progress and
      challenges of USMB mediated drug delivery are summarized, with special focus on
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 28607324
TI  - Updated guidelines on the preoperative staging of thyroid cancer.
AB  - Recent studies have provided prognostic information and recommendations for
      staging thyroid cancers that have changed the staging and management guidelines
      for the disease. Consequently, minimal extrathyroidal extension (ETE) was removed
      from the T3 stage classification in the eighth edition of the TNM staging system
      by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. New T categories have been
      subsequently added, including T3a, defined as a tumor >4 cm in its greatest
      dimension, limited to the thyroid gland, and T3b, defined as a tumor of any size
      with gross ETE invading only the strap muscles. In this article, the author
      reviews the changes in the TNM staging system for thyroid cancer, with an
      emphasis on ultrasonography in preoperative staging.

PMID- 28607325
TI  - Implication of PHF2 Expression in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) is presumed to be associated
      with adipogenic differentiation. Histone modification is known to be important
      for adipogenesis, and the function of histone demethylase plant homeodomain
      finger 2 (PHF2) has been noted. In addition, PHF2 may act as a tumor suppressor
      via epigenetic regulation of p53 and is reported to be reduced in colon cancer
      and stomach cancer tissues. In this study, we examined PHF2 expression in CCRCC
      specimens by immunohistochemistry. METHODS: We studied 254 CCRCCs and 56 non
      neoplastic renal tissues from patients who underwent radical or partial
      nephrectomy between 2000 and 2003 at the Seoul National University Hospital.
      Tissue microarray blocks were prepared, and immunohistochemical staining for PHF2
      was performed. RESULTS: Among 254 CCRCC cases, 150 cases (59.1%) showed high
      expression and 104 cases (40.1%) showed low expression. High expression of PHF2
      was significantly correlated with a low Fuhrman nuclear grade (p < .001), smaller
      tumor size (p < .001), low overall stage (p = .003), longer cancer-specific
      survival (p = .002), and progression-free survival (p < .001) of the patients.
      However, it was not an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis
      adjusted for Fuhrman nuclear grade and overall stage. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      showed that low expression of PHF2 is associated with aggressiveness and poor
      prognosis of CCRCC.

PMID- 28607326
TI  - Morphological Features and Immunohistochemical Expression of p57Kip2 in Early
      Molar Pregnancies and Their Relations to the Progression to Persistent
      Trophoblastic Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the morphological features characteristic of products of
      conception specimens including molar pregnancies are well described, substantial
      histopathological similarities are observed between the different entities,
      especially in cases of early pregnancies. Furthermore, there are no current solid
      criteria that could predict cases with progression to persistent gestational
      trophoblastic disease. In this study, we aimed to determine the most specific
      histopathological and immunohistochemical features required for accurate
      diagnosis that can reliably predict the clinical behavior. METHODS: Sixty-five
      cases of products of conception were reviewed clinically and pathologically, and
      any progression to persistent gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), if
      present, was noted. Pathological assessment of the archival material included re
      cut sections of 5 MUm in thickness, routine staining with hematoxylin and eosin
      and immunohistochemical staining of p57Kip2. RESULTS: Certain histopathological
      criteria were found to be significant in differentiation between complete
      hydatidiform mole (CHM) and partial hydatidiform mole including villous shape and
      outline, villous trophoblast hyperplasia, and atypia in extravillous
      trophoblasts. There were no significant differences in any morphological or
      immunohistochemical features between cases with or without subsequent development
      of GTD. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathological diagnosis of molar pregnancy remains
      problematic especially in early gestation. Their diagnosis should be stated after
      a constellation of specific histopathological criteria in order not to miss CHM.
      p57Kip2 immunohistochemistry is of great value in diagnosis of cases that had
      equivocal morphology by histopathological examination. However, there were no
      significant features to predict cases that subsequently developed persistent GTD.

PMID- 28607327
TI  - Menetrier's Disease as a Gastrointestinal Manifestation of Active Cytomegalovirus
      Infection in a 22-Month-Old Boy: A Case Report with a Review of the Literature of
      Korean Pediatric Cases.
AB  - Menetrier's disease (MD), which is characterized by hypertrophic gastric folds
      and foveolar cell hyperplasia, is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) cause of
      protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). The clinical course of MD in childhood differs
      from that in adults and has often been reported to be associated with
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. We present a case of a previously healthy 22
      month-old boy presenting with PLE, who was initially suspected to have an
      eosinophilic GI disorder. However, he was eventually confirmed, by detection of
      CMV DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with gastric tissue, to have MD
      associated with an active CMV infection. We suggest that endoscopic and
      pathological evaluation is necessary for the differential diagnosis of MD. In
      addition, CMV DNA detection using PCR analysis of biopsy tissue is recommended to
      confirm the etiologic agent of MD regardless of the patient's age or immune
      status.

PMID- 28607328
TI  - Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty - A New Tool to Manage Obesity.
AB  - Obesity is a growing pandemic across the world. Dietary restrictions and behavior
      modifications alone have a limited benefit. Bariatric surgery, despite being the
      current gold standard, has limited acceptance by patients due to cost and
      associated morbidity. In our review, we have discussed nine original studies
      describing endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG). A total of 172 subjects
      successfully underwent ESG. Of 65 subjects with follow up data, 95.4% (62/65) had
      intact gastric sleeve confirmed via esophagogastroduodenoscopy or oral contrast
      study at the end of study specific follow up interval (the longest being 6
      months). Individual studies reported a technical success rate for intact gastric
      sleeve from as low as 50% to as high as 100%. A statistically significant p<0.05)
      weight loss was reported in seven of the eight studies with available data. None
      of the patients experienced any intra-procedure complications, and approximately
      2.3% (4/172) of patients experienced major post-procedure complications; however,
      no mortality was reported. Majority of the studies reported relatively high
      incidence of minor post-procedure complications, which improved with symptomatic
      treatment alone. Good patient tolerance with comparable clinical efficacy in
      achieving and sustaining desired weight loss makes ESG an attractive option to
      consider among other bariatric therapies.

PMID- 28607329
TI  - Effect of long-term physical activity on PCSK9, high- and low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a) levels: a prospective observational trial
AB  - INTRODUCTION    Since proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9)
      inhibitors were introduced to the market, the interest in PCSK9 metabolism has
      increased dramatically. OBJECTIVES    We investigated prospectively the influence
      of long-term physical activity on PCSK9, highand low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL-C and LDL-C, respectively), and lipoprotein(a) levels [Lp(a)].
      PATIENTS AND METHODS    A total of 109 participants were recruited and instructed
      to increase their sport pensum by 75 min/wk of vigorous-intensity or 150 min/wk
      of moderate-intensity endurance training (or a mixture) within the calculated
      training pulse for 8 months. Stress tests were performed at baseline and at the
      end of the study to prove and quantify the performance gain. PCSK9 levels were
      measured at baseline and after 2, 6, and 8 months by an enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. HDL-C, LDL-C, and Lp(a) levels were measured at baseline and
      every 2 months. RESULTS    The final study sample included 79 subjects, who
      showed a mean performance gain of 11.4%. Mean (SD) PCSK9 and HDL-C levels
      increased significantly from 224.7 (66.8) ng/ml to 243.4 (84.0) ng/ml (P = 0.04)
      and 58.3 (18.4) mg/dl to 61.1 (18.5) mg/dl (P = 0.014), respectively. Mean (SD)
      LDL-C levels decreased significantly from 115.0 (33.4) mg/dl to 109.8 (31.7)
      mg/dl (P = 0.04), but there was no significant change in mean (SD) Lp(a) levels:
      37.9 (51.9) nmol/l to 43.3 (60.6) nmol/l; P = 0.218. CONCLUSIONS    Our study
      showed a decrease in LDL-C levels induced by a long-term physical activity with a
      simultaneous increase in PCSK9 levels. PCSK9 is essential in lipid metabolism and
      should not be basically considered as harmful. It is possible that a certain
      amount of PCSK9 is beneficial to ensure an adequate lipid supply.

PMID- 28607330
TI  - Genetic characterization of antithrombin, protein C, and protein S deficiencies
      in Polish patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION    Inherited deficiencies of natural anticoagulants such as
      antithrombin (AT; gene: SERPINC1), protein C (PC; PROC), and protein S (PS;
      PROS1), with the prevalence in the general European population of 0.02% to 0.17%,
      0.2% to 0.3%, and 0.5%, respectively, are associated with increased risk of
      thromboembolic events. Only a few case reports of Polish deficient patients with
      known causal mutations have been published so far. OBJECTIVES    The aim of the
      study was to characterize the frequency of SERPINC1, PROC, and PROS1 mutations
      and their thromboembolic manifestations in patients with AT, PC, or PS
      deficiencies, inhabiting southern Poland. PATIENTS AND METHODS     Ninety
      unrelated patients (mean [SD] age, 40.1 [13.2] years) with AT (n = 35), PC (n =
      28), or PS (n = 27) deficiencies, with a history of venous 73 (81%) or arterial
      17 (19%) thromboembolism, were screened for mutations using the Sanger sequencing
      or multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. RESULTS    Twenty mutations
      (29%) described here were new, mostly in the SERPINC1 and PROC genes. Missense
      mutations accounted for 84% of all mutations in the PROC gene and approximately
      50% of those in the SERPINC1 and PROS1 genes. In all 3 genes, the ratio of
      nonsense and splice-site mutations was 8% to 31% and 8% to 23%, respectively. The
      mutation detection rate was 90% for AT or PC when anticoagulant activity was
      below 70%, while for the PROS1 gene, the rate reached 80% at the free PS levels
      below 40%. CONCLUSIONS    To our knowledge, this is the largest cohort of Polish
      patients deficient in natural anticoagulants and evaluated for the causal genetic
      background. Several new Polish detrimental mutations were detected, mostly in AT-
      and PC-deficient patients.

PMID- 28607331
TI  - A Retrospective Study of Percutaneous Balloon Kyphoplasty for the Treatment of
      Symptomatic Schmorl's Nodes: 5-Year Results.
AB  - BACKGROUND Despite literature supporting the efficiency of percutaneous balloon
      kyphoplasty (PKP) in treating osteoporotic and malignant vertebral compression
      fractures, few reports exist that document its use for treatment of symptomatic
      Schmorl's nodes (SNs) refractory to conservative treatment. Patients with
      symptomatic SNs could have pain in the vertebrae similar to an acute vertebral
      compression fracture. MRI is very helpful in diagnosing symptomatic SNs when x
      ray and CT scan are unremarkable. In painful cases, the vertebrae bone marrow
      around the SNs is hyperintense on T2-weighted subsequence. We evaluated the long
      term safety and effectiveness of PKP for the treatment of symptomatic SNs not
      responding to conservative therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS From January 2008 to
      December 2012, 32 patients suffering from symptomatic SNs underwent 43 PKP
      procedures. Outcome data, including mean height ratio of anterior and middle
      vertebral body, Visual Analog Scale (VAS score) for pain measurement, Oswestry
      Disability Indexes (ODI score) and SF-36 questionnaires for function measurement
      were recorded preoperatively, postoperatively, and at one month, six months, two
      years, and five years after treatment. RESULTS Thirty-two patients were treated
      successfully with PKP. Clinically asymptomatic cement leakage was observed in
      three (6.98%) of the treated vertebral bodies. The mean height ratio of anterior
      and middle vertebral bodies changed from 98.2+/-1.6% preoperatively to 98.5+/
      1.4% postoperatively (p>0.05) and 98.3+/-1.5% preoperatively to 98.8+/-1.9%
      postoperatively (p>0.05). The mean VAS scores, ODI score, and SF-36 scores for
      physical function (PF), bodily pain (BF), social functioning (SF), and vitality
      (VT) all showed significant improvements (p<0.05). During the 5-year follow-up,
      the stabilization of the height of the vertebral body and functional improvements
      were all maintained. CONCLUSIONS PKP is a safe and effective procedure for the
      treatment of symptomatic SNs refractory to conservative therapy.

PMID- 28607332
TI  - Massive Ischemic Stroke Due to Pulmonary Barotrauma and Cerebral Artery Air
      Embolism During Commercial Air Travel.
AB  - BACKGROUND Air embolism into the systemic arterial circulation secondary to
      pulmonary barotrauma has rarely been reported. Herein, we report the clinical
      course of an extremely rare presentation of cerebral air embolism likely due to
      ruptured pulmonary bullae during commercial air travel. CASE REPORT A 65-year-old
      man suddenly became unconscious during an airplane descent. Upon landing, he was
      immediately transferred to the nearest emergency department where he was
      intubated for airway protection. His head CT angiogram showed multiple air
      pockets in the right parietal lobe suspicious for multiple air emboli. His chest
      CT scan showed multiple large bullae in the left upper and lower lobes as well as
      diffusely emphysematous lung tissue. After initial stabilization, he underwent
      emergent hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) in the multiplace chamber at 2.8
      atmospheres. The patient tolerated HBOT well with no complications. However, his
      neurologic status deteriorated in the following 24 hours due to progression of
      his cerebral edema and mass effects. The patient's clinical status was discussed
      with his family and the decision was made to withdraw life-sustaining measures.
      He died shortly after withdrawal of life support. Post-mortem examination
      confirmed the presence of very large bullae in the lungs bilaterally. CONCLUSIONS
      Spontaneous cerebral air embolism is a possible complication of ruptured
      pulmonary bullae during air travel. HBOT is well-tolerated and may be used with
      caution even in the presence of emphysematous bullae.

PMID- 28607333
TI  - The impact of dexmedetomidine or xylocaine continuous infusion on opioid
      consumption and recovery after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative pain control for morbidly obese patients represents a
      challenge because of their sensitivity towards opioid-induced respiratory
      depression. We elected both dexmedetomidine and xylocaine (lidocaine) continuous
      infusions as adjuvants because they lack respiratory depression side effect.
      METHODS: A total of 150 ASA I to III patients were enrolled in the study,
      randomly allocated into three equal parallel groups; the control, lidocaine or
      dexmedetomidine group. Patients received either dexmedetomidine 1 ug/kg bolus
      over 10 minutes followed by 0.4 ug/kg/h continuous infusion, lidocaine 2 mg/kg
      bolus over 10 minutes followed by 1.5 mg/kg/h continuous infusion or saline bolus
      and continuous infusion during the whole operation period. The total morphine
      consumption was designed to be the primary outcome variable, pain score, and
      quality of recovery 40 was set as secondary outcome variables. Pain score was
      measured by numerical rating scale while the quality of recovery score was
      estimated by the QOR-40 questionnaire. P<0.05 was considered significant.
      RESULTS: Both dexmedetomidine and lidocaine reduced the total morphine
      consumption where it was 14+/-4, 18+/-4, and 29+/-5 mg in the dexmedetomidine,
      lidocaine, and control groups, respectively (P<0.0001). While dexmedetomidine
      reduced postoperative pain at all measured time points, lidocaine reduced only
      early pain. Both drugs displayed better quality of recovery score 40 measured at
      postoperative day 3; 186+/-2 for the dexmedetomidine group versus 176+/-6 for the
      lidocaine group versus 140+/-6 for the control group (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Continuous infusion of either dexmedetomidine or xylocaine reduces postoperative
      opioid consumption, pain and improve the quality of recovery following
      laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

PMID- 28607334
TI  - Interhospital transfer of critically ill patients.
AB  - Transportation of a patient between medical facilities without interruption of
      the medical treatment can be a challenging task. This review aims to define the
      term "interhospital transport" and give a general overview of the steps for
      organizing a transfer. Furthermore we discuss the team qualification, equipment
      standards and how to manage adverse events before and during transport by means
      of patient triage. The advanced interhospital transport of the critically ill
      patient can be defined as follows: "transportation of a patient between medical
      facilities without interruption of the medical treatment and monitoring due to
      the underlying disease by means of specific medical, technical equipment and
      knowledge with the objective of improved patient care." Several organizational
      steps come along with patients transfer: the hospital of origin has to identify
      transfer-eligible patients and be willing to release the patient. It has to
      identify a destination hospital and negotiate the transfer; the patient has to be
      transportable, the patient/relatives must agree; the transporting unit has to
      have the infrastructure and acknowledge to transport the patient; the insurance
      company or the family has to guarantee for the additional costs. Relocation team
      members need a specific training that focus on typical critical events that
      happen during transport. Technical equipment (ventilator, stretcher, monitor,
      defibrillator, external pacemaker, blood-gas analyzer) facilitates smooth patient
      transition from one facility to a distant one. The use of checklists is
      associated with a reduction of incidents during the transport.

PMID- 28607335
TI  - Surgical stress response and the potential role of preoperative glucocorticoids
      on post-anesthesia care unit recovery.
AB  - The immediate postoperative course in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)
      remains a challenge across surgical procedures. Postoperative pain,
      sedation/cognitive dysfunction, nausea and vomiting (PONV), circulatory and
      respiratory problems and orthostatic intolerance constitute the bulk of the
      difficulties that may delay the postoperative recovery. A common feature in the
      observed organ dysfunctions is the inflammatory response to surgery during the
      acute postoperative recovery phase, suggesting that control of inflammation may
      improve outcomes and reduce complications. This narrative review focuses on our
      understanding of the inflammatory responses in the acute PACU setting in relation
      to organ dysfunction and suggests where further research is warranted. The main
      finding is that current evidence suggests inflammation to potentially impair on
      almost all organ dysfunctions observed in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU),
      but with a scarcity of intervention studies using glucocorticoids to control
      inflammation. We, therefore, suggest a future research focus on the role of
      inflammation and effect of glucocorticoids in the PACU setting to improve patient
      recovery.

PMID- 28607336
TI  - Cervical spine motion during tracheal intubation with King VisionTM video
      laryngoscopy and conventional laryngoscopy: a crossover randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The King VisionTM (KVL) videolaryngoscope with a wide field of view
      could potentially reduce cervical spine motion during intubation. We aimed to
      compare the extent of cervical spine movement during laryngoscopy using the KVL
      and Macintosh laryngoscopes. METHODS: Following ethical approval, 29 patients
      with a normal cervical spine requiring general anesthesia and tracheal intubation
      were randomly subjected to both KVL and Macintosh laryngoscopy in a crossover.
      Cervical spine motion during each laryngoscopy was radiologically examined by
      measuring changes in cumulative spine motion and changes from the neutral
      position in the C0-C5 angles formed by the adjacent vertebrae. Time to tracheal
      intubation, laryngoscopic view, and ease of intubation were also recorded.
      RESULTS: Compared with direct laryngoscopy, the KVL resulted in significantly
      less movement of the C-spine at the C0-C1, and C3-C4, C4-C5 segments (mean
      differences: C0-C1: 3.01  degrees  [95% CI: -4.74 degrees  to -1.28 degrees ]; C3
      C4: 1.81 degrees  [95% CI: -3.19 degrees  to -0.43 degrees ]; C4-C5: -0.88
      degrees  [95% CI: -1.61 degrees  to -0.19 degrees ], P<0.02) and cumulative C
      spine movement (mean 36.1[95% CI 32.72 to 39.51] vs. 44.1[95%CI: 39.54 to 48.75];
      P=0.001). There was significant movement in the C0-C3 segment from baseline using
      both devices. Tracheal intubation took longer with KVL (mean difference: 12.7 s
      [95% CI: 9.15 to 16.13 s]; P=0.001) even though laryngeal visualization was
      improved (Cormack Lehane Grade I was reported in 100% KVL vs. 65.5% Macintosh
      laryngoscopies; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with normal cervical spine,
      KVL resulted in less extension of the cervical spine than direct laryngoscopy.

PMID- 28607337
TI  - Safety aspects of desflurane anesthesia and laryngeal mask airway.
AB  - Laryngeal mask (LM) and inhaled anesthesia combination is often deemed
      unsuitable. Actually the evolution of surgical procedures towards minimal
      invasiveness, the search of improved productivity, and the contemporary need for
      patient safety and faster recovery, push the anesthetists to get interested in
      their use in the daily practice. An Expert Panel composed by anesthetists coming
      from university and tertiary hospitals undertook to write an experts' opinion on
      the correct management of LM and desflurane in adult patients, with a view to
      issuing a simple operative protocol for their combined intraoperative usage. Main
      operative steps have been defined, which, if appropriately implemented, would
      successfully achieve safety objectives. Two aspects are considered crucial, first
      the educational role of Universities and Medical Schools to structure a
      systematic approach to the theoretical and practical teaching of the use of LM
      with desflurane; second an appropriate training for improving the skills in the
      use of LM also for more complicated patients.

PMID- 28607338
TI  - Blood purification with continuous veno-venous hemofiltration in patients with
      sepsis or ARDS: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Severe inflammatory conditions, as severe sepsis/septic shock and
      acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), are related to high morbidity and
      mortality. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials to assess if blood
      purification with continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) reduces mortality
      in these settings. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Online databases were searched for
      pertinent studies up to March 2017. We included randomized-controlled trials on
      the use of CVVH as blood purification technique in comparison to conventional
      therapy in adult patients with severe sepsis/septic shock or ARDS but no acute
      kidney injury needing renal replacement therapy. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Eleven
      studies and 679 patients were included in the analysis. Patients who received
      CVVH had significantly lower mortality compared to conventional therapy (96 of
      351 [27.35%] patients in the CVVH group vs. 129 of 328 [39.33%] in the
      conventional therapy group, OR=0.58 [95% CI: 0.42, 0.81], P=0.002, I2=10%, number
      needed to treat: 8) at longest follow-up available. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, low
      quality evidence indicates that blood purification with CVVH might be associated
      with a significant reduction in mortality when performed in patients with sepsis
      or ARDS. The evidence is still insufficient to support a definitive conclusion of
      benefit. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials, adequately powered
      for mortality, are needed to clarify the impact of CVVH on these conditions.

PMID- 28607339
TI  - Anesthesia and postoperative analgesia for a patient with amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis.

PMID- 28607340
TI  - Perioperative hemodynamic optimization based on a totally non-invasive monitoring
      device: waiting for more convincing evidence.

PMID- 28607341
TI  - Thrombolysis for non-traumatic intra-ventricular hemorrhage in adults: a critical
      reappraisal.
AB  - Intra-ventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a critical condition with high rate of
      morbidity and mortality due to acute hydrocephalus and secondary brain injury.
      Mechanisms underlying the clinical deterioration are not only related to the
      appearance of an acute hydrocephalus but also to blood-clot mass effect and the
      inflammatory effects of blood break-down products which impede local blood flow
      and exert a direct toxic effect on the peri-ventricular structures leading to
      chronic hydrocephalus. An effective treatment strategy should aim at IVH fast
      removal and reduction of blood-clot mass effect. Although external ventricular
      drainage placement is an intuitive treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus this
      treatment does not address in total the aforementioned pathophysiological
      mechanisms underlying secondary brain damage. Intra-ventricular fibrinolysis,
      with tissue plasminogen activator or urokinase, is a level of evidence B, class
      IIB treatment which has proved to be beneficial in lowering the mortality rates.
      Its effectiveness on functional outcome has been assessed on three large meta
      analysis and a recent large randomized control trial (CLEAR III). Results from
      the CLEAR III multicenter trial suggest that a routine extra-ventricular drain,
      irrigation with alteplase reduced mortality but did not substantially improve
      functional outcomes compared with irrigation with saline. Protocol-based use of
      alteplase with extra-ventricular drain seemed safe, therefore such approach may
      be a potential option in individual cases. Currently no consensus has been
      reached and extrapolation of data from the literature does not permit to identify
      a uniform therapeutic approach but merely to outline some rational procedural
      modalities. Further research and studies are needed to compare the efficacy of
      the different fibrinolytic agents and protocols on functional outcome.

PMID- 28607342
TI  - Continuous regional anesthesia: a review of perioperative outcome benefits.
AB  - Routine use of regional anesthesia for patients having surgery is supported by
      general safety and proven effectiveness as a targeted modality in the prevention
      and treatment of acute pain. Recently, perioperative physicians have become much
      more interested in improving long-term outcomes after surgery rather than
      focusing on the well-established short-term benefits of regional anesthesia. This
      interest has raised important questions regarding the potential influence of
      regional anesthesia on morbidity and mortality, persistent pain and cancer
      prognosis. Tissue injury is responsible for the inflammatory reaction and
      physiologic stress response observed during the perioperative period and can
      influence a patient's recovery trajectory. Regional anesthesia can modulate the
      inflammatory response through the direct anti-inflammatory effect of local
      anesthetics, blocking neural afferents, and blunting sympathetic activation.
      Moreover, continuous techniques (e.g., epidural and perineural catheters) that
      provide longer duration and titratable pain relief in the perioperative period
      may be protective against the development of persistent post-surgical pain by
      providing effective acute pain management and decreasing exposure to opioids. To
      maximize the potential for long-term outcome benefits to surgical patients,
      continuous regional anesthesia techniques are preferred over single injection
      techniques. Although the data are not yet definitive, some studies have
      demonstrated better functional recovery after joint replacement and lower rates
      of cancer recurrence in patients treated with continuous regional anesthesia.
      Future research studies in regional anesthesia will have to focus on these long
      term patient-centered outcomes and may need to incorporate novel study designs
      and analyses of big data.

PMID- 28607343
TI  - Failed epidural for labor: what now?
AB  - Labor epidural failure is a challenging situation for the obstetric anesthetist,
      especially when associated to high risk of caesarean delivery, obesity, and
      difficult airway predictors. Labor epidural failure is still not standardly
      defined, consequently its incidence is uncertain: improving the knowledge of risk
      factors related to failure will increase epidural block success rate. Prolonged
      labors, previous history of epidural failure, and repeated top-ups needed during
      labor are recognized risk factors for failure. Clinical experience and the use of
      modern equipment (ultrasound guided blocks), as well as the choice of neuraxial
      technique (epidural versus combined spinal-epidural) may affect failure rate.
      Software-controlled infusion pumps seem to increase epidural analgesia success
      rate. Among non-technical skills, good communication among medical team members
      and parturient women is another pivotal point to achieve a satisfactory analgesia
      for labor. Clear algorithms should be promoted where epidural failure during
      labor or caesarean delivery may occur.

PMID- 28607344
TI  - Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines 2016: omission of selective decontamination
      of the digestive tract deprives patients of a level 2B therapy.

PMID- 28607345
TI  - Coral lipid bodies as the relay center interconnecting diel-dependent lipidomic
      changes in different cellular compartments.
AB  - Lipid bodies (LBs) in the coral gastrodermal tissues are key organelles in the
      regulation of endosymbiosis and exhibit a diel rhythmicity. Using the
      scleractinian Euphyllia glabrescens collected across the diel cycle, we observed
      temporally dynamic lipid profiles in three cellular compartments: host coral
      gastrodermal cells, LBs, and in hospite Symbiodinium. Particularly, the lipidome
      varied over time, demonstrating the temporally variable nature of the coral
      Symbiodinium endosymbiosis. The lipidome-scale data highlight the dynamic, light
      driven metabolism of such associations and reveal that LBs are not only lipid
      storage organelles but also act as a relay center in metabolic trafficking.
      Furthermore, lipogenesis in LBs is significantly regulated by coral hosts and the
      lipid metabolites within holobionts featured predominantly triacylglycerols,
      sterol esters, and free fatty acids. Given these findings through a time-varied
      lipidome status, the present study provided valuable insights likely to be
      crucial to understand the cellular biology of the coral-Symbiodinium
      endosymbiosis.

PMID- 28607346
TI  - Non-iterative Directional Dark-field Tomography.
AB  - Dark-field imaging is a scattering-based X-ray imaging method that can be
      performed with laboratory X-ray tubes. The possibility to obtain information
      about unresolvable structures has already seen a lot of interest for both medical
      and material science applications. Unlike conventional X-ray attenuation,
      orientation dependent changes of the dark-field signal can be used to reveal
      microscopic structural orientation. To date, reconstruction of the three
      dimensional dark-field signal requires dedicated, highly complex algorithms and
      specialized acquisition hardware. This severely hinders the possible application
      of orientation-dependent dark-field tomography. In this paper, we show that it is
      possible to perform this kind of dark-field tomography with common Talbot-Lau
      interferometer setups by reducing the reconstruction to several smaller
      independent problems. This allows for the reconstruction to be performed with
      commercially available software and our findings will therefore help pave the way
      for a straightforward implementation of orientation-dependent dark-field
      tomography.

PMID- 28607347
TI  - Living microorganisms change the information (Shannon) content of a geophysical
      system.
AB  - The detection of microbial colonization in geophysical systems is becoming of
      interest in various disciplines of Earth and planetary sciences, including
      microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, geomicrobiology, and astrobiology.
      Microorganisms are often observed to colonize mineral surfaces, modify the
      reactivity of minerals either through the attachment of their own biomass or the
      glueing of mineral particles with their mucilaginous metabolites, and alter both
      the physical and chemical components of a geophysical system. Here, we
      hypothesise that microorganisms engineer their habitat, causing a substantial
      change to the information content embedded in geophysical measures (e.g.,
      particle size and space-filling capacity). After proving this hypothesis, we
      introduce and test a systematic method that exploits this change in information
      content to detect microbial colonization in geophysical systems. Effectiveness
      and robustness of this method are tested using a mineral sediment suspension as a
      model geophysical system; tests are carried out against 105 experiments conducted
      with different suspension types (i.e., pure mineral and microbially-colonized)
      subject to different abiotic conditions, including various nutrient and mineral
      concentrations, and different background entropy production rates. Results reveal
      that this method can systematically detect microbial colonization with less than
      10% error in geophysical systems with low-entropy background production rate.

PMID- 28607348
TI  - Construction of SnO2-Graphene Composite with Half-Supported Cluster Structure as
      Anode toward Superior Lithium Storage Properties.
AB  - Inspired by nature, herein we designed a novel construction of SnO2 anodes with
      an extremely high lithium storage performance. By utilizing small sheets of
      graphene oxide, the partitioned-pomegranate-like structure was constructed
      (SnO2@C@half-rGO), in which the porous clusters of SnO2 nanoparticles are
      partially supported by reduced graphene oxide sheets while the rest part is
      exposed (half-supported), like partitioned pomegranates. When served as anode for
      lithium-ion batteries, SnO2@C@half-rGO exhibited considerably high specific
      capacity (1034.5 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 100 mA g-1), superior rate
      performance and remarkable durability (370.3 mAh g-1 after 10000 cycles at 5 A g
      1). When coupled with graphitized porous carbon cathode for lithium-ion hybrid
      capacitors, the fabricated devices delivered a high energy density of 257 Wh kg-1
      at ~200 W kg-1 and maintained 79 Wh kg-1 at a super-high power density of ~20 kW
      kg-1 within a wide voltage window up to 4 V. This facile and scalable approach
      demonstrates a new architecture for graphene-based composite for practical use in
      energy storage with high performance.

PMID- 28607349
TI  - Knee Symptomatic Osteoarthritis, Walking Disability, NSAIDs Use and All-cause
      Mortality: Population-based Wuchuan Osteoarthritis Study.
AB  - Knee symptomatic osteoarthritis (SxOA) was associated with all-cause mortality.
      Walking disability and NSAIDs use have been postulated as potential mechanisms
      linking knee SxOA to all-cause mortality. Data were collected on ability of
      walking for 1 kilometer and use of NSAIDs at baseline and death information at
      follow-up. Subjects with knee SxOA were identified if at least one knee had both
      radiographic OA and pain. We first fitted a Cox proportional hazards model to
      examine the relation of knee SxOA to the risk of all-cause mortality. We then
      used marginal structural models to decompose total effect of knee SxOA on all
      cause mortality into indirect and direct effects via walking disability and use
      of NSAIDs, respectively. Among 1025 subjects, 99 died over 8 years of follow-up.
      A multivariable adjusted hazard ratio of mortality for SxOA was 1.98 (95% CI:
      1.09-3.62). The indirect effect of knee SxOA on all-cause mortality through
      either a walking disability or NSAIDs use was 1.92 (95% CI: 0.86-4.26) and 1.45
      (95% CI: 0.72-2.92), respectively. The corresponding direct effect was 1.08 (95%
      CI: 0.55-1.12) and 1.35 (95% CI: 0.75-2.44). In this population-based cohort
      study, high all-cause mortality from knee SxOA was mediated mainly through a
      walking disability.

PMID- 28607350
TI  - Conductive Cellulose Composites with Low Percolation Threshold for 3D Printed
      Electronics.
AB  - We are reporting a 3D printable composite paste having strong thixotropic
      rheology. The composite has been designed and investigated with highly conductive
      silver nanowires. The optimized electrical percolation threshold from both
      simulation and experiment is shown from 0.7 vol. % of silver nanowires which is
      significantly lower than other composites using conductive nano-materials.
      Reliable conductivity of 1.19 * 102 S/cm has been achieved from the demonstrated
      3D printable composite with 1.9 vol. % loading of silver nanowires. Utilizing the
      high conductivity of the printable composites, 3D printing of designed battery
      electrode pastes is demonstrated. Rheology study shows superior printability of
      the electrode pastes aided by the cellulose's strong thixotropic rheology. The
      designed anode, electrolyte, and cathode pastes are sequentially printed to form
      a three-layered lithium battery for the demonstration of a charging profile. This
      study opens opportunities of 3D printable conductive materials to create printed
      electronics with the next generation additive manufacturing process.

PMID- 28607351
TI  - Early oxygen therapy does not protect the brain from vasogenic edema following
      acute ischemic stroke in adult male rats.
AB  - Brain edema aggravates primary brain injury and increases its mortality rate
      after ischemic stroke. It is believed that normobaric oxygen therapy (NBO) may
      produce neuroprotective effects against ischemic stroke; however, reports have
      been controversial, and its effects on vasogenic brain edema as a major
      complication of brain ischemia have not been clarified. The present study
      investigates the effects of NBO on cerebral edema and blood - brain barrier
      integrity using rat model of ischemic stroke. Transient focal cerebral ischemia
      was induced in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats by left middle cerebral artery
      occlusion (MCAO) for 90 min followed by 24 h reperfusion. Early NBO
      supplementation was started 15 min after MCAO and continued for 90 min. The
      results of the present study show that early oxygen therapy following acute
      ischemic stroke does not reduce vasogenic brain edema, nor does it protect
      against oxidative stress-induced BBB destruction. Additionally, cerebral edema
      formation occurs in conjunction with an increased mortality rate, serious brain
      injury, and impairment of brain antioxidant power. These findings suggest that
      further experimental studies should be carried out to clarify the beneficial
      effects and potential side effects of early oxygen therapy in acute ischemic
      stroke before its clinical use.

PMID- 28607352
TI  - Consistent effects of nitrogen fertilization on soil bacterial communities in
      black soils for two crop seasons in China.
AB  - Long-term use of inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilization has greatly influenced the
      bacterial community in black soil of northeast China. It is unclear how N affects
      the bacterial community in two successive crop seasons in the same field for this
      soil type. We sampled soils from a long-term fertilizer experimental field in
      Harbin city with three N gradients. We applied sequencing and quantitative PCR
      targeting at the 16S rRNA gene to examine shifts in bacterial communities and
      test consistent shifts and driving-factors bacterial responses to elevated N
      additions. N addition decreased soil pH and bacterial 16S rDNA copy numbers, and
      increased soil N and crop yield. N addition consistently decreased bacterial
      diversity and altered bacterial community composition, by increasing the relative
      abundance of Proteobacteria, and decreasing that of Acidobacteria and Nitrospirae
      in both seasons. Consistent changes in the abundant classes and genera, and the
      structure of the bacterial communities across both seasons were observed. Our
      results suggest that increases in N inputs had consistent effects on the
      richness, diversity and composition of soil bacterial communities across the crop
      seasons in two continuous years, and the N addition and the subsequent edaphic
      changes were important factors in shaping bacterial community structures.

PMID- 28607353
TI  - Robust water repellent ZnO nanorod array by Swift Heavy Ion Irradiation: Effect
      of Electronic Excitation Induced Local Chemical State Modification.
AB  - Tailoring the surface properties by varying the chemistry and roughness could be
      of interest for self-cleaning applications. We demonstrate the transformation of
      hydrophobic ZnO Nano rod (NR) array into superhydrophobic nature by changing the
      local chemical state and without altering the surface roughness by swift heavy
      ion (SHI) irradiation. The aligned ZnO NR arrays were irradiated using 150 MeV Ag
      ions with different fluences from 5E10 to 3E12 ions/cm2. The observed static
      water contact angles of ZnO NRs samples were 103 degrees  +/- 3 degrees , 152
      degrees  +/- 4 degrees ,161 degrees  +/- 3 degrees , 164 degrees  +/- 2 degrees ,
      167 degrees  +/- 2 degrees ,154 +/- 3 degrees  and 151 degrees  +/- 2 degrees 
      for the pristine, ion fluencies of 1E11, 3E11, 5E11, 7E11, 1E12 and 3E12 ions cm
      2, respectively. The change in local surface chemistry via formation of surface
      oxygen related defects due to electronic excitations induced by ion irradiation
      determine the water dewetting properties. It is found that surface oxygen related
      defects could be tuned by varying the fluence of the SHIs. Durability tests show
      that the SHI induced surface oxygen-deficient ZnO NRs have the stable
      superhydrophobic behavior for more than a year.

PMID- 28607355
TI  - Combining Catalytic Microparticles with Droplets Formed by Phase Coexistence:
      Adsorption and Activity of Natural Clays at the Aqueous/Aqueous Interface.
AB  - Natural clay particles have been hypothesized as catalysts on the early Earth,
      potentially facilitating the formation of early organic (bio) molecules.
      Association of clay particles with droplets formed by liquid-liquid phase
      separation could provide a physical mechanism for compartmentalization of
      inorganic catalysts in primitive protocells. Here we explore the distribution of
      natural clay mineral particles in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)/dextran (Dx)
      aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). We compared the three main types of natural
      clay: kaolinite, montmorillonite and illite, all of which are aluminosilicates of
      similar composition and surface charge. The three clay types differ in particle
      size, crystal structure, and their accumulation at the ATPS interface and ability
      to stabilize droplets against coalescence. Illite and kaolinite accumulated at
      the aqueous/aqueous interface, stabilizing droplets against coalescence but not
      preventing their eventual sedimentation due to the mass of adsorbed particles.
      The ability of each clay-containing ATPS to catalyze reaction of o
      phenylenediamine with peroxide to form 2,3-diaminophenazone was evaluated. We
      observed modest rate increases for this reaction in the presence of clay
      containing ATPS over clay in buffer alone, with illite outperforming the other
      clays. These findings are encouraging because they support the potential of
      combining catalytic mineral particles with aqueous microcompartments to form
      primitive microreactors.

PMID- 28607354
TI  - IGF-1 mediated Neurogenesis Involves a Novel RIT1/Akt/Sox2 Cascade.
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is known to have diverse effects on brain
      structure and function, including the promotion of stem cell proliferation and
      neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus. However, the intracellular pathways
      downstream of the IGF-1 receptor that contribute to these diverse physiological
      actions remain relatively uncharacterized. Here, we demonstrate that the Ras
      related GTPase, RIT1, plays a critical role in IGF-1-dependent neurogenesis.
      Studies in hippocampal neuronal precursor cells (HNPCs) demonstrate that IGF-1
      stimulates a RIT1-dependent increase in Sox2 levels, resulting in pro-neural gene
      expression and increased cellular proliferation. In this novel cascade, RIT1
      stimulates Akt-dependent phosphorylation of Sox2 at T118, leading to its
      stabilization and transcriptional activation. When compared to wild-type HNPCs,
      RIT1 -/- HNPCs show deficient IGF-1-dependent Akt signaling and neuronal
      differentiation, and accordingly, Sox2-dependent hippocampal neurogenesis is
      significantly blunted following IGF-1 infusion in knockout (RIT1 -/- ) mice.
      Consistent with a role for RIT1 function in the modulation of activity-dependent
      plasticity, exercise-mediated potentiation of hippocampal neurogenesis is also
      diminished in RIT1 -/- mice. Taken together, these data identify the previously
      uncharacterized IGF1-RIT1-Akt-Sox2 signaling pathway as a key component of
      neurogenic niche sensing, contributing to the regulation of neural stem cell
      homeostasis.

PMID- 28607356
TI  - Effect of hydrogen on semiconductive properties of passive film on ferrite and
      austenite phases in a duplex stainless steel.
AB  - Hydrogen effect on semiconductivity and compositions of passive films formed on
      ferrite and austenite phases in a duplex stainless steel were investigated by
      current sensing atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It
      is demonstrated that hydrogen significantly increases the conductivity of passive
      film due to the increase of OH-/O2- ratio. The passive film on austenite has
      higher conductivity than that on ferrite after hydrogen charging due to more
      hydrogen in austenite. The presence of hydrogen causes an inversion of
      conductivity type of passive film from p-type to n-type, attributed to the
      chemical composition change.

PMID- 28607357
TI  - Genome-wide association study of outcrossing in cytoplasmic male sterile lines of
      rice.
AB  - Stigma exsertion and panicle enclosure of male sterile lines are two key
      determinants of outcrossing in hybrid rice seed production. Based on 43,394
      single nucleotide polymorphism markers, 217 cytoplasmic male sterile lines were
      assigned into two subpopulations and a mixed-group where the linkage
      disequilibrium decay distances varied from 975 to 2,690 kb. Genome-wide
      association studies (GWAS) were performed for stigma exsertion rate (SE), panicle
      enclosure rate (PE) and seed-setting rate (SSR). A total of 154 significant
      association signals (P < 0.001) were identified. They were situated in 27
      quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including 11 for SE, 6 for PE, and 10 for SSR. It
      was shown that six of the ten QTLs for SSR were tightly linked to QTLs for SE
      or/and PE with the expected allelic direction. These QTL clusters could be
      targeted to improve the outcrossing of female parents in hybrid rice breeding.
      Our study also indicates that GWAS-base QTL mapping can complement and enhance
      previous QTL information for understanding the genetic relationship between
      outcrossing and its related traits.

PMID- 28607359
TI  - Cooperative Micromanipulation Using the Independent Actuation of Fifty
      Microrobots in Parallel.
AB  - Micromanipulation for applications in areas such as tissue engineering can
      require mesoscale structures to be assembled with microscale resolution. One
      method for achieving such manipulation is the parallel actuation of many
      microrobots in parallel. However, current microrobot systems lack the independent
      actuation of many entities in parallel. Here, the independent actuation of fifty
      opto-thermocapillary flow-addressed bubble (OFB) microrobots in parallel is
      demonstrated. Individual microrobots and groups of microrobots were moved along
      linear, circular, and arbitrary 2D trajectories. The independent addressing of
      many microrobots enables higher-throughput microassembly of micro-objects, and
      cooperative manipulation using multiple microrobots. Demonstrations of
      manipulation with multiple OFB microrobots include the transportation of
      microstructures using a pair or team of microrobots, and the cooperative
      manipulation of multiple micro-objects. The results presented here represent an
      order of magnitude increase in the number of independently actuated microrobots
      in parallel as compared to other magnetically or electrostatically actuated
      microrobots, and a factor of two increase as compared to previous demonstrations
      of OFB microrobots.

PMID- 28607358
TI  - Temperature gradients assist carbohydrate allocation within trees.
AB  - Trees experience two distinct environments: thermally-variable air and thermally
      buffered soil. This generates intra-tree temperature gradients, which can affect
      carbon metabolism and water transport. In this study, we investigated whether
      carbohydrate allocation within trees is assisted by temperature gradients. We
      studied pistachio (Pistacia integerrima) to determine: (1) temperature-induced
      variation in xylem sugar concentration in excised branches; (2) changes in carbon
      allocation in young trees under simulated spring and fall conditions; and (3)
      seasonal variability of starch levels in mature orchard trees under field
      conditions. We found that warm branches had less sugar in perfused sap than cold
      branches due to increasing parenchyma storage. Simulated spring conditions
      promoted allocation of carbohydrates from cold roots to warm canopy and explained
      why starch levels surged in canopies of orchard trees during early spring. This
      driving force of sugar transport is interrupted in fall when canopies are colder
      than roots and carbohydrate redistribution is compartmentalized. On the basis of
      these findings, we propose a new mechanistic model of temperature-assisted
      carbohydrate allocation that links environmental cues and tree phenology. This
      data-enabled model provides insights into thermal "fine-tuning" of carbohydrate
      metabolism and a warning that the physiological performance of trees might be
      impaired by climatic changes.

PMID- 28607360
TI  - Development of a root canal treatment model in the rat.
AB  - Root canal treatment is performed to treat apical periodontitis, and various
      procedures and techniques are currently used. Although animal models have been
      used in the developmental research of root canal treatment, little of this
      research has used small animals such as rats, because of their small size. In
      this study, root canal treatment was performed on the rat mandibular first molar,
      which had four root canals, using a microscope, and the therapeutic effect was
      evaluated bacteriologically, radiologically and histopathologically. By
      performing root canal treatment, the level of bacteria in the mesial root of the
      treated teeth was reduced by 75% compared with the control. Additionally, the
      volume of the periapical lesions of the treated teeth as measured by micro
      computed tomography decreased significantly 2 weeks after the root canal
      treatment when compared with the control. Histological evidence of healing was
      observed in the treatment group 8 weeks after root canal treatment. These results
      suggest that a root canal treatment model using rats can be used in developmental
      research for novel methods of root canal treatment.

PMID- 28607362
TI  - In-situ XRD and EDS method study on the oxidation behaviour of Ni-Cu sulphide
      ore.
AB  - The oxidation mechanism of sulfides is the key issue during the sulphide
      metallurgy process. In this study, the phase transformation and element migration
      were clearly demonstrated by in-situ laboratory-based X-ray diffraction (XRD) and
      energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. The reaction sequence
      and a four-step oxidation mechanism were proposed and identified. The elemental
      distribution demonstrated that at a low temperature, the Fe atoms diffused
      outward and the Ni/Cu atoms migrated toward the inner core, whereas the opposite
      diffusion processes were observed at a higher temperature. Importantly, the
      unique visual presentation of the oxidation behaviour provided by the combination
      of in-situ XRD and EDS might be useful for optimising the process parameters to
      improve the Ni/Cu extraction efficiency during Ni-Cu sulphide metallurgy.

PMID- 28607361
TI  - A Novel Strategy to Engineer Pre-Vascularized Full-Length Dental Pulp-like Tissue
      Constructs.
AB  - The requirement for immediate vascularization of engineered dental pulp poses a
      major hurdle towards successful implementation of pulp regeneration as an
      effective therapeutic strategy for root canal therapy, especially in adult teeth.
      Here, we demonstrate a novel strategy to engineer pre-vascularized, cell-laden
      hydrogel pulp-like tissue constructs in full-length root canals for dental pulp
      regeneration. We utilized gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels with tunable
      physical and mechanical properties to determine the microenvironmental conditions
      (microstructure, degradation, swelling and elastic modulus) that enhanced
      viability, spreading and proliferation of encapsulated odontoblast-like cells
      (OD21), and the formation of endothelial monolayers by endothelial colony forming
      cells (ECFCs). GelMA hydrogels with higher polymer concentration (15% w/v) and
      stiffness enhanced OD21 cell viability, spreading and proliferation, as well as
      endothelial cell spreading and monolayer formation. We then fabricated pre
      vascularized, full-length, dental pulp-like tissue constructs by dispensing OD21
      cell-laden GelMA hydrogel prepolymer in root canals of extracted teeth and
      fabricating 500 um channels throughout the root canals. ECFCs seeded into the
      microchannels successfully formed monolayers and underwent angiogenic sprouting
      within 7 days in culture. In summary, the proposed approach is a simple and
      effective strategy for engineering of pre-vascularized dental pulp constructs
      offering potentially beneficial translational outcomes.

PMID- 28607363
TI  - Development of a selective agonist for relaxin family peptide receptor 3.
AB  - Relaxin family peptides perform a variety of biological functions by activating
      four G protein-coupled receptors, namely RXFP1-4. Among these receptors, RXFP3
      lacks a specific natural or synthetic agonist at present. A previously designed
      chimeric R3/I5 peptide, consisting of the B-chain of relaxin-3 and the A-chain of
      INSL5, displays equal activity towards the homologous RXFP3 and RXFP4. To
      increase its selectivity towards RXFP3, in the present study we conducted
      extensive mutagenesis around the B-chain C-terminal region of R3/I5. Decreasing
      or increasing the peptide length around the B23-B25 position dramatically lowered
      the activation potency of R3/I5 towards both RXFP3 and RXFP4. Substitution of
      B23Gly with Ala or Ser converted R3/I5 from an efficient agonist to a strong
      antagonist for RXFP3, but the mutants retained considerable activation potency
      towards RXFP4. Substitution of B24Gly increased the selectivity of R3/I5 towards
      RXFP3 over the homologous RXFP4. The best mutant, [G(B24)S]R3/I5, displayed 20
      fold higher activation potency towards RXFP3 than towards RXFP4, meanwhile
      retained full activation potency at RXFP3. Thus, [G(B24)S]R3/I5 is the best RXFP3
      selective agonist known to date. It is a valuable tool for investigating the
      physiological functions of RXFP3, and also a suitable template for developing
      RXFP3-specific agonists in future.

PMID- 28607364
TI  - Desulfurization of Model Oil by Selective Adsorption over Porous Boron Nitride
      Fibers with Tailored Microstructures.
AB  - We report on the controllable synthesis of porous BN microfibers and explore
      their applications as adsorbent for removing dibenzothiophene (DBT) in model oil.
      The growth evolution of porous BN microfibers has been carefully investigated by
      correlating their structural characteristics with their synthesis conditions. The
      as-prepared BN microfibers exhibit very high adsorption capacity for DBT (86 mg S
      g-1 according to the Langmuir isotherm model), showing excellent adsorptive
      desulfurization performance. The porous BN after adsorption can be regenerated by
      a simply heat treatment. After four times recycling, the regenerated adsorption
      capacity still remains more than 83% of that at the first adsorption. The superb
      oxidation resistance and chemical inertness, high sulfur adsorption capacity, as
      well as excellent regeneration performance render the developed porous BN
      microfibers to be a decent adsorbent for sulfur removal from fuels.

PMID- 28607365
TI  - Neuropilin-1 Associated Molecules in the Blood Distinguish Poor Prognosis Breast
      Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - Circulating plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMCs) cells provide an
      informative snapshot of the systemic physiological state. Moreover, they provide
      a non-invasively accessible compartment to identify biomarkers for personalized
      medicine in advanced breast cancer. The role of Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) and its
      interacting molecules in breast tumor tissue was correlated with cancer
      progression; however, the clinical impact of their systemic levels was not
      extensively evaluated. In this cross-sectional study, we found that circulating
      and tumor tissue expression of NRP-1 and circulating placental growth factor
      (PlGF) increase in advanced nodal and metastatic breast cancer compared with
      locally advanced disease. Tumor tissue expression of NRP-1 and PlGF is also
      upregulated in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) compared to other subtypes.
      Conversely, in PBMCs, NRP-1 and its interacting molecules SEMA4A and SNAI1 are
      significantly downregulated in breast cancer patients compared to healthy
      controls, indicating a protective role. Moreover, we report differential PBMC
      expression profiles that correlate inversely with disease stage (SEMA4A, SNAI1,
      PLXNA1 and VEGFR3) and can differentiate between the TNBC and non-TNBC tumor
      subtypes (VEGFR3 and PLXNA1). This work supports the importance of NRP-1
      associated molecules in circulation to characterize poor prognosis breast cancer
      and emphasizes on their role as favorable drug targets.

PMID- 28607366
TI  - Comparisons of the biodistribution and toxicological examinations after repeated
      intravenous administration of silver and gold nanoparticles in mice.
AB  - Nanoparticles (NPs) size, surface functionalization, and concentration were
      claimed to contribute to distribution and toxicity outcomes of NPs in vivo.
      However, intrinsic chemical compositions of NPs caused inconsistent
      biodistribution and toxic profiles which attracted little attention. In this
      study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used to
      determine the biodistribution, toxickinetic, and genotoxicity variances in murine
      animals. The results demonstrated AgNPs and AuNPs were primarily deposited in the
      mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) such as the liver and spleen. In particular,
      AuNPs seemed to be prominently stored in the liver, whereas AgNPs preferentially
      accumulated in more organs such as the heart, lung, kidney, etc. Also, the
      circulation in the blood and fecal excretions showed higher AgNPs contents in
      comparison with the AuNPs. Measurements of the mouse body and organ mass,
      hematology and biochemistry evaluation, and histopathological examinations
      indicated slight toxic difference between the AgNPs and AuNPs over a period of
      two months. RT-qPCR data revealed that AgNPs induced greater changes in gene
      expression with relevance to oxidative stress, apoptosis, and ion transport. Our
      observations proved that the NPs chemical composition played a critical role in
      their in vivo biodistribution and toxicity.

PMID- 28607367
TI  - On the impact of Vertical Alignment of MoS2 for Efficient Lithium Storage.
AB  - Herein, we report energy storage devices, which are based on densely packed,
      vertically aligned MoS2 (VA-MoS2) or planar oriented MoS2 (PO-MoS2) and compare
      their electrochemical performances. The VA-MoS2 films have been processed by
      chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to reach unprecedented micron-scale thick films
      while maintaining the vertical alignment for the whole thickness. The VA-MoS2 and
      the PO-MoS2 films form a high-performance Li-ion electrode, reaching the
      theoretical limits of reversible capacity for this material (800 mAh/g; twice the
      specific capacity of graphite). The vertical alignment allows faster charge
      discharge rates while maintaining a high specific capacity (C-rate measurements).
      Noteworthy, the reversible cycling of the Li-ion electrode also benefits from the
      vertical alignment. In this article, we present the full synthesis, structural
      and electrochemical characterization of VA-MoS2 along with the properties of PO
      MoS2 to deconvolute the intrinsic properties of MoS2 from the influence of the
      layers' orientation.

PMID- 28607368
TI  - NMR structure of the Bacillus cereus hemolysin II C-terminal domain reveals a
      novel fold.
AB  - In addition to multiple virulence factors, Bacillus cereus a pathogen that causes
      food poisoning and life-threatening wound infections, secretes the pore-forming
      toxin hemolysin II (HlyII). The HlyII toxin has a unique 94 amino acid C-terminal
      domain (HlyIIC). HlyIIC exhibits splitting of NMR resonances due to cis/trans
      isomerization of a single proline near the C-terminus. To overcome heterogeneity,
      we solved the structure of P405M-HlyIIC, a mutant that exclusively stabilizes the
      trans state. The NMR structure of HlyIIC reveals a novel fold, consisting of two
      subdomains alphaA-beta1-beta2 and beta3-beta4-alphaB-beta5, that come together in
      a barrel-like structure. The barrel core is fastened by three layers of
      hydrophobic residues. The barrel end opposite the HlyIIC-core has a positively
      charged surface, that by binding negatively charged moieties on cellular
      membranes, may play a role in target-cell surface recognition or stabilization of
      the heptameric pore complex. In the WT domain, dynamic flexibility occurs at the
      N-terminus and the first alpha-helix that connects the HlyIIC domain to the HlyII
      core structure. In the destabilizing P405M mutant, increased flexibility is
      evident throughout the first subdomain, suggesting that the HlyIIC structure may
      have arisen through gene fusion.

PMID- 28607369
TI  - Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild
      meerkats.
AB  - The fermentation hypothesis for animal signalling posits that bacteria dwelling
      in an animal's scent glands metabolize the glands' primary products into odorous
      compounds used by the host to communicate with conspecifics. There is, however,
      little evidence of the predicted covariation between an animal's olfactory cues
      and its glandular bacterial communities. Using gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry, we first identified the volatile compounds present in 'pure' versus
      'mixed' anal-gland secretions ('paste') of adult meerkats (Suricata suricatta)
      living in the wild. Low-molecular-weight chemicals that likely derive from
      bacterial metabolism were more prominent in mixed than pure secretions. Focusing
      thereafter on mixed secretions, we showed that chemical composition varied by sex
      and was more similar between members of the same group than between members of
      different groups. Subsequently, using next-generation sequencing, we identified
      the bacterial assemblages present in meerkat paste and documented relationships
      between these assemblages and the host's sex, social status and group membership.
      Lastly, we found significant covariation between the volatile compounds and
      bacterial assemblages in meerkat paste, particularly in males. Together, these
      results are consistent with a role for bacteria in the production of sex- and
      group-specific scents, and with the evolution of mutualism between meerkats and
      their glandular microbiota.

PMID- 28607370
TI  - Clinicopathological features and surgical treatment of cervical oesophageal
      cancer.
AB  - Cervical oesophageal cancer (CEC) is a relatively uncommon malignancy. The
      biological behaviour and treatment have not been well studied. This retrospective
      study reviewed the clinicopathological features of 28 patients with CEC who
      underwent surgical resection to investigate the biological behaviour, treatment
      and prognosis of CEC. The long-term outcomes of these patients were compared with
      those of the CEC patients who received definitive chemoradiotherapy and those of
      thoracic or abdominal oesophageal cancer patients who underwent surgery. The
      study group contained 21 men and 7 women, ranging in age from 41 to 67 years
      (median: 56.5 years). The median survival time and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall
      survival rates were 25.0 months, 83.8%, 48.8%, and 41.9%, respectively. Only
      salvage surgery was found to affect the overall survival (P = 0.007). The long
      term outcomes for CEC patients who underwent surgery were significantly better
      than those who received definitive chemoradiotherapy (P = 0.045) but were similar
      to those of thoracic or abdominal oesophageal cancer patients. In summary, CEC is
      an uncommon and aggressive malignancy. The malignant potential of CEC is similar
      to that of thoracic or abdominal oesophageal cancer. Surgical resection is an
      important therapeutic strategy and may be associated with better survival rates
      than definitive chemoradiotherapy.

PMID- 28607371
TI  - Single-point Mutation of an Histidine-aspartic Domain-containing Gene involving
      in Chloroplast Ribosome Biogenesis Leads to White Fine Stripe Leaf in Rice.
AB  - Plant leaves are a crucial organ associated closely with chloroplast development,
      photosynthesis rate and crop productivity. In this study, a white fine stripe
      leaf 1 (wfsl1) mutant was isolated and characterized from the japonica rice
      Zhonghua11 (ZH11) after ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis. The wfsl1 displayed
      white fine stripe leaves since tillering stage and abnormal chloroplast
      structure. Map-based cloning and Bioinformatic analysis indicated that WFSL1 on
      chromosome 1 contains an "A" to "T" substitution in protein coding region, and
      encodes a putative metal-dependent phosphohydrolase with HD domain at the N
      terminus. WFSL1 was targeted to the chloroplasts and had higher expression in
      mature leaves and sheaths. RNA-seq analysis revealed that chloroplast development
      and photosynthesis genes were significantly affected in wfsl1 plants. Levels of
      WFSL1 and chloroplast encoded proteins were decreased in wfsl1 mutants via
      western blot analysis. Compared with WT, wfsl1 exhibits lower Chl content and
      defective in biogenesis of chloroplast ribosomes, which resulted in reduced grain
      yield. Taken together, our results show that WFSL1 is critical for chloroplast
      development, ribosome biogenesis, and light energy utilization, finally affects
      grain yield.

PMID- 28607372
TI  - Enhanced derivation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cortical glutamatergic
      neurons by a small molecule.
AB  - Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) play important role in studying the function
      of human glutamatergic neurons and related disease pathogenesis. However, the
      current hPSC-derived cortical system produced a significant number of inhibitory
      GABAergic neurons that reduced the purity of excitatory neurons. In this study,
      we established a robust hPSC-derived cortical neurogenesis system by applying the
      SHH inhibitor cyclopamine. Cyclopamine specified the dorsal cortical fate in a
      dose-dependent manner and enhanced the generation of cortical glutamatergic
      neurons, expressing PAX6, TBR1, TBR2, CTIP2, SATB2, and vesicular glutamate
      transporters (vGLUT). In contrast, the ventral patterning was inhibited and the
      GABAergic neurons were significantly reduced to 12% with the treatment of
      cyclopamine. In addition, we applied our current method to generate trisomy 21
      iPSC-derived glutamatergic neurons that showed a robust reduction of vesicular
      glutamate transporters in the glutamatergic neurons with trisomy 21, revealing
      the developmental deficits in cortical glutamatergic neurons. Our method enriched
      the generation of cortical glutamatergic neurons which may facilitate the study
      of human neurological diseases and cell therapy.

PMID- 28607374
TI  - Amplifying the signal of localized surface plasmon resonance sensing for the
      sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7.
AB  - Gold nanorods (Au NRs) based localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensors
      have been widely employed in various fields including biology, environment and
      food safety detection, but their size- and shape-dependent sensitivity limits
      their practical applications in sensing and biological detection. In our present
      work, we proposed an approach to maximally amplify the signal of Au NRs based
      LSPR sensing by coating an optimized thickness of mesoporous silica onto Au NRs.
      The plasmonic peaks of Au NRs@SiO2 with different shell thickness showed finely
      linear response to the change of surrounding refractive index. The optimized
      thickness of mesoporous silica of Au NRs@SiO2 not only provided high stability
      for LSPR sensor,but also displayed much higher sensitivity (390 nm/RIU) than
      values of Au NRs from previous reports. The obtained Au NRs@SiO2 based LSPR
      sensor was further used in practical application for selectively detection of the
      E. coli O157:H7, and the detection limit achieved 10 CFU, which is much lower
      than conventional methods such as electrochemical methods and lateral-flow
      immunochromatography.

PMID- 28607373
TI  - Intrinsic functional connectivity reduces after first-time exposure to short-term
      gravitational alterations induced by parabolic flight.
AB  - Spaceflight severely impacts the human body. However, little is known about how
      gravity and gravitational alterations affect the human brain. Here, we aimed at
      measuring the effects of acute exposure to gravity transitions. We exposed 28
      naive participants to repetitive alterations between normal, hyper- and
      microgravity induced by a parabolic flight (PF) and measured functional MRI
      connectivity changes. Scans were acquired before and after the PF. To mitigate
      motion sickness, PF participants received scopolamine prior to PF. To account for
      the scopolamine effects, 12 non-PF controls were scanned prior to and after
      scopolamine injection. Changes in functional connectivity were explored with the
      Intrinsic Connectivity Contrast (ICC). Seed-based analysis on the regions
      exhibiting localized changes was subsequently performed to understand the
      networks associated with the identified nodes. We found that the PF group was
      characterized by lower ICC scores in the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ),
      an area involved in multisensory integration and spatial tasks. The encompassed
      network revealed PF-related decreases in within- and inter-hemispheric
      anticorrelations between the rTPJ and the supramarginal gyri, indicating both
      altered vestibular and self-related functions. Our findings shed light on how the
      brain copes with gravity transitions, on gravity internalization and are relevant
      for the understanding of bodily self-consciousness.

PMID- 28607375
TI  - The role of touch in regulating inter-partner physiological coupling during
      empathy for pain.
AB  - The human ability to synchronize with other individuals is critical for the
      development of social behavior. Recent research has shown that physiological
      inter-personal synchronization may underlie behavioral synchrony. Nevertheless,
      the factors that modulate physiological coupling are still largely unknown. Here
      we suggest that social touch and empathy for pain may enhance interpersonal
      physiological coupling. Twenty-two romantic couples were assigned the roles of
      target (pain receiver) and observer (pain observer) under pain/no-pain and
      touch/no-touch conditions, and their ECG and respiration rates were recorded. The
      results indicate that the partner touch increased interpersonal respiration
      coupling under both pain and no-pain conditions and increased heart rate coupling
      under pain conditions. In addition, physiological coupling was diminished by pain
      in the absence of the partner's touch. Critically, we found that high partner's
      empathy and high levels of analgesia enhanced coupling during the partner's
      touch. Collectively, the evidence indicates that social touch increases
      interpersonal physiological coupling during pain. Furthermore, the effects of
      touch on cardio-respiratory inter-partner coupling may contribute to the
      analgesic effects of touch via the autonomic nervous system.

PMID- 28607376
TI  - Reduced preference for social rewards in a novel tablet based task in young
      children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
AB  - Atypical responsivity to social rewards has been observed in young children with
      or at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These observations contributed to
      the hypothesis of reduced social motivation in ASD. In the current study we
      develop a novel task to test social reward preference using a tablet computer
      (iPad), where two differently coloured buttons were associated with a social and
      a nonsocial rewarding image respectively. 63 young children, aged 14-68 months,
      with and without a diagnosis of ASD took part in the study. The experimental
      sessions were also recorded on video, using an in-built webcam on the tablet as
      well as an external camera. Children with ASD were found to show a reduced
      relative preference for social rewards, indexed by a lower proportion of touches
      for the button associated with the social reward image. Greater social preference
      as measured using the tablet-based task was associated with increased use of
      social communicative behaviour such as eye contact with the experimenter and
      social smile in response to the social reward image. These results are consistent
      with earlier findings from eye-tracking studies, and provide novel empirical
      insights into atypical social reward responsivity in ASD.

PMID- 28607378
TI  - Viral evolution: Phage infection strategies.

PMID- 28607377
TI  - Amyloid beta peptides overexpression in retinal pigment epithelial cells via AAV
      mediated gene transfer mimics AMD-like pathology in mice.
AB  - Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive retinal neurodegenerative
      disorder characterized by extracellular deposits known as drusen. A major
      constituent of drusen deposits are Alzheimer disease-associated amyloid beta
      (Abeta) peptides. To understand the etiology of Abeta proteostasis in AMD, we
      delivered recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) encoding Abeta42 and Abeta40
      peptides fused to BRI2 protein by intraocular injection in C57BL/6J mice.
      Endogenous protease cleavage of such constructs leads to production of secreted
      Abeta42 and Abeta40 respectively. We demonstrate that overexpression of secreted
      Abeta40 or Abeta42 resulted in dramatic induction of drusen-like deposits by 2
      months' post-injection. These drusen-like deposits were immunopositive for Abeta
      and complement proteins but did not stain for conventional amyloid dyes, such as
      Thioflavin S. Both injected cohorts showed gliosis and degenerative changes,
      though ERG responses were minimally affected. Intriguingly, simultaneous
      overexpression of BRI-Abeta40 or BRI-Abeta42 together resulted in dose-dependent
      and cumulative changes reminiscent of AMD type pathology - drusen-like deposits,
      severe reduction in ERG responses, photoreceptor cell loss and gliosis. Here, we
      have established a physiological model of Abeta containing deposits in wild-type
      mice that recapitulates major retinal pathophysiological features of AMD and will
      be instrumental in mechanistic understanding and development of therapeutic
      strategies against AMD.

PMID- 28607379
TI  - Fungal physiology: Acidic pH interferes with Candida persistence.

PMID- 28607380
TI  - Parasite biology: New insights into Plasmodium hepatocyte entry.

PMID- 28607381
TI  - WSMD: weakly-supervised motif discovery in transcription factor ChIP-seq data.
AB  - Although discriminative motif discovery (DMD) methods are promising for eliciting
      motifs from high-throughput experimental data, due to consideration of
      computational expense, most of existing DMD methods have to choose approximate
      schemes that greatly restrict the search space, leading to significant loss of
      predictive accuracy. In this paper, we propose Weakly-Supervised Motif Discovery
      (WSMD) to discover motifs from ChIP-seq datasets. In contrast to the learning
      strategies adopted by previous DMD methods, WSMD allows a "global" optimization
      scheme of the motif parameters in continuous space, thereby reducing the
      information loss of model representation and improving the quality of resultant
      motifs. Meanwhile, by exploiting the connection between DMD framework and
      existing weakly supervised learning (WSL) technologies, we also present highly
      scalable learning strategies for the proposed method. The experimental results on
      both real ChIP-seq datasets and synthetic datasets show that WSMD substantially
      outperforms former DMD methods (including DREME, HOMER, XXmotif, motifRG and
      DECOD) in terms of predictive accuracy, while also achieving a competitive
      computational speed.

PMID- 28607382
TI  - L12 ordering and delta' precipitation in Al-Cu-Li.
AB  - The precipitation mechanism of the delta' (Al3Li) phase in Al-Li alloys has been
      controversially discussed in recent decades, specifically with respect to a
      conjectured congruent ordering process. However, kinetics in the Al-Li system
      does not allow to resolve the intermediate stages of precipitation and hence to
      experimentally clarify this issue. In this paper, we are revisiting the subject
      in ternary Al-Cu-Li alloys with pronouncedly slower kinetics, employing
      Transmission Electron Microscopy, High-Angle Annular Dark-Field Scanning
      Transmission Electron Microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Atom
      Probe Tomography. The results show clear evidence for congruent ordering in a
      selected compositional range, revealing an already strongly L12 ordered
      microstructure after natural aging with a chemically homogeneous Li distribution
      and a decomposition of the alloy upon annealing at elevated temperatures. The
      presented study of the delta' precipitation evaluates the reaction pathway of
      this process and compares it to the predictions of the Bragg-Williams-Gorsky
      model with respect to decomposition and ordering in this alloy system.

PMID- 28607383
TI  - Isolation, Detection, and Quantification of Cancer Biomarkers in HPV-Associated
      Malignancies.
AB  - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been recognized as the main etiologic
      factor in the development of various cancers including penile, vulva,
      oropharyngeal and cervical cancers. In the development of cancer, persistent HPV
      infections induce E6 and E7 oncoproteins, which promote cell proliferation and
      carcinogenesis resulting elevated levels of host antibodies (e.g., anti-HPV16 E7
      antibody). Currently, these cancers are clinically diagnosed using invasive
      biopsy-based tests, which are performed only in centralized labs by experienced
      clinical staff using time-consuming and expensive tools and technologies.
      Therefore, these obstacles constrain their utilization at primary care clinics
      and in remote settings, where resources are limited. Here, we present a rapid,
      inexpensive, reliable, easy-to-use, customized immunoassay platform following a
      microfluidic filter device to detect and quantify anti-HPV16 E7 antibodies from
      whole blood as a non-invasive assisting technology for diagnosis of HPV
      associated malignancies, especially, at primary healthcare and remote settings.
      The platform can detect and quantify anti-HPV16 E7 antibody down to 2.87 ng/mL.
      We further validated our immunoassay in clinical patient samples and it provided
      significantly high responses as compared to control samples. Thus, it can be
      potentially implemented as a pretesting tool to identify high-risk groups for
      broad monitoring of HPV-associated cancers in resource-constrained settings.

PMID- 28607384
TI  - Peptide specific monoclonal antibodies of Leptospiral LigA for acute diagnosis of
      leptospirosis.
AB  - Leptospirosis is underdiagnosed due to low sensitivity, need of specialised
      equipment, and expensive reagents for serological and molecular diagnosis
      respectively. Considering the sensitivity, rapidity, inexpensive reagents and
      collection of clinical samples, the monoclonal antibody based antigen detection
      method from urine samples has been developed and evaluated. LigA (LK90) based B
      cell specific epitopes were predicted and synthesised as peptides for the
      production of monoclonal antibody. LK90543: SNAQKNQGNA (amino acids: 543 to 552),
      and LK901110: DHHTQSSYTP (amino acids: 1110 to 1119) with VaxiJen score of 1.3719
      and 1.2215, respectively were used. Thirty two and 28 urine samples from
      confirmed and seronegative healthy human subjects, respectively were included for
      the evaluation of MAb-based dot blot ELISA. The specificity of the evaluated
      MAbs, P1B1 and P4W2 were found to be in the range of ~93-96%. Moreover, the MAbs
      did not show cross-reactivity with other bacterial antigens as confirmed by IgG
      ELISA, further validating its specificity for leptospiral antigens. These
      findings suggest that the developed MAb based dot blot ELISA is a simple, rapid
      performed in less than 8 h, inexpensive with a ICER of $8.7/QALY, and affordable
      in developing countries and area where laboratory facilities are limited.

PMID- 28607385
TI  - Exogenous interleukin 37 ameliorates atherosclerosis via inducing the Treg
      response in ApoE-deficient mice.
AB  - Our previous study indicated that interleukin (IL)-37 is involved in
      atherosclerosis. In the present study, Anterior tibial arteries were collected
      from diabetes patients and controls. A histopathological analysis showed that IL
      37 was over-expressed in human atherosclerotic plaques. Many types of cells
      including macrophages, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), endothelial cells
      and T lymphocyte expressed IL-37 in human atherosclerotic plaques. ApoE-/- mice
      were divided into a control group and a recombinant human IL-37-treated group.
      The IL-37 treatment resulted in a significant decrease in macrophages and CD4+ T
      lymphocytes and a substantial increase in VSMCs and collagen in atherosclerotic
      plaques, resulting in a reduction in atherosclerotic plaque size. Furthermore,
      the IL-37 treatment modulated the CD4+ T lymphocyte activity, including a
      decrease in T helper cell type 1 (Th1) and Th17 cells and an increase in
      regulatory T (Treg) cells, and inhibited the maturity of dendritic cells both in
      vivo and in vitro. In addition, treatment with anti-IL-10 receptor monoclonal
      antibody abrogated the anti-atherosclerotic effects of IL-37. These data suggest
      that exogenous IL-37 ameliorates atherosclerosis via inducing the Treg response.
      IL-37 may be a novel therapeutic to prevent and treat atherosclerotic disease.

PMID- 28607387
TI  - Climate variability and trends at a national scale.
AB  - Climate variability and trends have significant environmental and socioeconomic
      impacts. Global challenges such as food security, biodiversity loss, water
      scarcity and human health are affected by reference evapotranspiration,
      temperature, solar radiation, and precipitation together, but nonlinear dynamics
      of these four climatic factors have not been assessed simultaneously at the
      national scale. This leads to unclear climatic dynamics and limited applications.
      To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed the daily variability and trends of
      four climatic factors (reference evapotranspiration, temperature, solar
      radiation, and precipitation) in China simultaneously using high spatial
      resolution data from 1960 to 2013. The results indicate that the daily
      variability of climate system dynamics (quantified by multiplying fractal
      dimensions of the four climatic factors) in north China was higher than that in
      south China. For example, the climate system dynamics were more chaotic and with
      higher nonlinear variation in north China, most notably in Heilongjiang Province,
      the major grain base of China, posing threats to food security in the context of
      growing national population. Spatial distribution of variability varies among
      different climatic factors. Our study highlights the need for a more holistic
      study of climate variability and trends in other countries with multiple climate
      types to address challenges of sustainable development.

PMID- 28607386
TI  - Maternal and Early-Life Circadian Disruption Have Long-Lasting Negative
      Consequences on Offspring Development and Adult Behavior in Mice.
AB  - Modern life involves chronic circadian disruption through artificial light and
      these disruptions are associated with numerous mental and physical health
      maladies. Because the developing nervous system is particularly vulnerable to
      perturbation, we hypothesized that early-life circadian disruption would
      negatively impact offspring development and adult function. Pregnant mice were
      subjected to chronic circadian disruption from the time of uterine implantation
      through weaning. To dissociate in utero from postnatal effects, a subset of
      litters was cross-fostered at birth from disrupted dams to control dams and vice
      versa. Postnatal circadian disruption was associated with reduced adult body
      mass, social avoidance, and hyperactivity. In utero disruption resulted in more
      pronounced social avoidance and hyperactivity, phenotypes not abrogated by cross
      fostering to control mothers. To examine whether circadian disruption affects
      development by acting as an early life stressor, we examined birthweight, litter
      size, maternal cannibalism, and epigenetic modifications. None of these variables
      differed between control and disrupted dams, or resembled patterns seen following
      early-life stress. Our findings indicate that developmental chronic circadian
      disruption permanently affects somatic and behavioral development in a stage-of
      life-dependent manner, independent of early life stress mechanisms, underscoring
      the importance of temporal structure during development, both in utero and early
      postnatal life.

PMID- 28607388
TI  - Aerobic biogenesis of selenium nanoparticles by Enterobacter cloacae Z0206 as a
      consequence of fumarate reductase mediated selenite reduction.
AB  - In the present study, we examined the ability of Enterobacter cloacae Z0206 to
      reduce toxic sodium selenite and mechanism of this process. E. cloacae Z0206 was
      found to completely reduce up to 10 mM selenite to elemental selenium (Se degrees
      ) and form selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) under aerobic conditions. The selenite
      reducing effector of E. cloacae Z0206 cell was to be a membrane-localized enzyme.
      iTRAQ proteomic analysis revealed that selenite induced a significant increase in
      the expression of fumarate reductase. Furthermore, the addition of fumarate to
      the broth and knockout of fumarate reductase (frd) both significantly decreased
      the selenite reduction rate, which revealed a previously unrecognized role of E.
      cloacae Z0206 fumarate reductase in selenite reduction. In contrast, glutathione
      mediated Painter-type reactions were not the main pathway of selenite reducing.
      In conclusion, E. cloacae Z0206 effectively reduced selenite to Se degrees  using
      fumarate reductase and formed SeNPs; this capability may be employed to develop a
      bioreactor for treating Se pollution and for the biosynthesis of SeNPs in the
      future.

PMID- 28607389
TI  - Visual adaptation reveals an objective electrophysiological measure of high-level
      individual face discrimination.
AB  - The ability to individualize faces is a fundamental human brain function.
      Following visual adaptation to one individual face, the suppressed neural
      response to this identity becomes discriminable from an unadapted facial identity
      at a neural population level. Here, we investigate a simple and objective measure
      of individual face discrimination with electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency
      tagging following adaptation. In a first condition, (1) two facial identities are
      presented in alternation at a rate of six images per second (6 Hz; 3 Hz identity
      repetition rate) for a 20 s testing sequence, following 10-s adaptation to one of
      the facial identities; this results in a significant identity discrimination
      response at 3 Hz in the frequency domain of the EEG over right occipito-temporal
      channels, replicating our previous findings. Such a 3 Hz response is absent for
      two novel conditions, in which (2) the faces are inverted and (3) an identity
      physically equidistant from the two faces is adapted. These results indicate that
      low-level visual features present in inverted or unspecific facial identities are
      not sufficient to produce the adaptation effect found for upright facial stimuli,
      which appears to truly reflect identity-specific perceptual representations in
      the human brain.

PMID- 28607390
TI  - West Nile virus infectious replicon particles generated using a packaging
      restricted cell line is a safe reporter system.
AB  - West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurotropic pathogen which causes zoonotic disease in
      humans. Recently, there have been an increasing number of infected cases and
      there are no clinically approved vaccines or effective drugs to treat WNV
      infections in humans. The purpose of this study was to facilitate vaccine and
      antiviral drug discovery by developing a packaging cell line-restricted WNV
      infectious replicon particle system. We constructed a DNA-based WNV replicon
      lacking the C-prM-E coding region and replaced it with a GFP coding sequence. To
      produce WNV replicon particles, cell lines stably-expressing prM-E and C-prM-E
      were constructed. When the WNV replicon plasmid was co-transfected with a WNV C
      expressing plasmid into the prM-E-expressing cell line or directly transfected
      the C-prM-E expressing cell line, the replicon particle was able to replicate,
      form green fluorescence foci, and exhibit cytopathic plaques similar to that
      induced by the wild type virus. The infectious capacity of the replicon particles
      was restricted to the packaging cell line as the replicons demonstrated only one
      round of infection in other permissive cells. Thus, this system provides a safe
      and convenient reporter WNV manipulating tool which can be used to study WNV
      viral invasion mechanisms, neutralizing antibodies and antiviral efficacy.

PMID- 28607391
TI  - Leaky Bloch-like surface waves in the radiation-continuum for sensitivity
      enhanced biosensors via azimuthal interrogation.
AB  - Dielectric multilayer structures with a grating profile on the top-most layer
      adds an additional degree of freedom to the phase matching conditions for Bloch
      surface wave excitation. The conditions for Bloch surface wave coupling can be
      achieved by rotating both polar and azimuthal angles. The generation of Bloch
      surface waves as a function of azimuthal angle has similar characteristics to
      conventional grating coupled Bloch surface waves. However, azimuthally generated
      Bloch surface waves have enhanced angular sensitivity compared to conventional
      polar angle coupled modes, which makes them appropriate for detecting tiny
      variations in surface refractive index due to the addition of nano-particles such
      as protein molecules.

PMID- 28607392
TI  - Chronic vitamin D deficiency induces lung fibrosis through activation of the
      renin-angiotensin system.
AB  - Pulmonary fibrosis, which influences lung function and exacerbates a patient's
      condition, is the ultimate stage of many lung diseases. Vitamin D deficiency is
      associated with pulmonary fibrosis and impaired lung function, but the underlying
      mechanism has not yet been fully elucidated. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency may
      cause over-activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which aggravates
      extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and lung fibrosis. This study aims to
      investigate the effect of chronic vitamin D deficiency on lung fibrosis in
      otherwise healthy mice and to explore the role of RAS in this process. Mice were
      depleted of vitamin D through diet control and were compared with healthy
      subjects. Chronic vitamin D deficiency destructs lung structures, impairs lung
      development and stimulates ECM deposition. RAS components are also found to
      increase. These effects seem to worsen with prolonged vitamin D deficiency. By
      giving RAS blockers, these changes can be largely rescued. However, a smooth
      muscle relaxant whose regulatory effect on blood pressure is independent of RAS
      does not show similar effects. This study demonstrated that chronic vitamin D
      deficiency may induce RAS activation, which subsequently stimulates the
      expression of profibrotic factors and activates the fibrotic cascade. This
      profibrotic effect of RAS is independent of elevated blood pressure.

PMID- 28607393
TI  - Resolving phylogenetic relationships of Delphacini and Tropidocephalini
      (Hemiptera: Delphacidae: Delphacinae) as inferred from four genetic loci.
AB  - This paper explores the phylogeny of the delphacid subfamily Delphacinae based on
      nuclear ribosomal and mitochondrial DNA sequences of four genetic loci (16S rDNA,
      28S rDNA, Cytochrome oxidase I and Cytochrome b). Maximum likelihood and Bayesian
      analyses yield robust phylogenetic trees. The topologies support the monophyly of
      Delphacinae and its basal split into three tribes, and provisionally support
      subdividing Delphacini into three clades, including a more broadly defined
      Numatina. The tribe Tropidocephalini is divided into two clades. In addition,
      Paranectopia is transferred from Tropidocephalini to Delphacini and Harmalia syn.
      nov. is regarded as a junior synonym of Opiconsiva. The genera Bambusiphaga,
      Megadelphax and Muirodelphax are found to be paraphyletic. The estimated time to
      the most recent common ancestor of Delphacinae is roughly at 90 million years ago
      in Late Cretaceous.

PMID- 28607394
TI  - A Sauropod Tooth from the Santonian of Hungary and the European Late Cretaceous
      'Sauropod Hiatus'.
AB  - The lack of sauropod body fossils from the 20 My-long mid-Cenomanian to the late
      Campanian interval of the Late Cretaceous in Europe is referred to as the
      'sauropod hiatus', with only a few footprints reported from the Apulian
      microplate (i.e. the southern part of the European archipelago). Here we describe
      a single tooth from the Santonian continental beds of Iharkut, Hungary, that
      represents the first European body fossil evidence of a sauropod from this
      critical time interval. The mosaic of derived and plesiomorphic features
      documented by the tooth crown morphology points to a basal titanosauriform
      affinity suggesting the occurrence of a clade of sauropods in the Upper
      Cretaceous of Europe that is quite different from the previously known Campano
      Maastrichtian titanosaurs. Along with the footprints coming from shallow marine
      sediments, this tooth further strengthens the view that the extreme rarity of
      sauropod remains from this period of Europe is the result of sampling bias
      related to the dominance of coastal over inland sediments, in the latter of which
      sauropod fossils usually occur. This is also in line with the hypothesis that
      sauropods preferred inland habitats to swampy environments.

PMID- 28607395
TI  - On the phonon dissipation contribution to nanoscale friction by direct contact.
AB  - The friction phenomenon is a ubiquitous manifestation of nature. Models
      considering phononic, electronic, magnetic, and electrostatic interactions are
      invoked to explain the fundamental forces involved in the friction phenomenon. In
      order to establish the incidence of the phonon prompting at the nanoscale
      friction by direct contact, we study a diamond spherical dome sliding on carbon
      thin films containing different amount of deuterium and hydrogen. The friction
      coefficient decreases by substituting hydrogen by deuterium atoms. This result is
      consistent with an energy dissipation vibration local mechanism from a disordered
      distribution of bond terminators.

PMID- 28607396
TI  - CXCL12 and osteopontin from bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells improve
      muscle regeneration.
AB  - Muscle satellite cells are essential for muscle regeneration. However, efficient
      regeneration does not occur without muscle-resident mesenchymal progenitor cells.
      We show here that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (Bm-MSCs) also
      facilitate muscle regeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) model mice.
      Bm-MSCs transplanted into peritoneal cavities of DMD model mice with severe
      muscle degeneration strongly suppressed dystrophic pathology and improved death
      related symptoms, which resulted in dramatic lifespan extension. Isolated single
      myofibers from Bm-MSC-transplanted mice manifested considerably less myofiber
      splitting compared with myofibers from non-transplanted mice, which indicated
      that transplantation significantly ameliorated abnormal regeneration. With regard
      to the number of satellite cells, several cells remained on myofibers from Bm-MSC
      transplanted model mice, but satellite cells rarely occurred on myofibers from
      non-transplanted mice. Also, CXCL12 was crucial for muscle regeneration. CXCL12
      facilitated muscle regeneration and paired box protein-7 (PAX7) expression after
      cardiotoxin-related muscle injury in vivo. The majority of primary muscle
      satellite cells sorted by integrin-alpha7 and CD34 expressed CXCR4, a receptor
      specific for CXCL12. CXCL12 strongly suppressed p-STAT3 expression in these
      sorted cells in vitro. CXCL12 may therefore influence muscle regeneration through
      STAT3 signaling in satellite cells. Targeting these proteins in or on muscle
      satellite cells may improve many degenerative muscle diseases.

PMID- 28607397
TI  - Oscillatory bursting of gel fuel droplets in a reacting environment.
AB  - Understanding the combustion behavior of gel fuel droplets is pivotal for
      enhancing burn rates, lowering ignition delay and improving the operational
      performance of next-generation propulsion systems. Vapor jetting in burning gel
      fuel droplets is a crucial process that enables an effective transport
      (convectively) of unreacted fuel from the droplet domain to the flame zone and
      accelerates the gas-phase mixing process. Here, first we show that the combusting
      ethanol gel droplets (organic gellant laden) exhibit a new oscillatory jetting
      mode due to aperiodic bursting of the droplet shell. Second, we show how the
      initial gellant loading rate (GLR) leads to a distinct shell formation which self
      tunes temporally to burst the droplet at different frequencies. Particularly, a
      weak-flexible shell is formed at low GLR that undergoes successive rupture
      cascades occurring in same region of the droplet. This region weakens due to
      repeated ruptures and causes droplet bursting at progressively higher
      frequencies. Contrarily, high GLRs facilitate a strong-rigid shell formation
      where consecutive cascades occur at scattered locations across the droplet
      surface. This leads to droplet bursting at random frequencies. This method of
      modulating jetting frequency would enable an effective control of droplet
      trajectory and local fuel-oxidizer ratio in any gel-spray based energy
      formulation.

PMID- 28607399
TI  - RIM1/2 in retinal ganglion cells are required for the refinement of ipsilateral
      axons and eye-specific segregation.
AB  - Neural activity is crucial for the refinement of neuronal connections during
      development, but the contribution of synaptic release mechanisms is not known. In
      the mammalian retina, spontaneous neural activity controls the refinement of
      retinal projections to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and the
      superior colliculus (SC) to form appropriate topographic and eye-specific maps.
      To evaluate the role of synaptic release, the rab-interacting molecules (RIMs), a
      family of active zone proteins that play a central role in calcium-triggered
      release, were conditionally ablated in a subset of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).
      We found that this deletion is sufficient to reduce presynaptic release
      probability onto dLGN neurons. Furthermore, eye-specific segregation in the dLGN
      and topographic refinement of ipsilateral axons in the SC and the dLGN, are
      impaired in RIM1/2 conditional knock-out (Rim-cDKO) mice. These defects are
      similar to those found when retinal activity is globally disturbed. However,
      reduction in synaptic release had no effect on eye-specific lamination in the SC
      nor on the retinotopic refinement of contralateral axons in the SC. This study
      highlights a potential distinction between synaptic and non-synaptic roles of
      neuronal activity for different mapping rules operating in visual system
      development.

PMID- 28607398
TI  - Epstein-Barr virus-induced up-regulation of TCAB1 is involved in the DNA damage
      response in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - Telomerase Cajal body protein 1 (TCAB1), which is involved in Cajal body
      maintenance, telomere elongation and ribonucleoprotein biogenesis, has been
      linked to cancer predisposition, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), due to
      its oncogenic properties. However, there are no specific reports to date on the
      functional relevance of TCAB1 and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is considered
      to be a risk factor for NPC. In this study, we first examined NPC clinical
      tissues and found a notable overexpression of TCAB1 in EBV-positive specimens.
      Secondly, on a cellular level, we also observed that TCAB1 expression rose
      gradually along with the increased duration of EBV exposure in NPC cell lines.
      Additionally, EBV infection promoted cell proliferation and telomerase activity,
      but the activation was significantly inhibited after TCAB1 knockdown. Moreover,
      depletion of TCAB1 caused both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and suppressed
      the activation of ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related protein (ATR) induced by
      EBV, resulting in accumulation of DNA damage. Taken together, we here demonstrate
      that up-regulated expression of TCAB1, induced by EBV in the development of NPC,
      is involved in stimulating telomerase activity and regulating the DNA damage
      response within the context of EBV infection.

PMID- 28607400
TI  - Arctic sea ice melt leads to atmospheric new particle formation.
AB  - Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) and growth significantly influences
      climate by supplying new seeds for cloud condensation and brightness. Currently,
      there is a lack of understanding of whether and how marine biota emissions affect
      aerosol-cloud-climate interactions in the Arctic. Here, the aerosol population
      was categorised via cluster analysis of aerosol size distributions taken at Mt
      Zeppelin (Svalbard) during a 11 year record. The daily temporal occurrence of NPF
      events likely caused by nucleation in the polar marine boundary layer was
      quantified annually as 18%, with a peak of 51% during summer months. Air mass
      trajectory analysis and atmospheric nitrogen and sulphur tracers link these
      frequent nucleation events to biogenic precursors released by open water and
      melting sea ice regions. The occurrence of such events across a full decade was
      anti-correlated with sea ice extent. New particles originating from open water
      and open pack ice increased the cloud condensation nuclei concentration
      background by at least ca. 20%, supporting a marine biosphere-climate link
      through sea ice melt and low altitude clouds that may have contributed to
      accelerate Arctic warming. Our results prompt a better representation of biogenic
      aerosol sources in Arctic climate models.

PMID- 28607401
TI  - Novel Class IIa-Selective Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Discovered Using an in
      Silico Virtual Screening Approach.
AB  - Histone deacetylases (HDAC) contain eighteen isoforms that can be divided into
      four classes. Of these isoform enzymes, class IIa (containing HDAC4, 5, 7 and 9)
      target unique substrates, some of which are client proteins associated with
      epigenetic control. Class IIa HDACs are reportedly associated with some neuronal
      disorders, making HDACs therapeutic targets for treating neurodegenerative
      diseases. Additionally, some reported HDAC inhibitors contain hydroxamate moiety
      that chelates with zinc ion to become the cofactor of HDAC enzymes. However, the
      hydroxamate functional group is shown to cause undesirable effects and has poor
      pharmacokinetic profile. This study used in silico virtual screening methodology
      to identify several nonhydroxamate compounds, obtained from National Cancer
      Institute database, which potentially inhibited HDAC4. Comparisons of the enzyme
      inhibitory activity against a panel of HDAC isoforms revealed these compounds had
      strong inhibitory activity against class IIa HDACs, but weak inhibitory activity
      against class I HDACs. Further analysis revealed that a single residue affects
      the cavity size between class I and class IIa HDACs, thus contributing to the
      selectivity of HDAC inhibitors discovered in this study. The discovery of these
      inhibitors presents the possibility of developing new therapeutic treatments that
      can circumvent the problems seen in traditional hydroxamate-based drugs.

PMID- 28607403
TI  - Quantification of within-sample genetic heterogeneity from SNP-array data.
AB  - Intra-tumour genetic heterogeneity (ITH) fosters drug resistance and is a
      critical hurdle to clinical treatment. ITH can be well-measured using multi
      region sampling but this is costly and challenging to implement. There is
      therefore a need for tools to estimate ITH in individual samples, using standard
      genomic data such as SNP-arrays, that could be implemented routinely. We designed
      two novel scores S and R, respectively based on the Shannon diversity index and
      Ripley's L statistic of spatial homogeneity, to quantify ITH in single SNP-array
      samples. We created in-silico and in-vitro mixtures of tumour clones, in which
      diversity was known for benchmarking purposes. We found significant but highly
      variable associations of our scores with diversity in-silico (p < 0.001) and
      moderate associations in-vitro (p = 0.015 and p = 0.085). Our scores were also
      correlated to previous ITH estimates from sequencing data but heterogeneity in
      the fraction of tumour cells present across samples hampered accurate
      quantification. The prognostic potential of both scores was moderate but
      significantly predictive of survival in several tumour types (corrected p =
      0.03). Our work thus shows how individual SNP-arrays reveal intra-sample clonal
      diversity with moderate accuracy.

PMID- 28607402
TI  - Selective inhibition of small-diameter axons using infrared light.
AB  - Novel clinical treatments to target peripheral nerves are being developed which
      primarily use electrical current. Recently, infrared (IR) light was shown to
      inhibit peripheral nerves with high spatial and temporal specificity. Here, for
      the first time, we demonstrate that IR can selectively and reversibly inhibit
      small-diameter axons at lower radiant exposures than large-diameter axons. We
      provide a mathematical rationale, and then demonstrate it experimentally in
      individual axons of identified neurons in the marine mollusk Aplysia californica,
      and in axons within the vagus nerve of a mammal, the musk shrew Suncus murinus.
      The ability to selectively, rapidly, and reversibly control small-diameter
      sensory fibers may have many applications, both for the analysis of physiology,
      and for treating diseases of the peripheral nervous system, such as chronic
      nausea, vomiting, pain, and hypertension. Moreover, the mathematical analysis of
      how IR affects the nerve could apply to other techniques for controlling
      peripheral nerve signaling.

PMID- 28607404
TI  - Effective Adsorption and Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions and
      Eutrophic Water by Fe-based MOFs of MIL-101.
AB  - Although many efforts have been devoted to the adsorptive removal of phosphate
      from aqueous solutions and eutrophic water, it is still highly desirable to
      develop novel adsorbents with high adsorption capacities. In this study, Fe-based
      metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), MIL-101 and NH2-MIL-101, are fabricated through
      a general facile strategy. Their performance as an adsorbent for phosphate
      removal is investigated. Experiments are performed to study the effects of
      various factors on the phosphate adsorption, including adsorbent dosage, contact
      time and co-existing ions. Both MIL-101(Fe) and NH2-MIL-101(Fe) show highly
      effective removal of phosphates from aqueous solutions, and the concentration of
      phosphates decrease sharply from the initial 0.60 mg.L-1 to 0.045 and 0.032 mg.L
      1, respectively, within just 30 min of exposure. The adsorption kinetics and
      adsorption isotherms reveal that NH2-MIL-101(Fe) has higher adsorption capacity
      than MIL-101(Fe) possibly due to the amine group. Furthermore, the Fe-based MOFs
      also exhibit a high selectivity towards phosphate over other anions such as
      chloride, bromide, nitrate and sulfate. Particularly, the prepared Fe-based MIL
      101 materials are also capable of adsorbing phosphate in an actual eutrophic
      water sample and display better removal effect.

PMID- 28607405
TI  - Neural basis of self-initiative in relation to apathy in a student sample.
AB  - Human behaviour can be externally driven, e.g. catching a falling glass, or self
      initiated and goal-directed, e.g. drinking a cup of coffee when one deems it is
      time for a break. Apathy refers to a reduction of self-initiated goal-directed or
      motivated behaviour, frequently present in neurological and psychiatric
      disorders. The amount of undertaken goal-directed behaviour varies considerably
      in clinical as well as healthy populations. In the present study, we investigated
      behavioural and neural correlates of self-initiated action in a student sample (N
      = 39) with minimal to high levels of apathy. We replicated activation of fronto
      parieto-striatal regions during self-initiation. The neural correlates of self
      initiated action did not explain varying levels of apathy in our sample, neither
      when mass-univariate analysis was used, nor when multivariate patterns of brain
      activation were considered. Other hypotheses, e.g. regarding a putative role of
      deficits in reward anticipation, effort expenditure or executive difficulties,
      deserve investigation in future studies.

PMID- 28607407
TI  - Resistance of Garlic Cultivars to Bradysia odoriphaga and Its Correlation with
      Garlic Thiosulfinates.
AB  - Garlic, a widely cultivated global vegetable crop, is threatened by the
      underground pest Bradysia odoriphaga in China. Previous reports indicated that
      garlic essential oil, of which the dominant components are sulfides or
      thiosulfinates, exhibits insecticidal activity against pests. However, it is
      unclear whether the resistance of garlic to B. odoriphaga is related to
      thiosulfinates. Here, we compared the resistance of 10 garlic cultivars at
      various growth stages to B. odoriphaga by field investigation and indoor life
      table data collection. Furthermore, the relationship between thiosulfinates
      content and resistance, as well as the toxicity of garlic oil and allicin against
      B. odoriphaga larvae was determined. Field surveys demonstrated that the garlic
      cultivars Qixian and Cangshan possessed the highest resistance, while Siliuban
      and Yishui were the most sensitive. When reared on Qixian, B. odoriphaga larval
      survival and fecundity declined by 26.2% and 17.7% respectively, but the
      development time was prolonged by 2.8 d compared with Siliuban. A positive
      correlation was detected between thiosulfinates content and resistance.
      Furthermore, garlic oil and allicin exhibited strong insecticidal activity. We
      screened out 2 pest-resistant cultivars, for which thiosulfinate content was
      highest. Additionally, the insecticidal activity displayed by sulfides and allcin
      suggests their potential for exploitation as botanical insecticides.

PMID- 28607406
TI  - Distinct activation modes of the Relaxin Family Peptide Receptor 2 in response to
      insulin-like peptide 3 and relaxin.
AB  - Relaxin family peptide receptor 2 (RXFP2) is a GPCR known for its role in
      reproductive function. It is structurally related to the human relaxin receptor
      RXFP1 and can be activated by human gene-2 (H2) relaxin as well as its cognate
      ligand insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3). Both receptors possess an N-terminal low
      density lipoprotein type a (LDLa) module that is necessary for activation and is
      joined to a leucine-rich repeat domain by a linker. This linker has been shown to
      be important for H2 relaxin binding and activation of RXFP1 and herein we
      investigate the role of the equivalent region of RXFP2. We demonstrate that the
      linker's highly-conserved N-terminal region is essential for activation of RXFP2
      in response to both ligands. In contrast, the linker is necessary for H2 relaxin,
      but not INSL3, binding. Our results highlight the distinct mechanism by which
      INSL3 activates RXFP2 whereby ligand binding mediates reorientation of the LDLa
      module by the linker region to activate the RXFP2 transmembrane domains in
      conjunction with the INSL3 A-chain. In contrast, relaxin activation of RXFP2
      involves a more RXFP1-like mechanism involving binding to the LDLa-linker,
      reorientation of the LDLa module and activation of the transmembrane domains by
      the LDLa alone.

PMID- 28607408
TI  - Differences in pharmacodynamic responses to rocuronium in normal or injured
      orbicularis oris are associated with expression of acetylcholine receptor
      subunits.
AB  - Previous research has indicated that differences in sensitivities to muscle
      relaxants exist between facial nerve- and somatic nerve-innervated muscles. Here,
      we report that the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for rocuronium were
      significantly larger in the normal orbicularis oris than those in the
      gastrocnemius. Increased IC50 values and reduced twitch tension were observed
      after facial nerve injury. The normal orbicularis oris had a smaller muscle fiber
      cross-sectional area (CSA) and a larger ratio of endplate surface area (ESA) to
      muscle fiber CSA (ESA/CSA), but no difference was found in the density of
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits on endplates between normal
      orbicularis oris and gastrocnemius. Expression of the nAChR alpha1, beta1, delta,
      epsilon, and gamma subunits increased significantly on the postsynaptic membranes
      of endplates and extra-junctional muscle membranes after facial nerve injury. Our
      results suggest that facial nerve-innervated muscle was less sensitive than
      somatic nerve-innervated muscle, and the mechanisms underlying this result may be
      related to muscle fiber CSA and the ESA/CSA ratio, but not to the density of
      nAChR subunits on endplates. Facial nerve injury caused the resistance to
      neuromuscular blockers and reduced twitch tension, which was related to
      qualitative, quantitative, and locational changes in nAChR subunits.

PMID- 28607409
TI  - Functional characterization of Aquaporin-like genes in the human bed bug Cimex
      lectularius.
AB  - The bed bug Cimex lectularius is a blood-feeding re-emerging annoyance pest
      insect that has the ability to transmit Trypanosoma cruzi under experimental
      laboratory conditions. Aquaporins (AQPs) are water channel proteins that are
      essential in biological organisms. C. lectularius are constantly exposed to water
      related stress, suggesting that AQPs may offer novel control avenues. We
      identified and cloned four AQPs from C. lectularius, assessed tissue and
      lifestage-specific expression, and characterized biochemical functions in vitro
      and in vivo. We identified an efficient water-specific AQP (ClAQP1), two
      aquaglyceroporins (ClGlp1 and ClGlp2) and a homolog of Drosophila melanogaster
      big brain (ClBib). ClGlp1 was only functional when co-expressed with the water
      specific AQP. Simultaneous RNAi gene silencing of ClAQP1 and ClGlp1 significantly
      reduced water and urea excretion post blood feeding. The Bib homologue was
      enriched in embryos, exclusively expressed in ovaries, and when silenced,
      dramatically increased bug fecundity. Our data demonstrate that AQPs have
      critical roles in excretion, water homeostasis and reproduction in C.
      lectularius, and could be potential targets for control in this notorious pest.

PMID- 28607410
TI  - DC-SIGN and Toll-like receptor 4 mediate oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced
      inflammatory responses in macrophages.
AB  - The regulation of inflammatory responses by innate immune receptors is recognized
      as a crucial step in the development of atherosclerosis, although the precise
      molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. This study focused on illustrating
      the roles of dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing
      non-integrin (DC-SIGN)- and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-regulated inflammatory
      responses in macrophages. We found that DC-SIGN expression levels were increased
      in macrophages of atherosclerotic plaques. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein
      (oxLDL) significantly enhanced DC-SIGN protein expression levels after a short
      term exposure. Knockdown of DC-SIGN decreased expression and secretion of
      interleukin 1-beta (IL1-beta), monocyte chemo-attractant protein 1 (MCP-1), tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9).
      Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that DC-SIGN and TLR4 co-localized in
      regions of the plaques. Moreover, DC-SIGN was co-expressed with TLR4 on the
      plasma membrane after oxLDL stimulation. The presence of an endogenous
      interaction and the results of the in vitro pull-down assays revealed that DC
      SIGN binds directly with TLR4. We also present evidence that DC-SIGN mediates
      TLR4-regulated NFkappaB activation but not activation of p38 and JNK. Our results
      suggest an essential role of DC-SIGN/TLR4 signaling in macrophages in the
      pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28607411
TI  - An Immunization Strategy for Hidden Populations.
AB  - Hidden populations, such as injecting drug users (IDUs), sex workers (SWs) and
      men who have sex with men (MSM), are considered at high risk of contracting and
      transmitting infectious diseases such as AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis etc. However,
      public health interventions to such groups are prohibited due to strong privacy
      concerns and lack of global information, which is a necessity for traditional
      strategies such as targeted immunization and acquaintance immunization. In this
      study, we introduce an innovative intervention strategy to be used in combination
      with a sampling approach that is widely used for hidden populations, Respondent
      driven Sampling (RDS). The RDS strategy is implemented in two steps: First, RDS
      is used to estimate the average degree (personal network size) and degree
      distribution of the target population with sample data. Second, a cut-off
      threshold is calculated and used to screen the respondents to be immunized.
      Simulations on model networks and real-world networks reveal that the efficiency
      of the RDS strategy is close to that of the targeted strategy. As the new
      strategy can be implemented with the RDS sampling process, it provides a cost
      efficient and feasible approach for disease intervention and control for hidden
      populations.

PMID- 28607412
TI  - Methylation of DACT2 promotes breast cancer development by activating Wnt
      signaling.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women worldwide. To explore
      the role of DACT2 in breast cancer, 5 cell lines and 153 cases of primary cancer
      were studied. The expression of DACT2 was detected in BT474, MDA-MB-231 and BT549
      cells, while no expression was found in MDA-MB-468 and HBL100 cells. Complete
      methylation of DACT2 was found in MDA-MB-468 and HBL100 cells, partial
      methylation was observed in BT474 and BT549 cells, and no methylation was
      detected in MDA-MB-231 cells. Restoration of DACT2 expression was induced by 5
      Aza in MDA-MB-468 and HBL100 cells. DACT2 was methylated in 49.7% (76/153) of
      primary breast cancer samples. Methylation of DACT2 was significantly associated
      with tumor size (P < 0.05). Reduced DACT2 expression was significantly associated
      with promoter region methylation in primary breast cancer (P < 0.05). DACT2
      suppressed breast cancer cell growth and induced G1/S phase arrest in breast
      cancer cells. DACT2 inhibited Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in human breast cancer
      cells and suppressed breast cancer cell tumor growth in xenograft mice. In
      conclusion, our results demonstrate that DACT2 is frequently methylated in human
      breast cancer, methylation of DACT2 activates Wnt signaling, and DACT2 suppresses
      breast cancer cell growth both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 28607413
TI  - Early Gut Microbiota Intervention Suppresses DSS-Induced Inflammatory Responses
      by Deactivating TLR/NLR Signalling in Pigs.
AB  - Recent metagenomic studies suggest that innate and adaptive immune phenotypes can
      be programmed via gut microbiota-host interactions mediated via activation of
      pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) on host cells. In this study, we used two
      extremely different pig lines (the Yorkshire and the Tibetan) to test the
      hypothesis that the transplantation of gut microbiota could transfer certain
      immunologic characteristics from donor to recipient. The faecal microbiota of
      these two pig lines was transplanted in healthy commercial hybrid newborn piglets
      to establish the "Tibetan-intervened" and "Yorkshire-intervened" porcine models.
      Then, acute colitis was induced using dextran sulphate sodium (DSS), which
      activated Toll-/NOD-like receptor (TLR/NLR) signalling in the colonic tissues of
      the "Yorkshire-intervened" piglets, leading to increases in pro-inflammatory
      cytokines and immune cells and causing intestinal injuries. Conversely, DSS
      administration had little influence on the "Tibetan-intervened" piglets, which
      showed no significant inflammation and no changes in cytokines, immune cells, or
      signalling molecules, including TLRs, NLRs, MYD88 and NF-kappaB, after DSS
      treatment. These results indicate that pigs inoculated with the Tibetan
      microbiota acquired relatively strong resistance to experimental colitis,
      suggesting that the genotype of the host contributes to the uniqueness of its
      intestinal microbial community, whereas the microbiota plays a vital role in
      programming the immune phenotypes of the host.

PMID- 28607414
TI  - Diagnostic capability of Pulsar perimetry in pre-perimetric and early glaucoma.
AB  - This study aimed to compare the diagnostic capability of Pulsar perimetry
      (Pulsar) in pre-perimetric glaucoma (PPG) and early glaucoma (EG) with that of
      Flicker perimetry (Flicker) and spectral-domain optical conference tomography (SD
      OCT). This prospective cross-sectional study included 25 eyes of 25 PPG patients,
      35 eyes of 35 EG patients, and 42 eyes of 42 healthy participants. The diagnostic
      capability using the area under the curve (AUC) of the best parameter and
      agreement of detectability between structural and functional measurements were
      compared. For PPG patients, the AUC of Pulsar, Flicker, OCT-disc, and OCT-macular
      was 0.733, 0.663, 0.842, and 0.780, respectively. The AUC of Flicker was
      significantly lower than that of OCT-disc (p = 0.016). For EG patients, the AUC
      of Pulsar, Flicker, OCT-disc, and OCT-macular were 0.851, 0.869, 0.907, and
      0.861, respectively. There was no significant difference in AUC among these
      methods. The agreement between structural and functional measurements expressed
      by kappa value ranged from -0.16 to 0.07 for PPG and from 0.01 to 0.25 for EG.
      Although the diagnostic capability of Pulsar in the PPG and EG groups was equal
      to that of Flicker and SD-OCT, the agreements between structural and functional
      measurements for both PPG and EG were poor.

PMID- 28607416
TI  - Neural Correlates underlying Size Constancy in Virtual Three-Dimensional Space.
AB  - The perceived size of an object remains relatively constant although its retinal
      size keeps decreasing as the object moves away along the depth dimension of the
      3D space, i.e. size constancy. Neural mechanisms generating size constancy in
      virtual 3D space, however, remain poorly understood. By constructing a virtual 3D
      world in the MR scanner, we positioned the same 3D objects either near or far
      from the observers so that the near and far objects were perceived as having the
      same physical size despite their differences in retinal size. To control for the
      effect of differential retinal size, an additional 2D condition was introduced: a
      large and a small object, with matched retinal images as the near and far objects
      in the 3D condition, respectively, were presented on a 2D screen. Differences in
      retinal size activated overlapped areas in bilateral inferior occipital gyrus
      (IOG) in both experiments. The overlapped areas in IOG, however, showed different
      patterns of functional connectivity with different neural networks, depending on
      the perceived size of objects. In particular, IOG showed enhanced connectivity
      with bilateral superior parietal cortex in the 2D condition, but with inferior
      temporal and prefrontal cortex in the virtual 3D condition, i.e., size constancy.

PMID- 28607415
TI  - Molecular Phylogenies indicate a Paleo-Tibetan Origin of Himalayan Lazy Toads
      (Scutiger).
AB  - The Himalaya presents an outstanding geologically active orogen and biodiversity
      hotspot. However, our understanding of the historical biogeography of its fauna
      is far from comprehensive. Many taxa are commonly assumed to have originated from
      China-Indochina and dispersed westward along the Himalayan chain. Alternatively,
      the "Tibetan-origin hypothesis" suggests primary diversification of lineages in
      Paleo-Tibet, and secondary diversification along the slopes of the later uplifted
      Greater Himalaya. We test these hypotheses in high-mountain megophryid anurans
      (Scutiger). Extensive sampling from High Asia, and analyses of mitochondrial
      (2839 bp) and nuclear DNA (2208 bp), using Bayesian and Maximum likelihood
      phylogenetics, suggest that the Himalayan species form a distinct clade, possibly
      older than those from the eastern Himalaya-Tibet orogen. While immigration from
      China-Indochina cannot be excluded, our data may indicate that Himalayan Scutiger
      originated to the north of the Himalaya by colonization from Paleo-Tibet and then
      date back to the Oligocene. High intraspecific diversity of Scutiger implies
      limited migration across mountains and drainages along the Himalaya. While our
      study strengthens support for a "Tibetan-origin hypothesis", current sampling
      (10/22 species; 1 revalidated : S. occidentalis) remains insufficient to draw
      final conclusions on Scutiger but urges comparative phylogeographers to test
      alternative, geologically supported hypotheses for a true future understanding of
      Himalayan biogeography.

PMID- 28607417
TI  - Predictors of chronic kidney disease in type 1 diabetes: a longitudinal study
      from the AMD Annals initiative.
AB  - We evaluated 2,656 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and preserved renal
      function from the database of the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists
      network to identify clinical predictors for the development of chronic kidney
      disease. We measured estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urinary albumin
      excretion, HbA1c, lipids, blood pressure. Over a 5-year period 4.3% (n = 115)
      developed reduced eGFR (<60 ml/min/1.73 m2), 18.0% (n = 477) albuminuria, and
      21.0% (n = 559) either one of the renal endpoints (CKD). Odds ratios for eGFR
      below 90 mL/min/1.73 m2 (1.48, P < 0.001), HbA1c (1.13, P = 0.002), triglycerides
      (1.04, P = 0.021 by 20 mg/dL), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) (0.95,
      P = 0.002 by 10 mg/dL) were independently related to the onset of CKD. Known
      duration of diabetes (1.15, P = 0.014 by 10 years), HbA1c (1.16, P = 0.001),
      triglycerides (1.05, P = 0.005 by 20 mg/dL), LDL-c (0.95, P = 0.003 by 10 mg/dL),
      antihypertensive treatment (2.28, P = 0.018) were related to the onset of
      albuminuria while age and presence of baseline eGFR values between 90 and 60
      mL/min/1.73 m2, independently affected the developing of reduced eGFR (OR 1.95, P
      < 0.001 by 10 years and 2.92, P < 0.001). Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus
      and unfavorable CV risk profile are at high risk of developing CKD. The two main
      traits of CKD share several determinants, although with some specificities.

PMID- 28607418
TI  - The potentially neglected culprit of DC surface flashover: electron migration
      under temperature gradients.
AB  - This report intends to reveal the role of electron migration and its effects in
      triggering direct current (DC) surface flashover under temperature gradient
      conditions when using epoxy-based insulating composites. The surface potential
      and the surface flashover voltage are both measured using insulators that are
      bridged between two thermo-regulated electrodes. The space charge injection and
      migration properties under different temperature are detected. The results show
      that the surface potential rises significantly because of electron migration near
      the high voltage (HV) electrode under high temperature conditions, thus creating
      an "analogous ineffective region". The expansion of this "analogous ineffective
      region" results in most of the voltage drop occurring near the ground electrode,
      which serves as an important factor triggering positive streamers across the
      insulation surface. This work is helpful in understanding of DC surface flashover
      mechanism from a new perspective and also has important significance in design of
      a suitable DC insulator to avoid surface flashover problem.

PMID- 28607420
TI  - Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in
      ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.
AB  - Yield-phenology relation is a critical issue affecting rainfed maize field
      productivity in semiarid east African Plateau (EAP). We first introduced Chinese
      ridge-furrow mulching (RFM) system to EAP, using three maize cultivars with early
      , mid- and late-maturing traits as test materials. A two-year field experiment
      was conducted in a semiarid farm of Kenya from 2012 to 2013. Three treatments
      were designed: alternative ridge and furrow with transparent plastic mulching
      (FT), with black plastic mulching (FB) and without mulching (CK). We found that
      FT and FB significantly increased soil moisture and accelerated crop maturity
      across two growing seasons. Leaf area and shoot biomass were increased by 30.2%
      and 67.5% in FT, 35.2% and 73.5% in FB, respectively, compared with CK. Grain
      yield, water use efficiency and economic output were increased by 55.6%, 57.5%
      and 26.7% in FT, and 50.8%, 53.3% and 19.8% in FB, respectively. Optimal yield
      and economic benefit were observed in late-maturing cultivar due to increased
      topsoil temperature in FT in 2012 (cool), and in early-maturing cultivar owing to
      cooling effect in FB in 2013 (warm). Our study suggested RFM system, combined
      with crop phenology selection, be a promising strategy to boost maize
      productivity and profitability in semiarid EAP.

PMID- 28607419
TI  - Two-step ATP-driven opening of cohesin head.
AB  - The cohesin ring is a protein complex composed of four core subunits: Smc1A,
      Smc3, Rad21 and Stag1/2. It is involved in chromosome segregation, DNA repair,
      chromatin organization and transcription regulation. Opening of the ring occurs
      at the "head" structure, formed of the ATPase domains of Smc1A and Smc3 and
      Rad21. We investigate the mechanisms of the cohesin ring opening using techniques
      of free molecular dynamics (MD), steered MD and quantum mechanics/molecular
      mechanics MD (QM/MM MD). The study allows the thorough analysis of the opening
      events at the atomic scale: i) ATP hydrolysis at the Smc1A site, evaluating the
      role of the carboxy-terminal domain of Rad21 in the process; ii) the activation
      of the Smc3 site potentially mediated by the movement of specific amino acids;
      and iii) opening of the head domains after the two ATP hydrolysis events. Our
      study suggests that the cohesin ring opening is triggered by a sequential
      activation of the ATP sites in which ATP hydrolysis at the Smc1A site induces
      ATPase activity at the Smc3 site. Our analysis also provides an explanation for
      the effect of pathogenic variants related to cohesinopathies and cancer.

PMID- 28607421
TI  - Modification of Different Pulps by Homologous Overexpression Alkali-Tolerant
      Endoglucanase in Bacillus subtilis Y106.
AB  - Cellulase (mainly endoglucanase, EG) has been used in pulp modification for
      improving paper quality through environmentally friendly process. But low
      activity in alkaline pH and high filter paper activity (FPA) were still obstacles
      for extending the cellulase application in papermaking industry. In the study, an
      alkali-tolerant EG gene of Bacillus subtilis Y106 was homologous over-expressed
      for obtaining suitable enzyme used in pulp modification. The engineering strain
      could produce the crude enzyme with more alkali-tolerant EG and little PFA.
      Potential of the crude enzyme in modification of different pulps were
      investigated. It was found that the enzyme could be used for improving drainage
      and strength properties of pulps from softwood, hardwood and non-wood materials,
      especially non-wood pulp such as wheat straw pulp. The underlying mechanisms of
      pulp modification and different effects on various types of pulps by the EG
      treatment were also discussed by studying the change in fibers characteristics
      and fiber bonding.

PMID- 28607422
TI  - Morphology controls how hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron responds to uniform
      electric fields: a biophysical modeling study.
AB  - Responses of different neurons to electric field (EF) are highly variable, which
      depends on intrinsic properties of cell type. Here we use multi-compartmental
      biophysical models to investigate how morphologic features affect EF-induced
      responses in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. We find that the basic
      morphologies of neuronal elements, including diameter, length, bend, branch, and
      axon terminals, are all correlated with somatic depolarization through altering
      the current sources or sinks created by applied field. Varying them alters the EF
      threshold for triggering action potentials (APs), and then determines cell
      sensitivity to suprathreshold field. Introducing excitatory postsynaptic
      potential increases cell excitability and reduces morphology-dependent EF firing
      threshold. It is also shown that applying identical subthreshold EF results in
      distinct polarizations on cell membrane with different realistic morphologies.
      These findings shed light on the crucial role of morphologies in determining
      field-induced neural response from the point of view of biophysical models. The
      predictions are conducive to better understanding the variability in modulatory
      effects of EF stimulation at the cellular level, which could also aid the
      interpretations of how applied fields activate central nervous system neurons and
      affect relevant circuits.

PMID- 28607423
TI  - Growth of high-quality Bi2Sr2 CaCu2O8+delta whiskers and electrical properties of
      resulting exfoliated flakes.
AB  - In this work, we demonstrate a simple technique to grow high-quality whiskers of
      Bi2 Sr2 CaCu2 O8+delta - a high T c superconductor. Structural analysis shows the
      single-crystalline nature of the grown whiskers. To probe electrical properties,
      we exfoliate these whiskers into thin flakes (~50 nm thick) using the scotch-tape
      technique and develop a process to realize good electrical contacts. We observe a
      superconducting critical temperature, T c , of 86 K. We map the evolution of the
      critical current as a function of temperature. With 2-D materials emerging as an
      exciting platform to study low-dimensional physics, our work paves the way for
      future studies on two-dimensional high-T c superconductivity.

PMID- 28607425
TI  - Brain size is reduced by selection for tameness in Red Junglefowl- correlated
      effects in vital organs.
AB  - During domestication animals have undergone changes in size of brain and other
      vital organs. We hypothesize that this could be a correlated effect to increased
      tameness. Red Junglefowl (ancestors of domestic chickens) were selected for
      divergent levels of fear of humans for five generations. The parental (P0) and
      the fifth selected generation (S5) were culled when 48-54 weeks old and the
      brains were weighed before being divided into telencephalon, cerebellum, mid
      brain and optic lobes. Each single brain part as well as the liver, spleen, heart
      and testicles were also weighed. Brains of S5 birds with high fear scores (S5
      high) were heavier both in absolute terms and when corrected for body weight. The
      relative weight of telencephalon (% of brain weight) was significantly higher in
      S5 high and relative weight of cerebellum was lower. Heart, liver, testes and
      spleen were all relatively heavier (% of body weight) in S5 high. Hence,
      selection for tameness has changed the size of the brain and other vital organs
      in this population and may have driven the domesticated phenotype as a correlated
      response.

PMID- 28607424
TI  - Benzo(a)pyrene triggers desensitization of beta2-adrenergic pathway.
AB  - Exposure to environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as
      benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P), has been linked to several health-threatening risks. PAHs
      were also shown to hinder adrenergic receptor (ADR) responses. As we previously
      demonstrated that B(a)P can directly interact with the beta2ADR, we investigated
      here whether B(a)P could decrease beta2ADR responsiveness by triggering receptor
      desensitization phenomena. We firstly showed that exposure to B(a)P reduced
      beta2ADR-mediated epinephrine-induced induction of NR4A gene mRNAs and of
      intracellular cAMP. Analysis of beta2ADR protein expression demonstrated that
      B(a)P rapidly decreased membrane expression of beta2ADR with a subsequent
      degradation of receptor protein. B(a)P exposure concomitantly rapidly increased
      the beta2ADR mRNA levels. The use of the beta-blockers, propranolol and ICI
      118.551, demonstrated the involvement of beta2ADR itself in this increase.
      However, sustained exposure to B(a)P induced a diminution of beta2ADR mRNA steady
      state as a result of the acceleration of its degradation. Together, these results
      show that, beside the well-known activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, PAH
      deleterious effects may involve the dysfunction of adrenergic responses through,
      in part, the desensitization of beta2ADR. This may be taken in consideration when
      beta2-agonists/antagonists are administered in patients exposed to important
      concentrations of PAHs, e.g. in cigarette smokers.

PMID- 28607426
TI  - Analysis of the brain palmitoyl-proteome using both acyl-biotin exchange and acyl
      resin-assisted capture methods.
AB  - Palmitoylation is a reversible post-translational protein modification in which
      palmitic acid is added to cysteine residues, allowing association with different
      cellular membranes and subdomains. Recently, techniques have been developed to
      identify palmitoylation on a proteome-wide scale in order to reveal the full
      cellular complement of palmitoylated proteins. However, in the studies reported
      to date, there is considerable variation between the sets of identified palmitoyl
      proteins and so there remains some uncertainty over what constitutes the
      definitive complement of palmitoylated proteins even in well-studied tissues such
      as brain. To address this issue, we used both acyl-biotin exchange and acyl-resin
      assisted capture approaches using rat brain as a common protein source. The
      palmitoyl-proteins identified from each method by mass spectrometry were then
      compared with each other and previously published studies. There was generally
      good agreement between the two methods, although many identifications were unique
      to one method, indicating that at least some of the variability in published
      palmitoyl proteomes is due to methodological differences. By combining our new
      data with previous publications using mammalian cells/tissues, we propose a high
      confidence set of bona fide palmitoylated proteins in brain and provide a
      resource to help researchers prioritise candidate palmitoyl-proteins for
      investigation.

PMID- 28607427
TI  - Vegetation changes and land surface feedbacks drive shifts in local temperatures
      over Central Asia.
AB  - Vegetation changes play a vital role in modifying local temperatures although,
      until now, the climate feedback effects of vegetation changes are still poorly
      known and large uncertainties exist, especially over Central Asia. In this study,
      using remote sensing and re-analysis of existing data, we evaluated the impact of
      vegetation changes on local temperatures. Our results indicate that vegetation
      changes have a significant unidirectional causality relationship with regard to
      local temperature changes. We found that vegetation greening over Central Asia as
      a whole induced a cooling effect on the local temperatures. We also found that
      evapotranspiration (ET) exhibits greater sensitivity to the increases of the
      Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as compared to albedo in arid/semi
      arid/semi-humid regions, potentially leading to a cooling effect. However, in
      humid regions, albedo warming completely surpasses ET cooling, causing a
      pronounced warming. Our findings suggest that using appropriate strategies to
      protect vulnerable dryland ecosystems from degradation, should lead to future
      benefits related to greening ecosystems and mitigation for rising temperatures.

PMID- 28607428
TI  - Evolution of Complex Maillard Chemical Reactions, Resolved in Time.
AB  - In this study, we monitored the thermal formation of early ribose-glycine
      Maillard reaction products over time by ion cyclotron resonance mass
      spectrometry. Here, we considered sugar decomposition (caramelization) apart from
      compounds that could only be produced in the presence of the amino acid. More
      than 300 intermediates as a result of the two initial reactants were found after
      ten hours (100  degrees C) to participate in the interplay of the Maillard
      reaction cascade. Despite the large numerical variety the majority of
      intermediates follow simple and repetitive reaction patterns. Dehydration,
      carbonyl cleavage, and redox reactions turned out to have a large impact on the
      diversity the Maillard reaction causes. Although the Amadori breakdown is
      considered as the main Maillard reaction pathway, other reactive intermediates,
      often of higher molecular weight than the Amadori rearrangement product,
      contribute to a large extent to the multitude of intermediates we observed.

PMID- 28607429
TI  - Genetic mapping with testcrossing associations and F2:3 populations reveals the
      importance of heterosis in chilling tolerance at maize seedling stage.
AB  - Maize seedlings are sensitive to low temperatures, and genetic mapping for
      chilling tolerance at the seedling stage with genetically diverse populations
      would facilitate the genetic improvement of this important trait. In this study,
      quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping for four chilling tolerance-related traits
      at the seedling stage was conducted via a genome-wide association study (GWAS)
      with 338 testcrosses. A total of 32 significant loci and 36 stress tolerance
      related candidate genes were identified, though none of them have been revealed
      by QTL mapping using maize inbred lines in previous reports. Moreover, expression
      of ten of the candidate genes was induced by chilling stress in a maize hybrid,
      though only a few of these genes were upregulated in its tolerant parent. These
      implied that heterosis might be involved in maize chilling tolerance. To further
      evaluate the importance of heterosis in chilling tolerance at the seedling stage,
      genetic mapping for chilling tolerance was conducted using an F2:3 population
      derived from the two inbred lines used for the gene expression assay. Of the
      seven QTL revealed, six loci showed partial dominance or over-dominance effects.
      Results from this study demonstrate that heterosis plays an important role in
      chilling tolerance in maize seedlings.

PMID- 28607430
TI  - Liraglutide improves liver microvascular dysfunction in cirrhosis: Evidence from
      translational studies.
AB  - Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) play a key role in the development of chronic liver
      disease (CLD). Liraglutide, well-established in type 2 diabetes, showed anti
      inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. We evaluated the effects of liraglutide
      on HSC phenotype and hepatic microvascular function using diverse pre-clinical
      models of CLD. Human and rat HSC were in vitro treated with liraglutide, or
      vehicle, and their phenotype, viability and proliferation were evaluated. In
      addition, liraglutide or vehicle was administered to rats with CLD. Liver
      microvascular function, fibrosis, HSC phenotype and sinusoidal endothelial
      phenotype were determined. Additionally, the effects of liraglutide on HSC
      phenotype were analysed in human precision-cut liver slices. Liraglutide markedly
      improved HSC phenotype and diminished cell proliferation. Cirrhotic rats
      receiving liraglutide exhibited significantly improved liver microvascular
      function, as evidenced by lower portal pressure, improved intrahepatic vascular
      resistance, and marked ameliorations in fibrosis, HSC phenotype and endothelial
      function. The anti-fibrotic effects of liraglutide were confirmed in human liver
      tissue and, although requiring further investigation, its underlying molecular
      mechanisms suggested a GLP1-R-independent and NF-kappaB-Sox9-dependent one. This
      study demonstrates for the first time that liraglutide improves the liver
      sinusoidal milieu in pre-clinical models of cirrhosis, encouraging its clinical
      evaluation in the treatment of chronic liver disease.

PMID- 28607432
TI  - Characterisation of a stable laboratory co-culture of acidophilic nanoorganisms.
AB  - This study describes the laboratory cultivation of ARMAN (Archaeal Richmond Mine
      Acidophilic Nanoorganisms). After 2.5 years of successive transfers in an anoxic
      medium containing ferric sulfate as an electron acceptor, a consortium was
      attained that is comprised of two members of the order Thermoplasmatales, a
      member of a proposed ARMAN group, as well as a fungus. The 16S rRNA identity of
      one archaeon is only 91.6% compared to the most closely related isolate
      Thermogymnomonas acidicola. Hence, this organism is the first member of a new
      genus. The enrichment culture is dominated by this microorganism and the ARMAN.
      The third archaeon in the community seems to be present in minor quantities and
      has a 100% 16S rRNA identity to the recently isolated Cuniculiplasma divulgatum.
      The enriched ARMAN species is most probably incapable of sugar metabolism because
      the key genes for sugar catabolism and anabolism could not be identified in the
      metagenome. Metatranscriptomic analysis suggests that the TCA cycle funneled with
      amino acids is the main metabolic pathway used by the archaea of the community.
      Microscopic analysis revealed that growth of the ARMAN is supported by the
      formation of cell aggregates. These might enable feeding of the ARMAN by or on
      other community members.

PMID- 28607433
TI  - Lipidomic analysis of skeletal muscle tissues of p53 knockout mice by nUPLC-ESI
      MS/MS.
AB  - Tumour suppressor p53 is known to be associated with the maintenance of
      mitochondrial functional properties in the skeletal muscles. As deactivation or
      mutation of p53 can affect the synthesis of lipids, investigating the
      relationship between p53-related energy generation metabolism and perturbation of
      lipid profile is critical. In this study, 329 lipid species (among 412 identified
      species) in two different skeletal muscle tissues (the gastrocnemius and soleus)
      from p53 knockout (KO) mice were quantitatively analysed using nanoflow ultrahigh
      performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (nUPLC-MS/MS).
      Overall, lipids from the soleus tissues were more affected by p53 KO than those
      from the gastrocnemius in most lipid profiles. In p53 KO, lysophosphatidylcholine
      (LPC), lysophosphatidylserine (LPS), phosphatidic acid (PA), sphingomyelin (SM),
      and triacylglycerol (TAG), including 6 TAG (44:2, 46:0, 58:5, 58:8, 58:9, and
      50:0), were significantly increased (p < 0.05) by 1.4-2-fold only in the soleus
      tissue. Overall monohexosylceramide (MHC) levels, including those of 3 MHC
      species (d18:0/24:0, d18:1/22:0, and d18:1/24:0), were significantly increased (p
      < 0.05) by 2-4 fold, only in the gastrocnemius tissue. The results suggest that
      lipid profiles are significantly altered by the lack of p53 in muscle tissues.

PMID- 28607431
TI  - Cerebrospinal fluid microRNAs are potential biomarkers of temporal lobe epilepsy
      and status epilepticus.
AB  - There is a need for diagnostic biomarkers of epilepsy and status epilepticus to
      support clinical examination, electroencephalography and neuroimaging.
      Extracellular microRNAs may be potentially ideal biomarkers since some are
      expressed uniquely within specific brain regions and cell types. Cerebrospinal
      fluid offers a source of microRNA biomarkers with the advantage of being in close
      contact with the target tissue and sites of pathology. Here we profiled microRNA
      levels in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy or status
      epilepticus, and compared findings to matched controls. Differential expression
      of 20 microRNAs was detected between patient groups and controls. A validation
      phase included an expanded cohort and samples from patients with other
      neurological diseases. This identified lower levels of miR-19b in temporal lobe
      epilepsy compared to controls, status epilepticus and other neurological
      diseases. Levels of miR-451a were higher in status epilepticus compared to other
      groups whereas miR-21-5p differed in status epilepticus compared to temporal lobe
      epilepsy but not to other neurological diseases. Targets of these microRNAs
      include proteins regulating neuronal death, tissue remodelling, gliosis and
      inflammation. The present study indicates cerebrospinal fluid contains microRNAs
      that can support differential diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy and status
      epilepticus from other neurological and non-neurological diseases.

PMID- 28607434
TI  - A translational approach to capture gait signatures of neurological disorders in
      mice and humans.
AB  - A method for capturing gait signatures in neurological conditions that allows
      comparison of human gait with animal models would be of great value in
      translational research. However, the velocity dependence of gait parameters and
      differences between quadruped and biped gait have made this comparison
      challenging. Here we present an approach that accounts for changes in velocity
      during walking and allows for translation across species. In mice, we represented
      spatial and temporal gait parameters as a function of velocity and established
      regression models that reproducibly capture the signatures of these relationships
      during walking. In experimental parkinsonism models, regression curves
      representing these relationships shifted from baseline, implicating changes in
      gait signatures, but with marked differences between models. Gait parameters in
      healthy human subjects followed similar strict velocity dependent relationships
      which were altered in Parkinson's patients in ways that resemble some but not all
      mouse models. This novel approach is suitable to quantify qualitative walking
      abnormalities related to CNS circuit dysfunction across species, identify
      appropriate animal models, and it provides important translational opportunities.

PMID- 28607435
TI  - Preferential suppression of Anopheles gambiae host sequences allows detection of
      the mosquito eukaryotic microbiome.
AB  - Anopheles mosquitoes are vectors of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium
      falciparum. The vector microbiota is a likely factor influencing parasite
      transmission. The prokaryotic microbiota of mosquitoes is efficiently surveyed by
      sequencing of hypervariable regions of the 16s ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene.
      However, identification of the eukaryotic microbiota by targeting the 18s rRNA
      gene is challenging due to simultaneous amplification of the abundant 18s rRNA
      gene target in the mosquito host. Consequently, the eukaryotic microbial
      diversity of mosquitoes is vastly underexplored. An efficient methodology is
      needed to identify this component of the microbiota, expected to include
      relatives of Plasmodium. Here, we use defined panels of Anopheles samples from
      West Africa to test two experimental PCR clamp approaches to maximize the
      specific amplification of 18s rRNA gene hypervariable regions from eukaryotic
      microbes: anneal-inhibiting blocking primers and peptide-nucleic acid (PNA)
      oligonucleotide blockers. Of the two, PNA blockers were the only efficient
      blocking strategy, allowing a reduction of mosquito 18s rRNA gene sequences by
      more than 80% for the V4 hypervariable region. These PNA blockers will facilitate
      taxonomic profiling of the eukaryotic microbiota of the A. gambiae species
      complex, and contribute to a better understanding of microbial influence upon
      immunity and pathogen infection.

PMID- 28607436
TI  - Sb2Se3 assembling Sb2O3@ attapulgite as an emerging composites for catalytic
      hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol.
AB  - The construction and application of a new type of composite material are achieved
      more and more attention. However, expected Sb2Se3/attapulgite composites aim to
      use the low price, and high adsorption of attapulgite in assembling Sb2Se3 is
      quite difficult to be acquired by a facile and benign environmental hydrothermal
      method. In this manuscript, we developed a new way for preparation of an emerging
      composite by means of Sb2O3 as a media linking Sb2Se3 and attapulgite together,
      and finally won an emerging composite Sb2Se3/Sb2O3@attapulgite, which presented
      an excellent catalytic properties for catalytic hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol.
      It was noted that the Sb2Se3/Sb2O3@attapulgite composites exhibited a high
      conversion rate for the hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol that was up to 90.7%
      within 15 min, which was far more than the 61.5% of Sb2Se3 sample. The excellent
      catalytic performance was attributed to the highly dispersion Sb2Se3 microbelts
      and Sb2Se3@Sb2O3@attapulgite rods, which would improve the adsorption of the
      reactant species and facility electronic transfer process of the catalytic
      hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol.

PMID- 28607437
TI  - Single-stranded RNA viruses infecting the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema
      humile.
AB  - Social insects host a diversity of viruses. We examined New Zealand populations
      of the globally widely distributed invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile)
      for RNA viruses. We used metatranscriptomic analysis, which identified six
      potential novel viruses in the Dicistroviridae family. Of these, three contigs
      were confirmed by Sanger sequencing as Linepithema humile virus-1 (LHUV-1), a
      novel strain of Kashmir bee virus (KBV) and Black queen cell virus (BQCV), while
      the others were chimeric or misassembled sequences. We extended the known
      sequence of LHUV-1 to confirm its placement in the Dicistroviridae and
      categorised its relationship to closest relatives, which were all viruses
      infecting Hymenoptera. We examined further for known viruses by mapping our
      metatranscriptomic sequences to all viral genomes, and confirmed KBV, BQCV, LHUV
      1 and Deformed wing virus (DWV) presence using qRT-PCR. Viral replication was
      confirmed for DWV, KBV and LHUV-1. Viral titers in ants were higher in the
      presence of honey bee hives. Argentine ants appear to host a range of' honey bee'
      pathogens in addition to a virus currently described only from this invasive ant.
      The role of these viruses in the population dynamics of the ant remain to be
      determined, but offer potential targets for biocontrol approaches.

PMID- 28607439
TI  - QTL mapping reveals genetic determinants of fungal disease resistance in the wild
      lentil species Lens ervoides.
AB  - Lens ervoides, a wild relative of lentil is an important source of allelic
      diversity for enhancing the genetic resistance of the cultivated species against
      economically important fungal diseases, such as anthracnose and Stemphylium
      blight caused by Colletotrichum lentis and Stemphylium botryosum, respectively.
      To unravel the genetic control underlying resistance to these fungal diseases, a
      recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (n = 94, F9) originating from a cross
      between two L. ervoides accessions, L01-827A and IG 72815, was genotyped on the
      Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. A total of 289.07 million 100 bp paired-end reads
      were generated, giving an average 7.53-fold genomic coverage to the RILs and
      identifying 2,180 high-quality SNPs that assembled in 543 unique haplotypes.
      Seven linkage groups were resolved among haplotypes, equal to the haploid
      chromosome number in L. ervoides. The genetic map spanned a cumulative distance
      of 740.94 cM. Composite interval mapping revealed five QTLs with a significant
      association with resistance to C. lentis race 0, six QTLs for C. lentis race 1
      resistance, and three QTLs for S. botryosum resistance. Taken together, the data
      obtained in the study reveal that the expression of resistance to fungal diseases
      in L. ervoides is a result of rearrangement of resistant alleles contributed by
      both parental accessions.

PMID- 28607438
TI  - Gorge Motions of Acetylcholinesterase Revealed by Microsecond Molecular Dynamics
      Simulations.
AB  - Acetylcholinesterase, with a deep, narrow active-site gorge, attracts enormous
      interest due to its particularly high catalytic efficiency and its inhibitors
      used for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. To facilitate the massive pass-through
      of the substrate and inhibitors, "breathing" motions to modulate the size of the
      gorge are an important prerequisite. However, the molecular mechanism that
      governs such motions is not well explored. Here, to systematically investigate
      intrinsic motions of the enzyme, we performed microsecond molecular dynamics
      simulations on the monomer and dimer of Torpedo californica acetylcholinesterase
      (TcAChE) as well as the complex of TcAChE bound with the drug E2020. It has been
      revealed that protein-ligand interactions and dimerization both keep the gorge in
      bulk, and opening events of the gorge increase dramatically compared to the
      monomer. Dynamics of three subdomains, S3, S4 and the Omega-loop, are tightly
      associated with variations of the gorge size while the dynamics can be changed by
      ligand binding or protein dimerization. Moreover, high correlations among these
      subdomains provide a basis for remote residues allosterically modulating the
      gorge motions. These observations are propitious to expand our understanding of
      protein structure and function as well as providing clues for performing
      structure-based drug design.

PMID- 28607440
TI  - An Arabidopsis mutant with high operating efficiency of Photosystem II and low
      chlorophyll fluorescence.
AB  - The overall light energy to biomass conversion efficiency of plant photosynthesis
      is generally regarded as low. Forward genetic screens in Arabidopsis have yielded
      very few mutants with substantially enhanced photochemistry. Here, we report the
      isolation of a novel Arabidopsis mutant with a high operating efficiency of
      Photosystem II (phiPSII) and low chlorophyll fluorescence from a library of lines
      harboring T-DNA constructs encoding artificial transcription factors. This mutant
      was named Low Chlorophyll Fluorescence 1 (LCF1). Only a single T-DNA insertion
      was detected in LCF1, which interrupted the expression of the full length mRNA of
      the gene At4g36280 (MORC2). We demonstrate that the high phiPSII and low levels
      of chlorophyll fluorescence were due to a decrease in PSII:PSI ratio. Although
      LCF1 plants had decreased rosette surface area and biomass under normal growth
      conditions, they contained more starch per gram fresh weight. The growth defect
      of LCF1 was alleviated by low light and short day conditions, and growth could
      even be enhanced after a period of dark-induced senescence, showing that the
      plant can utilize its excess photosynthetic conversion capacity as a resource
      when needed.

PMID- 28607441
TI  - Cross-validation estimate of the number of clusters in a network.
AB  - Network science investigates methodologies that summarise relational data to
      obtain better interpretability. Identifying modular structures is a fundamental
      task, and assessment of the coarse-grain level is its crucial step. Here, we
      propose principled, scalable, and widely applicable assessment criteria to
      determine the number of clusters in modular networks based on the leave-one-out
      cross-validation estimate of the edge prediction error.

PMID- 28607442
TI  - Prognostic nutritional index predicts clinical outcome in patients with acute ST
      segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary
      intervention.
AB  - We aimed to investigate whether the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), a
      combined nutritional-inflammatory score based on serum albumin levels and
      lymphocyte count, was associated with mortality in patients with acute ST-segment
      elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary
      intervention (pPCI). From September 2011 to November 2014, 309 consecutive
      patients with STEMI undergoing pPCI were prospectively enrolled. Patients with a
      combined score of albumin (g/L) + 5 * total lymphocyte count * 109/L >= 45 or <45
      were assigned a PNI score of 0 or 1, respectively. Of the 309 STEMI patients, 24
      (7.74%) died in the hospital, and 15 (4.83%) died during long-term follow-up
      (median follow-up time, 19.5 [3-36] months). Compared to patients with a PNI of
      0, patients with a PNI of 1 had significantly higher in-hospital (14.2% vs. 3.7%;
      P < 0.001) and long-term follow-up (21.7% vs. 6.9%, P < 0.001) mortality rates.
      PNI (1/0, HR, 2.414; 95% CI, 1.016 to 5.736; P = 0.046) was a significant
      independent predictor of mortality in patients with STEMI undergoing pPCI.
      Moreover, cumulative survival was significantly lower for patients with a PNI of
      1 compared to patients with a PNI of 0 (78.3% vs. 93.1%, log-rank P < 0.001). PNI
      appears useful for the risk stratification of STEMI patients undergoing pPCI.

PMID- 28607443
TI  - Size-tunable Lateral Confinement in Monolayer Semiconductors.
AB  - Three-dimensional confinement allows semiconductor quantum dots to exhibit size
      tunable electronic and optical properties that enable a wide range of opto
      electronic applications from displays, solar cells and bio-medical imaging to
      single-electron devices. Additional modalities such as spin and valley properties
      in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides provide further degrees of freedom
      requisite for information processing and spintronics. In nanostructures, however,
      spatial confinement can cause hybridization that inhibits the robustness of these
      emergent properties. Here, we show that laterally-confined excitons in monolayer
      MoS2 nanodots can be created through top-down nanopatterning with controlled size
      tunability. Unlike chemically-exfoliated monolayer nanoparticles, the
      lithographically patterned monolayer semiconductor nanodots down to a radius of
      15 nm exhibit the same valley polarization as in a continuous monolayer sheet.
      The inherited bulk spin and valley properties, the size dependence of excitonic
      energies, and the ability to fabricate MoS2 nanostructures using semiconductor
      compatible processing suggest that monolayer semiconductor nanodots have
      potential to be multimodal building blocks of integrated optoelectronics and
      spintronics systems.

PMID- 28607444
TI  - Identification of novel dysregulated key genes in Breast cancer through high
      throughput ChIP-Seq data analysis.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women both in the developed and less
      developed countries, and it imposes a considerable threat to human health.
      Therefore, in order to develop effective targeted therapies against Breast
      cancer, a deep understanding of its underlying molecular mechanisms is required.
      The application of deep transcriptional sequencing has been found to be reported
      to provide an efficient genomic assay to delve into the insights of the diseases
      and may prove to be useful in the study of Breast cancer. In this study, ChIP-Seq
      data for normal samples and Breast cancer were compared, and differential peaks
      identified, based upon fold enrichment (with P-values obtained via t-tests). The
      Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was carried out, following
      which the highly connected genes were screened and studied, and the most
      promising ones were selected. Biological pathway involved in the process were
      then identified. Our findings regarding potential Breast cancer-related genes
      enhances the understanding of the disease and provides prognostic information in
      addition to standard tumor prognostic factors for future research.

PMID- 28607445
TI  - Internal gradient distributions: A susceptibility-derived tensor delivering
      morphologies by magnetic resonance.
AB  - Nuclear magnetic resonance is a powerful tool for probing the structures of
      chemical and biological systems. Combined with field gradients it leads to NMR
      imaging (MRI), a widespread tool in non-invasive examinations. Sensitivity
      usually limits MRI's spatial resolution to tens of micrometers, but other sources
      of information like those delivered by constrained diffusion processes, enable
      one extract morphological information down to micron and sub-micron scales. We
      report here on a new method that also exploits diffusion - isotropic or
      anisotropic- to sense morphological parameters in the nm-mm range, based on
      distributions of susceptibility-induced magnetic field gradients. A theoretical
      framework is developed to define this source of information, leading to the
      proposition of internal gradient-distribution tensors. Gradient-based spin-echo
      sequences are designed to measure these new observables. These methods can be
      used to map orientations even when dealing with unconstrained diffusion, as is
      here demonstrated with studies of structured systems, including tissues.

PMID- 28607446
TI  - APOE gene polymorphism in long-lived individuals from a central China population.
AB  - Previous studies from European and East Asian cohorts reported conflicting
      results over whether and how the frequencies of the three common alleles,
      epsilon2, epsilon3 and epsilon4, of the apolioprotein E gene (APOE), in long
      lived individuals differ from those in younger age groups. This study was the
      first to analyse these frequencies of long-lived individuals from central China.
      Genotyping of APOE alleles and genotypes was carried out in 70 long-lived
      individuals and 204 younger controls. No difference in the frequency of any APOE
      allele or genotype was found between the long-lived participants and their
      younger controls, but the long-lived group seemed to have a higher epsilon4
      frequency (15.71%) than the 24-50 and 51-75 age groups (10.2% and 11.32%, P >
      0.05). Notably, when compared with two other Chinese studies, the central China
      long-lived group had a higher epsilon4 frequency than its southern and eastern
      China counterparts (15.71% vs. 2.82% and 2.54%, P < 0.05). It is not clear to
      what extent population substructure or lifestyles contributed to these divergent
      findings. A clear understanding of the contribution of APOE polymorphisms to
      longevity in the Han Chinese population may be achieved only through large scale
      studies with participants from well-defined regional clusters.

PMID- 28607447
TI  - FAM83H is involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma and is
      regulated by MYC.
AB  - Recently, the roles of FAM83H in tumorigenesis have been interested and increased
      expression of FAM83H and MYC in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been
      reported. Therefore, we investigated the expression and role of FAM83H in 163
      human HCCs and further investigated the relationship between FAM83H and oncogene
      MYC. The expression of FAM83H is elevated in liver cancer cells, and nuclear
      expression of FAM83H predicted shorter survival of HCC patients. In HLE and HepG2
      HCC cells, knock-down of FAM83H inhibited proliferation and invasive activity of
      HCC cells. FAM83H induced expression of cyclin-D1, cyclin-E1, snail and MMP2 and
      inhibited the expression of P53 and P27. In hepatic tumor cells derived from Tet
      O-MYC mice, the expression of mRNA and protein of FAM83H were dependent on MYC
      expression. Moreover, a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that MYC
      binds to the promotor of FAM83H and that MYC promotes the transcription of
      FAM83H, which was supported by the results of a dual-luciferase reporter assay.
      In conclusion, we present an oncogenic role of FAM83H in liver cancer, which is
      closely associated with the oncogene MYC. In addition, our results suggest FAM83H
      expression as a poor prognostic indicator of HCC patients.

PMID- 28607448
TI  - Role of the stability of charge ordering in exchange bias effect in doped
      manganites.
AB  - In this work we have carried out an elaborate study on the magnetic properties
      and investigated the exchange bias phenomena of some charge-ordered (CO)
      manganites. The detailed study of Sm1-x Ca x MnO3 (x = 0.5, 0.55, 0.6, 0.65, 0.7)
      compounds shows that Sm0.4Ca0.6MnO3, which is the most robust charge ordered
      material studied here, shows significantly large exchange bias field (HE) as
      compared to the other compounds. Our experimental results and analysis indicate
      that TCO, which reflects the stability of the charge-ordered state, is one of the
      key parameters for the exchange bias effect. Similar behaviour is found in other
      rare-earth analogues, viz., La1-x Ca x MnO3 and Pr1-x Ca x MnO3 compounds as
      well. We also found that with increasing stability of CO states in Sm1-x Ca x
      MnO3 compounds, HE enhances due to increase in number and reduction in size of
      ferromagnetic clusters.

PMID- 28607449
TI  - Motor errors lead to enhanced performance in older adults.
AB  - Young individuals make larger and faster forearm movements when visual feedback
      about the movement is not available, compared to when it is. We set out to test
      whether this behavior persists with aging. We tested 40 participants, 20 in each
      age group - young and old, on a task that required making rhythmic movements of
      the forearm with and without visual feedback. Surprisingly, we found that older
      adults increased the speed and the amplitude of their movements to an even
      greater extent than did the young adults. Furthermore, we found that the increase
      in speed and amplitude during the non-vision trial segments improved their
      performance on the task, and they were able to leverage the change in these
      movement parameters (speed and amplitude) to improve their performance during
      subsequent trial segments that did include visual feedback. The improvement in
      accuracy on the task was accompanied by a decrease in path variability. The
      results indicate that older adults can adapt their movement parameters to enhance
      performance following a motor perturbation. They further suggest that motor
      variability in old age can be advantageous under certain circumstances.

PMID- 28607450
TI  - New noninvasive index for predicting liver fibrosis in Asian patients with
      chronic viral hepatitis.
AB  - We developed an optimal noninvasive index comprising routine laboratory
      parameters for predicting cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and chronic
      hepatitis C (CHC) patients. This study included 992 CHB patients and 1,284 CHC
      patients who received liver biopsy. We developed the new index, named modified
      Fibrosis-4 (mFIB-4) according to four independent variables of the model: age,
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and platelet
      count. The formula of the mFIB-4 index is 10 * Age(years) * AST(U/L)/Platelet
      count(109/L) * AST(U/L). For predicting cirrhosis, the bootstrap areas under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve for platelet count, AST/ALT ratio (AAR),
      AAR/platelet ratio index (AARPRI), AST/platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB-4, Pohl
      score, age-platelet (AP) index, Lok index, fibrosis quotient (FibroQ), and mFIB-4
      were 0.7680, 0.7400, 0.8070, 0.6090, 0.7690, 0.6990, 0.7850, 0.7960, 0.8110, and
      0.8070 in CHB patients, and 0.8170, 0.7210, 0.8400, 0.7310, 0.8310, 0.6730,
      0.8220, 0.8440, 0.8570, and 0.8480 in CHC patients, respectively. FibroQ and mFIB
      4 exhibited the highest diagnostic performance levels for liver cirrhosis in CHB
      and CHC despite the inclusion of the international normalised ratio in the
      formulation of FibroQ. Thus, mFIB-4 is a simple, inexpensive, and readily
      available method for assessing the liver fibrosis stage of Asian patients with
      CHB or CHC.

PMID- 28607451
TI  - Vertical crustal motions across Eastern Tibet revealed by topography-dependent
      seismic tomography.
AB  - Using a topography-dependent tomographic scheme, the seismic velocity structure
      of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, including the uplifted Longmenshan (LMS) orogenic
      belt, is accurately imaged in spite of the extreme topographic relief in the LMS
      region and thick sedimentary covers in the neighbouring Sichuan Basin. The
      obtained image shows a high-resolution upper crustal structure on a 500 km-long
      profile that is perpendicular to the LMS. The image clearly shows that the
      crystalline basement was uplifted within the LMS orogenic belt, and that the
      neighbouring Songpan-Ganzi Terrane was covered by a thick flysch belt, with
      evidence of near-surface thrust faults caused by convergence between Eastern
      Tibet and the Sichuan Basin. The indication that the lower crust beneath the LMS
      was folded and pushed upwards and the upper crust was removed by exhumation,
      supports the concept of a lower crustal channel flow beneath Eastern Tibet. The
      image also reveals that the destructive Wenchuan earthquake of year 2008 occurred
      in the upper crust, directly at the structural discontinuity between Eastern
      Tibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin.

PMID- 28607452
TI  - Transmission of Induced Chromosomal Aberrations through Successive Mitotic
      Divisions in Human Lymphocytes after In Vitro and  In  Vivo Radiation.
AB  - The mechanisms behind the transmission of chromosomal aberrations (CA) remain
      unclear, despite a large body of work and major technological advances in
      chromosome identification. We reevaluated the transmission of CA to second- and
      third-division cells by telomere and centromere (TC) staining followed by M-FISH.
      We scored CA in lymphocytes of healthy donors after in vitro irradiation and
      those of cancer patients treated by radiation therapy more than 12 years before.
      Our data demonstrate, for the first time, that dicentric chromosomes (DCs)
      decreased by approximately 50% per division. DCs with two centromeres in close
      proximity were more efficiently transmitted, representing 70% of persistent DCs
      in >=M3 cells. Only 1/3 of acentric chromosomes (ACs), ACs with four telomeres,
      and interstitial ACs, were paired in M2 cells and associated with specific DCs
      configurations. In lymphocytes of cancer patients, 82% of detected DCs were
      characterized by these specific configurations. Our findings demonstrate the high
      stability of DCs with two centromeres in close proximity during cell division.
      The frequency of telomere deletion increased during cell cycle progression
      playing an important role in chromosomal instability. These findings could be
      exploited in the follow-up of exposed populations.

PMID- 28607453
TI  - Specific skeletal muscle sphingolipid compounds in energy expenditure regulation
      and weight gain in Native Americans of Southwestern heritage.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In animal models, a role in the regulation of energy
      expenditure (EE) has been ascribed to sphingolipids, active components of cell
      membranes participating in cellular signaling. In humans, it is unknown whether
      sphingolipids have a role in the modulation of EE and, consequently, influence
      weight gain. The present study investigated the putative association of EE and
      weight gain with sphingolipid levels in the human skeletal muscle, a component of
      fat-free mass (the strongest determinant of EE), in adipose tissue and plasma.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: Twenty-four-hour EE, sleeping metabolic rate (SMR) and resting
      metabolic rate (RMR) were assessed in 35 healthy Native Americans of Southwestern
      heritage (24 male; 30.2+/-7.73 years). Sphingolipid (ceramide, C; sphingomyelin,
      SM) concentrations were measured in skeletal muscle tissue, subcutaneous adipose
      tissue and plasma samples. After 6.68 years (0.26-12.4 years), follow-up weights
      were determined in 16 participants (4 females). RESULTS: Concentrations of C24:0,
      SM18:1/26:1 and SM18:0/24:1 in muscle were associated with 24-h EE (r=-0.47,
      P=0.01), SMR (r=-0.59, P=0.0008) and RMR (r=-0.44, P=0.01), respectively. Certain
      muscle sphingomyelins also predicted weight gain (for example, SM18:1/23:1,
      r=0.74, P=0.004). For specific muscle sphingomyelins that correlated with weight
      gain and EE (SM18:1/23:0, SM18:1/23:1 and SMR, r=-0.51, r=-0.41, respectively,
      all P<0.03; SM18:1/24:2 and RMR, r=-0.36, P=0.03), associations could be
      reproduced with SMR in adipose tissue (all r<-0.46, all P<0.04), though not in
      plasma. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary, novel evidence, that
      specific muscle and adipose tissue sphingolipid compounds are associated with EE
      and weight gain in Native Americans of Southwestern heritage. Further studies are
      warranted to investigate whether sphingolipids of different body compartments act
      in concert to modulate energy balance in humans.

PMID- 28607455
TI  - Discovering overlapped protein complexes from weighted PPI networks by removing
      inter-module hubs.
AB  - Detecting known protein complexes and predicting undiscovered protein complexes
      from protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks help us to understand principles
      of cell organization and its functions. Nevertheless, the discovery of protein
      complexes based on experiment still needs to be explored. Therefore,
      computational methods are useful approaches to overcome the experimental
      limitations. Nevertheless, extraction of protein complexes from PPI network is
      often nontrivial. Two major constraints are large amount of noise and ignorance
      of occurrence time of different interactions in PPI network. In this paper, an
      efficient algorithm, Inter Module Hub Removal Clustering (IMHRC), is developed
      based on inter-module hub removal in the weighted PPI network which can detect
      overlapped complexes. By removing some of the inter-module hubs and module hubs,
      IMHRC eliminates high amount of noise in dataset and implicitly considers
      different occurrence time of the PPI in network. The performance of the IMHRC was
      evaluated on several benchmark datasets and results were compared with some of
      the state-of-the-art models. The protein complexes discovered with the IMHRC
      method show significantly better agreement with the real complexes than other
      current methods. Our algorithm provides an accurate and scalable method for
      detecting and predicting protein complexes from PPI networks.

PMID- 28607454
TI  - Insulin-sparing and fungible effects of E4orf1 combined with an adipocyte
      targeting sequence in mouse models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Obesity impairs glycemic control and causes insulin resistance and type 2
      diabetes. Adenovirus 36 (Ad36) infection can increase the uptake of excess
      glucose from blood into adipocytes by increasing GLUT4 translocation through the
      Ras-Akt signaling pathway, which bypasses PI3K-Akt-mediated insulin receptor
      signaling. E4orf1, a viral gene expressed early during Ad36 infection, is
      responsible for this insulin-sparing effect and may be an alternative target for
      improving insulin resistance. To deliver the gene to adipocytes only, we
      connected the adipocyte-targeting sequence (ATS) to the 5' end of E4orf1 (ATS
      E4orf1). In vitro transfection of ATS-E4orf1 into preadipocytes activated factors
      for GLUT4 translocation and adipogenesis to the same extent as did Hemagglutinin
      (HA)-E4orf1 transfection as positive reference. Moreover, the Transwell migration
      assay also showed that ATS-E4orf1 secreted by liver cells activated Akt in
      preadipocytes. We used a hydrodynamic gene delivery technique to deliver ATS
      E4orf1 into high-fat diet-fed and streptozotocin-injected mice (disease models of
      type 2 and type 1 diabetes, respectively). ATS-E4orf1 improved the ability to
      eliminate excess glucose from the blood and ameliorated liver function in both
      disease models. These findings suggest that ATS-E4orf1 has insulin-sparing and
      fungible effects in type 2 and 1 diabetes independent of the presence of insulin.

PMID- 28607456
TI  - An Advanced Deep Learning Approach for Ki-67 Stained Hotspot Detection and
      Proliferation Rate Scoring for Prognostic Evaluation of Breast Cancer.
AB  - Being a non-histone protein, Ki-67 is one of the essential biomarkers for the
      immunohistochemical assessment of proliferation rate in breast cancer screening
      and grading. The Ki-67 signature is always sensitive to radiotherapy and
      chemotherapy. Due to random morphological, color and intensity variations of cell
      nuclei (immunopositive and immunonegative), manual/subjective assessment of Ki-67
      scoring is error-prone and time-consuming. Hence, several machine learning
      approaches have been reported; nevertheless, none of them had worked on deep
      learning based hotspots detection and proliferation scoring. In this article, we
      suggest an advanced deep learning model for computerized recognition of candidate
      hotspots and subsequent proliferation rate scoring by quantifying Ki-67
      appearance in breast cancer immunohistochemical images. Unlike existing Ki-67
      scoring techniques, our methodology uses Gamma mixture model (GMM) with
      Expectation-Maximization for seed point detection and patch selection and deep
      learning, comprises with decision layer, for hotspots detection and proliferation
      scoring. Experimental results provide 93% precision, 0.88% recall and 0.91% F
      score value. The model performance has also been compared with the pathologists'
      manual annotations and recently published articles. In future, the proposed deep
      learning framework will be highly reliable and beneficial to the junior and
      senior pathologists for fast and efficient Ki-67 scoring.

PMID- 28607457
TI  - Toward fine-grained phenotyping of suicidal behavior: the role of suicidal
      subtypes.

PMID- 28607458
TI  - Prenatal fever and autism risk.
AB  - Some studies suggest that prenatal infection increases risk of autism spectrum
      disorders (ASDs). This study was undertaken in a prospective cohort in Norway to
      examine whether we could find evidence to support an association of the prenatal
      occurrence of fever, a common manifestation of infection, with ASD risk.
      Prospective questionnaires provided maternal exposure data; case status was
      established from clinical assessments and registry linkages. In a large,
      prospectively ascertained cohort of pregnant mothers and their offspring, we
      examined infants born ?32 weeks for associations between fever exposure in each
      trimester and ASD risk using logistic regression. Maternal exposure to second
      trimester fever was associated with increased ASD risk, adjusting for presence of
      fever in other trimesters and confounders (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.40; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.09-1.79), with a similar, but nonsignificant, point
      estimate in the first trimester. Risk increased markedly with exposure to three
      or more fever episodes after 12 weeks' gestation (aOR, 3.12; 1.28-7.63). ASD risk
      appears to increase with maternal fever, particularly in the second trimester.
      Risk magnified dose dependently with exposure to multiple fevers after 12 weeks'
      gestation. Our findings support a role for gestational maternal infection and
      innate immune responses to infection in the pathogenesis of at least some cases
      of ASD.

PMID- 28607460
TI  - Recombinant Thrombomodulin Exerts Anti-autophagic Action in Endothelial Cells and
      Provides Anti-atherosclerosis Effect in Apolipoprotein E Deficient Mice.
AB  - Stress-induced alteration in endothelial cells (ECs) integrity precedes the
      development of atherosclerosis. Previous studies showed that the soluble
      recombinant thrombomodulin (rTM) not only increases ECs proliferation but also
      exerts anti-apoptotic activity in ECs. However, the functional significance of
      soluble rTM on autophagy-related apoptosis in ECs is still undetermined.
      Implicating a cytoprotective role for rTM in persistent serum starvation (SS)
      induced autophagy in cultured ECs, we found that treatment of rTM decreased the
      expression of SS-induced autophagy-related proteins, ATG5 and LC3, and the
      formation of autophagosomes through activation of AKT/mTOR pathway. In addition,
      treatment of rTM decreased SS-induced EC apoptosis, but this effect of rTM could
      not be recapitulated by co-treatment with a potent autophagy inducer, rapamycin
      and in ECs with ATG5 knockdown. In human atherosclerosis specimens, expression of
      autophagy markers, ATG13 and LC3, were more abundant in aortic intimal ECs with
      severe atherosclerosis than those without atherosclerosis. Moreover, compared to
      saline treatment group, administration of rTM reduced LC3 and ATG13 expression,
      intimal EC apoptosis, and atherosclerotic lesion severity in the aorta of
      apolipoprotein E deficient mice. In conclusion, treatment with rTM suppressed
      stress-induced autophagy overactivation in ECs, provided ECs protective effects,
      and decreased atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E deficient mice.

PMID- 28607459
TI  - The Arf6 activator Efa6/PSD3 confers regional specificity and modulates ethanol
      consumption in Drosophila and humans.
AB  - Ubiquitously expressed genes have been implicated in a variety of specific
      behaviors, including responses to ethanol. However, the mechanisms that confer
      this behavioral specificity have remained elusive. Previously, we showed that the
      ubiquitously expressed small GTPase Arf6 is required for normal ethanol-induced
      sedation in adult Drosophila. Here, we show that this behavioral response also
      requires Efa6, one of (at least) three Drosophila Arf6 guanine exchange factors.
      Ethanol-naive Arf6 and Efa6 mutants were sensitive to ethanol-induced sedation
      and lacked rapid tolerance upon re-exposure to ethanol, when compared with wild
      type flies. In contrast to wild-type flies, both Arf6 and Efa6 mutants preferred
      alcohol-containing food without prior ethanol experience. An analysis of the
      human ortholog of Arf6 and orthologs of Efa6 (PSD1-4) revealed that the minor G
      allele of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs13265422 in PSD3, as well as a
      haplotype containing rs13265422, was associated with an increased frequency of
      drinking and binge drinking episodes in adolescents. The same haplotype was also
      associated with increased alcohol dependence in an independent European cohort.
      Unlike the ubiquitously expressed human Arf6 GTPase, PSD3 localization is
      restricted to the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Functional
      magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the same PSD3 haplotype was also
      associated with a differential functional magnetic resonance imaging signal in
      the PFC during a Go/No-Go task, which engages PFC-mediated executive control. Our
      translational analysis, therefore, suggests that PSD3 confers regional
      specificity to ubiquitous Arf6 in the PFC to modulate human alcohol-drinking
      behaviors.

PMID- 28607461
TI  - Geographic variation in pneumococcal vaccine efficacy estimated from dynamic
      modeling of epidemiological data post-PCV7.
AB  - Although mean efficacy of multivalent pneumococcus vaccines has been intensively
      studied, variance in vaccine efficacy (VE) has been overlooked. Different net
      individual protection across settings can be driven by environmental conditions,
      local serotype and clonal composition, as well as by socio-demographic and
      genetic host factors. Understanding efficacy variation has implications for
      population-level effectiveness and other eco-evolutionary feedbacks. Here I show
      that realized VE can vary across epidemiological settings, by applying a multi
      site-one-model approach to data post-vaccination. I analyse serotype prevalence
      dynamics following PCV7, in asymptomatic carriage in children attending day care
      in Portugal, Norway, France, Greece, Hungary and Hong-Kong. Model fitting to each
      dataset provides site-specific estimates for vaccine efficacy against
      acquisition, and pneumococcal transmission parameters. According to this model,
      variable serotype replacement across sites can be explained through variable PCV7
      efficacy, ranging from 40% in Norway to 10% in Hong-Kong. While the details of
      how this effect is achieved remain to be determined, here I report three factors
      negatively associated with the VE readout, including initial prevalence of
      serotype 19F, daily mean temperature, and the Gini index. The study warrants more
      attention on local modulators of vaccine performance and calls for predictive
      frameworks within and across populations.

PMID- 28607462
TI  - MatureP: prediction of secreted proteins with exclusive information from their
      mature regions.
AB  - More than a third of the cellular proteome is non-cytoplasmic. Most secretory
      proteins use the Sec system for export and are targeted to membranes using signal
      peptides and mature domains. To specifically analyze bacterial mature domain
      features, we developed MatureP, a classifier that predicts secretory sequences
      through features exclusively computed from their mature domains. MatureP was
      trained using Just Add Data Bio, an automated machine learning tool. Mature
      domains are predicted efficiently with ~92% success, as measured by the Area
      Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC). Predictions were
      validated using experimental datasets of mutated secretory proteins. The features
      selected by MatureP reveal prominent differences in amino acid content between
      secreted and cytoplasmic proteins. Amino-terminal mature domain sequences have
      enhanced disorder, more hydroxyl and polar residues and less hydrophobics.
      Cytoplasmic proteins have prominent amino-terminal hydrophobic stretches and
      charged regions downstream. Presumably, secretory mature domains comprise a
      distinct protein class. They balance properties that promote the necessary
      flexibility required for the maintenance of non-folded states during targeting
      and secretion with the ability of post-secretion folding. These findings provide
      novel insight in protein trafficking, sorting and folding mechanisms and may
      benefit protein secretion biotechnology.

PMID- 28607463
TI  - Exploring a Role for Regulatory miRNAs In Wound Healing during Ageing:Involvement
      of miR-200c in wound repair.
AB  - Multiple factors and conditions can lead to impaired wound healing. Chronic non
      healing wounds are a common problem among the elderly. To identify microRNAs
      negatively impacting the wound repair, global miRNA profiling of wounds collected
      from young and old mice was performed. A subset of miRNAs that exhibited an age
      dependent expression pattern during wound closure was identified, including miR
      31 and miR-200c. The expression of miR-200 family members was markedly
      downregulated upon wounding in both young and aged mice, with an exception of
      acute upregulation of miR-200c at the early phase of wound healing in aged skin.
      In unwounded aged skin (versus unwounded younger skin), the level of miR-200c was
      also found elevated in both human and mice. Overexpression of miR-200c in human
      ex vivo wounds delayed re-epithelialisation and inhibited cell proliferation in
      the wound epithelium. Modulation of miR-200c expression in both human and mouse
      keratinocytes in vitro revealed inhibitory effects of miR-200c on migration, but
      not proliferation. Accelerated wound closure in vitro induced by anti-miR-200c
      was associated with upregulation of genes controlling cell migration. Thus, our
      study identified miR-200c as a critical determinant that inhibits cell migration
      during skin repair after injury and may contribute to age-associated alterations
      in wound repair.

PMID- 28607464
TI  - Quantized chiral anomaly materials cloak.
AB  - Chiral anomaly materials (CAM, e.g., axion insulator, topological insulator and
      some of Weyl semimetal) are new states of quantum matter. Anomalous Hall effect
      can occur in CAM, the anomalous Hall effect is closely related to the topological
      magneto-electric effect, i.e., when an electric field is applied to CAM, not only
      the electric field is induced, but also the magnetic field, vice versa. According
      to those properties, we design an electric cloak with quantized CAM and
      conductor, and a magnetic cloak with quantized CAM and superconductor. Simulation
      and calculation results show that the electric cloak can cloak applied electric
      field and induce magnetic field, and the magnetic cloak can cloak applied
      magnetic field and induce electric field. When applied electric field is
      generated by a point charge, the monopole can be obtained.

PMID- 28607465
TI  - Spiraling elliptic Hermite-Gaussian solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media without
      anisotropy.
AB  - We introduce a kind of the spiraling elliptic Hermite-Gaussian solitons in
      nonlocal nonlinear media without anisotropy, which carries the orbital angular
      momentum and can rotate in the transverse. The n-th mode of the spiraling
      elliptic Hermite-Gaussian solitons has n holes nested in the elliptic profile.
      The analytical spiraling elliptic Hermite-Gaussian solitons solutions are
      obtained based on the variational approach, which agree well with the numerical
      simulations. It is found that the critical power and the critical angular
      velocity for the spiraling elliptic Hermite-Gaussian solitons are the same as the
      counterpart of the ground mode.

PMID- 28607466
TI  - Plausibility of potassium ion-exchanged ZSM-5 as soot combustion catalysts.
AB  - Potassium (K) ion-exchanged ZSM-5 zeolites were investigated for catalytic soot
      combustion. X-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS), Raman, in situ IR and NH3
      temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD) confirmed the location of K+ at the
      ion-exchanged sites. Temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) reactions showed that
      K-ZSM-5 decreased ignition tempeatures of soot combustion and increased
      selectivity to CO2. The improved activity for soot combustion by increasing K+
      exchanged amounts via decreasing the Si/Al ratio reinforced the K+ ions
      participating in soot combustion. 18O2 isotopic isothermal reactions suggested
      the activation of gaseous oxygen by the K+ ions. This demonstrated a new
      appliction of alkali metal exchanged zeolites and the strategy for enhancement of
      catalytic soot combustion activity.

PMID- 28607467
TI  - Changes in novel haematological parameters following thermal injury: A
      prospective observational cohort study.
AB  - The mortality caused by sepsis is high following thermal injury. Diagnosis is
      difficult due to the ongoing systemic inflammatory response. Previous studies
      suggest that cellular parameters may show promise as diagnostic markers of
      sepsis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of thermal injury on
      novel haematological parameters and to study their association with clinical
      outcomes. Haematological analysis was performed using a Sysmex XN-1000 analyser
      on blood samples acquired on the day of the thermal injury to 12 months post
      injury in 39 patients (15-95% TBSA). Platelet counts had a nadir at day 3
      followed by a rebound thrombocytosis at day 21, with nadir values significantly
      lower in septic patients. Measurements of extended neutrophil parameters (NEUT-Y
      and NEUT-RI) demonstrated that septic patients had significantly higher levels of
      neutrophil nucleic acid content. A combination of platelet impedance count (PLT
      I) and NEUT-Y at day 3 post-injury exhibited good discriminatory power for the
      identifying septic patients (AUROC = 0.915, 95% CI [0.827, 1.000]). Importantly,
      the model had improved performance when adjusted for mortality with an AUROC of
      0.974 (0.931, 1.000). A combination of PLT-I and NEUT-Y show potential for the
      early diagnosis of sepsis post-burn injury. Importantly, these tests can be
      performed rapidly and require a small volume of whole blood highlighting their
      potential utility in clinical practice.

PMID- 28607468
TI  - Clostridium difficile flagella induce a pro-inflammatory response in intestinal
      epithelium of mice in cooperation with toxins.
AB  - Clostridium difficile is the most important enteropathogen involved in gut
      nosocomial post-antibiotic infections. The emergence of hypervirulent strains has
      contributed to increased mortality and morbidity of CDI. The C. difficile toxins
      contribute directly to CDI-associated lesions of the gut, but other bacterial
      factors are needed for the bacteria to adhere and colonize the intestinal
      epithelium. The C. difficile flagella, which confer motility and chemotaxis for
      successful intestinal colonization, could play an additional role in bacterial
      pathogenesis by contributing to the inflammatory response of the host and mucosal
      injury. Indeed, by activating the TLR5, flagella can elicit activation of the
      MAPK and NF-kappaB cascades of cell signaling, leading to the secretion of pro
      inflammatory cytokines. In the current study, we demonstrate, by using an animal
      model of CDI, a synergic effect of flagella and toxins in eliciting an
      inflammatory mucosal response. In this model, the absence of flagella
      dramatically decreases the degree of mucosal inflammation in mice and the sole
      presence of toxins without flagella was not enough to elicit epithelial lesions.
      These results highlight the important role of C. difficile flagella in eliciting
      mucosal lesions as long as the toxins exert their action on the epithelium.

PMID- 28607469
TI  - PTH [1-34] induced differentiation and mineralization of mandibular condylar
      cartilage.
AB  - Intermittent Parathyroid Hormone (I-PTH) is the only FDA approved anabolic drug
      therapy available for the treatment of osteoporosis in males and postmenopausal
      females. The effects of I-PTH on the chondrogenic lineage of the mandibular
      condylar cartilage (MCC) are not well understood. To investigate the role of I
      PTH on the MCC and subchondral bone, we carried out our studies using 4 to 5 week
      old triple transgenic mice (Col1a1XCol2a1XCol10a1). The experimental group was
      injected with PTH (80 MUg/kg) daily for 2 weeks, while control group was injected
      with saline. Our histology showed that the I-PTH treatment led to an increased
      number of cells expressing Col1a1, Col2a1 and Col10a1. Additionally, there was an
      increase in cellular proliferation, increased proteoglycan distribution,
      increased cartilage thickness, increased TRAP activity, and mineralization.
      Immunohistochemical staining showed increased expression of pSMAD158 and VEGF in
      the MCC and subchondral bone. Furthermore our microCT data showed that I-PTH
      treatment led to an increased bone volume fraction, tissue density and trabecular
      thickness, with a decrease in trabecular spacing. Morphometric measurements
      showed increased mandibular length and condyle head length following I-PTH
      treatment. In conclusion, our study suggests that I-PTH plays a critical role in
      cellular proliferation, proteoglycan distribution, and mineralization of the MCC.

PMID- 28607470
TI  - A phase II, multicentre trial of decitabine in higher-risk chronic myelomonocytic
      leukemia.
AB  - Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a complex clonal hematological disorder
      classified among myelodysplastic (MDS)/myeloproliferative neoplasms. Prognosis is
      poor and there is a lack of effective treatments. The hypomethylating agent
      decitabine has shown activity against MDS and elderly acute myeloid leukemia, but
      there is little data focusing specifically on its efficacy in CMML. In this
      prospective, phase 2 Italian study, CMML patients received intravenous decitabine
      20 mg/m2 per day on Days 1-5 of a 28-day treatment cycle. Response was evaluated
      after four and six cycles; patients responding at the end of six cycles could
      continue treatment with decitabine. Forty-three patients were enrolled; >50% were
      high-risk according to four CMML-specific scoring systems. In the intent-to-treat
      population (n=42), the overall response rate after six cycles was 47.6%, with
      seven complete responses (16.6%), eight marrow responses (19%), one partial
      response (2.4%) and four hematological improvements (9.5%). After a median follow
      up of 51.5 months (range: 44.4-57.2), median overall survival was 17 months, with
      responders having a significantly longer survival than non-responders (P=0.02).
      Grade 3/4 anemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia occurred in 28.6%, 50% and 38%
      of patients, respectively. Decitabine appears to be an effective and well
      tolerated treatment for patients with high-risk CMML.

PMID- 28607472
TI  - A new look at risk patterns related to coronary heart disease incidence using
      survival tree analysis: 12 Years Longitudinal Study.
AB  - We identified risk patterns associated with incident coronary heart disease (CHD)
      using survival tree, and compared performance of survival tree versus Cox
      proportional hazards (Cox PH) in a cohort of Iranian adults. Data on 8,279
      participants (3,741 men) aged >=30 yr were used to analysis. Survival trees
      identified seven subgroups with different risk patterns using four [(age, non-HDL
      C, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and family history of diabetes] and five [(age,
      systolic blood pressure (SBP), non-HDL-C, FPG and family history of CVD]
      predictors in women and men, respectively. Additional risk factors were
      identified by Cox models which included: family history of CVD and waist
      circumference (in both genders); hip circumference, former smoking and using
      aspirin among men; diastolic blood pressure and lipid lowering drug among women.
      Survival trees and multivariate Cox models yielded comparable performance, as
      measured by integrated Brier score (IBS) and Harrell's C-index on validation
      datasets; however, survival trees produced more parsimonious models with a
      minimum number of well recognized risk factors of CHD incidence, and identified
      important interactions between these factors which have important implications
      for intervention programs and improve clinical decision making.

PMID- 28607471
TI  - Gemtuzumab ozogamicin in acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - CD33 is variably expressed on leukemia blasts in almost all patients with acute
      myeloid leukemia (AML) and possibly leukemia stem cells in some. Efforts to
      target CD33 therapeutically have focused on gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO; Mylotarg),
      an antibody-drug conjugate delivering a DNA-damaging calicheamicin derivative. GO
      is most effective in acute promyelocytic leukemia but induces remissions in other
      AML types and received accelerated approval in the US in 2000. However, because a
      large follow-up study showed no survival improvement and increased early deaths
      the drug manufacturer voluntarily withdrew the US New Drug Application in 2010.
      More recently, a meta-analysis of data from several trials reported better
      survival in adults with favorable- and intermediate-risk cytogenetics but not
      adverse-risk AML randomized to receive GO along with intensive induction
      chemotherapy. As a result, GO is being re-evaluated by regulatory agencies.
      Responses to GO are diverse and predictive biological response markers are
      needed. Besides cytogenetic risk, ATP-binding cassette transporter activity and
      possibly CD33 display on AML blasts may predict response, but established
      clinical assays and prospective validation are lacking. Single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms in CD33 may also be predictive, most notably rs12459419 where the
      minor T-allele leads to decreased display of full-length CD33 and preferential
      translation of a splice variant not recognized by GO. Data from retrospective
      analyses suggest only patients with the rs12459419 CC genotype may benefit from
      GO therapy but confirmation is needed. Most important may be markers for AML cell
      sensitivity to calicheamicin, which varies over 100 000-fold, but useful assays
      are unavailable. Novel CD33-targeted drugs may overcome some of GO's limitations
      but it is currently unknown whether such drugs will be more effective in patients
      benefitting from GO and/or improve outcomes in patients not benefitting from GO,
      and what the supportive care requirements will be to enable their safe use.

PMID- 28607473
TI  - Cycles of vascular plexus formation within the nephrogenic zone of the developing
      mouse kidney.
AB  - The renal vasculature is required for blood filtration, blood pressure
      regulation, and pH maintenance, as well as other specialised kidney functions.
      Yet, despite its importance, many aspects of its development are poorly
      understood. To provide a detailed spatiotemporal analysis of kidney
      vascularisation, we collected images of embryonic mouse kidneys at various
      developmental time-points. Here we describe the first stages of kidney
      vascularisation and demonstrate that polygonal networks of vessels (endothelial
      plexuses) form in cycles at the periphery of the kidney. We show that kidney
      vascularisation initiates at E11, when vessels connected to the embryonic
      circulation form a ring around the ureteric bud. From E13.5, endothelial plexuses
      organise around populations of cap mesenchymal and ureteric bud cells in a
      cyclical, predictable manner. Specifically, as the ureteric bud bifurcates,
      endothelia form across the bifurcation site as the cap mesenchyme splits. The
      plexuses are vascular, carry erythrocytes, are enclosed within a basement
      membrane, and can always be traced back to the renal artery. Our results are a
      major step towards understanding how the global architecture of the renal
      vasculature is achieved.

PMID- 28607474
TI  - Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and
      delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing.
AB  - The association of irregular sleep schedules with circadian timing and academic
      performance has not been systematically examined. We studied 61 undergraduates
      for 30 days using sleep diaries, and quantified sleep regularity using a novel
      metric, the sleep regularity index (SRI). In the most and least regular
      quintiles, circadian phase and light exposure were assessed using salivary dim
      light melatonin onset (DLMO) and wrist-worn photometry, respectively. DLMO
      occurred later (00:08 +/- 1:54 vs. 21:32 +/- 1:48; p < 0.003); the daily sleep
      propensity rhythm peaked later (06:33 +/- 0:19 vs. 04:45 +/- 0:11; p < 0.005);
      and light rhythms had lower amplitude (102 +/- 19 lux vs. 179 +/- 29 lux; p <
      0.005) in Irregular compared to Regular sleepers. A mathematical model of the
      circadian pacemaker and its response to light was used to demonstrate that
      Irregular vs. Regular group differences in circadian timing were likely primarily
      due to their different patterns of light exposure. A positive correlation (r =
      0.37; p < 0.004) between academic performance and SRI was observed. These
      findings show that irregular sleep and light exposure patterns in college
      students are associated with delayed circadian rhythms and lower academic
      performance. Moreover, the modeling results reveal that light-based interventions
      may be therapeutically effective in improving sleep regularity in this
      population.

PMID- 28607475
TI  - Experimental demonstration of quantum digital signatures over 43 dB channel loss
      using differential phase shift quantum key distribution.
AB  - Ensuring the integrity and transferability of digital messages is an important
      challenge in modern communications. Although purely mathematical approaches
      exist, they usually rely on the computational complexity of certain functions, in
      which case there is no guarantee of long-term security. Alternatively, quantum
      digital signatures offer security guaranteed by the physical laws of quantum
      mechanics. Prior experimental demonstrations of quantum digital signatures in
      optical fiber have typically been limited to operation over short distances
      and/or operated in a laboratory environment. Here we report the experimental
      transmission of quantum digital signatures over channel losses of up to 42.8 +/-
      1.2 dB in a link comprised of 90 km of installed fiber with additional optical
      attenuation introduced to simulate longer distances. The channel loss of 42.8 +/-
      1.2 dB corresponds to an equivalent distance of 134.2 +/- 3.8 km and this
      represents the longest effective distance and highest channel loss that quantum
      digital signatures have been shown to operate over to date. Our theoretical model
      indicates that this represents close to the maximum possible channel attenuation
      for this quantum digital signature protocol, defined as the loss for which the
      signal rate is comparable to the dark count rate of the detectors.

PMID- 28607476
TI  - Zinc finger gene 217 (ZNF217) Promoted Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)
      through Regulating E2 Synthesis and Inhibiting Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1).
AB  - Zinc finger gene 217 (ZNF217) is a candidate gene of polycystic ovary syndrome
      (PCOS) which is vulnerable to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). However,
      the relationship between ZNF217 and OHSS is largely unknown. Our study
      demonstrated that ZNF217 was mainly distributed in the granulosa cells of rat
      ovary. Significantly higher expression of ovarian ZNF217 was detected in OHSS
      rats, being consistent with serum 17beta-estradiol concentration and ovarian
      aromatase. Moreover, OHSS rats also showed decreased ovarian TSP-1 mRNA, an
      acknowledged VEGF signaling suppressor. The same changes were detected in human
      granulosa cells and follicular fluid. Thus, the increased ZNF217 and decreased
      TSP-1 may participate in OHSS onset. In vitro experiment revealed that ZNF217
      positively regulated E2 synthesis through promoting cAMP response element binding
      protein (CREB) and thereby CYP19A1 in KGN cells. Furthermore, ZNF217 negatively
      regulated TSP-1 in KGN cells while TSP-1 promoted claudin1 and inhibited nitric
      oxide (NO) in HUVECs and HAECs. Both of claudin1 and NO are responsible for the
      regulation of vascular permeability (VP). Therefore, we demonstrated that ZNF217
      contributed to OHSS onset through promoting E2 synthesis and the increase of VP.
      Moreover, the increased ZNF217 and decreased TSP-1 provided new targets for the
      prevention or treatment of OHSS in the future.

PMID- 28607477
TI  - GABAA receptor subunit gene polymorphisms predict symptom-based and developmental
      deficits in Chinese Han children and adolescents with autistic spectrum
      disorders.
AB  - GABAA receptor subunit genes GABRB3, GABRA5, and GABRG3 located on chromosome
      15q11-q13 have been implicated in the etiology of autistic spectrum disorders
      (ASD). This study intended to investigate the possible role of single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) present in GABRB3 (rs2081648 and rs1426217), GABRA5
      (rs35586628), and GABRG3 (rs208129) genes in ASD susceptibility and symptom-based
      and developmental phenotypes of ASD in Chinese Han children and adolescents. 99
      ASD patients and 231 age- and gender- frequency-matched typical developing (TD)
      controls were tested by TaqMan(r) genotyping assay. Symptom-based phenotypes were
      evaluated by Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Autism Behavior Checklist
      (ABC), and developmental phenotypes were assessed by Early Childhood Development
      Questionnaire (ECDQ) in ASD patients. Three haplotypes and global chi 2 test of
      all SNPs demonstrated significant associations between ASD and TD groups.
      Besides, GABRB3 rs2081648, GABRA5 rs35586628, and GABRG3 rs208129 polymorphisms
      were associated with symptom-based deficits in social interaction, sensorimotor
      and somatosensory coordination, visual response, imitation, activity level,
      language expression and adaptability. Developmental abnormalities in late
      emergences of social interaction and fine motor were detected in GABRB3 rs2081648
      polymorphism. Overall results indicated that gene synergy may participate in ASD
      pathogenesis, and GABAA receptor gene polymorphisms can predict symptom-based and
      developmental deficits in ASD individuals.

PMID- 28607478
TI  - Precocious centriole disengagement and centrosome fragmentation induced by
      mitotic delay.
AB  - The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) delays mitotic progression until all sister
      chromatid pairs achieve bi-orientation, and while the SAC can maintain mitotic
      arrest for extended periods, moderate delays in mitotic progression have
      significant effects on the resulting daughter cells. Here we show that when
      retinal-pigmented epithelial (RPE1) cells experience mitotic delay, there is a
      time-dependent increase in centrosome fragmentation and centriole disengagement.
      While most cells with disengaged centrioles maintain spindle bipolarity,
      clustering of disengaged centrioles requires the kinesin-14, HSET. Centrosome
      fragmentation and precocious centriole disengagement depend on separase and
      anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) activity, which also triggers the
      acquisition of distal appendage markers on daughter centrioles and the loss of
      procentriolar markers. Together, these results suggest that moderate delays in
      mitotic progression trigger the initiation of centriole licensing through
      centriole disengagement, at which point the ability to maintain spindle
      bipolarity becomes a function of HSET-mediated spindle pole clustering.

PMID- 28607479
TI  - Corrigendum: mTORC1-independent TFEB activation via Akt inhibition promotes
      cellular clearance in neurodegenerative storage diseases.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14338.

PMID- 28607480
TI  - Trends in 30-Day and 1-Year Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized With Cirrhosis
      From 2004 to 2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Recent data suggest decreasing in-patient mortality in patients
      hospitalized with cirrhosis. We sought to determine if improvements in short-term
      outcomes for patients with cirrhosis are associated with changes in longer-term
      outcomes. METHODS: We examined temporal trends in 30 days and 1-year
      postdischarge mortality among patients hospitalized with cirrhosis at any of the
      126 Veterans Administration hospitals from 2004 and 2013. We adjusted for a range
      of demographic, liver disease severity, and comorbidity-related factors to
      account for differences in patient cohorts over time. RESULTS: We identified
      109,358 unique patients who were hospitalized with cirrhosis between 2004 and
      2013. In-hospital mortality decreased from 11.4 to 7.6%, whereas 1-year mortality
      decreased from 34.5 to 33.2%. Over a third of out-of-hospital deaths occurred
      within the first 30 days after discharge; 30-day mortality increased from 9.3 to
      10.1%. After adjusting for patient factors, the odds of in-hospital mortality in
      2013 were 30% lower (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI),
      0.64-0.78), 1-year mortality were 13% lower (adjusted OR=0.87, 95% CI=0.82-0.93),
      whereas the 30-day mortality were 10% higher than 2004 (adjusted OR=1.10, 95%
      CI=0.99-1.21), although the latter did not reach statistical significance.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients admitted with cirrhosis, reduction in in-hospital
      mortality was associated with less marked reduction in 1-year mortality, and an
      unchanged, if not higher, 30-day mortality following discharge. Our data suggest
      that some of the burden of mortality in cirrhosis has shifted from in-hospital to
      the immediate postdischarge period.

PMID- 28607481
TI  - Cell cycle: Division enzyme regulates metabolism.

PMID- 28607482
TI  - Principles of early human development and germ cell program from conserved model
      systems.
AB  - Human primordial germ cells (hPGCs), the precursors of sperm and eggs, originate
      during weeks 2-3 of early post-implantation development. Using in vitro models of
      hPGC induction, recent studies have suggested that there are marked mechanistic
      differences in the specification of human and mouse PGCs. This may be due in part
      to the divergence in their pluripotency networks and early post-implantation
      development. As early human embryos are not accessible for direct study, we
      considered alternatives including porcine embryos that, as in humans, develop as
      bilaminar embryonic discs. Here we show that porcine PGCs originate from the
      posterior pre-primitive-streak competent epiblast by sequential upregulation of
      SOX17 and BLIMP1 in response to WNT and BMP signalling. We use this model
      together with human and monkey in vitro models simulating peri-gastrulation
      development to show the conserved principles of epiblast development for
      competency for primordial germ cell fate. This process is followed by initiation
      of the epigenetic program and regulated by a balanced SOX17-BLIMP1 gene dosage.
      Our combinatorial approach using human, porcine and monkey in vivo and in vitro
      models provides synthetic insights into early human development.

PMID- 28607483
TI  - Vision: These retinas are made for walkin'.

PMID- 28607484
TI  - Rare cell variability and drug-induced reprogramming as a mode of cancer drug
      resistance.
AB  - Therapies that target signalling molecules that are mutated in cancers can often
      have substantial short-term effects, but the emergence of resistant cancer cells
      is a major barrier to full cures. Resistance can result from secondary mutations,
      but in other cases there is no clear genetic cause, raising the possibility of
      non-genetic rare cell variability. Here we show that human melanoma cells can
      display profound transcriptional variability at the single-cell level that
      predicts which cells will ultimately resist drug treatment. This variability
      involves infrequent, semi-coordinated transcription of a number of resistance
      markers at high levels in a very small percentage of cells. The addition of drug
      then induces epigenetic reprogramming in these cells, converting the transient
      transcriptional state to a stably resistant state. This reprogramming begins with
      a loss of SOX10-mediated differentiation followed by activation of new signalling
      pathways, partially mediated by the activity of the transcription factors JUN
      and/or AP-1 and TEAD. Our work reveals the multistage nature of the acquisition
      of drug resistance and provides a framework for understanding resistance dynamics
      in single cells. We find that other cell types also exhibit sporadic expression
      of many of these same marker genes, suggesting the existence of a general program
      in which expression is displayed in rare subpopulations of cells.

PMID- 28607485
TI  - Exosomes facilitate therapeutic targeting of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer.
AB  - The mutant form of the GTPase KRAS is a key driver of pancreatic cancer but
      remains a challenging therapeutic target. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles
      generated by all cells, and are naturally present in the blood. Here we show that
      enhanced retention of exosomes, compared to liposomes, in the circulation of mice
      is likely due to CD47-mediated protection of exosomes from phagocytosis by
      monocytes and macrophages. Exosomes derived from normal fibroblast-like
      mesenchymal cells were engineered to carry short interfering RNA or short hairpin
      RNA specific to oncogenic KrasG12D, a common mutation in pancreatic cancer.
      Compared to liposomes, the engineered exosomes (known as iExosomes) target
      oncogenic KRAS with an enhanced efficacy that is dependent on CD47, and is
      facilitated by macropinocytosis. Treatment with iExosomes suppressed cancer in
      multiple mouse models of pancreatic cancer and significantly increased overall
      survival. Our results demonstrate an approach for direct and specific targeting
      of oncogenic KRAS in tumours using iExosomes.

PMID- 28607486
TI  - A retinal code for motion along the gravitational and body axes.
AB  - Self-motion triggers complementary visual and vestibular reflexes supporting
      image-stabilization and balance. Translation through space produces one global
      pattern of retinal image motion (optic flow), rotation another. We examined the
      direction preferences of direction-sensitive ganglion cells (DSGCs) in flattened
      mouse retinas in vitro. Here we show that for each subtype of DSGC, direction
      preference varies topographically so as to align with specific translatory optic
      flow fields, creating a neural ensemble tuned for a specific direction of motion
      through space. Four cardinal translatory directions are represented, aligned with
      two axes of high adaptive relevance: the body and gravitational axes. One subtype
      maximizes its output when the mouse advances, others when it retreats, rises or
      falls. Two classes of DSGCs, namely, ON-DSGCs and ON-OFF-DSGCs, share the same
      spatial geometry but weight the four channels differently. Each subtype ensemble
      is also tuned for rotation. The relative activation of DSGC channels uniquely
      encodes every translation and rotation. Although retinal and vestibular systems
      both encode translatory and rotatory self-motion, their coordinate systems
      differ.

PMID- 28607487
TI  - Single-molecule analysis of ligand efficacy in beta2AR-G-protein activation.
AB  - G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated signal transduction is central to
      human physiology and disease intervention, yet the molecular mechanisms
      responsible for ligand-dependent signalling responses remain poorly understood.
      In class A GPCRs, receptor activation and G-protein coupling entail outward
      movements of transmembrane helix 6 (TM6). Here, using single-molecule
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging, we examine TM6 movements in the
      beta2 adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) upon exposure to orthosteric ligands with
      different efficacies, in the absence and presence of the Gs heterotrimer. We show
      that partial and full agonists differentially affect TM6 motions to regulate the
      rate at which GDP-bound beta2AR-Gs complexes are formed and the efficiency of
      nucleotide exchange leading to Gs activation. These data also reveal transient
      nucleotide-bound beta2AR-Gs species that are distinct from known structures, and
      provide single-molecule perspectives on the allosteric link between ligand- and
      nucleotide-binding pockets that shed new light on the G-protein activation
      mechanism.

PMID- 28607488
TI  - Stability and function of regulatory T cells expressing the transcription factor
      T-bet.
AB  - Adaptive immune responses are tailored to different types of pathogens through
      differentiation of naive CD4 T cells into functionally distinct subsets of
      effector T cells (T helper 1 (TH1), TH2, and TH17) defined by expression of the
      key transcription factors T-bet, GATA3, and RORgammat, respectively. Regulatory T
      (Treg) cells comprise a distinct anti-inflammatory lineage specified by the X
      linked transcription factor Foxp3 (refs 2, 3). Paradoxically, some activated Treg
      cells express the aforementioned effector CD4 T cell transcription factors, which
      have been suggested to provide Treg cells with enhanced suppressive capacity.
      Whether expression of these factors in Treg cells-as in effector T cells-is
      indicative of heterogeneity of functionally discrete and stable differentiation
      states, or conversely may be readily reversible, is unknown. Here we demonstrate
      that expression of the TH1-associated transcription factor T-bet in mouse Treg
      cells, induced at steady state and following infection, gradually becomes highly
      stable even under non-permissive conditions. Loss of function or elimination of T
      bet-expressing Treg cells-but not of T-bet expression in Treg cells-resulted in
      severe TH1 autoimmunity. Conversely, following depletion of T-bet- Treg cells,
      the remaining T-bet+ cells specifically inhibited TH1 and CD8 T cell activation
      consistent with their co-localization with T-bet+ effector T cells. These results
      suggest that T-bet+ Treg cells have an essential immunosuppressive function and
      indicate that Treg cell functional heterogeneity is a critical feature of
      immunological tolerance.

PMID- 28607491
TI  - An ubiquitin-dependent balance between mitofusin turnover and fatty acids
      desaturation regulates mitochondrial fusion.
AB  - Mitochondrial integrity relies on homotypic fusion between adjacent outer
      membranes, which is mediated by large GTPases called mitofusins. The regulation
      of this process remains nonetheless elusive. Here, we report a crosstalk between
      the ubiquitin protease Ubp2 and the ubiquitin ligases Mdm30 and Rsp5 that
      modulates mitochondrial fusion. Ubp2 is an antagonist of Rsp5, which promotes
      synthesis of the fatty acids desaturase Ole1. We show that Ubp2 also counteracts
      Mdm30-mediated turnover of the yeast mitofusin Fzo1 and that Mdm30 targets Ubp2
      for degradation thereby inducing Rsp5-mediated desaturation of fatty acids.
      Exogenous desaturated fatty acids inhibit Ubp2 degradation resulting in higher
      levels of Fzo1 and maintenance of efficient mitochondrial fusion. Our results
      demonstrate that the Mdm30-Ubp2-Rsp5 crosstalk regulates mitochondrial fusion by
      coordinating an intricate balance between Fzo1 turnover and the status of fatty
      acids saturation. This pathway may link outer membrane fusion to lipids
      homeostasis.

PMID- 28607489
TI  - The metabolic function of cyclin D3-CDK6 kinase in cancer cell survival.
AB  - D-type cyclins (D1, D2 and D3) and their associated cyclin-dependent kinases
      (CDK4 and CDK6) are components of the core cell cycle machinery that drives cell
      proliferation. Inhibitors of CDK4 and CDK6 are currently being tested in clinical
      trials for patients with several cancer types, with promising results. Here,
      using human cancer cells and patient-derived xenografts in mice, we show that the
      cyclin D3-CDK6 kinase phosphorylates and inhibits the catalytic activity of two
      key enzymes in the glycolytic pathway, 6-phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase
      M2. This re-directs the glycolytic intermediates into the pentose phosphate (PPP)
      and serine pathways. Inhibition of cyclin D3-CDK6 in tumour cells reduces flow
      through the PPP and serine pathways, thereby depleting the antioxidants NADPH and
      glutathione. This, in turn, increases the levels of reactive oxygen species and
      causes apoptosis of tumour cells. The pro-survival function of cyclin D
      associated kinase operates in tumours expressing high levels of cyclin D3-CDK6
      complexes. We propose that measuring the levels of cyclin D3-CDK6 in human
      cancers might help to identify tumour subsets that undergo cell death and tumour
      regression upon inhibition of CDK4 and CDK6. Cyclin D3-CDK6, through its ability
      to link cell cycle and cell metabolism, represents a particularly powerful
      oncoprotein that affects cancer cells at several levels, and this property can be
      exploited for anti-cancer therapy.

PMID- 28607490
TI  - Multiple truncated isoforms of MAVS prevent its spontaneous aggregation in
      antiviral innate immune signalling.
AB  - In response to virus infection, RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs) sense virus RNA and
      induce MAVS to form prion-like aggregates to further propagate antiviral
      signalling. Although monomeric MAVS recombinant protein can assemble into prion
      like filaments spontaneously in vitro, endogenous MAVS in cells is prevented from
      aggregation until viral infection. The mechanism preventing cellular MAVS from
      spontaneous aggregation is unclear. Here we show that multiple N-terminal
      truncated isoforms of MAVS are essential in preventing full-length MAVS from
      spontaneous aggregation through transmembrane domain-mediated homotypic
      interaction. Without these shorter isoforms, full-length MAVS is prone to
      spontaneous aggregation and Nix-mediated mitophagic degradation. In the absence
      of N-terminally truncated forms, blocking Nix-mediated mitophagy stabilizes full
      length MAVS, which aggregates spontaneously and induces the subsequent expression
      of type I interferon and other proinflammatory cytokines. Our data thus uncover
      an important mechanism preventing spontaneous aggregation of endogenous MAVS to
      avoid accidental activation of antiviral innate immune signalling.

PMID- 28607493
TI  - Experimental study of thermal rectification in suspended monolayer graphene.
AB  - Thermal rectification is a fundamental phenomenon for active heat flow control.
      Significant thermal rectification is expected to exist in the asymmetric
      nanostructures, such as nanowires and thin films. As a one-atom-thick membrane,
      graphene has attracted much attention for realizing thermal rectification as
      shown by many molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we experimentally demonstrate
      thermal rectification in various asymmetric monolayer graphene nanostructures. A
      large thermal rectification factor of 26% is achieved in a defect-engineered
      monolayer graphene with nanopores on one side. A thermal rectification factor of
      10% is achieved in a pristine monolayer graphene with nanoparticles deposited on
      one side or with a tapered width. The results indicate that the monolayer
      graphene has great potential to be used for designing high-performance thermal
      rectifiers for heat flow control and energy harvesting.

PMID- 28607495
TI  - Experimental evidence of Willis coupling in a one-dimensional effective material
      element.
AB  - The primary objective of acoustic metamaterial research is to design
      subwavelength systems that behave as effective materials with novel acoustical
      properties. One such property couples the stress-strain and the momentum-velocity
      relations. This response is analogous to bianisotropy in electromagnetism, is
      absent from common materials, and is often referred to as Willis coupling after
      J.R., Willis, who first described it in the context of the dynamic response of
      heterogeneous elastic media. This work presents two principal results: first,
      experimental and theoretical demonstrations, illustrating that Willis properties
      are required to obtain physically meaningful effective material properties
      resulting solely from local behaviour of an asymmetric one-dimensional isolated
      element and, second, an experimental procedure to extract the effective material
      properties from a one-dimensional isolated element. The measured material
      properties are in very good agreement with theoretical predictions and thus
      provide improved understanding of the physical mechanisms leading to Willis
      coupling in acoustic metamaterials.

PMID- 28607492
TI  - Cognitive Characterization of Schizophrenia Risk Variants Involved in Synaptic
      Transmission: Evidence of CACNA1C's Role in Working Memory.
AB  - With >100 common variants associated with schizophrenia risk, establishing their
      biological significance is a priority. We sought to establish cognitive effects
      of risk variants at loci implicated in synaptic transmission by (1) identifying
      GWAS schizophrenia variants whose associated gene function is related to synaptic
      transmission, and (2) testing for association between these and measures of
      neurocognitive function. We selected variants, reported in the largest GWAS to
      date, associated with genes involved in synaptic transmission. Associations
      between genotype and cognitive test score were analyzed in a discovery sample
      (988 Irish participants, including 798 with psychosis), and replication samples
      (528 UK patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder; 921 German
      participants including 362 patients with schizophrenia). Three loci showed
      significant associations with neuropsychological performance in the discovery
      samples. This included an association between the rs2007044 (risk allele G)
      within CACNA1C and poorer working memory performance (increased errors B (95%
      CI)=0.635-4.535, p=0.012), an effect driven mainly by the psychosis groups. In an
      fMRI analysis of working memory performance (n=84 healthy participants, a subset
      of the discovery sample), we further found evidence that the same CACNA1C allele
      was associated with decreased functional connectivity between the right
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right superior occipital gyrus/cuneus and
      anterior cingulate cortex. In conclusion, these data provide evidence to suggest
      that the CACNA1C risk variant rs2007044 is associated with poorer memory function
      that may result from risk carriers' difficulty with top-down initiated responses
      caused by dysconnectivity between the right DLPFC and several cortical regions.

PMID- 28607494
TI  - Routing of the RAB6 secretory pathway towards the lysosome related organelle of
      melanocytes.
AB  - Exocytic carriers convey neo-synthesized components from the Golgi apparatus to
      the cell surface. While the release and anterograde movement of Golgi-derived
      vesicles require the small GTPase RAB6, its effector ELKS promotes the targeting
      and docking of secretory vesicles to particular areas of the plasma membrane.
      Here, we show that specialized cell types exploit and divert the secretory
      pathway towards lysosome related organelles. In cultured melanocytes, the
      secretory route relies on RAB6 and ELKS to directly transport and dock Golgi
      derived carriers to melanosomes. By delivering specific cargos, such as MART-1
      and TYRP2/ DCT, the RAB6/ELKS-dependent secretory pathway controls the formation
      and maturation of melanosomes but also pigment synthesis. In addition,
      pigmentation defects are observed in RAB6 KO mice. Our data together reveal for
      the first time that the secretory pathway can be directed towards intracellular
      organelles of endosomal origin to ensure their biogenesis and function.

PMID- 28607496
TI  - Corrigendum: PARP3 is a promoter of chromosomal rearrangements and limits G4 DNA.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15110.

PMID- 28607497
TI  - Prostate cancer: Comparing quality of life outcomes after prostate cancer
      treatment.

PMID- 28607498
TI  - Male factor infertility: Piwi, Hiwi, Miwi: essential genes for effective
      spermiogenesis.

PMID- 28607499
TI  - Kidney cancer: Methylation of obesity-related genes is associated with prognosis.

PMID- 28607500
TI  - Kidney cancer: New autochthonous ccRCC model.

PMID- 28607501
TI  - Prostate cancer: Draft USPSTF 2017 recommendation on PSA testing - a sea-change?

PMID- 28607502
TI  - Corrigendum: Coordinated nuclease activities counteract Ku at single-ended DNA
      double-strand breaks.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12889.

PMID- 28607503
TI  - Reproductive fitness and genetic risk of psychiatric disorders in the general
      population.
AB  - The persistence of common, heritable psychiatric disorders that reduce
      reproductive fitness is an evolutionary paradox. Here, we investigate the
      selection pressures on sequence variants that predispose to schizophrenia,
      autism, bipolar disorder, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) using genomic data from 150,656 Icelanders, excluding those
      diagnosed with these psychiatric diseases. Polygenic risk of autism and ADHD is
      associated with number of children. Higher polygenic risk of autism is associated
      with fewer children and older age at first child whereas higher polygenic risk of
      ADHD is associated with having more children. We find no evidence for a selective
      advantage of a high polygenic risk of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Rare
      copy-number variants conferring moderate to high risk of psychiatric illness are
      associated with having fewer children and are under stronger negative selection
      pressure than common sequence variants.

PMID- 28607504
TI  - On the readiness of physicians for pharmacogenomics testing: an empirical
      assessment.
AB  - This paper aims to explore the determinants of adoption of pharmacogenomics (PGx)
      testing by clinicians, and to assess whether this adoption differs with regard to
      area of specialization. Data were collected from a web-based survey among
      physicians in Quebec (Canada). Our results highlighted that they perceived
      several benefits and had favorable attitudes toward PGx tests, but felt
      unprepared to use them. Results also show that practice specialties matter.
      Notably, being a family physician decreases the likelihood of adopting PGx tests.
      This might be explained by the fact that they perceived fewer benefits, used
      fewer sources of information, and received less training in PGx than their
      colleagues in other specialties. This is of particular concern given that family
      physicians are at the forefront of the healthcare system. Overcoming two
      knowledge barriers, that is, lack of information and clinical guidelines on PGx
      tests, might enhance physicians' readiness to adopt PGx testing.

PMID- 28607505
TI  - Predictive genetic markers in neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced
      esophageal cancer: a long way to go. Review of the literature.
AB  - The role of genetic molecular markers in neoadjuvant treatment for locally
      advanced esophageal cancer has been reviewed, focusing strictly on concurrent
      chemoradiation protocols followed by surgery. Eleven studies evaluated the role
      of mRNA expression profile; the end point was overall survival (OS) in two
      studies and different definitions of histological response in nine. Genes
      reported as significant were involved in cell cycle control (30), apoptosis (7),
      structural molecules (9), cell metabolism (6) and DNA repair (1). Seven studies
      reported about 15 microRNA (miRNA) molecules associated with OS (2) or
      histological response (13), however, defined with different classifications.
      Their target genes were prevalently involved in cell cycle control (4), apoptosis
      (1), cell adhesion (1), migration (1) and angiogenesis (1). Gene polymorphisms
      (single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) have been evaluated in 8 studies
      reporting 10 variants associated with survival or pathological response. OS was
      the end point in six of these studies. SNPs reported as significant were involved
      in DNA repair system (4), detoxification (2), folate metabolism (6), drug efflux
      (2) and others (2). In a study, a panel including histology, pathological
      response and five SNPs discriminated two subsets of patients with 5-year survival
      rates of 79.3% and 26.3% (hazard ratio 6.25, P<0.0001). In another study,
      combination of stage, grade and 4 miRNAs improved prediction of pathological
      response (P=10-30). At present, given the great inconsistency of the data and the
      variability of the end points, definite conclusions are extremely difficult, if
      not impossible. More consistent data can derive only from analyses obtained from
      patients included in prospective randomized trials while panels combining genetic
      and clinical factors may improve prediction.

PMID- 28607507
TI  - Urinary Lipidomics: evidence for multiple sources and sexual dimorphism in
      healthy individuals.
AB  - Urinary lipidomics may add new valuable biomarkers to the diagnostic
      armamentarium for early detection of metabolic and kidney diseases. Sources and
      composition of urinary lipids in healthy individuals, however, have not been
      investigated in detail. Shotgun lipidomics was used to quantify lipidomic
      profiles in native urine samples from 16 individuals (eight men, eight women)
      collected in five fractions over 24 h. All probands were comprehensively
      characterized by urinary and clinical indices. The mean total urinary lipid
      concentration per sample was 0.84 MUM in men and 1.03 MUM in women. We observed
      significant intra- and interindividual variations of lipid concentrations over
      time, but failed to detect a clear circadian pattern. Based on quantity and
      subclass composition it seems very unlikely that plasma serves as major source
      for the urinary lipidome. Considering lipid metabolites occurring in at least 20%
      of all samples 38 lipid species from 7 lipid classes were identified. Four
      phosphatidylserine and one phosphatidylethanolamine ether species (PE-O 36:5)
      were detectable in almost all urine samples. Sexual dimorphism has been found
      mainly for phosphatidylcholines and phosphatidylethanolamines. In men and in
      women urinary lipid species were highly correlated with urinary creatinine and
      albumin excretion, reflecting glomerular filtration and tubular transport
      processes. In women, however, lipid species deriving from urinary cells and
      cellular constituents of the lower genitourinary tract considerably contributed
      to the urinary lipidome. In conclusion, our study revealed the potential of
      urinary lipidomics but also the complexity of methodological challenges which
      have to be overcome for its implementation as a routine diagnostic tool for
      renal, urological and metabolic diseases.

PMID- 28607506
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of pharmacogenetic-guided treatment: are we there yet?
AB  - Pharmacogenetics (PGx) has the potential to personalize pharmaceutical
      treatments. Many relevant gene-drug associations have been discovered, but PGx
      guided treatment needs to be cost-effective as well as clinically beneficial to
      be incorporated into standard health-care. We reviewed economic evaluations for
      PGx associations listed in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Table of
      Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers in Drug Labeling. We determined the proportion of
      evaluations that found PGx-guided treatment to be cost-effective or dominant over
      the alternative strategies, and estimated the impact on this proportion of
      removing the cost of genetic testing. Of the 137 PGx associations in the FDA
      table, 44 economic evaluations, relating to 10 drugs, were identified. Of these
      evaluations, 57% drew conclusions in favour of PGx testing, of which 30% were
      cost-effective and 27% were dominant (cost-saving). If genetic information was
      freely available, 75% of economic evaluations would support PGx-guided treatment,
      of which 25% would be cost-effective and 50% would be dominant. Thus, PGx-guided
      treatment can be a cost-effective and even a cost-saving strategy. Having genetic
      information readily available in the clinical health record is a realistic future
      prospect, and would make more genetic tests economically worthwhile.

PMID- 28607508
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis: pharmacogenetics of anti-TNF treatment
      response in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects ~1% of
      the Caucasian population. Over the last decades, the availability of biological
      drugs targeting the proinflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor alpha, anti
      TNF drugs, has improved the treatment of patients with RA. However, one-third of
      the patients do not respond to the treatment. We wanted to evaluate the status of
      pharmacogenomics of anti-TNF treatment. We performed a PubMed literature search
      and all studies reporting original data on associations between genetic variants
      and anti-TNF treatment response in RA patients were included and results
      evaluated by meta-analysis. In total, 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms were
      found to be associated with anti-TNF treatment response in RA (19 from genome
      wide association studies and 6 from the meta-analyses), and these map to genes
      involved in T cell function, NFkappaB and TNF signalling pathways (including
      CTCN5, TEC, PTPRC, FCGR2A, NFKBIB, FCGR2A, IRAK3). Explorative prediction
      analyses found that biomarkers for clinical treatment selection are not yet
      available.

PMID- 28607509
TI  - Genetic background influences susceptibility to chemotherapy-induced
      hematotoxicity.
AB  - Hematotoxicity is a life-threatening side effect of many chemotherapy regimens.
      Although clinical factors influence patient responses, genetic factors may also
      play an important role. We sought to identify genomic loci that influence
      chemotherapy-induced hematotoxicity by dosing Diversity Outbred mice with one of
      three chemotherapy drugs; doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide or docetaxel. We observed
      that each drug had a distinct effect on both the changes in blood cell
      subpopulations and the underlying genetic architecture of hematotoxicity. For
      doxorubicin, we mapped the change in cell counts before and after dosing and
      found that alleles of ATP-binding cassette B1B (Abcb1b) on chromosome 5 influence
      all cell populations. For cyclophosphamide and docetaxel, we found that each cell
      population was influenced by distinct loci, none of which overlapped between
      drugs. These results suggest that susceptibility to chemotherapy-induced
      hematotoxicity is influenced by different genes for different chemotherapy drugs.

PMID- 28607510
TI  - Asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of heterocycles via Rhodium-catalysed allylic
      arylation of racemates.
AB  - Using asymmetric catalysis to simultaneously form carbon-carbon bonds and
      generate single isomer products is strategically important. Suzuki-Miyaura cross
      coupling is widely used in the academic and industrial sectors to synthesize
      drugs, agrochemicals and biologically active and advanced materials. However,
      widely applicable enantioselective Suzuki-Miyaura variations to provide 3D
      molecules remain elusive. Here we report a rhodium-catalysed asymmetric Suzuki
      Miyaura reaction with important partners including aryls, vinyls, heteroaromatics
      and heterocycles. The method can be used to couple two heterocyclic species so
      the highly enantioenriched products have a wide array of cores. We show that
      pyridine boronic acids are unsuitable, but they can be halogen-modified at the 2
      position to undergo reaction, and this halogen can then be removed or used to
      facilitate further reactions. The method is used to synthesize isoanabasine,
      preclamol, and niraparib-an anticancer agent in several clinical trials. We
      anticipate this method will be a useful tool in drug synthesis and discovery.

PMID- 28607511
TI  - Technique: Sizing up tumours with Tuba-seq.

PMID- 28607513
TI  - Haematological cancer: Genomic disruption of CD7 avoids fractricide.

PMID- 28607512
TI  - Network propagation: a universal amplifier of genetic associations.
AB  - Biological networks are powerful resources for the discovery of genes and genetic
      modules that drive disease. Fundamental to network analysis is the concept that
      genes underlying the same phenotype tend to interact; this principle can be used
      to combine and to amplify signals from individual genes. Recently, numerous
      bioinformatic techniques have been proposed for genetic analysis using networks,
      based on random walks, information diffusion and electrical resistance. These
      approaches have been applied successfully to identify disease genes, genetic
      modules and drug targets. In fact, all these approaches are variations of a
      unifying mathematical machinery - network propagation - suggesting that it is a
      powerful data transformation method of broad utility in genetic research.

PMID- 28607515
TI  - Imaging biomarkers exist and they underpin clinical decision-making.

PMID- 28607516
TI  - Immunotherapy: Neuropilin-1 is required for Treg stability.

PMID- 28607517
TI  - Immunotherapy: Exploiting PD-1 on TAMs for tumour cell kill.

PMID- 28607518
TI  - Independent imaging biomarkers do not exist.

PMID- 28607519
TI  - Breast cancer: Microenvironment mediates differential resistance.

PMID- 28607514
TI  - Evolution of lymphoma staging and response evaluation: current limitations and
      future directions.
AB  - The accurate detection and precise assessment of therapeutic responses is
      critical to the optimal management of patients with lymphoma. Over the past 50
      years, dramatic advances in technology have established imaging as the
      cornerstone of disease evaluation. However, the appropriate application of
      current techniques requires acknowledgement of their strengths and weaknesses,
      and appreciation of the full diversity of lymphoid neoplasms. The role of
      anatomical and functional imaging in detection, treatment escalation/de
      escalation and prognostication of patients with lymphoma can be misinterpreted.
      The development of disease assessment criteria, without an appreciation of the
      limitations of current imaging technologies, reflects a potential overreach of
      imaging science. Furthermore, the introduction of various novel therapies adds to
      the complexity of disease monitoring. In this Perspectives, the authors evaluate
      the available evidence in this rapidly evolving field and propose a reporting
      framework, named 'Specialist Integrated Haematological Malignancy Imaging
      Reporting' (SIHMIR), with a goal of providing a robust and adaptable system for
      lymphoma assessment. We predict a future model of multimodal disease assessment
      using novel molecular and imaging techniques, and highlight the key outstanding
      research questions in this field.

PMID- 28607520
TI  - Lung cancer: KEYNOTE-001 - combo improves melody.

PMID- 28607521
TI  - Haematological cancer: Where are we now with the treatment of multiple myeloma?

PMID- 28607523
TI  - Understanding cortical topographical changes in liminally contractable muscles in
      SCI: importance of all mechanisms of neural dysfunction.

PMID- 28607522
TI  - Agreement between fragility fracture risk assessment algorithms as applied to
      adults with chronic spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to
      determine and report agreement in fracture risk stratification of adults with
      spinal cord injury (SCI) using (1) Canadian Association of Radiologists and
      Osteoporosis Canada (CAROC) and Canadian Fracture Risk Assessment (FRAX) tools
      with and without areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and (2) SCI-specific fracture
      thresholds. SETTING: Tertiary rehabilitation center, Ontario, Canada. METHODS:
      Community-dwelling adults with chronic SCI (n=90, C2-T12, AIS A-D) consented to
      participation. Femoral neck aBMD values determined 10-year fracture risk (CAROC
      and FRAX). Knee-region aBMD and distal tibia volumetric BMD values were compared
      to SCI-specific fracture thresholds. Agreements between CAROC and FRAX risk
      stratifications, and between fracture threshold risk stratification, were
      assessed using prevalence- and bias-adjusted Kappa statistics (PABAK). RESULTS:
      CAROC and FRAX assessment tools showed moderate agreement for post-menopausal
      women (PABAK=0.56, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27, 0.84) and men aged ?50
      years (PABAK=0.51, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.67), with poor agreement for young men and pre
      menopausal women (PABAK?0). Excellent agreement was evident between FRAX with and
      without aBMD in young adults and in those with motor incomplete injury
      (PABAK=0.86-0.92). In other subgroups, agreement ranged from moderate to
      substantial (PABAK=0.41-0.73). SCI-specific fracture thresholds (Eser versus
      Garland) showed poor agreement (PABAK?0). CONCLUSION: Fracture risk estimates
      among individuals with SCI vary substantially with the risk assessment tool. Use
      of SCI-specific risk factors to identify patients with high fracture risk is
      recommended until a validated SCI-specific tool for predicting fracture risk is
      developed.

PMID- 28607525
TI  - Todos Cuentan: Cultivating Diversity in Combinatorics.

PMID- 28607524
TI  - Development of a modified model of spinal cord ischemia injury by selective
      ligation of lumbar arteries in rabbits.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Experimental study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop
      a modified model of spinal cord ischemia in rabbits. SETTINGS: Shenzhen Key
      Laboratory of Spine Surgery, Shenzhen, China. METHODS: In total, 20 New Zealand
      rabbits were divided into the following four groups according to the level of
      ligation of bilateral lumbar arteries: (1) group A, sham group, no ligation, n=5;
      (2) group B, ligation of bilateral lumbar arteries at three levels (L2-L4, n=5);
      (3) group C, ligation of bilateral lumbar arteries at four levels (L2-L5, n=5);
      and (4) group D, ligation of bilateral lumbar arteries at five levels (L1-L5,
      n=5). The latency of motor-evoked potentials was measured intraoperatively and
      the modified Tarlov grades were scored, followed by a histological observation of
      spinal cord, on the seventh day after surgery. RESULTS: All 10 rabbits in Group A
      and Group B were electrophysiologically, neurologically and histologically
      normal. In Group C, moderate spinal cord ischemia injury was found in three of
      five rabbits: they had prolonged latency of motor-evoked potentials and neuronal
      karyopyknosis in the anterior horn of spinal cord, and the average Tarlov score
      was 4.2+/-0.8. In Group D, severe spinal cord ischemia injury was recorded in all
      the five rabbits: the latency of motor-evoked potential prolonged in one rabbit,
      whereas the waveform disappeared in four rabbits; loss of neurons and vacuolation
      of gray matter were seen in spinal cord sections, and the average Tarlov score
      was 0.6+/-0.9. CONCLUSION: Selective ligation of lumbar arteries was a modified
      method to induce feasible and reproducible model of spinal cord ischemia in
      rabbits.

PMID- 28607526
TI  - A unified framework for constructing, tuning and assessing photometric redshift
      density estimates in a selection bias setting.
AB  - Photometric redshift estimation is an indispensable tool of precision cosmology.
      One problem that plagues the use of this tool in the era of large-scale sky
      surveys is that the bright galaxies that are selected for spectroscopic
      observation do not have properties that match those of (far more numerous) dimmer
      galaxies; thus, ill-designed empirical methods that produce accurate and precise
      redshift estimates for the former generally will not produce good estimates for
      the latter. In this paper, we provide a principled framework for generating
      conditional density estimates (i.e. photometric redshift PDFs) that takes into
      account selection bias and the covariate shift that this bias induces. We base
      our approach on the assumption that the probability that astronomers label a
      galaxy (i.e. determine its spectroscopic redshift) depends only on its measured
      (photometric and perhaps other) properties [Formula: see text] and not on its
      true redshift. With this assumption, we can explicitly write down risk functions
      that allow us to both tune and compare methods for estimating importance weights
      (i.e. the ratio of densities of unlabelled and labelled galaxies for different
      values of [Formula: see text]) and conditional densities. We also provide a
      method for combining multiple conditional density estimates for the same galaxy
      into a single estimate with better properties. We apply our risk functions to an
      analysis of ~106 galaxies, mostly observed by Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and
      demonstrate through multiple diagnostic tests that our method achieves good
      conditional density estimates for the unlabelled galaxies.

PMID- 28607527
TI  - School Opportunity Hoarding? Racial Segregation and Access to High Growth
      Schools.
AB  - Persistent school segregation may allow advantaged groups to hoard educational
      opportunities and consign minority students to lower-quality educational
      experiences. Although minority students are concentrated in low-achieving
      schools, relatively little previous research directly links segregation to
      measures of school quality based on student achievement growth, which more
      plausibly reflect learning opportunities. Using a dataset of public elementary
      schools in California, this study provides the first analysis detailing the
      distribution of a growth-based measure of school quality using standard
      inequality indices, allowing disparities to be decomposed across geographic and
      organizational scales. We find mixed support for the school opportunity hoarding
      hypothesis. We find small White and Asian advantages in access to high-growth
      schools, but most of the inequality in exposure to school growth is within racial
      groups. Growth-based disparities both between and within groups tend to be on a
      more local scale than disparities in absolute achievement levels, focusing
      attention on within-district policies to mitigate school-based inequalities in
      opportunities to learn.

PMID- 28607528
TI  - Clinical Significance and Prognostic Value of the Expression of LAMP3 in Oral
      Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Recent studies demonstrated high expression of lysosome-associated membrane
      protein 3 (LAMP3) in a variety of malignancies including esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma, gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer and its
      involvement in several biological activities of tumor cells. However, the
      expression of LAMP3 and its value in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remain
      unclear. In this study, we examined the expression of LAMP3 in OSCC tissue
      samples and investigated the relationship between LAMP3 and clinical
      characteristics of patients with OSCC. We examined mRNA and protein levels of
      LAMP3 in OSCC tissues and neighboring normal tissues using quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry analyses, respectively. Both
      the mRNA and protein levels of LAMP3 were significantly higher in OSCC tissues
      than in adjacent normal tissues. Chi-square analysis showed that the high LAMP3
      expression was notably linked to the degree of tumor differentiation and advanced
      TNM stage. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the high LAMP3
      expression was an independent prognostic marker in OSCC. Our results suggest that
      LAMP3 might act as a potential anticancer target and a prognostic marker in
      patients with OSCC.

PMID- 28607530
TI  - Techniques for Retrieval of Permanent Inferior Vena Cava Filters.

PMID- 28607529
TI  - EV-Associated MMP9 in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Is Preferentially
      Localized to Annexin V-Binding EVs.
AB  - High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most aggressive type of ovarian
      cancer and is responsible for most deaths caused by gynecological cancers.
      Numerous candidate biomarkers were identified for this disease in the last
      decades, but most were not sensitive or specific enough for clinical
      applications. Hence, new biomarkers for HGSOC are urgently required. This study
      aimed to identify new markers by isolating different extracellular vesicle (EV)
      types from the ascites of ovarian cancer patients according to their affinities
      for lipid-binding proteins and analyzing their protein cargo. This approach
      circumvents the low signal-to-noise ratio when using biological fluids for
      biomarker discovery and the issue of contamination by large non-EV complexes. We
      isolated and analyzed three distinct EV populations from the ascites of patients
      with ovarian cancer or cirrhosis and observed that Annexin V-binding EVs have
      higher levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 in malignant compared to portal
      hypertensive ascites. As this protein was not detected in other EV populations,
      this study validates our approach of using different EV types for optimal
      biomarker discovery. Furthermore, MMP9 in Annexin V-binding EVs could be a HGSOC
      biomarker with enhanced specificity, because its identification requires
      detection of two distinct components, that is, lipid and protein.

PMID- 28607531
TI  - Endogenous IL-33 Deficiency Exacerbates Liver Injury and Increases Hepatic Influx
      of Neutrophils in Acute Murine Viral Hepatitis.
AB  - The alarmin IL-33 has been described to be upregulated in human and murine viral
      hepatitis. However, the role of endogenous IL-33 in viral hepatitis remains
      obscure. We aimed to decipher its function by infecting IL-33-deficient mice (IL
      33 KO) and their wild-type (WT) littermates with pathogenic mouse hepatitis virus
      (L2-MHV3). The IL-33 KO mice were more sensitive to L2-MHV3 infection exhibiting
      higher levels of AST/ALT, higher tissue damage, significant weight loss, and
      earlier death. An increased depletion of B and T lymphocytes, NKT cells,
      dendritic cells, and macrophages was observed 48 h postinfection (PI) in IL-33 KO
      mice than that in WT mice. In contrast, a massive influx of neutrophils was
      observed in IL-33 KO mice at 48 h PI. A transcriptomic study of inflammatory and
      cell-signaling genes revealed the overexpression of IL-6, TNFalpha, and several
      chemokines involved in recruitment/activation of neutrophils (CXCL2, CXCL5, CCL2,
      and CCL6) at 72 h PI in IL-33 KO mice. However, the IFNgamma was strongly induced
      in WT mice with less profound expression in IL-33 KO mice demonstrating that
      endogenous IL-33 regulated IFNgamma expression during L2-MHV3 hepatitis. In
      conclusion, we demonstrated that endogenous IL-33 had multifaceted
      immunoregulatory effect during viral hepatitis via induction of IFNgamma,
      survival effect on immune cells, and infiltration of neutrophils in the liver.

PMID- 28607532
TI  - Altered Cytokine Expression and Barrier Properties after In Vitro Infection of
      Porcine Epithelial Cells with Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Probiotic
      Enterococcus faecium.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effects of the probiotic feed
      additive Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 (E. faecium) on porcine jejunal
      epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) during an in vitro challenge with enterotoxigenic
      Escherichia coli (ETEC). Cells were incubated with E. faecium, ETEC, or both, and
      the effects on barrier function and structure and intra- and intercellular
      signaling were determined. Coincubation with E. faecium abolished the ETEC
      induced decrease in transepithelial resistance (Rt) (p <= 0.05). No differences
      were seen in the expression levels of the intercellular connecting tight junction
      proteins examined. However, for the first time, a reorganization of the monolayer
      was observed in ETEC-infected cells but not in coincubated cells. ETEC induced an
      increase in cytotoxicity that was prevented by coincubation (p <= 0.05), whereas
      apoptosis rates were not affected by bacterial treatment. ETEC increased the mRNA
      expression and release of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1alpha, and IL
      6 which could be prevented by coincubation for TNF-alpha mRNA expression and IL-6
      protein (p <= 0.05). Likewise, cAMP concentrations elevated by ETEC were reduced
      in coincubated cells (p <= 0.05). These findings indicate a protective effect of
      the probiotic E. faecium on inflammatory responses during infection with ETEC.

PMID- 28607534
TI  - Challenging a Misnomer? The Role of Inflammatory Pathways in Inflammatory Breast
      Cancer.
AB  - Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare, yet highly aggressive form of breast
      cancer, which accounts for less than 5% of all locally advanced presentations.
      The clinical presentation of inflammatory breast cancer often differs
      significantly from that of noninflammatory breast cancer; however,
      immunohistochemistry reveals few, if any, distinguishing features. The more
      aggressive triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer subtypes are
      overrepresented in inflammatory breast cancer compared with noninflammatory
      breast cancer, with a poorer prognosis in response to conventional therapies.
      Despite its name, there remains some controversy regarding the role of
      inflammation in inflammatory breast cancer. This review summarises the current
      molecular evidence suggesting that inflammatory signaling pathways are
      upregulated in this disease, including NF-kappaB activation and excessive IL-6
      production among others, which may provide an avenue for novel therapeutics. The
      role of the tumor microenvironment, through tumor-associated macrophages,
      infiltrating lymphocytes, and cancer stem cells is also discussed, suggesting
      that these tumor extrinsic factors may help account for the differences in
      behavior between inflammatory breast cancer and noninflammatory breast cancer.
      While there are various novel treatment strategies already underway in clinical
      trials, the need for further development of preclinical models of this rare but
      aggressive disease is paramount.

PMID- 28607535
TI  - Gender Disparity in the Relationship between Prevalence of Thyroid Nodules and
      Metabolic Syndrome Components: The SHDC-CDPC Community-Based Study.
AB  - The study is aimed to investigate the pathogenesis underlying the increased
      prevalence of thyroid nodule (TN) in different levels of metabolic syndrome
      (MetS) components and analyze the relationships between TN and MetS components. A
      total of 6,798 subjects, including 2201 patients with TN, were enrolled in this
      study. Anthropometric, biochemical, thyroid ultrasonographic, and other metabolic
      parameters were all measured. There was obviously sexual difference in the
      prevalence of TN (males 26.0%, females 38.5%, resp.). The prevalence of TN in
      hyperuricemia (45.7% versus 37.4%, P = 0.001), NAFLD (41.2% versus 36.4%, P <
      0.05), and MetS (41.4% versus 35.4%, P < 0.001) groups was significantly
      increased only in females. Insulin resistance [OR = 1.31 (1.15, 1.49)], MetS [OR
      = 1.18 (1.03, 1.35)], and diabetes [OR = 1.25 (1.06, 1.48)] were all independent
      risk factors for TN in total subjects, whereas, after stratified analysis of
      gender, MetS [OR = 1.29, (1.09, 1.53)] and diabetes [OR = 1.47, (1.17, 1.84)] are
      still strongly and independently associated with the higher risks of TN in female
      subjects, but not in males. Our results suggest that the components of MetS might
      associate with the higher risks of TN in women than in men, but further cohort
      study of this gender disparity in the association between TN and MetS is
      required.

PMID- 28607533
TI  - Cysteinyl Leukotrienes as Potential Pharmacological Targets for Cerebral
      Diseases.
AB  - Cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs) are potent lipid mediators widely known for their
      actions in asthma and in allergic rhinitis. Accumulating data highlights their
      involvement in a broader range of inflammation-associated diseases such as
      cancer, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases. The
      reported elevated levels of CysLTs in acute and chronic brain lesions, the
      association between the genetic polymorphisms in the LTs biosynthesis pathways
      and the risk of cerebral pathological events, and the evidence from animal models
      link also CysLTs and brain diseases. This review will give an overview of how far
      research has gone into the evaluation of the role of CysLTs in the most prevalent
      neurodegenerative disorders (ischemia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases,
      multiple sclerosis/experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, and epilepsy) in
      order to understand the underlying mechanism by which they might be central in
      the disease progression.

PMID- 28607536
TI  - The Many Roles of Galectin-3, a Multifaceted Molecule, in Innate Immune Responses
      against Pathogens.
AB  - Galectins are a group of evolutionarily conserved proteins with the ability to
      bind beta-galactosides through characteristic carbohydrate-recognition domains
      (CRD). Galectin-3 is structurally unique among all galectins as it contains a C
      terminal CRD linked to an N-terminal protein-binding domain, being the only
      chimeric galectin. Galectin-3 participates in many functions, both intra- and
      extracellularly. Among them, a prominent role for Galectin-3 in inflammation has
      been recognized. Galectin-3 has also been shown to directly bind to pathogens and
      to have various effects on the functions of the cells of the innate immune
      system. Thanks to these two properties, Galectin-3 participates in several ways
      in the innate immune response against invading pathogens. Galectin-3 has been
      proposed to function not only as a pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) but also as
      a danger-associated molecular pattern (DAMP). In this review, we analyze the
      various roles that have been assigned to Galectin-3, both as a PRR and as a DAMP,
      in the context of immune responses against pathogenic microorganisms.

PMID- 28607537
TI  - The Effects of Alcohol on Self-Regulation of Sexual Arousal in Sexually
      Compulsive Men Who Have Sex with Men.
AB  - Individuals who meet criteria for sexual compulsivity tend to be more likely to
      engage in behaviors that may have negative consequences. Despite the clear public
      health relevance, however, little is known about the determinants of sexual
      compulsivity. This psychophysiological study examined self-regulation of sexual
      arousal in men high and low in sexual compulsivity, when sober and after alcohol
      consumption. A total of 43 men who have sex with men (MSM) participated and were
      presented with a series of erotic film clips. Two clips were presented after
      alcohol consumption (BAL .06), two other film clips were viewed when sober.
      Within alcohol conditions, one of the two films was combined with a suppression,
      the other with a no-suppression instruction. Genital responses were lower in the
      high sexual compulsivity group and higher during no-suppression conditions. The
      suppression instruction was not effective under sober conditions but impacted
      responses after alcohol consumption. This effect was more pronounced for the low
      compulsivity group. The findings suggest that sexually compulsive men are less
      successful in inhibiting their sexual responses, but only after alcohol
      consumption. The findings also suggest that sexually compulsive men may be less
      responsive to (researcher-selected) erotic stimuli.

PMID- 28607538
TI  - Phylogenetic Analysis of Nuclear-Encoded RNA Maturases.
AB  - Posttranscriptional processes, such as splicing, play a crucial role in gene
      expression and are prevalent not only in nuclear genes but also in plant
      mitochondria where splicing of group II introns is catalyzed by a class of
      proteins termed maturases. In plant mitochondria, there are 22 mitochondrial
      group II introns. matR, nMAT1, nMAT2, nMAT3, and nMAT4 proteins have been shown
      to be required for efficient splicing of several group II introns in Arabidopsis
      thaliana. Nuclear maturases (nMATs) are necessary for splicing of mitochondrial
      genes, leading to normal oxidative phosphorylation. Sequence analysis through
      phylogenetic tree (including bootstrapping) revealed high homology with maturase
      sequences of A thaliana and other plants. This study shows the phylogenetic
      relationship of nMAT proteins between A thaliana and other nonredundant plant
      species taken from BLASTP analysis.

PMID- 28607539
TI  - Synthesis and Optical Properties of Pentamethine Cyanine Dyes With Carboxylic
      Acid Moieties.
AB  - Cyanine dyes possessing carboxylic acid groups have been used in many different
      fields of study. The acid groups can act as handles for bioconjugation or as
      metal chelators. Several pentamethine cyanine dyes with propionic acid handles
      were synthesized and their optical properties were studied to determine their
      usefulness as fluorescent probes. The optical properties studies performed
      include the absorbance and emission maxima values as well as the calculation of
      quantum yield and molecular brightness levels. Molecular models were also
      calculated to help analyze the dyes' behavior and were compared with similar dyes
      with varying alkyl chain lengths replacing the acid moieties.

PMID- 28607540
TI  - Effects of High-Fat Feeding on Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression in Diabetic Goto
      Kakizaki Rats.
AB  - In the present report, we examined the responses of diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK)
      rats and control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats fed either a standard chow or high-fat
      diet (HFD) from weaning to 20 weeks of age. This comparison included gene
      expression profiling of skeletal muscle using Affymetrix gene array chips. The
      expression profiling is interpreted within the context of a wide array of
      physiological measurements. Genes whose expressions are different between the 2
      strains regardless of diet, as well as genes that differ between strains only
      with HFD, were identified. In addition, genes that were regulated by diet in 1 or
      both strains were identified. The results suggest that both strains respond to
      HFD by an increased capacity to oxidize lipid fuels in the musculature but that
      this adaptation occurs more rapidly in WKY rats. The results also demonstrated an
      impaired cytokine signalling and heightened inflammatory status in the GK rats.

PMID- 28607541
TI  - Residential Mobility, Transience, Depression, and Marijuana Use Initiation Among
      Adolescents and Young Adults.
AB  - Marijuana use initiation is associated with numerous health and behavioral
      consequences, particularly among young adolescents. Finding easily identifiable
      risk markers for marijuana initiation is an important step for targeting primary
      and secondary prevention efforts. This study used data from the 2010-2014
      National Survey on Drug Use and Health to evaluate the association between
      residential mobility (no mobility, low mobility, high mobility [ie, transience]),
      and major depressive episode(s) (MDE) on marijuana initiation among adolescents
      (12-17) and young adults (18-20). Age-stratified logistic regression models
      indicated that among 12- to 13-year-old adolescents, mobility in the past 5 years
      and past year MDE have a multiplicative effect on the odds of past year marijuana
      initiation. Among adolescents aged 14 to 15 years, both mobility and MDE were
      independently associated with marijuana initiation, but there was no interaction.
      Among older adolescents (aged 16-17 years), only transience (?3 moves in the past
      5 years) was associated with marijuana use initiation, and although MDE was
      significantly associated with marijuana initiation, there was no interaction with
      mobility. Among young adults, mobility was not associated with marijuana
      initiation. Residential mobility among young adolescents is an easily
      identifiable risk marker that may serve as an indicator for physical and mental
      health professionals, school personnel, and parents to use in targeting both
      depression and marijuana prevention efforts.

PMID- 28607543
TI  - Modulation of Tryptophan/Serotonin Pathway by Probiotic Supplementation in Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients: Preliminary Results of a New Study
      Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, no data are available regarding the effects of probiotics on
      the pathway of tryptophan/serotonin metabolism among human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) 1-infected individuals. Because a condition of dysbiosis might be
      responsible for the altered use of tryptophan described in this population, the
      aim of this study was to investigate the link between probiotic supplementation
      and serotonin levels in combined antiretroviral therapy-treated patients and the
      subsistence of an interplay with inflammation. METHODS: We conducted a pilot
      study that included 8 HIV-positive subjects. We collected blood and fecal samples
      before and after 6 months of probiotic supplementation, to measure the level of
      serotonin in serum and tryptophan in stool, the expression of CD38 and HLA-DR on
      peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytes (as immune activation markers), the expression of
      indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 messenger RNA (mRNA) and IFN-gamma mRNA (as markers
      of tryptophan metabolism and systemic inflammation). RESULTS: After probiotic
      supplementation, we observed a significant increase in concentration of serum
      serotonin (P = .008) and a decreased level of tryptophan in plasma. Moreover, a
      significant reduction in CD38 and HLA-DR expression on the surface of peripheral
      CD4+ T cells (P = .008) and a reduced expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1
      mRNA on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (P = .04) were observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      Considering that this probiotic (Vivomixx(r) in EU; Visbiome(r) in USA) has an
      influence on tryptophan metabolism, larger studies on this topic are needed.

PMID- 28607542
TI  - Interactions of Cannabinoids With Biochemical Substrates.
AB  - Recent decades have seen much progress in the identification and characterization
      of cannabinoid receptors and the elucidation of the mechanisms by which
      derivatives of the Cannabis sativa plant bind to receptors and produce their
      physiological and psychological effects. The information generated in this
      process has enabled better understanding of the fundamental physiological and
      psychological processes controlled by the central and peripheral nervous systems
      and has fostered the development of natural and synthetic cannabinoids as
      therapeutic agents. A negative aspect of this decades-long effort is the
      proliferation of clandestinely synthesized analogs as recreational street drugs
      with dangerous effects. Currently, the interactions of cannabinoids with their
      biochemical substrates are extensively but inadequately understood, and the
      clinical application of derived and synthetic receptor ligands remains quite
      limited. The wide anatomical distribution and functional complexity of the
      cannabinoid system continue to indicate potential for both therapeutic and side
      effects, which offers challenges and opportunities for medicinal chemists
      involved in drug discovery and development.

PMID- 28607544
TI  - Analysis of Fascin-1 in Relation to Gleason Risk Classification and Nuclear ETS
      Related Gene Status of Human Prostate Carcinomas: An Immunohistochemical Study of
      Clinically Annotated Tumours From the Wales Cancer Bank.
AB  - Although prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing can identify early-stage
      prostate cancers, additional biomarkers are needed for risk stratification. In
      one study, high levels of the actin-bundling protein, fascin-1, were correlated
      with lethal-phase, hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Analyses of independent
      samples are needed to establish the value of fascin-1 as a possible biomarker. We
      examined fascin-1 by immunohistochemistry in tumour specimens from the Wales
      Cancer Bank in comparison with nuclear-located ETS-related gene (ERG), an
      emerging marker for aggressive prostate cancer. Fascin-1 was elevated in focal
      areas of a minority of tumours, yet fascin-1-positivity did not differentiate
      tumours of low-, intermediate-, or high-risk Gleason scores and did not correlate
      with PSA status or biochemical relapse after surgery. Stromal fascin-1 correlated
      with high Gleason score. Nuclear ERG was upregulated in tumours but not in
      stroma. The complexities of fascin-1 status indicate that fascin-1 is unlikely to
      provide a suitable biomarker for prediction of aggressive prostate cancers.

PMID- 28607545
TI  - The Genetics of Aortopathies in Clinical Cardiology.
AB  - Aortopathies pose a significant healthcare burden due to excess early mortality,
      increasing incidence, and underdiagnosis. Understanding the underlying genetic
      causes, early diagnosis, timely surveillance, prophylactic repair, and family
      screening are keys to addressing these diseases. Next-generation sequencing
      continues to expand our understanding of the genetic causes of heritable
      aortopathies, rapidly clarifying their underlying molecular pathophysiology and
      suggesting new potential therapeutic targets. This review will summarize the
      pathogenetic mechanisms and management of heritable genetic aortopathies with
      attention to specific forms of both syndromic and nonsyndromic disorders,
      including Marfan syndrome, Loeys-Dietz syndrome, vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,
      and familial thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection.

PMID- 28607546
TI  - Histologic Sequelae of Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Dystrophic
      Calcification.
AB  - We present cardiac computed tomography (CT) findings demonstrating apical
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with dystrophic calcification of the left ventricular
      apex. The absence of significant epicardial coronary artery disease demonstrated
      by coronary CT angiography suggests that increased wall tension and decreased
      microvascular perfusion over time account for the dyskinetic apical myocardium,
      rather than myocardial infarction secondary to atherosclerotic plaque rupture.
      These observations support CT as the imaging modality of choice to visualize the
      deposition of calcium in injured myocardial tissue, a recognized occurrence in
      chronically infarcted myocardium.

PMID- 28607547
TI  - Omeprazole-Domperidone Fixed Dose Combination vs Omeprazole Monotherapy: A Phase
      4, Open-Label, Comparative, Parallel Randomized Controlled Study in Mild to
      Moderate Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.
AB  - AIM: To compare the efficacy and safety of omeprazole-domperidone combination vs
      omeprazole monotherapy in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). METHODS: In a
      comparative, randomized controlled, phase 4 study, outpatients with GERD were
      randomly allocated to either group 1 (omeprazole 20 mg + domperidone 30 mg) or
      group 2 (omeprazole 20 mg) in an equal ratio; 2 capsules daily in the morning
      were administered for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Sixty patients were enrolled. Esophagitis
      reversal was observed in 92% patients in group 1 vs 65.2% in group 2.
      Approximately, 83.3% patients in group 1 vs 43.3% patients in group 2
      demonstrated full cupping of reflux symptoms at 8 weeks. Combined therapy
      resulted in significantly longer period of heartburn-free days (23 vs 12 days on
      omeprazole). There were no safety concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Omeprazole-domperidone
      combination was more effective than omeprazole alone in providing complete
      cupping of reflux symptoms and healing of esophagitis in patients with GERD. Both
      the treatments were well tolerated with few reports of adverse events. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: This trial is registered with http://clinicaltrials.gov, number
      NCT02140073.

PMID- 28607548
TI  - Optimized Engagement Across Life Domains in Adult Development: Balancing
      Diversity and Interdomain Consequences.
AB  - Adaptive lifespan development involves individuals' simultaneous coordination of
      motivational engagement across multiple domains of life. The present study tests
      this proposition using data from the Midlife in the United States National
      Longitudinal Study of Health and Well-Being (MIDUS I and II). Results from
      multilevel model analyses indicate that participants' engagement with, perceived
      control over, and reported quality in the domains of work, health, and family
      relationships follow general trajectories across adulthood that reflect age
      graded and socially structured opportunities. Participants' engagement with each
      domain of life was associated with more positive reports of life quality and
      perceived control within these domains. These positive engagement benefits were
      least prominent in strongly age-graded domains (i.e., health), and most
      pronounced in less age-graded domains (i.e., work and family relationships).
      Results further indicate that individuals adaptively managed their engagement
      across these central domains of adulthood, in that cross-domain associations were
      positive or at least non-detrimental. While cross-domain engagement benefits were
      present across all four domains, they were most prominent in naturally
      facilitative pairings (e.g., relationships with one's spouse/partner and
      children). Overall, the results provide support for the proposition of the
      motivational theory of life-span development that adaptive lifespan development
      involves individual's active, simultaneous, and synchronous engagement with
      central domains of life.

PMID- 28607549
TI  - Corrigendum: Pulling Rank: Military Rank Affects Hormone Levels and Fairness in
      an Allocation Experiment.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 1750 in vol. 7, PMID: 27891109.].

PMID- 28607550
TI  - Corrigendum: Cross-Talk between Staphylococcus aureus and Other Staphylococcal
      Species via the agr Quorum Sensing System.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 1733 in vol. 7, PMID: 27877157.].

PMID- 28607551
TI  - Robust Grape Detector Based on SVMs and HOG Features.
AB  - Detection of grapes in real-life images is a serious task solved by researchers
      dealing with precision viticulture. In the case of white wine varieties, grape
      detectors based on SVMs classifiers, in combination with a HOG descriptor, have
      proven to be very efficient. Simplified versions of the detectors seem to be the
      best solution for practical applications. They offer the best known performance
      versus time-complexity ratio. As our research showed, a conversion of RGB images
      to grayscale format, which is implemented at an image preprocessing level, is
      ideal means for further improvement of performance of the detectors. In order to
      enhance the ratio, we explored relevance of the conversion in a context of a
      detector potential sensitivity to a rotation of berries. For this purpose, we
      proposed a modification of the conversion, and we designed an appropriate method
      for a tuning of such modified detectors. To evaluate the effect of the new
      parameter space on their performance, we developed a specialized visualization
      method. In order to provide accurate results, we formed new datasets for both
      tuning and evaluation of the detectors. Our effort resulted in a robust grape
      detector which is less sensitive to image distortion.

PMID- 28607552
TI  - Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotics after Surgery for Peritonitis: A Randomized
      Controlled Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum procalcitonin (PCT) is a useful biomarker to tailor the
      duration of antibiotics in respiratory infections. The objective of this study
      was to determine whether PCT levels could tailor postoperative antibiotic therapy
      in patients operated for peritonitis. METHOD: Patients with peritonitis were
      randomized postoperatively. The control group received antibiotics for a defined
      duration according to institutional guidelines. In the study group, antibiotics
      were stopped based on serum PCT levels. Patients were stratified into three
      categories: (1) gastrointestinal perforation, (2) perforated appendicitis, and
      (3) postoperative complication. Primary outcome was duration of antibiotics.
      RESULTS: We included 162 patients; 83 and 79 patients in the control group and
      study group, respectively. In the subgroup of patients with peritonitis due to
      gastrointestinal perforation, we found 7 days of antibiotics in the PCT group
      versus 10 days in the control group (p value 0.065). There was no difference in
      infectious complications, mortality, median length of hospital stay, and
      necessity to restart antibiotics. CONCLUSION: No significant differences were
      found in duration of antibiotics when applying PCT guidance. However, in the
      subgroup of primary perforation of the gastrointestinal tract, there was a
      difference in duration of antibiotics in favor of the PCT group without obtaining
      significance, as the study was not powered for subgroup analysis. Further studies
      including only this subgroup should be performed.

PMID- 28607553
TI  - Study of Testicular Structure in Fetuses with Prune Belly Syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the structure of the testis in fetuses with prune belly
      syndrome (PBS) to normal controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 6 testes
      obtained from 3 fetuses with PBS and 14 testes from 7 male fetuses. The
      testicular specimens were cut into 5-MUm thick sections and stained with
      hematoxylin and eosin (HE), to observe the seminiferous tubules; Weigert's
      solution to observe elastic fibers; and picrosirius red to observe collagen. The
      images were captured with an Olympus BX51 microscope and Olympus DP70 camera. The
      stereological analysis was done with the Image Pro and Image J programs. Means
      were statistically compared using the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0.005). RESULTS:
      Quantitative analysis documented no differences (p = 0.4) in number of
      seminiferous tubules (ST) in PBS testes (mean = 8.87%, SD = 1.59), when compared
      to the control (mean = 11.4%, SD = 2.99) and no differences (p = 0.8) in diameter
      of ST in PBS testes (mean = 52.85 MUm, SD = 1.58) when compared to the control
      group (mean = 53.17 MUm, SD = 1.55), but we did observe a lower number (p =
      0.0002) of Leydig cells in the PBS testes (mean = 67.03% and SD = 3.697) when
      compared to the control group (mean = 90.1% and SD = 2.986). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study showed a lower concentration of Leydig cells in the triad syndrome fetuses.

PMID- 28607554
TI  - Lower Extremity Peripheral Arterial Disease Is an Independent Predictor of
      Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Risks in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
      in China.
AB  - We aimed to determine the relationship between lower extremity peripheral
      arterial disease (PAD), 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke risks in
      patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) using the UKPDS risk engine. We enrolled
      1178 hospitalized T2DM patients. The patients were divided into a lower extremity
      PAD group (ankle-brachial index <= 0.9 or >1.4; 88 patients, 7.5%) and a non-PAD
      group (ankle-brachial index > 0.9 and <=1.4; 1090 patients, 92.5%). Age; duration
      of diabetes; systolic blood pressure; the hypertension rate; the use of
      hypertension drugs, ACEI /ARB, statins; CHD risk; fatal CHD risk; stroke risk;
      and fatal stroke risk were significantly higher in the PAD group than in the non
      PAD group (P < 0.05 for all). Logistic stepwise regression analysis indicated
      that ABI was an independent predictor of 10-year CHD and stroke risks in T2DM
      patients. Compared with those in the T2DM non-PAD group, the odds ratios (ORs)
      for CHD and stroke risk were 3.6 (95% confidence interval (CI), 2.2-6.0; P <
      0.001) and 6.9 (95% CI, 4.0-11.8; P < 0.001) in those with lower extremity PAD,
      respectively. In conclusion, lower extremity PAD increased coronary heart disease
      and stroke risks in T2DM.

PMID- 28607555
TI  - An Observational Cohort Study on Delayed-Onset Infections after Mandibular Third
      Molar Extractions.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the occurrence
      and clinical features of delayed-onset infections after mandibular third-molar
      extractions. METHOD AND MATERIALS: An observational cohort study was conducted on
      179 patients undergoing mandibular third-molar extraction between January 2013
      and December 2015, for a total of 217 extractions. Data were recorded at the time
      of extraction (T0), on suture removal seven days later (T1), and 30 days after
      the extraction, when patients were contacted and asked about their healing
      process (T2). The statistical analysis was performed with nonparametric tests. A
      p value lower than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Eight
      delayed-onset infections were recorded, amounting to 3.7% of all extractions. The
      median time elapsing from the extraction to the delayed-onset infection was 35
      days (IQR 28-40; min 24-max 49). Younger age and longer surgical procedures
      seemed to be more often associated with this complication. CONCLUSION: Delayed
      onset infections after third-molar extractions are relatively rare postoperative
      complications characterized by a swelling, usually with a purulent discharge.
      Patients should be informed of this possibility, which might develop even several
      weeks after the extraction.

PMID- 28607557
TI  - The Adsorption of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cd by Modified Ligand in a Single Component
      Aqueous Solution: Equilibrium, Kinetic, Thermodynamic, and Desorption Studies.
AB  - In this investigation, an amino functionalized adsorbent was developed by
      grafting 4-aminobenzoic acid onto the backbone of cross-linked chitosan beads.
      The 3 sets of beads including chitosan (CX), glutaraldehyde cross-linked chitosan
      (CCX), and 4-aminobenzoic acid grafted cross-linked chitosan (FGCX) were
      characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TGA. The water content and amine
      concentration of FGCX were determined. The effect of adsorption parameters was
      studied and the optimum was used for further studies. Equilibrium data was
      obtained from the adsorption experiment carried out at different initial
      concentration; the data were applied in isotherm, thermodynamics, and kinetic
      studies. The Langmuir and Dubinin-Kaganer-Radushkevich (DKR) models were
      successful in describing the isotherm data for the considered metal ions while
      the Freundlich and Temkin model fit some of the considered metal ions. Pseudo
      second-order and intraparticle model described the kinetic data quite well.
      Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibb's free energy change (DeltaGo ), enthalpy
      change (DeltaHo ), and entropy change (DeltaSo ) were calculated and the results
      showed that the adsorption of Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Cd ions onto FGCX is
      spontaneous and endothermic in nature. Regeneration of the spent adsorbent was
      efficient for the considered metal ions.

PMID- 28607556
TI  - Factors Affecting the Periapical Status of Root-Filled Canals: A Cross-Sectional
      Study at the Undergraduate Level.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the influence of multiple factors on the
      periapical status of endodontically treated (ET) teeth. METHODS: The patients
      were clinically and radiographically reevaluated after root canal therapy. The
      quality of the root-filled canals, coronal restorations, intraradicular posts,
      dental caries, and periodontal parameters were associated with the teeth's
      periapical status. RESULTS: The 122 patients provided 154 ET teeth; 97.4% teeth
      were asymptomatic, and 75.5% had a normal periapical status. The percentage of
      perfect, satisfactory, and deficient root-filled canals was of the order of
      41.6%, 46.1%, and 12.3%, respectively. The percentage of adequate and inadequate
      coronal restorations was 31.2% and 68.8%, respectively. A total of 14.9% teeth
      had intraradicular posts, and 29.2% had cavitated carious lesions in the dentin.
      Gingival bleeding was observed in 31.8% of teeth, and dental biofilm was visible
      in 58.4%. A total of 11.7% showed pathologic tooth mobility, and 22.1% teeth were
      diagnosed with periodontal disease. CONCLUSIONS: Carious lesions, gingival
      bleeding, and tooth mobility were significantly associated with the occurrence of
      periapical lesions in root-filled canals.

PMID- 28607558
TI  - Hashimoto's Encephalopathy Presenting with Unusual Behavioural Disturbances in an
      Adolescent Girl.
AB  - Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is a rare autoimmune disorder with neurological
      and neuropsychiatric manifestations and elevated titres of anti-thyroid
      antibodies. Here we are reporting a case of HE in a 19-year-old girl who
      presented with seizure-like episodes, confusion, and behavioural disturbances
      with catatonic symptoms such as posturing, echopraxia, echolalia, and
      ambivalence. Patient did not respond to antipsychotics and anticonvulsants. On
      further investigation, patient was found to have high serum anti-TPO antibodies
      of about 1261 U/mL with euthyroid status, which supported a suspicion of HE. Our
      consultant neurologist confirmed the diagnosis and she was started on injection
      of methylprednisolone 750 mg OD. Since patient started showing clinical
      improvement, her antipsychotic medications were tapered off. On follow-up,
      patient has recovered and is functioning well. Since HE is a diagnosis of
      exclusion, very high anti-TPO antibodies and good response to steroids supported
      the diagnosis of HE in this patient after excluding other etiological
      possibilities. This case has been reported because the clinical presentation was
      predominantly neurobehavioural manifestations which is uncommon with HE.

PMID- 28607559
TI  - Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate-Enhanced Marrow Stimulation of Chondral Defects.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from bone marrow play a critical role in
      osteochondral repair. A bone marrow clot forms within the cartilage defect either
      as a result of marrow stimulation or during the course of the spontaneous repair
      of osteochondral defects. Mobilized pluripotent MSCs from the subchondral bone
      migrate into the defect filled with the clot, differentiate into chondrocytes and
      osteoblasts, and form a repair tissue over time. The additional application of a
      bone marrow aspirate (BMA) to the procedure of marrow stimulation is thought to
      enhance cartilage repair as it may provide both an additional cell population
      capable of chondrogenesis and a source of growth factors stimulating cartilage
      repair. Moreover, the BMA clot provides a three-dimensional environment, possibly
      further supporting chondrogenesis and protecting the subchondral bone from
      structural alterations. The purpose of this review is to bridge the gap in our
      understanding between the basic science knowledge on MSCs and BMA and the
      clinical and technical aspects of marrow stimulation-based cartilage repair by
      examining available data on the role and mechanisms of MSCs and BMA in
      osteochondral repair. Implications of findings from both translational and
      clinical studies using BMA concentrate-enhanced marrow stimulation are discussed.

PMID- 28607560
TI  - Characterization of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Like Cells Derived From Human iPSCs via
      Neural Crest Development and Their Application for Osteochondral Repair.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)
      are a promising cell source for the repair of skeletal disorders. Recently,
      neural crest cells (NCCs) were reported to be effective for inducing mesenchymal
      progenitors, which have potential to differentiate into osteochondral lineages.
      Our aim was to investigate the feasibility of MSC-like cells originated from
      iPSCs via NCCs for osteochondral repair. Initially, MSC-like cells derived from
      iPSC-NCCs (iNCCs) were generated and characterized in vitro. These iNCC-derived
      MSC-like cells (iNCMSCs) exhibited a homogenous population and potential for
      osteochondral differentiation. No upregulation of pluripotent markers was
      detected during culture. Second, we implanted iNCMSC-derived tissue-engineered
      constructs into rat osteochondral defects without any preinduction for specific
      differentiation lineages. The implanted cells remained alive at the implanted
      site, whereas they failed to repair the defects, with only scarce development of
      osteochondral tissue in vivo. With regard to tumorigenesis, the implanted cells
      gradually disappeared and no malignant cells were detected throughout the 2-month
      follow-up. While this study did not show that iNCMSCs have efficacy for repair of
      osteochondral defects when implanted under undifferentiated conditions, iNCMSCs
      exhibited good chondrogenic potential in vitro under appropriate conditions. With
      further optimization, iNCMSCs may be a new source for tissue engineering of
      cartilage.

PMID- 28607561
TI  - The Transcription Factor Nrf2 Protects Angiogenic Capacity of Endothelial Colony
      Forming Cells in High-Oxygen Radical Stress Conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) have shown a promise in
      tissue engineering of vascular constructs, where they act as endothelial
      progenitor cells. After implantation, ECFCs are likely to be subjected to
      elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS). The transcription factor Nrf2 regulates
      the expression of antioxidant enzymes in response to ROS. METHODS: Stable
      knockdown of Nrf2 and Keap1 was achieved by transduction with lentiviral shRNAs;
      activation of Nrf2 was induced by incubation with sulforaphane (SFN). Expression
      of Nrf2 target genes was assessed by qPCR, oxidative stress was assessed using CM
      DCFDA, and angiogenesis was quantified by scratch-wound and tubule-formation
      assays Results. Nrf2 knockdown led to a reduction of antioxidant gene expression
      and increased ROS. Angiogenesis was disturbed after Nrf2 knockdown even in the
      absence of ROS. Conversely, angiogenesis was preserved in high ROS conditions
      after knockdown of Keap1. Preincubation of ECFCs with SFN reduced intracellular
      ROS in the presence of H2O2 and preserved scratch-wound closure and tubule
      formation. RESULTS: Nrf2 knockdown led to a reduction of antioxidant gene
      expression and increased ROS. Angiogenesis was disturbed after Nrf2 knockdown
      even in the absence of ROS. Conversely, angiogenesis was preserved in high ROS
      conditions after knockdown of Keap1. Preincubation of ECFCs with SFN reduced
      intracellular ROS in the presence of H2O2 and preserved scratch-wound closure and
      tubule-formation. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that Nrf2 plays
      an important role in the angiogenic capacity of ECFCs, particularly under
      conditions of increased oxidative stress. Pretreatment of ECFCs with SFN prior to
      implantation may be a protective strategy for tissue-engineered constructs or
      cell therapies.

PMID- 28607563
TI  - Examining the Benefits and Barriers of Instructional Gardening Programs to
      Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Preschool-Age Children.
AB  - Research exists on using instructional gardening programs with school age
      children as a means of improving dietary quality and for obesity prevention. This
      article examines the potential use of instructional gardens in childcare settings
      to improving fruit and vegetable intake in young children. A qualitative study
      was conducted with childcare providers. Participants (n = 20) were recruited via
      e-mails, letters, and follow-up phone calls. Interviews were recorded,
      transcribed, and coded to identify themes within two areas (1) childcare
      providers perceptions of children's fruit and vegetable consumption and (2)
      components necessary to initiate or improve instructional gardening programs.
      Themes associated with provider's perceptions of child fruit and vegetable
      consumption included benefits of consumption, willingness to try fruits and
      vegetables, meeting recommendations, and influence of the home and childcare
      environments on child eating. Benefits, barriers, and resources needed were
      identified as themes related to starting or improving instructional gardening
      programs. Benefits to gardening with preschoolers are consistent with those found
      in school-age populations. While several barriers exist, resources are available
      to childcare providers to address these barriers. Increased knowledge and
      awareness of resources are necessary to improve the success of gardening programs
      in the childcare setting with the goal of improving child diet quality.

PMID- 28607565
TI  - The prevalence of hypertension and its relationship with demographic factors,
      biochemical, and anthropometric indicators: A population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is an important public health challenge worldwide.
      The prevalence of HTN varies across countries. It is necessary to obtain valid
      information about the prevalence of chronic condition like HTN and its predictors
      in different societies. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the prevalence
      of HTN and associated factors in Mashhad, Iran, 2015. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was performed on 2974 adults residing in Mashhad in 2015.
      Multistage random sampling was used. A checklist was fulfilled for each subject,
      and a blood sample was taken for measuring fasting blood sugar, total
      cholesterol, triglycerides, hemoglobin, serum creatinine, high-density
      lipoproteins, and low-density lipoproteins. The height and weight of participants
      and their blood pressure were measured according to protocols. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of HTN in this population was 22% (25.9% in male and 20% in female).
      Most interestingly, smoking and drug abuse were more prevalent in men (14.9% and
      3.8%), but the sedentary behavior was more prevalent in women (51%).
      Interestingly, by increasing the age, the frequency of optimum, normal and high
      normal type was decreased and the frequency of HTN, specially sever form were
      increased. In binary logistic regression model, age [odds ratio (OR): 1.07, 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 1.06-1.09], gender (Ref:Female) (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.05
      1.83), and obesity (OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.06-1.12) were the predictors of HTN.
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HTN among this population was found to be high;
      which indicates the need for HTN-screening programs, especially for the elderly,
      male and obese population. Given the close relationship between obesity and
      various diseases, including HTN, practical solutions, including lifestyle
      interventions, need to be developed.

PMID- 28607564
TI  - Subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with metabolic
      syndrome: A case-control study using two-dimensional speckle tracking
      echocardiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The dramatic increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome is
      associated with more increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in this
      group. Some recent studies suggested that metabolic syndrome is associated with
      increased risk of subclinical left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. In the
      present cross-sectional case-control study, the utility of two-dimensional
      speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) was examined to detect early LV systolic
      dysfunction in this population. METHODS: A total of 75 clinically asymptomatic
      subjects with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >= 55%, 39 without
      metabolic syndrome and 36 with metabolic syndrome, matched for gender and age,
      were enrolled in this case-control study. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using
      the National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. LV
      systolic function was assessed by STE-derived global and segmental longitudinal
      strain (epsilonLL). RESULTS: Global epsilonLL was significantly lower in patients
      with metabolic syndrome compared with normal population (-18.41 +/- 2.20% vs. 
      21.2 +/- 2.1%, P < 0.001). Segmental epsilonLL was significantly lower in
      patients with metabolic syndrome in comparison to control group except for basal
      anteroseptal (-19.95 +/- 2.90% vs. -21.15 +/- 3.30%, P = 0.106), basal
      anterolateral (-17.5 +/- 5.0% vs. -18.3 +/- 4.1%, P = 0.437), and basal
      inferolateral segments (-18.1 +/- 6.3% vs. -18.9 +/- 4.1%, P = 0.526).
      CONCLUSION: STE-derived longitudinal LV strain (epsilonLL), a marker of
      subclinical cardiovascular disease, is impaired in asymptomatic individuals with
      metabolic syndrome and normal LVEF.

PMID- 28607562
TI  - Cellular Reprogramming, Genome Editing, and Alternative CRISPR Cas9 Technologies
      for Precise Gene Therapy of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
AB  - In the past decade, the development of two innovative technologies, namely,
      induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and the CRISPR Cas9 system, has enabled
      researchers to model diseases derived from patient cells and precisely edit DNA
      sequences of interest, respectively. In particular, Duchenne muscular dystrophy
      (DMD) has been an exemplary monogenic disease model for combining these
      technologies to demonstrate that genome editing can correct genetic mutations in
      DMD patient-derived iPSCs. DMD is an X-linked genetic disorder caused by
      mutations that disrupt the open reading frame of the dystrophin gene, which plays
      a critical role in stabilizing muscle cells during contraction and relaxation.
      The CRISPR Cas9 system has been shown to be capable of targeting the dystrophin
      gene and rescuing its expression in in vitro patient-derived iPSCs and in vivo
      DMD mouse models. In this review, we highlight recent advances made using the
      CRISPR Cas9 system to correct genetic mutations and discuss how emerging CRISPR
      technologies and iPSCs in a combined platform can play a role in bringing a
      therapy for DMD closer to the clinic.

PMID- 28607566
TI  - Comparative effects of carbohydrate versus fat restriction on metabolic profiles,
      biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in overweight patients with Type
      2 diabetic and coronary heart disease: A randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to establish the comparative effects of
      carbohydrate versus fat restriction on metabolic indices in Type 2 diabetic (T2D)
      patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: This randomized, clinical
      trial was done among 56 overweight persons with T2D and CHD aged 40-85 years old.
      The patients were randomly allocated to take either a high-carbohydrate (HC) diet
      (60-65% carbohydrates and 20-25% fats) (n = 28) or a restricted carbohydrate (RC)
      diet (43-49% carbohydrate and 36-40% fats) (n = 28) for 8 weeks to determine
      metabolic status. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of treatment, RC diet decreased fasting
      plasma glucose (FPG) (-11.5 +/- 28.3 vs. +7.0 +/- 26.9 mg/dl, P = 0.010) and high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (-564.3 +/- 1280.1 vs. +286.1 +/- 1789.2
      ng/ml, P = 0.040) compared with a HC diet. Moreover, compared with a HC diet, RC
      diet increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (+274.8 +/- 111.5 vs. +20.2 +/-
      82.5 mmol/l, P < 0.001) and glutathione (GSH) levels (+51.6 +/- 111.5 vs. -32.6
      +/- 88.5 umol/l, P = 0.003). No significant alterations between the two groups
      were found in terms of their effect on other metabolic profiles. CONCLUSION: RC
      diet in overweight T2D with CHD had beneficial effects on FPG, hs-CRP, TAC, and
      GSH values.

PMID- 28607567
TI  - The outbreak fingolimod cardiovascular side effects in relapsing-remitting
      multiple sclerosis patient: A longitudinal study in an Iranian population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fingolimod (FTY-720) has shown efficacy in relapsing multiple
      sclerosis (MS), while some side effects of this drug have been recognized that
      the most important is cardiovascular side effects. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the cardiovascular side effects of FTY-720. However, the effect of
      fingolimod on cardiac has not been well recognized. This study was designed to
      evaluate the cardiovascular side effects of fingolimod in relapsing-remitting
      multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patient in an Iranian population. METHODS: This
      prospective clinical trial study was performed on 200 RRMS patients. The patients
      received a single daily oral dose of fingolimod 0.5 mg. During the first 6 hours
      after the first fingolimod dose, the patients' vital signs and
      electrocardiographic traces were continuously monitored. Moreover, the patients
      followed up over 6 months after receiving fingolimod. RESULTS: The results showed
      that pulse rate (P < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (BP) (P < 0.001), and
      diastolic BP (P < 0.001) were decreased significantly during 6 hours after
      receiving the first dose of fingolimod. The most reduction in vital sign was
      observed in 3 hours. Arrhythmia, bradycardia, and dizziness were the other
      complications of fingolimod, which were detected in our study. CONCLUSION: All
      the side effects such as hypotension and bradycardia were happened in first 3
      hours after receiving the fingolimod. Indeed, we advise clinicians to monitor the
      patients for first 6 hours after initiation of fingolimod to decrease worse side
      effects.

PMID- 28607568
TI  - Review of studies on the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene interactions
      with environmental factors affecting on obesity and its impact on lifestyle
      interventions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity is influenced by environmental and genetic
      factors. Recently, it has been reported that an interaction between genotype and
      environmental factors can affect each other's effects on the phenotype. The
      purpose of this study is to evaluate the recent studies on the fat mass and
      obesity-associated (FTO) gene interactions with environmental factors affecting
      on obesity and the impact of these interactions on the success level of the
      lifestyle intervention. METHODS: All articles published in English from June 1990
      to June 2015 were studied. RESULTS: In most studies, the role of the FTO risk
      alleles for obesity is significantly intensified through reduced physical
      activity and high calorie diet. Furthermore, the results of studies about the
      effect of FTO on the success level of lifestyle interventions have been
      contradictory. Some studies show that FTO genotype influences on the success of
      lifestyle interventions, while other studies did not report it. CONCLUSION: The
      results of these studies generally indicate that the effect of the FTO gene on
      obesity may be influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle. In the other
      hand, the FTO genotype can affect the success of lifestyle interventions in the
      prevention and treatment of obesity. Future studies are crucial to elucidate
      relationships between FTO gene and lifestyle.

PMID- 28607569
TI  - Huge mass in right side of the heart: A rare case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of primary intracardiac tumors are scarce, and most of
      them are myxomas. We reported, in this paper, a case with huge mass in the right
      side of the heart. CASE REPORT: A 45-year-old man, with a complaint of bilateral
      lower limbs edema and exertional dyspnea, was admitted to intensive cardiac care
      unit. Cardiac auscultation revealed soft grade systolic murmur without any
      evidence of "tumor plop." Echocardiography showed a huge mobile mass in right
      side of the heart that suggested myxoma. Our patient underwent cardiac surgery
      with excision of 13 cm mass. Histopathological study was confirmed the diagnosis
      of mass type. CONCLUSION: In this case report, it shows that in the differential
      diagnosis of right-sided heart failure, the right sided myxoma must be
      considered. The preferable approach in patient with cardiac myxomas is surgical
      excision to alleviate symptoms, early identification, and removal.

PMID- 28607570
TI  - Presentation of new classification of perceived risk factors and etiologies of
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28607571
TI  - Myocardial bridging of the posterolateral branches of the right coronary artery.

PMID- 28607572
TI  - Gastrodia elata Blume Rhizome Aqueous Extract Improves Arterial Thrombosis,
      Dyslipidemia, and Insulin Response in Testosterone-Deficient Rats.
AB  - Testosterone deficiency deteriorates glucose and lipid metabolism with reducing
      muscle mass. We investigated whether the consumption of water extracts of
      Gastrodia elata Blume rhizome (GEB) rich in gastrodin would reduce the symptoms
      of testosterone deficiency and improve blood flow in orchidectomized (ORX) rats.
      ORX rats were given high-fat diets supplemented with either 1% cellulose (ORX
      control), 0.3% GEB (GEB-L), or 1% GEB (GEB-H) for 8 weeks. Sham-operated rats
      were fed the same diet as OVX-control rats (normal-control). ORX-control rats had
      reduced serum testosterone levels by one-fifth, compared to normal-control rats.
      ORX-control rats exhibited decreased lean body mass, attenuated blood flow, and
      impaired cholesterol metabolism and glucose control due to decreased insulin
      secretory response. GEB increased serum insulin levels dose-dependently and GEB-H
      mostly enhanced dyslipidemia in ORX rats. GEB completely normalized arterial
      thrombosis time and blood flow in ORX rats. Interestingly, ORX-control rats
      showed attenuated hepatic insulin signaling but greater AMPK and CREB activities,
      which reduced triglyceride accumulation, compared to normal-control. GEB-H
      improved hepatic insulin signaling but maintained the AMPK and CREB activities in
      ORX rats. In conclusions, GEB ameliorated the impairment of cholesterol and
      glucose metabolism and blood flow in ORX rats. GEB may be a potential preventive
      measure for reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases associated with
      testosterone deficiency.

PMID- 28607574
TI  - Massage Therapy in Children with Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the efficacy of massage, a traditional
      treatment method of traditional Chinese medicine on children with asthma.
      METHODS: Literatures from 5 databases using the date ranging from 1 January,
      1990, to 13 December, 2016, were reviewed, which were all randomized controlled
      trials evaluating the efficacy on children with asthma and effect on lung
      function mainly by massage therapy. RESULTS: 14 researches with 1299 patients
      were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with control group, a better
      efficacy was found in treatment group, which focused on massage therapy. Compared
      with control group, there was remarkable increase on FEV1 as well as PEF in
      treatment group. CONCLUSION: All studies have shown that massage therapy has a
      significantly positive effect on children with asthma, improves the pulmonary
      function parameters of large airway, reduces the plasma concentrations of PAF and
      prostaglandin, and increases the levels of PAF-AH and DP1; therefore, it greatly
      improves pulmonary function. However, the limited research designs of included
      studies lead to high risk of bias. More randomized controlled trials with better
      methodological quality are needed to further confirm the effectiveness of
      massage.

PMID- 28607573
TI  - Effects of Radix Astragali and Its Split Components on Gene Expression Profiles
      Related to Water Metabolism in Rats with the Dampness Stagnancy due to Spleen
      Deficiency Syndrome.
AB  - Radix Astragali (RA) with slight sweet and warm property is a significant "qi
      tonifying" herb; it is indicated for the syndrome of dampness stagnancy due to
      spleen deficiency (DSSD). The purpose of this research was to explore effects of
      RA and its split components on gene expression profiles related to water
      metabolism in rats with the DSSD syndrome for identifying components representing
      property and flavor of RA. The results indicated that RA and its split
      components, especially polysaccharides component, significantly increased the
      body weight and the urine volume and decreased the water load index of model
      rats. Our data also indicated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to
      water metabolism involved secretion, ion transport, water homeostasis, regulation
      of body fluid levels, and water channel activity; the expression of AQP1, AQP3,
      AQP4, AQP5, AQP6, and AQP8 was improved; calcium, cAMP, MAPK, PPAR, AMPK, and
      PI3K-Akt signaling pathway may be related to water metabolism. In general,
      results indicate that RA and its split components could promote water metabolism
      in rats with the DSSD syndrome via regulating the expression of AQPs, which
      reflected sweet-warm properties of RA. Effects of the polysaccharides component
      are better than others.

PMID- 28607575
TI  - Spatholobus suberectus Exhibits Antidiabetic Activity In Vitro and In Vivo
      through Activation of AKT-AMPK Pathway.
AB  - Glucose deposition in peripheral tissue is an important parameter for the
      treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to investigate
      the effects of Spatholobus suberectus (Ss) on glucose disposal in skeletal muscle
      cells and additionally explore its in vivo antidiabetic potential. Treatment of
      ethanolic extract of S. suberectus (EeSs) significantly enhanced the glucose
      uptake, mediated through the enhanced expression of GLUT4 in skeletal muscle via
      the stimulation of AKT and AMPK pathways in C2C12 cells. Moreover, EeSs have
      potential inhibitory action on alpha-glucosidase activity and significantly
      lowered the postprandial blood glucose levels in STZ-induced diabetic mice,
      associated with increased expression of GLUT4 and AKT and/or AMPK-mediated
      signaling cascade in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, administration of EeSs
      significantly boosted up the antioxidant enzyme expression and also mitigated the
      gluconeogenesis enzyme such as PEPCK and G-6-Pase enzyme expression in liver
      tissue of STZ-induced diabetic mice model. Collectively, these findings suggest
      that EeSs have a high potentiality to mitigate diabetic symptoms through
      stimulating glucose uptake in peripheral tissue via the activation of AKT and
      AMPK signaling cascade and augmenting antioxidant potentiality as well as
      blocking the gluconeogenesis process in diabetic mice.

PMID- 28607576
TI  - Inference of Biochemical S-Systems via Mixed-Variable Multiobjective Evolutionary
      Optimization.
AB  - Inference of the biochemical systems (BSs) via experimental data is important for
      understanding how biochemical components in vivo interact with each other.
      However, it is not a trivial task because BSs usually function with complex and
      nonlinear dynamics. As a popular ordinary equation (ODE) model, the S-System
      describes the dynamical properties of BSs by incorporating the power rule of
      biochemical reactions but behaves as a challenge because it has a lot of
      parameters to be confirmed. This work is dedicated to proposing a general method
      for inference of S-Systems by experimental data, using a biobjective optimization
      (BOO) model and a specially mixed-variable multiobjective evolutionary algorithm
      (mv-MOEA). Regarding that BSs are sparse in common sense, we introduce binary
      variables indicating network connections to eliminate the difficulty of threshold
      presetting and take data fitting error and the L0-norm as two objectives to be
      minimized in the BOO model. Then, a selection procedure that automatically runs
      tradeoff between two objectives is employed to choose final inference results
      from the obtained nondominated solutions of the mv-MOEA. Inference results of the
      investigated networks demonstrate that our method can identify their dynamical
      properties well, although the automatic selection procedure sometimes ignores
      some weak connections in BSs.

PMID- 28607577
TI  - MRI in the assessment and monitoring of multiple sclerosis: an update on best
      practice.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has developed into the most important tool for
      the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS). Its high sensitivity for
      the evaluation of inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes in the brain and
      spinal cord has made it the most commonly used technique for the evaluation of
      patients with MS. Moreover, MRI has become a powerful tool for treatment
      monitoring, safety assessment as well as for the prognostication of disease
      progression. Clinically, the use of MRI has increased in the past couple decades
      as a result of improved technology and increased availability that now extends
      well beyond academic centers. Consequently, there are numerous studies supporting
      the role of MRI in the management of patients with MS. The aim of this review is
      to summarize the latest insights into the utility of MRI in MS.

PMID- 28607578
TI  - Osimertinib in patients with advanced epidermal growth factor receptor T790M
      mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer: rationale, evidence and place in
      therapy.
AB  - The identification of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations
      represented a fundamental step forward in the treatment of advanced non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as they define a subset of patients who benefit from the
      administration of specifically designed targeted therapies. The inhibition of
      mutant EGFR through EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), either reversible,
      first-generation gefitinib and erlotinib, or irreversible, second-generation
      afatinib, has dramatically improved the prognosis of patients harboring this
      specific genetic alteration, leading to unexpected clinical benefit.
      Unfortunately, virtually all patients who initially respond to treatment develop
      acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs within 9-14 months. The EGFR T790M secondary
      mutation has emerged as a cause of treatment failure in approximately 60% of
      resistant cases. To date, several compounds designed with the aim to overcome
      T790M-mediated resistance are under clinical investigation. The aim of this
      review is to discuss emerging data regarding the third-generation EGFR-TKI,
      osimertinib, for the treatment of EGFR T790M mutant advanced NSCLC.

PMID- 28607579
TI  - Review of the use of pretest probability for molecular testing in non-small cell
      lung cancer and overview of new mutations that may affect clinical practice.
AB  - This article considers the use of pretest probability in non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC) and how its use in EGFR testing has helped establish clinical
      guidelines on selecting patients for EGFR testing. With an ever-increasing number
      of molecular abnormalities being identified and often limited tissue available
      for testing, the use of pretest probability will need to be increasingly
      considered in the future for selecting investigations and treatments in patients.
      In addition we review new mutations that have the potential to affect clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28607581
TI  - Pembrolizumab in cervical cancer: latest evidence and clinical usefulness.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women
      worldwide. With the development of detection of precancerous lesions and
      preventive human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program, a survival improvement
      has been observed in these patients in developed countries, although disparities
      in accessibility to treatments exist across countries. While early-stage cervical
      cancer can be curable with surgery, prognosis of patients who recur remains poor,
      with limited treatment options. In this latter setting, recently, bevacizumab, an
      antiangiogenic monoclonal antibody targeting vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF), has been shown to improve overall survival in combination with
      chemotherapy as compared with chemotherapy alone. No standard treatments exist
      beyond this treatment regimen. New effective treatments are therefore much needed
      in this setting. Immunotherapy has represented a breakthrough in recent years in
      oncology, with antitumor activity reported with immune-checkpoint inhibitors in a
      variety of tumor types. We discuss here the latest evidence and clinical
      usefulness of pembrolizumab, anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, in the treatment of
      advanced cervical cancer.

PMID- 28607580
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in soft tissue sarcomas: latest evidence and clinical
      implications.
AB  - Soft tissue sarcomas are a rare and multifaceted group of solid tumours.
      Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is increasingly used to limit loss of function after
      wide surgical excision with the ultimate aim of improving patient survival.
      Recently, advances in the identification of effective treatment strategies and
      improvements in patient risk stratification have been reached. A randomized trial
      demonstrated that neoadjuvant epirubicin and ifosfamide improves survival of
      patients affected by five high-risk soft tissue sarcoma histologies of trunk and
      extremities, including undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, myxoid liposarcoma,
      synovial sarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours, and leiomyosarcoma.
      Selection of patients for these treatments is expected to be improved by the
      eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging
      system, as it tailors T-stage categories on primary tumour site and considers a
      prognostic nomogram for retroperitoneal sarcoma, which also includes soft tissue
      sarcoma histology and other patient and tumour features not directly included in
      the TNM staging. Within this framework, this article will present neoadjuvant
      treatment strategies for high-risk soft tissue sarcoma, emphasizing the most
      recent advances and discussing the need for further research to improve the
      effectiveness of neoadjuvant treatments.

PMID- 28607582
TI  - Letter to the Editor Re: Ahn DH, Krishna K, Blazer M, et al. "A modified regimen
      of biweekly gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel in patients with metastatic pancreatic
      cancer is both tolerable and effective: a retrospective analysis." Ther Adv Med
      Oncol https://doi.org/10.1177/1758834016676011.

PMID- 28607583
TI  - Response to Drs Von Hoff and Renschler.

PMID- 28607584
TI  - A Combined ULBP2 and SEMA5A Expression Signature as a Prognostic and Predictive
      Biomarker for Colon Cancer.
AB  - Background: Prognostic biomarkers for cancer have the power to change the course
      of disease if they add value beyond known prognostic factors, if they can help
      shape treatment protocols, and if they are reliable. The aim of this study was to
      identify such biomarkers for colon cancer and to understand the molecular
      mechanisms leading to prognostic stratifications based on these biomarkers.
      Methods and Findings: We used an in house R based script (SSAT) for the in silico
      discovery of stage-independent prognostic biomarkers using two cohorts, GSE17536
      and GSE17537, that include 177 and 55 colon cancer patients, respectively. This
      identified 2 genes, ULBP2 and SEMA5A, which when used jointly, could distinguish
      patients with distinct prognosis. We validated our findings using a third cohort
      of 48 patients ex vivo. We find that in all cohorts, a combined ULBP2/SEMA5A
      classification (SU-GIB) can stratify distinct prognostic sub-groups with hazard
      ratios that range from 2.4 to 4.5 (p<=0.01) when overall- or cancer-specific
      survival is used as an end-measure, independent of confounding prognostic
      parameters. In addition, our preliminary analyses suggest SU-GIB is comparable to
      Oncotype DX colon((r)) in predicting recurrence in two different cohorts (HR: 1.5
      2; p<=0.02). SU-GIB has potential as a companion diagnostic for several drugs
      including the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235, which are suitable for the treatment of
      patients within the bad prognosis group. We show that tumors from patients with
      worse prognosis have low EGFR autophosphorylation rates, but high caspase 7
      activity, and show upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines that relate to a
      relatively mesenchymal phenotype. Conclusions: We describe two novel genes that
      can be used to prognosticate colon cancer and suggest approaches by which such
      tumors can be treated. We also describe molecular characteristics of tumors
      stratified by the SU-GIB signature.

PMID- 28607585
TI  - Aberrant Cx43 Expression and Mislocalization in Metastatic Human Melanomas.
AB  - At present, it is unclear if melanocytes contain Cx43 gap junctions and whether
      Cx43 expression is regulated in melanoma onset and progression. To this end, we
      cultured pure populations of mouse melanocytes and found that they had no
      detectable Cx43 and exhibited an inability for dye transfer indicating they were
      devoid of functional gap junctions. Given the evidence that melanomas acquire the
      expression of other connexin isoforms during tumor progression, we assessed if
      Cx43 was also expressed and assembled into gap junctions at any stage of human
      melanoma onset and progression to distant metastases. Nearly all primary
      melanomas within the epidermis lacked Cx43. In contrast, nodal metastases
      expressed low levels of Cx43 which was markedly higher in distant metastases that
      had invaded vital organs. Importantly, in all stages of melanoma progression,
      Cx43 could be detected in intracellular compartments but was rarely assembled
      into gap junctions indicative of functional gap junction channels. Overall, these
      studies suggest that melanocytes do not form Cx43 homocellular gap junctions and
      even though Cx43 levels increase during melanoma progression, this connexin
      rarely assembles into gap junction structures.

PMID- 28607586
TI  - Knockdown of COPS3 Inhibits Lung Cancer Tumor Growth in Nude Mice by Blocking
      Cell Cycle Progression.
AB  - COPS3 encodes the third subunit of the COP9 signalosome and its aberrant
      expression is associated with many RITE ("Region of Increased Tumor Expression")
      genes in lung cancer tissues. To elucidate the specific role of COPS3 in lung
      cancer, we examined its expression in lung cancer tissues by immunohistochemical
      staining. We found that COPS3 was overexpressed in most of the lung cancer
      samples examined, particularly in small cell carcinoma and squamous cell
      carcinoma. The expression of COPS3 protein was positively correlated with the
      level of Ki-67 cell proliferation index (p=0.001) and negatively related to the
      degree of tumor differentiation (p=0.012). In a xenograft tumor model in nude
      mice, shRNA-knockdown of COPS3 significantly reduced tumor growth. In lung
      adenocarcinoma A549 cells, shRNA-knockdown of COPS3 induced cell cycle arrest at
      G0/G1 phase by upregulating the cell cycle regulator protein P21 and
      downregulating cyclin B1 and CDK4. These data suggest that COPS3 may promote
      tumor growth by regulating cell-cycle associated proteins.

PMID- 28607588
TI  - Isolation and Identification of miRNAs in exosomes derived from serum of colon
      cancer patients.
AB  - Objective: To isolate exosomes from the serum of colon cancer patients and
      identify RNAs in the small vesicles. Methods: ExoQuick-TCTM Exosome Precipitation
      Solution was used for exosome isolation and the shapes of exosomes were observed
      under a transmission electron microscope. Mass spectrometry was used to identify
      the classification of miRNAs encapsulated in exosomes, and the expression levels
      of miRNA-21,-133a, and -181b in exosomes were detected by RT-PCR. Results:
      Exosomes isolated from serum of colon cancer patients were circular-or oval
      shaped and vary in size with a diameter of 40-100 nm. Mass spectrometry shows
      that the main RNAs in exosomes are small RNAs; the levels of these small RNAs in
      exosomes are significantly higher compared with fresh serum. There is still a
      tiny amount of small RNAs in exosome-free serum, but the amounts are
      significantly lower than that in exosomes. No more RNAs were detected in the
      repeated freezing and thawing serum, but there were still some RNAs detectable in
      the exosomes extracted from these serums. MiRNA-21, -133a and -181b can be
      detected in exosomes, and the level of miRNA-21 is associated with early
      diagnosis of colon cancer. Conclusion: This study proves that commercial kits for
      exosome separation are more convenient and time-saving and that mass spectrometry
      is capable of identifying the miRNAs in exosomes. Compared with direct extraction
      of miRNAs from the serum, the method of isolating exosomes from the serum firstly
      and then extracting miRNAs from the exosomes can enhance the stability and
      integrity of their inner miRNAs. Also, we demonstrate that the exosomal miRNA-21
      expression is associated with the early diagnosis of colon cancer.

PMID- 28607587
TI  - Impact of CD44 expression on radiation response for bladder cancer.
AB  - Background Identification of potential factors that can stratify tumors' response
      to specific therapies will aid in the selection of cancer therapy.
      Radioresistance is the major obstacles to positive outcomes in bladder cancer
      patients after definite chemotherapy. CD44, a cancer stem cell surface marker, is
      relevant in treatment resistance. In the present study, we examined the role of
      CD44 in bladder cancer. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes
      of 85 bladder cancer patients treated with definite chemoradiotherapy, and
      correlated the expressions of CD44 with IL-6 and treatment response. Furthermore,
      the bladder cancer cell lines HT1197 and MB49 were selected for cellular and
      animal experiments to investigate the links between the CD44, IL-6 and radiation
      response. Results Analyzing the clinical specimen, the staining of CD44 was
      significantly linked with higher clinical stage, lower complete response rates,
      higher loco-regional failure rate and lower survival rate with intact bladder for
      patients treated with definite CCRT. In addition, the frequency of CD44
      immunoreactivity was significantly higher in IL-6-positive bladder cancer
      specimens. By cellular experiments, the expression of CD44 was stimulated by IL-6
      and linked with the cancer stem cell-like property. As demonstrated through in
      vitro and animal experiments using immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts,
      CD44+ bladder cancer cells appeared more resistant to irradiation, associated
      with less RT-induced cell death. Conclusions Our findings suggested that CD44 is
      important in predicting the radiation response of bladder tumor cells. If
      overexpressed CD44 and/or IL-6 were noted in pre-surgical specimens, radical
      cystectomy is more likely to be preferred.

PMID- 28607589
TI  - Overexpression of Mitochondrial GTPase MFN2 Represents a Negative Prognostic
      Marker in Human Gastric Cancer and Its Inhibition Exerts Anti-Cancer Effects.
AB  - Background: As one of the most common malignancies in the world, little is known
      about the molecular mechanism underlying gastric cancer (GC) and its progression.
      In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical impact of the mitochondrial
      GTPase mitofusin 2 (MFN2) in GC. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to
      examine the expression levels of MFN2 in gastric tissues obtained from 141
      patients with GC. The correlations between MFN2 protein level and
      clinicopathologic parameters, as well as the significance of MFN2 protein level
      for overall and disease-free survival were assessed. siRNA technology was used to
      study the effect of MFN2 knockdown on cell proliferation and invasion. Results:
      The overexpression of MFN2 was positively associated with depth of invasion (P =
      0.0430), stage (P = 0.0325) and vascular invasion (P = 0.0077). Patients with
      high expression levels of MFN2 had a significantly lower overall survival rate
      and disease-free survival rate compared with those with low expression levels (P
      = 0.003 and 0.001, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed
      that the overexpression of MFN2 was an independent prognostic marker for inferior
      overall survival and disease-free survival (P = 0.015 and 0.025, respectively).
      In addition, studies conducted in GC cells indicated that knockdown of MFN2
      suppressed cell proliferation and invasion. Conclusions: Overexpression of MFN2
      can be used as a marker to predict the outcome of patients with GC. Furthermore,
      targeting MFN2 might provide a new therapeutic modality for the treatment of GC.

PMID- 28607590
TI  - Association between SNPs in Long Non-coding RNAs and the Risk of Female Breast
      Cancer in a Chinese Population.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been reported to be involved in tumorigenesis
      and tumor progression. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the lncRNAs also
      play a vital role in carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to assess the
      relationships between the four selected tagSNPs (rs944289, rs3787016, rs1456315,
      rs7463708) in the lncRNAs and the risk of female breast cancer in a Chinese
      population. A case-control study was carried out involving in a total of 439
      breast cancer patients and 439 age-matched healthy controls. The genotyping was
      performed with Sequenom MassARRAY and the expression of estrogen receptor (ER),
      progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)
      in tumor tissues was measured by the immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay. We found
      that rs3787016 TT genotype (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.62, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) = 1.09-2.41, P = 0.018) was associated with an increased risk of
      female breast cancer, especially among the patients with premenopausal status
      (adjusted OR = 2.55, 95% CI = 1.30-4.97, P = 0.006). Moreover, a statistically
      significant increased risk of the rs3787016 TT genotype was observed among the
      patients with advanced tumor stage (III and IV), poor histological grade (G3-G4),
      positive lymph node involvement, positive expression of ER and PR and negative
      expression of HER-2; rs7463708 GT and GT/GG genotype were associated with
      decreased risk of breast cancer in the subgroup of patients with postmenopausal
      status (GT versus (vs.) TT: adjusted OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.46-0.99, P = 0.043;
      GT/GG vs. TT: adjusted OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.47-0.98, P = 0.041) and tumor late
      stage (GT vs. TT: adjusted OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.43-0.97, P = 0.037; GT/GG vs.
      TT: adjusted OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.44-0.96, P = 0.029). In short, rs3787016 TT
      genotype was associated with increased breast cancer risk and clinicopathologic
      features of the tumor, especially among premenopausal women.

PMID- 28607591
TI  - PET of HER2 Expression with a Novel 18FAl Labeled Affibody.
AB  - Background: Human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) is abundant in a
      wide variety of tumors and associated with the poor prognosis. Radiolabeled
      affibodies are potential candidates for detecting HER2-positive lesions. However,
      laborious multiple-step synthetic procedure and high abdomen background may
      hinder the widespread use. Herein, cysteinylated ZHER2:342 modified with a new
      hydrophilic linker (denoted as MZHER2:342) was designed and labeled using 18FAl
      NOTA strategies. The biologic efficacy of the novel tracer and its feasibilities
      for in vivo monitoring HER2 levels were also investigated in xenograft models
      with different HER2 expressions. Method: MZHER2:342 was conjugated with MAL-NOTA
      under standard reaction conditions. The affibody molecule was then radiolabeled
      with 18FAl complex. The binding specificity of the tracer, 18FAl-NOTA-MAL
      MZHER2:342, with HER2 was primarily characterized via in vitro studies. MicroPET
      imaging were performed in nude mice bearing tumors (SKOV-3, JIMT-1 and MCF-7)
      after injection. The HER2 levels of xenografts were determined using Western
      blotting analysis. Results:18FAl-NOTA-MAL-MZHER2:342 can be efficiently produced
      within 30 min with a non-decaycorrected yield of about 10% and a radiochemical
      purity of more than 95%. In vitro experiments revealed that the modified affibody
      retained the specific affinity to HER2. PET imaging showed that SKOV-3 and JIMT-1
      xenografts were clearly visualized with excellent contrast and low abdomen
      backgrounds. On the contrary, the signals of MCF-7 tumor were difficult to
      visualize. The ROI values ranged from16.54+/-2.69% ID/g for SKOV-3 to 8.42+/-1.20
      %ID/g for JIMT-1 tumors at 1h postinjection respectively. Poor uptake was
      observed from MCF-7 tumors with 1.71+/-0.34% ID/g at the same time point.
      Besides, a significant linear correlation between % ID/g values and relative HER2
      expression levels was also found. Conclusions:18FAl-NOTA-MAL-MZHER2:342 is a
      promising tracer for in vivo detecting HER2 status with the advantages of facile
      synthesis and favorable pharmacokinetics. It may be useful in differential
      diagnosis, molecularly targeted therapy and prognosis of the cancers.

PMID- 28607592
TI  - The Role of Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colorectal Liver Metastasectomy after Pre
      Operative Chemotherapy: Is the Treatment Worthwhile?
AB  - Peri-operative chemotherapy has been proposed to improve the survival of patients
      with colorectal cancer hepatic metastases (CRCHM). However, the role of the
      adjuvant chemotherapy post-metastasectomy for CRCHM patients who have undergone
      pre-operative chemotherapy is still undetermined. We retrospectively analyzed the
      role of adjuvant chemotherapy post-metastasectomy on relapse-free survival (RFS)
      and overall survival (OS) in 163 CRCHM patients who received pre-operative
      chemotherapy using a Kaplan-Meier curve and univariate/multiple Cox model. Ten
      patients with rapidly progressing disease were further excluded in a sensitivity
      analysis. Seven risk factors (metachronous/synchronous metastases, differentiated
      grade of the primary tumor, number of metastases, size of the max metastasis,
      duration of pre-operative chemotherapy, radiologic response and pathologic
      regression) were used to stratify patients and investigate the beneficial
      features of adjuvant chemotherapy post-metastasectomy. The results indicated that
      adjuvant chemotherapy post-metastasectomy prolonged both RFS (median RFS: 3.3 vs.
      10.2 m, P = 0.002) and OS (median OS: 28.1 vs. 40.7 m, P = 0.005) in CRCHM
      patients who received pre-operative chemotherapy. After adjusting for other risk
      factors in a multiple Cox model, the adjuvant chemotherapy group was estimated to
      have a 54.0 % relapse-free survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.46, 95 % confidence
      interval (CI) 0.31 - 0.69, P < 0.001) and a 55.0 % overall survival (HR [95 %
      CI]: 0.45 [0.26 - 0.78], P = 0.005) advantage compared to patients without
      adjuvant chemotherapy. Additionally, the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy post
      liver resection remained in sensitivity analysis. After the risk stratification,
      patients with synchronous metastases, poor differentiation, >= 3 metastases per
      patient, size of the maximum metastasis >3 cm, a short duration of pre-operative
      chemotherapy, radiologic response and poor pathologic regression seem to benefit
      more from adjuvant chemotherapy. To sum up, adjuvant chemotherapy post
      metastasectomy might be considered for CRCHM patients who have received
      preoperative chemotherapy, especially for those with high-risk factors.

PMID- 28607593
TI  - Chemoresistance of colorectal cancer to 5-fluorouracil is associated with
      silencing of the BNIP3 gene through aberrant methylation.
AB  - Purpose To investigate the correlation between chemoresistance of colorectal
      cancer to 5-fluorouracil and BNIP3 and the underlying mechanism. Methods BNIP3
      protein in specimens was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. Semi-quantitative
      reverse transcription PCR and Western blot was employed to assay gene expression.
      The promoter methylation status of BNIP3 was examined by methylation-specific
      PCR. Drug sensitivity was assayed using MTT assay. Results Specimens from 81
      patients with colorectal cancer receiving 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy were
      analyzed. BNIP3 expression was negative in 42 cancer samples. The mean score of
      BNIP3 in cancer was 1.8+/-0.2 and it was 3.7+/-0.5 in adjacent colorectum
      (p<0.05). The response rate of the BNIP3 positive group was 63.6% and that of the
      negative group was 36.4% (p=0.021). The median PFS of the BNIP3 positive group
      was 9.25 months and that of the BNIP3 negative group was 6.5 months (p=0.011).
      BNIP3 mRNA was not detectable in 4 of 8 colorectal cell lines and all these 4
      cell lines displayed BNIP3 methylated allele only. Other 4 cell lines what
      expressed detectable BNIP3 displayed BNIP3 unmethylated allele only or both
      unmethylated and methylated alleles. 5-Aza dramatically increased BNIP3
      expression. Knockdown of DNMT1 increased BNIP3. Knockdown of DNMT3B alone did not
      detectably change BNIP3 expression while knockdown of both DNMT1 and DNMT3B
      increased BNIP3 expression more than knockdown of DNMT1 alone. Knockdown of BNIP3
      decreased chemosensitivity to 5-fluorouracil and increasing BNIP3 through
      demethylation increased chemosensitivity. Conclusion Chemoresistance of
      colorectal cancer to 5-fluorouracil is associated with silencing of the BNIP3
      gene through aberrant methylation via DNMT1/DNMT3B.

PMID- 28607594
TI  - High Expression of Aldolase B Confers a Poor Prognosis for Rectal Cancer Patients
      Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy.
AB  - Background : Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both sex
      worldwide and it is also the fourth most common cause of cancer mortality. For
      rectal cancer, neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) followed by
      radical proctectomy is gold standard treatment for patients with stage II/III
      rectal cancer. By data mining a documented database of rectal cancer
      transcriptome (GSE35452) from Gene Expression Omnibus, National Center of
      Biotechnology Information, we recognized that ALDOB was the most significantly up
      regulated transcript among those related to glycolysis (GO: 0006096). Hence, we
      analyzed the clinicopathological correlation and prognostic effect of ALDOB
      protein (Aldolase B), which encoded by ALDOB gene. Methods : ALDOB immunostain
      was performed in 172 rectal adenocarcinomas treated with preoperative
      chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery, which were divided into high- and
      low-expression groups. Furthermore, statistical analyses were examined to
      correlate the relationship between ALDOB immunoreactivity and important clinical
      and pathological characteristics, as well as three survival indices: disease
      specific survival (DSS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and metastasis
      free survival (MeFS). Results : ALDOB (Aldolase B) over-expression was
      significantly associated with pre-CCRT and post-CCRT tumor advancement,
      lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion and poor response to CCRT (all P <=
      .023). In addition, ALDOB high expression was linked to adverse DSS, LRFS and
      MeFS in univariate analysis (P <= .0075) and also served as an independent
      prognosticator indicating dismal DSS and MeFS in multivariate analysis (hazard
      ratio (HR) = 3.462, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.263-9.495; HR = 2.846, 95%
      CI: 1.190-6.808, respectively). Conclusion : ALDOB (Aldolase B) may play an
      imperative role in rectal cancer progression and responsiveness to neoadjuvant
      CCRT, and serve as a novel prognostic biomarker. Additional researches to clarify
      the molecular and biochemical pathways are essential for developing promising
      ALDOB-targeted therapies for patients with rectal cancers.

PMID- 28607595
TI  - E2F8 is a Potential Therapeutic Target for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - E2F transcriptional factors are widely expressed in a number of tissues and
      organs, possessing many regulatory functions related to cellular proliferation,
      differentiation, DNA repair, cell-cycle and cell apoptosis. E2F8 is a recently
      identified member of the E2F family with a duplicated DNA-binding domain feature
      discriminated from E2F1-6, controlling gene expression in a dimerization partner
      independent manner. It is indispensable for angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis and
      embryonic development. Although E2F8 and E2F7 perform complementary and
      overlapping functions in many cell metabolisms, E2F8, but not E2F7, overexpresses
      remarkably in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to facilitate the HCC occurrence and
      development via activating a E2F1/ Cyclin D1 signaling pathway to regulate the G1
      to S-phase transition of cell cycle progression or transcriptionally suppressing
      CDK1 to induce hepatocyte polyploidization. It also involves closely a variety of
      cellular physiological functions and pathological processes, which may bring a
      new breakthrough for the treatment of certain diseases, especially the HCC. Here,
      we summarize the latest progress of E2F8 on its relevant functions and mechanisms
      as well as potential application.

PMID- 28607596
TI  - Elevated preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio can predict poor survival in
      early stage gastric cancer patients receiving radical gastrectomy: The Fujian
      prospective investigation of cancer (FIESTA) study.
AB  - Aims: This cohort study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic impact of blood
      routine parameters before radical gastrectomy on gastric cancer mortality.
      Methods: Total 3012 patients with gastric cancer were consecutively enrolled from
      a mono-center between 2000 and 2010, and the latest follow-up was completed in
      2015. Results: The median follow-up time was 44.05 months. Finally, 1331 out of
      3012 gastric cancer patients died from gastric cancer. Per standard deviation
      increment in neutrophil (hazard ratio or HR=1.08, P<0.001), white blood cell
      count (HR=1.07, P=0.001), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio or NLR (HR=1.08,
      P<0.001) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (HR=1.08, P<0.001) was significantly
      associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer mortality, while that in
      lymphocyte (HR=0.69, P<0.001), hemoglobin (HR=0.82, P<0.001) and lymphocyte-to
      monocyte ratio (HR=0.68, P<0.001) was associated with a reduced risk. Survival
      tree analysis indicated that in patients with TNM stage I/II, the contrasts of
      NLR>2.61 with <=2.61 and NLR>1.87 with <=1.87 were respectively associated with a
      5.21-fold (P=0.004) and 2.36-fold (P=0.001) increased risk of gastric cancer
      mortality. The effect-size magnitude of NLR was further potentiated in patients
      with invasion depth T1/T2 (HR=1.73, P=0.001), regional lymph node metastasis N0
      (HR=1.60, P<0.001), TNM stage I/II (HR=1.36, P=0.009) and tumor size <= 4.5 cm
      (HR=1.17, P<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings consolidated the prognostic impact
      of preoperative NLR on gastric mortality, and demonstrated that elevated
      preoperative NLR was a robust indicator of poor survival in patients at early
      stage.

PMID- 28607597
TI  - PSA and Prostate Health Index based prostate cancer screening in a hereditary
      migration complicated population: implications in precision diagnosis.
AB  - Precision diagnosis requires specific markers for differential ethnic
      populations. Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) level (threshold of 4ng/ml) has been
      widely used to screen prostate cancer and as reference of pro-biopsy but false
      diagnosis frequently occurs. Prostate health Index (PHI) is a new diagnosis
      marker which combines PSA, free PSA and p2PSA4. Overall the PCa screening
      database is lacking in Kazakhstani patients. We analyzed the PSA levels and
      Gleason scores of 222 biopsies collected in 2015 in Almaty area, Kazakhstan
      approved by institutional ethics board. We found using PSA of 4ng/ml as
      threshold, only 25.68% of patients have cancer with Gleason score ranged 6-8 and
      65.77% of patients have no character of cancer. Moreover, there is no significant
      correlation between PSA and cancerous (P=0.266) or Gleason grade (P=0.3046) based
      on pathological biopsy. In addition, PHI is not correlated to prostate cancer
      (P=0.4301). Our data suggest that false-positive rate is much higher than the
      correct-positive diagnosis when using PSA as the first screening. Thus in this
      cohort study, most patients can not get benefit from the PSA screening for
      precision PCa diagnosis. As Kazakhstani family trees are unique and complicated
      because of history and migration, the high rate of over diagnosis might be due to
      the hyperexpression of PSA via heterosis in Eurasian men. Therefore we should be
      cautious when using pro-biopsy in precision diagnosis for Eurasian prostate
      cancer patients.

PMID- 28607598
TI  - The Prognostic Value of Tyrosine Kinase SRC Expression in Locally Advanced Rectal
      Cancer.
AB  - The cellular sarcoma gene (SRC) is a proto-oncogene encoding for a tyrosine
      kinase. SRC expression was determined in locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma
      tissue from pretreatment biopsies and resection specimens. The expression level
      was correlated with clinicopathological parameters to evaluate the predictive and
      prognostic capacity. For this monocentric analysis 186 patients with locally
      advanced rectal cancer (median: 63.7 years; 130 men (69.9%), 56 women (30.1%))
      were included. Patients with a carcinoma of the upper third of the rectum were
      treated with primary tumor resection (n=27; 14.5%). All other patients received a
      preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with 50.4 Gy and concomitant 5-fluorouracil
      (5-FU) or 5-FU+oxaliplatin followed by postoperative chemotherapy with 5-FU or 5
      FU+oxaliplatin. SRC expression was determined with immunohistochemical staining
      from pretreatment biopsies (n=152) and residual tumor tissue from the resection
      specimens (n=163). The results were correlated with clinicopathological
      parameters and long-term follow-up. The expression of SRC was determined in
      pretherapeutic biopsies (mean H-Score: 229) and resection specimens (mean H
      Score: 254). High SRC expression in pretherapeutic tumor samples significantly
      correlated with a negative postoperative nodal status (p=0.005). Furthermore an
      increased protein expression in residual tumor tissue was associated with fewer
      distant metastases (p=0.04). The overexpression of SRC in pretreatment tumor
      biopsies showed also a trend for a longer cancer-specific survival (CSS; p=0.05)
      and fewer local relapses (p=0.06) during long-term follow-up. High SRC expression
      in rectal cancer seems to be associated with a better long-term outcome. This
      finding could help in the future to stratify patients for a recurrence risk
      adapted postoperative treatment.

PMID- 28607600
TI  - Impact Of Circulating T Helper 1 And 17 Cells in the Blood on Regional Lymph Node
      Invasion in Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - We hypothesised that the blood levels of immune cells would be related to the
      progression of colorectal cancer and regional lymph node metastasis. We
      investigated the association between the blood levels of immune cells and
      regional lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer patients. Patients with
      American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stages 1 and 2 colorectal cancer were
      assigned to Early stage group and those with AJCC stages 3 and 4 were assigned to
      Late stage group. Blood levels of circulating immune cells, such as cluster of
      differentiation (CD)4+ including T helper 1 (Th1) and 17 (Th17) cells, regulatory
      T (Treg) cells, CD8+ T cells, and natural killer (NK) cells were assessed using
      fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The blood levels of CD4+ T, Treg,
      CD8+ T, and NK cells did not significantly differ between the two groups.
      However, the blood levels of Th1 and Th17 cells did significantly differ between
      the groups. Specifically, Late stage group had higher levels of Th1 and Th17
      cells than Early stage group (Th1, 11.14+/-1.22% vs. 16.25+/-1.57%, p = 0.015;
      Th17, 3.32+/-0.05% vs. 1.11+/-0.15%, p < 0.01). In conclusion, the blood levels
      of Th1 and Th17 cells significantly increased as the N stage increased. The blood
      levels of Th1 and Th17 cells might be useful as predictive markers of lymph node
      invasion in colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28607599
TI  - Optimal Modality for Detecting Distant Metastasis in Primary Nasopharyngeal
      Carcinoma during Initial Staging: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis of 1774
      Patients.
AB  - Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of two modalities commonly used
      for detecting distant metastasis in primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC): 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography
      (PET/CT) and conventional work-ups (CWUs). Methods: All topic-related studies
      were comprehensively searched and included. We determined sensitivities and
      specificities across studies, calculated negative and positive likelihood ratios
      (LR- and LR+, respectively), and constructed summary receiver operating
      characteristic curves. Moreover, we compared the diagnostic performance of PET/CT
      and CWUs by analyzing studies that reported the results of these diagnostic
      methods on the same patients. Results: The pooled sensitivity and specificity
      were 85.7% and 98.1% for PET/CT (1474 patients), and 38.0% and 97.6% for CWUs
      (1329 patients). In the head-to-head comparison of PET/CT and CWUs (1029
      patients), PET/CT showed a significantly higher sensitivity (83.7% vs. 40.1%, P <
      0.001) and lower LR- (0.169 vs. 0.633, P < 0.001) than CWUs on a per-patient
      basis; no significant difference was observed in pooled specificity (97.7% vs.
      97.8%, P = 0.892) or LR+ (36.416 vs. 16.845, P = 0.149). The superiority of
      PET/CT over CWUs was due mainly to the better diagnostic performance on bone
      metastasis. However, suboptimal sensitivity of PET/CT was reported in the aspect
      of detection of liver metastasis. Sensitivity analyses showed relatively poor
      sensitivity and LR- of PET/CT compared to the original analysis. Conclusions:
      PET/CT was superior to CWUs in detecting distant metastasis in primary NPC.
      However, the efficacy of PET/CT in detecting liver metastasis still requires
      further optimization.

PMID- 28607601
TI  - Evaluation of Attenuated Tumor Antigens and the Implications for Peptide-Based
      Cancer Vaccine Development.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peptide vaccines offer anti-tumor efficacy with very low toxicity.
      However, repeat stimulation with an immunogenic peptide leads to activation
      induced cell death (AICD), decreasing efficacy. We engineered variants of an
      immunogenic peptide (E39) and tested their ability to induce a robust,
      sustainable immune response. METHODS: Multiple variants of E39 were created by
      exchanging 1 or 2 amino acids. We tested the PBMC proliferation, cytokine
      production and cytolytic activity induced by each variant peptide. RESULTS:
      Repeated stimulation with E39 likely led to in vitro AICD, while stimulation with
      E39' led to T-cell proliferation with less evidence of AICD, modest cytokine
      production and high CTL activity. CONCLUSIONS: E39' appears to be the optimal
      variant of E39 for inducing effective long-term immunity.

PMID- 28607602
TI  - Cervical Cancers Manifest a High Rate of Infection by a High-Risk Human Papilloma
      Virus Subtype but a Very Low Rate of Infection by a Low-Risk Subtype in the
      Guiyang District of China.
AB  - The prevalence of infection by different genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV)
      varies among different geographic areas. We studied the prevalence of infection
      by 21 HPV genotypes in cervical tissue specimens from 4213 women in the Guiyang
      district, that is located in the southwest of China and is dominated by minor
      ethnicities of Chinese, and 2074 cases in our cohort had pathological diagnosis
      available. The overall infection rate was 36.98%. Most (72.08%) infectors were
      positive for only one HPV subtype, with the remaining being cases infected by two
      or more subtypes. Infections by the HPV subtypes 16, 52 and 58 were the most
      prevalent, having rates of 34.66%, 16.03%% and 15.53%, respectively. The most
      common cervical lesions in HPV infections were genital warts, cervical cancer
      (CC) and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Age and age at first sexual
      activity were independent risk factors for HPV infections that in turn cause
      certain cervical lesions. Intriguingly, while 94.90% of the CC patients were
      infected by oncogenically high-risk (HR) HPV subtypes, only 2.75% and 2.29% of
      these patients were infected by oncogenically low-risk (LR) subtypes or other
      subtypes with their oncogenicity unclear. The rates of infection by LR-HPVs and
      other-HPVs were also low, being 4.63% and 6.76%, respectively, in the patients
      with CIN that is a precursor lesion of CC, lower than the 8.54% and 18.20%,
      respectively, in the women without a cervical lesion. Our data provides an
      important foundation for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HPV infection in
      Guiyang district and suggests that development of vaccines for prevention and
      treatment of CC in this area should first target the HPV subtypes 16, 52 and 58,
      but not subtype 18 as for many other places. It deserves study whether infections
      by certain LR-HPVs and other-HPVs may serve as attenuated live vaccines for
      prevention of CC.

PMID- 28607603
TI  - Photodynamic Treatment of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells with Low Curcumin
      Concentrations.
AB  - Objective: Curcumin is known for its anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti
      tumorigenic qualities at concentrations ranging from 3.7ug/ml to 55ug/ml.
      Therefore it is pre-destined for tumour therapy. Due to high oral doses that have
      to be administered and the low bioavailability of curcumin new therapy concepts
      have to be developed. One of these therapy concepts is the combination of low
      curcumin concentrations and UVA or visible light. Aim of our study was to
      investigate the influence of this treatment regime on oral squamous cell
      carcinoma cells. Materials and Methods: A human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell
      line (HN) was pre-incubated with low curcumin concentrations (0.01ug/ml to
      1ug/ml). Thereafter cell cultures were either left un-irradiated or were
      irradiated either with 1J/cm2 UVA or for 5min with visible light. Quantitative
      analysis of proliferation, membrane integrity, oxidative potential and DNA
      fragmentation were done. Results: It could be shown that low curcumin
      concentrations neither influenced proliferation, nor cell morphology, nor cell
      integrity nor apoptosis. When combining these curcumin concentrations with UVA or
      visible light irradiation cell proliferation as well as development of reactive
      oxygen species was reduced whereas DNA fragmentation was increased. Concentration
      as well as light entity specific effects could be observed. Conclusions: The
      present findings substantiate the potential of the combination of low curcumin
      concentrations and light as a new therapeutic concept to increase the efficacy of
      curcumin in the treatment of cancer of the oral mucosa.

PMID- 28607604
TI  - Preferential Association of Lissencephaly-1 Gene Expression with CD133+
      Glioblastoma Cells.
AB  - Lissencephaly-1 (Lis1) protein is a dynein-binding protein involved in neural
      stem cell division, morphogenesis and motility. To determine whether Lis1 is a
      key factor in glioblastoma, we evaluated its expression and function in CD133+
      glioblastoma cells. Global, Lis1 gene expression is similar in glioblastoma and
      normal samples. Interestingly, immunohistochemistry data indicate increased Lis1
      expression colocalized with CD133 in a subset of glioma cells, including the
      tumor cells with perivascular localization. Lis1 gene expression is increased up
      to 60-fold in CD133 positive cells isolated from primary cultures of glioblastoma
      and U87 glioblastoma cell line as compared to CD133 negative cells. To
      investigate the potential role of Lis1 in CD133+ glioblastoma cells, we silenced
      Lis1 gene in U87 cell line obtaining shLis1-U87 cells. In shLis1-U87 cell culture
      we noticed a significant decrease of CD133+ cells fraction as compared with
      control cells and also, CD133+ cells isolated from shLis1-U87 were two times less
      adhesive, migratory and proliferative, as compared with control transfected U87
      CD133+ cells. Moreover, Lis1 silencing decreased the proliferative capacity of
      irradiated U87 cells, an effect attributable to the lower percentage of CD133+
      cells. This is the first report showing a preferential expression of Lis1 gene in
      CD133+ glioblastoma cells. Our data suggest a role of Lis1 in regulating CD133+
      glioblastoma cells function.

PMID- 28607605
TI  - Expression of Notch Gene and Its Impact on Survival of Patients with Resectable
      Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Notch signaling has been demonstrated to frequently participate in
      the process of lung carcinogenesis. This study aimed to search Notch expression
      in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its impact on survival. METHODS: From
      2001 to 2011, patients with diagnosis of NSCLC who received surgical resection
      were included. The expression of Notch gene was assessed by real-time polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-PCR). Clinical characteristics, histological types, disease
      stages, and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Ninety-seven patients with NSCLC
      being explored the expression of Notch gene (Notch1 - 4). Seventy-five patients
      (77.3%) were adenocarcinoma. Patients with adenocarcinoma had higher expression
      of Notch2 than other histology types (p < 0.001). Otherwise, patients with
      squamous cell carcinoma had relative higher expression of Notch1 and Notch3
      expression (p = 0.014 and p = 0.032, respectively). Notch2 expression increased
      associated with patients with more advanced lung cancer stage. Patients who had
      cancer recurrence also had higher Notch2 expression (p = 0.008). The patient
      group with lung adenocarcinoma of both high Notch1 and Notch3 expression had a
      shorter median disease-free survival (DFS) (both high v.s both low: DFS, median,
      7.2 v.s 25.3 months, p = 0.03). However, the expression of Notch gene had no
      impact on overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with lung adenocarcinoma had
      higher Notch2 expression. Patients with higher Notch2 expression also had higher
      rate of cancer recurrence. Both higher Notch1 and Notch3 expression was
      associated with poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 28607606
TI  - Diagnostic Value of Gd-EOB-DTPA-MRI for Hepatocellular Adenoma: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Objective: This study aimed to systematically review the gadoxetic acid-enhanced
      magnetic resonance imaging (Gd-EOB-DTPA-MRI) findings of hepatocellular adenoma
      (HCA), especially focusing on the diagnostic value of low signal intensity (SI)
      in the hepatocyte-phase (HBP) for differentiating HCA from focal nodular
      hyperplasia (FNH). Methods: A thorough literature search was conducted in PubMed,
      Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure
      databases (CNKI) to identify studies evaluating Gd-EOB-DTPA-MRI presentations of
      HCA. Published studies using pathological examinations as the gold standard were
      included. The pooled proportions of low SI in the HBP, arterial-phase, portal
      venous-phase (PVP) in HCA were calculated, as well as pooled proportions of
      bleeding, fatty degeneration, and central scar. Meta-analysis was used to
      evaluate the diagnostic value of low SI in the HBP for HCA. Results: The search
      yielded 90 studies, with 8 assessing a total of 256 HCA cases included in this
      study, total of 229 lesions showed low signal in the HBP. Pooled proportions of
      low SI in the arterial-phase, PVP, and HBP were 2% (95% CI: 0.01-0.05), 39% (95%
      CI: 0.25-0.55), and 89% (95% CI: 0.80-0.94), respectively. Pooled proportions of
      bleeding, fatty degeneration, and central scar in HCA were 11% (95% CI: 0.03
      0.19), 37% (95% CI: 0.27-0.49), and 10% (95% CI: 0.03-0.27), respectively. The
      meta-analysis revealed the following characteristics of low SI in the HBP for HCA
      diagnosis: 1) pooled sensitivity, 0.917 (95% CI: 0.86-0.96); 2) pooled
      specificity, 0.952 (95% CI: 0.91-0.98); 3) pooled positive likelihood ratio,
      15.028 (95% CI: 7.10-31.82); 4) pooled negative likelihood ratio, 0.105 (95% CI:
      0.07-0.17); 5) area under the ROC, 0.9802 (Q value of 0.9375), The sensitivity
      analysis showed that no single study was found to influence the overall pooled
      estimates significantly, which indicated the stability of the meta-analysis
      results were good. Conclusions: Low SI on the HBP of Gd-EOB-DTPA-MRI was helpful
      for the diagnosis of HCA and differentiating from FNH, but it was overvalued,
      especially for some HCA pathological subtypes. Combining low SI in the HBP with
      routine MRI presentations and the risk factors of liver diseases could
      substantially improve its diagnosis value for HCA as well as differential
      diagnosis.

PMID- 28607608
TI  - Clinical Features, Pathological Findings and Treatment of Recurrent
      Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans.
AB  - Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DESP) is a relatively rare and low-grade tumor
      of the skin and soft tissue. We review the clinical features, pathological
      findings and management of recurrent DESP with the aim to improve our
      understanding of this rare tumor. Fifty-seven patients were diagnosed with
      recurrent DFSP. The mean age at the presentation of DFSP was 30.9 years. The mean
      age at diagnosis of DFSP was 40.2 years. Chest wall was the dominant location.
      The histopathological diagnosis was ordinary DFSP (O-DFSP) in 46 cases and
      fibrosarcomatous DFSP (FS-DFSP) in 11 cases. No differences were noted between FS
      DFSP and conventional DFSP in age at presentation and diagnosis, tumor size, as
      well as CD34 and SMA expression (P > 0.05). However, the time course to
      recurrence in FS-DFSP group was less than that in O-DFSP group (P = 0.038). All
      of the patients were treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). On follow-up,
      none of the patients had tumor recurrence. Our data demonstrated that the
      clinical features of recurrent DFSP are non-specific and variable. Our current
      practice suggests that MMS is very useful treatment choice for recurrent DFSP.

PMID- 28607607
TI  - MicroRNA Signature of Lung Adenocarcinoma with EGFR Exon 19 Deletion.
AB  - The findings of EGFR mutations and the development of targeted therapies have
      significantly improved the overall survival of lung cancer patients. Still, the
      prognosis remains poor, so we need to know more about the genetic alterations in
      lung cancer. MicroRNAs are dysregulated in lung cancer, and some of them can
      regulate EGFR. So it is very important to predict the candidate microRNAs that
      target mutated EGFR and to investigate the role of these candidate microRNAs in
      lung cancer. In this study, we investigated the difference of microRNAs
      expression between lung adenocarcinoma cell lines with EGFR exon 19 deletion
      (H1650 and PC9) and wild-type (H1299 and A549) using the Phalanx Human Whole
      Genome Microarray. Then the expression of individual microRNAs was validated by
      qRT-PCR assays. Moreover, we detected the microRNAs expression in plasma of lung
      adenocarcinoma patients with EGFR exon 19 deletion and wild-type. Lastly, we
      explored the function of the positive microRNA in EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      (EGFR-TKIs ) resistance using MTT and Annexin V-APC assays. The expression of
      1,732 microRNAs was evaluated, and we found that microRNAs expression was
      different between these two groups. Hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-200c-3p, hsa-miR-203,
      hsa-miR-3182, hsa-miR-934 were up-regulated and hsa-miR-3196 was down-regulated
      in the EGFR exon 19 deletion group compared with wild-type group. The detection
      of circulating microRNAs showed that miR-3196 was down-regulated in lung
      adenocarcinoma patients with EGFR exon 19 deletion compared with wild-type. And
      then the MTT assay results showed that miR-3196 had no effect on the sensitivity
      of erlotinib. The results of apoptosis analysis showed that inhibition of miR
      3196 and erlotinib induced more apoptosis in H1299 cells than erlotinib alone,
      and overexpressed miR-3196 and erlotinib induced less apoptosis in PC9 cells than
      erlotinib alone (P<0.05). It is suggested that microRNAs associate with EGFR exon
      19 deletion and miR-3196 may be further explored as a potential predictor and
      targeted biomarker when it is difficult to get the tumors.

PMID- 28607609
TI  - Efficacy of ranolazine in preventing atrial fibrillation following cardiac
      surgery: Results from a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication after cardiac
      surgery. Ranolazine is a Food and Drug Administration approved anti-ischemic
      drug, which also has anti-arrhythmic properties. Recent studies have demonstrated
      the benefit of ranolazine in preventing post-operative AF (POAF) in patients
      undergoing cardiac surgery. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis of published
      studies comparing ranolazine plus standard therapy versus standard therapy for
      POAF prevention in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS: We performed a
      comprehensive search of Medline, Google Scholar, PubMed, abstracts from annual
      scientific sessions, and Cochrane library database for studies that assessed the
      effectiveness of ranolazine plus standard therapy by comparing it with standard
      therapy alone in preventing POAF in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. From all
      the studies, data on POAF events among groups were collected, and the random
      effects (DerSimonian and Laird) method was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Four
      studies with 663 patients were included in the final analysis, with 300 and 363
      patients in the ranolazine plus standard therapy and standard therapy groups,
      respectively. The types of cardiac surgeries were coronary artery bypass grafting
      (CABG), valve surgery or combination of CABG, and valve surgeries. After pooled
      analysis, ranolazine plus standard therapy was associated with a significant
      reduction in POAF events compared to standard therapy alone (risk ratio=0.44
      [0.25, 0.78], p-value=0.005). There was no difference in adverse events between
      the two therapies. However, in one study, more patients in the ranolazine group
      had transient symptomatic hypotension after the surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Ranolazine
      may prove beneficial in POAF prevention following cardiac surgeries. Although the
      pooled treatment effect is quite impressive with a reduction of more than 50% of
      risk of developing POAF, small number of studies and variation in ranolazine dose
      regimen in each study make our results inconclusive, but worthy of further
      investigation. That is why this result has to be interpreted as only hypothesis
      generating, rather than conclusion drawing.

PMID- 28607610
TI  - Remote magnetic catheter navigation versus conventional ablation in atrial
      fibrillation ablation: Fluoroscopy reduction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Percutaneous transcatheter radiofrequency ablation of atrial
      fibrillation with remote controlled magnetic navigation (RMN) has been shown to
      reduce radiation exposure to patients and physicians compared with conventional
      manual (MAN) ablation techniques. METHODS: Catheter ablation for atrial
      fibrillation was performed utilizing RMN in 214 consecutive patients and MAN
      ablation techniques in 229 patients. We compared the fluoroscopy and procedural
      times between RMN and MAN catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation. Secondary
      objectives included comparing acute procedural success and short-term
      complication rates between both ablation strategies. RESULTS: Fluoroscopy time
      was significantly shorter in the RMN group than the MAN group (53.5+/-30.1 vs
      68.1+/-27.6 min, respectively; p<0.01); however, the total procedural time was
      longer in the RMN group (280.2+/-74.4 min vs 213.1+/-64.75, respectively;
      p>0.001). Further subgroup analysis of the most recent 50 ablations each from the
      RMN and MAN groups, to attenuate the RMN learning curve effect, showed an even
      greater difference in fluoroscopy time (RMN vs MAN: 53.5+/-30.1 vs 68.1+/-27.6
      min), though a consistently longer procedure time with RMN (249.5+/-65.5 vs
      186.3+/-65.6 min, respectively). The acute procedural success rate was comparable
      between the groups (98.6% vs 95.6%, respectively; p=0.07). The rates of acute
      complications were similar in both groups (2.3% vs 4.8%, respectively; p=0.16).
      CONCLUSIONS: In radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation, RMN appears to
      significantly reduce fluoroscopy time compared with conventional MAN ablation,
      though at a cost of increased total procedural time, with comparable acute
      success rates and safety profile. A reduction in procedure and fluoroscopy times
      is possible with gaining experience.

PMID- 28607611
TI  - Report of periprocedural oral anticoagulants in catheter ablation for atrial
      fibrillation: The Japanese Catheter Ablation Registry of Atrial Fibrillation (J
      CARAF).
AB  - BACKGROUND: To obtain a perspective of the current status of catheter ablation
      for the cure of atrial fibrillation, the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society conducted
      a nationwide survey: the Japanese Catheter Ablation Registry of Atrial
      Fibrillation. In this report, we aimed to evaluate the periprocedural use of
      direct oral anticoagulants with respect to thromboembolic or bleeding
      complications. METHODS: Using an online questionnaire, the Japanese Heart Rhythm
      Society requested electrophysiology centers in Japan to register the relevant
      data of patients who underwent atrial fibrillation ablation over selected five
      months from 2011 to 2014. We compared the clinical profiles and the ablation
      data, including the incidence of pericardial effusion, major bleeding, and
      ischemic stroke among patients with periprocedural use of warfarin or a direct
      oral anticoagulant. RESULTS: A total of 204 institutions reported data on 6200
      atrial fibrillation ablation sessions. We analyzed data obtained from 4698
      subjects (Age 63.2+/-10.6 yr; 73.9% male, 26.1% female) who were administered
      warfarin or a direct oral anticoagulant, at least up to the day before atrial
      fibrillation ablation. Warfarin was administered to 54.7% of patients.
      Dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban were used in 21.9%, 12.9%, and 10.6% of
      patients, respectively. Clinical profiles of apixaban-treated patients were
      similar to those of warfarin-treated patients; they were different from the
      clinical profiles of patients treated with dabigatran or rivaroxaban. There were
      104 complications in 103 subjects (2.2%). Complications were more frequent in
      older patients (65.3+/-8.6 yr vs. 63.1+/-10.7 yr; P=0.012), patients on chronic
      hemodialysis (4.9% vs. 1.1%; P=0.001), or those treated with warfarin (66.0% vs.
      54.4%; P=0.019). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age (OR,
      1.02; 95% CI: 1.00-1.04; P=0.035), chronic hemodialysis (OR, 4.40; CI: 1.68
      11.50; P=0.003), and assistance by 3-D mapping system (OR, 0.30; CI: 0.16-0.57;
      P<0.001) were significantly related to the incidence of complications, while
      periprocedural direct oral anticoagulant was not a predictive factor for
      complication. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with uninterrupted warfarin, the choice of a
      direct oral anticoagulant as a periprocedural oral anticoagulant did not
      significantly change the incidence of serious complications.

PMID- 28607612
TI  - Anatomical dilatation of the superior vena cava associated with an arrhythmogenic
      response induced by SVC scan pacing after atrial fibrillation ablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between pulmonary vein (PV) arrhythmogenicity and
      its anatomy has been reported. However, that of the superior vena cava (SVC) has
      not been well discussed. Arrhythmogenic response induced by pacing stimulation at
      SVC might help with identifying SVC arrhythmogenicity. The purpose of this study
      was to investigate the relationship between the anatomical dilatation of SVC and
      the arrhythmogenic response induced by pacing at SVC. METHODS: Forty-three
      patients who underwent atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation were enrolled in this
      study. After PV isolation, scan pacing (up to triple extra stimulation following
      intrinsic sinus beats) was performed at SVC. The arrhythmogenic response was
      defined as following: (1) repetitive atrial responses, (2) non-sustained, and (3)
      sustained AF/ atrial tachycardia. To assess the dilatation of SVC, we measured
      the cross-sectional area of the SVC (SVC-area) using multi-planar reconstruction
      CT imaging. RESULTS: Arrhythmogenic responses were documented in 24 patients
      (Group 1). No arrhythmogenic responses were documented in the remaining 19
      patients (Group 2). The SVC-area was significantly larger in Group 1 than Group 2
      (3.1+/-0.9 vs. 2.2+/-0.8 cm2, P=0.004). A multivariate analysis revealed only SVC
      area was associated with arrhythmogenic responses (odds ratio=2.87, CI 1.05-7.82,
      P=0.04). Furthermore, AF recurrence rate was significantly higher in patients
      with SVC-area>2.56 cm2 than those with SVC-area <2.56 cm2 (9 [42.9%] of 21 vs. 3
      [13.6%] of 22, P=0.026). CONCLUSION: Dilatation of SVC was associated with an
      arrhythmogenic response, and the AF recurrence rate was significantly higher in
      patients with large SVC-area. Adjunctive catheter intervention for the SVC might
      be indicated in patients with a dilated SVC and an arrhythmogenic response.

PMID- 28607613
TI  - Complex fractionated atrial electrograms, high dominant frequency regions, and
      left atrial voltages during sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ablation targeting complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAEs)
      or high dominant frequency (DF) sites is generally effective for persistent
      atrial fibrillation (AF). CFAEs and/or high DF sites may exist in low-voltage
      regions, which theoretically represent abnormal substrates. However, whether
      CFAEs or high DF sites reflect low voltage substrates during sinus rhythm (SR) is
      unknown. METHODS: Sixteen patients with AF (8 with paroxysmal AF; 8, persistent
      AF) underwent high-density mapping of the left atrium (LA) with a 3-dimensional
      electroanatomic mapping system before ablation. The LA was divided into 7
      segments and the mean bipolar voltage recorded during AF and SR, CFAEs (cycle
      lengths of 50-120 ms), and DF sites were assessed in each segment with either a
      duo-decapolar ring catheter (n=10) or a 64-pole basket catheter (n=6). Low
      voltage areas were defined as those of <0.5 mV during AF and <1.0 mV during SR.
      RESULTS: Regional mean voltage recorded from the basket catheter showed good
      correlation between AF and SR (r=0.60, p<0.01); however, the % low-voltage area
      in the LA recorded from the ring catheter showed weak correlation (r=0.34,
      p=0.05). Mean voltage was lower during AF than during SR (1.0 mV [IQR, 0.5-1.4]
      vs. 2.6 mV [IQR, 1.8-3.6], p<0.01). The regional and overall % low-voltage area
      of the LA was greater during AF than during SR (20% vs. 11%, p=0.05). CFAEs and
      high DF sites (>8 Hz) did not correlate with % low-voltage sites during SR;
      however, CFAEs sites were located in high-voltage regions during AF and high DF
      sites were located in low voltage regions during AF. CONCLUSIONS: CFAEs and high
      DF areas during AF do not reflect damaged atrial myocardium as shown by the SR
      voltage. However, CFAEs and high DF sites may demonstrate different
      electrophysiologic properties because of different voltage amplitude during AF.

PMID- 28607614
TI  - Pulmonary vein potential mapping in atrial fibrillation with high density and
      standard spiral (lasso) catheters: A comparative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The dominant single-shot procedure for Pulmonary Vein Isolation (PVI)
      is the Cryoballoon Ablation (CBA) technique using a spiral catheter (AchieveTM,
      AC) for mapping and monitoring purposes. We hypothesized that Basket Catheters,
      such as the High Density Mesh Mapper (HDMM), with its high-density mapping
      properties, could detect Pulmonary Vein Potentials (PVPs) that the octapolar AC
      would not be able to identify. METHODS: Twenty-four patients (average age 61.8+/
      10 years) with either paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation (AF)
      (Paroxysmal AF or Persistent AF) were enrolled in the study. While the patients
      were in sinus rhythm, all pulmonary veins (PVs) were prospectively mapped both
      prior and subsequent to CBA with a 32-pole HDMM and an 8-pole AC. PVPs were
      recorded using both catheters, and their location was allocated to one of four PV
      quadrants. Then, the quadrant findings of the mapping catheters were compared.
      RESULTS: Mapping using the HDMM allowed for more precise identification of PVPs
      both before and after CBA compared to AC mapping. We identified an average of
      83.6+/-4.8 PVPs in all four PVs (this means 20.9+/-10.5 PVPs /per single PV per
      patient [HDMM], 14.5+/-1.3 PVPs/in all four PVs and 3.6+/-2.7 PVPs /per single PV
      per patient [AC]) before ablation, thereby leading to a significant difference in
      the identification of PVPs per PV quadrant. Of 384 PV quadrants/24 patients
      analyzed, the HDMM identified PVPs in 279 and AC in only 192 quadrants (P<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: High-density mapping with a Basket Catheter, such as the HDMM,
      detects PVPs that remain undetected when using the standard AC catheter in CBA
      procedures.

PMID- 28607615
TI  - Diffuse interstitial fibrosis assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance is
      associated with dispersion of ventricular repolarization in patients with
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by myocyte
      hypertrophy, disarray, fibrosis, and increased risk for ventricular arrhythmias.
      Increased QT dispersion has been reported in patients with HCM, but the
      underlying mechanisms have not been completely elucidated. In this study, we
      examined the relationship between diffuse interstitial fibrosis, replacement
      fibrosis, QTc dispersion and ventricular arrhythmias in patients with HCM. We
      hypothesized that fibrosis would slow impulse propagation and increase dispersion
      of ventricular repolarization, resulting in increased QTc dispersion on surface
      electrocardiogram (ECG) and ventricular arrhythmias. METHODS: ECG and cardiac
      magnetic resonance (CMR) image analyses were performed retrospectively in 112
      patients with a clinical diagnosis of HCM. Replacement fibrosis was assessed by
      measuring late gadolinium (Gd) enhancement (LGE), using a semi-automated
      threshold technique. Diffuse interstitial fibrosis was assessed by measuring T1
      relaxation times after Gd administration, using the Look-Locker sequence. QTc
      dispersion was measured digitally in the septal/anterior (V1-V4), inferior (II,
      III, and aVF), and lateral (I, aVL, V5, and V6) lead groups on surface ECG.
      RESULTS: All patients had evidence of asymmetric septal hypertrophy. LGE was
      evident in 70 (63%) patients; the median T1 relaxation time was 411+/-38 ms. An
      inverse correlation was observed between T1 relaxation time and QTc dispersion in
      leads V1-V4 (p<0.001). Patients with HCM who developed sustained ventricular
      tachycardia had slightly higher probability of increased QTc dispersion in leads
      V1-V4 (odds ratio, 1.011 [1.004-1.0178, p=0.003). We found no correlation between
      presence and percentage of LGE and QTc dispersion. CONCLUSION: Diffuse
      interstitial fibrosis is associated with increased dispersion of ventricular
      repolarization in leads, reflecting electrical activity in the hypertrophied
      septum. Interstitial fibrosis combined with ion channel/gap junction remodeling
      in the septum could lead to inhomogeneity of ventricular refractoriness,
      resulting in increased QTc dispersion in leads V1-V4.

PMID- 28607616
TI  - A proposal of clinical ECG index "vagal score" for determining the mechanism of
      paroxysmal atrioventricular block.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paroxysmal atrioventricular block (P-AVB) is a well-known cause of
      syncope; however, its underlying mechanism is difficult to determine. This study
      aimed to evaluate a new ECG index, the "vagal score (VS)," to determine the
      mechanism of P-AVB. METHODS: We evaluated the VS in 20 patients with P-AVB (13
      men, 7 women; aged 25-78 years [mean, 59.3 years]). The VS was developed by
      assigning 1 point each for the following: (1) no AVB or intraventricular
      conduction disturbance on the baseline ECG, (2) PR prolongation immediately
      before P-AVB, (3) sinus slowing immediately before P-AVB, (4) initiation of P-AVB
      by PP prolongation, (5) sinus slowing during ventricular asystole, and (6)
      resumption of AV conduction with PP shortening, and by assigning -1 point each
      for (7) the initiation of P-AVB by a premature beat, and (8) resumption of AV
      conduction by an escape beat. Based on the clinical situations and
      electrophysiologic findings, we considered the mechanism of P-AVB as vagally
      mediated or intrinsic conduction disease (ICD). RESULTS: The VS ranged from 5 to 
      2 points for each patient. Five patients with a definite vagally mediated P-AVB
      had high VSs (3-5 points). We observed characteristic ECG findings of ICD
      consisting of changes in AV conduction by an extrasystole and/or escape beat in
      only 5 of the 6 patients (83%) with a low VS (1 to -2). CONCLUSIONS: The VS is
      simple and potentially useful for determining the mechanism of P-AVB. P-AVB with
      a VS >=3 strongly suggested a vagally mediated mechanism.

PMID- 28607617
TI  - Influence of myopotential interference on the Wavelet discrimination algorithm in
      implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wavelet is a morphology-based algorithm for detecting ventricular
      tachycardia. The electrogram (EGM) source of the Wavelet algorithm is nominally
      programmed with the Can-RV coil configuration, which records a far-field
      ventricular potential. Therefore, it may be influenced by myopotential
      interference. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 40 outpatients who
      had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) with the Wavelet algorithm.
      The percent-match score of the Wavelet algorithm was measured during the
      isometric chest press by pressing the palms together. We classified patients with
      percent-match scores below 70% due to myopotential interference as positive
      morphology change, and those with 70% or more as negative morphology change.
      Stored episodes of tachycardia were evaluated during the follow-up. RESULTS: The
      number of patients in the positive morphology change group was 22 (55%).
      Amplitude of the Can-RV coil EGM was lower in the positive morphology change
      group compared to that in the negative group (3.9+/-1.3 mV vs. 7.4+/-1.6 mV,
      P=0.0015). The cut-off value of the Can-RV coil EGM was 5 mV (area under curve,
      0.89). Inappropriate detections caused by myopotential interference occurred in
      two patients (5%) during a mean follow-up period of 49 months, and one of them
      received an inappropriate ICD shock. These patients had exhibited positive
      morphology change. CONCLUSIONS: The Wavelet algorithm is influenced by
      myopotential interference when the Can-RV coil EGM is less than 5 mV.

PMID- 28607618
TI  - Catechin and epicatechin reduce mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress
      induced by amiodarone in human lung fibroblasts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amiodarone (AMD) and its metabolite N-desethylamiodarone can cause
      some adverse effects, which include pulmonary toxicity. Some studies suggest that
      mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress may play a role in these adverse
      effects. Catechin and epicatechin are recognized as important phenolic compounds
      with the ability to decrease oxidative stress. Therefore, the aim of this study
      was to evaluate the potential of catechin and epicatechin to modulate
      mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage caused by AMD in human lung
      fibroblast cells (MRC-5). METHODS: Mitochondrial dysfunction was assessed through
      the activity of mitochondrial complex I and ATP biosynthesis. Cell viability was
      evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide
      assay. Superoxide dismutase and catalase activity were measured
      spectrophotometrically at 480 and 240 nm, respectively. Lipid and protein
      oxidative levels were determined by thiobarbituric reactive substances and
      protein carbonyl assays, respectively. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were evaluated
      using the Griess reaction method. RESULTS: AMD was able to inhibit the activity
      of mitochondrial complex I and ATP biosynthesis in MRC-5 cells. Lipid and protein
      oxidative markers increased along with cell death, while superoxide dismutase and
      catalase activities and NO production decreased with AMD treatment. Both catechin
      and epicatechin circumvented mitochondrial dysfunction, thereby restoring the
      activity of mitochondrial complex I and ATP biosynthesis. Furthermore, the
      phenolic compounds were able to restore the imbalance in superoxide dismutase and
      catalase activities as well as the decrease in NO levels induced by AMD. Protein
      and lipid oxidative damage and cell death were reduced by catechin and
      epicatechin in AMD-treated cells. CONCLUSIONS: Catechin and epicatechin reduced
      mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress caused by AMD in MRC-5 cells.

PMID- 28607619
TI  - Molecular mechanisms underlying the pilsicainide-induced stabilization of hERG
      proteins in transfected mammalian cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pilsicainide, classified as a relatively selective Na+ channel
      blocker, also has an inhibitory action on the rapidly-activating delayed
      rectifier K+ current (IKr ) through human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG)
      channels. We studied the effects of chronic exposure to pilsicainide on the
      expression of wild-type (WT) hERG proteins and WT-hERG channel currents, as well
      as on the expression of mutant hERG proteins, in a heterologous expression
      system. METHODS: HEK293 cells stably expressing WT or mutant hERG proteins were
      subjected to Western blotting, immunofluorescence microscopy and patch-clamp
      experiments. RESULTS: Acute exposure to pilsicainide at 0.03-10 MUM influenced
      neither the expression of WT-hERG proteins nor WT-hERG channel currents. Chronic
      treatment with 0.03-10 MUM pilsicainide for 48 h, however, increased the
      expression of WT-hERG proteins and channel currents in a concentration-dependent
      manner. Chronic treatment with 3 MUM pilsicainide for 48 h delayed degradation of
      WT-hERG proteins and increased the channels expressed on the plasma membrane. A
      cell membrane-impermeant pilsicainide derivative did not influence the expression
      of WT-hERG, indicating that pilsicainide stabilized the protein inside the cell.
      Pilsicainide did not influence phosphorylation of Akt (protein kinase B) or
      expression of heat shock protein families such as HSF-1, hsp70 and hsp90. E4031,
      a chemical chaperone for hERG, abolished the pilsicainide effect on hERG. Chronic
      treatment with pilsicainide could also increase the protein expression of
      trafficking-defective mutant hERG, G601S and R752W. CONCLUSIONS: Pilsicainide
      penetrates the plasma membrane, stabilizes WT-hERG proteins by acting as a
      chemical chaperone, and enhances WT-hERG channel currents. This mechanism could
      also be applicable to modulations of certain mutant-hERG proteins.

PMID- 28607620
TI  - Manifestation of J wave induced by acetylcholine applied for a coronary spasm
      provocation test in a patient with aborted sudden cardiac death.
AB  - A 51-year-old man with a resuscitation episode was referred to our hospital.
      Coronary angiography revealed a focal spasm overlapped with organic stenosis
      where a bare metal stent was implanted. Acetylcholine (ACh) provocation test did
      not induce chest pain. It revealed no discernible ST-T changes but unmasked a J
      wave at the end of the QRS complex, which was associated with short-coupled
      repetitive premature ventricular beats. A J wave reportedly appears immediately
      before the onset of ventricular fibrillation caused by vasospastic angina.
      However, a J wave observed newly after a coronary spasm provocation test using
      ACh without ST-T changes is informative when considering the mechanisms of the J
      wave.

PMID- 28607621
TI  - Epicardially placed implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for a child with
      congenital long QT syndrome.
AB  - A 7-year-old boy presented at our hospital with syncope. At birth,
      electrocardiography had shown a long QT interval with torsade de pointes (TdP).
      Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) had been diagnosed by genetic testing, and was
      successfully controlled with oral propranolol. At age 7, TdP had recurred with
      syncope. Electrocardiography revealed a prominent long QT interval with T-wave
      alternans. The propranolol dose was increased, but TdP remained uncontrolled. A
      cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) was implanted epicardially, and TdP completely
      resolved with atrial pacing. We report this rare case of ICD implantation in a
      child with LQTS.

PMID- 28607622
TI  - Syncope in a patient with a dual-chamber pacemaker: What is the possible
      mechanism?

PMID- 28607623
TI  - Long RP interval tachycardia. What is the mechanism?
AB  - A 41-year-old man with a history of tachycardia refractory to multiple
      antiarrhythmic drugs was sent to our institution. His 12-lead electrocardiogram
      demonstrated incessant narrow QRS complex tachycardia with negative P waves in
      the inferior leads and long RP interval. Occasionally, the tachycardia terminated
      after a P wave and then was restarted after a sinusal beat. An EP study was
      performed during tachycardia. Intracardiac electrograms during tachycardia and
      response to pacing maneuvers are shown. What is the tachycardia mechanism?

PMID- 28607624
TI  - Percutaneous renal sympathetic denervation in catecholaminergic polymorphic
      ventricular tachycardia.
AB  - Catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation may be an alternative after
      unsuccessful conventional ablation attempts.

PMID- 28607625
TI  - Hepatic Portal Venous Gas in Children Younger Than 2 Years Old - Radiological and
      Clinical Characteristics in Diseases Other Than Necrotizing Enterocolitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG) is a rare imaging finding in
      children. It can be an important manifestation of severe diseases such as
      necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in neonates or bowel wall rupture in older
      children. However, there are many other diseases presenting with HPVG that do not
      necessarily require a surgical intervention. CASE REPORT: In the period between
      2011-2015, there were 12 cases of HPVG in children aged up to 24 months in our
      hospital. We did not include children with NEC. We retrospectively analyzed
      clinical data and US examinations as regards the suspected causes and final
      diagnoses. Only 1 patient with HPVG required an immediate surgical intervention.
      This was - a 4-month-old girl 32 days after a repair of a congenital
      diaphragmatic hernia, with ultrasound signs of acute bowel wall necrosis. During
      surgery a bowel strangulation was revealed. Other causes included: - 4 patients
      with bowel inflammation (including complications of neoplastic diseases such as
      leukemia and Hodgkins'disease); - 3 patients with food allergy; - 1 patient with
      acute gastroenteritis; - 1 patient with hepatic injury because of a suspected
      metabolic disease; - 1 incidental finding revealed before closing a ventricular
      septum defect; - 1 patient during follow-up performed 2 weeks after a
      reconstruction of bowel continuity. CONCLUSIONS: HPVG is not always a sign of a
      life-threatening condition and it should not be by itself an indication for
      surgical treatment. HPVG requires a close monitoring of the clinical status,
      which is crucial for further management. In patients in non-severe clinical
      condition, we propose to perform a follow-up ultrasound imaging within 1-2 days,
      and not to extend diagnostic procedures, especially in case of ultrasound picture
      normalization. An abdominal ultrasound examination appears to be the method of
      choice for the identification of gas in the hepatic portal system in children.

PMID- 28607626
TI  - Mid-Esophageal Diverticulum Mimicking an Aortic Aneurysm on Chest Radiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mid-esophageal region is an uncommon location of esophageal
      diverticula, a condition usually diagnosed in elderly individuals. CASE REPORT:
      We report a case of an elderly male with incidental finding of mediastinal
      lesion, which was initially thought to be an aortic aneurysm. Further evaluation
      demonstrated a mid-esophageal diverticulum at the level of the carina. We present
      patient's medical history and imaging, followed by a discussion on symptoms and
      management. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of benign conditions that might mimic a
      mediastinal vascular pathology is important for therapeutic and prognostic
      reasons, as they are often managed conservatively.

PMID- 28607627
TI  - Retroperitoneal Ganglioneuroma Mimicking a Kidney Tumor. Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ganglioneuroma (GN) is a rare benign tumor arising from the neural
      crest cells. The reported incidence of GN is one per million population. As a
      primary retroperitoneal tumor, it constitutes only a small percentage of 0.72 to
      1.6%. GN can arise de novo or as a result of maturation of a neuroblastoma either
      spontaneously or after chemotherapy. The most common location is the posterior
      paraspinal mediastinum, retroperitoneum, neck and adrenal gland. However, GN can
      potentially occur anywhere along the peripheral autonomic ganglion sites. Most
      ganglioneuromas are asymptomatic and found incidentally. CASE REPORT: We present
      a case of retroperitoneal ganglioneuroma that mimicked renal mass on imaging. The
      tumor was incidentally discovered during an abdominal ultrasound examination 43
      year-old male patient without clinical symptoms. Complete surgical resection was
      subsequently performed and histopathological examination of the retroperitoneal
      mass revealed GN. CONCLUSIONS: Retroperitoneal ganglioneuroma is a rare bening
      tumor, generally asymptomatic, which grows slowly, and appears large when it is
      identified. Preoperative diagnosis can be challenging, particularly in
      asymptomatic case. Histopathological examination is currently the mainstay of
      diagnosis. In the case presented herein GN stricktly adjoined to the left kidney
      mimicking renal mass.

PMID- 28607628
TI  - Chemical Burn From Cinnamon Oil.

PMID- 28607630
TI  - Antioxidant Treatment Induces Hyperactivation of the HPA Axis by Upregulating
      ACTH Receptor in the Adrenal and Downregulating Glucocorticoid Receptors in the
      Pituitary.
AB  - Glucocorticoid (GC) production is physiologically regulated through a negative
      feedback loop mediated by the GC, which appear disrupted in several pathological
      conditions. The inability to perform negative feedback of the hypothalamus
      pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in several diseases is associated with an
      overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS); however, nothing is known about
      the effects of ROS on the functionality of the HPA axis during homeostasis. This
      study analyzed the putative impact of antioxidants on the HPA axis activity and
      GC-mediated negative feedback upon the HPA cascade. Male Wistar rats were orally
      treated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or vitamin E for 18 consecutive days. NAC
      treated rats were then subjected to a daily treatment with dexamethasone, which
      covered the last 5 days of the antioxidant therapy. We found that NAC and vitamin
      E induced an increase in plasma corticosterone levels. NAC intensified MC2R and
      StAR expressions in the adrenal and reduced GR and MR expressions in the
      pituitary. NAC also prevented the dexamethasone-induced reduction in plasma
      corticosterone levels. Furthermore, NAC decreased HO-1 and Nrf2 expression in the
      pituitary. These findings show that antioxidants induce hyperactivity of the HPA
      axis via upregulation of MC2R expression in the adrenal and downregulation of GR
      and MR in the pituitary.

PMID- 28607632
TI  - Mitochondrial Transfer from Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cell to MERRF Cybrid
      Reduces Oxidative Stress and Improves Mitochondrial Bioenergetics.
AB  - Myoclonus epilepsy associated with ragged-red fibers (MERRF) is a maternally
      inherited mitochondrial disease affecting neuromuscular functions. Mt.8344A>G
      mutation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the most common cause of MERRF syndrome
      and has been linked to an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and
      oxidative stress, as well as impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics. Here, we
      tested whether WJMSC has therapeutic potential for the treatment of MERRF
      syndrome through the transfer of mitochondria. The MERRF cybrid cells exhibited a
      high mt.8344A>G mutation ratio, enhanced ROS level and oxidative damage, impaired
      mitochondrial bioenergetics, defected mitochondria-dependent viability, exhibited
      an imbalance of mitochondrial dynamics, and are susceptible to apoptotic stress.
      Coculture experiments revealed that mitochondria were intercellularly conducted
      from the WJMSC to the MERRF cybrid. Furthermore, WJMSC transferred mitochondria
      exclusively to cells with defective mitochondria but not to cells with normal
      mitochondria. MERRF cybrid following WJMSC coculture (MF+WJ) demonstrated
      improvement of mt.8344A>G mutation ratio, ROS level, oxidative damage,
      mitochondrial bioenergetics, mitochondria-dependent viability, balance of
      mitochondrial dynamics, and resistance against apoptotic stress. WJMSC-derived
      mitochondrial transfer and its therapeutic effect were noted to be blocked by F
      actin depolymerizing agent cytochalasin B. Collectively, the WJMSC ability to
      rescue cells with defective mitochondrial function through donating healthy
      mitochondria may lead to new insights into the development of more efficient
      strategies to treat diseases related to mitochondrial dysfunction.

PMID- 28607629
TI  - The Impact of Environmental Factors in Influencing Epigenetics Related to
      Oxidative States in the Cardiovascular System.
AB  - Oxidative states exert a significant influence on a wide range of biological and
      molecular processes and functions. When their balance is shifted towards enhanced
      amounts of free radicals, pathological phenomena can occur, as the generation of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tissue microenvironment or in the systemic
      circulation can be detrimental. Epidemic chronic diseases of western societies,
      such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes correlate with the
      imbalance of redox homeostasis. Current advances in our understanding of
      epigenetics have revealed a parallel scenario showing the influence of oxidative
      stress as a major regulator of epigenetic gene regulation via modification of DNA
      methylation, histones, and microRNAs. This has provided both the biological link
      and a potential molecular explanation between oxidative stress and
      cardiovascular/metabolic phenomena. Accordingly, in this review, we will provide
      current insights on the physiological and pathological impact of changes in
      oxidative states on cardiovascular disorders, by specifically focusing on the
      influence of epigenetic regulation. A special emphasis will highlight the effect
      on epigenetic regulation of human's current life habits, external and
      environmental factors, including food intake, tobacco, air pollution, and
      antioxidant-based approaches. Additionally, the strategy to quantify oxidative
      states in humans in order to determine which biological marker could best match a
      subject's profile will be discussed.

PMID- 28607631
TI  - Hypoxia in Obesity and Diabetes: Potential Therapeutic Effects of Hyperoxia and
      Nitrate.
AB  - The prevalence of obesity and diabetes is increasing worldwide. Obesity and
      diabetes are associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial
      dysfunction, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance. Obesity, a chronic
      hypoxic state that is associated with decreased nitric oxide (NO)
      bioavailability, is one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes. The hypoxia
      inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is involved in the regulation of several
      genes of the metabolic pathways including proinflammatory adipokines, endothelial
      NO synthase (eNOS), and insulin signaling components. It seems that adipose
      tissue hypoxia and NO-dependent vascular and cellular dysfunctions are
      responsible for other consequences linked to obesity-related disorders. Although
      hyperoxia could reverse hypoxic-related disorders, it increases the production of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreases the production of NO. Nitrate can
      restore NO depletion and has antioxidant properties, and recent data support the
      beneficial effects of nitrate therapy in obesity and diabetes. Although it seems
      reasonable to combine hyperoxia and nitrate treatments for managing
      obesity/diabetes, the combined effects have not been investigated yet. This
      review discusses some aspects of tissue oxygenation and the potential effects of
      hyperoxia and nitrate interventions on obesity/diabetes management. It can be
      proposed that concomitant use of hyperoxia and nitrate is justified for managing
      obesity and diabetes.

PMID- 28607633
TI  - Pterostilbene 4'-beta-Glucoside Protects against DSS-Induced Colitis via
      Induction of Tristetraprolin.
AB  - Pterostilbene, a dimethyl ester analog of resveratrol, has anti-inflammatory and
      antioxidative effects and alters cell proliferation. Tristetraprolin (TTP)
      promotes the degradation of proinflammatory mediators via binding to adenosine
      and uridine- (AU-) rich elements (ARE) located in the 3'-untranslated regions of
      mRNAs. Here, we utilized pterostilbene 4'-beta-glucoside (4-PG), a compound
      derived from pterostilbene, to investigate whether it has anti-inflammatory
      effects on dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS-) induced colitis via TTP enhancement.
      TTP expression was increased in 4-PG dose- and time-dependent manners in RAW264.7
      cells. The production of proinflammatory cytokine, such as TNF-alpha, was reduced
      by 4-PG in vitro. To investigate the role of TTP in the anti-inflammatory effects
      of 4-PG, we used DSS-induced colitis in TTP WT and KO mice as models. The
      expression levels of TTP and proinflammatory cytokines were determined in serum
      and colon tissue. 4-PG increased the expression of TTP while suppressing
      proinflammatory cytokines both in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that
      treatment with 4-PG mediates the anti-inflammatory effects of 4-PG on DSS-induced
      colitis via enhancing TTP expression.

PMID- 28607634
TI  - Evaluation of the diagnostic value of serum level of total bilirubin in patients
      with suspected acute appendicitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis still remains a problem.
      Delays in diagnosis of acute appendicitis may cause perforation and septic
      peritonitis which result in increasing morbidity and mortality. The aim of this
      study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity and the diagnostic value of
      total serum bilirubin levels as a predictor of acute appendicitis. METHODS: In
      this cross-sectional study, patients who underwent appendectomy with the
      diagnosis of acute appendicitis from April 2012 to March 2013 at Emam Reza
      Hospital in Mashhad (Iran) were enrolled. Serum bilirubin-Total and Direct-, were
      measured. Then based on the final pathologic reports, patients were categorized
      into five groups of normal appendix, chronic inflammatory changes, acute
      appendicitis, gangrenous and/or necrotic changes, and perforated appendicitis.
      Independent sample t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square test were used for data analysis
      by SPSS version 16. RESULTS: There were 174 patients studied, (117 male, 57
      female) with a mean age of 27.15+/-0.7 years. All of the patients had rebound
      tenderness; 75.3% had nausea, 58.6% had anorexia and 21.3% had fever. The
      histological reports of all patients showed 76.4% acute appendicitis. Analyzing p
      values for SGPT, SGOT, WBC was (p=0.903) and differential count was (p=0.959).
      The study showed no significant difference between the pathological groups.
      However, there were no significant differences in serum total bilirubin levels
      between the pathological groups. Total bilirubin showed sensitivity of 48% and
      specificity of 61% in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Total serum bilirubin
      more than 0.85 mg/dl was the cut-off value with the best performance for
      diagnosis of appendicitis. CONCLUSION: Bilirubin levels are reliable, sensitive
      and specific to diagnosis and a prediction of complicated appendicitis.

PMID- 28607635
TI  - Corneal transplantation: A new view of life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The consequences of a corneal transplant are evaluated and classified
      by care providers, but understanding and interpretation of the results varies
      between patients, and creates different views for them and influences their lives
      in different ways while these influences are largely unknown. AIM: This study
      aimed to explore understanding of new life in patients after corneal
      transplantation. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted using a
      hermeneutic phenomenological approach in Tehran in 2016. Twelve corneal
      transplant recipients (7 men, 5 women) who were chosen purposefully from
      penetrating corneal transplant recipients, participated in this study. Semi
      structured interviews were used to collect data. The content of the interviews
      was transcribed and analyzed using Van Manen's methodology. RESULTS: Data
      analysis led to the emergence of several main themes, among which "having a new
      sense" and "fear and hope" were two of the most important themes. CONCLUSION: It
      can be inferred from the overall participants' experiences that corneal
      transplant has brought about a new look at life for patients. However, transplant
      related issues are endless and continuous, and a sense of fear and hope has
      always surrounded them.

PMID- 28607636
TI  - Impact of garlic tablets on nosocomial infections in hospitalized patients in
      intensive care units.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nosocomial infections are one of the main causes of mortality and
      morbidity in hospitals, especially in intensive care units (ICUs). OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of this study was to examine the impact of garlic tablets on nosocomial
      infections in hospitalized patients in intensive care units. METHODS: This
      clinical trial was carried out on 94 patients, admitted to the intensive care
      units in Kashani and Al-Zahra hospitals from January 21, 2014 to December 20,
      2014. Firstly, the patients were randomly selected by simple sampling, then they
      were assigned into case and control groups. The case group administered one 400
      mg garlic tablet daily for 6 days and the control group received placebo. During
      the study, inflammatory blood factors and infection occurrence in the two groups
      were compared. The Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 through
      descriptive tests such as independent t-test, Chi-square test, ANOVA and exact
      Fisher test for the analyses of primary and secondary outcomes. RESULTS: During
      the study period, 78 cases of intravenous catheter tip were sent to laboratory
      for culture, of which, 37 cases were in the intervention group and 41 in the
      control group. Culture results of Catheter tips was positive in 5 cases and all
      five cases were in the control group. Frequency distribution of catheter tip
      culture was significantly higher in the control group than that of the
      intervention group (p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of our study, in
      people with weakened immune systems and in people with high incidence of
      opportunistic infections, it is necessary to strengthen their body's immune
      system stimulants before dealing with these infectious agents, and cause decrease
      in the diseases insusceptible people. It was suggested that garlic
      supplementation has shown to be effective in patients admitted to ICU, who are
      highly susceptible to nosocomial infection, and it can be used for the prevention
      of septicemia and urinary tract infections. However, further research with larger
      sample size is needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at the
      Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (http://www.irct.ir) with the Irct ID:
      IRCT207406156480N6. FUNDING: Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences
      financially supported this research.

PMID- 28607637
TI  - The perceived stress and approach to learning effects on academic performance
      among Sudanese medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is an increasing awareness of the perceived stress and approach
      to learning effects on academic achievement. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to
      assess the educational environment and approach to learning in clinical phase
      medical students. METHODS: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted
      among fifty-nine clinical stage medical students at Omdurman Islamic University
      (Khartoum, Sudan) during the period from June to August 2016. All the
      participants signed a written informed consent, then responded to a structured
      questionnaire to collect demographic data, the two process study questionnaires
      and the perceived stress questionnaire. The ethical committee of Omdurman Islamic
      University approved the research, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences
      was used to compare the students based on sex, class, and their grades. Data were
      analyzed by SPSS version 22, using descriptive statistics and t-test. RESULTS:
      There were fifty-nine medical students, of whom 41.5% were males with a mean age
      of 22.62+/-1.84 years. Stress was evident in the majority of medical students
      (88.1%). The students are using the deep approach to learning more than the
      superficial approach (The total score was 29.49+/-6.39 for the deep approach,
      while it was 20.81+/-6.94 for the superficial approach). In the current study, no
      differences were found regarding sex, class, or grades apart from the superficial
      approach which was used less among women. CONCLUSION: The perceived stress was
      prevalent among medical students in Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, the
      students used the deep approach to learning more than the superficial, no
      differences were evident in the perceived stress and the learning approach in
      relation to sex, class level or grades apart from less superficial approach among
      women.

PMID- 28607638
TI  - Cost-price estimation of clinical laboratory services based on activity-based
      costing: A case study from a developing country.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is believed that laboratory tariffs in Iran don't reflect the real
      costs. This might expose private laboratories at financial hardship. Activity
      Based Costing is widely used as a cost measurement instrument to more closely
      approximate the true cost of operations. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine
      the real price of different clinical tests of a selected private clinical
      laboratory. METHODS: This study was a cross sectional study carried out in 2015.
      The study setting was the private laboratories in the city of Kerman, Iran. Of
      629 tests in the tariff book of the laboratory (relative value), 188 tests were
      conducted in the laboratory that used Activity Based Costing (ABC) methodology to
      estimate cost-price. Analyzing and cost-price estimating of laboratory services
      were performed by MY ABCM software Version 5.0. RESULTS: In 2015, the total costs
      were $641,645. Direct and indirect costs were 78.3% and 21.7% respectively.
      Laboratory consumable costs by 37% and personnel costs by 36.3% had the largest
      share of the costing. Also, group of hormone tests cost the most $147,741
      (23.03%), and other tests group cost the least $3,611 (0.56%). Also after
      calculating the cost of laboratory services, a comparison was made between the
      calculated price and the private sector's tariffs in 2015. CONCLUSION: This study
      showed that there was a difference between costs and tariffs in the private
      laboratory. One way to overcome this problem is to increase the number of
      laboratory tests with regard to capacity of the laboratories.

PMID- 28607639
TI  - Effect of diode laser irradiation on compressive strength of dental amalgam.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: One of the biggest disadvantages of dental amalgam is that gaining
      its ultimate strength is a slow process. The use of a rapid-setting amalgam with
      high early compressive strength could be a better option in preventing early
      fractures in pediatric dentistry. The aim of this study was to determine the
      effect of diode laser irradiation on compressive strength of dental amalgam.
      METHODS: A case-control study was performed on 180 amalgam samples made at the
      Tehran Dental Material Research Center in 2014. Fifteen and thirty minute
      compressive strength of regular setting and fast setting amalgams were measured
      as control. In case groups, the samples were irradiated by 810nm diode laser with
      power of 1 and 2 watt and in pulsed and continuous mode, and compressive strength
      was measured after 15 and 30 minutes. Statistical analysis was performed with
      SPSS 18 using one and two way ANOVA and Scheffe multiple comparisons test and
      p<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Numerous kinds of laser irradiation
      led to a significant increase in compressive strength compared to regular setting
      control groups. Fifteen minutes-compressive strength of regular-setting amalgam
      irradiated by 2 watt laser was significantly more than fast-setting control group
      (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Irradiation by 810nm diode laser can significantly increase
      the compressive strength of dental amalgam especially in the first 15 minutes.

PMID- 28607640
TI  - Predictors of intention to marriage based on theory of planned behavior among
      university students in Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Marriage is a social capital in society, so that makes the
      behavioral and social stability of parents and children in a generation,
      productive. Various factors can affect the intention of marriage, including
      individual, economic, social and cultural factors. The present study aimed to
      determine predictors of university students' intention to marriage based on the
      theory of planned behavior (TPB). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was
      performed among 192 single students (Master and PhD students with five to seven
      years of dentistry and medicine) in Hamadan, in 2014. The samples in this study
      were selected through convenient sampling. The data collection tools were
      demographic and TPB questionnaires. A questionnaire based on the TPB model was
      used in order to assess attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, perceived
      behavioral control, and intention. Data were analyzed by using SPSS16 and
      descriptive indexes, independent-samples t-test, One-way ANOVA and multivariate
      linear regression at 95% significant level. RESULTS: The results showed that
      attitudes toward marriage (beta=0.217; p=0.001), subjective norms (beta=0.366;
      p<0.001), and perceived behavioral control (beta=0.279; p<0.001) significantly
      predicted students' intention to marriage. The TPB constructs explained 44% of
      the variance of intention. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that strategies to
      improve the intention of marriage can include: expression of psychological needs
      such as having a companion, the importance of responsibility, society attitude of
      marriage, parents and marriage, the importance of the decision-making power and
      job position.

PMID- 28607642
TI  - Impact of theory-based educational intervention on explaining preventive
      pediculosis infestation behavior among primary school students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that improved health, social, and economic
      situations have significantly affected the reduction of its infestation,
      pediculosis is still spreading worldwide. AIM: This study is conducted to
      evaluate the explanatory power of health belief model constructs in adoption of
      preventive pediculosis infestation behavior in female primary school students.
      METHODS: This study involves two stages. First, a cross-sectional study was
      conducted. In the second stage, a quasi-experimental intervention was performed.
      One hundred eighty female elementary school students in Omidiyeh County were
      randomly selected in two 90-subject groups (experimental and control). Samples
      were matched in two groups in terms of demographic variables. A group of
      educational intervention was based on the most effective construct of the first
      stage; and the educational intervention of control group was based on the low
      effective construct. The path analysis and LISREL 8.5 software was utilized to
      compare the fit and the variance cover percentage of adopting preventive
      pediculosis infestation behaviors. RESULTS: According to the pre-intervention
      findings, there was no significant difference between experimental and control
      groups in terms of factors affecting the adoption of preventive pediculosis
      infestation behavior. This model had a weaker fit in the experimental than the
      control group, but these indices had better status after intervention in the
      experimental than the control group. Meanwhile, the cover percentage of explained
      variance for the experimental group after educational intervention was higher
      than pre-intervention, but it was lower in the control group. Finally, health
      belief model constructs (including the knowledge, cue to action, perceived
      susceptibility and severity, perceived benefits and barriers, and self-efficacy)
      in the experimental group, had better fit after the educational intervention
      compared with pre-intervention. CONCLUSION: Efficiency of the health belief model
      was approved for adopting preventive pediculosis infestation behavior in female
      primary school students. The future intervention studies should utilize the
      structural equation modeling approach separately in experimental and control
      groups to compare the changes in behavior between different demographic groups in
      the field of pediculosis infestation behavior.

PMID- 28607641
TI  - Lessons learned from the study of masturbation and its comorbidity with
      psychiatric disorders in children: The first analytic study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main source of information about children's masturbation is more
      on the basis of case reports. Due to the lack of consistent and accurate
      information. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine prevalence and underlying
      factors of masturbation and its comorbidity with psychiatric disorders in
      children. METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical study, among the children
      referred to the Pediatrics Clinic of Psychiatric Ward, Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz,
      Southwest Iran, 98 children were selected by convenience sampling in 2014.
      Disorders were diagnosed by clinical interview based on the fourth edition of the
      Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Psychiatric Disorders (DSM-IV) and the
      Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4). We also used a questionnaire, containing
      demographic information about the patient and their family and also other data.
      Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test with SPSS
      software version 16. RESULTS: Of the children who participated in this study
      (most of whom were boys), 31.6% suffered from masturbation. The phobias
      (p=0.002), separation anxiety disorder (p=0.044), generalized anxiety disorder
      (p=0.037), motor tics (p=0.033), stress disorder (p=0.005), oppositional defiant
      disorder (p=0.044), thumb sucking (p=0.000) and conduct disorder (p=0.001) were
      associated with masturbation. CONCLUSION: Masturbation was common in children
      referred to psychiatric clinic, and may be more associated with oppositional
      defiant disorder, or conduct disorder, some anxiety disorders, motor tics and
      other stereotypical behavior. Authors recommended more probing for psychiatric
      disorders in children with unusual sexual behavior.

PMID- 28607643
TI  - Retirement homes: Social participation and quality of life.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Social participation is considered as a means of improving one's
      quality of life, thus the study aimed at assessing the association between the
      quality of life and social participation in the elderly. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted in 2016. The study population was selected from
      among the residents of a retirement home (an elderly residential home) in one of
      the Northwestern provinces of Iran, and the required data was collected via three
      questionnaires related to the demographic data, the specific quality of life for
      the elderly (LEIPAD), and the extent of social participation. Data was analyzed
      using mean, standard deviation, Spearman correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney,
      Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis test in SPSS software. RESULTS: The social
      participation level of the population under study was estimated as being
      appropriate (mean score: 3.81+/-0.32); whereas, the respondents' quality of life
      was estimated as being relatively inappropriate (mean score: 2.78+/-0.41). The
      "art, sport and leisure activities" subscale showed a significant relationship
      with the subscales related to the total quality of life and those of "Physical
      Performance" (r=0.128, p=0.46), "depression and anxiety"(r=0.114, p=0.051),
      "sexual performance"(r=0.213, p=0.21), and "life satisfaction"(r=0.272, p=0.11);
      furthermore, there was a significant relationship between total social
      participation and "life satisfaction" and the subscales related to "depression
      and anxiety"(r=0.263, p=0.12). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that activities that involve
      the art, sport and leisure subscale of social participation can result in quality
      of life improvement for the elderly.

PMID- 28607645
TI  - The perspective of medical students regarding the roles and characteristics of a
      clinical role model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As medical students spend most of their time with their clinical
      teachers and imitate their roles and characteristics during the school year, it
      is important to identify the roles and characteristics that they find essential
      in their role models. These traits play a part in their future professions as
      doctors. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the perspective of
      students, interns, and residents regarding the roles and characteristics of a
      clinical role model. METHODS: In an analytical cross-sectional study, a
      structured and self-developed questionnaire was completed by 185 medical students
      at educational hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences during April
      and May 2015. Participants were selected using convenience sampling method. For
      data analysis, we used descriptive and inferential statistics. SPSS software
      version 16 was used as needed. RESULTS: In total, 90 medical students (48.7%), 65
      interns (35.1%), and 30 residents (16.2%) participated in this study. Male
      respondents (n=75) comprised 40.5% and female respondents (n=110) 59.5% of the
      study sample. The three most important roles of a clinical teacher were organizer
      role (99.7), teacher role (101.7), and supporter role (109.5) for students,
      interns, and residents respectively. On the other hand, supporter role (85.4),
      communicator role (86.4) and organizer role (83.4) were ranked as the least
      important for students, interns, and residents respectively. There was no
      significant association among the three batches and the roles of a clinical
      teacher (p>0.05). Conversely, Females rated the roles of a clinical teacher
      significantly higher than males (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As teachers are frequently
      perceived by students as role models in medical schools, great attention should
      be given to their roles. Teachers must be aware that their roles have an impact
      on students' professional development and performance.

PMID- 28607644
TI  - Prevalence and Characteristics of Precore Mutation in Iran and Its Correlation
      with Genotypes of Hepatitis B.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mutation of the HBV precore gene prevents the production of HBeAg,
      which is an important target for immune responses. Distribution of this mutation
      varies along with frequency of HBV genotypes in accordance with geographic and
      ethnic variations. The general objective of this study was to evaluate the
      prevalence and characteristics of precore mutation in Iran and its correlation
      with genotypes of hepatitis B. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, viral DNA
      of 182 Iranian hepatitis B surface antigen positive patients who were admitted to
      Bandar Abbas Blood Transfusion Organization in 2012 and 2013 was retrieved from
      their serum samples. HBeAg, anti-HBe, and anti-HBc IgM diagnostic tests were
      performed using ELISA kits. Precore and Pre-S regions were amplified using
      specific primers and PCR thereafter to determine the genotypes; precore mutation,
      PCR, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods also were
      applied. SPSS version 12 was used for data analysis by Mann-Whitney U test,
      Fisher's exact probability test, and t-test. RESULTS: A total of 62 patients
      (34.1%) had precore mutation (A1896G), and genotype D was the predominant
      genotype in these patients, which was followed by an unknown genotype that was
      suspected for genotype B. Interestingly, the relationships between precore
      mutation and HBeAg (p=0.037) and genotype D (p=0.005) were significant; however,
      no correlation was observed between this mutation and acute or chronic hepatitis
      and sex of patients. CONCLUSION: This study found high prevalence of precore
      mutations in southern Iran, which was significantly associated with HBeAg and
      genotype D.

PMID- 28607646
TI  - Challenges experienced by nurses in the implementation of a healthcare reform
      plan in Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Healthcare Reform Plan is counted as a plan for improving
      healthcare services in Iran. Undoubtedly pros and cons can be seen either in plan
      or implementation. This study was conducted to describe nurses' challenges in
      implementing healthcare reform in Iran. METHODS: A qualitative method centered
      upon conventional content analysis was applied. We used purposive sampling and
      data saturation was obtained by 30 participants. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA
      software. RESULTS: Challenges experienced by nurses in the implementation of this
      reform include; unsuitable infrastructure, unfavorable vision, a complicated
      challenge, the necessity of monitoring, control plan outcomes, the impact on
      nurses, people's misconceptions and solutions. CONCLUSIONS: The Healthcare Reform
      Plan in Iran is a solution to establish equality in the health system, however,
      to eliminate these challenges, revision and appropriate foundation of
      infrastructures is called for.

PMID- 28607647
TI  - Filed studies on some probiotics to minimize hazard effects of prevailing heavy
      metals contamination for improving immunity and growth performance of Oreochromis
      niloticus.
AB  - AIM: The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of some types
      of probiotics to minimize the hazard effect of cadmium on Oreochromis niloticus
      (O. niloticus) and to determine the influence of probiotics on the growth
      performance and immune status of O. niloticus. METHODS: Fish were divided into
      four groups, the first one was fed on a diet without any additives (control
      group), and the second group was fed on diet with the addition of 0.1 from (LC50)
      of cadmium 32 ppm in water. The third group was fed on a diet containing 1 gm/kg
      of Lactobacillus acidophilus. The fourth group was fed on a diet containing 1
      gm/kg of L. acidophilus with 0.1 addition from (LC50) of cadmium 32 ppm. RESULTS:
      The experiment lasted about 60 days which resulted in an improvement in growth
      performance, with a decrease in the number of micronucleus formation in the group
      which received the probiotic. The group which was affected with cadmium showed
      decrease in the growth performance with increase in the number of micronucleus
      formation while the group which received probiotics and treated with cadmium had
      significant improvement in growth performance and decreased in the number of
      micronucleus formation. CONCLUSIONS: Probiotics decrease cadmium pollution.

PMID- 28607648
TI  - The treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in children by endoscopic sub-mucosal
      intra-ureteral injection of dextranomer/hyaluronic acid: A case-series, multi
      centre study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vesicoureteral reflux is a risk factor for progressive renal damage.
      In addition to long-term antibiotic prophylaxis and open surgical re
      implantation, endoscopic sub-mucosal intra-ureteral injection of implant material
      is a therapeutic alternative that gained a world-wide preference. OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness and safety of the implant
      material, dextranomer/hyaluronic acid, in a cohort of Saudi children with
      vesicoureteral reflux. METHODS: In this case-series study, 61 patients with
      vesicoureteral reflux, who were 7 months to 10 years old (mean age 2.6 years),
      underwent sub-mucosal intra-ureteral injection of dextranomer/hyaluronic acid at
      our institutions in the period from October 2003 to October 2013. The operative
      protocol was the same in all institutions. Dextranomer/hyaluronic acid was
      injected submucosally within the intramural ureter (modified STING). Renal
      ultrasonography was performed to detect the presence of hydronephrosis. At 6
      weeks' fluoroscopic voiding cystourethrograms were used to evaluate the success
      of the technique. Data were analysed by SPSS version 19 using Pearson Chi square,
      Fisher's Exact and Cramer's V test. RESULTS: Reflux was corrected in 44 patients
      out of 61 (72.13%) and in 60 (75.00%) out of 80 ureteric units. Statistically,
      there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in success rate of the technique
      according to gender, age group and unilateral vs. bilateral cases. The success
      rate was significantly (p=0.025) higher in the lower grades (I-III) (87.50%)
      compared to grade IV (73.53%) and grade V (50.00%). No complications related to
      the technique were reported. The technique had failed in 17 patients (27.87%) or
      20 ureters (25.00%). These cases underwent open surgery. CONCLUSION: Sub-mucosal
      intra-ureteral implantation with dextranomer/hyaluronic acid by the modified
      STING technique is a simple, safe and effective outpatient procedure for
      vesicoureteral reflux.

PMID- 28607649
TI  - Influencing factors in choosing delivery method: Iranian primiparous women's
      perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies on the primiparous mothers' decision on delivery method are
      limited. AIM: The aim of his study was to determine the factors that influence
      the choice of delivery method by Iranian primiparous women. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted in April through September 2014. Participants were
      460 primiparous women in 8 hospitals of 4 cities in Iran. Finally, 230 cesarean
      section and 230 vaginal delivery women were selected. Inclusion criteria were
      being primiparous, and having no contraindication for vaginal delivery. Study
      tool was a researcher-developed questionnaire that its validity and reliability
      were proved. Data were gathered by direct interview and analyzed by SPSS version
      16. RESULTS: Average age of the participants was 23 years. Factors that
      correlated with the choice of Cesarean section were upper education, high
      socioeconomic level, tendency of husband, living with the husband's family,
      insistence of the physician, receiving maternal care in personal offices, fear of
      delivery pain, low knowledge of the mother, high age of marriage and pregnancy,
      history of abortion, and lack of family support. More than 60% of the
      participants had little knowledge about the delivery methods. Satisfaction with
      cesarean section was 70% and with the vaginal delivery was 77%. Half of the
      cesareans were performed on the insistence of the physician. CONCLUSION:
      Considering the factors identified in this study, can enforce the intention of
      mothers to have vaginal delivery by improving their knowledge and perception
      about this delivery method.

PMID- 28607650
TI  - Development and psychometric properties rating scale of "clinical competency
      evaluation in mental health nurses": Exploratory factor analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Evaluation of clinical competency in nurses has a distinct
      importance in healthcare due to its significant impact on improving the quality
      of patient care and creation of opportunities for professional promotion. This is
      a psychometric study for development of the "Clinical Competency of Mental Health
      Nursing"(CCMHN) rating scale. METHODS: In this methodological research that was
      conducted in 2015, in Tehran, Iran, the main items were developed after
      literature review and the validity and reliability of the tool were identified.
      The face, content (content validity ratio and content validity index) and
      construct validities were calculated. For face and content validity, experts'
      comments were used. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the
      construct validity. The reliability of scale was determined by the internal
      consistency and inter-rater correlation. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS
      version 16, using descriptive statistical analysis. RESULTS: A scale with 45
      items in two parts including Emotional/Moral and Specific Care competencies was
      developed. Content validity ratio and content validity index were 0.88, 0.97
      respectively. Exploratory factor analysis indicated two factors: The first factor
      with 23.93 eigenvalue and second factor with eigenvalue 2.58. Cronbach's alpha
      coefficient for determination of internal consistency was 0.98 and the ICC for
      confirmation inter-rater correlation was 0.98. CONCLUSION: A scale with 45 items
      and two areas was developed with appropriate validity and reliability. This scale
      can be used to assess the clinical competency in nursing students and mental
      health nurses.

PMID- 28607651
TI  - Assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of double inversion recovery sequence
      compared with FLAIR and T2W_TSE in detection of cerebral multiple sclerosis
      lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the central
      nervous system. MRI has an important role in early diagnosis of MS within
      diagnostic criteria. AIM: To determine the diagnostic value of the double
      inversion recovery (DIR) sequence in detection of brain MS lesions. METHODS: In
      this cross-sectional study, 55 patients were admitted to the MRI department in
      Vali-E-Asr Hospital in Qaemshahr, Iran, from May 2016 to February 2016. Imaging
      was performed on a 1.5T Philips MR system using DIR, fluid attenuated inversion
      recovery (FLAIR), and T2-weighted turbo spin echo (T2W_TSE) sequences with the
      same parameters, including field of view (FOV), matrix, slice thickness, voxel
      size, and number of signal averaging (NSA). The DIR sequence has two different
      time inversions (TI1=3400, TI2=325ms): suppressing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and
      white matter signal. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS version 20, and p
      value was gained from the patient-wise analysis by Wilcoxon analysis and paired
      samples t-test for matched pairs. RESULTS: More lesions in number and size were
      depicted on the DIR sequence compared with FLAIR (p=0.000 with a relative ratio
      of 6) and T2W_TSE (p=0.000 with a relative ratio of 10). DIR demonstrated
      significantly more intracortical lesions compared with FLAIR (p=0.000 with a
      relative ratio of 2.53) and T2W_TSE (p=0.000 and relative ratio of 8.87). There
      was significantly higher contrast ratio between the white matter lesions and the
      normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in all anatomical regions especially in deep
      white matter (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: An increasing total number of MS lesions can
      be detected by DIR sequence; thus, we recommend adding DIR sequence in routine MR
      protocols for MS patients.

PMID- 28607652
TI  - Simulation of therapeutic electron beam tracking through a non-uniform magnetic
      field using finite element method.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In radiotherapy, megaelectron volt (MeV) electrons are employed for
      treatment of superficial cancers. Magnetic fields can be used for deflection and
      deformation of the electron flow. A magnetic field is composed of non-uniform
      permanent magnets. The primary electrons are not mono-energetic and completely
      parallel. Calculation of electron beam deflection requires using complex
      mathematical methods. In this study, a device was made to apply a magnetic field
      to an electron beam and the path of electrons was simulated in the magnetic field
      using finite element method. METHODS: A mini-applicator equipped with two
      neodymium permanent magnets was designed that enables tuning the distance between
      magnets. This device was placed in a standard applicator of Varian 2100 CD linear
      accelerator. The mini-applicator was simulated in CST Studio finite element
      software. Deflection angle and displacement of the electron beam was calculated
      after passing through the magnetic field. By determining a 2 to 5cm distance
      between two poles, various intensities of transverse magnetic field was created.
      The accelerator head was turned so that the deflected electrons became vertical
      to the water surface. To measure the displacement of the electron beam, EBT2
      GafChromic films were employed. After being exposed, the films were scanned using
      HP G3010 reflection scanner and their optical density was extracted using
      programming in MATLAB environment. Displacement of the electron beam was compared
      with results of simulation after applying the magnetic field. RESULTS: Simulation
      results of the magnetic field showed good agreement with measured values. Maximum
      deflection angle for a 12 MeV beam was 32.9 degrees  and minimum deflection for
      15 MeV was 12.1 degrees . Measurement with the film showed precision of
      simulation in predicting the amount of displacement in the electron beam.
      CONCLUSION: A magnetic mini-applicator was made and simulated using finite
      element method. Deflection angle and displacement of electron beam were
      calculated. With the method used in this study, a good prediction of the path of
      high-energy electrons was made before they entered the body.

PMID- 28607653
TI  - The effect of a self-care program based on the teach back method on the
      postpartum quality of life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The postpartum period is a critical stage of life with major changes
      in the quality of life. Therefore, special consideration is needed to this issue.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of a self-care program based on the Teach Back
      method on the postpartum quality of life. METHODS: This experimental study was
      conducted on eighty postpartum women who had given birth in health centers across
      Darreh Shahr County, Ilam Province, Iran in 2016. The control group received only
      routine postpartum care according to the national guidelines. The trial group
      received the routine care in addition to two sessions of physical and
      psychological postpartum self-care based on the Teach Back method. The two groups
      were assessed in terms of their quality of life before and after the intervention
      using the Postpartum Quality of Life Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using
      SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistic tests, Chi squared, independent-samples t
      test, paired-samples t-test, Wilcoxon and Mann Whitney's test was used. RESULTS:
      Before the intervention, the postpartum quality of life score was 106.23+/-11.866
      in the trial group and 107.30+/-13.197 in the control group; after the
      intervention, the score was 124.73+/-10.706 and 115.03+/-12.687 in the two groups
      respectively, suggesting a significant inter-group difference after the
      intervention (p<0.001). Significant differences were also observed between the
      two groups in terms of the mother's feelings toward herself, toward her child and
      toward her spouse and others, and physical health before and after the
      intervention (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Using the Teach Back model for a self-care
      program appears to dramatically improve the postpartum quality of life and is
      therefore recommended as a useful method for postpartum care. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials
      (http://www.irct.ir) with the Irct ID: IRCT2015012820854N1. FUNDING: The authors
      received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of
      this article.

PMID- 28607655
TI  - Challenges of OSCE national board exam in Iran from participants' perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The national board exam for residents in Iran is held in two parts:
      Multiple-choice and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The OSCE is
      a suitable method for evaluation of residents' clinical qualifications. However,
      it requires experienced human resources, accurate planning, facilities and
      reliable evaluation tools. OBJECTIVE: To determine the challenges of the OSCE
      National Board Exam in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on
      all the final-year pediatrics and gynecology residents of Mashhad University of
      Medical Science, who participated in the board exam in September 2014. A
      questionnaire was designed to evaluate the residents' opinion on challenges of
      the OSCE. Data was analyzed with SPSS16. We used U Mann-Whitney test independent
      t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Fourteen pediatrics and
      eleven gynecology residents participated. In the gynecology group, there was no
      significant statistical correlation between the individual marks and
      questionnaire scores. However, in the pediatrics group, there was a significant
      correlation (p=0.046, r=-0.763). Based on pediatrics residents' perspective, the
      main challenge of the OSCE part of the exam was the imbalance and disproportion
      between the allowed time and the task load in each exam stage. In other words,
      they believed that the tasks could not be fulfilled in the given time. In the
      gynecology group, the main challenge reported was the delay in announcing the
      exam results. In the pediatrics group, the main complaint was the disproportion
      of the allowed time and the task load in the exam stages. CONCLUSION: Some of the
      challenges of the board exam were associated with the examiners and the exam
      environment, and some of them were related to the home university where the
      candidates had studied. To solve the problems, both aspects should be considered.

PMID- 28607654
TI  - Qualitative thallium urinary assays are almost as valuable as quantitative tests:
      implication for outpatient settings in low and middle income countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thallium (Tl), lead and steroid exposures were reported as a result
      of street drug consumption such as heroin and cocaine. OBJECTIVE: This study
      aimed to compare the values of qualitative and quantitative assays for detecting
      Tl as an adulterant in opioid-like compound drug users. METHODS: This case
      control study was conducted throughout a specified time bracket ranging from May
      2015 to November 2015 in Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. In general, urine
      thallium samples for 100 opioid overdosed subjects with a history of chronic
      opioid use and 50 non-drug users were studied. Qualitative 24 hours-urinary
      thallium-level (QL) and quantitative 24 hours-urinary-thallium-level (QT) were
      conducted in both groups. Independent-samples t-test and Spearman's Coefficient
      were applied for analytical purposes. SPSS software 16 was used to conduct
      statistical analyses with P values less than 0.05 regarded as significant.
      RESULTS: A total of 150 cases were studied. Raw opium users accounted for 66% of
      the cases followed by mixed (28%) and heroin users (6%). Mean (SD) QT level for
      QL was 26.8 (1) MUg/L, while it was 2.3 MUg/L (0.4 MUg/L) for negative QL, which
      was far below QL positive cases (p=0.002). The qualitative test showed more
      accuracy at higher quantitative levels. In all cases, qualitative test was fully
      sensitive (100%), highly specific (89%) with a positive likelihood ratio (PLR) of
      9.1 and a negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of 0. CONCLUSION: These results suggest
      that qualitative assays could be used with confidence in assessing Tl exposure in
      drug users. Physicians may easily and confidently use Tl qualitative tests in
      rehabilitation centers, where toxicology laboratories may not be available.

PMID- 28607656
TI  - Secondary traumatic stress, dissociative and somatization symptoms in spouses of
      veterans with PTSD in Zahedan, Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Secondary traumatic stress is a disorder which occurs in spouses
      and people with close relation to someone with posttraumatic stress disorder.
      Like PTSD, it seems that STS also occurs with other psychiatric problems like
      somatization and dissociation. This study aimed to determine the relationship
      between STS and somatization and dissociation symptoms. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was done in 2015 and lasted for one year. Self-report
      questionnaires assessing secondary traumatic stress symptoms, dissociation
      symptoms and somatization symptoms were distributed among spouses of veterans
      with PTSD in Zahedan, Iran. The relationship between STS symptoms and
      somatization symptoms and also between STS symptoms and dissociation symptoms
      were determined by Pearson correlation test. SPSS version 23 was used for data
      analysis. RESULTS: Occurrence of secondary traumatic stress symptoms were
      correlated with dissociation symptoms and also with somatization symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: As the rate of secondary traumatic stress rose, the rate of
      somatization and dissociation symptoms in spouses of veterans increased.

PMID- 28607657
TI  - The impact of educational intervention on physical activity, nutrition and
      laboratory parameters in type II diabetic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases that is now
      widely spread around the world, and day by day the number of patients is
      increasing. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of educational
      intervention on physical activity, nutrition and laboratory parameters in type 2
      diabetic patients. METHODS: This semi-experimental study was performed from March
      to October 2015 on 100 patients with type 2 diabetes who referred to the Niknejad
      health center. The type of sampling was simple random. Data were collected using
      a questionnaire including demographic questions, assessment of nutritional status
      and physical activity, history of diabetes, physical measurements and laboratory
      parameters of patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16, and descriptive and
      analytical tests (paired-samples t-test) and the results were significant at the
      level of (p<0.05). RESULTS: In present study, body measurements, the mean number
      of units of fruit and vegetable intake per day, type of oil consumption, the mean
      number of days of fish intake per week or the mean number of days with intense
      physical activity per week, had no significant difference before and after the
      intervention, while the variables of FBS level (p<0.003), rate of HbA1c
      (p<0.027), the mean number of days of fruit intake (p<0.001) and vegetable intake
      (p<0.037) per week and the mean number of days with moderate physical activity
      (p<0.03) of patients, had significant difference before and after the
      intervention. CONCLUSION: According to the findings of this study, to improve
      BMI, fish intake, type of oil consumption and also increased daily fruit and
      vegetable intake in these patients, a variety of educational-supportive
      interventions are recommended.

PMID- 28607658
TI  - Exploring perceptions of instructors about childbirth preparation training
      courses: A qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childbirth preparation training courses on maternal and neonatal
      health increase awareness, and capability of pregnant women in overcoming fear
      and anxiety and managing labor pains. OBJECTIVE: To identify the affecting
      factors and barriers of these courses from the perspective of their instructors.
      METHODS: This qualitative study of the content analysis type, has been conducted
      on 16 certified teachers of the training courses of the Hamadan city in 2015.
      Data were collected by semi-structured in-depth interviews and were then analyzed
      by using MAXQDA10 application. RESULTS: Participants' experiences are indicated
      on three main themes including the objectives of the course, facilitators and
      barriers. The main objectives of the course were reported as to improve maternal
      and newborn health, promote natural childbirth and preparedness for parenting and
      breastfeeding. The main facilitators of the successful implementation include
      observing educational standards, strengthening the communication and relationship
      between mothers and staff, mobilization, and the role of instructor. The major
      barriers are reported as inadequate support from management system, insufficient
      intra-sector collaboration, poor attitude of obstetricians and physicians,
      inadequate access, theory-practice gap and not intended to labor naturally.
      CONCLUSION: The results of our study show that multiple factors are involved in
      the participation of pregnant women in antenatal classes. Promoting natural
      childbirth requires intra-sector and inter-sectoral collaboration, as well as the
      community participation.

PMID- 28607659
TI  - Evaluation of the referral system in Iran's rural family physician program; a
      study of Jiroft University of Medical Sciences.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Referral systems are relatively easy in terms of
      design, but implementing them is extremely difficult. Considering the three
      levels of primary healthcare, access of people to specialized services through a
      referral system is possible. With regard to the importance of a referral system
      in a family physician program, this study was performed to assess the function of
      the referral system in the family physician program in Jiroft University of
      Medical Sciences. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in the first
      half of 2014. The sample size included 700 patients selected using multistage
      sampling. Firstly 30% of health centers were randomly selected as a cluster.
      Then, the patients were randomly selected from each cluster. The study data were
      collected through a questionnaire consisting of 2 parts - demographic variables
      and the rules of the referral system. Data were analyzed using descriptive
      statistics, Chi Square, and Logistic Regression. RESULTS: From 700 patients who
      received the level 2 services, 69% of cases were female and 31% were male. One
      hundred eighty-two cases (26%) had referral form from health house. Only 56.4% of
      persons referred to the centers because of diagnosis of the family physician. For
      34% of cases, the specialists wrote the results of their evaluation in feedback
      form. Four hundred sixty-three patients did not return to their family physician
      because of lack of knowledge. CONCLUSION: The referral situation to level 2, in
      the present study was poor. Ease of access to specialized services level 2, and
      educational intervention for healthcare staff and familiarizing people with the
      objectives of the family physician program and referral system are recommended.

PMID- 28607660
TI  - Investigation of marital satisfaction and its relationship with job stress and
      general health of nurses in Qazvin, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pressures in nursing can affect family life and marital problems,
      disrupt common social problems, increase work-family conflicts and endanger
      people's general health. AIM: To determine marital satisfaction and its
      relationship with job stress and general health of nurses. METHODS: This
      descriptive and cross-sectional study was done in 2015 in medical educational
      centers of Qazvin by using an ENRICH marital satisfaction scale and General
      Health and Job Stress questionnaires completed by 123 nurses. Analysis was done
      by SPSS version 19 using descriptive and analytical statistics (Pearson
      correlation, t-test, ANOVA, Chi-square, regression line, multiple regression
      analysis). RESULTS: The findings showed that 64.4% of nurses had marital
      satisfaction. There was significant relationship between age (p=0.03), job
      experience (p=0.01), age of spouse (p=0.01) and marital satisfaction. The results
      showed that there was a significant relationship between marital satisfaction and
      general health (p<0.0001). Multiple regression analysis showed that there was a
      significant relationship between depression (p=0.012) and anxiety (p=0.001) with
      marital satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Due to high levels of job stress and disorder
      in general health of nurses and low marital satisfaction by running health
      promotion programs and paying attention to its dimensions can help work and
      family health of nurses.

PMID- 28607661
TI  - Effect of theory-based intervention to promote physical activity among adolescent
      girls: a randomized control trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) rates decline among most high school female
      students, and due to cultural restrictions, the reduction of physical activity
      might be exacerbated in female Iranian adolescents. OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      effects of the physical activity education theory-based intervention to promote
      activity among adolescent girls. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was
      conducted at public high schools in Tehran, Iran, from September 2015 to July
      2016 on 578 girls. The subjects were assigned randomly to two groups of
      experiment and control (n=289 per group). All participants in the experimental
      group received an educational program based on a modified TPB. Measures were
      assessed before and 6 months after the experiment. The data were analyzed using
      SPSS version 23. We used descriptive statistics, multilevel analysis, Likelihood
      Ratio (LR) test, P-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically
      significant. RESULTS: Five hundred and seventy-eight participants with a mean age
      of 14.26+/-0.96 years were studied in two groups of experiment (n=289) and
      control (n=289). Moreover, adjusted for the baseline values, the mean of the
      scores of the knowledge (84.1+/-13.6), attitude (31.2+/-13.6), subjective norm
      (40.4+/-11.1), behavioral intention (34.3+/-14.7), perceived behavioral control
      (38.4+/-11.6), perceived parental control (42.9+/-14.2), behavioral (42.6+/-17.1)
      was significantly higher in the experiment group compared with the control group
      (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study implicate that theory based
      educational intervention is considered to be more effective in improving physical
      activity in adolescents. This result can be used to increase adolescent's health
      promotion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry
      of Clinical Trials (IRST) with the identification number: IRCT2015070623089N2.
      FUNDING: The authors received no financial support for the research from
      Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences.

PMID- 28607662
TI  - Clinical and endoscopic findings of children hospitalized in Qa'em Hospital of
      Mashhad due to caustic ingestion (2011-2013).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: One of the leading causes of damage to the gastrointestinal tract
      in children is caustic ingestion which is sometimes life-threatening. The most
      reliable way to study the severity and extent of damage is endoscopy, which can
      be harmless in terms of time and technique. The aim of this study was to
      investigate, evaluate and compare clinical findings and endoscopic results of
      caustic ingestion. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study was
      conducted on the records of children diagnosed with caustic ingestion, and
      hospitalized in Qa'em Hospital of Mashhad from March 2011 to December 2013.
      Intended data were extracted from patients' records and in case of any ambiguity,
      it was removed by phone call. Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 11.5 and chi
      square test. RESULTS: Of 54 patients, there were 36 cases of burn with acidic
      substance and 16 cases of burn with alkaline. The highest value was related to
      caustics related to acid batteries (31.5%) and in 77.5% of cases the container of
      caustic agent was not standard. In endoscopic results, 50 patients out of 54, had
      esophagus burn such that in 6 cases it was grade I burn, in 15 cases grade IIa,
      27 cases with grade IIb and 2 cases with Grade IIIa burn. In addition, mild
      erythema of stomach in 6 cases, average erythema in 5 cases, mild ulcer in 15
      cases, average ulcer in 5 cases and 3 cases with severe ulcer were reported.
      There was no significant relation between clinical findings and endoscopic
      results (p=0.68). CONCLUSION: Since caustic ingestion can be regarded as a life
      threatening factor for children, the importance of observing precautions in the
      storage of caustics and the role of training and adequate attention of parents to
      this issue to prevent such accidents is clear.

PMID- 28607663
TI  - The structure of the pharmaceutical market in Iran using concentration indices.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The efficiency and function of the pharmaceutical
      sector, as a vital portion of the health system, have a significant effect on
      intermediate and final indices of health. In this research, the structure of the
      pharmaceutical market in Iran was examined through the calculation of
      concentration indices in 2011. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the needed
      data was gathered from the Food and Drug Administration in the year 2011. Data
      were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 and Microsoft Office Excel software.
      Finally, two common measures of market concentration, the Concentration Ratio and
      the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, were calculated. RESULTS: The largest and the
      smallest shares of the industry were 5.57% and 0.01%, respectively. The average
      industry share was 1.09%. The share range was calculated to be 5.56%. The
      Herfindahl-Hirschman Index was 248.5, which indicates a very low concentration of
      the pharmaceutical market in Iran. Also, based on the Concentration Ratio of 4
      companies (18.39%), the concentration of the pharmaceutical market has been too
      low. CONCLUSION: The pharmaceutical market in Iran has a very low concentration
      and it does not have an exclusive mode in terms of market structure. Therefore,
      it can be attributed to the competitive model. The policy makers in this area can
      use this characteristic as a leverage to improve efficiency, fairness, revenue
      and health indices.

PMID- 28607664
TI  - Diagnosing the Periphery: Using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Drawing Test to
      Characterize Peripheral Visual Function.
AB  - Peripheral vision is strongly limited by crowding, the deleterious influence of
      neighboring stimuli on target perception. Many quantitative aspects of this
      phenomenon have been characterized, but the specific nature of the perceptual
      degradation remains elusive. We utilized a drawing technique to probe the
      phenomenology of peripheral vision, using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, a
      standard neuropsychological clinical instrument. The figure was presented at 12
      degrees  or 6 degrees  in the right visual field, with eye tracking to ensure
      that the figure was only presented when observers maintained stable fixation.
      Participants were asked to draw the figure with free viewing, capturing its
      peripheral appearance. A foveal condition was used to measure copying performance
      in direct view. To assess the drawings, two raters used standard scoring systems
      that evaluated feature positions, spatial distortions, and omission errors.
      Feature scores tended to decrease with increasing eccentricity, both within and
      between conditions, reflecting reduced resolution and increased crowding in
      peripheral vision. Based on evaluation of the drawings, we also identified new
      error classes unique to peripheral presentation, including number errors for
      adjacent similar features and distinctive spatial distortions. The multifaceted
      nature of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure-containing configural elements,
      detached compound features, and texture-like components-coupled with the
      flexibility of the free-response drawing paradigm and the availability of
      standardized scoring systems, provides a promising method to probe peripheral
      perception and crowding.

PMID- 28607665
TI  - Expression Dependence in the Perception of Facial Identity.
AB  - We recognise familiar faces irrespective of their expression. This ability,
      crucial for social interactions, is a fundamental feature of face perception. We
      ask whether this constancy of facial identity may be compromised by changes in
      expression. This, in turn, addresses the issue of whether facial identity and
      expression are processed separately or interact. Using an identification task,
      participants learned the identities of two actors from naturalistic (so-called
      ambient) face images taken from movies. Training was either with neutral images
      or their expressive counterparts, perceived expressiveness having been determined
      experimentally. Expressive training responses were slower and more erroneous than
      neutral training responses. When tested with novel images of the actors that
      varied in expressiveness, neutrally trained participants gave slower and less
      accurate responses to images of high compared with low expressiveness. These
      findings clearly demonstrate that facial expressions impede the processing and
      learning of facial identity. Because this expression dependence is consistent
      with a late bifurcation model of face processing, in which changeable facial
      aspects and identity are coded in a common framework, it suggests that
      expressions are a part of facial identity representation.

PMID- 28607666
TI  - Synesthesia and the McCollough Effect.
AB  - Synesthetes, who see printed black letters and numbers as being colored, are
      thought to have enhanced cross-activation between brain modules for color and
      form. Since the McCollough effect also results from oriented contours (i.e.,
      form) evoking specific colors, we conjectured that synesthetes may experience an
      enhanced McCollough effect, and find that this is indeed true.

PMID- 28607667
TI  - Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
      and cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors: latest evidence and clinical implications.
AB  - Observational studies and meta-analyses have shown that the administration of
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), especially when prescribed at high
      doses for long periods of time, can potentially increase the risk of
      cardiovascular diseases. The increased thrombotic risk related to the use of
      NSAIDs is mainly due to their cyclooxygenase 2 selectivity. The dosage use, the
      formulation selected and the duration of the therapy are other factors that can
      significantly impact on the cardiovascular risk. In order to minimize the risk,
      prescription of the right drug based on the patient's features and the different
      safety profiles of several NSAIDs that are available on the market is key for
      their appropriate administration. Despite the baseline cardiovascular and
      gastrointestinal risk of each patient, monitoring of patients is suggested for
      increases in blood pressure, development of edema, deterioration of renal
      function, or gastrointestinal bleeding during long-term treatment with NSAIDs.

PMID- 28607668
TI  - Future perspectives on nonmedical prescribing.
AB  - Many countries have implemented nonmedical prescribing (NMP) and many others are
      scoping prescribing practices with a view to developing NMP. This paper provides
      a future perspective on NMP in light of findings of an umbrella review of aspects
      of NMP. This is followed by coverage of the Scottish Government strategy of
      pharmacist prescribing and finally, consideration of two key challenges. The
      review identified seven systematic reviews of influences on prescribing decision
      making, processes of prescribing, and barriers and facilitators to
      implementation. Decision making was reported as complex with many, and often
      conflicting, influences. Facilitators of NMP included perceived improved patient
      care and professional autonomy, while barriers included lack of defined roles and
      resource pressures. Three systematic reviews explored patient outcomes that were
      noted to be equivalent or better to physician prescribing. In particular, a
      Cochrane review of 46 studies of clinical, patient-reported, and resource-use
      outcomes of NMP compared with medical prescribing showed positive intervention
      group effects. Despite positive findings, authors highlighted high bias, poor
      definition and description of 'prescribing' and the 'prescribing process' and
      difficulty in separating NMP effects from the contributions of other healthcare
      team members. While evidence of benefit and safety is essential to inform
      practice, for NMP to be implemented and sustained on a large scale, there needs
      to be clear commitment at the highest level. The approach being taken by the
      Scottish Government to pharmacist prescribing implementation may inform
      developments in other professions and countries. The vision is that by 2023, all
      pharmacists providing pharmaceutical care will be pharmacist-independent
      prescribers. There are, however, challenges to implementing NMP into working
      practice; two key challenges are the need for sustainable models of care and
      evaluation research. These challenges could be met by considering the theoretical
      basis for implementation, and robust and rigorous evaluation.

PMID- 28607669
TI  - Risk factors for adverse drug reactions in pediatric inpatients: a systematic
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main objective of the present systematic review is to identify
      potential risk factors for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) through prospective
      cohort studies in pediatric inpatients. METHODS: The data search was done in the
      following electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE; Scopus; LILACS and Web of Science
      from the earliest record until 31 May 2015. Two reviewers independently screened
      each study and one of them assessed the methodological quality according to the
      Newcastle-Ottawa scale for cohort studies. The data extraction was conducted
      according to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
      (STROBE) initiative for cohort studies. RESULTS: The only risk factor observed in
      all studies was the increase in the number of prescription drugs. However, other
      factors were identified, such as the increase in the length of stay or the number
      of low- or high-risk drugs prescribed, use of general anesthesia and oncological
      diagnosis. The cumulative incidence of ADR was 16.4% (95% confidence interval:
      15.6 to 17.2). The main professional responsible for ADR identification was the
      pharmacist and the dominant category among the ADRs were gastrointestinal
      disorders. In addition, analgesics, antibacterial agents and corticosteroids were
      the drug classes commonly associated with ADRs. The methodology used in this
      study was tried to homogenize the data extracted; however, this was not
      sufficient to correct the discrepancies so it was not possible to perform a meta
      analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the number of prescription drugs was the
      main risk factor in this population. However, additional studies are required to
      identify the risk factors for ADRs in pediatric inpatients.

PMID- 28607670
TI  - Emotional abuse of girls in Swaziland: prevalence, perpetrators, risk and
      protective factors and health outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research on emotional child abuse in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce.
      Few studies thus far have examined prevalence, risk and protective factors for
      emotional child abuse or the associations between emotional abuse and girls'
      health. METHODS: A nationally representative two-stage, cluster-sampled,
      household survey of females aged 13-24 years (n = 1244) on childhood abuse
      victimisation was conducted. Participants completed interviewer-assisted
      questionnaires. Associations between emotional abuse and putative risk, and
      protective factors and health outcomes were analyzed using separate logistic
      regression models accounting for sampling design. Marginal effects of cumulative
      risk factors for emotional abuse victimisation were examined. RESULTS: Lifetime
      prevalence of emotional abuse was 28.5% with 58.3% of these girls reporting many
      abusive incidents. The most common perpetrators were female (27.8%) and male
      (16.7%) relatives and, more rarely, biological parents. Risk factors associated
      with emotional abuse were frequent caregiver changes (odds ratio (OR) 1.42, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.970, poverty (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.12-2.03), and
      physical abuse (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.45-2.71) and sexual abuse (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.57
      3.10) victimisation. Being close to one's mother was a protective factor (OR
      0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.97). Risk for emotional abuse increased from 13% with no risk
      factors present to 58.4% -with all four risk factors present. Health outcomes
      associated with emotional child abuse were suicidal ideation (OR 1.85, 95% CI
      1.30-2.63) and feeling depressed (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.31-2.71). CONCLUSIONS: Girls
      in Swaziland experience high levels of emotional abuse victimisation. Emotional
      abuse is associated with economic disadvantage, family factors, other types of
      abuse victimisation and poor mental health. Therefore, a holistic approach to
      prevention is needed, incorporating poverty reduction and programmes to improve
      parent-child relationships, reduce the use of harsh criticism, and change
      parenting social norms.

PMID- 28607671
TI  - Epidemiology of ocular trauma in children requiring hospital admission: a 16-year
      retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To study the epidemiology of ocular trauma requiring hospital
      admission in children under 18 years in age. METHODS: This retrospective cohort
      study included pediatric patients with ocular injuries at the Ophthalmology
      Department of the Clinical Hospital Centre, Split, Croatia, from 2000 to 2015,
      classified according to the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology. RESULTS: There
      were 353 children hospitalized, 82% of boys (mean age 11 years) and 18% of girls
      (mean age 10 years). The majority of traumas occurred in the outside environment
      (70%, n = 249), followed by occurrences at home (17%, n = 60), and at a
      school/nursery (8%, n = 28). Final visual acuity was 6/18 or better in 286 (96%)
      patients with closed globe injury and in 26 (49%) patients with open globe
      injury. Severe impairment of vision was found in 12 (4.4%) patients in the closed
      globe injury group and 26 (49%) patients in the open globe injury group. A
      statistically significant difference was found between final visual acuity and
      initial visual acuity in all patients (chi2 = 12.8; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The
      majority of pediatric eye injuries are happening in the outside environment and
      are preventable. Implementation of well-established safety precautions would
      greatly reduce this source of visual disability in children.

PMID- 28607672
TI  - Prevalence and associated risk factors of violence against conflict-affected
      female adolescents: a multi-country, cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over half of displaced civilians in humanitarian emergencies are
      children, and these settings pose unique threats to children's safety with long
      lasting consequences. Our study broadens the limited evidence on violence against
      adolescent girls in emergencies by estimating prevalence and predictors of
      violence among adolescent girls aged 13-14 in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of
      the Congo (DRC), and aged 13-19 in refugee camps in the Benishangul-Gumuz region
      of Ethiopia. METHODS: Survey data were collected from a sample of 1296 adolescent
      girls using Computer-Assisted Personal Interview and Audio Computer-Assisted Self
      Interview programming. Predictors of violence were modeled using multivariable
      logistic regression. RESULTS: The majority of adolescent girls (51.62%) reported
      experiencing at least one form of violence victimization in the previous 12
      months: 31.78% reported being hit or beaten, 36.79% reported being screamed at
      loudly or aggressively, and 26.67% experienced unwanted sexual touching, forced
      sex, and/or sexual coercion. Across both countries, ever having a boyfriend and
      living with an intimate partner were strong predictors of violence. Fewer years
      of education completed in DRC, and young age in Ethiopia, were also associated
      with reported victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of violence against
      adolescent girls is high in these two conflict-affected contexts. Findings
      indicate a need for programs targeting younger populations, broader efforts to
      address different forms of victimization, and increased recognition of intimate
      partners and caregivers as perpetrators of violence in conflict-affected
      settings.

PMID- 28607674
TI  - Gender bias in careseeking practices in 57 low- and middle-income countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preventive and curative medical interventions can reduce child
      mortality. It is important to assess whether there is gender bias in access to
      these interventions, which can lead to preferential treatment of children of a
      given sex. METHODS: Data from Demographic and Health Surveys carried out in 57
      low- and middle-income countries were used. The outcome variable was a composite
      careseeking indicator, which represents the proportion of children with common
      childhood symptoms or illnesses (diarrhea, fever, or suspected pneumonia) who
      were taken to an appropriate provider. Results were stratified by sex at the
      national level and within each wealth quintile. Ecological analyses were carried
      out to assess if sex ratios varied by world region, religion, national income and
      its distribution, and gender inequality indices. Linear multilevel regression
      models were used to estimate time trends in careseeking by sex between 1994 and
      2014. FINDINGS: Eight out of 57 countries showed significant differences in
      careseeking; in six countries, girls were less likely to receive care (Colombia,
      Egypt, India, Liberia, Senegal and Yemen). Seven countries had significant
      interactions between sex and wealth quintile, but the patterns varied from
      country to country. In the ecological analyses, lower careseeking for girls
      tended to be more common in countries with higher income concentration (P =
      0.039) and higher Muslim population (P = 0.006). Coverage increased for both
      sexes; 0.95 percent points (pp) a year among girls (32.9% to 51.9%), and 0.91 pp
      (34.8% to 52.9%) among boys. CONCLUSION: The overall frequency of careseeking is
      similar for girls and boys, but not in all countries, where there is evidence of
      gender bias. A gender perspective should be an integral part of monitoring,
      accountability and programming. Countries where bias is present need renewed
      attention by national and international initiatives, in order to ensure that
      girls receive adequate care and protection.

PMID- 28607673
TI  - Risk factors for Clostridium difficile infections - an overview of the evidence
      base and challenges in data synthesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recognition of a broad spectrum of disease and development of
      Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and recurrent CDI (rCDI) in populations
      previously considered to be at low risk has renewed attention on differences in
      the risk profile of patients. In the absence of primary prevention for CDI and
      limited treatment options, it is important to achieve a deep understanding of the
      multiple factors that influence the risk of developing CDI and rCDI. METHODS: We
      conducted a review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses on risk factors for
      CDI and rCDI published between 1990 and October 2016. RESULTS: 22 systematic
      reviews assessing risk factors for CDI (n = 19) and rCDI (n = 6) were included.
      Meta-analyses were conducted in 17 of the systematic reviews. Over 40 risk
      factors have been associated with CDI and rCDI and can be classified into three
      categories: pharmacological risk factors, host-related risk factors, and clinical
      characteristics or interventions. Most systematic reviews and meta-analyses have
      focused on antibiotic use (n = 8 for CDI, 3 for rCDI), proton pump inhibitors (n
      = 8 for CDI, 4 for rCDI), and histamine 2 receptor antagonists (n = 4 for CDI)
      and chronic kidney disease (n = 4 for rCDI). However, other risk factors have
      been assessed. We discuss the state of the evidence, methods, and challenges for
      data synthesis. CONCLUSION: Several studies, synthesized in different systematic
      review, provide valuable insights into the role of different risk factors for
      CDI. Meta-analytic evidence of association has been reported for factors such as
      antibiotics, gastric acid suppressants, non-selective NSAID, and some co
      morbidities. However, despite statistical significance, issues of high
      heterogeneity, bias and confounding remain to be addressed effectively to improve
      overall risk estimates. Large, prospective primary studies on risk factors for
      CDI with standardised case definitions and stratified analyses are required to
      develop more accurate and robust estimates of risk effects that can inform
      targeted-CDI clinical management procedures, prevention, and research.

PMID- 28607675
TI  - Improving coverage measurement for reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child
      health: gaps and opportunities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regular monitoring of coverage for reproductive, maternal, neonatal,
      and child health (RMNCH) is central to assessing progress toward health goals.
      The objectives of this review were to describe the current state of coverage
      measurement for RMNCH, assess the extent to which current approaches to coverage
      measurement cover the spectrum of RMNCH interventions, and prioritize
      interventions for a novel approach to coverage measurement linking household
      surveys with provider assessments. METHODS: We included 58 interventions along
      the RMNCH continuum of care for which there is evidence of effectiveness against
      cause-specific mortality and stillbirth. We reviewed household surveys and
      provider assessments used in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to
      determine whether these tools generate measures of intervention coverage,
      readiness, or quality. For facility-based interventions, we assessed the
      feasibility of linking provider assessments to household surveys to provide
      estimates of intervention coverage. RESULTS: Fewer than half (24 of 58) of
      included RMNCH interventions are measured in standard household surveys. The
      periconceptional, antenatal, and intrapartum periods were poorly represented. All
      but one of the interventions not measured in household surveys are facility
      based, and 13 of these would be highly feasible to measure by linking provider
      assessments to household surveys. CONCLUSIONS: We found important gaps in
      coverage measurement for proven RMNCH interventions, particularly around the time
      of birth. Based on our findings, we propose three sets of actions to improve
      coverage measurement for RMNCH, focused on validation of coverage measures and
      development of new measurement approaches feasible for use at scale in LMICs.

PMID- 28607676
TI  - Evaluating the quality improvement impact of the Global Tracheostomy
      Collaborative in four diverse NHS hospitals.
AB  - Tracheostomies are predominantly used in Head & Neck Surgery and the critically
      ill. The needs of these complex patients frequently cross traditional speciality
      working boundaries and locations and any resulting airway problems can rapidly
      lead to significant harm. The Global Tracheostomy Collaborative (GTC) was formed
      in 2012 with the aim of bringing together international expertise in tracheostomy
      care in order to bring about rapid adoption of best practices and to improve the
      quality and safety of care to this vulnerable group. The primary aim of this
      project was to improve the safety and quality of care delivered to adult patients
      with new or existing tracheostomies. We implemented changes guided by the GTC
      using multiple PDSA cycles over a 12-month period. Interventions were across
      three themes: educational, patient-centred (earlier vocalisation and enteral
      intake) and organisational. We hypothesised that systematic healthcare
      improvements would reduce the severity of harm resulting from tracheostomy
      related safety incidents and improve surrogate markers of the quality of patient
      centred care. Furthermore, we hypothesised that raising the quality and safety of
      healthcare services would lead to more efficient care, measured by earlier
      tracheostomy decannulation times and reduced hospital lengths of stay. This
      Quality Improvement project implemented the GTC into four diverse NHS Trusts in
      Greater Manchester. Key drivers implemented included multidisciplinary
      tracheostomy steering groups, ward rounds and bedside teams, standardisation of
      tracheostomy protocols, staff education and meaningful involvement of patient and
      family. Surrogates for the quality and safety of care were captured for all
      patients using a bespoke database. Implementing the GTC into four NHS Trusts
      rapidly and positively impacted on patient safety metrics and surrogates for the
      quality of care delivered. It is likely that the comprehensive resources of the
      GTC will be of benefit to other NHS hospitals and indeed other healthcare systems
      around the world.

PMID- 28607677
TI  - Design and Implementation of a Trauma Care Bundle at a Community Hospital.
AB  - The Niagara Health System (NHS) in Ontario, Canada is comprised of three non
      designated trauma center (NTC) hospitals which provide primary care to
      approximately 100 trauma patients annually. NTCs often lack standardized
      resources such as trauma surgeons, trauma-trained emergency room physicians,
      Advanced Trauma Life Support certified staff, trauma protocols, and other
      resources commonly found at designated trauma centers. Studies indicate that
      these differences contribute to poorer outcomes for trauma patients treated at
      community hospitals in Ontario, including the NTC hospitals of the NHS. In other
      settings healthcare checklists and bundles have proven effective in streamlining
      processes to ensure effective, efficient and timely patient care. Quality
      Improvement (QI) tools and methods were used to design, implement, and evaluate a
      trauma care bundle at one of the NHS's community hospitals. We assessed outcome
      and process measures through a chart audit of all trauma care patients in the NHS
      from July 2015 - November 2015. A Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) was
      administered to health system staff who were involved in the pilot to assess
      balancing measures. Between July-November 2015, 39 patients were treated at the
      St. Catharines Hospital that were identified as either Canadian Triage and Acuity
      Scale (CTAS) I or CTAS II trauma patients. Of those 39 major trauma patients, 15
      received care using the trauma care bundle, representing a 38% uptake. Patients
      who received care with the trauma bundle had an average Emergency Department (ED)
      length of stay (LOS) of 1.7 hours, compared with those patients in whom the
      bundle was not used, whose average ED LOS was 3.4 hours. The SAQ administered to
      ED physicians who used the bundle (n=10) highlighted the impact on ED patient
      safety. These early findings suggest that the bundle provides a substantial
      improvement to the current trauma care process within the Niagara Health System.

PMID- 28607678
TI  - Choosing Wisely: A Quality Improvement Initiative to Decrease Unnecessary
      Preoperative Testing.
AB  - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is a rural, academic medical center in the
      northeastern United States; its General Internal Medicine (GIM) division performs
      about 900 low and intermediate surgical risk preoperative evaluations annually.
      Routine preoperative testing in these evaluations is widely considered a low
      value service. Our baseline data sample showed unnecessary testing rates of
      approximately 36%. A multi-disciplinary team used a micro-systems approach to
      analyze the existing process and formulate a rapid cycle improvement strategy.
      Our improvement efforts focused on implementation of a Nurse Practitioner and
      Physician Assistant (Associate Provider) clinic to incorporate standardized
      protocols for preoperative assessment. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles included
      creation of a dedicated Associate Provider run preoperative clinic, modifying and
      operationalizing a scheduling scheme, and creating and implementing Electronic
      Health Record (EHR) tools. We used Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods to
      analyze time ordered data for the usual care process and to compare performance
      with the novel preoperative clinic. The Associate Provider preoperative clinic
      showed unnecessary testing rates of 4% compared with 23% in the usual care cohort
      (p<.001) within 3 months of implementation. When testing rates across the entire
      division were analyzed, there was no significant change. In our GIM division this
      preoperative clinic was effectively staffed with Associate Providers. Dedicated
      leadership support, incorporating input from a diverse improvement team, and
      balancing innovation with other clinical needs are important elements for
      success. We hypothesize that protecting clinical time to focus on preoperative
      care, monitoring and modifying scheduling processes, and improving support for
      electronic health record tool implementation would have yielded further
      performance improvements. Our experience provides valuable learning for other
      primary care practices with similar challenges. Identifying appropriate patients
      for inclusion in these clinic visits while optimizing primary care provider
      collaboration are important future challenges.

PMID- 28607679
TI  - Proper Electronic Order Linkage of Electrocardiograms at a Large Children's
      Hospital Improves Reporting and Revenue.
AB  - Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are performed to determine an individual's cardiac
      rhythm. Approximately 25,000 ECGs are performed yearly throughout our hospital
      system. Historically only 68% of all ECGs were performed with the proper order
      linked to the electronic ECG reading system (MUSE). Failure to link the orders to
      the electronic reading system leads to problems in patient safety, reporting and
      hospital revenue. Our aim was to increase the percentage of linked ECG orders in
      MUSE compared to total ECGs performed from 68% to 95%. We created a detailed
      process map of ECG order linking to the MUSE electronic system. FMEA and Pareto
      chart creation were used to determine etiology of process failures. Multiple
      interventions (LOR1 to LOR3) were implemented utilizing the PDSA technique.
      Process control charts were used to evaluate change. FMEA and Pareto chart
      determined most common failures were related to: 1) ECG order not electronically
      acquired properly, 2) duplicate ECGs and 3) ECG order was not electronically
      placed. We performed multiple interventions including: 1) ECG performance
      education, 2) created reminders on the ECG machines, 3) specialized electronic
      linking system for physician readers and 4) bar-code scanners for all ECG
      machines. These changes improved ECG order linking to MUSE from 68% to 95% over 6
      months. In direct comparison between fiscal year (FY) FY2014 to FY2015, the
      number of ECGs performed increased 2% while billing increased by 23%. Utilization
      of quality improvement methodology allowed us to identify failures for ECG order
      linking. We established multiple successful interventions amongst different
      hospital locations and improved our compliance, billing and reporting of ECGs.

PMID- 28607680
TI  - Increasing the uptake of electronic prescribing in primary care.
AB  - Electronic prescribing is a form of paperless prescribing that is reported to
      reduce prescription mistakes and increases the cost effectiveness of the process.
      In England, around 1.5 million prescriptions are generated in general practice
      daily. Thus by reducing costs and increasing efficiency of this system through
      electronic prescribing, costs can be driven down. In this Quality Improvement
      project, a GP practice in London with approximately 3000 patients on record was
      assessed for its electronic prescribing rates throughout 3 intervention cycles
      over a period of 2 months. A baseline value of how many patients were already
      assigned to electronic prescribing was obtained and a period of normal change
      over a fortnight without any intervention was also assessed (an increase in 15
      patients). These values were then used to illustrate any benefits of the
      interventions completed during the intervention cycles. An introduction of a new
      electronic prescribing form saw fortnightly uptake rates increase by 20%. The
      addition of leaflets and posters in the practice produced a decrease of 26% in
      fortnightly uptake rate. The final intervention included a staff meeting,
      computer notes to remind staff of electronic prescribing and attaching the new
      forms to paper prescriptions. This saw an increase in rates of 80% over two
      weeks. Overall, this project has illustrated that information provision of
      electronic prescribing needs to be more than just forms or posters. Indeed, the
      most effective way of improving rates relies on having a driven and motivated
      staff who are themselves well informed on electronic prescribing alongside
      adequate information placement for patients to access.

PMID- 28607681
TI  - Hydration Stickers - Improving oral hydration in vulnerable patients.
AB  - Dehydration is a growing problem among elderly patients in hospital wards.
      Incidents such as those raised in the Francis Report highlight a problem that may
      not have been sufficiently addressed by current schemes. This improvement project
      aimed to identify the barriers faced by staff in improving oral hydration and to
      design and implement an effective solution. A 33 patient pilot study carried out
      at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, United Kingdom, revealed that a
      significant proportion of patients were reported to be dehydrated on admission,
      with few having their hydration needs addressed. Staff cited time pressures and
      unclear task responsibility as the major barriers. The intervention was a
      Hydration Sticker education scheme. These stickers were placed on patient cups,
      notes and beside areas as a visual prompt for staff and family members to
      encourage the patient to drink. The intervention was implemented on the Acute
      Assessment Unit and Stroke ward through a poster campaign. The Hydration Stickers
      scheme resulted in a 6.5-fold increase in patients' hydration needs being
      assessed and addressed. Coupled with the low implementation cost and ease of use,
      Hydration Stickers may be a simple, effective, transferable and sustainable
      solution to the problem of dehydration among elderly inpatients.

PMID- 28607682
TI  - Improving inpatient care for older adults: Implementing Dementia Commissioning
      for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN).
AB  - Dementia is a common condition, and people with dementia occupy around 25% of
      hospital beds. Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) is an NHS payment
      framework that links part of English healthcare providers' income to quality
      improvement. The dementia CQUIN goals are designed to encourage the recognition
      of dementia in hospital. The Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, introduced
      new procedures to meet the dementia CQUIN targets. Adherence to the changes was a
      problem. This project aimed to improve hospital's implementation strategy. At
      baseline, completion rates for dementia CQUIN assessments were just 27%.
      Interventions were informed by semi-structured interviews with junior doctors and
      dementia leads in neighbouring trusts. Progress was measured by regular audits
      and interventions were made over several months. Changes suggested by junior
      doctors and nurses proved very effective, and involving the multidisciplinary
      team produced the most significant improvement. Gradual progress was made until
      we achieved and maintained 90% completion for dementia assessments. In
      conclusion, we made changes to working practices to achieve the CQUIN targets and
      promoted quality care for older adults. Our experience highlighted the importance
      of involving multidisciplinary frontline staff in the design of service changes.

PMID- 28607683
TI  - Improving bowel preparation for colonoscopy in a cost effective manner.
AB  - Colonoscopy is a key investigation used to exclude large bowel pathologies
      including surveillance for CRC (Colorectal cancer) Poor bowel preparation (bowel
      prep) is one of the most important factors affecting its diagnostic yield.
      Different formulations of bowel prep are currently in use depending upon patient
      tolerance, indication & co-morbidities. In University Hospital Llandough we
      retrospectively reviewed the outcome of colonoscopies performed over period of 3
      months, in relation to the type and outcome of bowel preparations used. We
      implemented a change of patient instruction and pre-assessment of bowel
      preparation prescribed. We repeated the same measurements over 3 different cycles
      on 3 different occasions and compared the outcome. We noticed that quality of
      bowel preparation noticeably improved from 80% to almost 93% if patients were
      given appropriate advice in a written format, prior to procedure. In addition to
      improvement in the quality of assessment & reducing the number of repeat
      procedures, by changing the bowel preparation product and postage methods we
      estimated savings of almost L150,000 for the trust in a year.

PMID- 28607684
TI  - A Multifaceted Quality Improvement Programme to Improve Acute Kidney Injury Care
      and Outcomes in a Large Teaching Hospital.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is now widely recognised as a serious health care
      issue, occurring in up to 25% of hospital in-patients, often with worsening of
      outcomes. There have been several reports of substandard care in AKI. This
      quality improvement (QI) programme aimed to improve AKI care and outcomes in a
      large teaching hospital. Areas of documented poor AKI care were identified and
      specific improvement activities implemented through sequential Plan-Do-Study-Act
      (PDSA) cycles. An electronic alert system (e-alert) for AKI was developed, a
      Priority Care Checklist (PCC) was tested with the aid of specialist nurses whilst
      targeted education activities were carried out and data on care processes and
      outcomes monitored. The e-alert had a sensitivity of 99% for the detection of new
      cases of AKI. Key aspects of the PCC saw significant improvements in their
      attainment: Detection of AKI within 24 hours from 53% to 100%, fluid assessment
      from 42% to 90%, drug review 48% to 95% and adherence to nine key aspects of care
      from 40% to 90%. There was a significant reduction in variability of delivered
      AKI care. AKI incidence reduced from 9% of all hospitalisations at baseline to
      6.5% (28% reduction), AKI related length of stay reduced from 22.1 days to 17
      days (23% reduction) and time to recovery (AKI days) 15.5 to 9.8 days (36%
      reduction). AKI related deaths also showed a trend towards reduction, from an
      average of 38 deaths to 34 (10.5%). The number of cases of hospital acquired AKI
      were reduced by 28% from 120 to 86 per month. This study demonstrates significant
      improvements related to a QI programme combining e-alerts, a checklist
      implemented by a nurse and education in improving key processes of care. This
      resulted in sustained improvement in key patient outcomes.

PMID- 28607685
TI  - Concurrent BRAF and PTEN mutations in melanoma of unknown origin presenting as a
      breast mass.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metastases represent a small percentage of the malignancies affecting
      the breast, and only 5% of melanomas originate from non-cutaneous sites. Multiple
      genetic aberrations have been associated with the development of melanocytic
      lesions, including BRAF V600E mutation. Mutations in PTEN gene have also been
      related to the pathogenesis of multiple malignancies. PURPOSE/METHOD: This is the
      case of a 28-year-old female who presented with a tender, palpable mass in the
      upper outer quadrant of the right breast. Ultrasound showed a 1-cm solid mass,
      initially diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma on biopsy. During pre-operative
      workup, a second mass was identified and biopsied. Immunohistochemical stains
      performed on the second mass biopsy demonstrated that the neoplastic cells were
      positive for cytokeratin AE1/3, pan-melanoma, tyrosinase, and SOX-10 and negative
      for CK7, CAM5.2, and GATA-3. Subsequent workup showed widespread metastatic
      disease involving the liver, lungs, bones, and brain. The brain metastasis tested
      positive for BRAF p.V600E and PTEN p.R130Efs*4 mutations. Thorough skin and eye
      examination did not reveal a primary melanoma. CONCLUSION: Only few reports have
      been published of melanoma presenting as a breast mass. This is an interesting
      case due to the clinical presentation, diagnostic challenges, and genetic
      mutations profile.

PMID- 28607686
TI  - Improving Care for Patients With or at Risk for Chronic Kidney Disease Using
      Electronic Medical Record Interventions: A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Trial
      Protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many patients with or at risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the
      primary care setting are not receiving recommended care. OBJECTIVE: The objective
      of this study is to determine whether a multifaceted, low-cost intervention
      compared with usual care improves the care of patients with or at risk for CKD in
      the primary care setting. DESIGN: A pragmatic cluster-randomized trial, with an
      embedded qualitative process evaluation, will be conducted. SETTING: The study
      population comes from the Electronic Medical Record Administrative data Linked
      Database(r), which includes clinical data for more than 140 000 rostered adults
      cared for by 194 family physicians in 34 clinics across Ontario, Canada. The 34
      primary care clinics will be randomized to the intervention or control group.
      INTERVENTION: The intervention group will receive resources from the "CKD
      toolkit" to help improve care including practice audit and feedback, printed
      educational materials for physicians and patients, electronic decision support
      and reminders, and implementation support. MEASUREMENTS: Patients with or at risk
      for CKD within participating clinics will be identified using laboratory data in
      the electronic medical records. Outcomes will be assessed after dissemination of
      the CKD tools and after 2 rounds of feedback on performance on quality indicators
      have been sent to the physicians using information from the electronic medical
      records. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients aged 50 to 80 years
      with nondialysis-dependent CKD who are on a statin. Secondary outcomes include
      process of care measures such as screening tests, CKD recognition, monitoring
      tests, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker
      prescriptions, blood pressure targets met, and nephrologist referral.
      Hierarchical analytic modeling will be performed to account for clustering.
      Semistructured interviews will be conducted with a random purposeful sample of
      physicians in the intervention group to understand why the intervention achieved
      the observed effects. CONCLUSIONS: If our intervention improves care, then the
      CKD toolkit can be adapted and scaled for use in other primary care clinics which
      use electronic medical records. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      Identifier: NCT02274298.

PMID- 28607688
TI  - MSJ-ETC Editorial.

PMID- 28607687
TI  - Glomerular Filtration Rate Trends During Follow-up in Children With Steroid
      Sensitive Nephrotic Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overall prognosis of children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic
      syndrome (SSNS) is regarded as generally favorable. However, only a few recent
      studies have evaluated changes in kidney function and blood pressure over time in
      children with SSNS. OBJECTIVES: We describe clinical features of SSNS patients
      and characterize changes in calculated estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (eGFR) and use of antihypertensive medications during follow-up. DESIGN: This is
      a retrospective cohort study. SETTING: This study was conducted in a Canadian
      pediatric nephrology center. PATIENTS: This study included patients aged 1 to 18
      years with SSNS. MEASUREMENTS: eGFR was calculated from recorded serum creatinine
      and height measurements using the modified Schwartz equation. METHODS: eGFR was
      calculated at yearly intervals, and the trend of eGFR was assessed using linear
      mixed effects model. Patients were also evaluated for use of antihypertensive
      medications during follow-up. RESULTS: Seventy-eight patients-median age, 3.2
      years (interquartile range [IQR], 2.65) and median follow-up of 4.37 (IQR, 5.6)
      were evaluated. Sixty-three (80.8%) had at least 1 relapse. Twenty-two (28.2%)
      and 20 (25.6%) were steroid dependent and frequently relapsing, respectively.
      Forty-three patients (55.1%) received at least 1 steroid-sparing agent, and of
      these, 18 (41.8%) received a calcineurin inhibitor. One patient had eGFR <=90
      mL/min/1.73 m2 during observation. eGFR remained unchanged over the follow-up
      period in this cohort of patients. Four patients (5.1%) were on antihypertensive
      medications at the end of follow-up. LIMITATIONS: Patients who had frequent
      relapses had more measurements available for serum creatinine and height,
      creating a sampling bias. The number of eGFR measurements was overall small,
      making it difficult to ascertain eGFR trend. CONCLUSION: eGFR remained unchanged
      over time in this cohort, and a small proportion of patients required
      antihypertensive therapy at the end of follow-up. Our study highlights the needs
      for carefully constructed long-term observational studies of children with
      nephrotic syndrome.

PMID- 28607689
TI  - The relationship between objective parameters of sleep and measures of fatigue,
      depression, and cognition in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often report poor sleep, fatigue,
      sleepiness, depression and cognitive dysfunction. Interrelationships between
      symptoms and sleep are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: To document objective
      parameters of sleep measured by polysomnography (PSG) and multi-sleep latency
      tests (MSLTs) in patients experiencing fatigue or sleepiness and to determine
      whether they correlate with symptoms. METHODS: Thirty-two MS patients, not on
      therapy, with fatigue or sleepiness completed the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale,
      Fatigue Severity Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Beck Depression Index and
      NeuroTrax cognitive tests and underwent PSG and MSLTs. RESULTS: Sleep efficiency
      (SE) averaged 75.1%. wake after sleep onset (WASO), sleep onset latency and multi
      sleep latency were 66.2, 43.4 and 10.43 min, respectively. Stage N3 and rapid eye
      movement sleep were absent in 10 and four patients, respectively. Increased limb
      movements were observed in eight patients. Obstructive sleep apnea was observed
      in 12 patients. Neither SE nor WASO correlated with fatigue or sleepiness. SE
      correlated with the global cognitive score and with executive function and
      information processing subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, 30/32 MS patients
      reporting fatigue or sleepiness had evidence of one or more sleep disturbances.
      PSG should be considered in MS patients reporting fatigue or sleepiness in order
      to rule out treatable disturbances.

PMID- 28607690
TI  - Personalized activity index, a new safety monitoring tool for multiple sclerosis
      clinical trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An abnormal increase of contrast-enhancing lesion (CEL) counts on
      frequent MRIs is interpreted as a signal of potential worsening in multiple
      sclerosis (MS) clinical trials. We demonstrate the utility of the MR personalized
      activity index (MR-pax) to identify such increases. METHODS: We analyzed a
      previous Phase II study in relapsing patients (n = 167) with MRIs at screening,
      baseline and months 1-6. We performed five consecutive reviews at 90-day
      intervals. At each review, we evaluate the MR-pax for each patient and also
      identify those who meet the rule-of-five (an ad-hoc guideline currently in use).
      To evaluate its clinical relevance, we assess the relation between having a small
      MR-pax (<=0.05; indicating an unexpected CEL increase) and relapse status in the
      12 weeks post-review. RESULTS: Of the 399 patient reviews, 35 cases met the rule
      of-five; 35 had an MR-pax <= 0.05; 18 met both criteria. The proportions
      experiencing clinical relapse are 63% among those meeting the rule-of-five, 61%
      among those with MR-pax <=0.05, and 83% for those meeting both criteria, more
      than double the rate of those meeting neither criterion (40%). CONCLUSION: A
      guideline combining this new personalized index and the existing threshold-based
      criterion is able to better identify patients with a higher risk of experiencing
      relapses.

PMID- 28607691
TI  - Safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics of a novel immunomodulator, MIS416, in
      patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preclinical studies have demonstrated that MIS416, a bacterially
      derived immune modulator, targets myeloid cells following systemic delivery.
      MIS416 stimulated myeloid cells have the capacity to regulate innate
      inflammation, a potential therapeutic target for progressive multiple sclerosis.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine the safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamics and maximum
      tolerated dose and/or recommended Phase 2 dose of MIS416. METHODS: An open-label,
      non-randomized, phase II, dose-escalation study, in patients with progressive
      multiple sclerosis: dose-escalation phase, with MIS416 administered once weekly
      for four weeks to determine maximum tolerated dose; and dose-confirmation phase,
      administered once weekly for up to 12 weeks. RESULTS: The safety profile
      indicates the majority of adverse events were mild or moderate, tolerable, self
      limiting and consistent with the known bioactivity of MIS416 (acute flu-like
      symptoms). Maximum tolerated dose was not reached. A dose of 500 ug/week was
      recommended for the Phase 2 dose. CONCLUSION: MIS416 is well tolerated at a dose
      of 500 ug/week. The adverse event profile is consistent with the mechanism of
      action of MIS416, indicating bioactivity within the signal transduction pathways
      and supported by induction of a known MIS416 pharmacodynamic marker. It is
      recommended that safety and efficacy of MIS416 is investigated further in a
      larger randomized controlled trial. http://clinicaltrials.gov reference
      NCT01191996.

PMID- 28607692
TI  - Effects of a DVD-delivered exercise intervention on physical function in older
      adults with multiple sclerosis: A pilot randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit disease-related
      impairments such as compromised strength, balance, mobility, coordination, and
      quality of life (QOL). Exercise training as an intervention to reverse these
      conditions in older adults with MS is limited. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this
      pilot trial was to examine the effects of a DVD exercise intervention targeting
      flexibility, strength, and balance in older adults with MS in order to generate
      effect sizes to power a larger trial. METHODS: Participants were randomly
      assigned to a six-month DVD exercise intervention (n = 24) or a healthy aging DVD
      control condition (n = 24). Measures of physical function, physical activity,
      sedentary behavior, QOL and program satisfaction were assessed at baseline and at
      follow-up. RESULTS: The DVD exercise intervention was well received with no
      adverse events. Effects sizes ranged from small to modest reflecting improved
      function, increased physical activity, decreased sitting time, and improved QOL
      in the intervention condition compared to the control condition. CONCLUSION: This
      pilot randomized controlled trial suggests that older adults with MS are
      receptive to an exercise program via DVD, and the program results in modest but
      potentially important improvements in function and physical activity.

PMID- 28607693
TI  - Adherence to behavioural interventions in multiple sclerosis: Follow-up meeting
      report (AD@MS-2).
AB  - After an initial meeting in 2013 that reviewed adherence to disease modifying
      therapy, the AD@MS group conducted a follow-up meeting in 2014 that examined
      adherence to behavioural interventions in MS (e.g. physical activity, diet,
      psychosocial interventions). Very few studies have studied adherence to
      behavioural interventions in MS. Outcomes beyond six months are lacking, as well
      as implementation work in the community. Psychological interventions need to
      overcome stigma and other barriers to facilitate initiation and maintenance of
      behaviour change. A focus group concentrated on physical activity and exercise as
      one major behavioural intervention domain in MS. The discussion revealed that
      patients are confronted with multiple challenges when attempting to regularly
      engage in physical activity. Highlighted needs for future research included an
      improved understanding of patients' and health experts' knowledge and attitudes
      towards physical activity as well as a need for longitudinal research that
      investigates exercise persistence.

PMID- 28607694
TI  - Cannabis-induced alterations in brain activation during a test of information
      processing speed in patients with MS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to determine the functional brain
      correlates of information processing speed in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients
      who smoke cannabis and those who are drug naive. METHODS: Two neurologically and
      demographically matched samples of MS patients were enrolled, those who smoked
      cannabis daily (n = 20) and those who were cannabis naive (n = 19). All
      participants completed the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests
      and underwent fMRI testing during which they were administered a modified version
      of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (mSDMT). RESULTS: The cannabis group
      responded slower in nine of 11 blocks of the mSDMT (p < 0.001), showing a trend
      toward a slower response time (p < 0.08), but did not differ in the accuracy of
      response (p < 0.18). Both groups displayed activation in a prefrontal cortex
      parietal network associated with information processing speed. When compared to
      the cannabis-naive group, cannabis users showed less activation in the right (p =
      0.009) and left (p = 0.001) thalami and increased activation in the anterior
      cingulate (p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Regular cannabis use in MS patients is
      associated with slower information processing speed and a pattern of cerebral
      activity that differs from cannabis-naive individuals, most notably in a
      bilateral reduction of thalamic activity.

PMID- 28607695
TI  - Evolving role of MRI in optimizing the treatment of multiple sclerosis: Canadian
      Consensus recommendations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly important for the
      early detection of suboptimal responders to disease-modifying therapy for
      relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Treatment response criteria are becoming
      more stringent with the use of composite measures, such as no evidence of disease
      activity (NEDA), which combines clinical and radiological measures, and NEDA-4,
      which includes the evaluation of brain atrophy. METHODS: The Canadian MRI Working
      Group of neurologists and radiologists convened to discuss the use of brain and
      spinal cord imaging in the assessment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
      patients during the treatment course. RESULTS: Nine key recommendations were
      developed based on published sources and expert opinion. Recommendations
      addressed image acquisition, use of gadolinium, MRI requisitioning by clinicians,
      and reporting of lesions and brain atrophy by radiologists. Routine MRI follow
      ups are recommended beginning at three to six months after treatment initiation,
      at six to 12 months after the reference scan, and annually thereafter. The
      interval between scans may be altered according to clinical circumstances.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Canadian recommendations update the 2006 Consortium of MS
      Centers Consensus revised guidelines to assist physicians in their management of
      MS patients and to aid in treatment decision making.

PMID- 28607696
TI  - Assessing clinical correlates of self-rated disability in patients with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with significant impairment.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to identify and compare clinical
      measures that can predict self-rated disability in patients with MS using the
      World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS-II). METHODS:
      Patients with MS and healthy controls were consecutively recruited at one center.
      Patients were evaluated for cognitive function assessment, neurological status,
      perceived disability, mood, fatigue and disease duration. Controls underwent
      neuropsychological evaluation only. Data were analyzed using multivariate
      regression. RESULTS: WHODAS-II total score was predicted by fatigue (p < 0.001)
      and neurological status (p < 0.05). Student's t test comparisons between
      published WHODAS-II normative data and the enrolled cohort of patients with MS
      showed significantly worse (p < 0.05) scores for patients on mobility, self-care,
      life activities, participation and total score domains, but not in cognition.
      Group differences between patients with MS (n = 61) and controls (n = 61) were
      significant in all cognitive measures except one verbal memory test subscale.
      Memory function correlated best with the social participation domain of the
      WHODAS-II. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported disability in patients with MS was most
      strongly influenced by fatigue and to a lesser extent by physical disability.
      Although cognitive function does affect self-assessment of disability, this is
      not captured by patients on the WHODAS-II cognitive domain.

PMID- 28607697
TI  - Incidence of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in the Jiangsu province of
      China, 2008-2011.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is important to have an estimate of the incidence of acute
      disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) because the incidence of ADEM is unknown
      and the outcomes undefined in China. OBJECTIVES: This study attempts to describe
      ADEM incidence in large Chinese populations located in four geographically
      different and moderately distant areas of the same province. METHODS: A
      retrospective investigation was conducted with ADEM patients in Nanjing, Nantong,
      Yancheng and Xuzhou. The survey was carried out in regions that might have
      received patients meeting the case definition of ADEM provided by the
      International Pediatric MS Study Group from 2008 to 2011. A total of 125
      hospitals were included and 412 patients were identified through the hospital
      information systems (HIS). RESULTS: The incidence of ADEM was 0.32/100,000/year.
      There are two peaks on the age-specific ADEM rates curve. One is
      0.77/100,000/year among 0- to 9-year-olds, the other is 0.45/100,000/year in
      those aged 50-59 years. The incidence rate found for ADEM in males was
      0.34/100,000/year, and in females was 0.29/100,000/year. The highest incidence
      rate was in Nanjing (0.40/100,000/year). CONCLUSIONS: The average annual
      incidence of ADEM was 0.32/100,000/year. The peak age of onset was 50-59 years
      old and 0-9 years old. The incidence among males was insignificantly higher than
      that among females. There was no significant difference in incidence by seasonal
      variation.

PMID- 28607698
TI  - Heterogeneity of sickness absence and disability pension trajectories among
      individuals with MS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The variability of progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) suggests
      that MS is a heterogeneous entity. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to
      determine whether sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) could be used
      to identify groups of patients with different progression courses. METHODS: We
      analyzed mean-annual net months of SA/DP, five years prior to MS diagnosis, until
      the year of diagnosis, and five years after for 3543 individuals diagnosed 2003
      2006, by modeling trajectory subgroups. RESULTS: Five different groups were
      identified, revealing substantial heterogeneity among MS patients. Before
      diagnosis, 74% had a flat trajectory, while the remaining had a sharply
      increasing degree of SA/DP. After diagnosis, 95% had a flat or marginally
      increasing trajectory, although at various SA/disability pension (DP) levels,
      whereas a small group of 5% had decreasing SA/DP. A majority had few or no SA/DP
      months throughout the 11-year study period. Higher age and a lower educational
      level were associated with an unfavorable trajectory (p values <0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: There's a considerable heterogeneity of MS progression in terms of
      SA/DP. Compared with other measures of disability, sickness-absence and
      disability pension offer a continuous variable that can be assigned to every
      individual for each time period without missing data. To what extent the SA/DP
      measure reflects classical MS outcome-measures as well as how correlated it is
      with co-morbidities and working-conditions needs to be investigated further.

PMID- 28607699
TI  - Introducing a new method to assess vision: Computer-adaptive contrast-sensitivity
      testing predicts visual functioning better than charts in multiple sclerosis
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Impaired low-contrast visual acuity (LCVA) is common in multiple
      sclerosis (MS) and other neurological diseases. Its assessment is often limited
      to selected contrasts, for example, 2.5% or 1.25%. Computerized adaptive testing
      with the quick contrast-sensitivity function (qCSF) method allows assessment
      across expanded contrast and spatial frequency ranges. OBJECTIVE: The objective
      of this article is to compare qCSF with high- and low-contrast charts and patient
      reported visual function. METHODS: We enrolled 131 consecutive MS patients (mean
      age 39.6 years) to assess high-contrast visual acuity (HCVA) at 30 cm and 5 m,
      low-contrast vision with Sloan charts at 2.5% and 1.25%, qCSF and the National
      Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEIVFQ). Associations between the
      different measures were estimated with linear regression models corrected for
      age, gender and multiple testing. RESULTS: The association between qCSF and Sloan
      charts (R2 = 0.68) was higher than with HCVA (5 m: R2 = 0.5; 30 cm: R2 = 0.41).
      The highest association with NEIVFQ subscales was observed for qCSF (R2 0.20
      0.57), while Sloan charts were not associated with any NEIVFQ subscale after
      correction for multiple testing. CONCLUSION: The qCSF is a promising new outcome
      for low-contrast vision in MS and other neurological diseases. Here we show a
      closer link to patient-reported visual function than standard low- and high
      contrast charts.

PMID- 28607700
TI  - Association of plasma levels of Protein S with disease severity in multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The TAM family of receptor tyrosine kinases (TYRO3, AXL and MERTK)
      play important roles in modulating innate immune responses and central
      demyelination. The TAM receptor ligand Protein S (PROS) has also been shown to
      modulate innate immune cell responses. OBJECTIVES: We assessed whether plasma
      levels of PROS are changed in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and whether
      changes are associated with disease severity. METHODS: Plasma levels of total and
      free PROS were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a discovery
      cohort (MS: 65, control: 14) and an independent replication cohort (MS: 29,
      control: 29). The Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS) was used to evaluate
      associations between plasma PROS levels and disease severity. RESULTS: We found
      plasma levels of total, but not free PROS, were decreased in MS patients compared
      with controls. In female MS patients, we observed decreases in total and free
      PROS levels compared with controls. In addition, we also observed higher MSSS in
      patients with very low levels of plasma free PROS. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      suggest PROS may represent a potential marker of disease severity in MS.

PMID- 28607701
TI  - Identifying an important change estimate for the Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale
      12 (MSWS-12v1) for interpreting clinical trial results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 12-question Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12v1) is a
      widely-used patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure of walking ability in multiple
      sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE: To estimate the magnitude of an important change in
      MSWS-12v1 scores for the interpretation of meaningful subject-level improvements
      across a 6-month trial of MS patients with walking disability. METHODS: MOBILE
      was a 6-month exploratory study assessing fampridine's effect on walking ability
      in 132 people with MS. Three PRO measures assessed walking ability: MSWS-12v1,
      EuroQol 5-Dimension-5 Level (EQ-5D-5L) mobility question, and a patient global
      impression of change (PGIC) in overall walking ability. Pre-specified anchor- and
      distribution-based analyses estimated the MSWS-12v1 change scores representing an
      important change for participants. Results were triangulated to propose a single
      best value indicating meaningful improvement. RESULTS: Using baseline to week 2
      through week 24 change scores, anchor-based analyses demonstrated mean and median
      improvements of 5.2-6.6 (PGIC) and 9.7-13.4 (EQ-5D-5L mobility) points on the
      MSWS-12v1, indicating meaningful improvements. The distribution-based estimate
      was 6.8 points. Triangulation across the results suggested an 8-point reduction
      in MSWS-12v1 score represents an important subject-level change in these
      participants. CONCLUSION: In similar MS clinical trials, an 8-point improvement
      on the MSWS-12v1 is a reasonable estimate of meaningful improvement in walking
      ability.

PMID- 28607703
TI  - Treatment discontinuation in multiple sclerosis: The French Web-based survey
      ALLIANCE.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment discontinuation leads to a
      higher risk of relapse, poorer quality of life and greater economic impact.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work is to evaluate treatment discontinuation in
      MS, the reasons for this and the reasons for treatment resumption. METHODS: A
      French national Web-based survey was carried out between May and August 2011. A
      total of 602 MS patients answered a questionnaire on sociodemographic data,
      medical follow-up, disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), symptomatic treatments,
      care given, factors involved in treatment discontinuation and reasons for
      resuming treatment. RESULTS: Among 413 patients using DMTs, 54% have considered
      discontinuing their treatment, primarily because of anger (61%), side effects
      (61%) and fatigue (57%). Sixty-eight patients have actually discontinued their
      treatment because of side effects (43%), lack of observed outcomes (32%),
      exasperation (29%) or fatigue (29%). The reasons for symptomatic treatment
      discontinuation were fear of addiction (32%-46%) and lack of efficacy (28%-45%).
      Physiotherapy was discontinued because of fatigue (37%), stress (34%) or
      inefficiency (31%). According to patients, treatment discontinuation could have
      been prevented by psychological support, care team empathy and support from
      family. CONCLUSION: The major factor that could prevent treatment discontinuation
      is psychological support. Initiating and monitoring treatment in MS leads to
      emotional and personality changes, requiring adaptations that may improve
      compliance.

PMID- 28607704
TI  - Detection of cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis: A new imaging approach.
AB  - Cortical lesions occur early in multiple sclerosis (MS) and are thought to have
      clinical implications. Conventional MRI is insensitive to cortical pathology.
      Investigational imaging modalities show improved but incomplete cortical lesion
      detection and are time and resource intensive. Gradient echo plural contrast
      imaging (GEPCI) is sensitive to MS white matter pathology and can be performed on
      standard MRI scanners. Here we used GEPCI to examine autopsied MS frontal brain
      tissues. Two cortical MS lesions were visually distinguished from surrounding
      tissue by GEPCI and immunohistochemical staining. Furthermore, these lesions were
      quantitatively differentiated from healthy tissue using GEPCI-derived metrics.

PMID- 28607702
TI  - Multiple sclerosis in Latin America: A different disease course severity? A
      collaborative study from the MSBase Registry.
AB  - : Limited data suggest that multiple sclerosis (MS) in Latin America (LA) could
      be less severe than in the rest of the world. The objective was to compare the
      course of MS between LA and other regions. METHODS: Centers from 18 countries
      with >20 cases enrolled in the MSBase Registry participated. Patients with MS
      with a disease duration of >1 year and <30 years at time of EDSS measurement were
      evaluated. The MS Severity Score (MSSS) was used as a measure of disease
      progression. Comparisons among regions (North America, Europe, Australia and LA),
      hemispheres and countries were performed. RESULTS: A total of 9610 patients were
      included. Patients were from: Europe, 6290 (65.6%); North America, 1609 (16.7%);
      Australia, 1119 (11.6%); and LA, 592 (6.1%). The mean MSSS in patients from LA
      was 4.47 +/- 2.8, 4.53 +/- 2.8 in North America, 4.51 +/- 2.8 in Europe and 4.49
      +/- 2.7 in Australia. Mean MSSS in the northern hemisphere was 4.51 +/- 1.6
      compared to 4.48 +/- 1.9 in the southern hemisphere. No differences were found
      for MSSS among hemispheres (p = 0.68), regions (p = 0.96) or countries (p =
      0.50). CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses did not discover any difference in mean MSSS
      among patients from different regions, hemispheres or countries.

PMID- 28607705
TI  - Improved working ability in a contemporary MS population compared with a historic
      non-treated MS population in the same geographic area of Sweden.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) often causes a reduced ability to work.
      Improved disease control as well as adjustment of working conditions may improve
      work ability in MS. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this article is to compare the
      degree of sickness absence in two MS populations that either have or have not
      received disease-modifying drug (DMD) treatments or active work-promoting
      measures. METHODS: We investigated the occurrence of sickness absence in MS
      patients living in Vasterbotten County, Sweden, in 2013, in which the majority of
      MS patients receive DMD treatment. The result was compared with a previous survey
      in the same area during a period when no DMD was available and no work-promoting
      measures for MS patients were practiced. RESULTS: The proportion of MS patients
      active in the labor market or studying increased from 38% to 70% in the
      contemporary compared with the historic population (p < 0.001). The proportion of
      MS patients with a full-time disability pension decreased from 27% to 12% (p <
      0.001). There was a significant decrease of sickness absence in several
      individual EDSS grades. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that treatment with DMDs
      combined with active work-promoting measures lead to improved work ability in MS.

PMID- 28607706
TI  - Evaluation of an integrated multidisciplinary approach in multiple sclerosis
      care: A prospective, randomized, controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disabled multiple sclerosis (MS) patients often need intervention of
      multiple specialists, resulting in a complex organization of care. How this
      multidisciplinary care should be organized and structured has not been studied.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to address the effectiveness of an
      integrated multidisciplinary approach versus usual care in MS patients. METHODS:
      This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, monocentric clinical trial in MS
      patients. Two treatment strategies were compared: (i) an integrated
      multidisciplinary (IMD) approach, consisting of a half-day individually tailored
      comprehensive assessment in the MS clinic; and (ii) a standard care. The primary
      outcome was the impact of the strategy on quality of life (QoL) measured using
      the MSIS-29 scale at inclusion and after six months. RESULTS: Fifty MS patients
      were included. Median MSIS 29 score decreased over six months in the control
      group (-4.89) and increased in the IMD group (+2.00), with a significant
      difference between the two groups (p = 0.03). However, in the multivariate
      analysis, after adjustment of HAD-D and INTERMED score, this difference was no
      longer significant. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective, randomized study is the first
      attempt to evaluate the multidisciplinary approach in MS patients. The results
      show that, contrary to our expectations, an integrated multidisciplinary approach
      is not superior to usual care on QoL.

PMID- 28607707
TI  - Remotely-delivered cognitive remediation in multiple sclerosis (MS): protocol and
      results from a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment represents a critical unmet treatment need in
      multiple sclerosis (MS). Cognitive remediation is promising but traditionally
      requires multiple clinic visits to access treatment. Computer-based programs
      provide remote access to intensive and individually-adapted training. OBJECTIVE:
      Our goal was to develop a protocol for remotely-supervised cognitive remediation
      that enables individuals with MS to participate from home while maintaining the
      standards for clinical study. METHODS: MS participants (n = 20) were randomized
      to either an active cognitive remediation program (n = 11) or a control condition
      of ordinary computer games (n = 9). Participants were provided study laptops to
      complete training for five days per week over 12 weeks, targeting a total of 30
      hours. Treatment effects were measured with composite change via scores of a
      repeated neuropsychological battery. RESULTS: Compliance was high with an average
      of 25.0 hours of program use (80% of the target) and did not differ between
      conditions (25.7 vs. 24.2 mean hours, p = 0.80). The active vs. control
      participants significantly improved in both the cognitive measures (mean
      composite z-score change of 0.46 +/- 0.59 improvement vs. -0.14 +/- 0.48 decline,
      p = 0.02) and motor tasks (mean composite z-score change of 0.40 +/-
      0.71improvement vs. -0.64 +/- 0.73 decline, p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Remotely
      supervised cognitive remediation is feasible for clinical study with potential
      for meaningful benefit in MS.

PMID- 28607708
TI  - A randomized trial of teriflunomide added to glatiramer acetate in relapsing
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Teriflunomide is a once-daily oral immunomodulator for the treatment
      of relapsing-remitting MS. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of
      teriflunomide as add-on therapy to a stable dose of glatiramer acetate (GA) in
      patients with relapsing forms of MS (RMS). METHODS: Phase II, randomized, double
      blind, add-on, placebo-controlled study. The primary objective was to assess
      safety and tolerability; secondary objectives were to evaluate effects of
      treatment on disease activity assessed by MRI and relapse. RESULTS: Patients with
      RMS on GA (N = 123) were randomized 1:1:1 to receive teriflunomide 14 mg (n =
      40), 7 mg (n = 42), or placebo (n = 41) for 24 weeks; 96 patients entered the 24
      week extension, remaining on original treatment allocation. Teriflunomide was
      well tolerated over 48 weeks. The frequency of adverse events (AEs) was low
      across all groups; 5 (12.2%), 3 (7.1%), and 2 (5.0%) patients in the 14 mg, 7 mg,
      and placebo groups, respectively, discontinued treatment due to AEs.
      Teriflunomide reduced the number of T1-Gd lesions vs placebo (14 mg: 46.6%
      relative reduction, p = 0.1931; 7 mg: 64.0%: relative reduction, p = 0.0306).
      CONCLUSIONS: Teriflunomide added to stable-dose GA had acceptable safety and
      tolerability, and reduced some MRI markers of disease activity compared with GA
      alone. NCT00475865 (core study); NCT00811395 (extension).

PMID- 28607710
TI  - Improvement to baseline after plasma exchange in spinal attacks associated with
      neuromyelitis optica.

PMID- 28607709
TI  - Free kappa light chains in cerebrospinal fluid as a biomarker to assess risk
      conversion to multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) initiates with a first attack or clinically
      isolated syndrome (CIS). The importance of an early treatment in MS leads to the
      search, as soon as possible, for novel biomarkers which can predict conversion
      from CIS to MS. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive
      value of the kappa index ([Formula: see text] index), using kappa free light
      light chains ([Formula: see text]FLCs) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), for the
      conversion of CIS patients to MS, and compare its accuracy with other parameters
      used in clinical practice. METHODS: FLC levels were analysed in CSF from 176
      patients: 70 as control group, 77 CIS, and 29 relapsing-remitting MS. FLC levels
      were quantified by nephelometry. RESULTS: [Formula: see text] Index sensitivity
      and specificity (93.1%; 95.7%) was higher than those from the immunoglobulin G
      (IgG) index (75.9%; 94.3%), and lower than those from oligoclonal IgG bands
      (OCGBs) (96.5%; 98.6%). The optimal cut-off for [Formula: see text] index was
      10.62. Most of the CIS patients with [Formula: see text] index >10.62 presented
      OCGBs, IgG index >0.56 and fulfilled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria.
      CONCLUSION: CIS patients above [Formula: see text] index cut-off of 10.62 present
      7.34-fold risk of conversion to MS than CIS below this value. The [Formula: see
      text] index correlated with positive OCGBs, IgG index above 0.56 and MRI
      criteria.

PMID- 28607711
TI  - Predicting optimal response to B-cell depletion with rituximab in multiple
      sclerosis using CXCL13 index, magnetic resonance imaging and clinical measures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: B-cell depleting drugs show promise for treating multiple sclerosis.
      OBJECTIVE: We sought predictors of optimal response to rituximab, a B-cell
      depleting antibody, to help guide therapy selection. METHODS: We performed a post
      hoc study of 30 relapsing multiple sclerosis patients with breakthrough disease
      while on beta-interferon or glatiramer acetate who were treated with add-on
      rituximab. Standardized neurologic examinations, brain magnetic resonance
      imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid were obtained before and after rituximab. Tissue
      biomarkers were measured. Optimal responders were defined as having no evidence
      of disease activity. RESULTS: At baseline, optimal responders with no evidence of
      disease activity had higher IgG indices (P = 0.041), and higher CXCL13 indices
      ((cerebrospinal fluid CXCL13/serum CXCL13)/albumin index; P = 0.024), more
      contrast enhancing lesions (P = 0.002), better 25 foot timed walk (P = 0.001),
      and Expanded Disability Status Scale (P = 0.002). Rituximab treatment led to
      reduced cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of tissue destruction: myelin basic
      protein (P = 0.046), neurofilament light chain (P < 0.001), and of inflammation
      (CXCL13 index; P = 0.042). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple sclerosis patients with optimal
      response to rituximab had higher cerebrospinal fluid IgG and CXCL13 indices, more
      gadolinium-enhancing lesions, and less disability at baseline. Rituximab
      treatment led to decreased markers of inflammation and tissue damage. If
      validated, these results will help identify multiple sclerosis patients who will
      respond optimally to B-cell depletion.

PMID- 28607712
TI  - Incidence of AQP4-IgG seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in the
      Netherlands: About one in a million.
AB  - Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a rare autoimmune disease affecting the optic
      nerves and spinal cord. In the majority of NMO patients anti-aquaporin-4
      antibodies (AQP4-IgG) are detected. Here we assessed a nationwide incidence of
      AQP4-IgG-seropositive NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD) in the Netherlands based on
      results of one central laboratory. Data were collected since the introduction of
      the highly sensitive cell-based assay for six consecutive years. Samples from
      2795 individual patients have been received; of them 94 (3.4%) were seropositive.
      Based on the Dutch population with 16.6 million inhabitants, the mean incidence
      of AQP4-IgG-seropositive NMOSD was calculated at 0.09 per 100,000 people.

PMID- 28607713
TI  - The first volume of MSJ-ETC.

PMID- 28607714
TI  - Longitudinal analyses of anti-JCV antibody index for risk assessment of
      progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
AB  - Risk assessment for natalizumab-associated progressive multifocal
      leukoencephalopathy (Nat-PML) comprises the anti-JC virus (JCV) antibody index
      (AI). The anti-JCV AI was longitudinally determined in a natalizumab-treated MS
      cohort (Nat-MS, n = 468) and samples of Nat-PML patients (n = 15). In Nat-MS, the
      median AI was 0.8 (25th to 75th percentile, 0.2-2.8) with an intra-individual
      coefficient of variation (CV) of 9.8% (4.8-17.6). Patients with an AI <= 0.9
      exhibited higher CV. The AI was higher (3.4 (3.1-3.6)) in samples before Nat-PML
      diagnosis than in seropositive Nat-MS (2.4 (1.0-3.4), n = 298, p = 0.010). AIs >=
      3.0 were associated with a 14.5-fold (95% CI 2.3-90.4) increased PML risk (p =
      0.002). Groups with an AI below 1.5 exhibit higher variability or even serostatus
      fluctuation. AI dynamics require further investigation.

PMID- 28607715
TI  - Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein has a dual role in T cell autoimmunity
      against central nervous system myelin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is a candidate primary
      target of the autoimmune attack on the central nervous system (CNS) in multiple
      sclerosis (MS). However, the physiological function of MOG has been unclear for a
      long time. OBJECTIVE: We propose that MOG has a central role in the regulation of
      tolerance and autoimmunity. CONCLUSION: The interaction of MOG with DC-SIGN, an
      innate antigen receptor of myeloid antigen-presenting cells (m-APCs), present
      inside the CNS (microglia) or in draining lymph nodes (dendritic cells; DCs),
      keeps these cells in an immature/tolerogenic state. We postulate that this
      tolerogenic mechanism may be disturbed in MS by unknown factors.

PMID- 28607716
TI  - Negative prognostic impact of MRI spinal lesions in the early stages of relapsing
      remitting multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of spinal cord (SC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      lesions can be expected to affect the mobility of people with relapsing-remitting
      MS (pwRRMS), but reports are ambiguous. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is
      to determine whether the presence of SC MRI lesions in early diagnosed pwRRMS
      could be considered a predictor of long-term disability. METHODS: pwRRMS with an
      SC MRI performed within two years from the onset of symptoms and followed up for
      at least seven years were included. Patients were grouped into: (a) pwRRMs with
      at least one SC T2 MRI lesion, and (b) pwRRMs without SC T2 MRI lesions. The
      primary end point was to evaluate the effects of independent factors on reaching
      an Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) of 4.0. RESULTS: A total of 239 pwRRMS
      matched the required criteria: 116 in the group with SC lesions and 123 in the
      group without SC lesions. At baseline, there were no statistical differences
      between the two groups. The presence of SC lesions (Exp(b) 4.4, CI 2.1-9.0, p <
      0.001) and higher basal EDSS (Exp(b) 3.3, CI 2.3-4.8, p < 0.001) proved to be the
      best predictors of reaching EDSS 4.0. CONCLUSION: The presence of T2 SC MRI
      lesions detected early from MS onset of RRMS predicts a worse prognosis.

PMID- 28607717
TI  - Geographic variations of multiple sclerosis prevalence in France: The latitude
      gradient is not uniform depending on the socioeconomic status of the studied
      population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In France, two studies analysed multiple sclerosis prevalence
      nationwide: one was carried out in farmers, and the other one in employees. A
      south-north gradient of prevalence was found solely in farmers. OBJECTIVE: In
      order to better describe the latitude gradient in France, which is not uniform
      depending on the studied population, we assessed whether a gradient exists in
      another population than farmers and employees: independent workers. The same
      methods of case ascertainment have been used. METHODS: Altogether 4,165,903
      persons insured by the French health insurance scheme for independent workers
      were included. We searched the database for (a) long term disease status
      'multiple sclerosis', (b) domicile, (c) gender and (d) age. RESULTS: A total of
      4182 cases of multiple sclerosis were registered giving a prevalence of
      100.39/100,000. Adjustment by age and sex and spatial smoothing with a Bayesian
      analysis showed a gradual increase of prevalence from the southwest to the
      northeast of France. Standardised morbidity ratio was correlated with latitude
      and longitude (p<0.0001; p = 0.0031; adjusted R2 = 0.3038). CONCLUSION: A
      discrepancy of geographic distribution between farmers and independent workers on
      the one hand and employees on the other cannot be attributable to environment.
      Assuming that socioeconomic status by itself is not associated with multiple
      sclerosis risk, employees' geographic mobility at adulthood for professional
      reasons could have interfered with the gradient effect.

PMID- 28607718
TI  - Comparison of nadir serum concentrations in the extended dosing therapy of
      natalizumab between American and Japanese multiple sclerosis patients.

PMID- 28607719
TI  - Delayed-release dimethyl fumarate and disability assessed by the Multiple
      Sclerosis Functional Composite: Integrated analysis of DEFINE and CONFIRM.
AB  - The effect of delayed-release dimethyl fumarate (DMF; also known as gastro
      resistant DMF) on the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC) was assessed
      using integrated Phase 3 DEFINE and CONFIRM data. Patients treated with DMF (n =
      769) demonstrated significant superiority on the MSFC, and each component,
      compared with placebo (n = 771) over two years: mean change for DMF vs placebo
      was 0.054 vs -0.053 on MSFC; -0.088 vs -0.286 on Timed 25-Foot Walk, 0.047 vs
      0.003 on 9-Hole Peg Test and 0.178 vs 0.123 on Paced Auditory Serial Addition
      Test. DMF was an efficacious treatment for patients with MS.

PMID- 28607720
TI  - Accuracy and precision of smartphone applications and commercially available
      motion sensors in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increased interest in the application of smartphone
      applications and wearable motion sensors among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.
      OBJECTIVE: This study examined the accuracy and precision of common smartphone
      applications and motion sensors for measuring steps taken by MS patients while
      walking on a treadmill. METHODS: Forty-five MS patients (Expanded Disability
      Status Scale (EDSS) = 1.0-5.0) underwent two 500-step walking trials at
      comfortable walking speed on a treadmill. Participants wore five motion sensors:
      the Digi-Walker SW-200 pedometer (Yamax), the UP2 and UP Move (Jawbone), and the
      Flex and One (Fitbit). The smartphone applications were Health (Apple), Health
      Mate (Withings), and Moves (ProtoGeo Oy). RESULTS: The Fitbit One had the best
      absolute (mean = 490.6 steps, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 485.6-495.5 steps)
      and relative accuracy (1.9% error), and absolute (SD = 16.4) and relative
      precision (coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.0), for the first 500-step walking
      trial; this was repeated with the second trial. Relative accuracy was correlated
      with slower walking speed for the first (rs = -.53) and second (rs = -.53)
      trials. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the waist-worn Fitbit One is the
      most precise and accurate sensor for measuring steps when walking on a treadmill,
      but future research is needed (testing the device across a broader range of
      disability, at different speeds, and in real-life walking conditions) before
      inclusion in clinical research and practice with MS patients.

PMID- 28607721
TI  - Differences in common heritable blood immune cell populations may underlie MS
      susceptibility and progression.
AB  - A promising new avenue of MS research that may lead to a better understanding of
      pathogenesis, progression and therapeutic response, and to development of new
      therapies, comes from the recent identification of defined immune cell
      populations that are highly heritable. Such stable populations have been
      identified in three recent papers using extensive flow cytometric panels to
      investigate twin and family cohorts. They showed that while most of the variation
      in immune cell populations between individuals was not heritable, some was. This
      heritability was sometimes very high, and the authors concluded that it likely
      contributes to variability in response among individuals for disease and drug
      response traits.

PMID- 28607722
TI  - Fall risk in people with MS: A Physiological Profile Assessment study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) is used in research and
      clinical practice for assessing fall risk. We compared PPA test performance
      between people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy controls, determined the
      fall-risk profile for people with MS and developed a reference database for
      people with MS. METHODS: For this study, 416 ambulant people with MS (51.5 +/-
      12.0 years) and 352 controls (52.8 +/- 12.2 years) underwent the PPA (tests of
      contrast sensitivity, proprioception, quadriceps strength, reaction time and
      sway) with composite fall-risk scores computed from these measures. MS
      participants were followed prospectively for falls for 3 months. RESULTS: The MS
      participants performed significantly worse than controls in each PPA test. The
      average composite fall-risk score was also significantly elevated, indicating a
      "marked" fall risk when compared with controls. In total, 155 MS participants
      (37.3%) reported 2 + falls in the follow-up period. Frequent fallers performed
      significantly worse than non-frequent fallers in the contrast sensitivity,
      reaction time and sway tests and had higher PPA composite scores. CONCLUSIONS: In
      line with poor PPA test performances, falls incidence in people with MS was high.
      This study provides comprehensive reference data for the PPA measures for people
      with MS that could be used to inform future research and clinical practice.

PMID- 28607723
TI  - Blocking LINGO-1 in vivo reduces degeneration and enhances regeneration of the
      optic nerve.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two ongoing phase II clinical trials (RENEW and SYNERGY) have been
      developed to test the efficacy of anti-LINGO-1 antibodies in acute optic neuritis
      and relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, respectively. Across a range of
      experimental models, LINGO-1 has been found to inhibit neuron and oligodendrocyte
      survival, axon regeneration, and (re)myelination. The therapeutic effects of anti
      LINGO-1 antibodies on optic nerve axonal loss and regeneration have not yet been
      investigated. OBJECTIVE: In this series of studies we investigate if LINGO-1
      antibodies can prevent acute inflammatory axonal loss, and promote axonal
      regeneration after injury in rodent optic nerves. METHODS: The effects of anti
      LINGO-1 antibody on optic nerve axonal damage were assessed using rodent myelin
      oligodendrocyte glycoprotein experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and
      its effects on axonal regeneration were assessed in optic nerve crush injury
      models. RESULTS: In the optic nerve, anti-LINGO-1 antibody therapy was associated
      with improved optic nerve parallel diffusivity measures on MRI in mice with EAE
      and reduced axonal loss in rat EAE. Both anti-LINGO-1 antibody therapy and the
      genetic deletion of LINGO-1 reduced nerve crush-induced axonal degeneration and
      enhanced axonal regeneration. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that LINGO-1
      blockade is associated with axonal protection and regeneration in the injured
      optic nerve.

PMID- 28607724
TI  - The Neurological Sleep Index: A suite of new sleep scales for multiple sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop patient-reported outcome
      measures for sleep dysfunction and sleepiness in multiple sclerosis (MS), since
      there are currently no MS-specific measurement tools for these clinically
      important entities. METHODS: Items were generated from semi-structured interviews
      followed by cognitive debrief. A 42-item pool was administered to patients with
      MS at three neuroscience centres in the UK. Comparator scales were co
      administered. Constructs were validated by Rasch analysis, guided by initial
      exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS: There were two supraordinate qualitative
      themes of diurnal sleepiness and non-restorative nocturnal sleep. Rasch analysis
      on 722 records produced three scales, which corresponded to diurnal sleepiness,
      non-restorative nocturnal sleep and fragmented nocturnal sleep. All had excellent
      fit parameters, were unidimensional and were free from differential item
      functioning. A summed raw score cut-point of 31/48 in the Diurnal Sleepiness
      Scale equated to the standard cut-point of 10 on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale
      (ESS). CONCLUSION: Three high-quality measurement scales were developed, and
      together they compose the Neurological Sleep Index for MS (NSI-MS). The Diurnal
      Sleepiness Scale might provide an alternative to the ESS. The Non-Restorative
      Nocturnal Sleep Scale and the Fragmented Nocturnal Sleep Scale appear to be the
      only such measures for use in MS.

PMID- 28607725
TI  - Burden of genetic risk variants in multiple sclerosis families in the
      Netherlands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 20% of multiple sclerosis patients have a family
      history of multiple sclerosis. Studies of multiple sclerosis aggregation in
      families are inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genetic burden based on
      currently discovered genetic variants for multiple sclerosis risk in patients
      from Dutch multiple sclerosis multiplex families versus sporadic multiple
      sclerosis cases, and to study its influence on clinical phenotype and disease
      prediction. METHODS: Our study population consisted of 283 sporadic multiple
      sclerosis cases, 169 probands from multiplex families and 2028 controls. A
      weighted genetic risk score based on 102 non-human leukocyte antigen loci and HLA
      DRB1*1501 was calculated. RESULTS: The weighted genetic risk score based on all
      loci was significantly higher in familial than in sporadic cases. The HLA
      DRB1*1501 contributed significantly to the difference in genetic burden between
      the groups. A high weighted genetic risk score was significantly associated with
      a low age of disease onset in all multiple sclerosis patients, but not in the
      familial cases separately. The genetic risk score was significantly but modestly
      better in discriminating familial versus sporadic multiple sclerosis from
      controls. CONCLUSION: Familial multiple sclerosis patients are more loaded with
      the common genetic variants than sporadic cases. The difference is mainly driven
      by HLA-DRB1*1501. The predictive capacity of genetic loci is poor and unlikely to
      be useful in clinical settings.

PMID- 28607726
TI  - Erythrocytes in multiple sclerosis - forgotten contributors to the
      pathophysiology?
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterised by lymphocytic
      infiltration of the central nervous system and subsequent destruction of myelin
      and axons. On the background of a genetic predisposition to autoimmunity,
      environmental triggers are assumed to initiate the disease. The majority of MS
      research has focused on the pathological involvement of lymphocytes and other
      immune cells, yet a paucity of attention has been given to erythrocytes, which
      may play an important role in MS pathology. The following review briefly
      summarises how erythrocytes may contribute to MS pathology through impaired
      antioxidant capacity and altered haemorheological features. The effect of disease
      modifying therapies on erythrocytes is also reviewed. It may be important to
      further investigate erythrocytes in MS, as this could broaden the understanding
      of the pathological mechanisms of the disease, as well as potentially lead to the
      discovery of novel and innovative targets for future therapies.

PMID- 28607727
TI  - Association of multiple sclerosis and sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) may affect other cranial nerves besides the
      optic nerve. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), possibly caused by a
      deficit in the auditory tract, including the vestibulocochlear nerve, is
      sometimes associated with MS. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the incidence of
      SSHL among MS patients, its frequency as an initial symptom of MS, and magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) findings associated with SSHL in MS. METHODS: We
      collected retrospectively all patients diagnosed with MS and SSHL at the Helsinki
      University Hospital between 2004 and 2014. Patients with both diagnoses were re
      evaluated using hospital medical records, audiograms and head MRI scans. RESULTS:
      A total of 2736 patients were diagnosed with MS, 1581 patients with SSHL, and 18
      patients (0.7% of all MS patients) with both; two patients presented with SSHL as
      an initial symptom of MS. The annual incidence of SSHL was 59.8/100 000 (95%
      confidence interval (CI) 37.7-94.9) in MS patients, and 12.4/100 000 (95% CI 11.8
      13.0) in the normal population. CONCLUSION: SSHL is a rare symptom of MS and is
      even less frequent as an initial symptom. Its incidence in MS patients, however,
      markedly exceeds that in the normal population.

PMID- 28607728
TI  - Evaluation of French-language internet sites dealing with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information available on the internet has changed patient-neurologist
      relationships. Its evaluation for multiple sclerosis is only partial, regardless
      of the language used. OBJECTIVE: We aim to evaluate the content quality and
      ranking indexes of French-language sites dealing with multiple sclerosis.
      METHODS: Two French terms and three search engines were used to identify the
      sites whose ranking indexes were calculated according to their positions on each
      page designated by the search engines. Three evaluators used the DISCERN
      questionnaire to assess the content quality of the 25 selected sites. The sites
      were classified according to the mean of the evaluators' grades. Grading
      agreement between evaluators was calculated. Ranking indexes were computed as a
      rank/100. RESULTS: Content level was deemed mediocre, with poor referencing of
      the information provided. The naive and two expert evaluators' grades differed.
      Content quality disparity was found within the different website categories,
      except for institutional sites. No correlation was found between content quality
      and ranking index. CONCLUSION: The information available was heterogeneous.
      Physicians should guide patients in their internet searches for information so
      that they can benefit from good-quality input which is potentially able to
      improve their management.

PMID- 28607729
TI  - A case of presumed herpes keratouveitis in a patient treated with fingolimod.
AB  - We discuss a case of presumed bilateral herpes simplex keratouveitis in a 36-year
      old multiple sclerosis patient switched to fingolimod from glatiramer acetate.
      Fingolimod treatment appears to increase the risk of herpesvirus infections,
      including with herpes simplex virus and varicella zoster virus. This case report
      reviews the potential immunology behind this risk, and identifies the need for
      further research, including ways to minimize and stratify risk for herpesvirus
      reactivation.

PMID- 28607730
TI  - Distractibility in multiple sclerosis: The role of depression.
AB  - The present study assesses the influence of depression and anxiety on the effects
      of cognitive distracters in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Participants
      completed computerized versions of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (c-SDMT) with
      (n = 51) and without (n = 51) auditory distracters. Based on the Hospital Anxiety
      and Depression Scale (HADS), 29 (28.4%) and 51 (50%) participants were classified
      as depressed or anxious, respectively. A regression analysis revealed that
      depression (p = 0.034), not anxiety (p = 0.264), further impaired performance on
      the c-SDMT, particularly in the presence of distracters. These results suggest
      that distracter effects are influenced by depression more than anxiety. Given
      that distracters are ubiquitous in real-world environments, their use in a
      cognitive assessment adds to the ecological validity of the results.

PMID- 28607731
TI  - Relationship between timed 25-foot walk and diffusion tensor imaging in multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: The majority of multiple sclerosis patients experience
      impaired walking ability, which impacts quality of life. Timed 25-foot walk is
      commonly used to gauge gait impairment but results can be broadly variable.
      Objective biological markers that correlate closely with patients' disability are
      needed. Diffusion tensor imaging, quantifying fiber tract integrity, might
      provide such information. In this project we analyzed relationships between timed
      25-foot walk, conventional and diffusion tensor imaging magnetic resonance
      imaging markers. DESIGN/METHODS: A cohort of gait impaired multiple sclerosis
      patients underwent brain and cervical spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging.
      Diffusion tensor imaging mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy were measured
      on the brain corticospinal tracts and spinal restricted field of vision at C2/3.
      We analyzed relationships between baseline timed 25-foot walk, conventional and
      diffusion tensor imaging magnetic resonance imaging markers. RESULTS:
      Multivariate linear regression analysis showed a statistically significant
      association between several magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor
      imaging metrics and timed 25-foot walk: brain mean diffusivity corticospinal
      tracts (p = 0.004), brain corticospinal tracts axial and radial diffusivity (P =
      0.004 and 0.02), grey matter volume (p = 0.05), white matter volume (p = 0.03)
      and normalized brain volume (P = 0.01). The linear regression model containing
      mean diffusivity corticospinal tracts and controlled for gait assistance was the
      best fit model (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest an association
      between diffusion tensor imaging metrics and gait impairment, evidenced by brain
      mean diffusivity corticospinal tracts and timed 25-foot walk.

PMID- 28607732
TI  - Cognitive evolution in natalizumab-treated multiple sclerosis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction affects up to 65% of multiple sclerosis (MS)
      patients and progresses over time. Natalizumab has been shown to be superior to
      placebo in preserving cognition for the first two years of therapy. OBJECTIVES:
      The objectives of this study are to understand the impact of natalizumab on
      cognition beyond two years of therapy and to investigate whether baseline
      characteristics are predictive of clinical response. METHODS: This is a single
      center, 24-month, observational study. Sixty-three patients treated with
      natalizumab were assessed prior to monthly infusions using a Cogstate battery and
      the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Patient demographics were collected at
      baseline. A linear mixed model was conducted with duration of natalizumab therapy
      as a between-subjects factor (<=2 or >2 years), assessment as a within-subjects
      factor, and Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS) as a covariate. RESULTS:
      Aside from the MSSS (p = 0.0074), the two groups were identical. No patient
      showed evidence of sustained cognitive deterioration over the 24-month period.
      Baseline parameters including impaired cognition did not influence the trajectory
      of cognitive change over 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that
      natalizumab preserves cognition following four to seven years of continuous
      therapy. This occurs irrespective of baseline characteristics, including impaired
      cognition.

PMID- 28607733
TI  - Challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of CNS demyelinating disorders in
      Zambia.
AB  - Demyelinating disease occurs in a population of black adult Zambians whose
      genetic and environmental risk factors for multiple sclerosis are thought to be
      rare. The diagnosis of demyelinating disease was based predominantly on
      compatible clinical history and neurologic exam findings, and in some cases, more
      definitely established by cerebrospinal fluid exam and imaging findings. When
      available, laboratory studies excluded other known causes of CNS demyelination.
      Timely evaluation and treatment with disease-modifying therapies was related to
      the patient's employment status. Lack of financial means to go abroad was a major
      hurdle in a patient's ability to receive treatment. Significant barriers often
      prohibit timely diagnosis and prevent proper management of these patients.

PMID- 28607734
TI  - Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy occurring after
      autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis.
AB  - We describe the case of a man in his 40 s with aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS)
      who received autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) and
      subsequently developed probable, if not definite, Chronic Inflammatory
      Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and haematological complications.
      Autoimmune conditions occurring as a side effect of allogenic transplantations
      are well known in the context of haematological malignancies, but only rarely
      reported for autologous transplantations. Our case demonstrates that although
      AHSCT may be effective for suppressing MS inflammatory activity, the profound
      changes to the immune repertoire may lead to other clinically relevant autoimmune
      phenomena. A careful benefit-risk evaluation should be conducted in all cases
      where AHSCT is considered.

PMID- 28607735
TI  - Risk attitudes and risk perceptions in individuals with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about risk attitudes and risk perceptions in multiple
      sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this paper are to investigate the
      range of risk attitudes and risk perceptions and examine associations between
      risk attitudes and risk perceptions and demographic and clinical features of the
      disease. METHODS: A total of 223 individuals completed a risk questionnaire. Risk
      attitude was measured using two rating scales and a standard gamble scenario.
      Risk perception was measured by asking participants to estimate the likelihood of
      disease progression and the likelihood of minor and serious side effects
      associated with common MS therapies. RESULTS: Participants were risk neutral
      overall and risk averse on issues related to health and safety. There was a
      significant association between disease duration and risk attitude, with patients
      with longer disease duration showing greater tolerance for risk. On the standard
      gamble scenario, males were significantly more likely to take treatments with a
      likelihood of death of 1:10,000 or 1:100,000 than females. Individuals with
      higher disability or a progressive disease course were significantly more likely
      to expect progression at two, five and 10 years. CONCLUSION: Individuals with MS
      demonstrate low tolerance for risk. Risk attitudes and perceptions are influenced
      by some demographic and clinical features of the disease.

PMID- 28607736
TI  - Multiple sclerosis in First Nations Canadians: A pilot comparison study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic and clinical characteristics associated with multiple
      sclerosis (MS) may differ by ethnicity but few studies have evaluated whether
      characteristics of MS differ between individuals according to First Nations (FN)
      ethnicity. OBJECTIVE: Using a cross-sectional observational design, we compared
      clinical and genetic characteristics between people with MS of FN and non-FN
      ethnicity. METHODS: We recruited participants of FN ethnicity with MS. We
      conducted a medical records review for each participant followed by a
      standardized interview and drawing of blood samples. The blood underwent genetic
      analyses for several HLA alleles. We compared the study sample with 127 non-FN MS
      participants from another study conducted in the same region using the same data
      collection procedures. RESULTS: We included 144 participants with MS, of whom 17
      (11.8%) self-identified as FN. The age of symptom onset was earlier and the
      diagnostic delay shorter among FN participants although these differences did not
      reach statistical significance. As compared to non-FN participants, FN
      participants with MS had increased odds of comorbid psychiatric disease (OR 5.38;
      95% CI: 1.84-15.8), and were less likely to be HLA-DRB1*1501 positive (OR 0.32;
      95% CI: 0.11-0.96). CONCLUSION: Genetic and clinical characteristics of MS differ
      among Canadians of FN and non-FN ethnicity.

PMID- 28607737
TI  - Prognostic factors for long-term outcomes in relapsing-remitting multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to investigate potential clinical and
      MRI predictors of long-term outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: This
      was a post hoc analysis using data from all 382 patients in the PRISMS long-term
      follow-up (LTFU) study collected up to eight years after randomisation. An
      additional analysis was performed including only those patients originally
      randomised to receive early subcutaneous interferon (IFN) beta-1a (n = 259).
      Baseline/prestudy variables, indicators of early clinical and MRI activity
      (baseline to month 24), and indicators of IFN beta-1a treatment exposure
      (including medication possession ratio (MPR)) were investigated as candidate
      prognostic factors for outcomes measured from baseline and from month 24 to LTFU.
      Explanatory variables identified from univariate regression models (p <= 0.15)
      were selected for inclusion in stepwise multiple regression models. RESULTS:
      Candidate prognostic factors selected by the univariate analysis (p <= 0.15)
      included age, MS duration, baseline brain volume, EDSS score, and log(T2 burden
      of disease (BOD)). In most of the multivariate regression models applied, higher
      baseline brain volume and MPR predicted better long-term clinical outcomes, while
      higher baseline and greater early increase in EDSS score predicted worse
      outcomes. CONCLUSION: Identification of markers that may be prognostic for long
      term disability could help identify MS patients at higher risk of disability
      progression.

PMID- 28607739
TI  - Experience with long-term rituximab use in a multiple sclerosis clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody directed at CD20 positive B
      lymphocytes and a potential therapeutic option in the treatment of multiple
      sclerosis. The safety of recurrent dosing is not established. OBJECTIVES: The
      objective of this work was to report the experience of long-term rituximab
      administration in a comprehensive multiple sclerosis care clinic. METHODS: This
      was a single-center retrospective observational analysis of patients receiving
      rituximab for the treatment of multiple sclerosis from 2004 to 2015. Different
      dosing regimens were reviewed to determine whether frequency or dose may affect
      safety. CD19 and CD20 counts were collected to evaluate B-cell suppression during
      therapy. Relapses, magnetic resonance imaging activity and rituximab-related
      adverse events were collected by chart review and prospective database entry.
      RESULTS: Of 107 patients included, the average duration of treatment was 33.2
      months. Seventy-seven patients received recurrent rituximab dosing after
      initiation. CD19/20 reconstitution occurred in approximately 20% of patients at 6
      months, regardless of dosing strategy. Despite CD19/20 counts of 0, three
      patients had relapses or magnetic resonance imaging activity. Mostly mild side
      effects in relation to therapy were seen, with the exception of three patients
      requiring hospitalization for urinary tract infections. CONCLUSIONS: In our
      clinic population, rituximab was well tolerated and safe with recurrent
      administration.

PMID- 28607738
TI  - Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Latin America and its relationship with
      European migration.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, degenerative autoimmune inflammatory
      disease of the central nervous system. The prevalence is different in every
      continent, changing according to geographical and environmental characteristics.
      The areas with the highest prevalence in the world are Europe and North America.
      In Latin America, the prevalence is higher in areas where there was greater
      European migration, as in the case of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and
      Mexico, and there have been no identified cases amongst native Indian
      populations. It should be considered that environmental factors may influence the
      prevalence of MS in Latin America, and it seems as if there are protective
      factors such as exposure to ultraviolet radiation and the presence of
      parasitosis.

PMID- 28607740
TI  - Long-term treatment with low dose naltrexone maintains stable health in patients
      with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A retrospective study was conducted on patients at Penn State
      Hershey Medical Center diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
      between 2006 and 2015. METHODOLOGY: Laboratory and clinical data collected over
      this 10-year period were reviewed. Two cohorts of patients were established based
      on their relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis therapy at the time of their
      first visit to Penn State. One group of patients (n = 23) was initially
      prescribed low dose naltrexone at the time first seen at Hershey. This group was
      offered low dose naltrexone because of symptoms of fatigue or refusal to take an
      available disease-modifying therapy. The second group of patients (n = 31) was
      treated with the glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) and offered low dose naltrexone as
      an adjunct therapy to their disease-modifying therapy. RESULTS: Patient data from
      visits after 1-50 months post-diagnosis were evaluated in a retrospective manner.
      Data obtained from patient charts included clinical laboratory values from
      standard blood tests, timed 25-foot walking trials, and changes in magnetic
      resonance imaging reports. Statistical analyses between the groups and for each
      patient over time indicated no significant differences in clinical laboratory
      values, timed walking, or changes in magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSION:
      These data suggest that the apparently non-toxic, inexpensive, biotherapeutic is
      safe and if taken alone did not result in an exacerbation of disease symptoms.

PMID- 28607741
TI  - Analysis of the psychometric properties of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29
      (MSIS-29) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using classical and modern
      test theory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Investigations using classical test theory support the psychometric
      properties of the original version of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS
      29v1), a disease-specific measure of multiple sclerosis (MS) impact (physical and
      psychological subscales). Later, assessments of the MSIS-29v1 in an MS community
      based sample using Rasch analysis led to revisions of the instrument's response
      options (MSIS-29v2). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to evaluate the
      psychometric properties of the MSIS-29v1 in a clinical trial cohort of relapsing
      remitting MS patients (RRMS). METHODS: Data from 600 patients with RRMS enrolled
      in the SELECT clinical trial were used. Assessments were performed at baseline
      and at Weeks 12, 24, and 52. In addition to traditional psychometric analyses,
      Item Response Theory (IRT) and Rasch analysis were used to evaluate the
      measurement properties of the MSIS-29v1. RESULTS: Both MSIS-29v1 subscales
      demonstrated strong reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness. The IRT
      and Rasch analysis showed overall support for response category threshold
      ordering, person-item fit, and item fit for both subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Both
      MSIS-29v1 subscales demonstrated robust measurement properties using classical,
      IRT, and Rasch techniques. Unlike previous research using a community-based
      sample, the MSIS-29v1 was found to be psychometrically sound to assess physical
      and psychological impairments in a clinical trial sample of patients with RRMS.

PMID- 28607742
TI  - Relapsing optic neuritis and isolated transverse myelitis are the predominant
      clinical phenotypes for patients with antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte
      glycoprotein in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical phenotypes of patients with antibodies to myelin
      oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (anti-MOG+) are unknown in India. OBJECTIVES:
      Retrospectively to characterise anti-MOG+ patients with inflammatory central
      nervous system disorders in India. METHOD: A total of 87 patients with non
      multiple sclerosis demyelinating disorders (excluding acute disseminated
      encephalomyelitis) who were seronegative for anti-aquaporin 4 antibody were
      retrospectively analysed using a cell-based assay for anti-MOG+ status. RESULTS:
      Twenty-five patients were anti-MOG+ in this cohort. They represented 28.7%
      (25/87) of patients who tested negative for anti-AQP4+. Sixty-four per cent
      (16/25) of anti-MOG+ patients were men and had a relapsing course. Patients with
      recurrent optic neuritis and those with a single attack of acute longitudinally
      extensive transverse myelitis were the most common phenotypes. CONCLUSION:
      Relapsing optic neuritis was the most common phenotype, contrasting with a lower
      risk of relapses in transverse myelitis.

PMID- 28607743
TI  - Improvement in relapse recovery with peginterferon beta-1a in patients with
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subcutaneous peginterferon beta-1a every 2 weeks significantly
      affects clinical outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
      (RRMS). OBJECTIVES: To explore relationships between relapses and worsening of
      disability in patients with RRMS, and assess the treatment effect of
      peginterferon beta-1a on relapse recovery. METHODS: Post-hoc analysis of the 2
      year, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, Phase 3 ADVANCE study. The
      severity of relapses, proportion of patients with relapses associated with
      residual disability (onset of 24-week confirmed disability progression (CDP)
      within 90 days following a relapse), and persistence of changes in Functional
      Systems Scores, were compared between treatment groups. RESULTS: Subcutaneous
      peginterferon beta-1a every 2 weeks significantly reduced the proportion of
      patients experiencing relapse associated with CDP over 2 years (6.6%, compared
      with 15.1% of patients who received placebo in Year 1; p = 0.02). Reduction in
      relapses associated with residual disability was greater than the treatment
      effect on overall relapse rate, and occurred despite similar relapse severity
      across treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: The beneficial effect of peginterferon beta
      1a on risk of CDP may be attributable to the combination of an overall reduction
      in the risk of relapses and improvement in recovery from relapses, thus limiting
      further disability progression. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier: NCT00906399.

PMID- 28607744
TI  - Skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity in people with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have functional disability and
      may have reduced muscle mitochondrial capacity. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this
      paper is to measure muscle mitochondrial capacity of leg muscles using near
      infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and compare to functional status. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: People with MS (n = 16) and a control (CON) group (n = 9) were evaluated
      for 25-ft walk time. Mitochondrial capacity of both gastrocnemius muscles were
      measured with NIRS as the rate of recovery of oxygen consumption in after
      exercise. RESULTS: Mitochondrial capacity was lower in the MS group compared to
      the CON group (rate constants: 1.13 +/- 0.29 vs. 1.68 +/- 0.37 min-1, p < 0.05).
      There was a tendency for people with MS who used assistive devices to have lower
      mitochondrial capacity in the weaker leg (p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: NIRS
      measurements of mitochondrial capacity suggest a 40% deficit in people with MS
      compared to CONs and this may contribute to walking disability.

PMID- 28607745
TI  - Coping strategies in relation to negative work events and accommodations in
      employed multiple sclerosis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Job loss is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and is known to exert a
      negative effect on quality of life. The process leading up to job loss typically
      includes negative work events, productivity losses and a need for accommodations.
      By using active coping strategies job loss may be prevented or delayed.
      OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to examine negative work events and accommodations in
      relation to coping strategies in employed relapsing-remitting MS patients.
      METHODS: Ninety-seven MS patients (77% females; 21-59 years old) completed
      questionnaires concerning the patient's work situation, coping strategies,
      demographics, physical, psychological and cognitive functioning. Forward binary
      logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine coping strategies and
      other (disease) characteristics predictive of reported negative work events and
      accommodations. RESULTS: Nineteen per cent of the employed MS patients reported
      one or more negative work events, associated with a higher use of emotion
      oriented coping and more absenteeism. Seventy-three per cent reported using one
      or more work accommodations, associated with a higher educational level and more
      presenteeism. MS patients reporting physical changes to the workplace employed
      more emotion-oriented coping, while flexible scheduling was associated with task
      oriented coping. CONCLUSION: Emotion-oriented and task-oriented coping strategies
      are associated with negative work events and the use of accommodations.

PMID- 28607746
TI  - Randomized controlled trial of exercise interventions to improve sleep quality
      and daytime sleepiness in individuals with multiple sclerosis: A pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nearly 70% of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience
      sleep disturbances. Increasing physical activity in people with MS has been shown
      to produce a moderate improvement in sleep quality, and exercise has been shown
      to improve sleep quality in non-neurologically impaired adults. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this pilot randomized controlled trial study was to examine the effect
      of two exercise interventions on sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in
      individuals with MS. METHODS: Twenty-eight individuals with relapsing-remitting
      or secondary progressive MS were randomized into one of two 12-week exercise
      interventions: a supervised, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (AE) program or
      an unsupervised, low-intensity walking and stretching (WS) program. Only
      individuals who were >= 70% compliant with the programs were included in analysis
      (n = 12 AE; n = 10 WS). RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated a moderate improvement
      in sleep quality, although only the improvement by the WS group was statistically
      significant. Only the AE group demonstrated a significant improvement in daytime
      sleepiness. Change in sleep quality and daytime sleepiness was not correlated
      with disease severity or with change in cardiovascular fitness, depression, or
      fatigue. CONCLUSION: The mechanisms for improvement in sleep quality and daytime
      sleepiness need further investigation, but may be due to introduction of
      zeitgebers to improve circadian rhythm.

PMID- 28607747
TI  - The relationship between fatigability and sleep quality in people with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perceived fatigue and fatigability are constructs of multiple
      sclerosis (MS)-related fatigue. Sleep disturbances lead to poor sleep quality,
      which has been found to be associated with perceived fatigue in people with MS
      (PwMS). However, the relationship between fatigability and sleep quality is
      unknown. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between physical and cognitive
      fatigability with self-reported and objective measures of sleep quality in PwMS.
      METHODS: Fifty-one ambulatory PwMS participated in the study. Physical
      fatigability was measured by percent-change in meters walked on the six-minute
      walk test (6MWT) and in force exerted on a repeated maximal hand grip test.
      Cognitive fatigability was measured using response speed variability on the
      continuous performance test. Self-report sleep quality was measured using the
      Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and objective sleep quality was measured using 1
      week of actigraphy. RESULTS: Components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and
      several actigraph parameters were significantly associated with physical
      fatigability and cognitive fatigability. However, controlling for depression
      eliminated the association between the sleep outcomes and cognitive fatigability
      and attenuated the association between the sleep outcomes and physical
      fatigability. CONCLUSION: Poor sleep quality is related to fatigability in MS but
      depression appears to mediate these relationships.

PMID- 28607748
TI  - Migraine and frequent tension-type headache are not associated with multiple
      sclerosis in a Norwegian case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inconsistent results have been obtained with regard to headache
      comorbidity in multiple sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE: Investigate the one-year
      prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) in Norwegian MS patients
      and relate this to clinical parameters. METHODS: A questionnaire concerning
      headache was administered to 756 MS patients and 1090 controls and used to
      determine the one-year prevalence of migraine and frequent TTH. RESULTS: No
      significant differences were seen between patients and controls or between
      patients with different disease course. Less migraine was observed in patients
      with Expanded Disability Status Scale score (EDSS) >=4.0. CONCLUSIONS: This case
      control study does not support an association between migraine or TTH and MS.

PMID- 28607749
TI  - An essential role of virus-infected B cells in the marmoset experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis model.
AB  - Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with an enhanced risk
      of genetically susceptible individuals to develop multiple sclerosis (MS).
      However, an explanation for the contrast between the high EBV infection
      prevalence (60-90%) and the low MS prevalence (0.1%) eludes us. Here we propose a
      new concept for the EBV-MS association developed in the experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis model in marmoset monkeys, which are naturally infected with
      the EBV-related gamma1-herpesvirus CalHV3. The data indicate that the infection
      of B cells with a gamma1-herpesvirus endows them with the capacity to activate
      auto-aggressive CD8+ T cells specific for myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein.

PMID- 28607750
TI  - Noninvasive tongue stimulation combined with intensive cognitive and physical
      rehabilitation induces neuroplastic changes in patients with multiple sclerosis:
      A multimodal neuroimaging study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have central nervous system (CNS)
      lesions that may impede cognitive and sensorimotor function. Few rehabilitative
      therapies are available. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to study
      effects of noninvasive tongue stimulation using the Portable Neuromodulation
      Stimulator (PoNSTM) combined with intensive cognitive and physical rehabilitation
      on working memory, gait, balance and concomitant changes in the brain. METHODS:
      Fourteen MS patients, seven each in an active and a sham stimulation group,
      participated. Participants received intensive physical therapy and working memory
      training for 14 weeks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using motor
      imagery and working-memory tasks were completed prior to and following therapy,
      as were sensory organization tests (SOT), motor performance measures, and
      neuropsychological assessment. RESULTS: On the SOT, the active group showed
      significant improvement from baseline. fMRI revealed significant blood oxygen
      level-dependent signal changes in the left primary motor cortex for the Active
      Group, while the sham group had increased activity in bilateral premotor
      cortices. All individuals improved on working-memory tasks, but only the active
      group showed increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity. CONCLUSIONS: In
      this cohort of MS patients, the results suggest that PoNS stimulation can enhance
      motor performance and working memory while also driving neuroplasticity. Further
      studies are warranted to explore these findings.

PMID- 28607751
TI  - Assessment of treatment patterns associated with injectable disease-modifying
      therapy among relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Availability of oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for relapsing
      remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) may affect injectable DMT (iDMT) treatment
      patterns. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to evaluate iDMT persistency,
      reasons for persistency lapses, and outcomes among newly diagnosed RRMS patients.
      METHODS: Medical records of 300 RRMS patients initiated on iDMT between 2008 and
      2013 were abstracted from 18 US-based neurology clinics. Eligible patients had
      >=3 visits: pre-iDMT initiation, iDMT initiation (index), and >=1 visit within 24
      months post-index. MS-related symptoms, relapses, iDMT treatment patterns (i.e.
      persistency, discontinuation, switching, and restart), and reasons for non
      persistency were tracked for 24 months. RESULTS: At 24 months, iDMT persistency
      was 61.0%; 28.0% of patients switched to another DMT, 8.0% discontinued, and 3.0%
      stopped and restarted the same iDMT. The most commonly identified reasons for non
      persistency were perceived lack of efficacy (22.2%), adverse events (18.8%), and
      fear of needles/self-injecting (9.4%). At 24 months, 38.0% of patients had
      experienced a relapse and 11.0% had changes in MRI lesion counts. Patients
      without MS-related symptoms at index reported increases in the incidence of these
      symptoms at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Non-persistency with iDMT remains an issue in
      the oral DMT age. Many patients still experienced relapses and disease
      progression, and should consider switching to more effective therapies.

PMID- 28607752
TI  - Enhanced disease reduction using clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic agent, and
      glatiramer acetate combination therapy in experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atypical antipsychotic agents (AAP) alleviate the symptoms of severe
      mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, by antagonizing dopamine and
      serotonin receptors. Recently, AAP have also been shown to exhibit
      immunomodulatory properties in the central nervous system (CNS). OBJECTIVE:
      Building on research which demonstrated the ability of the AAP risperidone and
      clozapine to modify the disease course of experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), we aimed to
      more fully investigate the potential of clozapine as a possible treatment for MS.
      RESULTS: We report that orally administered clozapine significantly reduced the
      disease severity of EAE in a dose-dependent manner and was effective when
      administered prophylactically and therapeutically. In comparison to risperidone,
      quetiapine, and olanzapine, clozapine was the best at reducing disease severity.
      While clozapine-treated mice had only modest changes to peripheral leukocytes and
      cytokine responses, these animals had significantly fewer CNS-infiltrating CD4 T
      cells and myeloid cells. Furthermore, the CNS myeloid cells displayed a less
      activated phenotype in mice treated with clozapine. Finally, we found that co
      administration of clozapine with glatiramer acetate enhanced disease protection
      compared to either treatment alone. CONCLUSION: These studies indicate that
      clozapine is an effective immunomodulatory agent with the potential to treat
      immune-mediated diseases such as MS.

PMID- 28607753
TI  - A group-delivered self-management program reduces spasticity in people with
      multiple sclerosis: A randomized, controlled pilot trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spasticity affects more than 80% of people with multiple sclerosis
      (MS), affecting activity, participation, and quality of life. Based on an
      international guideline, an MS spasticity group education and stretching program,
      MS Spasticity: Take Control (STC), has been developed. OBJECTIVE: The objective
      of this paper is to determine whether STC with home stretching is associated with
      greater changes in spasticity than usual care (UC), consisting of an illustrated
      stretching booklet and home stretching but without group instruction or support,
      in people with MS. METHODS: Ambulatory MS patients with self-reported spasticity
      interfering with daily activities were randomized to STC or UC. Individuals
      completed questionnaires regarding MS, spasticity, walking, fatigue and mood, and
      physical measures of spasticity and walking. RESULTS: Thirty-eight of 40
      participants completed both assessments. Mean total score and scores on two
      subscales of the MS Spasticity Scale-88 improved more with STC than with UC (p <
      0.03). There was no significant change in the Modified Ashworth Scale in either
      group. Mean scores on the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, the Beck Depression
      Inventory-II, and the physical component of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale
      29 showed statistically and clinically significant improvements in the STC group
      only. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in STC improved self-reported impact of
      spasticity more than UC and provided encouraging improvements in other measures.

PMID- 28607754
TI  - Lymphocyte reconstitution following autologous stem cell transplantation for
      progressive MS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for progressive multiple
      sclerosis (MS) may reset the immune repertoire. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this
      paper is to analyse lymphocyte recovery in patients with progressive MS treated
      with ASCT. METHODS: Patients with progressive MS not responding to conventional
      treatment underwent ASCT following conditioning with high-dose cyclophosphamide
      and antithymocyte globulin. Lymphocyte subset analysis was performed before ASCT
      and for two years following ASCT. Neurological function was assessed by the EDSS
      before ASCT and for three years post-ASCT. RESULTS: CD4+ T-cells fell
      significantly post-transplant and did not return to baseline levels. Recent
      thymic emigrants and naive T-cells fell sharply post-transplant but returned to
      baseline by nine months and twelve months, respectively. T-regulatory cells
      declined post-transplant and did not return to baseline levels. Th1 and Th2 cells
      did not change significantly while Th17 cells fell post-transplant but recovered
      to baseline by six months. Neurological function remained stable in the majority
      of patients. Progression-free survival was 69% at three years. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrates major changes in the composition of lymphocyte subsets
      following ASCT for progressive MS. In particular, ablation and subsequent
      recovery of thymic output is consistent with the concept that ASCT can reset the
      immune repertoire in MS patients.

PMID- 28607755
TI  - Access and barriers to MS care in Latin America.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS), an epidemiologically emergent disorder in Latin America
      (LATAM), poses substantial socioeconomic challenges to a region where most
      countries remain as economies in development. MS is not health priority despite
      its economic and communitarian impact with a relatively low prevalence. MS
      treatments in LATAM have evolved from earlier long-term oral steroids and
      immunosuppression protocols, to platform disease modifying therapies (DMTs), to
      the current landscape with more advanced therapeutic molecules. Following FDA
      approval, a DMT may eventually become available in LATAM conditioned to
      industrial marketing interest. Most countries do not count all medications in
      their armamentarium. Access to therapy by the MS population in the region is low
      (9.5%-42.8%). Generic treatments, biosimilars, and follow-on complex non
      biological drugs (CNBD) are commonly available in institutional formularies in
      LATAM despite their lack of supportive efficacy and safety data and reported
      molecular differences with the innovators. Savings to health systems thus far
      have been negligible. Medicine licensing agencies in LATAM, despite limitations
      in resources, have considerably improved their assessments by incorporating more
      modern criteria and methodology. Access to symptomatic management, rehabilitation
      procedures, and the role of patients associations are discussed.

PMID- 28607756
TI  - Heart rate variability is differentially altered in multiple sclerosis:
      implications for acute, worsening and progressive disability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sympathovagal imbalance has been associated with poor prognosis in
      chronic diseases, but there is conflicting evidence in multiple sclerosis.
      OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the autonomic nervous
      system dysfunction correlation with inflammation and progression in multiple
      sclerosis. METHODS: Heart rate variability was analysed in 120 multiple sclerosis
      patients and 60 healthy controls during supine rest and head-up tilt test; the
      normalised units of low frequency and high frequency power were considered to
      assess sympathetic and vagal components, respectively. Correlation analyses with
      clinical and radiological markers of disease activity and progression were
      performed. RESULTS: Sympathetic dysfunction was closely related to the
      progression of disability in multiple sclerosis: progressive patients showed
      altered heart rate variability with respect to healthy controls and relapsing
      remitting patients, with higher rest low frequency power and lacking the expected
      low frequency power increase during the head-up tilt test. In relapsing-remitting
      patients, disease activity, even subclinical, was associated with lower rest low
      frequency power, whereas stable relapsing-remitting patients did not differ from
      healthy controls. Less sympathetic reactivity and higher low frequency power at
      rest were associated with incomplete recovery from relapse. CONCLUSIONS:
      Autonomic balance appears to be intimately linked with both the inflammatory
      activity of multiple sclerosis, which is featured by an overall hypoactivity of
      the sympathetic nervous system, and its compensatory plastic processes, which
      appear inefficient in case of worsening and progressive multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 28607757
TI  - Lymphocyte subtypes in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients treated
      with dimethyl fumarate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent data suggest that lymphopenia is more prevalent than reported
      in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients taking dimethyl
      fumarate (DMF). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the
      effect of DMF on lymphocyte subtypes in RRMS patients with and without
      lymphopenia. METHOD: A retrospective study compared lymphocyte subtypes in DMF
      treated RRMS patients with low (G1, n = 35) and normal lymphocyte counts (G2, n =
      24). RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were identified, with mean age 49, 71.2%
      females, and average DMF duration 20 months. Age, sex, baseline white blood
      count, disease and treatment durations were similar between groups. Prior
      interferon therapy and baseline lower normal lymphocyte counts were more frequent
      in G1. Mean lymphocyte counts were 0.8 +/- 0.2 * 109/L in G1 and 1.6 +/- 0.3 *
      109/L in G2. CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell mean counts were lower (p < 0.0001),
      while CD4/CD8 ratio higher (p = 0.03) in G1 than G2. Mean CD19 + B cell counts
      were normal; however, values were lower in G1 (p = 0.04). After adjusting for
      confounders, significantly positive correlations were noted between lymphocyte
      counts and CD3 + , CD4+, CD8+ T, and B cell counts. Negative correlation was
      observed between lymphocyte counts and CD4/CD8 ratio driven by low CD8+ T cell
      counts. CONCLUSION: DMF treatment predominantly impacts T cells, in particular
      CD8+ subtype. This finding may have implications in this population's
      immunocompetence.

PMID- 28607758
TI  - Safety assessment of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) requires
      consideration of long-term adverse effects in all human tissues.

PMID- 28607759
TI  - A composite measure to explore visual disability in primary progressive multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) can provide complementary information on visual system damage in multiple
      sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to determine whether a
      composite OCT/MRI score, reflecting cumulative damage along the entire visual
      pathway, can predict visual deficits in primary progressive multiple sclerosis
      (PPMS). METHODS: Twenty-five PPMS patients and 20 age-matched controls underwent
      neuro-ophthalmologic evaluation, spectral-domain OCT, and 3T brain MRI.
      Differences between groups were assessed by univariate general linear model and
      principal component analysis (PCA) grouped instrumental variables into main
      components. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationship
      between low-contrast visual acuity (LCVA), OCT/MRI-derived metrics and PCA
      derived composite scores. RESULTS: PCA identified four main components explaining
      80.69% of data variance. Considering each variable independently, LCVA 1.25% was
      significantly predicted by ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness,
      thalamic volume and optic radiation (OR) lesion volume (adjusted R2 0.328, p =
      0.00004; adjusted R2 0.187, p = 0.002 and adjusted R2 0.180, p = 0.002). The PCA
      composite score of global visual pathway damage independently predicted both LCVA
      1.25% (adjusted R2 value 0.361, p = 0.00001) and LCVA 2.50% (adjusted R2 value
      0.323, p = 0.00003). CONCLUSION: A multiparametric score represents a more
      comprehensive and effective tool to explain visual disability than a single
      instrumental metric in PPMS.

PMID- 28607760
TI  - Effects of expiratory muscle strength training on maximal respiratory pressure
      and swallow-related quality of life in individuals with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weakening and dyscoordination of expiratory muscles in multiple
      sclerosis (MS) can impair respiratory and swallow function. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of this paper is to test a novel expiratory muscle strength training
      (EMST) device on expiratory pressure, swallow function, and swallow-related
      quality-of-life (SWAL-QOL) in individuals with MS. METHODS: Participants with MS
      were randomized to a five-week breathing practice of either positive pressure
      load (EMST) or near-zero pressure (sham). We compared baseline to post-treatment
      data according to maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), abnormal airway penetration
      and aspiration (PAS), and SWAL-QOL. RESULTS: Both groups improved in MEP (p <
      0.001). Forty percent of the EMST group improved on PAS, and 15% worsened;
      conversely, 21.4% of the sham group worsened and 14.3% improved. There was no
      group difference in overall SWAL-QOL; but the EMST group had significantly
      greater gain versus sham on the Burden (p = 0.014) and Pharyngeal Swallow (p =
      0.022) domains. Both groups improved in SWAL-QOL domains of Fear, Burden Mental
      Health, but only the EMST group improved in the SWAL-QOL and domains of
      Pharyngeal Swallow function, and Saliva management. CONCLUSION: Results suggest
      that strengthening of expiratory muscles can occur with repetition of focused
      breathing practice in the absence of high resistance. Conversely, results from
      the PAS and SWAL-QOL domains suggest that the high resistance of the EMST was
      required in order to improve the functional safety (reduced
      penetration/aspiration) and coordination of swallowing, specifically pharyngeal
      function and saliva management.

PMID- 28607761
TI  - Multiplex gene regulation by CRISPR-ddCpf1.
AB  - The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/dCas9
      system has been widely applied in both transcriptional regulation and epigenetic
      studies. However, for multiple targets, independent expression of multiple single
      guide RNAs (sgRNAs) is needed, which is less convenient. To address the problem,
      we employed a DNase-dead Cpf1 mutant (ddCpf1) for multiplex gene regulation. We
      demonstrated that ddCpf1 alone could be employed for gene repression in
      Escherichia coli, and the repression was more effective with CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs)
      specifically targeting to the template strand of its target genes, which was
      different from that of dCas9. When targeting the promoter region, both strands
      showed effective repression by the ddCpf1/crRNA complex. The whole-transcriptome
      RNA-seq technique was further employed to demonstrate the high specificity of
      ddCpf1-mediated repression. Besides, we proved that the remaining RNase activity
      in ddCpf1 was capable of processing a precursor CRISPR array to simply generate
      multiple mature crRNAs in vivo, facilitating multiplex gene regulation. With the
      employment of this multiplex gene regulation strategy, we also showed how to
      quickly screen a library of candidate targets, that is, the two-component systems
      in E. coli. Therefore, based on our findings here, the CRISPR-ddCpf1 system may
      be further developed and widely applied in both biological research and clinical
      studies.

PMID- 28607762
TI  - Can visual assessment of blood flow patterns by dynamic contrast-enhanced
      computed tomography distinguish between malignant and benign lung tumors?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (DCE-CT) is a tool,
      which, in theory, can quantify the blood flow and blood volume of tissues. In
      structured qualitative analysis, parametric color maps yield a visual impression
      of the blood flow and blood volume within the tissue being studied, allowing for
      quick identification of the areas with the highest or lowest blood flow and blood
      volume. PURPOSE: To examine whether DCE-CT could be used to distinguish between
      malignant and benign lung tumors in patients with suspected lung cancer. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Fifty-nine patients with suspected lung cancer and a lung tumor on
      their chest radiograph were included for DCE-CT. The tumors were categorized
      using structured qualitative analysis of tumor blood flow patterns.
      Histopathology was used as reference standard. RESULTS: Using structured
      qualitative analysis of tumor blood flow patterns, it was possible to distinguish
      between malignant and benign lung tumors (Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test, P =
      0.022). The inter-reader agreement of this method of analysis was slight to
      moderate (kappa = 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13-0.46). CONCLUSION:
      DCE-CT in suspected lung cancer using structured qualitative analysis of tumor
      blood flow patterns is accurate as well as somewhat reproducible. However, there
      are significant limitations to DCE-CT.

PMID- 28607763
TI  - In vitro evaluation of a new iterative reconstruction algorithm for dose
      reduction in coronary artery calcium scoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring is a widespread tool for
      cardiac risk assessment in asymptomatic patients and accompanying possible
      adverse effects, i.e. radiation exposure, should be as low as reasonably
      achievable. PURPOSE: To evaluate a new iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithm
      for dose reduction of in vitro coronary artery calcium scoring at different tube
      currents. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An anthropomorphic calcium scoring phantom was
      scanned in different configurations simulating slim, average-sized, and large
      patients. A standard calcium scoring protocol was performed on a third-generation
      dual-source CT at 120 kVp tube voltage. Reference tube current was 80 mAs as
      standard and stepwise reduced to 60, 40, 20, and 10 mAs. Images were
      reconstructed with weighted filtered back projection (wFBP) and a new version of
      an established IR kernel at different strength levels. Calcifications were
      quantified calculating Agatston and volume scores. Subjective image quality was
      visualized with scans of an ex vivo human heart. RESULTS: In general, Agatston
      and volume scores remained relatively stable between 80 and 40 mAs and increased
      at lower tube currents, particularly in the medium and large phantom. IR reduced
      this effect, as both Agatston and volume scores decreased with increasing levels
      of IR compared to wFBP (P < 0.001). Depending on selected parameters, radiation
      dose could be lowered by up to 86% in the large size phantom when selecting a
      reference tube current of 10 mAs with resulting Agatston levels close to the
      reference settings. CONCLUSION: New iterative reconstruction kernels may allow
      for reduction in tube current for established Agatston scoring protocols and
      consequently for substantial reduction in radiation exposure.

PMID- 28607764
TI  - Chronic medial instability of the elbow.
AB  - Damage to the medial collateral ligament of the elbow from an instability episode
      usually heals with non-operative treatment. In some cases, residual instability
      may occur, leading to functional impairment.Non-operative management can be
      successful when bracing, taping and therapy are used to stabilise the elbow.A
      recent report detailing the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma in effectively
      treating ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries in throwers has shown promise.
      However, there remain specific groups that should be considered for repair or
      reconstruction. These may include throwing athletes, wrestlers and some
      individuals involved in highly active physical activity which demands stability
      of the elbow.The results of surgical repair and reconstruction allowing a return
      to sports are quite good, ranging from 84% to 94%. Complications are generally
      low and mostly centred on ulnar nerve injuries.This report represents a review of
      the literature concerning valgus instability over the past five years,
      supplemented by selective older articles where relevant. Cite this article: EFORT
      Open Rev 2017;2:1-6. DOI:10.1302/2058-5241.2.160037.

PMID- 28607765
TI  - Paediatric bone and joint infection.
AB  - Despite advances in understanding and management, paediatric osteoarticular
      infections continue to pose diagnostic difficulties for clinicians. Delays in
      diagnosis can lead to potentially devastating morbidity.No single investigation,
      including joint aspiration, is sufficiently reliable to diagnose conclusively
      paediatric bone and joint infection. Diagnosis should be based on a combination
      of clinical signs, imaging and laboratory investigations. Algorithms should
      supplement, and not replace, clinical decision making in all cases.The roles of
      aspiration, arthrotomy and arthroscopy in the treatment of septic arthritis are
      not clearly defined. There is a very limited role for surgery in the management
      of acute haematogenous osteomyelitis.The ideal duration and mode of
      administration of antibiotic therapy for osteoarticular paediatric infection is
      not yet fully defined but there is increasing evidence that shorter courses
      (three weeks) and early conversion (day four) to oral administration is safe and
      effective in appropriate cases. Clear and concise antibiotic guidelines should be
      available based on local population characteristics, pathogens and their
      sensitivities.Kingella kingae is increasingly identified through polymerase chain
      reaction and is now recognised as the commonest pathogen in children aged under
      four years. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Panton-Valentine
      leukocidin-producing strains of Staph. aureus are being increasingly reported.A
      multidisciplinary integrated evidence-based approach is required to optimise
      outcomes.Further large-scale, multicentre studies are needed to delineate the
      optimal management of paediatric osteoarticular infection. Cite this article:
      EFORT Open Rev 2017;1:7-12. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.2.160027.

PMID- 28607766
TI  - Hallux rigidus.
AB  - An estimated 40% of the US population have foot problems.Of all patients aged
      over 50 years, 2.5% report degenerative arthritis of the first
      metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, termed 'hallux rigidus'. First MTP
      osteoarthritis is the most common arthritic condition in the foot.Progression of
      great toe arthritis is associated with pain and loss of motion. Non-surgical
      intervention begins with shoe modifications and orthotics designed to limit MTP
      motion.In patients with mild arthritis, operative procedures focus on removing
      excess osteophytes (cheilectomy) to prevent dorsal impingement with or without a
      concomitant osteotomy (Moberg) to improve or shift range of motion into a less
      painful arc.In patients with more advanced arthritis, operative management has
      centred on arthrodesis of the first MTP joint.A recent Level 1 study shows
      excellent function and pain relief with a small hydrogel hemi-implant into the
      metatarsal headMultiple joint-sparing procedures such as joint arthroplasty or
      resurfacing have been described with inconsistent results. Cite this article:
      EFORT Open Rev 2017;2:13-20. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.2.160031.

PMID- 28607767
TI  - Proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint replacements with pyrolytic carbon implants
      in the hand.
AB  - Until the late 1980s, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint reconstruction had
      been almost exclusively performed by the use of monobloc silicone spacers and
      associated with acceptable to good clinical outcomes.More recently, new materials
      such as metal-on-polyethylene and pyrocarbon implants were proposed, associated
      with good short-term and mid-term results.Pyrocarbon is a biologically inert and
      biocompatible material with a low tendency to wear. PIP pyrolytic implants are
      characterised by a graphite core, visible on radiographs and covered by a
      radiolucent outer layer of pyrocarbon.New surgical techniques and better patient
      selection with tailored rehabilitative protocols, associated with the knowledge
      arising from the long-term experience with pyrocarbon implants, has demonstrated
      noteworthy clinical outcomes over the years, as demonstrated by recent studies.
      Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2017;2:21-27. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.2.160041.

PMID- 28607768
TI  - Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for knee disorders.
AB  - Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous blood product with platelet
      concentrations above baseline values. The process involves the extraction of
      blood from the patient which is then centrifuged to obtain a concentrated
      suspension of platelets by plasmapheresis. It then undergoes a two-stage
      centrifugation process to separate the solid and liquid components of the
      anticoagulated blood. PRP owes its therapeutic use to the growth factors released
      by the platelets which are claimed to possess multiple regenerative properties.In
      the knee, PRP has been used in patients with articular cartilage pathology,
      ligamentous and meniscal injuries.There is a growing body of evidence to support
      its use in selected indications and this review looks at the most recent
      evidence. We also look at the current UK National Institute of Health & Clinical
      Excellence (NICE) guidelines with respect to osteoarthritis and the use of PRP in
      the knee. Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2017;2:28-34. DOI: 10.1302/2058
      5241.2.160004.

PMID- 28607771
TI  - Retrospective Study of Vitreous Tap Technique Using Needle Aspiration for
      Management of Shallow Anterior Chamber during Phacoemulsification.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the technique of vitreous tap using needle aspiration for
      management of anterior chamber shallowness during phacoemulsification. METHODS: A
      retrospective study included 26 eyes of 17 patients who underwent
      phacoemulsification in which vitreous tap was performed using a 27-gauge needle
      attached to a 5 ml syringe, inserted 3.5 mm from the limbus to aspirate 0.2 ml of
      liquefied vitreous if a cohesive (OVD) failed to sufficiently deepen the anterior
      chamber. RESULTS: Preoperative anterior chamber depth was 2.31 +/- 0.26 mm, axial
      length was 21.7 +/- 0.67 mm, lens thickness was 4.5 +/- .19 mm, and cataract
      grade was 3.77 +/- 1.4. Preoperative CDVA in LogMAR units was 0.98 +/- 0.75.
      Coexisting angle closure glaucoma was present in 7 patients (26.92%)
      preoperatively. Vitreous needle tap was successful in vitreous removal on the
      first attempt in 26 eyes (100%). Postoperative follow-up period was 22.88 +/-
      10.24 (4-39) months. The final postoperative CDVA in LogMAR units was 0.07 +/-
      0.1, while the final postoperative IOP was 16.54 +/- 1.45 mmHg. No complications
      related to vitreous tap were noted. CONCLUSION: Vitreous needle tap is a simple,
      cost-effective, and safe technique for management of shallow anterior chamber in
      phacoemulsification.

PMID- 28607770
TI  - Detailed Distribution of Corneal Epithelial Thickness and Correlated
      Characteristics Measured with SD-OCT in Myopic Eyes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the detailed distribution of corneal epithelial thickness
      in single sectors and its correlated characteristics in myopic eyes. METHODS: SD
      OCT was used to measure the corneal epithelial thickness distribution profile.
      Differences of corneal epithelial thickness between different parameters and some
      correlations of characteristics were calculated. RESULTS: The thickest and
      thinnest part of epithelium were found at the nasal-inferior sector (P < 0.05)
      and at the superior side (P < 0.05). respectively. Subjects in the low and
      moderate myopia groups have thicker epithelial thickness than those in the high
      myopia group (P < 0.05). Epithelial thickness was 1.39 MUm thicker in male
      subjects than in female subjects (P < 0.001). There was a slight negative
      correlation between corneal epithelial thickness and age (r = -0.13, P = 0.042).
      Weak positive correlations were found between corneal epithelial thickness and
      corneal thickness (r = 0.148, P = 0.031). No correlations were found between
      corneal epithelial thickness, astigmatism axis, corneal front curvature, and IOP.
      CONCLUSIONS: The epithelial thickness is not evenly distributed across the
      cornea. The thickest location of the corneal epithelium is at the nasal-inferior
      sector. People with high myopia tend to have thinner corneal epithelium than low
      moderate myopic patients. The corneal epithelial thickness is likely to be
      affected by some parameters, such as age, gender, and corneal thickness.

PMID- 28607772
TI  - Dark Signals in the Choroidal Vasculature on Optical Coherence Tomography
      Angiography: An Artefact or Not?
AB  - Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) based on mathematical processing
      of sequentially acquired structural OCT images has been applied widely in both
      retinal and choroidal research and may have advantages over traditional
      angiography. Images obtained by OCTA are rendered under the assumption that the
      only moving entity in the retina is blood flow. Optical phenomena and image
      processing algorithms may create imaging artefacts. Therefore, OCTA images
      require careful interpretation. This review discusses the dark signals seen in
      the choroidal vasculature on OCTA using multiple factor analysis. For accurate
      and comprehensive interpretation of the choroidal vasculature, we recommend
      simultaneous consideration of the laser light penetration depth and masking
      effect of retinal pigment epithelium, the orientation of vessels in relation to
      the scanning lasers and blood flow, the range of regional detectable velocity of
      blood flow, atrophic tissues in the periphery, and absorption of superior vessels
      on the scanning laser.

PMID- 28607774
TI  - A Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparison of Sonidegib and Vismodegib in Advanced
      Basal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Based on single-arm trial data (BOLT), sonidegib was approved in the
      US and EU to treat locally advanced basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) ineligible for
      curative surgery or radiotherapy. Vismodegib, the other approved targeted
      therapy, also was assessed in a single-arm trial (ERIVANCE). We examined the
      comparative effectiveness of the two drugs using a matching-adjusted indirect
      comparison (MAIC) versus an unadjusted indirect comparison. METHODS: After
      comparing trials and identifying potential prognostic factors, an MAIC was
      conducted to adjust for differences in key patient baseline characteristics. Due
      to BOLT's small sample size, the number of matching variables was restricted to
      two. Efficacy results for sonidegib were generated so that selected baseline
      characteristics matched those from ERIVANCE and were compared with published
      ERIVANCE results. RESULTS: Matching variables were baseline percentages of
      patients receiving prior radiotherapy and surgery. After weighting, sonidegib
      objective response rate (ORR) and median progression-free survival (PFS) were
      effectively unchanged (prematched versus postmatched ORR and PFS, 56.1% versus
      56.7% and 22.1 versus 22.1 months, resp.). Vismodegib's ORR and PFS were 47.6%
      and 9.5 months. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative effectiveness of sonidegib versus
      vismodegib remains unchanged after adjusting BOLT patient-level data to match
      published ERIVANCE baseline percentages of patients receiving prior surgery and
      radiotherapy.

PMID- 28607773
TI  - FTO Gene Associates and Interacts with Obesity Risk, Physical Activity, Energy
      Intake, and Time Spent Sitting: Pilot Study in a Nigerian Population.
AB  - Fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene influences obesity but studies have
      shown that environmental/lifestyle variables like physical activity (PA), time
      spent sitting (TSS), and energy intake might mediate the effect. However, this is
      poorly understood in Nigeria due to scarce studies. We demystified association
      and interaction between FTO rs9939609, obesity, PA, TSS, and energy intake in
      Nigeria. FTO gene variant was genotyped by restriction fragment length
      polymorphism and gene sequencing analysis in 103 people with obesity and 98
      controls. Anthropometrics and environmental variables were measured using
      standard procedures. Significant associations were found between FTO rs9939609
      with obesity and environmental/lifestyle variables before and after adjusting for
      age. Carriers of allele A have significantly higher odds of being
      overweight/obese using BMI [0.191 (0.102-0.361), p < 0.001] but this was
      attenuated by PA (p[interaction] = 0.029); odds of being overweight reduced from
      0.625 (0.181-2.159) to 0.082 (0.009-0.736) for low and high PA, respectively.
      Mediation analysis of total indirect effect also confirmed this by showing a
      simultaneous mediating role of total PA, energy intake, and TSS in the
      relationship between FTO and BMI (unstandardized-coefficient = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.26
      2.22). This study shows a relationship between FTO and obesity phenotype and
      environmental/lifestyle factors might be an important modulator/mediator in the
      association.

PMID- 28607777
TI  - Type A Quadricuspid Aortic Valve Infective Endocarditis Complicated by Multiple
      Aortocardiac Fistulae: Case Report and Brief Literature Review.
AB  - Aortocardiac fistulae (ACF) are exceptionally due to infective endocarditis; they
      are usually congenital, posttraumatic, or complicate aortic dissection. In
      infective endocarditis setting, their presence should prompt urgent surgery as
      patients can deteriorate rapidly. We report the case of a 78-year-old female
      patient with the first ever reported quadricuspid aortic valve infective
      endocarditis complicated by multiple aortocardiac fistulae. Additionally, we
      provide a brief review of ACF, in infective endocarditis and quadricuspid aortic
      valve.

PMID- 28607775
TI  - Obesity and Prognostic Variables in Colombian Breast Cancer Patients: A Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Obesity is an established risk factor for cancer and cancer-related
      deaths, including that of the breast. While the prevalence of female obesity has
      accelerated over the past decade in many developing countries, such as Colombia,
      the prevalence of overweight and obesity specifically in breast cancer
      populations has not been fully described. METHODS: A cross-sectional study
      including 849 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2009 and 2014. Based on
      body mass index, prevalence of overweight (BMI >= 25 < 30) and obesity (BMI >=
      30) and associations of BMI with clinical and tumor histopathological features
      were analyzed. RESULTS: Colombian breast cancer patients had a prevalence of
      overweight of 34.28% and obesity of 28.15%. Mean BMI was comparable between
      premenopausal and postmenopausal women (27.2 versus 27.7, resp.). Among
      premenopausal women, higher BMI was significantly positively associated with
      hormone receptor negative tumors, as well as with greater lymphovascular
      invasion. CONCLUSIONS: Colombian breast cancer patients exhibit a significant
      prevalence of overweight and obesity. Associations of high BMI and poor prognosis
      variables in the premenopausal population suggest risk of aggressive disease in
      this population. Future studies to further validate our observations are
      warranted in order to implement multidisciplinary clinical guidelines.

PMID- 28607778
TI  - Saphenovenous Graft Aneurysm: A Rare Complication of CABG.
AB  - Saphenovenous graft aneurysm is a rare complication of coronary artery bypass
      grafts that is likely underdiagnosed. It is typically asymptomatic, slow growing,
      and often diagnosed incidentally on angiography or following catastrophic
      rupture. There is no consensus on best management but PCI and surgery appear to
      have more favourable mortality outcomes relative to conservative management. We
      present the case of a 48-year-old male with a cardiovascular risk profile
      hallmarked by diabetes mellitus, end stage renal failure, recalcitrant
      hyperlipidaemia, and IHD previously treated with CABG. 11 years following his
      CABG, he was retrieved from remote Australia to a tertiary cardiology centre with
      stabbing chest pain. Serial cardiac enzymes were negative. Echocardiogram
      identified a mass compressing the right ventricular wall. Noncontrast coronary
      angiogram ultimately identified a large aneurysm at the proximal end of SVG to
      PDA. He was managed with aggressive risk factor modification prior to planned
      surgical intervention once medically optimized. His case supports the role of
      aggressive medical management combined with surgical intervention.

PMID- 28607776
TI  - Could LC-NE-Dependent Adjustment of Neural Gain Drive Functional Brain Network
      Reorganization?
AB  - The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system is thought to act at synaptic,
      cellular, microcircuit, and network levels to facilitate cognitive functions
      through at least two different processes, not mutually exclusive. Accordingly, as
      a reset signal, the LC-NE system could trigger brain network reorganizations in
      response to salient information in the environment and/or adjust the neural gain
      within its target regions to optimize behavioral responses. Here, we provide
      evidence of the co-occurrence of these two mechanisms at the whole-brain level,
      in resting-state conditions following a pharmacological stimulation of the LC-NE
      system. We propose that these two mechanisms are interdependent such that the LC
      NE-dependent adjustment of the neural gain inferred from the clustering
      coefficient could drive functional brain network reorganizations through
      coherence in the gamma rhythm. Via the temporal dynamic of gamma-range band
      limited power, the release of NE could adjust the neural gain, promoting
      interactions only within the neuronal populations whose amplitude envelopes are
      correlated, thus making it possible to reorganize neuronal ensembles, functional
      networks, and ultimately, behavioral responses. Thus, our proposal offers a
      unified framework integrating the putative influence of the LC-NE system on both
      local- and long-range adjustments of brain dynamics underlying behavioral
      flexibility.

PMID- 28607780
TI  - Homonymous Superior Quadrantanopia due to Erdheim-Chester Disease with
      Asymptomatic Pituitary Involvement.
AB  - Polyostotic sclerosing histiocytosis, also known as Erdheim-Chester disease
      (ECD), is a rare form of non-Langerhans histiocytosis. ECD has wide clinical
      spectrums which mainly affect skeletal, neurological, dermatological,
      retroperitoneal, cardiac, and pulmonary manifestations. Here we describe a case
      of ECD in a 45-year-old female who presented initially with bilateral knee pain
      and homonymous superior quadrantanopia progressed to ophthalmoplegia and complete
      visual loss of the left eye over a period of one year. Plain X-ray of both knees
      showed bilateral patchy sclerosis of the distal femur and upper parts of the
      tibiae. Initial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed bilateral enhancing
      masses in the temporal lobes anterior to the temporal horns, thickening of the
      pituitary stalk, partially empty sella, and involvement of the left cavernous
      sinus one year later. Our case is a peculiar case of ECD initially presented with
      unilateral homonymous superior quadrantanopia due to involvement of the visual
      apparatus in the mesial temporal lobe which progressed to unilateral
      ophthalmoplegia and total visual loss secondary to involvement of the cavernous
      sinus. Thus, the diagnosis of ECD should be kept in mind in the presence of
      bilateral bone sclerotic lesions.

PMID- 28607779
TI  - Thrombotic Microangiopathy Secondary to Intravenous Abuse of Opana(r) ER.
AB  - Opana ER (oxymorphone) is an opioid drug available throughout the United States,
      and intravenous abuse of the crushed oral formulation has been associated with
      drug-induced thrombotic microangiopathy. In this abstract, we describe two young
      patients who lived together and used Opana ER intravenously. Both presented with
      microangiopathic hemolytic anemia that mimicked thrombotic thrombocytopenic
      purpura (TTP). Treating this condition poses a clinical challenge, as it is
      difficult to distinguish it from TTP. The role for plasma exchange is not clear
      but can be used while awaiting the results of the ADAMTS-13 activity, but
      ultimately supportive care with drug discontinuation is the recommended therapy
      of choice. Patients should be counseled against Opana ER's intravenous use, and
      users should be offered drug rehabilitation therapy.

PMID- 28607781
TI  - Malignant Transformation of Mature Cystic Teratoma Diagnosed after a 10-Year
      Interval.
AB  - A 67-year-old uniparous woman had undergone surgery for acute perforated gastric
      ulcer 10 years prior to the current presentation. Although abdominal computed
      tomography (CT) performed at that point had revealed a mature cystic teratoma
      measuring 6 cm in diameter in the right ovary, it was left untreated. She visited
      the department of surgery at our hospital with chief complaints of appetite loss,
      nausea, and vomiting that had persisted for the prior two weeks. She was admitted
      with a diagnosis of ileus attributed to an abdominal incisional hernia. CT
      performed on admission revealed a tumor measuring 21 cm in diameter with mural
      nodules in the right ovary. Thus, surgery was performed under suspicion of
      malignant transformation of the previously detected ovarian mature cystic
      teratoma. While neither lymphadenopathy nor distant metastasis was detected by
      imaging studies, bilateral adnexectomy and repair of the abdominal incisional
      hernia were performed. Cytology of ascites was negative. The postoperative
      pathological diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma arising from teratoma, and the
      postoperative clinical diagnosis was stage IA ovarian cancer. It was assumed that
      the mature cystic teratoma which had been detected in the right ovary 10 years
      earlier had undergone malignant transformation.

PMID- 28607782
TI  - Placental Chorangiosis: Increased Risk for Cesarean Section.
AB  - We describe a patient with Class C diabetes who presented for nonstress testing
      at 36 weeks and 4 days of gestation with nonreassuring fetal heart tones (NRFHT)
      and oligohydramnios. Upon delivery, thrombosis of the umbilical cord was grossly
      noted. Pathological analysis of the placenta revealed chorangiosis, vascular
      congestion, and 40% occlusion of the umbilical vein. Chorangiosis is a vascular
      change of the placenta that involves the terminal chorionic villi. It has been
      proposed to result from longstanding, low-grade hypoxia in the placental tissue
      and has been associated with such conditions such as diabetes, intrauterine
      growth restriction (IUGR), and hypertensive conditions in pregnancy. To
      characterize chorangiosis and its associated obstetric outcomes we identified 61
      cases of "chorangiosis" on placental pathology at Henry Ford Hospital from 2010
      to 2015. Five of these cases were omitted due to lack of complete records. Among
      the 56 cases, the cesarean section rate was 51%, indicated in most cases for
      nonreassuring fetal status. Thus, we suggest that chorangiosis, a marker of
      chronic hypoxia, is associated with increased rates of cesarean sections for
      nonreassuring fetal status because of long standing hypoxia coupled with the
      stress of labor.

PMID- 28607783
TI  - Intramural Hematoma of the Esophagus Complicating Severe Preeclampsia.
AB  - Intramural hematoma of the esophagus is a rare injury causing esophageal mucosal
      dissection. Forceful vomiting and coagulopathy are common underlying causes in
      the elderly population taking antiplatelets or anticoagulation agents. Acute
      retrosternal pain followed by hematemesis and dysphagia differentiates the
      hematoma from other cardiac or thoracic emergencies, including acute myocardial
      infarction or aortic dissection. Direct inspection by endoscopy is useful, but
      chest computed tomography best assesses the degree of obliteration of the lumen
      and excludes other differential diagnoses. Intramural hematoma of the esophagus
      is generally benign and most patients recover fully with conservative treatment.
      Bleeding can be managed medically unless in hemodynamically unstable patients,
      for whom surgical or angiographic treatment may be attempted; only rarely
      esophageal obstruction requires endoscopic decompression. We report an unusual
      case of esophageal hematoma, presenting in a young preeclamptic woman after
      surgical delivery of a preterm twin pregnancy, with a favorable outcome following
      medical management.

PMID- 28607784
TI  - Use of Nonvascularized Autologous Fibular Strut Graft in the Treatment of Major
      Bone Defect after Periprosthetic Knee Fracture.
AB  - We present the case of a patient who suffered a comminuted supracondylar
      periprosthetic femur fracture. The patient was an 86-year-old lady who suffered a
      minor fall at home and presented at our hospital with a right comminuted distal
      femur fracture around a total knee arthroplasty. The patient was submitted to a
      cruciate-sacrificing total knee replacement 6 years before at the same
      institution. Despite severe metaphyseal fragmentation and short distal fragment,
      the prosthesis was stable; thus, open fracture reduction and stabilization with
      internal fixation were performed. The surgical technique included the use of a
      nonvascularized autologous fibular strut graft as an augmentation technique in
      conjunction with double plating fixation. Clinically, patient presented a
      painless aligned knee 12 months after femur fixation, although she was not able
      to return to an independent level of activity. No pain involving the donor graft
      site was reported at the time of the most recent follow-up examination. This case
      study demonstrates the use of free nonvascularized autogenous fibular strut bone
      graft as an option to bridge major bone defects. This proved to be a relatively
      simple, not expensive procedure that can be done percutaneously and does not need
      high-quality training.

PMID- 28607786
TI  - Proximal Tibial Epiphysis Fracture in a 13-Year-Old Male Athlete.
AB  - Fractures of the proximal epiphysis of the tibia are rare, representing 0.5 to
      3.0% of all epiphyseal injuries. These injuries can damage the popliteal vessels
      and their bifurcation, affecting the blood supply of the lower limb, as well as
      the nerves below the knee. Epiphyseal growth arrest is also a potential
      complication, leading to various angular deformities. We present a case of a 13
      year-old male athlete with a posteriorly displaced Salter-Harris type II fracture
      of the proximal epiphysis of the left tibia who was treated conservatively with
      closed reduction and cast immobilization.

PMID- 28607785
TI  - Pseudoaneurysm of the Anterior Tibial Artery following Ankle Arthroscopy in a
      Soccer Player.
AB  - Ankle arthroscopy carries a lower risk of vascular complications when standard
      anterolateral and anteromedial portals are used. However, the thickness of the
      fat pad at the anterior ankle affords little protection for the thin-walled
      anterior tibial artery, rendering it susceptible to indirect damage during
      procedures performed on the anterior ankle joint. To our knowledge, only 11 cases
      of pseudoaneurysm involving the anterior tibial artery after ankle arthroscopy
      have been described in the literature. Here we reported a rare case of a 19-year
      old soccer player who presented with pseudoaneurysm of the anterior tibial artery
      following ankle arthroscopy using an ankle distraction method and underwent
      anastomosis for the anterior tibial artery injury. Excessive distraction of the
      ankle puts the neurovascular structures at greater risk for iatrogenic injury of
      the anterior tibial artery during ankle arthroscopy. Surgeons should look
      carefully for postoperative ankle swelling and pain after ankle arthroscopy.

PMID- 28607787
TI  - Ipsilateral Rupture of Quadriceps Tendon with Distal Tibia Fracture: A Case
      Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Traumatic rupture of the quadriceps tendon by itself is not an uncommon clinical
      condition. However, its association with concurrent ipsilateral closed distal
      tibia oblique fracture is exceedingly rare with only one previously reported case
      in English literature. The dual diagnosis of this atypical combination of injury
      may be masked by pain and immobilization of the more obvious fracture and may be
      missed, unless the treating physician maintains a high index of suspicion.
      Suprapatellar knee pain with or without a palpable gap in the quadriceps tendon
      and inability to straight leg raise in the setting of a distal tibia fracture
      should raise concern, but if initial treatment employs a long-leg splint the knee
      symptoms may be muted. In this report, we describe this unusual combination of
      injury in a 67-year-old male patient who sustained a trivial twisting injury to
      the leg. The aim of this report is to raise awareness and emphasize the
      importance of thorough and repeated clinical examinations in the presence of
      distracting injuries. Despite the complexity of the problem, standard techniques
      for quadriceps tendon repair using transpatellar bone tunnels following locked
      intramedullary rodding of the tibia fracture may lead to optimal outcomes.

PMID- 28607788
TI  - A Case of Fracture-Redislocation of the Hip Caused by a Depressed Fracture of the
      Femoral Head Similar to a Hill-Sachs Lesion.
AB  - The present case shows a case of fracture-redislocation of the hip caused by a
      depressed fracture of the femoral head similar to a Hill-Sachs lesion. A 59-year
      old man fell from a roof and his left hip joint was dislocated posteriorly. He
      was admitted to a nearby hospital, and he was referred to our hospital more than
      24 hours after injury. Computed tomography (CT) suggested a bone chip from the
      posterior wall of the acetabulum roof and a depressed femoral head that cut into
      the posterior margin of the acetabulum roof. Immediate manual repositioning was
      performed under general anesthesia on the same day. He left our hospital to go
      home on day 26 after repositioning, but his left hip joint was dislocated again
      when he went down the stairs. It was thought that this patient's redislocation
      occurred due to a femoral head depressed fracture involving the same mechanism as
      the Hill-Sachs injury seen with dislocation of the shoulder. The remplissage
      method for the Hill-Sachs injury is difficult for the femoral head. Therefore,
      total hip replacement was performed, and the patient's postoperative course was
      good. We conclude that total hip arthroplasty should be considered as one of the
      best treatment methods for such cases.

PMID- 28607789
TI  - Unilateral Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome and Bilateral Endolymphatic
      Hydrops.
AB  - Enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA) syndrome is a common congenital inner ear
      malformation characterized by a vestibular aqueduct with a diameter larger than
      1.5 mm, mixed or sensorineural hearing loss that ranges from mild to profound,
      and vestibular disorders that may be present with a range from mild imbalance to
      episodic objective vertigo. In our study, we present the case of a patient with
      unilateral enlarged vestibular aqueduct and bilateral endolymphatic hydrops (EH).
      EH was confirmed through anamnestic history and audiological exams; EVA was
      diagnosed using high-resolution CT scans and MRI images. Therapy included
      intratympanic infusion of corticosteroids with a significant hearing improvement,
      more evident in the ear contralateral to EVA. Although most probably unrelated,
      EVA and EH may present with similar symptoms and therefore the diagnostic workup
      should always include the proper steps to perform a correct diagnosis.
      Association between progression of hearing loss and head trauma in patients with
      a diagnosis of EVA syndrome is still uncertain; however, these individuals should
      be advised to avoid activities that increase intracranial pressure to prevent
      further hearing deterioration. Intratympanic treatment with steroids is a safe
      and well-tolerated procedure that has demonstrated its efficacy in hearing,
      tinnitus, and vertigo control in EH.

PMID- 28607790
TI  - Sporadic Retroperitoneal Hemangioblastoma: Report of a Case and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - We report a case of sporadic isolated hemangioblastoma arising from the
      retroperitoneum and provide a review of the scarce literature regarding this very
      rare tumor. Furthermore, we thoroughly describe the pathologic features and the
      broad differential diagnosis that should always be included in the study of any
      retroperitoneal soft tissue mass to arrive at the final diagnosis.

PMID- 28607791
TI  - Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma: A Rare Condition in an Uncommon
      Gender.
AB  - Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma (BMPM) is a rare condition that arises
      from the abdominal peritoneum. Fewer than 200 cases have been reported worldwide.
      BMPM usually affects premenopausal women and is extremely rare in men. Many
      factors are suspected to contribute to its development, such as previous surgery,
      endometriosis, and familial Mediterranean fever. The main management is surgical
      resection; however, it is estimated that the recurrence rate is up to 50%.
      Malignant transformation is rare. We report a case series of three male patients
      who were diagnosed with BMPM and were treated with cytoreductive surgery and
      hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).

PMID- 28607792
TI  - A Constellation of Rare Findings in a Case of Goldenhar Syndrome.
AB  - An 18-month-old child presented with right macrostomia, bilateral preauricular
      skin tags, bilateral CTEV, squint in bilateral eyes, thoracic vertebral
      anomalies, right sided aortic arch, and associated left pulmonary agenesis. The
      patient did not have any associated respiratory symptoms. Ipsilateral pulmonary
      agenesis is considered as a rare association with Goldenhar syndrome and a case
      of contralateral pulmonary aplasia has been described as an even rarer
      association.

PMID- 28607793
TI  - The Case of Reactive Arthritis Secondary to Echinococcus Infestation.
AB  - Reactive arthritis is an inflammatory joint disease that develops after an
      infection and it usually occurs following a gastrointestinal or genitourinary
      system infection and it belongs to the family of arthritis called
      "spondyloarthritis." We wanted to represent a rare case of reactive arthritis
      secondary to Echinococcus infestation. Cyst hydatid disease is common in endemic
      regions like Turkey. Internal organ involvements, especially liver and lung, are
      most frequent involvements. Primary bone involvement is rare complication of
      Echinococcus infestation. In our case, the patient with Echinococcus infection
      developed right knee arthritis and sacroiliitis. Other reactive and
      oligoarthritis causes were excluded and diagnosis of reactive arthritis secondary
      to cyst hydatid infestation was done with the present findings. Cold pack and
      TENS treatment were applied as symptomatic treatment to the right knee of the
      patient. Acemetacin was given as medical treatment. On the 5th day of treatment,
      right knee and ankle arthritis were clinically regressed. In regions where the
      disease is seen as endemic, such as Turkey, patients with musculoskeletal
      symptoms should consider the possibility of musculoskeletal involvement due to
      the hydatid cyst.

PMID- 28607795
TI  - Recurrent Lateral Ventricular Enterogenous Cyst: A Report of an Extreme Rare
      Case.
AB  - The patient was a 45-year-old man with a progressive headache. Evaluation in
      detail revealed it as a case of left lateral ventricular space occupying lesion
      (SOL) resembling choroid plexus papilloma. A left parietal craniotomy was done
      and the lesion was removed completely through intraparietal approach. Surgical
      removal resulted in complete symptomatic relief. Histopathology revealed that it
      was a case of the enterogenous cyst. One year after surgery, the patient again
      experienced the same symptom and the images revealed recurrence of the lesion.
      The patient has undergone 2nd surgery and histopathology was the same as before.
      The patient was given radiotherapy and now he is completely relieved and well.
      Although intracranial enterogenous cyst is not uncommon, intraventricular
      enterogenous cyst as well as recurrent intraventricular enterogenous cyst is a
      rare entity.

PMID- 28607794
TI  - A Rare Case of Vasculitis Patched Necrosis of Cecum due to Behcet's Disease.
AB  - Isolated cecal necrosis is a rare form of acute ischemic colitis and a rare cause
      of surgical abdomen. Behcet's disease is a multisystemic autoimmune condition
      which can induce vasculitis. This can result in cecal necrosis while disease
      involves colon vessels. We describe a patient with complicated Behcet's disease
      and ischemic colitis admitted to our hospital. Patient was a 62-year-old female
      with more accompanying diseases. Histopathologic findings confirmed the diagnosis
      of ischemic colitis and regarding patient's vision problem and skin lesions,
      rheumatologic tests were performed which were positive for HLAB5 and HLAB51
      suggestive of Behcet's disease; the patient was improved with surgery. Abdominal
      pain can indicate a disease with vascular involvement like Behcet's disease,
      especially in the presence of other clinical findings suggestive of the disease
      including blurred vision and skin lesions. An abdominal computerized tomography
      (CT) scan is very diagnostic in the same patients.

PMID- 28607796
TI  - Acutely Obstructed Airway Resulting from Complications of a Laryngopyocoele.
AB  - Laryngocoeles are rare cystic dilatations of the laryngeal ventricle. Obstruction
      of its outlet can cause entrapment of mucus and superimposed infection causes a
      laryngopyocoele. Such presentations, although rare, have potential to cause
      airway obstruction. A 67-year-old lady presented with a one-week history of
      hoarseness and shortness of breath. On examination, she was stridulous and had
      fullness of the left side of the neck. Nasendoscopy revealed large bilateral
      vocal cord polyps and near-complete glottis obstruction. She was taken to
      emergency theatre for restoration of a viable airway. Upon excision of the
      polyps, pus was visualised originating from the laryngeal ventricle. Literature
      proposes that laryngocoeles develop secondary to a one-way valve caused by an
      obstructing lesion distorting the saccule neck. We propose that the laryngocoele
      developed secondary to large obstructing polyps. Urgent excision of the polyps
      allowed decompression of the laryngopyocoele and reestablishment of a patent
      airway.

PMID- 28607797
TI  - Hyper IgE Syndrome and Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Hyper IgE Syndrome (HIES) is an immunodeficiency disorder characterized by
      increased serum levels of IgE, eczema, and recurrent cutaneous and pulmonary
      infections. In this report, we present, to our knowledge, the first documented
      case of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) found in a patient with HIES. The patient
      received infectious disease clearance prior to obtaining a partial nephrectomy
      which revealed clear cell histology. Both HIES and RCC have an immunological
      basis for their pathophysiology and may involve common pathways. Further studies
      may provide insight into any possible link and clinicians should be mindful of
      immunocompromised patients who present with risk factors for genitourinary
      malignancy.

PMID- 28607798
TI  - Caregiver Burden in Alcohol Dependence Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcoholism is a major threat to the individual as well as the society
      and the maximum burden of the illness is borne by the family. AIM: The study is
      aimed at assessing the pattern of burden on the caregivers of alcohol dependent
      patients and at assessing the relationship between the severity of dependence and
      the burden on caregivers. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study
      conducted in the Department of Psychiatry, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and
      Research Institute. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional assessment was done
      in 200 patients with alcohol dependence and their caregivers. The severity of
      dependence and the pattern of burden on caregivers were assessed. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS: The data thus collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS:
      The study demonstrates that caregivers of alcohol dependent patients reported
      significant objective burden and subjective burden. Furthermore, the severity of
      alcohol dependence and the domains of burden such as financial burden, disruption
      of family interaction, and disruption of family routine activities were
      positively correlated with high level of significance. CONCLUSION: The current
      study has illustrated that all the caregivers experienced significant amount of
      burden which has to be addressed for better treatment outcome of the patients.

PMID- 28607799
TI  - Major Polymorphisms of Genes Involved in Homocysteine Metabolism in Malaria
      Patients in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
AB  - This study analyzed the four main polymorphisms of the genes in homocysteine
      metabolism in malaria patients. Forty-two randomly selected subjects, diagnosed
      positive for Plasmodium falciparum, were included. The four genotypes were
      detected by real-time PCR using the MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, MTR 2756A>G, and
      MTRR 66A>G detection kit (Sacace Biotechnologies REF: T01002-96-S). The results
      revealed frequencies of 90% 677CC, 10% 677CT, and 00% 677TT for MTHFR C677T;
      78.6% 1298AA, 19% 1298AC, and 2.4% 1298CC for MTHFR A1298C; 61.9% 2756AA, 33.3%
      2756AG, and 4.8% 2756GG for MTR A2756G; and 50% of 66AA, 45% of 66AG, and 5% of
      66GG for MTRR A66G. Correlations were found between A2756G MTR genotypes and
      parasitaemia (P = 0.02), MTRR A66G and hemoglobin genotypes (P = 0.009), and
      MTHFR A1298C and sex (P = 0.01). This study demonstrated for the first time an
      association between the A2756G MTR alleles and Plasmodium falciparum malaria in
      Burkina Faso and gave an overview of the genotypic distribution of the major SNPs
      influencing the metabolism of homocysteine.

PMID- 28607800
TI  - Effect of a Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulation on Cell Survival and
      Apoptosis of MPP+-Treated MES 23.5 Dopaminergic Cells.
AB  - Progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) is
      implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD). The efficacy of these currently used
      drugs is limited while traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used in the
      management of neurodegenerative diseases for many years. This study was designed
      to evaluate the effect of a modified traditional Chinese herbal medicine
      decoction, Cong Rong Jing (CRJ), on cell survival and apoptosis of 1-methyl-4
      phenylpyridinium- (MPP+-) treated MES23.5 dopaminergic cells. CRJ was prepared as
      a decoction from three Chinese herbs, namely, Herba Cistanches, Herba Epimedii,
      and Rhizoma Polygonati. We reported here that CRJ significantly enhanced the cell
      survival of MES23.5 cells after the exposure of MPP+ and inhibited the production
      of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by MPP+. CRJ also
      prevented the MPP+-treated MES23.5 cells from apoptosis by reducing the
      externalization of phosphatidylserine and enhancing the Bcl-2/Bax protein
      expression ratio. Signaling proteins such as JAK2, STAT3, and ERK1/2 were also
      involved in the action of CRJ. Taken together, these results provide a
      preliminary mechanism to support clinical application of the TCM formulation in
      PD and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases associated with ROS injury and
      apoptosis.

PMID- 28607801
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of Motor Status in Parkinson's Disease Using Wearable
      Devices: From Methodological Considerations to Problems in Clinical Applications.
AB  - Long-term and objective monitoring is necessary for full assessment of the
      condition of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent advances in
      biotechnology have seen the development of various types of wearable (body-worn)
      sensor systems. By using accelerometers and gyroscopes, these devices can
      quantify motor abnormalities, including decreased activity and gait disturbances,
      as well as nonmotor signs, such as sleep disturbances and autonomic dysfunctions
      in PD. This review discusses methodological problems inherent in wearable
      devices. Until now, analysis of the mean values of motion-induced signals on a
      particular day has been widely applied in the clinical management of PD patients.
      On the other hand, the reliability of these devices to detect various events,
      such as freezing of gait and dyskinesia, has been less than satisfactory.
      Quantification of disease-specific changes rather than nonspecific changes is
      necessary.

PMID- 28607802
TI  - Developmental pathways associated with cancer metastasis: Notch, Wnt, and
      Hedgehog.
AB  - Master developmental pathways, such as Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog, are signaling
      systems that control proliferation, cell death, motility, migration, and
      stemness. These systems are not only commonly activated in many solid tumors,
      where they drive or contribute to cancer initiation, but also in primary and
      metastatic tumor development. The reactivation of developmental pathways in
      cancer stroma favors the development of cancer stem cells and allows their
      maintenance, indicating these signaling pathways as particularly attractive
      targets for efficient anticancer therapies, especially in advanced primary tumors
      and metastatic cancers. Metastasis is the worst feature of cancer development.
      This feature results from a cascade of events emerging from the hijacking of
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition, angiogenesis, migration, and invasion by
      transforming cells and is associated with poor survival, drug resistance, and
      tumor relapse. In the present review, we summarize and discuss experimental data
      suggesting pivotal roles for developmental pathways in cancer development and
      metastasis, considering the therapeutic potential. Emerging targeted
      antimetastatic therapies based on Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog pathways are also
      discussed.

PMID- 28607803
TI  - Cellular immunity augmentation in mainstream oncologic therapy.
AB  - Anticancer immunotherapy has undergone a long evolving journey for decades, and
      has been dramatically applied to mainstream treatments in oncology in recent 5
      years. This progress represents an advanced milestone following cytotoxic
      medicine and targeted therapy. Cellular immunity plays a pivotal role in the
      immune responses of hosts to tumor antigens. Such immunity is notably suppressed
      during neoplastic progression due to immuno-editing processes. Cellular immunity
      can also be selectively re-activated to combat malignancies while exploiting the
      advantages of contemporary scientific breakthroughs in molecular immunology and
      genetic engineering. The rapid advancement of cellular immunity-based therapeutic
      approaches has achieved high efficacy in certain cancer patients. Consequently,
      the landscape of oncologic medicine and pharmaceutical innovation has transformed
      recently. In this regard, we present a comprehensive update on clinically
      established anti-cancer treatments with cell immunity augmentation as the major
      mechanism of action.

PMID- 28607805
TI  - Simplified microsatellite instability detection protocol provides equivalent
      sensitivity to robust detection strategies in Lynch syndrome patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: : Germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes cause Lynch
      syndrome (LS). LS is an inherited disease, and an important consequence of MMR
      deficiency is microsatellite instability (MSI) phenotype. MSI phenotype
      influences the efficacy of 5 fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy. Reproducible, cost
      effective, and easy to perform laboratory tests are required to include MSI
      detection in routine laboratory practice. Evaluation of CAT25 as monomorphic
      short tandem repeat sequence enables CAT25 to be an efficient screening tool
      among hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) patients compared with
      other methods used currently. METHODS: : Based on Amsterdam II criteria, 31
      patients in 31 families were shortlisted from a total number of 1,659 colorectal
      cancer patients. MSI status was examined in these patients using CAT25 and a
      commercially available Promega MSI five-marker-based detection system as well as
      immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of four important MMR proteins. Patients were
      scored as high microsatellite instable (MSI-H), low (MSI-L), or stable (MSS). MSI
      status determined by CAT25 single mononucleotide marker was compared with that of
      five mononucleotide markers, Promega commercial kit, and IHC method. RESULTS: :
      MMR protein deficiency was observed on 7/31 probands using IHC methodology and
      6/31 categorized as MSI-H using commercial kit or CAT25 single marker. The
      sensitivity and specificity of the CAT25 single marker were the same as those
      detected by five-marker Promega commercial kit in our patients. CONCLUSIONS: :
      Based on our results, the performance of the CAT25 single mononucleotide marker
      for MSI status determination in our HNPCC patients is the same as that of the
      five-marker-based commercial kit.

PMID- 28607804
TI  - Mesenchymal stromal cells' role in tumor microenvironment: involvement of
      signaling pathways.
AB  - Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are adult multipotent stem cells residing as
      pericytes in various tissues and organs where they can differentiate into
      specialized cells to replace dying cells and damaged tissues. These cells are
      commonly found at injury sites and in tumors that are known to behave like "
      wounds that do not heal." In this article, we discuss the mechanisms of MSCs in
      migrating, homing, and repairing injured tissues. We also review a number of
      reports showing that tumor microenvironment triggers plasticity mechanisms in
      MSCs to induce malignant neoplastic tissue formation, maintenance, and
      chemoresistance, as well as tumor growth. The antitumor properties and
      therapeutic potential of MSCs are also discussed.

PMID- 28607806
TI  - Significance of stromal-1 and stromal-2 signatures and biologic prognostic model
      in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: : Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is a heterogeneous group of
      tumors with different biological and clinical characteristics that have diverse
      clinical outcomes and response to therapy. Stromal-1 signature of tumor
      microenvironment of DLBCL represents extracellular matrix deposition and
      histiocytic infiltrate, whereas stromal-2 represents angiogenesis that could
      affect tumor progression. METHODS: : The aim of the present study is to assess
      the significance of stromal-1 signature using SPARC-1 and stromal-2 signature
      using CD31 expression and then finally to construct biologic prognostic model
      (BPM) in 60 cases of DLBCL via immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: : Microvessel
      density (P<0.05) and SPARC percentage of expression (P<0.001) were higher in
      DLBCL, including germinal and nongerminal cases, compared with reactive
      follicular hyperplasia. High microvessel density was significantly associated
      with splenic involvement (P=0.008), high mitotic count (P=0.045), and presence of
      capsular invasion (P=0.035). Percentage of SPARC expression was significantly
      associated with splenic involvement (P=0.03). Constructing BPM showed that 42
      cases (70%) were of low biologic score (0-1) and 18 cases (30%) were of high
      biologic score (2-3). Low BPM cases showed less probability for splenic
      involvement (P=0.04) and a higher rate of complete response to therapy compared
      with high score cases (P=0.08). CONCLUSIONS: : The DLBCL microenvironment could
      modulate tumor progression behavior since angiogenesis and SPARC positive stromal
      cells promote dissemination by association with spleen involvement and capsular
      invasion. Biologic prognostic models, including modified BPM, which considered
      cell origin of DLBCL and stromal signature pathways, could determine DLBCL
      progression and response to therapy.

PMID- 28607807
TI  - Immunohistochemical evaluation of vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression in
      cutaneous melanoma tissues and four VDR gene polymorphisms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: : Vitamin D receptor (VDR) mediates vitamin D activity. We examined
      whether VDR expression in excised melanoma tissues is associated with VDR gene
      (VDR) polymorphisms. METHODS: : We evaluated VDR protein expression (by
      monoclonal antibody immunostaining), melanoma characteristics, and carriage of
      VDR-FokI-rs2228570 (C>T),VDR-BsmI-rs1544410 (G>A),VDR-ApaI-rs7975232 (T>G),
      andVDR-TaqI-rs731236 (T>C) polymorphisms (by restriction fragment length
      polymorphism). Absence or presence of restriction site was denoted by a capital
      or lower letter, respectively: " F" and " f" for FokI, " B" and " b" for BsmI, "
      A" and " a" for ApaI, and " T" and " t" for TaqI endonuclease. Seventy-four
      Italian cutaneous primary melanomas (52.1+/-12.7 years old) were studied; 51.4%
      were stage I, 21.6% stage II, 13.5% stage III, and 13.5% stage IV melanomas. VDR
      expression was categorized as follows: 100% positivevs. <100%; over the median
      20% (high VDR expression) vs. <=20% (low VDR expression); absence vs. presence of
      VDR-expressing cells. RESULTS: : Stage I melanomas, Breslow thickness of <1.00
      mm, level II Clark invasion, Aa heterozygous genotype, and AaTT combined genotype
      were more frequent in melanomas with high vs. low VDR expression. Combined
      genotypes BbAA, bbAa, AATt, BbAATt, and bbAaTT were more frequent in 100% vs.
      <100% VDR-expressing cells. Combined genotype AATT was more frequent in melanomas
      lacking VDR expression (odds ratio=14.5; P=0.025). VDR expression was not
      associated with metastasis, ulceration, mitosis >1, regression, tumor
      infiltrating lymphocytes, tumoral infiltration of vascular tissues, additional
      skin and non-skin cancers, and melanoma familiarity. CONCLUSIONS: : We
      highlighted that VDR polymorphisms can affect VDR expression in excised melanoma
      cells. Low VDR expression in AATT carriers is a new finding that merits further
      study. VDR expression possibly poses implications for vitamin D supplementation
      against melanoma. VDR expression and VDR genotype may become precise medicinal
      tools for melanoma in the future.

PMID- 28607809
TI  - Rapid response of brain metastasis to crizotinib in a patient with KLC1-ALK
      fusion and MET gene amplification positive non-small cell lung cancer: a case
      report.
AB  - Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ranks as the leading cause of cancer-related
      death in the world. Brain metastasis (BM) is a common complication of NSCLC, with
      25%-40% of patients developing BM during the course of the disease. A significant
      strategy of local disease control in the central nervous system is radiation
      therapy. With the development of precision medicine, the concept of treating lung
      cancer BM has gradually changed. In this case, we performed a surgical procedure
      to obtain enough tumor tissue for the detection of the target gene and other
      related experiments after the patient was informed. Finally, we found that the
      patient had both hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET) gene amplification and
      kinesin light chain 1-anaplastic lymphoma kinase fusion (KLC1-ALK) through next
      generation sequencing and showed sensitivity to the targeted therapy of
      crizotinib. The patient exhibited good response. Our case was successful and
      underwent targeted therapy with the guidance of precise diagnosis.

PMID- 28607810
TI  - Aggressive primary hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: a case report and
      literature review.
AB  - A new case of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is reported to have occurred to a
      67-year-old patient who consulted for right-sided chest pain. The work-up showed
      multiple right pulmonary lesions associated with bilateral moderate pleural
      effusion and left-sided pleural thickening and three hypodense nodules in the
      right lobe of the liver, peritoneal thickening, ascites, and multiple vertebral
      lytic lesions. The diagnosis of an epithelioid hemangioendothelioma was concluded
      through a histological examination of a computed tomography scan guided biopsy of
      the liver. The patient received a primary mono-chemotherapy with Adriamycin (75
      mg/m2 every three weeks) and intravenous bisphosphonates without response and
      general status impairment. The patient died after 16 months of follow-up.

PMID- 28607808
TI  - Concomitant-chemoradiotherapy-associated oral lesions in patients with oral
      squamous-cell carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: : Oral squamous-cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for >90% of oral
      cancers affecting adults mostly between the fourth to seventh decades of life.
      The most common OSCC treatment is concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) having
      both loco-regional and distant control, but CCRT has acute and chronic toxic
      effects on adjacent normal tissue. This study aimed to determine the side effects
      of CCRT on the oral mucosa and to characterize the clinicopathology of oral
      lesions in patients with OSCC. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study
      was certified by the Ethical Review Committee (UHS/Education/126-12/2728) of the
      University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. OSSC patients (n=81) with
      various histological subtypes, grades, and stages were recruited, and findings on
      their oral examination were recorded. These patients received 70, 90, and 119 Gy
      of radiotherapy dosages in combination with the chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and
      5-fluorouracil. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. RESULTS: : The most common
      presentation of OSCC was a nonhealing ulcer (63%) involving tongue (55.6%).
      Clinical findings included mucositis (92.6%) and xerostomia of mild, moderate,
      and severe degrees in 11.1%, 46.9%, and 35.8% cases, respectively. Ulcers
      (87.7%), palpable lymph nodes (64.2%), limited mouth opening (64.2%) and fistula
      (40.7%) were also observed. In females, the association of radiotherapy dosage
      with limited mouth opening, xerostomia, and histological grading was
      statistically significant (P<0.05). The association of chemotherapy drugs with
      xerostomia (P=0.003) was also statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: : CCRT
      induced mucositis, xerostomia, and trismus in patients with OSCC.

PMID- 28607811
TI  - Prognosis of gestational choriocarcinoma diagnosed incidentally during
      laparoscopy for a presumed cornual pregnancy: a report of five cases.
AB  - The clinical presentations of gestational choriocarcinoma vary markedly, and a
      misdiagnosis could be made in atypical patients if simply relying on clinical
      features. Laparoscopic resection of uterine mass lesion is rarely used in
      gestational choriocarcinoma diagnosis because of the fear of heavy blood loss and
      distant metastasis. Five patients who were preoperatively diagnosed as having
      cornual pregnancy underwent laparoscopic resection of mass lesion and then proved
      to have gestational choriocarcinoma based on pathological examinations.
      Chemotherapy was started within two days after surgery, and the rate of complete
      remission was 100%. The mean follow-up time was 29.8+/-19.1 months, and no
      patient showed signs of relapse. Laparoscopic resection of uterine mass followed
      by timely postoperative chemotherapy may be an effective and safe way to obtain
      pathologic results in patients with suspected gestational choriocarcinoma.

PMID- 28607812
TI  - Littoral-cell angioma of the spleen: a case report.
AB  - Littoral-cell angioma (LCA), a primary angioma which clinically belongs to
      splenic hemangioma, can be mostly found in normal spleen red sinus shore cells of
      reticuloendothelial cell system. The cells of LCA strongly express endothelial
      and tissue cell associated antigens that indicate a dual differentiation
      characteristic; whereas only endothelial cell markers are positive in normal
      spleen red sinus shore cells. Diagnosis of LCA relies on histopathology. Regular
      follow-up is needed to monitor recurrence and metastasis.

PMID- 28607813
TI  - Differential involvement of Wnt signaling in Bmp regulation of cancellous versus
      periosteal bone growth.
AB  - Bone morphogenetic proteins (Bmp) are well-known to induce bone formation
      following chondrogenesis, but the direct role of Bmp signaling in the osteoblast
      lineage is not completely understood. We have recently shown that deletion of the
      receptor Bmpr1a in the osteoblast lineage with Dmp1-Cre reduces osteoblast
      activity in general but stimulates proliferation of preosteoblasts specifically
      in the cancellous bone region, resulting in diminished periosteal bone growth
      juxtaposed with excessive cancellous bone formation. Because expression of
      sclerostin (SOST), a secreted Wnt antagonist, is notably reduced in the Bmpr1a
      deficient osteocytes, we have genetically tested the hypothesis that increased
      Wnt signaling might mediate the increase in cancellous bone formation in response
      to Bmpr1a deletion. Forced expression of human SOST from a Dmp1 promoter fragment
      partially rescues preosteoblast hyperproliferation and cancellous bone overgrowth
      in the Bmpr1a mutant mice, demonstrating functional interaction between Bmp and
      Wnt signaling in the cancellous bone compartment. To test whether increased Wnt
      signaling can compensate for the defect in periosteal growth caused by Bmpr1a
      deletion, we have generated compound mutants harboring a hyperactive mutation
      (A214V) in the Wnt receptor Lrp5. However, the mutant Lrp5 does not restore
      periosteal bone growth in the Bmpr1a-deficient mice. Thus, Bmp signaling
      restricts cancellous bone accrual partly through induction of SOST that limits
      preosteoblast proliferation, but promotes periosteal bone growth apparently
      independently of Wnt activation.

PMID- 28607814
TI  - Chiari I malformation and syringomyelia in mucopolysaccharidosis type I (Hurler
      syndrome) treated with posterior fossa decompression: Case report and review of
      the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hurler Syndrome is the most severe phenotype of mucopolysaccharidosis
      type I. With bone marrow transplant and enzyme replacement therapy, the life
      expectancy of a child with Hurler syndrome has been extended, predisposing them
      to multiple musculoskeletal issues most commonly involving the spine. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: This is the case report of a 6-year-old male with Hurler syndrome
      who was diagnosed with Chiari I malformation and cervicothoracic syringomyelia on
      a preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for his thoracolumbar kyphosis.
      This report details the successful management of a Chiari I malformation and
      syringomyelia with posterior fossa decompression in a child with Hurler syndrome.
      CONCLUSION: Children born with MPS I can have complex spine issues that require
      surgical management. The most common orthopedic spinal condition for these
      patients, thoracolumbar kyphosis, requires evaluation with an MRI before
      performing surgery. This resulted in the diagnosis of a Chiari I malformation and
      syringomyelia in our patient with Hurler syndrome. This was successfully treated
      with decompression of the posterior fossa.

PMID- 28607816
TI  - Recurrence case of rare scalp dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: Two case reports
      of a wide radical excision, craniectomy bone involvement followed by cranioplasty
      and reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare low-grade sarcoma of
      the fibroblast originating from the dermal layer of the skin, characterized by a
      locally aggressive growth and high rate of local recurrence. CASE DESCRIPTION:
      Two patients underwent a wide radical excision of recurrent scalp DFSP which was
      reconstructed with translational skin flap and split-thickness skin graft. We
      described above cases several years ago with a local excision of the tumor;
      recently, they developed local recurrence of DFSP with calvarial involvement. We
      then performed a wide radical excision, with craniectomy of the cranial defect
      followed by cranioplasty using titanium mesh, continuing with reconstruction.
      CONCLUSION: A successful treatment and management depends on achieving local
      control and preventing cosmetic and functional deficit; all efforts should be
      made for complete excision. Postoperative follow-up recommended for highly
      suspicious cases and annual checkups should be performed up to 5 years after
      definitive therapy.

PMID- 28607815
TI  - Vertebroplasty for vertebral compression fractures: Placebo or effective?
AB  - Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are a major cause of pain and disability.
      Here, we reviewed six randomized control trials (RCTs) focusing on the efficacy
      vs. placebo effect of vertebroplasty (VP) for symptomatic VCF. Four RCTs involved
      a nonsurgically treated control group. Two RCTs compared the use of VP vs. a sham
      surgery control group. Notably, RCTs comparing nonsurgically treated patients as
      a control group vs. those undergoing VP uniformly reported that VP contributed to
      improved pain relief. In contrast, RCTs comparing sham surgery vs. VP uniformly
      reported no significant differences between the two groups.

PMID- 28607817
TI  - A rare case report of mixed olfactory neuroblastoma: Carcinoma with review of
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) is a rare malignant neuroectodermal
      tumor of the nasal cavity. Mixed olfactory neuroblastoma which contains areas of
      divergent differentiation is even rare. Till date, only 4 cases of mixed
      olfactory neuroblastomas have been reported. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report the case
      of a 46-year-old male who presented with the chief complaints of nasal bleeding
      and nasal obstruction since 4 months. Radiological imaging was suggestive of a
      large heterogeneous mass in the left superior nasal cavity with extensions into
      bilateral maxillary, ethmoidal, and sphenoidal sinuses, as well as into the
      anterior cranial fossa. Bifrontal osteoplastic craniotomy and excision of the
      intracranial part of the tumor from above and transnasal endoscopic removal of
      the mass in the nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses from below was done.
      Postoperative radiological imaging was suggestive of gross complete excision of
      the mass. Histopathological diagnosis was "mixed olfactory neuroblastoma
      carcinoma (squamous and glandular differentiation) Hyams grade IV." On
      immunohistochemistry, the tumor cells were positive for neuron specific enolase
      (NSE), synaptophysin, chromogranin, and CD56 and peripherally for S100. Because
      of personal reasons, the patient did not take adjuvant radiotherapy. He presented
      again after 2 months with a full blown recurrence of esthesioneuroblastoma with
      similar extensions as before. The patient is now planned for salvage surgery
      followed by adjuvant chemoradiation. CONCLUSION: We report the 5th case in the
      world of mixed olfactory neuroblastoma-carcinoma with squamous and glandular
      differentiation. From an analysis of the findings in the 5 reported cases of
      mixed olfactory neuroblastomas, one might infer that a separate subcategory of
      ONB, i.e., mixed ONB, should be considered because mixed ONBs have an aggressive
      behavior, high rates of recurrence, and these tumors should be treated
      aggressively by multimodality treatment.

PMID- 28607818
TI  - Physical and electrical characterization of TexasPEG: An electrically conductive
      neuronal scaffold.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Graphene and its derivatives have been shown to be biocompatible and
      electrically active materials upon which neurons readily grow. The fusogen
      poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) has been shown to improve outcomes after cervical and
      dorsal spinal cord transection. The long and narrow PEGylated graphene nanoribbon
      stacks (PEG-GNRs) with their 5 MUm * 200 nm * 10 nm dimensions can provide a
      scaffold upon which neurons can grow and fuse. We disclose here the extensive
      characterization data for the PEG-GNRs. METHODS: PEG-GNRs were chemically
      synthesized and chemically and electrically characterized. RESULTS: The average
      aspect ratio of the PEG-GNRs was determined to be ~85, which corresponds to a
      critical percolation value (the point where insulating material becomes
      conductive by addition of conductive particles) of 1%. However, there was not a
      sharp increase in AC conductivity at frequencies relevant to action potentials.
      CONCLUSION: A robust characterization of PEG-GNRs is discussed, though the
      precise origin of efficacy in improving outcomes following spinal cord
      transection is not known.

PMID- 28607819
TI  - mTOR activation is increased in pilocytic astrocytomas from older adults compared
      with children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that the behavior and biology of WHO grade I
      pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) in adults is different than that associated with
      grade I PAs in children. METHODS: We evaluated Ki-67 labeling, BRAF
      abnormalities, isocitrate dehydrogenase R132 immunoreactivity phosphorylation
      (activation) of p44/42 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), and mammalian
      target of rapamycin (mTOR) in formalin-fixed tissue from 21 adult (18 years or
      older, mean age 37 years) and 10 children (mean age 9.4 years) WHO grade I PAs.
      RESULTS: The mean Ki-67 labeling was 4.8% in adults and 3.8% in children. There
      was no significant difference between Ki-67 labeling in children and adults or
      either subgroups of adults. No differences were found in phospho p44/42MAPK in
      adult subgroups (18-33 years and 34 and older) compared to children.
      Activation/phosphorylation of mTOR was biphasic in adults being significantly
      lower than children in young adults but significantly higher than children in
      older adults (age 34 and older). CONCLUSIONS: Identifying mTOR
      phosphorylation/activation may represent a difference in biology and a new marker
      to guide chemotherapy with recently approved mTOR inhibitors.

PMID- 28607820
TI  - Incidental choroid plexus papilloma in a child: A difficult decision.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Choroid plexus tumors (CPT) in the pediatric population are usually
      discovered in symptomatic patients often with symptoms of increased intracranial
      pressure, with hydrocephalus as the most common presentation, along with
      seizures, subarachnoid hemorrhage, or focal neurological deficit. Most CPTs are
      found to be benign choroid plexus papillomas (CPP), whereas a small number are
      intermediate and malignant choroid plexus carcinomas (CPC). Total surgical
      resection is the established definitive treatment for symptomatic CPP. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: We describe a young female who was found to have an incidental CPT
      during workup for recent head trauma without neurological deficits or
      hydrocephalus. She underwent a surgical operation to remove the tumor successful,
      with 1-year follow-up showing no recurrence and normal developmental milestones.
      CONCLUSION: This rare presentation of an asymptomatic CPT brings attention to the
      fact that there is no clear evidence for how or when to treat such patients.
      Because discovery of a CPT in an asymptomatic patient is uncommon, the treatment
      plan appears to be developed on a case-by-case basis. We hope to generate
      discussion for establishing an agreed upon treatment approach for CPTs in
      asymptomatic patients.

PMID- 28607821
TI  - Frameless image-guided radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frameless image-guided radiosurgery (IGRS) is a safe and effective
      noninvasive treatment for trigeminal neuralgia (TN). This study evaluates the use
      of frameless IGRS to treat patients with refractory TN. METHODS: We reviewed the
      records of 20 patients diagnosed with TN who underwent frameless IGRS treatments
      between March 2012 and December 2013. Facial pain was graded using the Barrow
      Neurological Institute (BNI) scoring system. The initial setup uncertainty from
      simulation to treatment and the patient intrafraction uncertainty were measured.
      The median follow-up was 32 months. RESULTS: All patients' pain was BNI Grade IV
      or V before the frameless IGRS treatment. The mean intrafraction shift was 0.43
      mm (0.28-0.76 mm), and the maximum intrafraction shift was 0.95 mm (0.53-1.99
      mm). At last follow-up, 8 (40%) patients no longer required medications (BNI 1 or
      2), 11 (55%) patients were pain free but required medication (BNI 3), and 1 (5%)
      patient had no pain relief (BNI 5). Patients who did not have prior surgery had a
      higher odds ratio for pain relief compared to patients who had prior surgery
      (14.9, P = 0.0408). CONCLUSIONS: Frameless IGRS provides comparable dosimetric
      and clinical outcomes to frame-based SRS in a noninvasive fashion for patients
      with medically refractory TN.

PMID- 28607822
TI  - Carotid artery occlusion in Kabuki syndrome: Case report and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kabuki syndrome is a rare multiple congenital anomaly syndrome whose
      main diagnostic findings are craniofacial phenotypic changes and mental
      retardation. Organic structural lesions in the central nervous system are rare,
      although have been described already. Systemic vascular changes have also been
      reported rarely. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report the case of a young patient with
      Kabuki syndrome who had a transient ischemic attack due to dissection of the
      internal carotid artery and a likely gliosis area on the white matter.
      CONCLUSION: Association of cervical arterial disease with this syndrome has never
      been described, and its pathophysiology is not yet established; however, it can
      direct future research and maybe treatment.

PMID- 28607823
TI  - Traumatic spondyloptosis of the cervical spine: A case report and discussion of
      worldwide treatment trends.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical spondyloptosis is defined as the dislocation of the spinal
      column most often caused by trauma. Due to compression or transection of the
      spinal cord, severe neurological deficits are common. Here, we review the
      literature and report a case of traumatic C5-6 spondyloptosis that was
      successfully treated using an anterior-only surgical approach. METHODS: The
      patient presented with quadriplegia and absent sensation distal to the C5
      dermatome following a rollover motor vehicle accident. The preoperative American
      Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale was A. Computed tomography of the
      cervical spine revealed C5-6 spondyloptosis, lamina fractures on the right side
      at the C3-4 level, and widened facet joint on the right side at C6-7. RESULTS:
      The patient underwent cervical traction and anterior cervical discectomy and
      fusion at the C5-6, C6-7 levels; no 360 degrees  fusion was warranted. Six months
      postoperatively, the patient remained quadriplegic below the C5 level.
      CONCLUSION: Presently, no consensus is present regarding the best treatment for
      spondyloptosis. Worldwide, the 360 degrees  approach is the most commonly used
      (45%), followed by anterior-only surgery (31%) and posterior-only surgery (25%).
      The surgical choice depends upon patient-specific features but markedly varies
      among geographical regions.

PMID- 28607824
TI  - Electrocochleography summating potential seen on auditory brainstem response in a
      case of superior semicircular canal dehiscence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) is a condition in which an
      abnormal communication between the superior semicircular canal and the middle
      cranial fossa causes patients to hear internal noises transmitted loudly to their
      affected ear as well as to experience vertigo with pressure changes or loud
      sounds. Patients with SCDS can have an elevated ratio of summating potential (SP)
      to action potential (AP) as measured by electrocochleography (ECochG). Changes in
      this ratio have been observed during surgical intervention to correct this
      abnormal communication. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present a case of SCDS along with
      history, physical examination, vestibular function testing, and computed
      tomography imaging. Due to the disabling symptoms, the patient elected to undergo
      surgery for plugging of the superior semicircular canal by middle cranial fossa
      approach. Simultaneous intraoperative ECochG and auditory brainstem response
      (ABR) were performed. Changes in SP/AP ratio, SP amplitude, and ABR wave I
      latency were observed during surgery, with a large ECochG SP amplitude generating
      a new wave, identifiable on the ABR and preceding the traditional wave I. The
      patient's symptoms resolved after surgery, and no long-term detriment to hearing
      was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This case demonstrates the intraoperative changes in
      ECochG during surgery for repair of a SCDS. The substantial intraoperative
      changes in the summating potential can create a novel wave on intraoperative ABR.

PMID- 28607825
TI  - Cranioplasty: Indications, procedures, and outcome - An institutional experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cranioplasty, the repair of a skull vault defect by insertion of an
      object (bone or nonbiological materials such as metal or plastic plates), is a
      well-known procedure in modern neurosurgery. Brain protection and cosmetic
      aspects are the major indications of cranioplasty. A retroprospective study was
      conducted for evaluating the indications, materials used, complications, and
      outcome of cranioplasty. METHODS: This study was prospective from August 2013 to
      September 2015 and retrospective from August 2010 to July 2013. In the
      retrospective study, patients files were retrieved from the mentioned date
      (August 2010 to July 2013) from the medical records and the findings were
      recorded. Abstracted data included age at the time of cranioplasty (years), sex
      (male or female), medical comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes), indications for
      craniectomy [Road traffic accident (RTA), fall from height (FFH), hit by stone or
      cricket ball, physical assault, stroke, infection, shell injury, bullet injury,
      and intraoperative swelling], laterality of cranioplasty (bilateral, unilateral,
      or bifrontal), time between craniectomy and cranioplasty (weeks), type of graft
      (autologous or artificial), type of prosthesis if used (methylmethacrylate,
      titanium), storage of bone flap if used (subcutaneous or deep freezer), operative
      time (minutes), and complications fallowing cranioplasty. RESULTS: Of the 236
      patients included in the study, maximum were in the age group of 21-30 years
      i.e., 30.93% (n = 73). Mean age of the patients was 33.44 years. A total of 196
      (83.05%) were autologous and 40 (16.95%) were artificial. Out of the 40 patients
      who underwent artificial cranioplasty, 36 (15.25%) had methylmethacrylate graft
      and 4 (1.7%) had titanium mesh implant. Bone was not preserved in 16.95% (n =
      40), preserved in subcutaneous tissue in abdominal wall in 2.54% (n = 6), and
      preserved in deep freezer in 80.51% (n = 190) of the patients. CONCLUSION:
      Cranioplasty as a procedure is not without complications; however, if performed
      properly and at proper time with an aseptic technique, good results are achieved.

PMID- 28607826
TI  - Socioeconomic and regional differences in the treatment of cervical spondylotic
      myelopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is the leading cause of spinal
      cord dysfunction in the world. Surgical treatment is both medically and
      economically advantageous, and can be achieved through multiple approaches, with
      or without fusion. We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to
      better elucidate regional and socioeconomic variances in the treatment of CSM.
      METHODS: The NIS database was queried for elective admissions with a primary
      diagnosis of CSM (ICD-9 721.1). This was evaluated for patients who also carried
      a diagnosis of anterior (ICD-9 81.02) or posterior cervical fusion (ICD-9 81.03),
      posterior cervical laminectomy (ICD 03.09), or a combination. We then
      investigated variances including regional trends and disparities according to
      hospital and insurance types. RESULTS: During 2002-2012, 50605 patients were
      electively admitted with a diagnosis of CSM. Anterior fusions were more common in
      Midwestern states and in nonteaching hospitals. Fusion procedures were used more
      frequently than other treatments in private hospitals and with private insurance.
      Median hospital charges were also expectedly higher for fusion procedures and
      combined surgical approaches. Combined approaches were found to be significantly
      greater in patients with concurrent diagnoses of ossification of the posterior
      longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and CSM. Ultimately, there has been an increased
      utilization of fusion procedures versus nonfusion treatments, over the past
      decade, for patients with cervical myelopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Fusion surgery is
      being increasingly used for the treatment of CSM. Expensive procedures are being
      performed more frequently in both private hospitals and for those with private
      insurance, whereas the most economical procedure, posterior cervical laminectomy,
      was underutilized.

PMID- 28607827
TI  - Discrimination against female surgeons is still alive: Where are the full
      professorships and chairs of departments?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although half of all medical students are now and women are
      increasingly filling surgical residency positions, few ascend the academic ladder
      to become chairman of their departments, much less full academic professors.
      METHODS: We queried PubMed to search for the number of women surgeons in
      different subspecialties, and asked how many were chairman or full academic
      professors? RESULTS: Data coming out of largely general or cardiothoracic surgery
      departments cited no substantial gains for women surgeons over the years; there
      were few chairmanships or full professorships. In one study of 54 female
      cardiothoracic surgeons, 60% of academic appointments were at the instructor or
      assistant professor level; only 18% were full professors. In another study
      looking at 12-year data from major academic medical institutions in the US, women
      constituted only 9.2% of chairs, only 14.7% of full professors, and just 9.3% of
      deans. In a third study, out of 270 female general surgeons, there were only
      three who were chairman, and just 12.4% were tenured professors. In Great
      Britain/Ireland, of 315 neurosurgeons (25 females), all 16 full professors were
      males. Two medical/surgical series speculated it would take until 2096 or 2136
      for females to attain 50% of full professorships. The American Association of
      Neurological Surgery (U.S. 2017; personal communication) showed that of 287 Board
      certified female neurosurgeons, there is just one female surgeons chairman.
      CONCLUSIONS: Few female physicians/surgeons were chairs of departments or full
      professors at their academic institutions. Do women in medicine/surgery really
      need to wait until 2136 to achieve equality?

PMID- 28607828
TI  - A rare association of ganglioglioma and cavernous malformation: Report of two
      cases and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some glial tumors have been observed in association with different
      types of vascular malformations of the brain (angiogliomas). However, the
      association of ganglioglioma with other vascular malformations is extremely rare,
      with only few cases reported in the literature, one of which is referred to as
      "angioganglioglioma." CASE DESCRIPTION: Two patients presented with acute onset
      of neurological symptoms, with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) finding of
      cavernoma of the left middle cerebellar penduncle, and small mass of the
      chiasmatic region, respectively. After microsurgical excision, histopathological
      examination revealed mixed ganglioglioma and cavernous malformation in both
      cases. Postoperative course was uneventful, and follow-up MRI showed complete
      removal of the tumor with no recurrence after 4 years. CONCLUSIONS: Angiogliomas
      are very uncommon tumors. In literature, we found different interpretations of
      such lesions, although they should most probably be considered as distinct
      pathological entities. Although the association of ganglioglioma with cavernoma
      is extremely rare, it could be considered as a most peculiar form of angioglioma,
      and supports the existence of angioganglioglioma.

PMID- 28607829
TI  - Adaptive hypofractionated gamma knife radiosurgery in the acute management of
      large thymic carcinoma brain metastases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brain metastases often lead to serious neurological impairment and
      life threatening states. Their acute management remains complex, particularly in
      the case of rare malignancies with aggressive evolution. In large single lesions,
      open surgery followed by radiation to the surgical cavity is widely regarded as
      the best approach; yet in many cases, microsurgery is not feasible due to the
      lesion's critical location and/or the number of brain metastases present. We
      report the effects of adaptive hypofractionated gamma knife radiosurgery in the
      acute management of critically located thymic carcinoma metastases. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 50-year-old male with metastatic thymic carcinoma was treated with
      radiosurgery for two large supratentorial brain metastases (M3 and M4) adjacent
      to eloquent areas and one smaller cerebellar metastasis (M2). M3 and M4 were
      treated with adaptive hypofractionated gamma knife radiosurgery, showing a
      dramatic volume reduction 4 weeks after treatment completion without radiation
      induced side effects. Thirteen months later, two new small, threatening
      supratentorial lesions (M5-M6) were treated with the same technique.
      Interestingly, M2 (treated with standard single fraction) and M5-M6 developed
      local adverse radiation events. The patient's general and neurological status
      remained next to normal by the time of paper submission. CONCLUSION: The
      application of adaptive hypofractionated radiosurgery in this acute setting
      proved effective in terms of rapid tumor ablation, with salvage of neurological
      functionality and limited toxicity. We have called the overall procedure rapid
      rescue radiosurgery (RRR). A systematic study of past and ongoing RRR-treatments
      is warranted and in progress.

PMID- 28607830
TI  - University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine Medical Students'
      Attitudes Towards Obese Patients.
AB  - Studies have shown that healthcare professionals often demonstrate obesity
      biases, which in turn reduce the quality of care obese patients receive. The
      purpose of the current study was to describe third and fourth year University of
      Hawai'i, John A. Burns School of Medicine medical students' attitudes towards
      obese patients. Data were collected using previously validated questions from a
      pilot study assessing how healthcare providers react and recommend medical care
      to patients with varying characteristics. The responses of 114 medical students
      were analyzed. Overall, the majority of students' responses reflected the belief
      that obesity may be a behavioral issue. There were no statistically significant
      differences between the third and fourth year students' responses. Important
      areas of future research include assessing students' awareness of the social
      determinants of health and ability to self-identify possible biases in caring for
      obese patients.

PMID- 28607831
TI  - Primary Care Integration of Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Services: A Primer
      for Providers and Case Report of Local Implementation.
AB  - Mental health conditions are common, disabling, potentially life-threatening, and
      costly; however, they are mostly treatable with early detection and intervention.
      Unfortunately, mental healthcare is in significantly short supply both nationally
      and locally, and particularly in small, rural, and relatively isolated
      communities. This article provides physicians and other health practitioners with
      a primer on the basic rationale and principles of integrating behavioral
      healthcare - particularly psychiatric specialty care - in primary care settings,
      including effective use of teleconferencing. Referring to a local-based example,
      this paper describes the programmatic components (universal screening, telephone
      availability, mutually educational team rounds, as-needed consultations, etc)
      that operationalize and facilitate successful primary care integration, and
      illustrates how these elements are applied to population segments with differing
      needs for behavioral healthcare involvement. Lastly, the article discusses the
      potential value of primary care integration in promoting quality, accessibility,
      and provider retention; discusses how new developments in healthcare financing
      could enhance the sustainability of primary care integration models; and
      summarizes lessons learned.

PMID- 28607832
TI  - Headaches More Common among Epilepsy Sufferers with Neurocysticercosis than Other
      Structural Brain Lesions.
AB  - Neurocysticercosis is a leading cause of seizures and epilepsy in the developing
      world. Cysticercosis is endemic in many regions of Central and South America, sub
      Saharan Africa, India, and Asia. Neurocysticercosis is of emerging importance
      because globalization has increased travel between Hawai'i and disease-endemic
      areas. Headache and epilepsy are two of the most common complications of
      neurocysticercosis infection. Currently, it is not known if epilepsy patients
      with neurocysticercosis are more likely to have headaches than those with other
      structural brain lesions or those with no structural brain abnormalities. This
      study was designed to investigate whether epilepsy patients with
      neurocysticercosis report co-morbid headaches more frequently than those with
      other or with no structural brain lesions. A retrospective cross-sectional study
      of all patients treated at a community based neurology clinic for epilepsy during
      a three-month period was performed. One-hundred sixty patients were included in
      the analytical study. Co-morbid headaches were more commonly present among those
      with neurocysticercosis (40%) than those with other structural lesions and those
      with no structural brain abnormalities (19% and 22%, respectively; P = .031).
      Headache frequency among those reporting co-morbid headaches did not differ
      significantly between the groups. Prevalence of co-morbid headaches is greater
      among epilepsy patients with neurocysticercosis than those with other structural
      brain lesions or no structural brain abnormality. Epilepsy patients with
      neurocysticercosis may be especially vulnerable to development of headaches and a
      thorough headache history should be obtained to help screen for affected
      individuals.

PMID- 28607833
TI  - Medical School Hotline: From Laboratory Bench to Community: Tropical Medicine
      Students Promote Vaccination in Hawai'i.

PMID- 28607834
TI  - Insights in Public Health: Making Health Hawai'i's Shared Value.

PMID- 28607835
TI  - The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy Scripts: Obesity: The Drug Dose Debate.

PMID- 28607837
TI  - Eocene Loranthaceae pollen pushes back divergence ages for major splits in the
      family.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We revisit the palaeopalynological record of Loranthaceae, using
      pollen ornamentation to discriminate lineages and to test molecular dating
      estimates for the diversification of major lineages. METHODS: Fossil Loranthaceae
      pollen from the Eocene and Oligocene are analysed and documented using scanning
      electron microscopy. These fossils were associated with molecular-defined clades
      and used as minimum age constraints for Bayesian node dating using different
      topological scenarios. RESULTS: The fossil Loranthaceae pollen document the
      presence of at least one extant root-parasitic lineage (Nuytsieae) and two
      currently aerial parasitic lineages (Psittacanthinae and Loranthinae) by the end
      of the Eocene in the Northern Hemisphere. Phases of increased lineage
      diversification (late Eocene, middle Miocene) coincide with global warm phases.
      DISCUSSION: With the generation of molecular data becoming easier and less
      expensive every day, neontological research should re-focus on conserved
      morphologies that can be traced through the fossil record. The pollen,
      representing the male gametophytic generation of plants and often a taxonomic
      indicator, can be such a tracer. Analogously, palaeontological research should
      put more effort into diagnosing Cenozoic fossils with the aim of including them
      into modern systematic frameworks.

PMID- 28607838
TI  - Redescription and establishment of a holotype and three paratypes for the species
      Hemimycale mediterranea sp. nov.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a recent paper, we described a new sponge species named Hemimycale
      mediterranea Uriz, Garate & Agell, 2017. However, we failed to designate a
      holotype and a type locality, as required by the International Commission on
      Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Although the validity of the previous conclusions
      remains unchanged, the species name cannot be considered available according to
      ICZN regulations until a holotype is designated. RESULTS: The present work
      fulfills the requirements of the ICZN by designating a holotype, three paratypes
      and the type locality for the new species Hemimycale mediterranea and has been
      registered in ZooBank.

PMID- 28607839
TI  - Gamebird responses to anthropogenic forest fragmentation and degradation in a
      southern Amazonian landscape.
AB  - Although large-bodied tropical forest birds are impacted by both habitat loss and
      fragmentation, their patterns of habitat occupancy will also depend on the degree
      of forest habitat disturbance, which may interact synergistically or additively
      with fragmentation effects. Here, we examine the effects of forest patch and
      landscape metrics, and levels of forest disturbance on the patterns of
      persistence of six gamebird taxa in the southern Brazilian Amazon. We use both
      interview data conducted with long-term residents and/or landowners from 129
      remnant forest patches and 15 continuous forest sites and line-transect census
      data from a subset of 21 forest patches and two continuous forests. Forest patch
      area was the strongest predictor of species persistence, explaining as much as
      46% of the overall variation in gamebird species richness. Logistic regression
      models showed that anthropogenic disturbance-including surface wildfires,
      selective logging and hunting pressure-had a variety of effects on species
      persistence. Most large-bodied gamebird species were sensitive to forest
      fragmentation, occupying primarily large, high-quality forest patches in higher
      abundances, and were typically absent from patches <100 ha. Our findings
      highlight the importance of large (>10,000 ha), relatively undisturbed forest
      patches to both maximize persistence and maintain baseline abundances of large
      neotropical forest birds.

PMID- 28607840
TI  - Stress profile influences learning approach in a marine fish.
AB  - The spatial learning skills of high and low stress juvenile mulloway (Argyrosomus
      japonicus) were tested in a dichotomous choice apparatus. Groups of fish were
      formed based on background blood cortisol levels and required to learn the
      location of a food reward hidden in one of two compartments. Low stress fish
      characterised by low background levels of the stress hormone cortisol had higher
      activity levels and entered both rewarded and unrewarded rooms frequently. Within
      the first week of exposure, however, their preference for the rewarded room
      increased, indicative of learning. Fish that had high background levels of
      cortisol, in contrast, showed low levels of activity but when they chose between
      the two rooms they chose the rewarded room most often but showed less improvement
      over time. After 12 days in the apparatus, both low and high stress fish had
      similar ratios of rewarded vs unrewarded room entrances. Our results suggest that
      proactive coping styles may increase exposure to novel contexts and thus favour
      faster learning but at the cost of reduced initial accuracy.

PMID- 28607841
TI  - Ficus septica plant extracts for treating Dengue virus in vitro.
AB  - Dengue virus types 1-4 (DENV-1-4) are positive-strand RNA viruses with an
      envelope that belongs to the Flaviviridae. DENV infection threatens human health
      worldwide. However, other than supportive treatments, no specific therapy is
      available for the infection. In order to discover novel medicine against DENV, we
      tested 59 crude extracts, without cytotoxicity, from 23 plants in vitro;
      immunofluorescence assay revealed that the methanol extracts of fruit, heartwood,
      leaves and stem from Ficus septica Burm. f. had a promising anti-DENV-1 and DENV
      2 effect. However, infection with the non-envelope picornavirus, Aichi virus, was
      not inhibited by treatment with F. septica extracts. F. septica may be a
      candidate antiviral drug against an enveloped virus such as DENV.

PMID- 28607842
TI  - Relating form to function in the hummingbird feeding apparatus.
AB  - A complete understanding of the feeding structures is fundamental in order to
      study how animals survive. Some birds use long and protrusible tongues as the
      main tool to collect their central caloric source (e.g., woodpeckers and
      nectarivores). Hummingbirds are the oldest and most diverse clade of
      nectarivorous vertebrates, being a perfect subject to study tongue
      specializations. Their tongue functions to intraorally transport arthropods
      through their long bills and enables them to exploit the nectarivorous niche by
      collecting small amounts of liquid, therefore it is of vital importance to study
      its anatomy and structure at various scales. I focused on the portions of the
      hummingbird tongue that have been shown to be key for understanding their feeding
      mechanisms. I used histology, transmission and scanning electron microscopy,
      microCT, and ex-vivo experiments in order to advance the comprehension of the
      morphology and functioning of the hummingbird feeding apparatus. I found that
      hummingbird tongues are composed mainly of thin cornified epithelium, lack
      papillae, and completely fill the internal cast of the rostral oropharyngeal
      cavity. Understanding this puzzle-piece match between bill and tongue will be
      essential for the study of intraoral transport of nectar. Likewise, I found that
      the structural composition and tissue architecture of the tongue groove walls
      provide the rostral portion of the tongue with elastic properties that are
      central to the study of tongue-nectar interactions during the feeding process.
      Detailed studies on hummingbirds set the basis for comparisons with other nectar
      feeding birds and contribute to comprehend the natural solutions to collecting
      liquids in the most efficient way possible.

PMID- 28607844
TI  - Perforator Flaps Covering Alloplastic Materials in Full-Thickness Chest Wall
      Defects Reconstruction: A Safe Option?
AB  - Large full-thickness chest wall reconstruction requires an alloplastic material
      to ensure chest wall stability, as well as a flap that provides good soft-tissue
      coverage. The choice not to use perforator flaps over any mesh or inert material
      is often based on the concern that the vascularization would be inadequate.
      However, perforator flaps have shown good results in several reconstructive
      fields, minimizing donor-site morbidity and offering versatility when local
      tissues are unavailable or affected by radiotherapy. In this study, we present 4
      cases of patients with full-thickness chest wall defects that were repaired with
      a double Marlex mesh, acrylic cement (n = 2) or a double patch of Goretex (n = 2)
      in combination with perforator flaps (3 deep inferior epigastric artery
      perforators and 1 lumbar artery perforator flap). The results we obtained are
      encouraging, and we believe the use of perforator flaps in combination with
      alloplastic materials should be considered as a reliable option for full
      thickness chest wall defect reconstruction.

PMID- 28607845
TI  - Interbrachial Pinch by Trapezius Transfer in Amyoplasia Congenita: A Case Report.
AB  - Amyoplasia congenita, or "classic distal arthrogryposis," is the most common
      disorder among the congenital, non-progressive, multiple joint contractural
      conditions named arthrogryposis. The cause remains unknown, and it occurs
      sporadically. Abnormal neurological examination indicates that movement in utero
      was diminished as a result of an abnormality of the central or peripheral nervous
      system, the motor end plate, or muscle. The absence of central neural pathology
      indicates the origin in akinetic fetal condition. Three weeks are enough to cause
      muscle weakness and joint fibrosis. Joint contractures in amyoplasia are often
      rigid and refractory to nonoperative treatment such as passive stretching.
      Surgery is focused on each patient's need respecting adaptive maneuvers to
      accomplish daily tasks. We present a case in which pectoral major muscle had no
      strength for pinching; a trapezius muscle transfer was planned to obtain an
      interbrachial pinch useful for grasping.

PMID- 28607843
TI  - Ecophylogeny of the endospheric root fungal microbiome of co-occurring Agrostis
      stolonifera.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Within the root endosphere, fungi are known to be important for plant
      nutrition and resistance to stresses. However, description and understanding of
      the rules governing community assembly in the fungal fraction of the plant
      microbiome remains scarce. METHODS: We used an innovative DNA- and RNA-based
      analysis of co-extracted nucleic acids to reveal the complexity of the fungal
      community colonizing the roots of an Agrostis stolonifera population. The
      normalized RNA/DNA ratio, designated the 'mean expression ratio', was used as a
      functional trait proxy. The link between this trait and phylogenetic relatedness
      was measured using the Blomberg's K statistic. RESULTS: Fungal communities were
      highly diverse. Only ~1.5% of the 635 OTUs detected were shared by all
      individuals, however these accounted for 33% of the sequence number. The
      endophytic fungal communities in plant roots exhibit phylogenetic clustering that
      can be explained by a plant host effect acting as environmental filter. The 'mean
      expression ratio' displayed significant but divergent phylogenetic signals
      between fungal phyla. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that environmental
      filtering by the host plant favours the co-existence of related and similar OTUs
      within the Basidiomycota community assembly, whereas the Ascomycota and
      Glomeromycota communities seem to be impacted by competitive interactions which
      promote the co-existence of phylogenetically related but ecologically dissimilar
      OTUs.

PMID- 28607846
TI  - Contralateral Augmentation with a Transmidline Scarless Technique During
      Unilateral Breast Reconstruction Using Implants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unilateral breast reconstruction can be a challenge when attempting
      to achieve an aesthetically pleasing and symmetrical breast mound on the
      contralateral side. This study investigates the outcomes of using a contralateral
      augmentation transmidline scarless (CATS) technique to simultaneously augment the
      contralateral breast using implants. METHODS: Between January 2004 and July 2016,
      patients undergoing unilateral implant-based breast reconstruction and
      simultaneous contralateral implant augmentation using a transmidline access were
      studied. Characteristics and complications using this technique were assessed.
      RESULTS: Sixty-five (91.5%) of 71 patients used the CATS technique for unilateral
      breast reconstruction using implants with contralateral breast implant
      augmentation. The remaining 6 cases used a preexisting chest scar. In the
      assessment of complication rates between the reconstructed and augmented sides,
      the reconstructed side had a statistically significant higher rate of implant
      exposure (P = 0.04) and total complications (P = 0.02). In comparing the revision
      rates between these 2 groups, the need for implant change (P = 0.04) and the
      total revision rates (P = 0.01) were higher in the reconstructive side. Use of
      saline implants had a higher rate of chest wall and breast skin necrosis (P =
      0.03) in comparison with silicone implants. There was not a statistically
      significant difference in complications when comparing timing of reconstructions
      (immediate versus delayed). CONCLUSIONS: The CATS technique can be performed
      safely, with a desirable aesthetic outcome, and also symmetry with minimal risk
      of symmastia during unilateral breast reconstruction using implant-based
      reconstruction.

PMID- 28607847
TI  - Minimal Pain Local Anesthetic Injection with Blunt Tipped Cannula for Wide Awake
      Upper Blepharoplasty.
AB  - Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

PMID- 28607849
TI  - Multiuse of Disposable Microsurgical Instruments as a Cost-Efficient Alternative
      for Training and Research.
AB  - Microsurgery demands significant preclinical training, often hampered by the high
      costs of the required microsurgery instruments. We hypothesized that recently
      available disposable microsurgery instruments provide sufficient quality and
      significantly reduced costs. In a comparative analysis with standard reusable
      instruments, participants performed equally with both instrument sets and
      recommended the disposable instruments for microsurgery training and research
      applications.

PMID- 28607850
TI  - Interpositional Lateral Thoracic Vein Graft for DIEP Flap Salvage in Setting of
      Superficial Venous System Dominance.

PMID- 28607848
TI  - Progressive Surgical Autonomy in a Plastic Surgery Resident Clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resident clinics are thought to catalyze educational milestone
      achievement through opportunities for progressively autonomous surgical care, but
      studies are lacking for general plastic surgery resident clinics (PSRCs). We
      demonstrate the achievement of increased surgical autonomy and continuity of care
      in a PSRC. METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients seen in a PSRC from
      October 1, 2010, to October 1, 2015, was conducted. Our PSRC is supervised by
      faculty plastic surgery attendings, though primarily run by chief residents in an
      accredited independent plastic surgery training program. Surgical autonomy was
      scored on a 5-point scale based on dictated operative reports. Graduated chief
      residents were additionally surveyed by anonymous online survey. RESULTS:
      Thousand one hundred forty-four patients were seen in 3,390 clinic visits. Six
      hundred fifty-three operations were performed by 23 total residents, including 10
      graduating chiefs. Senior resident autonomy averaged 3.5/5 (SD = 1.5), 3.6/5 (SD
      = 1.5), to 3.8/5 (SD = 1.3) in postgraduate years 6, 7, and 8, respectively. A
      linear mixed model analysis demonstrated that training level had a significant
      impact on operative autonomy when comparing postgraduate years 6 and 8 (P =
      0.026). Graduated residents' survey responses (N = 10; 100% response rate)
      regarded PSRC as valuable for surgical experience (4.1/5), operative autonomy
      (4.4/5), medical knowledge development (4.7/5), and the practice of Accreditation
      Council of Graduate Medical Education core competencies (4.3/5). Preoperative or
      postoperative continuity of care was maintained in 93.5% of cases. CONCLUSION:
      The achievement of progressive surgical autonomy may be demonstrated within a
      PSRC model.

PMID- 28607851
TI  - Order Sets for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol.

PMID- 28607852
TI  - Microsurgical Hepatic Artery Reconstruction Using Ikuta A-II Double Clamp.
AB  - We performed hepatic artery (HA) reconstruction on 24 patients between January
      2010 and October 2016. Six of 24 patients used an Ikuta type A-II vascular clamp
      (A-II group). The mean age was 38.0 years (range, 1-61 years). There was no blood
      leakage at the anastomosed site in any of the patients. No patients required an
      additional vascular clamp, and none developed HA thrombosis. Eighteen of 24
      patients used a conventional vascular clamp. The mean age was 36.1 years (range,
      1-65 years; conventional group). Sixteen of 18 patients required an additional
      vascular clamp due to blood leakage from the HA. There was no significant
      difference between the 2 groups in mean age or diameter of the recipient HA.
      However, there was a significant difference in the proportion of patients who
      required an additional vascular clamp (n < 0.001). The Ikuta type A-II clamp is
      an effective vascular clamp for reconstruction of the HA in living donor liver
      transplantation.

PMID- 28607853
TI  - Pachyonychia Congenita in a Toddler.

PMID- 28607854
TI  - Safety of Immediate Posterior Trunk Soft-Tissue Reconstruction in Older Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older patients, especially those older than 65 years, are accounting
      for an ever-increasing share of hospital costs, especially surgical procedures.
      Studies regarding the safety of surgery in these patients have been widespread in
      the past decade. Despite these efforts, there is a paucity of information
      regarding the safety of reconstruction following spinal surgery in older
      patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients
      undergoing soft-tissue reconstruction of the posterior trunk after oncologic
      spine surgery. Demographic, medical, and surgical variables were measured. The
      primary outcome variable was the development of a medical or surgical
      complication postoperatively. Other secondary outcomes included development of a
      medical complication alone, specific surgical complications (seroma, hematoma,
      infection, wound dehiscence, and (cerebrospinal fluid leak), unplanned
      reoperation, and 60-day operative mortality. RESULTS: A priori power analysis
      suggested 205 cases would be needed. The study included 286 cases in 256
      patients. The cohorts were similar in terms of demographic, surgical, and medical
      variables, though the older cohort had higher mean American Society of
      Anesthesiologists score (2.09 versus 1.65; P < 0.0001). We found no correlation
      between increasing age and increased rates of medical or surgical complications
      (35.9% for older patients versus 44.7% for younger patients; P = 0.31). However,
      mean American Society of Anesthesiologists score did correlate with complications
      (1.88 for patients with complications versus 1.69 for patients without; P =
      0.04). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated no increased risk for complications among
      older patients. Complex soft-tissue reconstruction of the posterior trunk is safe
      in elderly patients undergoing oncologic spinal surgery.

PMID- 28607855
TI  - SERI Surgical Scaffold in 2-Stage Breast Reconstruction: 2-Year Data from a
      Prospective, Multicenter Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soft-tissue support devices are used during breast reconstruction.
      This study investigated long-term clinical data following SERI Surgical Scaffold
      (SERI) implantation, a bioresorbable, silk-derived scaffold for soft-tissue
      support. METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter study in 103 subjects who
      received SERI during stage 1 of 2-stage breast reconstruction with subpectoral
      tissue expander placement (Natrelle Style 133V; Allergan plc, Dublin, Ireland)
      followed by subpectoral breast implant placement. Investigator satisfaction (11
      point scale: 0, very dissatisfied and 10, very satisfied) at 6 months was the
      primary endpoint. Ease of use, satisfaction, scaffold palpability/visibility,
      breast anatomy measurements via 3D images, SERI integration, histology, and
      safety were also assessed through 2 years after stage 1 surgery. RESULTS:
      Analyses were performed on the per-protocol population (103 subjects; 161
      breasts) with no protocol deviations that could affect outcomes. Ease of use and
      subject and investigator satisfaction with SERI were high throughout 2 years.
      Breast anatomy measurements with 3D images demonstrated long-term soft-tissue
      stability of the lower breast mound. Key complication rates per breast were
      tissue/skin necrosis and wrinkling/rippling (8.1% each) and seroma, wound
      dehiscence, and breast redness (5.0% each). Over 2 years, 4 breasts in 4 subjects
      underwent reoperation with explantation of any device; 2 breasts required SERI
      explantation. SERI was retained in 98.8% of breasts (159/161) at 2 years.
      CONCLUSIONS: SERI was associated with high and consistent levels of investigator
      and subject satisfaction and demonstrated soft-tissue stability in the lower
      breast through 2 years. SERI provides a safe, long-term benefit for soft-tissue
      support in 2-stage breast reconstruction.

PMID- 28607856
TI  - Erratum: Anatomical Regional Targeted (ART) BOTOX Injection Technique: A Novel
      Paradigm for Migraines and Chronic Headaches: Erratum.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000001194.].

PMID- 28607857
TI  - The Visualization of the Functional Structure of the Crossing Fibers of the
      Orbicularis Oris Muscle Using Ultrasound.
AB  - Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

PMID- 28607859
TI  - Measurement of Pressure in Compressive Magnet Therapy for Auricular Keloids.

PMID- 28607858
TI  - Proximal Phalanx Osteoid Osteoma: A Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - Osteoid osteoma is a rare clinical entity often mistaken for osteomyelitis,
      enchondroma, osteochondroma and other bony pathologies. Cardinal features include
      localized swelling and nocturnal pain often relieved by nonsteroidal
      antiinflammatory drugs. Definitive treatment requires surgical removal of the
      lesion by curettage or en bloc excision. The following case report details the
      diagnosis and management of a recurrent case of osteoid osteoma in a long finger
      proximal phalanx. Included with this case report is a literature review of
      osteoid osteomas on the hand and the anatomic distribution of 289 cases published
      in the last 30 years.

PMID- 28607860
TI  - SPY Elite's Ability to Predict Nipple Necrosis in Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy and
      Immediate Tissue Expander Reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nipple-sparing techniques have improved the aesthetics of
      reconstruction following mastectomy, but nipple necrosis complicates up to 37% of
      procedures, distressing patients, delaying adjuvant therapy, and compromising
      outcomes. No method reliably detects nipple necrosis better than clinical
      assessment of tissue perfusion. We prospectively assessed the accuracy of
      intraoperative indocyanine green laser angiography to predict nipple necrosis.
      METHODS: Twenty consecutive women undergoing immediate tissue expander breast
      reconstruction following 32 nipple-sparing mastectomies underwent indocyanine
      green fluorescence imaging to assess nipple perfusion immediately before and
      after intraoperative tissue expansion. Imaging findings were correlated with
      postoperative nipple viability. RESULTS: Among the 32 nipple-sparing mastectomies
      (8 unilateral, 12 bilateral) in 20 women (mean age, 48 years), partial or full
      thickness necrotic changes developed in 3 breasts of 2 patients (10%). Imaging
      identified impaired perfusion and predicted necrosis in these cases. CONCLUSIONS:
      In this initial series, intraoperative indocyanine green laser angiography
      correctly identified patients who developed nipple necrosis during mastectomy and
      tissue expander breast reconstruction.

PMID- 28607861
TI  - A Deceptively Simple Solution for Refractory Melasma: Glycolic Acid Peels and
      Hydroquinone at Home.
AB  - Although various treatment methods for melasma have developed, substantial
      improvement of the condition is sometimes difficult. We have experientially found
      that some of refractory melasma caused by daily friction can easily be treated by
      using a combination of a peeling agent (20% glycolic acid) and a depigmenting
      agent (5% hydroquinone) twice daily at home. And here, by performing skin
      biopsies, we revealed the pathological mechanism: hyperkeratosis caused by
      repeated physical stimulus, which prevents infiltration of topical therapeutic
      agents, was dramatically reduced by chemical peeling, resulting that the melanin
      pigments were effectively cleared by topical hydroquinone.

PMID- 28607862
TI  - A Case of Keloids Complicated by Castleman's Disease: Interleukin-6 as a Keloid
      Risk Factor.
AB  - Keloids are a manifestation of a fibroproliferative scarring disorder of the skin
      and develop in response to dermal injury in patients with a susceptible
      background. Local, systemic, and genetic factors contribute to keloid
      susceptibility. These factors include tension on the edges of the wound, hormonal
      influences, and ethnicity, respectively. Castleman's disease is a rare
      lymphoproliferative disorder that is characterized by the unregulated
      overproduction of interleukin-6, which leads to systemic lymphadenopathy and
      constitutional inflammatory symptoms. This case report shows that the bilateral
      auricular keloids of an adult woman were greatly exacerbated by the onset of
      Castleman's disease. We present our multimodal management algorithm for auricular
      keloids, which involves core excision and radiation therapy and achieves
      excellent aesthetic outcomes. The current treatment pathway for auricular keloids
      and the possible relationship between interleukin-6 and keloid progression will
      be discussed.

PMID- 28607863
TI  - Immediate Regrafting of the Split Thickness Skin Graft Donor Site Assists
      Healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delayed or even lack of healing of a split-thickness skin graft
      (STSG) donor site is a potential problem with elderly patients or those with poor
      wound healing capabilities. A proactive solution that may minimize this risk is
      to regraft that donor site using otherwise discarded skin graft remnants.
      METHODS: A prospective, nonrandomized, consecutive study was designed to compare
      the time to healing of the commonly used anterior thigh STSG donor site in
      patients who had routine dressings (n = 113) versus those with comorbidities
      known to adversely affect wound healing and had planned regrafting (n = 204).
      Those comorbidities included age (>=65 years), diabetes mellitus, peripheral
      vascular disease, chronic renal disease, and chronic steroid use. RESULTS: The
      average number of comorbidities in the regrafted subgroup versus those not
      regrafted was 1.41 and 0.31, respectively. This was considered to be a
      significant difference (P < 0.0001) confirming the validity in predicting
      patients at risk for adverse donor-site healing that would benefit by regrafting.
      The mean time required for donor-site reepithelialization of those regrafted was
      17.2 days compared with 17.8 days for those not regrafted (P = 0.2395), which was
      not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: Regrafting the STSG donor site of
      patients with known comorbidities, that is, those expected to have delayed
      healing in general, had a mean time to reepithelialization comparable with
      conventionally treated individuals. This was considered a direct consequence of
      recycling rather than discarding any excess skin graft materials when so
      indicated and can be a proactive solution to a potentially cumbersome dilemma.

PMID- 28607865
TI  - Making Sense of Implant "Profile" in Breast Augmentation.
AB  - The increasing variety of breast implants has led to their classification into
      "profile" types to guide implant cataloguing and selection. Implant "profile"
      describes the overall silhouette of the implant. It represents a permutation of
      all 3 dimensions of the implant: base diameter, projection, and volume. Implant
      "profile" is not the same as implant projection. Implant projection is a
      quantifiable linear measurement of the anterior-posterior dimension of the
      implant, whereas implant "profile" is a vendor-driven assessment that currently
      lacks universal standardization. Until "profile" assessments are standardized
      across vendors, it behooves us to be cognizant of their limitations as primary
      variables used to guide implant selection.

PMID- 28607864
TI  - Personality Traits as Predictors of Quality of Life and Body Image after Breast
      Reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that personality traits may influence patient
      reported outcomes of breast reconstruction, but the research is limited. We
      investigated, in a prospective study, whether personality traits predict the
      achieved body image and quality of life (QoL) after breast reconstruction.
      METHODS: Patients planning to undergo breast reconstruction at a University
      Hospital were consecutively recruited from January 2014 to January 2016.
      Participants completed validated measures of personality, body image, and QoL,
      before and 6 months after breast reconstruction. The influence of personality
      traits on achieved body image and QoL was explored with multivariate linear
      regression modelling, adjusting for baseline scores, demographics, and clinical
      variables. RESULTS: Of 247 eligible patients, 208 (84%) participated. Twelve
      patients (6%) were excluded due to failed reconstruction. Of the remaining 196
      patients, 180 (92%) completed the follow-up questionnaire. When adjusted for
      baseline QoL scores, higher trait Neuroticism, higher trait Openness, and higher
      body mass index measured at baseline showed to be independent and statistically
      significant predictors of deteriorating QoL scores from baseline to 6-month
      follow-up (P < 0.001; R2 = 0.45). When adjusted for body image scores at
      baseline, higher trait Neuroticism and immediate reconstruction were found to be
      independent predictors of poorer body image from baseline to 6-months follow-up
      (P < 0.001; R2 = 0.36). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests personality
      traits, in particular Neuroticism, as independent predictors of the achieved body
      image and QoL after breast reconstruction. Weighing in the personality traits of
      the patients may be an important adjunct in improving patient-reported outcomes
      after breast reconstructions.

PMID- 28607866
TI  - A Simple Technical Modification for the Creation of an External Monitoring Skin
      Paddle for Tubed ALT Flap Reconstruction after Circumferential Hypopharyngeal
      Resection.
AB  - Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

PMID- 28607867
TI  - A Quadrangular Flap Technique for Vermilion Repair in Unilateral Cleft Lip.
AB  - In unilateral cleft lip repair, the vermilion triangular flap technique reported
      by Noordhoff1 and its modification are widely accepted for the augmentation of
      the vermilion height on the medial side of the cleft; however, these techniques
      do not focus on the deformity of the labial tubercle. In this article, we herein
      report a modified technique for vermilion repair that is focused on the labial
      tubercle. The muco-vermilion quadrangular flap was elevated from the lateral lip
      to augment the labial tubercle. As a result, the amount of labial tubercle is
      appropriate. Fifty-three consecutive unilateral cleft lip repairs were performed.
      In most cases, the amount of the labial tubercle was appropriate, and the
      curvature of free margin was preferable. The technique could reduce the number of
      scars on the vermilion by placing some of the suture lines on the oral surface
      and enabled the augmentation of the labial tubercle. In conclusion, the
      quadrangular flap can be considered an ideal flap for the construction of the
      vermilion.

PMID- 28607868
TI  - Forked Columellar Strut: An Adjunctive Technique for Correction of Caudal Septal
      Deviation.
AB  - Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

PMID- 28607869
TI  - Trim Labiaplasty.
AB  - A labiaplasty is a surgical procedure that reduces the length of redundant labia
      minora. The trim, also known as edge excision, linear, and amputation
      labiaplasty, is a technique commonly used. Complications associated with a trim
      labiaplasty include overresection and scalloped labia edges. This video features
      an operative technique that aims to reduce labia minora to an appropriate final
      length with smooth, unscalloped edges.

PMID- 28607870
TI  - Ultrasonographic Images of Nasal Bone Fractures with Water Used as the Coupling
      Medium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography can show local and superficial fractures of the nasal
      bone. However, it is difficult to see the whole nasal bone. We used water as the
      coupling medium for ultrasonography. METHODS: This method was used in 76 nasal
      bone fracture cases from July 2011 to March 2013, and we could obtain clear
      images of the entire nasal bone and surrounding bones. However, in some images,
      there were artifacts and blurred areas. The patterns of blurring were classified
      and their causes were analyzed. RESULTS: The 6 patterns of artifacts and blurred
      images were (1) Blurred side wall of the nasal bone in 68 cases, (2) air bubbles
      in the water in 68 cases, (3) unclear deep portions by attenuation in 23 cases,
      (4) distorted images caused by shaking of the probe in 44 cases, (5) parallel
      shadows due to multiple reflections in 18 cases, and (6) mysterious shadows
      caused by side lobes of the ultrasound beams in 55 cases. Almost all of them
      could be avoided by adding some small changes of techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      methods can provide whole clear images of the nasal bone and surrounding bones in
      1 field. Almost all the artifacts and blurred images which occurred during the
      performance of our methods could be avoided by adding some small changes, for
      example, tilting the probe, pouring the water slowly, and moving the probe closer
      to the nose.

PMID- 28607871
TI  - Prevention of Surgical Site Infections and Biofilms: Pharmacokinetics of
      Subcutaneous Cefazolin and Metronidazole in a Tumescent Lidocaine Solution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumescent anesthesia antibiotic delivery (TAAD) consists of
      subcutaneous infiltration of antibiotic(s) dissolved tumescent lidocaine
      anesthesia. Tumescent lidocaine anesthesia contains lidocaine (<= 1 g/L),
      epinephrine (<= 1 mg/L), sodium bicarbonate (10 mEq/L) in 0.9% saline. Our aim
      was to measure cefazolin and metronidazole concentrations over time in
      subcutaneous tumescent interstitial fluid (TISF) after TAAD, in serum after TAAD
      and after intravenous antibiotic delivery (IVAD). We hypothesize that the
      pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profiles of TAAD + IVAD are superior to IVAD
      alone for the prevention of surgical site infections and biofilms. METHODS:
      Concentrations of cefazolin and metronidazole in TISF and serum following TAAD
      and in serum following IVAD were compared in 5 female volunteers. Subjects
      received cefazolin or cefazolin plus metronidazole by IVAD alone and by TAAD
      alone. One subject also received concomitant IVAD and TAAD of these 2
      antibiotics. Sequential samples of serum or subcutaneous TISF were assayed for
      antibiotic concentration. RESULTS: Cefazolin (1 g) by TAAD resulted in an area
      under the curve of the concentration-time profile and a maximum concentration
      (Cmax) in subcutaneous tissue that were 16.5 and 5.6 times greater than in serum
      following 1 g by IVAD. Metronidazole (500 mg) by TAAD resulted in an area under
      the curve and Cmax that were 8.1 and 24.7 times greater in TISF, than in serum
      after 500 mg by intravenous delivery. IVAD + TAAD resulted in superior antibiotic
      concentrations to IVAD alone. CONCLUSIONS: TAAD + IVAD produced superior
      antibiotic bioavailability in both subcutaneous interstitial fluid and serum
      compared with IVAD alone. There was no evidence that TAAD of cefazolin and
      metronidazole poses a significant risk of harm to patients.

PMID- 28607873
TI  - Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in fabry disease patients: Multicenter cross
      sectional study in Argentina.
AB  - Nephropathy is one of the major complications of Fabry Disease (FD) and mainly
      includes reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and proteinuria. Despite the
      frequency, scarce information exists regarding the frequency of CKD as well as
      other related complications in FD patients in Argentina. The aim of the study was
      to measure the prevalence of CKD at diagnosis of FD as well as to describe other
      related conditions in a large cohort of patients with FD. Methods: a cross
      sectional study performed in three FD centers of Argentina during January 2014
      and January 2016. Information at diagnosis regarding patient demographics,
      disease characteristics, key laboratory values, and renal, cardiac,
      cerebrovascular diseases and other related complications were collected. Results:
      A total of 60 patients were included. The mean age at diagnosis was 25.5 +/- 16
      years. 42% of included patients presented CKD in which the disease was mild (GFR
      >= 60 and < 90) in 60% (n = 15), moderate (GFR >= 30 and < 60) in 16% (n = 4),
      severe (GFR >= 15 and < 30) in 4% (n = 1) and failure (GFR < 15) in 20% (n = 5).
      Arrhythmias were reported for 13.3% of patients. In 33.3% the echocardiographic
      evaluation demonstrated left ventricular hypertrophy and peripheral neuropathy in
      63.3%. Conclusion: This study presents information regarding the prevalence of
      CKD in a large cohort of FD patients at the moment of diagnosis in Argentina.
      Future studies will help us to confirm these initial findings.

PMID- 28607872
TI  - Vascularized Fibula-Based Physis Transfer: A Follow-Up Study of Longitudinal Bone
      Growth and Complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The vascularized free fibula epiphyseal transfer provides an option
      for the preservation of limb lengthening after resection of the proximal humerus
      in pediatric sarcoma patients. The purpose of this study was to provide a long
      term follow-up of longitudinal growth patterns and outcomes after free fibula
      epiphyseal transfer in upper extremity reconstruction. METHODS: A retrospective
      review of 4 patients who underwent free fibula epiphyseal transfer after
      oncologic resection of the proximal humerus for osteosarcoma was performed.
      Oncologic details that could affect outcomes were included in the review: primary
      tumor pathology, location of malignancy, and presence of recurrence. Details on
      the reconstruction included longitudinal growth of the flap from the time of
      implantation to the most recently available radiograph and postoperative
      complications. The length of the fibula over time was measured from the humeral
      head to the olecranon process. RESULTS: All patients were alive at the start of
      this study. The average longitudinal growth rate of the free fibula epiphyseal
      transfer was 0.54 +/- 0.18 cm/y, and patients demonstrated satisfactory and
      consistent longitudinal bone growth and hypertrophy over time. All 4 patients
      suffered from a complication of postoperative fibula graft fracture, and 1 of 4
      patients experienced unremitting peroneal nerve damage. All patients demonstrated
      normal wrist and hand motion with a normal arc of elbow flexion and extension.
      CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the vascularized fibula epiphyseal
      transfer offers the ability to preserve longitudinal limb growth and hypertrophy
      throughout adolescence.

PMID- 28607874
TI  - Robotic-Assisted Abdomino-perineal Vesicourethral Anastomotic Reconstruction for
      4.5 Centimeter Post-prostatectomy Stricture.
AB  - We report surgical management of a disrupted radical prostatectomy vesicourethral
      anastomosis after bleeding from undiagnosed hemophilia that required re
      exploration, pudendal artery embolization, and urinary diversion with nephrostomy
      and surgical drains. After referral, the 4.5 cm vesicourethral anastomotic defect
      was reconstructed with a robotic-assisted abdomino-perineal approach. Intra
      abdominal robotic-assisted mobilization of the bladder and perineal mobilization
      of the urethra permitted a tension-free vesicourethral anastomosis while avoiding
      a pubectomy. Side docking of the Da Vinci Xi robot allows for simultaneous access
      to the perineum during pelvic minimally invasive surgery, enabling a novel
      approach to complex bladder neck reconstruction.

PMID- 28607875
TI  - Congenital Scaphoid Megalourethra: A Case Report.
AB  - A congenital megalourethra is an enlargement of the pendulous urethra without
      evidence of distal obstruction. A 1-month-old boy presented to us with complaint
      of weak stream, ballooning of the penis before and during voiding and post
      voiding dribbling, since birth. Physical examination and cystourethroscope
      confirmed the diagnosis of congenital scaphoid megalourethra. He underwent
      reduction urethroplasty. During postoperative follow up, he had normal looking
      penis with good urinary stream.

PMID- 28607876
TI  - Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma and the Synchronous Presence of Primary Colon
      Malignancies. Is There a Relation?
AB  - While the presence of multiple primary malignancies in the same patient is a well
      described phenomenon, there is no clear association between various histological
      subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and the synchronous presence of colon
      malignancies. We present the rare case of an 81-year-old female patient suffering
      from chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) and an angiomyolipoma of her left
      kidney, synchronous with an adenocarcinoma of the caecum. While there is an
      established connection between RCC and colon cancer, a literature review is
      performed to specify this association in regard to chRCC and the synchronous
      presence of colon malignancies.

PMID- 28607877
TI  - Recurrent Kidney Stone Episodes Leading to a Diagnosis of Occult Acromegaly.
AB  - The association between nephrolithiasis and acromegaly has been previously
      described. Although the mechanism has been established, the urological literature
      sparsely discusses clinically suspecting that patients with recurrent
      nephrolithiasis could have acromegaly and subsequently referring them for
      accurate diagnosis and treatment. We present a case of occult acromegaly
      secondary to a pituitary tumor discovered 20 years after the patient's first
      stone episode.

PMID- 28607878
TI  - Targeted Prostate Biopsy Using 68Gallium PSMA-PET/CT for Image Guidance.
AB  - Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) scanning is a sensitive method of
      prostate cancer detection. In a 71 y.o. man with a PSA of 49 (6%F), 4 negative
      MRI studies and 6 negative biopsies over an 8 year interval, a 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT
      scan showed a PSMA-avid spot in the prostate. Using image fusion technology, the
      lesion was target-biopsied and Gleason 3 + 4 = 7 (cancer core length of 12 mm)
      was identified. This case may herald a new application for PSMA scanning and
      prostate cancer imaging.

PMID- 28607879
TI  - Intravesical ALT-803 for BCG-unresponsive Bladder Cancer - A Case Report.
AB  - The administration of intravesical chemotherapy or BCG often can prolong the
      progression-free interval after initial transurethral resection in select bladder
      cancer (BCa) patients. However, 60% of these patients will recur and up to 30% of
      patients with recurrent BCa will progress and succumb to their disease over a 15
      year period, while another 50% will cystectomy in an attempt to control their
      disease. Thus better therapeutic strategies are needed for patients who have
      failed intravesical therapy. In this article, we report the treatment of a 91
      year-old man with NMIBC with high-risk features that had failed multiple
      intravesical therapies.

PMID- 28607880
TI  - Role of Autologous Versus Homologous Cartilage in Ossicular Reconstruction: A
      Comparative Study.
AB  - Ossicular discontinuity is the most common cause of conductive hearing loss. The
      use of ossicular graft material in ossicular chain reconstruction significantly
      improves the result in hearing. This study was conducted to compare and analyze
      the outcome of ossicular reconstruction using autologous conchal cartilage and
      homologous septal cartilage in terms of hearing results and graft uptake rates.
      Study design Randomized clinical trial. Study included 100 patients visiting the
      ENT department of government medical college. Patients between 16 and 50 years of
      age with history of chronic ear discharge and minimum air bone gap of 20 dB were
      included in the study. The patients underwent detailed ENT examination,
      audiological and radiological assessment of temporal bone and those patients with
      evidence of ossicular erosion were subjected to ossiculoplasty with autologous
      conchal cartilage (group I) and homologous septal cartilage (group II) randomly.
      The patients were followed up after 3 and 6 months to analyze functional and
      anatomical results. Out of 50 patients from group I who underwent autologous
      cartilage ossicular reconstruction 35 patients (70 %) showed significant
      improvement in hearing as assessed by pure tone audiogram after 6 months as
      compared to 34 patients (68 %) with homologous cartilage reconstruction.
      Complications and extrusion rates were almost similar in both the groups. Hearing
      results in both the groups are almost comparable but the homologous preserved
      cartilage being readily available is an equally good option for ossicular
      reconstruction.

PMID- 28607882
TI  - Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Utility in Salivary Gland Tumor Diagnosis.
AB  - We aimed to improve the diagnostic accuracy of tumors by using
      immunocytochemistry (IHC) on destained smears to correlate the cytological
      findings with histopathology and/or IHC for final evaluation of results. We have
      done a randomized and prospective double-blind study. Forty-six clinically
      suspected patients of salivary gland tumor were enrolled for study. Those with
      non-neoplastic? inflammatory salivary gland pathologies and swellings other than
      salivary gland origin were excluded from the study. The Fine needle aspiration
      cytological (FNAC) diagnosis of all the patients was compared with the
      corresponding histopathology. Sensitivity and specificity of FNAC in diagnosing
      malignancy were 91.3 and 100 %. Diagnostic accuracy of FNAC for malignant tumors
      was 95.65 %. In our study kappa value came out to be 0.88 (p value <0.00), which
      indicated an excellent agreement between histological and cytological typing of
      salivary gland tumors. FNAC is a highly sensitive and specific technique for
      diagnosis of salivary gland tumors. Histopathology however is the gold standard
      for diagnosis, classification and grading of tumors. Immuno-cytochemistry can act
      as adjuvant in diagnosing salivary gland tumors, however it did not help in
      improving the diagnostic accuracy of FNAC in our study. Considering an excellent
      agreement between cytology and histology, a type specific diagnosis can be
      reached on FNAC of salivary gland tumors.

PMID- 28607881
TI  - A New Predictor for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: Monocyte to HDL Ratio.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of serum monocyte to serum
      HDL cholesterol ratio with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). A total of
      336 patients who underwent polysomnography (PSG) were included in this study. The
      individuals with an apnea hypopnea index (AHI) <5/h were included in the study as
      controls while the patients with an AHI > 5 and excessive daytime sleepiness were
      included in the study as OSAS patients. OSAS patients were compared with the
      control group for serum monocyte count, high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels,
      and monocyte to HDL ratio (MHR). Mild, moderate and severe OSAS subgroups were
      compared for the same parameters. Additionally, correlations of serum monocyte
      count, HDL level and MHR with other PSG parameters were analyzed. The mean MHR of
      control and OSAS groups were 12.90 +/- 6.64 and 4.91 +/- 6.98, respectively, and
      the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.041). Mean HDL level of the
      control group was 47.25 +/- 13.61 mg/dL while it was 43.14 +/- 13.61 mg/dL in
      OSAS group (p < 0.001). Comparison of OSAS subgroups for MHR and HDL levels
      revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.001 and p = 0.020,
      respectively). MHR was higher in OSAS patients compared to the controls. MHR may
      be a new, useful predictor for OSAS.

PMID- 28607883
TI  - Evaluation of Requirements for Staging the Procedure of Reconstruction of Middle
      Ear After Canal Wall Down Mastoidectomy.
AB  - Cholesteatoma is a progressive destructive ear disease which can affect any age
      group. It has been found to be more severe in children and young adults. It
      erodes the surrounding bone of middle ear, mastoid and ossicles. It causes
      partial to total deafness, unpleasant smelling discharge, pain, tinnitus, vertigo
      and facial paralysis. It can even cause meningitis, brain abscess and death. The
      post-operative outcome of hearing, and the state of the reconstructed middle-ear
      cavity after concurrent and staged reconstruction of middle ear after canal wall
      down mastoidectomy was studied in 30 ears with middle-ear cholesteatoma. The
      reconstructed middle ear was re-aerated in 60.5 % of the cases, which was
      significantly higher than for the epitympanum (39.5 %). Tympanoplasty was
      successful in terms of hearing results in 68.9 % of all subjects and in 75.4 % of
      the ears having a re-aerated tympanic cavity, which was significantly better than
      the 38.5 % for ears in which the tympanic cavity was not re-aerated. The findings
      of recurrent cholesteatoma, tympanic atelectasis, and tympanic effusion were
      observed with significantly (p < 0.03) high incidence in ears with no re-aerated
      space in their reconstructed mastoid cavities. It was revealed that the post
      operative outcome of this surgical technique was significantly related to the
      state of re-aeration of the reconstructed middle-ear cavity but not with either
      concurrent or staged reconstruction. Audiological results are same for both
      concurrent and staged reconstruction following canal wall down
      tympanomastoidectomy, and hence we reccommend that concurrent reconstruction is
      preferred in limited disease and staged reconstruction in severe disease.

PMID- 28607884
TI  - Rigid Bronchoscopic Placement of Fogarty Catheter as a Bronchial Blocker for One
      Lung Isolation and Ventilation in Infants and Children Undergoing Thoracic
      Surgery: A Single Institution Experience of 27 Cases.
AB  - One-lung ventilation (OLV) is a challenging task in infants and children as few
      techniques are possible because of narrow anatomy. The aim of this study is to
      evaluate and experience lung isolation with Fogarty catheters as a bronchial
      blocker placed by rigid bronchoscope for OLV in infants and children with lung
      pathologies requiring surgical management in an industrial hospital. This study
      is a prospective study carried out in J.L.N. Hospital and Research Centre, Bhilai
      (CG), from January 2011 to December 2014. The study was designed to place Fogarty
      catheter for achieving OLV using rigid bronchoscope in children. The patient and
      anaesthesia characteristics, placement and positioning of Fogarty catheters,
      intraoperative course, complications and recovery of the patient were studied.
      The data were then compared with the relevant and available literature. Over the
      study period of 4 years, 27 cases were included, out of which 22 (81.48 %) cases
      had suppurative lung disease, three cases (11.11 %) had hydatid cyst of the lung,
      whereas one case (3.7 %) each of congenital lobar emphysema and congenital cystic
      adenomatoid malformation of the lung, respectively. In all cases general
      anaesthesia was provided using single lumen endotracheal tube and one lung
      ventilation achieved by parallel placement of Fogarty catheter as a bronchial
      blocker with rigid bronchoscope. The surgical management included thoracotomy
      with decortication in 21 cases, thoracotomy with excision of hydatid cyst in 3
      cases, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, thoracotomy with left upper
      lobectomy and thoracotomy with left lower lobectomy in one case each,
      respectively. There were no major intraoperative and postoperative complications.
      There was no mortality in our study. We conclude that rigid bronchoscope can be
      safely and effectively used to place Fogarty catheter in main bronchus in infants
      and children for achieving OLV.

PMID- 28607885
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of Tympanoplasty with or Without Mastoidectomy in
      Treatment of Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media Tubotympanic Type.
AB  - To study the role of tympanoplasty alone and tympanoplasty done along with
      cortical mastoidectomy in CSOM in term of graft uptake, improvement of hearing
      and removal of disease. This is retrospective study of patient at tertiary
      referral centre, conducted in between October 2015 and October 2016, study was
      done on 40 patients of either sex in the age group 20-50 years. Tympanoplasty
      alone was done in 20 cases and tympanoplasty along with cortical mastoidectomy
      was done in rest 20 cases. Patient were reviewed post operatively on 2, 4, 8 and
      16 weeks to inspect post operative graft uptake and PTA was done at fourth month
      to evaluate hearing improvement. Hearing improvement was compared in both the
      groups in tympanoplasty group was 9.41 and in tympanoplasty combined with
      cortical mastoidectomy was 12.05. Graft uptake was 80% in tympanoplasty group and
      95% in tympanoplasty combined with cortical mastoidectomy. Recurrence of
      discharge was seen in 4 cases of tympanoplasty. Though tympanoplasty combined
      with cortical mastoidectomy is better in hearing improvement, graft uptake and
      clinical improvement but the difference in 2 groups is statistically
      insignificant. Results of tympanoplasty alone and tympanoplasty along with
      cortical mastoidectomy in terms of hearing gain and graft uptake were
      statistically insignificant.

PMID- 28607886
TI  - Managing Rhinophyma by Trimodal Therapy-Novel Approach.
AB  - Rhinophyma is characterized by nodular thickening of the Nasal skin, sebaceous
      gland hyperplasia, dilated pores, and in its late stage, fibrosis. In severe
      cases, it results in loss of normal facial contours, significant disfigurement,
      and social isolation. Treatment options for severe rhinophyma include
      cryosurgery, partial-thickness decortications with subsequent secondary
      reepithelialisation, laser ablation, full thickness resection with graft or flap
      reconstruction, excision by electrocautery or radio frequency. We report a case
      of severe rhinophyma resulting in marked facial disfigurement treated
      successfully with trimodal therapy with excellent cosmetic outcome on a long term
      follow up.

PMID- 28607887
TI  - Odontogenic Tumours of Jaw: A Prospective Study on Clinico-Pathological Profile
      and Their Management.
AB  - Odontogenic tumours are a group of heterogeneous diseases that range from
      hamartomatous or non-neoplastic tissue proliferations to benign neoplasms to
      malignant tumours with metastatic potential. They are rare, comprising about <2
      3% of all oral and maxillofacial biopsy specimens. The aim of the present study
      was to determine the clinico-pathological presentation of this heterogeneous
      group of lesions and review of literature. The present study was conducted in the
      ENT department of a Government Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India,
      over the period of 5 years from January 2011 to December 2015. It included a
      total of 15 patients who were clinico-radiologically diagnosed as odontogenic
      tumours, and were given appropriate treatment. Their diagnostic and management
      approaches are discussed. Among 15 odontogenic tumours, 13 were benign and two
      were malignant. Male to female ratio was 2:3. Mandible to maxilla ratio was
      1.8:1. The patients were in between 4 and 56 years of age with highest incidence
      in 3rd decade of life. All patients are doing well till date with a minimum
      follow-up of 1 year. Incisional biopsy is considered as gold standard for
      preoperative diagnosis but FNAC can offer clinicians a less invasive alternative.
      CT is the choice of investigation for study of lesion, analysis of its extension
      and surgical planning. The challenge to proper management lies in balancing
      between conservative and radical approach to reduce morbidity and recurrence
      both. Final diagnosis is made by post-operative histopathological examination.

PMID- 28607888
TI  - Postoperative Pain in Adult Tonsillectomy: Is There Any Difference Between the
      Technique?
AB  - Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed worldwide.
      Several techniques have been developed to reduce morbidity and enhance recovery
      after tonsillectomy. Our study was designed to compare post-operative pain with
      three different techniques: cold dissection (CD), monopolar-bipolar dissection
      (MBD) and coblation dissection (CBD). 103 adults were scheduled for elective
      tonsillectomy from September 2014 to December 2015, and were randomized to CD,
      MBD and CBD. Post-operative pain was assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS)
      and Lattinen Test (LT). We did not find significant differences between the
      groups in the VAS pain scores (p > 0.05), except for the first day, when CBD
      tonsillectomy showed a higher pain score (p < 0.05). The differences in LT scores
      between the three techniques were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
      Comparison of analgesic consumption between CD, MBD and CBD did not found any
      significant differences irrespective of the technique used. When first and second
      week after surgery were compared, differences in analgesics requirements were
      statistically significant (p < 0.05). Seventeen cases (16.5%) of secondary
      haemorrhage were reported, but there were no statistical differences in the rate
      of postoperative bleeding between the three groups (p > 0.05). We conclude that
      in our study comparison of the three techniques, CD, MBD and CBD, did not show
      significant differences in the post-tonsillectomy pain scores and bleeding rate.

PMID- 28607889
TI  - Outcomes of Newborn Hearing Screening Program: A Hospital Based Study.
AB  - Hearing loss is hidden disability and second most common congenital pathology.
      Prevention, early identification and early intervention of hearing loss can
      prevent further disability in development of speech, language, cognition and
      other developmental domains. The prevalence of congenital hearing loss has been
      estimated to be 1.2-5.7 per thousand in neonates. In these contexts, the aim of
      study was to determine outcomes of neonates hearing screening program in
      Hospital. It is a clinical cross-sectional study which was conducted in tertiary
      care centre from 8th July, 2015 to 31th May, 2016. Total no of 2254 cases were
      screened. Details case history including high risk register, Pediatric
      Audiometry, Otoacoustic Emission tests were performed followed brainstem evoked
      response audiometry. The Prevalence of hearing loss among high risk babies
      confirmation by BERA was 8.8% per 1000 babies and 16 cases were recommended for
      Cochlear Implant. The screening protocol with objective test i.e. Distortion
      Product Otoacoustic Emission and confirmation by Brainstem Evoked Response
      Audiometry is very useful tool in early identification of congenital hearing loss
      in neonates. Hence, the results of this study will be used to initiate universal
      newborn hearing screening in other hospitals. Moreover, this study highlights the
      relevance of neonatal hearing screening in other states of India and country
      where this screening is not performed routinely in all hospitals and creating
      awareness to identify neonatal risk factors associated with hearing loss and
      understand the importance of early identification and early intervention and
      among health care professionals.

PMID- 28607890
TI  - Endoscopic Tympanoplasty Using Nasal Septal Cartilage Allograft.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to analyze the morphological and functional outcomes
      in a series of 60 patients for whom Type I tympanoplasty was done using alcohol
      preserved nasal septal cartilage allograft through endoscopic permeatal route.
      The study was a prospective, interventional (surgical) study of 60 patients
      between October 2012 and September 2014. Patients were operated using 0 degrees ,
      4 mm, 18 cm long Hopkin's rod endoscope through permeatal route. 70% ethyl
      alcohol preserved allogeneic nasal septal cartilage with thickness of around 0.5
      mm was used for grafting. At the end of 6 months, final assessment of
      morphological outcome i.e. intact tympanic membrane and functional outcome i.e.
      reduction in Air Bone gap, was done. At the end of 6 months, 57 patients (95%)
      had intact tympanic membrane. Mean ABG in postoperative patients was 11.83 dB.
      The operative time taken in 42 patients (70%) was 30-45 min. 42 patients (70%)
      returned to normal activity in 3-5 days. Endoscopic cartilage tympanoplasty using
      allogenic nasal septal cartilage can be safely and effectively used for Type I
      tympanoplasty with good anatomical and audiological results with benefits of
      reduced operating time, morbidity, pain and 'No scar'.

PMID- 28607891
TI  - Cholesteatoma Induced Labyrinthine Fistula: Is Aggressiveness in Removing Disease
      Justified?
AB  - Issues of complete disease clearance and hearing preservation in cholesteatoma
      induced labyrinthine fistula cases has been discussed and updated in this
      article. Successful disease clearance and hearing preservation in a case of
      cholesteatoma induced isolated cochlear promontory fistula encouraged us to
      retrospectively analyse 13 more cases of cholesteatoma induced labyrinthine
      fistula who presented in emergency service as complicated chronic suppurtive
      otitis media. Pre-operatively nine patients experienced vertigo, two had profound
      sensori neural hearing loss and radiology was suggestive of labyrinthine fistula
      in 12 patients. Lateral semicircular canal was involved in 13 cases. In all cases
      cholesteatoma matrix was completely removed from the fistula site irrespective of
      the fistula size and hearing status. Hearing was preserved in 11 out of 12
      patients. Gentle and meticulous removal of the matrix and careful repair of
      labyrinthine fistula delivers significant hearing preservation rate along with a
      safe and dry ear which avoids a second look surgery.

PMID- 28607892
TI  - Manifestations of Tuberculosis in Otorhinolaryngology Practice: A Retrospective
      Study Conducted in a Coastal City of South India.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) of the head and neck has proved to be a diagnostic challenge
      for otorhinolarynologists around the world and is often misdiagnosed as cancer.
      To contribute to a better understanding of TB in the head and neck region by
      assessing its various manifestations, presentations, diagnostic techniques, risk
      factors, coexisting illnesses and treatment modalities. This was a retrospective
      study conducted over a 3 year period (2012-2014) in 2 hospitals in South India,
      among patients diagnosed to have TB of the head and neck. A semi structured
      proforma was used to capture information from the medical records pertaining to
      the various objectives of the study. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0
      and results obtained were depicted as percentages. Chi-square test was used to
      find association between the variables and p < 0.05 was considered statistically
      significant. Among 104 patients with TB of the head and neck, the most common
      manifestation was found to be Tubercular Lymphadenitis (86.53%), followed by
      laryngeal TB, submandibular gland TB, deep neck space abscess and adenotonsillar
      TB. FNAC was found to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of TB lymphadenitis.
      26% of the patients had coexisting HIV infection and 16.3% of the patients had
      associated pulmonary TB. More than 20% of the patients were smokers. Most
      patients were treated using ATT. Tuberculosis of head and neck is no longer
      uncommon. Pulmonary TB need not be associated nor is smoking a risk factor
      according to our study.

PMID- 28607893
TI  - The Role of Balloon Sinuplasty in the Treatment of Vacuum Rhinogenic Headache.
AB  - In this study we tried to demonstrate how balloon sinuplasty could be an option
      in the treatment of the Rhinogenic Headache due to a probably disventilation of
      frontal sinus recess. 107 patients were included in the study with diagnosis of
      Rhinogenic Headache. The surgical group underwent bilateral balloon sinuplasty of
      the frontal sinus. The medical group underwent pharmacological treatment.
      Headaches characteristics were evaluated by a clinical personal diary. The
      severity was recorded by Visual Analog Scale 4 and 8 months after treatment. 98
      out of 107 patients completed the protocol. In surgical group and in medical one
      the mean headache score improved at four and eight months follow up. The headache
      frequency attacks per month decrease from a preoperative frequency of 18 (+/-4
      SD) in surgical group and 17 (+/-3 SD) in medical group to 3 (+/-1 SD) and 6 (+/
      3 SD) respectively at 4 months control but increased slightly to 5 (+/-2 SD) and
      12 (+/-4 SD) after 8 months. We concluded that the balloon sinuplasty should be
      considered as an effective alternative option after an accurate selection of
      surgical candidates. However, it is important a 6-8 month follow-up to evaluate
      the efficacy and stability of the treatment used.

PMID- 28607894
TI  - Impact of Co-existing Vascular Headache on Symptom Relief After Endoscopic Sinus
      Surgery.
AB  - Vascular headache and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are diseases that share
      similar symptoms and demographics, including headache, facial pain and nasal
      symptoms. Contribution of chronic sinusitis as a cause of chronic headache is
      controversial, as there are scarce studies to know incidence of vascular headache
      in patients with CRS. To evaluate incidence of vascular headache in patients with
      CRS. Using descriptive study design, group of 100 patients with symptoms of CRS
      with headache were included in study. Patients underwent surgical management and
      3% managed medically. Patients were assessed for associated factors with headache
      and further evaluated for persistence of headache postoperatively. Inferential
      statistics was done by Chi square test using SPSS for Windows Software (Version
      21.0). Leading symptoms of CRS were headache (100%), nasal obstruction (93%), and
      nasal discharge (90%). Pre-treatment 25% had exposure to sunlight as aggravating
      factor and associated nausea vomiting in 30%. Post-treatment, follow-up at 6
      months, 20% reported persisting headache, with duration of headache >1 year in
      37.5% (p = 0.01). Those with pre-operative sunlight exposure as aggravating
      factor, headache persisted in 60% (p < 0.0001) and those with nausea/vomiting pre
      treatment; headache persisted in 56.7% (p < 0.0001). These results were
      statistically significant. In CRS patients who had other factors contributing to
      headache like duration of headache more than 1 year, associated nausea/vomiting,
      and aggravating factors like exposure to sunlight, headache persisted after
      medical and surgical treatment of CRS. It signifies that 20% CRS patients with
      headache were having co existing vascular headache.

PMID- 28607895
TI  - True Parapharyngeal Space Tumors: Case Series from a Teaching Oncology Center.
AB  - The Parapharyngeal Space (PPS) tumors are rare tumors accounting for 0.5% of the
      tumors in head and neck region. A retrospective study conducted at Department of
      Surgical oncology, Vydehi institute of Medical Sciences & Research center,
      Bengaluru, between 2010 and 2015 identified nine cases treated for PPS tumors.
      Patients are diagnosed on the basis of clinical examination fine needle
      aspiration cytology and imaging and considered for excision by one of the varied
      surgical approaches {transoral(1), transcervical(4), transparotid(0),
      transcervical-transparotid(1), transmandibular(3) or intratemporal(0) approach}.
      The choice of approach is defined by the size of the tumor, suspicion of
      malignancy and the position of the tumor with regard to the superior extent and
      proximity to the skull base as well as its relation with neurovascular bundle.

PMID- 28607897
TI  - A Comparative Study of Pharyngeal Repair in Two Layers Versus Three Layers,
      Following Total Laryngectomy in Carcinoma of Larynx.
AB  - Larynx is the second most common site for cancer in the upper aerodigestive
      tract. One of the dreaded complications following total laryngectomy has been
      pharyngo cutaneous fistula (PCF). PCF merits special attention due to its
      significant negative impact on the recovery process. Total laryngectomy
      profoundly alters speech. Effective voice restoration is essential for the
      rehabilitation of these patients. Inadequate consensus exists as to the best
      technique of pharyngeal repair to decrease incidence of PCF and ensure good
      quality voice following total laryngectomy. 21 patients were included in the
      study for total laryngectomy with trachea oesophageal voice prosthesis placement.
      Patients were randomised into 2 groups. Group A had their pharynx repaired in two
      layers and Group B had it done in three layers. Post operatively the patients
      were followed up for a period of 12 months to look for incidence of PCF.
      Subjective and objective evaluation of voice was done. 9.52% of patients
      developed PCF. All of the cases of PCF were in the group repaired in three
      layers. In cases with repair by two layers the mean Voice Handicap Index 10 (VHI
      10) score was 19.27 and those with three layers pharyngeal repair was 23.20.
      Average maximum phonation time amongst the study population was 13.09. In three
      layers and two layers pharyngeal repair the average maximum phonation time was
      12.56 and 13.58 respectively. Surgical repair of pharynx in two layers excluding
      the third layer of pharyngeal musculature reduces the chance of PCF. Two layers
      pharyngeal repair supplemented by cricopharyngeal myotomy led to significantly
      better voice outcome.

PMID- 28607898
TI  - A Study of Clinicopathological Profile of Patients of Hoarseness of Voice
      Presenting to Tertiary Care hospital.
AB  - Hoarseness is subjective term used to describe abnormal voice quality which may
      occur due to many causes because it is just a symptom. Proper knowledge and
      clinicopathological profile is important to treat the underlying pathology. This
      prospective study was carried out in 100 patients presented in Department of ENT,
      Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal from April 2013 to September 2014 with complaint
      of hoarseness of voice for more than 15 days. Objective of this study is to study
      incidence, duration and sex predilection for hoarseness of voice. Also to study
      different etiological and predisposing factors for hoarseness of voice. After
      taking detailed history of the patient, complete examination of ear, nose and
      throat has been carried out. Indirect laryngoscopy, direct laryngoscopy, FOFE is
      done. Any suspicious tissue is sent for histopathological evaluation. X-ray soft
      tissue neck and if required CT SCAN larynx is done. Out of 100 patients maximum
      were from 50 to 70 years age group. 89% were males while only 11% were females.
      Labourers (37%) and farmers (32%) were the major groups affected. Smoking habit
      found in 60% of patients and tobacco chewing in 33% of patients and both, also
      having. Most common cause for hoarseness was found out to be laryngeal neoplasms
      of which supraglottic growth being commonest (37%) in our study. Hoarseness of
      voice may be present due to various underlying pathologies. So proper diagnosis,
      through detailed history, clinical examination and investigations is warranted to
      find out the cause and starting treatment.

PMID- 28607896
TI  - A Survey of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Otolaryngologists.
AB  - There are increased reports of prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal
      disorders (WRMSDs) in surgeons performing minimal access surgeries. Due to the
      nature of the speciality, otolaryngologists spend their work days in performing
      markedly precise procedures in small workspaces i.e. the patients' ear, nose and
      throat. Due to this, they frequently adopt awkward neck, back and shoulder
      postures while using devices like otoscope, endoscope and microscope. The field
      of otolaryngology has barely received any attention with respect to ergonomic
      assessment. Thus, the aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of WRMSDs
      in otolaryngologists in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. A pre-validated, structured
      questionnaire was distributed to 150 otolaryngologists. Seventy-three
      otolaryngologists responded to the questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of
      demographic and workload data, report of musculoskeletal symptoms and
      otolaryngologists' interpretation of casual and preventive factors of symptoms at
      workplace. Response rate of the survey was 48.6%. The total prevalence of WRMSDs
      in the otolaryngologists was 87.67%. Majority of those surveyed reported that
      they suffered from musculoskeletal problems which they attributed to the
      ergonomic flaws encountered during surgery (60.27%) and OPD (69.86%)
      respectively. Pain and discomfort during surgery experienced by the surgeons were
      most frequently attributed to the awkward and sustained postures adopted during
      surgery. Effective time management, ergonomically apt postures, intermittent
      change of posture, using back rest and availing skilled assistance during OPD and
      surgery, were the self-assessed corrective measures suggested by the respondents.
      The otolaryngologists' job profile puts them at high risk for WRMSDs.

PMID- 28607899
TI  - Transnasal Stabilization in Naso-orbito-ethmoid Fractures: The Easy Way!
AB  - Effective management of naso orbito ethmoidal fractures involves both functional
      and esthetic correction. While functional correction is routinely achieved, in
      our experience, most secondary deformities resulted from inadequate nasal bridge
      projection. We hereby suggest a simple technique to stabilize the nasal bridge
      after mild overcorrection thereby improving the esthetic outcome in naso orbito
      ethmoidal fractures.

PMID- 28607901
TI  - IgG4-Related Disease (IgG4-RD) Presenting as a Mass in the Carotid Triangle
      Masquerading Paraganglioma.
AB  - IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) which is a protein disorder presented as a mass in
      the right carotid triangle in a 30 year male patient, who underwent battery of
      tests is described. The radiologist opined the mass as paraganglioma and the
      spindle shaped character of the mass also suggested neurogenic tumor in
      differential diagnosis. Reference to vascular surgeon also opined the same, and
      adviced for incisional biopsy. Histopathology report suggested IgG4-RD and
      immunochemistry confirmed the final diagnosis. The neck mass which we opined as a
      single organ disease, proved to be multiorgan disease in PET scan.

PMID- 28607900
TI  - Impaired Vestibular Function After Cochlear Implantation in Children: Role of
      Static Posturography.
AB  - To identify vestibular dysfunction in children after cochlear implant surgery and
      to study the utility of static posturography in evaluating vestibular function in
      children. A prospective study was carried out on 25 children between 2 and 7
      years of age with sensorineural hearing loss with no overt vestibular
      dysfunction. All children underwent static posturography using Synapsis
      Posturographic System (SPS) software (Version 3.0, REV C) using a static platform
      with foam. The centre of pressure (COP) shift was recorded as statokinesiogram on
      the software and the mean vestibular, visual and somesthetic scores were
      obtained. Cochlear implantation (CI) surgery was done with insertion of Med-El
      Pulsar standard cochlear implant with 12 twin electrodes. Children were evaluated
      again after 4 weeks of CI surgery (2 weeks after switch on) with static
      posturography on the same SPS software. The scores obtained were compared with
      pre op value and data analyzed statistically by paired t tests on SPSS 18
      software. The mean age was 4.6 years with range 2-7 years. All the children in
      the study were able to complete the test with no difficulty and the mean time
      required for each child was 10.2 min. The mean pre op somesthetic score was 95.16
      (SD 1.52) and post op score was 94.06 (SD 1.79). The mean pre op visual score was
      86.64 (SD 2.24) and post op score was 82.55 (2.89). The mean pre op vestibular
      score was 84.11 (SD 2.20) and post op score was 73.66 (SD 4.25). Correlation and
      statistical analysis of the pre and post values of each score revealed
      statistically significant reduction in vestibular scores post CI. The vestibular
      system is at high risk of injury leading to vestibular dysfunction in children
      during CI. Our study found the static posturography as a simple, fast and
      efficient tool to screen children for vestibular dysfunction post CI. Identifying
      the dysfunction early can help in initiating early rehabilitation measures.

PMID- 28607902
TI  - A Rare Case Report of a Child Coexistence Thyroglossal Cyst and Second Branchial
      Cleft Fistulae.
AB  - Thyroglossal duct cysts followed by branchial cleft anomalies are the most common
      congenital neck masses encountered in practice, second branchial cleft cysts and
      sinuses are the most common type (LaRiviere and Waldhausen in Surg Clin North Am
      92(3):583-597, 2012). Although both abnormalities are common individually, but
      rarely seen associated in same patient as described in our case.
      Congenitalcervical anomalies are important to consider in the differential of
      head and neck masses in children and adults. These lesions can present as
      palpable cystic masses, infected masses, draining sinuses, or fistulae.
      Thyroglossal duct cysts are most common, followed by branchial cleft anomalies. A
      synchronous presentation of both type of cyst and fistula in a same child patient
      is very rare with no such cases reported in literature till date.

PMID- 28607903
TI  - Invasive Fungal Infection in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Associated with Myeloid
      Sarcoma of the Sinonasal Cavity: A Rare Case.
AB  - Myeloid sarcoma is a rare malignant extramedullary neoplasm of myeloid precursor
      cells. The majority of these cases occur in patients with known leukemia or those
      who eventually develop the disease. It can occur in various sites but sinonasal
      cavity involvement along with invasive fungal infection is exceedingly rare.

PMID- 28607904
TI  - Review Article: Retropharyngeal Abscess-Mimickers and Masqueraders.
AB  - To discuss a case of suspected retropharyngeal abscess having important clinical
      and academic significance. This paper discusses an unusual presentation and
      evolution of a well known condition such as retropharyngeal abscess. Though the
      diagnosis in this case was initially a retropharyngeal abscess, several unusual
      findings were evident, which interfered with the optimal management of the
      patient. A literature review revealed rare causes and lesions mimicking a
      retropharyngeal abscess, such as retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis and Kawasaki
      disease, which are neither familiar to otolaryngologists nor other specialists
      such as orthopedicians. It is possible that this patient was both over treated
      and undertreated at the same time. Though the diagnosis in this case could not be
      established with certainty, several important pieces of information came up,
      especially unusual causes of retropharyngeal abscess and management of the same.
      Retropharyngeal abscess is a well-known condition with established modes of
      management. However, certain variations may occur and may pose challenges in
      diagnosis and management. These variations are little known and need to be
      highlighted so that optimal management is ensured.

PMID- 28607905
TI  - Understanding potential uptake of a proposed mHealth program to support caregiver
      home management of childhood illness in a resource-poor setting: a qualitative
      evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extensive uptake of mobile phones offers an unprecedented opportunity
      to improve global healthcare delivery, especially among underserved populations.
      Mobile health (mHealth) has been increasingly recognized as a promising approach
      to addressing challenges in global maternal-child health and may play an
      important role in accelerating progress towards improved outcomes. However, more
      evidence guiding development of mHealth interventions is needed. The current
      study explores factors that may support or hinder adoption and use of a proposed
      mHealth intervention to improve caregiver home management of common childhood
      illnesses in order to shape program development. METHODS: Elicitation interviews
      were conducted with a convenience sample of 25 mothers recruited from a larger
      cluster-randomized survey sample in the Cono Norte region of Arequipa, Peru.
      Interview data were analyzed in Spanish to preserve important cultural nuances.
      RESULTS: Thematic analysis revealed potential facilitators of and barriers to
      uptake of the proposed mHealth program. Potential facilitators of caregiver
      participation include opportunity to engage in two-way communication with
      healthcare providers, development of instrumental and support knowledge to care
      for sick children, and healthcare challenges faced in a resource-poor community.
      Potential barriers include preference for in-person healthcare visits, program
      cost, text messaging abilities, and concern around program legitimacy.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the potential for mHealth to improve global
      healthcare delivery in the area of maternal-child health. It demonstrates that
      mHealth interventions can meet the needs of vulnerable populations by offering
      novel approaches to promoting evidence-based care. This in-depth understanding of
      factors that may influence participation and use of this proposed mHealth program
      will help shape development of the intervention in this community.

PMID- 28607906
TI  - Implementation of CycleTel Family Advice: an SMS-based service to provide family
      planning and fertility awareness information in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CycleTel Family Advice (CFA), an SMS-based service designed to
      improve knowledge of fertility and family planning (FP), was delivered to over
      100,000 people in India from April to August 2015. The goal of CFA was to
      increase knowledge on a range of reproductive health topics, e.g., the menstrual
      cycle, fertility, and FP, and to increase positive perceptions and use of FP.
      This paper focuses on the best practices and operational challenges for providing
      an SMS service based on the implementation experience of CFA. METHODS: The
      implementation process for CFA was well documented, specifically program design,
      commercial partnerships, formative research, design of messages, and recruitment
      of users. The impact of CFA on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors was assessed
      through phone surveys before and after message delivery. RESULTS: Programmatic
      data and phone surveys resulted in several operational findings, particularly in
      the areas of user behavior, partnership management, and mHealth research. While
      there were improvements in knowledge, there were not significant changes in FP
      use and couple communication. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention yielded insights into
      designing an mHealth intervention as well as the opportunities and challenges of
      implementing a stand-alone SMS-based service with a broad audience. Lessons
      learned were that (I) SMS-based interventions, without other supporting systems,
      may not lead to high user engagement or behavior change; (II) partnerships with
      private sector technical platforms can help overcome the difficult problem of
      marketing and outreach, but they bring limitations to user interface and
      dependencies on a commercial structure; (III) collecting demographic data
      required to provide tailored content may be a barrier to user acquisition; and
      (IV) while phone surveys are useful for evaluation of mHealth interventions,
      reaching users is challenging and response rates are low.

PMID- 28607907
TI  - Mind (is) your body.
AB  - The majority of people who experience mental health issues also have poor
      physical health resulting in decreased life expectancy. Fortunately, many
      physical health issues can be identified and rectified by monitoring various
      health indicators over a time period. The Physical Health Diary is a tool that
      people can use by themselves and/or with others to track, monitor and improve
      their physical health over time.

PMID- 28607908
TI  - Cancer cell of origin controls epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in skin
      squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 28607909
TI  - Putting skin in the game: dermis-derived stem cells provide insight into familial
      pulmonary hypertension.

PMID- 28607910
TI  - Exploiting induced senescence in intestinal organoids to drive enteroendocrine
      cell expansion.

PMID- 28607911
TI  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is predetermined by the epigenetic state of the
      skin tumor cell of origin.

PMID- 28607913
TI  - From patient centered risk factors to comprehensive prognostic models: a
      suggested framework for outcome prediction in umbilical cord blood
      transplantation.
AB  - Prospectively identifying patients who will gain maximal benefit from umbilical
      cord blood transplantation (UCBT) with minimal risk is a desirable unmet need. A
      complex network of parameters related to patient, disease, donor, and procedure
      all come into play. We review the prognostic role of patient-related risk factors
      in adults undergoing UCBT. Furthermore, since comprehensive prognostic models are
      lacking in UCBT, we suggest a framework for integrating patients' features in the
      development of prediction models for UCBT outcomes. Such models could contribute
      to patient selection, optimization of the various modifiable features in the
      process of UCBT, analysis of retrospective data, and design of interventions.

PMID- 28607912
TI  - Immune reconstitution and outcomes after conditioning with anti-thymocyte
      globulin in unrelated cord blood transplantation; the good, the bad, and the
      ugly.
AB  - Unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) exhibits a low risk of
      graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) and has unique potent anti-virus and anti
      leukemia effects. Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) in the conditioning regimen for
      UCBT is successful in reducing graft rejection and GvHD. Nevertheless, this
      beneficial effect of ATG coincides with its detrimental effect on immune
      reconstitution. The latter directly relates to a high incidence of viral
      infections and leukemia relapses. ATG has been used in transplant patients for
      over 30 years. In recent years, the knowledge on the mechanisms of action of ATG
      and its implementation in the UCBT setting has increased dramatically. Important
      data became available showing the highly variable pharmacokinetics (PK) of ATG
      and its consequence on outcome measures. Here, we review the effects of ATG on
      immune reconstitution and subsequent outcomes after UCBT, and describe the
      mechanisms causing these effects. We highlight the importance of optimizing ATG
      exposure before and after UCBT and discuss strategies to maintain the 'good' and
      overcome the 'bad and ugly' effects of ATG on UCBT outcome.

PMID- 28607916
TI  - Observation-driven inquiry: Raman spectroscopic imaging illuminates cancer lipid
      metabolism.

PMID- 28607914
TI  - Reconstitution of adaptive immunity after umbilical cord blood transplantation:
      impact on infectious complications.
AB  - In comparison with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) with other
      stem cell sources, umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) was traditionally
      associated with increased risk of infections, particularly during the first 3
      months after transplantation. Longitudinal studies of immune monitoring reported
      peculiar patterns of T- and B-cell recovery in the peripheral blood of UCB
      recipients during the first months post-transplantation. Overall, current data
      suggest delayed reconstitution of naive and memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell pools
      after UCBT. This is particularly true for adult recipients and for patients who
      received in vivo T-cell depleting approaches before the transplantation. Such
      delayed T-cell recovery may increase susceptibility of UCB recipients for
      developing opportunistic infections and viral reactivations. Regarding B-cell
      recovery, UCBT was associated with accelerated B-lymphopoiesis. Recent studies
      also reported evidence for faster functional memory B-cell recovery in UCB
      recipients. In this article, we briefly review T- and B-cell reconstitution after
      alloHSCT, with emphasis on peculiarities observed after UCBT. We further put
      these data in lines with risks of infections after UCBT.

PMID- 28607915
TI  - Engineering cord blood to improve engraftment after cord blood transplant.
AB  - Umbilical cord blood transplant (CBT) has traditionally been associated with
      slower engraftment of neutrophils, delayed immune reconstitution and consequently
      higher risk of infections as compared with peripheral blood progenitor cell
      (PBPC) or bone marrow (BM) transplants. This is primarily due to low numbers of
      total nucleated cells (TNCs) and the naive nature of CB immune cells. The use of
      double unit CB transplant (DCBT) increases the total cell dose in the graft, but
      it still does not produce as rapid engraftment as seen with PBPC or even BM
      transplants. Herein, we discuss strategies to improve engraftment after CBT. We
      describe methods of (I) expansion of CB graft ex vivo to increase the total cell
      dose; and (II) enhancement of BM homing capability of CB progenitor cells; (III)
      ex vivo expansion of CB derived T cells for improving T cell function against
      viruses, tumors and protection from graft versus host disease (GVHD). With these
      novel approaches, engraftment after CBT is now reaching levels comparable to that
      of other graft types.

PMID- 28607917
TI  - Thrombotic microangiopathy associated with synthetic cannabinoid receptor
      agonists.
AB  - Marijuana is one of the most commonly used recreational drugs in the United
      States. As marijuana is illegal in the majority of countries, the use of readily
      available and unregulated synthetic cannabinoids (SCBs) has increased. Little is
      known about the potential adverse effects of SCBs especially in regards to their
      nephrotoxicity. Case reports of acute kidney injury (AKI) from acute tubular
      injury secondary to their use have been reported. However, the exact pathology,
      mechanism, and extent of renal injury remain unknown. We report the first case of
      biopsy proven thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) associated with SCBs resulting in
      AKI. The patient suffered significant morbidity with loss of renal function
      eventually requiring renal replacement therapy.

PMID- 28607918
TI  - The propensity for epithelial-mesenchymal transitions is dictated by chromatin
      states in the cancer cell of origin.

PMID- 28607919
TI  - The mammary stem cell field wakes up to hibernating cells.

PMID- 28607920
TI  - Epigenetics meets metabolism through PHB-mediated histone H3.3 deposition by
      HIRA.

PMID- 28607921
TI  - Graft predominance after double umbilical cord blood transplantation: a review.
AB  - Several parameters are involved in graft predominance after double umbilical cord
      blood transplantation (dUCBT), of which T-cell alloreactivity between the grafts
      is now considered to be the major denominator. We recently showed that
      alloreactive CD4+ T-cells originating from the predominant CBU recognize HLA
      class II allele mismatches and can readily be detected in the majority of
      patients. In addition, it was shown that HLA-class II allele-specific CD4+ T
      cells were able to recognize primary leukemic cells when the mismatched HLA-class
      II allele was shared between the rejected CBU and the patient. These results
      further underscored the role of alloreactive T-cells, notably class II specific
      CD4+ T-cells, in graft-versus-graft reactions and in graft-versus-leukemia after
      dUCBT.

PMID- 28607923
TI  - Unsaturated fatty acids regulate stemness of ovarian cancer cells through NF
      kappaB.

PMID- 28607922
TI  - Tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting FLT3 in the treatment of acute myeloid
      leukemia.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid lineage of blood cells.
      Although significant progress has been made in treating many types of cancers
      during recent years, AML remains a deadly disease with survival rate lagging
      behind other blood cancers. A combination of toxic chemotherapies has been the
      standard AML treatment for more than 40 years. With intensive efforts to define
      the pathogenesis of AML, novel therapeutic drugs targeting key molecular defects
      in AML are being developed. Mutated in nearly 30% of AML, FMS-like tyrosine
      kinase 3 (FLT3) represents one of the most attractive targets. FLT3 mutants
      resulted from either internal tandem duplication (ITD) or point mutations possess
      enhanced kinase activity and cause constitutive activation of signaling. To date,
      several small molecule inhibitors of FLT3 have been developed but their clinical
      efficacy is limited due to a lack of potency and the generation of drug
      resistance. Therefore, next-generation FLT3 inhibitors overcoming these
      limitations are urgently in need. This review focuses on the pathological role of
      mutant FLT3 in the development of AML, the current status of FLT3 inhibitor
      development, and mechanisms underlining the development of resistance to existing
      FLT3 inhibitors.

PMID- 28607925
TI  - Association of Platelet Membrane Glycoprotein HPA-2a/b, GP VI T13254C, and GP
      Ibalpha VNTR Polymorphisms with Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Recently, controversial results have been reported regarding
      the association of the polymorphisms of platelet membrane glycoproteins (HPA
      2a/b, GP VI T13254C, and GP Ibalpha VNTR) with coronary artery disease (CAD). We
      performed this meta-analysis to further assess the polymorphisms of platelet
      membrane glycoproteins with a risk of CAD. METHODS: A systematic electronic
      literature search was conducted in Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and the
      Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM). Analyses were performed using the
      Cochrane software package Review Manager 5.2 and Stata 12.0 software package.
      RESULTS: Twenty-nine full-text articles were included in the meta-analysis. Based
      on random-effects meta-analysis, a significant association between the HPA-2a/b
      polymorphism and CAD was identified (allele model: odds ratio = 1.43, 95%
      confidence interval = 1.07-1.91; dominant genetic model: odds ratio = 1.57, 95%
      confidence interval = 1.08-2.28). Our study showed no association between the GP
      VI T13254C polymorphism and CAD in either a random-effects model or a fixed
      effects model. Furthermore, there was no evidence to suggest that the GP Ibalpha
      VNTR polymorphism was associated with CAD in any of the genetic analysis models.
      CONCLUSIONS: The HPA-2a/b polymorphism correlated significantly with a risk of
      CAD, and the HPA-2b allele and the HPA-2ab + HPA-2bb genotype may increase the
      risk of CAD. There was no evidence to suggest that polymorphisms of GP VI T13254C
      and GP Ibalpha VNTR were associated with CAD.

PMID- 28607924
TI  - HIPK2 Overexpression and Its Prognostic Role in Human Papillomavirus-Positive
      Tonsillar Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Tonsillar squamous cell carcinomas (TSCCs) are the most common human
      papillomavirus- (HPV-) associated oropharyngeal cancers with poor prognosis.
      Homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2) is a central regulator of p53,
      which participates in apoptosis during the DNA damage response. HIPK2 is involved
      in HPV-associated uterine cervical and cutaneous carcinogenesis through its
      binding of HPV E6, thereby preventing apoptosis and contributing to tumor
      progression. However, its clinical and prognostic significance in TSCC remains
      unclear. HIPK2 mRNA levels were analyzed in 20 normal tonsils and 20 TSCC
      specimens using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
      Immunohistochemistry of HIPK2 was performed in 79 resected specimens. HIPK2 was
      expressed in 57% of the TSCCs, and HIPK2 protein expression and HIPK2 mRNA levels
      were higher in TSCCs than in normal tonsils. HIPK2 overexpression was associated
      with poorly differentiated carcinoma and low alcohol consumption and was an
      independent prognostic factor for overall survival and disease-free survival
      (DFS) in TSCC and a negative independent prognostic factor for DFS in patients
      receiving postoperative radiotherapy. HIPK2 overexpression had a significant
      association with poorer DFS in HPV-positive TSCCs, but not in HPV-negative
      tumors. HIPK2 overexpression may be a potential prognostic marker for predicting
      prognoses and a high risk of recurrence, particularly in patients with HPV
      positive TSCC.

PMID- 28607926
TI  - The Combination of the Tumor Markers Suggests the Histological Diagnosis of Lung
      Cancer.
AB  - Tumor markers are beneficial for the diagnosis and therapy monitoring of lung
      cancer. However, the value of tumor markers in lung cancer histological diagnosis
      is unknown. In this study, we analyzed the serum levels of six tumor markers
      (CEA, CYFRA21-1, SCC, NSE, ProGRP, and CA125) in 2097 suspected patients with
      lung cancer and determined whether the combination of the tumor markers was
      useful for histological diagnosis of lung cancer. We found that CYFRA21-1 was the
      most sensitive marker in NSCLC. ProGRP showed a better clinical performance than
      that of NSE in discriminating between SCLC and NSCLC. The serum level of CYFRA21
      1 or SCC was significantly higher in squamous carcinoma (p < 0.05), and the
      levels of ProGRP and NSE were significantly higher in SCLC (p < 0.05). According
      to the criteria established, SCLC and NSCLC were discriminated with sensitivity
      of 87.12 and 62.63% and specificity of 64.61 and 99.5%, respectively. The
      sensitivity and specificity in the differentiation of adenocarcinoma and squamous
      carcinoma were 68.1 and 81.63% and 70.73 and 65.93%, with NPV of 46.03 and 68.97%
      and PPV of 85.82 and 79.47%, respectively. Our results suggested the combination
      of six tumor markers could discriminate the histological types of lung cancer.

PMID- 28607927
TI  - Depression and Anxiety Scores Are Associated with Amygdala Volume in Cushing's
      Syndrome: Preliminary Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cushing's syndrome (CS) has repeatedly been associated with
      hippocampal volume reductions, while little information is available on the
      amygdala, another structure rich in glucocorticoid receptors. The aim of the
      study was to analyze amygdala volume in patients with CS and its relationship
      with anxiety, depression, and hormone levels. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 39 CS
      patients (16 active and 23 patients in remission) and 39 healthy controls matched
      for age, sex, and education level completed anxiety (STAI) and depression tests
      (BDI-II) and underwent a 3 Tesla brain MRI and endocrine testing. Amygdala
      volumes were analysed with FreeSurfer software. RESULTS: Active CS patients had
      smaller right (but not left) amygdala volumes when compared to controls (P =
      0.045). Left amygdala volumes negatively correlated with depression scores (r = 
      0.692, P = 0.003) and current anxiety state scores (r = -0.617, P = 0.011) in
      active CS patients and with anxiety trait scores (r = -0.440, P = 0.036) in
      patients in remission. No correlations were found between current ACTH, urinary
      free cortisol or blood cortisol levels, and amygdala volumes in either patient
      group. CONCLUSION: Patients with active CS have a smaller right amygdala volume
      in comparison to controls, while left amygdala volumes are associated with mood
      state in both patient groups.

PMID- 28607928
TI  - Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Affect Myogenic Processes in C2C12
      Myoblasts: Role of Gap-Junction-Mediated Intercellular Communication.
AB  - Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) can interact with
      biological systems. Although they are successfully used as therapeutic agents in
      physiatrics and rehabilitative practice, they might represent environmental
      pollutants and pose a risk to human health. Due to the lack of evidence of their
      mechanism of action, the effects of ELF-EMFs on differentiation processes in
      skeletal muscle were investigated. C2C12 myoblasts were exposed to ELF-EMFs
      generated by a solenoid. The effects of ELF-EMFs on cell viability and on growth
      and differentiation rates were studied using colorimetric and vital dye assays,
      cytomorphology, and molecular analysis of MyoD and myogenin expression,
      respectively. The establishment of functional gap junctions was investigated
      analyzing connexin 43 expression levels and measuring cell permeability, using
      microinjection/dye-transfer assays. The ELF-EMFs did not affect C2C12 myoblast
      viability or proliferation rate. Conversely, at ELF-EMF intensity in the mT
      range, the myogenic process was accelerated, through increased expression of
      MyoD, myogenin, and connexin 43. The increase in gap-junction function suggests
      promoting cell fusion and myotube differentiation. These data provide the first
      evidence of the mechanism through which ELF-EMFs may provide therapeutic benefits
      and can resolve, at least in part, some conditions of muscle dysfunction.

PMID- 28607929
TI  - Treatment of Cervical Artery Dissection: Antithrombotics, Thrombolysis, and
      Endovascular Therapy.
AB  - Cervical artery dissection (CAD) is an important cause of stroke for young
      patients, accounting for 5-22% of strokes in patients <45 years of age, which
      presents not only a great burden to the stroke victims but also a financial
      burden to the family and society. Because CAD can lead to different clinical
      lesions, including neuropathy, acute ischemic stroke, and subarachnoid
      hemorrhage, and is an arterial dissection with a self-healing tendency, the
      treatment options depend on the clinical manifestations. The main purpose of the
      treatment is to control CAD-induced neuronal damage and to restore blood flow.
      The treatment programs include drug treatment and endovascular treatment.
      However, antithrombotic treatment is crucial. Both antiplatelet drugs and
      anticoagulant drugs are used to reduce the risk of stroke, but whether one
      treatment strategy is more effective than the other is unknown. The efficacy and
      timing of the endovascular treatment of CAD remain controversial.

PMID- 28607930
TI  - The Association between Age-Related Macular Degeneration and the Risk of
      Mortality.
AB  - Studies have investigated the association between age-related macular
      degeneration (AMD) and subsequent risks of mortality, but results have been
      equivocal. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of prospective cohort studies to
      assess the association of AMD and the risk of mortality in the general
      population. We searched PubMed and EMBASE for trials published from 1980 to 2016.
      We included 11 cohort studies that reported relative risks with 95% confidence
      intervals for the association of AMD and mortality, involving 57,069
      participants. In a random-effects model, the adjusted RR (95% confidence
      interval) associated with AMD was 1.09 (1.02-1.17) for all-cause mortality.
      Findings from this research provide support that persons with AMD had a higher
      subsequent risk of mortality than persons without AMD.

PMID- 28607931
TI  - Genetic Epidemiology of Type 2 Diabetes in Mexican Mestizos.
AB  - There are currently about 415 million people with diabetes worldwide, a figure
      likely to increase to 642 million by 2040. In 2015, Mexico was the second Latin
      American country and sixth in the world in prevalence of this disorder with
      nearly 11.5 million of patients. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the main kind of
      diabetes and its etiology is complex with environmental and genetic factors
      involved. Indeed, polymorphisms in several genes have been associated with this
      disease worldwide. To estimate the genetic epidemiology of T2D in Mexican
      mestizos a systematic bibliographic search of published articles through PubMed,
      Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science was conducted. Just case-control
      studies of candidate genes about T2D in Mexican mestizo inhabitants were
      included. Nineteen studies that met the inclusion criteria were found. In total,
      68 polymorphisms of 41 genes were assessed; 26 of them were associated with T2D
      risk, which were located in ABCA1, ADRB3, CAPN10, CDC123/CAMK1D, CDKAL1,
      CDKN2A/2B, CRP, ELMO1, FTO, HHEX, IGF2BP2, IRS1, JAZF1, KCNQ1, LOC387761, LTA,
      NXPH1, SIRT1, SLC30A8, TCF7L2, and TNF-alpha genes. Overall, 21 of the 41
      analyzed genes were associated with T2D in Mexican mestizos. Such a genetic
      heterogeneity compares with findings in other ethnic groups.

PMID- 28607933
TI  - Optimal Branching Structure of Fluidic Networks with Permeable Walls.
AB  - Biological and engineering studies of Hess-Murray's law are focused on assemblies
      of tubes with impermeable walls. Blood vessels and airways have permeable walls
      to allow the exchange of fluid and other dissolved substances with tissues.
      Should Hess-Murray's law hold for bifurcating systems in which the walls of the
      vessels are permeable to fluid? This paper investigates the fluid flow in a
      porous-walled T-shaped assembly of vessels. Fluid flow in this branching flow
      structure is studied numerically to predict the configuration that provides
      greater access to the flow. Our findings indicate, among other results, that an
      asymmetric flow (i.e., breaking the symmetry of the flow distribution) may occur
      in this symmetrical dichotomous system. To derive expressions for the optimum
      branching sizes, the hydraulic resistance of the branched system is computed.
      Here we show the T-shaped assembly of vessels is only conforming to Hess-Murray's
      law optimum as long as they have impervious walls. Findings also indicate that
      the optimum relationship between the sizes of parent and daughter tubes depends
      on the wall permeability of the assembled tubes. Our results agree with
      analytical results obtained from a variety of sources and provide new insights
      into the dynamics within the assembly of vessels.

PMID- 28607932
TI  - The Protective Effect of N-Acetylcysteine on Ionizing Radiation Induced Ovarian
      Failure and Loss of Ovarian Reserve in Female Mouse.
AB  - Ionizing radiation may cause irreversible ovarian failure, which, therefore,
      calls for an effective radioprotective reagent. The aim of the present study was
      to evaluate the potential radioprotective effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on
      ionizing radiation induced ovarian failure and loss of ovarian reserve in mice.
      Kun-Ming mice were either exposed to X-irradiation (4 Gy), once, and/or treated
      with NAC (300 mg/kg), once daily for 7 days before X-irradiation. We examined the
      serum circulating hormone levels and the development of ovarian follicles as well
      as apoptosis, cell proliferation, and oxidative stress 24 hours after X
      irradiation. In addition, morphological observations on the endometrial luminal
      epithelium and the fertility assessment were performed. We found that NAC
      successfully restored the ovarian and uterine function, enhanced the embryo
      implantation, improved the follicle development, and altered the abnormal hormone
      levels through reducing the oxidative stress and apoptosis level in granulosa
      cells while promoting the proliferation of granulosa cells. In conclusion, the
      radioprotective effect of NAC on mice ovary from X-irradiation was assessed, and
      our results suggested that NAC can be a potential radioprotector which is capable
      of preventing the ovarian failure occurrence and restoring the ovarian reserve.

PMID- 28607934
TI  - Opioid Addiction: Social Problems Associated and Implications of Both Current and
      Possible Future Treatments, including Polymeric Therapeutics for Giving Up the
      Habit of Opioid Consumption.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detoxification programmes seek to implement the most secure and
      compassionate ways of withdrawing from opiates so that the inevitable withdrawal
      symptoms and other complications are minimized. Once detoxification has been
      achieved, the next stage is to enable the patient to overcome his or her drug
      addiction by ensuring consumption is permanently and completely abandoned, only
      after which can the subject be regarded as fully recovered. METHODS: A systematic
      search on the common databases of relevant papers published until 2016 inclusive.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Our study of the available oral treatments for opioid
      dependence has revealed that no current treatment can actually claim to be fully
      effective. These treatments require daily oral administration and, consequently,
      regular visits to dispensaries, which in most cases results in a lack of patient
      compliance, which causes fluctuations in drug plasma levels. We then reviewed
      alternative treatments in the available scientific literature on polymeric
      sustained release formulations. Research has been done not only on release
      systems for detoxification but also on release systems for giving up the habit of
      taking opioids. These efforts have obtained the recent authorization of polymeric
      systems for use in patients that could help them to reduce their craving for
      drugs.

PMID- 28607935
TI  - Physical Exercise as an Effective Antiaging Intervention.

PMID- 28607936
TI  - Epidemiological Survey and Phylogenetic Characterization of Cysticercus
      tenuicollis Isolated from Tibetan Pigs in Tibet, China.
AB  - Cysticercus tenuicollis, commonly known as "water bell," is a larva of Taenia
      hydatigena, which is the most significant parasite of pigs. However, until now
      very few information is available regarding the prevalence and genetic
      characterization of the Cysticercus tenuicollis in Tibetan pigs. Therefore, the
      aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and phylogenetic analysis of
      Cysticercus tenuicollis in Tibetan pigs. For this purpose, the COX2 gene of
      Cysticercus tenuicollis was amplified and sequenced for the first time in Tibetan
      pigs. The overall prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis was 43.93% in Tibetan
      pigs, with further distribution of 42.86% in 2014 and 45.35% in 2015. In Tibetan
      male and female pigs, the prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis was 43.39% and
      44.56%, respectively. The prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis in different
      growing stages (juveniles, subadults, and adults) varied from 30.20% to 63.79%.
      The phylogenetic analysis of the Cysticercus tenuicollis isolates showed very
      close resemblance to 16 reference strains, isolates from Gansu, Hunan, and
      Sichuan provinces of China. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      report on the prevalence and genetic characterization of Cysticercus tenuicollis
      derived from Tibetan pigs. The data of present study provides baseline
      information for controlling cysticerci infections in pigs in Tibetan Plateau,
      China.

PMID- 28607937
TI  - Contrast Media-Induced Anaphylaxis Causing a Stress-Related Cardiomyopathy Post
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Case Report.
AB  - Anaphylaxis is a sudden-onset, severe hypersensitivity reaction that can be
      potentially fatal. It can often transition to refractory hemodynamic instability,
      eventually resulting in death. Stress-related cardiomyopathies (SRCs) have
      multifactorial etiologies, including being linked to excessive catecholamine
      release in periods of intense stress. This novel case report recounts a SRC
      caused by contrast-induced anaphylaxis within 1 hour post percutaneous coronary
      intervention. Both acutely life-threatening conditions may occur simultaneously
      and are implicated with devastating complications. Further research is required
      to understand this cardiac-neuroaxis interplay in SRC to identify risk factors
      and develop management strategies.

PMID- 28607938
TI  - Biomechanical Head-to-Head Comparison of 2 Sutures and the Giftbox Versus Bunnell
      Techniques for Midsubstance Achilles Tendon Ruptures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute midsubstance Achilles tendon ruptures are a common orthopaedic
      problem for which the optimal repair technique and suture type remain
      controversial. Head-to-head comparisons of current fixation constructs are needed
      to establish which stitch/suture combination is most biomechanically favorable.
      HYPOTHESIS: Of the tested fixation constructs, Giftbox repairs with Fiberwire
      will exhibit superior stiffness and strength during biomechanical testing. STUDY
      DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: Two biomechanical trials were
      performed, isolating stitch technique and suture type, respectively. In trial 1,
      12 transected fresh-frozen cadaveric Achilles tendon pairs were randomized to
      receive either the Giftbox-modified Krackow or the Bunnell stitch with No. 2
      Fiberwire suture. Each repair underwent cyclic loading, oscillating between 10
      and 100 N at 2 Hz for 1000 cycles, with repair gapping measured at 500 and 1000
      cycles. Load-to-failure testing was then performed, and clinical and catastrophic
      failure values were recorded. In trial 2, 10 additional paired cadaveric Achilles
      tendons were randomized to receive a Giftbox repair with either No. 2 Fiberwire
      or No. 2 Ultrabraid. Testing and data collections protocols in trial 2 replicated
      those used in trial 1. RESULTS: In trial 1, the Bunnell group had 2 failures
      during cyclic loading while the Giftbox had no failures. The mean tendon gapping
      after cyclic loading was significantly lower in the Giftbox repairs (0.13 vs 2.29
      mm, P = .02). Giftbox repairs were significantly stiffer than Bunnell (47.5 vs
      38.7 N/mm, P = .019) and showed more tendon elongation (5.9 +/- 0.8 vs 4.5 +/-
      1.0 mm, P = .012) after 1000 cycles. Mean clinical load to failure was
      significantly higher for Giftbox repairs (373 vs 285 N, P = .02), while no
      significant difference in catastrophic load to failure was observed (mean, 379 vs
      336 N; P = .61). In trial 2, there were no failures during cyclic loading. The
      Giftbox + Fiberwire repairs recorded higher clinical load-to-failure values
      compared with Giftbox + Ultrabraid (mean, 361 vs 239 N; P = .005). No other
      biomechanical differences were observed in trial 2. CONCLUSION: Simulated early
      rehabilitation biomechanical testing showed that Giftbox-modified Krackow
      Achilles repair technique with Fiberwire suture was stronger and more resistant
      to gap formation at the repair site than combinations that incorporated the
      Bunnell stitch or Ultrabraid suture. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A more in-depth
      understanding of the biomechanical properties of the Giftbox repair will help
      inform surgical decision making because stronger repairs are less likely to fail
      during accelerated postoperative rehabilitation.

PMID- 28607940
TI  - Orthopaedic Resident Preparation and Confidence in Treating On-Field Injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Orthopaedic surgery residents may cover athletic events, although the
      training provided to prepare residents for this role and oversight from attending
      physicians during these activities is not well understood. PURPOSE: To survey
      orthopaedic residents about the training provided by their residency program for
      on-field athletic coverage and to understand their levels of preparation for this
      role and confidence in treating commonly encountered on-field conditions. STUDY
      DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: An anonymous survey was emailed
      to residents in all American College of Graduate Medical Education-accredited,
      allopathic, nonmilitary orthopaedic surgery residency programs. This survey
      queried residents about their demographics, the opportunities their residencies
      require or allow for athletic coverage, their level of preparation for serving an
      on-field physician, and their comfort level with treating a number of on-field
      conditions. Likert-type scales were used to assess resident comfort level for
      treating 13 orthopaedic and nonorthopaedic conditions as well as their perceived
      level of preparedness. RESULTS: Of 148 residency programs contacted, 57 programs
      responded (39%). Of the 57 programs responding, 51 (89.5%) allowed or required
      residents to cover athletic events, and 27 of 51 (52.9%) reported that training
      to prepare for this role was provided. Only 6 of 24 programs without training
      available (25%) had direct attending supervision of residents at all athletic
      events. Residents who answered that their residency programs mandate training
      prior to their participation in athletic coverage activities reported a higher
      level of preparation for this role than those with no training, optional
      training, or those who were unsure of their training requirement (P < .0001, P =
      .035, and P = .013, respectively). In addition, the more senior the resident was,
      the higher the level of confidence was in treating all orthopaedic and some
      nonorthopaedic conditions. Residents who had mandatory training displayed a
      higher comfort level in treating on-field orthopaedic and nonorthopaedic
      conditions than those without training. CONCLUSION: Formal training of
      orthopaedic residents prior to their covering athletic events can improve
      confidence in treating orthopaedic and nonorthopaedic conditions. Many programs
      do not ensure that residents are familiar with key and potentially life-saving
      equipment. An opportunity exists to improve resident education.

PMID- 28607939
TI  - The Role of the Peripheral Passive Rotation Stabilizers of the Knee With Intact
      Collateral and Cruciate Ligaments: A Biomechanical Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A subset of patients have clinical internal and/or external knee
      rotational instability despite no apparent injury to the cruciate or collateral
      ligaments. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect
      of sequentially cutting the posterolateral, anterolateral, posteromedial, and
      anteromedial structures of the knee on rotational stability in the setting of
      intact cruciate and collateral ligaments. It was hypothesized that cutting of the
      iliotibial band (ITB), anterolateral ligament and lateral capsule (ALL/LC),
      posterior oblique ligament (POL), and posteromedial capsule (PMC) would
      significantly increase internal rotation, while sectioning of the anteromedial
      capsule (AMC) and the popliteus tendon and popliteofibular ligament (PLT/PFL)
      would lead to a significant increase in external knee rotation. STUDY DESIGN:
      Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: Ten pairs (N = 20) of cadaveric knees were
      assigned to 2 sequential cutting groups (group 1: posterolateral-to-posteromedial
      [PL -> PM] and group 2: posteromedial-to-posterolateral [PM -> PL]). Specimens
      were subjected to applied 5-N.m internal and external rotation torques at knee
      flexion angles of 0 degrees , 30 degrees , 60 degrees , and 90 degrees  while
      intact and after each cut state. Rotational changes were measured and compared
      with the intact and previous cut states. RESULTS: Sectioning of the ITB
      significantly increased internal rotation at 60 degrees  and 90 degrees  by 5.4
      degrees  and 6.2 degrees  in group 1 (PL -> PM) and 3.5 degrees  and 3.8 degrees 
      in group 2 (PM -> PL). PLT/PFL complex sectioning significantly increased
      external rotation at 60 degrees  and 90 degrees  by 2.7 degrees  and 2.9 degrees 
      in group 1 (PL -> PM). At 60 degrees  and 90 degrees  in group 2 (PM -> PL),
      ALL/LC sectioning produced significant increases in internal rotation of 3.1
      degrees  and 3.5 degrees , respectively. In group 2 (PM -> PL), POL sectioning
      produced a significant increase in internal rotation of 2.0 degrees  at 0 degrees
      . AMC sectioning significantly increased external rotation at 30 degrees  to 90
      degrees  of flexion with a magnitude of change of <1 degrees  in both groups 1
      (PL -> PM) and 2 (PM -> PL). CONCLUSION: Collectively, the anterolateral corner
      structures provided primary internal rotation control of the knee from 60 degrees
      to 90 degrees  of knee flexion in knees with intact cruciate and collateral
      ligaments. The ITB was the most significant primary stabilizer of internal
      rotation. The POL had a primary role for internal rotational stability at full
      extension. The PLT/PFL complex was a primary stabilizer for external rotation of
      the knee at 60 degrees  and 90 degrees . CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study
      delineates the primary and secondary roles of the ITB, ALL/LC, POL, and PLT/PFL
      to rotatory stability of the knee and provides new information to understand knee
      rotational instabilities.

PMID- 28607941
TI  - Radiographic Diagnosis of Pincer-Type Femoroacetabular Impingement: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a well-recognized condition
      that causes hip pain and can lead to early osteoarthritis if not managed
      properly. With the increasing awareness and efficacy of operative treatments for
      pincer-type FAI, there is a need for consensus on the standardized radiographic
      diagnosis. PURPOSE: To perform a systematic review of the evidence regarding
      imaging modalities and radiographic signs for diagnosing pincer-type FAI. STUDY
      DESIGN: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: A literature review was
      performed in 2016 using the Cochrane, PubMed, and Embase search engines. All
      articles focusing on a radiographic diagnosis of pincer-type FAI were reviewed.
      Each of the included 44 articles was assigned the appropriate level of evidence,
      and the particular radiographic marker and/or type of imaging were also
      summarized. RESULTS: There were 44 studies included in the final review. Most of
      the articles were level 4 evidence (26 articles), and there were 12 level 3 and 6
      level 2 articles. The crossover sign was the most commonly used radiographic sign
      (27/44) followed by the lateral center-edge angle (22/44). Anteroposterior (AP)
      pelvis plain radiographs were the most commonly used imaging modality (33
      studies). Poor-quality evidence exists in support of most currently used
      radiographic markers, including the crossover sign, lateral center-edge angle,
      posterior wall sign, ischial spine sign, coxa profunda, acetabular protrusion,
      and acetabular index. There is poor-quality conflicting evidence regarding the
      use of the herniation pit to diagnose pincer-type FAI. Some novel measurements,
      such as beta-angle, acetabular roof ratio, and acetabular retroversion index,
      have been proposed, but they also lack support from the literature. CONCLUSION:
      No strong evidence exists to support a single best set of current radiographic
      markers for the diagnosis of pincer-type FAI, largely due to the lack of better
      quality trials (levels 1 and 2) that compare conventional radiographic findings
      with the gold standard, which is the intraoperative findings. More sophisticated
      imaging modalities such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance
      arthrography are often needed to diagnose pincer-type FAI, and these
      investigations are relatively accurate in assessing labral pathology or cartilage
      damage.

PMID- 28607942
TI  - A Comparative Biomechanical Analysis of 2 Double-Row, Distal Triceps Tendon
      Repairs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Triceps tendon ruptures are rare orthopaedic injuries that almost
      always require surgical repair. This study tests the biomechanical properties of
      an original anchorless double-row triceps repair against a previously reported
      knotless double-row repair. HYPOTHESIS: The anchorless double-row triceps repair
      technique will yield similar biomechanical properties when compared with the
      knotless double-row repair technique. STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study.
      METHODS: Eighteen cadaver arms were randomized into 2 groups. One group received
      the anchorless repair and the other received the knotless anchor repair. A
      materials testing system (MTS) machine was used to cycle the repaired arms from 0
      degrees  to 90 degrees  with a 2.5-pound weight for 1500 cycles at 0.25 Hz. Real
      time displacement of the tendon was measured during cycling using a probe. Load
      to failure was performed after completion of cyclic loading. RESULTS: The mean
      displacement with the anchorless technique was 0.77 mm (SD, 0.25 mm) at 0 degrees
      (full elbow extension) and 0.76 mm (SD, 0.38 mm) at 90 degrees  (elbow flexion).
      The mean displacement with the anchored technique was 0.83 mm (SD, 0.57 mm) at 0
      degrees  and 1.01 mm (SD, 0.62 mm) at 90 degrees . There was no statistically
      significant difference for tendon displacement at 0o (P = .75) or 90o (P = .31).
      The mean load to failure with the anchorless technique was 618.9 N (SD, 185.6 N),
      while it was 560.5 N (SD, 154.1 N) with the anchored technique, again with no
      statistically significant difference (P = .28). CONCLUSION: Our anchorless double
      row triceps repair technique yields comparable biomechanical properties to
      previously described double-row triceps tendon repair techniques, with the added
      benefit of avoiding the cost of suture anchors. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This
      anchorless double-row triceps tendon repair can be considered as an acceptable
      alternative to a knotless anchor repair for triceps tendon ruptures.

PMID- 28607943
TI  - Poor Adherence With Medication Refill and Medical Supplies Maintenance as Risk
      Factors for Inpatient Asthma Admission in Children.
AB  - Background. Asthma results in significant pediatric hospitalizations in the inner
      city. Many asthmatic children were admitted to our hospital as a result of lack
      of medications or medical supplies that had been previously prescribed ("ran
      out," "broken," or "lost"). Objective. To identify the incidence of children
      admitted for asthma because of lack of prescribed medications/supplies and to
      assess risk factors for poor adherence between groups. Methods. This was a
      prospective chart review of 200 asthmatic children admitted to Children's
      Hospital of Michigan, Detroit. The data included asthma severity, lack of
      prescribed medications/medical supplies, and outpatient management. Results. In
      all, 35.5% or 71/200 of asthmatic children admitted had lack of prescribed
      medication/supplies (9% lacked both). The most common deficiency was beta2
      agonist (20.5%; 41/200). Teenagers had the highest lack of medications/medical
      supplies (55.6%; 5/9) compared with toddlers (17.2%; 16/93) and preschoolers
      (17.9%; 5/28). Patients with severe persistent asthma had a higher incidence of
      lacking medicine (31.8%; 7/22) compared with 25% (14/56) with moderate persistent
      asthma and 23.4% (15/64) of mild asthmatics. We found the lack of asthma medical
      supplies, including nonfunctioning or lost nebulizers/spacers, in 44.4% (4/9) of
      teenagers, 17.2% (16/93) of toddlers, and 21.4% (6/28) of preschool-aged
      children. We found no significant difference in these deficiencies whether
      patients were managed by asthma specialists or primary care providers.
      Conclusions. Significant numbers of asthmatic children admitted reported lack of
      prescribed medications/medical supplies. The most severe asthmatics were most
      likely to run out of medications. Interventions targeted at these deficiencies
      may avoid hospitalizations.

PMID- 28607944
TI  - Vitamin D-Deficient Rickets in Japan.
AB  - Objectives: Our study aimed to clarify the trend of vitamin D deficiency and
      rickets diagnosed in the past 10 years. Methods: This observational study used
      health insurance claims data from 2005 to 2014. The number of beneficiaries for
      2005 and 2014 were 91 617 and 365 800, respectively. We included children aged 0
      to 15 years diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency or vitamin D-deficient rickets;
      those with congenital/secondary rickets and low-birth-weight infants were
      excluded. We analyzed the number of patients and the temporal trend of these
      diseases in Japan. Results: The annual number of patients from 2005 to 2008 was
      <5. The number of patients in 2009 and 2014 were 3.88 (95% confidence interval =
      1.77-7.37) and 12.30/100 000 (95% confidence interval = 8.97-16.46),
      respectively. Conclusions: Diagnosed cases of vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D
      deficient rickets have apparently increased in Japan. Further studies to identify
      the trend, cause, and prevention of vitamin D-deficient rickets are necessary.

PMID- 28607945
TI  - Why Are We Cutting? A Survey of Cultural Views on Circumcision in the Texas
      Panhandle.
AB  - To determine the factors that may contribute to parents' decision to circumcise
      their son in the Texas Panhandle region, voluntary surveys were distributed to
      all mothers with term male newborns during the mandatory discharge planning
      class. The father being circumcised (P < .0001), Caucasian (P < .05), and some
      graduate school of the caregiver (P < .011) were factors most correlated with
      newborns being circumcised. Newborns of Hispanic origin, those having Medicaid
      insurance, and a Catholic affiliation were less likely to be circumcised. No
      significant correlations were found between circumcision and other ethnic
      affiliations, caregiver's age, father's involvement, and medical counseling. Of
      note, one third of caregivers were not counseled by a medical professional about
      circumcision. While the American Academy of Pediatrics Circumcision Policy
      Statement is clear that a neutral position must be maintained, this does not
      preclude having a discussion of the benefits versus the risks of circumcision.

PMID- 28607947
TI  - Behavioral-Cognitive Targets for Cholinergic Enhancement.
AB  - Cholinergic mechanisms have long been considered a promising target for enhancing
      cognitive functions. Two distinct yet interacting components of cholinergic
      activity have been proposed to mediate specific cognitive functions. Transient
      spikes in cholinergic activity mediate the detection of cues in situations
      involving attentional mode shifts. More slowly changing cholinergic
      neuromodulation of cortical circuitry regulates task compliance specifically in
      response to performance challenges. Increases in cholinergic neuromodulation
      enhances the generation of cholinergic transients via stimulation of alpha4beta2*
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Stimulation of these receptors stabilizes
      attentional performance and increases cue detection rates. Adjunctive treatment
      with agonists or modulators at these receptors is predicted to benefit unstable
      attentional performance and low cue detection rates that are common to several
      brain disorders.

PMID- 28607946
TI  - It's only a matter of time: longevity of cocaine-induced changes in dendritic
      spine density in the nucleus accumbens.
AB  - Many reports show that repeated cocaine administration increases dendritic spine
      density in medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens, but there is less
      agreement regarding the persistence of these changes. In this review we examine
      these discrepancies by systematically categorizing papers that measured cocaine
      induced changes in accumbal spine density. We compare published reports based on
      withdrawal time, short versus long duration of cocaine administration,
      environmental pairing with cocaine, and core/shell subregion specificity.
      Together, these studies suggest that cocaine exposure induces rapid and dose
      dependent increases in spine density in accumbens neurons that may play a role in
      the maintenance of cocaine use and vulnerability to early relapse, but are not a
      factor in behavioral changes associated with longer abstinence.

PMID- 28607948
TI  - Direct and indirect alcohol biomarkers data collected in hair samples -
      multivariate data analysis and likelihood ratio interpretation perspectives.
AB  - The concentration values of direct and indirect biomarkers of ethanol consumption
      were detected in blood (indirect) or hair (direct) samples from a pool of 125
      individuals classified as either chronic (i.e. positive) and non-chronic (i.e.
      negative) alcohol drinkers. These experimental values formed the dataset under
      examination (Table 1). Indirect biomarkers included: aspartate transferase (AST),
      alanine transferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), mean corpuscular
      volume of the erythrocytes (MCV), carbohydrate-deficient-transferrin (CDT). The
      following direct biomarkers were also detected in hair: ethyl myristate (E14:0),
      ethyl palmitate (E16:0), ethyl stearate (E18:1), ethyl oleate (E18:0), the sum of
      their four concentrations (FAEEs, i.e. Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters) and ethyl
      glucuronide (EtG; pg/mg). Body mass index (BMI) was also collected as a potential
      influencing factor. Likelihood ratio (LR) approaches have been used to provide
      predictive models for the diagnosis of alcohol abuse, based on different
      combinations of direct and indirect alcohol biomarkers, as described in
      "Evaluation of direct and indirect ethanol biomarkers using a likelihood ratio
      approach to identify chronic alcohol abusers for forensic purposes" (E. Alladio,
      A. Martyna, A. Salomone, V. Pirro, M. Vincenti, G. Zadora, 2017) [1].

PMID- 28607949
TI  - Non-glycanated Decorin Is a Drug Target on Human Adipose Stromal Cells.
AB  - Adipose stromal cells (ASCs) have been identified as a mesenchymal cell
      population recruited from white adipose tissue (WAT) by tumors and supporting
      cancer progression. We have previously reported the existence of a non-glycanated
      decorin isoform (ngDCN) marking mouse ASCs. We identified a peptide CSWKYWFGEC
      that binds to ngDCN and hence can serve as a vehicle for ASC-directed therapy
      delivery. We used hunter-killer peptides composed of CSWKYWFGEC and a pro
      apoptotic moiety to deplete ASCs and suppress growth of mouse tumors. Here, we
      report the discovery of the human non-glycanated decorin isoform. We show that
      CSWKYWFGEC can be used as a probe to identify ASCs in human WAT and tumors. We
      demonstrate that human ngDCN is expressed on ASC surface. Finally, we validate
      ngDCN as a molecular target for pharmacological depletion of human ASCs with
      hunter-killer peptides. We propose that ngDCN-targeting agents could be developed
      for obesity and cancer treatment.

PMID- 28607950
TI  - Chemovirotherapy of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma by Combining Oncolytic Vaccinia
      Virus GLV-1h68 with nab-Paclitaxel Plus Gemcitabine.
AB  - Oncolytic viruses have proven their therapeutic potential against a variety of
      different tumor entities both in vitro and in vivo. Their ability to selectively
      infect and lyse tumor cells, while sparing healthy tissues, makes them favorable
      agents for tumor-specific treatment approaches. Particularly, the addition of
      virotherapeutics to already established chemotherapy protocols (so-called
      chemovirotherapy) is of major interest. Here we investigated the in vitro
      cytotoxic effect of the oncolytic vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 combined with dual
      chemotherapy with nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine in four human pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma cell lines (AsPc-1, BxPc-3, MIA-PaCa-2, and Panc-1). This
      chemovirotherapeutic protocol resulted in enhanced tumor cell killing in two
      tumor cell lines compared to the respective monotherapies. We were thereby able
      to show that the combination of oncolytic vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 with nab
      paclitaxel and gemcitabine has great potential in the chemovirotherapeutic
      treatment of advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. However, the key to a successful
      combinatorial chemovirotherapeutic treatment seems to be a profound viral
      replication, as tumor cell lines that were non-responsive to the combination
      therapy exhibited a reduced viral replication in the presence of the
      chemotherapeutics. This finding is of special significance when aiming to achieve
      a virus-mediated induction of a profound and long-lasting antitumor immunity.

PMID- 28607952
TI  - Effect of NiO/SiO2 on thermo-chemical conversion of waste cooking oil to
      hydrocarbons.
AB  - Increase in organic waste generation, dwindling nature of global oil reserves
      coupled with environmental challenges caused by waste oil disposal and burning of
      fossil fuels necessitated the need for alternative energy resources. Waste
      cooking oil obtained from the frying fish outlet was analyzed for its
      physicochemical properties using ASTM D-975 methods. Acid and Iodine values of
      the oil were 30.43 +/- 0.32 mgKOH/g and 57.08 +/- 0.43 mgI2/100 g respectively.
      Thermo-chemical conversion of the oil using NiO/SiO2 at different reaction
      conditions (pressure, temperature, and catalyst concentration) at a residence
      time of 3 h yielded 33.63% hydrocarbons. Hydro-catalytic pyrolysis of waste
      cooking oil at 400  degrees C, H2 pressure of 15 bars, and catalyst to oil ratio
      of 0.25 g/100 cm3 resulted in highest hydrocarbon yield (41.98%). The fuel
      properties of the product were: cetane number (71.16), high heating value (41.43
      MJ/kg), kinematic viscosity (2.01 mm2/s), density (0.94 g/ml), saponification
      value (185.1 +/- 3.96 mgKOH/g), and iodine value (20.57 +/- 0.20 I2/100 g)
      respectively. These results show that the NiO/SiO2 could be a suitable catalyst
      for conversion of waste vegetable oil to hydrocarbons.

PMID- 28607953
TI  - A tensegrity model for hydrogen bond networks in proteins.
AB  - Hydrogen-bonding networks in proteins considered as structural tensile elements
      are in balance separately from any other stabilising interactions that may be in
      operation. The hydrogen bond arrangement in the network is reminiscent of
      tensegrity structures in architecture and sculpture. Tensegrity has been
      discussed before in cells and tissues and in proteins. In contrast to previous
      work only hydrogen bonds are studied here. The other interactions within proteins
      are either much stronger - covalent bonds connecting the atoms in the molecular
      skeleton or weaker forces like the so-called hydrophobic interactions. It has
      been demonstrated that the latter operate independently from hydrogen bonds. Each
      category of interaction must, if the protein is to have a stable structure,
      balance out. The hypothesis here is that the entire hydrogen bond network is in
      balance without any compensating contributions from other types of interaction.
      For sidechain-sidechain, sidechain-backbone and backbone-backbone hydrogen bonds
      in proteins, tensegrity balance ("closure") is required over the entire length of
      the polypeptide chain that defines individually folding units in globular
      proteins ("domains") as well as within the repeating elements in fibrous proteins
      that consist of extended chain structures. There is no closure to be found in
      extended structures that do not have repeating elements. This suggests an
      explanation as to why globular domains, as well as the repeat units in fibrous
      proteins, have to have a defined number of residues. Apart from networks of
      sidechain-sidechain hydrogen bonds there are certain key points at which this
      closure is achieved in the sidechain-backbone hydrogen bonds and these are
      associated with demarcation points at the start or end of stretches of secondary
      structure. Together, these three categories of hydrogen bond achieve the closure
      that is necessary for the stability of globular protein domains as well as
      repeating elements in fibrous proteins.

PMID- 28607951
TI  - PGC-1 Coactivators: Shepherding the Mitochondrial Biogenesis of Tumors.
AB  - As coordinators of energy demands and nutritional supplies, the PGC-1 family of
      transcriptional coactivators regulates mitochondrial biogenesis to control the
      cellular bioenergetic state. Aside from maintaining normal and adapted cell
      physiology, recent studies indicate that PGC-1 coactivators also serve important
      functions in cancer cells. In fact, by balancing mitochondrial energy production
      with demands for cell proliferation, these factors are involved in almost every
      step of tumorigenesis. In this review, we discuss the interplay between PGC-1
      coactivators and cancer pathogenesis, including tumor initiation, metastatic
      spread, and response to treatment. Given their involvement in the functional
      biology of cancers, identification of regulatory targets that influence PGC-1
      expression and activity may reveal novel strategies suitable for mono- or
      combinatorial cancer therapies.

PMID- 28607954
TI  - Latent profile analysis of students' motivation and outcomes in mathematics: an
      organismic integration theory perspective.
AB  - The purpose of the current study was to identify the motivation profiles at the
      intraindividual level using a latent profile analyses (LPA) approach. A total of
      1151 secondary school students aged 13 to 17 years old from Singapore took part
      in the study. Using LPA, four distinct motivational profiles were identified
      based on four motivation regulations. Profile 1 has very low introjected and low
      autonomous motivation (6% of sample). Profile 2 had high external and identified
      regulations and very low intrinsic regulation (10%). Profile 3 consisted of
      students with high identified and intrinsic regulations (51%). Profile 4 had
      moderately low identified and intrinsic regulations (33%). The results showed
      that the four profiles differed significantly in terms of effort, competence,
      value, and time spent on math beyond homework. The best profile (Profile 3)
      reported highest scores in effort, value, competence and time spent on Math
      beyond homework. The worst profile (Profile 1) reported lowest scores in all the
      four outcome variables.

PMID- 28607956
TI  - A wavelet-based Gaussian method for energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence
      spectrum.
AB  - This paper presents a wavelet-based Gaussian method (WGM) for the peak intensity
      estimation of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The relationship
      between the parameters of Gaussian curve and the wavelet coefficients of Gaussian
      peak point is firstly established based on the Mexican hat wavelet. It is found
      that the Gaussian parameters can be accurately calculated by any two wavelet
      coefficients at the peak point which has to be known. This fact leads to a local
      Gaussian estimation method for spectral peaks, which estimates the Gaussian
      parameters based on the detail wavelet coefficients of Gaussian peak point. The
      proposed method is tested via simulated and measured spectra from an energy X-ray
      spectrometer, and compared with some existing methods. The results prove that the
      proposed method can directly estimate the peak intensity of EDXRF free from the
      background information, and also effectively distinguish overlap peaks in EDXRF
      spectrum.

PMID- 28607958
TI  - Copper-mediated C-H cyanation of (hetero)arenes with ethyl
      (ethoxymethylene)cyanoacetate as a cyanating agent.
AB  - A copper-mediated direct C-H cyanation of (hetero)arenes with ethyl
      (ethoxymethylene)cyanoacetate as a safe cyanating agent has been successfully
      developed by using molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The reaction tolerates a
      variety of functional groups and provides a facile and efficient method for the
      synthesis of a wide range of (hetero)aryl nitriles.

PMID- 28607955
TI  - Wound healing protects against chemotherapy-induced alopecia in young rats via up
      regulating interleukin-1beta-mediated signaling.
AB  - Wound healing is a complex process regulated by various cell types and a plethora
      of mediators. While interactions between wounded skin and the hair follicles
      (HFs) could induce HF neogenesis or promote wound healing, it remains unknown
      whether the wound healing-associated signaling milieu can be manipulated to
      protect against alopecia, such as chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA). Utilizing
      a well-established neonatal rat model of CIA, we show here that skin wounding
      protects from alopecia caused by several clinically relevant chemotherapeutic
      regimens, and that protection is dependent on the time of wounding and hair cycle
      stage. Gene expression profiling unveiled a significant increase in interleukin-1
      beta (IL-1beta) mediated signaling by skin wounding. Subsequently, we showed that
      IL-1beta is sufficient and indispensable for mediating the CIA-protective effect.
      Administration of IL-1beta alone to unwounded rats exhibited local CIA protection
      while IL-1beta neutralization abrogated CIA protection by wounding.
      Mechanistically, IL-1beta retarded postnatal HF morphogenesis, making HFs at the
      wound sites or IL-1beta treated areas damage-resistant while the rats developed
      total alopecia elsewhere. We conclude that wound healing switches the cutaneous
      cytokine milieu to an IL-1beta-dominated state thus retarding HF growth
      progression and rendering the HFs resistant to chemotherapy agents. In the
      future, manipulation of HF progression through interfering with the IL-1beta
      signaling milieu may provide therapeutic benefits to a variety of conditions,
      from prevention of CIA to inhibition of hair growth and treatment of hirsutism.

PMID- 28607957
TI  - Analysis of patient outcomes following proton radiation therapy for
      retinoblastoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Proton radiotherapy (PRT) is used in the treatment of retinoblastoma
      (RB) and has the potential to minimize exposure of normal tissue to radiation and
      thus decrease risk of toxicity and second malignancies. However, comprehensive
      analyses of long-term patient outcomes are not available. METHODS: RB patients
      treated with PRT at our institution between 1986 and 2012 were invited to return
      for participation in a study designed to assess long-term outcomes. Enrolled
      patients underwent comprehensive analysis including oncologic, ophthalmic,
      endocrine, cephalometric, and quality of life (QOL) assessments. RESULTS: A total
      of 12 patients were enrolled in this study, and the average length of follow-up
      among enrolled patients was 12.9 years (range 4.8-22.2 years). All enrolled
      patients had bilateral disease, and the disease and visual outcomes for enrolled
      patients were similar to outcomes for all RB patients treated with PRT over the
      same time period at our institution. Endocrine evaluation revealed no growth
      abnormalities or hormonal deficiencies across the cohort. Based on MRI and
      external cephalometry, PRT was associated with less facial hypoplasia than
      enucleation. Patient and parent-proxy QOL assessments revealed that RB treatment
      did not appear to severely impact long-term QOL. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to
      providing an opportunity for long-term disease control and functional eye
      preservation, PRT does not appear to be associated with unexpected late visual,
      endocrine, or QOL effects in this cohort.

PMID- 28607960
TI  - Limited proteolysis in porous membrane reactors containing immobilized trypsin.
AB  - Proteolysis is often a critical step in protein characterization via mass
      spectrometry. Compared to complete digestion, limited proteolysis gives larger
      peptides, and the dominant cleavage sites may identify highly accessible,
      flexible protein regions. This paper explores controlled proteolysis in porous
      nylon membranes containing immobilized trypsin. Passage of protein solutions
      through ~100 MUm thick membranes provides reaction residence times as short as
      milliseconds to limit digestion. Additionally, variation of the membrane pore
      size and the protease-immobilization method (electrostatic adsorption or covalent
      anchoring to adsorbed polymer in membrane pores) affords control over the
      proteolysis rate. When digesting the highly labile protein beta-casein, large
      membrane pores (5.0 MUm) and covalent enzyme anchoring to adsorbed polymer lead
      to particularly long tryptic peptides. With the more trypsin-resistant proteins
      cytochrome c and apomyoglobin, in-membrane proteolysis with short residence
      times, 1.2 MUm membrane pores, and trypsin electrostatically immobilized to an
      adsorbed polyanion cleaves the proteins after lysine residues in flexible
      regions. For both cytochrome c and apomyoglobin, cleavages in an interhelix
      region yield two particularly large peptides that cover the entire protein
      sequence.

PMID- 28607961
TI  - Potential of polymethacrylate pseudo crown ethers as solid state polymer
      electrolytes.
AB  - The association of kinetic studies, DFT calculations and 1H-7Li NMR analyses
      allowed the control of the cyclo-ATRP of PEG9DMA and the production of
      polymethacrylate pseudo crown-ethers of various molar masses. Their potential to
      act as a solid-state polymer electrolyte in Li-ion batteries has been highlighted
      and may come from the supramolecular organization of the cyclo-PEG forming a Li+
      diffusion channel.

PMID- 28607963
TI  - Palladium and visible-light mediated carbonylative Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of
      unactivated alkyl halides and aryl boronic acids.
AB  - Herein, a simple and efficient method for the palladium-catalyzed carbonylation
      of aryl boronic acids with unactivated alkyl iodides and bromides under visible
      light irradiation, ambient temperature and low CO-pressure is presented. Notably,
      the procedure uses readily available equipment and an inexpensive palladium
      catalyst to generate the key alkyl radical intermediate. These mild conditions
      enabled the synthesis of a range of functionalized aryl alkyl ketones including
      the antipsychotic drug, melperone.

PMID- 28607966
TI  - A novel label-free strategy for pathogenic DNA detection based on metal ion
      binding-induced fluorescence quenching of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets.
AB  - Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets are a type of two-dimensional
      nanomaterial with stable photoluminescence and large specific surface areas that
      make them an ideal candidate for fluorescence sensing. However, fluorescence
      sensing based on g-C3N4 nanosheets for disease-specific biomolecules is still
      limited. Moreover, current g-C3N4 nanosheet-based fluorescence sensors for
      nucleic acid require pre-labeling which is time-consuming and cost-ineffective.
      In this work, a novel label-free strategy for HBV gene determination based on
      metal ion binding-induced fluorescence quenching of g-C3N4 nanosheets was
      designed. Under the optimized conditions, this bioassay provided high sensitivity
      for HBV gene determination with the limit of detection as low as 1.0 nM, and has
      been successfully applied for the detection of HBV gene in human serum with
      satisfactory results. By embedding different recognition sequences of the probes,
      this method may be conveniently used for versatile detection of diverse disease
      markers. This novel design may provide a simple, flexible, sensitive and low-cost
      strategy for g-C3N4 nanosheet-based disease-specific biomolecule sensing.

PMID- 28607967
TI  - Enantioselective synthesis of tetrahydrocyclopenta[b]indole bearing a chiral
      quaternary carbon center via Pd(ii)-SPRIX-catalyzed C-H activation.
AB  - The highly enantioselective cyclization of 3-alkenylindole via C-H activation has
      been established using Pd(OCOCF3)2 in conjunction with the chiral spiro
      bis(isoxazoline) ligand (SPRIX). The presence of an N-allyl substituent on the
      substrate has a strong impact on both reactivity and selectivity, leading to
      tricyclic indole products (up to 96% ee) with a chiral quaternary carbon center.

PMID- 28607968
TI  - An excellent rechargeable PP14TFSI ionic liquid dual-ion battery.
AB  - An ionic liquid dual-ion battery with pure 1-butyl-1-methylpiperidinium
      bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide as the electrolyte was developed, which
      exhibited a high discharge plateau initiated at 4.4 V, a well-defined capacity of
      82 mA h g-1, an ultrawide charge/discharge potential range of 1.0-5.0 V and a
      superior stability of ~100% capacity retention for 600 cycles.

PMID- 28607970
TI  - Electrochemical performance of MXenes as K-ion battery anodes.
AB  - Herein, we report on the electrochemical performance of two-dimensional
      transition metal carbonitrides as novel promising electrode materials in K-ion
      batteries. Titanium carbonitride, Ti3CNTz, was investigated in detail using
      electrochemical galvanostatic cycling at various current densities. X-ray
      diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to study the
      potassiation mechanism and its structural changes.

PMID- 28607971
TI  - Swelling of micro-hydrogels with a crosslinker gradient.
AB  - A heterogeneous distribution of crosslinker in micro-hydrogels (microgels)
      results in a non-uniform polymer density inside the particles. Identifying the
      morphology of the hydrogel backbone enables a bottom-up approach towards the
      structural and rheological properties of microgel systems. On a local level we
      use a Flory-Rehner inspired model that focuses on highly swollen networks,
      characterized by a Poisson's ratio of 1/4. Our ab initio calculations take
      account for the nonuniform distribution of crosslinker species during the
      synthesis of poly(N-isopropylacylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels, yet the method is
      also applicable to other microgel architectures. We recover a single-particle
      density profile that is in close agreement with SAXS data. Comparison with
      experimental data confirms that the surface of the cross-linked particle is
      decorated with dangling polymers ends of considerable size.

PMID- 28607972
TI  - Disilametallacyclic chemistry for efficient catalysis.
AB  - This article discusses two new features of disilametallacyclic chemistry that
      contribute to the development of efficient catalytic reactions in organic
      synthesis. The first is disilametallacyclic intermediates in the hydrosilane
      reduction of carbonyl compounds. Experimental and theoretical studies on
      disilaplatinacycles suggested that the H2Pt(iv)Si2 species generated by oxidative
      addition of 1,2-bis(dimethylsilyl)benzene behaves as a highly reactive hydride to
      reduce amides to amines. This mechanism via disilametallacyclic intermediates
      explains the efficient hydrosilane reduction of carbonyl compounds with
      alpha,omega-bifunctional hydrosilanes catalyzed by other transition metals. The
      second is hydrogenation of alkenes by disilaferra- or disilaruthenacyclic
      complexes as catalyst precursors. A new mechanism not involving the conventional
      oxidative addition of H2 was suggested from DFT calculations, in which activation
      of the H-H bond occurs in the metal-silicon bond of the disilametallacyclic
      intermediate. Disilametallacyclic intermediates contribute to efficient catalytic
      reactions through this sigma-CAM (sigma-complex assisted mechanism) type
      mechanism.

PMID- 28607973
TI  - Role of electrochemically in-house synthesized and functionalized graphene
      nanofillers in the structural performance of epoxy matrix composites.
AB  - The present study focuses on the intriguing enhancement in the mechanical
      properties of an epoxy-based composite structure resulting from the incorporation
      of in-house synthesized functionalized graphene nanosheets (f-GNSs) as
      nanofillers. The f-GNSs were obtained by anionic electrochemical intercalation
      and exfoliation with 2 M H2SO4, HClO4, and HNO3 protic electrolytes. The
      structural properties of the as-synthesized GNSs were analyzed by XRD and Raman
      spectroscopy. The (002) and (001) lattice planes of graphene and graphene oxide
      are observed at around 24.5 degrees  and 11 degrees  (2theta), respectively, in
      the XRD spectra. The characteristic peaks at around 1345, 1590, and 2700 cm-1
      correspond to the D, G, and 2D bands of the GNSs in the Raman spectra.
      Quantification of the functional groups and sp2 contents in the GNSs were further
      analyzed by XPS. Morphological characterization of the f-GNSs reveals that the
      exfoliated carbon sheets consist of 2-8 layers. The composites are then
      fabricated by addition of these f-GNSs nanofillers, and the effect of the wt% of
      the nanofillers on the mechanical properties of the composites is analyzed with
      the three-point bend test and fractography analysis through interfacial
      morphological analysis. The addition of 0.1 wt% of nitric-acid-exfoliated f-GNSs
      nanofiller results in maximum increases of 42.6% and 28.2% in the flexural
      strengths of neat epoxy resin and glass fiber/epoxy polymer composite structures,
      respectively. Similarly, the moduli increase by 33.5% and 57.7% in the neat epoxy
      resin and glass fiber/epoxy polymer composite structures, respectively. The
      effect of epoxy/f-GNSs interfacial bonding in the composite structure was studied
      by DSC analysis.

PMID- 28607974
TI  - An iron germylene complex having Fe-H and Ge-H bonds: synthesis, structure and
      reactivity.
AB  - A base-free iron germylene complex Cp*(CO)(H)Fe[double bond, length as m
      dash]GeH{C(SiMe3)3} (1) was synthesised by abstraction of pyridine from a germyl
      complex Cp*(CO)(py)FeGeH2{C(SiMe3)3} (2), which was prepared by treatment of
      Cp*Fe(CO)(py)(Me) with H3GeC(SiMe3)3. X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed
      that 1 has an Fe-Ge bond that is the shortest among those ever reported.
      Reactivity of 1 toward several polar unsaturated organic compounds was
      investigated. Complex 1 underwent stoichiometric hydrogermylation of carbonyl
      compounds such as ketones, aldehydes and isocyanates (RNCO) at room temperature.
      In contrast, the reactions of 1 with isothiocyanates (RNCS) resulted in clean
      cleavage of the C[double bond, length as m-dash]S double bonds.

PMID- 28607975
TI  - The efficient synthesis and purification of amyloid-beta(1-42) using an
      oligoethylene glycol-containing photocleavable lysine tag.
AB  - A short, monodisperse oligoethylene glycol-containing photocleavable lysine tag
      was developed to facilitate the efficient purification of hydrophobic and fibril
      forming peptides. This new tag was used to prepare a modified Abeta42 peptide
      with increased solubility and decreased propensity to aggregate in aqueous media.
      The solubilising tag was readily removed by irradiation with UV light and
      permitted the preparation and isolation of Abeta42 in high purity and yield.

PMID- 28607978
TI  - Two-dimensional self-assembly of diacetylenic acid derivatives and their light
      induced polymerization on HOPG surfaces.
AB  - The bottom-up fabrication of molecular nanodevices will require precise (photo)
      control over self-assembled interfacial structures. Here, the self-assembly and
      photopolymerization behaviors of six diacetylenic acid derivatives on highly
      oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces are studied by using scanning
      tunneling microscope (STM). The van der Waals interaction among alkyl chains is
      the predominant driving force for determining the varied assembly structure.
      Diacetylenic acid derivatives with the diacetylene moiety directly connected to
      the carboxyl group (2,4-heptadecadiynoic acid (C17H26O2), 2,4-nonadecadiynoic
      acid (C19H30O2) and 2,4-heneicosadiynoic acid (C21H34O2)) assemble to form
      surface monolayers with lamella-like structures where the alkyl chains
      interdigitate. Moreover, diacetylenic acid derivatives with the diacetylene group
      located in the middle of the side chains and far from the carboxyl group (10,12
      tricosadiynoic acid (C23H38O2), 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (C25H42O2) and 10,12
      heptacosadiynoic acid (C27H46O2)) tend to assemble into paralleled structures
      with the alkyl chains adopting a tail-to-tail assembly mode. This work thus
      elucidates in detail the structure-function relationships for photo-modifiable
      self-assembled interfacial nanostructures based on diacetylenic acid.

PMID- 28607980
TI  - Fe/Ni core/shell nanowires and nanorods: a combined first-principles and
      atomistic simulation study.
AB  - In recent years, construction and characterization of core-shell structures have
      attracted great attention because of their unique functional properties and their
      integration into technological devices. However, some aspects of their basic
      physics still remain to be explored. In this study, we report on an extensive
      hierarchical multiscale modeling methodology applied to Fe-Ni core/shell
      nanostructures of technological interest. As a first step, supported on a first
      principles study, we develop a methodology to compute primordial but
      unprecedented parameters such as the exchange coupling and the equilibrium bond
      distances at the interface, namely JFe-Ni = 35.48 meV and d = 2.5 A. This
      methodology can be used for computing fundamental parameters in mixed systems by
      knowing the parameters in the bulk samples, and the so-obtained results can be
      used in higher size scale simulations. As a proof, the results obtained are used
      as input parameters for atomistic simulations on Fe-Ni samples made out of a Fe
      core surrounded by a Ni shell whose external diameter varies finely in the range
      60-110 nm. The inner diameter and height are fixed to be 40 and 50 nm,
      respectively. We address the structural, electronic, static magnetic and
      hysteresis properties of the Fe-Ni core/shell cylindrical nanostructures in
      different size ranges. These nanostructures reveal different magnetic properties
      with novel complex states, which are studied in detail.

PMID- 28607979
TI  - Hydrogen adsorption on MoS2-surfaces: a DFT study on preferential sites and the
      effect of sulfur and hydrogen coverage.
AB  - We report a comprehensive computational study of the intricate structure-property
      relationships governing the hydrogen adsorption trends on MoS2 edges with varying
      S- and H-coverages, as well as provide insights into the role of individual
      adsorption sites. Additionally, the effect of single- and dual S-vacancies in the
      basal plane on the adsorption energetics is assessed, likewise with an emphasis
      on the H-coverage dependency. The employed edge/site-selective approach reveals
      significant variations in the adsorption free energies, ranging between ~+/-1.0
      eV for the different edges-types and S-saturations, including differences of even
      as much as ~1.2 eV between sites on the same edge. The incrementally increasing
      hydrogen coverage is seen to mainly weaken the adsorption, but intriguingly for
      certain configurations a stabilizing effect is also observed. The strengthened
      binding is seen to be coupled with significant surface restructuring, most
      notably the splitting of terminal S2-dimers. Our work links the energetics of
      hydrogen adsorption on 2H-MoS2 to both static and dynamic geometrical features
      and quantifies the observed trends as a function of H-coverage, thus illustrating
      the complex structure/activity relationships of the MoS2 catalyst. The results of
      this systematical study aims to serve as guidance for experimentalists by
      suggesting feasible edge/S-coverage combinations, the synthesis of which would
      potentially yield the most optimally performing HER-catalysts.

PMID- 28607981
TI  - Novel structural phases and the electrical properties of Si3B under high
      pressure.
AB  - We report a detailed theoretical study of the electronic structure, phase
      stability, elastic and mechanical properties of Si3B in the pressure range of 0
      160 GPa by employing the crystal structure analysis by particle swarm
      optimization (CALYPSO) method combined with first-principles calculations. Our
      theoretical predictions reveal that, as the pressure increases, Si3B moves
      through the following sequence of phases: P3121 -> C2/m -> P21/m, and the
      corresponding transition pressures are computed to be 30 and 64 GPa,
      respectively. The results of band structures, density of states and electronic
      localization functions indicate that all three phases act as metallic with strong
      covalent bonding. The Vickers hardness of C2/m and P21/m phases has been
      estimated by Gao's, Lyakhov-Oganov's and Simunek's models, implying that Si3B is
      a potential hard material with a hardness value of ~20 GPa. The superconducting
      critical temperatures of polymeric Si3B are also uncovered to be 3.6 K for the
      C2/m phase at 50 GPa and 5.7 K for the P21/m phase at 100 GPa. Our results enrich
      the crystal structures of the Si-B system and provide a further understanding of
      structures and their properties.

PMID- 28607982
TI  - Correction: Preparation of Mo nanopowders through electroreduction of solid MoS2
      in molten KCl-NaCl.
AB  - Correction for 'Preparation of Mo nanopowders through electroreduction of solid
      MoS2 in molten KCl-NaCl' by Haiping Gao et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014,
      16, 19514-19521.

PMID- 28607983
TI  - Effects of third-order susceptibility in sum frequency generation spectra: a
      molecular dynamics study in liquid water.
AB  - When sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy is applied to charged
      solid/liquid interfaces, the observed SFG signals include both the second-order
      and third-order polarizations. The latter is called the chi(3) effect, which
      mainly includes induced molecular orientation by electric fields at charged
      interfaces. We theoretically evaluate the chi(3) effect on the SFG spectroscopy
      of liquid water using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD simulations
      enable us to definitely calculate the chi(3) susceptibility as a bulk property,
      and thereby separating it from the usual chi(2) effect shown in the SFG spectra.
      The calculated results of chi(3) for liquid water are fairly consistent with the
      experimental estimates. The present finding is utilized to analyze the spectral
      change of SFG at the air/water interface under electric fields and at the charged
      silica/water interface. The present analysis of the spectral changes allows for
      distinguishing the intrinsic change of the interface structure and the chi(3)
      effect from bulk liquid.

PMID- 28607984
TI  - Affinity regulation of the NH3 + H2O system by ionic liquids with molecular
      interaction analysis.
AB  - This work proposed using an adequate ionic liquid (IL) to weaken the affinity
      between NH3 and H2O as a potential solution to the issue of high-energy
      consumption involved in separating NH3 gas from liquid H2O. Two quaternary
      phosphonium-based ILs were selected according to an optimized regulation
      strategy. The regulation effects of the ILs were evaluated by the vapor-liquid
      equilibrium property of the NH3 + H2O + IL systems, and were compared with the
      regulation effects of traditional additives. The results showed that the expected
      effects were achieved by adding ILs. The regulation mechanisms of different
      strategies were discussed with respect to the molecular structure and chemical
      equilibrium for the first time limited to the authors' latest literature review.
      Finally, the IR spectra of the NH3 + H2O + IL systems were acquired and analyzed
      to verify the interactions of the ILs with NH3 and H2O.

PMID- 28607985
TI  - Ruthenium(ii)-catalyzed intermolecular synthesis of 2-arylindolines through C-H
      activation/oxidative cyclization cascade.
AB  - Herein, we report a ruthenium-catalyzed 1,2-carboamination through C-H activation
      for the synthesis of 2-arylindolines from readily available, inexpensive,
      protected anilines and vinyl arenes. In earlier reports, indoline synthesis
      through C-H activation was demonstrated using sterically or electronically biased
      olefins suppressing beta-hydride elimination. However, in the present protocol a
      ruthenium(ii)-catalyzed indoline synthesis via interrupted Heck-type manifold
      with unbiased styrenes is demonstrated. Mechanistically, the reaction proceeds
      through pyrimidine directed electrophilic ortho metalation, alkene insertion,
      amine coordination, and reductive elimination to construct the indoline nucleus.

PMID- 28607986
TI  - Hierarchically structured composites for ultrafast liquid sensing and smart leak
      plugging.
AB  - Conductive polymer composites (CPCs) have been intensively exploited as
      remarkable liquid sensing materials based on variations in their conductivity
      under liquid stimuli. However, most advances in liquid sensing CPCs are limited
      to bulk materials. Due to the slow permeation of liquids into the compact CPCs,
      sluggish responses are inevitable for most existing CPC-based liquid sensing
      materials. Here, we developed a new class of liquid sensing materials via a
      hierarchical structure design. Specifically, a thin CPC layer with a segregated
      conductive network was coated on porous polyurethane (PU) skeletons by layer-by
      layer assembly, forming an elaborately designed hierarchical structure in the
      prepared CPC@PU composites. With this hierarchical structure, the CPC@PU
      composites exhibited ultrafast responses (0.05-0.15 s) to solvent stimuli, which
      are ~3 orders of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art composites. After
      liquid sensing, quick regeneration (within 10 s) could be achieved under hot-air.
      Accordingly, organic liquid and gas sensors and liquid-sensing electronic skins
      were fabricated. Furthermore, we prepared smart and fast leak-plugging materials
      using the CPC@PU composites based on the swelling-induced blocking of micropores
      in the materials. This structural strategy proposed here opens up exciting
      avenues towards manufacturing real-time liquid sensing and plugging materials,
      revealing potential applications in oilfield exploitation, solvent
      storage/transportation, environmental monitoring, etc.

PMID- 28607987
TI  - The isomeric structure of pentacoordinate chiral spirophosphoranes in solution by
      the combined use of NMR experiments and GIAO DFT calculations of NMR parameters.
AB  - The interplay of NMR experiments and DFT calculations of NMR parameters is a
      reliable method for determining the relative configurations of pentacoordinate
      chiral spirophosphoranes bearing two six- or five-membered rings at the
      phosphorus atom in solution. The major product of the Betti based derivatives
      corresponds to the isomers with both substituents at chiral carbons being
      opposite to the P-H proton. The next populated product corresponds to the isomer
      with different chiralities at carbons. The least populated isomer is one with
      both substituents being at the same side of the heterocycle as the P-H bond.

PMID- 28607988
TI  - Synthesis, structures and biomolecular interactions of new silver(i) 5,5
      diethylbarbiturate complexes of monophosphines targeting Gram-positive bacteria
      and breast cancer cells.
AB  - A series of new silver(i) 5,5-diethylbarbiturate (barb) complexes with the
      formulas [Ag2(MU-barb)2(PPh3)2] (1), [Ag(barb)(PPh2Cy)] (2), [Ag(barb)(PPhCy2)]
      (3) and [Ag(barb)(PCy3)] (4) (PPh3 = triphenylphosphine, PPh2Cy =
      diphenylcyclohexylphosphine, PPhCy2 = dicyclohexylphenylphosphine and PCy3 =
      tricyclohexylphosphine) were synthesized and fully characterized by elemental
      analysis, IR, NMR, ESI-MS and X-ray crystallography. All the complexes display a
      significant affinity towards DNA with a groove binding mode and also strongly
      bind to BSA via hydrophobic interactions. Lipophilicity increases from 1 to 4
      with an increasing number of Cy groups in the phosphine ligands. Screening of the
      in vitro antimicrobial activity of 1-4 against the strains of Gram-negative (S.
      typhimurium ATCC 14028, E. coli ATCC 25922 and O157:H7) and Gram-positive (L.
      garvieae 40456, S. aureus ATCC 25923, and ATCC 33591) bacteria demonstrated that
      all the complexes exhibit very high activity and specific selectivity against the
      Gram-positive bacteria, compared to AgNO3 and silver sulfadiazine. Furthermore,
      the growth inhibitory effects of 1-4 on four human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, PC
      3, A549 and HT-29) showed that 4 has a potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7
      cells, significantly higher than cisplatin and carboplatin. The effects of the
      complexes on the inhibition of the cells are closely related to their
      lipophilicity as well as DNA/protein binding. The induction of apoptosis of MCF-7
      cells treated with 4 was probed through Hoechst 33342 staining, Annexin V
      positivity and caspase 3/7 activity. In addition, increased ROS levels in the
      presence of 4 are most likely responsible for damage to both mitochondria and
      genomic DNA.

PMID- 28607989
TI  - Tailoring lanthanide doping in perovskite CaTiO3 for luminescence applications.
AB  - Perovskite oxide materials have been attracting significant attention due to
      their rich physical and chemical properties. With its proven stability and bio
      compatibility, we suggest the lanthanide-doped perovskite to be a promising
      material for biological luminescence applications. Here, taking CaTiO3 as a
      concrete example, we systematically investigate its doping properties using first
      principles computational methods. We determine the conditions allowing the growth
      of CaTiO3 against various competing phases. We obtain the formation energies of
      various intrinsic point defects in the material. The doping configuration and the
      charge state of the lanthanide dopants are determined. We find that for heavier
      elements in the lanthanide family, the substitution at the Ca site is favored
      under p-type growth conditions and tends to be trivalent, whereas the
      substitution at the Ti site is favored under n-type growth conditions and tends
      to be divalent. And for lighter elements in the family, the substitution at the
      Ca site is more favored for most cases and the dopant is more likely to be
      trivalent. By tuning the growth conditions, one could control the valence state
      of the lanthanide dopant, which in turn controls the luminescence spectra. We
      collect and identify the emission peaks in the infrared biological window, based
      on which possible doping schemes are suggested for bio-labeling and imaging
      applications.

PMID- 28607991
TI  - Electrochemistry of single droplets of inverse (water-in-oil) emulsions.
AB  - We demonstrate the feasibility of electrochemically detecting individual water
      droplets dispersed in an oil phase (inverse emulsions) via the use of a redox
      probe confined in the droplet phase. The water droplets were tagged with
      potassium ferrocyanide, and were injected into an electrolyte
      cyclohexene/dichloromethane oil solution. Via simple cyclic voltammetry scans it
      is shown that single water droplets from a water-in-oil emulsion can be detected
      provided that rapid anion transfer from the oil to the water phase maintains
      electro-neutrality in the droplet.

PMID- 28607992
TI  - NO-Dependent programmed cell death is involved in the formation of Zn-related
      lesions in tobacco leaves.
AB  - A recent study indicated that the development of lesions on the leaf blades of
      tobacco exposed to zinc (Zn) excess can be considered a manifestation of a Zn
      tolerance strategy at the organ level. Here, we investigated whether cell death
      leading to the formation of localized lesions is destructive in character
      (necrosis type) or results from programmed self-induced cell death (PCD).
      Selected parameters, including PCD markers, were determined in the leaves from
      tobacco plants grown in the presence of 200 MUM Zn and compared with control
      conditions. TUNEL assay results showing internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in the
      nuclei of the cells from Zn-exposed leaves, together with an enhanced expression
      of three PCD marker genes (NtBI-1, Ntrboh, and NtSIPK), indicated the involvement
      of PCD in the formation of Zn-related lesions. It is known that NO is a key
      factor in the execution of PCD. Interestingly, upon exposure to high Zn, in situ
      localization of NO (visualized using DAF-2DA fluorescence) was restricted to
      groups of mesophyll cells, and was correlated with the pattern of Zn localization
      (determined using the fluorophore Zinpyr-1), similarly limited primarily to
      groups of "Zn accumulating cells". Furthermore, inhibition of the formation of
      lesions in the presence of l-NAME (an NO synthase inhibitor) was accompanied by
      the delayed appearance of Zn and by NO localization limited to these groups of
      cells. Altogether, we provide the first demonstration that Zn-related lesions in
      leaves develop from groups of mesophyll cells in which accumulation of high
      concentrations of Zn contributes to enhancement of the NO level and to initiation
      of PCD processes.

PMID- 28607990
TI  - Reaction intermediates in the heme degradation reaction by HutZ from Vibrio
      cholerae.
AB  - HutZ is a heme-degrading enzyme in Vibrio cholerae. It converts heme to
      biliverdin via verdoheme, suggesting that it follows the same reaction mechanism
      as that of mammalian heme oxygenase. However, none of the key intermediates have
      been identified. In this study, we applied steady-state and time-resolved UV-vis
      absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopy to study the reaction of the heme
      HutZ complex with H2O2 or ascorbic acid. We characterized three intermediates:
      oxyferrous heme, meso-hydroxyheme, and verdoheme complexes. Our data support the
      view that HutZ degrades heme in a manner similar to mammalian heme oxygenase,
      despite their low sequence and structural homology.

PMID- 28607993
TI  - UiO-66-(SH)2 as stable, selective and regenerable adsorbent for the removal of
      mercury from water under environmentally-relevant conditions.
AB  - The dithiol functionalized UiO-66-(SH)2 is developed as an efficient adsorbent
      for the removal of mercury in aqueous media. Important parameters for the
      application of MOFs in real-life circumstances include: stability and
      recyclability of the adsorbents, selectivity for the targeted Hg species in the
      presence of much higher concentrations of interfering species, and ability to
      purify wastewater below international environmental limits within a short time.
      We show that UiO-66-(SH)2 meets all these criteria.

PMID- 28607994
TI  - Unusual undecanuclear heterobimetallic Zn4Ln7 (Ln = Gd, Dy) nano-sized clusters
      encapsulating two peroxide anions through spontaneous intake of dioxygen.
AB  - The synthesis, characterization and properties of two unprecedented undecanuclear
      heterobimetallic Zn4Ln7 complexes of formula
      [Zn4Ln7(L)8(O2)2(OH)4(Cl)4(H2O)4].Cl.4H2O.4CH3CN (Ln = Gd (1), Dy (2))
      encapsulating two peroxide anions are presented, representing a very rare example
      of a 3d-peroxo-Ln system and expanding the realm of metal-peroxo complexes. These
      eleven metal ions are arranged in a peculiar structural motif, where Zn4 is
      located at the peripheral shell wrapping Ln7 in the inner core. The Zn ions are
      penta-coordinate in all cases, linked to the NO2 donor atoms from the L2- ligand
      and to a hydroxyl group, and the apical position is occupied by a chloride anion.
      All LnIII ions in these systems are octa-coordinate with LnO8 and LnNO7
      coordination spheres. Magnetocaloric effect (MCE) behavior has been found in the
      Gd analogue due to multiple low lying excited states arising from
      antiferromagnetic Gd-Gd exchange interactions. The Dy derivative shows frequency
      dependent out-of-phase signals indicating the presence of slow relaxation of
      magnetization below 8 K under zero applied direct current (dc) field, but without
      reaching a maximum, which is due to a faster quantum tunneling relaxation. The
      effective barrier extracted from the frequency dependent data is Ueff = 11.2 K
      and a tau0 of 4.18 * 10-6 s.

PMID- 28607998
TI  - Highlight report: adaptations of the biliary tree to cholestasis.

PMID- 28607997
TI  - Exploring the boundaries of direct detection and characterization of labile
      isomers - a case study of copper(ii)-dipeptide systems.
AB  - The investigation of the linkage isomers of biologically essential and
      kinetically labile metal complexes in aqueous solutions poses a challenge, as
      these microspecies cannot be separately studied. Therefore, derivatives are
      commonly used to initially determine the stability or spectral characteristics of
      at least one of the isomers. Here we directly detect the isomers, describe the
      metal ion coordination sphere, speciation and thermodynamic parameters by a
      synergistic application of temperature dependent EPR and CD spectroscopic
      measurements in copper(ii)-dipeptide systems including His-Gly and His-Ala
      ligands. The DeltaH = (-23 +/- 4) kJ mol-1 value of the standard enthalpy change
      corresponding to the peptide-type to histamine-type isomerisation equilibrium of
      the [CuL]+ complex was corroborated by several techniques. The preferential
      coordination of the side-chains was observed at lower temperatures, whereas,
      metal-binding of the backbone atoms became favourable upon increasing
      temperature. This study exemplifies the necessity of using temperature dependent
      multiple methodologies for a reliable description of similar systems for upstream
      applications.

PMID- 28607999
TI  - Aerobiology in the International Journal of Biometeorology, 1957-2017.
AB  - Aerobiology and biometeorology are related fields. Here we provide a broad review
      of aerobiology articles published in the International Journal of Biometeorology
      (IJB) over the past 60 years. We consider how the quantity of such work has
      varied over this period as well as which regions and countries have been the
      focus of such work, and where there is a relative paucity. We then focus on a
      number of highlights and themes in this research, including aerobiology and
      climate change and aerobiological modelling and forecasting. While much of the
      article focusses on airborne pollen research, we also discuss the extent to which
      other airborne organic particles such as fungal spores and bacteria have been the
      focus of research published in IJB. Also considered are knowledge gaps and
      research needs and priorities with respect to the field of aerobiology. While the
      IJB has been one of the main platforms for presenting aerobiological research
      over recent decades, the article highlights the need for the field of aerobiology
      to embrace new sampling technologies such as spectral analysis and next
      generation sequencing to identify and quantify airborne biological particles.

PMID- 28608000
TI  - CRHR1 Mediates the Up-Regulation of Synapsin I Induced by Nesfatin-1 Through ERK
      1/2 Signaling in SH-SY5Y Cells.
AB  - The anorexigenic molecule nesfatin-1 has recently been taken as a potential mood
      regulator, but the potential mechanisms remain unknown. Results of our previous
      study have demonstrated that nesfatin-1 could induce anxiety- and depression-like
      behaviors in rats, accompanied by the hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary
      adrenal axis and the imbalanced mRNA expression of synaptic vesicle proteins. To
      explore the potential neurobiological mechanism underlying the effect of nesfatin
      1 on the synaptic plasticity, the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were cultured
      and treated with different concentrations of nesfatin-1 in the present study. The
      mRNA and protein expressions of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) were
      measured via real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and western blot,
      respectively. The protein expressions of extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      1/2 (ERK1/2), phosphorylated-ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2), and synapsin I were detected via
      western blot. The results confirmed that nesfatin-1 (10-9~10-7 mol/L) could up
      regulate the expression of CRH. Moreover, nesfatin-1 (10-9~10-7 mol/L) could also
      increase the protein expressions of p-ERK1/2 and synapsin I, and these effects
      could be blocked by CP376395, a selective antagonist of CRH type 1 receptor
      (CRHR1). Furthermore, the increased expression of synapsin I induced by nesfatin
      1 could also be reversed by PD98059, a specific inhibitor of the p-ERK. These
      results indicated that CRHR1 might mediate the effect of nesfatin-1 on the
      expressions of synapsin I via ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

PMID- 28608001
TI  - Anti-Zn2+-Toxicity of 4-Hydroxybenzyl Alcohol in Astrocytes and Neurons
      Contribute to a Robust Neuroprotective Effects in the Postischemic Brain.
AB  - 4-Hydroxybenzyl alcohol (4-HBA) is an important phenolic constituent of Gastrodia
      elata (GE) Blume, which is used as a traditional herbal medicine in East Asia.
      Many activities have been reported to underlie the beneficial effects of 4-HBA in
      brain, such as, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-excitotoxic, and anti
      apoptotic effects in neurons and microglia. Here, the authors demonstrate the
      robust neuroprotective effects of 4-HBA in rat middle cerebral artery occlusion
      (MCAO) model of stroke, and showed anti-Zn2+ toxicity in neurons and astrocytes
      as a molecular mechanism contributing to these effects. Intraperitoneal
      administration of 4-HBA (20 mg/kg) in Sprague-Dawley rats 1 h after MCAO reduced
      infarct volumes to 27.1 +/- 9.2% of that of MCAO controls and significantly
      ameliorated motor impairments and neurological deficits. Significant suppressions
      of Zn2+-induced cell death, ROS generation, and PARP-1 induction by 4-HBA were
      observed in primary cortical cultures. 4-HBA also protected astrocytes from Zn2+
      induced toxicity and suppressing ROS generation by employing slightly different
      molecular mechanisms, i.e., suppressing PARP-1 induction and NAD depletion under
      acute Zn2+-treatment and suppressing p67 NADPH oxidase subunit induction under
      chronic Zn2+-treatment. Results indicate that the protective effects of 4-HBA
      against Zn2+-toxicity in neurons and astrocytes contribute to its robust
      neuroprotective effects in the postischemic brain. Considering the pleiotropic
      effects of 4-HBA, which have been reported in previous reports and added in the
      present study, it has therapeutic potential for the amelioration of ischemic
      brain damage.

PMID- 28608003
TI  - Transarterial chemoembolization for management of hemoptysis: initial experience
      in advanced primary lung cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the hemostatic effects of transarterial infusion
      chemotherapy in addition to embolization (chemoembolization) for advanced primary
      lung cancer with tumor-related hemoptysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten consecutive
      patients with stage IIIB/IV or recurrent primary lung cancer (squamous cell
      carcinoma in six, adenocarcinoma in four) who underwent chemoembolization for
      control of hemoptysis were enrolled. At enrollment, five patients were considered
      refractory and five had contraindications to standard therapies. The amount of
      hemoptysis was massive in two patients, moderate in seven, and slight in one.
      Transarterial infusion chemotherapy via feeding arteries using cisplatin (25
      mg/m2) and 5-fluorouracil (300 mg/m2) was repeated every 3-4 weeks for three
      cycles. HepaSphere (100-150 um) or gelatin sponge particles were selected as
      embolic materials depending on the presence of pulmonary shunts and were added
      for embolization just after drug infusion. RESULTS: Hemoptysis improved in all
      patients (resolution in nine, significant decrease in one). The median hemostasis
      time was 11.9 months (range 2.7-25.9 months). The target pulmonary lesions shrank
      in seven patients, and pulmonary atelectasis disappeared in three of five
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: Chemoembolization may be a palliative option with
      favorable hemostasis time for advanced primary lung cancer with hemoptysis.

PMID- 28608004
TI  - Effector system-specific sequential modulations of congruency effects.
AB  - Congruency effects in conflict tasks are reliably reduced after experiencing
      conflict, that is, following incongruent trials. Such sequential modulations
      (sometimes referred to as the Gratton effect) indicate the operation of conflict
      adaptation mechanisms. The influential conflict monitoring hypothesis suggested
      that after conflict the processing of relevant stimulus dimensions is increased.
      Alternatively, it was suggested that the influence of automatic response
      activation is suppressed following conflict. In two experiments, participants
      worked on the same cognitive task (Experiment 1: Eriksen flanker; Experiment 2:
      Simon) with the same kind of stimulation. A cue indicated whether they should
      respond with the hands or the feet. When the effector system repeated from the
      previous trial, a sequential modulation was reliably observed. When the effector
      system switched, however, the sequential modulation collapsed. These results are
      taken to argue for the suppression of effector system-specific response
      activations as a consequence of experiencing conflict. Alternative
      interpretations in terms of task-set and/or context switches are discussed.

PMID- 28608002
TI  - Value of ultrasonographic evaluation for soft-tissue lesions: focus on
      incidentally detected lesions on CT/MRI.
AB  - Soft-tissue lesions of the musculoskeletal system are commonly encountered in
      clinical practice and often manifest as palpable lesions. Moreover, the
      increasing use of cross-sectional imaging such as CT or MRI has resulted in the
      incidental detection of many soft-tissue lesions. Ultrasonography remains the
      primary imaging investigation for soft-tissue lesions. It has been shown to be
      helpful in depicting processes involving the soft-tissue lesions on cross
      sectional imaging. This article describes the ultrasonographic findings of the
      most frequently incidentally detected benign and malignant soft-tissue lesions on
      cross-sectional imaging and suggests the characteristics of such diseases,
      focusing on the ultrasonographic features that allow accurate diagnosis.
      Familiarity with the clinical setting and the appearance of soft-tissue lesions
      on both ultrasonography and cross-sectional imaging can lead to accurate
      diagnosis and appropriate management of the condition.

PMID- 28608005
TI  - Minimum triplet covers of binary phylogenetic X-trees.
AB  - Trees with labelled leaves and with all other vertices of degree three play an
      important role in systematic biology and other areas of classification. A
      classical combinatorial result ensures that such trees can be uniquely
      reconstructed from the distances between the leaves (when the edges are given any
      strictly positive lengths). Moreover, a linear number of these pairwise distance
      values suffices to determine both the tree and its edge lengths. A natural set of
      pairs of leaves is provided by any 'triplet cover' of the tree (based on the fact
      that each non-leaf vertex is the median vertex of three leaves). In this paper we
      describe a number of new results concerning triplet covers of minimum size. In
      particular, we characterize such covers in terms of an associated graph being a 2
      tree. Also, we show that minimum triplet covers are 'shellable' and thereby
      provide a set of pairs for which the inter-leaf distance values will uniquely
      determine the underlying tree and its associated branch lengths.

PMID- 28608006
TI  - Reply to Comment to: The Increased Cost of Ventral Hernia Recurrence: A Cost
      Analysis Davila, D.G., Parikh, N., Frelich, M.J. et al. Hernia (2016) 20: 811.

PMID- 28608007
TI  - Comment to: The Increased Cost of Ventral Hernia Recurrence: A Cost Analysis.
      Davila, D.G., Parikh, N., Frelich, M.J. et al. Hernia (2016) 20:811.

PMID- 28608008
TI  - Effects of social reorganization on dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability and
      cocaine self-administration in male cynomolgus monkeys.
AB  - RATIONALE: Studies have demonstrated that brain dopamine D2/D3 receptors (D2/D3R)
      and the reinforcing effects of cocaine can be influenced by a monkey's position
      in the social dominance hierarchy. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we manipulated the
      social ranks of monkeys by reorganizing social groups and assessed effects on
      D2/D3R availability and cocaine self-administration. METHODS: Male cynomolgus
      monkeys (N = 12) had been trained to self-administer cocaine under a concurrent
      cocaine-food reinforcement schedule. Previously, PET measures of D2/D3R
      availability in the caudate nucleus and putamen had been obtained with
      [18F]fluoroclebopride during cocaine abstinence, while monkeys lived in stable
      social groups of four monkeys/pen. For this study, monkeys were reorganized into
      groups that consisted of (1) four previously dominant, (2) four previously
      subordinate, and (3) a mix of previously dominant and subordinate monkeys. After
      3 months, D2/D3R availability was redetermined and cocaine self-administration
      was reexamined. RESULTS: D2/D3R availability significantly increased after
      reorganization in monkeys who were formerly subordinate, with the greatest
      increases observed in those that became dominant. No consistent changes in D2/D3R
      availability were observed in formerly dominant monkeys. Cocaine self
      administration did not vary according to rank after reorganization of social
      groups. However, when compared to their previous cocaine self-administration
      data, the potency of cocaine as a reinforcer decreased in 9 of 11 monkeys.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that changing the social conditions can alter
      D2/D3R availability in subordinate monkeys in a manner suggestive of
      environmental enrichment. In most monkeys, social reorganization shifted the
      cocaine dose-response curve to the right, also consistent with environmental
      enrichment.

PMID- 28608010
TI  - Transcriptome Architecture of Adult Mouse Brain Revealed by Sparse Coding of
      Genome-Wide In Situ Hybridization Images.
AB  - Highly differentiated brain structures with distinctly different phenotypes are
      closely correlated with the unique combination of gene expression patterns. Using
      a genome-wide in situ hybridization image dataset released by Allen Mouse Brain
      Atlas, we present a data-driven method of dictionary learning and sparse coding.
      Our results show that sparse coding can elucidate patterns of transcriptome
      organization of mouse brain. A collection of components obtained from sparse
      coding display robust region-specific molecular signatures corresponding to the
      canonical neuroanatomical subdivisions including fiber tracts and ventricular
      systems. Other components revealed finer anatomical delineation of domains
      previously considered homogeneous. We also build an open-access informatics
      portal that contains the detail of each component along with its ontology and
      expressed genes. This portal allows intuitive visualization, interpretation and
      explorations of the transcriptome architecture of a mouse brain.

PMID- 28608009
TI  - Clinical outcomes of extra-articular tenodesis/anterolateral reconstruction in
      the ACL injured knee.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of concomitant extra-articular procedures in improving the
      outcome of ACL reconstruction has experienced a recent resurgence in interest.
      The aim of this article is to highlight the differences in philosophies and
      outcomes of historical lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET) and contemporary,
      anterolateral reconstruction. METHODS: A narrative review was performed using
      PubMed/MEDLINE using the keywords "lateral extra-articular tenodesis" and
      "anterolateral ligament reconstruction". RESULTS: Results of search strategy:
      Thirty-seven studies [13 reporting clinical outcomes of isolated LET in ACL
      deficient knees and 24 comparing isolated anterior cruciate ligament
      reconstruction (ACLR) with ACLR + LET] and 1 study on anterolateral ligament
      (ALL) reconstruction were identified as relevant and included in the review.
      Results of literature review: Isolated extra-articular reconstructions are rarely
      performed in contemporary practice. They are associated with a high rate of
      persistent anterior instability and early degenerative change. Combined ACL
      reconstruction and lateral extra-articular tenodeses results in a significant
      reduction in the prevalence of residual pivot shift, but the majority of the
      studies do not demonstrate any significant difference with respect to patient
      reported outcome measures and return to sport. Although several authors report a
      trend towards decreased graft rupture rates, significant differences were not
      demonstrated in most studies. In a single clinical study, combined anatomic ACL
      and anterolateral ligament reconstruction was reported to be associated with a
      threefold reduction in graft rupture rates and improved return to sport compared
      to isolated ACL graft choices. CONCLUSIONS: Historically performed, combined ACL
      reconstruction and lateral extra-articular tenodeses are associated with improved
      knee kinematics. Although trends towards decreased graft rupture rates are
      reported by several authors, the majority did not demonstrate a significant
      difference, likely as a result of small and underpowered studies using post
      operative immobilisation and delayed rehabilitation protocols. More recently,
      combined ACLR and ALL reconstruction has been shown to be associated with
      significant improvements in graft failure and return to sport rates when compared
      to isolated ACLR. However, these results are from a single clinical series with
      only medium-term follow-up. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28608011
TI  - Safety of Anticoagulation Interruption in Patients Undergoing Surgery or Invasive
      Procedures: A Systematic Review and Meta-analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials
      and Non-randomized Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The safety of anticoagulation interruption in patients requiring
      surgical or invasive procedures remains unclear. We thus performed a systematic
      review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non
      randomized studies (NRS). METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase and Central databases were
      searched to March 2017 without date or language restrictions. We considered RCTs
      and NRS comparing anticoagulation interruption with any anticoagulation
      (continuation or heparin bridging) in adult surgical patients taking oral
      anticoagulation. Data were independently extracted. The quality of the evidence
      was assessed following recommendations from the Cochrane collaboration (GRADE
      approach). Risk ratios were calculated for 30-day events: thromboembolic (TE)
      events, major bleeding and mortality. Additional analyses explored the effects of
      different anticoagulation strategies. RESULTS: Twelve reports were included: 4
      RCTs (2190 participants) and 8 NRS (18993 participants). Trials included mostly
      participants with atrial fibrillation. Interrupting anticoagulation did not seem
      to increase TE events (RR 0.65, 95% CI [0.33, 1.30]-4 studies, 2190 participants)
      and resulted in less bleeding (RR 0.41, 95% CI [0.22, 0.78]-3 studies, 2126
      participants) compared to anticoagulation continuation or heparin bridging. The
      GRADE assessment was moderate. Similar results were found in non-randomized
      studies, but the quality of the evidence was low. Possible strategy-specific
      effects were identified: forgoing heparin bridging seemed beneficial, but these
      effects were less clear with other strategies. CONCLUSION: Interrupting
      anticoagulation in patients requiring invasive procedures did not seem to result
      in harm and protected against major bleeding. Uncertainty remains regarding the
      safety of this strategy in indications other than atrial fibrillation and in
      moderate- to high-risk surgery. STUDY REGISTRATION:
      http://www.en.anaesthesie.usz.ch/research/Pages/Study-protocols.aspx.

PMID- 28608012
TI  - The Advent of Ultra-high Volume Thoracic Surgical Centers in Shanghai.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A core principle in surgery is that high surgical volumes are
      conducive toward better outcomes. Ultra-high volume centers (UHVCs) have now
      emerged in thoracic surgery in China that now perform a volume of thoracic
      operations far greater than even traditional international centers of excellence.
      METHODS: In 2016, two hospitals in Shanghai performed over 10,000 major
      pulmonary, esophageal and mediastinal resections each. A qualitative analysis of
      the lessons learned in achieving such large operation volumes was undertaken.
      RESULTS: The advent of these UHVCs gives important insights for not only thoracic
      surgeons, but for surgical oncologists and surgeons globally. First, these ultra
      high volumes were achieved to a large degree by cancer screening-but the success
      of the screening programs relies on reaching wider patient groups and allowing
      for affordable 'self-screening.' Second, the ultra-high clinical volumes at UHVCs
      offer unique opportunities for surgical training and research, potentially
      changing paradigms for academic surgery. Third, these ultra-high volumes may
      place new stresses on existing healthcare resources and prompt novel management
      strategies in response. CONCLUSIONS: The UHVCs represent a revolutionary
      development in modern surgery, and it behooves surgeons to both accept the
      challenges and harness the advantages they may bring.

PMID- 28608013
TI  - Quality of Recovery After Low-Pressure Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy Facilitated
      by Deep Neuromuscular Blockade: A Randomized Controlled Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of low intra-abdominal pressure (<10 mmHg) reduces
      postoperative pain scores after laparoscopic surgery. OBJECTIVE: To investigate
      whether low-pressure pneumoperitoneum with deep neuromuscular blockade improves
      the quality of recovery after laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN). DESIGN,
      SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In a single-center randomized controlled trial, 64 live
      kidney donors were randomly assigned to 6 or 12 mmHg insufflation pressure. A
      deep neuromuscular block was used in both groups. Surgical conditions were rated
      by the five-point Leiden-surgical rating scale (L-SRS), ranging from 5 (optimal)
      to 1 (extremely poor) conditions. If the L-SRS was insufficient, the pressure was
      increased stepwise. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome measure was the
      overall score on the quality of recovery-40 (QOR-40) questionnaire at
      postoperative day 1. RESULTS: The difference in the QOR-40 scores on day 1
      between the low- and standard-pressure group was not significant (p = .06). Also
      the overall pain scores and analgesic consumption did not differ. Eight
      procedures (24%), initially started with low pressure, were converted to a
      standard pressure (>=10 mmHg). A L-SRS score of 5 was significantly more
      prevalent in the standard pressure as compared to the low-pressure group at 30
      min after insufflation (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Low-pressure pneumoperitoneum
      facilitated by deep neuromuscular blockade during LDN does not reduce
      postoperative pain scores nor improve the quality of recovery in the early
      postoperative phase. The question whether the use of deep neuromuscular blockade
      during laparoscopic surgery reduces postoperative pain scores independent of the
      intra-abdominal pressure should be pursued in future studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      The trial was registered at clinicaltrial.gov before the start of the trial
      (NCT02146417).

PMID- 28608014
TI  - Incidence and Risk Factors for Postoperative Delirium in Patients After
      Hepatectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: Postoperative delirium is a common complication after surgery.
      However, the incidence and risk factors associated with delirium after liver
      resection have not been clarified. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the
      incidence and risk factors for delirium in patients that underwent liver
      resections. METHODS: This study included 196 consecutive patients that underwent
      a liver resection. Groups with and without delirium were compared to identify
      differential patient characteristics. Multivariate regression analysis was used
      to identify independent factors that significantly influenced the development of
      postoperative delirium. RESULTS: Postoperative delirium developed in 44 (22.4%)
      of the 196 patients. Majority of incidents occurred on postoperative day 2, and
      mean duration was 4.2 +/- 5.5 days. Patients with delirium exhibited the
      following features: advanced age, low serum albumin levels, a high probability of
      a positive test for anti-hepatitis C virus antibody, cerebrovascular disorders,
      cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, use of benzodiazepines, and previous
      history of delirium. Multivariate analysis revealed that the delirium development
      was significantly correlated with age, serum albumin level, presence of
      cerebrovascular disorder, use of benzodiazepines, and a previous history of
      delirium. CONCLUSIONS: This study clarified the incidence and risk factors for
      delirium after liver resection. These results would contribute to prediction and
      treatment of delirium.

PMID- 28608015
TI  - Prognostic Impact of Change in the Fibrinogen and Albumin Score During
      Preoperative Treatment in Esophageal Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For resectable advanced esophageal cancer, a transthoracic
      esophagectomy following preoperative treatment is recognized as one of the
      standard treatments. Therefore, predictive markers which can be identified before
      surgery need to be established to identify patients with a poor prognosis.
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 102 consecutive patients who underwent
      curative transthoracic esophagectomy following preoperative treatment in our
      institution between 2004 and 2013. Based on plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin
      levels, the pretreatment and preoperative fibrinogen and albumin score (FA score)
      were investigated and the prognostic significance of the FA score change was
      compared with RECIST. RESULTS: The patients were classified according to whether
      the FA score had remained unchanged or decreased (n = 77) or the FA score
      increased (n = 25). When the correlation between the response rate and change in
      the FA score was investigated, the response rate was significantly lower in the
      group with the increased FA score. In the survival analysis, patients in the
      increased FA score group exhibited a significantly worse recurrence-free survival
      (RFS) (P = 0.038). A multivariate analysis using the clinical stage and the
      change in the FA score as covariates revealed that a change in the FA score (HR
      1.802; P = 0.047; 95% CI 1.008-3.221) was shown to be a significant independent
      predictive factor for RFS. CONCLUSIONS: A change in the FA score was shown to be
      an independent prognostic factor for postoperative recurrence in esophageal
      cancer patients who have undergone transthoracic esophagectomy following
      preoperative treatment.

PMID- 28608016
TI  - Quantitative Assessment of Pancreatic Texture Using a Durometer: A New Tool to
      Predict the Risk of Developing a Postoperative Fistula.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic texture is one of the key predictors of postoperative
      pancreatic fistula (POPF) after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD). Currently, the "gold
      standard" for assessment of pancreatic texture is surgeon's subjective evaluation
      through manual palpation. AIM: To evaluate a new "durometer" that is able to
      assess quantitatively the pancreatic stiffness by measuring its elastic module
      (i.e., the resistance offered by the pancreatic stump when elastically deformed
      expressed in mPa). METHODS: Measurements were obtained from the pancreatic
      remnant during 138 consecutive PDs performed at the Department of General and
      Pancreatic Surgery-The Pancreas Institute, University of Verona Hospital Trust.
      Values were correlated to clinical features and, in particular, with the senior
      surgeon's evaluation of pancreatic texture (hard/soft). Sixteen beating-heart
      donors were used as a control group to assess the stiffness of a non-pathologic
      pancreas. Univariate analysis was performed for the assessment of POPF
      predictors. RESULTS: Durometry allowed segregating between non-pathologic, soft
      and hard pancreas according to surgeon's evaluation (mean values 111 vs. 196 vs.
      366 mPa, p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in stiffness with
      regard to histology, BMI, and neoadjuvant therapy. Larger tumors (>20 mm) and
      male sex were associated with greater stiffness on univariate analysis.
      Pancreatic texture, pancreatic duct size, BMI, prior neoadjuvant therapy, and
      histology were predictors of POPF. Patients who developed POPF showed a lesser
      stiffness (178 vs. 261 mPa, p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Assessment of pancreatic
      stiffness using a durometer correlated with the surgeon's evaluation of
      pancreatic texture. Measurement of pancreatic parenchymal stiffness is reliable
      and correlates with the development of POPF.

PMID- 28608018
TI  - Surgical Human Resources According to Types of Health Care Facility: An
      Assessment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A robust health care system providing safe surgical care to a
      population can only be achieved in conjunction with access to competent surgical
      personnel. It has been reported that 5 billion people do not have access to safe,
      affordable surgical and anaesthesia care when needed. This study aims to fill the
      existing gap in evidence by quantifying shortfalls in trained personnel
      delivering safe surgical and anaesthetic care in low- and middle-income countries
      (LMICs) according to the type of health care facility. METHODS: We conducted
      secondary analysis of 1323 health facilities, in 35 low- and middle-income
      countries using facility-based cross-sectional data from the World Health
      Organization Situational Analysis Tool to Assess Emergency and Essential Surgical
      Care. RESULTS: The majority of surgical and anaesthetic care in LMICs was
      provided by general doctors (range 13.8-41.1%; mean 27.1%). Non-physicians made
      up a significant proportion of the surgical workforce in LMICs. 26.76% of the
      surgical and anaesthetic workforce was provided by clinical medical officers and
      nurses. Private/NGO/mission hospitals, large, well-resourced institutions had the
      highest proportion of surgeons compared to any other type of health care facility
      at 27.92%. This compares to figures of 18.2 and 19.96% of surgeons at health
      centres and subdistrict/community hospitals, respectively, representing the
      lowest level of health facility. CONCLUSIONS: We highlight the significant
      proportion of non-physicians delivering surgical and anaesthetic care in LMICs
      and illustrate wide variations according to the type of health care facility.

PMID- 28608017
TI  - Relationship Between Expression of Proteins ERCC1, ERCC2, and XRCC1 and Clinical
      Outcomes in Patients with Rectal Cancer Treated with FOLFOX-Based Preoperative
      Chemoradiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Platinum resistance enhances DNA damage repair through nucleotide
      excision repair mechanisms involving the excision repair cross-complementing
      group 1 (ERCC1), X-ray cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1), and excision repair
      cross-complementing group 2 (ERCC2). We evaluated the correlation between the
      expression of these three DNA repair genes and clinical outcomes in patients with
      rectal cancer receiving FOLFOX-based preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT).
      METHODS: Using immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression of ERCC1, ERCC2,
      and XRCC1 in pre-CRT cancer tissues from 86 patients with rectal cancer who had
      undergone curative resection and preoperative CRT with FOLFOX-4 to identify
      potential predictors of clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Following CRT, 57 and 29
      patients were classified as responders (pathological tumor regression grade TRG 0
      and TRG 1) and poor responders (TRG 2 and TRG 3), respectively. The multivariate
      analysis revealed that ERCC1 overexpression was correlated with a poor CRT
      response [p < 0.0001; odds ratio (OR), 9.397; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.721
      32.457]. Furthermore, a poor response to CRT (pathological TRG of 2-3) (p = 0.18;
      OR 5.685; 95% CI 1.349-23.954) and abnormal pre-CRT serum carcinoembryonic
      antigen levels (>5 ng/mL) (p = 0.03; OR 6.288; 95% CI 1.198-33.006) were
      independent predictors of postoperative relapse. By contrast, ERCC2 and XRCC1
      expression did not play predictive roles in the analyzed patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      ERCC1 overexpression is associated with a poor preoperative CRT response in
      patients with rectal cancer receiving FOLFOX-based preoperative CRT. ERCC1 is a
      potential biomarker for identifying patients who can benefit from customized
      treatment programs.

PMID- 28608019
TI  - The Benefits of a Wound Protector in Preventing Incisional Surgical Site
      Infection in Elective Open Digestive Surgery: A Large-Scale Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the benefits of wound
      protectors (WPs) in preventing incisional surgical site infection (I-SSI) in open
      elective digestive surgery using data from a large-scale, multi-institutional
      cohort study. METHODS: Patients who had elective digestive surgery for malignant
      neoplasms between November 2009 and February 2011 were included. The protective
      value of WPs against I-SSI was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 3201 patients were
      analyzed. A WP was used in 1022 patients (32%). The incident rate of I-SSI (not
      including organ/space SSI) was 9%. In the univariate and the multivariate
      analyses for perioperative risk factors for I-SSI, the use of WP was an
      independent favorable factor that reduced the incidence of I-SSI (odds ratio
      0.73, 95% confidence interval 0.55-0.98. P = 0.038). The subgroup forest plot
      analyses revealed that WP reduced the risk of I-SSI only in patients aged 74
      years or younger, males, non-obese patients (body mass index <25 kg/m2), patients
      with an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 1/2, patients with a
      previous history of laparotomy, non-smokers, and patients who underwent colon and
      rectum operations. In patients who underwent colorectal surgery, the
      postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in patients with WP than
      those without WP (median 13 vs. 15 days, P = 0.040). In terms of the depth of
      SSI, WP only prevented superficial I-SSI and did not reduce the incidence of deep
      I-SSI. CONCLUSIONS: WP is a useful device for preventing superficial I-SSI in
      open elective digestive surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN000004723.

PMID- 28608020
TI  - Feminine Discrepancy Stress and Psychosocial Maladjustment Among Adolescent
      Girls.
AB  - Discrepancy stress, stress about being perceived to not conform to one's gender
      role (i.e., gender role discrepancy), has demonstrated effects on risky sexual
      and violent behaviors. However, evidence of these effects has been limited to men
      and boys, neglecting the impact gender role discrepancy and discrepancy stress
      may have on girls. In addition, no study to date, has assessed the mental health
      correlates of gender role discrepancy and discrepancy stress. In the current
      study, we sought to elucidate the relationship between perceived feminine
      discrepancy and feminine discrepancy stress and psychosocial maladjustment while
      controlling for trauma symptoms stemming from the potential repercussions of
      feminine discrepancy. Maladjustment was measured by creating a second-order
      latent factor derived from four first-order latent constructs: sexual behavior,
      substance use, mood disorder symptoms, and hopelessness. Data are drawn from a
      cross-sectional sample of female students in middle and high school (N = 643) who
      completed self-report questionnaires. Using structural equation modeling, we
      found girls reporting feminine discrepancy (i.e., less feminine than the average
      girl) were more likely to report feminine discrepancy stress and trauma
      symptomatology. Controlling for feminine discrepancy and trauma symptoms, the
      relationship between discrepancy stress and maladjustment was positive and
      significant. Additionally, girls reporting feminine discrepancy scored higher on
      trauma symptomatology, and trauma demonstrated a strong direct effect on
      psychosocial maladjustment. These data suggest that developing trauma focused
      prevention strategies that incorporate social norms around gender socialization
      may have an impact on multiple behavioral and mental health problems.

PMID- 28608021
TI  - Prey diversity effects on ecosystem functioning depend on consumer identity and
      prey composition.
AB  - Consumer diversity effects on ecosystem functioning are highly context dependent
      and are determined by consumer specialization and other consumer and prey
      specific traits such as growth and grazing rates. Despite complex reciprocal
      interactions between consumers and their prey, few experimental studies have
      focused on prey diversity effects on consumer dynamics and trophic transfer. In
      microbial microcosms, we investigated effects of algal prey diversity (one, two
      and four species) on the production, evenness and grazing rates of 4 ciliate
      consumers, differing in grazing preferences and rates. Prey diversity increased
      prey biovolume in the absence of consumers and had opposing effects on different
      consumers, depending on their specialization and their preferred prey. Consumers
      profited from prey mixtures compared to monocultures of non-preferred prey, but
      responded negatively if preferred prey species were offered together with other
      species. Prey diversity increased consumer evenness by preventing dominance of
      specific consumers, demonstrating that the loss of prey species may have
      cascading effects resulting in reduced consumer diversity. Our study emphasizes
      that not only the degree of specialization but also the selectivity for certain
      prey species within the dietary niche may alter the consequences of changing prey
      diversity in a food web context.

PMID- 28608022
TI  - Manipulation of local environment produces different diversity outcomes depending
      on location within a river network.
AB  - Ecologists have long been interested in mechanisms governing community
      composition and assembly. Spatial connectivity is one potential mechanism that
      can have a large influence on community processes. In accordance with network
      metrics such as closeness and betweenness, headwater streams are more isolated
      than mainstem streams. Theory and observational studies predict that community
      structure in isolated locations of dispersal networks should respond more
      strongly to manipulations of local conditions, whereas well-connected communities
      subject to high levels of dispersal should not respond strongly to local
      manipulations. We experimentally investigated this prediction by manipulating
      habitat complexity in headwaters and mainstem streams while monitoring
      macroinvertebrate communities through time. As predicted, the manipulation of
      local habitat had a stronger influence in headwaters than mainstreams. Both taxon
      richness and community similarity showed strong responses to alterations in
      habitat complexity in headwaters, but not in mainstem streams. These findings
      support the hypothesis that location within a dispersal network affects the
      relative importance of local and regional factors in structuring the local
      communities within a spatially structured metacommunity. In addition, our results
      suggest that conservation strategies need to account for the possibility that the
      relative importance of local and regional drivers of community composition and
      assembly can vary spatially.

PMID- 28608023
TI  - Plant species richness sustains higher trophic levels of soil nematode
      communities after consecutive environmental perturbations.
AB  - The magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events are predicted to increase
      in the future due to ongoing climate change. In particular, floods and droughts
      resulting from climate change are thought to alter the ecosystem functions and
      stability. However, knowledge of the effects of these weather events on soil
      fauna is scarce, although they are key towards functioning of terrestrial
      ecosystems. Plant species richness has been shown to affect the stability of
      ecosystem functions and food webs. Here, we used the occurrence of a natural
      flood in a biodiversity grassland experiment that was followed by a simulated
      summer drought experiment, to investigate the interactive effects of plant
      species richness, a natural flood, and a subsequent summer drought on nematode
      communities. Three and five months after the natural flooding, effects of
      flooding severity were still detectable in the belowground system. We found that
      flooding severity decreased soil nematode food-web structure (loss of K
      strategists) and the abundance of plant feeding nematodes. However, high plant
      species richness maintained higher diversity and abundance of higher trophic
      levels compared to monocultures throughout the flood. The subsequent summer
      drought seemed to be of lower importance but reversed negative flooding effects
      in some cases. This probably occurred because the studied grassland system is
      well adapted to drought, or because drought conditions alleviated the negative
      impact of long-term soil waterlogging. Using soil nematodes as indicator taxa,
      this study suggests that high plant species richness can maintain soil food web
      complexity after consecutive environmental perturbations.

PMID- 28608027
TI  - Erratum to: Pathogenesis of Gastric Cancer: Genetics and Molecular
      Classification.

PMID- 28608024
TI  - Long-term Saxagliptin Treatment Improves Endothelial Function but not Pulse Wave
      Velocity and Intima-Media Thickness in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pharmacological inhibition of dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 may represent
      a promising therapeutic approach for glucose control and vascular protection. No
      information is available on the effects of saxagliptin (S) on aortic pulse wave
      velocity, carotid intima-media thickness and flow-mediated dilation (FMD,
      brachial artery) in diabetes. AIM: We investigated the long-term effects of S, as
      add-on therapy to metformin, on the above mentioned variables. METHODS: In 16
      patients with decompensated diabetes aortic pulse wave velocity, carotid intima
      media thickness and FMD, office and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure,
      anthropometric, biochemical and metabolic parameters were measured at baseline
      and after 6 and 12 months of treatment. A group of 16 compensated diabetics
      served as controls. RESULTS: The two groups showed superimposable values of the
      different parameters, with the exception of glycated hemoglobin, blood glucose
      significantly (P < 0.05) greater in the S-treated patients. In the S-group
      glucose metabolism and FMD significantly improved during the follow-up (from
      169.3 +/- 8 to 157.1 +/- 9 mg/dl, P < 0.05, from 7.9 +/- 0.1 to 6.9 +/- 0.2%, P <
      0.001 and from 3.6 +/- 0.3 to 7.4 +/- 0.8%, respectively P < 0.05). No
      significant difference was detected in the other parameters, including blood
      pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Thus treatment with S added-on to metformin results in
      beneficial effects on endothelial function, related at least in part to the
      concomitant improvement in glucose metabolism. This may represent a first step in
      the chain of events leading to a reduction in the progression of the vascular
      atherogenic process.

PMID- 28608025
TI  - Triple Combination Therapies Based on Olmesartan: A Personalized Therapeutic
      Approach to Improve Blood Pressure Control.
AB  - Recent epidemiological surveys have demonstrated that effective and sustained
      blood pressure (BP) control is achieved in a relatively small proportion of
      treated hypertensive patients. Indeed, treatment of hypertension represents a key
      strategy for preventing coronary artery disease, stroke, congestive heart failure
      and cardiovascular death. Several interventions have been proposed by
      international guidelines for ameliorating hypertension management and control,
      mostly including integrated and multi-dimensional pharmacological and non
      pharmacological strategies. In particular, numerous evidence demonstrated that a
      more extensive use of combination therapy may represent a valid therapeutic
      option for treating hypertensive patients at different risk profile. This
      strategy has been definitely strengthened by the availability of single pill
      fixed-dose combinations. Among potential combination therapies, those based on
      the association of renin-angiotensin system antagonists, thiazide diuretics and
      calcium channel blockers are very effective in lowering BP levels and well
      tolerated. We will provide here an overview of clinical evidence supporting the
      use of triple combination therapy, with a focus on that based on olmesartan
      medoxomil, a thiazide diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide) and a calcium channel
      blocker (amlodipine besylate), which is available in multiple dosages. Finally,
      in view of the recognised importance of single-pill combination therapy for
      treating hypertension, we will examine the potential benefits of dual (fixed)
      combination therapy based on olmesartan medoxomil with either thiazide diuretic
      hydrochlorothiazide or calcium channel blocker amlodipine in terms of efficacy,
      safety and tolerability profile.

PMID- 28608026
TI  - Monotherapy and Dual Combination Therapies Based on Olmesartan: A Comprehensive
      Strategy to Improve Blood Pressure Control.
AB  - Olmesartan medoxomil is an antihypertensive drug of the class of angiotensin II
      type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonists (or blockers), characterized by tight and
      prolonged binding to AT1 receptor compared to other molecules within the same
      class. These characteristics produce effective and sustained blood pressure
      reductions in hypertensive patients at different cardiovascular risk profile with
      a good tolerability profile. After a brief description of the pharmacological
      characteristics of olmesartan, we will provide a thorough overview of the
      clinical studies that investigated its efficacy and safety in the clinical
      management of hypertensive patients both in monotherapy and in dual combination
      therapies with either thiazide diuretics or calcium channel blockers. These
      studies demonstrated that olmesartan-based antihypertensive strategy may indeed
      provide sustained BP control over the 24-h period in a wide proportion of
      hypertensive patients, thus contributing to a substantial progress in
      hypertension management. Finally, since growing evidence suggest that olmesartan
      may also exert potential favourable effects at vascular level, thereby
      antagonizing the vascular inflammatory process involved in the development and
      progression of atherosclerosis, the main clinical studies addressing this issue
      will be also discussed.

PMID- 28608028
TI  - Incidence and treatments of DCIS in octogenarians: grade matters.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to better characterize the current
      incidence and treatment patterns of DCIS in women greater than 80 years of age
      (>80) and to evaluate the effect of grade on treatment efficacy. METHODS:
      Retrospective observational study of women diagnosed with single primary DCIS
      from 2000 to 2012 in SEER. Statistics including incidence, multivariable Cox
      proportional hazards model and subset analysis were performed. RESULTS: 42,899
      female patients with DCIS were identified, 2566 (5.98%) were >80. Incidence of
      DCIS in the less than 80 (<80) cohort was 8 per 100,000 and 11.7 per 100,000 for
      >80. >80 patients have a similar incidence of high grade DCIS (9.8%) as compared
      to <80 cohort (10.7%, P = 0.246). Compared to the <80 population the >80
      population received significantly less surgery (97 vs. 92%, P < 0.001) and
      radiation (22 vs. 47%, P < 0.001). Although on multivariate analysis surgery did
      not provide a survival benefit for >80 population, it conveyed a survival benefit
      for high grade DCIS (HR 0.14, 95% CI 02-0.68) that was not observed for low grade
      DCIS (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.1-2.03). CONCLUSIONS: Patients over 80 years of age have
      a relatively high incidence of DCIS and receive low relative rates of treatment.
      Although surgery does not provide a survival benefit for all patients over 80, it
      does provide a significant survival benefit for patients with high grade DCIS.
      Our results suggest that perhaps the biology of the DCIS, not the age of the
      patient should direct who warrants treatment.

PMID- 28608029
TI  - The efficacy of lymphaticovenular anastomosis in breast cancer-related
      lymphedema.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lymphedema can be a debilitating condition, causing a great
      decrease in a person's quality of life (QoL). Treatment with lymphaticovenular
      anastomosis (LVA), in which an anastomosis is created between the lymphatic and
      venous system, may attenuate lymphedema symptoms and reduce swelling. In this
      study, we share the results using LVA to treat breast cancer-related lymphedema
      (BCRL) at our institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were eligible for
      inclusion if they suffered from unilateral BCRL, if functional lymphatics were
      available, if compression therapy was used for at least 6 months, and if the
      follow-up was 12 months at minimum. Lymph vessel functionality was assessed
      preoperatively using indocyanine green (ICG). During surgery, 1-3 anastomoses
      were created and shunt patency was confirmed using ICG. Arm volumes were measured
      before surgery and at 6- and 12-month follow-up. QoL was measured before surgery
      and at 6-month follow-up. Arm volume differences between the healthy arm and
      affected arm were compared between the time points. RESULTS: Twenty-nine
      consecutive female patients with unilateral BCRL were included. The preoperative
      mean difference in arm volumes was 701 +/- 435 ml (36.9%). This was reduced to
      496 +/- 302 ml (24.7%) at 6-month follow-up (p = 0.00). At 12-month follow-up,
      the mean difference in arm volume was 467 +/- 303 ml (23.5%) (p = 0.02). The
      overall perceived QoL was increased from 5.8 +/- 1.1 to 7.4 +/- 0.7 (p = 0.00).
      The functionality score decreased from 2.2 to 1.8 (p = 0.00), the appearance
      score decreased from 2.6 to 1.9 (p = 0.00), the symptoms score decreased from 2.8
      to 1.8 (p = 0.00), and the mood score decreased from 2.7 to 1.5 (p = 0.00).
      Fifteen patients (53.6%) were able to discontinue the use of compression garment.
      CONCLUSION: Treatment with LVAs is effective in reducing arm volume difference in
      patients suffering from BCRL. Although no complete reduction of the edema was
      achieved at 12-month follow-up, the procedure significantly increased the
      patients' QoL.

PMID- 28608030
TI  - Intracorneal ring segment depth in keratoconus patients: a long-term follow-up
      study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the actual depth of the tunnel created with femtosecond laser
      for intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation with the target depth in
      keratoconus patients. METHODS: In this mix design study, eligible keratoconus
      patients were identified through chart review. The inclusion criterion was a
      history of ICRS implantation with femtosecond laser more than 6 months prior to
      enrollment. Participants underwent anterior segment optical coherence tomography
      using Spectralis (Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany) for depth
      measurement defined as the distance from the anterior corneal surface to anterior
      rim of the ring. RESULTS: The mean age of the 30 participants was 31.4 +/- 7.9
      years, and 58.6% were male. Mean follow-up time after ring implantation was 25.8
      +/- 10.0 (range 7-41) months. Mean actual depth was 59.9% (42.4-86.8%), and the
      target depth was 85.0% (74.8-90.0%) (P < 0.001). The ring was at a depth of less
      than 70% in 25 eyes of the 30 (83.3%) studied eyes. CONCLUSION: The mean 26
      months after implantation, ring segments are placed at a shallower depth than
      originally intended. Therefore, although femtosecond laser technology is an
      acceptable method for the surgeon, it is necessary to revisit the depth
      calculator of the device.

PMID- 28608031
TI  - Adalimumab in refractory cystoid macular edema associated with birdshot
      chorioretinopathy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the clinical outcomes of adalimumab therapy in cases of
      birdshot chorioretinitis (BCR) with cystoid macular edema (CME) refractory to
      conventional immunotherapy. METHODS: This is a retrospective case series of three
      BCR patients treated with adalimumab for refractory CME. The main outcome measure
      was central subfield thickness (CST) on optical coherence tomography. Any
      patients treated with local steroids and/or receiving systemic steroids higher
      than 40 mg prednisolone daily during adalimumab therapy were excluded. RESULTS:
      At baseline, all patients were receiving systemic corticosteroids and two second
      line immunosuppressive agents. The mean duration of treatment with adalimumab was
      31.2 months (range 17.2-52). The mean CST was 327 +/- 112.7 MUm (mean +/- SD) at
      baseline and 256.2 +/- 39.7 MUm at 6 months and 235.5 +/- 32.5 MUm at 12 months.
      Adalimumab permitted cessation or reduction in the daily dose of oral
      prednisolone plus withdrawal of a second-line agent in all patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      In these patients, adalimumab was effective in the treatment of refractory CME.

PMID- 28608032
TI  - The significance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in idiopathic epiretinal
      membrane.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the levels of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients
      with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) and to compare the NLR results of
      patients with iERM and healthy controls. METHODS: This retrospective study
      enrolled 43 patients with iERM and 40 healthy subjects. Complete ophthalmologic
      examination and complete blood count measurements were performed of all subjects.
      Complete blood counts were performed within 2 h of blood collection. RESULTS:
      There was a significant difference in NLR between iERM and control groups (p <
      0.01). The receiver operating characteristics analysis revealed that the value of
      NLR to distinguish patients with iERM and controls was found to be 0.832. The
      best cutoff value was 1.90, with a sensitivity of 72% and specificity 70%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study for the first time provides evidence that subclinical
      systemic inflammation may cause or at least accompanies iERM using a novel
      biomarker NLR.

PMID- 28608033
TI  - Intervention to Promote Responsible Conduct of Research Mentoring.
AB  - Although much of the focus on responsible conduct in research has been defined by
      courses or online training, it is generally understood that this is less
      important than what happens in the research environment. On the assumption that
      providing faculty with tools and resources to address the ethical dimensions of
      the practice of research would be useful, a new workshop was convened ten times
      across seven academic institutions and at the annual meeting of a professional
      society. Workshops were attended by 91 faculty, 71 (78% response rate) of whom
      completed evaluations strongly supportive of the value of the workshop. Surveys
      of trainees identified by the faculty allowed for invitations to complete an
      online survey before and 6 months after the workshops, respectively resulting in
      response rates of 43 and 51%. Faculty and trainees were highly supportive of the
      feasibility, relevance, and effectiveness of the implementation by the faculty of
      one or more of the five strategies featured in the workshop. However,
      surprisingly over 70% of the trainees reported use of one or more of those
      strategies prior to faculty participation in the workshops. In sum, the workshops
      for faculty were successful, and the proposed strategies were deemed of value,
      but it is likely that the faculty voluntarily choosing to participate in these
      workshops were perhaps not surprisingly faculty who are already engaging in some
      of these strategies. This model is likely a useful adjunct to encouraging a
      culture of ethics, but it is not by itself sufficient to do so.

PMID- 28608034
TI  - Abortion of Fetus with Down's Syndrome: India Joins the Worldwide Controversy
      Surrounding Abortion Laws.
AB  - Abortion continues to be a moral and ethical dilemma in medicine. While abortions
      in general have always faced social stigmas, the abortion of fetuses with Down's
      syndrome in particular remains the subject of debate across the globe. In India,
      under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion is legal under
      prescribed circumstances only till 20 weeks of gestation. Laws for abortion after
      20 week of gestation are ill defined. In a recent ruling of the Supreme Court in
      India, a woman was denied the right to abortion of her 26 week old fetus. With
      this ruling, India has joined the rest of the world in the debate surrounding
      abortion laws and the ethics of abortion.

PMID- 28608035
TI  - Mapping Meaningful Places on Washington's Olympic Peninsula: Toward a Deeper
      Understanding of Landscape Values.
AB  - Landscape values mapping has been widely employed as a form of public
      participation GIS (PPGIS) in natural resource planning and decision-making to
      capture the complex array of values, uses, and interactions between people and
      landscapes. A landscape values typology has been commonly employed in the mapping
      of social and environmental values in a variety of management settings and
      scales. We explore how people attribute meanings and assign values to special
      places on the Olympic Peninsula (Washington, USA) using both a landscape values
      typology and qualitative responses about residents' place-relationships. Using
      geographically referenced social values data collected in community meetings (n =
      169), we identify high-frequency landscape values and examine how well the
      landscape values are reflected in open-ended descriptions of place-relations. We
      also explore the various interpretations of 14 landscape values used in the
      study. In particular, we investigate any overlapping meanings or blurriness among
      landscape values and reveal potentially emergent landscape values from the
      qualitative data. The results provide insights on the use of landscape values
      mapping typologies for practitioners and researchers engaged in the mapping of
      social values for PPGIS.

PMID- 28608036
TI  - Adaptation to Climatic Hazards in the Savannah Ecosystem: Improving Adaptation
      Policy and Action.
AB  - People in Ghana's savannah ecosystem have historically experienced a range of
      climatic hazards that have affected their livelihoods. In view of current climate
      variability and change, and projected increases in extreme events, adaptation to
      climate risks is vital. Policies have been put in place to enhance adaptation
      across sub-Saharan Africa in accordance with international agreements. At the
      same time, local people, through experience, have learned to adapt. This paper
      examines current policy actions and their implementation alongside an assessment
      of barriers to local adaptation. In doing so it links adaptation policy and
      practice. Policy documents were analysed that covered key livelihood sectors,
      which were identified as climate sensitive. These included agriculture, water,
      housing and health policies, as well as the National Climate Change Policy. In
      depth interviews and focus group discussions were also held with key stakeholders
      in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Analyses were carried using thematic content
      analysis. Although policies and actions complement each other, their integration
      is weak. Financial, institutional, social, and technological barriers hinder
      successful local implementation of some policy actions, while lack of local
      involvement in policy formulation also hinders adaptation practice. Integration
      of local perspectives into policy needs to be strengthened in order to enhance
      adaptation. Coupled with this is a need to consider adaptation to climate change
      in development policies and to pursue efforts to reduce or remove the key
      barriers to implementation at the local level.

PMID- 28608037
TI  - Experience of retaining encrusted ureteral stents: URL by 4.5/6.5F ureteroscope
      can reduce the possibility of PCNL.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to present our experience of retaining encrusted
      ureteral stents (EUS) and discuss the effectiveness of 4.5/6.5F ureteroscope
      (URS) in the procedure. The data of patients with EUS in our center from January
      2012 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The inclusion criterion was
      ureteral stents that required intervention above the ureteral orifice to retain
      and was proved to be encrusted. Impacted stents would be removed by ureteroscope
      lithotripsy (URL) via 8/9.8F or 4.5/6.5F URS. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL)
      then be the further step if URL failed. 46 cases of EUS were treated in 36
      patients from January 2012 to December 2016 in our institution. All subjects
      consisted of 18 males and 18 females; the average age was 49.81 +/- 16.40 years
      (range 5-86). The mean time from stent insertion to encrustation was 9.28 +/-
      17.15 months (range 1-120). URL was performed in 44 cases (95.7%), including 19
      cases (41.3%) by 8/9.8F URS and 25 cases (54.4%) by 4.5/6.5F URS due to the
      conventional URS's failure to get into ureteral orifice or further part of
      ureter. Two patients (4.3%) underwent PCNL due to the inseparable circle
      developed by the intra-renal segment of encrusted stents. None of the patients
      underwent extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and open surgery. All
      stents were eventually removed without blood transfusion or ureteral injury,
      except three cases with post-operative fever. All procedures were performed under
      one-session anesthesia. URL by 4.5/6.5F ureteroscope might increase the success
      rate of retaining encrusted ureteral stents remarkably, and then reduce the
      possibility of PCNL effectively.

PMID- 28608038
TI  - Patient Values and Preferences Surrounding Proton Pump Inhibitor Use: A Scoping
      Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) treat various upper gastrointestinal
      (GI) diseases. Around 50% of patients may remain on PPIs long-term without
      ongoing need. Eligible patients should be offered the choice of continuing their
      PPI or trying to reduce/stop their PPI (deprescribing), a choice dependent on
      values and preferences. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to systematically scope the
      available evidence on patient values and preferences surrounding continued PPI
      treatment and/or the decision to try a reduction in their PPI. We searched the
      MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases and the grey literature as of 9
      August 2016 for studies of any design examining patient values and preferences
      toward PPI treatment and/or deprescribing. We included patients aged >=18 years
      taking PPIs for upper GI diseases. RESULTS: We located 12 eligible studies (seven
      surveys, four qualitative studies, one randomized controlled trial). One study
      only examined values and preferences towards reducing PPI use, five studies
      looked only at PPI treatment (initiation/continuation), four studies assessed
      both PPI treatment and reduction, and two studies evaluated PPI treatment and
      switching (to alternative PPIs). Patients value symptom control highly and worry
      about symptoms returning if the PPI is reduced. They are encouraged to consider
      reducing their PPI if a clinician provides advice and education. All five studies
      that examined reducing PPI use suggest patients should understand the rationale
      for considering continuation versus deprescribing of PPIs and should know what to
      expect from deprescribing. Patients are encouraged by knowing they can return to
      their previous dose if necessary. Our results were limited by the small sizes of
      studies and the heterogeneous populations. CONCLUSION: Patients are willing to
      discuss the option of continuing PPI use or trying to reduce their PPI; however,
      a range of attitudes exist. The results suggest that reducing a PPI is a
      preference-sensitive decision. Therefore, patient attitudes should be elicited
      and incorporated into shared decision making surrounding the decision to continue
      or try deprescribing a PPI, and structured tools will be helpful to encourage
      this.

PMID- 28608039
TI  - Antifungal genes expressed in transgenic pea (Pisum sativum L.) do not affect
      root colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi.
AB  - Genetically modified crops have raised concerns about unintended consequences on
      non-target organisms including beneficial soil associates. Pea transformed with
      four antifungal genes 1-3 beta glucanase, endochitinase, polygalacturonase
      inhibiting proteins, and stilbene synthase is currently under field-testing for
      efficacy against fungal diseases in Canada. Transgenes had lower expression in
      the roots than leaves in greenhouse experiment. To determine the impact of
      disease-tolerant pea or gene products on colonization by non-target arbuscular
      mycorrhizae and nodulation by rhizobium, a field trial was established. Transgene
      insertion, as single gene or stacked genes, did not alter root colonization by
      arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus (AMF) or root nodulation by rhizobium inoculation in
      the field. We found no effect of transgenes on the plant growth and performance
      although, having a dual inoculant with both AMF and rhizobium yielded higher
      fresh weight shoot-to-root ratio in all the lines tested. This initial risk
      assessment of transgenic peas expressing antifungal genes showed no deleterious
      effect on non-target organisms.

PMID- 28608040
TI  - Paraesophageal Hernia Repair in the USA: Trends of Utilization Stratified by
      Surgical Volume and Consequent Impact on Perioperative Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of surgical volume on perioperative results after a
      paraesophageal hernia (PEH) repair has not yet been analyzed. We sought to
      characterize the trend of utilization of this procedure stratified by surgical
      volume in the USA, and analyze its impact on perioperative outcomes. METHODS: A
      retrospective population-based analysis was performed using the National
      Inpatient Sample for the period 2000-2013. Adult patients (>=18 years old) who
      underwent PEH repair were included. Surgical volume was categorized as small (<6
      operations/year), intermediate (6-20 operations/year), or high (>20
      operations/year). Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used
      to assess the effect of surgical volume on patient outcomes. RESULTS: A total of
      63,812 patients were included. Over time, the rate of procedures across high
      volume centers increased from 65.8 to 94.4%. The use of the laparoscopic approach
      was significantly different among the groups (small volume 38.4%; intermediate
      volume 41.8%; high volume 67.4%; p < 0.0001). Patients undergoing PEH repair at
      high-volume hospitals were less likely to experience postoperative bleeding,
      cardiac failure, respiratory failure, and shock. On average, patients at low- and
      intermediate-volume hospitals stayed 0.8 and 0.6 days longer, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: A spontaneous centralization towards high-volume centers for PEH
      repair has occurred in the last decade. This trend is beneficial for patients as
      it is associated with higher rates of laparoscopic operations, decreased surgical
      morbidity, and a shorter length of hospital stay.

PMID- 28608041
TI  - Laparoscopic Lavage in the Management of Perforated Diverticulitis: a
      Contemporary Meta-analysis.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Perforated diverticulitis carries the risk of significant comorbidity
      and mortality. Although colon resection provides adequate source control, the
      procedure itself carries morbidity, as well as later stoma reversal procedures.
      The effectiveness of laparoscopic lavage to treat perforated diverticulitis
      remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate
      current studies comparing laparoscopic lavage with colon resection in cases of
      perforated diverticulitis for the effectiveness in source control, without the
      need for subsequent interventions, stoma formation, and death. DATA SOURCES:
      Electronic database searches were conducted using EMBASE, Pubmed, CINAHL,
      Cochrane databases, and clinicaltrials.gov following PRISMA guidelines. STUDY
      SELECTION: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included that compared
      laparoscopic lavage against colon resection for perforated diverticulitis. DATA
      EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Risk of bias in RCT's was assessed the Cochrane
      Assessment of Bias risk tool and Jadad scale. A meta-analysis was performed using
      random-effects risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). MAIN OUTCOME:
      Outcome measures included the total rate of reoperation, rate of reoperation for
      infection, need for subsequent percutaneous drainage, stoma formation, and
      mortality rate within 90 days. RESULTS: Three eligible randomized controlled
      studies were identified, with a combined total of 372 patients. Laparoscopic
      lavage carried an increased rate of total reoperations (RR 2.07; CI 1.12-3.84; p
      = 0.021) and an increased rate of reoperation for infection (RR 5.56; CI 1.97
      15.69; p = 0.001) compared with colon resection. In addition, laparoscopic lavage
      increased the rate of subsequent percutaneous drainage (RR 6.54; CI 1.77-24.16; p
      = 0.005) compared with colon resection, but a lesser risk of stoma formation
      within 90 days (RR 0.18; CI 0.12-0.27; p < 0.001). No difference in mortality
      rate was observed between treatments (RR 1.03; CI 0.45-2.34; p = 0.950).
      CONCLUSION: Despite decreased rates of stoma formation and equivalent mortality
      rates as compared with colon resection, laparoscopic lavage for Hinchey III
      diverticulitis fails to completely control the source of infection. Our data show
      that laparoscopic lavage is associated with increased rates of total
      reoperations, increased rates of reoperation for infections, and need for
      subsequent percutaneous drainage.

PMID- 28608042
TI  - [Granulomatous reaction pattern of the skin : Interstitial granulomatous
      dermatitis - lymphoma - vasculitis].
AB  - A particular diagnostic situation in the classification of a granulomatous
      dermatitis results when no circumscribed granulomas but instead a diffuse
      interstitial histiocytic inflammatory infiltrate, a granulomatous vasculitis or a
      neoplastic lymphocytic infiltrate is found. Interstitial granulomatous dermatitis
      was originally described in patients with arthritis. Later, it was recognized
      that there are also associations with other usually immunological diseases.
      Differentiating between interstitial granulomatous dermatitis and the
      interstitial form of granuloma annulare, early morphea and variants of
      borreliosis or scleromyxedema as well as interstitial granulomatous drug reaction
      can be very difficult. In long-standing cutaneous granulomatous infiltrates, T
      cell lymphoma should be excluded. Occasionally only a small number of atypical
      lymphocytes can be found. The detection of a monoclonal T-cell expansion is then
      particularly helpful. Only recently, a CD8-positive granulomatous cutaneous T
      cell lymphoma was described which occurred in patients with immunodeficiencies. A
      granulomatous vasculitis in the skin is extremely rare. According to the Chapel
      Hill classification from 2012, systemic granulomatous vasculitis is equated with
      giant cell arteritis. Extracutaneous large arteries are involved. On rare
      occasions, involvement of the temporal artery can result in skin necrosis. More
      commonly granulomatous infiltrates in combination with vasculitis can be
      observed, whereby various infectious diseases, sarcoidosis and nodular vasculitis
      should be considered. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (formerly Wegener's
      granulomatosis), presents in the skin as leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Here
      granulomas are extremely rare.

PMID- 28608044
TI  - Parametric Sensitivity Analysis of Oscillatory Delay Systems with an Application
      to Gene Regulation.
AB  - A parametric sensitivity analysis for periodic solutions of delay-differential
      equations is developed. Because phase shifts cause the sensitivity coefficients
      of a periodic orbit to diverge, we focus on sensitivities of the extrema, from
      which amplitude sensitivities are computed, and of the period. Delay-differential
      equations are often used to model gene expression networks. In these models, the
      parametric sensitivities of a particular genotype define the local geometry of
      the evolutionary landscape. Thus, sensitivities can be used to investigate
      directions of gradual evolutionary change. An oscillatory protein synthesis model
      whose properties are modulated by RNA interference is used as an example. This
      model consists of a set of coupled delay-differential equations involving three
      delays. Sensitivity analyses are carried out at several operating points.
      Comments on the evolutionary implications of the results are offered.

PMID- 28608043
TI  - A Mathematical Model of Cell Cycle Dysregulation Due to Human Papillomavirus
      Infection.
AB  - Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) that infect mucosal epithelium can be classified as
      high risk or low risk based on their propensity to cause lesions that can undergo
      malignant progression. HPVs produce the E7 protein that binds to cell cycle
      regulatory proteins including the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (RB) to
      modulate cell cycle control. Generally, high-risk HPV E7 proteins bind to RB with
      a higher affinity than low-risk HPV E7s, but both are able to deactivate RB and
      trigger S phase progression. In uninfected cells, RB inactivation is a tightly
      controlled process that must coincide with growth factor stimulation to commit
      cells to division. High-risk HPV E7 proteins short-circuit this control by
      decreasing growth factor requirement for cell division. We develop a mathematical
      model to examine the role that RB binding affinity, growth factor concentration,
      and E7 concentration have on cell cycle progression. Our model predicts that high
      RB binding affinity and E7 concentration accelerate the [Formula: see text] to S
      phase transition and weaken the dependence on growth factor. This model thus
      captures a key step in high-risk HPV oncogenesis.

PMID- 28608045
TI  - Stabilization of Structured Populations via Vector Target-Oriented Control.
AB  - In contrast with unstructured models, structured discrete population models have
      been able to fit and predict chaotic experimental data. However, most of the
      chaos control techniques in the literature have been designed and analyzed in a
      one-dimensional setting. Here, by introducing target-oriented control for
      discrete dynamical systems, we prove the possibility to stabilize a chosen state
      for a wide range of structured population models. The results are illustrated
      with introducing a control in the celebrated LPA model describing a flour beetle
      dynamics. Moreover, we show that the new control allows to stabilize periodic
      solutions for higher-order difference equations, such as the delayed Ricker
      model, for which previous target-oriented methods were not designed.

PMID- 28608046
TI  - Mathematical Analysis of an SIQR Influenza Model with Imperfect Quarantine.
AB  - The identification of mechanisms responsible for recurrent epidemic outbreaks,
      such as age structure, cross-immunity and variable delays in the infective
      classes, has challenged and fascinated epidemiologists and mathematicians alike.
      This paper addresses, motivated by mathematical work on influenza models, the
      impact of imperfect quarantine on the dynamics of SIR-type models. A susceptible
      infectious-quarantine-recovered (SIQR) model is formulated with quarantined
      individuals altering the transmission dynamics process through their possibly
      reduced ability to generate secondary cases of infection. Mathematical and
      numerical analyses of the model of the equilibria and their stability have been
      carried out. Uniform persistence of the model has been established. Numerical
      simulations show that the model supports Hopf bifurcation as a function of the
      values of the quarantine effectiveness and other parameters. The upshot of this
      work is somewhat surprising since it is shown that SIQR model oscillatory
      behavior, as shown by multiple researchers, is in fact not robust to
      perturbations in the quarantine regime.

PMID- 28608047
TI  - TSP-1-Mediated Induction of T Regulatory Cell by Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem
      Cells: A Mechanism of Immunosuppression.

PMID- 28608049
TI  - Unsatisfied relatedness, not competence or autonomy, increases trait anger
      through the right amygdala.
AB  - Anger is a common negative emotion in social life. Behavioral research suggests
      that unsatisfied relatedness, autonomy, and competence are related to anger.
      However, it remains unclear whether these unsatisfied needs all contribute to
      anger or just a particular unsatisfied need is the main source of anger. In
      addition, little is known about the neural substrate between unsatisfied needs
      and anger. To address these two questions, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM)
      to explore the neural substrate underlying the relation between unsatisfied needs
      and trait anger. Behaviorally, we found that although all three unsatisfied needs
      were correlated with trait anger, unsatisfied relatedness was the only factor
      that was uniquely related to trait anger. Neurally, the gray matter volume of the
      right amygdala was correlated with trait anger, which fits nicely with the role
      of the amygdala as a core region for processing anger. Importantly, the right
      amygdala mediated the total effect of unsatisfied relatedness on trait anger,
      even after controlling for general personality dispositions. Our results
      contribute to the theoretical conceptualization of anger by elucidating the
      unique role of unsatisfied relatedness in anger and the neural substrate
      underlying such relation.

PMID- 28608050
TI  - Metabolic and androgen profile in underweight women with polycystic ovary
      syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder associated with
      insulin resistance and obesity. Aim of our study is to clarify the prevalence of
      underweight in PCOS patients and whether metabolic and androgen profiles of PCOS
      differ depending on normal or low body weight. METHODS: Out of 1269 consecutive
      patients with PCOS recruited from the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism
      at the University of Duisburg-Essen, 19 patients (1.5%) were underweight and were
      compared to 375 lean PCOS subjects (29.6%). Clinical and endocrine parameters
      were evaluated. Insulin resistance was assessed by 3-h oral glucose tolerance
      test (OGTT). RESULTS: Prevalence of type 2 diabetes and free androgen index did
      not differ between the two groups. Total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein
      levels were significantly lower in the group of underweight patients. While no
      significant difference was found for the Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)
      index at fasting state, the HOMA-M120, calculated 2 h after glucose intake in
      OGTT, was significantly higher in underweight patients. Underweight patients also
      showed significantly higher postprandial insulin secretion after glucose intake
      in OGTT. Six underweight PCOS patients received metformin treatment for
      oligomenorrhea. An improvement of the menstrual cycle was observed in three
      cases, while two patients were lost to follow up and one discontinued therapy due
      to side effects. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of underweight in patients with PCOS
      is very low. Underweight in PCOS is associated with higher postprandial insulin
      levels. Several of our underweight patients were able to achieve regular
      menstrual cycle under metformin therapy.

PMID- 28608048
TI  - Six-Food Elimination Diet and Topical Steroids are Effective for Eosinophilic
      Esophagitis: A Meta-Regression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Topical corticosteroids or six-food elimination diet is recommended
      as initial therapy for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). AIMS: We aimed to
      summarize published manuscripts that report outcomes of these therapies for EoE.
      METHODS: We performed a systematic review in MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Embase
      of published manuscripts describing topical fluticasone, topical budesonide, and
      six-food elimination diet as therapies for EoE. We conducted meta-analysis of
      symptom improvement and the change in peak mucosal eosinophil count, with
      heterogeneity between studies examined with meta-regression analysis. RESULTS:
      Systematic review yielded 51 articles that met inclusion criteria. Summary
      histologic response rates were 68.3% [95% prediction limits (PL) 16.2-96.0%] for
      fluticasone, 76.8% (95% PL 36.1-95.1%) for budesonide, and 69.0% (95% PL 31.9
      91.4%) for six-food elimination diet. Corresponding decreases in eosinophil
      counts were 37.8 (95% PL 19.0-56.7), 62.5 (95% PL 125.6 to -0.67, and 44.6 (95%
      PL 26.5-62.7), respectively. Symptom response rates were 82.3% (95% PL 68.1
      91.1%), 87.9% (95% PL 42.7-98.6%), and 87.3% (95% PL 64.5-96.3%), respectively.
      Meta-regression analyses decreased the initially large estimate of residual
      heterogeneity and suggested differences in histologic response rate associated
      with study populations' baseline eosinophil count and age. CONCLUSIONS: The
      literature describing topical corticosteroids and six-food elimination diet
      consists of small studies with diverse methods and population characteristics.
      Meta-analysis with meta-regression shows initial histologic and symptomatic
      response rates on the same order of magnitude for topical corticosteroids and six
      food elimination diet, but heterogeneity of study designs prevents direct
      comparison of modalities.

PMID- 28608051
TI  - Clinical evaluation of zirconia-based all-ceramic single crowns: an up to 12-year
      retrospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the incidence of clinical
      complications with tooth-supported zirconia-based all-ceramic single crowns and
      identify pertinent risk parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort
      study (May 2004 to April 2016) utilizing clinical records of patients receiving
      yttrium-oxide-partially stabilized zirconia (Y-TZP)-based all-ceramic crowns
      placed at Tohoku University Hospital was performed. The length of time of
      treatment success (complication event-free) and restoration survival (including
      minor complication events and remaining clinically functional) were estimated
      using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Multilevel survival analysis was used to identify
      risk factors. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-seven crowns were evaluated (mean
      follow-up time, 7.0 years). A total of 21 crowns experienced at least one
      complication with fracture of veneering ceramic being the most common (16
      crowns). Estimated success and survival rates at 5 years (96.9 and 98.5%,
      respectively) decreased at 10 years to 62.1 and 67.2%, respectively. The risk of
      complications was significantly higher for molar crowns compared to anterior
      crowns (p < 0.01). A significant association of complications with metal
      antagonist restorations was shown by univariate analysis (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Given the study limitations, Y-TZP single crowns placed on anterior teeth
      demonstrated encouraging clinical results over a period of up to 10 years.
      However, there is a substantial risk of complications with posterior teeth within
      10 years of restoration placement. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Treatment with zirconia
      based all-ceramic crowns for molar teeth with metal antagonist occlusion should
      be undertaken with caution.

PMID- 28608052
TI  - Craniofacial and dental characteristics of patients with vitamin-D-dependent
      rickets type 1A compared to controls and patients with X-linked hypophosphatemia.
AB  - : ?OBJECTIVES: Vitamin-D-dependent rickets type 1A (VDDR1A) is a rare inherited
      disease caused by defective activation of vitamin D. The aim of the study was to
      describe the craniofacial characteristics and the dental phenotype of patients
      with genetically confirmed VDDR1A. The VDDR1A findings were compared to findings
      in patients with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) and healthy controls. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Ten patients with VDDR1A were identified. The reference group for
      the comparison of cephalometric findings was 49 adults without chronic disease.
      The reference group for the comparison of dental findings was 30 adults with XLH.
      Clinical examination, clinical photos, and radiographs were obtained.
      Cephalometric analysis was performed. Photos and radiographs were visually
      evaluated. RESULTS: The depth of the posterior cranial fossa (d-p and d-s-iop) in
      VDDR1A adults was reduced compared to the reference group (p < 0.05). Five (83%)
      of six adults with VDDR1A and one (4%) of 25 adults with XLH had enamel
      hypoplasia on several incisors and/or canines (p < 0.001). Three (75%) of four
      adults with VDDR1A and none of 16 adults with XLH had several first molars with
      enamel hypoplasia (p = 0.004). Five of 7 (71%) adults with VDDR1A and 24 of 30
      (80%) adults with XLH had endodontically affected teeth. CONCLUSIONS: The dental
      aberration of VDDR1A is more in line with the dental aberration of nutritional
      rickets than with the dental aberrations in XLH, suggesting the combination of
      low availability of both calcium and phosphate to be critical in periods of
      enamel formation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Knowledge on craniofacial and dental
      aberration in patients with rare diseases, e.g., inherited rickets, is of
      importance to the dental practitioner, especially during diagnostics and
      treatment in special care units.

PMID- 28608053
TI  - Apical extrusion of debris during the preparation of oval root canals: a
      comparative study between a full-sequence SAF system and a rotary file system
      supplemented by XP-endo finisher file.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of apically
      extruded debris during the preparation of oval canals with either a rotary file
      system supplemented by the XP-endo Finisher file or a full-sequence self
      adjusting file (SAF) system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty mandibular incisors
      were randomly assigned to two groups: group A: stage 1-glide path preparation
      with Pre-SAF instruments. Stage 2-cleaning and shaping with SAF. Group B: stage 1
      glide path preparation with ProGlider file. Stage 2-cleaning and shaping with
      ProTaper Next system. Stage 3-Final cleaning with XP-endo Finisher file. The
      debris extruded during each of the stages was collected, and the debris weights
      were compared between the groups and between the stages within the groups using t
      tests with a significance level set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: The complete procedure
      for group B resulted in significantly more extruded debris compared to group A.
      There was no significant difference between the stages in group A, while there
      was a significant difference between stage 2 and stages 1 and 3 in group B, but
      no significant difference between stages 1 and 3. CONCLUSIONS: Both
      instrumentation protocols resulted in extruded debris. Rotary file followed by XP
      endo Finisher file extruded significantly more debris than a full-sequence SAF
      system. Each stage, in either procedure, had its own contribution to the
      extrusion of debris. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Final preparation with XP-endo Finisher
      file contributes to the total amount of extruded debris, but the clinical
      relevance of the relative difference in the amount of apically extruded debris
      remains unclear.

PMID- 28608054
TI  - Bioethics and Biopolitics: Presents and Futures of Reproduction.
AB  - This Bioethics and Biopolitics: Presents and Futures of Reproduction symposium
      draws together a series of articles that were each submitted independently by
      their authors to the JBI and which explore the biopower axis in the
      externalization of reproduction in four contexts: artificial gestation
      (ectogenesis), PGD for sex selection, women's (reproductive) rights, and
      testicular cryopreservation (TCCP). While one contribution explores a "future" of
      reproduction, the other three explore a "present," or better, explore different
      "presents." What may counts as "present," and what may count as "future," has
      dramatically different connotations depending on the geographical declination of
      the tense.

PMID- 28608055
TI  - Sex, Drugs, and a Few Other Things.

PMID- 28608058
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608059
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608056
TI  - Surgical management and outcomes of ganglioneuroma and ganglioneuroblastoma
      intermixed.
AB  - PURPOSE: Clinical researches about the management and outcomes of ganglioneuroma
      and ganglioneuroblastoma-intermixed are limited. We report the surgical outcomes
      of ganglioneuroma and ganglioneuroblastoma-intermixed in a single institution.
      METHODS: Ganglioneuroma and ganglioneuroblastoma-intermixed diagnosed and
      resected between May 2009 and May 2015 in a tertiary children's hospital were
      retrospectively reviewed. Patients' demographic data, INSS stage, surgical
      complications, residual tumor size and outcomes were collected. RESULTS: Thirty
      four patients were included in the current study. All had localized tumors and
      were surgically managed. The overall acute complications rates were 8.8% (3/34)
      and none were fatal. Thirty-three of 34 patients had at least macroscopic tumor
      resection. Six patients had radiographically detected residual tumor after
      surgery, 25 none and 3 undocumented. Thirty-three (97.1%) patients were alive
      during a median follow-up of 36 months (range 1-82). In subgroup analysis, no
      significant difference regarding surgical complications and survival was found
      between ganglioneuroma and ganglioneuroblastoma-intermixed. Increased complete
      resection rates were observed in thoracic tumor compared with abdominal ones (p =
      0.03). However, no significant difference (p = 0.089) regarding overall survival
      was found between patients with residual tumors and those without. Of the six
      patients with residual tumors, three showed complete resolution, two were
      unchanged and one died 3 years after initial surgery (the only death in this
      study). CONCLUSION: Ganglioneuroma and ganglioneuroblastoma-intermixed can be
      safely and effectively resected, the residual tumor seems not to influence
      overall survival.

PMID- 28608057
TI  - Cuticle genes CpCPR63 and CpCPR47 may confer resistance to deltamethrin in Culex
      pipiens pallens.
AB  - Cuticular proteins (CPs) are implicated in insecticide resistance in mosquito
      populations. Here, we investigated the role of cuticular genes in regulation of
      insecticide resistance in Culex pipiens pallens. We identified two CpCPRs
      (CpCPR63 and CpCPR47) that exhibited higher transcript levels in pyrethroid
      resistant strains than in susceptible strains. Mosquito mortality was increased
      after knockdown of CpCPR genes by dsRNA injection. The RNA interference
      experiment suggested an interaction between CpCPR63 and CpCPR47, as silencing of
      one gene resulted in decreased expression of the other. These findings revealed
      that CpCPRs may regulate pyrethroid resistance and could be used as a potential
      genetic marker to monitor pyrethroid resistance in mosquitoes.

PMID- 28608061
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608060
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608062
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608063
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608064
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608065
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608066
TI  - [Sex and gender differences in diabetes management].

PMID- 28608067
TI  - [Travel medicine - characteristics in the elderly].

PMID- 28608068
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608069
TI  - [Severe progression of diverticulitis].

PMID- 28608070
TI  - [Appendicitis - still a challenge].

PMID- 28608071
TI  - [Anticoagulation - essential informations you should give to your patients].

PMID- 28608072
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608073
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608074
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608075
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608076
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608077
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608078
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608079
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608081
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608080
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608082
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608083
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608084
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608085
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608086
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608087
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608088
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608089
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608090
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608091
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608092
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608093
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608094
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608095
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608097
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608096
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608098
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608099
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608101
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608100
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608102
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608104
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608103
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608105
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608106
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608108
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608107
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608110
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608111
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608112
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608113
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608114
TI  - [Practical aspects of pacemaker indications].

PMID- 28608115
TI  - Phase I trial of antigen-targeted autologous dendritic cell-based vaccine with in
      vivo activation of inducible CD40 for advanced prostate cancer.
AB  - This phase I trial reports the safety and activity of BPX101, a second-generation
      antigen-targeted autologous antigen presenting cell (APC) vaccine in men with
      metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). To manufacture BPX101,
      APCs collected in a single leukapheresis were transduced with adenoviral vector
      Ad5f35 encoding inducible human (ih)-CD40, followed by incubation with protein
      PA001, which contains the extracellular domain of human prostate-specific
      membrane antigen. The ih-CD40 represents a modified chimeric version of the
      dendritic cell (DC) co-stimulatory molecule, CD40, which responds to a bioinert
      membrane-permeable activating dimerizer drug, rimiducid (AP1903), permitting
      temporally controlled, lymphoid-localized, DC-specific activation. Eighteen men
      with progressive mCRPC following <=1 prior chemotherapy regimen were enrolled to
      evaluate three doses of BPX101 (4 * 106, 12.5 * 106 and 25 * 106 cells)
      administered intradermally every 2-4 weeks followed by rimiducid (0.4 mg/kg)
      intravenous (IV) infusion 24 h after each BPX101 dose. There were no dose
      limiting toxicities. Immune upregulation as well as anti-tumor activity was
      observed with PSA declines, objective tumor regressions and robust efficacy of
      post-trial therapy. This novel antigen-targeted and in vivo activated
      immunotherapy platform may warrant further development as monotherapy and as a
      component of rational combinations.

PMID- 28608116
TI  - Risk Factors for Poor Compliance with Adjuvant S-1 Chemotherapy for Gastric
      Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Curative gastrectomy followed by adjuvant S-1 chemotherapy for 12
      months is one of the standard treatments for patients with pathological stage (p
      stage) II or III gastric cancer. Although some patients have difficulty
      maintaining compliance with adjuvant S-1, the risk factors for poor compliance
      are unknown. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients at 21
      institutions who underwent curative gastrectomy followed by adjuvant S-1 for p
      stage II or III gastric cancer. Patients who had a recurrence within 12 months
      after surgery were excluded from the analysis. Associations between
      clinicopathological factors and both 12-month compliance and the cumulative
      continuation rate of S-1 were analyzed. RESULTS: Of 359 patients, 252 (70.2%)
      continued adjuvant S-1 until 12 months after surgery. Older age (>65 years) and
      postoperative infectious complications (Clavien-Dindo grade III or higher) were
      significantly correlated with low compliance with S-1 for 12 months (p = 0.008
      and p = 0.042). These two factors also showed significant associations with low
      cumulative continuation rate (log-rank p < 0.001 and p = 0.018). Continuation
      rates at 12 months after surgery in patients aged <=60 years, 61-65, 66-70, 71
      75, and 76-80 years were 81.5, 75.9, 65.4, 58.7, and 62.9%, respectively. Type of
      gastrectomy or body weight loss at 1 month after surgery did not affect either 12
      month compliance or the cumulative continuation rate of S-1. CONCLUSIONS: Older
      age, especially over 65 years, and postoperative infectious complications were
      independent risk factors for poor compliance with adjuvant S-1 chemotherapy for
      gastric cancer.

PMID- 28608117
TI  - Can We Define the Risk of Lymph Node Metastasis in Early-Stage Cervical Cancer
      Patients? A Large-Scale, Retrospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has emerged as one of the most
      appreciated techniques for reducing the rate of complete lymph node dissection
      (LND) performed in patients with early-stage cervical cancer (ECC). However, its
      performances are still a matter of debate and, to improve them, international
      guidelines recommend performing at least unilateral LND in case of SLN mapping.
      In a prior study, we identified a group of patients without evidence of lymph
      node metastasis (LNM). Our objective is to define a precise risk of LNM for each
      ECC patient in order to significantly tailor surgery for ECC. METHODS: Clinical
      and pathological data of ECC patients were retrospectively collected by eight
      Italian institutions. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test along with logistic
      regression analysis was used to determine the association of each variable
      between patients with or without LNM. Results of logistic regression have been
      used as a basis to calculate the probability to harboring LNM. RESULTS: A total
      of 463 ECC patients were identified. No LNM was detected among the 161 (34.8%)
      patients who met the criteria and were defined as Very Low Risk. In the other 302
      patients, the precise risk of LNM was calculated, and it was <1% in 31 (10.3%)
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: Defining the precise risk of LNM could lead to proper
      selection of patients in whom any lymph nodal procedure, including SLN, could be
      avoided.

PMID- 28608118
TI  - Oncologic Impact of Anastomotic Leakage Following Colorectal Cancer Surgery: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anastomotic leakage (AL) is a major complication of surgery for
      colorectal cancer (CRC), and is associated with increased morbidity and
      mortality; However, there are conflicting results on the impact of AL on long
      term oncologic outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess
      the oncologic outcomes of AL following restorative surgery for CRC. METHODS:
      Multiple comprehensive databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, and The Cochrane
      Library, were searched for studies that assessed the oncologic effects of AL
      following surgery for CRC. The included studies evaluated local and distant
      recurrence, overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and disease
      free survival (DFS). Outcome data were pooled, and overall effect size was
      calculated using random effects models. RESULTS: Thirty-four nonrandomized
      studies including 78,434 patients met the inclusion criteria. The results show
      that AL was associated with increased local recurrence (relative risk [RR] 1.90,
      95% confidence interval [CI] 1.48-2.44, I 2 = 78%) and reduced OS (RR 1.36, 95%
      CI 1.24-1.50, I 2 = 74%), CSS (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.19-1.68, I 2 = 56%), and DFS (RR
      1.40, 95% CI 1.20-1.63, I 2 = 86%). AL had no significant effect on distant
      recurrence (RR 1.20, 95% CI 0.94-1.53, I 2 = 61%). CONCLUSIONS: AL after
      restorative surgery for CRC is associated with increased local recurrence and
      reduced long-term survival, including OS, CSS, and DFS.

PMID- 28608119
TI  - Breast-Specific Sensuality and Sexual Function in Cancer Survivorship: Does
      Surgical Modality Matter?
AB  - PURPOSE: More early-staged breast cancer patients are choosing mastectomy. No
      studies have addressed breast-specific sensuality (BSS), defined as the breast's
      role during intimacy. We explored BSS among women undergoing lumpectomy (L),
      mastectomy alone (M), or with reconstruction (MR) and analyzed the association of
      surgical modality with sexual function. METHODS: Women undergoing breast cancer
      surgery between 2000 and 2013 were eligible for survey using investigator
      generated questions and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Demographic and
      surgical data were collected by chart review. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to
      analyze FSFI scores, and chi 2 or Fisher's exact tests were used for categorical
      data. RESULTS: Of 453 invited participants, 268 (59%) completed the survey. Of
      these, 69.4, 22.4, and 8.2% underwent L, MR, or M, respectively. The importance
      of the breast/chest wall during intimacy declined significantly regardless of
      surgical modality (L 83-74%, p = 0.0006; M 95-47%, p = 0.003; MR 93-77%, p =
      0.002). No difference in sexual function was found between L, MR, and M (median
      FSFI score 28.2, 27.5, 25.9, respectively; p = 1.0). Comparing L versus MR,
      higher FSFI scores resulted with appearance satisfaction (29.0 vs. 22.6 p =
      0.002) and preserved BSS as pleasurable breast caress (28.8 vs. 26.5, p = 0.04)
      and the breast as part of intimacy (28.8 vs. 24.8, p = 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: Breast
      cancer surgery is associated with lowered BSS. However, BSS and appearance
      satisfaction scores are better for L and appear to correlate with improved sexual
      function postoperatively. These data may guide surgical counseling and contribute
      to survivorship outcomes.

PMID- 28608120
TI  - Cosmetic Outcome and Chronic Breast Toxicity After Intraoperative Radiation
      Therapy (IORT) as a Single Modality or as a Boost Using the Intrabeam(r) Device:
      A Prospective Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aim to report our results in terms of chronic toxicities and cosmetic
      outcomes after intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) using kV X-rays in women
      treated for early breast cancer at our institution. METHODS: Patients with early
      breast carcinoma were recruited between April 2011 and November 2014. After
      breast-conserving surgery, patients were treated with IORT using the Intrabeam(r)
      device. IORT was completed by whole-breast radiotherapy (WBRT) at a dose of 46
      50.4 Gy in 23-28 fractions in case of adverse pathologic criteria on the final
      specimen examination. Skin toxicity was graded using the Late Effects in Normal
      Tissues-Subjective, Objective, Management and Analytic (LENT-SOMA) scale every 6
      months, and cosmetic outcomes were evaluated at 36 months by patient self
      evaluation and by two radiation oncologists, on a 1-10 scale. RESULTS: Forty-one
      women received IORT only and 30 patients received IORT followed by WBRT (IORT +
      WBRT group). After a median follow-up of 38.9 months, no locoregional or distant
      recurrence occurred. After IORT only, 2.4% of grade 2 or higher breast fibrosis,
      and no other grade 2 or higher disease, was observed. In the IORT + WBRT group,
      grade 2 or higher fibrosis and grade 2 or higher breast retraction were observed
      in 43.3 and 23.3% of patients, respectively. Objective cosmetic outcomes were
      very good and significantly better in the IORT-only group compared with the IORT
      + WBRT group (8.87 vs. 6.96) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: IORT using the Intrabeam(r)
      is well-tolerated, with very little chronic toxicity and good cosmetic outcome.
      However, a high rate of grade 2 or higher chronic breast toxicity was observed
      when IORT had to be completed by WBRT.

PMID- 28608121
TI  - A Prospective Phase II Trial of Neoadjuvant S-1 with Concurrent Hypofractionated
      Radiotherapy in Patients with Resectable and Borderline Resectable Pancreatic
      Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ideal neoadjuvant treatment protocol for patients with pancreatic
      cancer (PDAC) remains unclear. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of
      neoadjuvant hypofractionated chemoradiotherapy with S-1 for patients with
      resectable (R) and borderline resectable (BR) PDAC. METHODS: Eligibility criteria
      included patients with R and BR PDAC, performance status 0-1, and age 20-85
      years. Hypofractionated external-beam radiotherapy (30 Gy in 10 fractions) with
      concurrent S-1 (60 mg/m2) was delivered 5 days/week for 2 weeks prior to
      pancreatectomy. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients were enrolled in this study,
      including 33 R and 24 BR [19 BR tumors with portal vein contact (BR-PV) and 5 BR
      tumors with arterial contact (BR-A)]. The total rates of protocol treatment
      completion and resection were 91% (50/57) and 96% (55/57), respectively. Seven
      patients failed to complete S-1 due to cholangitis (n = 5) or neutropenia (n =
      2). The most common grade 3 toxicities [Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse
      Events (CTCAE) version 4.0] were anorexia (7%), nausea (5%), neutropenia (4%),
      and leukopenia (4%). No patient experienced grade 4 toxicity. Pathologically
      negative margins (R0) were achieved in 54 of 55 patients (98%) who underwent
      pancreatectomy. Pathological response was classified as Evans grade I in 8
      patients (15%), IIa in 31 patients (56%), IIb in 14 patients (25%), III in 1
      patient (2%), and IV in 1 patient (2%), and operative morbidity (Clavien-Dindo
      grade IIIb or less) was observed in 4 patients (8%). The 1- and 2-year overall
      survival (OS) rates were 91 and 83% in R patients, respectively, and 77 and 58%
      in BR patients, respectively (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant S-1 with
      concurrent hypofractionated radiotherapy is tolerable and appears promising for
      patients with R and BR PDAC.

PMID- 28608122
TI  - Patterns of Lymph Node Metastases in Apparent Stage I Low-Grade Epithelial
      Ovarian Cancer: A Multicenter Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine oncological outcomes and
      incidence of lymph node (LN) metastases in women who underwent systematic pelvic
      and paraaortic lymphadenectomy for surgical staging of apparent stage I low-grade
      epithelial ovarian cancer (LGEOC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study
      was performed at nine institutions across Europe and the US, and patients who
      underwent surgical staging for presumed stage I LGEOC between 2000 and 2016 were
      included. To ensure surgical quality, a minimum number of >=10 pelvic and >=10
      paraaortic LNs was required. Patients with preoperative radiologic or clinical
      evidence of extraovarian or LN disease, and those with nonepithelial histology,
      were excluded. RESULTS: The overall incidence of LN metastases was 4.3% in the
      163 evaluated patients, and the incidence of LN involvement in serous,
      endometrioid, and mucinous subtypes was 10.7, 1.5, and 0%, respectively. However,
      Upstaging due to LN involvement alone occurred in only 2.4% of the patients.
      Eighty-nine (54.6%) patients received adjuvant chemotherapy due to International
      Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IC or higher disease. The 5-year
      progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 93.2% (95%
      confidence interval [CI] 89.4-97.1%) and 94.5% (95% CI 90.9-98.0%), respectively.
      There was no significant difference in PFS or OS between LN-negative and LN
      positive patients. However, fewer patients received adjuvant chemotherapy in the
      LN-negative group. Multivariate analysis did not identify any independent
      prognostic factor of survival. CONCLUSION: The risk of LN involvement in
      nonserous apparent stage I LGEOC appears low, with a rate of <1% in this
      retrospective analysis, raising questions about the value of lymphadenectomy in
      those patients. Larger-scale prospective studies are warranted to evaluate the
      oncologic safety of omitting systematic LN staging in apparent stage I nonserous
      LGEOC.

PMID- 28608123
TI  - Genetics of Depression: Progress at Last.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We will describe the success of recent genome-wide association
      studies that identify genetic variants associated with depression and outline the
      strategies used to reduce heterogeneity and increase sample size. RECENT
      FINDINGS: The CONVERGE consortium identified two genetic associations by focusing
      on a sample of Chinese women with recurrent severe depression. Three other loci
      have been found in Europeans by combining cohorts with clinical diagnosis and
      measures of depressive symptoms to increase sample size. 23andMe identified 15
      loci associated with depression using self-report of clinical diagnosis in a
      study of over 300,000 individuals. The first genetic associations with depression
      have been identified, and this number is now expected to increase linearly with
      sample size, as seen in other polygenic disorders. These loci provide invaluable
      insights into the biology of depression and exciting opportunities to develop new
      biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28608125
TI  - [Dyspnea].
AB  - Dyspnea represents one of the most frequent cardinal symptoms in general practice
      and interdisciplinary emergency care across all sectors. Due to its subjective
      character, dyspnea is described by patients in many different ways, including
      "shortness of breath, difficulty of breathing, feeling of chest tightness, etc".
      The spectrum of differential diagnoses is broad, including in particular
      pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. In addition to an evaluation of severity
      and an assessment of temporal, situation-related, and causal classification
      criteria, a structured process of multiple diagnostic steps in both primary and
      emergency care is a prerequisite for fast and correct diagnosis. In this context,
      it is of crucial importance to identify life-threatening diseases according to
      defined criteria and thus initiate adequate emergency measures. Further treatment
      options at the interface between primary and clinical care can be based on the
      German Appropriate Evaluation Protocol (G-AEP) criteria.

PMID- 28608124
TI  - [Diverticulitis : Domain of conservative or drug therapy?]
AB  - Increasing interest in diverticular disease by the scientific community in the
      last 10-15 years has resulted in an increased number of publications. Among other
      things, nonevidence-based therapeutic paradigms were tested in randomized,
      controlled therapy studies. The importance of surgery in the therapy of
      diverticulitis has diminished in recent years; in particular, it has no role in
      the treatment of diverticulitis types 1a, 1b, and 2a according to the
      Classification of Diverticular Disease (CDD) treated successfully by conservative
      means. Surgery has only a subordinate role in recurrent type 3b diverticulitis
      according to the CDD. Diverticulitis is therefore increasingly treated using
      conservative or drug therapy. However, only the classic, established antibiotics
      are currently available as effective drugs for the treatment of diverticular
      disease. However, these are also decreasing in significance. Over 90% of patients
      with type 1a/1b diverticulitis can be safely treated according to current data
      without the use of antibiotics. It is possible that type 2a diverticulitis will
      also be successfully treated without antibiotics in the future. Substances such
      as rifaximin, mesalazine, or probiotics, which were tested above all in patients
      with chronic recurrent forms (CDD type 3a/3b), have not yet been established.

PMID- 28608126
TI  - Complete genome sequence of Halomonas ventosae virulent halovirus QHHSV-1.
AB  - A virulent halovirus QHHSV-1 which lyses Halomonas ventosae QH52-2 originating
      from the Qiaohou salt mine in Yunnan, Southwest China was characterized. The
      complete genome of QHHSV-1 is composed of a circular double-stranded DNA of
      37,270 base pairs in length, with 66.8% G+C content and 69 putative open reading
      frames (ORFs), which were classified into five functional groups, including
      morphogenesis, replication/regulation, packaging, lysis and lysogeny. A putative
      Cro repressor gene and an integrase gene were found in the genome, showing that
      QHHSV-1 may utilize a lambda-like repression system under unfavorable conditions.
      QHHSV-1 is the first report of the whole genome sequence of the virulent
      Halomonas phage belonging to the family Siphoviridae.

PMID- 28608127
TI  - Downregulation of histone methyltransferase EHMT2 in CD4+ T-cells may protect
      HTLV-1-infected individuals against HAM/TSP development.
AB  - Approximately 5% of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-infected
      individuals will develop one of the HTLV-1-related diseases, such as HTLV-1
      associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) or adult T-cell
      leukemia. However, the mechanisms responsible for the appearance of symptoms have
      not been fully clarified. It is believed that viral factors, host genetic and
      epigenetic mechanisms are implicated in this process. Studies have shown the
      involvement of histone methyltransferases in retrovirus infection, but no study
      observed their expression in HTLV-1-infected patients. Among them, euchromatic
      histone-lysine N-methyltransferase (EHMT)-1 and EHMT-2 were related to retroviral
      latency in HIV-1 infection. We investigated whether histone methyltransferases
      EHMT1 and EHMT2 exert any influence on HAM/TSP development by assessing their
      expression levels in CD4+ T-cells from HTLV-1-infected patients. CD4+ T-cells
      were immunomagnetically isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HTLV
      1-infected or non-infected individuals and the expression levels of EHMT1 and
      EHMT2 were determined by RT-qPCR. We observed that EHMT2 was negatively regulated
      in HTLV-1 asymptomatic carriers compared to non-infected individuals. No
      difference was observed for EHMT1. These results suggest that EHMT2
      downregulation in CD4+ T-cells may be linked to a protection mechanism against
      the development of HAM/TSP.

PMID- 28608128
TI  - Fabrication of highly modulable fibrous 3D extracellular microenvironments.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) in vitro scaffolds that mimic the irregular fibrous
      structures of in vivo extracellular matrix (ECM) are critical for many important
      biological applications. However, structural properties modulation of fibrous 3D
      scaffolds remains a challenge. Here, we report the first highly modulable 3D
      fibrous scaffolds self-assembled by high-aspect-ratio (HAR) microfibers. The
      scaffolds structural properties can be easily tailored to incorporate various
      physical cues, including geometry, stiffness, heterogeneity and nanotopography.
      Moreover, the fibrous scaffolds are readily and accurately patterned on desired
      locations of the substrate. Cell culture exhibits that our scaffolds can elicit
      strong bidirectional cell-material interactions. Furthermore, a functional
      disparity between the two-dimensional substrate and our 3D scaffolds is
      identified by cell spreading and proliferation data. These results prove the
      potential of the proposed scaffold as a biomimetic extracellular microenvironment
      for cell study.

PMID- 28608129
TI  - Dysphagia Research Society 25th Anniversary Meeting: President's 2017 Report.

PMID- 28608130
TI  - Evaluation of fibular muscles and prevalence of accessory fibular muscles on
      fetal cadavers.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine clinical importance and
      morphology of the fibularis longus, brevis, tertius muscles (presented as fibular
      muscles in this study), and prevalence of accessory fibular muscles (AFM) on
      fetal cadavers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 200 limbs from 100 embalmed
      fetuses (54 male and 46 female) were studied. Morphology of fibular muscles and
      the presence of AFM were observed through dissection on fetal legs bilaterally.
      The absence of fibularis tertius muscle (FT) and the presence of AFM were
      identified. Length and length of the tendon of AFM were measured. Insertion of
      AFM was also identified. RESULTS: Mean values and standard deviations of all
      parameters according to trimesters were calculated. All parameters were increased
      with age during the fetal period. We determined the absence of FT; no FT was
      observed in 40 legs of 200 extremities (20%). The AFM was present in 7 of 200
      specimens (3.5%). AFM muscles were classified into two types according to their
      site of origin. CONCLUSION: The present study has revealed the morphology of the
      fibular muscles and prevalence of the presence of AFM on fetal cadavers. In
      addition, it has revealed the morphometric development and prevalence of the
      absence of FT in a large series, and their clinical importance was discussed.

PMID- 28608131
TI  - Comorbidity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute cardiovascular
      diseases : The Greek experience.

PMID- 28608132
TI  - Imaging for planning of transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has proven to be the standard of
      care for patients with prohibitive and high operative risk; today, it is
      considered a reasonable alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement in
      intermediate-risk patients. As indications for TAVI move toward patients at lower
      risk, safety aspects are becoming even more important. Furthermore, adequate
      patient selection is key for predictable procedural success with minimal
      complications, translating into an optimal clinical outcome. Decisions on valve
      type and size as well as on the access route are based on multimodality imaging
      including echocardiography, multislice computed tomography, and cardiac
      catheterization with peripheral angiography. This combination of multiple imaging
      modalities provides the best picture of a patient's anatomical and physiological
      suitability for the TAVI procedure. Yet, the reliability of preprocedural imaging
      is influenced by the quality of the images, which should be as high as possible,
      and both image acquisition and interpretation should be performed in a
      standardized manner. This article provides a concise overview of standardized
      multimodality imaging for the preprocedural planning and assessment of patients
      undergoing TAVI.

PMID- 28608133
TI  - Frequency, associated factors and outcome of multi-drug-resistant intensive care
      unit-acquired pneumonia among patients colonized with extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assessed prevalence, associated factors and prognosis of extended
      spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae pneumonia acquired in
      intensive care unit (ESBL-PE pneumonia) among carriers. Variables associated with
      nosocomial pneumonia caused by carbapenem-resistant bacteria (CRB) were also
      assessed. METHODS: A 6-year prospective study (May 2009-March 2015) in the
      medical ICU of an 850-bed university-affiliated hospital was conducted. RESULTS:
      Of the 6303 patients admitted, 843 (13.4%) had ESBL-PE carriage detected. Among
      carriers, 111 (13%) patients developed ICU-acquired pneumonia of whom 48 (43%)
      had ESBL-PE pneumonia (6% of carriers). By multivariable analysis, SAPS II at
      admission >43 [OR 2.81 (1.16-6.79)] and colonization with Enterobacter sp. or K.
      pneumoniae species [OR 10.96 (2.93-41.0)] were independent predictive factors for
      ESBL-PE pneumonia in colonized patients, whereas receipt of >2 days of
      amoxicillin/clavulanic acid during the ICU stay [OR 0.24 (0.08-0.71)] was
      protective. Patients with ESBL-PE pneumonia had a higher SOFA score (p = 0.037)
      and more frequent septic shock at pneumonia onset (p = 0.047). However, ESBL-PE
      pneumonia was not an independent predictor of mortality. Twenty-five patients had
      pneumonia caused by CRB. Chronic renal insufficiency, administration of third
      generation cephalosporin within the past 3 months, acute respiratory distress
      syndrome before pneumonia and prior therapy with a carbapenem or fluoroquinolones
      were associated with CRB pneumonia in this selected population. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although few ESBL-PE carriers developed ESBL-PE pneumonia overall, a high
      proportion of pneumonia were caused by ESBL-PE in carriers developing ICUAP. ESBL
      PE pneumonia was not an independent predictor of mortality. As pneumonia caused
      by CRB is increasing, knowledge of factors associated with ESBL-PE or CRB
      pneumonia may help empiric therapy of pneumonia among ESBL-PE carriers.

PMID- 28608134
TI  - Venoarterial PCO2-to-arteriovenous oxygen content difference ratio is a poor
      surrogate for anaerobic metabolism in hemodilution: an experimental study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of anaerobic metabolism in critically ill patients
      is a challenging task. Observational studies have suggested that the ratio of
      venoarterial PCO2 (Pv-aCO2) to arteriovenous oxygen content difference (Ca-vO2)
      might be a good surrogate for respiratory quotient (RQ). Yet Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 might
      be increased by other factors, regardless of anaerobic metabolism. At present,
      comparisons between Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 and RQ have not been performed. We sought to
      compare these variables during stepwise hemorrhage and hemodilution. Since anemia
      predictably produces augmented Pv-aCO2 and decreased Ca-vO2, our hypothesis was
      that Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 might be an inadequate surrogate for RQ. METHODS: This is a
      subanalysis of a previously published study. In anesthetized and mechanically
      ventilated sheep (n = 16), we compared the effects of progressive hemodilution
      and hemorrhage by means of expired gases analysis. RESULTS: There were comparable
      reductions in oxygen consumption and increases in RQ in the last step of
      hemodilution and hemorrhage. The increase in Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 was higher in
      hemodilution than in hemorrhage (1.9 +/- 0.2 to 10.0 +/- 0.9 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.2 to
      2.5 +/- 0.1, P < 0.0001). The increase in Pv-aCO2 was lower in hemodilution (6 +/
      0 to 10 +/- 1 vs. 6 +/- 0 to 17 +/- 1 mmHg, P < 0.0001). Venoarterial CO2
      content difference and Ca-vO2 decreased in hemodilution and increased in
      hemorrhage (2.6 +/- 0.3 to 1.2 +/- 0.1 vs. 2.8 +/- 0.2 to 6.9 +/- 0.5, and 3.4 +/
      0.3 to 1.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 3.6 +/- 0.3 to 6.8 +/- 0.3 mL/dL, P < 0.0001 for both).
      In hemodilution, Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 increased before the fall in oxygen consumption
      and the increase in RQ. Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 was strongly correlated with Hb (R 2 =
      0.79, P < 0.00001) and moderately with RQ (R 2 = 0.41, P < 0.0001). A multiple
      linear regression model found Hb, RQ, base excess, and mixed venous oxygen
      saturation and PCO2 as Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 determinants (adjusted R 2 = 0.86, P <
      0.000001). CONCLUSIONS: In hemodilution, Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2 was considerably
      increased, irrespective of the presence of anaerobic metabolism. Pv-aCO2/Ca-vO2
      is a complex variable, which depends on several factors. As such, it was a
      misleading indicator of anaerobic metabolism in hemodilution.

PMID- 28608135
TI  - Can proportional ventilation modes facilitate exercise in critically ill
      patients? A physiological cross-over study : Pressure support versus proportional
      ventilation during lower limb exercise in ventilated critically ill patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early exercise of critically ill patients may have beneficial effects
      on muscle strength, mass and systemic inflammation. During pressure support
      ventilation (PSV), a mismatch between demand and assist could increase work of
      breathing and limit exercise. A better exercise tolerance is possible with a
      proportional mode of ventilation (Proportional Assist Ventilation, PAV+ and
      Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist, NAVA). We examined whether, in critically
      ill patients, PSV and proportional ventilation have different effects on
      respiratory muscles unloading and work efficiency during exercise. METHODS:
      Prospective pilot randomized cross-over study performed in a medico-surgical ICU.
      Patients requiring mechanical ventilation >48 h were enrolled. At initiation, the
      patients underwent an incremental workload test on a cycloergometer to determine
      the maximum level capacity. The next day, 2 15-min exercise, at 60% of the
      maximum capacity, were performed while patients were randomly ventilated with PSV
      and PAV+ or NAVA. The change in oxygen consumption (DeltaVO2, indirect
      calorimetry) and the work efficiency (ratio of DeltaVO2 per mean power) were
      computed. RESULTS: Ten patients were examined, 6 ventilated with PSV/PAV+ and 4
      with PSV/NAVA. Despite the same mean inspiratory pressure at baseline between the
      modes, baseline VO2 (median, IQR) was higher during proportional ventilation (301
      ml/min, 270-342) compared to PSV (249 ml/min, 206-353). Exercise with PSV was
      associated with a significant increase in VO2 (DeltaVO2, median, IQR) (77.6
      ml/min, 59.9-96.5), while VO2 did not significantly change during exercise with
      proportional modes (46.3 ml/min, 5.7-63.7, p < 0.05). As a result, exercise with
      proportional modes was associated with a better work efficiency than with PSV.
      The ventilator modes did not affect patient's dyspnea, limb fatigue, distance,
      hemodynamics and breathing pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Proportional ventilation during
      exercise results in higher work efficiency and less increase in VO2 compared to
      ventilation with PSV. These preliminary findings suggest that proportional
      ventilation could enhance the training effect and facilitate rehabilitation.

PMID- 28608136
TI  - Early impairment of intracranial conduction time predicts mortality in deeply
      sedated critically ill patients: a prospective observational pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Somatosensory (SSEP) and brainstem auditory (BAEP) evoked potentials
      are neurophysiological tools which, respectively, explore the intracranial
      conduction time (ICCT) and the intrapontine conduction time (IPCT). The
      prognostic values of prolonged cerebral conduction times in deeply sedated
      patients have never been assessed. Sedated patients are at risk of developing new
      neurological complications, undetected. In this prospective observational bi
      center pilot study, we investigated whether early impairment of SSEP's ICCT
      and/or BAEP's IPCT could predict in-ICU mortality or altered mental status (AMS),
      in deeply sedated critically ill patients. METHODS: SSEP by stimulation of the
      median nerve and BAEP were assessed in critically ill patients receiving deep
      sedation on day 3 following ICU admission. Deep sedation was defined by a
      Richmond Assessment sedation Scale (RASS) <-3. Mean left- and right-side ICCT and
      IPCT were measured for each patient. Primary and secondary outcomes were,
      respectively, in-ICU mortality and AMS defined as the occurrence of delirium
      and/or delayed awakening after discontinuation of sedation. RESULTS: Eighty-six
      patients were studied of which 49 (57%) were non-brain-injured and 37 (43%) were
      brain-injured. Impaired ICCT was a predictor of in-ICU mortality after adjustment
      on the global Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (SOFA) [OR (95% CI) =
      2.69 (1.05-6.85); p = 0.039] and on the non-neurological SOFA components [2.67
      (1.05-6.81); p = 0.040]. IPCT was more frequently delayed in the subgroup of
      patients who developed post-sedation AMS (24%) compared those without AMS (0%).
      However, this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.053).
      Impairment rates of ICCT and IPCT were not found to be significantly different
      between non-brain- and brain-injured subgroups of patients. CONCLUSION: In
      critically ill patients receiving deep sedation, early ICCT impairment was
      associated with mortality. Somatosensory and brainstem auditory evoked potentials
      may be useful early warning indicators of brain dysfunction as well as prognostic
      markers in deeply sedated critically ill patients.

PMID- 28608137
TI  - Red blood cell transfusion in the resuscitation of septic patients with
      hematological malignancies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Indications for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in septic acute
      circulatory failure remain unclear. We addressed the practices and the prognostic
      impact of RBC transfusion in the early resuscitation of severe sepsis and septic
      shock in patients with hematological malignancies. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of patients with
      hematological malignancies who required intensive care unit (ICU) admission in
      2010-2011. Patients with a main admission diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic
      shock were included in the present study. We assessed RBC transfusion during the
      first two days as part of initial resuscitation. RESULTS: Among the 1011 patients
      of the primary cohort, 631 (62.4%) were admitted to the ICU for severe sepsis
      (55%) or septic shock (45%). Among them, 210 (33.3%) patients received a median
      of 2 [interquartile 1-3] packed red cells during the first 48 h. Hemoglobin
      levels were lower in transfused patients at days 1 and 2 and became similar to
      those of non-transfused patients at day 3. Early RBC transfusion was more likely
      in patients with myeloid neoplasms and neutropenia. Transfused patients displayed
      more severe presentations as assessed by higher admission SOFA scores and blood
      lactate levels and the further requirements for organ failure supports. RBC
      transfusion within the first two days was associated with higher day 7 (20.5 vs.
      13.3%, p = 0.02), in-ICU (39 vs. 25.2%, p < 0.001) and in-hospital (51 vs. 36.6%,
      p < 0.001) mortality rates. RBC transfusion remained independently associated
      with increased in-hospital mortality in multivariate logistic regression (OR 1.52
      [1.03-2.26], p = 0.03) and propensity score-adjusted (OR 1.64 [1.05-2.57], p =
      0.03) analysis. CONCLUSIONS: RBC transfusion is commonly used in the early
      resuscitation of septic patients with hematological malignancies. Although it was
      preferentially provided to the most severe patients, we found it possibly
      associated with an increased risk of death.

PMID- 28608138
TI  - A Functional Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Modified with PLA-PEG-DG as Tumor-Targeted
      MRI Contrast Agent.
AB  - PURPOSE: Tumor targeting could greatly promote the performance of magnetic
      nanomaterials as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) agent for tumor diagnosis.
      Herein, we reported a novel magnetic nanoparticle modified with PLA (poly lactic
      acid)-PEG (polyethylene glycol)-DG (D-glucosamine) as Tumor-targeted MRI Contrast
      Agent. METHODS: In this work, we took use of the D-glucose passive targeting on
      tumor cells, combining it on PLA-PEG through amide reaction, and then wrapped the
      PLA-PEG-DG up to the Fe3O4@OA NPs. The stability and anti phagocytosis of
      Fe3O4@OA@PLA-PEG-DG was tested in vitro; the MRI efficiency and toxicity was also
      detected in vivo. RESULTS: These functional magnetic nanoparticles demonstrated
      good biocompatibility and stability both in vitro and in vivo. Cell experiments
      showed that Fe3O4@OA@PLA-PEG-DG nanoparticles exist good anti phagocytosis and
      high targetability. In vivo MRI images showed that the contrast effect of
      Fe3O4@OA@PLA-PEG-DG nanoparticles prevailed over the commercial non tumor
      targeting magnetic nanomaterials MRI agent at a relatively low dose. CONCLUSIONS:
      The DG can validly enhance the tumor-targetting effect of Fe3O4@OA@PLA-PEG
      nanoparticle. Maybe MRI agents with DG can hold promise as tumor-targetting
      development in the future.

PMID- 28608139
TI  - Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Loaded Zymosan-Polyethylenimine Biopolymeric
      Nanoparticles for Dual 'Chemoimmunotherapeutic' Intervention in Breast Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To utilize nanoparticles produced by condensation of zymosan (an
      immunotherapeutic polysaccharide) with pegylated polyethylenimine (PEG-PEI) for
      dual intervention in breast cancer by modulating tumor microenvironment and
      direct chemotherapy. METHOD: Positively charged PEG-PEI and negatively charged
      sulphated zymosan were utilized for electrostatic complexation of
      chemoimmunotherapeutic nanoparticles (ChiNPs). ChiNPs were loaded with
      doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) for improved delivery at tumor site and were
      tested for in-vivo tolerability. Biodistribution studies were conducted to
      showcase their effective accumulation in tumor hypoxic regions where tumor
      associated macrophages (TAMs) are preferentially recruited. RESULTS: ChiNPs
      modulated TAMs differentiation resulting in decrement of CD206 positive
      population. This immunotherapeutic action was furnished by enhanced expression of
      Th1 specific cytokines. ChiNPs also facilitated an anti-angiogenetic effect which
      further reduces the possibility of tumor progression and metastasis.

PMID- 28608140
TI  - On the Road to Development of an in Vitro Permeation Test (IVPT) Model to Compare
      Heat Effects on Transdermal Delivery Systems: Exploratory Studies with Nicotine
      and Fentanyl.
AB  - PURPOSE: At elevated temperatures, the rate of drug release and skin permeation
      from transdermal delivery systems (TDS) may be higher than at a normal skin
      temperature. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of heat on the
      transdermal delivery of two model drugs, nicotine and fentanyl, from matrix-type
      TDSs with different formulations, using in vitro permeation tests (IVPT).
      METHODS: IVPT experiments using pig skin were performed on two nicotine and three
      fentanyl TDSs. Both continuous and transient heat exposures were investigated by
      applying heat either for the maximum recommended TDS wear duration or for short
      duration. RESULTS: Continuous heat exposure for the two nicotine TDSs resulted in
      different effects, showing a prolonged heat effect for one product but not the
      other. The Jmax enhancement ratio due to the continuous heat effect was
      comparable between the two nicotine TDS, but significantly different (p < 0.05)
      among the three fentanyl TDSs. The Jmax enhancement ratios due to transient heat
      exposure were significantly different for the two nicotine TDSs, but not for the
      three fentanyl TDSs. Furthermore, the transient heat exposure affected the
      clearance of drug from the skin depot after TDS removal differently for two
      drugs, with fentanyl exhibiting a longer heat effect. CONCLUSIONS: This
      exploratory work suggests that an IVPT study may be able to discriminate
      differences in transdermal drug delivery when different TDS are exposed to
      elevated temperatures. However, the clinical significance of IVPT heat effects
      studies should be further explored by conducting in vivo clinical studies with
      similar study designs.

PMID- 28608142
TI  - Erratum to: Antinociceptive interaction of gabapentin with minocycline in murine
      diabetic neuropathy.

PMID- 28608143
TI  - Resource Utilization Among Glaucoma Patients in the UK Treated with Beta-Blocker
      and Non-Beta-Blocker Adjunctive Therapy: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Few studies have examined outcomes and potential complications
      among glaucoma patients who are prescribed topical beta-blockers. This study
      examined resource usage (number of GP visits and hospitalizations) and diagnoses
      of respiratory or cardiovascular conditions among glaucoma patients prescribed
      beta-blockers compared to patients not prescribed beta-blockers. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using data from the UK Clinical
      Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) database over the period January 1, 2006 to
      March 31, 2014. Adult patients with at least one diagnosis of glaucoma were
      categorized into beta-blocker users and non-beta-blocker users. Beta-blocker
      users were further separated into patients that maintained beta-blocker therapy
      and patients that discontinued beta-blocker treatment in year 2 of the post-index
      period. The CPRD data was queried directly to obtain the number of GP visits, and
      hospitalizations were extracted by linking the CPRD and Hospital Episode
      Statistics (HES) patient-level data. RESULTS: In the 12 months after being
      prescribed beta-blockers, patients that later discontinued beta-blocker treatment
      had a significantly higher average number of hospitalizations than patients that
      maintained beta-blocker therapy and the non-beta-blocker users (p < 0.05). In the
      year after beta-blocker initiation, there was a statistically significant within
      group difference pre- and post-beta-blocker initiation for all groups, but the
      greatest number of GP visits occurred in the patients that subsequently
      discontinued beta-blocker treatment (mean 19.27). Patients that discontinued beta
      blocker treatment were significantly more likely to have cardiovascular events
      than non-beta-blocker users in the post-index period (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This
      study suggests that the introduction of beta-blockers in a certain group of
      patients who later discontinue their use is associated with increased use of
      medical resources (higher number of GP visits and hospitalizations) in glaucoma
      patients in the UK, which may be indicative of a potential relationship between
      use of topical beta-blockers in glaucoma therapy and adverse outcomes.

PMID- 28608144
TI  - A comparison between decomposition rates of buried and surface remains in a
      temperate region of South Africa.
AB  - Several studies have been conducted on decomposition patterns and rates of
      surface remains; however, much less are known about this process for buried
      remains. Understanding the process of decomposition in buried remains is
      extremely important and aids in criminal investigations, especially when
      attempting to estimate the post mortem interval (PMI). The aim of this study was
      to compare the rates of decomposition between buried and surface remains. For
      this purpose, 25 pigs (Sus scrofa; 45-80 kg) were buried and excavated at
      different post mortem intervals (7, 14, 33, 92, and 183 days). The observed total
      body scores were then compared to those of surface remains decomposing at the
      same location. Stages of decomposition were scored according to separate
      categories for different anatomical regions based on standardised methods.
      Variation in the degree of decomposition was considerable especially with the
      buried 7-day interval pigs that displayed different degrees of discolouration in
      the lower abdomen and trunk. At 14 and 33 days, buried pigs displayed features
      commonly associated with the early stages of decomposition, but with less
      variation. A state of advanced decomposition was reached where little change was
      observed in the next +/-90-183 days after interment. Although the patterns of
      decomposition for buried and surface remains were very similar, the rates
      differed considerably. Based on the observations made in this study, guidelines
      for the estimation of PMI are proposed. This pertains to buried remains found at
      a depth of approximately 0.75 m in the Central Highveld of South Africa.

PMID- 28608141
TI  - Triterpenoids principle of Wedelia calendulacea attenuated diethynitrosamine
      induced hepatocellular carcinoma via down-regulating oxidative stress,
      inflammation and pathology via NF-kB pathway.
AB  - The aerial part of Wedelia calendulacea have been used in Ayurveda, Unani,
      Tibetan, Siddha and other folk medicine systems to protect the liver and renal
      tissue. Liver is considered as primary metabolizing site of body, which is prone
      to damage by endogenous and exogenous toxicants. A reason for liver toxicity, and
      major causes of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 19-alpha-Hydroxyurs-12(13)
      ene-28 oic acid-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (HEG), a triterpenoids found in the
      higher plants, has been known to possess protective effect against various
      toxicants. The aim of the current study was to scrutinize the hepatoprotective
      mechanism of HEG against DEN-induced oxidative stress, hyperproliferation,
      inflammation and apoptosis tissue injury in Wistar rats. Invitro cell lines study
      of HEG scrutinized against the Hep-G2 and HuH-7 cells. A single dose of DEN (200
      mg/kg) and double dose of phenobarbitol were administered to induce the liver
      damage in rats; the dose treatment of HEG was terminated at the end of 22 weeks.
      Macroscopical study was performed for the confirmation of hepatic nodules. The
      serum and hepatic samples were collected for further biochemical and
      histopathological analysis. Hepatic; non-hepatic; Phase I and II antioxidant
      enzymes were also examined. Additionally, we also scrutinized the inflammatory
      cytokines viz., tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interlukin-6, interlukin-1beta, and
      Nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kB), respectively. Histopathological study was also
      performed for analyzing the changes during the HCC. HEG confirmed the reduction
      of growth and deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis of both cell lines. DEN
      successfully induced the HCC in all group, which was significantly (p < 0.001)
      altered by the HEG in a dose-dependent manner. The decreased level of pro
      inflammatory cytokines and altered membrane-bound enzyme activity were also
      observed. HEG inhibits the phase I, II and antioxidant enzymes at the effective
      dose-dependent manner, which were considered as the precursor of the HCC. The
      alteration of phase I, II and antioxidant enzymes confirmed the inhibition of
      inflammatory reaction and oxidative stress, which directly or indirectly
      inhibited the NF-kB expression. Collectively, we can conclude that the HEG
      inhibited the growth of Hepatocellular carcinoma via attenuating the NF-kB
      pathway.

PMID- 28608145
TI  - Laundry in a washing machine as a mediator of secondary and tertiary DNA
      transfer.
AB  - The aim of this work was to investigate the possibility of secondary and tertiary
      DNA transfer during laundry. The modes of transfer tested were mixed and separate
      laundry of worn and unworn garments in household and public washing machines. In
      addition, the possibility of a background DNA carry-over from a washing machine's
      drum was investigated. In the mixed (worn and unworn garments washed together)
      laundry experiment, 22% of samples from new unworn socks with no traceable DNA
      prior to experiment produced DNA profiles post-laundry. In the tertiary DNA
      transfer experiment performed in a public washing machine (unworn garments only),
      no detectable DNA profiles were observed. Samples collected from the internal
      drum of 25 washing and drying machines did not produce detectable STR profiles.
      The implications of these results are discussed in the context of forensic DNA
      casework analysis. Graphical Abstract ?A real-life scenario of secondary DNA
      transfer between worn and unworn garments during machine washing has been
      evaluated. Experiments demonstrated this scenario is possible (22% of samples)
      and may in fact result in high quality DNA profiles. On the contrary, testing
      washing machine's interior for deposition of biological material between separate
      washing cycles to serve as a mediator of tertiary DNA transfer resulted in no DNA
      profiles.

PMID- 28608146
TI  - Comparison of imaging planes during CT-based evaluation of clavicular
      ossification: a multi-center study.
AB  - Determining the ossification stage of the medial clavicular epiphysis by computed
      tomography represents the currently recommended methodology for the question of
      whether a living individual has completed the 18th or 21st year of life. In the
      present study, thin-slice CT scans of 1078 sternoclavicular joints were
      reconstructed in axial and coronal image series and evaluated according to the
      two classification systems established for age diagnostics using the clavicle.
      Both image series (axial and coronal) were analyzed separately. When comparing
      the results of axial and coronal view, a different ossification stage was found
      in 35.6% of the clavicles. The results suggest an influence of the imaging plane
      on the process of stage determination. In order to further approximate the three
      dimensional and asymmetrical structure of the epiphyseal ossification center, the
      usage of at least two different reformation types may be recommended. In
      practice, only those reference studies should be applied which exactly employed
      the same number and orientations of the reformation types that are going to be
      used in the respective routine case.

PMID- 28608147
TI  - Coarctation Index Predicts Recurrent Aortic Arch Obstruction Following Surgical
      Repair of Coarctation of the Aorta in Infants.
AB  - Recurrent aortic arch obstruction (RAAO) remains a major cause of morbidity
      following surgical neonatal repair of coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Elucidating
      predictors of RAAO can identify high-risk patients and guide postoperative
      management. The Coarctation index (CoA-I), defined as the ratio of the diameter
      of the narrowest aortic arch segment to the diameter of the descending aorta, has
      been used to help diagnose RAAO in neonates following the Norwood Procedure. We
      sought to assess the predictive value of the CoA-I on RAAO after CoA repair in
      infants with biventricular circulation. Clinical, surgical, and echocardiographic
      data of infants with biventricular circulation following neonatal CoA repair
      between 2010 and 2014 were evaluated. RAAO was defined using a composite
      quantitative outcome variable: a blood pressure gradient >20, a peak aortic arch
      velocity >3.5 m/s by echocardiogram, or a catheter-measured peak-to-peak gradient
      >20 within 2 years of surgery. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression
      analyses were used. Of the 68 subjects included in the analysis, 15 (22%) met
      criteria for RAAO. In the multivariate model, only CoA-I (OR 35.89, 95% CI 6.08
      211.7, p < 0.0001) and use of patch material (OR 9.26, 95% CI 1.57-54.66, p =
      0.014) were associated with increased risk of RAAO. The odds of developing RAAO
      was higher in patients with a CoA-I less than 0.7 (OR 33.8, 95% CI 5.7-199.5, p <
      0.001). Postoperative CoA-I may be used to predict RAAO in patients with
      biventricular circulation after repair of CoA. Patients with a CoA-I less than
      0.7 or patch aortoplasty warrant close follow-up.

PMID- 28608149
TI  - Exercise Capacity and Self-Efficacy are Associated with Moderate-to-Vigorous
      Intensity Physical Activity in Children with Congenital Heart Disease.
AB  - This study sought to determine whether exercise capacity, self-efficacy, and
      gross motor skills are associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
      (MVPA) levels in children, and if these associations differ by congenital heart
      disease (CHD) type. Medical history was abstracted from chart review. We assessed
      MVPA levels (via accelerometry), percent-predicted peak oxygen consumption
      ([Formula: see text] cardiopulmonary exercise test), gross motor skill
      percentiles (test of gross motor development version-2), and self-efficacy
      [children's self-perceptions of adequacy and predilection for physical activity
      scale (CSAPPA scale)]. CHD patients (n = 137, range 4-12 years) included children
      with a repaired atrial septal defect (n = 31, mean +/- standard deviation MVPA =
      454 +/- 246 min/week), transposition of the great arteries after the arterial
      switch operation (n = 34, MVPA = 423 +/- 196 min/week), tetralogy of Fallot after
      primary repair (n = 37, MVPA = 389 +/- 211 min/week), or single ventricle after
      the Fontan procedure (n = 35, MVPA = 405 +/- 256 min/week). MVPA did not differ
      significantly between CHD groups (p = 0.68). Higher MVPA was associated with a
      higher percent-predicted [Formula: see text] (EST[95% CI] = 16.9[-0.2, 34] MVPA
      min/week per 10% increase in percent-predicted [Formula: see text] p = 0.05) and
      higher self-efficacy (EST[95% CI] = 5.2[1.0, 9.3] MVPA min/week per 1-unit
      increase in CSAPPA score, p = 0.02), after adjustment for age, sex, and testing
      seasonality, with no association with CHD type. Higher MVPA was not associated
      with gross motor skill percentile (p = 0.92). There were no significant
      interactions between CHD type and percent-predicted [Formula: see text] self
      efficacy scores, and gross motor skill percentiles regarding their association
      with MVPA (p > 0.05 for all). Greater MVPA was associated with higher exercise
      capacity and self-efficacy, but not gross motor skills.

PMID- 28608148
TI  - Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Sequencing Reveals a Novel NOTCH1 Mutation in a
      Family with Single Ventricle Defects.
AB  - Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) has been associated with germline
      mutations in 12 candidate genes and a recurrent somatic mutation in HAND1 gene.
      Using targeted and whole exome sequencing (WES) of heart tissue samples from HLHS
      patients, we sought to estimate the prevalence of somatic and germline mutations
      associated with HLHS. We performed Sanger sequencing of the HAND1 gene on 14
      ventricular (9 LV and 5 RV) samples obtained from HLHS patients, and WES of 4 LV,
      2 aortic, and 4 matched PBMC samples, analyzing for sequence discrepancy. We also
      screened for mutations in the 12 candidate genes implicated in HLHS. We found no
      somatic mutations in our HLHS cohort. However, we detected a novel germline
      frameshift/stop-gain mutation in NOTCH1 in a HLHS patient with a family history
      of both HLHS and hypoplastic right heart syndrome (HRHS). Our study, involving
      one of the first familial cases of single ventricle defects linked to a specific
      mutation, strengthens the association of NOTCH1 mutations with HLHS and suggests
      that the two morphologically distinct single ventricle conditions, HLHS and HRHS,
      may share a common molecular and cellular etiology. Finally, somatic mutations in
      the LV are an unlikely contributor to HLHS.

PMID- 28608150
TI  - [Arthroscopy of the proximal interphalangeal joint].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pain reduction in the affected proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP
      joint) by synovectomy, loose body extraction, dorsal arthrolysis. INDICATIONS:
      Therapy-resistant synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), early stage primary and
      secondary degenerative arthritis, loose bodies, capsular contracture.
      CONTRAINDICATIONS: Established biomechanic changes in RA (boutonniere and
      swanneck deformity). Large dorsal synovial cysts. Advanced radiologic changes in
      degenerative arthritis. Joint instability. Fresh skin lesion near portals.
      SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Vertical traction of the affected finger in a Chinese finger
      trap if arthroscopy of a metacarpophalangeal joint is also planned, otherwise the
      joint can be placed on a hand table. Fill joint with Ringer solution. A radial
      and ulnar dorsal portal is created at joint space level, between the lateral band
      of the extensor tendon and the collateral ligament. Diagnostic arthroscopy. With
      insufficient visibility, "blind" shaving in dorsal recess. Completion of
      synovectomy under vision; 1.9 mm arthroscope with 30 degrees  angle of vision;
      2.0 mm shaver (aggressive cutter). Closure of portals. Soft padded dressing.
      POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: Immediate postoperative mobilization for full range of
      finger movement. RESULTS: From 2009-2011, 91% of the patients treated with
      arthroscopic PIP joint synovectomy interviewed by telephone about pain reduction
      and satisfaction with the operation. Half of the 22 patients had RA and the other
      half degenerative arthritis, each with 14 joints treated. In all, 9 RA patients
      (11 treated joints, 79%) and only 1 patient with degenerative arthritis (2
      treated joints, 14%) were content. The procedure achieves good pain reduction and
      functional improvement of the hand in RA. It can however not be recommended for
      degenerative arthritis except in selected cases.

PMID- 28608151
TI  - Quality of life among survivors of early-stage cervical cancer in Taiwan: an
      exploration of treatment modality differences.
AB  - PURPOSE: Women with early-stage cervical cancer may experience changes in their
      quality of life (QoL) due to treatment or to the effects of the cancer. In this
      study, we examined differences in QoL by treatment modality between women who
      underwent surgery only and those treated with concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT).
      METHODS: The sample of 290 women had been diagnosed with stage I-II cervical
      cancer. Data were collected on these women's demographic and disease
      characteristics, general QoL, and cancer-specific QoL using an author-designed
      demographic-disease survey, the European Organization for Research and Treatment
      of Cancer QoL questionnaire, and the Taiwanese-version Cervical Cancer Module 24
      questionnaire, respectively. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and
      analysis of covariance. RESULTS: Women with cervical cancer who underwent surgery
      only had significantly worse constipation and body image than those treated with
      CCRT. Women who underwent CCRT had worse physical and role functioning than those
      who underwent surgery only. Women who had CCRT also reported worse symptoms, such
      as fatigue, appetite loss, diarrhea, financial difficulties, sexual enjoyment,
      and sexual/vaginal functioning, than those who had only surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results add knowledge about QoL in women with early-stage cervical cancer who
      receive different treatment modalities. When suggesting treatment modalities for
      women with cervical cancer, health professionals should also consider changes in
      women's QoL after cancer treatment. To improve women's QoL after treatment,
      professionals should also offer timely and individualized interventions based on
      women's cervical cancer treatment.

PMID- 28608153
TI  - Low levels of physiological interstitial flow eliminate morphogen gradients and
      guide angiogenesis.
AB  - Convective transport can significantly distort spatial concentration gradients.
      Interstitial flow is ubiquitous throughout living tissue, but our understanding
      of how interstitial flow affects concentration gradients in biological processes
      is limited. Interstitial flow is of particular interest for angiogenesis because
      pathological and physiological angiogenesis is associated with altered
      interstitial flow, and both interstitial flow and morphogen gradients (e.g.,
      vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF) can potentially stimulate and guide new
      blood vessel growth. We designed an in vitro microfluidic platform to simulate 3D
      angiogenesis in a tissue microenvironment that precisely controls interstitial
      flow and spatial morphogen gradients. The microvascular tissue was developed from
      endothelial colony forming cell-derived endothelial cells extracted from cord
      blood and stromal fibroblasts in a fibrin extracellular matrix. Pressure in the
      microfluidic lines was manipulated to control the interstitial flow. A
      mathematical model of mass and momentum transport, and experimental studies with
      fluorescently labeled dextran were performed to validate the platform. Our data
      demonstrate that at physiological interstitial flow (0.1-10 MUm/s), morphogen
      gradients were eliminated within hours, and angiogenesis demonstrated a striking
      bias in the opposite direction of interstitial flow. The interstitial flow
      directed angiogenesis was dependent on the presence of VEGF, and the effect was
      mediated by alphavbeta3 integrin. We conclude that under physiological
      conditions, growth factors such as VEGF and fluid forces work together to
      initiate and spatially guide angiogenesis.

PMID- 28608152
TI  - Recovering from chronic myeloid leukemia: the patients' perspective seen through
      the lens of narrative medicine.
AB  - PURPOSE: The main objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of
      how patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cope with their
      illness. The study aims to reconstruct the subjective meaning-making process
      related to CML in order to gain insights into the impact the disease has on
      patients' emotions and everyday lives, as well as to explore the psychological
      impact of their being presented with the chance to suspend their therapy and
      recover from the disease. METHODS: Data were gathered from a qualitative study
      conducted in Italy on 158 Italian CML patients. Basing the study on the narrative
      inquiry approach, the patients were required to describe their patient journey in
      a qualitative narrative diary. These contained prompts to elicit the free
      expression of their needs, expectations, and priorities. A lexicographic analysis
      was carried out with T-LAB software and in particular a thematic analysis of
      elementary contexts (TAECs) and a word association analysis (WAA). RESULTS: The
      TAEC detected four thematic clusters related to two factors (temporal frame and
      contextual setting) that explained the variance among the narratives. The WAA
      evidenced a wide variety of emotions, both positive and negative, as patients
      reacted to the possibility of interrupting their therapy. CONCLUSIONS: A better
      understanding of patients' experiences can offer insights into promoting the
      development of more sustainable healthcare services and into therapeutic
      innovation aimed at improving patients' quality of life and at engaging them more
      in their treatment. The findings of this study can also help make medical
      professionals more aware of the patient's burden and help them identify potential
      interactions and emotional levers to improve clinical relationships.

PMID- 28608154
TI  - Neural control of daily and seasonal timing of songbird migration.
AB  - Bird migration is one of most salient annual events in nature. It involves
      predictable seasonal movements between breeding and non-breeding habitats. Both
      circadian and circannual clocks are entrained by photoperiodic cues and time
      daily and seasonal changes in migratory physiology and behavior. This mini-review
      provides an update on daily and seasonal rhythms of migratory behavior, and
      examines the neuroendocrine and molecular pathways involved in the timing of
      migration in songbirds. Recent findings have identified key neural substrates,
      and suggest the involvement of multiple neuroendocrine regulatory systems in
      controlling seasonal states in migrants. We propose that four distinct neural
      substrates are involved in the timing of migration and include (1) pineal gland
      and suprachiasmatic nucleus (mSCN); (2) a cluster of hypothalamic nuclei, the
      mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH); (3) dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH); and
      (4) tanycytes along ependymal layer of the 3rd ventricle (3V). Cluster N, a
      nucleus in the telencephalon involved in the integration of geomagnetic cues,
      likely maintains functional connectivity with brain regions involved in timing
      songbird migration. These nuclei form an interconnected network that coordinates
      daily timing (pineal gland/mSCN), annual photoperiodic response (MBH, 3V),
      energetic state (MBH, DMH, 3V), and magnetic compass information (i.e., cluster
      N) for migration in songbirds.

PMID- 28608156
TI  - A study on the oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residue resource utilization
      by the exploration and development of shale gas.
AB  - Based on the requirement of national energy conservation and environmental
      protection, attention has been given to building an environment-friendly and
      resource-saving society. Shale gas oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residues
      (ODPRs) have been used as the main research object to developing new technology
      which can convert the residues into a harmless and recyclable material. Using the
      test data of ODPR, we analyze the development prospect in the building material
      industry and provide a scheme to utilize this particular solid-waste efficiently.
      Theoretically speaking, the ODPR resource utilization such as admixture of
      cement, making sintered brick, and non-fired brick, by the exploration and
      development of Fuling shale gas is feasible.

PMID- 28608155
TI  - Pathophysiology of Gastric NETs: Role of Gastrin and Menin.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) were initially identified as a
      separate entity in the early 1900s as a unique malignancy that secretes bioactive
      amines. GI-NETs are the most frequent type and represent a unique subset of NETs,
      because at least 75% of these tumors represent gastrin stimulation of the
      enterochromaffin-like cell located in the body of the stomach. The purpose of
      this review is to understand the specific role of gastrin in the generation of
      Gastric NETs (G-NETs). RECENT FINDINGS: We review here the origin of
      enterochromaffin cells gut and the role of hypergastrinemia in gastric
      enteroendocrine tumorigenesis. We describe generation of the first genetically
      engineered mouse model of gastrin-driven G-NETs that mimics the human phenotype.
      The common mechanism observed in both the hypergastrinemic mouse model and human
      carcinoids is translocation of the cyclin-dependent inhibitor p27kip to the
      cytoplasm and its subsequent degradation by the proteasome. Therapies that block
      degradation of p27kip, the CCKBR2 gastrin receptor, or gastrin peptide are likely
      to facilitate treatment.

PMID- 28608157
TI  - Research on nutrient pollution load in Lake Taihu, China.
AB  - The eutrophication of Lake Taihu is the joint result of internal and external
      pollution. Research on the sources and flux loads of total nitrogen (TN) and
      total phosphorus (TP) has great significance for the control and management of
      the eutrophication issues facing Lake Taihu. We used hydrologic and water quality
      surveys of the surrounding rivers, precipitation investigations, and an
      experimental simulation of suspended sediment to analyze the sources of TN and TP
      to Lake Taihu and to estimate the flux loads of TN and TP. Our results indicate
      that (1) surrounding rivers, atmospheric deposition, and sediment suspension were
      the three main sources of TN and TP, with annual flux loads of 29.6 thousand t
      and 2.8 thousand t, respectively; (2) for the flux load of TN, influxes from
      surrounding rivers accounted for 61.1%, while atmospheric deposition contributed
      23.5%, with both of these sources varying seasonally. Total nitrogen released
      from sediments contributed 15.4% of the TN load of Lake Taihu; (3) for TP flux
      load, surrounding rivers accounted for 42.8% and also showed seasonal variation.
      Atmospheric deposition and sediment release accounted for 17.9 and 39.3% with no
      significant seasonal variation. This article quantitatively analyzed the sources
      and loads of TN and TP and provided a basis for pollution control in Lake Taihu.

PMID- 28608158
TI  - Surface water mitigates the anti-metamorphic effects of elevated perchlorate
      concentrations in New Mexico spadefoot toad larvae (Spea multiplicata).
AB  - Perchlorate (ClO4-) has potential to negatively impact amphibian populations by
      inhibiting thyroid hormone production, and thus metamorphosis in developing
      larvae. However, variability exists in species sensitivity, and there is evidence
      suggesting that natural surface waters can mitigate the anti-metamorphic
      potential of perchlorate. New Mexico spadefoot toad tadpoles, Spea multiplicata,
      were exposed to natural surface waters spiked with nominal concentrations of 0,
      1000, 1350, 1710, 3000, 5110, and 8000 MUg/L perchlorate ion for up to 42 days.
      No consistent dose-response trends were observed in mortality, rate of
      metamorphosis, Gosner stage, mass, or length. This study suggests that
      perchlorate exposure to concentrations as high as 8000 MUg/L in natural surface
      waters does not result in adverse effects on New Mexico spadefoot tadpoles and
      emphasizes the importance of using site-specific conditions and species when
      evaluating ecological risks in perchlorate-impacted areas.

PMID- 28608159
TI  - Ozone risk assessment for an Alpine larch forest in two vegetative seasons with
      different approaches: comparison of POD1 and AOT40.
AB  - The upper vegetation belts like larch forests are supposed to be under great
      pressure because of climate change in the next decades. For this reason, the
      evaluation of the risks due to abiotic stressors like ozone is a key step. Two
      different approaches were used here: mapping AOT40 index by means of passive
      samplers and direct measurements of ozone deposition.Measurements of ozone fluxes
      using the eddy-correlation technique were carried out for the first time over a
      larch forest in Paspardo (I) at 1750 m a.s.l. Two field campaigns were run: the
      first one in 2010 from July to October and the second one in the following year
      from June to September. Vertical exchange of ozone, energy, and momentum were
      measured on a tower platform at 26 m above ground level to study fluxes dynamics
      over this ecosystem. Since the tower was located on a gentle slope, an "ad hoc"
      methodology was developed to minimize the effects of the terrain inclination. The
      larch forest uptake was estimated by means of a two-layer model to separate the
      understorey uptake from the larch one. Even if the total ozone fluxes were
      generally high, up to 30-40 nmol O3 m-2 s-1 in both years, the stomatal uptake by
      the larch forest was relatively low (around 15% of the total deposition).Ozone
      risk was assessed considering the POD1 received by the larch forest and the
      exposure index AOT40 estimated with both local data and data from the map
      obtained by the passive samplers monitoring.

PMID- 28608160
TI  - Erratum to: Radiomic features from the peritumoral brain parenchyma on treatment
      naive multi-parametric MR imaging predict long versus short-term survival in
      glioblastoma multiforme: Preliminary findings.

PMID- 28608161
TI  - The diagnostic value of high-frequency power-based diffusion-weighted imaging in
      prediction of neuroepithelial tumour grading.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively evaluate the diagnostic value of high-frequency
      power (HFP) compared with the minimum apparent diffusion coefficient (MinADC) in
      the prediction of neuroepithelial tumour grading. METHODS: Diffusion-weighted
      imaging (DWI) data were acquired on 115 patients by a 3.0-T MRI system, which
      included b0 images and b1000 images over the whole brain in each patient. The HFP
      values and MinADC values were calculated by an in-house script written on the
      MATLAB platform. RESULTS: There was a significant difference among each group
      excluding grade I (G1) vs. grade II (G2) (P = 0.309) for HFP and among each group
      for MinADC. ROC analysis showed a higher discriminative accuracy between low
      grade glioma (LGG) and high-grade glioma (HGG) for HFP with area under the curve
      (AUC) value 1 compared with that for MinADC with AUC 0.83 +/- 0.04 and also
      demonstrated a higher discriminative ability among the G1-grade IV (G4) group for
      HFP compared with that for MinADC except G1 vs. G2. CONCLUSIONS: HFP could
      provide a simple and effective optimal tool for the prediction of neuroepithelial
      tumour grading based on diffusion-weighted images in routine clinical practice.
      KEY POINTS: * HFP shows positive correlation with neuroepithelial tumour grading.
      * HFP presents a good diagnostic efficacy for LGG and HGG. * HFP is helpful in
      the selection of brain tumour boundary.

PMID- 28608162
TI  - Diffusion-weighted imaging for assessment of synovial inflammation in juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis: a promising imaging biomarker as an alternative to
      gadolinium-based contrast agents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare dynamic-contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE) and diffusion-weighted
      imaging (DWI) in quantifying synovial inflammation in juvenile idiopathic
      arthritis (JIA). METHODS: Regions of interest (ROI) were drawn in the synovium of
      JIA patients on T1 DCE and T2 DWI, followed by extraction of the maximum
      enhancement (ME), maximum initial slope (MIS), time to peak (TTP), % of different
      time intensity curve shapes (TIC) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the
      ROIs. Mann-Whitney-U test was used for comparing parameters between MRI-active
      and -inactive patients (defined by the juvenile arthritis MRI scoring system).
      Spearman's rank was used to analyse the correlation between DCE and DWI. RESULTS:
      Thirty-five JIA patients (18 MRI active and 17 MRI inactive) were included.
      Median age was 13.1 years and 71% were female. ME, MIS, TTP, % TIC 5 and ADC were
      significantly different in MRI-active versus MRI-inactive JIA with median ADC
      1.49 * 10-3mm2/s in MRI-active and 1.25 * 10-3mm2/s in MRI-inactive JIA, p =
      0.001, 95% confidence interval of difference in medians =0.11-0.53 * 10-3mm2/s.
      ADC correlated to ME, MIS and TIC 5 shapes (r = 0.62, r = 0.45, r = -0.51,
      respectively, all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Similar to DCE parameters, DWI-derived
      ADC is significantly different in MRI-active JIA as compared to MRI-inactive JIA.
      The non-invasiveness of DWI combined with its possibility to detect synovial
      inflammation shows the potential of DWI. KEY POINTS: * MRI can quantify: dynamic
      contrast-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MRI can quantify synovitis * Both DWI
      and DCE can differentiate active from inactive JIA * The DWI-derived apparent
      diffusion coefficient (ADC) is higher in active JIA * DWI is non-invasive and
      thus safer and more patient-friendly * DWI is a potentially powerful and non
      invasive imaging biomarker for JIA.

PMID- 28608163
TI  - Prostate-specific membrane antigen PET/MRI validation of MR textural analysis for
      detection of transition zone prostate cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To validate MR textural analysis (MRTA) for detection of transition
      zone (TZ) prostate cancer through comparison with co-registered prostate-specific
      membrane antigen (PSMA) PET-MR. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed for
      30 men who underwent simultaneous PSMA PET-MR imaging for staging of prostate
      cancer. Thirty texture features were derived from each manually contoured T2
      weighted, transaxial, prostatic TZ using texture analysis software that applies a
      spatial band-pass filter and quantifies texture through histogram analysis.
      Texture features of the TZ were compared to PSMA expression on the corresponding
      PET images. The Benjamini-Hochberg correction controlled the false discovery rate
      at <5%. RESULTS: Eighty-eight T2-weighted images in 18 patients demonstrated
      abnormal PSMA expression within the TZ on PET-MR. 123 images were PSMA negative.
      Based on the corrected p-value of 0.005, significant differences between PSMA
      positive and negative slices were found for 16 texture parameters: Standard
      deviation and mean of positive pixels for all spatial filters (p = <0.0001 for
      both at all spatial scaling factor (SSF) values) and mean intensity following
      filtration for SSF 3-6 mm (p = 0.0002-0.0018). CONCLUSION: Abnormal expression of
      PSMA within the TZ is associated with altered texture on T2-weighted MR,
      providing validation of MRTA for the detection of TZ prostate cancer. KEY POINTS:
      * Prostate transition zone (TZ) MR texture analysis may assist in prostate cancer
      detection. * Abnormal transition zone PSMA expression correlates with altered
      texture on T2-weighted MR. * TZ with abnormal PSMA expression demonstrates
      significantly reduced MI, SD and MPP.

PMID- 28608164
TI  - Impact of multidetector computed tomography on the diagnosis and treatment of
      patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of CT scans on diagnosis or change of therapy
      in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) or sepsis and
      obscure clinical infection. METHODS: CT records of patients with obscure clinical
      infection and SIRS or sepsis were retrospectively evaluated. Both confirmation of
      and changes in the diagnosis or therapy based on CT findings were analysed by
      means of the hospital information system and radiological information system. A
      sub-group analysis included differences with regard to anatomical region, medical
      history and referring department. RESULTS: Of 525 consecutive patients evaluated,
      59% had been referred from internal medicine and 41% from surgery. CT examination
      had confirmed the suspected diagnosis in 26% and had resulted in a different
      diagnosis in 33% and a change of therapy in 32%. Abdominal scans yielded a
      significantly higher (p=0.013) change of therapy rate (42%) than thoracic scans
      (22%). Therapy was changed significantly more often (p=0.016) in surgical
      patients (38%) than in patients referred from internal medicine (28%).
      CONCLUSIONS: CT examination for detecting an unknown infection focus in patients
      with SIRS or sepsis is highly beneficial and should be conducted in patients with
      obscure clinical infection. KEY POINTS: * Evaluation of patients with obscure
      clinical infection is a challenging task. * CT examination of patients with SIRS
      or sepsis seems to be beneficial. * CT examination confirmed suspected diagnosis
      in 26% of patients. * CT examination yielded a new infection focus in 33% of
      patients. * CT examination changed therapy in up to 32% of patients.

PMID- 28608165
TI  - Platelet-related biomarkers and their response to inhibition with aspirin and
      p2y12-receptor antagonists in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - The PLATelet inhibition and patient Outcomes (PLATO) trial showed that treatment
      with ticagrelor reduced the rate of death due to vascular causes, myocardial
      infarction and stroke when compared to clopidogrel in patients with ST-elevation
      or non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (ACS). While the comparative benefit
      of ticagrelor over clopidogrel increased over time, event rates accrued in both
      groups during the study period. The purpose of our biomarker-based exploratory
      analysis was to determine whether long-term platelet inhibition may be associated
      with platelet adaptation. A sample of 4000 participants from the PLATO trial also
      consented to participate in a prospectively designed biomarker substudy. Blood
      samples were procured at baseline, immediately prior to hospital discharge and at
      1 and 6 months. Markers of platelet activity, including platelet count, serum
      CD40-ligand and soluble P-selectin were analyzed. Mean levels were compared at
      discharge, 1 and 6 months following study drug initiation-first for all patients
      and subsequently stratified by treatment group. A linear mixed model was used to
      estimate the short-term change rate (baseline to 1 month) and long-term change
      rate (1-6 months) for each biomarker. A Cox proportional hazards model was used
      to calculate hazard ratios for each change in biomarker over the two time periods
      examined: baseline to 1 month and 1 to 6 months. Prior to randomized treatment
      (baseline), sCD40 ligand and sP-selectin levels were elevated above the normal
      range of the assay (0.39 and 33.5 ug/L, respectively). The mean level of each
      biomarker was significantly different at 1 month compared to baseline (p <
      0.0001). When stratified by treatment group, at 1 month patients treated with
      ticagrelor had a larger increase in platelet count compared to those treated with
      clopidogrel (p < 0.0001). Similarly, when comparing biomarker levels for all
      patients at 6 months with those at 1 month, each differed significantly (p <
      0.05). There was no significant difference between treatment groups during this
      time period. The rate of change for both platelet count and sP-selectin were
      significantly different between baseline and 1 month when compared to the 1 to 6
      month time period (p < 0.0001). When comparing treatment groups, the rate of
      increase in platelets from baseline to 1 month was greater for patients treated
      with ticagrelor (p < 0.0001). This was no longer observed in the 1 to 6-month
      interval. Using a Cox proportional hazard model, the increase in platelet count
      from 1 to 6 months was associated with ischemic-thrombotic events, while sCD40
      ligand decrease from 1 to 6 months was associated with hemorrhagic events. There
      were no differences between treatment groups for the associations with clinical
      endpoints. Dynamic changes in platelet count, sCD-40 ligand and sP-selectin occur
      over time among patients with ACS. Platelet-directed therapy with a P2Y12
      receptor inhibitor in combination with aspirin modestly impacts the expression of
      these biomarkers. Platelet count and sCD40 ligand may offer modest overall
      predictive value for future ischemic-thrombotic or hemorrhagic clinical events,
      respectively. The existence of a platelet adaptome and its overall clinical
      significance among patients at risk for thrombotic events will require a more in
      depth and platelet-biology specific investigation.

PMID- 28608167
TI  - Erratum to: JAK-STAT Signaling as a Target for Inflammatory and Autoimmune
      Diseases: Current and Future Prospects.

PMID- 28608166
TI  - Abatacept: A Review in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - The biological DMARD (bDMARD) abatacept (Orencia(r)), a recombinant fusion
      protein, selectively modulates a co-stimulatory signal necessary for T-cell
      activation. In the EU, abatacept is approved for use in patients with highly
      active and progressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) not previously treated with
      methotrexate. Abatacept is also approved for the treatment of moderate to severe
      active RA in patients with an inadequate response to previous therapy with at
      least one conventional DMARD (cDMARD), including methotrexate or a TNF inhibitor.
      In phase III trials, beneficial effects on RA signs and symptoms, disease
      activity, structural damage progression and physical function were seen with
      intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) abatacept regimens, including abatacept
      plus methotrexate in methotrexate-naive patients with early RA and poor
      prognostic factors, and abatacept plus methotrexate or other cDMARDs in patients
      with inadequate response to methotrexate or TNF inhibitors. Benefits were
      generally maintained during longer-term follow-up. Absolute drug-free remission
      rates following withdrawal of all RA treatments were significantly higher with
      abatacept plus methotrexate than with methotrexate alone. Both IV and SC
      abatacept were generally well tolerated, with low rates of immunogenicity.
      Current evidence therefore suggests that abatacept is a useful treatment option
      for patients with RA.

PMID- 28608168
TI  - A Unique Path to Callous-Unemotional Traits for Children who are Temperamentally
      Fearless and Unconcerned about Transgressions: a Longitudinal Study of Typically
      Developing Children from age 2 to 12.
AB  - Despite the acknowledged significance of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in
      developmental psychopathology, few studies have examined their early antecedents
      in typically developing children, in long-term longitudinal designs, using
      observational measures. In 102 community mothers, fathers, and children (N = 51
      girls), we examined main and interactive effects of children's fearless
      temperament and low concern about transgressions from toddler to early school age
      as predictors of CU traits in middle childhood and early preadolescence. In
      laboratory paradigms, we observed children's concern about breaking valuable
      objects (twice at each age of 2, 3, 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5 years) and about hurting
      the parent (twice at each age of 2, 3, and 4.5 years). We observed fearless
      temperament during scripted exposure to novel and mildly threatening objects and
      events (twice at each age of 2, 3, 4.5, and 5.5 years). Mothers and fathers rated
      children's CU traits and externalizing behavior problems at ages 8, 10, and 12.
      Children's low concern about both types of transgressions predicted CU traits,
      but those effects were qualified by the expected interactions with fearless
      temperament: Among relatively fearless children, those who were unconcerned about
      transgressions were at the highest risk for CU traits, even after controlling for
      the strong overlap between CU traits and externalizing problems. For fearful
      children, variation in concern about transgressions was unrelated to CU traits.
      Those interactions were not significant in the prediction of externalizing
      problems. The study highlights a potentially unique etiology of CU traits in
      early development.

PMID- 28608169
TI  - Continued Bullying Victimization from Childhood to Young Adulthood: a
      Longitudinal Study of Mediating and Protective Factors.
AB  - Bullying in schools has severe consequences for victims' adjustment. It is
      unclear, however, whether victims of school bullying continue to be victimized in
      other contexts during adulthood. Mediating processes through which peer
      victimization in school increases the risk of revictimization in adulthood, as
      well as protective factors, also need to be explored. This study examined 1) the
      longitudinal association between peer victimization in school and victimization
      at work during young adulthood, 2) the predictive link of reactive and proactive
      aggression and anxious-withdrawn behavior in childhood with victimization in
      school and at the workplace, 3) the potential mediating role of depression
      symptoms, and 4) the potential protective effect of friendship support. The study
      included 251 participants (61% females) followed from age 12 to age 22.
      Participants reported about their victimization in school from ages 12 to 17 and
      their workplace victimization at age 22. They also reported about their
      depression-related thoughts and feelings and about friendship support. Teachers
      rated reactive and proactive aggression and anxiety-withdrawal at age 12.
      Structural equation modeling revealed that anxiety-withdrawal at age 12 predicted
      peer victimization in school, which in turn predicted later victimization at
      work. The latter association was partially mediated by increased depression
      symptoms. However, friendship support counteracted (via a main effect) the link
      between school victimization and subsequent depression symptoms. Bullying victims
      may benefit from interventions aimed at reducing depression symptoms and
      fostering social skills to establish supportive friendships to help avoid the
      generation of new interpersonal stress such as workplace victimization in
      adulthood.

PMID- 28608170
TI  - Stress Reactivity as a Pathway from Attentional Control Deficits in Everyday Life
      to Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Girls.
AB  - The goal of this research was to expand theoretical models of adolescent
      depression to determine whether individual differences in cognitive processing
      specifically attentional control deficits-help to explain increased risk for
      depression during adolescence. We also examined whether this pathway was stronger
      in girls than in boys. A longitudinal design was used to examine whether poor
      attentional control in everyday life (i.e., difficulties shifting between ideas,
      tasks, and activities) contributes to depression over time by fostering higher
      levels of stress reactivity. Youth (298 boys, 338 girls) completed questionnaires
      assessing stress reactivity (6th and 7th grades) and depressive symptoms (6th,
      7th and, 8th grades); teachers completed the shifting subscale of the Behavior
      Rating Scale of Executive Function (Gioia et al. 2000a) to assess attentional
      control (6th and 7th grades). Structural equation modeling analyses provided
      support for the predicted pathway in girls but not boys, yielding a significant
      indirect effect from 6th grade shifting deficits to 8th grade depressive symptoms
      via 7th grade stress reactivity. These results suggest that attentional control
      deficits in early adolescence heighten girls' sensitivity to stress and
      consequent depressive symptoms, providing a critical direction for efforts to
      decrease adolescent girls' risk for depression.

PMID- 28608172
TI  - Factors Associated with Poor Sleep in Older Adults with Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Canada has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world.
      Sleep disturbance in individuals with MS is approximately four times higher than
      in the general population. This is concerning given that poor sleep quality
      negatively affects one's mental and physical well-being. The objectives of this
      study are (1) to document the prevalence of sleep problems in a Canadian sample
      of older individuals living with MS, (2) to identify demographic and clinical
      factors associated with poor sleep, and (3) to investigate the potential impact
      of possible sleep-promoting and sleep-interfering medications. METHOD: This study
      is a secondary analysis of sleep and related variables from the Canadian survey
      of health, lifestyle, and aging with multiple sclerosis study. The survey
      consists of 743 Canadians 55 years or older with a diagnosis of MS. We asked
      participants, "In the past 2 weeks, how much have you been bothered by problems
      sleeping?" RESULTS: Overall, 43% of patients with MS reported problems sleeping.
      The strongest associations were found between poor sleep and number of
      comorbidities, clinically significant anxiety, and a greater perceived impact of
      physical symptoms of MS on functioning. CONCLUSION: Sleep problems are prevalent
      in individuals with MS. Individuals who had clinically significant levels of
      anxiety were roughly two times more likely to have trouble sleeping when compared
      to individuals without anxiety. Efforts should focus on early identification and
      effective interventions for poor sleep in individuals living with MS.

PMID- 28608173
TI  - Improvement in Submergence Tolerance of Cherry Through Regulation of Carbohydrate
      Metabolism and Plant Growth by PsERF and PsCIPK.
AB  - Cherry is an important fruit tree with delicious taste and high economic value,
      which have been planted worldwide. However, this species cannot withstand the
      presence of excessive amount of water; submergence injury sometimes occurs during
      cultivation of cherry and results in severe economic losses. By using a
      submergence-tolerant germplasm Prunus serrulata "Yimeng" and a submergence
      sensitive germplasm Prunus pseudocerasus "Aihua" as test materials, this study
      cloned PsERF and PsCIPK, which are related to submergence tolerance in cherry,
      and analyzed the expression of PsERF and PsCIPK in submergence-tolerant and
      submergence-sensitive germplasms under submergence stress; moreover, the
      consistency and correlation of such expression with carbohydrate metabolism and
      plant growth-related genes (PsPDC, PsSUS, PsRAMY, and PsEXP) were analyzed. The
      results showed that PsERF and PsCIPK influence the expression of PsPDC, PsSUS,
      PsRAMY, and PsEXP at different extents under submergence and during recovery to
      systematically improve the submergence resistance of P. serrulata "Yimeng". This
      study lays the important theoretical and practical foundation for molecular
      improvement and germplasm innovation in submergence tolerance in cherry through
      genetic engineering.

PMID- 28608174
TI  - Erratum to: A randomised controlled trial of transforaminal endoscopic discectomy
      vs microdiscectomy.

PMID- 28608171
TI  - Genetic Approaches to Understanding Psychiatric Disease.
AB  - Human genetic studies have been the driving force in bringing to light the
      underlying biology of psychiatric conditions. As these studies fill in the gaps
      in our knowledge of the mechanisms at play, we will be better equipped to design
      therapies in rational and targeted ways, or repurpose existing therapies in
      previously unanticipated ways. This review is intended for those unfamiliar with
      psychiatric genetics as a field and provides a primer on different modes of
      genetic variation, the technologies currently used to probe them, and concepts
      that provide context for interpreting the gene-phenotype relationship. Like other
      subfields in human genetics, psychiatric genetics is moving from microarray
      technology to sequencing-based approaches as barriers of cost and expertise are
      removed, and the ramifications of this transition are discussed here. A summary
      is then given of recent genetic discoveries in a number of neuropsychiatric
      conditions, with particular emphasis on neurodevelopmental conditions. The
      general impact of genetics on drug development has been to underscore the
      extensive etiological heterogeneity in seemingly cohesive diagnostic categories.
      Consequently, the path forward is not in therapies hoping to reach large swaths
      of patients sharing a clinically defined diagnosis, but rather in targeting
      patients belonging to specific "biotypes" defined through a combination of
      objective, quantifiable data, including genotype.

PMID- 28608175
TI  - Reliability and validity of clinical tests to assess the anatomical integrity of
      the cervical spine in adults with neck pain and its associated disorders: Part 1
      A systematic review from the Cervical Assessment and Diagnosis Research
      Evaluation (CADRE) Collaboration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the reliability and validity of clinical tests to assess
      the anatomical integrity of the cervical spine in adults with neck pain and its
      associated disorders. METHODS: We updated the systematic review of the 2000-2010
      Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain and its Associated Disorders. We
      also searched the literature to identify studies on the reliability and validity
      of Doppler velocimetry for the evaluation of cervical arteries. Two independent
      reviewers screened and critically appraised studies. We conducted a best evidence
      synthesis of low risk of bias studies and ranked the phases of investigations
      using the classification proposed by Sackett and Haynes. RESULTS: We screened
      9022 articles and critically appraised 8 studies; all 8 studies had low risk of
      bias (three reliability and five validity Phase II-III studies). Preliminary
      evidence suggests that the extension-rotation test may be reliable and has
      adequate validity to rule out pain arising from facet joints. The evidence
      suggests variable reliability and preliminary validity for the evaluation of
      cervical radiculopathy including neurological examination (manual motor testing,
      dermatomal sensory testing, deep tendon reflexes, and pathological reflex
      testing), Spurling's and the upper limb neurodynamic tests. No evidence was found
      for doppler velocimetry. CONCLUSIONS: Little evidence exists to support the use
      of clinical tests to evaluate the anatomical integrity of the cervical spine in
      adults with neck pain and its associated disorders. We found preliminary evidence
      to support the use of the extension-rotation test, neurological examination,
      Spurling's and the upper limb neurodynamic tests.

PMID- 28608176
TI  - Late bedtimes, short sleeping time, and longtime video-game playing are
      associated with low back pain in school-aged athletes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Low back pain is a significant problem for school-aged athletes.
      Although some risk factors relating to sports activities have been reported, the
      effect of lifestyles on low back pain in school-aged athletes is not clear. The
      purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between lifestyles, such
      as wake-up time, bedtime, sleeping time, and TV-viewing or video-game-playing
      time per day and low back pain of school-aged athletes. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted with school-aged athletes (aged 6-15 years, n =
      6441) using a self-reported questionnaire and multivariate logistic regression
      models were used for analyses. Variables considered in the models were gender,
      age, body mass index, team levels, number of days in practice per week, number of
      hours in practice per day, and lifestyles. RESULTS: The frequency of low back
      pain was 5.0% (n = 322). Late bedtime, short sleeping time, and long video-game
      playing time per day were significantly associated with low back pain. There was
      no significant association between low back pain and wake-up time or TV-viewing
      time per day. CONCLUSION: Unhealthy life-style choices, such as late bedtimes,
      short sleeping time, and longtime video-game playing, were associated with low
      back pain in school-aged athletes.

PMID- 28608177
TI  - Ten year follow-up of Jarcho-Levin syndrome with thoracic insufficiency treated
      by VEPTR and MCGR VEPTR hybrid.
AB  - PURPOSE: Jarcho-Levin syndrome patients commonly suffer from repeated respiratory
      infections and become ventilator dependent due to an insufficient thoracic
      volume. Multiple congenital vertebral anomalies are associated with this genetic
      disorder and results in stunted spine growth. The purpose of this case report is
      to present the results of a hybrid vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib
      (VEPTR) and magnetically controlled growing rod (MCGR) construct for the
      management of a patient with Jarcho-Levin syndrome. METHODS: A boy with Jarcho
      Levin syndrome undergoes a hybrid VEPTR-MCGR construct to treat his thoracic
      insufficiency syndrome and spinal deformity. RESULTS: The patient could wean off
      ventilator and had reduced chest complications with the construct. He was also
      able to achieve some spine length gain with the distraction device. However,
      there were limitations in prolonged treatment as no spine height was gained once
      he reached 12 years old. Once no further growth can be achieved, the MCGR led to
      progressive kyphosis. Nevertheless, at latest follow-up after the removal of all
      implants, the patient could maintain satisfactory correction of both thoracic and
      spine deformities. CONCLUSIONS: A hybrid construct is necessary for managing
      Jarcho-Levin syndrome as the VEPTR deals with the thoracic cage deformity while
      the MCGR deals with the spine deformity.

PMID- 28608179
TI  - Anterior submandibular retropharyngeal odontoid osteotomy and posterior
      atlantoaxial fusion for irreducible atlantoaxial dislocation associated with
      odontoid fracture malunion.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of complex odontoid fracture malunion accompanied by
      atlantoaxial dislocation which was treated with a new surgical approach. METHODS:
      A 53-year-old female was admitted due to progressive symptoms with a stiff limp
      and unsteady gait. Preoperative examination, diagnostic radiography, computed
      tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging were performed following admission.
      The examinations showed odontoid fracture malunion, an old right axial
      zygapophyseal fracture, atlantoaxial dislocation, and spinal cord injury.
      Anterior submandibular retropharyngeal odontoid osteotomy and posterior
      atlantoaxial fusion were then performed. RESULTS: Good reduction of the
      atlantoaxial dislocation was gained. The cervical spinal cord compression was
      significantly relieved and neurological function was also significantly improved.
      CONCLUSION: Anterior submandibular retropharyngeal odontoid osteotomy and
      posterior atlantoaxial fusion fixation is an effective method for treating IAAD
      associated with odontoid fracture malunion, it avoids the adverse effects of
      anterior transoral odontoid osteotomy and provides a new option for the treatment
      of odontoid fracture malunion associated with atlantoaxial dislocation.

PMID- 28608178
TI  - Minimally invasive spine surgery in lumbar spondylodiscitis: a retrospective
      single-center analysis of 67 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgical techniques have been developed to
      minimize tissue damage, reduce narcotic requirements, decrease blood loss, and,
      therefore, potentially avoid prolonged immobilization. Thus, the purpose of the
      present retrospective study was to assess the safety and efficacy of a minimally
      invasive posterior approach with transforaminal lumbar interbody debridement and
      fusion plus pedicle screw fixation in lumbar spondylodiscitis in comparison to an
      open surgical approach. Furthermore, treatment decisions based on the patient's
      preoperative condition were analyzed. METHODS: 67 patients with lumbar
      spondylodiscitis treated at our department were included in this retrospective
      analysis. The patients were categorized into two groups based on the surgical
      procedure: group (MIS) minimally invasive lumbar spinal fusion (n = 19); group
      (OPEN) open lumbar spinal fusion (n = 48). Evaluation included radiological
      parameters on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), laboratory values, and clinical
      outcome. RESULTS: Preoperative MRI showed higher rates of paraspinal abscess
      (35.5 vs. 5.6%; p = 0.016) and multilocular location in the OPEN group (20 vs.
      0%, p = 0.014). Overall pain at discharge was less in the MIS group: NRS 2.4 +/-
      1 vs. NRS 1.6 +/- 1 (p = 0.036). The duration of hospital stay was longer in the
      OPEN than the MIS group (19.1 +/- 12 days vs. 13.7 +/- 5 days, p = 0.018).
      CONCLUSION: The open technique is effective in all varieties of spondylodiscitis
      inclusive in epidural abscess formation. MIS can be applied safely and
      effectively as well in selected cases, even with epidural abscess.

PMID- 28608180
TI  - Montelukast improves the changes of cytoskeletal and adaptor proteins of human
      podocytes by interleukin-13.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: Interleukin-13 (IL-13) has recently been reported to be a
      potential cytokine in the pathogenesis of minimal-change nephrotic syndrome
      (MCNS). However, the mechanistic insights associated with podocyte dysfunction
      mediated by IL-13-induced changes in various slit diaphragm (SD) and cytoskeletal
      molecules have not yet been shown in cultured human podocytes in vitro.
      MATERIALS: Human conditionally immortalized podocytes were used. TREATMENT:
      Podocytes were incubated with various concentrations of IL-13 during the
      indicated time periods (6, 12, and 24 h) and montelukast was administered with
      the dose of 0.1 MUg. RESULTS: Treatment of IL-13 resulted in a progressive
      decrease in distinct processes or projections of the human podocytes and high
      dose of IL-13 increased podocyte permeability in vitro at 6 h. IL-13 had a
      substantial impact on the redistribution and rearrangement of zonula occludens
      (ZO)-1, synaptopodin, alpha-actinin, CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) in podocytes
      and disrupted the cytoskeletal connections in a concentration-dependent manner on
      confocal microscopy. IL-13 also down-modulated ZO-1, synaptopodin, alpha-actinin,
      CD2AP, and p130Cas at protein levels and upregulated beta-catenin and B7-1 in
      podocytes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that down-modulated changes in various SD
      and cytoskeletal structures of human podocytes induced by IL-13 was significantly
      restored after treatment with montelukast with upregulation of B7-1. CONCLUSION:
      Our results suggest that targeting IL-13 may be one of the important cytokines in
      the pathogenesis of MCNS and targeting IL-13 could be one of the potential
      therapeutic strategies in MCNS.

PMID- 28608181
TI  - Modified Maturity Offset Prediction Equations: Validation in Independent
      Longitudinal Samples of Boys and Girls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Predicted maturity offset and age at peak height velocity are
      increasingly used with youth athletes, although validation studies of the
      equations indicated major limitations. The equations have since been modified and
      simplified. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to validate the new
      maturity offset prediction equations in independent longitudinal samples of boys
      and girls. METHODS: Two new equations for boys with chronological age and sitting
      height and chronological age and stature as predictors, and one equation for
      girls with chronological age and stature as predictors were evaluated in serial
      data from the Wroclaw Growth Study, 193 boys (aged 8-18 years) and 198 girls
      (aged 8-16 years). Observed age at peak height velocity for each youth was
      estimated with the Preece-Baines Model 1. The original prediction equations were
      included for comparison. Predicted age at peak height velocity was the difference
      between chronological age at prediction and maturity offset. RESULTS: Predicted
      ages at peak height velocity with the new equations approximated observed ages at
      peak height velocity in average maturing boys near the time of peak height
      velocity; a corresponding window for average maturing girls was not apparent.
      Compared with observed age at peak height velocity, predicted ages at peak height
      velocity with the new and original equations were consistently later in early
      maturing youth and earlier in late maturing youth of both sexes. Predicted ages
      at peak height velocity with the new equations had reduced variation compared
      with the original equations and especially observed ages at peak height velocity.
      Intra-individual variation in predicted ages at peak height velocity with all
      equations was considerable. CONCLUSION: The new equations are useful for average
      maturing boys close to the time of peak height velocity; there does not appear to
      be a clear window for average maturing girls. The new and original equations have
      major limitations with early and late maturing boys and girls.

PMID- 28608183
TI  - ACC/AATS/AHA/ASE/ASNC/SCAI/SCCT/STS 2017 Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary
      Revascularization in Patients With Stable Ischemic Heart Disease : A Report of
      the American College of Cardiology Appropriate Use Criteria Task Force, American
      Association for Thoracic Surgery, American Heart Association, American Society of
      Echocardiography, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, Society for
      Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society of Cardiovascular Computed
      Tomography, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
AB  - The American College of Cardiology, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and
      Interventions, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and American Association for
      Thoracic Surgery, along with key specialty and subspecialty societies, have
      completed a 2-part revision of the appropriate use criteria (AUC) for coronary
      revascularization. In prior coronary revascularization AUC documents, indications
      for revascularization in acute coronary syndromes and stable ischemic heart
      disease (SIHD) were combined into 1 document. To address the expanding clinical
      indications for coronary revascularization, and to align the subject matter with
      the most current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association
      guidelines, the new AUC for coronary artery revascularization were separated into
      2 documents addressing SIHD and acute coronary syndromes individually. This
      document presents the AUC for SIHD.Clinical scenarios were developed to mimic
      patient presentations encountered in everyday practice. These scenarios included
      information on symptom status; risk level as assessed by noninvasive testing;
      coronary disease burden; and, in some scenarios, fractional flow reserve testing,
      presence or absence of diabetes, and SYNTAX score. This update provides a
      reassessment of clinical scenarios that the writing group felt were affected by
      significant changes in the medical literature or gaps from prior criteria. The
      methodology used in this update is similar to the initial document but employs
      the recent modifications in the methods for developing AUC, most notably,
      alterations in the nomenclature for appropriate use categorization.A separate,
      independent rating panel scored the clinical scenarios on a scale of 1 to 9.
      Scores of 7 to 9 indicate that revascularization is considered appropriate for
      the clinical scenario presented. Scores of 1 to 3 indicate that revascularization
      is considered rarely appropriate for the clinical scenario, whereas scores in the
      mid-range of 4 to 6 indicate that coronary revascularization may be appropriate
      for the clinical scenario.As seen with the prior coronary revascularization AUC,
      revascularization in clinical scenarios with high symptom burden, high-risk
      features, and high coronary disease burden, as well as in patients receiving
      antianginal therapy, are deemed appropriate. Additionally, scenarios assessing
      the appropriateness of revascularization before kidney transplantation or
      transcatheter valve therapy are now rated. The primary objective of the AUC is to
      provide a framework for the assessment of practice patterns that will hopefully
      improve physician decision making.

PMID- 28608182
TI  - An unmet clinical need: The history of thrombus imaging.
AB  - Robust thrombus imaging is an unresolved clinical unmet need dating back to the
      mid 1970s. While early molecular imaging approaches began with nuclear SPECT
      imaging, contrast agents for virtually all biomedical imaging modalities have
      been demonstrated in vivo with unique strengths and common weaknesses. Two
      primary molecular imaging targets have been pursued for thrombus imaging:
      platelets and fibrin. Some common issues noted over 40 years ago persist today.
      Acute thrombus is readily imaged with all probes and modalities, but aged
      thrombus remains a challenge. Similarly, anti-coagulation continues to interfere
      with and often negate thrombus imaging efficacy, but heparin is clinically
      required in patients suspected of pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis or
      coronary ruptured plaque prior to confirmatory diagnostic studies have been
      executed and interpreted. These fundamental issues can be overcome, but an
      innovative departure from the prior approaches will be needed.

PMID- 28608184
TI  - Assessment of left ventricular contraction patterns using gated SPECT MPI to
      predict cardiac resynchronization therapy response.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The U-shaped left ventricular (LV) contraction pattern, identified by
      MRI or echocardiography, is associated with improved CRT response. Gated SPECT
      MPI can measure both myocardial viability and mechanical dyssynchrony in a single
      scan. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of the LV contraction
      pattern and the response of CRT in patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB).
      METHODS: Fifty-eight patients who met CRT guidelines and who had pre-CRT MPI were
      enrolled. Myocardial segments with tracer uptake < 50% of maximum were considered
      as scar. The LV contraction pattern was considered as U-shaped or non-U-shaped (U
      shaped has a block line in the direction of contraction propagation). CRT
      response was defined as an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction >= 5%
      after 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients (48%) had a U-shaped
      contraction pattern and thirty patients (52%) had a non-U-shaped contraction
      pattern. The U-shaped group showed a significantly higher response rate than the
      non-U-shaped group (90% vs. 57%; P = 0.005). By univariate and multivariate
      logistic regression analysis, the U-shaped pattern was an independent predictor
      of CRT response. CONCLUSION: Non-invasive gated SPECT MPI can characterize LV
      mechanical contraction patterns. A U-shaped contraction pattern identified is
      associated with improved CRT response. This may prove useful for improved patient
      selection for CRT.

PMID- 28608185
TI  - Substitutions of dairy product intake and risk of stroke: a Danish cohort study.
AB  - Low fat dairy products are part of dietary guidelines to prevent stroke. However,
      epidemiological evidence is inconclusive with regard to the association between
      dairy products and stroke. We therefore investigated associations for
      substitutions between dairy product subgroups and risk of total stroke and stroke
      subtypes. We included 55,211 Danish men and women aged 50-64 years without
      previous stroke. Baseline diet was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire.
      Cases were identified through a national register and subsequently verified. The
      associations were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard regression. During a
      median follow-up of 13.4 years, we identified 2272 strokes, of which 1870 were
      ischemic (318 large artery atherosclerotic, 839 lacunar, 102 cardioembolic, 98
      other determined types, 513 of unknown type), 389 were hemorrhages (273
      intracerebral, 116 subarachnoid) and 13 of unknown etiology. Substitution of semi
      skimmed fermented milk or cheese for whole-fat fermented milk was associated with
      a higher rate of ischemic stroke [semi-skimmed fermented milk: hazard ratio (HR)
      = 1.20 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.99-1.45), cheese: HR = 1.14 (95% CI 0.98
      1.31) per serving/day substituted] and substitutions of whole-fat fermented milk
      for low-fat milk, whole-fat milk or buttermilk were associated with a lower rate
      [low-fat milk: HR = 0.85 (95% CI 0.74-0.99), whole-fat milk: HR = 0.84 (95% CI
      0.71-0.98) and buttermilk: HR = 0.83 (95% CI 0.70-0.99)]. We observed no
      associations for substitutions between dairy products and hemorrhagic stroke. Our
      results suggest that intake of whole-fat fermented milk as a substitution for
      semi-skimmed fermented milk, cheese, buttermilk or milk, regardless of fat
      content, is associated with a lower rate of ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28608187
TI  - Viral vector-based transient gene expression in Nicotiana benthamiana: effects of
      light source on leaf temperature and hemagglutinin content.

PMID- 28608186
TI  - Incidence of glaucomatous visual field loss after two decades of follow-up: the
      Rotterdam Study.
AB  - To determine the incidence of glaucomatous visual field loss (GVFL) two decades
      after the start of the Rotterdam Study, and to compare known risk factors for
      open-angle glaucoma (OAG) between different clinical manifestations of OAG. Of
      6806 participants aged 55 years and older from the population-based Rotterdam
      Study, 3939 underwent visual field testing at baseline and at least one follow-up
      round. The ophthalmic examinations included optic disc assessment and
      measurements of intraocular pressure (IOP), refractive error, diastolic blood
      pressure (DBP), and height and weight. The incidence rate of GVFL was calculated.
      Associations with the risk factors age, gender, baseline IOP, family history,
      myopia, DBP, and body-mass index [BMI] were assessed using Cox regression, with
      different clinical manifestations of OAG as outcome measure (glaucomatous optic
      neuropathy (GON), GVFL, GVFL and GON, GVFL without GON, and GON without GVFL).
      Median follow-up was 11.1 (IQR 6.8-17.2; range 5.0-20.3) years. The incidence
      rate of GVFL was 2.9 (95% confidence interval 2.4-3.4) per 1000 person years (140
      cases with incident GVFL in one (n = 113) or both (n = 27) eyes). Baseline IOP
      and age were significantly associated with all OAG outcomes (all p < 0.001); BMI
      showed a non-significant protective effect in all outcomes (p = 0.01 to p =
      0.09). Gender, myopia, and DBP were not associated with any outcome. Our study
      provides an estimate of the long-term incidence of GVFL in a predominantly white
      population. The development of GVFL was strongly associated with baseline IOP and
      age. Risk factor profiles were similar for the different outcomes.

PMID- 28608188
TI  - [HIV-associated plasmablastic lymphoma of the paranasal sinuses : An incidental
      finding].
AB  - A 48-year-old female patient presented to the ENT department of the University
      Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with subfebrile
      temperatures, one-sided nasal obstruction, and left-sided cephalgia. Clinical
      examination and CT scans showed a mass occupying the left nasal cavity and left
      paranasal sinuses. Further diagnosis and histopathological examination showed an
      HIV-associated plasmablastic lymphoma of the left paranasal sinuses. This case
      report with literature review discusses the diagnosis and treatment of this rare
      nasal tumor.

PMID- 28608189
TI  - Effect of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism on resting-state
      brain default mode network after acupuncture stimulation.
AB  - The effects of acupuncture can be characterized by clear individual differences.
      Several revealing studies suggest an underlying role of inherited genetic factor
      in interindividual variability in response to acupuncture treatment. It remains
      unclear, however, if the modulation of acupuncture on resting brain function is
      influenced by genetic factors. Catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met
      polymorphism has been shown to regulate the resting brain network, especially in
      the default mode network (DMN), which is a target area that responds to
      acupuncture stimulation. Therefore, the present study investigated the effect of
      COMT Val158Met polymorphism on the modulation of acupuncture in DMN connectivity
      in healthy Chinese young adults. Using mixed-design ANOVA analysis, we found a
      significant interactive effect between acupuncture and the COMT gene. For
      subjects carrying the Val/Met genotype, acupuncture induced decreased DMN
      connectivity with the left middle frontal gyrus during the post-acupuncture stage
      compared with the pre-acupuncture stage, which was not observed in Val/Val
      homozygous subjects. These results demonstrated that during sustained periods
      after acupuncture stimulation, the brain network is likely under genetic control,
      and COMT might be a candidate gene that regulates the resting DMN response to
      acupuncture stimulation.

PMID- 28608190
TI  - Endoluminal laser-assisted vascular anastomosis-an in vivo study in a pig model.
AB  - Microvascular surgery is time consuming and requires high expertise. Laser
      assisted vascular anastomosis (LAVA) is a promising sutureless technique that has
      the potential to facilitate this procedure. In this study, we evaluate the
      handling of our soldering material and the 1-week patency rate in a porcine
      model. Six pigs were subjected to LAVA. For each pig, the saphenous artery on one
      side was transected while the contralateral side was used as control. A porous
      polycaprolactone scaffold soaked in 40% (w/w) bovine serum albumin solution in
      combination with 0.1% (w/w) indocyanine green was wrapped at the anastomosis site
      and at the control site. Both sides were then soldered with a diode laser coupled
      into a light diffuser fiber emitting radiation with a wavelength of 808 nm and a
      power of 2-2.2 W. Vessels were successfully soldered with a 100% immediate
      patency rate. The 1-week patency rate was 83% for the anastomoses versus 67% for
      the control side. Vessels irradiated for 80 to 90 s tended to maintain the
      highest patency rate. Macroscopically, there was no difference between the two
      sides. The patch was easy to handle provided that the environment could be kept
      dry. This study shows the potential and the limitations of endoluminal LAVA as a
      one-step procedure without the use of stay sutures. Further studies are needed to
      improve the soldering material, the long-term patency rate, and standardized
      irradiation parameters. The long-term effects of laser soldering on the vessel
      wall remain to be determined.

PMID- 28608191
TI  - Shockwave lithotripsy: techniques for improving outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) remains the only effective truly non
      invasive treatment for nephrolithiasis. While single-treatment success rates may
      not equal those of ureteroscopy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy, it has an
      important role to play in the management of stones. In this paper, we outline the
      latest evidence-based recommendations for maximizing SWL outcomes, while
      minimizing complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive review of the
      current literature was performed regarding maximizing SWL outcomes. RESULTS:
      Several different considerations need to be made regarding patient selection with
      respect to body habitus, body mass index, anatomical location and underlying
      urologic abnormalities. Stone composition and stone density (Hounsfield Units)
      are important prognostic variables. Patient positioning is critical to allow for
      adequate stone localization with either fluoroscopy or ultrasound. Coupling
      should be optimized with a low viscosity gel applied to the therapy head first
      and patient movement should be limited. SWL energy should be increased slowly and
      shockwave rates of 60 or 90 Hz should be used. Medical expulsive therapy with
      alpha-blockers after SWL treatment has shown benefit, particularly with stones
      greater than 10 mm. CONCLUSION: While single-treatment success rates may not
      equal those of ureteroscopy or percutaneous nephrolithotomy, with proper patient
      selection, optimization of SWL technique, and use of adjunctive treatment after
      SWL, success rates can be maximized while further reducing the already low rate
      of serious complications. SWL remains an excellent treatment option for calculi
      even in 2017.

PMID- 28608192
TI  - Stone technology: intracorporeal lithotripters.
AB  - PURPOSE: Intracorporeal lithotripsy is becoming the most commonly used surgical
      method of stone treatment in Urology. The five major types of intracorporeal
      lithotripters are ultrasonic, ballistic, and combination lithotripters as well as
      laser and electrohydraulic lithotripters. The advantages and disadvantages of
      choosing each of these treatment modalities are reviewed. METHODS: Extensive
      review of literature was performed to identify the types of intracorporeal
      lithotripters. An investigation was undertaken of the early development of each
      modality of intracorporeal lithotripsy and/or the mechanism of action. Challenges
      of each technique were identified and presented. Finally, a determination was
      made of how these lithotripters compare on the basis of effectiveness of action
      and cost based on information provided in primary literature as well as previous
      reviews of these modalities. RESULTS: Contemporary lithotripters have found
      widespread use in the management of urinary lithiasis. Holmium laser lithotripsy
      has become one of the most commonly used tools for intracorporeal lithotripsy.
      CONCLUSION: There is a wide variety of intracorporeal lithotripters which can be
      chosen based on the characteristics of each modality and the requirements of the
      urologist.

PMID- 28608193
TI  - Do alternating-color words facilitate reading aloud text in Chinese? Evidence
      with developing and adult readers.
AB  - Prior research has shown that colors induce perceptual grouping and, hence,
      colors can be used as word dividers during reading (Pinna & Deiana, 2014). This
      issue is particularly important for those writing systems that do not employ
      interword spaces (e.g., Chinese). The rationale is that alternating colors across
      words in these scripts may facilitate the process of word identification without
      altering the spatial distribution of text. Here, we tested whether color
      alternation across words produces a benefit in a reading-aloud task in native
      speakers of Chinese. Participants had to read two texts: one with color
      alternation across words and the other with mono-color words. Experiments 1 and 2
      were conducted with adult readers, whereas Experiment 3 was conducted with
      developing readers (Grade 2 children). Results showed that color information
      facilitated reading aloud a text for adult readers-restricted to texts containing
      technical, unfamiliar words (Experiment 2)-and developing readers. We examined
      the implications of these findings in the context of literacy and vocabulary
      training.

PMID- 28608194
TI  - Interactions between inferential strategies and belief bias.
AB  - The dual strategy model of reasoning proposed by Verschueren, Schaeken, and
      d'Ydewalle (Thinking & Reasoning, 11(3), 239-278, 2005a; Memory & Cognition,
      33(1), 107-119, 2005b) suggests that people can use either a statistical or a
      counterexample-based strategy to make deductive inferences. Subsequent studies
      have supported this distinction and investigated some properties of the two
      strategies. In the following, we examine the further hypothesis that reasoners
      using statistical strategies should be more vulnerable to the effects of
      conclusion belief. In each of three studies, participants were given abstract
      problems used to determine strategy use and three different forms of syllogism
      with believable and unbelievable conclusions. Responses, response times, and
      feeling of rightness (FOR) measures were taken. The results show that
      participants using a statistical strategy were more prone to the effects of
      conclusion belief across all three forms of reasoning. In addition, statistical
      reasoners took less time to make inferences than did counterexample reasoners.
      Patterns of variation in response times and FOR ratings between believable and
      unbelievable conclusions were very similar for both strategies, indicating that
      both statistical and counterexample reasoners were aware of conflict between
      conclusion belief and premise-based reasoning.

PMID- 28608195
TI  - Zymography Principles.
AB  - Zymography, the detection, identification, and even quantification of enzyme
      activity fractionated by gel electrophoresis, has received increasing attention
      in the last years, as revealed by the number of articles published. A number of
      enzymes are routinely detected by zymography, especially with clinical interest.
      This introductory chapter reviews the major principles behind zymography. New
      advances of this method are basically focused towards two-dimensional zymography
      and transfer zymography as will be explained in the rest of the chapters. Some
      general considerations when performing the experiments are outlined as well as
      the major troubleshooting and safety issues necessary for correct development of
      the electrophoresis.

PMID- 28608196
TI  - Serine Protease Zymography: Low-Cost, Rapid, and Highly Sensitive RAMA Casein
      Zymography.
AB  - To detect serine protease activity by zymography, casein and CBB stain have been
      used as a substrate and a detection procedure, respectively. Casein zymography
      has been using substrate concentration at 1 mg/mL and employing conventional CBB
      stain. Although ordinary casein zymography provides reproducible results, it has
      several disadvantages including time-consuming and relative low sensitivity.
      Improved casein zymography, RAMA casein zymography, is rapid and highly
      sensitive. RAMA casein zymography completes the detection process within 1 h
      after incubation and increases the sensitivity at least by tenfold. In addition
      to serine protease, the method also detects metalloprotease 7 (MMP7, Matrilysin)
      with high sensitivity.

PMID- 28608197
TI  - Cysteine Protease Zymography: Brief Review.
AB  - Cysteine proteases play multiple roles in basically all aspects of physiology and
      development. In plants, they are involved in growth and development and in
      accumulation and mobilization of storage proteins. Furthermore, they are engaged
      in signalling pathways and in the response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In
      animals and also in humans, they are responsible for senescence and apoptosis,
      prohormone processing, and ECM remodelling. When analyzed by zymography, the
      enzyme must be renaturated after SDS-PAGE. SDS must be washed out and substituted
      by Triton X-100. Gels are then further incubated under ideal conditions for
      activity detection. Cysteine proteases require an acidic pH (5.0-6.0) and a
      reducing agent, usually DTT. When screening biological samples, there is
      generally no previous clue on what peptidase class will be present, neither
      optimal proteolysis conditions are known. Hence, it is necessary to assess
      several parameters, such as incubation time, pH, temperature, influence of ions
      or reducing agents, and finally evaluate the inhibition profile. For detection of
      cysteine peptidase activity, the use of specific inhibitors, such as E-64, can be
      used to prevent the development of cysteine peptidase activity bands and
      positively confirm its presence. Here four different protocols to assess cysteine
      protease activity from different sources are presented.

PMID- 28608198
TI  - Aspartic Protease Zymography Case Study: Detection of Fungal Acid Proteases by
      Zymography.
AB  - This chapter describes a method for the production and characterization of fungal
      acid proteases. Protease production is induced by growth on BSA media over a pH
      gradient and protein levels are monitored over time with the Bradford assay. Once
      protein is depleted, the media is purified and proteases are characterized by
      gelatin zymography using acrylamide and buffers at near-neutral pH. Maintaining
      pH levels below those found in traditional zymographic systems avoids the
      potential loss of activity that may occur in aspartic proteases under alkaline
      conditions.

PMID- 28608199
TI  - Detection of Aspartic Proteinase Activities Using Gel Zymography.
AB  - Gel zymography is a two-stage process where the proteins from the test sample are
      first separated by electrophoresis followed by the detection of the activity of
      hydrolytic enzymes. Many zymography procedures use sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)
      polyacrylamide gels copolymerized with an appropriate substrate. The procedure
      described here uses native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) in the
      absence of both SDS and substrate. In order to visualize aspartic proteinase
      activity, the gel is impregnated in bovine hemoglobin at pH 3.0 for 15 min after
      the electrophoresis procedure. Subsequently, the gel is incubated in a humid
      container in the absence of hemoglobin for 1 h at 37  degrees C. At the end, the
      gel is stained with amido black and destained. Clear areas against a dark
      background corresponding to aspartic proteinase activities can be detected.

PMID- 28608200
TI  - MMP Activity Detection in Zymograms.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) belong to a distinguished class of zinc-dependent
      endopeptidases. Zymography is a semi-quantitative tool for determining the
      activity of different MMP isoenzymes in a variety of biological samples. In
      substrate gel zymography, protein samples of different origin (tissue, cell
      lysates, plasma/serum, perfusates, other liquids) are separated in sodium dodecyl
      sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels containing copolymerized substrate (gelatin,
      casein, elastin, etc.), and after incubation-enabling substrate cleavage by MMPs,
      MMP activities are detected after the gel staining as transparent bands against a
      dark-blue background. In situ zymography is a histological modification of
      substrate zymography in frozen sections, allowing detection of the localization
      of the MMP activities within the tissue. Here, we describe detailed experimental
      protocols of all abovementioned techniques and provide examples for several
      sample measurements.

PMID- 28608201
TI  - Characterization of Novel Collagenolytic Proteases.
AB  - Collagenolytic proteases have many potential applications in different areas of
      science, industry, and medicine. The determination of the activity of such
      proteins is paramount to their application. Here, we describe methods which can
      be applied to determine the activity and some basic characteristics of potential
      collagenases.

PMID- 28608202
TI  - Zymography as a Research Tool in the Study of Matrix Metalloproteinase
      Inhibitors.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proteolytic enzymes that degrade various
      components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and play a role in tissue
      remodeling. Changes in MMPs have been observed in cancer, connective tissue
      disorders, and vascular disease, and both endogenous tissue inhibitors of MMPs
      (TIMPs) and synthetic MMP inhibitors (MMPIs) have been evaluated as modulators of
      MMP activity in various biological systems. Zymography is a simple technique that
      is commonly used to assess MMP activity and the efficacy of MMPIs. Also, reverse
      zymography is a modified technique to study the activity of endogenous TIMPs.
      However, problems are often encountered during the zymography procedure, which
      could interfere with accurate assessment of MMP activity in control specimens,
      and thus make it difficult to determine the pathological changes in MMPs and
      their responsiveness to MMPIs. Simplified protocols for preparation of
      experimental solutions, tissue preparation, regular and reverse zymography
      procedures, and zymogram analysis are presented. Additional helpful tips to
      troubleshoot problems in the zymography technique and to enhance the quality of
      the zymograms should make it more feasible to determine the changes in MMPs and
      assess the efficacy of MMPIs in modulating MMP activity in various biological
      systems and pathological conditions.

PMID- 28608204
TI  - A Sensitive, Rapid, and Specific Technique for the Detection of Collagenase Using
      Zymography.
AB  - In-gel zymography is a commonly employed tool to identify active enzymes in a
      quantitative and qualitative manner. In this work, apart from the incorporation
      of substrate which is traditionally employed in zymography, the identification of
      collagenase by incubation of the enzyme resolved on a polyacrylamide gel with
      substrate solution is described. The two methods are quite fast and result in
      specific detection of bacterial collagenase.

PMID- 28608203
TI  - Detection and Characterization of Bacterial Proteinases Using Zymography.
AB  - Proteinases play a crucial role in invasion and pathogenesis of bacteria,
      especially the extracellular and membrane-bound forms. Analysis of these
      proteinases demands the isolation by retaining the enzymatic activity. The
      isolation procedures maintaining the native structure of the enzyme in its
      soluble form are also of extreme importance. The qualitative analyses of these
      proteinases are carried out by electrophoresis and zymography. Enzymatic
      characterization based on the effect of inhibitors and activators on gelatinase
      activity also can be assessed using this zymography. The membrane-bound
      proteinases can be isolated in their native and soluble form, still retaining the
      activity using 6-aminocaproic acid and sodium deoxycholate; the procedure of
      which is explained in this chapter.

PMID- 28608205
TI  - Reverse Zymography: Overview and Pitfalls.
AB  - Reverse zymography is a technique by which protease inhibitor(s) in a sample
      could be electrophoretically separated in a substrate-impregnated acrylamide gel
      and their relative abundance could be semi-quantified. The gel after
      electrophoresis is incubated with a protease when the impregnated substrate and
      all other proteins of the sample are degraded into small peptides except the
      inhibitor(s) that show clear bands against a white background. Since reverse
      zymography cannot distinguish between a protease inhibitor and a protein that is
      resistant against proteolysis, the results should be confirmed from inhibition of
      protease activity by solution state assay.

PMID- 28608206
TI  - Cell In Situ Zymography: Imaging Enzyme-Substrate Interactions.
AB  - Zymography has long been used for the detection of substrate-specific enzyme
      activity. In situ zymography (ISZ), an adaptation from the conventional substrate
      zymography, is a widely employed technique useful for the detection,
      localization, and estimation of enzyme-substrate interactions in tissues. Here,
      we describe a protocol to detect 'in position' matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)
      activity in cells utilizing H9c2 cardiomyoblasts as a model. This technique is
      primarily adopted from the method used for histological sections and is termed as
      'Cell in situ Zymography'. It is a simple, sensitive, and quantifiable
      methodology to assess the functional activity of an enzyme 'on site/in position'
      in cell culture.

PMID- 28608207
TI  - Examination of Gelatinase Isoforms in Rodent Models of Acute Neurodegenerative
      Diseases Using Two-Dimensional Zymography.
AB  - Pathological activation of gelatinases (matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9; MMP-2/
      9) has been shown to cause a number of detrimental outcomes in neurodegenerative
      diseases. In gel gelatin zymography is a highly sensitive methodology commonly
      used in revealing levels of gelatinase activity and in separating the proform and
      active form of gelatinases, based on their different molecular weights. However,
      this methodology is inadequate in resolving complex enzyme isoforms, because
      gelatinase expression and activity can be regulated at transcriptional and/or
      post-translational levels under in vivo conditions resulting in alternation of
      their isoelectric focusing (IEF) points. In this chapter, we describe an advanced
      methodology, termed two-dimensional zymography, combining IEF with zymographic
      electrophoresis under non-reducing conditions to achieve significant improvement
      in separation of the gelatinase isoforms in both cell-based and in vivo models
      for acute brain injuries and neuroinflammation.

PMID- 28608208
TI  - Two-Dimensional Zymography of Proteases from Steatotic Duck Liver.
AB  - Protease activity present in liver cells with steatosis can be
      electrophoretically characterized. Zymographic techniques allow semi-quantitative
      results, successfully detecting cathepsin and metalloprotease activity using
      polyacrylamide gels copolymerized with gelatin and quantified by densitometry. By
      using specific inhibitors, the identity of the proteases can be confirmed. 2D
      zymography allows the determination of both M r. and pI of the metalloprotease
      and cathepsin activity present in the homogenates. The analysis of liver
      proteases activities in force fed ducks may elucidate the mechanisms behind
      steatosis development.

PMID- 28608209
TI  - Simultaneous Detection of Activity and Relative Molecular Mass of Adenylate
      Kinases After SDS-PAGE and Blotting.
AB  - Adenylate kinases (AKs) are ubiquitous monomeric phosphotransferases, which play
      a pivotal role in the energetic metabolism. At the present, nine isoforms are
      known. AKs catalyze the following reversible reaction: ATP + AMP <-> 2 ADP, even
      though isoform 3 uses GTP instead ATP. For many years, the activity of AKs has
      been detected only after native polyacrylamide gel separations, i.e. in the
      absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate or methanol. In this work, we report the
      possibility to detect the activity of the isoforms able to use ATP as substrate,
      directly onto gel or nitrocellulose sheets, after denaturing SDS-PAGE and
      electroblotting. This method is innovative because it allows to determine
      simultaneously the activity and the molecular weight of AKs, especially onto
      nitrocellulose where bands are sharper, thanks to absence of protein diffusion.

PMID- 28608210
TI  - Silver-Stained Fibrin Zymography: Separation of Proteases and Activity Detection
      Using a Single Substrate-Containing Gel.
AB  - Silver-stained fibrin zymography for separation of protease bands and activity
      detection using a single substrate gel was designed. The method takes advantage
      of the nano-scale sensitivity of both zymography and silver staining. After
      sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) in a gel
      containing fibrin (protease substrate), the gel was incubated in enzyme reaction
      buffer and the zymogram gel was silver-stained. Bands with protease activity were
      stained with silver in clear areas where the protein substrate had been degraded.
      The molecular sizes of proteases were accurately determined.

PMID- 28608211
TI  - Zymography Methods to Simultaneously Analyze Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase
      Activities: Novel Application for Yeast Species Identification.
AB  - We provide an optimized protocol for a double staining technique to analyze
      superoxide dismutase enzymatic isoforms Cu-Zn SOD (Sod1) and Mn-SOD (Sod2) and
      catalase in the same polyacrylamide gel. The use of NaCN, which specifically
      inhibits yeast Sod1 isoform, allows the analysis of Sod2 isoform while the use of
      H2O2 allows the analysis of catalase. The identification of a different
      zymography profiling of SOD and catalase isoforms in different yeast species
      allowed us to propose this technique as a novel yeast identification and
      classification strategy.

PMID- 28608212
TI  - Detection of Guaiacol Peroxidase on Electrophoretic Gels.
AB  - It is possible to analyze peroxidase (POD) from different vegetable sources by
      electrophoresis. Zymography, i.e., a SDS-PAGE method to detect enzyme activity,
      is used to specifically detect POD activity and to visualize the total protein
      profile. For this purpose, we describe how a radish homogenate is prepared and
      submitted first to electrophoresis, and then, the POD activity present in the gel
      is reactivated and selectively stained using guaiacol as substrate. After
      scanning the gel, the same gel is further stained with Coomassie blue to
      determine the whole protein profile of the sample.

PMID- 28608213
TI  - In Situ Demonstration and Characteristic Analysis of the Protease Using Substrate
      Immersing Zymography.
AB  - Zymography, the detection of proteolytic activities on the basis of protein
      substrate degradation, has been a technique described in the literature for at
      least in the past 50 years. In this study, we used substrate immersing zymography
      to analyze proteolysis of proteases. Instead of being directly added into a
      sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gel, the
      substrates were added into the immersing solution after electrophoresis. With
      substrate immersing zymography, some characters of proteases, such as enzyme
      forms, potential proteolytic activity, molecular weights, presence of complexes,
      and potentially active enzyme fragments in complex biological samples, can be
      determined.

PMID- 28608215
TI  - Zymography in Multiwells for Quality Assessment of Proteinases.
AB  - Zymography is a well-standardized protocol for the qualitative assessment and
      analysis of proteinases under specified conditions. However, analysis of a large
      number of samples simultaneously becomes a challenge when the zymography is
      carried out by the usual protocol of electrophoresis. This can be overcome by
      assaying the matrix-degrading proteinases in substrate-impregnated gels in
      multiwells. Enzymes are copolymerized with 300 mL of 10% acrylamide impregnated
      with gelatin substrate and incubated for 16 h. The gels are then stained with
      Coomassie blue, destained with water, and visualized with the naked eye. The
      intensity; if needed can be measured with a densitometer or gel documentation
      system. This method has been tested for bacterial collagenases as well as some
      matrix-degrading metalloproteinases that were purified from rat mammary gland. It
      can also be used to characterize the enzymes with respect to the type and
      concentration of the cations required for activity and the role of other
      regulatory molecules that may affect the enzyme activity. The added advantage of
      this method is that the electrophoresis set up and electricity is not needed for
      the procedure.

PMID- 28608214
TI  - Use of Zymography in Trypanosomiasis Studies.
AB  - Zymography assay is a semiquantitative technique, very sensitive, and commonly
      used to determine metalloproteinase levels in different types of biological
      samples, including tissues, cells, and extracts of protein. Samples containing
      metalloproteinases are loaded onto a polyacrylamide gel containing sodium dodecyl
      sulphate (SDS) and a specific substrate (gelatin, casein, collagen, etc.). Then
      proteins are allowed to migrate under an electric current and the distance of
      migration is inversely correlated with the molecular weight. After migration, the
      gel is placed in a renaturing buffer to allow proteins to regain their tertiary
      structure, necessary for enzymatic activity (metalloproteinase activity). In the
      context of infections caused by trypanosomatids (Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma
      cruzi, and Trypanosoma brucei), the characterization of metalloproteinase by
      zymography can contribute to the comprehension of the pathogenesis mechanisms and
      host-parasite interaction.

PMID- 28608216
TI  - Visualization of Enzyme Activities in Earthworm Biopores by In Situ Soil
      Zymography.
AB  - Earthworms produce biopores with strongly increased microbial and enzyme
      activities and consequently they form microbial hotspots in soil. In extremely
      dynamic microhabitats and hotspots such as earthworm biopores, the in situ enzyme
      activities are a footprint of process rates and complex biotic interactions. The
      effect of earthworms on enzyme activities inside biopores, relative to earthworm
      free soil, can be visualized by in situ soil zymography. Here, we describe the
      details of the approach and discuss its advantages and limitations. Direct
      zymography provides high spatial resolution for quantitative images of enzyme
      activities in biopores.

PMID- 28608217
TI  - Multiplex Cathepsin Zymography to Detect Amounts of Active Cathepsins K, L, S,
      and V.
AB  - Cysteine cathepsins are powerful proteases that can degrade other proteins, among
      which are the extracellular matrix proteins collagen and elastin. Multiplex
      cathepsin zymography is an assay that can quantify the amount of active
      cathepsins in a cell or tissue preparation. This method works for measuring the
      amounts of active cathepsins K, L, S, and V in a cell or tissue preparation
      without requiring the use of antibodies for specific identification which
      tremendously reduces cost. This chapter will demonstrate the utility and
      interpretation of this method with mammalian cells and tissue to quantify amounts
      of active cathepsins K, L, S, and V without complicating signals of the
      procathepsin. Multiplex cathepsin zymography has many advantages: (1) it
      separates cathepsins K, L, S, and V by electrophoretic migration distance, (2)
      allows visual confirmation of cathepsin identity, (3) does not detect
      procathepsins, and (4) can be quantified with densitometry.

PMID- 28608218
TI  - Transfer Zymography.
AB  - The technique described here, transfer zymography, was developed to overcome two
      limitations of conventional zymography. When proteolytic enzymes are resolved by
      nonreducing SDS-PAGE into a polyacrylamide gel with copolymerized protein
      substrate, the presence of the protein substrate can result in anomalous, often
      slower, migration of the protease and an estimated mass higher than its actual
      mass. A further drawback is that the presence of a high background of substrate
      protein interferes with proteomic analysis of the protease band by excision,
      tryptic digestion, and LC-MS/MS analysis. In transfer zymography, the proteolytic
      enzymes are resolved by conventional nonreducing SDS-PAGE, without protein
      substrate in the gel. The proteins in the resolving gel are then
      electrophoretically transferred to a receiving gel that contains the protein
      substrate, by a process similar to western blotting. The receiving gel is then
      processed in a manner similar to conventional zymography. SDS is removed by
      Triton X-100 and incubated in conditions suitable for the proteolytic activity.
      After protein staining, followed by destaining, bands representing regions with
      active protease are visualized as clear bands in a darkly stained background. For
      proteomic analysis, electrophoresis is carried out simultaneously on a second
      resolving gel, and the bands corresponding to the clear regions in the receiving
      gel after zymogram development are excised for proteomic analysis.

PMID- 28608219
TI  - Sequential Detection of Thermophilic Lipase and Protease by Zymography.
AB  - Lipase and protease present in cell-free fractions of thermophilic Bacillus sp.
      cultures were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel (PAG) electrophoresis. After run,
      the gel is electrotransferred to another PAG copolymerized with glycerol
      tributyrate, olive oil, and gelatin. This multi-substrate gel was incubated first
      for lipase detection, until bands appeared, and then stained with Coomassie for
      protease detection. Advantages of this sequential procedure are the detection of
      two different enzyme activities on a single PAG, beside time and resource saving.

PMID- 28608220
TI  - Calpain Zymography: General Methodology and Protocol.
AB  - Casein zymography has become one of the gold standard assays for monitoring
      mammalian calcium-activated proteases (calpains) in purified enzyme, cell, or
      tissue samples. This calpain zymography method takes advantages of (1) casein is
      an excellent substrate for major isoforms of calpains (Calpain-1, 2 and 3), (2)
      the embedded casein is digested into small peptides where the calpain bands are
      located, thus creating a clear zone upon Commassie blue gel staining, and (3) the
      calpain isoforms have different gel mobility under native gel conditions. Casein
      zymography is also useful in studying reversibility of inhibitor binding to
      calpains.

PMID- 28608221
TI  - CTAB Zymography for the Analysis of Aspartic Proteases from Marine Sponges.
AB  - Electrophoresis under denaturing conditions in the presence of SDS is a standard
      method for the protein and enzyme scientist. Nevertheless, there are special
      situations where this method may originate nonoptimal results. SDS may cause
      protein aggregation or precipitation. Beyond this, depending on the type of
      protein, some just do not resolve well or migrate abnormally in SDS gels. SDS, an
      anionic detergent, may be however substituted by a cationic detergent, like CTAB
      (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide), in order to solubilize and electrophorize
      proteins. CTAB electrophoresis allows the separation of proteins based on
      molecular weight and can be carried out at neutral or acidic pH. Here, we
      describe the development of a CTAB zymography method to analyze aspartic
      proteases from marine sponges, which present an abnormal high R f value when run
      in SDS-PAGE. The special feature of using CTAB is that it binds proteins, making
      them positively charged and thus migrating in the opposite direction compared to
      SDS-PAGE.

PMID- 28608222
TI  - Zymography Detection of a Bacterial Extracellular Thermoalkaline Esterase/Lipase
      Activity.
AB  - Lipases are esterases that occur widely in nature, yet those with commercial
      relevance are exclusively from microbial origin. Glycerol and long-chain fatty
      acids are the products after hydrolysis of esters bonds in saponifiable lipids
      catalyzed by lipases. In this work, we describe lipase/esterase activity
      contained in cell-free fractions from thermophilic bacteria, cultured in medium
      containing olive oil. Analysis of the cell-free fractions by electrotransference
      zymography, using tributyrin as substrate, revealed bands corresponding to lipase
      activity. The method is simple, fast, and inexpensive.

PMID- 28608223
TI  - Amylase Zymography.
AB  - Amylase zymography was carried out for the detection of amylases produced by a
      Geobacillus stearothermophilus strain isolated from the Thermal Center "Las
      Trincheras" in Venezuela. Zymography is an electrophoretic technique used to
      study hydrolases by means of thin gels containing copolymerized-specific
      substrates, under nonreducing conditions. In this study, 0.1% starch was
      incorporated into the gel as substrate. The formation of clear zones against a
      dark background in the gel stained with iodine indicated the presence of
      amylolytic activity. The thermophilic bacteria released several extracellular
      amylases to a selective growth medium supplemented with 1% soluble starch at 55 
      degrees C after 40 h incubation. The amylolytic enzymes showed an optimum
      temperature of 60  degrees C and an optimum pH at 6.0. The amylases were
      partially purified by cold acetone precipitation followed by two chromatographic
      techniques. These purified amylases showed different molecular masses which were
      determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis and confirmed by
      zymography.

PMID- 28608225
TI  - Bacterial growth and antibiotic resistance patterns in cirrhotic ascites.

PMID- 28608224
TI  - Concordance between the old and new diagnostic criteria for periprosthetic joint
      infection.
AB  - PURPOSE: There is no uniform definition for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI).
      New diagnostic criteria were formulated in an international consensus meeting in
      2013 and adopted by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2016. The purpose of
      this study is to compare the new diagnostic criteria with the old CDC criteria
      from the year 1992. METHODS: Patients, who had been treated for PJI of hip or
      knee from 2002 to 2014, in a tertiary care hospital, were identified. Patient
      records were reviewed by a physician to identify PJI cases fulfilling the old or
      new CDC criteria and to record data concerning the diagnostic criteria. PJI
      frequencies were calculated for the two diagnostic criteria sets. Cross tables
      were formed to compare the concordance between the two sets of criteria in the
      whole material and in different clinical subgroups. RESULTS: Overall 405 cases
      fulfilling either or both sets of criteria for PJI were identified. 73 (18%) of
      the patients fulfilled only the old criteria, whereas only one (0.2%) fulfilled
      only the new criteria. Of the patients who did not fulfil the new criteria, in 39
      (53%) the diagnosis was based solely on the clinician's opinion. CONCLUSIONS: The
      number of PJIs is notably lower when using the new, more objective, diagnostic
      criteria. A large portion of the cases diagnosed as infection by the treating
      clinician, did not fulfil the new diagnostic criteria.

PMID- 28608226
TI  - Blocking RhoA/ROCK inhibits the pathogenesis of pemphigus vulgaris by suppressing
      oxidative stress and apoptosis through TAK1/NOD2-mediated NF-kappaB pathway.
AB  - Oxidative stress and apoptosis play critical roles in pemphigus vulgaris (PV).
      The main aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of RhoA/ROCK
      signaling on UVB-induced oxidative damage, and to delineate the molecular
      mechanisms involved in the UVB-mediated inflammatory and apoptotic response. In
      HaCaT cells, we observed that blockage of RhoA/ROCK signaling with the inhibitor
      CT04 or Y27632 greatly inhibited the UVB-mediated increase in intracellular
      reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, inhibition of RhoA/ROCK signaling
      reduced UVB-induced apoptosis, as exemplified by a reduction in DNA
      fragmentation, and also elevated anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, concomitant with
      reduced levels of pro-apoptotic protein Bax, caspase-3 cleavage and decreased
      PARP-1 protein. The release of inflammatory mediators TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL
      6 was also attenuated. Mechanically, we observed that blockage of RhoA/ROCK
      repressed the TAK1/NOD2-mediated NF-kappaB pathway in HaCaT cells exposed to UVB.
      Taken together, these data reveal that RhoA/ROCK signaling is one of the
      regulators contributing to oxidative damage and apoptosis in human keratinocytes,
      suggesting that RhoA/ROCK signaling has strong potential to be used as a useful
      therapeutic target in skin diseases including PV.

PMID- 28608227
TI  - Bimodality of stable and plastic traits in plants.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: We discovered an unexpected mode of bimodal distribution of stable
      and plastic traits, which was consistent for homologous traits of 32 varieties of
      seven species both in well-irrigated fields and dry conditions. We challenged
      archived genetic mapping data for 36 fruit, seed, flower and yield traits in
      tomato and found an unexpected bimodal distribution in one measure of trait
      variability, the mean coefficient of variation, with some traits being
      consistently more variable than others. To determine the degree of conservation
      of this distribution among higher plants, we compared 18 homologous phenotypes,
      including yield and seed production, across different crop species grown in a
      common 'crop garden' experiment. The set included 32 varieties of tomato,
      eggplant, pepper, melon, watermelon, sunflower and maize. Estimates of
      canalization were obtained using a 'canalization replication' experimental design
      that generated multiple estimates of the coefficient of variation of traits, as
      well as their reaction norms in optimal and water-stressed field plots. A common
      pattern of bimodal distribution of stable and plastic traits was observed for all
      the varieties and for a wild weed (Solanum nigrum). We propose that canalization
      profiles of traits in a variety of taxa were ancestrally selected to maximize
      adaptation and reproductive success.

PMID- 28608228
TI  - Joint analysis of interval-censored failure time data and panel count data.
AB  - Interval-censored failure time data and panel count data are two types of
      incomplete data that commonly occur in event history studies and many methods
      have been developed for their analysis separately (Sun in The statistical
      analysis of interval-censored failure time data. Springer, New York, 2006; Sun
      and Zhao in The statistical analysis of panel count data. Springer, New York,
      2013). Sometimes one may be interested in or need to conduct their joint analysis
      such as in the clinical trials with composite endpoints, for which it does not
      seem to exist an established approach in the literature. In this paper, a sieve
      maximum likelihood approach is developed for the joint analysis and in the
      proposed method, Bernstein polynomials are used to approximate unknown functions.
      The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimators are established and in
      particular, the proposed estimators of regression parameters are shown to be
      semiparametrically efficient. In addition, an extensive simulation study was
      conducted and the proposed method is applied to a set of real data arising from a
      skin cancer study.

PMID- 28608229
TI  - Erratum to: Preplanned safety analysis of the JFMC37-0801 trial: a randomized
      phase III study of six months versus twelve months of capecitabine as adjuvant
      chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer.

PMID- 28608230
TI  - Acknowledging crossing-avoidance heuristic violations when solving the Euclidean
      travelling salesperson problem.
AB  - If a salesperson aims to visit a number of cities only once before returning
      home, which route should they take to minimise the total distance/cost? This
      combinatorial optimization problem is called the travelling salesperson problem
      (TSP) and has a rapid growth in the number of possible solutions as the number of
      cities increases. Despite its complexity, when cities and routes are represented
      in 2D Euclidean space (ETSP), humans solve the problem with relative ease, by
      applying simple visual heuristics. One of the most important heuristics appears
      to be the avoidance of path crossings, which will always result in more optimal
      solutions than tours that contain crossings. This study systematically
      investigates whether the occurrence of crossings is impacted by geometric
      properties by modelling their relationship using binomial logistic regression as
      well as random forests. Results show that properties, such as the number of nodes
      making up the convex hull, the standard deviation of the angles between nodes,
      the average distance between all nodes in the graph, the total number of nodes in
      the graph, and the tour cost (i.e., a measure of performance), are significant
      predictors of whether crossings are likely to occur.

PMID- 28608231
TI  - Extradural plasmacytoma with central nervous system involvement in newly
      diagnosed multiple myeloma.

PMID- 28608232
TI  - Emotional Distress Among Physician Residents and Fellows: An Observational Study
      of Trainees Seeking Counseling Visits.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Emotional distress, burnout, and depression occur frequently among
      graduate medical education (GME) trainees and may negatively affect patient care,
      education, and well-being. The authors aimed to characterize the causes and
      severity of distress among GME trainees seeking on-site counseling services at a
      large, multi-site, university-based training program in the USA. METHODS: The
      authors analyzed visits of all GME trainees seeking counseling from 2009 to 2012
      and described trainee characteristics, level of distress, chief and secondary
      complaints, and initial visit outcomes. RESULTS: GME trainees (n = 332; 14.1% of
      total population) attended 2017 counseling visits. Women comprised over half
      (60.7%) of the clients. Referrals originated from trainees themselves (79.8%),
      program leadership (16.6%), or partners (1.8%). Mean counselor-assessed distress
      level at intake was 4.1 (range 1-5). Mental health was the most frequent concern
      (46.1%), particularly depression (19.3%) or anxiety (11.5%). Other chief
      complaints included personal relationship (28.6%), career (21.7%), and physical
      health concerns (2.7%). Counselors referred nearly a quarter (22.7%) of trainees
      to additional services such as psychiatry, primary care provider, or career
      mentor. Most trainees (75.3%) returned for >=1 follow-up counseling visits.
      CONCLUSION: GME trainees seen in counseling report significant emotional distress
      from a broad range of sources. Further research should identify effective
      preventative and therapeutic interventions to reduce trainee emotional distress.

PMID- 28608233
TI  - Alleviation by GABAB Receptors of Neurotoxicity Mediated by Mitochondrial
      Permeability Transition Pore in Cultured Murine Cortical Neurons Exposed to N
      Methyl-D-aspartate.
AB  - Mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PTP) is supposed to at least in part
      participate in molecular mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity seen after
      overactivation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor (NMDAR) in neurons. In
      this study, we have evaluated whether activation of GABAB receptor (GABABR),
      which is linked to membrane G protein-coupled inwardly-rectifying K+ ion channels
      (GIRKs), leads to protection of the NMDA-induced neurotoxicity in a manner
      relevant to mitochondrial membrane depolarization in cultured embryonic mouse
      cortical neurons. The cationic fluorescent dye 3,3'-dipropylthiacarbocyanine was
      used for determination of mitochondrial membrane potential. The PTP opener
      salicylic acid induced a fluorescence increase with a vitality decrease in a
      manner sensitive to the PTP inhibitor ciclosporin, while ciclosporin alone was
      effective in significantly preventing both fluorescence increase and viability
      decrease by NMDA as seen with an NMDAR antagonist. The NMDA-induced fluorescence
      increase and viability decrease were similarly prevented by pretreatment with the
      GABABR agonist baclofen, but not by the GABAAR agonist muscimol, in a fashion
      sensitive to a GABABR antagonist. Moreover, the GIRK inhibitor tertiapin canceled
      the inhibition by baclofen of the NMDA-induced fluorescence increase. These
      results suggest that GABABR rather than GABAAR is protective against the NMDA
      induced neurotoxicity mediated by mitochondrial PTP through a mechanism relevant
      to opening of membrane GIRKs in neurons.

PMID- 28608234
TI  - Genomics-Guided Precise Anti-Epileptic Drug Development.
AB  - Traditional antiepileptic drug development approaches have yielded many important
      clinically valuable anti-epileptic drugs. However, the screening of promising
      compounds has been naturally agnostic to epilepsy etiology in individual human
      patients. Now, genomic medicine is changing the way we view human disease.
      International collaborations are unraveling the many molecular genetic causes of
      the epilepsies, including the early onset epileptic encephalopathies, and some of
      the familial focal epilepsies. Further advances in precision diagnostics will be
      facilitated by ongoing large collaborations and the wider availability of whole
      exome and whole genome sequencing in clinical practice. Securing a precise
      molecular diagnosis in some individual patients will pave the way for the advent
      of precision therapeutics of new and re-purposed compounds in the treatment of
      the epilepsies. This new approach is already beginning, e.g., with the use of
      everolimus in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (and perhaps other
      mTORopathies), the use of quinidine in some children with KCNT1 mutations, and
      the use of the ketogenic diet in individuals with GLUT-1 deficiency. This article
      explores the promise of genomics guided drug development as an approach to
      complement the more traditional model.

PMID- 28608235
TI  - Ferulic Acid Supplementation for Management of Depression in Epilepsy.
AB  - Neuroinflammation driven altered neurochemical milieu have been reported to play
      a significant role in pathogenesis of comorbid depression in epilepsy. Most of
      the antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) such as levetiracetam, taigabine, topiramate have
      not been reported any significant effect in alleviating neuroinflammation, which
      may explain their ineffectiveness in ameliorating depression associated with
      epilepsy. The supplementation of antidepressants (ADs) attracts various
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions with AEDs and was considered
      unsafe in epilepsy. This scenario pushes us to search therapies beyond ADs by
      critically exploring the disease mechanism. Thus, as suggested by our previous
      findings, anti-inflammatory phytotherapy (Ferulic acid) appears a promising
      adjuvant therapy with levetiracetam for effective and safe management of
      depression associated with epilepsy. Pentylenetetrazole kindling induced
      epileptic animals were treated with vehicle, levetiracetam (40 mg/kg/day i.p.)
      and levetiracetam in combination with two doses of ferulic acid (40, 80
      mg/kg)/day/p.o. for 15 days. Every 5th day during the treatment, depression was
      evaluated and animals were administered pentylenetetrazole to evaluate the effect
      of different pharmacological interventions on seizure severity. The epileptic
      animals were reported decreased seizure threshold associated with comorbid
      depression. The treatment with levetiracetam was found ineffective in
      ameliorating the associated depression. However ferulic acid supplementation with
      levetiracetam ameliorated comorbid depression supported with restored circulating
      corticosterone levels, decreased proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1beta, TNF-alpha)
      and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in mice brain. Thus, suggesting
      supplementation of anti-inflammatory phytomolecules such as ferulic acid as safe
      and effective adjuvant therapy for the management of comorbid depression in
      epilepsy.

PMID- 28608236
TI  - The Neuroprotective Effect of Curcumin Against Nicotine-Induced Neurotoxicity is
      Mediated by CREB-BDNF Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Nicotine abuse adversely affects brain and causes apoptotic neurodegeneration.
      Curcumin- a bright yellow chemical compound found in turmeric is associated with
      neuroprotective properties. The current study was designed to evaluate the role
      of CREB-BDNF signaling in mediating the neuroprotective effects of curcumin
      against nicotine-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress and inflammation in rats.
      Sixty adult male rats were divided randomly into six groups. Group 1 received 0.7
      ml/rat normal saline, group 2 received 6 mg/kg nicotine. Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6
      were treated concurrently with nicotine (6 mg/kg) and curcumin (10, 20, 40 and 60
      mg/kg i.p. respectively) for 21 days. Open Field Test (OFT) was used to evaluate
      the motor activity. Hippocampal oxidative, anti-oxidant, inflammatory and
      apoptotic factors were evaluated. Furthermore, phosphorylated brain cyclic
      adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element binding protein (P-CREB) and
      brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were studied at gene and protein
      levels. We found that nicotine disturbed the motor activity in OFT and
      simultaneous treatment with curcumin (40 and 60 mg/kg) reduced the nicotine
      induced motor activity disturbances. In addition, nicotine treatment increased
      lipid peroxidation and the levels of GSH, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and Bax, while
      reducing Bcl-2, P-CREB and BDNF levels in the hippocampus. Nicotine also reduced
      the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione
      reductase in hippocampus. In contrast, various doses of curcumin attenuated
      nicotine-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress and inflammation; while elevating P
      CREB and BDNF levels. Thus, curcumin via activation of P-CREB/BDNF signaling
      pathway, confers neuroprotection against nicotine-induced inflammation, apoptosis
      and oxidative stress.

PMID- 28608237
TI  - Exogenous Adipokine Peptide Resistin Protects Against Focal Cerebral
      Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Mice.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that plasma resistin levels were increased in
      patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, the role of resistin after ischemic
      brain injury is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the protective
      effects of resistin on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in a middle cerebral
      artery occlusion mouse model. We found that resistin (i.c.v.) significantly
      reduced infarct volume and improved neurological deficits after 45 min of
      ischemia and 24 h of reperfusion. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that
      intraperitoneal administration of resistin (10 ug/kg body weight) also had
      protective effects on infarct volume, indicating the crossing of resistin through
      the impaired BBB after ischemia injury. Resistin treatment reduced cleaved
      protein level of Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 (PARP-1), a marker of cellular
      apoptosis, showing the anti-apoptotic activity of resistin. Resistin increased
      the level of phosphorylated Akt after ischemic brain injury. The neuroprotective
      effect of resistin was partially reversed by a PI3K inhibitor wortmannin,
      demonstrating that the PI3K/Akt signal pathway is involved in the anti-apoptotic
      mechanisms of resistin. Finally, we found that resistin treatment improved
      neurological function recovery at 14 days after treatment, including balance
      ability and muscle strength. Given these findings, resistin may have therapeutic
      potential for the treatment of stroke.

PMID- 28608238
TI  - The Impact of Disintegrant Type, Surfactant, and API Properties on the
      Processability and Performance of Roller Compacted Formulations of Acetaminophen
      and Aspirin.
AB  - In formulation development, certain excipients, even though used in small
      quantities, can have a significant impact on the processability and performance
      of the dosage form. In this study, three common disintegrants, croscarmellose
      sodium (CCS), crospovidone (xPVP), and sodium starch glycolate (SSG) as well as
      the surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) were evaluated for their impact on the
      processability and performance of a typical dry granulation formulation. Two
      model compounds, the mechanically brittle and chemically inert acetaminophen and
      the mechanically ductile carboxylic acid aspirin, were used for the evaluation.
      It was found that the disintegrants were generally identical in their impact on
      the processability and little difference was observed in the granulation and
      compression processes. The exception is that when xPVP was used in the
      formulation of the brittle acetaminophen, lower compression forces were needed to
      reach the same tablet hardness, suggesting a binding effect of xPVP for such
      systems. In general, CCS and xPVP tend to provide slightly better disintegration
      than SSG. However, in the case of aspirin, a strong hydrogen bonding interaction
      between the carboxylic acid group of aspirin and the carbonyl group of xPVP was
      observed, resulting in slower release of the drug after fast disintegration. SLS
      was found to have a significant impact on the processability due to its
      lubricating effect, resulting in higher compression forces needed to achieve the
      target tablet hardness. Due to the higher degree of compression, the
      disintegration and dissolution of both drugs became slower despite the wetting
      effect of SLS.

PMID- 28608239
TI  - Transnasal endoscopic ultrasound-guided reduction of maxillary sinus wall
      fracture.
AB  - Surgical morbidity from open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of maxillary
      sinus wall fracture often surpasses the benefits of ORIF. Hence, the authors
      devised transnasal endoscopic-assisted reduction of maxillary sinus wall fracture
      (TERM) without internal fixation as a minimally invasive surgery for maxillary
      sinus wall fracture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility
      of TERM in cadavers and patients. Six cadavers were dissected to evaluate the
      feasibility of TERM. In addition, 20 patients with maxillary sinus wall fractures
      who underwent TERM in a tertiary hospital from August of 2013 to December of 2015
      were enrolled in this study. Demographic factors, type of anesthesia, computed
      tomography (CT) scans, clinical characteristics of patients, and patient
      satisfaction with surgery were analyzed. Cadaveric study showed that endoscopic
      inferior meatus antrostomy is a feasible method of approaching the maxillary
      sinus wall in cadavers. In addition, counterforce could be applied to the
      maxillary sinus wall by pushing packed Vaseline-soaked gauze or using a zygomatic
      process approach via a Gillies incision. Clinical experience revealed that
      patients experienced good facial contour restoration postoperatively. The extent
      of fractured bony segments was reduced on postoperative CT without complications.
      Patient satisfaction with TERM was greater than that with ORIF (p = 0.031). TERM
      showed its feasibility in both cadaveric study and clinical study. TERM can be a
      good alternative to ORIF, especially in patients who are reluctant to undergo a
      facial incision.

PMID- 28608240
TI  - It is prudent to consider use of endoscopic tympanoplasty to treat complicated
      middle-ear disease.

PMID- 28608241
TI  - Vit D deficiency is a possible risk factor in ARS.
AB  - Vitamin D deficiency is effective in the development of acute rhinosinusitis and
      prolongation of inflammation by increasing inflammation in the sinonasal
      epithelium. Vitamin D deficiency is important in the development of bone barriers
      that prevent the complication of acute rhinosinusitis. Although Vitamin D levels
      may be a variable risk factor for various respiratory tract disorders, there are
      limited data on the role in sinonasal infections. Our aim was to investigate the
      association of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25OHD) levels with acute rhinosinusitis
      (ARS) and preseptal cellulitis complications. The type of the study is
      prospective case-control study. Fifteen patients in the pediatric age group with
      ARS-induced preseptal cellulitis complication were identified as Group 1, fifteen
      patients with ARS and without complication were identified as Group 2, and
      fifteen healthy volunteers were identified as Group 3. Serum 25OHD levels
      (nmol/l) were measured in addition to routine blood tests at the first admission
      of patients participating in the study. Statistical analysis was performed
      between groups. The ages of the cases ranged from 1 to 14 years with a mean of
      5.62 +/- 3.42 years. 55.6% of the cases (n = 25) were male; 44.4% (n = 20) were
      female children. As a result of classification in which vitamin D levels were
      compared with normal values, there was a statistically significant difference
      according to the presence of ARS (Group-1 and Group 2) and absence of ARS (Group
      3) (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was also found between
      Group 1 and Group-3 (p < 0.05). Statistically significant difference between
      Group 1 and Group 3 suggests that lack of vitamin D predisposes to the
      complication of preseptal cellulitis. Comparison of Group 1 and 2 with Group 3
      (normal subjects) suggests that Vit D has a protective effect against developing
      sinusitis.

PMID- 28608242
TI  - F-18 FDG PET differentiation of benign from malignant chondroid neoplasms: a
      systematic review of the literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Discriminating among benign chondroid tumors, low-grade
      chondrosarcomas, and grade 2/3 chondrosarcomas is frequently difficult with
      standard imaging modalities. We systematically reviewed the literature to
      determine the performance of PET-CT in making this distinction. METHODS: A
      systematic review was performed identifying 811 PubMed- and Embase-indexed
      articles containing combinations of "chondrosarcoma," "enchondroma," "chondroid,"
      "cartilage" and "PET/CT," "PET," "positron." Eight articles including 166 lesions
      were included. Age, gender, tumor size, histologic grade, and SUVmax values were
      extracted for individual lesions when possible and otherwise recorded as
      aggregated data. Comparisons in SUVmax among benign, low-grade, and intermediate
      /high-grade chondroid neoplasms were made. RESULTS: Individual SUVs were
      available for 101 lesions; 65 additional lesions were reported as aggregated
      data. There were 101 malignant and 65 benign tumors. Benign tumors were seen more
      frequently in females (p = 0.04, Fischer's exact test), but malignancy was not
      associated with age or lesion size. SUVmax was lower for benign (1.6 +/- 0.7)
      than malignant tumors (4.4 +/- 2.5) (p < 0.0001, t-test). SUVmax was lower for
      grade 0/1 (2.0 +/- 0.7) than grade 2/3 (6.0 +/- 3.2) (p < 0.0001, t-test).
      Increasing SUVmax correlated with higher grade chondroid tumors (Spearman's rank,
      rho = 0.78). SUVmax >=4.4 was 99% specific for grade 2/3 chondrosarcoma.
      CONCLUSIONS: SUVmax correlates with histologic grade in intraosseous chondroid
      neoplasms; very low SUVmax supports a diagnosis of benign tumor, while elevated
      SUVmax is suggestive of higher grade chondrosarcoma.

PMID- 28608243
TI  - Voluntary reduction of force variability via modulation of low-frequency
      oscillations.
AB  - Visual feedback can influence the force output by changing the power in
      frequencies below 1 Hz. However, it remains unknown whether visual guidance can
      help an individual reduce force variability voluntarily. The purpose of this
      study, therefore, was to determine whether an individual can voluntarily reduce
      force variability during constant contractions with visual guidance, and whether
      this reduction is associated with a decrease in the power of low-frequency
      oscillations (0-1 Hz) in force and muscle activity. Twenty young adults (27.6 +/-
      3.4 years) matched a force target of 15% MVC (maximal voluntary contraction) with
      ankle dorsiflexion. Participants performed six visually unrestricted
      contractions, from which we selected the trial with the least variability.
      Following, participants performed six visually guided contractions and were
      encouraged to reduce their force variability within two guidelines (+/-1 SD of
      the least variable unrestricted trial). Participants decreased the SD of force by
      45% (P < 0.001) during the guided condition, without changing mean force (P >
      0.2). The decrease in force variability was associated with decreased low
      frequency oscillations (0-1 Hz) in force (R 2 = 0.59), which was associated with
      decreased low-frequency oscillations in EMG bursts (R 2 = 0.35). The reduction in
      low-frequency oscillations in EMG burst was positively associated with power in
      the interference EMG from 35 to 60 Hz (R 2 = 0.47). In conclusion, voluntary
      reduction of force variability is associated with decreased low-frequency
      oscillations in EMG bursts and consequently force output. We provide novel
      evidence that visual guidance allows healthy young adults to reduce force
      variability voluntarily likely by adjusting the low-frequency oscillations in the
      neural drive.

PMID- 28608245
TI  - Obesity and Obesity Shape Markedly Influence Spine Biomechanics: A Subject
      Specific Risk Assessment Model.
AB  - Underlying mechanisms of obesity-related back pain remain unexplored. Thus, we
      aim to determine the effect of obesity and its shapes on the spinal loads and the
      associated risks of injury. Obesity shapes were initially constructed by
      principal component analysis based on datasets on 5852 obese individuals. Spinal
      loads, cycles to vertebral failure and trunk stability margin were estimated in a
      subject-specific trunk model taking account of personalized musculature, passive
      ligamentous spine, obesity shapes, segmental weights, spine kinematics and bone
      mineral density. Three obesity shapes (mean and extreme abdominal circumferences)
      at three body weights (BWs) of 86, 98 and 109 kg were analyzed. Additional BW (12
      kg) increased spinal loads by ~11.8%. Higher waist circumferences at identical BW
      increased spinal forces to the tune of ~20 kg additional BW and the risk of
      vertebral fatigue compression fracture by 3-7 times when compared with smaller
      waist circumferences. Forward flexion, greater BW and load in hands increased the
      trunk stability margin. Spinal loads markedly increased with BW, especially at
      greater waist circumferences. The risk of vertebral fatigue fracture also
      substantially increased at greater waist circumferences though not at smaller
      ones. Obesity and its shape should be considered in spine biomechanics.

PMID- 28608246
TI  - Should we rely on trials with disease- rather than patient-oriented endpoints?

PMID- 28608244
TI  - Action ability modulates time-to-collision judgments.
AB  - Time-to-collision (TTC) underestimation has been interpreted as an adaptive
      response that allows observers to have more time to engage in a defensive
      behaviour. This bias seems, therefore, strongly linked to action preparation.
      There is evidence that the observer's physical fitness modulates the
      underestimation effect so that people who need more time to react (i.e. those
      with less physical fitness) show a stronger underestimation effect. Here we
      investigated whether this bias is influenced by the momentary action capability
      of the observers. In the first experiment, participants estimated the time-to
      collision of threatening or non-threatening stimuli while being mildly
      immobilized (with a chin rest) or while standing freely. Having reduced the
      possibility of movement led participants to show more underestimation of the
      approaching stimuli. However, this effect was not stronger for threatening
      relative to non-threatening stimuli. The effect of the action capability found in
      the first experiment could be interpreted as an expansion of peripersonal space
      (PPS). In the second experiment, we thus investigated the generality of this
      effect using an established paradigm to measure the size of peripersonal space.
      Participants bisected lines from different distances while in the chin rest or
      standing freely. The results replicated the classic left-to-right gradient in
      lateral spatial attention with increasing viewing distance, but no effect of
      immobilization was found. The manipulation of the momentary action capability of
      the observers influenced the participants' performance in the TTC task but not in
      the line bisection task. These results are discussed in relation to the different
      functions of PPS.

PMID- 28608247
TI  - Tryptophan status in autism spectrum disorder and the influence of
      supplementation on its level.
AB  - Recent reports show that the worldwide incidence of autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD) is dramatically increasing, although ASD etiology and pathogenesis are
      still far to be fully elucidated. Some dietary-derived essential compounds, such
      as the amino acid tryptophan, appear to be impaired in patients with ASD.
      Tryptophan (Trp) plays a significant role in the human organism and serves as a
      precursor for a wide range of bioactive compounds, including major
      neurotransmitters. Research indicates that tryptophan might be deficient in
      subjects with ASD. Deficiency in the tryptophan level can be retrieved by
      investigating Trp levels or its major metabolite kynurenine in urines. The
      purpose of the present study is to quantify tryptophan content in urine samples
      (n = 236) of ASD patients, who underwent a supplemented dietary panel with B
      vitamins and magnesium, compared to controls (without this diet regimen). The
      samples were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Additionally,
      the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and the level of this amino acid in
      urine was accomplished. Basic parameters of urine samples were also evaluated.
      Statistical evaluations in the concentration of tryptophan in ASD patients with
      different severity of symptoms were reported. A significant difference in
      tryptophan levels in all groups was observed. Supplementation with B vitamins and
      magnesium has an influence on the Trp concentration. Furthermore, no correlation
      between BMI and tryptophan levels was found. These results assess that the Trp
      level in ASD subjects is critical and that intake of B vitamins and magnesium
      with diet might influence its metabolic homeostasis.

PMID- 28608248
TI  - The analgesic effect of trans-resveratrol is regulated by calcium channels in the
      hippocampus of mice.
AB  - Resveratrol has been widely studied in terms of it's potential to slow the
      progression of many diseases. But little is known about the mechanism of action
      in neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is the main type of chronic pain associated
      with tissue injury. Calcium channels and calcium/caffeine-sensitive pools are
      associated with analgesic pathway involving neuropathic pain. Our previous study
      suggested that the antinociceptive effect of resveratrol was involved in
      Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent signaling in the spinal cord of mice. The aim of this
      study was to explore the involvement of Ca2+ in analgesic effects of trans
      resveratrol in neuropathic pain and signal pathway in hippocampus. Hot plate test
      was used to assess antinociceptive response when mice were treated with trans
      resveratrol alone or in combination with Mk 801, nimodipine, CaCl2, ryanodine or
      EGTA. The effects of trans-resveratrol and the combination on Ca2+/calmodulin
      dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)
      expression in hippocampus were also investigated. The results showed that trans
      resveratrol increased paw withdraw latency in the hot plate test. The effect of
      resveratrol was enhanced by Mk 801 and nimodipine. Central administration of
      Ca2+, however, abolished the antinociceptive effects of resveratrol. In contrast,
      centrally administered EGTA or ryanodine improved trans-resveratrol induced
      antinociception. There was a significant increase in p-CaMKII and BDNF expression
      in the hippocampus when resveratrol were combined with Mk 801, nimodipine,
      ryanodine and EGTA. Administration of CaCl2 blocked changes in p-CaMKII and BDNF
      levels in the hippocampus. These findings suggest that trans-resveratrol exerts
      the effects of antinociception through regulation of calcium channels and
      calcium/caffeine-sensitive pools.

PMID- 28608249
TI  - Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) variants are associated with
      autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with various
      epidemiologic, genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors being associated
      with it. The observed sex bias in ASD towards male has prompted investigators to
      propose sex-dependent mechanisms for ASD. Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor
      alpha (RORA) is a new autism candidate gene that has been shown to be
      differentially regulated by male and female hormones. Previous studies have shown
      deregulation of its expression in the prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum of ASD
      patients. In the present study we aimed at identification of the possible
      associations between two functional polymorphisms in the RORA gene (rs11639084
      and rs4774388) and the risk of ASD in 518 Iranian ASD patients and 472 age,
      gender, and ethnic-matched healthy controls by means of tetra primer
      amplification refractory mutation system-PCR. The allele and genotype frequencies
      of rs11639084 were not significantly different between patients and controls.
      However, the allele frequencies of rs4774388 showed significant
      overrepresentation of T allele in patients compared with controls (P = 0.04, OR
      (95% CI) =1.21 (1.01-1.46)). The rs4774388-TT genotype was significantly higher
      in patients compared with controls and was associated with ASD risk in dominant
      inheritance model (P = 0.04, OR (95% CI) =0.77 (0.59-0.99)). Haplotype analysis
      showed significant association of two estimated blocks of rs11639084/ rs4774388
      with ASD risk. Consequently, the present data provide further evidence for RORA
      participation in the pathogenesis of ASD.

PMID- 28608250
TI  - The efficacy of active drainage for preventing postoperative organ/space surgical
      site infections in patients with Crohn's disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) show a higher incidence of surgical
      site infections (SSIs) after bowel resection in comparison to other patient
      populations because CD patients commonly suffer from anemia, malnutrition, and
      immunosuppression. In comparison to conventional passive drainage, active
      drainage using a closed-suction drain reportedly reduces postoperative wound
      related complications in several diseases. In the present study, we aimed to
      investigate the incidence of SSI and to identify the risk factors for SSI in
      patients with CD. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the patient
      characteristics and perioperative data of 106 CD patients who underwent bowel
      resection at our institution between January 2000 and June 2016. We statistically
      analyzed the incidence of different types of SSI (overall, incisional, and
      organ/space) in relation to patient-related and surgery-related risk factors.
      RESULTS: Overall postoperative SSIs were diagnosed in 19 patients (17.9%),
      including incisional SSI (n = 16; 15.1%), organ/space SSI (n = 7; 6.6%), and both
      (n = 4; 3.8%). A long operative time (p = 0.036) and colonic involvement (p =
      0.011) were significantly associated with the overall risk of developing an SSI.
      Active drainage significantly reduced the incidence of organ/space SSI (p =
      0.037). CONCLUSION: Intraabdominal active drainage was more useful than passive
      drainage for preventing organ/space SSI development.

PMID- 28608252
TI  - In reply: MEP monitoring during aortic surgery.

PMID- 28608251
TI  - RNA processing as an alternative route to attack glioblastoma.
AB  - Genomic analyses have become an important tool to identify new avenues for
      therapy. This is especially true for cancer types with extremely poor outcomes,
      since our lack of effective therapies offers no tangible clinical starting point
      to build upon. The highly malignant brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) exemplifies
      such a refractory cancer, with only 15 month average patient survival. Analyses
      of several hundred GBM samples compiled by the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas)
      have produced an extensive transcriptomic map, identified prevalent chromosomal
      alterations, and defined important driver mutations. Unfortunately, clinical
      trials based on these results have not yet delivered an improvement on outcome.
      It is, therefore, necessary to characterize other regulatory routes known for
      playing a role in tumor relapse and response to treatment. Alternative splicing
      affects more than 90% of the human coding genes and it is an important source for
      transcript variation and gene regulation. Mutations and alterations in splicing
      factors are highly prevalent in multiple cancers, demonstrating the potential for
      splicing to act as a tumor driver. As a result, numerous genes are expressed as
      cancer-specific splicing isoforms that are functionally distinct from the
      canonical isoforms found in normal tissue. These include genes that regulate
      cancer-critical pathways such as apoptosis, DNA repair, cell proliferation, and
      migration. Splicing defects can even induce genomic instability, a common
      characteristic of cancer, and a driver of tumor evolution. Importantly,
      components of the splicing machinery are targetable; multiple drugs can inhibit
      splicing factors or promote changes in splicing which could be exploited to begin
      improving clinical outcomes. Here, we review the current literature and present a
      case for exploring RNA processing as therapeutic route for the treatment of GBM.

PMID- 28608253
TI  - Femoral nerve block with propofol sedation versus general anesthesia in patients
      with severe cardiac dysfunction undergoing autologous myoblast sheet
      transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Regional anesthesia is more favorable than general anesthesia in
      patients with severe comorbidity; however, data on the superiority of peripheral
      nerve blocks over general anesthesia in patients with severe cardiac dysfunction
      are lacking. We aimed to demonstrate that peripheral nerve blocks reduce
      perioperative analgesic requirements and promote faster recovery compared to
      general anesthesia. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated intraoperative blood
      pressure, perioperative medications, and postoperative recovery in patients who
      underwent skeletal muscle harvesting for autologous myoblast sheet
      transplantation. We compared patients who received general anesthesia (group G, n
      = 27) to those who received femoral nerve block with propofol sedation (group B,
      n = 22). RESULTS: Left ventricular ejection fraction was 24% on average, with no
      significant difference between groups. Compared with group G, a lower dose of
      propofol was used intraoperatively (1.25 versus 2.0 ug/mL, respectively; P <
      0.001) and fewer patients required opioids (13.6 versus 100%, P < 0.01) in group
      B. Additionally, the lowest intraoperative mean blood pressure was higher (54
      versus 48 mmHg, respectively; P = 0.02) in group B. More patients received
      postoperative analgesic drugs (51.9 versus 13.6%, P = 0.01) and they received
      them more frequently (1 [0-3] versus 0 [0-1], P = 0.02) in group G. The length of
      heart care unit stay was shorter in group B than group G (0 [0-18.5] versus 17 [0
      47] h, respectively; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Femoral nerve block with sedation
      was more beneficial than general anesthesia in patients with severe cardiac
      dysfunction who underwent skeletal muscle harvesting for autologous myoblast
      sheet transplantation.

PMID- 28608254
TI  - Determinants of physical functioning in women with knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is an important health problem with its high
      prevalence and association with pain and functional disability in physical tasks
      and activities especially in women. AIMS: To explore the impacts of widely seen
      demographic, pathological, psychological, and impairment factors on physical
      functioning in women with knee OA using the performance-based and self-reported
      measures. METHODS: One hundred and ten women with knee OA participated in this
      study. Performance-based measures included the 10-m walk test, timed up and go
      (TUG) test, and a stair test. Self-reported physical functioning was measured
      using the Western Ontario and McMasters Universities OA Index. Knee muscle
      strength, pain intensity, flexion range of motion (ROM), body mass index (BMI),
      radiographic severity, and anxious and depressive symptoms were measured. Age,
      disease duration, and comorbidities were recorded. Correlation and linear
      regression analyses were used to assess the associations. RESULTS: In the linear
      regression models, knee muscle weakness, limited knee flexion ROM, pain
      intensity, and older age contributed to 65% of variance in physical performance
      measures mostly explained by knee muscle weakness. Knee pain intensity, BMI,
      anxiety, and knee muscle weakness contributed to 60% of variance in WOMAC
      physical function score mostly explained by pain. Radiologic severity,
      depression, comorbidities, and disease duration did not have a significant
      association (P < 0.05). Performance-based measures had significant but moderate
      correlations with WOMAC physical function score (r range 0.51-0.57, P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: In women with knee OA, knee muscle strength was the main determinant
      of performance-based physical functioning together with knee flexion ROM, knee
      pain, and age. Knee pain was the main determinant of self-reported physical
      functioning. BMI, anxiety, and knee muscle strength had some contributions as
      well. Performance-based and self-reported measures had moderate relations and
      evaluate different aspects of physical functioning. In the management of women
      with knee OA strengthening of weak knee muscles, improving limited flexion ROM,
      pain management, weight loss, and improving anxiety should be considered as a
      priority and performance-based and self-reported measures should be used together
      for a comprehensive evaluation of physical functioning.

PMID- 28608255
TI  - Temporal trends in herpes zoster-related hospitalizations in Italy, 2001-2013:
      differences between regions that have or have not implemented varicella
      vaccination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Herpes zoster (HZ) has a relevant impact on the population in terms
      of incidence and complications. AIMS: The aim of this study was to estimate the
      HZ-related hospitalization rates in Italy in the period 2001-2013, and to
      evaluate the trend of hospitalizations in the course of time pointing out any
      differences between regions that have or have not introduced universal childhood
      varicella immunization (UVI). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on
      hospital discharge records contained in the national database of the Ministry of
      Health for the period January 2001-December 2013. The comparison of
      hospitalization rates of "pilot" versus "not pilot" regions was performed taking
      into account as "pilot" regions the three that first introduced UVI (Sicily,
      Veneto, and Apulia). The average annual percentage change in hospitalization
      rates was used to highlight any significant change in time trends. RESULTS: In
      the period 2001-2013, 93,808 HZ-related hospitalizations were registered
      altogether. Complicated HZ was diagnosed in 53.2% of cases; a relevant part
      (32.5%) of hospitalizations involved subjects with at least one co-morbidity. In
      the three Italian "pilot" regions, a greater decrease of HZ-related
      hospitalization rates occurred in comparison to other regions. DISCUSSION: A good
      understanding of the epidemiology of HZ disease is required to assess the overall
      impact of the varicella immunization programs and to establish the most
      appropriate health strategies against HZ. CONCLUSIONS: The data obtained confirm
      the epidemiological impact of HZ and its complications and the need of a
      preventive approach.

PMID- 28608256
TI  - Development and examination of a functional reactive agility test for older
      adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reactive agility tests have become popular in sport for talent
      identification; however, the ability of these tests to evaluate physical function
      and falls risk in clinical populations warrants future study. AIM: To examine the
      reliability and construct validity of a novel functional reactive agility test
      (FRAT) across the lifespan. METHODS: Forty-three young (24 +/- 2 years), 32
      middle-aged (50 +/- 2 years), and 19 old (66 +/- 4 years) men performed a FRAT
      that included a rapid lateral movement (1.5 m) in response to a randomly delayed
      visual stimulus. Test-retest reliability and minimum difference (MD) scores were
      determined from a subset of participants. RESULTS: There was no systematic error
      (P > 0.087) between testing days, and the intraclass correlation coefficients,
      standard error of measurement (% of the mean), and MD values for decision time,
      movement time, and total time ranged from 0.876 to 0.949, 4.16-9.24%, and 0.128
      0.138 s, respectively. The young men had faster decision times (P = 0.027) when
      compared to the older men and faster total times when compared to the middle-aged
      and older men (P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The FRAT demonstrated acceptable
      reliability and construct validity between different age groups. CONCLUSION: Due
      to its limited space requirements, the FRAT may serve as a useful tool in future
      studies examining clinical populations.

PMID- 28608257
TI  - Mutagenic and genotoxic effects of Anilofos with micronucleus, chromosome
      aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and Ames test.
AB  - We aimed to evaluate the mutagenic effect of Anilofos, organophosphate pesticide,
      by using Ames/Salmonella/microsome test. Its cytotoxic and genotoxic effects were
      also determined by chromosome aberration (CA), sister chromatid exchange (SCE)
      and micronucleus (MN) test in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. In the Ames
      test, five different concentrations of Anilofos were examined on TA97, TA98,
      TA100 and TA102 strains in the absence and presence of S9 fraction. According to
      the results all concentrations of this pesticide have not shown any mutagenic
      activity on TA97, TA100 and TA102 strains in the absence and presence of S9
      fraction. But, 10, 100 and 1000 ug/plate concentrations of Anilofos were
      determined to be mutagenic on TA98 strain without S9 fraction. Lymphocytes were
      treated with various concentrations (25, 50, 100 and 200 ug/ml) of Anilofos for
      24 and 48 h. The results of the assays showed that Anilofos did not induce SCE
      frequency, replication index and MN formation at all concentrations for both
      treatment periods. Anilofos significantly increased CA frequency at 100 and 200
      ug/ml concentrations at 24 h treatment periods and at 50, 100 and 200 ug/ml
      concentrations in 48 h treatment periods. Additionally, it was determined that
      this pesticide decreased mitotic index and nuclear division index significantly.
      It was concluded that Anilofos has genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in human
      peripheral lymphocytes.

PMID- 28608258
TI  - Extracts of Chrysanthemum zawadskii attenuate oxidative damage to vascular
      endothelial cells caused by a highly reducing sugar.
AB  - Endothelial cells are considered candidates for involvement in the pathogenesis
      of diabetic vascular complications, and prevention of endothelial cell damage may
      be important in pharmacological attempts to prevent such complications. In the
      present study, I explored whether extracts of Chrysanthemum zawadskii (CZE) could
      prevent oxidative damage and dysfunction of a vascular endothelial cell line
      caused by the highly reducing sugar, 2-deoxy-D-ribose (dRib), and dysfunction of
      a vascular endothelial cell line. Vascular endothelial cells were treated with
      dRib in the presence or absence of CZE. Cell viability was monitored using a cell
      counting kit, and the induction of apoptosis was evaluated with a cell death kit.
      Prostaglandin E2 and cyclooxygenase-2 levels were measured using enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay kits. Mitochondrial membrane potential [DeltaPsi(m)] was
      determined using a JC-1 kit. Intracellular oxidative stress was measured by
      fluorometric analysis of dichlorofluorescin oxidation using 2',7'
      dichlorofluorescin diacetate as the probe. The expression levels of genes
      encoding antioxidant enzymes were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. dRib reduced cell survival and the DeltaPsi(m) and markedly increased
      intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species and apoptosis. However,
      pretreatment of cells with CZE attenuated all these dRib-induced effects. The
      anti-oxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) also prevented dRib-induced oxidative cell
      damage. CZE attenuated the dRib-induced production of the inflammatory mediators
      cyclooxygenase-2 and Prostaglandin E2. NAC also exhibited anti-inflammatory
      effects and treatment with CZE caused transcriptional elevation of genes encoding
      antioxidant enzymes. Taken together, the results suggest that CZE may exert an
      antioxidant action that reduces dRib-induced cell damage to vascular endothelial
      cells and may thus aid in preventing diabetes-associated microvascular
      complications.

PMID- 28608259
TI  - JS-K, a GST-activated nitric oxide donor prodrug, enhances chemo-sensitivity in
      renal carcinoma cells and prevents cardiac myocytes toxicity induced by
      Doxorubicin.
AB  - PURPOSE: Doxorubicin, a highly effective and widely used anthracycline antibiotic
      in multiple chemotherapy regimens, has been limited by its cardiotoxicity. The
      aim of this study is to investigate the effect of nitric oxide donor prodrug JS-K
      on proliferation and apoptosis in renal carcinoma cells and cardiac myocytes
      toxicity induced by Doxorubicin and to explore possible p53-related mechanism in
      renal carcinoma cells. METHODS: The effect of JS-K on anti-cancer activity of
      Doxorubicin was investigated in renal carcinoma cells via detecting cell
      proliferation, cytotoxicity, cell death and apoptosis and expressions of
      apoptotic-related proteins. Effect of p53 on the combination of JS-K and
      Doxorubicin was determined using p53 inhibitor Pifithrin-alpha and p53 activator
      III. Furthermore, the effect of JS-K on cardiac myocytes toxicity of Doxorubicin
      was investigated in H9c2 (2-1) cardiac myocytes via measuring cell growth, cell
      death and apoptosis, expressions of proteins involved in apoptosis and
      intracellular reactive oxygen species. RESULTS: We demonstrated that JS-K could
      increase Doxorubicin-induced renal carcinoma cell growth suppression and
      apoptosis and could increase expressions of proteins that are involved in
      apoptosis. Additionally, Pifithrin-alpha reversed the promoting effect of JS-K on
      Doxorubicin-induced renal carcinoma cell apoptosis; conversely, the p53 activator
      III exacerbated the promoting effect of JS-K on Doxorubicin-induced renal
      carcinoma cell apoptosis. Furthermore, JS-K protected H9c2 (2-1) cardiac myocytes
      against Doxorubicin-induced toxicity and decreased Doxorubicin-induced reactive
      oxygen species production. CONCLUSIONS: JS-K enhances the anti-cancer activity of
      Doxorubicin in renal carcinoma cells by upregulating p53 expression and prevents
      cardiac myocytes toxicity of Doxorubicin by decreasing oxidative stress.

PMID- 28608260
TI  - Water, electrolyte, acid-base, and trace elements alterations in cirrhotic
      patients.
AB  - Chronic hepatic patients, and particularly those suffering from cirrhosis, are
      predisposed to different sort of water, electrolyte, acid-base, and trace
      elements disorders due to their altered liver function, and also to their
      exposition to infectious, inflammatory, oncologic, and pharmacologic variables
      whose combination undermines their homeostatic capability. Hyponatremia,
      hypokalemia, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, metabolic acidosis, respiratory, and
      metabolic alkalosis are the main internal milieu alterations in this group.

PMID- 28608261
TI  - Comparison of a 2.0-mm locking system with conventional 2.0- and 2.4-mm systems
      in the treatment of mandibular fractures: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: A comparative study of the use of the 2.0-mm locking fixation system
      with conventional systems in the treatment of mandibular fractures was performed.
      METHODS: For this study, 87 consecutive patients with 112 mandibular fractures
      were randomized to receive either 2.0-mm locking plates (n = 45) or conventional
      2.0- or 2.4-mm plates (n = 42) and had a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Fractures
      were classified based on the degree of displacement and complexity. Statistical
      analyses were used to verify possible differences between the groups when
      separately compared unfavourable and favourable cases (p <= 0.050). RESULTS:
      Despite randomization, systemic diseases were more frequent in the 2.0-mm locking
      group in favourable cases. Substance abuse occurred predominantly in the 2.0-mm
      locking group, in unfavourable and favourable fractures. There were more cases of
      complex fractures in the conventional group in unfavourable cases. One case
      involving a major postoperative complication occurred in the locking group (2.2%)
      and three cases occurred in the conventional group (7.1%) but with no significant
      difference between groups. In this study, there were no major differences between
      conventional and locking 2.0-mm locking systems with regard to the outcome of
      treated mandibular fractures, showing that both are adequate as long as the
      criteria of their indication and requirements for installation are met.
      CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that the 2.0-mm locking fixation system can replace
      conventional systems in the treatment of mandibular fractures; in addition, this
      approach was effective in the treatment of unfavourable fractures that typically
      require the 2.4-mm conventional system.

PMID- 28608262
TI  - Healthful, Cultural Foods and Safety Net Use Among Cambodian and Brazilian
      Immigrant Communities in Massachusetts.
AB  - Declining health and food security status among low-income immigrants in the U.S.
      may result from limited access to healthful, cultural foods and safety net
      programs. We held focus group discussions with low-income Cambodian and Brazilian
      immigrants (11 groups, n = 84) living in Massachusetts. Cambodians and Brazilians
      valued healthful, cultural foods, emphasizing their beliefs that cultural foods
      are healthier and beneficial for weight management and aging. Although both
      groups could access these foods, some individuals had difficulty affording them.
      Cambodians reported that food quality decreased over the month due to inadequate
      resources. Cambodians relied on SNAP, WIC, families, and food pantries; however,
      Brazilians generally did not participate in safety net programs. Barriers to
      accessing and using safety nets appear to limit diet quality for some immigrant
      families. Targeted nutrition interventions should build on current knowledge of
      and desire for healthful, cultural foods in the context of available safety nets.

PMID- 28608263
TI  - Molecular markers of DNA damage and repair in cervical cancer patients treated
      with cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy: an exploratory study.
AB  - Neoadjuvant (or induction) chemotherapy can be used for cervical cancer patients
      with locally advanced disease; this treatment is followed by radical surgery
      and/or radiation therapy. Cisplatin is considered to be the most active platinum
      agent drug for this cancer, with a response rate of 20%. In order to understand
      how the cisplatin treatment affects the stress response, in this work, we
      performed an exploratory study to analyze a number of stress proteins before and
      after cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The study involved 14 patients; the pre
      and post-chemotherapy paired biopsies were examined by hematoxylin and eosin
      staining and by immunohistochemistry. The proteins evaluated were p53, P16/INK4A,
      MSH2, nuclear protein transcriptional regulator 1 (NUPR1), and HSPB1 (total:
      HSPB1/t and phosphorylated: HSPB1/p). These proteins were selected because there
      is previous evidence of their relationship with drug resistance. The formation of
      platinum-DNA adducts was also studied. There was a great variation in the
      expression levels of the mentioned proteins in the pre-chemotherapy biopsies.
      After chemotherapy, p53 was not significantly affected by cisplatin, as well as
      P16/INK4A and MSH2 while nuclear NUPR1 content tended to decrease (p = 0.056).
      Cytoplasmic HSPB1/t expression levels decreased significantly following cisplatin
      therapy while nuclear HSPB1/t and HSPB1/p tended to increase. Since the most
      significant changes following chemotherapy appeared in the HSPB1 expression
      levels, the changes were confirmed by Western blot. The platinum-DNA adducts were
      observed in HeLa cell in apoptosis; however, in the tumor samples, the platinum
      DNA adducts were observed in morphologically healthy tumor cells; these cells
      displayed nuclear HSPB1/p. Further mechanistic studies should be performed to
      reveal how HSPB1/p is related with drug resistance. When the correlations of the
      markers with the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy were examined, only high
      pre-chemotherapy levels of cytoplasmic HSPB1/p correlated with a poor clinical
      and pathological response to neoadjuvant cisplatin chemotherapy (p = 0.056)
      suggesting that this marker could be useful opening its study in a larger number
      of cases.

PMID- 28608265
TI  - Constitutional mismatch repair deficiency and Lynch syndrome among consecutive
      Arab Bedouins with colorectal cancer in Israel.
AB  - We assessed the molecular characteristics and the frequency of mutations in
      mismatch-repair genes among Bedouin patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) in
      Israel. Bedouin patients with a diagnosis of CRC at a major hospital in the
      southern part of Israel were deemed eligible for this study. The primary
      screening method was immunohistochemical staining for mismatch-repair proteins
      (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2). For subjects with abnormal immunohistochemical
      staining, we performed microsatellite instability (MSI) analyses, and for tumors
      with a loss of MLH1 expression we also performed BRAF testing. In MSI high cases
      we searched further for germline mutations. Of the 24 patients enrolled, four
      subjects (16.7%) had MSI high tumors: one subject was found to harbor a biallelic
      PMS2 mutation, one subject had Lynch syndrome (LS) with MSH6 mutation and two
      subjects had a loss of MLH1/PMS2 proteins/BRAF wild type/normal MLH1 sequence.
      Ten patients (41.7%) were younger than 50 at the time of diagnosis and none had
      first degree relatives with CRC. In conclusion, in this cohort of 24 consecutive
      Arab Bedouins with CRC, one patient was found to harbor a constitutional mismatch
      repair deficiency, one patient had LS with MSH6 mutation, and two patients had
      unresolved loss of MLH1/PMS2 proteins/BRAF wild type phenotype.

PMID- 28608264
TI  - The small heat shock protein B8 (HSPB8) efficiently removes aggregating species
      of dipeptides produced in C9ORF72-related neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two
      neurodegenerative diseases in which similar pathogenic mechanisms are involved.
      Both diseases associate to the high propensity of specific misfolded proteins,
      like TDP-43 or FUS, to mislocalize and aggregate. This is partly due to their
      intrinsic biophysical properties and partly as a consequence of failure of the
      neuronal protein quality control (PQC) system. Several familial ALS/FTD cases are
      linked to an expansion of a repeated G4C2 hexanucleotide sequence present in the
      C9ORF72 gene. The G4C2, which localizes in an untranslated region of the C9ORF72
      transcript, drives an unconventional repeat-associated ATG-independent
      translation. This leads to the synthesis of five different dipeptide repeat
      proteins (DPRs), which are not "classical" misfolded proteins, but generate
      aberrant aggregation-prone unfolded conformations poorly removed by the PQC
      system. The DPRs accumulate into p62/SQSTM1 and ubiquitin positive inclusions.
      Here, we analyzed the biochemical behavior of the five DPRs in immortalized
      motoneurons. Our data suggest that while the DPRs are mainly processed via
      autophagy, this system is unable to fully clear their aggregated forms, and thus
      they tend to accumulate in basal conditions. Overexpression of the small heat
      shock protein B8 (HSPB8), which facilitates the autophagy-mediated disposal of a
      large variety of classical misfolded aggregation-prone proteins, significantly
      decreased the accumulation of most DPR insoluble species. Thus, the induction of
      HSPB8 might represent a valid approach to decrease DPR-mediated toxicity and
      maintain motoneuron viability.

PMID- 28608267
TI  - Renal denervation as a treatment strategy for vasospastic angina induced
      ventricular tachycardia.

PMID- 28608268
TI  - Applicability of a modified EFAST protocol (r-EFAST) to evaluate hemodynamically
      unstable patients after percutaneous cardiac intervention.
AB  - Percutaneous cardiac intervention is an invasive diagnostic and therapeutic
      technique which carries a significant complication rate. Although the usefulness
      of EFAST protocol is widely recognised, this paper will attempt to explore a
      modified approach involving a focused examination on the retroperitoneal (r
      EFAST). We have provided examples of 3 cases where r-EFAST was used to detect
      retroperitoneal bleeding in critical situations.

PMID- 28608266
TI  - Potentially pathogenic germline CHEK2 c.319+2T>A among multiple early-onset
      cancer families.
AB  - To study the potential contribution of genes other than BRCA1/2, PTEN, and TP53
      to the biological and clinical characteristics of multiple early-onset cancers in
      Norwegian families, including early-onset breast cancer, Cowden-like and Li
      Fraumeni-like syndromes (BC, CSL and LFL, respectively). The Hereditary Cancer
      Biobank from the Norwegian Radium Hospital was used to identify early-onset BC,
      CSL or LFL for whom no pathogenic variants in BRCA1/2, PTEN, or TP53 had been
      found in routine diagnostic DNA sequencing. Forty-four cancer susceptibility
      genes were selected and analyzed by our in-house designed TruSeq amplicon-based
      assay for targeted sequencing. Protein- and RNA splicing-dedicated in silico
      analyses were performed for all variants of unknown significance (VUS). Variants
      predicted as the more likely to affect splicing were experimentally analyzed by
      minigene assay. We identified a CSL individual carrying a variant in CHEK2
      (c.319+2T>A, IVS2), here considered as likely pathogenic. Out of the five VUS
      (BRCA2, CDH1, CHEK2, MAP3K1, NOTCH3) tested in the minigene splicing assay, only
      NOTCH3 c.14090C>T (p.Ser497Leu) showed a significant effect on RNA splicing,
      notably by inducing partial skipping of exon 9. Among 13 early-onset BC, CSL and
      LFL patients, gene panel sequencing identified a potentially pathogenic variant
      in CHEK2 that affects a canonical RNA splicing signal. Our study provides new
      information on genetic loci that may affect the risk of developing cancer in
      these patients and their families, demonstrating that genes presently not
      routinely tested in molecular diagnostic settings may be important for capturing
      cancer predisposition in these families.

PMID- 28608269
TI  - Comparison of glycyrrhizin content in 25 major kinds of Kampo extracts containing
      Glycyrrhizae Radix used clinically in Japan.
AB  - Glycyrrhizae Radix is the most frequently used crude drug in Japan and is
      prescribed in Kampo medicine for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. The
      major active ingredient of Glycyrrhizae Radix, glycyrrhizin (GL), has been shown
      to possess various pharmacological actions, but is also known to cause adverse
      effects such as pseudoaldosteronism. To avoid the adverse effects of GL,
      precautions have been indicated on the package inserts of Glycyrrhizae Radix
      containing formulas depending on the amount of Glycyrrhizae Radix they contain.
      However, it remains unknown whether the extraction efficiency of GL from
      Glycyrrhizae Radix is constant throughout the different combinations of crude
      drugs in Glycyrrhizae Radix-containing formulas. To confirm the basis of the
      safety regulation, in this study we comprehensively determined the GL content of
      25 major kinds of Kampo extracts compounding Glycyrrhizae Radix. We found that
      the GL content per daily dosage in all Kampo extracts are generally proportional
      to the compounding amount of Glycyrrhizae Radix, except in the case of
      shoseiryuto (Sho-seiryu-To). We also found that Schisandrae Fructus in Sho-seiryu
      To decoction caused a lowered pH condition and drastically decreased the
      extraction efficacy of GL from Glycyrrhizae Radix. Moreover, we were able to
      confirm that the extraction efficiency of GL from Glycyrrhizae Radix is dependent
      on the pH value of the extraction solvent. The extraction efficiency of GL in the
      25 kinds of Kampo extracts was not constant but it correlates significantly with
      the pH value of the decoction. Furthermore, the GL contents are well correlated
      with pseudoaldosteronism incidence data obtained from the Japanese Adverse Drug
      Event Report (JADER) database on the 25 kinds of Kampo extracts. This suggests
      that the GL content is a better index to consider to avoid the adverse effects of
      Glycyrrhizae Radix-containing Kampo formulas.

PMID- 28608270
TI  - Retraction Note to: New worldwide guidelines for treatment of inguinal hernia.
      The most important recommendations from HerniaSurge.

PMID- 28608273
TI  - How long-lasting is the post-conflict slowing after incongruent trials? Evidence
      from the Stroop, Simon, and flanker tasks.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to determine how long-lasting the post
      conflict slowing following incongruent stimuli is. In previous research,
      incongruent stimuli have been used to induce a conflict because they have
      relevant features for two different response alternatives. So far, the post
      conflict slowing following incongruent stimuli has mainly been assessed up to one
      trial. In the first two experiments, we assessed the persistence of the post
      conflict slowing across several trials. To this end, we presented a few
      incongruent stimuli among non-conflict stimuli. The results showed a consistent
      slowing for the first few trials immediately following the incongruent trials. In
      addition, a sporadic slowing was still found on later trials. In two subsequent
      experiments, we investigated to what extent the infrequency of incongruent trials
      - rather than their conflict - induced this slowing. To determine this, we used
      the same design as in the first two experiments, but we presented non-conflict
      stimuli as infrequent stimuli. The results showed a slowing on one subsequent
      trial, ruling out the possibility that the post-conflict slowing following
      incongruent trials was only caused by infrequency. Together, the findings of the
      present study indicate that the conflict induced by incongruent trials can have a
      longer lasting impact on subsequent trials than previously thought.

PMID- 28608271
TI  - Repeated subretinal surgery and removal of subretinal decalin is well tolerated -
      evidence from a porcine model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Subretinal perfluorocarbon liquid (PFCL) is a serious complication that
      can occur after retinal detachment repair. It is possible to remove the PFCL
      surgically, but retinal damage related to the procedure is unknown. Also,
      increasing interest in subretinal treatment makes it relevant to examine the
      functional and morphological consequences of repeated subretinal manipulation. We
      hypothesized that PFCL in a porcine model can be injected in the subretinal space
      and removed with minimal effect on retinal structure and function. METHODS: The
      left eyes of ten healthy three-month-old female domestic pigs were included.
      Multifocal electroretinograms (mfERG) were recorded before surgery. Following
      vitrectomy, a PFCL bleb (decalin) was injected subretinally using a 41G cannula.
      After 14 days the decalin was removed through a 41G cannula in combination with a
      2 ml syringe and an intermediate flexible tube. Two weeks after removal, a
      control mfERG was recorded, the pigs were enucleated and sacrificed and eyes were
      examined histologically. All statistics were carried out with a paired t-test in
      SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1(r) (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). RESULTS: There
      was no significant difference in mfERG amplitude ratio (left/right eye) between
      baseline and recordings two weeks after removal of decalin (P1 (M = 0.26, SD =
      0.80, p = 0.39), second order kernel (M = -0.18, SD = 0.86, p = 0.57), Direct
      Response (M = 0.39, SD = 0.61, p = 0.12) or Induced Component (M = -0.03, SD =
      0.40, p = 0.80)). Histologically, the photoreceptor outer segments were minimally
      affected. Otherwise the retina was normal 14 days after removal of decalin. In
      four pigs the subretinal decalin displaced inferiorly and was no longer
      accessible for removal. CONCLUSION: Subretinal decalin can be removed within 14
      days without lasting retinal damage. Decalin is a heavy liquid where the risk of
      displacement is high. Future studies using PFCLs to control duration of an
      experimental retinal separation should focus on PFCLs that are isodense to the
      vitreus body.

PMID- 28608274
TI  - Recurrent atraumatic acute carpal tunnel syndrome due to hematoma caused by
      distal radioulnar joint arthritis during anticoagulant treatment with apixaban.
AB  - Atraumatic acute carpal tunnel syndrome is a rare type of median nerve neuropathy
      caused by etiologies that increase compartment pressure in the carpal tunnel.
      This report describes a patient with flexor tendon abrasion as an unusual
      complication of distal radioulnar joint arthritis. This abrasion caused a
      hematoma to form in the carpal tunnel during anticoagulant treatment with
      apixaban, resulting in recurrent acute carpal tunnel syndrome.

PMID- 28608272
TI  - CTG18.1 repeat expansion may reduce TCF4 gene expression in corneal endothelial
      cells of German patients with Fuchs' dystrophy.
AB  - PURPOSE: It was the aim of this investigation to elucidate the functional effects
      of CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeat expansion and the polymorphism rs613872 in the
      transcription factor 4 (TCF4) in corneas of patients affected by Fuchs'
      endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD). METHODS: Sixty-one unrelated German
      patients with FECD and 113 unaffected controls were investigated and genotyped
      for the CTG18.1 locus by triplet primed PCR (TP-PCR) and the rs613872
      polymorphism via Sanger sequencing and by employing genomic DNA from peripheral
      blood leucocytes. DNA and RNA retrieved from human corneal endothelial explants
      were examined for alterations in the gene expression of TCF4, ZEB1, E-cadherin, N
      cadherin, as well as the CTG18.1 locus. RESULTS: The CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeat
      expansion (>50 repeats) was detected in the peripheral blood in 77% of affected
      FECD patients and 11.5% of the healthy volunteers. Applying the TP-PCR method,
      the length of CTG18.1 repeat expansions correlates in the blood and corneal
      cells. We noted that the CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeat expansion was associated
      with reduced TCF4 and ZEB1 gene expression, especially in the explanted corneal
      endothelial cells. While E-cadherin gene expression was not detected in any
      corneal endothelial cells, expression of CDH2 (N-cadherin) was detected in FECD
      affected endothelium and in our controls. CONCLUSIONS: The CTG18.1 repeat
      expansion may reduce gene expression of TCF4 and ZEB1, suggesting that a
      mechanism triggering a loss of function may contribute to FECD. The correlation
      of CTG18.1 repeat expansion from blood and the cornea may represent the first
      step toward investigating the potential relevance of testing the blood of cornea
      donors to minimize the risk of transplanting grafts potentially affected with
      FECD.

PMID- 28608275
TI  - Robert Mathys Finger prosthesis of the proximal interphalangeal joint: a
      retrospective case series of 19 joints in 17 patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Robert Mathys (RM) Finger is a hinged type of arthroplasty for
      the metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint that compensates
      ligament instability. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcomes and
      complications of RM Finger arthroplasty of the PIP joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A retrospective case series of 19 RM Finger arthroplasties of the PIP joint in 17
      patients was performed with a median follow-up of 36 months. The active range of
      motion (AROM) was measured pre-operatively, at the 6-week follow-up, at the
      termination of hand therapy, and at the final follow-up. Complications were
      recorded, as well as pain on a visual analog scale (VAS), stability, deformity,
      pinch strength, the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ), and the Patient
      Global Index of Improvement Questionnaire. RESULTS: One implant fracture
      occurred. Another patient had an amputation due to stiffness. For the remaining
      joints, AROM was 61 degrees . One joint mobilization under local anesthesia, one
      arthrolysis and two extensor tendon reconstructions were also necessary. Pain at
      the follow-up was 1.2 on the VAS. Relative pinch strength was 69%. Joint
      stability was restored in all fingers, although one joint had an ulnar deviation
      of 15 degrees . Eight fingers developed a snapping phenomenon, of which five had
      a swan neck deformity. One finger had an extension lag with a Boutonniere
      deformity. MHQ scores were less compared to the unaffected hand. Fifteen patients
      rated their outcome as improved compared to their pre-operative condition.
      CONCLUSIONS: RM Finger arthroplasty of the PIP joint restores joint stability
      with AROM improvement, and with low pain, although it has a high rate of
      complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28608276
TI  - A Comparison of Yttrium-90 Microsphere Radioembolization to Hepatic Arterial
      Infusional Chemotherapy for Patients with Chemo-refractory Hepatic Colorectal
      Metastases.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: Patients with unresectable hepatic colorectal metastases who
      become chemo-refractory have limited treatment options. Systemic chemotherapies
      such as TAS102 and regorafenib have been used in the refractory setting, but with
      only modest improvement in overall survival compared to best supportive care. In
      patients with liver-only or liver-dominant disease, direct chemotherapy to the
      liver such as hepatic artery infusional (HAI) chemotherapy and radioembolization
      (yttrium-90 (Y90)) should be considered. Due to the difficulty of HAI therapy
      post Y90 for technical reasons, we recommend HAI therapy prior to Y90.

PMID- 28608277
TI  - [Oral anticoagulation using coumarins - an update].
AB  - Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are used for the prophylaxis and treatment of
      thrombotic and thromboembolic events. Most important indications are venous
      thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, atrial fibrillation, and mechanical heart
      valve replacement. Hence they are from high relevance for the neurologist and his
      daily praxis in cardio-neurological routine. Here, we give an overview about VKA
      with focus on mode of action, indications and efficacy, practical aspects of
      treatment, side effects, and monitoring.

PMID- 28608278
TI  - Identification and characterization of EYK1, a key gene for erythritol catabolism
      in Yarrowia lipolytica.
AB  - Erythritol is a four-carbon sugar alcohol synthesized by osmophilic yeasts, such
      as Yarrowia lipolytica, in response to osmotic stress. This metabolite has
      application as food additive due to its sweetening properties. Although Y.
      lipolytica can produce erythritol at a high level from glycerol, it is also able
      to consume it as carbon source. This ability negatively affects erythritol
      productivity and represents a serious drawback for the development of an
      efficient erythritol production process. In this study, we have isolated by
      insertion mutagenesis a Y. lipolytica mutant unable to grow on erythritol.
      Genomic characterization of the latter highlighted that the mutant phenotype is
      directly related to the disruption of the YALI0F01606g gene. Several experimental
      evidences suggested that the identified gene, renamed EYK1, encodes an
      erythrulose kinase. The mutant strain showed an enhanced capacity to produce
      erythritol as compared to the wild-type strain. Moreover, in specific
      experimental conditions, it is also able to convert erythritol to erythrulose,
      another compound of biotechnological interest.

PMID- 28608279
TI  - The recombinant fusion protein of cholera toxin B and neutrophil-activating
      protein expressed on Bacillus subtilis spore surface suppresses allergic
      inflammation in mice.
AB  - The neutrophil-activating protein of Helicobacter pylori (HP-NAP) has been
      identified as a modulator with anti-Th2 inflammation activity, and cholera toxin
      B (CTB) is a mucosal adjuvant that can also induce antigen tolerance. In this
      study, we constructed a CTB-NAP fusion protein on the surface of Bacillus
      subtilis spore and evaluate the efficiency of oral administration of the
      recombinant CTB-NAP spores in preventing asthma in mice. Oral administration of
      recombinant CTB or CTB-NAP spores significantly decreased serum ovalbumin (OVA)
      specific IgE (p < 0.001) and increased fecal IgA (p < 0.01) compared to the
      treatment with non-recombinant spores. Oral administration of recombinant CTB or
      CTB-NAP spores induced IL-10 and IFN-gamma expression and reduced IL-4 levels in
      bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Moreover, CTB and CTB-NAP spores reduced the
      eosinophils in BALF and inflammatory cell infiltration in the lungs. Furthermore,
      CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in splenocytes were significantly increased in mice treated
      with recombinant CTB or CTB-NAP spores. The number of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs
      caused by CTB-NAP was higher than that by CTB alone. Our study indicated that B.
      subtilis spores with surface expression of subunit CTB or CTB-NAP could inhibit
      OVA-induced allergic inflammation in mice. The attenuated inflammation was
      attributed to the induction of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs and IgA. Moreover, the
      fusion protein CTB-NAP demonstrated a better efficiency than CTB alone in
      inhibiting the inflammation.

PMID- 28608280
TI  - Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: Impact of
      Disease-Modifying Drugs.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) has a profound impact on health-related quality of life
      (HRQoL), a comprehensive subjective measure of the patient's health status.
      Assessment of HRQoL informs on the potential advantages and disadvantages of
      disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) beyond their effects on observer-based disability
      and magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities. This article reviews published data
      from randomized controlled trials and observational studies regarding the effects
      of currently available DMDs on HRQoL. Data indicate that DMD treatment is
      associated with prevention of worsening or with improvement of HRQoL, and that,
      in general, second-line DMDs may have a greater impact on HRQoL than first-line
      DMDs. In clinical practice, monitoring of HRQoL provides clinicians with unique
      information regarding disease impact and potential benefits and adverse effects
      of DMD treatment that may not be obtained otherwise; it might also permit early
      detection of an unfavorable disease course. It is suggested to assess HRQoL at
      the time of diagnosis and before starting or switching DMD treatment. Regular
      HRQoL measurements contribute to a comprehensive clinical evaluation, and may
      help to elucidate and quantify the patient's contribution to shared decision
      making regarding DMD treatment. Further studies are needed to better determine
      the role of HRQoL assessments in daily MS care.

PMID- 28608281
TI  - Suppression of cucumber stachyose synthase gene (CsSTS) inhibits phloem loading
      and reduces low temperature stress tolerance.
AB  - Stachyose is the main transporting sugar in phloem of Raffinose family
      oligosaccharides-transporting species. Stachyose synthase (STS) is a key enzyme
      for stachyose biosynthesis, but the gene encoding STS is poorly characterized in
      cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), which is a model plant for studying stachyose
      metabolism and phloem function. In this research, stachyose synthase gene (CsSTS)
      from cucumber was isolated and its physiological functions were analyzed. CsSTS
      expressed mainly in the phloem of the minor veins in mature leaves and localized
      to companion cells. Reverse genetics with CsSTS RNAi lines revealed obviously
      reductions in STS activity and stachyose content along with a small amount of
      starch accumulation in leaves, suggesting that CsSTS is involved in phloem
      loading of cucumber leaves. After 6  degrees C low temperature stress,
      malondialdehyde content and electrical conductivity increased, especially in
      CsSTS-RNAi plants. But CsSTS expression was up-regulated, STS activity and
      stachyose level increased, the activities of reactive-oxygen-scavenging enzyme in
      cucumber seedlings improved significantly and starch accumulation reduced,
      especially in CsSTS-OE lines. These results demonstrate clearly that CsSTS is
      involved in phloem loading, carbohydrate distribution and tolerance of cucumber
      seedlings to low temperature stress.

PMID- 28608282
TI  - Poly(ADP-ribosylated) proteins in mononuclear cells from patients with type 2
      diabetes identified by proteomic studies.
AB  - AIMS: In diabetes, hyperglycemia increases reactive oxygen species that induce
      DNA damage and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase activation. The aim of this study is to
      characterize the proteomic profile and the role of poly(ADP-ribosylation) in
      patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A proteomic platform based on 2DE and
      MALDI-ToF spectrometry was applied to peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained
      from two different cohorts in which diabetic (n = 14) and normoglycemic patients
      (n = 11) were enrolled. RESULTS: Proteomic maps identified WD repeat protein, 78
      kDa glucose-regulated protein precursor and myosin regulatory light chain 2, as
      unique proteins in diabetic patients; vimentin, elongation factor 2, annexin A1,
      glutathione S-transferase P, moesin and cofilin-1 as unique in the normoglycemic;
      and calreticulin, rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor 2, protein disulfide isomerase
      and tropomyosin alpha-4-chain as differentially expressed between the two
      cohorts. An enrichment in PARylation in diabetic patients was observed in
      particular, affecting GAPDH and alpha-Enolase leading to a decrease in their
      enzymatic activity. CONCLUSIONS: As the GAPDH and alpha-Enolase are involved in
      energy metabolism, protein synthesis and DNA repair, loss of their function or
      change in their activity can significantly contribute to the molecular mechanisms
      responsible for the development of type 2 diabetes. These data along with the
      proteomic profile associated with the disease may provide new insight into the
      pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28608283
TI  - Geometric morphometric analysis reveals age-related differences in the distal
      femur of Europeans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have looked into age-related variations in femur shape.
      We hypothesized that three-dimensional (3D) geometric morphometric analysis of
      the distal femur would reveal age-related differences. The purpose of this study
      was to show that differences in distal femur shape related to age could be
      identified, visualized, and quantified using three-dimensional (3D) geometric
      morphometric analysis. METHODS: Geometric morphometric analysis was carried out
      on CT scans of the distal femur of 256 subjects living in the south of France.
      Ten landmarks were defined on 3D reconstructions of the distal femur. Both
      traditional metric and geometric morphometric analyses were carried out on these
      bone reconstructions. These analyses were used to identify trends in bone shape
      in various age-based subgroups (<40, 40-60, >60). RESULTS: Only the average bone
      shape of the < 40-year subgroup was statistically different from that of the
      other two groups. When the population was divided into two subgroups using 40
      years of age as a threshold, the subject's age was correctly assigned 80% of the
      time. DISCUSSION: Age-related differences are present in this bone segment. This
      reliable, accurate method could be used for virtual autopsy and to perform
      diachronic and interethnic comparisons. Moreover, this study provides updated
      morphometric data for a modern population in the south of France. CONCLUSION:
      Manufacturers of knee replacement implants will have to adapt their prosthesis
      models as the population evolves over time.

PMID- 28608284
TI  - Erratum to: Cell-Free Urinary MicroRNAs Expression in Small-Scale Experiments.

PMID- 28608285
TI  - The GLP-1 analogue lixisenatide decreases atherosclerosis in insulin-resistant
      mice by modulating macrophage phenotype.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Recent clinical studies indicate that glucagon-like peptide-1
      (GLP-1) analogues prevent acute cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes mellitus
      but their mechanisms remain unknown. In the present study, the impact of GLP-1
      analogues and their potential underlying molecular mechanisms in insulin
      resistance and atherosclerosis are investigated. METHODS: Atherosclerosis
      development was evaluated in Apoe -/- Irs2 +/- mice, a mouse model of insulin
      resistance, the metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis, treated with the GLP-1
      analogues lixisenatide or liraglutide. In addition, studies in Apoe -/- Irs2 +/-
      mice and mouse-derived macrophages treated with lixisenatide were performed to
      investigate the potential inflammatory intracellular pathways. RESULTS: Treatment
      of Apoe -/- Irs2 +/- mice with either lixisenatide or liraglutide improved
      glucose metabolism and blood pressure but this was independent of body weight
      loss. Both drugs significantly decreased atheroma plaque size. Compared with
      vehicle-treated control mice, lixisenatide treatment generated more stable
      atheromas, with fewer inflammatory infiltrates, reduced necrotic cores and
      thicker fibrous caps. Lixisenatide-treated mice also displayed diminished IL-6
      levels, proinflammatory Ly6Chigh monocytes and activated T cells. In vitro
      analysis showed that, in macrophages from Apoe -/- Irs2 +/- mice, lixisenatide
      reduced the secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 accompanied by
      enhanced activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3,
      which is a determinant for M2 macrophage differentiation. STAT1 activation, which
      is essential for M1 phenotype, was also diminished. Furthermore, atheromas from
      lixisenatide-treated mice showed higher arginase I content and decreased
      expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, indicating the prevalence of the
      M2 phenotype within plaques. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Lixisenatide decreases
      atheroma plaque size and instability in Apoe -/- Irs2 +/- mice by reprogramming
      macrophages towards an M2 phenotype, which leads to reduced inflammation. This
      study identifies a critical role for this drug in macrophage polarisation inside
      plaques and provides experimental evidence supporting a novel mechanism of action
      for GLP-1 analogues in the reduction of cardiovascular risk associated with
      insulin resistance.

PMID- 28608286
TI  - Survival of melanoma patients treated with novel drugs: retrospective analysis of
      real-world data.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recently, several new drugs have been licensed for advanced melanoma
      therapy, significantly changing the therapeutic landscape. Ipilimumab and
      vemurafenib were the first drugs that demonstrated a survival benefit over the
      long-standing standard therapy with dacarbazine. However, the comparative
      efficacy of these novel drugs has not been properly assessed yet. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all the Polish population
      treated between January 2012 and October 2016 with one of the following agents:
      ipilimumab (IPI), vemurafenib (VEM), dabrafenib (DAB), and classic chemotherapy
      (CTH). The main objective was to assess the overall survival of melanoma patients
      treated in real-world conditions, taking into account sequences of treatment.
      RESULTS: We identified 3397 patients with malignant melanoma treated for the
      first line and the second line. Patients receiving CTH were significantly older
      than those treated with the novel drugs. At the same time, the population treated
      with immunotherapy and targeted therapy was well balanced. Overall survival was
      significantly better for the novel drugs compared to classic chemotherapy in both
      lines (for the first line, VEM vs CTH HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.65-0.81; p < .01, and
      for the second line, VEM vs CTH HR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.98; p = .03; IPI vs CTH
      HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.62-0.86; p < .01). There was no statistically significant
      difference for IPI vs VEM; however, subgroup analysis revealed superior results
      in the case of the CTH-IPI over BRAFi-IPI sequence. CONCLUSION: Novel drugs for
      melanoma provide a significant advantage in survival over classic chemotherapy.
      Comparative assessment of IPI and VEM indicated no difference, but only
      immunotherapy-treated patients achieved long-lasting results. Our data on
      sequential treatment indicate that immunotherapy might be a better option for the
      first line rather than targeted therapy, but that conclusion requires further
      studies of the best way to manage the treatment of melanoma patients.

PMID- 28608287
TI  - Increased glutamic acid decarboxylase expression in the hypothalamic
      suprachiasmatic nucleus in depression.
AB  - In depression, disrupted circadian rhythms reflect abnormalities in the central
      circadian pacemaker, the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Although
      many SCN neurons are said to be GABAergic, it was not yet known whether and how
      SCN GABA changes occur in the SCN in depression. We, therefore, studied GABA in
      the SCN in relation to the changes in arginine vasopressin (AVP), which is one of
      the major SCN output systems. Postmortem hypothalamus specimens of 13 subjects
      suffering from depression and of 13 well-matched controls were collected.
      Quantitative immunocytochemistry was used to analyze the protein levels of
      glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)65/67 and AVP, and quantitative in situ
      hybridization was used to measure transcript levels of GAD67 in the SCN. There
      were a significant 58% increase of SCN GAD65/67-ir and a significant 169%
      increase of SCN GAD67-mRNA in the depression group. In addition, there were a
      significant 253% increase of AVP-ir in female depression subjects but not in male
      depression patients. This sex difference was supported by a re-analysis of SCN
      AVP-ir data of a previous study of our group. Moreover, SCN-AVP-ir showed a
      significant negative correlation with age in the control group and in the male,
      but not in the female depression group. Given the crucial role of GABA in
      mediating SCN function, our finding of increased SCN GABA expression may
      significantly contribute to the disordered circadian rhythms in depression. The
      increased SCN AVP-ir in female-but not in male-depression patients-may reflect
      the higher vulnerability for depression in women.

PMID- 28608288
TI  - Substance P effects exclusively on prototypic neurons in mouse globus pallidus.
AB  - Previous studies have suggested that the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) expressing
      neurons in the globus pallidus (GP) receive substance P (SP), presumably released
      by axon collaterals of striatal direct neurons. However, the effect of SP on the
      GP remains unclear. In this study, we identified that the SP-responsive cells
      comprise a highly specific cell type in the GP with regard to immunofluorescence,
      electrophysiology, and projection properties. Morphologically, NK-1R
      immunoreactive neurons occasionally co-expressed parvalbumin (PV) and/or Lim
      homeobox 6 (Lhx6), but not Forkhead box protein P2 (FoxP2), which is mainly
      expressed by arkypallidal neurons. Retrograde tracing experiments also showed
      that some of GP neurons projecting to the subthalamic nucleus (namely prototypic
      neurons) expressed NK-1R as well as Lhx6 and/or PV, but not FoxP2. In vitro
      electrophysiological study revealed that, among 48 GP neurons, the SP agonist
      induced inward current in 21 neurons. The response was prevented by bath
      application of the NK-1R antagonist. Based on the firing properties, 92 recorded
      GP neurons were classified into three distinct types, i.e., CL1, 2, and 3.
      Interestingly, all the SP-responsive neurons were found to be in CL2 and CL3
      types, but not in CL1. Moreover, active and passive membrane properties of the
      neurons in those clusters and immunofluorescent identification suggested that CL1
      and CL2/3 could be considered as arkypallidal and prototypic neurons,
      respectively. Therefore, SP-responsive neurons were one of the populations of
      prototypic neurons based on both anatomical and electrophysiological results.
      Altogether, the striatal direct pathway neurons could affect the indirect pathway
      in the way of prototypic neurons, via the action of SP to NK-1R.

PMID- 28608289
TI  - [Antibiotic stewardship : A programmatic approach to improved antimicrobial
      management].
AB  - Due to the increasing selection and prevalence of multidrug-resistant gram
      negative bacteria and the insufficient development of novel antibiotics, the
      responsible and prudent use of the available antimicrobial drugs is of major
      importance. In Germany the rational use of anti-infectives considering the local
      antimicrobial resistance situation is defined in the infection protection act of
      2011. An important tool to follow legal regulations and to improve the treatment
      of bacterial infections is the antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) concept. Hospitals
      implementing an AMS program charge a multidisciplinary team of experts to develop
      and monitor treatment standards and to establish a system of regular
      consultations and ward rounds. Objectives of this set of measures are the
      optimization of the individual treatment outcome and on a longer range the
      improvement of the epidemiological situation. AMS programs include all clinical
      disciplines that use antimicrobials. Trauma surgery is also affected in a special
      way as soon as complicated infections and those with multidrug-resistant bacteria
      are treated.

PMID- 28608290
TI  - Titanium and iron titanium oxide nanoparticles in antennae of the migratory ant
      Pachycondyla marginata: an alternative magnetic sensor for magnetoreception?
AB  - The most accepted hypothesis of magnetoreception for social insects is the
      ferromagnetic hypothesis which assumes the presence of magnetic material as a
      sensor coupled to sensitive structures that transmit the geomagnetic field
      information to the nervous system. As magnetite is the most common magnetic
      material observed in living beings, it has been suggested as basic constituent of
      the magnetoreception system. Antennae and head have been pointed as possible
      magnetosensor organs in social insects as ants, bees and termites. Samples of
      three antenna joints: head-scape, scape-pedicel and pedicel-third segment joints
      were embedded in epoxi resin, ultrathin sectioned and analyzed by transmission
      electron microscopy. Selected area electron diffraction patterns and X-ray energy
      dispersive spectroscopy were obtained to identify the nanoparticle compound.
      Besides iron oxides, for the first time, nanoparticles containing titanium have
      been identified surrounded by tissue in the antennae of ants. Given their
      dimension and related magnetic characteristics, these nanoparticles are discussed
      as being part of the magnetosensor system.

PMID- 28608292
TI  - Sex Differences on the Go/No-Go Test of Inhibition.
AB  - Parental investment theory suggests that women, due to greater investment in
      child rearing, can be more choosy than men when considering a potential mate. A
      corollary to this is that women should possess greater inhibition abilities
      compared to men in contexts related to sex and reproduction. This notion has
      found support from the inhibition literature demonstrating that while women do
      indeed show greater inhibition on tasks that include a social aspect, no such
      effect is found on cognitive tasks that do not possess a social component. In the
      present experiment, participants (N = 66) performed a variant of a classic Go/No
      Go task consisting of infrequent No-Go trials in which a response needed to be
      withheld. Importantly, the stimuli were geometric shapes possessing no social
      component. Results showed that women outperformed men on the No-Go trials,
      indicating greater inhibition. No significant difference was found in reaction
      time on Go trials. Thus, the results cannot be explained in terms of a
      speed/accuracy trade-off. We discuss the findings in the context of the female
      evolved inhibition hypothesis.

PMID- 28608291
TI  - Iron-induced generation of mitochondrial ROS depends on AMPK activity.
AB  - Deregulated iron homeostasis is generally believed to be implicated in
      neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease. Nevertheless, it is
      not fully understood how iron overload can elicit neuronal cell damage. Here we
      examined mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in human dopaminergic
      neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells upon iron exposure. A relatively high concentration
      of iron could significantly increase mitochondrial ROS levels in SH-SY5Y cells.
      Pharmacological activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) almost
      completely inhibited the effect of iron on mitochondrial ROS. By contrast, AMPK
      inhibition aggravated the neurotoxicity of iron and enhanced the production of
      mitochondrial ROS. Collectively, these findings suggested that excess iron may be
      able to perturb mitochondrial function, and AMPK activity is important for the
      association of iron and mitochondria.

PMID- 28608293
TI  - Fraternal Birth Order, Family Size, and Male Homosexuality: Meta-Analysis of
      Studies Spanning 25 Years.
AB  - The fraternal birth order effect is the tendency for older brothers to increase
      the odds of homosexuality in later-born males. This study compared the strength
      of the effect in subjects from small versus large families and in homosexual
      subjects with masculine versus feminine gender identities. Meta-analyses were
      conducted on 30 homosexual and 30 heterosexual groups from 26 studies, totaling
      7140 homosexual and 12,837 heterosexual males. The magnitude of the fraternal
      birth order effect was measured with a novel variable, the Older Brothers Odds
      Ratio, computed as (homosexuals' older brothers / homosexuals' other siblings) /
      (heterosexuals' older brothers / heterosexuals' other siblings), where other
      siblings = older sisters + younger brothers + younger sisters. An Older Brothers
      Odds Ratio of 1.00 represents no effect of sexual orientation; values over 1.00
      are positive evidence for the fraternal birth order effect. Evidence for the
      reliability of the effect was consistent. The Older Brothers Odds Ratio was
      significantly >1.00 in 20 instances, >1.00 although not significantly in nine
      instances, and nonsignificantly <1.00 in 1 instance. The pooled Older Brothers
      Odds Ratio for all samples was 1.47, p < .00001. Subgroups analyses showed that
      the magnitude of the effect was significantly greater in the 12 feminine or
      transgender homosexual groups than in the other 18 homosexual groups. There was
      no evidence that the magnitude of the effect differs according to family size.

PMID- 28608294
TI  - Internalized Homophobia and Drug Use in a National Cohort of Gay and Bisexual
      Men: Examining Depression, Sexual Anxiety, and Gay Community Attachment as
      Mediating Factors.
AB  - The minority stress process of internalized homophobia (IH) has been associated
      with a range of adverse health outcomes among gay and bisexual men (GBM).
      However, evidence is mixed regarding the effect of IH on drug use, suggesting the
      potential role of multiple mediated pathways. Researchers have linked depression,
      sexual anxiety, and gay community attachment with IH. Depression, sexual anxiety,
      and gay community attachment have also been linked with drug use and drug-related
      problems suggesting potential mediating roles. A U.S. national sample of 1071 HIV
      negative GBM completed at-home surveys, including measures of sociodemographic
      characteristics, IH, depression, sexual anxiety, gay community attachment, and
      drug use and associated problems. Adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics,
      depression mediated the association between IH and recent drug use. IH was
      positively associated with depression, and depression was positively associated
      with recent drug use. Gay community attachment partially mediated drug-related
      problems. IH had a positive direct association with drug-related problems and a
      negative direct association with gay community attachment. Gay community
      attachment had a positive association with drug-related problems. IH was
      positively associated with sexual anxiety, but sexual anxiety was not associated
      with either drug outcome. Efforts to reduce IH among HIV-negative GBM are likely
      to have a positive impact on mental health problems, as well as reduce risk for
      drug use and drug-related problems. Gay communities could provide the social
      support necessary for reducing IH; however, emphasis on community level
      interventions that address factors that increase risk for drug-related problems
      remains important.

PMID- 28608295
TI  - Influence of head position on obstructive sleep apnea severity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Supine body orientation plays an important role in precipitating upper
      airway collapse in a significant proportion of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
      patients known to have supine-predominant OSA (OSAsup). Traditionally, trunk
      position is used to assess OSAsup, but the role of the head position has not been
      established. We hypothesized that head position influences OSA independently of
      trunk position. METHODS: Head and trunk positions were determined from subjects
      undergoing overnight polysomnography. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), rapid eye
      movement (REM), and non-REM sleep time of all trunk and head positions (lateral
      and supine) were calculated and compared against the complete supine position,
      i.e., head and trunk supine. RESULTS: In 26 subjects, lateral rotation of the
      head to the right or left with the trunk supine resulted in a significant
      reduction in AHI from 36.0 +/- 22.5 to 25.8 +/- 16.6 (p = 0.008), and an AHI drop
      <10 in 27% of patients. The "trunk lateral-head lateral" position resulted in a
      more dramatic reduction in AHI from 31.6 +/- 20.2 to 4.1 +/- 4.1 (p < 0.0001).
      The distributions of REM and non-REM sleep were not different among positions. In
      the subgroup with a body mass index (BMI) <32 kg/m2 (15 subjects), the AHI
      reduction with lateral head rotation was significant (p = 0.005) but not in
      remaining 11 obese patient with a BMI >=32 kg/m2 (p = 0.24). CONCLUSION: OSA
      severity with the trunk in the supine position decreased significantly when the
      head rotated from supine to lateral, particularly in non-obese patients. These
      results demonstrate an important influence of head position on the AHI,
      independently of trunk position and sleep stage, in patients with OSA.

PMID- 28608296
TI  - Erratum to: Short tangential arcs in VMAT based breast and chest wall
      radiotherapy lead to conformity of the breast dose with lesser cardiac and lung
      doses: a prospective study of breast conservation and mastectomy patients.

PMID- 28608298
TI  - An Update on Isocyanide-Based Multicomponent Reactions in Polymer Science.
AB  - Developments and progress in polymer science are often inspired by organic
      chemistry. In recent years, multicomponent reactions-especially the Passerini and
      Ugi reactions-have become very important tools for macromolecular design, mainly
      due to their modular character. In this review, the versatility of the Passerini
      and Ugi reactions in polymer science is highlighted by discussing recent examples
      of their use for monomer synthesis, as polymerization techniques, and for
      postpolymerization modification, as well as their suitability for architecture
      control, sequence control, and sequence definition.

PMID- 28608297
TI  - Neomycin, polymyxin B, and dexamethasone allergic reactions following periocular
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of periocular allergic
      skin reactions to topical neomycin, polymyxin B, and dexamethasone (NPD)
      ophthalmic ointment. METHODS: A consecutive patient prospective study was
      performed. A total of 522 patients who had a procedure involving incision of the
      periocular skin with subsequent postoperative application of NPD ophthalmic
      ointment were included. Patients were evaluated for signs of allergy at 1 week
      postoperatively or prior if the patient had complaints. A periocular allergic
      reaction was defined as any periocular skin pruritus, erythema, edematous
      papules, vesicles, or plaques at the site of ointment application beyond that of
      the typical postprocedure presentation. The patients continued to be monitored
      for 30 days postoperatively. RESULTS: Of the 522 patients who completed the
      study, eight (1.5%) had a definitive periocular allergic contact dermatitis to
      the NPD ophthalmic ointment. Allergic presentation ranged from postoperative day
      3 to 14. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of periocular allergic reactions to NPD ophthalmic
      ointment is significantly lower than reported in the literature for other topical
      preparations of neomycin and polymyxin B. The low rate of allergy in this study
      suggests that NPD ophthalmic ointment can safely be applied to the periocular
      skin with a very minimal risk of inciting an allergic reaction.

PMID- 28608299
TI  - Simulation of the spatial stresses due to territorial land development on Yellow
      River Delta Nature Reserve using a GIS-based assessment model.
AB  - This study aimed at assessing the stresses from land development in or around
      Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve (YRDNR) and identifying the impacted areas.
      Major land development types (reservoirs, pond, aquafarm, salt pan, road,
      residential land, industry land, farming land, and fishing land) in or around the
      YRDNR from 1995 to 2014 were identified using spatial data sets derived from
      remote sensing imageries. The spatial stresses were simulated by considering
      disturbance due to land development activities and accessibility of disturbance
      using a geographic information system based model. The stresses were then used to
      identify the impacted area by land development (IALD). The results indicated that
      main increasing land development types in the study area from 1995 to 2014 were
      salt pan and construction land. The 98.2% of expanded land development area and
      93.7% of increased pump number showed a good control of reserve function zone on
      land development spread. The spatial stress values and percentages of IALD
      increased from 1995 to 2014, and IALD percentage exceeded 50% for both parts of
      YRDNR in 2014. The results of this study also provided the information that
      detailed planning of the YRDNR (2014-2020) could decrease the spatial stress and
      IALD percentage of the whole YRDNR on the condition that the area of land
      development activities increased by 24.4 km2 from 2014 to 2020. Effective
      measures should be taken to protect such areas from being further disturbed in
      order to achieve the goal of a more effective conservation of the YRDNR, and
      attention should be paid to the disordered land development activities in or
      around the natural reserves.

PMID- 28608300
TI  - In situ assay of nitrate reductase activity using portable water bath.
AB  - In environmental research (i.e., plant ecophysiology, environmental microbiology,
      and environmental chemistry), some assays require incubation of samples at
      controlled temperature and darkness. Until now, due to a lack of equipment
      providing such possibility in situ, researchers had to move collected samples to
      the laboratory for incubation. Obviously, a delayed incubation and the ex situ
      conditions could seriously affect the assays' results. A good example of analysis
      where water bath use is needed is the nitrate reductase activity (NRA) in vivo
      assay where plant tissue samples are incubated in buffer solution at a
      predetermined temperature. We designed a transportable water bath with a
      temperature control which enables in situ measurements in many types of
      environmental studies. The presented device is small in size featuring a
      thermally insulated chamber and an electronically controlled thermostat system
      powered by a 12-V battery. Due to its modular design, it can be transported
      comfortably in difficult terrain. The incubation process can be carried out
      continuously in stable temperature and darkness. In order to examine the field
      usability of the presented device, we conducted measurements of plant nitrate
      reductase activity in difficult field conditions. The in situ assays were carried
      out at high altitudes in the Karkonosze mountains, SW Poland. The NRA was studied
      in two alpine species (Deschampsia caespitosa and Homogyne alpina). Our results
      showed low NR activity in H. alpina (mean 0.31 MUM NO2 g-1 DW h-1) and higher NRA
      in D. caespitosa (mean 2.7 MUM NO2 g-1 DW h-1). The obtained results were highly
      reproducible and had small variability (low standard error values).

PMID- 28608301
TI  - A comparative study on generating simulated Landsat NDVI images using data fusion
      and regression method-the case of the Korean Peninsula.
AB  - Landsat optical images have enough spatial and spectral resolution to analyze
      vegetation growth characteristics. But, the clouds and water vapor degrade the
      image quality quite often, which limits the availability of usable images for the
      time series vegetation vitality measurement. To overcome this shortcoming,
      simulated images are used as an alternative. In this study, weighted average
      method, spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model (STARFM) method,
      and multilinear regression analysis method have been tested to produce simulated
      Landsat normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images of the Korean
      Peninsula. The test results showed that the weighted average method produced the
      images most similar to the actual images, provided that the images were available
      within 1 month before and after the target date. The STARFM method gives good
      results when the input image date is close to the target date. Careful regional
      and seasonal consideration is required in selecting input images. During summer
      season, due to clouds, it is very difficult to get the images close enough to the
      target date. Multilinear regression analysis gives meaningful results even when
      the input image date is not so close to the target date. Average R 2 values for
      weighted average method, STARFM, and multilinear regression analysis were 0.741,
      0.70, and 0.61, respectively.

PMID- 28608302
TI  - Erratum to: Muscle MRI in neutral lipid storage disease (NLSD).

PMID- 28608303
TI  - Assessment of the factorial validity and reliability of the ALSFRS-R: a revision
      of its measurement model.
AB  - The amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale-revised (ALSFRS-R) is a
      widely used primary outcome measure in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
      clinical practice and clinical trials. ALSFRS-R items cannot, however, validly be
      summed to obtain a total score, but constitute domain scores reflecting a profile
      of disease severity. Currently, there are different measurement models for
      estimating domain scores. The objective of the present study is, therefore, to
      derive the measurement model that best fits the data for a valid and uniform
      estimation of ALSFRS-R domain scores. Data from 1556 patients with ALS were
      obtained from a population-based register in The Netherlands. A random split of
      the sample provided a calibration and validation set. Measurement models of the
      ALSFRS-R were investigated using both exploratory factor analyses and
      confirmatory factor analyses. The measurement model with a four-factor structure
      (i.e., bulbar, fine motor, gross motor, and respiratory function), with
      correlated factors and cross-loading items on dressing and hygiene and turning in
      bed and adjusting bed clothes on both motor function scales, provided the best
      fit to the data in both sets. Correlation between factors ranged from weak to
      modest, confirming that the ALSFRS-R constitutes a profile of four clinically
      relevant domain scores rather than a total score that expresses disease severity.
      The internal consistency of the four domain scores was satisfactory. Our revision
      of the measurement model may allow for a more adequate estimation of disease
      severity and disease progression in epidemiological studies and clinical trials.

PMID- 28608304
TI  - Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS): a rare autoimmune presynaptic disorder
      often associated with cancer.
AB  - Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) is a rare autoimmune neuromuscular
      junction disorder that is related to the loss of functional P/Q-type voltage
      gated calcium channels (VGCCs) on presynaptic nerve terminals. Up to 60% of cases
      occur as a paraneoplastic disorder (SCLC-LEMS), most commonly in association with
      small cell lung cancer. The remaining cases have an idiopathic non-tumor etiology
      but are associated with underlying autoimmune disease (NT-LEMS). Patients with
      LEMS invariably experience progressive proximal muscle weakness, often
      accompanied by general fatigue and autonomic symptoms. Some LEMS clinical
      symptoms overlap with those of other myasthenic syndromes, most commonly
      myasthenia gravis, which can contribute to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.
      Prognosis is related to the presence of cancer or autoimmune disease and the
      severity/distribution of muscle weakness. Cause of death in patients with SCLC
      LEMS is typically tumor progression, whereas NT-LEMS does not reduce life
      expectancy. LEMS diagnosis is supported by a threefold approach: clinical
      features, electromyography, and anti-VGCC antibody serology. LEMS is a clinically
      important early indicator of possible cancer; therefore, a LEMS diagnosis should
      immediately prompt rigorous oncological screening and surveillance. Symptomatic
      treatment of LEMS typically involves medications that improve neurotransmission
      (e.g., the potassium channel blocker amifampridine [3,4-diaminopyridine]), with
      addition of immunosuppressants/modulators (e.g., prednisone plus azathioprine) in
      individuals with persistent symptoms. Where a tumor is identified, oncological
      treatment should take priority. It should be remembered, however, that LEMS has a
      significant impact on a patient's quality of life and ability to perform daily
      activities, and therefore warrants timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment in
      and of itself.

PMID- 28608305
TI  - Quality assurance of the PREOPANC trial (2012-003181-40) for preoperative
      radiochemotherapy in pancreatic cancer : The dummy run.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group initiated the national,
      multicentre, controlled PREOPANC trial, randomising between preoperative
      radiochemotherapy and direct explorative laparotomy for patients with
      (borderline) resectable pancreatic cancer. The aim of this dummy run is to
      evaluate compliance with the radiotherapy protocol of this trial, and the quality
      of delineation and radiation plans. METHODS: Eleven radiation oncology
      departments open for accrual of patients in the PREOPANC trial were provided with
      all necessary information of a selected 'dummy' patient. Each institute was asked
      to delineate the target volumes, including gross tumour volume, internal gross
      tumour volume (iGTV), internal clinical target volume, and planning target
      volume. The institutions were also asked to provide a radiation treatment plan in
      accordance with the PREOPANC trial protocol. RESULTS: The range of the iGTV was
      19.3-77.2 cm3 with a mean iGTV of 41.5 cm3 (standard deviation 14.8 cm3). Nine
      institutions made a treatment plan using an arc technique for treatment delivery,
      one an intensity modulated technique and one a 3-field conformal technique. All
      institutions reached the prescribed target coverage, without exceeding the organs
      at risk constraints. The institution with the 3-field conformal technique was
      advised to use a more sophisticated technique (e. g. volumetric modulated arc
      therapy) to reduce the dose to the spinal cord. CONCLUSION: All institutions
      showed acceptable deviations from the PREOPANC trial protocol and achieved an
      acceptable quality of delineation and radiation technique. All institutions were
      allowed to continue participation in the PREOPANC trial.

PMID- 28608306
TI  - Replacement of alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa L.) with subabul (Leucaena
      leucocephala) leaf meal in diets of Najdi goats: effect on digestion activity of
      rumen microorganisms.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of replacing alfalfa hay by subabul leaf meal
      (SLM) on digestion, fermentation parameters and rumen bacteria and fungi activity
      of Najdi goats. Six Najdi goats (150 +/- 15 days of age and initial body weight
      of 35 +/- 1.1 kg) were randomly assigned to one of two dietary treatments in a
      balanced completely randomized design (three goats per treatment) for 56 days.
      Experimental treatments included alfalfa hay as control group and diet containing
      SLM (SLM replacing alfalfa hay at 50% level). Bacterial and fungi activity and
      rumen fermentation parameters of animals fed experimental diets were determined.
      Dry matter disappearance (DMD) was unaffected by replacing SLM with alfalfa hay
      for both rumen bacteria and fungi in different incubation times, except for 48 h
      of incubation in specific culture medium of mixed rumen bacteria, which decreased
      for SLM group (P > 0.05). NDF disappearance (NDFD) and ADF disappearance (ADFD)
      after 24 and 48 h of incubation in specific culture medium of mixed rumen
      bacteria was not affected by experimental diets (P > 0.05). However, 72 h after
      incubation, NDFD in SLM treatment decreased (P > 0.05). Gas production parameters
      of rumen bacteria were similar for both experimental diets, but partitioning
      factor (PF), efficiency microbial biomass production (EMBP), microbial protein
      production (MP), and organic matter truly digested (OMTD) decreased (p < 0.05) in
      specific culture medium of mixed rumen fungi for SLM diet. There was significant
      decrease in total protozoa population for diet containing SLM (p < 0.05). Results
      indicated that replacement of alfalfa hay by SLM had no major effect on rumen
      microorganisms' activity of Najdi goats, so it may be used as an alternative for
      alfalfa (at 50% level) in susceptible areas.

PMID- 28608307
TI  - Effects of L-glutamine on rectal temperature and some markers of oxidative stress
      in Red Sokoto goats during the hot-dry season.
AB  - The experiment investigated the ameliorative effects of L-glutamine
      administration on rectal temperature (RT), erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF),
      serum antioxidant enzyme activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in
      Red Sokoto goats during the hot-dry season. Twenty eight healthy Red Sokoto
      goats, comprising 14 experimental (administered 0.2 g/kg of L-glutamine dissolved
      in 10 mL of distilled water, once daily for 21 days) and 14 control (administered
      equivalent of distilled water) goats served as subjects. Rectal temperature
      (measured at 6:00, 13:00 and 18:00 h) and blood samples (taken at 8:00 h) were
      obtained from all subjects weekly, before, during and after L-glutamine
      administration. Data obtained were compared using one-way repeated-measures
      ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post-hoc test. The dry-bulb temperature, relative
      humidity and temperature-humidity index for the study period ranged between 24.0
      and 37.5  degrees C, 26.0 and 84.0% and 73.0 and 86.3, respectively. L-glutamine
      administration decreased (P < 0.05) RT, EOF and MDA and increased superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) activity in experimental group, compared to controls during weeks
      1, 2 and 3. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase activities were higher (P <
      0.05) in the experimental group than in the controls only during week 1 of L
      glutamine administration. In conclusion, L-glutamine administration mitigated
      increases in RT, EOF and serum MDA concentration and enhanced serum SOD, GPx and
      catalase activities and may be beneficial in heat-stressed goats during the hot
      dry season.

PMID- 28608310
TI  - Platelet inhibition after loading dose of prasugrel in patients with ST-elevation
      and non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - The PRASFIT-ACS study showed the antiplatelet effect 2-4 h after prasugrel
      loading. However, there is little information about the antiplatelet effect <2 h
      after prasugrel loading dose, especially in patients with acute coronary syndrome
      (ACS). There had not been any comparison between ST-segment elevation myocardial
      infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-segment elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS). Fifty patients
      with ACS (15 with STEMI and 35 with NSTE-ACS) were enrolled. They received a 20
      mg prasugrel loading dose followed by a maintenance dose of 3.75 mg. Platelet
      reactivity [P2Y12 reaction units (PRU)] was evaluated by the VerifyNow assay at
      baseline, 30 min, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h, 1 week under prasugrel, and at 1 month after
      switching to clopidogrel. The primary end point was the change of PRU compared to
      the baseline. Furthermore, PRU after prasugrel loading between STEMI and NSTE-ACS
      was compared. A significant reduction in PRU from baseline was observed at >=2 h
      after administration of prasugrel. In STEMI patients, a significant reduction in
      PRU was observed at 4 h after prasugrel loading. STEMI patients had higher PRU
      compared to NSTE-ACS patients at 2, 4, and 6 h after prasugrel loading. Utilizing
      >208 PRU as a cutoff value, STEMI patients had a higher prevalence of high on
      treatment platelet reactivity at 2-6 h and 1 week after loading. Rapid
      antiplatelet effect is not achieved by low-dose prasugrel loading in STEMI
      patients. Platelet inhibition occurs earlier in NSTE-ACS patients, although it
      takes >=2 h after loading in the majority of patients.

PMID- 28608308
TI  - Effect of reproductive methods and GnRH administration on long-term protocol in
      Santa Ines ewes.
AB  - This study aimed to determine whether reproductive performance of ewes submitted
      to laparoscopic timed artificial insemination (TAI) would be similar to ante
      meridiem (AM)/post meridiem (PM) rule and assisted natural mating (NM), and
      whether GnRH may enhance the pregnancy rate in TAI. In experiment I, 191 non
      lactating ewes were synchronized, then TAI was performed either 48 h after
      progesterone (P4) removal (TAI-48 h) or 12 h after estrus detection (AM/PM);
      moreover, some ewes were submitted to NM (NM) as control treatment. In experiment
      II, 247 non-lactating ewes were allocated in five treatments, a control (no-GnRH
      on protocol) and four treatments arranged in a factorial design 2 * 2. The
      factors were time and dose of GnRH: ewes that received either 10 MUg (TAI-10 MUg
      36 h) or 25 MUg of GnRH (TAI-25 MUg-36 h) 36 h after P4 removal and ewes that
      received either 10 MUg (TAI-10 MUg-48 h) or 25 MUg of GnRH (TAI-25 MUg-48 h) at
      time of insemination, 48 h after P4 removal. In experiment I, pregnancy rate in
      TAI-48 h was lower (P = 0.03) than AM/PM and NM. Moreover, the probability of
      pregnancy in TAI-48 h was higher (P = 0.06) in ewes detected in estrus early. In
      experiment II, the use of GnRH in TAI protocols increased (P < 0.01) pregnancy
      rate at synchronization, and TAI-25 MU-48 h and TAI-10 MUg-36 h treatments
      increased (P = 0.02) pregnancy rate compered to TAI-10 MUg-48 h. We conclude that
      TAI decreased pregnancy rate compered to NM and AM/PM, which may be improved by
      GnRH use in TAI to synchronize ovulation.

PMID- 28608311
TI  - Potential Role of Allopurinol in Preventing Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in
      Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Randomized Placebo
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a major drawback in
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Significant uricosuria has been
      reported following contrast exposure. Allopurinol-a xanthine oxidase inhibitor
      has been suggested to prevent the formation of oxygen-free radicals, which may
      contribute to CIN. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible
      efficacy of allopurinol in preventing CIN. METHODS: In this double-blind placebo
      controlled trial, patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >=60
      mL/min who were admitted for elective PCI, were randomized to receive either
      allopurinol 600 mg or a placebo administered 24 h before the procedure, and again
      immediately before the procedure. Blood samples were drawn at 24 h before and 24
      h after contrast exposure to measure serum creatinine (SCr), uric acid, and serum
      cystatin-c. RESULTS: The baseline characteristics were almost similar between the
      placebo and allopurinol groups. The overall change in SCr and the rate of CIN,
      which is defined as >=25% increase in serum cystatin-c relative to baseline,
      failed to show a significant difference between the two groups. When adjusted on
      the baseline cystatin-c, SCr, sex, and positive family history, the difference in
      the overall increase in serum cystatin-c was statistically significantly lower in
      the allopurinol group. CONCLUSIONS: Allopurinol administration in patients
      undergoing PCI failed to show efficacy in preventing CIN. Nevertheless, this
      effect should be further evaluated in the patient population with chronic kidney
      disease.

PMID- 28608313
TI  - Anti-MuSK positivity on plasmapheresis liquid in a double seronegative myasthenia
      gravis patient.

PMID- 28608314
TI  - Polymorphism of the multidrug resistance 1 gene MDR1 G2677T/A (rs2032582) and the
      risk of drug-resistant epilepsy in the Polish adult population.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyse the frequency of genotypes and alleles of
      single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-G2677T/A (rs2032582) of MDR1 gene and to
      investigate the significance this genetic variation exerts on drug-resistant
      epilepsy (DRE) in the Polish adult population. The study comprised 340 patients
      treated for DRE and 240 patients treated for drug-responsive epilepsy. Three
      hundred and sixty disease-free individuals were used as controls. Genomic DNA was
      isolated, and the SNP G2677T/A of MDR1 was determined by High-Resolution Melter
      technique. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated
      for each genotype and allele. In this paper, we have demonstrated that A allele
      of SNP G2677T/A of MDR1 may reduce the risk of DRE (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.33-0.58, p
      < 0.0001), whereas allele G itself may be a risk factor for this disease. No
      differences were found in the distribution of the genotypes and alleles in the
      studied groups, depending on sex as well as on concomitant diseases (p > 0.05).
      G2677T/A polymorphism of MDR1 may play a significant role in the development of
      DRE in the Polish patients.

PMID- 28608312
TI  - Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Rivaroxaban for Treatment of Deep Vein Thrombosis
      and Pulmonary Embolism in Greece.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising deep-vein
      thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a major healthcare concern that
      results in substantial morbidity and mortality with great economic burden for
      healthcare systems. Hence, the need for effective and efficient treatment of
      patients with VTE is important for both clinical and economic reasons. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of rivaroxaban
      compared to standard of care (SoC) with enoxaparin followed by dose-adjusted
      vitamin-K antagonists for the treatment of DVT and PE in Greece. METHODS: An
      existing Markov model was locally adapted from a third-party payer perspective to
      reflect the management and complications of DVT and PE in the course of 3-month
      cycles, up to death. The clinical inputs and utility values were extracted from
      published studies. Direct medical costs, obtained from local resources, were
      incorporated in the model and refer to year 2017. Both costs and outcomes were
      discounted at 3.5%. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per quality
      adjusted life year (QALY) gained was calculated. Probabilistic sensitivity
      analysis (PSA) was carried out to deal with uncertainty. RESULTS: The base-case
      analysis showed that rivaroxaban in 3- and 6-month treatment duration for DVT and
      PE, respectively, as this is the common clinical practice in Greece, was
      associated with a 0.02 and 0.01 increment in QALYs compared to SoC, respectively.
      Rivaroxaban was associated with a reduced total cost in DVT (?85) but with an
      additional total cost in PE (?2) compared to SoC. Therefore, rivaroxaban was a
      dominant (less costly, more effective) and cost-effective (ICER: ?177)
      alternative over SoC for the management of DVT and PE, respectively. PSA revealed
      that the probability of rivaroxaban being cost effective at a threshold of
      ?34,000 per QALY gained was 99% and 81% for DVT and PE, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Rivaroxaban may represent a cost-effective option relative to SoC for the
      management of DVT and PE in Greece.

PMID- 28608315
TI  - Effectiveness of low dose of rituximab compared with azathioprine in Chinese
      patients with neuromyelitis optica: an over 2-year follow-up study.
AB  - Neuromyelitis optical (NMO) and neuromyelitis optical spectrum disorder (NMOSD)
      are inflammatory autoimmune demyelination diseases affecting the central nervous
      system. We investigated the efficiency of low-dose rituximab treatment in 31
      Chinese patients with NMO/NMOSD across a median period of 2.29 +/- 0.97 years and
      azathioprine combined with corticosteroid treatment in 34 Chinese patients with
      NMO/NMOSD across a median period of 2.61 +/- 0.94 years. Among the rituximab
      treated patients, the mean Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) was 5.62 +/-
      1.35 before treatment and 4.48 +/- 0.78 at last follow-up, and the mean
      annualized relapse rate (ARR) was 1.39 +/- 0.42 before treatment and 0.03 +/-
      0.13 at last follow-up. Among the azathioprine-treated patients, the mean EDSS
      was 5.63 +/- 1.29 before treatment and 5.05 +/- 1.00 at last follow-up, and the
      mean ARR was 1.28 +/- 0.34 before treatment and 0.49 +/- 0.21 at last follow-up.
      In this study, we showed that using low-dosage rituximab could benefit Chinese
      patients with NMO by reducing the new occurrence of relapses dramatically.
      Compared with the azathioprine-treated patients, we concluded that rituximab is
      more effective in preventing NMO relapse and could improve the symptoms.

PMID- 28608316
TI  - Winogradskyella aurantia sp. nov., isolated from a marine solar saltern.
AB  - A Gram-stain negative, non-flagellated, facultatively anaerobic, slightly
      halophilic bacterium, WNB302T, was isolated from a marine solar saltern in
      Wendeng, China (122 degrees 0'38.85"E, 36 degrees 57'56.49"N). Cells of strain
      WNB302T were 0.2-0.7 um wide and 2.0-10.0 um long, catalase- positive and oxidase
      negative. Colonies were opaque, orange and approximately 1.0-2.0 mm in diameter
      after culture for 96 h on marine agar 2216. Growth occurs at 15-37  degrees C
      (optimum, 33-35  degrees C), pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum, pH 7.0-7.5), and with 0.5-7%
      NaCl (optimum, 2-3% NaCl). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences
      showed that strain WNB302T belongs to the genus Winogradskyella and is closely
      related to Winogradskyella exilis KCTC 32356T. Strain WNB302T exhibited 96.2 and
      96.0% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with W. exilis KCTC 32356T and W.
      litoriviva KCTC 23972T. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) value based on draft
      genomes between strain WNB302T and Winogradskyella thalassocola KCTC 12221T
      showed a relatedness of 81.1% (with 93.7% of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity).
      The major respiratory quinone of strain WNB302T was found to be MK-6, and the
      dominant fatty acids were found to be iso-C15:0 and iso-C15:1 G. The major polar
      lipids of strain WNB302T were three unidentified lipids (L1, L2 and L3), one
      unidentified aminolipids (AL1) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The genomic DNA
      G+C content was 37.0 mol%. On the basis of the data presented, strain WNB302T is
      considered to represent a novel species of the genus Winogradskyella, for which
      the name Winogradskyella aurantia sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is
      WNB302T (= KCTC 52614T = MCCC 1H00172T).

PMID- 28608317
TI  - Ica-status of clinical Staphylococcus epidermidis strains affects adhesion and
      aggregation: a thermodynamic analysis.
AB  - Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major nosocomial pathogen associated with
      infections of indwelling medical devices. One important virulence factor of these
      organisms is their ability to adhere to devices and form biofilms. In this study,
      we evaluated the effect of the ica operon on cell surface hydrophobicity,
      thermodynamics of adhesion, and biofilm formation for seven S. epidermidis
      strains. The surface free energy parameters of the bacterial cell surface and the
      substratum were determined by contact angle measurement. Biofilm formation was
      assayed using crystal violet staining. Results showed that ica-positive strains
      demonstrated a higher hydrophobic characteristic than ica-negative strains,
      suggesting that the ica-operon seems to determine the cell surface hydrophobicity
      of S. epidermidis. Interaction of ica-positive strains with a tissue-culture
      treated polystyrene surface was energetically favourable (DeltaGTot < 0), in
      contrast to ica-negative strains (DeltaGTot > 0). The interfacial free energy of
      aggregation of S. epidermidis was lower for ica-positive than for ica-negative
      strains. Our study suggests that, in addition to biofilm formation, adhesion and
      aggregation of clinical S. epidermidis is stimulated in ica-positive strains by
      influencing the thermodynamics of interaction.

PMID- 28608318
TI  - Denitrifying bacterial communities display different temporal fluctuation
      patterns across Dutch agricultural soils.
AB  - Considering the great agronomic and environmental importance of denitrification,
      the aim of the present study was to study the temporal and spatial factors
      controlling the abundance and activity of denitrifying bacterial communities in a
      range of eight agricultural soils over 2 years. Abundance was quantified by qPCR
      of the nirS, nirK and nosZ genes, and the potential denitrification enzyme
      activity (DEA) was estimated. Our data showed a significant temporal variation
      considerably high for the abundance of nirK-harboring communities, followed by
      nosZ and nirS communities. Regarding soil parameters, the abundances of nosZ,
      nirS and nirK were mostly influenced by organic material, pH, and slightly by NO3
      , respectively. Soil texture was the most important factor regulating DEA, which
      could not be explained by the abundance of denitrifiers. Analyses of general
      patterns across lands to understand the soil functioning is not an easy task
      because the multiple factors influencing processes such as denitrification can
      skew the data. Careful analysis of atypical sites are necessary to classify the
      soils according to trait similarity and in this way reach a better predictability
      of the denitrifiers dynamics.

PMID- 28608319
TI  - Amelioration of obesity-related characteristics by a probiotic formulation in a
      high-fat diet-induced obese rat model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Obesity is a major public health concern. Despite its multi-factorial
      etiology, alterations in intestinal microbiota and the immune system are
      frequently observed. We investigated the effect of Duolac Gold (DG), a probiotic
      formulation containing 2 Lactobacillus strains (L. acidophilus LA1 and L.
      rharmnosus LR5), 3 Bifidobacterium (B. bifidum BF3, B. lactis BL3, and B. longum
      BG7), and Streptococcus thermophilus ST3, on morphometric and metabolic
      parameters, intestinal microbiota, and intestinal immune responses in a high-fat
      diet (HFD)-induced obese rat model. METHODS: Rats received either a conventional
      balanced diet or HFD with or without water containing DG for 8 weeks. HFD-induced
      adiposity, intestinal microbiota, and changes in inflammatory cytokine,
      chemokine, and metabolite levels in serum were evaluated. RESULTS: DG
      administration effectively decreased HFD-induced body weight and modulated
      morphometric and metabolic parameters. Quantitative analysis of fecal microbiota
      showed that obese rats given DG exhibited significantly increased levels of
      Bacteroidetes, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium, with significant decreases in
      the level of Firmicutes. Serum levels of the inflammatory cytokines and the
      chemokine were also altered. Serum metabolite analysis revealed that DG
      administration modulated HFD-induced changes in serum metabolites, including
      fatty acids (FA), lysophosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylethanolamine,
      phosphatidylcholine (PC), and triacylglycerol (TAG). CONCLUSIONS: DG
      administration appears to have the potential to alleviate HDF-induced obesity
      through the modulation of intestinal microbiota, immune responses, and host
      metabolism, which supports the use of probiotics to treat obesity.

PMID- 28608321
TI  - A comparison of principal component analysis, partial least-squares and reduced
      rank regressions in the identification of dietary patterns associated with bone
      mass in ageing Australians.
AB  - PURPOSE: The relative advantages of dietary analysis methods, particularly in
      identifying dietary patterns associated with bone mass, have not been
      investigated. We evaluated principal component analysis (PCA), partial least
      squares (PLS) and reduced-rank regressions (RRR) in determining dietary patterns
      associated with bone mass. METHODS: Data from 1182 study participants (45.9%
      males; aged 50 years and above) from the North West Adelaide Health Study (NWAHS)
      were used. Dietary data were collected using a food frequency questionnaire
      (FFQ). Dietary patterns were constructed using PCA, PLS and RRR and compared
      based on the performance to identify plausible patterns associated with bone
      mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC). RESULTS: PCA, PLS and RRR identified
      two, four and four dietary patterns, respectively. All methods identified similar
      patterns for the first two factors (factor 1, "prudent" and factor 2, "western"
      patterns). Three, one and none of the patterns derived by RRR, PLS and PCA were
      significantly associated with bone mass, respectively. The "prudent" and dairy
      (factor 3) patterns determined by RRR were positively and significantly
      associated with BMD and BMC. Vegetables and fruit pattern (factor 4) of PLS and
      RRR was negatively and significantly associated with BMD and BMC, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: RRR was found to be more appropriate in identifying more (plausible)
      dietary patterns that are associated with bone mass than PCA and PLS.
      Nevertheless, the advantage of RRR over the other two methods (PCA and PLS)
      should be confirmed in future studies.

PMID- 28608320
TI  - Chronic treatment with prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics attenuated cardiac
      dysfunction by improving cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction in male obese insulin
      resistant rats.
AB  - PURPOSE: In metabolic syndrome, the composition of gut microbiota has been
      disrupted, and is associated with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Several
      types of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics have been shown to exert
      cardioprotection by restoring gut microbiota from dysbiosis and reducing systemic
      inflammation. However, the effects of prebiotics such as xylooligosaccharides
      (XOS); probiotics such as Lactobacillus paracasei STII01 HP4, and synbiotics on
      metabolic and LV function in obese insulin-resistant rats have not been
      investigated. In this study, we hypothesized that prebiotics and probiotics
      improve metabolic parameters, heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP),
      and LV function by attenuating cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction, systemic
      inflammation, and oxidative stress, and that synbiotics provide greater efficacy
      than a single regimen in obese insulin resistance. METHODS: Rats were fed with
      either normal diet or high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks and then rats in each
      dietary group were randomly subdivided into four subgroups to receive either a
      vehicle, prebiotics, probiotics, or synbiotics for another 12 weeks. Metabolic
      parameters, BP, HRV, LV function, cardiac mitochondrial function, systemic
      inflammation, and oxidative stress were determined. RESULTS: HFD-fed rats had
      obese insulin resistance with markedly increased systemic inflammatory marker
      [Serum LPS; ND; 0.6 +/- 0.1 EU/ml vs. HFD; 5.7 +/- 1.2 EU/ml (p < 0.05)],
      depressed HRV, and increased BP and LV dysfunction [%ejection fraction; ND; 93 +/
      2% vs. HFD; 83 +/- 2% (p < 0.05)]. Prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics
      attenuated insulin resistance by improving insulin sensitivity and lipid
      profiles. All interventions also improved HRV, BP, LV function [%ejection
      fraction; HFV; 81 +/- 2% vs. HFPE; 93 +/- 3%, HFPO; 92 +/- 1%, HFC; 92 +/- 2% (p
      < 0.05)] by attenuating mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and systemic
      inflammation in obese insulin-resistant rats. CONCLUSION: Prebiotics, probiotics,
      and synbiotics shared similar efficacy in reducing insulin resistance and LV
      dysfunction in obese insulin-resistant rats.

PMID- 28608322
TI  - Long Evans rat spermatogonial lines are effective germline vectors for transgenic
      rat production.
AB  - Long Evans rat strains are applied as research models in a broad spectrum of
      biomedical fields (>15,800 citations, NCBI PubMed). Here, we report an approach
      to genetically modify the Long Evans rat germline in donor spermatogonial stem
      cells. Long Evans rat spermatogonial lines were derived from freshly isolated
      laminin-binding spermatogonia. Laminin-binding spermatogonia were cultured over
      multiple passages on fibroblast feeder layers in serum-free culture medium
      containing GDNF and FGF2. Long Evans rat spermatogonial lines were genetically
      modified by transposon transduction to express a germline, tdTomato reporter
      gene. Donor rat spermatogonial lines robustly regenerated spermatogenesis after
      transplantation into testes of busulfan-treated, allogenic, Long Evans rats.
      Donor-derived spermatogenesis largely restored testis size in the chemically
      sterilized, recipient Long Evans rats. Recipient Long Evans rats stably
      transmitted the tdTomato germline marker to subsequent generations. Overall, Long
      Evans rat spermatogonial lines provided effective donor germline vectors for
      genetically modifying Long Evans rats.

PMID- 28608323
TI  - Comparison of two matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass
      spectrometry systems for the identification of clinical filamentous fungi.
AB  - Infections caused by filamentous fungi have become a health concern, and require
      rapid and accurate identification in order for effective treatment of the
      pathogens. To compare the performance of two MALDI-TOF MS systems (Bruker
      Microflex LT and Xiamen Microtyper) in the identification of filamentous fungal
      species. A total of 374 clinical filamentous fungal isolates sequentially
      collected in the Clinical Laboratory at the Beijing Tongren Hospital between
      January 2014 and December 2015 were identified by traditional phenotypic methods,
      Bruker Microflex LT and Xiamen Microtyper MALDI-TOF MS, respectively. The
      discrepancy between these methods was resolved by sequencing for definitive
      identification. Bruker Microflex LT and Xiamen Microtyper had similar correct
      species ID (98.9 vs. 99.2%), genus ID (99.7 vs. 100%), mis-ID (0.3 vs. 0%) and no
      ID (0 vs. 0). The rate of correct species identification by both MALDI-TOF MS
      (98.9 and 99.2%, respectively) was much higher compared with phenotypic approach
      (91.9%). Both MALDI-TOF MS systems provide accurate identification of clinical
      filamentous fungi compared with conventional phenotypic method, and have the
      potential to replace identification for routine identification of these fungi in
      clinical mycology laboratories. Both systems have similar performance in the
      identification of clinical filamentous fungi.

PMID- 28608324
TI  - Translation and validation of chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ) in Tamil
      language.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ), a self-administered
      quality-of-life (QOL) instrument for chronic liver disease (CLD) patients, was
      originally developed in English language. We aimed to translate and validate CLDQ
      in Tamil language (CLDQ-T). METHODS: CLDQ-T, prepared by two forward and two
      backward independent translations by four bilingual (Tamil and English) persons,
      and repeated iterative modifications, was validated in adult, native-Tamil
      patients with CLD. CLDQ-T was re-tested in some patients 2 weeks later.
      Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation, and discriminant
      validity by comparison with World Health Organization's brief QOL tool (WHOQOL
      BREF). Reliability was assessed through internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha)
      and test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation). Cutoff used for
      statistical significance was p<0.05. RESULTS: The study included 126 patients
      (age: mean [SD] 46 years [12.5]; male 104; cause: alcohol 42%, HBV 25%, HCV 4%,
      cryptogenic 29%; CTP class A 47%, B 37%, and C 16%). In convergent validity, all
      domains except the "abdominal domain" showed significant correlation between CLDQ
      T and WHOQOL-BREF. Patients with severe disease had lower scores for all domains
      of CLDQ-T except the "abdominal" domain, but not for any of the domains for
      WHOQOL-BREF. Overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.942, and more than 0.7 for all the
      individual domains except the "activity" domain. On retesting in 44 (35%)
      patients, intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.879 for the overall CLDQ-T
      score and >0.700 for individual domains. CONCLUSION: CLDQ-T was easily understood
      and showed good performance characteristics in assessing QOL in Tamil-speaking
      patients with CLD.

PMID- 28608325
TI  - Pulsatile Flow Leads to Intimal Flap Motion and Flow Reversal in an In Vitro
      Model of Type B Aortic Dissection.
AB  - Understanding of the hemodynamics of Type B aortic dissection may improve
      outcomes by informing upon patient selection, device design, and deployment
      strategies. This project characterized changes to aortic hemodynamics as the
      result of dissection. We hypothesized that dissection would lead to elevated flow
      reversal and disrupted pulsatile flow patterns in the aorta that can be detected
      and quantified by non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging. Flexible, anatomic
      models of both normal aorta and dissected aorta, with a mobile intimal flap
      containing entry and exit tears, were perfused with a physiologic pulsatile
      waveform. Four-dimensional phase contrast magnetic resonance (4D PCMR) imaging
      was used to measure the hemodynamics. These images were processed to quantify
      pulsatile fluid velocities, flow rate, and flow reversal. Four-dimensional flow
      imaging in the dissected aorta revealed pockets of reverse flow and vortices
      primarily in the false lumen. The dissected aorta exhibited significantly greater
      flow reversal in the proximal-to-mid dissection as compared to normal (21.1 +/-
      3.8 vs. 1.98 +/- 0.4%, p < 0.001). Pulsatility induced unsteady vortices and a
      pumping motion of the distal intimal flap corresponding to flow reversal. Summed
      true and false lumen flow rates in dissected models (4.0 +/- 2.0 L/min) equaled
      normal flow rates (3.8 +/- 0.1 L/min, p > 0.05), validated against external flow
      measurement. Pulsatile aortic hemodynamics in the presence of an anatomic,
      elastic dissection differed significantly from those of both steady flow through
      a dissection and pulsatile flow through a normal aorta. New hemodynamic features
      including flow reversal, large exit tear vortices, and pumping action of the
      mobile intimal flap, were observed. False lumen flow reversal would possess a
      time-averaged velocity close to stagnation, which may induce future thrombosis.
      Focal vortices may identify the location of tears that could be covered with a
      stent-graft. Future correlation of hemodynamics with outcomes may indicate which
      patients require earlier intervention.

PMID- 28608326
TI  - Identification of myocardial diffuse fibrosis by 11 heartbeat MOLLI T 1 mapping:
      averaging to improve precision and correlation with collagen volume fraction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our objectives involved identifying whether repeated averaging in
      basal and mid left ventricular myocardial levels improves precision and
      correlation with collagen volume fraction for 11 heartbeat MOLLI T 1 mapping
      versus assessment at a single ventricular level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For
      assessment of T 1 mapping precision, a cohort of 15 healthy volunteers underwent
      two CMR scans on separate days using an 11 heartbeat MOLLI with a 5(3)3 beat
      scheme to measure native T 1 and a 4(1)3(1)2 beat post-contrast scheme to measure
      post-contrast T 1, allowing calculation of partition coefficient and ECV. To
      assess correlation of T 1 mapping with collagen volume fraction, a separate
      cohort of ten aortic stenosis patients scheduled to undergo surgery underwent one
      CMR scan with this 11 heartbeat MOLLI scheme, followed by intraoperative tru-cut
      myocardial biopsy. Six models of myocardial diffuse fibrosis assessment were
      established with incremental inclusion of imaging by averaging of the basal and
      mid-myocardial left ventricular levels, and each model was assessed for precision
      and correlation with collagen volume fraction. RESULTS: A model using 11 heart
      beat MOLLI imaging of two basal and two mid ventricular level averaged T 1 maps
      provided improved precision (Intraclass correlation 0.93 vs 0.84) and correlation
      with histology (R 2 = 0.83 vs 0.36) for diffuse fibrosis compared to a single mid
      ventricular level alone. ECV was more precise and correlated better than native T
      1 mapping. CONCLUSION: T 1 mapping sequences with repeated averaging could be
      considered for applications of 11 heartbeat MOLLI, especially when small changes
      in native T 1/ECV might affect clinical management.

PMID- 28608327
TI  - Diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) incorporation into an intravoxel incoherent
      motion (IVIM) MR model to measure cerebral hypoperfusion induced by
      hyperventilation challenge in healthy subjects.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to investigate the diffusional kurtosis imaging
      (DKI) incorporation into the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model for
      measurements of cerebral hypoperfusion in healthy subjects. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Eight healthy subjects underwent a hyperventilation challenge with a 4
      min diffusion weighted imaging protocol, using 8 b values chosen with the Cramer
      Rao Lower Bound optimization approach. Four regions of interest in gray matter
      (GM) were analyzed with the DKI-IVIM model and the bi-exponential IVIM model, for
      normoventilation and hyperventilation conditions. RESULTS: A significant
      reduction in the perfusion fraction (f) and in the product fD* of the perfusion
      fraction with the pseudodiffusion coefficient (D*) was found with the DKI-IVIM
      model, during the hyperventilation challenge. In the cerebellum GM, the
      percentage changes were f: -43.7 +/- 40.1, p = 0.011 and fD*: -50.6 +/- 32.1, p =
      0.011; in thalamus GM, f: -47.7 +/- 34.7, p = 0.012 and fD*: -47.2 +/- 48.7, p =
      0.040. In comparison, using the bi-exponential IVIM model, only a significant
      decrease in the parameter fD* was observed for the same regions of interest. In
      frontal-GM and posterior-GM, the reduction in f and fD* did not reach statistical
      significance, either with DKI-IVIM or the bi-exponential IVIM model. CONCLUSION:
      When compared to the bi-exponential IVIM model, the DKI-IVIM model displays a
      higher sensitivity to detect changes in perfusion induced by the hyperventilation
      condition.

PMID- 28608329
TI  - Assessment of evidence-based practice among hospital pharmacists in Saudi Arabia:
      attitude, awareness, and practice.
AB  - Background Many studies have previously looked at the perceptions, attitude, and
      use of Evidence-based Practice (EBP) among healthcare providers. However, limited
      data is available on the implementation of EBP among pharmacists in general, and
      Saudi Arabia in particular. Objective To evaluate the awareness, attitude, and
      practice of EBP among hospital practicing pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. Setting
      Secondary and tertiary care hospitals in Saudi Arabia with a bed capacity of
      >=200 Methods This is a cross sectional, survey-based study where a validated
      selfadministrated questionnaire was utilized. Pharmacists working in secondary
      and tertiary care hospitals with a bed capacity of >=200 were targeted. The
      descriptive data consisted of percentages for discrete and medians for continuous
      statistics. Results The survey was distributed to a total of 1136 pharmacists.
      Total number of respondents is 228 which represent a response rate of 20%. Most
      of them (75% median score = 8) have a positive attitude toward EBP. In addition
      to clinical expertise, only 48.6% of them were able to identify EBP resource as
      the second component of EBP concept, while only 1.7% of the respondents were able
      to identify patient preference as a third component. Lack of personal time,
      critical appraisal skills, and resources, (40%, 15.6% and 13.9% respectively) are
      considered as the major barriers to implementing EBP in pharmacy. Conclusion The
      majority of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia hold a positive attitude of EBP.
      Unfortunately, most of pharmacists do not consider patients' values as a
      component of EBP. The major barriers to practicing EBP are lack of personal time,
      critical appraisal skills, and resources availability.

PMID- 28608330
TI  - Opioid analgesic use in Australia and The Netherlands: a cross-country
      comparison.
AB  - Background Increasing use of opioid analgesics (OA) has been reported worldwide.
      Objective To compare the use of OA in two countries in order to better understand
      these trends. Setting Outpatient settings in Australia and The Netherlands.
      Method We analysed publicly available government data on outpatient OA dispensing
      over 15 years (2000-2014). We compared dispensing trends for specific OA and
      explored medical (national clinical guidelines), contextual and policy-related
      factors to explain differences in use between the two countries. Main outcome
      measure OA prescribing in Australia and The Netherlands, absolute volume of use,
      preferred types of opioids and changes over time. Results The average annual
      increase in OA prescribing was 10% in Australia and 8% in The Netherlands between
      2000 and 2014. In 2014, the total use of OA was 10.0 daily defined doses
      (DDD)/1000 population/day in Australia and 9.4 DDD/1000 population/day in The
      Netherlands. In Australia, the most commonly prescribed opioids were oxycodone
      and tramadol, compared to fentanyl and tramadol in The Netherlands. We found
      differences in prescribing guidelines, culture of prescribing and regulatory
      frameworks that could explain some of the observed differences. Conclusion OA
      prescribing has increased remarkably in both countries between 2000 and 2014 but
      the types of prescribed OA vary. Differences in national evidence-based
      guidelines influenced the types of OA used. Prescribing culture as well as
      regulatory policies and costs, may also contribute to the different patterns of
      OA use.

PMID- 28608331
TI  - Plant ARGONAUTEs: Features, Functions, and Unknowns.
AB  - ARGONAUTEs (AGOs) are the effector proteins in eukaryotic small RNA (sRNA)-based
      gene silencing pathways controlling gene expression and transposon activity. In
      plants, AGOs regulate key biological processes such as development, response to
      stress, genome structure and integrity, and pathogen defense. Canonical functions
      of plant AGO-sRNA complexes include the endonucleolytic cleavage or translational
      inhibition of target RNAs and the methylation of target DNAs. Here, I provide a
      brief update on the major features, molecular functions, and biological roles of
      plant AGOs. A special focus is given to the more recent discoveries related to
      emerging molecular or biological functions of plant AGOs, as well as to the major
      unknowns in the plant AGO field.

PMID- 28608328
TI  - Towards accurate and precise T 1 and extracellular volume mapping in the
      myocardium: a guide to current pitfalls and their solutions.
AB  - Mapping of the longitudinal relaxation time (T 1) and extracellular volume (ECV)
      offers a means of identifying pathological changes in myocardial tissue,
      including diffuse changes that may be invisible to existing T 1-weighted methods.
      This technique has recently shown strong clinical utility for pathologies such as
      Anderson-Fabry disease and amyloidosis and has generated clinical interest as a
      possible means of detecting small changes in diffuse fibrosis; however, scatter
      in T 1 and ECV estimates offers challenges for detecting these changes, and bias
      limits comparisons between sites and vendors. There are several technical and
      physiological pitfalls that influence the accuracy (bias) and precision
      (repeatability) of T 1 and ECV mapping methods. The goal of this review is to
      describe the most significant of these, and detail current solutions, in order to
      aid scientists and clinicians to maximise the utility of T 1 mapping in their
      clinical or research setting. A detailed summary of technical and physiological
      factors, issues relating to contrast agents, and specific disease-related issues
      is provided, along with some considerations on the future directions of the
      field.

PMID- 28608332
TI  - Analysis of the Uridylation of Both ARGONAUTE-Bound MiRNAs and 5' Cleavage
      Products of Their Target RNAs in Plants.
AB  - Uridylation (3' untemplated uridine addition) provides a mechanism to trigger the
      degradation of miRNAs and the 5' cleavage products (5' CP) that are produced from
      miRNA-directed ARGONAUTE (AGO) cleavage of target RNAs. We have recently shown
      that HEN1 SUPPRESSOR 1 (HESO1), a terminal uridylyltransferase, and its homolog
      UTP:RNA uridylyltransferase 1 (URT1) catalyze the uridylation of miRNAs and 5'
      CPs within the AGO complex in higher plants. In this chapter, we describe
      detailed protocols for analyzing 3' end uridylation of both AGO-bound miRNAs and
      5' CP.

PMID- 28608333
TI  - In Vitro Formation of Plant RNA-Induced Silencing Complexes Using an Extract of
      Evacuolated Tobacco Protoplasts.
AB  - Small RNA-mediated gene silencing is involved in a variety of biological
      processes among many eukaryotic organisms. The silencing effector, generally
      referred to as RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), comprises an ARGONAUTE (AGO)
      protein and a small single-stranded guide RNA in its core. RISCs recognize target
      genes containing sequences complementary to the guide RNA and repress their
      expression transcriptionally or posttranscriptionally. In vitro systems that
      recapitulate RISC assembly are useful not only to decipher the molecular
      mechanisms underlying the assembly process itself but also to dissect the
      downstream silencing pathways mediated by RISCs. Here, we describe a method for
      in vitro plant RISC assembly, which relies on an extract of evacuolated
      protoplasts derived from Nicotiana tabacum BY-2 suspension-cultured cells. In
      this extract, synthetic duplexes of small RNAs are incorporated into AGO proteins
      that are synthesized by in vitro translation, and then duplex unwinding and
      selective strand elimination result in formation of mature RISCs.

PMID- 28608334
TI  - In Vitro Analysis of ARGONAUTE-Mediated Target Cleavage and Translational
      Repression in Plants.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs, which negatively regulate
      expression of complementary target genes at the post-transcriptional level. In
      plants, miRNAs are mainly loaded onto ARGONAUTE1 to form RNA-induced silencing
      complexes (RISCs), which mediate target mRNA cleavage as well as translational
      repression. The cell-free system derived from tobacco BY-2 protoplasts has become
      a powerful tool not only for the analysis of RISC assembly mechanism but also for
      mechanistic dissection of plant RISC functions. Here we describe the detailed
      protocols for the preparation of BY-2 cell lysate and the procedure to analyze
      the dual function of plant RISC-target cleavage and translational repression-in
      vitro.

PMID- 28608336
TI  - Immunoprecipitation and High-Throughput Sequencing of ARGONAUTE-Bound Target RNAs
      from Plants.
AB  - ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins function in small RNA (sRNA)-based RNA silencing
      pathways to regulate gene expression and control invading nucleic acids. In
      posttranscriptional RNA silencing pathways, plant AGOs associate with sRNAs to
      interact with highly sequence-complementary target RNAs. Once the AGO-sRNA-target
      RNA ternary complex is formed, target RNA is typically repressed through AGO
      mediated cleavage or through other cleavage-independent mechanisms. The universe
      of sRNAs associating with diverse plant AGOs has been determined though AGO
      immunoprecipitation (IP) and high-throughput sequencing of co-immunoprecipitated
      sRNAs. To better understand the biological functions of AGO-sRNA complexes, it is
      crucial to identify the repertoire of target RNAs they regulate. Here I present a
      detailed AGO-RNA IP followed by high-throughput sequencing (AGO RIP-Seq)
      methodology for the isolation of AGO ternary complexes from plant tissues and the
      high-throughput sequencing of AGO-bound target RNAs. In particular, the protocol
      describes the IP of slicer-deficient hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged AGO proteins
      expressed in plant tissues, the isolation of AGO-bound RNAs, and the generation
      of target RNA libraries for high-throughput sequencing.

PMID- 28608335
TI  - Establishment of an In Vivo ARGONAUTE Reporter System in Plants.
AB  - RNA silencing is not only an evolutionarily conserved gene regulatory mechanism,
      but in plants also serves as the basis for robust adaptive antiviral immune
      responses. ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins form the catalytic cores of the RNA-guided
      ribonuclease complexes, which play a central role in RNA silencing. Here we
      describe an in vivo assay system for analyzing the activities of AGO proteins in
      the virological model plant Nicotiana benthamiana .

PMID- 28608337
TI  - Identification of ARGONAUTE/Small RNA Cleavage Sites by Degradome Sequencing.
AB  - The method described here enables the high-throughput identification of cleaved
      mRNA targets of ARGONAUTE/small RNA complexes. The protocol is based on a
      modified 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends combined with deep sequencing of 3'
      cleavage products of mRNAs. Poly(A) RNA is purified from the tissue of interest
      which is followed by a 5'-RNA adapter ligation. The ligated products are then
      reverse transcribed, amplified, and digested with MmeI. After gel separation, a
      3' double-stranded DNA adapter is ligated to the fragments, which are then
      amplified and index labeled for the high-throughput sequencing of pooled
      degradome libraries. Sequencing datasets from pooled libraries can be analyzed
      with different bioinformatic approaches.

PMID- 28608338
TI  - Dissecting the Subnuclear Localization Patterns of Argonaute Proteins and Other
      Components of the RNA-Directed DNA Methylation Pathway in Plants.
AB  - RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) is a nuclear pathway which is comprised of
      multiple main and accessory protein components, including two plant-specific DNA
      dependent RNA polymerases, Pol IV and Pol V, and argonaute (AGO) proteins.
      Regulation in the RdDM pathway can be achieved via multiple mechanisms, including
      the spatial distribution of different RdDM components. Here we describe a
      protocol for dissecting the subnuclear localization of AGO proteins and other
      RdDM components, including nuclei extraction from seedlings, slide preparation,
      and subsequent immunostaining.

PMID- 28608339
TI  - Detection of Argonaute 1 Association with Polysomes in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Argonaute (AGO) proteins play a key role in RNA silencing mechanisms. RNA
      silencing affects both RNA degradation and translation. The characterization of
      translation-associated RNA silencing mechanisms and components often requires
      polysome isolation and analysis. In this chapter, we describe the identification
      of AGO1 association with polysomes through polysome fractionation on sucrose
      gradient, preparation of proteins by filtration and concentration, and
      immunoblotting.

PMID- 28608340
TI  - Functional Analysis of Arabidopsis ARGONAUTEs in Meiosis and DNA Repair.
AB  - Plant ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins regulate a wide range of cellular and
      developmental functions. Recent findings highlight their role during homologous
      recombination, a basic mechanism to repair double-strand DNA lesions (in somatic
      cells) and programmed DNA breaks (in meiocytes). This chapter contains an
      exhaustive description of procedures applied to analyze meiotic chromosome
      behavior (cytogenetic techniques) and DNA repair capacity (genotoxicity assays)
      in AGO-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana mutants.

PMID- 28608341
TI  - Isolation and Characterization of ARGONAUTE Mutants in Chlamydomonas.
AB  - Random insertional mutagenesis and subsequent reverse genetic screening allow the
      isolation of mutants of interest. Here I describe the protocol for generating a
      tag insertion line and subsequent PCR-based screening for ARGONAUTE mutants as an
      example of a reverse genetic screen for the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas
      reinhardtii.

PMID- 28608342
TI  - ARGONAUTE Genes in Salvia miltiorrhiza: Identification, Characterization, and
      Genetic Transformation.
AB  - Small RNA-mediated gene silencing is a vital regulatory mechanism in eukaryotes
      that requires ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins. Salvia miltiorrhiza is a well-known
      traditional Chinese medicinal plant. Therefore, it is important to characterize
      S. miltiorrhiza AGO family genes as they may be involved in multiple metabolic
      pathways. This chapter introduces the detailed protocol for SmAGO gene prediction
      and molecular cloning. In addition, an Agrobacterium-mediated genetic
      transformation method for S. miltiorrhiza is presented. These methodologies can
      be used to functionally study SmAGO genes as well as other genes of interest in
      S. miltiorrhiza.

PMID- 28608343
TI  - Cloning and Characterization of Argonaute Genes in Tomato.
AB  - Argonaute (AGO) proteins are core elements in plant posttranscriptional RNA
      silencing pathways. The identification and functional characterization of tomato
      (Solanum lycopersicum) AGOs will help to better understand RNA silencing-based
      posttranscriptional regulation in fleshy fruits. Here we describe how to identify
      and clone SlAGO genes, as well as the methodology for their functional
      characterization.

PMID- 28608344
TI  - Nonradioactive Detection of Small RNAs Using Digoxigenin-Labeled Probes.
AB  - Small RNAs have been traditionally detected and quantified using small RNA blots,
      a modified Northern blot technique. The small RNAs are size-fractionated from the
      rest of the cellular RNA molecules by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and
      transferred by blotting onto a positively charged membrane. A radiolabeled probe
      was then traditionally used to detect a specific small RNA in the cellular pool.
      Small RNA blotting is a relatively simple, inexpensive approach to visualize
      small RNAs without artifacts. However, the radioactive labeling of the probe is
      sometimes an impediment, especially due to the requirement of specialized
      facilities. Here we describe a sensitive and simple method to detect and quantify
      small RNAs using digoxigenin-based nonradioactive RNA blots.

PMID- 28608345
TI  - Nonradioactive Plant Small RNA Detection Using Biotin-Labeled Probes.
AB  - Small noncoding RNAs are essential for gene expression at transcriptional and
      posttranscriptional levels. Northern blot is the most used method for small RNA
      detection in tissues. Here we present an improved protocol for the Northern blot
      based small RNA detection from plant tissues by using biotin-labeled probes.
      MicroRNAs and small interfering RNAs derived from Arabidopsis and Oryza sativa,
      respectively, have been detected with this methodology. Results suggest that this
      method is sensitive and efficient enough to detect small RNAs from plant tissues
      by using as low as 5 MUg of total RNA. Furthermore, biotin-labeled probes are
      safer and easier to store for long term than radiolabeled probes.

PMID- 28608346
TI  - Computational Analysis of Genome-Wide ARGONAUTE-Dependent DNA Methylation in
      Plants.
AB  - Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) has become a powerful tool to dissect
      genome-wide methylation profiles at single-base resolution. In this chapter we
      describe in detail the bioinformatics pipeline used for the analysis of ARGONAUTE
      dependent DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. We provide tools and command
      lines used for mapping bisulfite sequencing reads, for estimating methylation
      levels at individual cytosine sites, for identifying differentially methylated
      regions (DMRs), and for calculating methylation levels of DMRs.

PMID- 28608347
TI  - Structural and Functional Characterization of Plant ARGONAUTE MID Domains.
AB  - The interaction of small silencing RNA 5' nucleotides with the MID domain of
      ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins provides an anchor point that contributes to strong
      binding between RNA and protein. The following protocols describe the necessary
      procedures to characterize the structure of AGO MID domains using X-ray
      crystallography as well as their interaction with nucleotides that mimic the 5'
      end of small silencing RNAs using two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy.

PMID- 28608348
TI  - Identification and Analysis of WG/GW ARGONAUTE-Binding Domains.
AB  - WG/GW domains recruit ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins to distinct silencing effector
      complexes using combinations of just two amino acids: tryptophan (W) and glycine
      (G), forming a wide arsenal of highly simplified interaction surfaces. These
      unstructured domains exhibit very low sequence identity and excessive length
      polymorphism, which makes identification of new AGO-binding proteins a
      challenging task as they escape detection with standard sequence comparison-based
      methods (e.g., BLAST, HMMER).In this chapter, we explain the use of tools for
      prediction of AGO-binding WG/GW domains in protein sequences. We also show how to
      computationally explore an up-to-date information about AGO-interacting proteins
      and discover new properties of WG/GW domains. Finally, we encourage readers to
      explore the game-like web application for in silico designing/modifying AGO
      binding sequences as well as modeling mutagenesis experiments and predicting
      their potential effect on AGO-binding activity.

PMID- 28608349
TI  - Identification and Evolutionary Characterization of ARGONAUTE-Binding Platforms.
AB  - ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are eukaryotic RNA silencing effectors that interact
      with their binding partners via short peptide motifs known as AGO hooks. AGO
      hooks tend to cluster in one region of the protein to create an AGO-binding
      platform. In addition to the presence of AGO hooks, AGO-binding platforms are
      intrinsically disordered, contain tandem repeat arrays, and have weak sequence
      conservation even between close relatives. These characteristics make it
      difficult to identify and perform evolutionary analysis of these regions. Because
      of their weak sequence conservation, only a few AGO-binding platforms are
      characterized, and the evolution of these regions is only poorly understood. In
      this chapter we describe modules developed for computational identification and
      evolutionary analysis of AGO-binding platforms, with particular emphasis on
      understanding evolution of the tandem repeat arrays.

PMID- 28608350
TI  - Phylogenetic and Evolutionary Analysis of Plant ARGONAUTES.
AB  - Comparative sequence analysis is widely used for the reconstruction of phylogeny
      and for understanding the evolutionary history of gene families. Here, we
      describe the methodologies to reconstruct the phylogenetic and evolutionary
      history of a gene family across genomes with a focus on the ARGONAUTE (AGO)
      family of proteins in plants. The method described here may easily be adapted for
      studying molecular evolution of a wide variety of gene families. We enlist
      methods as well as parameters for the collection of molecular data (nucleic acids
      and peptides), preparation of datasets, and selection of evolutionary models and
      various methods for the phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis, such as maximum
      likelihood and Bayesian inference.

PMID- 28608351
TI  - Course of Aggressive Somatotroph, Corticotroph and Mammotroph Tumors under
      Temozolomide; Report of Three Cases and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Treatment of aggressive pituitary tumors may be challenging. Temozolomide (TMZ)
      is a promising agent when conventional treatment methods fail. We present three
      patients with aggressive pituitary tumors with atypical morphology, who were
      resistant to conventional treatments and treated with TMZ. First case had a
      somatotroph adenoma, second a corticotroph adenoma, and the third a
      macroprolactinoma. We also reviewed the literature reporting TMZ efficacy in
      somatotroph, corticotroph and mammotroph tumors of pituitary. TMZ, 150-200 mg/m2
      for 5 days in 28 days schedule was given to all patients. Among our patients,
      even though only the case of macroprolactinoma had a favorable response to TMZ
      treatment, both radiological and hormonal recurrences occurred 30 months after
      cessation of TMZ treatment. Then TMZ treatment was applied again. Cases of
      somatotroph and corticotroph adenomas had progressed under TMZ treatment and
      patients were lost due to mass effect of the tumor. Review of the literature
      demonstrated 67.3%, 60% and 26.7% overall response rates to the TMZ treatment in
      prolactinoma, corticotropinoma and somatostatinoma cases, respectively. There is
      still need to define response criteria uniformly to TMZ treatment in aggressive
      pituitary tumors and duration of response should be reported for reliable
      evaluation of results.

PMID- 28608352
TI  - An approach to an acute emotional stress reference scale.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The clinical diagnosis aims to identify the degree of affectation
      of the psycho-physical state of the patient as a guide to therapeutic
      intervention. In stress, the lack of a measurement tool based on a reference
      makes it difficult to quantitatively assess this degree of affectation. AIM: To
      define and perform a primary assessment of a standard reference in order to
      measure acute emotional stress from the markers identified as indicators of the
      degree. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Psychometric tests and biochemical variables are,
      in general, the most accepted stress measurements by the scientific community.
      Each one of them probably responds to different and complementary processes
      related to the reaction to a stress stimulus. The reference that is proposed is a
      weighted mean of these indicators by assigning them relative weights in
      accordance with a principal components analysis. RESULTS: An experimental study
      was conducted on 40 healthy young people subjected to the psychosocial stress
      stimulus of the Trier Social Stress Test in order to perform a primary assessment
      and consistency check of the proposed reference. The proposed scale clearly
      differentiates between the induced relax and stress states. CONCLUSIONS:
      Accepting the subjectivity of the definition and the lack of a subsequent
      validation with new experimental data, the proposed standard differentiates
      between a relax state and an emotional stress state triggered by a moderate
      stress stimulus, as it is the Trier Social Stress Test. The scale is robust.
      Although the variations in the percentage composition slightly affect the score,
      but they do not affect the valid differentiation between states.

PMID- 28608353
TI  - [Causes of hospital mortality due to brain haemorrhage in patients with
      arteriovenous malformation].
AB  - AIM: To determine the causes of mortality in cases of brain haemorrhage among
      patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVM) treated in a tertiary hospital.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The patients with AVM who died over the period 1990-2014
      were selected from a prospective register of vascular malformations. Demographic
      aspects, localisation of the AVM, associated aneurysms and previous treatments
      were reviewed. Three main causes of death were established: initial
      bleeding/rebleeding, those related with the treatment of the AVM and other causes
      not related with AVM. RESULTS: A total of 400 patients were treated for AVM, 216
      (54%) with a ruptured AVM, of whom 26 (12.1%) died as a result of a brain
      haemorrhage. The mean age of the group of patients who died was 48.8 years
      (range: 8-78 years). Twenty (76.9%) were admitted in coma (Glasgow Coma Scale <
      9). In five cases (19.2%), bleeding was due to an associated aneurysm. A very
      high percentage (38.5%) had the AVM in the posterior fossa. Three patients had
      previously received non-curative treatments for the AVM in other medical centres.
      Of the total number, six (23.1%) received endovascular/surgical treatment in our
      hospital, and we have assumed that, due to the indication or owing to the time in
      which it was carried out, the cause of death was treatment-related, although two
      young patients underwent surgery with bilateral mydriasis. One patient died due
      to an associated glioblastoma, and the others, 19 (76%), due to rebleeding or to
      the initial brain damage. CONCLUSION: Knowing the causes of mortality can help
      improve the clinical outcome, above all in cases in which an early treatment
      could be indicated.

PMID- 28608354
TI  - [Presumed perinatal ischemic stroke: risk factors and clinical and radiological
      findings].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Presumed perinatal ischemic stroke is a frequent cause of
      neurological sequelae. We aimed to describe the different clinical findings and
      risk factors and to analyse the differences according the vascular origin.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective, descriptive study of patients diagnosed with
      presumed perinatal ischemic stroke attended at a tertiary pediatric hospital from
      1990 to 2015. RESULTS: 44 patients were included. A total of 24 patients (55%)
      had arterial ischemic stroke and 20 (45%) had periventricular venous infarction.
      Delay in diagnosis was significantly higher in patients with periventricular
      venous infarction compared to those with arterial ischemic stroke (14 and 8
      months respectively; p = 0.025). Most patients presented with asymmetrical motor
      development (90%), only < 5% with seizures or non motor delays. Subsequent
      epilepsy at follow-up was significantly more prevalent in arterial ischemic
      stroke group (p = 0.020). We determined risk factors theoretically involved in
      the pathogenesis of presumed perinatal ischemic stroke: prenatal, obstetrical,
      perinatal, prothrombotic and cardiac. No significant differences between risk
      factors and vascular origin were found. Prothrombotic abnormalities were common
      (48.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Investigation in risk factors implicated in presumed
      perinatal ischemic stroke is required to develop prevention strategies. Delay in
      diagnosis is higher in periventricular venous infarction group.

PMID- 28608355
TI  - [Neuronal glycolipids regulate glial cell division negatively during development
      and following a lesion].
AB  - Glial cells in the central nervous system of adult mammals outnumber neurons 10
      fold. Their number remains stationary throughout adulthood, controlled by the
      concomitant presence of mitogens and mitogen inhibitors. The most abundant
      inhibitor, neurostatin, is ganglioside GD1b O-acetylated on hydroxyl 9 of its
      outermost sialic acid. Neurostatin inhibited the proliferation of primary
      microglia and astroblasts in culture (cytostatic) as well as both rodent and
      human glioma cells (cytotoxic) at nanomolar concentrations. At those
      concentrations neurostatin had no effect on non-glial lineage cells or
      differentiated glia. Neurostatin shows direct antimitotic activity on tumoral
      cells, interfering with multiple signals regulating cell cycle progression. But
      it also promotes indirectly total destruction of experimental rat brain glioma,
      presumably by making it visible to the host immune system and activating CD4+ and
      CD8+ lymphocytes. Neurostatin could be a new anti-inflammatory agent, with
      multiple convergent direct and indirect actions on glioma growth, a pathology
      without satisfactory clinical treatment. Neurostatin is produced by neurons but
      its expression is up-regulated by neuron-astrocyte contact. The action of
      neurostatin could be mediated by a number of receptor proteins, including
      integrins, Toll-like receptors and siglecs.

PMID- 28608356
TI  - [The influence of Spanish neuropsychiatry on the improbable medicine of Ramon
      Gomez de la Serna].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: El doctor inverosimil (The Improbable Doctor) is a novel by Ramon
      Gomez de la Serna (1888-1963) in which the reader follows, by means of a series
      of different clinical cases, the adventures of Doctor Vivar. AIMS: To present and
      discuss, for the first time, the influence that Spanish neuropsychiatry had on
      this novel, taking the following short stories as study models: 'Casos
      cerebrales' ('Brain Cases') and 'La risita' ('The Giggles'). DEVELOPMENT: In
      these two tales, the improbable doctor embodies the three defining elements of
      Spanish neuropsychiatry. The repetitions of Alzheimer's disease (or in the way in
      which progressive general paralysis is referred to) hints at its Germanic
      orientation. The mixed neuropsychiatric component is exemplified in both his
      neurological ('La risita') and psychiatric skills ('Casos cerebrales'). Doctor
      Vivar's affinity to things histopathological is apparent in his wide and timely
      usage of neurohistological terminology, mainly from Cajal. CONCLUSIONS: It can be
      deduced that the Spanish neuropsychiatric school had a strong influence on Gomez
      de la Serna's El doctor inverosimil.

PMID- 28608357
TI  - [Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome associated to chemotherapy.
      Gemcitabine as the causative agent].

PMID- 28608358
TI  - [Benign late onset Parkinson's disease].

PMID- 28608359
TI  - Achievement goal profiles and developments in effort and achievement in upper
      elementary school.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The multiple goal perspective posits that certain combinations of
      achievement goals are more favourable than others in terms of educational
      outcomes. AIMS: This study aimed to examine longitudinally whether students'
      achievement goal profiles and transitions between profiles are associated with
      developments in self-reported and teacher-rated effort and academic achievement
      in upper elementary school. SAMPLE: Participants were 722 fifth-grade students
      and their teachers in fifth and sixth grade (N = 68). METHODS: Students reported
      on their achievement goals and effort in language and mathematics three times in
      grade 5 to grade 6. Teachers rated students' general school effort. Achievement
      scores were obtained from school records. Goal profiles were derived with latent
      profile and transition analyses. Longitudinal multilevel analyses were conducted.
      RESULTS: Theoretically favourable goal profiles (high mastery and performance
      approach goals, low on performance-avoidance goals), as well as transitions from
      less to more theoretically favourable goal profiles, were associated with higher
      levels and more growth in effort for language and mathematics and with stronger
      language achievement gains. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results provide support
      for the multiple goal perspective and show the sustained benefits of favourable
      goal profiles beyond effects of cognitive ability and background characteristics.

PMID- 28608360
TI  - Predictors of surgical quality for retroperitoneal sarcoma: Volume matters.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The volume-outcome relationship is well recognized. We
      sought to investigate this relationship in retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) surgery.
      METHODS: Non-metastatic RPS cases from 2004 to 2014 in the National Cancer
      Database were analyzed. Hospitals in the top 10th percentile for volume were
      defined as high-volume. Outcomes were selected a priori based on their known
      prognostic significance, including surgery use, R0/R1 resection, and R0
      resection. Volume-outcome associations were assessed by univariate and
      multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Of 3141 RPS cases identified, 70.0% were managed
      surgically. Of these, 93.0% were R0/R1 resections, and 67.6% were R0 resections.
      Surgical management, R0/R1 resection, and R0 resection were each associated with
      improved overall survival (P < 0.001). Hospital volume was an independent
      predictor of surgical management, R0 resection, and R0/R1 resection. Patients
      treated at high-volume centers had 1.9-fold higher odds of undergoing surgical
      management (P < 0.001), 2.5-fold higher odds of receiving a R0/R1 resection (P =
      0.026), and 1.8-fold higher odds of an R0 resection (P < 0.001). Academic setting
      predicted use of surgical management (P < 0.001) and R0/R1 resection (P = 0.015)
      but not R0 resection (P = 0.882). CONCLUSIONS: High-volume hospitals are
      significantly associated with surgery use and improved surgical outcomes.
      Consideration should be given to further centralization of RPS care.

PMID- 28608361
TI  - Using Poisson-gamma model to evaluate the duration of recruitment process when
      historical trials are available.
AB  - At the design of clinical trial operation, a question of a paramount interest is
      how long it takes to recruit a given number of patients. Modelling the
      recruitment dynamics is the necessary step to answer this question. Poisson-gamma
      model provides very convenient, flexible and realistic approach. This model
      allows predicting the trial duration using data collected at an interim time with
      very good accuracy. A natural question arises: how to evaluate the parameters of
      recruitment model before the trial begins? The question is harder to handle as
      there are no recruitment data available for this trial. However, if there exist
      similar completed trials, it is appealing to use data from these trials to
      investigate feasibility of the recruitment process. In this paper, the authors
      explore the recruitment data of two similar clinical trials (Intergroupe Francais
      du Myelome 2005 and 2009). It is shown that the natural idea of plugging the
      historical rates estimated from the completed trial in the same centres of the
      new trial for predicting recruitment is not a relevant strategy. In contrast,
      using the parameters of a gamma distribution of the rates estimated from the
      completed trial in the recruitment dynamic model of the new trial provides
      reasonable predictive properties with relevant confidence intervals. Copyright
      (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608362
TI  - Chromosomal microarray as primary diagnostic genomic tool for pregnancies at
      increased risk within a population-based combined first-trimester screening
      program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of high-resolution chromosomal microarray
      (CMA) as the standard diagnostic approach for genomic imbalances in pregnancies
      with increased risk based on combined first-trimester screening (cFTS). METHODS:
      This was a retrospective study of genomic findings in a cohort of 575 consecutive
      pregnancies undergoing invasive testing because of a cFTS risk >= 1:300 on a
      publicly funded population-based screening program in the Central and Northern
      Regions of Denmark, between September 2015 and September 2016. Women with fetal
      nuchal translucency thickness >= 3.5 mm or opting for non-invasive prenatal
      testing (NIPT) were excluded. Comparative genomic hybridization was performed
      using a 180-K oligonucleotide array on DNA extracted directly from chorionic
      villus/amniocentesis samples. Genomic outcomes were reported in relation to cFTS
      findings. RESULTS: Of the 575 pregnancies that underwent invasive testing, CMA
      detected 22 (3.8% (95% CI, 2.5-5.7%)) cases of trisomies 21, 18 and 13, 14 (2.4%
      (95% CI, 1.4-4.0%)) cases of other types of aneuploidy and 15 (2.6% (95% CI, 1.5
      4.3%)) cases with a pathogenic or probably pathogenic copy number variant (CNV).
      Of the 15 CNVs, three were > 10 Mb and would probably have been detected by
      chromosomal analysis, but the other 12 would most probably not have been detected
      using conventional cytogenetic techniques; therefore, the overall detection rate
      of CMA (8.9% (95% CI, 6.8-11.5%)) was significantly higher than that estimated
      for conventional cytogenetic analysis (6.8% (95% CI, 5.0-9.1%)) (P = 0.0049).
      Reducing the cFTS risk threshold for invasive diagnostic testing to 1 in 100 or 1
      in 50 would have led, respectively, to 60% or 100% of the pathogenic CNVs being
      missed. CONCLUSIONS: CMA is a valuable diagnostic technique that can identify an
      increased number of genomic aberrations in pregnancies at increased risk on cFTS.
      Limiting diagnostic testing to pregnancies with a risk above 1 in 100 or 1 in 50,
      as proposed in contingent NIPT/invasive testing models, would lead to a
      significant proportion of pathogenic CNVs being missed at first-trimester
      screening. Copyright (c) 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28608364
TI  - Critical appraisal of the application of propensity score methods in the urology
      literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether studies that used propensity score (PS) methods
      in the urology literature provide sufficient detail to allow scientific
      reproducibility and whether appropriate statistical tests were used to obtain
      valid measures of effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched OVID Medline and the
      Science Citation Index from inception to November 2016 to identify studies that
      used PS methods in five general urology journals. From each included article, we
      extracted pertinent information related to the PS methodology, such as estimation
      of the PS, whether balance diagnostics were performed, and the statistical
      analysis performed. RESULTS: We identified 114 articles for inclusion. Matching
      on the PS was the most common method used (62 studies, 54.4%). Of all studies,
      103 (90.4%) described which covariates were used to estimate the PS; however,
      only 24 provided justification for the selected covariates. Although the majority
      of studies (70.2%) performed some sort of diagnostic evaluation to assess
      balance, few studies (24.6%) used appropriate methods for balance assessment.
      Only four (6.4%) studies that used PS matching provided sufficient detail to
      replicate the matching strategy. Finally, the majority (77.4%) of studies that
      used PS matching explicitly used inappropriate statistical methods to estimate
      the effect of an exposure on an outcome. CONCLUSIONS: In the urology literature
      PS methods were poorly described and implemented. We provide recommendations for
      improvement to allow scientific reproducibility and obtain valid measures of
      effect from their use.

PMID- 28608363
TI  - MiSynPat: An integrated knowledge base linking clinical, genetic, and structural
      data for disease-causing mutations in human mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA
      synthetases.
AB  - Numerous mutations in each of the mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases
      (aaRSs) have been implicated in human diseases. The mutations are autosomal and
      recessive and lead mainly to neurological disorders, although with pleiotropic
      effects. The processes and interactions that drive the etiology of the disorders
      associated with mitochondrial aaRSs (mt-aaRSs) are far from understood. The
      complexity of the clinical, genetic, and structural data requires concerted,
      interdisciplinary efforts to understand the molecular biology of these disorders.
      Toward this goal, we designed MiSynPat, a comprehensive knowledge base together
      with an ergonomic Web server designed to organize and access all pertinent
      information (sequences, multiple sequence alignments, structures, disease
      descriptions, mutation characteristics, original literature) on the disease
      linked human mt-aaRSs. With MiSynPat, a user can also evaluate the impact of a
      possible mutation on sequence-conservation-structure in order to foster the links
      between basic and clinical researchers and to facilitate future diagnosis. The
      proposed integrated view, coupled with research on disease-related mt-aaRSs, will
      help to reveal new functions for these enzymes and to open new vistas in the
      molecular biology of the cell. The purpose of MiSynPat, freely available at
      http://misynpat.org, is to constitute a reference and a converging resource for
      scientists and clinicians.

PMID- 28608365
TI  - Lewis Base Catalytic Properties of [Nb10 O28 ]6- for CO2 Fixation to Epoxide:
      Kinetic and Theoretical Studies.
AB  - The decaniobate cluster (TBA)6 [Nb10 O28 ] (TBA+ =tetrabutylammonium cation) was
      found to act as a Lewis base catalyst for fixation of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) to
      styrene oxide (SO). A kinetic study showed that the cycloaddition of CO2 adsorbed
      on [Nb10 O28 ]6- with SO corresponds to the rate-determining step in the Eley
      Rideal mechanism. Density functional theory calculation predicted that CO2 on the
      corner and edge O atoms of [Nb10 O28 ]6- is negatively charged and thus activated
      for nucleophilic attack on SO.

PMID- 28608366
TI  - Complement component 1, q subcomponent binding protein (C1QBP) in lipid rafts
      mediates hepatic metastasis of pancreatic cancer by regulating IGF-1/IGF-1R
      signaling.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer shows a remarkable predilection for hepatic metastasis.
      Complement component 1, q subcomponent binding protein (C1QBP) can mediate growth
      factor-induced cancer cell chemotaxis and distant metastasis by activation of
      receptor tyrosine kinases. Coincidentally, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)
      derived from the liver and cancer cells itself has been recognized as a critical
      inducer of hepatic metastasis. However, the mechanism underlying IGF-1-dependent
      hepatic metastasis of pancreatic cancer, in which C1QBP may be involved, remains
      unknown. In the study, we demonstrated a significant association between C1QBP
      expression and hepatic metastasis in patients with pancreatic cancer. IGF-1
      induced the translocation of C1QBP from cytoplasm to lipid rafts and further
      drove the formation of CD44 variant 6 (CD44v6)/C1QBP complex in pancreatic cancer
      cells. C1QBP interacting with CD44v6 in lipid rafts promoted phosphorylation of
      IGF-1R and thus activated downstream PI3K and MAPK signaling pathways which
      mediated metastatic potential of pancreatic cancer cells including proliferation,
      apoptosis, invasion, adhesion and energy metabolism. Furthermore, C1QBP knockdown
      suppressed hepatic metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells in nude mice. We
      therefore conclude that C1QBP in lipid rafts serves a key regulator of IGF-1/IGF
      1R-induced hepatic metastasis from pancreatic cancer. Our findings about C1QBP in
      lipid rafts provide a novel strategy to block IGF-1/IGF-1R signaling in
      pancreatic cancer and a reliable premise for more efficient combined modality
      therapies.

PMID- 28608368
TI  - Potential impact of exposure definition when examining non-medical use of
      prescription opioids among US veterans.

PMID- 28608367
TI  - The Rome Transplant Network model compared to the Italian Bone Marrow Donor
      Registry activity for unrelated donor search process and transplant efficiency
      for hematologic malignancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: From 2011 to 2014, a total of 71% of the 3834 patients with
      hematologic malignancies successfully identified a matched unrelated donor (MUD)
      through the Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (IBMDR), corresponding to a
      transplant efficiency of 62%. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: From 2006, the Rome
      Transplant Network (RTN) followed a hierarchical selection strategy for the
      alternative donor search: first MUD, second cord blood, and third haploidentical
      donor. Using a low-resolution HLA, a preliminary query (PQ) was performed in all
      cases with assignment of good or poor score if more or less than 10 MUDs were
      identified in Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide. Herein we assessed the utility of PQ
      and of high-resolution (HR) HLA from the start of the search. Moreover, we
      compared the donor identification and the transplant efficiency between IBMDR and
      RTN. RESULTS: At RTN 79% of 417 patients met a good PQ with a 50% MUD
      identification versus 12.5% with poor PQ. Our policy led to 78 and 74% of
      alternative donor identification and transplant efficiency, respectively, higher
      than IBMDR data equal to 71% (p = 0.007) and 62% (p < 0.0001). The timing for
      donor identification was significantly reduced using HR HLA at the start of the
      search from 88 to 66 days at IBMDR (p < 0.001) and from 61 to 41 days at RTN (p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Both PQ and HR HLA at the start of the process represents a
      useful tool to address the search towards the best and timely donor choice.
      Moreover, establishing a specific donor policy significantly improves the
      transplant efficiency.

PMID- 28608369
TI  - A Five-Tier System for Improving the Categorization of Transplant Program
      Performance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To better inform health care consumers by better identifying
      differences in transplant program performance. DATA SOURCE: Adult kidney
      transplants performed in the United States, January 1, 2012-June 30, 2014. STUDY
      DESIGN: In December 2016, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients
      instituted a five-tier system for reporting transplant program performance. We
      compare the differentiation of program performance and the simulated
      misclassification rate of the five-tier system with the previous three-tier
      system based on the 95 percent credible interval. DATA COLLECTION: Scientific
      Registry of Transplant Recipients database. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The five-tier
      system improved differentiation and maintained a low misclassification rate of
      less than 22 percent for programs differing by two tiers. CONCLUSION: The five
      tier system will better inform health care consumers of transplant program
      performance.

PMID- 28608370
TI  - Selection into Emergency Medicine specialist training: The art of selection.

PMID- 28608372
TI  - 'Medicolegal' or 'patient-centred' consent? A reply.

PMID- 28608371
TI  - Ultrasound-guided block and the incidence of intraneural injection. A reply.

PMID- 28608373
TI  - Hyperoxia and surgical site infections.

PMID- 28608374
TI  - Is the erector spinae plane (ESP) block a sheath block?

PMID- 28608375
TI  - Biohacking.

PMID- 28608376
TI  - Dispassionate indicator or evil curse: are some scoring systems for predicting
      postoperative mortality lethal?

PMID- 28608377
TI  - SolusTM flexible laryngeal mask patency fault - manufacturer's reply.

PMID- 28608378
TI  - 'Medicolegal' or 'patient-centred' consent?

PMID- 28608380
TI  - Is the erector spinae plane (ESP) block a sheath block? A reply.

PMID- 28608379
TI  - SolusTM flexible laryngeal mask patency fault.

PMID- 28608381
TI  - Knowing when to slow down.

PMID- 28608382
TI  - Peri-operative correction of non-anaemic iron deficiency. A reply.

PMID- 28608383
TI  - Peri-operative correction of non-anaemic iron deficiency.

PMID- 28608384
TI  - Systematic ultrasonography of upper limb nerves.

PMID- 28608385
TI  - Ultrasound-guided block and the incidence of intraneural injection.

PMID- 28608386
TI  - Using graph-digitising software to retrospectively extract graphical anaesthetic
      monitor data.

PMID- 28608387
TI  - Hydroxyapatite cement resurfacing the dehiscent jugular bulb: Novel treatment for
      pulsatile tinnitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The objectives were to discuss the presentation and
      symptomatology of patients with jugular bulb abnormalities, summarize the
      literature describing jugular bulb abnormalities, compare methods of treating
      symptomatic dehiscent jugular bulb, describe a novel surgical technique and
      pitfalls to repair dehiscent bulbs with hydroxyapatite cement, and present a case
      series to demonstrate outcomes with this technique STUDY DESIGN: Case series
      presentation, PubMed literature review, and description of operative technique.
      METHODS: A series of patients presenting with pulsatile tinnitus due to dehiscent
      jugular bulbs who underwent operative repair with hydroxyapatite cement
      resurfacing is described. Literature review was conducted via a PubMed database
      search. Abstracts and references were reviewed to identify relevant sources.
      Surgical technique of repair and outcomes are reported. RESULTS: Three patients
      who presented with unilateral, bothersome, pulsatile tinnitus with history and
      imaging consistent with a diagnosis of high riding, dehiscent jugular bulbs
      underwent jugular bulb resurfacing with hydroxyapatite cement. Two patients
      associated the onset of their symptoms with trauma. All patients reported
      complete resolution of their tinnitus at an average follow-up of 15 months. No
      hearing, vestibular, or intracranial complications were encountered. CONCLUSIONS:
      Compressive, obliterative, and endovascular interventions have been attempted to
      treat pulsatile tinnitus due to high-riding dehiscent jugular bulbs.
      Reconstruction of the middle ear floor with autologous tissue grafts has also
      been described. These techniques have been associated with variable results and
      with the risk of increased intracranial pressure. Hydroxyapatite cement
      resurfacing may be considered as an alternative for the treatment of this
      pathology. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 128:1186-1190, 2018.

PMID- 28608389
TI  - Sample size planning of two-arm superiority and noninferiority survival studies
      with discrete follow-up.
AB  - In clinical trials using lifetime as primary outcome variable, it is more the
      rule than the exception that even for patients who are failing in the course of
      the study, survival time does not become known exactly since follow-up takes
      place according to a restricted schedule with fixed, possibly long intervals
      between successive visits. In practice, the discreteness of the data obtained
      under such circumstances is plainly ignored both in data analysis and in sample
      size planning of survival time studies. As a framework for analyzing the impact
      of making no difference between continuous and discrete recording of failure
      times, we use a scenario in which the partially observed times are assigned to
      the points of the grid of inspection times in the natural way. Evaluating the
      treatment effect in a two-arm trial fitting into this framework by means of
      ordinary methods based on Cox's relative risk model is shown to produce biased
      estimates and/or confidence bounds whose actual coverage exhibits marked
      discrepancies from the nominal confidence level. Not surprisingly, the amount of
      these distorting effects turns out to be the larger the coarser the grid of
      inspection times has been chosen. As a promising approach to correctly analyzing
      and planning studies generating discretely recorded failure times, we use large
      sample likelihood theory for parametric models accommodating the key features of
      the scenario under consideration. The main result is an easily implementable
      representation of the expected information and hence of the asymptotic covariance
      matrix of the maximum likelihood estimators of all parameters contained in such a
      model. In two real examples of large-scale clinical trials, sample size
      calculation based on this result is contrasted with the traditional approach,
      which consists of applying the usual methods for exactly observed failure times.
      Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608388
TI  - Interval between cytoreductions as a marker of tumor biology in selecting
      patients for repeat cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal
      chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Repeat cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic
      intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) for recurrence of peritoneal surface
      malignancies is safe and effective. Patient selection and factors associated with
      a favorable outcome are still evolving. METHODS: A prospectively maintained
      institutional database consisting of 1314 CRS/HIPEC procedures performed between
      February 1993 and December 2015 was reviewed. Clinicopathologic data from 103
      patients and 112 (8.5%) repeat CRS/HIPEC procedures were retrospectively
      analyzed. RESULTS: Primary tumors were appendiceal for 60 patients (58.3%),
      mesothelioma for 14 (13.6%), colorectal for 9 (8.7%), ovarian for 8 (7.8%). R0/R1
      resection was achieved in 46 (46.5%) patients. The time interval between the
      initial and the repeat CRS/HIPEC was <1 year for 21 (20.4%), 1-2 years for 40
      (38.8%), and >2 years for 42 patients (40.8%). Overall median survival was 4.3
      years and correlated with the time interval (1.3 years for <1 years, 3.7 years
      for 1-2 years, and 7 years for >2 years; P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis,
      the R status (P = 0.005) and a time interval of more than 2 years (P = 0.0002)
      were strongly associated with survival with each additional month between the
      surgeries conferring a 2.6% reduction in the risk of death. CONCLUSIONS: The
      current series validates time interval between cytoreductions as a major
      surrogate of tumor biology in selection of patients with recurrent peritoneal
      surface malignancies for repeat CRS/HIPEC. Complete repeat cytoreduction more
      than 2 years from the initial surgery is associated with a favorable outcome.

PMID- 28608390
TI  - Novel nomogram combining depth of invasion and size can accurately predict the
      risk for regional nodal metastases for appendiceal neuroendocrine tumors (A-NET).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The need for regional lymphadenectomy for treating appendiceal
      neuroendocrine tumors (A-NET) is determined by the risk of nodal metastasis.
      Current guidelines for A-NET are solely based on tumor size. Methods Patients
      with A-NET from 1988 to 2012 were identified from the SEER registry. The depth of
      invasion was defined as limited to the lamina propria (LP), invading the
      muscularis propria (MP), and through the serosa (TS). RESULTS: A total of 418
      patients were included; the majority were female, white, and node-negative. On
      univariate and multivariable, the risk of nodal metastasis was associated with
      age, size, depth of invasion, and extent of surgery. The model predicted the
      likelihood of nodal metastasis, with an area under the curve of 0.89. On survival
      analysis, age and tumor size predicted the survival in A-NET. In a Cox regression
      model, they continued to predict survival. These data were utilized to create a
      nomogram to predict the risk of nodal metastases. CONCLUSION: This nomogram,
      accurately predicts the risk of regional nodal metastases in A-NET. In addition
      to providing valuable information on risk for regional nodal metastases, the
      depth of invasion is also predictive of survival for A-NET.

PMID- 28608392
TI  - Volatile organic compound analysis by pulsed glow discharge time of flight mass
      spectrometry as a structural elucidation tool.
AB  - Pulsed glow discharge (PGD) coupled to time of flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS)
      has been investigated for volatile organic compound (VOC) identification and
      determination. Optimization of PGD operational conditions (chamber design,
      applied power, pressure and duty cycle) was performed using acetone and benzene
      as model compounds. During the different optimizations, molecular, fragment and
      elemental information were obtained when characteristic GD pulse regions were
      measured. An exploratory study for several VOCs (lineal hydrocarbons, oxygen
      containing compounds and aromatic compounds) revealed the capability of the PGD
      to provide crucial information to elucidate structures (fragments), molecular
      ions or even proton affinity nature of the molecules; this last information is a
      consequence of the enriched proton environment generated along the afterglow
      region for the ionization chamber used. Analytical characteristics were evaluated
      with solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography coupled to PGD-TOFMS for
      special aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene: BTEX) in
      water, showing a good performance in terms of reproducibility and sensitivity.
      Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608391
TI  - The chloroplast-localized small heat shock protein Hsp21 associates with the
      thylakoid membranes in heat-stressed plants.
AB  - The small heat shock protein (sHsp) chaperones are crucial for cell survival and
      can prevent aggregation of client proteins that partially unfold under
      destabilizing conditions. Most investigations on the chaperone activity of sHsps
      are based on a limited set of thermosensitive model substrate client proteins
      since the endogenous targets are often not known. There is a high diversity among
      sHsps with a single conserved beta-sandwich fold domain defining the family, the
      alpha-crystallin domain, whereas the N-terminal and C-terminal regions are highly
      variable in length and sequence among various sHsps and conserved only within
      orthologues. The endogenous targets are probably also varying among various
      sHsps, cellular compartments, cell type and organism. Here we have investigated
      Hsp21, a non-metazoan sHsp expressed in the chloroplasts in green plants which
      experience huge environmental fluctuations not least in temperature. We describe
      how Hsp21 can also interact with the chloroplast thylakoid membranes, both when
      isolated thylakoid membranes are incubated with Hsp21 protein and when plants are
      heat-stressed. The amount of Hsp21 associated with the thylakoid membranes was
      precisely determined by quantitative mass spectrometry after metabolic 15 N
      isotope labeling of either recombinantly expressed and purified Hsp21 protein or
      intact Arabidopsis thaliana plants. We found that Hsp21 is among few proteins
      that become associated with the thylakoid membranes in heat-stressed plants, and
      that approximately two thirds of the pool of chloroplast Hsp21 is affected. We
      conclude that for a complete picture of the role of sHsps in plant stress
      resistance also their association with the membranes should be considered.

PMID- 28608393
TI  - The impact of the use of intraoperative radiotherapy on costs, travel time and
      distance for women with breast cancer in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The low availability and poor access to external beam
      radiotherapy (EBRT) in developing countries makes it hard for women with breast
      cancer to receive breast conservation. We studied the effect of providing
      intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) on the travel time, distance, and costs of in
      the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). METHODS: Sixty-nine patients treated
      between January 2013 and September 2014 were analyzed. Travel distance and
      transit time was calculated using Google Maps. The time and distance patients
      living in the MCMA treated with IORT would have spent if they had received EBRT
      was calculated. Cost analysis for each modality was performed. RESULTS: 71% (n =
      49) lived in the MCMA. Sixteen (33%) received additional EBRT and 33 (66%)
      received IORT only. Mean driving distance and transit time of those 33 women was
      132.6 km (SD 25.7) and 66 min (SD 32.9). Patients from the MCMA receiving IORT
      alone avoided 990 visits, 43 700 km and 65 400 min in transit. IORT led to a 12%
      reduction in costs per patient. CONCLUSIONS: By reducing costs and time needed
      for patients to receive radiotherapy, IORT could potentially enhance access to
      breast conservation in resource-limited developing countries.

PMID- 28608395
TI  - Gastric outlet obstruction secondary to parastomal hernia: case report and
      literature review.

PMID- 28608394
TI  - A discovery-driven approach to elucidate urinary metabolome changes after a
      regular and moderate consumption of beer and nonalcoholic beer in subjects at
      high cardiovascular risk.
AB  - SCOPE: The aim of this work was to study the urinary metabolomics changes of
      participants that consumed beer, nonalcoholic beer (na-beer), and gin. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Thirty-three males at high cardiovascular risk between 55 and 75
      years old participated in an open, randomized, crossover, controlled trial with
      three nutritional interventions consisting of beer, na-beer, and gin for 4 wk.
      Diet and physical activity was monitored throughout the study and compliance was
      assessed by measurement of urinary isoxanthohumol. Metabolomic analysis was
      performed in urine samples by LC coupled to an LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometer
      combined with univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Ten metabolites
      were identified. Eight were exogenous metabolites related to beer, na-beer, or
      gin consumption, but two of them were related to endogenic changes: hydroxyadipic
      acid linked to fatty acid oxidation, and 4-guanidinobutanoic acid, which
      correlated with a decrease in urinary creatinine. Plasmatic acylcarnitines were
      quantified by targeted MS. A regular and moderate consumption of beer and na-beer
      decreased stearoylcarnitine concentrations. CONCLUSION: Humulinone and 2,3
      dihydroxy-3-methylvaleric acid showed to be potential biomarkers of beer and na
      beer consumption. Moreover, the results of this trial provide new evidence that
      the nonalcoholic fraction of beer may increase fatty oxidation.

PMID- 28608396
TI  - Information criteria for Firth's penalized partial likelihood approach in Cox
      regression models.
AB  - In the estimation of Cox regression models, maximum partial likelihood estimates
      might be infinite in a monotone likelihood setting, where partial likelihood
      converges to a finite value and parameter estimates converge to infinite values.
      To address monotone likelihood, previous studies have applied Firth's bias
      correction method to Cox regression models. However, while the model selection
      criteria for Firth's penalized partial likelihood approach have not yet been
      studied, a heuristic AIC-type information criterion can be used in a statistical
      package. Application of the heuristic information criterion to data obtained from
      a prospective observational study of patients with multiple brain metastases
      indicated that the heuristic information criterion selects models with many
      parameters and ignores the adequacy of the model. Moreover, we showed that the
      heuristic information criterion tends to select models with many regression
      parameters as the sample size increases. Thereby, in the present study, we
      propose an alternative AIC-type information criterion based on the risk function.
      A Bayesian information criterion type was also evaluated. Further, the presented
      simulation results confirm that the proposed criteria performed well in a
      monotone likelihood setting. The proposed AIC-type criterion was applied to
      prospective observational study data. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608398
TI  - Histomorphometric and immunohistochemical assessment of RUNX2 and VEGF of
      BiogranTM and autogenous bone graft in human maxillary sinus bone augmentation: A
      prospective and randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have been conducted to assess new bone formation using
      Biogran, a bioactive glass, in maxillary sinus bone augmentation through a
      prospective and randomized evaluation. Moreover, there are no studies that
      evaluate cellular behavior by immunohistochemical assessment for osteoblastic and
      vascular activity during bone repair. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to
      compare new bone formation and cellular behavior with Biogran alone, a 1:1
      combination of Biogran and autogenous bone graft, and autogenous bone graft alone
      in human maxillary sinuses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten maxillary sinuses were
      grafted with Biogran (Group 1), 10 grafted with Biogran added to autogenous bone
      graft in a 1:1 ratio (Group 2), and 10 grafted with autogenous bone graft alone
      (Group 3). After 6 months of bone healing, samples were obtained concurrent to
      the dental implants' placement to be evaluated by histomorphometric and
      immunohistochemical assessment for RUNX2 and vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF). RESULTS: The amount of new bone formation in Group 1 was 42.0 +/- 7.3% in
      the pristine bone region, 40.7 +/- 14.0% in the intermediate region, and 45.6 +/-
      13.5% in apical region. In Group 2, for pristine bone, intermediate, and apical
      regions, new bone formation was 36.6 +/- 12.9%, 33.2 +/- 13.3%, and 45.8 +/-
      13.9%, respectively. Group 3 showed new bone formation of 37.3 +/- 11.6%, 35.3 +/
      14.7%, and 39.9 +/- 15.8% in pristine bone, intermediate, and apical regions,
      respectively. The immunolabeling for RUNX2 showed low cellular activity in
      osteoblasts for all groups, and the VEGF assessment demonstrated moderate
      cellular activity in Groups 1 and 2; however, Group 3 presented with low activity
      in the pristine bone region, followed by moderate activity in the intermediate
      and apical region. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that Biogran and its
      combination with autogenous bone graft 1:1 are good bone substitutes due to their
      similarity to autogenous bone graft.

PMID- 28608397
TI  - Reward learning modulates the attentional processing of faces in children with
      and without autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - : The processing of social stimuli, such as human faces, is impaired in
      individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which could be accounted for by
      their lack of social motivation. The current study examined how the attentional
      processing of faces in children with ASD could be modulated by the learning of
      face-reward associations. Sixteen high-functioning children with ASD and 20 age-
      and ability-matched typically developing peers participated in the experiments.
      All children started with a reward learning task, in which the children were
      presented with three female faces that were attributed with positive, negative,
      and neutral values, and were required to remember the faces and their associated
      values. After this, they were tested on the recognition of the learned faces and
      a visual search task in which the learned faces served as the distractor. We
      found a modulatory effect of the face-reward associations on the visual search
      but not the recognition performance in both groups despite the lower efficacy
      among children with ASD in learning the face-reward associations. Specifically,
      both groups responded faster when one of the distractor faces was associated with
      positive or negative values than when the distractor face was neutral, suggesting
      an efficient attentional processing of these reward-associated faces. Our
      findings provide direct evidence for the perceptual-level modulatory effect of
      reward learning on the attentional processing of faces in individuals with ASD.
      Autism Res 2017, 10: 1797-1807. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism
      Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In our study, we tested whether
      the face processing of individuals with ASD could be changed when the faces were
      associated with different social meanings. We found no effect of social meanings
      on face recognition, but both groups responded faster in the visual search task
      when one of the distractor faces was associated with positive or negative values
      than when the neutral face. The findings suggest that children with ASD could
      efficiently process faces associated with different values like typical children.

PMID- 28608399
TI  - From Couple Therapy 1.0 to a Comprehensive Model: A Roadmap for Sequencing and
      Integrating Systemic, Psychodynamic, and Behavioral Approaches in Couple Therapy.
AB  - Couple therapy is a complex undertaking that proceeds best by integrating various
      schools of thought. Grounded in an in-depth review of the clinical and research
      literature, and drawing on the author's 40-plus years of experience, this paper
      presents a comprehensive, flexible, and user-friendly roadmap for conducting
      couple therapy. It begins by describing "Couple Therapy 1.0," the basic conjoint
      couple therapy format in which partners talk to each other with the help of the
      therapist. After noting the limitations of this model, the paper introduces
      upgrades derived from systemic, psychodynamic, and behavioral/educational
      approaches, and shows how to combine and sequence them. The most important
      upgrade is the early focus on the couple's negative interaction cycle, which
      causes them pain and impedes their ability to address it. Using a clinical case
      example, the paper shows how all three approaches can improve couple process as a
      prerequisite for better problem solving. Additional modules and sequencing choice
      points are also discussed, including discernment counseling and encouraging
      positive couple experiences.

PMID- 28608400
TI  - Myocardial strain assessment using velocity vector imaging in normally grown
      fetuses at term.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess prospectively fetal myocardial deformation at term in
      normally grown fetuses using the velocity vector imaging (VVI) two-dimensional
      speckle-tracking technique, and to explore myocardial deformation changes over
      the last 4 weeks of pregnancy. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational
      cohort study of 276 women with an uncomplicated singleton pregnancy who underwent
      fortnightly ultrasound from 36 weeks' gestation until delivery at the Mater
      Mother's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. Fetal myocardial deformation (assessed by
      global and segmental longitudinal systolic myocardial strain and strain rate of
      both right and left ventricles) was measured using VVI software. RESULTS: Mean
      global longitudinal left and right ventricular strain and strain rate values
      decreased between each time point. At 36, 38 and 40 weeks' gestation, left
      ventricular global strain (%) and strain rate (/s) decreased, respectively, as
      follows: -14.6 +/- 3.8% and -1.2 +/- 0.3/s at 36 weeks; -13.6 +/- 3.3% and -1.1
      +/- 0.3/s at 38 weeks; and -12.3 +/- 3.1% and -1.0 +/- 0.3/s at 40 weeks. At 36,
      38 and 40 weeks, mean right ventricular global strain (%) and mean strain rate
      (/s) decreased, respectively, as follows: -14.2 +/- 3.4% and -1.2 +/- 0.2/s at 36
      weeks; -13.4 +/- 3.0% and -1.1 +/- 0.2/s at 38 weeks; and -12.8 +/- 2.8% and -1.1
      +/- 0.2/s at 40 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Global ventricular strain values diminish
      with advancing gestational age. Myocardial deformation imaging is feasible in
      late gestation and may be useful as an adjunct for the assessment of fetal
      cardiac function close to birth. Copyright (c) 2017 ISUOG. Published by John
      Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28608401
TI  - The anatomical evolution of the thyroid cartilage from childhood to adulthood: A
      computed tomography evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To enhance knowledge and understanding of the laryngeal framework
      maturation in different age groups and genders. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort imaging
      study. SETTING: Tertiary academic referral center. METHODS: Computed tomography
      neck scans of 283 patients aged 8 to 20 years were studied. The interlaminae
      angle (ILA) of the thyroid cartilage at the level of the vocal folds, the
      anterior projection (angulation) of the thyroid cartilage (TC), and the degree of
      calcifications were evaluated and compared in sequential age groups of both
      genders. RESULTS: Neck scans of 171 males and 112 females were reviewed. The
      average ILA was 76.45 degrees  +/- 14.2 and 94.25 degrees  +/- 10.2 for males and
      females, respectively (P < 10-25). In the female group, the mean angle was
      relatively constant (91-970) in all age groups, whereas in the male groups the
      angle decreased with age (920-670) (r = -0.9, P < 0.005) The most significant
      decrease was measured in the 14- to 15-year age group. The thyroid prominence was
      significantly more anteriorly angulated in males. The angle in the female age
      groups was constant (170.1 degrees ), and the angle in males decreased with age
      (161.47 degrees ) (P = 0.000008). Calcifications were more prominent at the
      posterior portion of the cartilage in both genders and increased with age.
      CONCLUSION: Structural diversities of the TC begin in adolescent males because
      the thyroid cartilage grows anteriorly with a narrower ILA and with a greater
      anterior angulation. Our study shows that these changes, along with the degree of
      laryngeal cartilages calcification in both genders, occur as a continuum
      throughout puberty. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 127:E354-E358, 2017.

PMID- 28608402
TI  - Does the severity of psychopathology of Italian students receiving counselling
      services increase over time? A 5-year analysis and a comparison with a clinical
      and non-clinical sample.
AB  - Psychological problems-from the most minor such as exams anxiety to the more
      severe such as personality disorders-are not rare in young adults. University
      Counselling Services often present the only opportunity for undergraduates to
      meet health professionals and to be confronted with their difficulties in a non
      clinical setting or-in cases of more severe psychopathology-to be referred to
      mental health services. Recent research attests to the increasing severity of
      psychological problems among undergraduate and graduate university students. The
      question necessarily arises as to whether this trend is replicated in the general
      population being referred to mental health services and, if such is the case,
      whether there are differences between the two populations. This paper analyses
      the change in the severity of self-reported symptoms in a sample of 194 students
      attending a University Counselling Service over a course of 5 years (2010-2014).
      Clinical severity was assessed in both groups by Symptoms Check List 90-Revised,
      Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure, and Emotion Regulation
      Questionnaire scores. Results show a substantial stability in severity level
      across time, and a comparison with an age-matched sample of patients referred to
      a public hospital clinical psychology service shows overlapping data with respect
      to disease severity level. As the mental health of university students is an
      important public health issue, the implications for the organization and
      structure of university counselling services and the connection with public
      mental health hospital centres are discussed.

PMID- 28608403
TI  - Mitochondria-targeted antioxidant MitoQ reduced renal damage caused by ischemia
      reperfusion injury in rodent kidneys: Longitudinal observations of T2 -weighted
      imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of mitochondria-targeted antioxidant MitoQ in
      reducing the severity of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in rats using T2
      -weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). METHODS: Ischemia
      reperfusion injury was induced by temporarily clamping the left renal artery.
      Rats were pretreated with MitoQ or saline. The MRI examination was performed
      before and after IRI (days 2, 5, 7, and 14). The T2 -weighted standardized signal
      intensity of the outer stripe of the outer medulla (OSOM) was measured. The
      unilateral renal clearance rate kcl was derived from DCE-MRI. Histopathology was
      evaluated after the final MRI examination. RESULTS: The standardized signal
      intensity of the OSOM on IRI kidneys with MitoQ were lower than those with saline
      on days 5 and 7 (P = 0.004, P < 0.001, respectively). Kcl values of IRI kidneys
      with MitoQ were higher than those with saline at all time points (P = 0.002, P <
      0.001, P = 0.001, P < 0.001). Histopathology showed that renal damage was the
      most predominant on the OSOM of IRI kidneys with saline, which was less obvious
      with MitoQ (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that MitoQ can
      reduce the severity of renal damage in rodent IRI models using T2 -weighted
      imaging and DCE-MRI. Magn Reson Med 79:1559-1667, 2018. (c) 2017 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 License, which
      permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
      work is properly cited.

PMID- 28608404
TI  - Apoptotic intrinsic pathway proteins predict survival in canine cutaneous mast
      cell tumours.
AB  - Mast cell tumours (MCTs) are the most frequent canine round cell neoplasms and
      show variable biological behaviours with high metastatic and recurrence rates.
      The disease is treated surgically and wide margins are recommended. Adjuvant
      chemotherapy and radiotherapy used in this disease cause DNA damage in neoplastic
      cells, which is aimed to induce apoptotic cell death. Resisting cell death is a
      hallmark of cancer, which contributes to the development and progression of
      tumours. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of the proteins
      involved in the apoptotic intrinsic pathway and to evaluate their potential use
      as prognostic markers for canine cutaneous MCTs. Immunohistochemistry for BAX,
      BCL2, APAF1, Caspase-9, and Caspase-3 was performed in 50 canine cases of MCTs.
      High BAX expression was associated with higher mortality rate and shorter
      survival. BCL2 and APAF1 expressions offered additional prognostic information to
      the histopathological grading systems. The present results indicate that
      variations in the expression of apoptotic proteins are related to malignancy of
      cutaneous MCTs in dogs.

PMID- 28608405
TI  - Revisiting the specificity of the MHC class II transactivator CIITA in classical
      murine dendritic cells in vivo.
AB  - Ciita was discovered for its role in regulating transcription of major
      histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) genes. Subsequently, CIITA was
      predicted to control many other genes based on reporter and ChIP-seq analysis but
      few such predictions have been verified in vivo using Ciita-/- mice. Testing
      these predictions for classical dendritic cells (cDCs) has been particularly
      difficult, since Ciita-/- mice lack MHCII expression required to identify cDCs.
      However, recent identification of the cDC-specific transcription factor Zbtb46
      allows the identification of cDCs independently of MHCII expression. We crossed
      Zbtb46gfp mice onto the Ciita-/- background and found that all cDC lineages
      developed in vivo in the absence of Ciita. We then compared the complete
      transcriptional profile of wild-type and Ciita-/- cDCs to define the
      physiological footprint of CIITA for both immature and activated cDCs. We find
      that CIITA exerts a highly restricted control over only the MHCII, H2-DO and H2
      DM genes, in DC1 and DC2 cDC subsets, but not over other proposed targets,
      including Ii. These findings emphasize the caveats needed in interpreting
      transcription factor binding sites identified by in-vitro reporter analysis, or
      by ChIP-seq, which may not necessarily indicate their functional activity in
      vivo.

PMID- 28608406
TI  - Pregnancy in CADASIL.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts
      and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is an inherited cerebral small vessel disease
      caused by NOTCH3 gene mutations. CADASIL women are frequently considered at high
      risk of systemic vascular events during pregnancy and often prescribed with
      antithrombotic drugs. This decision is not evidence-based considering the lack of
      data about pregnancy outcome in CADASIL. We describe our experience on pregnancy
      in CADASIL patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed records of 50 CADASIL
      females followed in our center, and we collected prospective information in six
      patients for a total of 93 pregnancies. RESULTS: No woman had the disease onset
      or suffered from cerebral vascular ischemic events during pregnancy. Sixteen
      miscarriages (17.2%) were recorded. There were 72 vaginal births, and five
      cesarean sections. Considering the six patients followed prospectively (for a
      total of eight pregnancies), data on fetal growth and newborns weight were in
      line with those from the general population. Considering gestational
      complications, we recorded mild proteinuria without hypertension in one patient
      and hyperinsulinemia and pre-eclampsia in another affected by a known
      nephropathy. Antithrombotic drugs were used in three patients, in one for an
      unrelated coexisting prothrombotic condition. CONCLUSIONS: CADASIL does not seem
      to be associated with an unfavorable outcome of pregnancy either for women and
      fetuses. Patients and treating physicians should be reassured that pregnancy can
      be safely initiated in CADASIL, as there is no evidence to support a specific
      preventive antithrombotic treatment during pregnancy in CADASIL. Larger studies
      are needed to definitively confirm these conclusions.

PMID- 28608408
TI  - Does the frontal sinus need to be obliterated following fracture with frontal
      sinus outflow tract injury?

PMID- 28608409
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy of pancreatic cancer induces a favorable
      immunogenic tumor microenvironment associated with increased major
      histocompatibility complex class I-related chain A/B expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are related to immune
      responses in malignant tumors including tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).
      The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between expression
      of components of DAMPs and TILs in pancreatic cancer patients who underwent
      neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) versus those who did not. METHODS: NACRT
      was administered to 51 patients with borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer and
      not to 33 patients with resectable pancreatic cancer. Resected specimens were
      analyzed for the presence of DAMPs, major histocompatibility complex class I
      related chain A/B (MICA/B), and CD8+ TILs, CD4+ TILs, and forkhead box P3
      positive (Foxp3+ ) TILs. The Treg/TIL ratio was obtained by dividing the number
      of Foxp3+ TILs, a surrogate for regulatory T cells, by the sum of CD8+ and CD4+
      TILs. RESULTS: Overexpression of calreticulin, Hsp70, and MICA/B were all
      significantly correlated with NACRT administration. In the NACRT group, high
      MICA/B expression was associated with a low Treg/TIL ratio, indicating a
      favorable immunogenic tumor microenvironment. Patients with a lower Treg/TIL
      ratio had longer survival. CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of MICA/B, a component of
      DAMPs induced by NACRT, may play an important role in acquiring a favorable
      immune response for pancreatic cancer which contributes to longer survival,
      suggesting the potential of immunotherapy of this recalcitrant disease,
      especially for patients with overexpression of DAMPs.

PMID- 28608410
TI  - Pyrazole amino acids: hydrogen bonding directed conformations of 3-amino-1H
      pyrazole-5-carboxylic acid residue.
AB  - A series of model compounds containing 3-amino-1H-pyrazole-5-carboxylic acid
      residue with N-terminal amide/urethane and C-terminal amide/hydrazide/ester
      groups were investigated by using NMR, Fourier transform infrared, and single
      crystal X-ray diffraction methods, additionally supported by theoretical
      calculations. The studies demonstrate that the most preferred is the extended
      conformation with torsion angles phi and psi close to +/-180 degrees . The
      studied 1H-pyrazole with N-terminal amide/urethane and C-terminal amide/hydrazide
      groups solely adopts this energetically favored conformation confirming rigidity
      of that structural motif. However, when the C-terminal ester group is present,
      the second conformation with torsion angles phi and psi close to +/-180 degrees 
      and 0 degrees , respectively, is accessible. The conformational equilibrium is
      observed in NMR and Fourier transform infrared studies in solution in polar
      environment as well as in the crystal structures of other related compounds. The
      observed conformational preferences are clearly related to the presence of
      intramolecular interactions formed within the studied residue. Copyright (c) 2017
      European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608411
TI  - Interleaved EPI diffusion imaging using SPIRiT-based reconstruction with virtual
      coil compression.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a novel diffusion imaging reconstruction framework based on
      iterative self-consistent parallel imaging reconstruction (SPIRiT) for multishot
      interleaved echo planar imaging (iEPI), with computation acceleration by virtual
      coil compression. METHODS: As a general approach for autocalibrating parallel
      imaging, SPIRiT improves the performance of traditional generalized
      autocalibrating partially parallel acquisitions (GRAPPA) methods in that the
      formulation with self-consistency is better conditioned, suggesting SPIRiT to be
      a better candidate in k-space-based reconstruction. In this study, a general
      SPIRiT framework is adopted to incorporate both coil sensitivity and phase
      variation information as virtual coils and then is applied to 2D navigated iEPI
      diffusion imaging. To reduce the reconstruction time when using a large number of
      coils and shots, a novel shot-coil compression method is proposed for computation
      acceleration in Cartesian sampling. Simulations and in vivo experiments were
      conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. RESULTS: Compared
      with the conventional coil compression, the shot-coil compression achieved higher
      compression rates with reduced errors. The simulation and in vivo experiments
      demonstrate that the SPIRiT-based reconstruction outperformed the existing
      method, realigned GRAPPA, and provided superior images with reduced artifacts.
      CONCLUSION: The SPIRiT-based reconstruction with virtual coil compression is a
      reliable method for high-resolution iEPI diffusion imaging. Magn Reson Med
      79:1525-1531, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in
      Medicine.

PMID- 28608407
TI  - Disulfide bonds and disorder in granulin-3: An unusual handshake between
      structural stability and plasticity.
AB  - Granulins (GRNs) are a family of small (~6 kDa) proteins generated by the
      proteolytic processing of their precursor, progranulin (PGRN), in many cell
      types. Both PGRN and GRNs are implicated in a plethora of biological functions,
      often in opposing roles to each other. Lately, GRNs have generated significant
      attention due to their implicated roles in neurodegenerative disorders. Despite
      their physiological and pathological significance, the structure-function
      relationships of GRNs are poorly defined. GRNs contain 12 conserved cysteines
      forming six intramolecular disulfide bonds, making them rather exceptional, even
      among a few proteins with high disulfide bond density. Solution NMR
      investigations in the past have revealed a unique structure containing putative
      interdigitated disulfide bonds for several GRNs, but GRN-3 was unsolvable due to
      its heterogeneity and disorder. In our previous report, we showed that abrogation
      of disulfide bonds in GRN-3 renders the protein completely disordered (Ghag et
      al., Prot Eng Des Sel 2016). In this study, we report the cellular expression and
      biophysical analysis of fully oxidized, native GRN-3. Our results indicate that
      both E. coli and human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells do not exclusively make GRN-3
      with homogenous disulfide bonds, likely due to the high cysteine density within
      the protein. Biophysical analysis suggests that GRN-3 structure is dominated by
      irregular loops held together only by disulfide bonds, which induced remarkable
      thermal stability to the protein despite the lack of regular secondary structure.
      This unusual handshake between disulfide bonds and disorder within GRN-3 could
      suggest a unique adaptation of intrinsically disordered proteins towards
      structural stability.

PMID- 28608412
TI  - Semiparametric regression on cumulative incidence function with interval-censored
      competing risks data.
AB  - Many biomedical and clinical studies with time-to-event outcomes involve
      competing risks data. These data are frequently subject to interval censoring.
      This means that the failure time is not precisely observed but is only known to
      lie between two observation times such as clinical visits in a cohort study. Not
      taking into account the interval censoring may result in biased estimation of the
      cause-specific cumulative incidence function, an important quantity in the
      competing risks framework, used for evaluating interventions in populations, for
      studying the prognosis of various diseases, and for prediction and implementation
      science purposes. In this work, we consider the class of semiparametric
      generalized odds rate transformation models in the context of sieve maximum
      likelihood estimation based on B-splines. This large class of models includes
      both the proportional odds and the proportional subdistribution hazard models
      (i.e., the Fine-Gray model) as special cases. The estimator for the regression
      parameter is shown to be consistent, asymptotically normal and semiparametrically
      efficient. Simulation studies suggest that the method performs well even with
      small sample sizes. As an illustration, we use the proposed method to analyze
      data from HIV-infected individuals obtained from a large cohort study in sub
      Saharan Africa. We also provide the R function ciregic that implements the
      proposed method and present an illustrative example. Copyright (c) 2017 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608413
TI  - Use of Veterans Affairs and Medicaid Services for Dually Enrolled Veterans.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine how dual coverage for nonelderly, low-income veterans by
      Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicaid affects their demand for care. DATA SOURCES:
      Veterans Affairs utilization data and Medicaid Analytic Extract Files. STUDY
      DESIGN: A retrospective, longitudinal study of VA users prior to and following
      enrollment in Medicaid 2006-2010. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Veterans
      Affairs reliance, or proportion of care provided by VA, was estimated with beta
      binomial models, adjusting for patient and state Medicaid program factors.
      PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a cohort of 19,890 nonelderly veterans, VA utilization
      levels were similar before and after enrolling in Medicaid. VA outpatient
      reliance was 0.65, and VA inpatient reliance was 0.53 after Medicaid enrollment.
      Factors significantly associated with greater VA reliance included
      sociodemographic factors, having a service-connected disability, comorbidity, and
      higher state Medicaid reimbursement. Factors significantly associated with less
      VA reliance included months enrolled in Medicaid, managed care enrollment,
      Medicaid eligibility type, longer drive time to VA care, greater Medicaid
      eligibility generosity, and better Medicaid quality. CONCLUSION: Veterans Affairs
      utilization following new Medicaid enrollment remained relatively unchanged, and
      the VA continued to provide the large majority of care for dually enrolled
      veterans. There was variation among patients as Medicaid eligibility and other
      program factors influenced their use of Medicaid services.

PMID- 28608414
TI  - Use of lecithin to control fiber morphology in electrospun poly (E-caprolactone)
      scaffolds for improved tissue engineering applications.
AB  - We elucidate the effects of incorporating surfactants into electrospun poly (E
      caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds on network homogeneity, cellular adherence and
      osteogenic differentiation. Lecithin was added with a range of concentrations to
      PCL solutions, which were electrospun to yield functionalized scaffolds. Addition
      of lecithin yielded a dose-dependent reduction in scaffold hydrophobicity, whilst
      reducing fiber width and hence increasing specific surface area. These changes in
      scaffold morphology were associated with increased cellular attachment of Saos-2
      osteoblasts 3-h postseeding. Furthermore, cells on scaffolds showed comparable
      proliferation over 14 days of incubation to TCP controls. Through model-based
      interpretation of image analysis combined with gravimetric estimates of porosity,
      lecithin is shown to reduce scaffold porosity and mean pore size. Additionally,
      lecithin incorporation is found to reduce fiber curvature, resulting in increased
      scaffold specific elastic modulus. Low concentrations of lecithin were found to
      induce upregulation of several genes associated with osteogenesis in primary
      mesenchymal stem cells. The results demonstrate that functionalization of
      electrospun PCL scaffolds with lecithin can increase the biocompatibility and
      regenerative potential of these networks for bone tissue engineering
      applications. (c) 2017 The Authors Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part
      A Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2865
      2874, 2017.

PMID- 28608416
TI  - Increased prevalence of allergic asthma from 1996 to 2006 and further to 2016
      results from three population surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During the latter half of the 20th century, the prevalence of asthma
      and many other allergic diseases has increased. Information on asthma prevalence
      trends among adults after 2010, especially regarding studies separating allergic
      asthma from non-allergic asthma, is lacking. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to estimate
      prevalence trends of current asthma among adults, both allergic and non-allergic,
      from 1996 to 2016. METHODS: Three cross-sectional samples from the same area of
      Sweden, 20-69 years, participated in surveys with the same questionnaire in 1996
      (n=7104 participants, 85% response rate), 2006 (n=6165, 77%) and 2016 (n=5466,
      53%), respectively. Allergic rhino-conjunctivitis (ARC) was used as a marker for
      allergic sensitization to define allergic asthma. RESULTS: The prevalence of
      current asthma increased from 8.4% (95% CI: 7.8-9.0) in 1996 to 9.9% (95% CI: 9.2
      10.6) in 2006 and 10.9% (95% CI: 10.1-11.7) in 2016 (P<.001). Allergic asthma
      increased from 5.0% (95% CI: 4.5-5.5) in 1996 to 6.0% (95% CI: 5.4-6.6) in 2006
      and further to 7.3% (95% CI: 6.6-8.0) in 2016 (P<.001), while the prevalence of
      non-allergic asthma remained stable around 3.4%-3.8%. The increase in current
      asthma was most pronounced among women and among the middle-aged. Physician
      diagnosed asthma, asthma medication use and ARC also increased significantly,
      while the prevalence of symptoms common in asthma such as wheeze and attacks of
      shortness of breath decreased slightly or was stable. The prevalence of current
      smoking decreased from 27.4% in 1996 to 12.3% in 2016. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: The prevalence of allergic asthma increased from 1996 to 2006 and
      further to 2016, while the prevalence of non-allergic asthma remained on a stable
      prevalence level. The prevalence of symptoms common in asthma decreased slightly
      or was stable despite a substantial decrease in the prevalence of current
      smoking. Clinicians should be aware that the previously observed increase in
      prevalence of allergic asthma is still ongoing.

PMID- 28608415
TI  - Crystal structural characterization reveals novel oligomeric interactions of
      human voltage-dependent anion channel 1.
AB  - Voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), which is located in the outer
      mitochondrial membrane, plays important roles in various cellular processes. For
      example, oligomerization of VDAC1 is involved in the release of cytochrome c to
      the cytoplasm, leading to apoptosis. However, it is unknown how VDAC1
      oligomerization occurs in the membrane. In the present study, we determined high
      resolution crystal structures of oligomeric human VDAC1 (hVDAC1) prepared by
      using an Escherichia coli cell-free protein synthesis system, which avoided the
      need for denaturation and refolding of the protein. Broad-range screening using a
      bicelle crystallization method produced crystals in space groups C222 and P221 21
      , which diffracted to a resolution of 3.10 and 3.15 A, respectively. Each crystal
      contained two hVDAC1 protomers in the asymmetric unit. Dimer within the
      asymmetrical unit of the crystal in space group C222 were oriented parallel,
      whereas those of the crystal in space group P221 21 were oriented anti-parallel.
      From a model of the crystal in space group C222, which we constructed by using
      crystal symmetry operators, a heptameric structure with eight patterns of
      interaction between protomers, including hydrophobic interactions with beta
      strands, hydrophilic interactions with loop regions, and protein-lipid
      interactions, was observed. It is possible that by having multiple patterns of
      interaction, VDAC1 can form homo- or hetero-oligomers not only with other VDAC1
      protomers but also with other proteins such as VDAC2, VDAC3 and apoptosis
      regulating proteins in the Bcl-2 family.

PMID- 28608417
TI  - Otolaryngology practice patterns in pediatric tonsillectomy: The impact of the
      codeine boxed warning.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To determine if otolaryngologists at a single children's
      hospital were adherent to the boxed warning for codeine use in post-tonsillectomy
      patients and the implications for practice patterns. STUDY DESIGN: Case series
      with chart review. METHODS: Charts from all patients undergoing
      adenotonsillectomy at a single children's hospital from January 1, 2010 through
      December 31, 2015 were analyzed and stratified according to date (pre- or post
      boxed warning) and practitioner type (academic otolaryngologists [AO] vs.
      nonacademic otolaryngologists [NAO]). Demographic data, surgical technique,
      method of removal, narcotic prescriptions (dosage and drug), and complications
      were recorded. Fisher exact test was used to determine the level of significance
      in prescription rates pre- and postwarning. SPSS version 22 was used for
      statistical analysis, with P < .05 indicating statistical significance. RESULTS:
      There were 2,749 children undergoing adenotonsillectomy during the study period,
      with 1,239 AOs and 1,510 NAOs. There was a distinct downward trend in codeine
      prescriptions before and after the warning, with the AO group reaching zero
      sooner than the NAO group. There was a 5% decrease in discharge narcotic
      prescriptions given postwarning (P < .001), but no significant difference in
      postoperative emergency department visits or pain-related complications when
      comparing the two time periods. CONCLUSIONS: Codeine use for management of
      pediatric post-tonsillectomy pain was essentially zero after issuance of the
      boxed warning. Total narcotic use decreased significantly without increase in
      pain- or medication-related complications. Future research should focus on
      identifying markers of increased susceptibility to adverse medication events and
      determining the safest options for pain management. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.
      Laryngoscope, 128:264-268, 2018.

PMID- 28608418
TI  - Characterization of an insulinotropic peptide from skin secretions of Odorrana
      andersonii.
AB  - Insulinotropic peptide agents are regarded as potential candidates for anti
      diabetic treatment. In the present study, a novel insulinotropic peptide, termed
      OA-A1, was purified from frog skin secretions of Odorrana andersonii. Mature OA
      A1 was determined to be a 1965.049 Da peptide with an amino acid sequence of
      LVGKLLKGAVGDVCGLLPIC, in which an intramolecular disulfide bridge was formed by
      two cysteine residues. At the cellular level, OA-A1 exhibited potent
      proliferation promoting effects on mouse-derived pancreatic beta-TC-6 cells and
      significantly stimulated insulin release in beta-TC-6 cells at a minimum
      concentration of 1 nM. In the animal model, OA-A1 also showed a dose-dependent
      insulin-releasing role in mice. At concentrations ranging from 1 nmol/kg to 1
      MUmol/kg, OA-A1 had a significant acute hypoglycemic effect on streptozotocin
      (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. The pancreatic islet areas of diabetic mice
      increased dose-dependently after 21 days of OA-A1 treatment (1-100 nmol/kg)
      compared with those of the saline control group. Moreover, OA-A1 significantly
      improved the oral glucose tolerance of STZ-induced diabetic mice. Taken together,
      these results suggest that OA-A1 provides an excellent template for the
      development of novel anti-diabetic therapeutic agents. Copyright (c) 2017
      European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608419
TI  - Empathic responding in preschool-aged children with familial risk for autism.
AB  - Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show deficits in social and
      emotional reciprocity, which often include empathic responding. The younger
      siblings of children with ASD (high-risk siblings) are at elevated risk for ASD
      and for subclinical deficits in social-emotional functioning. Higher levels of
      empathy in high-risk siblings during the second and third years of life predict
      fewer ASD symptoms and likelihood of diagnosis. We conducted a multi-method
      investigation of empathic responding to an examiner's accident in 30 low-risk and
      48 high-risk siblings with (n = 12) and without ASD outcomes (n = 36) at 4-6
      years of age. Empathic responding was measured through behavioral observation and
      parent report. Prosocial behavior did not differ by ASD outcome. Children with
      ASD exhibited lower levels of personal distress than high-risk and low-risk
      siblings without ASD. Per parent report, high-risk siblings without ASD
      demonstrated higher levels of empathic responding than low-risk children, while
      the ASD group did not differ from children without ASD on this measure. Higher
      levels of observed empathic concern, but not prosocial behavior, were associated
      with lower Social Affect scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule in
      high-risk children. Results suggest that ASD diagnosis and symptoms are
      associated with reduced emotional responsiveness to an adult's distress, but not
      associated with deficits in prosocial behavior at preschool age. Results do not
      support the idea that empathic responding is negatively impacted in a broader
      autism phenotype. Findings extend previous research by suggesting that empathy
      may be a protective factor in the social-emotional development of children with
      familial risk for ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1621-1628. (c) 2017 International
      Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608420
TI  - Reproductive strategy, spawning induction, spawning temperatures and early life
      history of captive sicklefin chub Macrhybopsis meeki.
AB  - Macrhybopsis reproduction and propagule traits were studied in the laboratory
      using two temperature regimes and three hormone treatments to determine which
      methods produced the most spawns. Only sicklefin chub Macrhybopsis meeki spawned
      successfully although sturgeon chub Macrhybopsis gelida released unfertilized
      eggs. All temperature and hormone treatments produced M. meeki spawns, but two
      treatments had similar success rates at 44 and 43%, consisting of a constant
      daily temperature with no hormone added, or daily temperature fluctuations with
      hormone added to the water. Spawns consisted of multiple successful demersal
      circular swimming spawning embraces interspersed with circular swims without
      embraces. The most spawns observed for one female was four and on average, 327
      eggs were collected after each spawn. The water-hardened eggs were semi-buoyant
      and non-adhesive, the first confirmation of this type of reproductive guild in
      the Missouri River Macrhybopsis sp. From spawn, larvae swam vertically until 123
      accumulated degree days ( degrees  D) and 167 degrees  D for consumption of first
      food. Using average water speed and laboratory development time, the predicted
      drift distance for eggs and larvae could be 468-592 km in the lower Missouri
      River. Results from this study determined the reproductive biology and early life
      history of Macrhybopsis spp. and provided insight into their population dynamics
      in the Missouri River.

PMID- 28608422
TI  - Portomesenteric thrombosis post laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a case report.

PMID- 28608421
TI  - Polydopamine mediated assembly of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles and bone
      morphogenetic protein-2 on magnesium alloys for enhanced corrosion resistance and
      bone regeneration.
AB  - Magnesium alloys have the great potential to be used as orthopedic implants due
      to their biodegradability and mechanical resemblance to human cortical bone.
      However, the rapid degradation in physiological environment with the evolution of
      hydrogen gas release hinders their clinical applications. In this study, we
      developed a novel functional and biocompatible coating strategy through
      polydopamine mediated assembly of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles and growth factor,
      bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), onto the surface of AZ31 Mg alloys. Such
      functional coating has strong bonding with the substrate and can increase surface
      hydrophilicity of magnesium alloys. In vitro electrochemical corrosion and
      hydrogen evolution tests demonstrate that the coating can significantly enhance
      the corrosion resistance and therefore slow down the degradation of AZ31 Mg
      alloys. In vitro cell culture reveals that immobilization of HA nanoparticles and
      BMP-2 can obviously promote cell adhesion and proliferation. Furthermore, in vivo
      implantation tests indicate that with the synergistic effects of HA nanoparticles
      and BMP-2, the coating does not cause obvious inflammatory response and can
      significantly reduce the biodegradation rate of the magnesium alloys and induce
      the new bone formation adjacent to the implants. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
      J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2750-2761, 2017.

PMID- 28608423
TI  - A toolchain for the automatic generation of computer codes for correlated
      wavefunction calculations.
AB  - In this work, the automated generator environment for ORCA (ORCA-AGE) is
      described. It is a powerful toolchain for the automatic implementation of
      wavefunction-based quantum chemical methods. ORCA-AGE consists of three main
      modules: (1) generation of "raw" equations from a second quantized Ansatz for the
      wavefunction, (2) factorization and optimization of equations, and (3) generation
      of actual computer code. We generate code for the ORCA package, making use of the
      powerful functionality for wavefunction-based correlation calculations that is
      already present in the code. The equation generation makes use of the most
      elementary commutation relations and hence is extremely general. Consequently,
      code can be generated for single reference as well as multireference approaches
      and spin-independent as well as spin-dependent operators. The performance of the
      generated code is demonstrated through comparison with efficient hand-optimized
      code for some well-understood standard configuration interaction and coupled
      cluster methods. In general, the speed of the generated code is no more than 30%
      slower than the hand-optimized code, thus allowing for routine application of
      canonical ab initio methods to molecules with about 500-1000 basis functions.
      Using the toolchain, complicated methods, especially those surpassing human
      ability for handling complexity, can be efficiently and reliably implemented in
      very short times. This enables the developer to shift the attention from
      debugging code to the physical content of the chosen wavefunction Ansatz.
      Automatic code generation also has the desirable property that any improvement in
      the toolchain immediately applies to all generated code. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608424
TI  - Evaluation of the 8th edition American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) staging
      system for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: A surveillance,
      epidemiology, and end results (SEER) analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to assess the prognostic performance
      of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition in patients with
      intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) using a cancer registry. METHODS: The
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry was queried to
      identify 1008 patients who underwent surgical resection of ICC during 1998-2013.
      Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to
      analyze long-term survival. The relative discriminative abilities were assessed
      using the Harrell's concordance index. RESULTS: Median patient age was 62 years
      and 47.6% of the patients were male. Most tumors were T1 or T2 (n = 413, 41.0%
      and n = 329, 32.6%, respectively) and 22.1% of patients had lymph node (LN)
      metastasis. Median tumor size was 5.5 cm. With a median follow-up of 18 months,
      median survival was 27 months and 5-year OS was 30.6%. The OS c-index for the
      AJCC 8th staging system was 0.669, which was comparable with the c-index for the
      7th edition AJCC staging system (c-index: 0.667); the AJCC 8th-edition did
      provide more discrete stratification of patients. CONCLUSIONS: The new AJCC 8th
      edition staging system for ICC was largely comparable to the 7th-edition version
      and did not provide a marked improvement in overall prognostic discrimination.

PMID- 28608425
TI  - Three-dimensional visualization of ocellar interneurons of the orchid bee
      Euglossa imperialis using micro X-ray computed tomography.
AB  - We used contrast-optimized micro X-ray computed tomography (mCT) to trace the
      profiles of the full complement of large ocellar L-neurons in the male orchid bee
      Euglossa imperialis. We find that most L-neurons collect information from either
      the dorsal or the ventral retinae in both median and lateral ocelli, with only
      three neurons associated with the median ocellus having dendritic branches in
      both dorsal and ventral retina. In the median ocellus, we find also L-neurons
      that either collect information from the left or the right half of the ocellar
      plexus and two neurons that have a split dendritic tree in both halves. Fourteen
      large L-neurons collect information from the median ocellus and six to seven L
      neurons from each of the lateral ocelli. The only L-neurons that project to the
      contralateral protocerebrum are those that have their dendritic branches in the
      ventral plexi of both median and lateral ocelli. The target areas of dorsal L
      neurons from the lateral ocelli include a tract of mechanosensory fibers
      originating in the antennae. We compare our findings with what is known from the
      ocellar systems of other insects, make a number of functional inferences and
      discuss the advantages and disadvantages of mCT scans for the purpose of tracing
      large neuron profiles.

PMID- 28608426
TI  - Monitoring of libido and semen quality parameters in melatonin-treated French
      alpine bucks during the non-breeding season.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exogenous melatonin on
      libido and semen quality parameters in bucks during the non-breeding season.
      Twelve bucks of the French alpine breed from 1.5 to 4 years of age were assigned
      into melatonin (MG) and control (CG) groups, with 6 bucks in each group. The
      experimental period was 3 months (March-May), divided into six periods of 15 days
      each. The bucks in the MG group received four melatonin implants at the end of
      March. Two semen samples were taken from the bucks by artificial vagina once per
      week and their libido estimated. Volume and spermatozoa concentration, their mass
      motility and motility, proportion of live and total abnormal and forms with
      abnormal head and tail were determined in the obtained ejaculate samples. The
      total number of spermatozoa and functional spermatozoa fraction in the ejaculate
      was also calculated. The MG bucks had significantly higher mass motility and
      motility of spermatozoa in the first half of April, and a higher proportion of
      live spermatozoa in the first and second half of April (p < .05). Differences in
      libido intensity were not significant. The results indicated that the application
      of melatonin significantly improved the qualitative parameters of semen in bucks,
      as seen in increased mass motility, motility of spermatozoa and proportion of
      live spermatozoa shortly following melatonin insertion. Therefore, the results of
      the current study are novel regarding the use of melatonin treatment during the
      non-breeding season to improve the qualitative parameters of ejaculates in bucks.

PMID- 28608427
TI  - Breast cancer cell obatoclax response characterization using passivated-electrode
      insulator-based dielectrophoresis.
AB  - Inherent electrical properties of cells can be beneficial to characterize
      different cell lines and their response to experimental drugs. This paper
      presents a novel method to characterize the response of breast cancer cells to
      drug stimuli through use of off-chip passivated-electrode insulator-based
      dielectrophoresis (OpiDEP) and the application of AC electric fields. This work
      is the first to demonstrate the ability of OpiDEP to differentiate between two
      closely related breast cancer cell lines, LCC1 and LCC9 while assessing their
      drug sensitivity to an experimental anti-cancer agent, Obatoclax. Although both
      cell lines are derivatives of estrogen-responsive MCF-7 breast cancer cells,
      growth of LCC1 is estrogen independent and anti-estrogen responsive, while LCC9
      is both estrogen-independent and anti-estrogen resistant. Under the same
      operating conditions, LCC1 and LCC9 had different DEP profiles. LCC1 cells had a
      trapping onset (crossover) frequency of 700 kHz and trapping efficiencies between
      30-40%, while LCC9 cells had a lower crossover frequency (100 kHz) and showed
      higher trapping efficiencies of 40-60%. When exposed to the Obatoclax, both cell
      lines exhibited dose-dependent shifts in DEP crossover frequency and trapping
      efficiency. Here, DEP results supplemented with cell morphology and proliferation
      assays help us to understand the response of these breast cancer cells to
      Obatoclax.

PMID- 28608429
TI  - 27th Regional Congress of the ISBT, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 17-21, 2017.

PMID- 28608428
TI  - Fusion of plectasin derivative NZ2114 with hydrophilic random coil polypeptide:
      Recombinant production in Pichia pastoris and antimicrobial activity against
      clinical strain MRSA.
AB  - One of the roadblocks towards the practical use of antimicrobial peptides for
      medical use is their relatively high cost when synthesized chemically. Effective
      recombinant production has only been successful in some cases, such as the
      previously reported production in Pichia pastoris of the antimicrobial plectasin
      derivative peptide NZ2114. The same production host has also been used
      extensively to produce so-called protein-polymers: sequences that consist of
      repetitions of simple amino acid motifs found in structural proteins such as
      collagen and elastin, and that can be designed to self-assemble in micelles,
      fibers and hydrogels. With the eventual goal of producing recombinant
      biomaterials such as antimicrobial protein polymer, we here explore the secreted
      production in Pichia pastoris of a fusion of NZ2114 with a hydrophilic random
      coil protein polymer CP4 . The intact NZ2114-CP4 fusion copolymer was produced
      with a yield of purified protein on the order of 1 g.L-1 supernatant. We find
      that purified NZ2114-CP4 has an activity against clinical strain MRSA, but very
      much lower than activity of chemically synthesized NZ2114. We conclude that
      possibly, the activity of NZ2114 is impaired by the C-terminal attachment to the
      protein polymer chain, but other reasons for the low activity cannot yet be
      excluded either. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID- 28608430
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28608431
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 28608432
TI  - Xeno-pericardial patch repair of the inferior vena cava for radical resection of
      renal cell carcinoma with tumor thrombus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: For tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava (IVC)
      complicated with kidney cancer, we built a surgical team to achieve (1) en bloc
      tumor resection; (2) xeno-pericardial patch IVC repair; and (3) minimum organ
      damages. We reviewed outcome of the case series to verify rationale of this
      approach. METHODS: A consecutive series of 12 patients having the IVC tumor
      thrombus by renal cell carcinoma in the last 3 years was enrolled. Minimum kidney
      ischemia was induced in five cases (Procedure I), whereas liver and kidney
      ischemia was induced in five cases (Procedure II). Mild hypothermic
      extracorporeal circulation was used in two cases (Procedure III). RESULTS: There
      was no mortality or severe morbidities related to the surgery. Postoperative
      recovery was most prompt by the Procedure I. Liver and kidney ischemic time was
      longer in the Procedure III than the Procedure II, whereas organ function was not
      substantially impaired in either series. The resected IVC margin was free from
      the cancer in all cases, while local recurrence was not seen in any cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: En bloc resection with xeno-pericardial patch repair of the IVC was
      successfully performed in the tumor thrombus complicated with kidney cancer with
      minimum organ damage.

PMID- 28608433
TI  - Performances of Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Simplified Disease
      Activity Index (SDAI) appear to be better than the gold standard Disease
      Assessment Score (DAS-28-CRP) to assess rheumatoid arthritis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To compare the performance of Disease Assessment Score of 28
      joints - C-reactive protein (DAS-28-CRP), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)
      and Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) composite measures to assess status
      of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on methotrexate, versus DAS-28 CRP as
      the gold standard. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-five patients with RA as per
      the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism
      criteria were included in the prospective study. The disease activity was
      assessed at baseline and at every 6 weeks for 24 weeks, by DAS-28-CRP, CDAI and
      SDAI. Patients were divided into groups of remission, low, moderate and high
      activity on the basis of predefined cut-offs for DAS-28-CRP, CDAI and SDAI. A
      Spearman correlation between composite measures and inter-group comparison of the
      measures was performed. RESULTS: There was an excellent positive correlation
      between DAS-28-CRP and CDAI (linear weighted kappa baseline - 0.545), DAS-28 CRP
      and SDAI (linear weighted kappa - 0.689) at baseline. There was moderate
      agreement between DAS-28-CRP and CDAI (linear weighted kappa final visit - 0.458)
      at final visit. There was moderate correlation between SDAI and DAS-28-CRP at
      final visit (linear weighted kappa - 0.470). However, correlation between CDAI
      versus SDAI remained excellent at baseline and final visit. Patients in remission
      as per DAS-28-CRP had significantly more residual disease activity compared to
      SDAI and CDAI remission criteria. CONCLUSION: The study shows an excellent strong
      positive correlation between DAS-28-CRP, CDAI and SDAI at initial evaluation but
      not at final visit. SDAI- and CDAI-based remission criteria seem to be better
      than DAS-28-CRP-based remission criteria.

PMID- 28608434
TI  - Use of 3D models of vascular rings and slings to improve resident education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a manufacturing method by which an
      object is created in an additive process, and can be used with medical imaging
      data to generate accurate physical reproductions of organs and tissues for a
      variety of applications. We hypothesized that using 3D printed models of
      congenital cardiovascular lesions to supplement an educational lecture would
      improve learners' scores on a board-style examination. DESIGN AND INTERVENTION:
      Patients with normal and abnormal aortic arches were selected and anonymized to
      generate 3D printed models. A cohort of pediatric and combined
      pediatric/emergency medicine residents were then randomized to intervention and
      control groups. Each participant was given a subjective survey and an objective
      board-style pretest. Each group received the same 20-minutes lecture on vascular
      rings and slings. During the intervention group's lecture, 3D printed physical
      models of each lesion were distributed for inspection. After each lecture, both
      groups completed the same subjective survey and objective board-style test to
      assess their comfort with and postlecture knowledge of vascular rings. RESULTS:
      There were no differences in the basic demographics of the two groups. After the
      lectures, both groups' subjective comfort levels increased. Both groups' scores
      on the objective test improved, but the intervention group scored higher on the
      posttest. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a measurable gain in knowledge
      about vascular rings and pulmonary artery slings with the addition of 3D printed
      models of the defects. Future applications of this teaching modality could extend
      to other congenital cardiac lesions and different learners.

PMID- 28608435
TI  - CAD/CAM-fabricated ceramic implant-supported single crowns made from lithium
      disilicate: Final results of a 5-year prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: All-ceramic bilayer systems suffer from technique-sensitivity,
      resulting in increased technical complication rates. This might be overcome by
      monolithic reconstructions, facilitating digital workflows. PURPOSE: To evaluate
      the clinical and patient-reported outcome of CAD/CAM-fabricated implant-supported
      single crowns (ISCs) made of lithium disilicate (LS2 ) cemented on ceramic
      implants 5 years after implant installation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four
      patients were included in the study. All participants received a one-piece
      ceramic implant in anterior (4 incisors) and posterior regions (10 premolars, 10
      molars). LS2 crowns were computer-aided designed (CAD), manufactured (CAM) and
      adhesively luted onto the implants. Follow-ups were performed yearly up to 60
      months after implant installation. The survival/success rates of the restorations
      were calculated according to modified US Public Health Service criteria as
      follows: Clinically relevant defects that could be repaired intraorally were
      accepted for survival, whereas small-area chippings, roughness (o < 2 mm),
      slightly soundable marginal gaps, minimal undercontours/overcontours, and
      tolerable color deviations were accepted for success. Kaplan-Meier plots were
      used for the success/survival analyses. Furthermore, patient-reported outcome
      measures (PROMs) were assessed by applying visual analog scales (VAS). Linear
      (PROMs) and logistic (USPHS criteria) mixed models were fitted to evaluate time
      effects on response variables. RESULTS: Twenty-two ISCs could be evaluated 55.2
      +/- 4.2 months after prosthetic delivery. Two patients were reported as drop-outs
      (1 died, 1 moved abroad). No failures were observed, resulting in 100% survival.
      At two ISCs, a major-roughness had to be treated. This resulted in a Kaplan-Meier
      success estimate of 91.7% (95%CI: 70.6%-97.9%). Compared with pretreatment, all
      surveys at prosthetic delivery except for self-esteem (P = .375) showed
      significantly improved VAS scores. No decrease in satisfaction could be observed
      over time until the end of follow-up (P >= .056). CONCLUSION: Concerning
      survival/success rates and PROMs, the evaluated crown-implant system showed
      favorable mid-term results. To date, there are no comparable data available for
      implant-supported ISCs made of LS2 .

PMID- 28608436
TI  - Bayesian epidemic models for spatially aggregated count data.
AB  - Epidemic data often possess certain characteristics, such as the presence of many
      zeros, the spatial nature of the disease spread mechanism, environmental noise,
      serial correlation and dependence on time-varying factors. This paper addresses
      these issues via suitable Bayesian modelling. In doing so, we utilize a general
      class of stochastic regression models appropriate for spatio-temporal count data
      with an excess number of zeros. The developed regression framework does
      incorporate serial correlation and time-varying covariates through an Ornstein
      Uhlenbeck process formulation. In addition, we explore the effect of different
      priors, including default options and variations of mixtures of g-priors. The
      effect of different distance kernels for the epidemic model component is
      investigated. We proceed by developing branching process-based methods for
      testing scenarios for disease control, thus linking traditional epidemiological
      models with stochastic epidemic processes, useful in policy-focused decision
      making. The approach is illustrated with an application to a sheep pox dataset
      from the Evros region, Greece. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608437
TI  - "We don't do it for the money" ... The scale and reasons of poverty-pay among
      frontline long-term care workers in England.
AB  - Demographic trends escalate the demands for formal long-term care (LTC) in the
      majority of the developed world. The LTC workforce is characterised by its very
      low wages, the actual scale of which is less well known. This article
      investigates the scale of poverty-pay in the feminised LTC sector and attempts to
      understand the perceived reasons behind persisting low wages in the sector. The
      analysis makes use of large national workforce pay data and a longitudinal survey
      of care workers, as well as interviews with key stakeholders in the sector. The
      analysis suggests that there are at least between 10 and 13% of care workers who
      are effectively being paid under the National Minimum Wage in England. Thematic
      qualitative analysis of 300 interviews with employers, care workers and service
      users highlight three key explanatory factors of low pay: the intrinsic nature of
      LTC work, the value of caring for older people, and marketisation and outsourcing
      of services.

PMID- 28608440
TI  - Formation of a Tunneling Product in the Photorearrangement of o
      Nitrobenzaldehyde.
AB  - The photochemical rearrangement of o-nitrobenzaldehyde to o-nitrosobenzoic acid,
      first reported in 1901, has been shown to proceed via a distinct ketene
      intermediate. In the course of matrix isolation experiments in various host
      materials at temperatures as low as 3 K, the ketene was re-investigated in its
      electronic and vibrational ground states. It was shown that hitherto unreported H
      tunneling dominates its reactivity, with half-lives of a few minutes.
      Unexpectedly, the tunneling product is different from o-nitrosobenzoic acid
      formed in the photoprocess: Once prepared by irradiation, the ketene
      spontaneously rearranges to an isoxazolone via an intriguing mechanism initiated
      by H-tunneling. CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ computations reveal that this isoxazolone is
      neither thermodynamically nor kinetically favored under the experimental
      conditions, and that formation of this unique tunneling product constitutes a
      remarkable and new example of tunneling control.

PMID- 28608438
TI  - A randomized clinical trial investigating the efficacy of targeted nutrition as
      adjunct to exercise training in COPD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence regarding the efficacy of nutritional supplementation to
      enhance exercise training responses in COPD patients with low muscle mass is
      limited. The objective was to study if nutritional supplementation targeting
      muscle derangements enhances outcome of exercise training in COPD patients with
      low muscle mass. METHODS: Eighty-one COPD patients with low muscle mass, admitted
      to out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation, randomly received oral nutritional
      supplementation, enriched with leucine, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids
      (NUTRITION) or PLACEBO as adjunct to 4 months supervised high intensity exercise
      training. RESULTS: The study population (51% males, aged 43-80) showed moderate
      airflow limitation, low diffusion capacity, normal protein intake, low plasma
      vitamin D, and docosahexaenoic acid. Intention-to-treat analysis revealed
      significant differences after 4 months favouring NUTRITION for body mass (mean
      difference +/- SEM) (+1.5 +/- 0.6 kg, P = 0.01), plasma vitamin D (+24%, P =
      0.004), eicosapentaenoic acid (+91%,P < 0.001), docosahexaenoic acid (+31%, P <
      0.001), and steps/day (+24%, P = 0.048). After 4 months, both groups improved
      skeletal muscle mass (+0.4 +/- 0.1 kg, P < 0.001), quadriceps muscle strength
      (+12.3 +/- 2.3 Nm,P < 0.001), and cycle endurance time (+191.4 +/- 34.3 s, P <
      0.001). Inspiratory muscle strength only improved in NUTRITION (+0.5 +/- 0.1 kPa,
      P = 0.001) and steps/day declined in PLACEBO (-18%,P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: High
      intensity exercise training is effective in improving lower limb muscle strength
      and exercise performance in COPD patients with low muscle mass and moderate
      airflow obstruction. Specific nutritional supplementation had additional effects
      on nutritional status, inspiratory muscle strength, and physical activity
      compared with placebo.

PMID- 28608439
TI  - The role of cold-inducible RNA binding protein in cell stress response.
AB  - Cold-inducible RNA binding protein (CIRP) was discovered after the cells were
      exposed to a moderate cold shock because its production was induced. Other
      cellular stresses such as ultraviolet light radiation and hypoxia also could
      increase its expression. Under stress conditions, CIRP could up regulate its own
      expression by self-transcriptional activation of alternative promoters. After
      relocating into cytoplasm from nucleus, CIRP assists cells in adapting to novel
      environmental conditions via stabilizing specific mRNAs and facilitating their
      translation. It not only participates in anti-apoptosis processes under mild
      hypothermia condition, but also protects cells from ultraviolet radiation and
      hypoxia induced senescence process. This article focuses on the possible
      mechanisms of its inducible expression, cytoprotective functions and
      carcinogenesis. In addition, extracellular CIRP has been shown to be a novel
      danger-associated molecular patter (DAMP) member and is able to induce
      inflammatory response. Finally, based on the distinct roles of CIRP in
      intracellular and extracellular conditions, a possible model of CIRP-mediated
      cell fate has been proposed.

PMID- 28608442
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28608443
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28608441
TI  - Transfusion-related acute lung injury: critical neutrophil activation by anti-HLA
      A2 antibodies for endothelial permeability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a major complication
      of hemotherapy that may occur after the transfusion of any blood type component.
      Several clinical reports have suggested the presence of anti-HLA antibodies in
      the blood product. This study sought to examine the role of anti-HLA-A2
      antibodies in polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) activation and thus in
      endothelial permeability. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: PMN activation was assessed
      by both nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH oxidase)
      activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. A coculture assay of
      EA.hy926 endothelial cells with PMNs or differentiated-PLB-985 cells, a model of
      neutrophil-like cells, was performed to estimate the impact of ROS on endothelial
      permeability. RESULTS: Anti-HLA-A2 antibodies significantly increased PMN
      activation, with subsequent endothelial dysfunction. Phagocyte NADPH oxidase
      (NOX2) activity was shown to be involved in this process and ROS themselves were
      demonstrated to induce VE-cadherin cleavage and endothelial permeability.
      CONCLUSION: Our data may support the existence of a critical anti-HLA-A2 antibody
      threshold for PMN activation, with NOX2 activity and subsequent endothelial
      permeability in the two-hit model of TRALI.

PMID- 28608444
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28608445
TI  - Tailoring the volatility and stability of oligopeptides.
AB  - Amino acids are essential building blocks of life, and fluorinated derivatives
      have gained interest in chemistry and medicine. Modern mass spectrometry has
      enabled the study of oligo- and polypeptides as isolated entities in the gas
      phase, but predominantly as singly or even multiply charged species. While laser
      desorption of neutral peptides into adiabatically expanding supersonic noble gas
      jets is possible, UV-VIS spectroscopy, electric or magnetic deflectometry as well
      as quantum interferometry would profit from the possibility to prepare thermally
      slow molecular beams. This has typically been precluded by the fragility of the
      peptide bond and the fact that a peptide would rather 'fry', i.e. denature and
      fragment than 'fly'. Here, we explore how tailored perfluoroalkyl
      functionalization can reduce the intermolecular binding and thus increase the
      volatility of peptides and compare it to previously explored methylation,
      acylation and amidation of peptides. We show that this strategy is essential and
      enables the formation of thermal beams of intact neutral tripeptides, whereas
      only fragments were observed for an extensively fluoroalkyl-decorated
      nonapeptide. (c) 2017 The Authors. Journal of Mass Spectrometry Published by John
      Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28608448
TI  - Catalytic Oxidative Trifluoromethoxylation of Allylic C-H Bonds Using a Palladium
      Catalyst.
AB  - A catalytic intermolecular allylic C-H trifluoromethoxylation reaction of alkenes
      has been developed based on the use of a palladium catalyst, CsOCF3 as the
      trifluoromethoxide source, and benzoquinone as the oxidant. This reaction
      provides an efficient route for directly accessing allylic trifluoromethoxy
      derivatives with excellent regioselectivities from terminal alkenes via an
      allylic C-H bond activation process.

PMID- 28608446
TI  - Dual addressing of thymidine synthesis pathways for effective targeting of
      proliferating melanoma.
AB  - Here, we examined the potential of blocking the thymidine de novo synthesis
      pathways for sensitizing melanoma cells to the nucleoside salvage pathway
      targeting endogenous DNA irradiation. Expression of key nucleotide synthesis and
      proliferation enzymes thymidylate synthase (TS) and thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) was
      evaluated in differentiated (MITFhigh [microphthalmia-associated transcription
      factor] IGR1) and invasive (MITFmedium IGR37) melanoma cells. For inhibition of
      de novo pathways cells were incubated either with an irreversible TS inhibitor 5
      fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdUrd) or with a competitive dihydrofolate-reductase
      (DHFR) inhibitor methotrexate (MTX). Salvage pathway was addressed by irradiation
      emitting thymidine analog [123/125 I]-5-iodo-4'-thio-2'-deoxyuridine (123/125 I
      ITdU). The in vivo targeting efficiency was visualized by single-photon emission
      computed tomography. Pretreatment with FdUrd strongly increased the cellular
      uptake and the DNA incorporation of 125 I-ITdU into the mitotically active IGR37
      cells. This effect was less pronounced in the differentiated IGR1 cells. In vivo,
      inhibition of TS led to a high and preferential accumulation of 123 I-ITdU in
      tumor tissue. This preclinical study presents profound rationale for development
      of therapeutic approach by highly efficient and selective radioactive targeting
      one of the crucial salvage pathways in melanomas.

PMID- 28608447
TI  - The effect of baseline characteristics on clinical efficacy of liraglutide in
      patients treated with high-dose insulin.
AB  - In patients requiring high-dose insulin treatment, a randomized, double-blind,
      placebo-controlled study showed that liraglutide improved glycaemic control and
      treatment satisfaction while promoting weight loss. We performed a post hoc
      analysis to evaluate if patients' baseline characteristics impact the efficacy of
      liraglutide, and which outcomes correlate with treatment satisfaction. We used
      regression analysis to model the change in HbA1c and weight, with treatment
      assignment and baseline characteristics [HbA1c, age, body mass index (BMI), total
      daily dose (TDD) of insulin, duration of insulin treatment, and type of insulin
      regimen] as independent variables. Improvement in HbA1c was best predicted by
      treatment with liraglutide, followed by higher baseline HbA1c, BMI and age.
      Changes in weight were only associated with liraglutide treatment, independent of
      all baseline characteristics. Improvement in HbA1c was the only significant
      predictor of improvement in treatment satisfaction, while weight loss, change in
      TDD of insulin and rate of hypoglycaemia did not influence treatment
      satisfaction. In patients treated with high-dose insulin, liraglutide
      significantly improved glycaemic control and led to weight loss regardless of
      patients' baseline characteristics. Improvement in HbA1c was the most important
      predictor of patients' treatment satisfaction.

PMID- 28608449
TI  - Resveratrol suppresses lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 expression by
      reducing oxidative stress in macrophages and animal models.
AB  - SCOPE: Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound with known
      cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Lipoprotein
      associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2 ) is associated with the risk of
      cardiovascular disease. Here, we investigated the effects of resveratrol on Lp
      PLA2 expression in vitro and in vivo and explored the underlying mechanisms.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Human monocytic cells (THP-1) were induced to differentiate
      into macrophages for an in vitro experimental model. Resveratrol suppressed Lp
      PLA2 expression and reduced inflammation; lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 MUg/mL),
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha, 10 ng/mL) and reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) were employed to stimulate an increase in Lp-PLA2 expression and ROS
      levels, and the stimulation was inhibited by resveratrol (50 MUM) and other
      antioxidants. The inhibition of resveratrol was inversed partially by sirtuin 1
      (SIRT1) inhibitors (Nicotinamide, 1-10 mM) (p<0.05). Next, a chronic inflammation
      mouse model induced by a HFD (high fat diet) supplemented with resveratrol 100
      mg/kg/day orally for 12 weeks, resulted in resveratrol-induced decreases in the
      Lp-PLA2 levels in the plasma and liver and increases in the superoxide dismutase
      2 (SOD2) expression in the liver (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on our results, the
      protective effects of resveratrol on cardiovascular events may be related to its
      ability to suppress Lp-PLA2 expression.

PMID- 28608451
TI  - Commissioning and equity in primary care in Australia: Views from Primary Health
      Networks.
AB  - This paper reports findings from 55 stakeholder interviews undertaken in six
      Primary Health Networks (PHNs) in Australia as part of a study of the impact of
      population health planning in regional primary health organisations on service
      access and equity. Primary healthcare planning is currently undertaken by PHNs
      which were established in 2015 as commissioning organisations. This was a
      departure from the role of Medicare Locals, the previous regional primary health
      organisations which frequently provided services. This paper addresses
      perceptions of 23 senior staff, 11 board members and 21 members of clinical and
      community advisory councils or health priority groups from six case study PHNs on
      the impact of commissioning on equity. Participants view the collection of
      population health data as facilitating service access through redistributing
      services on the basis of need and through bringing objectivity to decision-making
      about services. Conversely, participants question the impact of the political and
      geographical context and population profile on capacity to improve service access
      and equity through service commissioning. Service delivery was seen as
      fragmented, the model is at odds with the manner in which Aboriginal Community
      Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) operate and rural regions lack services
      to commission. As a consequence, reliance upon commissioning of services may not
      be appropriate for the Australian primary healthcare context.

PMID- 28608450
TI  - Analysis of giant thoracic neoplasms: Correlations between imaging, pathology and
      surgical management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A giant thoracic neoplasm is extremely rare and poorly understood.
      Our systemic study introduced computed tomography angiography (CTA) with three
      dimensional (3D) reconstruction imaging and evaluated correlations between
      imaging, pathology, and surgical management. METHODS: Data from 45 patients
      undergoing surgery for giant thoracic neoplasm in our institution between May
      2007 and November 2015 were collected. The clinical characteristics, imaging
      manifestations, preoperative biopsy, surgical management, postoperative
      pathology, and prognosis and their correlation were analyzed. RESULTS: The
      clinical characteristics, imaging manifestations, and pathological types were
      complicated. Four patients underwent CTA with 3D reconstruction imaging and
      feeding vessels were found in three cases. Twenty-four selected patients accepted
      preoperative biopsy, eight of which were inconsistent with postoperative
      pathology. Complete resection was performed in 39 cases, 20 of which underwent
      extended excision. The median survival duration of all patients was 58 months
      (range 3.0-118.0). The one, three, and five-year survival rates were 86.0%,
      64.4%, and 47.0%, respectively. Univariate analyses showed tumor size and
      resection status were prognostic factors for survival (P = 0.003 and P < 0.001,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: A giant thoracic neoplasm should preferably be
      treated in experienced centers for precise diagnosis and optimal therapy schemes
      with comprehensive consideration of clinical characters, imaging manifestations,
      pathology, surgical management, and prognosis. Innovative CTA with 3D
      reconstruction imaging together with preoperative biopsy are feasible and
      effective in therapeutic decision-making and surgical planning. Complete surgical
      resection remains the mainstay of curative therapy for all resectable tumors.

PMID- 28608453
TI  - Chiral analysis of ammuxetine enantiomers in dog plasma using online SPE/liquid
      chromatography with tandem mass spectrometric detection after precolumn chiral
      derivatization.

PMID- 28608452
TI  - Chiral separation and modeling of baclofen, bupropion, and etodolac profens on
      amylose reversed phase chiral column.
AB  - Chiral resolution of baclofen, bupropion, and etodolac profens was obtained with
      amylose derivatized chiral reversed stationary phase (carbamate groups). The
      eluent used for bupropion and etodolac was MeOH-water (20:80, v/v) and for
      baclofen was water-methanol (95:5, v/v). The eluent run rates, finding wavelength
      and temperature, were 1.0 mL/min, 220 nm and 27 +/- 1  degrees C for all the
      eluents. The magnitude of the retardation factors for S- and R-enantiomers of
      baclofen, bupropion, and etodolac were 1.37, 2.62, 2.25, 3.25, 1.8, and 3.0. The
      magnitudes of separation and resolution factors were 1.90, 1.44, and 1.67 and
      2.77, 2.35, and 2.04. Limits of detection and quantitation were 1.0-2.0 and 5.1
      10.0 MUg/mL. Chiral recognition mechanisms were recognized by simulation and high
      performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiments. It was seen that hydrogen
      interactions, hydrophobic interactions, and pi-pi exchanges were the chief
      interactions for chiral recognition mechanisms. The described methods may be
      exploited for the chiral separation of baclofen, bupropion, and etodolac profens
      in any unknown sample.

PMID- 28608454
TI  - Accelerated atherosclerosis in ANCA-associated vasculitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction and stroke,
      is a major cause of mortality in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Although AAV
      affects small vessels, an accelerated atherosclerosis not explained by
      traditional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) has been demonstrated. We aimed to
      investigate the association of atherosclerosis measured by carotid intima-media
      thickness (CIMT) and cerebral small vessel disease in AAV-patients. MATERIALS &
      METHODS: Twenty-three AAV-patients in complete remission were recruited. Carotid
      ultrasonography (US), transcranial Doppler (TCD), brain magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI), and SPECT after intravenous administration of tracer 99mTc-HMPAO
      (dose: 720MBq) were performed. RESULTS: AAV-patients presented higher CIMT
      compared to normative population. Multivariate linear regression analysis
      demonstrated an association of higher CIMT with increased pulsatility index in
      middle cerebral artery (PI-MCA) (P=.011), higher lesion load on ARWMC scale
      (P=.011) and abnormal SPECT (P=.008). No association between higher CIMT and CVRF
      (diabetes or hypertension) was demonstrated. Increasing internal carotid artery
      pulsatility index (PI-ICA) was associated with decreasing mean flow velocity
      (MFV)-MCA (P=.038), increasing PI-MCA (P=.008) and increasing white matter
      lesions on MRI (P=.011). CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds weight to the presence of
      increased atherosclerosis in AAV-patients. The association observed between CIMT
      and PI-ICA with small vessel cerebral disease, points the possible association of
      easy to use carotid US in predicting microvascular brain injury.

PMID- 28608455
TI  - Reply to Osborne & Serdarevic (2017): Potential impact of exposure definition
      when examining non-medical use of prescription opioids among US veterans.

PMID- 28608456
TI  - Is axillary surgery beneficial for patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of the
      breast?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, typically
      triple-negative, breast cancer reported to have a favorable prognosis and low
      rate of nodal metastasis. No consensus guidelines exist for axillary staging and
      treatment. METHODS: We identified all patients with ACC evaluated at our
      institution from January 1994 to August 2016. Patient, tumor, and treatment
      variables were abstracted and analyzed. RESULTS: We identified 20 pure ACCs
      (0.13% of all invasive breast cancers) with size range 0.2-4.8 cm, in 19 women,
      median age 59 years. Preoperative axillary ultrasound was normal in 10/13 women
      and suspicious in 3/13 who had a subsequent negative lymph node fine needle
      aspiration (FNA). Fifteen patients (75%) had sentinel lymph node surgery and were
      pathologically node-negative, while the remaining five had no axillary surgery.
      With 3.6 years median follow-up (range 0.2-38.6 years), three patients
      experienced an in-breast recurrence at 2, 16, and 17 years, respectively, while
      none recurred in regional nodes. CONCLUSIONS: We observed no cases of nodal
      metastasis in 20 consecutive cases of ACC of the breast. Preoperative axillary
      ultrasound with FNA of suspicious nodes accurately predicted pathologic nodal
      stage. These data suggest axillary surgery might be omitted safely in patients
      with pure ACC and a clinically negative axilla.

PMID- 28608458
TI  - Biomarkers of Renal Function: Towards Clinical Actionability.
AB  - This review provides an overview of the clinical value of the most relevant renal
      biomarkers, focusing on two main clinical conditions: acute kidney injury and
      chronic kidney disease. We categorize biomarkers according to their
      actionability, in terms of a documented response to treatment in relation to
      outcomes. Furthermore, we introduce a new category of renal biomarkers, metabolic
      biomarkers, and underscore their capacity to be highly actionable.

PMID- 28608457
TI  - Potential therapeutic interventions for chronic kidney disease-associated
      sarcopenia via indoxyl sulfate-induced mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients experience skeletal muscle
      wasting and decreased exercise endurance. Our previous study demonstrated that
      indoxyl sulfate (IS), a uremic toxin, accelerates skeletal muscle atrophy. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the issue of whether IS causes mitochondria
      dysfunction and IS-targeted intervention using AST-120, which inhibits IS
      accumulation, or mitochondria-targeted intervention using L-carnitine or
      teneligliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor which retains mitochondria
      function and alleviates skeletal muscle atrophy and muscle endurance in chronic
      kidney disease mice. METHODS: The in vitro effect of IS on mitochondrial status
      was evaluated using mouse myofibroblast cells (C2C12 cell). The mice were divided
      into sham or 5/6-nephrectomized (CKD) mice group. Chronic kidney disease mice
      were also randomly assigned to non-treatment group and AST-120, L-carnitine, or
      teneligliptin treatment groups. RESULTS: In C2C12 cells, IS induced mitochondrial
      dysfunction by decreasing the expression of PGC-1alpha and inducing autophagy in
      addition to decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential. Co-incubation with an
      anti-oxidant, ascorbic acid, L-carnitine, or teneligliptine restored the values
      to their original state. In CKD mice, the body and skeletal muscle weights were
      decreased compared with sham mice. Compared with sham mice, the expression of
      interleukin-6 and atrophy-related factors such as myostatin and atrogin-1 was
      increased in the skeletal muscle of CKD mice, whereas muscular Akt
      phosphorylation was decreased. In addition, a reduced exercise capacity was
      observed for the CKD mice, which was accompanied by a decreased expression of
      muscular PCG-1alpha and increased muscular autophagy, as reflected by decreased
      mitochondria-rich type I fibres. An AST-120 treatment significantly restored
      these changes including skeletal muscle weight observed in CKD mice to the sham
      levels accompanied by a reduction in IS levels. An L-carnitine or teneligliptin
      treatment also restored them to the sham levels without changing IS level.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that IS induces mitochondrial dysfunction in
      skeletal muscle cells and provides a potential therapeutic strategy such as IS
      targeted and mitochondria-targeted interventions for treating CKD-induced muscle
      atrophy and decreased exercise endurance.

PMID- 28608460
TI  - Anatomical and electrophysiological development of the hypothalamic orexin
      neurons from embryos to neonates.
AB  - The amount, quality, and diurnal pattern of sleep change greatly during
      development. Developmental changes of sleep/wake architecture are in a close
      relationship to brain development. The fragmentation of wake episodes is one of
      the salient features in the neonatal period, which is also observed in mature
      animals and human individuals lacking neuropeptide orexin/hypocretin signaling.
      This raises the possibility that developmental changes of lateral hypothalamic
      orexin neurons are relevant to the development of sleep/wake architecture.
      However, little information is available on morphological and physiological
      features of developing orexin neurons. To address the cellular basis for
      maturation of the sleep/wake regulatory system, we investigated the functional
      development of orexin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus. The anatomical
      development as well as the changes in the electrophysiological characteristics of
      orexin neurons was examined from embryonic to postnatal stages in orexin-EGFP
      mice. Prepro-orexin promoter activity was detectable at embryonic day (E) 12.0,
      followed by expression of orexin A after E14.0. The number of orexin neurons and
      their membrane capacitance reached similar levels to adults by postnatal day (P)
      7, while their membrane potentials, firing rates, and action potential waveforms
      were developed by P21. The hyperpolarizing effect of serotonin, which is a major
      inhibitory signal for adult orexin neurons, was detected after E18.0 and matured
      at P1. These results suggest that the expression of orexin peptides precedes the
      maturation of electrophysiological activity of orexin neurons. The function of
      orexin neurons gradually matures by 3 weeks after birth, coinciding with
      maturation of sleep/wake architecture.

PMID- 28608461
TI  - Epidermal growth factor signals attenuate phenotypic and functional development
      of neocortical GABA neurons.
AB  - Phenotypic development of neocortical GABA neurons is highly plastic and promoted
      by various neurotrophic factors such as neuregulin-1. A subpopulation of GABA
      neurons expresses not only neuregulin receptor (ErbB4) but also epidermal growth
      factor (EGF) receptor (ErbB1) during development, but the neurobiological action
      of EGF on this cell population is less understood than that of neuregulin-1.
      Here, we examined the effects of exogenous EGF on immature GABA neurons both in
      culture and in vivo and also explored physiological consequences in adults. We
      prepared low density cultures from the neocortex of rat embryos and treated
      neocortical neurons with EGF. EGF decreased protein levels of glutamic acid
      decarboxylases (GAD65 and GAD67), and EGF influences on neuronal survival and
      glial proliferation were negligible or limited. The EGF treatment also diminished
      the frequency of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs). In vivo
      administration of EGF to mouse pups reproduced the above GABAergic phenomena in
      neocortical culture. In EGF-injected postnatal mice, GAD- and parvalbumin
      immunoreactivities were reduced in the frontal cortex. In addition, postnatal EGF
      treatment decreased mIPSC frequency in, and the density of, GABAergic terminals
      on pyramidal cells. Although these phenotypic influences on GABA neurons became
      less marked during development, it later resulted in the reduced beta- and gamma
      powers of sound-evoked electroencephalogram in adults, which is regulated by
      parvalbumin-positive GABA neurons and implicated in the schizophrenia
      pathophysiology. These findings suggest that, in contrast to the ErbB4 ligand of
      neuregulin-1, the ErbB1 ligand of EGF exerts unique maturation-attenuating
      influences on developing cortical GABAergic neurons.

PMID- 28608462
TI  - Progress and challenges associated with halal authentication of consumer packaged
      goods.
AB  - Abusive business practices are increasingly evident in consumer packaged goods.
      Although consumers have the right to protect themselves against such practices,
      rapid urbanization and industrialization result in greater distances between
      producers and consumers, raising serious concerns on the supply chain. The
      operational complexities surrounding halal authentication pose serious challenges
      on the integrity of consumer packaged goods. This article attempts to address the
      progress and challenges associated with halal authentication. Advancement and
      concerns on the application of new, rapid analytical methods for halal
      authentication are discussed. The significance of zero tolerance policy in
      consumer packaged foods and its impact on analytical testing are presented. The
      role of halal assurance systems and their challenges are also considered. In
      conclusion, consensus on the establishment of one standard approach coupled with
      a sound traceability system and constant monitoring would certainly improve and
      ensure halalness of consumer packaged goods. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical
      Industry.

PMID- 28608463
TI  - Effect of etching on bonding of a self-etch adhesive to dentine affected by
      amelogenesis imperfecta.
AB  - AIM: Dentine affected by amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is histologically altered
      due to loss of hypoplastic enamel and becomes hypermineralized. In the present
      study, we examined the effect of additional acid etching on microtensile bond
      strength of a self-etch adhesive to AI-affected dentine. METHODS: Flat coronal
      dentine obtained from extracted AI-affected and non-carious permanent molars were
      allocated to two groups: (a) Clearfil SE Bond (control); and (b) Clearfil SE Bond
      and additional etching with 34% phosphoric acid for 15 seconds. The bonded teeth
      were sectioned into .8-mm2 beams for microtensile bond strength testing, and
      stressed to failure under tension. The bond strength data were analyzed using two
      way analysis of variance (dentine type and etching step) and Student-Newman-Keuls
      multiple comparison test (P<.05). Representative fractured beams from each group
      were examined under scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: Both factors, dentine
      substrate (P<.001) and etching step (P<.05), and their interactions (P<.001),
      were statistically significant. Additional etching had an adverse effect on the
      bond strength of Clearfil SE Bond to normal dentine (P<.005), and no significant
      improvement was found for AI-affected dentine (P=.479). CONCLUSION: Additional
      acid etching does not improve the bond strength of a self-etch adhesive to AI
      affected dentine.

PMID- 28608464
TI  - Evaluation of capillary zone electrophoresis for the quality control of complex
      biologic samples: Application to snake venoms.
AB  - Snake venoms constitute a very promising resource for the development of new
      medicines. They are mainly composed of very complex peptide and protein mixtures,
      which composition may vary significantly from batch to batch. This latter
      consideration is a challenge for routine quality control (QC) in the
      pharmaceutical industry. In this paper, we report the use of capillary zone
      electrophoresis for the development of an analytical fingerprint methodology to
      assess the quality of snake venoms. The analytical fingerprint concept is being
      widely used for the QC of herbal drugs but rarely for venoms QC so far. CZE was
      chosen for its intrinsic efficiency in the separation of protein and peptide
      mixtures. The analytical fingerprint methodology was first developed and
      evaluated for a particular snake venom, Lachesis muta. Optimal analysis
      conditions required the use of PDADMAC capillary coating to avoid protein and
      peptide adsorption. Same analytical conditions were then applied to other snake
      venom species. Different electrophoretic profiles were obtained for each venom.
      Excellent repeatability and intermediate precision was observed for each batch.
      Analysis of different batches of the same species revealed inherent qualitative
      and quantitative composition variations of the venoms between individuals.

PMID- 28608465
TI  - Effect of bisphenol A on reproductive processes: A review of in vitro, in vivo
      and epidemiological studies.
AB  - As bisphenol A (BPA) is characterized by a pronounced influence on human hormonal
      regulation, particular attention has been aimed at understanding its role in
      reproductive processes in males and females, as well as on fetal development.
      Owing to the increasing number of alarming reports on the negative consequences
      of the presence of BPA in human surroundings, more and more studies are being
      undertaken to clarify the negative effects of BPA on human reproductive
      processes. The aim of this work was to collect and summarize data on the
      influence of BPA exposure on reproductive health. Based on an analysis of
      selected publications it was stated that there is strong proof confirming that
      BPA is an ovarian, uterine and prostate toxicant at a level below the lowest
      observed adverse effect level (50 mg kg-1 bodyweight) as well as a level below
      the proposed safe level (4 MUg kg-1 bodyweight). It seems there is also reliable
      evidence in relation to the negative effect of BPA on sperm quality and motility.
      Limited evidence also pertains to the case of the potential of BPA to affect
      polycystic ovary syndrome occurrence. Although in epidemiological studies this
      disease was common, in studies on animal models such results were still not
      confirmed. No unambiguous results of epidemiological studies and with animal
      models were obtained in relation to the evaluation of associations between BPA
      and implantation failure in women, evaluation of associations between BPA and
      sexual dysfunction in men, and impact of BPA on birth rate, birth weight and
      length of gestation. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608466
TI  - Crystal structure of human WBSCR16, an RCC1-like protein in mitochondria.
AB  - WBSCR16 (Williams-Beuren Syndrome Chromosomal Region 16) gene is located in a
      large deletion region of Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS), which is a
      neurodevelopmental disorder. Although the relationship between WBSCR16 and WBS
      remains unclear, it has been reported that WBSCR16 is a member of a functional
      module that regulates mitochondrial 16S rRNA abundance and intra-mitochondrial
      translation. WBSCR16 has RCC1 (Regulator of Chromosome Condensation 1)-like amino
      acid sequence repeats but the function of WBSCR16 appears to be different from
      that of other RCC1 superfamily members. Here, we demonstrate that WBSCR16
      localizes to mitochondria in HeLa cells, and report the crystal structure of
      WBSCR16 determined to 2.0 A resolution using multi-wavelength anomalous
      diffraction. WBSCR16 adopts the seven-bladed beta-propeller fold characteristic
      of RCC1-like proteins. A comparison of the WBSCR16 structure with that of RCC1
      and other RCC1-like proteins reveals that, although many of the residues buried
      in the core of the beta-propeller are highly conserved, the surface residues are
      poorly conserved and conformationally divergent.

PMID- 28608467
TI  - Discourses of joint commissioning.
AB  - Increasing attention has focused on the role of joint commissioning in health and
      social care policy and practice in England. This paper provides an empirical
      examination of the three discourses of joint commissioning developed from an
      interpretative analysis of documents by Dickinson et al. (2013; BMC Health
      Services Research, 13) and applied to data from our study exploring the role of
      knowledge in commissioning in England. Based on interviews with 92 participants
      undertaken between 2011 and 2013, our analysis confirms that the three discourses
      of prevention or empowerment or efficiency are used by professionals from across
      health and social care organisations to frame their experiences of joint
      commissioning. However, contrary to Dickinson et al., we also demonstrate that
      commissioners and other stakeholders combine and trade off these different
      discourses in unexpected ways. Moreover, at sites where the service user
      experience was central to the commissioning process (joint commissioning as
      empowerment), a greater sense of agreement about commissioning decisions appeared
      to have been established even when the other discourses were also in play.

PMID- 28608468
TI  - Toll-like receptor4 as a modulator of fertilization and subsequent pre
      implantation development following in vitro maturation in mice.
AB  - PROBLEM: The use of in vitro maturation (IVM) as an alternative approach to the
      conventional assisted reproductive technique in clinical practice is limited due
      to low fertilization rate. The expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) as
      members of an innate immune system in cumulus cells are thought to affect
      fertilization. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of IVM on TLR4 gene
      expression and fertilization rate in oocytes derived from IVM in comparison with
      in vivo matured one. METHOD OF STUDY: Cumulus cells are collected from oocytes
      derived IVM and in vivo. The expression level of Tlr4 in cumulus cells of both
      groups was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. To examine the protein
      expression level of TLR4, immunocytochemistry and Western blotting techniques
      were carried out. TLR4 receptor functions were also confirmed by blockade assay
      and TLR4 receptor activation with lipopolysaccharide. RESULT: There was a
      substantial decrease in fertilization and blastulation rate in the IVM group in
      comparison with the in vivo one. The mRNA expression and protein levels of TLR4
      declined in cumulus cells following IVM. Anti-TLR4 blocking antibody dramatically
      decreased the rate of fertilization and blastocyst formation compared to the in
      vivo group. In contrast, the fertilization rate was enhanced significantly in the
      presence of LPS as a TLR4 ligand compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Low
      expression level of Tlr4 following IVM and higher fertilization rate through TLR4
      receptor activation with LPS proposed that alteration in TLR4 expression and
      subsequent cytokine section could be a possible cause of low fertilization rate
      in IVM-derived oocytes.

PMID- 28608469
TI  - Blinded sample size re-estimation in three-arm trials with 'gold standard'
      design.
AB  - In this article, we study blinded sample size re-estimation in the 'gold
      standard' design with internal pilot study for normally distributed outcomes. The
      'gold standard' design is a three-arm clinical trial design that includes an
      active and a placebo control in addition to an experimental treatment. We focus
      on the absolute margin approach to hypothesis testing in three-arm trials at
      which the non-inferiority of the experimental treatment and the assay sensitivity
      are assessed by pairwise comparisons. We compare several blinded sample size re
      estimation procedures in a simulation study assessing operating characteristics
      including power and type I error. We find that sample size re-estimation based on
      the popular one-sample variance estimator results in overpowered trials.
      Moreover, sample size re-estimation based on unbiased variance estimators such as
      the Xing-Ganju variance estimator results in underpowered trials, as it is
      expected because an overestimation of the variance and thus the sample size is in
      general required for the re-estimation procedure to eventually meet the target
      power. To overcome this problem, we propose an inflation factor for the sample
      size re-estimation with the Xing-Ganju variance estimator and show that this
      approach results in adequately powered trials. Because of favorable features of
      the Xing-Ganju variance estimator such as unbiasedness and a distribution
      independent of the group means, the inflation factor does not depend on the
      nuisance parameter and, therefore, can be calculated prior to a trial. Moreover,
      we prove that the sample size re-estimation based on the Xing-Ganju variance
      estimator does not bias the effect estimate. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608470
TI  - hOGG1 gene polymorphism and breast cancer risk: A systematic review and meta
      analysis study.
AB  - To address the effect of hGGO1 (rs1052133) gene polymorphism on the risk of
      breast cancer, a meta-analysis was performed. We pooled adjusted odds ratios (OR)
      as overall and three subgroups (menopausal status, ethnicity, and study setting).
      In overall analysis, we found a significant association when the model of
      inheritance was homozygote (pooled OR 1.14; 95% CI 1.01, 1.29). Subgroup analysis
      showed significant association for homozygote genetic models among postmenopause
      women (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.01, 1.49) and Asian population (OR 1.17; 95% CI 1.01,
      1.35). This study suggested that the carrier of Ser326Cys polymorphism of hOGG1,
      Cys/Cys vs Ser/Ser, are at higher risk for breast cancer, independent of other
      hormonal and environmental risk factors.

PMID- 28608471
TI  - Pentagon-Embedded Cycloarylenes with Cylindrical Shapes.
AB  - Cylinder-shaped graphitic networks in carbon nanotubes have attracted interest
      from scientists in various disciplines. The chemical synthesis of segments
      thereof is considered as a challenging and appealing subject in chemistry, and
      deepens our understanding of curved and conjugated arrays of hexagons. We herein
      report the synthesis of cylinder-shaped molecules containing non-hexagon bridges
      in their conjugated systems. Multiple pentagon units were embedded in the
      cylinder-shaped discrete molecules, and the stereoisomerism originating from
      their helical carbon arrangements was studied. Structural analysis by NMR, UV/Vis
      absorption spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction provided
      fundamental experimental information on the curved systems with conjugation
      across the pentagons. This study provides the first experimental guide for
      further explorations of anomalous non-hexagon arrays of graphitic carbon
      materials with cylindrical shapes.

PMID- 28608472
TI  - Peripheral neuropathy in 30 duodopa patients with vitamins B supplementation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a significant concern and potential
      cause of withdrawal in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) treated with
      Levodopa/Carbidopa Intestinal Gel (LCIG) infusion. Vitamin B deficiency and/or
      hyperhomocysteinemia levodopa-related are considered possible causative factors.
      In this study, we evaluated PN incidence in LCIG-PD patients treated since the
      beginning of infusion with vitamins B supplementation. MATERIALS & METHODS: In
      this prospective open-label pilot study, 30 consecutive patients with PD on LCIG
      infusion were evaluated with clinical, neurophysiological, and biochemical
      assessments for a mean follow-up of 42.4 months (range 24-72). All evaluations
      were repeated every 6 months. RESULTS: At baseline, 21 of 30 presented no signs
      or symptoms of PN, and 9 of 30 had pre-existing chronic PN. In whole population,
      a progressive worsening in nerve conduction studies of sural sensory and peroneal
      motor nerves was observed during the long-term follow-up. 4 of 21 patients, with
      normal clinical, electrophysiological assessment at baseline, developed distal
      symmetrical axonal polyneuropathy that remained asymptomatic during the long-term
      follow-up. Patients with pre-existing PN (9 of 30) showed a mild worsening of
      electrophysiological features during the period of observation. In none PN was
      cause of discontinuation of LCIG therapy. No incident cases of acute-subacute PN
      were documented. No correlation was found with age, sex, Levodopa dosage,
      duration of levodopa exposure, and homocysteine plasma levels. CONCLUSION: In
      this consecutive series of 30 patients with PD on LCIG infusion, with early and
      continuous vitamins B integration, we observed a low rate (19%) of new onset
      peripheral polyneuropathy that remained stable after long-term follow-up. Larger
      studies, controlled, with blinded evaluation, are needed to confirm these
      findings.

PMID- 28608474
TI  - Association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the vine mealybug
      (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in table-grape vineyards in Eastern Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera:
      Pseudococcidae) is a key pest of grapevine in the Mediterranean Basin. Some
      honeydew collecting ant species are known to increase mealybug populations in
      other grape-growing regions. However, there is scarce information on either the
      ant species present in Mediterranean vineyards or their impact on mealybugs. We
      conducted a study in four commercial vineyards in Eastern Spain in order to i)
      identify the ant species foraging on the vine canopies, ii) study the association
      among ant activity, vine mealybug abundance and fruit damage, and iii) test a
      novel method for ant management, distracting ants from guarding vine mealybugs by
      providing sugar dispensers. RESULTS: We recorded three ant species native to the
      Mediterranean foraging on the vine canopies: Lasius grandis (Forel), Pheidole
      pallidula (Nylander) and Plagiolepis schmitzii (Forel). The mean percentage of
      damaged fruits per vine was positively correlated with the number of vine
      mealybugs captured in traps placed at the trunk. We detected a positive but weak
      relationship between ant activity, vine mealybug abundance and fruit damage. The
      provisioning of sugar dispensers reduced the number of ants foraging on the vines
      by 23.4% although this reduction was not statistically significant. Vine mealybug
      abundance was significantly reduced (72%) after sugar provisioning. CONCLUSION:
      Our results suggest that the ant species native to vineyards in eastern Spain
      induce population increases of the vine mealybug. Moreover, the provisioning of
      sugars can be a valuable tool for ant management and mealybug control. (c) 2017
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28608475
TI  - The natural history of recoverable vocal fold paralysis: Implications for
      kinetics of reinnervation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) are
      commonly told to wait 12 months for spontaneous recovery. This study aims to 1)
      determine the time to vocal recovery in UVFP, 2) use that data to develop a
      neurophysiologically plausible model for recovery, and 3) use the model to
      generate meaningful predictions for patient counseling. STUDY DESIGN: Case series
      with de novo mathematical modeling. METHODS: Patients with UVFP who could
      pinpoint a discrete onset of vocal improvement were identified. The time-to
      recovery data were modeled by assuming an "early" recovery group with neuropraxia
      and a "late" recovery group with more severe nerve injury. For the late group, a
      two-stage model was developed to explain the time to recovery: regenerating axons
      must cross the site of injury in stage 1 (probabilistic), followed by unimpeded
      regrowth to the larynx in stage 2 (deterministic). RESULTS: Of 727 cases of UVFP
      over a 7-year period, 44 reported spontaneous recovery with a discrete onset of
      vocal improvement. A hybrid distribution incorporating the two stages
      (exponentially modified Gaussian) accurately modeled the time-to-recovery data
      (R2 = 0.918). The model predicts 86% of patients with recoverable UVFP will
      recover within 6 months, with 96% recovering within 9 months. Earlier vocal
      recovery is associated with recovery of vocal fold motion and younger age.
      CONCLUSIONS: Waiting 12 months for spontaneous recovery is probably too
      conservative. Repair across the site of injury, and not regrowth to larynx, is
      likely the rate-determining step in reinnervation, consistent with other works on
      peripheral nerve regeneration. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 127:2585-2590,
      2017.

PMID- 28608473
TI  - Food Insecurity and Health Care Expenditures in the United States, 2011-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether food insecurity, limited or uncertain food access
      owing to cost, is associated with greater health care expenditures. DATA
      SOURCE/STUDY SETTING: Nationally representative sample of the civilian
      noninstitutionalized population of the United States (2011 National Health
      Interview Survey [NHIS] linked to 2012-2013 Medication Expenditure Panel Survey
      [MEPS]). STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal retrospective cohort. DATA
      COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: A total of 16,663 individuals underwent assessment
      of food insecurity, using the 10-item adult 30-day food security module, in the
      2011 NHIS. Their total health care expenditures in 2012 and 2013 were recorded in
      MEPS. Expenditure data were analyzed using zero-inflated negative binomial
      regression and adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income,
      insurance, and residence area. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Fourteen percent of
      individuals reported food insecurity, representing 41,616,255 Americans. Mean
      annualized total expenditures were $4,113 (standard error $115); 9.2 percent of
      all individuals had no health care expenditures. In multivariable analyses, those
      with food insecurity had significantly greater estimated mean annualized health
      care expenditures ($6,072 vs. $4,208, p < .0001), an extra $1,863 in health care
      expenditure per year, or $77.5 billion in additional health care expenditure
      annually. CONCLUSIONS: Food insecurity was associated with greater subsequent
      health care expenditures. Future studies should determine whether food insecurity
      interventions can improve health and reduce health care costs.

PMID- 28608477
TI  - The new HLA-B*50:51 allele was generated by intralocus recombination between
      B*50:01:01:02 and B*14:02:01.
AB  - The new B*50:51 allele was found in 3 Caucasians from Southern Spain.

PMID- 28608478
TI  - Dental extraction from an appendix: a case report and review of the literature.

PMID- 28608476
TI  - Pro-migratory and TGF-beta-activating functions of alphavbeta6 integrin in
      pancreatic cancer are differentially regulated via an Eps8-dependent GTPase
      switch.
AB  - The integrin alphavbeta6 is up-regulated in numerous carcinomas, where expression
      commonly correlates with poor prognosis. alphavbeta6 promotes tumour invasion,
      partly through regulation of proteases and cell migration, and is also the
      principal mechanism by which epithelial cells activate TGF-beta1; this latter
      function complicates therapeutic targeting of alphavbeta6, since TGF-beta1 has
      both tumour-promoting and -suppressive effects. It is unclear how these different
      alphavbeta6 functions are linked; both require actin cytoskeletal reorganization,
      and it is suggested that tractive forces generated during cell migration activate
      TGF-beta1 by exerting mechanical tension on the ECM-bound latent complex. We
      examined the functional relationship between cell invasion and TGF-beta1
      activation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells, and confirmed that
      both processes are alphavbeta6-dependent. Surprisingly, we found that cellular
      functions could be biased towards either motility or TGF-beta1 activation
      depending on the presence or absence of epidermal growth factor receptor pathway
      substrate 8 (Eps8), a regulator of actin remodelling, endocytosis, and GTPase
      activation. Similar to alphavbeta6, we found that Eps8 was up-regulated in >70%
      of PDACs. In complex with Abi1/Sos1, Eps8 regulated alphavbeta6-dependent cell
      migration through activation of Rac1. Down-regulation of Eps8, Sos1 or Rac1
      suppressed cell movement, while simultaneously increasing alphavbeta6-dependent
      TGF-beta1 activation. This latter effect was modulated through increased cell
      tension, regulated by Rho activation. Thus, the Eps8/Abi1/Sos1 tricomplex acts as
      a key molecular switch altering the balance between Rac1 and Rho activation; its
      presence or absence in PDAC cells modulates alphavbeta6-dependent functions,
      resulting in a pro-migratory (Rac1-dependent) or a pro-TGF-beta1 activation (Rho
      dependent) functional phenotype, respectively. (c) 2017 The Authors. The Journal
      of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society
      of Great Britain and Ireland.

PMID- 28608479
TI  - Biosynthesis of novel 7,8-dihydroxyflavone glycoside derivatives and in silico
      study of their effects on BACE1 inhibition.
AB  - 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) has been conjugated with glucose moiety to produce
      glucoside derivatives. Three analogues of 7,8-DHF (7-O-beta-d-glucosyl-8
      hydroxyflavone, 7-hydroxy-8-O-beta-d-glucosyl flavone, and 7,8-di-O-beta-d
      glucosylflavone) have been successfully produced from in vitro reaction using
      glycosyltransferase of Bacillus licheniformis. Production of these 7,8-DHF
      derivatives were shifted to cheaper and easier approach in this study by using
      engineered Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) DeltapgiDeltazwfDeltaushA cells in which
      the flow of glucose-6-phospahte toward glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway
      and hydrolysis of UDP-alpha-d-glucose were blocked while directing the carbon
      flux toward UDP-alpha-d-glucose by overexpressing UDP-alpha-d-glucose pathway
      genes. Supplementation of 300 MUM of 7,8-DHF to the culture resulted in
      production of 171 MUM of 7-O-beta-d-glucosyl-8-hydroxyflavone, 68 MUM of 7
      hydroxy-8-O-beta-d-glucoxyflavone, and 55 MUM of 7,8-di-O-beta-d-glucoxyflavone
      in laboratory-scale 3-L fermentor, representing 98% bioconversion of initially
      fed substrate to respective glucoside derivatives within 48 H. These products
      were characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array
      (HPLC-PDA), HPLC-PDA-quadruple time of flight-electron spray ionization mass
      spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses. These newly synthesized
      derivatives were found to be able to interact with amino acids of active site of
      human beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving beta-site amyloid precursor
      protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) beta-secretase enzyme in in silico studies,
      thus displaying possible application in cure of Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 28608481
TI  - Discovery and function of transfer RNA-derived fragments and their role in
      disease.
AB  - Until recently, transfer RNAs (tRNAs) were thought to function in protein
      translation only. However, recent findings demonstrate that both pre- and mature
      tRNAs can undergo endonucleolytic cleavage by different ribonucleases originating
      different types of small non-coding RNAs, known as tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs).
      tRFs are classified according to their origin and are implicated in various
      cellular processes, namely apoptosis, protein synthesis control, and RNA
      interference. Although their functions are still poorly understood, their
      mechanisms of action vary according to the tRF sub-type. Several tRFs have been
      associated with cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and viral infections and
      growing evidence shows that they may constitute novel molecular targets for
      modulating pathological processes. Here, we recapitulate the current knowledge of
      tRF biology, highlight the known functions and mechanisms of action of the
      different sub-classes of tRFs and discuss their implications in human disease.
      WIREs RNA 2017, 8:e1423. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1423 For further resources related to
      this article, please visit the WIREs website.

PMID- 28608480
TI  - SGK1/Nedd4-2 signaling pathway regulates the activity of human organic anion
      transporters 3.
AB  - Human organic anion transporter 3 (hOAT3) is localized at the basolateral
      membrane of renal proximal tubule cells and facilitates the renal secretion of
      numerous clinical drugs, including anti-HIV therapeutics, anti-tumor drugs,
      antibiotics, antihypertension drugs and anti-inflammatories. The present study
      explored the role of serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (sgk1) in the
      regulation of hOAT3. It was shown that over-expression of sgk1 in hOAT3
      expressing cells stimulated hOAT3 transport activity by enhancing the transporter
      expression at the plasma membrane, kinetically reflected as an increased maximal
      transport velocity Vmax without substantial change in the substrate-binding
      affinity Km . In contrast, treatment of cells with the sgk-specific inhibitor
      GSK650394 resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of hOAT3 transport activity.
      Evidence was further provided that sgk1 regulation of hOAT3 activity was mediated
      by ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2, an enzyme previously shown to have an inhibitory
      effect on hOAT3. It was shown that sgk1 phosphorylated Nedd4-2, weakened the
      association between Nedd4-2 and hOAT3, and decreased hOAT3 ubiquitination.
      Functionally, the sgk1-stimulated hOAT3 transport activity was attenuated in the
      presence of a ligase-dead mutant of Nedd4-2. In summary, the investigation
      established for the first time that sgk1 stimulates hOAT3 transport activity by
      interfering with the inhibitory effect of Nedd4-2 on the transporter.

PMID- 28608482
TI  - Examining the role of attachment styles and self-control in suicide ideation and
      death anxiety for patients receiving chemotherapy in Iran.

PMID- 28608483
TI  - Brugada syndrome, Brugada phenocopy or none?
AB  - Brugada syndrome is a form of inherited arrhythmia syndrome characterized by a
      distinct ST-segment elevation in the right precordial leads. Brugada phenocopies
      are clinical entities that present with an electrocardiographic pattern identical
      to Brugada syndrome and may obey to various clinical conditions. We present a
      case of a suicidal attempt using a high dose of propafenone causing a Brugada
      type electrocardiographic pattern. Is this a Brugada syndrome case, a Brugada
      phenocopy or something else?

PMID- 28608484
TI  - Control of abusive water addition to Octopus vulgaris with non-destructive
      methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abusive water addition to octopus has evidenced the need for quick
      non-destructive methods for product qualification in the industry and control of
      fresh commercial products in markets. Electric conductivity (EC)/pH and
      dielectric property measurements were selected to detect water uptake in octopus.
      RESULTS: A significant EC decrease was determined after soaking octopus in
      freshwater for 4 h. EC reflected the water uptake of octopus and the
      correspondent concentration decrease of available ions in the interstitial fluid.
      Significant correlations were determined between octopus water uptake, EC (R = 
      0.940) and moisture/protein (M/P) ratio (R = 0.923) changes. Seasonal and spatial
      variation in proximate composition did not introduce any uncertainty in EC
      discrimination of freshwater tampering. Immersion in 5 g L-1 sodium
      tripolyphosphate (STPP) increased EC to a value similar to control octopus. EC
      false negatives resulting from the use of additives (STPP and citric acid) were
      eliminated with the additional determination of pH. Octopus soaked in freshwater,
      STPP and citric acid can also be clearly discriminated from untreated samples
      (control) and also from frozen (thawed) ones using the dielectric properties. No
      significant differences in the dielectric property scores were found between
      octopus sizes or geographical locations. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous EC/pH or
      dielectric property measurements can be used in a handheld device for non
      destructive water addition detection in octopus. M/P ratio can be used as a
      reference destructive method. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28608485
TI  - Bullying and quality of life in children and adolescents with food allergy.
AB  - Food allergy is an increasing phenomenon in Australia, with most recent reports
      of food allergy occurring in 1 in 12 children. A number of studies have
      demonstrated that children and adolescents with food allergies experience a
      decreased quality of life across a number of domains. More recent evidence
      suggests that this population also experiences an increased occurrence of
      bullying compared to similar school-aged children. Some individuals have reported
      being bullied because of their allergies, whilst others have reported specific
      allergy-related-bullying, such as being touched with foods that they are allergic
      to or having their food being intentionally contaminated with an allergen. Where
      there may be a risk of severe anaphylaxis, this is of great concern. This article
      reviews the current literature on bullying in populations of children and
      adolescents with food allergies. Several papers worldwide have investigated this,
      providing evidence of its occurrence in North America, Canada, Italy and Japan.

PMID- 28608486
TI  - Point-of-care ultrasound averts catastrophic iatrogenic haemorrhage: The case of
      vascular aneurysms masquerading as thigh abscess.

PMID- 28608487
TI  - Intramuscular myxoma and fibrous dysplasia of bone presents as Mazabraud's
      syndrome.

PMID- 28608488
TI  - Sensitivity to Shared Information in Social Learning.
AB  - Social learning has been shown to be an evolutionarily adaptive strategy, but it
      can be implemented via many different cognitive mechanisms. The adaptive
      advantage of social learning depends crucially on the ability of each learner to
      obtain relevant and accurate information from informants. The source of
      informants' knowledge is a particularly important cue for evaluating advice from
      multiple informants; if the informants share the source of their information or
      have obtained their information from each other, then their testimony is
      statistically dependent and may be less reliable than testimony from informants
      who do not share information. In this study, we use a Bayesian model to determine
      how rational learners should incorporate the effects of shared information when
      learning from other people, conducting three experiments that examine whether
      human learners behave similarly. We find that people are sensitive to a number of
      different patterns of dependency, supporting the use of a sophisticated strategy
      for social learning that goes beyond copying the majority, and broadening the
      situations in which social learning is likely to be an adaptive strategy.

PMID- 28608489
TI  - Continuous glucose monitoring following pancreatectomy with islet
      autotransplantation in children.
AB  - Aim was to determine whether CGM could accurately monitor blood glucose
      concentration in the immediate postoperative period following pancreatectomy with
      IAT in children. CGM was used in nine patients undergoing IAT at our institution
      between April 2015 and September 2016 (eight total pancreatectomy and one
      subtotal pancreatectomy). MAD and MARD of CGM values compared to time-matched
      serum blood glucose were calculated during the first 5 days of ICU admission.
      Goal range was defined as 70-140 mg/dL and out-of-range was >140 mg/dL or <70
      mg/dL. Of 89 time-matched measures found, 75% of CGM values were within 15 mg/dL,
      and 51% were within 10 mg/dL, compared to serum glucose. MAD was 11.6 mg/dL, and
      MARD was 10.6%. CGM values did not differ from serum glucose (P=.74). By Clarke
      error grid analysis, 100% of paired values were in clinically acceptable zones.
      By surveillance error grid analysis, 96% of paired values were within clinically
      acceptable agreement. CGM is a reliable tool in monitoring glycemic control in
      the immediate postoperative period following pancreatectomy with IAT in children.

PMID- 28608491
TI  - Toxicity and Protective Effect of Phenolic-Enriched Ethylacetate Fraction of
      Ocimum gratissimum (Linn.) Leaf against Acute Inflammation and Oxidative Stress
      in Rats.
AB  - Preclinical Research Ocimum gratissimum L. leaves have attracted considerable
      attention from researchers because of their medicinal value that include anti
      inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities. In the
      present study, the toxicity and the protective effect of phenolic extract of O.
      gratissimum leaf (EAFOg) against acute inflammation and oxidative stress in rats
      was assessed. EAFOg, enriched in phenols had no cytotoxic effect against CHO-k1
      cells, and no lethality against brine shrimp eggs or mice at a dose of 2000
      mg/kg. EAFOg (50 and 100 mg/kg) reduced paw edema by 47% and 61%, compared to 29%
      with the COX-2 inhibitor, SC58125 (1 mg/kg) and 81% with indomethacin (5 mg/kg),
      respectively. In the rat carrageenan-induced air pouch model, EAFOg reduced
      exudate volume, leucocyte count, nitrite, TNF-alpha, and myeloperoxidase
      activity. EAFOg also protected against carrageenan-induced lipid peroxidation and
      glutathione depletion. These results provide evidence of the protective effects
      of EAFOg against acute inflammation and oxidative stress in rats. Drug Dev Res 78
      : 135-145, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608490
TI  - Antiestrogenic Activity of Triptolide in Human Breast Cancer Cells MCF-7 and
      Immature Female Mouse.
AB  - Preclinical Research To investigate the antiestrogenic activity of triptolide in
      human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and immature female C57BL/6 mouse. The
      effects of triptolide on cell proliferation, cell cycle, and the expression of
      estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) and progesterone receptor (PR) were examined in
      MCF-7 cells. In vivo antiestrogenic effects of triptolide were observed after
      cotreatment of mice with E2 and triptolide for 4 days. Triptolide dose- and time
      dependently inhibited cell growth in untreated or E2 -treated MCF-7 cells, which
      was associated with increased S phase arrest. Furthermore, triptolide down
      regulated the expression of ERalpha and PR in cells. The expression of ERalpha
      and PR in combined group of triptolide with E2 was much higher than that of
      triptolide alone. Triptolide decreased the E2 -induced uterine weight in mice,
      while triptolide alone had no effect. Triptolide treatment (90 MUg/kg) resulted
      in extensive degeneration and necrosis of uterine epithelial cells, whereas the
      same concentration of triptolide in combination with E2 caused morphologic
      changes in epithelial cells from simple columnar to ellipse, without destruction.
      Triptolide showed antiestrogenic activity in vitro and in vivo, and the down
      regulation of ERalpha and PR expression may be its underlying mechanisms. Drug
      Dev Res 78 : 164-169, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608492
TI  - Extranodal extension of lymph node metastasis as a prognostic indicator of
      recurrence and survival in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Stratification of extranodal extension (ENE) extent
      has the potential to improve the accuracy of risk estimations in papillary
      thyroid carcinoma (PTC). This study examined the prognostic importance of nodal
      factors, including ENE, in PTC patients. METHODS: This study enrolled 2071
      consecutive patients with treatment-naive PTC who underwent thyroidectomy between
      2006 and 2010. Microscopic/macroscopic ENE was determined by pathological and
      operative findings. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify
      the relationship of factors with recurrence and survival in all study patients
      and in the node-positive subset. RESULTS: Of 2071 patients, 975 (47.1%) had
      positive lymph nodes, and 271 (13.1%) and 70 (3.4%) had microscopic and
      macroscopic ENE, respectively. During a median follow-up of 96 months, 114 (5.5%)
      patients had post-treatment recurrence. Multivariate analyses showed that, in all
      patients, the number of positive nodes, lymph node ratio, ENE status, and ATA
      risk group were independent variables affecting recurrence (P < 0.05). T4 and
      macroscopic ENE were independent variables associated with shorter overall
      survival (P < 0.05). Macroscopic ENE was significantly associated with
      macroscopic extrathyroidal extension. CONCLUSION: Macroscopic ENE has a
      significant adverse impact on recurrence and survival after treatment for PTC.
      ENE is considered a high risk factor for recurrence.

PMID- 28608494
TI  - Comparing the No Objective Testing Rule to the HEART Pathway.

PMID- 28608493
TI  - Visible-Light-Mediated [4+2] Annulation of N-Cyclobutylanilines with Alkynes
      Catalyzed by Self-Doped Ti3+ @TiO2.
AB  - We herein report a visible-light-mediated heterogeneous [4+2] annulation of N
      cyclobutylanilines with alkynes catalyzed by self-doped Ti3+ @TiO2 . The self
      doped Ti3+ @TiO2 is stable under photooxidation conditions, easy to recycle, and
      can be used multiple times without appreciable loss of activity. Extensive
      mechanistic studies suggest that the annulation reaction is mediated by singlet
      oxygen, which is generated through the photosensitization of oxygen in the air by
      the self-doped Ti3+ @TiO2 . In contrast, the homogeneous variant catalyzed by a
      far more expensive iridium complex proceeds under an inert atmosphere, which
      indicates a different mechanism. The substrate scopes of the two processes are
      comparable.

PMID- 28608495
TI  - Controlling food seeking in the presence of food cues (Commentary on van
      Steenbergen et al. (2017)).

PMID- 28608496
TI  - Stress ulcer prophylaxis in the intensive care unit trial: detailed statistical
      analysis plan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this statistical analysis plan, we aim to provide details of the
      pre-defined statistical analyses of the Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in the Intensive
      Care Unit (SUP-ICU) trial. The aim of the SUP-ICU trial is to assess benefits and
      harms of stress ulcer prophylaxis with a proton pump inhibitor in adult patients
      in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: The SUP-ICU trial is an investigator
      initiated, international, multicentre, randomised, blinded, parallel-group trial
      of intravenously pantoprazole 40 mg once daily vs. placebo in 3350 acutely ill
      adult ICU patients at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. The primary outcome
      measure is 90-day mortality. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of
      patients with clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding, pneumonia,
      Clostridium difficile infection or myocardial ischaemia, days alive without life
      support, serious adverse reactions, 1-year mortality, and a health economic
      analysis. Two formal interim analyses will be performed. The statistical analyses
      will be conducted according to the outlined pre-defined statistical analysis
      plan. The primary analysis will be a logistic regression analysis adjusted for
      stratification variables comparing the two intervention groups in the intention
      to-treat population. In a secondary analysis, we will additionally adjust the
      primary outcome for potential random differences in baseline characteristics. The
      conclusion will be based on the intention-to-treat population. CONCLUSION: Stress
      ulcer prophylaxis is standard of care in ICUs worldwide, but has never been
      tested in large high-quality randomised placebo-controlled trials. The SUP-ICU
      trial will provide important high-quality data on the balance between the
      benefits and harms of stress ulcer prophylaxis in adult critically ill patients.

PMID- 28608497
TI  - Effect of human papilloma virus infection on in-vitro fertilization outcome:
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify, appraise and summarize the available data concerning the
      impact of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection on reproductive outcome following
      in-vitro fertilization (IVF). METHODS: We searched for studies in PubMed, EMBASE,
      Scopus, Lilacs and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from
      inception to March 2017. Any type of HPV infection assessed through polymerase
      chain reaction, subfertility factors and IVF indications and protocols were
      considered. Our primary outcomes were live birth/ongoing pregnancy and
      miscarriage, while secondary outcomes included clinical and laboratory
      parameters. We planned subgroup analyses according to the status of cervical
      cytology and presence of infection in the male partner. We assessed the relative
      risk (RR), using a random-effects model; heterogeneity was assessed using the I2
      statistic. Quality of the evidence was evaluated using the recommendations of the
      GRADE Working Group. RESULTS: From the 14 studies eligible for inclusion,
      quantitative data from 10, evaluating 299 women with HPV infection and 2049 women
      without HPV infection, were included in the analysis. The pooled results showed
      no significant difference between HPV-infected and non-infected women in rates of
      live birth/ongoing pregnancy (RR, 1.16 (95% CI, 0.88-1.53); I2  = 0%; six
      studies, 983 women), clinical pregnancy (RR, 1.06 (95% CI, 0.74-1.54); I2  = 61%;
      eight studies, 1173 women) or miscarriage (RR, 1.58 (95% CI, 0.93-2.69); I2  =
      8%; six studies, 290 clinical pregnancies). The overall quality of the evidence
      was very low, downgraded two levels because of serious limitations of the
      included studies (observational studies) and imprecision. In contrast, pooled
      results in the subgroup analysis based on the presence of infection in the male
      partner showed significant differences in rates of live birth/ongoing pregnancy
      (RR, 0.43 (95% CI, 0.23-0.82); I2  = 0%; three studies, 429 participants; P =
      0.01) and miscarriage (RR, 3.70 (95% CI, 1.94-7.05); I2  = 0%; two studies, 90
      participants; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The available evidence is still
      inadequate to enable us to draw firm conclusions regarding the effect of HPV
      infection in women on the most important reproductive outcomes following IVF;
      however, it suggests that the effect is not large for rates of live birth/ongoing
      pregnancy and clinical pregnancy. When infection is present in the male partner,
      it seems that there is a negative effect on live birth/ongoing pregnancy rate and
      an increase in miscarriage rate, a finding that should be interpreted with
      caution, owing to the very low quality of evidence supporting it. Copyright (c)
      2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28608498
TI  - On stress/strain shielding and the material stiffness paradigm for dental
      implants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stress shielding considerations suggest that the dental implant
      material's compliance should be matched to that of the host bone. However, this
      belief has not been confirmed from a general perspective, either clinically or
      numerically. PURPOSE: To characterize the influence of the implant stiffness on
      its functionality using the failure envelope concept that examines all possible
      combinations of mechanical load and application angle for selected stress, strain
      and displacement-based bone failure criteria. Those criteria represent bone
      yielding, remodeling, and implant primary stability, respectively MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We performed numerical simulations to generate failure envelopes for all
      possible loading configurations of dental implants, with stiffness ranging from
      very low (polymer) to extremely high, through that of bone, titanium, and
      ceramics. RESULTS: Irrespective of the failure criterion, stiffer implants allow
      for improved implant functionality. The latter reduces with increasing
      compliance, while the trabecular bone experiences higher strains, albeit of an
      overall small level. Micromotions remain quite small irrespective of the
      implant's stiffness. CONCLUSION: The current paradigm favoring reduced implant
      material's stiffness out of concern for stress or strain shielding, or even
      excessive micromotions, is not supported by the present calculations, that point
      exactly to the opposite.

PMID- 28608499
TI  - Clinical benefit of eculizumab in patients with no transfusion history in the
      International Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eculizumab reduces intravascular haemolysis and improves disease
      symptoms in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH). AIMS: To
      characterise, in a real-world setting, the effect of eculizumab in patients with
      haemolytic PNH (lactase dehydrogenase (LDH) >= 1.5 upper limit of normal) and no
      history of red blood cell transfusion, including those with high disease activity
      (HDA). METHODS: Three populations from the International PNH Registry were
      studied: (i) non-transfused, untreated; (ii) non-transfused, eculizumab-treated
      and (iii) transfused, eculizumab-treated (>=1 transfusions in 6 months prior to
      eculizumab initiation). Using multivariate linear regression, the primary outcome
      was mean absolute change from baseline to 6 months in LDH (U/L) in non-transfused
      patients who were treated with eculizumab versus those who remained untreated.
      Secondary outcomes were mean changes in functional assessment of chronic illness
      therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of
      Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ)-C30 Fatigue scores from baseline
      to last available assessment. RESULTS: The study population included (i) 144 non
      transfused, untreated patients; (ii) 45 non-transfused, eculizumab-treated
      patients and (iii) 105 transfused, eculizumab-treated patients. Of these,
      136/144, 43/45 and 99/105 had HDA respectively. Compared with untreated patients,
      non-transfused, treated patients had greater absolute reduction in LDH (-1318.8
      vs -39.4; P < 0.001) and greater percentage reduction in LDH (-69.9 vs -1.6%; P <
      0.001). Clinically meaningful improvements in FACIT-Fatigue (73.7 vs 24.6%,
      respectively) and in EORTC-QLQ-C30 (84.2 vs 33.3%, respectively) were observed.
      Non-transfused, treated patients with HDA had significantly reduced LDH levels (P
      < 0.001) and clinically meaningful improvements in FACIT-Fatigue (P = 0.003) and
      EORTC-QLQ-C30 (P = 0.020) versus untreated patients. CONCLUSION: Significant LDH
      reduction and clinically meaningful improvement in fatigue were observed in
      patients with PNH and HDA treated with eculizumab versus untreated patients,
      irrespective of transfusion history.

PMID- 28608500
TI  - Morphological and molecular evolution of the ultimobranchial gland of
      nonmammalian vertebrates, with special reference to the chicken C cells.
AB  - This review summarizes the current understanding of the nonmammalian
      ultimobranchial gland from morphological and molecular perspectives.
      Ultimobranchial anlage of all animal species develops from the last pharyngeal
      pouch. The genes involved in the development of pharyngeal pouches are well
      conserved across vertebrates. The ultimobranchial anlage of nonmammalian
      vertebrates and monotremes does not merge with the thyroid, remaining as an
      independent organ throughout adulthood. Although C cells of all animal species
      secrete calcitonin, the shape, cellular components and location of the
      ultimobranchial gland vary from species to species. Avian ultimobranchial gland
      is unique in several phylogenic aspects; the organ is located between the vagus
      and recurrent laryngeal nerves at the upper thorax and is densely innervated by
      branches emanating from them. In chick embryos, TuJ1-, HNK-1-, and PGP 9.5
      immunoreactive cells that originate from the distal vagal (nodose) ganglion,
      colonize the ultimobranchial anlage and differentiate into C cells; neuronal
      cells give rise to C cells. Like C cells of mammals, the cells of fishes,
      amphibians, reptiles, and also a subset of C cells of birds, appear to be derived
      from the endodermal epithelium forming ultimobranchial anlage. Thus, the avian
      ultimobranchial C cells may have dual origins, neural progenitors and endodermal
      epithelium. Developmental Dynamics 246:719-739, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 28608501
TI  - Targeting hypoxia-mediated YAP1 nuclear translocation ameliorates pathogenesis of
      endometriosis without compromising maternal fertility.
AB  - Endometriosis is a highly prevalent gynaecological disease that severely reduces
      women's health and quality of life. Ectopic endometriotic lesions have evolved
      mechanisms to survive in the hypoxic peritoneal microenvironment by regulating
      the expression of a significant subset of genes. However, the master regulator
      controlling these genes remains to be characterized. Herein, by using
      bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification, we identified yes
      associated protein 1 (YAP1) as a master regulator of endometriosis. Nuclear
      localization and transcriptional activity of YAP1 were up-regulated by hypoxia
      via down-regulation of LATS1, a kinase that inactivates YAP1. Disruption of
      hypoxia-induced YAP1 signalling by siRNA knockdown or inhibitor treatment
      abolished critical biological processes involved in endometriosis development
      such as steroidogenesis, angiogenesis, inflammation, migration, innervation, and
      cell proliferation. Treatment with a YAP1 inhibitor caused the regression of
      endometriotic lesions without affecting maternal fertility or the growth rate of
      offspring in the mouse model of endometriosis. Taken together, we identify
      hypoxia/LATS1/YAP1 as a novel pathway for the pathogenesis of endometriosis and
      demonstrate that targeting YAP1 might be an alternative approach to treat
      endometriosis. Copyright (c) 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and
      Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608502
TI  - Systematic differences between ultrasound and pathological evaluation of thyroid
      nodules: a method comparison study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The size of thyroid nodules as measured by ultrasound (ultrasound
      size, USS) is routinely used in clinical decision-making. Reports of discrepancy
      between USS and pathological size (PS) evaluation have not analysed their
      systematic differences. The objective of this study was to uncover the lack of
      agreement (bias) between USS and PS measurements. METHODS: A retrospective study
      was performed on 121 patients who had a total or hemi-thyroidectomy for a
      solitary nodule. Ordinary least product regression was used to detect and
      distinguish constant and proportional bias in unidimensional size measurements
      between USS and PS evaluation. Three-dimensional volume measurements were
      compared in a subgroup of 31 patients. Pre-specified acceptable limits of
      interchange were defined as 20% difference. RESULTS: Ordinary least product
      regression demonstrated no constant or proportional bias between the two methods;
      regression equation: USS = (0.863) + (1.040) * PS. When nodules were grouped by
      size, discrepancies between the two methods were observed in nodules <10 mm (P =
      0.004). However, potential overtreatment of patients with USS >10 mm but PS <10
      mm only accounted for 4.1% of total patients. Subgroup analysis of volume
      measurements showed no bias between USS and PS evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: USS and
      PS measurements were interchangeable, as there was no evidence of constant or
      proportional bias between the two measurements. However, USS may misclassify the
      size for smaller nodules and potentially lead to unnecessary workup and
      treatment. Discrepancy in size measurements between USS and PS should be taken
      into account in clinical practice, particularly in smaller nodules.

PMID- 28608503
TI  - Acute radiation oesophagitis associated with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose
      uptake on positron emission tomography/CT during chemo-radiation therapy in
      patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute radiation oesophagitis (ARO) is frequently experienced by
      patients receiving concurrent chemo-radiation therapy (cCRT) for non-small-cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC). We investigated ARO symptoms (CTCAE v3.0), radiation dose
      and oesophageal FDG PET/CT uptake. METHOD: Candidates received cCRT (60 Gy, 2
      Gy/fx) and sequential FDG PET/CT (baseline FDG0 , FDGwk2 and FDGwk4 ). Mean and
      maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmean and SUVmax) and radiation dose (Omean
      and Omax ) were calculated within the whole oesophagus and seven sub-regions (5
      60 Gy). RESULTS: Forty-four patients underwent FDG0 and FDGwk2 , and 41 (93%)
      received FDGwk4 , resulting in 129 PET/CT scans for analysis. Of 29 (66%)
      patients with >= grade 2 ARO, SUVmax (mean +/- SD) increased from FDG0 to FDGwk4
      (3.06 +/- 0.69 to 3.83 +/- 1.27, P = 0.0019) and FDGwk2 to FDGwk4 (3.10 +/- 0.75
      to 3.83 +/- 1.27, P = 0.0046). Radiation dose (mean +/- SD) was higher in grade
      >=2 patients; Omean (47.5 +/- 20 vs 53.9 +/- 10.2, P = 0.0061), Omax (13.7 +/-
      9.6 vs 20.1 +/- 10.6, P = 0.0009) and V40 Gy (8.0 +/- 8.2 vs 11.9 +/- 7.3, P =
      0.0185). CONCLUSIONS: FDGwk4 SUVmax and radiation dose were associated with >=
      grade 2 ARO. Compared to subjective assessments, future interim FDG PET/CT
      acquired for disease response assessment may also be utilized to objectively
      characterize ARO severity and image-guided oesophageal dose constraints.

PMID- 28608505
TI  - The association between vitamin D level and Behcet's disease: a meta-analysis.

PMID- 28608504
TI  - Biophysical regulation of osteotomy healing: An animal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteotomies have been performed for centuries yet there remains a
      remarkable lack of consensus on optimal methods for cutting bone. There is
      universal agreement, however, that preserving cell viability is critical.
      PURPOSE: To identify mechanobiological parameters influencing bone formation
      after osteotomy site preparation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A murine maxillary
      osteotomy model was used to evaluate healing. Computational modeling
      characterized stress and strain distributions in the osteotomy, as well as the
      magnitude and distribution of heat generated by drilling. The impact of osteocyte
      death and bone composition were assessed using molecular and cellular assays.
      RESULTS: The phases of osteotomy healing in mice align closely with results in
      large animals; in addition, molecular analyses extended our understanding of
      osteoprogenitor cell proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization.
      Computational analyses provided insights into temperature changes caused by
      drilling and the mechanobiological state in the healing osteotomies, while
      concomitant cellular assays correlate drill speed with osteocyte apoptosis and
      bone resorption. Even when drilling was controlled, trabeculated, spongy (Type
      III) bone healed faster than densely lamellar (Type I) bone because of the
      abundance of Wnt responsive osteoprogenitor cells in the former. CONCLUSIONS:
      These data provide a mechanobiological framework for evaluating tools and
      technologies designed to improve osteotomy site preparation.

PMID- 28608506
TI  - Temperature-dependent Development of Parasarcophaga similis (Meade 1876) and its
      Significance in Estimating Postmortem Interval.
AB  - Flesh flies are commonly found insects on decaying corpses that appears slightly
      later than blowflies, and their development patterns are significant indicators
      for minimum postmortem interval (PMImin ) estimation. In this study, the flesh
      fly Parasarcophaga similis (Meade 1876) was reared at nine constant temperatures
      ranging from 15 degrees C to 35 degrees C to examine indicators for estimating
      their age. We generated three development models, including isomorphen diagram,
      isomegalen diagram, and thermal summation model. Larval body length at different
      rearing temperatures was fit into an L = a + bT + cT2 + dT3 equation with which
      the relationship between the larval body length (L) and the time after
      larviposition (T) was confirmed. The pupal stage was categorized into 13
      substages according to intrapuparial morphological changes, and a detailed table
      was generated of the pupal developmental stages at five rearing temperatures, 15
      degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C, 30 degrees C, and 35 degrees C. This study
      provides fundamental data in supporting P. similis as an indicator for PMImin
      estimation.

PMID- 28608507
TI  - Revisiting the thermochemistry of chlorine fluorides.
AB  - In this work, accurate calculations of standard enthalpies of formation of
      chlorine fluorides (ClFn, n = 1-7; Cl2 F and Cl3 F2 ) were performed through the
      isodesmic reactions scheme. It is argued that, for many chlorine fluorides, the
      gold standard method of quantum chemistry (CCSD(T)) is not capable to predict
      enthalpy values nearing chemical accuracy if atomization scheme is used. This is
      underpinned by a thorough analysis of total atomization energy results and the
      inspection of multireference features of these compounds. Other thermodynamic
      quantities were also calculated at different temperatures. To complement the
      energetic description, elimination curves were studied through density functional
      theory as a computationally affordable alternative to highly correlated wave
      function-based methods. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608508
TI  - An Investigation of the Symmetric and Asymmetric Cleavage Products in the System
      Aluminum Trihalide/1-Butylimidazole.
AB  - Mixtures of AlX3 (X=Cl, Br) with 1-butylimidazole (BuIm) in various ratios were
      investigated. The mixtures were characterized by multinuclear (1 H, 27 Al, 13 C,
      and 15 N) NMR, IR, and Raman spectroscopy and in part by single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction. Depending on the molar fraction x(AlBr3 ) of the AlBr3 -based
      mixtures, the cationic aluminum complexes [Al(BuIm)6 ]3+ and [AlBr2 (BuIm)4 ]+ ,
      the neutral adduct [AlBr3 (BuIm)], as well as the anions Br- , [AlBr4 ]- , and
      [Al2 Br7 ]- could be identified as the products of the symmetric and asymmetric
      cleavage of dimeric Al2 Br6 . Furthermore, there are hints at the formation of
      [AlBr2 (BuIm)2 ]+ or related cations. Comparison of the AlBr3 /BuIm system with
      AlCl3 -based mixtures revealed the influence of the halide: In contrast to AlBr3
      , the trication [Al(BuIm)6 ]3+ could not be detected as main product in a 1:6
      mixture of AlCl3 and BuIm. Additionally, [AlCl3 (BuIm)] crystallizes from a
      mixture with x(AlCl3 )=0.60 at room temperature, whereas the corresponding AlBr3 
      based mixture remains liquid even at +6  degrees C. Three AlBr3 -based mixtures
      are liquid at room temperature, whereas all other mixtures are solids with
      melting points between 46 and 184  degrees C. The three liquid mixtures exhibit
      medium to high viscosities (117 to >1440 mPa s), low conductivities (0.03-0.20 mS
      cm-1 ), but high densities (1.80-2.21 g cm-3 ). Aluminum could be successfully
      deposited from one of the neat Lewis acidic mixtures of the AlBr3 -based system.

PMID- 28608509
TI  - Deprivation and healthy food access, cost and availability: a cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Food access, cost and availability have been identified as
      determinants of dietary choice. It has been suggested that these are socio
      economically patterned; however, the evidence is inconclusive. The present study
      investigated whether differences exist with respect to healthy food access, cost
      and availability between areas of contrasting deprivation. METHODS: An
      ecological, cross-sectional study was conducted in two of the most and two of the
      least deprived wards in Plymouth. Food retail outlets (FROs) (n = 38) were
      identified and mapped using Geographic Information Systems to assess 'physical
      access', by foot, to food retail provision. Healthy food basket (HFB) surveys
      were conducted (n = 32) to compare the cost and availability of 28 healthy food
      items between the more and less deprived areas. RESULTS: Areas of poor access to
      food retail provision were identified in both study areas, with a higher number
      of households in the more-deprived areas being affected than in the less-deprived
      areas, after accounting for car ownership levels. Median [IQR] HFB availability
      was lower in more-deprived than the less-deprived areas (48%, [39-71%] vs. 75%,
      [68-82%]; P=0.003), and in convenience stores than supermarkets (54%, [43-72%]
      vs. 78%, [72-96%]; P=0.001). Descriptive summaries revealed negligible
      differences in total median HFB cost between the more-deprived and less-deprived
      areas (L55.97 versus L55.94) and a larger cost difference between convenience
      stores and supermarkets (L62.39 versus L44.25). CONCLUSIONS: Differences were
      found with respect to healthy food access, cost and availability in areas of
      contrasting deprivation. These appeared to be related to FRO type rather than
      deprivation alone.

PMID- 28608511
TI  - A global community effort to decipher the unique biology of annual killifish.
AB  - Over the past 50 years, annual killifishes arose as alternative model organisms
      for studies of vertebrate biology. The annual fish offers exceptional advantages
      for studies of genetics, genomics, developmental biology, population dynamics,
      ecology, biogeography, and evolution. They inhabit extremely variable freshwater
      environments in Africa and South America, have a short lifespan and a set of
      unique and fascinating developmental characteristics. Embryos survive within the
      dry substrate during the dry season, whereas the adult population dies. Thus, the
      survival of the populations is entirely dependent on the buried embryos that
      hatch the next rainy season. Although Old and New World species share
      similarities in their life cycle, they also have different adaptive responses
      associated with climate-related selective pressures. Therefore, contrasting
      different species from these areas is essential to understand unique adaptations
      to heterogeneous environment. A network of laboratories (United States, Czech
      Republic, Italy, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay) is working and collaborating on many
      aspects of the biology of annual fishes. Participating researchers share projects
      and cross-training undergraduate and graduate students. These efforts resulted in
      two International Symposia (2010 and 2015) that took place in Montevideo and an
      international book. Herein, we summarize the progress made by this global
      community of scientists. Developmental Dynamics 246:807-811, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608510
TI  - Agreement and validity of electronic health record prescribing data relative to
      pharmacy claims data: A validation study from a US electronic health record
      database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Granular clinical and laboratory data available in electronic health
      record (EHR) databases provide researchers the opportunity to conduct
      investigations that would not be possible in insurance claims databases; however,
      for pharmacoepidemiology studies, accurate classification of medication exposure
      is critical. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of
      classifying medication exposure using EHR prescribing (EHR-Rx) data. METHODS: We
      conducted a retrospective cohort study among patients with linked claims and EHR
      data in OptumLabsTM Data Warehouse. The agreement between EHR-Rx data and
      pharmacy claims (PC-Rx) data (for 40 medications) was determined using the
      positive predictive value (PPV) and medication possession ratio (MPR)-calculated
      in 1- and 12-month medication exposure periods (MEPs). Secondary analyses were
      restricted to incident vs prevalent EHR-Rxs, age >=65 vs <65, white vs black
      race, males vs females, and number of EHR-Rxs. RESULTS: The validity metrics
      varied substantially among the 40 medications assessed. Across all medications,
      the period PPV and MPR were 62% and 63% in the 1-month MEP. They were 78% and 43%
      in the 12-month MEP. Overall, PPV and MPR were higher for patients with a
      prevalent EHR-Rx and age <65. CONCLUSIONS: Despite substantial variability among
      different medications, there was very good agreement between EHR-Rx data and PC
      Rx data. To maximize the validity of classifying medication exposure with EHR
      prescribing data, researchers may consider using longer MEPs (eg, 12 months) and
      potentially require multiple EHR-Rxs to classify baseline medication exposure.

PMID- 28608512
TI  - Commencement of cardioselective beta-blockers during hospitalisation for acute
      exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and co
      morbid cardiovascular disease, emerging evidence suggests a benefit in commencing
      cardioselective beta-blockers. AIM: Our objective was to determine the safety of
      beta-blocker commencement during hospitalisation for acute exacerbation of COPD.
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 1071 patients hospitalised for acute
      exacerbation of COPD was conducted across two tertiary hospitals over a 12-month
      period. We identified 36 patients in whom beta-blocker therapy was commenced
      during admission. The primary outcome of the study was to assess cardiovascular
      and respiratory adverse events related to the commencement of beta-blocker
      therapy. RESULTS: The most common indications for beta-blockers were atrial
      fibrillation (53%) and acute coronary syndrome (36%). Metoprolol was the most
      commonly prescribed beta-blocker (75%). No patients suffered clinically
      significant declines of respiratory function following the commencement of a beta
      blocker, including worsening respiratory symptoms, oxygen, bronchodilator or
      ventilation requirements. These results were demonstrable in patients with
      reversible airways disease and advanced COPD. Only one patient (2.8%) experienced
      symptomatic hypotension after 48 h of therapy. CONCLUSION: The commencement of
      cardioselective beta-blockers during acute exacerbations of COPD appears to be
      well-tolerated.

PMID- 28608514
TI  - Cone signals in monostratified and bistratified amacrine cells of adult zebrafish
      retina.

PMID- 28608513
TI  - Out-of-office hours' elective surgical intensive care admissions and their
      associated complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 'weekend' effect is a controversial theory that links reduced
      staffing levels, staffing seniority and supportive services at hospitals during
      'out-of-office hours' time periods with worsening patient outcomes. It is
      uncertain whether admitting elective surgery patients to intensive care units
      (ICU) during 'out-of-office hours' time periods mitigates this affect through
      higher staffing ratios and seniority. METHODS: Over a 3-year period in Western
      Australia's largest private hospital, this retrospective nested-cohort study
      compared all elective surgical patients admitted to the ICU based on whether
      their admission occurred 'in-office hours' (Monday-Friday 08.00-18.00 hours) or
      'out-of-office hours' (all other times). The main outcomes were surgical
      complications using the Dindo-Clavien classification and length-of-stay data.
      RESULTS: Of the total 4363 ICU admissions, 3584 ICU admissions were planned
      following elective surgery resulting in 2515 (70.2%) in-office hours and 1069
      (29.8%) out-of-office hours elective ICU surgical admissions. Out-of-office hours
      ICU admissions following elective surgery were associated with an increased risk
      of infection (P = 0.029), blood transfusion (P = 0.020), total parental nutrition
      (P < 0.001) and unplanned re-operations (P = 0.027). Out-of-office hours ICU
      admissions were also associated with an increased hospital length-of-stay, with
      (1.74 days longer, P < 0.0001) and without (2.8 days longer, P < 0.001) adjusting
      for severity of acute and chronic illnesses and inter-hospital transfers (12.3
      versus 9.8%, P = 0.024). Hospital mortality (1.2 versus 0.7%, P = 0.111) was low
      and similar between both groups. CONCLUSION: Out-of-office hours ICU admissions
      following elective surgery is common and associated with serious post-operative
      complications culminating in significantly longer hospital length-of-stays and
      greater transfers with important patient and health economic implications.

PMID- 28608515
TI  - Efavirenz clearances in vitro and in vivo in six cynomolgus monkeys associated
      with polymorphic cytochrome P450 2C9 and simulated by individual physiologically
      based pharmacokinetic models.
AB  - Cynomolgus monkey cytochrome P450 2C9 (formerly known as P450 2C43) variation was
      reportedly associated with metabolic clearance of the antiretroviral drug
      efavirenz in vivo (in three wild-type, one heterozygote and two homozygote
      animals), being unlikely in the case of human P450 2B6-dependent efavirenz
      clearance. In this study, the liver microsomal elimination rates of efavirenz for
      the same individual animals previously treated with intravenous/oral
      administrations of efavirenz showed significant reductions associated with the
      P450 2C9 p.[(I112L)] genotype (p < 0.05). Simulations of efavirenz clearance
      after oral administrations in individual cynomolgus monkeys were performed using
      individual simplified physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling
      consisting of gut, liver and central compartments. The modeled hepatic intrinsic
      clearances were also significantly associated with the P450 2C9 genotypes,
      however, absorption rate constants or volumes of the systemic circulation were
      not likely determining factors for the individual efavirenz clearance variations
      in the six cynomolgus monkeys. This study provides important information to help
      simulate the clearances of efavirenz and related medicines associated with
      polymorphic P450 2C9 in individual cynomolgus monkeys, thereby facilitating the
      calculation of the fraction of liver microsomal clearance for estimating in vivo
      drug clearance with simplified PBPK modeling.

PMID- 28608517
TI  - Unraveling the secret life of the hair follicle: from fungi to innovative hair
      loss therapies.

PMID- 28608518
TI  - Liver transplantation may prevent neurodevelopmental deterioration in high-risk
      patients with urea cycle disorders.
AB  - UCDs are among the most common inherited metabolic diseases in Japan. We
      investigated the clinical manifestations, treatment, and prognoses of 177
      patients with UCDs who were evaluated and treated from January 1999 to March 2009
      in Japan, using a questionnaire survey. Among these 177 patients, 42 (seven with
      carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency, 27 with ornithine transcarbamylase
      deficiency, seven with argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency, and one with
      arginase 1 deficiency) underwent living-donor LT. Although this study was
      retrospective and included limited neurodevelopmental information before and
      after LT, we evaluated whether LT could improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in
      patients with UCDs. The neurodevelopmental outcomes of patients with a MAC of
      <300 MUmol/L at the time of onset were not significantly different between the LT
      and non-LT groups (P=.222). LT may have prevented further neurodevelopmental
      complications in children with MAC >=300 MUmol/L (P=.008) compared with non
      transplant management. Therefore, Liver transplant should be considered in
      patients with UCD with a MAC of >=300 MUmol/L at the time of disease onset.

PMID- 28608519
TI  - Catheter-based anatomic and functional assessment of coronary arteries in
      anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery, myocardial bridges and Kawasaki
      disease.
AB  - Most diagnostic testing in patients with anomalous aortic origins of coronary
      arteries, myocardial bridges, and coronary artery changes after Kawasaki disease
      are performed with the use of noninvasive techniques. In some cases, however,
      further diagnostic information is needed to guide the clinician in treating these
      patients. In such instances, cardiac catheterization with invasive anatomic and
      functional testing is an invaluable tool. Moreover, interventional treatment in
      the cardiac catheterization laboratory may be performed in a small subset of
      these patients. As the diagnosis of these conditions is now becoming more common,
      it is important for pediatric interventional cardiologists to be familiar with
      these techniques. In this article, the role of angiography, intravascular
      ultrasound, fractional flow reserve, and optical coherence tomography in these
      patients is reviewed.

PMID- 28608520
TI  - Effective professional networking.
AB  - The reasons for nurse practitioners to develop a professional network are
      boundless and are likely to change over time. Networking opens doors and creates
      relationships that support new opportunities, personal development, collaborative
      research, policy activism, evidence-based practice, and more. Successful
      professional networking involves shared, mutually beneficial interactions between
      individuals and/or individuals and groups, regardless of whether it occurs face
      to face or electronically. This article combines nuggets from the literature with
      guidance based on the authors' combined experience in networking activities at
      the local, national, and international levels.

PMID- 28608521
TI  - Cultural entrainment of motor skill development: Learning to write hiragana in
      Japanese primary school.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to examine how the social norms shared in a
      classroom environment influence the development of movement dynamics of
      handwriting of children who participate in the environment. To look into this
      issue, the following aspects of the entire period of classroom learning of
      hiragana letters in Japanese 1st graders who had just entered primary school were
      studied: First, the structure of classroom events and the specific types of
      interaction and learning within such environment were described. Second, in the
      experiment involving 6-year-old children who participated in the class, writing
      movements of children and their changes over the period of hiragana education
      were analyzed for each stroke composing letters. It was found that writing
      movement of children became differentiated in a manner specific to the different
      types of stroke endings, to which children were systematically encouraged to
      attend in the classroom. The results provide a detailed description of the
      process of how dynamics of fine motor movement of children is modulated by the
      social norms of a populated, classroom environment in a non-Latin alphabet
      writing system.

PMID- 28608522
TI  - Lipoprotein(a): A missing culprit in the management of athero-thrombosis?
AB  - Lipoprotein(a) Lp(a) is a cholesterol-rich, LDL-like particle that is
      independently associated with an increased risk for ischemic heart disease,
      atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and stroke. Genetic variation in the Lp(a) locus and
      some other genes related to Lp(a) synthesis and metabolism play a critical role
      in regulating plasma Lp(a) levels. The pathophysiological potential of Lp(a) is
      related to proatherogenic and prothrombotic effects on the vasculature. Different
      molecular mechanisms underlying the atherothrombotic potential of Lp(a), free
      apolipoprotein(a), and oxidized-Lp(a) have been proposed. However, plasma Lp(a)
      assay is complicated by problems associated with quantification and
      standardization owing to the polymorphic nature of this lipoprotein. This review
      has focused on the physicochemical properties of Lp(a), the genetic aspects of
      Lp(a), the need for accurate determination of Lp(a), the synthesis, and recent
      findings on metabolism of Lp(a). Lastly, the patho-physiological mechanisms by
      which Lp(a) may increase athero-thrombosis and an overview on the therapeutic
      modalities to interfere with Lp(a) are summarized.

PMID- 28608523
TI  - The Effects of Twelve Weeks of Tai Chi Practice on Anxiety in Stressed But
      Healthy People Compared to Exercise and Wait-List Groups-A Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This randomized controlled trial was undertaken to determine whether
      12 weeks of Tai Chi (TC) practice can reduce anxiety in healthy but stressed
      people. METHOD: Fifty participants were randomized into TC (n=17), exercise
      (n=17), and wait-list (WL) groups (n=16). Outcome measures used were State Trait
      Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale 14 (PSS14), blood pressure and heart
      rate variability, visual analogue scale (VAS), and Short Form 36. RESULTS:
      Significant improvements were observed from baseline for both TC and exercise
      groups for both state (p <0.01) and trait (p <0.01) anxiety, PSS14 (p <0.01), VAS
      (p <0.01), mental health domain (p <0.01), and vitality domain (p <0.01).
      Superior outcomes were also observed for TC when compared with WL for state and
      trait anxiety (p <0.01) and mental health domain (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: TC
      reduces stress levels in healthy individuals and provides a safer, cost
      effective, and less physically vigorous alternative to exercise.

PMID- 28608524
TI  - Distinct Coping Profiles Are Associated With Mental Health Differences in
      Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the unique coping strategies of transgender and
      gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals in the United States used to manage
      gender-related stress, and examined associations between specific coping profiles
      and mental health. METHODS: Data were from 316 participants in the 2014-2015
      Transgender Stress and Health Study, an online study of TGNC mental and sexual
      health. A factor analysis of the coping measure (Brief COPE) was followed by a k
      means cluster analysis to evaluate distinct profiles of coping with gender
      related stress. Proportional odds models and logistic regression models indicated
      how coping profiles related to levels of self-reported depressive symptoms and
      suicidality. RESULTS: A 4-factor structure was identified with three distinct
      profiles of coping with gender-related stress, each representative of the
      frequency (high or low) in which participants used functional and dysfunctional
      coping strategies: (a) high-functional/low-dysfunctional, (b) high
      functional/high-dysfunctional, and (c) low-functional/low-dysfunctional. There
      were significant differences in depressive symptoms and suicidality based on
      distinct gender-related coping profiles. The high-functional/high-dysfunctional
      group reported significantly poorer mental health compared with the high
      functional/low-dysfunctional group. CONCLUSION: To improve mental health outcomes
      in TGNC individuals, health providers and researchers should strive to not only
      promote functional coping strategies for managing gender-related stress but also
      decrease dysfunctional coping strategies.

PMID- 28608526
TI  - Clothing Protection from Ultraviolet Radiation: A New Method for Assessment.
AB  - Clothing modifies ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure from the sun and has an
      impact on skin cancer risk and the endogenous synthesis of vitamin D. There is no
      standardized method available for assessing body surface area (BSA) covered by
      clothing, which limits generalizability between study findings. We calculated the
      body cover provided by 38 clothing items using diagrams of BSA, adjusting the
      values to account for differences in BSA by age. Diagrams displaying each
      clothing item were developed and incorporated into a coverage assessment
      procedure (CAP). Five assessors used the CAP and Lund & Browder chart, an
      existing method for estimating BSA, to calculate the clothing coverage of an
      image sample of 100 schoolchildren. Values of clothing coverage, inter-rater
      reliability and assessment time were compared between CAP and Lund & Browder
      methods. Both methods had excellent inter-rater reliability (>0.90) and returned
      comparable results, although the CAP method was significantly faster in
      determining a person's clothing coverage. On balance, the CAP method appears to
      be a feasible method for calculating clothing coverage. Its use could improve
      comparability between sun-safety studies and aid in quantifying the health
      effects of UVR exposure.

PMID- 28608525
TI  - Antimicrobials used for surgical prophylaxis by equine veterinary practitioners
      in Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobials are widely used in Australian veterinary practices,
      but no investigation into the classes of antimicrobials used, or the
      appropriateness of use in horses, has been conducted. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      study was to describe antimicrobial use for surgical prophylaxis in equine
      practice in Australia. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire survey.
      METHODS: An online questionnaire was used to document antimicrobial usage
      patterns. Information solicited in the questionnaire included demographic details
      of the respondents, the frequency with which antimicrobials were used for
      specific surgical conditions (including the dose, timing and duration of therapy)
      and practice antimicrobial use policies and sources of information about
      antimicrobials and their uses. RESULTS: A total of 337 members of the Australian
      veterinary profession completed the survey. Generally, the choice of
      antimicrobial was appropriate for the specified equine surgical condition, but
      the dose and duration of therapy varied greatly. While there was poor optimal
      compliance with British Equine Veterinary Association guidelines in all scenarios
      (range 1-15%), except removal of a nonulcerated dermal mass (42%), suboptimal
      compliance (compliant antimicrobial drug selection but inappropriate timing, dose
      or duration of therapy) was moderate for all scenarios (range 48-68%), except for
      an uninfected contaminated wound over the thorax, where both optimal and
      suboptimal compliance was very poor (1%). Veterinarians practicing at a
      university hospital had higher odds of compliance than general practice
      veterinarians (Odds ratio 3.2, 95% CI, 1.1-8.9, P = 0.03). MAIN LIMITATIONS: Many
      survey responses were collected at conferences which may introduce selection
      bias, as veterinarians attending conferences may be more likely to have been
      exposed to contemporary antimicrobial prescribing recommendations. CONCLUSIONS:
      Antimicrobial use guidelines need to be developed and promoted to improve the
      responsible use of antimicrobials in equine practice in Australia. An emphasis
      should be placed on antimicrobial therapy for wounds and appropriate dosing for
      procaine penicillin.

PMID- 28608527
TI  - Perfect storm: Therapeutic plasma exchange for a patient with thyroid storm.
AB  - Thyroid storm is a potentially lethal complication of hyperthyroidism with
      increased thyroid hormones and exaggerated symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. First-line
      therapy includes methimazole (MMI) or propylthiouracil (PTU) to block production
      of thyroid hormones as a bridge toward definitive surgical treatment. Untreated
      thyroid storm has a mortality rate of up to 30%; this is particularly alarming
      when patients cannot tolerate or fail pharmacotherapy, especially if they cannot
      undergo thyroidectomy. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an ASFA category III
      indication for thyroid storm, meaning the optimum role of this therapy is not
      established, and there are a limited number of cases in the literature. Yet TPE
      can remove T3 and T4 bound to albumin, autoantibodies, catecholamines and
      cytokines and is likely beneficial for these patients. We report a patient with
      thyroid storm who could not tolerate PTU, subsequently failed therapy with MMI,
      and was not appropriate for thyroidectomy. TPE was therefore performed daily for
      4 days (1.0 plasma volume with 5% albumin replacement and 2 U of plasma). Over
      the treatment course, the patient's thyroid hormones normalized and symptoms of
      thyroid storm largely resolved; his T3 decreased from 2.27 to 0.81 ng/mL (normal
      0.8-2.0), T4 decreased from 4.8 to 1.7 ng/mL (0.8-1.8), heart rate normalized,
      altered mental status improved, and he converted to normal sinus rhythm. He was
      ultimately discharged in euthyroid state. He experienced no side effects from his
      TPE procedures. TPE is a safe and effective treatment for thyroid storm when
      conventional treatments are not successful or appropriate.

PMID- 28608528
TI  - Overexpression of Circular RNA ciRS-7 Abrogates the Tumor Suppressive Effect of
      miR-7 on Gastric Cancer via PTEN/PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) has one of the highest mortality rates of malignancies
      globally. Currently, ciRS-7, a novel circular RNA, has emerged as a potential
      sponge for miR-7. However, few studies on ciRS-7 in GC have been performed. In
      this study, we investigated the clinical significance and function of ciRS-7 in
      GC. First, the expression levels of ciRS-7 in 102 primary GC tissues and the
      matched para-carcinoma tissues were evaluated and the clinical relevance was
      confirmed in an independent validation cohort (n = 154). Second, the effects of
      ciRS-7 on miR-7, PTEN, and PI3K were evaluated. Finally, the function of ciRS-7
      in GC was analyzed with cell lines and nude mice. The expression of ciRS-7 was
      significantly upregulated in GC tissues compared with the matched para-carcinoma
      tissues (P = 0.0023), and the upregulation of ciRS-7 was linked to poor survival
      in the testing (P = 0.0143) and validation cohort (P = 0.0061). Multivariate
      survival analysis revealed that ciRS-7 was probably an independent risk factor of
      overall survival (P < 0.05). Furthermore, overexpression of ciRS-7 blocked the
      miR-7-induced tumor suppression in MGC-803 and HGC-27 cells and led to a more
      aggressive oncogenic phenotype, via antagonizing miR-7-mediated PTEN/PI3K/AKT
      pathway. ciRS-7 may act as a prospective prognostic biological marker and a
      promising therapeutic target for GC. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 440-446, 2018. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608529
TI  - Comparison of the CELLEXTM and UVAR-XTSTM closed-system extracorporeal
      photopheresis devices in the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease.
AB  - Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP) is a cellular immunotherapy frequently used
      for steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Chronic GVHD (cGVHD),
      response to ECP is associated with survival benefit. The UVAR-XTSTM system and
      the more recently developed CELLEXTM device (both TherakosTM ) are the mainstay
      for ECP-delivery in the UK and US. No comparison of treatment outcomes has been
      reported. We retrospectively compared cGVHD response and steroid reduction and
      withdrawal in patients treated exclusively over 12 months with either the XTS (n
      = 51) or CELLEX (n = 50). Our hypothesis was that there would be no difference in
      clinical outcome or steroid changes in the 2 matched cohorts. We also compared
      infection incidence, infection-related death (IRD), and treatment time.
      Significant clinical improvement and regular capacity to reduce or cease steroids
      was encountered in both cohorts; at 6 months of ECP 70% of cutaneous cGvHD
      patients had partial or complete responses and 85% of patients receiving steroids
      pre-ECP had reduced dosage. In the XTS group we unexpectedly encountered both
      superior steroid reduction (86% dose at least halved vs. 61% for CELLEX, P =
      0.01) and withdrawal (15 vs. 5 CELLEX, P = 0.01) and a trend for superior skin
      disease response in the CELLEX-treated cohort at 3 months. No inter-relationship
      was evident. Halving or greater reduction of steroid dose by 3 or 6 months was
      associated with reduced risk of IRD in the XTS cohort as was withdrawal at 6
      months for the combined cohorts. By 6 months, XTS-treated patients had
      experienced fewer antibiotic-requiring infections (mean 1.9 vs. 2.8, P = 0.025).
      Origins for the disparities are unclear and warrant investigation.

PMID- 28608530
TI  - Psoriasis in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that generally affects the skin,
      nails and joints. The burden of psoriatic disease in Latin America and the
      Caribbean (LAC) remains largely unknown. To estimate the burden of psoriasis in
      LAC. We conducted a systematic review following the MOOSE and PRISMA statements.
      We searched published studies in MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS and CENTRAL from 1st
      January 2000 to 5th August 2015. We included studies that reported incidence,
      prevalence, health resource use and health expenditures, treatment patterns,
      comparative effectiveness of different drugs, patients reported outcomes,
      adherence to treatment and patient preferences in LAC. Risk of bias was assessed
      evaluating selection of participants, control of cofounders, measurement of
      exposure and outcome and conflict of interest. Pairs of reviewers independently
      selected, extracted and assessed the bias risk of the studies. The systematic
      review was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42016038325). A total of 18 studies from 12
      LAC countries were included. Most were observational studies, between which there
      was a large heterogeneity of outcomes. Population-based studies were not found
      and most data came from hospital registries. One study reported an incidence of
      psoriatic arthritis in 6.26 cases per 100 000 person-years. Another study found
      an incidence of psoriasis 1020 per 100 000 patient-year attending at a
      dermatology clinic. The prevalence reported in the Argentinean health service was
      74 cases per 100 000. Further, psoriasis has been shown to have a substantial
      negative impact on quality of life. A number of studies also indicated that non
      communicable disease burden increases with the presence and severity of
      psoriasis. With regard to treatment pattern, methotrexate was the dominant
      systemic therapy. In conclusion, there is an important lack of information from
      LAC concerning the burden of psoriasis. Further studies investigating the burden
      of psoriasis in representative LAC populations are needed.

PMID- 28608531
TI  - Fused Hexacyclic Nonfullerene Acceptor with Strong Near-Infrared Absorption for
      Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells with 9.77% Efficiency.
AB  - A fused hexacyclic electron acceptor, IHIC, based on strong electron-donating
      group dithienocyclopentathieno[3,2-b]thiophene flanked by strong electron
      withdrawing group 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone, is designed, synthesized, and
      applied in semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs). IHIC exhibits strong
      near-infrared absorption with extinction coefficients of up to 1.6 * 105 m-1 cm-1
      , a narrow optical bandgap of 1.38 eV, and a high electron mobility of 2.4 * 10-3
      cm2 V-1 s-1 . The ST-OSCs based on blends of a narrow-bandgap polymer donor PTB7
      Th and narrow-bandgap IHIC acceptor exhibit a champion power conversion
      efficiency of 9.77% with an average visible transmittance of 36% and excellent
      device stability; this efficiency is much higher than any single-junction and
      tandem ST-OSCs reported in the literature.

PMID- 28608533
TI  - Effect of cereal straw and alfalfa hay diet on amino acid profile of
      gastrointestinal digesta in lactating dairy cows.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing alfalfa hay with
      rice straw (RS) or corn stover (CS) on amino acid (AA) profiles of
      gastrointestinal digesta in lactating cows. Eighteen lactating dairy cows were
      randomly assigned to one of three groups (n = 6) and fed identical concentrate
      and corn silage with different forages on dry matter basis: (i) 23% alfalfa hay
      and 7% Chinese wild rye hay (AH); (ii) 30% CS; and (iii) 30% RS. After the 14
      week feeding, a total of 18 cows were slaughtered to collect digesta from four
      representative organs, including rumen, omasum, duodenum and jejunum. The AA
      profiles of ruminal microbial fraction were similar among the treatments, except
      for greater Arg in cows fed RS than in cows fed AH or CS. Most of the analysed AA
      changed under different diets. Significant differences were found among the
      microbial fraction, rumen fluid and rumen digesta, with greater essential AA in
      digesta than in microbial fraction or rumen fluid and greater essential AA in
      microbial fraction than rumen fluid. Significant differences in individual AA
      profiles of digesta and relevant fluid were found across the four representative
      digestive tract parts, including rumen, omasum, duodenum and jejunum, showing
      much lower Leu proportion in CS and RS than in AH in duodenal fluid. In summary,
      ruminal microbes may prefer using essential AA, rather than non-essential AA. The
      AA profile of ruminal microbes was constant except for Arg. The AA composition of
      digesta across the four digestive tracts changed dramatically, which indicated
      differences in the ability and efficiency of AA absorption. The lower duodenum
      absorbable Leu proportion in cows fed CS or RS indicated the shortage of Leu in
      CS or RS diets, which might also restrict the balanced AA absorption.

PMID- 28608532
TI  - Heteromers of MU opioid and dopamine D1 receptors modulate opioid-induced
      locomotor sensitization in a dopamine-independent manner.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Exposure to opiates induces locomotor sensitization in
      rodents, which has been proposed to correspond to the compulsive drug-seeking
      behaviour. Numerous studies have demonstrated that locomotor sensitization can
      occur in a dopamine transmission-independent manner; however, the underlying
      mechanisms are unclear. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Co-immunoprecipitation, BRET and
      cross-antagonism assays were used to demonstrate the existence of receptor
      heterodimers. Function of heterodimers was evaluated by behavioural studies of
      locomotor sensitization. KEY RESULTS: The dopamine D1 receptor antagonist
      SCH23390 antagonized the signalling initiated by stimulation of MU opioid
      receptors with agonists in transfected cells expressing two receptors and in
      striatal tissues from wild-type but not D1 receptor knockout (KO) mice,
      suggesting that SCH23390 modified MU receptor function via receptor heteromers,
      as the ability of an antagonist of one of the receptors to inhibit signals
      originated by stimulation of the partner receptor was a characteristic of
      receptor heteromers. The existence of MU receptor-D1 receptor heterodimers was
      further supported by biochemical and biophysical assays. In vivo, when dopamine
      release was absent (by destruction of the dopaminergic projection from the
      ventral tegmental area to the striatum), SCH23390 still significantly inhibited
      MU receptor agonist-induced behavioural responses in rats. Additionally, we
      demonstrated that D1 or MU receptor KO mice and thus unable to form MU receptor
      D1 receptor heterodimers, failed to show locomotor sensitization to morphine.
      CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Our results suggest that MU receptor-D1 receptor
      heterodimers may be involved in the dopamine-independent expression of locomotor
      sensitization to opiates.

PMID- 28608534
TI  - Recent advances in the development of T-type calcium channel blockers for pain
      intervention.
AB  - : Cav 3.2 T-type calcium channels are important regulators of pain signals in the
      afferent pain pathway, and their activities are dysregulated during various
      chronic pain states. Therefore, it is reasonable to predict that inhibiting T
      type calcium channels in dorsal root ganglion neurons and in the spinal dorsal
      horn can be targeted for pain relief. This is supported by early pharmacological
      studies with T-type channel blockers, such as ethosuximide, and by analgesic
      effects of siRNA depletion of Cav 3.2 channels. In the past 5 years, considerable
      effort has been applied towards identifying novel classes of T-type calcium
      channel blockers. Here, we review recent developments in the discovery of novel
      classes of T-type calcium channel blockers, and their analgesic effects in animal
      models of pain and in clinical trials. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a
      themed section on Recent Advances in Targeting Ion Channels to Treat Chronic
      Pain. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.12/issuetoc.

PMID- 28608535
TI  - Discovery and characterization of two novel CB1 receptor splice variants with
      modified N-termini in mouse.
AB  - Numerous studies have been carried out in the mouse model, investigating the role
      of the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1). However, mouse CB1 (mCB1) receptor
      differs from human CB1 (hCB1) receptor in 13 amino acid residues. Two splice
      variants, hCB1a and hCB1b, diverging in their amino-termini, have been reported
      to be unique for hCB1 and, via different signaling properties, contribute to CB1
      receptor physiology and pathophysiology. We hypothesized that splice variants
      also exist for the mCB1 receptor and have different signaling properties. On
      murine hippocampal cDNA, we identified two novel mCB1 receptor splice variants
      generated by splicing of introns with 117 bp and 186 bp in the N-terminal domain,
      corresponding to deletions of 39 or 62 amino acids, respectively. The mRNAs for
      the splice variants mCB1a and mCB1b are expressed at low levels in different
      brain regions. Western blot analysis of protein extracts from stably transfected
      HEK293 cells indicates a strongly reduced glycosylation because of the absence of
      two glycosylation sites in mCB1b. On-cell western analysis in these stable lines
      revealed increased internalization of mCB1a and mCB1b upon stimulation with the
      agonist WIN55,212-2 as compared to mCB1. Results also point toward an increased
      affinity to SR141716 for mCB1a, as well as slightly enhanced inhibition of
      neurotransmission compared to mCB1. In mCB1b, agonist-induced MAPK
      phosphorylation was decreased compared to mCB1 and mCB1a. Identification of mouse
      CB1 receptor splice variants may help to explain differences found between human
      and mouse endocannabinoid systems and improve the understanding of CB1 receptor
      signaling and trafficking in different species.

PMID- 28608536
TI  - Feeding value of whole raw soya beans as a protein supplement for beef cattle
      consuming low-quality forages.
AB  - Experiments (Exp) I and II were conducted to compare raw whole soya beans (WSB),
      roasted (rWSB) or other protein sources as supplements of low-quality forages fed
      ad libitum to beef cattle, upon DM intake (DMI), ruminal and blood parameters,
      and animal performance. Exp I: treatments for wheat straw fed to four ruminally
      cannulated steers were (i) Control-WS: no supplement; (ii) WSB-WS: whole soya
      beans; (iii) rWSB-WS: roasted WSB; and (iv) SBM-WS: soybean meal-wheat midds
      mixture; all fed at 1.4 kg DM/day. Exp II: 12 steers grazed deferred grain
      sorghum (DS) receiving these treatments: (i) Control-DS: no supplement; (ii) WSB
      DS: 1.26 kg DM/day whole soya beans; and (iii) SFM-DS: 1.35 kg DM/day of
      sunflower meal. In Exp I, WS DMI resulted 47, 52 and 41% greater for WSB-WS, rWSB
      WS and SBM-WS, respectively, than Control-WS (p < .05). In Exp II, the DMI of DS
      was unaffected by supplementation; a substitution of DS by supplement was found
      for WSB-DS (p < .05); however, total diet and digestible DMI increased with
      supplementation (p < .05). Rumen pH in Exp I remained unaffected by
      supplementation, but N-NH3 as well as blood urea-N in Exp II increased (p < .05).
      In Exp II, average daily weight gains improved similarly with both supplements
      compared with Control-DS. Additionally, feed-to-gain ratio decreased (p < .05),
      being lower for WSB-DS (8.3) vs. SFM-DS (9.9). Roasting effects of WSB as a
      supplement for low-quality forages were not detected, and all protein sources
      increased total diet DMI and forage utilization. Only moderate cattle weight
      gains could be expected for unsupplemented DS.

PMID- 28608538
TI  - Effects of dietary red yeast (Sporidiobolus pararoseus) on production performance
      and egg quality of laying hens.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary red yeast
      (Sporidiobolus pararoseus) on production performance and egg quality of laying
      hens. A total of 200 Esa Brown laying hens (23 weeks of age) were allocated
      equally to negative control group (no yeast supplement); positive control group
      (2 g/kg of Saccharomyces cerevisiae); 0.5, 1, 2 g/kg red yeast respectively. The
      experiment was lasted for 12 weeks. Feed intake, hen-day egg production and egg
      weight were not different between control and supplemented groups. However, yeast
      supplemented groups were significantly improved feed efficiency (p < .05).
      Incremental levels of red yeast increased the colour score of egg yolk (p < .05).
      The cholesterol and triglyceride of serum and yolk were significantly (p < .05)
      lower in the laying hens fed dietary administration red yeast compared to the
      control diet; however, no significant (p > .05) differences among yeast
      supplemented groups were observed. The hepatic hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzymeA
      (HMG-CoA) reductase activity was significantly lower (p < .05) in the 2 g/kg red
      yeast-supplemented group compared to the control and other red yeast-supplemented
      groups. Concentrations of caecal short-chain fatty acids was increased (p < .05)
      in laying hens fed 1 and 2 g/kg red yeast as compared to the control group.
      Dietary administration of 2 g/kg red yeast (S. pararoceus) significantly improved
      egg yolk colour, decrease serum and egg yolk cholesterol levels.

PMID- 28608537
TI  - Inhibition of human N- and T-type calcium channels by an ortho-phenoxyanilide
      derivative, MONIRO-1.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Voltage-gated calcium channels are involved in
      nociception in the CNS and in the periphery. N-type (Cav 2.2) and T-type (Cav
      3.1, Cav 3.2 and Cav 3.3) voltage-gated calcium channels are particularly
      important in studying and treating pain and epilepsy. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: In
      this study, whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology was used to assess the
      potency and mechanism of action of a novel ortho-phenoxylanilide derivative,
      MONIRO-1, against a panel of voltage-gated calcium channels including Cav 1.2,
      Cav 1.3, Cav 2.1, Cav 2.2, Cav 2.3, Cav 3.1, Cav 3.2 and Cav 3.3. KEY RESULTS:
      MONIRO-1 was 5- to 20-fold more potent at inhibiting human T-type calcium
      channels, hCav 3.1, hCav 3.2 and hCav 3.3 (IC50 : 3.3 +/- 0.3, 1.7 +/- 0.1 and
      7.2 +/- 0.3 MUM, respectively) than N-type calcium channel, hCav 2.2 (IC50 : 34.0
      +/- 3.6 MUM). It interacted with L-type calcium channels Cav 1.2 and Cav 1.3 with
      significantly lower potency (IC50  > 100 MUM) and did not inhibit hCav 2.1 or
      hCav 2.3 channels at concentrations as high as 100 MUM. State- and use-dependent
      inhibition of hCav 2.2 channels was observed, whereas stronger inhibition
      occurred at high stimulation frequencies for hCav 3.1 channels suggesting a
      different mode of action between these two channels. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: Selectivity, potency, reversibility and multi-modal effects
      distinguish MONIRO-1 from other low MW inhibitors acting on Cav channels involved
      in pain and/or epilepsy pathways. High-frequency firing increased the affinity
      for MONIRO-1 for both hCav 2.2 and hCav 3.1 channels. Such Cav channel modulators
      have potential clinical use in the treatment of epilepsies, neuropathic pain and
      other nociceptive pathophysiologies. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a
      themed section on Recent Advances in Targeting Ion Channels to Treat Chronic
      Pain. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.12/issuetoc.

PMID- 28608539
TI  - Host resistance and pathogen aggressiveness are key determinants of coinfection
      in the wild.
AB  - Coinfection, whereby the same host is infected by more than one pathogen strain,
      may favor faster host exploitation rates as strains compete for the same limited
      resources. Hence, coinfection is expected to have major consequences for pathogen
      evolution, virulence, and epidemiology. Theory predicts genetic variation in host
      resistance and pathogen infectivity to play a key role in how coinfections are
      formed. The limited number of studies available has demonstrated coinfection to
      be a common phenomenon, but little is known about how coinfection varies in
      space, and what its determinants are. Our aim is to understand how variation in
      host resistance and pathogen infectivity and aggressiveness contribute to how
      coinfections are formed in the interaction between fungal pathogen Podosphaera
      plantaginis and Plantago lanceolata. Our phenotyping study reveals that more
      aggressive strains are more likely to form coinfections than less aggressive
      strains in the natural populations. In the natural populations most of the
      variation in coinfection is found at the individual plant level, and results from
      a common garden study confirm the prevalence of coinfection to vary significantly
      among host genotypes. These results show that genetic variation in both the host
      and pathogen populations are key determinants of coinfection in the wild.

PMID- 28608540
TI  - Sevoflurane vs. propofol in post-operative catheter-related bladder discomfort: a
      prospective randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-operative catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD) causes
      increased emergence agitation. Muscarinic receptor activation is a major
      mechanism in CRBD development. Experimental studies showed that sevoflurane has
      anti-muscarinic effects whereas propofol does not. Our hypothesis was that
      sevoflurane anaesthesia would reduce the incidence of CRBD following bladder
      surgery. METHODS: In total, 82 patients undergoing transurethral bladder tumour
      excision (TURBT) were assigned randomly to two groups according to the
      maintenance anaesthetic agent received: sevoflurane (n = 41) or propofol (n =
      41). The incidence of CRBD was evaluated at 0, 1, 6 and 24 h post-operatively.
      The number of patients treated with a rescue medication (tramadol) for CRBD was
      noted. RESULTS: The incidence of CRBD at post-operative 1 h was lower in the
      sevoflurane group than that in the propofol group (59% vs. 85%; P = 0.007). The
      differences in CRBD were 27% and 22% at 0 and 6 h post-operatively (P = 0.008 and
      0.047, respectively). CRBD occurred in 27 (66%) patients in the sevoflurane group
      vs. 38 (93%) in the propofol group from 0 to 24 h post-operatively (P = 0.005).
      The number of patients treated with tramadol was lower in the sevoflurane group
      (13 [22%] vs. 22 [54%]; P = 0.044). CONCLUSION: Sevoflurane, as a maintenance in
      general anaesthesia, decreased the incidence of early post-operative CRBD and
      tramadol requirements in patients undergoing TURBT, compared with propofol.

PMID- 28608541
TI  - High-Efficiency Solution-Processed Inorganic Metal Halide Perovskite Light
      Emitting Diodes.
AB  - This paper reports highly bright and efficient CsPbBr3 perovskite light-emitting
      diodes (PeLEDs) fabricated by simple one-step spin-coating of uniform CsPbBr3
      polycrystalline layers on a self-organized buffer hole injection layer and
      stoichiometry-controlled CsPbBr3 precursor solutions with an optimized
      concentration. The PeLEDs have maximum current efficiency of 5.39 cd A-1 and
      maximum luminance of 13752 cd m-2 . This paper also investigates the origin of
      current hysteresis, which can be ascribed to migration of Br- anions. Temperature
      dependence of the electroluminescence (EL) spectrum is measured and the origins
      of decreased spectrum area, spectral blue-shift, and linewidth broadening are
      analyzed systematically with the activation energies, and are related with Br-
      anion migration, thermal dissociation of excitons, thermal expansion, and
      electron-phonon interaction. This work provides simple ways to improve the
      efficiency and brightness of all-inorganic polycrystalline PeLEDs and improves
      understanding of temperature-dependent ion migration and EL properties in
      inorganic PeLEDs.

PMID- 28608542
TI  - HPA axis linkage in parent-child dyads: Effects of parent sex, autism spectrum
      diagnosis, and dyadic relationship behavior.
AB  - Families of preschoolers participated in two dyadic home visits, once with mother
      (56 dyads) and once with father (59 dyads). Each member of the dyad provided
      three cortisol samples and participated in several interaction tasks that were
      behaviorally coded. Approximately half of the children had been diagnosed with
      autism spectrum disorders (ASD), whereas half were typically developing (TD). In
      a multilevel model, father's cortisol level at each timepoint predicted child
      cortisol. Father-child linkage was stronger in dyads that showed less
      reciprocity, in which fathers showed less sensitivity, and in which children
      showed less self-regulation and more withdrawal. Cortisol levels were not
      significantly correlated in mother-child dyads, and there was a trend toward
      moderation by ASD diagnosis, such that linkage was greater in TD children. Mother
      child linkage was stronger in dyads that showed less behavioral coordination and
      less sensitivity. HPA axis linkage may be stronger in less behaviorally attuned
      dyads.

PMID- 28608543
TI  - Extraction and Isolation of beta-Glucan from Grain Sources-A Review.
AB  - A collective report on the extraction and isolation of beta-glucan from grain
      sources, namely, oat, barley, and wheat is presented. An analysis on the effect
      of medium, pH, and temperature on the purity and yield of the beta-glucan derived
      under acidic/alkaline/aqueous/enzymatic conditions is also made. Water extraction
      and alkali extraction processes are preferred as the yield and recovery of
      extracted beta-glucan were good. Cost-effective development of the process for
      deriving high molecular weight beta-glucan is the current requirement for its
      wide applications in food and pharmaceutical industries.

PMID- 28608544
TI  - Use of intravenous iron polymaltose in the management of iron deficiency in
      pregnancy: A retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intravenous iron polymaltose (IPM) is commonly utilised in pregnancy
      when oral treatment is not tolerated or where rapid replenishment of iron stores
      is required, but data on use in pregnancy is scarce. AIM: To examine the use,
      safety and efficacy of intravenous IPM in pregnancy. METHODS: Retrospective
      cohort study of pregnant women administered intravenous IPM between January 2014
      and January 2016 at a Tertiary teaching hospital in Adelaide, Australia. Data on
      maternal characteristics, intravenous iron infusion details, and haematological
      parameters were collected from case notes and electronic records. Main outcome
      measures included indication for intravenous iron infusion, prevalence of
      infusion reactions, change in haemoglobin and correction of anaemia prior to
      delivery. RESULTS: Intravenous IPM was administered in 213 pregnancies, 62.0% of
      women with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and the remainder (38.0%) with non
      anaemic iron deficiency. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) occurred in 24% of women,
      of which 32% required infusion cessation. Anaemia was still present at delivery
      among 7%, and 17% of women with mild, and moderate/severe anaemia respectively.
      Approximately one in five anaemic women received an intravenous IPM dose below
      that recommended by the local guideline, particularly in women with a body mass
      index >= 25 kg/m2 compared with <25 kg/m2 (30.9% vs 6.3%; P < 0.001). Doses 'at
      recommended' resulted in a greater increase in haemoglobin from treatment until
      delivery than doses 'below recommended' (adjusted beta coefficient 8.4 g/L; 95%
      CI 2.7-14.1 g/L). CONCLUSION: Intravenous IPM is effective in treating IDA in
      pregnancy but is associated with a high prevalence of ADRs and treatment
      cessation.

PMID- 28608545
TI  - An alternative pathway to eusociality: Exploring the molecular and functional
      basis of fortress defense.
AB  - Some animals express a form of eusociality known as "fortress defense," in which
      defense rather than brood care is the primary social act. Aphids are small plant
      feeding insects, but like termites, some species express division of labor and
      castes of aggressive juvenile "soldiers." What is the functional basis of
      fortress defense eusociality in aphids? Previous work showed that the acquisition
      of venoms might be a key innovation in aphid social evolution. We show that the
      lethality of aphid soldiers derives in part from the induction of exaggerated
      immune responses in insects they attack. Comparisons between closely related
      social and nonsocial species identified a number of secreted effector molecules
      that are candidates for immune modulation, including a convergently recruited
      protease described in unrelated aphid species with venom-like functions. These
      results suggest that aphids are capable of antagonizing conserved features of the
      insect immune response, and provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying
      the evolution of fortress defense eusociality in aphids.

PMID- 28608546
TI  - Developing Potentiometric Surfaces and Flow Fields with a Head-Specified MODFLOW
      Model.
AB  - Investigating changes in an aquifer system often involves comparison of observed
      heads from different synoptic measurements, generally with potentiometric
      surfaces developed by hand or a statistical approach. Alternatively, head
      specified MODFLOW models, in which constant head cells simulate observed heads,
      generate gridded potentiometric surfaces that explicitly account for Darcy's Law
      and mass balance. We developed a transient head-specified MODFLOW model for the
      stratified Cambrian-Ordovician sandstone aquifer system of northeastern Illinois
      to analyze flow within its 275 m deep cone of depression. Potentiometric surfaces
      were developed using static heads from production wells regardless of open
      interval; hence assuming no vertical head difference. This assumption was tested
      against steady-state, head-specified models of each sandstone strata for 1980 and
      2014. The results indicate that the original conceptual model was appropriate in
      1980 but not 2014, where a vertical head difference had developed at the center
      of the cone of depression. For earlier years, when the head difference was
      minimal, the transient head-specified model compared well with a traditional,
      flow-specified model. In later years, the transient head-specified model
      overestimated removal of water from storage. MODFLOW facilitates the development
      of a time-series of potentiometric surfaces and can easily be modified to test
      the impacts of different conceptual models, such as assumptions on vertical head
      differences. For this study of a deep confined aquifer, MODFLOW also offers
      advantages in generating potentiometric surfaces and flow fields over statistical
      interpolation techniques, although future research is needed to assess its
      performance in other settings.

PMID- 28608547
TI  - Computational modeling of the bat HKU4 coronavirus 3CLpro inhibitors as a tool
      for the development of antivirals against the emerging Middle East respiratory
      syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.
AB  - : The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging
      virus that poses a major challenge to clinical management. The 3C-like protease
      (3CLpro ) is essential for viral replication and thus represents a potential
      target for antiviral drug development. Presently, very few data are available on
      MERS-CoV 3CLpro inhibition by small molecules. We conducted extensive exploration
      of the pharmacophoric space of a recently identified set of peptidomimetic
      inhibitors of the bat HKU4-CoV 3CLpro . HKU4-CoV 3CLpro shares high sequence
      identity (81%) with the MERS-CoV enzyme and thus represents a potential surrogate
      model for anti-MERS drug discovery. We used 2 well-established methods:
      Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)-guided modeling and docking
      based comparative intermolecular contacts analysis. The established pharmacophore
      models highlight structural features needed for ligand recognition and revealed
      important binding-pocket regions involved in 3CLpro -ligand interactions. The
      best models were used as 3D queries to screen the National Cancer Institute
      database for novel nonpeptidomimetic 3CLpro inhibitors. The identified hits were
      tested for HKU4-CoV and MERS-CoV 3CLpro inhibition. Two hits, which share the
      phenylsulfonamide fragment, showed moderate inhibitory activity against the MERS
      CoV 3CLpro and represent a potential starting point for the development of novel
      anti-MERS agents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first pharmacophore
      modeling study supported by in vitro validation on the MERS-CoV 3CLpro .
      HIGHLIGHTS: MERS-CoV is an emerging virus that is closely related to the bat HKU4
      CoV. 3CLpro is a potential drug target for coronavirus infection. HKU4-CoV 3CLpro
      is a useful surrogate model for the identification of MERS-CoV 3CLpro enzyme
      inhibitors. dbCICA is a very robust modeling method for hit identification. The
      phenylsulfonamide scaffold represents a potential starting point for MERS
      coronavirus 3CLpro inhibitors development.

PMID- 28608548
TI  - Interactions between Ketones and Alcohols: Rotational Spectrum and Internal
      Dynamics of the Acetone-Ethanol Complex.
AB  - The rotational spectra of two isotopologues of the 1:1 complex formed between
      acetone and ethanol have been recorded and analyzed by using Fourier-transform
      microwave spectroscopy. One rotamer was detected, in which ethanol adopts the
      gauche form. The two subunits are linked by a conventional O-H???O and a weak C
      H???O hydrogen bond, forming a six-membered ring. Each rotational transition is
      split into five component lines due to the internal rotations of two
      nonequivalent acetone methyl groups. The V3 barriers to internal rotation of the
      two CH3 tops of acetone were determined to be 252(4) and 220(1) cm-1 , which are
      noticeably lower than the value for the monomer (266 cm-1 ).

PMID- 28608549
TI  - Angiogenesis biomarkers and their targeting ligands as potential targets for
      tumor angiogenesis.
AB  - Angiogenesis is known as one of the hallmarks in cancer which could play a key
      role in providing oxygen and nutrients for tumor cells. It has been shown that
      tumor cannot grow without sufficient development of new blood vessels.
      Accordingly, targeting angiogenesis, especially endothelial cells, could be
      considered as a common therapeutic target in tumors and more investigation on
      already existing biomarkers and potentially new biomarkers of endothelial cells
      seems to be necessary in cancer therapy. Moreover, the use of effective targeting
      approaches such as proteins and peptides, aptamers, and small molecules is an
      important step for targeting biomarkers associated with endothelial cells and
      angiogenesis in cancer therapy. These agents are FDA approved, or are currently
      under investigation in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Among various
      biomarkers for angiogenesis microRNAs are suitable candidates for target therapy.
      These molecules play key roles in tumor angiogenesis which exert their effect via
      targeting a variety of cellular and molecular pathways involved in tumor
      angiogenesis. Here, we summarize a variety of biomarkers which their expressions
      or their functions could change the function of endothelial cells in tumor
      microenvironments. Moreover, we highlighted various therapeutic agents which
      could target these biomarkers.

PMID- 28608550
TI  - A new staining protocol for detection of murine antibody-secreting plasma cell
      subsets by flow cytometry.
AB  - We provide a robust four-color fluorescence-based flow cytometry protocol that
      distinguishes viable dividing plasmablasts from nondividing plasma cells and,
      based on CD19 surface abundance, identifies two mature plasma cell populations in
      the spleen and the bone marrow of mice.

PMID- 28608551
TI  - A structural sketch of RcdA, a transcription factor controlling the master
      regulator of biofilm formation.
AB  - RcdA is a regulator of curlin subunit gene D, the master regulator of biofilm
      formation in Escherichia coli. Here, we determined the X-ray structure of RcdA at
      2.55 A resolution. RcdA consists of an N-terminal DNA-binding domain (DBD)
      containing a helix-turn-helix (HTH) motif and a C-terminal dimerization domain,
      and forms a homodimer in crystals. A computational docking model of the RcdA-DNA
      complex allowed prediction of the candidate residues responsible for DNA binding.
      Our structure-guided mutagenesis, in combination with gel shift assay, atomic
      force microscopic observation, and reporter assay, indicate that R32 in alpha2 of
      the HTH motif plays an essential role in the recognition and binding of target
      DNA while T46 in alpha3 influences the mode of oligomerization. These results
      provide insights into the DNA-binding mode of RcdA.

PMID- 28608552
TI  - A perspective on stem cell therapy for ear disorders.
AB  - The use of stem cells in cell-based therapy is an emerging concept for the
      treatment of ear disorders. Tympanic membrane perforation (TMP) and inner ear
      disorders are some of the most commonly presented otologic disorders that can
      benefit from advances in cell-based therapy. Studies have already demonstrated
      that stem cell-based therapy can potentially be an effective treatment modality
      for acute and chronic TMP. Recent studies have also shown promise in application
      of cell-based approach to treat inner ear dysfunction. In this perspective, we
      will discuss the recent advancements regarding the use of cell-based therapy for
      ear disorders.

PMID- 28608553
TI  - Optimization of Bleaching Parameters in Refining Process of Kenaf Seed Oil with a
      Central Composite Design Model.
AB  - Kenaf seed oil has been suggested to be used as nutritious edible oil due to its
      unique fatty acid composition and nutritional value. The objective of this study
      was to optimize the bleaching parameters of the chemical refining process for
      kenaf seed oil, namely concentration of bleaching earth (0.5 to 2.5% w/w),
      temperature (30 to 110  degrees C) and time (5 to 65 min) based on the responses
      of total oxidation value (TOTOX) and color reduction using response surface
      methodology. The results indicated that the corresponding response surface models
      were highly statistical significant (P < 0.0001) and sufficient to describe and
      predict TOTOX value and color reduction with R2 of 0.9713 and 0.9388,
      respectively. The optimal parameters in the bleaching stage of kenaf seed oil
      were: 1.5% w/w of the concentration of bleaching earth, temperature of 70 
      degrees C, and time of 40 min. These optimum parameters produced bleached kenaf
      seed oil with TOTOX value of 8.09 and color reduction of 32.95%. There were no
      significant differences (P > 0.05) between experimental and predicted values,
      indicating the adequacy of the fitted models.

PMID- 28608554
TI  - Combination of nanotechnology with vascular targeting agents for effective cancer
      therapy.
AB  - As a young science, nanotechnology promptly integrated into the current oncology
      practice. Accordingly, various nanostructure particles were developed to reduce
      drug toxicity and allow the targeted delivery of various diagnostic and
      therapeutic compounds to the cancer cells. New sophisticated nanosystems
      constantly emerge to improve the performance of current anticancer modalities.
      Targeting tumor vasculature is an attractive strategy to fight cancer. Though the
      idea was swiftly furthered from basic science to the clinic, targeting tumor
      vasculature had a limited potential in patients, where tumors relapse due to the
      development of multiple drug resistance and metastasis. The aim of this review is
      to discuss the advantages of nanosystem incorporation with various vascular
      targeting agents, including (i) endogen anti-angiogenic agents; (ii) inhibitors
      of angiogenesis-related growth factors; (iii) inhibitors of tyrosine kinase
      receptors; (iv) inhibitors of angiogenesis-related signaling pathways; (v)
      inhibitors of tumor endothelial cell-associated markers; and (vi) tumor vascular
      disrupting agents. We also review the efficacy of nanostructures as natural
      vascular targeting agents. The efficacy of each approach in cancer therapy is
      further discussed.

PMID- 28608556
TI  - Enhancing Catalytic Activity of Bioanode for Glucose Biofuel Cell by Compressing
      Enzyme, Mediator and Carbon Support through Centrifugation.
AB  - In this study, the fabrication of a graphene-based bioanode utilizing
      ferrocenemethanol as mediator and glucose oxidase as enzyme catalyst through
      centrifugation was demonstrated. The enhanced in catalytic activity for glucose
      oxidation was achieved via centrifuge compressing respective components within
      the mixture. The glucose/O2 biofuel cell (GBFC) was assembled by having the
      bioanode integrated with Pt wire as cathode. The GBFC produced maximum power
      density and open circuit voltage of approximately 70 MUW cm-2 and 0.38 V.

PMID- 28608555
TI  - Epistasis * environment interactions among Arabidopsis thaliana glucosinolate
      genes impact complex traits and fitness in the field.
AB  - Despite the growing number of studies showing that genotype * environment and
      epistatic interactions control fitness, the influences of epistasis * environment
      interactions on adaptive trait evolution remain largely uncharacterized. Across
      three field trials, we quantified aliphatic glucosinolate (GSL) defense
      chemistry, leaf damage, and relative fitness using mutant lines of Arabidopsis
      thaliana varying at pairs of causal aliphatic GSL defense genes to test the
      impact of epistatic and epistasis * environment interactions on adaptive trait
      variation. We found that aliphatic GSL accumulation was primarily influenced by
      additive and epistatic genetic variation, leaf damage was primarily influenced by
      environmental variation and relative fitness was primarily influenced by
      epistasis and epistasis * environment interactions. Epistasis * environment
      interactions accounted for up to 48% of the relative fitness variation in the
      field. At a single field site, the impact of epistasis on relative fitness varied
      significantly over 2 yr, showing that epistasis * environment interactions within
      a location can be temporally dynamic. These results suggest that the
      environmental dependency of epistasis can profoundly influence the response to
      selection, shaping the adaptive trajectories of natural populations in complex
      ways, and deserves further consideration in future evolutionary studies.

PMID- 28608557
TI  - Salicornia Extract Ameliorates Salt-Induced Aggravation of Nonalcoholic Fatty
      Liver Disease in Obese Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.
AB  - High-fat and high-salt intakes are among the major risks of chronic diseases
      including obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH). Salicornia is a halophytic plant known to exert
      antioxidant, antidiabetic, and hypolipidemic effects, and Salicornia-extracted
      salt (SS) has been used as a salt substitute. In this study, the effects of SS
      and purified salt (PS) on the aggravation of NAFLD/NASH were compared. C57BL/6J
      male mice (8-wk-old) were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 6 mo and divided into 3
      dietary groups, which were additionally fed HFD, HFD + SS, and HFD + PS for 13
      wk. PS induced aggravation of NAFLD/NASH in HFD-fed mice. Although the actual
      salt intake was same between the PS and SS groups as 1% of the diet (extrapolated
      from the World Health Organization [WHO] guideline), SS induced less liver injury
      and hepatic steatosis compared to PS. The hepatic mRNA expressions of
      inflammatory cytokines and fibrosis marker were significantly lower in the SS
      group than the PS group. Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of
      inflammation in NAFLD/NASH. Results of the component analysis showed that the
      major polyphenols that exhibited antioxidant activity in the Salicornia water
      extract were ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and isorhamnetin. These results suggest
      that even the level of salt intake recommended by WHO can accelerate the
      progression of liver disease in obese individuals consuming HFD. It is proposed
      that SS can be a salt substitute for obese individuals who consume HFD.

PMID- 28608558
TI  - Efficacy and Toxicity of Different Chemotherapy Regimens in the Treatment of
      Advanced or Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: A Network Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Objective A network meta-analysis was conducted to compare the efficacy and
      toxicity of different chemotherapy regimens in treating advanced or metastatic
      pancreatic cancer (PC). PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases from
      inception to June 2016 were searched. A combination of direct and indirect
      evidences was referred to for calculating the weighted mean difference (WMD) or
      the odds ratio (OR) and to establish surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA)
      curves, so as to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of different chemotherapy
      regimens in treating advanced or metastatic PC. Twenty randomized controlled
      trials were enrolled. Twelve chemotherapy regimens included Gemcitabine, S-1
      (Tegafur), Gemcitabine + Cisplatin, Gemcitabine + Capecitabine, Gemcitabine + S
      1, Gemcitabine + 5-FU (5-fluorouracil), Gemcitabine + Exatecan, Gemcitabine +
      Irinotecan, Gemcitabine + Nab-paclitaxel, FOLFIRINOX (Oxaliplatin + Irinotecan +
      Fluorouracil + Leucovorin), Gemcitabine + Oxaliplatin, and Gemcitabine +
      Pemetrexed. Higher overall response rate (ORR) was observed in patients treated
      with the gemcitabine + S-1 and FOLFIRINO regimens. Thrombocytopenia reduced in
      patients treated with the S-1 regimen. The Gemcitabine + S-1 and FOLFIRINO
      regimens had better short- and long-term efficacies than the other regimens; S-1
      regimen had the lowest hematologic toxicity, while Gemcitabine + Nab-paclitaxel,
      FOLFIRINOX, and Gemcitabine + Pemetrexed regimens had higher incidence of non
      hematologic toxicity among twelve chemotherapy regimens. The efficacy of
      Gemcitabine + S-1 and FOLFIRINOX regimens may be better in treating patients with
      advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer, while FOLFIRINOX and Gemcitabine +
      Pemetrexed regimens may have relatively higher incidence of toxicity than other
      regimens. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 511-523, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608559
TI  - Royal Australian Chemical Institute Awards.

PMID- 28608561
TI  - Angiogenic and Restorative Abilities of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Were Reduced
      Following Treatment With Serum From Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Patients.
AB  - This experiment investigated the impact of serum from patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus on the angiogenic behavior of human mesenchymal stem cells in
      vitro. Changes in the level of Ang-1, Ang-2, cell migration, and trans
      differentiation into pericytes and endothelial lineage were monitored after 7
      days. The interaction of mesenchymal stem cells with endothelial cells were
      evaluated using surface plasmon resonance technique. Paracrine restorative effect
      of diabetic stem cells was tested on pancreatic beta cells. Compared to data from
      FBS and normal serum, diabetic serum reduced the stem cell survival and
      chemotaxis toward VEGF and SDF-1alpha (P < 0.05). Diabetic condition were found
      to decline cell migration rate and the activity of MMP-2 and -9 (P < 0.05). The
      down-regulation of VEGFR-2 and CXCR-4 was observed with an increase in the level
      of miR-1-3p and miR-15b-5p at the same time. The paracrine angiogenic potential
      of diabetic stem cells was disturbed via the changes in the dynamic of Ang-1, Ang
      2, and VEGF. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that diabetes could induce
      an aberrant increase in the interaction of stem cells with endothelial cells.
      After treatment with diabetic serum, the expression of VE-cadherin and NG2 and
      ability for uptake of Dil-Ac-LDL were reduced (P < 0.01). Conditioned media
      prepared from diabetic stem cells were unable to decrease fatty acid accumulation
      in beta-cells (P < 0.05). The level of insulin secreted by beta-cells was not
      affected after exposure to supernatant from diabetic or non-diabetic mesenchymal
      stem cells. Data suggest diabetes could decrease angiogenic and restorative
      effect of stem cells in vitro. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 524-535, 2018. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608563
TI  - Isolated breast metastasis 4 years after nephrectomy.

PMID- 28608562
TI  - T11TS immunotherapy repairs PI3K-AKT signaling in T-cells: Clues toward enhanced
      T-cell survival in rat glioma model.
AB  - Malignant glioma is the most fatal of astrocytic lineage tumors despite
      therapeutic advances. Onset and progression of gliomas is accompanied by severe
      debilitation of T-cell defense and T-cell survival. One of the chief contributors
      to T-cell survival downstream of activation is the PI3K-AKT pathway. Our prior
      studies showed that the novel immunotherapeutic molecule T11-target structure
      (T11TS) blocks T-cell apoptosis in glioma. We also showed activation of
      immunological synapse components and calcineurin-NFAT pathway following T11TS
      immunotherapy of glioma-bearing rats. This lead to investigations whether such T
      cell activation upon T11TS therapy translates into activation of downstream
      PI3K/AKT signals which may be related to observed blockade of T-cell apoptosis.
      For the purpose, we assessed by flowcytometry and immunoblotting, expressions of
      PI3K, PDK1, AKT, p-AKT, and PTEN in splenic T-cells of normal, experimentally
      induced glioma-bearing rats and glioma-bearing rats receiving first, second and
      third doses of T11TS. We also determined comparative nuclear translocation of NF
      kappaB across groups. We found significant increases in T-cell expressions of
      PDK1, PI3K, and p-AKT in T11TS-treated animal groups compared to sharp
      downregulations in glioma. AKT levels remained unchanged across groups. PTEN
      levels declined sharply after T11TS immunotherapy. T11TS also caused enhanced NF
      kappaB translocation to the T-cell nucleus compared to glioma group. Results
      showed heightened activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway in glioma-bearing rats
      following T11TS immunotherapy. These results illustrate the novel role of T11TS
      immunotherapy in ameliorating the PI3K pathway in T-cells in glioma-bearing
      animals to enhance T-cell survival, according greater defense against glioma. The
      study thus has far-reaching clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28608564
TI  - B acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma involving pre-existing fibroadenoma of
      the breast.

PMID- 28608560
TI  - Endocannabinoid system in neurodegenerative disorders.
AB  - Most neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) are characterized by cognitive impairment
      and other neurological defects. The definite cause of and pathways underlying the
      progression of these NDDs are not well-defined. Several mechanisms have been
      proposed to contribute to the development of NDDs. These mechanisms may proceed
      concurrently or successively, and they differ among cell types at different
      developmental stages in distinct brain regions. The endocannabinoid system, which
      involves cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1R) and type 2 (CB2R), endogenous
      cannabinoids and the enzymes that catabolize these compounds, has been shown to
      contribute to the development of NDDs in several animal models and human studies.
      In this review, we discuss the functions of the endocannabinoid system in NDDs
      and converse the therapeutic efficacy of targeting the endocannabinoid system to
      rescue NDDs.

PMID- 28608565
TI  - Prevalence of headshaking within the equine population in the UK.
AB  - REASON FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Headshaking in horses has been reported to be most
      commonly due to idiopathic neuropathic facial pain (trigeminal-mediated
      headshaking). The prevalence of headshaking in horses in the UK is unknown.
      OBJECTIVES: To estimate owner-reported prevalence of headshaking in horses in the
      UK and to report their case background and disease characteristics, as reported
      by owners. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional web based owner questionnaire. METHODS:
      The questionnaire was advertised online via social media, horse forums,
      veterinary websites and equestrian magazines from 17th June 2016, until >1000
      responses had been obtained. All UK horse owners were eligible to complete the
      questionnaire, however only one questionnaire could be completed per owner.
      RESULTS: The estimated prevalence of owner-reported headshaking in the sample
      population of horses (n = 1014), within the last year, was 4.6% (95% confidence
      interval 3.5-6.1), whereas 6.2% (95% confidence interval 4.9-7.9) of horses were
      reported by their owners to have shown signs of headshaking at any time-point
      since ownership. There was no association of sex or breed. Nineteen percent of
      headshaking horses were reported to show headshaking at rest. Fewer than one
      third (30.2%, n = 19) of headshaking horses had been examined by a veterinarian
      for headshaking. Of horses seen by a veterinarian, the cause for headshaking
      remained unknown in the majority of cases (57.9% responses) and trigeminal
      mediated headshaking was reported as a diagnosis in just one case. MAIN
      LIMITATIONS: The accuracy in data reporting by horse owners was not verified in
      this study. There may be a potential for bias towards over-reporting due to the
      nature of survey participation. CONCLUSIONS: Within this sample, owner-reported
      prevalence of signs of headshaking within the last year, in horses in the UK was
      4.6%. Over two-thirds of owners of headshaking horses did not seek veterinary
      intervention for headshaking. Trigeminal-mediated headshaking was rarely reported
      by owners as a diagnosis.

PMID- 28608566
TI  - Influence of universal HBV vaccination on chronic HBV infection in Italy: Results
      of a cross-sectional multicenter study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: The universal hepatitis B vaccination for infants and 12-year
      old adolescents (the latter limited to the first 12 years of application) was
      launched in Italy in 1991. Twenty-three years later we evaluated the impact of
      the vaccination campaign on the burden of HBsAg-positive chronic liver diseases
      (CLD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 513 HBsAg-positive chronic carriers
      referring to 16 Italian liver units were investigated and compared with HBsAg
      carriers enrolled in previous surveys. RESULTS: The proportion of inactive
      carriers decreased from 20.0% in 2001 to 3.3% in 2014, while that of cirrhotic
      patients increased from 22.6% to 33.2%. Regarding the age class 0-33 (fully
      covered by HBV vaccination in 2014), the rate of inactive carriers decreased from
      the 21.7% in 2001 to 5.9% in 2014, that of chronic hepatitis from 17.5% to 5.2%
      and that of cirrhosis cases from 26.4% to 4.1%. Instead, in the over-60 age group
      the rate of inactive carriers increased from 22.8% to 41.2% and that of chronic
      hepatitis from 16.8% to 46%; the rate of patients with cirrhosis ranged from 5%
      to 8% in different studies. CONCLUSION: Twenty-three years after the introduction
      universal HBV vaccination in Italy, the clinical presentation of CLD had shown a
      shift toward older ages and more severe diseases.

PMID- 28608567
TI  - The effect of stress on haematologic response and physicochemical parameters of
      muscle meat in rabbits.
AB  - Ante-mortem studies of stress in rabbits are few and can potentially impact the
      haematologic response and physicochemical parameters of muscle meat. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the induction of stress by transport and simulation
      at two different times. Two hundred rabbits divided in a similar proportion of
      male and female were stressed by vehicular transportation and with motion
      simulation, using a vibration platform. They were divided into five groups:
      Control (without stress), Stress with Short Transportation (30 min), Stress with
      Long Transportation (60 min), Stress with Short Vibration Platform (30 min) and
      Stress with Long Vibration Platform (60 min). Transportation caused a decrease in
      the haematic potassium in both sexes (<5.2 mmol/L). The glucose and lactate
      concentrations increased in the transported rabbits (>219 and >61 mg/dl
      respectively). The differences between sexes showed that the P CO2 in males
      decreased <8.5 mmHg in stress groups compared to without stress group. Glucose
      concentration was 61.5 mg/dl for females and 38.0 mg/dl for males (p < .01). We
      concluded that in rabbits induced stress by transport increased the energetic
      metabolites in the blood tissue. This increase did not affect the production
      parameters and the quality of muscle meat.

PMID- 28608568
TI  - The Macrophage Activation Induced by Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac Protoxin
      Involves ERK1/2 and p38 Pathways and the Interaction with Cell-Surface-HSP70.
AB  - Here, we aimed to further characterize the mechanisms involved in protoxin (p)
      Cry1Ac-induced macrophage activation. We demonstrated that pCry1Ac induces MAPK
      ERK1/2, p38, and JNK phosphorylation in RAW264.7 macrophages. Because MAPK
      activation is mainly triggered via ligand-receptor interactions, we focused on
      the identification of potential pCry1Ac-receptor proteins. Flow cytometry and
      confocal analysis showed specific saturable pCry1Ac-binding to the macrophage
      surface and evidenced its internalization via the clathrin-pathway. We performed
      immunoprecipitation assays and identified by MALDI-TOF-TOF several possible
      pCry1Ac-binding proteins, such as heat shock proteins (HSPs), vimentin, alpha
      enolase, and actin; whose interaction and presence was confirmed, respectively,
      by ligand blot and Western blot assays. We also detected cell-surface (cs)
      pCry1Ac-HSP70 colocalization, so HSP70 was chosen for further characterization.
      Co-immunoprecipitation with HSP70 antibodies followed by Western blot confirmed
      the pCry1Ac-HSP70 interaction. Furthermore, pretreatment of RAW264.7 cells with
      HSP70 antibodies reduced pCry1Ac-induced ERK1 phosphorylation and MCP-1
      production; thus suggest the functional participation of csHSP70 in pCry1Ac
      induced macrophage activation. csHSP70 also was evaluated in peritoneal-cavity
      (PerC) macrophages of untreated BALB/c mice, interestingly it was found that the
      predominant population namely large-peritoneal-macrophages (LPM) displayed
      csHSP70 + hi. Furthermore, the dynamics of PerC macrophage subsets, LPM, and
      small-peritoneal macrophages (SPM) were evaluated in response to in vivo pCry1Ac
      stimuli in presence or not of phenylethynesulfonamide (PES) a functional HSP70
      inhibitor. It was found that pCry1Ac increased the proportion of SPM CD11b +
      F4/80 + lowMHCII + csHSP70 + low and markedly reduced the amount of LPM CD11b +
      F4/80 + hiMHCII-csHSP70 + hi; while PES, partially suppressed this pCry1Ac
      induced effect, further suggesting the participation of HSP70 in macrophage
      activation process. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 580-598, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608569
TI  - Membrane-based therapeutic plasma exchange (mTPE): Technical and clinical
      experience.
AB  - Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has long been utilized to manage a variety of
      immune-mediated diseases. The basic principle relies on removal of circulating
      pathogenic substances from the bloodstream. Methods of plasma separation include
      centrifuge (cTPE) and membrane (mTPE). Although mTPE has existed for a few
      decades, recent advances in developing highly permeable filters that are
      compatible with currently existing dialysis machines has opened a new frontier.
      Published data in the area of technical and clinical experience with mTPE is
      lacking. We report our single center experience of 998 inpatient mTPE treatments
      performed in 237 patients at a large tertiary care academic center. The most
      common treatment indication was neurologic. We found a very low incidence of
      patient-reported complications. Filter clotting without the use of
      anticoagulation occurred in 7.7% of treatments. Laboratory parameters that
      significantly changed during the course of therapy included serum potassium,
      platelet count, and partial thromboplastin time. We found that mTPE can be safely
      and efficiently performed as an alternative to cTPE, and suggest an
      individualized approach when prescribing this therapy.

PMID- 28608570
TI  - Introduction of biosimilar insulins in Europe.
AB  - Regulatory approval of the first biosimilar insulin in Europe, LY2963016 insulin
      glargine (Abasaglar(r) ), in 2014 expanded the treatment options available to
      people with diabetes. As biosimilar insulin products come to market, it is
      important to recognize that insulin products are biologicals manufactured through
      complex biotechnology processes, and thus biosimilar insulins cannot be
      considered identical to their reference products. Strict regulatory guidelines
      adopted by authorities in Europe, the USA and some other countries help to ensure
      that efficacy and safety profiles of biosimilar insulins are not meaningfully
      different from those of the reference products, preventing entry of biological
      compounds not meeting quality standards and potentially affecting people's
      glycaemic outcomes. This review explains the concept of biosimilar medicines and
      outlines regulatory requirements for registration of biosimilar insulins in
      Europe, which is illustrated by the successful development of LY2963016 insulin
      glargine and MK-1293 insulin glargine (Lusduna(r) ). Preclinical and clinical
      comparative studies of the biosimilar insulin glargine programmes include in
      vitro bioassays for insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor binding,
      assessment of in vitro biological activity, evaluation of
      pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profiles in phase I studies and assessment of
      long-term safety and efficacy in phase III studies. The emergence of biosimilar
      insulins may help broaden access to modern insulins, increase individualized
      treatment options and reduce costs of insulin therapy.

PMID- 28608571
TI  - Effects of Denosumab and Teriparatide Transitions on Bone Microarchitecture and
      Estimated Strength: the DATA-Switch HR-pQCT study.
AB  - In postmenopausal osteoporosis, switching from teriparatide to denosumab results
      in continued bone mineral density (BMD) gains whereas switching from denosumab to
      teriparatide results in BMD loss. To assess the effects of these transitions on
      bone microarchitecture and strength, we performed high-resolution peripheral QCT
      (HR-pQCT) at the distal tibia and radius in postmenopausal osteoporotic women who
      received 24 months of teriparatide 20 MUg daily followed by 24 months of
      denosumab 60 mg every 6 months, 24 months of denosumab followed by 24 months of
      teriparatide, or 24 months of both medications followed by 24 months of
      denosumab. The 77 women who completed at least one post-switch visit are included
      in this analysis. Tibial cortical volumetric BMD (vBMD) increased between months
      24 and 48 in the teriparatide-to-denosumab (net 48-month change -0.8% +/- 2.4%)
      and combination-to-denosumab groups (net 48-month changes +2.4% +/- 4.1%) but
      decreased in the denosumab-to-teriparatide group (net 48-month change -3.4% +/-
      3.2%, p < 0.001 for all between-group comparisons). Changes in total vBMD,
      cortical thickness, and estimated stiffness (by micro-finite element analysis
      [uFEA]) followed a similar pattern, as did changes at the radius. Conversely,
      tibial cortical porosity remained stable between months 24 and 48 in the
      teriparatide-to-denosumab and combination-to-denosumab groups (net 48-month
      changes +7.2% +/- 14.8% and -3.4% +/- 12.1%, respectively) but increased in the
      denosumab-to-teriparatide group (net 48-month change +16.2% +/- 11.5%, p < 0.05
      versus other groups). Trabecular vBMD changes did not differ among groups.
      Together, these findings demonstrate that in women treated with denosumab,
      switching to teriparatide is associated with a reduction in total and cortical
      vBMD, cortical thickness, and estimated strength, whereas switching to denosumab
      from teriparatide or combination therapy results in improvements in these
      parameters with the greatest improvements observed in women treated with combined
      therapy followed by denosumab. These findings strongly suggest that the use of
      teriparatide after denosumab should be avoided and that the use of combined
      teriparatide/denosumab followed by denosumab alone may be a useful treatment
      strategy in those with severe osteoporosis. (c) 2017 American Society for Bone
      and Mineral Research.

PMID- 28608573
TI  - Plantago ovata in broiler chicken nutrition: Performance, carcass criteria,
      intestinal morphology, immunity, and intestinal bacterial population.
AB  - In this experiment, the effect of dietary Plantago ovata (PO) on performance,
      carcass criteria, intestinal morphology, immunity, and intestinal bacterial
      population of broiler chickens was evaluated. A total of 250 one-day-old male
      broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to five treatments containing 0,
      5, 10, 15, or 20 g/kg of PO with five replicate pens and 10 birds in each
      replicate. Dietary PO increased body weight gain and decreased feed conversion
      ratio in the finisher period, improving the performance index (p < .05). Dietary
      treatments had no effects on carcass criteria, but breast meat percentage showed
      an increasing trend with incremental levels of PO in the diet (p = .069). The
      length of small intestine, especially jejunum section, as well as the villus
      height, villus width, villus area, and goblet cell numbers were significantly
      increased with supplemental PO (p < .05). Humoral and cellular immunity
      parameters, and oxidation stability of meat were improved due to use of dietary
      PO (p < .05). Dietary PO decreased the CFU of Escherichia coli, whereas the
      Lactobacilli population was increased (p = .001). Broken-line regression revealed
      that dietary PO at the rate of 10 g/kg may results in the best performance in
      broiler chickens. This study showed that PO at the level of 10 g/kg could be
      considered as a beneficial feed additive in broiler diet.

PMID- 28608575
TI  - Association between COMT Val158Met and psychiatric disorders: A comprehensive
      meta-analysis.
AB  - Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met is widely regarded as potentially
      important for understanding the genetic etiology of many different psychiatric
      disorders. The present study appears to be the first comprehensive meta-analysis
      of COMT genetic association studies to cover all psychiatric disorders for which
      there were available data, published in any language, and with an emphasis on
      investigating disorder subtypes (defined clinically or by demographic or other
      variables). Studies were included if they reported one or more datasets (i.e.,
      some studies examined more than one clinical group) in which there were
      sufficient information to compute effect sizes. A total of 363 datasets were
      included, consisting of 56,998 cases and 74,668 healthy controls from case
      control studies, and 2,547 trios from family based studies. Fifteen disorders
      were included. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and panic disorder were
      associated with the Val allele for Caucasian samples. Substance-use disorder,
      defined by DSM-IV criteria, was associated with the Val allele for Asian samples.
      Bipolar disorder was associated with the Met allele in Asian samples. Obsessive
      compulsive disorder tended to be associated with the Met allele only for males.
      There was suggestive evidence that the Met allele is associated with an earlier
      age of onset of schizophrenia. Results suggest pleiotropy and underscore the
      importance of examining subgroups-defined by variables such as age of onset, sex,
      ethnicity, and diagnostic system-rather than examining disorders as monolithic
      constructs.

PMID- 28608572
TI  - Identification of candidate genes involved in the etiology of sporadic Tourette
      syndrome by exome sequencing.
AB  - Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by chronic
      motor and vocal tics. Although there is a large genetic contribution, the genetic
      architecture of TS remains unclear. Exome sequencing has successfully revealed
      the contribution of de novo mutations in sporadic cases with neuropsychiatric
      disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Here, using exome sequencing, we
      investigated de novo mutations in individuals with sporadic TS to identify novel
      risk loci and elucidate the genetic background of TS. Exome analysis was
      conducted for sporadic TS cases: nine trio families and one quartet family with
      concordant twins were investigated. Missense mutations were evaluated using
      functional prediction algorithms, and their population frequencies were
      calculated based on three public databases. Gene expression patterns in the brain
      were analyzed using the BrainSpan Developmental Transcriptome. Thirty de novo
      mutations, including four synonymous and four missense mutations, were
      identified. Among the missense mutations, one in the rapamycin-insensitive
      companion of mammalian target of rapamycin (RICTOR)-coding gene (rs140964083: G >
      A, found in one proband) was predicted to be hazardous. In the three public
      databases analyzed, variants in the same SNP locus were absent, and variants in
      the same gene were either absent or present at an extremely low frequency
      (3/5,008), indicating the rarity of hazardous RICTOR mutations in the general
      population. The de novo variant of RICTOR may be implicated in the development of
      sporadic TS, and RICTOR is a novel candidate factor for TS etiology.

PMID- 28608574
TI  - The attitude of Latin American immigrants in Florida (USA) towards deceased organ
      donation - a cross section cohort study.
AB  - The Latin American (LA) population resident in the USA is a growing subgroup of
      the population. To find out the structure of attitude towards organ donation in
      the LA population resident in Florida (USA). A sample was taken of LA residents
      in Florida, randomized and stratified by nationality, age and sex (n = 1524).
      Attitude was assessed using a validated questionnaire (PCID-DTO Rios) that was
      self-completed anonymously. The survey completion rate was 95% (n = 1450).
      Attitude was favourable in 33% of respondents (n = 485), against in 40% (n = 575)
      and undecided in 27% (n = 390). The following variables were associated with a
      favourable attitude: country of origin (Dominican Republic; P = 0.038); sex
      (female; P < 0.001); marital status (married; P < 0.001); level of education
      (university; P < 0.001); previous experience of the subject (P < 0.001);
      considering the need for a transplant in the future (P < 0.001); understanding
      the concept of brain death (P = 0.003); attitude towards donating a family
      member's organs (P < 0.001); having discussed organ donation and transplantation
      with one's family (P < 0.001) or with one's partner (P < 0.001); participation in
      pro-social type activities (P < 0.001); the respondent's religion (atheist
      agnostic; P < 0.001); a respondent's knowledge of the attitude of his or her
      religion towards organ donation (P < 0.001); no concern about mutilation after
      donation (P < 0.001); acceptance of cremation (P < 0.001); burial (P < 0.001);
      and an autopsy if one were needed (P < 0.001). The attitude towards donation of
      LA in Florida is worse than that reported in the native population and is
      associated with certain psychosocial factors.

PMID- 28608576
TI  - Evaluation of three techniques for detection of IL28B SNP: A prognostic tool for
      HCV treatment outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed to evaluate the specificity, cost and turnaround
      time of three different techniques that can be used for analyzing the single
      nucleotide polymorphism of interleukin 28B (IL28B) rs129796860. METHODS: DNA from
      peripheral blood samples of 111 patients with chronic hepatitis C were genotyped
      using three types of genotyping methods: direct sequencing, SNaPshot polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
      RESULTS: Three distinct profiles for IL28B rs12979860 alleles (CC, CT and TT)
      were obtained with direct sequencing, SNaPshot PCR and PCR-RFLP and the results
      were consistent among all three methods. CONCLUSION: For routine medical
      practice, screening IL28B rs12979860 can be performed by PCR-RFLP, which is
      efficient and reliable as well as cost-effective.

PMID- 28608579
TI  - Positive behavioural change requires clarity, objectivity and support.

PMID- 28608578
TI  - Cantharidin inhibits competitively heme-Fe(III) binding to the FA1 site of human
      serum albumin.
AB  - Cantharidin, a monoterpene isolated from the insect blister beetle, has long been
      used as a medicinal agent in the traditional Chinese medicine. Cantharidin
      inhibits a subgroup of serine/threonine phosphatases, thus inducing cell growth
      inhibition and cytotoxicity. Cantharidin has anticancer activity in vitro, since
      it is able of inducing p53-dependent apoptosis and double-strand breakage of DNA
      in cancer cells. Although the toxicity of cantharidin to the gastrointestinal and
      urinary tracts prevents its medical use, it is a promising lead compound for
      chemical modification to develop new anticancer therapeutics. In fact,
      cantharidin does not cause myelosuppression and displays anticancer activity
      against cells with a multidrug resistance phenotype. Here, the competitive
      inhibitory effect of cantharidin on heme-Fe(III) binding to the fatty acid site 1
      (FA1) of human serum albumin (HSA) is reported. Docking and molecular dynamics
      simulations support functional data indicating the preferential binding of
      cantharidin to the FA1 site of HSA. Present results may be relevant in vivo as
      HSA could transport cantharidin, which in turn could affect heme-Fe(III)
      scavenging by HSA.

PMID- 28608577
TI  - Use of a Granulocyte Immunofluorescence Assay Designed for Humans for Detection
      of Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies in Dogs with Chronic Enteropathies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCA) previously
      have been shown to be serum markers in dogs with chronic enteropathies, with dogs
      that have food-responsive disease (FRD) having higher frequencies of
      seropositivity than dogs with steroid-responsive disease (SRD). The indirect
      immunofluorescence (IIF) assay used in previous publications is time-consuming to
      perform, with low interobserver agreement. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized
      that a commercially available granulocyte IIF assay designed for humans could be
      used to detect perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in dogs.
      ANIMALS: Forty-four dogs with FRD, 20 dogs with SRD, 20 control dogs, and 38 soft
      coated wheaten terrier (SCWT) or SCWT-cross dogs. METHODS: A granulocyte assay
      designed for humans was used to detect pANCA, cANCA, and antinuclear antibodies
      (ANA), as well as antibodies against proteinase-3 protein (PR-3) and
      myeloperoxidase protein (MPO) in archived serum samples. RESULTS: Sensitivity of
      the granulocyte assay to predict FRD in dogs was 0.61 (95% confidence interval
      (CI), 0.45, 0.75), and specificity was 1.00 (95% CI, 0.91, 1.00). A significant
      association was identified between positive pANCA or cANCA result and diagnosis
      of FRD (P < 0.0001). Agreement between the two assays to detect ANCA in the same
      serum samples from SCWT with protein-losing enteropathy/protein-losing
      nephropathy (PLE/PLN) was substantial (kappa, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.53, 1.00). Eight
      ANCA-positive cases were positive for MPO or PR-3 antibodies. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The granulocyte immunofluorescence assay used in our pilot
      study was easy and quick to perform. Agreement with the previously published
      method was good.

PMID- 28608580
TI  - Pedicle screw augmentation with bone cement enforced Vicryl mesh.
AB  - Achieving sufficient mechanical purchase of pedicle screws in osteoporotic or
      previously instrumented bone is technically and biologically challenging.
      Techniques using different kinds of pedicle screws or methods of cement
      augmentation have been used to address this challenge, but are associated with
      difficult revisions and complications. The purpose of this biomechanical trial
      was to investigate the use of biocompatible textile materials in combination with
      bone cement to augment pullout strength of pedicle screws while reducing the risk
      of cement extrusion. Pedicle screws (6/40 mm) were either augmented with standard
      bone-cement (Palacos LV + G) in one group (BC, n = 13) or with bone-cement
      enforced by Vicryl mesh in another group (BCVM, n = 13) in osteoporosis-like saw
      bone blocks. Pullout testing was subsequently performed. In a second experimental
      phase, similar experiments were performed using human cadaveric lumbar vertebrae
      (n = 10). In osteoporosis-like saw bone blocks, a mean screw pullout force of 350
      N (+/-125) was significantly higher with the Bone cement (BC) compared to bone
      cement enforced by Vicryl mesh (BCVM) technique with 240 N (+/-64) (p = 0.030).
      In human cadaveric lumbar vertebrae the mean screw pullout force was 784 +/- 366
      N with BC and not statistically different to BCVM with 757 +/- 303 N (p = 0.836).
      Importantly, cement extrusion was only observed in the BC group (40%) and never
      with the BCVM technique. In vitro textile reinforcement of bone cement for
      pedicle screw augmentation successfully reduced cement extrusion compared to
      conventionally delivered bone cement. The mechanical strength of textile
      delivered cement constructs was more reproducible than standard cementing. (c)
      2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop
      Res 36:212-216, 2018.

PMID- 28608581
TI  - Effects of milk thistle meal on performance, ileal bacterial enumeration, jejunal
      morphology and blood lipid peroxidation in laying hens fed diets with different
      levels of metabolizable energy.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of milk
      thistle meal on performance, blood biochemical indices, ileal bacterial counts
      and intestinal histology in laying hens fed diets containing different levels of
      metabolizable energy. A total number of 200 Leghorn laying hens (Hy-Line W-36)
      were randomly assigned to eight experimental treatments with five cage replicates
      of five birds each. Dietary treatments consisted of four levels of milk thistle
      meal (0%, 15%, 30% and 60%) and two levels of AMEn (11.09 and 12.34 MJ/kg) fed
      over a period of 80 days. In vitro studies revealed that the total phenolic
      component of milk thistle meal was 470.64 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of the
      sample, and its antioxidant activity for inhibiting the 2-2-diphenyl-1
      picrichydrazyl free radical and reducing ferric ions was about 21% higher than
      that of butylated hydroxyltoluene (p < .05). Diets containing high level of AMEn
      led to improved egg production (p < .05), egg weight (p < .05), egg mass (p <
      .01) and feed conversion ratio (p < .01). In addition, offering diets containing
      high energy significantly enhanced (p < .01) serum triglyceride and
      malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations as well as jejunal villus height. Dietary
      supplementation of 3% milk thistle meal resulted in the best feed conversion
      ratio (p < .05), reduction of ileal Escherichia coli enumeration (p < .01) and an
      enhancement in the villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (p < .05). Furthermore,
      feeding incremental levels of this meal led to remarkable decrease in serum
      cholesterol, triglyceride and MDA (p < .01) concentrations while significant
      increase in blood high-density lipoprotein content and goblet cell numbers (p <
      .05). The present findings indicate that milk thistle meal with high antioxidant
      and antibacterial properties in laying hen diets may improve health indices and
      productive performance.

PMID- 28608582
TI  - Spatial clustering of childhood leukaemia in Switzerland: A nationwide study.
AB  - The aetiology of childhood leukaemia remains largely unknown. Several hypotheses
      involve environmental exposures that could implicate spatial clustering of cases.
      The evidence from previous clustering studies is inconclusive. Most of them used
      areal data and thus had limited spatial resolution. We investigated whether
      childhood leukaemia tends to cluster in space using exact geocodes of place of
      residence both at the time of birth or diagnosis. We included 1,871 leukaemia
      cases diagnosed between 1985 and 2015 at age 0-15 years from the Swiss Childhood
      Cancer Registry. For each case, we randomly sampled 10 age and sex matched
      controls from national censuses closest in time. We used the difference of k
      functions, Cuzick-Edwards' test and Tango's index for point data to assess
      spatial clustering and Kulldorff's circular scan to detect clusters. We
      separately investigated acute lymphoid leukaemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukaemia
      (AML), different age groups at diagnosis (0-4, 5-15 years) and adjusted for
      multiple testing. After adjusting for multiple testing, we found no evidence of
      spatial clustering of childhood leukaemia neither around time of birth (p = 0.52)
      nor diagnosis (p = 0.51). Individual tests indicated spatial clustering for
      leukaemia diagnosed at age 5-15 years, p k-functions = 0.05 and p Cuzick-Edwards'
      = 0.04 and a cluster of ALL cases diagnosed at age 0-4 years in a small rural
      area (p = 0.05). This study provides little evidence of spatial clustering of
      childhood leukaemia in Switzerland and highlights the importance of accounting
      for multiple testing in clustering studies.

PMID- 28608583
TI  - Effects of dissolved carbon dioxide on the integrity of the rumen epithelium: An
      agent in the development of ruminal acidosis.
AB  - The carbon dioxide released and dissolved in rumen fluid may easily permeate
      across the epithelial cell membrane. Thus, we hypothesized that CO2 may act as
      proton carrier and induce epithelial damage under acidotic conditions. Ovine
      ruminal epithelia were mounted in Ussing chambers under short-circuit conditions.
      The serosal buffer solution had a constant pH of 7.4 and was gassed either with
      100% oxygen or with carbogen (95% O2 /5% CO2 ). The mucosal solution was gassed
      with either 100% oxygen or 100% carbon dioxide. The mucosal pH was lowered
      stepwise from 6.6 to 5.0 in the presence or absence of short-chain fatty acids
      (SCFA). The transepithelial conductance (Gt ) as an indicator of epithelial
      integrity and the short-circuit current (Isc ) as an indicator of active
      electrogenic ion transfer were continuously monitored. At an initial mucosal pH
      of 6.6, there was no significant difference in Gt between the treatment groups.
      In the absence of both SCFA and CO2 , Gt remained constant when the mucosal
      solution was acidified to pH 5.0. In the presence of SCFA, mucosal acidification
      induced a significant rise in Gt when the solutions were gassed with oxygen. A
      small increase in Gt was observed in the mucosal presence of CO2 . However, no
      difference in final Gt was observed between SCFA-containing and SCFA-free
      conditions under carbon dioxide gassing during stepwise mucosal acidification.
      The SCFA+proton-induced increase in Gt could also be minimized by serosal gassing
      with carbogen. Because of the SCFA+proton-induced changes in Gt and their
      attenuation by CO2 , a protective role for mucosally available carbon dioxide may
      be assumed. We suggest that this effect may be due to the intraepithelial
      conversion of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate. However, the serosal presence of CO2
      at a physiological concentration may be sufficient to protect the epithelia from
      SCFA+proton-induced damage for a certain period of time.

PMID- 28608585
TI  - Effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid on vitamin A status of lactating rats
      and their offspring.
AB  - The absorption and metabolism of vitamin A is linked with that of lipids. It is
      known that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) affects the lipid metabolism in growing
      and lactating animals. In the present study, the hypothesis was investigated that
      dietary CLA influences vitamin A status of lactating rats and their pups during
      the suckling period. For this purpose, Wistar Han rats were fed either a control
      diet (control group, n = 14) or a diet containing 0.87% of cis-9, trans-11 and
      trans-10, cis-12 (1:1) CLA (CLA group, n = 14) during pregnancy and lactation.
      Vitamin A concentrations in various body tissues were determined 14 days after
      delivery in dams and 1, 7 and 14 days after birth in pups, and expression of
      selected genes involved in metabolism of retinoids was determined in dams.
      Vitamin A concentrations in liver, plasma and muscle were similar in control and
      CLA-fed dams. Expression of genes involved in retinoid transport, storage and
      degradation in liver and adipose tissue in dams was also not different between
      control and CLA-fed dams. Vitamin A concentrations in milk curd, sampled at d 1,
      7 and 14 of lactation were not different between control and CLA-fed dams.
      Vitamin A concentrations in liver, lung and adipose tissue were also not
      different in pups from control dams and pups from CLA-fed dams. In conclusion, we
      show for the first time that dietary CLA has little effect on vitamin A
      concentrations and vitamin A metabolism in lactating rat dams and, moreover, does
      not influence tissue vitamin A concentrations in their newborn and suckling pups.

PMID- 28608586
TI  - Metabolism of novel opioid agonists U-47700 and U-49900 using human liver
      microsomes with confirmation in authentic urine specimens from drug users.
AB  - Recently, the number of adverse events, including death, involving novel opioids
      has continued to increase, providing additional and sustained challenges for
      forensic and medical communities. Identification of emerging novel opioids can be
      challenging, compounded by detection windows and unknown metabolic profiles. In
      this study, human liver microsomes were used for the generation of in vitro
      metabolic profiles of U-47700 and U-49900. Generated metabolites were analyzed
      via a SCIEX TripleTOF(r) 5600+ quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer and
      resulting data files were processing using MetabolitePilotTM. Characterized
      metabolites were verified in vivo by analysis of authentic human urine specimens
      collected after analytically confirmed cases of overdose involving U-47700 or U
      49900. In total, four metabolites were identified and present in urine specimens
      for U-47700, and five metabolites for U-49900. N-Desmethyl-U-47700 was determined
      to be the primary metabolite of U-47700. Parent U-47700 was identified in all
      urine specimens. N-Desmethyl-U-47700 and N,N-didesmethyl-U-47700 were
      structurally confirmed for the first time during this study following acquisition
      of standard reference material. N-Desethyl-U-49900 was determined to be the
      primary metabolite of U-49900 following microsomal incubations, while N,N
      didesethyl-N-desmethyl-U-49900 was the most abundant in a urine specimen.
      Similarities in metabolic transformation were identified between U-47700 and U
      49900, resulting in a common metabolite and isomeric species. These phenomena
      should be considered in cases involving U-47700 or U-49900. This study is the
      first to map the metabolic profiles of U-47700 and U-49900 using human liver
      microsomes, as well as the first to report any literature involving U-49900 and
      analysis of case specimens.

PMID- 28608584
TI  - Renewed behavior produced by context change and its implications for treatment
      maintenance: A review.
AB  - Behavioral treatment gains established in one setting do not always maintain in
      other settings. The present review examines the relevance of basic and
      translational research to understanding failures to maintain treatment gains
      across settings. Specifically, studies of the renewal effect examine how
      transitioning away from a treatment setting could evoke a return of undesirable
      behavior, rather than newly trained appropriate behavior. Studies of renewal
      typically arrange three phases, with a response trained and reinforced under a
      particular set of contextual stimuli in the first phase. Next, that response is
      extinguished, often under a different set of contextual stimuli. Finally, that
      response returns despite extinction remaining in effect upon returning to the
      original training context or transitioning to a novel context. Thus, removing the
      extinction context is sufficient to produce a recurrence of the response. The
      findings suggest treatment effects can become specific to the context in which
      the treatment was delivered. This literature offers promising methods for
      systematically assessing the factors contributing to treatment maintenance and
      improving generalization of treatment gains across contexts. Therefore, the
      present review suggests basic and translational research on renewal provides an
      empirical literature to bring greater conceptual systematization to understanding
      generalization and maintenance of behavioral treatment.

PMID- 28608587
TI  - Reaction of Dihalodiboranes(4) with a N-Heterocyclic Silylene: Facile
      Construction of 1-Aryl-2-Silyl-1,2-Diboraindanes.
AB  - Dihalodiboranes(4) react with a N-heterocyclic silylene (NHSi) to generate NHSi
      adducts of 1-aryl-2-silyl-1,2-diboraindanes, as was confirmed by X-ray
      crystallography, featuring the functionalization of both B-X (X=halogen) bonds
      and a sp3 - or sp2 -C-H bond under mild conditions. Coordination of a third NHSi
      to the proposed 1,1-diaryl-2,2-disilyldiborane(4) intermediates, generated by a
      twofold B-X insertion, may be crucial for the C-H borylation that leads to the
      final products. Notably, our results demonstrate the first C-H borylation with a
      strong B-F bond activated by silylene insertion.

PMID- 28608588
TI  - Experimental and computational characterization on the binding of two
      fluoroquinolones to bovine hemoglobin.
AB  - Ciprofloxacin (CPFX) and enrofloxacin (ENFX) are 2 representatives of widely used
      fluoroquinolones (FQs) with many human and veterinary applications. The residues
      of FQs in the environment are potentially harmful. Recently, great concern has
      been paid to their persistence and fate in the environment because of the
      potential adverse effects on humans and ecosystem functions. In the present
      study, we examined the interactions of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) with these 2 FQs
      by means of multiple spectroscopic and molecular docking methods under
      physiological conditions. The experimental results revealed that both FQs could
      bind with BHb to form complexes mainly through electrostatic interactions. And
      CPFX posed more of an affinity threat to BHb than ENFX. On the basis of molecular
      docking, both FQs could bind into the central cavity of BHb and interact with the
      residue Trp 37, resulting in the remarkable fluorescence quenching of protein.
      Additionally, as shown by the synchronous fluorescence, UV-visible absorption and
      circular dichroism data, both CPFX and ENFX could lead to the conformational and
      microenvironmental changes of BHb, which may affect its physiological functions.
      The work is beneficial for understanding the biological toxicity of FQs in vivo.

PMID- 28608589
TI  - New chiral stationary phases based on xanthone derivatives for liquid
      chromatography.
AB  - Six chiral derivatives of xanthones (CDXs) were covalently bonded to silica,
      yielding the corresponding xanthonic chiral stationary phases (XCSPs). The new
      XCSPs were packed into stainless-steel columns with 150 x 4.6 mm i.d. Moreover,
      the greening of the chromatographic analysis by reducing the internal diameter
      (150 x 2.1 mm i.d.) of the liquid chromatography (LC) columns was also
      investigated. The enantioselective capability of these phases was evaluated by LC
      using different chemical classes of chiral compounds, including several types of
      drugs. A library of CDXs was evaluated in order to explore the principle of
      reciprocity as well as the chiral self-recognition phenomenon. The separation of
      enantiomeric mixtures of CDXs was investigated under multimodal elution
      conditions. The XCSPs provided high specificity for the enantiomeric mixtures of
      CDXs evaluated mainly under normal-phase elution conditions. Furthermore, two
      XCSPs were prepared with both enantiomers of the same xanthonic selector in order
      to confirm the inversion order elution.

PMID- 28608591
TI  - Intraspecific genetic diversity modulates plant-soil feedback and nutrient
      cycling.
AB  - Plant genetic diversity can affect ecosystem functioning by enhancing
      productivity, litter decomposition and resistance to natural enemies. However,
      the mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. We hypothesized
      that genetic diversity may influence ecosystem processes by eliciting functional
      plasticity among individuals encountering kin or genetically diverse
      neighbourhoods. We used soil conditioned by groups of closely related (siblings)
      and diverse genotypes of Deschampsia cespitosa - a species known to exhibit kin
      recognition via root exudation - to investigate the consequences of kin
      interactions for root litter decomposition and negative feedback between plants
      and soil biota. Genetically diverse groups produced root litter that had higher
      nitrogen (N) content, decomposed faster and resulted in greater N uptake by the
      next generation of seedlings compared with litter produced by sibling groups.
      However, a similar degree of negative soil feedback on plant productivity was
      observed in soil conditioned by siblings and genetically diverse groups. This
      suggests that characteristics of roots produced by sibling groups slow down N
      cycling but moderate the expected negative impact of soil pathogens in low
      diversity stands. These findings highlight interactions between neighbouring
      genotypes as an overlooked mechanism by which genetic diversity can affect biotic
      soil feedback and nutrient cycling.

PMID- 28608590
TI  - Renal energy excretion of horses depends on renal hippuric acid and nitrogen
      excretion.
AB  - The prediction of renal energy excretion is crucial in a metabolizable energy
      system for horses. Phenolic acids from forage cell walls may affect renal energy
      losses by increasing hippuric acid excretion. Therefore, the relationships were
      investigated between renal energy, nitrogen (N) and hippuric acid excretion of
      four adult ponies (230-384 kg body weight (BW)) consuming diets based on fresh
      grass, grass silage, grass cobs (heat-dried, finely chopped, pressed grass),
      alfalfa hay, straw, extruded straw and soybean meal. Feed intake was measured;
      urine and faeces were quantitatively collected for three days. Feed was analysed
      for crude nutrients, gross energy, amino acids and neutral-detergent-insoluble
      crude protein (CP); faeces were analysed for crude nutrients and cross energy;
      urine was analysed for N, hippuric acid, creatinine and gross energy. Renal
      energy excretion (y; kJ/kg BW0.75 ) correlated with renal N excretion (x1 ; g/kg
      BW0.75 ) and renal hippuric acid excretion (x2 ; g/kg BW0.75 ): y = 14.4 + 30.2x1
      +20.7x2 (r = .95; n = 30; p < .05). Renal hippuric acid excretion was highest
      after intake of fresh grass and lowest after intake of soybean meal. The ratio of
      hippuric acid to creatinine in urine and the excretion of hippuric acid per gram
      of dry matter intake was significantly higher for fresh grass than for all other
      rations. There was no relationship between aromatic amino acid intake and renal
      hippuric acid excretion. The results of the present study and literature data
      suggest that feed can be categorized into four groups with regard to the energy
      losses per gram CP intake: (i) protein supplements (e.g., soybean meal): 4.2-4.9
      kJ/g CP intake (ii) alfalfa hay, grains, dried sugar beet pulp: 6.4 kJ/g CP
      intake, (iii) hay, preserved grass products, straw: 5.2-12.3 kJ/g CP intake (mean
      8) and (iv) fresh grass. For group (iii) a negative relationship was observed
      between renal energy losses per gram of CP and the content of CP or neutral
      detergent-insoluble CP in dry matter.

PMID- 28608592
TI  - Tuning the Porphyrin Building Block in Self-Assembled Cages for Branched
      Selective Hydroformylation of Propene.
AB  - Unprecedented regioselectivity to the branched aldehyde product in the
      hydroformylation of propene was attained on embedding a rhodium complex in
      supramolecular assembly L2, formed by coordination-driven self-assembly of
      tris(meta-pyridyl)phosphine and zinc(II) porpholactone. The design of cage L2 is
      based on the ligand-template approach, in which the ligand acts as a template for
      cage formation. Previously, first-generation cage L1, in which zinc(II) porphyrin
      units were utilized instead of porpholactones, was reported. Binding studies
      demonstrate that the association constant for the formation of second-generation
      cage L2 is nearly an order of magnitude higher than that of L1. This strengthened
      binding allows cage L2 to remain intact in polar and industrially relevant
      solvents. As a consequence, the unprecedented regioselectivity for branched
      aldehyde products can be maintained in polar and coordinating solvents by using
      the second-generation assembly.

PMID- 28608593
TI  - Multivalent and Photoresponsive Assembly of Dual-Cavity Baskets in Water.
AB  - Large unilamellar vesicles [1]n , composed of bolaamphiphilic baskets 1, were
      found to complex photoresponsive guest 3 and divalent 4 to, respectively, give
      stable vesicular assemblies [12 -3]n and [12 -43 ]n . With the assistance of 1 H
      NMR spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering, it was
      deduced that [12 -3]n vesicles comprise ternary [12 -3] organized into a curved
      membrane in which a pair of baskets entraps a laterally positioned dicationic 3.
      In the case of [12 -43 ]n vesicles, however, the spectroscopic results suggest
      that three guest molecules 4 insert vertically between four baskets 1 to give
      pentanary [12 -43 ] packed into the membrane of [12 -43 ]n . Importantly,
      nanostructured [12 -3]n and [12 -43 ]n retain rhodamine B (RhB) in their
      reservoir (fluorescence microscopy) and can be switched from one into another
      using UV light, with a disproportionate release of RhB dye. The reported
      complexes, organized into photoresponsive capsular materials, are rather
      unprecedented, demonstrating the potential of multivalency for creating
      functional structures of great interest in the areas of catalysis and delivery.

PMID- 28608594
TI  - Melatonin ameliorates anxiety and depression-like behaviors and modulates
      proteomic changes in triple transgenic mice of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease accompanied
      by neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. The levels of
      melatonin decrease in brains of AD patients. The potential effect of melatonin on
      anxiety and depression behaviors in AD and the underlying mechanisms remain
      unclear. In this study, we treated 10-month-old triple transgenic mice of AD
      (3xTg-AD) with melatonin (10 mg/kg body weight/day) for 1 month and explored the
      effects of melatonin on anxiety and depression-like behaviors in 3xTg-AD mice and
      the protein expression of hippocampal tissues. The behavioral test showed that
      melatonin ameliorated anxiety and depression-like behaviors of 3xTg-AD mice as
      measured by open field test, elevated plus maze test, forced swimming test, and
      tail suspension test. By carrying out two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel
      electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) coupled with mass spectrometry, we revealed a total of
      46 differentially expressed proteins in hippocampus between the wild-type (WT)
      mice and non-treated 3xTg-AD mice. A total of 21 differentially expressed
      proteins were revealed in hippocampus between melatonin-treated and non-treated
      3xTg-AD mice. Among these differentially expressed proteins, glutathione S
      transferase P 1 (GSTP1) (an anxiety-associated protein) and complexin-1 (CPLX1)
      (a depression-associated protein) were significantly down-regulated in
      hippocampus of 3xTg-AD mice compared with the WT mice. The expression of these
      two proteins was modulated by melatonin treatment. Our study suggested that
      melatonin could be used as a potential candidate drug to improve the
      neuropsychiatric behaviors in AD via modulating the expression of the proteins
      (i.e. GSTP1 and CPLX1) involved in anxiety and depression behaviors. (c) 2017
      BioFactors, 43(4):593-611, 2017.

PMID- 28608596
TI  - Live birth rate following oral antibiotic treatment for chronic endometritis in
      infertile women with repeated implantation failure.
AB  - PROBLEM: The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the prevalence of
      chronic endometritis (CE) in infertile women with a history of repeated
      implantation failure (RIF) and to determine whether oral antibiotic treatment
      improves their live birth rate in the following embryo transfer (ET) cycles.
      METHOD OF STUDY: Endometrial biopsy samples obtained from infertile women with
      RIF were subjected to immunohistochemistrical/histopathologic diagnosis of CE.
      Following antibiotic administration to the RIF/CE group, their histopathologic
      cure rate, microbial detection rate, and reproductive outcome in the subsequent
      ET cycles were prospectively studied. RESULTS: 33.7% of infertile women with RIF
      were diagnosed with CE. Following the first-line doxycycline treatment, the
      histopathologic cure rate in the subsequent endometrial biopsy was 92.3%.
      Following the second-line metronidazole/ciprofloxacin treatment, the overall cure
      rate was 99.1%. The live birth rate in the first ET cycle (P=.031, RR 1.48, 95%
      CI 1.03-2.12) and cumulative three ET cycles (P=.037, RR 1.39, 95% CI 1.02-1.90)
      following antibiotic treatment in the cured RIF/CE group (32.8% and 38.8%,
      respectively) was significantly higher than in the RIF/non-CE group (22.1% and
      27.9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Chronic endometritis was found in one-third of
      infertile women with RIF. The oral antibiotic treatment against CE might be a
      promising therapeutic option for infertile women with RIF.

PMID- 28608595
TI  - A novel individual-cell-based mathematical model based on multicellular tumour
      spheroids for evaluating doxorubicin-related delivery in avascular regions.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Effective drug delivery in the avascular regions of
      tumours, which is crucial for the promising antitumour activity of doxorubicin
      related therapy, is governed by two inseparable processes: intercellular
      diffusion and intracellular retention. To accurately evaluate doxorubicin-related
      delivery in the avascular regions, these two processes should be assessed
      together. Here we describe a new approach to such an assessment. EXPERIMENTAL
      APPROACH: An individual-cell-based mathematical model based on multicellular
      tumour spheroids was developed that describes the different intercellular
      diffusion and intracellular retention kinetics of doxorubicin in each cell layer.
      The different effects of a P-glycoprotein inhibitor (LY335979) and a hypoxia
      inhibitor (YC-1) were quantitatively evaluated and compared, in vitro (tumour
      spheroids) and in vivo (HepG2 tumours in mice). This approach was further tested
      by evaluating in these models, an experimental doxorubicin derivative, INNO 206,
      which is in Phase II clinical trials. KEY RESULTS: Inhomogeneous, hypoxia
      induced, P-glycoprotein expression compromised active transport of doxorubicin in
      the central area, that is, far from the vasculature. LY335979 inhibited efflux
      due to P-glycoprotein but limited levels of doxorubicin outside the inner cells,
      whereas YC-1 co-administration specifically increased doxorubicin accumulation in
      the inner cells without affecting the extracellular levels. INNO 206 exhibited a
      more effective distribution profile than doxorubicin. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: The individual-cell-based mathematical model accurately evaluated
      and predicted doxorubicin-related delivery and regulation in the avascular
      regions of tumours. The described framework provides a mechanistic basis for the
      proper development of doxorubicin-related drug co-administration profiles and
      nanoparticle development and could avoid unnecessary clinical trials.

PMID- 28608598
TI  - Purification and partial characterization of an anticoagulant PLA2 from the venom
      of Indian Daboia russelii that induces inflammation through upregulation of
      proinflammatory mediators.
AB  - The present study describes the purification and partial characterization of a
      basic anticoagulant PLA2 enzyme named as Rv(i) PLA2 from the venom of Indian
      Daboia russelii. The molecular mass of the protein was found to be 13,659.65 Da,
      and peptide mass fingerprinting revealed that it belongs to group II PLA2 family.
      The peptide sequence showed similarity to uncharacterized basic PLA2 enzyme
      having an accession no. of P86368 reported from Sri Lankan D. russelii. Rv(i)
      PLA2 exhibited strong phospholipase A2 and anticoagulant activity. It also
      induced expression of COX-2 and TNF-alpha mRNA in a dose-dependent manner in
      phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate differentiated THP-1 cells, which play a crucial
      role during inflammation. Chemical modification of His residue in Rv(i) PLA2 with
      p-bromophenacyl bromide abolished the enzymatic, anticoagulant, and inflammatory
      activities. The result indicates that the catalytic site of Rv(i) PLA2 might play
      a vital role in inducing inflammation at the bite site during D. russelii
      envenomation.

PMID- 28608597
TI  - Perineal techniques during the second stage of labour for reducing perineal
      trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most vaginal births are associated with trauma to the genital tract.
      The morbidity associated with perineal trauma can be significant, especially when
      it comes to third- and fourth-degree tears. Different interventions including
      perineal massage, warm or cold compresses, and perineal management techniques
      have been used to prevent trauma. This is an update of a Cochrane review that was
      first published in 2011. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of perineal techniques
      during the second stage of labour on the incidence and morbidity associated with
      perineal trauma. SEARCH METHODS: We searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's
      Trials Register (26 September 2016) and reference lists of retrieved studies.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Published and unpublished randomised and quasi-randomised
      controlled trials evaluating perineal techniques during the second stage of
      labour. Cross-over trials were not eligible for inclusion. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Three review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion,
      extracted data and evaluated methodological quality. We checked data for
      accuracy. MAIN RESULTS: Twenty-two trials were eligible for inclusion (with 20
      trials involving 15,181 women providing data). Overall, trials were at moderate
      to high risk of bias; none had adequate blinding, and most were unclear for both
      allocation concealment and incomplete outcome data. Interventions compared
      included the use of perineal massage, warm and cold compresses, and other
      perineal management techniques.Most studies did not report data on our secondary
      outcomes. We downgraded evidence for risk of bias, inconsistency, and imprecision
      for all comparisons. Hands off (or poised) compared to hands onHands on or hands
      off the perineum made no clear difference in incidence of intact perineum
      (average risk ratio (RR) 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95 to 1.12, two
      studies, Tau2 0.00, I2 37%, 6547 women; moderate-quality evidence), first-degree
      perineal tears (average RR 1.32, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.77, two studies, 700 women; low
      quality evidence), second-degree tears (average RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.47 to 1.28, two
      studies, 700 women; low-quality evidence), or third- or fourth-degree tears
      (average RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.21 to 2.26, five studies, Tau2 0.92, I2 72%, 7317
      women; very low-quality evidence). Substantial heterogeneity for third- or fourth
      degree tears means these data should be interpreted with caution. Episiotomy was
      more frequent in the hands-on group (average RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.79, Tau2
      0.07, I2 74%, four studies, 7247 women; low-quality evidence), but there was
      considerable heterogeneity between the four included studies.There were no data
      for perineal trauma requiring suturing. Warm compresses versus control (hands off
      or no warm compress)A warm compress did not have any clear effect on the
      incidence of intact perineum (average RR 1.02, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.21; 1799 women;
      four studies; moderate-quality evidence), perineal trauma requiring suturing
      (average RR 1.14, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.66; 76 women; one study; very low-quality
      evidence), second-degree tears (average RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.56; 274 women;
      two studies; very low-quality evidence), or episiotomy (average RR 0.86, 95% CI
      0.60 to 1.23; 1799 women; four studies; low-quality evidence). It is uncertain
      whether warm compress increases or reduces the incidence of first-degree tears
      (average RR 1.19, 95% CI 0.38 to 3.79; 274 women; two studies; I2 88%; very low
      quality evidence).Fewer third- or fourth-degree perineal tears were reported in
      the warm-compress group (average RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.79; 1799 women; four
      studies; moderate-quality evidence). Massage versus control (hands off or routine
      care)The incidence of intact perineum was increased in the perineal-massage group
      (average RR 1.74, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.73, six studies, 2618 women; I2 83% low
      quality evidence) but there was substantial heterogeneity between studies). This
      group experienced fewer third- or fourth-degree tears (average RR 0.49, 95% CI
      0.25 to 0.94, five studies, 2477 women; moderate-quality evidence).There were no
      clear differences between groups for perineal trauma requiring suturing (average
      RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.61, one study, 76 women; very low-quality evidence),
      first-degree tears (average RR 1.55, 95% CI 0.79 to 3.05, five studies, Tau2
      0.47, I2 85%, 537 women; very low-quality evidence), or second-degree tears
      (average RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.55 to 2.12, five studies, Tau2 0.32, I2 62%, 537
      women; very low-quality evidence). Perineal massage may reduce episiotomy
      although there was considerable uncertainty around the effect estimate (average
      RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.03, seven studies, Tau2 0.43, I2 92%, 2684 women; very
      low-quality evidence). Heterogeneity was high for first-degree tear, second
      degree tear and for episiotomy - these data should be interpreted with caution.
      Ritgen's manoeuvre versus standard careOne study (66 women) found that women
      receiving Ritgen's manoeuvre were less likely to have a first-degree tear (RR
      0.32, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.69; very low-quality evidence), more likely to have a
      second-degree tear (RR 3.25, 95% CI 1.73 to 6.09; very low-quality evidence), and
      neither more nor less likely to have an intact perineum (RR 0.17, 95% CI 0.02 to
      1.31; very low-quality evidence). One larger study reported that Ritgen's
      manoeuvre did not have an effect on incidence of third- or fourth-degree tears
      (RR 1.24, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.96,1423 women; low-quality evidence). Episiotomy was
      not clearly different between groups (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.03, two studies,
      1489 women; low-quality evidence). Other comparisonsThe delivery of posterior
      versus anterior shoulder first, use of a perineal protection device, different
      oils/wax, and cold compresses did not show any effects on perineal outcomes. Only
      one study contributed to each of these comparisons, so data were insufficient to
      draw conclusions. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Moderate-quality evidence suggests that
      warm compresses, and massage, may reduce third- and fourth-degree tears but the
      impact of these techniques on other outcomes was unclear or inconsistent. Poor
      quality evidence suggests hands-off techniques may reduce episiotomy, but this
      technique had no clear impact on other outcomes. There were insufficient data to
      show whether other perineal techniques result in improved outcomes.Further
      research could be performed evaluating perineal techniques, warm compresses and
      massage, and how different types of oil used during massage affect women and
      their babies. It is important for any future research to collect information on
      women's views.

PMID- 28608599
TI  - DDT Polymorphism and the Lethality of Crystal Forms.
AB  - DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane), a contact insecticide with a
      rich and controversial history since its activity was discovered in 1939, has
      long been thought to be monomorphic. Herein we report the discovery and
      characterization of a second polymorph, designated Form II, which can be isolated
      as single crystals, but converts very slowly at room temperature to the form
      reported previously, now designated as Form I. Computations based on an
      evolutionary algorithm for crystal structure prediction revealed that Forms I and
      II are among the four lowest energy crystal structures of fifty calculated. A
      preliminary study of the contact insecticidal activity toward fruit flies
      (Drosophila melanogaster) indicates that Form II is more active, suggesting
      opportunities for more effective solid-state formulations that would allow
      reduced amounts of DDT, thereby minimizing environmental impact.

PMID- 28608600
TI  - Hypoxia/IL-1alpha axis promotes gastric cancer progression and drug resistance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The microenvironment of tumors constitutes a unique niche that
      promotes cancer metastasis and resistance. Two remarkable characteristics of this
      microenvironment are hypoxia and inflammation. Interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha), an
      important inflammatory factor, is frequently upregulated in a variety of cancers.
      This study aimed to investigate the expression of IL-1alpha in gastric cancer
      (GC) and explore the relationship between IL-1alpha and hypoxia. METHODS: Reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to characterize IL-1alpha
      expression in different GC cell lines under normoxia or hypoxia. IL-1alpha
      expression was characterized in relation to tumor stage and lymph node metastasis
      of GC and the survival of patients. The effect of IL-1alpha knockdown under
      normoxia or hypoxia on cell proliferation, migration and sensitivity to cisplatin
      was also evaluated. Additionally, hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha)
      expression in KATO-III cells was either upregulated by ectopic HIF-1alpha
      expression or downregulated through shHIF-1alpha transfection, the effects of
      which on IL-1alpha expression was subsequently evaluated. RESULTS: There was a
      positive correlation between IL-1alpha, which was upregulated during hypoxia, and
      tumor stage, lymph node metastasis and resistance to cisplatin in GC. IL-1alpha
      was regulated by HIF1alpha, and a change in HIF1alpha expression altered the
      tumor-promoting effect of IL-1alpha. CONCLUSION: The IL-1alpha/hypoxia axis may
      be a valuable target for diagnosis and treatment of GC.

PMID- 28608601
TI  - Brain structural properties predict psychologically mediated hypoalgesia in an 8
      week sham acupuncture treatment for migraine.
AB  - Neuroimaging studies described brain structural changes that comprise the
      mechanisms underlying individual differences in migraine development and
      maintenance. However, whether such interindividual variability in migraine was
      observed in a pretreatment scan is a predisposition for subsequent hypoalgesia to
      placebo treatment that remains largely unclear. Using T1-weighted imaging, we
      investigated this issue in 50 healthy controls (HC) and 196 patients with
      migraine without aura (MO). An 8-week double-blinded, randomized, placebo
      controlled acupuncture was used, and we only focused on the data from the sham
      acupuncture group. Eighty patients participated in an 8-weeks sham acupuncture
      treatment, and were subdivided (50% change in migraine days from baseline) into
      recovering (MOr) and persisting (MOp) patients. Optimized voxel-based morphometry
      (VBM) and functional connectivity analysis were performed to evaluate brain
      structural and functional changes. At baseline, MOp and MOr had similar migraine
      activity, anxiety and depression; reduced migraine days were accompanied by
      decreased anxiety in MOr. In our findings, the MOr group showed a smaller volume
      in the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and decreased mPFC-related
      functional connectivity was found in the default mode network. Additionally, the
      reduction in migraine days after placebo treatment was significantly associated
      with the baseline gray matter volume of the mPFC which could also predict post
      treatment groups with high accuracy. It indicated that individual differences for
      the brain structure in the pain modulatory system at baseline served as a
      substrate on how an individual facilitated or diminished hypoalgesia responses to
      placebo treatment in migraineurs. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4386-4397, 2017. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608602
TI  - Response to "Prediction of neonatal respiratory distress in pregnancies
      complicated by fetal lung masses".

PMID- 28608603
TI  - Comment on "Prediction of neonatal respiratory distress in pregnancies
      complicated by fetal lung masses".

PMID- 28608605
TI  - Smoking as a risk factor for wound dehiscence in nipple reconstruction: An
      analysis of 1683 cases.

PMID- 28608606
TI  - Waist-to-height ratio and its association with TV viewing in a sample of
      Portuguese children aged 7-9 years.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: During the past decades, increased TV viewing and reduced physical
      activity (PA) levels may have contributed to the increased prevalence of
      pediatric obesity. This study aimed to analyze the association between TV viewing
      and central adiposity risk in Portuguese children. METHODS: The sample comprised
      3987 children (1997 girls and 1990 boys) aged 7-9 years. Height, weight, and
      waist circumference (WC) were measured. Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) was
      calculated as the ratio of waist/height with a cut-off of 0.5 used to define risk
      of abdominal obesity. WHtR does not depend on sex- or age-specific reference
      criteria. TV viewing and PA were assessed by questionnaire. Logistic regressions
      were used, with adjustments for age, PA, and parental education. RESULTS: This
      study revealed a positive significant association between central adiposity risk
      and sedentary behaviors in Portuguese boys. In addition, the final model showed
      an important inverse association between PA and the risk of abdominal obesity in
      both boys and girls (males: beta = -0.01 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.00; females: beta = 
      0.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.00). CONCLUSION: Findings revealed that associations between
      TV viewing and obesity risk could be highly influenced by socioeconomic factors.
      Future research should extend a similar design to children in other geographic
      contexts, and incorporate other behavioral variables in the statistical models,
      to confirm or not some of the aforementioned findings.

PMID- 28608608
TI  - Multiple Functions of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Oxidative Stress, DNA Damage
      Response and Cancer Progression.
AB  - In addition to aberrant alternation of transcriptome, it is now suggested that
      dysregulation of the non-coding transcripts, particularly long non-coding RNAs
      (lncRNAs), which comprise the majority of the genome, is contributed to cancer
      initiation and progression. As the result of recent huge efforts, the possible
      roles of numerous lncRNAs in the human cancers were characterized, as well as
      various strategies with inhibitory effects to target these transcripts on the
      transformed cells. Moreover, DNA damage response (DDR) pathway is a complex
      regulatory network responsible for the identification of disruptions in DNA
      structure, integrity and stability- it is reported to be associated with the up
      regulation and down-regulation of lncRNAs. This review explores the involvement
      of the various lncRNAs in different human cancers, afterwards discusses the
      association of the lncRNAs expression with the DDR and oxidative stress, which
      are implicated in a myriad pathophysiological and physiological intra- and
      extracellular damages. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 223-236, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608607
TI  - Zearalenone induces ROS-mediated mitochondrial damage in porcine IPEC-J2 cells.
AB  - In this study, the mitochondrial damage effect and mechanism of zearalenone (ZEA)
      in swine small intestine IPEC-J2 cells in vitro were comprehensively
      characterized. The analyses revealed that ZEA at high doses (8 and 7 MUg/mL) can
      significantly increase P < 0.05 the malondialdehyde levels and decrease
      antioxidant enzymes activities after 48 h of exposure. Meanwhile, the reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) accumulation increased in high dose ZEA-treated groups after
      2 h treatment, but decreased due to the ROS-induced mitochondrial damage and the
      caused cell apoptosis after 48 h of high does ZEA treatment. Moreover, the
      decreasing of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP; DeltaPsi) in high dose ZEA
      exposure was observed in line with the increasing ROS production in mitochondria.
      Results suggest that ZEA exposure can induce mitochondrial damage by reducing
      antioxidant enzyme activities, accumulation of ROS, and decreasing MMP. The
      mitochondrial damage had a dramatic concentration-effects relationship with ZEA.

PMID- 28608609
TI  - Artificial insemination with frozen-thawed boar sperm.
AB  - Artificial insemination with frozen-thawed semen in pigs is not a routine
      technique; its use is restricted to specific cases, such as preservation of
      valuable genetic material (germplasm banks), safety strategies in case of natural
      disasters, long-distance transport of sperm, and in combination with sex-sorting.
      Cryoinjuries resulting from freeze-thawing protocols are a major concern with
      regard to the fertilization capacity of the treated sperm, which is lower than
      that of liquid-stored semen. Here, we provide an overview of artificial
      insemination using cryopreserved sperm, and summarize the factors that influence
      cryopreservation success before, during, and after freeze-thaw (i.e., sperm
      selection before starting the cryopreservation process, holding time, use of
      cryoprotectants, and rates of freezing and thawing) and that are driving the
      identification of biomarkers to predict sensitivity to cryodamage. Three
      different artificial insemination techniques (conventional or intracervical;
      intrauterine; and deep intrauterine) are also discussed with regards to their
      relevance when using frozen-thawed semen. Finally, we review the use of additives
      to freezing and thawing media, given reports that they may maintain and improve
      the quality and fertilizing capacity of frozen-thawed sperm. In sum, artificial
      insemination with frozen-thawed boar sperm can provide reasonable fertility
      outcomes, if freezable ejaculates, specific additives, and appropriate
      insemination techniques are used.

PMID- 28608611
TI  - Peer Review: Notes for Reviewers, Authors and Editors.

PMID- 28608610
TI  - Identification of a Stable ZnII -Oxyl Species Produced in an MFI Zeolite and Its
      Reversible Reactivity with O2 at Room Temperature.
AB  - Although a terminal oxyl species bound to certain metal ions is believed to be
      the intermediate for various oxidation reactions, such as O-O bond generation in
      photosystem II (PSII), such systems have not been characterized. Herein, we
      report a stable ZnII -oxyl species induced by an MFI-type zeolite lattice and its
      reversible reactivity with O2 at room temperature. Its intriguing characteristics
      were confirmed by in situ spectroscopic studies in combination with quantum
      chemical calculations, namely analyses of the vibronic Franck-Condon progressions
      and the ESR signal features of both ZnII -oxyl and ZnII -ozonide species formed
      during this reversible process. Molecular orbital analyses revealed that the
      reversible reaction between a ZnII -oxyl species and an O2 molecule proceeds via
      a radical O-O coupling-decoupling mechanism; the unpaired electron of the oxyl
      species plays a pivotal role in the O-O bond generation process.

PMID- 28608612
TI  - Factors impacting the accuracy of intra-operative evaluation of sentinel lymph
      nodes in breast cancer.
AB  - Sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) is a standard axillary staging technique in
      breast cancer and intraoperative sentinel lymph node (SLN) assessment is
      important for decision-making regarding additional treatment and reconstruction.
      This study was undertaken to investigate clinicopathologic factors impacting the
      accuracy of intraoperative SLN evaluation. Records of patients with clinically
      node-negative, invasive breast cancer who underwent SLND with frozen section
      intraoperative pathologic evaluation from 2004 to 2007 were reviewed.
      Intraoperative SLN assessment results were compared to final pathology. Patients
      with positive SLNs that were initially reported as negative during intraoperative
      assessment were considered false negative (FN) events. Primary tumor histology,
      grade, receptor status, size, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), multifocality,
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy, number of SLNs retrieved, and SLN
      metastasis size were evaluated. The study included 681 patients, of whom 262
      (38%) received neoadjuvant therapy. There were 183 (27%) patients who had a
      positive SLN on final pathology, of whom 60 (33%) had FN events. On univariate
      analysis, lobular histology, favorable histology, absence of LVI and
      micrometastasis were associated with a higher FN rate. On multivariate analysis,
      favorable and lobular histology and micrometastasis were independent predictors
      of FN events whereas LVI and receipt of neoadjuvant therapy were not
      statistically significant predictors. The accuracy of intraoperative SLN
      evaluation for breast cancer is affected by primary tumor histology and size of
      the SLN metastasis. There was no significant association between neoadjuvant
      therapy and the FN rate by intraoperative assessment. This information may be
      helpful in counseling patients about their risk for a FN intraoperative SLN
      assessment and for planning for immediate breast reconstruction in patients
      undergoing mastectomy.

PMID- 28608613
TI  - Remote control improves quality of life in elderly pacemaker patients versus
      standard ambulatory-based follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) improves shortly after
      pacemaker (PM) implantation. No studies have investigated the HRQoL trend for
      elderly patients with a remote device monitoring follow-up system. METHODS: Using
      EuroQol-5D Questionnaire and the PM-specific Assessment of Quality of Life and
      Related Events Questionnaire, HRQoL was measured at baseline and then repeatedly
      during the 6 months following PM implantation in a cohort of 42 consecutive
      patients. Twenty-five patients were followed-up with standard outpatient visits,
      while 17 used a remote monitoring system. RESULTS: Aquarel scores were
      significantly higher in patients with remote device monitoring system regarding
      chest discomfort and arrhythmia subscales the first month after PM implant and
      remained stable until 6 months. Remote monitoring affected the rate of HRQoL
      improvement in the first 3 months after pacemaker implantation more than
      ambulatory follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Remote device monitoring has a significant
      impact on HRQoL in pacemaker patients, increasing its levels up to 6 months after
      implant.

PMID- 28608614
TI  - Solanum Muricatum Promotes Osteogenic Differentiation of Rat Bone Marrow Stromal
      Cells.
AB  - Solanum muricatum (SM), also known as pepino, is known for its antioxidative and
      anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of
      SM extract in promoting osteogenic differentiation and regulating the Wnt and
      bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathways. Ingredients of pepino were
      extracted and identified. SM extracts were used to treat rat bone marrow stromal
      cells (BMSCs), followed by evaluating alkaline phosphatase activities and
      mineralization levels. The mRNA levels of osteogenic biomarkers, including OPN
      and Collagen I, were also evaluated with real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      After treatment with SM extracts, the expressions of key proteins in the Wnt and
      BMP signaling pathways were assessed. DKK-1 and noggin, which are Wnt and BMP
      inhibitors, respectively, were added with SM extracts to investigate the role of
      Wnt and BMP pathways in the ameliorating effects of SM extract in osteogenesis.
      Treatment of BMSCs with SM extract promoted osteogenesis. Meanwhile,
      upregulations in the Wnt and BMP pathways were also observed. However, inhibiting
      both pathways compromised the effects of SM extract in promoting osteogenic
      differentiation. SM extract promotes osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs via
      promoting the Wnt and BMP signaling pathways.

PMID- 28608615
TI  - Circular linkages between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are
      limited to topsoil at the continental scale.
AB  - The current theoretical framework suggests that tripartite positive feedback
      relationships between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are
      universal. However, empirical evidence for these relationships at the continental
      scale and across different soil depths is lacking. We investigate the continental
      scale relationships between the diversity of microbial and invertebrate-based
      soil food webs, fertility and above-ground plant productivity at 289 sites and
      two soil depths, that is 0-10 and 20-30 cm, across Australia. Soil biodiversity,
      fertility and plant productivity are strongly positively related in surface
      soils. Conversely, in the deeper soil layer, the relationships between soil
      biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity weaken considerably, probably as a
      result of a reduction in biodiversity and fertility with depth. Further modeling
      suggested that strong positive associations among soil biodiversity-fertility and
      fertility-plant productivity are limited to the upper soil layer (0-10 cm), after
      accounting for key factors, such as distance from the equator, altitude, climate
      and physicochemical soil properties. These findings highlight the importance of
      surface soil biodiversity for soil fertility, and suggest that any loss of
      surface soil could potentially break the links between soil biodiversity
      fertility and/or fertility-plant productivity, which can negatively impact
      nutrient cycling and food production, upon which future generations depend.

PMID- 28608616
TI  - Whole-brain structural connectivity in dyskinetic cerebral palsy and its
      association with motor and cognitive function.
AB  - Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP) has long been associated with basal ganglia and
      thalamus lesions. Recent evidence further points at white matter (WM) damage.
      This study aims to identify altered WM pathways in dyskinetic CP from a
      standardized, connectome-based approach, and to assess structure-function
      relationship in WM pathways for clinical outcomes. Individual connectome maps of
      25 subjects with dyskinetic CP and 24 healthy controls were obtained combining a
      structural parcellation scheme with whole-brain deterministic tractography. Graph
      theoretical metrics and the network-based statistic were applied to compare
      groups and to correlate WM state with motor and cognitive performance. Results
      showed a widespread reduction of WM volume in CP subjects compared to controls
      and a more localized decrease in degree (number of links per node) and fractional
      anisotropy (FA), comprising parieto-occipital regions and the hippocampus.
      However, supramarginal gyrus showed a significantly higher degree. At the network
      level, CP subjects showed a bilateral pathway with reduced FA, comprising
      sensorimotor, intraparietal and fronto-parietal connections. Gross and fine motor
      functions correlated with FA in a pathway comprising the sensorimotor system, but
      gross motor also correlated with prefrontal, temporal and occipital connections.
      Intelligence correlated with FA in a network with fronto-striatal and parieto
      frontal connections, and visuoperception was related to right occipital
      connections. These findings demonstrate a disruption in structural brain
      connectivity in dyskinetic CP, revealing general involvement of posterior brain
      regions with relative preservation of prefrontal areas. We identified pathways in
      which WM integrity is related to clinical features, including but not limited to
      the sensorimotor system. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4594-4612, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608617
TI  - Long-term safety and efficacy of canagliflozin as add-on therapy to teneligliptin
      in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of canagliflozin as add-on
      therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who had inadequate
      glycaemic control with teneligliptin monotherapy. METHODS: This open-label 52
      week study was conducted in Japan. Patients received canagliflozin 100 mg added
      to teneligliptin 20 mg orally once daily for 52 weeks. The safety endpoint was
      the incidence of adverse events (AEs). The efficacy endpoints included changes in
      glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and body weight from
      baseline to week 52 (with last observation carried forward). RESULTS: Overall,
      153 patients entered the treatment period and 142 completed the study. The
      overall incidence rates of AEs and drug-related AEs were 69.9% and 22.9%,
      respectively. Most AEs and drug-related AEs were mild or moderate in severity.
      There were no previously undescribed safety signals. The mean changes in HbA1c,
      FPG and body weight were -0.99% (95% confidence interval [CI] -1.12 to -0.85), 
      38.6 mg/dL (95% CI -43.4 to -33.9) and -3.92% (95% CI -4.53 to -3.31),
      respectively. These effects were maintained for 52 weeks without attenuation.
      HbA1c and body weight were both decreased in 82.24% of patients at the end of the
      treatment period. Reductions in postprandial glucose were observed at weeks 24
      and 52. CONCLUSIONS: No new safety risks with this combination were identified,
      and sustained improvements in HbA1c, FPG and body weight were observed. The
      findings suggest that long-term co-administration of canagliflozin with
      teneligliptin is well tolerated and effective in Japanese patients with T2DM who
      have inadequate glycaemic control on teneligliptin alone.

PMID- 28608618
TI  - Bench-to-bedside: Bridge-enhanced anterior cruciate ligament repair.
AB  - Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are one of the most well-known
      orthopaedic injuries and are treated with one of the most common orthopaedic
      procedures performed in the United States. This surgical procedure, ACL
      reconstruction, is successful at restoring the gross stability of the knee.
      However, the outcomes of ACL reconstruction can be limited by short and long-term
      complications, including muscle weakness, graft rupture, and premature
      osteoarthritis. Thus, new methods of treating this injury are being explored.
      This review details the pathway of how a tissue engineering strategy can be used
      to improve the healing of the ACL in preclinical studies and then translated to
      patients in an FDA-approved clinical study. This review paper will outline the
      clinical importance of ACL injuries, history of primary repair, the pathology
      behind failure of the ACL to heal, pre-clinical studies, the FDA approval process
      for a high risk medical device, and the preliminary results from a first-in-human
      study. (c) 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc. J Orthop Res 35:2606-2612, 2017.

PMID- 28608619
TI  - Efficacy and safety of daclatasvir-based antiviral therapy in hepatitis C virus
      recurrence after liver transplantation. Role of cirrhosis and genotype 3. A
      multicenter cohort study.
AB  - Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA) combining daclatasvir (DCV) have reported
      good outcomes in the recurrence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection after liver
      transplant (LT). However, its effect on the severe recurrence and the risk of
      death remains controversial. We evaluated the efficacy, predictors of survival,
      and safety of DAC-based regimens in a large real-world cohort. A total of 331
      patients received DCV-based therapy. Duration of therapy and ribavirin use were
      at the investigator's discretion. The primary end point was sustained virological
      response (SVR) at week 12. A multivariate analysis of predictive factors of
      mortality was performed. Intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol SVR were
      93.05% and 96.9%. ITT-SVR was lower in cirrhosis (n = 163) (96.4% vs. 89.6% P =
      0.017); the SVR in genotype 3 (n = 91) was similar, even in advanced fibrosis
      (96.7% vs. 88%, P = 0.2). Ten patients (3%) experienced virological failure.
      Therapy was stopped in 18 patients (5.44%), and ten died during treatment. A
      total of 22 patients (6.6%) died. Albumin (HR = 0.376; 95% CI 0.155-0.910) and
      baseline MELD (HR = 1.137; 95% CI: 1.061-1.218) were predictors of death. DCV
      based DAA treatment is efficacious and safe in patients with HCV infection after
      LT. Baseline MELD score and serum albumin are predictors of survival irrespective
      of viral response.

PMID- 28608621
TI  - Simultaneous extraction and determination of antibiotics in soils using a method
      based on quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction and liquid
      chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - The increasing use of antibiotics has caused substantial environmental problems,
      which are a matter of great concern. The aim of this work was to develop a quick,
      easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method for 20 antibiotic residues in
      soil. The developed method is based on extraction with acetonitrile and phosphate
      buffer, clean up with dispersive solid-phase extraction adsorbent using primary
      secondary amine, octadecylsilane, followed by liquid chromatography with tandem
      mass spectrometry determination. We optimized different extraction methods and
      the ratio of cleanup adsorbents to achieve good recoveries at seven spiking
      levels that ranged from 61.4 to 118.9% with a relative standard deviation below
      20% (n = 5). The method quantification limit was in the range of 2-5 MUg/kg for
      most analytes. Good linear regression coefficients greater than 0.990 were
      obtained. This method was applied for the analysis of real agricultural soil
      samples, confirming the feasibility of the method.

PMID- 28608622
TI  - SN 2 Reactions at Tertiary Carbon Centers in Epoxides.
AB  - Described herein is a novel concept for SN 2 reactions at tertiary carbon centers
      in epoxides without activation of the leaving group. Quantum chemical
      calculations show why SN 2 reactions at tertiary carbon centers are proceeding in
      these systems. The reaction allows flexible synthesis of 1,3-diol building blocks
      for natural product synthesis with excellent control of the relative and absolute
      configurations.

PMID- 28608620
TI  - Genome-wide association study of facial emotion recognition in children and
      association with polygenic risk for mental health disorders.
AB  - Emotion recognition is disrupted in many mental health disorders, which may
      reflect shared genetic aetiology between this trait and these disorders. We
      explored genetic influences on emotion recognition and the relationship between
      these influences and mental health phenotypes. Eight-year-old participants (n =
      4,097) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
      completed the Diagnostic Analysis of Non-Verbal Accuracy (DANVA) faces test.
      Genome-wide genotype data was available from the Illumina HumanHap550 Quad
      microarray. Genome-wide association studies were performed to assess associations
      with recognition of individual emotions and emotion in general. Exploratory
      polygenic risk scoring was performed using published genomic data for
      schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, autism spectrum disorder, anorexia,
      and anxiety disorders. No individual genetic variants were identified at
      conventional levels of significance in any analysis although several loci were
      associated at a level suggestive of significance. SNP-chip heritability analyses
      did not identify a heritable component of variance for any phenotype. Polygenic
      scores were not associated with any phenotype. The effect sizes of variants
      influencing emotion recognition are likely to be small. Previous studies of
      emotion identification have yielded non-zero estimates of SNP-heritability. This
      discrepancy is likely due to differences in the measurement and analysis of the
      phenotype.

PMID- 28608623
TI  - Guar gum fiber increases suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 expression via toll
      like receptor 2 and dectin-1 pathways, regulating inflammatory response in small
      intestinal epithelial cells.
AB  - SCOPE: Direct regulation of intestinal inflammation by intact dietary fibers is
      still unclear. Here, the anti-inflammatory regulation by intact guar gum (GG) was
      investigated using mice and human intestinal Caco-2 cells. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Administration of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) increased myeloperoxidase activity
      and CXC motif chemokine ligand2 (an IL-8 homolog) expression in the small
      intestines of mice, while supplemental GG reduced these increases. Stimulation of
      Caco-2 cells with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha induced IL-8 expression
      through nuclear factor kappa B p65, spleen tyrosine kinase, and mitogen-activated
      protein kinases pathways. Pre-treatment of cells with GG reduced the TNF-alpha
      induced IL-8 expression and cellular signaling. GG increased the suppressor of
      cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1 expression in Caco-2 cells, suggesting that this is
      one of the probable mechanisms involved in GG-mediated anti-inflammatory
      regulation. The anti-inflammatory regulation and SOCS-1 expression induced by GG
      were sensitive to neutralization of toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and dectin-1, and
      to inhibition of Janus kinase (JAK) and tyrosine kinase cSrc pathways. Finally,
      supplemental GG increased SOCS-1 expression in the small intestines of both DSS
      administered and normal mice. CONCLUSION: Intact GG activates TLR2 and dectin-1,
      and increases SOCS-1 expression via JAK and cSrc pathways, resulting in anti
      inflammatory regulation in intestinal epithelium.

PMID- 28608624
TI  - Four case reports of Chinese cystic fibrosis patients and literature review.
AB  - AIM: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an extremely rare disease in Asians. Here, we report
      four Chinese children with CF and review the literature about Chinese CF
      patients. METHODS: The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)
      gene testing was performed on four suspected patients for CF screening. We also
      reviewed the literature about Chinese CF patients from 1970s. The clinical data
      of all these CF patients were summarized. RESULTS: We diagnosed four CF patients
      who had mutations in the CFTR gene. We identified six different mutations in the
      four patients. The c.1766+5G>T, c.595C>T, c.2909G>A, and c.4056G>C had been
      reported already. The two splicing mutations of c.579+1_579+2insACAT and c.1117
      1G>C were novel mutations. There have been 46 Chinese CF patients reported in
      literature from 1974 up to present (2016.12). The clinical manifestations of CF
      involved several systems. The most common symptom was recurrent pulmonary
      infections. Thirty-three different mutations were identified; c.1766 + 5G>T was
      the most common mutation among Chinese CF patients. Only one of these mutations
      (R553X) was in the Caucasian CF screening panel. The spectrum of CFTR mutations
      in Chinese was highly different from that of Caucasian. CONCLUSIONS: There was a
      high risk of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of CF even in suspected cases in
      China. It is necessary to educate Chinese clinicians about the signs, symptoms,
      and diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and promote the implementation of the sweat
      chloride test.

PMID- 28608625
TI  - Computing in Verotoxin.
AB  - We develop an excitable automata model of a protein verotoxin and demonstrate
      that logic gates and circuits are realised in the model via interacting patterns
      of excitation. By sampling potential input pairs of nodes, we calculate
      frequencies of logic gates which occurred in the verotoxin model for various
      parameters of node excitation rules. We show that overall the gates can be
      arranged in the following hierarchy of descending frequencies: AND>OR>AND
      NOT>XOR. We demonstrate realisations of one-bit half-adder and controlled-not
      gates and estimate memory capacity of the verotoxin molecule.

PMID- 28608626
TI  - Serotonergic 5HTTLPR/rs25531 s-allele homozygosity associates with violent
      suicides in male citalopram users.
AB  - Depressive disorders are involved as a background factor in over 50% of suicide
      cases. The most widely used antidepressants today are serotonin selective
      reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, not all users benefit from SSRI medication.
      Although the overall number of suicides in Finland have decreased notably during
      the last decade, the annual rate is still relatively high, particularly in male
      population. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the genetic variants
      associated with decreased citalopram efficiency, 5HTTLPR/rs25531, and increased
      impulsive behavior, MAOA-uVNTR and HTR2B Q20*, are more frequent among citalopram
      users committing suicide than among the citalopram users in general. Also the
      effect of alcohol was evaluated. The study population comprised 349 suicide
      victims (184 males and 165 females). Based on the suicide method used, cases were
      divided into two groups; violent (88 males and 49 females) and non-violent (96
      males and 116 females). The control group (284; 159 males and 125 females)
      consisted of citalopram users who died of causes other than suicide. We found
      that male citalopram users with low functioning s/s genotype of 5HTTLPR/rs25531
      were in increased risk to commit violent suicide (OR 2.50, 95%CI 1.15-5.42, p =
      0.020). Surprisingly, high blood alcohol concentration was observed to be a risk
      factor only in non-violent suicides (both males and females), but not in violent
      ones. No association between suicides and MAOA-uVNTR and HTR2B Q20*, which have
      been previously connected to violent and impulsive behavior, was detected.

PMID- 28608627
TI  - All's well following living kidney donation?

PMID- 28608628
TI  - The Role of MicroRNA-143-5p in the Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells into
      Odontoblasts by Targeting Runx2 via the OPG/RANKL Signaling Pathway.
AB  - This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms by which microRNA-143-5p (miR-143-5p)
      targets runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) in the differentiation of
      dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) into odontoblasts, through regulating the
      osteoprotegerin receptor activator of the nuclear factor-kappaB ligand
      (OPG/RANKL) signaling pathway. Following transfection, DPSCs were divided into
      blank, control, miR-143-5p mimics, miR-143-5p inhibitors, miR-143-5p inhibitors +
      siRunx2 and siRunx2 groups. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mineralized
      nodules were detected using ALP kit and alizarin red staining. Quantitative
      reverse transcriptase real time PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted to measure mRNA
      expressions of miR-143-5p, Runx2, OPG, and RANKL. Western blotting was used to
      assess protein expression of odontoblast differentiation-related proteins.
      Transwell assay and an extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion cell assay were
      employed to examine cell migration and cell adhesion. Compared with the blank
      group, the miR-143-5p mimics and siRunx2 groups showed decreased ALP activity,
      decreased mineralized nodules and displays of calcium. Fewer migrated cells,
      weakened cell adhesion, decreased protein expression of dentin phosphoprotein
      (DPP), dentin sialoprotein (DSP), dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1), osteopontin
      (OPN), bone sialoprotein (BSP), osteocalcin (OCN), OPG and Runx2, and increased
      RANKL protein expressions were observed. Additionally, opposite results were
      observed in the miR-143-5p inhibitors group, demonstrating that down-regulated
      miR-143-5p promotes the differentiation of DPSCs into odontoblasts by enhancing
      Runx2 expression via the OPG/RANKL signaling pathway. Based on findings in this
      study, it is postulated that the enhancement of Runx2 expression via the
      regulation of the OPG/RANKL signaling pathway could be a beneficial approach for
      dental pulp regeneration. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 536-546, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608629
TI  - Enantioselective cytotoxicity of ZnS:Mn quantum dots in A549 cells.
AB  - Chirality strongly influences many biological properties of materials, such as
      cell accumulation, enzymatic activity, and toxicity. In the past decade, it has
      been shown that quantum dots (QDs), fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles with
      unique optical properties, can demonstrate optical activity due to chiral ligands
      bound on their surface. Optically active QDs could find potential applications in
      biomedical research, therapy, and diagnostics. Consequently, it is very important
      to investigate the interaction of QDs capped with chiral ligands with living
      cells. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of the induced
      chirality of Mn-doped ZnS QDs on the viability of A549 cells. These QDs were
      stabilized with D- and L-cysteine using a ligand exchange technique. The optical
      properties of QDs were studied using UV-Vis, photoluminescence (PL), and circular
      dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The cytotoxicity of QDs was investigated by high
      content screening analysis. It was found that QDs stabilized by opposite ligand
      enantiomers, had identical PL and UV-Vis spectra and mirror-imaged CD spectra,
      but displayed different cytotoxicity: QDs capped with D-cysteine had greater
      cytotoxicity than L-cysteine capped QDs.

PMID- 28608630
TI  - Precisely Tailored DNA Nanostructures and their Theranostic Applications.
AB  - A critical challenge in nanotechnology is the limited precision and
      controllability of the structural parameters, which brings about concerns in
      uniformity, reproducibility and performance. Self-assembled DNA nanostructures,
      as a newly emerged type of nano-biomaterials, possess low-nanometer precision,
      excellent programmability and addressability. They can precisely arrange various
      molecules and materials to form spatially ordered complex, resulting in
      unambiguous physical or chemical properties. Because of these, DNA nanostructures
      have shown great promise in numerous biomedical theranostic applications. In this
      account, we briefly review the history and advances on construction of DNA
      nanoarchitectures and superstructures with accurate structural parameters. We
      focus on recent progress in exploiting these DNA nanostructures as platforms for
      quantitative biosensing, intracellular diagnosis, imaging, and smart drug
      delivery. We also discuss key challenges in practical applications.

PMID- 28608631
TI  - A descriptive single-centre experience of the management and outcome of maternal
      alloantibodies in pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) occurs when
      maternal IgG alloantibodies to fetal red blood cell antigens cross the placenta,
      causing haemolysis in the fetus and/or neonate. After delivery, the main concern
      is hyperbilirubinaemia, which can cause neurological damage. OBJECTIVES: To
      summarise our current management and outcome data to inform health-care
      professionals counselling women whose pregnancies are at risk of HDFN and to
      compare these data with relevant studies. METHODS: This is a retrospective
      descriptive study of all high-risk pregnancies at risk of HDFN at Guy's and St.
      Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT) Maternity Unit over a 7-year period. We
      defined high-risk pregnancies as those in whom anti-D, anti-c, anti-K or high
      (>32 or doubling strength) titres of all other antibodies were identified.
      RESULTS: A total of 130 pregnancies in 112 women were followed up. A single
      alloantibody was found in 93 pregnancies (71.5%) and multiple alloantibodies in
      37 pregnancies (28.5%). Anti-D was most commonly encountered (n = 48, 36.9%),
      followed by anti-c (n = 31, 23.8%) and anti-E (n = 15, 11.5%). In 65 of 130
      pregnancies (50%), antibody concentrations triggered scans to screen for fetal
      anaemia. Of 130 pregnancies, 6 (4.6%) required intrauterine transfusions, and 31
      of 130 (26%) neonates required post-natal intervention. Overall, morbidity was
      0.1% and mortality 0.002%. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that morbidity
      and mortality caused by HDFN is minimal. These results are reassuring for women
      at risk of HDFN as even severely affected cases are successfully managed in most
      instances. Further studies are needed to identify predictors of disease severity.

PMID- 28608632
TI  - Cystic fibrosis year in review 2016.
AB  - In this article, we highlight cystic fibrosis (CF) research and case reports
      published in Pediatric Pulmonology during 2016. We also include articles from a
      variety of journals that are thematically related to these articles, or are of
      special interest to clinicians.

PMID- 28608633
TI  - Asymptomatic pulmonary arteriovenous malformations in children with hereditary
      hemorrhagic telangiectasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) may have
      pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), which can lead to symptoms of
      shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, clubbing, cyanosis and hemoptysis.
      However, some patients with pulmonary AVMs may be asymptomatic, placing them at
      risk for complications such as stroke or brain abscess if they are not identified
      and treated. This study examines the incidence of signs and symptoms associated
      with pulmonary AVMs in children with HHT known to have pulmonary AVMs. METHOD:
      Sixty-one children with HHT and documented pulmonary AVMs were questioned for any
      symptoms possibly associated with their pulmonary AVMs, prior to embolization.
      RESULTS: The results show that the majority of these children were asymptomatic
      (56%), and their AVMs were discovered by routine screening. Those who did
      experience symptoms most often complained of shortness of breath and exercise
      intolerance, although there was a tendency to blame other conditions, such as
      asthma or deconditioning (being out of shape), for these symptoms. Migraine
      headaches were common in those with pulmonary AVMs, regardless of whether they
      were symptomatic or not (17 of 61 children, 28%), although they were more common
      in those who were symptomatic (10 of 27, 37%) versus those who were asymptomatic
      (7 of 34, 21%). CONCLUSION: Children with HHT and pulmonary AVMs are often
      asymptomatic. Routine screening for the presence of AVMs should be performed
      regardless of symptomatology.

PMID- 28608634
TI  - Molecular basis for the recognition of CCN1 by monoclonal antibody 093G9.
AB  - CCN1, also named Cyr61 (cysteine-rich protein 61), is the first identified member
      of the CCN family that is composed of 6 secreted extracellular matrix-associated
      glycoproteins. CCN1 has been demonstrated to participate in pathogenesis of
      rheumatoid arthritis through various pathways. A monoclonal antibody, namely,
      093G9, is effective to antagonize the effects of CCN1 and hence has potential
      therapeutic benefits against rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we show that the epitope
      recognized by 093G9 is mapped to residues 77 to 80 of CCN1, and a cyclic peptide
      encompassing residues 75 to 81 of CCN1 displays high binding affinity for 093G9.
      The crystal structure of the 093G9 Fab in complex with the cyclic peptide was
      determined at 2.7 A resolution, which reveals the intensive interactions between
      CCN1 and 093G9. Particularly, residues Asn79 and Phe80 of CCN1 are inserted into
      cavities mainly formed by residues of complementarity-determining region loop L3
      and framework region L2 and by residues of complementarity-determining region
      loops H2 and H3, respectively, which contribute most of the interactions and
      therefore are critical for the recognition by 093G9. Together, these findings not
      only identify the epitope of CCN1 for 093G9 but also reveal the molecular
      mechanism of recognition and binding of CCN1 by 093G9.

PMID- 28608636
TI  - Aetiology and outcome of massive transfusion in two large London teaching
      hospitals over a 3-year period (2012-2014).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to determine: (i) the incidence of
      massive transfusion (MT) (defined as transfusion of >=5 red-blood-cell (RBC)
      units within 4 h, and/or >=10 RBC units within 24 h of bleeding) over a 3-year
      period; (ii) the cause, and mortality rate of patients who received MT (from any
      cause); and (iii) the risk factors for death. BACKGROUND: MT can occur in
      different clinical settings, yet little is known about its epidemiology/clinical
      outcomes. METHODS: Data was extracted using transfusion laboratory information
      management system (LIMS) and patients' electronic databases. RESULTS: We
      identified 701 episodes (incidence 1.7 per 1000 admissions [95% confidence
      interval (CI): 1.6-1.9], belonging to 678 patients (225 females and 453 males,
      median age 61). Main causes of MT were cardiac surgery (35%), trauma (28%),
      medical (10%) and vascular surgery (9%). The overall mortality was 32%, and the
      median number of days spent in hospital was 14 and 2 for those who survived and
      those who died, respectively. Multivariable analysis showed that cardiac surgery
      was associated with 56% (95% CI: 9-78%) lower odds of death compared to other
      surgery, and transfusion of 10-14 RBC and >15 RBC units (compared with 5-9 RBC
      units) were associated with 2.1 (95% CI: 1.4-3.3) and 9.9 (95% CI: 4.6-21.1)
      times higher odds of dying, respectively. CONCLUSION: In-hospital morbidity and
      mortality of MT is high. Future research should focus on unifying the definition
      of MT, and early identification of the MT markers in order to improve outcomes.

PMID- 28608637
TI  - Regulatory T-cell therapy in liver transplantation.
AB  - Modern immunosuppression drug regimens have produced excellent short-term
      survival after liver transplantation but it is generally accepted that the side
      effects of these medications remain a significant contributing factor for less
      satisfactory long term outcomes. The liver has unique tolerogenic properties as
      evidenced by the higher rates of operational tolerance seen in liver transplant
      recipients compared to other solid organ transplants, and therefore, liver
      transplantation offers an attractive setting in which to study tolerizing
      therapies. CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are crucial for
      maintenance of self-tolerance and prevention of autoimmune disease and are
      therefore an appealing potential candidate for use as a tolerizing cell therapy.
      In this review, we summarize the evidence from drug withdrawal trials of
      spontaneous operational tolerance in liver transplantation, the unique immunology
      of the hepatic microenvironment, the evidence for the use of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+
      regulatory T cells as a tolerance inducing therapy in liver transplantation and
      the challenges in producing clinical grade Treg cell products.

PMID- 28608638
TI  - Effect of different levels of copper nanoparticles and copper sulphate on
      performance, metabolism and blood biochemical profiles in broiler chicken.
AB  - A study was conducted to investigate the influence of copper administration in
      ovo to chicken embryos and/or supplied in drinking water to growing chickens in
      the form copper nanoparticles (Cu-NP) or copper sulphate (CuSO4 ). The fertilised
      eggs were assigned to three groups (n = 50 per group): control (not injected),
      injected with 50 mg/kg Cu-NP or with 50 mg/kg CuSO4 at day 1 of incubation.
      Thereafter, 126 one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly assigned to seven post
      hatched groups: control not injected and not provided with Cu in the drinking
      water, injected with 50 mg/kg Cu-NP + 20 mg/kg in water, not injected + 20 mg/kg
      Cu-NP in water, injected with 50 mg/kg CuSO4  + 20 mg/kg in water, not injected +
      20 mg/kg CuSO4 in water, injected with 50 mg/kg Cu-NP and injected with 50 mg/kg
      CuSO4 . The experiment was carried out from day 1 to 35 post-hatching. The in ovo
      injection of Cu improved the final body weight, average daily gain and feed
      conversion ratio in relation to the control group. Conversely, the provision of
      Cu in the drinking water had less of an effect on growth performance in
      comparison with the injected groups. A significant improvement was shown in
      energy and nitrogen utilisation, being better for Cu-NP than CuSO4 . The
      cholesterol, urea and glucose levels in the blood were reduced by Cu-NP treatment
      in relation to the other groups. The relative weight of the liver was decreased,
      while bursa of Fabricius was increased in Cu groups in relation to the control
      group. Cu excretion was only reduced in chickens injected with 50 mg/kg Cu-NP +
      20 mg/kg in water. The immune-related genes were not affected by the treatments.
      The in ovo injection of Cu-NP might improve broiler performance more efficiently
      than the injection of CuSO4 or the provision of Cu-NP and/or CuSO4 in drinking
      water.

PMID- 28608639
TI  - Abuse of Rachel Carson and Misuse of DDT Science in the Service of Environmental
      Deregulation.
AB  - Fake news?? The contact insecticide DDT has been reappraised as a safe, life
      saving compound by special interest groups committed to repealing environmental
      regulations. It is shown in this essay how some specific toxicological data has
      been misused by those aiming to disingenuously influence public policy. Graphic:
      Pestroy, a DDT-laced coating marketed in 1946 by Sherwin-Williams Research
      Laboratories.

PMID- 28608635
TI  - Cardiac and Metabolic Variables in Obese Dogs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The etiology of obesity-related cardiac dysfunction (ORCD) is linked
      to metabolic syndrome in people. Studies have indicated that obese dogs have
      components of metabolic syndrome, warranting evaluation for ORCD in obese dogs.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate cardiac structure and function and metabolic variables in
      obese dogs compared to ideal weight dogs. ANIMALS: Forty-six healthy, small-breed
      (<25 pounds), obese dogs (n = 29) compared to ideal weight dogs (n = 17).
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study of cardiac structure and function by standard
      and strain echocardiographic measurements and quantification of serum metabolic
      variables (insulin:glucose ratios, lipid analysis, adiponectin, inflammatory
      markers). RESULTS: Compared to the ideal weight controls, obese dogs had cardiac
      changes characterized by an increased interventricular septal width in diastole
      to left ventricular internal dimension in diastole ratio, decreased ratios of
      peak early to peak late left ventricular inflow velocities, and ratios of peak
      early to peak late mitral annular tissue velocities, and increased fractional
      shortening and ejection fraction percentages. The left ventricular posterior wall
      width in diastole to left ventricular internal dimension in diastole ratios were
      not significantly different between groups. Systolic blood pressure was not
      significantly different between groups. Obese dogs had metabolic derangements
      characterized by increased insulin:glucose ratios, dyslipidemias with increased
      cholesterol, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein concentrations, decreased
      adiponectin concentrations, and increased concentrations of interleukin 8 and
      keratinocyte-derived chemokine-like inflammatory cytokines. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Compared to ideal weight controls, obese dogs have
      alterations in cardiac structure and function as well as insulin resistance,
      dyslipidemia, hypoadiponectinemia, and increased concentrations of inflammatory
      markers. These findings warrant additional studies to investigate inflammation,
      dyslipidemia, and possibly systemic hypertension as potential contributing
      factors for altered cardiac function.

PMID- 28608640
TI  - Using Voltammetry to Measure the Relative Hydrogen-Bonding Strengths of Pyridine
      and Its Derivatives in Acetonitrile.
AB  - The voltammetric behavior of 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-phenylenediamine was found
      to be able to differentiate the hydrogen acceptor abilities of electroinactive
      pyridine compounds in acetonitrile. Weak and strong hydrogen acceptors were
      distinguished through the onset of a third oxidation process that came about at
      sub-stoichiometric amounts of strong hydrogen acceptors, but not in the presence
      of weak hydrogen acceptors. This additional oxidation reaction occurred at a
      potential between the two 1 e- -oxidation reactions that phenylenediamines
      typically undergo (i.e. EPox(1) <EPox(3) <EPox(2) , with EPox(1) and EPox(2)
      representing the electrochemical conversion of the neutral phenylenediamine into
      the radical cation and thereafter to the quinonediimine dication) as well as at
      the expense of the second electrochemical reaction. EPox(2) and EPox(3) were
      observed to shift towards less positive potentials with increasing concentrations
      of weak or strong hydrogen acceptors, respectively, whereas EPox(1) remained
      virtually unaffected. This allows the electrochemical parameters DeltaEPox(1, 2)
      =|EPox(1) -EPox(2) | and DeltaEPox(1, 3) =|EPox(1) -EPox(3) | to be employed as
      measures of the hydrogen-bonding strengths within each category, to which they
      were found to be highly reproducible and responsive to steric, electronic,
      inductive, and mesomeric effects. The electrochemical findings concur with
      available aqueous pKa data of the protonated pyridine compounds but were,
      however, in poor agreement with results obtained by density functional theory
      calculations.

PMID- 28608641
TI  - Risk factors for Pneumocystis pneumonia after the first 6 months following renal
      transplantation.
AB  - Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) incidence was decreased in renal transplant thanks
      to prophylaxis, recommended during the first months after transplantation.
      However, many late PCP cases are observed after the first 6 months and
      recommendations to maintain or reintroduce prophylaxis are lacking. The objective
      of the study was to identify risk factors to guide the individual prescription of
      prophylaxis, 6 months after transplantation. Thirty-three late PCP cases were
      identified between 1995 and 2012 in Lille Hospital, France, and were compared to
      72 randomized controls transplant recipients. In univariate analysis, age of
      donor (>48 years), retransplantation, a decrease glomerular filtration rate (<=45
      mL/min), induction therapy mediated by anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), steroid
      maintenance, high calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) doses (tacrolimus >=0.5 mg/kg/day
      and cyclosporine >=2.1 mg/kg/day), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection were
      significantly associated with PCP. In multivariate analysis, ATG (hazard ratio
      [HR]: 2.4 [1.1-5.4]), steroid therapy (HR: 3.1 [1.20-7.84], CNI (HR: 2.9 [1.28
      6.38], and CMV (HR: 6.1 [2.74-16.33] remained associated with late PCP. In
      conclusion, we confirm that intensive immunosuppressive regimen and CMV infection
      are critical risk factors for late PCP and should be taken into account to decide
      on maintenance or reintroduction of a prophylactic treatment.

PMID- 28608642
TI  - Australia and Germany: Large Distance, Close Collaborations.
AB  - "... Both Australia and Germany have long traditions in the chemical sciences,
      however there is considerable scope to expand collaborations between the two
      chemical research communities. This can be achieved by collaborative funding
      opportunities, closing the gap between fundamental research and industrial
      applications, and targeted interactive symposia ..." Read more in the Editorial
      by Christopher Barner-Kowollik.

PMID- 28608644
TI  - Ezrin as a possible diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker in mice lymphatic
      metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks in the top of cancers leading to death.
      Early diagnosis is the big challenge in the case of HCC. Our in vitro study
      showed that Ezrin expression in lymphatic metastasis hepatocellular carcinoma
      (LNM-HCC) was associated with the metastatic rate. Here we aim to evaluate Ezrin
      expression as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker of LNM-HCC in mice. Chinese
      inbred 615 mice, Hca-F and Hca-P cell lines were used in the study. Histological
      changes were determined by Hematoxylin and Eosin, while Ezrin expression was
      assessed by qRT-PCR, western blot, immunohistochemistry, and enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. Ezrin expression in this study gives credit to our in vitro
      study which Ezrin expression was positively correlated with LNM-HCC and
      negatively with Annexin7 (A7) expression. The highest histological changes were
      observed in high metastatic primary/secondary tumors combined with high Ezrin
      expression. Ezrin and A7 are higher in total primary tumors than in total
      secondary tumors (P = 0.0001, P = 0.021), respectively. Ezrin expression was
      enhanced in Hca-P A7 down-regulated primary/secondary tumors (P = 0.004),
      whereas, Ezrin expression was suppressed in Hca-F A7 upregulated
      primary/secondary tumors. Serum ELISA indicated differential expression of Ezrin
      among the study groups (P <= 0.0001). Ezrin expression was higher in NC-Hca-F
      than NC-Hca-P (P <= 0.0001), suppressed in Hca-F A7 upregulation (P <= 0.0001)
      and in enhanced in Hca-P A7 down-regulation (P = 0.0001). In conclusion, Ezrin
      level may serve as a differential diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker for high
      and low LNM-HCC and may be beneficial in the diagnosis of HCC disease. (c) 2017
      BioFactors, 43(5):662-672, 2017.

PMID- 28608645
TI  - Proton Transport in the Outer-Membrane Flavocytochrome Complex Limits the Rate of
      Extracellular Electron Transport.
AB  - The microbial transfer of electrons to extracellularly located solid compounds,
      termed extracellular electron transport (EET), is critical for microbial
      electrode catalysis. Although the components of the EET pathway in the outer
      membrane (OM) have been identified, the role of electron/cation coupling in EET
      kinetics is poorly understood. We studied the dynamics of proton transport
      associated with EET in an OM flavocytochrome complex in Shewanella oneidensis MR
      1. Using a whole-cell electrochemical assay, a significant kinetic isotope effect
      (KIE) was observed following the addition of deuterated water (D2 O). The removal
      of a flavin cofactor or key components of the OM flavocytochrome complex
      significantly increased the KIE in the presence of D2 O to values that were
      significantly larger than those reported for proton channels and ATP synthase,
      thus indicating that proton transport by OM flavocytochrome complexes limits the
      rate of EET.

PMID- 28608646
TI  - Bronsted Acid-Mediated Cycloaromatization of 1H-Indol-2-yl Propargyl Benzoates to
      7H-Benzo[c]carbazoles.
AB  - A synthetic method for the efficient assembly of benzo[c]carbazole derivatives
      that relies on silica gel-activated benzoic acid-mediated cycloaromatization of
      1H-indol-2-yl propargyl benzoates under atmospheric conditions is described.
      Robust with a variety of substitution patterns tolerated, the reaction provides a
      one-step strategy to construct a member of the N-heterocycles family in good to
      excellent yields. A tentative mechanism is proposed in which the
      cycloaromatization process is thought to involve a Bronsted acid-mediated formal
      1,3-acyloxy migration/6pi-electrocyclization pathway.

PMID- 28608643
TI  - Spontaneous activity in the visual cortex is organized by visual streams.
AB  - Large-scale functional networks have been extensively studied using resting state
      functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the pattern, organization,
      and function of fine-scale network activity remain largely unknown. Here, we
      characterized the spontaneously emerging visual cortical activity by applying
      independent component (IC) analysis to resting state fMRI signals exclusively
      within the visual cortex. In this subsystem scale, we observed about 50 spatially
      ICs that were reproducible within and across subjects, and analyzed their spatial
      patterns and temporal relationships to reveal the intrinsic parcellation and
      organization of the visual cortex. The resulting visual cortical parcels were
      aligned with the steepest gradient of cortical myelination, and were organized
      into functional modules segregated along the dorsal/ventral pathways and
      foveal/peripheral early visual areas. Cortical distance could partly explain
      intra-hemispherical functional connectivity, but not interhemispherical
      connectivity; after discounting the effect of anatomical affinity, the fine-scale
      functional connectivity still preserved a similar visual-stream-specific modular
      organization. Moreover, cortical retinotopy, folding, and cytoarchitecture impose
      limited constraints to the organization of resting state activity. Given these
      findings, we conclude that spontaneous activity patterns in the visual cortex are
      primarily organized by visual streams, likely reflecting feedback network
      interactions. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4613-4630, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608647
TI  - Specifying the brain anatomy underlying temporo-parietal junction activations for
      theory of mind: A review using probabilistic atlases from different imaging
      modalities.
AB  - In this quantitative review, we specified the anatomical basis of brain activity
      reported in the Temporo-Parietal Junction (TPJ) in Theory of Mind (ToM) research.
      Using probabilistic brain atlases, we labeled TPJ peak coordinates reported in
      the literature. This was carried out for four different atlas modalities: (i)
      gyral-parcellation, (ii) sulco-gyral parcellation, (iii) cytoarchitectonic
      parcellation and (iv) connectivity-based parcellation. In addition, our review
      distinguished between two ToM task types (false belief and social animations) and
      a nonsocial task (attention reorienting). We estimated the mean probabilities of
      activation for each atlas label, and found that for all three task types part of
      TPJ activations fell into the same areas: (i) Angular Gyrus (AG) and Lateral
      Occpital Cortex (LOC) in terms of a gyral atlas, (ii) AG and Superior Temporal
      Sulcus (STS) in terms of a sulco-gyral atlas, (iii) areas PGa and PGp in terms of
      cytoarchitecture and (iv) area TPJp in terms of a connectivity-based parcellation
      atlas. Beside these commonalities, we also found that individual task types
      showed preferential activation for particular labels. Main findings for the right
      hemisphere were preferential activation for false belief tasks in AG/PGa, and in
      Supramarginal Gyrus (SMG)/PFm for attention reorienting. Social animations showed
      strongest selective activation in the left hemisphere, specifically in left
      Middle Temporal Gyrus (MTG). We discuss how our results (i.e., identified atlas
      structures) can provide a new reference for describing future findings, with the
      aim to integrate different labels and terminologies used for studying brain
      activity around the TPJ. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4788-4805, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608648
TI  - Prolonged elevated body mass index in preschool children after the Great East
      Japan Earthquake.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Great East Japan Earthquake followed by tsunamis and the
      Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident caused catastrophic damage.
      The effects of the disaster on the growth of affected children are of great
      concern but remain unknown. METHODS: The subject group was derived from two
      Japanese nationwide retrospective cohorts (historical control and exposure
      groups, respectively). The exposure group experienced the disaster at 47-59
      months of age. We analyzed longitudinal changes in standard deviation score (SDS)
      for height and body mass index (BMI) using normal Japanese children's standards.
      Moreover, we analyzed the details of the affected children in Fukushima using
      Fukushima-specific growth charts established with the historical control data to
      clarify any indirect effect of the disaster on growth. RESULTS: Affected children
      in Fukushima had significantly higher BMI SDS than the historical control group
      (difference, 0.13; 95% CI: 0.044-0.21, P = 0.0029) and the regional controls
      (difference, 0.14; 95% CI: 0.074-0.20, P < 0.0001) 1.5 years after the disaster.
      Similar sustained increases in BMI SDS were also found with Fukushima-specific
      growth charts, but the phenomenon was detected only in boys. Notably, the BMI SDS
      of affected children who lived near the NPP had been increasing after the
      disaster, whereas those in distant areas had not changed. In contrast, height SDS
      had not changed throughout the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged elevated BMI SDS
      was detected only in affected children in Fukushima. This phenomenon may be
      explained by an indirect effect of the NPP accident.

PMID- 28608649
TI  - High-coverage proteomics reveals methionine auxotrophy in Deinococcus
      radiodurans.
AB  - Deinococcus radiodurans is a robust bacterium best known for its capacity to
      resist to radiation. In this study, the SDS-PAGE coupled with high-precision LC
      MS/MS was used to study the D. radiodurans proteome. A total of 1951 proteins
      were identified which covers 63.18% protein-coding genes. Comparison of the
      identified proteins to the key enzymes in amino acid biosyntheses from KEGG
      database showed the methionine biosynthesis module is incomplete while other
      amino acid biosynthesis modules are complete, which indicated methionine
      auxotrophy in D. radiodurans. The subsequent amino acid-auxotrophic screening has
      verified methionine instead of other amino acids is essential for the growth of
      D. radiodurans. With molecular evolutionary genetic analysis, we found the
      divergence in methionine biosynthesis during the evolution of the common ancestor
      of bacteria. We also found D. radiodurans lost the power of synthesizing
      methionine because of the missing metA and metX in two types of methionine
      biosyntheses. For the first time, this study used high-coverage proteome analysis
      to identify D. radiodurans amino acid auxotrophy, which provides the important
      reference for the development of quantitative proteomics analysis using stable
      isotope labeling in metabolomics of D. radiodurans and in-depth analysis of the
      molecular mechanism of radiation resistance.

PMID- 28608650
TI  - Comparison of different dosing strategies of intratracheally instilled budesonide
      on meconium injured piglet lungs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe inflammation plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of
      meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS). Intratracheal (IT) instillation of
      corticosteroids may be beneficial for MAS in optimizing local effect and reducing
      systemic adverse effects, but the optimum dosing course remains open to question.
      METHODS: Thirty meconium-injured newborn piglets were enrolled into six study
      groups. The first four groups consisted of the IT instillation of 0.25/0.5 mg/kg
      using either one (IT-B251/IT-B501) or two (IT-B252/IT-B502) doses of budesonide,
      while the other two groups were the intravenous (IV) dexamethasone (0.5 mg/kg)
      (IV-Dex) group and the control group (Ctrl). Vital signs and cardiopulmonary
      functions were monitored throughout the experiments. Pulmonary histology was
      examined after completing the experiments. RESULTS: Both the IV-Dex and IT-B501
      groups got significant improvement in oxygenation (P < 0.05). Lung compliance
      became worse after one dose of 0.25 mg/kg of IT budesonide. Pulmonary histology
      revealed that there were significantly lower lung injury scores for all treatment
      groups compared to control group, especially at the non-dependent sites of both
      the IT-B501 and IT-B502 groups. There was no significant difference between
      double- and single-dose groups, no matter whether 0.25 or 0.5 mg/kg of budesonide
      was used. CONCLUSIONS: IT instillation of one dose of 0.5 mg/kg budesonide is
      beneficial in treating meconium-injured piglet lungs during the first 8 h of
      injury, but a second dose at an interval of 4 h does not have a superior
      beneficial effect compared to one dose.

PMID- 28608652
TI  - Impact of pharmacy services on cystic fibrosis medication adherence.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to characterize the impact of pharmacy
      services on medication adherence and hospitalizations for pediatric cystic
      fibrosis (CF) patients. METHODS: A retrospective health insurance claims analysis
      and patient medical charts review from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 of
      patients from the Pediatric Intermountain CF Center was performed. Adherence to
      dornase alfa and hospital admissions for pulmonary exacerbations pre and post the
      implementation of an integrated pharmacy team were reviewed. Dornase alfa
      adherence was measured by the medication possession ratio (MPR) both monthly and
      yearly. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients met inclusion criteria. The mean dornase
      alfa yearly MPR improved from 0.75 (2014) to 0.92 (2016). Patients were 2.8 times
      more likely to be adherent to dornase alfa when followed by integrated pharmacy
      team model (P < 0.001), and 2.4 times more likely to be adherent when followed by
      a dedicated CF clinic pharmacist only (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study
      demonstrated that pharmacy services improved adherence to dornase alfa.

PMID- 28608653
TI  - Complementary cortical gray and white matter developmental patterns in healthy,
      preterm neonates.
AB  - Preterm birth is associated with brain injury and altered cognitive development.
      However, the consequences of extrauterine development are not clearly
      distinguished from perinatal brain injury. Therefore, we characterized cortical
      growth patterns from 30 to 46 postmenstrual weeks (PMW) in 27 preterm neonates
      (25-32 PMW at birth) without detectable brain injury on magnetic resonance
      imaging. We introduce surface-based morphometric descriptors that quantify radial
      (thickness) and tangential (area) change rates. Within a tensor-based morphometry
      framework, we use a temporally weighted formulation of regression to
      simultaneously model local age-related changes in cortical gray matter (GM) and
      underlying white matter (WM) mapped onto the cortical surface. The spatiotemporal
      pattern of GM and WM development corresponded to the expected gyrification time
      course of primary sulcal deepening and branching. In primary gyri, surface area
      and thickness rates were below average along sulcal pits and above average on
      gyral banks and crests in both GM and WM. Above average surface area rates in GM
      corresponded to emergence of secondary and tertiary folds. These findings map the
      development of neonatal cortical morphometry in the context of extrauterine brain
      development using a novel approach. Future studies may compare this developmental
      trajectory to preterm populations with brain injury. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4322-4336,
      2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608654
TI  - Comparative evaluation of probiotics effects on plasma glucose, lipid, and
      insulin levels in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a chronic disorder caused by the relative decrease in
      insulin production from the pancreas, tissue resistance to insulin, or both.
      Daily consumption of probiotics, particularly Lactobacilli, has been proposed as
      a new strategy for prevention or control of diabetes. METHODS: In the current
      study, the effects of various probiotics including Lactobacillus reuteri (L
      reuteri), Lactobacillus crispatus (L crispatus), and Bacillus subtilis on the
      levels of blood glucose, lipid, and insulin as well as haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c )
      were investigated in rat models of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes and
      compared with metformin. In addition, GLUT-4 and PPAR-gamma transcript levels
      have been analysed in adipose tissues. RESULTS: A significant decrease in plasma
      glucose and HbA1c levels and a dramatic increase in insulin levels have been
      detected after consumption of probiotics. Furthermore, lipid profiles have been
      improved. The expression of Glut-4 and Ppar-gamma genes in adipose tissues also
      increased after treatment period. CONCLUSION: The results of this experiment
      showed that daily consumption of probiotics can be effective in control of STZ
      induced diabetes and its complications.

PMID- 28608655
TI  - Do patients with iron deficiency without anemia benefit from an endoscopic
      examination?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The need for endoscopic investigation in patients with iron deficiency
      without anemia (ID) is not established. METHODS: Data from patients with ID
      (serum ferritin <=20 ng/mL, normal hemoglobin) studied with upper and lower
      endoscopies were retrospectively analyzed. Patients evaluated for iron deficiency
      anemia (IDA) served as controls, matched by sex and age in the proportion of 2:1.
      The groups were compared for the presence, type, location and age distribution of
      endoscopic findings. RESULTS: Altogether 109 patients (55% women; mean age 59.6
      +/- 13.5 years; aged <50 years [27.5%]; 50-69 years [43.1%]; >=70 years [29.4%])
      were included in the ID group and 218 matched controls in the IDA group. Lesions
      were found in a similar proportion of patients (53.2% in the ID group vs 49.1% in
      the IDA group, P = 0.48) irrespective of age (P = 0.92). The colonoscopy
      diagnostic yield was low in both the ID and IDA subgroups of aged <50 years (6.3%
      vs 4.2%, P = 0.76). Multivariate analysis revealed a significant relationship
      between age (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.06) and
      male sex (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.18-4.39) with a positive colonoscopy. Malignancy was
      significantly less frequent in the ID group (1.8% vs 14.2%, P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of gastrointestinal lesions in patients with and
      without anemia was similar but malignancy was eight times less frequent in the ID
      group. Systematic endoscopic evaluation in patients with ID is therefore
      questionable.

PMID- 28608656
TI  - Primary Sternal Osteomyelitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus in an
      Immunocompetent Adult.
AB  - Primary sternal osteomyelitis (PSO) is a rare condition that may develop without
      any contiguous focus of infection. Due to the rarity of the disease, early
      diagnosis and appropriate treatment are often delayed. Herein, we describe a
      patient with PSO caused by Staphylococcus aureus that presented with chest pain
      and fever. The patient had no predisposing factors for sternal osteomyelitis. The
      chest pain was thought to be non-cardiogenic, as electrocardiography and cardiac
      enzyme did not reveal ischemic changes when he visited the emergency room. After
      blood culture revealed the presence of S. aureus, every effort was made to
      identify the primary focus of infection. Bone scan and magnetic resonance imaging
      revealed osteomyelitis with soft tissue inflammation around the sternum. After 8
      weeks of antibiotics treatment, the patient recovered without any complications.

PMID- 28608657
TI  - MALDI-TOF-MS Fingerprinting Provides Evidence of Urosepsis caused by Aerococcus
      urinae.
AB  - Urosepsis due to Aerococcus urinae is rare in clinical settings with only a few
      of reported cases worldwide by 16S rRNA sequencing. Here we report a case of
      sepsis caused by A. urinae in a 86 year-old male with complicated urinary tract
      infection which was confirmed through peptide mass fingerprinting of matrix
      assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry.

PMID- 28608658
TI  - Massilia varians Isolated from a Clinical Specimen.
AB  - We report a case of Massilia varians isolated from a deep finger wound following
      orthopedic surgery on an immunocompetent patient. The bacterium was identified by
      16S rDNA sequence analysis. This is the first case of M. varians isolated from a
      clinical specimen since the first report in 2008.

PMID- 28608659
TI  - Is the Initial Size of Tuberculous Lymphadenopathy associated with Lymph Node
      Enlargement during Treatment?
AB  - There are little data on the changes in lymph node (LN) size during the treatment
      of tuberculous lymphadenopathy (TB LAP). This study aimed to provide data on LN
      changes during treatment. Between March 2014 and December 2015, 20 patients who
      were diagnosed with cervical TB LAP were enrolled. LN enlargement within two
      months (50%, 4/8 vs. 8.3%, 1/12; P = 0.04) was more frequently observed in
      patients with initial LN size >= 7.5 cm2. Enlarged LNs were excised in three
      patients owing to pain and fistula formation. Initial LN size may be associated
      with LN enlargement during treatment.

PMID- 28608660
TI  - Emergence of Community-Genotype Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in
      Korean Hospitals: Clinical Characteristics of Nosocomial Infections by Community
      Genotype Strain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As community-genotype methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) strains spread into hospitals, the genotypes of the MRSA strains causing
      hospital-acquired (HA) infections have become more diverse. We describe clinical
      characteristics of nosocomial MRSA infections by a community-genotype of sequence
      type (ST) 72. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case-control study was designed among
      patients with HA-MRSA infections. Forty patients with infections caused by ST72
      MRSA SCCmec type IV were selected as cases. Cases were matched to the controls
      with 106 patients infected with ST5/ST239 MRSA, which are representative hospital
      genotypes in Korea. RESULTS: Patients infected with ST72 isolates were younger
      than those with ST5/ST239 isolates. Female gender predominated among ST72 MRSA
      group compared to ST5/ST239 MRSA group. Solid tumor was a more frequent
      underlying disease in MRSA infections by ST72 isolates, whereas underlying renal,
      lung, heart, and neurologic diseases were more frequently found in those by
      ST5/ST239 isolates. The most common type of infection was pneumonia in both ST72
      and ST5/ST239 groups (45.0% vs. 51.9%), followed by skin and soft tissue
      infection (SSTI). Female gender and underlying solid tumor were identified to be
      independent predictors for MRSA infections by ST72 isolates. All-cause mortality
      rates (20.0% vs. 30.2%) were not different between the groups. CONCLUSION: A
      community-genotype MRSA, ST72 isolate has emerged as a nosocomial pathogen
      presenting as hospital-acquired pneumonia and SSTI. Although differences in
      underlying disorders were found, the distribution of infection type and mortality
      rate did not differ between the groups.

PMID- 28608661
TI  - Campylobacter jejuni Bacteremia in a Liver Cirrhosis Patient and Review of
      Literature: A Case Study.
AB  - Campylobacter infection causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain
      or diarrhea. Occasionally, Campylobacter bacteremia affects immunocompromised
      patients; however, serious outcomes are known to be rare. Here, we present a case
      of a patient with Campylobacter bacteremia who had underlying liver cirrhosis.
      The patient had fever and diarrhea. These symptoms subsided after treatment with
      cefotaxime. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated in the blood culture after 10 days.
      In addition, previously reported cases of Campylobacter bacteremia in Asian
      countries were reviewed with respect to antimicrobial sensitivities.

PMID- 28608662
TI  - Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis caused by HACEK Organisms: a Case Reports and
      Systematic Review of the Literature.
AB  - HACEK is a rare cause of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). We describe 42-year
      old male patient who presented with Aggregatibacter aphrophilus PVE and cerebral
      infarct. A. aphrophilus was isolated from his blood cultures as the sole
      pathogen, which was confirmed by subsequent 16S rRNA sequencing. He was treated
      with valve replacement surgery and an 8 week course of pathogen-directed
      antibiotic therapy and followed for 20 months without recurrence.

PMID- 28608663
TI  - Enterovirus Infection in Adults Presenting with Nonspecific Febrile Illness
      during Summer.

PMID- 28608664
TI  - Trend of CD4+ Cell Counts at Diagnosis and Initiation of Highly Active
      Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART): Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study, 1992-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CD4+ cell counts reflect immunologic status of human immunodeficiency
      virus (HIV) patients. Recommended CD4+ cell counts for the initiation of highly
      active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has increased over the past several years
      in various HIV treatment guidelines. We investigated the trend of CD4+ cell
      counts at diagnosis and treatment start using data from the Korea HIV/acquired
      immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) Cohort Study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Korea
      HIV/AIDS Cohort Study started in 2006 and enrolled HIV patients from 21 tertiary
      and secondary hospitals in South Korea. The data for CD4+ cell counts at
      diagnosis and HAART initiation from these HIV patients were analyzed by three
      year time intervals and presented by number of CD4+ cells (<=100, 101-200, 201
      350, 351-500 and >500 cells/mm3). The HIV-RNA titer at diagnosis and HAART
      initiation were presented by 3-year intervals by groups <=50,000, 50,001-100,000,
      100,001-200,000, 200,001-1,000,000, and >1,000,000 copies/mL. RESULTS: Median
      values of CD4+ cell count and HIV-RNA titer at initial HIV diagnosis were 247
      cells/mm3 and 394,955 copies/mL, respectively. At time of initiating HAART,
      median values of CD4+ cell count and HIV-RNA were 181 cells/mm3 and 83,500
      copies/mL, respectively. Patients with low CD4+ cell count (CD4+ cell count <=200
      cells/mm3) at diagnosis (31-51%) and initiation of HAART accounted for the
      largest proportion (30-65%) over the three-year time intervals. This proportion
      increased until 2010-2012. CONCLUSION: CD4+ cell count at initiation of HAART was
      found to be very low, and the increase in late initiation of HAART in recent
      years is of concern. We think that this increase is primarily due to an
      increasing proportion of late presenters. We recommend early detection of HIV
      patients and earlier start of HAART in order to treat and prevent spread of HIV
      infection.

PMID- 28608665
TI  - Comparison of Plasma Concentrations of Posaconazole with the Oral Suspension and
      Tablet in Korean Patients with Hematologic Malignancies.
AB  - The posaconazole tablet formulation was developed to have improved
      bioavailability compared to the oral suspension. Here, we compared posaconazole
      plasma concentration (PPC) with the posaconazole oral suspension versus the
      tablet in Korean patients undergoing remission induction chemotherapy for
      hematologic malignancies. PPC was measured at 3, 8, and 15 days of treatment with
      the oral suspension (174 patients) or the tablet (40 patients). At all time
      points, mean PPC was significantly higher with the tablet compared to the oral
      suspension. Our findings suggest that posaconazole tablets generate an optimal
      PPC earlier and in more patients than the oral suspension among Korean patients.

PMID- 28608666
TI  - [Evaluation of the effects of a natural dietary supplement with cranberry,
      Noxamicina(r) and D-mannose in recurrent urinary infections in perimenopausal
      women].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The female genital apparatus, the urinary tract and the perineal
      supporting tissues share a common embryological origin, whose differentiation
      depends on the action of estrogens. In adult women, the progressive decline of
      the ovarian function, with the ensuing estrogen deprivation, reduces tissue
      tropism causing urogenital atrophy, which makes these organs much more
      susceptible to traumatisms and urinary infections. The disorders associated with
      changes in the urogenital tract of peri- and postmenopausal women have
      significant clinical relevance, both on account of their chronicity and high
      frequency of occurrence and on account of their having major repercussions on the
      quality of life of the women, who often have to call their doctor seeking relief
      for their symptoms. In general, these patients report having a significant number
      of episodes of cystitis per year. With a view to verifying whether the use of a
      new dietary supplement (Kistinox(r) Forte sachets) containing cranberry
      (Vaccinium macrocarpon), Noxamicina(r) (propolis extract) and D-mannose can be of
      use in the treatment of cystitis, with or without bacteriuria, through the
      elimination of urinary symptoms, a multicenter clinical study was conducted on
      150 women aged 40 to 50 suffering from recurrent episodes of cystitis as attested
      by at least one positive urine culture during the six months preceding their
      recruitment. METHODS: The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: Group A:
      100 women were given Kistinox(r) Forte, 1 sachet per day during the first 10 days
      of the month, for 3 months; Group B: 50 women did not receive any treatment to
      serve as a control group. RESULTS: The results of the present study show a
      complete remission of urinary symptoms in 92 women; a slight decrease in urinary
      symptoms was observed in 5 subjects, whereas 3 women who stopped the treatment
      after the first cycle were considered drop-outs. CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter
      clinical study revealed the excellent efficacy and tolerability of Kistinox(r)
      Forte sachets in the treatment and prevention of urinary disorders in peri- and
      postmenopausal women. The posology of a sachet a day during the first 10 days of
      the month for 3 months was well tolerated by the patients, who did not report any
      disorder arising from the product.

PMID- 28608667
TI  - Dynamic quadripolar radiofrequency treatment of vaginal laxity/menopausal vulvo
      vaginal atrophy: 12-month efficacy and safety.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Twelve-month extension of a previous spontaneous exploratory study
      investigating safety and efficacy of a new low-energy dynamic quadripolar
      radiofrequency (DQRF) device in: A) premenopausal women with symptoms of vaginal
      laxity, with special reference to dysuria, urinary incontinence and
      unsatisfactory sexual life (vaginal laxity arm of the study); B) postmenopausal
      women with vulvovaginal atrophy/genitourinary syndrome of menopause (VVA/GSM) and
      VVA/GSM-related symptoms (VVA/GSM arm of the study). DQRF treatment schedule in
      both study arms: 4 to 6 procedures of 15 to 20 min every 14 days (vaginal laxity,
      range 12-17 days; VVA/GSM, range 13-16). Operative temperatures in vaginal target
      tissues during procedure: vaginal laxity, 42  degrees C (range 40-43  degrees C);
      VVA/GSM, 40  degrees C (range 40-42  degrees C). METHODS: In the vaginal laxity
      arm of the study, 25 women with subjective sensation of vaginal introital laxity
      (very to slightly loose). Assessment of urinary incontinence, satisfaction with
      sexual relationship and contribution of pelvic organ prolapse: Vaginal Laxity
      Questionnaire (VLQ, Italian certified translation) and short form of the Pelvic
      Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire (PISQ-12, Italian
      certified translation). Further evaluation of sexual gratification: Sexual
      Satisfaction Questionnaire (SSQ). In the VVA/GSM arm of the study, 32 women with
      objective evidence of VVA and vaginal dryness and/or dyspareunia as most
      bothersome symptoms. Assessment of VVA/GSM symptoms and overall satisfaction with
      sexual life: specifically designed 10-cm visual analogue scales. RESULTS: All 4
      to 6 planned DQRF sessions were well tolerated in both the vaginal laxity and
      VVA/GSM arms of the study, with no troubling pain, thermal injury or other
      immediate adverse effects during all the procedures. All screened women completed
      the planned DQRF treatment sessions in both arms of the extension study. There
      was no participant attrition with only a few occasionally missing visits over the
      12-month follow-up period. Improvements were rapid in self-perception of
      introital looseness and related symptoms like dysuria/urinary incontinence and
      unrewarding sexual relationship (vaginal laxity patients) and atrophy-related
      symptoms including painful and unsatisfactory sexual activity (VVA/GSM patients).
      Participating women consistently reported wide-spectrum strong clinical
      improvements by the end of the planned DQRF sessions. Clinical improvements
      remained steady for the whole follow-up period in postmenopausal women; a
      statistically non-significant tendency to slight deterioration in VLQ, PISQ-12
      and SSQ mean scores was detected after 6 to 9 months of follow-up in the vaginal
      laxity arm of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Safety was excellent during all DQRF
      procedures and over the 12 months following the end of the treatment sessions.
      VLQ, PISQ-12 and SSQ scores (women with vaginal laxity), VAS self-evaluation of
      VVA/GSM symptoms and overall satisfaction with sexual life (women with VVA/GSM
      symptoms) improved rapidly, reaching almost normal levels by the last DQRF
      session and suggesting rapid, but also persistent, vaginal rejuvenation in both
      indications. A late tendency to some slight deterioration in women treated for
      vaginal laxity suggests such women might benefit from new DQRF treatments 6 to 9
      months after the previous cycle.

PMID- 28608668
TI  - Outcomes of vaginal lipofilling with the tumescent technique.

PMID- 28608669
TI  - One-pot Synthesis of CdS Irregular Nanospheres Hybridized with Oxygen
      Incorporated Defect-Rich MoS2 Ultrathin Nanosheets for Efficient Photocatalytic
      Hydrogen Evolution.
AB  - Robust and highly active photocatalysts, CdS@MoS2, for hydrogen evolution were
      successfully fabricated by one-step growth of oxygen-incorporated defect-rich
      MoS2 ultrathin nanosheets on the surfaces of CdS with irregular fissures. Under
      optimized experimental conditions, the CdS@MoS2 displayed a quantum yield of
      ~24.2% at 420 nm and the maximum H2 generation rate of ~17203.7 umol/g/h using
      Na2S-Na2SO3 as sacrificial agents (lambda >= 420 nm), which is ~47.3 and 14.7
      times higher than CdS (~363.8 MUmol/g/h) and 3 wt % Pt/CdS (~1173.2 MUmol/g/h),
      respectively, and far exceeds all previous hydrogen evolution reaction
      photocatalysts with MoS2 as co-catalysts using Na2S-Na2SO3 as sacrificial agents.
      Large volumes of hydrogen bubbles were generated within only 2 s as the
      photocatalysis started, as demonstrated by the photocatalytic video. The high
      hydrogen evolution activity is attributed to several merits: (1) the intimate
      heterojunctions formed between the MoS2 and CdS can effectively enhance the
      charge transfer ability and retard the recombination of electron-hole pairs; and
      (2) the defects in the MoS2 provide additional active S atoms on the exposed edge
      sites, and the incorporation of O reduces the energy barrier for H2 evolution and
      increases the electric conductivity of the MoS2. Considering its low cost and
      high efficiency, this highly efficient hybrid photocatalysts would have great
      potential in energy-generation and environment-restoration fields.

PMID- 28608670
TI  - Bottom-Up Electrochemical Deposition of Poly(styrene sulfonate) on
      Nanoarchitectured Electrodes.
AB  - The cathodic deposition of poly(styrene sulfonate) on nanoarchitectured TiO2
      electrodes is explored by cyclic voltammetry and potentiostatic and galvanostatic
      experiments, showing a diffusion-controlled deposition described by Cottrell's
      law. The structure and composition of the polymer is evidenced by various
      spectroscopic techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform
      infrared, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and its morphology is studied by
      scanning electron microscopy. The average chain length can be estimated from the
      NMR spectra. The electropolymerization mechanism initiates by radical anion
      formation. The cycling behavior in half-cell batteries against Li metal is
      excellent, especially at high rates explored up to 10 C. The areal insertion
      capacity is above recent literature results, up to 80 MUA h cm-2. The combination
      of normalized areal power density and areal energy density is one of the best
      reported in the literature.

PMID- 28608672
TI  - Electrochemical Substrate and Assay for Esterolytic Activity of Human White Blood
      Cells.
AB  - The ester 4-((tosyl-l-alanyl)oxy)phenyl tosyl-l-alaninate (TAPTA) was synthesized
      and tested as a substrate for leukocyte esterase (LE), an enzyme produced by
      leukocytes (white blood cells). In the presence of LE, TAPTA released a redox
      active fragment whose oxidation at an electrode provided a direct numerical
      measure of LE activity. The assays showed that LE recognized TAPTA as its
      substrate with the Michaelis constant Km and Imax equal to 0.24 mM and 0.13 mA cm
      1, respectively. The esterolytic activity of leukocyte suspensions was determined
      by using the internally calibrated electrochemical continuous enzyme assay
      (ICECEA). One activity unit (U) of LE catalyzed the hydrolysis of 1.0 MUmol of
      TAPTA per minute in a pH 7.40 phosphate buffer saline solution containing 10%
      dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at 21  degrees C. The measured units were directly
      proportional to the number of leukocytes in the range of 0.028-4.2 U L-1 (9-690
      MUg L-1 LE protein). One white blood cell displayed the average esterolytic
      activity of 0.86 and 1.4 nU when the ultrasonic and chemical cytolysis were used,
      respectively. The ICECEA is an electrochemical alternative to optical assays for
      the determination of LE activity as an inflammatory biomarker and proxy for the
      presence of leukocytes.

PMID- 28608673
TI  - Organic Donor-Acceptor Complexes as Novel Organic Semiconductors.
AB  - Organic donor-acceptor (DA) complexes have attracted wide attention in recent
      decades, resulting in the rapid development of organic binary system electronics.
      The design and synthesis of organic DA complexes with a variety of component
      structures have mainly focused on metallicity (or even superconductivity),
      emission, or ferroelectricity studies. Further efforts have been made in high
      performance electronic investigations. The chemical versatility of organic
      semiconductors provides DA complexes with a great number of possibilities for
      semiconducting applications. Organic DA complexes extend the semiconductor family
      and promote charge separation and transport in organic field-effect transistors
      (OFETs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In OFETs, the organic complex serves as
      an active layer across extraordinary charge pathways, ensuring the efficient
      transport of induced charges. Although an increasing number of organic
      semiconductors have been reported to exhibit good p- or n-type properties
      (mobilities higher than 1 or even 10 cm2 V-1 s-1), critical scientific challenges
      remain in utilizing the advantages of existing semiconductor materials for more
      and wider applications while maintaining less complicated synthetic or device
      fabrication processes. DA complex materials have revealed new insight: their
      unique molecular packing and structure-property relationships. The combination of
      donors and acceptors could offer practical advantages compared with their
      unimolecular materials. First, growing crystals of DA complexes with densely
      packed structures will reduce impurities and traps from the self-assembly
      process. Second, complexes based on the original structural components could form
      superior mixture stacking, which can facilitate charge transport depending on the
      driving force in the coassembly process. Third, the effective use of organic
      semiconductors can lead to tunable band structures, allowing the operation mode
      (p- or n-type) of the transistor to be systematically controlled by changing the
      components. Finally, theoretical calculations based on cocrystals with unique
      stacking could widen our understanding of structure-property relationships and in
      turn help us design high-performance semiconductors based on DA complexes. In
      this Account, we focus on discussing organic DA complexes as a new class of
      semiconducting materials, including their design, growth methods, packing modes,
      charge-transport properties, and structure-property relationships. We have also
      fabricated and investigated devices based on these binary crystals. This
      interdisciplinary work combines techniques from the fields of self-assembly,
      crystallography, condensed-matter physics, and theoretical chemistry. Researchers
      have designed new complex systems, including donor and acceptor compounds that
      self-assemble in feasible ways into highly ordered cocrystals. We demonstrate
      that using this crystallization method can easily realize ambipolar or unipolar
      transport. To further improve device performance, we propose several design
      strategies, such as using new kinds of donors and acceptors, modulating the
      energy alignment of the donor (ionization potential, IP) and acceptor (electron
      affinity, EA) components, and extending the pi-conjugated backbones. In addition,
      we have found that when we use molecular "doping" (2:1 cocrystallization), the
      charge-transport nature of organic semiconductors can be switched from hole
      transport-dominated to electron-transport-dominated. We expect that the formation
      of cocrystals through the complexation of organic donor and acceptor species will
      serve as a new strategy to develop semiconductors for organic electronics with
      superior performances over their corresponding individual components.

PMID- 28608671
TI  - Conformational Control of UDP-Galactopyranose Mutase Inhibition.
AB  - UDP-galactopyranose mutase (Glf or UGM) catalyzes the formation of uridine 5'
      diphosphate-alpha-d-galactofuranose (UDP-Galf) from UDP-galactopyranose (UDP
      Galp). The enzyme is required for the production of Galf-containing glycans. UGM
      is absent in mammals, but members of the Corynebacterineae suborder require UGM
      for cell envelope biosynthesis. The need for UGM in some pathogens has prompted
      the search for inhibitors that could serve as antibiotic leads. Optimizing
      inhibitor potency, however, has been challenging. The UGM from Klebsiella
      pneumoniae (KpUGM), which is not required for viability, is more effectively
      impeded by small-molecule inhibitors than are essential UGMs from species such as
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Why KpUGM is more
      susceptible to inhibition than other orthologs is not clear. One potential source
      of difference is UGM ortholog conformation. We previously determined a structure
      of CdUGM bound to a triazolothiadiazine inhibitor in the open form, but it was
      unclear whether the small-molecule inhibitor bound this form or to the closed
      form. By varying the terminal tag (CdUGM-His6 and GSG-CdUGM), we crystallized
      CdUGM to capture the enzyme in different conformations. These structures reveal a
      pocket in the active site that can be exploited to augment inhibitor affinity.
      Moreover, they suggest the inhibitor binds the open form of most prokaryotic UGMs
      but can bind the closed form of KpUGM. This model and the structures suggest
      strategies for optimizing inhibitor potency by exploiting UGM conformational
      flexibility.

PMID- 28608674
TI  - Electrochemical Behavior of Li-Cu Composite Powder Electrodes in Lithium Metal
      Secondary Batteries.
AB  - A new type of Li-Cu composite powder electrode (Li-Cu CE) was fabricated via
      mechanical blending of Li and Cu powders. The new Li-Cu electrode is capable of
      replacing Li metal anodes in Li metal secondary battery (LMSB) systems without
      exhibiting typical intrinsic problems such as dendrite growth, volume change, and
      electrolyte depletion. Thus, Li-Cu CE cells can offer longer lives and very high
      capacities. The Li particles in Li-Cu CEs are surrounded by Cu particles and thus
      cannot form networks that extend throughout the electrode. Isolation of the Li
      powder enables the control of Li+ ion migration during deposition and
      dissolution. The Li-Cu CE can thus prevent problematic volume changes and
      dendrite growth on the anode during battery operation. Symmetric Li-Cu CE cells
      are stable for up to 200 cycles at a rate of 3 C, and the anode capacity is
      estimated to be 1158 mAh g-1 (Li+ ion usage of 30%). These results are thought to
      represent a largest anode capacity for Li-metal in LMSBs.

PMID- 28608675
TI  - Three-Dimensional Printed Graphene Foams.
AB  - An automated metal powder three-dimensional (3D) printing method for in situ
      synthesis of free-standing 3D graphene foams (GFs) was successfully modeled by
      manually placing a mixture of Ni and sucrose onto a platform and then using a
      commercial CO2 laser to convert the Ni/sucrose mixture into 3D GFs. The sucrose
      acted as the solid carbon source for graphene, and the sintered Ni metal acted as
      the catalyst and template for graphene growth. This simple and efficient method
      combines powder metallurgy templating with 3D printing techniques and enables
      direct in situ 3D printing of GFs with no high-temperature furnace or lengthy
      growth process required. The 3D printed GFs show high-porosity (~99.3%), low
      density (~0.015g cm-3), high-quality, and multilayered graphene features. The GFs
      have an electrical conductivity of ~8.7 S cm-1, a remarkable storage modulus of
      ~11 kPa, and a high damping capacity of ~0.06. These excellent physical
      properties of 3D printed GFs indicate potential applications in fields requiring
      rapid design and manufacturing of 3D carbon materials, for example, energy
      storage devices, damping materials, and sound absorption.

PMID- 28608676
TI  - Compound Defects and Thermoelectric Properties of Self-Charge Compensated
      Skutterudites SeyCo4Sb12-xSex.
AB  - In the past two decades, many studies have focused on the effects of
      electropositive guest fillers on the electrical and thermal transport properties
      in CoSb3-based skutterudites. Recently, some electronegative elements such as S,
      Se, Cl, and Br have been filled into the voids in CoSb3 with a small amount of n
      type dopant Te on the Sb sites. In this report, self-charge compensated
      skutterudites SeyCo4Sb12-xSex (0 < x + y < 0.9) with Se occupying two different
      atomic sites have been fabricated by a traditional melting-annealing process
      combined with a spark plasma sintering method. Phase purity was determined by X
      ray diffraction, and the microstructures were examined by scanning electron
      microscopy. The temperature dependencies of the electrical and thermal transport
      properties were characterized. Se could enter both the void and Sb sites in CoSb3
      with a solubility limit around 0.6. The Se content has little effect on bandgap.
      Similar to Ga dual-site occupied GayCo4Sb12-xGax (y = 2x), a typical
      semiconducting electrical property with a low carrier concentration as well as a
      large Seebeck coefficient is observed. A correlation between the large Seebeck
      coefficient and the carrier scattering mechanism has been proposed. In addition,
      a largely reduced room temperature lattice thermal conductivity is obtained with
      a minimum value of 2.1 Wm-1 K-1 for Se0.2Co4Sb11.6Se0.4. The effects of Se on
      lattice thermal conductivity and filler resonant frequency are discussed.

PMID- 28608677
TI  - Block Copolymer Based Nanoparticles for Theranostic Intervention of Cervical
      Cancer: Synthesis, Pharmacokinetics, and in Vitro/in Vivo Evaluation in HeLa
      Xenograft Models.
AB  - Polymer-based nanoparticles have proven to be viable carriers of therapeutic
      agents. In this study, we have developed nanoparticles (NPs) from polypeptide
      polyethylene glycol based triblock and diblock copolymers. The synthesized block
      copolymers poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(glutamic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)
      (GEG) and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(glutamic acid) (EG) conjugated with folic
      acid for targeting specificity (EGFA) have been used to encapsulate methotrexate
      (MTX) to form M-GEG and M-EGFA NPs aimed at passive and active targeting of
      cervical carcinoma. In-vitro SRB cytotoxicity and hemolysis assays revealed that
      these NPs were cytocompatible to healthy human cells and hemocompatible to human
      RBCs. Cellular uptake by FACS demonstrated their prompt internalization by human
      cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells and points toward an apoptotic mechanism of cell
      kill as confirmed by AO/EB staining as well as histological analysis of explanted
      HeLa tumors. Pharmacokinetics and biodistribution studies were performed in New
      Zealand albino rabbits and HeLa xenografted Athymic mice models, respectively, by
      radiolabeling these NPs with 99mTc. Passive tumor accumulation and active
      targeting of MTX-loaded polymeric nanoparticles to folate expressing cells were
      confirmed by intravenous administration of these 99mTc-labeled M-GEG and M-EGFA
      NPs in HeLa tumor bearing nude mice and clearly visualized by whole-body gamma
      SPECT images of these mice. Survival studies of these xenografted mice
      established the antiproliferative effect of these MTX-loaded NPs while
      corroborating the targeting effect of folic acid. These studies proved that the M
      GEG NPs and M-EGFA NPs could be effective alternatives to conventional
      chemotherapy along with simultaneous diagnostic abilities and thus potentially
      viable theranostic options for human cervical carcinoma.

PMID- 28608678
TI  - New Insights into the Stability of Silver Sulfide Nanoparticles in Surface Water:
      Dissolution through Hypochlorite Oxidation.
AB  - Silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag2SNPs) are considered to be stable in the
      environment due to the extreme low solubility of Ag2S (Ksp: 6.3 * 10-50). Little
      is known about the stability of Ag2SNPs in surface water disinfected with aqueous
      chlorine, one of the globally most used disinfectants. Our results suggested that
      both uncoated and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated Ag2SNPs (100 MUg/L) underwent
      dissolution in surface water disinfected with aqueous chlorine at a dose of 4
      mg/L, showing the highest dissolved silver ion concentrations of 22.3 and 10.5
      MUg/L within 45 min, respectively. The natural organic matter (NOM) and dissolved
      oxygen (DO) posed effects on the Ag2SNPs dissolution by chlorine; NOM accelerated
      Ag2SNPs dissolution while DO reduced the rate and extent of Ag2SNPs dissolution.
      We further demonstrated that Ag2SNPs dissolution was primarily attributed to
      active oxidative substances including hydroxyl radical and H2O2 originating from
      the hypochlorite oxidation. Additionally, water containing Ag2SNPs disinfected
      with hypochlorite showed stronger interference on the zebra fish (Danio rerio)
      embryo hatching than Ag2SNPs and hypochlorite on their own. This work documented
      that Ag2SNPs could undergo dissolution in surface water through hypochlorite
      oxidation, posing potential risks to aquatic organisms, and therefore showed new
      insights into the stability of Ag2SNPs in natural environment.

PMID- 28608679
TI  - Oxidative Cleavage of the C?N Bond on Al(I).
AB  - Reaction of the cyclic guanidine TolN?SIMe with the aluminum(I) compound NacNacAl
      (1) results in the unprecedented cleavage of the C-N multiple bond to give, after
      rearrangement, the carbene-ligated Al(III) amide, NacNac'Al(NHTol)(SIMe) (6). DFT
      calculations revealed that these reactions proceed via a bimolecular mechanism in
      which either the basic Al(I) center or the transient Al?NTol species deprotonates
      the methyl group of the NacNac ligand.

PMID- 28608680
TI  - Correction to "Elucidating Proteoform Families from Proteoform Intact-Mass and
      Lysine-Count Measurements".

PMID- 28608682
TI  - Powering a CO2 Reduction Catalyst with Visible Light through Multiple Sub
      picosecond Electron Transfers from a Quantum Dot.
AB  - Photosensitization of molecular catalysts to reduce CO2 to CO is a sustainable
      route to storable solar fuels. Crucial to the sensitization process is highly
      efficient transfer of redox equivalents from sensitizer to catalyst; in systems
      with molecular sensitizers, this transfer is often slow because it is gated by
      diffusion-limited collisions between sensitizer and catalyst. This article
      describes the photosensitization of a meso-tetraphenylporphyrin iron(III)
      chloride (FeTPP) catalyst by colloidal, heavy metal-free CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots
      (QDs) to reduce CO2 to CO using 450 nm light. The sensitization efficiency
      (turnover number per absorbed unit of photon energy) of the QD system is a factor
      of 18 greater than that of an analogous system with a fac-tris(2
      phenylpyridine)iridium sensitizer. This high efficiency originates in ultrafast
      electron transfer between the QD and FeTPP, enabled by formation of QD/FeTPP
      complexes. Optical spectroscopy reveals that the electron-transfer processes
      primarily responsible for the first two sensitization steps (FeIIITPP -> FeIITPP,
      and FeIITPP -> FeITPP) both occur in <200 fs.

PMID- 28608683
TI  - Conformational Analysis and Absolute Configuration of Axially Chiral 1-Aryl and
      1,3-Bisaryl-xanthines.
AB  - The xanthine scaffold is known to be the forefather of a class of biological
      active molecules. Xanthine is a planar framework in which an aryl substituent
      linked in the 1 or 3 position is driven out of the xanthine plane because of the
      steric hindrance exerted by the two carbonyls. This work analyses the
      stereodynamics of some 1-aryl and 1,3-bisaryl-xanthines and describes the steric
      requirements needed to produce stable heteroaromatic atropisomers or
      diastereoisomers, with one or two N-Csp2 stereogenic axes. The N-C racemization
      barrier was found to be bigger than 25 kcal/mol. The absolute configurations of
      the novel atropisomers has been assigned using TD-DFT simulation of ECD spectra.

PMID- 28608681
TI  - Activated Ion-Electron Transfer Dissociation Enables Comprehensive Top-Down
      Protein Fragmentation.
AB  - Here we report the first demonstration of near-complete sequence coverage of
      intact proteins using activated ion-electron transfer dissociation (AI-ETD), a
      method that leverages concurrent infrared photoactivation to enhance electron
      driven dissociation. AI-ETD produces mainly c/z-type product ions and provides
      comprehensive (77-97%) protein sequence coverage, outperforming HCD, ETD, and
      EThcD for all proteins investigated. AI-ETD also maintains this performance
      across precursor ion charge states, mitigating charge-state dependence that
      limits traditional approaches.

PMID- 28608684
TI  - Antioxidant Vitamin E/Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex Electrospun Nanofibers:
      Enhanced Water Solubility, Prolonged Shelf Life, and Photostability of Vitamin E.
AB  - Here, we demonstrated the electrospinning of polymer-free nanofibrous webs from
      inclusion complex (IC) between hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPbetaCD) and
      Vitamin E (Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF). The inclusion complexation between HPbetaCD
      and Vitamin E was prepared by using two different molar ratios (Vitamin
      E/HPbetaCD; 1:2 and 1:1), which correspond to theoretical value of ~13% (w/w) and
      26% (w/w) loading of Vitamin E in the nanofiber (NF) matrix. After
      electrospinning and storage, a very high loading of Vitamin E (up to ~11% w/w,
      with respect to fiber matrix) was preserved in Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF. Because
      of the cyclodextrin inclusion complexation, only a minimal weight loss (only ~2%
      w/w) was observed. While pure Vitamin E is insoluble in water, Vitamin E/HPbetaCD
      IC NF web has displayed fast-dissolving behavior. Because of the greatly enhanced
      water-solubility of Vitamin E, Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF web has shown effective
      antioxidant activity. Additionally, Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF web has provided
      enhanced photostability for the sensitive Vitamin E by the inclusion complexation
      in which Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF still kept its antioxidant activity even after
      exposure to UV-light. Moreover, a 3 year-old Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF sample has
      shown very similar antioxidant efficiency when compared with freshly prepared
      Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC NF indicating that long-term stability was achieved for
      Vitamin E in the CD-IC fiber matrix. In brief, our results suggested that polymer
      free electrospun Vitamin E/HPbetaCD-IC nanofibrous webs could have potential
      applications in food, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare thanks to its efficient
      antioxidant activity along with enhanced water-solubility, prolonged shelf life,
      and high photostability of Vitamin E.

PMID- 28608685
TI  - Synthesis of 6-Phosphorylated Phenanthridines by Mn(II)-Promoted Tandem Reactions
      of 2-Biaryl Isothiocyanates with Phosphine Oxides.
AB  - A novel Mn(II)-promoted tandem phosphorylation/cyclization reaction of 2-biaryl
      isothiocyanates with phosphine oxides is described. This is the first general
      method to synthesize 6-phosporylated phenanthridines from 2-biaryl
      isothiocyanates. The approach is featured by oxidant-free, low loading of P
      reagent, easy operation, and high functional group tolerance.

PMID- 28608686
TI  - Targeted Metabolic Profiling of Post-Mortem Brain from Infants Who Died from
      Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
AB  - Currently little is known about the underlying pathophysiology associated with
      SIDS, and no objective biomarkers exist for the accurate identification of those
      at greatest risk of dying from SIDS. Using targeted metabolomics, we aim to
      profile the medulla oblongata of infants who have died from SIDS (n = 16) and
      directly compare their biochemical profile with age matched controls. Combining
      data acquired using 1H NMR and targeted DI-LC-MS/MS, we have identified fatty
      acid oxidation as a pivotal biochemical pathway perturbed in the brains of those
      infants who have from SIDS (p = 0.0016). Further we have identified a potential
      central biomarker with an AUC (95% CI) = 0.933 (0.845-1.000) having high
      sensitivity (0.933) and specificity (0.875) values for discriminating between
      control and SIDS brains. This is the first reported study to use targeted
      metabolomics for the study of PM brain from infants who have died from SIDS. We
      have identified pathways associated with the disease and central biomarkers for
      early screening/diagnosis.

PMID- 28608687
TI  - Upconverting Nanoparticles as Optical Sensors of Nano- to Micro-Newton Forces.
AB  - Mechanical forces affect a myriad of processes, from bone growth to material
      fracture to touch-responsive robotics. While nano- to micro-Newton forces are
      prevalent at the microscopic scale, few methods have the nanoscopic size and
      signal stability to measure them in vivo or in situ. Here, we develop an optical
      force-sensing platform based on sub-25 nm NaYF4 nanoparticles (NPs) doped with
      Yb3+, Er3+, and Mn2+. The lanthanides Yb3+ and Er3+ enable both photoluminescence
      and upconversion, while the energetically coupled d-metal Mn2+ adds force
      tunability through its crystal field sensitivity. Using a diamond anvil cell to
      exert up to 3.5 GPa pressure or ~10 MUN force per particle, we track stress
      induced spectral responses. The red (660 nm) to green (520, 540 nm) emission
      ratio varies linearly with pressure, yielding an observed color change from
      orange to red for alpha-NaYF4 and from yellow-green to green for d-metal
      optimized beta-NaYF4 when illuminated in the near infrared. Consistent readouts
      are recorded over multiple pressure cycles and hours of illumination. With the
      nanoscopic size, a dynamic range of 100 nN to 10 MUN, and photostability, these
      nanoparticles lay the foundation for visualizing dynamic mechanical processes,
      such as stress propagation in materials and force signaling in organisms.

PMID- 28608688
TI  - Dichotomous Well-defined Nanostructure with Weakly Arranged Ion Packing Explains
      the Solvency of Pyrrolidinium Acetate.
AB  - Pyrrolidinium ionic liquids, especially pyrrolidinium acetate (PyrrAc), have
      demonstrated outstanding capacity for extracting lignin from biomass, as
      electrolytes for fuel cells and lithium ion batteries and as solvents for acid
      catalyzed reactions. In this work we show that the unusual liquid nanostructure
      of PyrrAc is the key to its versatility as a solvent compared to other ionic
      liquids. Neutron diffraction with multiple H/D isotopic substitutions reveals
      that the bulk nanostructure of PyrrAc is a bicontinuous network of
      interpenetrating polar and apolar domains. However, the arrangement of groups in
      both domains is strikingly different from that found in other ionic liquids. In
      the apolar regions, the pyrrolidinium rings are highly intercalated and
      disordered, with no preferred alignment between adjacent pyrrolidinium rings,
      which distinguishes it from both pi-pi stacking seen in imidazolium or pyridinium
      ionic liquids, and the tail-tail bilayer-like arrangements in linear
      alkylammonium ionic liquids. The H-bond network within the polar domain extends
      only to form finite clusters, with long bent H-bonds to accommodate
      electrostatics. Therefore, while PyrrAc unquestionably has well-defined
      amphiphilic nanostructure, the disordered arrangement of groups in the polar and
      apolar domains enables it to accommodate a wide variety of solutes. The
      combination of well-defined polar/apolar nanostructure, but disordered
      arrangements of groups within domains, is therefore the origin of PyrrAc's
      capacity for lignin extraction and as an electrolyte.

PMID- 28608689
TI  - Simulation Analysis of the Kinetic Exchange of Copolymer Surfactants in Micelles.
AB  - The exchange of surfactants in micelles involves several processes that are
      difficult to characterize experimentally. Microscopic simulations have the
      potential to reveal some of the key activities that occur when a surfactant
      spontaneously exits a micelle. In this work, we present a quantitative analysis
      of the kinetic exchange process over a large range of time. This study is based
      on a dynamic version of single-chain mean-field theory using a coarse-grained
      model for poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)
      triblock copolymer systems. The kinetics described in our simulations involves
      three different regimes. After a fast initial rearrangement of the labeled
      chains, the system undergoes a logarithmic relaxation, which has been
      experimentally observed. Contrary to what has been reported in previous analyses,
      our simulations indicate that this regime is caused by the intrinsic physical
      behavior of the system and is not due only to the polydispersity of the samples.
      Finally, the terminal regime is characterized by an exponential decay. The exit
      rates predicted by our simulations are in good agreement with the values reported
      experimentally. In addition, we address the sequence of microscopic
      conformational changes undergone by the surfactants when leaving the micellar
      aggregates. We found a subtle variation in the radius of gyration of the
      hydrophobic block, which challenges the image of either a complete collapse or a
      full stretching commonly accepted in the current theoretical and experimental
      literature.

PMID- 28608690
TI  - Conformational Plasticity of the Cell-Penetrating Peptide SAP As Revealed by
      Solid-State 19F-NMR and Circular Dichroism Spectroscopies.
AB  - The cell-penetrating peptide SAP, which was designed as an amphipathic poly-l
      proline helix II (PPII), was suggested to self-assemble into regular fibrils that
      are relevant for its internalization. Herein we have analyzed the structure of
      SAP in the membrane-bound state by solid-state 19F-NMR, which revealed other
      structural states, in addition to the expected surface-aligned PPII.
      Trifluoromethyl-bicyclopentyl-glycine (CF3-Bpg) and two rigid isomers of
      trifluoromethyl-4,5-methanoprolines (CF3-MePro) were used as labels for 19F-NMR
      analysis. The equilibria between different conformations of SAP were studied and
      were found to be shifted by the substituents at Pro-11. Synchrotron-CD results
      suggested that substituting Pro-11 by CF3-MePro governed the coil-to-PPII
      equilibrium in solution and in the presence of a lipid bilayer. Using CD and 19F
      NMR, we examined the slow kinetics of the association of SAP with membranes and
      the dependence of the SAP conformational dynamics on the lipid composition. The
      peptide did not bind to lipids in the solid ordered phase and aggregated only in
      the liquid ordered "raft"-like bilayers. Self-association could not be detected
      in solution or in the presence of liquid disordered membranes. Surface-bound
      amphipathic SAP in a nonaggregated state was structured as a mixture of nonideal
      extended conformations reflecting the equilibrium already present in solution,
      i.e., before binding to the membrane.

PMID- 28608691
TI  - Impact of Reabsorption on the Emission Spectra and Recombination Dynamics of
      Hybrid Perovskite Single Crystals.
AB  - Understanding the surface properties of organic-inorganic lead-based perovskites
      is of high importance to improve the device's performance. Here, we have
      investigated the differences between surface and bulk optical properties of
      CH3NH3PbBr3 single crystals. Depth-resolved cathodoluminescence was used to probe
      the near-surface region on a depth of a few microns. In addition, we have studied
      the transmitted luminescence through thicknesses between 50 and 600 MUm. In both
      experiments, the expected spectral shift due to the reabsorption effect has been
      precisely calculated. We demonstrate that reabsorption explains the important
      variations reported for the emission energy of single crystals. Single crystals
      are partially transparent to their own luminescence, and radiative transport is
      the dominant mechanism for propagation of the excitation in thick crystals. The
      transmitted luminescence dynamics are characterized by a long rise time and a
      lengthening of their decay due to photon recycling and light trapping.

PMID- 28608692
TI  - Galactomannan from Antrodia cinnamomea Enhances the Phagocytic Activity of
      Macrophages.
AB  - Galactomannan with an octasaccharide-repeating unit (ACP) was isolated from
      Taiwan medicinal mushroom Antrodia cinnamomea, and its chemical structure was
      determined herein. ACP significantly enhanced the phagocytosis and bactericidal
      activity of J774A.1 murine macrophages against Escherichia coli, with prospects
      for developing a new immunomodulatory compound or adjuvant in immunotherapy and
      vaccination.

PMID- 28608693
TI  - Organocatalytic Enantioselective Michael-Acetalization-Reduction-Nef Reaction for
      a One-Pot Entry to the Functionalized Aflatoxin System. Total Synthesis of (-)-
      Dihydroaflatoxin D2 and (-)- and (+)-Microminutinin.
AB  - An efficient method has been developed for the enantioselective synthesis of the
      aflatoxin system with multiple stereocenters via a sequence of organocatalytic
      Michael-acetalization-reduction-Nef reactions that proceed with high
      enantioselectivities (90-99% ee). The one-pot reaction sequence provides a facile
      entry to the aflatoxin system, including dihydroaflatoxin D2, which includes a
      formal total synthesis of aflatoxin B2. The first total synthesis of (-)- and (+)
      microminutinin was also achieved via this protocol.

PMID- 28608694
TI  - Iron-Strapped Porphyrins with Carboxylic Acid Groups Hanging over the
      Coordination Site: Synthesis, X-ray Characterization, and Dioxygen Binding.
AB  - A series of myoglobin active site analogues were synthesized and characterized to
      investigate the dioxygen binding effects of a flexible distal strap over the
      coordination site. These four synthetic models differ mostly by the shape and
      polarity of their cavities and also possibly by motion of the distal strap
      attached to two of the meso carbon atoms. Each of the four models has an
      intramolecular nitrogen base that axially binds the iron(II) cation inside the
      porphyrin, but they differ either by the nature of the distal strap or by its
      mobility. The overhanging distal group is either a generally apolar ethyl
      malonate group or a polar malonic acid group which is also a strong H-bond donor.
      It is shown that, in the ferrous complex 2b bearing such an overhung malonic acid
      group in close proximity to the iron atom, the equilibrium rate for dioxygen
      binding is significantly enhanced in comparison to that of its ester precursor.
      In the case of the analogous complex 1b bearing a more mobile distal strap, one
      of the carboxylic acid groups binds the iron(II) cation, leading to a six
      coordinate ferrous complex. Unexpectedly, this complex proved to be high-spin (S
      = 2) as shown by solid-state magnetic measurements. Whereas this unprecedented
      complex still binds dioxygen, the formation of the intramolecular six-coordinate
      complex precluded the measurement of its dioxygen affinity through direct
      quantitative gas titration monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy. However, in this
      case, the determination of the kinetic rate constants for dioxygen binding and
      dissociation by laser flash photolysis allowed the evaluation of the equilibrium
      rate. Together with three previous X-ray structures of iron complexes in the
      alphaalphabetabeta conformation, the structure of the cavity and the shape of the
      relaxed distal strap are also discussed with the consideration of the resolution
      of X-ray structures of two different free-base ligands in the alphaalphabetabeta
      conformation, with one bearing the ethyl malonate group and the second one
      bearing the malonic acid group. A third X-ray structure of the analogous ligand
      with the overhanging ethyl malonate group in the alphabetaalphabeta series allows
      a direct comparison of the distal strap in both geometries. This work reveals
      that the compound with the overhanging carboxylic acid group which cannot
      directly interact with the ferrous heme exhibits an increased dioxygen affinity
      by 2 orders of magnitude versus its ester precursor.

PMID- 28608695
TI  - Molecular Elucidation of Biological Response to Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles
      in Vitro and in Vivo.
AB  - Biomedical applications of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) require
      efficient cellular uptake and low toxicity. The purpose of this study is to
      investigate the cellular uptake and toxicity of MSNs with different sizes and
      charges (50, 100, and 250 nm with a positive surface charge and 100 nm with a
      negative surface charge) exposed to human monocyte-derived macrophages, lung
      epithelium BEAS-2B cells, and mice using genome-wide gene expression analysis and
      cellular/animal-level end point tests. We found that MSNs can be taken up into
      cells through endocytosis in a charge- and size-dependent manner, with positively
      charged and larger MSNs being more easily taken up into the cells by recruiting
      more types of endocytotic pathways for more cellular uptake. Moreover, the
      cytotoxicity of MSNs could be correlated with the amount of MSNs taken up by
      cells, which positively correlates to the particle size and dosage. Therefore,
      only positively charged and larger MSNs (>=100 nm) during higher treatment doses
      (>=500 MUg mL-1) resulted in a sufficient accumulation of internalized MSNs in
      cells to induce significant release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      oxidative stress, inflammatory gene upregulation through NF-kappaB and AP-1, and
      eventually autophagy-mediated necrotic cell death. Furthermore, genome-wide gene
      expression analysis could reflect the above in vitro cellular damages and
      corresponding in vivo injuries in mice, indicating that specific gene expression
      footprints may be used for assessing the safety of nanoparticles. The present
      finding provides some insights into the rational design of effective MSN-based
      drug/gene delivery systems and biomedical applications.

PMID- 28608697
TI  - Perspectives of Cannabinoid Type 2 Receptor (CB2R) Ligands in Neurodegenerative
      Disorders: Structure-Affinity Relationship (SAfiR) and Structure-Activity
      Relationship (SAR) Studies.
AB  - Up-regulation of CB2R on activated microglial cells, the first step in
      neurodegeneration, has been widely demonstrated, and this finding makes the
      receptor a promising target in the early diagnosis and treatment of several
      neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease
      (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), and multiple sclerosis (MS). The development of
      CB2R PET ligands could help demonstrate the neurodegenerative pathogenesis, thus
      providing useful tools for characterizing the role of neuroinflammation in the
      progression of these disorders. CB2R agonists and inverse agonists have emerged
      as neuroprotective agents, and CB2R agonists have entered several clinical
      trials. CB2R ligands have therefore received great attention, and different
      molecular scaffolds have been selected to target CB2R subtypes. This review is
      focused on structure-activity relationship (SAR) and structure-affinity
      relationship (SAfiR) studies performed on different scaffolds with the aim to
      identify the molecular features useful for the design of both therapeutic and
      diagnostic agents.

PMID- 28608698
TI  - Correction to Ion Channels Made from a Single Membrane-Spanning DNA Duplex.

PMID- 28608699
TI  - Direct Access to Nitrogen Bi-heteroarenes via Iridium-Catalyzed Hydrogen
      Evolution Cross-Coupling Reaction.
AB  - Through cooperative actions of iridium catalyst and NaOTf additive we report a
      new direct access to nitrogen bi-heteroarenes via hydrogen-evolution cross
      coupling of the beta-site of indoles/pyrrole with the alpha-site of N
      heteroarenes. The reaction proceeds in an atom- and redox-economic fashion
      together with the merits of an easily available catalyst system, broad substrate
      scope, excellent functional tolerance, and no need for external oxidants,
      offering a practical way to create pi-conjugated systems.

PMID- 28608696
TI  - Immunomodulatory Activity of Ganoderma atrum Polysaccharide on Purified T
      Lymphocytes through Ca2+/CaN and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway Based
      on RNA Sequencing.
AB  - Our previous study has demonstrated that Ganoderma atrum polysaccharide (PSG-1)
      has immunomodulatory activity on spleen lymphocytes. However, how PSG-1 exerts
      its effect on purified lymphocytes is still obscure. Thus, this study aimed to
      investigate the immunomodulatory activity of PSG-1 on purified T lymphocytes and
      further elucidate the underlying mechanism based on RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Our
      results showed that PSG-1 promoted T lymphocytes proliferation and increased the
      production of IL-2, IFN-gamma, and IL-12. Meanwhile, RNA-seq analysis found 394
      differentially expressed genes. KEGG pathway analysis identified 20 significant
      canonical pathways and seven biological functions. Furthermore, PSG-1 elevated
      intracellular Ca2+ concentration and calcineurin (CaN) activity and raised the p
      ERK, p-JNK, and p-p38 expression levels. T lymphocytes proliferation and the
      production of IL-2, IFN-gamma, and IL-12 were decreased by the inhibitors of
      calcium channel and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). These results
      indicated that PSG-1 possesses immunomodulatory activity on purified T
      lymphocytes, in which Ca2+/CaN and MAPK pathways play essential roles.

PMID- 28608700
TI  - A chaotic bursting-spiking transition in a pancreatic beta-cells system:
      Observation of an interior glucose-induced crisis.
AB  - Nonlinear systems are commonly able to display abrupt qualitative changes (or
      transitions) in the dynamics. A particular type of these transitions occurs when
      the size of a chaotic attractor suddenly changes. In this article, we present
      such a transition through the observation of a chaotic interior crisis in the
      Deng bursting-spiking model for the glucose-induced electrical activity of
      pancreatic beta-cells. To this chaos-chaos transition corresponds precisely the
      change between the bursting and spiking dynamics, which are central and key
      dynamical regimes that the Deng model is able to perform. We provide a
      description of the crisis mechanism at the bursting-spiking transition point in
      terms of time series variations and based on certain amplitudes of invariant
      intervals associated with return maps. Using symbolic dynamics, we are able to
      accurately compute the points of a curve representing the transition between the
      bursting and spiking regimes in a biophysical meaningfully parameter space. The
      analysis of the chaotic interior crisis is complemented by means of topological
      invariants with the computation of the topological entropy and the maximum
      Lyapunov exponent. Considering very recent developments in the literature, we
      construct analytical solutions triggering the bursting-spiking transition in the
      Deng model. This study provides an illustration of how an integrated approach,
      involving numerical evidences and theoretical reasoning within the theory of
      dynamical systems, can directly enhance our understanding of biophysically
      motivated models.

PMID- 28608701
TI  - A two-patch prey-predator model with predator dispersal driven by the predation
      strength.
AB  - Foraging movements of predator play an important role in population dynamics of
      prey-predator systems, which have been considered as mechanisms that contribute
      to spatial self-organization of prey and predator. In nature, there are many
      examples of prey-predator interactions where prey is immobile while predator
      disperses between patches non-randomly through different factors such as stimuli
      following the encounter of a prey. In this work, we formulate a Rosenzweig
      MacArthur prey-predator two patch model with mobility only in predator and the
      assumption that predators move towards patches with more concentrated prey
      predator interactions. We provide completed local and global analysis of our
      model. Our analytical results combined with bifurcation diagrams suggest that:
      (1) dispersal may stabilize or destabilize the coupled system; (2) dispersal may
      generate multiple interior equilibria that lead to rich bistable dynamics or may
      destroy interior equilibria that lead to the extinction of predator in one patch
      or both patches; (3) Under certain conditions, the large dispersal can promote
      the permanence of the system. In addition, we compare the dynamics of our model
      to the classic two patch model to obtain a better understanding how different
      dispersal strategies may have different impacts on the dynamics and spatial
      patterns.

PMID- 28608702
TI  - A proton therapy model using discrete difference equations with an example of
      treating hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancer. It provides
      more localized particle exposure than other types of radiotherapy (e.g., x-ray
      and electron) thus reducing damage to tissue surrounding a tumor and reducing
      unwanted side effects. We have developed a novel discrete difference equation
      model of the spatial and temporal dynamics of cancer and healthy cells before,
      during, and after the application of a proton therapy treatment course.
      Specifically, the model simulates the growth and diffusion of the cancer and
      healthy cells in and surrounding a tumor over one spatial dimension (tissue
      depth) and the treatment of the tumor with discrete bursts of proton radiation.
      We demonstrate how to use data from in vitro and clinical studies to parameterize
      the model. Specifically, we use data from studies of Hepatocellular carcinoma, a
      common form of liver cancer. Using the parameterized model we compare the ability
      of different clinically used treatment courses to control the tumor. Our results
      show that treatment courses which use conformal proton therapy (targeting the
      tumor from multiple angles) provides better control of the tumor while using
      lower treatment doses than a non-conformal treatment course, and thus should be
      recommend for use when feasible.

PMID- 28608703
TI  - A numerical framework for computing steady states of structured population models
      and their stability.
AB  - Structured population models are a class of general evolution equations which are
      widely used in the study of biological systems. Many theoretical methods are
      available for establishing existence and stability of steady states of general
      evolution equations. However, except for very special cases, finding an
      analytical form of stationary solutions for evolution equations is a challenging
      task. In the present paper, we develop a numerical framework for computing
      approximations to stationary solutions of general evolution equations, which can
      also be used to produce approximate existence and stability regions for steady
      states. In particular, we use the Trotter-Kato Theorem to approximate the
      infinitesimal generator of an evolution equation on a finite dimensional space,
      which in turn reduces the evolution equation into a system of ordinary
      differential equations. Consequently, we approximate and study the asymptotic
      behavior of stationary solutions. We illustrate the convergence of our numerical
      framework by applying it to a linear Sinko-Streifer structured population model
      for which the exact form of the steady state is known. To further illustrate the
      utility of our approach, we apply our framework to nonlinear population balance
      equation, which is an extension of well-known Smoluchowski coagulation
      fragmentation model to biological populations. We also demonstrate that our
      numerical framework can be used to gain insight about the theoretical stability
      of the stationary solutions of the evolution equations. Furthermore, the open
      source Python program that we have developed for our numerical simulations is
      freely available from our GitHub repository (github.com/MathBioCU).

PMID- 28608704
TI  - A numerical framework for computing steady states of structured population models
      and their stability.
AB  - Structured population models are a class of general evolution equations which are
      widely used in the study of biological systems. Many theoretical methods are
      available for establishing existence and stability of steady states of general
      evolution equations. However, except for very special cases, finding an
      analytical form of stationary solutions for evolution equations is a challenging
      task. In the present paper, we develop a numerical framework for computing
      approximations to stationary solutions of general evolution equations, which can
      also be used to produce approximate existence and stability regions for steady
      states. In particular, we use the Trotter-Kato Theorem to approximate the
      infinitesimal generator of an evolution equation on a finite dimensional space,
      which in turn reduces the evolution equation into a system of ordinary
      differential equations. Consequently, we approximate and study the asymptotic
      behavior of stationary solutions. We illustrate the convergence of our numerical
      framework by applying it to a linear Sinko-Streifer structured population model
      for which the exact form of the steady state is known. To further illustrate the
      utility of our approach, we apply our framework to nonlinear population balance
      equation, which is an extension of well-known Smoluchowski coagulation
      fragmentation model to biological populations. We also demonstrate that our
      numerical framework can be used to gain insight about the theoretical stability
      of the stationary solutions of the evolution equations. Furthermore, the open
      source Python program that we have developed for our numerical simulations is
      freely available from our GitHub repository (github.com/MathBioCU).

PMID- 28608705
TI  - A tridiagonal patch model of bacteria inhabiting a nanofabricated landscape.
AB  - In this paper we employ a discrete-diffusion modeling framework to examine a
      system inspired by the nano-ecology experiments on the bacterium Escherichia coli
      reported upon in Keymer et al. (2006). In these experiments, the bacteria inhabit
      a linear array of 85 ''microhabitat patches (MHP's)", linked by comparatively
      thinner corridors through which bacteria may pass between adjacent MHP's. Each
      MHP is connected to its own source of nutrient substrate, which flows into the
      MHP at a rate that can be controlled in the experiment. Logistic dynamics are
      assumed within each MHP, and nutrient substrate flow determines the prediction of
      the within MHP dynamics in the absence of bacteria dispersal between patches.
      Patches where the substrate flow rate is sufficiently high sustain the bacteria
      in the absence of between patch movement and may be regarded as sources, while
      those with insufficient substrate flow lead to the extinction of the bacteria in
      the within patch environment and may be regarded as sinks. We examine the role of
      dispersal in determining the predictions of the model under source-sink dynamics.

PMID- 28608706
TI  - Stability analysis on an economic epidemiological model with vaccination Pages : 
      , and.
AB  - In this paper, an economic epidemiological model with vaccination is studied. The
      stability of the endemic steady-state is analyzed and some bifurcation properties
      of the system are investigated. It is established that the system exhibits saddle
      point and period-doubling bifurcations when adult susceptible individuals are
      vaccinated. Furthermore, it is shown that susceptible individuals also have the
      tendency of opting for more number of contacts even if the vaccine is
      inefficacious and thus causes the disease endemic to increase in the long run.
      Results from sensitivity analysis with specific disease parameters are also
      presented. Finally, it is shown that the qualitative behaviour of the system is
      affected by contact levels.

PMID- 28608707
TI  - Modeling environmental transmission of MAP infection in dairy cows.
AB  - Johne's disease is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies
      paratuberculosis(MAP). It is a chronic, progressive, and inflammatory disease
      which has a long incubation period. One main problem with the disease is the
      reduction of milk production in infected dairy cows. In our study we develop a
      system of ordinary differential equations to describe the dynamics of MAP
      infection in a dairy farm. This model includes the progression of the disease and
      the age structure of the cows. To investigate the effect of persistence of this
      bacteria on the farm on transmission in our model, we include environmental
      compartments, representing the pathogen input in an explicit way. The effect of
      indirect transmission from the bacteria in the environment and the culling of
      high-shedding adults can be seen in the numerical simulations. Since culling
      usually only happens once a year, we include a novel feature in the simulations
      with a discrete action of removing high-shedding adults once a year. We conclude
      that with culling of high shedders even at a high rate, the infection will
      persist in the modeled farm setting.

PMID- 28608708
TI  - Global stability of infectious disease models with contact rate as a function of
      prevalence index.
AB  - In this paper, we consider a SEIR epidemiological model with information--related
      changes in contact patterns. One of the main features of the model is that it
      includes an information variable, a negative feedback on the behavior of
      susceptible subjects, and a function that describes the role played by the
      infectious size in the information dynamics. Here we focus in the case of delayed
      information. By using suitable assumptions, we analyze the global stability of
      the endemic equilibrium point and disease--free equilibrium point. Our approach
      is applicable to global stability of the endemic equilibrium of the previously
      defined SIR and SIS models with feedback on behavior of susceptible subjects.

PMID- 28608709
TI  - The spatial dynamics of a zebrafish model with cross-diffusions.
AB  - This paper investigates the spatial dynamics of a zebrafish model with cross
      diffusions. Sufficient conditions for Hopf bifurcation and Turing bifurcation are
      obtained by analyzing the associated characteristic equation. In addition, we
      deduce amplitude equations based on multiple-scale analysis, and further by
      analyzing amplitude equations five categories of Turing patterns are gained.
      Finally, numerical simulation results are presented to validate the theoretical
      analysis. Furthermore, some examples demonstrate that cross-diffusions have an
      effect on the selection of patterns, which explains the diversity of zebrafish
      pattern very well.

PMID- 28608710
TI  - A surface model of nonlinear, non-steady-state phloem transport.
AB  - Phloem transport is the process by which carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis
      in the leaves get distributed in a plant. According to Munch, the osmotically
      generated hydrostatic phloem pressure is the force driving the long-distance
      transport of photoassimilates. Following Thompson and Holbrook[35]'s approach, we
      develop a mathematical model of coupled water-carbohydrate transport. It is first
      proven that the model presented here preserves the positivity. The model is then
      applied to simulate the flow of phloem sap for an organic tree shape, on a 3D
      surface and in a channel with orthotropic hydraulic properties. Those features
      represent an significant advance in modelling the pathway for carbohydrate
      transport in trees.

PMID- 28608711
TI  - Improving Donor Lung Management and Recipient Selection in Lung Transplantation.

PMID- 28608715
TI  - Witnessing resuscitation: A call for a research agenda.

PMID- 28608713
TI  - A Case Study: Seclusion and Restraint in Psychiatric Care.
AB  - A wide breadth of research has recognized that seclusion and restraint affects
      patients, staff, and organizations alike. Therefore, it is essential to
      understand the viewpoints of all stakeholders to improve practices. The study
      aimed to understand the context in which seclusion and restraint practices are
      employed based on the perceptions of staff and inpatients in a psychiatric ward.
      A case study was performed using a participatory approach. Methods included a 56
      hr immersion in the practice setting and individual interviews with staff and
      patients ( n = 17). The main themes discussed were patient characteristics
      (etiology of the violence, difficult experience), staff characteristics (feelings
      of safety, rationalization of seclusion use), and environmental characteristics.
      Both explicit (e.g., hospital protocol) and implicit (e.g., ward rules) standards
      seem to influence seclusion and restraint management. Our results point toward
      the potential for developing post-seclusion and restraint review in which both
      patient and staff perspectives are taken into account.

PMID- 28608712
TI  - Nf-GH, a glycosidase secreted by Naegleria fowleri, causes mucin degradation: an
      in vitro and in vivo study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this work was to identify, characterize and evaluate the
      pathogenic role of mucinolytic activity released by Naegleria fowleri. MATERIALS
      & METHODS: Zymograms, protease inhibitors, anion exchange chromatography, MALDI
      TOF-MS, enzymatic assays, Western blot, and confocal microscopy were used to
      identify and characterize a secreted mucinase; inhibition assays using
      antibodies, dot-blots and mouse survival tests were used to evaluate the mucinase
      as a virulence factor. RESULTS: A 94-kDa protein with mucinolytic activity was
      inducible and abolished by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate. MALDI-TOF-MS identified a
      glycoside hydrolase. Specific antibodies against N. fowleri-glycoside hydrolase
      inhibit cellular damage and MUC5AC degradation, and delay mouse mortality.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that secretory products from N. fowleri play an
      important role in mucus degradation during the invasion process.

PMID- 28608717
TI  - The safety of non-biological treatments in Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease
      with a relapsing-remitting course that determines significant morbidity and can
      associate with local complications and/or extra-intestinal manifestations.
      Pharmacological therapies are often required for a lifetime with possible risks
      of toxicity and side effects. Areas covered: Non-biological therapies (i.e.
      aminosalicylates, corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs) are widely used in
      UC patients for controlling the active phases of the disease and maintaining
      remission. Expert Opinion: Aminosalycilates have a good safety profile with a low
      risk of idiosyncrasic reactions. In contrast, the use of corticosteroids and
      immunosuppressive drugs can associate with unacceptable side effects, some of
      which are potentially life threatening. Mechanisms underlying the development of
      these side effects are not fully understood and strategies aimed to prevent them
      have not yet been standardized. However, clinicians should monitor the patients
      during therapy to recognize the adverse events at an early stage of the
      occurrence. New drugs that selectively target molecules involved in the
      amplification of the ongoing mucosal inflammation are currently under
      investigation. Preliminary data indicate that such compounds have better overall
      safety and tolerability than corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs.

PMID- 28608716
TI  - Smartphone-Based Thermal Imaging: A New Modality for Tissue Temperature
      Measurement in Hand and Upper Extremity Surgeries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smartphone-based thermal imaging (SBTI) allows noninvasive
      temperature measurements. Its validity compared with a conventional infrared
      probe temperature scanner (IPTS) has not been studied. This study compares
      temperature measurements between the 2 technologies on human participants.
      METHODS: Bilateral index finger temperature measurements were obtained on 30
      healthy participants using IPTS and SBTI devices. Dominant versus nondominant
      sides (side-to-side difference) and individual side measurements between the 2
      methods were compared for repeatability (precision) and agreement. RESULTS: A
      total of 23 female and 7 male participants were tested. Based on nonoverlapping
      confidence intervals (CIs), intraclass correlation coefficient of repeatability
      was higher for SBTI than for IPTS measurements in side-to-side differences: 0.97
      (95% CI, 0.96-0.99) versus 0.89 (95% CI, 0.82-0.95). The SBTI method recorded
      higher side-to-side difference and individual side measurements: 0.56 degrees C
      (limits of agreement [LOA], -1.09 degrees C to 2.20 degrees C) and 2.64 degrees C
      (LOA, 0.96 degrees C-4.32 degrees C), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to
      higher precision, SBTI offers added benefits of instantaneous acquisition of the
      temperature map of the entire hand, allowing quick comparisons of the uninjured
      and injured fingers. SBTI measurements consistently yielded higher temperature
      readings in the side-to-side difference as well as individual measurements. This
      suggested that both devices are not interchangeable for absolute temperature
      comparisons but are interchangeable in monitoring the changes in temperatures.
      This study suggests the potential for SBTI devices to be used in the clinical
      settings and may be of special benefit in telemedicine.

PMID- 28608718
TI  - Apocalypse Now?
AB  - Despite the wishful thinking of those who have long prophesied an imminent surge
      in demand for clinical pharmacists, the tipping point for healthy supply-demand
      balance in pharmacy has almost certainly been surpassed. Imprudent overbuilding
      of pharmacy programs has combined with trends toward increasing automation and
      consolidation in pharmacy practice to create an existential threat in pharmacy
      education. Surviving the looming industry shakeout will require schools and
      colleges of pharmacy to do what our colleagues in practice and the private sector
      have always done: compete.

PMID- 28608721
TI  - Practical Applications of Immunohistochemistry in the Diagnosis of Genitourinary
      Tumors.
AB  - CONTEXT: - Pathologic diagnosis of tumors in the genitourinary system can be
      challenging based on morphology alone, particularly when diagnostic material is
      limited, such as in core biopsies. Immunohistochemical stain can be a useful tool
      to aid in the diagnosis. OBJECTIVE: - To provide an update on practical
      applications and interpretation of immunohistochemical stains in the diagnosis of
      tumors in prostate, kidney, bladder, and testis. We particularly focus on
      difficult differential diagnoses, providing our insights in frequently
      encountered challenging situations. Commonly used immunohistochemical panels are
      discussed. DATA SOURCES: - Review of literature and our own experience.
      CONCLUSION: - Immunohistochemical stain is a valuable tool in the diagnosis of
      genitourinary tumors when appropriately used.

PMID- 28608720
TI  - Diagnostic Algorithm of Common Mature B-Cell Lymphomas by Immunohistochemistry.
AB  - CONTEXT: - Different types of mature B-cell lymphomas, including plasma cell
      neoplasms, exhibit distinct immunohistochemical profiles, which enable them to be
      correctly diagnosed. However, except for rare examples of lymphoma-specific
      immunohistochemistry, such as cyclin D1 in mantle cell lymphoma and annexin A1 in
      hairy cell leukemia, immunohistochemical profiles of mature B-cell lymphomas
      overlap and lack specificity. OBJECTIVES: - To systemically review
      immunohistochemical features associated with commonly encountered mature B-cell
      lymphomas based on the presence or absence of CD5 and CD10; to review the
      immunophenotypic profile of plasma cells derived from plasma cell myelomas and B
      cell lymphomas; and to review a group of rare, aggressive B-cell lymphomas with
      antigen expression features of plasma cells. DATA SOURCES: - Published and PubMed
      indexed English literature was reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: - Although the presence or
      absence of CD5 and CD10 expression should be included in the initial
      immunohistochemistry screening panel for mature B-cell lymphomas, appropriate and
      judicial use of other B-cell antigens is necessary to ensure correct diagnoses.
      Furthermore, although the status of CD5 and CD10 expression is associated with
      certain prototypes of B-cell lymphomas, their expression is not specific. Plasma
      cells from plasma cell neoplasias and B-cell lymphomas exhibit overlapping but
      relatively distinct immunophenotypes; thus, a panel of immunohistochemical
      markers (CD19, CD45, CD56, and CD117) can be employed for their proper
      identification. Lastly, CD138 staining results are almost always positive in a
      group of aggressive B-cell lymphomas with plasmablastic features, including
      plasmablastic plasma cell myeloma, plasmablastic lymphoma, and ALK-1+ large B
      cell lymphoma.

PMID- 28608719
TI  - Home Monitoring of Patients with Cystic Fibrosis to Identify and Treat Acute
      Pulmonary Exacerbations. eICE Study Results.
AB  - RATIONALE: Individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) experience frequent acute
      pulmonary exacerbations, which lead to decreased lung function and reduced
      quality of life. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to determine if an
      intervention directed toward early detection of pulmonary exacerbations using
      home spirometry and symptom monitoring would result in slower decline in lung
      function than in control subjects. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter,
      randomized trial at 14 CF centers with subjects at least 14 years old. The early
      intervention arm subjects measured home spirometry and symptoms electronically
      twice per week. Sites were notified if a participant met criteria for an
      exacerbation and contacted participants to determine if treatment for acute
      exacerbation was required. Participants in the usual care arm were seen every 3
      months and were asked to contact the site if they were concerned about worsening
      pulmonary symptoms. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was the 52
      week change in FEV1. Secondary outcomes included time to first exacerbation and
      subsequent exacerbation, quality of life, and change in weight. A total of 267
      patients were randomized, and the study arms were well matched at baseline. There
      was no significant difference between study arms in 52-week mean change in FEV1
      slope (mean slope difference, 0.00 L, 95% confidence interval, -0.07 to 0.07; P =
      0.99). The early intervention arm subjects detected exacerbations more frequently
      than usual care arm subjects (time to first exacerbation hazard ratio, 1.45; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.09 to 1.93; P = 0.01). Adverse events were not
      significantly different between treatment arms. CONCLUSIONS: An intervention of
      home monitoring among patients with CF was able to detect more exacerbations than
      usual care, but this did not result in slower decline in lung function. Clinical
      trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01104402).

PMID- 28608722
TI  - Comparative Analysis of Inpatient Costs for Obstetrics and Gynecology Surgery
      Patients Treated With IV Acetaminophen and IV Opioids Versus IV Opioid-only
      Analgesia for Postoperative Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recovery from obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) surgery, including
      hysterectomy and cesarean section delivery, aims to restore function while
      minimizing hospital length of stay (LOS) and medical expenditures. OBJECTIVE: Our
      analyses compare OB/GYN surgery patients who received combination intravenous
      (IV) acetaminophen and IV opioid analgesia with those who received IV opioid-only
      analgesia and estimate differences in LOS, hospitalization costs, and opioid
      consumption. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the Premier
      Database between January 2009 and June 2015, comparing OB/GYN surgery patients
      who received postoperative pain management with combination IV acetaminophen and
      IV opioids with those who received only IV opioids starting on the day of surgery
      and continuing up to the second postoperative day. We performed instrumental
      variable 2-stage least-squares regressions controlling for patient and hospital
      covariates to compare the LOS, hospitalization costs, and daily opioid doses
      (morphine equivalent dose) of IV acetaminophen recipients with that of opioid
      only analgesia patients. RESULTS: We identified 225 142 OB/GYN surgery patients
      who were eligible for our study of whom 89 568 (40%) had been managed with IV
      acetaminophen and opioids. Participants averaged 36 years of age and were
      predominantly non-Hispanic Caucasians (60%). Multivariable regression models
      estimated statistically significant differences in hospitalization cost and
      opioid use with IV acetaminophen associated with $484.4 lower total
      hospitalization costs (95% CI = -$760.4 to -$208.4; P = 0.0006) and 8.2 mg lower
      daily opioid use (95% CI = -10.0 to -6.4), whereas the difference in LOS was not
      significant, at -0.09 days (95% CI = -0.19 to 0.01; P = 0.07). CONCLUSION:
      Compared with IV opioid-only analgesia, managing post-OB/GYN surgery pain with
      the addition of IV acetaminophen is associated with decreased hospitalization
      costs and reduced opioid use.

PMID- 28608723
TI  - Non-Health Care Facility Cardiovascular Medication Errors in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prior studies have not examined national trends and characteristics
      of unintentional non-health care facility (HCF) medication errors associated with
      cardiovascular drugs. OBJECTIVE: To investigate non-HCF medication errors
      associated with cardiovascular drugs reported to poison control centers in the
      United States. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of non-HCF medication errors
      associated with cardiovascular drugs from 2000 to 2012 was conducted using the
      National Poison Data System database. RESULTS: There were 278 444 medication
      errors associated with cardiovascular drugs reported to US poison control centers
      during the study period, averaging 21 419 exposures annually. The overall rate of
      cardiovascular medication errors per 100 000 population increased 104.6% from
      2000 to 2012 ( P < 0.001) and the highest rates were among older adults. Most
      cases (83.6%) did not require treatment at a HCF. Serious medical outcomes were
      reported in 4.0% of exposures. The cardiovascular drugs most commonly implicated
      in medication errors were beta-blockers (28.2%), calcium antagonists (17.7%), and
      angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (15.9%). Most of the 114 deaths were
      associated with cardiac glycosides (47.4%) or calcium antagonists (29.8%). Most
      medication errors involved taking or being given a medication twice (52.6%).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study describes characteristics and trends of non-HCF
      cardiovascular medication errors over a 13-year period in the United States. The
      number and rate of cardiovascular medication errors increased steadily from 2000
      to 2012, with the highest error rates among older adults. Further research is
      needed to identify prevention strategies for these errors, with a particular
      focus on the older adult population.

PMID- 28608724
TI  - Dexamethasone reduces serum level of IL-17 in Bleomycin-A5-induced rats model of
      pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic progressive disease with limited
      therapeutic options and inflammatory cytokines play important roles in the
      pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Here, we investigated
      the changes of TGF-beta1, IL-8, and IL-17 in the serum of bleomycin-A5-induced
      rats model of pulmonary fibrosis. 120 healthy male Wistar rats were randomly
      divided into three groups, the control group (n = 30), the model group (n = 45)
      and the dexamethasone (DEX) group (n = 45). The rats of both model group and DEX
      group were injected with Bleomycin-A5 (5 mg/kg) through tracheofistulization to
      induce pulmonary fibrosis, while the rats of the control group were injected with
      equivalent physiological saline. After operation, DEX (4 mg/kg) was given to the
      DEX group rats intraperitoneally once a day. Equivalent saline was administered
      to rats of both the control group and the model group. RESULTS: On the 1st, 14th,
      and 28th day after operation, pathological changes of the lung tissues, and the
      levels of serum IL-8, TGF-beta1, and IL-17 were measured. The concentrations of
      serum TGF-beta1, IL-8, and IL-17 were significantly increased after bleomycin-A5
      treatment, especially on the 14th day (p < .01). There was no significant
      difference between model group and DEX group in the serum level of TGF-beta1 and
      IL-8, but DEX treatment significantly reduce serum IL-17 level (p < .01).
      CONCLUSIONS: DEX protect bleomycin-A5-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats through
      reduced the level of IL-17 in serum.

PMID- 28608725
TI  - Driving After Hallux Valgus Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to determine when patients can safely
      return to driving after first metatarsal osteotomy for hallux valgus correction.
      METHODS: After institutional review board approval, 60 patients undergoing right
      first metatarsal osteotomy for hallux valgus correction surgery were recruited
      prospectively. Patients' brake reaction time (BRT) was tested at 6 weeks and
      repeated until patients achieved a passing BRT. A control group of twenty healthy
      patients was used to establish as passing BRT. Patients were given a novel driver
      readiness survey to complete. RESULTS: At 6 weeks, 51 of the 60 patients (85%)
      had BRT less than 0.85 seconds and were considered safe to drive. At 6 weeks, the
      passing group average was 0.64 seconds. At the 8 weeks, 59 patients (100%) of
      those who completed the study achieved a passing BRT. Patients that failed at 6
      weeks had statistically greater visual analog scale (VAS) pain score and
      diminished first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) range of motion (ROM). On the novel
      driver readiness survey, 8 of the 9 patients (89%) who did not pass disagreed or
      strongly disagreed with the statement, "Based on what I think my braking reaction
      time is, I think that I am ready to drive." CONCLUSION: Most patients may be
      informed that they can safely return to driving 8 weeks after right metatarsal
      osteotomy for hallux valgus correction. Some patients may be eligible to return
      to driving sooner depending on their VAS, first MTP ROM, and driver readiness
      survey results. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, comparative study.

PMID- 28608726
TI  - Stigma and work discrimination among cancer survivors: A scoping review and
      recommendations: Stigmatisation et discrimination au travail des survivants du
      cancer : Examen de la portee et recommandations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stigma and workplace discrimination can hinder employment
      opportunities for cancer survivors. PURPOSE: This study explored perceptions of
      stigma and workplace discrimination for cancer survivors to understand the impact
      on survivors' engagement in paid work and to identify strategies to address
      stigma and workplace discrimination. METHOD: Using Arksey and O'Malley's
      framework, we searched Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus, and CINAHL for evidence
      that intersected three concepts: cancer, stigma, and employment/workplace
      discrimination. Of the 1,514 articles initially identified, 39 met our inclusion
      criteria. Findings were charted, collated, and analyzed using content analysis.
      FINDINGS: Myths regarding cancer (i.e., it is contagious, will always result in
      death) persist and can create misperceptions regarding survivors' employability
      and lead to self-stigmatization. Workplace discrimination may include hiring
      discrimination, harassment, job reassignment, job loss, and limited career
      advancement. Strategies to mitigate stigma and workplace discrimination include
      education, advocacy, and antidiscrimination policies. IMPLICATIONS: Occupational
      therapists can enhance awareness of workplace concerns and advocate on behalf of
      cancer survivors.

PMID- 28608727
TI  - Osteoarthritis of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and Medial Tibial Plateau: A
      Cadaveric Study.
AB  - The objective of this study was to analyze morphometric anatomy and damages with
      aging in cadaveric knee specimens specific to the cruciate ligaments, the
      articular cartilage of the tibial plateau, and the menisci. Morphometric analyses
      to cadaveric anatomy of the knee were performed using Image-Pro(r) software on 3
      age populations: <70 years old, 70 to 79 years old, and >=80 years old. An
      average thickness of the cruciate ligaments was assessed with 5 circumferential
      measurements per specimen using nylon thread. Percent degeneration of the tibial
      plateau's articular cartilage and coverage by menisci was assessed with surface
      area measurements. The articular cartilage of the medial tibial plateau in >=80
      years old specimens showed a 1.7-fold increase in surface area degeneration (mm2)
      compared to 70 to 79 years old specimens ( P < 0.05). The medial meniscus also
      experienced degenerative changes with aging, which were expressed as decreases in
      tibial plateau coverage. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) experienced
      substantial degenerative thinning with aging. The 70 to 79 years old specimens
      had a 1.2-fold (10.5%) decrease in average ACL circumference (mm) compared to the
      <70 years old specimens ( P < 0.001). The >=80 years old specimens had a 1.24
      fold (19%) decrease in ACL circumference compared to the <70 years old specimens
      ( P < 0.001). ACL thinning during aging may be leading to substantial articular
      cartilage and menisci degeneration given the cruciate ligaments are a primary
      restraint that combats shearing forces at the knee joint.

PMID- 28608729
TI  - Accelerating tuberculosis vaccine trials with diagnostic and prognostic
      biomarkers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The most recent estimates on tuberculosis (TB) morbidity and
      mortality reveal that the global disease burden is even higher than previously
      assumed. Better drugs, diagnostics and vaccines are major requirements to control
      the ongoing TB pandemic. The high complexity of the infectious process and the
      underlying pathology, however, challenge elucidation of protective immune
      mechanisms at the various stages towards active TB disease, which need to be
      understood for rational design of novel intervention measures. Areas covered:
      Next to the more classical approaches, host biomarkers increasingly receive
      attention as promising tools on our way to control the disease. In the area of
      diagnosis, host biomarkers are recognized as promising new means because the
      identification of small biosignatures with high discriminatory and even
      prognostic potential has stimulated the hope that rapid and easy-to-perform
      diagnosis and prognosis will become possible in the near future. For rational
      design of new vaccine candidates, correlates of protection are highly desirable.
      High-throughput systems-vaccinology will boost the identification of such
      biomarker profiles. Expert commentary: Considering their potential to accelerate
      development of better diagnostics and vaccines, host biomarkers should be firmly
      integrated into future TB research.

PMID- 28608728
TI  - Dietary factors and pediatric multiple sclerosis: A case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of diet in multiple sclerosis (MS) is largely
      uncharacterized, particularly as it pertains to pediatric-onset disease.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between dietary factors and MS in
      children. METHODS: Pediatric MS patients and controls were recruited from 16 US
      centers (MS or clinically isolated syndrome onset before age 18, <4 years from
      symptom onset and at least 2 silent lesions on magnetic resonance imaging). The
      validated Block Kids Food Screener questionnaire was administered 2011-2016. Chi
      squared test compared categorical variables, Kruskal-Wallis test compared
      continuous variables, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was
      performed. RESULTS: In total, 312 cases and 456 controls were included (mean ages
      15.1 and 14.4 years). In unadjusted analyses, there was no difference in intake
      of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, fruits, or vegetables. Dietary iron was
      lower in cases ( p = 0.04), and cases were more likely to consume below
      recommended guidelines of iron (77.2% of cases vs 62.9% of controls, p < 0.001).
      In multivariable analysis, iron consumption below recommended guidelines was
      associated with MS (odds ratio = 1.80, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Pediatric MS cases
      may be less likely to consume sufficient iron compared to controls, and this
      warrants broader study to characterize a temporal relationship. No other
      significant difference in intake of most dietary factors was found.

PMID- 28608730
TI  - Novel therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: During recent decades, the prognosis of childhood acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved dramatically, nowadays, reaching a cure
      rate of almost 90%. These results are due to a better management and combination
      of old therapies, refined risk-group stratification and emergence of minimal
      residual disease (MRD) combined with treatment's intensification for high-risk
      subgroups. However, the subgroup of patients with refractory/relapsed ALL still
      presents a dismal prognosis indicating necessity for innovative therapeutic
      approaches. Areas covered: We performed an exhaustive review of current first
      line therapies for childhood ALL in the worldwide main consortia, summarized the
      major advances for front-line and relapse treatment and highlighted recent and
      promising innovative therapies with an overview of the most promising ongoing
      clinical trials. Expert opinion: Two major avenues marked the beginning of 21st
      century. First, is the introduction of tyrosine-kinase inhibitor coupled to
      chemotherapy for treatment of Philadelphia positive ALL opening new treatment
      possibilities for the recently identified subgroup of Ph-like ALL. Second, is the
      breakthrough of immunotherapy, notably CAR T-cell and specific antibody-based
      therapy, with remarkable success observed in initial studies. This review gives
      an insight on current knowledge in these innovative therapeutic directions,
      summarizes currently ongoing clinical trials and addresses challenges these
      approaches are faced with.

PMID- 28608731
TI  - Survival Outcomes in Patients with T2N0M0 (Stage II) Squamous Cell Carcinoma of
      the Larynx.
AB  - Objective Emerging data have demonstrated suboptimal outcomes among patients with
      stage II larynx cancer. Our objective is to report survival outcomes for T2N0M0
      larynx cancer and to determine the cause-specific survival. Study Design Case
      series with planned data collection. Setting Tertiary academic center. Subjects
      Adults with T2N0M0 squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx treated with curative
      intent. Methods A head and neck cancer epidemiology database was queried for
      eligible subjects from 2003 to 2014. Data were extracted from the electronic
      medical record and research database, and survival analyses were performed.
      Results Thirty-four patients with previously untreated stage II larynx cancer
      were identified (median follow-up 48 months). Patients included 27 males and 7
      females with a mean age of 59 years. The majority of tumors arose from the
      glottis (59%). Of the cohort, 12% were treated with surgery, 65% radiation
      therapy, and 24% chemoradiation therapy. The estimated 2-year overall survival
      was 81%, (95% confidence interval [CI], 59%-92%), disease-specific survival was
      91% (95% CI, 69%-98%), and recurrence-free survival was 84% (95% CI, 65%-93%).
      Four of 5 patients with persistent or recurrent disease posttreatment were
      successfully salvaged with total laryngectomy with 100% locoregional control.
      There were 11 mortalities (2 disease related, 2 due to metachronous primaries, 3
      treatment related, and 4 from other/unknown causes). Conclusion Stage II
      laryngeal cancer has suboptimal survival outcomes. This appears to be a
      reflection of medical comorbidities, propensity for metachronous primaries, and
      the sequelae of late treatment effects rather than poor locoregional control.

PMID- 28608732
TI  - Beyond Auditory Sensory Processing Deficits: Lexical Tone Perception Deficits in
      Chinese Children With Developmental Dyslexia.
AB  - Increasing evidence suggests that children with developmental dyslexia exhibit a
      deficit not only at the segmental level of phonological processing but also, by
      extension, at the suprasegmental level. However, it remains unclear whether such
      a suprasegmental phonological processing deficit is due to a difficulty in
      processing acoustic cues of speech rhythm, such as rise time and intensity. This
      study set out to investigate to what extent suprasegmental phonological
      processing (i.e., Cantonese lexical tone perception) and rise time sensitivity
      could distinguish Chinese children with dyslexia from typically developing
      children. Sixteen children with dyslexia and 44 age-matched controls were
      administered a Cantonese lexical tone perception task, psychoacoustic tasks, a
      nonverbal reasoning ability task, and word reading and dictation tasks. Children
      with dyslexia performed worse than controls on Cantonese lexical tone perception,
      rise time, and intensity. Furthermore, Cantonese lexical tone perception appeared
      to be a stable indicator that distinguishes children with dyslexia from controls,
      even after controlling for basic auditory processing skills. These findings
      suggest that suprasegmental phonological processing (i.e., lexical tone
      perception) is a potential factor that accounts for reading difficulty in
      Chinese.

PMID- 28608733
TI  - Differential profiles of four groups of children referred to an autism diagnostic
      service in Belgium: Autism-specific hallmarks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:: This article aims at exploring distinctive hallmarks of autistic
      disorders compared to other groups presenting mimicking and/or overlapping
      conditions. METHOD:: The exploratory study involved 196 children with autism,
      intellectual disability, language impairment and psycho-affective disorders
      previously referred to an autism diagnostic service. The autism discriminative
      tool (ADT), a behavioural checklist, was used to compile and analyse the
      children's profiles based on the clinical information gathered during diagnostic
      assessments. All samples were compared and analysed separately according to the
      checklist's four domains. RESULTS:: Children with autism showed greater frequency
      and severity of impairments on the ADT's social and communication categories.
      These children also differed from other groups in terms of specific rigid
      behaviours and high frequency of atypical sensory responses. CONCLUSIONS::
      Results illustrate the psychopathology of autism spectrum disorder suspected
      children referred to a specialized autism diagnostic service, doing so by
      providing us with specific clinical profiles.

PMID- 28608734
TI  - Endovisually guided zero radiation ureteral access sheath placement during
      ureterorenoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Almost all endourologic procedures use fluoroscopic imaging in some
      steps, which exposes both the patient and the surgical team to considerable
      amounts of radiation. Primary reports on results of a simple direct visual
      endoscopic access sheath placement technique which does not use fluoroscopy at
      all are presented. MATERIAL AND METHODS: First a semi-rigid ureteroscopy was
      carried out up to the renal pelvis, then the access sheath (36 cm, 11/13 Fr)
      without the obturator was placed over a 7.5 Fr semi-rigid ureteroscope and
      ureteroscopy was repeated over the guide wire to the point where the sheath could
      be inserted without force as if the ureteroscope would act as the guide wire
      (rod), which is controlled under direct endoscopic vision. RESULTS: Eighty-eight
      cases out of 106 procedures were successful regarding the insertion of the
      ureteral access sheath (UAS) under direct vision using a 36 cm 13/11 Fr sheath.
      Fourteen ureters had non-negotiable strictures needing stenting for passive
      dilation. The mean time for UAS insertion was 19 s. The stone free-rate was
      78.12%. Among our 106 cases, there were six cases of the upper tract urothelial
      cancers. CONCLUSION: Ureteral access sheath placement could be safely performed
      using a semi-rigid ureteroscope under direct visual control and resulted in
      shorter operative time, without radiation exposure during the RIRS procedure of
      both the patient and the surgery team.

PMID- 28608736
TI  - Corrigendum.
AB  - R Alroughani, S F Ahmed, R Behbehani, et al. Increasing prevalence and incidence
      rates of multiple sclerosis in Kuwait. Multiple Sclerosis 2014; 20: 543-547. DOI:
      10.1177/1352458513504328. In this article, the third author's name was misspelled
      in the OnlineFirst and print versions. It should have appeared as R Behbehani.
      This has been corrected in the online article.

PMID- 28608735
TI  - Hearing Preservation: Does Electrode Choice Matter?
AB  - Objective Evaluate if electrode design affects hearing preservation (HP)
      following cochlear implantation (CI) with full-length electrodes. Study Design
      Case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary referral academic center.
      Subjects and Methods Forty-five adults with low-frequency hearing (<=85 dB at 250
      and 500 Hz) who underwent unilateral CI with full-length electrode arrays made by
      1 manufacturer were included. HP was calculated with (1) mean low-frequency pure
      tone average (LFPTA) at 250 and 500 Hz (MEAN method), (2) a percentile method
      across the audiometric frequency spectrum generating an S-value (HEARRING
      method), and (3) functional if hearing remained <=85 dB at 250 and 500 Hz.
      Audiometric testing was performed approximately 1 month and 1 year
      postoperatively, yielding short-term and long-term results, respectively. Results
      Of 45 patients who underwent CI, 46.7% received lateral wall (LW) and 53.3%
      received perimodiolar (PM) electrodes. At short-term follow-up, LW electrodes
      were associated with significantly better HP than PM (LFPTA method: 27.7 vs 39.3
      dB, P < .05; S-value method: 48.2 vs 21.8%, P < .05). In multivariate regression
      of short-term outcomes, LW electrode use was a significant predictor of better HP
      ( P < .05). At long-term follow-up, electrode type was not associated with HP.
      Younger patient age was the only significant predictor of long-term HP on
      multivariate analysis ( P < .05). Conclusion The LW electrode is associated with
      short-term HP, suggesting its design is favorable for limiting trauma to the
      cochlea during and directly following CI. Other factors, including age, are
      relevant for maintaining HP over the long term. The data support further
      investigation into what modifiable factors may promote long-term HP.

PMID- 28608738
TI  - Development and initial psychometric evaluation of patient-reported outcome
      questionnaires to evaluate the symptoms and impact of hidradenitis suppurativa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires, the Hidradenitis
      Suppurativa Symptom Assessment (HSSA) and Hidradenitis Suppurativa Impact
      Assessment (HSIA), were developed to measure signs, symptoms and impacts of HS in
      treatment efficacy studies. METHODS: In accordance with FDA guidelines and
      published best practices, four stages of research were conducted to create the
      questionnaires: concept elicitation, questionnaire construction, content
      evaluation and psychometric evaluation. RESULTS: Subjects (N = 20) who
      participated in the concept elicitation stage reported 15 unique HS-related signs
      and symptoms and 51 impacts. Following this, eight sign and symptom concepts and
      21 impacts were selected for construction of the HSSA and HSIA, respectively.
      During content evaluation, cognitive debriefing interviews with HS subjects (N =
      20) confirmed subjects could read, comprehend and meaningfully respond to both
      questionnaires. Modifications made after this stage of work resulted in a nine
      item HSSA and a 17-item HSIA. The HSSA and HSIA were subsequently entered into a
      US-based observational study (N = 40), and the scores produced by each were found
      to be reliable, construct valid, and able to distinguish among clinically
      distinct groups. CONCLUSIONS: The HSSA and HSIA are content-valid, HS-specific,
      PRO questionnaires with demonstrated ability to generate reliable, valid scores
      when administered to patients with HS in a research setting.

PMID- 28608737
TI  - Preoperative 18F-FDG-PET/CT vs Contrast-Enhanced CT to Identify Regional Nodal
      Metastasis among Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Objective Our objective was to compare the accuracy of preoperative positron
      emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and contrast-enhanced CT
      (CECT) in detecting cervical nodal metastases in patients treated with neck
      dissection and to scrutinize the ability of each modality to determine nodal
      stage. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Montefiore Medical
      Center, Bronx, New York. Subjects and Methods Patients who underwent neck
      dissection at our institution for primary treatment of head and neck squamous
      cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and had received preoperative PET/CT and CECT were
      included in this study. Imaging studies were reinterpreted by 3 specialists
      within the field and compared for interreader agreement. Concordance between
      radiology and histopathology was measured using neck levels and sides, along with
      patient nodal stage. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive
      value, negative predictive value, and agreement coefficients were calculated.
      Results Seventy-three patients were included in the study. Sensitivity was 0.69
      and 0.94 (level and side) for PET/CT vs 0.53 and 0.66 for CECT ( P = .056, P =
      .001). Specificity was 0.86 and 0.56 for PET/CT vs 0.91 and 0.76 for CECT ( P =
      .014, P = .024). No significant difference was found in overall accuracy ( P =
      .33, P = .88). The overall agreement percentages between N stage called by
      imaging modality and pathology were 52% and 55% for PET/CT and CECT,
      respectively. Conclusion No significant difference in sensitivity was found
      between PET/CT and CECT. CECT was found to have superior specificity compared
      with PET/CT. The information gleaned from each modality in the pretreatment
      evaluation of HNSCC appears to be complementary.

PMID- 28608740
TI  - Number needed to treat and costs per responder among biologic treatments for
      moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biologics have been shown to improve the outcomes of patients with
      psoriasis but their cost is an issue. OBJECTIVE: Determine the number needed to
      treat (NNT) to achieve a 75%/90% reduction in the Psoriasis Area and Severity
      Index (PASI-75/90) and evaluate the incremental cost per PASI-75/90 responder
      (CPR) relative to placebo in Japan. METHODS: A network meta-analysis was
      conducted to estimate the relative probabilities of achieving PASI-75/90 and
      NNTs. Drug costs were assessed based on Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency
      approved dosing. The CPR was estimated for a short-term induction period and
      first year of treatment. RESULTS: Compared with placebo, the PASI-75 NNT was 1.27
      for adalimumab 80 mg, 1.29 for secukinumab 150 mg, 1.36 for secukinumab 300 mg,
      1.57 for adalimumab 40 mg, 1.68 for ustekinumab 90 mg, 1.97 for ustekinumab 45 mg
      and 2.00 for infliximab 5 mg/kg. The short-term PASI-75 CPR relative to placebo
      was $5,062 for secukinumab 150 mg, $8209 for adalimumab 40 mg, $10,654 for
      secukinumab 300 mg, $11,754 for adalimumab 80 mg, $15,407 for ustekinumab 45 mg,
      $19,147 for infliximab 5 mg/kg and $26,257 for ustekinumab 90 mg. A similar
      ranking was observed for one-year PASI-75 CPRs and PASI-90 NNTs and CPRs.
      CONCLUSION: Adalimumab 40 mg/80 mg and secukinumab 150 mg/300 mg were the most
      efficacious and cost-efficient for patients with psoriasis in Japan.

PMID- 28608739
TI  - Safety of Repeated-Dose Intratympanic Injections with AM-101 in Acute Inner Ear
      Tinnitus.
AB  - Objective To evaluate the safety and tolerability of repeated intratympanic
      administration of the gel-formulated NMDA receptor antagonist AM-101 in acute
      patients with inner ear tinnitus. Study Design Prospective, double-blind,
      randomized, placebo-controlled study. Setting Sixty-nine secondary and tertiary
      sites in North America, Europe, and Asia. Subjects and Methods In total, 343
      subjects with persistent acute tinnitus after traumatic cochlear injury or otitis
      media were randomized to receive 3 intratympanic doses of either AM-101 0.87
      mg/mL or placebo over 3 to 5 days. They were followed for 84 days. The primary
      safety end point was the incidence of a clinically meaningful hearing
      deterioration from baseline to study day 35. Further safety assessments included
      tympanic membrane closure rates, analysis of adverse events, hematology, blood
      chemistry, and vital signs. In addition, data were collected on applied
      anesthetics and injection techniques. Results The treatment was well tolerated,
      with no intervention-related serious adverse events. The incidence of clinically
      meaningful hearing deterioration was low, comparable between treatment groups ( P
      = .82 for the primary safety end point) and not different between treated and
      untreated ears in unilaterally treated subjects. The rate of treatment and
      procedure-related adverse events was similar among treatment groups. The tympanic
      membrane was closed in 92% of subjects within 1 week and in all subjects by study
      day 84. Blood values and vital signs were inconspicuous. Conclusion Repeated
      intratympanic injections of AM-101 over a 3- to 5-day period appear to be safe
      and well tolerated, demonstrating the ability to potentially use this delivery
      approach over longer time periods.

PMID- 28608742
TI  - Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis and other acquired demyelinating syndromes of
      the central nervous system in Denmark during 1977-2015: A nationwide population
      based incidence study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of acquired demyelinating syndromes (ADS) including
      multiple sclerosis (MS) has never been investigated in a Danish pediatric
      population. OBJECTIVES: We estimated the nationwide age- and sex-specific
      incidence of pediatric ADS including MS. METHODS: Data were sourced from the
      Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, providing cases of pediatric MS for 1977
      2015, and the National Patient Register, providing cases of ADS during 2008-2015.
      All medical records were reviewed to validate the register-based diagnoses.
      RESULTS: We identified 364 cases of pediatric MS occurring during 1977-2015
      (incidence rate = 0.79 per 100,000 person-years). MS was exceptionally rare
      before puberty, but the incidence rose considerably from 9 years in girls and 11
      years in boys. The female-to-male ratio was 2.5; the median age at onset was 16
      years (range = 7-17 years). The MS incidence rate was relatively stable through
      the study period. During 2008-2015, we identified 219 ADS cases. The incidence
      was 2.29 per 100,000 person-years with considerable differences in the age peaks
      for the separate ADS. CONCLUSION: The incidence rates of MS and other ADS in
      Denmark were higher than those reported for some other European countries.
      Referral bias and classification differences may account for this disparity, in
      particular the age-intervals and the definition of onset.

PMID- 28608741
TI  - Efficacy and safety of the remOVE System for OTSC(r) and FTRD(r) clip removal:
      data from a PMCF analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The remOVE System (Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany) is a
      medical device for the endoscopic removal of OTSC or FTRD clips (Ovesco Endoscopy
      AG, Tuebingen, Germany). The aim of this paper is to assess the efficacy and
      safety of this system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 74 patients underwent
      clip extraction. The standard removal procedure comprises fragmenting the clip by
      applying an electrical direct current pulse at two opposing sides of the clip.
      RESULTS: Clip fragmentation was successful in 72 of 74 patients (97.3%). In two
      cases (2.7%) clip fragmentation was not possible. In nine cases (12.2%) a clip
      fragment could not be removed and was left in place. Complications occurred in
      three cases (4.1%): two minor bleedings near the clip removal site (2.7%), and
      one superficial mucosal tear resulting from clip fragment extraction (1.4%).
      DISCUSSION: Based on this study, the use of the remOVE System for OTSC or FTRD
      clip removal can be considered safe and effective.

PMID- 28608743
TI  - Obsessive-compulsive disorder, which genes? Which functions? Which pathways? An
      integrated holistic view regarding OCD and its complex genetic etiology.
AB  - Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by recurrent obtrusive and
      repetitive acts typically occurred following anxiety. In the last two decades,
      studies done on the gene sequences, large-scale and point mutations and gene
      gene, gene-environment and gene-drug interactions have led to the discovery of
      hundreds of genes associated with OCD. Although each gene in turn is a part of
      the etiology of this disorder; however, OCD, like other mental disorders is
      complex and a comprehensive and integrated view is necessary to understand its
      genetic basis. In this study, through an extensive review of existing published
      studies, all genes associated with OCD were found. Then, in order to integrate
      the results, all the interactions between these genes were explored and the
      achievement was represented as an interactive genetic network. Furthermore, the
      reconstructed network was analyzed. It was found that GRIN2A, GRIN2B and GRIA2
      are the most central nodes in the network. Functional and pathway enrichment
      analysis showed that glutamate-related pathways are the main deficient systems in
      patients with OCD. By studying genes shared between OCD and other diseases, it
      was cleared that OCD, epilepsy and some types of cancer have the most number of
      shared genes. The results of this study, in addition to reviewing the available
      results as a comprehensive and integrated manner, provide new hypotheses for
      future studies.

PMID- 28608744
TI  - Methylphenidate-Related Improvements in Math Performance Cannot Be Explained by
      Better Cognitive Functioning or Higher Academic Motivation: Evidence From a
      Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether improvements in working memory,
      reaction time, lapses of attention, interference control, academic motivation,
      and perceived competence mediated effects of methylphenidate on math performance.
      METHOD: Sixty-three children (ADHD diagnosis; methylphenidate treatment; age 8
      13; IQ > 70) were randomly allocated to a 7-day methylphenidate or placebo
      treatment in this double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study and compared
      with 67 controls. Data were collected at schools and analyzed using mixed-model
      analysis. Methylphenidate was hypothesized to improve all measures; all measures
      were evaluated as potential mediators of methylphenidate-related math
      improvements. RESULTS: Controls mostly outperformed the ADHD group.
      Methylphenidate did not affect measures of cognitive functioning ( p = .082-.641)
      or academic motivation ( p = .199-.865). Methylphenidate improved parent ratings
      of their child's self-perceived competence ( p < .01), which mediated
      methylphenidate efficacy on math productivity. CONCLUSION: These results question
      the necessity of improvements in specific cognitive and motivational deficits
      associated with ADHD for medication-related academic improvement. They also
      stimulate further study of perceived competence as a mediator.

PMID- 28608745
TI  - Time-resolved toxicity study reveals the dynamic interactions between uncoated
      silver nanoparticles and bacteria.
AB  - It is still unclear whether the toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can be
      attributed solely to the release of Ag+ or whether dissolved and nanoparticulate
      Ag act in parallel; this is due to the difficulty in distinguishing Ag+- from
      AgNP-effects. Also, AgNPs undergo changes during toxicity tests. This is the
      first study to investigate the influence of AgNP dissolution over time on viable
      counts at high time resolution and low cell density, avoiding the apparently
      reduced toxicity at higher cell densities identified in our study. Uncapped AgNPs
      were synthesized to avoid any interference from surface coatings. The
      transformations of AgNPs during storage were reduced. Lowering the concentration
      of AgNPs reduced their aggregation in Davis minimal medium (DMM). Also, AgNPs
      dissolved more slowly in DMM than in water. The minimum inhibitory concentrations
      (MICs) of Ag+ and AgNPs increased with cell density according to a power law,
      suggesting that binding to cells decreased effective concentrations. However,
      AgNPs acted as a reservoir of Ag, releasing new Ag+ to maintain the Ag stress.
      The toxicity of AgNPs was dominated by dissolved Ag. Combining controlled
      conditions, high time-resolution and low cell density, we could demonstrate
      different roles of ionic and nano Ag in bacterial death caused by AgNPs.

PMID- 28608746
TI  - New insights in the metabolism of oxybutynin: evidence of N-oxidation of
      propargylamine moiety and rearrangement to enaminoketone.
AB  - 1. Oxybutynin hydrochloride is an antimuscarinic agent prescribed to patients
      with an overactive bladder (OAB) and symptoms of urinary urge incontinence.
      Oxybutynin undergoes pre-systemic metabolism, and the N-desethyloxybutynin (Oxy
      DE), is reported to have similar anticholinergic effects. 2. We revisited the
      oxidative metabolic fate of oxybutynin by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry analysis of incubations with rat and human liver fractions, and by
      measuring plasma and urine samples collected after oral administration of
      oxybutynin in rats. This investigation highlighted that not only N-deethylation
      but also N-oxidation participates in the clearance of oxybutynin after oral
      administration. 3. A new metabolic scheme for oxybutynin was delineated,
      identifying three distinct oxidative metabolic pathways: N-deethylation (Oxy-DE)
      followed by the oxidation of the secondary amine function to form the
      hydroxylamine (Oxy-HA), N-oxidation (Oxy-NO) followed by rearrangement of the
      tertiary propargylamine N-oxide moiety (Oxy-EK), and hydroxylation on the
      cyclohexyl ring. 4. The functional activity of Oxy-EK was investigated on the
      muscarinic receptors (M1-3) demonstrating its lack of antimuscarinic activity. 5.
      Despite the presence of the alpha,beta-unsaturated function, Oxy-EK does not
      react with glutathione indicating that in the clearance of oxybutynin no reactive
      and potentially toxic metabolites were formed.

PMID- 28608747
TI  - Spontaneous Pregnancy with a Live Birth after Conventional and Partial Uterine
      Fibroid Embolization.
AB  - Purpose To determine pregnancy rates after conventional and partial uterine
      fibroid embolization (UFE). Materials and Methods The study received
      institutional review board approval and all patients gave written informed
      consent. A retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively was performed
      between June 2004 and June 2014 in a cohort of 359 women (mean age, 35.9 years +/
      4.8) with uterine fibroids and/or adenomyosis who were unable to conceive. The
      median follow-up period was 69 months (range, 6-126 months). Under local
      anesthesia, both uterine arteries were embolized. In 160 patients, partial
      embolization was intentionally performed to preserve fertility, which may be
      decreased after conventional UFE. In partial UFE, only the small arterial vessels
      to the fibroids were embolized, leaving the large vessels of the fibroids patent.
      The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression were used for the statistical
      analysis. Results During follow-up, 149 women became pregnant, 131 women had live
      births, and 16 women had several pregnancies, resulting in a total of 150 live
      newborns. It was the first pregnancy for 85.5% (112 of 131) of women. Spontaneous
      pregnancy rates at 1 year and 2 years after UFE were 29.5% and 40.1%,
      respectively. The probability of successful pregnancy with live birth at 1 year
      and 2 years was 24.4% and 36.7%, respectively. Clinical success for fibroid
      related symptoms was 78.6% (282 of 359). A dominant submucosal fibroid and
      ischemia greater than or equal to 90% had greater likelihood of spontaneous
      pregnancy. Complication rates in patients treated with partial UFE (14.6%) were
      not greater than rates in patients treated with conventional UFE (23.1%, P =
      .04). Conclusion Conventional and partial UFE may be safe and effective
      outpatient procedures for women with uterine fibroids who want to conceive. (c)
      RSNA, 2017.

PMID- 28608748
TI  - Tympanic Membrane and Ossicular-Sparing Modified Lateral Temporal Bone Resection.
AB  - A modified lateral temporal bone resection (mLTBR) is a unique technique that
      spares the tympanic membrane (TM) and ossicles in select patients with squamous
      cell carcinoma (SCCa). The records of 5 patients with SCCa of the temporal bone
      with negative frozen-section biopsy at the tympanic annulus were reviewed. The
      mean follow-up time for the patients was 29.2 months. One patient received
      postoperative radiation due to cervical nodal extracapsular spread. All patients
      were recurrence free as of the most recent follow-up (range, 8-50 months).
      Postoperative audiometry demonstrated an average conductive hearing loss of 9 dB
      (range, 0-17 dB). The mLTBR with sparing of the TM can be an effective
      alternative to the traditional lateral temporal bone resection (LTBR) with better
      hearing results for patients with SCCa involving the bony external auditory
      canal. In the short term, oncologic results of mLTBR appear equivalent to the
      LTBR. However, long-term follow-up is needed for >5-year outcomes.

PMID- 28608750
TI  - Aesthetics in Thyroid Surgery: The Patient Perspective.
AB  - Objectives To define characteristics that influence patient perceptions of
      thyroidectomy scar cosmesis. Study Design Prospective cohort study. Setting
      Tertiary endocrine surgery practice in an academic medical center. Subjects and
      Methods Institutional review board-approved trial in which 136 subjects were
      recruited from a population of patients being seen for either thyroid or sinus
      surgery and evaluated standardized photographs, superimposed with computer
      generated thyroidectomy scars of varying lengths (2, 4, and 6 cm) and widths (1
      and 2 mm), and graded their perception of the scars using the observer scar
      assessment scale (OSAS) domains of the patient and observer scar assessment
      scale. Results There were 69 subjects in the thyroid group and 67 in the
      nonthyroid group. Controlling for width, longer scars were perceived as worse
      than shorter scars; controlling for length, thicker scars were perceived as worse
      than thinner scars ( P < .01). Beyond 2 cm, thick scars were judged to be worse
      than thin scars, even when they were shorter. There was no difference in the mean
      overall OSAS scores between surgery, sex, or age groups. Nonwhites tended to
      judge scars as being worse than whites did ( P < .01). Conclusion As expected,
      patients of all demographics prefer shorter scars compared with longer scars and
      thinner scars over thick scars. Ethnic differences in scar perception were
      identified and deserve additional study. Surgeons should endeavor to perform
      thyroid surgery through the smallest incision that allows the operation to be
      performed safely to minimize the cosmetic impact of the operation.

PMID- 28608749
TI  - Polypoid Change of the Middle Turbinate and Paranasal Sinus Polyposis Are
      Distinct Entities.
AB  - Objectives Polypoid change of the middle turbinate (PCMT) is a finding on
      intranasal examination whose significance is not well understood. We present a
      comparison of the clinical characteristics of PCMT with paranasal sinus polyposis
      (PSP), a common condition with potentially similar appearance. Study Design
      Parallel case series. Setting Tertiary rhinology clinic. Subjects and Methods
      Data were prospectively compiled from consecutive patients during a 12-month
      period with either PSP arising from the middle meatus or PCMT limited to the
      middle turbinate as identified on nasal endoscopy. Recorded data included
      comorbidities, the 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), Nasal Obstruction
      Symptom Evaluation (NOSE), Lund-Mackay score from computed tomography (CT)
      imaging, and total eosinophil levels. Results Of 593 patients, 23 (3.9%) had PCMT
      and 44 (7.4%) had PSP. The PSP group was predominantly male (75% vs 52%, P <
      .001) with an older mean age (53.4 vs 35.4 years, P < .0001). PCMT was more often
      associated with allergic rhinitis (83% vs 34%, P < .001), whereas PCMT was rarely
      associated with chronic rhinosinusitis (10% vs 100%, P < .0001). Mean eosinophil
      count (7.1 vs 3.1, P = .096) was not significantly different between groups,
      whereas mean Lund-Mackay score was higher in PSP (14.9 vs 2.8, P < .0008). Mean
      NOSE score was greater in PSP (65.3 vs 46.8, P = .025), whereas SNOT-22 score was
      comparable between groups (40.6 vs 34.6, P = .29). Conclusion PCMT is a unique
      physical finding with clinical associations that distinguish it from PSP. PCMT
      has greater association with allergic rhinitis than chronic rhinosinusitis, and
      both PCMT and PSP are associated with impaired quality of life.

PMID- 28608751
TI  - Molecular modelling studies of kdr mutations in voltage gated sodium channel
      revealed significant conformational variations contributing to insecticide
      resistance.
AB  - Voltage gated sodium channels (VGSC) of mosquito vectors are the primary targets
      of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other synthetic pyrethroids used in
      public health programmes. The knockdown resistant (kdr) mutations in VGSC are
      associated with the insecticide resistance especially in Anophelines. The present
      study is aimed to emphasize and demarcate the impact of three kdr-mutations such
      as L1014S, L1014F and L1014H on insecticide resistance. The membrane model of
      sodium transport domain of VGSC (STD-VGSC) was constructed using de novo approach
      based on domain and trans-membrane predictions. The comparative molecular
      modelling studies of wild type and mutant models of STD-VGSC revealed that L1014F
      mutant was observed to be near native to the wild type model in all the respects,
      but, L1014S and L1014H mutations showed drastic variations in the energy levels,
      root mean square fluctuations (RMSF) that resulted in conformational variations.
      The predicted binding sites also showed variable cavity volumes and RMSF in
      L1014S and L1014H mutants. Further, DDT also found be bound in near native manner
      to wild type in L1014F mutant and with variable orientation and affinities in
      L1014S and L1014H mutants. The variations and fluctuations observed in mutant
      structures explained that each mutation has its specific impact on the
      conformation of VGSC and its binding with DDT. The study provides new insights
      into the structure-function-correlations of mutant STD-VGSC structures and
      demonstrates the role and effects of kdr mutations on insecticide resistance in
      mosquito vectors.

PMID- 28608753
TI  - Quantitative assessment of copper proteinates used as animal feed additives using
      ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis.
AB  - The aim of the present work was to establish a reliable analytical method to
      determine the degree of complexation in commercial metal proteinates used as feed
      additives in the solid state. Two complementary techniques were developed.
      Firstly, a quantitative attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared
      (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic method investigated modifications in vibrational
      absorption bands of the ligand on complex formation. Secondly, a powder X-ray
      diffraction (PXRD) method to quantify the amount of crystalline material in the
      proteinate product was developed. These methods were developed in tandem and
      cross-validated with each other. Multivariate analysis (MVA) was used to develop
      validated calibration and prediction models. The FTIR and PXRD calibrations
      showed excellent linearity (R2 > 0.99). The diagnostic model parameters showed
      that the FTIR and PXRD methods were robust with a root mean square error of
      calibration RMSEC <=3.39% and a root mean square error of prediction RMSEP
      <=7.17% respectively. Comparative statistics show excellent agreement between the
      MVA packages assessed and between the FTIR and PXRD methods. The methods can be
      used to determine the degree of complexation in complexes of both protein
      hydrolysates and pure amino acids.

PMID- 28608752
TI  - Ferulic acid and its water-soluble derivatives inhibit nitric oxide production
      and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in rat primary astrocytes.
AB  - We recently reported that two water-soluble derivatives of ferulic acid (1
      feruloyl glycerol, 1-feruloyl diglycerol) previously developed by our group
      exhibited protective effects against amyloid-beta-induced neurodegeneration in
      vitro and in vivo. In the current study, we aimed to further understand this
      process by examining the derivatives' ability to suppress abnormal activation of
      astrocytes, the key event of neurodegeneration. We investigated the effects of
      ferulic acid (FA) derivatives on nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible
      nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in rat primary astrocytes. The results
      showed that these compounds inhibited NO production and iNOS expression in a
      concentration-dependent manner and that the mechanism underlying these effects
      was the suppression of the nuclear factor-kappaB pathway. This evidence suggests
      that FA and its derivatives may be effective neuroprotective agents and could be
      useful in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's
      disease and Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 28608754
TI  - A Preliminary Study Comparing Microfracture and Local Adherent Transplantation of
      Autologous Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Followed by Intraarticular Injection of
      Platelet-Rich Plasma for the Treatment of Chondral Defects in Rabbits.
AB  - Objective This study aimed to compare microfracture and application of adipose
      derived stem cells (ADSCs) by local adherent technique enhanced by platelet-rich
      plasma (PRP) to provide a new approach for the repair of cartilage defect. Design
      Full-thickness cylindrical defects were created in the medial femoral condyle in
      9 New Zealand White rabbits (5 months old, 4.65 +/- 0.20 kg). Two groups of
      rabbits ( n = 3) were either treated with ADSCs (Group 1) or the microfracture
      technique (Group 2) following intraarticular injection of PRP 3 times in weekly
      intervals. Rabbits in control group ( n = 3) remained untreated. The outcome was
      assessed macroscopically, histologically, and immunohistochemically. Results At
      the end of week 12, Group 1 showed better defect filling compared with Group 2.
      Specimens treated with the combination of ADSCs and PRP exhibited significant
      differences from the other groups in all criteria of International Cartilage
      Repair Society macroscopic scoring system. Conclusions Intraarticular injection
      of autologous PRP in combination with transplantation of autologous ADSCs by
      local adherent technique enhances the quality of cartilage defect repair with
      better results in comparison with microfracture surgery in a rabbit model.

PMID- 28608755
TI  - Interventional Pulmonology: Determining an Ideal Technique, Phenotype-driven
      Management, and Finding Safer Alternatives.

PMID- 28608758
TI  - A systematic narrative review of the effectiveness of behavioural smoking
      cessation interventions in selected disadvantaged groups (2010-2017).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tobacco remains the key modifiable risk factor for the development
      of a number of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular
      disease, lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
      tuberculosis and cancer. Among priority populations, smoking prevalence remains
      high, smokers tend to relapse more often and earlier and fewer are able to
      sustain quit attempts. This systematic review provides an update on the
      literature. Areas covered: Twenty-four randomized controlled trials published
      from 2010-2017, in English language, were identified after searching on Medline,
      Ovid, Embase and PsycINFO databases. Studies reported on the effectiveness of
      smoking cessation interventions among six disadvantaged groups known to have high
      smoking rates: (i) homeless, (ii) prisoners, (iii) indigenous populations, (iv)
      at-risk youth, (v) people with low income, and (vi) those with a mental illness.
      Narrative review and assessment of methodological quality of included papers was
      undertaken. Expert commentary: There is a growing evidence base of
      methodologically robust studies evaluating a variety of behavioural smoking
      cessation interventions for priority populations. Multi-component interventions
      and those examining behavioural interventions incorporating mindfulness training,
      financial incentives, motivational interviewing and extended telephone-delivered
      counseling may be effective in the short-term, particularly for smokers on low
      incomes and people with a mental illness.

PMID- 28608756
TI  - Effects of Omalizumab on Rhinovirus Infections, Illnesses, and Exacerbations of
      Asthma.
AB  - RATIONALE: Allergic inflammation has been linked to increased susceptibility to
      viral illnesses, but it is unclear whether this association is causal.
      OBJECTIVES: To test whether omalizumab treatment to reduce IgE would shorten the
      frequency and duration of rhinovirus (RV) illnesses in children with allergic
      asthma. METHODS: In the PROSE (Preventative Omalizumab or Step-up Therapy for
      Severe Fall Exacerbations) study, we examined children with allergic asthma (aged
      6-17 yr; n = 478) from low-income census tracts in eight U.S. cities, and we
      analyzed virology for the groups randomized to treatment with guidelines-based
      asthma care (n = 89) or add-on omalizumab (n = 259). Weekly nasal mucus samples
      were analyzed for RVs, and respiratory symptoms and asthma exacerbations were
      recorded over a 90-day period during the fall seasons of 2012 or 2013. Adjusted
      illness rates (illnesses per sample) by treatment arm were calculated using
      Poisson regression. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: RVs were detected in 97 (57%)
      of 171 exacerbation samples and 2,150 (36%) of 5,959 nonexacerbation samples (OR,
      2.32; P < 0.001). Exacerbations were significantly associated with detection of
      rhinovirus C (OR, 2.85; P < 0.001) and rhinovirus A (OR, 2.92; P < 0.001), as
      well as, to a lesser extent, rhinovirus B (OR, 1.98; P = 0.019). Omalizumab
      decreased the duration of RV infection (11.2 d vs. 12.4 d; P = 0.03) and reduced
      peak RV shedding by 0.4 log units (95% confidence interval, -0.77 to -0.02; P =
      0.04). Finally, omalizumab decreased the frequency of RV illnesses (risk ratio,
      0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.49-0.84). CONCLUSIONS: In children with allergic
      asthma, treatment with omalizumab decreased the duration of RV infections, viral
      shedding, and the risk of RV illnesses. These findings provide direct evidence
      that blocking IgE decreases susceptibility to RV infections and illness. Clinical
      trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01430403).

PMID- 28608757
TI  - The effect of ethanol and N-nitrosodimethylamine on the iNOS-dependent NO
      production in human neutrophils. Role of NF-kappaB.
AB  - 1. The objective of study was to determine the influence of ethanol and/or N
      nitrosodimethyloamine (NDMA) on the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)
      expression and nitric oxide (NO) production by human neutrophils and
      determination of the role of NF-kappaB in this process. 2. Isolated
      polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) derived from 15 human volunteers were
      incubated in the presence of ethanol and/or NDMA. Expression of the tested
      proteins were evaluated using the Western blot method. Total NO metabolites was
      assayed in the cell cultures by Griess reaction. 3. In neutrophils exposed to
      ethanol or NDMA was observed an increased NF-kappaB-dependent NO production
      mediated by iNOS with the contribution of MAP kinases: p38 and JNK. An inhibiting
      effect of NF-kappaB signaling pathway on the MAP kinases was observed, which are
      involved in the iNOS-dependent NO production. By the simultaneous effect, ethanol
      and NDMA caused stronger generation of NO by neutrophils without the contribution
      of iNOS. Inhibition of NF-kappaB in cells simultaneously exposed to the
      xenobiotics caused a decreased expression of MAP kinases. 4. Individual and
      simultaneous effect of ethanol and NDMA may cause disorders in the response of
      immune system. However, the joint effect of the tested substances results in
      uncontrolled interactions, leading to cascading disorders of signal transduction.

PMID- 28608759
TI  - Challenges in secondary prevention after acute myocardial infarction: A call for
      action.
AB  - Worldwide, each year more than 7 million people experience myocardial infarction,
      in which one-year mortality rates are now in the range of 10%, but vary with
      patient characteristics. The consequences are even more dramatic: among patients
      who survive, 20% suffer a second cardiovascular event in the first year and
      approximately 50% of major coronary events occur in those with a previous
      hospital discharge diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease. The people behind these
      numbers spur this call for action. Prevention after myocardial infarction is
      crucial to reduce risk and suffering. Evidence-based interventions include
      optimal medical treatment with anti-platelets and statins, achievement of blood
      pressure, lipid and blood glucose targets, and appropriate lifestyle changes. The
      European Society of Cardiology and its constituent bodies are determined to
      embrace this challenge by developing a consensus document in which the existing
      gaps for secondary prevention strategies are reviewed. Effective interventions in
      relation to the patients, healthcare providers and healthcare systems are
      proposed and discussed. Finally, innovative strategies in hospital as well as in
      outpatient and long-term settings are endorsed.

PMID- 28608761
TI  - Biomedical applications of yeast- a patent view, part one: yeasts as workhorses
      for the production of therapeutics and vaccines.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Yeasts, as Eukaryotes, offer unique features for ease of growth and
      genetic manipulation possibilities, making it an exceptional microbial host.
      Areas covered: This review provides general and patent-oriented insights into
      production of biopharmaceuticals by yeasts. Patents, wherever possible, were
      correlated to the original or review articles. The review describes applications
      of major GRAS (generally regarded as safe) yeasts for the production of
      therapeutic proteins and subunit vaccines; additionally, immunomodulatory
      properties of yeast cell wall components were reviewed for use of whole yeast
      cells as a new vaccine platform. The second part of the review will discuss yeast
      humanization strategies and innovative applications. Expert opinion: Biomedical
      applications of yeasts were initiated by utilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
      for production of leavened (fermented) products, and advanced to serve to produce
      biopharmaceuticals. Higher biomass production and expression/secretion yields,
      more similarity of glycosylation patterns to mammals and possibility of host
      improvement strategies through application of synthetic biology might enhance
      selection of Pichia pastoris (instead of S. cerevisiae) as a host for production
      of biopharmaceutical in future. Immunomodulatory properties of yeast cell wall
      beta-glucans and possibility of intracellular expression of heterologous
      pathogen/tumor antigens in yeast cells have expanded their application as a new
      platform, 'Whole Yeast Vaccines'.

PMID- 28608762
TI  - Limiting the morbidity of inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy in vulvar cancer
      patients; a review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy (IFL) is performed in the treatment
      for vulvar cancer. One or more complications after IFL is reported in up to 85%
      of the patients. This review presents an overview of surgical techniques and peri
      and post-operative care that has been studied in order to reduce the morbidity
      associated with IFL in vulvar cancer patients. Areas covered: Current knowledge
      on post-operative complications after different surgical techniques and peri- and
      post-operative protocols were discussed. A systematic literature review was
      conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane library on 20 February 2017. In
      order to be eligible for inclusion, studies must report the associated post
      operative morbidity per surgical technique, or peri- or post-operative care given
      after IFL in vulvar cancer patients. Expert commentary: After the implementation
      of several new surgical techniques, the morbidity after IFL decreased but remains
      high and clinically meaningful. More research is needed on surgical techniques
      and peri-or post-operative care to further reduce the complication rates after
      IFL in vulvar cancer patients.

PMID- 28608760
TI  - PLGA-PEG-RA-based polymeric micelles for tumor targeted delivery of irinotecan.
AB  - To develop an effective therapeutic treatment, the potential of poly (lactic-co
      glycolic acid)-polyethylene glycol-retinoic acid (PLGA-PEG-RA) polymeric micelles
      for targeted delivery of irinotecan to hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and
      colorectal cancer cell lines (HT-29) was evaluated. PLGA-PEG-RA was synthesized
      by amide reaction of PLGA with NH2-PEG-NH2 and then PLGA-PEG-NH2 with RA and
      confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Irinotecan-loaded nanomicelles were
      prepared using thin-film hydration method and the impact of various formulation
      variables on their particle size (PS), polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential
      (ZP), entrapment efficiency (EE), and mean release time (MRT) were assessed using
      a Taguchi design. TEM was used to observe morphology of the nanomicelles and the
      CMC was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy. Adopted PLGA-PEG-RA nanomicelle
      exhibited PS of 160 +/- 9.13 nm, PDI of 0.20 +/- 0.05, ZP of -24.9 +/- 4.03 mV,
      EE of 83.9 +/- 3.61%, MRT of 3.28 +/- 0.35 h, and CMC value of 25.7 MUg/mL.
      Cytotoxicity of the targeted nanomicelles on HepG2 and HT-29 cell lines was
      significantly higher than that of non-targeted nanomicelles and the free drug.
      These results suggest that PLGA-PEG-RA nanomicelles could be an efficient
      delivery system of irinotecan for targeted therapy of colorectal cancer and
      hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28608763
TI  - Identifying clinical risk in low grade gliomas and appropriate treatment
      strategies, with special emphasis on the role of surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diffuse low-grade glioma (DLGG) is a chronic tumoral disease that
      ineluctably grows, migrates along white matter pathways, and progresses to a
      higher grade of malignancy. Areas covered: To determine the best individualized
      treatment attitude for each DLGG patient, and to redefine it over the years, i.e.
      to optimize the 'onco-functional balance' of serial and multimodal therapies, the
      understanding of the natural history of this chronic disease is crucial but not
      sufficient. A paradigmatic shift is to tailor the individual management according
      to the dynamic relationships between DLGG course and neural remodeling. In this
      spirit, a better knowledge of brain plasticity in a connectomal account of
      cerebral processing has enabled a dramatic improvement of both oncological and
      functional outcomes in DLGG patients, by increasing overall survival while
      preserving (or even improving) the quality of life. Expert commentary: Here, we
      propose an individualized and recursive therapeutic strategy in DLGG, leading to
      the concept of a 'personalized functional neuro-oncology', by emphasizing the
      role of early and maximal safe surgical resection(s) reliably achieved using
      intraoperative mapping of cortico-subcortical networks in awake patients.

PMID- 28608765
TI  - Concerns: M. Dessily, F. Charara, S. Ralea & J.-L. Alle.  Pilonidal sinus
      destruction with a radial laser probe: technique and first Belgian experience.
      Acta Chir Belg. 2017; 117(3): 164-168.

PMID- 28608764
TI  - Radioanatomic Study of the Greater Palatine Canal Relevant to Endoscopic
      Endonasal Surgical Landmarks.
AB  - Objective A radioanatomic study of surgically relevant variations in the greater
      palatine canal (GPC) on computed tomography (CT) was performed to determine
      susceptibility during endoscopic endonasal procedures. Study Design Blinded
      radioanatomic analysis. Setting Tertiary university hospital. Subjects and
      Methods Fifty consecutive paranasal CT scans (100 sides) were analyzed.
      Measurements were standardized to landmarks such as the inferior turbinate (IT)
      and floor of the nasal cavity (FNC) to assess variability and vulnerability of
      the nerve. Measurements included (1) incidence of maxillary sinus pneumatization
      posterior to the GPC, (2) distance from the posterior wall of the maxillary sinus
      to the GPC at the IT and FNC, (3) width of bone containing the GPC, (4) incidence
      of medial GPC dehiscence, and (5) angle of the GPC extending from the IT to FNC.
      Results Ninety-one percent of maxillary sinuses were pneumatized posterior to the
      GPC. The distance from the posterior wall of the maxillary sinus to the GPC was
      2.8 +/- 1.7 mm (range, -2.3 to 5.9) at the posterior attachment of the IT and 4.1
      +/- 3.1 mm (range, -6.3 to 11.9) at the FNC. The width of bone containing the GPC
      was 3.3 +/- 1.3 mm (range, 1-8.9), and the medial bony GPC was dehiscent in 38%
      of cases. In the sagittal plane, the angle of the GPC between the IT and the FNC
      was 31.9 +/- 6.9 degrees (range, 10.8-45). Conclusion The GPC has considerable
      anatomic variability relative to important surgical landmarks in endoscopic
      procedures. Preoperative review of CTs to assess vulnerability may prevent
      postoperative complications.

PMID- 28608767
TI  - Anxiety and depression: toward overlapping and distinctive features.
AB  - This Special Issue of Cognition and Emotion addresses one of the cardinal
      concerns of affective science, which is overlapping and distinctive features of
      anxiety and depression. A central finding in the study of anxiety and depression
      is that they are moderately highly correlated with each other. This leads us to
      the question: What is behind this co-occurrence? Possible explanations relate to
      poor discriminant validity of measures; both emotional states are associated with
      negative affect; stressful life events; impaired cognitive processes; they share
      a common biological/genetic diathesis. However, despite a set of common
      (nonspecific) features, anxiety and depression are clearly not identical
      emotional states. Differences between them might be best viewed, for example,
      through their heterogeneous and multi-layered nature, adaptive functions and
      relations with regulatory processes, positive affect, and motivation or complex
      cognitive processes. In this introduction we consider several approaches (e.g.
      functional approach; tripartite model and content-specificity hypothesis) to
      which most research in this Special Issue is relevant. In addition, we have asked
      contributors to this Special Issue to indicate how their own studies on
      comparisons between anxiety and depression and models on anxiety and depression
      move this area of research to more mature science with applicability.

PMID- 28608766
TI  - WSF-P-1, a novel AMPK activator, promotes adiponectin multimerization in 3T3-L1
      adipocytes.
AB  - Adiponectin, an adipokine with insulin-sensitizing effect, is secreted from
      adipocytes into circulation as high, medium, and low molecular weight forms (HMW,
      MMW, and LMW). The HMW adiponectin oligomers possess the most potent insulin
      sensitizing activity. WSF-P-1(N-methyl-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydro-1,1,5,5-tetramethyl
      7H-2,4alpha-methanonaphthalen-7-amine) is derived from natural sesquiterpene
      longifolene by chemical modifications. We found that WSF-P-1 activates AMPK in
      both 3T3-L1 adipocytes and 293T cells in this study. Activation of AMPK by WSF-P
      1 promotes the assembly of HMW adiponectin and increases the HMW/total ratio of
      adiponectin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We demonstrated that the Ca2+-dependent CaMKK
      signaling pathway is involved in WSF-P-1-induced AMPK activation and adiponectin
      multimerization. WSF-P-1 also activates GLUT1-mediated glucose uptake in 3T3-L1
      adipocytes, making it a potential drug candidate for the treatment of type 2
      diabetes, obesity, and other obesity-related metabolic diseases.

PMID- 28608768
TI  - Effects of Dog-Assisted Therapy on Communication and Basic Social Skills of
      Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Thirty-nine adults with severe to profound intellectual disability (ID) were
      randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 21) or a control group (n
      = 18). Assessment was blinded and included selected items from the International
      Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), the Behavioral
      Assessment Battery (BAB), and the Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP). The
      experimental group, who attended a dog-assisted treatment intervention over a 20
      week period, showed significant improvements in several cognitive domains,
      including attention to movement (BAB-AM), visuomotor coordination (BAB-VM),
      exploratory play (BAB-EP), and motor imitation (BAB-CO-MI), as well as in some
      social skills, as measured by LAP items. Effects were specific to the
      intervention and independent of age or basic level of disability.

PMID- 28608769
TI  - Rights-Based and Person-Centered Approaches to Supporting People With
      Intellectual Disability: A Dialectical Model.
AB  - Protecting human rights has increasingly become a focus of regulation regarding
      individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID). While this focus on rights has
      succeeded in protecting people with ID from many of the most insidious abuses of
      the past, an over-emphasis on the human rights of people with ID while ignoring
      other aspects of their personalities and environments can create challenges. This
      article proposes the use of a dialectical model to address challenges raised by
      the relationship between two equally valid but often unequally considered
      approaches, namely, rights-based and person-centered. Suggestions are provided
      for using this model to meaningfully support individuals to reach their person
      centered goals while continuing to recognize and address their individual rights,
      responsibilities, and challenges.

PMID- 28608770
TI  - Evolving Definitions of Autism and Impact on Eligibility for Developmental
      Disability Services: California Case Example.
AB  - When establishing eligibility for developmental disability (DD) services,
      definitions of specific diagnostic conditions, such as autism, impact policy.
      Under the Medicaid home and community-based waiver program, states have
      discretion in determining specific program or service eligibility criteria, the
      nature of supports to be provided, and the number of individuals to be served.
      Individuals with DD, their families, and advocates have pushed to expand
      eligibility and improve the quality of services and supports received. This
      article uses a California legal case to explore the impact on individuals seeking
      eligibility for DD services when states rely on evolving diagnostic criteria for
      autism spectrum disorder. Recommendations are made for a more equitable and
      consistent approach to disability eligibility determination.

PMID- 28608771
TI  - Developing a Health-Related Quality-of-Life Measure for People With Intellectual
      Disability.
AB  - Using principles of community-based participatory research we developed a new
      theory-based measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for individuals
      with intellectual disability (ID). We recruited adults with ID (n = 129) to take
      part in interviews and review successive versions of HRQOL items. Critical input
      about content and understandability shaped the items, as did input from four
      focus groups of parents/caregivers (n = 16) and representative stakeholders from
      community-based agencies (n = 7). The resulting HRQOL measure, called the HRQOL
      IDD, contains 42 items. The response format depicts a gradient of fluid-filled
      cups ("none" to "full") to represent frequency of experience of each item on a 5
      point scale.

PMID- 28608772
TI  - Resumenes al Espanol.

PMID- 28608773
TI  - Predictors of Risky Behavior and Offending for Adolescents With Mild Intellectual
      Disability.
AB  - Adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) engage in risky behavior and
      offending. However, little is known on the impact school-related predictors have
      on engagement in risky behaviors for adolescents with ID. This study analyzed
      secondary data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) to
      determine levels of engagement in risky behaviors and offending for adolescents
      with mild and moderate/severe ID. School-related predictors of engagement for
      adolescents with mild ID were also explored. Results indicated adolescents with
      mild ID engage in risky behaviors and offending at significantly higher rates as
      compared to adolescents with moderate/severe ID. Participation in a social skills
      or life skills class was a significant predictor of less engagement in risky
      behaviors for individuals with mild ID.

PMID- 28608775
TI  - Resumes en Francais.

PMID- 28608774
TI  - Parent Perspectives of Applying Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Strategies to
      Special Education.
AB  - Parents of children with (versus without) intellectual and developmental
      disabilities report greater stress; such stress may be exacerbated by
      dissatisfaction with school services, poor parent-school partnerships, and the
      need for parent advocacy. Increasingly, mindfulness interventions have been used
      to reduce parent stress. However, it is unclear whether parents apply mindfulness
      strategies during the special education process to reduce school-related stress.
      To investigate whether mindfulness may reduce school-related stress, interviews
      were conducted with 26 parents of children with intellectual and developmental
      disabilities who completed a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention.
      Participants were asked about their stress during meetings with the school, use
      of mindfulness strategies in communicating with the school, and the impact of
      such strategies. The majority of parent participants reported: special education
      meetings were stressful; they used mindfulness strategies during IEP meetings;
      and such strategies affected parents' perceptions of improvements in personal
      well-being, advocacy, family-school relationships, and access to services for
      their children. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are
      discussed.

PMID- 28608776
TI  - Short-term effectiveness of a community-implemented falls prevention referral
      service.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the 16-week evidence-based Steady Steps
      exercise referral scheme at improving physical function, balance confidence, and
      quality of life (QoL) of community-dwelling older adults at risk of falling.
      METHOD: A non-experimental, practice-based study involving a retrospective
      analysis of participant outcomes. Pre-post comparisons of three performance-based
      measures of gait and balance and of person-reported outcomes for balance
      confidence and QoL were performed. Effectiveness was evaluated in terms of
      statistically significant changes and relative to published fall-risk thresholds
      and minimal detectable changes (MDCs) or minimum clinically important
      differences. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-six participants completed the
      program over 19 months. Statistically significant differences were observed for
      all outcomes (p < 0.001), translating to an overall 42.6% reduction in falls
      related risk. Approximately 63% of participants achieved an improvement >=MDC in
      at least one of the performance-based tests. Greater than 55% achieved self
      reported improvements in balance confidence >= MDC, while >40% reported
      clinically important improvements in QoL. CONCLUSIONS: While the non-experimental
      design precludes conclusive evidence of causation, the highly significant and
      clinically meaningful improvements observed in individuals who completed the
      evidence-based Steady Steps program support its translation of evidence into
      effective practice. Continued implementation and evaluation of such practices and
      their longer-term effects are warranted. Implications for Rehabilitation Falls in
      older adults represent an escalating public health problem, and rehabilitation
      professionals are charged with developing and/or identifying feasible and
      effective evidence-based programs that target and reduce falls risk in this
      population. Our findings support Steady Steps as an effective third-sector
      referral rehabilitation service that successfully translates research evidence
      based exercise interventions into effective practice, positively impacting
      physical function, balance confidence and quality of life (QoL) in community
      dwelling older adults. Our study provides practice-based evidence of the
      effectiveness of exercise interventions that are progressively challenging,
      deliver a high dose of moderate to high intensity and target the main falls risk
      factors of muscle weakness and gait and balance impairment. In spite of their
      limitations, non-experimental, practice-based approaches provide rehabilitation
      professionals with feasible opportunities for evaluating existing services, such
      as Steady Steps, and contributing to the overall evidence-base for falls
      prevention and management.

PMID- 28608777
TI  - Tumor Metabolism in the Microenvironment of Nodal Metastasis in Oral Squamous
      Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Objective In many cancers, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      (HNSCC), different regions within a tumor have different metabolic phenotypes.
      Transfer of metabolites between compartments promotes tumor growth and aggressive
      behavior. Metabolic compartmentalization in HNSCC nodal metastases has not been
      studied, nor has its impact on extracapsular extension or clinical outcomes been
      determined. Study Design Retrospective analysis based on immunohistochemistry
      staining. Setting Tertiary care center. Subjects and Methods Primary tumors and
      nodal metastases from 34 surgically treated oral cavity HNSCC patients with
      extracapsular extension (ECE) were stained for monocarboyxlate transporter (MCT)
      4, MCT1, translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20, and Ki-67. Strength of
      staining was assessed using a computer-assisted pathology algorithm.
      Immunohistochemistry (IHC) scores along with clinical factors were used to
      predict disease-free survival (DFS). Results Patterns of IHC staining showed
      metabolic compartmentalization both at the primary tumor sites and in nodal
      metastases. MCT4 staining in the perinodal stroma was significantly higher in
      specimens with ECE greater than 1 mm (macro-ECE, P = .01). Patients with high
      perinodal MCT4 staining were compared with those with low perinodal MCT4
      staining. On multivariate analysis, only high perinodal MCT4 staining had a
      significant impact on DFS ( P = .02); patients with high perinodal MCT4 had worse
      survival. DFS was not significantly worsened by advancing T stage, N stage, ECE
      extent, or perineural invasion. Conclusion Oral HNSCC displays compartmentalized
      tumor metabolism at both primary and metastases. Greater cancer-associated
      stromal conversion around ECE, denoted by high stromal MCT4, may be a biomarker
      for aggressive disease and worsened DFS.

PMID- 28608778
TI  - Biomechanical Quantification of Mendelsohn Maneuver and Effortful Swallowing on
      Pharyngoesophageal Function.
AB  - Objective To quantify the effects of 2 swallowing maneuvers used in dysphagia
      rehabilitation-the Mendelsohn maneuver and effortful swallowing-on
      pharyngoesophageal function with novel, objective pressure-flow analysis. Study
      Design Evaluation of intervention effects in a healthy control cohort. Setting A
      pharyngoesophageal motility research laboratory in a tertiary education facility.
      Subjects Twelve young healthy subjects (9 women, 28.6 +/- 7.9 years) from the
      general public, without swallowing impairment, volunteered to participate in this
      study. Methods Surface electromyography from the floor-of-mouth musculature and
      high-resolution impedance manometry-based pressure flow analysis were used to
      assess floor-of-mouth activation and pharyngoesophageal motility, respectively.
      Subjects each performed 10 noneffortful control swallows, Mendelsohn maneuver
      swallows, and effortful swallows, with a 5-mL viscous bolus. Repeated measures
      analyses of variance was used to compare outcome measures across conditions.
      Results Effortful and Mendelsohn swallows generated greater floor-of-mouth
      contraction ( P = .001) and pharyngeal pressure ( P < .0001) when compared with
      control swallows. There were no changes at the level of the upper esophageal
      sphincter, except for a faster opening to maximal diameter during maneuver
      swallows ( P = .01). The proximal esophageal contractile integral was reduced
      during Mendelsohn swallows ( P = .001). Conclusion Effortful and Mendelsohn
      maneuver swallows significantly alter the pharyngoesophageal pressure profile.
      Faster opening of the upper esophageal sphincter may facilitate bolus transfer
      during maneuver swallows; however, reduced proximal esophageal contractility
      during Mendelsohn maneuver swallows may impair bolus flow and aggravate dysphagic
      symptoms.

PMID- 28608779
TI  - Cerebellar re-encoding of self-generated head movements.
AB  - Head movements are primarily sensed in a reference frame tied to the head, yet
      they are used to calculate self-orientation relative to the world. This requires
      to re-encode head kinematic signals into a reference frame anchored to earth
      centered landmarks such as gravity, through computations whose neuronal substrate
      remains to be determined. Here, we studied the encoding of self-generated head
      movements in the rat caudal cerebellar vermis, an area essential for graviceptive
      functions. We found that, contrarily to peripheral vestibular inputs, most
      Purkinje cells exhibited a mixed sensitivity to head rotational and gravitational
      information and were differentially modulated by active and passive movements. In
      a subpopulation of cells, this mixed sensitivity underlay a tuning to rotations
      about an axis defined relative to gravity. Therefore, we show that the caudal
      vermis hosts a re-encoded, gravitationally polarized representation of self
      generated head kinematics in freely moving rats.

PMID- 28608781
TI  - Nano- and microparticles at fluid and biological interfaces.
AB  - Systems with interfaces are abundant in both technological applications and
      biology. While a fluid interface separates two fluids, membranes separate the
      inside of vesicles from the outside, the interior of biological cells from the
      environment, and compartmentalize cells into organelles. The physical properties
      of interfaces are characterized by interface tension, those of membranes are
      characterized by bending and stretching elasticity. Amphiphilic molecules like
      surfactants that are added to a system with two immiscible fluids decrease the
      interface tension and induce a bending rigidity. Lipid bilayer membranes of
      vesicles can be stretched or compressed by osmotic pressure; in biological cells,
      also the presence of a cytoskeleton can induce membrane tension. If the thickness
      of the interface or the membrane is small compared with its lateral extension,
      both can be described using two-dimensional mathematical surfaces embedded in
      three-dimensional space. We review recent work on the interaction of particles
      with interfaces and membranes. This can be micrometer-sized particles at
      interfaces that stabilise emulsions or form colloidosomes, as well as typically
      nanometer-sized particles at membranes, such as viruses, parasites, and
      engineered drug delivery systems. In both cases, we first discuss the interaction
      of single particles with interfaces and membranes, e.g. particles in external
      fields, non-spherical particles, and particles at curved interfaces, followed by
      interface-mediated interaction between two particles, many-particle interactions,
      interface and membrane curvature-induced phenomena, and applications.

PMID- 28608783
TI  - Semirelativity in semiconductors: a review.
AB  - An analogy between behavior of electrons in narrow-gap semiconductors (NGS) and
      relativistic electrons in vacuum is reviewed. Energy band structures [Formula:
      see text] are considered for various NGS materials and their correspondence to
      the energy-momentum relation in special relativity is emphasized. It is indicated
      that special relativity for vacuum is analogous to a two-band [Formula: see text]
      description for NGS. The maximum electron velocity in NGS is [Formula: see text],
      which corresponds to the light velocity in vacuum. An effective mass of charge
      carriers in semiconductors is introduced, relating their velocity to
      quasimomentum and it is shown that this mass depends on electron energy (or
      velocity) in a way similar to the mass of free relativistic electrons. In
      [Formula: see text] alloys one can reach vanishing energy gap at which electrons
      and light holes become three-dimensional massless Dirac fermions. A wavelength
      [Formula: see text] is defined for NGS, in analogy to the Compton wavelength in
      relativistic quantum mechanics. It is estimated that [Formula: see text] is on
      the order of tens of Angstroms in typical semiconducting materials which is
      experimentally confirmed in tunneling experiments on energy dispersion in the
      forbidden gap. Statistical properties of the electron gas in NGS are calculated
      and their similarity is demonstrated to those of the Juttner gas of relativistic
      particles. Interband electron tunneling in NGS is described and shown to be in
      close analogy to the predicted but unobserved tunneling between negative and
      positive energies resulting from the Dirac equation for free electrons. It is
      demonstrated that the relativistic analogy holds for orbital and spin properties
      of electrons in the presence of an external magnetic field. In particular, it is
      shown that the spin magnetic moment of both NGS electrons and relativistic
      electrons approaches zero with increasing energy. This conclusion is confirmed
      experimentally for NGS. Electrons in crossed electric and magnetic fields are
      described theoretically and experimentally. It is only the two-band description
      for NGS, equivalent to the Dirac or Klein-Gordon equations for free particles,
      that gives a correct account of experimental results in this situation. A
      transverse Doppler shift in the cyclotron resonance observed in crossed fields in
      InSb indicates that there exists a time dilatation between an oscillating
      electron and an observer. The phenomenon of Zitterbewegung (ZB, trembling motion)
      for electrons in NGS is considered theoretically, following the original
      proposition of Schrodinger for free relativistic electrons in vacuum. The two
      descriptions are in close analogy, but the frequency of ZB for electrons in NGS
      is orders of magnitude lower and its amplitude orders of magnitude higher making
      possible experimental observations in semiconductors considerably more favorable.
      Finally, graphene and carbon nanotubes, as well as topological insulators are
      considered in the framework of relativistic analogy. These systems, with their
      linear energy-quasimomentum dispersions, illustrate the extreme semirelativistic
      regime. Experimental results for the energy dispersions and the Landau
      quantizations in the presence of a magnetic field are quoted and their analogy to
      the behavior of free relativistic electrons is discussed. Approximations and
      restrictions of the relativistic analogy are emphasized. On the other hand, it is
      indicated that in various situations it is considerably easier to observe
      semirelativistic effects in semiconductors than the relativistic effects in
      vacuum.

PMID- 28608780
TI  - Signalling through AMPA receptors on oligodendrocyte precursors promotes
      myelination by enhancing oligodendrocyte survival.
AB  - Myelin, made by oligodendrocytes, is essential for rapid information transfer in
      the central nervous system. Oligodendrocyte precursors (OPs) receive
      glutamatergic synaptic input from axons but how this affects their development is
      unclear. Murine OPs in white matter express AMPA receptor (AMPAR) subunits GluA2,
      GluA3 and GluA4. We generated mice in which OPs lack both GluA2 and GluA3, or all
      three subunits GluA2/3/4, which respectively reduced or abolished AMPAR-mediated
      input to OPs. In both double- and triple-knockouts OP proliferation and number
      were unchanged but ~25% fewer oligodendrocytes survived in the subcortical white
      matter during development. In triple knockouts, this shortfall persisted into
      adulthood. The oligodendrocyte deficit resulted in ~20% fewer myelin sheaths but
      the average length, number and thickness of myelin internodes made by individual
      oligodendrocytes appeared normal. Thus, AMPAR-mediated signalling from active
      axons stimulates myelin production in developing white matter by enhancing
      oligodendrocyte survival, without influencing myelin synthesis per se.

PMID- 28608782
TI  - Residential radon in Galicia: a cross-sectional study in a radon-prone area.
AB  - Residential radon exposure is a major public health problem. It is the second
      greatest cause of lung cancer, after smoking, and the greatest in never-smokers.
      This study shows the indoor radon exposure distribution in Galicia and estimates
      the percentage of dwellings exceeding reference levels. It is based on 3245
      residential radon measurements obtained from the Galician Radon Map project and
      from controls of two previous case-control studies on residential radon and lung
      cancer. Results show a high median residential radon concentration in Galicia (99
      Bq m-3), with 49.3% of dwellings having a radon concentration above 100 Bq m-3
      and 11.1% having a concentration above 300 Bq m-3. Ourense and Pontevedra,
      located in South Galicia, are the provinces with the highest median indoor radon
      concentrations (137 Bq m-3 and 123.5 Bq m-3, respectively). Results also show
      lower radon levels in progressively higher building storeys. These high
      residential radon concentrations confirm Galicia as a radon-prone area. A policy
      on radon should be developed and implemented in Galicia to minimize the
      residential radon exposure of the population.

PMID- 28608785
TI  - Contemporary Patterns of Multiple Organ Dysfunction in Trauma: Erratum.

PMID- 28608784
TI  - Suppressed MMP-9 Activity in Myocardial Infarction-Related Cardiogenic Shock
      Implies Diminished Rage Degradation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and its cleavage
      fragment soluble RAGE (sRAGE) are opposite players in inflammation. Enhanced
      monocytic RAGE expression and decreased plasma sRAGE levels are associated with
      higher mortality in infarction-related cardiogenic shock. Active matrix
      metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has been implied in RAGE ectodomain cleavage and
      subsequently sRAGE shedding in vitro. We investigated MMP-9 activity in
      myocardial infarction-induced cardiogenic shock with regard to RAGE/sRAGE
      regulation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We determined MMP-9 serum activity by zymography
      and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP-1) expression by Western
      blot and correlated it to RAGE/sRAGE data in patients with cardiogenic shock
      after acute myocardial infarction (CS, n = 30), in patients with acute myocardial
      infarction without shock (AMI, n = 20) and in healthy volunteers (n = 20).MMP-9
      activity is increased in AMI (P = 0.02 versus controls), but significantly
      decreased in CS with lowest levels in non-survivors (n = 13, P = 0.02 versus
      AMI). In all patients, MMP-9 activity correlated inversely with RAGE expression
      on circulating monocytes (r = -0.57; P = 0.0001; n = 50).TIMP-1 levels showed an
      inverse regulation in comparison to active MMP-9 with significantly decreased
      levels in AMI as compared with controls (P = 0.02 versus controls) and highest
      levels in non-survivors of CS (P <0.001 versus AMI). CONCLUSIONS: Serum MMP-9
      activity is increased in acute myocardial infarction, but markedly suppressed in
      cardiogenic shock. Maintaining MMP-9 activity could be a therapeutic target to
      limit RAGE-induced deleterious inflammation in cardiogenic shock.

PMID- 28608786
TI  - New Human Immunodeficiency Virus Diagnosis Independently Associated With Rectal
      Gonorrhea and Chlamydia in Men Who Have Sex With Men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rectal sexually transmitted infections (STI) have been associated
      with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis, but inferring a causal
      association requires disentangling them from receptive anal intercourse (RAI).
      METHODS: We conducted a stratified case-control study by frequency matching 4
      controls to each case within year using clinical data from men who have sex with
      men (MSM) attending the Seattle STD Clinic 2001 to 2014. Cases were MSM with a
      new HIV diagnosis and negative HIV test at 12 months or less. Controls were HIV
      negative MSM. All included men had rectal STI testing, tested negative for
      syphilis, and had complete sexual behavior data. We categorized men by RAI: (1)
      none; (2) condoms for all RAI; (3) condomless RAI only with HIV-negative
      partners; and (4) condomless RAI with HIV-positive or unknown-status partners. We
      created 3 logistic regression models: (1) 3 univariate models of concurrent
      rectal gonorrhea, rectal chlamydia, and rectal STI in 12 months or less with new
      HIV diagnosis; (2) those 3 infections, plus age, race, year, number of sexual
      partners in 2 months or less, and methamphetamine use; and (3) model 2 with RAI
      categories. We calculated the population attributable risk of rectal STI on HIV
      diagnoses. RESULTS: Among 176 cases and 704 controls, rectal gonorrhea, chlamydia
      and rectal STI in 12 months or less were associated with HIV diagnosis. The
      magnitude of these associations attenuated in the second model, but persisted in
      model 3 (gonorrhea: adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.3-3.8; chlamydia: aOR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.5-4.3; prior STI: aOR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.5
      6.2). One in 7 HIV diagnoses can be attributed to rectal STI. CONCLUSIONS: Rectal
      STI are independently associated with HIV acquisition. These findings support the
      hypothesis that rectal STI play a biologically mediated causal role in HIV
      acquisition and support screening/treatment of STI for HIV prevention.

PMID- 28608787
TI  - Is Patient-Reported Exposure a Reliable Indicator for Anogenital Gonorrhea and
      Chlamydia Screening in Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men?
AB  - Among 485 young black men who have sex with men recruited in Jackson, MS, 90-day
      anal sexual exposure significantly predicted rectal infection, but 19.4% of
      rectal infections would have been missed among men denying receptive anal sex.
      Reports of consistent condom use were associated with lower infection rates only
      in men reporting insertive anal sex.

PMID- 28608788
TI  - Increases in the Rate of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Among Gay, Bisexual and Other Men
      Who Have Sex With Men-Findings From the Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance
      Network 2010-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inequalities in Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea) burden by sexual
      minority status in the United States are difficult to quantify. Sex of sex
      partner is not routinely collected for reported cases. Population estimates of
      men who have sex with men (MSM) necessary to calculate case rates have not been
      available until recently. For these reasons, trends in reported gonorrhea rates
      among MSM have not been described across multiple jurisdictions. METHODS: We
      estimated of the number of MSM cases reported in 6 jurisdictions continuously
      participating in the STD Surveillance Network 2010-2015 based on interviews with
      a random sample of cases. Data were obtained for Baltimore, Philadelphia, New
      York City, San Francisco, California (excluding San Francisco), and Washington
      State. Estimates of the MSM, heterosexual male (MSW) and female populations were
      obtained from recently published estimates and census data. Case rates and rate
      ratios were calculated comparing trends in reported cases among MSM, heterosexual
      males and women. RESULTS: The proportion of male gonorrhea cases among MSM varied
      by jurisdiction (range: 20% to 98%). Estimated MSM rate increased from 1369 cases
      per 100,000 in 2010 to 3435 cases per 100,000 in 2015. Between 2010 and 2015, the
      MSM-to-Women gonorrhea rate ratio increased from 13:1 to 24:1, and the MSM-to-MSW
      gonorrhea rate ratio increased from 16:1 to 31:1. CONCLUSIONS: Estimated
      gonorrhea rate among MSM increased in a network of 6 geographically diverse US
      jurisdictions. Estimating the size of this population, determining MSM among
      reported cases and estimating rates are essential first steps for better
      understanding the changing epidemiology of gonorrhea.

PMID- 28608789
TI  - Portrait of an Epidemic: Extremely High Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevalence
      and Incidence Among Young Black Men Having Sex With Men and Residing in a
      Southern City.
AB  - A 12-month prospective cohort study of 609 young black men who have sex with men
      (YBMSM) assessed human immunodeficiency virus seroconversion. One-hundred-seventy
      men (27.9%) were either human immunodeficiency virus-infected before enrollment
      or tested positive within 30 days afterward. Thirty (4.9%) were classified as
      incident infections occurring in a 12-month period. Subtracting the 170 from the
      denominator, incidence was 6.8%.

PMID- 28608790
TI  - Playing and Never Testing: Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Sexually Transmitted
      Infection Testing Among App-Using MSM in Southeast Asia.
AB  - Little is known about mobile application (app)-based behavior of men who have sex
      with men (MSM) in Thailand. A cross-sectional online assessment of app users in
      Bangkok found that more than a quarter have never tested for human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and 1 in 3 never tested for sexually transmitted
      infections (STI). STI testing patterns and HIV testing frequency were highly
      associated with each other in multinomial logistic regression. In the midst of an
      escalating epidemic where HIV incidence among MSM is highest in Asia, apps can
      serve to engage those least likely to be reached by traditional methods of
      recruitment and outreach in Thailand.

PMID- 28608791
TI  - Biological and Behavioral Factors Associated With Positive Chlamydia Retests.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Repeat chlamydia detection after treatment is common, and there is
      concern that treatment failure may be a cause. METHODS: Within a randomized
      trial, we established a prospective cohort of 600 participants with anogenital
      chlamydia diagnoses (200 each of women, heterosexual men, and men who have sex
      with men [MSM]). Participants were invited for repeat testing at 3 months and to
      complete a behavioral survey at 4 months. Positive samples were analyzed for
      organism DNA load and genovar. We estimated repeat chlamydia positivity,
      reinfection and treatment failure rates, and investigated the biological and
      behavioral factors associated with a repeat positive test. RESULTS: A total of
      290 participants (100 women, 89 heterosexual men, 101 MSM) were retested at 1 to
      4 months, with 43 repeat positives, including 26 classed as reinfection and 9 as
      treatment failures. Comparing MSM with heterosexual men and women combined,
      repeat positivity was higher (20.8% vs 11.6%, P = 0.04), and treatment failure
      was higher (6.9% vs 1.1%, P = 0.01), but there was no difference in reinfection
      rates (11.9% vs 7.4%, P = 0.21). Among MSM, the odds of repeat positivity
      increased by 90% with each additional log organism load in the original specimen
      (baseline) (adjusted odds ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.2). Among
      heterosexuals, the odds of repeat positivity decreased by 10% with each
      additional week delay in being retested for chlamydia (adjusted odds ratio, 0.9;
      95% confidence interval, 0.8-0.9). CONCLUSIONS: Positive retests were more common
      among MSM than heterosexuals. Treatment failure was more common in MSM with
      rectal chlamydia, reinforcing concerns about azithromycin treatment failure.

PMID- 28608792
TI  - Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention With Long-Acting Reversible
      Contraception: Factors Associated With Dual Use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is extremely effective in
      preventing pregnancy; however, it does not provide sexually transmitted infection
      (STI) prevention. Therefore, dual use is recommended for the prevention of STIs,
      in addition to pregnancy, by using LARC methods with condoms. This study assessed
      factors associated with LARC only use and dual-LARC and condom use among college
      women. METHODS: The National College Health Assessment-II Fall 2012 to 2013 was
      used for this analysis. The analytic sample was restricted to women who used a
      LARC method (ie, intrauterine device or implant) (N = 1658). The main outcome was
      dual method use, LARC and condom, at last sex. An adjusted logistic regression
      model assessed sociodemographic factors (age, relationship, race), health care
      utilization (routine gynecological examination), and sexual behavior (number of
      partners) as factors associated with dual condom-LARC use at the last time of
      vaginal-sex. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were
      estimated. RESULTS: Among women reporting LARC use, 24% used a condom. Dual users
      were less likely to have only 1 sexual partner (adjusted PR [aPR], 0.66; 95% CI,
      0.54-0.81) and be in a relationship. Dual users were more likely than LARC-only
      users to be Hispanic (aPR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.01-1.78), black (aPR, 1.40; 95% CI,
      1.07-1.83), and biracial/multiracial (aPR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.10-1.73). CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings illustrate differences between dual-condom LARC and LARC-only
      college users. It is likely that relationship status and number of partners
      influences perceived risk for STIs and decision making for dual use among this
      population.

PMID- 28608793
TI  - The Immunopathogenesis of Mycoplasma genitalium Infections in Women: A Narrative
      Review.
AB  - Mycoplasma genitalium is a common, predominately asymptomatic, and often
      undiagnosed sexually transmitted infection that is associated with inflammatory
      urogenital and reproductive tract disease syndromes of men and women. Without
      programmatic screening in the United States, and with increasing resistance to
      antibiotics used in empiric sexually transmitted infection management,
      undiagnosed M. genitalium infections put many women at risk for cervicitis and
      pelvic inflammatory disease. Chronic infection may also lead to tubal-factor
      infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes in expectant mothers, and is a risk
      factor for acquisition and transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. This
      review details the dynamics of M. genitalium infection, and then examines the
      potentially deleterious role of host immunity in reproductive tract disease
      pathogenesis and enhanced human immunodeficiency virus acquisition/transmission.

PMID- 28608794
TI  - Mycoplasma genitalium Antibiotic Resistance-Mediating Mutations in Canadian Women
      With or Without Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection.
AB  - Testing remnant Aptima specimens from women infected with Chlamydia trachomatis
      detected 13.4% (53/396) with Mycoplasma genitalium compared with 5.4% (22/406) in
      matched C. trachomatis-negative women. Overall, 9.4% (provincial ranges of 3-20%)
      were infected with M. genitalium and resistance mediating mutations were found in
      47.3% (26/55) to macrolides and 1.9% (1/53) to fluoroquinolones by sequencing.

PMID- 28608795
TI  - Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men and
      Transgender Women in 2 US Cities, 2012-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since 2011, in the United States, quadrivalent human papillomavirus
      (HPV) vaccine has been recommended for boys aged 11 to 12 years, men through age
      21, and men who have sex with men (MSM) through age 26. We assessed HPV
      vaccination coverage and factors associated with vaccination among young MSM
      (YMSM) and transgender women (TGW) in 2 cities. METHODS: During 2012-2014, 808
      YMSM and TGW aged 18 to 26 years reported vaccination status in a self
      administered computerized questionnaire at 3 sexually transmitted disease (STD)
      clinics in Los Angeles and Chicago. Associations with HPV vaccination were
      assessed using bivariate and multivariable models to calculate adjusted odds
      ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Few of the diverse
      participants (Hispanic/Latino, 38.0%; white, 27.0%; and black/African American,
      17.9%) reported receiving 1 or more HPV vaccine doses (n = 111 [13.7%]) and even
      fewer reported 3 doses (n = 37 [4.6%]). A multivariable model found associations
      between vaccination and having a 4-year college degree or higher (aOR, 2.83; CI,
      1.55-5.17) and self-reported STDs (aOR, 1.21; CI, 1.03-1.42). In a model
      including recommendation variables, the strongest predictor of vaccination was a
      health care provider recommendation (aOR, 11.85; CI, 6.70-20.98). CONCLUSIONS:
      Human papillomavirus vaccination coverage was low among YMSM and TGW in this 2-US
      city study. Our findings suggest further efforts are needed to reach YMSM seeking
      care in STD clinics, increase strong recommendations from health care providers,
      and integrate HPV vaccination with other clinical services such as STD testing.

PMID- 28608796
TI  - The Natural History of Oral Human Papillomavirus in Young Costa Rican Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and related oropharyngeal
      cancer are uncommon in lower-income countries, particularly compared to HPV
      associated cervical cancer. However, little is known about the natural history of
      oral HPV in less-developed settings and how it compares to the natural history of
      cervical HPV. METHODS: Three hundred fifty women aged 22 to 33 years from the
      Costa Rica Vaccine Trial provided exfoliated cells from the cervical and oral
      regions at 2 visits 2 years apart. Samples from both visits were tested for 25
      characterized alpha HPV types by the SPF10 PCR-DNA enzyme immunoassay-LiPA25
      version 1 system. Risk factors for oral HPV persistence were calculated utilizing
      generalized estimating equations with a logistic link. RESULTS: Among the 82
      women with characterized alpha oral HPV DNA detected at baseline, 14 persisted
      and were detected 2 years later (17.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.9-28.5%)
      and was similar to the persistence of alpha cervical HPV (40/223; 17.7%; 95% CI,
      13.1-23.9%; P = 0.86). Acquisition of new alpha oral HPV type was low; incident
      infection (1.7%; 95% CI, 0.6-3.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Oral HPV DNA is uncommon in
      young women in Latin America, and often appears to clear within a few years at
      similar rates to cervical HPV.

PMID- 28608797
TI  - Bioactive Mushroom Polysaccharides: A Review on Monosaccharide Composition,
      Biosynthesis and Regulation.
AB  - Mushrooms are widely distributed around the world and are heavily consumed
      because of their nutritional value and medicinal properties. Polysaccharides
      (PSs) are an important component of mushrooms, a major factor in their bioactive
      properties, and have been intensively studied during the past two decades.
      Monosaccharide composition/combinations are important determinants of PS
      bioactivities. This review summarizes: (i) monosaccharide
      composition/combinations in various mushroom PSs, and their relationships with PS
      bioactivities; (ii) possible biosynthetic pathways of mushroom PSs and effects of
      key enzymes on monosaccharide composition; (iii) regulation strategies in PS
      biosynthesis, and prospects for controllable biosynthesis of PSs with enhanced
      bioactivities.

PMID- 28608798
TI  - Molecular Cloning and Functional Characterization of a Hexokinase from the
      Oriental River Prawn Macrobrachium nipponense in Response to Hypoxia.
AB  - Metabolic adjustment to hypoxia in Macrobrachium nipponense (oriental river
      prawn) implies a shift to anaerobic metabolism. Hexokinase (HK) is a key
      glycolytic enzyme in prawns. The involvement of HK in the hypoxia inducible
      factors (HIFs) pathway is unclear in prawns. In this study, the full-length cDNA
      for HK (MnHK) was obtained from M. nipponense, and its properties were
      characterized. The full-length cDNA (2385 bp) with an open reading frame of 1350
      bp, encoded a 450-amino acid protein. MnHK contained highly conserved amino acids
      in the glucose, glucose-6-phosphate, ATP, and Mg+2 binding sites. Quantitative
      real-time reverse transcription PCR assays revealed the tissue-specific
      expression pattern of MnHK, with abundant expression in the muscle, and gills.
      Kinetic studies validated the hexokinase activity of recombinant HK. Silencing of
      HIF-1alpha or HIF-1beta subunit genes blocked the induction of HK and its enzyme
      activities during hypoxia in muscles. The results suggested that MnHK is a key
      factor that increases the anaerobic rate, and is probably involved in the HIF-1
      pathway related to highly active metabolism during hypoxia.

PMID- 28608799
TI  - In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of Alar-Nasal Cartilage Using Autologous Micro
      Grafts: The Use of the Rigenera(r) Protocol in the Treatment of an Osteochondral
      Lesion of the Nose.
AB  - Cartilage defects represent a serious problem due to the poor regenerative
      properties of this tissue. Regarding the nose, nasal valve collapse is associated
      with nasal blockage and persistent airway obstruction associated with a
      significant drop in the quality of life for patients. In addition to surgical
      techniques, several cell-based tissue-engineering strategies are studied to
      improve cartilage support in the nasal wall, that is, to ameliorate wall
      insufficiency. Nevertheless, there are no congruent data available on the benefit
      for patients during the follow-up time. In this manuscript, we propose an
      innovative approach in the treatment of cartilage defects in the nose (nasal
      valve collapse) based on autologous micro-grafts obtained by mechanical
      disaggregation of a small portion of cartilage tissue (Rigenera(r) protocol). In
      particular, we first analyzed in vitro murine and human cartilage micro-grafts;
      secondly, we analyzed the clinical results of a patient with pinched nose
      deformity treated with autologous micro-grafts of chondrocytes obtained by
      Rigenera(r) protocol. The use of autologous micro-graft produced promising
      results in surgery treatment of cartilage injuries and could be safely and easily
      administrated to patients with cartilage tissue defects.

PMID- 28608800
TI  - A Novel Laser Refractive Surgical Treatment for Presbyopia: Optics-Based
      Customization for Improved Clinical Outcome.
AB  - Laser Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) is a proven treatment method for
      corneal refractive surgery. Surgically induced higher order optical aberrations
      were a major reason why the method was only rarely used to treat presbyopia, an
      age-related near-vision loss. In this study, a novel customization algorithm for
      designing multifocal ablation patterns, thereby minimizing induced optical
      aberrations, was used to treat 36 presbyopic subjects. Results showed that most
      candidates went from poor visual acuity to uncorrected 20/20 vision or better for
      near (78%), intermediate (92%), and for distance (86%) vision, six months after
      surgery. All subjects were at 20/25 or better for distance and intermediate
      vision, and a majority (94%) were also better for near vision. Even though
      further studies are necessary, our results suggest that the employed methodology
      is a safe, reliable, and predictable refractive surgical treatment for
      presbyopia.

PMID- 28608801
TI  - Automaticity and Flexibility of S-R Retrieval During Priming.
AB  - Learned associations between stimuli and responses (S-R associations) make
      important contributions to behavioral and neural priming. The current study
      investigated the automaticity and flexibility of these S-R associations and
      whether the global task context in which they occur modulates the impact of S-R
      retrieval on priming. Participants engaged in a semantic repetition priming task
      in which S-R retrieval is known to influence priming. Across participants,
      repetition priming occurred in global task contexts (i.e., combination of
      activated task sets) that either remained consistent or shifted across time. In
      the stable context group, the global task context at study matched that at test,
      whereas in the shifting context group, the global task context at study differed
      from that at test. Results revealed that the stability of the global task context
      did not affect the magnitude of S-R contributions to priming and that S-R
      contributions to priming were significant in both the stable and shifting context
      groups. These results highlight the robustness of S-R contributions to priming
      and indicate that S-R associations can flexibly transfer across changes in higher
      level task states.

PMID- 28608802
TI  - Enhanced Osteogenic Differentiation in Zoledronate-Treated Osteoporotic Patients.
AB  - Bisphosphonates are well known inhibitors of osteoclast activity and thus may be
      employed to influence osteoblast activity. The present study was designed to
      evaluate the in vivo effects of zoledronic acid (ZA) on the proliferation and
      osteoblastic commitment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in osteoporotic patients.
      We studied 22 postmenopausal osteoporotic patients. Densitometric, biochemical,
      cellular and molecular data were collected before as well as after 6 and 12
      months of ZA treatment. Peripheral blood MSC-like cells were quantified by colony
      forming unit fibroblastic assay; their osteogenic differentiation potential was
      evaluated after 3 and 7 days of induction, respectively. Circulating MSCs showed
      significantly increased expression levels of osteoblastic marker genes such as
      Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), and Osteonectin (SPARC) during the
      12 months of monitoring time. Lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) variation and
      SPARC gene expression correlated positively. Bone turnover marker levels were
      significantly lowered after ZA treatment; the effect was more pronounced for C
      terminal telopeptide (CTX) than for Procollagen Type 1 N-Terminal Propeptide
      (P1NP) and bone alkaline phosphatase (bALP). Our findings suggest a discrete
      anabolic activity supported by osteogenic commitment of MSCs, consequent to ZA
      treatment. We confirm its anabolic effects in vivo on osteogenic precursors.

PMID- 28608803
TI  - The Unique Role of the ECERIFERUM2-LIKE Clade of the BAHD Acyltransferase
      Superfamily in Cuticular Wax Metabolism.
AB  - The elongation of very-long-chain fatty acids is a conserved process used for the
      production of many metabolites, including plant cuticular waxes. The elongation
      of precursors of the most abundant cuticular wax components of some plants,
      however, is unique in requiring ECERIFERUM2-LIKE (CER2-LIKE) proteins. CER2-LIKEs
      are a clade within the BAHD superfamily of acyltransferases. They are known to be
      required for cuticular wax production in both Arabidopsis and maize based on
      mutant studies. Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis and rice CER2-LIKEs in
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae has demonstrated that they modify the chain-length
      specificity of elongation when paired with particular condensing enzymes. Despite
      sequence homology, CER2-LIKEs are distinct from the BAHD superfamily in that they
      do not appear to use acyl transfer activity to fulfill their biological function.
      Here, we review the discovery and characterization of CER2-LIKEs, propose several
      models to explain their function, and explore the importance of CER2-LIKE
      proteins for the evolution of plant cuticles.

PMID- 28608805
TI  - Comparative Phenotypical and Molecular Analyses of Arabidopsis Grown under
      Fluorescent and LED Light.
AB  - Comparative analyses of phenotypic and molecular traits of Arabidopsis thaliana
      grown under standardised conditions is still a challenge using climatic devices
      supplied with common light sources. These are in most cases fluorescent lights,
      which have several disadvantages such as heat production at higher light
      intensities, an invariable spectral output, and relatively rapid "ageing". This
      results in non-desired variations of growth conditions and lowers the
      comparability of data acquired over extended time periods. In this study, we
      investigated the growth behaviour of Arabidopsis Col0 under different light
      conditions, applying fluorescent compared to LED lamps, and we conducted
      physiological as well as gene expression analyses. By changing the spectral
      composition and/or light intensity of LEDs we can clearly influence the growth
      behaviour of Arabidopsis and thereby study phenotypic attributes under very
      specific light conditions that are stable and reproducible, which is not
      necessarily given for fluorescent lamps. By using LED lights, we can also roughly
      mimic the sun light emission spectrum, enabling us to study plant growth in a
      more natural-like light set-up. We observed distinct growth behaviour under the
      different light regimes which was reflected by physiological properties of the
      plants. In conclusion, LEDs provide variable emission spectra for studying plant
      growth under defined, stable light conditions.

PMID- 28608804
TI  - Phytosterols and Omega 3 Supplementation Exert Novel Regulatory Effects on
      Metabolic and Inflammatory Pathways: A Proteomic Study.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains one of the major causes of death and
      disability worldwide. In addition to drug treatment, nutritional interventions or
      supplementations are becoming a health strategy for CVD prevention. Phytosterols
      (PhyS) are natural components that have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels;
      while poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), mainly omega-3 (omega3) fatty acids,
      have shown to reduce triglyceride levels. Here we aimed to investigate whether
      the proteins in the main lipoproteins (low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high
      density lipoproteins (HDL)) as well as proteins in the lipid free plasma fraction
      (LPDP) were regulated by the intake of PhyS-milk or omega3-milk, in overweight
      healthy volunteers by a proteomic based systems biology approach. The study was a
      longitudinal crossover trial, including thirty-two healthy volunteers with body
      mass index (BMI) 25-35 kg/m2 (Clinical Trial: ISRCTN78753338). Basal samples
      before any intervention and after 4 weeks of intake of PhyS or omega3-milk were
      analyzed. Proteomic profiling by two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) followed
      by mass spectrometry-(MALDI/TOF), ELISA, Western blot, conventional biochemical
      analysis, and in-silico bioinformatics were performed. The intake of PhyS-milk
      did not induce changes in the lipid associated plasma protein fraction, whereas
      omega3-milk significantly increased apolipoprotein (Apo)- E LDL content (p =
      0.043) and induced a coordinated increase in several HDL-associated proteins, Apo
      A-I, lecitin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), paraoxonase-1 (PON-1), Apo D,
      and Apo L1 (p < 0.05 for all). Interestingly, PhyS-milk intake induced a
      reduction in inflammatory molecules not seen after omega3-milk intake. Serum
      amyloid P component (SAP) was reduced in the LPDP protein fraction (p = 0.001) of
      subjects taking PhyS-milk and C-C motif chemokine 2 (CCL2)expression detected by
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis in white blood
      cells was significantly reduced (p = 0.013). No changes were observed in the
      lipid-free plasma proteome with omega3-milk. Our study provides novel results and
      highlights that the PhyS-milk induces attenuation of the pro-inflammatory
      pathways, whereas omega3-milk induces improvement in lipid metabolic pathways.

PMID- 28608806
TI  - Targeting Overconsumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages vs. Overall Poor Diet
      Quality for Cardiometabolic Diseases Risk Prevention: Place Your Bets!
AB  - Chronic overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is amongst the
      dietary factors most consistently found to be associated with obesity, type 2
      diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in large epidemiological
      studies. Intervention studies have shown that SSB overconsumption increases intra
      abdominal obesity and ectopic lipid deposition in the liver, and also exacerbates
      cardiometabolic risk. Similar to the prevalence of obesity and T2D, national
      surveys of food consumption have shown that chronic overconsumption of SSBs is
      skyrocketing in many parts of the world, yet with marked heterogeneity across
      countries. SSB overconsumption is also particularly worrisome among children and
      adolescents. Although the relationships between SSB overconsumption and obesity,
      T2D, and CVD are rather consistent in epidemiological studies, it has also been
      shown that SSB overconsumption is part of an overall poor dietary pattern and is
      particularly prevalent among subgroups of the population with low socioeconomic
      status, thereby questioning the major focus on SSBs to target/prevent
      cardiometabolic diseases. Public health initiatives aimed specifically at
      decreasing SSB overconsumption will most likely be successful in influencing SSB
      consumption per se. However, comprehensive strategies targeting poor dietary
      patterns and aiming at improving global dietary quality are likely to have much
      more impact in addressing the unprecedented public health challenges that we are
      currently facing.

PMID- 28608807
TI  - Amphotericin B, an Anti-Fungal Medication, Directly Increases the Cytotoxicity of
      NK Cells.
AB  - Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) present one example of immunomodulatory agents
      that improve cancer immunotherapy. Based on the cytotoxic activity of natural
      killer (NK) cells against cancer cells, a high throughput screening method for
      the identification of novel immunomodulatory molecules with the potential to
      stimulate NK cell cytotoxicity against cancer cells was designed and tested using
      an approved drug library. Among the primary hit compounds, the anti-fungal drug
      amphotericin B (AMP-B) increased the cytotoxicity of NK cell line and human
      primary NK cells in a direct manner. The increase in NK cell activity was related
      to increased formation of NK-target cell conjugates and the subsequent granule
      polarization toward target cells. The results of the present study indicate that
      AMP-B could serve a dual function as an anti-fungal and immunomodulatory drug.

PMID- 28608809
TI  - Ranging Consistency Based on Ranging-Compensated Temperature-Sensing Sensor for
      Inter-Satellite Link of Navigation Constellation.
AB  - Global Navigation Satellite System performance can be significantly enhanced by
      introducing inter-satellite links (ISLs) in navigation constellation. The
      improvement in position, velocity, and time accuracy as well as the realization
      of autonomous functions requires ISL distance measurement data as the original
      input. To build a high-performance ISL, the ranging consistency among navigation
      satellites is an urgent problem to be solved. In this study, we focus on the
      variation in the ranging delay caused by the sensitivity of the ISL payload
      equipment to the ambient temperature in space and propose a simple and low-power
      temperature-sensing ranging compensation sensor suitable for onboard equipment.
      The experimental results show that, after the temperature-sensing ranging
      compensation of the ISL payload equipment, the ranging consistency becomes less
      than 0.2 ns when the temperature change is 90  degrees C.

PMID- 28608808
TI  - Drivers of Microbial Risk for Direct Potable Reuse and de Facto Reuse Treatment
      Schemes: The Impacts of Source Water Quality and Blending.
AB  - Although reclaimed water for potable applications has many potential benefits, it
      poses concerns for chemical and microbial risks to consumers. We present a
      quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) Monte Carlo framework to compare a
      de facto water reuse scenario (treated wastewater-impacted surface water) with
      four hypothetical Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) scenarios for Norovirus,
      Cryptosporidium, and Salmonella. Consumer microbial risks of surface source water
      quality (impacted by 0-100% treated wastewater effluent) were assessed.
      Additionally, we assessed risks for different blending ratios (0-100% surface
      water blended into advanced-treated DPR water) when source surface water
      consisted of 50% wastewater effluent. De facto reuse risks exceeded the yearly 10
      4 infections risk benchmark while all modeled DPR risks were significantly lower.
      Contamination with 1% or more wastewater effluent in the source water, and
      blending 1% or more wastewater-impacted surface water into the advanced-treated
      DPR water drove the risk closer to the 10-4 benchmark. We demonstrate that de
      facto reuse by itself, or as an input into DPR, drives microbial risks more so
      than the advanced-treated DPR water. When applied using location-specific inputs,
      this framework can contribute to project design and public awareness campaigns to
      build legitimacy for DPR.

PMID- 28608811
TI  - Simple Smartphone-Based Guiding System for Visually Impaired People.
AB  - Visually impaired people are often unaware of dangers in front of them, even in
      familiar environments. Furthermore, in unfamiliar environments, such people
      require guidance to reduce the risk of colliding with obstacles. This study
      proposes a simple smartphone-based guiding system for solving the navigation
      problems for visually impaired people and achieving obstacle avoidance to enable
      visually impaired people to travel smoothly from a beginning point to a
      destination with greater awareness of their surroundings. In this study, a
      computer image recognition system and smartphone application were integrated to
      form a simple assisted guiding system. Two operating modes, online mode and
      offline mode, can be chosen depending on network availability. When the system
      begins to operate, the smartphone captures the scene in front of the user and
      sends the captured images to the backend server to be processed. The backend
      server uses the faster region convolutional neural network algorithm or the you
      only look once algorithm to recognize multiple obstacles in every image, and it
      subsequently sends the results back to the smartphone. The results of obstacle
      recognition in this study reached 60%, which is sufficient for assisting visually
      impaired people in realizing the types and locations of obstacles around them.

PMID- 28608810
TI  - Microcontact Imprinted Plasmonic Nanosensors: Powerful Tools in the Detection of
      Salmonella paratyphi.
AB  - Identification of pathogenic microorganisms by traditional methods is slow and
      cumbersome. Therefore, the focus today is on developing new and quicker
      analytical methods. In this study, a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor with
      a microcontact imprinted sensor chip was developed for detecting Salmonella
      paratyphi. For this purpose, the stamps of the target microorganism were prepared
      and then, microcontact S. paratyphi-imprinted SPR chips were prepared with the
      functional monomer N-methacryloyl-L-histidine methyl ester (MAH).
      Characterization studies of the SPR chips were carried out with ellipsometry and
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The real-time Salmonella paratyphi detection
      was performed within the range of 2.5 * 106-15 * 106 CFU/mL. Selectivity of the
      prepared sensors was examined by using competing bacterial strains such as
      Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. The imprinting
      efficiency of the prepared sensor system was determined by evaluating the
      responses of the SPR chips prepared with both molecularly imprinted polymers
      (MIPs) and non-imprinted polymers (NIPs). Real sample experiments were performed
      with apple juice. The recognition of Salmonella paratyphi was achieved using
      these SPR sensor with a detection limit of 1.4 * 106 CFU/mL. In conclusion, SPR
      sensor has the potential to serve as an excellent candidate for monitoring
      Salmonella paratyphi in food supplies or contaminated water and clearly makes it
      possible to develop rapid and appropriate control strategies.

PMID- 28608812
TI  - Quantification of Bone Fatty Acid Metabolism and Its Regulation by Adipocyte
      Lipoprotein Lipase.
AB  - Adipocytes are master regulators of energy homeostasis. Although the
      contributions of classical brown and white adipose tissue (BAT and WAT,
      respectively) to glucose and fatty acid metabolism are well characterized, the
      metabolic role of adipocytes in bone marrow remains largely unclear. Here, we
      quantify bone fatty acid metabolism and its contribution to systemic nutrient
      handling in mice. Whereas in parts of the skeleton the specific amount of
      nutrients taken-up from the circulation was lower than in other metabolically
      active tissues such as BAT or liver, the overall contribution of the skeleton as
      a whole organ was remarkable, placing it among the top organs involved in
      systemic glucose as well as fatty acid clearance. We show that there are
      considerable site-specific variations in bone marrow fatty acid composition
      throughout the skeleton and that, especially in the tibia, marrow fatty acid
      profiles resemble classical BAT and WAT. Using a mouse model lacking lipoprotein
      lipase (LPL), a master regulator of plasma lipid turnover specifically in
      adipocytes, we show that impaired fatty acid flux leads to reduced amounts of
      dietary essential fatty acids while there was a profound increase in de novo
      produced fatty acids in both bone marrow and cortical bone. Notably, these
      changes in fatty acid profiles were not associated with any gross skeletal
      phenotype. These results identify LPL as an important regulator of fatty acid
      transport to skeletal compartments and demonstrate an intricate functional link
      between systemic and skeletal fatty acid and glucose metabolism.

PMID- 28608814
TI  - Predicting Outcome and Therapy Response in mCRC Patients Using an Indirect Method
      for CTCs Detection by a Multigene Expression Panel: A Multicentric Prospective
      Validation Study.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths.
      Early detection of tumor relapse is crucial for determining the most appropriate
      therapeutic management. In clinical practice, computed tomography (CT) is
      routinely used, but small tumor changes are difficult to visualize, and reliable
      blood-based prognostic and monitoring biomarkers are urgently needed. The aim of
      this study was to prospectively validate a gene expression panel (composed of
      GAPDH, VIL1, CLU, TIMP1, TLN1, LOXL3 and ZEB2) for detecting circulating tumor
      cells (CTCs) as prognostic and predictive tool in blood samples from 94
      metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients. Patients with higher gene panel expression before
      treatment had a reduced progression-free survival (PFS) and overall-survival (OS)
      rates compared with patients with low expression (p = 0.003 and p <= 0.001,
      respectively). Patients with increased expression of CTCs markers during
      treatment presented PFS and OS times of 8.95 and 11.74 months, respectively,
      compared with 14.41 and 24.7 for patients presenting decreased expression (PFS; p
      = 0.020; OS; p <= 0.001). Patients classified as non-responders by CTCs with
      treatment, but classified as responders by CT scan, showed significantly shorter
      survival times (PFS: 8.53 vs. 11.70; OS: 10.37 vs. 24.13; months). In conclusion,
      our CTCs detection panel demonstrated efficacy for early treatment response
      assessment in mCRC patients, and with increased reliability compared to CT scan.

PMID- 28608813
TI  - Zika Virus: Recent Advances towards the Development of Vaccines and Therapeutics.
AB  - Zika is a rapidly emerging public health threat. Although clinical infection is
      frequently mild, significant neurological manifestations have been demonstrated
      in infants born to Zika virus (ZIKV) infected mothers. Due to the substantial
      ramifications of intrauterine infection, effective counter-measures are urgently
      needed. In order to develop effective anti-ZIKV vaccines and therapeutics,
      improved animal models and a better understanding of immunological correlates of
      protection against ZIKV are required. This review will summarize what is
      currently known about ZIKV, the clinical manifestations and epidemiology of Zika
      as well as, the development of animal models to study ZIKV infection, host immune
      responses against ZIKV, and the current state of development of vaccines and
      therapeutics against ZIKV.

PMID- 28608815
TI  - Gold Electrodes Modified with Calix[4]arene for Electrochemical Determination of
      Dopamine in the Presence of Selected Neurotransmitters.
AB  - Here, we present an electrochemical sensor based on gold electrodes modified with
      calix[4]arene functionalized with carboxypiperidino groups at the upper rim. It
      has been demonstrated that these groups are involved in a complex formation with
      dopamine (DA) on the surface of gold electrodes. The supramolecular complex
      calix[4]arene-DA created on the gold electrode surface has been characterized
      electrochemically and the measuring conditions have been optimized. The presented
      sensor displayed a detection limit in the pM range. The DA determination was
      performed successfully in the presence of ascorbic acid, uric acid and selected
      neurotransmitters.

PMID- 28608817
TI  - Recombinant Phospholipase D from Loxosceles gaucho Binds to Platelets and
      Promotes Phosphatidylserine Exposure.
AB  - Spider envenomation, from the genus Loxosceles, is frequently reported as a cause
      of necrotic lesions in humans around the world. Among the many components found
      in the venom of Loxosceles genus, phospholipases D (PLDs) are the most
      investigated, since they can cause a massive inflammatory response,
      dermonecrosis, hemolysis and platelet aggregation, among other effects. Even
      though the PLDs induce strong platelet aggregation, there are no studies showing
      how the PLDs interact with platelets to promote this effect. Since many agonists
      must interact with specific receptors on the platelet membrane to induce
      aggregation, it is reasonable to expect that the PLDs may, in some way, also
      interact with platelets, to induce this activity. Therefore, to address this
      possibility, in this work, a recombinant PLD, called LgRec1, from L. gaucho was
      fused to enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and used as a probe to detect
      the interaction of LgRec1 to platelets, by fluorescence-activated cell sorter
      (FACS) and confocal microscopy. The preservation of biological activities of this
      chimera toxin was also analyzed. As a first, the results show that LgRec1 does
      not require plasma components to bind to platelets, although these components are
      necessary to LgRec1 to induce platelet aggregation. Also, the attachment of
      LgRec1 to human platelets' cell membranes suggests that the exposure of
      phosphatidylserine (PS) may act as a scaffold for coagulation factors. Therefore,
      the results add new information about the binding of Loxosceles PLDs to
      platelets, which may help unravel how these toxins promote platelet aggregation.

PMID- 28608816
TI  - Mechanisms of Adaptive Immunity to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome
      Virus.
AB  - The adaptive immune response is necessary for the development of protective
      immunity against infectious diseases. Porcine reproductive and respiratory
      syndrome virus (PRRSV), a genetically heterogeneous and rapidly evolving RNA
      virus, is the most burdensome pathogen of swine health and wellbeing worldwide.
      Viral infection induces antigen-specific immunity that ultimately clears the
      infection. However, the resulting immune memory, induced by virulent or
      attenuated vaccine viruses, is inconsistently protective against diverse viral
      strains. The immunological mechanisms by which primary and memory protection are
      generated and used are not well understood. Here, we summarize current knowledge
      regarding cellular and humoral components of the adaptive immune response to
      PRRSV infection that mediate primary and memory immune protection against
      viruses.

PMID- 28608818
TI  - Impact of Parvovirus B19 Viremia in Liver Transplanted Children on Anemia: A
      Retrospective Study.
AB  - Acute parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection in immunocompromised patients may lead to
      severe anemia. However, in adult transplant recipients, B19V reactivations
      without anemia and low-level viremia are common. The impact of B19V in pediatric
      transplant patients, with high risk of primary infection, is investigated here.
      In a six-month period, 159 blood samples of 54 pediatric liver transplant
      recipients were tested for B19V DNA by quantitative real-time PCR. Viremia was
      correlated with anemia and immunosuppression and compared with rates in adult
      transplant recipients. B19V DNA was detected in 5/54 patients. Primary B19V
      infections were observed in four patients prior to and in one patient after
      transplantation. Rates of viremia were significantly higher in pediatric
      recipients than in adults. Prolonged virus shedding after primary infection prior
      to transplantation accounts for most viremic cases. Anemia was significantly more
      frequent in samples from viremic patients, but remained mild. In 15% of anemic
      samples, B19V DNA was detected. Therefore, in anemic pediatric transplant
      recipients, diagnostics for B19V seem reasonable.

PMID- 28608820
TI  - A Multi-Parametric Device with Innovative Solid Electrodes for Long-Term
      Monitoring of pH, Redox-Potential and Conductivity in a Nuclear Waste Repository.
AB  - We present an innovative electrochemical probe for the monitoring of pH, redox
      potential and conductivity in near-field rocks of deep geological radioactive
      waste repositories. The probe is composed of a monocrystalline antimony electrode
      for pH sensing, four AgCl/Ag-based reference or Cl- selective electrodes, one
      Ag2S/Ag-based reference or S2- selective electrode, as well as four platinum
      electrodes, a gold electrode and a glassy-carbon electrode for redox potential
      measurements. Galvanostatic electrochemistry impedance spectroscopy using AgCl/Ag
      based and platinum electrodes measure conductivity. The use of such a multi
      parameter probe provides redundant information, based as it is on the
      simultaneous behaviour under identical conditions of different electrodes of the
      same material, as well as on that of electrodes made of different materials. This
      identifies the changes in physical and chemical parameters in a solution, as well
      as the redox reactions controlling the measured potential, both in the solution
      and/or at the electrode/solution interface. Understanding the electrochemical
      behaviour of selected materials thus is a key point of our research, as provides
      the basis for constructing the abacuses needed for developing robust and reliable
      field sensors.

PMID- 28608819
TI  - The Therapeutic Potential of Anti-Inflammatory Exerkines in the Treatment of
      Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Although many cardiovascular (CVD) medications, such as antithrombotics, statins,
      and antihypertensives, have been identified to treat atherosclerosis, at most,
      many of these therapeutic agents only delay its progression. A growing body of
      evidence suggests physical exercise could be implemented as a non-pharmacologic
      treatment due to its pro-metabolic, multisystemic, and anti-inflammatory
      benefits. Specifically, it has been discovered that certain anti-inflammatory
      peptides, metabolites, and RNA species (collectively termed "exerkines") are
      released in response to exercise that could facilitate these benefits and could
      serve as potential therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis. However, much of the
      relationship between exercise and these exerkines remains unanswered, and there
      are several challenges in the discovery and validation of these exerkines. This
      review primarily highlights major anti-inflammatory exerkines that could serve as
      potential therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis. To provide some context and
      comparison for the therapeutic potential of exerkines, the anti-inflammatory,
      multisystemic benefits of exercise, the basic mechanisms of atherosclerosis, and
      the limited efficacies of current anti-inflammatory therapeutics for
      atherosclerosis are briefly summarized. Finally, key challenges and future
      directions for exploiting these exerkines in the treatment of atherosclerosis are
      discussed.

PMID- 28608821
TI  - Expression of Salivary miR-203a-3p Was Related with Oral Health-Related Quality
      of Life in Healthy Volunteers.
AB  - Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is a multidimensional construct that
      involves subjective evaluation of an individual's oral health. Although it is
      difficult to evaluate OHRQoL biologically, recently, it has been reported that
      circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in several body fluids could reflect various
      health conditions. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether
      salivary miRNAs expression differs according to OHRQoL in healthy volunteers.
      Forty-six volunteers (median age, 23.0 years) were recruited, and their OHRQoL
      was assessed using the Japanese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP
      J). Then, we compared salivary microRNA profiles of the high-OHRQoL group (<=25th
      percentile score of OHIP-J) and the low-OHRQoL group (>=75th percentile score of
      OHIP-J) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array and the quantitative real
      time PCR. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms
      of oral health status. In the PCR array, miR-203a-3p and miR-30b-5p were
      significantly more expressed in the low-OHRQoL group (p < 0.05). Quantitative
      real-time PCR assay also showed that miR-203a-3p was more highly expressed in the
      low-OHRQoL group than in the high-OHRQoL group (p < 0.05). These observations
      suggest that expression of salivary miR-203a-3p was related with OHRQoL in
      healthy volunteers.

PMID- 28608823
TI  - Production of Putative Diterpene Carboxylic Acid Intermediates of Triptolide in
      Yeast.
AB  - The development of medical applications exploiting the broad bioactivities of the
      diterpene therapeutic triptolide from Tripterygium wilfordii is limited by low
      extraction yields from the native plant. Furthermore, the extraordinarily high
      structural complexity prevents an economically attractive enantioselective total
      synthesis. An alternative production route of triptolide through engineered
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) could provide a sustainable source of
      triptolide. A potential intermediate in the unknown biosynthetic route to
      triptolide is the diterpene dehydroabietic acid. Here, we report a biosynthetic
      route to dehydroabietic acid by transient expression of enzymes from T. wilfordii
      and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) in Nicotiana benthamiana. The combination of
      diterpene synthases TwTPS9, TwTPS27, and cytochromes P450 PsCYP720B4 yielded
      dehydroabietic acid and a novel analog, tentatively identified as 'miltiradienic
      acid'. This biosynthetic pathway was reassembled in a yeast strain engineered for
      increased yields of the pathway intermediates, the diterpene olefins miltiradiene
      and dehydroabietadiene. Introduction in that strain of PsCYP720B4 in combination
      with two alternative NADPH-dependent cytochrome P450 reductases resulted in
      scalable in vivo production of dehydroabietic acid and its analog from glucose.
      Approaching future elucidation of the remaining biosynthetic steps to triptolide,
      our findings may provide an independent platform for testing of additional
      recombinant candidate genes, and ultimately pave the way to biotechnological
      production of the high value diterpenoid therapeutic.

PMID- 28608824
TI  - A Novel Unsupervised Adaptive Learning Method for Long-Term Electromyography
      (EMG) Pattern Recognition.
AB  - Performance degradation will be caused by a variety of interfering factors for
      pattern recognition-based myoelectric control methods in the long term. This
      paper proposes an adaptive learning method with low computational cost to
      mitigate the effect in unsupervised adaptive learning scenarios. We presents a
      particle adaptive classifier (PAC), by constructing a particle adaptive learning
      strategy and universal incremental least square support vector classifier (LS
      SVC). We compared PAC performance with incremental support vector classifier
      (ISVC) and non-adapting SVC (NSVC) in a long-term pattern recognition task in
      both unsupervised and supervised adaptive learning scenarios. Retraining time
      cost and recognition accuracy were compared by validating the classification
      performance on both simulated and realistic long-term EMG data. The
      classification results of realistic long-term EMG data showed that the PAC
      significantly decreased the performance degradation in unsupervised adaptive
      learning scenarios compared with NSVC (9.03% +/- 2.23%, p < 0.05) and ISVC
      (13.38% +/- 2.62%, p = 0.001), and reduced the retraining time cost compared with
      ISVC (2 ms per updating cycle vs. 50 ms per updating cycle).

PMID- 28608825
TI  - Crop Classification in Satellite Images through Probabilistic Segmentation Based
      on Multiple Sources.
AB  - Classification methods based on Gaussian Markov Measure Field Models and other
      probabilistic approaches have to face the problem of construction of the
      likelihood. Typically, in these methods, the likelihood is computed from 1D or 3D
      histograms. However, when the number of information sources grows, as in the case
      of satellite images, the histogram construction becomes more difficult due to the
      high dimensionality of the feature space. In this work, we propose a
      generalization of Gaussian Markov Measure Field Models and provide a
      probabilistic segmentation scheme, which fuses multiple information sources for
      image segmentation. In particular, we apply the general model to classify types
      of crops in satellite images. The proposed method allows us to combine several
      feature spaces. For this purpose, the method requires prior information for
      building a 3D histogram for each considered feature space. Based on previous
      histograms, we can compute the likelihood of each site of the image to belong to
      a class. The computed likelihoods are the main input of the proposed algorithm
      and are combined in the proposed model using a contrast criteria. Different
      feature spaces are analyzed, among them are 6 spectral bands from LANDSAT 5 TM, 3
      principal components from PCA on 6 spectral bands and 3 principal components from
      PCA applied on 10 vegetation indices. The proposed algorithm was applied to a
      real image and obtained excellent results in comparison to different
      classification algorithms used in crop classification.

PMID- 28608826
TI  - Transportation Matters: A Health Impact Assessment in Rural New Mexico.
AB  - This Health Impact Assessment (HIA) informed the decision of expanding public
      transportation services to rural, low income communities of southern Dona Ana
      County, New Mexico on the U.S./Mexico border. The HIA focused on impacts of
      access to health care services, education, and economic development
      opportunities. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from surveys of
      community members, key informant interviews, a focus group with community health
      workers, and passenger surveys during an initial introduction of the transit
      system. Results from the survey showed that a high percentage of respondents
      would use the bus system to access the following: (1) 84% for health services;
      (2) 83% for formal and informal education opportunities; and (3) 81% for economic
      opportunities. Results from interviews and the focus group supported the benefits
      of access to services but many were concerned with the high costs of providing
      bus service in a rural area. We conclude that implementing the bus system would
      have major impacts on resident's health through improved access to: (1) health
      services, and fresh foods, especially for older adults; (2) education
      opportunities, such as community colleges, universities, and adult learning,
      especially for young adults; and (3) economic opportunities, especially jobs, job
      training, and consumer goods and services. We highlight the challenges associated
      with public transportation in rural areas where there are: (1) long distances to
      travel; (2) difficulties in scheduling to meet all needs; and (3) poor road and
      walking conditions for bus stops. The results are applicable to low income and
      fairly disconnected rural areas, where access to health, education, and economic
      opportunities are limited.

PMID- 28608827
TI  - Associations of Community Water Fluoridation with Caries Prevalence and Oral
      Health Inequality in Children.
AB  - This study aimed to confirm the association between the community water
      fluoridation (CWF) programme and dental caries prevention on permanent teeth,
      comparing to a control area, neighbouring population without the programme, and
      verifying whether the programme can reduce the socio-economic inequality related
      to the oral health of children in Korea. Evaluation surveys were conducted among
      6-, 8-, and 11-year-old children living in Okcheon (CWF) and neighbouring
      Yeongdong (non-CWF, control area) towns in South Korea. Data on monthly family
      income, caregiver educational level, and Family Affluence Scale scores were
      evaluated using questionnaires that were distributed to the parents. The
      effectiveness of CWF in caries reduction was calculated based on the differences
      in decayed, missing, and filled teeth and decayed, missing, and filled tooth
      surfaces indices between the two towns. The data were analysed using logistic
      regression and univariate analysis of variance. Both 8- and 11-year-old children
      living in the CWF area had lower dental caries prevalence than those living in
      the non-CWF community. Differences in dental caries prevalence based on
      educational level were found in the control area but not in the CWF area. Socio
      economic factor-related inequality in oral health were observed in the non-CWF
      community. Additionally, 8- and 11-year-old children living in the CWF area
      displayed lower dental caries prevalence in the pit-and-fissure and smooth
      surfaces than those living in the non-CWF community. These results suggest that
      CWF programmes are effective in the prevention of caries on permanent teeth and
      can reduce oral health inequalities among children. The implementation of CWF
      programmes should be sustained to overcome oral health inequalities due to socio
      economic factors and improve children's overall oral health.

PMID- 28608828
TI  - Kaempherol and Luteolin Decrease Claudin-2 Expression Mediated by Inhibition of
      STAT3 in Lung Adenocarcinoma A549 Cells.
AB  - Claudin-2 is highly expressed in human lung adenocarcinoma tissues and may be a
      novel target for cancer chemotherapy because knockdown of claudin-2 decreases
      cell proliferation. We found that flavonoids including kaempferol, chrysin, and
      luteolin concentration-dependently decrease claudin-2 expression in lung
      adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Claudin-2 expression is up-regulated by mitogen
      activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/ extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      (ERK)/c-Fos and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/nuclear factor-kappaB (NF
      kappaB) pathways, but these activities were not inhibited by kaempferol, chrysin,
      and luteolin. Promoter deletion assay using luciferase reporter vector showed
      that kaempferol and luteolin inhibit the function of transcriptional factor that
      binds to the region between -395 and -144 of claudin-2 promoter. The decrease in
      promoter activity was suppressed by mutation in signal transducers and activators
      of transcription (STAT)-binding site, which is located between -395 and -144. The
      phosphorylation level of STAT3 was not decreased, but the binding of STAT3 on the
      promoter region is suppressed by kaempferol and luteolin in chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assay. The inhibition of cell proliferation caused by
      kaempferol and luteolin was partially recovered by ectopic claudin-2 expression.
      Taken together, kaempferol and luteolin decreased claudin-2 expression and
      proliferation in A549 cells mediated by the inhibition of binding of STAT3 on the
      promoter region of claudin-2. The intake of foods and nutrients rich in these
      flavonoids may prevent lung adenocarcinoma development.

PMID- 28608829
TI  - Providing a Clean Environment for Adolescents: Evaluation of the Tobacco Hazards
      Prevention Act in Taiwan.
AB  - Cigarette smoking not only damages the health of adolescents, but also
      contributes to air pollution. The Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act in Taiwan
      stipulates that cigarettes should not be sold to persons younger than 18 years.
      Therefore, schools should actively educate students and raise awareness of the
      Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act to reduce the level of damage to the health of
      adolescents and maintain good air quality. This study had two main goals: (1) to
      evaluate the stipulation that no person shall provide tobacco products to persons
      under the age of 18 and the effects of counseling strategies on store managers
      confirming customer ages before tobacco sale in southern Taiwan; and (2) to
      evaluate the situation of tobacco hazard prevention education conducted by school
      in southern Taiwan. A cross-sectional design was adopted for this study. Study I:
      The investigation involved an analysis of 234 retailers including convenience
      stores (n = 70), grocery stores (n = 83), and betel nut stalls (n = 81). The
      results indicated that among the 234 retailers, 171 (73.1%) of them routinely
      failed to confirm the buyers' ages before allowing them to purchase tobacco. The
      number of retailers who exhibited failure to confirm customer ages before selling
      tobacco products had decreased from 171 (73.1%) to 59 (25.2%) and that of those
      who confirmed customer ages before selling tobacco products had increased from 63
      (26.9%) to 175 (74.8%) after counseling strategies had been provided, thereby
      revealing statistical significance (chi2 = 11.26, p < 0.001). Study II: A total
      of 476 (89.1%) participants had received tobacco hazards prevention education and
      58 (10.9%) had not. Among the various residential areas, the highest percentage
      of participants that did not received tobacco hazards prevention education
      located in the plane regions (8.4%). The government organizations should continue
      to adopt counseling strategies to reduce the rate of disobedience of the Tobacco
      Hazards Prevention Act by selling tobacco products to minors. Schools should pay
      close attention to tobacco hazard prevention education for junior high school
      students to ensure that such students are adequately educated about tobacco
      hazard prevention.

PMID- 28608830
TI  - A Simple Defined Medium for the Production of True Diketopiperazines in Xylella
      fastidiosa and Their Identification by Ultra-Fast Liquid Chromatography
      Electrospray Ionization Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Diketopiperazines can be generated by non-enzymatic cyclization of linear
      dipeptides at extreme temperature or pH, and the complex medium used to culture
      bacteria and fungi including phytone peptone and trypticase peptone, can also
      produce cyclic peptides by heat sterilization. As a result, it is not always
      clear if many diketopiperazines reported in the literature are artifacts formed
      by the different complex media used in microorganism growth. An ideal method for
      analysis of these compounds should identify whether they are either synthesized
      de novo from the products of primary metabolism and deliver true
      diketopiperazines. A simple defined medium (X. fastidiosa medium or XFM)
      containing a single carbon source and no preformed amino acids has emerged as a
      method with a particularly high potential for the grown of X. fastidiosa and to
      produce genuine natural products. In this work, we identified a range of
      diketopiperazines from X. fastidiosa 9a5c growth in XFM, using Ultra-Fast Liquid
      Chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Diketopiperazines are reported for
      the first time from X. fastidiosa, which is responsible for citrus variegated
      chlorosis. We also report here fatty acids from X. fastidiosa, which were not
      biologically active as diffusible signals, and the role of diketopiperazines in
      signal transduction still remains unknown.

PMID- 28608831
TI  - France's State of the Art Distributed Optical Fibre Sensors Qualified for the
      Monitoring of the French Underground Repository for High Level and Intermediate
      Level Long Lived Radioactive Wastes.
AB  - This paper presents the state of the art distributed sensing systems, based on
      optical fibres, developed and qualified for the French Cigeo project, the
      underground repository for high level and intermediate level long-lived
      radioactive wastes. Four main parameters, namely strain, temperature, radiation
      and hydrogen concentration are currently investigated by optical fibre sensors,
      as well as the tolerances of selected technologies to the unique constraints of
      the Cigeo's severe environment. Using fluorine-doped silica optical fibre
      surrounded by a carbon layer and polyimide coating, it is possible to exploit its
      Raman, Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering signatures to achieve the distributed
      sensing of the temperature and the strain inside the repository cells of
      radioactive wastes. Regarding the dose measurement, promising solutions are
      proposed based on Radiation Induced Attenuation (RIA) responses of sensitive
      fibres such as the P-doped ones. While for hydrogen measurements, the potential
      of specialty optical fibres with Pd particles embedded in their silica matrix is
      currently studied for this gas monitoring through its impact on the fibre
      Brillouin signature evolution.

PMID- 28608822
TI  - The Good the Bad and the Ugly of Glycosaminoglycans in Tissue Engineering
      Applications.
AB  - High sulfation, low cost, and the status of heparin as an already FDA- and EMA-
      approved product, mean that its inclusion in tissue engineering (TE) strategies
      is becoming increasingly popular. However, the use of heparin may represent a
      naive approach. This is because tissue formation is a highly orchestrated
      process, involving the temporal expression of numerous growth factors and complex
      signaling networks. While heparin may enhance the retention and activity of
      certain growth factors under particular conditions, its binding 'promiscuity'
      means that it may also inhibit other factors that, for example, play an important
      role in tissue maintenance and repair. Within this review we focus on articular
      cartilage, highlighting the complexities and highly regulated processes that are
      involved in its formation, and the challenges that exist in trying to effectively
      engineer this tissue. Here we discuss the opportunities that glycosaminoglycans
      (GAGs) may provide in advancing this important area of regenerative medicine,
      placing emphasis on the need to move away from the common use of heparin, and
      instead focus research towards the utility of specific GAG preparations that are
      able to modulate the activity of growth factors in a more controlled and defined
      manner, with less off-target effects.

PMID- 28608833
TI  - Potential of Icariin Metabolites from Epimedium koreanum Nakai as Antidiabetic
      Therapeutic Agents.
AB  - The therapeutic properties of Epimediumkoreanum are presumed to be due to the
      flavonoid component icariin, which has been reported to have broad
      pharmacological potential and has demonstrated anti-diabetic, anti-Alzheimer's
      disease, anti-tumor, and hepatoprotective activities. Considering these
      therapeutic properties of icariin, its deglycosylated icaritin and glycosylated
      flavonoids (icaeriside II, epimedin A, epimedin B, and epimedin C) were evaluated
      for their ability to inhibit protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and alpha
      glucosidase. The results show that icaritin and icariside II exhibit potent
      inhibitory activities, with 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) values of 11.59
      +/- 1.39 MUM and 9.94 +/- 0.15 MUM against PTP1B and 74.42 +/- 0.01 and 106.59 +/
      0.44 MUM against alpha-glucosidase, respectively. With the exceptions of
      icaritin and icariside II, glycosylated flavonoids did not exhibit any inhibitory
      effects in the two assays. Enzyme kinetics analyses revealed that icaritin and
      icariside II demonstrated noncompetitive-type inhibition against PTP1B, with
      inhibition constant (Ki) values of 11.41 and 11.66 MUM, respectively. Moreover,
      molecular docking analysis confirmed that icaritin and icariside II both occupy
      the same site as allosteric ligand. Thus, the molecular docking simulation
      results were in close agreement with the experimental data with respect to
      inhibition activity. In conclusion, deglycosylated metabolites of icariin from E.
      koreanum might offer therapeutic potential for the treatment of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus.

PMID- 28608832
TI  - Fruits for Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases.
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are leading global health problems. Accumulating
      epidemiological studies have indicated that consuming fruits was inversely
      related to the risk of CVDs. Moreover, substantial experimental studies have
      supported the protective role of fruits against CVDs, and several fruits (grape,
      blueberry, pomegranate, apple, hawthorn, and avocado) have been widely studied
      and have shown potent cardiovascular protective action. Fruits can prevent CVDs
      or facilitate the restoration of morphology and functions of heart and vessels
      after injury. The involved mechanisms included protecting vascular endothelial
      function, regulating lipids metabolism, modulating blood pressure, inhibiting
      platelets function, alleviating ischemia/reperfusion injury, suppressing
      thrombosis, reducing oxidative stress, and attenuating inflammation. The present
      review summarizes recent discoveries about the effects of fruits on CVDs and
      discusses potential mechanisms of actions based on evidence from epidemiological,
      experimental, and clinical studies.

PMID- 28608834
TI  - Multi-Dimensional Spectrum-Effect Relationship of the Impact of Chinese Herbal
      Formula Lichong Shengsui Yin on Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - Lichong Shengsui Yin (LCSSY) is an effective and classic compound prescription of
      Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) used for the treatment of ovarian cancer. To
      investigate its pharmacodynamic basis for treating ovarian cancer, the multi
      dimensional spectrum-effect relationship was determined. Four compositions (I to
      IV) were obtained by extracting LCSSY successively with supercritical CO2 fluid
      extraction, 75% ethanol reflux extraction, and the water extraction-ethanol
      precipitation method. Nine samples for pharmacological evaluation and fingerprint
      analysis were prepared by changing the content of the four compositions. The
      specific proportions of the four compositions were designed according to a four
      factor, three-level L9(34) orthogonal test. The pharmacological evaluation
      included in vitro tumor inhibition experiments and the survival extension rate in
      tumor-bearing nude mice. The fingerprint analyzed by chromatographic condition I
      (high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detec tor,HPLC-PDA)
      identified 19 common peaks. High-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode
      array detector-Evaporative Light-scattering Detector (HPLC-PDA-ELSD )hyphenated
      techniques were used to compensate for the use of a single detector, and the
      fingerprint analyzed by chromatographic condition II identified 28 common peaks
      in PDA and 23 common peaks in ELSD. Furthermore, multiple statistical analyses
      were utilized to calculate the relationships between the peaks and the
      pharmacological results. The union of the regression and the correlation analysis
      results were the peaks of X5, X9, X11, X12, X16, X18, Y5, Y8, Y12, Y14, Y20, Z4,
      Z5, Z6, and Z8. The intersection of the regression and the correlation analysis
      results were the peaks of X11, X12, X16, X18, Y5, Y12, and Z5. The correlated
      peaks were assigned by comparing the fingerprints with the negative control
      samples and reference standard samples, and identifying the structure using high
      performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry detector(HPLC-MS). The
      results suggested that the pharmacodynamic basis of LCSSY on anti-ovarian cancer
      activities were germacrone, furandiene, beta-elemene, calycosin-7-glucoside,
      ononin, epimedin B, icariin, ginsenoside Rc, astragaloside, ginsenoside Rd,
      astragaloside II, and some unknown components.

PMID- 28608835
TI  - Highly Sensitive Magnetic-SERS Dual-Function Silica Nanoprobes for Effective On
      Site Organic Chemical Detection.
AB  - We report magnetic silver nanoshells (M-AgNSs) that have both magnetic and SERS
      properties for SERS-based detection. The M-AgNSs are composed of hundreds of
      Fe3O4 nanoparticles for rapid accumulation and bumpy silver shell for sensitive
      SERS detection by near-infrared laser excitation. The intensity of the SERS
      signal from the M-AgNSs was strong enough to provide single particle-level
      detection. We obtained much stronger SERS signal intensity from the aggregated M
      AgNSs than from the non-aggregated AgNSs. 4-Fluorothiophenol was detected at
      concentrations as low as 1 nM, which corresponds to 0.16 ppb. The limit of
      detection for tetramethylthiuram disulfide was 10 MUM, which corresponds to 3
      ppm. The M-AgNSs can be used to detect trace amounts of organic molecules using a
      portable Raman system.

PMID- 28608836
TI  - Evaluation of the Antidiabetic Activity and Chemical Composition of Geranium
      collinum Root Extracts-Computational and Experimental Investigations.
AB  - The root of Geranium collinum Steph is known in Tajik traditional medicine for
      its hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory therapeutic effects. The
      present study was conducted to evaluate of potential antidiabetic, antioxidant
      activities, total polyphenolic and flavonoid content from the different extracts
      (aqueous, aqueous-ethanolic) and individual compounds isolated of the root parts
      of G. collinum. The 50% aqueous-ethanolic extract possesses potent antidiabetic
      activity, with IC50 values of 0.10 MUg/mL and 0.09 MUg/mL for the enzymes protein
      tyrosine phosphatase (1B PTP-1B) and alpha-glucosidase, respectively.
      Phytochemical investigations of the 50% aqueous-ethanolic extract of G. collinum,
      led to the isolation of ten pure compounds identified as 3,3',4,4'-tetra-O
      methylellagic acid (1), 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid (2), quercetin (3), caffeic
      acid (4), (+)-catechin (5), (-)-epicatechin (6), (-)-epigallocatechin (7), gallic
      acid (8), beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (9), and corilagin (10).
      Their structures were determined based on 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometric
      analyses. Three isolated compounds exhibited strong inhibitory activity against
      PTP-1B, with IC50 values below 0.9 MUg/mL, more effective than the positive
      control (1.46 MUg/mL). Molecular docking analysis suggests polyphenolic compounds
      such as corilagin, catechin and caffeic acid inhibit PTP-1B and beta-sitosterol-3
      O-beta-d-gluco-pyranoside inhibits alpha-glucosidase. The experimental results
      suggest that the biological activity of G. collinum is related to its polyphenol
      contents. The results are also in agreement with computational investigations.
      Furthermore, the potent antidiabetic activity of the 50% aqueous-ethanolic
      extract from G. collinum shows promise for its future application in medicine. To
      the best of our knowledge, we hereby report, for the first time, the antidiabetic
      activity of G. collinum.

PMID- 28608837
TI  - Hochu-ekki-to Treatment Improves Reproductive and Immune Modulation in the Stress
      Induced Rat Model of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
AB  - The traditional herbal medicine, Hochu-ekki-to, has been shown to have preventive
      effects on viral infection and stress. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical
      effects of Hochu-ekki-to on two stress-related rat models of polycystic ovarian
      syndrome. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control and treatment
      groups, the latter of which were subjected to stress induced by exposure to
      adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or cold temperatures. After these stress
      inductions, rats were orally treated with dissolved Hochu-ekki-to once per day
      for 7 days. Rats subjected to the two different stressors exhibited upregulation
      of steroid hormone receptors (in ovaries) and reproductive hormones (in blood),
      and consequent stimulation of abnormal follicle development accompanied by
      elevation of Hsp 90 expression (in ovaries). Treatment with Hochu-ekki-to for 7
      days after stress induction increased immune functions, reduced the stress
      induced activation of Hsp 90, and normalized the levels of the tested steroid
      hormone receptors and reproductive hormones. Our findings suggest that stress
      stimulations may promote the activation of Hsp 90 via the dysregulation of
      steroid hormone receptors and reproductive hormones, but that post-stress
      treatment with Hochu-ekki-to improves reproductive and immune functions in the
      ovaries of stressed rats.

PMID- 28608839
TI  - Microgroove and Collagen-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) Nanofiber Mesh Coating
      Improves the Mechanical Stability and Osseointegration of Titanium Implants.
AB  - The effect of depositing a collagen (CG)-poly-epsilon-caprolactone (PCL)
      nanofiber mesh (NFM) at the microgrooves of titanium (Ti) on the mechanical
      stability and osseointegration of the implant with bone was investigated using a
      rabbit model. Three groups of Ti samples were produced: control Ti samples where
      there were no microgrooves or CG-PCL NFM, groove Ti samples where microgrooves
      were machined on the circumference of Ti, and groove-NFM Ti samples where CG-PCL
      NFM was deposited on the machined microgrooves. Each group of Ti samples was
      implanted in the rabbit femurs for eight weeks. The mechanical stability of the
      Ti/bone samples were quantified by shear strength from a pullout tension test.
      Implant osseointegration was evaluated by a histomorphometric analysis of the
      percentage of bone and connective tissue contact with the implant surface. The
      bone density around the Ti was measured by micro-computed tomography (MUCT)
      analysis. This study found that the shear strength of groove-NFM Ti/bone samples
      was significantly higher compared to control and groove Ti/bone samples (p <
      0.05) and NFM coating influenced the bone density around Ti samples. In vivo
      histomorphometric analyses show that bone growth into the Ti surface increased by
      filling the microgrooves with CG-PCL NFM. The study concludes that a microgroove
      assisted CG-PCL NFM coating may benefit orthopedic implants.

PMID- 28608838
TI  - Modifications of Porphyrins and Hydroporphyrins for Their Solubilization in
      Aqueous Media.
AB  - The increasing popularity of porphyrins and hydroporphyrins for use in a variety
      of biomedical (photodynamic therapy, fluorescence tagging and imaging,
      photoacoustic imaging) and technical (chemosensing, catalysis, light harvesting)
      applications is also associated with the growing number of methodologies that
      enable their solubilization in aqueous media. Natively, the vast majority of
      synthetic porphyrinic compounds are not water-soluble. Moreover, any water
      solubility imposes several restrictions on the synthetic chemist on when to
      install solubilizing groups in the synthetic sequence, and how to isolate and
      purify these compounds. This review summarizes the chemical modifications to
      render synthetic porphyrins water-soluble, with a focus on the work disclosed
      since 2000. Where available, practical data such as solubility, indicators for
      the degree of aggregation, and special notes for the practitioner are listed. We
      hope that this review will guide synthetic chemists through the many strategies
      known to make porphyrins and hydroporphyrins water soluble.

PMID- 28608840
TI  - Sequence Identification, Recombinant Production, and Analysis of the Self
      Assembly of Egg Stalk Silk Proteins from Lacewing Chrysoperla carnea.
AB  - Egg stalk silks of the common green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea likely comprise
      at least three different silk proteins. Based on the natural spinning process, it
      was hypothesized that these proteins self-assemble without shear stress, as adult
      lacewings do not use a spinneret. To examine this, the first sequence
      identification and determination of the gene expression profile of several silk
      proteins and various transcript variants thereof was conducted, and then the
      three major proteins were recombinantly produced in Escherichia coli encoded by
      their native complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences. Circular dichroism measurements
      indicated that the silk proteins in aqueous solutions had a mainly intrinsically
      disordered structure. The largest silk protein, which we named ChryC1, exhibited
      a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior and self-assembled into
      fibers or film morphologies, depending on the conditions used. The second silk
      protein, ChryC2, self-assembled into nanofibrils and subsequently formed
      hydrogels. Circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      confirmed conformational changes of both proteins into beta sheet rich structures
      upon assembly. ChryC3 did not self-assemble into any morphology under the tested
      conditions. Thereby, through this work, it could be shown that recombinant
      lacewing silk proteins can be produced and further used for studying the fiber
      formation of lacewing egg stalks.

PMID- 28608843
TI  - Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) Fifth-Degree Spherical Simplex-Radial Cubature
      Kalman Filter for Maneuvering Target Tracking.
AB  - For improving the tracking accuracy and model switching speed of maneuvering
      target tracking in nonlinear systems, a new algorithm named the interacting
      multiple model fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature Kalman filter
      (IMM5thSSRCKF) is proposed in this paper. The new algorithm is a combination of
      the interacting multiple model (IMM) filter and the fifth-degree spherical
      simplex-radial cubature Kalman filter (5thSSRCKF). The proposed algorithm makes
      use of Markov process to describe the switching probability among the models, and
      uses 5thSSRCKF to deal with the state estimation of each model. The 5thSSRCKF is
      an improved filter algorithm, which utilizes the fifth-degree spherical simplex
      radial rule to improve the filtering accuracy. Finally, the tracking performance
      of the IMM5thSSRCKF is evaluated by simulation in a typical maneuvering target
      tracking scenario. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has better
      tracking performance and quicker model switching speed when disposing maneuver
      models compared with the interacting multiple model unscented Kalman filter
      (IMMUKF), the interacting multiple model cubature Kalman filter (IMMCKF) and the
      interacting multiple model fifth-degree cubature Kalman filter (IMM5thCKF).

PMID- 28608842
TI  - Talaromyces marneffei Genomic, Transcriptomic, Proteomic and Metabolomic Studies
      Reveal Mechanisms for Environmental Adaptations and Virulence.
AB  - Talaromycesmarneffei is a thermally dimorphic fungus causing systemic infections
      in patients positive for HIV or other immunocompromised statuses. Analysis of its
      ~28.9 Mb draft genome and additional transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic
      studies revealed mechanisms for environmental adaptations and virulence. Meiotic
      genes and genes for pheromone receptors, enzymes which process pheromones, and
      proteins involved in pheromone response pathway are present, indicating its
      possibility as a heterothallic fungus. Among the 14 Mp1p homologs, only Mp1p is a
      virulence factor binding a variety of host proteins, fatty acids and lipids.
      There are 23 polyketide synthase genes, one for melanin and two for mitorubrinic
      acid/mitorubrinol biosynthesis, which are virulence factors. Another polyketide
      synthase is for biogenesis of the diffusible red pigment, which consists of amino
      acid conjugates of monascorubin and rubropunctatin. Novel microRNA-like RNAs
      (milRNAs) and processing proteins are present. The dicer protein, dcl-2, is
      required for biogenesis of two milRNAs, PM-milR-M1 and PM-milR-M2, which are more
      highly expressed in hyphal cells. Comparative transcriptomics showed that tandem
      repeat-containing genes were overexpressed in yeast phase, generating protein
      polymorphism among cells, evading host's immunity. Comparative proteomics between
      yeast and hyphal cells revealed that glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, up
      regulated in hyphal cells, is an adhesion factor for conidial attachment.

PMID- 28608845
TI  - The Effects of the Refugee Crisis on Age Estimation Analysis over the Past 10
      Years: A 16-Country Survey.
AB  - Dental age estimation (AE) tests are routinely done on living and deceased
      persons. There is anecdotal evidence suggesting an increase in age estimations
      due to the refugee crisis. Our aim is to determine the reasons and methods for
      performing dental AE tests in both living and deceased individuals. Global trends
      in AE over the past 10 years were also investigated. A database of all forensic
      laboratories was obtained and an electronic questionnaire was sent to all of
      them. The questionnaire was self-developed and included questions on the reasons
      for performing AE tests, the preferred methods used in living and deceased
      individuals, and the people/organizations who requested these AE tests. The
      number of tests performed annually varied between 0 and 500 and the majority were
      on asylum seekers, refugees, and for adoption cases. Most units used multiple
      techniques to determine the age among the living, but seldom used more than three
      techniques for the deceased. The majority of tests were requested by coroners and
      the legal fraternity. There has been an increase in the number of dental AEs
      carried out and this has been mostly due to asylum seekers and refugees. The most
      common techniques for the living were variations of Demirjian's technique while
      country specific techniques were used for the deceased.

PMID- 28608844
TI  - The Recreovia of Bogota, a Community-Based Physical Activity Program to Promote
      Physical Activity among Women: Baseline Results of the Natural Experiment Al
      Ritmo de las Comunidades.
AB  - Community-based physical activity (PA) programs in Latin America have been
      recognized because of the use of available environmental resources to offer PA
      classes. Yet, the evaluation of programs focused on PA classes involving dancing
      in public spaces is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the physical
      activity levels, park use, and the contextual characteristics of public parks
      with and without the Recreovia in Bogota in Colombia. Al Ritmo de las Comunidades
      is a natural experiment conducted in nine parks (3 parks implementing new
      Recreovias, 3 control parks and 3 parks with existing Recreovias) during 2013. We
      used the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities to evaluate park
      use (gender, age, and physical activity level) and target areas. A total of 4925
      people were observed during 702 observation visits to parks. The percentage of
      women was higher in parks with Recreovia, compared to parks without Recreovia
      (53% vs. 40% vs. 33%; p < 0.001). Women using parks with Recreovia compared to
      women in parks without Recreovia were less likely to be sedentary (25% vs. 39%; p
      < 0.0001) and more likely to engage in moderate-to-vigorous activity (75% vs.
      61%; p < 0.0001). Among men, the activity pattern was the opposite. The Recreovia
      is a promising strategy to promote park use and PA, especially among women who
      are less likely to meet PA recommendations during their leisure time. The
      provision of a cost-free community program may be an effective approach and a
      good investment for health.

PMID- 28608841
TI  - Occurrence, Toxicity, and Analysis of Major Mycotoxins in Food.
AB  - Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain filamentous fungi
      (molds). These low molecular weight compounds (usually less than 1000 Daltons)
      are naturally occurring and practically unavoidable. They can enter our food
      chain either directly from plant-based food components contaminated with
      mycotoxins or by indirect contamination from the growth of toxigenic fungi on
      food. Mycotoxins can accumulate in maturing corn, cereals, soybeans, sorghum,
      peanuts, and other food and feed crops in the field and in grain during
      transportation. Consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated food or feed can cause
      acute or chronic toxicity in human and animals. In addition to concerns over
      adverse effects from direct consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated foods and
      feeds, there is also public health concern over the potential ingestion of animal
      derived food products, such as meat, milk, or eggs, containing residues or
      metabolites of mycotoxins. Members of three fungal genera, Aspergillus, Fusarium,
      and Penicillium, are the major mycotoxin producers. While over 300 mycotoxins
      have been identified, six (aflatoxins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, fumonisins,
      ochratoxins, and patulin) are regularly found in food, posing unpredictable and
      ongoing food safety problems worldwide. This review summarizes the toxicity of
      the six mycotoxins, foods commonly contaminated by one or more of them, and the
      current methods for detection and analysis of these mycotoxins.

PMID- 28608846
TI  - QuickCash: Secure Transfer Payment Systems.
AB  - Payment systems play a significant role in our daily lives. They are an important
      driver of economic activities and a vital part of the banking infrastructure of
      any country. Several current payment systems focus on security and reliability
      but pay less attention to users' needs and behaviors. For example, people may
      share their bankcards with friends or relatives to withdraw money for various
      reasons. This behavior can lead to a variety of privacy and security issues since
      the cardholder has to share a bankcard and other sensitive information such as a
      personal identification number (PIN). In addition, it is commonplace that
      cardholders may lose their cards, and may not be able to access their accounts
      due to various reasons. Furthermore, transferring money to an individual who has
      lost their bankcard and identification information is not a straightforward task.
      A user-friendly person-to-person payment system is urgently needed to perform
      secure and reliable transactions that benefit from current technological
      advancements. In this paper, we propose two secure fund transfer methods termed
      QuickCash Online and QuickCash Offline to transfer money from peer to peer using
      the existing banking infrastructure. Our methods provide a convenient way to
      transfer money quickly, and they do not require using bank cards or any
      identification card. Unlike other person-to-person payment systems, the proposed
      methods do not require the receiving entity to have a bank account, or to perform
      any registration procedure. We implement our QuickCash payment systems and
      analyze their security strengths and properties.

PMID- 28608848
TI  - Furanoterpene Diversity and Variability in the Marine Sponge Spongia officinalis,
      from Untargeted LC-MS/MS Metabolomic Profiling to Furanolactam Derivatives.
AB  - The Mediterranean marine sponge Spongia officinalis has been reported as a rich
      source of secondary metabolites and also as a bioindicator of water quality given
      its capacity to concentrate trace metals. In this study, we evaluated the
      chemical diversity within 30 S. officinalis samples collected over three years at
      two sites differentially impacted by anthropogenic pollutants located near
      Marseille (South of France). Untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
      (LC-MS) metabolomic profiling (C18 LC, ESI-Q-TOF MS) combined with XCMS Online
      data processing and multivariate statistical analysis revealed 297 peaks assigned
      to at least 86 compounds. The spatio-temporal metabolite variability was mainly
      attributed to variations in relative content of furanoterpene derivatives. This
      family was further characterized through LC-MS/MS analyses in positive and
      negative ion modes combined with molecular networking, together with a
      comprehensive NMR study of isolated representatives such as demethylfurospongin-4
      and furospongin-1. The MS/MS and NMR spectroscopic data led to the identification
      of a new furanosesterterpene, furofficin (2), as well as two derivatives with a
      glycinyl lactam moiety, spongialactam A (12a) and B (12b). This study illustrates
      the potential of untargeted LC-MS metabolomics and molecular networking to
      discover new natural compounds even in an extensively studied organism such as S.
      officinalis. It also highlights the effect of anthropogenic pollution on the
      chemical profiles within the sponge.

PMID- 28608847
TI  - HAdV-C6 Is a More Relevant Challenge Virus than HAdV-C5 for Testing Antiviral
      Drugs with the Immunosuppressed Syrian Hamster Model.
AB  - Adenovirus infections of immunocompromised patients can cause a severe multi
      organ disease that often results in the patients' death. Presently, there are no
      drugs specifically approved to treat adenovirus infections, and clinicians resort
      to the off-label use of antivirals that are approved to treat other DNA virus
      infections, most frequently cidofovir (CDV). CDV, however, has considerable
      nephrotoxicity, thus it is recommended only for the most severe cases of
      adenovirus infections. To facilitate the development of effective, non-toxic
      antivirals against adenovirus, we have developed a permissive animal model based
      on the Syrian hamster that can be used to test the efficacy of antiviral
      compounds. Here, we show that in the hamster model, HAdV-C6 is a more useful
      challenge virus than the previously described HAdV-C5, because it is filtered out
      by tissue macrophages to a lesser extent. HAdV-C6 has a 10-fold lower LD50 in
      hamsters than HAdV-C5 and the pathology is caused by virus replication to a
      larger extent. We show that valganciclovir (VGCV), a drug that was shown to be
      active against intravenous HAdV-C5 infection previously, is efficacious against
      HAdV-C6 when administered either prophylactically or therapeutically. Further, we
      show for the first time that VGCV, and to a lesser extent CDV, can be used to
      treat respiratory adenovirus infections in the hamster model. These results
      extend the utility of the hamster model, and demonstrate the efficacy of two
      drugs available for clinicians to treat adenovirus infections.

PMID- 28608849
TI  - The Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences of Fritillaria ussuriensis Maxim. and
      Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don, and Comparative Analysis with Other Fritillaria
      Species.
AB  - The genus Fritillaria belongs to the widely distributed Liliaceae. The bulbs of
      Fritillaria, F. ussuriensis and F. cirrhosa are valuable herbaceous medicinal
      ingredients. However, they are still used indiscriminately in herbal medicine.
      Identification and molecular phylogenic analysis of Fritillaria species are
      therefore required. Here, we report the complete chloroplast (CP) genome
      sequences of F. ussuriensis and F. cirrhosa. The two Fritillaria CP genomes were
      151,524 and 151,083 bp in length, respectively, and each included a pair of
      inverted repeated regions (52,678 and 52,156 bp) that was separated by a large
      single copy region (81,732 and 81,390 bp), and a small single copy region (17,114
      and 17,537 bp). A total of 111 genes in F. ussuriensis and 112 in F. cirrhosa
      comprised 77 protein-coding regions in F. ussuriensis and 78 in F. cirrhosa, 30
      transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and four ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The gene order,
      content, and orientation of the two Fritillaria CP genomes exhibited the general
      structure of flowering plants, and were similar to those of other Fritillaria
      species. Comparison of the six Fritillaria species' CP genomes indicated seven
      highly divergent regions in intergenic spacers and in the matK, rpoC1, rpoC2,
      ycf1, ycf2, ndhD, and ndhF coding regions. We established the position of the six
      species through phylogenic analysis. The complete chloroplast genome sequences of
      the two Fritillaria species and a comparison study are useful genomic information
      for identifying and for studying the phylogenetic relationship among Fritillaria
      species within the Liliaceae.

PMID- 28608851
TI  - A global dataset of crowdsourced land cover and land use reference data.
AB  - Global land cover is an essential climate variable and a key biophysical driver
      for earth system models. While remote sensing technology, particularly
      satellites, have played a key role in providing land cover datasets, large
      discrepancies have been noted among the available products. Global land use is
      typically more difficult to map and in many cases cannot be remotely sensed. In
      situ or ground-based data and high resolution imagery are thus an important
      requirement for producing accurate land cover and land use datasets and this is
      precisely what is lacking. Here we describe the global land cover and land use
      reference data derived from the Geo-Wiki crowdsourcing platform via four
      campaigns. These global datasets provide information on human impact, land cover
      disagreement, wilderness and land cover and land use. Hence, they are relevant
      for the scientific community that requires reference data for global satellite
      derived products, as well as those interested in monitoring global terrestrial
      ecosystems in general.

PMID- 28608850
TI  - Cellular senescence drives age-dependent hepatic steatosis.
AB  - The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increases with age.
      Cellular senescence refers to a state of irreversible cell-cycle arrest combined
      with the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and mitochondrial dysfunction.
      Senescent cells contribute to age-related tissue degeneration. Here we show that
      the accumulation of senescent cells promotes hepatic fat accumulation and
      steatosis. We report a close correlation between hepatic fat accumulation and
      markers of hepatocyte senescence. The elimination of senescent cells by suicide
      gene-meditated ablation of p16Ink4a-expressing senescent cells in INK-ATTAC mice
      or by treatment with a combination of the senolytic drugs dasatinib and quercetin
      (D+Q) reduces overall hepatic steatosis. Conversely, inducing hepatocyte
      senescence promotes fat accumulation in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we
      show that mitochondria in senescent cells lose the ability to metabolize fatty
      acids efficiently. Our study demonstrates that cellular senescence drives hepatic
      steatosis and elimination of senescent cells may be a novel therapeutic strategy
      to reduce steatosis.

PMID- 28608852
TI  - Risk of psychosis in refugees: a literature review.
AB  - Conflicts and precarious living conditions resulted in the arrival of large
      numbers of refugees in Europe and especially in Germany. Evidence suggests that
      immigrant populations are at elevated risk of psychotic disorders. Considering
      the traumatic pre- and post-migratory adversities refugees may have encountered,
      people granted refugee status may even be more susceptible to psychosis than non
      refugee migrants. The aim of this literature review is to summarise and interpret
      recent research on the incidence or prevalence of psychotic disorders in
      refugees, additionally focusing on the aspects of gender and Middle Eastern
      provenance. A systematic search in PubMed was performed in the time from 20 to 28
      May 2016. Relevant literature was limited to articles describing cohort studies
      conducted in Western industrialised countries. Articles published between 1 June
      2006 and 28 May 2016 were analysed. Content relating to psychotic disorders in
      refugees was reviewed and summarised. The selected studies showed an increased
      risk of psychotic disorders in refugees compared with both the indigenous
      population and non-refugee. migrants. The elevated risk was more pronounced in
      refugee men. A particularly high risk in refugees of Middle Eastern origin could
      not be inferred. The higher susceptibility to psychotic disorders in refugees
      emphasises the need for the development and implementation of adequate prevention
      strategies. Clinicians and people working in a refugee setting should be aware of
      early signs and symptoms of psychosis. Further research is required to evaluate
      post-migratory experiences and investigate the population of refugees affected by
      the current humanitarian crisis.

PMID- 28608857
TI  - Open for business.

PMID- 28608853
TI  - Genetic tests in major psychiatric disorders-integrating molecular medicine with
      clinical psychiatry-why is it so difficult?
AB  - With the advent of post-genomic era, new technologies create extraordinary
      possibilities for diagnostics and personalized therapy, transforming todays'
      medicine. Rooted in both medical genetics and clinical psychiatry, the paper is
      designed as an integrated source of information of the current and potential
      future application of emerging genomic technologies as diagnostic tools in
      psychiatry, moving beyond the classical concept of patient approach. Selected
      approaches are presented, starting from currently used technologies (next
      generation sequencing (NGS) and microarrays), followed by newer options (reverse
      phenotyping). Next, we describe an old concept in a new light (endophenotypes),
      subsequently coming up with a sophisticated and complex approach (gene networks)
      ending by a nascent field (computational psychiatry). The challenges and barriers
      that exist to translate genomic research to real-world patient assessment are
      further discussed. We emphasize the view that only a paradigm shift can bring a
      fundamental change in psychiatric practice, allowing to disentangle the
      intricacies of mental diseases. All the diagnostic methods, as described, are
      directed at uncovering the integrity of the system including many types of
      relations within a complex structure. The integrative system approach offers new
      opportunity to connect genetic background with specific diseases entities, or
      concurrently, with symptoms regardless of a diagnosis. To advance the field, we
      propose concerted cross-disciplinary effort to provide a diagnostic platform
      operating at the general level of genetic pathogenesis of complex-trait
      psychiatric disorders rather than at the individual level of a specific disease.

PMID- 28608855
TI  - Mice lacking the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding 5 chromatin remodeler display
      autism-like characteristics.
AB  - Although autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) share a core set of nosological
      features, they exhibit substantial genetic heterogeneity. A parsimonious
      hypothesis posits that dysregulated epigenetic mechanisms represent common
      pathways in the etiology of ASDs. To investigate this hypothesis, we generated a
      novel mouse model resulting from brain-specific deletion of chromodomain helicase
      DNA-binding 5 (Chd5), a chromatin remodeling protein known to regulate neuronal
      differentiation and a member of a gene family strongly implicated in ASDs. RNA
      sequencing of Chd5-/- mouse forebrain tissue revealed a preponderance of changes
      in expression of genes important in cellular development and signaling,
      sociocommunicative behavior and ASDs. Pyramidal neurons cultured from Chd5-/-
      cortex displayed alterations in dendritic morphology. Paralleling ASD nosology,
      Chd5-/- mice exhibited abnormal sociocommunicative behavior and a strong
      preference for familiarity. Chd5-/- mice further showed deficits in responding to
      the distress of a conspecific, a mouse homolog of empathy. Thus, dysregulated
      chromatin remodeling produces a pattern of transcriptional, neuronal and
      behavioral effects consistent with the presentation of ASDs.

PMID- 28608858
TI  - Telocytes: facts, speculations and myths (Review article).
AB  - Telocyte (TC) is an interstitial cell type with a small cellular body and
      extremely long tentacle-like extensions. TCs were discovered a decade ago and
      have specifc morphological characteristics, immunohistochemical and secretome
      profiles, electrophysiological properties, microRNA expression. Moreover, they
      are different in gene expression from other cells. TCs play an important role in
      plenty of processes. Apparently, they are involved in homeostasis, remodelling,
      regeneration, repair, embryogenesis, angiogenesis and even tumorigenesis.
      "Telocytes need the world", was emphasized by Professor Popescu and it will be
      actual at any time. This review summarizes particular features of TCs in
      different organs and systems, emphasizing their involvement in physiological and
      pathophysiological processes.

PMID- 28608854
TI  - The influence of the rs6295 gene polymorphism on serotonin-1A receptor
      distribution investigated with PET in patients with major depression applying
      machine learning.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common neuropsychiatric disease and
      despite extensive research, its genetic substrate is still not sufficiently
      understood. The common polymorphism rs6295 of the serotonin-1A receptor gene
      (HTR1A) is affecting the transcriptional regulation of the 5-HT1A receptor and
      has been closely linked to MDD. Here, we used positron emission tomography (PET)
      exploiting advances in data mining and statistics by using machine learning in 62
      healthy subjects and 19 patients with MDD, which were scanned with PET using the
      radioligand [carbonyl-11C]WAY-100635. All the subjects were genotyped for rs6295
      and genotype was grouped in GG vs C allele carriers. Mixed model was applied in a
      ROI-based (region of interest) approach. ROI binding potential (BPND) was divided
      by dorsal raphe BPND as a specific measure to highlight rs6295 effects (BPDiv).
      Mixed model produced an interaction effect of ROI and genotype in the patients'
      group but no effects in healthy controls. Differences of BPDiv was demonstrated
      in seven ROIs; parahippocampus, hippocampus, fusiform gyrus, gyrus rectus,
      supplementary motor area, inferior frontal occipital gyrus and lingual gyrus. For
      classification of genotype, 'RandomForest' and Support Vector Machines were used,
      however, no model with sufficient predictive capability could be computed. Our
      results are in line with preclinical data, mouse model knockout studies as well
      as previous clinical analyses, demonstrating the two-pronged effect of the G
      allele on 5-HT1A BPND for, we believe, the first time. Future endeavors should
      address epigenetic effects and allosteric heteroreceptor complexes. Replication
      in larger samples of MDD patients is necessary to substantiate our findings.

PMID- 28608859
TI  - Residua of thymus in the mediastinum - clinical aspects - cadaveric study.
AB  - The main goal of this study was to investigate possible residua of thymic tissue
      in 100 adult cadavers with no thoracic pathology known before, by dissection of
      standard locations of thymic tissue in perithyroid, periaortic, peritracheal and
      retrotracheal spaces, as well as areas located next to the course of phrenic,
      vagus and left recurrent laryngeal nerves. Thus obtained tissue samples were
      studied by two pathologists independently. The remnants of the thymic tissue were
      found in 61 out of 100 specimens studied. It means that residua of ectopic thymic
      tissue is common, which may have a huge impact on the results of treatment of
      many diseases i.e. myasthenia gravis in course of thymoma.

PMID- 28608860
TI  - Sensitivity and specificity of multichannel surface electromyography in
      diagnosing fecal incontinence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assessment of the neurocontrol of the external anal sphincter has
      long been restricted to investigating patients by invasive tools. Less invasive
      techniques have been regarded less suitable for diagnosis. OBJECTIVE: The aim was
      to develop a surface electromyography-based algorithm to facilitate fecal
      incontinence diagnosis, and to assess its sensitivity and specificity. DESIGN:
      Data analysis from a single center prospective study. PATIENTS: All patients from
      colorectal surgery office were considered. They underwent a structured interview,
      a general physical and proctologic examination. Patients with diagnosed fecal
      incontinence (Fecal Incontinence Severity Index >10) were included into the study
      group. The control group consisted of healthy volunteers that scored 5 or less
      and had negative history and physical exam. Both groups underwent the same tests
      (rectoscopy, anorectal manometry, transanal ultrasonography, multichannel surface
      electromyography and assessment of anal reflexes). METHODS: EMG results were
      analyzed to find parameters that would facilitate fecal incontinence diagnosis.
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Sensitivity and specificity of surface electromyography, to
      diagnose fecal incontinence, were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 49 patients were
      included in the study group (mean age +/- SD 58.9 +/- 13.8). The control group (n
      = 49) gender matched the study group (mean age +/- SD 45.4 +/- 15.1). The
      constructed classification tree, based on surface electromyography results,
      correctly classified 97% of cases. Thee sensitivity and specificity of this
      classification tree, to diagnose FI, was 96% and 98% respectively. LIMITATIONS:
      The age of women in the control group differs significantly from mean age of
      other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Surface electromyography is an good tool to facilitate
      diagnosing of fecal incontinence.

PMID- 28608861
TI  - Neonatal pinealectomy in rats - a simple micro-suction technique.
AB  - To determine the role of the pineal gland and its secretory product melatonin on
      various aspects of the functioning of the organism, the gland can be easily
      surgically removed in rats within 18 hours after birth. We performed pinealectomy
      in rats in a state of deep hypothermia under an operating microscope, using a
      micro-suction device of our own construction. The rats were induced into a state
      of suspended animation by placing them in the freezing compartment at minus 20
      Celsius degrees. The cessation of respiration and heart beat lasted for about 15
      minutes. During that time the pinealectomy was performed. In some cases there was
      minor hemorrhage that was easily controlled. There were no major side effects or
      mortality following surgery. All rats recovered within 15 minutes after the end
      of the procedure. The pinealectomy procedure described in this study is simple,
      rapid, effective and safe, and can be easily performed with instruments commonly
      available in most laboratories.

PMID- 28608856
TI  - Antenatal dexamethasone exposure differentially affects distinct cortical neural
      progenitor cells and triggers long-term changes in murine cerebral architecture
      and behavior.
AB  - Antenatal administration of synthetic glucocorticoids (sGC) is the standard of
      care for women at risk for preterm labor before 34 gestational weeks. Despite
      their widespread use, the type of sGC used and their dose or the dosing regimens
      are not standardized in the United States of America or worldwide. Several
      studies have identified neural deficits and the increased risk for cognitive and
      psychiatric disease later in life for children administered sGC prenatally.
      However, the precise molecular and cellular targets of GC action in the
      developing brain remain largely undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that a
      single dose of glucocorticoid during mid-gestation in mice leads to enhanced
      proliferation in select cerebral cortical neural stem/progenitor cell
      populations. These alterations are mediated by dose-dependent changes in the
      expression of cell cycle inhibitors and in genes that promote cell cycle re
      entry. This leads to changes in neuronal number and density in the cerebral
      cortex at birth, coupled to long-term alterations in neurite complexity in the
      prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in adolescents, and changes in anxiety and
      depressive-like behaviors in adults.

PMID- 28608862
TI  - Vascular density of inferior tibiofibular joint - cadaveric experimental study.
AB  - The study was carried out on 50 human lower legs obtained during autopsies (KBET:
      122.6120.315.2016). The anatomy of the joint was studied using classical
      anatomical description methods. Based also on literature we have reviewed the
      current knowledge on the inferior tibiofibular joint blood supply considering the
      important clinically aspect - vascular density. Authors of this paper postulate
      relatively low vascular density of the region described and potential worse
      condition for healing in case of injury or after surgical procedures performed.
      We also postulate that ligament screws should be positioned with special respect
      to time limit which enables proper healing of the syndesmosis.

PMID- 28608863
TI  - Nicotine affects hydrogen sulfide concentrations in mouse kidney and heart but
      not in brain and liver tissues.
AB  - Nicotine, a potent parasympathomimetic alkaloid with stimulant effects, is
      contributing to addictive properties of tobacco smoking and is though used in the
      smoking cessation therapy. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is involved in physiology and
      pathophysiology of various systems in mammals. The interactions between nicotine
      and H2S are not fully recognized. The aim of the study is to assess the influence
      of nicotine on the H2S tissue concentrations in different mouse organs. Adult CBA
      male mice were administered intraperitoneally 1.5 mg/kg b.w. per day of nicotine
      (group D1, n = 10) or 3 mg/ kg b.w. per day of nicotine (group D2, n = 10). The
      control group (n = 10) received physiological saline. The measurements of the
      free and acid-labile H2S tissue concentrations were performed with the Siegel
      spectrophotometric modi ed method. ere was a significant increase in H2S
      concentrations in both nicotine doses groups in the kidney (D1 by 54.2%, D2 by
      40.0%). In the heart the higher nicotine dose caused a marked decrease in H2S
      tissue level (by 65.4%), while the lower dose did not affect H2S content.
      Nicotine administration had no effect on H2S concentrations in the brain and
      liver. In conclusion, nicotine affects H2S tissue concentrations in kidney and
      heart but not in the liver and brain tissues.

PMID- 28608864
TI  - Assessment of the impact of individual therapy on upper limb function in patients
      diagnosed with painful shoulder syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Functional disorders of the shoulder girdle affect 1/3 of the
      population. The diagnosis of "painful shoulder" or shoulder impingement syndrome
      is vague and imprecise. It can relay to so tissue pathology as well as to
      limitation of mobility of the joint. In this case an appropriate diagnosis,
      followed by a quick and effective treatment, is crucial. A physiotherapy
      assessment, performed during an individual therapy session sets out a way forward
      for targeted rehabilitation. Objectives and purpose of the article: The aim of
      this publication is to assess the impact of individual therapy on the function of
      the shoulder girdle in patients subject to health resort treatment. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: The study included 30 patients diagnosed with shoulder joint
      conditions before and a er individual therapy with a physical therapist. The
      clinical study involved basic measurements of the range of mobility and
      standardized functional tests. The patients were surveyed to evaluate changes in
      the performance of daily activities before and a er the therapy. Pain assessment
      was conducted using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The results were subjected
      to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The use of individual health resort treatment
      therapy significantly improved individual functional capacity of the patients.
      Self-evaluation of the patients on the performance of daily activities has shown
      improvement of the quality of those activities. According to VAS scale, a
      difference between the level of perceived pain before (mean = 6.2) and a er
      physical therapy treatment (mean = 3.7) as well as an improvement of the range of
      mobility have been observed. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study confirmed that
      the treatment has significantly reduced the pain. Individual work with a physical
      therapist, focused on the improvement of the range of mobility of the shoulder
      girdle and functional tasks, clearly reduces limitations of daily activities of
      the patients and can improve the quality of their life.

PMID- 28608865
TI  - Cardiological aspects of carbon monoxide poisoning.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to assess cardiological manifestations of carbon
      monoxide (CO) poisoning. Background/introduction: Carbon monoxide intoxication is
      one of the most important toxicological causes of morbidity and mortality
      worldwide. Early clinical manifestation of CO poisoning is cardiotoxicity.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enrolled 75 patients (34 males and 41 females, mean age
      37.6 +/- 17.7 y/o) hospitalized due to CO poisoning. Laboratory tests including
      troponin I, blood pressure measurements, HR and electrocardiograms (ECG) were
      collected. Pach's scale scoring and grading system was used to establish severity
      of poisoning. RESULTS: Grade of poisoning is positively correlated with troponin
      I levels and systolic blood pressure. Moreover, troponin levels are significantly
      correlated with exposition time, lactates and are higher in tachycardiac,
      hypertensive and positive ECG subpopulations. COHb levels are indicative of
      exposure but do not correlate with grade of poisoning. The main cause of CO
      poisoning were bathroom heaters - 83%, only 11% of examined intoxicated
      population were equipped with CO detectors. CONCLUSIONS: Complex cardiological
      screening covering troponin levels, ECG, blood pressure and heart rate
      measurements as well as complete blood count with particular attention to
      platelet parameters should be performed in each case where CO intoxication is
      suspected. More emphasis on education on CO poisoning is needed.

PMID- 28608867
TI  - Global commitment to the prevention of intimate partner violence is not
      negotiable, nor is commitment to the science behind it.

PMID- 28608866
TI  - A Small Wolbachia Protein Directly Represses Phage Lytic Cycle Genes in
      "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" within Psyllids.
AB  - Huanglongbing (HLB) is a severe disease of citrus caused by an uncultured
      alphaproteobacterium "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" and transmitted by Asian
      citrus psyllids (Diaphorina citri). Two prophage genomes, SC1 and SC2, integrated
      in "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus" strain UF506 were described previously, and very
      similar prophages are found resident in the majority of "Ca. Liberibacter
      asiaticus" strains described worldwide. The SC1 lytic cycle is marked by
      upregulation of prophage late genes, including a functional holin (SC1_gp110);
      these late genes are activated when "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus" is in planta,
      but not when infecting the psyllid host. We previously reported that the holin
      promoter is strongly and constitutively active in Liberibacter crescens (a
      cultured proxy for uncultured "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus") but is suppressed in
      a dose-dependent manner by crude aqueous extracts from D. citri applied
      exogenously. Here we report that the suppressor activity of the crude psyllid
      extract was heat labile and abolished by proteinase K treatment, indicating a
      proteinaceous repressor and of a size smaller than 30 kDa. The repressor was
      affinity captured from D. citri aqueous extracts using biotinylated holin
      promoter DNA immobilized on magnetic beads and subjected to liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Protein database interrogation was used to
      identify a small DNA-binding protein encoded by a gene carried by Wolbachia
      strain wDi, a resident endosymbiont of D. citri as the repressor. The in vitro
      translated Wolbachia repressor protein was able to penetrate L. crescens cells,
      bind to "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus" promoter DNA, and partially suppress holin
      promoter-driven beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity, indicating potential
      involvement of an additional interacting partner(s) or posttranslational
      modification(s) for complete suppression. Expression of the Wolbachia repressor
      protein appeared to be constitutive irrespective of "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus"
      infection status of the insect host. IMPORTANCE Host acquisition of a new
      microbial species can readily perturb the dynamics of preexisting microbial
      associations. Molecular cross talk between microbial associates may be necessary
      for efficient resource allocation and enhanced survival. Classic examples involve
      quorum sensing (QS), which detects population densities and is both used and
      coopted to control expression of bacterial genes, including host adaptation
      factors. We report that a 56-amino-acid repressor protein made by the resident
      psyllid endosymbiont Wolbachia can enter cells of Liberibacter crescens, a
      cultured proxy for the uncultured psyllid endosymbiont "Ca. Liberibacter
      asiaticus" and repress "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus" phage lytic cycle genes. Such
      repression in "Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus" may be critical to survival of both
      endosymbionts, since phage-mediated lysis would likely breach the immunogenic
      threshold of the psyllid, invoking a systemic and nonspecific innate immune
      reaction.

PMID- 28608868
TI  - Correction: Improving the standards-based management: recognition initiative to
      provide high-quality, equitable maternal health services in Malawi. An
      implementation research protocol.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2015-000022.].

PMID- 28608870
TI  - Erratum to: Genes and Environment, Vol. 39.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41021-016-0051-y.].

PMID- 28608871
TI  - Correction: Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal
      surgery in children in low-income and middleincome countries.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000091.].

PMID- 28608872
TI  - Towards an agenda for implementation science in global health: there is nothing
      more practical than good (social science) theories.

PMID- 28608873
TI  - Prediction of the glass transition temperature and design of phase diagrams of
      butadiene rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber via molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - To prevent car accidents, it is important to evaluate the thermal stability of
      tire rubbers, such as natural rubber (NR), butadiene rubber (BR), and styrene
      butadiene rubber (SBR). Controlling the glass transition temperature (Tg) is the
      main factor for obtaining desirable thermal stability. Here, we developed an
      optimized equation for the prediction of the Tg of the various rubber systems
      using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We modeled a random copolymer system,
      blended monomers, and calculated the Tg of butadiene isomers in each composition.
      From these results, we designed the Tg contour of ternary cis-trans-vinyl
      butadiene and derived an equation of Tg for the ternary system. Moreover, we
      developed an equation to evaluate the pseudo-ternary Tg of quaternary SBR and
      plotted it. Our results present a novel way of predicting the Tg of ternary BR
      and quaternary SBR, which is critical for rational tire design with optimized
      thermal and mechanical stability.

PMID- 28608874
TI  - A novel two-photon fluorescent probe with a long Stokes shift and a high signal
      to-background ratio for human NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (hNQO1) detection
      and imaging in living cells and tissues.
AB  - In recent years, many activatable fluorescent probes have been developed for
      hNQO1 detection. However, most of the reported fluorescent probes are susceptible
      to the interferences of endogenous fluorescence and have the drawback of
      inadequate penetration depth. Very recently, researchers have reported a two
      photon excitation (TPE) fluorescent probe for hNQO1 detection. Nevertheless, this
      probe only exhibits a compromised signal-to-background ratio, and has not been
      applied to image hNQO1 in living tissues. Herein, a novel TPE fluorescent probe,
      trimethyl locked quinone caged Acedan (Q3CA-P), has been developed for hNQO1
      detection and imaging in living cells and tissues. Q3CA-P displays over 25-fold
      enhancement in fluorescence intensity toward hNQO1 with a Stokes shift over 100
      nm in one-photon excitation and exhibits a very low detection limit of 5.6 ng mL
      1. The imaging experiments performed in tumour cells and tissue slices using Q3CA
      P demonstrate that Q3CA-P could image the endogenous hNQO1 with high selectivity
      and sensitivity with a TPE probing depth of 120 MUm. Thus, our probe may have
      great potential for use in cancer diagnosis and image-guided surgery.

PMID- 28608869
TI  - An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm.
AB  - We assess progress toward the protection of 50% of the terrestrial biosphere to
      address the species-extinction crisis and conserve a global ecological heritage
      for future generations. Using a map of Earth's 846 terrestrial ecoregions, we
      show that 98 ecoregions (12%) exceed Half Protected; 313 ecoregions (37%) fall
      short of Half Protected but have sufficient unaltered habitat remaining to reach
      the target; and 207 ecoregions (24%) are in peril, where an average of only 4% of
      natural habitat remains. We propose a Global Deal for Nature-a companion to the
      Paris Climate Deal-to promote increased habitat protection and restoration,
      national- and ecoregion-scale conservation strategies, and the empowerment of
      indigenous peoples to protect their sovereign lands. The goal of such an accord
      would be to protect half the terrestrial realm by 2050 to halt the extinction
      crisis while sustaining human livelihoods.

PMID- 28608875
TI  - Model membrane size-dependent amyloidogenesis of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta
      peptides.
AB  - We herein report the mechanism of amyloid formation of amyloid-beta (Abeta)
      peptides on small (SUV) and large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), which consist of 1
      palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) lipids. Although Abeta1-42
      formed fibrils on SUVs at all POPC concentrations used, the lag time, elongation
      rate, maximum thioflavin T intensity, and fibrillar morphology were distinct,
      indicating polymorphic amyloid formation. LUVs, at low POPC concentrations, did
      not markedly affect fibrillation kinetics; however, increases in POPC
      concentrations suppressed amyloid formation. No significant differences in the
      thermal stabilities of Abeta1-42 fibrils formed with and without vesicles were
      observed, although fibrils formed on SUVs showed some differences with dilution.
      SUVs markedly promoted Abeta1-40 fibrillation by condensing Abeta1-40, whereas no
      effects of LUVs on amyloidogenesis were detected. Salts greatly increased Abeta1
      40 amyloidogenicity on vesicles. We proposed comprehensive models for vesicle
      size-dependent Abeta amyloidogenesis. Inhomogeneous packing defects in SUVs may
      induce distinct nucleation in the polymorphisms of amyloids and decreasing local
      concentrations of Abeta with higher amounts of LUVs inhibits amyloid formation.
      We also pointed out that C-terminal hydrophobicity of Abeta is important for
      amyloidogenesis on membranes.

PMID- 28608876
TI  - Metal free mild and selective aldehyde cyanosilylation by a neutral penta
      coordinate silicon compound.
AB  - This study demonstrates the preparation and structural characterization of a
      Si(iv) hydride (PhC(NtBu)2SiH(CH3)Cl) (1) and its use as a catalyst for the
      cyanosilylation of a variety of aldehydes. Compound 1 represents the first
      neutral penta-coordinate silicon(iv) species that catalyzes cyanosilylation of
      aldehydes under mild conditions.

PMID- 28608877
TI  - Femtosecond to nanosecond studies of octupolar molecules and their quadrupolar
      and dipolar analogues.
AB  - The photophysical properties of two octupolar (T) molecules and of their linear
      (L) and quadrupolar (Q) analogues are studied by means of steady state and
      femtosecond to nanosecond spectroscopy. The compounds bear a triphenylamine
      donor, cyano acceptors and acetylenic (series 1) or olefin (series 2) pi-bridges.
      In the octupolar compound of series 2 (2T), fluorescence is emitted from an
      excited state localized on a single branch, while in that of series 1 (1T), the
      emitting state is delocalized among branches pointing to a reduced excited state
      polarity. Excited state dynamics in series 1 has shown an increase of lifetime
      with solvent polarity. In the branched compounds of series 2, multiexponential
      dynamics in polar solvents is exhibited indicating a distribution of emitting
      geometries. Femtosecond anisotropy in 1T indicates incoherent excitation transfer
      on the timescale of a few ps, in agreement with the hopping time predicted by the
      Forster model. However, no hopping mechanism is observed in 2T possibly because
      of an increased intramolecular charge transfer leading to a low energy relaxed
      excited state localized on a single branch.

PMID- 28608878
TI  - Structural evolution and dielectric properties of suspensions of carbon nanotubes
      in nematic liquid crystals.
AB  - Structuring of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in liquid crystals (LCs) and electro
      physical characteristics of LC + CNT suspensions were studied in a very broad
      range of CNT concentrations, C, from 10-5 wt% (highly diluted suspensions) to 2.5
      wt% (highly viscous suspensions). Along with the conventional sandwich cells with
      the transparent electrodes on the substrates, we used the cells with the in-plane
      applied electrical field in order to monitor changes of electrical parameters in
      the same direction as the structural changes observed under an optical
      microscope. The data revealed four stages of structural evolution with the
      increase of C: (1) dispersion of individual CNTs and their very small aggregates
      (C < 3 * 10-4 wt%), (2) presence of branched aggregates with a non-compact
      structure (C = 3 * 10-4-5 * 10-3 wt%), (3) percolation of non-compact aggregates
      (C = 5 * 10-3-10-1 wt%) and (4) compaction of aggregates and formation of a dense
      network (C = 10-1-1 wt%). In the studied concentration range, the conductivity
      displayed two percolation thresholds at C ~ 0.004 wt% and C ~ 0.5 wt%, which are
      associated with the formation of a non-compact and dense CNT network. By
      contrast, the permittivity epsilon' revealed only one percolation threshold at C
      ~ 0.5 wt%, when the distance between the adjacent CNTs becomes incredibly small.

PMID- 28608879
TI  - Controllable construction of half-sandwich octanuclear complexes based on pyridyl
      substituted ligands with conjugated centers.
AB  - Functional metal bis(1,3,5-triazapentadienato) units [M(tap)2] (M = NiII/PdII)
      and pyrene groups were introduced as central units of three tetradentate
      tetrapyridyl-substituted ligands, with which seven half-sandwich organometallic
      complexes were controllably synthesized. The multi-centered hybrid products
      constructed from the two [M(tap)2] units revealed delocalized pi-bonding
      environments. The products were characterized by proton NMR and IR spectroscopy,
      elemental analyses and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry. The
      molecular structures of four of the products were determined by X-ray diffraction
      analysis, revealing their octanuclear structures.

PMID- 28608880
TI  - Microelectrode voltammetry of multi-electron transfers complicated by coupled
      chemical equilibria: a general theory for the extended square scheme.
AB  - A very general and simple theoretical solution is presented for the current
      potential-time response of reversible multi-electron transfer processes
      complicated by homogeneous chemical equilibria (the so-called extended square
      scheme). The expressions presented here are applicable regardless of the number
      of electrons transferred and coupled chemical processes, and they are
      particularized for a wide variety of microelectrode geometries. The voltammetric
      response of very different systems presenting multi-electron transfers is
      considered for the most widely-used techniques (namely, cyclic voltammetry,
      square wave voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry and steady state
      voltammetry), studying the influence of the microelectrode geometry and the
      number and thermodynamics of the (electro)chemical steps. Most appropriate
      techniques and procedures for the determination of the 'interaction' between
      successive transfers are discussed. Special attention is paid to those situations
      where homogeneous chemical processes, such as protonation, complexation or ion
      association, affect the electrochemical behaviour of the system by different
      stabilization of the oxidation states.

PMID- 28608881
TI  - Enhanced growth of tellurium nanowires under conditions of macromolecular
      crowding.
AB  - An unprecedented rate enhancement was observed in the wet-chemical synthesis of
      tellurium nanowires under crowded conditions of inert macromolecules. The
      synthesis was carried out at 105  degrees C using solutions of sodium tellurite
      (Na2TeO3) as a precursor, hydrazine (N2H4) as a reducing agent, and
      polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as both a stabilizing and crowding agent. The PVP
      concentration was systematically varied between the dilute and crowding regimes
      up to 166 g l-1. The growth of the nanowires was monitored by measuring their
      size-dependent optical properties in the UV-Vis spectrum characterizing the size
      and morphology evolution of the nanowires and a coexisting phase of amorphous
      tellurium nanoparticles. The observed growth characteristics were interpreted in
      terms of non-specific structural organization of the crowded media due to the
      entropic-driven effects of space compartmentalization.

PMID- 28608883
TI  - Atomic-scale observation of pressure-dependent reduction dynamics of W18O49
      nanowires using environmental TEM.
AB  - The real-time observation of structural evolution of materials can provide
      critical information for understanding their reduction mechanisms under different
      environments. Herein, we report the atomic-scale observation of the reduction
      dynamics of W18O49 nanowires (NWs) using environmental transmission electron
      microscopy. Intriguingly, the reduction pathway is found to be affected by oxygen
      pressure. Under high oxygen pressure (~0.095 Pa), a W18O49 NW epitaxially
      transforms into a WO2 NW via mass transport across the interface between
      (010)W18O49 and (101)WO2. While under low oxygen pressure (~0.0004 Pa), the
      transformation follows the sequence of W18O49(NW) -> WO2(NW) -> beta
      W(nanoparticles), which is identified as a new reduction pathway. These findings
      reveal the pressure-dependent reduction and a new transformation pathway, and
      extend our current understanding of the reduction dynamics of metal oxides.

PMID- 28608884
TI  - Probing lysine mono-methylation in histone H3 tail peptides with an abiotic
      receptor coupled to a non-plasmonic resonator.
AB  - Binder and effector molecules that allow studying and manipulating epigenetic
      processes are of biological relevance and pose severe technical challenges. We
      report the first example of a synthetic receptor able to recognize mono
      methylated lysines in a histone H3 tail peptide, which has relevant functions in
      epigenetic regulation. Recognition is robust and specific regardless of the
      position and the number of mono-methylated lysines along the polypeptide chain.
      The peptide is first captured in solution by a tetraphosphonate cavitand (Tiiii)
      that selectively binds its Lys-NMe+ moieties. Separation from solution and
      detection of the peptide-Tiiii complexes is then enabled in one single step by an
      all dielectric SiO2-TiO2 core-shell resonator (T-rex), which captures the complex
      and operates fully reproducible signal transduction by non-plasmonic surface
      enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) without degrading the complex. The realized
      abiotic probe is able to distinguish multiple mono-methylated peptides from the
      single mono-methylated ones.

PMID- 28608885
TI  - Facile synthesis of an ultra-stable metal-organic framework with excellent acid
      and base resistance.
AB  - A novel ultra-stable metal-organic framework, MCIF-1, [Cu2(DCI)2](MeCN), based on
      dicyanoimidazole and Cu(i), has been synthesized at room temperature
      successfully. MCIF-1 shows excellent water stability and can retain crystallinity
      after soaking in water for about one week. In addition, MCIF-1 also shows
      exceptional resistance under both acidic and basic conditions within a large pH
      range from 0 to 13.5. What is more, after modifying the synthesis procedure
      slightly, we can produce this material in a large scale during a very short time.
      Mild synthesis conditions, excellent stability and ease of large scale production
      give MCIF-1 great potential for practical use.

PMID- 28608886
TI  - Effects of diffusion and mixing pattern on microfluidic-assisted synthesis of
      chitosan/ATP nanoparticles.
AB  - Chitosan (CHI) nanoparticles present promising applications in pharmaceutical and
      biomedical fields, including drug and gene delivery. Among different approaches,
      microfluidics emerges as a resourceful tool for nanoparticle production in low
      cost, reproducible processes with predictable fluid dynamics. However,
      microfluidic-assisted synthesis of CHI nanoparticles has not been widely explored
      in the literature. In this context, we systematically investigated different
      process parameters that influence the synthesis of CHI/ATP nanoparticles. We
      highlight the effects and limitations of diffusion and distinct mixing patterns
      developed through the microchannels on the final physicochemical characteristics
      of CHI/ATP nanoparticles produced. To address these hurdles, here we describe a
      simple, feasible, and reproducible method for the production of CHI/ATP
      nanoparticles. This strategy enables the development of a continuous and
      homogeneous production process for CHI nanoparticles to be applied in the most
      varied fields of research.

PMID- 28608888
TI  - Cyclometalated Ir(iii) complexes based on 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-pyridine and
      2,2'-(2-phenyl-1H-imidazole-4,5-diyl)dipyridine: acid/base-induced structural
      transformation and luminescence switching, and photocatalytic activity for
      hydrogen evolution.
AB  - Based on ligands dfppyH and pidpyH, cyclometalated Ir(iii) complexes
      [Ir(dfppy)2(pidpyH)](PF6) (1.PF6) and [Ir(dfppy)2(pidpy)] (2) have been
      synthesized. The crystal structures indicate that each {Ir(dfppy)2}+ unit is
      coordinated by a neutral ligand pidpyH in 1.PF6, while by a pidpy- anion in 2.
      The packing structure of 1.PF6 only exhibits electrostatic interactions and van
      der Waals interactions among [Ir(dfppy)2(pidpyH)]+ cations and PF6- ions. In
      contrast, the neighboring molecules in 2 are linked into a supramolecular chain
      structure through aromatic stacking interactions between two dfppy- ligands. In
      solution, 1.PF6 and 2 show acid/base-induced structural transformation due to the
      protonation/deprotonation of their pyridyl groups and/or imidazole units, which
      can be confirmed by their 1H NMR spectra. At room temperature, compounds 1.PF6, 2
      and pidpyH in CH2Cl2 reveal TFA-induced luminescence switching behaviors, from a
      non-luminescence state to a luminescence state with an emission at 582 nm for
      both 1.PF6 and 2, and emission switching from 392 nm to 502 nm for pidpyH. These
      switching behaviors are associated with the protonation of pyridyl groups and/or
      imidazole units in 1.PF6, 2 and pidpyH. Moreover, compounds 1.PF6 and 2 were used
      as photosensitizers (PS) for reduction of water to hydrogen under the same
      experimental conditions. It was found that the amount of evolved hydrogen and the
      PS turnover number are 512 MUmol and 102 for 1.PF6, and 131 MUmol and 26 for 2,
      respectively. Thus, compound 1.PF6 has better photocatalytic activity than 2. In
      this paper, we discuss the modulation of luminescence and photocatalytic
      activities of 1.PF6 and 2 by varying the coordination mode and/or protonation
      extent of pidpyH/pidpy- ligands.

PMID- 28608889
TI  - Nanoscale triplet exciton diffusion via imaging of up-conversion emission from
      single hybrid nanoparticles in molecular crystals.
AB  - Up-conversion materials composed of donor and acceptor molecules which convert
      low energy photons into higher energy ones by triplet-triplet annihilation can
      improve the sensitivity of photocatalysts or the efficiency of solar cells. The
      use of crystalline materials can lead to a decrease in the up-conversion
      threshold intensity due to increased diffusion length LT of triplet excitons.
      Here, we demonstrate direct microscopic imaging of triplet exciton diffusion in
      polycrystalline films. The generation of high local density of triplet states is
      achieved by functionalizing alumina nanospheres with donor molecules and
      dispersing them in the acceptor films. Diffusion of the triplet excitons and up
      converted emission are reflected in enlarged microscopic images of the
      nanoparticles. Analysis provides the average LT values of 491 nm for the acceptor
      of polycrystalline anthracene and 172 nm for polycrystalline 9,10
      diphenylanthracene, and reveals large distributions of the diffusion
      characteristics. These average values are more than an order of magnitude larger
      than LT obtained by a conventional method, and highlight the need for accurate
      nanoscale characterization of the up-conversion materials.

PMID- 28608891
TI  - Salt-induced cluster formation of gold nanoparticles followed by stopped-flow
      SAXS, DLS and extinction spectroscopy.
AB  - In this work we investigate the salt-induced cluster formation of monodisperse,
      spherical gold nanoparticles possessing negative surface charge. Time dependent
      dynamic light scattering was used to determine the critical coagulation
      concentration and to study the kinetics of cluster growth. Cryo-TEM as well as
      small angle X-ray scattering allowed to obtain insights into the cluster
      morphology at various salt concentrations. The time dependent cluster growth was
      monitored by stopped-flow small angle X-ray scattering experiments and UV-Visible
      extinction measurements simultaneously. Our results reveal the transition from
      reaction limited cluster aggregation (RLCA) at low salt concentrations to
      diffusion limited cluster aggregation (DLCA) at high salt concentrations. We were
      able to correlate changes of the plasmon resonance position of the gold
      nanoparticles to the cluster size. By comparison to theoretical calculations
      using Mie theory, we found indication that stronger resonance shifts during
      cluster growth can be related to smaller inter-particle spacings.

PMID- 28608892
TI  - Instant polysaccharide-based emulsions: impact of microstructure on lipolysis.
AB  - The development of emulsion-based products through optimisation of ingredients,
      reduction in energy-input during manufacture, while fulfilling healthy
      attributes, are major objectives within the food industry. Instant emulsions can
      meet these features, but comprehensive studies are necessary to investigate the
      effect of the initial formulation on the final microstructure and, in turn, on
      the in vitro lipolysis, comprising the double aim of this work. The instant
      emulsion is formed within 1.5-3 min after pouring the aqueous phase into the oil
      phase which contains a mixture of emulsifier (Tween 20), swelling particles
      (Sephadex) and thickeners (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, HPMC, and guar gum, GG)
      under mild shearing (180 rpm). The creation of oil-in-water emulsions is
      monitored in situ by viscosity analysis, the final microstructure visualised by
      microscopy and the release of free fatty acids under simulated intestinal
      conditions quantified by titration. Increasing the concentration and molecular
      weight (Mw) of GG leads to smaller emulsion droplets due to increased bulk
      viscosity upon shearing. This droplet size reduction is magnified when increasing
      the Mw of HPMC or swelling capacity of viscosifying particles. In addition, in
      the absence of the emulsifier Tween 20, the sole use of high-Mw HPMC is effective
      in emulsification due to combined increased bulk viscosity and interfacial
      activity. Hence, optimisation of the ingredient choice and usage level is
      possible when designing microstructures. Finally, emulsions with larger droplet
      size (>20 MUm) display a slower rate and lower extent of lipolysis, while finer
      emulsions (droplet size <=20 MUm) exhibit maximum rate and extent profiles. This
      correlates with the extent of emulsion destabilisation observed under intestinal
      conditions.

PMID- 28608893
TI  - Nanostructuring of an alkali halide surface by low temperature plasma exposure.
AB  - Templating insulating surfaces at the nanoscale is an interesting prospect for
      applications that involve the adsorption of molecules or nanoparticles where
      electronic decoupling of the adsorbed species from the substrate is needed. In
      this study, we present a method to structure alkali halide surfaces at the
      nanoscale using a combination of low temperature plasma exposure and annealing,
      and characterize the surfaces by atomic force microscopy. We find that
      nanostructurating can be controlled by the duration of the exposure, the atomic
      mass of the plasma gas and the subsequent step-by-step annealing process. In
      contrast to previous studies with electron or high energy (few keV) ion
      irradiation, our approach of employing moderate particle energy (10-15 eV Ar+ or
      He+ ions) results in fine nanostructuring at length scales of nanometers and even
      single atom vacancies.

PMID- 28608894
TI  - Anomalous photovoltaic effect based on molecular chirality: influence of
      enantiomeric purity on the photocurrent response in pi-conjugated ferroelectric
      liquid crystals.
AB  - (S)- and (R)-forms of chiral pi-conjugated ferroelectric liquid crystals were
      synthesized. The dielectric properties in the ferroelectric liquid-crystalline
      (FLC) phases were evaluated using the Sawyer-Tower method. Spontaneous
      polarization of (S)-1 reached 68 nC cm-2 at 127  degrees C. Hole mobilities in
      the FLC phases estimated using the time-of-flight (TOF) method were on the order
      of 10-4 cm2 V-1 s-1. Each chiral pi-conjugated compound exhibited a photovoltaic
      effect based on spontaneous polarization without p-n or Schottky junctions. This
      phenomenon could be attributed to an anomalous photovoltaic (APV) effect that has
      been observed in ferroelectric ceramics. In addition, liquid-crystalline
      enantiomeric mixtures of (S)-1 and (R)-1 were prepared and the APV response under
      UV illumination was studied. The APV response was enhanced with an increase in
      enantiomeric purity and was minimized in the racemic mixture. From this result,
      it was concluded that the APV effect in this FLC compound originated from the
      molecular chirality.

PMID- 28608895
TI  - Synthesis of MOFs: a personal view on rationalisation, application and
      exploration.
AB  - This perspective highlights some studies and insights in the synthesis of metal
      organic frameworks (MOFs) in a brief and comprehensive manner. The understanding
      of the synthesis procedures investigated by in and ex situ methods is of special
      interest since knowledge on the nucleation and crystallisation mechanism will
      ideally lead to an improved control over product formation. The prospective
      developments associated with the manufacturing of such materials (or devices
      consisting thereof) are discussed as well. A major challenge is the adjustment of
      the synthesis conditions to yield quantities suitable for real life applications.
      Last but not least, vast opportunities are yet to be explored involving the
      synthesis of both known and novel compounds. Thus the crucial points involving
      the synthesis of MOFs summarized in this perspective are rationalisation,
      application and exploration. For each subtopic we have also attempted to
      anticipate future challenges and developments.

PMID- 28608896
TI  - Cyclic gas-phase heterogeneous process in a metal-organic framework involving a
      nickel nitrosyl complex.
AB  - The cubic metal-organic framework MFU-4l ([Zn5Cl4(BTDD)3], H2-BTDD = bis(1H-1,2,3
      triazolo[4,5-b],[4',5'-i])dibenzo[1,4]dioxin) featuring large pore apertures can
      be modified post-synthetically via partial or complete substitution of peripheral
      metal sites and chloride side-ligands, thus opening a route towards a large
      variety of functionalized MOFs. In this way, Ni-MFU-4l-nitrite (or Ni-MFU-4l-NO2)
      with an analytically determined chemical composition
      [Zn2.6Ni2.4(NO2)2.9Cl1.1(BTDD)3], containing accessible Ni-NO2 units, was
      prepared. Ni-MFU-4l-NO2 undergoes selective heterogeneous gas-phase reduction by
      carbon monoxide at 350  degrees C, leading to formation of Ni-NO units at the
      peripheral sites of the MFU-4l framework (Ni-MFU-4l-NO). The crystallinity and
      porosity of the MFU-4l framework are completely retained upon this
      transformation. The so-formed nickel nitrosyl complex, showing high thermal
      stability, readily reacts with nitrogen monoxide at room temperature, producing
      Ni-NO2 units and dinitrogen monoxide (N2O). Hence, the reaction of Ni-MFU-4l-NO2
      with CO followed by NO represents a cyclic process with an overall stoichiometry
      2NO + CO -> N2O + CO2, in which the Ni-MFU-4l framework serves as a catalyst. It
      can be considered as a model process for the removal of highly toxic NO and CO
      gases, which are converted to non-toxic CO2 and N2O. Diffuse reflectance infrared
      Fourier transform spectroscopic studies show that at least 10 cycles can be
      repeated. The framework's reactivity drops down by ca. 50% after 10 cycles, which
      is most likely due to the accumulation of highly reactive NO2 and N2O4
      contaminants. Therefore, further investigations on characterizing reaction
      intermediates should be done in order to improve the catalyst's performance. Our
      results confirm the potential of MFU-4l frameworks as selective single-site
      catalysts for heterogeneous gas-phase transformations and provide a motivation
      for further studies.

PMID- 28608897
TI  - The dynamics of the Hg + Br2 reaction: elucidation of the reaction mechanism for
      the Br exchange reaction.
AB  - In spite of its importance in the Hg atmospheric chemistry, the dynamics of the
      Hg + Br2 -> HgBr + Br reaction is poorly understood. In this article, we have
      carried out a comprehensive study of the reaction mechanism of this reaction by
      means of quasiclassical trajectories (QCTs) on an existing ab initio potential
      energy surface (PES). The reaction has a non trivial dynamics, as a consequence
      of its large endothermicity, the presence of a deep potential well, and the
      competition between the Br exchange and the collision induced dissociation
      processes. Our calculations demonstrate that insertion is only relevant at
      energies just above the reaction threshold and that, at energies above 2.3 eV,
      HgBr formation typically takes place via a sort of frustrated dissociation. In
      order to compare directly with the results obtained in extensive cross molecular
      beam experiments for the homologous reaction with I2, angular distributions in
      the laboratory frame for Hg + Br2 have been simulated under similar experimental
      conditions. The lack of agreement at the highest energies considered suggests
      that either the two reactions have substantially different mechanisms or that
      calculations on a single PES cannot account for the dynamics at those energies.

PMID- 28608898
TI  - Five-nanometer ZnSn2O4:Cr,Eu ultra-small nanoparticles as new near infrared
      emitting persistent luminescent nanoprobes for cellular and deep tissue imaging
      at 800 nm.
AB  - Until now, the afterglow emissions of most developed near infrared (NIR)-emitting
      persistent luminescent nanoparticles (NPLNPs) were located at approximately 700
      nm, at the edge of the first tissue transparency window (from 650 to 900 nm),
      which resulted in relatively low tissue penetration and signal-to-noise ratio
      (SNR) for in vivo imaging. Herein, 5 nm ZnSn2O4:Cr,Eu (ZSO) NPLNPs with NIR
      afterglow emission at 800 nm are synthesized via a direct aqueous-phase synthesis
      method. The longer NIR afterglow emission of ZSO NPLNPs can easily penetrate
      approximately 3 cm of pork tissue. Furthermore, even though the backbones blocked
      part of the NIR afterglow light, high SNR (25.5) in vivo images of the backs of
      mice can be observed and can be maintained for more than 15 min. The ZSO
      nanoprobes conjugated with folic acid exhibited excellent in vitro and in vivo
      tumor targeting capacity, which was advantageous for accurate tumor diagnosis.
      More importantly, the ZSO NPLNPs can be re-excited in situ and in vivo using NIR
      light to realize renewable near-infrared persistent luminescence in vivo, which
      was helpful for very long term and higher SNR in vitro and in vivo imaging.

PMID- 28608899
TI  - Clustering approaches to improve the performance of low cost air pollution
      sensors.
AB  - Low cost air pollution sensors have substantial potential for atmospheric
      research and for the applied control of pollution in the urban environment,
      including more localized warnings to the public. The current generation of single
      chemical gas sensors experience degrees of interference from other co-pollutants
      and have sensitivity to environmental factors such as temperature, wind speed and
      supply voltage. There are uncertainties introduced also because of sensor-to
      sensor response variability, although this is less well reported. The sensitivity
      of Metal Oxide Sensors (MOS) to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) changed with
      relative humidity (RH) by up to a factor of five over the range of 19-90% RH and
      with an uncertainty in the correction of a factor of two at any given RH. The
      short-term (second to minute) stabilities of MOS and electrochemical CO sensor
      responses were reasonable. During more extended use, inter-sensor quantitative
      comparability was degraded due to unpredictable variability in individual sensor
      responses (to either measurand or interference or both) drifting over timescales
      of several hours to days. For timescales longer than a week identical sensors
      showed slow, often downwards, drifts in their responses which diverged across six
      CO sensors by up to 30% after two weeks. The measurement derived from the median
      sensor within clusters of 6, 8 and up to 21 sensors was evaluated against
      individual sensor performance and external reference values. The clustered
      approach maintained the cost competitiveness of a sensor device, but the median
      concentration from the ensemble of sensor signals largely eliminated the
      randomised hour-to-day response drift seen in individual sensors and excluded the
      effects of small numbers of poorly performing sensors that drifted significantly
      over longer time periods. The results demonstrate that for individual sensors to
      be optimally comparable to one another, and to reference instruments, they would
      likely require frequent calibration. The use of a cluster median value eliminates
      unpredictable medium term response changes, and other longer term outlier
      behaviours, extending the likely period needed between calibration and making a
      linear interpolation between calibrations more appropriate. Through the use of
      sensor clusters rather than individual sensors, existing low cost technologies
      could deliver significantly improved quality of observations.

PMID- 28608900
TI  - Theoretical and experimental studies on three water-stable, isostructural,
      paddlewheel based semiconducting metal-organic frameworks.
AB  - Three water-stable isostructural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) of the general
      formula [M2(TCS)(BPY)] (M = Co(1), Ni(2) and Cu(3); H4TCS = tetrakis(4
      carboxyphenyl) silane, BPY = 4,4'-bipyridine) were synthesized and fully
      characterized. MOFs 1-3 are stable in pH = 5-11, 2-11, 3-11 aqueous solution
      respectively for at least 24 h at room temperature. Although H4TCS absorbs only
      UV light, MOFs 1-3 absorb both UV and visible light in broad ranges (250-800 nm)
      and absorb more visible light than the ligand BPY. The rapid anodic photocurrent
      responses of MOFs 1-3 under UV and visible light illumination were observed. The
      photocurrent densities increase in the order of MOF 3 < 1 < 2 under visible light
      illumination (430 nm). The band gaps of MOFs 1-3 determined based on UV-Vis
      diffuse reflectance spectra and electrochemical (EC) analysis are 1.28, 1.35 and
      0.67 eV, respectively. MOF 1 is able to photocatalyze the reduction of CO2 to CH4
      under visible light, producing CH4 (1.44 MUmol g-1 in 8 h), which is
      unprecedented in MOFs. The catalytic activity of MOF 1 (0.75 MUmol g-1 after 4 h)
      under the irradiation of a 300 W xenon lamp is significantly better than those of
      MOFs 2 and 3 (0.14 MUmol g-1 after 4 h). The band structures, density of states
      and band gaps of MOFs 1-3 were calculated by the GGA-PBE and GGA-PBE+U method
      implemented in VASP code. The calculations show that all the three compounds can
      be viewed as bulk intermediate band (IB) materials. The density of states of the
      IB in MOF 1 is high, which could suppress the non-radiative recombination. The
      density of states of the IB levels in MOFs 2 and 3 are low, making these levels
      very effective recombination centres, thus jeopardizing the photocatalytic
      activities of MOFs 2 and 3. The calculated results are in good agreement with
      experimental results and explain the photocatalytic activity differences. This
      study is the first to successfully address the question of how the types of
      unpaired electron containing electron-rich metal ions (i.e. Cu(ii), Co(ii),
      Ni(ii)) affect the band gaps and band structures of MOFs and thus their
      photoelectronic properties.

PMID- 28608901
TI  - Alleviation of metabolic syndrome by monascin and ankaflavin: the perspective of
      Monascus functional foods.
AB  - The metabolites of Monascus with multiple benefits are popular subjects for the
      development of functional foods. The yellow pigments, monascin and ankaflavin,
      which are the constituent metabolites of M. purpureus, M. pilosus and M. ruber,
      are becoming the focus of research on Monascus. Monascin and ankaflavin are
      azaphilone compounds with similar structures that exhibit multiple beneficial
      effects including anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-diabetes,
      immunomodulation, attenuation of Alzheimer's disease risk factor, and anti
      tumorigenic effects. Monascin and ankaflavin not only possess pleiotropic
      bioactivities, but are also more potent than monacolin K in lowering lipid levels
      and have lower toxicity. Monascin and ankaflavin act as the activators of
      PPARgamma agonist/Nrf-2 that subsequently ameliorate metabolic syndrome.
      Following the intensive exploration of Monascus bioactivities in recent years,
      the focus of research on Monascus-functional foods has shifted from whole
      fermented products/extracts to specific bioactive compounds. Therefore, the
      production of monascin and ankaflavin is an important topic with respect to
      Monascus-functional foods. Although several genomic studies have paved the way
      for understanding the production of secondary metabolites in Monascus, efforts
      are still required to effectively manipulate the biosynthesis of secondary
      metabolites with genetic engineering and/or culture techniques.

PMID- 28608904
TI  - Droplet-based light-sheet fluorescence microscopy for high-throughput sample
      preparation, 3-D imaging and quantitative analysis on a chip.
AB  - We report a novel fusion of droplet microfluidics and light-sheet microscopy, to
      achieve high-throughput sample compartmentalization, manipulation and three
      dimensional imaging on a chip. This optofluidic device characterized by
      orthogonal plane illumination and rapid liquid handling is compact and cost
      effective, and capable of preparing sample droplets with tunable size, frequency
      and ingredient. Each droplet flowing through the device's imaging region is self
      scanned by a laser-sheet, three-dimensionally reconstructed and quantitatively
      analysed. This simple-and-robust platform combines fast 3-D imaging with
      efficient sample preparation and eliminates the need of a complicated mechanical
      scan at the same time. Achieving 500 measurements per second and screening over
      30 samples per minute, it shows great potential for various lab-on-a-chip
      biological studies, such as embryo sorting and cell growth assays.

PMID- 28608902
TI  - Ultrathin Co3O4 nanofilm as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for oxygen
      evolution and reduction reaction in rechargeable zinc-air batteries.
AB  - Two-dimensional (2D) nanocatalysts with a large specific surface area and
      efficient charge conductivity are promising candidates for catalyzing the
      sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR),
      which are at the heart of various electrochemical energy conversion and storage
      technologies. Here, we report the synthesis of an ultrathin Co3O4 nanofilm with a
      thickness of nearly 1.8 nm via a surfactant- and template-free facile
      hydrothermal route. The proposed synthesis strategy can be extended to the
      preparation of 2D NixCo3-xO4 and FexCo3-xO4 nanostructures. The synthesized Co3O4
      nanofilm exhibited bifunctional activity that was superior to that of the
      counterpart Co3O4 nanoparticles, including a lower overpotential and higher
      reduction and evolution current densities, and demonstrated faster catalytic
      kinetics over the 2D nanofilm surface. In comparison with precious metal-based
      catalysts, to achieve an OER current density of 40 mA cm-2 the overpotential of
      the nanofilm (461 mV) was lower than that of RuO2 (526 mV), whereas the ORR on
      the nanofilm proceeded via a dominant 4e- transfer mechanism, which is similar to
      that of commercial carbon-supported Pt (Pt/C). The Co3O4 nanofilm enabled the
      assembly of rechargeable Zn-air batteries with a lower overpotential (0.72 V),
      higher round-trip efficiency (62.7%), and a longer cycle lifetime (175 cycles).
      The remarkable bifunctional activity contributes to an increase in the number of
      electrochemically active sites, a large interfacial contact area with the
      electrolyte, and the enrichment of Co3+ ions on the surface, which facilitates
      the adsorption and activation of oxygen-containing species. This study should
      shed light on the future development of new electroactive materials with
      optimized 2D nanostructures to enhance the overall bifunctional ORR/OER
      performance of rechargeable metal-air batteries.

PMID- 28608905
TI  - Detection of SiO2 nanoparticles in lung tissue by ToF-SIMS imaging and
      fluorescence microscopy.
AB  - The direct detection of nanoparticles in tissues at high spatial resolution is a
      current goal in nanotoxicology. Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry
      (ToF-SIMS) is widely used for the direct detection of inorganic and organic
      substances with high spatial resolution but its capability to detect
      nanoparticles in tissue sections is still insufficiently explored. To estimate
      the applicability of this technique for nanotoxicological questions, comparative
      studies with established techniques on the detection of nanoparticles can offer
      additional insights. Here, we compare ToF-SIMS imaging data with sub-micrometer
      spatial resolution to fluorescence microscopy imaging data to explore the
      usefulness of ToF-SIMS for the detection of nanoparticles in tissues. SiO2
      nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 25 nm, core-labelled with fluorescein
      isothiocyanate, were intratracheally instilled into rat lungs. Subsequently,
      imaging of lung cryosections was performed with ToF-SIMS and fluorescence
      microscopy. Nanoparticles were successfully detected with ToF-SIMS in 3D
      microanalysis mode based on the lateral distribution of SiO3- (m/z 75.96), which
      was co-localized with the distribution pattern that was obtained from
      nanoparticle fluorescence. In addition, the lateral distribution of protein (CN-,
      m/z 26.00) and phosphate based signals (PO3-, m/z 78.96) originating from the
      tissue material could be related to the SiO3- lateral distribution. In
      conclusion, ToF-SIMS is suitable to directly detect and laterally resolve SiO2
      nanomaterials in biological tissue at sufficient intensity levels. At the same
      time, information about the chemical environment of the nanoparticles in the lung
      tissue sections is obtained.

PMID- 28608906
TI  - Fluorine-18 labelled building blocks for PET tracer synthesis.
AB  - Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important driver for present day
      healthcare. Fluorine-18 is the most widely used radioisotope for PET imaging and
      a thorough overview of the available radiochemistry methodology is a prerequisite
      for selection of a synthetic approach for new fluorine-18 labelled PET tracers.
      These PET tracers can be synthesised either by late-stage radiofluorination,
      introducing fluorine-18 in the last step of the synthesis, or by a building block
      approach (also called modular build-up approach), introducing fluorine-18 in a
      fast and efficient manner in a building block, which is reacted further in one or
      multiple reaction steps to form the PET tracer. This review presents a
      comprehensive overview of the synthesis and application of fluorine-18 labelled
      building blocks since 2010.

PMID- 28608907
TI  - Organs-on-Chips with combined multi-electrode array and transepithelial
      electrical resistance measurement capabilities.
AB  - Here we demonstrate that microfluidic cell culture devices, known as Organs-on-a
      Chips can be fabricated with multifunctional, real-time, sensing capabilities by
      integrating both multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) and electrodes for transepithelial
      electrical resistance (TEER) measurements into the chips during their
      fabrication. To prove proof-of-concept, simultaneous measurements of cellular
      electrical activity and tissue barrier function were carried out in a dual
      channel, endothelialized, heart-on-a-chip device containing human cardiomyocytes
      and a channel-separating porous membrane covered with a primary human endothelial
      cell monolayer. These studies confirmed that the TEER-MEA chip can be used to
      simultaneously detect dynamic alterations of vascular permeability and cardiac
      function in the same chip when challenged with the inflammatory stimulus tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) or the cardiac targeting drug isoproterenol.
      Thus, this Organ Chip with integrated sensing capability may prove useful for
      real-time assessment of biological functions, as well as response to
      therapeutics.

PMID- 28608908
TI  - Molecular dynamics study of the effect of tetraglyme plasticizer on dual-cation
      ionomer electrolytes.
AB  - Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to study the effect of tetraglyme
      on a dual-cation conducting ionomer, containing an alkali metal cation (Li+ or
      Na+) and an ammonium cation, to answer the question as to why the experimental
      ionic conductivities in these ionomer systems show contrasting responses upon the
      addition of tetraglyme. Our study shows ion transport in these systems is mainly
      achieved by ion hopping through the structural re-arrangement of interconnected
      ion clusters. Thus, an interconnected ion cluster network is a favorable
      condition for ion hopping. The addition of tetraglyme appears to break up ion
      clusters but facilitates ion cluster re-arrangement due to the effect of
      plasticization, and so if the former effect outpaces the latter one, ion mobility
      is likely to decrease and vice versa. The simulations show that the addition of
      tetraglyme results in more discrete ion clusters in the Li system (i.e. less
      interconnected) compared with the Na system, and thus less Li ion hopping, which
      leads to the decrease in the ionic conductivity observed experimentally.

PMID- 28608909
TI  - [Updated guidelines for the treatment of viper bites].

PMID- 28608911
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608912
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608910
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608913
TI  - [Stockholm County Council needs to invest more in medical residency positions].

PMID- 28608914
TI  - ?

PMID- 28608915
TI  - ?
AB  - The ABC of paediatric ECG interpretation In paediatric patients, ECG is used as a
      tool for investigation of arrhythmias, chest pain, syncope, intoxications and
      congenital heart abnormalities. Paediatric ECGs differ significantly from adult
      ECGs, and change gradually during childhood, largely because of the changes that
      start with the transition of foetal circulation at birth. This evolution is most
      prominent during the first year of life, but it is not until the late adolescent
      years that the ECG corresponds to that of adults. This article focuses on
      practical paediatric ECG interpretation. The first section presents normal age
      related values for different ECG parameters. For example, in small children heart
      rate is higher, QRS-complexes narrower, T-waves in right precordial leads are
      negative, and the electrical axis rightward. Then, pathological changes in ECG
      are presented, e.g. tachy- and bradyarrhythmias, ST changes and long QT. Finally,
      we suggest which patients to refer to a specialist in paediatric cardiology.

PMID- 28608916
TI  - Value and application of trimodality therapy or definitive concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few large, prospective, randomized studies have investigated the
      value and optimal application of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by
      surgery (trimodality therapy) or definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT)
      for patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TESCC). METHODS:
      The authors analyzed data from patients with TESCC in the Taiwan Cancer Registry
      database. To compare their outcomes, patients with TESCC were enrolled and
      categorized into the following groups according to treatment modality: group 1,
      those who underwent surgery alone; group 2, those who received trimodality
      therapy; and group 3, those who received definitive CCRT. Group 1 was used as the
      control arm for investigating the risk of mortality after treatment. RESULTS: In
      total, 3522 patients who had TESCC without distant metastasis were enrolled.
      Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that a Charlson comorbidity index
      score >=3, American Joint Committee on Cancer stage >=IIA, earlier year of
      diagnosis, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and definitive CCRT were
      significant, independent predictors of a poor prognosis. After adjustment for
      confounders, adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for
      overall mortality in patients with clinical stage I, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB, and
      IIIC TESCC were 2.01 (95% CI, 0.44-6.18), 1.65 (95% CI, 0.99-2.70), 1.48 (95% CI,
      0.91-2.42), 0.66 (95% CI, 1.08-1.14), 0.39 (95% CI, 0.26-0.57), and 0.44 (95% CI,
      0.24-0.83), respectively, in group 2; and 2.06 (95% CI, 1.18-3.59), 2.65 (95% CI,
      1.76-4.00), 2.25 (95% CI, 1.49-3.39), 1.34 (95% CI, 0.79-2.28), 0.82 (95% CI,
      0.57-1.17), and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.51-1.71), respectively, in group 3. CONCLUSIONS:
      Trimodality therapy may be beneficial for the survival of patients with advanced
      stage (IIIA-IIIC) TESCC, and CCRT might be an alternative to surgery alone in
      these patients. Cancer 2017;123:3904-15. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608917
TI  - Elevated risk of human papillomavirus-related second cancers in survivors of anal
      canal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, the causal link between human papillomavirus
      (HPV) infection and squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) has been well
      described. Because HPV infection in one site is often associated with other sites
      of infection, it then follows that patients with SCCA may have an increased risk
      of additional HPV-related cancers. Identifying and targeting at-risk sites
      through cancer screening and surveillance may help to guide best practices. The
      current study sought to ascertain sites and risk of HPV-related second primary
      malignancies (SPMs) in survivors of SCCA. METHODS: Using population-based data
      from 1992 through 2012, the authors identified patients with SCCA and determined
      their risk of HPV-related SPMs, including anal, oral, and genital cancers.
      Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs), defined as observed to expected cases, were
      calculated to determine excess risk. RESULTS: Of 10,537 patients with SCCA, 416
      developed HPV-related SPMs, which corresponded to an overall SIR of 21.5 (99%
      confidence interval [99% CI], 19.0-24.2). Men were found to have a higher SIR
      (35.8; 99% CI, 30.7-41.6) compared with women (12.8; 99% CI, 10.4-15.5). SIRs for
      a second SCCA were markedly higher in men (127.5; 99% CI, 108.1-149.2) compared
      with women (47.0; 99% CI, 34.7-62.1), whereas SIRs for oral cavity and pharyngeal
      cancers were elevated in men (3.1; 99% CI, 1.5-5.7) and women (4.4; 99% CI, 1.5
      9.7). SIRs for sex-specific sites also were elevated, with male genital cancers
      having an SIR of 19.6 (99% CI, 8.7-37.6) and female genital cancers an SIR of 8.3
      (99% CI, 6.1-11.0). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with index SCCA are at an increased
      risk of subsequent HPV-related SPMs. The elevated risk is most striking in
      patients with second primary SCCAs; however, the risk of second cancers also
      appears to be increased in other HPV-related sites. Cancer 2017;123:4013-21. (c)
      2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608918
TI  - Reply to Misinterpretation of the longitudinal results in the randomized, double
      blind, placebo-controlled trial of infrared-laser moxibustion for cancer-related
      fatigue.

PMID- 28608919
TI  - Classroom and School Predictors of Civic Engagement Among Black and Latino Middle
      School Youth.
AB  - This study used short-term longitudinal data to examine the contributions of
      democratic teaching practices (e.g., the Developmental Designs approach) and
      equitable school climate to civic engagement attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
      among 515 Black and Latino middle school students (47.9% male). Concurrent
      experiences of democratic homeroom and classroom practices, and equitable school
      climate were associated with higher scores on each civic engagement component.
      The relation between classroom practices and civic attitudes was more robust when
      school climate was seen as more equitable. Longitudinally, homeroom practices and
      equitable school climate predicted higher civic attitudes 1 year later.
      Discussion focuses on civic attitudes and future research on school experiences
      that support civic engagement among youth of color.

PMID- 28608922
TI  - A road to be traveled earlier rather than later: Message from the President.

PMID- 28608923
TI  - Exploiting DNA damage without repair: The activity of platinum chemotherapy in
      BRCA-mutated prostate cancers.

PMID- 28608920
TI  - Facial Curvature Detects and Explicates Ethnic Differences in Effects of Prenatal
      Alcohol Exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our objective is to help clinicians detect the facial effects of
      prenatal alcohol exposure by developing computer-based tools for screening facial
      form. METHODS: All 415 individuals considered were evaluated by expert
      dysmorphologists and categorized as (i) healthy control (HC), (ii) fetal alcohol
      syndrome (FAS), or (iii) heavily prenatally alcohol exposed (HE) but not
      clinically diagnosable as FAS; 3D facial photographs were used to build models of
      facial form to support discrimination studies. Surface curvature-based
      delineations of facial form were introduced. RESULTS: (i) Facial growth in FAS,
      HE, and control subgroups is similar in both cohorts. (ii) Cohort consistency of
      agreement between clinical diagnosis and HC-FAS facial form classification is
      lower for midline facial regions and higher for nonmidline regions. (iii)
      Specific HC-FAS differences within and between the cohorts include: for HC, a
      smoother philtrum in Cape Coloured individuals; for FAS, a smoother philtrum in
      Caucasians; for control-FAS philtrum difference, greater homogeneity in
      Caucasians; for control-FAS face difference, greater homogeneity in Cape Coloured
      individuals. (iv) Curvature changes in facial profile induced by prenatal alcohol
      exposure are more homogeneous and greater in Cape Coloureds than in Caucasians.
      (v) The Caucasian HE subset divides into clusters with control-like and FAS-like
      facial dysmorphism. The Cape Coloured HE subset is similarly divided for
      nonmidline facial regions but not clearly for midline structures. (vi) The Cape
      Coloured HE subset with control-like facial dysmorphism shows orbital
      hypertelorism. CONCLUSIONS: Facial curvature assists the recognition of the
      effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and helps explain why different facial
      regions result in inconsistent control-FAS discrimination rates in disparate
      ethnic groups. Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure can give rise to orbital
      hypertelorism, supporting a long-standing suggestion that prenatal alcohol
      exposure at a particular time causes increased separation of the brain
      hemispheres with a concomitant increase in orbital separation.

PMID- 28608921
TI  - Whole-exome sequencing reveals critical genes underlying metastasis in
      oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal cancers,
      owing to a high frequency of metastasis. However, little is known about the
      genomic landscape of metastatic ESCC. To identify the genetic alterations that
      underlie ESCC metastasis, whole-exome sequencing was performed for 41 primary
      tumours and 15 lymph nodes (LNs) with metastatic ESCCs. Eleven cases included
      matched primary tumours, synchronous LN metastases, and non-neoplastic mucosa.
      Approximately 50-76% of the mutations identified in primary tumours appeared in
      the synchronous LN metastases. Metastatic ESCCs harbour frequent mutations of
      TP53, KMT2D, ZNF750, and IRF5. Importantly, ZNF750 was recurrently mutated in
      metastatic ESCC. Combined analysis from current and previous genomic ESCC studies
      indicated more frequent ZNF750 mutation in diagnosed cases with LN metastasis
      than in those without metastasis (14% versus 3.4%, n = 629, P = 1.78 * 10-5 ).
      The Cancer Genome Atlas data further showed that ZNF750 genetic alterations were
      associated with early disease relapse. Previous ESCC studies have demonstrated
      that ZNF750 knockdown strongly promotes proliferation, migration, and invasion.
      Collectively, these results suggest a role for ZNF750 as a metastasis suppressor.
      TP53 is highly mutated in ESCC, and missense mutations are associated with poor
      overall survival, independently of pathological stage, suggesting that these
      missense mutations have important functional impacts on tumour progression, and
      are thus likely to be gain-of-function (GOF) mutations. Additionally, mutations
      of epigenetic regulators, including KMT2D, TET2, and KAT2A, and chromosomal 6p22
      and 11q23 deletions of histone variants, which are important for nucleosome
      assembly, were detected in 80% of LN metastases. Our study highlights the
      important role of critical genetic events including ZNF750 mutations, TP53
      putative GOF mutations and nucleosome disorganization caused by genetic lesions
      seen with ESCC metastasis. Copyright (c) 2017 Pathological Society of Great
      Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608924
TI  - Sensory texture analysis of thickened liquids during ingestion.
AB  - : Practitioners support the use of thickened liquids for many patients with
      disordered swallowing. Although physical measures have highlighted differences
      among products there are questions about the ability of the measures to fully
      explain the sensory texture effects during swallowing of thickened liquids. This
      study used a trained sensory panel to describe the textural aspects of liquids
      during ingestion and swallowing. The lexicon was able to characterize differences
      in beverages, thickeners, and thickness levels with the most important attribute
      being viscosity, which loaded heavily in the almost one-dimensional space that
      resulted from the sensory analysis of these beverages. Other effects, such as
      slipperiness provided some minimal additional information on the products.
      PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Trained sensory panelists were shown to be useful in the
      measurement of differences in thickened liquid products prescribed for patients
      with dysphagia. They were able to differentiate products based on perceived
      differences related to flow speed, viscosity, and other parameters suggesting
      their use in further studies of swallowing behavior and for development of
      products for disordered swallowing should be considered. Understanding how these
      variables might relate to clinical decision making about product selection or
      modification to best meet the nutritional needs of a person with disordered
      swallowing could be helpful. This is especially true given the difficulties in
      measuring texture instrumentally in these products.

PMID- 28608925
TI  - Osteoradionecrosis of the mandible in patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma
      treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible is a late toxicity affecting
      patients treated with radiotherapy for head and neck malignancies. To the
      authors' knowledge, ORN has no standardized grading system and its reporting is
      based on retrospective findings in heterogeneous patient populations. The rate of
      ORN in the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) still is unknown.
      METHODS: The authors report the incidence of ORN from prospectively collected
      data regarding 1196 patients who were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of
      the oropharynx and treated with curative-intent IMRT, with or without concomitant
      systemic treatment, from January 2005 to December 2014. Each case of ORN was
      graded according to its severity. Clinical and dosimetric comparisons were
      performed between patients with ORN and a matched control cohort of patients
      without ORN. RESULTS: The actuarial rate of ORN of the mandible was 3% at 1 year,
      5% at 3 years, and 7% at 5 years. On multivariable analysis, smoking (hazard
      ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-3.4 [P = .03]) and T classification
      (hazard ratio, 1.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-3.1 [P = .041]) were found to
      be statistically significant risk factors. The presence of cardiovascular
      comorbidities, use of bisphosphonates, and pre-IMRT dental extractions were found
      to be different between the matched cohorts. The mandibular volume receiving 50
      grays (Gy) (in cm3 ) and the volume receiving 60 Gy (in cm3 ) were found to be
      associated with ORN on multivariable analysis in the matched cohort patients
      receiving an IMRT regimen of 2 Gy per fraction. CONCLUSIONS: ORN is relatively
      uncommon among patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma who are treated with IMRT,
      but continues to occur beyond 5 years after treatment. Modifiable risk factors
      that are associated with higher rates of ORN include smoking and the use of
      bisphosphonates. Minimizing the volumes of the mandible receiving >50 Gy or > 60
      Gy also may have an effect on the ORN rate. Cancer 2017;123:3691-3700. (c) 2017
      American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608927
TI  - Role of vascular calcification inhibitors in preventing vascular dysfunction and
      mortality in hemodialysis patients.
AB  - Cardiovascular events make up the primary cause of death in hemodialysis
      patients, and the risk for cardiovascular mortality is significantly increased by
      vascular calcification, a condition observed frequently in this patient
      population. The mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of vascular calcification
      are complex, and many factors facilitate or hinder the development of
      calcification. In this review, we first summarize the main factors contributing
      to the pathogenesis of vascular calcification in patients with end-stage renal
      disease. We then explore the role of calcification inhibitors in the
      calcification process, as well as their effect on vascular dysfunction and
      mortality in hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 28608926
TI  - The pharmacodynamic effects of combined administration of flibanserin and
      alcohol.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Flibanserin is a serotonin 5-HT1A agonist and 5-HT2A
      antagonist approved for the treatment of acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual
      desire disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women. Because of the increased risk of
      hypotension- and syncope-related adverse events (AEs) observed with
      coadministration of flibanserin and alcohol, alcohol use is contraindicated. To
      provide a more comprehensive understanding of the interaction between flibanserin
      and alcohol, the results of a dedicated phase 1 alcohol-interaction study and a
      pooled analysis of phase 3 studies of premenopausal women with HSDD are
      presented. METHODS: In the phase 1 study, healthy participants (males [n=23] and
      females [n=2]) were randomly assigned to one of five sequence groups, which
      determined the order in which they were to receive flibanserin 100 mg or placebo,
      with or without ethanol 0.4 g/kg or 0.8 g/kg. Change from baseline in seated
      blood pressure, orthostatic vital signs, AEs and visual analogue scale sedation
      outcomes were examined. Blood samples were collected at baseline and for up to 4
      hours after dosing to determine flibanserin area under the plasma concentration
      time curve from 0 to 4 hours (AUC0-4 ). Pooled data from five phase 3 studies of
      patients receiving flibanserin 100 mg once daily (n=1543), or placebo (n=1905),
      were analysed. RESULTS: In the phase 1 study, the incidence of hypotension and
      syncope increased when flibanserin was coadministered with ethanol. Sedation
      increased 20% and 27% from baseline with flibanserin plus ethanol 0.4 g/kg and
      0.8 g/kg, respectively, at 4 hours post-dose. In the pooled analysis of phase 3
      studies, 58.2% and 63.6% of participants receiving flibanserin or placebo,
      respectively, reported baseline alcohol use. In patients receiving flibanserin,
      fatigue and dizziness occurred more frequently in patients with vs. without
      alcohol use. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Results from this study suggest that
      increased incidence of hypotension- and syncope-related events may result from a
      pharmacodynamic interaction between flibanserin and alcohol, although the
      clinical significance of these interactions in real-world populations remains
      unclear.

PMID- 28608928
TI  - Self-care management of type 1 diabetes has improved in Swedish schools according
      to children and adolescents.
AB  - AIM: Age-appropriate support for diabetes self-care is essential during school
      time, and we investigated the perceived quality of support children and
      adolescents received in 2015 and 2008. METHODS: This national study was based on
      questionnaires answered by children and adolescents aged 6-15 years of age with
      type 1 diabetes attending schools or preschools in 2008 (n = 317) and 2015 (n =
      570) and separate parental questionnaires. The subjects were recruited by Swedish
      paediatric diabetes units, with 41/44 taking part in 2008 and 41/42 in 2015.
      RESULTS: Fewer participants said they were treated differently in school because
      of their diabetes in 2015 than 2008. The opportunity to perform insulin boluses
      and glucose monitoring in privacy increased (80% versus 88%; p < 0.05). Most
      (83%) adolescents aged 13-15 years were satisfied with the support they received,
      but levels were lower in girls (p < 0.05). More subjects had hypoglycaemia during
      school hours (84% versus 70%, p < 0.001), but hypoglycaemia support did not
      increase and was lower for adolescents than younger children (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Children and adolescents received more support for type 1 diabetes in
      Swedish schools in 2015 than 2008, but more support is needed by girls and during
      hypoglycaemia.

PMID- 28608929
TI  - High-grade serous carcinomas arise in the mouse oviduct via defects linked to the
      human disease.
AB  - Recent studies have suggested that the most common and lethal type of 'ovarian'
      cancer, i.e. high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC), usually arises from epithelium
      on the fallopian tube fimbriae, and not from the ovarian surface epithelium. We
      have developed Ovgp1-iCreERT2 mice in which the Ovgp1 promoter controls
      expression of tamoxifen-regulated Cre recombinase in oviductal epithelium - the
      murine equivalent of human fallopian tube epithelium (FTE). We employed Ovgp1
      iCreERT2 mice to show that FTE-specific inactivation of several different
      combinations of tumour suppressor genes that are recurrently mutated in human
      HGSCs - namely Brca1, Trp53, Rb1, and Nf1 - results in serous tubal
      intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs) that progress to HGSC or carcinosarcoma, and
      to widespread metastatic disease in a subset of mice. The cancer phenotype is
      highly penetrant and more rapid in mice carrying engineered alleles of all four
      tumour suppressor genes. Brca1, Trp53 and Pten inactivation in the oviduct also
      results in STICs and HGSCs, and is associated with diffuse epithelial hyperplasia
      and mucinous metaplasia, which are not observed in mice with intact Pten.
      Oviductal tumours arise earlier in these mice than in those with Brca1, Trp53,
      Rb1 and Nf1 inactivation. Tumour initiation and/or progression in mice lacking
      conditional Pten alleles probably require the acquisition of additional defects,
      a notion supported by our identification of loss of the wild-type Rb1 allele in
      the tumours of mice carrying only one floxed Rb1 allele. Collectively, the models
      closely recapitulate the heterogeneity and histological, genetic and biological
      features of human HGSC. These models should prove useful for studying the
      pathobiology and genetics of HGSC in vivo, and for testing new approaches for
      prevention, early detection, and treatment. Copyright (c) 2017 Pathological
      Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28608930
TI  - Risk assessment of imidacloprid use in forest settings on the aquatic
      macroinvertebrate community.
AB  - The isolated effects of a single insecticide can be difficult to assess in
      natural settings because of the presence of numerous pollutants in many
      watersheds. Imidacloprid use for suppressing hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges
      tsugae (Annand) (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), in forests offers a rare opportunity to
      assess potential impacts on aquatic macroinvertebrates in relatively pristine
      landscapes. Aquatic macroinvertebrate communities were assessed in 9 streams in
      Great Smoky Mountains National Park (southern Appalachian Mountains, USA). The
      streams flow through hemlock conservation areas where imidacloprid soil drench
      treatments were applied for hemlock woolly adelgid suppression. Sites were
      located upstream and downstream of the imidacloprid treatments. Baseline species
      presence data (pre-imidacloprid treatment) were available from previous sample
      collections at downstream sites. Downstream and upstream sites did not vary in
      numerous community measures. Although comparisons of paired upstream and
      downstream sites showed differences in diversity in 7 streams, higher diversity
      was found more often in downstream sites. Macroinvertebrate functional feeding
      groups and life habits were similar between downstream and upstream sites.
      Downstream and baseline stream samples were similar. While some functional
      feeding group and life habit species richness categories varied, variations did
      not indicate poorer quality downstream communities. Imidacloprid treatments
      applied according to US Environmental Protection Agency federal restrictions did
      not result in negative effects to aquatic macroinvertebrate communities, which
      indicates that risks of imidacloprid use in forest settings are low. Environ
      Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3108-3119. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28608932
TI  - Hormonal changes in hemodialysis patients: Novel risk factors for mortality?
AB  - Patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing dialysis commonly experience
      derangements in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis together with alterations
      at the level of synthesis and clearance of many hormones. This hormonal
      imbalance, even if asymptomatic, has recently been associated with increased
      mortality in these patients. In this review, we summarize observational and
      mechanistic evidence linking hormonal alterations at the level of the thyroid and
      sex-hormone systems with this mortality risks.

PMID- 28608933
TI  - Ultrapure versus standard dialysate: A cost-benefit analysis.
AB  - Low-level bacterial and endotoxin contamination of water used to generate
      dialysate propagates chronic inflammation in patients with a wide-range of
      potential adverse consequences, including erythropoietin hyporesponsiveness.
      Advancements in hemodialysis systems now allow for the generation of ultrapure
      dialysate that has lower bacterial and endotoxin levels than the standard
      dialysate. The cost associated with ultrapure dialysate is thought to be a major
      barrier to its widespread adoption. In this report, we conduct a cost-benefit
      analysis examining the excess cost of generating ultrapure dialysate and the
      potential cost saving from a lower erythropoietin dose requirement. Our analysis
      suggests a potential cost saving of approximately $371 to $425 million per year
      with full adoption of ultrapure dialysate in the United States.

PMID- 28608931
TI  - The association between germline BRCA2 variants and sensitivity to platinum-based
      chemotherapy among men with metastatic prostate cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer 2 (BRCA2)-associated breast and ovarian cancers are
      sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy. It is unknown whether BRCA2-associated
      prostate cancer responds favorably to such treatment. METHODS: A retrospective
      analysis of a single-institution cohort of men with castration-resistant,
      metastatic prostate cancer was performed to determine the association between
      carrier status of pathogenic BRCA2 germline variants and prostate-specific
      antigen response to carboplatin-based chemotherapy. From 2001 through 2015, 8081
      adult men with prostate cancer who had a consultation and/or underwent treatment
      at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute provided blood samples and consented to analyses
      of biologic material and clinical records. A subgroup of 141 men received at
      least 2 doses of carboplatin and docetaxel for castration-resistant disease (94%
      were also taxane refractory). These patients were categorized according to the
      absence or presence of pathogenic germline mutations in BRCA2 based on DNA
      sequencing from whole blood. The primary outcome was the response rate to
      carboplatin/docetaxel chemotherapy, defined according to a decline in prostate
      specific antigen that exceeded 50% within 12 weeks of initiating this regimen.
      Associations between BRCA2 mutation status and response to carboplatin-based
      chemotherapy were tested using the Fisher exact test, with a 2-sided P value <
      .05 as the threshold for significance. RESULTS: Pathogenic germline BRCA2
      variants were observed in 8 of 141 men (5.7%; 95% confidence interval, 2.5%
      10.9%). Six of 8 BRCA2 carriers (75%) experienced prostate-specific antigen
      declines >50% within 12 weeks, compared with 23 of 133 noncarriers (17%; absolute
      difference, 58%; 95% confidence interval, 27%-88%; P < .001). Prostate cancer
      cell lines functionally corroborated these clinical findings. CONCLUSIONS: BRCA2
      associated, castration-resistant prostate cancer is associated with a higher
      likelihood of response to carboplatin-based chemotherapy than non-BRCA2
      associated prostate cancer. Cancer 2017;123:3532-9. (c) 2017 American Cancer
      Society.

PMID- 28608934
TI  - An Integrated Computational Framework to Assess the Mutational Landscape of alpha
      L-Iduronidase IDUA Gene.
AB  - Mucopolysaccharidosis type I is a lysosomal genetic disorder caused due to the
      deficiency of the alpha-L-iduronidase enzyme (IDUA). Mutations associated with
      IDUA lead to mild to severe forms of diseases characterized by different clinical
      features. In the present study, we first performed a comprehensive analysis using
      various in silico prediction tools to screen and prioritize the missense
      mutations or nonsynonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) associated with IDUA. Subsequently,
      statistical analysis was empowered to examine the predictive ability and accuracy
      of the in silico prediction tool results supporting the disease phenotype ranging
      from mild to severe. Till date, no study has been carried out in IDUA in
      analyzing the impact of the nsSNPs at the structural level. In this context with
      the aid of pathogenic and stability prediction in silico tools, we identified
      nsSNPs R89Q, R89W, and P533R to be most deleterious and disease-causing having
      impact on the function of the protein. Extensive molecular dynamics analysis was
      performed using Gromacs to understand the deleterious nature of the mutants.
      Variations observed between the trajectory files of native and mutants R89Q,
      R89W, and P533R using Gromacs utilities enabled us to measure the adverse effects
      on the protein and could be the underlying reasons for the disease pathogenesis.
      These findings may be helpful in understanding the genotype-phenotype
      relationship and molecular basis of the disease to design drugs for better
      treatment. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 555-565, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608935
TI  - CDK9 Regulates Apoptosis of Myoblast Cells by Modulation of microRNA-1
      Expression.
AB  - Cdk9 is the catalytic core of the positive transcription elongation factor b (P
      TEFb) and regulates transcriptional elongation factors by phosphorylation of RNA
      pol II. Apart from its role on myogenic gene expression, Cdk9 regulation of
      muscle-specific microRNAs in the early stage of cardiomyogenesis is poorly
      understood. Here we demonstrate that Cdk9 not only regulates myogenic
      transcription factors, but also controls muscle-specific microRNAs. During
      cardiac differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells, high Cdk9 expression
      preceded up-regulation of miR-1. To investigate potential regulatory roles of
      Cdk9 on cardiac microRNAs and myogenesis genes, we overexpressed Cdk9 in myoblast
      C2C12 cells, which resulted in significant induction of miR-1 and miR-206, while
      miR-133 was downregulated. Moreover, expression levels of MyoD and Srf, key
      regulators of myogenesis, also increased in cells with overexpression of Cdk9. We
      further observed Cdk9-mediated apoptosis in C2C12 cells corresponding to
      induction of miR-1 expression levels. Thus, Cdk9 plays a complex role in myocyte
      progenitor differentiation and apoptosis by regulating myogenic protein and
      muscle-specific microRNA expression. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 547-554, 2018. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608937
TI  - Sleep disturbance and sleep-disordered breathing in hemodialysis patients.
AB  - Sleep disturbance is one of the most common dialysis-related symptoms reported by
      hemodialysis patients. Poor sleep confers significant physical and psychological
      burden on patients with kidney disease and is associated with reduced quality of
      life and survival. More recent evidence also indicates that sleep-disordered
      breathing may be a risk factor for kidney injury.

PMID- 28608936
TI  - A photo-responsive F-box protein FOF2 regulates floral initiation by promoting
      FLC expression in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Floral initiation is regulated by various genetic pathways in response to light,
      temperature, hormones and developmental status; however, the molecular mechanisms
      underlying the interactions between different genetic pathways are not fully
      understood. Here, we show that the photoresponsive gene FOF2 (F-box of flowering
      2) negatively regulates flowering. FOF2 encodes a putative F-box protein that
      interacts specifically with ASK14, and its overexpression results in later
      flowering under both long-day and short-day photoperiods. Conversely, transgenic
      plants expressing the F-box domain deletion mutant of FOF2 (FOF2DeltaF), or
      double loss of function mutant of FOF2 and FOL1 (FOF2-LIKE 1) present early
      flowering phenotypes. The late flowering phenotype of the FOF2 overexpression
      lines is suppressed by the flc-3 loss-of-function mutation. Furthermore, FOF2
      mRNA expression is regulated by autonomous pathway gene FCA, and the repressive
      effect of FOF2 in flowering can be overcome by vernalization. Interestingly, FOF2
      expression is regulated by light. The protein level of FOF2 accumulates in
      response to light, whereas it is degraded under dark conditions via the 26S
      proteasome pathway. Our findings suggest a possible mechanistic link between
      light conditions and the autonomous floral promotion pathway in Arabidopsis.

PMID- 28608938
TI  - When the HeRO Becomes the Villain.

PMID- 28608939
TI  - Multivalent Siderophore-DOTAM Conjugates as Theranostics for Imaging and
      Treatment of Bacterial Infections.
AB  - There is a strong need to better diagnose infections at deep body sites through
      noninvasive molecular imaging methods. Herein, we describe the synthesis and
      characterization of probes based on siderophore conjugates with catechol moieties
      and a central DOTAM scaffold. The probes can accommodate a metal ion as well as
      an antibiotic moiety and are therefore suited for theranostic purposes. The
      translocation of the conjugates across the outer and inner cell membranes of E.
      coli was confirmed by growth recovery experiments with enterobactin-deficient
      strains, by the antibacterial activity of ampicillin conjugates, and by confocal
      imaging using a fluorogen-activating protein-malachite green system adapted to E.
      coli. The suitability of the probes for in vivo imaging was demonstrated with a
      Cy5.5 conjugate in mice infected with P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 28608940
TI  - Association between resistance to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and carnitine
      profile in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients on dialysis are in a chronic carnitine-deficient state. This
      condition may be associated with abnormalities in fatty acid and organic acid
      metabolism; however, the details are unknown. We investigated the association
      between carnitine profiles before and after dialysis and the erythropoiesis
      stimulating agent (ESA) resistance index (ERI), which is a significant prognostic
      factor in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. DESIGN AND METHODS: cross
      sectional study. We measured the carnitine profile of 79 patients on maintenance
      hemodialysis before and after dialysis using liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The associations between the ERI and pre-dialysis
      carnitine profile, removal rate of various carnitines, and previously-reported
      ERI-related factors were investigated. Significant factors were determined with
      stepwise multiple regression analysis and validated with the bootstrap method.
      SPSS version 22.0 was used for analysis, and P < 0.05 was considered
      statistically significant. RESULTS: The removal rate of long-chain acylcarnitine
      with dialysis was lower than that of short-chain or medium-chain acylcarnitines.
      Stepwise multiple regression analysis (n = 79) demonstrated that 3-hydroxy
      isovalerylcarnitine (C5-OH, P < 0.001, beta = -0.469) and stearoylcarnitine (C18,
      P < 0.001, beta = 0.390) were independent significant factors (R2  = 0.239) of
      ERI. The bootstrap method similarly indicated these two to be significant
      factors. CONCLUSION: ERI positively correlated with long-chain C18 acylcarnitine
      and negatively correlated with short-chain C5-OH acylcarnitine. C5-OH and C18
      acylcarnitines at baseline might be contributing factors in distinguishing
      responders from nonresponders after L-carnitine administration.

PMID- 28608941
TI  - TGF-beta Stimulates Expression of Chondroitin Polymerizing Factor in Nucleus
      Pulposus Cells Through the Smad3, RhoA/ROCK1, and MAPK Signaling Pathways.
AB  - The enzyme chondroitin polymerizing factor (ChPF) is primarily involved in
      extension of the chondroitin sulfate backbone required for the synthesis of
      sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG). Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)
      upregulates sGAG synthesis in nucleus pulposus cells; however, the mechanisms
      mediating this induction are incompletely understood. Our study demonstrated that
      ChPF expression was negatively correlated with the grade of degenerative
      intervertebral disc disease. Treatment of nucleus pulposus cells with TGF-beta
      induced ChPF expression and enhanced Smad2/3, RhoA/ROCK activation, and the JNK,
      p38, and ERK1/2 MAPK signaling pathways. Selective inhibitors of Smad2/3, RhoA or
      ROCK1/2, and knockdown of Smad3 and ROCK1 attenuated ChPF expression and sGAG
      synthesis induced by TGF-beta. In addition, we showed that RhoA/ROCK1 signaling
      upregulated ChPF via activation of the JNK pathway but not the p38 and ERK1/2
      signaling pathways. Moreover, inhibitors of JNK, p38 and ERK1/2 activity also
      blocked ChPF expression and sGAG synthesis induced by TGF-beta in a Smad3
      independent manner. Collectively, our data suggest that TGF-beta stimulated the
      expression of ChPF and sGAG synthesis in nucleus pulposus cells through Smad3,
      RhoA/ROCK1 and the three MAPK signaling pathways. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 566-579,
      2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28608942
TI  - A risk-score model for predicting risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a rural
      Chinese adult population: A cohort study with a 6-year follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several prediction tools have been developed to identify people with
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to quantify the probability of developing
      T2DM. However, most of the risk models were constructed based on cross-sectional
      studies and tea-drinking was not included. METHODS: A total of 15 768
      participants without known T2DM were followed up from 2007-2008 to 2013-2014; 12
      654 were randomly assigned to the derivation dataset and 3114 to the validation
      dataset. We constructed a risk-score model for T2DM by using a Cox proportional
      hazards model. Risk scores were calculated by multiplying beta by 10 in the
      derivation cohort and were verified in the validation dataset. The model's
      accuracy was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic
      curve (AUC). RESULTS: Predictors for T2DM risk in the derivation dataset were
      drinking tea frequently, body mass index >=28.0 kg/m2 , waist to height ratio >=
      0.5, triglycerides level 1.70 to 2.25 and >=2.26 mmol/L, and fasting plasma
      glucose 5.6 to 6.0 and >=6.1 mmol/L. The corresponding scores were -2, 7, 7, 4,
      6, 11, and 25, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC (95%
      confidence interval) for this full model were 69.63%, 75.56%, and 0.791 (0.783
      0.799), respectively. The ability of the non-invasive models to predict T2DM was
      not superior to that of the full model. With the validation dataset, the
      predictive performance was better for our full model than the Framingham risk
      score model (AUC 0.731 vs 0.525, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Our risk-score model has
      fair efficacy for predicting 6-year risk of T2DM in a rural adult Chinese
      population.

PMID- 28608943
TI  - Transcriptomic and histopathological analysis of cholangiolocellular
      differentiation trait in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a heterogeneous
      entity with diverse aetiologies, morphologies and clinical outcomes. Recently,
      histopathological distinction of cholangiolocellular differentiation (CD) of iCCA
      has been suggested. However, its genome-wide molecular features and clinical
      significance remain unclear. METHODS: Based on CD status, we stratified iCCAs
      into iCCA with CD (n=20) and iCCA without CD (n=102), and performed an
      integrative analysis using transcriptomic and clinicopathological profiles.
      RESULTS: iCCA with CD revealed less aggressive histopathological features
      compared to iCCA without CD, and iCCA with CD showed favourable clinical outcomes
      of overall survival and time to recurrence than iCCA without CD (P<.05 for all).
      Transcriptomic profiling revealed that iCCA with CD resembled an inflammation
      related subtype, while iCCA without CD resembled a proliferation subtype. In
      addition, we identified a CD signature that can predict prognostic outcomes of
      iCCA (CD_UP, n=486 and CD_DOWN, n=308). iCCAs were subgrouped into G1 (positivity
      for CRP and CDH2, 7%), G3 (positivity for S100P and TFF1, 32%) and G2 (the
      others, 61%). Prognostic outcomes for overall survival (P=.001) and time to
      recurrence (P=.017) were the most favourable in G1-iCCAs, intermediate in G2
      iCCAs and the worst in G3-iCCAs. Similar result was confirmed in the iCCA set
      from GSE26566 (n=68). CONCLUSIONS: CD signature was identified to predict the
      prognosis of iCCA. The combined evaluation of histology of CD and protein
      expression status of CRP, CDH2, TFF1 and S100P might help subtyping and
      predicting clinical outcomes of iCCA.

PMID- 28608944
TI  - Family-centred care right from birth: the irreplaceable birthday cuddle.

PMID- 28608945
TI  - Accelerating progress in the fight against pancreatic cancer Proceedings of the
      2017 Leo and Anne Albert Symposium for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

PMID- 28608947
TI  - Misinterpretation of the longitudinal results in the randomized, double-blind,
      placebo-controlled trial of infrared-laser moxibustion for cancer-related
      fatigue.

PMID- 28608946
TI  - Genetic Encoding of Photocaged Tyrosines with Improved Light-Activation
      Properties for the Optical Control of Protease Function.
AB  - We genetically encoded three new caged tyrosine analogues with improved
      photochemical properties by using an engineered pyrrolysyl-tRNA
      synthetase/tRNACUA pair in bacterial and mammalian cells. We applied the new
      tyrosine analogues to the photoregulation of firefly luciferase by caging its key
      tyrosine residue, Tyr340, and observed excellent off-to-on light switching. This
      reporter was then used to evaluate the activation rates of the different light
      removable protecting groups in live cells. We identified the nitropiperonyl
      caging group as an excellent compromise between incorporation efficiency and
      photoactivation properties. To demonstrate applicability of the new caged
      tyrosines, an important proteolytic enzyme, tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease,
      was engineered for optical control. The ability to incorporate differently caged
      tyrosine analogues into proteins in live cells further expands the unnatural
      amino acid and optogenetic toolbox.

PMID- 28608948
TI  - Utilization of UPLC/Q-TOF-MS-Based Metabolomics and AFLP-Based Marker-Assisted
      Selection to Facilitate/Assist Conventional Breeding of Polygala tenuifolia.
AB  - As one of the most important traditional Chinese medicine, the quality of
      Polygala tenuifolia is difficult to control and a new method must be established
      to facilitate/assist the breeding of P. tenuifolia. In this study, UPLC/Q-TOF-MS
      based metabolomics analysis was performed to determine the chemical composition
      and screen metabolite biomarkers according to agronomic traits. A total of 29
      compounds and 18 metabolite biomarkers were found. AFLP-based marker-assisted
      selection (MAS) was used to identify molecular marker bands and screen
      characteristic bands associated with specific agronomic traits. 184 bands and 76
      characteristic AFLP bands were found. The correlation network between compounds
      and characteristic AFLP bands was built, so we may directly breed certain P.
      tenuifolia herbs with special agronomic traits (or characteristic AFLP bands),
      which exhibit specific pharmacological functions depending on the content of the
      active compounds. The proposed method of metabolomics coupled with MAS could
      facilitate/assist the breeding of P. tenuifolia.

PMID- 28608949
TI  - Commentary: Studying and Testing the Positive Youth Development Model: A Tale of
      Two Approaches.
AB  - Interest in promoting positive development among children and adolescents has
      always been a focus of developmental science. Historically, many researchers
      framed this interest using a deficit model that sought to optimize positive
      development by reducing problems. In the context of the articles in this special
      section, the author discuss a different conception of positive youth development
      that has emerged across the past 25 years, one that capitalizes on human
      plasticity and tests a strength-based model (instead of a deficit one). This
      model seeks to identify the process that could enhance the attributes of young
      people that are valued by them and others (e.g., parents, peers, teachers,
      mentors, coaches, and faith leaders), as compared to processes that reduce or
      prevent undesirable characteristics.

PMID- 28608950
TI  - Assessment of programmed death-ligand 1 expression and tumor-associated immune
      cells in pediatric cancer tissues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Programmed death 1 (PD-1) signaling in the tumor microenvironment
      dampens immune responses to cancer, and blocking this axis induces antitumor
      effects in several malignancies. Clinical studies of PD-1 blockade are only now
      being initiated in pediatric patients, and little is known regarding programmed
      death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in common childhood cancers. The authors
      characterized PD-L1 expression and tumor-associated immune cells (TAICs)
      (lymphocytes and macrophages) in common pediatric cancers. METHODS: Whole slide
      sections and tissue microarrays were evaluated by immunohistochemistry for PD-L1
      expression and for the presence of TAICs. TAICs were also screened for PD-L1
      expression. RESULTS: Thirty-nine of 451 evaluable tumors (9%) expressed PD-L1 in
      at least 1% of tumor cells. The highest frequency histotypes comprised Burkitt
      lymphoma (80%; 8 of 10 tumors), glioblastoma multiforme (36%; 5 of 14 tumors),
      and neuroblastoma (14%; 17 of 118 tumors). PD-L1 staining was associated with
      inferior survival among patients with neuroblastoma (P = .004). Seventy-four
      percent of tumors contained lymphocytes and/or macrophages. Macrophages were
      significantly more likely to be identified in PD-L1-positive versus PD-L1
      negative tumors (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: A subset of diagnostic pediatric cancers
      exhibit PD-L1 expression, whereas a much larger fraction demonstrates
      infiltration with tumor-associated lymphocytes. PD-L1 expression may be a
      biomarker for poor outcome in neuroblastoma. Further preclinical and clinical
      investigation will define the predictive nature of PD-L1 expression in childhood
      cancers both at diagnosis and after exposure to chemoradiotherapy. Cancer
      2017;123:3807-3815. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608951
TI  - Tumstatin regulates the angiogenic and inflammatory potential of airway smooth
      muscle extracellular matrix.
AB  - The extracellular matrix (ECM) creates the microenvironment of the tissue; an
      altered ECM in the asthmatic airway may be central in airway inflammation and
      remodelling. Tumstatin is a collagen IV-derived matrikine reduced in the
      asthmatic airway wall that reverses airway inflammation and remodelling in small
      and large animal models of asthma. This study hypothesized that the mechanisms
      underlying the broad asthma-resolving effects of tumstatin were due to autocrine
      remodelling of the ECM. Neutrophils and endothelial cells were seeded on
      decellularized ECM of non-asthmatic (NA) or asthmatic (A) airway smooth muscle
      (ASM) cells previously exposed to tumstatin in the presence or absence of a broad
      matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, Marimastat. Gene expression in NA and A ASM
      induced by tumstatin was assessed using RT-PCR arrays. The presence of tumstatin
      during ECM deposition affected neutrophil and endothelial cell properties on both
      NA and A ASM-derived matrices and this was only partly due to MMP activity. Gene
      expression patterns in response to tumstatin in NA and A ASM cells were
      different. Tumstatin may foster an anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic
      microenvironment by modifying ASM-derived ECM. Further work is required to
      examine whether restoring tumstatin levels in the asthmatic airway represents a
      potential novel therapeutic approach.

PMID- 28608952
TI  - Association between patients' perception of the comorbidity burden and symptoms
      in outpatients with common solid tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer patients' symptom burden is commonly attributed to their
      cancer and treatment. Increasingly, cancer patients have many other chronic
      comorbid conditions. However, the degree to which these comorbid conditions may
      contribute to the patient-reported symptom burden is unclear. METHODS: This study
      explored the relations between the presence of comorbid conditions, the symptom
      experience and burden, and the perceived bother from cancer or comorbid
      conditions in 3106 cancer patients. The associations between the number of
      comorbidities (identified from current medications), the patient-reported symptom
      burden (the number of symptoms scored as >=7 on the 13-item MD Anderson Symptom
      Inventory physical scale), the patient-reported bother from comorbid conditions
      and from cancer (from "not at all" to "extremely"), and the clinician-reported
      difficulty in caring for patients' symptoms were examined. RESULTS: According to
      medication lists, 19% of the patients had at least 5 of 12 comorbid conditions.
      Approximately 39% rated at least 1 symptom as >= 7, and this proportion increased
      with an increasing number of comorbid conditions (48% with >= 5 comorbid
      conditions vs 36% with 1 comorbid condition). One-third of the patients reported
      moderate or worse bother, and this was significantly associated with an increased
      number of comorbid conditions (odds ratio [OR], 2.4) and an increased symptom
      burden (OR, 1.22). Clinician ratings of difficulty in managing patients' symptoms
      were significantly associated with bother from cancer (OR, 2.0), comorbid
      conditions (OR, 1.6), and symptom burden (OR, 1.1). CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidity is
      common in cancer patients and is associated with a greater symptom burden and
      clinician reports of difficulty in managing patients' symptoms. Greater attention
      to comorbid conditions is needed to optimize the symptom management of cancer
      patients with multimorbidity. Cancer 2017;123:3835-3842. (c) 2017 American Cancer
      Society.

PMID- 28608953
TI  - Simultaneous Visualization and Quantitation of Multiple Steroid Hormones Based on
      Signal-Amplified Biosensing with Duplex Molecular Recognition.
AB  - The simultaneous quantitation of multiple steroid hormones in real time is of
      great importance in medical diagnosis. In this study, a portable hormone
      biosensor based on duplex molecular recognition coupled with a signal-amplified
      substrate was successfully developed for the simultaneous visualization and
      quantitation of multiple steroid hormones. Aptamer-functionalized upconversion
      nanoparticles (UCNPs) with different emission peaks are immobilized on the
      photonic crystal (PC) substrate as the nanoprobes, leading to the specific and
      simultaneous assay of multiple steroid hormones. Coupled with the luminescence
      enhanced effect of the PC substrate, nanomolar quantification limits of multiple
      hormones are achieved. This well-designed biosensor is also promising in the
      quantification of multiple hormones in serum samples. The amplified luminescence
      signals can be visualized with the naked eye and captured by an unmodified phone
      camera. This hormone quantitation biosensor exhibits the advantages of multi
      detection, visualization, high sensitivity, and selectivity for potential
      applications in clinical disease diagnosis.

PMID- 28608954
TI  - Experience from an optional dissection course in a clinically-orientated concept
      to complement system-based anatomy in a reformed curriculum.
AB  - Profound anatomical knowledge is the basis for modern demands in medicine and
      surgery, but many countries worldwide including Australia and New Zealand have
      discontinued offering dissection courses to medical and dental students during
      the past decades. This educational project done in Australia aimed at enhancing
      basic and advanced anatomy teaching by engaging a sub-group of second-year
      undergraduate students of a compulsory prosection- and model-based anatomy course
      (n = 54/170) in an optional multimodal course, which should easily articulate
      with a vertical curriculum. With topographical cadaver dissections as core, peer
      student-teams prepared and peer-assessed anatomy lectures based on clinical
      topics, which were rated highly by the peers and teachers. Anatomical knowledge
      was tested by quizzes and a multiple-choice examination. Individual dissection
      skills were self- and teacher-assessed. A final course grade was assigned based
      on these assessments. The grades in the system-based compulsory course achieved
      by the attendees of the paralleling dissection course were compared with their
      peers attending other optional courses. After beginning of the semester, the
      students in the dissection course performed similar, significantly (P < 0.005)
      improved during the semester (78.5% vs. 69.9%, 70.1% vs. 64.1%), but in the
      integrated (including anatomy, biochemistry, physiology) final examination at the
      end of the year only tended to higher scores. As assessed through interviews and
      a voluntary questionnaire, all students of the optional dissection course liked
      these activities, which enhanced their learning experience. Thus, this concept
      elegantly integrates anatomical dissection with modern teaching demands and is
      feasible for implementation in modernized curricula. Anat Sci Educ 11: 32-43. (c)
      2017 American Association of Anatomists.

PMID- 28608955
TI  - Seven keys to success in academic surgery.

PMID- 28608956
TI  - Systematic review of mortality risk prediction models in the era of endovascular
      abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has reduced
      perioperative mortality after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery. The
      objective of this systematic review was to assess existing mortality risk
      prediction models, and identify which are most useful for patients undergoing AAA
      repair by either EVAR or open surgical repair. METHODS: A systematic search of
      the literature was conducted for perioperative mortality risk prediction models
      for patients with AAA published since 2006. PRISMA guidelines were used; quality
      was appraised, and data were extracted and interpreted following the CHARMS
      guidelines. RESULTS: Some 3903 studies were identified, of which 27 were
      selected. A total of 13 risk prediction models have been developed and directly
      validated. Most models were based on a UK or US population. The best performing
      models regarding both applicability and discrimination were the perioperative
      British Aneurysm Repair score (C-statistic 0.83) and the preoperative Vascular
      Biochemistry and Haematology Outcome Model (C-statistic 0.85), but both lacked
      substantial external validation. CONCLUSION: Mortality risk prediction in AAA
      surgery has been modelled extensively, but many of these models are weak
      methodologically and have highly variable performance across different
      populations. New models are unlikely to be helpful; instead case-mix correction
      should be modelled and adapted to the population of interest using the relevant
      mortality predictors.

PMID- 28608958
TI  - Meta-analysis of hybrid natural-orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery versus
      laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hybrid natural-orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES),
      combining access through a natural orifice with small-sized abdominal trocars,
      aims to reduce pain and enhance recovery. The objective of this systematic review
      and meta-analysis was to compare pain and morbidity in hybrid NOTES and standard
      laparoscopy. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed to identify
      RCTs and non-RCTs comparing hybrid NOTES and standard laparoscopy. The main
      outcome was pain on postoperative day (POD) 1. Secondary outcomes were pain
      during the further postsurgical course, rescue analgesia, complications, and
      satisfaction with the cosmetic result. The results of meta-analysis in a random
      effects model were presented as odds ratio (ORs) or standard mean differences
      (MDs) with 95 per cent confidence intervals. RESULTS: Six RCTs and 21 non
      randomized trials including 2186 patients were identified. In hybrid NOTES the
      score on the numerical pain scale was lower on POD 1 (-0.75, 95 per cent c.i. 
      1.09 to -0.42; P = 0.001) and on POD 2-4 (-0.58, -0.91 to -0.26; P < 0.001) than
      that for standard laparoscopy. The need for rescue analgesia was reduced in
      hybrid NOTES (OR 0.36, 0.24 to 0.54; P < 0.001). The reduction in complications
      found for hybrid NOTES compared with standard laparoscopy (OR 0.52, 0.38 to 0.71;
      P < 0.001) was not significant when only RCTs were considered (OR 0.83, 0.43 to
      1.60; P = 0.570). The score for cosmetic satisfaction was higher after NOTES (MD
      1.14, 0.57 to 1.71; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Hybrid NOTES reduces postoperative
      pain and is associated with greater cosmetic satisfaction in selected patients.

PMID- 28608960
TI  - Theta band power increases in the posterior hippocampus predict successful
      episodic memory encoding in humans.
AB  - Functional differences in the anterior and posterior hippocampus during episodic
      memory processing have not been examined in human electrophysiological data. This
      is in spite of strong evidence for such differences in rodent data, including
      greater place cell specificity in the dorsal hippocampus, greater sensitivity to
      the aversive or motivational content of memories in ventral regions, connectivity
      analyses identifying preferential ventral hippocampal connections with the
      amygdala, and gene expression analyses identifying a dorsal-ventral gradient. We
      asked if memory-related oscillatory patterns observed in human hippocampal
      recordings, including the gamma band and slow-theta (2.5-5 Hz) subsequent memory
      effects, would exhibit differences along the longitudinal axis and between
      hemispheres. We took advantage of a new dataset of stereo electroencephalography
      patients with simultaneous, robotically targeted anterior, and posterior
      hippocampal electrodes to directly compare oscillatory subsequent memory effects
      during item encoding. This same data set allowed us to examine left-right
      connectivity and hemispheric differences in hippocampal oscillatory patterns. Our
      data suggest that a power increase during successful item encoding in the 2.5-5
      Hz slow-theta frequency range preferentially occurs in the posterior hippocampus
      during the first 1,000 ms after item presentation, while a gamma band power
      increase is stronger in the dominant hemisphere. This dominant-nondominant
      pattern in the gamma range appears to reverse during item retrieval, however.
      Intrahippocampal phase coherence was found to be stronger during successful item
      encoding. Our phase coherence data are also consistent with existing reports of a
      traveling wave for theta oscillations propagating along the septotemporal
      (longitudinal) axis of the human hippocampus. We examine how our findings fit
      with theories of functional specialization along the hippocampal axis.

PMID- 28608961
TI  - High-Affinity "Click" RGD Peptidomimetics as Radiolabeled Probes for Imaging
      alphav beta3 Integrin.
AB  - Nonpeptidic Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-mimic ligands were designed and synthesized by
      click chemistry between an arginine-azide mimic and an aspartic acid-alkyne
      mimic. Some of these molecules combine excellent in vitro properties (high alphav
      beta3 affinity, selectivity, drug-like logD, high metabolic stability) with a
      variety of radiolabeling options (e.g., tritium and fluorine-18, plus
      compatibility with radio-iodination), not requiring the use of chelators or
      prosthetic groups. The binding mode of the resulting triazole RGD mimics to
      alphav beta3 or alphaIIb beta3 receptors was investigated by molecular modeling
      simulations. Lead compound 12 was successfully radiofluorinated and used for in
      vivo positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) studies in U87
      tumor models, which showed only modest tumor uptake and retention, owing to rapid
      excretion. These results demonstrate that the novel click RGD mimics are
      excellent radiolabeled probes for in vitro and cell-based studies on alphav beta3
      integrin, whereas further optimization of their pharmacokinetic and dynamic
      profiles is necessary for successful use in in vivo imaging.

PMID- 28608962
TI  - Image-based computational fluid dynamics in the lung: virtual reality or new
      clinical practice?
AB  - The development and implementation of personalized medicine is paramount to
      improving the efficiency and efficacy of patient care. In the respiratory system,
      function is largely dictated by the choreographed movement of air and blood to
      the gas exchange surface. The passage of air begins in the upper airways, either
      via the mouth or nose, and terminates at the alveolar interface, while blood
      flows from the heart to the alveoli and back again. Computational fluid dynamics
      (CFD) is a well-established tool for predicting fluid flows and pressure
      distributions within complex systems. Traditionally CFD has been used to aid in
      the effective or improved design of a system or device; however, it has become
      increasingly exploited in biological and medical-based applications further
      broadening the scope of this computational technique. In this review, we discuss
      the advancement in application of CFD to the respiratory system and the
      contributions CFD is currently making toward improving precision medicine. The
      key areas CFD has been applied to in the pulmonary system are in predicting fluid
      transport and aerosol distribution within the airways. Here we focus our
      discussion on fluid flows and in particular on image-based clinically focused CFD
      in the ventilatory system. We discuss studies spanning from the paranasal sinuses
      through the conducting airways down to the level of the alveolar airways. The
      combination of imaging and CFD is enabling improved device design in aerosol
      transport, improved biomarkers of lung function in clinical trials, and improved
      predictions and assessment of surgical interventions in the nasal sinuses. WIREs
      Syst Biol Med 2017, 9:e1392. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1392 For further resources related
      to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

PMID- 28608963
TI  - Relationship between lower urinary tract symptoms and cardiovascular risk scores
      including Framingham risk score and ACC/AHA risk score.
AB  - AIMS: This study attempted to investigate the association between lower urinary
      tract symptoms (LUTS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk using International
      Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and CVD risk scores and to overcome the limitations
      of previous relevant studies. METHODS: A total of 2994 ostensibly healthy males,
      who participated in a voluntary health check in a health promotion center from
      January 2010 to December 2014, were reviewed. CVD risk scores were calculated
      using Framingham risk score and American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American
      Heart Association (AHA) score. Correlation and multivariate logistic regression
      analysis to predict the CVD risk severity were performed. RESULTS: Correlation
      between total IPSS with CVD risk scores demonstrated significant positive
      associations, which showed higher correlation with ACC/AHA score than the
      Framingham score (r = 0.18 vs 0.09, respectively). For ACC/AHA score, the partial
      correlation after adjustment of body mass index (BMI) showed significant positive
      correlations between all LUTS parameters and PSA. For the Framingham score, all
      variables, except IPSS Q2 and IPSS Q6, showed significant positive correlations.
      After adjustment of BMI, prostate volume and PSA, only the severe LUTS group
      showed significant relationship with intermediate-high CVD risk severity, as
      compared with normal LUTS group (OR = 2.97, 95%CI (1.35-6.99)). CONCLUSION: Using
      two validated CVD risk calculators, we observed that LUTS is closely associated
      with future CVD risk. To predict the intermediate-high CVD risk severity, severe
      LUTS was a sentinel sign, the presence of which warrants the importance of an
      earlier screening for CVD.

PMID- 28608964
TI  - Hepatitis B virus X protein-elevated MSL2 modulates hepatitis B virus covalently
      closed circular DNA by inducing degradation of APOBEC3B to enhance
      hepatocarcinogenesis.
AB  - : Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a leading cause in the occurrence
      of hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis, and liver cancer, in which nuclear HBV
      covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), the genomic form that templates viral
      transcription and sustains viral persistence, plays crucial roles. In the present
      study, we explored the hypothesis that HBV X protein (HBx)-elevated male-specific
      lethal 2 (MSL2) activated HBV replication by modulating cccDNA in hepatoma cells,
      leading to hepatocarcinogenesis. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the
      expression of MSL2 was positively associated with that of HBV and was increased
      in the liver tissues of HBV-transgenic mice and clinical HCC patients.
      Interestingly, microarray profiling identified that MSL2 was associated with
      those genes responding to the virus. Mechanistically, MSL2 could maintain HBV
      cccDNA stability through degradation of APOBEC3B by ubiquitylation in hepatoma
      cells. Above all, HBx accounted for the up-regulation of MSL2 in stably HBx
      transfected hepatoma cell lines and liver tissues of HBx-transgenic mice.
      Luciferase reporter gene assays revealed that the promoter region of MSL2
      regulated by HBx was located at nucleotide -1317/-1167 containing FoxA1 binding
      element. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay validated that HBx could enhance the
      binding property of FoxA1 to MSL2 promoter region. HBx up-regulated MSL2 by
      activating YAP/FoxA1 signaling. Functionally, silencing MSL2 was able to block
      the growth of hepatoma cells in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: HBx-elevated MSL2
      modulates HBV cccDNA in hepatoma cells to promote hepatocarcinogenesis, forming a
      positive feedback loop of HBx/MSL2/cccDNA/HBV. Our finding uncovers insights into
      the mechanism by which MSL2 as a promotion factor in host cells selectively
      activates extrachromosomal DNA. (Hepatology 2017;66:1413-1429).

PMID- 28608967
TI  - Urodynamic effects of intravenous and intrathecal administration of E-series
      prostaglandin 1 receptor antagonist on detrusor overactivity in rats with spinal
      cord injury.
AB  - AIMS: We examined the effect of an E-series prostaglandin 1 (EP1) receptor
      antagonist on bladder activity using a rat model of spinal cord injury (SCI).
      METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Six weeks after spinal cord
      transection, conscious-filling cystometry was performed. We evaluated the
      urodynamic parameters before and after intravenous (0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg) or
      intrathecal (0.1 and 1.0 ug) administration of SC51089, an EP1 antagonist. Spinal
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) concentration and EP1 receptor transcripts in the spinal
      cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: The time to the first non-voiding
      contraction (NVC) was significantly prolonged after both 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg of
      intravenous administration of SC51089 (75% prolongation at 1.0 mg/kg) whereas
      other parameters were not significantly changed compared to vehicle treatment. In
      addition, the time to the first NVC was also significantly prolonged after 1.0 ug
      of intrathecal administration of SC51089 (18% prolongation at 1.0 ug) whereas
      other parameters were not significantly changed. The spinal PGE2 concentration in
      SCI rats was significantly higher than that in spinal intact rats. The mRNA
      expressions of EP1 receptors in the both spinal cord and DRG from SCI rats were
      significantly higher than those from spinal intact rats. CONCLUSIONS: The PGE2
      induced activation of EP1 receptors in the spinal cord contributes to the
      initiation of detrusor overactivity in SCI. Thus, the EP1 receptor could be a
      therapeutic target for the treatment of neurogenic detrusor overactivity due to
      SCI.

PMID- 28608965
TI  - Hydrogen Sulphide modulating mitochondrial morphology to promote mitophagy in
      endothelial cells under high-glucose and high-palmitate.
AB  - Endothelial cell dysfunction is one of the main reasons for type II diabetes
      vascular complications. Hydrogen sulphide (H2 S) has antioxidative effect, but
      its regulation on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in aortic endothelial
      cells under hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia is unclear. Rat aortic endothelial
      cells (RAECs) were treated with 40 mM glucose and 200 MUM palmitate to imitate
      endothelium under hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia, and 100 MUM NaHS was used
      as an exogenous H2 S donor. Firstly, we demonstrated that high glucose and
      palmitate decreased H2 S production and CSE expression in RAECs. Then, the
      antioxidative effect of H2 S was proved in RAECs under high glucose and palmitate
      to reduce mitochondrial ROS level. We also showed that exogenous H2 S inhibited
      mitochondrial apoptosis in RAECs under high glucose and palmitate. Using Mito
      Tracker and transmission electron microscopy assay, we revealed that exogenous H2
      S decreased mitochondrial fragments and significantly reduced the expression of p
      Drp-1/Drp-1 and Fis1 compared to high-glucose and high-palmitate group, whereas
      it increased mitophagy by transmission electron microscopy assay. We demonstrated
      that exogenous H2 S facilitated Parkin recruited by PINK1 by immunoprecipitation
      and immunostaining assays and then ubiquitylated mitofusin 2 (Mfn2), which
      illuminated the mechanism of exogenous H2 S on mitophagy. Parkin siRNA suppressed
      the expression of Mfn2, Nix and LC3B, which revealed that it eliminated
      mitophagy. In summary, exogenous H2 S could protect RAECs against apoptosis under
      high glucose and palmitate by suppressing oxidative stress, decreasing
      mitochondrial fragments and promoting mitophagy. Based on these results, we
      proposed a new mechanism of H2 S on protecting endothelium, which might provide a
      new strategy for type II diabetes vascular complication.

PMID- 28608966
TI  - Next-generation sequencing and clinical outcomes of patients with lung
      adenocarcinoma treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic aberrations are well characterized in lung adenocarcinomas
      (LACs) and clinical outcomes have been influenced by targeted therapies in the
      advanced setting. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is the standard-of-care
      therapy for patients with nonoperable, early-stage LAC, but to the authors'
      knowledge, no information is available regarding the impact of genomic changes in
      these patients. The current study sought to determine the frequency and clinical
      impact of genetic aberrations in this population. METHODS: Under an Institutional
      Review Board-approved protocol, the records of 242 consecutive patients with
      early-stage lung cancers were reviewed; inclusion criteria included LAC histology
      with an adequate tumor sample for the successful use of next-generation
      sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization testing. Univariate analysis
      was performed to identify factors associated with clinical outcomes. RESULTS: LAC
      samples from 98 of the 242 patients were reviewed (40.5%), of whom 45 patients
      (46.0%) had genetic testing. The following mutations were noted: KRAS in 20.0% of
      samples, BRAF in 2.2% of samples, SMAD family member 4 (SMAD4) in 4.4% of
      samples, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in 15.6% of samples, STK1 in
      2.2% of samples, tumor protein 53 (TP53) in 15.6% of samples, and phosphatase and
      tensin homolog (PTEN) in 2.2% of samples. The following gene rearrangements were
      observed: anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) in 8.9% of samples, RET in 2.2% of
      samples, and MET amplification in 17.8% of samples. The median total delivered
      SBRT dose was 50 grays (range, 48-60 grays) over a median of 5 fractions (range,
      3-8 fractions). The KRAS mutation was associated with worse local control (odds
      ratio [OR], 3.64; P<.05). MET amplification was associated with worse regional
      (OR, 4.64; P<.05) and distant (OR, 3.73; P<.05) disease control. CONCLUSIONS: To
      the authors' knowledge, the current series is the first to quantify genetic
      mutations and their association with clinical outcomes in patients with early
      stage LAC treated with SBRT. KRAS mutations were associated with worse local
      control and MET amplification was associated with worse regional and distant
      disease control, findings that need to be validated in a prospective setting.
      Cancer 2017;123:3681-3690. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608968
TI  - "Two-Point" Self-Assembly and Photoinduced Electron Transfer in meso-Donor
      Carrying Bis(styryl crown ether)-BODIPY-Bis(alkylammonium)fullerene Donor
      Acceptor Conjugates.
AB  - BF2 -chelated dipyrromethene, BODIPY, was functionalized to carry two styryl
      crown ether tails and a secondary electron donor at the meso position. By using a
      "two-point" self-assembly strategy, a bis-alkylammonium-functionalized fullerene
      (C60 ) was allowed to self-assemble the crown ether voids of BODIPY to obtain
      multimodular donor-acceptor conjugates. As a consequence of the two-point
      binding, the 1:1 stoichiometric complexes formed yielded complexes of higher
      stability in which fluorescence of BODIPY was found to be quenched; this
      suggested the occurrence of excited-state processes. The geometry and electronic
      structure of the self-assembled complexes were derived from B3LYP/3-21G(*)
      methods in which no steric constraints between the entities was observed. An
      energy-level diagram was established by using spectral, electrochemical, and
      computational results to help understand the mechanistic details of excited-state
      processes originating from 1 bis-styryl-BODIPY*. Femtosecond transient absorbance
      studies were indicative of the formation of an exciplex state prior to the charge
      separation process to yield a bis-styryl-BODIPY.+ -C60.- radical ion pair. The
      time constants for charge separation were generally lower than charge
      recombination processes. The present studies bring out the importance of
      multimode binding strategies to obtain stable self-assembled donor-acceptor
      conjugates capable of undergoing photoinduced charge separation needed in
      artificial photosynthetic applications.

PMID- 28608969
TI  - Effect of iloprost on biomarkers in patients with congenital heart disease
      pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Some biomarkers play important roles in the endothelial dysfunction of patients
      with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), including nitric oxide (NO),
      endothelin-1 (ET-1), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), galectin-3 (Gal-3), B
      type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and uric acid (UA). However, studies on these
      biomarkers in pulmonary artery blood in congenital heart disease-PAH (CHD-PAH)
      and the effect of iloprost on the regulation of biomarkers are lacking. This
      study investigated potential CHD-PAH biomarkers and their association with the
      severity of disease. The effect of iloprost on the regulation of these biomarkers
      was also studied. A total of 31 patients with CHD-PAH were enrolled. Seven with
      positive effects of iloprost (the average reduction in mPAP 11.13+/-1.73 mm Hg)
      and 19 with negative effects of iloprost (the average reduction in mPAP 4.21+/
      4.87 mm Hg; iloprost positive group [IPG] vs iloprost negative group [ING],
      P<.01) and five age-matched controls were studied. The pulmonary artery blood
      sample was collected before and after inhaling iloprost, and the plasma
      concentrations of Gal-3, ADMA, ET-1, and NO were measured. A significant positive
      linear relationship was observed between mPAP and plasma ET-1, BNP, ADMA, and UA
      levels in all patients with CHD-PAH. ET-1, ADMA, BNP, and UA levels had a
      significant linear relationship with mean pulmonary arterial pressure, which
      could be used to predict the severity of CHD-PAH. ET-1 might be a potential
      biomarker to pre-evaluate the effect of iloprost on CHD-PAH. Iloprost could
      affect the expression of Gal-3 and, therefore, the process of fibrosis could be
      influenced by iloprost.

PMID- 28608971
TI  - The experiences of pregnant women in an interventional clinical trial: Research
      In Pregnancy Ethics (RIPE) study.
AB  - There is increasing global pressure to ensure that pregnant women are responsibly
      and safely included in clinical research in order to improve the evidence base
      that underpins healthcare delivery during pregnancy. One supposed barrier to
      inclusion is the assumption that pregnant women will be reluctant to participate
      in research. There is however very little empirical research investigating the
      views of pregnant women. Their perspective on the benefits, burdens and risks of
      research is a crucial component to ensuring effective recruitment. The Research
      In Pregnancy Ethics (RIPE) study set out to ascertain the views of pregnant women
      about research participation using an inductive thematic analysis. We conducted
      semi-structured interviews with 20 women who had participated in a double-blind
      randomised placebo controlled trial in Wellington (New Zealand) while pregnant.
      Our results show that at least some pregnant women recognise the value and
      importance of research during pregnancy. The women we interviewed were deeply
      invested in the research process and outcomes. Key motivations for participating
      were altruism, playing a valuable civic role and the importance of research. The
      main perceived burdens related to inconvenience and time commitment. For some
      women, possible randomization to the placebo arm was regarded as a burden or
      disadvantage.

PMID- 28608970
TI  - Effect of extended oral contraception use on the prevalence of fetal trisomy 21
      in women aged at least 35 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study factors influencing the number of ovulations in reproductive
      life as risk factors for common trisomies. METHODS: The present observational
      study examined data from genetic counseling sessions performed at the 1st
      Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, Budapest,
      Hungary, between September 1, 2013, and September 1, 2015, and retrieved data on
      patients of advanced maternal age (>=35 years) who had fetal trisomy 21, 18, or
      13 confirmed. Consecutive patients of advanced maternal age with genetic
      amniocentesis-confirmed healthy fetal karyotypes were also included as a control
      group. Medical record details were confirmed through telephone interviews with
      patients; the estimated ovulation number was calculated and compared among
      patients, as were factors contributing to the number of ovulations each patient
      had. RESULTS: Data from 12 776 genetic counseling situations were examined; 35
      patients with fetal trisomies and 100 patients in the control group were
      interviewed. Shorter mean length of oral contraceptive pill use before trisomic
      pregnancy (P<0.001) and a higher estimated ovulation number (P=0.012) were
      identified among patients with pregnancies with fetal trisomies. CONCLUSION:
      Fewer ovulatory cycles, potentially resulting from longer oral contraceptive pill
      use, was associated with healthy fetal karyotypes among patients of advanced
      reproductive age.

PMID- 28608972
TI  - New Frontiers in End-of-Life Ethics (and Policy): Scope, Advance Directives and
      Conscientious Objection.

PMID- 28608974
TI  - On scoring cytokinetic and binucleated cells.

PMID- 28608975
TI  - Uniform Supersonic Chemical Reactors: 30 Years of Astrochemical History and
      Future Challenges.
AB  - The interstellar medium is of great interest to us as the place where stars and
      planets are born and from where, probably, the molecular precursors of life came
      to Earth. Astronomical observations, astrochemical modeling, and laboratory
      astrochemistry should go hand in hand to understand the chemical pathways to the
      formation of stars, planets, and biological molecules. We review here laboratory
      experiments devoted to investigations on the reaction dynamics of species of
      astrochemical interest at the temperatures of the interstellar medium and which
      were performed by using one of the most popular techniques in the field, CRESU.
      We discuss new technical developments and scientific ideas for CRESU, which, if
      realized, will bring us one step closer to understanding of the astrochemical
      history and the future of our universe.

PMID- 28608973
TI  - High hepatitis C cure rates among black and nonblack human immunodeficiency virus
      infected adults in an urban center.
AB  - : Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cure rates have been similar in patients with and
      without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection; however, in the ION-4
      study, black patients treated with ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF) were
      significantly less likely to achieve cure (90%) compared to nonblack patients
      (99%). There are limited real-world data on the effectiveness of oral direct
      acting antivirals (DAAs) in predominantly minority HIV/HCV coinfected
      populations. We analyzed HCV treatment outcomes among 255 HCV coinfected patients
      initiating DAAs between February 2014 and March 2016 in an urban clinic in
      Baltimore, Maryland. To facilitate adherence, patients received standardized HIV
      nurse/pharmacist support, which included nurse visits and telephone calls. Median
      age was 43 years, 88% were black, 73% male, 69% had a history of injection drug
      use, 45% a history of hazardous alcohol use, and 57% a comorbid psychiatric
      diagnosis. Median CD4 count was 577 (interquartile range, 397-820) cells/mm3 ;
      most (97%) were on antiretroviral therapy, had HIV RNA <20 copies/mL (87%), and
      were infected with HCV genotype 1 (98%). Over 60% had significant fibrosis
      (Fibrosis-4 Index score 1.45-3.25 [44%] and >3.25 [17%, cirrhosis]) and 30% were
      HCV treatment experienced. The majority of patients received LDV/SOF with or
      without ribavirin (91%) and were treated for 12 weeks. Overall, the sustained
      virological response rate was 97% (95% confidence interval [CI], 93-98) and did
      not vary by race (black, 96% [95% CI, 93-98]; nonblack, 97%, [95% CI, 83-99]),
      history of injection drug use, alcohol use, or psychiatric diagnosis. CONCLUSION:
      HCV treatment was highly effective among HIV-infected patients who received care
      within an integrated nurse/pharmacist adherence support program. These results
      suggest that race and psychosocial comorbidity may not be barriers to HCV
      elimination. (Hepatology 2017;66:1402-1412).

PMID- 28608977
TI  - Treating cardiac dysrhythmias by targeting the neck: Off target or on the right
      track?

PMID- 28608976
TI  - TP53 mutation does not confer a poor outcome in adult patients with acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia who are treated with frontline hyper-CVAD-based regimens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor protein 53 (TP53) mutations are uncommon in adult patients with
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and predict a poor outcome. METHODS: TP53
      mutation analysis was performed in 164 newly diagnosed adult patients with ALL
      using a combination of targeted amplicon-based next-generation sequencing and
      Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: TP53 mutations were detected in 25 patients (15%),
      with a median allelic frequency of 42.2% (range, 5.6%-93.8%). The majority of
      mutations were single-nucleotide variants of missense type and involved the DNA
      binding domain. TP53-mutated (TP53mut ) ALL was found to be significantly
      associated with older age, lower median white blood cell and platelet counts,
      lower frequency of Philadelphia chromosome and a higher frequency of low
      hypodiploid karyotype compared with ALL with wild-type TP53 (TP53wt ). To
      evaluate the prognostic effect of TP53 mutations, the authors selected 146
      patients with B-cell immunophenotype ALL (24 with TP53mut and 122 with TP53wt )
      who were uniformly treated with frontline hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide,
      vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone (hyper-CVAD)-based regimens; >90% of
      these individuals also received a monoclonal antibody. Over a median follow-up
      duration of 15 months, there was no significant difference in the median overall
      survival, event-free survival, and duration of complete remission noted between
      patients with TP53mut ALL and those with TP53wt ALL. CONCLUSIONS: Hyper-CVAD
      based regimens appear to negate the poor prognostic impact of TP53 mutations in
      patients with adult B-cell immunophenotype ALL. Cancer 2017;123:3717-24. (c) 2017
      American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608979
TI  - Is accepting circular reasoning in shaken baby studies bad science or misconduct?

PMID- 28608980
TI  - Safety and feasibility of percutaneous skin closure using purse-string suture
      compared with compression bandage after pulmonary vein isolation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This observational study was designed to analyze the safety and
      feasibility of percutaneous skin closure using a purse-string suture and compare
      it with the use of a compression bandage after pulmonary vein isolation. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: A total of 407 patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation (217
      with radiofrequency and 190 with cryoballoon ablation) were treated with either
      purse-string sutures or compression bandages. The purse-string suture was applied
      after ablation before withdrawal of the sheaths. Patients were on bed rest for 6
      hours prior to suture removal, which was accomplished 18-24 h after ablation. The
      compression bandage was applied after sheath withdrawal and was removed after 12
      hours of bed rest. We analyzed the occurrence of any vascular or thromboembolic
      complication as well as hospital costs and hospital stay length after ablation.
      The incidence of vascular complications after compression bandage was higher than
      after purse-string suture in the cryoballoon and radiofrequency group (P < 0.05,
      respectively). The hospital costs were lower and hospital stay was shorter in
      both radiofrequency (4.921 +/- 3.145 vs. 5.802 +/- 4.006 Euro; 2.34 +/- 1.32 vs.
      2.98 +/- 1.57 days, P < 0.05) and cryoballoon groups (4.705 +/- 3.091 vs. 5.661
      +/- 3.563 Euro; 2.14 +/- 1.37 vs. 2.61 +/- 1.55 days, P < 0.05) in patients
      treated with a purse-string suture. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous skin closure with a
      purse-string suture has the clinical impact to reduce vascular complications,
      hospital costs, and hospital stay length after pulmonary vein isolation.

PMID- 28608981
TI  - Health-related quality of life of patients on chronic dialysis: The need for a
      focused effort.
AB  - Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients on chronic hemodialysis has
      not improved significantly in the last 20 years. This is largely due to their
      substantial symptom burden which is rarely assessed and treated in routine
      clinical practice. It also is a consequence of the lack of an appropriate
      armamentarium for the treatments of such symptoms. Adequate studies on the causes
      and pathogenesis of the symptoms of hemodialysis patients are needed followed by
      high quality studies on possible therapeutic pharmacological and
      nonpharmacological interventions.

PMID- 28608978
TI  - Sexual dimorphism in the inflammatory response to traumatic brain injury.
AB  - The activation of resident microglial cells, alongside the infiltration of
      peripheral macrophages, are key neuroinflammatory responses to traumatic brain
      injury (TBI) that are directly associated with neuronal death. Sexual disparities
      in response to TBI have been previously reported; however it is unclear whether a
      sex difference exists in neuroinflammatory progression after TBI. We exposed male
      and female mice to moderate-to-severe controlled cortical impact injury and
      studied glial cell activation in the acute and chronic stages of TBI using
      immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization analysis. We found that the sex
      response was completely divergent up to 7 days postinjury. TBI caused a rapid and
      pronounced cortical microglia/macrophage activation in male mice with a prominent
      activated phenotype that produced both pro- (IL-1beta and TNFalpha) and anti
      inflammatory (Arg1 and TGFbeta) cytokines with a single-phase, sustained peak
      from 1 to 7 days. In contrast, TBI caused a less robust microglia/macrophage
      phenotype in females with biphasic pro-inflammatory response peaks at 4 h and 7
      days, and a delayed anti-inflammatory mRNA peak at 30 days. We further report
      that female mice were protected against acute cell loss after TBI, with male mice
      demonstrating enhanced astrogliosis, neuronal death, and increased lesion volume
      through 7 days post-TBI. Collectively, these findings indicate that TBI leads to
      a more aggressive neuroinflammatory profile in male compared with female mice
      during the acute and subacute phases postinjury. Understanding how sex affects
      the course of neuroinflammation following brain injury is a vital step toward
      developing personalized and effective treatments for TBI.

PMID- 28608982
TI  - High reproductive effort is associated with decreasing mortality late in life in
      captive ruffed lemurs.
AB  - Evolutionary theories of senescence predict that a high allocation to
      reproduction during early life should have long-term deleterious consequences on
      future reproduction or survival because individuals have to face an energy
      allocation trade-off between reproductive effort and the maintenance of body
      condition. Using a high-quality dataset from 1,721 red ruffed lemurs (RRL,
      Varecia rubra) and 3,637 black and white ruffed lemurs (BWRM, V. variegata)
      living in captivity, we tested the existence of a trade-off between reproductive
      effort and late-life survival after accounting for possible confounding effects
      of natal environmental conditions. We report clear evidence of actuarial
      senescence (i.e., the decline of annual survival with increasing age) in both
      sexes and for both species of ruffed lemurs. RRL had a lower baseline mortality
      and senesced faster than BWRL, resulting in similar distributions of longevities
      for both species. No between-sex difference was observed in any species. Lastly,
      a higher reproductive effort was positively associated with an increase of
      survival late in life, and thereby an increased longevity. These findings
      indicate that individual quality rather than trade-off drives the association
      between reproductive success and survival pattern among individual lemurs of both
      species in the protected environment provided by zoos. Lemurs are among the
      world's highest conservation priorities and better understanding factors
      influencing their longevity and actuarial senescence patterns should improve
      their conservation.

PMID- 28608984
TI  - Dialysis in the undocumented: The past, the present, and what lies ahead.
AB  - In many states undocumented immigrants with end stage renal disease (ESRD) do not
      have access to regular, thrice weekly dialysis. The term "compassionate dialysis"
      is used to describe dialysis that is provided on an emergent basis, when patients
      are in extremis from symptoms of volume overload or suffer from life-threatening
      electrolyte abnormalities. In this editorial, one particularly poignant anecdote
      is presented from the experience of one of the authors (AZF) as a nephrologist in
      Texas, a state where undocumented immigrants have faced difficulties in accessing
      regular dialysis. We then describe the legislation that allows the right to
      regular dialysis to be determined on a state by state basis. We offer some
      potential solutions to this challenging issue, and we describe the difficulties
      that lay ahead given the uncertain future of the Affordable Care Act.

PMID- 28608983
TI  - Folic acid reduces doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy by modulating endothelial
      nitric oxide synthase.
AB  - The use of doxorubicin (DOXO) as a chemotherapeutic drug has been hampered by
      cardiotoxicity leading to cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Folic acid (FA) is a
      modulator of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS), which in turn is an
      important player in diseases associated with NO insufficiency or NOS
      dysregulation, such as pressure overload and myocardial infarction. However, the
      role of FA in DOXO-induced cardiomyopathy is poorly understood. The aim of this
      study was to test the hypothesis that FA prevents DOXO-induced cardiomyopathy by
      modulating eNOS and mitochondrial structure and function. Male C57BL/6 mice were
      randomized to a single dose of DOXO (20 mg/kg intraperitoneal) or sham. FA
      supplementation (10 mg/day per oral) was started 7 days before DOXO injection and
      continued thereafter. DOXO resulted in 70% mortality after 10 days, with the
      surviving mice demonstrating a 30% reduction in stroke volume compared with sham
      groups. Pre-treatment with FA reduced mortality to 45% and improved stroke volume
      (both P < 0.05 versus DOXO). These effects of FA were underlain by blunting of
      DOXO-induced cardiomyocyte atrophy, apoptosis, interstitial fibrosis and
      impairment of mitochondrial function. Mechanistically, pre-treatment with FA
      prevented DOXO-induced increases in superoxide anion production by reducing the
      eNOS monomer:dimer ratio and eNOS S-glutathionylation, and attenuated DOXO
      induced decreases in superoxide dismutase, eNOS phosphorylation and NO
      production. Enhancing eNOS function by restoring its coupling and subsequently
      reducing oxidative stress with FA may be a novel therapeutic approach to
      attenuate DOXO-induced cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28608986
TI  - On the Thermodynamics and Experimental Control of Twinning in Metal Nanocrystals.
AB  - This work demonstrates a new strategy for controlling the evolution of twin
      defects in metal nanocrystals by simply following thermodynamic principles. With
      Ag nanocrystals supported on amorphous SiO2 as a typical example, we establish
      that twin defects can be rationally generated by equilibrating nanoparticles of
      different sizes through heating and then cooling. We validate that Ag
      nanocrystals with icosahedral, decahedral, and single-crystal structures are
      favored at sizes below 7 nm, between 7 and 11 nm, and greater than 11 nm,
      respectively. This trend is then rationalized by computational studies based on
      density functional theory and molecular dynamics, which show that the excess free
      energy for the three equilibrium structures correlate strongly with particle
      size. This work not only highlights the importance of thermodynamic control but
      also adds another synthetic method to the ever-expanding toolbox used for
      generating metal nanocrystals with desired properties.

PMID- 28608985
TI  - Statistical performance of image cytometry for DNA, lipids, cytokeratin, & CD45
      in a model system for circulation tumor cell detection.
AB  - Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a blood sample is limited by the
      sensitivity and specificity of the biomarker panel used to identify CTCs over
      other blood cells. In this work, we present Bayesian theory that shows how test
      sensitivity and specificity set the rarity of cell that a test can detect. We
      perform our calculation of sensitivity and specificity on our image cytometry
      biomarker panel by testing on pure disease positive (D+ ) populations (MCF7
      cells) and pure disease negative populations (D- ) (leukocytes). In this system,
      we performed multi-channel confocal fluorescence microscopy to image biomarkers
      of DNA, lipids, CD45, and Cytokeratin. Using custom software, we segmented our
      confocal images into regions of interest consisting of individual cells and
      computed the image metrics of total signal, second spatial moment, spatial
      frequency second moment, and the product of the spatial-spatial frequency
      moments. We present our analysis of these 16 features. The best performing of the
      16 features produced an average separation of three standard deviations between
      D+ and D- and an average detectable rarity of ~1 in 200. We performed
      multivariable regression and feature selection to combine multiple features for
      increased performance and showed an average separation of seven standard
      deviations between the D+ and D- populations making our average detectable rarity
      of ~1 in 480. Histograms and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for
      these features and regressions are presented. We conclude that simple regression
      analysis holds promise to further improve the separation of rare cells in
      cytometry applications. (c) 2017 International Society for Advancement of
      Cytometry.

PMID- 28608988
TI  - Dosing algorithms for vitamin K antagonists across VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genotypes:
      comment.

PMID- 28608987
TI  - SMARCA4 inactivating mutations cause concomitant Coffin-Siris syndrome,
      microphthalmia and small-cell carcinoma of the ovary hypercalcaemic type.
AB  - SMARCA4 chromatin remodelling factor is mutated in 11% of Coffin-Siris syndrome
      (CSS) patients and in almost all small-cell carcinoma of the ovary hypercalcaemic
      type (SCCOHT) tumours. Missense mutations with gain-of-function or dominant
      negative effects are associated with CSS, whereas inactivating mutations, leading
      to loss of SMARCA4 expression, have been exclusively found in SCCOHT. We applied
      whole-exome sequencing to study a 15-year-old patient with mild CSS who
      concomitantly developed SCCOHT at age 13 years. Interestingly, our patient also
      showed congenital microphthalmia, which has never previously been reported in CSS
      patients. We detected a de novo germline heterozygous nonsense mutation in exon
      19 of SMARCA4 (c.2935C > T;p.Arg979*), and a somatic frameshift mutation in exon
      6 (c.1236_1236delC;p.Gln413Argfs*88), causing complete loss of SMARCA4
      immunostaining in the tumour. The immunohistochemical findings are supported by
      the observation that the c.2935C > T mutant transcript was detected by reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction at a much lower level than the wild-type
      allele in whole blood and the lymphoblastoid cell line of the proband, confirming
      nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Accordingly, immunoblotting demonstrated that there
      was approximately half the amount of SMARCA4 protein in the proband's cells as in
      controls. This study suggests that SMARCA4 constitutional mutations associated
      with CSS are not necessarily non-truncating, and that haploinsufficiency may
      explain milder CSS phenotypes, as previously reported for haploinsufficient
      ARID1B. In addition, our case supports the dual role of chromatin remodellers in
      developmental disorders and cancer, as well as the involvement of SMARCA4 in
      microphthalmia, confirming previous findings in mouse models and the DECIPHER
      database. Finally, we speculate that mild CSS might be under-recognized in a
      proportion of SCCOHT patients harbouring SMARCA4 mutations. (c) 2017 The Authors.
      The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of
      Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

PMID- 28608989
TI  - Seizure severity-dependent selective vulnerability of the granule cell layer and
      aberrant neurogenesis in the rat hippocampus.
AB  - The pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus rodent model has been commonly used to
      analyze the mechanisms of human temporal lobe epilepsy. Recent studies using this
      model have demonstrated that epileptic seizures lead to increased adult
      neurogenesis of the dentate granule cells, and cause abnormal cellular
      organization in dentate neuronal circuits. In this study, we examined these
      structural changes in rats with seizures of varying severity. In rats with
      frequent severe seizures, we found a clear loss of Prox1 and NeuN expression in
      the dentate granule cell layer (GCL), which was confined mainly to the
      suprapyramidal blade of the GCL at the septal and middle regions of the
      septotemporal axis of the hippocampus. In the damaged suprapyramidal region, the
      number of immature neurons in the subgranular zone was markedly reduced. In
      contrast, in rats with less frequent severe seizures, there was almost no loss of
      Prox1 and NeuN expression, and the number of immature neurons was increased. In
      rats with no or slight loss of Prox1 expression in the GCL, ectopic immature
      neurons were detected in the molecular layer of the suprapyramidal blade in
      addition to the hilus, and formed chainlike aggregated structures along the blood
      vessels up to the hippocampal fissure, suggesting that newly generated neurons
      migrate at least partially along blood vessels to the hippocampal fissure. These
      results suggest that seizures of different severity cause different effects on
      GCL damage, neurogenesis, and the migration of new neurons, and that these
      structural changes are selective to subdivisions of the GCL and the septotemporal
      axis of the hippocampus.

PMID- 28608990
TI  - A transgenic strategy for controlling plant bugs (Adelphocoris suturalis) through
      expression of double-stranded RNA homologous to fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase
      in cotton.
AB  - Plant bugs (Miridae species), which are sap-sucking insects, have emerged as
      major pests of cotton in China. Most Miridae species are not sensitive to
      commercial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, resulting in significant economic
      losses and an increased application of insecticide, which eventually may
      compromise the future of Bt cotton. We demonstrate that FATTY ACYL-COA REDUCTASE
      (AsFAR) plays an essential role in the reproduction of the bug Adelphocoris
      suturalis. Down-regulation of AsFAR expression by injection of double-stranded
      RNA suppresses ovarian development and female fertility, resulting in females
      producing few viable offspring. To determine the viability of an RNA interference
      approach to limit FAR expression and reproductive ability in A. suturalis, a
      dsRNA targeting the AsFAR gene (dsAsFAR) of A. suturalis was expressed in
      transgenic cotton plants. AsFAR transcription levels were significantly
      downregulated in A. suturalis feeding on the transgenic plants. In contained
      field trials, the transgenic cotton lines significantly suppressed the
      development of A. suturalis populations and were resistant to damage caused by
      plant bug infestation. These results suggest a new strategy for the management of
      plant bug pests of cotton.

PMID- 28608991
TI  - Frustrated Lewis Pair Mediated 1,2-Hydrocarbation of Alkynes.
AB  - Frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) chemistry enables a rare example of alkyne 1,2
      hydrocarbation with N-methylacridinium salts as the carbon Lewis acid. This 1,2
      hydrocarbation process does not proceed through a concerted mechanism as in
      alkyne syn-hydroboration, or through an intramolecular 1,3-hydride migration as
      operates in the only other reported alkyne 1,2-hydrocarbation reaction. Instead,
      in this study, alkyne 1,2-hydrocarbation proceeds by a novel mechanism involving
      alkyne dehydrocarbation with a carbon Lewis acid based FLP to form the new C-C
      bond. Subsequently, intermolecular hydride transfer occurs, with the Lewis acid
      component of the FLP acting as a hydride shuttle that enables alkyne 1,2
      hydrocarbation.

PMID- 28608992
TI  - Student and recent graduate perspectives on radiological imaging instruction
      during basic anatomy courses.
AB  - Recently, faculty at Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, have
      made efforts to improve the depth of radiological anatomy knowledge that students
      have, but no insights exist as to student and resident opinions of how clinically
      helpful deep anatomical understanding is. A single-institution survey of second-
      and fourth-year medical students and postgraduate year 1-4 residents from 11
      specialties, composed of five-point Likert questions, sample examination
      questions, and narrative response questions, was distributed in 2015. One hundred
      seventy-seven of the 466 potential respondents replied (71 residents and 106
      students), response rate 38.0%. No nonresponse bias was present in two separate
      analyses. Respondents generally favored a superficial "identification" question
      as more relevant to clinical practice, which was positively associated with
      increasing clinical experience rho = 0.357, P < 0.001 by point-biserial
      correlation. Students and residents most commonly used self-directed methods to
      learn medical imaging during their medical anatomy courses (72.6 and 57.7%,
      respectively). Small group education was least commonly used by students and
      residents (45.3 and 39.4%, respectively), but most commonly recommended (62.3 and
      69%, respectively). A total of 56.6 and 64.8% of students and residents,
      respectively, reported that having multiple learning methods was "quite" or
      "extremely" important. Respondents with more clinical experience were more likely
      to report that a superficial identification question was more clinically relevant
      than a question testing deeper radiological anatomy knowledge. Small group
      learning was preferred among students and residents but was the least commonly
      employed method of instruction. Both findings contrast starkly with current
      radiological anatomy instructional understanding and practices. Anat Sci Educ 11:
      25-31. (c) 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

PMID- 28608993
TI  - Oral fluoropyrimidine versus intravenous 5-fluorouracil for the treatment of
      advanced gastric and colorectal cancer: Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) is one of the most commonly prescribed
      antineoplastic agents against gastric and colorectal cancers. Continuous infusion
      would be the optimal way of its administration, however, may usually cause
      thrombosis, infection, and prolonged hospital stay. Oral fluoropyrimidines would
      be an attractive alternative, but their efficiency and toxicities for the
      treatment of gastric and colorectal cancer are still obscure as compared with
      infusion 5-Fu. METHODS: Literature retrieval, trials selection and assessment,
      data collection, and statistic analysis were performed according to the Cochrane
      Handbook. The outcome measures were tumor response rate, progression-free
      survival, overall survival, and adverse effects. RESULTS: Twenty-nine randomized
      controlled trials, comprising totally 15 154 patients, were included. Meta
      analysis showed similar overall outcome in terms of response rate (1.01; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 0.92-1.12), progression-free survival (hazard ratio
      1.00; 95%CI, 0.94-1.06), and overall survival (hazard ratio 0.96; 95%CI, 0.92
      1.01) between oral fluoropyrimidine-based and intravenous 5-Fu-based regimens in
      gastric and colorectal cancer patients. The risk of grade 3/4 neutropenia,
      thrombocytopenia, and stomatitis was more prominent in intravenous 5-Fu-based
      regimens; while more frequent grade 3/4 hand-foot syndrome, diarrhea, and
      anorexia were detected in oral fluoropyrimidine-based regimens. CONCLUSIONS: Oral
      fluoropyrimidines showed equivalent response and similar survival outcomes, but
      different toxicity profiles, as compared with intravenous 5-Fu. Thus, it would be
      a more convenient and adjustable alternative in treatment of advanced gastric and
      colorectal cancer.

PMID- 28608994
TI  - HIV in the dialysis population: Current issues and future directions.
AB  - Antiretroviral therapy has significantly reduced mortality due to HIV infection,
      but the aging HIV-positive patient population now faces a growing burden of
      comorbidity. This review describes the changing epidemiology of chronic kidney
      disease and end-stage renal disease in this population, and highlights recent
      advances in antiretroviral therapy and kidney transplantation that directly
      impact the care of patients with HIV infection and end-stage renal disease.

PMID- 28608995
TI  - Differences in egg hatching time between cyclical and obligate parthenogenetic
      lineages of aphids.
AB  - Many aphid species exhibit a variation in reproductive mode which is influenced
      by winter climate regimes, with cyclical parthenogenetic (CP) lines dominating in
      cold winter areas (because they produce cold-resistant eggs) and obligate
      parthenogenetic (OP) ones in mild winter regions (because of their
      parthenogenetic overwintering). Genetic studies on several aphid species have
      shown that the OP trait can be transmitted during sexual events involving the 2
      types of lines. This genetic system could be considered as a local safeguarding
      mechanism for OP alleles in case severe frost would have killed all
      parthenogenetically overwintering individuals. However, this strategy would only
      be efficient in restoring local polymorphism in breeding systems if the newly
      hatched OP recombinants remain competitive over their CP counterparts. In this
      study we compared egg hatching sequences of CP and OP F1 clones from several
      crosses obtained for 2 cereal aphid species, Sitobion avenae (constant 5  degrees
      C, 8 h of light) and Rhopalosiphum padi (winter outdoor conditions). For S.
      avenae, we obtained F1 offspring from 6 crosses, involving 4 clones while in R.
      padi F1 were obtained from 11 crosses involving 14 clones. We showed that in both
      species proportions of OP clones were higher in the first half of the progeny
      relative to the second half. In addition, F1 OP clones hatched in the mean about
      a week earlier than their CP sibs, which gives them a demographic advantage at
      the start of the growth season. We then discussed the consequences of this
      fitness advantage for the maintenance and spread of the OP trait in aphid
      populations.

PMID- 28608996
TI  - Prognostic value of event-free survival at 12 and 24 months and long-term
      mortality for non-Hodgkin follicular lymphoma patients: A study report from the
      Spanish Lymphoma Oncology Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relatively few studies have analyzed the mortality of follicular
      lymphoma (FL) patients in comparison with a sex- and age-matched general
      population. This study analyzed the overall survival (OS) of patients with FL and
      compared their survival with the expected survival of a general population.
      METHODS: Patients diagnosed with FL were prospectively enrolled from 1980 to
      2013. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were obtained from yearly sex- and age
      specific mortality rates in Spain, and OS was compared with age- and sex-matched
      general population data. RESULTS: A total of 1074 patients with newly diagnosed
      FL were enrolled. The median OS was 231 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 195
      267 months). Event-free survival at 12 months (EFS12) and event-free survival at
      24 months (EFS24) were associated with an increased probability of early death,
      with an SMR of 10.27 (95% CI, 8.26-12.77) for EFS12. The overall SMR, including
      all causes of death, was 2.55 (95% CI, 2.23-2.92), and it was higher for women
      (SMR, 3.02; 95% CI, 2.48-3.67) and young adults (SMR, 6.01; 95% CI, 3.13-11.55).
      More than 10 years after the diagnosis, mortality rates for FL patients were
      lower than those for the general population (SMR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.28-0.78). When
      FL was excluded as a cause of death, the overall SMR was 1.35 (95% CI, 1.11-1.65)
      without a statistically significant mortality increase in the >60-year-old group
      in comparison with age- and sex-matched general population data. More than 15% of
      the patients included in the study (n = 158) had more than 10 years of follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: EFS12 and EFS24 predict an early increase in mortality. The long
      term SMR, over the course of 10 years of follow-up, shows that patients with FL
      have a risk of dying similar to that of a sex- and age-matched general
      population. Cancer 2017;123:3709-3716. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28608998
TI  - The Structure of the Diatom Silaffin Peptide R5 within Freestanding Two
      Dimensional Biosilica Sheets.
AB  - The silaffin peptide R5 is instrumental to the mineralization of silica cell
      walls of diatom organisms. The peptide is also widely employed in biotechnology,
      for example, in the encapsulation of enzymes and for fusion proteins in tissue
      regeneration. Despite its scientific and technological importance, the
      interfacial structure of R5 during silica precipitation remains poorly
      understood. We herein elucidate the conformation of the peptide in its active
      form within silica sheets by interface-specific vibrational spectroscopy in
      combination with molecular dynamics simulations. Contrary to previous solution
      state NMR studies, our data confirm that R5 maintains a defined structure when
      interacting with extended silica sheets. We show that the entire amino acid
      sequence of R5 interacts with silica during silica formation, leading to the
      intercalation of silica into the assembled peptide film.

PMID- 28608997
TI  - Natural history and clinical characteristics of multiple pulmonary nodules with
      ground glass opacity.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Ground glass nodules (GGNs) are frequently encountered
      in the lungs. We report the natural history and characteristics of multiple GGNs,
      and propose a management plan for patients with multiple GGNs. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analysed patients with GGNs that met the following criteria: (i)
      GGN diameter of 3 cm or less, (ii) ground glass opacity proportion of 50% or more
      and (iii) observation without treatment for >=6 months. We evaluated size changes
      in computed tomography images. Two end points, 'incidence of growth at 36 months'
      and 'time to growth' were analysed using logistic regression models and Cox
      proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Between April 2008 and December 2014, 187
      patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria (78 (42%) had multiple lesions). Among
      the multiple-GGN patients, the median observation period was 45.5 months, 25
      patients (32%) experienced GGN progression at 36 months and 4 patients (5.1%)
      after 36 months. Between the multiple and single GGNs, there were no significant
      differences in growth incidence at 36 months (P = 0.1), after 36 months (P = 0.6)
      or in time to growth (P = 0.3). Among patients with multiple GGNs who experienced
      one GGN growth, 41% of patients experienced residual GGN growth afterwards.
      CONCLUSION: Patients with multiple GGNs showed a tendency to growth within the
      first 36 months, and a significant proportion of patients experienced multiple
      GGN progression. We suggest that the optimal observation period for patients with
      multiple GGNs is 36 months, but careful observation is needed after a lesion
      begins to grow.

PMID- 28608999
TI  - Specimen acquisition: ROSEs, gardeners, and gatekeepers.
AB  - The use of minimally invasive procedures for diagnosis and treatment decisions
      means that very often cytological samples are the only material available for
      testing. Cytology has evolved from a strictly morphological approach to the
      routine use of immunohistochemistry. The advent of personalized medicine has
      increased the demand for molecular testing, making rapid on-site evaluation even
      more relevant. This article presents current rapid on-site evaluation practice
      patterns in different settings, with a special focus on the variety of
      professionals involved. Technological advances such as telepathology can help to
      alleviate distance constraints. This article also provides an overview of
      telecytopathology, describing challenges to its implementation and how to address
      them. Issues such as hardware, personnel training, communication, guidelines,
      validation, use, and future directions are highlighted. Cancer Cytopathol
      2017;125(6 suppl):449-54. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609001
TI  - Cytopathology is the Nexus for patient-centered care.

PMID- 28609000
TI  - The role of informatics in patient-centered care and personalized medicine.
AB  - The practice of cytopathology has dramatically changed due to advances in
      genomics and information technology. Cytology laboratories have accordingly
      become increasingly dependent on pathology informatics support to meet the
      emerging demands of precision medicine. Pathology informatics deals with
      information technology in the laboratory, and the impact of this technology on
      workflow processes and staff who interact with these tools. This article covers
      the critical role that laboratory information systems, electronic medical
      records, and digital imaging plays in patient-centered personalized medicine. The
      value of integrated diagnostic reports, clinical decision support, and the use of
      whole-slide imaging to better evaluate cytology samples destined for molecular
      testing is discussed. Image analysis that offers more precise and quantitative
      measurements in cytology is addressed, as well as the role of bioinformatics
      tools to cope with Big Data from next-generation sequencing. This article also
      highlights the barriers to the widespread adoption of these disruptive
      technologies due to regulatory obstacles, limited commercial solutions, poor
      interoperability, and lack of standardization. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125(6
      suppl):494-501. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609002
TI  - Analytic inquiry: Molecular testing in lung cancer.
AB  - Non-small cell lung cancer is a different disease from what it was a decade ago.
      The last 10 years were based on remarkable advances in the understanding of key
      genetic alterations that function as oncogenic drivers and serve as therapeutic
      targets, thereby defining new molecular subsets. These changes have had an impact
      on clinical care, patient outcomes, and pathologic diagnosis and present new
      challenges in the approach of the cytopathologist to this still deadly disease.
      To meet these new challenges and appropriately train the next generation of
      cytopathologists, the complex molecular background underlying this disease and
      the implications that cytologic and histologic diagnoses have on treatment must
      be understood. Herein, the author reviews the background leading to this new
      approach and explains how, why, and what cytologists need to know to successfully
      contribute to the care of the patient with lung cancer. Cancer Cytopathol
      2017;125(6 suppl):470-6. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609003
TI  - Preanalytic specimen triage: Smears, cell blocks, cytospin preparations,
      transport media, and cytobanking.
AB  - With increasing requests for the evaluation of prognostic and predictive
      molecular biomarkers, great attention must be paid to the preanalytical issues
      regarding sample quality and DNA/RNA yield from all different types of
      cytological preparations. The objectives of this review were: 1) to provide an
      update regarding the importance of specimen triage as well as specimen handling
      and collection; 2) to discuss the different cell preparations that can be used
      for molecular testing, their advantages and limitations; and 3) to highlight the
      strategies for biobanking cytology samples. Good-quality DNA/RNA can be harvested
      from fresh cells in cell suspensions, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded cell
      blocks, archival stained smears, archival unstained cytospin preparations, liquid
      based cytology slides, FTA cards, and cryopreserved cells. In contrast to
      formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens (small biopsies and surgical
      resections), the multitude of types of sample preparations as well as the
      diversity in sample collection and processing procedures make cytology an ideal
      specimen for most genomic platforms, with less DNA and RNA degradation and a
      purer sample, usually with a higher concentration of tumor cells. The broad
      incorporation of cytological specimens into clinical practice. A should increase
      the number of samples potentially available for molecular tests and avoid repeat
      invasive procedures for tissue procurement, thereby increasing patient safety. In
      this context, it is of utmost importance that cytopathologists become familiar
      with the variables that can affect test results and embrace the goal of
      excellence in sample quality. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125(6 suppl):455-64. (c)
      2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609005
TI  - Closure.

PMID- 28609004
TI  - Post-fine-needle aspiration biopsy communication and the integrated and
      standardized cytopathology report.
AB  - Communication between cytopathologists and patients and their care team is a
      critical component of accurate and timely patient management. The most important
      single means of communication for the cytopathologist is through the
      cytopathology report. Implementation of standardized terminology schemes and
      structured, templated reporting facilitates the ability of the cytopathologist to
      provide a comprehensive and integrated report. Cytopathology has been among the
      pathology subspecialties that have led the way in developing standardized
      reporting, beginning with the 1954 Papanicolaou classification scheme for
      cervical-vaginal cytology and continuing through the Bethesda systems for
      gynecological cytology and several nongynecological cytology systems. The
      effective reporting of cytopathology necessarily becomes more complex as it
      addresses increasingly sophisticated management options, requiring the
      integration of information from a broader range of sources. In addition to the
      complexity of information inputs, a wider spectrum of consumers of these reports
      is emerging, from patients themselves to primary care providers to subspecialized
      disease management experts. Both these factors require that the reporting
      cytopathologist provide the integration and interpretation necessary to translate
      diverse forms of information into meaningful and actionable reports that will
      inform the care team while enabling the patient to meaningfully participate in
      his or her own care. To achieve such broad and focused communications will
      require first the development of standardized and integrated reports and
      ultimately the involvement of cytopathologists in the development of the clinical
      informatics needed to treat all these items of information as structured data
      elements with flexible reporting operators to address the full range of patient
      and patient care needs. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125(6 suppl):486-93. (c) 2017
      American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609006
TI  - Ships that pass in the night: The cancer cytopathologist and the patient - caring
      and communication.

PMID- 28609007
TI  - Measuring and assuring quality performance in cytology: A toolkit.

PMID- 28609008
TI  - Analytic inquiry: Validation and practical considerations.
AB  - Molecular diagnostics and cytopathology ideally are complementary medical
      services. When used together, they provide optimal benefit to patient care with
      the least risk of complications. However, many cytopathology laboratories are
      reluctant to bring in molecular tests, in part due to inexperience with regard to
      molecular test validation. This article is a brief review of the basic principles
      of molecular test validation as it applies to cytopathology samples. Regulatory
      constraints, practical considerations, and issues that are particular to
      cytopathology samples are discussed, along with a brief review of issues that
      pertain specifically to next-generation sequencing. This review should serve as a
      general guide to validating molecular tests in the cytopathology laboratory.
      Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125(6 suppl):465-9. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609010
TI  - Submicroscopic malaria infections in pregnant women from six departments in
      Haiti.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology of malaria in pregnancy in Haiti.
      METHODS: Cross-sectional study among pregnant women in six departments of Haiti.
      After obtaining informed consent, whole blood samples and demographic surveys
      were collected to investigate malaria prevalence, anaemia and socio-behavioural
      risk factors for infection, respectively. A total of 311 pregnant women were
      screened for Plasmodium falciparum infection using a rapid diagnostic test (RDT),
      microscopy and a novel, quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain
      reaction method (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: Overall, 1.2% (4/311) of pregnant women were
      tested positive for malaria infection by both microscopy and RDT. However, using
      the qRT-PCR, 16.4% (51/311) of pregnant women were positive. The prevalence of
      malaria infection varied with geographical locations ranging between 0% and
      46.4%. Additionally, 53% of pregnant women had some form of anaemia; however, no
      significant association was found between anaemia and submicroscopic malaria
      infection. The socio-behavioural risk factors identified to be protective of
      malaria infection were marital status (P < 0.05) and travel within one month
      prior to screening (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to document
      the high prevalence of submicroscopic malaria infections among pregnant women in
      Haiti and identify social and behavioural risk factors for disease transmission.

PMID- 28609009
TI  - Triage of the indeterminate thyroid aspirate: What are the options for the
      practicing cytopathologist?
AB  - Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) plays a key role in the early evaluation of patients
      with thyroid nodules; however, from 15% to 30% of FNA specimens are cytologically
      indeterminate. Molecular testing has proven useful when applied to indeterminate
      thyroid FNAs, and its use has been endorsed in the American Thyroid Association
      guidelines. In addition to the noncommercial ("in-house") application of v-Raf
      murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF), rat sarcoma (RAS), rearranged in
      transformation/papillary thyroid carcinoma (RET/PTC), and peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma/paired box gene 8 (PPARgamma/PAX8) testing, there are
      currently 3 commercially available molecular panels that vary in their relative
      reported performances, strengths, and limitations. Here, we discuss the role of
      molecular testing for indeterminate thyroid aspirates, taking into consideration
      the recent reclassification of the encapsulated follicular variant of papillary
      thyroid carcinoma (PTC) as "noninvasive follicular neoplasm with papillary-like
      nuclear features (NIFTP)." Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125(6 suppl):477-85. (c) 2017
      American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609011
TI  - The highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza A virus down-regulated several cellular
      MicroRNAs which target viral genome.
AB  - Higher and prolonged viral replication is critical for the increased pathogenesis
      of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype of H5N1 influenza A virus
      (IAV) over the lowly pathogenic H1N1 IAV strain. Recent studies highlighted the
      considerable roles of cellular miRNAs in host defence against viral infection. In
      this report, using a 3'UTR reporter system, we identified several putative miRNA
      target sites buried in the H5N1 virus genome. We found two miRNAs, miR-584-5p and
      miR-1249, that matched with the PB2 binding sequence. Moreover, we showed that
      these miRNAs dramatically down-regulated PB2 expression, and inhibited
      replication of H5N1 and H1N1 IAVs in A549 cells. Intriguingly, these miRNAs
      expression was differently regulated in A549 cells infected with the H5N1 and
      H1N1 viruses. Furthermore, transfection of miR-1249 inhibitor enhanced the PB2
      expression and promoted the replication of H5N1 and H1N1 IAVs. These results
      suggest that H5N1 virus may have evolved a mechanism to escape host-mediated
      inhibition of viral replication through down-regulation of cellular miRNAs, which
      target its viral genome.

PMID- 28609014
TI  - Space, time, and episodic memory: The hippocampus is all over the cognitive map.
AB  - In recent years, the field has reached an impasse between models suggesting that
      the hippocampus is fundamentally involved in spatial processing and models
      suggesting that the hippocampus automatically encodes all dimensions of
      experience in the service of memory. Here, we consider key conceptual issues that
      have impeded progress in our understanding of hippocampal function, and we review
      findings that establish the scope and limits of hippocampal involvement in
      navigation and memory. We argue that space and time serve as a primary scaffold
      to break up experiences into specific contexts, and to organize multimodal input
      that is to be associated within a context. However, the hippocampus is clearly
      capable of incorporating additional dimensions into the scaffold if they are
      determined to be relevant in the event-defined context. Conceiving of the
      hippocampal representation as constrained by immediate task demands-yet
      preferring axes that involve space and time-helps to reconcile an otherwise
      disparate set of findings on the core function of the hippocampus.

PMID- 28609013
TI  - Polydatin alleviated radiation-induced lung injury through activation of Sirt3
      and inhibition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is one of the most common and fatal
      complications of thoracic radiotherapy. It is characterized with two main
      features including early radiation pneumonitis and fibrosis in later phase. This
      study was to investigate the potential radioprotective effects of polydatin (PD),
      which was shown to exert anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative capacities in other
      diseases. In this study, we demonstrated that PD-mitigated acute inflammation and
      late fibrosis caused by irradiation. PD treatment inhibited TGF-beta1-Smad3
      signalling pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, radiation
      induced imbalance of Th1/Th2 was also alleviated by PD treatment. Besides its
      free radical scavenging capacity, PD induced a huge increase of Sirt3 in culture
      cells and lung tissues. The level of Nrf2 and PGC1alpha in lung tissues was also
      elevated. In conclusion, our data showed that PD attenuated radiation-induced
      lung injury through inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition and increased
      the expression of Sirt3, suggesting PD as a novel potential radioprotector for
      RILI.

PMID- 28609015
TI  - WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX4 (WOX4)-like genes regulate cambial cell division
      activity and secondary growth in Populus trees.
AB  - Plant secondary growth derives from the meristematic activity of the vascular
      cambium. In Arabidopsis thaliana, cell divisions in the cambium are regulated by
      the transcription factor WOX4, a key target of the CLAVATA3 (CLV3)/EMBRYO
      SURROUNDING REGION (ESR)-RELATED 41 (CLE41) signaling pathway. However, function
      of the WOX4-like genes in plants that are dependent on a much more prolific
      secondary growth, such as trees, remains unclear. Here, we investigate the role
      of WOX4 and CLE41 homologs for stem secondary growth in Populus trees. In
      Populus, PttWOX4 genes are specifically expressed in the cambial region during
      vegetative growth, but not after growth cessation and during dormancy, possibly
      involving a regulation by auxin. In PttWOX4a/b RNAi trees, primary growth was not
      affected whereas the width of the vascular cambium was severely reduced and
      secondary growth was greatly diminished. Our data show that in Populus trees,
      PttWOX4 genes control cell division activity in the vascular cambium, and hence
      growth in stem girth. This activity involves the positive regulation of
      PttWOX4a/b through PttCLE41-related genes. Finally, expression profiling suggests
      that the CLE41 signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved program for the
      regulation of vascular cambium activity between angiosperm and gymnosperm tree
      species.

PMID- 28609017
TI  - Clinical aspects of magnesium physiology in patients on dialysis.
AB  - Magnesium balance is infrequently discussed in the dialysis population, and the
      clinical consequences of derangements in magnesium homeostasis are incompletely
      understood. There is an association between hypomagnesemia and adverse outcomes
      including increases in cardiovascular disease and mortality, while elevated
      magnesium levels have also been linked with complications such as osteomalacia.
      In this review, we discuss the features of magnesium physiology relevant to
      dialysis patients and provide an updated summary of the literature linking
      magnesium derangements with bone disease, cardiovascular disease, sudden cardiac
      death, and mortality.

PMID- 28609016
TI  - Multiparametric Whole Blood Dissection: A one-shot comprehensive picture of the
      human hematopoietic system.
AB  - Human hematopoiesis is a complex and dynamic system where morphologically and
      functionally diverse mature cell types are generated and maintained throughout
      life by bone marrow (BM) Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells (HSPC). Congenital
      and acquired hematopoietic disorders are often diagnosed through the detection of
      aberrant frequency or composition of hematopoietic cell populations. We here
      describe a novel protocol, called "Whole Blood Dissection" (WBD), capable of
      analyzing in a single test-tube, hematopoietic progenitors and all major mature
      cell lineages composing either BM or peripheral blood (PB) through a
      multiparametric flow-cytometry analysis. WBD allows unambiguously identifying in
      the same tube up to 23 different blood cell types including HSPC subtypes and all
      the major myeloid and lymphoid lineage compartments at different stages of
      maturation, through a combination of 17 surface and 1 viability cell markers. We
      assessed the efficacy of WBD by analyzing BM and PB samples from adult (n = 8)
      and pediatric (n = 9) healthy donors highlighting age-related shift in cell
      composition. We also tested the capability of WBD on detecting aberrant
      hematopoietic cell composition in clinical samples of patients with primary
      immunodeficiency or leukemia unveiling expected and novel hematopoietic
      unbalances. Overall, WBD allows unambiguously identifying >99% of the cell
      subpopulations composing a blood sample in a reproducible, standardized, cost-,
      and time-efficient manner. This tool has a wide range of potential pre-clinical
      and clinical applications going from the characterization of hematopoietic
      disorders to the monitoring of hematopoietic reconstitution in patients after
      transplant or gene therapy. (c) 2017 The Authors. Cytometry Part A Published by
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of ISAC.

PMID- 28609018
TI  - PCL/PHBV blended three dimensional scaffolds fabricated by fused deposition
      modeling and responses of chondrocytes to the scaffolds.
AB  - In this study, poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3
      hydroxyvalerate) (PCL/PHBV) blended porous scaffolds were fabricated by fused
      deposition modeling (FDM). PCL/PHBV filaments, initially prepared at different
      weight ratios, that is, 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75, were fabricated by the
      lay-down pattern of 0/90/45/135 degrees  to obtain scaffolds with dimension of
      6.0 * 6.0 * 2.5 mm3 and average filament diameters and channel sizes in the
      ranges of 370-390 um and 190-210 um, respectively. To enhance the surface
      hydrophilicity of the materials, the scaffolds were subsequently subjected to a
      low pressure oxygen plasma treatment. The untreated and plasma-treated scaffolds
      were comparatively characterized, in terms of surface properties, mechanical
      strength, and biological properties. From SEM, AFM, water contact angle, and XPS
      results, the surface roughness, wettability, and hydrophilicity of the blended
      scaffolds were found to be enhanced after plasma treatment, while the compressive
      strength of the scaffolds was scarcely changed. It was, however, found to
      increase with an increasing content of PHBV incorporated. The porcine
      chondrocytes exhibited higher proliferative capacity and chondrogenic potential
      when being cultured on the scaffolds with greater PHBV contents, especially when
      they were plasma-treated. The PCL/PHBV scaffolds were proven to possess good
      physical, mechanical, and biological properties that could be appropriately used
      in articular cartilage regeneration. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed
      Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 1141-1150, 2017.

PMID- 28609019
TI  - Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking studies of novel 3-aryl-5
      (alkyl-thio)-1H-1,2,4-triazoles derivatives targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - A small library of new 3-aryl-5-(alkyl-thio)-1H-1,2,4-triazoles was synthesized
      and screened for the antimycobacterial potency against Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      H37 Ra strain and Mycobacterium bovis BCG both in active and dormant stage. Among
      the synthesized library, 25 compounds exhibited promising anti-TB activity in the
      range of IC50 0.03-5.88 MUg/ml for dormant stage and 20 compounds in the range of
      0.03-6.96 MUg/ml for active stage. Their lower toxicity (>100 MUg/ml) and higher
      selectivity (SI = >10) against all cancer cell lines screened make them
      interesting compounds with potential antimycobacterial effects. Furthermore, to
      rationalize the observed biological activity data and to establish a structural
      basis for inhibition of M. tuberculosis, the molecular docking study was carried
      out against a potential target MTB CYP121 which revealed a significant
      correlation between the binding score and biological activity for these
      compounds. Cytotoxicity and in vivo pharmacokinetic studies suggested that 1,2,4
      triazole analogues have an acceptable safety index, in vivo stability and bio
      availability.

PMID- 28609021
TI  - The critical role of EBUS-TBNA cytology in the staging of mediastinal lymph nodes
      in lung cancer patients: A correlation study with positron emission tomography
      findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The sensitivity and specificity of positron emission tomography (PET)
      have been significantly improved for the identification of malignancies in recent
      years; however, it is still necessary to confirm PET findings in a lymph node
      (LN) by direct tissue sampling. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial
      needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is the most commonly used approach for diagnosing
      and staging mediastinal LNs, particularly in lung cancer patients with locally
      advanced disease. Despite this fact, evidence-based studies of EBUS-TBNA cytology
      and PET findings are still suboptimal. METHODS: The electronic database at the
      Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the pathology archives were searched to
      identify patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy who had both EBUS-TBNA
      mediastinal LN sampling and a PET scan over a 14-month period. Patients suspected
      of having lung cancer and patients with a history of lung cancer were included in
      this study. Cytological diagnoses and follow-up surgical LN diagnoses were
      reviewed and correlated with PET scan findings. RESULTS: A total of 140 LNs from
      79 patients, including 86 PET-positive LNs and 54 PET-negative LNs, were
      included. The most frequently sampled LNs were 4R and 7. The average size of PET
      positive and PET-negative LNs was 1.2 and 1.6 cm, respectively. Among PET
      positive LNs, 41.9% were malignant, 41.9% showed reactive changes or
      granulomatous inflammation, and 9.3% were nondiagnostic by EBUS-TBNA. However,
      among PET-negative LNs, 74.1% showed reactive changes or granulomatous
      inflammation, 7.4% were malignant, and 18.5% were nondiagnostic by EBUS-TBNA.
      CONCLUSIONS: The data demonstrate that EBUS-TBNA cytology improves the diagnostic
      accuracy of mediastinal LNs and clinical staging. Furthermore, EBUS-TBNA may
      identify additional malignant LNs (7.4%), and this highlights the risk for false
      negative findings with PET scanning in isolation. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125:717
      25. (c) 2017 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 28609020
TI  - Sorafenib vs surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma with macrovascular
      invasion: A propensity score analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIM: Sorafenib is the standard of care for patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and macrovascular invasion (MVI), with limited
      survival. Retrospective surgical studies have reported prolonged survival in this
      situation. This study aimed to compare the overall survival of patients with HCC
      and MVI treated with surgical resection or sorafenib. METHODS: A total of 143
      patients with HCC and MVI but no extra-hepatic spread, treated with surgical
      resection (SR-patients; n=75) or sorafenib (SOR-patients; n=68) in four French
      centres between 1990 and 2013 were reviewed retrospectively. A propensity score
      analysis was performed to reduce bias. RESULTS: SR-patients were significantly
      younger and had a lower tumour burden than SOR-patients. Median overall survival
      (OS) rates were 10.1 months [95% CI: 4.1-16.1] in SR-patients and 12.9 months
      [95% CI: 7.9-17.9] in SOR-patients (P=.959). The 90-day mortality rate was 16%
      (n=12) in SR-patients and 7.5% (n=5) in SOR-patients (P=.196). SR-patients had a
      median disease-free survival of 4.60 months [95% CI: 3.3-5.9]. Under the
      propensity analysis, median OS was 12.0 months [95% CI: 5.5-18.5] in SR-patients
      vs 9.7 months [95% CI: 6.1-13.3] in SOR-patients (P=.682). Under multivariate
      analysis, extensive MVI (HR=1.956, P=.024) and bilirubin >17 MUmol/L (HR=1.738,
      P=.011) were the two factors significantly associated with mortality. CONCLUSION:
      Under a propensity score analysis, the overall survival of patients with HCC and
      MVI undergoing surgical resection was similar to that achieved with sorafenib. We
      were not able to identify a patient subgroup experiencing a surgery-related
      improvement in survival, and quality of life was not evaluable.

PMID- 28609023
TI  - Relationships of sex hormone levels with leukocyte telomere length in Black,
      Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander postmenopausal women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sex hormones may play important roles in sex-specific biological
      aging. In the study, we specifically examined associations between circulating
      sex hormone concentrations and leukocyte telomere length (TL). METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted among 1124 Black, 444 Hispanic, and 289
      Asian/Pacific Islander women in the Women's Health Initiative Observational
      Cohort. Estradiol and testosterone concentrations were measured using
      electrochemiluminescence immunoassays; TL was measured using quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Women in the study were aged 50-79 years.
      Estradiol concentrations were not significantly associated with TL in this
      sample. The associations between total and free testosterone and TL differed by
      race/ethnicity (Pinteraction  = 0.03 and 0.05 for total and free testosterone,
      respectively). Total and free testosterone concentrations were not associated
      with TL in Black and Hispanic women, whereas in Asian/Pacific Islander women
      their concentrations were inversely associated with TL (Ptrend  = 0.003 for
      both). These associations appeared robust in multiple subgroup analyses and
      multivariable models adjusted for potential confounding factors. In Asian/Pacific
      Islander women, a doubling of serum free and total testosterone concentrations
      was associated with a 202-bp shorter TL (95% confidence interval [CI] 51-353 bp)
      and 203-bp shorter TL (95% CI 50-355 bp), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum
      estradiol concentrations were not associated with leukocyte TL in this large
      sample of postmenopausal women. Total and free testosterone concentrations were
      inversely associated with TL in Asian/Pacific Islander women, but not in Black
      and Hispanic women, although future studies to replicate our observations are
      warranted particularly to address potential ethnicity-specific relationships.

PMID- 28609022
TI  - MiR-29b-3p promotes chondrocyte apoptosis and facilitates the occurrence and
      development of osteoarthritis by targeting PGRN.
AB  - This study was aimed to explore the role of miR-29b-3p and PGRN in chondrocyte
      apoptosis and the initiation and progress of osteoarthritis (OA). Both miR-29b-3p
      and PGRN were up-regulated in cartilage tissue from patients with OA.
      Transfection of miR-29b-3p mimic into rat primary chondrocytes and SW1353
      chondrosarcoma cells significantly suppressed PGRN expression and release,
      induced apoptosis, inhibited proliferation and scratch wound closure. By
      contrast, transfection of miR-29b-3p inhibitor exhibited the opposite effects.
      Moreover, the expression and secretion of cartilaginous degeneration-related
      molecules were also altered by miR-29b-3p. Luciferase reporter gene assay showed
      rat GRN mRNA is directly targeted and repressed by miR-29b-3p. The fact that
      recombinant PGRN or shPGRN-mediated PGRN interference abolished miR-29b-3p mimic
      induced cell apoptosis and growth inhibition suggested miR-29b-3p affect the
      cellular functions of chondrocyte through regulating PGRN expression. In vivo,
      joint cavity injection of miR-29b-3p antagomir prior to surgical induction of OA
      significantly suppressed the upregulation of miR-29b-3p, whereas further promoted
      the increased expression of PGRN. Articular chondrocytes apoptosis and cartilage
      loss in the knee joint of surgically induced OA rats were also ameliorated by the
      injection of miR-29b-3p antagomir, demonstrated by TUNEL and safranin O-fast
      green staining. This work showed miR-29b-3p facilitates chondrocyte apoptosis and
      OA by targeting PGRN, and miR-29b-3p or PGRN may be the potential target for OA
      treatments.

PMID- 28609089
TI  - Light-Triggered Ternary Device and Inverter Based on Heterojunction of van der
      Waals Materials.
AB  - Multivalued logic (MVL) devices/circuits have received considerable attention
      because the binary logic used in current Si complementary metal-oxide
      semiconductor (CMOS) technology cannot handle the predicted information
      throughputs and energy demands of the future. To realize MVL, the conventional
      transistor platform needs to be redesigned to have two or more distinctive
      threshold voltages (VTHs). Here, we report a finding: the photoinduced drain
      current in graphene/WSe2 heterojunction transistors unusually decreases with
      increasing gate voltage under illumination, which we refer to as the light
      induced negative differential transconductance (L-NDT) phenomenon. We also prove
      that such L-NDT phenomenon in specific bias ranges originates from a variable
      potential barrier at a graphene/WSe2 junction due to a gate-controllable graphene
      electrode. This finding allows us to conceive graphene/WSe2-based MVL logic
      circuits by using the ID-VG characteristics with two distinctive VTHs. Based on
      this finding, we further demonstrate a light-triggered ternary inverter circuit
      with three stable logical states (DeltaVout of each state <0.05 V). Our study
      offers the pathway to substantialize MVL systems.

PMID- 28609090
TI  - Emerging beta-Sheet Rich Conformations in Supercompact Huntingtin Exon-1 Mutant
      Structures.
AB  - There exists strong correlation between the extended polyglutamines (polyQ)
      within exon-1 of Huntingtin protein (Htt) and age onset of Huntington's disease
      (HD); however, the underlying molecular mechanism is still poorly understood.
      Here we apply extensive molecular dynamics simulations to study the folding of
      Htt-exon-1 across five different polyQ-lengths. We find an increase in secondary
      structure motifs at longer Q-lengths, including beta-sheet content that seems to
      contribute to the formation of increasingly compact structures. More strikingly,
      these longer Q-lengths adopt supercompact structures as evidenced by a
      surprisingly small power-law scaling exponent (0.22) between the radius-of
      gyration and Q-length that is substantially below expected values for compact
      globule structures (~0.33) and unstructured proteins (~0.50). Hydrogen bond
      analyses further revealed that the supercompact behavior of polyQ is mainly due
      to the "glue-like" behavior of glutamine's side chains with significantly more
      side chain-side chain H-bonds than regular proteins in the Protein Data Bank
      (PDB). The orientation of the glutamine side chains also tend to be "buried"
      inside, explaining why polyQ domains are insoluble on their own.

PMID- 28609091
TI  - Supercapacitor Electrodes with Remarkable Specific Capacitance Converted from
      Hybrid Graphene Oxide/NaCl/Urea Films.
AB  - A novel approach to improve the specific capacitance of reduced graphene oxide
      (rGO) films is reported. We combine the aqueous dispersion of liquid-crystalline
      GO incorporating salt and urea with a blade-coating technique to make hybrid
      films. After drying, stacked GO sheets mediated by solidified NaCl and urea are
      hydrothermally reduced, resulting in a nanoporous film consisting of rumpled N
      doped rGO sheets. As a supercapacitor electrode, the film exhibits a high
      gravimetric specific capacitance of 425 F g-1 and a record volumetric specific
      capacitance of 693 F cm-3 at 1 A g-1 in 1 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte when
      integrated into a symmetric cell. When using Li2SO4 aqueous electrolyte, which
      can extend the potential window to 1.6 V, the device exhibits high energy
      densities up to 35 Wh kg-1, and high power densities up to 104 W kg-1. This novel
      strategy to intercalate solidified chemicals into stacked GO sheets to
      functionalize them and prevent them from restacking provides a promising route
      toward supercapacitors with high specific capacitance and energy density.

PMID- 28609092
TI  - Redox-Responsive Polysulfide-Based Biodegradable Organosilica Nanoparticles for
      Delivery of Bioactive Agents.
AB  - Design and development of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) with a controlled
      degradation profile promises effective drug delivery with a predetermined carrier
      elimination profile. In this research, we fabricated a series of redox-responsive
      polysulfide-based biodegradable SiO2 NPs with low polydispersity and with
      variations in size (average diameters of 58 +/- 7, 108 +/- 11, 110 +/- 9, 124 +/-
      9, and 332 +/- 6 nm), porosity, and composition (disulfide vs tetrasulfide
      bonds). The degradation kinetics of the nanoparticles was analyzed in the
      presence of 8 mM glutathione (GSH), mimicking the intracellular reducing
      condition. Results indicate that porosity and core composition play the
      predominant roles in the degradation rate of these nanoparticles. The 108 nm
      mesoporous disulfide-based nanoparticles showed the highest degradation rate
      among all the synthesized nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
      reveals that nonporous nanoparticles undergo surface erosion, while porous
      nanoparticles undergo both surface and bulk erosion under reducing environment.
      The cytotoxicity of these nanoparticles in RAW 264.7 macrophages was evaluated.
      Results show that all these nanoparticles with the IC50 values ranging from 233
      +/- 42 to 705 +/- 17 MUg mL-1 do not have cytotoxic effect in macrophages at
      concentrations less than 125 MUg mL-1. The degradation products of these
      nanoparticles collected within 15 days did not show cytotoxicity in the same
      macrophage cell line after 24 h of incubation. In vitro doxorubicin (DOX) release
      was examined in 108 nm mesoporous disulfide-based nanoparticles in the absence
      and presence of 8 mM GSH. It was shown that drug release depends on intracellular
      reducing conditions. Due to their ease of synthesis and scale up, robust
      structure, and the ability to control size, composition, release, and
      elimination, biodegradable SiO2 NPs provide an alternative platform for delivery
      of bioactive and imaging agents.

PMID- 28609093
TI  - Disilicate-Assisted Iron Electrolysis for Sequential Fenton-Oxidation and
      Coagulation of Aqueous Contaminants.
AB  - Sodium disilicate (SD), an inorganic and environmentally friendly ligand, is
      introduced into the conventional iron electrolysis system to achieve an oxidizing
      Fenton process to degrade organic pollutants. Electrolytic ferrous ions, which
      are complexed by the disilicate ions, can chemically reduce dioxygen molecules
      via consecutive reduction steps, producing H2O2 for the Fenton-oxidation of
      organics. At the near-neutral pH (from 6 to 8), the disilicate-Fe(II) complexes
      possess strong reducing capabilities; therefore, a near-neutral pH rather than an
      acid condition is preferable for the disilicate-assisted iron electrolysis (DAIE)
      process. Following the DAIE process, the different complexing capacities of
      disilicate for ferrous/ferric ions and calcium ions can be used to break the
      disilicate-iron complexes. The addition of CaO or CaCl2 can precipitate
      ferrous/ferric ions, disilicates and possibly heavy metals in the wastewater.
      Compared to previously reported organic and phosphorus ligands, SD is a low-cost
      inorganic agent that does not lead to secondary pollution, and would not compete
      with the target organic pollutants for *OH; therefore, it would greatly expand
      the application fields of the O2 activation process. The combination of DAIE and
      CaO treatments is envisioned to be a versatile and affordable method for treating
      wastewater with complicated pollutants (e.g., mixtures of biorefractory organics
      and heavy metals).

PMID- 28609094
TI  - Photochemical Bionanoreactor for Efficient Visible-Light-Driven in Vitro Drug
      Metabolism.
AB  - In light of the significance of cytochrome P450 (CYP) catalyzed drug metabolism
      for drug development and toxicity screening, it is very important to imitate
      natural metabolic pathways accurately and efficiently in vitro. Herein, a novel
      and simple photochemical bionanoreactor has been constructed for efficient
      visible-light-driven in vitro drug metabolism based on eosin-Y-functionalized
      macroporous ordered silica foams (MOSF-EY). Because of the unique transfer of
      photoinduced electrons from photosensitizers to CYP heme domain, CYP catalyzed
      drug metabolism can be in vitro driven by the MOSF-EY nanoreactor under the
      irradiation of visible light. In such a case, the utilization of expensive
      electron donors, such as NADPH, can be avoided. Meanwhile, the in vitro drug
      metabolism approach exhibits high efficiency because of the fast adsorption of
      both CYP and drug molecules from the bulk solution into the nanopores of MOSF-EY,
      where the enzyme and substrate are highly concentrated and confined in nanospace
      to achieve a high reaction rate. Taking advantage of these attractive merits, the
      first example of photochemical bionanoreactor has been successfully applied in in
      vitro metabolism of both purified drug molecules and real tablets. Not only
      excellent CYP-catalyzed drug metabolism but also enzyme inhibition assay has been
      performed with the MOSF-EY photochemical bionanoreactor.

PMID- 28609095
TI  - Chirality Control of Electron Transfer in Quantum Dot Assemblies.
AB  - Electron spin and molecular chirality are emerging as factors that can be used
      effectively to direct charge flow at the molecular scale. We report order of
      magnitude effects of molecular chirality on electron-transfer rates between
      quantum dots (QDs) in chiral QD assemblies. Indeed, both the circular
      polarization of the light that excites the electron donor and the imprinted
      chirality of the acceptor QDs affect the dot-to-dot electron-transfer kinetics.
      We define a polarization for the electron-transfer rate constant and show that it
      correlates with the strength of the acceptor QD circular dichroism (CD) spectrum.
      These findings imply that the CD strength of the QD exciton transition(s) may be
      used as a predictor for the spin-dependent electron transfer, indicating that
      chiral imprinting of the dots may lie at the origin of this phenomenon.

PMID- 28609097
TI  - Computational Study of H2S Release in Reactions of Diallyl Polysulfides with
      Thiols.
AB  - Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a gasotransmitter molecule recognized for its role in
      cell signaling. Garlic-derived polysulfides including diallyl disulfide (DADS)
      and diallyl trisulfide (DATS) have been shown to release H2S. We investigated the
      mechanism of the reaction of DADS and DATS with biological thiols, including
      cysteine (Cys) and glutathione (GSH), using density functional theory. We propose
      that Cys and GSH react with DADS and DATS in their anionic forms. Thiol anions
      are much more likely to attack the sulfur atoms of DADS and DATS than the alpha
      carbon of allyl groups. We found that nucleophilic attack of thiol anions on the
      peripheral sulfur of DATS is kinetically and thermodynamically more favorable
      than that on the central sulfur atom, resulting in the formation of allyl
      perthiol anion (ASS-). In the presence of Cys or GSH, H2S is released by proton
      shuffle from the thiol to ASS-, followed by another nucleophilic attack by thiol
      anion on ASSH. Our computed potential energy surfaces revealed that GSH and Cys
      are capable of releasing H2S from DATS and that DADS is a much poorer H2S donor
      than DATS.

PMID- 28609096
TI  - Identification and Profiling of a Selective and Brain Penetrant Radioligand for
      in Vivo Target Occupancy Measurement of Casein Kinase 1 (CK1) Inhibitors.
AB  - To enable the clinical development of our CNS casein kinase 1 delta/epsilon
      (CK1delta/epsilon) inhibitor project, we investigated the possibility of
      developing a CNS positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand. For this effort,
      we focused our design and synthesis efforts on the initial CK1delta/epsilon
      inhibitor HTS hits with the goal of identifying a compound that would fulfill a
      set of recommended PET ligand criteria. We identified [3H]PF-5236216 (9) as a
      tool ligand that meets most of the key CNS PET attributes including high CNS MPO
      PET desirability score and kinase selectivity, CNS penetration, and low
      nonspecific binding. We further used [3H]-9 to determine the binding affinity for
      PF-670462, a literature CK1delta/epsilon inhibitor tool compound. Lastly, [3H]-9
      was used to measure in vivo target occupancy (TO) of PF-670462 in mouse and
      correlated TO with CK1delta/epsilon in vivo pharmacology (circadian rhythm
      modulation).

PMID- 28609098
TI  - Simulation of Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure with Time-Dependent
      Equation-of-Motion Coupled-Cluster Theory.
AB  - An explicitly time-dependent (TD) approach to equation-of-motion (EOM) coupled
      cluster theory with single and double excitations (CCSD) is implemented for
      simulating near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure in molecular systems. The TD
      EOM-CCSD absorption line shape function is given by the Fourier transform of the
      CCSD dipole autocorrelation function. We represent this transform by its Pade
      approximant, which provides converged spectra in much shorter simulation times
      than are required by the Fourier form. The result is a powerful framework for the
      blackbox simulation of broadband absorption spectra. K-edge X-ray absorption
      spectra for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in several small molecules are obtained
      from the real part of the absorption line shape function and are compared with
      experiment. The computed and experimentally obtained spectra are in good
      agreement; the mean unsigned error in the predicted peak positions is only 1.2
      eV. We also explore the spectral signatures of protonation in these molecules.

PMID- 28609099
TI  - Botrysphones A-C and Botrysphins A-F, Triketides and Diterpenoids from the Fungus
      Botrysphaeria laricina.
AB  - Three new triketides, botrysphones A-C (1-3) and six new isopimarane-type
      diterpenoids, botrysphins A-F (4-9), together with the known triketides
      sphaeropsidone (10) and chlorosphaeropsidone (11) and diterpenoids sphaeropsidins
      A and B (12 and 13), were obtained from culture of the fungus Botrysphaeria
      laricina associated with the moss Rhodobryum umgiganteum. The structures of the
      new compounds were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic techniques
      including HRMS and 1D and 2D NMR data. Compounds 7 and 12 showed significant
      quinone reductase inducing activity in Hepa 1c1c7 cells.

PMID- 28609100
TI  - Fiaud's Acid: A Bronsted Acid Catalyst for Enantioselective Friedel-Crafts
      Alkylation of Indoles with 2-Alkene-1,4-diones.
AB  - Fiaud's acid (trans-1-hydroxy-2,5-diphenylphospholane 1-oxide), a phospholane
      based phosphinic acid, is introduced as an efficient chiral Bronsted acid
      catalyst that mediates the asymmetric Friedel-Crafts alkylation of indoles with 2
      butene-1,4-diones. With a catalyst loading of 10 mol %, the reaction proceeded
      smoothly to afford 2-(indol-3-yl)butane-1,4-diones in high yield (up to 82%) and
      high enantioselectivity (up to 91% ee, one such product showed enhanced ee of 98%
      after recrystallization). The reaction conditions are sufficiently mild to
      tolerate sensitive functionality at room temperature and are therefore suitable
      for the synthesis of complex targets.

PMID- 28609102
TI  - Mesoporous Titania Microspheres with Highly Tunable Pores as an Anode Material
      for Lithium Ion Batteries.
AB  - Mesoporous titania microspheres (MTMs) have been employed in many applications,
      including (photo)catalysis as well as energy conversion and storage. Their
      morphology offers a hierarchical structural design motif that lends itself to
      being incorporated into established large-scale fabrication processes. Despite
      the fact that device performance hinges on the precise morphological
      characteristics of these materials, control over the detailed mesopore structure
      and the tunability of the pore size remains a challenge. Especially the
      accessibility of a wide range of mesopore sizes by the same synthesis method is
      desirable, as this would allow for a comparative study of the relationship
      between structural features and performance. Here, we report a method that
      combines sol-gel chemistry with polymer micro- and macrophase separation to
      synthesize porous titania spheres with diameters in the micrometer range. The as
      prepared MTMs exhibit well-defined, accessible porosities with mesopore sizes
      adjustable by the choice of the polymers. When applied as an anode material in
      lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the MTMs demonstrate excellent performance. The
      influence of the pore size and an in situ carbon coating on charge transport and
      storage is examined, providing important insights for the optimization of
      structured titania anodes in LIBs. Our synthesis strategy presents a facile one
      pot approach that can be applied to different structure-directing agents and
      inorganic materials, thus further extending its scope of application.

PMID- 28609101
TI  - Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Thiazolidine-2,4-dione Derivatives as a
      Novel Class of Glutaminase Inhibitors.
AB  - Humans have two glutaminase genes, GLS (GLS1) and GLS2, each of which has two
      alternative transcripts: the kidney isoform (KGA) and glutaminase C (GAC) for
      GLS, and the liver isoform (LGA) and glutaminase B (GAB) for GLS2. Initial hit
      compound (Z)-5-((1-(4-bromophenyl)-2,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrrol-3
      yl)methylene)thiazolidine-2,4-dione (2), a thiazolidine-2,4-dione, was obtained
      from a high throughput screening of 40 000 compounds against KGA. Subsequently, a
      series of thiazolidine-2,4-dione derivatives was synthesized. Most of these were
      found to inhibit KGA and GAC with comparable activities, were less potent
      inhibitors of GAB, and were moderately selective for GLS1 over GLS2. The
      relationships between chemical structure, activity, and selectivity were
      investigated. The lead compounds obtained were found to (1) offer in vitro
      cellular activities for inhibiting cell growth, clonogenicity, and cellular
      glutamate production, (2) exhibit high concentrations of exposure in plasma by a
      pharmacokinetic study, and (3) reduce the tumor size of xenografted human
      pancreatic AsPC-1 carcinoma cells in mice.

PMID- 28609103
TI  - Molecular Sieving Across Centimeter-Scale Single-Layer Nanoporous Graphene
      Membranes.
AB  - Molecular sieving across atomically thin nanoporous graphene is predicted to
      enable superior gas separation performance compared to conventional membranes.
      Although molecular sieving has been demonstrated across a few pores in microscale
      graphene membranes, leakage through nonselective defects presents a major
      challenge toward realizing selective membranes with high densities of pores over
      macroscopic areas. Guided by multiscale gas transport modeling of nanoporous
      graphene membranes, we designed the porous support beneath the graphene to
      isolate small defects and minimize leakage through larger defects. Ion
      bombardment followed by oxygen plasma etching was used to produce subnanometer
      pores in graphene at a density of ~1011 cm-2. Gas permeance measurements
      demonstrate selectivity that exceeds the Knudsen effusion ratio and scales with
      the kinetic diameter of the gas molecules, providing evidence of molecular
      sieving across centimeter-scale nanoporous graphene. The extracted nanoporous
      graphene performance is comparable to or exceeds the Robeson limit for polymeric
      gas separation membranes, confirming the potential of nanoporous graphene
      membranes for gas separations.

PMID- 28609104
TI  - Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate Alters the Synthesis and beta-Oxidation of Fatty Acids
      and Hinders ATP Supply in Mouse Testes via UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS-Based
      Metabonomics Study.
AB  - Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is considered to be an environmental endocrine
      disruptor at high levels of general exposure. Studies show that DEHP may cause
      testicular toxicity on human being. In this study, metabonomics techniques were
      used to identify differential endogenous metabolites, draw the network metabolic
      pathways, and conduct network analysis, to determine the underlying mechanisms of
      testicular toxicity induced by DEHP. The results showed that DEHP inhibited
      synthesis and accelerated beta-oxidation of fatty acids and impaired the
      tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) and gluconeogenesis, resulting in lactic
      acid accumulation and an insufficient ATP supply in the microenvironment of the
      testis. These alterations led to testicular atrophy and, thus, may be the
      underlying causes of testicular toxicity. DEHP also inhibited peroxisome
      proliferator activated receptors in the testis, which may be another potential
      reason for the testicular atrophy. These findings provided new insights to better
      understand the mechanisms of testicular toxicity induced by DEHP exposure.

PMID- 28609105
TI  - Exploring Solvation Effects in Ligand-Exchange Reactions via Static and Dynamic
      Methods.
AB  - We investigate ligand-exchange reactions of a biomimetic Co(II)-based
      heterocubane complex in aqueous solution by means of various approaches for
      consideration of solvent effects. Static calculations based on geometry
      optimizations carried out in vacuum, with solvent continuum models, or with
      several explicit solvent molecules have been carried out as well as density
      functional theory (DFT)-based molecular dynamics simulations. In addition,
      reaction pathways and barriers have been elucidated via nudged elastic band
      calculations and metadynamics. The results show that static approaches with
      approximate consideration of the solvent environment lead to reaction energies,
      which may change drastically depending on the method employed. A more
      sophisticated approach is DFT-molecular dynamics at ambient conditions with full
      solvation, i.e. enough solvent molecules to retain bulk water properties far from
      the solute, which, however, comes with a much higher computational cost. The
      investigated example of the exchange of an acetate ligand by a hydroxide
      demonstrates that entropic contributions can be vital and consideration of
      electronic energies alone may be a rather rough approximation.

PMID- 28609106
TI  - In Situ Fabrication of Defective CoNx Single Clusters on Reduced Graphene Oxide
      Sheets with Excellent Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction.
AB  - A facile one-step strategy for anchoring defective CoNx single clusters on partly
      reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is constructed to significantly improve the
      catalytic performance of non-noble metal complexes toward oxygen reduction
      reaction (ORR). Sequent loading with trace amounts of metal-free porphyrin and
      Co2+ in RGO can dramatically enhance both the half-wave potential and the peak
      current density. Intriguingly, the RGO/P/2Co single cluster exhibits the best ORR
      catalytic performance with the half-wave potential of 0.834 V, extremely
      approaching that of commercial Pt/C (0.836 V). This half-wave potential surpasses
      most of the reported half-wave potentials of RGO supported non-noble metal ORR
      catalysts through low-temperature synthesis. Furthermore, the as-prepared
      RGO/P/2Co delivers a peak current density of 1.3 times higher than that of Pt/C
      at the same loading, together with a high mass activity of 2.76 A mgCo-1. During
      the durability test, a cathodic current loss less than 10% is recorded after 8000
      continuous potential cycles. Insights into this successful example will be
      conducive to the development of elegant routes for constructing metal nitrogen
      (MN)-based ORR catalysts with high efficiency, outstanding stability, and
      excellent selectivity.

PMID- 28609107
TI  - One-Step Generation of Salt-Responsive Polyelectrolyte Microcapsules via
      Surfactant-Organized Nanoscale Interfacial Complexation in Emulsions (SO NICE).
AB  - Polyelectrolyte microcapsules are versatile compartments for encapsulation,
      protection, and controlled/triggered release of active agents. Conventional
      methods of polyelectrolyte microcapsule preparation require multiple steps or do
      not allow for efficient encapsulation of active agents in the lumen of the
      microcapsule. In this work, we present the fabrication of hollow polyelectrolyte
      microcapsules with a salt-responsive property based on surfactant organized
      nanoscale interfacial complexation in emulsions (SO NICE). In SO NICE,
      polyelectrolyte microcapsules are templated by water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W)
      double emulsions. One polyelectrolyte is dissolved in the inner water droplet of
      the W/O/W double emulsions, whereas the second polyelectrolyte is dissolved in
      the organic phase by hydrophobic ion paring with an oppositely charged
      hydrophobic surfactant. Interfacial complexation of the two polyelectrolytes
      generates a few hundred-nanometer thick film at the inner water-oil interface of
      the W/O/W double emulsions. SO NICE microcapsules can be triggered to release
      their cargo by increasing the ionic strength of the solution, which is a hallmark
      of polyelectrolyte-based microcapsules. By enabling dissolution and interfacial
      complexation of polyelectrolytes in organic solvents, SO NICE widens the pallet
      of polymers that can be used to generate functional polyelectrolyte microcapsules
      with high encapsulation efficiency for applications in encapsulation and
      controlled/triggered release.

PMID- 28609108
TI  - Stereoselective Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Furylalkenes via Gold-Catalyzed
      Cross-Coupling of Enynones with Diazo Compounds.
AB  - A stereoselective, gold-catalyzed, cross-coupling reaction of enynones with diazo
      compounds has been developed, affording 2-alkenylfurans in moderate to good
      yields with excellent E-stereoselectivity. Upon using diazo compounds as
      nucleophiles to trap the in situ formed gold furyl carbene, this protocol
      provides a novel path toward the formation of unsymmetrical tetrasubstituted
      alkenes.

PMID- 28609109
TI  - Accuracy and Radiation Dose Reduction of Limited-Range CT in the Evaluation of
      Acute Appendicitis in Pediatric Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to determine the accuracy and radiation
      dose reduction of limited-range CT prescribed from the top of L2 to the top of
      the pubic symphysis in children with suspected acute appendicitis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 210 consecutive pediatric patients
      from December 11, 2012, through December 11, 2014, who underwent abdominopelvic
      CT for suspected acute appendicitis. Two radiologists independently reviewed the
      theoretic limited scans from the superior L2 vertebral body to the top of the
      pubic symphysis, to assess for visualization of the appendix, acute appendicitis,
      alternative diagnoses, and incidental findings. Separately, the same parameters
      were assessed on the full scan by the same two reviewers. Whole-body effective
      doses were determined for the full- and limited-range scans and were compared
      using the paired t test. RESULTS: The appendix or entire cecum was visualized on
      the limited scan in all cases, and no cases of acute appendicitis were missed on
      the simulated limited scan compared with the full scan. Two alternative diagnoses
      were missed with the limited scan: one case of hydronephrosis and one of acute
      acalculous cholecystitis. The mean effective dose for the original scan was 5.6
      mSv and that for the simulated limited scan was 3.0 mSv, resulting in a dose
      reduction of 46.4% (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A limited-range CT examination
      performed from the top of L2 to the top of the pubic symphysis is as accurate as
      a full-range abdominopelvic CT in evaluating pediatric patients with suspected
      appendicitis and reduces the dose by approximately 46%.

PMID- 28609110
TI  - Monitoring Tumor Volume in Patients With Prostate Cancer Undergoing Active
      Surveillance: Is MRI Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Indicative of Tumor Growth?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to measure longitudinal change in tumor
      volume of the dominant intraprostatic lesion and determine whether baseline
      apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and change in ADC are indicative of tumor
      growth in patients with prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance. SUBJECTS
      AND METHODS: The study group included 151 men (mean age, 68.1 +/- 7.4 [SD] years;
      range, 50-83 years) undergoing active surveillance with 3D whole prostate, zonal,
      and tumor volumetric findings documented at endorectal MRI examinations performed
      at two time points (median interval, 1.9 years). Tumor (location confirmed at
      transrectal ultrasound or template biopsy) ADC was measured on the slice with the
      largest lesion. Twenty randomly selected patients had the measurements repeated
      by the same observer after a greater than 4-month interval, and the limits of
      agreement of measurements were calculated. Tumor volume increases greater than
      the upper limit of agreement were designated measurable growth, and their
      baseline ADCs and change in ADC were compared with those of tumors without
      measurable growth (independent-samples t test). RESULTS: Fifty-two (34.4%) tumors
      increased measurably in volume. Baseline ADC and tumor volume were negatively
      correlated (r = -0.42, p = 0.001). Baseline ADC values did not differ between
      those with and those without measurable growth (p = 0.06), but change in ADC was
      significantly different (-6.8% +/- 12.3% for those with measurable growth vs
      0.23% +/- 10.1% for those without, p = 0.0005). Percentage change in tumor volume
      and percentage change in ADC were negatively correlated (r = -0.31, p = 0.0001).
      A 5.8% reduction in ADC indicated a measurable increase in tumor volume with
      54.9% sensitivity and 77.0% specificity (AUC, 0.67). CONCLUSION: Tumor volume
      increased measurably in 34.4% of men after 2 years of active surveillance. Change
      in ADC may be used to identify tumors with measurable growth.

PMID- 28609112
TI  - Principles of electrospraying: A new approach in protection of bioactive
      compounds in foods.
AB  - Electrospraying is a potential answer to the demands of nanoparticle fabrication
      such as scalability, reproducibility, and effective encapsulation in food
      nanotechnology. Electrospraying (and the related process of electrospinning) both
      show promise as a novel delivery vehicle for supplementary food compounds since
      the process can be carried out from an aqueous solution, at room temperature and
      without coagulation chemistry to produce matrices or particulates in the micro-
      and nano-range. The presentation of core materials at the nanoscale improves
      target ability to specific areas of the digestive tract and gives improved
      control of release rate. Adoption of these electrohydrodynamic atomization
      technologies will allow the industry to develop a wide range of novel high added
      value functional foods. To optimize production conditions and maximize
      throughput, a clear understanding of the mechanism of electrospraying is
      essential. This article presents a comprehensive review of the principles of
      electrospraying to produce nanoparticles suitable for food technology
      application, particularly for use in encapsulation and as nanocarriers.

PMID- 28609111
TI  - Patient-centered Outcomes in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Trials.

PMID- 28609113
TI  - Novel approaches to purifying bacteriocin: A review.
AB  - Bacteriocin is a proteinaceous biomolecule produced by bacteria (both Gram
      positive and Gram-negative) that exhibits antimicrobial activity against closely
      related species, and food-borne pathogens. It has recently gained importance and
      attracted the attention of several researchers looking to produce it from various
      substrates and bacterial strains. This ushers in a new era of food preservation
      where the use of bacteriocin in food products will be an alternative to chemical
      preservatives, and heat treatment which are understood to cause unwanted side
      effects, and reduce sensory and nutritional quality. However, this new market
      depends on the success of novel downstream separation schemes from various types
      of crude feedstocks which are both effective and economic. This review focuses on
      the downstream separation of bacteriocin from various sources using both
      conventional and novel techniques. Finally, recommendations for future
      interesting areas of research that need to be pursued are highlighted.

PMID- 28609114
TI  - Do Incidental Hyperechoic Renal Lesions Measuring Up to 1 cm Warrant Further
      Imaging? Outcomes of 161 Lesions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the outcomes of hyperechoic
      renal lesions measuring 1 cm or less at ultrasound examination. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This retrospective study included 161 hyperechoic renal lesions
      measuring 1 cm or less at ultrasound that were evaluated with follow-up
      ultrasound, CT, or MRI. Follow-up imaging examinations were reviewed to assess
      for definitive lesion characterization or size stability. RESULTS: Follow-up
      included 11 unenhanced CT, 39 contrast-enhanced CT, 52 unenhanced and contrast
      enhanced CT, two unenhanced MRI, 50 unenhanced and contrast-enhanced MRI, and 87
      ultrasound examinations. At CT or MRI 58.4% of lesions were confirmed to be
      angiomyolipomas. At CT, one lesion represented a stone, and one a hyperdense
      cyst. At CT or MRI 11.8% of the lesions had no correlate; 3.1% were not
      visualized at follow-up ultrasound. An additional 23.6% were stable at 2-year
      follow-up imaging or beyond. Two lesions were evaluated with only contrast
      enhanced CT less than 1 month after ultrasound, and the CT images did not show
      macroscopic fat or calcification or meet the criteria for a simple cyst. These
      lesions were considered indeterminate. One lesion in a 65-year-old man was imaged
      with unenhanced and contrast-enhanced CT 23 months after ultrasound, and the CT
      showed an increase in size, solid enhancement, and no macroscopic fat. This
      lesion was presumed to represent renal cell carcinoma. Overall, the one lesion
      presumed malignant and the two indeterminate lesions constituted 1.9% of the
      cohort. The other 98.1% of lesions were considered clinically insignificant.
      CONCLUSION: Most hyperechoic renal lesions measuring 1 cm or smaller were
      clinically insignificant, suggesting that such lesions may not require additional
      imaging. Patient demographics, symptoms and risk factors for malignancy may help
      inform the decision to forgo follow-up imaging of such lesions.

PMID- 28609115
TI  - Molecular targets of dietary phytochemicals for possible prevention and therapy
      of uterine fibroids: Focus on fibrosis.
AB  - Uterine fibroids (myomas or leiomyomas) are common benign tumors of reproductive
      aged women. Fibroids are clinically apparent in 20-50% of women, and cause
      abnormal uterine bleeding, abdominal pain and discomfort, pregnancy complications
      and infertility. Unfortunately, limited numbers of medical treatment are
      available but no effective preventive strategies exist. Moreover, the benefits of
      medical treatments are tempered by lack of efficacy or serious adverse side
      effects. Fibrosis has recently been recognized as a key pathological event in
      leiomyoma development and growth. It is defined by the excessive deposition of
      extracellular matrix (ECM). ECM plays important role in making bulk structure of
      leiomyoma, and ECM-rich rigid structure is believed to be a cause of abnormal
      bleeding and pelvic pain/pressure. Dietary phytochemicals are known to regulate
      fibrotic process in different biological systems, and being considered as
      potential tool to manage human health. At present, very few dietary
      phytochemicals have been studied in uterine leiomyoma, and they are mostly known
      for their antiproliferative effects. Therefore, in this review, our aim was to
      introduce some dietary phytochemicals that could target fibrotic processes in
      leiomyoma. Thus, this review could serve as useful resource to develop
      antifibrotic drugs for possible prevention and treatment of uterine fibroids.

PMID- 28609116
TI  - The underexposed role of food matrices in probiotic products: Reviewing the
      relationship between carrier matrices and product parameters.
AB  - Probiotic microorganisms are increasingly incorporated into food matrices in
      order to confer proposed health benefits on the consumer. It is important that
      the health benefits, sensory properties, shelf-life and probiotic
      gastrointestinal tract (GIT) survival of these products are carefully balanced as
      they determine functionality and drive consumer acceptance. The strain-specific
      effects of probiotic species are imperative in this process but carrier matrices
      may play a pivotal role as well. This study therefore recapitulates the wealth of
      knowledge on carrier matrices and their interaction with probiotic strains. The
      most substantiated carrier matrices, factors that influence probiotic
      functionality and matrix effects on shelf-life, GIT survival and clinical
      efficacy are reviewed. Results indicate that carrier matrices have a significant
      impact on the quality of probiotic products. Matrix components, such as proteins,
      carbohydrates and flavoring agents are shown to alter probiotic efficacy and
      viability. In vivo studies furthermore revealed strain-dependent matrix effects
      on the GIT survival of probiotic bacteria. However, only a limited number of
      studies have specifically addressed the effects of carrier matrices on the
      aforementioned product-parameters; most studies seem to focus solely on the
      strain-specific effects of probiotic microorganisms. This hampers the innovation
      of probiotic products. More human studies, comparing not only different probiotic
      strains but different carrier matrices as well, are needed to drive the
      innovation cycle.

PMID- 28609117
TI  - Microchannel emulsification: A promising technique towards encapsulation of
      functional compounds.
AB  - This review provides an overview of microchannel emulsification (MCE) for
      production of functional monodispersed emulsion droplets. The main emphasis has
      been put on functional bioactives encapsulation using grooved-type and straight
      through microchannel array plates. MCE successfully encapsulates the bioactives
      like beta-carotene, oleuropein, gamma-oryzanol, beta-sitosterol, L-ascorbic acid
      and ascorbic acid derivatives, vitamin D and quercetin. These bioactives were
      encapsulated in a variety of delivery systems like simple and multiple emulsions,
      polymeric particles, microgels, solid lipid particles and functional vesicles.
      The droplet generation process in MCE is based upon spontaneous transformation of
      interfaces rather than high energy shear stress systems. The scale-up of MCE can
      increase the productivity of monodispersed droplets >100 L h-1 and makes it a
      promising tool at industrial level.

PMID- 28609118
TI  - Sports-Related Groin Pain Secondary to Symphysis Pubis Disorders: Correlation
      Between MRI Findings and Outcome After Fluoroscopy-Guided Injection of Steroid
      and Local Anesthetic.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to correlate patterns of injury on
      preprocedural MRI with outcome after targeted fluoroscopy-guided steroid and
      local anesthetic injection of the symphysis pubis and its muscular attachments in
      a group of athletes with chronic groin pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five
      patients with chronic sports-related groin pain underwent MRI of the pelvis and a
      targeted fluoroscopy-guided symphyseal corticosteroid and local anesthetic
      injection. Preprocedural MRI was reviewed. The presence or absence of a "superior
      cleft" sign (i.e., rectus abdominis-adductor longus attachment microtearing),
      "secondary cleft" sign (i.e., short adductor [gracilis, adductor brevis, and
      pectineus muscles] attachment microtearing), osteitis pubis, and extrasymphyseal
      pelvic abnormalities was recorded. Patients were followed up a mean time of 23
      months after the procedure, and outcome was recorded. Correlation was made
      between preprocedural MRI findings and outcome. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of the
      patients had an isolated superior cleft sign, 7% had an isolated secondary cleft
      sign, and 11% had isolated osteitis pubis. Thirty-one percent of patients had a
      more complex injury, and 9% had a normal symphysis pubis. Overall, 89% of the
      patients experienced an improvement in symptoms. The response was sustained after
      a minimum of 6 months in 58% of the patients. The presence of the superior cleft
      sign was more frequently associated with a complete recovery. CONCLUSION:
      Fluoroscopy-guided corticosteroid symphyseal injection is a safe and effective
      treatment of sports-related groin pain. It is more frequently associated with a
      complete recovery in patients who display an isolated superior cleft sign on MRI.
      MRI not only is useful in characterizing groin injuries but also may be helpful
      in predicting response to therapeutic injection.

PMID- 28609119
TI  - Risk Factors for Tear Progression in Symptomatic Rotator Cuff Tears: A
      Prospective Study of 174 Shoulders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk factors for tear progression in symptomatic rotator cuff
      tears have not been clarified yet. It is important for orthopaedic surgeons to
      know the natural course of tear progression when nonoperative management is to be
      chosen. HYPOTHESIS: Tears in younger patients, high-activity patients, or heavy
      laborers would progress in size more than those in older patients, low-activity
      patients, or light laborers. STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study; Level of evidence,
      3. METHODS: Two hundred twenty-five consecutive patients with symptomatic rotator
      cuff tears visited our institute between 2009 and 2015. Of these, 174 shoulders
      of 171 patients (mean age, 66.9 years) who underwent at least 2 magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) examinations were prospectively enrolled. The mean follow
      up was 19 months. Tear progression was defined as positive when the tear size
      increased by >=2 mm. The demographic factors that were analyzed by multivariate
      analysis included age, sex, hand dominance, smoking, alcohol drinking,
      hypercholesterolemia, sports participation, job type, tear size, and tear type
      (full or partial thickness). RESULTS: Of the 174 shoulders, 82 shoulders (47%)
      showed tear progression. The mean (+/-SD) tear length and width in the
      progression group on final MRI were 23.1 +/- 12.5 mm and 17.3 +/- 9.6 mm,
      respectively; the tear size progressed by a mean 5.8 +/- 5.6 mm in length and 3.1
      +/- 5.2 mm in width. The mean propagation speed was 3.8 mm/y in length and 2.0
      mm/y in width. The size of full-thickness tears significantly increased compared
      with that of articular-sided partial-thickness tears ( P = .0215). The size of
      medium tears significantly increased compared with that of other tears ( P <
      .0001). According to the logistic regression analysis, smoking was significantly
      correlated with tear progression ( P = .026). Subgroup analyses showed that male
      sex, hand dominance, and trauma were correlated with tear progression. Age,
      alcohol drinking, hypercholesterolemia, sports participation, and job type did
      not show any correlation with tear progression. CONCLUSION: The tear size of
      symptomatic rotator cuff tears progressed in 47% of the shoulders during a mean
      of 19 months, and the speed of progression was 3.8 mm/y in length and 2.0 mm/y in
      width. The risk factors for tear progression were (1) a medium-sized tear, (2) a
      full-thickness tear, and (3) smoking.

PMID- 28609120
TI  - Understanding supplement use: an application of temporal self-regulation theory.
AB  - Vitamin and mineral supplement use is increasing worldwide. As evidence of the
      effects of these practices are equivocal at best, it is important to determine
      why individuals engage in vitamin and mineral supplement use through the
      application of a theoretical framework. The aim of this study was to employ
      temporal self-regulation theory (TST) to establish the determinants of supplement
      use. A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of 121 individuals who
      consume vitamins or minerals as dietary supplements. Hierarchical regression
      analyses were conducted to determine the influence of intention, habit, self
      control, and the interaction between intention and habit and self-control on the
      frequency of supplement use. The model accounted for a significant proportion of
      variance in behaviour (R2 = .44) with intention and habit significantly related
      to supplement use. Self-control moderated the relationship between intention and
      behaviour indicating that intention was not related to behaviour when self
      control was low. The TST model offers a satisfactory account of supplement use
      and provides avenues for interventions aimed at increasing safe and beneficial
      supplement use and decreasing potentially harmful supplement use.

PMID- 28609121
TI  - Alleviatory effect of spent Pleurotus eryngii Quel substrate on replant problem
      of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch.
AB  - Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. is a medicinal plant cultivated at a commercial
      scale in China. However, replanting problems result in a severe decline in both
      the biomass and quality of its roots, which are of greatest medicinal value. This
      study attempted to remediate the replant soil using spent Pleurotus eryngii Quel
      substrate for alleviating this issue, and to investigate the underlying
      mechanisms. Results showed that R. glutinosa grew successfully in fresh soil and
      remedial replant soil, while no roots were harvested in the unremedied replant
      soil. Overall, the nutritional status in the remedial soil was higher than that
      of the unremedied and fresh soil, while the concentration of allelopathic
      phenolic acids was lower. When planted in unremedied soil, the growth of five
      plant pathogens was induced and one beneficial fungus was suppressed. When
      planted in remedied soil, four out of the five pathogens were suppressed, while
      two beneficial fungi were identified in the remedial soil. This study suggests
      that the spent P. eryngii substrate significantly alleviates the replant problem
      of R. glutinosa, and that the alleviatory function reflects a synergetic effect,
      including the supplementation of soil nutrition, the degradation of
      allelochemicals, and the remediation of unbalanced microbial community.

PMID- 28609122
TI  - Insomnia Symptoms, Subjective Appraisals, and Fatigue: A Multiple Mediation
      Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND: Fatigue and insomnia are common debilitating symptoms
      associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Negative subjective appraisals of
      symptoms may influence both insomnia and fatigue severity, but this relationship
      has not been examined among those with MS. The relationship between insomnia
      symptoms and both physical and cognitive fatigue were examined. Health-related
      self-efficacy, fatigue catastrophization, and rumination were examined as
      potential mediators of the relationship between insomnia symptoms and fatigue.
      PARTICIPANTS: Participants diagnosed with MS (N = 115) were recruited from
      hospital and community settings in a large metropolitan city. METHODS:
      Participants completed self-report questionnaires, including: Modified Fatigue
      Impact, Insomnia Severity Index, MS Quality of Life Questionnaire-54, Fatigue
      Catastrophizing Scale, Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, and the
      Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire. Two multiple mediation analyses were
      performed using bootstrapping techniques, examining the cognitive and physical
      domains of fatigue as separate outcomes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Mediation
      analyses revealed a significant association between insomnia symptom severity and
      the cognitive and physical domains of fatigue. Fatigue catastrophizing was the
      only significant mediator, accounting for 25% of the variance in the relationship
      between insomnia symptoms and the cognitive fatigue. However, fatigue
      catastrophizing did not significantly mediate the relationship between insomnia
      symptoms and physical fatigue, indicating physical and cognitive fatigue may
      reflect distinct processes in fatigue expression in those with MS.

PMID- 28609123
TI  - Bioactive peptides derived from egg proteins: A review.
AB  - Egg proteins have various functional and biological activities which make them
      potential precursor proteins for bioactive peptide production. Simulated in vitro
      gastrointestinal digestion and enzymatic hydrolysis using non-gastrointestinal
      proteases have been used as tools to produce these peptides. Bioactive peptides
      derived from egg proteins are reported to display various biological activities,
      including angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory (antihypertensive),
      antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and iron-/calcium
      binding activities. More importantly, simulated in vitro gastrointestinal
      digestion has indicated that consumption of egg proteins has physiological
      benefits due to the release of such multifunctional peptides. This review
      encompasses studies reported to date on the bioactive peptide production from egg
      proteins.

PMID- 28609124
TI  - The Impact of laparoscopic surgery of peritoneal endometriosis and endometrioma
      on the outcome of ICSI cycles.
AB  - Our objective was to assess the role of laparoscopic removal of ovarian
      endometriomas and ablation of peritoneal endometriosis on the outcome of
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) - Embryo Transfer cycles by comparing
      with the results of patients with untreated endometriomas and tubal factor
      without underlying endometriosis confirmed by laparoscopy. For this purpose,
      between 2002 and 2015, outcomes of 257 ICSI cycles of 150 patients, including 91
      cycles of 48 patients in minimal endometriosis, 57 cycles of 25 patients in
      endometrioma removal, 65 cycles of 53 patients in non-operated endometrioma, and
      44 cycles of 24 patients in tubal factor groups were retrospectively analyzed.
      Basal ovarian reserve was significantly lower, mean starting and total
      gonadotropin consumption was significantly higher, and mean serum E2 on the day
      of hCG injection, number of dominant follicles, number of retrieved total, and
      MII oocytes were all significantly lower in the endometrioma cystectomy group.
      Fertilization and embryo cleavage rates were also significantly the lowest in the
      endometrioma cystectomy group, whereas clinical pregnancy and live birth rates
      were comparable among all groups. The number of transferred embryos and duration
      of infertility were the most significant predictors of clinical pregnancy and
      live birth. Basal antral follicle count was also significant in predicting live
      birth.

PMID- 28609126
TI  - Fostering narratives of peace and security?

PMID- 28609125
TI  - Minimum 2-Year Outcomes of Hip Arthroscopic Surgery in Patients With Acetabular
      Overcoverage and Profunda Acetabulae Compared With Matched Controls With Normal
      Acetabular Coverage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advancements in instrumentation and techniques have extended the
      scope of hip arthroscopic surgery to treat complex osseous deformities that were
      previously best addressed with an open approach. Global pincer-type
      femoroacetabular impingement is an example of an abnormality requiring osseous
      correction with a technically challenging access point. PURPOSE: To report on the
      patterns of clinical presentation and intra-articular derangements, radiological
      associations, and minimum 2-year outcomes after hip arthroscopic surgery in
      patients with a lateral center edge angle (LCEA) >40 degrees  and profunda
      acetabulae in comparison with matched controls with normal acetabular coverage.
      STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Data were collected on
      all patients undergoing hip arthroscopic surgery during the study period from
      April 2008 to April 2013. All patients who had undergone hip arthroscopic surgery
      for symptomatic labral tears not responsive to a minimum of 3 months of physical
      therapy with both an LCEA >40 degrees  and profunda acetabulae, as defined by the
      ilioischial line lateral to the medial border of the teardrop, and without a
      history of hip surgery or hip conditions were included. This group was matched in
      a 1-to-1 ratio with a control group that had also undergone the arthroscopic
      management of symptomatic labral tears refractory to a minimum of 3 months of
      physical therapy with an LCEA between 25 degrees  and 40 degrees  according to
      age within 3 years, sex, body mass index category, Tonnis grade, labral
      treatment, and capsular treatment. Range of motion, impingement signs, and
      radiographic indices of coverage and version were recorded for each group. Four
      patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores, the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain,
      patient satisfaction, revision hip arthroscopic surgery, and conversion to total
      hip arthroplasty (THA) were also recorded. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients met the
      inclusion criteria for the study (overcoverage) group, of which 36 (92.3%)
      patients had a minimum 2-year follow-up; 215 patients satisfied the inclusion
      criteria for the control (normal coverage) group, of which 183 (85.1%) had a
      minimum 2-year follow-up. Thirty-six patients were matched in each group using
      the above criteria. There was no difference with respect to range of motion and
      impingement signs between the groups. The study group had significantly higher
      radiological markers of overcoverage but not retroversion compared with the
      control group. The study group had a significantly higher incidence of Seldes
      type 2 tears compared with the control group: 50.0% versus 19.4%, respectively (
      P = .013). Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in the mean scores
      of all PROs, but the study group had a lower magnitude of improvement for all the
      PROs compared with the control group, with the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS)
      achieving statistical significance: 13.5 versus 21.7 points, respectively ( P =
      .032). The study group had a significantly lower mean patient satisfaction score
      compared with the control group: 6.61 versus 7.91, respectively ( P = .019). The
      study group also had a significantly higher incidence of conversion to THA
      compared with the control group: 4 versus 0, respectively ( P = .040).
      CONCLUSION: Hip arthroscopic surgery for the management of symptomatic labral
      tears in patients with combined overcoverage and coxa profunda is associated with
      improvements in patient outcomes and pain at a minimum 2-year follow-up. However,
      the degree of improvement is of lower magnitude compared with a matched cohort
      with normal coverage undergoing the arthroscopic management of symptomatic labral
      tears. While hips with lateral overcoverage combined with coxa profunda may have
      a smaller potential for improvement compared with hips with normal coverage, this
      type of osseous morphology is still repairable with arthroscopic treatment.

PMID- 28609127
TI  - Finding Closure, Continuing Bonds, and Codentification After the 9/11 Attacks.
AB  - In this article, I'm interested in the 2750 victims of the 9/11 attacks in New
      York City. I consider two connected issues. The first regards bereavement
      journeys of victims' families and the significance of receiving a body to bury
      vis-a-vis the normative assignment to find closure. The second issue I address is
      how forensic experts, their technologies, and managing protocols interact with
      victims' families and their emotions. Using insights from Science and Technology
      Studies, I articulate some of the goods and bads of identification practices and
      argue for extensive communication and cooperation between experts and victims'
      families.

PMID- 28609128
TI  - The effect of different progestogens on sleep in postmenopausal women: a
      randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While progesterone affects sleep, different types of it might affect
      sleep differently. METHODS: One hundred Thai women, who complained of insomnia,
      visited the Menopause Clinic at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Chiang Mai,
      Thailand from February 2014 to March 2015, and were divided randomly into two
      groups. Both groups received daily hormonal treatment that included estradiol
      valerate (progynova) at 1 mg. The first group also received dydrogesterone
      (duphaston(r)) at 10 mg and the second group micronized progesterone
      (utrogestran(r)) at 100 mg. The clinical symptoms and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality
      Index (PSQI) were recorded for three consecutive months after treatment. This
      study was registered with clinicaltrial.gov (code number NCT02086032). RESULTS:
      Sleep quality improved in both groups (10.52 +/- 4.27 to 4.91 +/- 3.15 in the
      dydrogesterone group and 10.16 +/- 3.60 to 6.27 +/- 3.04 in the micronized
      progesterone group, p value 0.08). Women in the micronized progesterone group had
      fewer overall side effects than those in the dydrogesterone group. CONCLUSION:
      Sleep quality of peri-postmenopausal women with insomnia improved dramatically
      after the first month of hormonal treatment. However, more participating patients
      are necessary to ascertain the differences in sleep quality from dydrogesterone
      and micronized progesterone treatment.

PMID- 28609129
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of GuiZhi-ShaoYao-ZhiMu Decoction for Treating Rheumatoid
      Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: GuiZhi-ShaoYao-ZhiMu decoction (GSZD), a traditional Chinese herbal
      medication for the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), has a long history of
      use and modern scientific research support for efficacy, but the studies have not
      been systematically evaluated. Therefore, this study systematically reviewed the
      efficacy of GSZD using the available human clinical trials and conducted a meta
      analysis. METHODS: The available databases were searched using proper languages
      of English, Korean, and Chinese. The key erms used for searching were "GSZD,"
      "Cassia Twig," "Guizhi," "Paeonia lactiflora," "Shaoyao," "Anemarrhena Rhizome,"
      "Zhimu," "rheumatoid arthritis," "randomized," "controlled trial," and "clinical
      trial." Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) using GSZD were included in the review
      and meta-analysis. According to heterogeneity, odds ratio and confidence
      intervals in the pooled RCTs were assessed by a fixed or random model in meta
      analysis. Risk of bias was evaluated for all included studies. RESULTS: Thirteen
      RCTs met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. All
      studies evaluated the efficacy of GSZD for treating RA, but the herbal
      formulations varied since some studies added herbs to the basic GSZD formulation.
      However, all formulations contained the essential herbs: Guizhi, Shaoyao, and
      Zhimu. Each RCT included an experimental group (GSZD with or without Western
      style medicine) and a control group (either standard Western-style medicines or
      placebo). When compared to placebo, the GSZD treatment was found to be three to
      six times more effective than standard Western drugs for some symptoms.
      Furthermore, only two studies reported any adverse events associated with the
      GSZD group, whereas several reported serious adverse events in the control
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: The Traditional Chinese Medicine, GSZD, may have equal or
      superior effectiveness and safety for treating RA compared to Western RA drugs.
      It should be considered a viable alternative to Western medicine. However, more
      long-term research is needed in larger patient groups to better establish its
      safety and efficacy.

PMID- 28609130
TI  - Cryoablation of Abdominal Wall Endometriosis: A Minimally Invasive Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to present cryoablation as a minimally
      invasive definitive treatment for abdominal wall endometriosis. We describe our
      experience with the outpatient application of cryoablation to treat symptomatic
      abdominal wall endometriosis in three patients. CONCLUSION: This feasibility
      study shows that minimally invasive cryoablation treated abdominal wall
      endometriosis in three patients and provided a prompt clinical response.

PMID- 28609131
TI  - A Comprehensive Reanalysis of the Distal Iliotibial Band: Quantitative Anatomy,
      Radiographic Markers, and Biomechanical Properties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The qualitative anatomy of the distal iliotibial band (ITB) has
      previously been described. However, a comprehensive characterization of the
      quantitative anatomic, radiographic, and biomechanical properties of the Kaplan
      fibers of the deep distal ITB has not yet been established. It is paramount to
      delineate these characteristics to fully understand the distal ITB's contribution
      to rotational knee stability. Purpose/Hypothesis: There were 2 distinct purposes
      for this study: (1) to perform a quantitative anatomic and radiographic
      evaluation of the distal ITB's attachment sites and their relationships to
      pertinent osseous and soft tissue landmarks, and (2) to quantify the
      biomechanical properties of the deep (Kaplan) fibers of the distal ITB. It was
      hypothesized that the distal ITB has definable parameters concerning its anatomic
      attachments and consistent relationships to surgically pertinent landmarks with
      correlating plain radiographic findings. In addition, it was hypothesized that
      the biomechanical properties of the Kaplan fibers would support their role as
      important restraints against internal rotation. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive
      laboratory study. METHODS: Ten nonpaired, fresh-frozen human cadaveric knees
      (mean age, 61.1 years; range, 54-65 years) were dissected for anatomic and
      radiographic purposes. A coordinate measuring device quantified the attachment
      areas of the distal ITB to the distal femur, patella, and proximal tibia and
      their relationships to pertinent bony landmarks. A radiographic analysis was
      performed by inserting pins into the attachment sites of relevant anatomic
      structures to assess their location relative to pertinent bony landmarks with
      fluoroscopic guidance. A further biomechanical assessment of 10 cadaveric knees
      quantified the load to failure and stiffness of the Kaplan fibers' insertion on
      the distal femur after a preconditioning protocol. RESULTS: Two separate deep
      (Kaplan) fiber bundles were identified with attachments to 2 newly identified
      femoral bony prominences (ridges). The proximal and distal bundles inserted on
      the distal femur 53.6 mm (95% CI, 50.7-56.6 mm) and 31.4 mm (95% CI, 27.3-35.5
      mm) proximal to the lateral epicondyle, respectively. The centers of the bundle
      insertions were 22.5 mm (95% CI, 19.1-25.9 mm) apart. The total insertion area of
      the distal ITB on the proximal tibia was 429.1 mm2 (95% CI, 349.2-509.1 mm2). A
      distinct capsulo-osseous layer of the distal ITB was also identified that was
      intimately related to the lateral knee capsule. Its origin was in close proximity
      to the lateral gastrocnemius tubercle, and it inserted on the proximal tibia at
      the lateral tibial tubercle between the fibular head and the Gerdy tubercle.
      Radiographic analysis supported the quantitative anatomic findings. The mean
      maximum load during pull-to-failure testing was 71.3 N (95% CI, 41.2-101.4 N) and
      170.2 N (95% CI, 123.6-216.8 N) for the proximal and distal Kaplan bundles,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The most important finding of this study was that 2
      distinct deep bundles (Kaplan fibers) of the distal ITB were identified. Each
      bundle of the deep layer of the ITB was associated with a newly identified
      distinct bony ridge. Radiographic analysis confirmed the measurements previously
      recorded and established reproducible landmarks for the newly described
      structures. Biomechanical testing revealed that the Kaplan fibers had a strong
      attachment to the distal femur, thereby supporting a role in rotational knee
      stability. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The identification of 2 distinct deep fiber
      (Kaplan) attachments clarifies the function of the ITB more definitively. The
      results also support the role of the ITB in rotatory knee stability because of
      the fibers' vectors and their identified maximum loads. These findings provide
      the anatomic and biomechanical foundation needed for the development of
      reconstruction or repair techniques to anatomically address these deficiencies in
      knee ligament injuries.

PMID- 28609132
TI  - Antioxidant and anticancer properties of berries.
AB  - The enduring relationship between dietary patterns and human health has led us to
      investigate the bioactive components present in fruits and vegetables for a very
      long time. Berries, notably the popular ones such as strawberry, raspberry,
      blueberry, blackberry, and the Indian gooseberry, are among the best known
      dietary sources due to the presence of a wide range of bioactive nutritive
      components. Bioactive components in berries include phenolic compounds,
      flavonoids, and tannins apart from vitamins, minerals, sugars, and fibers.
      Individually or synergistically, these have been shown to provide protection
      against several disorders. Mounting evidence suggests that consumption of berries
      confer antioxidant and anticancer protection to humans and animals. Free radical
      scavenging, protection from DNA damage, induction of apoptosis, and inhibition of
      growth and proliferation of cancer cells are just to name a few. This review
      comprehensively summarizes the key phytochemicals present in berries and their
      biological action in preventing oxidative stress and carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28609133
TI  - Carotenoids biosynthesis and cleavage related genes from bacteria to plants.
AB  - Carotenoids are essential for photosynthesis and photoprotection in
      photosynthetic organisms and beneficial for human health. Apocarotenoids derived
      from carotenoid degradation can serve critical functions including hormones,
      volatiles, and signals. They have been used commercially as food colorants,
      animal feed supplements, and nutraceuticals for cosmetic and pharmaceutical
      purposes. This review focuses on the molecular evolution of carotenogenic enzymes
      and carotenoid cleavage oxygenases (CCOs) from bacteria, fungi, cyanobacteria,
      algae, and plants. The diversity of carotenoids and apocarotenoids as well as
      their complicated biosynthetic pathway in different species can shed light on the
      history of early molecular evolution. Some carotenogenic genes (such as phytoene
      synthases) have high protein sequence similarity from bacteria to land plants,
      but some (such as phytoene desaturases, lycopene cyclases, carotenoid
      hydroxylases, and CCOs) have low similarity. The broad diversity of apocarotenoid
      volatile compounds can be attributed to large numbers of carotenoid precursors
      and the various cleavage sites catalyzed by CCOs enzymes. A variety of
      carotenogenic enzymes and CCOs indicate the functional diversification of
      carotenoids and apocrotenoids in different species. New carotenoids, new
      apocarotenoids, new carotenogenic enzymes, new CCOs, and new pathways still need
      to be explored.

PMID- 28609134
TI  - Relationships Among Microbial Communities, Maternal Cells, Oligosaccharides, and
      Macronutrients in Human Milk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human milk provides all essential nutrients necessary for early life
      and is rich in nonnutrients, maternally derived (host) cells, and bacteria, but
      almost nothing is known about the interplay among these components. Research aim:
      The primary objective of this research was to characterize relationships among
      macronutrients, maternal cells, and bacteria in milk. METHODS: Milk samples were
      collected from 16 women and analyzed for protein, lipid, fatty acid, lactose, and
      human milk oligosaccharide concentrations. Concentrations of maternal cells were
      determined using microscopy, and somatic cell counts were enumerated. Microbial
      ecologies were characterized using culture-independent methods. RESULTS: Absolute
      and relative concentrations of maternal cells were mostly consistent within each
      woman as were relative abundances of bacterial genera, and there were many
      apparent relationships between these factors. For instance, relative abundance of
      Serratia was negatively associated with somatic cell counts ( r = -.47, p <
      .0001) and neutrophil concentration ( r = -.38, p < .0006). Concentrations of
      several oligosaccharides were correlated with maternally derived cell types as
      well as somatic cell counts; for example, lacto-N-tetraose and lacto-N
      neotetraose were inversely correlated with somatic cell counts ( r = -.64, p =
      .0082; r = -.52, p = .0387, respectively), and relative abundance of
      Staphylococcus was positively associated with total oligosaccharide concentration
      ( r = .69, p = .0034). Complex relationships between milk nutrients and bacterial
      community profile, maternal cells, and milk oligosaccharides were also apparent.
      CONCLUSION: These data support the possibility that profiles of maternally
      derived cells, nutrient concentrations, and the microbiome of human milk might be
      interrelated.

PMID- 28609135
TI  - Primary familial brain calcifications linked with a novel SLC20A2 gene mutation
      in a Chinese family.
AB  - It has been recently reported that mutations in SLC20A2 gene are a major cause of
      primary familial brain calcifications, a rare neurodegenerative disorder
      characterized by symmetrical and bilateral intracranial calcification. We
      conducted a pedigree study by performing next Generation Sequencing in a Chinese
      family with three generations. Three members in this family developed
      Parkinsonism in their sixth decade, also, the proband presented with
      schizophrenia for 40 years. Next Generation Sequencing identified a novel
      nonsense heterozygous substitution c.1158C > A (p.Thr 386*) of SLC20A2 gene,
      introducing a stop codon in exon 10. The mutation was present in symptomatic and
      asymptomatic individuals with intracranial calcification, but absent in the
      individual without calcification, suggesting the mutation segregates with brain
      calcification. mRNA expression was decreased by 35% in the proband. We are the
      first to demonstrate a novel c.1158C > A mutation of SLC20A2 gene in a Chinese
      family with primary familial brain calcifications.

PMID- 28609136
TI  - Can the UroLift prostatic implant device treat the symptoms of benign prostatic
      hypertrophy, avoid sexual dysfunction and reduce hospital TURP waiting times? A
      single centre, single surgeon experience and review of the literature.
AB  - BPH associated with LUTS and sexual dysfunction is common. We performed UroLift
      on 11 patients, average age 71 years (range 56-90). IPSS improved by an average
      of 9 points post-procedure. Pre-operatively their post-void residuals were 306.3
      ml (range 120-499 ml SD [120.6]) and their QMAX was 7 ml/s (range 4-14 SD [2.8]
      ml/s). Post-procedure the post-void residual decreased by 35.4% at 4 months (mean
      difference - 106.3 ml). QMAX improved by an average of 1.7 ml/s, which was not
      statistically significant. No patients suffered any sexual dysfunction side
      effects and all patients were satisfied with their result. Hospital stay and
      theatre time were significantly reduced. Average length of stay was just 10.6 (6
      18) hours and average theatre time just 18.7 (12-30) min. This is significantly
      faster than other surgery for LUTS. We therefore feel that there are significant
      benefits for both the patients, who are able to go home much faster, and also the
      hospital, who are able to perform far more surgeries for their patients. Patients
      also do not require an inpatient bed so patients should not be cancelled on the
      day of theatre.

PMID- 28609137
TI  - An attempt to develop a detection method specific for virulent duck plague virus
      strains based on the UL2 gene B fragment.
AB  - A comparison of the unique long region 2 (UL2) gene sequences between 10 virulent
      and 11 attenuated duck plague virus (DPV) strains (including all DPV UL2 gene
      sequences registered in GenBank) showed that the UL2 genes in the attenuated DPV
      strains had a 528 bp deletion in the B fragment. Primers were designed based on
      the B fragment sequence of the UL2 gene in an attempt to establish a fluorescence
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a conventional PCR detection
      method that could specifically detect virulent DPV strains (i.e. positive
      detection for virulent DPV strains and negative detection for attenuated DPV
      strains). Additionally, PCR products were cloned for sequence analysis. These two
      methods detected five attenuated DPV strains in addition to the virulent DPV
      strains. Sequence analysis of the PCR products showed that the amplified products
      were the B fragments of the UL2 gene. These results indicated that detection
      methods specific for virulent DPV strains could not be established using primers
      designed based on the UL2 gene B fragment.

PMID- 28609138
TI  - Giant-cell ependymoma: Presentation of a case of the sacral region and literature
      review.
AB  - Ependymoma is a rare central nervous system neoplasm with an even rarer
      morphologic variant called giant-cell ependymoma (GCE). GCE has a characteristic
      discrepant, malignant-like morphology but indolent behavior. We present the case
      of a 21-year-old female with an extra-axial GCE located in the sacral region. To
      date, 16 cases of sacral GCE have been reported in the literature, with 4 cases
      in the sacral region; however, all those cases were intra-axial. We present the
      first case of an extra-axial sacral GCE.

PMID- 28609139
TI  - Evidence and role of phlebitis and lipid infiltration in the onset and
      pathogenesis of Wooden Breast Disease in modern broiler chickens.
AB  - Wooden Breast Disease (WBD), a myopathy that frequently affects modern broiler
      chickens, is a disorder that has been associated with significant economic losses
      in the poultry industry. To examine tissue changes associated with the onset and
      early pathogenesis of this disorder, a time-series experiment was conducted using
      chickens from a high-breast-muscle-yield, purebred commercial broiler line. Birds
      were raised for up to seven weeks, with a subset of birds sampled weekly. Breast
      muscle tissues were extracted at necropsy and processed for analysis by light
      microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Histologic presentation
      indicated localized phlebitis with lipogranulomas in Week 1, focal single
      myofibril degeneration in Week 2 preceding an inflammatory response that started
      in Week 3. Lesions in Week 4 were characterized by multifocal to diffuse muscle
      fibre degeneration, necrosis, interstitial oedema accompanied by increased lipid
      and inflammatory cell infiltration. Lesions in Weeks 5-7 revealed diffuse muscle
      degeneration, necrosis, fibrosis and fatty infiltration with lipogranulomas.
      Ultrastructural examination showed myofibrillar splitting and degeneration,
      irregular, displaced and degenerated Z-lines, mitochondrial degeneration and
      interstitial fibrosis with dense regular collagen fibres. This study, therefore,
      demonstrates that WBD exhibits an earlier onset in modern broilers than when
      detectable by clinical examination. Further, this study shows that the disease
      assumes a progressive course with acute vasculitis, lipid deposition and
      myodegeneration occurring in the earlier stages, followed by a chronic fibrotic
      phase.

PMID- 28609140
TI  - Lipid-lowering activity of artichoke extracts: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - Artichoke is a component of the Mediterranean diet. Therefore, the aim of this
      meta-analysis was to determine if artichoke extract supplementation affected
      human lipid parameters. The search included PubMed-Medline, Scopus, Web of
      Science and Google Scholar databases up to March 28, 2017, to identify RCTs
      investigating the impact of artichoke extracts on plasma lipid levels.
      Quantitative data synthesis was performed using a random-effects model, with
      weighed mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) as summary
      statistics. Meta-analysis of data from 9 trials including 702 subjects suggested
      a significant decrease in plasma concentrations of total cholesterol (WMD: -17.6
      mg/dL, 95%CI: -22.0, -13.3, p < 0.001), Low Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (LDL
      C; WMD: -14.9 mg/dL, 95%CI: -20.4, -9.5, p = 0.011) and triglycerides (WMD: -9.2
      mg/dL, 95%CI: -16.2, -2.1, p = 0.011). No significant alteration in plasma High
      Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations was observed (WMD: 1.0
      mg/dL, 95%CI: -1.1, 3.1, p = 0.333). A significant association between the LDL
      lowering effect of artichoke and baseline LDL-C concentrations (slope: -0.170;
      95%CI: -0.288, 0.051; p = 0.005) was observed. Thus, supplementation with
      artichoke extract was associated with a significant reduction in both total and
      LDL-C, and triglycerides, suggesting that supplementation may be synergistic with
      lipid-lowering therapy in patients with hyperlipidemia.

PMID- 28609142
TI  - Food processing strategies to enhance phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and
      bioavailability in plant-based foods.
AB  - Phenolic compounds are important constituents of plant-based foods, as their
      presence is related to protective effects on health. To exert their biological
      activity, phenolic compounds must be released from the matrix during digestion in
      an absorbable form (bioaccessible) and finally absorbed and transferred to the
      bloodstream (bioavailable). Chemical structure and matrix interactions are some
      food-related factors that hamper phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and
      bioavailability, and that can be counteracted by food processing. It has been
      shown that food processing can induce chemical or physical modifications in food
      that enhance phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and bioavailability. These
      changes include: (i) chemical modifications into more bioaccessible and
      bioavailable forms; (ii) cleavage of covalent or hydrogen bonds or hydrophobic
      forces that attach phenolic compounds to matrix macromolecules; (iii) damaging
      microstructural barriers such as cell walls that impede the release from the
      matrix; and (iv) create microstructures that protect phenolic compounds until
      they are absorbed. Indeed, food processing can produce degradation of phenolic
      compounds, however, it is possible to counteract it by modulating the operating
      conditions in favor of increased bioaccessibility and bioavailability. This
      review compiles the current knowledge on the effects of processing on phenolic
      compounds bioaccessibility or bioavailability, while suggesting new guidelines in
      the search of optimal processing conditions as a step forward towards the design
      of healthier foods.

PMID- 28609141
TI  - Factor 11 single-nucleotide variants in women with heavy menstrual bleeding.
AB  - In a previous study it was shown that lower factor XI (FXI) levels in women with
      heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB). Our aim was to determine the single-nucleotide
      variants (SNVs) in the F11 gene in women with HMB. In addition, an extensive
      literature search was performed to determine the clinical significance of each
      SNV. Patients referred for HMB (PBAC-score >100) were included. With direct
      sequencing analysis of all 15 exons and flanking introns of the F11 gene, 29
      different non-structural SNVs were detected in 49 patients with HMB.
      Interestingly, most of these SNVs have previously been associated with venous
      thrombosis instead of bleeding. These findings have not helped to elucidate the
      molecular basis of HMB. They also question the specificity of previously reported
      F11 variations in patients with thrombosis. More studies are needed to explain
      the lower FXI levels seen in patients with HMB. IMPACT STATEMENT Women with mild
      deficiencies of factor XI (FXI) (< 70%) are prone to excessive bleeding during
      menstruation. Bleeding manifestations are not well correlated with plasma FXI
      levels and bleeding episodes can vary widely among patients with similar low FXI
      levels. In a previous study we showed that women with heavy menstrual bleeding
      (HMB) had normal, but on average, lower levels of FXI than controls. In light of
      these findings, we performed F11 gene analysis to determine the single-nucleotide
      variants (SNVs) in women with HMB and performed an extensive literature search to
      determine the clinical significance of each SNV. By direct sequencing analysis of
      the F11 gene we found 29 different non-structural SNVs in 49 women with heavy
      menstrual bleeding. Remarkably, a number of these SNVs have previously been
      implicated in thrombosis. These findings have not helped to elucidate the
      molecular basis of lower FXI levels in HMB. They also question the specificity of
      previously reported F11 variations in patients with thrombosis. More studies are
      needed to explain the lower FXI levels seen in patients with HMB.

PMID- 28609143
TI  - Use of Videoconferencing for Lactation Consultation: An Online Cross-Sectional
      Survey of Mothers' Acceptance in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suboptimal breastfeeding duration and exclusivity rates are a public
      health concern. Therefore, there is a need for identifying effective tools for
      use in interventions targeting specific barriers to optimal breastfeeding
      outcomes. Research aim: This study aimed to assess the relationship between
      acceptance of remote lactation consultation using videoconferencing and (a)
      maternal demographic factors, (b) technology acceptance subscales, (c) maternal
      learning style preferences, and (d) other potentially explanatory maternal
      factors. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, online study. English-speaking
      mothers of at least 18 years of age, with an infant age 4 months or younger, and
      who reported initiating breastfeeding were eligible to participate. Mothers were
      recruited from 27 randomly selected states. One hundred one mothers completed the
      survey, resulting in a response rate of 71%. The main outcome was acceptance of
      videoconferencing use for lactation consultation. RESULTS: No significant
      differences were found in acceptance by maternal demographic factors or learning
      style preferences. Acceptance was significantly related to perceived ease of use
      ( r = .680, p < .001), perceived usefulness/extrinsic motivation ( r = .774, p <
      .001), intrinsic motivation ( r = .689, p < .001), desire for control of privacy
      ( r = -.293, p < .01), and mother's perception of the infant father's/maternal
      partner's acceptance of videoconferencing for lactation consultation ( r = .432,
      p < .001). Only perceived usefulness/extrinsic motivation and maternal age
      remained in the final regression model ( R2 = .616, p < .001). Although perceived
      usefulness/extrinsic motivation was positively associated with acceptance,
      maternal age was inversely related. CONCLUSION: This sample of mothers indicated
      general acceptance of videoconferencing for lactation consultation, with younger
      mothers and those perceiving it to be more useful demonstrating greater
      acceptance.

PMID- 28609144
TI  - Therapeutic benefit of mesenchymal stem cells in pregnant rats with angiotensin
      receptor agonistic autoantibody-induced hypertension: Implications for
      immunomodulation and cytoprotection.
AB  - Immunomodulation by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is potentially important for
      maintaining peripheral tolerance. Preeclampsia may be due to maternal immune
      rejection of the genetically foreign fetus. This study aimed to investigate the
      biological function of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HU
      MSCs) for the treatment of angiotensin receptor agonistic autoantibody (AT1-AA)
      induced hypertension during pregnancy. HU-MSCs were isolated, cultured, and
      labeled in vitro. AT1-AA and HU-MSCs were administered to pregnant rats. Green
      fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive HU-MSCs infused in vivo were identified by
      immunofluorescence. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was evaluated. The effects of
      HU-MSCs on fetal weight, kidney burden, and spiral artery remodeling, as well as
      on the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 10 (IL
      10), and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), were investigated. The SBP levels in the HU-MSC
      treated pregnant hypertension rats decreased by gestational day 19. The reduction
      in fetal weight was largely ameliorated after HU-MSC treatment. Lesion burden in
      the kidney was attenuated and spiral artery remodeling was improved in HU-MSC
      treated pregnant hypertension rats. However, green fluorescent protein (GFP)
      labeled cells were sparingly observed in the kidney and placenta. Intravenous
      infusion of HU-MSCs into AT1-AA-induced rats significantly downregulated serum
      TNF-alpha levels and upregulated IL-10 levels, concomitant with increased
      placenta and mesometrial triangle (MT) HO-1 expression. Taken together,
      intravenous infusion of HU-MSCs ameliorates AT1-AA-induced pregnancy
      hypertension, intrauterine growth retardation, kidney impairment, and spiral
      artery remodeling impairment. Moreover, the potential benefits of HU-MSCs may be
      attributable to both an interference with the pathogenic immune response and a
      paracrine cytoprotective action.

PMID- 28609145
TI  - Three-phase partitioning as an elegant and versatile platform applied to
      nonchromatographic bioseparation processes.
AB  - In recent years, a big trend has been the development of rapid, green, efficient,
      economical, and scalable approaches for the separation and purification of
      bioactive molecules from natural sources, which can be used in food, cosmetics,
      and medicine. As a new nonchromatographic bioseparation technology, three-phase
      partitioning (TPP) is attracting the attention of a growing number of scientists
      and engineers. Although a number of studies have been published in the last 40
      years regarding the extraction, separation, and purification of numerous
      bioactive molecules using TPP systems, a background review on TPP partitioning
      fundamentals and its applications is much needed. Therefore, the present review
      focuses in detail on the TPP separation process, including the definition of TPP,
      partitioning mechanisms, parameters for establishing the suitable condition to
      form precipitate such as concentration of ammonium sulfate, content of tert
      butanol, pH and temperature, and the application for separation and purification
      of protein, enzyme, plant oil, polysaccharide, and other small molecule organic
      compounds. In addition, the possible directions of future developments in TPP
      technology are discussed. The review presents a good opportunity, as well as a
      challenge for scientists, to understand the detailed partitioning rule and to
      take better use of TPP for the production and separation of various bioactive
      molecules, which have been intensively applied in the food and medical fields.

PMID- 28609146
TI  - Chronic pain management group psychotherapy for psychiatric inpatients: A pilot
      study.
AB  - Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) experience significant comorbid
      chronic pain (CP). Little is known about CP management in psychiatric inpatient
      settings. To address this gap in clinical practice, the authors developed CP
      management group psychotherapy for adult inpatients with SMI. In this report, the
      authors highlight (1) the theoretical underpinnings of and execution of the
      psychotherapy group, (2) the characteristics of participants in the pilot phase
      of the group, and (3) outcomes of group participants. Data were collected from 16
      participants in the pain management psychotherapy group. The mean number of
      groups attended was two (SD = 1.7). Participants endorsed pain across five
      regions of the body with high pain intensity and severity. Improvements in
      depression, anxiety, somatic, and emotional regulation symptoms were evidenced
      during the course of treatment. CP group psychotherapy may be an effective
      modality to disseminate "best practices" and prevent diagnostic overshadowing for
      SMI patients.

PMID- 28609147
TI  - Transference and countertransference: A review.
AB  - Originally a psychodynamic concept, the therapeutic relationship (also
      therapeutic alliance, helping alliance or simply alliance) has become a pan
      theoretical model for the professional relationship between a therapist and his
      or her client (Kivlighan, 1995). With the development of this concept in the
      latter half of the 20th century, psychotherapeutic theory and practice saw a
      paradigm shift away from strict adherence to technique with little room for
      responsive, individual behavior from the therapist and toward the "authentic"
      human relationship at the core of therapy. This meant that more consideration was
      given to the idea of mutual influence from patient and therapist to the success
      of therapy (Safran & Muran, 2006). This article aims to provide a comprehensive
      overview of the complex and shifting research on the therapeutic relationship to
      promote a greater understanding of the concept.

PMID- 28609148
TI  - An intensive outpatient treatment program for combat-related PTSD: Trauma
      Management Therapy.
AB  - An estimated 18.5% of veterans returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation
      Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn are suffering from posttraumatic stress
      or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The number of veterans and service duty
      personnel requesting VA health care services is increasing, and the VA's ability
      to handle requests is dwindling. Thus, both the content of interventions and the
      format by which these services are delivered need to be reconceptualized. The
      authors present a multicomponent intervention program known as Trauma Management
      Therapy (TMT), a comprehensive, empirically supported treatment that can be
      delivered in an intensive, 3-week outpatient format. TMT combines individual
      exposure therapy with group social and emotional rehabilitation skills training
      to address specific aspects of the combat-related PTSD syndrome. The authors
      present the format of this novel intensive outpatient program, describe the
      components, and address implementation factors such as treatment compliance,
      dropout rates, and administrative considerations.

PMID- 28609149
TI  - REACT: A paraprofessional training program for first responders-A pilot study.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly designed peer support training
      program for first responders titled Recognize, Evaluate, Advocate, Coordinate,
      and Track (REACT). REACT was developed in partnership with public safety agencies
      to address the need for promoting psychological health. This resulted in the
      development of a program that uses train-the-trainer methodology to address
      primary prevention of stress injuries. REACT was an all-day training that
      consisted of four modules, each featuring instruction and practice. Six public
      safety agencies totaling 30 individuals (76.9% from four fire departments, 23.1%
      from two emergency communication centers) participated in REACT. The primary
      outcomes were knowledge and training-related self-efficacy; secondary outcomes
      included general self-efficacy, resilience, and improved attitudes and
      expectations. A peer-support model, using a train-the-trainer methodology, is a
      promising approach for addressing the promotion of psychological health.

PMID- 28609150
TI  - Caffeine Use in Military Personnel With PTSD: Prevalence and Impact on Sleep.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caffeine use is highly prevalent among active duty military personnel
      and can be beneficial to performance in the short term. However, regular caffeine
      use has been found to contribute to sleep disturbances, which are elevated among
      the significant number of military personnel with posttraumatic stress disorder
      (PTSD). The current study is the first to examine caffeine use and its
      relationship with sleep disturbances in military personnel seeking treatment for
      PTSD. PARTICIPANTS: Active duty military personnel (N = 366) who had returned
      from deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq and were seeking treatment for PTSD.
      METHODS: Pearson correlations were used to examine the relationships between
      caffeine use, sleep disturbances, and PTSD symptom clusters. RESULTS: The
      majority of the sample (89%) reported some caffeine use, with coffee being the
      largest contributor to total caffeine intake. Contrary to hypotheses, higher
      caffeine use was associated with lower insomnia symptom severity; follow-up
      analysis indicated that this was due to elevated insomnia symptom severity in
      those reporting no caffeine use. Caffeine use was not associated with any other
      measures of sleep disturbance or with PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Caffeine use
      was not associated with greater reported sleep disturbances in this sample,
      possibly because those with elevated insomnia symptom severity abstained from any
      caffeine, or because insomnia symptoms were elevated in this sample.

PMID- 28609151
TI  - Optimal wound care management in hidradenitis suppurativa.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) presents the problem of a chronic,
      relapsing, painful, draining wound. There is a myriad of HS wound care management
      strategies implemented by clinicians and patients centered around which dressings
      to use. Many factors affect which HS wound care dressing is the most appropriate
      to use such as the type of HS wound, cost, ease of application, patient comfort,
      absorbency and odor management among many others. AIM: In this work, the authors
      aim to prepare a set of guidelines for optimal HS wound care dressing use based
      on a tier system, ideal characteristics of HS dressings and the type of HS
      lesion. The dressing recommendations focus on cost-effectiveness for patients,
      ease of accessibility and ultimately, improvement in the quality of life of
      patients suffering from HS. METHODS: PubMed was utilized to search the terms
      'wound care + HS'; 'non-surgical wound care + HS'; 'optimal wound care + HS'; 'HS
      wounds'; and 'optimal wound dressings'. RESULTS: Silver-impregnated foam is
      considered the most optimal HS wound care dressing because it contains nearly all
      characteristics of an ideal wound care dressing. CONCLUSION: However, silver
      impreganted foam is expensive and difficult to access for patients, so lower-tier
      HS wound care dressings must be considered prior to utilizing this tier 4
      dressing.

PMID- 28609152
TI  - Age-Related Cognitive Effects of Videogame Playing Across the Adult Life span.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous studies found positive influences of videogame playing on
      cognition. However, the age-related and task-related effects of videogame
      experience across the adult life span are still unknown. The current study aimed
      to systematically investigate this question. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current
      study used the cross-sectional approach. A total of 166 participants (84
      videogame players [VGPs], 82 nonvideogame players [NVGPs]) at the age of 18-80 in
      the present study were recruited, including 62 young adults aged from 18 to 34
      (35 VGPs, 27 NVGPs), 55 middle-aged adults aged between 35 and 59 (24 VGPs, 31
      NVGPs), and 49 older adults aged between 60 and 80 (25 VGPs, 24 NVGPs).1,2 A
      series of neuropsychological tests from different cognitive domains, including
      processing speed, visuospatial, attention, memory, and executive function, were
      conducted on participants. RESULTS: The age-related effects demonstrated that
      young and older adults benefited more from videogame experience than middle-aged
      adults. The task-related effects showed that VGPs benefited more from videogame
      experience in processing speed and visuospatial processing; next was executive
      function and attention, while no benefits in memory. The effect sizes suggested
      that the difference in extent between VGPs and NVGPs in processing speed and
      visuospatial processing is moderate, in attention and executive function is
      small, and in memory is negligible. CONCLUSION: The current findings support the
      beneficial effects and transfer effects of videogame experience; however, the
      effects presented age-specific and task-specific characteristics. The results
      provide useful insights for future videogame intervention studies for healthy
      adults of different ages.

PMID- 28609155
TI  - Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2: beyond Parkinson's and beyond kinase inhibitors.

PMID- 28609156
TI  - Signaling Mechanisms Underlying Resistance Responses: What Have We Learned, and
      How Is It Being Applied?
AB  - Plants have evolved highly specific mechanisms to resist pathogens including
      preformed barriers and the induction of elaborate signaling pathways. Induced
      signaling requires recognition of the pathogen either via conserved pathogen
      derived factors or specific pathogen-encoded proteins called effectors.
      Recognition of these factors by host encoded receptor proteins can result in the
      elicitation of different tiers of resistance at the site of pathogen infection.
      In addition, plants induce a type of systemic immunity which is effective at the
      whole plant level and protects against a broad spectrum of pathogens. Advances in
      our understanding of pathogen-recognition mechanisms, identification of the
      underlying molecular components, and their significant conservation across
      diverse plant species has enabled the development of novel strategies to combat
      plant diseases. This review discusses key advances in plant defense signaling
      that have been adapted or have the potential to be adapted for plant protection
      against microbial diseases.

PMID- 28609157
TI  - Prediction of Short-Distance Aerial Movement of Phakopsora pachyrhizi
      Urediniospores Using Machine Learning.
AB  - Dispersal of urediniospores by wind is the primary means of spread for Phakopsora
      pachyrhizi, the cause of soybean rust. Our research focused on the short-distance
      movement of urediniospores from within the soybean canopy and up to 61 m from
      field-grown rust-infected soybean plants. Environmental variables were used to
      develop and compare models including the least absolute shrinkage and selection
      operator regression, zero-inflated Poisson/regular Poisson regression, random
      forest, and neural network to describe deposition of urediniospores collected in
      passive and active traps. All four models identified distance of trap from
      source, humidity, temperature, wind direction, and wind speed as the five most
      important variables influencing short-distance movement of urediniospores. The
      random forest model provided the best predictions, explaining 76.1 and 86.8% of
      the total variation in the passive- and active-trap datasets, respectively. The
      prediction accuracy based on the correlation coefficient (r) between predicted
      values and the true values were 0.83 (P < 0.0001) and 0.94 (P < 0.0001) for the
      passive and active trap datasets, respectively. Overall, multiple machine
      learning techniques identified the most important variables to make the most
      accurate predictions of movement of P. pachyrhizi urediniospores short-distance.

PMID- 28609158
TI  - Is the Eye an Extension of the Brain in Central Nervous System Disease?

PMID- 28609159
TI  - Development of a Canine Care and Welfare Knowledge Scale: Implications for
      Welfare and Preventing Dogfighting.
AB  - The objective of this study was to develop a Canine Care and Welfare Knowledge
      (CCWK) Scale for use in educational intervention development and evaluation and
      validate the instrument. The study population was 504 children, aged 11 to 19
      years old, from Detroit, MI. In this cross-sectional study, exploratory factor
      analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for scale
      development. The EFA and CFA of the CCWK Scale revealed a 2nd-order model with 6
      factors to be a good fit of the data (chi-square [df = 269] = 433, p < .05,
      Comparative Fit Index = .94, Tucker-Lewis Index = .93, root mean square error of
      approximation = .05) with a Cronbach's alpha of .78. The scale is valid and
      reliable to assess the study population's CCWK.

PMID- 28609160
TI  - Circulating SCCA-IgM complex is a useful biomarker to predict the outcome of
      therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops in about 3-4% of cirrhotic
      patients every year. The squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) has been found
      elevated in liver cancer specimens by immunohistochemistry, and detected in
      complex with IgM (SCCA-IgM) in the serum of patients with HCC. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the ability of serological SCCA-IgM levels to predict the
      efficacy of HCC therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From April 2012 to April 2014,
      131 patients with a new diagnosis of HCC were enrolled. The HCC diagnosis was
      made according to the EASL guidelines. The patients were staged and treated
      according to the BCLC Staging System: BCLC stages A and B were treated with
      locoregional therapy, and BCLC stage C was treated with Sorafenib. Response to
      therapy was evaluated according to the mRECIST criteria. Serum SCCA-IgM levels
      were determined by a commercially available ELISA kit at basal time (T0) and
      after one month of treatment (T1). RESULTS: At baseline and one month into
      therapy, SCCA-IgM levels were significantly lower (p value <.05) in patients who
      responded to therapy compared to those who did not respond (median SCCA-IgM level
      [25th + 75th percentile] at T0:115.1 AU/mL [50.0 + 174.4] vs. 149.1 AU/mL [111.3
      + 198.8]; median SCCA-IgM level [25th + 75th percentile] at T1: 113.4 AU/mL [50.0
      + 194.2] vs. 170.6 AU/mL [111.7 + 344.2]). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that
      the SCCA-IgM determination could be helpful in predicting the response to therapy
      in patients with HCC.

PMID- 28609161
TI  - The efficacy of short-term clobetasol lotion in the treatment of scalp psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scalp psoriasis can have a considerable impact on patients' quality
      of life and is considered difficult to treat. Treatment failure may, however, be
      due to poor adherence, as application of topical treatments to hair bearing areas
      is difficult and time consuming and also poor communication between physician and
      patient. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of short-term treatment of scalp
      psoriasis with topical clobetasol lotion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve patients
      with mild to severe scalp psoriasis were recruited for this study. Patients
      applied clobetasol 0.05% lotion twice daily for seven days. They were followed up
      with phone calls three days after starting the treatment. Skin hydration,
      transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and skin erythema were assessed noninvasively at
      baseline and end of study. RESULTS: One week after treatment, median PSI score
      decreased significantly (p = .002). There was also a significant decrease in
      median TEWL (p = .012) and increase in skin hydration one week after treatment (p
      = .010). Eighty three percent of patients were satisfied with treatment result
      and felt convenient with applying clobetasol lotion. LIMITATIONS: Lack of a long
      term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Psoriasis is a long-term disease, and improving
      adherence in the short time could improve patient's adherence to treatment in
      long time.

PMID- 28609163
TI  - Imaging Appearance and Clinical Impact of Preoperative Breast MRI in Pregnancy
      Associated Breast Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to describe the imaging features of
      pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) on breast MRI and to consider the
      impact of preoperative MRI on patient management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective review of medical records from January 1994 to May 2014 identified
      183 women who presented with a new diagnosis of breast cancer during pregnancy or
      within 1 year postpartum. MR images were available for 53 of these patients, all
      of whom were included in the study. Clinical history and available breast images
      were reviewed. The clinical impact of preoperative breast MRI was also recorded.
      RESULTS: Of the 53 women, nine (17%) presented during pregnancy and 44 (83%)
      presented during the first year postpartum. The sensitivity of MRI was 98%
      (52/53). Among the 53 patients, the most common findings of PABC on MRI included
      a solitary mass (29 patients [55%]), nonmass enhancement (12 patients [23%]), and
      multiple masses (eight patients [15%]). For 12 patients (23%), MRI showed a
      pathologically proven larger tumor size or greater extent of disease than did
      mammography or ultrasound, with an additional eight patients (15%) having
      findings suspicious for greater extent of disease but having unavailable
      pathologic data. Breast MRI changed surgical management for 15 patients (28%),
      with four patients (8%) requiring a larger lumpectomy, seven (13%) no longer
      being considered candidates for lumpectomy, two (4%) having contralateral
      disease, and two (4%) having unsuspected metastasis. CONCLUSION: Breast MRI had a
      high sensitivity for PABC in our study population. MRI may play an important role
      in PABC because it changed the surgical management of 28% of patients.

PMID- 28609162
TI  - Usefulness of thresholds for smear review of neutropenic samples analyzed with a
      Sysmex XN-10 analyzer.
AB  - Neutropenia is one of the main criteria for a blood smear review. The objective
      of this study was to compare the thresholds proposed by the international
      consensus group for hematology review (1.0 109/L) and the French speaking Group
      for Cellular Haematology (1.5 109/L) in terms of the number of useless smears. We
      collected 112,097 analyzed samples from four laboratories equipped with XN
      instruments (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) during early 2016. The only exclusion criterion
      was a leucocyte count below 0.5 109/L. In the absence of abnormal cells and/or
      morphology suggesting haematological disease, samples were classified as
      'negative for morphology' and the differential from the XN-10 was reported. These
      smear procedures were considered as uninformative. Some 2202 samples met the
      criterion for neutropenia (<1.5 109/L) for slide review representing 1.96% of the
      total. These included 1031 with neutropenia alone and 1171 neutropenia plus other
      abnormalities. Of the 1031 with neutropenia alone, 886 had a neutrophil count
      between 1.0 109/L and 1.5 109/L. The smear was uninformative for all of these
      samples. In conclusion, microscopic examination of a blood smear provided very
      limited information in cases of neutropenia without other abnormalities.

PMID- 28609164
TI  - The recommended Threshold Limit Values for heat exposure fail to maintain body
      core temperature within safe limits in older working adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: The American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists
      (ACGIH(r)) Threshold Limit Values (TLV(r) guidelines) for work in the heat
      consist of work-rest (WR) allocations designed to ensure a stable core
      temperature that does not exceed 38 degrees C. However, the TLV(r) guidelines
      have not been validated in older workers. This is an important shortcoming given
      that adults as young as 40 years demonstrate impairments in their ability to
      dissipate heat. We therefore evaluated body temperature responses in older adults
      during work performed in accordance to the TLV(r) recommended guidelines.
      METHODS: On three occasions, 9 healthy older (58 +/- 5 years) males performed a
      120-min work-simulated protocol in accordance with the TLV(r) guidelines for
      moderate-to-heavy intensity work (360 W fixed rate of heat production) in
      different wet-bulb globe temperatures (WBGT). The first was 120 min of continuous
      (CON) cycling at 28.0 degrees C WBGT (CON[28 degrees C]). The other two protocols
      were 15-min intermittent work bouts performed with different WR cycles and WBGT:
      (i) WR of 3:1 at 29.0 degrees C (WR3:1[29 degrees C]) and (ii) WR of 1:1 at 30.0
      degrees C (WR1:1[30 degrees C]). Rectal temperature was measured continuously.
      The rate of change in mean body temperature was determined via thermometry
      (weighting coefficients: rectal, 0.9; mean skin temperature, 0.1) and direct
      calorimetry. RESULTS: Rectal temperature exceeded 38 degrees C in all
      participants in CON[28 degrees C] and WR3:1[29 degrees C] whereas a statistically
      similar proportion of workers exceeded 38 degrees C in WR1:1[30 degrees C] (chi2;
      P = 0.32). The average time for rectal temperature to reach 38 degrees C was:
      CON[28 degrees C], 53 +/- 7; WR3:1[29 degrees C], 79 +/- 11; and WR1:1[30 degrees
      C], 100 +/- 29 min. Finally, while a stable mean body temperature was not
      achieved in any work condition as measured by thermometry (i.e., >0 degrees C.min
      1; all P<0.01), heat balance as determined by direct calorimetry was achieved in
      WR3:1[29 degrees C] and WR1:1[30 degrees C] (both P >= 0.08). CONCLUSION: Our
      findings indicate that the TLV(r) guidelines do not prevent body core temperature
      from exceeding 38 degrees C in older workers. Furthermore, a stable core
      temperature was not achieved within safe limits (i.e., <=38 degrees C) indicating
      that the TLV(r) guidelines may not adequately protect all individuals during work
      in hot conditions.

PMID- 28609165
TI  - MCDA twin pregnancy: is it TTTS or TAPS?

PMID- 28609166
TI  - A Missed Opportunity?

PMID- 28609167
TI  - HDR brachytherapy decreases proliferation rate and cellular progression of a
      radioresistant human squamous cell carcinoma in vitro.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy on
      cellular progression of a radioresistant human squamous cell carcinoma in vitro,
      based on clinical parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An acrylic platform was
      designed to attach tissue culture flasks and assure source positioning during
      irradiation. At exponential phase, A431cells, a human squamous cell carcinoma,
      were irradiated twice up to 1100 cGy. Cellular proliferation was assessed by
      Trypan blue exclusion assay and survival fraction was calculated by clonogenic
      assay. DNA content analysis and cell cycle phases were assessed by flow cytometry
      and gel electrophoresis, respectively. Cellular death patterns were measured by
      HOPI double-staining method. RESULTS: Significant decreasing cellular
      proliferation rate (p < 0.05) as well as reduced survival fraction (p < 0.001) in
      irradiated cells were observed. Moreover, increased percentage of cells arrested
      in the G2/M phase (32.3 +/- 1.5%) in the irradiated group as compared with
      untreated cells (8.22 +/- 1.2%) was detected. Also, a significant (p < 0.0001)
      nuclei shrinking in irradiated cells without evidence of necrosis or apoptosis
      was found. CONCLUSION: HDR brachytherapy led to a decreased proliferation rate
      and cell survival and also hampered cellular progression to mitosis suggesting
      that tumor cell death mainly occurred due to mitotic death and G2/M cell cycle
      arrest.

PMID- 28609168
TI  - Forever young: Visual representations of gender and age in online dating sites
      for older adults.
AB  - Online dating has become increasingly popular among older adults following
      broader social media adoption patterns. The current study examined the visual
      representations of people on 39 dating sites intended for the older population,
      with a particular focus on the visualization of the intersection between age and
      gender. All 39 dating sites for older adults were located through the Google
      search engine. Visual thematic analysis was performed with reference to general,
      non-age-related signs (e.g., facial expression, skin color), signs of aging
      (e.g., perceived age, wrinkles), relational features (e.g., proximity between
      individuals), and additional features such as number of people presented. The
      visual analysis in the present study revealed a clear intersection between ageism
      and sexism in the presentation of older adults. The majority of men and women
      were smiling and had a fair complexion, with light eye color and perceived age of
      younger than 60. Older women were presented as younger and wore more cosmetics as
      compared with older men. The present study stresses the social regulation of
      sexuality, as only heterosexual couples were presented. The narrow representation
      of older adults and the anti-aging messages portrayed in the pictures convey that
      love, intimacy, and sexual activity are for older adults who are "forever young."

PMID- 28609169
TI  - A gap analysis of the United States death care sector to determine training and
      education needs pertaining to highly infectious disease mitigation and
      management.
AB  - PURPOSE: A United States industry-specific gap analysis survey of the death care
      sector-which comprises organizations and businesses affiliated with the funeral
      industry and the handling of human remains- was developed, the results analyzed,
      and training and education needs in relation to highly infectious disease
      mitigation and management were explored in an effort to identify where
      occupational health and safety can be enhanced in this worker population.
      METHODS: Collaborating national death care organizations distributed the 47
      question electronic survey. N = 424 surveys were initiated and results recorded.
      The survey collected death care sector-specific information pertaining to the
      comfortability and willingness to handle highly infectious remains; perceptions
      of readiness, current policies and procedures in place to address highly
      infectious diseases; current highly infectious disease training levels, available
      resources, and personal protective equipment. RESULTS: One-third of respondents
      have been trained on how to manage highly infectious remains. There was a
      discrepancy between Supervisor/Management and Employee/Worker perceptions on
      employees' willingness and comfortability to manage potentially highly infectious
      remains. More than 40% of respondents did not know the correct routes of
      transmission for viral hemorrhagic fevers. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest death
      care workers could benefit from increasing up-to-date industry-specific training
      and education on highly infectious disease risk mitigation and management.
      Professional death care sector organizations are positioned to disseminate
      information, training, and best practices.

PMID- 28609170
TI  - Serum levels of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) and
      soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (sVEGFR)-1 and -2 in HIV
      associated preeclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The angiogenic-antiangiogenic imbalance evident in preeclampsia (PE)
      may be used as a predictive tool to identify women likely to develop the clinical
      features in early pregnancy. METHOD: This retrospective study examined
      normotensive pregnant (n = 38) and preeclamptic (n = 38) HIV-infected and
      uninfected women to quantify sVEGFR-1 and -2 and PECAM-1 levels. RESULTS: In
      contrast to PECAM-1, sVEGFR-1 and -2 differed according to pregnancy type (p =
      0.07; p = 0.001; p = 0.002) but not by HIV status (p = 0.68; p = 0.13; p = 0.43).
      CONCLUSION: Irrespective of the HIV status, we report an upregulation of sVEGFR-1
      with concomitant decline of PECAM-1 and sVEGFR-2 levels in PE compared to
      normotensive pregnancies.

PMID- 28609171
TI  - Myocardial performance index in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: The
      relationship between blood pressures and angiogenic factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the association between cardiac function measured by
      myocardial performance index (MPI), blood pressures and angiogenic factors
      measured at the time of echocardiography in patients with and without
      hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). METHODS: We prospectively studied 189
      pregnant women and evaluated whether changes in cardiac function observed on
      echocardiography were correlated with higher blood pressures and whether higher
      blood pressures were associated with antiangiogenic proteins (soluble fms-like
      tyrosine kinase, sFlt1; soluble endoglin, sEng). Comprehensive echocardiograms,
      including measurement of MPI, were performed on all patients. sFlt1 and sEng
      levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Overall,
      189 patients were divided into tertiles based on mean arterial pressure (MAP).
      The MPI was worst in tertile 3 (0.50 +/- 0.15) compared to tertile 1 (0.42 +/-
      0.10), p = 0.0004. sFlt1 (pg/ml) and sEng (ng/ml) were highest in tertile 3
      compared to tertile 1: 15055.37 vs. 1623.01 and 33.06 vs. 8.15, respectively,
      with p-value <0.001. In crude multivariate regression analysis, MAP was
      positively correlated with MPI (r = 0.32, p < 0.001), GLS (r = 0.54, p < 0.001),
      sFlt1 (r = 0.60, p < 0.001) and sEng (r = 0.61, p < 0.001). After adjustment for
      confounders, these relationships persisted between MAP and MPI (r = 0.31, p =
      0.0003), GLS (r = 0.46, p < 0.001), sFlt1 (r = 0.56, p < 0.001) and sEng (r =
      0.58, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Mean arterial pressure correlates with worsening
      cardiac function as measured by MPI and serum levels of angiogenic factors.
      Further studies are needed to evaluate whether a reduction in blood pressure will
      reverse changes in MPI or reduce levels of angiogenic proteins seen among women
      with HDP.

PMID- 28609172
TI  - Placental expression of sFlt-1 and PlGF in early preeclampsia vs. early IUGR vs.
      age-matched healthy pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether differences between early preeclampsia and
      early fetal growth restriction can be explained by differential placental
      expression patterns of sFlt-1, Flt-1, and PlGF. METHODS: Placental tissues and
      maternal blood samples from six cases of preeclampsia, seven IUGR, and six age
      matched controls were studied for mRNA and protein levels as well as protein
      localization and expression intensity. RESULTS: Neither placental PlGF mRNA and
      protein expression nor placental villous trophoblast expression intensity of PlGF
      was altered by placental dysfunction. CONCLUSION: High sFlt-1 concentrations may
      account for diminished maternal serum PlGF levels.

PMID- 28609173
TI  - Residential traffic noise exposure and vestibular schwannoma - a Danish case
      control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few risk factors for sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS) are known.
      Several studies have proposed an increased risk with occupational noise exposure,
      whereas no studies have investigated residential traffic noise exposure as a risk
      factor. The present study investigated if residential traffic noise was
      associated with vestibular schwannoma in a large, population-based Danish case
      control study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We identified 1454 VS cases, age above 30
      years at diagnosis, between 1990 and 2007. For each case, we selected two random
      population controls, matched on sex and year of birth. Road and railway traffic
      noise at the residence was calculated for all present and historical addresses
      between 1987 and index date. Associations between traffic noise and risk for VS
      were estimated using conditional logistic regression, adjusted for education,
      disposable personal income, cohabitation status, railway noise exposure,
      municipal population density, and municipal income. RESULTS: A two-year time
      weighted mean road traffic noise exposure was associated with an adjusted odds
      ratio of 0.92 (0.82-1.03) for developing VS, per 10 dB increment. There was no
      clear trend in categorical analyses. Similarly, linear and categorical analyses
      of residential railway noise did not suggest an association. We found no
      interaction with demographics, year of diagnosis, individual and municipal
      socioeconomic variables, and railway noise exposure. The results did not differ
      by tumor side, spread or size. CONCLUSIONS: The present study does not suggest an
      association between residential traffic noise and VS.

PMID- 28609174
TI  - Analysis of Media Coverage on Breastfeeding Policy in Washington State.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Media coverage and message framing about breastfeeding polices can
      influence important policy decisions in institutional and governmental settings.
      Research aim: This study aimed to describe the media coverage of breastfeeding
      policies and the message frames that are found in print newspapers and web-only
      news publications in Washington State between 2000 and 2014. METHODS: For this
      retrospective media analysis study, 131 news articles published from January 2000
      through June 2014 in Washington State that specifically discussed breastfeeding
      policy were identified, coded, and analyzed to explore the content of the sample
      and examine how arguments supporting or opposing breastfeeding policy were
      framed. The coding scheme was developed cooperatively and found to be reliable
      across coders. RESULTS: The number of articles published each year about
      breastfeeding policy grew overall between 2000 and 2014 and peaked during periods
      of specific policy development. Seventy-four articles had a neutral tone, 49
      supported breastfeeding policy, and 4 were in opposition. Nine distinct
      supporting frames and six distinct opposing frames were identified. Common
      supporting frames were health benefits of breastfeeding and the need for policies
      because of challenges of breastfeeding in public. The most common opposing frame
      was indecency of breastfeeding in public. CONCLUSION: There is limited but
      growing media coverage of breastfeeding policies. For the most part, coverage is
      supportive of the need for policies. Breastfeeding advocates can apply
      information about media message frames to craft effective policy development
      strategies that counteract negative perceptions and promote the benefits of
      breastfeeding policies.

PMID- 28609175
TI  - Center for the Polyurethanes Industry summary of unpublished industrial hygiene
      studies related to the evaluation of emissions of spray polyurethane foam
      insulation.
AB  - Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation is used as thermal insulation for
      residential and commercial buildings. It has many advantages over other forms
      insulation; however, concerns have been raised related to chemical emissions
      during and after application. The American Chemistry Council's (ACC's) Center for
      the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) has gathered previously unpublished industrial
      hygiene air sampling studies submitted by member companies that were completed
      during an eight-year period from 2007-2014. These studies address emissions from
      medium density closed cell and low density open cell formulations. This article
      summarizes the results of personal and area air samples collected during
      application and post application of SPF to interior building surfaces in both
      laboratory and field environments. Chemicals of interest included: Volatile
      Organic Compounds (VOCs), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), flame
      retardants, amine catalysts, blowing agents, and aldehydes. Overall, the results
      indicate that SPF applicators and workers in close proximity to the application
      are potentially exposed to MDI in excess of recommended and governmental
      occupational exposure limits and should use personal protective equipment (PPE)
      consisting of air supplied respirators and full-body protective clothing to
      reduce exposure. Catalyst emissions can be reduced by using reactive catalysts in
      SPF formulations, and mechanical ventilation is important in controlling
      emissions during and after application.

PMID- 28609176
TI  - Mothers of Infants With Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Describe "Breastfeeding"
      in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: "As Long as It's My Milk, I'm Happy".
AB  - BACKGROUND: Very little is known about the breastfeeding experience of mothers of
      infants born with congenital anomalies and cared for in the neonatal intensive
      care unit (NICU). Often, studies related to breastfeeding and lactation in the
      NICU setting are focused on the mothers of late preterm, preterm, low-birth
      weight, and very-low-birth-weight infants. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)
      is an anatomic malformation of the diaphragm and affects 1 in every 2,000 to
      4,000 live births. Currently, there are no studies examining the health outcomes
      of infants with CDH and the effect of human milk. Research aim: This study aimed
      to describe the breastfeeding experience of mothers of infants with CDH cared for
      in the NICU. METHODS: A prospective, longitudinal qualitative descriptive design
      was used. Phased interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 11 CDH
      infant-mother dyads from a level 3 NICU in a children's hospital. RESULTS: Six
      themes emerged from the data: (a) hopeful for breastfeeding, (b) latching on . .
      . to the pump, (c) we've already worked so hard, (d) getting the hang of it-it's
      getting easier, (e) a good safety net, and (f) finding a way that works for us.
      CONCLUSION: For this population of CDH infant-mother dyads, the term
      breastfeeding is not exclusive to direct feeding at the breast and the mothers
      emphasized the significance of providing their own mother's milk through a
      combination of feeding mechanisms to their infants with CDH.

PMID- 28609177
TI  - Very-Low-Dose Methadone To Treat Refractory Neuropathic Pain in Children with
      Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared with nociceptive pain, neuropathic pain is a challenging
      diagnosis to make and successfully treat in children with cancer. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of this case report was to see whether very-low-dose methadone (VLDM)
      (defined as <50% of accepted starting analgesic dose of methadone for children)
      would be an effective strategy to treat refractory neuropathic pain due to
      vincristine in two children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. METHODS: This case
      report is based on the clinical experience and parent-reported outcomes of two
      children with refractory neuropathic pain who received VLDM. RESULTS: Based on
      parent/caregiver-reported outcome scores over a one-year period, both children's
      refractory neuropathic pain syndrome was successfully treated with the addition
      of VLDM to their pre-existing regimen of gabapentin. Neither child suffered any
      adverse effects from methadone. CONCLUSIONS: VLDM shows promise as an effective,
      safe, and inexpensive way to treat refractory neuropathic pain in children with
      cancer.

PMID- 28609178
TI  - Traditional Galactagogue Foods and Their Connection to Human Milk Volume in Thai
      Breastfeeding Mothers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thai traditional galactagogue consumption is still observed today.
      However, there are few scientific studies that describe this practice. Research
      aim: The aim of this study was to describe the connection between traditional
      galactagogue consumption and human milk volume. METHODS: Self-reported maternal
      surveys ( N = 36) were conducted of mothers and their infants who breastfeed
      exclusively. The mothers were interviewed about traditional galactagogue
      consumption and intake of protein-rich foods using a semiquantitative food
      frequency questionnaire. They were also assessed for energy and nutrient intake
      using the 24-hr dietary recall method. Their infants were between 1 and 3 months
      of age and were test weighed for 24 hr to measure their mother's own milk volume.
      Partial correlation was used to test the relationship between galactagogue
      consumption and milk volume by controlling the infants' birth weight, weight-for
      age, maternal energy, and carbohydrate intake. RESULTS: The results revealed that
      consumption of some traditional galactagogues was significantly correlated to
      human milk volume, including banana flower, lemon basil, Thai basil, bottle
      gourd, and pumpkin ( p < .05). Furthermore, there were significant correlations
      between consumption of some kinds of protein and milk volume, including egg tofu,
      chicken, fish, and seafood ( p < .05). Maternal energy and carbohydrate intake
      were related to milk volume ( p < .05), but protein intake was not. CONCLUSION:
      Certain kinds of traditional galactagogues and proteins are associated with human
      milk volume. However, studies related to the active ingredients in these
      galactagogues are required to secure a recommendation about use of traditional
      galactagogues among breastfeeding mothers.

PMID- 28609179
TI  - Maternal distress and the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
AB  - Despite the implementation of programmes to improve maternal health, maternal and
      foetal mortality rates still remain high. The presence of maternal distress and
      its association with the development of pregnancy hypertensive disorders is not
      well established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between
      maternal distress and the development of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in a
      prospective cohort of 321 Mexican women. Symptoms of maternal distressing were
      evaluated at week 20th of gestation using the General Health Questionnaire. The
      presence of acute somatic symptoms, social dysfunction, anxiety and insomnia
      increased the odds of developing a pregnancy hypertensive disorder by 5.1-26.4
      times in study population (p values < .05). Our results support the participation
      of maternal distress in the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
      The implementation of effective programmes prioritising risk factors during
      pregnancy including the presence of maternal distressing factors is recommended.
      Impact statement What is already known on this subject: Changes in the nervous,
      endocrine, and immune systems have been observed in pregnant women with distress
      conditions leading to gestational disorders. What do the results of this study
      add: The presence of acute somatic symptoms, social dysfunction, anxiety and
      insomnia increased the developing of hypertensive disorders in Mexican
      population. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice
      and/or further research: These findings may contribute to a better understanding
      of the role of the maternal stress in the development of hypertensive disorders
      of pregnancy, and in the implementation of effective programmes for clinical
      practice prioritising risk factors during pregnancy, including the presence of
      maternal distressing factors.

PMID- 28609180
TI  - Environmental exposure to parabens and sperm chromosome disomy.
AB  - Parabens are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in cosmetics,
      pharmaceuticals, food and beverage processing due to their board spectrum of
      activity, inertness, and low cost. The study population consisted of 156 men
      under 45 years of age who attended the infertility clinic for diagnostic purposes
      with normal semen concentration of 15-300 mln/ml. Participants were interviewed
      and provided a semen sample. The parabens concentrations: ethyl paraben (EP),
      butyl paraben (BP), methyl paraben (MP), and iso-butyl paraben (iBuP) were
      analyzed in the urine using a validated gas chromatography ion-tap mass
      spectrometry method. The positive association was found between urinary level of
      BP and XY18 disomy (p = 0.045) and PP and disomy of chromosome 13 (p = 0.007).
      This is the first study to examine these relationships, and replication of our
      findings is needed before the association between parabens concentration in urine
      and aneuploidy can be fully defined. These findings may be of concern due to
      increased parabens use.

PMID- 28609181
TI  - Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Hospital Admissions for Pediatric
      Abusive Head Trauma, 1995-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Policies that increase household income, such as the earned income
      tax credit (EITC), have shown reductions on risk factors for child maltreatment
      (ie, poverty, maternal stress, depression), but evidence is lacking on whether
      the EITC actually reduces child maltreatment. We examined whether states' EITCs
      are associated with state rates of hospital admissions for abusive head trauma
      among children aged <2 years. METHODS: We conducted difference-in-difference
      analyses (ie, pre- and postdifferences in intervention vs control groups) of
      annual rates of states' hospital admissions attributed to abusive head trauma
      among children aged <2 years (ie, using aggregate data). We conducted analyses in
      14 states with, and 13 states without, an EITC from 1995 to 2013, differentiating
      refundable EITCs (ie, tax filer gets money even if taxes are not owed) from
      nonrefundable EITCs (ie, tax filer gets credit only for any tax owed),
      controlling for state rates of child poverty, unemployment, high school
      graduation, and percentage of non-Latino white people. RESULTS: A refundable EITC
      was associated with a decrease of 3.1 abusive head trauma admissions per 100 000
      population in children aged <2 years after controlling for confounders ( P =
      .08), but a nonrefundable EITC was not associated with a decrease ( P = .49). Tax
      refunds ranged from $108 to $1014 and $165 to $1648 for a single parent working
      full-time at minimum wage with 1 child or 2 children, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our findings with others suggest that policies such as the EITC that increase
      household income may prevent serious abusive head trauma.

PMID- 28609182
TI  - Infrared thermography reveals effect of working posture on skin temperature in
      office workers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Musculoskeletal symptoms related to using traditional computer
      workstations are common. Quantitative methods for measuring muscle stress and
      strain are needed to improve ergonomics of workstations. We hypothesize that
      infrared thermography (IRT) is suited for this purpose. METHODS: This hypothesis
      was evaluated by estimating muscle activity in upright and traditional working
      postures with IRT and surface electromyography (sEMG). IRT and sEMG measurements
      were conducted in 14 female participants with both working postures. First,
      measurements with the traditional posture were performed. Later, participants had
      1 month to adjust to the upright working posture before repeating the
      measurements. IRT images were acquired before and after a full working day, with
      sEMG recordings being conducted throughout the measurement days. Participants
      evaluated their neck pain severity using neck disability index (NDI)
      questionnaires before the first and after the second measurement day. RESULTS:
      Spatial variation in upper back temperature was higher (p = 0.008) when working
      in traditional posture and the upright working posture reduced (p < 0.05) upper
      back muscle activity. The NDI was significantly lower (p = 0.003) after working
      in the upright posture. CONCLUSION: IRT was found suitable for evaluating muscle
      activity and upright working posture to reduce the NDI and muscle activity in the
      upper back.

PMID- 28609183
TI  - Farnesol signalling in Candida albicans - more than just communication.
AB  - Candida albicans is a successful colonizer of the human host, which can, under
      certain circumstances cause a range of clinically diverse infections. Important
      virulence-associated traits of the fungus, such as the dimorphic switch and
      biofilm formation, are controlled by the quorum sensing molecule farnesol. Given
      the potential of farnesol as a novel antifungal drug, there has been increasing
      research into the mechanism underlying farnesol sensing and action in C.
      albicans. However, despite the identification of various factors involved in
      farnesol signalling, its exact mode of action remains largely unclear. This
      review provides an overview of the currently known aspects of farnesol
      production, sensing and action within C. albicans. We also illustrate the
      characteristic of C. albicans to simultaneously produce and tolerate high
      farnesol concentrations that are lethal to other microbes. Furthermore, we
      summarize new literature on the role of farnesol in the interaction of C.
      albicans with the human host and highlight its action as a potent
      immunomodulatory molecule.

PMID- 28609184
TI  - Use of gases in dairy manufacturing: A review.
AB  - Use of gases (air, carbon dioxide and nitrogen) has been practiced in the
      manufacture of dairy products (i.e., ice cream, whipped cream and butter) to
      improve their texture, mouthfeel and shelf-life extension. Many attempts have
      also been made to incorporate other gases such as hydrogen, nitrous oxide, argon,
      xenon, and helium into the dairy systems for various product functionalities such
      as whipping, foaming, texture, aroma enhancement, and therapeutic properties. The
      gases can be dissolved in aqueous and fat phases or remain in the form of bubbles
      stabilized by protein or fat particles. The gas addition or infusion processes
      are typically simple and have been used commercially. This review focuses on the
      use of various gases in relation to their individually physical properties along
      with their specific roles in manufacturing and controlling quality of dairy
      products. It also recaps on how gases are included in the dairy systems. The
      information is important in understanding of addition of specific gas(es) into
      food systems, particularly dairy products, that potentially provide intervention
      opportunities for modifying and/or creating innovative food structures and
      functionalities.

PMID- 28609186
TI  - Recommendations of the Oligonucleotide Safety Working Group's Formulated
      Oligonucleotide Subcommittee for the Safety Assessment of Formulated
      Oligonucleotide-Based Therapeutics.
AB  - The use of lipid formulations has greatly improved the ability to effectively
      deliver oligonucleotides and has been instrumental in the rapid expansion of
      therapeutic development programs using oligonucleotide drugs. However, the
      development of such complex multicomponent therapeutics requires the
      implementation of unique, scientifically sound approaches to the nonclinical
      development of these drugs, based upon a hybrid of knowledge and experiences
      drawn from small molecule, protein, and oligonucleotide therapeutic drug
      development. The relative paucity of directly applicable regulatory guidance
      documents for oligonucleotide therapeutics in general has resulted in the
      generation of multiple white papers from oligonucleotide drug development experts
      and members of the Oligonucleotide Safety Working Group (OSWG). The members of
      the Formulated Oligonucleotide Subcommittee of the OSWG have utilized their
      collective experience working with a variety of formulations and their associated
      oligonucleotide payloads, as well as their insights into regulatory
      considerations and expectations, to generate a series of consensus
      recommendations for the pharmacokinetic characterization and nonclinical safety
      assessment of this unique class of therapeutics. It should be noted that the
      focus of Subcommittee discussions was on lipid nanoparticle and other types of
      particulate formulations of therapeutic oligonucleotides and not on conjugates or
      other types of modifications of oligonucleotide structure intended to facilitate
      delivery.

PMID- 28609187
TI  - Integrating Social Services and Home-Based Primary Care for High-Risk Patients.
AB  - There is a consensus that our current hospital-intensive approach to care is
      deeply flawed. This review article describes the research evidence for developing
      a better system of care for high-cost, high-risk patients. It reviews the
      evidence that home-centered care and integration of health care with social
      services are the cornerstones of a more humane and efficient system. The article
      describes the strengths and weaknesses of research evaluating the effects of
      social services in addressing social determinants of health, and how social
      support is critical to successful acute care transition programs. It reviews the
      history of incorporating social services into care management, and the prospects
      that recent payment reforms and regulatory initiatives can succeed in stimulating
      the financial integration of social services into new care coordination
      initiatives. The article reviews the literature on home-based primary care for
      the chronically ill and disabled, and suggests that it is the emergence of this
      care modality that holds the greatest promise for delivery system reform. In the
      hope of stimulating further discussion and debate, the authors summarize existing
      viewpoints on how a home-centered system, which integrates social and medical
      services, might emerge in the next few years.

PMID- 28609185
TI  - Discovery and Preclinical Development of Netarsudil, a Novel Ocular Hypotensive
      Agent for the Treatment of Glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitors lower intraocular
      pressure (IOP) by increasing aqueous outflow through the trabecular meshwork
      (TM). The preclinical characterization of netarsudil, a new ROCK/norepinephrine
      transporter (NET) inhibitor currently in clinical development, is presented
      herein. METHODS: The kinase inhibitory activity of netarsudil was compared to its
      esterase metabolite, netarsudil-M1, and 3 other ROCK inhibitors using a
      commercially available kinase assay kit. Disruption of actin stress fibers was
      measured in primary porcine TM cells and disruption of focal adhesions in
      transformed human TM (HTM) cells. Induction of fibrosis markers after exposure to
      transforming growth factor-beta2 (TGF-beta2) was conducted in primary HTM cells.
      Ocular hypotensive activity and tolerability of topical formulations were
      evaluated in normotensive Dutch Belted rabbits and Formosan Rock monkeys. In
      vitro corneal metabolism assays were conducted using dog, pig, rabbit, monkey,
      and human corneas. In vivo ocular pharmacokinetics was studied in Dutch Belted
      rabbits. RESULTS: Netarsudil inhibited kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2 with a Ki of 1 nM
      each, disrupted actin stress fibers and focal adhesions in TM cells with IC50s of
      79 and 16 nM, respectively, and blocked the profibrotic effects of TGF-beta2 in
      HTM cells. Netarsudil produced large reductions in IOP in rabbits and monkeys
      that were sustained for at least 24 h after once daily dosing, with transient,
      mild hyperemia observed as the only adverse effect. CONCLUSION: Netarsudil is a
      novel ROCK/NET inhibitor with high potency in biochemical and cell-based assays,
      an ability to produce large and durable IOP reductions in animal models, and
      favorable pharmacokinetic and ocular tolerability profiles.

PMID- 28609188
TI  - Subtraction Images of Gadoxetic Acid-Enhanced MRI: Effect on the Diagnostic
      Performance for Focal Hepatic Lesions in Patients at Risk for Hepatocellular
      Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of subtraction
      images of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI on the image interpretation of focal
      hepatic lesions in patients at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 255 malignant nodules from 233 patients
      with chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis (187 men and 46 women; mean age, 55.2
      years) who underwent preoperative gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and surgical
      resection. We compared the detection rate of arterial hypervascularity on visual
      assessment with that of subtraction images. Subgroup analysis was performed
      according to the pathologic profile of the lesion (HCC vs non-HCC), the lesion
      size (<= 3 vs > 3 cm), and the MRI technique (1.5 vs 3 T). We assessed the effect
      of subtraction images in diagnosing HCC according to the American Association for
      the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines compared with that of visual assessment.
      RESULTS: After excluding six patients whose images were not of nondiagnostic
      quality, 249 nodules (215 HCCs, 27 cholangiocarcinomas, and seven combined HCC
      and cholangiocarcinomas) from 227 patients were analyzed. Subtraction images more
      sensitively detected the arterial hypervascularity of all of the hepatic lesions
      than did visual assessment (sensitivity, 89.2% vs 72.4%; p < 0.001). In all of
      the subgroup analyses, the same tendency was observed (p = 0.001-0.145). Compared
      with visual assessment only, arterial hypervascularity determined by both
      subtraction images and the visual enhancement patterns increased sensitivity from
      76.5% to 87.5% (p < 0.001) in diagnosing HCCs, with a minimal decrease in
      specificity from 80.9% to 78.1% (p = 0.332). CONCLUSION: Adding subtraction
      images with consideration of visual enhancement patterns can enhance the
      sensitivity in diagnosing HCC by enhancing the detection of arterial
      hypervascularity.

PMID- 28609190
TI  - Gene Therapy Briefs.

PMID- 28609189
TI  - A New Kid on the Playground of CRISPR DMD Therapy.

PMID- 28609191
TI  - Understanding Frequent Emergency Department Use Among Primary Care Patients.
AB  - Patients with high emergency department (ED) utilization are an important focus
      in population health management. This retrospective cohort study analyzed
      patterns of frequent ED use for 4087 patients enrolled at an academically
      affiliated primary care clinic. For all ED visits (n = 4776), the chief
      complaints, admission rates, number of complaints per patient, and median time
      between return visits were assessed. Chart reviews were conducted for the 10
      highest utilizers from each of the 3 leading complaints to help explain repeated
      ED use for the same complaints. Results showed that chief complaints for high
      utilizers were statistically similar to other patients. Nearly half (49.8%) of
      all ED visits among high utilizers were repeat visits for the same complaint.
      However, most high utilizers (85%) had 4 or more separate complaints. Their
      visits clustered temporally, with 55% occurring less than 30 days apart. Visits
      for psychiatric symptoms demonstrated the shortest time to repeat visit (median
      17.5 days, interquartile range: 39.5). Abdominal pain, chest pain, and shortness
      of breath were the leading complaints and the leading sources of hospital
      admissions and repeat visits. Chart review revealed that these 3 chief complaints
      often were associated with a wide range of ongoing chronic conditions, confounded
      by substance abuse, anxiety, and treatment nonadherence. This study demonstrates
      an integrative method for examining patterns of ED use among high utilizers. It
      also highlights the complex nature of high utilization and the inherent
      difficulty in predicting and addressing the needs of high-utilizer patients.

PMID- 28609192
TI  - Evaluation of the well mixed room and near-field far-field models in occupational
      settings.
AB  - Drawing appropriate conclusions about a scenario for which the exposure is truly
      unacceptable drives appropriate exposure and risk management, and protects the
      health and safety of those individuals. To ensure the vast majority of these
      decisions are accurate, these decisions must be based upon proven approaches and
      tools. When these decisions are based solely on professional judgment guided by
      subjective inputs, however, they are more than likely wrong, and biased,
      underestimating the true exposure. Models have been shown anecdotally to be
      useful in accurately predicting exposure but their use in occupational hygiene
      has been limited. Possible reasons are a general lack of guidance on model
      selection and use and scant model input data. The lack of systematic evaluation
      of the models is also an important factor. This research is the second phase of
      work building upon the robust evaluation of the Well Mixed Room (WMR) and Near
      Field Far Field (NF-FF) models under controlled conditions in an exposure
      chamber, [5] in which good concordance between measured and modeled airborne
      concentrations of three solvents under a range of conditions was observed. In
      real world environments, the opportunity to control environmental conditions is
      limited and measuring the model inputs directly can be challenging; in many
      cases, model inputs must be estimated indirectly without measurement. These
      circumstances contribute to increased model input uncertainty and consequent
      uncertainty in the output. Field studies of model performance directly inform us
      about how well models predict exposures given these practical limitations, and
      are, therefore, an important component of model evaluation. The evaluation
      included ten diverse contaminant-exposure scenarios at five workplaces involving
      six different contaminants. A database of parameter values and measured and
      modeled exposures was developed and will be useful for modeling similar scenarios
      in the future.

PMID- 28609193
TI  - DNA Methylome Profiling on the Infinium HumanMethylation450 Array from Limiting
      Quantities of Genomic DNA from a Single, Small Archived Bloodspot.
AB  - AIMS: Archived newborn bloodspots are valuable sample collections for genetic and
      epigenetic disease research. However, they have often been stored for long
      periods of time, under less than ideal circumstances, and nucleic acid yields can
      be low, particularly when samples become limiting. We wished to determine whether
      the quantity and quality of genomic DNA (gDNA) isolated from a single, surgical
      bloodspot punch (2 mm dia.) was adequate for accurate and reliable DNA methylome
      profiling on the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array. METHODS: A total of 25-750
      ng of archived bloodspot or Jurkat cell gDNA were bisulfite converted and
      analyzed on the array without any additional DNA amplification steps. Methylation
      profiles were assessed for call rate, call confidence (detection p-value), and
      reproducibility. RESULTS: Using 25 ng gDNA from either Jurkat cells or dried
      bloodspots, array-wide call rates (~99.9%) and detection p-values (99.9% with p <
      5 * 10-6) were excellent. There was good agreement between methylation profiles
      generated from 25 ng gDNA and those generated from 750 ng (rho > 0.98), although
      a fraction of CpG sites (2-8% depending on experiment) exhibited quantitative
      differences. Genome-wide methylation levels were strikingly reproducible from 25
      ng DNA in both replicate and interindividual samples (rho > 0.98). CONCLUSIONS:
      Twenty-five nanograms of gDNA, isolated from a single, surgical punch (2 mm dia.)
      of an archived newborn bloodspot, generate a genome-wide methylation profile on
      the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array that is robust, reproducible, and suitable
      for differential methylation studies.

PMID- 28609194
TI  - Advances in Public Health Surveillance and Information Dissemination at the
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PMID- 28609195
TI  - Determination of secondhand smoke leakage from the smoking room of an Internet
      cafe.
AB  - : Although Internet cafes have been designated as nonsmoking areas in Korea,
      smoke-free legislation has allowed the installation of indoor smoking rooms. The
      purposes of this study were to determine secondhand smoke (SHS) leakage from an
      Internet cafe smoking room and to identify factors associated with SHS leakage.
      PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <=2.5 MUm) mass
      concentrations were measured simultaneously both inside and outside the door to
      the smoking room. During each measurement, a field technician observed how long
      the smoking room door was opened and closed, the direction of door opening, and
      the number of smokers. A multivariate linear regression model was used to
      identify the causality of SHS leakage from the smoking room. A time series of
      PM2.5 concentrations both inside and outside the door to the smoking room showed
      a similar trend. SHS leakage was significantly increased because of factors
      associated with the direction of the smoking room door being opened, the duration
      of how long the smoking room door was opened until it was closed, and the average
      PM2.5 concentration inside the smoking room when the door was opened. SHS leakage
      from inside the smoking room to outside the smoking room was evident especially
      when the smoking room door was opened. Since the smoking room is not effective in
      preventing SHS exposure, the smoking room should be removed from the facilities
      to protect citizens from SHS exposure through revision of the current
      legislation, which permits installation of a smoking room. IMPLICATIONS: This
      paper concerns secondhand smoke (SHS) leakage from indoor smoking room. Unlike
      previous studies, the authors statistically analyzed the causality of PM2.5
      concentration leakage from a smoking room using time-series analysis. Since the
      authors selected the most common smoking room, the outcomes could be generalized.
      The study demonstrated that SHS leakage from smoking room and SHS leakage were
      clearly associated with door opening. The finding demonstrated ineffectiveness of
      smoking room to protect citizens and supports removal of indoor smoking room.

PMID- 28609196
TI  - Horizontal ground reaction forces to stationary running performed in the water
      and on dry land at different physiological intensities.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to compare the peak anterior-posterior (Fy) and
      medio-lateral (Fx) ground reaction forces (GRFs) of women performing stationary
      running at different intensities in aquatic and dry land environments. Fourteen
      young women performed the stationary running exercise at three cadences (first
      ventilatory threshold, second ventilatory threshold and maximum effort, as
      determined during exercise in water) in aquatic and dry land environments. Two
      way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyse the data (alpha = .05). As a
      result, significantly lower peak Fy anterior, Fy posterior, Fx medial and Fx
      lateral values were observed for the aquatic environment, except for the Fy
      posterior at the first ventilatory threshold. Significant differences were
      observed between cadences in the peak Fy anterior, Fy posterior, Fx medial and Fx
      lateral values, with higher values for the cadence corresponding to maximum
      effort compared to the first ventilatory threshold, except for the Fy posterior
      and Fx medial in the aquatic environment. The results indicate that the
      horizontal GRFs are reduced in the aquatic environment and depend on the
      intensity of stationary running exercise performance.

PMID- 28609197
TI  - The Glu331del mutation in the CYP17A1 gene causes atypical congenital adrenal
      hyperplasia in a 46,XX female.
AB  - 17alpha-Hydroxylase deficiency is an uncommon type of congenital adrenal
      hyperplasia (CAH) caused by mutations in the CYP17A1 gene encoding both 17alpha
      hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase, essential for sex steroids production. Main clinical
      features include lack of pubertal development, hypertension, and hypokalemia. We
      report the first case of a 46,XX female homozygote for the p.Glu331del mutation
      in the CYP17A1 gene showing an atypical clinical presentation. She was evaluated
      the first time for primary amenorrhea and delayed puberty in the presence of low
      levels of androgens, 17beta-estradiol, serum cortisol, and high levels of
      progesterone and gonadotropins. After puberty, the patient did not show
      hypocortisolism and/or hypertension. She started estrogen therapy for pubertal
      induction, followed by ethinylestradiol/gestodene with clinical and biochemical
      stability during the follow-up period. At the age of 40 years, she developed
      hypokalemia and clinical signs of hypocortisolism. Oral corticosteroid treatment
      was started showing a prompt clinical improvement. Modeling analysis predicted
      the main outcome of the E331 deletion to impair cytochrome b5 binding, according
      to a major effect on the enzyme's lyase activity. These data broaden the
      molecular and clinical spectrum of CAH caused by 17alpha-hydroxylase deficiency
      and adds to current genotype-phenotype correlations.

PMID- 28609198
TI  - Interzonal airflow rates for use in near-field far-field workplace concentration
      modeling.
AB  - Interzonal air flow rates (beta) for a workspace above a table were measured in
      12 indoor air spaces using an experimental apparatus simulating a vapor release
      into an occupied near zone. The near field was modeled as a 0.32 m3 rectangular
      cube volume 0.60 m high above the 0.60 m * 0.90 m table. A total of 74
      experimental measurements of beta were made. The apparatus consisted of
      photoionization detectors measuring concentrations of acetone around an
      evaporating liquid surface with a robot arm simulating worker motion in the near
      field. The vapor release rate and the resulting concentrations were used in a
      near-field far-field (NF-FF) model to calculate beta. Measures of mixing within
      the near-field supported the assumption of the NF-FF model that the near field is
      well-mixed. Measured values of beta ranged from 0.4-19 m3/min with an average of
      4.8 m3/min. This corresponds to 1.2-59 air changes per minute in the near field
      and an average of 15 air changes per minute. The values of beta were log normally
      distributed with a geometric mean of 3.4 m3/min and a geometric standard
      deviation of 2.3. The 95% confidence interval on the geometric mean of beta was
      2.8-4.2 m3/min. The product of the random air speed in the room and one half of
      the near-field free surface area was shown to be a good method of determining
      beta. There was a slight correlation seen between room volume and beta, but the
      effect size was small. Room air change rate was not found to be correlated with
      beta. The observed distribution of beta will be helpful in selecting values for
      interzonal airflow rate in NF-FF modeling of worker exposures.

PMID- 28609199
TI  - Smoking in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to examine (1) the prevalence of smoking in
      subjects with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), (2) whether smoking prevalence
      significantly differs between subjects with and without IBS, and (3) whether
      smoking significantly predicts the presence or the development of IBS. METHODS:
      Articles were retrieved by systematically searching the Scopus, Web of Science,
      and PubMed electronic databases from inception to July 2016, using the keywords
      "smoking" and "tobacco" combined with "irritable bowel syndrome." Reference lists
      of included articles were also searched. Articles were included if they (1)
      reported data on smoking prevalence in subjects with IBS and/or on the
      association (assessed by means of multivariate analyses) between smoking and IBS,
      (2) identified IBS according to Manning criteria or Rome I-III criteria, (3) were
      English-language articles, and (4) involved only adult subjects. RESULTS: The
      electronic searches yielded a total of 1,637 records, and 42 articles met
      inclusion criteria. Another 13 articles were retrieved through manual search,
      leading to a total of 55 included articles. Smoking prevalence in subjects with
      IBS was assessed by 48 articles and ranged from 0% in university students to
      47.1% in patients with microscopic colitis. Thirty-three articles compared
      smoking prevalence between subjects with and without IBS. In 25 articles no
      significant difference was found. In seven articles smoking was significantly
      more frequent in subjects with IBS compared to those without IBS, while one study
      found a significantly higher smoking prevalence in controls. Eighteen
      multivariate analyses assessing the association between smoking and IBS were
      presented in 16 articles. Only one study employed a prospective design. In 11
      analyses, smoking was not significantly associated with IBS after adjusting for
      covariates. In seven studies smoking independently predicted the presence of IBS.
      CONCLUSIONS: According to the selected articles, a significant association
      between smoking and IBS cannot be confirmed. However, different shortcomings may
      hinder generalizability and comparability of many studies. A dimensional
      assessment of smoking, a prospective design, the differentiation between IBS
      subgroups, and the recruitment of patients in clinical settings, especially in
      primary care, are necessary to clarify the role of smoking in IBS.

PMID- 28609201
TI  - Opposite functions of STAT3 and Smad3 in regulating Tiam1 expression in Th17
      cells.
AB  - We recently showed that Tiam1 expression is induced in pro-inflammatory T helper
      17 (Th17) cells differentiated with interleukin (IL)-6 and TGF-beta1, and
      together with Rac1 promote Th17 cell development and autoimmunity in a mouse
      model of multiple sclerosis. Here we found that STAT3 and Smad3, downstream
      transcription factors of IL-6 and TGF-beta1, respectively, play opposing roles in
      regulating Tiam1 transcription in CD4+ T-cells. While IL-6-STAT3 signaling
      promotes Tiam1 expression, TGF-beta1-Smad3 induces the opposite outcome. At the
      Tiam1 promoter, both STAT3 and Smad3 bind to the Tiam1 promoter in Th17 cells.
      However, STAT3 induces Tiam1 promoter activity whereas Smad3 competes with STAT3
      and inhibits its activity. Our findings uncover the complexity of STAT3/Smad3
      signaling in regulating Tiam1 expression and Th17 cells.

PMID- 28609200
TI  - Significance of S100A8, S100A9 and calprotectin levels in bladder cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Members of the S100 protein family, S100A8, S100A9 and their
      heterodimer complex known as calprotectin are thought to be involved not only in
      inflammatory pathways but also in tumorigenesis and cancer progression.
      Therefore, they have been widely studied in various types of cancer; however,
      there is limited knowledge about their role in bladder cancer. In this study, our
      aim was to determine the levels of S100A8 and S100A9 in the sera, and
      calprotectin levels in the sera and urines of bladder cancer patients and compare
      it to urinary BTA, a tumor marker that can be used in the diagnosis of bladder
      cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was comprised of two major groups: 52
      healthy controls and 82 patients with bladder cancer. The patient group was also
      divided into subgroups according to tumor stage and grade. Urine BTA levels,
      serum S100A8 and S100A9 levels, and serum and urine calprotectin levels in
      healthy controls and patients were determined using commercially available ELISA
      kits. RESULTS: While serum S100A8 and S100A9 levels did not differ between the
      controls and patients significantly, serum and urine calprotectin levels and
      urine BTA levels were significantly elevated in patients compared to controls.
      Serum calprotectin or urine BTA levels did not differ significantly among the
      patient subgroups. However, urine calprotectin levels were significantly elevated
      in muscle-invasive tumors (T2-4) compared to lower stages (Ta and T1).
      CONCLUSIONS: Urine calprotectin levels can be used in the diagnosis and staging
      of bladder cancer as a marker for muscle invasion.

PMID- 28609202
TI  - The Financial Burden of Public Health Responses to Hepatitis A Cases Among Food
      Handlers, 2012-2014.
AB  - When food handlers become ill with hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, state and
      local health departments must assess the risk of HAV transmission through
      prepared food and recommend or provide postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) for those
      at risk for HAV infection. Providing PEP (eg, hepatitis A [HepA] vaccine or
      immunoglobulin), however, is costly. To describe the burden of these responses on
      state and local health departments, we determined the number of public health
      responses to HAV infections among food handlers by reviewing public internet
      sources of media articles. We then contacted each health department to collect
      data on whether PEP was recommended to food handlers or restaurant patrons, the
      number of PEP doses given, the number of HepA vaccine or immunoglobulin doses
      given as PEP, and the mean number of health department person-hours required for
      the response. Of 32 public health responses identified from Twitter, HealthMap,
      and Google alerts from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014, a total of 27 (84%)
      recommended PEP for other food handlers or restaurant patrons or both. Per public
      health response, the mean cost per dose of the HepA vaccine or immunoglobulin was
      $34 139; the mean personnel cost per response was $7329; and the total mean cost
      of each response was $41 468. PEP is expensive. Less aggressive approaches to
      PEP, such as limiting PEP to fellow food handlers in nonoutbreak situations,
      should be considered in the postvaccination era. HepA vaccine for PEP provides
      long-term immunity and can be used when immunoglobulin is unavailable or cannot
      be administered within 14 days of exposure to HAV.

PMID- 28609203
TI  - Evaluation of Hepatic Steatosis by Using Acoustic Structure Quantification US in
      a Rat Model: Comparison with Pathologic Examination and MR Spectroscopy.
AB  - Purpose To determine factors that significantly affect the focal disturbance (FD)
      ratio calculated with an acoustic structure quantification (ASQ) technique in a
      dietary-induced fatty liver disease rat model and to assess the diagnostic
      performance of the FD ratio in the assessment of hepatic steatosis by using
      histopathologic examination as a standard of reference. Materials and Methods
      Twenty-eight male F344 rats were fed a methionine-choline-deficient diet with a
      variable duration (3.5 days [half week] or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 weeks; four rats
      in each group). A control group of four rats was maintained on a standard diet.
      At the end of each diet period, ASQ ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance
      (MR) spectroscopy were performed. Then, the rat was sacrificed and
      histopathologic examination of the liver was performed. Receiver operating
      characteristic curve analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance
      of the FD ratio in the evaluation of the degree of hepatic steatosis. The
      Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the correlation between
      the ordinal values, and multivariate linear regression analysis was used to
      identify significant determinant factors for the FD ratio. Results The diagnostic
      performance of the FD ratio in the assessment of the degree of hepatic steatosis
      (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: 1.000 for 5%-33%
      steatosis, 0.981 for >33% to 66% steatosis, and 0.965 for >66% steatosis) was
      excellent and was comparable to that of MR spectroscopy. There was a strong
      negative linear correlation between the FD ratio and the estimated fat fraction
      at MR spectroscopy (Spearman rho, -0.903; P < .001). Multivariate linear
      regression analysis showed that the degree of hepatic steatosis (P < .001) and
      fibrosis stage (P = .022) were significant factors affecting the FD ratio.
      Conclusion The FD ratio may potentially provide good diagnostic performance in
      the assessment of the degree of hepatic steatosis, with a strong negative linear
      correlation with the estimated fat fraction at MR spectroscopy. The degree of
      steatosis and stage of fibrosis at histopathologic examination were significant
      factors that affected the FD ratio. (c) RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material
      is available for this article.

PMID- 28609204
TI  - Surveillance of Women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation by Using Biannual
      Automated Breast US, MR Imaging, and Mammography.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate a multimodal surveillance regimen including yearly full-field
      digital (FFD) mammography, dynamic contrast agent-enhanced (DCE) magnetic
      resonance (MR) imaging, and biannual automated breast (AB) ultrasonography (US)
      in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Materials and Methods This prospective
      multicenter trial enrolled 296 carriers of the BRCA mutation (153 BRCA1 and 128
      BRCA2 carriers, and 15 women with first-degree untested relatives) between
      September 2010 and November 2012, with follow-up until November 2015.
      Participants underwent 2 years of intensified surveillance including biannual AB
      US, and routine yearly DCE MR imaging and FFD mammography. The surveillance
      performance for each modality and possible combinations were determined. Results
      Breast cancer was screening-detected in 16 women (age range, 33-58 years). Three
      interval cancers were detected by self-examination, all in carriers of the BRCA1
      mutation under age 43 years. One cancer was detected in a carrier of the BRCA1
      mutation with a palpable abnormality in the contralateral breast. One incidental
      breast cancer was detected in a prophylactic mastectomy specimen. Respectively,
      sensitivity of DCE MR imaging, FFD mammography, and AB US was 68.1% (14 of 21;
      95% confidence interval [CI]: 42.9%, 85.8%), 37.2% (eight of 21; 95% CI: 19.8%,
      58.7%), and 32.1% (seven of 21; 95% CI: 16.1%, 53.8%); specificity was 95.0% (643
      of 682; 95% CI: 92.7%, 96.5%), 98.1% (638 of 652; 95% CI: 96.7%, 98.9%), and
      95.1% (1030 of 1088; 95% CI: 93.5%, 96.3%); cancer detection rate was 2.0% (14 of
      702), 1.2% (eight of 671), and 1.0% (seven of 711) per 100 women-years; and
      positive predictive value was 25.2% (14 of 54), 33.7% (nine of 23), and 9.5%
      (seven of 68). DCE MR imaging and FFD mammography combined yielded the highest
      sensitivity of 76.3% (16 of 21; 95% CI: 53.8%, 89.9%) and specificity of 93.6%
      (643 of 691; 95% CI: 91.3%, 95.3%). AB US did not depict additional cancers. FFD
      mammography yielded no additional cancers in women younger than 43 years, the
      mean age at diagnosis. In carriers of the BRCA2 mutation, sensitivity of FFD
      mammography with DCE MR imaging surveillance was 90.9% (10 of 11; 95% CI: 72.7%,
      100%) and 60.0% (six of 10; 95% CI: 30.0%, 90.0%) in carriers of the BRCA1
      mutation because of the high interval cancer rate in carriers of the BRCA1
      mutation. Conclusion AB US may not be of added value to yearly FFD mammography
      and DCE MR imaging surveillance of carriers of the BRCA mutation. Study results
      suggest that carriers of the BRCA mutation younger than 40 years may not benefit
      from FFD mammography surveillance in addition to DCE MR imaging. (c) RSNA, 2017
      Online supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 28609205
TI  - Diagnostic Performance of Gadoxetic Acid-enhanced Liver MR Imaging versus
      Multidetector CT in the Detection of Dysplastic Nodules and Early Hepatocellular
      Carcinoma.
AB  - Purpose To compare the diagnostic performance of gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver
      magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with that of contrast material-enhanced
      multidetector computed tomography (CT) in the detection of borderline
      hepatocellular nodules in patients with liver cirrhosis and to determine the
      Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) categories of these detected
      nodules. Materials and Methods The institutional review board approved this
      retrospective study and waived the informed consent requirement. Sixty-eight
      patients with pathologically proven dysplastic nodules (DNs) (low-grade DNs, n =
      20; high-grade DNs, n = 17), early hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) (n = 42), or
      progressed HCCs (n = 33) underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging and
      multidetector CT. An additional 57 patients without any DNs or HCCs in the
      explanted livers were included as control subjects. Three radiologists
      independently graded the presence of liver nodules on a five-point confidence
      scale and assigned LI-RADS categories by using imaging findings. Jackknife
      alternative free-response receiver operating characteristics (JAFROC) software
      was used to compare the diagnostic accuracy of each modality in lesion detection.
      Results Reader-averaged figures of merit estimated with JAFROC software to detect
      hepatocellular nodules were 0.774 for multidetector CT and 0.842 for MR imaging
      (P = .002). Readers had significantly higher detection sensitivity for early HCCs
      with MR imaging than with multidetector CT (78.6% vs 52.4% [P = .001], 71.4% vs
      50.0% [P = .011], and 73.8% vs 50.0% [P = .001], respectively). A high proportion
      of overall detected early HCCs at multidetector CT (59.4%) and MR imaging (72.3%)
      were categorized as LI-RADS category 4. Most early HCCs (76.2%) and high-grade
      DNs (82.4%) demonstrated hypointensity on hepatobiliary phase images. In total,
      30 more LI-RADS category 4 early HCCs were identified with MR imaging than with
      multidetector CT across all readers. Conclusion Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR
      imaging performed significantly better in the detection of high-risk borderline
      nodules, especially early HCCs, than did multidetector CT. (c) RSNA, 2017 Online
      supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 28609206
TI  - Predicting Recidivism Among Internet Child Sex Sting Offenders Using
      Psychological Language Analysis.
AB  - In this study, we examined the extent to which computerized linguistic analysis
      of natural language data from chat transcripts of Internet child sex stings
      predicted recidivism among 334 convicted offenders. Using the Linguistic Inquiry
      and Word Count (LIWC) program, we found that reoffenders (including simultaneous
      and previous offenders) differed significantly from nonreoffenders in measures of
      clout (a composite measure of social dominance) and percentage of words used in
      the following linguistic categories: cognitive processes, personal pronoun use,
      insight, time, and ingestion. In contrast, total word count and percentage of
      sexual words, two categories that might be assumed to be predictive of
      recidivism, were not significantly different between these two groups. These
      analyses help to develop a typology for an Internet sex reoffender as one who is
      dominant, nonequivocating, and likely to discuss meeting with their target and/or
      parents' schedules. Moreover, they highlight the importance of examining the
      functional aspects of language in forensic linguistic analysis, and exemplify the
      utility of computerized linguistic analyses in the courtroom.

PMID- 28609208
TI  - The effect of different distractions on remembering delayed intentions.
AB  - In safety-critical domains, frequently intentions need to be delayed until an
      ongoing task is completed. Research using the delay-execute paradigm showed that
      interruptions during the delay cause forgetting. However, staff members often
      handle an initial distraction not by interrupting the ongoing task but by
      acknowledging the distraction or multitasking. In Experiments 1a and 1b, we
      observed that, compared to a no distraction condition, multitasking significantly
      decreased remembering of intentions and interrupting decreased remembering even
      further. In Experiment 2, interruptions with context change reduced remembering
      of intentions compared to uninterrupted delays, and at the same time,
      interruptions without context change improved memory performance compared to
      uninterrupted delays. However, improved memory performance resulted in decreased
      interrupting task performance. Theoretically, the results support the contextual
      cueing mechanism of delay-execute tasks. Considering safety-critical domains,
      multitasking, interruptions and context changes can contribute to forgetting of
      tasks.

PMID- 28609207
TI  - Protection of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Preconditioning against Endotoxin-Induced
      Uveitis (EIU) in Rats is Associated with Overexpression of Interleukin-1 Receptor
      Associated Kinase M (IRAK-M).
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the protective effect of LPS preconditioning against EIU
      in rats. METHODS: EIU in Wistar rats was developed by subcutaneous injection of
      LPS (200 MUg). Lower dose of LPS (0.1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) or its carrier
      was injected daily for five days before EIU induction. Twenty-four hours after
      EIU, eyes were examined and then enucleated. The degree of inflammatory reaction
      was determined by routine histological examinations. Real-time RT-PCR and Western
      blot were used to determine the activation of NF-kB and expression of IRAK-1,
      IRAK-4, and IRAK-M Results: Repeated pre-administration of LPS induced a
      significant reduction in ocular inflammation and the expression of NF-kappab p65
      in neurons. The expression of IRAK-1 and IRAK-4 was suppressed in endotoxin
      tolerance group, whereas IRAK-M was increased. CONCLUSIONS: Endotoxin tolerance
      has a protective effect against EIU, and upregulation of IRAK-M through TLR
      signaling pathway is one of the most likely candidates to be involved in the
      observed phenomenon.

PMID- 28609209
TI  - Creation of a human T-ALL cell line online database.

PMID- 28609210
TI  - Quality of life in patients with brain tumors in the course of alpha therapy.
AB  - The aim of the study was to assess subjective quality of life in patients
      receiving alpha therapy for malignant tumors (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM) of
      the brain. No significant differences in self-assessed quality of life were found
      between GBM patients in the course of alpha-therapy and healthy controls, the two
      groups differed only as regards somatic symptoms. Moreover, the stronger the
      respondents' sense of self-efficacy, the higher their subjective quality of life.
      The findings may have practical implications for clinical psychology, namely, it
      seems worthwhile to build up the patient's sense of control of his own health.

PMID- 28609211
TI  - Bioprospecting of functional cellulases from metagenome for second generation
      biofuel production: a review.
AB  - Second generation biofuel production has been appeared as a sustainable and
      alternative energy option. The ultimate aim is the development of an industrially
      feasible and economic conversion process of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuel
      molecules. Since, cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer and also represented
      as the photosynthetically fixed form of carbon, the efficient hydrolysis of
      cellulose is the most important step towards the development of a sustainable
      biofuel production process. The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose by suites of
      hydrolytic enzymes underlines the importance of cellulase enzyme system in whole
      hydrolysis process. However, the selection of the suitable cellulolytic enzymes
      with enhanced activities remains a challenge for the biorefinery industry to
      obtain efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass. The present review focuses on
      deciphering the novel and effective cellulases from different environmental
      niches by unculturable metagenomic approaches. Furthermore, a comprehensive
      functional aspect of cellulases is also presented and evaluated by assessing the
      structural and catalytic properties as well as sequence identities and expression
      patterns. This review summarizes the recent development in metagenomics based
      approaches for identifying and exploring novel cellulases which open new avenues
      for their successful application in biorefineries.

PMID- 28609212
TI  - Correlation of Serum Soluble Fibrinogen-Like Protein 2 with Soluble FAS Ligand
      and Interferon Gamma in Egyptian Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Patients and
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients.
AB  - Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains one of the serious human diseases
      worldwide, especially in Egypt, which can lead to cirrhosis or hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC). However, the exact molecular mechanism of HCC progress in HCV
      infected patients remains unclear. Soluble fibrinogen-like protein 2 (sFGL2) is a
      modulator of the immune response that is secreted by T cells and inhibits
      maturation of dendritic cells and T cell proliferation. In the current study,
      serum sFGL2 levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
      technique in 30 chronic HCV-infected patients (HCV group), 30 chronic HCV
      infected patients with HCC (HCC group), and 12 healthy individuals (control
      group). Moreover, serum levels of soluble FAS ligand (sFASL) and interferon gamma
      (IFN-gamma) were analyzed and correlated with sFGL2 levels. According to our
      results, serum sFGL2 levels were significantly elevated in all patients with
      chronic HCV infection. However, HCC patients showed lower sFGL2 levels than HCV
      infected patients without HCC incidence. In addition, serum sFASL levels were
      significantly elevated in both HCV and HCC groups, whereas serum IFN-gamma levels
      were only elevated in the HCC group. Interestingly, sFGL2 correlated positively
      with serum total bilirubin level and negatively with serum levels of sFASL, IFN
      gamma, and albumin in HCV and HCC groups. Thus, conclusively, sFGL2 level
      increases in Egyptian HCV-infected and HCC patients. Taken together, the current
      work may open future possibility of designing new treatment strategies for HCV
      infection targeting sFGL2 and its immunosuppressive effect.

PMID- 28609213
TI  - Aspergillus spp. prevalence in different Portuguese occupational environments:
      What is the real scenario in high load settings?
AB  - The genus Aspergillus is one of the most prevalent regarding fungi in several
      highly contaminated occupational environments. The goal of the current study was
      to assess the prevalence of Aspergillus spp. in different settings, focusing on
      those where a higher load of fungal contamination is expected according to the
      European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. A specific protocol to ensure a
      more accurate assessment of the exposure to Aspergillus spp. is proposed aimed at
      allowing a detailed risk characterization and management. Two wastewater
      treatment plants, one wastewater elevation plant, four waste treatment plants,
      three cork industries, five slaughter houses, four feed industries, one poultry
      pavilion, and two swineries, all located in the outskirts of Lisbon, were
      assessed. In total, 125 air samples and 125 surface samples were collected and
      analysed by culture-based methods. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was
      performed to detect fungal presence in 100 samples, targeting the Aspergillus
      sections Circumdati, Flavi, and Fumigati. The highest prevalence of Aspergillus
      spp. was found in wastewater treatment plants (69.3%; 31.1%), waste treatment
      plants (34.8%; 73.6%), and poultry feed industry (6.3%; 26.1%), in air and
      surfaces, respectively. Aspergillus spp. was also prevalent in cork industry
      (0.9%; 23.4%), slaughter houses (1.6%; 17.7%), and swineries (7.4%; 9.5%), in air
      and surfaces, respectively. The Aspergillus sections more prevalent in the air
      and surfaces of all the assessed settings were the Nigri section (47.46%; 44.71%,
      respectively), followed by Fumigati (22.28%; 27.97%, respectively) and Flavi
      (10.78%; 11.45%, respectively) sections. Aspergillus section Fumigati was
      successfully amplified by qPCR in 18 sampling sites where the presence of this
      fungal species had not been identified by conventional methods. It should be
      highlighted that the occupational exposure burden is due not only to the
      Aspergillus load, but also to the toxigenic potential of this genus. Based on our
      results, a protocol relied in the application of conventional and molecular
      methods in parallel is herein suggested aimed at allowing a better risk
      characterization and management.

PMID- 28609215
TI  - Breastfeeding Support in the Workplace: The Relationships Among Breastfeeding
      Support, Work-Life Balance, and Job Satisfaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women are increasingly faced with decisions about how to combine
      breastfeeding with work, but few researchers have directly measured how
      breastfeeding relates to the work-life interface. Research aim: The authors
      examined how perceptions of work enhancement of personal life and work
      interference with personal life were influenced by workplace breastfeeding
      support, including organizational, manager, and coworker support, as well as
      adequate time to express human milk. Then, we examined how workplace
      breastfeeding support predicted work-life variables and job satisfaction.
      METHODS: Using a self-report, survey design, the authors analyzed online surveys
      from 87 women in a rural, community sample who indicated that they had pumped at
      work or anticipated needing to pump in the future. RESULTS: According to
      regression results, provision of workplace breastfeeding support, particularly
      providing adequate time for human milk expression, predicted work enhancement of
      personal life. Conversely, we found that as workplace support diminished,
      employees perceived greater work interference with personal life. Results of path
      analysis further suggested that providing time for expressing milk improved job
      satisfaction via a partially mediated relationship where work enhancement of
      personal life acted as a mediator. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that
      employers can enhance the lives of their breastfeeding employees both at work and
      at home by providing workplace breastfeeding support, especially through
      providing time for expressing human milk in the workplace.

PMID- 28609214
TI  - The Potyvirus Particle Recruits the Plant Translation Initiation Factor eIF4E by
      Means of the VPg covalently Linked to the Viral RNA.
AB  - The viral protein genome-linked (VPg) of potyviruses is a protein covalently
      linked to the 5' end of viral RNA. It interacts with eIF4E, a component of the
      cellular translation initiation complex. It has been suggested that the 5' RNA
      linked VPg could mimic the cellular mRNA cap, promoting synthesis of viral
      proteins. Here, we report evidence for recruitment of the plant eIF4E by Lettuce
      mosaic virus (LMV, potyvirus) particles via the 5' RNA-linked VPg. Analysis of
      the viral population was performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based
      tests, either with crude extracts of LMV-infected tissues or purified viral
      particles. In both cases, LMV-VPg and LMV-eIF4E subpopulations could be detected.
      After reaching a maximum within the first 2 weeks postinoculation, these
      populations decreased and very few labeled particles were found later than 3
      weeks postinoculation. The central domain of VPg (CD-VPg) was found to be exposed
      at the surface of the particles. Using a purified recombinant lettuce eIF4E and
      CD-VPg-specific antibodies, we demonstrate that the plant factor binds to the VPg
      via its central domain. Moreover, the plant eIF4E factor could be imaged at one
      end of the particles purified from LMV plant extracts, by immunoredox atomic
      force microscopy coupled to scanning electrochemical microscopy. We discuss the
      biological significance of these results.

PMID- 28609216
TI  - Arts as an ecological method to enhance quality of work experience of healthcare
      staff: a phenomenological-hermeneutic study.
AB  - This paper explores the impact of self-chosen arts-based recreational activities,
      as opposed to the traditional arts therapy activities, on the well-being of
      healthcare providers. Three qualitative case studies of programs in which arts
      based activities were used to work with healthcare providers, lasting for 10
      weeks each, are phenomenological-hermeneutically evaluated using interviews and
      focus groups. The findings show what we refer to as an "ecological" ripple of
      effects: (1) the arts-based activities helped to reduce individual stress and to
      enhance mood over time, (2) the activities helped to transform workplace
      relationships within wards, and (3) the arts humanized the overall work climate
      in the healthcare setting. These effects go beyond those of using the art
      production as a strategy for stress reduction and imply potential for a more
      encompassing role for the arts within healthcare.

PMID- 28609217
TI  - Influence of Islamic Traditions on Breastfeeding Beliefs and Practices Among
      African American Muslims in West Philadelphia: A Mixed-Methods Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known regarding the influence of religion on breastfeeding
      in African American communities. In particular, whether Islamic traditions
      influence breastfeeding beliefs and practices among African American Muslims has
      not been studied. Research aim: This study sought to gain understanding of
      breastfeeding attitudes, rates, and education among African American Muslims in
      West Philadelphia and to examine if engaging Islamic teachings in breastfeeding
      education can positively influence breastfeeding attitudes. METHODS: Open-ended,
      in-person, digitally recorded qualitative interviews were conducted with 10
      community leaders and analyzed by conventional content analysis. A study tool
      distributed to a convenience sample of 44 community members and 11 leaders was
      used to gather information about education received from community leaders,
      breastfeeding attitudes and practices, and the potential for Islamic teachings to
      positively affect breastfeeding attitudes and practices. To obtain further data
      on this last topic, preliminary data analysis guided the creation of an education
      pamphlet, about which feedback was gathered through another study tool. RESULTS:
      Education surrounding Islamic perspectives on breastfeeding was not prevalent.
      African American Muslims in West Philadelphia view breastfeeding favorably and
      have higher rates of breastfeeding than African Americans as a whole. Community
      education about breastfeeding that engaged Islamic teachings improved
      respondents' breastfeeding attitudes. CONCLUSION: Increasing education among
      providers and African American Muslims about Islamic perspectives on
      breastfeeding may improve breastfeeding exclusivity and duration. Healthcare
      providers who care for Muslim women should be aware of Islam's tradition of
      positive attitudes toward breastfeeding and partner with Muslim leaders to
      improve breastfeeding rates and duration among such women.

PMID- 28609218
TI  - Lung function measures following simulated wildland firefighter exposures.
AB  - Across the world, biomass smoke is a major source of air pollution and is linked
      with a variety of adverse health effects. This is particularly true in the
      western U.S. where wood smoke from wildland forest fires are a significant source
      of PM2.5. Wildland firefighters are impacted as they experience elevated PM2.5
      concentrations over extended periods of time, often occurring during physical
      exertion. Various epidemiological studies have investigated wood smoke impacts on
      human health, including occupational field exposures experienced by wildland
      firefighters. As there are numerous challenges in carrying out these field
      studies, having the ability to research the potential health impacts to this
      occupational cohort in a controlled setting would provide important information
      that could be translated to the field setting. To this end, we have carried out a
      simulated wildland firefighter exposure study in a wood smoke inhalation
      facility. Utilizing a randomized crossover trial design, we exposed 10
      participants once to clean filtered-air, 250 ug/m3, and 500 ug/m3 wood stove
      generated wood smoke PM2.5. Participants exercised on a treadmill at an absolute
      intensity designed to simulate wildland firefighting for 1.5 hr. In addition to
      measured PM2.5 smoke concentrations, mean levels of CO2, CO, and % relative
      humidity were continuously monitored and recorded and were representative of
      occupational "real-world" exposures. Pulmonary function was measured at three
      time points: before, immediately after, and 1-hr post-exposure. Although there
      were some reductions in FVC, FEV1, and FVC:FEV1 measures, results of the
      spirometry testing did not show significant changes in lung function. The
      development of this wood smoke inhalational facility provides a platform to
      further address unique research questions related to wood smoke exposures and
      associated adverse health effects.

PMID- 28609220
TI  - Reconstruction Options for Pancreaticoduodenectomy in Patients with Prior Roux-en
      Y Gastric Bypass.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with prior Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) operations for
      weight loss present reconstruction challenges during a pancreaticoduodenectomy
      (PD). With over 60,000 RYGB performed annually, the increasing odds of
      encountering such patients during a PD make it imperative to understand the RYGB
      anatomy and anticipate reconstruction options. This article describes the
      possible reconstruction options and their rationale. METHODS: We reviewed our PD
      reconstruction options, compared them to what have been described in the
      literature, and derived a consensus from internal conferences comprising
      bariatric and hepatopancreatobiliary surgeons to describe known reconstruction
      options. RESULTS: In general, reconstruction options can include one of three
      options: (1) remnant gastrectomy, (2) preservation of gastric remnant, or (3)
      reversal of gastric bypass. CONCLUSION: This article describes individualized
      reconstruction options for RYGB patients undergoing PD. The reconstruction
      options can be tailored to the needs of the patient.

PMID- 28609219
TI  - Parents' insights after pediatric hospitalization due to rotavirus
      gastroenteritis in Italy.
AB  - Most of the severe cases of acute gastroenteritis in infants and children under 5
      globally are caused by rotavirus infection. There are nearly 15,000 rotavirus
      gastroenteritis (RVGE) hospitalizations in Italy each year, which could be
      reduced by available rotavirus vaccines. In addition to the economic and societal
      burden, RVGE hospitalization could impact families negatively. The aim of this
      survey was to obtain parents' insights after hospitalization of their child for
      RVGE. Parents, of 500 children aged 0-5 years, were interviewed about their
      experience of RVGE hospitalization and asked to rate their stress on different
      items and overall. Most children (32.6%) were hospitalized aged 12-23 months, and
      6.8% were <6 months old. Family pediatricians referred 56.2% of cases to
      hospital, and 25.8% went based on their parents' decision. During
      hospitalization, mean parental stress scores (out of 10, with 10 as highest
      stress) ranged from 6.6 to 8.4. The highest scores were for child malaise (8.42,
      SD 1.00), vomiting/diarrhea (8.07, SD 0.97), stress for the family in general
      (7.82, SD 0.90), parental stress (7.68, SD 0.93) and child dehydration (7.18, SD
      1.02). The overall stress for the family was graded as 'high' by 67.2% of
      parents. Geographical areas and stress level were related (p = 0.0071), being the
      "high" stress score not an evenly distributed variable (p < 0.0001). Most
      children (91.8%) were not vaccinated against rotavirus, as most parents (74.5%)
      were not aware of vaccination availability. Parental distress due to RVGE
      hospitalization appears to be significant (93.6% reporting high/medium stress)
      and there is an important lack of awareness among parents about rotavirus
      vaccination. More education on RVGE for families in Italy should be warranted.

PMID- 28609221
TI  - North American matsutake: names clarified and a new species described.
AB  - Tricholoma matsutake, known widely as "matsutake," has great commercial and
      cultural significance in Japan. Because Japanese production is insufficient to
      meet the high domestic demand, morphologically similar mushrooms, thought by many
      to belong to T. magnivelare, are imported from western North America. However,
      molecular data produced since the early 2000s have indicated that more than one
      species of matsutake occur in North America and this raises the question of
      correct naming for the different species. To address this question, we assessed
      the phylogenetic diversity within North American matsutake based on nuc rDNA ITS1
      5.8S-ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer [ITS] barcode) sequences, including newly
      obtained sequences from the type collections for Agaricus ponderosus and
      Armillaria arenicola, and morphological characters. Our results agree with
      earlier indications that three matsutake species occur in North America and allow
      us to clarify the correct application of names-T. magnivelare from the eastern
      USA and Canada, T. murrillianum from the western USA and Canada, and T.
      mesoamericanum from Mexico, newly described here. The existence of the three
      North American species is further supported by the results of evolutionary
      divergence analysis, geographical distributions, and morphological characters.

PMID- 28609222
TI  - Thoracic and respirable aerosol fractions of spray products containing non
      volatile compounds.
AB  - A versatile and simple mass balance method for the measurement of the release
      fraction of thoracic and respirable particles of non-volatile compounds of spray
      products is presented. The release fractions are defined as the ratio between the
      mass of suspended non-volatile particulate matter in the thoracic and respirable
      particle size range and the total mass of non-volatile material released with the
      spray action. For its determination, a spray bolus of short duration and of
      defined mass is sprayed into a well stirred control chamber. The respirable and
      thoracic aerosol mass associated with the spray bolus is determined by measuring
      the time averaged mass concentration inside the control volume and the half time
      of the exponential concentration decrease to be expected in well stirred systems
      to correct for mass losses during sampling.  The method is used for a wide range
      of spray products and technologies for which the release fractions vary by orders
      of magnitude. A set of data is presented elucidating the relationship between
      spray technology and fine particle release. Furthermore, a simple rule of thumb
      was derived from the data that allows for estimation of the release fractions
      based on a characteristic diameter of the spray droplets. The usefulness of the
      mass balance method for substance classification as well as for generating input
      data for exposure assessment and indoor air quality modeling is discussed.

PMID- 28609223
TI  - The influence of multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors on benthic
      communities in a mid-west agricultural stream.
AB  - The objective of this 3-year study was to characterize benthic communities and
      physical habitat in an agricultural stream in the mid-west area of the United
      States (Big Bureau Creek, Illinois). Concurrent basic water quality parameters
      and seven nutrients were measured in the water column. Sediment measurements from
      depositional areas were conducted for bifenthrin, Total Organic Carbon, grain
      size, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and eight metals. All parameters were
      measured at 12 sites annually during the late summer for a 3-year period (2014,
      2015 and 2016). Univariate regressions, stepwise multiple regressions and
      canonical correlation statistical analyses were used to determine the
      relationship between various benthic metrics (i.e., taxa richness and abundance)
      and all the measured parameters for the 3-year database. Benthic communities
      comprising 108-110 taxa were collected annually, and were generally dominated by
      sensitive caddisflies and mayflies. These communities were rated as good to
      exceptional using the Ohio Invertebrate Community Index. Physical habitat for the
      various sites was rated as good using the Ohio Qualitative Habitat Evaluation
      Index, thus suggesting that habitat is not a significant stressor that would
      likely impact resident benthic communities. Based on a comparison of measured in
      stream total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations and criterion value
      exceedances, it appears that the in-stream nutrient concentrations could be
      potentially stressful to resident benthic biota. Metal concentrations were below
      established NOAA Threshold Effects Levels at all sites. Measured PCB
      concentrations were below levels of detection at all sites. Toxic units' (TUs)
      calculations based on using sensitive laboratory strains of Hyalella were less
      than 0.1 for bifenthrin, thus suggesting that bifenthrin sediment toxicity was
      unlikely. Thirty significant relationships reported between benthic metrics and
      the various environmental variables based on the 3-year database were as follows:
      12 relationships with habitat metrics, 8 relationships with metals, 7
      relationships with nutrients, 2 relationships with bifenthrin and 1 relationship
      with sediment characteristics. Relative habitat quality, habitat preferences, and
      ecological competition appear to be factors that shape the characteristics of the
      benthic communities of Big Bureau Creek, rather than stress imposed by toxicants
      (bifenthrin and metals), nutrients, or sediment characteristics. Complex
      relationships between benthic metrics and environmental variables are discussed.

PMID- 28609224
TI  - Towards a poststructural understanding of abortion and social class in England.
AB  - Despite previous research suggesting that social class influences experiences of
      and attitudes to abortion, there is a dearth of research which studies the
      intersection of abortion and social class in England. Across the UK, abortion
      rates and experiences differ by region and socio-economic status, reflecting
      broader health inequalities. Contemporary austerity in the UK creates an
      imperative for new research which contextualises the experience of abortion
      within this socio-historical moment, and the worsening inequalities which have
      accompanied it. Whilst work on abortion and social inequality exists, it has
      often approached class as an a priori category. I argue that contemporary post
      structural work on class provides a framework to go beyond this approach by
      examining how these social classifications occur; who has the power to classify;
      and how these classifications might be resisted. This framework is demonstrated
      with emerging findings from a life history study of abortion experiences in
      England. The applications of this to the work on abortion are potentially rich,
      because the act of ending a pregnancy invites classification from many quarters,
      from the legal (legal/illegal) to the medical (early/late) to the moral
      (deserved/undeserved). This work, therefore, speaks to public health concerns
      about access to and stigma around abortion and social inequalities.

PMID- 28609225
TI  - Preparation of nano cationic liposome as carrier membrane for polyhexamethylene
      biguanide chloride through various methods utilizing higher antibacterial
      activities with low cell toxicity.
AB  - This study suggested successful encapsulation of polyhexamethylene biguanide
      chloride (PHMB) into nano cationic liposome as a biocompatible antibacterial
      agent with less cytotoxicity and higher activities. Phosphatidylcholine,
      cholesterol and stearylamine were used to prepare nano cationic liposome using
      thin film hydration method along with sonication or homogeniser. Sonication was
      more effective in PHMB loaded nano cationic liposome preparation with smaller
      size (34 nm). FTIR, 1H NMR and XRD analyses were used to confirm the
      encapsulation of PHMB into nano cationic liposome. PHMB inclusion in nano
      cationic liposome was beneficial for increased antibacterial activity against
      Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. PHMB-loaded cationic liposome enables
      to deliver high concentrations of the antibacterial agent into the infectious
      cell. The cytotoxicity of PHMB entrapped in positively charged liposome was
      prominently reduced showing no significant visible detrimental effect on normal
      primary human skin fibroblast cell lines morphology confirming the effective role
      of cationic liposome encapsulation. Comparing with PHMB alone, encapsulation of
      PHMB in nano cationic liposome resulted in significant increase in cell viability
      from 2.4 to 63%.

PMID- 28609227
TI  - News from the Board!!

PMID- 28609226
TI  - Phase II Trial of Atezolizumab As First-Line or Subsequent Therapy for Patients
      With Programmed Death-Ligand 1-Selected Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
      (BIRCH).
AB  - Purpose BIRCH was designed to examine the efficacy of atezolizumab, a humanized
      anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibody, in advanced non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) across lines of therapy. Patients were selected on the
      basis of PD-L1 expression on tumor cells (TC) or tumor-infiltrating immune cells
      (IC). Patients and Methods Eligible patients had advanced-stage NSCLC, no CNS
      metastases, and zero to two or more lines of prior chemotherapy. Patients whose
      tumors expressed PD-L1 using the SP142 immunohistochemistry assay on >= 5% of TC
      or IC (TC2/3 or IC2/3 [TC or IC >= 5% PD-L1-expressing cells, respectively]) were
      enrolled. Atezolizumab 1,200 mg was administered intravenously every 3 weeks.
      Efficacy-evaluable patients (N = 659) comprised three cohorts: first line (cohort
      1; n = 139); second line (cohort 2; n = 268); and third line or higher (cohort 3;
      n = 252). The primary end point was independent review facility-assessed
      objective response rate (ORR; Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors
      [RECIST] version 1.1). Secondary end points included median duration of response,
      progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS). Results BIRCH met its
      primary objective of demonstrating a significant ORR versus historical controls.
      With a minimum of 12 months of follow-up, the independent review facility
      assessed ORR was 18% to 22% for the three cohorts, and 26% to 31% for the TC3 or
      IC3 subgroup; most responses are ongoing. Responses occurred regardless of EGFR
      or KRAS mutation status. The median OS from an updated survival analysis (minimum
      of 20 month follow up) for cohort 1 was 23.5 months (26.9 months for TC3 or IC3
      patients); the median OS in cohorts 2 and 3 was 15.5 and 13.2 months,
      respectively. The safety profile was similar across cohorts and consistent with
      previous atezolizumab monotherapy trials. Conclusion BIRCH demonstrated responses
      with atezolizumab monotherapy in patients with PD-L1-selected advanced NSCLC,
      with good tolerability. PD-L1 status may serve as a predictive biomarker for
      identifying patients most likely to benefit from atezolizumab.

PMID- 28609228
TI  - Evaluation of the Impact of an Innovative Immunization Practice Model Designed to
      Improve Population Health: Results of the Project IMPACT Immunizations Pilot.
AB  - The goal of the initiative was to evaluate the impact of an innovative practice
      model on identification of unmet vaccination needs and vaccination rates. This
      was accomplished through a prospective, multisite, observational study in 8
      community pharmacy practices with adults receiving an influenza vaccine with a
      documented vaccination forecast review from October 22, 2015 through March 22,
      2016. When patients presented for influenza vaccinations, pharmacists utilized
      immunization information systems (IIS) data at the point of care to identify
      unmet vaccination needs, educate patients, and improve vaccination rates. The
      main outcome measures were the number of vaccination forecast reviews, patients
      educated, unmet vaccination needs identified and resolved, and vaccines
      administered. Pharmacists reviewed vaccination forecasts generated by clinical
      decision-support technology based on patient information documented in the IIS
      for 1080 patients receiving influenza vaccinations. The vaccination forecasts
      predicted there were 1566 additional vaccinations due at the time patients were
      receiving the influenza vaccine. Pharmacist assessments identified 36
      contraindications and 196 potential duplications, leaving a net of 1334 unmet
      vaccination needs eligible for vaccination. In all, 447 of the 1334 unmet
      vaccinations needs were resolved during the 6-month study period, and the
      remainder of patients received information about their vaccination needs and
      recommendations to follow up for their vaccinations. Integration of streamlined
      principle-centered processes of care in immunization practices that allow
      pharmacists to utilize actionable point-of-care data resulted in identification
      of unmet vaccination needs, education of patients about their vaccination needs,
      a 41.4% increase in the number of vaccines administered, and significant
      improvements in routinely recommended adult vaccination rates.

PMID- 28609230
TI  - Evaluating polymer degradation with complex mixtures using a simplified surface
      area method.
AB  - Chemical-resistant gloves, designed to protect workers from chemical hazards, are
      made from a variety of polymer materials such as plastic, rubber, and synthetic
      rubber. One material does not provide protection against all chemicals, thus
      proper polymer selection is critical. Standardized testing, such as chemical
      degradation tests, are used to aid in the selection process. The current methods
      of degradation ratings based on changes in weight or tensile properties can be
      expensive and data often do not exist for complex chemical mixtures. There are
      hundreds of thousands of chemical products on the market that do not have
      chemical resistance data for polymer selection. The method described in this
      study provides an inexpensive alternative to gravimetric analysis. This method
      uses surface area change to evaluate degradation of a polymer material.
      Degradation tests for 5 polymer types against 50 complex mixtures were conducted
      using both gravimetric and surface area methods. The percent change data were
      compared between the two methods. The resulting regression line was y = 0.48x +
      0.019, in units of percent, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was r =
      0.9537 (p <= 0.05), which indicated a strong correlation between percent weight
      change and percent surface area change. On average, the percent change for
      surface area was about half that of the weight change. Using this information, an
      equivalent rating system was developed for determining the chemical degradation
      of polymer gloves using surface area.

PMID- 28609229
TI  - Results and Implications of Routine HIV Testing in the Inpatient Setting: A
      Descriptive Analysis.
AB  - Policy changes and scientific advances have guided new methods of diagnosing and
      managing HIV that reduce mortality, morbidity, and transmission. In a high HIV
      prevalence urban setting, a hospital initiative was implemented to routinely
      perform HIV testing and provide linkage to care for those with positive results
      and for individuals with a prior diagnosis of HIV. Maryland's unique all-payer
      model presents an opportunity to implement population health initiatives in
      health systems. The rationale, methodology, results and lessons learned from this
      approach will be discussed. Providers and nurses offered routine HIV screening
      and activated a Linkage to Care Navigator (LCN) for all HIV positive patients.
      The LCN provided referrals to HIV care and supportive services. In 22 months, 28
      persons were newly diagnosed with HIV. Eighty-two percent (n = 23) were linked to
      outpatient care; 28.6% (8) were readmitted within 30 days for an inpatient stay.
      Of 517 patients previously diagnosed with HIV, 27.7% (n = 143) were not engaged
      in outpatient HIV care. Nearly 50% of those (n = 71) were relinked to care. Of
      143 patients with a previous diagnosis who were considered out of care at the
      time of inpatient admission, 16 (11.2%) were readmitted as an inpatient within 30
      days. Routinizing HIV testing and linkage to care in an inpatient setting
      identifies new and previously diagnosed HIV infected individuals who are not in
      care. This process has potential to identify HIV earlier, lower community viral
      load, and decrease transmission of HIV.

PMID- 28609231
TI  - Methadone Dose Selection for Treatment of Pain Compared with Consensus
      Recommendations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many factors make methadone an appealing option for treatment of pain
      in patients seen by palliative care; however, complex drug-related properties and
      variable patient response complicate appropriate conversion ratios from other
      opioids to methadone. Currently, there is no consensus regarding one accepted
      conversion method. OBJECTIVE: Current patterns of prescribing for clinicians at a
      three-hospital academic health system on initial rotation to methadone for the
      management of pain were compared with a series of consensus recommendations for
      methadone dose calculation. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review of 98 hospital
      patients. Settings/Participants: Adult subjects hospitalized in an academic
      medical center between January 1, 2013, and January 1, 2015, who were initiated
      on oral methadone for pain during the same admission. MEASUREMENTS: Final target
      daily dose of methadone was calculated using End of Life/Palliative Education
      Resource Center (EPERC) and Friedman conversion methods based on opioids provided
      in the prior 24 hours. This was then compared with actual dosing as ordered by
      clinicians and received by the patient. RESULTS: Average range of final daily
      methadone dose for new starts was 18.1 +/- 16.7 mg. Final methadone dose as
      received by two-thirds of patients was below the dosing target calculated by
      EPERC and Friedman guidelines by an average of 35 mg. In addition, more than 80%
      of patients' final methadone doses fell below the range recommended by these two
      methods. No patients received opioid reversal agents during their index
      hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may question the best approach to
      clinical application of EPERC and Friedman methods and call for more research to
      determine the safest, lowest, and most effective methadone target dosing
      selection. Final methadone dosing as received by patients compared favorably with
      a conservative methadone dosing method that recommends starting doses no higher
      than 30-40 mg per day.

PMID- 28609232
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PMID- 28609233
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PMID- 28609234
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PMID- 28609235
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PMID- 28609236
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PMID- 28609237
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PMID- 28609238
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PMID- 28609239
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PMID- 28609240
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PMID- 28609241
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PMID- 28609242
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PMID- 28609243
TI  - Field Report from a Visit to Ifakara Health Institute/St. Francis Referral
      Hospital, Tanzania.

PMID- 28609244
TI  - ?

PMID- 28609245
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PMID- 28609246
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PMID- 28609247
TI  - The uses and limitations of a hand-held germicidal ultraviolet wand for surface
      disinfection.
AB  - : The morbidity and mortality from healthcare associated infections has raised
      concern that conventional disinfection methods are inadequate and that other
      adjunct methods such as room fumigation and ultraviolet irradiation may be
      needed. There is also concern that these alternative methods may pose a risk to
      workers and patients. OBJECTIVES: (1) Determine the efficacy of a germicidal UV-C
      wand for surface disinfection, (2) evaluate changing relative humidity (RH) and
      different target distances on bacteria kill rates, and (3) assess potential
      exposure concerns. METHODS: This study investigates whether a hand-held
      germicidal wand can efficaciously disinfect surfaces treated with either a
      vegetative or spore forming bacterium and to evaluate the effect of changing
      environmental conditions such as relative humidity (RH), target position, and
      target distances on microbial kill rates. RESULTS: Kill rate was best at 40-65%
      RH at a temperature range of 21-24 degrees C. Both high and low RH interfered
      with the ability of UV-C to kill the vegetative microbe. In the case of the spore
      forming bacterium, increased surface drying time was the most significant factor
      increasing kill rate. CONCLUSIONS: This research demonstrates that UV-C was
      efficacious under optimal conditions, a direct beam exposure, and a short target
      distance (12.7 cm). However, there are limitations when used in non-optimal
      conditions. Increased distance and indirect beam angles resulted in lower kill
      rates. It is also important to minimize unnecessary patient and worker exposure
      during its use.

PMID- 28609248
TI  - Using Statewide Data on Health Care Quality to Assess the Effect of a Patient
      Centered Medical Home Initiative on Quality of Care.
AB  - Patient-centered medical homes comprise a large portion of modern health care
      redesign. However, most efforts have reflected rigid, limited models of
      transformation. In addition, evaluations of their impact on quality of care have
      relied on data designed for other purposes. Minnesota's Health Care Home (HCH)
      initiative is a statewide medical home model relying on state-run, adaptive
      certification and supportive data infrastructure. This longitudinal study
      leverages a unique statewide system of clinic-reported, patient-level quality
      data (2010-2013) to assess the effect of being in a HCH clinic on health care
      quality. Measures included optimal quality (meeting all targets) and average
      quality (number of targets met) for asthma, vascular, and diabetes care;
      colorectal cancer screening; depression follow-up; and depression remission.
      Depending on measure and year, the analytic sample included 246,023 - 3,335,994
      child and adult patients in 404-651 clinics. Using endogenous treatment effects
      models to address endogeneity, and including patient- and clinic-level covariates
      and clinic-level selection bias corrections, the authors produced potential
      outcomes means and average treatment effects (ATEs). HCH patients received better
      quality versus non-HCH patients for most outcomes. For example, the adjusted rate
      receiving optimal diabetes care was 453.7/1000 adult HCH patients versus
      327.2/1000 non-HCH adult patients (ATE = 126.5; P < .001). By contrast,
      depression remission showed no HCH-related benefit. Findings on average care
      quality generally echoed optimal care findings. These findings indicate the
      usefulness of statewide quality data and support the effectiveness of adaptive,
      state-run medical home programs. Additional integration of services may be needed
      for mental health conditions.

PMID- 28609249
TI  - Experience of grief by patients with cancer in relation to perceptions of
      illness: The mediating roles of identity centrality, stigma-induced
      discrimination, and hopefulness.
AB  - Diagnosis of cancer leads to multiple losses, all with the potential to initiate
      grief reactions in patients. The present study aims to contribute to the
      understanding of the experience of grief by patients with cancer in relation to
      perceptions of illness, with a focus on the mediating roles of identity
      centrality, stigma-induced discrimination, and hopefulness. The analyses
      indicated that these factors functioned as significant partial mediators. The
      results have implications in terms of supporting patients through the grieving
      process by working on the meaning of the illness for their identity and improving
      psychosocial environments to minimize discrimination and facilitate hope.

PMID- 28609250
TI  - Recognition of Viral RNA by Pattern Recognition Receptors in the Induction of
      Innate Immunity and Excessive Inflammation During Respiratory Viral Infections.
AB  - The innate immune system is the first line of defense against virus infection
      that triggers the expression of type I interferon (IFN) and proinflammatory
      cytokines. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognize pathogen-associated
      molecular patterns, resulting in the induction of innate immune responses. Viral
      RNA in endosomes is recognized by Toll-like receptors, and cytoplasmic viral RNA
      is recognized by RIG-I-like receptors. The host innate immune response is
      critical for protection against virus infection. However, it has been postulated
      that an excessive inflammatory response in the lung caused by the innate immune
      response is harmful to the host and is a cause of lethality during influenza A
      virus infection. Although the deletion of genes encoding PRRs or proinflammatory
      cytokines does not improve the mortality of mice infected with influenza A virus,
      a partial block of the innate immune response is successful in decreasing the
      mortality rate of mice without a loss of protection against virus infection. In
      addition, morbidity and mortality rates are influenced by other factors. For
      example, secondary bacterial infection increases the mortality rate in patients
      with influenza A virus and in animal models of the disease, and environmental
      factors, such as cigarette smoke and fine particles, also affect the innate
      immune response. In this review, we summarize recent findings related to the role
      of PRRs in innate immune response during respiratory viral infection.

PMID- 28609253
TI  - Relationship of tennis play to executive function in children and adolescents.
AB  - This study evaluated the association between the frequency of tennis play and
      executive function in children and adolescents. One hundred and six junior tennis
      players (6-15 years old) participated in this study. Executive function,
      including inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility were
      evaluated at rest. Females showed better inhibitory control and cognitive
      flexibility than males. In males, more frequent tennis play was associated with
      higher basic processing speed and inhibitory control after controlling for age,
      gender, body mass index (BMI), and tennis experience. More frequent tennis play
      was associated with better working memory in both males and females after
      controlling for age, gender, BMI, and tennis experience. Furthermore, longer
      tennis experience was related to better cognitive flexibility in males after
      controlling for age, gender, BMI, and frequency of tennis play. These findings
      suggest that tennis play is associated with the development of three foundational
      aspects of executive function (i.e. inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive
      flexibility). Especially, frequent participation in tennis play is related to
      better inhibitory control and working memory, while longer experience of tennis
      play is associated with better cognitive flexibility. Although development of
      inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility is slower in males than in females,
      the associations between tennis play and inhibitory control and cognitive
      flexibility appear to be larger in males than in females.

PMID- 28609251
TI  - Intestinal microbiota, fecal microbiota transplantation, and inflammatory bowel
      disease.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex set of diseases that lead to
      chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Although the etiology of IBD
      is not fully understood, it is well-known that the intestinal microbiota is
      associated with the development and maintenance of IBD. Manipulation of the gut
      microbiota, therefore, may represent a target for IBD therapy. Fecal microbiota
      transplantation (FMT), where fecal microbiota from a healthy donor is
      transplanted into a patient's GI tract, is already a successful therapy for
      Clostridium difficile infection. FMT is currently being explored as a potential
      therapy for IBD as well. In this review, the associations between the gut
      microbiota and IBD and the emerging data on FMT for IBD will be discussed.

PMID- 28609254
TI  - Chromosomal Diversity of Three Species of Hypostomus Lacepede, 1803
      (Siluriformes, Loricariidae), from the Parana River Basin, Brazil: A Species
      Complex in Hypostomus ancistroides Reinforced by a ZZ/ZW Sex Chromosome System.
AB  - Hypostomus shows wide morphological patterns, corroborated by great chromosomal
      diversity that has suggested the existence of new species, especially from small
      tributaries. Cytogenetic analysis has contributed to estimate a cryptic diversity
      providing important data for taxonomic and evolutionary studies. Cytogenetic
      techniques were carried out on species from a small tributary of Ivai River,
      Keller River (upper Parana River basin): Hypostomus aff. ancistroides, Hypostomus
      topavae, and Hypostomus aff. hermanni that presented 2n = 68, 80, and 72
      chromosomes, respectively. Each species showed the same diploid number from
      previous descriptions for other populations but different karyotype formulas, and
      Hypostomus aff. ancistroides had a ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system. Multiple NORs
      (nucleolar organizer regions) and pericentromeric heterochromatin blocks were
      found in the three species. Moreover, each of them showed species-specific
      heterochromatins. Multiple 5S rDNA sites were detected in Hypostomus aff.
      ancistroides and H. topavae, whereas Hypostomus aff. hermanni had only one pair
      bearing these sites. In addition to the divergence in the karyotype formulas,
      chromosomal markers used showed karyotype differences in the three species
      related to other respective populations studied. Furthermore, the first
      description of a ZZ/ZW system for Hypostomus aff. ancistroides reinforces the
      hypothesis that it may correspond to a species complex and yet, confirming an
      unknown cryptic diversity existent in small rivers.

PMID- 28609255
TI  - Regional Immune Responses in the Lung After Respiratory Virus Infections.

PMID- 28609252
TI  - Fecal microbiota transplantation in metabolic syndrome: History, present and
      future.
AB  - The history of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) dates back even to ancient
      China. Recently, scientific studies have been looking into FMT as a promising
      treatment of various diseases, while in the process teaching us about the
      interaction between the human host and its resident microbial communities.
      Current research focuses mainly on Clostridium difficile infections, however
      interest is rising in other areas such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and
      the metabolic syndrome. With regard to the latter, the intestinal microbiota
      might be causally related to the progression of insulin resistance and diabetes.
      FMT in metabolic syndrome has proven to be an intriguing method to study the role
      of the gut microbiota and open the way to new therapies by dissecting in whom
      insulin resistance is driven by microbiota. In this article we review the history
      of FMT, the present evidence on its role in the pathophysiology of metabolic
      syndrome and its efficacy, limitations and future prospects.

PMID- 28609256
TI  - Nano-metal oxides: Exposure and engineering control assessment.
AB  - In January 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
      (NIOSH) conducted a field study to evaluate process specific emissions during the
      production of ENMs. This study was performed using the nanoparticle emission
      assessment technique (NEAT). During this study, it was determined that ENMs were
      released during production and cleaning of the process reactor. Airborne
      concentrations of silver, nickel, and iron were found both in the employee's
      personal breathing zone and area samples during reactor cleaning. At the
      completion of this initial survey, it was suggested that a flanged attachment be
      added to the local exhaust ventilation system.  NIOSH re-evaluated the facility
      in December 2011 to assess worker exposures following an increase in production
      rates. This study included a fully comprehensive emissions, exposure, and
      engineering control evaluation of the entire process. This study made use of the
      nanoparticle exposure assessment technique (NEAT 2.0). Data obtained from filter
      based samples and direct reading instruments indicate that reactor cleanout
      increased the overall particle concentration in the immediate area. However, it
      does not appear that these concentrations affect areas outside of the production
      floor. As the distance between the reactor and the sample location increased, the
      observed particle number concentration decreased, creating a concentration
      gradient with respect to the reactor. The results of this study confirm that the
      flanged attachment on the local exhaust ventilation system served to decrease
      exposure potential.  Given the available toxicological data of the metals
      evaluated, caution is warranted. One should always keep in mind that occupational
      exposure levels were not developed specifically for nanoscale particles. With
      data suggesting that certain nanoparticles may be more toxic than the larger
      counterparts of the same material; employers should attempt to control emissions
      of these particles at the source, to limit the potential for exposure.

PMID- 28609258
TI  - Widowed parenting self-efficacy scale: A new measure.
AB  - The authors developed and tested a novel measure of parenting self-efficacy
      specifically for recently widowed parents of dependent-age children. They tested
      the scale among 244 recently widowed fathers via an open-access web survey.
      Exploratory factor analysis identified 3 factors: perception of meeting parenting
      expectations (alpha = .88), provision of effective discipline (alpha = .69), and
      sense of parental burden (alpha = .69). Scores on the new scale correlated
      positively with Kansas Parenting Satisfaction and Psychological Adaptation Scale
      scores, and negatively with CES-D (depression) and TRIG (grief) scale scores. The
      resulting 9-item Widowed Parenting Self Efficacy Scale is a promising measure for
      use in research and clinical settings.

PMID- 28609257
TI  - Characteristics of Participants Enrolled onto a Randomized Controlled Trial of
      Palliative Care for Patients on Phase I Studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Advanced cancer patients participating in phase 1 clinical trials
      experience considerable symptom burden. Palliative care (PC) may benefit these
      individuals by providing supportive care during clinical research participation.
      This study investigates integration of a PC intervention among phase 1 trial
      participants with advanced cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This study is a
      multisite randomized clinical trial testing a concurrent PC intervention among
      phase 1 trial participants. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics and
      descriptive baseline assessment findings were examined for all participants to
      date. Self-report assessments included quality of life (QOL) using the Functional
      Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General, spirituality using the Functional
      Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spirituality, and overall distress using
      the Distress Thermometer. Clinical trial retention and healthcare utilization
      were assessed through chart audit at study completion. RESULTS: The study has
      enrolled 178 participants to date. The average age is 60.3 years, the majority
      was Caucasian (57.9%), and participants had an average of 1.7 comorbidities.
      Overall QOL was 77.6 (+/-15.1). Responses were most favorable for social/family
      well-being (22.6 +/- 4.6), lowest for emotional well-being (14.9 +/- 5.1), and
      average overall distress was 3.6 (+/-2.7). Healthcare utilization at study
      completion (n = 134) identified low rates of supportive care referrals, with
      approximately half of participants referred to social work (50.8%), and fewer
      referred for pain (43%), resource centers (44%), and physical therapy (18%).
      CONCLUSION: Phase 1 clinical trial participants experience unmet QOL needs at
      baseline and levels of distress that merit clinical intervention. Although this
      study is in progress, initial findings support the potential benefits of PC among
      this population.

PMID- 28609259
TI  - Clonal Expansion of New Penicillin-Resistant Clade of Neisseria meningitidis
      Serogroup W Clonal Complex 11, Australia.
AB  - In Western Australia, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W clonal complex 11 became
      the predominant cause of invasive meningococcal disease in 2016. We used core
      genome analysis to show emergence of a penicillin-resistant clade that had the
      penA_253 allele. This new penicillin-resistant clade might affect treatment
      regimens for this disease.

PMID- 28609260
TI  - Genesis of Influenza A(H5N8) Viruses.
AB  - Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) clade 2.3.4.4 virus emerged in 2016 and
      spread to Russia, Europe, and Africa. Our analysis of viruses from domestic ducks
      at Tanguar haor, Bangladesh, showed genetic similarities with other viruses from
      wild birds in central Asia, suggesting their potential role in the genesis of
      A(H5N8).

PMID- 28609261
TI  - Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnostic Challenge in a Nonendemic Setting: Our
      Experience with 101 Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We studied the presenting symptoms, time intervals, and workup
      involved in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in an integrated health
      care system. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of all patients with a
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma diagnosis between 2007 and 2010 at Kaiser Permanente
      Northern California. Main outcome measures included diagnostic time intervals,
      presenting symptoms, diagnostic accuracy of nasal endoscopy, imaging, and
      diagnosis at first otolaryngologist (Oto-HNS) visit. RESULTS: This study included
      101 patients: 70 (70%) were of Chinese or of Southeast Asian descent. The median
      time intervals along the diagnostic pathway were symptom onset to primary care
      physician visit, 6.0 weeks; primary care physician to Oto-HNS, 2.4 weeks; Oto-HNS
      to pathologic diagnosis, 1.1 weeks; and diagnosis to treatment onset, 5.5 weeks.
      The most common presenting symptoms were otologic issues (41, 41%), neck mass
      (39, 39%), nasal issues (32, 32%), and headache/cranial neuropathy (16, 16%). A
      nasopharyngeal lesion was detected in 54 (53%) patients after the first Oto-HNS
      visit. Among the initial nasal endoscopy reports, 32 (32%) did not reveal a
      nasopharyngeal lesion; 32 (32%) initial imaging studies also did not reveal a
      nasopharyngeal lesion. There was no correlation between diagnostic delay and
      disease stage. CONCLUSION: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma presenting symptoms are
      extremely variable, and initial misdiagnosis is common. Median time from symptom
      onset to treatment was almost six months among patients studied. Nearly one-third
      of nasopharyngeal cancers were missed with nasal endoscopy and imaging. An
      understanding of the risk factors, presenting symptoms, and limitations
      associated with these diagnostic tests is necessary to support earlier detection
      of this insidious cancer.

PMID- 28609262
TI  - Image Diagnosis: Iliopsoas Abscess from Crohn Disease.

PMID- 28609263
TI  - Image Diagnosis: A Gastric Signet-Ring Adenocarcinoma of Type Linitis Plastica
      Mimicking Splenomegaly in a Patient with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

PMID- 28609264
TI  - Supporting Muslim Patients During Advanced Illness.
AB  - Religion is an important part of many patients' cultural perspectives and value
      systems that influence them during advanced illness and toward the end of life
      when they directly face mortality. Worldwide violence perpetrated by people
      identifying as Muslim has been a growing fear for people living in the US and
      elsewhere. This fear has further increased by the tense rhetoric heard from the
      recent US presidential campaign and the new presidential administration. For
      many, this includes fear of all Muslims, the second-largest religious group in
      the world with 1.6 billion adherents and approximately 3.5 million in the US
      alone. Patient-centered care requires health professionals to look past news
      headlines and unchecked social media so they can deliver high-quality care to all
      patients. This article explores areas of importance in the context of advanced
      illness for practitioners of Islam. These include the conditions needed for
      prayer, the roles of medical treatment and religious authority, the importance of
      modesty, the religious concordance of clinicians, the role of family in medical
      decision making, advance care planning, and pain and symptom management. Initial
      recommendations to optimize care for Muslim patients and their families, informed
      by the described tenets of Muslim faith, are provided for clinicians and health
      systems administrators. These include Islamic cultural awareness training for
      staff, assessment of patients and families to determine needs, health education
      and decision-making outreach, and community health partnerships with local
      Islamic institutions.

PMID- 28609265
TI  - Image Diagnosis: Rapidly Enlarging Scrotal Hematoma: A Complication of Femoral
      Access?

PMID- 28609266
TI  - Considerations in the Neuropsychological Evaluation and Treatment of Children
      with Limited English Proficiency.

PMID- 28609267
TI  - Building new approaches to care in Assisted Reproduction: how can we go farther?

PMID- 28609268
TI  - Key performance indicators score (KPIs-score) based on clinical and laboratorial
      parameters can establish benchmarks for internal quality control in an ART
      program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: KPIs have been employed for internal quality control (IQC) in ART.
      However, clinical KPIs (C-KPIs) such as age, AMH and number of oocytes collected
      are never added to laboratory KPIs (L-KPIs), such as fertilization rate and
      morphological quality of the embryos for analysis, even though the final endpoint
      is the evaluation of clinical pregnancy rates. This paper analyzed if a KPIs
      score strategy with clinical and laboratorial parameters could be used to
      establish benchmarks for IQC in ART cycles. METHODS: In this prospective cohort
      study, 280 patients (36.4+/-4.3years) underwent ART. The total KPIs-score was
      obtained by the analysis of age, AMH (AMH Gen II ELISA/pre-mixing modified,
      Beckman Coulter Inc.), number of metaphase-II oocytes, fertilization rates and
      morphological quality of the embryonic lot. RESULTS: The total KPIs-score (C
      KPIs+L-KPIs) was correlated with the presence or absence of clinical pregnancy.
      The relationship between the C-KPIs and L-KPIs scores was analyzed to establish
      quality standards, to increase the performance of clinical and laboratorial
      processes in ART. The logistic regression model (LRM), with respect to pregnancy
      and total KPIs-score (280 patients/102 clinical pregnancies), yielded an odds
      ratio of 1.24 (95%CI = 1.16-1.32). There was also a significant difference
      (p<0.0001) with respect to the total KPIs-score mean value between the group of
      patients with clinical pregnancies (total KPIs-score=20.4+/-3.7) and the group
      without clinical pregnancies (total KPIs-score=15.9+/-5). Clinical pregnancy
      probabilities (CPP) can be obtained using the LRM (prediction key) with the total
      KPIs-score as a predictor variable. The mean C-KPIs and L-KPIs scores obtained in
      the pregnancy group were 11.9+/-2.9 and 8.5+/-1.7, respectively. Routinely, in
      all cases where the C-KPIs score was >=9, after the procedure, the L-KPIs score
      obtained was <=6, a revision of the laboratory procedure was performed to assess
      quality standards. CONCLUSION: This total KPIs-score could set up benchmarks for
      clinical pregnancy. Moreover, IQC can use C-KPIs and L-KPIs scores to detect
      problems in the clinical-laboratorial interface.

PMID- 28609269
TI  - Corifollitropin alfa compared to daily rFSH or HP-HMG in GnRH antagonist
      controlled ovarian stimulation protocol for patients undergoing assisted
      reproduction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the outcomes of controlled ovarian
      stimulation (COS) with corifollitropin alfa versus daily recombinant follicle
      stimulating hormone (rRFSH) or highly purified human menopausal gonadotropin (HP
      HMG) in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles based on
      gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocols. The primary endpoints
      were total number of oocytes and mature oocytes. METHODS: This retrospective
      study looked into 132 controlled ovarian stimulation cycles from IVF or oocyte
      cryopreservation performed in a private human reproduction center between January
      1 and December 31, 2014. Enrollment criteria: women aged < 40 years submitted to
      COS with corifollitropin alfa 100ug or 150ug (n = 26) and rFSH or HP-HMG in the
      first seven days of treatment with daily doses of 150-225 IU (n = 106); all
      subjects were on GnRH antagonist protocols. RESULTS: The groups had similar mean
      ages and duration of stimulation. The mean number +/- standard deviation of total
      aspirated oocytes and MII oocytes was 11.9+/-10 and 10.3+/-7.9 in the
      corifollitropin alfa group, and 10.9+/-7.2 and 8.6+/-5.7 in the group on rFSH or
      HMG (p>0.05). There were no significant differences in fertilization (76.9% vs.
      76.8%, p=1.0), biochemical pregnancy (66.7% vs. 47.2%, p=0.1561) or embryo
      implantation rates (68.7% vs. 50%, p=0.2588) between the groups using
      corifollitropin alfa and rFSH or HMG, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Corifollitropin
      alfa seems to be as effective as rFSH or HP-HMG when used in the first seven days
      of ovulation induction for patients undergoing assisted reproduction in GnRH
      antagonist protocols.

PMID- 28609270
TI  - A prospective study comparing two embryo-transfer soft catheters.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare reproductive outcomes using two different soft catheters
      i.e. Set TDT(r) and Cook(r) Sydney IVF. The primary outcome was defined as a
      positive beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) test. METHODS: Our
      prospective study recruited 68 patients undergoing in vitro fertilization cycles
      in a private fertility clinic in Porto Alegre, Brazil, between January 2014 and
      April 2016. They were divided into two groups according to the catheter that
      would be used for the embryo transfer, and the groups were matched by age. The
      total number of patients in each group was: 34 for the TDT and 34 for the Cook
      Sydney. All the patients were submitted to a beta-hCG test 12 days after the
      embryo transfer for pregnancy outcome evaluation. RESULTS: Ten out of 34 patients
      from the TDT group had a positive outcome for pregnancy, corresponding to 29.4%.
      The Cook Sydney group had 9 patients out of 34 with positive outcomes,
      corresponding to 26.5%. Comparing the efficacy of both catheters for the primary
      outcome, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the TDT and the
      Cook Sydney catheters. CONCLUSION: The TDT and the Cook Sydney catheters
      efficacies were similar for embryo transfer during assisted reproductive
      technology cycles.

PMID- 28609271
TI  - Viability of homologous and heterologous subcutaneous transplantation of fresh
      germ cells in rabbits.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare heterologous to homologous transplantation
      of fresh ovarian germ cells in rabbits. METHODS: Twelve female white New Zealand
      rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were randomly numbered and submitted to bilateral
      oophorectomies. The ovaries from the six odd-numbered rabbits were dissected and
      cortical germinal tissue was digested in collagenase type 1 to obtain six
      solutions containing stromal and germ cells, which were injected in the abdominal
      region of the odd-numbered rabbits themselves (homologous transplantation) and of
      the even-numbered rabbits (heterologous transplantation) off immunosuppression.
      Sixty days after transplantation, the tissue around the transplanted region was
      excised, processed and sent to histological analysis with hematoxylin-eosin
      staining and Bcl-2 immunohistochemistry to verify the presence and viability of
      the transplanted cells. RESULTS: The analyzed specimens contained ovarian stroma,
      while follicular cells were found in 66.6% of the homologous and in 60% of the
      heterologous transplant specimens. Mild inflammatory reaction was observed in all
      heterologous specimens, and in only one (16.7%) of the homologous specimens.
      However, this inflammatory reaction was not so intense as to cause the death of
      the implanted cells. Except for the specimens from rabbits 7 and 8, all specimens
      were stained for Bcl-2, indicating that most of them were viable. CONCLUSIONS:
      The results of this study supported the viability of heterologous transplantation
      of fresh ovarian germ cells. However, more studies are required to further our
      understanding and improve the germ cell separation technique.

PMID- 28609272
TI  - Outcome of assisted reproductive technology in overweight and obese women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of
      overweight and obesity among patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology
      (ART) in Latin America and its consequences on treatment outcomes. METHODS: We
      used the Latin American Registry of ART to obtain women's age and body mass index
      (BMI), cancellation rate, number of oocytes retrieved and embryos transferred,
      clinical pregnancy, live birth and miscarriage rates from 107.313 patients
      undergoing autologous IVF and ICSI during four years; a multivariable analysis
      was performed to determine the effect of BMI on cancellation, oocytes retrieved,
      pregnancy, live birth and miscarriage, adjusting for age, number of embryos
      transferred and embryo developmental stage upon embryo transfer, when
      appropriate. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 16.1% and
      42.4%, respectively; correcting for age of female partner, overweight and obesity
      were associated to an increase in the odds of cancellation and to a lower mean
      number of oocytes retrieved; after adjusting for age, number of embryos
      transferred and stage of embryo development at transfer, we found that the BMI
      category was not associated to a change in the likelihoods of pregnancy, live
      birth and miscarriage. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of obesity among women seeking
      ART in Latin America is surprisingly high; however, BMI does not influence the
      outcome of ART performed in these women.

PMID- 28609273
TI  - Knowledge regarding fertility preservation in cancer patients: a population-based
      survey among Brazilian people during the Pink October awareness event.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge about the risk of
      infertility in cancer patients after treatment, and the options for fertility
      preservation based on a survey carried out during the 2013 Pink October campaign.
      METHODS: This survey was carried out during the 2013 Pink October event in the
      most important public park of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Approximately 900 people
      expressed interest in learning about breast cancer prevention and fertility
      preservation by participating in workshops, and 242 people filled out a
      questionnaire. RESULTS: Most of the respondents (78.5%) were women, and one
      fourth (25%) had at least one relative with gynecological cancer. Among women
      over 40 years of age, 86.3% had been screened for breast cancer at some point.
      However, few participants (34.0%) were aware that cancer treatment can lead to
      infertility or had heard about fertility preservation options (22.0%). Having a
      relative with cancer did not influence their knowledge about fertility
      preservation (22.4% versus 21.3%; p=0.864). However, a higher educational level
      was significantly associated with more knowledge about the effects of cancer on
      fertility and options for fertility preservation. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of
      participants did not have knowledge about the impact of oncologic treatment on
      fertility and did not know that there are options to preserve fertility in cancer
      patients. Awareness of infertility risk factors is an essential first step to
      safeguard future fertility, and therefore, more educational initiatives are
      needed to spread knowledge about oncofertility.

PMID- 28609275
TI  - Effect of D-ribose-L-cysteine on aluminum induced testicular damage in male
      Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of D-ribose and L-cysteine on
      aluminum-induced testicular damage in male Sprague-Dawley rats. METHOD: A total
      number of thirty-five (35) adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four
      groups (AD). Group A (comprised five (5) rats) was designated the Control Group
      that received Physiological Saline; while groups B, C, and D (comprised ten (10)
      rats) were given 75 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg of body weight of aluminum
      chloride respectively for 39 days. At day 40, the aluminum-treated groups were
      subdivided into sub-groups (B1, C1, D1) comprising of five (5) rats each, and 30
      mg/kg body weight of Riboceine were administered for twenty (20) days. Groups B,
      C and D remained on the normal dosage of aluminum chloride for three more weeks
      (59 days). RESULTS: Andrological parameters (Sperm count, motility, morphology
      and testosterone) in the aluminum-treated Groups B and C showed no significant
      difference in their mean values when compared with their control counterparts,
      whereas there was a significant reduction in the andrological parameters in Group
      D rats when compared with the Control animals. Histoarchitecture of the testes
      "stain with H&E" of Group A, B and C rats appeared normal while Group D rats
      showed testicular damages with several abnormal seminiferous tubules with
      incomplete maturation of germinal cell layers and absence of spermatozoa in their
      lumen; Leydig cells appear hyperplastic. Group B1, C1 and D1 andrological and
      histological parameters appeared normal. CONCLUSION: Riboceine treatment
      significantly attenuates aluminum-induced testicular toxicity in male Sprague
      Dawley in rats.

PMID- 28609274
TI  - Comparison of in vitro fertilization outcomes in ICSI cycles after human sperm
      preparation by density gradient centrifugation and direct micro swim-up without
      centrifugation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a non-expensive,
      easy and fast technique (direct micro swim-up) for sperm preparation in
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatments without the use of centrifuge.
      METHODS: We carried out a multicentric study in which a total of 140 ICSI-cycles
      were included. Sibling oocytes were divided into two groups according to semen
      preparation procedures: group A, discontinuous gradients (DG) (oocytes n=668),
      and group B, direct micro swim-up (MSU) (oocytes n=660). We analyzed differences
      in some key performance indicators. RESULTS: Fertilization rates were not
      statistically different between the DG and MSU groups (76.0% vs. 81.8%,
      respectively, p=0.248); while significant differences were found in blastulation
      rates per fertilized oocytes (41.7% vs. 58.5%, p=0.009), blastulation rates per
      D3 embryos (46.1% vs. 63.7%, p=0.045), and pregnancy rates (25.8% vs. 41.9%,
      p=0.045). The abortion rate was reduced in the MSU group as compared to DG, but
      not in a significant manner (12.9% vs. 29.4%, p=0.161). CONCLUSION: The MSU
      procedure has the advantage of reducing costs, time and mismatches, while
      ensuring comparable, and in some cases, better results than DG treatments. This
      technique can therefore be used as an alternative method to other conventional
      semen treatments.

PMID- 28609276
TI  - Social oocyte cryopreservation: a portrayal of Brazilian women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine what Brazilian childless women of
      reproductive age think about oocyte cryopreservation to postpone pregnancy and
      their reasons for performing or not performing this procedure. METHODS: Women of
      reproductive age were randomly selected from the general population using
      different e-mail lists and were invited to participate in the study by completing
      an online web survey regarding social oocyte cryopreservation. The survey was
      also distributed through social media to women of reproductive age. RESULTS:
      Although most of the responders had a partner (86.9%) and had already planned the
      pregnancy of their first child (69.6%), 85.4% (379) considered the potential of
      social oocyte freezing to improve their chances of giving birth later in life.
      Those that had already planned pregnancy were two times more likely to intend to
      freeze their oocytes (p=0.03). The most important barrier for not undergoing
      oocyte cryopreservation was cost. The women who indicated that they could not
      currently undergo the procedure now because of cost were two times (p=0.03) more
      likely to intend to cryopreserve their oocytes than women who thought that they
      would not need to delay pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Brazilian women who think that
      they are not ready to have a family are discovering the option of oocyte
      cryopreservation. Most participants considered safeguarding their reproductive
      potential. Making the procedure more accessible could give women the opportunity
      to make proactive decisions about the future of their fertility.

PMID- 28609277
TI  - Corino de Andrade disease: mechanisms and impact on reproduction.
AB  - Familial amyloid polyneuropathy was first described by Corino de Andrade in 1952
      in Northern Portugal. It is a fatal autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder
      characterized by a progression of neurologic symptoms, beginning early in the
      reproductive life. The Transthyretin gene mutation originates a mutated protein
      that precipitates in the connective tissue as amyloid deposits. This disease is
      presently named Transthyretin-related hereditary amyloidosis. We performed an
      extensive review on this disease based on searches in Medical databases and in
      paper references. In this review, we briefly summarize the epidemiology and the
      mechanisms involved on amyloid deposition; we detailed how to evaluate the
      mechanisms implicated on the development of the major signs and symptoms
      associated with reproductive dysfunction; and we discuss the mechanisms involved
      in secondary sexual dysfunction after psychological treatments. Treatment of the
      disease is directed towards relieving specific symptoms in association with liver
      transplant, and molecular and genetic therapeutics. Although the current clinical
      trials indicate symptoms relief, no data on the reproductive function was
      reported. Thus, preimplantation genetic diagnosis is presently the only available
      technique that eradicates the disease as it avoids the birth of new patients.

PMID- 28609278
TI  - Do women offered assisted reproduction technologies have a higher incidence of
      gynecologic cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - The last two decades have seen an increase in the number of women diagnosed with
      infertility. The consequent growth in the use of assisted reproductive
      technologies (ART) calls for the determination of its long-term effects,
      including the risk of cancer. Many studies have attempted to answer this
      question, albeit with contradictory results. This review aimed to assess whether
      assisted reproductive technologies are associated with an increased risk of
      gynecological cancer. A search for papers in the literature was carried out on
      MEDLINE, TRIP DATABASE and NICE, resulting in 11 studies enrolling 3,900,231
      patients altogether. Of these, 118,320 were offered ART. The incidence of
      gynecological cancer in the group offered ART was 0.6%, while the incidence in
      the group not offered ART was 2.1%. Taking all the studies into consideration,
      women offered ART were not at greater risk of having gynecological cancer;
      instead, a protective association was found.

PMID- 28609279
TI  - To operate or not to operate on women with deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE)
      before in vitro fertilization (IVF).
AB  - Deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) can cause infertility and pelvic pain.
      There is little evidence of a clear connection between DIE and infertility, and
      the absolute benefits of surgery for DIE have not been established. This paper
      aimed to review the current literature on the effect of surgery for DIE on
      fertility, pregnancy, and IVF outcomes. Clinicians should bear in mind that a
      comprehensive clinical history is useful to identify patients at risk for
      endometriosis, although many women remain asymptomatic. Imaging can be useful to
      plan surgery. The effect of surgery on the fertility of women with DIE remains
      unanswered due to the heterogeneous nature of the disease and the lack of trials
      with enough statistical power and adequate follow-up. Surgery is not recommended
      when the main goal is to treat infertility or to improve IVF results. Decisions
      should be tailored according to the individual needs of each woman. Patients must
      be provided information on the potential benefits, harm, and costs of each
      treatment alternative, while the medical team observes factors such as presence
      of pelvic pain, patient age, lesion location, and previous treatments. In this
      scenario, management by a multidisciplinary endometriosis team is a key step to
      achieving successful outcomes.

PMID- 28609282
TI  - Oral Presentations: Abstracts of the 13th Red Lara Taller General, Buenos Aires,
      Argentina, 26-28 April 2017.

PMID- 28609283
TI  - Poster Presentations: Abstracts of the 13th Red Lara Taller General, Buenos
      Aires, Argentina, 26-28 April 2017.

PMID- 28609281
TI  - Ectopic ovarian pregnancy after intracytoplasmic sperm injection with testicular
      spermatozoa - a case report.
AB  - Ovarian ectopic pregnancy is a rare event in both natural and assisted human
      reproduction settings. There are few reports of this event after in vitro
      fertilization. Diagnosis can be challenging, since it requires specific medical
      expertise. Patients with this condition call for careful management during
      treatment so as to not affect their fertility potential. This paper describes the
      case of a woman submitted to ICSI and embryo transfer who subsequently had an
      ovarian ectopic pregnancy and underwent a laparoscopic partial right
      oophorectomy.

PMID- 28609280
TI  - The history behind successful uterine transplantation in humans.
AB  - This paper aimed to describe the basic aspects of uterine transplant (UTx)
      research in humans, including preliminary experiences in rodents and domestic
      species. Studies in rats, domestic species, and non-human primates validated and
      optimized the UTx procedure in terms of its surgical aspects, immunosuppression,
      rejection diagnosis, peculiarities of pregnancy in immunosuppressed patients, and
      patients with special uterine conditions. In animal species, the first live birth
      from UTx was achieved in a syngeneic mouse model in 2003. Twenty-five UTx
      procedures have been performed in humans. The first two cases were unsuccessful,
      but established the need for rigorous research to improve success rates. As a
      result of a controlled clinical study under a strictly designed research
      protocol, nine subsequent UTx procedures have resulted in six healthy live
      births, the first of them in 2014. Further failed UTx procedures have been
      performed in China, Czech Republic, Brazil, Germany, and the United States, most
      of which using living donors. Albeit still an experimental procedure in, UTx is
      the first potential alternative for the treatment of absolute uterine factor
      infertility (AUFI).

PMID- 28609284
TI  - Premature ovarian failure could be an alarming sign of polyglandular autoimmune
      dysfunction.
AB  - A 31-year-old lady, diagnosed to have premature ovarian failure in the gynecology
      clinic, was referred for endocrine assessment because of an abnormal thyroid
      function test. Clinical examination revealed hypotension, and fungal skin
      infection under her atrophic breasts. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level was
      very high. Assessment of the suprarenal function revealed evidence of Addison's
      disease. Polyglandular autoimmune dysfunction was diagnosed. She was treated with
      prednisone, fludrocortisone, and levothyroxine with significant improvement of
      her general condition and blood pressure.

PMID- 28609285
TI  - Expression of genes encoding IGFBPs, SNARK, CD36, and PECAM1 in the liver of mice
      treated with chromium disilicide and titanium nitride nanoparticles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of chromium
      disilicide and titanium nitride nanoparticles on the expression level of genes
      encoding important regulatory factors (IGFBP1, IGFBP2, IGFBP3, IGFBP4, IGFBP5,
      SNARK/NUAK2, CD36, and PECAM1/CD31) in mouse liver for evaluation of possible
      toxic effects of these nanoparticles. METHODS: Male mice received 20 mg chromium
      disilicide nanoparticles (45 nm) and titanium nitride nanoparticles (20 nm) with
      food every working day for 2 months. The expression of IGFBP1, IGFBP2, IGFBP3,
      IGFBP4, IGFBP5, SNARK, CD36, and PECAM1 genes in mouse liver was studied by
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Treatment of mice with chromium
      disilicide nanoparticles led to down-regulation of the expression of IGFBP2,
      IGFBP5, PECAM1, and SNARK genes in the liver in comparison with control mice,
      with more prominent changes for SNARK gene. At the same time, the expression of
      IGFBP3 and CD36 genes was increased in mouse liver upon treatment with chromium
      disilicide nanoparticles. We have also shown that treatment with titanium nitride
      nanoparticles resulted in down-regulation of the expression of IGFBP2 and SNARK
      genes in the liver with more prominent changes for SNARK gene. At the same time,
      the expression of IGFBP3, IGFBP4, and CD36 genes was increased in the liver of
      mice treated with titanium nitride nanoparticles. Furthermore, the effect of
      chromium disilicide nanoparticles on IGFBP2 and CD36 genes expression was
      significantly stronger as compared to titanium nitride nanoparticles.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that chromium disilicide and
      titanium nitride nanoparticles have variable effects on the expression of IGFBP2,
      IGFBP3, IGFBP4, IGFBP5, SNARK, CD36, and PECAM1 genes in mouse liver, which may
      reflect the genotoxic activities of the studied nanoparticles.

PMID- 28609286
TI  - Th e eff ects of Nigella Sativa extract on renal tissue oxidative damage during
      neonatal and juvenile growth in propylthiouracil-induced hypothyroid rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Nigella
      sativa (NS) on renal tissue oxidative damage associated with propylthiouracil
      (PTU)-induced hypothyroidism during neonatal and juvenile growth in rats.
      METHODS: Pregnant rats were divided into five groups designated as: 1) control;
      2) propylthiouracil (PTU); 3) PTU-NS100; 4) PTU-NS200, and 5) PTU-NS400. All
      mothers except the control group received 0.005% PTU in their drinking water
      during lactation. Besides PTU, mothers in groups 3-5 received 100, 200, and 400
      mg/kg of NS extract. After lactation period, the off spring continued to receive
      the same experimental treatment for the first 8 weeks of their life. Ten male off
      springs of each group were randomly selected, blood samples collected, and the
      kidney tissues removed. RESULTS: The serum thyroxin concentration in PTU group
      was lower than control group and improved by extract. PTU increased the renal
      malondialdehyde (MDA), while reduced the total thiols concentrations and catalase
      (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity compared to control group.
      Administration of 200 and 400 mg/kg of NS extract decreased MDA level, while it
      increased the total thiols and 400 mg/kg increased CAT and SOD activity in renal
      tissues compared to PTU group. Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in
      PTU group was higher than in comparison with the control group. 400 mg/kg
      decreased creatinine, but both 200 and 400 mg/kg improved BUN concentration
      compared to PTU group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that the
      hydroalcoholic extract of NS has a protective effect on the renal tissue
      oxidative damage associated with PTU-induced hypothyroidism during neonatal and
      juvenile growth in rats.

PMID- 28609287
TI  - The role of thyrostimulin and its potential clinical significance.
AB  - Thyrostimulin is a glycoprotein heterodimer of GPA2 and GPB5, first described in
      2002. It is involved in the physiological function of several tissues. Moreover,
      evidence points towards the ability of thyrostimulin's individual monomers to
      induce a biological effect, which could denote the circulatory/systemic effects
      of the molecule when found in higher concentrations. From the evolutionary point
      of view, thyrostimulin shares a binding epitope with the thyroid-stimulating
      hormone for the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor, whilst possessing affinity
      for another unique binding site on the same receptor. Although thyrostimulin can
      be involved in the hypothalamicpituitary- thyroid axis, its presence in various
      tissues in an eclectic array of different species renders it multifunctional.
      From weight loss via increasing metabolic rate to progression of cancer in human
      ovaries, it is certainly not a signaling molecule to overlook. Furthermore,
      thyrostimulin has been implicated in bone metabolism, acute illness, and
      reproductive function. In summary, to our knowledge, this is the first review
      dealing with the physiological role of thyrostimulin and its potential
      applications in the clinical practice.

PMID- 28609289
TI  - Adverse eff ects of polymeric nanoparticle poly(ethylene glycol)- block
      polylactide methyl ether (PEG-b-PLA) on steroid hormone secretion by porcine
      granulosa cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Development of nanoparticles (NPs) for biomedical applications,
      including medical imaging and drug delivery, is currently undergoing a dramatic
      expansion. Diverse effects of different type NPs relating to mammalian
      reproductive tissues have been demonstrated. Th e objective of this study was to
      explore the in vitro effects of polymeric nanoparticle poly(ethylene glycol)
      blockpolylactide methyl ether (PEG-b-PLA NPs) on functional state and viability
      of ovarian granulosa cells (GCs), which play an important role in maintaining
      ovarian function and female fertility. METHODS: The GCs isolated from porcine
      ovarian follicles were incubated with the different concentrations of PEG-b-PLA
      NPs (PEG average Mn=350 g/mol and PLA average Mn=1000 g/mol; 0.2-100 MUg/ml) or
      poly(ethylene glycol) with an average molecular weight of 300 (PEG-300; 0.2- 40
      mg/ml) in the presence or absence of stimulators, follicle-stimulating hormone
      (FSH; 1 MUg/ml), androstenedione (100 nM), forskolin (10 MUM) or 8Br-cAMP (100
      MUM), for different time periods (24, 48, 72 h). At the end of the incubation,
      progesterone and estradiol levels produced by GCs were measured in the culture
      media by radioimmunoassay. Th e viability of GCs was determined by the method
      using a colorimetric assay with MTT. RESULTS: Treatment of GCs with PEG-b-PLA NPs
      induced a significant decrease in basal as well as FSH-stimulated progesterone
      secretion above the concentration of 20 and 4 MUg/ml, respectively. Moreover, PEG
      b-PLA NPs reduced forskolin-stimulated, but not cAMP-stimulated progesterone
      production by GCs. A dose-dependent inhibition of androstenedione-stimulated
      estradiol release by GCs was found by the action of PEG-b-PLA NPs. Incubation of
      GCs with PEG-300 significantly inhibited basal as well as FSH-stimulated
      progesterone secretion above the concentration of 40 mg/ml. PEG-b-PLA NPs and PEG
      300 significantly reduced the viability of GCs at the highest tested
      concentrations (100 MUg/ml and 40 mg/ml, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The obtained
      results indicate that polymeric NPs PEG-b-PLA might induce alterations in steroid
      hormone production by ovarian GCs and thereby could modify reproductive
      functions.

PMID- 28609290
TI  - Functional imaging of brown adipose tissue in human.
AB  - Obesity has become a major public health challenge and an increasing trend is
      seen in its prevalence worldwide. It is a complex disorder involving an excessive
      amount of body fat as a result of an energy imbalance leading to caloric
      overload. Since the discovery of functional brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult
      humans, with energy dissipating properties, this thermogenic tissue has thus
      emerged as an attractive therapeutic target to combat obesity and related
      cardiometabolic disorders. The advancements in imaging modalities to evaluate
      organ-specific metabolism in humans is substantially contributing to understand
      the physiological role of BAT. This review presents an overview of the different
      imaging approaches implied in BAT assessment, with a special emphasis on adult
      human BAT. In this context, we also attempted to summarize the developmental
      origins and physiology of BAT.

PMID- 28609288
TI  - Eff ect of a single asenapine treatment on Fos expression in the brain
      catecholamine-synthesizing neurons: impact of a chronic mild stress
      preconditioning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Fos protein expression in catecholamine-synthesizing neurons of the
      substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta (SNC, A8), pars reticulata (SNR, A9), and
      pars lateralis (SNL), the ventral tegmental area (VTA, A10), the locus coeruleus
      (LC, A6) and subcoeruleus (sLC), the ventrolateral pons (PON-A5), the nucleus of
      the solitary tract (NTS-A2), the area postrema (AP), and the ventrolateral
      medulla (VLM-A1) was quantitatively evaluated aft er a single administration of
      asenapine (ASE) (designated for schizophrenia treatment) in male Wistar rats
      preconditioned with a chronic unpredictable variable mild stress (CMS) for 21
      days. Th e aim of the present study was to reveal whether a single ASE treatment
      may 1) activate Fos expression in the brain areas selected; 2) activate tyrosine
      hydroxylase (TH)-synthesizing cells displaying Fos presence; and 3) be modulated
      by CMS preconditioning. METHODS: Control (CON), ASE, CMS, and CMS+ASE groups were
      used. CMS included restraint, social isolation, crowding, swimming, and cold. Th
      e ASE and CMS+ASE groups received a single dose of ASE (0.3 mg/kg, s.c.) and CON
      and CMS saline (300 MUl/rat, s.c.). The animals were sacrificed 90 min aft er the
      treatments. Fos protein and TH-labeled immunoreactive perikarya were analyzed on
      double labeled histological sections and enumerated on captured pictures using
      combined light and fluorescence microscope illumination. RESULTS: Saline or CMS
      alone did not promote Fos expression in any of the structures investigated. ASE
      alone or in combination with CMS elicited Fos expression in two parts of the SN
      (SNC, SNR) and the VTA. Aside from some cells in the central gray tegmental
      nuclei adjacent to LC, where a small number of Fos profiles occurred, none or
      negligible Fos occurrence was detected in the other structures investigated
      including the LC and sLC, PON-A5, NTS-A2, AP, and VLM-A1. CMS preconditioning did
      not infl uence the level of Fos induction in the SN and VTA elicited by ASE
      administration. Similarly, the ratio between the amount of free Fos and Fos
      colocalized with TH was not aff ected by stress preconditioning in the SNC, SNR,
      and the VTA. CONCLUSIONS: Th e present study provides an anatomical/functional
      knowledge about the nature of the acute ASE treatment on the catecholamine
      synthesizing neurons activity in certain brain structures and their missing
      interplay with the CMS preconditioning.

PMID- 28609291
TI  - Analysis of cervical lesions for presence of HSV-2 and HPV-16 and HPV-18 in
      Iranian patients by PCR.
AB  - Objective Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the leading causes of deaths from cancer
      among women worldwide. Viral infections is now one of the known risk factors for
      CC. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of herpes simplex virus
      type 2 (HSV-2), human papilloma virus types 16 (HPV-16) and human papilloma virus
      types 18 (HPV-18) in Iranian patients with CC using the polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR). Materials and methods This case-control study was conducted on a total of
      45 patients with CC from Khatam-Al-Anbiya Hospital, Hamadan, Iran during 2014,
      and 30 samples from healthy subjects as controls. The presence of HSV-2 and HPV
      16/18 DNA sequences was detected by PCR. Results Eight of CC patients (17.77%)
      had HPV-16/18 DNA and only one patient (2.22%) with HSV-2 was identified. These
      viruses were not detected in control cases. Among HPV-16/18 positive patients,
      62.5% and 37.5% biopsies were positive for HPV-16 and HPV-18, respectively. On
      the other hand, only one case (2.22%) was positive for HPV-16/18, but HSV-2 and
      this co-infection was not detected in the control group. Conclusion Our results
      demonstrate that there was no direct molecular evidence to support a cofactor
      relationship between HSV-2 and HPV-16/18 in cervical malignancies. However, the
      results about HPV-16/18 was in accordance with previous studies.

PMID- 28609292
TI  - Knowledge Discovery in Biological Databases for Revealing Candidate Genes Linked
      to Complex Phenotypes.
AB  - Genetics and "omics" studies designed to uncover genotype to phenotype
      relationships often identify large numbers of potential candidate genes, among
      which the causal genes are hidden. Scientists generally lack the time and
      technical expertise to review all relevant information available from the
      literature, from key model species and from a potentially wide range of related
      biological databases in a variety of data formats with variable quality and
      coverage. Computational tools are needed for the integration and evaluation of
      heterogeneous information in order to prioritise candidate genes and components
      of interaction networks that, if perturbed through potential interventions, have
      a positive impact on the biological outcome in the whole organism without
      producing negative side effects. Here we review several bioinformatics tools and
      databases that play an important role in biological knowledge discovery and
      candidate gene prioritization. We conclude with several key challenges that need
      to be addressed in order to facilitate biological knowledge discovery in the
      future.

PMID- 28609294
TI  - Computational miRNomics - Integrative Approaches.

PMID- 28609293
TI  - Visualization and Analysis of MicroRNAs within KEGG Pathways using VANESA.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules which are known to take part in post
      transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Here, VANESA, an existing platform
      for reconstructing, visualizing, and analysis of large biological networks, has
      been further expanded to include all experimentally validated human miRNAs
      available within miRBase, TarBase and miRTarBase. This is done by integrating a
      custom hybrid miRNA database to DAWIS-M.D., VANESA's main data source, enabling
      the visualization and analysis of miRNAs within large biological pathways such as
      those found within the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).
      Interestingly, 99.15 % of human KEGG pathways either contain genes which are
      targeted by miRNAs or harbor them. This is mainly due to the high number of
      interaction partners that each miRNA could have (e.g.: hsa-miR-335-5p targets
      2544 genes and 71 miRNAs target NUFIP2). We demonstrate the usability of our
      system by analyzing the measles virus KEGG pathway as a proof-of-principle model
      and further highlight the importance of integrating miRNAs (both experimentally
      validated and predicted) into biological networks for the elucidation of novel
      miRNA-mRNA interactions of biological importance.

PMID- 28609295
TI  - clubber: removing the bioinformatics bottleneck in big data analyses.
AB  - With the advent of modern day high-throughput technologies, the bottleneck in
      biological discovery has shifted from the cost of doing experiments to that of
      analyzing results. clubber is our automated cluster-load balancing system
      developed for optimizing these "big data" analyses. Its plug-and-play framework
      encourages re-use of existing solutions for bioinformatics problems. clubber's
      goals are to reduce computation times and to facilitate use of cluster computing.
      The first goal is achieved by automating the balance of parallel submissions
      across available high performance computing (HPC) resources. Notably, the latter
      can be added on demand, including cloud-based resources, and/or featuring
      heterogeneous environments. The second goal of making HPCs user-friendly is
      facilitated by an interactive web interface and a RESTful API, allowing for job
      monitoring and result retrieval. We used clubber to speed up our pipeline for
      annotating molecular functionality of metagenomes. Here, we analyzed the
      Deepwater Horizon oil-spill study data to quantitatively show that the beach
      sands have not yet entirely recovered. Further, our analysis of the CAMI
      challenge data revealed that microbiome taxonomic shifts do not necessarily
      correlate with functional shifts. These examples (21 metagenomes processed in 172
      min) clearly illustrate the importance of clubber in the everyday computational
      biology environment.

PMID- 28609296
TI  - Neuroanatomical pathways underlying the effects of hypothalamo-hypophysial
      adrenal hormones on exploratory activity.
AB  - When injected via the intracerebroventricular route, corticosterone-releasing
      hormone (CRH) reduced exploration in the elevated plus-maze, the center region of
      the open-field, and the large chamber in the defensive withdrawal test. The
      anxiogenic action of CRH in the elevated plus-maze also occurred when infused in
      the basolateral amygdala, ventral hippocampus, lateral septum, bed nucleus of the
      stria terminalis, nucleus accumbens, periaqueductal grey, and medial frontal
      cortex. The anxiogenic action of CRH in the defensive withdrawal test was
      reproduced when injected in the locus coeruleus, while the amygdala, hippocampus,
      lateral septum, nucleus accumbens, and lateral globus pallidus contribute to
      center zone exploration in the open-field. In addition to elevated plus-maze and
      open-field tests, the amygdala appears as a target region for CRH-mediated
      anxiety in the elevated T-maze. Thus, the amygdala is the principal brain region
      identified with these three tests, and further research must identify the neural
      circuits underlying this form of anxiety.

PMID- 28609297
TI  - Online pretreatment verification of high-dose rate brachytherapy using an imaging
      panel.
AB  - Brachytherapy is employed to treat a wide variety of cancers. However, an
      accurate treatment verification method is currently not available. This study
      describes a pre-treatment verification system that uses an imaging panel (IP) to
      verify important aspects of the treatment plan. A detailed modelling of the IP
      was only possible with an extensive calibration performed using a robotic arm.
      Irradiations were performed with a high dose rate (HDR) 192Ir source within a
      water phantom. An empirical fit was applied to measure the distance between the
      source and the detector so 3D Cartesian coordinates of the dwell positions can be
      obtained using a single panel. The IP acquires 7.14 fps to verify the dwell
      times, dwell positions and air kerma strength (Sk). A gynecological applicator
      was used to create a treatment plan that was registered with a CT image of the
      water phantom used during the experiments for verification purposes. Errors
      (shifts, exchanged connections and wrong dwell times) were simulated to verify
      the proposed verification system. Cartesian source positions (panel measurement
      plane) have a standard deviation of about 0.02 cm. The measured distance between
      the source and the panel (z-coordinate) have a standard deviation up to 0.16 cm
      and maximum absolute error of  ~0.6 cm if the signal is close to sensitive limit
      of the panel. The average response of the panel is very linear with Sk.
      Therefore, Sk measurements can be performed with relatively small errors. The
      measured dwell times show a maximum error of 0.2 s which is consistent with the
      acquisition rate of the panel. All simulated errors were clearly identified by
      the proposed system. The use of IPs is not common in brachytherapy, however, it
      provides considerable advantages. It was demonstrated that the IP can accurately
      measure Sk, dwell times and dwell positions.

PMID- 28609298
TI  - Optimal nanomaterial concentration: harnessing percolation theory to enhance
      polymer nanocomposite performance.
AB  - A major challenge in nanocomposite research is to predict the optimal
      nanomaterial concentration (ONC) yielding a maximal reinforcement in a given
      property. We present a simple approach to identify the ONC based on our finding
      that it is typically located in close proximity to an abrupt increase in polymer
      matrix viscosity, termed the rheological percolation threshold, and thus may be
      used as an indicator of the ONC. This premise was validated by rheological and
      fractography studies of composites loaded by nanomaterials including graphene
      nanoribbons or carbon or tungsten disulfide nanotubes. The correlation between in
      situ viscosity, the rheological percolation threshold concentration and the
      nanocomposite fractography demonstrates the utility of the method.

PMID- 28609299
TI  - Arterial waveguide model for shear wave elastography: implementation and in vitro
      validation.
AB  - Arterial stiffness is found to be an early indicator of many cardiovascular
      diseases. Among various techniques, shear wave elastography has emerged as a
      promising tool for estimating local arterial stiffness through the observed
      dispersion of guided waves. In this paper, we develop efficient models for the
      computational simulation of guided wave dispersion in arterial walls. The models
      are capable of considering fluid-loaded tubes, immersed in fluid or embedded in a
      solid, which are encountered in in vitro/ex vivo, and in vivo experiments. The
      proposed methods are based on judiciously combining Fourier transformation and
      finite element discretization, leading to a significant reduction in
      computational cost while fully capturing complex 3D wave propagation. The
      developed methods are implemented in open-source code, and verified by comparing
      them with significantly more expensive, fully 3D finite element models. We also
      validate the models using the shear wave elastography of tissue-mimicking
      phantoms. The computational efficiency of the developed methods indicates the
      possibility of being able to estimate arterial stiffness in real time, which
      would be beneficial in clinical settings.

PMID- 28609300
TI  - A new method to reconstruct intra-fractional prostate motion in volumetric
      modulated arc therapy.
AB  - Intra-fractional motion is a concern during prostate radiation therapy, as it may
      cause deviations between planned and delivered radiation doses. Because accurate
      motion information during treatment delivery is critical to address dose
      deviation, we developed the projection marker matching method (PM3), a novel
      method for prostate motion reconstruction in volumetric modulated arc therapy.
      The purpose of this method is to reconstruct in-treatment prostate motion
      trajectory using projected positions of implanted fiducial markers measured in kV
      x-ray projection images acquired during treatment delivery. We formulated this
      task as a quadratic optimization problem. The objective function penalized the
      distance from the reconstructed 3D position of each fiducial marker to the
      corresponding straight line, defined by the x-ray projection of the marker. Rigid
      translational motion of the prostate and motion smoothness along the temporal
      dimension were assumed and incorporated into the optimization model. We tested
      the motion reconstruction method in both simulation and phantom experimental
      studies. We quantified the accuracy using 3D normalized root-mean-square (RMS)
      error defined as the norm of a vector containing ratios between the absolute RMS
      errors and corresponding motion ranges in three dimensions. In the simulation
      study with realistic prostate motion trajectories, the 3D normalized RMS error
      was on average [Formula: see text] (range from [Formula: see text] to [Formula:
      see text]). In an experimental study, a prostate phantom was driven to move along
      a realistic prostate motion trajectory. The 3D normalized RMS error was [Formula:
      see text]. We also examined the impact of the model parameters on reconstruction
      accuracy, and found that a single set of parameters can be used for all the
      tested cases to accurately reconstruct the motion trajectories. The motion
      trajectory derived by PM3 may be incorporated into novel strategies, including 4D
      dose reconstruction and adaptive treatment replanning to address motion-induced
      dose deviation.

PMID- 28609301
TI  - A light-weight compact proton gantry design with a novel dose delivery system for
      broad-energetic laser-accelerated beams.
AB  - Proton beams may provide superior dose-conformity in radiation therapy. However,
      the large sizes and costs limit the widespread use of proton therapy (PT). The
      recent progress in proton acceleration via high-power laser systems has made it a
      compelling alternative to conventional accelerators, as it could potentially
      reduce the overall size and cost of the PT facilities. However, the laser
      accelerated beams exhibit different characteristics than conventionally
      accelerated beams, i.e. very intense proton bunches with large divergences and
      broad-energy spectra. For the application of laser-driven beams in PT, new
      solutions for beam transport, such as beam capture, integrated energy selection,
      beam shaping and delivery systems are required due to the specific beam
      parameters. The generation of these beams are limited by the low repetition rate
      of high-power lasers and this limitation would require alternative solutions for
      tumour irradiation which can efficiently utilize the available high proton
      fluence and broad-energy spectra per proton bunch to keep treatment times short.
      This demands new dose delivery system and irradiation field formation schemes. In
      this paper, we present a multi-functional light-weight and compact proton gantry
      design for laser-driven sources based on iron-less pulsed high-field magnets.
      This achromatic design includes improved beam capturing and energy selection
      systems, with a novel beam shaping and dose delivery system, so-called ELPIS.
      ELPIS system utilizes magnetic fields, instead of physical scatterers, for
      broadening the spot-size of broad-energetic beams while capable of simultaneously
      scanning them in lateral directions. To investigate the clinical feasibility of
      this gantry design, we conducted a treatment planning study with a 3D treatment
      planning system augmented for the pulsed beams with optimizable broad-energetic
      widths and selectable beam spot sizes. High quality treatment plans could be
      achieved with such unconventional beam parameters, deliverable via the presented
      gantry and ELPIS dose delivery system. The conventional PT gantries are huge and
      require large space for the gantry to rotate the beam around the patient, which
      could be reduced up to 4 times with the presented pulse powered gantry system.
      The further developments in the next generation petawatt laser systems and laser
      targets are crucial to reach higher proton energies. However, if proton energies
      required for therapy applications are reached it could be possible in future to
      reduce the footprint of the PT facilities, without compromising on clinical
      standards.

PMID- 28609303
TI  - Can We Really Suggest that Anesthesia Might Cause Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity
      Disorder?

PMID- 28609302
TI  - Association between Exposure of Young Children to Procedures Requiring General
      Anesthesia and Learning and Behavioral Outcomes in a Population-based Birth
      Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure of young animals to general anesthesia causes
      neurodegeneration and lasting behavioral abnormalities; whether these findings
      translate to children remains unclear. This study used a population-based birth
      cohort to test the hypothesis that multiple, but not single, exposures to
      procedures requiring general anesthesia before age 3 yr are associated with
      adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective study cohort was
      assembled from children born in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from 1996 to 2000
      (inclusive). Propensity matching selected children exposed and not exposed to
      general anesthesia before age 3 yr. Outcomes ascertained via medical and school
      records included learning disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,
      and group-administered ability and achievement tests. Analysis methods included
      proportional hazard regression models and mixed linear models. RESULTS: For the
      116 multiply exposed, 457 singly exposed, and 463 unexposed children analyzed,
      multiple, but not single, exposures were associated with an increased frequency
      of both learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
      (hazard ratio for learning disabilities = 2.17 [95% CI, 1.32 to 3.59], unexposed
      as reference). Multiple exposures were associated with decreases in both
      cognitive ability and academic achievement. Single exposures were associated with
      modest decreases in reading and language achievement but not cognitive ability.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings in children anesthetized with modern techniques
      largely confirm those found in an older birth cohort and provide additional
      evidence that children with multiple exposures are more likely to develop adverse
      outcomes related to learning and attention. Although a robust association was
      observed, these data do not determine whether anesthesia per se is causal.

PMID- 28609305
TI  - Phenelzine Withdrawal-Associated Psychosis and Mania.

PMID- 28609304
TI  - Suprameatal Cochlear Implantation in a CHARGE Patient With a Novel CHD7 Variant
      and KALLMANN Syndrome Phenotype: A Case Report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We present the clinical findings, technique of the suprameatal
      cochlear implantation, postoperative auditory results, and genetic analysis of
      the CHD7 gene. PATIENT: A 19-year-old Japanese woman was referred because of
      progressive hearing loss since early childhood. She had used verbal language for
      the main mode of communication until the age of 17. Examination revealed
      coloboma, heart defect, choanal atresia, genital hypoplasia, and deafness, which
      was diagnosed as CHARGE syndrome. Examination also revealed features of Kallmann
      syndrome. INTERVENTIONS: Cochlear implantation was performed in the left ear at
      age 20. Targeted resequencing of the CHD7 gene was performed by next-generation
      sequencing. RESULTS: Cochlear implantation was performed using a suprameatal
      approach (SMA) with cartilage protection because of a venous malformation of the
      temporal bone. The electrode introduced into the scala tympani through the
      cochleostomy could be fully inserted. The electrode was covered with cartilage to
      avoid contact with the skin of the external auditory canal. No intra- or
      postoperative complications have occurred up to 4 years postoperatively, and the
      patient uses verbal language again as the main mode of communication. A novel
      variant c.6405_6406delAG,p.(Ala2137Argfs*2) in CHD7 was identified by next
      generation and Sanger sequencing analyses, resulting in a 2137-amino-acid
      truncated polypeptide. Parental genetic screening confirmed the sporadic origin
      of the mutation. CONCLUSION: Cochlear implantation surgery using the SMA with
      cartilage protection technique appears to be a feasible and effective option for
      patients with ear anomalies that obstruct the usual approach. A novel frameshift
      variant c.6405_6406delAG,p.(Ala2137Argfs*2) in CHD7 was also identified in this
      patient.

PMID- 28609306
TI  - The Impact Non-Factor.

PMID- 28609307
TI  - A 6-Year Posttreatment Follow-up of Panic Disorder Patients: Treatment With
      Clonazepam Predicts Lower Recurrence Than Treatment With Paroxetine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with relapse
      in panic disorder (PD). METHODS: This was an observational study conducted in the
      outpatient clinic of a psychiatric hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In a
      previous study, 120 patients diagnosed as having PD according to Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria were randomized
      to receive clonazepam or paroxetine. After 3 years, treatment was discontinued in
      patients who had achieved remission. These subjects were included in the current
      study and were followed up for 6 years. The follow-up assessments were made at 1,
      2, 3, 5, and 6 years after treatment discontinuation. Assessment included the
      number of panic attacks per month, Clinical Global Impression-Severity, and other
      measures. Patients who had initiated psychotherapy or pharmacological treatment
      because of PD symptoms or who had Clinical Global Impression-Severity scores
      greater than 1 or panic attacks in the month preceding the assessment were
      considered relapse cases. Data were collected from January 2003 to August 2012.
      RESULTS: Eighty-five patients completed the follow-up. Cumulative relapse rates
      were 50% (n = 33) at 1 year and 89.4% (n = 76) at 6 years. One-year relapse rates
      were lower in patients previously treated with clonazepam (P = 0.001) compared
      with those treated with paroxetine. Low 6-year relapse rates were associated with
      high Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores before treatment (P = 0.016) and
      previous treatment with clonazepam. CONCLUSIONS: Relapse is a frequent problem in
      PD, and long-term treatment does not protect these patients in the long run.
      Treatment with clonazepam predicts lower relapse when compared with paroxetine.

PMID- 28609308
TI  - Evaluation of a Clinical Protocol to Assess and Diagnose Neuropathic Pain During
      Acute Hospital Admission: Results From Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A clinical protocol was developed for clinicians to routinely assess
      and initiate treatment for patients with neuropathic pain (NP) in an acute care
      setting. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the incidence and
      onset of NP in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury during acute care and
      (2) describe how the implementation of a clinical protocol impacts the assessment
      and diagnosis of NP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a cohort analysis with
      a pre-post-test utilizing a historical control. Data were retrospectively
      collected from a patient registry and charts. Participants were randomly selected
      in cohort 1 (control) and cohort 2 (NP clinical protocol). RESULTS: The incidence
      of NP was 56% without significant difference between the cohorts (P=0.3). Onset
      of NP was 8 days (SD=14) across the study and >85% of the participants with NP
      were diagnosed within 2 weeks. Participants with incomplete injuries had a
      significant earlier onset than participants with complete injuries (6.2+/-12.8,
      10.9+/-15.8 d; P=0.003). The mean number of days from hospital admission to
      initial assessment decreased with use of the NP clinical protocol (3.7+/-5.7 d;
      P=0.02). DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates a high incidence and early onset of
      NP in traumatic spinal cord injury during acute hospital care, with an earlier
      emergence in participants with incomplete injury. The NP clinical protocol
      ensured continuous assessment and documentation of NP while decreasing the time
      to an initial screen, but did not impact diagnosis.

PMID- 28609309
TI  - Spontaneous regression of malignant melanoma - is it based on the interplay
      between host immune system and melanoma antigens?
AB  - Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most aggressive and uneasily treatable form of
      skin cancer. Up to 90% of deaths because of skin tumours are estimated to be
      caused by this malignancy. Spontaneous regression is described as a partial or
      complete disappearance of cancer. It can be defined if the clinical and
      histological diagnosis of malignancy is verified and any therapeutic intervention
      potentially inducing mechanisms leading to regression has not been applied.
      Regression occurs more frequently in melanoma than in other types of tumours; it
      is reported to be six times higher than in other malignancies. Up to 50% of
      primary MM is reported to undergo spontaneous regression. However, spontaneous
      regression of the metastatic form of tumour is a rare phenomenon observed in only
      0.23% of cases. The most frequently mentioned factors leading to spontaneous
      regression of MM are operative trauma, infection, vaccination (BCG and rabies
      vaccines) and immunological factors. Other well-documented circumstances
      associated with regression of metastatic MM include blood transfusion and various
      endocrine factors.

PMID- 28609310
TI  - Blockade of GLUT1 by WZB117 resensitizes breast cancer cells to adriamycin.
AB  - The tolerance to adriamycin of cancer as a common and stubborn obstacle occurred
      during curing breast cancer patients needs to be overcome. In the present study,
      we explored whether inhibiting the glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) could restore
      the activity of adriamycin in breast cancer cell line MCF-7 resistant to
      adriamycin and the possible underlying mechanisms. Adriamycin-resistant cell line
      MCF-7/ADR was selected stepwise from the parental MCF-7 cells and the level of
      GLUT1 was measured. Then, the MCF-7/ADR cells were incubated with adriamycin,
      WZB117 (a specific GLUT1 inhibitor), or both. The viability, proliferation and
      apoptosis of cells and the level of glucose and lactate were measured,
      respectively. Finally, the cytosolic and mitochondrial proteins were isolated and
      the activity of the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase
      (AMPK)/phosphorylated AMPK, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/phosphorylated
      mTOR, and apoptotic-related protein BCL-2-associated X protein (BAX), Bcl-2 was
      assayed by western blot. We found that WZB117 resensitized MCF-7/ADR to
      adriamycin and increased BAX translocated to mitochondria, which through
      activation of AMPK and inhibition of mTOR in a high probability. Inhibition of
      the GLUT1 could partially restore the antineoplastic effects of adriamycin in the
      adriamycin-resistant MCF-7 cell line possibly through activating the AMPK,
      downregulating the mTOR pathway, and increasing the BAX translocation to
      mitochondria.

PMID- 28609311
TI  - Gender Differences of Stressful Life Events, Coping Style, Symptom Severity, and
      Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Panic Disorder.
AB  - Although affective disorders have been known to have sex differences in the
      associated clinical characteristics and quality of life (QOL), sex differences
      among patients with panic disorder (PD) have remained relatively unexplored in
      Korea. We examined the sex differences in different types of stressful life
      events (SLEs), coping styles, symptom severity, and health-related QOL (HRQOL) in
      patients with PD. Data from 291 female and 254 male participants diagnosed with
      PD were analyzed using a structured clinical interview following the Diagnostic
      and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition criteria. Females with PD
      reported more SLEs including separation issues, physical illness or disability,
      and pregnancy-related problems than males. They also reported lower levels of
      confrontation and help-seeking coping strategies and higher levels of agoraphobia
      in symptom severity than males. The HRQOL of females with PD was significantly
      lower than male in physical functioning of HRQOL. This study suggests that the
      patient's sex is relevant to the assessment and treatment of PD.

PMID- 28609312
TI  - Comorbid PTSD and Social Anxiety Disorder: Associations With Quality of Life and
      Suicide Attempts.
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) frequently
      co-occur. Preliminary data from treatment-seeking and veteran samples suggest
      that the impact of PTSD-SAD comorbidity may be additive, conferring distress and
      impairment beyond that of either disorder alone. The current study sought to
      clarify and extend existent research using wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic
      Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions, an epidemiological sample of American
      adults. Individuals who met criteria for comorbid PTSD-SAD were compared to those
      with either disorder alone on measures of lifetime suicide attempts or quality of
      life as measured by the Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire. Relative to those
      with either PTSD or SAD, individuals with comorbid PTSD-SAD demonstrated an
      elevated risk of lifetime suicide attempts and substantially lower levels of
      physical and mental quality of life. The psychosocial consequences of PTSD-SAD
      comorbidity are substantial. Patients may benefit from early interventions to
      remediate social distress and improve support networks before more intensive
      psychotherapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28609313
TI  - Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in a
      Representative Adolescent and Adult Sample.
AB  - Although it is well documented that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
      (ADHD) is associated with reduced life satisfaction, the mechanisms that might
      explain this co-occurrence are unclear. We examined the correlation of ADHD
      symptoms with life satisfaction and whether this association is mediated by
      (lacking) social support and depressive symptoms. Self-reported ADHD symptoms,
      life satisfaction, social support, and depressive symptoms were assessed in a
      representative, predominantly adult sample from the general population (14-91
      years, N = 2517). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms correlated
      negatively with life satisfaction (r = -0.41, p < 0.01), even after demographic
      factors (gender, age, income) and common risk factors (not being in a
      relationship, being unemployed) were controlled for (r = -0.39, p < 0.01). Social
      support mediated up to 23% and depressive symptoms up to 44% in the association
      between ADHD symptoms and life satisfaction. Counteracting problems with social
      relationships and treating depressive symptoms may help to increase life
      satisfaction in adults with ADHD symptoms.

PMID- 28609314
TI  - Feedback Simulation for Acupressure Training and Skill Assessment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previous acupressure studies have yielded varying results. This
      could be due to differences in the amount of pressure applied to the acupressure
      point (acupoint) by study personnel within a study as well as between studies.
      Standardizing the level of pressure applied at an acupoint could improve clinical
      care and future research. METHODS: As part of an ongoing randomized clinical
      trial of postoperative acupressure, five trainees were asked to perform 2 minutes
      of acupressure and light touch sessions on a simulator. The applied weight was
      recorded every minute. Individual skill assessment was performed using cumulative
      sum analysis. Six pretraining and 20 posttraining measurements in each
      acupressure and light touch group were compared with an expert's simulation
      values. RESULTS: Before training (baseline), there was significant difference in
      applied weight (grams) between the expert [5705 (636)] and five trainees [2998
      (798), P = 0.004]. Four of the five trainees crossed the lower decision limit
      assessing proficiency in the acupressure group, and all five trainees were
      successful in the light touch group. The trainees' average number of measurements
      needed to cross the lower decision limit (H0), that is, defining that an
      individual failure rate does not statistically differ from the acceptable failure
      rate, was 21.3 measurements for acupressure. After this feedback simulation,
      trainees' scores showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) when assessed
      against the expert. CONCLUSIONS: Feedback simulation for acupressure training and
      skill assessment, evaluated by cumulative sum analysis, may help in improving the
      standardization of acupressure therapy performed during clinical practice or
      research.

PMID- 28609315
TI  - The Role of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Simulation Training at
      Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Centers in the United States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) requires a
      multidisciplinary healthcare team. The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
      publishes training guidelines but leaves specific requirements up to each
      institution. Simulation training has shown promise, but it is unclear how many
      institutions have incorporated simulation techniques into ECMO training to date.
      METHODS: We sent an electronic survey to ECMO coordinators at Extracorporeal Life
      Support Organization sites in the United States. Participants were asked about
      training practices and the use of simulation for ECMO training. Descriptive
      results were reported as the percentage of total responses for each question.
      Logistic regression was used to identify characteristics associated with
      simulation use. RESULTS: Of 94 responses (62% response rate), 46% had an ECMO
      simulation program, whereas 26% report a program is in development. Most (61%)
      have been in operation for 2 to 5 years. Sixty-three percent use simulation for
      summative assessment, and 76% have multidisciplinary training. Access to a
      simulation center [odds ratio (OR) = 4.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.7
      12.5], annual ECMO caseload of greater than 20 (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.5-5.8), and
      having a pediatric cardiothoracic intensive care unit (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.2
      6.7) are each associated with increased likelihood of mannequin-based ECMO
      simulation. Common scenarios include pump failure (93%), oxygenator failure
      (90%), and circuit rupture (76%). DISCUSSION: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      simulation is growing but remains in its infancy. Centers with access to a
      simulation center, higher caseloads, and pediatric cardiothoracic intensive care
      units are more likely to have ECMO simulation programs. Extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation simulation is felt to be beneficial, and further work is needed to
      delineate best training practices for ECMO providers.

PMID- 28609316
TI  - Evaluation of a Low-Fidelity Surgical Simulator for Large Loop Excision of the
      Transformation Zone (LLETZ).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) is a common
      gynecological treatment for cervical dysplasia but can be challenging to teach.
      There is no widely adopted simulator for this procedure in Australia, so a new
      low-fidelity simulator was designed and evaluated. METHOD: A simulator for a
      LLETZ procedure was developed. Doctors (N = 29), varied in experience level in
      gynecology at a tertiary hospital, performed a LLETZ procedure using the
      simulator. The procedures were filmed, and two independent assessors rated the
      deidentified videos. The assessment involved a checklist (of crucial procedural
      steps) and global rating scale to evaluate whether the simulator facilitated the
      demonstration of LLETZ procedure skills. Participants completed a questionnaire
      evaluating the performance and utility of the simulator to determine participant
      perceptions of simulator realism and acceptability. RESULTS: The participant
      questionnaire revealed positive evaluations of realism and acceptability of the
      simulator. Performance scores were significantly different across experience
      levels (P < 0.001) with post hoc pairwise comparison between levels confirming
      significant differences between each group in assessed simulator performance for
      global rating scale and overall performance scores. The interrater reliability of
      the assessors was high (0.84). CONCLUSIONS: A low-fidelity simulator for a LLETZ
      procedure seems to adequately demonstrate procedural performance reflecting
      doctor experience level. Participant questionnaire responses were positive,
      supporting further evaluation of the simulator for use in training.

PMID- 28609317
TI  - Characteristics of melanoma in Japan: a nationwide registry analysis 2011-2013.
AB  - The distribution and incidence of melanoma vary among different races and ethnic
      groups. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of cutaneous
      melanoma, mucosal melanoma, uveal melanoma, and melanoma of unknown primary (MUP)
      origin in a Japanese population. We studied these four types of melanoma in
      patients registered in Hospital Based Cancer Registries in Japan from 2011 to
      2013. A total of 5566 patients with melanoma were identified. The distribution of
      sex, age, primary site, and clinical stage was analyzed. The number of patients,
      proportion in comparison with all melanoma cases, and crude incidence rate per
      100 000 person-year of each melanoma type were 4481, 80.5%, and 1.24 in invasive
      cutaneous; 821, 14.8%, and 0.32 in mucosal; 163, 2.9%, and 0.064 in uveal; and
      101, 1.8%, and 0.039 in MUP origin, respectively. Including the patients with in
      situ cutaneous melanoma and stage unknown cutaneous melanoma, the crude incidence
      rate of cutaneous melanoma increased at 1.75. Almost half of the cutaneous
      melanomas were located in the lower limb. Cutaneous melanoma was the most common,
      but less frequent than that in western countries. Mucosal melanoma was quite
      rare, but its proportion and crude incidence rate were higher than those in
      western countries. Uveal melanoma was particularly rare, and its crude incidence
      rate was lower than that in western countries. MUP origin was also particularly
      rare, but it had almost the same incidence rate as that in other countries.
      Melanoma in Japan was heterogeneous among the four melanoma types and shares some
      attributes with that in western countries.

PMID- 28609318
TI  - Biochemical and Pharmacological Characterization of a Mice Model of Complex
      Regional Pain Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Complex regional pain syndrome is a challenging
      disease to treat. Recently, a mouse fracture model of complex regional pain
      syndrome has been developed that has many signs of the clinical syndrome.
      However, many aspects of the sensory neuron biochemistry and behavioral and
      pharmacological characterization of this model remain to be clarified. METHODS:
      Mice were randomly assigned to fracture/cast or control (naive) groups.
      Fracture/cast mice underwent a closed distal tibia facture, with hindlimb wrapped
      in casting tape for 3 weeks. After cast removal, mice were tested for mechanical
      allodynia, burrowing behavior, and motor ability over a 12-week period. Protein
      immunohistochemistry was performed for substance P, calcitonin gene-related
      peptide, tropomyosin receptor kinase A, nerve growth factor, Nav1.7, and
      transient receptor potential cation-channel V1, colocalized in neurons, in the
      ipsilateral lumbar dorsal root ganglia (DRGs). Analgesic drugs were tested for
      pain-relieving efficacy. RESULTS: Mechanical allodynia was greater in the
      ipsilateral hindpaw (P = 0.0002) in the fracture/cast group versus the control
      group, over the 3- to 12-week period. The amount of burrowing material removed
      was decreased (P = 0.0026), and there were deficits in spontaneous motor-rearing
      behavior (P = 0.018). Immunostaining of substance P, calcitonin gene-related
      peptide, Trk A receptor, nerve growth factor, Nav1.7, and transient receptor
      potential cation-channel V1 all demonstrated up-regulation in the DRGs of
      fracture mice versus controls (all P < 0.05). Morphine, pregabalin, ketamine,
      acetaminophen, and dexamethasone transiently increased force withdrawal
      thresholds on the ipsilateral (fracture) side and improved burrowing activity
      after injection (all P < 0.05). Ketorolac improved only burrowing. CONCLUSIONS:
      Persistent pain-related behavior was demonstrated in this mouse fracture/cast
      model with wide-scale DRG up-regulation of pain mediators. Antihyperalgesic drugs
      reduced mechanical allodynia and improved burrowing.

PMID- 28609319
TI  - Comparing Corticosteroid Preparation and Dose in the Improvement of Shoulder
      Function and Pain: A Randomized, Single-Blind Pilot Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Shoulder pain may arise from inflammation of the bursa separating
      the supraspinatus tendon from the coracoacromial ligament and acromion. The
      optimal treatment dose and preparation of intrabursal corticosteroid injection
      are unknown. METHODS: This single-blinded equivalence study recruited 62 subjects
      randomizing them to one of following four arms: methylprednisolone 20 mg,
      methylprednisolone 40 mg, triamcinolone acetonide 20 mg, or triamcinolone
      acetonide 40 mg. QuickDASH, subject-reported pain, and adverse events were
      recorded in time of injection, 3 days later, 3 wks later, and 6 wks later.
      Primary outcome was QuickDASH improvements 6 wks after injection. RESULTS: All
      four groups were equally matched regarding age, sex, ethnicity, and site
      injected. Six weeks after injection, no statistically significant changes were
      noted in QuickDASH improvement (as compared with time of injection) among the
      four arms. There were no statistically significant differences at 6 wks regarding
      improvement in pain. There were no statistically significant differences noted in
      adverse events among the four arms. CONCLUSIONS: Neither dose nor preparation of
      injectable corticosteroid influences magnitude of improvement in function or pain
      experienced. Although this study provides clinically relevant insight regarding
      corticosteroid dose and type when managing shoulder pain, the modest sample size
      may limit the conclusions that can be made about efficacy and adverse effects.

PMID- 28609321
TI  - Change in Lung Volume Following Thoracoscopic Anterior Spinal Fusion Surgery: A 3
      Dimensional Computed Tomography Investigation.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Lung volumes and thoracic anatomy were measured from low-dose
      computed tomography (CT) scans preoperatively and 2 years following thoracoscopic
      anterior spinal fusion (TASF) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess changes in lung volume after TASF
      surgical correction. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: AIS patients are known to have
      decreased pulmonary function as a consequence of their spinal and ribcage
      deformity. Several studies have evaluated changes in pulmonary function
      clinically after scoliosis correction surgery showing varied results. To date,
      there have been no published studies using CT to evaluate lung volume changes
      following TASF. METHODS: Twenty-three female AIS patients with both pre- and 2
      years postoperative low-dose CT scans were selected from an ethically approved,
      historical databank. Three-dimensional lung volumes were reconstructed to
      determine anatomical lung volumes. Right and left lung volumes, total lung
      volume, and right-to-left lung volume ratio were obtained as well as hemithoracic
      symmetry, to indicate the extent of thorax deformity. Cobb angle, rib hump,
      levels fused in surgery, and patient height were used for correlation analysis
      with the lung volume results. RESULTS: Left lung volume, total lung volume, and
      hemithoracic ratio all increased significantly 2 years after surgery. There was
      no significant change in right-to-left lung volume ratio (P = 0.36). Statistical
      regression found significant positive correlation between lung volume changes,
      reduction in Cobb angle, increase in height, and improvement in hemithoracic
      symmetry ratio. CONCLUSION: TASF resulted in a statistically significant increase
      in lung volume following surgery, as well as improvement in the symmetry of the
      thoracic architecture; however, the postoperative lung volumes remained in the
      lower 50th percentile relative to females without thoracic deformity.
      Furthermore, change in lung volume was significantly correlated with changes in
      Cobb angle, hemithoracic asymmetry, and increased patient height, which are
      important consequences of thoracic deformity correction surgery. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 28609322
TI  - Thoracic Spine Growth Revisited: How Accurate Is the Dimeglio Data?
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. OBJECTIVE: To describe the
      normal rate pattern of thoracic spine growth in children without any spinal
      deformity. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The knowledge of thoracic spine growth and
      height is important for growing spine treatment and the decision of final fusion.
      Currently, pediatric spinal deformity is approached as early onset and late onset
      with an understanding of the fast growth during the first 5 years of life. The
      growth data that support this classification is often cited but has not been
      reconfirmed with follow-up studies. METHODS: Sagittal computed tomography (CT)
      reformations of thoracic vertebrae were examined in children without spinal
      deformity. The sagittal CT cut at the widest canal diameter was identified and
      the measurements were performed on this image. The length of the thoracic spine
      was measured from the posterosuperior corner of T1 to the posteroinferior corner
      of the T12. RESULTS: One hundred forty-four thoracic CT scans satisfied the
      inclusion criteria. The analysis of the data identified two break points in the
      growth velocity; one at the end of the 4th year of life and the other at the
      beginning of the 12th year. Specifically, growth rate between 1 and 4 years was
      1.71 cm/yr, between 4 and 8 years was 0.55 cm/yr, between 8 and 10 was 0.74
      cm/yr, between 10 and 12 was 0.69 cm/yr, and between 12 and 16 was 1.61 cm/yr.
      CONCLUSION: The results show that in growing children the thoracic spine
      demonstrates two major growth spurts. The initial growth spurt is between the
      birth to the end of the fourth year of life and the second is between the 12 and
      16 years of age. Between 4 and 12 years there is a steady but slower increase in
      thoracic height. The findings show that the fastest growth velocity may be
      limited to a younger age group than previously believed. This data will help
      guide growth friendly management strategies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28609323
TI  - Point of View.

PMID- 28609324
TI  - Results of the 2015 Scoliosis Research Society Survey on Single Versus Dual
      Attending Surgeon Approach for Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: An electronic survey administered to Scoliosis Research Society
      (SRS) membership. OBJECTIVE: To characterize surgeon practices and views
      regarding the use of two attending surgeons for adult spinal deformity (ASD)
      surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The use of two experienced attending
      surgeons can decrease the operative time, estimated blood loss, and perioperative
      complication rates. However, the current practice patterns for the use of two
      attending surgeons remains unknown. METHODS: An electronic, 27-question survey
      regarding single/dual attending surgeons was administered to the SRS membership.
      Determinants included: surgeon/practice demographics, assistant type/level of
      training, and questions regarding use of two attending surgeons. Overall
      reporting and comparisons between groups were made: US versus international,
      academic versus private practice, and experience <15 years versus >15 years.
      RESULTS: A total of 199 surgeons responded from 27 different countries. Overall
      and between the groups, the respondents significantly reported believing that two
      attending spine surgeons improves safety, decreases complications, and improves
      outcomes (P < 0.01). Approximately, 67.3% reported using a second attending <=25%
      of the time (33.2% do not), and 24.1% use one >=51% of the time (similar between
      groups); 51.1% that have a second attending feel it's limited by reimbursement
      and access concerns and 71.9% have difficulty getting the second attending
      reimbursed. 72.3% use a second attending for ALL of the following reasons (no
      difference between groups): "it's safer/reduces complications," "it decreases
      operative time," "it decreases blood loss," "it results in improved outcomes,"
      "it's less work and stress for me." If reimbursement was equal/assured for a
      second attending, 67.5% would use one "more often" or "always." CONCLUSION: The
      respondents feel that having a second attending surgeon improves patient care,
      however most do not use one often. Reasons include reimbursement/access concerns
      and the majority would use one if reimbursement was equal and assured. Based on
      the current literature and these results, there is a need for working with third
      party payers to improve dual surgeon reimbursement rates in complex cases. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: 5.

PMID- 28609325
TI  - TO THE EDITOR.

PMID- 28609326
TI  - TO THE EDITOR.

PMID- 28609327
TI  - Fluoxetine induces paradoxical effects in C57BL6/J mice: comparison with BALB/c
      mice.
AB  - The C57BL6/J mouse is the most commonly used strain in genetic investigations and
      behavioural tests. However, only a few studies have used C57BL6/J mice to assess
      the effects of antidepressant compounds. We carried out a study to compare the
      behavioural effects of fluoxetine (FLX) in a model of depression in two mice
      strains: C57BL6/J and BALB/c. We used an 8-week unpredictable chronic mild stress
      (UCMS) protocol during which FLX was administered (15 mg/kg, oral) from the third
      week to the end of the protocol. We found that UCMS induced degradation of the
      coat state in the two strains. Moreover, as expected, we observed that FLX
      elicited antidepressant-like effects in the BALB/c mice by reducing the coat
      state deterioration and the latency of grooming in splash test. However, in the
      C57BL6/J mice, it did not induce this action, but instead triggered an opposite
      effect: an increased sniffing latency in the novelty suppression of feeding test.
      We conclude that FLX exerts a paradoxical effect in the C57Bl6/J strain. This
      observation is consistent with some clinical features of hyper-reactivity to FLX
      observed in humans. Therefore, the UCMS protocol used in C57Bl6/J mice could be a
      good model to study the mechanisms of the paradoxical effects caused by selective
      serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

PMID- 28609328
TI  - The early radiological effects of Dega and Pemberton osteotomies on hip
      development in children aged 4-8 years with developmental dysplasia of the hip.
AB  - We aimed to investigate the early radiological effects of Dega and Pemberton
      iliac osteotomies that were performed in patients aged 4-8 years with
      developmental dysplasia of the hip on development of hip joint. Dega osteotomy or
      Pemberton osteotomy was performed in 76 hips of 58 patients because of
      developmental dysplasia of the hip between September 2011 and June 2015 and were
      evaluated retrospectively. Of a total of 76 hips, Pemberton osteotomy was
      performed on 39 (19 unilateral) and Dega osteotomy was performed on 37 (21
      unilateral). In all hips, the acetabular index, acetabular depth ratio, centre
      edge angle of Wiberg, and Reimer's index values were recorded preoperatively and
      at the final follow-up. We measured the surface areas of the femoral head ossific
      nucleus in patients with unilateral dysplastic hips and compared results before
      both osteotomy procedures and at the final follow-up. There were no statistically
      significant differences between the groups in terms of the acetabular index and
      acetabular depth ratio values (P>0.05) preoperatively and at the final follow-up,
      but the mean centre-edge angle of Wiberg and Reimer's index values showed
      significant statistical differences in favor of the Dega procedure (P<0.05).
      There was a statistically significant difference in favor of the Pemberton
      procedure when the mean ratio of the surface area of the femoral head ossific
      nucleus on the dysplastic side in relation to the normal side was compared
      preoperatively (P=0.042) and at the final follow-up (P=0.027) in unilateral hips.
      Although Dega and Pemberton osteotomies produce satisfactory radiological
      outcomes at early stages in children aged 4-8 years with developmental dysplasia
      of the hip, a higher rate in the surface area of the femoral head ossific nucleus
      was observed in the Pemberton osteotomy group, which also had a lower mean age
      than the Dega osteotomy group.

PMID- 28609329
TI  - SCOTOMA CHARACTERISTICS IN MACULAR TELANGIECTASIA TYPE 2: MacTel Project Report
      No. 7-The MacTel Research Group.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize scotomas in macular telangiectasia Type 2 (MacTel).
      METHODS: Five of the 27 centers performed microperimetry as part of the MacTel
      Natural History Observation Study. Data were analyzed in the Moorfields Eye
      Hospital Reading Centre. The number of stimuli under a threshold of 12, 10, 8,
      and <0 dB were counted (thresholding) and compared with one another. RESULTS: A
      total of 565 examinations were gradable, received from 632 eyes of 322
      participants (age 61.1 +/- 9.1 years, 62% females). The authors found absolute
      scotomas in 243 eyes (43%), 98% of these affected the temporal quadrant, and
      99.5% were unifocal. Growth of absolute scotomas was limited to an extent of
      approximately 40 deg. Although transition from functionally unimpaired retina to
      absolute scotomas is generally steeply sloped, the larger a scotoma, the steeper
      it is. CONCLUSION: Scotoma features were consistent throughout a large MacTel
      cohort. The temporal quadrant was confirmed as predominantly affected, which
      might result from vascular or metabolic asymmetry. Functional loss did not exceed
      an area of 5 degrees  * 8 degrees  however advanced the disorder. Different
      MacTel phenotypes seem likely and point toward different types of progression;
      identifying these would improve planning for clinical trials and might lead to
      better understanding patient outcome.

PMID- 28609331
TI  - Evaluation and Impact of the "Advanced Pediatric Life Support" Course in the Care
      of Pediatric Emergencies in Spain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Advanced Pediatric Life Support (APLS) course was introduced in
      the training of professionals who care for pediatric emergencies in Spain in
      2005. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the impact of the APLS course in the current clinical
      practice in Spanish PEDs. METHODS: The directors of APLS courses were asked about
      information regarding the courses given to date, especially on the results of the
      satisfaction survey completed by students at the end of the course. Furthermore,
      in December 2014, a survey was conducted through Google Drive, specifically
      asking APLS students about the usefulness of the APLS course in their current
      clinical practice. RESULTS: In the last 10 years since the APLS course was
      introduced in Spain, there have been 40 courses in 6 different venues. They
      involved a total of 1520 students, of whom 958 (63.0%) felt that the course was
      very useful for daily clinical practice. The survey was sent to 1,200 students
      and answered by 402 (33.5%). The respondent group most represented was
      pediatricians, 223 (55.5%), of whom 61 (27.3%) were pediatric emergency
      physicians, followed by pediatric residents, 122 (30.3%). One hundred three
      (25.6%) respondents had more than 10 years of professional practice and 291
      (72.4%) had completed the course in the preceding four years. Three hundred forty
      one of the respondents (84.9%: 95% confidence interval [CI], 81.9-87.9) said that
      they always use the pediatric assessment triangle (PAT) and 131 (32.6%: 95% CI,
      28-37.1) reported that their organization has introduced this tool into their
      protocols. Two hundred twenty-three (55.5%: 95% CI, 50.6-60.3) believed that
      management of critically ill patients has improved, 328 (81.6%: 95% CI, 77.8
      85.3) said that the PAT and the systematic approach, ABCDE, help to establish a
      diagnosis, and 315 (78.4%: 95% CI, 74.3-82.4) reported that the overall number of
      treatments has increased but that these treatments are beneficial for patients.
      Hospital professionals (191; 47.5%) include the PAT in their protocols more
      frequently than pre-hospital professionals (68.5% vs 55.4%; p <0.01) and consider
      PAT useful in the management of patients (60.2% vs 51.1%; p <0.05). Neither the
      time elapsed since the completion of the course, nor category and years of
      professional experience had any influence on the views expressed about the impact
      of the APLS course in clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Most health professionals
      who have received the APLS course, especially those working in the hospital
      setting, think that the application of the systematic methods learned, the PAT
      and ABCDE, has a major impact on clinical practice.

PMID- 28609330
TI  - Age Modulates Physiological Responses during Fan Use under Extreme Heat and
      Humidity.
AB  - PURPOSE: We examined the effect of electric fan use on cardiovascular and
      thermoregulatory responses of nine young (26 +/- 3 yr) and nine aged (68 +/- 4
      yr) adults exposed to extreme heat and humidity. METHODS: While resting at a
      temperature of 42 degrees C, relative humidity increased from 30% to 70% in 2%
      increments every 5 min. On randomized days, the protocol was repeated without or
      with fan use. HR, core (Tcore) and mean skin (Tsk) temperatures were measured
      continuously. Whole-body sweat loss was measured from changes in nude body
      weight. Other measures of cardiovascular (cardiac output), thermoregulatory
      (local cutaneous and forearm vascular conductance, local sweat rate), and
      perceptual (thermal and thirst sensations) responses were also examined. RESULTS:
      When averaged over the entire protocol, fan use resulted in a small reduction of
      HR (-2 bpm, 95% confidence interval [CI], -8 to 3), and slightly greater Tcore
      (+0.05 degrees C; 95% CI, -0.13 to 0.23) and Tsk (+0.03 degrees C; 95% CI, -0.36
      to 0.42) in young adults. In contrast, fan use resulted in greater HR (+5 bpm;
      95% CI, 0-10), Tcore (+0.20 degrees C; 95% CI, 0.00-0.41), and Tsk (+0.47 degrees
      C; 95% CI, 0.18-0.76) in aged adults. A greater whole-body sweat loss during fan
      use was observed in young (+0.2 kg; 95% CI, -0.2 to 0.6) but not aged (0.0 kg;
      95% CI, -0.2 to 0.2) adults. Greater local sweat rate and cutaneous vascular
      conductance were observed with fan use in aged adults. Other measures of
      cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, and perceptual responses were unaffected by fan
      use in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: During extreme heat and humidity, fan use
      elevates physiological strain in aged, but not young, adults.

PMID- 28609332
TI  - The Use of Intranasal Dexmedetomidine and Midazolam for Sedated Magnetic
      Resonance Imaging in Children: A Report From the Pediatric Sedation Research
      Consortium.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the use of intranasal
      dexmedetomidine (IN DEX) for sedated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      examinations in children. The use of IN DEX for MRI in children has not been well
      described in the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Pediatric Sedation
      Research Consortium (PSRC) is a collaborative and multidisciplinary group of
      sedation practitioners dedicated to understanding and improving the process of
      pediatric sedation. We searched the 2007 version of the PSRC database solely for
      instances in which IN DEX was used for MRI diagnostic studies. Patients receiving
      intravenous medications were excluded. Patient demographics, IN DEX dose, adjunct
      medications and dose, as well as procedure completion, complications,
      interventions, and monitoring providers were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 224
      sedation encounters were included in our primary analysis. There were no major
      adverse events. Most sedations (88%) required no intervention. Registered nurses
      were the monitoring provider in over 99% of cases. The median (interquartile
      range) dose of dexmedetomidine was 3 (2.5-3) mcg/kg. Adjunctive midazolam was
      used in 219/224 (98%) of the cases. All procedures were completed. CONCLUSIONS:
      This report from the PSRC shows that IN DEX in combination with midazolam is an
      effective medication regimen for children who require an MRI with sedation.

PMID- 28609334
TI  - The Pediatric Sedation Home.

PMID- 28609333
TI  - Feasibility of the Digital Retinography System Camera in the Pediatric Emergency
      Department.
AB  - PURPOSE: Direct ophthalmoscopy may be difficult without pupillary dilation and
      patient cooperation. Nonmydriatic ocular fundus photography (NMOFP) has been
      shown to be easily and efficiently accomplished by medical providers and improve
      the detection of abnormalities in adult emergency department (ED) patients.
      Nonmydriatic ocular fundus photography for pediatric ED patients has not been
      studied. The purpose of this study was to assess the ease of use of the Digital
      Retinography System (DRS) camera for NMOFP in ED patients aged 5 to 12 years and
      the quality of retinal images obtained with the DRS. METHODS: Retinal images were
      obtained with the DRS by a pediatric emergency medicine physician using a
      convenience sample of ED patients aged 5 to 12 years. Time to procedure
      completion, patient cooperation (Likert scale 1-5, with 5 being most
      cooperative), and satisfaction with the images (Likert scale 1-5, with 5 being
      completely satisfied) were recorded. Any satisfaction score less than 5 required
      the physician to describe a reason for dissatisfaction (brightness, field of
      view, focus). An ophthalmologist was consulted regarding any abnormal image. The
      accompanying parent completed a survey following the procedure. Estimated time to
      completion of the procedure and a rating of the overall comfort and cooperation
      of the child during the procedure (Likert scale 1-5) were recorded. A second
      pediatric emergency medicine physician reviewed all images and rated the level of
      satisfaction, reasons for dissatisfaction, and whether the images were normal.
      Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey responses. A Mann-Whitney U
      test was used to compare continuous data for age groups 5 to 8 and 9 to 12 years.
      A Krippendorff alpha or kappa coefficient was used to measure agreement between
      the physician obtaining the images and the secondary reviewer for image
      satisfaction and image abnormalities. RESULTS: One hundred three patients were
      enrolled: 50 aged 5 to 8 years and 53 aged 9-12 years (mean, 9.1 [SD, 2.1]
      years). Five patients failed to cooperate, and no images were obtained. The mean
      length of time (LOT) to procedure completion was 1.8 (SD, 0.86) minutes. Overall,
      mean cooperation score was 4.4, and mean image satisfaction score was 4.6. One or
      more reasons for image dissatisfaction were given in 27 patients (imperfect focus
      most commonly). There was moderate agreement between the 2 physicians for image
      satisfaction (Krippendorff alpha coefficient = 0.48) and image abnormalities
      (kappa coefficient = 0.38). Mean LOT did not differ between 5- to 8-year-olds and
      9- to 12-year-olds (P = 0.23). Older patients had higher mean cooperation scores
      and image satisfaction scores (P < 0.001 and P = 0.04 respectively). Parental
      mean score for perceived LOT was 4.6 (5 = very short), 4.8 for patient comfort (5
      = very comfortable), and 4.8 for patient cooperation (5 = very cooperative).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that NMOFP using the DRS camera is a rapid and easy
      method of obtaining high-quality images of the retina in pediatric ED patients.

PMID- 28609335
TI  - Comments on "Effects of Obesity and Leptin Deficiency on Morphine
      Pharmacokinetics in a Mouse Model" by Dalesio et al, Anesth Analg. 2016;123: 1611
      1617.

PMID- 28609336
TI  - Extravasated Fluid in Hip Arthroscopy and Pain: Is Quadratus Lumborum Block the
      Answer?

PMID- 28609337
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 28609338
TI  - Closed-Loop Anesthesia: Not Ready for Takeoff.

PMID- 28609339
TI  - Distractions in the Anesthesia Work Environment: Impact on Patient Safety? Report
      of a Meeting Sponsored by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation.

PMID- 28609341
TI  - Magic Mirror, On the Wall-Which Is the Right Study Design of Them All?-Part II.
AB  - The assessment of a new or existing treatment or other intervention typically
      answers 1 of 3 central research-related questions: (1) "Can it work?" (efficacy);
      (2) "Does it work?" (effectiveness); or (3) "Is it worth it?" (efficiency or cost
      effectiveness). There are a number of study designs that, on a situational basis,
      are appropriate to apply in conducting research. These study designs are
      generally classified as experimental, quasiexperimental, or observational, with
      observational studies being further divided into descriptive and analytic
      categories. This second of a 2-part statistical tutorial reviews these 3 salient
      research questions and describes a subset of the most common types of
      observational study designs. Attention is focused on the strengths and weaknesses
      of each study design to assist in choosing which is appropriate for a given study
      objective and hypothesis as well as the particular study setting and available
      resources and data. Specific studies and papers are highlighted as examples of a
      well-chosen, clearly stated, and properly executed study design type.

PMID- 28609340
TI  - Effect of Interscalene Brachial Plexus Block on the Pulmonary Function of Obese
      Patients: A Prospective, Observational Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of interscalene block (ISB) on pulmonary function of obese
      participants has not been investigated. The goal of this study is to assess the
      association of obesity (body mass index [BMI] >29 kg/m vs BMI <25 kg/m) and
      change in forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second
      (FEV1) after ISB in participants undergoing outpatient shoulder surgery. METHODS:
      This prospective, observational cohort study compared obese (BMI >29 kg/m) and
      normal-weight (BMI <25 kg/m) groups undergoing ISB for ambulatory shoulder
      surgery, on preblock and postblock FVC and FEV1, at 30 minutes postblock and in
      the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). The primary outcome in this study was FVC%
      change (percentage change from preblock to postblock values of FVC) at 30 minutes
      postblock in the supine position. Secondary outcomes included FVC% change at PACU
      and in the sitting position, FEV1% change (percentage change from preblock to
      postblock values of FEV1), FVC, FEV1, incidence of diaphragmatic paresis,
      modified Borg scale for perceived dyspnea, Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale
      scores for sedation, and intraoperative airway events. RESULTS: Fourteen
      participants were recruited to each group. The mean (standard deviation) BMI in
      the normal-weight and obese groups was 23 (1.7) and 33 (3.1) kg/m, respectively.
      ISB success rate was 100%. All participants demonstrated hemidiaphragmatic
      paresis after ISB. Compared to the normal-weight group, in the sitting position,
      the obese group had a significant decrease in FVC% change at 30 minutes (-30
      [10.5] vs -23 [7.2], P = .046) and an FEV1% change in the PACU (-40 [12.6] vs -27
      [13.9], P = .02). No difference was found for measurements taken in the supine
      position. A repeated-measures analysis demonstrated that, adjusted for position,
      there is no significant group effect on FVC% change or FEV1% change from 30
      minutes to PACU. The 2 groups were not different in terms of breathlessness and
      sedation at 30 minutes (P = .67, P = .48, respectively) and in the PACU (P = .69,
      P > .99, respectively) nor in the occurrence of intraoperative airway events (P >
      .99). CONCLUSIONS: ISB is associated with greater FVC and FEV1 reductions in
      obese participants undergoing shoulder surgery compared to normal-weight
      participants. Neither time (30 minutes versus PACU) nor position (sitting versus
      supine) affected this relationship. Despite these changes, obesity was not
      associated with increased clinical respiratory symptoms or events.

PMID- 28609343
TI  - Extensive Hyperkeratotic Scaly Papules and Plaques in a 56-Year-Old Woman:
      Challenge.

PMID- 28609342
TI  - Cutaneous Collagenous Vasculopathy: Report of Two Cases Presenting as
      Disseminated Telangiectasias and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Cutaneous collagenous vasculopathy is a recently described idiopathic
      microangiopathy characterized by acquired diffuse cutaneous telangiectasias and
      specific histological features: dilated capillaries in the superficial dermis,
      with walls thickened by hyaline material containing collagen IV by
      immunohistochemistry. The authors describe 2 cases and review all cases reported
      in the literature to date, 34 cases including our own. Cases were mainly observed
      in women (sex ratio 0.41), median age 63.5 (16-85). Hypertension and diabetes
      seem more frequent in these patients than in the general population. Typical
      clinical presentation is fine hair telangiectasias appearing on the lower limbs
      and progressing toward the trunk and upper limbs, sparing the face. Facial and
      neck involvement are however reported. When faced with isolated acquired diffuse
      cutaneous telangiectasias, clinicians should perform a skin biopsy to rule out
      cutaneous collagenous vasculopathy.

PMID- 28609344
TI  - Phosphohistone-H3 and Ki67: Useful Markers in Differentiating Dermatofibroma From
      Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans and Atypical Fibrohistiocytic Lesions.
AB  - Dermatofibromas (DF) are common, benign, skin tumors, usually easily
      differentiated from dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) by the presence of a
      relative low cellularity, lesser degree of infiltration of subcutaneous tissue,
      and immunohistochemical pattern (eg, FXIIIa in DF and CD34 in DFSP). Atypical
      fibrohistiocytic lesions (AFL) have features intermediate to DF and DFSP (trunk
      location, storiform pattern, infiltration of the subcutaneous tissue, and focal
      expression of both CD34 and Factor XIIIa). It is unclear if mitotic counts/degree
      of proliferation is helpful to distinguish DF from DFSP. To study the mitotic
      rate and proliferation index in DF, AFL/DFSP, anti-ki67, and anti-PHH3 were
      performed on 10 cases of DF (including 4 cellular DF), 10 standard DFSP, and 2
      AFL. The proliferation index and mitotic figures were counted per square
      millimeter in a "hotspot" (in a fashion similar to mitotic counts in melanoma).
      All cases of DF showed much higher Ki67 proliferation index (P = 0.0001) along
      with increased mitotic figures both on H&E and with anti-PHH3 (P = 0.0001) when
      compared to AFL/DFSP. Our data indicate that DF has a higher proliferation index
      and mitotic counts when compared to superficial/peripheral portion of AFL and
      DFSP. This finding may be helpful in the differential diagnosis among these
      fibrohistiocytic lesions.

PMID- 28609345
TI  - Histopathologic Findings of Cutaneous Hyperpigmentation in Addison Disease and
      Immunostain of the Melanocytic Population.
AB  - The histopathological features of cutaneous hyperpigmentation in Addison disease
      have very occasionally been reported, and they include acanthosis,
      hyperkeratosis, focal parakeratosis, spongiosis, superficial perivascular
      lymphocytic infiltrate, basal melanin hyperpigmentation, and superficial dermal
      melanophages. We present a study on 2 biopsies from the arm and the thigh in a 77
      year-old woman with a long clinical history of Addison disease as well as senile
      purpura and alopecia of female pattern. The patient presented diffuse
      hyperpigmentation of the skin, more pronounced on her face, and left upper
      forehead. The skin biopsies showed no remarkable dermal inflammatory infiltrate
      with melanocytic hyperpigmentation of the basal layer of the epidermis as well as
      a mild amount of melanophages in the papillary dermis. In addition, we found
      lipofuscin in the luminal pole of the secretory epithelium of the eccrine glands.
      In the perieccrine areas, there was Perls-positive pigment in the cytoplasm of
      macrophages most likely related to the senile purpura. An immunohistochemical
      study with Melan-A showed a melanocyte/keratinocyte ratio of 1:20 (5%) in the arm
      and of less than 1:50 (only 2 melanocytes in the whole section; <2%) in the
      thigh.

PMID- 28609346
TI  - Plaque-Like Pilar Sheath Acanthoma: Histopathologic and Immunohistochemical Study
      of 3 Unusual Cases.
AB  - Pilar sheath acanthoma is an uncommon, benign follicular neoplasm that frequently
      presents as a solitary lesion. This neoplasm usually appears on the skin around
      the upper lip of elderly patients. Histopathologically, the neoplasm usually
      shows a cystic configuration with epithelial lobules resembling to those of the
      outer root sheath of the hair follicle at the level of the isthmus emanating
      radially from the cyst wall. We present 3 peculiar cases of a pilar sheath
      acanthoma showing a plaque-like architecture because the lesions exhibited a
      horizontal configuration. To our knowledge, there are no previously reported
      examples of plaque-like pilar sheath acanthoma.

PMID- 28609347
TI  - Collagen Anomalies as Clues for Diagnosis: Part 1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and the main
      structural component of the skin. OBJECTIVE: To provide a review of the
      histopathology of collagen alterations and to propose a classification with the
      most important types of collagen anomalies in dermatopathology. The authors
      describe some of the main morphological clues of collagen anomalies for specific
      diagnosis of some cutaneous inflammatory and neoplastic conditions. METHODS: The
      authors review histopathologic collagen anomalies, concerning both morphology and
      disposition in some inflammatory and neoplastic cutaneous conditions, and they
      review previous terminology and proposed a classification of the most important
      types of collagen anomalies that can be seen in dermatopathological practice.
      RESULTS: Collagen anomalies in skin can be classified into lamellar fibrosis,
      sclerosis, and "balls" and "rings" of collagen. Lamellar fibrosis presents as
      long and thin collagen bundles forming a delicate network, which can be disposed
      in a parallel pattern, onion-bulb-like pattern, and storiform pattern. Sclerosis
      is characterized by large, thick, and eosinophilic bundles of collagen, which may
      present as a homogenous-diffuse pattern or as individual thick bundles of
      collagen with few or abundant number of fibroblasts between them. Finally, the
      authors propose the terms "balls" and "rings" of collagen. The term "balls" of
      collagen stands for thick, homogenous, eosinophilic, globular collagen bundles,
      with no distinguishable individual composing fibers, which include the floating
      sign and the free-floating sign. The term "rings" of collagen is characterized by
      sclerotic collagen arranged in a homogenous rimming pattern around vessels
      without independent fibers in its composition. CONCLUSIONS: Collagen anomalies
      may be important clues to establish specific clues for specific diagnoses in
      dermatopathology.

PMID- 28609348
TI  - Factors Associated with Lymphosclerosis: An Analysis on 962 Lymphatic Vessels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphaticovenular anastomosis is a useful treatment option for
      compression-refractory lower extremity lymphedema, but its efficacy depends
      largely on the severity of lymphosclerosis. To maximize lymphaticovenular
      anastomosis efficacy, it is important to elucidate factors associated with severe
      lymphosclerosis. METHODS: Medical charts of 134 lower extremity lymphedema
      patients who underwent preoperative indocyanine green lymphography and
      lymphaticovenular anastomosis were reviewed to obtain data of clinical
      demographics, indocyanine green lymphography findings, and intraoperative
      findings. Based on intraoperative findings of lymphatic vessels, severity of
      lymphosclerosis was classified into s0, s1, s2, and s3. Severe lymphosclerosis
      was defined as lymphatic vessels with s3 sclerosis. Logistic regression analysis
      was used to identify independent factors associated with severe lymphosclerosis.
      RESULTS: In total, 962 lymphatic vessels were analyzed, among which severe
      lymphosclerosis was observed in 97 (10.1 percent). Multivariate analysis revealed
      that independent factors associated with severe lymphosclerosis were higher body
      mass index (OR, 1.803; 95 percent CI, 1.041 to 3.123; p = 0.035), incision site
      in the thigh/foot compared with in the groin (OR, 2.355/4.471; 95 percent CI,
      1.201 to 4.617/2.135 to 9.362; p = 0.013/p < 0.001), and S-region/D-region on
      indocyanine green lymphography compared with L-region (OR, 83.134/1441.126; 95
      percent CI, 11.296 to 611.843/146.782 to 14149.195; p < 0.001/p < 0.001). Inverse
      associations were observed in positive history of radiation therapy (OR, 0.461;
      95 percent CI, 0.269 to 0.788; p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Independent factors
      associated with severe lymphosclerosis were clarified. Indocyanine green
      lymphography pattern had the strongest association with severe lymphosclerosis. D
      region on indocyanine green lymphography should be avoided for lymphaticovenular
      anastomosis. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Risk, III.

PMID- 28609349
TI  - Novel Approach for Maximizing Follow-Up in Cosmetic Surgery Clinical Trials: The
      Ideal Implant Core Trial Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High follow-up rates are critical for robust research with minimal
      bias, and are particularly important for breast implant Core Studies seeking U.S.
      Food and Drug Administration approval. The Core Study for IDEAL IMPLANT, the most
      recently U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved breast implant, used a novel
      incentive payment model to achieve higher follow-up rates than in previous breast
      implant trials. METHODS: At enrollment, $3500 was deposited into an independent,
      irrevocable trust for each of the 502 subjects and invested in a diversified
      portfolio. If a follow-up visit is missed, the subject is exited from the study
      and compensated for completed visits, but the remainder of her share of the funds
      stay in the trust. At the conclusion of the 10-year study, the trust will be
      divided among those subjects who completed all required follow-up visits. For
      primary and revision augmentation cohorts, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
      published follow-up rates from Core Studies were compared for all currently
      available breast implants. RESULTS: Five-year follow-up rates for the IDEAL
      IMPLANT Core Study are higher for both primary augmentation and revision
      augmentation cohorts (94.9 percent and 96.7 percent, respectively) when compared
      to all other trials that have used U.S. Food and Drug Administration standardized
      follow-up reporting (MemoryShape, Allergan 410, and Sientra Core Studies).
      CONCLUSIONS: This trial demonstrates the utility of a novel incentive strategy to
      maximize follow-up in cosmetic surgery patients. This strategy may benefit future
      cosmetic surgery trials and perhaps any prospective research trial by providing
      more complete data. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.

PMID- 28609350
TI  - Antithrombotic Therapies in Digit Replantation with Papaverine Administration: A
      Prospective, Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether the
      application of antithrombotic therapies affects the success rate of digit
      replantation. METHODS: A total 477 digits of 319 patients who received dextran
      with low-molecular-weight heparin, dextran with prostaglandin E1, or no
      antithrombotic therapy after replantation of complete amputated digits from
      January 1, 2012, to January 1, 2016, were included in this study. Papaverine was
      given by intramuscular injection to all patients at a dosage of 90 mg/day
      postoperatively. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in any of the
      potential risk factors, including age, smoking, Tamai level of amputation, causes
      of injury, and warm ischemia time among groups. The survival rates of digits from
      patients who received dextran with low-molecular-weight heparin, dextran with
      prostaglandin E1, or no antithrombotic therapy were not significantly different.
      CONCLUSION: Antithrombotic therapies showed no significant benefit for digit
      replantation in patients receiving papaverine. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, II.

PMID- 28609351
TI  - Immediate Breast Reconstruction with Abdominal Free Flap and Adjuvant
      Radiotherapy: Evaluation of Quality of Life and Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of postoperative radiotherapy on free flap-based breast
      reconstruction are still controversial. Poor outcomes, breast distortion, and fat
      necrosis have been traditionally documented. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate whether adjuvant radiotherapy affects the quality of life, satisfaction,
      and cosmetic result in patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction with
      autologous free flap. METHODS: Between January of 2013 and December of 2016, 230
      patients underwent mastectomy with immediate free flap reconstruction at the
      authors' institution. Patients were divided into two groups depending on whether
      they received postmastectomy radiotherapy. Quality of life measured with the
      BREAST-Q questionnaire, self-reported aesthetic outcomes, and general
      satisfaction were assessed and compared. Fat necrosis of the flap and its
      severity were also analyzed as the main surgical outcomes. RESULTS: Mean follow
      up time after reconstruction was 23 months (range, 6 to 48 months). No
      significant difference in quality of life or satisfaction scores were found
      between patients that underwent postmastectomy radiotherapy and patients who did
      not receive adjuvant radiotherapy. There were no significant differences in rates
      of fat necrosis between the groups (11.1 percent versus 13.76 percent; p = 0.75).
      CONCLUSIONS: Postmastectomy radiotherapy in patients undergoing immediate breast
      reconstruction with free flaps does not seem to affect quality of life,
      satisfaction with the outcome, or the cosmetic result as perceived by the
      patients. The potential need for postoperative radiotherapy should not hinder
      women from the benefits of autologous immediate breast reconstruction. CLINICAL
      QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.

PMID- 28609352
TI  - Comparing the Efficacy of Triple Nerve Transfers with Nerve Graft Reconstruction
      in Upper Trunk Obstetric Brachial Plexus Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Upper trunk obstetric brachial plexus injury can cause profound
      shoulder and elbow dysfunction. Although neuroma excision with interpositional
      sural nerve grafting is the current gold standard, distal nerve transfers have a
      number of potential advantages. The goal of this study was to compare the
      clinical outcomes and health care costs between nerve grafting and distal nerve
      transfers in children with upper trunk obstetric brachial plexus injury. METHODS:
      In this prospective cohort study, children who underwent triple nerve transfers
      were followed with the Active Movement Scale for 2 years. Their outcomes were
      compared to those of children who underwent nerve graft reconstruction. To assess
      health care use, a cost analysis was also performed. RESULTS: Twelve patients who
      underwent nerve grafting were compared to 14 patients who underwent triple nerve
      transfers. Both groups had similar baseline characteristics and showed improved
      shoulder and elbow function following surgery. However, the nerve transfer group
      displayed significantly greater improvement in shoulder external rotation and
      forearm supination 2 years after surgery (p < 0.05). The operative time and
      length of hospital stay were significantly lower (p < 0.05), and the overall cost
      was approximately 50 percent less in the nerve transfer group. CONCLUSION: Triple
      nerve transfer for upper trunk obstetric brachial plexus injury is a feasible
      option, with better functional shoulder external rotation and forearm supination,
      faster recovery, and lower cost compared with traditional nerve graft
      reconstruction. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, II.

PMID- 28609353
TI  - Laboratory Animal Bite Anaphylaxis: A National Survey: Part 2: Treatment
      Protocols.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study documents current treatment protocols for laboratory animal
      bite anaphylaxis in the United States. METHODS: An online survey was e-mailed to
      designated institutional officials at laboratory animal facilities identified by
      the National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. RESULTS:
      One hundred eighty-nine organizations responded to the question of whether they
      had a treatment protocol with 32% indicating that they had a protocol. Having a
      case of anaphylaxis increased the likelihood of having a protocol (61%). Of those
      with a protocol, 58% included treatment with injectable epinephrine, if
      clinically indicated. Among all respondents, only 14% reported keeping injectable
      epinephrine at the location where animal work is performed. CONCLUSIONS: A
      minority of responding organizations had protocols in place to address laboratory
      animal bite anaphylaxis. Organizations with workers at risk should consider
      implementing a protocol for assessment and treatment.

PMID- 28609354
TI  - Factors Associated With Interest in Worksite Health-Related Discussions/Events
      Among Employed Adults With Chronic Conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Worksite health promotion interventions have the potential to reach
      half of Americans nationally, but low participation rates hinder optimal
      intervention effectiveness. This study examines factors associated with employee
      interest in worksite health-related discussions/events. METHOD: We analyzed cross
      sectional survey data from a representative sample of employed adults in
      California with one or more chronic conditions. An ordinal regression model was
      developed. RESULTS: Employees who reported more interest in worksite health
      related discussions/events had higher coworkers support, perceived greater value
      from learning health-related knowledge and getting practical tips from others,
      and reported higher interest in health discussions/events held in community
      settings. CONCLUSION: Efforts are needed to enhance the culture of worksite
      health and encourage communication and support among workers. Practitioners
      should consider connecting different settings to enhance reach and accessibility,
      and applying multiple delivery strategies to increase employee interest and
      engagement.

PMID- 28609355
TI  - Association Between Employee Dental Claims, Health Risks, Workplace Productivity,
      and Preventive Services Compliance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined differences in health risks and workplace outcomes
      among employees who utilized preventive dental services compared with other
      employees. METHODS: A retrospective observational study of employees of a large
      financial services corporation, with data from health risk appraisal
      questionnaires, medical claims, pharmacy claims, and dental claims. RESULTS:
      Employees with no dental claims were significantly more likely to have a variety
      of health risk factors (such as obesity and tobacco use), health conditions (such
      as diabetes), absenteeism, and lost on-the-job productivity, and were
      significantly less likely to be compliant with clinical preventive services
      compared with those with preventive dental claims. CONCLUSIONS: Employees with
      preventive dental claims had fewer health risks and medical conditions and better
      health and productivity measures. Study employees underutilized free dental care;
      employers should incorporate preventive dental care awareness into their worksite
      wellness programs.

PMID- 28609356
TI  - The North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society Consensus Guidelines for
      Surveillance and Medical Management of Midgut Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - There have been significant developments in diagnostic and therapeutic options
      for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Key phase 3 studies include the
      CLARINET trial, which evaluated lanreotide in patients with nonfunctioning
      enteropancreatic NETs; the RADIANT-2 and RADIANT-4 studies, which evaluated
      everolimus in functioning and nonfunctioning NETs of the gastrointestinal tract
      and lungs; the TELESTAR study, which evaluated telotristat ethyl in patients with
      refractory carcinoid syndrome; and the NETTER-1 trial, which evaluated Lu
      DOTATATE in NETs of the small intestine and proximal colon (midgut). Based on
      these and other advances, the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society
      convened a multidisciplinary panel of experts with the goal of updating consensus
      based guidelines for evaluation and treatment of midgut NETs. The medical aspects
      of these guidelines (focusing on systemic treatment, nonsurgical liver-directed
      therapy, and postoperative surveillance) are summarized in this article. Surgical
      guidelines are described in a companion article.

PMID- 28609358
TI  - The 47th Annual Meeting of the American Pancreatic Association: 2016 Vay Liang
      and Frisca Go Award for Lifetime Achievement, APA Distinguished Service Award,
      Highlights, and Other Awardees.

PMID- 28609359
TI  - Pancreatic Cysts: Controversies, Advances, Diagnoses, and Therapies.
AB  - Pancreatic cysts are commonly found on cross-sectional imaging. The question
      arises in determining which lesions are premalignant or malignant and may require
      further testing, intervention, or follow-up. In pancreatic cysts without obvious
      malignancy on imaging, we approach them using the Four "S" Criteria. These are
      (1) symptoms that may be originating from the pancreatic cyst; (2) size of the
      cyst 2 cm or larger and/or main pancreatic duct greater than 5 mm; (3) survival
      of the patient, based on comorbidity index to determine surgical fitness; and
      then endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration (FNA) recommended to
      determine (4) solid component presence in the cyst, namely, nodule or thick
      walls, as well as to perform FNA to obtain cyst content. Current cyst fluid
      analysis options include use of cytology to determine presence of malignancy and
      carcinoembryonic antigen and fluid genetics to identify potentially premalignant
      lesions. The aims of this article are to explore current management guidelines
      for pancreatic cysts, present a comprehensive approach to pancreatic cysts, and
      explain the advantages and disadvantages of each option for evaluation of
      pancreatic cysts including endoscopic ultrasound with FNA with cyst fluid
      analysis using an evidence-based approach.

PMID- 28609360
TI  - Pancreatic Cysts - Part 1: Using the American Gastroenterological Association
      Guidelines for the Management of Pancreatic Cysts-A Practical Approach.
AB  - The recent publication of evidence-based guidelines by the American
      Gastroenterological Association for the management of the incidental pancreatic
      cyst has stimulated considerable discussion among clinicians and researchers. The
      guidelines examined the evidence in an accompanying technical review defining
      current diagnostic approaches, as well as cyst natural history. Recognizing that
      the risk of malignant degeneration of these cystic neoplasms has been
      overestimated, the guidelines boldly increased thresholds for endoscopic
      ultrasound imaging and cyst fluid sampling, as well as proposing a reduced
      frequency of surveillance compared with previous expert consensus
      recommendations. A practical approach to using these guidelines in daily clinical
      practice is discussed, emphasizing that an individualized approach is often
      required for this diverse and common clinical problem.

PMID- 28609361
TI  - Pancreatic Cysts - Part 2: Should We Be Less Cyst Centric?
AB  - The management of pancreatic cysts is a common problem faced by physicians and
      surgeons. Pancreatic cysts are important because some of them are mucin-producing
      cysts (MPCs), which may harbor or develop pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Thus,
      accurate classification of pancreatic cysts and diagnosis of MPCs offer a
      potential for the prevention or early detection of pancreatic cancer. However,
      the diagnosis and management of asymptomatic pancreatic cysts are complicated by
      2 factors. First, incidentally detected pancreatic cysts are often misdiagnosed
      as branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. Although most are MPCs,
      there are other types of cysts, such as serous cystadenomas, which are managed
      differently. Second, only a minority of MPCs will ultimately develop into
      invasive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Thus, on the one hand, pancreatic
      cysts offer a unique opportunity to identify precursors to pancreatic cancer and
      improve outcomes. On the other hand, misdiagnosis and overzealous testing or
      unnecessary surgery may lead to high cost and harm to patients. Several
      guidelines have been developed by various groups for the management of pancreatic
      cysts. In this article, we review the strengths and weaknesses of the American
      Gastroenterology Association guidelines, highlight key recommendations requiring
      further validation, and provide our balanced approach to diagnosing and managing
      pancreatic cysts.

PMID- 28609357
TI  - The Surgical Management of Small Bowel Neuroendocrine Tumors: Consensus
      Guidelines of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society.
AB  - Small bowel neuroendocrine tumors (SBNETs) have been increasing in frequency over
      the past decades, and are now the most common type of small bowel tumor.
      Consequently, general surgeons and surgical oncologists are seeing more patients
      with SBNETs in their practices than ever before. The management of these patients
      is often complex, owing to their secretion of hormones, frequent presentation
      with advanced disease, and difficulties with making the diagnosis of SBNETs.
      Despite these issues, even patients with advanced disease can have long-term
      survival. There are a number of scenarios which commonly arise in SBNET patients
      where it is difficult to determine the optimal management from the published
      data. To address these challenges for clinicians, a consensus conference was held
      assembling experts in the field to review and discuss the available literature
      and patterns of practice pertaining to specific management issues. This paper
      summarizes the important elements from these studies and the recommendations of
      the group for these questions regarding the management of SBNET patients.

PMID- 28609362
TI  - Everolimus Effect on Gastrin and Glucagon in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The pharmacodynamic effects of everolimus on gastrointestinal hormone
      levels have not been described in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
      (pNETs). We report the effects of everolimus on gastrin and glucagon levels in
      patients with progressive pNET in RADIANT-1 (a single-arm phase II trial) and
      RADIANT-3 (a placebo-controlled, randomized, phase III trial). METHODS: Serum
      gastrin and glucagon levels were determined by immunoassay at baseline and at
      predose in subsequent treatment cycles in patients with elevated baseline hormone
      levels. The analyses included 158 patients from RADIANT-1 and 404 patients from
      RADIANT-3. RESULTS: In RADIANT-1, everolimus induced a rapid, sustained decrease
      in median gastrin and glucagon levels to approximately 60% and 70% of baseline
      levels, respectively. In RADIANT-3, everolimus consistently reduced median
      gastrin and glucagon levels by greater than 50% and approximately 40%,
      respectively (everolimus vs placebo, P < 0.0001), whereas with placebo, both
      hormones at each time point were essentially the same as their baseline levels.
      In patients with concomitant octreotide long-acting repeatable treatment, the
      moderate pharmacodynamic effect on lowering gastrin was greater than that seen
      with everolimus alone. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to prolonging progression-free
      survival in patients with pNET, everolimus down-regulates excess production of 2
      gastrointestinal hormones, which may help control their associated clinical
      syndromes.

PMID- 28609363
TI  - O6-Methylguanine DNA Methyltransferase Status Does Not Predict Response or
      Resistance to Alkylating Agents in Well-Differentiated Pancreatic Neuroendocrine
      Tumors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Alkylating agents have activity in well-differentiated pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumors (WD panNETs). In glioblastoma multiforme, decreased
      activity of O-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) predicts response; in
      panNETs, MGMT relevance is unknown. METHODS: We identified patients with WD
      panNETs treated with alkylating agents, determined best overall response by
      Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1, and performed MGMT
      activity testing. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients were identified; 26 (46%) of the 56
      patients experienced partial response, 24 (43%) of 56 experienced stable disease,
      and 6 (11%) of 56 experienced progression of disease. O-methylguanine DNA
      methyltransferase status was available for 36 tumors. For tumors with partial
      response, 10 (67%) of 15 were MGMT deficient, and 5 (33%) of 15 were MGMT intact.
      For tumors with stable disease, 7 (47%) of 15 were MGMT deficient, and 8 (53%) of
      15 were MGMT intact. For tumors with progression of disease, 3 (50%) of 6 were
      MGMT deficient, and 3 (50%) of 6 were MGMT intact. CONCLUSIONS: We observed
      response and resistance to alkylating agents in MGMT-deficient and MGMT-intact
      tumors. O-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase status should not guide alkylating
      agent therapy in WD panNETs.

PMID- 28609365
TI  - Comparison of Combined Endoscopic Ultrasonography and Endoscopic Secretin Testing
      With the Traditional Secretin Pancreatic Function Test in Patients With Suspected
      Chronic Pancreatitis: A Prospective Crossover Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the feasibility and accuracy of a combined
      endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) with a shortened pancreatic function testing
      (sEUS) for structural and functional assessment using a single instrument in
      patients with suspected chronic pancreatitis (CP). METHODS: We completed a
      prospective crossover study, enrolling patients with suspected CP. Patients who
      underwent both traditional 1-hour secretin pancreatic function test (sPFT) and
      sEUS were included in the analysis. We compared study results for test
      concordance and for correlation of peak bicarbonate concentrations. RESULTS:
      Eleven (64.7%) of 17 patients had concordant sPFT and sEUS findings when the
      cutoff for peak bicarbonate was 80 mEq/L. Six patients had discordant findings
      with a negative sPFT and positive sEUS. This poor concordance suggests that sEUS
      is an unreliable functional test. Lowering the sEUS cutoff to 70 mEq/L resulted
      in improved concordance (64.7% vs 70.6%). Finally, there was no significant
      correlation between peak bicarbonate concentrations (r = 0.47; 95% confidence
      interval, -0.02 to 0.79) in these 2 functional tests. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate
      poor concordance between sPFT and sEUS suggesting that a combined shortened
      functional and structural test using a single instrument may not be a feasible
      test for diagnosis of suspected CP when a cutoff of 80 mEq/L is used.

PMID- 28609364
TI  - Therapeutic Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in Pediatric Patients
      With Acute Recurrent and Chronic Pancreatitis: Data From the INSPPIRE
      (INternational Study group of Pediatric Pancreatitis: In search for a cuRE)
      Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize utilization and benefit of
      therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in children
      with acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) or chronic pancreatitis (CP). METHODS:
      From August 2012 to February 2015, 301 children with ARP or CP were enrolled in
      the INSPPIRE (INternational Study group of Pediatric Pancreatitis: In search for
      a cuRE) study. Physicians reported utilization and benefit of therapeutic ERCP at
      enrollment. Differences were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.
      RESULTS: One hundred seventeen children (38.9%) underwent at least 1 therapeutic
      ERCP. The procedure was more commonly performed in children with CP compared with
      those with ARP (65.8% vs 13.5%, P < 0.0001). Utility of therapeutic ERCP was
      reported to be similar between ARP and CP (53% vs 56%, P = 0.81) and was found to
      be helpful for at least 1 indication in both groups (53/99 patients [53.5%]).
      Predictors for undergoing therapeutic ERCP were presence of obstructive factors
      in ARP and CP, Hispanic ethnicity, or white race in CP. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic
      ERCP is frequently utilized in children with ARP or CP and may offer benefit in
      selected cases, specifically if ductal obstruction is present. Longitudinal
      studies are needed to clarify the efficacy of therapeutic ERCP and to explore
      subgroups that might have increased benefit from such intervention.

PMID- 28609366
TI  - Visceral Adiposity Predicts Severity of Acute Pancreatitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the association of visceral
      adiposity with severe outcomes in acute pancreatitis (AP). METHODS: This
      retrospective study included consecutive patients with AP admitted to a tertiary
      care hospital between January 2010 and January 2015 who underwent a computed
      tomography scan. The visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume was estimated using the
      method of Linder and colleagues. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was
      conducted to assess VAT as a predictor of severe AP compared with other validated
      predictors of severity. RESULTS: Five hundred and seventy four patients were
      admitted during the study period, of which 252 had a computed tomography scan
      available. Patients with severe AP had a larger VAT area compared with those with
      mild or moderate AP (mean: 184.9 cm vs 79.9 cm, P = 0.006). Patients who
      developed multisystem organ failure or had acute necrotic collections had a
      larger VAT area than those who did not (150.6 cm vs 91.0 cm, P = 0.004 and 174.0
      cm vs 91.9 cm, P = 0.003, respectively). Visceral adipose tissue area
      demonstrated superior discrimination of severe AP compared with other severity
      predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Increased VAT area is a strong predictor of severe
      pancreatitis, necrosis, and multisystem organ failure.

PMID- 28609368
TI  - Derivation and Characterization of a Pig Embryonic-Stem-Cell-Derived Exocrine
      Pancreatic Cell Line.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify an epithelial cell line
      isolated from the spontaneous differentiation of totipotent pig epiblast cells.
      METHODS: PICM-31 and its colony-cloned derivative cell line, PICM-31A, were
      established from the culture and differentiation of an epiblast mass isolated
      from an 8-day-old pig blastocyst. The cell lines were analyzed by transmission
      electron microscopy, marker gene expression, and mass spectroscopy-based
      proteomics. RESULTS: The PICM-31 cell lines were continuously cultured and could
      be successively colony cloned. They spontaneously self-organized into acinarlike
      structures. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the cell lines' cells
      were epithelial and filled with secretory granules. Candidate gene expression
      analysis of the cells showed an exocrine pancreatic profile that included
      digestive enzyme expression, for example, carboxypeptidase A1, and expression of
      the fetal marker, alpha-fetoprotein. Pancreatic progenitor marker expression
      included pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1, NK6 homeobox 1, and pancreas
      specific transcription factor 1a, but not neurogenin 3. Proteomic analysis of
      cellular proteins confirmed the cells' production of digestive enzymes and showed
      that the cells expressed cytokeratins 8 and 18. CONCLUSIONS: The PICM-31 cell
      lines provide in vitro models of fetal pig pancreatic exocrine cells. They are
      the first demonstration of continuous cultures, that is, cell lines, of
      nontransformed pig pancreas cells.

PMID- 28609367
TI  - Exosomal Markers (CD63 and CD9) Expression Pattern Using Immunohistochemistry in
      Resected Malignant and Nonmalignant Pancreatic Specimens.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Exosomes are important mediators in intercellular communications and
      play a role in cancer progression and metastasis. Exosomal membranes are enriched
      in endosome-specific tetraspanins (CD9 and CD63). Here, we explored the
      expression of CD63 and CD9 utilizing immunohistochemistry in malignant and
      nonmalignant cells in 29 resected pancreatic specimens (RPSs) of mixed racial
      background. METHODS: The pathologic tissues (PTs) and adjacent normal tissues
      (ANTs) in each RPS were stained for CD63 and CD9. Two pathologists independently
      scored the expression of CD63 and CD9. Staining intensity was graded from 1 to 3.
      Staining percentage was estimated in 10% increments. An average Quick score (Q
      score) (intensity * percentage of staining) was calculated. Unpaired t test was
      used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The mean multiplicative Q score for CD63
      and CD9 expression is higher in PTs (209 and 72) compared with ANTs (154 and 24)
      (P = 0.0041, P = 0.0018), respectively. The Mean Q score for CD63 and CD9
      expression is higher in the malignant PTs (231 and 85) compared with ANTs (129
      and 25) (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0124). CONCLUSIONS: Exosomal markers (CD63 and CD9)
      expression assessment using immunohistochemistry is feasible in RPS. The
      expression of CD63 and CD9 is higher in PTs and malignant PTs compared with their
      ANTs.

PMID- 28609369
TI  - Prevalence of Pancreatic Cystic Lesions Is Associated With Diabetes Mellitus and
      Obesity: An Analysis of 5296 Individuals Who Underwent a Preventive Medical
      Examination.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) are considered precursors of
      pancreatic cancer. Diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity are known as risk factors
      for pancreatic cancer. We investigated the prevalence of PCLs in the general
      population and the relationship between PCLs and DM/obesity. METHODS: This cross
      sectional analysis included 5296 individuals who underwent a preventive medical
      examination between October 2006 and June 2013 at our institution. Magnetic
      resonance imaging, including magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, was
      performed using a 3.0-T system as part of a comprehensive health screening
      program. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors of PCLs. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of PCLs was 13.7%, which was increased according to age. Individuals
      with PCLs were more prone to obesity (body mass index, 24.0 vs 23.7 kg/m [P =
      0.015]; waist circumference, 87.4 vs 85.5 cm [P < 0.001]). DM was more prevalent
      in individuals with PCLs (18.4% vs 10.5%, P < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis,
      age (odds ratio [OR], 1.06; P < 0.001), excess body mass index (OR, 1.26; P =
      0.039), and DM (OR, 1.39; P = 0.005) were associated with PCLs. CONCLUSIONS: The
      prevalence of PCLs detected by magnetic resonance imaging in a preventive medical
      examination was 13.7%. Pancreatic cystic lesions were significantly associated
      with DM and obesity.

PMID- 28609371
TI  - Orthotopic Patient-Derived Pancreatic Cancer Xenografts Engraft Into the
      Pancreatic Parenchyma, Metastasize, and Induce Muscle Wasting to Recapitulate the
      Human Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Limitations associated with current animal models serve as a major
      obstacle to reliable preclinical evaluation of therapies in pancreatic cancer
      (PC). In an effort to develop more reliable preclinical models, we have recently
      established a subcutaneous patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model. However,
      critical aspects of PC responsible for its highly lethal nature, such as the
      development of distant metastasis and cancer cachexia, remain underrepresented in
      the flank PDX model. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree to
      which an orthotopic PDX model of PC recapitulates these aspects of the human
      disease. METHODS: Human PDX-derived PC tumors were implanted directly into the
      pancreas of NOD.Cg-Prkdc Il2rg/SzJ mice. Tumor growth, metastasis, and muscle
      wasting were then evaluated. RESULTS: Orthotopically implanted PDX-derived tumors
      consistently incorporated into the murine pancreatic parenchyma, metastasized to
      both the liver and lungs and induced muscle wasting directly proportional to the
      size of the tumor, consistent of the cancer cachexia syndrome. CONCLUSIONS:
      Through the orthotopic implantation technique described, we demonstrate a highly
      reproducible model that recapitulates both local and systemic aspects of human
      PC.

PMID- 28609370
TI  - Proteins Differentially Expressed in the Pancreas of Hepatic Alcohol
      Dehydrogenase-Deficient Deer Mice Fed Ethanol For 3 Months.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed
      proteins in the pancreatic tissue of hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase-deficient deer
      mice fed ethanol to understand metabolic basis and mechanism of alcoholic chronic
      pancreatitis. METHODS: Mice were fed liquid diet containing 3.5 g% ethanol daily
      for 3 months, and differentially expressed pancreatic proteins were identified by
      protein separation using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identification by
      mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Nineteen differentially expressed proteins were
      identified by applying criteria established for protein identification in
      proteomics. An increased abundance was found for ribosome-binding protein 1, 60S
      ribosomal protein L31-like isoform 1, histone 4, calcium, and adenosine
      triphosphate (ATP) binding proteins and the proteins involved in antiapoptotic
      processes and endoplasmic reticulum function, stress, and/or homeostasis. Low
      abundance was found for endoA cytokeratin, 40S ribosomal protein SA, amylase 2b
      isoform precursor, serum albumin, and ATP synthase subunit beta and the proteins
      involved in cell motility, structure, and conformation. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic
      ethanol feeding in alcohol dehydrogenase-deficient deer mice differentially
      expresses pancreatic functional and structural proteins, which can be used to
      develop biomarker(s) of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis, particularly amylase 2b
      precursor, and 60 kDa heat shock protein and those involved in ATP synthesis and
      blood osmotic pressure.

PMID- 28609372
TI  - Pancreatic Polypeptide Cell Proliferation in the Pancreas and Duodenum Coexisting
      in a Patient With Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Treated With a GLP-1 Analog.
AB  - A partial pancreaticogastrodudenectomy was performed on a 66-year old man with
      type 2 diabetes mellitus because of an invasive, moderately differentiated
      adenocarcinoma in the head of the pancreas. In the adjacent grossly normal tissue
      of the uncinate process, there was a massive proliferation of pancreatic
      polypeptide (PP) cells confined to this region and showed invasive pattern.
      Strikingly, in the heaped area of his duodenum, there was a strikingly large
      number of PP, glucagon, a few insulin cells in a mini-islet-like patterns
      composed of glucagon and insulin cells. Among the etiological factors, the
      possible long-lasting effects of the GLP-1 analog, with which the patient was
      treated, are discussed. This is the first report in the literature of both the
      coexistence of a pancreatic adenocarcinoma and invasive PPoma and the occurrence
      of PP and insulin cells in human duodenal mucosa.

PMID- 28609374
TI  - Pancreatic Volume in Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 28609375
TI  - Reply to "Pancreatic Volume in Diabetes Mellitus".

PMID- 28609376
TI  - The Role of Abdominal Computed Tomography Scan in Acute Pancreatitis.

PMID- 28609373
TI  - Multiorgan Failure Predicts Mortality in Emphysematous Pancreatitis: A Case
      Report and Systematic Analysis of the Literature.
AB  - Emphysematous pancreatitis (EP) is a subtype of acute necrotizing pancreatitis
      (ANP) characterized by the presence of gas in and around the pancreas. Although
      investigators have studied prognostic factors in ANP, less is known about EP. We
      aimed to determine predictors of mortality and identify changes in management
      strategies for EP. A PubMed search was performed to identify EP cases. Data were
      gathered about patient demographics, clinical findings, laboratory results,
      radiological studies, procedures, outcomes, and mortality. Data were analyzed
      using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Including a case
      from our institution, the study cohort included 64 subjects. The overall
      mortality rate was 32.8% (21/64). On univariate analysis, age (P = 0.019),
      hypotension (P = 0.007), gas outside the pancreas on computed tomography imaging
      (P = 0.003), initial surgical evacuation (P = 0.007), and the development of
      multiorgan failure (P = 0.008) were associated with mortality. On multivariate
      analysis, only the development of multiorgan failure was found to be an
      independent predictor of mortality (P = 0.039). The overall mortality rate of
      32.8% for EP is similar to the mortality rates published for ANP. The development
      of multiorgan failure in EP is strongly associated with increased mortality.
      Percutaneous and endoscopic approaches have been replacing surgical
      interventions.

PMID- 28609377
TI  - Pancreatic Cancer Cell Lines Heterozygous for the SPINK1 p.N34S Haplotype Exhibit
      Diminished Expression of the Variant Allele.

PMID- 28609378
TI  - Pediatric Acute and Chronic Pancreatitis: Increase in Incidence or Increasing
      Awareness?

PMID- 28609379
TI  - Pediatric moped-related injuries in the United States from 2002 to 2014: Age
      related comparisons of mechanisms and outcomes.
AB  - : Mopeds are a popular means of transportation, especially in urban areas.
      However, few studies have investigated moped-related injuries in the United
      States. This study's goal was to compare the crash mechanisms and injuries
      suffered in moped-related crashes involving youth versus adults, as well as
      between younger and older children. INTRODUCTION: Mopeds are a popular means of
      transportation, especially in urban areas. However, few studies have investigated
      moped-related injuries in the United States. This study's goal was to compare the
      crash mechanisms and injuries suffered in moped-related crashes involving youth
      versus adults, as well as between younger and older children. METHODS:
      Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed using National Electronic
      Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data and additional variables coded from
      injury narratives. Multivariate regression analyses were used to calculate
      adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for categorical
      outcomes, controlling for significant covariates. RESULTS: From 2003 to 2014,
      there were 779 youth (17 years or younger) and 2,453 adult moped-related
      emergency department visits in the database. The number of youth injured remained
      relatively constant over time, while the number of adult victims doubled.
      Relative to 14- to 17-year olds, victims younger than 14 years were more commonly
      female (p = 0.037) and non-Caucasian (p = 0.008). Victims 14 to 17 years of age
      had a higher proportion of brain injuries (p = 0.012) and were more commonly in
      motor vehicle collisions (p = 0.02), as compared to younger victims. Relative to
      adults, youth crashes occurred more commonly in the summer (p < 0.0001), and off
      the street/road (p < 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis showed crashes on
      streets/roads were two and a half times more likely to involve victims who were
      14 to 17 years of age as compared to those younger (aOR, 2.55; CI, 1.64-3.97).
      Additionally, male youths were twice as likely as females to have a motor vehicle
      collision (aOR, 1.97; CI, 1.19-3.24), and pediatric crashes were approximately
      twice as likely to result in extremity injuries as compared to adult crashes
      (aOR, 1.95; CI, 1.19-3.20). CONCLUSION: Differences in crash mechanism and
      injuries sustained between two youth age groups and between youths and adults
      indicate the importance of targeted injury prevention efforts. This would include
      improved operator training and standardized, evidence-based, well-enforced safety
      legislation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiologic study, level III.

PMID- 28609381
TI  - Remote ischemic conditioning preserves cognition and motor coordination in a
      mouse model of traumatic brain injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Management of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is focused on minimizing
      or preventing secondary brain injury. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is an
      established treatment modality that has been shown to improve patient outcomes in
      different clinical settings by influencing inflammatory insults. In a clinical
      trial, RIC showed amelioration of SB100 and neuron-specific enolase. The aim of
      our study was to further elucidate the mechanisms and outcome when applying RIC
      in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury. METHODS: We subjected 100 male C57BL
      mice to a closed-skull cortical-controlled impact injury. Two hours after the
      TBI, the animals were allocated to either the RIC group (n = 50) or the sham
      group (n = 50). By clamping the exposed femoral artery, we induced RIC by six 4
      minute cycles of ischemia and reperfusion. Circulating levels of S100-B, neuron
      specific enolase, and glial fibrillary acidic protein were measured at multiple
      time points. Animals were additionally observed daily for cognition and motor
      coordination via novel object recognition and rotarod. Brain sections were
      stained and evaluated for neuronal injury at post-TBI Day 5. RESULTS: The RIC
      animals had a significantly higher recognition index than did sham at 24, 48, and
      72 hours after intervention. Rotarod latency was higher in the RIC animals
      compared to the sham animals at all-time points, and statistically significant at
      120 hours after intervention. The RIC group demonstrated preserved cognitive
      function and motor coordination compared to the sham. On hematoxylin and eosin
      and immunohistochemical staining of brain sections, there was less area of
      neuronal degeneration and astrocytosis, respectively, in the RIC group compared
      to the sham group. There was no significant difference in systemic neuronal
      markers between the RIC and sham animals. CONCLUSION: Remote ischemic
      conditioning 2 hours after injury preserved cognitive functions and motor
      coordination in a mouse model of TBI. Remote ischemic conditioning can preserve
      viability of neurons and astrocytes after TBI and has potential as a clinically
      noninvasive and relatively easy method to improve outcome after TBI. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Therapeutic studies, randomized controlled trial, level I.

PMID- 28609382
TI  - Maintaining clinical competencies of military surgeons at the beginning of the
      21st century: the French paradigm.

PMID- 28609383
TI  - The Efficiency of Aggressive Hydration With Lactated Ringer Solution for the
      Prevention of Post-ERCP Pancreatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As shown in studies, aggressive hydration during the perioperative
      period of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) effectively
      prevents post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). We conducted a systematic review and meta
      analysis to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of aggressive
      hydration with lactated Ringer solution at preventing PEP. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      We searched all relevant research from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, the
      Web of Science, ClinicalTrial.gov, and Scopus database for randomized controlled
      trials (RCTs) published before March 2017. Reference lists from reviews or
      relevant articles were screened for RCTs. The primary outcomes were the incidence
      of PEP and the incidence of moderate to severe pancreatitis. The secondary
      outcomes were the incidence of hyperamylasemia and pain and the length of
      hospital stay. The meta-analysis was conducted using the Cochrane Program Review
      Manager. RESULTS: Three RCTs were included in our study. On the basis of the
      results of the meta-analysis, the aggressive hydration group had a lower
      incidence of pancreatitis after ERCP [odds ratio (OR)=0.29; 95% confidence
      interval (CI), 0.16-0.53]; a lower incidence of moderate to severe PEP (OR=0.16;
      95% CI, 0.03-0.96); lower incidence of hyperamylasemia (OR=0.38; 95% CI, 0.25
      0.59); lower risk of pain (OR=0.17; 95% CI, 0.08-0.38); and a shorter duration of
      hospital stay (standardized mean difference=-0.41; 95% CI, -0.69 to -0.14).
      CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive hydration with lactated Ringer solution can reduce the
      overall incidence of PEP, moderate to severe pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia,
      shorten the length of hospitalization and reduce pain.

PMID- 28609384
TI  - Cytokine profiles in osteoporosis suggest a proresorptive bias.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: As the immune system is suggested to contribute to the pathophysiology
      of osteoporosis in menopause, we compared the levels of proresorptive and
      antiresorptive cytokines produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
      from postmenopausal women with normal and low bone mineral density (BMD).
      METHODS: Seventy-one postmenopausal women were studied; 25 had normal BMD and 46
      had low BMD. Participants were categorized as normal (n = 25), osteopenic (n =
      31), and osteoporotic (n = 15) based on T-scores. Levels of 10 cytokines produced
      by mitogen-stimulated PBMCs were measured by Multiplex ELISA. RESULTS: PBMCs from
      women with low BMD produced higher levels of the proresorptive cytokines tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12, and IL-17 (P = 0.014, 0.012,
      0.011, and 0.049), and lower levels of the antiresorptive cytokines IL-4, IL-10,
      and IL-23 (P = 0.003, 0.018, and 0.025) compared with women with normal BMD.
      Proresorptive cytokines were similar in osteopenic and osteoporotic women, but
      both had higher levels than women with normal BMD. Osteoporotic women produced
      lower levels of the antiresorptive cytokines IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, and IL-23
      compared with the normal BMD group (P = 0.001, 0.05, 0.05, and 0.026), and lower
      levels of IL-4 as compared with osteopenic women (P = 0.05). Osteopenic women
      produced lower levels of IL-4 and IL-10 compared with the normal BMD group (P =
      0.025 and 0.038). Ratios of proresorptive to antiresorptive cytokines suggest a
      stronger proresorptive cytokine bias in women with low BMD. Most of the ratios
      are lowest in the normal BMD group, modest in osteopenic women, and highest in
      the osteoporotic group. CONCLUSIONS: Women with low BMD have a proresorptive
      cytokine bias.

PMID- 28609385
TI  - Association between menopause and lumbar disc degeneration: an MRI study of 1,566
      women and 1,382 men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to revisit and further investigate the
      association between menopause and disc degeneration in the lumbar spine using a
      magnetic resonance imaging-based eight-level grading system. METHODS: This study
      cohort comprised of 1,566 women and 1,382 age-matched men who were admitted for
      low back pain from June 2013 to October 2016. Data on age, weight, height, body
      mass index, age at natural menopause, and years since menopause (YSM) were
      obtained. Lumbar disc degeneration was assessed using a magnetic resonance
      imaging-based eight-level grading system. RESULTS: After adjustment for the
      confounding factors of age, height, and weight, young age-matched men were more
      susceptible to disc degeneration than premenopausal women (P < 0.05). However,
      after menopause, postmenopausal women had a significant tendency to develop more
      severe disc degeneration than their age-matched men (P < 0.05), and also compared
      with premenopausal and perimenopausal women (P < 0.01). Postmenopausal women were
      divided into nine subgroups by every 5 YSM. When YSM was less than 15 years, a
      positive trend was observed between YSM and severity of disc degeneration,
      respectively, at L1/L2 (r = 0.241), L2/L3 (r = 0.193), L3/L4 (r = 0.191), L4/L5
      (r = 0.165), L5/S1 (r = 0.153), and all lumbar discs (r = 0.237) (P < 0.05 or
      0.01). The analysis of covariance indicated a significant difference in each disc
      level (P < 0.05 or 0.01) between every two groups. When YSM was more than 15
      years, the significant difference, however, disappeared in each disc level (P >
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Menopause is associated with lumbar disc degeneration. The
      association occurred in the first 15 YSM, suggesting estrogen deficiency might be
      a risk factor of disc degeneration of the lumbar spine. Further studies need to
      be carried out for deciding whether age or menopause plays a more important role
      in the progression of disc degeneration in the lumbar spine.

PMID- 28609386
TI  - Prevalence, severity, and associated factors of menopausal symptoms in middle
      aged Chinese women: a community-based cross-sectional study in southeast China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to specify the prevalence and severity of
      menopausal symptoms, and to investigate associated factors in Chinese middle-aged
      women. METHODS: A cross-sectional, community-based study was carried out
      involving 1,054 participants aged 40 to 60 years in Gongshu District, Hangzhou,
      Zhejiang, PR China. The presence and severity of symptoms were evaluated by
      having the participants complete a modified Kupperman Menopausal Index
      questionnaire. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and estradiol were
      measured. Physical and sociodemographic characteristics including height, weight,
      education, occupation, and income were collected. Statistical analysis was
      performed to identify factors associated with the occurrence of the menopausal
      syndrome according to the modified Kupperman Menopausal Index score rank.
      RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of all participants was 50.85 (5.55) years. Overall,
      32.6% of the participants were premenopausal, 20.2% were perimenopausal, and
      47.1% were postmenopausal. The three most prevalent symptoms suffered by all
      participants were muscle/joint pain (54.5%), sexual problems (48.7%), and fatigue
      (46.1%). The prevalence of sexual problems and muscle/joint pain increased from
      the premenopausal stage to the postmenopausal stage (P < 0.001 for both).
      Compared with premenopausal women, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women have a
      significantly increased risk of menopausal syndrome (P < 0.001 for both). The
      logistic regression model revealed that the place of residence and level of
      education were significantly associated with the occurrence of menopausal
      syndrome (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Perimenopausal women are prone to the highest
      prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms. Sexual problems and muscle/joint
      pain are noticeable symptoms in postmenopausal women. Further studies are
      required to verify the influences of level of education, place of residence, and
      other factors on menopausal symptoms in Chinese women.

PMID- 28609388
TI  - Can dance-based aquatic exercise improve functionality in obese women with knee
      osteoarthritis?

PMID- 28609387
TI  - Long-term sertraline treatment and depression effects on carotid artery
      atherosclerosis in premenopausal female primates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis developed during premenopausal years predicts
      postmenopausal atherosclerosis burden. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
      (SSRI) antidepressants, recently approved for hot flushes, have been associated
      with increased ischemic stroke risk in several observational studies; however,
      effects on carotid artery atherosclerosis, a strong predictor of future vascular
      events, are unknown. METHODS: The effects of chronic administration of a commonly
      prescribed SSRI, sertraline HCl, on atherosclerosis in the carotid artery was
      assessed in a placebo-controlled, longitudinal, randomized study of
      premeonopausal depressed and nondepressed cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca
      fascicularis; n = 42). Physiologic and behavioral phenotypes were evaluated at
      baseline and after 18 months of oral sertraline (20 mg/kg, n = 21) or placebo (n
      = 21). Carotid artery atherosclerosis was measured post mortem via
      histomorphometry. RESULTS: Atherosclerosis extent in the right common carotid
      artery, on average, was 60% greater in sertraline-treated depressed monkeys
      compared with all other groups (P = 0.028). The results of linear regression
      analyses suggested that sertraline and depression effects on atherosclerosis were
      not mediated by their effects on behavioral and physiological risk factors.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that chronic SSRI treatment is associated
      with the progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis, which may increase the
      risk for future vascular events, particularly in depressed women. The underlying
      mechanism remains to be determined, but does not appear to be related to SSRI
      effects on traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

PMID- 28609389
TI  - Time to first occurrence of breast pain and vaginal bleeding in phase 3 trials of
      CE/BZA.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In studies of the menopausal therapy, conjugated
      estrogens/bazedoxifene, breast pain and vaginal bleeding rates were comparable to
      placebo and lower than conjugated estrogens/medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA).
      This post hoc analysis determined median time to occurrence of these events.
      METHODS: Participants in phase 3 conjugated estrogens/bazedoxifene trials
      recorded breast pain and vaginal bleeding in daily diaries. Median time to first
      incident was determined in women taking conjugated estrogens 0.45 mg/bazedoxifene
      20 mg, conjugated estrogens 0.625 mg/bazedoxifene 20 mg, placebo, and conjugated
      estrogens 0.45 mg/MPA 1.5 mg (active control in Selective estrogens, Menopause,
      And Response to Therapy [SMART]-5 trial). We included on-treatment data (12 weeks
      2 years) in healthy postmenopausal women (SMART-1), those seeking treatment for
      menopausal symptoms (SMART-5), and those with moderate/severe vasomotor symptoms
      (SMART-2). Analyses were performed using SAS Proc Lifetest. RESULTS: With
      conjugated estrogens/MPA as comparator, median time to breast pain was 299 days
      for conjugated estrogens/MPA, 353 for placebo, and more than 365 (median not
      reached) for conjugated estrogens 0.45 mg/bazedoxifene 20 mg and conjugated
      estrogens 0.625 mg/bazedoxifene 20 mg. Median time to vaginal bleeding was 314,
      341, 357, and 362 days, respectively. Breast pain and vaginal bleeding survival
      curves were not significantly different for conjugated estrogens/bazedoxifene and
      placebo in any study, but were (P < 0.0001) when conjugated estrogens/MPA was
      added to the sample in SMART-5. CONCLUSIONS: The time course of breast pain and
      vaginal bleeding with conjugated estrogens/bazedoxifene was similar to that of
      placebo during treatment for up to 2 years. Events occurred significantly earlier
      with conjugated estrogens/MPA versus conjugated estrogens/bazedoxifene or
      placebo.

PMID- 28609390
TI  - Androgens in postmenopausal women: a review.
AB  - There is significant interest in the use of androgen therapy for postmenopausal
      women. This review provides background on endogenous androgens in women,
      describes factors that affect circulating androgen concentrations, and examines
      the relationship between low levels of androgens and sexual problems. Possible
      effects of androgens in postmenopausal women beyond sexual function also are
      discussed. Clinical trials of androgen therapy for the treatment of hypoactive
      sexual desire disorder are reviewed, with a discussion of potential risks. A
      practical approach to using androgens to treat low sexual desire with associated
      distress is presented, accompanied by an illustrative case.

PMID- 28609391
TI  - Promotion and marketing of bioidentical hormone therapy on the internet: a
      content analysis of websites.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of information presented and claims made on
      websites offering bioidentical hormone therapy (BHT) products or services.
      METHODS: A quantitative content analysis was completed on 100 websites promoting
      or offering BHT products or services. Websites were identified through Google
      search engine from September to October 2013. Search terms included "bioidentical
      hormone therapy" or "bioidentical progesterone," accompanied by "purchase or
      buy," "service," or "doctors." The Brief DISCERN instrument was used to determine
      the quality of the health information. RESULTS: Websites were from Canada (59%),
      United States (38%), and other countries (3%). Almost half of the websites
      originated from medical clinics (47%), and healthcare professionals offering BHT
      services included physicians (50%), pharmacists (19%), and naturopaths (16%).
      Majority of websites promoted BHT as custom-compounded formulations (62%), with
      only 27% indicating that BHT is also commercially available. Websites overall
      claimed that BHT had less risk compared with conventional hormone therapy (62%).
      BHT was described as having less breast cancer risk (40%), whereas over a quarter
      of websites described BHT as "protective" for breast cancer. Websites mainly
      targeted women (99%), with males mentioned in 62% of websites. Product
      descriptors used to promote BHT included individualization (77%), natural (70%),
      hormone imbalance (56%), and antiaging (50%). The mean Brief DISCERN score was
      15, indicating lower quality of information. CONCLUSIONS: Claims made about BHT
      on the internet are misleading and not consistent with current professional
      organizations' recommendations. Understanding how BHT may be promoted on the
      internet can help healthcare professionals when educating patients.

PMID- 28609392
TI  - The role of hormone therapy in the management of severe postpartum depression in
      patients with Turner syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Premature ovarian failure associated with Turner syndrome presents
      clinicians with a vast range of health concerns, including infertility,
      cardiovascular disease, and decreased bone mineral density, in addition to
      psychological sequelae. Hormone therapy is paramount in managing these
      complications, but the additional needs in the postpartum period for those who
      are able to carry out a successful pregnancy have not been described. METHODS: We
      present a case of severe postpartum depression (PPD) with psychotic features in a
      patient with Turner syndrome, which presented at 4 weeks after the birth of her
      first child via egg donation RESULTS:: We describe the case of a previously well
      32-year-old patient with an 46 X, i(Xq) karyotype, who went through a 4-week
      intensive inpatient treatment course for PPD, requiring electroconvulsant therapy
      for persistent infanticidal and suicidal ideation. It was hypothesized that an
      estrogen-depleted state secondary to premature ovarian insufficiency and
      lactation may have been more pronounced during her postpartum course when hormone
      levels dramatically decrease. To buffer the dramatic drop in sex steroid levels
      postpartum for her second pregnancy, she was immediately started on estrogen and
      progesterone replacement, and did not experience any change in mood or similar
      psychiatric disturbance during this postpartum course. Four years after the PPD
      episode, her mood remains stable. CONCLUSION: This case highlights the complex
      interplay between ovarian steroids, depletion of their levels, and psychiatric
      sequelae. The postpartum period represents a particularly vulnerable time for
      patients with premature ovarian insufficiency, which requires very close
      monitoring and early replacement of depleted hormone levels.

PMID- 28609393
TI  - Menopausal transition in Southern Europe: comparative study of women in Serbia
      and Portugal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess and compare general menopausal
      quality of life in Serbia and Portugal. METHODS: In all, 1,503 women aged between
      40 and 65 years from Belgrade, Serbia, and Lisbon, Portugal, were included in the
      study. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Utian Quality of Life (UQOL)
      scale were used in data collection. RESULTS: The average age of women was 50 (SD
      = 5.61) years. Serbian and Portuguese women differed in all sociodemographic
      characteristics except for body mass index (BMI) and relationship status. There
      were no significant differences in UQOL total score (P = 0.629) or UQOL sexual
      score (P = 0.396) between Serbian and Portuguese women. However, occupational (P
      < 0.001) and health (P = 0.003) scores were significantly higher in the Serbian
      sample, whereas Portuguese women had higher emotional scores (P < 0.001). Based
      on the total study sample, women with an average UQOL score were more highly
      educated, employed, non-smokers, and physically active, and more likely to obtain
      medical assistance for climacteric symptoms compared with women who reported
      lower UQOL score. In addition to these characteristics, women with a higher UQOL
      score had higher annual income, no recent illnesses, and optimal BMI compared
      with women who reported a lower UQOL score. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that
      diverse populations of midlife women can have similar perceptions of quality of
      life as it encompasses broad dimensions of menopausal somatic and psychosocial
      symptoms, as well as habits and lifestyle. Further comparative studies using the
      UQOL scale are warranted to offer more information on the delicate factors
      influencing well-being in climacteric women worldwide.

PMID- 28609394
TI  - Evaluation of depressive symptoms in mid-aged women: report of a multicenter
      South American study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate depressive symptoms and related factors among mid-aged
      women using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD
      10). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study in which women aged 40
      to 65 from various South American countries were surveyed with the CESD-10 and a
      general questionnaire containing personal and partner data. RESULTS: In all, 864
      women were interviewed from Colombia (Afro-Colombian, n = 215), Ecuador (Mestizo,
      n = 202), Peru (Quechua at high altitude, n = 231), and Paraguay (Mestizo, n =
      216). Mean age of the whole sample was 49.1 +/- 6.0 years. Although the rate of
      postmenopausal status was similar among studied sites, differences were observed
      in relation to age, parity, hormone therapy use, hot flush rate, sedentary
      lifestyle, chronic medical conditions, habits, and partner aspects. Median total
      CESD-10 score for all sites was 7.0, with a 36.0% (n = 311) having scores equal
      to 10 or more (suggestive of depressed mood). Higher scores were observed for
      Afro-Colombian and Quechua women, and also for postmenopausal and perimenopausal
      ones. Multivariate linear regression analysis found that depressed mood (higher
      CESD-10 total scores) was significantly associated with ethnicity (Afro
      Colombian), hot flush severity, hormone therapy use, sedentary lifestyle,
      postmenopause, perceived unhealthy status, and lower education. Higher monthly
      coital frequency and having a healthy partner without premature ejaculation was
      related to lower scores, hence less depressed mood. CONCLUSION: In this mid-aged
      female South American sample, depressive symptoms correlated to menopausal status
      and related aspects, ethnicity, and personal and partner issues. All these
      features require further research.

PMID- 28609395
TI  - PGYinfinity.

PMID- 28609397
TI  - Predictors for Frey Syndrome Development After Parotidectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frey syndrome is a common complication after parotidectomy. The aim
      of this study is to investigate potential predictors for development of Frey
      syndrome and explore their implications in additional prophylactic procedures. To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to address these issues.
      METHODS: A computer search was performed to identify all patients who received
      parotidectomy from January 2009 to December 2011 in Queen Mary Hospital, Hong
      Kong. Individual case notes were reviewed to retrieve details for analysis.
      RESULTS: A total of 155 parotidectomies were identified. Tumor size was the only
      statistically significant clinical predictor (Frey group: 43.5 +/- 38.4 mm vs No
      Frey group: 33.1 +/- 27.5 mm; P = 0.018). Disease pathology, type of resection,
      and previous treatments such as radiotherapy or parotidectomy did not appear to
      be associated with development of Frey syndrome.Post hoc analysis of our data
      showed that Frey incidence nearly doubled in patients with tumor size of 4 cm or
      greater (33%) compared to those with tumors that sized less than 4 cm (18%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Frey syndrome is common after parotidectomy. Tumor size is the only
      statistically significant predictor of its development. Routine preventive
      interventions, for example, use of acellular dermal matrix, dermofat graft or
      muscle flaps to prevent Frey syndrome, should be considered for high risk
      patients.

PMID- 28609398
TI  - Breast Reconstruction Using the Geometrically Modified Profunda Artery Perforator
      Flap from the Posteromedial Thigh Region: Combining the Benefits of Its
      Predecessors.

PMID- 28609399
TI  - The Combined Transverse Upper Gracilis and Profunda Artery Perforator Flap for
      Breast Reconstruction-Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 28609401
TI  - Randomized controlled trial of caregiver training for HIV-infected child
      neurodevelopment and caregiver well being.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: HIV infection places children at neurodevelopmental risk; for young
      children in poverty, risk is compounded by compromised caregiving quality. The
      mediational intervention for sensitizing caregivers (MISC) program trained
      caregivers on fostering daily interactions with young children. We hypothesized
      that MISC could enhance neurodevelopment of rural Ugandan HIV-infected children
      and improve mental health outcomes of their caregivers, which might mediate
      improved caregiving quality. DESIGN: A randomized trial of HIV-infected young
      children (ages 2-5 years) and their female caregivers; cluster randomization was
      to MISC or a nutrition curriculum. SETTING: A total of 18 geographic clusters in
      rural Uganda. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: Children and caregivers were evaluated at
      baseline, 6 months, 1 year, and 1-year post-training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Color-Object Association Test for memory,
      the Early Childhood Vigilance Test of attention, and the Behavior Rating
      Inventory of Executive Function for the children. Caregivers completed measures
      of depression and anxiety symptoms and daily functioning. RESULTS: MISC had a
      significant impact on postintervention receptive language (adjusted mean
      difference = 3.13, 95% confidence interval 0.08, 6.18) that persisted at 1-year
      follow-up. MISC caregivers reported significantly less functional impairment
      postprogram (adjusted mean difference = -0.15, 95% confidence interval -0.28, 
      0.01). Other outcomes were NS. CONCLUSION: Both intervention conditions resulted
      in improvements in the study children over time. MISC showed additional impacts
      on child language and caregiver well-being. Future directions that include
      assessing the extent enhanced language development resulting from improved
      caregiving may better prepare impoverished children for school.

PMID- 28609400
TI  - Cytomegalovirus viraemia is associated with poor growth and T-cell activation
      with an increased burden in HIV-exposed uninfected infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Factors associated with poor health in HIV-exposed-uninfected (HEU)
      infants are poorly defined. We describe the prevalence and correlates of
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) viraemia in HEU and HIV-unexposed-uninfected (HUU) infants,
      and quantify associations with anthropometric, haematological, and immunological
      outcomes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, including HEU and HUU infants from rural
      coastal Kenya. METHODS: Infants aged 2-8 months were studied. The primary outcome
      was CMV viraemia and viral load, determined by quantitative PCR. Correlates were
      tested by logistic and linear regression; coefficients were used to describe
      associations between CMV viraemia and clinical/immunological parameters. RESULTS:
      In total, 42 of 65 (64.6%) infants had CMV viraemia [median viral load, 3.0
      (interquartile ranges: 2.7-3.5) log10 IU/ml]. Compared to community controls, HEU
      infants had six-fold increased odds of being viraemic (adjusted odds ratio 5.95
      [95% confidence interval: 1.82-19.36], P = 0.003). Age, but not HEU/HUU status,
      was a strong correlate of CMV viral load (coefficient = -0.15, P = 0.009). CMV
      viral load associated negatively with weight-for-age (WAZ) Z-score (coefficient =
      -1.06, P = 0.008) and head circumference-for-age Z-score (coefficient =  -1.47,
      P = 0.012) and positively with CD8 T-cell coexpression of CD38/human leucocyte
      antigen DR (coefficient = 15.05, P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The odds of having CMV
      viraemia was six-fold greater in HEU than HUU infants when adjusted for age. CMV
      viral load was associated with adverse growth and heightened CD8 T-cell immune
      activation. Longitudinal assessments of the clinical effects of primary CMV
      infection and associated immunomodulation in early life in HEU and HUU
      populations are warranted.

PMID- 28609402
TI  - HIV-associated Kaposi sarcoma and related diseases.
AB  - : The search for the etiologic agent for Kaposi sarcoma led to the discovery of
      Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in 1994. KSHV, also called human
      herpesvirus-8, has since been shown to be the etiologic agent for several other
      tumors and diseases, including primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), an extracavitary
      variant of PEL, KSHV-associated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a form of
      multicentric Castleman disease, and KSHV inflammatory cytokine syndrome. KSHV
      encodes several genes that interfere with innate and specific immunity, thwart
      apoptosis, enhance cell proliferation and cytokine production, and promote
      angiogenesis, and these play important roles in disease pathogenesis. HIV is an
      important cofactor in Kaposi sarcoma pathogenesis, and widespread use of
      antiretroviral therapy has reduced Kaposi sarcoma incidence. However, Kaposi
      sarcoma remains the second most frequent tumor arising in HIV-infected patients
      in the United States and is particularly common in sub-Saharan Africa. KSHV
      prevalence varies substantially in different populations. KSHV is secreted in
      saliva, and public health measures to reduce its spread may help reduce the
      incidence of KSHV-associated diseases. Although there have been advances in the
      treatment of Kaposi sarcoma, KSHV-multicentric Castleman disease, and PEL,
      improved therapies are needed, especially those that are appropriate for Kaposi
      sarcoma in resource-poor regions.

PMID- 28609403
TI  - Early antiretroviral therapy reduces HIV DNA following perinatal HIV infection.
AB  - : The impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the size of the HIV reservoir has
      implications for virological remission in adults, but is not well characterized
      in perinatally acquired infection. In a prospective observational study of 20
      children with perinatally acquired infection and sustained viral suppression on
      ART for more than 5 years, proviral DNA was significantly higher in deferred (>4
      years) versus early (first year of life) ART recipients (P = 0.0062), and
      correlated with age of initiation (P = 0.13; r = 0.57). No difference was seen in
      cell-associated viral RNA (P = 0.36). Identifying paediatric populations with
      smaller reservoirs may inform strategies with potential to induce ART-free
      remission.

PMID- 28609405
TI  - Holistic Approaches to Mental Disorder: Mind, Body, Spirit, and Community.

PMID- 28609406
TI  - Motivators, Facilitators, and Barriers to Physical Activity in Older Adults: A
      Qualitative Study.
AB  - In this descriptive, qualitative research study, the researchers used
      semistructured interviews with older adults who engaged in regular physical
      activity to identify common motivators, facilitators, and barriers to
      participating in regular exercise. The authors used these interviews to identify
      major themes and discuss implications for population health.

PMID- 28609404
TI  - Infant/child rapid serology tests fail to reliably assess HIV exposure among sick
      hospitalized infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The WHO guidelines for infant and child HIV diagnosis recommend the
      use of maternal serology to determine child exposure status in ages 0-18 months,
      but suggest that infant serology can reliably be used to determine exposure for
      those less than 4 months. There is little evidence about the performance of these
      recommendations among hospitalized sick infants and children. METHODS: Within a
      clinical trial (NCT02063880) in Kenya, among children 18 months or younger,
      maternal and child rapid serologic HIV tests were performed in tandem. Dried
      blood spots were tested using HIV DNA PCR for all children whose mothers were
      seropositive, irrespective of child serostatus. We characterized the performance
      of infant/child serology results to detect HIV exposure in three age groups: 0-3,
      4-8, and 9-18 months. RESULTS: Among 65 maternal serology positive infants age 0
      3 months, 48 (74%), 1 (2%) and 16 (25%) had positive, indeterminate and negative
      infant serology results, respectively. Twelve (25%), 0 and 4 (25%) of those with
      positive, indeterminate and negative infant serology results, respectively, were
      HIV-infected by DNA PCR. Among 71 maternal serology positive infants age 4-8
      months, 31 (44%), 8 (11%) and 32 (45%) had positive, indeterminate and negative
      infant serology results, respectively. Fourteen (45%), 2 (25%) and 7 (22%)
      infants with positive, indeterminate and negative infant serology results,
      respectively, were HIV-infected. Among 67 maternal serology positive
      infants/children age 9-18 months, 40 (60%), 2 (3%) and 25 (37%) had positive,
      indeterminate and negative infant serology results, respectively. Thirty-six
      (90%), 2 (100%) and 2 (8%) infants with positive, indeterminate and negative
      infant serology results, respectively, were HIV-infected. In the 0-3, 4-8 and 9
      18 month age groups, use of maternal serology to define HIV exposure identified
      33% [95% confidence interval (CI) 10-65%], 44% (95% CI 20-70%) and 5% (95% CI 0.1
      18%) more HIV infections, respectively. CONCLUSION: Maternal serology should
      preferentially be used for screening among hospitalized infants of all ages to
      improve early diagnosis of children with HIV.

PMID- 28609407
TI  - Burnout and Mindfulness Self-Compassion in Nurses of Intensive Care Units: Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - Nursing staff has been identified as one of the main risk groups for the
      development of burnout. The objective of this study is to analyze the ability of
      self-compassion mindfulness related to burnout in nurses of intensive care units.
      The results show that the level of burnout of nursing staff is inversely related
      to their level of self-compassion.

PMID- 28609408
TI  - Feasibility of the Korean-Advance Directives Among Community-Dwelling Elderly
      Persons.
AB  - A newly developed Korean-Advance Directive (K-AD) consists of a value statement,
      treatment directives, and proxy appointment. It remains undetermined whether K-AD
      is applicable to community-dwelling persons (>= aged 60 years). Using a
      descriptive study design, 275 elderly persons completed the K-AD (mean age =
      77.28 +/- 8.24 years). The most frequent value at the end of life was comfort
      dying, followed by no burden to family (23.6%). Among 4 K-AD treatment options,
      more than half had a preference for hospice care and had reluctance with
      aggressive treatment choices of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (76.4%), artificial
      ventilation (75.6%), and tube feeding (76.4%), with one-fifth having a desire for
      such options. All persons provided proxies, who were predominantly descendants
      (77.1%), followed by spouses (17.5%). For treatment preferences, men and those
      with no religion were more likely to receive life-sustaining treatments. These
      data support the K-AD as being applicable and acceptable among community-dwelling
      elderly persons; awareness of the K-AD in the community setting may facilitate
      future application when the need occurs.

PMID- 28609409
TI  - Evolutionary Analysis of the Concept of Comfort.
AB  - Although comfort is cited as an important component of nursing care, a definition
      that provides a firm conceptual foundation for research and nursing science is
      still needed, particularly in nursing classifications and taxonomies. This
      article provides a clear and evidence-based definition, improving research,
      development, and implementation of specific nursing interventions.

PMID- 28609410
TI  - Effects of Aroma Gargling, Cold Water Gargling, and Wet Gauze Application on
      Thirst, Halitosis, and Sore Throat of Patients After Spine Surgery.
AB  - This study compared and examined the effects of aroma gargling, cold water
      gargling, and wet gauze application on thirst, halitosis, and sore throat in
      patients after spine surgery. A quasiexperimental pretest/posttest control group
      design was employed. Samples were total 70 patients (aroma gargling: 24 samples,
      cold gargling: 24 samples, and wet gauze: 22 samples) after spine surgery in K
      Hospital in Seoul, Korea. The aroma gargle solution as an experimental
      intervention was prepared by blending peppermint, tea tree, and lemon oils at a
      ratio of 1:2:2. A 60 cc of aroma gargle solution was used 3 times for 15 to 20
      seconds. The visual analog scale was used to measure the degrees of thirst and
      sore throat, and a portable device was used to examine the degree of halitosis.
      There were significant differences in the degrees of thirst, halitosis, and sore
      throat according to interaction between group and duration. In the comparison
      among 3 groups, aroma gargling provided better oral health by decreasing thirst,
      halitosis, and sore throat for patients with spine surgery. Aroma gargling can be
      utilized as an effective nursing intervention for decreasing thirst, halitosis,
      and sore throat for patients with spine surgery in clinical practice. Results
      suggest, therefore, that health professionals should consider an array of methods
      including aroma gargling for patients after spine surgery.

PMID- 28609411
TI  - Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program on the Physical and
      Psychological Status and Quality of Life in Patients With Metastatic Breast
      Cancer.
AB  - This nonequivalent control group pre-/posttest study investigated the
      effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program at improving both
      the physical status and psychological status of 18 patients with metastatic
      breast cancer. The mindfulness-based stress reduction program had a mild effect
      of improving average pain and alleviating distress.

PMID- 28609412
TI  - Microbiota in Neuropsychiatry, Part 3: Psychobiotics as Modulators of Mood
      Disorders.

PMID- 28609413
TI  - The Practical Struggles of Urinary Incontinence: Holistic Considerations.

PMID- 28609414
TI  - Taper Technology in Total Hip Arthroplasty.

PMID- 28609415
TI  - Effect of Povidone Iodine 5% on the Cornea, Vision, and Subjective Comfort.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the effects of povidone iodine 5% (Betadine 5%) applied to
      the eye on visual function, corneal integrity, and subjective complaints.
      METHODS: Ten subjects were chosen to participate in this study (average age 40.6
      +/- 19.6; age range 22-68). LogMAR acuity, contrast sensitivity, corneal
      fluorescein staining, and subjective complaints were measured before and after 60
      MUl of Betadine 5% or saline were applied to one eye (eligibility visit,
      baseline, 5, 30, and 60 minutes and 4 and 24 hours post-application). Contrast
      sensitivity at 14 cpd was determined with a spatial two-alternative, forced
      choice procedure (Beethoven software). The National Eye Institute (NEI) grid
      pattern was used to grade corneal staining with sodium fluorescein. To avoid the
      detrimental effects of sodium fluorescein administration on functional vision,
      the corneal staining baseline was measured at the eligibility visit. Subjective
      complaints were monitored using the Schein dry eye questionnaire. RESULTS: The
      data were analyzed with an ANOVA. Saline administration did not alter logMAR
      acuity, contrast sensitivity, corneal fluorescein staining, or subjective
      complaints at any visit. Betadine administration significantly reduced the logMAR
      acuity, compared to baseline and the saline data, at the 30- and 60-minute visits
      (all P values <.05). The contrast sensitivity was significantly reduced compared
      to the baseline and the saline results at 5, 30, and 60 minutes after Betadine
      application (all P values <.05). The Betadine significantly increased the Schein
      questionnaire score, compared both to baseline and the saline data, at the 1- and
      4-hour visits (all P values <.05). Total corneal staining and the maximum NEI
      sector staining were significantly different from baseline and from the saline
      results at every visit (all P values <.05). CONCLUSIONS: Betadine 5% application
      significantly decreases epithelial integrity of the cornea, decreases functional
      vision, and increases subjective complaints.

PMID- 28609416
TI  - Effect of Stimulus Type and Motion on Smooth Pursuit in Adults and Children.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study presents a two-degree customized animated stimulus developed
      to evaluate smooth pursuit in children and investigates the effect of its
      predetermined characteristics (stimulus type and size) in an adult population.
      Then, the animated stimulus is used to evaluate the impact of different pursuit
      motion paradigms in children. METHODS: To study the effect of animating a
      stimulus, eye movement recordings were obtained from 20 young adults while the
      customized animated stimulus and a standard dot stimulus were presented moving
      horizontally at a constant velocity. To study the effect of using a larger
      stimulus size, eye movement recordings were obtained from 10 young adults while
      presenting a standard dot stimulus of different size (1 degrees  and 2 degrees )
      moving horizontally at a constant velocity. Finally, eye movement recordings were
      obtained from 12 children while the 2 degrees  customized animated stimulus was
      presented after three different smooth pursuit motion paradigms. Performance
      parameters, including gains and number of saccades, were calculated for each
      stimulus condition. RESULTS: The animated stimulus produced in young adults
      significantly higher velocity gain (mean: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.90-0.96; P = .014),
      position gain (0.93; 0.85-1; P = .025), proportion of smooth pursuit (0.94; 0.91
      0.96, P = .002), and fewer saccades (5.30; 3.64-6.96, P = .008) than a standard
      dot (velocity gain: 0.87; 0.82-0.92; position gain: 0.82; 0.72-0.92; proportion
      smooth pursuit: 0.87; 0.83-0.90; number of saccades: 7.75; 5.30-10.46). In
      contrast, changing the size of a standard dot stimulus from 1 degrees  to 2
      degrees  did not have an effect on smooth pursuit in young adults (P > .05).
      Finally, smooth pursuit performance did not significantly differ in children for
      the different motion paradigms when using the animated stimulus (P > .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Attention-grabbing and more dynamic stimuli, such as the developed
      animated stimulus, might potentially be useful for eye movement research.
      Finally, with such stimuli, children perform equally well irrespective of the
      motion paradigm used.

PMID- 28609417
TI  - Visually Evoked Potential Markers of Concussion History in Patients with
      Convergence Insufficiency.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated whether differences in the pattern visual evoked
      potentials exist between patients with convergence insufficiency and those with
      convergence insufficiency and a history of concussion using stimuli designed to
      differentiate between magnocellular (transient) and parvocellular (sustained)
      neural pathways. METHODS: Sustained stimuli included 2-rev/s, 85% contrast
      checkerboard patterns of 1- and 2-degree check sizes, whereas transient stimuli
      comprised 4-rev/s, 10% contrast vertical sinusoidal gratings with column width of
      0.25 and 0.50 cycles/degree. We tested two models: an a priori clinical model
      based on an assumption of at least a minimal (beyond instrumentation's margin of
      error) 2-millisecond lag of transient response latencies behind sustained
      response latencies in concussed patients and a statistical model derived from the
      sample data. RESULTS: Both models discriminated between concussed and
      nonconcussed groups significantly above chance (with 76% and 86% accuracy,
      respectively). In the statistical model, patients with mean vertical sinusoidal
      grating response latencies greater than 119 milliseconds to 0.25-cycle/degree
      stimuli (or mean vertical sinusoidal latencies >113 milliseconds to 0.50
      cycle/degree stimuli) and mean vertical sinusoidal grating amplitudes of less
      than 14.75 mV to 0.50-cycle/degree stimuli were classified as having had a
      history of concussion. The resultant receiver operating characteristic curve for
      this model had excellent discrimination between the concussed and nonconcussed
      (area under the curve = 0.857; P < .01) groups with sensitivity of 0.92 and
      specificity of 0.80. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a promising
      electrophysiological approach to identifying individuals with convergence
      insufficiency and a history of concussion.

PMID- 28609418
TI  - Surround Propinquity and Tonic Accommodation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous studies of dark focus have found evidence of a propinquity
      response, in which subjects accommodate to the perceived distance of their
      surroundings despite being in absolute darkness. Their distance perception in a
      lighted room allows a spatial representation to persist within the darkened room.
      This study sought to establish the significance and magnitude of the propinquity
      response in a large sample of young adults, and to determine whether the
      propinquity response can be predicted by a subject's initial dark focus in an
      unknown dark room. METHODS: Dark focus was measured with a dynamic infrared
      optometer (Plusoptix PowerRef 3) in 30 young adult subjects, 26 of whom were
      naive to the testing room and its dimensions. Dark focus was then measured at
      varying dioptric wall distances of 0.25-4D. The subject viewed the lighted room
      before each measurement. For each individual, the dark focus was plotted as a
      function of dioptric wall distance. The slope of this function was used as a
      measure of the propinquity response. RESULTS: The mean initial dark focus value
      was 1.05D (SD 1.04D) for the 26 naive subjects. The mean slope of the plot of
      dark focus as a function of dioptric wall distance was small (+0.097), yet highly
      statistically significant (P = .0002). The propinquity response function showed
      no statistically significant quadratic or cubic trends, and so may be considered
      linear. No statistically significant correlation was found between naive dark
      focus and propinquity response (r = +0.246, P = .226). CONCLUSIONS: Propinquity
      seems to be a small but statistically significant factor in dark focus
      measurements. Though it is unlikely to contaminate tonic accommodation
      measurements in large samples under normal laboratory conditions, a minority of
      individuals exhibit large propinquity responses equal to that of proximal
      accommodation in lighted conditions.

PMID- 28609419
TI  - Retinal Macroaneurysm Associated with Congenital Anomalous Retinal Artery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Retinal arteriolar macroaneurysms are a common cause of vision loss in
      elderly patients with hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Their occurrence
      in the young, however, is not well known. The purpose of this article is to
      describe an unusual cause of retinal arteriolar macroaneurysm in a healthy young
      man. CASE REPORT: A 30-year-old man presented with preretinal hemorrhage and
      macular exudation due to ruptured retinal artery macroaneurysm. The patient was
      treated with intravitreal bevacizumab and laser photocoagulation to the
      macroaneurysm. The exudation and preretinal hemorrhage resolved over several
      months. Fluorescein angiogram at this stage revealed a congenital anomalous
      retinal artery. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital anomalous retinal artery may be
      associated with retinal artery macroaneurysm even in the young age in the absence
      of any other predisposing factors. The presentation and treatment of such retinal
      artery macroaneurysm, however, may remain the same to those that occur in older
      patients.

PMID- 28609420
TI  - Drugs for opioid Use disorder.

PMID- 28609421
TI  - Abuse-deterrent opioids.

PMID- 28609422
TI  - Comparison table: some drugs for maintenance treatment of opioid use disorder.

PMID- 28609423
TI  - Abaloparatide (Tymlos) for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

PMID- 28609424
TI  - Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) for MS.

PMID- 28609425
TI  - Acetylcysteine (Cetylev) for acetaminophen overdose.

PMID- 28609426
TI  - Obalon Balloon System--another gastric balloon for weight loss.

PMID- 28609427
TI  - Riboflavin (Photrexa) for ultraviolet light for progressive keratoconus.

PMID- 28609428
TI  - Comparison table: some drugs for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

PMID- 28609430
TI  - Polymorphisms in CYP2C9 are associated with response to indomethacin among
      neonates with patent ductus arteriosus.
AB  - BackgroundPatent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common complication seen in preterm
      infants. Indomethacin is routinely used to treat PDA. Evidence suggests that the
      response of indomethacin is highly heritable. This study investigated the
      association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CYP2C9 and the
      closure of PDA in response to indomethacin.MethodsSix SNPs in CYP2C9 were
      analyzed for association with indomethacin response. A case-control analysis was
      performed among neonates who responded to indomethacin (responders) and among
      those who required surgical ligation (non-responders). Independent transmission
      disequilibrium tests were performed among parent-child trios of responders and
      non-responders.ResultsThe G allele of rs2153628 was associated with increased
      odds of response to indomethacin in the case-control analysis (odds ratios (OR):
      1.918, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.056, 3.483). Among indomethacin
      responders, the G allele of rs2153628 and the T allele of rs1799853 were
      overtransmitted from the parents to their child (OR: 2.667, 95% CI: 1.374, 5.177
      and OR: 2.375, 95% CI: 1.040, 5.425, respectively), consistent with the case
      control analysis.ConclusionWe identified an association between two SNPs in
      CYP2C9, rs2153628 and rs1799853, and indomethacin response for the treatment of
      PDA. These findings suggest that response to indomethacin in the closure of PDA
      may be influenced by polymorphisms associated with altered indomethacin
      metabolism.

PMID- 28609429
TI  - Reciprocal Evolution of Opiate Science from Medical and Cultural Perspectives.
AB  - Over the course of human history, it has been common to use plants for medicinal
      purposes, such as for providing relief from particular maladies and self
      medication. Opium represents one longstanding remedy that has been used to
      address a range of medical conditions, alleviating discomfort often in ways that
      have proven pleasurable. Opium is a combination of compounds obtained from the
      mature fruit of opium poppy, papaver somniferum. Morphine and its biosynthetic
      precursors thebaine and codeine constitute the main bioactive opiate alkaloids
      contained in opium. Opium usage in ancient cultures is well documented, as is its
      major extract morphine. The presence of endogenous opiate alkaloids and opioid
      peptides in animals owe their discovery to their consistent actions at particular
      concentrations via stereo select receptors. In vitro expression of morphine
      within a microbiological industrial setting underscores the role it plays as a
      multi-purpose pharmacological agent, as well as reinforcing why it can also lead
      to long-term social dependence. Furthermore, it clearly establishes a reciprocal
      effect of human intelligence on modifying evolutionary processes in papaver
      somniferum and related plant species.

PMID- 28609431
TI  - Polymorphisms in urea cycle enzyme genes are associated with persistent pulmonary
      hypertension of the newborn.
AB  - BackgroundPersistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is
      characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance. Endogenous nitric oxide
      is critical for regulation of pulmonary vascular resistance. Nitric oxide is
      generated from L-arginine, supplied by the urea cycle (UC). We hypothesized that
      polymorphisms in UC enzyme genes and low concentrations of UC intermediates are
      associated with PPHN.MethodsWe performed a family-based candidate gene analysis
      to study 48 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in six UC enzyme genes.
      Genotyping was carried out in 94 infants with PPHN and their parents. We also
      performed a case-control analysis of 32 cases with PPHN and 64 controls to
      identify an association between amino-acid levels on initial newborn screening
      and PPHN.ResultsThree SNPs (rs41272673, rs4399666, and rs2287599) in carbamoyl
      phosphate synthase 1 gene (CPS1) showed a significant association with PPHN
      (P=0.02). Tyrosine levels were significantly lower (P=0.003) and phenylalanine
      levels were significantly higher (P=0.01) in cases with PPHN. There was no
      difference in the arginine or citrulline levels between the two
      groups.ConclusionsThis study suggests an association (P<0.05) between SNPs in
      CPS1 and PPHN. These findings warrant further replication in larger cohorts of
      patients.

PMID- 28609433
TI  - Prioritising action on occupational carcinogens in Europe: a socioeconomic and
      health impact assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Work-related cancer is an important public health issue with a large
      financial impact on society. The key European legislative instrument is the
      Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (2004/37/EC). In preparation for updating the
      Directive, the European Commission commissioned a study to provide a
      socioeconomic, health and environmental impact assessment. METHODS: The
      evaluation was undertaken for 25 preselected hazardous substances or mixtures.
      Estimates were made of the number of cases of cancer attributable to workplace
      exposure, both currently and in the future, with and without any regulatory
      interventions, and these data were used to estimate the financial health costs
      and benefits. RESULTS: It was estimated that if no action is taken there will be
      >700 000 attributable cancer deaths over the next 60 years for the substances
      assessed. However, there are only seven substances where the data suggest a clear
      benefit in terms of avoided cancer cases from introducing a binding limit at the
      levels considered. Overall, the costs of the proposed interventions were very
      high (up to [euro ]34 000 million) and the associated monetised health benefits
      were mostly less than the compliance costs. CONCLUSIONS: The strongest cases for
      the introduction of a limit value are for: respirable crystalline silica,
      hexavalent chromium, and hardwood dust.

PMID- 28609432
TI  - Protective effects of amniotic fluid in the setting of necrotizing enterocolitis.
AB  - Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common life threatening condition
      affecting preterm infants. NEC occurs in 1-5% of all neonatal intensive care
      admissions and 5-10% of very low birth weight infants. The protective role of
      human breast milk (BM) has been well established. It has also been shown that
      amniotic fluid (AF) and BM have many similarities in terms of presence of growth
      and other immune-modulatory factors. This finding led to the initial hypothesis
      that AF may exert similar protective effects against the development of NEC, as
      does BM. Multiple studies have elucidated the presence of growth factors in AF
      and the protective effect of AF against NEC. Studies have also described possible
      mechanisms how AF protects against NEC. At present, research in this particular
      area is extremely active and robust. This review summarizes the various studies
      looking at the protective effects of AF against the development of NEC. It also
      provides an insight into future directions, the vast potential of AF as a readily
      available biologic medium, and the ethical barriers that must be overcome before
      using AF.

PMID- 28609434
TI  - Pharmacologically directed strategies in academic anticancer drug discovery based
      on the European NCI compounds initiative.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The European NCI compounds programme, a joint initiative of the EORTC
      Research Branch, Cancer Research Campaign and the US National Cancer Institute,
      was initiated in 1993. The objective was to help the NCI in reducing the backlog
      of in vivo testing of potential anticancer compounds, synthesised in Europe that
      emerged from the NCI in vitro 60-cell screen. METHODS: Over a period of more than
      twenty years the EORTC-Cancer Research Campaign panel reviewed ~2000 compounds of
      which 95 were selected for further evaluation. Selected compounds were stepwise
      developed with clear go/no go decision points using a pharmacologically directed
      programme. RESULTS: This approach eliminated quickly compounds with unsuitable
      pharmacological properties. A few compounds went into Phase I clinical
      evaluation. The lessons learned and many of the principles outlined in the paper
      can easily be applied to current and future drug discovery and development
      programmes. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the review panel, restrictions regarding
      numbers and types of compounds tested in the NCI in vitro screen and the
      appearance of targeted agents led to the discontinuation of the European NCI
      programme in 2017 and its transformation into an academic platform of excellence
      for anticancer drug discovery and development within the EORTC-PAMM group. This
      group remains open for advice and collaboration with interested parties in the
      field of cancer pharmacology.

PMID- 28609435
TI  - Predicting Infectious ComplicatioNs in Children with Cancer: an external
      validation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to validate the 'Predicting Infectious
      ComplicatioNs in Children with Cancer' (PICNICC) clinical decision rule (CDR)
      that predicts microbiologically documented infection (MDI) in children with
      cancer and fever and neutropenia (FN). We also investigated costs associated with
      current FN management strategies in Australia. METHODS: Demographic, episode,
      outcome and cost data were retrospectively collected on 650 episodes of FN. We
      assessed the discrimination, calibration, sensitivity and specificity of the
      PICNICC CDR in our cohort compared with the derivation data set. RESULTS: Using
      the original variable coefficients, the CDR performed poorly. After recalibration
      the PICNICC CDR had an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC-ROC)
      curve of 0.638 (95% CI 0.590-0.685) and calibration slope of 0.24. The
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value
      of the PICNICC CDR at presentation was 78.4%, 39.8%, 28.6% and 85.7%,
      respectively. For bacteraemia, the sensitivity improved to 85.2% and AUC-ROC to
      0.71. Application at day 2, taking into consideration the proportion of MDI known
      (43%), further improved the sensitivity to 87.7%. Length of stay is the main
      contributor to cost of FN treatment, with an average cost per day of AUD 2183 in
      the low-risk group. CONCLUSIONS: For prediction of any MDI, the PICNICC rule did
      not perform as well at presentation in our cohort as compared with the derivation
      study. However, for bacteraemia, the predictive ability was similar to that of
      the derivation study, highlighting the importance of recalibration using local
      data. Performance also improved after an overnight period of observation.
      Implementation of a low-risk pathway, using the PICNICC CDR after a short period
      of inpatient observation, is likely to be safe and has the potential to reduce
      health-care expenditure.

PMID- 28609437
TI  - Shifting brucellosis risk in livestock coincides with spreading seroprevalence in
      elk.
AB  - Tracking and preventing the spillover of disease from wildlife to livestock can
      be difficult when rare outbreaks occur across large landscapes. In these cases,
      broad scale ecological studies could help identify risk factors and patterns of
      risk to inform management and reduce incidence of disease. Between 2002 and 2014,
      21 livestock herds in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) were affected by
      brucellosis, a bacterial disease caused by Brucella abortus, while no affected
      herds were detected between 1990 and 2001. Using a Bayesian analysis, we examined
      several ecological covariates that may be associated with affected livestock
      herds across the region. We showed that livestock risk has been increasing over
      time and expanding outward from the historical nexus of brucellosis in wild elk
      on Wyoming's feeding grounds where elk are supplementally fed during the winter.
      Although elk were the presumed source of cattle infections, occurrences of
      affected livestock herds were only weakly associated with the density of
      seropositive elk across the GYA. However, the shift in livestock risk did
      coincide with recent increases in brucellosis seroprevalence in unfed elk
      populations. As increasing brucellosis in unfed elk likely stemmed from high
      levels of the disease in fed elk, disease-related costs of feeding elk have
      probably been incurred across the entire GYA, rather than solely around the
      feeding grounds. Our results suggest that focused disease mitigation in areas
      where seroprevalence in unfed elk is high could reduce the spillover of
      brucellosis to livestock. We also highlight the need to better understand the
      epidemiology of spillover events with detailed histories of disease testing,
      calving, and movement of infected livestock. Finally, we recommend using case
      control studies to investigate local factors important to livestock risk.

PMID- 28609436
TI  - Cleavage of the SUN-domain protein Mps3 at its N-terminus regulates centrosome
      disjunction in budding yeast meiosis.
AB  - Centrosomes organize microtubules and are essential for spindle formation and
      chromosome segregation during cell division. Duplicated centrosomes are
      physically linked, but how this linkage is dissolved remains unclear. Yeast
      centrosomes are tethered by a nuclear-envelope-attached structure called the half
      bridge, whose components have mammalian homologues. We report here that cleavage
      of the half-bridge protein Mps3 promotes accurate centrosome disjunction in
      budding yeast. Mps3 is a single-pass SUN-domain protein anchored at the inner
      nuclear membrane and concentrated at the nuclear side of the half-bridge. Using
      the unique feature in yeast meiosis that centrosomes are linked for hours before
      their separation, we have revealed that Mps3 is cleaved at its nucleus-localized
      N-terminal domain, the process of which is regulated by its phosphorylation at
      serine 70. Cleavage of Mps3 takes place at the yeast centrosome and requires
      proteasome activity. We show that noncleavable Mps3 (Mps3-nc) inhibits centrosome
      separation during yeast meiosis. In addition, overexpression of mps3-nc in
      vegetative yeast cells also inhibits centrosome separation and is lethal. Our
      findings provide a genetic mechanism for the regulation of SUN-domain protein
      mediated activities, including centrosome separation, by irreversible protein
      cleavage at the nuclear periphery.

PMID- 28609438
TI  - PEG3 control on the mammalian MSL complex.
AB  - Peg3 (paternally expressed gene 3) encodes a DNA-binding protein that functions
      as a transcriptional repressor. Recent studies revealed that PEG3 binds to Msl1
      (male-specific lethal 1) and Msl3, the two main components of the MSL complex. In
      the current study, we investigated potential roles of Peg3 in controlling its
      downstream genes through H4K16ac, the histone modification by the MSL complex.
      According to the results, complete removal of PEG3 resulted in up-regulation of
      Msl1 and Msl3, and subsequently an increase in the global levels of H4K16ac,
      confirming PEG3 as a transcriptional repressor for MSL during mammalian
      development. Genome-wide analyses further revealed that about 10% of the entire
      gene catalogue was affected in the MEF cells lacking PEG3, displaying the
      increased levels of H4K16ac in their promoter regions. The expression levels of a
      small subset of the affected genes were up-regulated in the MEF cells lacking
      PEG3. Interestingly, three Hox clusters also exhibited changes in the levels of
      H4K16ac, suggesting potential roles of PEG3 and MSL in the regulation of Hox
      clusters. Overall, the current study reports that Peg3 may control its downstream
      genes through mammalian MSL.

PMID- 28609439
TI  - Interventions for treating patients with chikungunya virus infection-related
      rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chikungunya virus infection (CHIKV) is caused by a mosquito-borne
      alphavirus. CHIKV causes high fever and painful rheumatic disorders that may
      persist for years. Because little is known about interventions for treating CHIKV
      related illness, we conducted a systematic review. METHODS: We used Cochrane
      methods. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, LILACS and other sources
      from the earliest records to March 2016. We had no language restrictions. We
      included randomized controlled trials assessing any intervention for treating
      acute or chronic CHIKV-related illness. Our primary outcomes were pain relief,
      global health status (GHS) or health related quality of life (HRQL), and serious
      adverse events (SAEs). We assessed bias risk with the Cochrane tool and used
      GRADE to assess evidence quality. RESULTS: We screened 2,229 records and found
      five small trials with a total of 402 participants. Patients receiving
      chloroquine (CHQ) had better chronic pain relief than those receiving placebo
      (relative risk [RR] 2.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23 to 5.77, N = 54), but
      acute pain relief was marginally not different between groups (mean difference
      [MD] 1.46, 95% CI 0.00 to 2.92, N = 54). SAEs were similar (RR = 15.00, 95% CI
      0.90 to 250.24, N = 54). Comparing CHQ with paracetamol (PCM), CHQ patients had
      better pain relief (RR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.93, N = 86). Compared with
      hydroxychloroquine (HCHQ), disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
      reduced pain (MD = -14.80, 95% CI -19.12 to -10.48, N = 72). DMARDs patients had
      less disability (MD = -0.74, 95% CI -0.92 to -0.56, N = 72) and less disease
      activity (MD = -1.35; 95% CI -1.70 to -1.00; N = 72). SAEs were similar between
      DMARDs and HCHQ groups (RR = 2.84, 95% CI 0.12 to 67.53, N = 72). Comparing
      meloxicam (MXM) with CHQ, there was no difference in pain relief (MD = 0.24, 95%
      CI = -0.81 to 1.29; p = 0.65, N = 70), GHS or HRQL (MD = -0.31, 95% CI -2.06 to
      1.44, N = 70) or SAEs (RR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.30 to 2.42, N = 70). Finally, a four
      arm trial (N = 120) compared aceclofenac (ACF) monotherapy to ACF+HCHQ, ACF+
      prednisolone (PRD), or ACF+HCHQ+PRD. Investigators found reduced pain (p<0.001)
      and better HRQL (p<0.001) in the two patient groups receiving PRD, compared to
      those receiving ACF monotherapy or ACF+HCHQ. Trials were at high risk of bias.
      GRADE evidence quality for all outcomes was very low. CONCLUSION: Results from
      these small trials provide insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about the
      efficacy or safety of CHIKV interventions. Physicians should be cautious in
      prescribing and policy-makers should be cautious in recommending any intervention
      reviewed here. Rigorous trials with sufficient statistical power are urgently
      needed, with results stratified by disease stage and symptomology.

PMID- 28609440
TI  - Protective mental health factors in children of parents with alcohol and drug use
      disorders: A systematic review.
AB  - Children of parents with drug and alcohol use disorders often grow up under
      severe stress and are at greater risk of developing psychological and social
      problems. However, a substantial proportion of affected children adapt to their
      distressing life conditions and show positive development in terms of their
      mental health. These children are described as resilient. One difference between
      resilient and maladapted children is the presence of protective factors. The aim
      of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the current state of the
      research concerning protective mental health factors in children of parents with
      alcohol or drug use disorders (COPAD). For that purpose, the PsychInfo, PubMed,
      CINAHL and ISI Web of Science databases were searched through January 2017. All
      the identified publications were screened using previously developed inclusion
      criteria. The search yielded 3,402 articles. Eleven of these publications (2003
      2013) met the criteria for inclusion in the present review. Information on the
      studies was extracted using an extraction form. A narrative analysis was
      performed, and the methodological quality was examined using a checklist based on
      the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The research identified familial, parental,
      child-related and biological factors that influenced mental health outcomes in
      affected children (N = 1,376, age range = 1-20 years). Overall, protective mental
      health factors are understudied in this target group. Most of the included
      studies were conducted in the United States and employed a cross-sectional
      design. A comparison of the included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
      indicated consistent results related to a secure parent-child attachment. Based
      on the current state of the research, no causal conclusions with regard to the
      effectiveness of protective factors can be drawn. To develop effective prevention
      programs, further longitudinal studies and studies assessing the interactions
      between risk and protective factors are needed.

PMID- 28609441
TI  - Workplace violence against medical staff of Chinese children's hospitals: A cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In China, medical staff of children's hospitals are commonly exposed
      to violence. However, few studies on medical violence are conducted in the
      settings of children's hospitals. The aim of this study is to assess the
      incidence, magnitude, consequences, and potential risk factors of workplace
      violence (WPV) against medical staff of children's hospitals. METHODS: A
      retrospective cross-sectional design was used. A self-administered questionnaire
      was utilized to collect data on 12 children's hospitals. The questionnaires were
      distributed to a stratified proportional random sample of 2,400 medical staff;
      1,932 valid questionnaires were collected. A chi-square test and multiple
      logistic regression analysis were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 68.6% of
      respondents had experienced at least one WPV incident involving non-physical
      and/or physical violence in the past year. The perpetrators were mainly family
      members of patients (94.9%). Most of the WPV occurred during the day shift
      (70.7%) and in wards (41.8%). Males were 1.979 times (95% CI, 1.378 to 2.841)
      more likely than females to experience physical violence. Emergency departments
      were more exposed to physical violence than other departments. Oncology was 2.733
      times (95% CI, 1.126 to 6.633) more exposed to non-physical violence than the
      emergency department. As a result of WPV, victims felt aggrieved and angry, work
      enthusiasm declined, and work efficiency was reduced. However, only 5.6% of the
      victims received psychological counseling. CONCLUSION: Medical staff are at high
      risk of violence in China's children's hospitals. Hospital administrators and
      related departments should pay attention to the consequences of these incidents.
      There is a need for preventive measures to protect medical staff and provide a
      safer workplace environment. Our results can provide reference information for
      intervention strategies and safety measures.

PMID- 28609442
TI  - The US President's Malaria Initiative and under-5 child mortality in sub-Saharan
      Africa: A difference-in-differences analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite substantial financial contributions by the United States
      President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) since 2006, no studies have carefully
      assessed how this program may have affected important population-level health
      outcomes. We utilized multiple publicly available data sources to evaluate the
      association between introduction of PMI and child mortality rates in sub-Saharan
      Africa (SSA). METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used difference-in-differences analyses to
      compare trends in the primary outcome of under-5 mortality rates and secondary
      outcomes reflecting population coverage of malaria interventions in 19 PMI
      recipient and 13 non-recipient countries between 1995 and 2014. The analyses
      controlled for presence and intensity of other large funding sources, individual
      and household characteristics, and country and year fixed effects. PMI program
      implementation was associated with a significant reduction in the annual risk of
      under-5 child mortality (adjusted risk ratio [RR] 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96). Each
      dollar of per-capita PMI expenditures in a country, a measure of PMI intensity,
      was also associated with a reduction in child mortality (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.78
      0.93). We estimated that the under-5 mortality rate in PMI countries was reduced
      from 28.9 to 24.3 per 1,000 person-years. Population coverage of insecticide
      treated nets increased by 8.34 percentage points (95% CI 0.86-15.83) and coverage
      of indoor residual spraying increased by 6.63 percentage points (95% CI 0.79
      12.47) after PMI implementation. Per-capita PMI spending was also associated with
      a modest increase in artemisinin-based combination therapy coverage (3.56
      percentage point increase, 95% CI -0.07-7.19), though this association was only
      marginally significant (p = 0.054). Our results were robust to several
      sensitivity analyses. Because our study design leaves open the possibility of
      unmeasured confounding, we cannot definitively interpret these results as causal.
      CONCLUSIONS: PMI may have significantly contributed to reducing the burden of
      malaria in SSA and reducing the number of child deaths in the region.
      Introduction of PMI was associated with increased coverage of malaria prevention
      technologies, which are important mechanisms through which child mortality can be
      reduced. To our knowledge, this study is the first to assess the association
      between PMI and all-cause child mortality in SSA with the use of appropriate
      comparison groups and adjustments for regional trends in child mortality.

PMID- 28609443
TI  - Real-time computed tomography fluoroscopy-guided solitary lung tumor model in a
      rabbit.
AB  - Preclinical studies of lung cancer require suitable large-animal models to allow
      evaluation and development of surgical and interventional techniques. We assessed
      the feasibility and safety of a novel rabbit lung cancer model of solitary
      tumors, in which real-time computed tomography fluoroscopy is used to guide
      inoculation of VX2 carcinoma single-cell suspensions. Thirty-eight rabbits were
      divided into four groups according to the volume of the VX2 tissue or cell
      suspension, the volume of lipiodol, the volume of Matrigel, and the injection
      needle size. The mixtures were percutaneously injected into rabbit lungs under
      real-time computed tomography fluoroscopy guidance. Two weeks later, VX2 lung
      carcinomas were confirmed via positron emission tomography/computed tomography,
      necropsy, and histology. Real-time computed tomography fluoroscopy allowed the
      precise inoculation of the tumor cell suspensions containing lipiodol, while the
      use of Matrigel and a small needle prevented leakage of the suspensions into the
      lung parenchyma. Solitary lung tumors were successfully established in rabbits (n
      = 22) inoculated with single-cell suspensions (150 MUL), lipiodol (150 MUL), and
      Matrigel (150 MUL) using a 26-gauge needle. This combination was determined to be
      optimal. Pneumothorax was observed in only two of the 38 rabbits (5.3%), both of
      which survived to the end of the study without any intervention. Real-time
      computed tomography fluoroscopy-guided inoculation of VX2 single-cell suspensions
      with lipiodol and Matrigel using a small needle is an easy and safe method to
      establish solitary lung tumors in rabbits.

PMID- 28609444
TI  - Identification of compounds that suppress Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and
      bradyzoites.
AB  - Drug treatment for toxoplasmosis is problematic, because current drugs cannot
      eradicate latent infection with Toxoplasma gondii and can cause bone marrow
      toxicity. Because latent infection remains after treatment, relapse of infection
      is a problem in both infections in immunocompromised patients and in congenitally
      infected patients. To identify lead compounds for novel drugs against Toxoplasma
      gondii, we screened a chemical compound library for anti-Toxoplasma activity,
      host cell cytotoxicity, and effect on bradyzoites. Of 878 compounds screened, 83
      demonstrated >90% parasite growth inhibition. After excluding compounds that
      affected host cell viability, we further characterized two compounds, tanshinone
      IIA and hydroxyzine, which had IC50 values for parasite growth of 2.5 MUM and 1.0
      MUM, respectively, and had no effect on host cell viability at 25 MUM. Both
      tanshinone IIA and hydroxyzine inhibited parasite replication after invasion and
      both reduced the number of in vitro-induced bradyzoites, whereas, pyrimethamine,
      the current therapy, had no effect on bradyzoites. Both tanshinone IIA and
      hydroxyzine are potent lead compounds for further medicinal chemistry. The method
      presented for evaluating compounds for bradyzoite efficacy represents a new
      approach to the development of anti-Toxoplasma drugs to eliminate latency and
      treat acute infection.

PMID- 28609445
TI  - Estimating the causal influence of body mass index on risk of Parkinson disease:
      A Mendelian randomisation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both positive and negative associations between higher body mass
      index (BMI) and Parkinson disease (PD) have been reported in observational
      studies, but it has been difficult to establish causality because of the
      possibility of residual confounding or reverse causation. To our knowledge,
      Mendelian randomisation (MR)-the use of genetic instrumental variables (IVs) to
      explore causal effects-has not previously been used to test the effect of BMI on
      PD. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Two-sample MR was undertaken using genome-wide
      association (GWA) study data. The associations between the genetic instruments
      and BMI were obtained from the GIANT consortium and consisted of the per-allele
      difference in mean BMI for 77 independent variants that reached genome-wide
      significance. The per-allele difference in log-odds of PD for each of these
      variants was estimated from a recent meta-analysis, which included 13,708 cases
      of PD and 95,282 controls. The inverse-variance weighted method was used to
      estimate a pooled odds ratio (OR) for the effect of a 5-kg/m2 higher BMI on PD.
      Evidence of directional pleiotropy averaged across all variants was sought using
      MR-Egger regression. Frailty simulations were used to assess whether causal
      associations were affected by mortality selection. A combined genetic IV expected
      to confer a lifetime exposure of 5-kg/m2 higher BMI was associated with a lower
      risk of PD (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.69-0.98). MR-Egger regression gave similar results,
      suggesting that directional pleiotropy was unlikely to be biasing the result
      (intercept 0.002; p = 0.654). However, the apparent protective influence of
      higher BMI could be at least partially induced by survival bias in the PD GWA
      study, as demonstrated by frailty simulations. Other important limitations of
      this application of MR include the inability to analyse non-linear associations,
      to undertake subgroup analyses, and to gain mechanistic insights. CONCLUSIONS: In
      this large study using two-sample MR, we found that variants known to influence
      BMI had effects on PD in a manner consistent with higher BMI leading to lower
      risk of PD. The mechanism underlying this apparent protective effect warrants
      further study.

PMID- 28609446
TI  - Are sex ratio distorting endosymbionts responsible for mating system variation
      among dance flies (Diptera: Empidinae)?
AB  - Maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts are common in many arthropod
      species. Some endosymbionts cause female-biased sex ratio distortion in their
      hosts that can result in profound changes to a host's mating behaviour and
      reproductive biology. Dance flies (Diptera: Empidinae) are well known for their
      unusual reproductive biology, including species with female-specific
      ornamentation and female-biased lek-like swarming behaviour. The cause of the
      repeated evolution of female ornaments in these flies remains unknown, but is
      probably associated with female-biased sex ratios in individual species. In this
      study we assessed whether dance flies harbour sex ratio distorting endosymbionts
      that might have driven these mating system evolutionary changes. We measured the
      incidence and prevalence of infection by three endosymbionts that are known to
      cause female-biased sex ratios in other insect hosts (Wolbachia, Rickettsia and
      Spiroplasma) across 20 species of dance flies. We found evidence of widespread
      infection by all three symbionts and variation in sex-specific prevalence across
      the taxa sampled. However, there was no relationship between infection prevalence
      and adult sex ratio measures and no evidence that female ornaments are associated
      with high prevalences of sex-biased symbiont infections. We conclude that the
      current distribution of endosymbiont infections is unlikely to explain the
      diversity in mating systems among dance fly species.

PMID- 28609447
TI  - Blood biomarkers in male and female participants after an Ironman-distance
      triathlon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While overall physical activity is clearly associated with a better
      short-term and long-term health, prolonged strenuous physical activity may result
      in a rise in acute levels of blood-biomarkers used in clinical practice for
      diagnosis of various conditions or diseases. In this study, we explored the acute
      effects of a full Ironman-distance triathlon on biomarkers related to heart-,
      liver-, kidney- and skeletal muscle damage immediately post-race and after one
      week's rest. We also examined if sex, age, finishing time and body composition
      influenced the post-race values of the biomarkers. METHODS: A sample of 30
      subjects was recruited (50% women) to the study. The subjects were evaluated for
      body composition and blood samples were taken at three occasions, before the race
      (T1), immediately after (T2) and one week after the race (T3). Linear regression
      models were fitted to analyse the independent contribution of sex and finishing
      time controlled for weight, body fat percentage and age, on the biomarkers at the
      termination of the race (T2). Linear mixed models were fitted to examine if the
      biomarkers differed between the sexes over time (T1-T3). RESULTS: Being male was
      a significant predictor of higher post-race (T2) levels of myoglobin, CK, and
      creatinine levels and body weight was negatively associated with myoglobin. In
      general, the models were unable to explain the variation of the dependent
      variables. In the linear mixed models, an interaction between time (T1-T3) and
      sex was seen for myoglobin and creatinine, in which women had a less pronounced
      response to the race. CONCLUSION: Overall women appear to tolerate the effects of
      prolonged strenuous physical activity better than men as illustrated by their
      lower values of the biomarkers both post-race as well as during recovery.

PMID- 28609448
TI  - alpha-Copaene is an attractant, synergistic with quercivorol, for improved
      detection of Euwallacea nr. fornicatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae).
AB  - The tea shot-hole borer, Euwallacea fornicatus Eichhoff, is an ambrosia beetle
      endemic to Asia and a pest of commercial tea, Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze.
      Recently, a complex of species morphologically similar to E. fornicatus has been
      recognized, which includes new pests established in Israel and the USA, both in
      California and Florida. Collectively termed E. nr. fornicatus, these cryptic
      species carry symbiotic Fusarium spp. fungi, some of which cause dieback disease
      in susceptible hosts, which include avocado, Persea americana Miller. Due to the
      threat to this economically important crop, research was initiated to evaluate
      efficacy of kairomone-based lures for detection of the beetle in Florida (termed
      the Florida tea shot hole borer, FL-TSHB). A series of field tests were conducted
      in 2016 in commercial avocado groves known to have FL-TSHB at various population
      levels. All tests evaluated lures containing quercivorol (p-menth-2-en-1-ol) and
      alpha-copaene, presented separately and in combination; and one test evaluated
      effect of trap type on beetle captures. In addition, electroantennography (EAG)
      was used to quantify female olfactory responses to lure emissions. This study
      identified (-)-alpha-copaene as a new attractant for FL-TSHB, equivalent in
      efficacy to quercivorol (the standard lure for Euwallacea detection in the USA);
      however, the combination of lures captured significantly more FL-TSHB than either
      lure alone. This combination resulted in synergistic attraction at two field
      sites and additive attraction at a third site. Sticky panel traps captured more
      FL-TSHB than comparably-baited Lindgren funnel traps. Females engaged in host
      seeking flight from 11:00 to 16:00 hr (EST), with peak numbers observed between
      12:00 and 13:00 hr. EAG analyses confirmed olfactory chemoreception of both
      kairomones, with a higher response elicited with the combination of volatiles.
      Results indicate that detection of pest E. nr. fornicatus in Florida can be
      improved by using a two-component lure consisting of p-menth-2-en-1-ol and (-)
      alpha-copaene.

PMID- 28609449
TI  - Development of next generation sequencing panel for UMOD and association with
      kidney disease.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a prevalence of approximately 10% in adult
      populations. CKD can progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and this is
      usually fatal unless some form of renal replacement therapy (chronic dialysis or
      renal transplantation) is provided. There is an inherited predisposition to CKD
      with several genetic risk markers now identified. The UMOD gene has been
      associated with CKD of varying aetiologies. An AmpliSeq next generation
      sequencing panel was developed to facilitate comprehensive sequencing of the UMOD
      gene, covering exonic and regulatory regions. SNPs and CpG sites in the genomic
      region encompassing UMOD were evaluated for association with CKD in two studies;
      the UK Wellcome Trust Case-Control 3 Renal Transplant Dysfunction Study (n =
      1088) and UK-ROI GENIE GWAS (n = 1726). A technological comparison of two Ion
      Torrent machines revealed 100% allele call concordance between S5 XLTM and PGMTM
      machines. One SNP (rs183962941), located in a non-coding region of UMOD, was
      nominally associated with ESRD (p = 0.008). No association was identified between
      UMOD variants and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Analysis of methylation
      data for over 480,000 CpG sites revealed differential methylation patterns within
      UMOD, the most significant of these was cg03140788 p = 3.7 x 10-10.

PMID- 28609451
TI  - Anti-cancer agents in Saudi Arabian herbals revealed by automated high-content
      imaging.
AB  - Natural products have been used for medical applications since ancient times.
      Commonly, natural products are structurally complex chemical compounds that
      efficiently interact with their biological targets, making them useful drug
      candidates in cancer therapy. Here, we used cell-based phenotypic profiling and
      image-based high-content screening to study the mode of action and potential
      cellular targets of plants historically used in Saudi Arabia's traditional
      medicine. We compared the cytological profiles of fractions taken from Juniperus
      phoenicea (Arar), Anastatica hierochuntica (Kaff Maryam), and Citrullus
      colocynthis (Hanzal) with a set of reference compounds with established modes of
      action. Cluster analyses of the cytological profiles of the tested compounds
      suggested that these plants contain possible topoisomerase inhibitors that could
      be effective in cancer treatment. Using histone H2AX phosphorylation as a marker
      for DNA damage, we discovered that some of the compounds induced double-strand
      DNA breaks. Furthermore, chemical analysis of the active fraction isolated from
      Juniperus phoenicea revealed possible anti-cancer compounds. Our results
      demonstrate the usefulness of cell-based phenotypic screening of natural products
      to reveal their biological activities.

PMID- 28609450
TI  - Serological signatures of declining exposure following intensification of
      integrated malaria control in two rural Senegalese communities.
AB  - Recent control scale-up has reduced malaria in many areas but new tools are
      needed to monitor further progress, including indicators of decreasing exposure
      to parasite infection. Although serology is considered a promising approach in
      this regard, the serological impact of control interventions has been so far
      studied using indirect quantification of exposure. Cohort surveys concomitantly
      recording entomological and malariometric indices have been conducted in two
      Senegalese settings where supervised control intensification implemented in 2006
      shifted malaria from historically holoendemic in Dielmo and mesoendemic in Ndiop
      to hypoendemic in both settings by 2013. We analyse here serological signatures
      of declining transmission using archived blood samples. Responses against ten pre
      erythrocytic and erythrocytic antigens from Plasmodium falciparum and P. malariae
      alongside an Anopheles gambiae salivary gland antigen were analysed. Cross
      sectional surveys conducted before (2002) and after (2013) control
      intensification showed a major impact of control intensification in both
      settings. The age-associated prevalence, magnitude and breadth of the IgG
      responses to all antigens were village-specific in 2002. In 2013, remarkably
      similar patterns were observed in both villages, with marginal responses against
      all parasite antigens in the 0-5y children and reduced responses in all
      previously seropositive age groups. Waning of humoral responses of individuals
      who were immune at the time of control intensification was studied from 2006 to
      2013 using yearly samplings. Longitudinal data were analysed using the Cochran
      Armittage trend test and an age-related reversible catalytic conversion model.
      This showed that the antigen-specific antibody declines were more rapid in older
      children than adults. There was a strong association of antibody decline with the
      declining entomological inoculation rate. We thus identified serological markers
      of declining exposure to malaria parasites that should help future monitoring of
      progress towards malaria elimination.

PMID- 28609453
TI  - Evaluation of a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass
      spectrometry assisted, selective broth method to screen for vancomycin-resistant
      enterococci in patients at high risk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bile esculin azide with vancomycin (BEAV) medium is a sensitive, but
      slightly less specific method for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)
      screening. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a rapid method for identification of clinical
      pathogens. This study aimed to assess the performance of a novel combination
      screening test for VRE, using BEAV broth combined with MALDI-TOF MS. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Clinical specimens were collected from patients at risk of VRE
      carriage, and tested by the novel combination method, using selective BEAV broth
      culture method followed by MALDI-TOF MS identification (SBEAVM). The reference
      method used for comparison was the ChromID VRE agar method. RESULTS: A total of
      135 specimens were collected from 78 patients, and 63 specimens tested positive
      for VRE positive using the ChromID VRE method (positive rate 46.7%). The
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive
      value of SBEAVM method after an incubation period of 28 hours were 93.7%, 90.3%,
      89.4%, and 94.2%, respectively. The SBEAVM method when compared to the ChromID
      VRE method had a shorter turnaround time (29 vs. 48-72 hours) and lower
      laboratory cost ($2.11 vs. $3.23 per test). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates
      that SBEAVM is a rapid, inexpensive, and accurate method for use in VRE
      screening.

PMID- 28609452
TI  - Effects of low light on photosynthetic properties, antioxidant enzyme activity,
      and anthocyanin accumulation in purple pak-choi (Brassica campestris ssp.
      Chinensis Makino).
AB  - Anthocyanins are secondary metabolites that contribute to red, blue, and purple
      colors in plants and are affected by light, but the effects of low light on the
      physiological responses of purple pak-choi plant leaves are still unclear. In
      this study, purple pak-choi seedlings were exposed to low light by shading with
      white gauze and black shading in a phytotron. The responses in terms of
      photosynthetic properties, carbohydrate metabolism, antioxidant enzyme activity,
      anthocyanin biosynthetic enzyme activity, and the relative chlorophyll and
      anthocyanin content of leaves were measured. The results showed that chlorophyll
      b, intracellular CO2 content, stomatal conductance and antioxidant activities of
      guaiacol peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase transiently increased in
      the shade treatments at 5 d. The malondialdehyde content also increased under low
      light stress, which damages plant cells. With the extension of shading time (at
      15 d), the relative chlorophyll a, anthocyanin and soluble protein contents, net
      photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomata conductance, antioxidant enzyme
      activities, and activities of four anthocyanin biosynthetic enzymes decreased
      significantly. Thus, at the early stage of low light treatment, the chlorophyll b
      content increased to improve photosynthesis. When the low light treatment was
      extended, antioxidant enzyme activity and the activity of anthocyanin
      biosynthesis enzymes were inhibited, causing the purple pak-choi seedlings to
      fade from purple to green. This study provides valuable information for further
      deciphering genetic mechanisms and improving agronomic traits in purple pak-choi
      under optimal light requirements.

PMID- 28609454
TI  - An investigation into the effects of excipient particle size, blending techniques
      and processing parameters on the homogeneity and content uniformity of a blend
      containing low-dose model drug.
AB  - Powder blend homogeneity is a critical attribute in formulation development of
      low dose and potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) yet a complex process
      with multiple contributing factors. Excipient characteristics play key role in
      efficient blending process and final product quality. In this work the effect of
      excipient type and properties, blending technique and processing time on content
      uniformity was investigated. Powder characteristics for three commonly used
      excipients (starch, pregelatinised starch and microcrystalline cellulose) were
      initially explored using laser diffraction particle size analyser, angle of
      repose for flowability, followed by thorough evaluations of surface topography
      employing scanning electron microscopy and interferometry. Blend homogeneity was
      evaluated based on content uniformity analysis of the model API, ergocalciferol,
      using a validated analytical technique. Flowability of powders were directly
      related to particle size and shape, while surface topography results revealed the
      relationship between surface roughness and ability of excipient with high surface
      roughness to lodge fine API particles within surface groves resulting in superior
      uniformity of content. Of the two blending techniques, geometric blending
      confirmed the ability to produce homogeneous blends at low dilution when
      processed for longer durations, whereas manual ordered blending failed to achieve
      compendial requirement for content uniformity despite mixing for 32 minutes.
      Employing the novel dry powder hybrid mixer device, developed at Aston University
      laboratory, results revealed the superiority of the device and enabled the
      production of homogenous blend irrespective of excipient type and particle size.
      Lower dilutions of the API (1% and 0.5% w/w) were examined using non-sieved
      excipients and the dry powder hybrid mixing device enabled the development of
      successful blends within compendial requirements and low relative standard
      deviation.

PMID- 28609455
TI  - Differential iridoid production as revealed by a diversity panel of 84 cultivated
      and wild blueberry species.
AB  - Cultivated blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium
      darrowii, and Vaccinium virgatum) is an economically important fruit crop native
      to North America and a member of the Ericaceae family. Several species in the
      Ericaceae family including cranberry, lignonberry, bilberry, and neotropical
      blueberry species have been shown to produce iridoids, a class of
      pharmacologically important compounds present in over 15 plant families
      demonstrated to have a wide range of biological activities in humans including
      anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory. While the antioxidant
      capacity of cultivated blueberry has been well studied, surveys of iridoid
      production in blueberry have been restricted to fruit of a very limited number of
      accessions of V. corymbosum, V. angustifolium and V. virgatum; none of these
      analyses have detected iridoids. To provide a broader survey of iridoid
      biosynthesis in cultivated blueberry, we constructed a panel of 84 accessions
      representing a wide range of cultivated market classes, as well as wild blueberry
      species, and surveyed these for the presence of iridoids. We identified the
      iridoid glycoside monotropein in fruits and leaves of all 13 wild Vaccinium
      species, yet only five of the 71 cultivars. Monotropein positive cultivars all
      had recent introgressions from wild species, suggesting that iridoid production
      can be targeted through breeding efforts that incorporate wild germplasm. A
      series of diverse developmental tissues was also surveyed in the diversity panel,
      demonstrating a wide range in iridoid content across tissues. Taken together,
      this data provides the foundation to dissect the molecular and genetic basis of
      iridoid production in blueberry.

PMID- 28609456
TI  - Association of asthma with coronary heart disease: A meta analysis of 11 trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: While the relationship of asthma and coronary heart disease (CHD) (a
      specific manifestation of cardiovascular disease) has not been described
      consistently, we tried to defined this relation and explore the influence of
      gender and asthma status (child- and adult-onset asthma) on this issue. METHODS:
      We searched published reports that described the relationship of asthma and CHD.
      RESULTS: Eleven trials were identified, covering 666,355 subjects. Asthma overall
      was significantly associated with CHD both for prospective trials (HR 1.34
      [1.09,1.64], P = 0.005) and for retrospective trials(OR 1.29 [1.13,1.46], P =
      0.001), when compared to individuals without asthma. Subgroup analysis split by
      gender indicated that females with asthma were significantly associated with CHD
      (HR 1.40 [1.20,1.62], P<0.001), but males with asthma were not significantly
      related with CHD (HR 1.19 [0.98,1.44], P = 0.07). For the four subgroups (Females
      with adult-onset asthma,males with adult-onset asthma,females with child-onset
      asthma,and males with child-onset asthma), pooled analysis of two trials
      indicated that only females with adult-onset asthma were significantly associated
      with CHD (HR 2.06 [1.32,3.19], P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicated that
      asthma was associated with CHD, and the relationship between them seemed to
      derived mostly from females with adult-onset asthma. Considering the limits of
      our study, these findings should be taken with caution.

PMID- 28609457
TI  - Robustness of common hemodynamic indicators with respect to numerical resolution
      in 38 middle cerebral artery aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to compute the hemodynamics
      in cerebral aneurysms has received much attention in the last decade. The
      usability of these methods depends on the quality of the computations,
      highlighted in recent discussions. The purpose of this study is to investigate
      the convergence of common hemodynamic indicators with respect to numerical
      resolution. METHODS: 38 middle cerebral artery bifurcation aneurysms were studied
      at two different resolutions (one comparable to most studies, and one finer).
      Relevant hemodynamic indicators were collected from two of the most cited
      studies, and were compared at the two refinements. In addition, correlation to
      rupture was investigated. RESULTS: Most of the hemodynamic indicators were very
      well resolved at the coarser resolutions, correlating with the finest resolution
      with a correlation coefficient >0.95. The oscillatory shear index (OSI) had the
      lowest correlation coefficient of 0.83. A logarithmic Bland-Altman plot revealed
      noticeable variations in the proportion of the aneurysm under low shear, as well
      as in spatial and temporal gradients not captured by the correlation alone.
      CONCLUSION: Statistically, hemodynamic indicators agree well across the different
      resolutions studied here. However, there are clear outliers visible in several of
      the hemodynamic indicators, which suggests that special care should be taken when
      considering individual assessment.

PMID- 28609458
TI  - Dendritic overgrowth and elevated ERK signaling during neonatal development in a
      mouse model of autism.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (hereafter referred to as "ASD") is a heterogeneous
      neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social communication and
      interactions, and restricted, repetitive activities or interests. Alterations in
      network connectivity and memory function are frequently observed in autism
      patients, often involving the hippocampus. However, specific changes during early
      brain development leading to disrupted functioning remain largely unclear. Here,
      we investigated the development of dendritic arbor of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal
      neurons in the BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) mouse model of autism. BTBR mice display the
      defining behavioural features of autism, and also exhibit impaired learning and
      memory. We found that compared to control C57BL/6J (B6) animals, the lengths of
      both apical and basal dendrites were significantly greater in neonatal BTBR
      animals. Further, basal dendrites in the BTBR mice had higher branching
      complexity. In contrast, cross-sectional area of the soma was unchanged. In
      addition, we observed a similar density of CA1 pyramidal neurons and thickness of
      the neuronal layer between the two strains. Thus, there was a specific,
      compartmentalized overgrowth of dendrites during early development in the BTBR
      animals. Biochemical analysis further showed that the extracellular signal
      regulated kinases (ERK) pathway was up-regulated in the hippocampus of neonatal
      BTBR animals. Since dendritic structure is critical for information integration
      and relay, our data suggest that altered development of dendrites could
      potentially contribute to impaired hippocampal function and behavior observed in
      the BTBR model, and that this might be related to increased activation of the ERK
      pathway.

PMID- 28609459
TI  - HET0016 decreases lung metastasis from breast cancer in immune-competent mouse
      model.
AB  - Distant metastasis is the primary cause of death in the majority of the cancer
      types. Recently, much importance has been given to tumor microenvironment (TME)
      in the development of invasive malignant tumors, as well as the metastasis
      potential. The ability of tumor cells to modulate TME and to escape immune
      mediated attack by releasing immunosuppressive cytokines has become a hallmark of
      breast cancer. Our study shows the effect of IV formulation of HET0016 (HPbetaCD
      HET0016) a selective inhibitor of 20-HETE synthesis, administered intravenously
      in immune-competent in vivo mouse model of murine breast cancer. 4T1 luciferase
      positive cells were implanted to the mammary fat pad in Balb/c mice. Treatment
      started on day 15, and was administered for 5 days a week for 3 weeks. The
      development of metastasis was detected via optical imaging. Blood, spleen, lungs,
      bone marrow and tumor were collected for flow cytometry, to investigate changes
      in myeloid-derived suppressive cells (MDSCs) populations and endothelial
      phenotype. Tumor and lungs were collected for protein analysis. Our results show
      that HPbetaCD-HET0016: (1) decreased tumor volume and lung metastasis compared to
      the vehicle group; (2) reduced migration and invasion of tumor cells and levels
      of metalloproteinases in the lungs of animals treated with HPbetaCD-HET0016 via
      PI3K/AKT pathway; and (3) decreased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines,
      growth factors and granulocytic MDSCs population in the lung microenvironment in
      treated animals. Thus, HPbetaCD-HET0016 showed potential in treating lung
      metastasis in a preclinical mouse model and needs further investigations on TME.

PMID- 28609460
TI  - The role of attention in subliminal semantic processing: A mouse tracking study.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that top-down attention facilitates unconscious semantic
      processing. To clarify the role of attention in unconscious semantic processing,
      we traced trajectories of the computer mouse in a semantic priming task and
      scrutinized the extent to which top-down attention enhances unconscious semantic
      processing in four different stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA: 50, 200, 500, or
      1000ms) conditions. Participants judged whether a target digit (e.g., "6") was
      larger or smaller than five, preceded by a masked priming digit (e.g., "9"). The
      pre-prime duration changed randomly from trial to trial to disrupt participants'
      top-down attention in an uncued condition (in a cued condition, a green square
      cue was presented to facilitate participants' top-down attention). The results
      show that top-down attention modifies the time course of subliminal semantic
      processing, and the temporal attention window lasts more than 1000ms; attention
      facilitated by the cue may amplify semantic priming to some extent, yet the
      amplification effect of attention is relatively minor.

PMID- 28609461
TI  - Association between polymorphisms in pre-miRNA genes and risk of oral squamous
      cell cancer in a Chinese population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs play important roles in the development of human cancers.
      This case-control study is to evaluate the roles of the polymorphisms in pre
      miRNAs on risk of oral cancer in a Chinese population. METHODS: The genotypes of
      three polymorphisms were determined in 340 patients with oral squamous cell
      cancer and 340 healthy controls who were frequency matched for age and sex. Odds
      ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to assess the
      association. All analyses were performed using the SPSS software. 3.154() 0.001.
      RESULTS: For miR-499 rs3746444, individuals carrying homozygous CC genotype had
      increased risks of oral cancer compared with the homozygous wild TT genotype
      (adjusted OR was 3.154, 95%CI was 1.555-6.397, P value was 0.001). The C allele
      of miR-499 rs3746444 was associated with a higher risk of oral cancer with
      significant odds ratio of 1.453. In the stratified analyses by sex, the
      associations between miR-499 rs3746444 and miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphisms with
      the susceptibility of oral squamous cell cancer were significant in males.
      However, with 1/4 as many subjects there were no significant associations between
      the three polymorphisms and oral cancer risks in females. The joint effects of
      miRNA polymorphisms and smoking on the risk of OSCC were analyzed and the results
      suggested that the association between microRNA genetic variants and OSCC risk
      was modified by smoking. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that miR-499
      rs3746444 and miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphisms may contribute to genetic
      susceptibility to oral squamous cell cancer.

PMID- 28609462
TI  - Effects of conversion of native cerrado vegetation to pasture on soil hydro
      physical properties, evapotranspiration and streamflow on the Amazonian
      agricultural frontier.
AB  - Understanding the impacts of land-use change on landscape-hydrological dynamics
      is one of the main challenges in the Northern Brazilian Cerrado biome, where the
      Amazon agricultural frontier is located. Motivated by the gap in literature
      assessing these impacts, we characterized the soil hydro-physical properties and
      quantified surface water fluxes from catchments under contrasting land-use in
      this region. We used data from field measurements in two headwater micro
      catchments with similar physical characteristics and different land use, i.e.
      cerrado sensu stricto vegetation and pasture for extensive cattle ranching. We
      determined hydraulic and physical properties of the soils, applied ground-based
      remote sensing techniques to estimate evapotranspiration, and monitored
      streamflow from October 2012 to September 2014. Our results show significant
      differences in soil hydro-physical properties between the catchments, with
      greater bulk density and smaller total porosity in the pasture catchment. We
      found that evapotranspiration is smaller in the pasture (639 +/- 31% mm yr-1)
      than in the cerrado catchment (1,004 +/- 24% mm yr-1), and that streamflow from
      the pasture catchment is greater with runoff coefficients of 0.40 for the pasture
      and 0.27 for the cerrado catchment. Overall, our results confirm that conversion
      of cerrado vegetation to pasture causes soil hydro-physical properties
      deterioration, reduction in evapotranspiration reduction, and increased
      streamflow.

PMID- 28609463
TI  - Uric acid, an important antioxidant contributing to survival in termites.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated spontaneously in all organisms and
      cause oxidative damage to biomolecules when present in excess. Accumulated
      oxidative damage accelerates aging; enhanced antioxidant capacity may be a
      positive factor for longevity. Recently, numerous studies of aging and longevity
      have been performed using short-lived animals, however, longevity mechanisms
      remain unknown. Here we show that a termite Reticulitermes speratus that is
      thought to be long-lived eusocial insect than other solitary insects uses large
      quantities of uric acid as an antioxidant against ROS. We demonstrated that the
      accumulation of uric acid considerably increases the free radical-scavenging
      activity and resistance against ultraviolet-induced oxidative stress in
      laboratory-maintained termites. In addition, we found that externally
      administered uric acid aided termite survival under highly oxidative conditions.
      The present data demonstrates that in addition to nutritional and metabolic
      roles, uric acid is an essential antioxidant for survival and contributes
      significantly to longevity. Uric acid also plays important roles in primates but
      causes gout when present in excess in humans. Further longevity studies of long
      lived organisms may provide important breakthroughs with human health
      applications.

PMID- 28609464
TI  - A multi-scale evaluation of pack stock effects on subalpine meadow plant
      communities in the Sierra Nevada.
AB  - We evaluated the influence of pack stock (i.e., horse and mule) use on meadow
      plant communities in Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks in the Sierra Nevada of
      California. Meadows were sampled to account for inherent variability across
      multiple scales by: 1) controlling for among-meadow variability by using remotely
      sensed hydro-climatic and geospatial data to pair stock use meadows with similar
      non-stock (reference) sites, 2) accounting for within-meadow variation in the
      local hydrology using in-situ soil moisture readings, and 3) incorporating
      variation in stock use intensity by sampling across the entire available gradient
      of pack stock use. Increased cover of bare ground was detected only within "dry"
      meadow areas at the two most heavily used pack stock meadows (maximum animals per
      night per hectare). There was no difference in plant community composition for
      any level of soil moisture or pack stock use. Increased local-scale spatial
      variability in plant community composition (species dispersion) was detected in
      "wet" meadow areas at the two most heavily used meadows. These results suggest
      that at the meadow scale, plant communities are generally resistant to the
      contemporary levels of recreational pack stock use. However, finer-scale within
      meadow responses such as increased bare ground or spatial variability in the
      plant community can be a function of local-scale hydrological conditions.
      Wilderness managers can improve monitoring of disturbance in Sierra Nevada
      meadows by adopting multiple plant community indices while simultaneously
      considering local moisture regimes.

PMID- 28609465
TI  - Malaria control adds to the evidence for health aid effectiveness.
AB  - In this Perspective, Eran Bendavid discusses the broader political and health
      consequences of US foreign aid in light of the study by Aleksandra Jakubowski and
      colleagues of the President's Malaria Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa.

PMID- 28609466
TI  - Multi-level, multi-scale resource selection functions and resistance surfaces for
      conservation planning: Pumas as a case study.
AB  - The importance of examining multiple hierarchical levels when modeling resource
      use for wildlife has been acknowledged for decades. Multi-level resource
      selection functions have recently been promoted as a method to synthesize
      resource use across nested organizational levels into a single predictive
      surface. Analyzing multiple scales of selection within each hierarchical level
      further strengthens multi-level resource selection functions. We extend this
      multi-level, multi-scale framework to modeling resistance for wildlife by
      combining multi-scale resistance surfaces from two data types, genetic and
      movement. Resistance estimation has typically been conducted with one of these
      data types, or compared between the two. However, we contend it is not an
      either/or issue and that resistance may be better-modeled using a combination of
      resistance surfaces that represent processes at different hierarchical levels.
      Resistance surfaces estimated from genetic data characterize temporally broad
      scale dispersal and successful breeding over generations, whereas resistance
      surfaces estimated from movement data represent fine-scale travel and
      contextualized movement decisions. We used telemetry and genetic data from a long
      term study on pumas (Puma concolor) in a highly developed landscape in southern
      California to develop a multi-level, multi-scale resource selection function and
      a multi-level, multi-scale resistance surface. We used these multi-level, multi
      scale surfaces to identify resource use patches and resistant kernel corridors.
      Across levels, we found puma avoided urban, agricultural areas, and roads and
      preferred riparian areas and more rugged terrain. For other landscape features,
      selection differed among levels, as did the scales of selection for each feature.
      With these results, we developed a conservation plan for one of the most isolated
      puma populations in the U.S. Our approach captured a wide spectrum of ecological
      relationships for a population, resulted in effective conservation planning, and
      can be readily applied to other wildlife species.

PMID- 28609467
TI  - Land cover, more than monthly fire weather, drives fire-size distribution in
      Southern Quebec forests: Implications for fire risk management.
AB  - Fire activity in North American forests is expected to increase substantially
      with climate change. This would represent a growing risk to human settlements and
      industrial infrastructure proximal to forests, and to the forest products
      industry. We modelled fire size distributions in southern Quebec as functions of
      fire weather and land cover, thus explicitly integrating some of the biotic
      interactions and feedbacks in a forest-wildfire system. We found that, contrary
      to expectations, land-cover and not fire weather was the primary driver of fire
      size in our study region. Fires were highly selective on fuel-type under a wide
      range of fire weather conditions: specifically, deciduous forest, lakes and to a
      lesser extent recently burned areas decreased the expected fire size in their
      vicinity compared to conifer forest. This has large implications for fire risk
      management in that fuels management could reduce fire risk over the long term.
      Our results imply, for example, that if 30% of a conifer-dominated landscape were
      converted to hardwoods, the probability of a given fire, occurring in that
      landscape under mean fire weather conditions, exceeding 100,000 ha would be
      reduced by a factor of 21. A similarly marked but slightly smaller effect size
      would be expected under extreme fire weather conditions. We attribute the
      decrease in expected fire size that occurs in recently burned areas to fuel
      availability limitations on fires spread. Because regenerating burned conifer
      stands often pass through a deciduous stage, this would also act as a negative
      biotic feedback whereby the occurrence of fires limits the size of nearby future
      for some period of time. Our parameter estimates imply that changes in vegetation
      flammability or fuel availability after fires would tend to counteract shifts in
      the fire size distribution favoring larger fires that are expected under climate
      warming. Ecological forecasts from models neglecting these feedbacks may markedly
      overestimate the consequences of climate warming on fire activity, and could be
      misleading. Assessments of vulnerability to climate change, and subsequent
      adaptation strategies, are directly dependent on integrated ecological forecasts.
      Thus, we stress the need to explicitly incorporate land-cover's direct effects
      and feedbacks in simulation models of coupled climate-fire-fuels systems.

PMID- 28609468
TI  - Going to sleep in the supine position is a modifiable risk factor for late
      pregnancy stillbirth; Findings from the New Zealand multicentre stillbirth case
      control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to test the primary hypothesis that maternal non
      left, in particular supine going-to-sleep position, would be a risk factor for
      late stillbirth (>=28 weeks of gestation). METHODS: A multicentre case-control
      study was conducted in seven New Zealand health regions, between February 2012
      and December 2015. Cases (n = 164) were women with singleton pregnancies and late
      stillbirth, without congenital abnormality. Controls (n = 569) were women with on
      going singleton pregnancies, randomly selected and frequency matched for health
      region and gestation. The primary outcome was adjusted odds of late stillbirth
      associated with self-reported going-to-sleep position, on the last night. The
      last night was the night before the late stillbirth was thought to have occurred
      or the night before interview for controls. Going-to-sleep position on the last
      night was categorised as: supine, left-side, right-side, propped or restless.
      Multivariable logistic regression adjusted for known confounders. RESULTS: Supine
      going-to-sleep position on the last night was associated with increased late
      stillbirth risk (adjusted odds ratios (aOR) 3.67, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      1.74 to 7.78) with a population attributable risk of 9.4%. Other independent risk
      factors for late stillbirth (aOR, 95% CI) were: BMI (1.04, 1.01 to 1.08) per
      unit, maternal age >=40 (2.88, 1.31 to 6.32), birthweight <10th customised
      centile (2.76, 1.59 to 4.80), and <6 hours sleep on the last night (1.81, 1.14 to
      2.88). The risk associated with supine-going-to-sleep position was greater for
      term (aOR 10.26, 3.00 to 35.04) than preterm stillbirths (aOR 3.12, 0.97 to
      10.05). CONCLUSIONS: Supine going-to-sleep position is associated with a 3.7 fold
      increase in overall late stillbirth risk, independent of other common risk
      factors. A public health campaign encouraging women not to go-to-sleep supine in
      the third trimester has potential to reduce late stillbirth by approximately 9%.

PMID- 28609469
TI  - Muscle-relevant genes marked by stable H3K4me2/3 profiles and enriched MyoD
      binding during myogenic differentiation.
AB  - Post-translational modifications of histones play a key role in the regulation of
      gene expression during development and differentiation. Numerous studies have
      shown the dynamics of combinatorial regulation by transcription factors and
      histone modifications, in the sense that different combinations lead to distinct
      expression outcomes. Here, we investigated gene regulation by stable enrichment
      patterns of histone marks H3K4me2 and H3K4me3 in combination with the chromatin
      binding of the muscle tissue-specific transcription factor MyoD during myogenic
      differentiation of C2C12 cells. Using k-means clustering, we found that specific
      combinations of H3K4me2/3 profiles over and towards the gene body impact on gene
      expression and marks a subset of genes important for muscle development and
      differentiation. By further analysis, we found that the muscle key regulator MyoD
      was significantly enriched on this subset of genes and played a repressive role
      during myogenic differentiation. Among these genes, we identified the
      pluripotency gene Patz1, which is repressed during myogenic differentiation
      through direct binding of MyoD to promoter elements. These results point to the
      importance of integrating histone modifications and MyoD chromatin binding for
      coordinated gene activation and repression during myogenic differentiation.

PMID- 28609470
TI  - Physical fitness and plasma leptin in women with recent gestational diabetes.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Low physical fitness (PF) is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2D). Women with a history of gestational diabetes (GDM) are at risk
      for T2D at a young age, but the role of PF in this population is not clear. PF
      has also been found to correlate inversely with plasma leptin in previous
      studies. Here, we examine whether women who had GDM have lower PF than women
      after a normoglycemic pregnancy and, second, whether PF is associated with plasma
      leptin, independently of body fat mass. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of 236
      participants in the PPSDiab Study (cohort study of women 3-16 months after
      delivery, 152 after gestational diabetes (pGDM), 84 after normoglycemic pregnancy
      (control subjects); consecutively recruited 2011-16); medical history, physical
      examination with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), whole body magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) (n = 154), 5-point oral glucose tolerance test,
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing, clinical chemistry including fasting plasma
      leptin; statistical analysis with Mann-Whitney U and t -test, Spearman
      correlation coefficient, multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Women pGDM had
      lower maximally achieved oxygen uptake (VO2peak/kg: 25.7(21.3-29.9) vs. 30.0(26.6
      34.1)ml/min/kg; total VO2peak: 1733(1552-2005) vs. 1970(1767-2238)ml/min;
      p<0.0001 for both), and maximum workload (122.5(105.5-136.5) vs. 141.0(128.5
      159.5)W; p<0.0001). Fasting plasma leptin correlated inversely with PF
      (VO2peak/kg rho = -0.72 p<0.0001; VO2peak rho = -0.16 p = 0.015; max. load rho = 
      0.35 p<0.0001). These associations remained significant with adjustment for body
      mass index, or for body fat mass (BIA and MRI). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Women
      with a recent history of GDM were less fit than control subjects. Low PF may
      therefore contribute to the risk for T2D after GDM. This should be tested in
      intervention studies. Low PF also associated with increased leptin levels
      independently of body fat. PF may therefore influence leptin levels and
      signaling. This hypothesis requires further investigation.

PMID- 28609471
TI  - Finite element analysis of 6 large PMMA skull reconstructions: A multi-criteria
      evaluation approach.
AB  - In this study 6 pre-operative designs for PMMA based reconstructions of cranial
      defects were evaluated for their mechanical robustness using finite element
      modeling. Clinical experience and engineering principles were employed to create
      multiple plan options, which were subsequently computationally analyzed for
      mechanically relevant parameters under 50N loads: stress, strain and deformation
      in various components of the assembly. The factors assessed were: defect size,
      location and shape. The major variable in the cranioplasty assembly design was
      the arrangement of the fixation plates. An additional study variable introduced
      was the location of the 50N load within the implant area. It was found that in
      smaller defects, it was simpler to design a symmetric distribution of plates and
      under limited variability in load location it was possible to design an optimal
      for expected loads. However, for very large defects with complex shapes, the
      variability in the load locations introduces complications to the intuitive
      design of the optimal assembly. The study shows that it can be beneficial to
      incorporate multi design computational analyses to decide upon the most optimal
      plan for a clinical case.

PMID- 28609472
TI  - No evidence for genome editing in mouse zygotes and HEK293T human cell line using
      the DNA-guided Natronobacterium gregoryi Argonaute (NgAgo).
AB  - A recently published research article reported that the extreme halophile
      archaebacterium Natronobacterium gregoryi Argonaute enzyme (NgAgo) could cleave
      the cellular DNA under physiological temperature conditions in cell line and be
      implemented as an alternative to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. We
      assessed this claim in mouse zygotes for four loci (Sptb, Tet-1, Tet-2 and Tet-3)
      and in the human HEK293T cell line for the EMX1 locus. Over 100 zygotes were
      microinjected with nls-NgAgo-GK plasmid provided from Addgene and various
      concentrations of 5'-phosphorylated guide DNA (gDNA) from 2.5 ng/MUl to 50 ng/MUl
      and cultured to blastocyst stage of development. The presence of indels was
      verified using T7 endonuclease 1 assay (T7E1) and Sanger sequencing. We reported
      no evidence of successful editing of the mouse genome. We then assessed the lack
      of editing efficiency in HEK293T cell line for the EMX1 endogenous locus by
      monitoring the NgAgo protein expression level and the editing efficiency by T7E1
      assay and Sanger sequencing. We reported that the NgAgo protein was expressed
      from 8 hours to a maximum expression at 48 hours post-transfection, confirming
      the efficient delivery of the plasmid and the gDNA but no evidence of successful
      editing of EMX1 target in all transfected samples. Together our findings indicate
      that we failed to edit using NgAgo.

PMID- 28609473
TI  - A delicate balance between rejection and BK polyomavirus associated nephropathy;
      A retrospective cohort study in renal transplant recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The immunosuppressive agents mycophenolate acid (MPA) and tacrolimus
      (Tac) are associated with a higher incidence of BK polyomavirus nephropathy
      (BKPyVAN). In this observational retrospective cohort study, the frequency of BK
      polyomavirus (BKPyV) complications over a 24-month period was studied. METHODS:
      358 renal transplant recipients (RTR) treated with MPA, with either cyclosporine
      A (CsA) (CsAM group) or Tac (TacM group) and mostly prednisolone, were included.
      RESULTS: Incidence of BKPyV-viremia was not significantly different between the
      CsAM (n = 42/191) (22.0%) and the TacM (n = 36/167) (21.6%) group. Biopsy proven
      BKPyVAN occurred more often in the TacM group (6.6%) versus the CsAM group (2.1%)
      (p = 0.03). Longitudinal data analysis showed a significant earlier decline of
      viral load in plasma in the CsAM group compared to the TacM group (p = 0.005).
      The incidence of biopsy proven acute rejection (BPAR) was significantly higher in
      the CsAM (19.9%) compared to the TacM (10.8%) (p = 0.02) group. Graft loss,
      estimated glomerular filtration rate and mortality rate did not differ in both
      treatment groups. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study shows that
      immunosuppressive treatment with Tac and MPA compared to CsA and MPA is
      associated with a lower incidence of BPAR, but at the cost of an increased risk
      of developing BKPyVAN in the first two years post-transplant.

PMID- 28609474
TI  - Effects of perceptions of care, medical advice, and hospital quality on patient
      satisfaction after primary total knee replacement: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The increase in the number of patients presenting with
      osteoarthritis in the past decade has led to a 32% increase in knee replacement
      surgeries designed to reduce restrictions on patient movement and improve their
      quality of life. Patient satisfaction is becoming an increasingly important
      indicator of quality of care. This study was designed to identify predictors of
      various service components in the treatment process and hospital key performance
      indicators significantly associated with patient satisfaction. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted with 856 patients
      having their primary total knee replacements at 41 hospitals. Patient
      satisfaction was queried via a validated, multidimensional questionnaire mainly
      using a six-point scale. In addition to bivariate calculations, patient
      satisfaction was the dependent variable in a binary logistic regression model.
      RESULTS: The bivariate analysis showed a strong association between satisfaction
      and sex (male or female), the patients' health before admission, and the length
      of stay. The number of cases treated at each hospital did not reveal any impact
      on satisfaction. The multivariate analysis identified three predictors associated
      with overall satisfaction. The strongest factor was the treatment outcome and the
      weakest was the quality of food. It became apparent that the statutory procedure
      minimums were not being met. CONCLUSIONS: The relevant factors influencing
      patient satisfaction were partially the same as previous study results and
      allowed more detailed conclusions. The results provide suggestions across
      hospitals that could help health care providers better meet needs of patients
      after knee arthroplasties.

PMID- 28609475
TI  - Increase in insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor
      binding protein 1 after supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10. A
      prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial among elderly
      Swedish citizens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1) has a multitude of effects
      besides cell growth and metabolism. Reports also indicate anti-inflammatory and
      antioxidative effects. The concentrations of IGF-1 decrease with age and during
      inflammation. As selenium and coenzyme Q10 are involved in both the antioxidative
      defense and the inflammatory response, the present study aimed to examine the
      effects of supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 on concentrations of
      IGF-1 and its binding protein IGFBP-1 in a population showing reduced
      cardiovascular mortality following such supplementation. METHODS: 215 elderly
      individuals were included and given the intervention for four years. A clinical
      examination was performed and blood samples were taken at the start and after 48
      months. Evaluations of IGF-1, the age adjusted IGF-1 SD score and IGFBP-1 were
      performed using group mean values, and repeated measures of variance. FINDINGS:
      After supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10, applying group mean
      evaluations, significantly higher IGF-1 and IGF-1 SD scores could be seen in the
      active treatment group, whereas a decrease in concentration could be seen of the
      same biomarkers in the placebo group. Applying the repeated measures of variance
      evaluations, the same significant increase in concentrations of IGF-1 (F = 68;
      P>0.0001), IGF-1 SD score (F = 29; P<0.0001) and of IGFBP-1 (F = 6.88; P = 0.009)
      could be seen, indicating the effect of selenium and coenzyme Q10 also on the
      expression of IGF-1 as one of the mechanistic effects of the intervention.
      CONCLUSION: Supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 over four years
      resulted in increased levels of IGF-1 and the postprandial IGFBP-1, and an
      increase in the age-corrected IGF-1 SD score, compared with placebo. The effects
      could be part of the mechanistic explanation behind the surprisingly positive
      clinical effects on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality reported earlier.
      However, as the effects of IGF-1 are complex, more research on the result of
      intervention with selenium and coenzyme Q10 is needed.

PMID- 28609476
TI  - Effective strategies to motivate nursing home residents in oral care and to
      prevent or reduce responsive behaviors to oral care: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor oral health has been a persistent problem in nursing home
      residents for decades, with severe consequences for residents and the health care
      system. Two major barriers to providing appropriate oral care are residents'
      responsive behaviors to oral care and residents' lack of ability or motivation to
      perform oral care on their own. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of
      strategies that nursing home care providers can apply to either prevent/overcome
      residents' responsive behaviors to oral care, or enable/motivate residents to
      perform their own oral care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the databases
      Medline, EMBASE, Evidence Based Reviews-Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
      Trials, CINAHL, and Web of Science for intervention studies assessing the
      effectiveness of eligible strategies. Two reviewers independently (a) screened
      titles, abstracts and retrieved full-texts; (b) searched key journal contents,
      key author publications, and reference lists of all included studies; and (c)
      assessed methodological quality of included studies. Discrepancies at any stage
      were resolved by consensus. We conducted a narrative synthesis of study results.
      RESULTS: We included three one-group pre-test, post-test studies, and one cross
      sectional study. Methodological quality was low (n = 3) and low moderate (n = 1).
      Two studies assessed strategies to enable/motivate nursing home residents to
      perform their own oral care, and to studies assessed strategies to prevent or
      overcome responsive behaviors to oral care. All studies reported improvements of
      at least some of the outcomes measured, but interpretation is limited due to
      methodological problems. CONCLUSIONS: Potentially promising strategies are
      available that nursing home care providers can apply to prevent/overcome
      residents' responsive behaviors to oral care or to enable/motivate residents to
      perform their own oral care. However, studies assessing these strategies have a
      high risk for bias. To overcome oral health problems in nursing homes, care
      providers will need practical strategies whose effectiveness was assessed in
      robust studies.

PMID- 28609477
TI  - Atrial arrhythmogenicity of KCNJ2 mutations in short QT syndrome: Insights from
      virtual human atria.
AB  - Gain-of-function mutations in KCNJ2-encoded Kir2.1 channels underlie variant 3
      (SQT3) of the short QT syndrome, which is associated with atrial fibrillation
      (AF). Using biophysically-detailed human atria computer models, this study
      investigated the mechanistic link between SQT3 mutations and atrial
      arrhythmogenesis, and potential ion channel targets for treatment of SQT3. A
      contemporary model of the human atrial action potential (AP) was modified to
      recapitulate functional changes in IK1 due to heterozygous and homozygous forms
      of the D172N and E299V Kir2.1 mutations. Wild-type (WT) and mutant formulations
      were incorporated into multi-scale homogeneous and heterogeneous tissue models.
      Effects of mutations on AP duration (APD), conduction velocity (CV), effective
      refractory period (ERP), tissue excitation threshold and their rate-dependence,
      as well as the wavelength of re-entry (WL) were quantified. The D172N and E299V
      Kir2.1 mutations produced distinct effects on IK1 and APD shortening. Both
      mutations decreased WL for re-entry through a reduction in ERP and CV. Stability
      of re-entrant excitation waves in 2D and 3D tissue models was mediated by changes
      to tissue excitability and dispersion of APD in mutation conditions. Combined
      block of IK1 and IKr was effective in terminating re-entry associated with
      heterozygous D172N conditions, whereas IKr block alone may be a safer alternative
      for the E299V mutation. Combined inhibition of IKr and IKur produced a
      synergistic anti-arrhythmic effect in both forms of SQT3. In conclusion, this
      study provides mechanistic insights into atrial proarrhythmia with SQT3 Kir2.1
      mutations and highlights possible pharmacological strategies for management of
      SQT3-linked AF.

PMID- 28609479
TI  - The impact of septicemia occurring during hospitalization for renal
      transplantation procedures on outcomes in adults in United States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Immediate success rates of renal transplantation (RT) procedures
      are generally very high. National estimates of the impact of post-operative
      complications, specifically, septicemia occurring during hospitalization for RT's
      on outcomes is unclear. We sought, to examine the prevalence of septicemia in
      patients having renal transplantation procedures and to quantify the impact of
      septicemia on in-hospital mortality (IHM), length of stay (LOS), and hospital
      charges (HC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the years 2004 to 2010. All patients aged
      >=18 years who underwent RT were selected. Association between occurrence of
      septicemia and outcomes (IHM, HC and LOS) was examined by multivariable linear
      and logistic regression models with adjustments for patient and hospital level
      confounders. RESULTS: During the study period, 113,058 patients underwent RT,
      and, of these, 2459 (2.2%) developed septicemia. Characteristics included mean
      age (50 years), gender (males, 60%) and race (whites, 54%). Majority of RT's were
      performed in teaching (96%) and large institutes (85.5%). Outcomes for patients
      with septicemia and without septicemia, included: IHM (12.9% vs. 0.4%), discharge
      routinely (42.4% vs. 82.6%), mean HC ($528,980 vs. $182,165), mean LOS in days
      (35.2 vs 7.3), respectively, Those who developed septicemia were associated with
      significantly higher HC (estimate: 0.8357, 95% CI: {0.7636-0.9077}, increase of $
      247,081 from mean, p<0.0001), longer LOS (1.2116{1.1015-1.3216}, increase of 18.7
      days form mean, p<0.0001) and higher IHM (Odds ratio = 31.33; {20.25-48.48}, p <
      0.0001) compared to their counterparts. Increasing age (OR = 1.02 {1.01-1.02},
      p<0.0001) and increase in co-morbid burden (OR = 1.57 {1.42-1.74}, p<0.0001) were
      associated with higher risk for developing septicemia. CONCLUSIONS: Despite
      advances in medical/surgical care, septicemia is not an uncommon complication in
      patients having renal transplantation procedures and is associated with poor
      outcomes. Increasing age and co-morbid burden are independent predictors of
      occurrence of septicemia.

PMID- 28609478
TI  - Purification of family B G protein-coupled receptors using nanodiscs: Application
      to human glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor.
AB  - Family B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play vital roles in hormone
      regulated homeostasis. They are drug targets for metabolic diseases, including
      type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis. Despite their importance, the signaling
      mechanisms for family B GPCRs at the molecular level remain largely unexplored
      due to the challenges in purification of functional receptors in sufficient
      amount for biophysical characterization. Here, we purified the family B GPCR
      human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor (GLP1R), whose agonists, e.g.
      exendin-4, are used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The receptor
      was expressed in HEK293S GnTl- cells using our recently developed protocol. The
      protocol incorporates the receptor into the native-like lipid environment of
      reconstituted high density lipoprotein (rHDL) particles, also known as nanodiscs,
      immediately after the membrane solubilization step followed by chromatographic
      purification, minimizing detergent contact with the target receptor to reduce
      denaturation and prolonging stabilization of receptor in lipid bilayers without
      extra steps of reconstitution. This method yielded purified GLP1R in nanodiscs
      that could bind to GLP-1 and exendin-4 and activate Gs protein. This nanodisc
      purification method can potentially be a general strategy to routinely obtain
      purified family B GPCRs in the 10s of microgram amounts useful for spectroscopic
      analysis of receptor functions and activation mechanisms.

PMID- 28609480
TI  - An automated and reliable method for breath detection during variable mask
      pressures in awake and sleeping humans.
AB  - Accurate breath detection is crucial in sleep and respiratory physiology research
      and in several clinical settings. However, this process is technically
      challenging due to measurement and physiological artifacts and other factors such
      as variable leaks in the breathing circuit. Recently developed techniques to
      quantify the multiple causes of obstructive sleep apnea, require intermittent
      changes in airway pressure applied to a breathing mask. This presents an
      additional unique challenge for breath detection. Traditional algorithms often
      require drift correction. However, this is an empirical operation potentially
      prone to human error. This paper presents a new algorithm for breath detection
      during variable mask pressures in awake and sleeping humans based on
      physiological landmarks detected in the airflow or epiglottic pressure signal
      (Pepi). The algorithms were validated using simulated data from a mathematical
      model and against the standard visual detection approach in 4 healthy individuals
      and 6 patients with sleep apnea during variable mask pressure conditions. Using
      the flow signal, the algorithm correctly identified 97.6% of breaths with a mean
      difference+/-SD in the onsets of respiratory phase compared to expert visual
      detection of 23+/-89ms for inspiration and 6+/-56ms for expiration during
      wakefulness and 10+/-74ms for inspiration and 3+/-28 ms for expiration with
      variable mask pressures during sleep. Using the Pepi signal, the algorithm
      correctly identified 89% of the breaths with accuracy of 31+/-156ms for
      inspiration and 9+/-147ms for expiration compared to expert visual detection
      during variable mask pressures asleep. The algorithm had excellent performance in
      response to baseline drifts and noise during variable mask pressure conditions.
      This new algorithm can be used for accurate breath detection including during
      variable mask pressure conditions which represents a major advance over existing
      time-consuming manual approaches.

PMID- 28609481
TI  - The ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme CDC34 is essential for cytokinesis in contrast
      to putative subunits of a SCF complex in Trypanosoma brucei.
AB  - The ubiquitin-proteasome system is a post-translational regulatory pathway for
      controlling protein stability and activity that underlies many fundamental
      cellular processes, including cell cycle progression. Target proteins are tagged
      with ubiquitin molecules through the action of an enzymatic cascade composed of
      E1 ubiquitin activating enzymes, E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, and E3
      ubiquitin ligases. One of the E3 ligases known to be responsible for the
      ubiquitination of cell cycle regulators in eukaryotes is the SKP1-CUL1-F-box
      complex (SCFC). In this work, we identified and studied the function of homologue
      proteins of the SCFC in the life cycle of Trypanosoma brucei, the causal agent of
      the African sleeping sickness. Depletion of trypanosomal SCFC components TbRBX1,
      TbSKP1, and TbCDC34 by RNAi resulted in decreased growth rate and contrasting
      cell cycle abnormalities for both procyclic (PCF) and bloodstream (BSF) forms.
      Depletion of TbRBX1 in PCF cells interfered with kinetoplast replication, whilst
      depletion of TbSKP1 arrested PCF and BSF cells in the G1/S transition. Silencing
      of TbCDC34 in BSF cells resulted in a block in cytokinesis and caused rapid
      clearance of parasites from infected mice. We also show that TbCDC34 is able to
      conjugate ubiquitin in vitro and in vivo, and that its activity is necessary for
      T. brucei infection progression in mice. This study reveals that different
      components of a putative SCFC have contrasting phenotypes once depleted from the
      cells, and that TbCDC34 is essential for trypanosome replication, making it a
      potential target for therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 28609482
TI  - Quickly identifying identical and closely related subjects in large databases
      using genotype data.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) usually rely on the assumption that
      different samples are not from closely related individuals. Detection of
      duplicates and close relatives becomes more difficult both statistically and
      computationally when one wants to combine datasets that may have been genotyped
      on different platforms. The dbGaP repository at the National Center of
      Biotechnology Information (NCBI) contains datasets from hundreds of studies with
      over one million samples. There are many duplicates and closely related
      individuals both within and across studies from different submitters.
      Relationships between studies cannot always be identified by the submitters of
      individual datasets. To aid in curation of dbGaP, we developed a rapid
      statistical method called Genetic Relationship and Fingerprinting (GRAF) to
      detect duplicates and closely related samples, even when the sets of genotyped
      markers differ and the DNA strand orientations are unknown. GRAF extracts
      genotypes of 10,000 informative and independent SNPs from genotype datasets
      obtained using different methods, and implements quick algorithms that enable it
      to find all of the duplicate pairs from more than 880,000 samples within and
      across dbGaP studies in less than two hours. In addition, GRAF uses two
      statistical metrics called All Genotype Mismatch Rate (AGMR) and Homozygous
      Genotype Mismatch Rate (HGMR) to determine subject relationships directly from
      the observed genotypes, without estimating probabilities of identity by descent
      (IBD), or kinship coefficients, and compares the predicted relationships with
      those reported in the pedigree files. We implemented GRAF in a freely available
      C++ program of the same name. In this paper, we describe the methods in GRAF and
      validate the usage of GRAF on samples from the dbGaP repository. Other scientists
      can use GRAF on their own samples and in combination with samples downloaded from
      dbGaP.

PMID- 28609483
TI  - Histone posttranslational modifications predict specific alternative exon
      subtypes in mammalian brain.
AB  - A compelling body of literature, based on next generation chromatin
      immunoprecipitation and RNA sequencing of reward brain regions indicates that the
      regulation of the epigenetic landscape likely underlies chronic drug abuse and
      addiction. It is now critical to develop highly innovative computational
      strategies to reveal the relevant regulatory transcriptional mechanisms that may
      underlie neuropsychiatric disease. We have analyzed chromatin regulation of
      alternative splicing, which is implicated in cocaine exposure in mice. Recent
      literature has described chromatin-regulated alternative splicing, suggesting a
      novel function for drug-induced neuroepigenetic remodeling. However, the extent
      of the genome-wide association between particular histone modifications and
      alternative splicing remains unexplored. To address this, we have developed novel
      computational approaches to model the association between alternative splicing
      and histone posttranslational modifications in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a
      brain reward region. Using classical statistical methods and machine learning to
      combine ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq data, we found that specific histone modifications
      are strongly associated with various aspects of differential splicing. H3K36me3
      and H3K4me1 have the strongest association with splicing indicating they play a
      significant role in alternative splicing in brain reward tissue.

PMID- 28609486
TI  - Comment - WHO is badly in need of reform, but it cannot replace NGOs like our
      own.

PMID- 28609487
TI  - Introduction to comments on 'Outsourcing: how to reform WHO for the 21st
      century'.

PMID- 28609485
TI  - Self-reported racial/ethnic discrimination and bronchodilator response in African
      American youth with asthma.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Asthma is a multifactorial disease composed of endotypes with varying
      risk profiles and outcomes. African Americans experience a high burden of asthma
      and of psychosocial stress, including racial discrimination. It is unknown which
      endotypes of asthma are vulnerable to racial/ethnic discrimination. OBJECTIVE: We
      examined the association between self-reported racial/ethnic discrimination and
      bronchodilator response (BDR) among African American youth with asthma ages 8 to
      21 years (n = 576) and whether this association varies with tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha) level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Self-reported racial/ethnic
      discrimination was assessed by a modified Experiences of Discrimination
      questionnaire as none or any. Using spirometry, BDR was specified as the mean
      percentage change in forced expiratory volume in one second before and after
      albuterol administration. TNF-alpha was specified as high/low levels based on our
      study population mean. Linear regression was used to examine the association
      between self-reported racial/ethnic discrimination and BDR adjusted for selected
      characteristics. An interaction term between TNF-alpha levels and self-reported
      racial/ethnic discrimination was tested in the final model. RESULTS: Almost half
      of participants (48.8%) reported racial/ethnic discrimination. The mean percent
      BDR was higher among participants reporting racial/ethnic discrimination than
      among those who did not (10.8 versus 8.9, p = 0.006). After adjustment,
      participants reporting racial/ethnic discrimination had a 1.7 (95% CI: 0.36-3.03)
      higher BDR mean than those not reporting racial/ethnic discrimination. However,
      we found heterogeneity of this association according to TNF-alpha levels (p
      interaction = 0.040): Among individuals with TNF-alpha high level only, we
      observed a 2.78 higher BDR mean among those reporting racial/ethnic
      discrimination compared with those not reporting racial/ethnic discrimination
      (95%CI: 0.79-4.77). CONCLUSIONS: We found BDR to be increased in participants
      reporting racial/ethnic discrimination and this association was limited to
      African American youth with TNF-alpha high asthma, an endotype thought to be
      resistant to traditional asthma medications. These results support screening for
      racial/ethnic discrimination in those with asthma as it may reclassify disease
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 28609484
TI  - The clinical and prognostic correlation of HRNPM and SLC1A5 in pathogenesis and
      prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prognostic effect of the Heterogeneous nuclear
      ribonucleoprotein type M (HNRPM) and Solute carrier 1A5 (SLC1A5) in FIGO-stages I
      II epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was designed
      to investigate the prognostic effect of HNRPM and SLC1A5, and the association
      with clinical-pathologic characteristics in 131 patients with FIGO-stages I-II
      epithelial ovarian cancer. Tissue microarrays were constructed and protein levels
      were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: Positive HRNPM status was
      associated with positive staining for PUMA (P = 0.04), concomitant PUMA and p21
      staining (P = 0.005), and VEGF-R2 (P = 0.003). Positive SLC1A5 staining was
      associated with positive staining of p27 (P = 0.030), PUMA (P = 0.039),
      concomitant PUMA and p27 staining, and VEGF-R2 (P = 0.039). In non-serous tumors
      (n = 72), the SLC1A5 positivity was associated with recurrent disease (P = 0.01).
      In a multivariable logistic regression analysis FIGO-stage (OR = 12.4), tumor
      grade (OR = 5.1) and SLC1A5 positivity (OR = 0.1) were independent predictive
      factors for recurrent disease. Disease-free survival (DFS) in women with SLC1A5
      positive non-serous tumors was 92% compared with of 66% in patients with SLC1A5
      negative non-serous tumors (Log-rank = 15.343; P = 0.008). In Cox analysis with
      DFS as endpoint, FIGO-stage (HR = 4.5) and SLC1A5 status (HR = 0.3) were
      prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: As the proteins HRNPM and SLC1A5 are associated
      with the cell cycle regulators p21 or p27, the apoptosis regulators PTEN and
      PUMA, and the VEGF-R2 it is concluded that both proteins have role in the
      pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. In patients with non-serous ovarian cancer SLC1A5
      protects from recurrent disease, presumably by means of biological mechanisms
      that are unrelated to cytotoxic drug sensitivity.

PMID- 28609488
TI  - Comment - WHO's weakness is not technical, but due to lack of accountability.

PMID- 28609489
TI  - Comment - WHO outsourcing dilemma: for whose benefit, at whose expense?

PMID- 28609490
TI  - Authors' response - WHO must prioritise its roles and then be positioned and
      supported to execute effectively.

PMID- 28609491
TI  - Interpositional Augmentation Technique in the Treatment of Posterior Mandibular
      Atrophies: A Retrospective Study Comparing 129 Autogenous and Heterologous Bone
      Blocks with 2 to 7 Years Follow-Up.
AB  - The aim of this retrospective study was to compare clinical and radiographic
      outcomes of the interpositional (inlay) augmentation technique in atrophic
      posterior partially edentulous mandibles using three different types of block
      bone grafts: autogenous bone block harvested from the iliac crest, deproteinized
      bovine bone mineral block, and collagenated equine bone block. A total of 115
      patients were included with a 4.2-year mean after-loading follow-up. Data seem to
      suggest that heterologous bone blocks are similar in results to autogenous bone
      blocks, so they might be considered preferable as they avoid invasive harvesting
      surgeries.

PMID- 28609492
TI  - Correlation of Three-Dimensional Radiologic Data with Subsequent Treatment
      Approach in Patients with Peri-implantitis: A Retrospective Analysis.
AB  - The purpose of this retrospective radiographic study was to evaluate and
      correlate the dimensions and morphology of peri-implant bone defects as
      determined via cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans with regard to the
      selected treatment approach. Vertical and horizontal peri-implant bone defects
      (mesial, distal, mesio-oral, mesiobuccal, disto-oral, distobuccal, oral, and
      buccal) in peri-implantitis cases were measured. Three-dimensional data and
      defect morphology were correlated to the treatment approach chosen (explantation
      versus implant retention). A total of 19 patients and 28 implants met the
      inclusion criteria, resulting in a sample size of 224 sites and a total of 896
      measurements. The mean percent bone loss did not correlate to the type of
      treatment chosen (P = .1286). In contrast, when only the maximum vertical values
      per implant were selected, maximum percent bone loss exhibited a significant
      correlation to the type of treatment chosen (P = .0021). The effect of the defect
      morphology on the treatment strategy chosen did not show a statistically
      significant correlation (P = .4685). Based on the data presented, the maximum
      bone loss around the implant seems to be a critical factor in deciding whether or
      not an implant should be explanted. The use of CBCT for treatment planning in
      cases of peri-implantitis can offer valuable additional information but should be
      considered only after initial clinical examination and two-dimensional imaging.

PMID- 28609493
TI  - Vestibuloplasty with Retroauricular Skin Grafts for Dental Implant Rehabilitation
      in Vascularized Fibula Grafts: Two Case Reports.
AB  - The aim of this study was to present the use of retroauricular full-thickness
      skin grafts in vestibuloplasty surgeries for dental implant rehabilitation in
      vascularized fibula grafts. Two patients underwent mandibular reconstruction with
      vascularized fibula grafts due to mandibular gunshot injuries. Inadequate sulcus
      gaps secondary to mandibular soft tissue deficiencies were managed by full
      thickness autologous skin grafts harvested from the retroauricular region. Dental
      rehabilitation was achieved by implants placed in free fibula grafts. In both
      cases, complete graft survival was achieved. Cosmetic and functional outcomes
      were satisfactory. Owing to its high resiliency and elasticity and its thin and
      hairless structure, full-thickness retroauricular skin graft is an effective
      treatment modality in the management of intraoral soft tissue deficiencies.
      Patients with gunshot injuries present great functional and esthetic demands, and
      every report presenting new treatment modalities is helpful in the management of
      the condition.

PMID- 28609494
TI  - Effect of Three Clinical Curing Treatments on Fluoride Release and Surface
      Hardness of Glass-Ionomer Cements.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of radiant heat,
      ultrasonic treatment, and 42.7 wt% CaCl2 solution on fluoride release and surface
      hardness in three conventional glass-ionomer cements (GICs). The fluoride release
      patterns of each GIC were evaluated during a 28-day period using a fluoride ion
      selective electrode. The surface hardness of the tested GICs was evaluated 24
      hours after preparation of the specimens using Vickers hardness test. Statistical
      analysis of the data was made using analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc
      test (alpha = .05). Radiant heat, ultrasonic, and CaCl2 solution treatments
      reduced fluoride release and increased the surface hardness of the tested GICs (P
      < .05). Among the tested GICs, differences in fluoride release and surface
      hardness were observed (P < .05). The clinical treatments investigated may be
      effective methods for improving the setting reaction of GICs and may achieve
      sufficient initial mechanical properties earlier. Although a reduction in
      fluoride release occurs after the treatments, anticariogenic properties of the
      GICs may not be significantly affected.

PMID- 28609495
TI  - Pink and White Esthetics of a New Zirconia Implant: A 6-Month to 8-Year Follow
      Up.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyze changes in pink and white esthetics in the
      anterior zone through evaluation of an immediately placed zirconia implant using
      the Pink and White Esthetic Scores (PES and WES) in 20 patients. Two clinical
      photographs were compared: one taken directly after placement of the permanent
      crown (mean PES = 12.8; mean WES = 8.5) and the other taken at a later time (mean
      PES = 12.8; mean WES = 8.6; not significant). Volunteers found it difficult to
      correctly identify the implant. Patients completed a questionnaire regarding the
      pink and white implant esthetics. A mean outcome of 8.5 on a point scale of 0 to
      10 was found. The esthetic appearance of a restored zirconia implant is excellent
      and stable over time. Patients are generally satisfied with the result.

PMID- 28609496
TI  - Effect of Ceramic Barriers of Different Thicknesses on Microhardness of Light
      Cured Resin Cements.
AB  - This study evaluated the microhardness of two resin cements and a low-viscosity
      resin composite when light-cured under different ceramic thicknesses. A total of
      20 samples (10.0 * 1.0 mm) of each material were polymerized by means of a LED
      light source with an intensity of 1,100 mW/cm2 for 20 seconds. For each
      experimental group, different ceramic thicknesses (0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, and 1.5 mm)
      were applied to each sample. For the control group, the samples were polymerized
      without the presence of ceramics. Each material was then stored in dry vials that
      inhibited the passage of light for a period of 24 hours. After that time, each
      sample underwent Vickers hardness test (HMV, Shimadzu: 25 g/10 seconds). The data
      were collected and analyzed using analysis of variance and Tukey test (P < .05).
      For the control group, RelyX Veneer (3M ESPE), Filtek Flow Z350XT (3M ESPE), and
      Allcem Veneer (FGM) showed mean microhardness values and standard deviations of
      44.42 +/- 4.9, 44.25 +/- 2.4, and 31.71 +/- 2.4, respectively. The lowest
      microhardness value (24.13) was found when the greatest ceramic thickness (1.5
      mm) was used on the Allcem Veneer cement (P < .01). The microhardness of resin
      based materials was affected when the 1.5-mm-thick ceramic material was
      interposed during photoactivation.

PMID- 28609497
TI  - Retrospective Case Series Analysis to Evaluate Ridge Augmentation Procedure
      Applied to Immediate Implant Placement in the Esthetic Zone: Five-Year
      Longitudinal Evaluation Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography.
AB  - Using simultaneous transplantation of bone graft materials, this study examined
      the long-term outcomes of a ridge augmentation technique applied to deficient
      labial alveolar bone plate in the esthetic zone. Results were based on a case
      series in which study cases (n = 10) were divided into two groups. Group 1
      exhibited intact labial alveolar bone, while group 2 alveolar bone was dehiscent
      at the labial aspect. The clinical outcome was longitudinally monitored using
      cone beam computed tomography 4 to 7 years after the procedure. The final
      postoperative examination noted bone augmentation in labial bone width for groups
      1 and 2 of 2.48 +/- 0.60 and 2.62 +/- 0.68 mm, respectively (Mann-Whitney U test,
      P = .40), indicating the effectiveness of this technique when applied to
      dehiscent labial bone. More importantly, these measurements did not significantly
      change during the last 2 to 4 years of follow-up monitoring, suggesting the
      success of this technique when applied to immediate implant placement.

PMID- 28609498
TI  - Treatment of a Mandibular Glandular Odontogenic Cyst with Peripheral Ostectomy,
      Bone Allograft, and Implant Reconstruction: A Case Report.
AB  - This article reports on a case of a glandular odontogenic cyst (GOC) in the
      posterior mandible of a 25-year-old male treated with peripheral ostectomy, bone
      allograft, and an implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis. During a routine 3
      month postoperative visit, a radiograph suggested vertical bone loss on the
      implant in the location of the mandibular right first molar. The three-walled
      defect was surgically treated with debridement, bone allograft, and a membrane.
      Healing of this site has been uneventful. This case report demonstrates that
      implants can be successfully placed and restored in previously affected GOC
      sites.

PMID- 28609499
TI  - Comparison of Periodontal Biotypes Between Maxillary and Mandibular Anterior
      Teeth: A Clinical and Radiographic Study.
AB  - Periodontal biotype is a key element influencing esthetic treatment outcomes in
      clinical practice. However, while the soft and hard tissue thicknesses of
      maxillary anterior teeth have been widely studied, information regarding
      mandibular anterior teeth is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
      determine whether there is a relationship in terms of hard and soft tissue
      thickness between maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth. The present study
      included 90 maxillary and 90 mandibular anterior teeth in 15 healthy patients.
      Clinical and cone beam computed tomography measurements were taken to determine
      gingival and buccal bone thickness, respectively, and a correlation was made
      between maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth. No statistically significant
      differences were found when comparing gingival and buccal bone thickness at the
      crestal third and midpoint of maxillary and mandibular teeth (P > .05). However,
      some differences were observed at the apical third between the two groups. The
      results suggest that soft and hard tissue dimensions of maxillary and mandibular
      anterior teeth are comparable, especially in the coronal third. However, more
      studies are necessary to confirm that maxillary anterior teeth can be used as a
      reference when dealing with mandibular incisors and canines.

PMID- 28609500
TI  - Morphometric Changes Induced by Cold Argon Plasma Treatment on Osteoblasts Grown
      on Different Dental Implant Surfaces.
AB  - Treatments for enhancing surface energy were studied in an effort to create a
      more favorable environment for cell adhesion. Cold argon plasma (CAP) is able to
      improve titanium-cell contact, producing hydrophilic surfaces with higher
      wettability. The aim of this in vitro study was to estimate the early cell
      morphology after CAP treatment of different commercially available titanium
      surfaces. Surface wettability was significantly augmented in all the treated
      samples. The authors investigated how CAP affected the behavior of osteoblasts by
      evaluating the cell morphology outcome. Cell surface areas differed in a
      statistically significant way when plasma-treated samples were compared to the
      untreated ones. The positive effect of CAP was shown on smooth, moderately rough,
      and rough implant surfaces.

PMID- 28609502
TI  - Vascularization and Innervation of Connective Tissue Grafts in the Treatment of
      Gingival Recessions: A Histologic and Immunohistochemical Study.
AB  - The goal of this study was to histologically evaluate the healing process of
      subepithelial connective tissue graft in humans. A sample of 16 patients with
      Miller Class I or II localized gingival recession defects were consecutively
      treated with a bilaminar technique. At baseline and after 2 months, tissue
      samples were taken from the donor and recipient sites. The revascularization and
      reinnervation of the graft were examined by means of hematoxylin-eosin and
      immunohistochemical techniques. After 2 months of healing, the integration of the
      grafted tissue was evident with the connective tissue expressing features
      belonging to both the recipient (cellular component) and the donor site
      (extracellular matrix) in the inner and superficial layers, respectively. This
      was accompanied by increased neovascularization and reduction in intraepithelial
      free nerve endings.

PMID- 28609501
TI  - Coronally Advanced Flap Technique to Treat Class I and II Gingival Recession in
      Combination with Connective Tissue Graft or Equine Collagen Matrix: A
      Retrospective Study.
AB  - This retrospective study aimed to compare the effectiveness of an equine collagen
      matrix (ECM) with that of a subepithelial connective tissue graft (CTG) in
      patients affected by Class I and II gingival recessions treated with a coronally
      advanced flap (CAF) technique. Records of 50 consecutive patients were analyzed.
      Recession depth, probing depth, keratinized tissue width, and percentage of root
      coverage had been recorded at baseline and at the 1-year follow-up. The number of
      patients that achieved complete root coverage was also assessed. According to the
      investigated parameters, ECM and CTG provide similar results when used in
      association with a CAF technique.

PMID- 28609503
TI  - The Effect of Enamel Matrix Derivative Alone Versus in Combination with
      Alloplastic Materials to Treat Intrabony Defects: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - This meta-analysis aims to compare the effect of the application of enamel matrix
      derivative (EMD) used alone with that of its use in combination with alloplastic
      materials in the treatment of periodontal intrabony defects. Relevant studies
      were retrieved from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Embase through November
      2015. The main clinical outcomes were pocket probing depth (PPD) reduction,
      clinical attachment level (CAL) gain, gingival recession (REC) increase, and
      defect fill gain. Two separate meta-analyses were performed according to the
      length of follow-up. Nine articles were included. The results demonstrated that
      in the short-term follow-up group (<= 1 year), in terms of PPD reduction (P <
      .05) and REC increase (P < .05), the application of an EMD combined with
      alloplastic materials provided advantages compared to EMD used alone. For CAL
      gain (P = .17) and gain of defect fill (P = .07), no significant differences were
      observed. In the long-term follow-up group (> 1 year), no significant differences
      in terms of REC increase (P = .05) were found between the groups, but combined
      therapy exhibited an advantage in terms of PPD reduction (P < .05), CAL gain (P <
      .05), and gain in defect fill (P < .05). Within its limitations, this meta
      analysis indicated that the additional benefit of combined therapy in the
      treatment of periodontal intrabony defects compared with EMD used alone cannot be
      proven.

PMID- 28609504
TI  - Combining Esthetic Layering and Lithium Disilicate Sintering Technique on
      Zirconia Frameworks: A Veneering Option to Prevent Ceramic Chipping.
AB  - Major and minor chipping of veneering porcelain are two of the most frequent
      complications in all-ceramic restorations with zirconia frameworks. In cases of
      major chipping, replacement of the affected restoration may be necessary. High
      strength lithium disilicate ceramic offers new options to serve as veneering
      material in a sintering technique or as repair material for chipping in
      combination with the adhesive technique. The purpose of three case presentations
      here was to describe the use of lithium disilicate ceramic on zirconia frameworks
      for reliable and esthetic veneering in the posterior region and to repair
      extended chipping in conventional veneering materials.

PMID- 28609505
TI  - Creation of a Zone of Immobile Connective Tissue with Acellular Dermal Matrix
      Allografts.
AB  - Acellular dermal matrix allografts (ADMs) have been hypothesized to create a zone
      of immobile connective tissue (ICT) extending apical to the mucogingival junction
      (MGJ). This 12-month prospective randomized trial investigated the presence of
      ICT after the use of two commercially available ADMs with coronally advanced
      flaps in the treatment of Miller Class I and II recession defects. This study
      demonstrated that the use of either type of ADM resulted in predictable root
      coverage and a zone of ICT extending apical to the MGJ by 1.88 to 2.69 mm. Hence,
      minimal keratinized gingival width should not preclude the use of ADMs.

PMID- 28609506
TI  - Early Orthodontic Tooth Movement into Regenerative Bony Defects: A Case Report.
AB  - Early orthodontic tooth movement following regenerative surgery is controversial.
      In this case, during protraction of the maxillary right first premolar to
      substitute for the long-term missing maxillary right canine, Bio-Oss and Bio-Gide
      were used for lateral ridge augmentation at the area of the maxillary right
      lateral incisor and to cover the denuded surface at the buccal side of the first
      premolar. Orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) commenced 2 weeks after regenerative
      surgery. After 8 months, new bone formation was observed on the root surface of
      the first premolar during implant surgery. A cone beam computed tomography scan
      taken 1.5 years postsurgery revealed good maintenance of regenerative bone at the
      same site. This satisfactory outcome of early OTM following regenerative surgery
      suggests biomechanical stimulation may not jeopardize the regenerative effect.

PMID- 28609507
TI  - Use of Intraoral Welding to Increase the Predictability of Immediately Loaded
      Computer-Guided Implants.
AB  - Inaccuracy of computer-guided implant placement may lead to complications when
      combined with an immediately loaded prefabricated prosthesis. The aim of this
      case series was to describe the use of an intraoral welding technique to increase
      the predictability of immediately loaded implants supporting a fixed full-arch
      prosthesis after computer-guided flapless implant placement. A total of 60
      Ankylos plus implants (Dentsply) with a width of 3.5 mm and a length of 8 to 14
      mm were placed consecutively in 10 patients. The implants were functionally
      loaded using the intraoral welding technique on the day of surgery. The accuracy
      of guided implant placement was assessed by matching the planning cone beam
      computed tomography (CBCT) scans with postoperative CBCT scans. No mechanical or
      biologic complications were registered at the 1-year follow-up. The global
      coronal deviation of implant placement from the guide plan ranged from 0.25 to
      2.84 mm (SD: 0.6 mm), with a mean of 1.28 mm. Average angle deviation was 3.42
      degrees (range 0.38-7.82 degrees; SD: 1.52 degrees). The global apical deviation
      ranged between 0.36 and 3.85 mm (SD: 0.71 mm), with a mean of 1.65 mm. Despite
      the inaccuracy registered, this guided-welded approach allowed successful
      achievement of a passive fit of the full-arch prosthesis on the inserted implants
      the same day of the surgery and provided a high implant and prosthetic survival
      rate at the 1-year follow-up.

PMID- 28609508
TI  - Evaluation of the Bone-Regenerating Effects of Two Anorganic Bovine Bone Grafts
      in a Critical-Sized Alveolar Ridge Defect Model.
AB  - A preclinical trial was conducted to treat 54 mandibular critical-sized alveolar
      ridge defects in 27 canines. Each hemimandible was randomized to be treated with
      two different anorganic bovine bone grafts (group A = InterOss [SigmaGraft];
      group B = Bio-Oss [Geistlich]) or negative control (group C = empty defect)
      followed by a 4-, 8-, or 12-week observation period. Microcomputed tomography,
      histology, histopathology, and histomorphometric analyses were performed to
      evaluate the safety and efficacy of these treatments. By all the parameters
      assessed in this study, the biocompatibility and healing of group A treated
      defects were indistinguishable from those in group B. Radiographic comparison of
      graft resorption and bony integration demonstrated similar mean scores for both
      treatment groups. Likewise, no statistical differences were observed between the
      two groups with respect to percent mineralized volume and density. When compared
      to the critical-sized empty controls, both treatment groups showed statistically
      greater amounts of bone present in the defect sites and appeared to help preserve
      the mesial and distal alveolar walls of the defect. Histomorphometry also
      supported the similarity in performance of both tested groups as no statistically
      significant differences were observed with regard to percent bone, percent
      residual implant, and percent bone marrow values. While not statistically
      different, on average group A had more than twice the mean amount of bone present
      at 8 and 12 weeks compared to group B. Overall, group A had a good
      biocompatibility response, similar to group B. Clinical studies are recommended
      to confirm these findings.

PMID- 28609509
TI  - Connective Tissue Graft and Crown-Resin Composite Restoration for the Treatment
      of Gingival Recession Associated with Noncarious Cervical Lesions: Case Series.
AB  - The purpose of this case series is to describe a restorative and surgical
      approach to treat the combined defect (CD)-gingival recession associated with
      noncarious cervical lesions (NCCL)-through connective tissue graft in combination
      with partial resin composite filling, restoring the crown zone plus 1 mm of the
      NCCL. A total of 10 patients were included. Bleeding on probing, probing depth,
      relative gingival recession, clinical attachment level, CD height, and dentin
      hypersensitivity were measured. The treatment provided statistically significant
      gain in clinical attachment level and shallow probing depths. The percentage of
      the combined defect coverage was 70% +/- 20.2%. It can be concluded that this
      treatment protocol, in the presence of a partial resin composite restoration, can
      be used successfully to treat CD.

PMID- 28609510
TI  - A Comparison of Coverbal Gesture Use in Oral Discourse Among Speakers With Fluent
      and Nonfluent Aphasia.
AB  - Purpose: Coverbal gesture use, which is affected by the presence and degree of
      aphasia, can be culturally specific. The purpose of this study was to compare
      gesture use among Cantonese-speaking individuals: 23 neurologically healthy
      speakers, 23 speakers with fluent aphasia, and 21 speakers with nonfluent
      aphasia. Method: Multimedia data of discourse samples from these speakers were
      extracted from the Cantonese AphasiaBank. Gestures were independently annotated
      on their forms and functions to determine how gesturing rate and distribution of
      gestures differed across speaker groups. A multiple regression was conducted to
      determine the most predictive variable(s) for gesture-to-word ratio. Results:
      Although speakers with nonfluent aphasia gestured most frequently, the rate of
      gesture use in counterparts with fluent aphasia did not differ significantly from
      controls. Different patterns of gesture functions in the 3 speaker groups
      revealed that gesture plays a minor role in lexical retrieval whereas its role in
      enhancing communication dominates among the speakers with aphasia. The
      percentages of complete sentences and dysfluency strongly predicted the gesturing
      rate in aphasia. Conclusions: The current results supported the sketch model of
      language-gesture association. The relationship between gesture production and
      linguistic abilities and clinical implications for gesture-based language
      intervention for speakers with aphasia are also discussed.

PMID- 28609511
TI  - Automated Assessment of Child Vocalization Development Using LENA.
AB  - Purpose: To produce a novel, efficient measure of children's expressive vocal
      development on the basis of automatic vocalization assessment (AVA), child
      vocalizations were automatically identified and extracted from audio recordings
      using Language Environment Analysis (LENA) System technology. Method: Assessment
      was based on full-day audio recordings collected in a child's unrestricted,
      natural language environment. AVA estimates were derived using automatic speech
      recognition modeling techniques to categorize and quantify the sounds in child
      vocalizations (e.g., protophones and phonemes). These were expressed as phone and
      biphone frequencies, reduced to principal components, and inputted to age-based
      multiple linear regression models to predict independently collected criterion
      expressive language scores. From these models, we generated vocal development AVA
      estimates as age-standardized scores and development age estimates. Result: AVA
      estimates demonstrated strong statistical reliability and validity when compared
      with standard criterion expressive language assessments. Conclusions: Automated
      analysis of child vocalizations extracted from full-day recordings in natural
      settings offers a novel and efficient means to assess children's expressive vocal
      development. More research remains to identify specific mechanisms of operation.

PMID- 28609514
TI  - Facebook Plans Brain-Typing Project With Medical Applications.

PMID- 28609513
TI  - In-home, Over-the-counter Sleep Apnea Sensor on the Horizon.

PMID- 28609512
TI  - Detection of precancerous lesions in the oral cavity using oblique polarized
      reflectance spectroscopy: a clinical feasibility study.
AB  - We developed a multifiber optical probe for oblique polarized reflectance
      spectroscopy (OPRS) in vivo and evaluated its performance in detection of
      dysplasia in the oral cavity. The probe design allows the implementation of a
      number of methods to enable depth resolved spectroscopic measurements including
      polarization gating, source-detector separation, and differential spectroscopy;
      this combination was evaluated in carrying out binary classification tasks
      between four major diagnostic categories: normal, benign, mild dysplasia (MD),
      and severe dysplasia (SD). Multifiber OPRS showed excellent performance in the
      discrimination of normal from benign, MD, SD, and MD plus SD yielding
      sensitivity/specificity values of 100%/93%, 96%/95%, 100%/98%, and 100%/100%,
      respectively. The classification of benign versus dysplastic lesions was more
      challenging with sensitivity and specificity values of 80%/93%, 71%/93%, and
      74%/80% in discriminating benign from SD, MD, and SD plus MD categories,
      respectively; this challenge is most likely associated with a strong and highly
      variable scattering from a keratin layer that was found in these sites.
      Classification based on multiple fibers was significantly better than that based
      on any single detection pair for tasks dealing with benign versus dysplastic
      sites. This result indicates that the multifiber probe can perform better in the
      detection of dysplasia in keratinized tissues.

PMID- 28609515
TI  - Amid FDA Approval Filings, Another CAR-T Therapy Patient Death.

PMID- 28609516
TI  - A Man With a Nonblanchable Purpuric Rash.

PMID- 28609517
TI  - Abdominal Ultrasound for Pediatric Blunt Trauma: FAST Is Not Always Better.

PMID- 28609518
TI  - Brain Amyloid Pathology and Cognitive Function: Alzheimer Disease Without
      Dementia?

PMID- 28609519
TI  - Physician Certification and Recertification: The Role of Empirical Evidence.

PMID- 28609520
TI  - NSAIDs for Chronic Low Back Pain.
AB  - Clinical Question: Are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) associated
      with greater pain relief than placebo, other drugs, and nondrug treatments for
      patients with chronic low back pain? Bottom Line: Compared with placebo, NSAIDs
      are associated with a small but significant improvement in pain and disability in
      patients with chronic low back pain, although this difference became
      nonsignificant when studies with high risk for bias were excluded. The associated
      benefits were smaller than the minimal clinically important difference.

PMID- 28609521
TI  - Online Measures of Physician Performance: Moving Beyond Aggregation to
      Integration.

PMID- 28609523
TI  - Where Does the Health Insurance Premium Dollar Go?

PMID- 28609524
TI  - Minor Comments.

PMID- 28609525
TI  - Time to Delivery of an Automated External Defibrillator Using a Drone for
      Simulated Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests vs Emergency Medical Services.

PMID- 28609526
TI  - Genetic Predisposition to Abdominal Adiposity and Cardiometabolic Risk.

PMID- 28609527
TI  - Cognitive Function After Testosterone Treatment.

PMID- 28609528
TI  - Childhood and Adolescent Obesity as a Winnable Battle.

PMID- 28609529
TI  - Genetic Predisposition to Abdominal Obesity and Cardiometabolic Risk-Reply.

PMID- 28609530
TI  - Cognitive Function After Testosterone Treatment.

PMID- 28609531
TI  - Childhood and Adolescent Obesity as a Winnable Battle-Reply.

PMID- 28609532
TI  - Effect of Abdominal Ultrasound on Clinical Care, Outcomes, and Resource Use Among
      Children With Blunt Torso Trauma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: The utility of the focused assessment with sonography for trauma
      (FAST) examination in children is unknown. Objective: To determine if the FAST
      examination during initial evaluation of injured children improves clinical care.
      Design, Setting, and Participants: A randomized clinical trial (April 2012-May
      2015) that involved 975 hemodynamically stable children and adolescents younger
      than 18 years treated for blunt torso trauma at the University of California,
      Davis Medical Center, a level I trauma center. Interventions: Patients were
      randomly assigned to a standard trauma evaluation with the FAST examination by
      the treating ED physician or a standard trauma evaluation alone. Main Outcomes
      and Measures: Coprimary outcomes were rate of abdominal computed tomographic (CT)
      scans in the ED, missed intra-abdominal injuries, ED length of stay, and hospital
      charges. Results: Among the 925 patients who were randomized (mean [SD] age, 9.7
      [5.3] years; 575 males [62%]), all completed the study. A total of 50 patients
      (5.4%, 95% CI, 4.0% to 7.1%) were diagnosed with intra-abdominal injuries,
      including 40 (80%; 95% CI, 66% to 90%) who had intraperitoneal fluid found on an
      abdominal CT scan, and 9 patients (0.97%; 95% CI, 0.44% to 1.8%) underwent
      laparotomy. The proportion of patients with abdominal CT scans was 241 of 460
      (52.4%) in the FAST group and 254 of 465 (54.6%) in the standard care-only group
      (difference, -2.2%; 95% CI, -8.7% to 4.2%). One case of missed intra-abdominal
      injury occurred in a patient in the FAST group and none in the control group
      (difference, 0.2%; 95% CI, -0.6% to 1.2%). The mean ED length of stay was 6.03
      hours in the FAST group and 6.07 hours in the standard care-only group
      (difference, -0.04 hours; 95% CI, -0.47 to 0.40 hours). Median hospital charges
      were $46 415 in the FAST group and $47 759 in the standard care-only group
      (difference, -$1180; 95% CI, -$6651 to $4291). Conclusions and Relevance: Among
      hemodynamically stable children treated in an ED following blunt torso trauma,
      the use of FAST compared with standard care only did not improve clinical care,
      including use of resources; ED length of stay; missed intra-abdominal injuries;
      or hospital charges. These findings do not support the routine use of FAST in
      this setting. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01540318.

PMID- 28609533
TI  - Association Between Elevated Brain Amyloid and Subsequent Cognitive Decline Among
      Cognitively Normal Persons.
AB  - Importance: Among cognitively normal individuals, elevated brain amyloid (defined
      by cerebrospinal fluid assays or positron emission tomography regional summaries)
      can be related to risk for later Alzheimer-related cognitive decline. Objective:
      To characterize and quantify the risk for Alzheimer-related cognitive decline
      among cognitively normal individuals with elevated brain amyloid. Design,
      Setting, and Participants: Exploratory analyses were conducted with longitudinal
      cognitive and biomarker data from 445 cognitively normal individuals in the
      United States and Canada. Participants were observed from August 23, 2005, to
      June 7, 2016, for a median of 3.1 years (interquartile range, 2.0-4.2 years;
      maximum follow-up, 10.3 years) as part of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging
      Initiative (ADNI). Exposures: Individuals were classified at baseline as having
      normal (n = 243) or elevated (n = 202) brain amyloid using positron emission
      tomography amyloid imaging or a cerebrospinal fluid assay of amyloid beta. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes included scores on the Preclinical Alzheimer
      Cognitive Composite (PACC; a sum of 4 baseline standardized z scores, which
      decreases with worse performance), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; 0 [worst]
      to 30 [best] points), Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-Sum of Boxes; 0
      [best] to 18 [worst] points), and Logical Memory Delayed Recall (0 [worst] to 25
      [best] story units). Results: Among the 445 participants (243 with normal
      amyloid, 202 with elevated amyloid), mean (SD) age was 74.0 (5.9) years, mean
      education was 16.4 (2.7) years, and 52% were women. The mean score for PACC at
      baseline was 0.00 (2.60); for MMSE, 29.0 (1.2); for CDR-Sum of Boxes, 0.04
      (0.14); and for Logical Memory Delayed Recall, 13.1 (3.3). Compared with the
      group with normal amyloid, those with elevated amyloid had worse mean scores at 4
      years on the PACC (mean difference, 1.51 points [95% CI, 0.94-2.10]; P < .001),
      MMSE (mean difference, 0.56 points [95% CI, 0.32-0.80]; P < .001), and CDR-Sum of
      Boxes (mean difference, 0.23 points [95% CI, 0.08-0.38]; P = .002). For Logical
      Memory Delayed Recall, between-group score was not statistically significant at 4
      years (mean difference, 0.73 story units [95% CI, -0.02 to 1.48]; P = .056).
      Conclusions and Relevance: Exploratory analyses of a cognitively normal cohort
      followed up for a median of 3.1 years suggest that elevation in baseline brain
      amyloid level, compared with normal brain amyloid level, was associated with
      higher likelihood of cognitive decline, although the findings are of uncertain
      clinical significance. Further research is needed to assess the clinical
      importance of these differences and measure longer-term associations.

PMID- 28609536
TI  - Cardiac Catheterization.

PMID- 28609534
TI  - Effect of Low-Dose Ferrous Sulfate vs Iron Polysaccharide Complex on Hemoglobin
      Concentration in Young Children With Nutritional Iron-Deficiency Anemia: A
      Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) affects millions of persons worldwide,
      and is associated with impaired neurodevelopment in infants and children. Ferrous
      sulfate is the most commonly prescribed oral iron despite iron polysaccharide
      complex possibly being better tolerated. Objective: To compare the effect of
      ferrous sulfate with iron polysaccharide complex on hemoglobin concentration in
      infants and children with nutritional IDA. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      Double-blind, superiority randomized clinical trial of infants and children aged
      9 to 48 months with nutritional IDA (assessed by history and laboratory criteria)
      that was conducted in an outpatient hematology clinic at a US tertiary care
      hospital from September 2013 through November 2015; 12-week follow-up ended in
      January 2016. Interventions: Three mg/kg of elemental iron once daily as either
      ferrous sulfate drops or iron polysaccharide complex drops for 12 weeks. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcome was change in hemoglobin over 12 weeks.
      Secondary outcomes included complete resolution of IDA (defined as hemoglobin
      concentration >11 g/dL, mean corpuscular volume >70 fL, reticulocyte hemoglobin
      equivalent >25 pg, serum ferritin level >15 ng/mL, and total iron-binding
      capacity <425 MUg/dL at the 12-week visit), changes in serum ferritin level and
      total iron-binding capacity, adverse effects. Results: Of 80 randomized infants
      and children (median age, 22 months; 55% male; 61% Hispanic white; 40 per group),
      59 completed the trial (28 [70%] in ferrous sulfate group; 31 [78%] in iron
      polysaccharide complex group). From baseline to 12 weeks, mean hemoglobin
      increased from 7.9 to 11.9 g/dL (ferrous sulfate group) vs 7.7 to 11.1 g/dL (iron
      complex group), a greater difference of 1.0 g/dL (95% CI, 0.4 to 1.6 g/dL; P <
      .001) with ferrous sulfate (based on a linear mixed model). Proportion with a
      complete resolution of IDA was higher in the ferrous sulfate group (29% vs 6%; P
      = .04). Median serum ferritin level increased from 3.0 to 15.6 ng/mL (ferrous
      sulfate) vs 2.0 to 7.5 ng/mL (iron complex) over 12 weeks, a greater difference
      of 10.2 ng/mL (95% CI, 6.2 to 14.1 ng/mL; P < .001) with ferrous sulfate. Mean
      total iron-binding capacity decreased from 501 to 389 MUg/dL (ferrous sulfate) vs
      506 to 417 MUg/dL (iron complex) (a greater difference of -50 MUg/dL [95% CI, -86
      to -14 MUg/dL] with ferrous sulfate; P < .001). There were more reports of
      diarrhea in the iron complex group than in the ferrous sulfate group (58% vs 35%,
      respectively; P = .04). Conclusions and Relevance: Among infants and children
      aged 9 to 48 months with nutritional iron-deficiency anemia, ferrous sulfate
      compared with iron polysaccharide complex resulted in a greater increase in
      hemoglobin concentration at 12 weeks. Once daily, low-dose ferrous sulfate should
      be considered for children with nutritional iron-deficiency anemia. Trial
      Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01904864.

PMID- 28609535
TI  - Comparison of Content on the American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of
      Certification Examination With Conditions Seen in Practice by General Internists.
AB  - Importance: Success on the internal medicine (IM) examination is a central
      requirement of the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM's) Maintenance of
      Certification program (MOC). Therefore, it is important to understand the degree
      to which this examination reflects conditions seen in practice, one dimension of
      content validity, which focuses on the match between content in the discipline
      and the topics on the examination questions. Objective: To assess whether the
      frequency of questions on IM-MOC examinations were concordant with the frequency
      of conditions seen in practice. Design, Setting, and Participants: The 2010-2013
      IM-MOC examinations were used to calculate the percentage of questions for 186
      medical condition categories from the examination blueprint, which balances
      examination content by considering importance and frequency of conditions seen in
      practice. Nationally representative estimates of conditions seen in practice by
      general internists were estimated from the primary diagnosis for 13 832 office
      visits (2010-2013 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys) and 108 472 hospital
      stays (2010 National Hospital Discharge Survey). Exposures: Prevalence of
      conditions included on the IM-MOC examination questions. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: The outcome measure was the concordance between the percentages of IM
      MOC examination questions and the percentages of conditions seen in practice
      during either office visits or hospital stays for each of 186 condition
      categories (eg, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, liver disease). The
      concordance thresholds were 0.5 SD of the weighted mean percentages of the
      applicable 186 conditions seen in practice (0.74% for office visits; 0.51% for
      hospital stays). If the absolute differences between the percentages of
      examination questions and the percentages of office visit conditions or hospital
      stay conditions seen were less than the applicable concordance threshold, then
      the condition category was judged to be concordant. Results: During the 2010-2013
      IM-MOC examination periods, 3600 questions (180 questions per examination form)
      were administered and 3461 questions (96.1%) were mapped into the 186 study
      conditions (mean, 18.6 questions per condition). Comparison of the percentages of
      186 categories of medical conditions seen in 13 832 office visits and 108 472
      hospital stays with the percentages of 3461 questions on IM-MOC examinations
      revealed that 2389 examination questions (69.0%; 95% CI, 67.5%-70.6% involving
      158 conditions) were categorized as concordant. For concordance between questions
      and office visits only, 2010 questions (58.08%; 95% CI, 56.43%-59.72% of all
      examination questions) involving 145 conditions were categorized as concordant.
      For concordance between questions and hospital stays only, 1456 questions
      (42.07%; 95% CI, 40.42%-43.71% of all examination questions) involving 122
      conditions were categorized as concordant. Conclusions and Relevance: Among
      questions on IM-MOC examinations from 2010-2013, 69% were concordant with
      conditions seen in general internal medicine practices, although some areas of
      discordance were identified.

PMID- 28609538
TI  - Gray Areas.

PMID- 28609540
TI  - Mercury Risk at Day Care Center.

PMID- 28609541
TI  - Decline in Death Rates Among Blacks.

PMID- 28609542
TI  - Effect of Single-Use, Laser-Cut, Slow-Flow Nipples on Respiration and Milk
      Ingestion in Preterm Infants.
AB  - Purpose: Single-use, laser-cut, slow-flow nipples were evaluated for their effect
      on respiration and milk ingestion in 13 healthy preterm infants (32.7-37.1 weeks
      postmenstrual age) under nonlaboratory, clinical conditions. Method: The primary
      outcomes of minute ventilation and overall milk transfer were measured by using
      integrated nasal airflow and volume-calibrated bottles during suck bursts and
      suck burst breaks during slow-flow and standard-flow nipple bottle feedings.
      Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used to test the effect of nipple type on both
      outcomes. Results: Prefeeding minute ventilation decreased significantly during
      suck bursts and returned to baseline values during suck burst breaks across both
      slow-flow and standard-flow nipples. No differences were found in minute
      ventilation (p > .40) or overall milk transfer (p = .58) between slow-flow and
      standard-flow nipples. Conclusions: The lack of difference in primary outcomes
      between the single-use slow-flow and standard-flow nipples may reflect
      variability in nipple properties among nipples produced by the same manufacturer.
      Future investigations examining the effect of both single-use and reusable nipple
      products are warranted to better guide nipple selection during clinical care.

PMID- 28609543
TI  - Reframing sociologies of ethnicity and migration in encounters with Chinese
      London.
AB  - In this paper I argue that the intersecting sociologies of ethnicity and
      migration work from a series of interconnected blind spots hindering effective
      analysis of the current UK situation. Both operate analytically within the
      limitations of an 'immigrant problem' framework; are overinvested in state
      agendas; privilege a nation state analysis; are narrowly focused on distributions
      of migrant bodies, and on receiving, at the expense of sending, contexts.
      Exploring these limitations with data derived from a modest small-scale
      qualitative study of young Chinese migrants in London, I argue for a reframing
      along four dimensions. Firstly, in an era of elite migration, sociology could
      reach beyond its immigrant problem framework and open up to a broader range of UK
      migrant ethnicities and circumstances. Secondly, a stronger focus on cities as
      the scale on which lives are lived, and through which diverse streams of
      translocal activity are routed, would open new avenues of sociological
      exploration. Thirdly, including translocal activities connected with
      distributions of ethnic migrant bodies, such as capital transfers, would broaden
      its focus, taking migration and ethnicity more centrally into the analysis of
      globalization as one of its constituting practices. Finally, paying attention to
      sending, as well as arrival cities, reveals migrants' thinking and shapes the
      ways in which they live, as my data shows. The Chinese are both one of the UK's
      neglected minorities, and one of its fastest growing populations. They are a good
      example of new UK migrants and they bring globalization's realignment with the
      rising significance of China to the UK.

PMID- 28609546
TI  - Nodular scabies in infants: dermoscopic examination may avoid a diagnostic
      pitfall.

PMID- 28609544
TI  - Acute glucose and lactate metabolism are associated with cognitive recovery
      following traumatic brain injury.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with acute cerebral metabolic crisis
      (ACMC). ACMC-related atrophy appears to be prominent in frontal and temporal
      lobes following moderate-to-severe TBI. This atrophy is correlated with poorer
      cognitive outcomes in TBI. The current study investigated ability of acute
      glucose and lactate metabolism to predict long-term recovery of frontal-temporal
      cognitive function in participants with moderate-to-severe TBI. Cerebral
      metabolic rate of glucose and lactate were measured by the Kety-Schmidt method on
      days 0-7 post-injury. Indices of frontal-temporal cognitive processing were
      calculated for six months post-injury; 12 months post-injury; and recovery (the
      difference between the six- and 12-month scores). Glucose and lactate metabolism
      were included in separate regression models, as they were highly intercorrelated.
      Also, glucose and lactate values were centered and averaged and included in a
      final regression model. Models for the prediction frontal-temporal cognition at
      six and 12 months post-injury were not significant. However, average glucose and
      lactate metabolism predicted recovery of frontal-temporal cognition, accounting
      for 23% and 22% of the variance, respectively. Also, maximum glucose metabolism,
      but not maximum lactate metabolism, was an inverse predictor in the recovery of
      frontal-temporal cognition, accounting for 23% of the variance. Finally, the
      average of glucose and lactate metabolism predicted frontal-temporal cognitive
      recovery, accounting for 22% of the variance. These data indicate that acute
      glucose and lactate metabolism both support cognitive recovery from TBI. Also,
      our data suggest that control of endogenous fuels and/or supplementation with
      exogenous fuels may have therapeutic potential for cognitive recovery from TBI.

PMID- 28609545
TI  - New Ruthenium-Based Probes for Selective G-Quadruplex Targeting.
AB  - Telomeric regions containing G-quadruplex (G4) structures play a pivotal role in
      the development of cancers. The development of specific binders for G4s is thus
      of great interest in order to gain a deeper understanding of the role of these
      structures, and to ultimately develop new anticancer drug candidates. For several
      years, RuII complexes have been studied as efficient probes for DNA. Interest in
      these complexes stems mainly from the tunability of their structures and
      properties, and the possibility of using light excitation as a tool to probe
      their environment or to selectively trigger their reaction with a biological
      target. Herein, we report on the synthesis and thorough study of new RuII
      complexes based on a novel dipyrazino[2,3-a:2',3'-h]phenazine ligand (dph),
      obtained through a Chichibabin-like reaction. Luminescence experiments, surface
      plasmon resonance (SPR), and computational studies have demonstrated that these
      complexes behave as selective probes for G-quadruplex structures.

PMID- 28609547
TI  - Intensive insulin therapy combined with metformin is associated with reduction in
      both glucose variability and nocturnal hypoglycaemia in patients with type 2
      diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect on glucose variability in patients with intensive insulin
      therapy has not been fully understood. This observational study investigated the
      different glucose variability and hypoglycaemia patterns in type 2 diabetes
      patients treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) or multiple
      daily injections (MDI) with or without metformin administration. METHODS: During
      hospitalization, a total of 501 patients with poor glycaemic control and in
      initial treatment with either CSII alone (n = 187), CSII + Metformin (n = 81),
      MDI alone (n = 146), or MDI + Metformin (n = 87) were involved in the final
      analysis. Data obtained from continuous glucose monitoring were used to assess
      blood glucose fluctuation and nocturnal hypoglycaemia. RESULTS: Among the 4
      groups, no difference was found in mean blood glucose levels. Results in
      parameters reflecting glucose fluctuation: continuous overlapping net glycaemic
      action in CSII + Metformin and mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions in MDI +
      Metformin were significantly lower than those in either CSII alone or MDI alone,
      respectively, even after adjustment (P = .031 and .006). Frequency of nocturnal
      hypoglycaemia was significantly decreased in CSII + Metformin as compared with
      CSII alone (0.6% vs 1.8%) and in MDI + Metformin as compared with MDI alone (1.6%
      vs 2.3%), with the highest frequency observed in MDI alone and the lowest in CSII
      + Metformin (all between group P < .001). Consistent results were obtained in
      between-group comparisons for hypoglycaemia duration. Subgroup analysis matched
      with baseline body mass index, and glycated haemoglobin and fasting blood glucose
      further confirmed these findings. CONCLUSION: Metformin added to initial CSII or
      MDI therapy is associated with a reduction in both glucose fluctuation and
      nocturnal hypoglycaemic risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28609548
TI  - Inhibitors of kallikrein-related peptidases: An overview.
AB  - Kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) are a family of 15 secreted serine proteases
      that are involved in various physiological processes. Their activities are subtly
      regulated by various endogenous inhibitors, ranging from metallic ions to
      macromolecular entities such as proteins. Furthermore, dysregulation of KLK
      activity has been linked to several pathologies, including cancer and skin and
      inflammatory diseases, explaining the numerous efforts to develop KLK-specific
      pharmacological inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents. In this review, we
      focus on the huge repertoire of KLKs inhibitors reported to date with a special
      emphasis on the diversity of their molecular mechanisms of inhibition.

PMID- 28609549
TI  - Non-random species loss in a forest herbaceous layer following nitrogen addition.
AB  - Nitrogen (N) additions have decreased species richness (S) in hardwood forest
      herbaceous layers, yet the functional mechanisms for these decreases have not
      been explicitly evaluated. We tested two hypothesized mechanisms, random species
      loss (RSL) and non-random species loss (NRSL), in the hardwood forest herbaceous
      layer of a long-term, plot-scale, fertilization experiment in the central
      Appalachian Mountains, USA. Using a random thinning algorithm, we simulated
      changes in species densities under RSL and compared the simulated densities to
      the observed densities among N-fertilized (+N), N-fertilized and limed (+N+L),
      and reference (REF) plots in regenerating forest stands. We found a lower S in
      the +N treatment across all survey years and determined that the reduction in S
      was a function of NRSL. Furthermore, non-random effects were observed in certain
      species, as they occurred at densities that were either higher or lower than
      expected due to RSL. Differential advantages were also observed among species
      between +N and +N+L treatments, suggesting that species responded to either the
      fertilization or acidification effects of N, though no consistent pattern
      emerged. Species nitrophily status was not a useful trait for predicting specific
      species losses, but was a significant factor when averaged across all treatments
      and sampling years. Our results provide strong evidence that declines in S in the
      forest herbaceous layer under N fertilization are due largely to NRSL and not
      simply a function of species rarity.

PMID- 28609550
TI  - Satisfaction of mountain guides with high sun protection as a tool to prevent non
      melanoma skin cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is an occupational disease for
      outdoor workers in Germany since 2015. Sustainable prevention is demanded and
      sunscreen promoted as an effective tool. However, studies on the satisfaction of
      sunscreen users are rare. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the satisfaction of mountain
      guides using a high SPF sunscreen product as an appropriate prevention tool for
      mountain guides. METHODS: Motivating mountain and ski guides in Germany to use
      very high protection sunscreen (SPF50+, Actinica Lotion) during a 4- to 8-h
      workday followed by the completion of a self-filled paper-based questionnaire
      about their experience and satisfaction with the product. RESULTS: Of 88 mountain
      and ski guides (61 men, 27 women) included in the study, 61.4% reported regular
      sunscreen use with the application of very high protection (SPF50+) in 18.6% of
      all cases. At the end of the workday, 78.6% found the product convenient and easy
      to include into their daily work and 79.3% felt sufficiently protected against
      the sun. CONCLUSION: Overall satisfaction with the use of high SPF products
      during work is high in mountain and ski guides and could be an effective tool in
      prevention campaigns.

PMID- 28609551
TI  - Chronic exposure to tetracyclines and subsequent diagnosis for non-melanoma skin
      cancer in a large Midwestern U.S. patient population.

PMID- 28609552
TI  - Thyrotrophin levels and coronary artery calcification: Cross-sectional results of
      the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is little information about the association between thyrotrophin
      (TSH) levels and coronary artery calcification (CAC). Our aim was to analyse the
      association between TSH quintiles and subclinical atherosclerosis measured by
      CAC, using baseline data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health
      (ELSA-Brasil). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PATIENTS: We excluded individuals
      using medications that affect thyroid function and who self-reported
      cardiovascular disease. We included euthyroid subjects and individuals with
      subclinical hypothyroidism (SCHypo) and subclinical hyperthyroidism (SCHyper).
      Logistic regression models evaluated CAC >100 Agatston units as the dependent
      variable, and increasing quintiles of TSH as the independent variable, adjusted
      for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: Our sample included
      3836 subjects, mean age 49 years (interquartile range 44-56); 1999 (52.1%) were
      female, 3551 (92.6%) were euthyroid, 239 (6.2%) had SCHypo and 46 (1.2%) had
      SCHyper. The frequency of women, White people and never smokers as well as body
      mass index and insulin resistance increased according to quintiles. The 1st
      quintile for TSH (0-0.99 mIU/L) was associated with CAC >100, using the 3rd
      quintile (1.39-1.85 mIU/L) as reference (adjusted OR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.05-2.35,
      P=.027), but no association was shown for the 5th quintile (2.68-35.5 mIU/L)
      compared to the 3rd. Restricting the analysis to euthyroid subjects did not
      change the results. For women, but not for men, we observed a U-shaped curve with
      1st and 5th TSH quintiles associated with CAC>100. CONCLUSION: Low and low-normal
      (1st quintile) TSH levels were associated with CAC>100 Agatston units in a sample
      with subclinical thyroid disorders and euthyroid subjects.

PMID- 28609553
TI  - The distinguishing effects of low-intensity electromagnetic radiation of
      different extremely high frequencies on Enterococcus hirae: growth rate
      inhibition and scanning electron microscopy analysis.
AB  - : A low-intensity electromagnetic field of extremely high frequency has
      inhibitory and stimulatory effects on bacteria, including Enterococcus hirae. It
      was shown that the low-intensity (the incident power density of 0.06 mW cm-2 )
      electromagnetic field at the frequencies of 51.8 GHz and 53 GHz inhibited E.
      hirae ATCC 9790 bacterial growth rate; a stronger effect was observed with 53
      GHz, regardless of exposure duration (0.5 h, 1 h or 2 h). Scanning electron
      microscopy analysis of these effects has been done; the cells were of spherical
      shape. Electromagnetic field at 53 GHz, but not 51.8 GHz, changed the cell size
      the diameter was enlarged 1.3 fold at 53 GHz. These results suggest the
      difference in mechanisms of action on bacteria for electromagnetic fields at 51.8
      GHz and 53 GHz. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: A stronger inhibitory
      effect of low-intensity electromagnetic field on Enterococcus hirae ATCC 9790
      bacterial growth rate was observed with 53 GHz vs 51.8 GHz, regardless of
      exposure duration. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that almost all
      irradiated cells in the population have spherical shapes similar to nonirradiated
      ones, but they have increased diameters in case of irradiated cells at 53 GHz,
      but not 51.8 GHz. The results are novel, showing distinguishing effects of low
      intensity electromagnetic field of different frequencies. They could be applied
      in treatment of food and different products in medicine and veterinary, where E.
      hirae plays an important role.

PMID- 28609554
TI  - Digit preserving surgery of subungual melanoma: a case series using vacuum
      assisted closure and full-thickness skin grafting.

PMID- 28609556
TI  - Prevention of livedoid vasculopathy recurrence by prolonged administration of
      rivaroxaban.

PMID- 28609555
TI  - Carnivore carcasses are avoided by carnivores.
AB  - Ecologists have traditionally focused on herbivore carcasses as study models in
      scavenging research. However, some observations of scavengers avoiding feeding on
      carnivore carrion suggest that different types of carrion may lead to
      differential pressures. Untested assumptions about carrion produced at different
      trophic levels could therefore lead ecologists to overlook important evolutionary
      processes and their ecological consequences. Our general goal was to investigate
      the use of mammalian carnivore carrion by vertebrate scavengers. In particular,
      we aimed to test the hypothesis that carnivore carcasses are avoided by other
      carnivores, especially at the intraspecific level, most likely to reduce exposure
      to parasitism. We take a three-pronged approach to study this principle by: (i)
      providing data from field experiments, (ii) carrying out evolutionary simulations
      of carnivore scavenging strategies under risks of parasitic infection, and (iii)
      conducting a literature-review to test two predictions regarding parasite life
      history strategies. First, our field experiments showed that the mean number of
      species observed feeding at carcasses and the percentage of consumed carrion
      biomass were substantially higher at herbivore carcasses than at carnivore
      carcasses. This occurred even though the number of scavenger species visiting
      carcasses and the time needed by scavengers to detect carcasses were similar
      between both types of carcasses. In addition, we did not observe cannibalism.
      Second, our evolutionary simulations demonstrated that a risk of parasite
      transmission leads to the evolution of scavengers with generally low
      cannibalistic tendencies, and that the emergence of cannibalism-avoidance
      behaviour depends strongly on assumptions about parasite-based mortality rates.
      Third, our literature review indicated that parasite species potentially able to
      follow a carnivore-carnivore indirect cycle, as well as those transmitted via
      meat consumption, are rare in our study system. Our findings support the
      existence of a novel coevolutionary relation between carnivores and their
      parasites, and suggest that carnivore and herbivore carcasses play very different
      roles in food webs and ecosystems.

PMID- 28609557
TI  - Validation of international consensus equation for acute serum total tryptase in
      mast cell activation: A perioperative perspective.
AB  - There is no standardized method for assessing serum total mast cell tryptase
      (MCT) in anaphylaxis. The consensus equation (peak MCT should be>1.2* baseline
      tryptase+2 mg/L) has been proposed to interpret acute MCT in mast cell activation
      syndrome (MCAS). To validate consensus equation in a perioperative setting
      analyses of cases of suspected perioperative anaphylaxis during general
      anaesthesia (GA) were performed. Anaphylaxis was defined as per World Allergy
      Organisation (WAO) criteria. Timed serial MCT measurements were mapped against
      the consensus equation and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves
      produced. A total of 82 patients (60 females, mean age 56.5 years+/-SD17.2)
      underwent investigation. Sixty (73%) patients fulfilled WAO criteria for
      anaphylaxis, and 22 patients did not. Aetiology included 59% IgE-mediated
      anaphylaxis, 2% non-IgE-mediated anaphylaxis, 12% anaphylaxis of unknown cause
      and 27% deemed non-anaphylaxis. IgE-mediated anaphylaxis included the following:
      NMBA (35%), antibiotics (46%), chlorhexidine (8%), patent blue dye (8%) and
      others (8%). An acute MCT with a comparable baseline was available in 71 of 82
      (87%) patients (60 anaphylaxis and 11 controls). The median interquartile range
      (IQR) time from reaction to peak MCT was 1.34 (0.82-2.51) hours. Analyses
      confirmed that a rise in acute MCT greater than that defined by the equation had
      a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative (N) PV
      of 78%, 91%, 98% and 44%, respectively. The magnitude of increase in acute MCT
      above the threshold predicted by consensus equation was higher in the anaphylaxis
      group compared to controls (P=.0001). This equation has a high specificity, PPV
      with a moderate NPV and sensitivity in perioperative anaphylaxis.

PMID- 28609559
TI  - Strategies to optimize capsid protein expression and single-stranded DNA
      formation of adeno-associated virus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - AIMS: Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV) is a nonpathogenic parvovirus that is a
      promising tool for gene therapy. We aimed to construct plasmids for optimal
      expression and assembly of capsid proteins and evaluate adenovirus (Ad) protein
      effect on AAV single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Yeast expression plasmids have been developed in which the
      transcription of AAV capsid proteins (VP1,2,3) is driven by the constitutive ADH1
      promoter or galactose-inducible promoters. Optimal VP1,2,3 expression was
      obtained from GAL1/10 bidirectional promoter. Moreover, we demonstrated that AAP
      is expressed in yeast and virus-like particles (VLPs) assembled inside the cell.
      Finally, the expression of two Ad proteins, E4orf6 and E1b55k, had no effect on
      AAV ssDNA formation. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that yeast is able to form
      AAV VLPs; however, capsid assembly and ssDNA formation are less efficient in
      yeast than in human cells. Moreover, the expression of Ad proteins did not affect
      AAV ssDNA formation. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: New manufacturing
      strategies for AAV-based gene therapy vectors (rAAV) are needed to reduce costs
      and time of production. Our study explores the feasibility of yeast as
      alternative system for rAAV production.

PMID- 28609558
TI  - iPSC technology-based regenerative therapy for diabetes.
AB  - The directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic
      stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), into pancreatic
      endocrine lineages has been vigorously examined by reproducing the in vivo
      developmental processes of the pancreas. Recent advances in this research field
      have enabled the generation from hESCs/iPSCs of functionally mature beta-like
      cells in vitro that show glucose-responsive insulin secretion ability. The
      therapeutic potentials of hESC/iPSC-derived pancreatic cells have been evaluated
      using diabetic animal models, and transplantation methods including
      immunoprotective devices that prevent immune responses from hosts to the
      implanted pancreatic cells have been investigated towards the development of
      regenerative therapies against diabetes. These efforts led to the start of a
      clinical trial that involves the implantation of hESC-derived pancreatic
      progenitors into type 1 diabetes patients. In addition, patient-derived iPSCs
      have been generated from diabetes-related disorders towards the creation of novel
      in vitro disease models and drug discovery, although few reports so far have
      analyzed the disease mechanisms. Considering recent advances in differentiation
      methods that generate pancreatic endocrine lineages, we will see the development
      of novel cell therapies and therapeutic drugs against diabetes based on iPSC
      technology-based research in the next decade.

PMID- 28609560
TI  - Resolving the contributions of anaesthesia, surgery, and nerve injury on brain
      derived neurotrophic factor expression in the medial prefrontal cortex of male
      rats in the CCI model of neuropathic pain.
AB  - The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is critical for selecting and shaping complex
      behavioral responses. In rodent models of neuropathic pain there is evidence for
      both structural and functional changes in the mPFC. Brain derived neurotrophic
      factor (BDNF) plays a critical role in the normal functioning of the mPFC. It has
      been suggested that the disruption of complex behaviors and mood seen in some
      neuropathic pain patients is mediated in part by alterations of BDNF in this
      cortical region. In Sprague-Dawley rats, mPFC levels of BDNF and TrkB mRNA and
      protein, were quantified and compared to controls (n = 24) 6 days after either:
      (a) halothane (1.5%) anaesthesia (n = 12), (b) sham surgery under halothane (n =
      12), (c) sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury under halothane (n = 48). The
      social behaviors of the rats were quantified daily during the experimental
      period. Halothane anaesthesia increased BDNF and TrkB mRNA bilaterally. These
      increases were reversed in rats that underwent sham surgical and nerve injury
      procedures. Further, halothane anaesthesia, surgical procedures, and nerve injury
      each decreased BDNF protein levels. These results reveal a marked and distinct
      BDNF expression profile in the mPFC of rats that have undergone each stage of the
      procedure to produce neuropathic pain by chronic constriction injury of the
      sciatic nerve. The highly sensitive nature of neurotrophic signalling to general
      anaesthesia in the mature neuronal circuit of the adult rat brain highlights the
      importance of careful evaluation and interpretation of data evaluating the
      effects of experimental procedures on neural substrates.

PMID- 28609561
TI  - Small-molecule AT2 receptor agonists.
AB  - The discovery of the first selective, small-molecule ATR receptor (AT2R) agonist
      compound 21 (C21) (8) that is now extensively studied in a large variety of in
      vitro and in vivo models is described. The sulfonylcarbamate derivative 8,
      encompassing a phenylthiofen scaffold is the drug-like agonist with the highest
      affinity for the AT2R reported to date (Ki = 0.4 nM). Structure-activity
      relationships (SAR), regarding different biaryl scaffolds and functional groups
      attached to these scaffolds and with a particular focus on the impact of various
      para substituents displacing the methylene imidazole group of 8, are discussed.
      Furthermore, the consequences of migration of the methylene imidazole group and
      presumed structural requirements for ligands that are aimed as AT2R agonists
      (e.g. 8) or AT2R antagonists (e.g. 9), respectively, are briefly addressed. A
      summary of the pharmacological actions of C21 (8) is also presented.

PMID- 28609562
TI  - Cryptogenic cirrhosis: misunderstood cause of yellow urticaria.

PMID- 28609564
TI  - Ecological drivers of body size evolution and sexual size dimorphism in short
      horned grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae).
AB  - Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread and variable in nature. Although
      female-biased SSD predominates among insects, the proximate ecological and
      evolutionary factors promoting this phenomenon remain largely unstudied. Here, we
      employ modern phylogenetic comparative methods on eight subfamilies of Iberian
      grasshoppers (85 species) to examine the validity of different models of
      evolution of body size and SSD and explore how they are shaped by a suite of
      ecological variables (habitat specialization, substrate use, altitude) and/or
      constrained by different evolutionary pressures (female fecundity, strength of
      sexual selection, length of the breeding season). Body size disparity primarily
      accumulated late in the history of the group and did not follow a Brownian motion
      pattern, indicating the existence of directional evolution for this trait. We
      found support for the converse of Rensch's rule (i.e. females are proportionally
      bigger than males in large species) across all taxa but not within the two most
      speciose subfamilies (Gomphocerinae and Oedipodinae), which showed an isometric
      pattern. Our results do not provide support for the fecundity or sexual selection
      hypotheses, and we did not find evidence for significant effects of habitat use.
      Contrary to that expected, we found that species with narrower reproductive
      window are less dimorphic in size than those that exhibit a longer breeding
      cycle, suggesting that male protandry cannot solely account for the evolution of
      female-biased SSD in Orthoptera. Our study highlights the need to consider
      alternatives to the classical evolutionary hypotheses when trying to explain why
      in certain insect groups males remain small.

PMID- 28609563
TI  - Bayesian Forecasting Tool to Predict the Need for Antidote in Acute Acetaminophen
      Overdose.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the leading cause of acute
      liver injury in the United States. Patients with elevated plasma acetaminophen
      concentrations (PACs) require hepatoprotective treatment with N-acetylcysteine
      (NAC). These patients have been primarily risk-stratified using the Rumack
      Matthew nomogram. Previous studies of acute APAP overdoses found that the
      nomogram failed to accurately predict the need for the antidote. The objectives
      of this study were to develop a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model for APAP
      following acute overdose and evaluate the utility of population PK model-based
      Bayesian forecasting in NAC administration decisions. DESIGN, PATIENTS AND
      MEASUREMENTS: Limited APAP concentrations from a retrospective cohort of acute
      overdosed subjects from the Maryland Poison Center were used to develop the
      population PK model and to investigate the effect of type of APAP products and
      other prognostic factors. The externally validated population PK model was used a
      prior for Bayesian forecasting to predict the individual PK profile when one or
      two observed PACs were available. The utility of Bayesian forecasted APAP
      concentration-time profiles inferred from one (first) or two (first and second)
      PAC observations were also tested in their ability to predict the observed NAC
      decisions. MAIN RESULTS: A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and
      elimination adequately described the data with single activated charcoal and APAP
      products as significant covariates on absorption and bioavailability. The
      Bayesian forecasted individual concentration-time profiles had acceptable bias
      (6.2% and 9.8%) and accuracy (40.5% and 41.9%) when either one or two PACs were
      considered, respectively. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of the
      Bayesian forecasted NAC decisions using one PAC were 84% and 92.6%, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: The population PK analysis provided a platform for acceptably
      predicting an individual's concentration-time profile following acute APAP
      overdose with at least one PAC, and the individual's covariate profile, and can
      potentially be used for making early NAC administration decisions.

PMID- 28609565
TI  - Implementation and clinical characteristics of a posttraumatic stress disorder
      brain collection.
AB  - A postmortem human brain collection to study posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
      is critical for uncovering the molecular mechanisms that contribute to this
      psychiatric disorder. We describe here the PTSD brain collection at the Lieber
      Institute for Brain Development in Baltimore, Maryland, consisting of postmortem
      brain donations acquired between 2012 and 2017. Thus far, 87 brains from
      individuals meeting DSM-5 criteria for PTSD were collected after consent was
      obtained from legal next-of-kin, and subsequently clinically characterized for
      molecular studies. PTSD brain donors had high rates of comorbid diagnoses,
      including depression (62.1%), substance abuse (74.7%), drug-related death
      (69.0%), and suicide completion (17.2%). PTSD cases were subdivided into two
      categories: combat-related PTSD (n = 24) and noncombat/domestic PTSD (n = 63).
      The major differences between the combat-related and domestic PTSD cohorts were
      sex, drug-related death, and the prevalence of bipolar disorder (BPD)
      comorbidity. The combat-related group was entirely male, with only one BPD
      subject (4.2%), and had significantly fewer drug-related deaths (45.8%) in
      contrast to the domestic group (31.8% male, 36.5% bipolar, and 77.8% drug-related
      deaths). Medical examiners' offices, particularly in areas with higher military
      populations, are an excellent source for PTSD brain donations of both combat
      related and domestic PTSD.

PMID- 28609566
TI  - Host taxonomy constrains the properties of trophic transmission routes for
      parasites in lake food webs.
AB  - Some parasites move from one host to another via trophic transmission, the
      consumption of the parasite (inside its current host) by its future host. Feeding
      links among free-living species can thus be understood as potential transmission
      routes for parasites. As these links have different dynamic and structural
      properties, they may also vary in their effectiveness as trophic transmission
      routes. That is, some links may be better than others in allowing parasites to
      complete their complex life cycles. However, not all links are accessible to
      parasites as most are restricted to a small number of host taxa. This restriction
      means that differences between links involving host and non-host taxa must be
      considered when assessing whether transmission routes for parasites have
      different food web properties than other links. Here we use four New Zealand lake
      food webs to test whether link properties (contribution of a link to the
      predator's diet, prey abundance, prey biomass, amount of biomass transferred,
      centrality, and asymmetry) affect trophic transmission of parasites. Critically,
      we do this using both models that neglect the taxonomy of free-living species and
      models that explicitly include information about which free-living species are
      members of suitable host taxa. Although the best-fit model excluding taxonomic
      information suggested that transmission routes have different properties than
      other feeding links, when including taxonomy, the best-fit model included only an
      intercept. This means that the taxonomy of free-living species is a key
      determinant of parasite transmission routes and that food-web properties of
      transmission routes are constrained by the properties of host taxa. In
      particular, many intermediate hosts (prey) attain high biomasses and are involved
      in highly central links while links connecting intermediate to definitive
      (predator) hosts tend to be dynamically weak.

PMID- 28609568
TI  - Ultrasonography of a ureteral and bladder fungal granuloma caused by Scedosporium
      apiospermum in a basset hound.
AB  - A 5-year-old, spayed female, Basset Hound was referred for evaluation of a
      urinary bladder mass. Ultrasonographic images revealed a large, inhomogeneous,
      hypoechoic mass associated with the dorsal wall of the neck of the urinary
      bladder and left ureter. Partial cystectomy and left ureteral reimplantation were
      performed. Histopathology showed a severe inflammatory mass lesion forming
      multiple granulomas. A DNA sequencing test revealed Scedosporium apiospermum as
      the causative agent. Susceptibility tests on the isolated strain indicated
      susceptibility to voriconazole. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first
      report describing S. apiospermum as a cause of granulomas involving the canine
      ureterovesicular junction.

PMID- 28609567
TI  - Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of the Novel CRTH2
      Antagonist BI 1021958 at Single Oral Doses in Healthy Men and Multiple Oral Doses
      in Men and Women With Well-Controlled Asthma.
AB  - BI 1021958, a novel antagonist of the chemoattractant-receptor-homologous
      molecule (CRTH2), targets airway inflammation in asthma by inhibiting
      prostaglandin binding to CRTH2 receptors. Two phase 1 studies assessed BI 1021958
      safety/tolerability and pharmacokinetics (PK)/pharmacodynamics (PD) following
      single doses in healthy men and multiple doses in men/women with well-controlled
      asthma. Studies 1 had 2 parts: a placebo-controlled, fixed-sequence, single
      blind, single-rising-dose part (n = 56) and a randomized, 2-way crossover, open
      label, repeated-dose part studying the food effect on PK/PD (n = 12). Study 2 was
      a placebo-controlled, single-center, double-blind multiple-rising-dose study (n =
      84). Primary end points were safety/tolerability and PK/PD (both studies);
      secondary end points were eosinophil shape change (ESC; study 1) and dose
      proportionality/linearity following first dose and at steady state (study 2). BI
      1021958 was adequately tolerated in both studies; adverse events were infrequent,
      generally mild to moderate, and occurred similarly in treatment groups. Maximum
      measured concentration (Cmax ) was achieved in <=2.5 hours in study 1 and <=2.0
      hours in study 2. BI 1021958 exposure increased proportionally with dose. In
      study 1, following a single 60-mg dose, AUC parameters and Cmax were 20% and 15%
      lower, respectively, after a high-fat meal compared with the fasted state. After
      >=60-mg single doses (study 1) and >40-mg multiple doses (study 2), >95% ESC
      inhibition was observed for >=24 hours. PK/PD was similar in healthy subjects and
      subjects with well-controlled asthma. Data support further investigation of CRTH2
      antagonists for the treatment of asthma.

PMID- 28609569
TI  - DIC in decompensated cirrhosis caused by prothrombin complex concentrate and
      recombinant activated factor VII: A word of caution.

PMID- 28609570
TI  - On the challenges of detecting whole Staphylococcus aureus cells with biosensors.
AB  - Due to the increasing number of nosocomial infections and multidrug-resistant
      bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus is now a major worldwide concern. Rapid
      detection and characterization of this bacterium has become an important issue
      for biomedical applications. Biosensors are increasingly appearing as low-cost,
      easy-to-operate and fast alternatives for rapid detection. In this review, we
      will introduce the main characteristics of S. aureus and will focus on the
      interest of biosensors for a faster detection of whole S. aureus cells. In
      particular, we will review the most promising strategies in the choice of ligand
      for the design of selective and efficient biosensors. Their specific
      characteristics as well as their advantages and/or disadvantages will also be
      commented.

PMID- 28609571
TI  - Phosphorus-Containing Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are highly appealing functional materials
      in the field of molecular electronics. In particular, molecular engineering of
      these derivatives by using organic chemistry is a powerful method to tune their
      properties from the point of view of the band gap and supramolecular assemblies.
      Another way to achieve such control is to take advantage of the specific
      reactivity of heteroatoms placed within the sp2 -carbon framework. This strategy
      has been successfully applied to nitrogen, sulfur and boron. In this review,
      examples of phosphorus-containing PAHs and the effect of the phosphorus
      environment on the electronic properties from both experimental and theoretical
      points of view are discussed.

PMID- 28609573
TI  - Psoriasis comorbidity affects multiple sclerosis neurological progression: a
      retrospective case - control analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) and psoriasis are inflammatory disorders,
      with epidemiological and biological associations. The impact of one disease on
      the course of the other has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: To characterize patients
      with psoriasis and MS, and to assess whether psoriasis comorbidity affected the
      progression of MS. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study. Patients with
      psoriasis comorbidity were identified from 3456 patients included in the Sheba
      Hospital Multiple Sclerosis Center database. Clinical and demographical
      characteristics and MS progression-related outcomes in patients whose follow-up
      exceeded 5 years were analysed and compared to those of a matched control cohort
      of MS-only (MSO) patients. RESULTS: Forty-five (1.3%) MS patients had psoriasis
      comorbidity. Psoriasis preceded MS in 35 (78%) cases. The psoriasis was defined
      as mild, moderate and severe in 24 (53%), twelve (27%) and nine (20%) cases
      respectively. MS progression-related outcomes were evaluated in 35 patients that
      had follow-up over 5 years. Patients with psoriasis onset preceding relapsing
      remitting MS (RRMS) had slower progression of disease compared to MSO patients,
      as manifested by a longer time to second relapse (P < 0.01) and a longer time to
      significant neurological disability scores (P < 0.03). CONCLUSION: Psoriasis
      comorbidity preceding the onset of MS is associated with slower progression of
      disability.

PMID- 28609572
TI  - Achieving High Levels of NMR-Hyperpolarization in Aqueous Media With Minimal
      Catalyst Contamination Using SABRE.
AB  - Signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) is shown to allow access to
      strongly enhanced 1 H NMR signals in a range of substrates in aqueous media. To
      achieve this outcome, phase-transfer catalysis is exploited, which leads to less
      than 1.5*10-6  mol dm-3 of the iridium catalyst in the aqueous phase. These
      observations reflect a compelling route to produce a saline-based hyperpolarized
      bolus in just a few seconds for subsequent in vivo MRI monitoring. The new
      process has been called catalyst separated hyperpolarization through signal
      amplification by reversible exchange or CASH-SABRE. We illustrate this method for
      the substrates pyrazine, 5-methylpyrimidine, 4,6-d2 -methyl nicotinate, 4,6-d2 
      nicotinamide and pyridazine achieving 1 H signal gains of approximately 790-, 340
      , 3000-, 260- and 380-fold per proton at 9.4 T at the time point at which phase
      separation is complete.

PMID- 28609574
TI  - Factors associated with the choice of the first biologic in psoriasis: real-life
      analysis from the Psobioteq cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decision-making is a complex process. The aim of our study was to
      assess factors associated with the choice of the first biological treatment in
      patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. METHODS: Data on all patients
      included in the French prospective, observational, cohort, Psobioteq and
      initiating a first biologic prescription between July 2012 and July 2016 were
      analysed. Demographic information and clinical features were collected during
      routine clinical assessments by the dermatology team at the recruiting centres
      using a standardized case report form. The primary outcome was the nature of the
      first biologic treatment. Four groups were identified as follows: adalimumab,
      etanercept, ustekinumab and infliximab groups. Factors associated with the choice
      of the first biological agent were determined by a multinomial logistic
      regression model adjusted on year of inclusion. RESULTS: The study population
      included the 830 biological-naive patients who initiated a first biological
      agent. The mean age was 46.6 years (+/-SD 13.9), and 318 patients (38.3%) were
      female. The most commonly prescribed biologic was adalimumab: 355 (42.8%)
      patients, then etanercept (n = 247, 29.8%), ustekinumab (n = 194, 23.4%) and
      infliximab (n = 34, 4.0%). In the multinomial logistic regression analysis,
      patients were significantly more likely to receive adalimumab if they had a
      severe psoriasis as defined by baseline PASI or if they had psoriatic arthritis
      compared to etanercept (aOR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.16-1.07) and ustekinumab (aOR, 0.15;
      95% CI, 0.04-0.52). Patients were significantly more likely to receive
      ustekinumab (aOR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.04-5.50) if they had a positive screening for
      latent tuberculosis compared to adalimumab. Younger patients were also more
      likely to receive ustekinumab. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease were more likely to be prescribed ustekinumab or etanercept compared to
      adalimumab. There was a trend in favour of etanercept prescription in patients
      with cardiovascular comorbidities, metabolic syndrome and in patients with a
      history of cancer. CONCLUSION: We identified patient- and disease-related factors
      that have important influence on the choice of the first biological agent in
      clinical practice. Clinicians appear to have a holistic approach to patient
      characteristics when choosing a biological agent in psoriasis.

PMID- 28609575
TI  - Assessment of variant pathogenicity in a highly admixed population.

PMID- 28609576
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis: Down syndrome or more?

PMID- 28609577
TI  - Cerebrolysin prevents deficits in social behavior, repetitive conduct, and
      synaptic inhibition in a rat model of autism.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a syndrome of diverse neuropsychiatric diseases
      of growing incidence characterized by repetitive conduct and impaired social
      behavior and communication for which effective pharmacological treatment is still
      unavailable. While the mechanisms and etiology of ASD are still unknown, a
      consensus is emerging about the synaptic nature of the syndrome, suggesting a
      possible avenue for pharmacological treatment with synaptogenic compounds. The
      peptidic mixture cerebrolysin (CBL) has been successfully used during the last
      three decades in the treatment of stroke and neurodegenerative disease. Animal
      experiments indicate that at least one possible mechanism of action of CBL is
      through neuroprotection and/or synaptogenesis. In the present study, we tested
      the effect of CBL treatment (daily injection of 2.5 mL/Kg i.p. during 15 days) on
      a rat model of ASD. This was based on the offspring (43 male and 51 female pups)
      of a pregnant female rat injected with valproic acid (VPA, 600 mg/Kg) at the
      embryonic day 12.5, which previous work has shown to display extensive
      behavioral, as well as synaptic impairment. Comparison between saline vs. CBL
      injected VPA animals shows that CBL treatment improves behavioral as well as
      synaptic impairments, measured by behavioral performance (social interaction, Y
      maze, plus-maze), maximal response of inhibitory gamma-amino butyric acid type A
      receptor (GABAA R)-mediated synaptic currents, as well as their kinetic
      properties and adrenergic and muscarinic modulation. We speculate that CBL might
      be a viable and effective candidate for pharmacological treatment or co-treatment
      of ASD patients. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28609578
TI  - The loss of a fellow service member: Complicated grief in post-9/11 service
      members and veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.
AB  - Bereavement is a potent and highly prevalent stressor among service members and
      veterans. However, the psychological consequences of bereavement, including
      complicated grief (CG), have been minimally examined. Loss was assessed in 204
      post-9/11, when service members and veterans with combat-related posttraumatic
      stress disorder (PTSD) took part in a multicenter treatment study. Those who
      reported the loss of an important person completed the inventory of complicated
      grief (ICG; n = 160). Over three quarters (79.41%) of the sample reported an
      important lifetime loss, with close to half (47.06%) reporting the loss of a
      fellow service member (FSM). The prevalence of CG was 24.75% overall, and nearly
      one third (31.25%) among the bereaved. CG was more prevalent among veterans who
      lost a fellow service member (FSM) (41.05%, n = 39) compared to those bereaved
      who did not (16.92%, n = 11; OR = 3.41, 95% CI: 1.59, 7.36). CG was associated
      with significantly greater PTSD severity, functional impairment, trauma-related
      guilt, and lifetime suicide attempts. Complicated grief was prevalent and
      associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes in veterans and service members
      with combat-related PTSD. Clinicians working with this population should inquire
      about bereavement, including loss of a FSM, and screen for CG. Additional
      research examining CG in this population is needed.

PMID- 28609580
TI  - Metabolic defence against oxidative stress: the road less travelled so far.
AB  - Bacteria have survived, and many have thrived, since antiquity in the presence of
      the highly-reactive chalcogen-oxygen (O2 ). They are known to evoke intricate
      strategies to defend themselves from the reactive by-products of oxygen-reactive
      oxygen species (ROS). Many of these detoxifying mechanisms have been extensively
      characterized; superoxide dismutase, catalases, alkyl hydroperoxide reductase and
      the glutathione (GSH)-cycling system are responsible for neutralizing specific
      ROS. Meanwhile, a pool of NADPH-the reductive engine of many ROS-combating
      enzymes-is maintained by metabolic enzymes including, but not exclusively,
      glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and NADP-dependent isocitrate
      dehydrogenase (ICDH-NADP). So, it is not surprising that evidence continues to
      emerge demonstrating the pivotal role metabolism plays in mitigating ROS
      toxicity. Stemming from its ability to concurrently decrease the production of
      the pro-oxidative metabolite, NADH, while augmenting the antioxidative
      metabolite, NADPH, metabolism is the fulcrum of cellular redox potential. In this
      review, we will discuss the mounting evidence positioning metabolism and
      metabolic shifts observed during oxidative stress, as critical strategies
      microbes utilize to thrive in environments that are rife with ROS. The
      contribution of ketoacids-moieties capable of non-enzymatic decarboxylation in
      the presence of oxidants-as ROS scavengers will be elaborated alongside the
      metabolic pathways responsible for their homeostases. Further, the signalling
      role of the carboxylic acids generated following the ketoacid-mediated
      detoxification of the ROS will be commented on within the context of oxidative
      stress.

PMID- 28609581
TI  - Dibenzothiophene Sulfoximine as an NH3 Surrogate in the Synthesis of Primary
      Amines by Copper-Catalyzed C-X and C-H Bond Amination.
AB  - Readily accessible dibenzothiophene sulfoximine is an NH3 surrogate allowing the
      preparation of free anilines by copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions with
      aryl iodides or amides followed by radical S-N bond cleavage. The one-pot/two
      step reactions sequence leads to the aminated products in good yields.

PMID- 28609579
TI  - Diffusion MRI and the detection of alterations following traumatic brain injury.
AB  - This article provides a review of brain tissue alterations that may be detectable
      using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging MRI (dMRI) approaches and an overview
      and perspective on the modern dMRI toolkits for characterizing alterations that
      follow traumatic brain injury (TBI). Noninvasive imaging is a cornerstone of
      clinical treatment of TBI and has become increasingly used for preclinical and
      basic research studies. In particular, quantitative MRI methods have the
      potential to distinguish and evaluate the complex collection of neurobiological
      responses to TBI arising from pathology, neuroprotection, and recovery. dMRI
      provides unique information about the physical environment in tissue and can be
      used to probe physiological, architectural, and microstructural features.
      Although well-established approaches such as diffusion tensor imaging are known
      to be highly sensitive to changes in the tissue environment, more advanced dMRI
      techniques have been developed that may offer increased specificity or new
      information for describing abnormalities. These tools are promising, but
      incompletely understood in the context of TBI. Furthermore, model dependencies
      and relative limitations may impact the implementation of these approaches and
      the interpretation of abnormalities in their metrics. The objective of this paper
      is to present a basic review and comparison across dMRI methods as they pertain
      to the detection of the most commonly observed tissue and cellular alterations
      following TBI.

PMID- 28609583
TI  - N-Terminally Truncated Amyloid-beta(11-40/42) Cofibrillizes with its Full-Length
      Counterpart: Implications for Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) isoforms of different lengths and aggregation
      propensities coexist in vivo. These different isoforms are able to nucleate or
      frustrate the assembly of each other. N-terminally truncated Abeta(11-40) and
      Abeta(11-42) make up one fifth of plaque load yet nothing is known about their
      interaction with full-length Abeta(1-40/42) . We show that in contrast to C
      terminally truncated isoforms, which do not co-fibrillize, deletions of ten
      residues from the N terminus of Abeta have little impact on its ability to co
      fibrillize with the full-length counterpart. As a consequence, N-terminally
      truncated Abeta will accelerate fiber formation and co-assemble into short rod
      shaped fibers with its full-length Abeta counterpart. This has implications for
      the assembly kinetics, morphology, and toxicity of all Abeta isoforms.

PMID- 28609582
TI  - Mild external heating and reduction in spontaneous contractions of the bladder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To measure the effect of external heating on bladder wall contractile
      function, histological structure and expression of proteins related to tissue
      protection and apoptosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In vitro preparations of bladder
      wall and ex vivo perfused pig bladders were heated from 37 to 42 degrees C, 46
      and 50 degrees C for 15 min. Isolated preparations were heated by radiant energy
      and perfused bladders were heated by altering perfusate temperature. Spontaneous
      contractions or pressure variations were recorded, as well as responses to the
      muscarinic agonist carbachol or motor nerve excitation in vitro during heating.
      Tissue histology in control and after heating was analysed using haematoxylin and
      eosin staining and 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) nuclear labelling. The
      effects of heating on protein expression levels of (i) heat shock proteins HSP27
      pSer82 and inducible-HSP70 and (ii) caspase-3 and its downstream DNA-repair
      substrate poly-[ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP) were measured. RESULTS: Heating to
      42 degrees C reduced spontaneous contractions or pressure variations by ~70%;
      effects were fully reversible. There were no effects on carbachol or nerve
      mediated responses. Tissue histology was unaffected by heating, and expression of
      heat shock proteins as well as caspase-3 and PARP were also unaltered. A TRPV1
      antagonist had no effect on the reduction of spontaneous activity. Heating to 46
      degrees C had a similar effect on spontaneous activity and also reduced the
      carbachol contracture. Urothelial structure was damaged, caspase-3 levels were
      increased and inducible-HSP70 levels declined. At 50 degrees C evoked
      contractions were abolished, the urothelium was absent and heat shock proteins
      and PARP expression was reduced with raised caspase-3 expression. CONCLUSIONS:
      Heating to 42 degrees C caused a profound, reversible and reproducible
      attenuation of spontaneous activity, with no tissue damage and no initiation of
      apoptosis pathways. Higher temperatures caused tissue damage and activation of
      apoptotic mechanisms. Mild heating offers a novel approach to reducing bladder
      spontaneous activity.

PMID- 28609584
TI  - Endothelial nitric oxide synthase inhibition triggers inflammatory responses in
      the brain of male rats exposed to ischemia-reperfusion injury.
AB  - Nitric oxide (NO) derived from endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) plays a role in
      preserving and maintaining the brain's microcirculation, inhibiting platelet
      aggregation, leukocyte adhesion, and migration. Inhibition of eNOS activity
      results in exacerbation of neuronal injury after ischemia by triggering diverse
      cellular mechanisms, including inflammatory responses. To examine the relative
      contribution of eNOS in stroke-induced neuroinflammation, we analyzed the effects
      of systemic treatment with l-N-(1-iminoethyl)ornithine (L-NIO), a relatively
      selective eNOS inhibitor, on the expression of MiR-155-5p, a key mediator of
      innate immunity regulation and endothelial dysfunction, in the cortex of male
      rats subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo) followed by
      24 hr of reperfusion. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and interleukin-10 (IL-10)
      mRNA expression were evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction in cortical
      homogenates and in resident and infiltrating immune cells isolated from ischemic
      cortex. These latter cells were also analyzed for their expression of CD40, a
      marker of M1 polarization of microglia/macrophages.tMCAo produced a significant
      elevation of miR155-5p and iNOS expression in the ischemic cortex as compared
      with sham surgery. eNOS inhibition by L-NIO treatment further elevated the
      cortical expression of these inflammatory mediators, while not affecting IL-10
      mRNA levels. Interestingly, modulation of iNOS occurred in resident and
      infiltrating immune cells of the ischemic hemisphere. Accordingly, L-NIO induced
      a significant increase in the percentage of CD40+ events in CD68+
      microglia/macrophages of the ischemic cortex as compared with vehicle-injected
      animals. These findings demonstrate that inflammatory responses may underlie the
      detrimental effects due to pharmacological inhibition of eNOS in cerebral
      ischemia.

PMID- 28609585
TI  - Immunoexpression of p16 in uterine leiomyomas with infarct-type necrosis: an
      analysis of 35 cases.
AB  - AIMS: Uterine leiomyosarcomas frequently show p16 immunoexpression. However, p16
      may also be expressed in some benign leiomyoma variants such as leiomyomas with
      bizarre nuclei and cellular leiomyomas, limiting its utility as a biomarker to
      distinguish between benign and malignant neoplasms. We investigated p16
      expression in leiomyomas with infarct-type necrosis, tumours which may sometimes
      be misinterpreted as smooth muscle tumours of uncertain malignant potential or
      even leiomyosarcoma on conventional light microscopy. METHODS AND RESULTS: p16
      immunostaining was performed on 35 leiomyomas with infarct-type necrosis and the
      staining pattern was analysed. Staining was classified as absent,
      scattered/isolated, <33-, 33-66- or >66%-positive cells, and was assessed in the
      areas immediately surrounding and distant from the infarct. The median age of
      patients was 44 years. Seventeen had hormonal/non-hormonal drugs and three were
      pregnant. The median tumour size was 7.25 cm. The mean mitotic count was 0.9/10
      high-power fields. Only one tumour had multifocal mild nuclear atypia. Positive
      p16 was noted in 34 of 35 (97.2%) tumours. It was typically patchy, and was
      concentrated in areas immediately surrounding the necrosis. Distant from the
      necrosis, p16 positivity was seen predominantly in scattered/isolated cells. One
      tumour without any worrisome microscopic features showed diffuse p16 positivity
      throughout. Median follow-up was 55 months, and none of the patients experienced
      any recurrence. CONCLUSION: p16 expression in benign uterine smooth muscle
      tumours with infarct-type necrosis is common. The staining is particularly
      concentrated adjacent to areas of necrosis. It is important to be aware of this
      potential pitfall when interpreting p16 expression.

PMID- 28609587
TI  - Chemogenetic Modulation of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Signalling in Visual
      Attention Research.
AB  - Attention is a fundamental cognitive process involved in nearly all aspects of
      life. Abnormal attentional control is a symptom of many neurological disorders,
      most notably recognized in ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
      Although attentional performance and its malfunction has been a major area of
      investigation, it has proven difficult to accurately associate specific neuronal
      projections, cell types, neurotransmitter systems and receptors with distinct
      phenotypes owing to its complexity. In this MiniReview, we present a recently
      invented technology known as Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer
      Drugs (DREADDs). The DREADD technology is an emerging and transformative method
      that allows selective manipulation of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)
      signalling, and its broad-ranging usefulness in attention research is now
      beginning to emerge. We first describe the different DREADDs available and
      explain how unprecedented specificity of neuronal signalling can be achieved
      using DREADDs. We next discuss various studies performed in animal models of
      visual attention, where different brain regions and neuronal populations have
      been probed by DREADDs. We highlight the interplay between the dopamine (DA) and
      noradrenaline (NA) catecholamine systems in visual attention and explain why
      DREADD technology can untangle and help us better understand such complex systems
      in normal and malfunctioning conditions.

PMID- 28609589
TI  - Hyperbilirubinaemia: the common denominator of yellow urticaria.

PMID- 28609586
TI  - Targeted antimicrobial therapy in the microbiome era.
AB  - Even though the oral microbiome is one of the most complex sites on the body it
      is an excellent model for narrow-spectrum antimicrobial therapy. Current research
      indicates that disruption of the microbiome leads to a dysbiotic environment
      allowing for the overgrowth of pathogenic species and the onset of oral diseases.
      The gram-negative colonizer, Porphyromonas gingivalis has long been considered a
      key player in the initiation of periodontitis and Streptococcus mutans has been
      linked to dental caries. With antibiotic research still on the decline, new
      strategies are greatly needed to combat infectious diseases. By targeting key
      pathogens, it may be possible to treat oral infections while allowing for the
      recolonization of the beneficial, healthy flora. In this review, we examine
      unique strategies to specifically target periodontal pathogens and address what
      is needed for the success of these approaches in the microbiome era.

PMID- 28609588
TI  - Quantitative profiling of neurotransmitter abnormalities in brain, cerebrospinal
      fluid, and serum of experimental diabetic encephalopathy male rat.
AB  - Diabetic encephalopathy (DE), one of the most prevalent chronic complications of
      diabetes mellitus, is short of effective prevention and formidable therapeutic
      strategies. The aim of the present study is to reveal the imbalance of tryptophan
      (Trp) and its metabolites in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced experimental DE rats to
      underscore their critical values in clinical diagnosis of the disease. For this
      purpose, we first developed an accurate and appropriate simultaneous method for
      measuring Trp and its metabolites using liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry, which was in accordance with the requirements of biological sample
      analysis. Secondly, a single STZ intraperitoneal injection was administered to
      male Sprague-Dawley rats, and their cognitive function was detected by Morris
      water maze tests. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), serum, and brain tissue were then
      collected for the determination of Trp and its metabolites. Compared with age
      matched control rats, the levels of neuroprotective serotonin decreased
      significantly in the samples of cortices, hippocampi, striatum, CSF, and serums
      in the STZ-induced DE rats, while the levels of neurotoxic 3-hydroxykynurenine
      increased significantly. Moreover, analogous changes of both compounds were found
      in the central nervous system and peripheral blood of the STZ-induced DE rats. In
      conclusion, we established a quantitative method for the simultaneous detection
      of Trp and its metabolites, and we also present a critical elucidation of the
      nervous system dysfunction in DE.

PMID- 28609590
TI  - Premature ovarian insufficiency in general practice: Meeting the needs of women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), defined as amenorrhoea due to
      the loss of ovarian function before 40 years of age, can occur spontaneously or
      be secondary to medical therapies. POI is associated with cardiovascular
      morbidity, osteoporosis and premature mortality. Women with POI present in
      primary care with menstrual disturbance, menopausal symptoms, infertility and,
      often, significant psychosocial issues. General practitioners play an important
      role in the evaluation and long-term management of women with POI. OBJECTIVE:
      This article examines the diagnostic and management issues when providing care
      for women with POI in the primary care setting. DISCUSSION: Diagnosis of POI
      requires follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in the menopausal range on two
      occasions, at least four to six weeks apart in a woman aged.

PMID- 28609591
TI  - Obesity and weight management at menopause.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many women report gaining weight as they transition through
      menopause. For most, the weight gain is modest and can be reduced with a
      conscious effort to limit energy intake and increase energy expenditure. However,
      many women who are already overweight and obese will gain more weight as they
      approach menopause. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this paper are to explain the reasons
      for menopausal weight gain and to detail a method for achieving and sustaining a
      substantial weight loss. DISCUSSION: Weight gain during menopause is
      predominantly due to a reduction in spontaneous activity. For women who are lean,
      advice about controlling energy intake and increasing physical activity may be
      all that is required to prevent weight gain. For women who are overweight and
      obese rapid weight loss is best achieved with the help of a very low energy diet.
      This must be followed by lifelong behaviour modification with or without the help
      of hunger-suppressing pharmacotherapy.

PMID- 28609592
TI  - Perimenopausal contraception: A practice-based approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women who are perimenopausal are at risk of unintended pregnancy
      despite relatively low fertility at this stage. Contraceptive choice can be
      limited by increased comorbidities, but the UK Medical Eligibility Criteria
      (UKMEC) system provides a framework for safe prescribing. OBJECTIVE: This article
      provides evidence-based guidance on contraceptive options, and information to
      support decision-making about stopping contraception at menopause. DISCUSSION:
      Contraceptive choice is determined by several factors, including medical
      eligibility, side effects and risks, non-contraceptive benefits, cost and
      personal preference. Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) are an
      effective, acceptable and safe choice for many women. For women aged >=50 years
      who are using a non-hormonal method, contraception is recommended until after 12
      months of amenorrhoea, or 24 months if they are aged 50 years; serial follicle
      stimulating hormone (FSH) levels can guide method cessation given amenorrhoea is
      not a reliable indicator of menopause in this context.

PMID- 28609593
TI  - Travelling safely to places at high altitude - Understanding and preventing
      altitude illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Greater numbers of people are travelling to places at high altitude
      each year. Altitude illness is common in places at high altitude and may be life
      threatening. General practitioners (GPs) are best placed to provide evidence
      based advice to keep travellers well informed of the possible risks they may
      encounter in places at high altitude. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to
      review knowledge on altitude illness in order to help GPs assist patients to
      travel safely to places at high altitude. DISCUSSION: Acclimatisation to high
      altitude is a complex process and when inadequate leads to the pathological
      changes of altitude illness, including high-altitude headache, cerebral oedema,
      pulmonary oedema and acute mountain sickness. Higher ascent, faster rate of
      ascent and a previous history of altitude illness increase the risk of altitude
      illness. Acetazolamide and other medications used to prevent altitude illness are
      discussed in detail, including the finding that inhaled budesonide may prevent
      altitude illness.

PMID- 28609594
TI  - Incidental adrenal masses - A primary care approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The common use of cross-sectional imaging for the investigation of
      abdominal and thoracic illness has resulted in the rise of the incidentally
      identified adrenal mass, or incidentaloma, which presents a diagnostic and
      management dilemma for the primary care physician. OBJECTIVE: This article
      provides a framework for the investigation and management of incidental adrenal
      masses. DISCUSSION: Adrenal incidentalomas are found in approximately 3-4% of
      abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans. It is important to evaluate these
      incidental adrenal lesions to determine what treatment, if any, is needed and
      when specialist referral may be necessary. In particular, incidentalomas must be
      evaluated in regard to their functional status and malignant potential, as
      lesions can range from being indolent, benign and non-functioning tumours that
      can simply be observed, to aggressive and hormonally active malignant lesions
      that require urgent surgical intervention.

PMID- 28609595
TI  - Bilateral vision loss in a child recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes
      mellitus.

PMID- 28609596
TI  - Painful pustular dactylitis in an elderly patient.

PMID- 28609598
TI  - Up, up and away: The growth of after-hours MBS claims.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Media reports suggest that growth in urgent, after-hours Medicare
      Benefits Schedule (MBS) claims has coincided with an increasing number of after
      hours medical deputising services (AHMDSs). This article assesses these claims in
      the context of an increasing presence of AHMDSs. METHODS: Retrospective analysis
      of MBS claims data for general practitioner (GP) after-hours items from 2010-11
      to 2015-16 was conducted. The Tasmanian experience is presented as a case study.
      RESULTS: The number of claims was greatest for MBS item number 597 (urgent,
      sociable after-hours consultations), increasing by 170% over the study period.
      For jurisdictions with dates identified for the introduction of AHMDSs, dramatic
      growth in per capita claims were observed: 1270% for the Australian Capital
      Territory, 485% for Tasmania and 150% for the Northern Territory. For Tasmania,
      no decrease in emergency department presentations was observed. DISCUSSION: Rapid
      increases in after-hours claims for MBS item number 597 have coincided with the
      introduction of AHMDSs in three jurisdictions. The impact on patient outcomes and
      equitable resource distribution requires attention.

PMID- 28609597
TI  - Keeping an eye on syphilis
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this article was to alert general practitioners
      (GPs) to the increase in ocular syphilis in the context of a worsening epidemic
      of syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS: This study used a
      retrospective case review of ocular syphilis cases that presented to the Royal
      Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital from January 2015 to August 2016. RESULTS: Twelve
      patients (19 eyes) were identified, including 11 males. The mean age was 35
      years, and seven men were identified as MSM. Two men were diagnosed with human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection at presentation. Blurred vision (n = 10)
      and/or floaters (n = 9) were the most common presenting symptoms. All patients
      had uveitis as the manifestation of the ocular involvement; however, redness and
      pain were not universally reported. DISCUSSION: GPs should be alert to the
      possibility of ocular syphilis at the time of syphilis diagnosis, particularly
      among MSM. Urgent ophthalmic referral is required if the patient is found to have
      new onset visual symptoms.

PMID- 28609599
TI  - Assessment and management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in
      Australian general practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dispensing data suggest potential issues with the quality use of
      medicines for airways disease. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article was to
      describe the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD) in general practice, and investigate the appropriateness of prescribing.
      METHODS: The method used for this study consisted of a national cross-sectional
      survey of 91 Australian general practitioners (GPs) participating in the
      Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) program. RESULTS: Data were
      available for 2589 patients (288 asthma; 135 COPD). For the patients with asthma,
      GPs classified asthma as well controlled in 76.4%; 54.3% were prescribed inhaled
      corticosteroids (ICS), mostly (84.9%) as combination therapy, and mostly at
      moderate-high dose; only 26.3% had a written action plan. GPs classified COPD as
      mild for 42.9%. Most patients with COPD (60.9%) were prescribed combination ICS
      therapy and 36.7% were prescribed triple therapy. DISCUSSION: There were
      substantial differences between guideline-based and GP- recorded assessment and
      prescription for asthma and COPD. Further research is needed to improve care and
      optimise patient outcomes with scarce health resources.

PMID- 28609600
TI  - Who do Australian general practitioners refer to physiotherapy?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physiotherapy plays an important role in the health of many
      Australians. The aims of this study were to assess changes in the rate of general
      practitioner (GP) referral to physiotherapists in Australia from 1998 to 2014,
      and to determine patient characteristics associated with increased likelihood of
      such referral. METHODS: Secondary analysis was undertaken of data from the
      Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health program using weighted encounter data
      years 1998-99 to 2014-15 inclusive. RESULTS: The rate of GP referral to
      physiotherapists remained steady until 2010, when referrals increased. Patients
      were more likely to be referred to physiotherapy if they had a Department of
      Veterans' Affairs card; did not have a Health Care Card; were female aged 45-64
      years; or male aged 25-44 years. Musculoskeletal problems accounted for 80% of
      referrals, but only 6.8% of all musculoskeletal problems managed were referred.
      DISCUSSION: Allied health Medicare Benefits Schedule item numbers have increased
      referrals to physiotherapy. However, there are some population groups who are not
      referred but might benefit from physiotherapy.

PMID- 28609602
TI  - Guidelines and systematic reviews: Sizing up guidelines in general practice.

PMID- 28609601
TI  - Procedural skills of Australian general practice registrars: A cross-sectional
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Procedural skills are an essential component of general practice
      vocational training. The aim of this study was to investigate the type, frequency
      and rural or urban associations of procedures performed by general practice
      registrars, and to establish levels of concordance of procedures performed with a
      core list of recommended procedural skills in general practice training. METHODS:
      A cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study of registrars' consultations between
      2010 and 2016 was undertaken. Registrars record 60 consecutive consultations
      during each six-month training term. The outcome was any procedure performed.
      RESULTS: In 182,782 consultations, 19,411 procedures were performed. Procedures
      (except Papanicolaou [Pap] tests) were performed more often in rural than urban
      areas. Registrars commonly sought help from supervisors for more complex
      procedures. The majority of procedures recommended as essential in registrar
      training were infrequently performed. DISCUSSION: Registrars have low exposure to
      many relevant clinical procedures. There may be a need for greater use of
      laboratory-based training and/or to review the expectations of the scope of
      procedural skills in general practice.

PMID- 28609603
TI  - Can research that is not intended or unlikely to be published be considered
      ethical?
AB  - BACKGROUND: For research to be ethically acceptable, the potential benefits must
      justify any risks involved for participants. Dissemination of research findings
      through publication is one way of creating benefit, but not all researchers
      intend to publish their research. Other factors, such as lack of size or
      representativeness, generalisability or innovativeness, or negative findings mean
      the research is unlikely to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
      OBJECTIVE: This paper discusses ethical considerations in research where peer
      reviewed publication is not intended or unlikely. DISCUSSION: Proposing research
      that is not intended or unlikely to be published in a peer-reviewed journal does
      not preclude it from being considered ethical. Additional benefits of such
      projects may include professional development of investigators, pilot data
      collection leading to more definitive studies, or developing collaborations with
      research users that increase relevance and improve utility of findings.

PMID- 28609604
TI  - Highly Stable, Low Gas Crossover, Proton-Conducting Phenylated Polyphenylenes.
AB  - Two classes of novel sulfonated phenylated polyphenylene ionomers are
      investigated as polyaromatic-based proton exchange membranes. Both types of
      ionomer possess high ion exchange capacities yet are insoluble in water at
      elevated temperatures. They exhibit high proton conductivity under both fully
      hydrated conditions and reduced relative humidity, and are markedly resilient to
      free radical attack. Fuel cells constructed with membrane-electrode assemblies
      containing each ionomer membrane yield high in situ proton conductivity and peak
      power densities that are greater than obtained using Nafion reference membranes.
      In situ chemical stability accelerated stress tests reveal that this class of the
      polyaromatic membranes allow significantly lower gas crossover and lower rates of
      degradation than Nafion benchmark systems. These results point to a promising
      future for molecularly designed sulfonated phenylated polyphenylenes as proton
      conducting media in electrochemical technologies.

PMID- 28609605
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of skin lesions amongst plastic surgeons and a dermatologist.

PMID- 28609606
TI  - Ambient Water-Stable Dianionic Electron Donors: Intramolecular Noncovalent
      Conduits Assist Charge Delocalization.
AB  - Electron-rich pi-conjugated dianions are known to be ambient unstable and their
      stabilization in ambient water is yet to be realized. We report the first example
      of an exceptionally stable naphthalenediimide-based dianion in ambient and hot
      water, forming one of the most stable redox-active dianion. The half-life (t1/2 )
      of dianion (1 a2- ) is more than four months in ambient water. The dianionic
      state was confirmed by X-ray crystallography and by various spectroscopic
      methods. The noncovalent electronic conduits introduced for the first time in
      dianions, embrace nO ->pi*C=N interactions and aid in delocalizing the dianionic
      charge as validated from theoretical studies. The dianions harness strong NIR
      absorption and electron donor ability to organic acceptors and metal ions, which
      make them suitable for potential green energy applications.

PMID- 28609607
TI  - Blood pathway analyses reveal differences between prediabetic subjects with or
      without dyslipidaemia. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prediabetes often occurs together with dyslipidaemia, which is
      paradoxically treated with statins predisposing to type 2 diabetes mellitus. We
      examined peripheral blood pathway profiles in prediabetic subjects with (PRD )
      and without dyslipidaemia (PR0 ) and compared these to nonprediabetic controls
      without dyslipidaemia (C0 ). METHODS: The participants were from the
      Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, including 1240 subjects aged 34 to 49
      years. Genome-wide expression data of peripheral blood and gene set enrichment
      analysis were used to investigate the differentially expressed genes and enriched
      pathways between different subtypes of prediabetes. RESULTS: Pathways for
      cholesterol synthesis, interleukin-12-mediated signalling events, and downstream
      signalling in naive CD8+ T-cells were upregulated in the PR0 group in comparison
      with controls (C0 ). The upregulation of these pathways was independent of waist
      circumference, blood pressure, smoking status, and insulin. Adjustment for CRP
      left the CD8+ T-cell signalling and interleukin-12-mediated signalling event
      pathway upregulated. The cholesterol synthesis pathway was also upregulated when
      all prediabetic subjects (PR0 and PRD ) were compared with the nonprediabetic
      control group. No pathways were upregulated or downregulated when the PRD group
      was compared with the C0 group. Five genes in the PR0 group and 1 in the PRD
      group were significantly differentially expressed in comparison with the C0
      group. CONCLUSIONS: Blood cell gene expression profiles differ significantly
      between prediabetic subjects with and without dyslipidaemia. Whether this
      classification may be used in detection of prediabetic individuals at a high risk
      of cardiovascular complications remains to be examined.

PMID- 28609609
TI  - Highly Stretchable and Highly Resilient Polymer-Clay Nanocomposite Hydrogels with
      Low Hysteresis.
AB  - Highly stretchable and highly resilient polymer-clay nanocomposite hydrogels were
      synthesized by in situ polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of pristine
      montmorillonite (MMT) or chitosan-treated MMT nanoplatelets at an elevated
      temperature. Both nanocomposite hydrogels can be stretched to a strain of no less
      than 1290%. The treatment of clay with chitosan improves the tensile strength,
      elongation at break, and energy at break of the nanocomposite hydrogel by 237%,
      102%, and 389%, respectively, due to the strong chitosan-MMT electrostatic
      interaction and the grafting of polyacrylamide onto chitosan chains. Both
      hydrogels display excellent resilience with low hysteresis; with a maximum
      tensile strain of 50%, ultralow hysteresis is found, while, with a maximum strain
      of 500%, both hydrogels fully recover their original state in just 1 min. The
      superb resilience of the nanocomposite hydrogels is attributed to the strong
      interactions within the hydrogels brought by chain branching, multiple hydrogen
      bonding, covalent bonding, and/or electrostatic force. The hydrogels can be
      fabricated into different shapes and forms, including microfibers spun using
      pressurized gyration, which may find a variety of potential applications in
      particular in healthcare.

PMID- 28609608
TI  - Voriconazole Concentrations in Plasma and Epithelial Lining Fluid after
      Inhalation and Oral Treatment.
AB  - Adverse effects can compromise oral voriconazole treatment of pulmonary
      aspergillosis. Inhaled low-dose voriconazole may be an alternative treatment. In
      this study, six patients inhaled 40 mg voriconazole b.i.d. for 2 days, and six
      patients ingested 400 and 200 mg orally b.i.d. on day one and two, respectively.
      Blood samples were collected after the first inhalation, and bronchial alveolar
      lavage fluids and blood samples were collected for measurements of voriconazole
      12 hr after the last administration. The concentration of voriconazole in
      epithelial lining fluid (ELF) was calculated by the urea dilution method.
      Voriconazole concentrations were detectable in plasma 15 min. after inhalation
      and declined at 30 and 60 min. Twelve hours after the last dose, median (95% CI)
      plasma voriconazole concentration was 8 (4-26) ng/mL in the inhalation group and
      1224 (535-2341) ng/mL in the oral group (p < 0.0001). In ELF, median
      concentration was 190 (55-318) ng/mL and 8827 (4369-35172) ng/mL, respectively (p
      < 0.0001). Median ELF/plasma concentration ratio was 21 (6-63) in the inhalation
      group and 8 (3-20) in the oral group (p = 0.2). In conclusion, voriconazole is
      rapidly absorbed into the systemic circulation after inhalation. There was a non
      significant trend towards a higher ELF/plasma concentration ratio in the
      inhalation group compared to the oral group.

PMID- 28609610
TI  - An RNA Aptamer Capable of Forming a Hydrogel by Self-Assembly.
AB  - Hydrogels are supramolecular assemblies with both solute transport properties
      like liquids and mechanical properties like elastomers. To date, every type of
      biomolecules except ribonucleic acid (RNA), is capable of forming a hydrogel.
      Here, we report an RNA that forms a hydrogel by self-assembly. This RNA is
      originally identified by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential
      enrichment (SELEX) to enhance the activity of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4
      isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors as a potential RNA drug for the
      treatment of cognitive disorders. The RNA hydrogel exhibits an elastic modulus
      plateau on the order of 102 Pa and shows dynamic RNA chain interactions with
      relaxation behaviors similar to living wormlike micellar solutions. Small-angle X
      ray scattering and cryogenic electron microscopy characterization support the RNA
      network structures. By sequence mutation and rheological measurements, we reveal
      two key sequence motifs in the RNA responsible for intermolecular recognition and
      the formation of a polymer network by self-assembly.

PMID- 28609611
TI  - Selective Aliphatic Carbon-Carbon Bond Activation by Rhodium Porphyrin Complexes.
AB  - The carbon-carbon bond activation of organic molecules with transition metal
      complexes is an attractive transformation. These reactions form transition metal
      carbon bonded intermediates, which contribute to fundamental understanding in
      organometallic chemistry. Alternatively, the metal-carbon bond in these
      intermediates can be further functionalized to construct new carbon-(hetero)atom
      bonds. This methodology promotes the concept that the carbon-carbon bond acts as
      a functional group, although carbon-carbon bonds are kinetically inert. In the
      past few decades, numerous efforts have been made to overcome the chemo-, regio-
      and, more recently, stereoselectivity obstacles. The synthetic usefulness of the
      selective carbon-carbon bond activation has been significantly expanded and is
      becoming increasingly practical: this technique covers a wide range of substrate
      scopes and transition metals. In the past 16 years, our laboratory has shown that
      rhodium porphyrin complexes effectively mediate the intermolecular stoichiometric
      and catalytic activation of both strained and nonstrained aliphatic carbon-carbon
      bonds. Rhodium(II) porphyrin metalloradicals readily activate the aliphatic
      carbon(sp3)-carbon(sp3) bond in TEMPO ((2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl)
      and its derivatives, nitriles, nonenolizable ketones, esters, and amides to
      produce rhodium(III) porphyrin alkyls. Recently, the cleavage of carbon-carbon
      sigma-bonds in unfunctionalized and noncoordinating hydrocarbons with rhodium(II)
      porphyrin metalloradicals has been developed. The absence of carbon-hydrogen bond
      activation in these systems makes the reaction unique. Furthermore, rhodium(III)
      porphyrin hydroxide complexes can be generated in situ to selectively activate
      the carbon(alpha)-carbon(beta) bond in ethers and the carbon(CO)-carbon(alpha)
      bond in ketones under mild conditions. The addition of PPh3 promotes the reaction
      rate and yield of the carbon-carbon bond activation product. Thus, both
      rhodium(II) porphyrin metalloradical and rhodium(III) porphyrin hydroxide are
      very reactive to activate the aliphatic carbon-carbon bonds. Recently, we
      successfully demonstrated the rhodium porphyrin catalyzed reduction or oxidation
      of aliphatic carbon-carbon bonds using water as the reductant or oxidant,
      respectively, in the absence of sacrificial reagents and neutral conditions. This
      Account presents our contribution in this domain. First, we describe the
      chemistry of equilibria among the reactive rhodium porphyrin complexes in
      oxidation states from Rh(I) to Rh(III). Then, we present the serendipitous
      discovery of the carbon-carbon bond activation reaction and subsequent
      developments in our laboratory. These aliphatic carbon-carbon bond activation
      reactions can generally be divided into two categories according to the reaction
      type: (i) homolytic radical substitution of a carbon(sp3)-carbon(sp3) bond with a
      rhodium(II) porphyrin metalloradical and (ii) sigma-bond metathesis of a carbon
      carbon bond with a rhodium(III) porphyrin hydroxide. Finally, representative
      examples of catalytic carbon-carbon bond hydrogenation and oxidation through
      strategic design are covered. The progress in this area broadens the chemistry of
      rhodium porphyrin complexes, and these transformations are expected to find
      applications in organic synthesis.

PMID- 28609612
TI  - Diverse Supramolecular Nanofiber Networks Assembled by Functional Low-Complexity
      Domains.
AB  - Self-assembling supramolecular nanofibers, common in the natural world, are of
      fundamental interest and technical importance to both nanotechnology and
      materials science. Despite important advances, synthetic nanofibers still lack
      the structural and functional diversity of biological molecules, and the
      controlled assembly of one type of molecule into a variety of fibrous structures
      with wide-ranging functional attributes remains challenging. Here, we harness the
      low-complexity (LC) sequence domain of fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein, an
      essential cellular nuclear protein with slow kinetics of amyloid fiber assembly,
      to construct random copolymer-like, multiblock, and self-sorted supramolecular
      fibrous networks with distinct structural features and fluorescent
      functionalities. We demonstrate the utilities of these networks in the templated,
      spatially controlled assembly of ligand-decorated gold nanoparticles, quantum
      dots, nanorods, DNA origami, and hybrid structures. Owing to the distinguishable
      nanoarchitectures of these nanofibers, this assembly is structure-dependent. By
      coupling a modular genetic strategy with kinetically controlled complex
      supramolecular self-assembly, we demonstrate that a single type of protein
      molecule can be used to engineer diverse one-dimensional supramolecular
      nanostructures with distinct functionalities.

PMID- 28609613
TI  - Molecular Recognition and Chirality Sensing of Epoxides in Water Using Endo
      Functionalized Molecular Tubes.
AB  - Chiral epoxides are important intermediates in chemistry and biology. The high
      throughput screening of asymmetric epoxidation conditions requires fast
      determination of the absolute configurations and ee values of chiral epoxides.
      Herein, we report molecular recognition and chiroptical sensing of epoxides in
      water using endo-functionalized molecular tubes. The absolute configurations and
      ee values were simultaneously determined by circular dichroism spectroscopy. In
      addition, real-time monitoring as well as the application to real asymmetric
      epoxidation was demonstrated. The method is simple, environmentally friendly, and
      amenable to high-throughput screening.

PMID- 28609615
TI  - Nonclassical Kinetics of Clonal yet Heterogeneous Enzymes.
AB  - Enzyme-to-enzyme variation in the catalytic rate is ubiquitous among single
      enzymes created from the same genetic information, which persists over the
      lifetimes of living cells. Despite advances in single-enzyme technologies, the
      lack of an enzyme reaction model accounting for the heterogeneous activity of
      single enzymes has hindered a quantitative understanding of the nonclassical
      stochastic outcome of single enzyme systems. Here we present a new statistical
      kinetics and exactly solvable models for clonal yet heterogeneous enzymes with
      possibly nonergodic state dynamics and state-dependent reactivity, which enable a
      quantitative understanding of modern single-enzyme experimental results for the
      mean and fluctuation in the number of product molecules created by single
      enzymes. We also propose a new experimental measure of the heterogeneity and
      nonergodicity for a system of enzymes.

PMID- 28609614
TI  - Direct Monitoring of Protein O-GlcNAcylation by High-Resolution Native Mass
      Spectrometry.
AB  - O-GlcNAcylation is one of the most abundant metazoan nuclear-cytoplasmic post
      translational modifications. Proteins modified by O-GlcNAc play key cellular
      roles in signaling, transcription, metabolism, and cell division. Mechanistic
      studies on protein O-GlcNAcylation are hampered by the lack of methods that can
      simultaneously quantify O-GlcNAcylation, determine its stoichiometry, and monitor
      O-GlcNAcylation kinetics. Here, we demonstrate that high-resolution native mass
      spectrometry can be employed to monitor the small mass shifts induced by
      modification by O-GlcNAc on two known protein substrates, CK2alpha and TAB1,
      without the need for radioactive labeling or chemoenzymatic tagging using large
      mass tags. Limited proteolysis enabled further localization of the O-GlcNAc
      sites. In peptide-centric MS analysis, the O-GlcNAc moiety is known to be easily
      lost. In contrast, we demonstrate that the O-GlcNAc is retained under native MS
      conditions, enabling precise quantitative analysis of stoichiometry and O
      GlcNAcylation kinetics. Together, the data highlight that high resolution native
      MS may provide an alternative tool to monitor kinetics on one of the most labile
      of protein post-translational modifications, in an efficient, reliable, and
      quantitative manner.

PMID- 28609616
TI  - Facile Synthesis of Potassium Poly(heptazine imide) (PHIK)/Ti-Based Metal-Organic
      Framework (MIL-125-NH2) Composites for Photocatalytic Applications.
AB  - Photocatalytically active composites comprising potassium poly(heptazine imide)
      (PHIK) and a Ti-based metal-organic framework (MOF, MIL-125-NH2) are prepared in
      situ by simply dispersing both materials in water. The driving forces of
      composite formation are the electrostatic interactions between the solids and the
      diffusion of potassium ions from PHIK to MIL-125-NH2. This mechanism implies that
      other composites of poly(heptazine imide) salts and different MOFs bearing
      positive surface charge can potentially be obtained in a similar fashion. The
      suggested strategy thus opens a new avenue for the facile synthesis of such
      materials. The composites are shown to have a superior photocatalytic activity in
      Rhodamine B degradation under blue light irradiation. The reaction rate is
      doubled compared to that of pure MOF compound and is 7 times higher than the
      activity of the pristine PHIK. The results of the electron paramagnetic resonance
      (EPR) investigations and the analysis of the electronic structures of the solids
      suggest the electron transfer from MIL-125-NH2 to PHIK in the composite. The
      possible pathways for the dye degradation and the rationalization of the
      increased activity of the composites are elaborated.

PMID- 28609617
TI  - Putative Markers of Adulteration of Higher-Grade Olive Oil with Less Expensive
      Pomace Olive Oil Identified by Gas Chromatography Combined with Chemometrics.
AB  - This work has been performed to ascertain that extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is
      free of adulteration. For this purpose, refined pomace olive oils (RPOOs) are
      commonly used for extra-virgin olive oil adulteration and repassed olive oils
      (ROOs) are used for lampante olive oil (LOO) fraudulent operation. Indeed, fatty
      acid ethyl esters could be used as a parameter for the detection of EVOO fraud
      with 2% RPOO. The addition of >10% RPOO to EVOO would be detected by the amount
      of erythrodiol, uvaol, waxes, and aliphatic alcohols. Moreover, the use of
      stigmasta-3,5-diene content proved to be effective in EVOO adulteration even at a
      low level (with 1% RPOO). For the detection of adulteration of LOO with >5% ROO,
      the sum of erythrodiol, uvaol, and the waxes and esters can be considered as good
      markers of purity. Using linear discriminant analysis can identify the most
      discriminant variable that allows a faster and cheaper evaluation of extra-virgin
      olive oil adulteration by measuring only these variables.

PMID- 28609618
TI  - Internally Contracted Multireference Coupled Cluster Calculations with a Spin
      Free Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian: Application to the Monoxides of Titanium,
      Zirconium, and Hafnium.
AB  - We combine internally contracted multireference coupled cluster theory with a
      four-component treatment of scalar-relativistic effects based on the spin-free
      Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian. This strategy allows for a rigorous treatment of
      static and dynamic correlation as well as scalar-relativistic effects, which
      makes it viable to describe molecules containing heavy transition elements. The
      use of a spin-free formalism limits the impact of the four-component treatment on
      the computational cost to the non-rate-determining steps of the calculations. We
      apply the newly developed method to the lowest singlet and triplet states of the
      monoxides of titanium, zirconium, and hafnium and show how the interplay between
      electronic correlation and relativistic effects explains the electronic structure
      of such molecules.

PMID- 28609619
TI  - High Efficiency, Transparent, Reusable, and Active PM2.5 Filters by Hierarchical
      Ag Nanowire Percolation Network.
AB  - Air quality has become a major public health issue in Asia including China,
      Korea, and India. Particulate matters are the major concern in air quality. We
      present the first environmental application demonstration of Ag nanowire
      percolation network for a novel, electrical type transparent, reusable, and
      active PM2.5 air filter although the Ag nanowire percolation network has been
      studied as a very promising transparent conductor in optoelectronics. Compared
      with previous particulate matter air filter study using relatively weaker short
      range intermolecular force in polar polymeric nanofiber, Ag nanowire percolation
      network filters use stronger long-range electrostatic force to capture PM2.5, and
      they are highly efficient (>99.99%), transparent, working on an active mode, low
      power consumption, antibacterial, and reusable after simple washing. The proposed
      new particulate matter filter can be applied for a highly efficient, reusable,
      active and energy efficient filter for wearable electronics application.

PMID- 28609620
TI  - Imparting Icephobicity with Substrate Flexibility.
AB  - Ice accumulation hinders the performance of, and poses safety threats for,
      infrastructure both on the ground and in the air. Previously, rationally designed
      superhydrophobic surfaces have demonstrated some potential as a passive means to
      mitigate ice accretion; however, further studies on material solutions that
      reduce impalement and the contact time for impacting supercooled droplets (high
      viscosity) and can also repel droplets that freeze during surface contact are
      urgently needed. Here we demonstrate the collaborative effect of substrate
      flexibility and surface micro/nanotexture on enhancing both icephobicity and the
      repellency of viscous droplets (typical of supercooled water). We first
      investigate the influence of increased viscosity (spanning from 0.9 to 1078 mPa.s
      using water-glycerol mixtures) on impalement resistance and the droplet-substrate
      contact time after impact. Then we examine the effect of droplet partial
      solidification on recoil and simulate more challenging icing conditions by
      impacting supercooled water droplets (down to -15  degrees C) onto flexible and
      rigid surfaces containing ice nucleation promoters (AgI). We demonstrate a
      passive mechanism for shedding partially solidified (recalescent) droplets-under
      conditions where partial solidification occurs much faster than the natural
      droplet oscillation-which does not rely on converting droplet surface energy into
      kinetic energy (classic recoil mechanism). Using an energy-based model (kinetic
      elastic-capillary), we identify a previously unexplored mechanism whereby the
      substrate oscillation and velocity govern the rebound process, with low areal
      density and moderately stiff substrates acting to efficiently absorb the incoming
      droplet kinetic energy and rectify it back, allowing droplets to overcome
      adhesion and gravitational forces, and recoil. This mechanism applies for a range
      of droplet viscosities, spanning from low- to high-viscosity fluids and even ice
      slurries, which do not rebound from rigid superhydrophobic substrates. For a low
      viscosity fluid, i.e., water, if the substrate oscillates faster than the droplet
      spreading and retraction, the action of the substrate is decoupled from the
      droplet oscillation, resulting in a reduction in the droplet-substrate contact
      time.

PMID- 28609621
TI  - Orchestrating Directional Molecular Motions: Kinetically Controlled
      Supramolecular Pathways of a Helical Host on Rodlike Guests.
AB  - An aromatic oligoamide sequence was designed to fold and self-assemble into a
      double helical host having a cylindrical cavity complementary to linear
      oligocarbamate guests. Formation of helical pseudorotaxane complexes, foldaxanes,
      between the host and guests having binding stations of different affinities was
      evidenced by NMR and X-ray crystallography. Rodlike guests possessing two or
      three binding stations, long alkyl or oligoethylene glycol spacers or bulky
      barriers in-between the binding stations, and a single bulky stopper at one end
      were synthesized. Kinetic investigations of the threading and translation of the
      double helix along multistation rods were monitored by 1H NMR. Results show that
      multiple events may occur upon sliding of the host from the nonbulky end of the
      rod to reach the thermodynamically most stable state before unfolding-mediated
      dissociation has time to take place, including binding on intermediate stations
      and rapid sliding along nonbinding spacers. Conversely, installing a kinetic
      barrier that blocks sliding allows for the deliberate integration of a helix
      dissociation reassociation step in the supramolecular trajectory. Typical sliding
      processes can be monitored over the course of hours whereas steps involving
      unwinding-rewinding of the helix proceeded over the course of days. These results
      further demonstrate the interest in foldaxanes to design complex sequences of
      supramolecular events within networks of equilibria through the adjustment of the
      kinetics of the individual steps involved.

PMID- 28609622
TI  - Combined Electron-Diffraction and Spectroscopic Determination of the Structure of
      Spiropentane, C5H8.
AB  - Gas-phase electron-diffraction (GED) data have been combined with recent
      spectroscopic rotational constants to determine the ralpha0 structural parameters
      for spiropentane, C5H8. The structure has D2d symmetry, and the results yield
      values of 1.105(2) A for the CH bond length, 1.557(3) A for the distal CC bond
      length, and a smaller value of 1.482(1) A for the four lateral CC bonds that
      connect to the central carbon atom. The HCH angle is 113.7(13) degrees , and the
      HCH flap angle, defined as the angle of the HCH bisector and the distal CC bond,
      is 150.2(16) degrees . Corresponding rg values are 1.122(2) A, 1.560(3) A,
      1.485(1) A, 115.1(13) degrees , and 148.9 (16) degrees . The results are in good
      accord with values from density functional calculations (B3LYP/cc-pVTZ) and
      resolve some questions about the structure reported in an earlier GED study, in
      particular about the HCH angle and anomalous rotational constants calculated for
      the structure.

PMID- 28609623
TI  - Single-Step Enrichment of N-Glycopeptides and Phosphopeptides with Novel
      Multifunctional Ti4+-Immobilized Dendritic Polyglycerol Coated Chitosan
      Nanomaterials.
AB  - Protein glycosylation and phosphorylation, two of the most important post
      translational modifications (PTMs) in the proteome, play a vital role in
      regulating a number of complex biological processes and involvement in a variety
      of diseases. Comprehensive characterization of the phosphoproteome and
      glycoproteome requires highly specific and sensitive enrichment methods of
      purification of phosphopeptides and glycopeptides because many glycoproteins and
      phosphoproteins naturally occur at low abundances and substoichiometry. Here, we
      reported a facile route to fabricate a novel multifunctional Ti4+-mmobilized
      dentritic polyglycerol CS@PGMA@IDA (CS, chitosan; PGMA, poly(glycidyl
      methacrylate); IDA, iminodiacetic acid) nanomaterials. The polymer surface endows
      the nanomaterials with biocompatibility, excellent hydrophilic property, and a
      large amount of Ti 4+ which have the property of immobilized metal ion affinity
      chromatography (IMAC)- and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)
      based functional materials. The CS@PGMA@IDA-Ti4+ nanomaterials demonstrate an
      outstanding ability for N-glycopeptides and phosphopeptides enrichment
      simultaneously, evaluated by the extremely high binding capacity (150 mg g-1),
      sensitivity (above 0.1 fmol), and high enrichment recovery (above 75.4%). Its
      outstanding specificity and efficiency for purification of phosphopeptides is
      reflected in quantities as low as 1:5000 molar ratios of phosphopeptides which
      can be detected. Furthermore, we used CS@PGMA@IDA-Ti4+ to enrich for N
      glycopeptides and phosphopeptides followed by PNGase F treatment, fractionated
      and separated N-glycopeptides and phosphopeptides with different eluents, and
      then analyzed by MS, a total of 423 (84.4 ID/MUg, 3.525 ID/min) N-glycopeptides
      in 235 different glycoproteins and 422 (84.4 ID/MUg, 3.517 ID/min)
      phosphopeptides in 256 different phosphoproteins which were finally identified in
      two independent LC-MS/MS runs (with a total time of 120 min) from 50 MUg of mouse
      liver. The results demonstrated that the method based on CS@PGMA@IDA-Ti4+ to
      single-step enrichment of N-glycopeptides and phosphopeptides is simple,
      efficient, specific, and compatible to MS. It can be expected that CS@PGMA@IDA
      Ti4+ would hold great applicability of modification-based proteomics to the
      precious and low amounts of clinical samples.

PMID- 28609624
TI  - In Silico Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Pharmacokinetics
      (ADME-PK): Utility and Best Practices. An Industry Perspective from the
      International Consortium for Innovation through Quality in Pharmaceutical
      Development.
AB  - In silico tools to investigate absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion,
      and pharmacokinetics (ADME-PK) properties of new chemical entities are an
      integral part of the current industrial drug discovery paradigm. While many
      companies are active in the field, scientists engaged in this area do not
      necessarily share the same background and have limited resources when seeking
      guidance on how to initiate and maintain an in silico ADME-PK infrastructure in
      an industrial setting. This work summarizes the views of a group of industrial in
      silico and experimental ADME scientists, participating in the In Silico ADME
      Working Group, a subgroup of the International Consortium for Innovation through
      Quality in Pharmaceutical Development (IQ) Drug Metabolism Leadership Group. This
      overview on the benefits, caveats, and impact of in silico ADME-PK should serve
      as a resource for medicinal chemists, computational chemists, and DMPK scientists
      working in drug design to increase their knowledge in the area.

PMID- 28609625
TI  - Conformational Dynamics of the Lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli O91
      Revealed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Molecular Simulations.
AB  - The outer leaflet of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria contains
      lipopolysaccharides (LPS) as a major component, and the outer membrane provides a
      physical barrier and protection against hostile environments. The
      enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli of serogroup O91 has an O-antigen
      polysaccharide (PS) with five sugar residues in the repeating unit (RU), and the
      herein studied O-antigen PS contains ~10 RUs. 1H-13C HSQC-NOESY experiments on a
      1-13C-labeled PS were employed to deduce 1H-1H cross-relaxation rates and
      transglycosidic 3JCH related to the psi torsional angles were obtained by 1H-1H
      NOESY experiments. Dynamical parameters were calculated from the molecular
      dynamics (MD) simulations of the PS in solution and compared to those from 13C
      nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation studies. Importantly, the MD
      simulations can reproduce the dynamical behavior of internal correlation times
      along the PS chain. Two-dimensional free energy surfaces of glycosidic torsion
      angles delineate the conformational space available to the O-antigen. Although
      similar with respect to populated states in solution, the O-antigen in LPS
      bilayers has more extended chains as a result of spatial limitations due to close
      packing. Calcium ions are highly abundant in the phosphate-containing core region
      mediating LPS-LPS association that is crucial for maintaining bilayer integrity,
      and the negatively charged O-antigen promotes a high concentration of
      counterbalancing potassium ions. The ensemble of structures present for the PS in
      solution is captured by the NMR experiments, and the similarities between the O
      antigen on its own and as a constituent of the full LPS in a bilayer environment
      make it possible to realistically describe the LPS conformation and dynamics from
      the MD simulations.

PMID- 28609626
TI  - Water Droplet Spreading and Wicking on Nanostructured Surfaces.
AB  - Phase-change heat transfer on nanostructured surfaces is an efficient cooling
      method for high heat flux devices due to its superior wettability. Liquid droplet
      spreading and wicking effect then dominate the heat transfer. Therefore, this
      study investigates the flow behavior after a droplet touches a nanostructured
      surface focusing on the ZnO nanowire surface with three different nanowire sizes
      and two array types (regular and irregular). The spreading diameter and the
      wicking diameter are measured against time. The results show that the average
      spreading and wicking velocities on a regular nanostructured surface are both
      smaller than those on an irregular nanostructured surface and that the nanowire
      size affects the liquid spreading and capillary wicking.

PMID- 28609627
TI  - Nature of Lewis Base Catalysis of 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of Methyl
      Diazoacetate to Methyl Acrylate; NMR Kinetic Spectroscopy and DFT Study.
AB  - The effect of Lewis base (LB) in the domino reaction between methyl diazoacetate
      and methyl acrylate has been studied. This domino process is initialized by a
      [3+2]-cycloaddition reaction to generate 3H-pyrazoline followed by a subsequent
      1,3-H shift reaction forming 1H-pyrazoline as the more stable isomer. The rate of
      the first step is not sensitive to the presence of LBs (THF, Py, DMAP, DBU, and
      triphenylphosphine) as it was evidenced by kinetic nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy and quantum chemical modeling. LBs manifest remarkable catalytic
      effect on the second step of the reaction only acting as proton acceptor. DFT
      calculations reveal fine correlation between enthalpy of proton transfer from
      trans-3H-pyrazoline to LB and basic strength of the latter described in terms of
      BF3-affinity scale. Under conditions of LB catalysis the reaction rate of the
      first step (methyl diazoacetate and methyl acrylate interaction) limits the rate
      of 3H -> 1H pyrazoline isomerization and, therefore, restricts catalytic
      efficiency of LB. An alternative mechanism for catalysis of the 1,3-dipolar
      cycloaddition through formation of triazene-like intermediate during reaction of
      diazo acetate with LB and following Michael addition of intermediate to alkene
      was carefully analyzed. This reaction scheme was not confirmed in our
      experiments.

PMID- 28609628
TI  - Toward an Understanding of the Mechanisms behind the Formation of Liquid-liquid
      Systems formed by Two Ionic Liquids.
AB  - Biphasic systems composed of aprotic ionic liquids (ILs) allow the development of
      new separation processes constituted only by nonvolatile solvents. Six pairs of
      cholinium- and phosphonium-based ILs were found to be able to form biphasic
      systems, and the respective liquid-liquid phase diagrams were determined.
      Although IL anions do not seem to control the phase separation phenomenon, they
      play an important role in defining the size of the biphasic region. A linear
      dependence of the ILs mutual solubilities with the IL anions volume was found,
      supporting the relevance of the entropy of mixing. With the exception of the
      system formed by ILs with a common anion, the remaining liquid-liquid systems
      display a significant ion exchange extent between the phases, which inversely
      depends on the ILs cohesive energy. It is finally shown that four-phase systems
      with a remarkable performance in the separation of mixtures of dyes can be
      prepared.

PMID- 28609629
TI  - A Two-Directional Synthesis of (+)-beta-Isosparteine.
AB  - A two-directional synthesis of (+)-beta-isosparteine is described in five steps
      from glutaric acid, where the entire carbon and nitrogen backbone of the
      alkaloid, possessing the requisite relative and absolute stereochemistry at its
      four stereogenic centers, is assembled using a double imino-aldol reaction.

PMID- 28609630
TI  - High-Throughput Selective Capture of Single Circulating Tumor Cells by
      Dielectrophoresis at a Wireless Electrode Array.
AB  - We demonstrate continuous high-throughput selective capture of circulating tumor
      cells by dielectrophoresis at arrays of wireless electrodes (bipolar electrodes,
      BPEs). The use of BPEs removes the requirement of ohmic contact to individual
      array elements, thus enabling otherwise unattainable device formats. Capacitive
      charging of the electrical double layer at opposing ends of each BPE allows an AC
      electric field to be transmitted across the entire device. Here, two such designs
      are described and evaluated. In the first design, BPEs interconnect parallel
      microchannels. Pockets extruding from either side of the microchannels
      volumetrically control the number of cells captured at each BPE tip and enhance
      trapping. High-fidelity single-cell capture was achieved when the pocket
      dimensions were matched to those of the cells. A second, open design allows many
      non-targeted cells to pass through. These devices enable high-throughput capture
      of rare cells and single-cell analysis.

PMID- 28609631
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Sulfonyl Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition Reactions: Simultaneous
      Generation and Trapping of Copper-Triazoles and -Ketenimines for the Synthesis of
      Triazolopyrimidines.
AB  - First simultaneous generation and utilization of both copper-triazole and 
      ketenimine intermediates in copper-catalyzed sulfonyl azide-alkyne cycloaddition
      reactions is achieved for the one-pot synthesis of triazolopyrimidines via a
      novel copper-catalyzed multicomponent cascade of sulfonyl azides, alkynes, and
      azirines. Significantly, the reaction proceeds under very mild conditions in good
      yields.

PMID- 28609632
TI  - Enantioselective One-Pot Synthesis of alpha,beta-Epoxy Ketones via Aerobic
      Oxidation of Cyclopropanols.
AB  - An efficient, mild, and environmentally benign method was developed for the
      asymmetric synthesis of 2-oxyranyl ketones from easily available tertiary
      cyclopropanols. The one-pot protocol includes the aerobic oxidation of
      cyclopropanol derivatives catalyzed by Mn(III) complexes followed by the poly-l
      leucine-assisted stereoselective elimination of water from the intermediate
      peroxides with DBU to afford the corresponding epoxy ketones in high yields and
      good-to-excellent enantioselectivities (up to 97%).

PMID- 28609633
TI  - Quantifying the Lung at Risk in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Does
      Emphysema Beget Emphysema?

PMID- 28609634
TI  - The Use of Modeling to Compare Tuberculosis Dynamics in Four U.S. States.

PMID- 28609635
TI  - SPX-101 Is a Promising and Novel Nebulized ENaC Inhibitor.

PMID- 28609637
TI  - Midterm and Long-term Results of Medial Versus Lateral Meniscal Allograft
      Transplantation: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether lateral meniscal allograft transplantation
      (MAT) procedures lead to better clinical outcomes than medial MAT. HYPOTHESIS:
      The survival rates are similar between medial and lateral MAT, but the clinical
      outcomes of lateral MAT are better than those of medial MAT at final follow-up.
      STUDY DESIGN: Meta-analysis. METHODS: In this meta-analysis, we reviewed studies
      that assessed survival rates in patients who underwent medial or lateral MAT with
      more than 5 years of follow-up and that used assessments such as pain and Lysholm
      scores to compare postoperative scores on knee outcome scales. The survival time
      was considered as the time to conversion to knee arthroplasty and/or subtotal
      resection of the allograft. RESULTS: A total of 9 studies (including 287 knees
      undergoing surgery using medial MAT and 407 with lateral MAT) met the inclusion
      criteria and were analyzed in detail. The proportion of knees in which midterm (5
      10 years) survival rates (medial, 97/113; lateral, 108/121; odds ratio [OR] 0.71;
      95% CI, 0.31-1.64; P = .42) and long-term (>10 years) survival rates (medial,
      303/576; lateral, 456/805; OR 0.78; 95% CI, 0.52-1.17; P = .22) were evaluated
      did not differ significantly between medial and lateral MAT. In addition, both
      groups had substantial proportions of knees exhibiting midterm survivorship
      (85.8% for medial MAT and 89.2% for lateral MAT) but much lower proportions of
      knees exhibiting long-term survivorship (52.6% for medial MAT and 56.6% for
      lateral MAT). In contrast, overall pain score (medial, 65.6 points; lateral, 71.3
      points; 95% CI, -3.95 to -0.87; P = .002) and Lysholm score (medial, 67.5 points;
      lateral, 72.0 points; 95% CI, -10.17 to -3.94; P < .00001) were significantly
      higher for lateral MAT compared with medial MAT. CONCLUSION: Meta-analysis
      indicated that 85.8% of medial and 89.2% of lateral meniscal allograft
      transplants survive at midterm (5-10 years) while 52.6% of medial and 56.6% of
      lateral meniscal allograft transplants survive long term (>10 years). Patients
      undergoing lateral meniscal allograft transplantation demonstrated greater pain
      relief and functional improvement than patients undergoing medial meniscal
      allograft transplantations.

PMID- 28609636
TI  - Cellular Therapies for Treatment of Radiation Injury after a Mass Casualty
      Incident.

PMID- 28609638
TI  - Hyperbiofilm phenotype of Pseudomonas aeruginosa defective for the PlcB and PlcN
      secreted phospholipases.
AB  - Biofilms are dense communities of bacteria enmeshed in a protective extracellular
      matrix composed mainly of exopolysaccharides, extracellular DNA, proteins, and
      outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). Given the role of biofilms in antibiotic-tolerant
      and chronic infections, novel strategies are needed to block, disperse, or
      degrade biofilms. Enzymes that degrade the biofilm matrix are a promising new
      therapy. We screened mutants in many of the enzymes secreted by the type II
      secretion system (T2SS) and determined that the T2SS, and specifically
      phospholipases, play a role in biofilm formation. Mutations in the xcp secretion
      system and in the plcB and plcN phospholipases all resulted in hyperbiofilm
      phenotypes. PlcB has activity against many phospholipids, including the common
      bacterial membrane lipid phosphatidylethanolamine, and may degrade cell membrane
      debris or OMVs in the biofilm matrix. Exogenous phospholipase was shown to reduce
      aggregation and biofilm formation, suggesting its potential role as a novel
      enzymatic treatment to dissolve biofilms.

PMID- 28609639
TI  - The Iliofemoral Line: A Radiographic Sign of Acetabular Dysplasia in the Adult
      Hip.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several radiographic parameters utilized for the diagnosis of
      acetabular dysplasia in adults suffer from poor reproducibility and reliability.
      PURPOSE: To define and validate a novel radiographic parameter (the iliofemoral
      line [IFL]) for the detection of frank and borderline hip dysplasia and to
      compare the sensitivity and specificity of this radiographic marker to those of
      previously validated qualitative parameters. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study
      (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: A consecutive cohort of 222 adult
      patients (436 hips) undergoing hip preservation surgery was included. The IFL,
      which extends from the lateral femoral neck through the inner cortical lip of the
      iliac crest, intersects the femoral head in cases of dysplasia. Percent
      medialization of the IFL was defined as the horizontal distance of the exposed
      femoral head lateral to the IFL, relative to the horizontal femoral head width at
      the center of the femoral head. RESULTS: Percent medialization of the IFL was
      strongly correlated to the lateral center edge angle ( P < .0001). Values of
      percent medialization ranging from 15% to 22% predicted the presence of
      borderline hip dysplasia with a sensitivity of 62% and specificity of 89%, while
      values exceeding 22% predicted the presence of frank acetabular dysplasia with a
      sensitivity of 77% and specificity of 94%. By comparison, abnormality of the
      Shenton line demonstrated a sensitivity of 3.7% and specificity of 97% for the
      detection of borderline dysplasia and a sensitivity of 16% and specificity of 99%
      for the detection of frank acetabular dysplasia. Compared with the Shenton line,
      percent medialization of the IFL was significantly more sensitive for the
      detection of both borderline and frank acetabular dysplasia (both P < .0001). The
      intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility of the horizontal difference
      outside the IFL were 0.99 and 0.96, respectively. CONCLUSION: Percent
      medialization of the IFL is a reliable and accurate radiographic marker of frank
      acetabular dysplasia and, to a lesser extent, borderline dysplasia. The use of
      this radiographic parameter as an additional tool may enable the earlier
      detection of borderline and frank hip dysplasia in young adults presenting with
      hip pain.

PMID- 28609640
TI  - Assessment of Disability Related to Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome by Use
      of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measure Information System (PROMIS) and Objective
      Measures of Physical Performance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored Patient-Reported
      Outcomes Measurement System (PROMIS) has been described as a valuable tool for
      characterizing outcomes among patients with specific musculoskeletal conditions.
      Additionally, previously proposed objective measures of physical performance
      among patients with nonarthritic hip abnormalities are costly and not practically
      incorporated into routine clinical practice. PURPOSE: (1) To determine the
      ability of the PROMIS to differentiate between patients with femoroacetabular
      impingement (FAI) and asymptomatic controls, (2) to determine the effect of FAI
      on subjects' completion of timed physical performance measures, and (3) to
      determine whether associations exist between established patient-reported outcome
      (PRO) measures and subjects' completion of physical performance measures. STUDY
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Twenty-two
      asymptomatic controls (CON group) and 20 patients with FAI completed multiple
      activities to assess physical ability: self-selected walking velocity (SSWV),
      timed stair ascent (TSA), four-square step test (FSST), and sit-to-stand five
      times test (STS5). All subjects also underwent a battery of PRO questionnaires:
      Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS), Modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS),
      International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33), Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis
      Outcome Score (HOOS), and PROMIS. Descriptive analyses were performed and
      comparisons between groups were made by use of paired t tests with Bonferroni
      Holm correction. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used to determine
      associations between physical performance measures and PRO. The magnitude of
      differences between groups for each measured variable was calculated by use of
      Cohen's d. RESULTS: Significant differences between CON and FAI groups were
      observed for all hip-specific PRO measures (CON vs FAI for all; HOOS 99.2 vs
      42.8, P < .001, iHOT-33 99.0 vs 26.6, P < .001, mHHS 99.6 vs 62.2, P < .001).
      Similarly, PROMIS scores were significantly different between groups for 8 of 9
      tested domains. Patients with FAI demonstrated significant decrements in
      performance of all tested physical measures compared with asymptomatic controls
      (CON vs FAI, SSWV: 1.51 vs 1.32 m/s, P = .002; TSA: 3.05 vs 5.92 s, P = .017;
      FSST: 4.83 vs 8.89 s, P = .006; STS5: CON 5.53 vs FAI 10.75 s, P = .005.)
      Deficits in activities involving hip flexion-TSA, STS5-were strongly associated (
      r < -0.7, P < .001) with increased reports of disability. CONCLUSION: FAI has a
      negative effect on patient-reported and objectively measured function. Hip
      specific and general measures such as PROMIS, FSST, TSA, and STS5 are responsive
      to FAI-associated debility and may be used to objectively assess surgical or
      rehabilitative outcomes.

PMID- 28609641
TI  - Flexibility training and the repeated-bout effect: priming interventions prior to
      eccentric training of the knee flexors.
AB  - Both the repeated-bout effect and increased flexibility have been linked to
      reduced muscle damage, fatigue, and strength loss after intense eccentric
      exercise. Our purpose was to compare the eccentric-training (ECC) response after
      first priming the muscles with either static flexibility training or a single
      intense bout of eccentric exercise. Twenty-five participants were randomly
      assigned to flexibility training (n = 8; 3*/week; 30 min/day), a single bout of
      intense eccentric exercise (n = 9), or no intervention (control; n = 8) during a
      4-week priming phase, prior to completing a subsequent 4-week period of eccentric
      training of the knee flexors. Testing was completed prior to the priming phase,
      before ECC, during acute ECC (0 h, 24 h, and 48 h after bouts 1 and 4), and after
      ECC. Measures included muscle thickness (MT; via ultrasound); isometric,
      concentric, and eccentric strength; muscle power (dynamometer); electromyography;
      range of motion; optimal angle of peak torque; and soreness (visual analog
      scale). Flexibility training and single-bout groups had 47% less soreness at 48 h
      after the first bout of ECC compared with control (p < 0.05). The flexibility
      training group had 10% less soreness at 48 h after the fourth ECC bout compared
      with both the single-bout and control groups (p < 0.05). Isometric strength loss
      was attenuated for the flexibility training group (-9%) after the fourth ECC bout
      compared with control (-19%; p < 0.05). All groups had similar increases in
      strength, MT, and power after ECC (p < 0.05). Prior flexibility training may be
      more effective than a single session of eccentric exercise in reducing adverse
      symptoms during the acute stages of eccentric training; however, these benefits
      did not translate into greater performance after training.

PMID- 28609643
TI  - Training Techniques for Visual Search in Complex Task Environments.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal for this study was to evaluate several visual search training
      techniques in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) simulated task environment.
      BACKGROUND: Operators controlling remote unmanned vehicles often must perform
      complex visual search tasks (e.g., target search). These tasks may pose
      substantial demands on the operator due to various environmental factors. Visual
      search training may reduce errors and mitigate stress, but the most effective
      form of training has not been determined. METHODS: Participants were assigned to
      one of four training conditions: target, cue, visual scanning, or control. After
      the training, the effectiveness of the training techniques was tested during a 30
      minute simulated UAV flight. A secondary task manipulation was included to
      further simulate the demands of a realistic UAV control and target search task.
      Subjective stress and fatigue were also assessed. RESULTS: Target training
      produced superior target search performances in more hits and fewer false alarms
      (FAs) when compared to the control condition. The visual scanning and cue
      trainings were moderately effective. Only target training performance was
      vulnerable to the secondary task load. The task was stressful, but training did
      not mitigate stress response. CONCLUSION: Training participants on the target and
      the cue appearance as well as active scanning of the visual field is promising
      for promoting effective target search for this simulated UAV environment.
      APPLICATION: These training techniques could be used in preparation for
      intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions that involve target
      search, especially where target appearance change is likely.

PMID- 28609642
TI  - Micronutrient Deficiencies After Bariatric Surgery: An Emphasis on Vitamins and
      Trace Minerals [Formula: see text].
AB  - Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic with a disproportionate increase in grade
      III obesity. Bariatric surgery offers an attractive option for sustained weight
      loss compared with traditional methods such as exercise and diet. Micronutrient
      deficiencies are common and clinically significant after bariatric surgery. These
      deficiencies are related to a combination of patient and surgical variables. A
      thorough understanding of specific micronutrient deficiencies is necessary for
      early recognition and optimal management. The purpose of this review is to
      describe indications, outcomes, and types of bariatric procedures, risk factors,
      and mechanisms for micronutrient deficiencies, as well as outline specific
      vitamin and trace element deficiencies after bariatric surgery.

PMID- 28609644
TI  - Outcomes of Hip Arthroscopic Surgery in Patients With Tonnis Grade 1
      Osteoarthritis at a Minimum 5-Year Follow-up: A Matched-Pair Comparison With a
      Tonnis Grade 0 Control Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies on midterm outcomes of the arthroscopic treatment of
      femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and labral tears with mild osteoarthritis (OA)
      are limited. PURPOSE: To evaluate outcomes of the arthroscopic treatment of FAI
      and labral tears in patients with mild preoperative OA (Tonnis grade 1) at a
      minimum 5-year follow-up, and to perform a matched-pair comparison to a control
      group with Tonnis grade 0. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.
      METHODS: Data were prospectively collected on patients who underwent hip
      arthroscopic surgery between February 2008 and April 2011. Inclusion criteria
      were arthroscopic treatment for FAI and labral tears and having preoperative
      patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores, including the modified Harris Hip Score
      (mHHS), Non-Arthritic Hip Score (NAHS), and Hip Outcome Score-Sports-Specific
      Subscale (HOS-SSS), and visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain. Exclusion
      criteria were workers' compensation claims, preoperative Tonnis grade >=2, and
      previous hip conditions (ipsilateral surgery, slipped capital femoral epiphysis,
      avascular necrosis, and dysplasia). Patients with minimum 5-year outcomes were
      eligible for matching on a 1:1 ratio (Tonnis grade 0 vs 1) based on age +/-5
      years, body mass index +/-5 kg/m2, sex, labral treatment, and capsular treatment.
      RESULTS: Of 356 eligible hips, 292 hips had minimum 5-year outcomes (82%). Eighty
      five hips with Tonnis grade 1 were evaluated. At 5-year follow-up, patients with
      Tonnis grade 1 had significant improvements in all PRO and VAS scores ( P <
      .0001). The overall satisfaction score was 8.2. The survivorship rate with
      respect to conversion to total hip arthroplasty for the Tonnis grade 1 group was
      69.4% at 5 years, while in the Tonnis grade 0 group, it was 88.4% ( P = .0002).
      Sixty-two hips with Tonnis grade 0 were matched to 62 hips with Tonnis grade 1.
      Both groups demonstrated improvements in all PRO and VAS scores from
      preoperatively to postoperatively ( P < .0001). No significant differences
      existed between preoperative or postoperative scores or survivorship between the
      groups. CONCLUSION: The arthroscopic treatment of FAI and labral tears in
      patients with Tonnis grade 1 had good results at 5-year follow-up. After
      controlling for other variables using a matched-pair comparison, patients with
      Tonnis grade 1 had similar, durable improvements to those with Tonnis grade 0.
      While strict surgical indications and appropriate expectations are recommended
      for patients with mild OA, Tonnis grade 1 alone should not be considered a
      contraindication to hip arthroscopic surgery.

PMID- 28609646
TI  - Why do indiviuals with schizophrenia drop out of observational clinical trials?
AB  - Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies frequently differ
      with regard to study dropouts. The present naturalistic follow-up investigation
      aimed to shed a light on this issue by evaluating the time to and the reasons for
      study dropout in patients suffering from schizophrenia who started monotherapy
      with an oral new-generation antipsychotic. To this end, psychopathological
      symptoms and safety data were assessed in 194 patients who were followed up to a
      maximum observation period of twelve months. 9.3% of study participants completed
      the study. The mean time to study dropout was 2.6 +/- 2.7 months with almost two
      thirds of patients dropping out within three months. 44.3% discontinued
      medication at the date of study dropout, the remainders dropped out due to
      withdrawal of written consent, logistic reasons, or nonappearance to the study
      visit ("loss to follow-up"), which were not necessarily to be equated with
      cessation of the antipsychotic. These findings indicate that in contrast to RCTs,
      dropout of observational studies is not necessarily associated with drug
      discontinuation. Accordingly, systematic differences between trial designs need
      to be considered when interpreting the results of clinical trials.

PMID- 28609645
TI  - Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha and IL-17A Activation Induces Pericyte-Mediated
      Basement Membrane Remodeling in Human Neutrophilic Dermatoses.
AB  - Sweet syndrome (SS) is a prototypical neutrophilic dermatosis, a class of
      inflammatory diseases marked by elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      alpha and IL-17A, pathologic neutrophil recruitment, and microvascular
      remodeling. Histologic analyses of four matrix proteins-collagen I and IV,
      laminin, and fibronectin-in skin biopsies of patients with SS reveal that the
      basement membrane of dermal postcapillary venules undergoes changes in structure
      and composition. Increased neutrophil recruitment in vivo was associated with
      increases in collagen IV, decreases in laminin, and varied changes in
      fibronectin. In vitro studies using TNF-alpha and IL-17A were conducted to
      dissect basement membrane remodeling. Prolonged dual activation of cultured human
      pericytes with TNF-alpha and IL-17A augmented collagen IV production, similar to
      in vivo remodeling. Co-activation of pericytes with TNF-alpha and IL-17A also
      elevated fibronectin levels with little direct effect on laminin. However, the
      expression of fibronectin- and laminin-specific matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs),
      particularly MMP-3, was significantly up-regulated. Interactions between
      pericytes and neutrophils in culture yielded even higher levels of active MMPs,
      facilitating fibronectin and laminin degradation, and likely contributing to the
      varied levels of detectable fibronectin and the decreases in laminin observed in
      vivo. These data indicate that pericyte-neutrophil interactions play a role in
      mediating microvascular changes in SS and suggest that targeting MMP-3 may be
      effective in protecting vascular wall integrity.

PMID- 28609647
TI  - A case of chronic lacrimal canaliculitis: revisiting the role of Actinomyces
      israelii.

PMID- 28609648
TI  - When no treatment is the best treatment: Active surveillance strategies for low
      risk prostate cancers.
AB  - Although the incidence of prostate cancer is rising due to PSA screening and
      increased life expectancy, the metastatic potential of low-grade, organ-confined
      disease remains low. An increasing number of studies suggest that radical
      treatment in such cases confers little or no survival benefit at a significant
      cost to morbidity. Active surveillance is a promising management approach of such
      low-risk cancers: eligible patients are selected based on clinical and
      pathological findings at diagnosis and are regularly monitored with digital
      rectal examinations, PSA testing and biopsies. Treatment, however, is deferred
      until and unless there is evidence of disease progression. This is a key
      difference from watchful waiting, where treatment is avoided until and unless
      there are symptoms. The purpose of this work is to review the rationale and
      evidence behind active surveillance and to offer an overview of current active
      surveillance strategies and outcomes.

PMID- 28609649
TI  - Resistance of Legionella and Acanthamoeba mauritaniensis to heat treatment as
      determined by relative and quantitative polymerase chain reactions.
AB  - Legionella and Acanthamoeba spp. persist in harvested rainwater pasteurized at
      high temperatures (> 72 degrees C) and the interaction mechanisms exhibited
      between these organisms need to be elucidated. The resistance of two Legionella
      reference strains (Legionella pneumophila ATCC 33152 and Legionella longbeachae
      ATCC 33462), three environmental strains [Legionella longbeachae (env.),
      Legionella norrlandica (env.) and Legionella rowbothamii (env.)] and Acanthamoeba
      mauritaniensis ATCC 50676 to heat treatment (50-90 degrees C) was determined by
      monitoring culturability and viability [ethidium monoazide quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (EMA-qPCR)]. The expression of metabolic and virulence
      genes of L. pneumophila ATCC 33152 (lolA, sidF, csrA) and L. longbeachae (env.)
      (lolA) in co-culture with A. mauritaniensis ATCC 50676 during heat treatment (50
      90 degrees C) was monitored using relative qPCR. While the culturability (CFU/mL)
      and viability (gene copies/mL) of the Legionella strains reduced significantly (p
      < 0.05) following heat treatment (60-90 degrees C), L. longbeachae (env.) and L.
      pneumophila ATCC 33152 were culturable following heat treatment at 50-60 degrees
      C. Metabolically active trophozoites and dormant cysts of A. mauritaniensis ATCC
      50676 were detected at 50 degrees C and 60-90 degrees C, respectively. For L.
      pneumophila ATCC 33152, lolA expression remained constant, sidF expression
      increased and the expression of csrA decreased during co-culture with A.
      mauritaniensis ATCC 50676. For L. longbeachae (env.), while lolA was up-regulated
      at 50-70 degrees C, expression was not detected at 80-90 degrees C and in co
      culture. In conclusion, while heat treatment may reduce the number of viable
      Legionella spp. in monoculture, results indicate that the presence of A.
      mauritaniensis increases the virulence of L. pneumophila during heat treatment.
      The virulence of Legionella spp. in co-culture with Acanthamoeba spp. should thus
      be monitored in water distribution systems where temperature (heat) is utilized
      for treatment.

PMID- 28609650
TI  - Brief report: A preliminary comparison of self-compassion between adolescents
      with nonsuicidal self-injury thoughts and actions.
AB  - Despite the public health significance of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among
      adolescents, little is known about the possible overlaps or differences between
      individuals with NSSI thoughts and those with NSSI actions. The present study
      compared between individuals with different NSSI status on self-compassion. With
      a sample of 606 Chinese adolescents (38.8% females; Mage = 13.58, SD = 1.04), we
      investigated differences on the six subscales of the Self-Compassion Scale (i.e.,
      self-kindness/self-judgment, common humanity/isolation, and mindfulness/over
      identification) across three groups: NSSI-action group (n = 86), NSSI-thought
      group (n = 98), and no-NSSI group (n = 422). Results revealed that individuals
      with NSSI thoughts and NSSI actions shared greater self-judgment, isolation, and
      over-identification than those without NSSI, but differed from each other on self
      kindness and common humanity, with individuals with NSSI thoughts reporting more
      self-kindness and common humanity than those with NSSI actions. Further empirical
      investigations into the influence of self-compassion on NSSI will benefit the
      development of interventions for adolescent NSSI.

PMID- 28609651
TI  - From One to Many: Further Refinement of Medulloblastoma Subtypes Offers Promise
      for Personalized Therapy.
AB  - There is significant intertumoral heterogeneity within the four molecular
      subgroups of medulloblastoma. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Cavalli et al. apply
      similarity network fusion to gene expression and DNA methylation data to identify
      12 medulloblastoma subtypes with distinct molecular and clinical profiles, making
      an important step toward molecularly tailored therapy.

PMID- 28609652
TI  - Paradoxical Effects of MLL Paralogs in MLL-Rearranged Leukemia.
AB  - Conflicting data exist on the requirement for wild-type MLL1 in MLL-rearranged
      leukemia. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Chen et al. describe complementary
      approaches demonstrating that MLL1 is dispensable for MLL-fusion-mediated
      leukemogenesis. They also observe an unexpected role for MLL2 in MLL-rearranged
      leukemia cells and identify potential therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28609653
TI  - Aberrant Glycosylation in Cancer: A Novel Molecular Mechanism Controlling
      Metastasis.
AB  - Glycosylation alterations are involved in several steps of human cancer
      pathogenesis. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Agrawal et al. identified the
      glycosyltransferase FUT8 as a previously unrecognized mediator of melanoma
      metastasis, establishing core fucosylation as a potential therapeutic target for
      prevention and treatment of metastatic tumors.

PMID- 28609655
TI  - MLL2, Not MLL1, Plays a Major Role in Sustaining MLL-Rearranged Acute Myeloid
      Leukemia.
AB  - The MLL1 histone methyltransferase gene undergoes many distinct chromosomal
      rearrangements to yield poor-prognosis leukemia. The remaining wild-type allele
      is most commonly, but not always, retained. To what extent the wild-type allele
      contributes to leukemogenesis is unclear. Here we show, using rigorous,
      independent animal models, that endogenous MLL1 is dispensable for MLL-rearranged
      leukemia. Potential redundancy was addressed by co-deleting the closest paralog,
      Mll2. Surprisingly, Mll2 deletion alone had a significant impact on survival of
      MLL-AF9-transformed cells, and additional Mll1 loss further reduced viability and
      proliferation. We show that MLL1/MLL2 collaboration is not through redundancy,
      but regulation of distinct pathways. These findings highlight the relevance of
      MLL2 as a drug target in MLL-rearranged leukemia and suggest its broader
      significance in AML.

PMID- 28609656
TI  - Kupffer Cell-Derived Tnf Triggers Cholangiocellular Tumorigenesis through JNK due
      to Chronic Mitochondrial Dysfunction and ROS.
AB  - Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly malignant, heterogeneous cancer
      with poor treatment options. We found that mitochondrial dysfunction and
      oxidative stress trigger a niche favoring cholangiocellular overgrowth and
      tumorigenesis. Liver damage, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and paracrine tumor
      necrosis factor (Tnf) from Kupffer cells caused JNK-mediated cholangiocellular
      proliferation and oncogenic transformation. Anti-oxidant treatment, Kupffer cell
      depletion, Tnfr1 deletion, or JNK inhibition reduced cholangiocellular pre
      neoplastic lesions. Liver-specific JNK1/2 deletion led to tumor reduction and
      enhanced survival in Akt/Notch- or p53/Kras-induced ICC models. In human ICC,
      high Tnf expression near ICC lesions, cholangiocellular JNK-phosphorylation, and
      ROS accumulation in surrounding hepatocytes are present. Thus, Kupffer cell
      derived Tnf favors cholangiocellular proliferation/differentiation and
      carcinogenesis. Targeting the ROS/Tnf/JNK axis may provide opportunities for ICC
      therapy.

PMID- 28609654
TI  - Intertumoral Heterogeneity within Medulloblastoma Subgroups.
AB  - While molecular subgrouping has revolutionized medulloblastoma classification,
      the extent of heterogeneity within subgroups is unknown. Similarity network
      fusion (SNF) applied to genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression data
      across 763 primary samples identifies very homogeneous clusters of patients,
      supporting the presence of medulloblastoma subtypes. After integration of somatic
      copy-number alterations, and clinical features specific to each cluster, we
      identify 12 different subtypes of medulloblastoma. Integrative analysis using SNF
      further delineates group 3 from group 4 medulloblastoma, which is not as readily
      apparent through analyses of individual data types. Two clear subtypes of infants
      with Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma with disparate outcomes and biology are
      identified. Medulloblastoma subtypes identified through integrative clustering
      have important implications for stratification of future clinical trials.

PMID- 28609659
TI  - Development of Peptidomimetic Inhibitors of the ERG Gene Fusion Product in
      Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 28609657
TI  - ACK1/TNK2 Regulates Histone H4 Tyr88-phosphorylation and AR Gene Expression in
      Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.
AB  - The androgen receptor (AR) is critical for the progression of prostate cancer to
      a castration-resistant (CRPC) state. AR antagonists are ineffective due to their
      inability to repress the expression of AR or its splice variant, AR-V7. Here, we
      report that the tyrosine kinase ACK1 (TNK2) phosphorylates histone H4 at tyrosine
      88 upstream of the AR transcription start site. The WDR5/MLL2 complex reads the
      H4-Y88-phosphorylation marks and deposits the transcriptionally activating H3K4
      trimethyl marks promoting AR transcription. Reversal of the pY88-H4 epigenetic
      marks by the ACK1 inhibitor (R)-9bMS-sensitized naive and enzalutamide-resistant
      prostate cancer cells and reduced AR and AR-V7 levels to mitigate CRPC tumor
      growth. Thus, a feedforward ACK1/pY88-H4/WDR5/MLL2/AR epigenetic circuit drives
      CRPC and is necessary for maintenance of the malignant state.

PMID- 28609660
TI  - SnapShot: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.
AB  - Immunotherapy has changed the landscape of cancer treatment. Checkpoint blockade
      therapies unleash breaks in the immune system and induce long-lasting responses.
      However, a significant number of patients do not respond (innate resistance), and
      a subset progress after responding (acquired resistance). A better understanding
      of the molecular mechanisms underlying checkpoint blockade therapies will
      facilitate the design of novel strategies to treat and prevent resistance. To
      view this SnapShot, open or download the PDF.

PMID- 28609658
TI  - A Systems Biology Approach Identifies FUT8 as a Driver of Melanoma Metastasis.
AB  - Association of aberrant glycosylation with melanoma progression is based mainly
      on analyses of cell lines. Here we present a systems-based study of glycomic
      changes and corresponding enzymes associated with melanoma metastasis in patient
      samples. Upregulation of core fucosylation (FUT8) and downregulation of alpha-1,2
      fucosylation (FUT1, FUT2) were identified as features of metastatic melanoma.
      Using both in vitro and in vivo studies, we demonstrate FUT8 is a driver of
      melanoma metastasis which, when silenced, suppresses invasion and tumor
      dissemination. Glycoprotein targets of FUT8 were enriched in cell migration
      proteins including the adhesion molecule L1CAM. Core fucosylation impacted L1CAM
      cleavage and the ability of L1CAM to support melanoma invasion. FUT8 and its
      targets represent therapeutic targets in melanoma metastasis.

PMID- 28609661
TI  - The use of pesticides in Belgian illicit indoor cannabis plantations.
AB  - Cannabis (Cannabis spp.) use and cultivation continue to increase in many
      (European) countries. The illicit indoor cannabis plantations that supply Belgian
      and European cannabis markets create problems and concerns about health and
      safety of intervention staff, dismantling companies, the direct environment of
      cannabis plantations and, eventually, of cannabis users. Main risks may come from
      pesticide residues on plants, cultivation infrastructure and materials; left-over
      plant growth-promoting substances; mycotoxins from fungal pathogens on harvested
      plants; and/or high levels of cannabinoids in cannabis plant parts for
      consumption. In the present research, we report on pesticides found in illicit
      indoor cannabis plantations in Belgium. EN15662 QuEChERS extraction method and LC
      MS/MS analysis were used to identify pesticides in indoor cannabis plantations
      and thus to evaluate the hazards associated with the use, cultivation and removal
      of cannabis plants in plantations as well as with dismantling activities in the
      cultivation rooms. We found pesticides in 64.3% of 72 cannabis plant samples and
      in 65.2% of 46 carbon filter cloth samples. Overall, 19 pesticides belonging to
      different chemical classes were identified. We found o-phenylphenol, bifenazate,
      cypermethrin, imidacloprid, propamocarb, propiconazole and tebuconazole, which is
      consistent with the commonly reported pesticides from literature. In only a few
      cases, pesticides found in bottles with a commercial label, were also identified
      in plant or stagnant water samples collected from the growth rooms where the
      bottles had been collected. We further revealed that, even though most pesticides
      have a low volatility, they could be detected from the carbon filters hanging at
      the ceiling of cultivation rooms. As a result, it is likely that pesticides also
      prevail in the plantation atmosphere during and after cultivation. The risk of
      inhaling the latter pesticides increases when plants sprayed with pesticides are
      intensively manipulated during dismantling activities. We conclude that
      pesticides represent an underestimated and under-documented health risk for
      intervention staff. The standard procedure for dismantling illicit indoor
      cannabis cultivation sites should be improved by including guidelines for
      appropriate personal protection equipment and dismantling protocols that take
      into account all possible hazards.

PMID- 28609662
TI  - Development of bovine serum albumin-water partition coefficients predictive
      models for ionogenic organic chemicals based on chemical form adjusted
      descriptors.
AB  - The partition coefficients between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and water (KBSA/w)
      for ionogenic organic chemicals (IOCs) were different greatly from those of
      neutral organic chemicals (NOCs). For NOCs, several excellent models were
      developed to predict their logKBSA/w. However, it was found that the conventional
      descriptors are inappropriate for modeling logKBSA/w of IOCs. Thus, alternative
      approaches are urgently needed to develop predictive models for KBSA/w of IOCs.
      In this study, molecular descriptors that can be used to characterize the
      ionization effects (e.g. chemical form adjusted descriptors) were calculated and
      used to develop predictive models for logKBSA/w of IOCs. The models developed had
      high goodness-of-fit, robustness, and predictive ability. The predictor variables
      selected to construct the models included the chemical form adjusted averages of
      the negative potentials on the molecular surface (Vs-adj-), the chemical form
      adjusted molecular dipole moment (dipolemomentadj), the logarithm of the n
      octanol/water distribution coefficient (logD). As these molecular descriptors can
      be calculated from their molecular structures directly, the developed model can
      be easily used to fill the logKBSA/w data gap for other IOCs within the
      applicability domain. Furthermore, the chemical form adjusted descriptors
      calculated in this study also could be used to construct predictive models on
      other endpoints of IOCs.

PMID- 28609663
TI  - Investigation of nanotoxicological effects of nanostructured hydroxyapatite to
      microalgae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata.
AB  - The advance of nanotechnology has enabled the development of materials with
      optimized properties for applications in agriculture and environment. For
      instance, nanotechnology-based fertilizers, such as the candidate hydroxyapatite
      (HAp) nanoparticles (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), can potentially increase the food
      production by rationally supplying phosphorous to crops, although with inferior
      mobility in the environment (when compared to the soluble counterparts), avoiding
      eutrophication. Nonetheless, the widespread consumption of nanofertilizers also
      raises concern about feasible deleterious effects caused by their release in the
      environment, which ultimately imposes risks to aquatic biota and human health.
      Nanoparticles characteristics such as size, shape, surface charge and chemical
      functionality strongly alter how they interact with the surrounding environment,
      leading to distinct levels of toxicity. This investigation aimed to compare the
      toxicity of different HAp nanoparticles, obtained by two distinct chemical
      routes, against algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, which composes the base of
      the aquatic trophic chain. The as synthesized HAp nanoparticles obtained by co
      precipitation and co-precipitation followed by hydrothermal method were fully
      characterized regarding structure and morphology. Toxicity tests against the
      microalgae were carried out to evaluate the growth inhibition and the
      morphological changes experienced by the exposition to HAp nanoparticles. The
      results showed that high concentrations of coprecipitated HAp samples
      significantly decreased cell density and caused morphological changes on the
      algal cells surface when compared to HAp obtained by hydrothermal method. HAp
      nanoparticles obtained with dispersing agent ammonium polymethacrylate (APMA)
      indicated negligible toxic effects for algae, due to the higher dispersion of HAp
      in the culture medium as well as a reduced shading effect. Therefore, HAp
      nanoparticles obtained by the latter route can be considered a potential source
      of phosphorous for agricultural crops in addition to reduce eutrophication.

PMID- 28609664
TI  - Bicycle-vehicle interactions at mid-sections of mixed traffic streets: Examining
      passing distance and bicycle comfort perception.
AB  - This paper studies the relevant factors in mixed urban traffic that may impact
      the lateral spacing between bicycles and vehicles (passing distance, PD), and
      their resulting effect on a bicyclists' comfort based on a study of six sites in
      Ottawa, Canada. The observations are: [i] the average position of bicycles from
      the curb is 0.57m, and lesser (i.e. 0.35m) in the presence of parking; [ii] 90%
      of passes exceed 1.23m; [iii] PD is positively correlated with motor vehicle
      speed, lane width, and bicycle position from adjacent curb edge line, whiles
      inversely correlated to ambient traffic density and bicycle speed; [iv] motor
      vehicle speed has the highest prediction of PD variability; [v] PD and ambient
      traffic density (ATD) are found to be the most important factors to a bicyclists'
      comfort perception (BCP). Two linear regression models for PD and BCP were
      developed and significant variables are identified as: motor vehicle speed,
      bicycle speed, ATD, number of lanes, and lane width. The presence or absence of a
      grade slope is found to be significant to the PD model and not to BCP. The models
      both exhibit limited predictive ability, however residual plots and significance
      of included variables are indicative of correct assumptions for the models. It is
      recommended that speed calming, sharrows, road signs instructing road sharing,
      and educating road users against "dooring" crashes be considered in improving
      road sharing, especially for narrow lanes (i.e. less than 3.6m) and lanes wider
      than 4.5m. It is also prudent for designers to avoid installing parking zones on
      narrow shared roads.

PMID- 28609665
TI  - Generation of electron vortex beams using line charges via the electrostatic
      Aharonov-Bohm effect.
AB  - It has recently been shown that an electron vortex beam can be generated by the
      magnetic field surrounding the tip of a dipole-like magnet. This approach can be
      described using the magnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect and is associated with the fact
      that the end of a long magnetic rod can be treated approximately as a magnetic
      monopole. However, it is difficult to vary the magnetisation of the rod in such a
      setup and the electron beam vorticity is fixed for a given tip shape. Here, we
      show how a similar behaviour, which has the advantage of easy tuneability, can be
      achieved by making use of the electrostatic Aharonov-Bohm effect associated with
      an electrostatic dipole line. We highlight the analogies between the magnetic and
      electrostatic cases and use simulations of in-focus, Fresnel and Fraunhofer
      images to show that a device based on two parallel, oppositely charged lines that
      each have a constant charge density can be used to generate a tuneable electron
      vortex beam. We assess the effect of using a dipole line that has a finite length
      and show that if the charge densities on the two lines are different then an
      additional biprism-like effect is superimposed on the electron-optical phase.

PMID- 28609666
TI  - The Hippeastrum hybridum PepR1 gene (HpPepR1) encodes a functional guanylyl
      cyclase and is involved in early response to fungal infection.
AB  - It is generally known that cyclic GMP widespread in prokaryotic and eukaryotic
      cells, is involved in essential cellular processes and stress signal
      transduction. However, in contrast to animals the knowledge about plant guanylyl
      cyclases (GCs) which catalyze the formation of cGMP from GTP is still quite
      obscure. Recent studies of plant GCs are focused on identification and functional
      analysis of a new family of membrane proteins called "moonlighting kinases with
      GC activity" with guanylyl cyclase catalytic center encapsulated within
      intracellular kinase domain. Here we report identification and characterization
      of plasma membrane receptor of peptide signaling molecules - HpPepR1 in
      Hippeastrum hybridum. Both bioinformatic analysis of amimo acid sequence and in
      vitro studies revealed that the protein can act as guanylyl cyclase. The
      predicted amino acid sequence contains highly conserved 14 aa-long search motif
      in the catalytic center of GCs from lower and higher eukaryotes. Here, we provide
      experimental evidence to show that the intracellular domain of HpPepR1 can
      generate cGMP in vitro. Moreover, it was shown that the accumulation of HpPepR1
      transcript was sharply increased after Peyronellaea curtisii (=Phoma narcissi)
      fungal infection, whereas mechanical wounding has no influence on expression
      profile of studied gene. These results may indicate the participation of cGMP
      dependent pathway in rapid, alarm plant reactions induced by pathogen infection.

PMID- 28609667
TI  - Transcriptional response of a novel HpCDPK1 kinase gene from Hippeastrum x hybr.
      to wounding and fungal infection.
AB  - Calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPK) are well established plant sensor and
      effectors for calcium ions and participate in regulation of multiple abiotic and
      biotic stress responses in plant cells. Here we present the identification and
      characterization of a new CDPK kinase gene from bulbous plant Hippeastrum x hybr.
      and examine the role of this kinase in stress responses leading to phytoalexin
      (PA) production in plant tissues. In the previous research, it was shown that
      Hippeastrum bulbs mechanically wounded or infected with Peyronellaea curtisii
      (=Phoma narcissi) are inducted to an antifungal red substance synthesis. In this
      research, we demonstrated Ca2+ dependence of the phytoalexin production by
      wounded bulbs. Furthermore, the isolated HpCDPK1 cDNA for ORF was found to be
      1596bp long and encoded 531 amino acid protein with CDPK kinase activity, as was
      shown by recombinant GST-HpCDPK1 enzyme production and analysis. HpCDPK1
      transcript was present in all vegetative and chosen generative organs of
      Hippeastrum plant. The dynamics of the observed HpCDPK1 mRNA changes in bulbs
      depended on stressor type. The mechanical injury caused one wave of transcript
      increase while more complex transcript changes were observed within 48h after
      Peyronellaea inoculation. In plant bulbs already accumulating red phytoalexin,
      increases in HpCDPK1 mRNA level were observed at certain intervals within 48h
      whereas, in the case of fungal infection, only one big increment in the
      transcript amount at the 10th minute after inoculation was detected. The observed
      transcriptional response of HpCDPK1 gene to wounding and pathogen infection
      stress suggests a positive correlation with phytoalexin synthesis and maintenance
      in bulb tissues and puts more light on CDPK kinase role in the plant stress
      response regulation. This also bears some potential for understanding the
      mechanism of a phytoalexin formation.

PMID- 28609668
TI  - Post-anthesis nitrate uptake is critical to yield and grain protein content in
      Sorghum bicolor.
AB  - Crops only use ~50% of applied nitrogen (N) fertilizer creating N losses and
      pollution. Plants need to efficiently uptake and utilize N to meet growing global
      food demands. Here we investigate how the supply and timing of nitrate affects N
      status and yield in Sorghum bicolor (sorghum). Sorghum was grown in pots with
      either 10mM (High) or 1mM (Low) nitrate supply. Shortly before anthesis the
      nitrate supply was either maintained, increased 10-fold or eliminated. Leaf
      sheaths of sorghum grown with High nitrate accumulated nitrate in concentrations
      >3-times higher than leaves. Removal of nitrate supply pre-anthesis resulted in
      the rapid reduction of stored nitrate in all organs. Plants receiving a 10-fold
      increase in nitrate supply pre-anthesis achieved similar grain yield and protein
      content and 29% larger grains than those maintained on High nitrate, despite
      receiving 24% less nitrate over the whole growth period. In sorghum, plant
      available N is important throughout development, particularly anthesis and grain
      filling, for grain yield and grain protein content. Nitrate accumulation in leaf
      sheaths presents opportunities for the genetic analysis of mechanisms behind
      nitrate storage and remobilization in sorghum to improve N use efficiency.

PMID- 28609670
TI  - Differential effects of the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) ligand etifoxine
      on steroidogenesis in rat brain, plasma and steroidogenic glands: Pharmacodynamic
      studies.
AB  - Etifoxine is indicated in humans for treating anxiety. In rodents, besides its
      anxiolytic-like properties, it has recently shown neuroprotective and
      neuroregenerative activities. It acts by enhancing GABAA receptor function and by
      stimulating acute steroid biosynthesis via the activation of the 18-kDa
      translocator protein. However, the regulatory action of etifoxine on steroid
      production is not well characterized. In this work, we performed dose-response,
      acute and chronic time-course experiments on the effects of intraperitoneal
      injections of etifoxine on steroid levels in adult male rat brain and plasma
      analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Concentrations of pregnenolone,
      progesterone and its 5alpha-reduced metabolites were significantly increased in
      both tissues in response to 25 and 50mg/kg of etifoxine, as compared with vehicle
      controls, and reached maximal values at 0.5-1h post-injection. Daily injections
      of etifoxine (50mg/kg, 15days) kept them increased at day 15. Comparisons between
      steroidogenic tissues revealed that 1h after 50mg/kg of etifoxine treatment,
      levels of pregnenolone, progesterone and corticosterone were highest in adrenal
      glands and markedly increased together with their reduced metabolites. They were
      also increased by etifoxine in brain and plasma, but not in testis except for
      corticosterone and its metabolites. In contrast, testosterone level was
      significantly decreased in testis while with its 5alpha-reduced metabolites, it
      was unchanged in brain. Results demonstrate that the modulation of steroid
      concentrations by etifoxine is dependent on the type of steroid and on the
      steroidogenic organ. They further suggest that adrenal steroids upregulated by
      etifoxine make an important contribution to the steroids present in brain. This
      work provides a precise and complete view of steroids regulated by etifoxine that
      could be useful in therapeutic research.

PMID- 28609669
TI  - Sex differences in associations between white matter microstructure and gonadal
      hormones in children and adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure.
AB  - : Despite accumulating evidence from animal models demonstrating that prenatal
      alcohol exposure (PAE) results in life-long neuroendocrine dysregulation, very
      little is known on this topic among humans with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
      (FASD). We expected that alterations in gonadal hormones might interfere with the
      typical development of white matter (WM) myelination, and in a sex-dependent
      manner, in human adolescents with FASD. In order to investigate this hypothesis,
      we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to assess: 1) whether or not sex moderates
      the impact of PAE on WM microstructure; and 2) how gonadal hormones relate to
      alterations in WM microstructure in children and adolescents affected by PAE.
      METHODS: 61 youth (9 to 16 yrs.; 49% girls; 50% PAE) participated as part of the
      Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD). DTI scans
      and passive drool samples were obtained to examine neurodevelopmental
      associations with testosterone (T) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels in
      boys and girls, and estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) levels in girls. Tract
      based spatial statistics were utilized to generate fractional anisotropy (FA) and
      mean diffusivity (MD) for 9 a priori WM regions of interest (ROIs). RESULTS: As
      predicted, alterations in FA were observed in adolescents with PAE relative to
      controls, and these differences varied by sex. Girls with PAE exhibited lower FA
      (Inferior fronto-occipital and Uncinate fasciculi) while boys with PAE exhibited
      higher FA (Callosal body, Cingulum, Corticospinal tract, Optic radiation,
      Superior longitudinal fasciculus) relative to age-matched controls. When gonadal
      hormone levels were examined in relation to DTI measures, additional group
      differences in FA were revealed, demonstrating that neuroendocrine factors are
      associated with PAE-related brain alterations. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      provide human evidence that PAE relates to sex-specific differences in WM
      microstructure, and underlying alterations in gonadal hormone function may, in
      part, contribute to these effects. Determining PAE-effects on neuroendocrine
      function among humans is an essential first step towards developing novel
      clinical (e.g., assessment or intervention) tools that target hormone systems to
      improve on-going brain development among children and adolescents with FASD.

PMID- 28609671
TI  - Salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction combined with gas chromatography
      mass spectrometry for the determination of pyrethroid insecticides in high
      salinity and biological samples.
AB  - A salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) combined with gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed for the
      determination of four pyrethroid insecticides (PYRs) in high salinity and
      biological samples. Several parameters including sample pH, salting-out solution
      volume and salting-out solution pH influencing the extraction efficiency were
      systematically investigated with the aid of orthogonal design. The optimal
      extraction conditions of SALLE were: 4mL of salting-out solution with pH=4 and
      the sample pH=3. Under the optimum extraction and determination conditions, good
      responses for four PYRs were obtained in a range of 5-5000ng/mL, with linear
      coefficients greater than 0.998. The recoveries of the four PYRs ranged from 74%
      to 110%, with standard deviations ranging from 1.8% to 9.8%. The limits of
      detection based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were between 1.5-60.6ng/mL. The
      method was applied to the determination of PYRs in urine, seawater and wastewater
      samples with a satisfactory result. The results demonstrated that this SALLE-GC
      MS method was successfully applied to determine PYRs in high salinity and
      biological samples. SALLE avoided the need for the elimination of salinity and
      protein in the sample matrix, as well as clean-up of the extractant. Most of all,
      no centrifugation or any special apparatus are required, make this a promising
      method for rapid sample preparation procedure.

PMID- 28609672
TI  - Development of a new extraction technique and HPLC method for the analysis of non
      psychoactive cannabinoids in fibre-type Cannabis sativa L. (hemp).
AB  - The present work was aimed at the development and validation of a new, efficient
      and reliable technique for the analysis of the main non-psychoactive cannabinoids
      in fibre-type Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) inflorescences belonging to different
      varieties. This study was designed to identify samples with a high content of
      bioactive compounds, with a view to underscoring the importance of quality
      control in derived products as well. Different extraction methods, including
      dynamic maceration (DM), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted
      extraction (MAE) and supercritical-fluid extraction (SFE) were applied and
      compared in order to obtain a high yield of the target analytes from hemp.
      Dynamic maceration for 45min with ethanol (EtOH) at room temperature proved to be
      the most suitable technique for the extraction of cannabinoids in hemp samples.
      The analysis of the target analytes in hemp extracts was carried out by
      developing a new reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
      method coupled with diode array (UV/DAD) and electrospray ionization-mass
      spectrometry (ESI-MS) detection, by using an ion trap mass analyser. An Ascentis
      Express C18 column (150mm*3.0mm I.D., 2.7MUm) was selected for the HPLC analysis,
      with a mobile phase composed of 0.1% formic acid in both water and acetonitrile,
      under gradient elution. The application of the fused-core technology allowed us
      to obtain a significant improvement of the HPLC performance compared with that of
      conventional particulate stationary phases, with a shorter analysis time and a
      remarkable reduction of solvent usage. The analytical method optimized in this
      study was fully validated to show compliance with international requirements.
      Furthermore, it was applied to the characterization of nine hemp samples and six
      hemp-based pharmaceutical products. As such, it was demonstrated to be a very
      useful tool for the analysis of cannabinoids in both the plant material and its
      derivatives for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.

PMID- 28609673
TI  - Risk-taking behaviors and subgrouping of suicide in Iran: A latent class analysis
      of national registries data.
AB  - Suicide is one the most important public health problem which is rapidly growing
      concerns. The aim of this study was to subgroup suicide using LCA method. This
      cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran based on 66990 records registered in
      Ministry of Health in 2014. A case report questionnaire in the form of software
      was used for case registries. Latent class analysis was used to achieve the
      research objectives. Four latent classes were identified; (a) Non-lethal
      attempters without a history of psychiatric disorders, (b) Non-lethal attempters
      with a history of psychiatric disorders, (c) Lethal attempters without a history
      of psychiatric disorders, (d) Lethal attempters with a history of psychiatric
      disorders. The probability of completed/an achieved suicide is high in lethal
      attempter classes. Being male increases the risk of inclusion in lethal
      attempters' classes (OR = 4.93). Also, being single (OR = 1.16), having an age
      lower than 25 years (OR = 1.14) and being a rural citizen (OR = 2.36) associate
      with lethal attempters classes. The males tend to use more violent methods and
      have more completed suicide. Majority of the individuals are non-lethal
      attempters who need to be addressed by implementing preventive interventions and
      mental support provision.

PMID- 28609674
TI  - Self-guided strategy-adaption training for older adults: Transfer effects to
      everyday tasks.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of the present research was to examine the potential of a
      learner-oriented approach to improving older adults' performance in tasks that
      are similar to real-life situations that require strategic deployment of
      cognitive resources. A crucial element of this approach involves encouraging
      older adults to explicitly analyze tasks to consider how to adapt trained skills
      to a new task context. In an earlier study, a specialist-directed intervention
      produced training gains and transfer to some untrained memory tasks. METHOD: In
      the present study, older adults received a manual instructing them about
      principles of task analysis, two memory strategies, and strategy adaptation. Self
      guided strategy-adaption training involved practicing some memory tasks as well
      as instructions on how the trained skills could be applied to new tasks that were
      not practiced. The criterion tasks involved practice tasks, non-practiced tasks
      that were discussed in the manual, and transfer tasks that were never mentioned
      in the manual. Two of the tests were from the Everyday Cognition Battery
      (inductive reasoning and working memory). RESULTS: As compared to a waiting-list
      control group, older adults assigned to self-guided strategy-adaption training
      showed memory improvements on tasks that were practiced or discussed during
      training. Most important, the learner-oriented approach produced transfer to the
      everyday tasks. CONCLUSION: Our findings show the potential of instructing task
      appraisal processes as a basis for fostering transfer, including improving older
      adults' performance in simulated everyday tasks.

PMID- 28609675
TI  - Covalent inhibitors: an opportunity for rational target selectivity.
AB  - There is a resurging interest in compounds that engage their target through
      covalent interactions. Cysteine's thiol is endowed with enhanced reactivity,
      making it the nucleophile of choice for covalent engagement with a ligand
      aligning an electrophilic trap with a cysteine residue in a target of interest.
      The paucity of cysteine in the proteome coupled to the fact that closely related
      proteins do not necessarily share a given cysteine residue enable a level of
      unprecedented rational target selectivity. The recent demonstration that a
      lysine's amine can also be engaged covalently with a mild electrophile extends
      the potential of covalent inhibitors. The growing database of protein structures
      facilitates the discovery of covalent inhibitors while the advent of proteomic
      technologies enables a finer resolution in the selectivity of covalently engaged
      proteins. Here, we discuss recent examples of discovery and design of covalent
      inhibitors.

PMID- 28609676
TI  - Hepatocellular differentiation status is characterized by distinct subnuclear
      localization and form of the chanzyme TRPM7.
AB  - The channel-kinase TRPM7 is important for the survival, proliferation, and
      differentiation, of many cell types. Both plasma membrane channel activity and
      kinase function are implicated in these roles. Channel activity is greater in
      less differentiated hepatoma cells compared with non-dividing, terminally
      differentiated adult hepatocytes, suggesting differences in protein expression
      and/or localization. We used electrophysiological and immunofluorescence
      approaches to establish whether hepatocellular differentiation is associated with
      altered TRPM7 expression. Mean outward current decreased by 44% in WIF-B hepatoma
      cells incubated with the established hepatic differentiating factors oncostatin
      M/dexamethasone for 1-8 days. Pre-incubation with pyridone 6, a pan-JAK
      inhibitor, blocked the current reduction. An antibody targeted to the C-terminus
      of TRPM7 labelled the cytoplasm in WIF-B cells and intact rat liver. Significant
      label also localized to the nuclear envelope (NE), with relatively more detected
      in adult hepatocytes compared with WIF-B cells. Hepatoma cells also exhibited
      nucleoplasmic labelling with intense signal in the nucleolus. The endogenous
      labelling pattern closely resembles that of HEK293T cells heterologously
      expressing a TRPM7 kinase construct containing a putative nucleolar localization
      sequence. These results suggest that TRPM7 form and distribution between the
      plasma membrane and nucleus, rather than expression, is altered in parallel with
      differentiation status in rat hepatic cells.

PMID- 28609677
TI  - Bluetongue virus structure and assembly.
AB  - Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an insect-vectored emerging pathogen of wild ruminants
      and livestock in many parts of the world. The virion particle is a complex
      structure of consecutive layers of protein surrounding a genome of ten double
      stranded (ds) RNA segments. BTV has been studied as a model system for large, non
      enveloped dsRNA viruses. Several new techniques have been applied to define the
      virus-encoded enzymes required for RNA replication to provide an order for the
      assembly of the capsid shell and the protein sequestration required for it.
      Further, a reconstituted in vitro system has defined the individual steps of the
      assembly and packaging of the genomic RNA. These findings illuminate BTV assembly
      and indicate the pathways that related viruses might use to provide an informed
      starting point for intervention or prevention.

PMID- 28609679
TI  - Segregating polymorphisms of FOXP2 are associated with measures of inner speech,
      speech fluency and strength of handedness in a healthy population.
AB  - We genotyped a healthy population for three haplotype-tagging FOXP2 SNPs, and
      tested for associations of these SNPs with strength of handedness and
      questionnaire-based metrics of inner speech characteristics (ISP) and speech
      fluency (FLU), as derived from the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-BR.
      Levels of mixed-handedness were positively correlated with ISP and FLU,
      supporting prior work on these two domains. Genotype for rs7799109, a SNP
      previously linked with lateralization of left frontal regions underlying
      language, was associated with degree of mixed handedness and with scores for ISP
      and FLU phenotypes. Genotype of rs1456031, which has previously been linked with
      auditory hallucinations, was also associated with ISP phenotypes. These results
      provide evidence that FOXP2 SNPs influence aspects of human inner speech and
      fluency that are related to lateralized phenotypes, and suggest that the
      evolution of human language, as mediated by the adaptive evolution of FOXP2,
      involved features of inner speech.

PMID- 28609678
TI  - Glucocorticoid-mediated activation of GSK3beta promotes tau phosphorylation and
      impairs memory in type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for Alzheimer's
      disease, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.
      Hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau has been reported
      in rodent models of diabetes, including db/db mice, which exhibit insulin
      resistance and chronically elevated glucocorticoids due to leptin receptor
      insufficiency. In this report, we investigated endocrine mechanisms for
      hippocampal tau phosphorylation in db/db and wild-type mice. By separately
      manipulating peripheral and intrahippocampal corticosterone levels, we determined
      that hippocampal corticosteroid exposure promotes tau phosphorylation and
      activates glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta). Subsequent experiments in
      hippocampal slice preparations revealed evidence for a nongenomic interaction
      between glucocorticoids and GSK3beta. To examine whether GSK3beta activation
      mediates tau phosphorylation and impairs memory in diabetes, db/db and wild-type
      mice received intrahippocampal infusions of TDZD-8, a non-ATP competitive
      thiadiazolidinone inhibitor of GSK3beta. Intrahippocampal TDZD-8 blocked tau
      hyperphosphorylation and normalized hippocampus-dependent memory in db/db mice,
      suggesting that pathological synergy between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease may
      involve glucocorticoid-mediated activation of GSK3beta.

PMID- 28609681
TI  - Epigenetic modulation in cancer immunotherapy.
AB  - The success of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer immunotherapy has been
      widely heralded. However many cancer patients do not respond to immune checkpoint
      therapy and some relapse due to acquired tumor resistance. Epigenetic targeting
      may be beneficial in cancer immunotherapy by reversing immune avoidance and
      escape mechanisms employed by cancer cells, as well as by modulating immune cell
      differentiation and function. In this manuscript we review recent findings
      suggesting how epigenetics may be used to improve cancer immunotherapy. We focus
      on the inhibitors of the CTLA4 and PD1 immune checkpoints and epigenetic
      modifiers of histone acetylation and methylation and DNA methylation.

PMID- 28609680
TI  - Characterization and Targeting of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor alpha
      (PDGFRA) in Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).
AB  - PURPOSE: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is arguably the deadliest form of
      breast cancer due to its rapid onset and highly invasive nature. IBC carries 5-
      and 10-year disease-free survival rates of ~45% and <20%, respectively. Multiple
      studies demonstrate that in comparison with conventional breast cancer, IBC has a
      unique molecular identity. Here, we have identified platelet-derived growth
      factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) as being uniquely expressed and active in IBC
      patient tumor cells. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Here we focus on characterizing and
      targeting PDGFRA in IBC. Using gene expression, we analyzed IBC patient samples
      and compared them with non-IBC patient samples. Further, using IBC cells in
      culture, we determined the effect of small molecules inhibitors in both in vitro
      and in vivo assays. RESULTS: In IBC patients, we show more frequent PDGFRA
      activation signature than non-IBC samples. In addition, the PDGFRA activation
      signature is associated with shorter metastasis-free survival in both uni- and
      multivariate analyses. We also demonstrate that IBC cells express active PDGFRA.
      Finally, we show that PDGFRA targeting by crenolanib (CP-868-596), but not
      imatinib (STI571), two small molecule inhibitors, interferes with IBC cell growth
      and emboli formation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      suggest that PDGFRA may be a promising target for therapy in IBC.

PMID- 28609682
TI  - Cryo-EM of bacterial pili and archaeal flagellar filaments.
AB  - Recent advances in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) have opened up the
      possibility that a large class of biological structures, helical polymers, may
      now be readily reconstructed at near-atomic resolution. This will have a huge
      impact, since most of these structures are unlikely to be crystallized. This
      review focuses on new cryo-EM studies involving three classes of bacterial pili
      (chaperone-usher, mating, and Type IV) as well as on archaeal flagellar
      filaments. While it has long been known that one domain within archaeal flagellar
      filaments is homologous to a domain within bacterial Type IV pilins, the new
      studies shed light on how homologous and even highly conserved subunits can pack
      together in different ways with only small changes in sequence.

PMID- 28609683
TI  - Integrating speech in time depends on temporal expectancies and attention.
AB  - Sensory information that unfolds in time, such as in speech perception, relies on
      efficient chunking mechanisms in order to yield optimally-sized units for further
      processing. Whether or not two successive acoustic events receive a one-unit or a
      two-unit interpretation seems to depend on the fit between their temporal extent
      and a stipulated temporal window of integration. However, there is ongoing debate
      on how flexible this temporal window of integration should be, especially for the
      processing of speech sounds. Furthermore, there is no direct evidence of whether
      attention may modulate the temporal constraints on the integration window. For
      this reason, we here examine how different word durations, which lead to
      different temporal separations of sound onsets, interact with attention. In an
      Electroencephalography (EEG) study, participants actively and passively listened
      to words where word-final consonants were occasionally omitted. Words had either
      a natural duration or were artificially prolonged in order to increase the
      separation of speech sound onsets. Omission responses to incomplete speech input,
      originating in left temporal cortex, decreased when the critical speech sound was
      separated from previous sounds by more than 250 msec, i.e., when the separation
      was larger than the stipulated temporal window of integration (125-150 msec).
      Attention, on the other hand, only increased omission responses for stimuli with
      natural durations. We complemented the event-related potential (ERP) analyses by
      a frequency-domain analysis on the stimulus presentation rate. Notably, the power
      of stimulation frequency showed the same duration and attention effects than the
      omission responses. We interpret these findings on the background of existing
      research on temporal integration windows and further suggest that our findings
      may be accounted for within the framework of predictive coding.

PMID- 28609684
TI  - Taxonomic revision of freshwater foraminifera with the description of two new
      agglutinated species and genera.
AB  - Most foraminifera inhabit marine habitats, but some species of monothalamids have
      been described from freshwater environments, mainly from Swiss water bodies over
      100 years ago. Recent environmental DNA surveys revealed the presence of four
      major phylogenetic clades of freshwater foraminifera. However, until now only one
      of them (clade 2) has been associated to a morphologically described taxon-the
      family Reticulomyxidae. Here, we present morphological and molecular data for the
      genera representing the three remaining clades. We describe two new agglutinated
      freshwater genera from China and the Netherlands, Lacogromia and Limnogromia,
      which represent clades 3 and 4, respectively. We also report the first ribosomal
      DNA sequences of the genus Lieberkuehnia, which place this genus within clade 1.
      Our study provides the first morphotaxonomic documentation of molecular clades of
      freshwater foraminifera, showing that the environmental DNA sequences correspond
      to the agglutinated monothalamous species, morphologically similar to those
      described 100 years ago.

PMID- 28609685
TI  - Palmitate induces VSMC apoptosis via toll like receptor (TLR)4/ROS/p53 pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) has been implicated in vascular
      inflammation, as well as in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and diabetes.
      Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis has been shown to induce plaque
      vulnerability in atherosclerosis. Previous studies reported that palmitate
      induced apoptosis in VSMCs; however, the role of TLR4 in palmitate-induced
      apoptosis in VSMCs has not yet been defined. In this study, we investigated
      whether or not palmitate-induced apoptosis depended on the activation of the TLR4
      pathway. METHODS: VSMCs were treated with or without palmitate, CRISPR/Cas9z
      mediated genome editing methods were used to deplete TLR4 expression, while NADPH
      oxidase inhibitors were used to inhibit reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation.
      Cell apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick
      end labeling (TUNEL) assay, ROS was measured using the 2',7'
      dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) method, the mRNA and protein
      expression levels of caspase 3, caspase 9, BCL-2 and p53 were studied by real
      time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and ELISA. RESULTS: Palmitate
      significantly promotes VSMC apoptosis, ROS generation, and expression of caspase
      3, caspase 9 and p53; while NADPH oxidase inhibitor pretreatment markedly
      attenuated these effects. Moreover, knockdown of TLR4 significantly blocked
      palmitate-induced ROS generation and VSMC apoptosis accompanied by inhibition of
      caspase 3, caspase 9, p53 expression and restoration of BCL-2 expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that palmitate-induced apoptosis depends on the
      activation of the TLR4/ROS/p53 signaling pathway, and that TLR4 may be a
      potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28609686
TI  - Mentors' and mentees' intellectual-partnership through the lens of the
      Transformative Learning Theory.
AB  - In this paper we report reflections about the scholarly mentoring experiences of
      undergraduate nursing students (mentees) and faculty members (mentors) involved
      in an intellectual partnership at a Canadian university. The paper specifically
      recounts the impacts of the transformative process experienced by 18 mentees and
      three mentors, based on their in-depth written critical reflections. In this
      collaborative initiative, the constructivist framework of Shor and Freire, and
      Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory, served as foundations for all
      interactions between mentees and mentors, and guided the analysis and
      interpretation of their written self-reflections. Mentees and mentors were
      motivated by complementary goals for the intellectual relationships. Their
      combined contexts, self-reflective, critical dialogue, shared assumptions and
      ideas worked to ignite a critical awareness of their potential and self in their
      professional world. Sharing new ways of thinking and points of view stimulated
      their transformation on various levels -emotional, cognitive, and spiritual.

PMID- 28609687
TI  - Off-tarp emissions, distribution, and efficacy of carbonated fumigants in a low
      permeability film tarped field.
AB  - Carbonated fumigants have been shown to distribute quickly and uniformly in sandy
      soils and improve pest control efficacy for annual crops. Low permeability films,
      such as VaporSafe(r) (TIF), could further improve fumigant dispersion by
      effectively retaining the fumigant in soil; however, there is a concern that the
      TIF can lead to higher off-tarp edge emissions. An orchard field trial was
      conducted to determine the off-tarp emissions, distribution, efficacy, and fate
      of carbonated Telone(r) C35 [63.4% 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D), 34.7%
      chloropicrin (CP)] that was shank-injected at 46cm soil depth. Treatments
      included carbonated fumigants at full- or 2/3 rates and a full rate of regular
      (nitrogen-pressurized) fumigants covered with standard polyethylene (PE) film,
      TIF, or no surface seal. Fumigant emissions at the regular tarp edge (25cm from
      the shank line) peaked at 3.98MUgm-2s-1 for 1,3-D and 0.05MUgm-2s-1 for CP. The
      addition of a TIF tarp extension (to 85cm from the shank line) reduce peak off
      tarp emissions to <1 and <0.03MUgm-2s-1 for 1,3-D and CP, respectively. Fumigant
      concentration under TIF was usually at least twice that under PE regardless of
      carbonation. Carbonation at 345KPa with 1.5% of dissolved CO2 did not
      significantly improve fumigant dispersion in soil profile compared to the
      conventional nitrogen pressurization. In a citrus nematode bioassay, only the 2/3
      rate of carbonated fumigation treatment sealed with PE failed to control
      nematodes at 25cm away from shank line. This research indicates that a 60-cm TIF
      extension can effectively reduce off-tarp edge emissions in strip fumigation
      treatments. While the adaptability of carbonation of fumigants is still
      questionable, further research efforts are needed in finding effective solutions
      to control plant parasitic nematodes, which remain a challenge in orchard
      fumigation.

PMID- 28609688
TI  - Safe patient handling behaviors and lift use among hospital nurses: A cross
      sectional study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patient handling is well known for the risk of musculoskeletal injury.
      Safe work practices are important to reduce risk of injury while performing
      patient handling tasks. This study investigated factors associated with safe
      patient handling behaviors and lift use among hospital nurses in the United
      States. METHODS: This study analyzed cross-sectional survey data from a statewide
      random sample of 221 hospital nurses in California who had patient handling
      duties. Safe patient handling behaviors and lift use were examined for the
      relationships with demographic characteristics, organizational safety practices,
      physical and psychosocial job factors, musculoskeletal symptoms, and perceptions
      about lift use and risk of injury. RESULTS: In multivariable logistic regression,
      high safe patient handling behaviors were significantly associated with a
      positive organizational safety climate (Odds Ratio [OR]=2.76, 95% Confidence
      Interval [CI] 1.51-5.03), people-oriented culture (OR=2.59, 95% CI 1.45-4.62),
      and ergonomic practices (OR=1.67, 95% CI 1.04-2.67). High lift use (>50% of the
      time when needed) were significantly associated with high lift availability
      (OR=3.1, 95% CI 1.06-9.01) and positive perceptions about lift use (OR=3.48, 95%
      CI 1.63-7.44). In bivariate analysis, high safe patient handling behaviors were
      associated with shorter height, non-White race, lower physical workload, lower
      job strain, higher job satisfaction, and less musculoskeletal symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study findings underscore the importance of organizational
      safety practices and culture to promote safe work practices for patient handling
      injury prevention. Also, making lift equipment readily available and improving
      positive perceptions and experiences about lifts can be crucial to ensure the use
      of lift equipment.

PMID- 28609689
TI  - A distinctive abnormality of diffusion tensor imaging parameters in the fornix of
      patients with bipolar II disorder.
AB  - Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have revealed a changed integrity in the
      white matter of bipolar disorder. However, only a few investigations have
      examined bipolar II disorder (BP-II). A cross-sectional study was conducted to
      compare thirty-eight patients with BP-II (mean age = 38.26 years, F/M = 19/19)
      with thirty-eight age- and gender-matched healthy controls (mean age = 34.45
      years, F/M = 18/20). Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) analysis of the
      fractional anisotropy (FA) was done with age, gender and education years as
      covariates, then a complementary atlas-based region-of-interest (ROI) analysis
      including the axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) was conducted to
      obtain further information. The patients with BP-II showed a significant decrease
      in FA in the corpus callosum (commissure fibers), fornix (association fibers) and
      right anterior corona radiata (projection fibers) compared to the controls.
      Moreover, a significant increase in the RD was observed in all of the fibers of
      the BP-II patients, while the AD significantly increased only in the fornix of
      the patients. Thus, in addition to the abnormal integrity of the commissure and
      projection fibers, the present study suggested an involvement of the limbic
      association fibers in the pathophysiology of BP-II induced by a distinctive
      neuropathology.

PMID- 28609691
TI  - Foundations for screening adverse childhood experiences: Exploring patterns of
      exposure through infancy and toddlerhood.
AB  - Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have lifetime consequences for health and
      development. Identification of ACEs early in childhood provides the potential to
      intervene before health and development are impaired. This study examined the
      timing and duration of exposure to ACEs experienced by children from low-income
      families from ages one to three years to identify whether there were patterns of
      exposure when infants and toddlers were most vulnerable. We were able to confirm
      the early negative consequences on cognitive, health, and behavior outcomes
      previously reported in young children using a national, longitudinal data set of
      parents and children from low-income households (N=2250). Using Finite Mixture
      Models, five classes of exposure were identified for children, Consistently Low
      (63.8%), Decreasing (10.3%), High at Age 2 (11.4%), Increasing (10.4%), and
      Consistently High (4%). The Consistently Low and Consistently High classes had
      the most and least optimal development across all domains, respectively. When
      examining child development outcomes among children with variable exposures to
      adversities, we found that for cognitive, language, and physical development, the
      most proximal ACEs were more robust for predicting child outcomes. For
      socioemotional health, exposure at any time from one to three to ACEs had
      negative consequences. As a whole, findings from this study highlight the need to
      consider ACEs screening tools that are both time-sensitive and permit a lifetime
      report.

PMID- 28609690
TI  - What do we know about child abuse and neglect patterns of co-occurrence? A
      systematic review of profiling studies and recommendations for future research.
AB  - Latent class (LCA) and latent profile (LPA) analysis represent methodological
      approaches to identify subgroups of maltreated individuals. Although research
      examining child abuse and neglect (CAN) profiles is still rare, the application
      of person-centered techniques to clarify CAN types co-occurrence has
      substantially increased in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the present study
      was to provide a summary and critical evaluation of the findings of LCA/LPA child
      maltreatment research to: (a) systemize the current understanding of patterns of
      maltreatment across populations and (b) elucidate interactive effects of CAN
      types on psychosocial functioning. A search in PsychInfo, Eric, PubMed, Scopus,
      and Science Direct, and Google Scholar was performed. Sixteen studies examining
      the co-occurrence between child physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse,
      neglect, and/or exposure to domestic violence were identified. A critical review
      of the studies revealed inconsistent findings as to the number of CAN classes,
      but most research uncovered a poly-victimized and a low abuse group. Further,
      multiple victimization was associated with most adverse internalizing and
      externalizing outcomes, especially when sexual abuse was present. Exposure to
      physical and emotional abuse was frequently reported to lead to behavioural
      problems. Based on the present study results, we provide a set of recommendations
      for surpassing the current methodological and conceptual limitations in future
      research.

PMID- 28609692
TI  - Childhood maltreatment, psychopathology and well-being: The mediator role of
      global self-esteem, attachment difficulties and substance use.
AB  - Childhood maltreatment is known to be associated with a broad variety of
      psychopathology and deteriorated well-being in adolescent populations. In the
      present nationwide study, we aimed to explore global self-esteem, attachment
      difficulties and substance use as possible mediators of these associations in a
      high-risk adolescent population. We included 400 adolescents (aged 12-20 years)
      living in residential youth care in Norway (response rate 67%). The participants
      completed a semistructured psychiatric interview (Child and Adolescent
      Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA)), a study-specific questionnaire, a revised version
      of the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) and the Questionnaire for
      Measuring Health-related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents (KINDL-R).
      Information was also provided by the adolescent's primary contact at the
      institution. Two models were tested using structural equation modelling; one
      assessed the association between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology, and
      one assessed the association between childhood maltreatment and well-being.
      Childhood maltreatment, psychopathology, well-being, global self-esteem and
      attachment difficulties were treated as latent variables, and substance use was
      added as an observed variable. The results of this study showed that global self
      esteem was a mediator of paths in both models, whereas attachment difficulties
      and substance use were not. Preventing decline in health and well-being in high
      risk adolescents is a main goal, and this study suggests that improving self
      esteem, in addition to providing psychiatric health services, could be an
      important tool for achieving this goal.

PMID- 28609693
TI  - Factors that influence evidence-based program sustainment for family support
      providers in child protection services in disadvantaged communities.
AB  - This paper evaluates program, workplace and process factors associated with
      implementation and sustainment of an evidence-based parenting support program
      (EBP) in disadvantaged communities. Correlation analyses and binary logistic
      regressions were used to assess the associations between key implementation
      support factors and program implementation (at 18 months) and sustainment (at 36
      months) post training with (N=35) Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait
      Islander family support providers using the Triple P - Positive Parenting Program
      in Indigenous child protection agencies. This study demonstrated that for
      implementation at 18 months, there was a trend for implementing providers to
      report higher levels of partnership support, perceived program benefit, workplace
      support and workplace cohesion. However, the only significant relationship was
      with partnership support (r=.31 p<0.05), and regression analysis indicated that
      none of the variables were significant predictors of program implementation. For
      sustained implementation at 36 months, no relationship was found between
      sustainment and program characteristics, workplace characteristics, supervision
      and peer support or sustainability planning. Supportive coaching was the only
      significant correlate (r=0.46, p<0.01) and predictor [OR=15.63, 95% CI (1.98
      123.68), p=0.009] in the program sustainment model. Overall, these findings
      suggest the need for further exploration of program and workplace variables and
      provide evidence to consider incorporating partnership support and supportive
      coaching in real world implementation models to improve the likelihood of EBP
      implementation and sustainment in Indigenous communities.

PMID- 28609694
TI  - Relationship between out-of-home care placement history characteristics and
      educational achievement: A population level linked data study.
AB  - Studies generally show children who have entered out-of-home care have worse
      educational outcomes than the general population, although recent research
      suggests maltreatment and other adversities are major contributing factors.
      Children's out-of-home care experiences vary and may affect their outcomes. This
      study examined the influence of placement stability, reunification, type of care,
      time in care and age at entry to care on children's educational outcomes. We
      conducted a population-based record-linkage study of children born in Western
      Australia between 1990 and 2010 who sat State or national Year 3 reading
      achievement tests (N=235,045 children, including 2160 children with a history of
      out-of-home care). Children's educational outcomes varied with many aspects of
      their care experience. Children placed in residential care were particularly
      likely to have low scores, with an unadjusted OR 6.81, 95% CI[4.94, 9.39] for low
      reading scores, which was partially attenuated after adjusting for background
      risk factors but remained significant (OR=1.50, 95% CIs [1.08, 2.08]). Reading
      scores were also lower for children who had experienced changes in care
      arrangements in the year of the test. A dose-response effect for multiple
      placements was expected but not found. Older age at entering care was also
      associated with worse reading scores. Different characteristics of a child's care
      history were interwoven with each other as well as child, family and
      neighbourhood characteristics, highlighting a need for caution in attributing
      causality. Although the level of educational difficulties varied, the findings
      suggest a widespread need for additional educational support for children who
      have entered care, including after reunification.

PMID- 28609695
TI  - What do we need to make circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) a routine diagnostic test
      in lung cancer?
AB  - The gold standard test for detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      mutation is to genotype somatic DNA extracted from a tissue biopsy or cytology
      specimen. Yet, in at least 20% of patients this is not possible for various
      reasons including insufficient availability of neoplastic tissue, lack of fitness
      of the available tissue for a biopsy or that a biopsy is not technically
      feasible. Consequently, there has been intense investigation of circulating
      tumour DNA (ctDNA), released into the plasma fraction of blood from cancer cells
      during apoptosis/necrosis, as a minimally invasive 'liquid biopsy' and surrogate
      for cancer tissue. In 2014, the license for the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      (EGFR-TKI), gefitinib, was updated to allow the use of plasma to determine EGFR
      mutation status in patients where tissue was not available. Then in 2016 the
      United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approved the first companion
      diagnostic plasma EGFR test. Herein, we review the evidence for ctDNA as a
      diagnostic in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and describe steps
      needed to incorporate such 'liquid biopsies' into everyday routine practice.

PMID- 28609697
TI  - Beyond proteome diversity: alternative splicing as a regulator of neuronal
      transcript dynamics.
AB  - Brain development and function are governed by tightly controlled gene expression
      programs. Transcriptional repertoires in neurons are highly specific to
      developmental stage, neuronal cell type and can undergo rapid changes upon
      neuronal stimulation. Dedicated molecular mechanisms are required to achieve such
      fine-tuned regulation. In addition to transcriptional programs, post
      transcriptional processes and notably alternative splicing substantially
      contribute to the elaboration of neuronal gene expression. While alternative
      splicing has been viewed primarily as a means for expanding proteome diversity,
      it emerges to also be a major regulator of transcript levels and dynamics. In
      this review we will describe some of the principal alternative splicing-linked
      mechanisms that control neuronal transcriptomes and discuss their implications
      for the central nervous system.

PMID- 28609696
TI  - Rapid prediction and identification of lipase inhibitors in volatile oil from
      Pinus massoniana L. needles.
AB  - A facile method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and
      molecular docking was established to analyze, identify, and predict lipase
      inhibitors in volatile oil from Pinus massoniana L. needles (PMLN). The volatile
      oil, with an IC50 value of 15.25 +/- 0.06 MUg/mL, exhibited potential inhibitory
      activity against lipase in vitro. In total, 33 compounds were identified from the
      volatile oil through GC-MS analysis. The major compounds in the volatile oil were
      beta-pinene (39.24%), alpha-pinene (14.68%), germacrene D (9.08%), caryophyllene
      (6.94%), alpha-terpineol (5.39%), beta-phellandrene (4.82%), and D-limonene
      (3.93%). The identified compounds were individually docked with lipase as the
      target through molecular docking. Among the compounds, longifolene characterized
      by preferable binding energy and the good inhibition constant exhibited potential
      lipase inhibitory activity. The IC50 value of longifolene was 25.10 +/- 0.49 MUM,
      indicating that this compound is the active ingredient responsible for the lipase
      inhibitory activity of PMLN volatile oil.

PMID- 28609698
TI  - Clinical screening of paraquat in plasma samples using capillary electrophoresis
      with contactless conductivity detection: Towards rapid diagnosis and therapeutic
      treatment of acute paraquat poisoning in Vietnam.
AB  - The employment of a purpose-made capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument with
      capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) as a simple and
      cost-effective solution for clinical screening of paraquat in plasma samples for
      early-stage diagnosis of acute herbicide poisoning is reported. Paraquat was
      determined using an electrolyte composed of 10mM histidine adjusted to pH 4 with
      acetic acid. A detection limit of 0.5mg/L was achieved. Good agreement between
      results from CE-C4D and the confirmation method (HPLC-UV) was obtained, with
      relative errors for the two pairs of data better than 20% for 31 samples taken
      from paraquat-intoxicated patients. The results were used by medical doctors for
      identification and prognosis of acute paraquat poisoning cases. The objective of
      the work is the deployment of the developed approach in rural areas in Vietnam as
      a low-cost solution to reduce the mortality rate due to accidental or suicidal
      ingestion of paraquat.

PMID- 28609699
TI  - Study on major antitumor components in Yinchenhao decoction in vitro and in vivo
      based on hollow fiber cell fishing coupled with high performance liquid
      chromatography.
AB  - Hollow fiber cell fishing (HFCF) based on human hepatoma cell HepG-2 or human
      renal tubular cell ACHN coupled with high performance liquid
      chromatography/ultraviolet detection (HPLC/UV) was developed and used for
      simultaneous study of the major antitumor active components in a formula of
      Yinchenhao decoction (YCHD) in vitro and in vivo, and in its constituent herbs,
      namely, Artemisia capillaris Thunb, Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, Radix et Rhizoma
      Rhei in vitro. Before application, chlorogenic acid, geniposide, p
      hydroxyacetophenone, crocin and rhein were chosen as model compounds, the various
      validations, e.g., cell growth and cell viability on the fiber inner wall,
      binding between fiber active center and component, repeatability of retention
      time or relative peak area of the active components were investigated. We
      screened and identified the major antitumor active components of YCHD, verified
      their synergetic or antagonistic effect, correlated the major active components
      between in vitro and in vivo and determined major effective components. Our study
      will serve as a valuable reference in probing the antitumor material basis of
      YCHD and its three constituent herbs, as well as in identifying novel clinical
      aspects of traditional Chinese medicines. The results showed that HCFC-HPLC is a
      simple, rapid, and reliable method that simultaneously researches the interaction
      between multiple targets and multiple components of herbal medicine.

PMID- 28609700
TI  - Identification of metabolites of vindoline in rats using ultra-high performance
      liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
AB  - Vindoline (VDL) is an indole alkaloid, possessing hypoglycemic and vasodilator
      effects, and it is also the prodrug of many vinca alkaloids. In this paper, we
      analyzed in vivo (including plasma, urine, bile and faeces) and in vitro
      metabolic profile of VDL in rat with ultra-high performance liquid
      chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS).
      The chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column with a mobile phase
      consisted of 3mM ammonium acetate buffer and acetonitrile at a flow rate of
      300MUL/min. The mass spectral analysis was conducted in a positive electrospray
      ionization mode, and on-line data acquisition method multiple mass defect filter
      (MMDF) combined with dynamic background subtraction (DBS) were used in the
      biological samples analysis to trace all the potential metabolites of VDL. Twenty
      five metabolites of VDL were detected by comparing with the blank sample, of
      which there were 2 sulfate conjugates. These data suggested that the
      biotransformation of VDL was deacetylation, oxidation, deoxidization,
      methylation, dealkylation and sulfate conjugation. This study provides useful
      information for further study of the pharmacology and mechanism of VDL,
      meanwhile, the research method can be widely applied to speculate structural
      features of the metabolites of other vinca alkaloids.

PMID- 28609701
TI  - The 3D Pelvic Inclination Correction System (PICS): A universally applicable
      coordinate system for isovolumetric imaging measurements, tested in women with
      pelvic organ prolapse (POP).
AB  - In pelvic organ prolapse (POP), the organs are pushed downward along the lines of
      gravity, so measurements along this longitudinal body axis are desirable. We
      propose a universally applicable 3D coordinate system that corrects for changes
      in pelvic inclination and that allows the localization of any point in the pelvis
      at rest or under dynamic conditions on magnetic resonance images (MRI) of pelvic
      floor disorders in a scanner- and software independent manner. The proposed 3D
      coordinate system called 3D Pelvic Inclination Correction System (PICS) is
      constructed utilizing four bony landmark points, with the origin set at the
      inferior pubic point, and three additional points at the sacrum (sacrococcygeal
      joint) and both ischial spines, which are clearly visible on MRI images. The
      feasibility and applicability of the moving frame was evaluated using MRI
      datasets from five women with pelvic organ prolapse, three undergoing static MRI
      and two undergoing dynamic MRI of the pelvic floor in a supine position. The
      construction of the coordinate system was performed utilizing the selected
      landmarks, with an initial implementation completed in MATLAB. In all cases the
      selected landmarks were clearly visible, with the construction of the 3D PICS and
      measurement of pelvic organ positions performed without difficulty. The resulting
      distance from the organ position to the horizontal PICS plane was compared to a
      traditional measure based on standard measurements in 2D slices. The two
      approaches demonstrated good agreement in each of the cases. The developed
      approach makes quantitative assessment of pelvic organ position in a
      physiologically relevant 3D coordinate system possible independent of pelvic
      movement relative to the scanner. It allows the accurate study of the physiologic
      range of organ location along the body axis ("up or down") as well as defects of
      the pelvic sidewall or birth-related pelvic floor injuries outside the
      midsagittal plane, not possible before in a 2D reference line system. Measures in
      3D can be monitored over time and may reveal pathology before bothersome symptoms
      appear, as well as allowing comparison of outcomes between different patient
      pools after different surgical approaches.

PMID- 28609702
TI  - The effect of facial feedback on the evaluation of statements describing everyday
      situations and the role of awareness.
AB  - According to theories of embodiment enacting a smile or a frown can positively or
      negatively influence one's evaluations, even without awareness of one's facial
      activity. While some previous studies found evidence for facial feedback effects,
      recent replication attempts could not confirm these findings. Are our decisions
      throughout the day amenable to the state of our facial muscles? We tested the
      effect of smiling and frowning on the evaluation of emotional sentences
      describing everyday situations. While most previous studies based their
      assessment of awareness on verbal debriefing interviews without explicitly
      defined criteria, we employed a written debriefing questionnaire in order to
      avoid potential bias when identifying participants' awareness. Our results
      indicate that smiling/frowning increased/decreased sentence ratings only for
      participants aware of their expressions. This emphasizes the importance of more
      rigorous awareness tests in facial feedback studies. Our results support the view
      that facial feedback cannot necessarily influence us without conscious mediation.

PMID- 28609703
TI  - Etiologic classification of ischemic stroke: Where do we stand?
AB  - Despite major technological advances in ischemic stroke diagnostic techniques,
      our current understanding of stroke mechanisms and etiology continues to remain
      unclear in a significant percent of patients. As a result, several etiological
      ischemic stroke classifications have emerged during the last two decades but
      their reliability and validity is far from perfect and further world-wide
      research is needed in order to achieve the so much needed "standard reference
      language". An ideal ischemic stroke classification should both comprise all
      underlying pathologies that could potentially concur to an index event and
      emphasize the most likely etiological and pathophysiological mechanism. Currently
      available approaches to ischemic stroke classification are either phenotypic or
      causative in nature, a multitude of criteria being published by different
      authors. Phenotypic classifications are targeted towards describing the
      concurring underlying pathologies, without highlighting the most probable
      ischemic stroke etiology, while causative classifications focus on establishing
      the most likely cause, neglecting other associated diseases. A judicious use of
      this two different concepts might improve clinical research as well as daily
      clinical practice.

PMID- 28609704
TI  - Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) suppresses the collagen-induced activation of human
      platelets via S1P4 receptor.
AB  - Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is as an extracellular factor that acts as a potent
      lipid mediator by binding to specific receptors, S1P receptors (S1PRs). However,
      the precise role of S1P in human platelets that express S1PRs has not yet been
      fully clarified. We previously reported that heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) is
      released from human platelets accompanied by its phosphorylation stimulated by
      collagen. In the present study, we investigated the effect of S1P on the collagen
      induced platelet activation. S1P pretreatment markedly attenuated the collagen
      induced aggregation. Co-stimulation with S1P and collagen suppressed collagen
      induced platelet activation, but the effect was weaker than that of S1P
      pretreatment. The collagen-stimulated secretion of platelet-derived growth factor
      (PDGF)-AB and the soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) release were significantly reduced
      by S1P. In addition, S1P suppressed the collagen-induced release of HSP27 as well
      as the phosphorylation of HSP27. S1P significantly suppressed the collagen
      induced phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. S1P increased
      the levels of GTP-bound Galphai and GTP-bound Galpha13 coupled to S1PPR1 and/or
      S1PR4. CYM50260, a selective S1PR4 agonist, but not SEW2871, a selective S1PR1
      agonist, suppressed the collagen-stimulated platelet aggregation, PDGF-AB
      secretion and sCD40L release. In addition, CYM50260 reduced the release of
      phosphorylated-HSP27 by collagen as well as the phosphorylation of HSP27. The
      selective S1PR4 antagonist CYM50358, which failed to affect collagen-induced
      HSP27 phosphorylation, reversed the S1P-induced attenuation of HSP27
      phosphorylation by collagen. These results strongly suggest that S1P inhibits the
      collagen-induced human platelet activation through S1PR4 but not S1PR1.

PMID- 28609705
TI  - Corrosion and tribocorrosion behavior of Ti-TiB-TiNx in-situ hybrid composite
      synthesized by reactive hot pressing.
AB  - Ti and its alloys are attractive materials for variety of fields, including
      biomedical implants, however, the wear behavior is yet to be improved. In the
      present work, Ti-TiB-TiNx in-situ metal matrix composites were synthesized by
      reactive hot pressing using a Ti-BN powder blend. Corrosion behavior was
      investigated in 9g/L NaCl solution at 37 degrees C by performing potentiodynamic
      polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Tribocorrosion behavior
      was investigated using reciprocating tribometer, against an alumina ball, under 1
      and 10N normal load, 1 and 2Hz frequency, in 9g/L NaCl solution at 37 degrees C.
      Results suggested that TiB and TiNx in-situ phases did not deteriorate the
      corrosion behavior of Ti but significantly improved the tribocorrosion behavior
      under 1N.

PMID- 28609706
TI  - Toward high-efficiency production of biosurfactant rhamnolipids using sequential
      fed-batch fermentation based on a fill-and-draw strategy.
AB  - Rhamnolipids are the most promising biosurfactants, have widespread applications
      in many fields. However, low yield and productivity in fermentation caused a high
      production cost and thus prohibited the bulk applications of rhamnolipids in
      industry. In this study, a sequential fed-batch fermentation process with fill
      and-draw operation was developed to improve rhamnolipids production. By utilizing
      this strategy, the total produced rhamnolipids reached over 150g/L, had a 163%
      and 102% increase over the traditional batch and fed-batch processes,
      respectively. This remarkable high production efficiency was achieved by the well
      maintained high productivity of 0.4g/Lh for a period of 17 d. Astonishingly, the
      conversion yield was high as 84%, while this value was only 53.2% and 42.7% in
      the traditional batch and fed-batch process, respectively. The high-efficiency
      rhamnolipids production in this sequential fed-batch fermentation could be
      largely explained by a high presence of cell coupled with the replenishment of
      nutrients and dilution of toxic byproducts via fill-and-draw operation. In all,
      this validated fermentation strategy offers a great prospect for high-efficiency
      production of rhamnolipids in industry.

PMID- 28609707
TI  - Antibacterial properties of sophorolipid-modified gold surfaces against Gram
      positive and Gram negative pathogens.
AB  - Sophorolipids are bioderived glycolipids displaying interesting antimicrobial
      properties. We show that they can be used to develop biocidal monolayers against
      Listeria ivanovii, a Gram-positive bacterium. The present work points out the
      dependence between the surface density and the antibacterial activity of grafted
      sophorolipids. It also emphasizes the broad spectrum of activity of these
      coatings, demonstrating their potential against both Gram-positive strains
      (Enteroccocus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes) and
      Gram-negative strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella
      typhymurium). After exposure to sophorolipids grafted onto gold, all these
      bacterial strains show a significant reduction in viability resulting from
      membrane damage as evidenced by fluorescent labelling and SEM-FEG analysis.

PMID- 28609708
TI  - Anti-diabetic activity of fused PPARgamma-SIRT1 ligands with limited body-weight
      gain by mimicking calorie restriction and decreasing SGK1 expression.
AB  - A series of benzothiazol-2-one containing alpha-ethoxyphenylpropionic acid
      derivatives incorporating resveratrol or butein scaffolds were designed as fused
      full PPARgamma agonist ligands and SIRT1-activating compounds for the treatment
      of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its complications. Compound 14d displayed the best
      in vitro pharmacological profile with full PPARgamma agonist activity (Emax =
      98%, EC50 = 200 nM), SIRT1 enzymatic activation (+128%) and SGK1 expression
      inhibition (- 57%) which is known to limit side effects as fluid retention and
      body-weight gain. Compound 14d showed high efficacy in an ob/ob mice model with
      significant decreases in serum triglyceride, glucose and insulin levels but
      mostly with limited body-weight gain by mimicking calorie restriction (CR) and
      inhibiting SGK1 expression.

PMID- 28609709
TI  - Novel muscarinic acetylcholine receptor hybrid ligands embedding quinuclidine and
      1,4-dioxane fragments.
AB  - To obtain novel muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) antagonists, the
      enantiomers of the hybrid compounds 3-5, in which the quinuclidin-3-yloxy
      fragment of solifenacin and the 6,6-diphenyl-1,4-dioxane-2-yl moiety of 2 linked
      by an ester or ether spacer were embedded in the same chemical entity, were
      prepared and evaluated for their affinity at the five mAChR subtypes (M1-M5).
      Stereochemistry and the nature of the linker between the quinuclidine moiety and
      the 1,4-dioxane nucleus play an important role on the affinities of the
      compounds. The presence of an ether bridge confers higher affinities for all
      mAChR subtypes to the ligand. Interestingly, the ether enantiomer (R,S)-5 shows
      the highest affinity at all mAChR subtypes with pKi values similar to that of
      solifenacin at M3 and higher at the other subtypes. Unlike solifenacin, it shows
      a preference for M1 mAChR subtype with respect to the other subtypes. This
      compound, lacking a permanent positive charge on the nitrogen atom, can be a
      useful tool for the pharmacological study of mAChRs in the central nervous
      system.

PMID- 28609710
TI  - Sense and sensitivity in bioprocessing-detecting cellular metabolites with
      biosensors.
AB  - Biosensors use biological elements to detect or quantify an analyte of interest.
      In bioprocessing, biosensors are employed to monitor key metabolites. There are
      two main types: fully biological systems or biological recognition coupled with
      physical/chemical detection. New developments in chemical biosensors include
      multiplexed detection using microfluidics. Synthetic biology can be used to
      engineer new biological biosensors with improved characteristics. Although there
      have been few biosensors developed for bioprocessing thus far, emerging trends
      can be applied in the future. A range of new platform technologies will enable
      rapid engineering of new biosensors based on transcriptional activation,
      riboswitches, and Forster Resonance Energy Transfer. However, translation to
      industry remains a challenge and more research into the robustness biosensors at
      scale is needed.

PMID- 28609711
TI  - Birth characteristics of women with Marfan syndrome, obstetric and neonatal
      outcomes of their pregnancies-A nationwide cohort and case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to investigate birth characteristics, obstetric and
      neonatal outcomes of the first childbirth in women with Marfan syndrome by use of
      Swedish national registers since pregnancy-related outcomes in women with Marfan
      syndrome have only been sparsely investigated. STUDY DESIGN: In this national
      population-based cohort study and matched case-control study of Swedish women
      born 1973-1993, women with Marfan syndrome (n=273) were compared to women without
      the condition (n=1 017 265). The study population was followed until 2013. A
      total of 364 553 mother-firstborn-offspring pairs were analyzed. Sixty-one women
      with Marfan syndrome became mothers. Women with Marfan syndrome were also
      compared to 543 healthy controls. RESULTS: Women with Marfan syndrome were more
      often born preterm (p<0.001), small-for-gestational age (p<0.001), and delivered
      by cesarean section (p=0.001). Women with Marfan syndrome had no increased risk
      of giving birth by cesarean section (p=0.079). No increased neonatal risks in
      their children were found. Women with Marfan syndrome were less likely to give
      birth than those without (p<0.001). There were no maternal deaths. CONCLUSIONS:
      Women with Marfan syndrome were more likely to be born preterm, SGA and by
      cesarean section. These increased risks of preterm birth and SGA babies were not
      found in connection with their own first childbirth. Pregnancies with known fetal
      Marfan syndrome have to be carefully monitored. The results are important for
      obstetricians giving preconception counseling and treating women with Marfan
      syndrome. Further studies are needed to evaluate risks during pregnancy and long
      term effects of pregnancy on the cardiovascular status of women with Marfan
      syndrome.

PMID- 28609712
TI  - Two week waits: What are we waiting for?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the two-week referral system by analysing the 2-week wait
      (2WW) referrals to the rapid access gynaecology clinic over one year. We have
      also sought to identify the risk factors for endometrial cancer to help setting
      criteria that can be used to prioritise urgent appointments, refine subsequent
      management strategies. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of the data of all
      women referred for suspected gynaecological cancers over one year via the 2 WW
      office at Queen's Hospital, Romford, UK. Data of all other women in whom a
      diagnosis of a gynaecological malignancy was made during the same period
      following non-urgent (non-2WW) referrals were also collected. RESULTS: Over one
      year, a total of 1105 women were referred under the 2WW for suspected
      gynaecological malignancy. A total of 765 patients (69.23%) were referred with
      suspected endometrial cancer and the main indication for referral was
      postmenopausal bleeding. Hundred-seventy nine women (16.20%) were referred with
      suspected ovarian cancer. A pelvic mass found in 62 of these women and this was
      the main indication of referral. The number of women referred with suspected
      cervical cancer was 117 (10.59%) and the main indication for referral was
      postcoital bleeding. Forty-four women (3.98%) referred with suspected vulvo
      vaginal cancer and the main presentation was vulval lesion. The positive
      predictive value of referrals for diagnosing endometrial, ovarian, cervical and
      vulvo-vaginal malignancy was 8.1%, 9.5%, 5.98% and 13.64% and the overall
      predictive value for diagnosing gynaecological malignancy was 8.33%. The
      predictive values of the 2WW referrals for diagnosing different types of
      gynaecological cancers in premenopausal women are low compared to postmenopausal
      women (1.86% and 9.89% respectively, p<0.001). The number of cancers diagnosed
      through non-urgent system was higher than the number diagnosed through urgent
      system (95 vs. 92). Presence of diabetes mellitus, increased endometrial
      thickness, prolonged bleeding and advancing age represent the best model for
      predicting endometrial cancer. CONCLUSION: The overall predictive value of the
      2WW system for suspected gynaecological malignancies is low particularly in
      premenopausal women. The current referral criteria need to be modified with a
      view to incorporating risk factors to prioritise urgent appointments and refine
      subsequent management plans.

PMID- 28609713
TI  - Nicorandil modulated macrophages activation and polarization via NF-kappab
      signaling pathway.
AB  - Nicorandil, a drug with both nitrate-like and ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP)
      channel-activating properties, has been well demonstrated in various aspects of
      myocardial infarction (MI), especially in inhibiting cell apoptosis and
      increasing coronary flow. However, the role of nicorandil in regulating
      inflammation and angiogenesis following myocardial infarction is still
      unrevealed. In the present study, we explored the effect of nicorandil on
      macrophage phenotype transition and inflammation regulation and the potential
      underlying mechanisms. For the phenotype transition and phagocytosis ability of
      macrophages detection, flow cytometry analysis was used. The inflammation factors
      were measured with ELISA and qRT-PCR. Western blot was used to assess the levels
      of NF-kappab and its target genes and VEGF expression. The tube formation ability
      of endothelial cells was examined on matrigel. We discovered that nicorandil can
      obviously inhibit the differentiation of monocytes into mature macrophages and
      decrease M1 phenotype transition both in peritoneal macrophages and cultured
      macrophage cell line in normal or hypoxia and serum deprivation (H/SD)
      conditions. Meanwhile, nicorandil can induce an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype.
      Thereby, nicorandil regulated macrophages switching to M1/M2 status. Our data
      further showed that NF-kappab and the expression of its target genes were pivotal
      players in the regulation of macrophages phenotype. Besides, we also showed that
      nicorandil can promote the tube formation and VEGF expression in endothelial
      cells. We concluded that nicorandil may serve as an effective modulator of NF
      kappab signaling pathway during the pathogenesis of MI via regulating M1/M2
      status and promoting angiogenesis.

PMID- 28609714
TI  - MFHAS1 suppresses TLR4 signaling pathway via induction of PP2A C subunit
      cytoplasm translocation and inhibition of c-Jun dephosphorylation at Thr239.
AB  - TLR4, an important Toll-like receptor in innate immunity, can be activated by LPS
      and induce proinflammatory cytokines to resist invasion of pathogenic
      microorganism, but excessive inflammation can trigger tissue injury. Many genes
      negatively regulate TLR4 signaling pathway. Recent studies found that malignant
      fibrous histiocytoma amplified sequence 1 (MFHAS1) suppressed the expression of
      cytokine IL6 in Raw264.7 cells stimulated by LPS, but the mechanisms remained
      unclear. This study investigated the role of MFHAS1 in TLR4 signaling pathway and
      the possible mechanisms implicated. The results indicated that the expression of
      MFHAS1 was significantly increased in cells stimulated with LPS. Up-regulation of
      MFHAS1 effectively suppressed inflammatory cytokine expression in cells exposed
      to LPS, whereas down-regulation of MFHAS1 markedly increased inflammatory
      cytokines expression. Co-immunoprecipitation, pull-down and immunofluorescence
      tests demonstrated that MFHAS1 combined with the B and C subunits of PP2A and
      induced cytoplasm translocation of the C subunit, leading to decrease
      dephosphorylation of c-Jun at Thr239 and increase degradation of c-Jun. Reduction
      of c-Jun protein results in decreased AP-1 activity, which is independent of
      inhibition of JNK or p38MAPK phosphorylation. Taken together, these results
      indicate that MFHAS1 suppresses TLR4 signaling pathway through induction of PP2A
      C subunit cytoplasm translocation and subsequent c-Jun degradation, leading
      finally to decrease AP-1 activity and cytokines expression.

PMID- 28609715
TI  - An ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical immunosensor for insulin detection based
      on BiOBr/Ag2S composite by in-situ growth method with high visible-light
      activity.
AB  - A novel ultrasensitive label-free immunosensor based on BiOBr/Ag2S composite with
      high visible-light photoelectrochemical activity was prepared for the detection
      of insulin. After BiOBr was modified by thioglycolic acid, Ag2S nanoparticles
      were grown in-situ on the surface of BiOBr hierarchical microspheres to first
      form novel BiOBr/Ag2S composite. When ascorbic acid (AA) was used as an efficient
      electron donor for scavenging photo-generated holes, BiOBr/Ag2S composite
      material showed excellent photoelectrochemical activity. In order to immobilize
      insulin antibody, adhesive polydopamine (PDA) film formed by self-polymerization
      of dopamine was fabricated onto BiOBr/Ag2S modified electrode. Moreover, PDA film
      could further enhance the visible light absorption of BiOBr/Ag2S. When the
      solutions of 0.08molL-1AgNO3 and 0.1molL-1 AA were selected respectively during
      fabrication and detection process of this sensor, the best photocurrent singles
      were obtained. Under the optimum experimental condition, the specific binding
      between insulin and antibody resulted in a decrease in photocurrent intensity and
      the intensity decreased linearly with the logarithm of insulin concentration in
      the range of 0.001-20ngmL-1 with a detection limit of 0.2pgmL-1. The
      photoelectrochemical sensor ITO/BiOBr/Ag2S/PDA/anti-Insulin/BSA/Insulin revealed
      facile preparation, high sensitivity, and acceptable reproducibility, which may
      have practical applications in the biosensor, clinical diagnosis of cancers,
      photocatalysis, and other related fields.

PMID- 28609717
TI  - A real-time-range potentiostat coupled to nano-Au-modified microband electrode
      array for high-speed stripping determination of human blood lead.
AB  - A novel method of real-time-range measurement, characterized by pre-sampling
      forecast and balanced-range switching, is introduced in this study. According to
      this method, raw current signals in biosensing procedures may be measured and
      recorded with real-time-optimized instrumental settings. A low-cost and high
      performance potentiostat is developed to validate the proposed method. The
      transient process of real-time-range measurement is investigated to optimize
      sampling interval and circuit parameters. Typical time consumption of a sampling
      cycle is less than 100MUs, which makes high-speed and real-time-range measurement
      possible. The proposed method also brings excellent current resolution that is
      better than 0.8pA. It improves weak signals in stripping determinations, and is
      particularly suitable for biological samples. As-fabricated potentiostat, coupled
      to a nano-Au-modified microband electrode array, is adopted in high-speed
      stripping determinations towards human blood lead levels (HBLLs). Accuracy and
      precision of this method are validated with certified reference material (CRM).
      Obtained values (4.31 +/- 0.18MUgL-1) meet with certified levels of CRM (4.24 +/-
      0.11MUgL-1). Coefficient of variation percent (CV %) is no more than 5.0% for
      intra- or inter-assay analyses. Finally, this method is utilized for human
      population based study. Two groups of data, from this method and inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), are analyzed using a statistic tool of
      t-test, and no statistically significant difference is found.

PMID- 28609716
TI  - Accelerating bacterial growth detection and antimicrobial susceptibility
      assessment in integrated picoliter droplet platform.
AB  - There remains an urgent need for rapid diagnostic methods that can evaluate
      antibiotic resistance for pathogenic bacteria in order to deliver targeted
      antibiotic treatments. Toward this end, we present a rapid and integrated single
      cell biosensing platform, termed dropFAST, for bacterial growth detection and
      antimicrobial susceptibility assessment. DropFAST utilizes a rapid resazurin
      based fluorescent growth assay coupled with stochastic confinement of bacteria in
      20 pL droplets to detect signal from growing bacteria after 1h incubation,
      equivalent to 2-3 bacterial replications. Full integration of droplet generation,
      incubation, and detection into a single, uninterrupted stream also renders this
      platform uniquely suitable for in-line bacterial phenotypic growth assessment. To
      illustrate the concept of rapid digital antimicrobial susceptibility assessment,
      we employ the dropFAST platform to evaluate the antibacterial effect of
      gentamicin on E. coli growth.

PMID- 28609718
TI  - Quantification of antigen by digital domain analysis of integrated nanogap
      biosensors.
AB  - Nanogap biosensor shows a distinct conduction change upon sandwich-type
      immobilization of gold nanoparticle probes onto the gap region in the presence of
      target biomolecules. Although this large conductance change could be advantageous
      in distinguishing signal on or off devices, since the extent of conductance
      change is quite irregular even at the same analyte concentrations, it fails to
      extract quantitative information from its level of conductance change. In other
      words, the conductance change of a single device does not reflect the
      concentration of the target molecule. In this study, we introduce an alternative
      approach of interpreting the concentration of target molecules using digital
      domain analysis of integrated nanogap devices, where the fraction of signal-on
      devices, or on-device-percentage (ODP), was translated into the concentration of
      the target molecule. The ODP was found to be closely related to the number
      density of the immobilized probes and, therefore, to be an excellent measure of
      the analyte concentration, which was demonstrated in the immuno-selective
      detection and quantification of influenza A hemagglutinin and prostate specific
      antigen.

PMID- 28609719
TI  - Near-infrared photoluminescence biosensing platform with gold nanorods-over
      gallium arsenide nanohorn array.
AB  - The near-infrared (NIR) optical detection of biomolecules with high sensitivity
      and reliability have been expected, however, it is still a challenge. In this
      work, we present a gold nanorods (AuNRs)-over-gallium arsenide nanohorn-like
      array (GaAs NHA) system that can be used for the ultrasensitive and specific NIR
      photoluminescence (PL) detection of DNA and proteins. The fabrication of GaAs NHA
      involved the technique of colloidal lithography and inductively coupled plasma
      dry etching, yielding large-area and well-defined nanostructural array, and
      exhibiting an improved PL emission compared to the planar GaAs substrate.
      Importantly, we found that the DNA-bridged AuNRs attachment on NHA could further
      improve the PL intensity from GaAs, and thereby provide the basis for the NIR
      optical sensing of biological analytes. We demonstrated that DNA and thrombin
      could be sensitively and specifically detected, with the detection limit of 1 pM
      for target DNA and 10 pM for thrombin. Such ultrasensitive NIR optical platform
      can extend to the detection of other biomarkers and is promising for clinical
      diagnostics.

PMID- 28609720
TI  - The integration of symbolic and non-symbolic representations of exact quantity in
      preschool children.
AB  - Preschoolers (n=62) completed tasks that tapped their knowledge of symbolic and
      non-symbolic exact quantities, their ability to translate among different
      representations of exact quantity (i.e., digits, number words, and non-symbolic
      quantities), and their non-symbolic, digit, and spoken number comparison skills
      (e.g., which is larger, 2 or 4?). As hypothesized, children's knowledge about non
      symbolic exact quantities, spoken number words, and digits predicted their
      ability to map between symbolic and non-symbolic exact quantities. Further, their
      knowledge of the mappings between digits and non-symbolic quantities predicted
      symbolic number comparison (i.e., of spoken number words or written digits).
      Mappings between written digits and non-symbolic exact quantities developed later
      than the other mappings. These results support a model of early number knowledge
      in which integration across symbolic and non-symbolic representations of exact
      quantity underlies the development of children's number comparison skills.

PMID- 28609721
TI  - Broken lives: Fights, fractures, and motor vehicle accidents among heroin users
      entering detoxification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The lives of persons who use illicit substances are filled with
      physical adversities and negative outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study
      was to determine: 1) the frequency of substance-related fights, fractures, and
      driving accidents in the past year among heroin users entering an inpatient
      detoxification program, and 2) to determine demographic and recent substance use
      factors associated with the most common of these physical traumas. METHODS:
      Between May 2015 and December 2015, we surveyed 433 persons entering a short-term
      inpatient detoxification program that reported heroin use in the last month and
      recorded their experiences of physical traumas in the last year. RESULTS: Among
      participants (72% male; 74% heroin injectors), more than a quarter (28.6%)
      reported a substance-related fight in the past year. Multivariate modeling
      revealed cocaine use, hazardous alcohol use, and younger age were significantly
      associated with fighting, but gender was not. Forty-five (10.4%) persons reported
      a fracture in the past year, with 64% of fractures related to a substance-related
      fall or fight. Additionally, 9.0% reported being a driver in a car accident after
      drinking or using drugs in the past year. Trauma rates were not significantly
      different from a contemporaneous cohort seeking alcohol detoxification at the
      same facility. CONCLUSION: Heroin users, both men and women, lead physically
      traumatic lives, interrupted by interpersonal violence, falls, fractures, and
      motor vehicle accidents.

PMID- 28609722
TI  - Examining the influence of adolescent marijuana use on adult intelligence:
      Further evidence in the causation versus spuriousness debate.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between
      adolescent marijuana use and adult intelligence, with some studies suggesting
      adolescent marijuana use can lead to declines in intelligence. The purpose of
      this study is to shed additional light on the potential link between marijuana
      use and changes in intelligence. METHODS: We employed change scores and ordinary
      least squares (OLS) analysis to test for associations between marijuana use and
      changes in intelligence scores from adolescence (ages 12-21) to adulthood (ages
      18-26) using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to
      Adult Health. RESULTS: The findings revealed that while a binary measure of
      marijuana use (ever/never) maintains a statistically significant association with
      changes in intelligence scores, the effect sizes are relatively small (beta=0.043
      0.051). Additionally, our findings did not reveal a significant association
      between cumulative marijuana use and changes in intelligence scores. CONCLUSIONS:
      Taken together, the results suggest that while the binary measure of marijuana
      use (ever/never) has a statistically significant association with changes in
      intelligence scores, the binary measure accounts for at most a 1-2 point change
      in intelligence scores.

PMID- 28609724
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of a two-item Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-2).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Drug use is prevalent and costly to society, but individuals with drug
      use disorders (DUDs) are under-diagnosed and under-treated, particularly in
      primary care (PC) settings. Drug screening instruments have been developed to
      identify patients with DUDs and facilitate treatment. The Drug Abuse Screening
      Test (DAST) is one of the most well-known drug screening instruments. However,
      similar to many such instruments, it is too long for routine use in busy PC
      settings. This study developed and validated a briefer and more practical DAST
      for busy PC settings. METHOD: We recruited 1300 PC patients in two Department of
      Veterans Affairs (VA) clinics. Participants responded to a structured diagnostic
      interview. We randomly selected half of the sample to develop and the other half
      to validate the new instrument. We employed signal detection techniques to select
      the best DAST items to identify DUDs (based on the MINI) and negative
      consequences of drug use (measured by the Inventory of Drug Use Consequences).
      Performance indicators were calculated. RESULTS: The two-item DAST (DAST-2) was
      97% sensitive and 91% specific for DUDs in the development sample and 95%
      sensitive and 89% specific in the validation sample. It was highly sensitive and
      specific for DUD and negative consequences of drug use in subgroups of patients,
      including gender, age, race/ethnicity, marital status, educational level, and
      posttraumatic stress disorder status. CONCLUSIONS: The DAST-2 is an appropriate
      drug screening instrument for routine use in PC settings in the VA and may be
      applicable in broader range of PC clinics.

PMID- 28609725
TI  - New insights on mitochondrial heterogeneity observed in prepared mitochondrial
      samples following a method for freeze-fracture and scanning electron microscopy.
AB  - Mitochondria are dynamic intracellular organelles with diverse roles in tissue-
      and cell type-specific processes, extending beyond bioenergetics. In keeping with
      this array of functions, mitochondria are described as heterogeneous both between
      and within tissue types based on multiple parameters, including a broad spectrum
      of morphological features, and new research points toward a need for the
      evaluation of mitochondria as isolated organelles. Although transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) is commonly used for the evaluation of mitochondria in tissues
      and renders mitochondrial structures in ultra-thin sections in two-dimensions,
      additional information regarding complex features within these organelles can be
      ascertained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which allows for analysis
      of phenotypic differences in three-dimensions. One challenge in producing
      mitochondrial images for evaluation of ultrastructure using SEM has been the
      ability to reliably visualize important intramitochondrial features, the inner
      membrane and cristae structures, on a large-scale (e.g. multiple mitochondria)
      within a sample preparation, as mitochondria are enclosed within a double
      membrane. This can be overcome using a 'freeze-fracture' technique in which
      mitochondrial preparations are snap-frozen followed by application of intense
      pressure to break open the organelles, revealing the intact components within.
      Previously published reports using freeze-fracture strategies for mitochondrial
      SEM have demonstrated feasibility in whole tissue specimens, but a detailed
      methodology for SEM analysis on isolated mitochondrial fractions has not been
      reported. By combining previously reported tissue freeze-fracture strategies,
      along with utilizing the depth of field created by SEM, herein we present a
      complete method reliant on the freeze-fracture of mitochondrial fractions
      prepared by differential centrifugation to produce a comprehensive and direct
      evaluation of three-dimensional mitochondrial ultrastructure by SEM. Image
      analysis of internal mitochondrial features demonstrates heterogeneity in
      mitochondrial ultrastructure from a single sample preparation.

PMID- 28609723
TI  - A rural/urban comparison of privacy and confidentiality concerns associated with
      providing sensitive location information in epidemiologic research involving
      persons who use drugs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Analyses that link contextual factors with individual-level data can
      improve our understanding of the "risk environment"; however, the accuracy of
      information provided by participants about locations where illegal/stigmatized
      behaviors occur may be influenced by privacy/confidentiality concerns that may
      vary by setting and/or data collection approach. METHODS: We recruited thirty
      five persons who use drugs from a rural Appalachian town and a Mid-Atlantic city
      to participate in in-depth interviews. Through thematic analyses, we identified
      and compared privacy/confidentiality concerns associated with two survey methods
      that (1) collect self-reported addresses/cross-streets and (2) use an interactive
      web-based map to find/confirm locations in rural and urban settings. RESULTS:
      Concerns differed more by setting than between methods. For example, (1) rural
      participants valued interviewer rapport and protections provided by the
      Certificate of Confidentiality more; (2) locations considered to be sensitive
      differed in rural (i.e., others' homes) and urban (i.e., where drugs were used)
      settings; and (3) urban participants were more likely to view providing cross
      streets as an acceptable alternative to providing exact addresses for sensitive
      locations and to prefer the web-based map approach. CONCLUSION: Rural-urban
      differences in privacy/confidentiality concerns reflect contextual differences
      (i.e., where drugs are used/purchased, population density, and prior drug-related
      arrests). Strategies to alleviate concerns include: (1) obtain a Certificate of
      Confidentiality, (2) collect geographic data at the scale necessary for proposed
      analyses, and (3) permit participants to provide intersections/landmarks in close
      proximity to actual locations rather than exact addresses or to skip questions
      where providing an intersection/landmark would not obfuscate the actual address.

PMID- 28609726
TI  - Removal of tetracycline from aqueous solution by MCM-41-zeolite A loaded nano
      zero valent iron: Synthesis, characteristic, adsorption performance and
      mechanism.
AB  - In this study, nano zero valent iron (NZVI) modified MCM-41-zeolite A (Fe-MCM-41
      A) composite as a novel adsorbent was prepared by precipitation method and
      applied for tetracycline (TC) removal from aqueous solution. The adsorbent was
      characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and N2-BET analysis. Hysteresis loops indicated
      that the sample has a desirable magnetic property and can be separated quickly.
      Adsorption studies were carried out to evaluate its potential for TC removal.
      Results showed that the optimal Fe-MCM-41-A dosage, initial pH and reaction time
      at initial TC concentration of 100mgL-1 solution are 1gL-1, pH=5, and 60 min
      respectively, at which the removal efficiency of TC was 98.7%. The TC adsorption
      results fitted the Langmuir isotherm model very well and the adsorption process
      could be described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. A maximum TC
      adsorption capacity of 526.32mgg-1 was achieved. This study demonstrates that Fe
      MCM-41-A is a promising and efficient material for TC adsorption from aqueous
      solution.

PMID- 28609727
TI  - Enhancing the soil heavy metals removal efficiency by adding HPMA and PBTCA along
      with plant washing agents.
AB  - Plant washing agents-water-extracted from Coriaria nepalensis (CN), Clematis
      brevicaudata (CB), Pistacia weinmannifolia (PW) and Ricinus communis (RC)-are
      feasible and eco-friendly for soil heavy metal removal, but their single
      application has limited removal efficiency. To improve their metal removal
      efficiencies, two biodegradable assistant agents, hydrolytic polymaleic anhydride
      (HPMA) and 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid (PBTCA), were investigated
      in combination with plant washing agents through batch soil washing experiments.
      Results showed that the addition of HPMA or PBTCA with plant agents greatly
      enhanced the removal efficiencies of soil heavy metals (p<0.05). Under acidic
      conditions, the maximum improvements in soil heavy metal removal reached 18.69%
      and 18.00% for soil Cd and Zn by PW+HPMA, respectively, and 12.89% for soil Pb by
      CN+HPMA. Under neutral or alkaline conditions, the largest improvements in soil
      Cd, Pb and Zn were 24.18%, 54.38% and 25.47% by PW+PBTCA, respectively. When
      compared with EDTA, the loss rates of soil nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
      significantly decreased (p<0.05) and the soil organic carbon significantly
      increased (p<0.05) after washing with the combinations. Hence, the addition of
      HPMA or PBTCA with the plant agents could improve the removal of soil heavy
      metals.

PMID- 28609728
TI  - Fabrication of novel g-C3N4 nanocrystals decorated Ag3PO4 hybrids: Enhanced
      charge separation and excellent visible-light driven photocatalytic activity.
AB  - Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanocrystals (NCs) decorated Ag3PO4 hybrids
      were synthesized by a facile method. The obtained samples were characterized by X
      ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron
      microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and UV-vis diffuse
      reflectance spectra (DRS). The SEM and TEM images showed that the as-prepared
      Ag3PO4 were composed of particles with diameters of 200-500nm, while the obtained
      nanocrystalline g-C3N4 were composed of smaller particles with average diameter
      of 10nm. For nanocrystalline g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 hybrids, the particle surfaces of
      Ag3PO4 were decorated with numerous g-C3N4 NCs, result in a larger contact area
      between g-C3N4 and Ag3PO4. The photocatalytic performances were evaluated by
      decomposing MO, phenol, bisphenol A, and RhB under visible light. Compared with
      Ag3PO4 and g-C3N4, the g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 hybrid (mass ratio=1:4) exhibited the best
      activity, which was much higher than that of bulk-g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 composite under
      the same conditions. The enhanced activities should be mainly ascribed to the
      enhanced separation efficiency of photo-generated carriers, which was proved by
      the photoluminescence (PL) spectra measurement. Controlled experiments proved
      that O2- and h+ played the chief role in the degradation process. A possible Z
      scheme degradation mechanism of organic contaminant over g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 hybrid was
      proposed.

PMID- 28609729
TI  - Reliability of pathogen control in direct potable reuse: Performance evaluation
      and QMRA of a full-scale 1 MGD advanced treatment train.
AB  - To safely progress toward direct potable reuse (DPR), it is essential to ensure
      that DPR systems can provide public health protection equivalent to or greater
      than that of conventional drinking water sources. This study collected data over
      a one-year period from a full-scale DPR demonstration facility, and used both
      performance distribution functions (PDFs) and quantitative microbial risk
      assessment (QMRA) to define and evaluate the reliability of the advanced water
      treatment facility (AWTF). The AWTF's ability to control enterovirus, Giardia,
      and Cryptosporidium was characterized using online monitoring of surrogates in a
      treatment train consisting of ozone, biological activated carbon,
      microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light with an advanced
      oxidation process. This process train was selected to improve reliability by
      providing redundancy, defined as the provision of treatment beyond the minimum
      needed to meet regulatory requirements. The PDFs demonstrated treatment that
      consistently exceeded the 12/10/10-log thresholds for virus, Giardia, and
      Cryptosporidium, as currently required for potable reuse in California (via
      groundwater recharge and surface water augmentation). Because no critical process
      failures impacted pathogen removal performance during the yearlong testing,
      hypothetical failures were incorporated into the analysis to understand the
      benefit of treatment redundancy on performance. Each unit process was modeled
      with a single failure per year lasting four different failure durations: 15 min,
      60 min, 8 h, and 24 h. QMRA was used to quantify the impact of failures on
      pathogen risk. The median annual risk of infection for Cryptosporidium was 4.9 *
      10-11 in the absence of failures, and reached a maximum of 1.1 * 10-5 assuming
      one 24-h failure per process per year. With the inclusion of free chlorine
      disinfection as part of the treatment process, enterovirus had a median annual
      infection risk of 1.5 * 10-14 (no failures) and a maximum annual value of 2.1 *
      10-5 (assuming one 24-h failure per year). Even with conservative failure
      assumptions, pathogen risk from this treatment train remains below the risk
      targets for both the U.S. (10-4 infections/person/year) and the WHO
      (approximately 10-3 infections/person/year, equivalent to 10-6 DALY/person/year),
      demonstrating the value of a failure prevention strategy based on treatment
      redundancy.

PMID- 28609730
TI  - Virus removal by ultrafiltration: Understanding long-term performance change by
      application of Bayesian analysis.
AB  - Ultrafiltration is an effective barrier to waterborne pathogens including
      viruses. Challenge testing is commonly used to test the inherent reliability of
      such systems. Performance validation seeks to demonstrate the adequate
      reliability of the treatment system. Appropriate and rigorous data analysis is an
      essential aspect of validation testing. In this study we used Bayesian analysis
      to assess the performance of a full-scale ultrafiltration system which was
      validated and revalidated after five years of operation. A hierarchical Bayesian
      model was used to analyse a number of similar ultrafiltration membrane skids
      working in parallel during the two validation periods. This approach enhanced our
      ability to obtain accurate estimations of performance variability, especially
      when the sample size of some system skids was limited. This methodology enabled
      the quantitative estimation of uncertainty in the performance parameters and
      generation of predictive distributions incorporating those uncertainties. The
      results indicated that there was a decrease in the mean skid performance after
      five years of operation of approximately 1 log reduction value (LRV).
      Interestingly, variability in the LRV also reduced, with standard deviations from
      the revalidation data being decreased by a mean 0.37 LRV compared with the
      original validation data. The model was also useful in comparing the operating
      performance of the various parallel skids within the same year. Evidence of
      differences was obtained in 2015 for one of the membrane skids. A hierarchical
      Bayesian analysis of validation data provides robust estimations of performance
      and the incorporation of probabilistic analysis which is increasingly important
      for comprehensive quantitative risk assessment purposes.

PMID- 28609731
TI  - Degradation of sulfamethoxazole using ozone and chlorine dioxide - Compound
      specific stable isotope analysis, transformation product analysis and mechanistic
      aspects.
AB  - The sulfonamide antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is a widely detected
      micropollutant in surface and groundwaters. Oxidative treatment with e.g. ozone
      or chlorine dioxide is regularly applied for disinfection purposes at the same
      time exhibiting a high potential for removal of micropollutants. Especially for
      nitrogen containing compounds such as SMX, the related reaction mechanisms are
      largely unknown. In this study, we systematically investigated reaction
      stoichiometry, product formation and reaction mechanisms in reactions of SMX with
      ozone and chlorine dioxide. To this end, the neutral and anionic SMX species,
      which may occur at typical pH-values of water treatment were studied. Two moles
      of chlorine dioxide and approximately three moles of ozone were consumed per mole
      SMX degraded. Oxidation of SMX with ozone and chlorine dioxide leads in both
      cases to six major transformation products (TPs) as revealed by high-resolution
      mass spectrometry (HRMS). Tentatively formulated TP structures from other studies
      could partly be confirmed by compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA).
      However, for one TP, a hydroxylated SMX, it was not possible by HRMS alone to
      identify whether hydroxylation occurred at the aromatic ring, as suggested in
      literature before, or at the anilinic nitrogen. By means of CSIA and an
      analytical standard it was possible to identify sulfamethoxazole hydroxylamine
      unequivocally as one of the TPs of the reaction of SMX with ozone as well as with
      chlorine dioxide. H-abstraction and electron transfer at the anilinic nitrogen
      are suggested as likely initial reactions of ozone and chlorine dioxide,
      respectively, leading to its formation. Oxidation of anionic SMX with ozone did
      not show any significant isotopic fractionation whereas the other reactions
      studied resulted in a significant carbon isotope fractionation.

PMID- 28609732
TI  - Gaseous emissions and modification of slurry composition during storage and after
      field application: Effect of slurry additives and mechanical separation.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of slurry treatment by additives
      (EU200(r) (EU200), Bio-buster(r) (BB), JASS(r) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4)) and
      mechanical separation on the physical-chemical characteristics, gaseous emissions
      (NH3, CH4, CO2 and N2O) during anaerobic storage at ~20  degrees C (experiment 1)
      and NH3 losses after field application (experiment 2). The treatments studied in
      experiment 1 were: whole slurry (WS), WS+H2SO4 to a pH of 6.0, WS+EU200 and
      WS+BB. Treatments for experiment 2 were: WS, slurry liquid fraction (LF),
      composted solid fraction (CSF), LFs treated with BB (LFB), JASS(r) (LFJ), H2SO4
      to a pH of 5.5 (LFA) and soil only (control). The results showed an inhibition of
      the degradation of organic materials (cellulose, hemicellulose, dry matter
      organic matter and total carbon) in the WS+H2SO4 relative to the WS. When
      compared to the WS, the WS+H2SO4 increased electrical conductivity, ammonium
      (NH4+) and sulphur (S) concentrations whilst reducing slurry pH after storage.
      The WS+H2SO4 reduced NH3 volatilization by 69% relative to the WS but had no
      effect on emissions of CH4, CO2 and N2O during storage. Biological additive
      treatments (WS+EU200 and WS+BB) had no impact on slurry characteristics and
      gaseous emissions relative to the WS during storage. After field application, the
      cumulative NH3 lost in the LF was almost 50% lower than the WS. The losses in the
      LFA were reduced by 92% relative to the LF. The LFB and LFJ had no impact on NH3
      losses relative to the LF. A significant effect of treatment on NH4+
      concentration was found at the top soil layer (0-5 cm) after NH3 measurements
      with higher concentrations in the LF treatments relative to the WS. Overall, the
      use of the above biological additives to decrease pollutant gases and to modify
      slurry characteristics are questionable. Reducing slurry dry matter through
      mechanical separation can mitigate NH3 losses after field application. Slurry
      acidification can increase the fertilizer value (NH4+ and S) of slurry whilst
      mitigating the environmental impacts through a decrease in NH3 losses during
      storage and after application.

PMID- 28609733
TI  - A novel approach for acid mine drainage pollution biomonitoring using rare earth
      elements bioaccumulated in the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea.
AB  - Lanthanide series have been used as a record of the water-rock interaction and
      work as a tool for identifying impacts of acid mine drainage (lixiviate residue
      derived from sulphide oxidation). The application of North-American Shale
      Composite-normalized rare earth elements patterns to these minority elements
      allows determining the origin of the contamination. In the current study,
      geochemical patterns were applied to rare earth elements bioaccumulated in the
      soft tissue of the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea after exposure to different
      acid mine drainage contaminated environments. Results show significant
      bioaccumulation of rare earth elements in soft tissue of the clam after 14 days
      of exposure to acid mine drainage contaminated sediment (SigmaREE=1.3-8MUg/gdw).
      Furthermore, it was possible to biomonitor different degrees of contamination
      based on rare earth elements in tissue. The pattern of this type of contamination
      describes a particular curve characterized by an enrichment in the middle rare
      earth elements; a homologous pattern (EMREE=0.90) has also been observed when
      applied NASC normalization in clam tissues. Results of lanthanides found in clams
      were contrasted with the paucity of toxicity studies, determining risk caused by
      light rare earth elements in the Odiel River close to the Estuary. The current
      study purposes the use of clam as an innovative "bio-tool" for the biogeochemical
      monitoring of pollution inputs that determines the acid mine drainage networks
      affection.

PMID- 28609734
TI  - Assessment of treatment patterns and healthcare costs associated with probable
      Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
AB  - Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a chronic and severe form of epilepsy
      characterized by intractable seizures, cognitive impairment, and abnormal
      electroencephalogram findings with slow spike-wave complexes. It typically
      presents before age 8, but symptoms continue into adulthood and require lifelong
      treatment associated with significant clinical burden. Data on LGS-associated
      healthcare utilization and costs are limited. In this study we use a claims-based
      LGS classifier based on random forest methodology to identify patients with
      probable LGS from the a Medicaid multi-state database and assess its prevalence
      across the age spectrum, healthcare utilization, treatment patterns, costs, and
      comorbid conditions. The classifier identified patients with probable LGS across
      all ages, with up to 8% of 10-year-old patients with epilepsy identified as
      having probable LGS. The prevalence of probable LGS was lower in older age
      cohorts, indicating that it may be under-recognized in older patients. Our
      analysis showed that probable LGS is associated with considerably higher total
      healthcare and medical costs than non-LGS patients. The costs were generally
      consistent between age cohorts, suggesting that the cost burden extends beyond
      childhood and has a lifelong impact. Analysis of treatment patterns suggest that
      while the majority of probable LGS patients in this study received widest
      spectrum AEDs, a considerable proportion did not and therefore may have been
      inadequately treated. Further, usage of clobazam and rufinamide was decreased in
      older compared to younger patient cohorts, indicating that older patient cohorts
      are less likely to be receiving optimum treatment for LGS. These findings
      indicate the need for increased clinical attention to LGS beyond pediatric years,
      with a focus on optimization of treatment for LGS patients of all ages with
      widest-spectrum AEDs. Timely recognition and adequate treatment of LGS are likely
      to result in improved outcomes and less costly management of this condition.

PMID- 28609735
TI  - Typical winter haze pollution in Zibo, an industrial city in China:
      Characteristics, secondary formation, and regional contribution.
AB  - Heavy haze pollution occurs frequently in northern China, most critically in the
      Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area (BTH). Zibo, an industrial city located in Shandong
      province, is often listed as one of the top ten most polluted cities in China,
      particularly in winter. However, no studies of haze in Zibo have been conducted,
      which limits the understanding of the source and formation of haze pollution in
      this area, as well as mutual effects with the BTH area. We carried out online and
      continuous integrated field observation of particulate matter in winter, from 11
      to 25 January 2015. SO42-, NO3-, and NH4+ (SIA) and organics were the main
      constituents of PM2.5, contributing 59.4% and 33.6%, respectively. With the
      increasing severity of pollution, the contribution of SIA increased while that of
      organics decreased. Meteorological conditions play an important role in haze
      formation; high relative humidity (RH) and low wind speed increased both the
      accumulation of pollutants and the secondary transition from gas precursors (gas
      particle phase partitioning). Since RH and the presence of O3 can indicate
      heterogeneous and photochemistry processes, respectively, we carried out
      correlation analysis and linear regression to identify their relative importance
      to the three main secondary species (sulfate, nitrate, and secondary organic
      carbon (SOC)). We found that the impact of RH is in the order of SO42- > NO3- >
      SOC, while the impact of O3 is reversed, in the order of SOC > NO3- > SO42-,
      indicating different effect of these factors on the secondary formation of main
      species in winter. Cluster analysis of backward trajectories showed that, during
      the observation period, six directional sources of air masses were identified,
      and more than 90% came from highly industrialized areas, indicating that regional
      transport from industrialized areas aggravates the haze pollution in Zibo. Inter
      regional joint prevention and control is necessary to prevent further
      deterioration of the air quality.

PMID- 28609736
TI  - Effects of continental anthropogenic sources on organic aerosols in the coastal
      atmosphere of East China.
AB  - Although organic compounds in marine atmospheric aerosols have significant
      effects on climate and marine ecosystems, they have rarely been studied,
      especially in the coastal regions of East China. To assess the origins of the
      organic aerosols in the East China coastal atmosphere, PM2.5 samples were
      collected from the atmospheres of the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and
      Changdao Island during the CAPTAIN (Campaign of Air PolluTion At INshore Areas of
      Eastern China) field campaign in the spring of 2011. The marine atmospheric
      aerosol samples that were collected were grouped based on the backward
      trajectories of their air masses. The organic carbon concentrations in the PM2.5
      samples from the marine and Changdao Island atmospheres were 5.5 +/- 3.1 MUgC/m3
      and 6.9 +/- 2.4 MUgC/m3, respectively, which is higher than in other coastal
      water atmospheres. The concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
      in the marine atmospheric PM2.5 samples was 17.0 +/- 20.2 ng/m3, indicating
      significant continental anthropogenic influences. The influences of fossil fuels
      and biomass burning on the composition of organic aerosols in the coastal
      atmosphere of East China were found to be highly dependent on the origins of the
      air masses. Diesel combustion had a strong impact on air masses from the Yangtze
      River Delta (YRD), and gasoline emissions had a more significant impact on the
      "North China" marine atmospheric samples. The "Northeast China" marine
      atmospheric samples were most impacted by biomass burning. Coal combustion
      contributed significantly to the compositions of all of the atmospheric samples.
      The proportions of secondary compounds increased as samples aged in the marine
      atmosphere indicating that photochemical oxidation occured during transport. Our
      results quantified ecosystem effects on marine atmospheric aerosols and
      highlighted the uncertainties that arise when modeling marine atmospheric PM2.5
      without considering high spatial resolution source data and meteorological
      parameters.

PMID- 28609737
TI  - Enantioselective uptake, translocation and degradation of the chiral pesticides
      tebuconazole and imazalil by Phragmites australis.
AB  - Phytoremediation of realistic environmental concentrations (10 MUg L-1) of the
      chiral pesticides tebuconazole and imazalil by Phragmites australis was
      investigated. This study focussed on removal dynamics, enantioselective
      mechanisms and transformation products (TPs) in both hydroponic growth solutions
      and plant tissues. For the first time, we documented uptake, translocation and
      metabolisation of these pesticides inside wetland plants, using enantioselective
      analysis. Tebuconazole and imazalil removal efficiencies from water reached 96.1%
      and 99.8%, respectively, by the end of the experiment (day 24). Removal from the
      solutions could be described by first-order removal kinetics with removal rate
      constants of 0.14 d-1 for tebuconazole and 0.31 d-1 for imazalil. Removal of the
      pesticides from the hydroponic solution, plant uptake, within plant translocation
      and degradation occurred simultaneously. Tebuconazole and imazalil concentrations
      inside Phragmites peaked at day 10 and 5d, respectively, and decreased
      thereafter. TPs of tebuconazole i.e., (5-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,2-dimethyl-3-(1H
      1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)-1,3-pentanediol and 5-(3-((1H-1,2,4-Triazol-1
      yl)methyl)-3-hydroxy-4,4-dimethylpentyl)-2-chlorophenol) were quantified in
      solution, while the imazalil TPs (alpha-(2,4-Dichlorophenyl)-1H-imidazole-1
      ethanol and 3-[1-(2,4-Dichlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethoxy]-1,2
      propanediol) were quantified in both solution and plant tissue. Pesticide uptake
      by Phragmites was positively correlated with evapotranspiration. Pesticide
      removal from the hydroponic solution was not enantioselective. However,
      tebuconazole was degraded enantioselectively both in the roots and shoots.
      Imazalil translocation and degradation inside Phragmites were also
      enantioselective: R-imazalil translocated faster than S-imazalil.

PMID- 28609738
TI  - Adsorption of dyes on the surface of polymer nanocomposites modified with
      methylamine and copper(II) chloride.
AB  - Polymer nanocomposite was prepared by the conventional sol-gel method using
      formaldehyde and resorcinol. The surface of the nanocomposite was functionalized
      with methylamine. Some of the samples were additionally impregnated with
      copper(II) chloride. All the materials obtained were characterized by FT-IR
      spectroscopy, low-temperature nitrogen sorption, thermal and elemental analysis.
      The samples modified with amine groups had lower surface areas and smaller pore
      volumes than the pure nanocomposite. The modification with methylamine and
      copper(II) chloride led to increased content of both acidic and basic oxygen
      functional groups. All materials were tested for the removal of rhodamine B and
      sunset yellow FCF from the liquid phase. The sorption capacities of the samples
      studied towards rhodamine B (140-208mg/g) were higher than their maximum
      capacities towards sunset yellow FCF (58-105mg/g). The most effective adsorbent
      of the dyes was the material modified with amine groups and copper(II) chloride.
      Thermodynamic study showed that the adsorption of the dyes was a spontaneous and
      endothermic process. The character of adsorption of sunset yellow FCF and
      rhodamine B on the composite materials studied could be described by the Langmuir
      type isotherm.

PMID- 28609739
TI  - Construction of fiber-shaped silver oxide/tantalum nitride p-n heterojunctions as
      highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts.
AB  - Constructing novel and efficient p-n heterojunction photocatalysts has stimulated
      great interest. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of fiber-shaped
      Ag2O/Ta3N5p-n heterojunctions as a kind of efficient photocatalysts. Ta3N5
      nanofibers were prepared by an electrospinning-calcination-nitridation method,
      and then the in-situ anchoring of Ag2O on their surfaces was realized by a facile
      deposition method. The resulting Ag2O/Ta3N5 heterojunctions were comprised of
      porous Ta3N5 nanofibers (diameter: ~150nm) and Ag2O nanoparticles (size: ~12nm).
      The photocatalytic activity of these heterojunctions were studied by decomposing
      rhodamine B (RhB) dye and tetracycline (TC) antibiotic under visible light
      (lambda>400nm). In all the samples, the heterojunction with Ag2O/Ta3N5 molar
      ratio of 0.2/1 displays the best activity. It is found that a synergistic effect
      contributes to the effective suppression of charges recombination between Ta3N5
      and Ag2O, leading to an enhanced photocatalytic activity with good stability. The
      photogenerated holes (h+) and superoxide radicals (O2-) play dominant roles in
      the photocatalytic process. These p-n heterojunctions will have great potential
      for environmental remediation because of the facile preparation process and
      exceptional photocatalytic activity.

PMID- 28609740
TI  - Enhanced photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on nickel
      oxide supported on nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposite as a photoanode.
AB  - We applied the nitrogen-doped graphene@nickel oxide (NGE/NiO) nanocomposite doped
      TiO2 as a photo-anode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) on fluorine-doped
      tin oxide (FTO) substrates by screen printing method. Power conversion efficiency
      (PCE) of 9.75% was achieved for this DSSCs device, which is greater than that of
      DSSCs devices using GO/TiO2, and NiO/TiO2 based photo-anodes (PCE=8.55, and
      9.11%). Also, the fill factor (FF) of the DSSCs devices using the NGE/NiO/TiO2
      nanocomposite photo-anode was better than that of other photo-anodes. The
      NGE/NiO/TiO2 short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) of 19.04mAcm-2, open
      circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.76V, fill factor (FF) of 0.67 and dye absorption rate
      0.21*10-6molcm-2. The obtained results suggest that as-prepared NGE/NiO/TiO2
      nanocomposite is suitable photo-anode for DSSCs application.

PMID- 28609741
TI  - Electrocatalytic activity of manganese oxide nanosphere immobilized onto
      deoxyribonucleic acid modified electrode: Application to determine environmental
      pollutant thiourea at natural pH.
AB  - Based on immobilizing manganese oxide nanospheres (MnOxNsph)/deoxyribonucleic
      (DNA) on glassy carbon electrode (MnOxNsph/DNA/GCE), a new electrochemical
      biosensor for the detection of thiourea (TU) was fabricated. In order to prepare
      DNA template, cyclic voltammetry (CV) method was used. Scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM) was used for characterization of MnOx/DNA. Electrochemical
      impedance spectroscopy was utilized to confirm the successful stepwise assembly
      procedure of the biosensor. The electrocatalytical behaviors of the biosensor
      were also investigated by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry
      (DPV). The results showed that MnOxNsph/DNA exhibited a remarkable
      electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of TU under optimal conditions. The
      linear range, detection of limit and sensitivity were calculated for oxidation
      peaks (OX1 and OX2). This electrode demonstrated many advantages such as high
      sensitivity, low detection of limit, excellent catalytic activity at natural pH
      values, remarkable antifouling property toward TU and its oxidation product for
      the two oxidation peaks.

PMID- 28609742
TI  - Investigation of anti-solvent induced optical properties change of cesium lead
      bromide iodide mixed perovskite (CsPbBr3-xIx) quantum dots.
AB  - Cesium lead halide (CsPbX3, X=Cl, Br, I) perovskites are a new material system
      that has attracted a lot of research focus. Its tunable band gap and better
      thermal stability than organic lead halide perovskite give it the potential for
      applications in optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar
      cells. Here we have synthesized CsPbBr3-xIx perovskite quantum dots (QDs) via a
      solution process, and then have selected three different anti-solvents to purify
      the product. A significant effect on optical properties of CsPbBr3-xIx was found
      after the centrifugation process. Up to a ~40nm shift was observed in mixed
      halide CsPbBr3-xIx QDs in both absorbance and PL spectra after purification while
      there was no obvious change in pure CsPbBr3 when it was subjected to the same
      purification steps. XPS analysis shows that the Br:I ratio of the CsPbBr3-xIx QDs
      had changed as a result of exposure to the anti-solvent, causing the change of
      the band gap and shift of the spectra. It is also shown that iodine can be
      removed more easily than bromine during the anti-solvent purification. Ab-initio
      simulations of small CsPbBr3-xIx atomic clusters suggest that exposed Cs ions on
      Cs-terminated facets are the first species to be attacked by hydrophilic
      molecules, likely dragging halide ions into solution with them to maintain
      overall charge neutrality in the material. Charge carrier recombination rates
      were found to be unchanged and all samples maintained a good PL quantum yield
      which was more than 44%.

PMID- 28609743
TI  - Facile synthesis of self-assembled ultrathin alpha-FeOOH nanorod/graphene oxide
      composites for supercapacitors.
AB  - A one-pot facile, impurity-free hydrothermal method to synthesize ultrathin alpha
      FeOOH nanorods/graphene oxide (GO) composites is reported. It is directly
      synthesized from GO and iron acetate in water solution without inorganic or
      organic additives. XRD, Raman, FT-IR, XPS and TEM are used to characterize the
      samples. The nanorods in composites are single crystallite with an average
      diameter of 6nm and an average length of 75nm, which are significantly smaller
      than GO-free alpha-FeOOH nanorods. This can be attributed to the confinement
      effect and special electronic influence of GO. The influences of experimental
      conditions including reaction time and reactant concentration on the sizes of
      nanorods have been investigated. It reveals that the initial Fe2+ concentration
      and reaction time play an important role in the synthetic process. Furthermore, a
      possible nucleation-growth mechanism is proposed. As electrode materials for
      supercapacitors, the alpha-FeOOH nanorods/GO composite with 20% iron loading has
      the largest specific capacitance (127Fg-1 at 10Ag-1), excellent rate capability
      (100Fg-1 at 20Ag-1) and good cyclic performance (85% capacitance retention after
      2000 cycles), which is much better than GO-free alpha-FeOOH nanorods. This unique
      structure results in rapid electrolyte ions diffusion, fast electron transport
      and high charging-discharging rate. In virtue of the superior electrochemical
      performance, the alpha-FeOOH nanorods/GO composite material has a promising
      application in high-performance supercapacitors.

PMID- 28609744
TI  - A whole-cell bioreporter assay for quantitative genotoxicity evaluation of
      environmental samples.
AB  - Whole-cell bioreporters have emerged as promising tools for genotoxicity
      evaluation, due to their rapidity, cost-effectiveness, sensitivity and
      selectivity. In this study, a method for detecting genotoxicity in environmental
      samples was developed using the bioluminescent whole-cell bioreporter Escherichia
      coli recA::luxCDABE. To further test its performance in a real world scenario,
      the E. coli bioreporter was applied in two cases: i) soil samples collected from
      chromium(VI) contaminated sites; ii) crude oil contaminated seawater collected
      after the Jiaozhou Bay oil spill which occurred in 2013. The chromium(VI)
      contaminated soils were pretreated by water extraction, and directly exposed to
      the bioreporter in two phases: aqueous soil extraction (water phase) and soil
      supernatant (solid phase). The results indicated that both extractable and soil
      particle fixed chromium(VI) were bioavailable to the bioreporter, and the solid
      phase contact bioreporter assay provided a more precise evaluation of soil
      genotoxicity. For crude oil contaminated seawater, the response of the
      bioreporter clearly illustrated the spatial and time change in genotoxicity
      surrounding the spill site, suggesting that the crude oil degradation process
      decreased the genotoxic risk to ecosystem. In addition, the performance of the
      bioreporter was simulated by a modified cross-regulation gene expression model,
      which quantitatively described the DNA damage response of the E. coli
      bioreporter. Accordingly, the bioluminescent response of the bioreporter was
      calculated as the mitomycin C equivalent, enabling quantitative comparison of
      genotoxicities between different environmental samples. This bioreporter assay
      provides a rapid and sensitive screening tool for direct genotoxicity assessment
      of environmental samples.

PMID- 28609745
TI  - Bacteria immobilized electrospun polycaprolactone and polylactic acid fibrous
      webs for remediation of textile dyes in water.
AB  - In this study, preparation and application of novel biocomposite materials for
      textile dye removal which are produced by immobilization of specific bacteria
      onto electrospun nanofibrous webs are presented. A textile dye remediating
      bacterial isolate, Clavibacter michiganensis, was selected for bacterial
      immobilization, a commercial reactive textile dye, Setazol Blue BRF-X, was
      selected as the target contaminant, and electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) and
      polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibrous polymeric webs were selected for bacterial
      integration. Bacterial adhesion onto nanofibrous webs was monitored by scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and optical density (OD) measurements were
      performed for the detached bacteria. After achieving sufficient amounts of
      immobilized bacteria on electrospun nanofibrous webs, equivalent web samples were
      utilized for testing the dye removal capabilities. Both bacteria/PCL and
      bacteria/PLA webs have shown efficient remediation of Setazol Blue BRF-X dye
      within 48 h at each tested concentration (50, 100 and 200 mg/L), and their
      removal performances were very similar to the free-bacteria cells. The bacteria
      immobilized webs were then tested for five times of reuse at an initial dye
      concentration of 100 mg/L, and found as potentially reusable with higher
      bacterial immobilization and faster dye removal capacities at the end of the
      test. Overall, these findings suggest that electrospun nanofibrous webs are
      available platforms for bacterial integration and the bacteria immobilized webs
      can be used as starting inocula for use in remediation of textile dyes in
      wastewater systems.

PMID- 28609746
TI  - Biodegradation of hydrocarbon mixtures in surface waters at environmentally
      relevant levels - Effect of inoculum origin on kinetics and sequence of
      degradation.
AB  - Biodegradation is a dominant removal process for many organic pollutants, and
      biodegradation tests serve as tools for assessing their environmental fate within
      regulatory risk assessment. In simulation tests, the inoculum is not
      standardized, varying in microbial quantity and quality, thereby potentially
      impacting the observed biodegradation kinetics. In this study we investigated the
      effect of inoculum origin on the biodegradation kinetics of hydrocarbons for five
      inocula from surface waters varying in urbanization and thus expected pre
      exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons. A new biodegradation method for testing
      mixtures of hydrophobic chemicals at trace concentrations was demonstrated:
      Aqueous solutions containing 9 hydrocarbons were generated by passive dosing and
      diluted with surface water resulting in test systems containing native
      microorganisms exposed to test substances at ng-MUg/L levels. Automated Headspace
      Solid Phase Microextraction coupled to GC-MS was applied directly to these test
      systems to determine substrate depletion relative to abiotic controls. Lag phases
      were generally less than 8 days. First order rate constants were within one order
      of magnitude for each hydrocarbon in four of the five waters but lower in water
      from a rural lake. The sequence of degradation between the 9 hydrocarbons showed
      similar patterns in the five waters indicating the potential for using selected
      hydrocarbons for benchmarking between biodegradation tests. Degradation half
      times were shorter than or within one order of magnitude of BioHCwin predictions
      for 8 of 9 hydrocarbons. These results showed that location choice is important
      for biodegradation kinetics and can provide a relevant input to aquatic exposure
      and fate models.

PMID- 28609747
TI  - The enhancement roles of layered double hydroxide on the reductive immobilization
      of selenate by nanoscale zero valent iron: Macroscopic and microscopic
      approaches.
AB  - Herein, we utilized nanoscale zero-valent iron loaded on layered double hydroxide
      (NZVI/LDH) to immobilize Se(VI) and evaluated the enhancement role of LDH in the
      NZVI reaction system. The structural characterization indicated that LDH could
      stabilize and disperse NZVI as well as prevent NZVI from oxidation, thereby
      increasing iron reactivity. Batch experiments displayed that, compared with those
      by NZVI, both extent and rate of Se(VI) immobilized by NZVI/LDH significantly
      increased, owing to the prominent synergistic effect ascribing from adsorption
      and reduction. Kinetics studies under a series of conditions showed that Se(VI)
      reaction could be well described by pseudo first-order model. The performance of
      Se(VI) immobilization was inhibited to a considerable extent by most of co
      existing ions, Nevertheless, the presence of Cu2+ improved performance of
      NZVI/LDH due to its role as a catalyst or medium of charge transfer during
      reduction. XANES revealed that LDH acted as a promoter for complete reduction of
      Se(VI) into Se(0)/Se(-II) over a wide pH range, whereas EXAFS suggested that LDH
      acted as a scavenger for insoluble products, making more reactive sites exposure
      to Se(VI) for reduction. These results suggested that NZVI/LDH as a promising
      candidate exhibited potential application in remediation of wastewaters
      containing Se(VI).

PMID- 28609748
TI  - Neighborhood characteristics and prescription drug misuse among adolescents: The
      importance of social disorganization and social capital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prior research on prescription drug misuse has focused on identifying
      individual risk factors. While a few studies examine differences in misuse based
      on geographic residence, there is a lack of research that examines the relevance
      of neighbourhood characteristics. METHODS: The current research used data from
      the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, a sample of respondents that
      was generalizable to the non-institutionalised population of the United States.
      Logistic regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between
      neighbourhood characteristics (e.g., social disorganisation, social capital, and
      social participation) and prescription drug misuse (e.g., any misuse, pain
      reliever misuse, sedative/tranquiliser misuse, and stimulant misuse) among
      adolescent respondents ages 12-17. RESULTS: Findings show that neighbourhood
      characteristics were significantly associated with any prescription drug misuse
      and also the misuse of prescription opioids. Adolescents in socially disorganised
      neighbourhoods and also those in neighbourhoods with lower levels of social
      capital were more likely to report prescription drug misuse. Interestingly,
      adolescents with greater levels of social participation were more likely to
      report prescription drug misuse. CONCLUSION: These findings were largely
      consistent with prior research examining the significance of neighbourhood
      characteristics in relation to crime and deviance. In order to adequately address
      the ongoing prescription drug epidemic in the United States, policy makers must
      address the neighbourhood characteristics that are known to be associated with
      prescription drug misuse.

PMID- 28609749
TI  - Fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose in opioid dependent patients treated with
      methadone, buprenorphine or implant naltrexone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Illicit opioid use is associated with high rates of fatal and non
      fatal opioid overdose. This study aims to compare rates of fatal and serious but
      non-fatal opioid overdose in opioid dependent patients treated with methadone,
      buprenorphine or implant naltrexone, and to identify risk factors for fatal
      opioid overdose. METHODS: Opioid dependent patients treated with methadone
      (n=3515), buprenorphine (n=3250) or implant naltrexone (n=1461) in Western
      Australia for the first time between 2001 and 2010, were matched against state
      mortality and hospital data. Rates of fatal and non-fatal serious opioid
      overdoses were calculated and compared for the three treatments. Risk factors
      associated with fatal opioid overdose were examined using multivariate cox
      proportional hazard models. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed
      between the three groups in terms of crude rates of fatal or non-fatal opioid
      overdoses. During the first 28days of treatment, rates of non-fatal opioid
      overdose were high in all three groups, as were fatal opioid overdoses in
      patients treated with methadone. However, no fatal opioid overdoses were observed
      in buprenorphine or naltrexone patients during this period. Following the first
      28 days, buprenorphine was shown to be protective, particularly in terms of non
      fatal opioid overdoses. After the cessation of treatment, rates of fatal and non
      fatal opioid overdoses were similar between the groups, with the exception of
      lower rates of non-fatal opioid overdose in the naltrexone treated patients
      compared with the methadone treated patients. After the commencement of
      treatment, gender, and hospitalisations with a diagnosis of opioid poisoning,
      cardiovascular or mental health problems were significant predictors of
      subsequent fatal opioid overdose. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of fatal and non-fatal
      opioid overdose were not significantly different in patients treated with
      methadone, buprenorphine or implant naltrexone. Gender and prior cause-specific
      hospitalisations can be used to identify patients at a high risk of fatal opioid
      overdose.

PMID- 28609750
TI  - Association of plasma CD40L with acute chest syndrome in sickle cell anemia.
AB  - Platelet activation and platelet-derived cytokines contribute to the vascular
      inflammation and increased thrombotic activity known to occur in patients with
      sickle cell anemia (SCA). CD40 ligand (CD40L), a platelet-associated pro
      inflammatory molecule that promotes endothelial cell activation, is elevated in
      the circulation of SCA patients. We sought to evaluate the association of CD40L
      and inflammation with sickle-related clinical complications and laboratory
      variables in SCA patients. Soluble CD40L, thrombospondin (TSP)-1 and tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were determined in the platelet-poor plasma of
      healthy individuals and steady-state SCA patients by ELISA. Lifetime clinical
      complications were verified by detailed review of patients' medical records. We
      found that plasma CD40L was associated with acute chest syndrome (ACS), and that
      SCA patients with a lifetime history of ACS (ACS+) presented significantly higher
      plasma CD40L and TSP-1 than patients who had never experienced ACS (ACS-). In the
      ACS+ group, both platelet-derived proteins (CD40L and TSP-1) correlated with mean
      corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and reticulocyte hemoglobin,
      while in the ACS- group, CD40L correlated with low red blood cell counts,
      hemoglobin, hematocrit and lactate dehydrogenase, and TSP-1 correlated with
      reticulocyte percentage and white blood cell count. As expected, CD40L and TSP-1
      correlated with platelet counts in both groups. These data highlight the possible
      role of platelet activation in ACS and suggest that plasma sCD40L, together with
      TSP-1, may represent a potential marker of susceptibility to ACS in SCA.

PMID- 28609751
TI  - Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage lead to systemic upregulation of IL-23/IL-17
      inflammatory axis.
AB  - : IL-23 and IL-17 are pro-inflammatory cytokines. IL-23 is secreted by activated
      macrophages and dendritic cells, while IL-17 by Th17 cells. Serum IL-23 and IL-17
      are known to be elevated in numerous inflammatory diseases including
      neurodegenerative diseases. The role of serum IL-23 and IL-17 in aneurysmal
      subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) has still not been investigated. The present work
      investigates the serum IL-23 and IL-17 levels and their association with post
      hemorrhagic complications and clinical outcome in patients with aSAH. METHODS: In
      this study, 80 patients with aSAH (Hunt and Hess grade I-V) were prospectively
      recruited. We enrolled 24 control patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.
      Peripheral venous blood was withdrawn from controls and from aSAH patients at day
      1 and day 7, allowed to clot and centrifuged to obtain serum. Enzyme linked
      immunoassay kits were employed to quantify the serum levels of IL-23 and IL-17 by
      applying 50uL of serum samples. Post hemorrhagic complications and clinical
      outcome were documented prospectively from patient's hospital record. RESULTS:
      Serum IL-23 and IL-17 levels were significantly elevated in aSAH patients at day
      1 and day 7 (n=80) as compared to control patients (n=24). Further analysis after
      dichotomy of patients who suffered from post hemorrhagic complications including
      cerebral vasospasm, chronic hydrocephalus, seizures, cerebral ischemia, delayed
      neurological deficits showed differential correlations with different post
      hemorrhagic complications (Table 1). Serum IL-23 and IL-17 levels did not
      correlate with clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Serum IL-23 and IL-17 levels were
      elevated in patients with aSAH showing upregulation of IL-23/IL-17 inflammatory
      axis after aSAH. Serum IL-23 and IL-17 showed differential correlations with post
      hemorrhagic complications and no correlation with clinical outcome.

PMID- 28609752
TI  - Bioconversion of mixed volatile fatty acids into microbial lipids by Cryptococcus
      curvatus ATCC 20509.
AB  - The oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus curvatus ATCC 20509 can use 5-40g/L of acetic,
      propionic, or butyric acid as sole carbon source to produce lipids. High
      concentrations (30g/L) of mixed volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were used to
      cultivate C. curvatus to explore the effects of different ratios of mixed VFAs on
      lipid production and composition. When mixed VFAs (VFA ratio was 15:5:10) were
      used as carbon sources, the highest cell mass and lipid concentration were
      8.68g/L and 4.93g/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than those
      when 30g/L of acetic acid was used as sole carbon source. The highest content and
      yield of odd-numbered fatty acids were 45.1% (VFA ratio was 0:15:15) and 1.62g/L
      (VFA ratio was 5:15:10), respectively. These results indicate that adjusting the
      composition ratios of mixed VFAs effectively improves microbial lipid synthesis
      and the yield of odd-numbered fatty acids.

PMID- 28609753
TI  - Alteration of white-rot basidiomycetes cellulase and xylanase activities in the
      submerged co-cultivation and optimization of enzyme production by Irpex lacteus
      and Schizophyllum commune.
AB  - Mono and dual cultures of four white-rot basidiomycete species were evaluated for
      cellulase and xylanase activity under submerged fermentation conditions. Co
      cultivation of Pycnoporus coccineus or Trametes hirsuta with Schizophyllum
      commune displayed antagonistic interactions resulting in the decrease of
      endoglucanase and total cellulase activities. In contrast, increases in cellulase
      and xylanase activity were revealed through the compatible interactions of Irpex
      lacteus with S. commune. Co-cultivation conditions were optimized for maximum
      enzyme production by I. lacteus and S. commune, the best producers of
      cellulase/xylanase and beta-glucosidase, respectively. An optimized medium for
      the target enzyme production by the mixed culture was established in a laboratory
      fermenter yielding 7U/mL total cellulase, 142U/mL endoglucanase, 104U/mL
      xylanase, and 5.2U/mL beta-glucosidase. The dual culture approach resulted in an
      enzymatic mixture with 11% improved lignocellulose saccharification potential
      compared to enzymes from a monoculture of I. lacteus.

PMID- 28609754
TI  - Tilted membrane panel: A new module concept to maximize the impact of air bubbles
      for membrane fouling control in microalgae harvesting.
AB  - Microalgae harvesting using membrane technology is challenging because of its
      high fouling propensity. As an established fouling mitigation technique, efficacy
      of air bubbles can be improved by maximizing the impact of shear-rates in
      scouring foulant. In this study, it is achieved by tilting the membrane panel. We
      investigate the effect of tilting angle, switching period as well as aeration
      rate during microalgal broth filtration. Results show that higher tilting angles
      (up to 20 degrees ) improve permeability of up to 2.7 times of the vertical
      panel. In addition, operating a one-sided panel is better than a two-sided panel,
      in which the later involved switching mode. One-sided membrane panel only require
      a half of area, yet its performance is comparable with of a large-scale module.
      This tilted panel can lead to significant membrane cost reductions and eventually
      improves the competitiveness of membrane technology for microalgae harvesting
      application.

PMID- 28609755
TI  - Single-step microwave-assisted hot water extraction of hemicelluloses from
      selected lignocellulosic materials - A biorefinery approach.
AB  - The viability of single-step microwave-induced pressurized hot water conditions
      for co-production of xylan-based biopolymers and bioethanol from aspenwood
      sawdust and sugarcane trash was investigated. Extraction of hemicelluloses was
      conducted using microwave-assisted pressurized hot water system. The effects of
      temperature and time on extraction yield and enzymatic digestibility of resulting
      solids were determined. Temperatures between 170-200 degrees C for aspenwood and
      165-195 degrees C for sugarcane trash; retention times between 8-22min for both
      feedstocks, were selected for optimization purpose. Maximum xylan extraction
      yields of 66 and 50%, and highest cellulose digestibilities of 78 and 74%, were
      attained for aspenwood and sugarcane trash respectively. Monomeric xylose yields
      for both feedstocks were below 7%, showing that the xylan extracts were
      predominantly in non-monomeric form. Thus, single-step microwave-assisted hot
      water method is viable biorefinery approach to extract xylan from lignocelluloses
      while rendering the solid residues sufficiently digestible for ethanol
      production.

PMID- 28609756
TI  - Realization of microbial community stratification for single-stage nitrogen
      removal in a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor.
AB  - A permanent microbial stratified nitrogen removal system coupling anammox with
      partial nitrification (SNAP) in a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor
      (SBBGR) was successfully constructed for the treatment of ammonia-rich
      wastewater. With a nitrogen loading rate of 0.1kgNm-3.d-1, the maximal ammonia
      and total nitrogen removal efficiencies could reach up to 96.08% and 84.86% on
      day 108, respectively. The pH, DO profiles revealed a switch of functional
      species (AOB and anammox) at a typical intermittent aeration cycle. qPCR and high
      throughput analyses certified a stable spatial microbial stratified community
      structure. Although, anammox preferred strict anaerobic environment while AOB
      needed oxygen, a special stratified community structure contributed to conquer
      this obstacle. Moreover, Bacteroidet, Chlorobi, OD1, Planctomycetes, and
      Proteobacteria were the dominant species in the SBBGR. Although we have predicted
      the possible pathways of nitrogen transformation, further studies are needed to
      validate the pathways in enzymology.

PMID- 28609757
TI  - A molecular docking study of the interactions between human transferrin and seven
      metallocene dichlorides.
AB  - Human Transferrin (hTf) is a metal-binding protein found in blood plasma and is
      well known for its role in iron delivery. With only a 30% of its capacity for
      Fe+3 binding, this protein has the potential ability to transport other metal
      ions or organometallic compounds from the blood stream to all cell tissues. In
      this perspective, recent studies have described seven metallocene dichlorides
      (Cp2M(IV)Cl2, M(IV)=V, Mo, W, Nb, Ti, Zr, Hf) suitable as anticancer drugs and
      less secondary effects than cisplatin. However, these studies have not provided
      enough data to clearly explain how hTf binds and transports these organometallic
      compounds into the cells. Thus, a computational docking study with native apo-hTf
      using Sybyl-X 2.0 program was conducted to explore the binding modes of these
      seven Cp2M(IV)Cl2 after their optimization and minimization using Gaussian 09.
      Our model showed that the first three Cp2M(IV)Cl2 (M(IV)=V, Mo, W) can interact
      with apo-hTf on a common binding site with the amino acid residues Leu-46, Ile
      49, Arg-50, Leu-66, Asp-69, Ala-70, Leu-72, Ala-73, Pro-74 and Asn-75, while the
      next four Cp2M(IV)Cl2 (M(IV)=Nb, Ti, Zr, Hf) showed different binding sites,
      unknown until now. A decreasing order in the total score (equal to -log Kd) was
      observed from these docking studies: W (5.4356), Mo (5.2692), Nb (5.1672), V
      (4.5973), Ti (3.6529), Zr (2.0054) and Hf (1.8811). High and significant
      correlation between the affinity of these seven ligands (metallocenes) for apo
      hTf and their bond angles CpMCp (r=0.94, p<0.01) and Cl-M-Cl (r=0.95, p<0.01)
      were observed, thus indicating the important role that these bond angles can play
      in ligand-protein interactions. Fluorescence spectra of apo-hTf, measured at pH
      7.4, had a decrease in the fluorescence emission spectrum with increasing
      concentration of Cp2M(IV)Cl2. Experimental data has a good correlation between KA
      (r=0.84, p=0.027) and Kd (r=0.94, p=0.0014) values and the calculated total
      scores obtained from our docking experiments. In conclusion, these results
      suggest that the seven Cp2M(IV)Cl2 used for this study can interact with apo-hTf,
      and their affinity was directly and inversely proportional to their bond angles
      CpMCp and ClMCl, respectively. Our docking studies also suggest that the binding
      of the first three Cp2M(IV)Cl2 (M(IV)=V, Mo, W) to hTf could abrogate the
      formation of the hTf-receptor complex, and as a consequence the metallocene-hTf
      complex might require another transport mechanism in order to get into the cell.

PMID- 28609758
TI  - A selection guide for the new generation 6-dye DNA profiling systems.
AB  - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently expanded the CODIS core
      loci from the existing 13 to 20 as a new guideline, and laboratories from the US
      are required to comply with the new regulation before uploading or conducting
      identity search in the national database. The expanded CODIS format, which shares
      all the core loci commonly used in the European countries and the US, not only
      increases international compatibility, but also reduces the number of
      adventitious matches, and hence facilitates international law enforcement and
      counterterrorism endeavours. Here, we review the key performance measures of
      three new STR amplification systems with 6-dye chemistry, namely, the
      Investigator 24plex QS Kit from QIAGEN, the GlobalFilerTM PCR Amplification Kit
      from Applied BiosystemsTM, and the PowerPlex(r) Fusion 6C System from Promega.
      Our results have demonstrated that GlobalFiler displays the highest sensitivity
      among the tested kits, whereas Investigator 24plex shows a higher tolerance to
      common PCR inhibitors including Humic acid and Tannic acid. GlobalFiler and
      Fusion 6C, on the other hand, yield DNA profiles with better heterozygous peak
      height and intra-colour signal balance. Both GlobalFiler and Investigator 24plex
      exhibit slightly higher sensitivity than Fusion 6C in the profiling of minor
      components in DNA mixture, but the latter displays a higher consistency in the
      preservation of the mixture ratio. In summary, our work has demonstrated that
      these three profiling systems have their different performance features, and
      hence it is recommended that laboratories should select the most suitable kits
      according to their own requirements and operational needs.

PMID- 28609760
TI  - Epidemiology of Acne Vulgaris in 18-Year-Old Male Army Conscripts in a South
      Brazilian City.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prevalence of acne varies worldwide. Several factors (age, skin
      color, body fat, diet, and smoking) have been investigated as risk factors.
      OBJECTIVE: A total of 2,201 18-year-old males living in Pelotas, South Brazil,
      were evaluated in order to examine the prevalence of acne and associated factors.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted. A dermatologist
      performed the clinical examination of the face and trunk for identification of
      acne lesions. Acne was evaluated as clinically noninflammatory, inflammatory, and
      acne with both types of lesions. Skin color, schooling, height, smoking,
      skinfolds, waist circumference, BMI, and dietary dairy intake were the
      independent variables used. RESULTS: A response rate of 97.2% was obtained.
      Individuals without any acne lesion were 241 (10.9%); 161 (7.3%) only had
      noninflammatory lesions, 404 (18.4%) only inflammatory lesions; and 1,395 (63.4%)
      presented both types of lesions. In multivariate analysis, the type of lesions
      was different in light and dark skin phototype adolescents, with more common
      inflammatory lesions in the light phototype and noninflammatory ones in the dark
      phototype patients. Height was directly associated with the occurrence of all
      types of acne, whereas lower fat mass was associated with the occurrence of
      noninflammatory acne. While daily consumption of whole milk or yogurt was found
      to be associated with inflammatory acne in crude analysis, the association with
      milk was not detected and that with yogurt was low in multivariate analysis.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that future studies should explore determinants
      of noninflammatory and inflammatory acne separately, especially if mixed
      populations are studied.

PMID- 28609762
TI  - Increased Toll-Like Receptor-Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88 Expression at the
      Maternal-Fetal Interface Is Associated with Spontaneous Abortion.
AB  - AIMS: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) form a group of pattern recognition receptors
      that play a major role in maintaining innate host immunity. Myeloid
      differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is an adaptor molecule that is essential for
      signaling via the TLR family. To analyze the mechanism of the imbalance in the
      innate immune system mediated by TLRs-MyD88 in spontaneous abortion, we detected
      the expression of TLR-2, TLR-4, TLR-7, and MyD88 in placentae and deciduas.
      METHODS: The expression of TLR-2, TLR-4, TLR-7, and MyD88 in the placentae and
      deciduas of abortion-prone mice (n = 10) and normal pregnant mice (n = 10) were
      analyzed by immunochemistry, western blot, and real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. RESULTS: There were higher protein expression levels of TLR-2, TLR-4,
      TLR-7, and MyD88 in the placentae and deciduas in the abortion-prone group than
      in the normal pregnant group. However, TLR-2, TLR-4, and TLR-7 showed lower gene
      expression, while MyD88 manifested higher gene expression in placentae and
      deciduas of abortion-prone mice matings. CONCLUSIONS: TLR-2, TLR-4, TLR-7, and
      MyD88 were expressed in the placenta and decidua of both the abortion-prone
      pregnant and normal pregnant mice. The overexpression of TLRs may excessively
      activate the innate immune system mediated by MyD88, which is considered to be
      related to the pathogenesis of spontaneous abortion.

PMID- 28609761
TI  - Clinical Usefulness of Somatostatin Receptor Scintigraphy in Japanese Patients
      with Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Somatostatin receptor (SSTR) scintigraphy (SRS) is the standard
      imaging modality for evaluation of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor
      (GEP-NET) in Western countries. However, this modality was not approved in Japan
      until recently. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy
      of SRS for detecting GEP-NET in Japanese patients. METHODS: Japanese patients
      with advanced GEP-NET were enrolled and evaluated by the SRS and CT. We also
      compared SRS and immunohistochemical expression of SSTR type 2a (SSTR2a).
      RESULTS: We enrolled 16 patients and the primary sites were the pancreas in 9,
      the stomach in 1, the small intestine in 2, the colon in 3, and unknown in 1. SRS
      showed positive findings in 3 (100%) of grade 1 (G1) and in 12 (92.3%) of grade 2
      (G2) lesions. In the liver, SRS and CT detected lesions in 13 and 14 cases,
      respectively. The concordance rate of SSTR2a expression with SRS findings was
      93.8% in the whole body and 92.9% in the liver. CONCLUSIONS: SRS could detect
      almost all of G1 and G2. SRS could be useful to detect lesions, with a high
      concordance rate with CT and pathological findings. We confirmed that SRS is a
      useful and reliable modality for Japanese patients.

PMID- 28609763
TI  - Calcium-Sensing Receptor Genetic Polymorphisms and Risk of Developing
      Nephrolithiasis in a Chinese Population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR)
      Arg990Gly (rs1042636, A > G), Ala986Ser (rs1801725, G > T) polymorphisms, and
      urolithiasis risk. METHODS: Polymorphisms mentioned above were genotyped in a
      hospital-based case-control study of 615 patients diagnosed with nephrolithiasis
      and 315 kidney stone-free controls in a Chinese population using the SNaPshot
      method. RESULTS: The results indicated a significantly increased risk associated
      with CaSR Arg990Gly GG genotypes (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.08-2.50) compared with the AA
      genotype. The CaSR Arg990Gly G carriers (AG/GG) had an adjusted OR (95% CI) of
      1.45 (1.04-2.03, p = 0.021) compared with the wild genotype in the dominant
      model. In the stratified analyses, the risk remained for the subgroup of patients
      with age >48, never smokers and patients with hypertension and calcium oxalate
      stones (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.02-3.09; OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.03-2.30; OR 2.83, 95% CI
      1.32-6.07; OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.12-2.28, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results
      provide evidences that the CaSR Arg990Gly polymorphism is associated with the
      risk of nephrolithiasis development in a Chinese population.

PMID- 28609764
TI  - Hemodialysis and Kidney Transplantation as Predisposing Conditions to
      Onychomycosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Onychomycosis (OM) is one of the commonest superficial fungal
      infections. Patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment and kidney transplant
      recipients (KTR) are considered at risk of contracting fungal infections, but the
      few published data do not reach the conclusion of whether they are predisposed to
      OM. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and etiology of OM in these
      patients and to determine the antifungal susceptibility profile of the isolated
      fungal species. METHODS: We recruited 149 HD patients, 187 KTR, and a control
      group comprising 174 patients attending an internal medicine service with other
      diseases than renal diseases. All patients underwent an examination of all
      toenails to check for the presence of OM. Antifungal susceptibility tests were
      performed following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)
      recommendations. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of OM in HD patients (23.4%) and
      KTR (23.0%) were significantly higher than those in age- and sex-matched control
      groups (13.2%). In HD patients, OM was associated with diabetes but not with the
      duration of dialysis. In KTR, OM was more prevalent in those without diabetes and
      likely also in those using mycophenolate mofetil or azathioprine but was not
      associated with the duration of transplantation. Trichophyton rubrum was the most
      prevalent species (45.9%) followed by T. mentagrophytes (24.5%) and Candida
      parapsilosis (18.0%). Fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and terbinafine
      were all efficient against the isolates of dermatophyte, with terbinafine showing
      the lowest and fluconazole the highest minimal inhibitory concentrations. All
      isolates of C. parapsilosis were sensitive to the antifungals according to the
      CLSI criteria. CONCLUSION: We found a high prevalence of OM in HD and KTR
      patients and suggest that these conditions should be considered a risk factor of
      OM. All 4 antifungals evaluated in the study showed good in vitro activity
      against the etiologic agents.

PMID- 28609765
TI  - Transcatheter Treatment of Aortopulmonary Window with a Symmetrical Membranous
      Ventricular Septal Occluder.
AB  - Aortopulmonary window (APW), the presence of a communication between aorta and
      pulmonary artery, is a rare congenital heart disease, and surgical intervention
      is the standard for closure. Recently, several cases have been treated with
      transcatheter device occluders. Here, we report an APW patient treated
      successfully using a transcatheter closure with a symmetrical membranous
      ventricular septal occluder. We are the first to report on a case treated with
      this type of occluder for APW.

PMID- 28609766
TI  - Should We Screen for Janus Kinase 2 V617F Mutation in Cerebral Venous Thrombosis?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2) V617F mutation represents a
      major diagnostic criterion for detecting myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and
      even in the absence of overt MPN, JAK2 V617F mutation is associated with
      splanchnic vein thrombosis. However, the actual prevalence and diagnostic value
      of the JAK2 V617F mutation in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) are
      not known. The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of JAK2 V617F
      mutation in a large group of consecutive CVT patients, to detect clinical,
      biological, and radiological features associated with the mutation, and to
      determine the long-term venous thrombosis recurrence rate in CVT patients with
      JAK2 mutation but without overt MPN in order to recommend the best preventive
      treatment. METHODS: This was a prospective study conducted on consecutive
      patients with a first-ever radiologically confirmed CVT. JAK2 V617F mutation
      analysis was assessed in all the study subjects. JAK2 V617F-positive patients
      were followed up to detect new venous thrombotic events. RESULTS: Of the 125
      included subjects, 7 were found to have JAK2 V617F mutation (5.6%; 95% CI 2.3
      11.2). Older age (p = 0.039) and higher platelet count (p = 0.004) were
      independently associated with JAK2 V617F positivity in patients without overt
      MPN. During a mean follow-up period of 59 (SD 46) months, 2 JAK2 V617F-positive
      patients presented with 4 new venous thromboembolic events. CONCLUSIONS:
      Screening for the JAK2 V617F mutation in CVT patients seems to be useful even in
      the absence of overt MPN and/or in the presence of other risk factors for CVT
      because of its relatively high prevalence and the risk of thrombosis recurrence.

PMID- 28609767
TI  - Improving Outcomes in High-Risk Percutaneous Coronary Interventions and Newer
      Generation Drug-Eluting Stents: Good, But Not Good Enough.

PMID- 28609768
TI  - Financial Implication of Radioactive Iodine Therapy for Early-Stage Papillary
      Thyroid Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate disease-specific survival and
      cost related to radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) utilization in patients with
      early-stage papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS: This was a retrospective
      cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
      database, 2004-2012. RESULTS: A total of 38,374 patients with PTC were
      identified. Of those, 56.3% had adjuvant RAI. RAI administration was not
      associated with a survival advantage in patients with PTC stage I (hazard ratio
      [HR] 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.11, 14.54; p = 0.85) or stage II (HR
      0.50, 95% CI 0.05, 4.88; p = 0.55). Patients with PTC stage III who underwent
      adjuvant RAI had an improved survival (HR 0.30, 95% CI 0.10, 0.91; p = 0.033). In
      2012, RAI was used in 45.5% of patients with stage I and in 71.4% of patients
      with stage II. The total expenditure on adjuvant RAI for PTC stage I throughout
      the study period was estimated to be USD 82.3 million with an annual average of
      USD 9.1 (+/-2.0) million/year. If the decline rate in the utilization of RAI
      continued, the model projected that the annual expenditure would decrease by USD
      0.14 million/year. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of adjuvant RAI
      utilization for early-stage PTC that is causing financial burden on the health
      system with no evidence of survival benefit.

PMID- 28609770
TI  - Fatigue and Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Sarcoidosis: Prevalence, Predictors,
      and Relationships between the Two Symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fatigue is common among patients with sarcoidosis. The etiology of
      this problem is unknown and multifactorial. Fatigue can be confounded with
      excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Fatigue and sleepiness have rarely been
      studied simultaneously in sarcoidosis patients. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study
      was the confounder-adjusted estimation of risks for severe fatigue and EDS in a
      large population of sarcoidosis patients and the development of multivariate
      predictors from this population. METHODS: 1,197 German sarcoidosis patients were
      examined using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Fatigue Assessment Scale
      (FAS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Medical Research
      Council (MRC) dyspnea scale. RESULTS: 16.5% (123 patients) had EDS (ESS >=16),
      16.4% had severe fatigue (FAS >=35), and 6.3% had both extreme findings. In a
      multivariate logistic regression model, predictors of the risk of EDS were a
      history of sleep apnea (odds ratio [OR] 2.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5
      3.9), dyspnea MRC grade >=2 (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.5-3.5), and organ involvement of 4
      7 organs (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.1-2.4). Significantly associated with higher risk of
      severe fatigue were the following: conspicuous depression (OR 5.95, 95% CI 4.1
      8.7), conspicuous anxiety (OR 2.38, 95% CI 1.6-3.4), and muscle pain (OR 1.92,
      95% CI 1.32-2.75). The logit models for severe fatigue with and without
      simultaneous EDS differed only slightly. CONCLUSION: An extreme form of fatigue
      and/or sleepiness was found in 27% of all sarcoidosis patients questioned.
      Because there is a certain overlap, both should be examined simultaneously to
      allow for a combined assessment.

PMID- 28609769
TI  - Prediction of Time to Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Using Bone Scan Index
      in Men with Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We evaluated bone scan index (BSI) as a predictive biomarker for
      time to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in patients with metastatic
      hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified
      85 consecutive mHSPC patients treated with first-line androgen deprivation
      therapy. We analyzed the correlations between time to CRPC and
      clinicopathological characteristics, including age, prostate-specific antigen
      (PSA) level, Gleason score, clinical TNM stage, hemoglobin, lactate
      dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, and BSI. RESULTS: The median BSI was 2.7%.
      Progression to CRPC occurred in 55 (64.7%) patients and the median time to CRPC
      was 12.9 months. In multivariate analysis, 3 significant risk factors for time to
      CRPC were identified: age (>73 vs. <=73 years; hazard ratio [HR] 0.53), p =
      0.038, PSA level (>270 vs. <=270 ng/mL; HR 0.53, p = 0.038), and BSI (>2.7 vs.
      <=2.7%; HR 2.97, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Age, PSA level, and BSI were found to be
      significant predictive factors for time to CRPC in patients with mHSPC.

PMID- 28609771
TI  - Effect of Antithrombotic Therapy and Long Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection
      Procedure Time on Early and Delayed Postoperative Bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent updated guidelines of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology
      recommend the use of a single dose of antiplatelet agents in patients undergoing
      endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). However, the postoperative bleeding risk
      after gastric ESD associated with the continuation or interruption of
      antithrombotic therapy remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate whether
      certain factors including interrupted antithrombotic therapy could affect early
      and delayed post-ESD bleeding risk. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-four patients
      with gastric neoplasms were treated with ESD at our hospital between October 2005
      and December 2012. Seventy-four patients with interrupted antithrombotic therapy
      were undertaken with ESD. Early and delayed postoperative bleeding patterns were
      estimated. Various clinical characteristics such as gender, age, tumor location,
      tumor size, ESD procedure time, platelet count, and comorbidity were evaluated.
      RESULTS: There was a significant difference (p = 0.042) in the ESD procedure time
      between the patients with postoperative bleeding and those without it. There was
      no significant difference in postoperative bleeding between the patients on
      antithrombotic therapy and not on it. Moreover, interrupted antithrombotic
      therapy and platelet count were significantly (p = 0.0461 and p = 0.0059,
      respectively) associated with early postoperative bleeding in multivariate
      analysis. In addition, in univariate analysis, ESD procedure time was
      significantly (p = 0.041) associated with delayed postoperative bleeding.
      CONCLUSIONS: Antithrombotic therapy and prolonged ESD procedure time were
      significantly associated with early and delayed postoperative bleeding,
      respectively.

PMID- 28609772
TI  - Lymphoproliferative Disorders of the Lung.
AB  - This review aims to describe some of the most frequent lymphoproliferative
      disorders arising from the lung: pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue
      (MALT) lymphoma, lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LG), multicentric Castleman disease
      (MCD), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), and nodular lymphoid hyperplasia (NLH).
      Primary pulmonary lymphoma is defined as a clonal lymphoproliferative disorder
      affecting one or both lungs, without extrapulmonary involvement 3 months after
      diagnosis, and includes pulmonary MALT lymphoma and LG. MALT lymphoma is the most
      common pulmonary lymphoma. The disease is slow growing, most often asymptomatic,
      and revealed by chronic alveolar opacity on radiography. The diagnosis should
      involve minimally invasive techniques, and the prognosis is typically excellent.
      LG is a rare B-cell lymphoma driven by Epstein-Barr virus infection. The disease
      may mimic pulmonary vasculitis, often revealed by systemic signs. The diagnosis
      usually requires surgical lung biopsy. Its evolution is unpredictable, but median
      survival is poor and chemotherapy is usually proposed. MCD and PEL are both
      driven by Human herpesvirus 8 infection. Patients with MCD present with fever and
      lymphadenopathy associated with interstitial lung disease. PEL provokes a
      febrile, lymphocytic-exudative pleural effusion, without any pleural mass on CT.
      Specific chemotherapy is urgent for both MCD and PEL. NLH is a benign
      lymphoproliferative disorder of the lung that is usually asymptomatic and
      revealed by a single nodular opacity. The prognosis is good, without recurrence
      after surgical resection.

PMID- 28609773
TI  - Transoral Robotic Surgery Total Laryngectomy: Evaluation of Functional and
      Survival Outcomes in a Retrospective Case Series at a Single Institution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transoral robotic surgery total laryngectomy (TORS-TL) is a minimally
      invasive endoscopic surgical approach which can theoretically minimise the
      morbidity of large external incisions and limit dissection of tissue planes so as
      to reduce the risk of pharyngocutaneous fistulae related to poor tissue healing
      secondary to radiation soft tissue injury or malnutrition. The purpose of this
      paper was to report our experience with this uncommon surgical approach. METHODS:
      A retrospective chart review was conducted at a single institution to evaluate
      the functional and survival outcomes of a series of patients who underwent TORS
      TL. RESULTS: TORS-TL was performed on 5 patients. Two patients had total
      laryngectomy for recurrent aspiration secondary to neurological disorders, 1
      patient had an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the subglottis, 1 patient had a low
      grade subglottic chondrosarcoma, and 1 patient had a T2 local recurrence of
      glottic squamous cell carcinoma following treatment with primary
      chemoradiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: TORS-TL is a feasible and safe treatment option
      with possible advantages for carefully selected patients in experienced hands.

PMID- 28609774
TI  - Gonadal Surgery in Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome: A Debate.

PMID- 28609775
TI  - Vancomycin in Very-Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Dysbiosis: Fight Fire
      with Fire?

PMID- 28609776
TI  - Associations of Polyethylenimine-Coated AN69ST Membrane in Continuous Renal
      Replacement Therapy with the Intensive Care Outcomes: Observations from a Claims
      Database from Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Polyethylenimine-coated polyacrylonitrile (AN69ST) membrane is
      expected to improve the outcomes of critically ill patients treated by continuous
      renal replacement therapy (CRRT). METHODS: Using a Japanese health insurance
      claim database, we identified adult patients receiving CRRT in intensive care
      units (ICUs) from April 2014 to October 2015. We used a multivariable logistic
      regression model to assess in-hospital mortality and Fine and Gray's proportional
      subhazards model to assess the ICU length of stay (ICU-LOS) accounting for the
      competing risks. RESULTS: Of 2,469 ICU patients, 156 were treated by AN69ST
      membrane. Crude in-hospital mortality was 50.0% in the AN69ST group and 54.0% in
      the non-AN69ST group. Adjusted odds ratio (OR) of AN69ST membrane use for in
      hospital mortality was 0.65 (95% CI 0.45-0.93). The use of AN69ST membrane was
      also independently associated with shorter ICU-LOS. CONCLUSION: This
      retrospective observational study suggested that CRRT with AN69ST membrane might
      be associated with better in-hospital outcomes.

PMID- 28609781
TI  - A data-driven structural model of hSSB1 (NABP2/OBFC2B) self-oligomerization.
AB  - The maintenance of genome stability depends on the ability of the cell to repair
      DNA efficiently. Single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) play an important
      role in DNA processing events such as replication, recombination and repair.
      While the role of human single-stranded DNA binding protein 1
      (hSSB1/NABP2/OBFC2B) in the repair of double-stranded breaks has been well
      established, we have recently shown that it is also essential for the base
      excision repair (BER) pathway following oxidative DNA damage. However, unlike in
      DSB repair, the formation of stable hSSB1 oligomers under oxidizing conditions is
      an important prerequisite for its proper function in BER. In this study, we have
      used solution-state NMR in combination with biophysical and functional
      experiments to obtain a structural model of hSSB1 self-oligomerization. We reveal
      that hSSB1 forms a tetramer that is structurally similar to the SSB from
      Escherichia coli and is stabilized by two cysteines (C81 and C99) as well as a
      subset of charged and hydrophobic residues. Our structural and functional data
      also show that hSSB1 oligomerization does not preclude its function in DSB
      repair, where it can interact with Ints3, a component of the SOSS1 complex,
      further establishing the versatility that hSSB1 displays in maintaining genome
      integrity.

PMID- 28609782
TI  - Influence of DNA sequence on the structure of minicircles under torsional stress.
AB  - The sequence dependence of the conformational distribution of DNA under various
      levels of torsional stress is an important unsolved problem. Combining theory and
      coarse-grained simulations shows that the DNA sequence and a structural
      correlation due to topology constraints of a circle are the main factors that
      dictate the 3D structure of a 336 bp DNA minicircle under torsional stress. We
      found that DNA minicircle topoisomers can have multiple bend locations under high
      torsional stress and that the positions of these sharp bends are determined by
      the sequence, and by a positive mechanical correlation along the sequence. We
      showed that simulations and theory are able to provide sequence-specific
      information about individual DNA minicircles observed by cryo-electron tomography
      (cryo-ET). We provided a sequence-specific cryo-ET tomogram fitting of DNA
      minicircles, registering the sequence within the geometric features. Our results
      indicate that the conformational distribution of minicircles under torsional
      stress can be designed, which has important implications for using minicircle DNA
      for gene therapy.

PMID- 28609783
TI  - Balancing gene expression without library construction via a reusable sRNA pool.
AB  - Balancing protein expression is critical when optimizing genetic systems.
      Typically, this requires library construction to vary the genetic parts
      controlling each gene, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Here, we
      develop sRNAs corresponding to 15nt 'target' sequences that can be inserted
      upstream of a gene. The targeted gene can be repressed from 1.6- to 87-fold by
      controlling sRNA expression using promoters of different strength. A pool is
      built where six sRNAs are placed under the control of 16 promoters that span a
      ~103-fold range of strengths, yielding ~107 combinations. This pool can
      simultaneously optimize up to six genes in a system. This requires building only
      a single system-specific construct by placing a target sequence upstream of each
      gene and transforming it with the pre-built sRNA pool. The resulting library is
      screened and the top clone is sequenced to determine the promoter controlling
      each sRNA, from which the fold-repression of the genes can be inferred. The
      system is then rebuilt by rationally selecting parts that implement the optimal
      expression of each gene. We demonstrate the versatility of this approach by using
      the same pool to optimize a metabolic pathway (beta-carotene) and genetic circuit
      (XNOR logic gate).

PMID- 28609784
TI  - Genome-wide profiling of S/MAR-based replicon contact sites.
AB  - Autonomously replicating vectors represent a simple and versatile model system
      for genetic modifications, but their localization in the nucleus and effect on
      endogenous gene expression is largely unknown. Using circular chromosome
      conformation capture we mapped genomic contact sites of S/MAR-based replicons in
      HeLa cells. The influence of cis-active sequences on genomic localization was
      assessed using replicons containing either an insulator sequence or an intron.
      While the original and the insulator-containing replicons displayed distinct
      contact sites, the intron-containing replicon showed a rather broad genomic
      contact pattern. Our results indicate a preference for certain chromatin
      structures and a rather non-dynamic behaviour during mitosis. Independent of
      inserted cis-active elements established vector molecules reside preferentially
      within actively transcribed regions, especially within promoter sequences and
      transcription start sites. However, transcriptome analyses revealed that
      established S/MAR-based replicons do not alter gene expression profiles of host
      genome. Knowledge of preferred contact sites of exogenous DNA, e.g. viral or non
      viral episomes, contribute to our understanding of episome behaviour in the
      nucleus and can be used for vector improvement and guiding of DNA sequences to
      specific subnuclear sites.

PMID- 28609786
TI  - Gravimetric Measurements of Filtering Facepiece Respirators Challenged With
      Diesel Exhaust.
AB  - Elevated concentrations of diesel exhaust have been linked to adverse health
      effects. Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) are widely used as a form of
      respiratory protection against diesel particulate matter (DPM) in occupational
      settings. Previous results (Penconek A, Drazyk P, Moskal A. (2013) Penetration of
      diesel exhaust particles through commercially available dust half masks. Ann
      Occup Hyg; 57: 360-73.) have suggested that common FFRs are less efficient than
      would be expected for this purpose based on their certification approvals. The
      objective of this study was to measure the penetration of DPM through NIOSH
      certified R95 and P95 electret respirators to verify this result. Gravimetric
      based penetration measurements conducted using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and
      polypropylene (PP) filters were compared with penetration measurements made with
      a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS, TSI Inc.), which measures the particle
      size distribution. Gravimetric measurements using PP filters were variable
      compared to SMPS measurements and biased high due to adsorption of gas phase
      organic material. Relatively inert PTFE filters adsorbed less gas phase organic
      material resulting in measurements that were more accurate. To attempt to correct
      for artifacts associated with adsorption of gas phase organic material, primary
      and secondary filters were used in series upstream and downstream of the FFR.
      Correcting for adsorption by subtracting the secondary mass from the primary mass
      improved the result for both PTFE and PP filters but this correction is subject
      to 'equilibrium' conditions that depend on sampling time and the concentration of
      particles and gas phase hydrocarbons. Overall, the results demonstrate that the
      use of filters to determine filtration efficiency of FFRs challenged with diesel
      exhaust produces erroneous results due to the presence of gas phase hydrocarbons
      in diesel exhaust and the tendency of filters to adsorb organic material.

PMID- 28609785
TI  - Comprehensive analysis of microorganisms accompanying human archaeological
      remains.
AB  - Metagenome analysis has become a common source of information about microbial
      communities that occupy a wide range of niches, including archaeological
      specimens. It has been shown that the vast majority of DNA extracted from ancient
      samples come from bacteria (presumably modern contaminants). However,
      characterization of microbial DNA accompanying human remains has never been done
      systematically for a wide range of different samples. We used metagenomic
      approaches to perform comparative analyses of microorganism communities present
      in 161 archaeological human remains. DNA samples were isolated from the teeth of
      human skeletons dated from 100 AD to 1200 AD. The skeletons were collected from 7
      archaeological sites in Central Europe and stored under different conditions. The
      majority of identified microbes were ubiquitous environmental bacteria that most
      likely contaminated the host remains not long ago. We observed that the
      composition of microbial communities was sample-specific and not correlated with
      its temporal or geographical origin. Additionally, traces of bacteria and archaea
      typical for human oral/gut flora, as well as potential pathogens, were identified
      in two-thirds of the samples. The genetic material of human-related species, in
      contrast to the environmental species that accounted for the majority of
      identified bacteria, displayed DNA damage patterns comparable with endogenous
      human ancient DNA, which suggested that these microbes might have accompanied the
      individual before death. Our study showed that the microbiome observed in an
      individual sample is not reliant on the method or duration of sample storage.
      Moreover, shallow sequencing of DNA extracted from ancient specimens and
      subsequent bioinformatics analysis allowed both the identification of ancient
      microbial species, including potential pathogens, and their differentiation from
      contemporary species that colonized human remains more recently.

PMID- 28609789
TI  - ?

PMID- 28609788
TI  - Resolving sugar puckers in RNA excited states exposes slow modes of repuckering
      dynamics.
AB  - Recent studies have shown that RNAs exist in dynamic equilibrium with short-lived
      low-abundance 'excited states' that form by reshuffling base pairs in and around
      non-canonical motifs. These conformational states are proposed to be rich in non
      canonical motifs and to play roles in the folding and regulatory functions of non
      coding RNAs but their structure proves difficult to characterize given their
      transient nature. Here, we describe an approach for determining sugar pucker
      conformation in RNA excited states through nuclear magnetic resonance
      measurements of C1? and C4? rotating frame spin relaxation (R1rho) in uniformly
      13C/15N labeled RNA samples. Application to HIV-1 TAR exposed slow modes of sugar
      repuckering dynamics at the MUs and ms timescale accompanying transitions between
      non-helical (C2?-endo) to helical (C3?-endo) conformations during formation of
      two distinct excited states. In contrast, we did not obtain any evidence for slow
      sugar repuckering dynamics for nucleotides in a variety of structural contexts
      that do not undergo non-helical to helical transitions. Our results outline a
      route for significantly improving the conformational characterization of RNA
      excited states and suggest that slow modes of repuckering dynamics gated by
      transient changes in secondary structure are quite common in RNA.

PMID- 28609790
TI  - Analysis of Patients' X-ray Exposure in 146 Percutaneous Radiologic
      Gastrostomies.
AB  - Purpose Analysis of patient's X-ray exposure during percutaneous radiologic
      gastrostomies (PRG) in a larger population. Materials and Methods Data of primary
      successful PRG-procedures, performed between 2004 and 2015 in 146 patients, were
      analyzed regarding the exposition to X-ray. Dose-area-product (DAP), dose-length
      product (DLP) respectively, and fluoroscopy time (FT) were correlated with the
      used x-ray systems (Flatpanel Detector (FD) vs. Image Itensifier (BV)) and the
      necessity for periprocedural placement of a nasogastric tube. Additionally, the
      effective X-ray dose for PRG placement using fluoroscopy (DL), computed
      tomography (CT), and cone beam CT (CBCT) was estimated using a conversion factor.
      Results The median DFP of PRG-placements under fluoroscopy was 163 cGy*cm2 (flat
      panel detector systems: 155 cGy*cm2; X-ray image intensifier: 175 cGy*cm2). The
      median DLZ was 2.2 min. Intraprocedural placement of a naso- or orogastric probe
      (n = 68) resulted in a significant prolongation of the median DLZ to 2.5 min
      versus 2 min in patients with an already existing probe. In addition, dose values
      were analyzed in smaller samples of patients in which the PRG was placed under
      CBCT (n = 7, median DFP = 2635 cGy*cm2), or using CT (n = 4, median DLP = 657
      mGy*cm). Estimates of the median DFP and DLP showed effective doses of 0.3 mSv
      for DL-assisted placements (flat panel detector 0.3 mSv, X-ray image converter
      0.4 mSv), 7.9 mSv using a CBCT - flat detector, and 9.9 mSv using CT. This
      corresponds to a factor 26 of DL versus CBCT, or a factor 33 of DL versus CT.
      Conclusion In order to minimize X-ray exposure during PRG-procedures for patients
      and staff, fluoroscopically-guided interventions should employ flat detector
      systems with short transmittance sequences in low dose mode and with slow image
      frequency. Series recordings can be dispensed with. The intraprocedural placement
      of a naso- or orogastric probe significantly extends FT, but has little effect on
      the overall dose of the intervention. Due to the significantly higher X-ray
      exposure, the use of a CBCT as well as PRG-placements using CT should be limited
      to clinically absolutely necessary exceptions with strict indication. Key Points 
      . Fluoroscopically-guided PRG placements are interventions with low X-ray
      exposure.. . X-ray exposure from fluoroscopy is lower using flat panel detector
      systems as compared to image intensifier systems.. . The concomitant placement of
      an oro- or nasogastric probe extends the fluoroscopy time.. . Gastric probe
      placement is worthwhile to prevent the premature use of the significantly
      radiation-intensive CT.. . The use of the C-arm CT or the CT increases the beam
      exposure by 26 or 33 times, respectively.. . The PRG placement using C-arm CT and
      CT should only be performed in exceptional cases.. Citation Format . Petersen TO,
      Reinhardt M, Fuchs J et al. Analysis of Patients' X-ray Exposure in 146
      Percutaneous Radiologic Gastrostomies. Fortschr Rontgenstr 2017; 189: 820 - 827.

PMID- 28609787
TI  - Molecular structures guide the engineering of chromatin.
AB  - Chromatin is a system of proteins, RNA, and DNA that interact with each other to
      organize and regulate genetic information within eukaryotic nuclei. Chromatin
      proteins carry out essential functions: packing DNA during cell division,
      partitioning DNA into sub-regions within the nucleus, and controlling levels of
      gene expression. There is a growing interest in manipulating chromatin dynamics
      for applications in medicine and agriculture. Progress in this area requires the
      identification of design rules for the chromatin system. Here, we focus on the
      relationship between the physical structure and function of chromatin proteins.
      We discuss key research that has elucidated the intrinsic properties of chromatin
      proteins and how this information informs design rules for synthetic systems.
      Recent work demonstrates that chromatin-derived peptide motifs are portable and
      in some cases can be customized to alter their function. Finally, we present a
      workflow for fusion protein design and discuss best practices for engineering
      chromatin to assist scientists in advancing the field of synthetic epigenetics.

PMID- 28609791
TI  - Transpancreatic sphincterotomy has a higher cannulation success rate than needle
      knife precut papillotomy - a meta-analysis.
AB  - Background and aim While many studies have discussed the different cannulation
      techniques used in patients with difficult biliary access, no previous meta
      analyses have compared transpancreatic sphincterotomy (TPS) to other advanced
      techniques. Therefore, we aimed to identify all studies comparing the efficacy
      and adverse event rates of TPS with needle-knife precut papillotomy (NKPP), the
      most commonly used technique, and to perform a meta-analysis. Methods The Embase,
      PubMed, and Cochrane databases were searched for trials comparing the outcomes of
      TPS with NKPP up till December 2016. A meta-analysis focusing on outcome
      (cannulation success, post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
      pancreatitis (PEP), post-procedural bleeding, and total adverse events) was
      performed. The population, intervention, comparison, outcome (PICO) format was
      used to compare these cannulation approaches. Five prospective and eight
      retrospective studies were included in our meta-analysis. Results NKPP has a
      significantly lower success rate (odds ratio [OR] 0.50, P = 0.046; relative risk
      [RR] 0.92, P = 0.03) and a higher rate of bleeding complications (OR 2.24, P =
      0.02; RR 2.18, P = 0.02) than TPS. However, no significant differences were found
      in PEP (OR 0.79, P = 0.24; RR 0.80, P = 0.19), perforation (risk difference [RD]
      0.01, P = 0.23), or total complication rates (OR 1.22, P = 0.44; RR 1.17, P =
      0.47). Conclusion While TPS has a higher success rate in difficult biliary access
      and causes less bleeding than NKPP, there are no differences in PEP, perforation,
      or total complication rates between the two approaches. We conclude that TPS, in
      the hands of expert endoscopists, is a safe procedure, which should be used more
      widely in patients with difficult biliary access.

PMID- 28609792
TI  - [Systematic review on conservative treatment options in non-muscle-invasive
      bladder cancer patients refractory to Bacillus Calmette-Guerin instillation
      therapy].
AB  - Background Adjuvant Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) intravesical instillation is
      the recommended standard treatment in patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive
      bladder cancer (NMIBC). However, a significant proportion of patients fail
      treatment, and radical cystectomy (RC) is the subsequent gold standard. On the
      other hand, there is an unmet need for conservative alternatives for patients who
      are unfit or unwilling to undergo surgery. This study aimed to identify
      conservative treatment options in NMIBC patients after BCG failure. Material and
      Methods We performed a systematic search in the databases Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE and EMBASE, including all
      randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs and single-arm studies, in which
      patients with NMIBC were treated with second-line intravesical or systemic
      therapy after BCG failure. A minimum of eight patients were included in each
      treatment arm. Full papers were restricted to English language. Literature
      research and data analysis were assessed independently by two reviewers. Data on
      treatment response, recurrence, time to recurrence, progression and rate of
      cystectomy were collected and analysed. Results This systematic review included
      42 publications with a total of 3521 patients (2371 BCG failures). Valrubicin,
      taxanes, gemcitabine, combination chemotherapy, thermochemotherapy, photodynamic
      therapy, combination of BCG and interferon and immunotherapies or targeted
      therapies were identified as conservative treatment options. For taxanes,
      gemcitabine and thermochemotherapy there is the highest evidence for a clinical
      meaningful response with minor toxicities. Conclusions Despite some promising
      response rates for taxanes, gemcitabine or thermochemotherapy, an evidence-based
      recommendation for treatment options superior to RC in patients failing BCG
      therapy cannot be made. The definition of BCG failure is still inconsistent and
      heterogeneous outcomes in patients with BCG failure have been reported. In order
      to identify effective conservative therapy options in patients failing BCG
      therapy, prospective trials with a standardised trial design are needed.

PMID- 28609793
TI  - ?

PMID- 28609794
TI  - [Destruction of microsurgical devices by sterilisation].
AB  - Hospital facilities issue numerous risk announcements on corrosion, deformation
      or premature wearout of medical devices every year. As there is yet little data
      on the impact of reprocessing on the quality and durability of microsurgical
      instruments, this paper aims at evaluating the effects of the reprocessing on
      microsurgical instruments. Material and Methods 22 brand new microsurgical
      instruments for stapes surgery were being reprocessed 30 times without being used
      for surgery or other purposes in the interim time. After each reprocessing the
      instruments were examined macroscopicly and microscopicly. The results were
      portrayed in a photo documentation and analysed on that basis. Results Almost all
      devices showed mechanical damage caused by the reprocessing procedure. The
      increasing deterioration was often associated with missing protective caps.
      Furthermore contaminations and stains were apparent in several cases. Conclusions
      The findings illustrate that careful handling of delicate surgical devices during
      reprocessing is vital. They also highlight problems of protective caps. As an
      alternative going forward it should be considered to store microsurgical
      instruments statically in special racks.

PMID- 28609795
TI  - International Reports of Unexpected Low Plasma Concentrations of Dabigatran
      Suggest That More Frequent Measurements Will Add Value.

PMID- 28609796
TI  - Successful Use of a Highly Purified Plasma von Willebrand Factor Concentrate
      Containing Little FVIII for the Long-Term Prophylaxis of Severe (Type 3) von
      Willebrand's Disease.

PMID- 28609797
TI  - Response to: "More on the Limitations of the aPTT for Monitoring Argatroban
      Therapy".

PMID- 28609798
TI  - Can Mean Platelet Volume Be Used as a Predictor of Vascular Disease? Problems and
      Pitfalls.

PMID- 28609799
TI  - Hemostatic Complications in Hepatobiliary Surgery.

PMID- 28609800
TI  - Hemostatic Complications in Renal Transplantation.

PMID- 28609801
TI  - HYdroxychloroquine to Improve Pregnancy Outcome in Women with AnTIphospholipid
      Antibodies (HYPATIA) Protocol: A Multinational Randomized Controlled Trial of
      Hydroxychloroquine versus Placebo in Addition to Standard Treatment in Pregnant
      Women with Antiphospholipid Syndrome or Antibodies.

PMID- 28609802
TI  - Hematocrit and Stroke: A Forgotten and Neglected Link?

PMID- 28609803
TI  - Inferior Vena Cava Agenesis and Deep Vein Thrombosis in the Young: A Review of
      the Literature and Local Experience.

PMID- 28609804
TI  - Psychometric Properties of Brief Screening Tests for Alcohol Use Disorders during
      Pregnancy in Argentina.
AB  - Background Considering the physical, mental and behavioral problems related to
      fetal alcohol exposure, prenatal clinical guides suggest a brief evaluation of
      alcohol consumption during pregnancy to detect alcohol intake and to adjust
      interventions, if required. Even if any alcohol use should be considered risky
      during pregnancy, identifying women with alcohol use disorders is important
      because they could need a more specific intervention than simple advice to
      abstain. Most screening tests have been developed and validated in male
      populations and focused on the long-term consequences of heavy alcohol use, so
      they might be inappropriate to assess consumption in pregnant women. Objective To
      analyze the internal reliability and validity of the alcohol screening
      instruments Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Alcohol Use
      Disorders Identification Test - Consumption (AUDIT-C), Tolerance, Worried, Eye
      Opener, Amnesia and Cut-Down (TWEAK), Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen - Quantity
      Frequency (RAPS-QF) and Tolerance, Annoyed, Cut-Down and Eye-Opener (T-ACE) to
      identify alcohol use disorders in pregnant women. Methods A total of 641
      puerperal women were personally interviewed during the 48 hours after delivery.
      The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and the sensitivity and
      specificity of each instrument using different cut-off points were analyzed.
      Results All instruments showed areas under the ROC curves above 0.80. Larger
      areas were found for the TWEAK and the AUDIT. The TWEAK, the T-ACE and the AUDIT
      C showed higher sensitivity, while the AUDIT and the RAPS-QF showed higher
      specificity. Reliability (internal consistency) was low for all instruments,
      improving when optimal cut-off points were used, especially for the AUDIT, the
      AUDIT-C and the RAPS-QF. Conclusions In other cultural contexts, studies have
      concluded that T-ACE and TWEAK are the best instruments to assess pregnant women.
      In contrast, our results evidenced the low reliability of those instruments and a
      better performance of the AUDIT in this population.

PMID- 28609805
TI  - Syphilis in Pregnancy and Congenital Syphilis: Reality in a Portuguese Central
      University Hospital.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate maternal-fetal surveillance and follow-up of infants at risk
      for congenital syphilis (CS). Methods Retrospective cohort study in a Portuguese
      Tertiary Referral Hospital. The main inclusion criterion was a positive syphilis
      serology. The study included all pregnant women that delivered in our hospital
      between January 2004 and December 2013. The neonates were classified according to
      their probability of infection based on the Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention guidelines. Results Among the 27 pregnancies at risk for CS, 48.2% (n
      = 13) of the women had a diagnosis during the 1st trimester, and the median
      gestational age at the end of the treatment was 28 weeks. Inadequate treatment
      was noted in 44.4% (n = 12) of the women. Adverse pregnancy outcomes were
      observed in 30.8% of the cases (n = 8), 5 of which had been adequately treated.
      We found 2 (7.7%) cases with "proven or highly probable CS," 10 (38.5%) with
      "possible CS," 12 (46.1%) with "less likely CS," and 2 (7.7%) with "unlikely CS."
      Among the infants, the treatment was successful, except for 1 neurosyphilis case.
      Conclusion This study highlights many of the difficulties/concerns encountered in
      the maternal-neonatal management of syphilis. We highlight the importance of
      assuring the early detection of the infection as a way of guaranteeing the timely
      treatment, as well as a good compliance to the treatment and follow-up through a
      more efficient pregnant women surveillance network.

PMID- 28609806
TI  - What do Infertile Women Think about Oocyte Reception, Oocyte Donation, and Child
      Adoption?
AB  - Purpose The views of infertile couples regarding oocyte donation by third parties
      and adoption are unknown, as these may be interpreted as a final closure of the
      available options for conception. This study aimed to determine the acceptance of
      oocyte donation, oocyte reception, and child adoption of infertile women who
      submitted to assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment Methods Sixty-nine
      women who were under treatment for infertility and submitted to ART procedures
      were included in this cross-sectional study. They were evaluated using semi
      structured questionnaires administered during ovulation induction in a treatment
      cycle. Marital status, religion, years of schooling, occupation, type of
      infertility, age, duration of infertility, number of previous ART cycles, mean
      oocyte number per cycle, and mean number of embryos per cycle had no influence on
      a woman's acceptance of oocyte donation or oocyte reception. Results More than
      90% of the patients thought that the subject of "adoption" should be brought up
      during their ART treatments, although they preferred to discuss this topic with
      psychologists, not doctors. Women with occupations were more willing to consider
      adoption. Conclusion The opinions of these patients on these issues seem to be
      based on personal concepts and ethical, religious, and moral values. Women
      preferred to discuss adoption with psychologists rather than doctors.

PMID- 28609807
TI  - Changing the Prior Model Description in Bayesian Inversion of Hydrogeophysics
      Dataset.

PMID- 28609808
TI  - Resection of subaortic membrane for discrete subaortic stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We reviewed the long-term results of surgery for discrete subaortic
      membrane (SubAM) from a single institute. METHODS: A retrospective review of
      medical records of all patients (n = 146) who underwent resection of a SubAM for
      discrete subaortic stenosis between 1990 and 2015 at the All India Institute of
      Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India was undertaken. RESULTS: Median age at surgery
      was 9.0 years (9 months-47 years). There was one early death. Preoperative peak
      left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) Doppler gradient was 83.4 +/- 26.2 mmHg
      (range: 34-169 mmHg). On preoperative echocardiography, aortic regurgitation (AR)
      was absent in 69 (47.3%), mild in 35 (24%), moderate in 30 (20.5%), and severe in
      12 (8.2%). After surgery, the LVOT gradient was reduced to 15.1 +/- 6.2 mmHg (P <
      0.001). Fourteen patients (9.6%) who had residual/recurrent significant gradients
      are currently being followed-up or awaiting surgery. There was improvement in AR
      for operated patients with freedom from AR of 92.6 +/- 0.03% at 15 years. Kaplan
      Meier survival at 25 years was 93.0 +/- 3.9% (95% confidence interval: 79.6,
      97.7). Freedom from re-operation at 25 years was 96.9 +/- 1.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Long
      term results of surgery for discrete SubAM are good. Resection of the membrane
      along with septal myectomy decreases the risk of recurrence.

PMID- 28609809
TI  - Intestinal tuberculosis: a diagnostic challenge.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics, presentation, time to diagnosis and
      diagnostic findings of patients with intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) in a low
      burden country. METHOD: Retrospective study of 61 consecutive ITB patients
      diagnosed between 2008 and 2014 at a large East London hospital. RESULTS: Forty
      of sixty-one patients were male. Mean age was 34.6 years. 93% of patients were
      born abroad, mostly from TB-endemic areas (Indian subcontinent: 88%, Africa: 9%).
      25% had concomitant pulmonary TB. Median time from symptom onset to ITB diagnosis
      was 13 weeks (IQR 3-26 weeks). Ten patients were initially treated for IBD,
      although patients had ITB. The main sites of ITB involvement were the ileocaecum
      (44%) or small bowel (34%). Five patients had isolated perianal disease.
      Colonoscopy confirmed a diagnosis of ITB in 77% of those performed. 42 of 61
      patients had a diagnosis of ITB confirmed on positive histology and/or
      microbiology. CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of ITB is often delayed, which may result in
      significant morbidity. ITB should be excluded in patients with abdominal
      complaints who come from TB-endemic areas to establish prompt diagnosis and
      treatment. Diagnosis is challenging but aided by axial imaging, colonoscopy and
      tissue biopsy for TB culture and histology.

PMID- 28609810
TI  - Less favourable climates constrain demographic strategies in plants.
AB  - Correlative species distribution models are based on the observed relationship
      between species' occurrence and macroclimate or other environmental variables. In
      climates predicted less favourable populations are expected to decline, and in
      favourable climates they are expected to persist. However, little comparative
      empirical support exists for a relationship between predicted climate suitability
      and population performance. We found that the performance of 93 populations of 34
      plant species worldwide - as measured by in situ population growth rate, its
      temporal variation and extinction risk - was not correlated with climate
      suitability. However, correlations of demographic processes underpinning
      population performance with climate suitability indicated both resistance and
      vulnerability pathways of population responses to climate: in less suitable
      climates, plants experienced greater retrogression (resistance pathway) and
      greater variability in some demographic rates (vulnerability pathway). While a
      range of demographic strategies occur within species' climatic niches,
      demographic strategies are more constrained in climates predicted to be less
      suitable.

PMID- 28609811
TI  - Successful management of unresectable small bowel lymphoma with laparoscopy
      assisted surgical exclusion of the affected intestine.
AB  - The incidence of small bowel lymphoma (SBL) is increasing worldwide. In contrast
      to resectable SBL, the treatment of unresectable SBL is still contentious. Here,
      we report a case of unresectable SBL that was treated by laparoscopic exclusion
      of the affected intestine before systemic chemotherapy was administered. An 84
      year-old man was diagnosed with primary SBL involving extranodal dissemination.
      The patient received prophylactic surgery, namely exclusion of the affected
      intestine. This therapy diminishes well-known and life-threatening complications,
      such as perforation, bleeding, and obstruction, which may still occur after
      chemotherapy, and it makes the administration of chemotherapy safer. In addition,
      the surgery provides easy access for direct endoscopic observation and biopsy,
      which are otherwise difficult to perform. Follow-up after two courses of
      chemotherapy showed that the patient had achieved complete remission. In
      conclusion, the procedure described here may be an effective strategy for
      unresectable SBL.

PMID- 28609812
TI  - Selection into Emergency Medicine fellowship training: Is it a fair game?

PMID- 28609815
TI  - Outcomes and Safety Issues Related to Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy in
      Neurodegenerative Diseases.

PMID- 28609814
TI  - Prediction and Prevention of Postpolypectomy Bleeding: Necessity of a Different
      Approach for Patients Using Antithrombotic Agents.

PMID- 28609813
TI  - Trajectories of self-care agency and associated factors in lung transplant
      recipients over the first 12 months following transplantation.
AB  - Self-care agency (SCA), defined as one's ability and willingness to engage in
      self-care behaviors, can influence actual performance of self-care behaviors in
      lung transplant recipients (LTRs). Understanding patterns of SCA over time may
      inform the design of interventions to promote self-care in LTRs. Using group
      based trajectory modeling, we sought to identify patterns and correlates of SCA
      among 94 LTRs over the first 12 months post-transplant. Baseline measures of
      sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors, and longitudinally assessed
      psychological distress were examined for their associations with predicted
      trajectory group membership. Three distinct stable (ie, zero slope) SCA
      trajectories were identified as follows: persistently low, persistently moderate,
      and persistently high. Based on the final multivariate model, requiring a re
      intubation after transplant (P=.043), discharged to a facility rather than home
      (P=.048), and reporting a higher level of baseline anxiety (P=.001) were
      significantly associated with lower SCA. Linear mixed models revealed that higher
      levels of anxiety and depression were associated with lower SCA in the
      persistently moderate and low SCA groups over the 12-month time period (Ps<.05).
      LTRs who require a re-intubation after transplant and are discharged to a
      facility other than home, and report high psychological distress, may need
      additional assistance to engage in post-transplant self-care behaviors.

PMID- 28609816
TI  - Sessile Serrated Adenoma; the Hard-to-Catch Culprit of Interval Cancer.

PMID- 28609817
TI  - Characteristics of Missed Synchronous Gastric Epithelial Neoplasms.

PMID- 28609818
TI  - Accessory Devices Frequently Used for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection.
AB  - Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is increasingly being considered an
      essential component of treatment for early gastrointestinal cancers and
      subepithelial tumors. The ESD technique owes its popularity to the development of
      sophisticated instruments used for ESD. With an increase in the number of ESD
      procedures performed, there is rapid development in the number and types of
      endoscopic accessory devices used for such procedures. Despite the large numbers
      of new devices developed and marketed, the use of ESD instruments and accessory
      devices is largely determined by individual preferences and experiences.
      Accessory devices frequently used during ESD are important tools for ESD
      techniques. Each instrument possesses characteristic advantages and disadvantages
      associated with its use, and no one instrument is superior in all respects to
      others. In this article, we review the characteristics of endoscopic electrical
      knives, cap and hood, and hemostatic devices commonly used in ESD.

PMID- 28609819
TI  - Future Development of Endoscopic Accessories for Endoscopic Submucosal
      Dissection.
AB  - Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has recently been accepted as a standard
      treatment for patients with early gastric cancer (EGC), without lymph node
      metastases. Given the rise in the number of ESDs being performed, new endoscopic
      accessories are being developed and existing accessories modified to facilitate
      the execution of ESD and reduce complication rates. This paper examines the
      history underlying the development of these new endoscopic accessories and
      indicates future directions for the development of these accessories.

PMID- 28609820
TI  - History and Development of Accessories for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection.
AB  - Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) procedure is composed of circumferential
      mucosal incision and submucosal dissection. A variety of endoscopic accessories
      are required to perform mucosal incision and submucosal dissection safely. As a
      result of the improvements in ESD devices and peripheral equipment and
      development of the ESD technique, ESD procedures have been performed extensively
      worldwide. Here I review the history of the development of accessories used in
      performing ESD procedures.

PMID- 28609821
TI  - Endoscopic Accessories Used for More Advanced Endoluminal Therapeutic Procedures.
AB  - Endoscopic accessories describe an extensive variety of auxiliary instruments
      used for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. Various endoscopic accessories
      have been developed over the previous few decades and are mostly used for
      treating neoplastic lesions, such as early gastrointestinal (GI) carcinomas and
      premalignant lesions. Because of extensive research on natural orifice
      endoluminal surgery (NOTES) in the early 2000s and recent technological
      developments, new devices have been developed for various advanced endoluminal
      therapeutic procedures. In particular, a remarkable development of endoscopic
      management was achieved in the field of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
      and obesity. In both conditions, there is treatment gap between medical and
      surgical therapy. A large proportion of the patients who do not respond to
      medical treatment and lifestyle modification, still hesitate to directly undergo
      surgical treatment. To bridge this gap, endoscopic management has been receiving
      increasing attention. In this article, I review endoscopic and/or endoluminal
      devices used for the treatment of GERD and obesity with proposed mechanisms of
      their function.

PMID- 28609822
TI  - Colonoscopy Procedure Time: Does the Learning Environment Matter?

PMID- 28609823
TI  - Association of Directly Measured Plasma Free 25(OH)D With Insulin Sensitivity and
      Secretion: The IRAS Family Study.
AB  - Objectives: We aimed to compare the associations of directly measured plasma free
      25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and total 25(OH)D concentrations with insulin
      sensitivity (SI) and beta-cell function in nondiabetic Hispanics and African
      Americans. We hypothesized that directly measured free 25(OH)D would be more
      strongly associated with these measures of glucose homeostasis and that
      associations would differ by race. Design: We studied 1189 nondiabetic
      participants in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study Family Study using
      data from baseline examinations from 2000 to 2002. SI, acute insulin response,
      and disposition index (DI) were determined from frequently sampled intravenous
      glucose tolerance tests. Plasma free and total 25(OH)D concentrations were
      measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and radioimmunoassay, respectively.
      Results: The median concentrations of plasma free 25(OH)D were 3.46 pg/mL for
      Hispanics and 2.17 pg/mL for African Americans (P < 0.0001), whereas the median
      concentrations of plasma total 25(OH)D were 16 ng/mL for Hispanics and 10 ng/mL
      for African Americans (P < 0.0001). Plasma free and total 25(OH)D were both
      positively associated with SI and DI in generalized estimating equations adjusted
      for demographic and lifestyle factors. After further adjustment with body mass
      index, the associations were no longer statistically significant, except for a
      significant association between plasma free 25(OH)D and SI. There was no effect
      modification by ethnicity on any of the exposure-outcome associations.
      Conclusions: Our data showed that plasma free 25(OH)D had a slightly stronger
      association with SI compared with plasma total 25(OH)D, although the difference
      was modest and there were no marked differences in the associations between
      Hispanics and African Americans.

PMID- 28609824
TI  - 12-Lipoxygenase Inhibitor Improves Functions of Cytokine-Treated Human Islets and
      Type 2 Diabetic Islets.
AB  - Context: The 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO) pathway produces proinflammatory
      metabolites, and its activation is implicated in islet inflammation associated
      with type 1 and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Objectives: We aimed to test the efficacy
      of ML355, a highly selective, small molecule inhibitor of 12-LO, for the
      preservation of islet function. Design: Human islets from nondiabetic donors were
      incubated with a mixture of tumor necrosis factor alpha , interluekin-1beta, and
      interferon-gamma to model islet inflammation. Cytokine-treated islets and human
      islets from T2D donors were incubated in the presence and absence of ML355.
      Setting: In vitro study. Participants: Human islets from organ donors aged >20
      years of both sexes and any race were used. T2D status was defined from either
      medical history or most recent hemoglobin A1c value >6.5%. Intervention: Glucose
      stimulation. Main Outcome Measures: Static and dynamic insulin secretion and
      oxygen consumption rate (OCR). Results: ML355 prevented the reduction of insulin
      secretion and OCR in cytokine-treated human islets and improved both parameters
      in human islets from T2D donors. Conclusions: ML355 was efficacious in improving
      human islet function after cytokine treatment and in T2D islets in vitro. The
      study suggests that the blockade of the 12-LO pathway may serve as a target for
      both form of diabetes and provides the basis for further study of this small
      molecule inhibitor in vivo.

PMID- 28609828
TI  - Congenital Jejunal Diverticular Bleeding in a Young Adult.
AB  - Diverticular bleeding of the small bowel is rare and occurs primarily in adults
      aged more than 60 years. In younger adults, Meckel's diverticulum, a true
      diverticulum that congenitally occurs in the distal ileum, is the most common
      cause of diverticular bleeding of the small bowel. Unlike Meckel's diverticula,
      other kinds of small bowel diverticula are not congenital and their incidence is
      related to age. Furthermore, congenital true diverticular bleeding of the jejunum
      in adults is very rare. We report the case of a 24-year-old man with
      subepithelial tumor-like lesion accompanied with obscure overt gastrointestinal
      bleeding. This lesion was initially suspected to be a subepithelial tumor based
      on radiologic tests and capsule endoscopy. He was finally diagnosed with a
      congenital true diverticulum in the jejunum with the appearance of a Meckel's
      diverticulum after surgical resection.

PMID- 28609825
TI  - The Use of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology in Korea: A
      Nationwide Multicenter Survey by the Korean Society of Endocrine Pathologists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) has
      standardized the reporting of thyroid cytology specimens. The objective of the
      current study was to evaluate the nationwide usage of TBSRTC and assess the
      malignancy rates in each category of TBSRTC in Korea. METHODS: Questionnaire
      surveys were used for data collection on the fine needle aspiration (FNA) of
      thyroid nodules at 74 institutes in 2012. The incidences and follow-up malignancy
      rates of each category diagnosed from January to December, 2011, in each
      institute were also collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Sixty out of 74 institutes
      answering the surveys reported the results of thyroid FNA in accordance with
      TBSRTC. The average malignancy rates for resected cases in 15 institutes were as
      follows: nondiagnostic, 45.6%; benign, 16.5%; atypical of undetermined
      significance, 68.8%; suspicious for follicular neoplasm (SFN), 30.2%; suspicious
      for malignancy, 97.5%; malignancy, 99.7%. CONCLUSIONS: More than 80% of Korean
      institutes were using TBSRTC as of 2012. All malignancy rates other than the SFN
      and malignancy categories were higher than those reported by other countries.
      Therefore, the guidelines for treating patients with thyroid nodules in Korea
      should be revisited based on the malignancy rates reported in this study.

PMID- 28609827
TI  - Nonandrogenic Anabolic Hormones Predict Risk of Frailty: European Male Ageing
      Study Prospective Data.
AB  - Context: Low levels of nonandrogenic anabolic hormones have been linked with
      frailty, but evidence is conflicting and prospective data are largely lacking.
      Objective: To determine associations between nonandrogenic anabolic hormones and
      prospective changes in frailty status. Design/Setting: A 4.3-year prospective
      observational study of community-dwelling men participating in the European Male
      Ageing Study. Participants: Men (n = 3369) aged 40 to 79 years from eight
      European centers. Main Outcome Measures: Frailty status was determined using
      frailty phenotype (FP; n = 2114) and frailty index (FI; n = 2444). Analysis:
      Regression models assessed relationships between baseline levels of insulinlike
      growth factor 1 (IGF-1), its binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), dehydroepiandrosterone
      sulfate (DHEA-S), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), and parathyroid hormone (PTH),
      with changes in frailty status (worsening or improving frailty). Results: The
      risk of worsening FP and FI decreased with 1 standard deviation higher IGF-1,
      IGFBP-3, and 25OHD in models adjusted for age, body mass index, center, and
      baseline frailty [IGF-1: odds ratio (OR) for worsening FP, 0.82 (0.73, 0.93),
      percentage change in FI, -3.7% (-6.0, -1.5); IGFBP-3: 0.84 (0.75, 0.95), -4.2% (
      6.4, -2.0); 25OHD: 0.84 (0.75, 0.95); -4.4%, (-6.7, -2.0)]. Relationships between
      IGF-1 and FI were attenuated after adjusting for IGFBP-3. Higher DHEA-S was
      associated with a lower risk of worsening FP only in men >70 years old [OR, 0.57
      (0.35, 0.92)]. PTH was unrelated to change in frailty status. Conclusions: These
      longitudinal data confirm the associations between nonandrogenic anabolic
      hormones and the changes in frailty status. Interventional studies are needed to
      establish causality and determine therapeutic implications.

PMID- 28609829
TI  - Body Mass Index and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study
      of 399,536 Individuals.
AB  - Context: Recently, data on 2,000,000 people established that low body mass index
      (BMI) is associated with increased risk of dementia. Whether this observational
      association reflects a causal effect remains to be clarified. Objective: We
      tested the hypothesis that there is a causal association between low BMI and high
      risk of Alzheimer's disease. Design, Setting, and Participants: Using a Mendelian
      randomization approach, we studied 95,578 individuals from the Copenhagen General
      Population Study (CGPS) with up to 36 years of follow-up and consortia data on
      303,958 individuals from the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits
      (GIANT) and the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project (IGAP). Main
      Outcome Measure: Risk of Alzheimer's disease. Results: The causal odds ratio for
      a 1-kg/m2 genetically determined lower BMI was 0.98 [95% confidence interval
      (CI), 0.77 to 1.23] for a weighted allele score in the CGPS. Using 32 BMI
      decreasing variants from GIANT and IGAP the causal odds ratio for Alzheimer's
      disease for a 1-standard deviation (SD) lower genetically determined BMI was 1.02
      (95% CI, 0.86 to 1.22). Corresponding observational hazard ratios from the CGPS
      were 1.07 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.09) and 1.32 (95% CI, 1.20 to 1.46) for a 1-kg/m2
      and a 1-SD lower BMI, respectively. Conclusions: Genetic and hence lifelong low
      BMI is not associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in the general
      population. These data suggest that low BMI is not a causal risk factor for
      Alzheimer's disease and that the corresponding observational association likely
      is explained by reverse causation or confounding.

PMID- 28609831
TI  - Impact of Vitamin D deficiency on subclinical carotid atherosclerosis: a pooled
      analysis of cohort studies.
AB  - Context: Vitamin D deficiency patients have an increased cardiovascular (CV)
      morbidity and mortality. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and carotid plaques
      are markers of subclinical atherosclerosis and predictors of CV events.
      Objective: To perform a meta-analysis of studies evaluating the impact of Vitamin
      D deficiency on common carotid artery IMT (CCA-IMT) and on the prevalence of
      carotid plaques. Data Sources: Studies were systematically searched in the
      PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and EMBASE databases. Results: Twenty-one studies
      (3,777 Vitamin D deficiency patients and 4,792 controls) with data on CCA-IMT and
      6 studies (1,889 Vitamin D deficiency patients and 2,883 controls) on the
      prevalence of carotid plaques were included. Compared to controls, Vitamin D
      deficiency patients showed a significantly higher CCA-IMT (mean difference [MD]:
      0.043 mm; 95%CI: 0.030, 0.056; P<0.001), and an increased prevalence of carotid
      plaques (Odds Ratio [OR]: 2.29, 95%CI: 1.03-5.11; P=0.043) with an attributable
      risk of 35.9%. When selecting studies specifically including patients with
      diabetes, the prevalence of carotid plaques in Vitamin D deficiency patients than
      in controls resulted higher (OR: 3.27; 95%CI: 1,62-6.62; P=0.001). A significant
      difference in CCA-IMT was confirmed when comparing patients with Vitamin D
      insufficiency to controls (MD: 0.011; 95%CI: 0.010-0.012, P<0.001). Sensitivity
      analyses substantially confirmed results and regression models showed that with
      the exception of LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and the
      prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, all the other clinical and demographic co
      variates significantly impacted on the difference in CCA-IMT between Vitamin D
      deficiency patients and controls. Conclusions: Both Vitamin D deficiency and
      Vitamin D insufficiency are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis,
      potentially suggesting an increased CV risk in these clinical settings.

PMID- 28609830
TI  - Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma in MEN2A: ATA Moderate- or High-Risk RET Mutations Do
      Not Predict Disease Aggressiveness.
AB  - Context: High-risk RET mutations (codon 634) are associated with earlier
      development of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and presumed increased
      aggressiveness compared with moderate-risk RET mutations. Objective: To determine
      whether high-risk RET mutations are more aggressive. Design: Retrospective cohort
      study using institutional multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 registry. Setting:
      Tertiary cancer care center. Patients: Patients with MTC and moderate- or high
      risk germline RET mutation. Intervention: None (observational study). Main
      Outcome Measures: Proxies for aggressiveness were overall survival (OS) and time
      to distant metastatic disease (DMD). Results: A total of 127 moderate-risk and
      135 high-risk patients were included (n = 262). Median age at diagnosis was 42.3
      years (range, 6.4 to 86.4 years; mean, 41.6 years) for moderate-risk mutations
      and 23.0 years (range, 3.7 to 66.8 years; mean, 25.6 years) for high-risk
      mutations (P < 0.0001). Moderate-risk patients had more T3/T4 tumors at diagnosis
      (P = 0.03), but there was no significant difference for N or M stage and no
      significant difference in OS (P = 0.40). From multivariable analysis for OS,
      increasing age [hazard ratio (HR), 1.05/y; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03 to
      1.08], T3/T4 tumor (HR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.22 to 6.11), and M1 status at diagnosis
      (HR, 3.93; 95% CI, 1.61 to 9.59) were significantly associated with worse OS but
      high-risk mutation was not (P = 0.40). No significant difference was observed for
      development of DMD (P = 0.33). From multivariable analysis for DMD, only N1
      status at diagnosis was significant (HR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.03 to 4.27).
      Conclusions: Patients with high- and moderate-risk RET mutations had similar OS
      and development of DMD after MTC diagnosis and therefore similarly aggressive
      clinical courses. High-risk connotes increased disease aggressiveness; thus,
      future guidelines should consider RET mutation classification by disease onset
      (early vs late) rather than by risk (high vs moderate).

PMID- 28609833
TI  - PTH Regulation of FGF23 Fragments: A Tail in Two Acts

PMID- 28609834
TI  - Getting the Skinny on Follistatin and Fat

PMID- 28609832
TI  - Pembrolizumab-Induced Thyroiditis: Comprehensive Clinical Review and Insights
      Into Underlying Involved Mechanisms.
AB  - Context: Thyroid immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients treated with
      programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) blockade are increasingly recognized as one of
      the most common adverse effects. Our aim was to determine the incidence and
      examine the potential mechanisms of anti-PD-1-induced thyroid irAEs. Design:
      Single-center, retrospective cohort study. Patients and Measurements: We studied
      93 patients with advanced cancer (ages 24 to 82 years; 60% males) who received at
      least one infusion of pembrolizumab. Thyroid test results and thyroid imaging
      modalities were reviewed. Comprehensive 10-color flow cytometry of peripheral
      blood was performed. Results: Thirteen (14%) thyroid irAEs were observed.
      Thyroiditis occurred in seven patients (54%), from which four recovered. New
      onset of hypothyroidism overt/subclinical developed in three patients.
      Levothyroxine dosing required doubling in three patients with a known history of
      hypothyroidism. Thyroperoxidase antibodies were positive in the minority of the
      patients [4/13 (31%)] and diffuse increased 18fludeoxyglucose uptake of the
      thyroid gland was observed in the majority [7/11 (64%)] of patients. We observed
      more circulating CD56+CD16+ natural killer (NK) cells and an elevated HLA-DR
      surface expression in the inflammatory intermediate CD14+CD16+ monocytes in anti
      PD-1-treated patients. Conclusions: Thyroid dysfunction is common in cancer
      patients treated with pembrolizumab. Reversible destructive thyroiditis and overt
      hypothyroidism are the most common clinical presentations. The mechanism of
      thyroid destruction appears independent of thyroid autoantibodies and may include
      T cell, NK cell, and/or monocyte-mediated pathways. Because the thyroid is a
      frequent target of anti-PD-1 therapies, patients with therapeutically refractory
      thyroid cancer may be ideal candidates for this treatment.

PMID- 28609835
TI  - Chewing the Fat: A Metabolic Role for Ldb1 Beyond the Pancreas?

PMID- 28609836
TI  - Beam Me In: Thyroid Hormone Analog Targets Alternative Transporter in Mouse Model
      of X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy

PMID- 28609838
TI  - Hepatoprotective mechanism of Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R.Br. through
      ultrastructural signaling prevention against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-mediated
      oxidative stress.
AB  - Plants have been consumed in medicinal practices for centuries. Lygodium
      microphyllum (Cav.) R.Br. (Lygodiaceae), also known as Old World Climbing Fern,
      is a medicinal plant used by local communities in Sabah for skin and dysentery
      ailments. This study aims to test aqueous extract of L. microphyllum leaves for
      hepatoprotective and immunosuppressive activity in rats. Animal studies were
      carried out to evaluate hepatoprotection of aqueous extract of L. microphyllum at
      different doses (200, 400 and 600mg/kg b.w.) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)
      mediated liver injury and histopathological alterations. Total phenolic content
      in aqueous extract of L. microphyllum leaves was 206.38+/-9.62mg gallic acid
      equivalent/g. The inhibitory concentration (IC50) for free radical scavenging
      activity of L. microphyllum was reached at a concentration of 65MUg/ml.L.
      microphyllum was able to prevent the increase in levels of serum alanine
      aminotransferase, serum aspartate aminotransferase and hepatic malondialdehyde
      formation in a dose-dependent manner. Immunohistochemical results evidenced the
      suppression of oxidative stress markers (4-hydroxynonenal, 8
      hydroxydeoxyguanosine) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (Tumor Necrosis Factor
      alpha, Interleukin-6, Prostaglandin E2). Histopathological and hepatocyte
      ultrastructural alterations showed protective effects by L. microphyllum against
      CCl4-mediated oxidative stress. Hepatoprotective mechanism of L. microphyllum can
      be attributed to its antioxidative effects through protection of ultrastructural
      organelles.

PMID- 28609837
TI  - Familial Pancreatic Cancer and the Future of Directed Screening.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related death in
      the United States and the 12th most common worldwide. Mortality is high, largely
      due to late stage of presentation and suboptimal treatment regimens.
      Approximately 10% of PC cases have a familial basis. The major genetic defect has
      yet to be identified but may be inherited by an autosomal dominant pattern with
      reduced penetrance. Several known hereditary syndromes or genes are associated
      with an increased risk of developing PC and account for approximately 2% of PCs.
      These syndromes include the hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome, Peutz
      Jeghers syndrome, familial atypical multiple mole melanoma, Lynch syndrome,
      familial polyposis, ataxia-telangiectasia, and hereditary pancreatitis.
      Appropriate screening using methods such as biomarkers or imaging, with
      endoscopic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, may assist in the early
      detection of neoplastic lesions in the high-risk population. If these lesions are
      detected and treated before the development of invasive carcinoma, PC disease
      morbidity and mortality may be improved. This review will focus on familial PC
      and other hereditary syndromes implicated in the increased risk of PC; it will
      also highlight current screening methods and the future of new screening
      modalities.

PMID- 28609839
TI  - MicroRNA-15b-5p targets ERK1 to regulate proliferation and apoptosis in rat PC12
      cells.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in multiple biological processes, and
      many miRNAs have been shown to regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. In this
      study, we investigated the role of miR-15b-5p in cell proliferation and apoptosis
      in PC12 cells. We found that overexpression of miR-15b-5p could decrease cell
      proliferation and induce apoptosis and cytotoxic activities in PC12 cells.
      Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase activities assays showed that miR-15b-5p
      might target extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 (ERK1) by binding to its 3'
      untranslated region (3'-UTR). Moreover, we also found that overexpression of ERK1
      could attenuate the effects of miR-15b-5p in PC12 cells. Finally, our results
      suggest that miR-15b-5p might inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in
      PC12 cells by targeting ERK1.

PMID- 28609840
TI  - miR-101 alleviates chemoresistance of gastric cancer cells by targeting ANXA2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemoresistance remains a main clinical obstacle in the treatment of
      gastric cancer (GC). microRNAs have been revealed to participate in the
      regulation of drug resistance in a variety of cancers. However, little is known
      about the function and detailed molecular mechanism of miR-101 in GC
      chemoresistance. METHODS: The expressions of miR-101 and Annexin A2 (ANXA2) in GC
      tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. The effects of miR
      101 overexpression on P-glycoprotein (P-gp) at mRNA and protein levels, cell
      viability, and apoptosis in drug-resistant GC cells were examined by qRT-PCR,
      western blot, MTT and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Luciferase reporter
      assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and qRT-PCR were applied to confirm whether
      miR-101 could target ANXA2 and regulate its expression. Rescue experiment was
      performed to verify the mechanism by which miR-101 involved in chemoresistance.
      RESULTS: miR-101 was downregulated in GC tissues and drug-resistant GC cells. A
      negative correlation between miR-101 and ANXA2 expression was observed in GC
      tissues. Forced expression of miR-101 significantly reduced P-gp expression at
      mRNA and protein levels in drug-resistant GC cells. Overexpression of miR-101
      enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin (DDP) or vincristine (VCR) via viability
      inhibition and apoptosis promotion. ANXA2 was identified as a direct target of
      miR-101 and miR-101 negatively regulated ANXA2 expression. Moreover, ectopic
      expression of ANXA2 reversed the effect of miR-101 on P-gp expression, cell
      viability and apoptosis. CONCLUSION: miR-101 alleviated chemoresistance of
      gastric cancer cells by targeting ANXA2. Therefore, targeting miR-101 may be a
      potential therapeutic approach for drug-resistant GC.

PMID- 28609841
TI  - MiR-200c-5p suppresses proliferation and metastasis of human hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) via suppressing MAD2L1.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the biological functions of miR-200c-5p/MAD2L1 axis on the
      proliferation and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.
      METHODS: The expression levels of miR-200c-5p and MAD2L1 in HCC tissues, adjacent
      tissues as well as HCC cell lines were detected by RT-qPCR or Western blot. The
      interaction between miR-200c-5p and MAD2L1 was verified by dual luciferase
      reporter gene system. Transfection was performed to manipulate the expression of
      miR-200c-5p and MAD2L1 in HCCLM3 cells. Colony formation, MTT, wound healing and
      Transwell assays were applied to measure the cell proliferation, migration and
      invasion of HCC, besides, flow cytometry analysis was also conducted to evaluate
      HCC cell cycle and apoptosis. RESULTS: Low expression of miR-200c-5p and
      remarkable overexpression of MAD2L1 was uncovered in HCC tissues and cells
      compared with the normal. The aberrant expression of miR-200c-5p and MAD2L1 was
      correlated with tumor stage, adjacent organ invasion and prognosis. Direct target
      relationship between miR-200c-5p and MAD2L1 was confirmed by dual luciferase
      reporting assay. Up-regulation of miR-200c-5p downregulated MAD2L1 and suppressed
      the proliferation, migration, invasion and induced apoptosis and cell cycle
      arrest of HCC cells. Moreover, MAD2L1 promoted HCC cell viabilities and co
      transfection of MAD2L1 restored the anti-tumor effects of miR-200c-5p
      overexpression. CONCLUSION: Replenishing of miR-200c-5p inhibited the
      proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells by suppressing MAD2L1. MiR
      200c-5p can serve as a prognostic indicator and a promising therapeutic target
      for HCC patients.

PMID- 28609842
TI  - Specifying the molecular pattern of sporadic parathyroid tumorigenesis-The Y282D
      variant of the GCM2 gene.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Sporadic carcinoma of the parathyroid glands is a rare malignant
      neoplasia. The GCM2 gene encodes a transcription factor that is crucial to
      embryonic parathyroid development. The Y282D variant of GCM2 exhibits increased
      transcriptional activity, and the presence of this variant is significantly
      associated with a higher prevalence of primitive hyperparathyroidism. The present
      study investigated the prevalence of the Y282D variant of the GCM2 gene and its
      association with clinical parameters in patients with a definitive histological
      diagnosis of sporadic parathyroid carcinoma (SPC) or atypical adenoma (AA).

PMID- 28609843
TI  - Knockdown of ANRIL aggravates H2O2-induced injury in PC-12 cells by targeting
      microRNA-125a.
AB  - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating and common neurological disorder which
      causes local oxidative damage. The study aimed to investigate the underlying role
      of ANRIL in H2O2-induced cell injury of rat PC-12 cells. Cell injury was
      evaluated on the basis of cell viability, migration, invasion and apoptosis. The
      effect of ANRIL on H2O2-induced cell injury was estimated after cell
      transfection. Then, the interaction between ANRIL and miR-125a was explored by
      qRT-PCR and estimation of cell injury. Predicted by TargetScan, the possible
      target gene of miR-125a was verified. After that, the effects of aberrantly
      expressed target gene on cell viability, migration, invasion and apoptosis as
      well as phosphorylation of key kinases involved in JAK/STAT and ERK/MAPK pathways
      were evaluated. Results revealed that H2O2-induced PC-12 cell injury could be
      aggravated by ANRIL suppression. ANRIL appeared to act as a sponge of miR-125a,
      and ANRIL suppression promoted H2O2-induced cell injury by up-regulation of miR
      125a. MCL-1 was a target of miR-125a, and MCL-1 was negatively correlated with
      miR-125a. Subsequent experiments showed the effect of MCL-1 silence on H2O2
      induced PC-12 cell injury was the same as ANIRL suppression. MCL-1 attenuated
      H2O2-induced PC-12 cell injury by activating JAK/STAT and ERK/MAPK pathways.
      These findings suggested that knockdown of ANRIL aggravates H2O2-induced injury
      in PC-12 cells by targeting miR-125a. This might provide novel insights in the
      role of ANRIL in pathogenesis of oxidative damage during SCI.

PMID- 28609844
TI  - An overview on immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of chrysin and
      flavonoids substances.
AB  - Inflammation and the pro-inflammatory cytokines are associated with numerous
      chronic diseases. Studies suggest that flavonoids, plant polyphenolic compound
      derivatives from natural origin, have a wide range of putative biological
      activities. Similar to other flavonoids, chrysin (CH) by its anti-oxidative and
      anti-inflammatory effects is a potential prophylactic agent in immunopathological
      and physicochemical injuries. This is an overview on putative immunomodulatory
      activities of flavonoids and beneficial health effects of these substances
      particularly, CH in the immune system. CH possesses potent immune-protective
      effects and suppresses inflammation in innate immune system which results to
      avoid damages induced by neutrophils and macrophages and suppresses immuno
      inflammatory responses. Furthermore, beneficial effects of chrysin on inhibition
      of serum levels nuclear transcription factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) p65 unit, tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, IL-12, IL
      17A, interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) was reported. Moreover, CH has been known as
      the antagonist of NF-kB and the agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma) which in down regulation of the key pro-inflammatory
      enzymes such as myeloperoxidase (MPO), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric
      oxide synthase (iNOS), phospholipase A2, and prostanoids. Therefore, CH can
      improve immune system and neurodegenerative diseases. In recent years, there has
      been an increasing interest in compound derivatives from natural origin. Taken
      together, evidences show that flavonoids may have health-promoting and disease
      preventing dietary compounds with important benefits in modern life styles.

PMID- 28609845
TI  - 'Away' is a place: The impact of electronic waste recycling on blood lead levels
      in Ghana.
AB  - E-waste recycling remains a major source of livelihood for many urban poor in
      developing countries, but this economic activity is fraught with significant
      environmental health risk. Yet, human exposure to the toxic elements associated
      with e-waste activities remains understudied and not evidently understood. This
      study investigates the impact of informal e-waste processing on the blood lead
      levels (BLLs) of e-waste workers and non-e-waste workers (mainly females working
      in activities that serve the Agbogbloshie e-waste site), and relates their lead
      exposure to socio-demographic and occupational characteristics. A total of 128
      blood samples were analysed for lead levels. Surprisingly, the mean BLL
      (3.54MUg/dL) of non-e-waste workers was slightly higher than that of e-waste
      workers (3.49MUg/dL), although higher BLLs ranges were found among e-waste
      workers (0.50-18.80MUg/dL) than non-e-waste workers (0.30-8.20MUg/dL). Workers
      who engaged in e-waste burning tended to have the highest BLLs. In general, the
      BLLs are within the ABLES/US CDC reference level of 5MUg/dL, although 12.3% of
      the workers have elevated BLLs, i.e. BLL >=5MUg/dL. The study concludes that the
      impact of e-waste recycling is not limited to workers alone. Traders and
      residents within the Agbogbloshie enclave are equally at risk through a range of
      environmental vectors. This calls for increased public awareness about the
      effects of human exposure to lead and other toxic elements from e-waste
      recycling. A key contribution is that government and stakeholder projects for
      safe e-waste infrastructure should disaggregate the e-waste value chain,
      recognize differential risk and resist one-size-fits-all strategies.

PMID- 28609846
TI  - A comparison of satellite observations with the XCO2 surface obtained by fusing
      TCCON measurements and GEOS-Chem model outputs.
AB  - Ground observations can capture CO2 concentrations accurately but the number of
      available TCCON (Total Carbon Column Observing Network) sites is too small to
      support a comprehensive analysis (i.e. validation) of satellite observations.
      Atmospheric transport models can provide continuous atmospheric CO2
      concentrations in space and time, but some information is difficult to generate
      with model simulations. The HASM platform can model continuous column-averaged
      CO2 dry air mole fraction (XCO2) surface taking TCCON observations as its optimum
      control constraints and an atmospheric transport model as its driving field. This
      article presents a comparison of the satellite observations with a HASM XCO2
      surface obtained by fusing TCCON measurements with GEOS-Chem model results. We
      first verified the accuracy of the HASM XCO2 surface using six years (2010-2015)
      of TCCON observations and the GEOS-Chem model XCO2 results. The validation
      results show that the largest MAE of bias between the HASM results and
      observations was 0.85ppm and the smallest MAE was only 0.39ppm. Next, we modeled
      the HASM XCO2 surface by fusing the TCCON measurements and GEOS-Chem XCO2 model
      results for the period 9/1/14 to 8/31/15. Finally, we compared the GOSAT and OCO
      2 observations with the HASM XCO2 surface and found that the global OCO-2 XCO2
      estimates more closely resembled the HASM XCO2 surface than the GOSAT XCO2
      estimates.

PMID- 28609847
TI  - Soil contamination with cadmium, consequences and remediation using organic
      amendments.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) contamination of soil and food crops is a ubiquitous environmental
      problem that has resulted from uncontrolled industrialization, unsustainable
      urbanization and intensive agricultural practices. Being a toxic element, Cd
      poses high threats to soil quality, food safety, and human health. Land is the
      ultimate source of waste disposal and utilization therefore, Cd released from
      different sources (natural and anthropogenic), eventually reaches soil, and then
      subsequently bio-accumulates in food crops. The stabilization of Cd in
      contaminated soil using organic amendments is an environmentally friendly and
      cost effective technique used for remediation of moderate to high contaminated
      soil. Globally, substantial amounts of organic waste are generated every day that
      can be used as a source of nutrients, and also as conditioners to improve soil
      quality. This review paper focuses on the sources, generation, and use of
      different organic amendments to remediate Cd contaminated soil, discusses their
      effects on soil physical and chemical properties, Cd bioavailability, plant
      uptake, and human health risk. Moreover, it also provides an update of the most
      relevant findings about the application of organic amendments to remediate Cd
      contaminated soil and associated mechanisms. Finally, future research needs and
      directions for the remediation of Cd contaminated soil using organic amendments
      are discussed.

PMID- 28609848
TI  - Geochemical landscapes as drivers of trace and toxic element profiles in wild red
      deer (Cervus elaphus).
AB  - Tissue concentrations of essential trace and toxic elements in red deer (Cervus
      elaphus) are associated with the plants, soil and water they ingest. As such,
      variation in tissue concentrations is associated with variation in local
      geochemistry and bioavailability of elements. Physiological factors such as liver
      fluke (Fasciola hepatica) infection, breeding status, and in-tissue element
      interactions may also affect tissue concentrations, though their effects in red
      deer are not well understood. The primary objective of this study was therefore
      to survey wild red deer liver element concentrations across a range of
      geographically distinct populations during the Scottish red deer stalking season;
      and, in so doing, establishes element reference ranges while also exploring
      geographic and temporal variation and physiological factors. Livers were sampled
      from carcasses intended for human consumption on nine hunting estates during two
      seasons (2012-13, 2013-14). Samples were digested and analysed by ICP-OES for
      essential trace elements (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, Zn) and for Cd. Data (n=787)
      were modelled against cull location, date, and F. hepatica diagnosis.
      Interactions between elements within liver, and differences in element profiles
      between estates, were explored by principal component analysis. Our results
      revealed marked geographic variation in Cd, Cu and Se, where up to four-fold
      differences in median element concentrations occurred between estates, and, in
      males, Mn, Mo and Zn declined as the breeding season approached. In both sexes,
      within-liver associations (Cd-Cu-Se and Mn-Mo-Zn) were found. In females, liver
      Zn was greater on average in individuals that were not infected with F. hepatica.
      This study is the first to quantify geographic variation in Scottish red deer
      liver element concentrations; the drivers of which remain to be explored (and may
      be management related), and, the consequence of which may affect sub-clinical
      health.

PMID- 28609849
TI  - Legacy and emerging halogenated flame retardants in the middle and lower stream
      of the Yellow River.
AB  - Halogenated flame retardants (HFRs), mainly encompassing polybrominated
      diphenylethers (PBDEs), dechlorane plus (DP) and emerging bromine flame
      retardants (EBFRs), are widely employed nowadays in daily lives. However, limited
      knowledge has been gained to date on the concentrations and distributions of HFRs
      in particular within certain regions. In the present study, legacy and emerging
      HFRs were systematically measured in suspended particle matter (SPM) and
      sediments collected in 2014 from the middle and lower reach of the Yellow River
      in Henan province. The total concentrations of HFRs in SPM among the three
      seasons were 42.2+/-91.2ngg-1, which was far higher than the corresponding values
      of HFRs in sediments (1.82+/-2.94ngg-1). In this study, PBDEs, DP and EBFRs in
      sediment almost exhibited relatively lower levels as compared to those found in
      other studies, where the limited usage of HFRs in the middle and lower stream of
      the Yellow River was probably the major impact factor. EBFR was the predominate
      pollutant from SPM and sediments in most of the sampling sites, suggesting that
      EBFRs were widely used nowadays as substitute materials of 'old' FRs. The mean
      concentration values of DBDPE/BDE-209 in SPM and sediments were apparently higher
      than those of previous studies. Furthermore, it is interesting to reveal that
      herein almost all of the HFR concentrations were unrelated to the population and
      GDP, which might be attributed to the characteristics of 'elevated stream' of the
      Yellow River as well as the complex river systems in Henan province.

PMID- 28609850
TI  - Evaluation of the starch-based flocculants on flocculation of hairwork
      wastewater.
AB  - China is the world's largest producer of wigs, and the manufacturing generates
      large quantities of hairwork effluents. Coagulation/flocculation is an important
      step in the water treatment process. In this study, two versions of starch-based
      flocculants were successfully prepared through etherification and graft
      copolymerization, respectively. Starch-3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl triethyl ammonium
      chloride (St-CTA-DQ) and starch-graft-poly[(2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl
      ammonium chloride] (St-g-PDMC-DQ) both contain strongly cationic quaternary
      ammonium salt groups, but have differing cationic contents, specifically, the
      degree of substitution (DS) and grafting ratio (G). Furthermore, the additional
      functional groups were distributed on different chain sites (the starch backbone
      for St-CTA-DQ, and the branch chains for St-g-PDMC-DQ). These two flocculants
      demonstrated superior efficiency for turbidity and UV254 removal in hairwork
      wastewater as well as better floc properties compared to polyaluminum chloride.
      The effects of pH, flocculant dose, and cationic group contents (DS and G) were
      systematically investigated. Consequently, it was determined that a higher
      cationic content in both the flocculants led to better flocculation performance
      as well as increased removal rates of both turbidity and UV254. This was
      primarily due to improved charge neutralization, which highlighted the preference
      towards a lower optimal dose. In addition, flocculation performance worsened as
      the pH level increased. Overall, St-g-PDMC-DQ exhibited similar flocculation
      performance to St-CTA-DQ. However, the wastewater treated by St-g-PDMC-DQ showed
      lower residual turbidity than when treated by St-CTA-DQ. This was attributed to
      the distinct branch chain architecture of St-g-PDMC-DQ, which was beneficial for
      coagulating the uneasily flocculated contaminants in water, such as smaller-sized
      colloids and water-soluble organic substances. Flocculant structural factors,
      specifically charge properties and chain architecture, heavily affected the final
      flocculation performance.

PMID- 28609851
TI  - CDOM variations in Finnish lakes and rivers between 1913 and 2014.
AB  - In lakes and rivers, the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and
      coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) are closely related. We analysed three
      large spectrophotometer data sets of Finnish inland waters from the years 1913
      1914, 1913-1931 and 2014 for long-term changes in optical properties. The first
      data set consists of absorption spectra in the band 467-709nm of 212 filtered
      water samples, the second one contains 11-19years of data for seven rivers, and
      the third one contains 153 sites with high resolution spectra over the band 200
      750nm. These data sets were supplemented with more recent monitoring data of DOC.
      The sites represent typical optical inland water types of north-eastern Europe.
      The results did not show any consistent large-scale changes in CDOM
      concentrations over the 101-year time period. The statistics of the absorption
      coefficients in 1913 and 2014 were almost identical, at 467nm they were 1.9+/
      1.0m-1 in 1913 and 1.7+/-1.2m-1 in 2014, and the shape of the CDOM absorption
      spectrum was unchanged, proportional to exp(-S.lambda), S=0.011nm-1 and lambda is
      wavelength. Catchment properties, primarily lake and peat-land percentages,
      explained 50% of the variation of CDOM concentration in the lakes, and
      hydrological conditions explained 50% of the variation of CDOM in the rivers.
      Both illustrate the importance of catchments and hydrology to CDOM concentrations
      of boreal inland waters.

PMID- 28609852
TI  - Engaging with residents' perceived risks and benefits about technologies as a way
      of resolving remediation dilemmas.
AB  - In recent decades the diversity of remediation technologies has increased
      significantly, with the breadth of technologies ranging from dig and dump to
      emergent technologies like phytoremediation and nanoremediation. The benefits of
      these technologies to the environment and human health are believed to be
      substantial. However, they also potentially constitute risks. Whilst there is a
      growing body of knowledge about the risks and benefits of these technologies from
      the perspective of experts, little is known about how residents perceive the
      risks and benefits of the application of these technologies to address
      contaminants in their local environment. This absence of knowledge poses a
      challenge to remediation practitioners and policy makers who are increasingly
      seeking to engage these affected local residents in choosing technology
      applications. Building on broader research into the perceived benefits and risks
      of technologies, and data from a telephone survey of 2009 residents living near
      13 contaminated sites in Australia, regression analysis of closed-ended survey
      questions and coding of open-ended questions are combined to identify the main
      predictors of resident's perceived levels of risk and benefit to resident's
      health and to their local environment from remediation technologies. This
      research identifies a range of factors associated with the residents' physical
      context, their engagement with institutions during remediation processes, and the
      technologies which are associated with residents' level of perceived risk and
      benefit for human health and the local environment. The analysis found that
      bioremediation technologies were perceived as less risky and more beneficial than
      chemical, thermal and physical technologies. The paper also supports broader
      technology research that reports an inverse correlation between levels of
      perceived risks and benefits. In addition, the paper reveals the types of risks
      and benefits to human health and the local environment that residents most
      commonly associate with remediation technologies.

PMID- 28609853
TI  - Morphology-based phylogeny of the suckermouth armored catfishes, with emphasis on
      the Neoplecostominae (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Loricariidae).
AB  - A phylogenetic study of the Loricariidae with emphasis on the Neoplecostominae is
      presented based on a maximum parsimony analysis of 268 phenotypic characters
      encompassing osteology, arthrology, and external morphology. Results support
      previous hypotheses of the monophyly of the Neoplecostominae and each of the
      included genera: Hirtella, Isbrueckerichthys, Kronichthys, Neoplecostomus,
      Pareiorhaphis, and Pareiorhina. In addition, previously undiscovered diversity
      was revealed within the subfamily as an additional genus-level taxon, herein
      described as Euryochus. Relationships among neoplecostomine genera are:
      (Kronichthys (Euryochus ((Hirtella + Pareiorhaphis) (Pareiorhina
      (Isbrueckerichthys + Neoplecostomus))))). Additional undescribed diversity was
      also detected among most neoplecostomine genera and the Hypoptopomatinae. In
      addition, recently discovered genera Nannoplecostomus and Microplecostomus were
      included in the analysis, and were identified as sequential sister-taxa to
      Neoplecostominae + Hypoptopomatinae, which are currently not included in any
      subfamily and regarded as incertae sedis in Loricariidae. The three species of
      Lithogenes were included in an encompassing phylogenetic analysis for the first
      time, and were identified as a monophyletic unit and sister group to all
      remaining loricariids. The other loricariid subfamilies were also corroborated as
      monophyletic, and presented the following interrelationships (Lithogeninae
      (Delturinae (Loricariinae (Hypostominae (Nannoplecostomus (Microplecostomus
      (Hypoptopomatinae + Neoplecostominae). The Neoplecostominae and its genera are
      phylogenetically diagnosed, and hypothesized relationships are compared to those
      of previous morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies.

PMID- 28609854
TI  - A revision of the Ewartia oldfieldi (Distant) species complex (Hemiptera:
      Cicadidae: Cicadettinae) with five new species from eastern and northern
      Australia.
AB  - The identity of Ewartia oldfieldi (Distant) is re-examined and this species is
      redescribed. Five new species belonging to the genus Ewartia Moulds are
      described. Ewartia oldfieldi s. str. occurs in association with wattles (Acacia
      spp.; Mimosaceae) with large or fleshy phyllodes growing in soils derived from
      sandstone and coarse-grained metasediments throughout the south-eastern third of
      Queensland. Ewartia roberti n. sp. is associated with wattles that possess narrow
      or delicate phyllodes, growing in loam soils in southern Queensland and northern
      New South Wales. Ewartia lapidosa n. sp. occurs in dryer inland and semi-arid
      areas between Croydon in northern Queensland and the Capertee Valley in central
      New South Wales where it occurs on various wattles growing in hard, rocky soils,
      including those derived from laterite and sandstone. Ewartia etesia n. sp. occurs
      principally on wattles growing along drainage lines in the Top End of the
      Northern Territory and the eastern edge of the Kimberley in Western Australia.
      Ewartia thamna n. sp. occurs in low, shrubby vegetation (presumably on wattles)
      in gravelly soils on low rises and along floodplains at the southern edge of the
      Top End in the Northern Territory. Ewartia carina n. sp. occurs in transitional
      habitats with tropical rainforest elements on the eastern edge of Cape York
      Peninsula in north Queensland. The distinctive, sometimes variable and typically
      complex calling songs specific to each of the species are illustrated and
      documented as part of these descriptions and comparisons.

PMID- 28609855
TI  - Two new species of Tardigrada (Eutardigrada: Ramazzottiidae, Macrobiotidae) from
      the supralittoral zone of the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula rocky shores.
AB  - Two new species of Eutardigrada were found in supralittoral lichens, growing on
      rocky shores at two localities of the Western Atlantic coast of the Iberian
      Peninsula. Ramazzottius littoreus sp. nov., found in San Cibrao (North of Spain),
      has the dorsal cuticle sculptured with small tubercles and claws with accessory
      points similar to R. oberhaeuseri. It can be distinguished from all the other
      known Ramazzottius species with the same type of cuticular sculpture by the
      dotted egg shell and the peculiar reticulation visible at the bulbous base of egg
      processes. Macrobiotus halophilus sp. nov., found in Cascais (Centre of
      Portugal), belongs to the Macrobiotus hufelandi group. The slightly wrinkled egg
      shell and egg processes in the shape of inverted chalice with dentate distal
      disc, identifies it as a member of the Macrobiotus persimilis subgroup. The new
      dioecious species differs from the six other species of the M. persimilis
      subgroup by a unique combination of some characters (small and very sparse
      circular cuticular pores, granulation on legs I-III and dentate lunules on legs
      IV), by measurements of some structures (claws and buccal apparatus), and by the
      number, dimension and shape of egg processes.

PMID- 28609856
TI  - A new species of dusky salamander (Amphibia: Plethodontidae: Desmognathus) from
      the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States and a redescription of D.
      auriculatus
AB  - The Coastal Plain of the southeastern U. S. is one of the planet's top
      biodiversity hotspots and yet many taxa have not been adequately studied. The
      plethodontid salamander, Desmognathus auriculatus, was originally thought to
      occur from east Texas to Virginia, a range spanning dozens of interfluves and
      large river systems. Beamer and Lamb (2008) found five independent mitochondrial
      lineages of what has been called D. auriculatus in the Atlantic Coastal Plain,
      but did not examine the extensive distribution of D. auriculatus in the Gulf
      Coastal Plain. We present morphological and molecular genetic data distinguishing
      two evolutionarily independent and distantly related lineages that are currently
      subsumed under the taxon D. auriculatus in the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. We
      describe one of these as a new species, Desmognathus valentinei sp. nov., and
      assign the second one to D. auriculatus which we formally redescribe.

PMID- 28609857
TI  - New records of millipedes and centipedes from Bulgaria, with an annotated
      checklist of the Bulgarian myriapods.
AB  - The present paper records new and poorly known myriapods (Diplopoda, Chilopoda)
      collected in Bulgaria in the last 10 years. Four new species are reported as new
      to the Bulgarian fauna: Lithobius melanops Newport, 1845 (Chilopoda:
      Lithobiomorpha: Lithodiidae), Polydesmus collaris C.L. Koch, 1847, Polydesmus
      inconstans Latzel, 1884 and Polydesmus schaessburgensis Verhoeff, 1898
      (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Polydesmidae). Scanning electron micrographs of the
      gonopods and male leg-pairs 5 and 6 are provided for the first time for
      Bulgarosoma superficiei Strasser, 1975, a species hitherto known only from its
      original description. This article presents also an updated list of Myriapoda in
      Bulgaria. The list includes a total of 251 (sub-)species of the classes Diplopoda
      (127), Chilopoda (104), Pauropoda (18) and Symphyla (2).

PMID- 28609858
TI  - New data on the bush-cricket Montana medvedevi (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae),
      critically endangered in Europe (EU 28), and a comparison of its song with all
      known song patterns within the genus.
AB  - Montana medvedevi is reported for the first time from Serbia. New information
      about the distribution, morphology and song of this species is discussed. The
      song of M. medvedevi is different from that of all other members of the genus,
      all figured for comparison. Montana is quite diverse regarding the amplitude
      pattern of the calling song of its members (known in 15 species). Surprisingly,
      some Montana species seem to have two song patterns, one produced during the day
      and one at night.

PMID- 28609859
TI  - Three new species of cockroach genus Hemithyrsocera Saussure, 1893 (Blattodea:
      Ectobiidae: Blattellinae) with redescriptions of two known species from China.
AB  - This paper deals with five species of the genus Hemithyrsocera Saussure, 1893, of
      which three new species, H. forcipata, H. spinibarbis and H. longiseta spp. nov.,
      are described and illustrated, H. banvaneuensis (Roth, 1985) is reported for the
      first time from China, plus one little known species H. simulans (Bey-Bienko,
      1969) are redescribed and illustrated. A key to all Chinese species of
      Hemithyrsocera is provided.

PMID- 28609860
TI  - Description, DNA barcoding and phylogenetic placement of a remarkable new species
      of Eopelma (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) from Borneo.
AB  - Eopelma gibsoni sp. nov. is described based on a male recently collected in
      Borneo. It is the second species of the genus to be described, and the first
      species of chalcid wasp in which a pattern of dark stripes on the compound eye is
      described. The presence of similar dark stripes on the eyes of other chalcid
      wasps is discussed, highlighting the importance of citizen science. The
      description is accompanied by a DNA barcode sequence to assist future
      identification and association of the sexes. The phylogenetic position of E.
      gibsoni based on 28S DNA sequences is discussed.

PMID- 28609861
TI  - A new species of Polyipnus (Stomiiformes: Sternoptychidae) from the Western South
      Pacific.
AB  - A new species of marine hatchetfish, Polyipnus laruei sp. nov., is described
      based on one specimen collected off New Caledonia, in the Western South Pacific.
      This species is distinguished from the thirty-three known species of Polyipnus by
      the unique presence of only one OVB photophore. The new species is placed in the
      P. spinosus species group, characterized by the presence of minute spines on the
      ventral PV photophore scales and an external multispinate posttemporal process.

PMID- 28609862
TI  - Gebiacantha sagamiensis, a new species of upogebiid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda:
      Gebiidea) from Sagami Bay, central Japan.
AB  - A new species of the upogebiid shrimp genus Gebiacantha Ngoc-Ho, 1989, G.
      sagamiensis, is described and illustrated on the basis of a single male specimen
      collected from Sagami Bay, central Japan, at depths of 101-106 m. It appears
      closest to G. reunionensis Ngoc-Ho, 1989, known only from La Reunion, western
      Indian Ocean, but the different shape of the pleomere 6 and the better developed
      armature of the pereopod 1 carpus distinguish the new species from G.
      reunionensis. Comments on the taxonomic status of Gebiacantha and Paragebicula
      Sakai, 2006, and on the generic assignment of the new species, are given.

PMID- 28609863
TI  - The synonymy of the genus Permixtimella Gutu, 2016 (Crustacea: Tanaidacea) with
      Ektraleptochelia Bamber & Marshall, 2015 and remarks on other leptocheliid taxa.
AB  - Gutu (2016) described a new subfamily, seven new genera and 21 new species in the
      family Leptocheliidae. However, another five genera and twelve new species, not
      mentioned by him, were described in 2015 and 2016. Study of the overlooked genera
      reveals that the morphology of the female of Permixtimella (genus described from
      both sexes) is similar to those of the type-female of the genus Ektraleptochelia
      (whose male is unknown). Permixtimella is considered a junior synonym of
      Ektraleptochelia, which includes two species: E. phoxops and E. oculifurcillata.
      The place of Ektraleptochelia, Catenarius and Larsmentia within leptocheliid
      systematics, formerly in the subfamily Catenariinae, is reconsidered and the last
      genus retained. Some similarities between the females of Nuberis and
      Bathyleptochelia are presented for the first time. The species Leptochelia
      acrolophus, L. mexicana, L. ortizi, L. taitungensis and L. grandidentata are
      transferred to other genera, becoming Chondrochelia acrolophus, C. mexicana, C.
      ortizi, C. taitungensis and Makassaritanais grandidentatus, respectively. The
      species Leptochelia pinarensis and L. suhi are considered a junior synonym of
      Leptochelia forresti and Makassaritanais grandidentatus, respectively.

PMID- 28609864
TI  - Species of Wadicosa (Araneae, Lycosidae): a new species from Madagascar.
AB  - Since establishing the wolf spider genus Wadicosa Zyuzin, 1985 (Zyuzin 1985),
      eleven species have been accepted in it, either by transfer from Lycosa
      Latreille, 1804 or Pardosa C.L. Koch, 1847 or by original designation (WSC 2017).
      However, according to Kronestedt (1987), additional species wait to be formally
      transferred to Wadicosa. The genus is restricted to the Old World, with one
      species, Wadicosa jocquei Kronestedt, 2015, recently described from Madagascar
      and surrounding islands.

PMID- 28609865
TI  - Erratum: ANDREA PARIMUCHOVA & LUBOMIR KOVAC  (2016) Redescription of two
      troglobiotic species of Deuteraphorura Absolon, 1901 (Collembola, Onychiuridae)
      from the Western Carpathians. Zootaxa, 4168: 327-340.
AB  - N/A.

PMID- 28609866
TI  - Review of the genus Prays Hubner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Praydidae) from China, with
      descriptions of twelve new species.
AB  - The genus Prays Hubner, 1825 from China is reviewed. Nineteen species are
      treated, including twelve species described as new: P. orthacantha sp. nov., P.
      spiniprocessa sp. nov., P. erromera sp. nov., P. rectangula sp. nov., P.
      tauricornis sp. nov., P. longisaccula sp. nov., P. bisechinata sp. nov., P.
      semilunata sp. nov., P. semicircularis sp. nov., P. dorsiprotrusa sp. nov., P.
      helanshana sp. nov., and P. acinacea sp. nov. The female of P. inconspicua Yu et
      Li, 2004 is described for the first time. Images of adults and genitalia are
      provided, along with a key to separate all the Chinese species.

PMID- 28609867
TI  - Three new species of Marphysa Quatrefages, 1865 (Polychaeta: Eunicida: Eunicidae)
      from the south coast of China and redescription of Marphysa sinensis Monro, 1934.
AB  - Three new species of Marphysa Quatrefages, 1865 (Polychaeta: Eunicida: Eunicidae)
      are described from the south coast of China, M. tripectinata n. sp., M.
      multipectinata n. sp. and M. tribranchiata n. sp. with comments on the usefulness
      of pectinate chaetae to separate species. Marphysa sinensis Monro, 1934 is
      redescribed with a lectotype designated. The genus Marphysa is widely collected
      for bait and export for recreational fishermen and anglers in China and yet the
      number of species involved and their native distribution is currently unknown.
      Such information is critical for aquaculture programs which are rearing these
      species.

PMID- 28609868
TI  - The taxonomy of Catocala nupta (Linnaeus, 1767) and its allies, with description
      of a new species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).
AB  - The taxonomy of the Catocala nupta (L.), 1757 complex is analyzed using
      corresponding characters of the male genitalia, wing pattern, and COI 5'
      mitochondrial DNA, and is presently found to contain only two additional species:
      Catocala concubia Walker, [1858], and a new species Catocala benedeki described
      herein. Three new lectotypes are designated, and 12 status changes for existing
      names are introduced (10 new synonyms, 2 revised statuses).

PMID- 28609869
TI  - Two new giant pill-millipede species of the genus Zoosphaerium endemic to the
      Bemanevika area in northern Madagascar (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida,
      Arthrosphaeridae).
AB  - Madagascar is one of the world's most important hotspots of biodiversity and a
      center for localized endemism. Among the highly endemic faunal elements are the
      giant pill-millipedes, order Sphaerotheriida, which are severely understudied in
      Madagascar. Here we provide descriptions of two new species of endemic giant-pill
      millipedes of the genus Zoosphaerium Pocock, 1895: Zoosphaerium bemanevika n. sp.
      and Zoosphaerium minutus n. sp.. Zoosphaerium bemanevika n. sp. belongs to the Z.
      coquerelianum species-group, while Z. minutus n. sp. is not assignable to a
      species-group. An updated key to the 19 species of the Z. coquerelianum group is
      provided. Zoosphaerium minutus n. sp. has a body length of <20 mm and thus is the
      smallest known member of the genus, being of similar size as the larger species
      of Microsphaerotherium Wesener & VandenSpiegel, 2007. Both species are described
      utilizing drawings, scanning electron microscopy and genetic barcoding based on
      the mitochondrial COI gene. MicroCT imaging is applied to study internal
      morphology non-destructively and in situ, allowing for a reconstruction of the
      head skeleton. Our results show that females of Z. bemanevika n. sp. exhibit
      island gigantism. The two newly described species are not closely related to one
      another but each to different species from the Marojejy Mountain and the lowland
      rainforest of the east coast. Both species occur sympatrically as microendemics
      in small patches of humid evergreen forest near Bemanevika in northern
      Madagascar, an only recently protected area that represents a Malagasy center of
      endemism.

PMID- 28609870
TI  - Revision of the genus Amytta (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Meconematinae) and new
      species from East Africa.
AB  - New species of Amytta are described from East Africa. Beside tegminal length,
      they differ mainly in the structure of the complicated male genitalic organs,
      notably the last abdominal tergite and cerci. Data on habitat and the acoustics
      of some species and a key to the species are provided. The songs of all seven
      Amytta species studied are very similar, consisting of long trills with a
      syllable repetition rate of about 60 Hz (at 20oC) and a broad frequency peak in
      the ultrasound at around 40 kHz. The biogeographic pattern and phylogenetic
      relationships are discussed for the group.

PMID- 28609871
TI  - Ahaetulla nasuta anomala (Annandale, 1906) (Squamata: Colubridae), resurrected as
      a valid species with marked sexual dichromatism.
AB  - In this paper we resolve the taxonomic confusion related to Ahaetulla nasuta
      anomala (Annandale, 1906). On the basis of molecular and morphological data, we
      remove it from the synonymy of Ahaetulla nasuta (Lacepede, 1789) and reinstate it
      as a valid species-Ahaetulla anomala. This species is sexually dichromatic, males
      are green and females are brown in colour. Though the brown morph morphologically
      resembles Ahaetulla pulverulenta (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril, 1854) there are
      significant morphological and genetic differences between these two species.
      Additional information on taxonomy, natural history and distribution of the
      species is provided.

PMID- 28609872
TI  - Review of continental North and Central American Paracloeodes Day 1955
      (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae), including description of a new species from Minnesota,
      U.S.A.
AB  - Paracloeodes Day is a western hemisphere genus with 20 species, but only three of
      these valid species are known from continental North and Central America. Based
      on available literature comparisons, species-level identifications of these three
      species can be difficult. Considering the apparent similarity between them, the
      main objective of this study was to examine type and other material housed in the
      Purdue Entomological Research Collection and the University of Minnesota in order
      to evaluate species status and to elucidate additional diagnostic characters. The
      evaluation resulted in validation of P. fleeki McCafferty & Lenat, P. lugoi
      Randolph & McCafferty and P. minutus (Daggy) and the confirmation of P. abditus
      Day as a junior synonym of P. minutus. Furthermore, we discovered a new species
      from the type locality of P. minutus. Paracloedes lotor n. sp. is described based
      on the nymph stage and a putative male imago from the Mississippi River in
      Minnesota. Paracloeodes lotor n. sp. differs from the other continental North and
      Central American species of the genus by the apical half of the paraglossa having
      an abrupt decrease in width (the "subtriangular" condition) in nymphs, and by
      having the posterior margin of the styliger plate with a small and pointed spine
      in the male imago. We provide a new identification key for nymphs of the four
      continental North and Central American species.

PMID- 28609873
TI  - Review of the genus Pityocona Meyrick, 1918 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in China,
      with descriptions of five new species.
AB  - The genus Pityocona is reviewed in China. Pityocona longovata sp. nov., P.
      transovata sp. nov., P. monoprocessa sp. nov., P. mastoidea sp. nov. and P.
      sinuosa sp. nov. are described as new; P. bifurcatus Wadhawan et Walia originally
      described from India is widely known in southern China as a pest of rice. Photos
      of adults and genitalia are provided, along with a key to all the Chinese
      species.

PMID- 28609874
TI  - Two new species of Oswaldocruzia (Nematoda, Molineidae) parasitising lizards in
      Ukraine.
AB  - Two new species, Oswaldocruzia lisnykiensis sp. n. and Oswaldocruzia lacertica
      sp. n., are described from Anguis fragilis L. (Reptilia: Anquidae) and Lacerta
      agilis L. (Reptilia: Lacertidae) respectively. Both species belong to the
      Palaearctic group of species which have spicules divided in three main branches
      (blade, fork and shoe) with fork division above its distal third. The new species
      differs from all previously known Palaearctic species by several morphological
      characters: type of caudal bursa (type III in O. lisnykiensis and type I in O.
      lacertica), shape of spicules (blade distally divided into four tips and specific
      shape of shoe) and synlophe structure (narrow cervical alae consist of three
      crests in both species). Illustrated descriptions of O. lisnykiensis and O.
      lacertica based on 63 and 38 specimens respectively are presented. Host
      specificity and geographical distribution of the species are discussed. O. dispar
      is considered as a species inquirenda.

PMID- 28609875
TI  - A new genus and species of Australian Tanypodinae (Diptera: Chironomidae)
      tolerant to mine waste.
AB  - For over 25 years an undescribed Tanypodinae (Diptera: Chironomidae) has been
      known to dominate the lotic invertebrate assemblage associated with long-term
      polluting mine adits in Captains Flat, on the Molonglo River, southern New South
      Wales, Australia. Although known in all life stages, it has been impossible to
      allocate the species to any described genus. Renewed interest in the taxonomy of
      the Tanypodinae, particularly associated with molecular investigations and
      pollution indicator status warrants formal description. All stages conform to
      tribe Pentaneurini, but each life stage differs in morphological resemblance.
      Yarrhpelopia Cranston gen. n. is proposed for the taxon previously referred to
      under the informal code name of 'genus A'. The genus name derives from south-east
      Australian aboriginal word yarrh, in recognition of its core distribution and
      presence in flowing waters. A single species, A. norrisi Cranston sp. n., is
      described, acknowledging the late Professor Richard Norris, an influential
      Australian limnologist. Larvae dominate the benthos immediately adjacent to mine
      adits that continue to leach heavy metals (zinc, cadmium, copper and lead) into
      downstream sediments. A wider distribution includes cleaner near pristine,
      eastern Australian rivers between 30 degrees  and 42 degrees S, but these records
      are excluded from the type series pending molecular insights into species limits.

PMID- 28609876
TI  - A new Physoschistura from a Salween affluent in western Yunnan (Teleostei:
      Nemacheilidae).
AB  - Physoschistura absumbra, new species, is described from the watershed of the
      Salween in Cangyuan County, Yunnan Province, China. The combination of a complete
      lateral line, a continuous lower jaw, and the absence of a suborbital lobe
      distinguishes it from all other congeners. Further diagnostic characters are a
      long (dorsally 23-25% SL, laterally 26-28% SL) and deep head (at nape 13-14% SL),
      a shallow body (15-17% SL), a deep caudal peduncle (13-14% SL), 9-12 rather
      regular flank bars, a complete basicaudal bar, and a maximum adult size of about
      44 mm SL.

PMID- 28609877
TI  - A review of the genus Rhimphoctona Forster, 1869 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae:
      Campopleginae) from the Ukrainian Carpathians, with a key to European species.
AB  - Seven species of Rhimphoctona Forster, 1869: R. longicauda Horstmann, 1980, R.
      megacephalus (Gravenhorst, 1829), R. obscuripes (Holmgren, 1860), R. pectoralis
      (Kriechbaumer, 1890), R. rufocoxalis (Clement, 1924), R. teredo (Hartig, 1847),
      R. xoridiformis (Holmgren, 1860) are recorded from the Ukrainian Carpathians. All
      species, except R. megacephalus, are recorded from Ukraine for the first time.
      The following synonymy is established: Rhimphoctona pectoralis = R. maiator
      Aubert, 1986 syn. nov. An illustrated key to all European Rhimphoctona species is
      provided.

PMID- 28609878
TI  - Two new species of Austrotinodes Schmid (Insecta, Trichoptera, Ecnomidae) from
      southeastern Brazil.
AB  - The genus Austrotinodes Schmid, with 55 species described from the New World and
      Australia, is the second largest genus of the family Ecnomidae. Herein, we
      describe and figure two new species of Austrotinodes from Parque Nacional da
      Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil: A. carioca sp. nov. and A.
      quintarellii sp. nov.

PMID- 28609879
TI  - A revision of the New Zealand weevil genus Irenimus Pascoe, 1876 (Coleoptera:
      Curculionidae: Entiminae).
AB  - The taxonomy of the New Zealand weevil genus Irenimus Pascoe, 1876 is revised,
      resulting in a narrower concept of the genus than has been considered in recent
      decades. In total, the genus now contains only seven species. In addition to the
      type species, I. parilis Pascoe, 1876, the genus contains I. duplex (Broun, 1904)
      and five newly described species: I. aniptus new species (type locality, Oamaru,
      DN), I. crinitus new species (type locality, Hakataramea Valley, SC), I. minimus
      new species (type locality, Alexandra, CO), I. stichus new species (type
      locality, Tekapo, MK) and I. thoracicus new species (type locality, Oamaru, DN).
      The genus Chalepistes new genus is established to contain the majority of species
      previously described in the genus Catoptes Schonherr, 1842, but also including
      species described in Brachyolus White, 1846; Irenimus Pascoe, 1876; Inophloeus
      Pascoe, 1875; and Nicaeana Pascoe, 1877. A total of 27 valid described species
      are new combinations with Chalepistes: C. aequalis (Broun, 1895) (from Irenimus),
      C. albosparsus (Broun, 1917) (from Irenimus), C. apicalis (Broun, 1923) (from
      Catoptes), C. asperatus (Broun, 1914) (from Brachyolus), C. compressus (Broun,
      1880) (from Irenimus), C. costifer (Broun, 1886) (from Inophloeus), C. curvus
      (Barratt & Kuschel, 1996) (from Irenimus), C. dehiscens (Broun, 1917) (from
      Catoptes), C. dugdalei (Barratt & Kuschel, 1996) (from Irenimus), C. egens
      (Broun, 1904) (from Irenimus), C. inaequalis (Sharp, 1886) (from Brachyolus), C.
      instabilis (Marshall, 1931) (from Catoptes), C. latipennis (Broun, 1893) (from
      Catoptes), C. limbatus (Broun, 1909) (from Catoptes), C. lobatus (Broun, 1921)
      (from Catoptes), C. patricki (Barratt & Kuschel, 1996) (from Irenimus), C. pensus
      (Broun, 1914) (from Inophloeus), C. placidus (Broun, 1914) (from Nicaeana), C.
      posticalis (Broun, 1893) (from Irenimus), C. rhesus (Pascoe, 1875) (from
      Inophloeus), C. rubidus (Broun, 1881) (from Inophloeus), C. similis (Barratt &
      Kuschel, 1996) (from Irenimus), C. spectabilis (Broun, 1914) (from Catoptes), C.
      spermophilus (Broun, 1895), revised status (from Irenimus), C. stolidus (Broun,
      1886) (from Irenimus), C. tenebricus (Broun, 1893) (from Catoptes), C. vastator
      (Broun, 1893) (from Irenimus). Numerous new synonyms with species of Chalepistes
      are also proposed: Brachyolus fuscipictus Broun, 1914 and Brachyolus terricola
      Broun, 1917 are junior subjective synonyms of Chalepistes asperatus (Broun);
      Brachyolus cervalis Broun, 1903 and Brachyolus sylvaticus Broun, 1910 are junior
      subjective synonyms of Chalepistes costifer (Broun); Inophloeus tricostatus
      Broun, 1915 is a junior subjective synonym of Chalepistes pensus (Broun);
      Catoptes pallidipes Broun, 1917, Catoptes flaviventris Broun, 1917 and Catoptes
      nigricans Broun, 1917 are junior subjective synonyms of Chalepistes placidus
      (Broun); Inophloeus longicornis Broun, 1904, Inophloeus medius Broun, 1893,
      Inophloeus sulcicollis Broun, 1914 and Inophloeus suturalis Broun, 1893 are
      junior subjective synonyms of Chalepistes rhesus (Pascoe); Inophloeus albonotata
      Broun, 1893, Catoptes asperellus Broun, 1893, Irenimus bicostatus Broun, 1886,
      Catoptes caliginosus Broun, 1893, Catoptes chalmeri Broun, 1893, Catoptes decorus
      Broun, 1893, Inophloeus discrepans Broun, 1904, Catoptes fumosus Broun, 1914,
      Catoptes furvus Broun, 1893, Catoptes humeralis Broun, 1893, Catoptes longulus
      Sharp, 1886, Inophloeus nigellus Broun, 1881, Irenimus pilosellus Broun, 1886 and
      Catoptes scutellaris Sharp, 1886 are junior subjective synonyms of Chalepistes
      rubidus (Broun); Catoptes subnitidus Broun, 1914 and Catoptes curvatus Broun,
      1914 are junior subjective synonyms of Chalepistes spermophilus (Broun); Catoptes
      brevicornis Sharp, 1886 and Catoptes vexator Broun, 1904 are junior subjective
      synonyms of Chalepistes stolidus (Broun); and Catoptes aemulator Broun, 1893 and
      Catoptes argentalis Broun, 1914 are junior subjective synonyms of Chalepistes
      tenebricus (Broun). Additional new combinations include Inophloeus robustus
      (Broun, 1917) (from Catoptes) and Nicaeana fraudator (Marshall, 1931) (from
      Catoptes), while Catoptes postrectus Marshall, 1931 is a new synonym of
      Protolobus obscurus Sharp, 1886.

PMID- 28609880
TI  - New species of Bacuma Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) from Kenya
      and West Darfur with a key to species.
AB  - Three new species of the Afrotropical braconine wasp genus Bacuma are described,
      and biological observations (nectar feeding) by one of them are noted. The new
      species are: B. kayserae Quicke & Butcher sp. nov. from Kenya, B. madiensis
      Quicke & Butcher sp. nov. from Uganda and B. darfurensis Quicke & Butcher sp.
      nov. from Sudan. A group of four large nominal species with red metasomas and
      finely sculptured tergites (B. granulatus, B. maculipennis, B. rufa and B.
      whitei) may represent a single widespread species or a pair of species separated
      by mesoscutum colour, or four separate but morphologically very similar species.
      However, given the small number of specimens available for study and the poor
      condition of some of these, including the types, they are not formally
      synonymised here. A partial key to the species of Bacuma is presented, which
      recognizes those species that are clearly distinct, including three new species.
      Interactive Lucid dichotomous and matrix keys are available on www.waspweb.org.

PMID- 28609881
TI  - Taxonomic changes in African Stratiomyidae (Diptera).
AB  - Thirteen new generic synonyms, nineteen species synonyms and forty-eight new
      combinations of African Stratiomyidae are proposed (senior synonym in
      parentheses):Arthronemina Lindner in James, 1980 syn. nov. (=Argyrobrithes
      Grunberg, 1915), Arthronema Lindner, 1966b syn. nov. (=Argyrobrithes Grunberg,
      1915), Brachyphleps Lindner, 1965 syn. nov. (=Psapharomys Grunberg, 1915),
      Dinosargus Lindner, 1968 syn. nov. (=Gongrosargus Lindner, 1959), Dolichodema
      Kertesz, 1916 syn. nov. (=Thorasena Macquart, 1838), Gobertina Bigot, 1879a syn.
      nov. (=Sternobrithes Loew, 1857), Himantochaeta Lindner, 1939 syn. nov.
      (=Nyplatys Seguy, 1938), Hypoxycera Lindner 1966a syn. nov. (=Hypoceromys
      Lindner, 1935), Leucacron Lindner, 1966b syn. nov. (=Ptilinoxus Lindner, 1966b),
      Lonchobrithes Lindner, 1968 syn. nov. (=Argyrobrithes Grunberg, 1915),
      Meristomeringella Lindner 1965 syn. nov. (=Hypoceromys Lindner, 1935),
      Physometopon Lindner, 1966b syn. nov. (=Cardopomyia Kertesz, 1916),
      Psapharomydops Lindner, 1966a syn. nov. (=Steleoceromys Grunberg, 1915),
      Adoxomyia grisea (Seguy, 1931) syn. nov. (=Adoxomyia argenteofasciata (Bezzi,
      1906)), Argyrobrithes argenteus Grunberg, 1915 syn. nov. (=Argyrobrithes
      fuscicornis (Bezzi, 1914)), Argyrobrithes crinitus Lindner, 1972 syn. nov.
      (=Argyrobrithes zernyi Lindner, 1943), Brachyphleps tristis Lindner, 1965 syn.
      nov. (=Psapharomys salebrosa Grunberg, 1915), Chrysochroma laetum Lindner, 1966b
      syn. nov. (=Ptectisargus abditus (Lindner, 1936), Dolichodema africana Kertesz,
      1916 syn. nov. (=Thorasena pectoralis (Wiedemann, 1838)), Gongrosargus
      distinguendus Lindner, 1966c syn. nov. (=Gongrosargus glaucus (Bigot, 1859)),
      Gongrosargus exclamationis Lindner, 1968 syn. nov. (=Gongrosargus pallidus
      (Macquart, 1838)), Gongrosargus univittatus Lindner, 1966b syn. nov.
      (=Gongrosargus pallidus (Macquart, 1838)), Hypoxycera simplex Lindner, 1966a syn.
      nov. (=Hypoceromys jamesi (Lindner, 1965)), Lonchobrithes modestus Lindner, 1968
      syn. nov. (=Argyrobrithes curtilamellatum (Lindner, 1966)), Microptecticus clarus
      Lindner, 1968 syn. nov. (=Microptecticus ambiguus Lindner, 1966b), Neopachygaster
      umbrifera Lindner, 1966a syn. nov. (=Neopachygaster stigma Lindner, 1938),
      Odontomyia impressa Curran, 1928 syn. nov. (=Afrodontomyia gigas (Brunetti,
      1926)), Odontomyia protrudens Curran, 1928 syn. nov. (=Afrodontomyia erecta
      (Brunetti, 1926)), Physometopon minor Lindner, 1968 syn. nov. (=Cardopomyia
      robusta Kertesz, 1916), Platyna denudata Grunberg, 1915 syn. nov. (=Platyna
      hastata (Fabricius, 1805)), Ptectisargus lucidus Lindner, 1968 syn. nov.
      (=Ptectisargus abditus (Lindner, 1936)); Afrodontomyia erecta (Brunetti, 1926)
      comb. nov. (from Odontomyia), Afrodontomyia flammiventris (Brunetti, 1926) comb.
      nov. (from Odontomyia), Afrodontomyia rufiventris (Curran, 1928) comb. nov. (from
      Stratiomys), Argyrobrithes curtilamellatum (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Arthronemina), Argyrobrithes fuscicornis (Bezzi, 1914) comb. nov. (from
      Sternobrithes), Cardopomyia parvicornis (Lindner, 1959) comb. nov. (from
      Pseudoxymyia Lindner, 1958), Cardopomyia vesicularis (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov.
      (from Physometopon), Cephalochrysa bigoti (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa flavum (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa fortunatum (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa lapidis (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa latum (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa lucens (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa matilei (Lindner, 1979) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa triste (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa turbidum (Lindner, 1965) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Cephalochrysa vadoni (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Gongrosargus flavipennis (Macquart, 1838) comb. nov. (from
      Sargus), Gongrosargus lateritius (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from Dinosargus),
      Gongrosargus limbatus (Macquart, 1838) comb. nov. (from Sargus), Gongrosargus
      pallidus (Macquart, 1838) comb. nov. (from Sargus), Hypoceromys nigripes
      (Lindner, 1938) comb. nov. (from Pachygaster), Hypoceromys jamesi (Lindner, 1965)
      comb. nov. (from Meristomeringella), Microptecticus magnicornis (Lindner, 1936)
      comb. nov. (from Ptecticus), Microptecticus nigricoxa (Lindner, 1936) comb. nov.
      (from Microchrysa), Ptecticus lateritius (Rondani, 1863) comb. nov. (from
      Sargus), Ptectisargus abditus (Lindner, 1936) comb. nov. (from Ptecticus),
      Ptectisargus brunneus (Lindner, 1936) comb. nov. (from Ptecticus), Ptectisargus
      cingulatum (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Ptectisargus
      flavifrons (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Ptectisargus
      flavomarginatus (Loew, 1857) comb. nov. (from Chrysonotus), Ptectisargus
      gracilipes (Lindner, 1936) comb. nov. (from Ptecticus), Ptectisargus keiseri
      (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Ptectisargus longestylum
      (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Ptectisargus punctum (Lindner,
      1968) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Ptectisargus ranohira (Woodley, 2001) comb.
      nov. (from Chrysochroma), Ptectisargus unicolor (Lindner, 1968) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Ptilinoxus interruptum (Lindner, 1966b) comb. nov. (from
      Leucacron), Sargus congoense (Lindner, 1965) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma),
      Sargus flavipes (Lindner, 1966a) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Sargus luctuosus
      (Lindner, 1938) comb. nov. (from Paraptecticus), Sargus opulentum (Grunberg,
      1915) comb. nov. (from Chrysochroma), Sargus pallidiventre (Brunetti, 1926) comb.
      nov. (from Chrysochroma), Sargus ptecticoideum (Lindner, 1966a) comb. nov. (from
      Chrysochroma), Steleceromys procera (Lindner, 1966a) comb. nov. (from
      Psapharomydops), Sternobrithes mercurialis (Lindner, 1938) comb. nov. (from
      Gobertina), Sternobrithes picticornis (Bigot, 1879b). comb. nov. (from
      Gobertina), Thorasena pectoralis (Wiedemann, 1824) comb. nov. (from Hermetia),
      Thorasena fenestrata (James, 1949) comb. nov. (from Dolichodema). One genus was
      resurrected out of synonymy (Thorasena Macquart, 1838 stat. rev.) and one genus
      removed from the African fauna (Cyphomyia Wiedemann, 1819).

PMID- 28609882
TI  - Bythaelurus vivaldii, a new deep-water catshark (Carcharhiniformes,
      Scyliorhinidae) from the northwestern Indian Ocean off Somalia.
AB  - A new very small deep-water catshark, Bythaelurus vivaldii, is described based on
      two female specimens caught off Somalia in the northwestern Indian Ocean during
      the German 'Valdivia' expedition in 1899. It is morphologically closest to the
      recently described B. bachi, which is the only other Bythaelurus species in the
      western Indian Ocean that shares a stout body of large specimens and the presence
      of oral papillae. It further resembles B. vivaldii in the broad mouth and broad
      posterior head, but differs in the presence of composite oral papillae and a
      higher diversity in dermal denticle morphology. Additionally, the new species
      differs from all congeners in the western Indian Ocean in a larger pre-second
      dorsal fin length, a longer head, a larger interdorsal space, a larger intergill
      length, a longer pectoral-fin posterior margin, a shorter caudal fin, an
      intermediate caudal fin preventral margin, and a larger internarial width.
      Furthermore, the second dorsal fin of the new species is smaller than in its
      congeners in the western Indian Ocean except for B. lutarius, which is easily
      distinguished by the slender body and virtual absence of oral papillae, as well
      as the aforementioned further characters. An updated key to all valid species of
      Bythaelurus is provided.

PMID- 28609883
TI  - Updated inventory and distribution of free-living flatworms from Tunisian waters.
AB  - Records of free-living flatworms (turbellarians) from Tunisian waters are
      scattered. Based on new material and published accounts, an annotated checklist
      of free-living flatworm species from Tunisian waters is provided. A total of 29
      species is recorded, including 18 species with new material and 11 species only
      from literature records. For each species, information on systematics, habitats
      and distribution is supplied, together with taxonomic or biological remarks.
      Three species, the acotylean polyclads Cestoplana rubrocinta Lang, 1884 and
      Comoplana agilis (Lang, 1884) as well as the marine triclad Cercyra hastata
      Schmidt, 1861 are recorded for the first time in Tunisia. The controversial
      occurrence of the leptoplanid polyclad Leptoplana tremellaris in the
      Mediterranean is supported with histological sections and embryological data. The
      proseriate Monocelis fusca Orsted, 1843 previously reported from Tunisia is
      considered to be a misidentification.By presenting a checklist of the recorded
      species, this work summarizes our current knowledge of the turbellarian fauna
      diversity in Tunisia, providing baseline data for future biogeographical,
      ecological, behavioral and evolutionary investigations.

PMID- 28609884
TI  - New species of Narberdia Burke from Mexico and Central America (Coleoptera:
      Curculionidae).
AB  - Four new species of the previously monotypic genus Narberdia Burke are described.
      All of them are intimately associated with plants of the genus Bernardia
      (Euphorbiaceae). Narberdia cervantae Soto-Hernandez, new species (Mexico, Jalisco
      on Bernardia spongiosa McVaugh), N. sarukhani Soto-Hernandez, new species
      (Mexico, Veracruz and Costa Rica on B. mexicana (Hook. & Arn.) Mull. Arg. and B.
      nicaraguensis Standl. & L.O. Williams), N. dugesi Soto-Hernandez (Mexico,
      Queretaro and Michoacan on B. mexicana and B. albida Lundell), and N. ramuvei
      Soto-Hernandez, new species (Mexico, Durango, Jalisco and Puebla on B. changii A.
      Cerv. & Flores Olv., B. rzedowskii A. Cerv. & Flores Olv. and B. valdesii A.
      Cerv. & Flores Olv.). Use of more than one species of plant as a host by one
      species of weevil is a common occurrence in Anthonomini. Sexual dimorphism is
      evident in the species with the female rostrum more slender and relatively longer
      than in male, the antennal scape attached near the midpoint of the rostrum in the
      female and beyond the midpoint in the male, and female with pro- and mesotibia
      bearing a tooth adjacent to the mucro, this tooth absent in the male. Specimens
      were collected at elevations from 62 m to 2288 m. The genus, previously only
      known from the United States of America and extreme northern Mexico is now also
      known from Costa Rica as well as other areas of Mexico. Narberdia apparently is
      most closely related to several Anthonomus squamosus species group members, both
      with similar characters of the body and form of the male median lobe (broad at
      the apex and strongly narrowed near the apex).

PMID- 28609885
TI  - A new species of Rhinophis Hemprich, 1820 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the
      central hills of Sri Lanka.
AB  - A new species of uropeltid snake, Rhinophis roshanpererai sp. nov., is described
      based on three specimens from Badulla District, Sri Lanka. The new species is
      distinguished from its congeners by the number of dorsal scale rows and ventral
      scales, a colour pattern that lacks pale stripes, and by having a very small tail
      shield with four or three prominent spines. Based on lack of records from similar
      habitats and elevations elsewhere in Sri Lanka, the new species likely has a very
      small range in the central highlands. The description of the new species brings
      the total nominal species of Rhinophis to 20, with four of the 16 Sri Lankan
      species having been described since 2009.

PMID- 28609886
TI  - A new annual fish of the genus Simpsonichthys (Cyprinodontiformes: Cynolebiidae)
      from the upper Rio Jequitinhonha basin, Brazil.
AB  - A new species of Simpsonichthys is described from the upper rio Jequitinhonha
      basin, Minas Gerais, eastern Brazil. It is diagnosed from all congeners by
      presenting an A-patterned frontal squamation. Additionally, males of the new
      species differs from all congeners by the color pattern of body, the color of
      iris, the absence of contact organs in the pectoral fin, presence of scales on
      anal-fin base, pectoral-fin length, caudal fin length, and eye diameter. Females
      of the new species can be diagnosed from remaining congeners by the pectoral-fin
      length. The conservation status of the new species is evaluated. Comments on the
      relationships of the new species within the genus Simpsonichthys are presented.

PMID- 28609887
TI  - A new species of Hippopsis Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville, 1825 from Panama and
      key to species (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae).
AB  - Hippopsis raberi sp. nov. is described from Darien National Park, Panama. A key
      to 40 species of the genus is provided.

PMID- 28609888
TI  - A new karst dwelling species of the Gekko japonicus group (Squamata: Gekkonidae)
      from central Laos.
AB  - A new species of the Gekko japonicus group is described from Khammouane Province,
      central Laos, based on morphological characters and molecular data.
      Morphologically, Gekko nadenensis sp. nov. is differentiated from the remaining
      congeners by a combination of the following characters: size moderate (SVL 61.0
      77.1 mm); nares bordered with rostral; internasals absent; postmentals enlarged;
      interorbital scales between anterior corners of the eyes 28-30; dorsal tubercles
      absent; ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit 175-185; midbody scale
      rows 123-140; ventral scale rows 38-40; subdigital lamellae on first toes 13-15,
      on fourth toes 14-16; finger and toe webbing present at base; tubercles on dorsal
      surface of fore and hind limbs absent; precloacal pores six (3+3 or 5+1) in a
      discontinuous row in males, absent in the female; postcloacal tubercles 1 or 2;
      tubercles absent on dorsal surface of tail base; subcaudals distinctly enlarged;
      dorsal surface of body with greyish brown blotches. Molecular analyses
      demonstrated the new species is closely related to G. bonkowskii and G.
      thakhekensis, but separated from them by approximately 7% in genetic divergence
      as shown by a fragment of the mitochondrial ND2 gene.

PMID- 28609889
TI  - A new species of Eupholus Boisduval from West New Guinea (Coleoptera:
      Curculionidae).
AB  - Eupholus Boisduval is outstanding among weevils for its large body size and
      splendid coloration. Nevertheless, some species have eluded discovery until
      recently. Here we describe E. marielaurae sp. n. from the Arfak Mountains of West
      New Guinea. We provide morphological and molecular characters to differentiate it
      from E. cuvierii (Guerin-Meneville).

PMID- 28609890
TI  - Revision of the funnel-web spider genus <i>Novalena</i> (Araneae: Agelenidae).
AB  - The Western Hemisphere genus Novalena Chamberlin & Ivie 1942 (Araneae:
      Agelenidae) is revised. The genus now includes a total of 53 species, of which 40
      are new species from USA, Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica: N. ajusco sp. nov.
      (?), N. alamo sp. nov. (?), N. alvarezi sp. nov. (?), N. atzimbo sp. nov. (?), N.
      bosencheve sp. nov. (?), N. chamberlini sp. nov. (? ?), N. cieneguilla sp. nov.
      (?), N. cintalapa sp. nov. (? ?), N. clara sp. nov. (? ?), N. comaltepec sp. nov.
      (?), N. creel sp. nov. (? ?), N. dentata sp. nov. (? ?), N. divisadero sp. nov.
      (?), N. durango sp. nov. (?), N. franckei sp. nov. (? ?), N. garnica sp. nov. (?
      ?), N. gibarrai sp. nov. (? ?), N. irazu sp. nov. (?), N. iviei sp. nov. (?), N.
      ixtlan sp. nov. (?), N. jiquilpan sp. nov. (?), N. leonensis sp. nov. (? ?), N.
      mexiquensis sp. nov. (? ?), N. oaxaca sp. nov. (? ?), N. paricutin sp. nov. (?),
      N. perote sp. nov. (? ?), N. plata sp. nov. (?), N. poncei sp. nov. (? ?), N.
      popoca sp. nov. (?), N. prieta sp. nov. (?), N. puebla sp. nov. (? ?), N. punta
      sp. nov. (? ?), N. rothi sp. nov. (? ?), N. saltoensis sp. nov. (?), N. sinaloa
      sp. nov. (?), N. tacana sp. nov. (? ?), N. triunfo sp. nov. (?), N. valdezi sp.
      nov. (? ?), N. victoria sp. nov. (?), and N. volcanes sp. nov. (?). Nine are
      previously described species: N. annamae (Gertsch & Davis 1940), N. attenuata
      (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge 1902), N. bipartita (Kraus 1955), N. calavera Chamberlin
      & Ivie 1942, N. costata (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge 1902), N. laticava (Kraus 1955),
      N. orizaba (Banks 1898), N. shlomitae (Garcia-Villafuerte 2009), and N. simplex
      (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge 1902). Four new synonyms are proposed: N. pina Chamberlin
      & Ivie 1942 = N. intermedia (Chamberlin & Gertsch 1930); N. idahoana (Gertsch
      1934) and N. wawona Chamberlin & Ivie 1942 = N. lutzi (Gertsch 1933); N. tolucana
      (Gertsch & Davis 1940) = N. approximata (Gertsch & Ivie 1936). One species is
      transferred from Melpomene back to Novalena: N. bipunctata Roth 1967 stat. rev.
      One species is transferred to Hoffmannilena Maya-Morales & Jimenez 2016: H. nova
      (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1896) comb. nov.

PMID- 28609891
TI  - The black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of Vietnam.
AB  - The biodiversity of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae), which are biting insects
      of medical and veterinary importance, is strikingly high in Southeast Asian
      countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. In 2013, we
      began to explore the fauna of black flies in Vietnam, which has so far been
      poorly studied. In this monograph, the wealth of the biodiversity of black flies
      in Vietnam is also confirmed on the basis of the results of our recent
      investigations, though limited to five provinces in the country. Morphotaxonomic
      studies of black flies obtained from Sapa, Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam, in
      2014 and Nghe An Province, northern Vietnam, in 2015, and reexaminations of black
      flies collected from Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc Province, northern Vietnam, in 2013, Thua
      Thien Hue Province, central Vietnam, in 2014, and Lam Dong Province, southern
      Vietnam, in 2014, were conducted. A total of 22 species are described as new,
      including one in the newly recorded subgenus Montisimulium Rubtsov, and three
      species are recognized as new records from Vietnam. This investigation brings the
      number of species of black flies known in Vietnam to 70, all of which are
      assigned to the genus Simulium Latreille, and are placed in four subgenera (25 in
      Gomphostilbia Enderlein, one in Montisimulium, seven in Nevermannia Enderlein,
      and 37 in Simulium Latreille s. str.). The numbers of species-groups recognized
      include seven in Gomphostilbia, three in Nevermannia and nine in Simulium,
      indicating a high diversity of putative phylogenetic lineages. New species
      include S. (G.) sanchayense sp. nov. (= the species formerly regarded as S. (G.)
      brinchangense Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Hashim), S. (S.) lowi sp. nov. (= the
      species formerly regarded as S. (S.) brevipar Takaoka & Davies), S. (S.)
      fuscicoxae sp. nov. [= the species formerly regarded as S. (S.) rufibasis
      Brunetti (in part)], S. (S.) suoivangense sp. nov. [= morphoform 'b' of the S.
      (S.) tani Takaoka & Davies (complex)]. Newly recorded species are S. (G.)
      parahiyangum Takaoka & Sigit, S. (N.) maeaiense Takaoka & Srisuka, and S. (S.)
      doipuiense Takaoka & Choochote (complex) [= the species formerly regarded as S.
      (S.) rufibasis Brunetti (in part)]. The substitute name, S. (S.) huense, is given
      for the species that was described under the name of S. (S.) cavum from southern
      Vietnam. A redescription of the female, male, pupa and larva of S. (G.) asakoae
      Takaoka & Davies is presented, and the female and larva of S. (G.) hongthaii
      Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Ya'cob are described for the first time. Keys to 10
      subgenera in the Oriental Region and all 70 species recorded from Vietnam are
      provided for females, males, pupae and mature larvae. As investigations extend
      nationwide in all the provinces in Vietnam, more new species and records are
      expected to be discovered. It is hoped that this monograph will be useful as a
      baseline taxonomic reference for future studies of black flies in Vietnam and
      neighbouring countries.

PMID- 28609892
TI  - Reappraisal of <i>Synagrops</i> Gunther, 1887 with rehabilitation and revision of
      <i>Parascombrops</i> Alcock, 1889 including description of seven new species and
      two new genera (Perciformes: Acropomatidae).
AB  - An ongoing review of the fishes of the basal percoid family Acropomatidae has
      revealed that the genus Synagrops Gunther, 1887 as it is currently understood is
      not a natural group. Species with a serrated pelvic-fin spine are here placed in
      the resurrected genus Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 (type-species: Parascombrops
      pellucidus Alcock, 1889), and the new, monospecific genus Caraibops n. gen. (type
      species: Synagrops trispinosus Mochizuki & Sano, 1984). Parascombrops is unique
      amongst Acropomatidae in the combination of the presence of vacant 8th
      interneural space, a predorsal formula /0+0/0+2/ and an epaxialis attachment type
      1. Caraibops n. gen. shares none of these characters and further differs from
      Parascombrops by an anal-fin formula of III + 9 (vs II + 7 or III + 6), and the
      absence of denticles on the ectopterygoid. Parascombrops is revised and now
      contains a total of 13 species, including 7 new: P. analis (Katayama, 1957), P.
      argyreus (Gilbert & Cramer, 1897), P. glossodon n. sp., P. madagascariensis n.
      sp., P. mochizukii n. sp., P. nakayamai n. sp., P. ohei n. sp., P. parvidens n.
      sp., P. pellucidus Alcock, 1889, P. philippinensis (Gunther, 1880), P.
      serratospinosus (Smith & Radcliffe, 1912), P. spinosus (Schultz, 1940) and P.
      yamanouei n. sp. Synagrops adeni Kotthaus, 1970 and S. malayanus Weber, 1913 are
      treated as synonyms of P. pellucidus and P. philippinensis, respectively.
      Lectotypes are designated for P. philippinensis and S. malayanus. The main
      characters used to distinguish between the species of Parascombrops are:
      serration of other fin spines, number of gill rakers and pseudobranchial
      filaments, head profile, presence or absence of ridges on the preopercle, shape
      of 1st anal-fin pterygiophore, dentition on vomer, palatines and ectopterygoids,
      orbit diameter, pectoral-fin length, maximal body depth and otolith morphology.
      The genus Synagrops is here confined to two species, S. japonicus (Doderlein,
      1883) and S. bellus (Goode & Bean, 1896), characterized by the apomorphic
      character of an otic capsule with a posteriorly open myodome, a basioccipital
      fossa and a very specialized otolith morphology. Synagrops is also characterized
      by the absence of pelvic-fin spine serrations. Two other species without a
      serrated pelvic-fin spine, originally described in Synagrops, are removed from
      this genus. Synagrops microlepis Norman, 1935 is separated into the monotypic
      Kaperangus n. gen., the only genus in the family with two supraneurals (cf. three
      in all other taxa). The second, Synagrops pseudomicrolepis Schultz, 1940 is re
      assigned to the genus Verilus. The geographic distribution of Parascombrops as
      currently composed is discussed, and is shown to be primarily of West Pacific
      nature, with few species in the Indian Ocean and one in the tropical West
      Atlantic (P. spinosus). The West Atlantic species Parascombrops spinosus is very
      closely related to P. mochizukii from the tropical northwestern Pacific, and the
      implications of this disjunct distribution are discussed. The high degree of
      speciation now recognized in Parascombrops species of the West-Pacific indicates
      that a diverse ecological adaptation within an overall pseudoceanic habitat may
      have played a major role in speciation, which would have remained obscured
      without adequate taxonomic resolution. Fossil, otolith-based records are also
      briefly discussed in the context. The extant Parascombrops argyreus and P. ohei
      are reported from the Pliocene of Japan, and Caraibops trispinosus has been
      recorded from the Pliocene of Venezuela.

PMID- 28609893
TI  - Twenty-seven new species of the goblin spider genus <i>Neoxyphinus</i> Biraben,
      1953 (Araneae: Oonopidae) from Brazil.
AB  - Twenty-seven new species of the genus Neoxyphinus are described, all from Brazil,
      raising the total number of species of the genus to 48. The new species with the
      respective geographic distribution and known sexes are: N. capiranga sp. nov.
      (??) from Amazonas, Para, Mato Grosso and Rondonia; N. caprichoso sp. nov. (??)
      and N. garantido sp. nov. (??) from Amazonas and Para; N. crasto sp. nov. (??)
      from Bahia and Sergipe; N. murici sp. nov. (??) from Alagoas and Sergipe; N.
      meurei sp. nov. (?) from Bahia and Mato Grosso; N. belterra sp. nov. (??) from
      Para and Mato Grosso; N. ornithogoblin sp. nov. (??), N. sax sp. nov. (??), N.
      coari sp. nov. (??), N. tucuma sp. nov. (??), N. ducke sp. nov. (?) and N.
      carigoblin sp. nov. (?) from Amazonas; N. almerim sp. nov. (?), N. mutum sp. nov.
      (??), N. caxiuana sp. nov. (??), N. cachimbo sp. nov. (?) and N. jacareacanga sp.
      nov. (?) from Para; N. paraty sp. nov. (??) and N. rio sp. nov. (??) from Rio de
      Janeiro; N. novalima sp. nov. (??) and N. celluliticus sp. nov. (?) from Minas
      Gerais; N. paraiba sp. nov. (?) and N. simsinho sp. nov. (??) from Paraiba; N.
      cantareira sp. nov. (?) from Sao Paulo; N. cavus sp. nov. (?) from Espirito Santo
      and N. stigmatus sp. nov. (?) from Bahia. A key for identification of all 48
      known species of Neoxyphinus is provided and possible monophyletic lineages
      within the genus are discussed.

PMID- 28609894
TI  - New Protoribates (Acari, Oribatida, Haplozetidae) from Vietnam.
AB  - Three new species of oribatid mites of the genus Protoribates (Oribatida,
      Haplozetidae) are described based on adult specimens from the Tam Dao National
      Park of Northern Vietnam. Protoribates chistyakovi sp. nov. differs from P.
      sangumburiensis (Choi, 1996) by being larger, the localization of lamellar setae,
      and morphology of rostrum and interlamellar setae. Protoribates shaldybinae sp.
      nov. differs from P. dentatus (Berlese, 1883) by its distinctly foveolate body
      surface, morphology of pedotecta II and leg tarsi I and II, and much longer
      adanal setae ad2. Protoribates shvanderovi sp. nov. differs from P. gracilis
      (Aoki, 1982) by its larger body size, localization of lamellar setae, and the
      relative lengths of lamellar, interlamellar and bothridial setae, and longer
      dorsophragmata. An identification key to the Vietnamese species of the genus
      Protoribates is given.

PMID- 28609895
TI  - A new species of Rock Gecko genus Cnemaspis (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Western
      Sarawak, Malaysia.
AB  - A new species of Asian rock gecko, genus Cnemaspis, is described from Padawan,
      western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The new species forms a clade with C. paripari
      and C. nigridia of the C. nigridia group in a mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and is
      similar to them morphologically in some characters such as caudal scalation. It
      differs from the other Asian Cnemaspis species in its unique combination of snout
      vent length (up to 62.7 mm), 4-9 precloacal pores in males, keeled subcaudals
      with an enlarged, smooth, median row, presence of ventrolateral caudal tubercles,
      and coloration (head and upper flanks dark-yellow; anterior portion of tail
      black; posterior portion of tail white with black, paravertebral blob).
      Phylogenetic relationships within the C. nigridia group and the distributional
      ranges of species within the group suggest allopatric speciation by geographic
      isolation.

PMID- 28609896
TI  - A new species of Tropidophorus Dumeril & Bibron, 1839 (Squamata: Sauria:
      Scincidae) from Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo).
AB  - A new species of the genus Tropidophorus is described from Putai, upper Baleh,
      Kapit districts, Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo). Tropidophorus sebi sp. nov. is
      diagnosable from congeners from Borneo by the combination of the following
      characters: head shields present, dorsal and lateral scales smooth; parietal
      scales in two pairs; supraciliaries eight; supraoculars four; supralabials seven;
      infralabials four; postmental undivided; longitudinal scale rows 58; ventrals 53;
      transverse scale rows at midbody 34; subcaudals 98; preanals enlarged, single;
      and subdigital lamellae of Toe IV 19. In addition, we determine the phylogenetic
      position of this species within the Tropidophorus group based on mitochondrial
      markers, and present a key to identification of the known Bornean species in the
      genus.

PMID- 28609897
TI  - Oxynoemacheilus kentritensis, a new species from the upper Tigris drainage in
      Turkey with remarks on O. frenatus (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).
AB  - Oxynoemacheilus kentritensis, new species, is described from the Botan drainage,
      a tributary to the upper Tigris. It is distinguished from other Oxynoemacheilus
      species in the Tigris drainage by having a complete lateral line, long barbels,
      flank and back completely covered by scales and flank behind dorsal-fin base with
      large, dark-brown, vertically elongated blotches or bars.

PMID- 28609898
TI  - Fauna of Cladocera and Copepoda from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (China).
AB  - This study evaluates the species composition of Cladocera and Copepoda in the
      five lakes of the Bogda-Shan Mountain range and in the floodplain of the Tarim
      and Konchedarya rivers located in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China
      (Xinjiang). We collected seven species of Cladocera and six species of Copepoda.
      Seven species were identified as new for Xinjiang fauna, and two species (Cyclops
      cf. herberti Einsle, 1996, and Eucyclops roseus Ishida, 1997) were first records
      for China. Herein, we characterize the distribution ranges for the detected
      species and provide taxonomic remarks. The total species list for water bodies in
      Xinjiang compiled from original data and available literature includes 56 species
      of Cladocera and 33 species of Copepoda. We also discuss the biogeographical
      structure of Cladocera and Copepoda faunas in Xinjiang.

PMID- 28609899
TI  - Two new species of the genus Sinopodisma Chang, 1940 (Orthoptra, Acridoidea,
      Catantopidae, Podisminae) from Taiwan, China.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Sinopodisma Chang, 1940 from Taiwan, China are
      described in this paper. The new species Sinopodisma orchofemura sp. nov. is
      similar to Sinopodisma kodamae (Shiraki, 1910), but differs from latter in
      antennae length of joint 2.9 times width in the middle part, hind femur yellow,
      length of interspace of mesosternum larger than narrowest, tegmina almost
      reaching the hind margin of second abdominal tergum. The Sinopodisma hsinchuensis
      sp. nov. is similar to Sinopodisma orchofemura sp. nov., but differs from latter
      by vertical diameter of eyes 1.7 times horizontal diameter and 1.8 times
      subocular furrow; tegmina extending over the hind margin of first abdominal
      tergite slightly; the length of interspace of mesosternum equal to narrowest and
      subgenital plate longer than ovipositor valves ventral view. Type specimens are
      deposited in the National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan, China and
      the Institute of Entomology, Taiwan University, Taibei, Taiwan, China
      respectively.

PMID- 28609900
TI  - Synonymic notes in the genus Chlaenius Bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera: Carabidae:
      Chlaeniini).
AB  - In a study by Chanu & Swaminathan (2017) recently published in Zootaxa, two
      species of Chlaenius from Rajasthan (India) were described, which, however,
      turned out to be synonyms.

PMID- 28609901
TI  - Description of Diploplastron dehorityi sp. nov. (Entodiniomorphida,
      Ophryoscolecidae), a new rumen ciliate from Brazilian sheep (Ovis aries).
AB  - To date the genus Diploplastron comprised only one species of ophryoscolecid
      ciliate, Diploplastron affine, which is characterized by having two retractable
      ciliary zones in the anterior end of the body, two slender and juxtaposed
      skeletal plates on the right side, a rod shape macronucleus, and two contractile
      vacuoles. During study on the characterization of rumen ciliate community
      composition in Brazilian domestic sheep, we observed ciliates with atypical
      morphology but with diagnostic features of genus Diploplastron. This study
      describes Diploplastron dehorityi, a new species of ophryoscolecid ciliate, that
      differs from D. affine, primarily, in the morphology of skeletal plates,
      morphology of nuclear apparatus and body shape. In addition to the similarities
      between the new species and congener species, D. dehorityi has some morphological
      similarities to species of genus Eremoplastron.

PMID- 28609902
TI  - Host-Parasite list updating of Ciliates and fermentation in the digestive tract
      of wild miscellaneous herbivores in South Africa (RSA).
AB  - This article is dedicated to the Author, Burk Dehority, who became very ill with
      cancer. Fortunately he confirmed or corrected all identifications on ciliates in
      this article. This paper was 80% finished when he became ill. He unfortunately
      passed away in February 2016.

PMID- 28609903
TI  - Further records on the plant bug tribe Hallodapini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera:
      Miridae: Phylinae) in Asia, with proposition of two new species and a new
      synonymy.
AB  - A total of twelve species in five genera belonging to the phyline plant bug tribe
      Hallodapini are treated. Two new species are described from Indochina:
      Cleotomiris inthanon Duwal & Yasunaga sp. nov. (Thailand) and Cleotomiroides
      vietnamensis Duwal & Yasunaga sp. nov. (Vietnam). New distributional records are
      also presented for some known species of Hallodapus Fieber and Wygomiris Schuh.
      Hallodapus persimilis (Poppius) is proposed as a junior synonym of H. ravenar
      (Poppius). Illustrations of the endosoma for four species, including the new
      species, are presented. Digital images of the male genitalic structures are shown
      for nine species, including the two new species, and also female genitalic
      structures of the species of Cleotomiris Schuh, Cleotomiroides Schuh and
      Wygomiris Schuh, are provided. The immature forms are documented for the first
      time for Acrorrhinium inexpectatum (Josifov) and Wygomiris kaliyahae Yasunaga.

PMID- 28609904
TI  - Concentrated evolutionary novelties in the foot musculature of Odontophrynidae
      (Anura: Neobatrachia), with comments on adaptations for burrowing.
AB  - We studied the foot musculature of the fossorial family Odontophrynidae (composed
      of the genera Macrogenioglottus, Odontophrynus, and Proceratophrys) plus several
      outgroup taxa from Hyloidea and other burrowing taxa from across Anura. We found
      novel character-states supporting the monophyly of Odontophrynus, Proceratophrys,
      and Odontophrynus + Macrogenioglottus. The character-states observed in O.
      cultripes support conflicting phylogenetic positions within Odontophrynus. A
      comparison of some novel character-states with a diverse sample of burrowing taxa
      suggests that some modifications of the foot musculature might be involved in
      digging.

PMID- 28609905
TI  - Systematic revision of the Andean butterfly genus Orophila Staudinger, 1886
      (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Biblidinae).
AB  - A systematic review of the Neotropical butterfly genus Orophila Staudinger, 1886
      based on morphological characters and geographical distribution is presented.
      Four species are recognized: O. campaspe (Hewitson, 1869) stat. rest., O.
      cardases (Hewitson, 1869), O. cecidas (Hewitson, 1869) stat. rest. and O. diotima
      (Hewitson, 1852). Other changes proposed include treating Orophila diotima footei
      (Lamas, 2003) syn. n. and O. cardases zurita (Fruhstorfer, 1916) syn. n. as
      synonyms of other taxa. Illustrations of adult males and male genitalia of all
      taxa are presented and the importance of morphological characters in both males
      and females is evaluated. Female specimens and genitalia are illustrated for the
      first time for O. c. cardases, O. cecidas and O. diotima. Lectotypes are
      designated for two nominal taxa.

PMID- 28609906
TI  - A new genus of the mite family Scutacaridae (Acari: Heterostigmata) associated
      with Trinervitermes trinervoides (Isoptera: Termitidae) from South Africa.
AB  - A new monotypic genus of scutacarid mites, Gerdalbertia gen. nov. (Acari:
      Pygmephoroidea: Scutacaridae), with type species G. elongata sp. nov. is
      described from nests of and phoretic on termites, Trinervitermes trinervoides
      (Sjostedt, 1911) (Isoptera: Termitidae), from South Africa. The taxonomic
      position of the new genus is discussed.

PMID- 28609907
TI  - Morphology variation of Lutzomyia cruciata eggs (Diptera: Psychodidae:
      Phlebotominae) in southern Mexico.
AB  - The sand fly Lutzomyia cruciata has been associated with the transmission of
      Leishmania mexicana to humans in Mexico. This species has a wide distribution in
      Mexico occupying different microhabitats and environments. In this work
      comparisons of the egg exochorion of Lu. cruciata from different physiographic
      areas are presented. Study sites are from different states of southern Mexico.
      Exochorion analysis was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
      Results show differences in the exochorionic pattern among samples from Veracruz
      (AVER), Yucatan (HOYU) and Chiapas (TACH). The morphotype "Chiapas" has a
      polygonal crest pattern, the morphotype "Veracruz" shows parallel and
      longitudinal crests with some or few connections, and the morphotype "Yucatan"
      has weak connections between crest ridges. These morphological differences could
      be the result of local adaptations or evidence of divergence within the nominal
      unit Lutzomyia cruciata.

PMID- 28609908
TI  - Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) on sugarcane in Colombia, with description
      of a new species of Tillancoccus Ben-Dov (Coccidae).
AB  - Herein we describe a new species, Tillancoccus koreguajae Caballero & Ramos, sp.
      n. (Hemiptera: Coccidae) from Colombia collected on sugarcane. Pinnaspis
      strachani (Cooley) is also recorded on sugarcane for the first time worldwide. An
      updated list of seven species of Coccomorpha on sugarcane in Colombia is
      provided, including information on its distribution, biology, and mutualistic
      ants for each species. Seven species of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha)
      have been recorded previously on sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum L. (Poaceae) in
      Colombia: Pseudococcidae: Dysmicoccus boninsis (Kuwana), D. brevipes (Cockerell),
      Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell);
      Coccidae: Pulvinaria elongata Newstead; Diaspididae: Duplachionaspis divergens
      (Green) and Serenaspis minima (Maskell). However, the record of S. minima in
      Colombia is considered doubtful as there are no voucher specimens from Colombia
      and because the distribution of this species is currently limited to the
      Australasian region. Pseudococcus calceolariae is present in Colombia but its
      record on sugarcane is also doubtful. A taxonomic key for the identification of
      scale insects on sugarcane in Colombia is provided.

PMID- 28609910
TI  - The dark side of pumpkin toadlet: a new species of <i>Brachycephalus</i> (Anura:
      Brachycephalidae) from Serra do Brigadeiro, southeastern Brazil.
AB  - Brachycephalus is a frog genus endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and
      characterized by the bright yellow-orange aposematic colors and the high degree
      of miniaturization. Herein, we describe a new species of Brachycephalus from
      Serra do Brigadeiro, Municipality of Ervalia, Minas Gerais State, southeastern
      Brazil. Specimens were collected at high altitudes (i.e., 1266-1498 m above sea
      level) amidst the leaf litter. The new species is characterized by the presence
      of black connective tissue covering all dorsal muscles, body completely yellow
      orange in life, presence of skull and post-cranial plates, large size (SVL of
      adults: 14.8-18.5 mm), bufoniform body, absence of metacarpal and metatarsal
      tubercles, and presence of harmonics in its advertisement call.

PMID- 28609909
TI  - New Black Fungus Gnats (Diptera, Sciaridae) of North America. Part III. Genera
      <i>Camptochaeta</i> Hippa & Vilkamaa, <i>Claustropyga</i> Hippa, Vilkamaa &
      Mohrig and <i>Dichopygina</i> Vilkamaa, Hippa & Komarova.
AB  - Seven species of the genus Camptochaeta, two of the genus Claustropyga and one of
      the genus Dichopygina are newly described from the Nearctic region. These are:
      Camptochaeta abnormalis sp. n., Cam. camptochaetosa sp. n., Cam. grimaldii sp.
      n., Cam. multispina sp. n., Cam. praexystica sp. n., Cam. subxystica sp. n., Cam.
      unispina sp. n., Claustropyga postbrevichaeta sp. n., Cl. subbrevichaeta sp. n.
      and Dichopygina praeaculeata sp. n. All new species are diagnosed and their
      distribution data are given. Three species, Camptochaeta duplicata Hippa &
      Vilkamaa, 1994, Claustropyga abblanda (Freeman, 1983) and Cl. sajanica (Mohrig &
      Antonova, 1978) are reported for the Nearctic region for the first time. With
      these new species, Camptochaeta includes 30 species, Claustropyga 15 species and
      Dichopygina 6 species in the Nearctic region now.

PMID- 28609911
TI  - Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) associated with tropical ornamental
      plants, with a checklist and a key to the species of Bahia, Brazil.
AB  - Twenty-four papers refer to phytoseiid mites from different plant species in the
      state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil, but none of those refer to taxonomic surveys
      on ornamental plants. The aim of this study was to determine phytoseiids from
      tropical ornamentals in the southern coastal region of Bahia state, as well as to
      present a checklist and an identification key to the species recorded in that
      state. Samples were collected at eight localities of five municipalities. A total
      of seventeen species in nine genera was found on fifteen plant species of the
      families Costaceae, Heliconiaceae, Musaceae and Zingiberaceae. The most frequent
      and abundant phytoseiid species were Iphiseiodes metapodalis (El-Banhawy),
      Amblyseius operculatus De Leon and Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma,
      respectively. The checklist and the identification key to the Phytoseiidae
      species of Bahia were prepared based on the published literature.

PMID- 28609912
TI  - A new genus of Silvaninae (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) with two new species from the
      Malay Peninsula.
AB  - A new silvanid genus Dentirotacorimus gen. nov. is described based on specimens
      collected from Ulu Gombak (Malay Peninsula), Malaysia. Two new species, D.
      reticulatus sp. nov. and D. zigzag sp. nov., are described herein. A key to
      species of this genus and a table listing states of diagnostic characters of
      Corimus-like genera, including this new genus, are provided.

PMID- 28609913
TI  - Some epibiont suctorian ciliates from meiofaunal organisms of Maldivian
      archipelago with description of a new ciliate species.
AB  - Five species of suctorian ciliates belonging to four different genera attached to
      meiofaunal organisms of Maldivian archipelago (Suvadiva Atoll) were documented.
      Three rare species (Acineta sp., Thecacineta urceolata Liao & Dovgal, 2015 and
      Limnoricus ceter Jankowski, 1981) and one common suctorian ciliate Thecacineta
      calix (Schroder, 1907) are re-described from nematodes (Croconema cinctum Cobb,
      1920, Desmodorella tenuispiculum Allgen, 1928 and Desmodora sp.) and harpacticoid
      copepod basibionts. In addition, Trophogemma colantonii n. sp. colonizing the
      abdomen and legs of the harpacticoid copepod Stenhelia sp. is described. The new
      species differs from the relative species for the less flattened cell body, the
      absence of both lateral bundles of tentacles and separate lateral tentacles as
      well as for the presence of longitudinal ribs along the cuticle. The data
      obtained in this survey give not only new important information on the taxonomy
      and distribution of Suctorea, but also new insights on their relationship with
      meiofaunal organisms in one of the most diverse and productive marine micro
      habitat of carbonate sediments.

PMID- 28609914
TI  - A new caprellid species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Senticaudata) from Brazil.
AB  - A new species of caprellid, Pseudaeginella arraialensis, is described from
      Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Abundant material was collected in Praia
      do Forno, associated to hydroids and algae of natural rocky substrata and fouling
      communities of artificial floating structures. The new species can be
      distinguished easily from the remaining species in the genus mainly by the
      pattern of dorsal projections, and by the setose antennae and gnathopod 2 in
      males. The dietary analysis revealed that the species is omnivorous, with a high
      contribution of small crustaceans in its diet. Detailed figures showing
      ontogenetic development and intraspecific variation of P. arraialensis are also
      included.

PMID- 28609915
TI  - Documenting diversity in the Amazonian butterfly genus <i>Bia </i>(Lepidoptera,
      Nymphalidae).
AB  - A comparative study of over 1,000 specimens allowed us to revise the taxonomy of
      the Amazonian butterfly genus Bia. We redescribed the genus, and used a selected
      set of characters to define and describe new species and subspecific taxa. We
      found that male genitalia showed little variation among taxa, and that wing and
      genitalia characters varied independently across the range of the genus. We also
      noted that species diversification seems to follow a north-south Amazonian
      divide, with Bia actorion and decaerulea occupying the northern portion of the
      genus range while the remaining four species are found in southern Amazonia. As
      defined here Bia includes six species: B. actorion (Linnaeus), B. actorion
      ecuatoria DeVries & Penz, NEW SSP., B. actorion occulta Casagrande & Penz, NEW
      SSP., B. decaerulea Weymer STAT. NOV., B. decaerulea cayana Simonsen & Penz, NEW
      SSP., B. decaerulea pallida Casagrande & Penz, NEW SSP., B. rebeli Bryk STAT.
      NOV., B. rebeli aegina Penz & Simonsen, NEW SSP., B. rebeli acreana Casagrande &
      Penz, NEW SSP., B. rebeli arikeme Penz & Casagrande, NEW SSP., B. rebeli pareci
      Penz & DeVries, NEW SSP., B. rebeli cuprea Penz & Casagrande, NEW SSP., B. rebeli
      tapajos Penz & Simonsen, NEW SSP., B. caelestis Penz & DeVries, NEW SP., B.
      pucallpa Casagrande & Penz, NEW SP., and B. peruana Rober.

PMID- 28609916
TI  - Two new species of <i>Bothriurus</i> Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae) from
      Northeastern Brazil.
AB  - Two new species of Bothriurid scorpions, Bothriurus delmari n. sp. and B.
      aguardente n. sp., are described from Bahia, Northeastern Brazil. These species
      are included in the asper group owing to the peculiar hemispermatophore
      morphology. These two newly described species increases to 47 the number of known
      and valid Bothriurus species. Additionaly, the known distribution of Bothriurus
      asper is updated.

PMID- 28609917
TI  - First record of spiral <i>fovea</i> <i>amphidialis</i> in <i>Acantholaimus</i>
      (Chromadoridae: Nematoda), with a description of a new species from shallow
      sediments of the South Atlantic and an emended diagnosis of the genus.
AB  - A new species of the genus Acantholaimus is described from the South Atlantic, in
      the Potiguar Basin off the continental shelf of northeast Brazil. Acantholaimus
      marliae sp. n. is characterized by the long body; numerous somatic setae arranged
      in four sublateral longitudinal rows; buccal cavity with five solid teeth (four
      subventral and one dorsal), with the largest tooth dorsally located and the most
      protuberant between the subventral teeth shaped similarly to a "bottle opener";
      and spiral fovea amphidialis. Acantholaimus marliae sp. n. is the only species
      described for the genus that has a spiral fovea amphidialis. This is the fifth
      species of Acantholaimus described from shallow water. An emended diagnosis of
      the genus is provided.

PMID- 28609918
TI  - A review of the coelidiine leafhopper genus <i>Mahellus</i> (Hemiptera:
      Cicadellidae: Coelidiinae) with description of two new species from the Oriental
      region.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Mahellus Nielson, M. cardoni sp. nov. (Indonesia:
      Sulawesi) and M. ungulatus sp. nov. (India: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) are
      described and illustrated. M. distanti Nielson is also illustrated with several
      new locality records. A key for the four known species of the genus is also
      given.

PMID- 28609919
TI  - Revision of the genus <i>Adelostoma</i> (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Part 2: A
      new subgenus and species from Oman.
AB  - A new species Adelostoma muqalensis sp. nov. is described from Oman, figured and
      compared with its relatives. The new species is placed in a new monotypic
      subgenus, Omandelostoma subgen. nov. An identification key for subgenera of the
      genus Adelostoma is given.

PMID- 28609920
TI  - <i>Prionotropis</i> <i>ancosae</i>, a new species of Thrinchinae (Orthoptera:
      Pamphagidae) from the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula.
AB  - A new species of the genus Prionotropis Fieber, 1853 is described from Catalonia
      (Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula). Prionotropis ancosae n. sp. was collected
      in a calcicolous stepic scrub dominated mainly by thyme (Thymus vulgaris). P.
      ancosae n. sp. is characterized by the following characters: the pronotum in
      dorsal view narrow and in lateral view with the principal transverse sulcus
      between prozona and metazona clearly incised; mesosternal lobes equal width than
      long and width than mesosternal interspace; tegmina extend at most to the end of
      second abdominal segment in the females and the end of abdomen in the males;
      inside hind femora at the base to the middle part and inside hind tibiae blue;
      and phallic complex with the penis valves long. This new species is compared to
      the similar species P. flexuosa (Serville, 1838). In Catalonia two species of
      genera Prionotropis Fieber, 1853 are present, P. flexuosa and P. ancosae n. sp.

PMID- 28609921
TI  - First report of the genus <i>Tettigonia</i> Linnaeus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae:
      Tettigoniinae) and record of <i>Tettigonia</i> <i>caudata</i> <i>caudata</i>
      (Charpentier, 1842) from India.
AB  - The genus Tettigonia Linnaeus (Tettigoniidae; Tettigoniinae) with the type
      species, Gryllus (Tettigonia) viridissima Linnaeus, 1758 belongs to the tribe
      Tettigoniini, which is represented by 15 genera and 27 species worldwide
      (Cigliano et al., 2017). According to the annotated checklist, the subfamily
      Tettigoniinae includes the only tribe Platycleidini Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893
      with 2 genera and 3 species as reported from India by Shishodia et al. (2010). In
      a review of Orthoptera from the Eastern Palearctic region, the genus Tettigonia
      Linnaeus was reported by Storozhenko (1994); additionally, some new species of
      Tettigonia have been described by Ogawa (2003), Greenwalt and Rust (2014),
      Chobanov et al. (2014), Sultan et al. (2015) and Storozhenko et al. (2015). The
      sub-family Tettigoniinae is represented by many species endemic to the Asian part
      of the Palearctic region. In 1971, Kaltenbach studied the Decticinae of the
      Palearctic, a subfamily now considered part of Tettigoniinae, comprising 65
      genera with 407 species; later, Rentz and Colless (1990) estimated 500 species
      for Tettigoniinae. Further, Rentz (1985) clarified that these species do not
      occur in tropical rainforests, but are found in grassland and mixed heath
      habitats. The shape of pronotum, with a distinct angulated shoulder incision,
      with the clarities and locations of its transversal sulci, and its short,
      compressed and depressed structure happens to be a common character for the
      members of the tribe Tettigoniini. The type genus Tettigonia is long winged;
      however, considerable variability in the wing length has been reported.
      Nevertheless, the short tegmina reaching to the end of hind knee is a character
      often used to separate T. caudata and T. viridissima from T. cantans and T.
      hispina (Haz, 1969).

PMID- 28609922
TI  - <i>Balligratus</i>, new genus of wingless ground beetles from equatorial Andean
      montane forest (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Lachnophorini).
AB  - A new carabid beetle genus, Balligratus gen. nov., belonging to the tribe
      Lachnophorini, is described. It is geographically restricted to the equatorial
      Andes, and ecologically linked to the montane pluvial forest ecosystem, at
      elevations ranging from 1,200 to 3,600 m. As other carabid lineages that have
      radiated in such environments, Balligratus gen. nov. is a wingless clade,
      characterized by the loss of flight wings associated with metathoracic reduction,
      constriction of the elytral base, and reduced eye size. This evolution is unique
      among Lachnophorini. Four new species are described, all of them from Ecuador:
      Balligratus brevis sp. nov., Balligratus globosus sp. nov., Balligratus gracilis
      sp. nov. and Balligratus humerangulus sp. nov.

PMID- 28609923
TI  - Revision of <i>Disphaerobius</i> Attems, 1926 (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha:
      Lithobiidae: Pterygoterginae), a centipede genus with remarkable sexual
      dimorphism.
AB  - Disphaerobius Attems, 1926, the sole constituent genus of the subfamily
      Pterygoterginae, is synonymized with Pterygotergum Verhoeff, 1934 syn. nov., and
      is shown to comprise only two species: D. svenhedini (Verhoeff, 1934) comb. nov.
      ex Pterygotergum, and D. loricatus (Sseliwanoff, 1881) (= Lithobius magnificus
      Trotzina, 1895), both syn. nov. and comb. nov. ex Lithobius Leach, 1814.
      Disphaerobius is rediagnosed, both of its basically Central Asian species are
      redescribed from fresh material of both sexes, and their distributions are
      mapped. Disphaerobius svenhedini is newly recorded from S Kazakhstan and W
      Mongolia. New material of D. loricatus is also recorded. Sexual dimorphic
      characters in Lithobiomorpha are briefly discussed, these being considered
      especially strongly pronounced and unique in Disphaerobius.

PMID- 28609924
TI  - On the taxonomy of the <i>Barsine</i> <i>delineata</i> species-complex
      (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae).
AB  - Taxa of the Barsine delineata (Walker, 1854) species-complex are examined, the
      synonymy of Ammatho figuratus Walker, 1855, Cyme chinensis C. Felder & R. Felder,
      1862 and Ammatho fuscescens Butler, 1877 with Hypoprepia? delineata Walker, 1854
      is revised. The new synonymy is introdiced: Barsine delineata (Walker, 1854) =
      Miltochrista dimidiata Fang, 1991, syn. nov. A new species, Barsine sublucana
      Volynkin & Cerny, sp. nov. is described from northern Thailand. Adults, male and
      female genitalia of B. delineata and B. sublucana sp. nov. are illustrated.

PMID- 28609925
TI  - <i>Epirrita</i> <i>pulchraria</i> (Taylor, 1907) transferred to <i>Malacodea</i>,
      with notes on the phylogeny and ecology of the tribe Operophterini (Lepidoptera:
      Geometridae: Larentiinae).
AB  - The Nearctic Epirrita pulchraria (Taylor, 1907) was revealed as a sister taxon of
      the Palaearctic Malacodea regelaria Tengstrom,1869 in a molecular phylogenetic
      analysis of the tribe Operophterini. DNA sequence variation in one mitochondrial
      (COI) and eight nuclear (28S, EF-1alpha, WGL, GAPDH, RPS5, IDH, MDH, CAD) gene
      fragments was used in the analysis. Bayesian inference resulted in a well
      resolved phylogenetic hypothesis. According to the recovered phylogeny a new
      combination is proposed: Rachela pulchraria Taylor, 1907 is transferred from
      Epirrita Hubner, 1808 to Malacodea Tengstrom, 1869 as Malacodea pulchraria
      (Taylor, 1907) comb. nov. Larvae of both M. pulchraria and M. regelaria feed on
      coniferous trees, which distinguishes them from other members of the tribe. Close
      relatedness of M. pulchraria and M. regelaria is also supported by our study of
      male genital morphology. Ambiguous phylogenetic affinities of Epirrita
      viridipurpurescens (Prout, 1937) are discussed.

PMID- 28609926
TI  - Review of the central African leaf chafer genus <i>Entypophana</i> Moser, 1913
      (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Schizonychini).
AB  - The genus Entypophana Moser, 1913 is revised. Entypophana njiapanda new species
      from Tanzania is described, E. apicata Moser, 1913 (type species, by present
      designation), E. biapicata Moser, 1913, E. hulstaerti Burgeon, 1946, E. lujai
      Moser, 1917 and E. maynei Burgeon, 1946, are redescribed and lectotypes for E.
      biapicata, E. hulstaerti, E. lujai and E. maynei are designated. An
      identification key is provided and photographs illustrate external morphology and
      male genitalia. A distribution map of the currently known species of Entypophana
      is provided.

PMID- 28609927
TI  - First description of female of <i>Haplosialodes</i> <i>liui</i> Huang <i>et
      al.</i>, 2016 (Megaloptera: Sialidae) from Cretaceous Burmese amber.
AB  - A female of the alderfly species, Haplosialodes liui Huang et al., 2016, from the
      mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described for the first time. Systematic position
      of the genus Haplosialodes Huang et al., 2016 is briefly discussed.

PMID- 28609928
TI  - A new species of the fangblenny <i>Adelotremus</i> from Indonesia, with
      supplemental description of <i>A. leptus</i> (Teleostei: Blenniidae: Nemophini).
AB  - A new fangblenny, Adelotremus deloachi, is described on the basis of three
      specimens, 29-35 mm SL, from Bali and Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. All these
      specimens were collected in 10-17 m depth on sandy slopes. The new species
      differs from Adelotremus leptus, its Red Sea and only congener, in having a pair
      of mid-dorsal supratemporal pores (vs. a single pore), dorsal-fin spines X (vs.
      IX) and precaudal and caudal vertebra 12 + 23 (vs. 13 + 19). The discovery of a
      second species requires slight modification of the diagnosis of the genus. Unlike
      the five other nemophine genera, Adelotremus differs most notably in having the
      third infraorbital bone and associated sensory pores absent, and the combination
      of ventral margin of gill opening opposite the dorsalmost 5th or 6th pectoral-fin
      ray, total dorsal-fin elements 28-29 and interorbital pores 2. With a total of
      four specimens of Adelotremus, it is now apparent that several features of the
      cephalic pore arrangement of the genus are different from that found in
      Petroscirtes, its presumed sister genus. Recent color photographs indicate that
      both species of Adelotremus exhibit marked sexual dichromatism with males having
      a conspicuous ocellus anteriorly in the dorsal fin that is absent in females.

PMID- 28609929
TI  - A new anchialine species of <i>Naushonia</i> (Decapoda: Gebiidea: Laomediidae)
      from the Bahamas.
AB  - A new species of mud shrimp of the genus Naushonia Kingsley, 1897 is described
      from two anchialine caves on the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas. Naushonia
      tinkeri n. sp. is the fifteenth species in the genus and the second to be
      described from the Bahamas. The new species is morphologically similar to N.
      augudrea (Juarrero & Garcia, 1997) from Holguin Province, eastern Cuba, with
      which it shares a carapace with cervical and cardiac grooves; however, it can be
      distinguished by having a pigmented cornea, the first pereiopod with a
      proportionately longer propodus and dactylus without a toothed external margin,
      and the telson longer relative to the uropod length. The new species inhabits
      anchialine caves and is the largest one reported until now.

PMID- 28609930
TI  - First record of the ant cricket <i>Myrmecophilus</i> (<i>Myrmecophilina</i>)
      <i>americanus </i>(Orthoptera: Myrmecophilidae) in Mexico.
AB  - In September 2004, the New World ant cricket, Myrmecophilus americanus Saussure,
      1877, was collected in association with longhorn crazy ants, Paratrechina
      longicornis (Latreille. 1802), in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. We are reporting
      the DNA barcode using the mitochrondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I for this
      first record of M. americanus in Mexico.

PMID- 28609931
TI  - A new subfamily of Feaellidae (Arachnida, Chelonethi, Feaelloidea) from Southeast
      Asia.
AB  - The first extant representatives of the pseudoscorpion family Feaellidae from
      Southeast Asia are described. Cybella n. gen. is proposed for Cybella deharvengi
      n. sp. (type species), collected from an isolated limestone hill in Hon Chong
      Province, Vietnam, and C. bedosae n. sp., found in a limestone cave in Kampuchea,
      Cambodia. Cybella species seem to be restricted to karst formations and are
      probably troglophilic. The type localities of the two known species are
      threatened by quarrying activities, these being particularly pressing in the case
      of C. deharvengi n. sp. Cybella shows important differences from other Feaellidae
      that require a modification of the familial diagnosis and justify the erection of
      a new subfamily, Cybellinae. The discovery of this group provides insights into
      the evolution of the unusual morphology of the family, notably concerning the
      pleural plates of Feaellinae, which are lacking in Cybellinae. The smaller
      sclerites of the pleura of Pseudogarypidae and Feaellidae are shown to be muscle
      apodemes, which provide an additional synapomorphy for Feaelloidea. Two types of
      coxal spines, termed primary and secondary, are distinguished in Feaelloidea,
      based on the presence of a lumen within the primary spines and its absence in
      secondary spines. The new morphological term atrial plate is proposed for a
      sclerotized plate of the male genitalia, extending between the lateral rods and
      the lateral apodemes. Claims that the internal genital setae of males of non
      chthonioid pseudoscorpions are secretory are reviewed and found to lack support.
      Additional information concerning the fossil genus Protofeaella Henderickx, 2016
      is provided, based on an adult male in amber from the Cretaceous (lowermost
      Cenomanian) of Myanmar. Protofeaella shares with Cybella the absence of pleural
      plates and the antiaxial position of the chemosensory setae of the movable chelal
      finger. However, it differs from both Cybellinae and Feaellinae in having
      relatively long chelal fingers that lack a tuberculate basal tooth, both of which
      are interpreted as symplesiomorphic states within Feaellidae. Protofeaella is
      therefore provisionally treated as a stem-group feaellid and not assigned to a
      subfamily. The existence of a Cretaceous member of the Pseudogarypidae is noted
      in the mid-Cretaceous (late Albian-early Cenomanian) of Germany, representing the
      oldest record of this family.

PMID- 28609932
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Hippolyte</i> (Decapoda: Caridea: Hippolytidae)
      from South China Sea and Singapore.
AB  - A new species of hippolytid shrimp, Hippolyte ngi n. sp., is described and
      illustrated based on specimens collected from the Indo-West Pacific region. The
      new species clearly belongs to the 'Hippolyte ventricosa H. Milne Edwards, 1837'
      species complex, but is distinguished from its congeners by the dactylus of the
      last three pereiopods, the position of the hepatic spine, the proportions of the
      segments of the antennular peduncle, and other subtle but constant features.

PMID- 28609933
TI  - The genus <i>Vieira</i> Navas (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae): a new species, a key to
      the species, and new geographic records.
AB  - Vieira Navas is a small genus of Neotropical green lacewings in the tribe
      Belonopterygini. Here, a fifth species, Vieira flinti sp. nov., is described from
      Venezuela and Brazil. This species shares significant features with disparate
      members of the genus; thus the genus as a whole is now known to express a more
      continuous range of morphological variation than previously recognized. We
      present a key for identifying Vieira species and new geographic records for
      previously described species in the genus.

PMID- 28609934
TI  - Two new species of <i>Protonemura</i> (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from China, with
      biogeographical notes on the genus.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Protonemura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae: Amphinemurinae)
      are described from China, P. bifurcata sp. n. from a holotype male from Taiwan
      and P. datongensis sp. n. from males and females collected in Datong County of
      the high altitude Tibetan Plateau of Qinghai Province, China. The new taxa are
      compared with related congeners respectively. A new combination, Indonemoura
      filigera (Kawai) comb. n, is proposed for Protonemura filigera Kawai, 1969. The
      distribution of Protonemura in the East Palaearctic and the Oriental Region is
      discussed and mapped.

PMID- 28609935
TI  - A survey of East Palaearctic Gnaphosidae (Araneae). 8. New data on
      <i>Berlandina</i> and <i>Gnaphosa</i> from Mongolia.
AB  - Two new species: Berlandina litvinovi sp. n. and Gnaphosa zonsteini sp. n. are
      described based on both sexes from Western Mongolia. The females of Berlandina
      koponeni Marusik, Fomichev & Omelko, 2014 and Berlandina nakonechnyi Marusik,
      Fomichev & Omelko, 2014 are described for the first time. Gnaphosa ustyuzhanini
      Fomichev, Marusik & Omelko, 2013, known from males, is synonymized with Gnaphosa
      rasnitsyni Marusik, 1993, known from females. Berlandina koponeni is recorded
      from China for the first time. Descriptions, illustrations and a map of
      distribution records are provided.

PMID- 28609936
TI  - <i>Cinachyrella anatriaenilla</i> sp. nov., a new tetillid sponge with
      microacanthoxeas from American Samoa in the South Pacific.
AB  - Several sponges from American Samoa, collected by the Coral Reef Research
      Foundation, Republic of Palau, were tentatively identified by one of us as
      Acanthotetilla cf seychellensis (Thomas 1973), due to the possession of
      relatively small acanthose oxeas, compared to those of other species of the genus
      Acanthotetilla Burton 1959. These sponges were later compared to Cinachyrella
      australiensis (Carter 1886), taking into account the lack of conspicuous
      spination on the acanthose oxeas and general features of spiculation and skeletal
      organisation. The specimens were later considered to represent a new species of
      the genus Cinachyrella Wilson 1925, after a careful comparison was made between
      the American Samoan specimens and C. australiensis which also contains small
      acanthose oxeas. Several recent molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed the
      generic assignment of one of the American Samoan specimens as belonging to
      Cinachyrella. Cinachyrella anatriaenilla sp. nov., described herein, is the fifth
      of 40 Cinachyrella spp. that contain lightly spined microacanthoxeas.

PMID- 28609937
TI  - Generic reclassification of species formerly included in <i>Rhantus</i> Dejean
      (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Colymbetinae).
AB  - A reclassification of several species traditionally included in Rhantus Dejean,
      1833 is given: Nartus Zaitzev, 1907 is re-instated as genus with one species in
      the Nearctic and one in the Palaearctic region; two new genera are erected: Meri
      diorhantus n. gen., with M. antarcticus (Germain, 1854) n. comb., M. calidus
      (Fabricius, 1792) n. comb., M. limbatus (Aube, 1838) n. comb., M. orbignyi
      (Balke, 1992) n. comb., M. validus (Sharp, 1882) n. comb. in the Neotropical
      region (M. calidus also in the southern USA and along the eastern coast as far
      north as New York City), and the monotypic Caperhantus n. gen., with C. cicurius
      (Fabricius, 1787) n. comb. in south Africa. Furthermore, nine Pacific and
      Australian Rhantus are transferred to the genus Carabdytes Balke, Hendrich &
      Wewalka, 1992: C. alutaceus (Fauvel, 1883) n. comb., C. guadalcanalensis (Balke,
      1998) n. comb., C. monteithi (Balke, Wewalka, Alarie & Ribera, 2007) n. comb., C.
      novaecaledoniae (J. Balfour-Browne, 1944) n. comb., C. oceanicus (Balke, 1993b)
      n. comb., C. pacificus (Boisduval, 1835) n. comb., C. plantaris (Sharp, 1882) n.
      comb., C. poellerbauerae (Balke, Wewalka, Alarie & Ribera, 2007) n. comb. and C.
      pseudopacificus Balke, 1993b) n. comb. All changes are based on a previous
      comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of Colymbetinae. Diagnostic
      characters are given for all genera mentioned above and each of them is
      illustrated with one or more habitus pictures. An updated key to all genera of
      Colymbetinae is also given.

PMID- 28609938
TI  - Illustrated review of the leaf-mining Nepticulidae of the central Andes (Peru and
      Bolivia).
AB  - We review forty-five species of Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) based on an analysis
      of samples collected in the central Andean region of Peru and Bolivia. Thirteen
      of these species are new to science, and are named and described here: Stigmella
      paracosma Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov., S. expressa Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.,
      S. acalyphae Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. lepida Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S.
      misera Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. inca Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. eiffeli
      Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. arequipica Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov., S.
      coronaria Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. azulella Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., S.
      sparsella Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov., Manoneura forcipis Diskus & Stonis, sp.
      nov., and Acalyptris murex Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. Some of the central Andean
      species are recorded here as leaf-miners on Euphorbiaceae (Acalypha), Fabaceae
      (Collaea), Rosaceae (Polylepis), Malvaceae (Sida), Calceolariaceae (Calceolaria),
      Lamiaceae (Clinopodium), and Asteraceae (Ageratina and Trixis). We create eleven
      new species groups based on morphological characters designated in Stigmella and
      one in Acalyptris. A pictorial key to the species groups and distribution maps
      are provided. All new species are illustrated with 150 photographs and drawings
      of the adults and genitalia, and, where known and/or available, photographs of
      host-plants and leaf-mines.

PMID- 28609939
TI  - Additions to the hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of the Bay of Fundy, northeastern
      North America, with a checklist of species reported from the region.
AB  - Two new species of hydroids, Eudendrium bleakneyi and Halecium praeparvum, are
      described from the Bay of Fundy. Fourteen others, Tubularia acadiae Petersen,
      1990, Coryne pusilla Gaertner, 1774, Sarsia lovenii (M. Sars, 1846), Zanclea
      implexa (Alder, 1856), Corydendrium dispar Kramp, 1935, Rhizogeton fusiformis L.
      Agassiz, 1862, Bougainvillia muscus (Allman, 1863), Rhizorhagium roseum M. Sars,
      in G.O. Sars, 1874, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus Buss & Yund, 1989, Eudendrium
      vaginatum Allman, 1863, Tiaropsis multicirrata (M. Sars, 1835), Obelia bidentata
      S.F. Clark, 1875, Halecium marsupiale Bergh, 1887, and Sertularella gigantea
      Hincks, 1874, are reported, with collection data, for the first time from the
      bay. All but Coryne pusilla, Rhizorhagium roseum, Eudendrium vaginatum, and
      Sertularella gigantea are also new to Atlantic Canada, while Zanclea implexa,
      Corydendrium dispar, and Halecium marsupiale are reported for the first time in
      the western North Atlantic. Two of those species, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus
      and Obelia bidentata, are disjunct in distribution, with core populations
      occurring in warmer waters to the south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both were
      discovered in Minas Basin, a hydrographically distinct embayment where surface
      water temperatures are much warmer during summer than in the perpetually cold
      lower Bay of Fundy. Rhizorhagium roseum and the subfamily Rhizorhagiinae are
      transferred from family Bougainvilliidae Lutken, 1850 to Pandeidae Haeckel, 1879.
      An annotated checklist of hydroids from the Fundy region, based on previously
      published reports and on new records of species, is added as an appendix.
      Included in the checklist are 43 species of anthoathecates and 75 species of
      leptothecates, referable to 30 families and 56 genera. Families with the most
      species were Sertulariidae (23), Haleciidae (13), Eudendriidae (11), and
      Obeliidae (10). Biogeographically, the aggregate hydroid fauna of the bay
      conforms with that occurring in other parts of the Western Atlantic Boreal
      Region. Halecium permodicum is proposed as a replacement name for Halecium minor
      Fraser, 1935, an invalid junior homonym of H. minor Pictet, 1893.

PMID- 28609940
TI  - Synonymy of <i>Reikosiella</i> Yoshimoto under <i>Merostenus</i> Walker
      (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eupelmidae), with a checklist of world species and a
      revision of those species with brachypterous females.
AB  - Reikosiella Yoshimoto, 1969 is synonymized under Merostenus Walker, 1837 n. syn.
      and treated as M. (Reikosiella), one of four subgenera recognized in the genus.
      Hirticauda Boucek, 1988, previously treated as a subgenus of Reikosiella, is
      synonymized under M. (Merostenus) n. syn., and two subgenera established in
      Reikosiella by Gibson (1995) are synonymized under Merostenus and treated as the
      subgenera M. (Capreocauda) and M. (Incohata) n. syns. The new generic synonymy is
      proposed after morphological comparison of females and males of Merostenus and
      Reikosiella sensu Gibson (1995), including reanalysis of features possessed by a
      basal group of genera of Eupelminae whose females share two hypothesized
      symplesiomorphies-a medially divided mesotrochantinal plate and lack of a
      mesotibial apical groove. A checklist of the 51 world species assigned to
      Merostenus is given, with 1 described species in M. (Incohata), 6 in M.
      (Capreocauda), 6 in M. (Reikosiella) and 38 in M. (Merostenus). All but one, the
      type species of Merostenus, represent new combinations. The species of Merostenus
      with brachypterous females are revised, with 8 of 10 species described as new. In
      addition to M. (Merostenus) excavatus (Dalman) (?, ?) from the Palaearctic,
      described in the same subgenus are one new species from Mexico, M. (Merostenus)
      mexicanus n. sp. (?), and seven from the Afrotropical region, M. (Merostenus)
      distigma n. sp. (?: Kenya, Tanzania), M. (Merostenus) micropterus n. sp. (?:
      Democratic Republic of the Congo), M. (Merostenus) platyscapus n. sp. (?: South
      Africa), M. (Merostenus) reticulatus n. sp. (?, ?: Kenya), M. (Merostenus)
      speculum n. sp. (?: Burundi), M. (Merostenus) congoensis (?: Democratic Republic
      of the Congo), and M. (Merostenus) longistylus n. sp. (?, ?: South Africa). The
      first seven species are assigned to the excavatus species-group of M.
      (Merostenus) based on females sharing a completely sclerotized pronotum and
      apically truncate syntergum. Also treated is M. (Reikosiella) melinus (Yoshimoto)
      n. comb. (?: Argentina, Brazil, Hawaii), the only species known with macropterous
      to variably strongly brachypterous females. Six species are transferred to other
      genera. Merostenus ferrugineus Yoshimoto & Ishii is transferred to Anastatus
      Motschulsky as A. ferrugineus (Yoshimoto & Ishii) n. comb., Merostenus guamensis
      Yoshimoto & Ishii and Merostenus palauensis Yoshimoto & Ishii are transferred to
      Eupelmus Dalman and provisionally classified in E. (Eupelmus) as E. (Eupelmus)
      guamensis (Yoshimoto & Ishii) n. comb. and E. (Eupelmus) palauensis (Yoshimoto &
      Ishii) n. comb., Eupelminus subapterus Ashmead is transferred to E. (Eupelmus) as
      E. (Eupelmus) subapterus (Ashmead) n. comb., and Eupelminus robustus Brues and
      Eupelminus tarsatus Waterston are transferred to Arachnophaga (Parasolindenia
      Brues) as Arachnophaga (Parasolindenia) robusta (Brues) n. comb. and Arachnophaga
      (Parasolindenia) tarsata (Waterston) n. comb. The character-state analysis and
      treated species are illustrated through macrophotography and, except for A.
      robusta, notes and illustrations provided for the excluded species to assist
      their future recognition.

PMID- 28609941
TI  - Mitochondrial genome of <i>Abraxas</i> <i>suspecta</i> (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)
      and comparative analysis with other Lepidopterans.
AB  - In this study, a complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence of Abraxas
      suspecta (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is isolated and characterized. The complete
      DNA is 15,547 bp length and contains 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 23 putative transfer
      RNA (tRNA) genes including an extra tRNAAsn (AUU), 13 protein-coding genes and an
      adenine (A) + thymine (T)-rich region. The nucleotide composition and gene
      organization are identical to those of other lepidopteran, except for the
      presence of an extra copy of trnN (AUU). Of the 38 genes, twenty-five genes (9
      PCGs and 16 tRNAs) are encoded by heavy strand (H-strand), while thirteen are
      encoded by light strand (L-strand). Among the 13 PCGs, 12 PCGs employ ATN as
      initiation codon, while cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) utilizes CGA as
      initiation codon. Four of the 13 PCGs have the incomplete termination codon T,
      while the remainder terminated with the canonical stop codon. All tRNA genes are
      folded into the typical clover-leaf structure of mitochondrial tRNAs, except for
      the tRNASer (AGN) gene, in which the DHU arm fails to form a stable stem-loop
      structure. The A+T-rich region is 532 bp long, and contains some conserved
      regions, including 'ATAGA' motif followed by a 17bp poly-T stretch, a
      microsatellite-like element (AT)8(AAT)3 and also a poly-A element. A short
      Phylogenetic analysis based on 13 PCGs using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian
      inference (BI) revealed that A. suspecta resides in the Geometridae family. We
      present the method and approach to use moths as model organisms for further
      genetic and evolutionary biology studies.

PMID- 28609942
TI  - A new species of <i>Plestiodon</i> (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Senkaku Group,
      Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan.
AB  - A new scincid lizard, Plestiodon takarai sp. nov., is described from the Senkaku
      Group, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The Plestiodon lizards in this island group
      have previously been identified as P. elegans because they all exhibit a patch of
      enlarged and irregularly arranged scales on the posterior surface of their
      femurs. However, detailed molecular analyses revealed that the Senkaku
      population, although closely related to P. elegans and other species in the P.
      latiscutatus species group, is substantially diverged from all other recognized
      species. Furthermore, although the Senkaku population largely exhibits the
      characteristic morphological features of this species group, it can be
      differentiated from all recognized species by the scutellation and hatchling tail
      coloration. The biogeographical and conservation implications of these findings
      are briefly discussed.

PMID- 28609943
TI  - <i>Mimaporia</i>, a new genus of Epicopeiidae (Lepidoptera), with description of
      a new species from Vietnam.
AB  - The Epicopeiidae is a small geometroid family distributed in the East Palaearctic
      and Oriental regions. It exhibits high morphological diversity in body size and
      wing shape, while their wing patterns involve in various complex mimicry rings.
      In the present study, we attempted to describe a new genus, and a new species
      from Vietnam, with comments on two assumed congeneric novel species from China
      and India. To address its phylogenetic affinity, we reconstructed the phylogeny
      of the family by using sequence data of COI, EF-1alpha, and 28S gene regions
      obtained from seven genera of Epicopeiidae with Pseudobiston pinratanai as the
      outgroup. We also compared the morphology of the new taxon to other epicopeiid
      genera to affirm its taxonomic status. The results suggest that the undescribed
      taxon deserve a new genus, namely Mimaporia gen. n. The species from Vietnam,
      Mimaporia hmong sp. n., is described as new to science. Under different tree
      building strategies, the new genus is the sister group of either Chatamla Moore,
      1881 or Parabraxas Leech, 1897. The morphological evidence, which was not
      included in phylogenetic analyses, however, suggests its potential affinity with
      Burmeia Minet, 2003. This study also provides the first, although preliminary,
      molecular phylogeny of the family on which the revised systematics and
      interpretation of character evolution can be based.

PMID- 28609944
TI  - Review of the <i>Priocnemis</i> <i>hyalinata</i> species-group (Hymenoptera:
      Pompilidae), with description of a new species from China.
AB  - Eight species in the Priocnemis hyalinata species-group are reviewed. The species
      group is recorded from Oriental Region for the first time, and one new species,
      Priocnemis (Priocnemis) yunnanensis Loktionov, Lelej & Xu, sp. nov. (China:
      Yunnan) is described and illustrated. The lectotype of Salius (Priocnemis)
      unicolor Gussakovskij is designated. The distribution of P. (P.) hyalinata
      (Fabricius), P. (P.) fennica Haupt and P. (P.) unicolor (Gussakovskij) is
      clarified and enlarged within Russia. Keys to species for males and females are
      given.

PMID- 28609945
TI  - <i>Gynacantha</i> <i>dryadula</i> sp. nov. from the Guiana Shield (Odonata,
      Anisoptera: Aeshnidae).
AB  - The new species is described and illustrated on the basis of two reared,
      subteneral males from Brazil, their larval exuviae, a mature male from French
      Guiana, a mature female from Venezuela, and a mature female from Surinam. One of
      the Brazilian males is the holotype (BRAZIL, Amazonas State, Manaus, Reserva
      Florestal Ducke, BR 174-km 26, trail to Acara creek, 02o55'47"S, 59o58'22"W, 0.7
      m elevation, deposited in INPA). The new species (total length 50-54 mm) differs
      from other small species of same genus by color pattern of thorax, middle and
      hind tibiae dark with external (dorsal) yellow streak, male cercus with truncated
      tip lacking apical spine, and male epiproct reaching or slightly surpassing
      midlength of cercus. The larva, besides of its small size (28-31 mm), has an
      epiproct with well-developed and slightly diverging apical spines and an
      unusually long paraproct.

PMID- 28609946
TI  - Revision of the genus <i>Hormoserphus</i> Townes, 1981 (Hymenoptera:
      Proctotrupidae), with description of <i>Trachyserphus</i> gen. n. and a new
      species.
AB  - Revision of the genus Hormoserphus Townes, 1981 has shown that its type species,
      Proctotrupes clypeatus Ashmead, 1893 belongs to Oxyserphus Masner, 1961
      (Oxyserphus clypeatus (Ashmead, 1893), comb. n. [= Hormoserphus transgressus
      Townes, 1981, syn. n.]) thus making Hormoserphus a junior synonym of the latter
      genus. Trachyserphus Kolyada, gen. n. is described to accommodate Oriental
      Trachyserphus segregatus (Townes, 1981), comb. n. (from Hormoserphus), Central
      American Trachyserphus defrictus (Townes, 1981), comb. n. (from Sminthoserphus
      Townes, 1981) and South American Trachyserphus masneri Kolyada, sp. n.
      Hormoserphus chinensis He & Fan, 1991 and Hormoserphus striatus He & Xu, 2015 are
      treated as junior synonyms of T. segregatus. An identification key to the species
      of Trachyserphus is provided.

PMID- 28609948
TI  - First record of the subgenus <i>Duolandrevus</i> (<i>Duolandrevus</i>)
      (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Landrevinae) from China, with description of a new
      species.
AB  - The subgenus Duolandrevus (Duolandrevus) Kirby, 1906 is recorded for the first
      time in China, a new species i.e.: Duolandrevus (Duolandrevus) bannanus sp. nov.
      was collected from Xishuangbanna of Yunnan province, China. The description and
      illustrations of the new species are provided. A distribution map of all species
      of Duolandrevus (Duolandrevus) in the world is presented.

PMID- 28609947
TI  - A new <i>Panolis</i> Hubner, [1821] species from Vietnam (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae,
      Orthosiini).
AB  - Panolis is a well-defined and compact Palearctic trifine Noctuidae genus within
      the subfamily Hadeninae, tribus Orthosiini. It is currently represented by seven
      species and one subspecies: Panolis flammea ([Denis & Schiffermuller], 1775),
      Panolis japonica Draudt, 1935, Panolis variegatoides Poole, 1989, Panolis
      exquisita Draudt, 1950, Panolis pinicortex Draudt, 1950, Panolis pinicortex
      exornata Hreblay & Ronkay, 1997, Panolis estheri Ronkay, Ronkay, Gyulai & Hacker,
      2010 and Panolis ningshan Wang, Fan, Owada, Wang & Nylin, 2014. Only one species
      (P. flammea) occurs in the Western Palearctic region, while all others are found
      in the eastern part of Asia. No Panolis species is known outside of the
      Palearctic region. The genus is connected to coniferous woodlands as the larvae
      are feed on various species of pines. Imagoes are on the wing during the spring,
      from late February until May. All Panolis species have an unmistakable, rather
      decorative external appearance with fine and conspicuous pink-red-purple or dark
      orange ground colouration, and remarkable noctuid patterns. Most recent
      information about the genus was provided by Wang et. al, 2014, including his
      description of a new species, and a morphological and molecular analysis in order
      to reconstructing the phylogeny of the genus, and exploring its Chines Oriental
      origin. Present paper contains the description of a new Panolis species found
      recently in Vietnam, from where the genus was not known so far. This discovery
      expands our knowledge about Panolis and support the statement of the Chines
      Oriental origin.

PMID- 28609949
TI  - First description of female of <i>Haplosialodes</i> <i>liui</i> Huang <i>et</i>
      <i>al.</i>, 2016 (Megaloptera: Sialidae) from Cretaceous Burmese amber.
AB  - A female of the alderfly species, Haplosialodes liui Huang et al., 2016, from the
      mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described for the first time. Systematic position
      of the genus Haplosialodes Huang et al., 2016 is briefly discussed.

PMID- 28609950
TI  - Erratum: MIGUEL SIMO, ARNO A. LISE, GABRIEL POMPOZZI & ALVARO LABORDA (2017) On
      the taxonomy of southern South American species of the wolf spider genus Allocosa
      (Araneae: Lycosidae: Allocosinae). Zootaxa, 4216: 261-278.

PMID- 28609951
TI  - Three new Eastern-Mediterranean endemic species of the <i>Merodon</i>
      <i>aureus</i> group (Diptera: Syrphidae).
AB  - The Merodon aureus group (Diptera: Syrphidae: Eristalinae) comprises a number of
      different subgroups and species complexes, including the M. bessarabicus
      subgroup, which is revised here. In this study, we present an identification key
      to species complexes and species within the M. bessarabicus subgroup and focus on
      clarifying the taxonomic status of previously described species within this
      subgroup, based on a study of the type material. Merodon flavicornis Macquart, a
      species with an unknown type locality, is re-evaluated and recognized as a valid
      Western Mediterranean species from France. We describe a new species, M.
      adriaticus sp. n., from M. bessarabicus subgroup, as well as another two species
      with a clearly separate position within the M. aureus group due to their distinct
      morphological features: M. nisi sp. n. and M. robustus sp. n.. Results of the
      present study indicate the high diversity and endemism levels of the genus
      Merodon in Europe.

PMID- 28609952
TI  - Six new species of silk-lined burrow spider genus <i>Stenoterommata</i> Holmberg,
      1881 (Araneae, Nemesiidae) from southern Brazil.
AB  - A new diagnosis for the genus Stenoterommata Holmberg, 1881 is presented and six
      new species are described from Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil: S. pavesii
      sp. nov. and S. leticiae sp. nov. from Blumenau and Balneario Camboriu; S.
      sevegnaniae sp. nov. from Blumenau; S. gugai sp. nov., S. peri sp. nov. and S.
      pescador sp. nov. from Santa Catarina Island, Florianopolis. New records of S.
      palmar Goloboff, 1995 from southern Brazil are provided. Information on the
      natural history and habitat are included for all the species. In addition,
      Hermacha iricolor Mello-Leitao, 1923, described from Blumenau, is transferred to
      Rachias Simon, 1892.

PMID- 28609953
TI  - Revision of <i>Thaumatocranaus</i> Roewer, 1932, with description of two new
      species (Opiliones: Laniatores: Gonyleptoidea).
AB  - Gonyleptid systematics has changed considerably in recent years, thanks to the
      increasing number of opilionologists and use of new data sources to infer
      relationships. This scenario promotes revisions of yet unrevised or recently
      proposed supraspecific groups. In an ongoing revision of the Gonyleptidae
      subfamilies Pachylinae, Ampycinae and some species of Cranainae (former
      Cranaidae), we found that Thaumatocranaus Roewer, 1932, a hitherto monotypic
      cranaine genus, is currently misplaced. According to the recent characterization
      of gonyleptid subfamilies and its close families, it should be transferred to
      Ampycinae based on pedipalpal and penial characters. This genus is revised,
      including redescription of its type species, T. mirabilis Roewer, 1932, and
      description of two new species, both from Colombia, Amazonas: T. magnificus sp.
      nov. (from Araracuara) and T. splendidus sp. nov. (from Leticia). The
      relationship of this genus with other Ampycinae genera is also discussed.

PMID- 28609954
TI  - New records of deep-sea shrimps of family Solenoceridae Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891
      (Crustacea: Decapoda: Dendrobranchiata) from Southwestern Atlantic.
AB  - This paper reports the occurrence of four deep waters shrimps of the family
      Solenoceridae in the southwestern Atlantic, Brazil. The rare Hadropenaeus
      modestus is collected for the second time from Brazilian waters after 138 years,
      filling the gaps on its distributional pattern. Mesopenaeus tropicalis is a new
      register for Potiguar basin, although it is common along Brazilian coast.
      Hymenopenaeus chacei and H. laevis are recorded for the first time in
      southwestern Atlantic. The records of these species in the southwestern Atlantic
      are an important advancement to raise the knowledge of the deep-sea shrimps.

PMID- 28609955
TI  - Two new species of the nemourid genus <i>Amphinemura</i> (Plecoptera: Nemouridae)
      from China.
AB  - Two new species of the nemourid genus Amphinemura, A. dabanshana sp. nov. and A.
      kuankuoshui sp. nov., are described from Qinghai and Guizhou provinces of China.
      These two new species are compared with related taxa. The types of the new
      species are deposited in the Entomological Museum of China Agricultural
      University, Beijing and Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang,
      respectively.

PMID- 28609956
TI  - <i>Speolabeo</i>, a new genus name for the cave fish <i>Bangana</i> <i>musaei</i>
      (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).
AB  - Speolabeo, new genus, is established for Bangana musaei, a fish from caves in the
      Khammouan Karst in Laos. It was originally tentatively placed in the genus
      Bangana s.l. Besides characters related to hypogean life (absence of eyes,
      absence of pigment resulting in a whitish body), it is distinguished from all
      species of Bangana s.l. in having only 7-81/2 branched dorsal-fin rays, the
      pelvic-fin at the vertical between the first unbranched and first branched dorsal
      fin rays, and details of mouth morphology.

PMID- 28609957
TI  - MAURICIO RIVERA-CORREA, CARLOS JIMENEZ-RIVILLAS & JUAN M. DAZA (2017)
      Phylogenetic analysis of the Neotropical Pristimantis leptolophus species group
      (Anura: Craugastoridae): molecular approach and description of a new polymorphic
      species. Zootaxa, 4242: 313-343.

PMID- 28609958
TI  - <i>Sepedon</i> (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) species from China, with notes on taxonomy
      and distribution.
AB  - All eight species of the genus Sepedon Latreille (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) known
      from China are reviewed and keyed, with diagnoses, photographs, and discussion.
      Geographic distributions of all species are updated and discussed, and
      distribution maps are presented. Sepedon spinipes (Scopoli) is recorded for the
      first time as occurring in China.

PMID- 28609959
TI  - A new <i>Cernosvitoviella</i> species (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) and its
      comparison with other <i>Cernosvitoviella</i> species from <i>Sphagnum</i> mires
      in Hungary.
AB  - Results of a comparative investigation on five Cernosvitoviella species from
      Hungarian Sphagnum mires including their distribution and the description of a
      new species, Cernosvitoviella farkasi sp. n., are presented in this paper.
      Cernosvitoviella atrata, C. aggtelekiensis, C. crassoductus and C. farkasi sp. n.
      could be easily distinguished from each other based on both morphological and
      molecular taxonomic analyses. However, C. minor seems to be a species complex on
      the basis of these investigations, so it was referred as C. minor sensu lato. The
      status of the C. minor variants requires further studies.

PMID- 28609960
TI  - Revision of the subgenus <i>Niphetoscapha</i> Heller of <i>Gymnopholus</i> Heller
      (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea, Entiminae, Eupholini) and a new species with epizoic
      symbiosis from West New Guinea.
AB  - The subgenus Niphetoscapha Heller 1914 of Gymnopholus Heller 1901 is revised. It
      is characterized by the morphology of the elytral apex and the asymmetrical tip
      of the penis. Vestigial wings and a fused elytral suture indicate flightlessness.
      Gymnopholus (Niphetoscapha) inexspectatus sp. n. is described as new, exhibiting
      a distinct epizoic symbiosis with algae otherwise known from the subgenus
      Symbiopholus Gressitt 1966. The four species of Niphetoscapha inhabit the central
      mountain range of West New Guinea: Gymnopholus audax Gressitt 1966, G.
      inexspectatus sp. n., G. nitidus Gressitt & Sedlacek 1967, and G. wichmanni
      (Heller, 1914). A lectotype is designated for the type-species, G. wichmanni. All
      species are described, a key is provided, and their distribution is mapped. A
      large gap separating the areas with records of Niphetoscapha and Symbiopholus is
      noted for Central New Guinea. The phylogenetic concept of Gymnopholus and its
      subgenera is briefly discussed.

PMID- 28609961
TI  - A new species of <i>Phrynus</i> Lamarck, 1801 (Arachnida: Amblypygi),  from
      Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, with a redescription of <i>Phrynus
      pulchripes</i> (Pocock, 1894).
AB  - We present the description of Phrynus calypso sp. nov. from Trinidad and Tobago,
      and Venezuela This species is very similar to Phrynus pulchripes (Pocock),
      however after examining Colombian specimens of P. pulchripes (ca. type locality),
      many differences were found. Characters commonly used in diagnosis of Phrynus
      species are variable and make identification difficult. Differences in a few
      structures, like pedipalpal spines, could not be enough to provide a useful
      diagnosis.  It is necessary to account for variation of similar species in
      conjunction, and select non overlapping groups of characters. Observations in the
      variation in both species are presented, pointing out sources of confusion, and
      suggesting alternative characters to support diagnoses. At the moment, details
      about variation in many species in Phrynus, like that of P. pulchripes, are
      poorly known, and for this reason a redescription is provided.

PMID- 28609962
TI  - <i>Macrocyrtus</i> <i>imomzodai</i> Barsevskis, 2016, a new synonym of
      <i>Metapocyrtus</i> (<i>Orthocyrtus</i>) <i>orbiferoides</i> Schultze, 1918
      (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae).
AB  - Metapocyrtus (Orthocyrtus) orbiferoides Schultze, 1918 was described based on the
      female holotype collected from Ilocos Norte, North Luzon, Philippines. Since that
      time, it has been left unstudied for almost a century until I examined the
      holotype of M. (O.) orbiferoides in 2010 at Senckenberg Naturhistorische
      Sammlungen, Museum fur Tierkunde, Dresden (SMTD). Recently, Barsevskis (2016)
      described Macrocyrtus imomzodai based on two female specimens from Ilocos Norte,
      Luzon. Judging from the original description and dorsal and lateral habitus
      images, it is quite apparent that M. imomzodai is conspecific with M. (O.)
      orbiferoides. Here I propose a new synonymy based on these examinations. I thank
      Klaus-Dieter Klass, Olaf Jager, Christian Schmidt, and Matthias Nuss (SMTD) for
      their support during my stay in Dresden. My thanks are also due to Steve R. Davis
      (American Natural History Museum, New York) and Naoko Nakahara (Tsukuba) for
      their help for preparing the manuscript.

PMID- 28609963
TI  - Validation of the replacement name <i>Eusceliotes</i> Stebbing, 1888 for the
      pelagic hyperiidean amphipod genus <i>Euscelus</i> Claus, 1879 (Crustacea:
      Amphipoda: Hyperiidea: Parascelidae), preoccupied by <i>Euscelus</i> Schoenherr,
      1833 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Attelabidae).
AB  - The generic name Euscelus was originally proposed by Schoenherr (1833: 205) for a
      genus of Leaf Rolling weevils (Insecta: Coleoptera: Attelabidae). It is a valid
      name, in current use, for a relatively large genus of weevils, widespread in
      northern South America and central America, including the West Indies and the
      Caribbean (e.g. Hamilton 2007; Legalov 2007). Euscelus Claus, 1879 was
      established as a monotypic genus of pelagic amphipod (Crustacea: Amphipoda:
      Hyperiidea: Parascelidae). It is a very rare genus, still monotypic, with the
      only species, E. robustus Claus, 1879, having been recorded only twice in the
      literature prior to my review of the families and genera of the superfamily
      Platysceloidea (Zeidler 2016); initially by Claus (1879), from the Indian Ocean
      (off Zanzibar), and secondly by Spandl (1927), from the North Atlantic Ocean (off
      the Azores). Both authors only recorded males. While examining the collections of
      the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen (Zeidler 2016) more specimens of
      this rare species were located amongst the collections of the Dana expeditions of
      1928-1930 (Jespersen & Taning 1934), thus enabling a more complete description of
      the species including that of females. It was recently brought to my attention
      that, according to the data base Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
      (Rees 2016), Euscelus Claus, 1879 is a junior homonym of Euscelus Schoenherr,
      1833. While researching this problem I discovered that Stebbing (1888) had also
      become aware of this homonymy and had suggested the replacement name Eusceliotes.
      Unfortunately, Stebbing (1888) only refers to the name in his index (pp. 1672,
      1699) and hence subsequent authors were unaware of the above homonymy and
      Stebbing's replacement name, although it is listed by Neave (1939: 370). The
      purpose of this communication is to resolve the above homonymy by validating
      Stebbing's (1888) replacement name. This action is preferred to proposing yet
      another new name for Euscelus Claus, 1879, in order to avoid further confusion,
      because Stebbing's name, Eusceliotes, already exists in the literature (Stebbing
      1888, Neave 1939).

PMID- 28609964
TI  - The identity of <i>Arhodia</i> <i>egenaria</i> Walker, 1866 (Lepidoptera,
      Mimallonoidea, Mimallonidae) and a new synonym of <i>Cicinnus</i>
      <i>melsheimeri</i> (Harris, 1841).
AB  - The holotypes of Arhodia egenaria Walker, 1866 and Cicinnus primolus Schaus,
      1928, syn. n., were examined. Both names are junior synonyms of C. melsheimeri
      (Harris, 1841). Cicinnus melsheimeri (as Perophora egenaria), sensu Hampson,
      1904, is a misidentification of C. bahamensis St Laurent & McCabe, 2016.

PMID- 28609965
TI  - The Case of a Rudderfish Highlights the Role of Natural History Museums as
      Sentinels of Bio-invasions.
AB  - In September 2013 fishermen captured a rudderfish-Kyphosus vaigiensis-off
      Favignana Island, one of the islands of the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area
      (MPA) in western Sicily (Mannino et al., 2015). This species is rarely sampled in
      the Mediterranean Sea.

PMID- 28609966
TI  - First record of blackfin pearlfish <i>Austrolebias</i> <i>nigripinnis</i> (Regan,
      1912 (Cyprinodontiformes, Cynolebiidae) from Brazil.
AB  - Austrolebias Costa is a genus of annual fish inhabiting temporary wetlands in the
      Chaco-Pampasic region of southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and
      Argentina (Costa, 2006, Nielsen & Pillet, 2015, Alonso et al., 2016). Currently,
      about 45 species of Austrolebias are known (Costa, 2006, Volcan et al., 2014,
      Nielsen & Pillet, 2015), and of these, 24 occur in Rio Grande do Sul, the
      southernmost state of Brazil, distributed across the Rio Uruguay basin and the
      Patos-Mirim lagoon system and adjacent coastal areas (Volcan et al., 2015).

PMID- 28609967
TI  - Discovery of <i>Penicillidmus</i> in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea,
      with description of a new species from Lavongai (New Hanover) Island (Coleoptera,
      Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).
AB  - Penicillidmus Jaloszynski, 2014 was established to accommodate two Australian
      species of Glandulariini. Penicillidmus masseyensis Jaloszynski, 2014 and P.
      unicolor Jaloszynski, 2014 are known to occur in Cape York, northern Queensland.
      With the adult body length ranging from 0.83 to 0.86 mm, these species are among
      the smallest Australian scydmaenines. Another, yet undescribed species
      represented by a female, is also known to occur within the same area (Jaloszynski
      2014). Penicillidmus resembles similarly small adults of Microscydmus Saulcy &
      Croissandeau, 1893, but can be easily distinguished on the basis of remarkable
      cephalic and prothoracic structures. Unlike any other Glandulariini, species of
      Penicillidmus have a unique system of carinae on the flattened ventral surface of
      the head, located posterior and lateral to the mouthparts. The submental carina
      runs along the anterior margin of the submentum and extends laterally along
      cardinal bases; the longitudinal lateral carina runs at each side of mouthparts
      and extends from the anterior margin of the head capsule to the 'neck' region;
      and the transverse carina connects each longitudinal lateral carina with the
      mesoventral margin of the compound eye. Additionally, the apex of the terminal
      maxillary palpomere is thickened, and the pronotum bears a thick posterolateral
      brush of several long setae. The latter character is most easily observable;
      under a stereomicroscope the brush appears as a solid rod-like structure,
      individual setae can be recognized in transparent mounts under a compound
      microscope.

PMID- 28609968
TI  - <i>Hersilia</i> <i>aadi</i> Pravalikha, Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu, 2014 a junior
      synonym of <i>Hersilia savignyi</i> Lucas, 1836 (Araneae: Hersiliidae).
AB  - The genus Hersilia was established by Audouin in 1826 with H. caudata Audouin,
      1826 as the type species. It is the most speciose hersiliid genus presently
      comprising 79 described species worldwide (World Spider Catalog 2017, version
      18). There are seven species known from India: H. aadi Pravalikha, Srinivasulu &
      Srinivasulu, 2014, H. longivulva Sen et al., 2010, H. orvakalensis Javed et al.,
      2010, H. savignyi Lucas, 1836, H. striata Wang & Yin, 1985, H. sumatrana
      (Thorell, 1890), H. tibialis Baehr & Baehr, 1993. This paper is based on fresh
      material collected from the patches of scrub jungle enclosed within the Madras
      Christian College campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Both sexes of H. savignyi
      are illustrated. H. aadi Pravalikha, Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu, 2014 is
      synonymized with H. savignyi Lucas, 1836.

PMID- 28609969
TI  - An updated concept and revised composition for <i>Hamacreadium</i> Linton, 1910
      (Opecoelidae: Plagioporinae) clarifies a previously obscured pattern of host
      specificity among species.
AB  - The present concept of the trematode genus Hamacreadium Linton, 1910 encompasses
      considerable morphological variability and includes species reported from a broad
      range of fishes. These include herbivores and planktivores, despite the life
      cycle of the type-species, Hamacreadium mutabile Linton, 1910, being known to use
      fishes as intermediate hosts. Reports of H. mutabile are numerous, spanning the
      west Atlantic, east Pacific and Indo-west Pacific, whereas other nominal species
      are infrequently reported and several inadequately described. Following a
      comprehensive review, a strict revised morphological definition is proposed for
      the genus. Several nominal species are excluded, but, conversely, finer
      distinctions are recognised among the species concluded to genuinely belong in
      the genus. Justified records for species retained in the genus are overwhelmingly
      from fishes of the families Lutjanidae Gill (snappers) and Lethrinidae Bonaparte
      (emperors), revealing a previously concealed pattern of host-specificity. For H.
      mutabile, it is argued that only records from western Atlantic lutjanid fishes
      should be considered genuine; those from plausible Indo-Pacific fishes most
      likely represent different species. In addition to H. mutabile, eight species are
      recognised: Hamacreadium cribbi Bray & Justine, 2016, Hamacreadium hainanense
      Shen, 1990, Hamacreadium interruptum Nagaty, 1941, Hamacreadium lethrini
      Yamaguti, 1934, Hamacreadium longivesiculum (Yamaguti, 1952) n. comb.,
      Hamacreadium lutiani (Shen, 1990) n. comb., Hamacreadium morgani Baz,1946 and
      Hamacreadium phyllorchis (Bilqees, 1976) Cribb, 2005. A key to species of
      Hamacreadium and comprehensive lists of all host-locality records are included.

PMID- 28609970
TI  - A review of the <i>Barsine</i> <i>obsoleta</i> species-group with description of
      a new species from Vietnam (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae).
AB  - The Barsine obsoleta species-group is reviewed. A new species, Barsine fossi
      Volynkin & Cerny, sp. nov. is described from Vietnam. A new combination is
      established: Barsine obsoleta (Reich, 1937), comb. nov. The neotype is designated
      for Miltochrista gratiosa f. obsoleta Reich, 1937. Diagnoses for B. obsoleta and
      B. callorufa Wu et al., 2013 are given. Adults, male and female genitalia of the
      species reviewed and externally close species are illustrated.

PMID- 28609971
TI  - What is <i>Pseudopotamilla</i> <i>reniformis</i> (Sabellidae)? Comparisons of
      populations from Britain, Iceland and Canada with comments on <i>Eudistylia</i>
      and <i>Schizobranchia</i>.
AB  - A neotype of Amphitrite Muller (1771) is established and re-described, using
      material collected in 2001 from near the type locality on the southwest coast of
      Iceland. We examined material from Iceland, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland,
      identified as Pseudopotamilla reniformis, showing scissiparity and commonly found
      in aggregations within kelp holdfasts or amongst encrusting fauna. By contrast,
      scissiparity has not been seen in a population recorded as P. reniformis from
      Wales (broadcast spawning is presumed, Chughtai & Knight-Jones 1988), which bores
      into limestone and that the present analysis shows to belong to a different
      species from P. reniformis. Sabella oculata Kroyer (1856, Norway) is a junior
      synonym of P. reniformis. Sabella aspersa Kroyer (1856, Greenland) and Sabella
      saxicava (Quatrefages, 1866, France) are re-instated and re-described in
      Pseudopotamilla. Pseudopotamilla saxicava (= Potamilla ehlersi Gravier, 1906) has
      a widespread distribution from Britain to the Arabian Gulf, Pseudopotamilla
      aspersa is found in Greenland and the distribution of P. reniformis is reduced to
      Iceland, northern Norway, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The genera Eudistylia
      Bush and Schizobranchia Bush are discussed in relation to Pseudopotamilla.

PMID- 28609972
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Microhyla</i> (Anura: Microhylidae) from Eastern
      Nepal.
AB  - A new species of the genus Microhyla is described from Jamun Khadi, Jhapa
      district of eastern Nepal, based on molecular and morphological comparisons. This
      species is the sister taxon of Microhyla ornata and can be distinguished by a
      unique vocalization, morphology and molecular phylogeny. The uncorrected genetic
      divergences based on rRNA gene between the new species and its closest congeners,
      M. nilphamariensis, M. ornata and M. rubra were 5.34%, 6.67%, and 8.31%,
      respectively. The new species, Microhyla taraiensis sp. nov., is distinguished
      from each other of Microhyla by a combination of the following morphological
      characters: (1) relatively larger body size (SVL ranges 19.9-20.3 mm, n = 4 in
      the males and 22.1-24.9 mm, n = 3 in the females); (2) dorsal surface of head and
      body with light red dots; (3) toes webbing poorly developed or absent; (4) a
      large round inner metacarpal tubercle; and an (5) elongated outer metacarpal
      tubercle. In addition, our study also provides a new record of Microhyla
      nilphamariensis from Nepal.

PMID- 28609973
TI  - Immatures of Cerambycinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) collected in <i>Litchi</i>
      <i>chinensis</i> Sonn. (Sapindaceae) in Brazil.
AB  - Larvae and pupae of Coleoxestia waterhousei (Gounelle, 1909) (Cerambycini:
      Sphallotrichina) and Retrachydes thoracicus (Olivier, 1790) (Trachyderini:
      Trachyderina), collected in lychee trees, are described and illustrated. This is
      the first record of Litchi chinensis Sonn. as a host plant Retrachydes
      thoracicus.

PMID- 28609974
TI  - A revision of the South African riffle beetle genus <i>Leielmis</i> Deleve, 1964
      (Coleoptera: Elmidae).
AB  - The riffle beetle genus Leielmis Deleve, 1964 is redescribed and shown to contain
      three species, all of which are apparently endemic to the South African Cape,
      where they live in permanent mountain streams with cold running water. A
      lectotype is designated for Helmis georyssoides Grouvelle, 1890, and two
      additional species (L. gibbosus sp. nov. and L. hirsutus sp. nov.) are described
      for the first time. Following study of the type series, L. georyssoides is shown
      to be endemic to Table Mountain; most specimens previously assigned to this taxon
      representing an additional species (L. gibbosus sp. nov.), widespread in the
      interior Cape Fold Mountains. The record of Leielmis from Angola is considered
      highly doubtful. Comparative notes and a key are provided to allow the
      identification of known species of the genus.

PMID- 28609976
TI  - Additional three new species of <i>Anarsia</i> Meyrick (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae)
      from Cambodia and Vietnam.
AB  - Three new species of the genus Anarsia Zeller (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) are
      described: A. huensis Park, sp. nov. from Vietnam, and A. pursatica Park, sp.
      nov. and A. degeneralis Park, sp. nov. from Cambodia. Images of adults and
      genitalia for the new species are illustrated. A check list of the known species
      from both countries is provided.

PMID- 28609975
TI  - <i>Sternaspis</i> <i>chilensis</i> n. sp., a new species from austral Chilean
      channels and fjords (Annelida, Sternaspidae).
AB  - Sternaspis chilensis n. sp. is described based on specimens collected in channels
      and fjords of southern Chile and previously identified as Sternaspis scutata
      (Ranzani, 1817), originally described from the Meditarrean Sea. Sternaspis
      chilensis n. sp. is described based on the features of the shield with anterior
      margins rounded and anterior depression shallow; marginal shield chaetal
      fascicles arranged with an inverted C-shaped pattern; and distribution of the
      integument papillae. Sternaspis chilensis is widely distributed in the Magellan
      Province from Estero Reloncavi (41 degrees 32'54"S, 72 degrees 19'48"W) to Strait
      of Magellan (53 degrees 34'S, 70 degrees 04'W), between 50 and 515 m depth.

PMID- 28609977
TI  - <i>Camptopoeum</i> (<i>Camptopoeum</i>) <i>baldocki</i> spec. nov., a new
      panurgine bee species from Portugal and a description of the male of
      <i>Flavipanurgus</i> <i>fuzetus</i> Patiny (Andrenidae: Panurginae).
AB  - Camptopoeum (Camptopoeum) baldocki spec. nov., a new European panurgine bee
      species is described and diagnosed. It is currently known only from saltmarshes
      along the southern coast of the central and eastern Algarve, Portugal.
      Observations and analysis of scopal pollen loads suggest narrow oligolecty on the
      similarly halophilous Frankenia laevis (Frankeniaceae). In addition, the allotype
      male of the Portuguese endemic Flavipanurgus fuzetus Patiny is described and the
      pollen preferences of Flavipanurgus are reviewed with the addition of new data
      from Portugal. As a genus, Flavipanurgus species appear to be narrowly
      oligolectic on a range of flowers from the botanical families Caryophyllaceae,
      Cistaceae and Crassulaceae.

PMID- 28609978
TI  - A new species of <i>Nemoura</i> (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from Jiangsu Province,
      China, with new illustrations for <i>Nemoura</i> <i>nankinensis</i> Wu.
AB  - A new species of Nemoura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae), N. fusiformis sp. nov. from
      Jiangsu Province, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is
      characterized by a strongly sclerotized large hook formed by outer margin of the
      outer lobe of the paraproct and by the outer sclerite of cercus with a sub
      triangular medial process. The new species is compared with similar taxa.
      Additionally, supplementary illustrations for N. nankinensis Wu, 1926 are also
      provided.

PMID- 28609979
TI  - Generic key and catalogue of Mymaridae (Hymenoptera) of Mexico.
AB  - The Mexican genera of Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are keyed in English
      and Spanish, and a catalogue of species occurring in Mexico is presented. Thirty
      six genera, including 79 named species in 20 of the genera, are reported. These
      are mentioned in about 100 publications either as original species descriptions
      or as publications that specifically mention species and/or specimens from
      Mexico. In the catalogue, species distributions by state are given based on
      literature records, and collection data are compiled from about 3630 specimens
      examined in eight collections in Canada, Mexico and USA. Host are listed for
      specimens reared mainly in Mexico. A few extralimital host records are also
      given.

PMID- 28609980
TI  - A new species and taxonomical notes on some other <i>Catocala</i> Schrank, 1802
      (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) from China.
AB  - A new species, Catocala nilssoni, sp. n., from the Liaoning and Shandong
      Provinces of northeast China is described. The new species clearly differs in
      wing pattern and genitalia from any other Catocala species. DNA results for one
      specimen of the new species further confirms its morphological exclusivity.
      Actual Catocala danilovi (O. Bang-Haas, 1927) male genitalia is pictured for the
      first time and the taxonomical status of the related Catocala florianii Saldaitis
      & Ivinskis, 2008 is discussed.

PMID- 28609981
TI  - A new species of habitat-forming <i>Suberites</i> (Porifera, Demospongiae,
      Suberitida) in the Benguela upwelling region (South Africa).
AB  - S. dandelenae sp. nov. is described from the west coast of South Africa and
      occurs at depths of 80-500 m among unconsolidated sediments. Specimens can reach
      40 cm in length and in some areas off South Africa, up to 18 tons/km2 can be
      collected in a single demersal trawl. Morphologically, the sponge is straw
      yellow, massive with rounded lobes and has a velvety surface: it is characterized
      by subradiate, irregular reticulation of bundles of tylostyles and
      tylostrongyles. Specimens of S. dandelenae sp. nov. have three size classes of
      tylostyles with the largest tylostyle lengths being 516 MUm (441-614 MUm), medium
      tylostyle lengths being 352 MUm (307-422 MUm) and the shortest tylostyle lengths
      being 215 MUm (153-288 MUm). Apart from the presence of tylostyles, some
      specimens of S. dandelenae sp. nov. also possess centrotylostongyles/oxeas,
      tylostrongyles and microacanthostrongyles spicules. We have used morphological
      characters to distinguish this species and a molecular marker (cox1) to conform
      that all specimens are the same species. At the spicular level, S. dandelenae sp.
      nov. is characterized by a complex of spicule types that vary with specimen size.
      Following a histological investigation and re-description of the holotypes of S.
      ficus (Johnston, 1842) and S. tylobtusus Levi, 1958, and comparisons with S.
      carnosus (Johnston, 1842), S. stilensis Burton, 1933, and other Suberites species
      described from the African region, it is clear that the new species is different
      in spicule morphology, spicule size and external morphology. For example,
      microacanthostrongyles are not present in S. tylobtusus and S. carnosus, whilst
      S. ficus possesses a second, non-spinose category of microstrongyles. Suberites
      tylobtusus has tylostyles that are sometimes polytylote, with heads either well
      formed, pear shaped or reduced, in only one size catogory. The 'tylobtuse'
      condition of the tylostyles is also different to the kidney-shaped and
      centrotylostrongyles found in S. dandelenae sp. nov. Suberites stilensis Burton,
      1933 has larger and thicker tylostyles (800 MUm length x 10 MUm thick) than those
      of S. dandelenae sp. nov. A comparative analysis of partial cox1 sequences from
      morphologically diverse specimens of S. dandelenae sp. nov. with published
      material indicates that all specimens comprise a monophyletic clade. The combined
      morphological and genetic data support the designation of Suberites dandelenae
      sp. nov.

PMID- 28609982
TI  - Description of a new species of <i>Cnemaspis</i> (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from
      Knuckles Range of Sri Lanka.
AB  - A new species of Cnemaspis Strauch is described from Knuckles Range of Sri Lanka.
      This new species had been previously confused with Cnemaspis podihuna
      Deraniyagala. Cnemaspis kandambyi sp. nov. closely resembles C. podihuna and C.
      molligodai Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa. Cnemaspis kandambyi sp. nov. differs
      from C. podihuna by having 7-8 (versus 3-6) unpored scales in each side of the
      precloacal-femoral pores row, lacking (versus having) an internasal scale, body
      (axilla to groin) relatively long 47.7-48.3 (versus 38.1-38.7)% of SVL and dorsum
      dark brown (versus bright yellow). Cnemaspis kandambyi sp. nov. also
      distinguished from C. molligodai by having 4 (versus 5) precloacal pores, 5-6
      (versus 7-9) femoral pores on each side, precloacal pores not in an inverted V
      shaped arrangement (versus in inverted V-shaped arrangement), lacking (versus
      having) a distinct black marking on nape and a black lateral stripe begins behind
      eye extends laterally beyond the origin of forearm (versus not extending beyond
      the origin of forearm). Additionally, Cnemaspis kandambyi sp. nov. and C.
      molligodai show discrete distribution: former restricted to Knuckles Range and
      the latter confined to Lowland wet zone of Sri Lanka. We confirm that, no type
      material of Cnemaspis podihuna survive in the current collection of the National
      Museum of Sri Lanka.

PMID- 28609983
TI  - Altitudinal distribution and advertisement call of <i>Colostethus</i>
      <i>latinasus</i> (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae), endemic species from eastern Panama
      and type species of <i>Colostethus</i> , with a molecular assessment of similar
      sympatric species.
AB  - We conducted a molecular assessment of Colostethus-like frogs along an
      elevational gradient in the Serrania de Pirre, above Santa Cruz de Cana, eastern
      Panama, aiming to establish their species identity and to determine the
      altitudinal distribution of C. latinasus. Our findings confirm the view of C.
      latinasus as an endemic species restricted to the highlands of this mountain
      range, i.e., 1350-1475 m.a.s.l., considered to be type locality of this species.
      We described the advertisement call of C. latinasus that consists of a series of
      4-18 single, short and relatively loud "peep"-like notes given in rapid
      succession, and its spectral and temporal features were compared with calls of
      congeneric species. For the first time, DNA sequences from C. latinasus were
      obtained, since previously reported sequences were based on misidentified
      specimens. This is particularly important because C. latinasus is the type
      species of Colostethus, a genus considered paraphyletic according to recent
      phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data.

PMID- 28609984
TI  - A new species of <i>Pamphagus</i> (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae) from Algeria with a
      key to all the species of the genus.
AB  - The authors describe Pamphagus milevitanus n. sp. occurring in the North and
      South highlands of Constantine, in Mila, Setif and Oum-el Bouaghi provinces,
      where it is fairly common. They compare the characters of this species with those
      of the most related species of the genus and present a complete plate and a key
      to all the species of the genus Pamphagus known to date.

PMID- 28609985
TI  - <i>Synalpheus</i> <i>pinkfloydi</i> sp. nov., a new pistol shrimp from the
      tropical eastern Pacific (Decapoda: Alpheidae).
AB  - A new, conspicuously coloured species of the alpheid genus Synalpheus Spence
      Bate, 1888, is described based on material collected on the Pacific coast of
      Panama. Synalpheus pinkfloydi sp. nov. is closely related to the western Atlantic
      S. antillensis Coutiere, 1909, the two taxa being transisthmian, cryptic sister
      species. Both species are characterised by the distal areas of their major and
      minor chelae coloured in an intense, almost glowing pink-red. The morphological
      differences between S. pinkfloydi sp. nov. and S. antillensis Coutiere, 1909 are
      subtle, being limited to the slightly different proportions of the merus of both
      chelipeds, distodorsal armature of the major cheliped merus, relative length of
      the antennal scaphocerite, and body size. However, they are genetically different
      with a 10.2% sequence divergence in COI. Based on molecular clock estimates,
      these transisthmian taxa diverged around 6.8-7.8 mya, i.e. well before the final
      closure of the Isthmus of Panama 2.5-3 mya.

PMID- 28609986
TI  - A new groundwater-dwelling species of <i>Euryrhynchina</i> from Cameroon
      (Malacostraca, Decapoda, Euryrhynchidae).
AB  - A new species of the euryrhynchid shrimp genus Euryrhynchina Powell, 1976, E.
      puteola sp. nov., is described from Cameroon. The new species can be easily
      distinguished from the only other species in the genus, E. edingtonae Powell,
      1976, by the absence of a setiferous lobe on the eye peduncle, the absence of a
      meral spine on the ambulatory pereiopods, the shape of the scaphocerite tooth, a
      single spine on the uropodal diaeresis (vs. 2-3), the absence of a podobranch on
      the second maxilliped, and the absence of appendices internae on the male
      pleopods 2-5. Although the species was discovered in a phreatic well, it remains
      unclear if it is a true stygobiont.

PMID- 28609987
TI  - Two new species of <i>Trichuris</i> (Nematoda: Trichuridae) collected from
      endemic murines of Indonesia.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Trichuris (Nematoda: Trichuridae) parasitic in the
      old endemic murids of Indonesia are described: T. musseri sp. nov. from
      Echiothrix centrosa (Murinae: Rattini) in Sulawesi and T. mallomyos sp. nov. from
      Mallomys rothschildi (Murinae: Hydromyini) in Papua Indonesia. Both species are
      characterized by having a gradually tapered and sharply pointed distal end of the
      spicule, being readily distinguished from most of the congeners known from murid
      rodents. Trichuris musseri is readily distinguished from T. mallomyos by having a
      much smaller body and large number of nuclei per subdivision of stichosome. The
      resemblance in spicule morphology between the two new species is of special
      interest because both hosts belong to different tribes and have different
      habitats and habits. It remains to be elucidated whether the resemblance is
      merely homoplasy or actually reflects close phylogenetic relationship of the
      parasites.

PMID- 28609988
TI  - Description of a new group of species of <i>Edessa</i> (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae:
      Edessinae).
AB  - The new group of species viridula is proposed to five new species: Edessa
      viridula sp. n., Edessa exigusternata sp. n., Edessa angusticlada sp. n., Edessa
      rugulata sp. n. and Edessa eucnema sp. n. based on 58 specimens examined.
      Descriptions of the group and species are provided. Illustrations of the species
      along with metasternal process and male and female genitalia are provided; an
      identification key and distributional map are presented.

PMID- 28609989
TI  - Freshwater fishes of northern Australia.
AB  - Northern Australia is biologically diverse and of national and global
      conservation signicance. Its ancient landscape contains the world's largest area
      of savannah ecosystem in good ecological condition and its rivers are largely
      free-flowing. Agriculture, previously confined largely to open range-land
      grazing, is set to expand in extent and to focus much more on irrigated cropping
      and horticulture. Demands on the water resources of the region are thus,
      inevitably increasing. Reliable information is required to guide and inform
      development and help plan for a sustainable future for the region which includes
      healthy rivers that contain diverse fish assemblages. Based on a range of
      information sources, including the outcomes of recent and extensive new field
      surveys, this study maps the distribution of the 111 freshwater fishes (excluding
      elasmobranches) and 42 estuarine vagrants recorded from freshwater habitats of
      the region. We classify the habitat use and migratory biology of each species.
      This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the diversity and distribution
      of fishes of the region within a standardised nomenclatural framework. In
      addition, we summarise the outcomes of recent phylogeographic and phylogenetic
      research using molecular technologies to identify where issues of taxonomy may
      need further scrutiny. The study provides an informed basis for further research
      on the spatial arrangement of biodiversity and its relationship to environmental
      factors (e.g. hydrology), conservation planning and phylogentic variation within
      individual taxa.

PMID- 28609990
TI  - The Palaearctic types of Chrysididae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) deposited in the
      Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest.
AB  - A critical and annotated catalogue of the Palaearctic types of chrysidid species,
      subspecies and varieties deposited in the Magyar Termeszettudomanyi Muzeum is
      given. The lectotype of Hedychrum luculentum Forster, 1853 and the neotype of
      Chrysis amasina Mocsary, 1889 are designated. Six new synonyms are proposed:
      Chrysis varicornis Spinola, 1838 = Chrysis cyanocoelia Mocsary, 1889, syn. nov.;
      Hedychridium adventicium Zimmermann, 1962 = Hedychridium jazygicum Moczar, 1964,
      syn. nov.; Hedychrum cribratum Mocsary, 1909 = Hedychrum punctigerum Mocsary,
      1909, syn. nov.; Holopyga generosa (Forster, 1853) = Holopyga hortobagyensis
      Moczar, 1984, syn. nov.; Holopyga turkestanica Mocsary, 1909 = Holopyga
      crassepuncta Semenov, 1954, syn. nov.; and Pseudomalus cupratus (Mocsary, 1889) =
      Pseudomalus meridianus Strumia, 1996, syn. nov.. One species is revalidated:
      Holopyga turkestanica Mocsary, 1909, stat. resurr.. New status is proposed for:
      Pseudomalus cupratus (Mocsary, 1889), stat. nov.. New combination is proposed
      for: Hedychridium amoenum (Mocsary, 1911), comb. nov.. The reversal of priority
      is proposed for: Ellampus biaccinctus du Buysson, 1893, nomen protectum, and E.
      auratus var. gasperinii Mocsary, 1889, nomen oblitum. New name is proposed for:
      Chrysis fusca Rosa, nom. nov. pro Chrysis ignita var. infuscata Mocsary, 1889 nec
      Brulle, 1846. Pictures of eighty-nine type specimens are also provided.

PMID- 28609991
TI  - The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and
      recommendations for best practice.
AB  - Vocalizations of anuran amphibians have received much attention in studies of
      behavioral ecology and physiology, but also provide informative characters for
      identifying and delimiting species. We here review the terminology and variation
      of frog calls from a perspective of integrative taxonomy, and provide hands-on
      protocols for recording, analyzing, comparing, interpreting and describing these
      sounds. Our focus is on advertisement calls, which serve as premating isolation
      mechanisms and, therefore, convey important taxonomic information. We provide
      recommendations for terminology of frog vocalizations, with call, note and pulse
      being the fundamental subunits to be used in descriptions and comparisons.
      However, due to the complexity and diversity of these signals, an unequivocal
      application of the terms call and note can be challenging. We therefore provide
      two coherent concepts that either follow a note-centered approach (defining
      uninterrupted units of sound as notes, and their entirety as call) or a call
      centered approach (defining uninterrupted units as call whenever they are
      separated by long silent intervals) in terminology. Based on surveys of
      literature, we show that numerous call traits can be highly variable within and
      between individuals of one species. Despite idiosyncrasies of species and higher
      taxa, the duration of calls or notes, pulse rate within notes, and number of
      pulses per note appear to be more static within individuals and somewhat less
      affected by temperature. Therefore, these variables might often be preferable as
      taxonomic characters over call rate or note rate, which are heavily influenced by
      various factors. Dominant frequency is also comparatively static and only weakly
      affected by temperature, but depends strongly on body size. As with other
      taxonomic characters, strong call divergence is typically indicative of species
      level differences, whereas call similarities of two populations are no evidence
      for them being conspecific. Taxonomic conclusions can especially be drawn when
      the general advertisement call structure of two candidate species is radically
      different and qualitative call differences are thus observed. On the other hand,
      quantitative differences in call traits might substantially vary within and among
      conspecific populations, and require careful evaluation and analysis. We provide
      guidelines for the taxonomic interpretation of advertisement call differences in
      sympatric and allopatric situations, and emphasize the need for an integrative
      use of multiple datasets (bio-acoustics, morphology, genetics), particularly for
      allopatric scenarios. We show that small-sized frogs often emit calls with
      frequency components in the ultrasound spectrum, although it is unlikely that
      these high frequencies are of biological relevance for the majority of them, and
      we illustrate that detection of upper harmonics depends also on recording
      distance because higher frequencies are attenuated more strongly. Bioacoustics
      remains a prime approach in integrative taxonomy of anurans if uncertainty due to
      possible intraspecific variation and technical artifacts is adequately considered
      and acknowledged.

PMID- 28609992
TI  - Review of the <i>Odontesthes</i> <i>perugiae</i> species group from Rio de La
      Plata drainage, with the description of a new species (Atherinomorpha:
      Atherinopsidae).
AB  - Specimens presently identified as belonging to Odontesthes perugiae species group
      from rio Parana, rio Uruguay and rio Negro in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are
      revised. Two species are recognized: Odontesthes perugiae, type species of the
      genus with Odontesthes orientalis as a junior synonym, and a new species
      described herein. Odontesthes perugiae is redescribed and its distribution
      restricted to the lower rio Parana, lower rio Uruguay and rio Negro basins. The
      new species is endemic from the upper rio Uruguay above Salto do Yucuma (Brazil)
      or Saltos del Mocona (Argentina) falls. Both species share with the remaining
      taxa included in the O. perugiae species-group (O. bicudo, O. ledae, O.
      mirinensis, and O. piquava) the possession of teeth of the outer row on dentary
      and premaxilla shorter than those in the inner row, being distinguished from them
      by the number of gill rakers, body measurements and some osteological characters.

PMID- 28609993
TI  - New <i>Lepidocyrtus</i> Bourlet, 1839 from riverine woodland in Hungary
      (Collembola, Entomobryidae).
AB  - Systematic soil fauna survey of riverine and swamp woodland habitats in West
      Hungary provided the opportunity to describe the new species L. isabelleae sp.
      nov. belonging to the the Lepidocyrtus pallidus-serbicus group. The new species
      is characterized by the dorsal macrochaetae formula R0R1sR1R2STSo/00/0101+2, the
      absence of scales on the antennae and legs beyond coxae and an additional
      dorsolateral macrochaeta (a7) on Abd. III. On this occasion, the L. pallidus
      serbicus group has been revised and reinterpreted, and a differentiation key for
      the derived L. serbicus group has been developed.

PMID- 28609994
TI  - Uncovering the hidden biodiversity of natural history collections: Insights from
      DNA barcoding and morphological characters of the Neotropical genus
      <i>Orthocomotis</i> Dognin (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).
AB  - We used a 227-bp fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (DNA
      "barcode") in conjunction with morphological data to study specimens of the
      Neotropical genus Orthocomotis Dognin, 1906, acquired from natural history
      collections. We examined over 20 species of Orthocomotis from 17 localities in
      Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The analysis identified 32 haplotypes among the 62
      specimens and found no haplotypes shared among species. The molecular study
      revealed not only the usefulness of short COI sequences in discriminating among
      Orthocomotis species but also showed distinctness of four clusters which
      correspond to those based on morphological (genitalia) characters. Moreover, the
      molecular results suggest the occurrence of rapid speciation in Orthocomotis. We
      hypothesize that this may be linked to the great biodiversity of potential host
      plants in Neotropical ecosystems.

PMID- 28609995
TI  - Two new species of <i>Jungiella</i> (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae) from the
      Palaearctic Region.
AB  - Two new species of Jungiella Vaillant, 1972 are described: Jungiella janiki sp.
      nov. from the Bile Karpaty PLA (Czech Republic) and J. syriaca sp. nov. from the
      Province Al Lathiqiyeh (Syria). Differential diagnoses for males are included and
      morphological characters illustrated. A catalogue of 37 species of Jungiella
      known so far is presented.

PMID- 28609996
TI  - The taxonomic placement of three fossil <i>Fundulus</i> species and the timing of
      divergence within the North American topminnows (Teleostei: Fundulidae).
AB  - The fossils species ?Fundulus detillae, ?F. lariversi, and ?F. nevadensis from
      localities in the western United States are represented by well-preserved
      material with date estimations. We combined morphological data for these fossil
      taxa with morphological and DNA-sequence data to conduct a phylogenetic analysis
      and a tip-based divergence-time estimation for the family Fundulidae. The
      resultant phylogeny is largely concordant with the prior total-evidence
      phylogeny. The fossil species do not form a monophyletic group, and do not
      represent a discrete western radiation of Fundulus as previously proposed. The
      genus Fundulus diverged into subgeneric clades likely in the Eocene or Oligocene
      (mean age 34.6 mya, 53-23 mya), and all subgeneric and most species-group clades
      had evolved by the middle Miocene. ?Fundulus lariversi is a member of subgenus
      Fundulus in which all extant species are found only in eastern North America,
      demonstrating that fundulids had a complicated biogeographic history. We
      confirmed ?Fundulus detillae as a member of the subgenus Plancterus. ?F.
      nevadensis is not classified in a subgenus but likely is related to the subgenera
      Plancterus and Wileyichthys.

PMID- 28609997
TI  - The genus <i>Thelepus</i> Leuckart, 1849 (Annelida, Thelepodidae) in Brazil, with
      a redescription of the holotype of <i>T. setosus</i> (Quatrefages, 1866).
AB  - The genus Thelepus Leuckart, 1849 is well known in Brazilian waters, from a
      species recorded by several authors as T. setosus (Quatrefages, 1866), which is
      considered to be a cosmopolitan species. However, the type locality of T. setosus
      is in France, which renders the presence of this species in Brazilian waters
      rather unlikely. The wide range of distribution of T. setosus is most likely due
      to misidentifications, especially because the original description of the species
      is very brief and does not include several characters now relevant at species
      level. We provide herein a redescription of the holotype of T. setosus and
      describe two new species from Brazilian material previously identified as
      belonging to that species. Thelepus megalabiatum n. sp. is characterised by
      having an expanded lower lip extending ventrally, many branchial filaments,
      originating from swollen cushions, with wide mid-dorsal gap between filaments
      within pairs, 26-33 segments with glandular areas, and 44-61+ pairs of notopodia.
      Thelepus brevitori n. sp. is characterised by having fewer branchial filaments,
      originating directly from the body wall, about 17 segments highly glandular
      ventrally, and up to 27 pairs of notopodia. Both new species are compared to the
      most similar congeners, including T. setosus.

PMID- 28609998
TI  - Erratum: CHAO HUANG, HSI-TE SHIH & PETER K. L. NG (2017) A new genus and new
      species of Potamidea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamoidae), the first
      stygomorphic cave crab known from China and East Asia. Zootaxa, 4232 (1): 071
      084.

PMID- 28609999
TI  - Speciation in Indo-Pacific swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae): integrating molecular and
      phenotypic data for a new provisional taxonomy of the <i>Collocalia</i>
      <i>esculenta</i> complex.
AB  - White-bellied swiftlets of the Collocalia esculenta complex constitute a
      radiation of colony-breeding swifts distributed throughout the tropical Indo
      Pacific region. Resolution of their taxonomy is challenging due to their
      morphological uniformity. To analyze the evolutionary history of this complex, we
      combine new biometric measurements and results from plumage assessment of museum
      specimens with novel as well as previously published molecular data. Together,
      this body of information constitutes the largest systematic dataset for white
      bellied swiftlets yet compiled, drawn from 809 individuals belonging to 32 taxa
      for which new molecular, biometric, and/or plumage data are presented. We propose
      changing the classification of white-bellied swiftlets, for which two species are
      currently recognized, to elevate eight regional forms to species level, and we
      also describe two new subspecies. The ten taxa we recommend recognizing at the
      species level are: Collocalia linchi (Java to Lombok, Sumatran hills), C. dodgei
      (montane Borneo), C. natalis (Christmas Island), C. affinis (Greater Sundas,
      including the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Andaman-Nicobar Islands), C. marginata
      (Philippines), C. isonota (Philippines), C. sumbawae (west Lesser Sundas), C.
      neglecta (east Lesser Sundas), C. esculenta (Sulawesi, Moluccas, New Guinea,
      Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands), and C. uropygialis (Vanuatu, New
      Caledonia). Future molecular and morphological work is needed to resolve
      questions of speciation and population affinities in the Philippines, Christmas
      Island, Wallacea and central Melanesia, and to shed light on historic
      diversification and patterns of gene flow in the complex.

PMID- 28610000
TI  - The Hydraenidae of Cuba (Insecta: Coleoptera) III. Description of two new
      hygropetric species of <i>Hydraena</i> Kugelann.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Hydraena Kugelann, 1794 collected from hygropetric
      habitats in eastern Cuba are described: Hydraena (Hydraenopsis) blancae sp. nov.
      from the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountain range, and Hydraena (Hydraenopsis) matthiasi
      sp. nov. from the Sierra Maestra mountain range. Both species, especially the
      latter, are closely related to Hydraena (Hydraenopsis) franklyni Deler-Hernandez
      & Delgado, 2012. Diagnostic characters for both new species are provided and
      illustrated; habitat information and distributional data are also included. An
      updated key to Cuban species of Hydraena is provided. With this study, the number
      of species of Hydraena known from Cuba raises to six.

PMID- 28610001
TI  - A new species of <i>Buenia</i> (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the western
      Mediterranean Sea, with the description of this genus.
AB  - A new miniature gobiid species, Buenia massutii sp. nov. (Teleostei: Gobiidae) is
      described from the circalittoral bottom off the Balearic Islands, western
      Mediterranean. Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial COI-barcoding fragment
      supports its species-level distinctiveness and the monophyly of the genus Buenia.
      A description and diagnosis of the genus Buenia is for the first time provided.
      Material of the new species was collected in 57-67 m depth from beam trawl
      samples carried out on red algae beds. The traits that differentiate the new
      species from two congeneric species are: anterior oculoscapular canal only
      semiclosed with pores sigma, lambda, kappa, omega, alpha, rho and additional
      pores and open furrows from interorbital part to pore rho; posterior
      oculoscapular canal absent; suborbital row c with 5 papillae; scales in lateral
      series 26-28; pectoral fin rays 16; the second spine of the first dorsal fin the
      longest, reaching to or behind posterior end of the second dorsal fin in males
      when folded down; pelvic fin anterior membrane one sixth or less of length of
      spinous ray in midline depth; head length 31.2-32.5% of standard length; eye 32.8
      35.7% of head length; caudal fin length 21.5-24.0% of standard length.

PMID- 28610002
TI  - Review of the genus <i>Anipocregyes</i> Breuning, 1939 with two new species from
      Borneo (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Mesosini).
AB  - The genus Anipocregyes Breuning, 1939 is reviewed. Cristipocregyes rondoni
      Breuning, 1965, Metipocregyes rondoni Breuning, 1965, and Mesosa (Perimesosa)
      seminivea Breuning, 1965 are transferred to the genus Anipocregyes, and
      Setomesosa rondoni Breuning, 1968 is synonymized with A. seminivea comb. nov. As
      a result, two genera, Cristipocregyes Breuning, 1965 and Setomesosa Breuning,
      1968, are synonymized with Anipocregyes. Metipocregyes rondoni Breuning, 1965
      becomes a secondary homonym and Anipocregyes albifrons nom. nov. is proposed as a
      replacement name. Anipocregyes kawakamii sp. nov. and A. wakabayashii sp. nov.
      are described from Borneo. All the seven known species of Anipocregyes are
      illustrated with their male genitalia (except for A. laosensis) and a key to the
      species is provided.

PMID- 28610003
TI  - On the taxonomy of two poorly known species of <i>Geosesarma</i> De Man, 1892
      (Crustacea: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) from the Philippines.
AB  - The identities of two poorly-known species of semiterrestrial crabs of the genus
      Geosesarma De Man, 1892, from the Philippines, are clarified. The types of
      Sesarma (Sesarma) vicentense Rathbun, 1914 (from Luzon), and Sesarma (Geosesarma)
      rathbunae Serene, 1968 (from Panay), are examined and both species are
      rediagnosed with detailed figures. Comparisons with allied congeners are also
      provided.

PMID- 28610004
TI  - Nomenclatural changes in the Australasian gall-inducing genus <i>Apiomorpha</i>
      Rubsaamen (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Eriococcidae).
AB  - Apiomorpha Rubsaamen, 1894 was erected as a replacement name for Brachyscelis
      Schrader, 1863 that was preoccupied in the Coleoptera (Chrysomelidae:
      Brachyscelis Germar, 1834). Apiomorpha is a genus of eriococcid scale insects
      that induce galls on Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) in Australia and New Guinea (Szent
      Ivany & Womersley 1962; Gullan 1984; Gullan et al. 2005). In his original
      description of the genus, Schrader (1863a) included six species, of which B.
      citricola Schrader was subsequently recognised as a nomen nudum (Froggatt 1921).
      Among the other five, B. pileata Schrader was later designated as the type
      species of Apiomorpha by Lindinger (1937). Also amongst these five was B. ovicola
      Schrader, for which Schrader described and illustrated galls of males and females
      on twigs and leaves of Eucalyptus haemastoma (Schrader 1863a, plate II, figs a,
      e) in or near Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). He stated that his species names
      reflected the shape of the galls of adult females; hence those of B. ovicola can
      be interpreted as being egg-shaped and were illustrated as such by Schrader
      (1863a). Galls of males of B. ovicola he described and illustrated as trumpet
      shaped.

PMID- 28610005
TI  - A new <i>Icimauna</i> Martins & Galileo, 1991, from the Bolivian orocline
      (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Hemilophini).
AB  - The Neotropical longhorned beetle tribe Hemilophini has been reviewed by Martins
      & Galileo (2014a, b) and currently contains 542 species (Monne 2017). Some of the
      most conspicuous longhorned beetle taxa are found in this tribe, for example
      species with a pair of cephalic horns (Phoebe Audinet-Serville, 1835), or others
      that strongly resemble to noxious Lycidae (Coleoptera) (e.g. Apeba Martins &
      Galileo, 1991, Calocosmus Chevrolat, 1862, or Lycidola Thomson, 1864) (see
      Lingafelter 2013; Martins & Galileo 2014a, b).

PMID- 28610006
TI  - Three new species of <i>Psyrassa</i> Pascoe, 1866 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae,
      Cerambycinae).
AB  - Currently, Psyrassa Pascoe, 1866 includes 37 species distributed mainly in
      southern United States to Central America (Monne 2016; Tavakilian and Chevillotte
      2016). Only four species occur in northern South America: P. meridionalis
      Martins, 2005 (Ecuador); P. rufescens Nonfried, 1894 (Brazil); P. testacea
      Linsley, 1935 (Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana); and P. subglabra Linsley,
      1935 (Ecuador).

PMID- 28610007
TI  - The taxonomic status of two <i>Telmatobius</i> frog species (Anura:
      Telmatobiidae) from the western Andean slopes of northernmost Chile.
AB  - On the basis of molecular and morphological evidence, we evaluated the taxonomic
      identity of two species of Andean frogs of the genus Telmatobius: Telmatobius
      pefauri and T. zapahuirensis, present in the western Andean slopes at the
      northern extreme of Chile. We also investigated the taxonomic assignment of five
      populations of Telmatobius recently discovered around the type localities of
      these two species. The results indicate that T. pefauri inhabits, not only
      Murmuntani its type locality, but also the montane localities of Belen,
      Copaquilla, Lupica, Saxamar and Socoroma. Our study also shows that T. pefauri
      and T. zapahuirensis are the same taxon. Therefore, Telmatobius zapahuirensis
      Veloso, Sallaberry, Navarro, Iturra, Valencia, Penna & Diaz, 1982 would be a
      subjective junior synonym of Telmatobius pefauri Veloso & Trueb, 1976.

PMID- 28610008
TI  - The riddle of <i>Lyriothemis</i> <i>bivittata</i> (Rambur, 1842):
      <i>Lyriothemis</i> <i>kameliyae</i> spec. nov. (Odonata: Libellulidae).
AB  - Lyriothemis kameliyae spec. nov. from northern Vietnam is described and
      illustrated for both sexes, and descriptions are given of male and female
      specimens of L. bivittata collected in Vietnam. A comparison of their
      distinguishing characteristics is provided, and differences from similar L.
      tricolor are discussed. Earlier descriptions and some records of L. bivittata are
      evaluated. Evidently these contain at least some L. kameliyae specimens, and
      therefore historic records of L. bivittata require evaluation. The ranges of the
      two species overlap considerably. Some information is provided on the biology of
      L. kameliyae.

PMID- 28610009
TI  - Review of the Palearctic <i>Atemelia</i> Herrich-Schaffer (Lepidoptera,
      Yponomeutoidea, Praydidae), with description of a new leafmining species.
AB  - The Palearctic Atemelia Herrich-Schaffer, 1853 is reviewed. Two species are
      treated, one of which is described as new: A. fusca Liu, sp. nov. The genus
      Atemelia is recorded in China for the first time, and it is also newly recorded
      from the Eastern Palearctic region. Larvae of A. fusca sp. nov. mine leaves of
      Ulmus pumila (Ulmaceae), sharing the same host plant genus with another leaf
      miner A. torquatella (Lienig & Zeller, 1846) from Europe, but they are
      distinctive from the Nearctic and the Neotropical Atemelia species in host plant
      families and life styles. Photographs of adults and genitalia of the Palearctic
      Atemelia are provided. Additional photographs of immature stages, leafmines, and
      host plant are provided for the new species. In addition, three DNA barcodes are
      provided for A. fusca sp. nov.

PMID- 28610010
TI  - Description of the male of <i>Phoebe</i> <i>ornator</i> (Tippmann, 1960)
      (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Hemilophini), analysis of the species
      biogeography, and first observation of chromatic gender dimorphism in
      Hemilophini.
AB  - The male of Phoebe ornator (Tippmann, 1960) is described. Chromatic gender
      dimorphism is also reported for the first time in the Hemilophini. In addition,
      new records are presented for P. ornator for the Brazilian states of Amazonas,
      Mato Grosso, Rondonia and Sao Paulo, and the Bolivian department of La Paz. The
      biogeography of P. ornator is analyzed.

PMID- 28610011
TI  - Two new species of free-living marine nematodes of the family Oxystominidae
      Chitwood, 1935 (Enoplida) with a review of the genus <i>Thalassoalaimus</i> de
      Man, 1893 from the Argentine coast.
AB  - Two new free-living marine nematodes of the family Oxystominidae are described
      from San Antonio Bay (Rio Negro) and San Jose Gulf (Chubut). Litinium australis
      sp. n., is characterized by having a rounded tail, by the first and second crown
      of cephalic setae with different lengths, gubernaculum with apophysis and by the
      presence of at least four precloacal papillae; Thalassoalaimus nestori sp. n., is
      characterized by having a conical tail, cephalic setae equal in length,
      gubernaculum with rounded and dorso-caudally directed apophysis and two
      precloacal papillae. An emended diagnosis of the genus Thalassoalaimus and a key
      to species are given.

PMID- 28610012
TI  - A new species of <i>Chaetolonchaea</i> Czerny (Diptera: Lonchaeidae) from China,
      a larval pest on chives.
AB  - A new species, Chaetolonchaea alliumi sp. nov. is described and illustrated. The
      larvae of this species are found in the bulbs of chives (Allium tuberosum Rottl.
      ex Spreng.), and the species is an important pest of liliaceous vegetables. A key
      to the eight known species of world Chaetolonchaea Czerny, 1934 is included. The
      egg, larva and larval skeleton of genus Chaetolonchae are illustrate for the
      first time. Photographs of the puparium, host plant and injury symptoms are also
      provided.

PMID- 28610013
TI  - Two new Neotropical species of <i>Djalmabatista</i> Fittkau (Diptera:
      Chironomidae).
AB  - Two new species of Djalmabatista from northern Brazil are described and
      illustrated, Djalmabatista patamona sp. nov. based on adult male and pupa and
      Djalmabatista wapixana sp. nov. based on adult male only.

PMID- 28610014
TI  - Confused identity: <i>Pseudoeudesis</i> <i>brasiliensis</i> Franz transferred to
      <i>Heteroscydmus</i> Franz, and <i>Pseudoeudesis</i> <i>castrii</i> Franz placed
      in <i>Anthicimimus</i> Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae).
AB  - Based on examination of the type specimens, the Brazilian Pseudoeudesis
      brasiliensis and Chilean Ps. castrii are removed from Scydmaenini and transferred
      to genera of Glandulariini: Heteroscydmus and Anthicimimus, respectively.
      Lectotypes for both species are designated. Heteroscydmus brasiliensis comb. n.
      and Anthicimimus castrii comb. n. are redescribed. Minor differences in
      morphological structures between the newly transferred species and previously
      known Heteroscydmus and Anthicimimus are discussed and regarded as representing
      character variability within genera. All non-Palaearctic species previously
      placed in Pseudoeudesis (and in Scydmaenini) are now placed in four genera of
      Glandulariini (Afroeudesis, Oreoeudesis, Heteroscydmus and Anthicimimus), and it
      can be concluded that Pseudoeudesis is restricted to the Mediterranean basin and
      does not occur in the Southern Hemisphere.

PMID- 28610015
TI  - A new species of leucosiid crab (Decapoda: Brachyura: Leucosiidae) from the
      Arabian Gulf.
AB  - The Indo-West Pacific genus Coleusia Galil 2006, was recently described and now
      comprises seven species. We describe a new species from the western Arabian Gulf,
      Coleusia janani n. sp. The new species is closely related to the congener C.
      biannulata (Tyndale-Biscoe & George, 1962), and can be distinguished from other
      species at these genus congeners mainly by the straight upward apical shape of
      the male first pleopod (G1). An updated identification key to the species of
      Coleusia, as well as an overview of the geographical distribution of the species
      included in the genus are also presented.

PMID- 28610016
TI  - The genus <i>Eremiothrips</i> (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from China, with one new
      species.
AB  - Eremiothrips Priesner, comprising 19 species in the world (ThripsWiki 2017), is a
      member of Anaphothrips genus-group in which species lack long setae or have only
      a single pair of more prominent setae on the pronotum (Bhatti et al. 2003, Mound
      & Masumoto 2009). Two species in this genus, E. eshghii Minaei and E. efflatouni
      (Priesner), have no long setae on the posterior angles of the pronotum in either
      sex, whereas the remaining members usually have one pair of long setae on the
      posterior angles of the pronotum.

PMID- 28610017
TI  - New species of the genus <i>Gnathochorisis</i> Forster (Hymenoptera:
      Ichneumonidae: Orthocentrinae) from the Neotropical Region.
AB  - The Neotropical species of the genus Gnathochorisis (Ichneumonidae:
      Orthocentrinae) are reviewed, seven species: G. enodis sp. nov., G. khalaimi sp.
      nov. from Mexico, G. intercalaris sp. nov., G. punctata sp. nov., G. rufa sp.
      nov., G. rufithorax sp. nov. from French Guiana, and G. dilleri sp. nov. from
      Peru are described and illustrated, and one species G. laticincta comb. nov. is
      transferred from the genus Symplecis. A key to the Neotropical Gnathochorisis
      species is provided.

PMID- 28610018
TI  - Five new species of the leafhopper genus <i>Thagria</i> Melichar (Hemiptera:
      Cicadellidae: Coelidiinae) from China.
AB  - Five new species of genus Thagria are described, illustrated and photographed: T.
      gansuensis sp. nov., T. menglana sp. nov., T. melanoloma sp. nov., T. incurvata
      sp. nov., and T. crena sp. nov.

PMID- 28610020
TI  - <i>Nososticta</i> <i>impercepta</i> sp. nov. (Odonata: Platycnemididae) from
      Timor, with a key to the Sundaic species.
AB  - Nososticta impercepta sp. nov. is described and illustrated (holotype ?:
      28.vi.1911, Niki-Niki [South Central Timor Regency], Timor, Indonesia, C.B.
      Haniel leg., Coll. Ris, No. 2477; deposited at the Forschungsinstitut und
      Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main, Germany). An illustrated key for the
      species of Nososticta known from the Lesser Sunda Islands is given. The
      occurrence of N. selysi in Timor is considered to be doubtful. Nososticta emphyla
      is newly recorded from Sumbawa Island.

PMID- 28610019
TI  - Four new species of <i>Callibaetis</i> Eaton (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae), nymphal
      description of <i>Callibaetis</i> (<i>Abaetetuba</i>) fasciatus (Pictet) and keys
      for South American species of <i>Callibaetis</i>.
AB  - The first phylogenetic study of Callibaetis Eaton indicated an unrevealed
      diversity in this genus, including four new species named as Callibaetis sp. A,
      B, C and D, and the undescribed nymph of Callibaetis (Abaetetuba) fasciatus
      (Pictet). Given that neither the nymph of C. (Ab.) fasciatus nor the four new
      species received a proper description, the objective of this study is to describe
      them. The nymph of C. (Ab.) fasciatus differs from the others species in the
      subgenus by the presence of one row of setae on basal part of inner-dorsal row of
      maxilla and metanotum without spines; Callibaetis sp. A is described as
      Callibaetis (Abaetetuba) cochlea sp. nov. and differs from the others species in
      the subgenus by having trapezoid segment III of labial palp in nymphs;
      Callibaetis sp. B is described as Callibaetis (Aiso) calophenigyn sp. nov. and
      differs from the others species in the subgenus by the absence of stout setae on
      dorsal surface of glossa in nymphs, and from the others species in the genus by
      the forewing with red C and Sc areas in female imago; Callibaetis sp. D is
      described as Callibaetis (Callibaetis) molinerii sp. nov. and differs from the
      others species in the subgenus, from South America, by the maxilla with tuft of
      stout setae on outer margin proximad of palp insertion and paraglossa without row
      of stout setae on ventral surface; Callibaetis sp. C is described as Callibaetis
      (Cunhaporanga) imperator sp. nov. and differs from the others species in the
      subgenus by the presence of a complete row of setae on outer margin of maxilla.
      Additionally, new keys for species of Callibaetis from South America are
      proposed.

PMID- 28610021
TI  - Catochini, Strobliellini and Acoenoniini revisited: a taxonomic review of the
      small tribes of the Micromyinae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae).
AB  - The taxonomy of Catochini, Strobliellini and Acoenoniini, three species-poor
      tribes of the subfamily Micromyinae, is reviewed on the basis of new material
      from Europe and Japan. In the Catochini, the genus Anocha Pritchard stat. rev. is
      revived from synonymy with Catocha Haliday and shown to include eight species,
      five of which are new: Anocha glabra sp. nov. (Sweden), A. grytsjoenensis sp.
      nov. (Sweden), A. japonica sp. nov. (Japan), A. moraviensis sp. nov. (Czech
      Republic), and A. vernalis sp. nov. (Sweden). Anocha minuta (Jaschhof),
      originally described in the genus Catarete Edwards, and Catocha brachycornis
      (Spungis & Jaschhof), previously classified in the genus Strobliella Kieffer,
      tribe Strobliellini, are new combinations. In the Acoenoniini, new species
      described are Acoenonia baltica sp. nov. (Sweden, Latvia) and A. ulleviensis sp.
      nov. (Sweden). The female of Groveriella Mamaev (tribe Strobliellini) is
      described for the first time. Keys are provided to the species of Anocha and
      Acoenonia Pritchard.

PMID- 28610022
TI  - Two new species of fungus gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) from Kunashir Island,
      Kuril Islands.
AB  - Two new species of Mycetophilidae (Diptera), Clastobasis subalternans sp. n. and
      Phthinia kurilensis sp. n. are described from Kunashir I. (South Kuril Is.).
      Their relationships with other species of Clastobasis Skuse and Phthinia Winnertz
      are briefly discussed.

PMID- 28610023
TI  - Type catalogue of Terebridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Conoidea) in the Natural
      History Museum, London, U.K.
AB  - The type collection of Terebridae in the Natural History Museum consists of 248
      lots. In order to clarify the type status of this material, an annotated
      alphabetic list by species is provided. The format includes the original citation
      for each species, type locality, collector, label data, registration number,
      number of specimens, type status and remarks. Due to the actions of previous
      workers, fixation of lectotype by inference of holotype is given for 168 species.
      A bibliography of relevant publications is also provided.

PMID- 28610024
TI  - Speciation in fractured rock landforms: towards understanding the diversity of
      subterranean cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Nocticolidae: <i>Nocticola</i>) in Western
      Australia.
AB  - Three new species of subterranean cockroach of the genus Nocticola from the
      Pilbara region of Western Australia are described on morphological characters of
      males. Nocticola quartermainei n. sp., Nocticola cockingi n. sp. and Nocticola
      currani n. sp. occur in fractured rock landforms and have varying degrees of
      troglomorphies. Sequence divergence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit
      I (COXI) clearly demonstrated populations are reproductively isolated over very
      short distances for the highly troglomorphic Nocticola cockingi n. sp. and
      Nocticola currani n. sp. and conversely, there is less isolation within the same
      landforms for the less troglomorphic Nocticola quartermainei n. sp.

PMID- 28610025
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Gracixalus</i> (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae)
      from Mount Jinggang, southeastern China.
AB  - A new species, Gracixalus jinggangensis sp. nov., is described based on a series
      of specimens collected from Mount Jinggang, Jiangxi Province, southeastern China.
      The new species is distinguished from all other known congeners by the following
      combination of morphological characters: relatively small body size, SVL 27.9
      33.8 mm in nine males and 31.6 mm in a single female; upper eyelid and dorsum
      lacking spines; skin of dorsal and lateral surface of head, body and limbs rough
      with sparsely scattered with tubercles; ventral skin granular; tibiotarsal
      projection absent; finger webbing rudimentary; toes with moderately developed
      webbing; brown to beige above in life, with an inverse Y-shaped dark brown
      marking extending from the interorbital region to the middle of dorsum; males
      with a single, subgular vocal sac, barely visible nuptial pads with minute
      granules on the dorsal surface of the bases of first and second fingers. The new
      species is also genetically divergent from all other Gracixalus for which
      comparable 16S rRNA gene sequences are available. The discovery of Gracixalus
      jinggangensis sp. nov. represents the twelfth known species in the genus.

PMID- 28610026
TI  - A new genus of the tribe Aemodogryllini (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae,
      Aemodogryllinae) from China.
AB  - In this paper, a new genus Gymnaetoides gen. nov. is described for the new
      species Gymnaetoides testaceus sp. nov. from Zhejiang. Therefore, two new
      combinations of this genus result, including Gymnaetoides indivisus (Zhang & Liu,
      2009) comb. nov. and Gymnaetoides acutilobatus (Gorochov, 2010) comb. nov.. A key
      to the species of Gymnaetoides gen. nov. is provided.

PMID- 28610027
TI  - Two new species in the genus <i>Kolla</i> Distant (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae:
      Cicadellinae) from China, with DNA barcoding data.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Kolla from China, K. medsimilis and K. brevis spp.
      nov., are described and illustrated. Sequence data for the barcoding region of
      mitochondrial gene COI for these two new species were obtained and deposited in
      GenBank.

PMID- 28610028
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Mongolotettix</i> Rehn, 1928 from Hubei, China
      (Acrididae, Acridoidea, Orthoptera).
AB  - The genus Mongolotettix Rehn, 1928 is a small genus of family Adrididae. It has
      nine species discovered from the Far Eastern Asian countries, including China,
      Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Russia [Bolivar, 1898; Uvarov, 1914; Caudell, 1921;
      Chogsomzhav, 1974; Li et Lian, 1994; Wan, Ren et Zhang, 1998; Xie et Li, 2000,
      Kim et Kim 2005; Dong, et al, 2015; Shi et al, 2016; Storozhenko, 2016; Eades et
      al, 2017; Zhang et al, 2017]. In the present paper, we describe a new species of
      the genus from Hubei, China. Type specimens are deposited in the College of Plant
      Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, China.

PMID- 28610029
TI  - Type specimens and type localities of birds (Aves) collected during F. J. F.
      Meyen's circumnavigation in 1830-1832.
AB  - At least 32 bird species were described as new to science on the basis of
      material collected by Franz Meyen during his circumnavigation in 1830-1832. We
      identified the type specimens and determined the type localities of these
      species, which are currently housed in the Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin,
      Germany. Ardea longicollis Meyen, 1834, is identified as a senior synonym of
      Egretta eulophotes (Swinhoe, 1860), but is set aside as a nomen oblitum. The name
      of a Neotropical dove is corrected from Metriopelia ceciliae zimmeri (Peters,
      1937) to Metriopelia ceciliae gymnops (Chubb, 1917). A lectotype is designated
      for Nectarinia philippensis Meyen, 1834a.

PMID- 28610030
TI  - Two new troglobiont <i>Pygmarrhopalites</i> species of the <i>principalis</i>
      group (Collembola: Arrhopalitidae) from the West Caucasus.
AB  - Springtails of the principalis-group of the genus Pygmarrhopalites from the W
      Caucasian caves in Abkhazia are described: Pygmarrhopalites dbari sp. nov. from
      Psyrtskha Cave in Novy Afon and Pygmarrhopalites kovali sp. nov. from caves of
      Tsebelda Karst Massif. They differ from epigean relatives mainly by
      troglomorphies: reduced pigmentation, elongated appendages and modified foot
      complex. These new species as well as a great portion of endemic Caucasian
      speleofauna have highly restricted distribution and require protection. A new
      record of Arrhopalites abchasicus Vargovitsh, 2013 in Novoafonskaya Cave is
      added.

PMID- 28610031
TI  - A new species of clausophyid calycophoran siphonophore (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa),
      <i>Kephyes</i> <i>hiulcus</i> sp. nov., widely distributed throughout the world's
      oceans.
AB  - A new species of clausophyid siphonophore, Kephyes hiulcus sp. nov. is described.
      It can most easily be differentiated from its congener Kephyes ovata by the shape
      of the hydroecium in the anterior nectophore of the polygastric stage. This is
      open over the entire height of the nectophore in K. hiulcus sp. nov., and it is
      this character from which its specific name is derived. This species was found in
      the eastern and western Pacific Ocean, as well as the Celebes and Mediterranean
      Seas, indicating that this species is both relatively common and geographically
      widespread.

PMID- 28610032
TI  - <i>Tripylella</i> <i>australis</i> sp. nov. and <i>Tripyla</i> <i>setifera</i>
      Butschli 1873 (Nematoda: Triplonchida: Tripylidae) from Australia.
AB  - This paper describes a new species of Tripylella and gives a new record of
      Tripyla (family Tripylidae) in Australia, and provides a key to species in the
      genus Tripylella. Tripylella australis sp. nov. is characterized by having
      females with a long body (1804-1832 MUm), a=41-42, b= 4.4-4.5, c=10.3-11.3,
      c'=5.4-6.4 and V=51-54%, outer labial setae 13-14 MUm long and cephalic setae 3.7
      4.5 MUm long in one whorl, dorsal tooth posterior to two subventral teeth, tail
      tapering uniformly, and four single caudal setae on the dorsal part of the tail.
      Males are similar to females, and have a long body (1870-2014 MUm), a=50-55, b=
      4.7-4.9, c=11.3-11.4, c'=5.8-6.0 and T=53-56%, horn-shaped spicules, 36-38 MUm
      long, a straight gubernaculum 14-16 MUm in length, tail tapering almost
      uniformly, and four caudal setae on the dorsal part of the tail. A key for
      identification of Tripylella species is presented. Tripyla setifera Butschli 1873
      is recorded for the first time in Australia, and is re-described.

PMID- 28610033
TI  - Molecular approaches for blood meal analysis and species identification of
      mosquitoes (Insecta: Diptera: Culicidae) in rural locations in southern England,
      United Kingdom.
AB  - Thirty-four species of Culicidae are present in the UK, of which 15 have been
      implicated as potential vectors of arthropod-borne viruses such as West Nile
      virus. Identification of mosquito feeding preferences is paramount to the
      understanding of vector-host-pathogen interactions which, in turn, would assist
      in the control of disease outbreaks. Results are presented on the application of
      DNA barcoding for vertebrate species identification in blood-fed female
      mosquitoes in rural locations. Blood-fed females (n = 134) were collected in
      southern England from rural sites and identified based on morphological criteria.
      Blood meals from 59 specimens (44%) were identified as feeding on eight hosts:
      European rabbit, cow, human, barn swallow, dog, great tit, magpie and blackbird.
      Analysis of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mtDNA barcoding region and the
      internal transcribed spacer 2 rDNA region of the specimens morphologically
      identified as Anopheles maculipennis s.l. revealed the presence of An. atroparvus
      and An. messeae. A similar analysis of specimens morphologically identified as
      Culex pipiens/Cx. torrentium showed all specimens to be Cx. pipiens (typical
      form). This study demonstrates the importance of using molecular techniques to
      support species-level identification in blood-fed mosquitoes to maximize the
      information obtained in studies investigating host feeding patterns.

PMID- 28610034
TI  - <i>Diaphanosoma</i> Fischer, 1850 (Crustacea: Cladocera: Sididae) of Lake Turkana
      (East Africa), with the description of a new species of the genus.
AB  - Diaphanosoma turkanae sp. nov. is described from Lake Turkana (Kenya, East
      Africa). This species is the second Afrotropical endemic in the order Ctenopoda.
      It is characterized by a distinctive feature, the presence of an unusually small
      number of setae on the upper two-segmented antennal branch (exopodite); the
      proximal segment of the branch always bears three setae while the distal segment
      bears either six or seven setae. Morphologically the new species is most similar
      to D. orghidani Negrea, also occurring in Africa and presumably sharing an
      evolutionary affinity. D. turkanae sp. nov. co-occurs with two other species of
      the genus, D. lacustris Korinek and D. excisum Sars, which are briefly described
      here. Temperate-subtropical species of the genus Diaphanosoma penetrate far south
      along the Nile River system up to the equatorial and Ethiopian lakes and further
      southwards, often forming multi-species assemblages.

PMID- 28610035
TI  - <i>Leptobotia</i> <i>micra</i>, a new species of loach (Teleostei: Botiidae) from
      Guilin, southern China.
AB  - Leptobotia micra, new species, is described from the upper Li River (Pearl River
      basin) around Guilin in Guangxi province, southern China. The new species is
      evidently the smallest species of Leptobotia, with females of 45-46 mm SL bearing
      oocytes. It can be distinguished from all other species of Leptobotia by a
      combination of the following characters: no dark bars or dorsal saddles on body,
      a row of white dots along dorsal midline, 4+34 vertebrae, a predorsal distance of
      58.1-59.0% SL, eye diameter 1.8-2.0 % SL, pelvic fins not reaching anus, an
      emarginated caudal fin (length of median rays 1.3-1.4 times in length of lower
      lobe) and the anus positioned distinctly closer to anal-fin origin than to pelvic
      fin base.

PMID- 28610036
TI  - Checklist of Cerambycidae, Disteniidae and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) primary types
      of the Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - A checklist of the 1164 primary types of Cerambycidae, Disteniidae and Vesperidae
      (Coleoptera) deposited in the Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao
      Paulo, Brazil is provided. Lectotype designations for 97 species are proposed.

PMID- 28610037
TI  - <i>Digitonthophagus</i> Balthasar, 1959: taxonomy, systematics, and morphological
      phylogeny of the genus revealing an African species complex (Coleoptera:
      Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae).
AB  - The taxonomy and systematics of the genus Digitonthophagus Balthasar (Coleoptera:
      Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onthophagini) is revised. A detailed study of the
      male genitalia combined with external morphology suggests that the variability,
      previously recognized, for D. gazella is hiding a species complex within the
      Afrotropical region and the Arabian Peninsula. The current study recognizes 16
      species; 13 from the Afrotropical region and Arabian Peninsula and three from the
      eastern portion of the Saharo-Arabian region and the continental Indomalayan
      region. Species are organized into six species groups based on the results of the
      morphology-based phylogenetic analysis. The following 12 species are described as
      new: D. aksumensis Genier new species; D. biflagellatus Genier new species; D.
      dilatatus Genier new species; D. eucatta Genier new species; D. falciger Genier
      new species; D. fimator Genier new species; D. namaquensis Genier new species; D.
      petilus Genier new species; D. sahelicus Moretto new species; D. uks Genier new
      species; D. ulcerosus Genier new species; and D. viridicollis Genier new species.
      In order to stabilize nomenclature, lectotypes are designated for Scarabaeus
      bonasus Fabricius, 1775; Scarabaeus catta Fabricius, 1787, and Onthophagus
      gazella lusinganus d'Orbigny. A neotype is designated for Scarabaeus dorcas
      Olivier, 1789 whose status and synonymy need to be altered in order to clarify
      the status of Scarabaeus gazella auctorum, the widely introduced species with
      economic importance. A naming scheme is presented for the sclerites of the
      internal sac. External and male genitalia are illustrated and distribution maps
      are provided for each species.

PMID- 28610038
TI  - Morphological and genetic evolution in eastern populations of the
      <i>Macrhybopsis</i> <i>aestivalis</i> complex (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae), with
      the descriptions of four new species.
AB  - For many years the North American cyprinid fish Macrhybopsis aestivalis (common
      name: Speckled Chub) was regarded as a single widespread and morphologically
      variable species, occurring in rivers throughout much of the Mississippi Valley
      and geographically adjacent eastern Gulf slope drainages, west to the Rio Grande
      basin in Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. Eisenhour (1997) completed a
      morphological study of western populations of the Speckled Chub, the results of
      which appeared thereafter in published form (Eisenhour 1999, 2004). He
      demonstrated the existence of five valid species west of the Mississippi River
      (aestivalis, marconis, australis, tetranema, hyostoma), of which the name
      aestivalis was shown to be restricted to the population occurring in the Rio
      Grande and the geographically adjacent Rio San Fernando system, in northeastern
      Mexico. Eisenhour (2004) considered populations throughout the middle Mississippi
      Valley and its major tributaries to be a single morphologically variable species
      (hyostoma), and he also indicated that populations of Macrhybopsis from eastern
      Gulf slope drainages may represent a complex of species. Genetic confirmation of
      Eisenhour's conclusions regarding western species appeared in the publication by
      Underwood et al. (2003), who also showed that western populations of M. hyostoma,
      as presently recognized, are genetically much more complex than previously
      considered.     Meanwhile, the present authors were involved in a companion study
      of eastern populations of Macrhybopsis, for which a genetic summary of the
      eastern Gulf coast species was published by Mayden & Powers (2004). Based on
      their findings, four species were recognized from southeastern drainages
      (identified as species A-D), although no formal taxonomic descriptions were
      included. Their genetic data, in combination with meristic, morphometric and
      other morphological data presented herein, form the basis for a revised
      classification of eastern Macrhybopsis populations, including formal descriptions
      of the four new species from eastern Gulf coast drainages.

PMID- 28610039
TI  - A new limestone-dwelling leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: <i>Dixonius</i>) from Khao
      Sam Roi Yot massif, peninsular Thailand.
AB  - We describe Dixonius kaweesaki sp. nov. from Khao Daeng, a limestone mountain in
      Khao Sam Roi Yot massif, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, peninsular Thailand. It is
      diagnosed from all other species by a combination of maximal SVL of 41.6 mm; 12
      or 13 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; 24 longitudinal rows of ventrals
      across the abdomen; a continuous series of 9-11 precloacal pores in males, no
      pores in females; and two bold dark stripes from the snout to the base of the
      tail separated by a contrasting light vertebral stripe. It is the eighth species
      in the genus Dixonius. Lastly, we discuss the type locality of Phyllodactylus
      paviei, currently regarded as a junior subjective synonym of Dixonius siamensis.

PMID- 28610040
TI  - New data on the genus <i>Syndicus</i> Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae:
      Scydmaeninae) from Yunnan, southern China.
AB  - A new species of the ant-like stone beetle genus Syndicus Motschulsky, S.
      (Semisyndicus) long Zhou & Yin, sp. n., is described from Yunnan, southern China.
      New collecting data of Syndicus (s. str.) himalayanus Franz in China is provided.
      At present, eight Syndicus species are known to occur in China. An identification
      key and a distributional map for these species are presented.

PMID- 28610041
TI  - New species of <i>Diatrichalus</i> (Coleoptera: Lycidae) from New Guinea and the
      Moluccas.
AB  - The recently collected material of Diatrichalus Kleine, 1926 from New Guinea and
      the Moluccas was studied. Four new species are described: D. buruensis sp. n., D.
      manokwarensis sp. n., D. mindikensis sp. n., and D. robustus sp. n. The
      diagnostic morphological characters are described in detail and illustrated. New
      records of previously described species are reported from several localities in
      New Guinea and D. mancus (Kleine, 1926) is for the first time reported from the
      Australian continent. Some Diatrichalus have similar male genitalia and are
      considered as closely related. Despite supposed relationships, they differ in the
      presence of secondary elytral longitudinal costae, which have been traditionally
      used for the delimitation of genera in net-winged beetles.

PMID- 28610042
TI  - Three new species of Ecuadorian Rhinotragini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae).
AB  - Three new species of Rhinotragini are described from Ecuador: Paraeclipta
      ecuadorensis, Odontocera magnifica and Lygrocharis setosus.

PMID- 28610043
TI  - <i>Scapanoclypeus</i> <i>bicoloratus</i> new species from Hardap, Namibia
      (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Tanyproctini).
AB  - Scapanoclypeus Evans (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Tanyproctini) was
      established with Trichinopus aberrans Frey designated as its type species and
      included five additional species: S. testaceus Evans, S. carinatus Evans, S.
      cornutus Evans, S. brunneus Evans, and S. aulacocoleatus Evans. Scapanoclypeus,
      Trichinopus Waterhouse, and Oedanomerus Waterhouse are distinguished from other
      African Tanyproctini by their small size (12 mm or less), reduced mouthparts, and
      antennae with 8-10 antennomeres (Evans 1987). Species of Scapanoclypeus and
      Oedanomerus have simple claws without cleft or teeth at base, a slightly conical
      labrum, and a third antennomere that is equal in length to the fourth; while
      Trichinopus has bifid claws, a distinctly conical labrum with rounded end, and
      the third antennomere approximately as long as the fourth (Lacroix 2007). The
      antennal club of Scapanoclypeus is at least three times longer than the combined
      length of antennomeres I-IV and the clypeal surface at nearly a right angle in
      relation to the plane of the frons, while Oedanomerus has an antennal club about
      as long as the combined length of antennomeres I-IV and coplanar clypeal and
      frontal surfaces (Evans 1987; Lacroix 2007; Sehnal 2013). Scapanoclypeus was
      subsequently mentioned in Lacroix (2007), who re-drew the figures and adopted the
      key from Evans (1987). Three additional species have since been described from
      southern Africa: S. triapicalis Sehnal, S. sinepunctatus Sehnal, and S. hardap
      Sehnal (see Sehnal 2013, 2014).

PMID- 28610044
TI  - Erratum: AUGUSTO L. MONTOYA, ANTONIO RICARTE & MARTA WOLFF (2017) Two new species
      of Quichuana Knab (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the paramo ecosystems in Colombia.
      Zootaxa, 4244 (3): 390-402.

PMID- 28610045
TI  - A review of the leafhopper genus <i>Scaphoideus</i> (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae:
      Deltocephalinae) from Guangxi of China, with description of one new species.
AB  - Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is one of the China's richest regions in terms
      of biodiversity. Previously, only five species of the genus Scaphoideus Uhler
      have been reported from Guangxi. Here fifteen species of Scaphoideus from
      Guangxi, including one new species, are recognized: S. exsertus Li, S.
      albovittatus Matsumura, S. apicalis Li, S. bilineus Li, S. yuani Chen, Dai and
      Zhang, S. dentaedeagus Li and Wang, S. festivus Matsumura, S. kumamotonis
      Matsumura, S. maculatus Li, S. nigrigenatus Li, S. nigrisignus Li, S. palingus Li
      and Dai, S. yingjiangensis Wang and Li, S. zhoui Li and Xing and S.
      proxaprocessus sp. nov. Two new synonyms are revealed, Scaphoideus pristiophorus
      Kamitani and Hayashi, 2013 syn. nov., a junior synonym of Scaphoideus apicalis
      Li, 1999, and Scaphoideus spiculatus Viraktamath and Mohan, June 2004 syn. nov.,
      a junior synonym of Scaphoideus yingjiangensis Wang and Li, March 2004. The new
      species is described, and photographs of external habitus and male genitalia of
      all the species treated are also given along with a key to the species of the
      region.

PMID- 28610046
TI  - <i>Oxynoemacheilus</i> <i>hazarensis</i>, a new species from Lake Hazar in
      Turkey, with remarks on <i>O. euphraticus</i> (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).
AB  - Oxynoemacheilus hazarensis, new species, from Lake Hazar in the Turkish Tigris
      drainage, is distinguished from other Oxynoemacheilus in the Tigris drainage by
      having the combination of a slightly emarginate caudal fin, no suborbital groove
      in males, an incomplete lateral line, no scales on the back and flank in front of
      the anus, the maxillary barbel reaching beyond the middle of the eye, an incision
      in the middle of the upper lip, and the colour pattern on the flank mottled, not
      interrupted by an unpigmented zone along the lateral line. Oxynoemacheilus
      euphraticus from the Euphrates and Tigris drainages is a valid species: it is
      discussed and re-diagnosed against O. argyrogramma.

PMID- 28610047
TI  - Revisions of two poorly known species of <i>Opisthotropis</i> Gunther, 1872
      (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) with description of a new species from China.
AB  - The previous descriptions of Opisthotropis maxwelli Boulenger, 1914 and O.
      andersonii (Boulenger, 1888) were considered imperfect due to the limited number
      of specimens. This may in turn cause a problem for accurate species
      identification. In our study, the species boundaries of these two species were
      investigated using an integrative approach incorporating morphological characters
      and molecular phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial Cyt b gene of 26
      specimens of nine known Opisthotropis species collected from south-eastern China.
      Our results surprisingly revealed a new cryptic species, Opisthotropis
      shenzhenensis sp. nov., from Shenzhen and Dongguan, Guangdong Province, southern
      China. Further, we re-described O. maxwelli based on several specimens from
      Fujian and Guangdong, and O. andersonii based on a series of specimens from Hong
      Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, China. We provide an updated identification key to
      all described Opisthotropis species from China.

PMID- 28610048
TI  - The phytotelm tadpoles of <i>Microhyla</i> <i>arboricola</i> (Anura:
      Microhylidae) from Vietnam, with comments on reproductive biology and
      development.
AB  - The reproductive biology of Microhyla arboricola (Microhylidae) was studied in
      two regions of the southern Annamite Mountains in Vietnam. M. arboricola is an
      obligate phytotelm-breeder that reproduces in water-filled tree hollows in
      montane evergreen forests. Clutches are attached above the water level in the
      hollows and contain 5-37 pigmented, relatively large eggs. Larvae hatch at
      markedly advanced stages and develop in water until metamorphosis is completed.
      The developing tadpoles are obligately oophagous and feed on conspecific eggs and
      embryos. M. arboricola tadpoles differ from tadpoles of pond-dwelling Microhyla
      species in their external morphology (extremely long tails, dorsolateral position
      of the eyes, dark pigmentation), digestive tract morphology (large, extensible
      larval stomach and short intestine), and oral morphology. The larval
      chondrocranium and hyobranchiumof M. arboricola is described. M. arboricola
      shares its habitat with other hollow-breeding species of anurans. To date, M.
      arboricola is the only known arboreal species of the genus Microhyla that has a
      unique reproductive mode. The ecological niche of this species differs greatly
      from those occupied by other microhylids of Indochinese Peninsula.

PMID- 28610049
TI  - Redescription of immature stages of central European fireflies, Part 1:
      <i>Lampyris</i> <i>noctiluca</i> (Linnaeus, 1758) larva, pupa and notes on its
      biology (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Lampyrinae).
AB  - The mature larva of Lampyris noctiluca (Linnaeus, 1758) is redescribed and
      illustrated in detail, including scanning electron microscope images. Male and
      female pupae are briefly described, including notes on behaviour as well as light
      production of the immature stages. Observed structures, life cycle and behaviour
      of larvae and pupae are discussed.

PMID- 28610050
TI  - Two new species of Lamiinae, synonymies in Hemilophini, and corrections on the
      concept of four genera with transfers of three species (Coleoptera,
      Cerambycidae).
AB  - The differences between Lycidola Thomson, 1864 and Apeba Martins & Galileo, 1991
      are discussed, and a new concept proposed for both genera. Lycidola popeba
      Galileo & Martins, 2006 is transferred to Apeba. The authorship of Lycidola
      palliata nigrohumeralis (type species of Acabanga Martins & Galileo, 1991) is
      corrected. Hemilophus togatus sensu Haase (1892) and sensu Heyne & Taschenberg
      (1908) are excluded from the synonym of Apeba togata (Klug, 1825). Apeba herrerae
      sp. nov. is described from Bolivia, and a key to species of this genus is
      provided. Lycaneptia antiqua Waterhouse, 1880 (= Apeba antiqua) is synonymized
      with Saperda togata Klug, 1825 (= Apeba togata). Eranina tomentilla Mehl et al.,
      2015 and Tyrinthia humeralis Martins & Galileo, 2014) are synonymized with
      Tyrinthia reversa Bates, 1881 (= Icimauna reversa); I. reversa is recorded for
      the first time from Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. Icimauna macilenta (Bates,
      1881) is figured for the first time, and I. macilenta sensu Martins & Galileo
      (2014b) is Eraninella longiscapus (Bates, 1881). A key to species of Icimauna is
      provided. Oreodera clarkei sp. nov. is described from Bolivia. A key to species
      of Oreodera Audinet-Serville, 1835 recorded from Bolivia is provided. The
      differences between Hippopsis Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville, 1825 and Megacera
      Audinet-Serville, 1835 are summarized, and a new concept is proposed for each.
      Subsequently, Megacera rigidula Bates, 1866, and M. acuminata Galileo & Martins,
      2006 are transferred to Hippopsis.

PMID- 28610051
TI  - Description of a new species of clupeid fish, <i>Amblygaster</i> <i>indiana</i>
      (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae), off Eraviputhenthurai, west coast of India.
AB  - A new species, Amblygaster indiana sp. nov., is described from 12 specimens
      collected from fish landing centers and fish markets at Eraviputhenthurai, west
      coast of India. The new species can be differentiated from all other species of
      Amblygaster by its larger size and very deep body, 8 circular-shaped pre-pelvic
      scutes, different gill rakers counts, large eyes, 40 lateral scales, and peculiar
      gap between the left and right frontoparietal striae on the top of the head. The
      new species has been seasonally captured with A. sirm in Eraviputhenthurai and
      also other coastal waters of the south west coast of India. The proportions of A.
      indiana sp. nov. and A. sirm in fish catches are approximately 1 to 20. Gillnets
      and shore seines are used to catch Amblygaster spp. along the Eraviputhenthurai
      coast and along the coastal zones of south west coasts of India.

PMID- 28610052
TI  - Notes and descriptions on North American Desmiphorini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae,
      Lamiinae).
AB  - The differences between Estoloides Breuning, 1940, Tigrinestola Breuning, 1949,
      and Pseudestoloides Breuning & Heyrovsky, 1961 are discussed. A lectotype for
      Lypsimena tigrina Skinner, 1905 is designated. A new genus and two new species
      are described from Mexico: Tigrinestola nearnsi sp. nov., and Allotigrinestola
      sundbergi, gen. nov., sp. nov. A key to the four genera treated in this work, as
      well as to species of Tigrinestola are presented.

PMID- 28610053
TI  - A new species and records of <i>Anacroneuria</i> (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from the
      Ecological Station, Wenceslau Guimaraes, State of Bahia, Brazil.
AB  - We studied specimens of the perlid genus Anacroneuria collected at the Ecological
      Station, Wenceslau Guimaraes, State of Bahia, Brazil. A list of Anacroneuria
      species is provided including a description of a new species, A. patioba n. sp.,
      and a new record is given for A. paprockii Novaes & Bispo, 2014.

PMID- 28610054
TI  - A new species of gall midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) attacking jujube,
      <i>Ziziphus</i> <i>jujuba</i> in China.
AB  - Dasineura jujubifolia Jiao & Bu, sp. nov., a gall midge feeding on jujube,
      Ziziphus jujuba Miller (Rhamnaceae), a fruit tree cultivated extensively in large
      areas of China, is described and illustrated based on specimens collected from
      Alar (Xinjiang, China). The new gall midge species causes rolled leaf galls on
      Ziziphus jujuba in Northwestern China. Brief notes on the biology of the jujube
      gall midge are given.

PMID- 28610055
TI  - Two new species of <i>Amphinemura</i> (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from Tibet.
AB  - Two new species of the nemourid genus Amphinemura are described based on recent
      material collected from the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The new taxa
      include A. chayuensis sp. nov. and A. hexalobata sp. nov., the latter species is
      respresented by both sexes. The new species are compared to related taxa.

PMID- 28610056
TI  - A new asterocherid genus (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) associated with
      <i>Callyspongia</i> Duchassaing & Michelotti and reassessment of six species of
      <i>Asterocheres</i> Boeck.
AB  - The family Asterocheridae Giesbrecht has several genera associated with sponges
      including Asterocheres Boeck, 1859. The type genus is commonly found in sponges
      but it is also recorded in echinoderms, bryozoans, and corals. A revision of the
      diagnosis of Asterocheres conducted in 2010 was the beginning of a reorganization
      process, culminating in the present status of 63 valid species. This study
      describes a new species and genus of the Asterocheridae. Neoasterocheres gen.
      nov. shares many characteristics with Asterocheres sensu stricto, except for the
      antennule segmentation which shows ancestral segments IX-XII fused to segment
      XIII. The new species of Neoasterocheres gen. nov. was found in association with
      the sponge Callyspongia sp. sampled at the Yatch Club Bay, located in Todos-os
      Santos Bay, Salvador city, Bahia State, Brazil. A revision of the Asterocheres
      sensu stricto indicates that A. enewetakensis Humes, 1997, A. dysideae Humes,
      1996b, A. humesi Varela, 2012, A. rotundus Malt, 1991, A. scutatus Stock, 1966,
      and A. serrulatus (Humes, 1996a) share this fusion and therefore should be
      transferred to the new genus. A redescription of Neoasterocheres serrulatus n.
      comb. is also provided, based on the examination of type specimens.

PMID- 28610057
TI  - <i>Cyphocharax</i> <i>boiadeiro</i>, a new species from the upper rio Araguaia,
      Amazon basin, Brazil (Characiformes: Curimatidae).
AB  - Cyphocharax boiadeiro, new species, is described from the upper rio Araguaia, a
      tributary of the Amazon basin in central Brazil. The new species is readily
      distinguished from its congeners by the presence of a distinct longitudinal dark
      stripe from supracleithrum to the caudal peduncle and by a combination of
      morphometric, meristic, and pigmentation features. Morphological characters
      supporting putative subunits of Cyphocharax are also discussed.

PMID- 28610058
TI  - A new species of <i>Aplectana</i> (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) parasite of
      <i>Pleurodema</i> <i>nebulosum</i> (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from the Monte
      desert, Argentina, with a key to Neotropical species of the genus
      <i>Aplectana</i>.
AB  - Here we describe a new cosmocercid nematode, Aplectana nebulosa sp. nov., from
      the small and large intestines of Pleurodema nebulosum (Anura: Leptodactylidae),
      from the Monte desert of San Juan, Argentina. The new species belongs to the
      Aplectana group that possesses a gubernaculum and unpaired adcloacal papilla
      anteriorly to cloaca. It resembles A. membranosa, A. paraelenae and A. travassosi
      by the presence of four adcloacal papillae, but differs from those species by the
      following characters: number and arrangement of precloacal papillae; number and
      arrangement of postcloacal papillae; shape and size of spicules and gubernaculum,
      and by the presence of lateral alae in caudal region of males. The description of
      the new species is based on light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM) and we also provide a key to Neotropical species of Aplectana.

PMID- 28610059
TI  - <i>Coeliccia</i> <i>mientrung</i> spec. nov. from Central Vietnam (Odonata:
      Platycnemididae).
AB  - Coeliccia mientrung spec. nov. is described from central Vietnam. Detailed
      differences from the very similar C. pyriformis Laidlaw, 1932, are provided. The
      female of C. pyriformis is described for the first time.

PMID- 28610060
TI  - A stonefly species extinct in Europe (<i>Taeniopteryx</i> <i>araneoides</i>
      Klapalek, 1902, Taeniopterygidae, Plecoptera) is thriving in the Irtysh River in
      West Siberia and North Kazakhstan.
AB  - Taeniopteryx araneoides Klapalek, 1902, a stonefly species with brachypterous
      males, known historically from the Danube, Elbe, and Dniester rivers, but
      considered to be extinct at least in Europe for more than a century. This species
      has also been doubtfully reported from Krasnoyarsk, Central Siberia. However, we
      report this species to be still thriving in the Irtysh River at the cities of
      Omsk (West Siberia, Russia) and Pavlodar (North Kazakhstan). The occurrence of
      this species reported least fifty years ago from the Yenisey River at
      Krasnoyarsk, Russia is considered possible. Unlike the widespread Palaearctic T.
      nebulosa (Linnaeus, 1758) that occurs in a broad range of stream types, T.
      araneoides is a potomon species, apparently confined to large rivers. In this
      habitat, it appears vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts and may be unable to
      compete with T. nebulosa. The construction of dams and reservoirs has apparently
      extirpated T. araneoides from most of its former geographical range.

PMID- 28610061
TI  - Review of the <i>Alompra</i> <i>ferruginea</i> Moore, 1872 complex with
      description of a new species from Taiwan (Lepidoptera, Lasiocampidae).
AB  - The present study reviews the Alompra ferruginea Moore, 1872 group. A. ferruginea
      bidiensis Tams, 1953 (TL: Borneo) and A. ferruginea cerastes Tams, 1953 (TL:
      Mindanao) are both raised to bona species level. The population of Taiwan is
      described as a new species, A. yibinfani sp. nov. The lectotype of A. ferruginea
      is designated from BMNH, the holotype of A. ferruginea cerastes is designated
      from USNM. A. ferruginea is listed here from Vietnam for the first time.

PMID- 28610062
TI  - Two new species of freshwater, cave-dwelling crabs of the genus
      <i>Neostrengeria</i> Pretzmann, 1965, from Colombia (Crustacea: Decapoda:
      Pseudothelphusidae).
AB  - Two new species of freshwater crabs of the pseudothelphusid genus Neostrengeria
      Pretzmann, 1965, N. fernandezi n. sp., and N. lassoi n. sp., are described. The
      genus is endemic to the eastern Andes of Colombia. Neostrengeria fernandezi was
      collected in Las Cacas cave, Pauna, Boyaca Department and N. lassoi in a stream
      within Los Aviones cave, La Guadalupe, Santander Department, within the cave as
      well as in a waterfall outside the cave. With the addition of N. fernandezi and
      N. lassoi the total number of species of the genus Neostrengeria increases to 27.
      Like all others species of Neostrengeria, the new species are distinguished
      primarily by the morphology of the first male gonopod, particularly by the form
      of lateral, accessory and mesial lobes, outline of the apex, and the mesio-caudal
      projection of the spermatic channel.

PMID- 28610063
TI  - <i>Bellendenker</i> gen. nov., a new Australian genus of Glandulariini
      (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae).
AB  - Bellendenker palpalis gen. et sp. nov. is described based on specimens collected
      in northeastern Australia. The genus is unique among glandulariine Scydmaeninae
      in strikingly elongated labial palps, which are longer than the labium; no
      modifications of labial palps have been known so far in this large tribe.
      Bellendenker is most similar to the Australian genus Scydmaenozila Jaloszynski,
      they share similar thoracic structures. Numerous differences in cephalic
      characters can be used to distinguish these genera; moreover, adults of
      Bellendenker are wingless and have reduced structures of the elytral base.
      Fourteen genera of Glandulariini (plus one of unclear status, known only from
      original description) are currently known to occur in Australia, eight being
      endemic to this continent.

PMID- 28610064
TI  - Two new species of <i>Jogocerus</i> Viraktamath (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae:
      Idiocerinae) from China.
AB  - Two new species, Jogocerus concavus sp. nov. and J. viraktamathi sp. nov. are
      described and illustrated. The genus Jogocerus is redescribed together with a
      checklist and key to species for the separation of males.

PMID- 28610065
TI  - A new species of <i>Deltaspis</i> Audinet-Serville (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae:
      Cerambycinae) from Mexico.
AB  - As currently defined, the genus Deltaspis Audinet-Serville, 1834, contains 16
      species ranging in distribution from the southwestern United States to eastern
      Mexico. However, the generic distinction between Deltaspis and its closely allied
      genera, such as Crossidius LeConte, 1851 and Muscidora Thomson, 1864, is in need
      of clarification. According to Audinet-Serville, Deltaspis is so named due to its
      distinctive triangular scutellum (i.e., Deltaepsilontaualpha, delta,
      alphasigmapiiotazeta ecusson), which is actually a commonly shared character of
      all these genera. Members of the tribe Trachyderini Dupont (1836), which includes
      the above genera, also have mandibles with an emarginate-truncate apex with the
      edge chisel-like or bifid. This modification of mouthpart appears to be for
      consumption of pollen and/or petals from composite flowers visited by the adult
      beetles (Krenn et al., 2005; Beierl & Barchet-Beierl, 1999). Other genera from
      this tribe with this modification of mandibles from North America, and mostly
      from Mexico, include: Chemsakiella Monne, 2006, Giesbertia Chemsak & Linsley,
      1984, Hoegea Bates, 1885, Neocrossidius Chemsak, 1959, Paroxoplus Chemsak, 1959,
      Plionoma Casey, 1912, Schizax LeConte, 1873, and Tylosis LeConte, 1850. The
      remainder of Trachyderini genera have unmodified or simple mandibles with apex
      acute.

PMID- 28610066
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Xya</i> Latreille, 1809 (Orthoptera,
      Tridactyloidea, Tridactylidae) from Sichuan, China.
AB  - A new species Xya leshanensis sp. nov. of the genus Xya Latreille, 1809 from
      Sichuan, China is described in this paper. It is similar to Xya nitobei (Shiraki,
      1913), but differs from latter by apical part of antennae joint almost as same as
      basal part in width; width of pronotum 1.25 times its length; hind wing long,
      extending over the end of abdomen distinctly; hind femur with four small
      yellowish-white spots on upper side; epiproct with a pair of large spines
      laterally directed on posterior angle, apical half narrow distinctly. Type
      specimens are deposited in the College of Life Science, Leshan Normal University,
      Leshan 614004, China.

PMID- 28610067
TI  - Two new species of <i>Allophrys</i> Forster from the Oriental Region
      (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Tersilochinae).
AB  - Two species of Allophrys Forster are described from the Oriental region, A.
      cantonensis Reshchikov& Yue, sp. nov., collected from Guangdong, China and A.
      falcatus Reshchikov,  sp. nov. from Davao, Philippines. This is first record of
      the genus from China. A key to the Oriental species of the genus is provided.

PMID- 28610068
TI  - New data on the Pterophoridae fauna of Liberia (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae).
AB  - There have been no special studies on plume moths of Liberia until recently. In
      the World Catalogue of Insects (Gielis 2003) only two species are reported from
      Liberia: Agdistis tamaricis (Zeller, 1847) and Megalorhipida leucodactyla
      (Fabricius, 1794) despite its well-known richness for other Lepidoptera groups
      (Fox et al. 1965, Larsen 2005) and its biogeographic position in the centre of
      the Upper Guinean biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000).

PMID- 28610069
TI  - The genus <i>Leucophenga</i> (Diptera, Drosophilidae), part VII: the
      <i>subpollinosa </i>species group from China, with morphological and molecular
      evidence.
AB  - Seventeen species of Leucophenga subpollinosa species group are described from
      China (including 11 new species): L. argentina (de Meijere, 1924); L. flavicosta
      Duda, 1926; L. formosa Okada, 1987; L. nigroscutellata Duda, 1924; L.
      subpollinosa (de Meijere, 1914); L. umbratula Duda, 1924; L. aculeata sp. nov.;
      L. acuticauda sp. nov.; L. cultella sp. nov.; L. cyclophylla sp. nov.; L.
      flaviclypeata sp. nov.; L. fuscipedes sp. nov.; L. gracilenta sp. nov.; L.
      latipenis sp. nov.; L. magnicauda sp. nov.; L. rhombura sp. nov.; L. rugatifolia
      sp. nov. A key to all examined species of the subpollinosa group in the present
      study is provided. The phylogenetic relationships among the 17 species of the
      subpollinosa group are reconstructed by NJ (Neighbor-joining) and Bayesian
      analyses using 98 DNA sequences of COI (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) gene. The
      pairwise intra- and interspecific p-distances of aforementioned sequences are
      summarized.

PMID- 28610070
TI  - Five new species of the genus <i>Tetroxyrhina</i> Hendel from China (Diptera,
      Lauxaniidae).
AB  - Five species of the genus Tetroxyrhina Hendel from China are described as new to
      science: Tetr. dashahensis sp. nov., Tetr. dentata sp. nov., Tetr. jinpingensis
      sp. nov., Tetr. menglunensis sp. nov. and Tetr. tengchongensis sp. nov., and the
      species Tetr. sauteri (Hendel), also from China, is redescribed. The genitalia of
      these species are illustrated and described. Trigonometopus alboapicalis
      Shatalkin, is synonymized under Tetr. sauteri, syn. nov. A key to separate all
      species of the genus is provided, along with nomenclatural details for all
      species, and photographs of all primary type specimens.

PMID- 28610071
TI  - Error cascade in taxonomy: The case of <i>Cardiomya</i> <i>perrostrata</i>
      (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Cuspidariidae) in Brazilian waters.
AB  - Successions of erroneous taxonomic identifications in biodiversity studies are an
      undesirable but not rare phenomenon. Such cascades of errors frequently involve
      taxa with few, polymorphic diagnostic characters, such as representatives of the
      cuspidariid genus Cardiomya. Four species of the genus are believed to live in
      Brazilian waters: C. cleryana (d'Orbigny, 1842), C. ornatissima (d'Orbigny,
      1853), C. striata (Jeffreys, 1876) and C. perrostrata (Dall, 1881). Many reported
      occurrences of these species are based on misidentifications, but the error
      cascade of incorrect records of C. perrostrata is by far the most extensive.
      Although the species has been reported to live in Brazilian waters for about half
      a century, all previous records seem to be based on a succession of mistaken
      identifications. This paper redescribes C. perrostrata based on an analysis of
      the type series, several lots of museum vouchers and new material collected in
      the Campos Basis (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Ontogenetic changes in shell outline
      and ultrastructural details of the hinge plate, periostracal surface and larval
      shell are described and illustrated for the first time. Based on a critical
      appraisal of the literature, we present an updated geographic and bathymetric
      distribution of the species. Cardiomya perrostrata displays a gradual increase in
      the relative length of the rostrum during its ontogeny and in larger specimens
      the rostrum is more prominently curved upwards. The larval shell is of type 2D,
      measuring about 215-235 MUm in length. The periostracum is minutely pitted and a
      lithodesma is present. Its distribution is Western Atlantic, ranging from 42
      degrees N to 30 degrees S, in depths of 18 to 1646-1829 m. Cardiomya knudseni
      (Allen & Morgan, 1981), a possibly related amphi-Atlantic species whose type
      material has been lost, is regarded herein as a nomen dubium.

PMID- 28610072
TI  - Taxonomic review of <i>Stictophaula</i> (Orthoptera: Phaneropterinae) with the
      description of one new species from Brunei Darussalam.
AB  - Stictophaula Hebard, 1922 is a genus of katydid from the subfamily
      Phaneropterinae, and most similar to Arnobia Stal, 1876. A review of the genus
      Stictophaula reveals 26 species from Southeast Asia. One new species,
      Stictophaula bruneii sp. nov., is described from Brunei Darussalam. Nomenclature
      change is also verified: Arnobia ocellata comb. nov. An illustrated key to
      species is presented.

PMID- 28610073
TI  - New or little-known species of <i>Chaetocladius</i> s. str. Kieffer, 1911
      (Diptera: Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae) from the Amur River basin (Russian Far
      East).
AB  - Chironomids of the subgenus Chaetocladius s. str. from the Amur River basin are
      revised using both morphological characters and molecular data. Three new
      species, C. egorych sp. nov., C. lopatinskiy sp. nov. and C. yavorskayae sp.
      nov., are described and figured. The pupa of C. fedotkin is described for the
      first time. Adult males of C. ligni and C. piger, little-known in the Far East,
      are redescribed and annotated, and key to males of the Chaetocladius s. str. from
      the Amur River basin is provided. A reference 658 bp barcode sequence from a
      fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) was used as a tool
      for species delimitation. Comparisons with corresponding regions of COI between 5
      species in the subgenus produced K2P genetic distances of 8.3-12.6%, values well
      associated with interspecific variation. Molecular data were also used for the
      reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships within the subgenus
      Chaetocladius s. str.

PMID- 28610074
TI  - Taxonomy should be more photography based-eliminate need of physical specimen to
      study morphology.
AB  - Recently, a new species of Diptera was described without preserving a type
      specimen (Evenhuis & Masrshall 2015). This publication caused controversy among
      taxonomists, of which many urged to restrict image-based descriptions to
      exceptional cases and insisted on the need to preserve specimens for future
      reproducibility of observations (Ceriaco et al. 2016; Krell 2016). I agree that
      type material is important in taxonomy for studying features that could not be
      captured on images. However, in the modern digital era, the need for actual
      specimen to study morphology can be circumvented.

PMID- 28610075
TI  - Photography-based taxonomy: Is it necessary to reform the <i>Code</i>, and what
      that exactly means?
AB  - A recent series of papers, and rebuttals, regarding Photography-based taxonomy
      (PBT) (Pape et al. 2016, Krell et al. 2016, Ceriaco et al. 2016, Thorpe 2017) has
      raised much controversy and discussion about the practice of describing new
      species without preserved type specimens. Although there has been thoughtful
      discussion upon this issue, there is still much misunderstanding, especially
      regarding the idea of changing parts of the International Code of Zoological
      Nomenclature (ICZN 1999) to regulate this practice.

PMID- 28610076
TI  - Reinstatement of <i>Spirostreptus</i> <i>kandyanus</i> Humbert, 1865 and deletion
      of <i>Thyropygus</i> <i>allevatus</i> (Karsch, 1881) and <i>Sphaeropoeus</i>
      <i>hercules</i> (Brandt, 1833) in the checklist of Sri Lankan Diplopoda.
AB  - The Diplopoda have been studied for some 250 years, but until the later part of
      the nineteenth century most descriptions were rather cursory and neither the
      species concept nor type concept were well established (Hoffman 2009). Even for
      well-explored regions like Europe, the description of the Diplopoda saw a
      proliferation of synonyms (Enghoff 1976) while the complexity of Diplopoda
      systematics was severely underestimated until very recently (Brewer et al. 2012).

PMID- 28610077
TI  - Two bathyal hydroids (Hydrozoa: Leptothecata) from the Southwest Indian Ocean.
AB  - Two species of hydroids were recovered from a mooring rope and experimentally
      deployed whale bone attached to an underwater transponder buoy at a depth of 732
      m on the Coral Seamount on the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge (41 degrees  22.31'S,
      54 degrees  57'E) in the Southern Indian Ocean. The material was collected
      approximately 1,500 km south south-east of Madagascar during Voyage JC066 of the
      British Royal Research Ship R.R.S. James Cook on 20/11/2011. Hydroids were
      collected from the mooring rope and whale bone on board the ship after underwater
      retrieval by ROV.

PMID- 28610078
TI  - A new species of <i>Priochilus</i> Banks, 1944 (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae,
      Pompilinae) from Panama.
AB  - Priochilus chrysopygus Wasbauer, Cambra & Anino sp. nov. based on both sexes is
      described and illustrated. This new species is related to P. splendidulus
      (Fabricius). A short synopsis of biology in the genus Priochilus is given.

PMID- 28610079
TI  - Description of a new genus of Elaphidiini with two new species (Coleoptera,
      Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae).
AB  - Elaphidiini Thomson, 1864 is a large tribe of Cerambycidae composed of 92 genera
      with species distributed from Canada to southern South America. Lingafelter
      (1998) performed a generic level phylogenetic analysis of the tribe and provided
      a key to the known genera. According to Lingafelter, Elaphidiini is characterized
      as follows: mesally-spined antenna (lost in some taxa), narrow metepisternum with
      a centrally positioned keel, strongly sclerotized below and membranous above;
      prosternal process between procoxae slightly to strongly expanded at apex (rarely
      linear and unexpanded); terminal palpomeres much wider at apex than base; and
      coarsely faceted eyes (with few exceptions).

PMID- 28610080
TI  - Revision of the <i>Ephippiochthonius</i> complex in the Iberian Peninsula,
      Balearic Islands and Macaronesia, with proposed changes to the status of the
      <i>Chthonius</i> subgenera (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae).
AB  - A taxonomic revision of the subgenus Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) in the Iberian
      Peninsula, Balearic Islands and    Macaronesia is presented. New and previously
      insufficiently studied characteristics are shown to be taxonomically useful, such
      as the chelal lyrifissures patterns, chaetotaxy and condylar complex. Three taxa
      previously treated as subgenera of Chthonius are here raised to generic rank:
      Ephippiochthonius n. stat., Globochthonius n. stat., and Hesperochthonius n.
      stat. Two new genera are described: Cantabrochthonius n. gen. and
      Occidenchthonius n. gen. Thirty-five new species are described: Ephippiochthonius
      aini n. sp., E. andalucia n. sp., E. aurouxi n. sp., E. benimaquia n. sp., E.
      caceresi n. sp., E. castellonensis n. sp., E. comasi n. sp., E. fadriquei n. sp.,
      E. galcerani n. sp., E. gonzalezi n. sp., E. henderickxi n. sp., E. ibiza n. sp.,
      E. masoae n. sp., E. portugalensis n. sp., E. riberai n. sp., E. serengei n. sp.,
      E. sevai n. sp., E. tarraconensis n. sp., E. vicenae n. sp., E. zaballosi n. sp.,
      Occidenchthonius anae n. sp., O. beieri n. sp., O. ebo n. sp., O. felgueraorum n.
      sp., O. gardinii n. sp., O. hoerwegi n. sp., O. lencinai n. sp., O. mahnerti n.
      sp., O. mateui n. sp., O. montagudi n. sp., O. murcia n. sp., O. oromii n. sp.,
      O. ortunoi n. sp., O. riopar n. sp. and O. serranoi n. sp. A neotype is
      designated for Ephippiochthonius catalonicus (Beier, 1939), n. comb. As result of
      the changes in generic rank, 45 new combinations for species are proposed.

PMID- 28610081
TI  - A checklist of the oribatid mite species (Acari: Oribatida) of Brazil.
AB  - A checklist of the oribatid mite species reported in Brazil is presented,
      including all published records up to 2015. A total of 576 described species in
      206 genera and 83 families is presented. Information includes the names by which
      each species was reported in the Brazilian literature, its general known
      distribution and by Brazilian States, references, and remarks, when needed. As
      with most countries, there was a slow early accumulation of knowledge but in
      recent decades the pace of description has been relatively high. A graphical
      overview of the number of described oribatid mite species from Brazil in
      different decades is given. The proportion contributed by each of the major
      oribatid groups is generally similar to that of the overall world fauna, with a
      composition that reflects the South American fauna and all of the Neotropics in
      general. There is a relatively low percentage of primitive mites (Palaeosomata,
      Enarthronota) other than Lohmanniidae and Mesoplophoridae, which are quite
      diverse. The Brachypylina comprises about 68% of the oribatid mite fauna. In the
      checklist, 41% of the species are known only from Brazil, 37% from the
      Neotropical region, 13.5% have a wider distribution in the global tropical and
      subtropical regions, and 8.5% are considered cosmopolitan or semicosmopolitan
      species. The number of descriptions of new species since 2000 from Brazil (73
      spp.) and South America (230) is high, but the oribatid mite fauna of these
      countries remains poorly known. Only continued studies can determine if the high
      number of species known only from Brazil is an indication of high endemism.

PMID- 28610082
TI  - Review of the genus <i>Zeugomutilla</i> Chen, 1957 (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae,
      Mutillini), with description of two new species.
AB  - Eight species of Zeugomutilla Chen, 1957 are reviewed. Zeugomutilla angkorensis
      Williams, sp. nov. (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam) and Z. pangi Lelej, sp. nov.
      (China: Hainan) are described and illustrated. A new combination is proposed for
      Z. spinulosa (Andre, 1898), comb. nov. (from Pristomutilla Ashmead, 1903).
      Zeugomutilla bainbriggei (Turner, 1911) and Z. horni (Andre, 1907) are newly
      recorded from India (Tamil Nadu), Z. pycnopyga Chen, 1957 is newly recorded from
      Thailand, and Z. saepes (Chen, 1957) from Cambodia and Thailand. An updated
      diagnosis of the genus and key to males and females are given.

PMID- 28610083
TI  - Notoaturine water mites from New Zealand (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Notoaturinae) with
      the description of five new species.
AB  - The following new notoaturine species from New Zealand are described in this
      paper: Paratryssaturus stewartensis n. sp., Planaturus pileatus n. sp., P.
      serratus n. sp., Taintaturus indentatus n. sp. and T. longipileatus n. sp.
      Paratryssaturus morimotoi (Imamura, 1979) is synonymized with P. minutus. A key
      is given for the genus Taintaturus Cook. Numerous new records are given,
      including the first for Stewart Island.

PMID- 28610084
TI  - Three new species of the sucking louse genus <i>Hoplopleura</i> (Phthiraptera:
      Anoplura: Hoplopleuridae) from rodents (Mammalia: Rodentia: Muridae) in northern
      Australia.
AB  - Three new species of the rodent louse genus Hoplopleura (Anoplura:
      Hoplopleuridae) are described and illustrated from Australia: H. melomydis new
      species from Melomys burtoni (Muridae: Hydromyini, grassland melomys) and M.
      capensis (Muridae: Hydromyini, Cape York melomys) from Queensland; H. notomydis
      new species and H. setosa new species from Notomys alexis (Muridae: Hydromyini,
      spinifex hopping mouse) from the Northern Territory. These new louse species are
      the first lice recorded from each of the three host rodent species.

PMID- 28610085
TI  - Revision of the genus <i>Nybelinella</i> (Teleostei, Bythitidae) with a new
      Atlantic, abyssal species.
AB  - The genus Nybelinella belongs to the aphyonid clade within the Bythitidae. This
      mainly abyssal genus is known from 30 specimens. The present revision is based on
      24 specimens, of which a scientific examination of four specimens has been
      published earlier. As a consequence, the generic diagnosis from Nielsen et al.
      (1999) is here modified. Of the 24 specimens 22 are referred to N. erikssoni
      (Nybelin, 1957), one to N. brevidorsalis Shcherbachev, 1976 and one to a new
      species, N. brevianalis n. sp., herein described.

PMID- 28610086
TI  - Comments on "A new deep-water Astyris species (Buccinoidea: Columbellidae) from
      the southeastern Pacific" by Araya <i>et al.</i> 2016.
AB  - The aim of this note is to clarify some aspects posed by Araya et al. (2016) in
      the description of the columbellid gastropod Astyris atacamensis for northern
      Chile, and also to complement it for providing further insight on important
      ecological aspects of the genus Astyris in the SE Pacific. Araya et al. (2016)
      fill an important gap, describing a species that in my opinion is important in
      many aspects, yet, they fail in connecting this new species with previous work in
      which this taxon has been mentioned. Araya et al. (2016) indicate that the genus
      has not been previously reported for the SE Pacific; however, Levin et al.
      (2002a) already mention finding Astyris permodesta (Dall, 1890) off Callao, Peru
      (~12 degrees S). Astyris permodesta, originally described for the coast of
      California, is currently accepted under the genus Alia (Monsecour 2015). Although
      we still cannot confirm, most probably future analysis will prove that A.
      permodesta reported for Peru by Levin et al. (2002a) corresponds indeed to the
      new species Astyris atacamensis. Future work should elucidate the definitive
      placement of this species in either Alia or Astyris, but hereafter I will
      indistinctly use Astyris.

PMID- 28610087
TI  - Clarification of the type locality of the Curl-crested Aracari <i>Pteroglossus
      beauharnaesii</i> Wagler, 1832 (Aves: Ramphastidae).
AB  - The Curl-crested Aracari Pteroglossus beauharnaesii Wagler, 1832 is one of the
      most remarkable species in the family Ramphastidae. Among other distinctive
      plumage traits, its modified curly, shiny black crown feathers are unique in the
      family and are modified to an extent not found in any other living bird species
      (Brush 1967; Short & Horne 2002). The crown feathers, along with the distinct
      white throat, were considered sufficient justification in the past to include the
      species in the monotypic genus Beauharnaisius Bonaparte; however, molecular
      studies have shown that it is embedded within the genus Pteroglossus Illiger,
      sister to P. bitorquatus (Hackett & Lehn 1997; Eberhard & Bermingham 2005;
      Pereira & Wajntal 2008). It is a southern Amazonian species, occurring in the
      lowlands of northern Peru, north and central Bolivia and western and central
      Amazonian Brazil, south of the Maranon-Solimoes-Amazonas rivers (Short & Horne
      2002).

PMID- 28610088
TI  - A new leafhopper species of <i>Maiestas</i> Distant (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae:
      Deltocephalinae: Deltocephalini) from Thailand.
AB  - A new leafhopper species, Maiestas serrata sp.n., is described and illustrated
      from Thailand. This represents the first record of the genus from Thailand.

PMID- 28610089
TI  - Clarification of the identity of <i>Helicina</i> <i>mediana</i> Gassies, 1870
      from New Caledonia (Gastropoda, Neritimorpha, Helicinidae).
AB  - The identity of Helicina mediana Gassies, 1870 was clarified by the study of the
      type material and the selection of a lectotype. It is currently classified as
      Sturanya mediana (Gassies, 1870) and replaces the temporarily applied name
      Sturanya novaecaledoniae (Baird, 1873) for the medium sized helicinid species
      widely spread in the north-eastern part of mainland New Caledonia and the
      adjacent Iles Belep. The latter name and Helicina nehoueensis Hartman 1889 are
      synonyms of S. mediana.

PMID- 28610090
TI  - Review of the subgenus <i>Xizicus</i> (<i>Xizicus</i>) Gorochov, 1993
      (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae) from China.
AB  - Gorochov (1993) erected the subgenus Xizicus (Xizicus), with the type species
      Xizicus (Xizicus) fascipes (Bey-Bienko, 1955). This subgenus is distinguished
      from the other subgenera of Xizicus by the following characters: male tenth
      abdominal tergite with a pair of contiguous posterior processes in the middle;
      subgenital plate simple, styli slender, located on the apices or subapices of
      lateral margins; posterior margin of female subgenital plate rounded.

PMID- 28610091
TI  - LepNet: The Lepidoptera of North America Network.
AB  - The Lepidoptera of North America Network, or LepNet, is a digitization effort
      recently launched to mobilize biodiversity data from 3 million specimens of
      butterflies and moths in United States natural history collections
      (http://www.lep-net.org/). LepNet was initially conceived as a North American
      effort but the project seeks collaborations with museums and other organizations
      worldwide. The overall goal is to transform Lepidoptera specimen data into
      readily available digital formats to foster global research in taxonomy, ecology
      and evolutionary biology.

PMID- 28610093
TI  - <i>Aplectana</i> <i>nordestina</i> n. sp. (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) parasitizing
      <i>Leposternon polystegum</i> (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from Northeastern,
      Brazil.
AB  - There are currently 760 reptile species known in Brazil, from which about 70 are
      amphisbaenians with 25 species recorded in the Brazilian northeast (Vanzolini
      2002; Gomes & Maciel 2012; Costa & Bernils, 2014; Roberto et al., 2014).
      Leposternon polystegum Dumeril, is a widespread species distributed in the
      Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga biomes (Porto et al., 2000;
      Ribeiro et al., 2011). The diet is composed mainly by ants, termites, and
      coleopteran larvae (Barros-Filho & Valverde, 1996; Gomes et al., 2009).

PMID- 28610092
TI  - Parasitism of <i>Zatypota</i> <i>riverai</i> Gauld (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae:
      Pimplinae) on <i>Anelosimus</i> <i>baeza</i> Agnarsson (Araneae: Theridiidae) in
      northeast Brazil, with a description of the male.
AB  - Ichneumonid wasps of the Polysphincta genus-group (Polysphinctini sensu Townes
      hereafter "polysphinctine wasps") are exclusively koinobiont ectoparasitoids of
      spiders (Fitton et al. 1987; Gauld 2006). Since the first report of a spider's
      behavior being manipulated by a polysphinctine wasp (Eberhard 2000), several
      studies have since focused on unravelling the mechanisms and evolution of this
      association (e.g. Gonzaga & Sobczak 2007; Matsumoto 2009; Sobczak et al. 2009;
      Eberhard 2010; Gonzaga & Sobczak 2011; Korenko & Pekar 2011; Korenko et al. 2013;
      Sobczak et al. 2014; Takasuka et al. 2015).

PMID- 28610094
TI  - Two new species of orb-weaving spiders of the genus <i>Larinia</i> (Araneae,
      Araneidae) in meridional Brazil.
AB  - The araneid genus Larinia Simon currently includes 56 species, eleven of them
      with New World distribution (World Spider Catalog, 2016). North American species
      of the genus were revised first time by Levi (1975) and South American species by
      Harrod et al. (1991). According to these authors there are four species known
      from subtropical South America (Larinia bivittata Keyserling 1885; L. montecarlo
      (Levi, 1988); L. t-notata (Tullgren, 1905); L. tucuman Harrod, Levi &
      Leibensperger, 1991) and also four species known from tropical South America (L.
      ambo Harrod, Levi & Leibensperger, 1991; L. directa (Hentz, 1847); L. lampa
      Harrod, Levi & Leibensperger, 1991; L. neblina Harrod, Levi & Leibensperger,
      1991). According to Buckup et al. (2010) a total of 209 species of Araneidae are
      recorded for state of Rio Grande do Sul, including the three species L.
      bivittata, L. montecarlo and L. t-notata.

PMID- 28610095
TI  - New species and records of Omaliini from East Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae:
      Omaliinae).
AB  - Rove beetles of the tribe Omaliini MacLeay, 1825 (Staphylinidae: Omaliinae) are
      quite diverse both in terms of morphology and biotopic preferences, they are
      widespread in all zoogeographic regions of the World (Herman 2001), however they
      still remain extremely fragmentally studied, and the fauna of the eastern
      Palearctic is not an exception.

PMID- 28610096
TI  - The genus <i>Phlesirtes</i> Bolivar, 1922 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae:
      Conocephalinae, Conocephalini; Karniellina), a review of the genus with data on
      its bioacoustics and the description of new species.
AB  - Species of the genus Phlesirtes are reviewed in this paper and 16 new species
      described. A key is provided to the species of Phlesirtes. Among the subtribe
      Karniellina of Conocephalini members of the genus Phlesirtes occupy habitats of
      montane to afroalpine grasslands in East Africa. All recorded species produced
      long-lasting, trill-like calling songs, consisting of sequences of continuously
      repeated syllables or syllable pairs with the peak of the carrier frequency in
      the low ultrasound.

PMID- 28610097
TI  - A new species of <i>Ninia</i> (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Choco-Magdalena
      biogeographical province, western Colombia.
AB  - We describe a new species of the genus Ninia from the Choco-Magdalena
      biogeographic province, which was previously reported as a distinct population of
      N. maculata or as N. atrata from the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental
      of Colombia. The new species is similar to N. atrata, N. celata, N. espinali, N.
      franciscoi, and N. maculata. It shares the following characteristics with the
      species mentioned above: 19 dorsal scale rows without reductions; dorsal ground
      color black or dark brown; white or cream occipital nuchal collar. However, it is
      easily distinguished from all other congeners because it has a non-regular color
      pattern in the ventral surfaces of the head and body, subcaudal surface
      homogeneously black or dark brown, two nasal scales, and one lateral projection
      ornamented with a large basal hook-shaped spine that is larger than any other
      spine on the hemipenial body. The presence of a lateral projection on the
      hemipenial body makes the new species the only member of the genus from South
      America that shares this feature with its Central American congeners. This
      feature suggests a closer relationship with this linage. Finally, our results
      indicate that proper and careful revision of the Ninia atrata species complex
      will help to understand and clarify the taxonomic composition of the genus.

PMID- 28610098
TI  - New state records and updated checklist of Aphodiini and Eupariini (Coleoptera:
      Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) from Mexico.
AB  - Thirty one new state records of species of Aphodiinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
      from Mexico are presented, 24 species belong to Aphodiini and seven species to
      Eupariini into the genera Agrilinellus, Alloblackburneus, Aphotaenius, Ataenius,
      Blackburneus, Cephalocyclus, Coelotrachelus, Euparia, Euparixia, Geomyphilus,
      Gonaphodiellus, Gonaphodiopsis, Haroldiellus, Liothorax, Nialaphodius,
      Odontolytes, Oscarinus, Pharaphodius, and Planolinellus. New records are from the
      states of Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima,
      Chiapas, Estado de Mexico, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacan, Morelos,
      Nayarit, Puebla, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Zacatecas, and
      Distrito Federal. A checklist with updated nomenclature is included for the
      recorded species of Aphodiini and Eupariini from Mexico.

PMID- 28610099
TI  - Descriptions of eight new <i>Acrogonia</i> species from the Amazon region,
      including peculiar features of the female genitalia (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae:
      Cicadellinae: Proconiini).
AB  - Eight new species of the agriculturally important sharpshooter genus Acrogonia
      Stal, 1869 are described and illustrated from Brazil (one of them also recorded
      from Peru): A. amazonensis sp. nov. (state of Amazonas), A. clarae sp. nov.
      (states of Amazonas and Amapa), A. barbara sp. nov. (state of Mato Grosso), A.
      youngi sp. nov. (department of Madre de Dios in Peru and state of Acre), A.
      albertoi sp. nov. (state of Para), A. tenuis sp. nov. (state of Mato Grosso), A.
      filiformis sp. nov. (states of Para and Mato Grosso), and A. interrupta sp. nov.
      (state of Mato Grosso). In addition to the external morphology, color pattern and
      male genitalia, this paper includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of
      the female genitalia of three new species (A. barbara, A. filiformis and A.
      tenuis). The first ovipositor valvulae of A. tenuis are quite peculiar because
      they bear a large basal lobe and a projection on the median portion of the
      ventral margin, both displaying setae. Females of the other five new species are
      not known.

PMID- 28610100
TI  - Six new Brazilian species of <i>Polana</i> (<i>Varpulana</i>) (Hemiptera:
      Cicadellidae: Gyponini) with key to males.
AB  - Six new species of Polana (Varpulana) are described and illustrated, all from
      Brazil: P. (V.) bahiensis sp. nov., state of Bahia; P. (V.) grossii sp. nov.,
      states of Bahia and Minas Gerais; P. (V.) intricata sp. nov., state of Bahia, P.
      (V.) naja sp. nov., states of Bahia and Minas Gerais; P. (V.) sapitanduva sp.
      nov., states of Parana and Rio de Janeiro and P. (V.) vulgaris sp. nov., state of
      Parana. A key to 11 known species of P. (Varpulana) is presented. New records
      from several Brazilian states are added.

PMID- 28610101
TI  - <i>Euastacus</i> <i>vesper</i> sp. nov., a new giant spiny crayfish (Crustacea,
      Decapoda, Parastacidae) from the Great Dividing Range, New South Wales,
      Australia.
AB  - Euastacus vesper sp. nov., is described from the upper Cudgegong River, Coricudgy
      State Forest, New South Wales, Australia. The new species occurs in the western
      drainage of the Great Dividing Range, and is most closely related to E. spinifer
      (Heller, 1865), which occurs on the eastern side of the range. Euastacus vesper
      differs from E. spinifer by its considerably smaller maximum size (OCL 67.9 mm
      versus 116.7 mm), greater degree of thoracic spination loosely arrayed in three
      instead of two rows and absence of the antennular basipodite and coxopodite
      spines. Observations on burrowing, ecological preferences and biology are
      presented.

PMID- 28610102
TI  - A new species in the troglomorphic scorpion genus <i>Troglotayosicus</i> from
      Colombia, representing the northernmost known record for the genus (Scorpiones,
      Troglotayosicidae).
AB  - We describe a new scorpion species in the troglomorphic genus Troglotayosicus
      Lourenco, 1981 from Colombia. Troglotayosicus meijdeni sp. nov. inhabits the
      forest leaf litter at Rivera municipality, on the western slope of the Eastern
      Andes. The male of the new species remains unknown; however, this species can be
      distinguished from other species in the genus by the female (and juvenile)
      morphology. The type locality of T. meijdeni sp. nov. represents the northernmost
      known record for a population of Troglotayosicus, further extending the known
      limits of distribution of this genus, and shedding more light on the
      distributional range of this group of scorpions in northwestern South America.
      With this description, the number of known species of Troglotayosicus is raised
      to four; three of them are endogean species living in forested areas in the
      Andean region of Colombia, whereas one is a hypogean species from a cave in
      Ecuadorian Amazonia.

PMID- 28610103
TI  - Description of a new species of <i>Capederces</i> (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae:
      Cerambycinae) from South Africa.
AB  - A new species of longhorned beetle in the tribe Tillomorphini, Capederces madibai
      sp. nov., is described from the "Albany district" in south-eastern South Africa.
      Adult specimens are illustrated and compared with the only other known species
      from this previously mono-specific genus: C. hauseri Adlbauer, 2001. An
      illustration of the female of C. hauseri is provided for the first time.

PMID- 28610104
TI  - Honouring His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Bhutan: <i>Megalestes</i>
      <i>gyalsey</i> (Odonata: Synlestidae).
AB  - Megalestes gyalsey spec. nov. is described from a single male from Trongsa
      District in Bhutan. The species was discovered during field work conducted in
      2015 for the Bhutan invertebrate biodiversity project. The species is named in
      honour of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, the Gyalsey of
      Bhutan, on the occasion of his first birthday.

PMID- 28610105
TI  - The final stadium larva of <i>Euphaea</i> <i>decorata</i> Hagen in Selys, 1853,
      from Fujian, China (Odonata: Zygoptera: Euphaeidae).
AB  - The final stadium larva of Euphaea decorata Hagen in Selys is described and
      illustrated for the first time. The larva of E. decorata is typical of the genus
      and characterized by having a flat and long body with large saccoid caudal gills,
      seven pairs of lateral abdominal gills, two or three large and sharp spines in
      front of the ventral margin of the eyes, and tridentate palpal lobes of the
      prementum. The supposed larva of Rhipidolestes nectans is corrected to that of an
      unknown Euphaeidae. Known Euphaea larvae are shown to be generally very similar,
      but an old report suggests that the Indian species E. dispar and E. fraseri may
      show sufficient differences to restore them to the genus Indophaea.

PMID- 28610106
TI  - Erratum: BEHNAM MOTAMEDINIA, CHRISTIAN KEHLMAIER, AZIZOLLAH MOKHTARI, EHSAN
      RAKHSHANI & EBRAHIM GILASIAN (2017) Discovery of the genus Claraeola Aczel in
      Iran with the description of two new species (Diptera: Pipunculidae). Zootaxa,
      4227 (4): 563-572.

PMID- 28610107
TI  - Two new genera of pyroglyphid mites, <i>Tuccioglyphus</i> and
      <i>Marioglyphus</i>, with a key to genera of the World (Acari: Pyroglyphidae).
AB  - We describe Tuccioglyphus setosus gen. et sp. nov. from the litter of
      commercially reared laying hens as well as wild birds in Brazil. The new genus
      Tuccioglyphus presents a mixture of character states between the two conventional
      subfamilies, Pyroglyphinae and Dermatophagoidinae. Based on this new unusual
      genus, we discuss character states delimiting these and other major subfamilies
      of the house dust mite family, Pyroglyphidae, as well as its most important and
      species-rich genus Dermatophagoides. An additional new genus, Marioglyphus gen.
      n., is proposed for Hughesiella valerioi Vargas and Smiley. Both Tuccioglyphus
      and Marioglyphus are related to the genus Hughesiella. A key to pyroglyphid
      genera of the World is presented.

PMID- 28610108
TI  - <i>Capricornella</i> <i>bicornuta</i>, a new genus and species of mite from
      eastern Australia (Acari: Uropodina).
AB  - We describe a new genus and species of mite from eastern Australia, Capricornella
      bicornuta. The new genus is characterised by the presence of two long appendages
      on the anterior margin of the epigynal shield of the female.

PMID- 28610109
TI  - <i>Etmopterus</i> <i>samadiae</i> n. sp., a new lanternshark (Squaliformes:
      Etmopteridae) from Papua New Guinea.
AB  - A new species of lanternshark, Etmopterus samadiae (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae),
      is described from off northern Papua New Guinea, in the western Central Pacific
      Ocean. The new species resembles other members of the "Etmopterus lucifer" clade
      in having linear rows of dermal denticles and most closely resembles E.
      brachyurus from the western North Pacific. The new species occurs along insular
      slopes between 340 and 785 m depth. The new species can be distinguished from
      other members of the E. lucifer clade by a combination of characteristics,
      including length of anterior flank branch markings being slightly shorter than
      its posterior branch, a longer caudal base marking, and irregular and variable
      number of black, horizontal, dash-like marks on sides of body. Molecular analysis
      based on the NADH2 marker further supports the distinction of E. samadiae from
      other members of the E. lucifer clade.

PMID- 28610110
TI  - A new species of <i>Rhigognostis</i> (Lepidoptera, Plutellidae) from the Canary
      Islands.
AB  - Rhigognostis canariella sp. nov. is described from the Canary Islands on the
      basis of five females. The morphological micro structures of the female genitalia
      are figured. An illustrative diagnostic summary for three allied congeners, R.
      annulatella(Curtis, 1832), R. kovacsi (Gozmany, 1952) and R. schmaltzella
      (Zetterstedt, 1839) is provided.

PMID- 28610111
TI  - <i>Garra clavirostris</i>, a new cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cyprinidae:
      Labeoninae) from the Brahmaputra drainage, India.
AB  - Garra clavirostris, a new cyprinid fish, is described from the Dilaima River, a
      tributary of the Brahmaputra in the Dima Hasao district, Assam. The new species
      is distinguished from all its congeners in northeast India in having a
      combination of the following characters: a prominent unilobed club-shaped
      proboscis overhanging the depressed rostral surface, with 5-9 medium to large uni
      to multi-cuspid tubercles on the anterior margin and 5-6 uni- to multi-cuspid
      tubercles on the anteroventral marginal aspect; a prominent transverse lobe on
      the snout, with 17-25 small- to large-sized multicuspid tubercles; and presence
      of a black spot at the upper angle of the gill opening.

PMID- 28610112
TI  - The weevil genera <i>Nyphaeba</i> Pascoe and <i>Pantiala</i> Pascoe and the
      problems of an unstable nomenclature in orphaned taxa.
AB  - The genera Nyphaeba Pascoe and Pantiala Pascoe of Cryptorhynchinae are
      redescribed and revised. Lectotypes are designated for the names Nyphaeba
      monommoides Pascoe and Pantiala illusa Pascoe. This facilitates the description
      of Nyphaeba mimica sp. n. represented by two paralectotypes of Pantiala illusa.
      Both genera are excluded from the subtribe Tylodina Lacordaire based on their
      possession of wings and a distinct metanepisternum. The following new combination
      for a species originally described in Pantiala is proposed: Nyphaeba germari
      (Faust). A femora-abdominal stridulatory mechanism is observed for Nyphaeba. This
      case illustrates how nomenclatural problems evident from type material can
      persist in an understudied taxon for more than a century. Such problems severely
      affect modern research and databasing.

PMID- 28610113
TI  - Two new species of <i>Quichuana</i> Knab (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the paramo
      ecosystems in Colombia.
AB  - Two new species of Quichuana Knab (Diptera: Syrphidae), Quichuana citara Montoya
      & Wolff sp. n. and Quichuana nigropilosa Montoya & Ricarte sp. n. are described
      from highlands of the Colombian Andes. Images of type material, including
      drawings of male genitalia are provided. An adjustment for the latest
      identification key for the Quichuana species and distribution maps for those
      species occurring in Colombia are given.

PMID- 28610114
TI  - Diversity of Sternaspidae (Annelida: Terebellida) in the South China Sea, with
      descriptions of four new species.
AB  - Sternaspidae is one of the most common groups of polychaetes in the South China
      Sea, where however, the knowledge of its diversity and distribution is
      insufficiently understood and reports of the European species Sternaspis scutata
      are misidentifications. Based on the examination of material deposited in the
      Marine Biological Museum of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, we made a
      comprehensive investigation on the sternaspid polychaetes in the northern South
      China Sea. Five species belonging to two genera are described: Petersenaspis
      salazari sp. nov., Sternaspis radiata sp. nov., S. spinosa Sluiter, 1882, S.
      sunae sp. nov. and S. wui sp. nov. A taxonomic key to ten species of Sternaspidae
      found in the South China Sea is provided.

PMID- 28610115
TI  - Revision of the genus <i>Angaracris</i> Bey-Bienko, 1930 (Orthoptera: Acrididae,
      Oedipodinae) with notes on the tribe Bryodemini.
AB  - Anagaracris is considered as a monotypic genus in the tribe Bryodemini
      (Acrididae: Oedipodinae). New synonymy is proposed: Angaracris barabensis
      (Pallas, 1773) = Angaracris morulimarginis Huang, 1981, syn. nov.; = Angaracris
      ulashanicus Li, 1981, syn. nov.; Angaracris acrohylina Bi, 1986, syn. nov.; =
      Angaracris nigrimarginis Zheng et Ren, 1993, syn. nov.; = Angaracris morulipennis
      Zheng et Ren, 1994, syn. nov.; = Angaracris neimongolensis Zeng et Han, 1998,
      syn. nov. The diagnosis of the tribe Bryodemini is clarified and a key to the
      genera and subgenera is provided.

PMID- 28610116
TI  - Additions of new species to <i>Thelepus</i> (Thelepodidae), with description of a
      new <i>Terebellides</i> (Trichobranchidae) from Taiwan.
AB  - Following a recent report on two new species of Thelepus for the Taiwan, we
      describe two more new species, T. hemeiensis sp. nov. and T. wuchiensis sp. nov.,
      for the genus. In addition, a new species of the Family Trichobranchidae is also
      described, Terebellides baliensis sp. nov., which was collected from an offshore
      monitoring survey in northwestern Taiwan. The genus Terebellides as well as the
      Family Trichobranchidae are reported for the first time from Taiwanese waters.

PMID- 28610117
TI  - New species of <i>Prolachesilla</i> Mockford & Sullivan (Psocodea: 'Psocoptera':
      Lachesillidae: Graphocaeciliini) from Bolivia and Mexico.
AB  - The genus Prolachesilla Mockford & Sullivan presently includes nine species, all
      described when the genus was erected; since then, no other species have been
      discovered. Here, we describe and illustrate one Bolivian and three Mexican
      species. This is the first record of Prolachesilla from Bolivia. A key to the
      species of the genus is included.

PMID- 28610118
TI  - Geographical and bathymetric distribution of mysids (Crustacea: Mysida) in the
      seas of the Iberian Peninsula.
AB  - The zoogeographic distribution of mysid species occurring in the diverse seas of
      the Iberian Peninsula and neighbouring areas is analysed. For each species,
      bathymetric range and localities data are reported. A total of 129 mysid species
      belonging to 50 genera have been recorded, representing 11% of all known world
      extant species and the 28% of genera. Littoral mysids are the most diverse group
      (64 species) followed by the outer-self to upper-bathyal slope with 54 known
      species. Patterns of bathymetric zonation are characterized by four bathymetric
      discontinuities at about 100, 500, 1300 and 2700 m. Each geographical region is
      characterized by the presence of a mixture of exclusive and shared species
      composition. Mysid distributions suggest that an important grouping of species
      present in the Iberian fauna share a common origin. Based on the analysis of
      published records and reported species, it is suggested that there is a high
      probability of the discovery of new species of Mysida in the water surrounding
      the Iberian Peninsula.

PMID- 28610120
TI  - <i>Ituglanis compactus</i>, a new species of catfish (Siluriformes:
      Trichomycteridae) from the rio Jari drainage, lower Amazon, Brazil.
AB  - A new species of Ituglanis is described from rio Iratapuru, near the rio Jari,
      Amapa, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from all congeners by the reduced
      number of post-Weberian apparatus vertebrae (36 or 37); the low number of paired
      ribs (2); the low number of interopercular odontodes (12-15); the number of
      branchiostegal rays (7 or 8); the presence of elongated fontanel in parieto
      supraoccipital; the pectoral-fin rays (i,5); head length (18.9-25.0); and the
      presence of pores supraorbital s1, infraorbitals i1 and i3 of the laterosensory
      system. The new taxon has a reduced body size and fully ossified skeleton, but
      does not display a large number of paedomorphic traits compared to congeners.
      Comments about taxonomy and intrageneric comparisons are made, and paedomorphic
      in Ituglanis is discussed. Thoughts about conservation of the new species are
      presented.

PMID- 28610119
TI  - A new Aceria species (Acari: Eriophyidae) from Spain on <i>Pycnocomon</i>
      <i>rutifolium</i> (Dipsacaceae) and supplementary descriptions of <i>Aceria</i>
      <i>eucricotes</i> and <i>A. kuko</i> from <i>Lycium</i> spp. (Solanaceae).
AB  - A new species of eriophyoid mite, Aceria pycnocomi sp. nov., associated with
      Pycnocomon rutifolium (Dipsacaceae), is described and illustrated from Spain.
      Morphological differences distinguishing this new species from similar Aceria
      species are discussed. The female, male and nymph of Aceria eucricotes (Nalepa,
      1892) and Aceria kuko (Kishida, 1927) are redescribed and illustrated from Spain
      and Hungary, respectively; both were collected from Lycium spp. (Solanaceae).
      Morphological differences distinguishing these two species are discussed.

PMID- 28610121
TI  - A new species of velvet skate, <i>Notoraja</i> <i>sereti</i> n.sp. (Rajiformes:
      Arhynchobatidae) from Papua New Guinea.
AB  - A new arhynchobatin skate, Notoraja sereti n. sp., is described based on three
      specimens collected from off Madang (Papua New Guinea) at depths of 800-980 m.
      This medium-size Notoraja skate shares with other velcro skates from the Western
      Pacific, N. alisae, N. fijiensis, N. inusitata and N. longiventralis, a ventral
      surface covering of fine denticles giving the skin a velvety feel. Notoraja
      sereti differs from all of these species in having a shorter snout (preorbital
      length 10.1-11.1 vs. 11.5-14.5% TL, prenasal length 8.2-8.9 vs, 9.8-12.1% TL),
      shorter head (dorsal head length 15.2-16.2 vs. 17.1-19.3% TL, ventral head length
      21.6-22.9 vs. 22.9-25.9% TL), fewer pectoral-fin radials (total radials 58-60 vs.
      61-74), and fewer vertebrae (predorsal diplospondylous centra 66-71 vs. 72-82,
      predorsal centra 90-95 vs. 98-107, total centra 126-131 vs. 135-152).

PMID- 28610122
TI  - A new species of <i>Otothyropsis</i> (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the upper
      Rio Parana basin, Paraguay, with a discussion of the limits between
      <i>Otothyropsis</i> and Hisonotus.
AB  - Otothyropsis dialeukos is described from Ita creek, tributary to the upper Rio
      Parana basin, Paraguay. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by
      having a unique caudal-fin coloration pattern composed of a brown to almost black
      background with roundish hyaline blotches in the middle of the outermost branched
      rays and a hyaline posterior border interrupted in middle rays; abdomen entirely
      covered by enlarged plates, without naked areas; longer pectoral- and dorsal-fin
      spines; absence of a raised crest of enlarged odontodes on the posterior portion
      of the parieto-supraoccipital, and other morphometric and meristic features.
      Morphological traits and geographic distributions of all species of Otothyropsis
      and Hisonotus are analyzed and a discussion on the limits between those genera is
      presented.

PMID- 28610123
TI  - Morphological variation of <i>Trilepida</i> <i>macrolepis</i> (Peters 1857), with
      reappraisal of the taxonomic status of <i>Rena</i> <i>affinis</i> (Boulenger
      1884) (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictinae).
AB  - We report on the morphological variation (meristic, morphometric, pholidosis, and
      color pattern characters) and sexual dimorphism of Trilepida macrolepis. We also
      took the opportunity to redescribe the holotype of Rena affinis in an effort to
      evaluate its taxonomic status. Based on the congruence of characters from
      external morphology, we transfer Stenostoma affine to the genus Trilepida. We
      also discuss the Andean specimens previously refereed to Trilepida affinis and
      Trilepida macrolepis and provide an identification key for the genus Trilepida.

PMID- 28610124
TI  - Southern distributional limits of Meliponini bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in the
      Neotropics: taxonomic notes and distribution of <i>Plebeia</i> <i>droryana</i>
      and <i>P. emerinoides</i> in Argentina.
AB  - The southern distribution of stingless bees in the Neotropics reaches the
      province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, up to 34 degrees 51' S in latitude, where
      two species of Plebeia are found on the west margin of the Rio de La Plata: P.
      emerinoides (Silvestri), and P. droryana (Friese). In this area some relicts of
      gallery forest occur and the climate is moderated by the large water mass of the
      river. The taxonomy of both species is discussed. Diagnoses, updated
      distribution, and illustrations of some morphological features are given for both
      species.

PMID- 28610125
TI  - <i>Laubuka</i> <i>parafasciata</i>, a new cyprinid fish species (Teleostei:
      Cyprinidae) from Mizoram northeastern India.
AB  - Laubuka parafasciata, new species, is described from the Sala River of Mizoram,
      northeast India. The species differs markedly from all its congeners, with the
      exception of L. fasciata, in having a broad, dark-brown, midlateral stripe from
      the posterior rim of the orbit to the middle of the caudal-fin base. It is
      further distinguished from all other species in the genus by the combination of
      the following characters: premaxillae not in contact at symphysis, 16 precaudal
      vertebrae, minute tubercles scattered on the lower jaw, 28-33 lateral-line
      scales, 16-18 predorsal scales, 81/2 branched dorsal-fin rays, 21/2 scales
      between lateral line and pelvic-fin origin, and 161/2-191/2 branched anal-fin
      rays.

PMID- 28610126
TI  - Taxonomic description and 3D modelling of a new species of myzostomid (Annelida,
      Myzostomida) associated with black corals from Madagascar.
AB  - Eenymeenymyzostoma nigrocorallium n. sp. is the first species of myzostomid worm
      associated with black corals to be described. Endoparasitic specimens of E.
      nigrocorallium were found associated with three species of antipatharians on the
      Great Reef of Toliara. Individuals inhabit the gastrovascular ducts of their
      hosts and evidence of infestation is, most of the time, not visible externally.
      Phylogenetic analyses based on 18S rDNA, 16S rDNA and COI data indicate a close
      relation to Eenymeenymyzostoma cirripedium, the only other species of the genus.
      The morphology of E. nigrocorallium is very unusual compared to that of the more
      conventional E. cirripedium. The new species has five pairs of extremely reduced
      parapodia located on the body margin and no introvert, cirri or lateral organs.
      Individuals are hermaphroditic, with the male and female gonads both being
      located dorsally in the trunk. It also has a highly developed parenchymo-muscular
      layer on the ventral side, and the digestive system lies in the middle part of
      the trunk. A three-dimensional digital model of this worm's body plan has been
      constructed whereby the external morphology and in toto views of the observed
      organ systems (nervous, digestive and reproductive) can be viewed on-screen:
      http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17911.21923.

PMID- 28610127
TI  - A new species of <i>Campylocia</i> Needham & Murphy, 1924 (Ephemeroptera,
      Euthyplociidae) from Northern Brazil.
AB  - A new species of Campylocia is described from Northern Brazil based on male and
      female imagoes. The main characteristics that distinguish the male imago of the
      new species from its congeners are: forewings with fork of Rs basal to fork of MA
      and one or two intercalary veins attached to CuA; general color of abdomen
      whitish; terga I-VIII with purplish brown dorsolateral area and light colored
      medial line; terga II-VII with two pairs of light colored drop-shaped spots (one
      medioapical and one medial); tergum VIII with a medioapical pair of light colored
      drop-shaped spots; terga IX-X orange; base of penis rectangular; penis lobes
      adjacent to medial line, laterally directed, without median lobes, fused on basal
      1/2 and slender on distal 2/3; subgenital plate rectangular with medial
      emargination and dark brown margins.

PMID- 28610128
TI  - Review of <i>Pennella</i> Oken, 1816 (Copepoda: Pennellidae) with a description
      of <i>Pennella</i> <i>benzi</i> sp. nov., a parasite of Escolar,
      <i>Lepidocybium</i> <i>flavobrunneum</i> (Pisces) in the northwest Atlantic
      Ocean.
AB  - The genus Pennella Oken, 1816, mesoparasitic copepods from marine fish and
      mammals, is reviewed with the objective of determining the validity of members of
      the genus. Details of the external morphological structures of the adult female
      are presented. Pennella species are differentiated based on a combination of
      characters: the type of host parasitized, overall length of the parasite, shape,
      size and configuration of cephalothoracic papillae, segmentation of the first and
      second antenna, holdfast horn number, shape and configuration, and structure of
      the abdominal plumes. A new species of Pennella, Pennella benzi sp. nov., is
      described from the escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum in the northwest Atlantic.
      Pennella balaenoptera Koren & Danielssen, 1877 is reported from the harbor
      porpoise (Phocaena phocaena) in the Bay of Fundy, a new locality record. The
      validity of 44 species is assessed; nine species (P. balaenoptera Koren &
      Danielssen, 1877, P. benzi sp. nov., P. diodontis Oken, 1816, P. exocoeti
      (Holten, 1802), P. filosa Linnaeus, 1758, P. hawaiiensis Kazachenko & Kurochkin,
      1974, P. instructa Wilson, 1917, P. makaira Hogans, 1988 and P. sagitta Linnaeus,
      1758) are considered substantiated and valid; six species (P. elegans Gnanamuthu,
      1957, P. longicauda Gnanamuthu, 1957, P. platycephalus Gnanamuthu, 1957, P.
      remorae Murray, 1856, P. robusta Gnanamuthu, 1957, and P. selaris Kirtisinghe,
      1964) exhibit unique characteristics, but are based on descriptions of single
      specimens, have not been found since the original reports and are considered as
      species inquirendae; the remaining species are unsubstantiated and invalid based
      on inadequate or missing original descriptions, or are designated as synonyms of
      valid species. A key to the valid species of the genus is provided.

PMID- 28610129
TI  - New littoral mite species (Acari, Oribatida, Fortuyniidae) from the Galapagos
      archipelago, with ecological and zoogeographical considerations.
AB  - Two species of Fortuyniidae, found on the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) are
      described and illustrated based on the adult and juvenile instars. Alismobates
      galapagoensis sp. nov. was found on six islands of the archipelago, in littoral
      and supralittoral habitats. It is morphologically similar to A. inexpectatus
      Pfingstl & Schuster, 2012 from Bermuda, but differs from that species and all
      other known congeners by a prominent cuticular ridge on epimeron III among other
      unique character combinations. Litoribates caelestis gen. and sp. nov. was found
      on the islands Santa Cruz and Bartolome in the littoral zone under Maytenus and
      mangroves. Notes on distribution and ecological preferences of both species are
      included.

PMID- 28610130
TI  - An annotated type catalogue of the anguid, dibamid, scincid and varanid lizards
      in the Department of Herpetology, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of
      Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (Reptilia: Sauria: Anguidae, Dibamidae,
      Scincidae and Varanidae).
AB  - A complete catalogue is provided for the type specimens of anguid, dibamid,
      scincid and varanid lizards in the herpetological collection of the Zoological
      Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (ZISP), as of
      January 2017. The collection contains a total of 170 type specimens, representing
      50 taxa in the four lizard families under consideration. Thirty-one of these taxa
      are regarded currently as valid. The types of four taxa (one holotype, one
      lectotype and two paralectotypes) could not be located in the ZISP collections in
      January 2017. A majority of the types are skinks (43 taxa, 155 types), many of
      which were described by the late Ilya Darevsky (1924-2009).

PMID- 28610131
TI  - <i>Indolestes</i> <i>lafaeci</i> sp. nov. (Odonata: Lestidae) from Timor, with
      comparisons to related species.
AB  - Indolestes lafaeci sp. nov. is described and illustrated (holotype male: vi.1929,
      Soe, South Central Timor Regency, West Timor, Indonesia, ex.-Coll. Le Moult;
      deposited at the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels,
      Belgium). Indolestes insularis comb. nov. is proposed. For comparison,
      illustrations of the head, synthorax, male anal appendages and genital ligula as
      well as of the ovipositor of I. bellax, I. gracilis and I. insularis are given.

PMID- 28610132
TI  - Nereididae (Annelida: Phyllodocida) of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,
      including description of two new species and 11 new records.
AB  - Currently, only 31 nereidid species are known from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of
      Oman. The present study was carried out in order to investigate the poorly known
      diversity of nereidid polychaetes from seas of the southern coasts of Iran.
      Specimens were collected from 23 locations along the intertidal zones of the two
      water bodies. Among the 26 species found: two are new, and are described here,
      including Simplisetia qeshmensis sp. nov. and Neanthes biparagnatha sp. nov.; 11
      are new geographical records. Neanthes biparagnatha sp. nov. is most similar to
      N. deplanata (Mohammed, 1971), which is also found in the Persian Gulf, but can
      be most easily distinguished from it by the presence of bars in addition to cones
      in Area IV of the pharynx. Simplisetia qeshmensis sp. nov. may be distinguished
      from its closest congener, S. erythraeensis (Fauvel, 1918), also reported from
      the Persian Gulf, by having a greater number of paragnaths in Area I of the
      pharynx, an additional type of chaeta (homogomph spinigers) in the ventral
      neuropodial fascicle and having a reduced notopodial lobe in posterior
      chaetigers. The list of new records includes: one species from both areas,
      Neanthes glandicincta (Southern, 1921); eight species from the Persian Gulf,
      Leonnates decipiens Fauvel, 1929, Neanthes acuminata (Ehlers, 1868), Neanthes
      sp., Neanthes sp. cf. N. acuminata, Nereis sp. cf. N. pelagica Linnaeus, 1758,
      Perinereis cultrifera (Grube, 1840) species complex., Pseudonereis trimaculata
      (Horst, 1924), Pseudonereis sp. cf. P. variegata (Grube, 1857) and two from the
      Gulf of Oman, Leonnates persicus Wesenberg-Lund, 1949 and Perinereis kuwaitensis
      Mohammed, 1970. The present study brings to 40 the number of nereidid species
      currently known from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. A taxonomic key to
      nereidid species from the intertidal zones of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman
      is presented to facilitate future investigations.

PMID- 28610133
TI  - <i>Cobitis</i> <i>keyvani</i>, a junior synonym of <i>Cobitis</i>
      <i>faridpaki</i> (Teleostei: Cobitidae).
AB  - The validity of C. keyvani and C. faridpaki is assessed based on morphological
      and molecular (COI) data from fishes collected from the type localities of both
      species. No diagnostic character was found to distinguish both species.
      Therefore, we treat C. keyvani as a junior synonym of C. faridpaki.

PMID- 28610134
TI  - On the taxonomy and morphology of <i>Leuthneria</i> <i>ruficincta</i>
      (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae).
AB  - In this paper I place the type species Eublepharis ruficincta Felder et Felder,
      1874 presently assigned to the genus Leuthneria Dalla Torre, 1925 to the genus
      Melittia Hubner, 1819 ["1816"]. The adults and the male genitalia Melittia
      ruficincta (Felder et Felder, 1874) comb. rev. are described and illustrated. The
      taxonomy of the genera Eublepharis Felder et Felder, 1874 and Leuthneria Dalla
      Torre, 1925 is discussed. Both genera are synonymized under the genus Melittia
      Hubner, 1819 ["1816"]. New distribution records from Ethiopia and Kenya for
      Melittia ruficincta are presented.

PMID- 28610135
TI  - Chromosomal evidence for a new cryptic species of black fly in the
      <i>Simulium</i> <i>praelargum</i> complex (Diptera: Simuliidae) from West Bengal,
      India.
AB  - Analyses of polytene chromosomes revealed a new cryptic species of black fly,
      Simulium praelargum "IL", in the Simulium (Nevermania) feuerborni group from
      Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. This new species occurred sympatrically with two
      other previously recognized species in the S. praelargum complex: Simulium
      praelargum Datta sensu stricto and Simulium praelargum "IIIL-1.2". Chromosome
      arms IS, IIS, IIL, and IIIS of the new species showed no differences in banding
      patterns, compared with the sequences in Simulium praelargum s. s. and Simulium
      praelargum "IIIL-1.2". Chromosome arm IIIL of the new species was identical to
      that of S. praelargum s. s., but differed from that of S. praelargum "IIIL-1.2"
      by two fixed inversions. Chromosome arm IL of the new species differed from that
      of both species by four fixed inversions: IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, and IL-4. The new
      species and S. praelargum s. s. lacked a chromocenter, which was present in S.
      praelargum "IIIL-1.2". Sex chromosomes of the new species were cytologically
      undifferentiated (X0X0, X0Y0) and all specimens were monomorphic for autosomal
      inversion polymorphisms. Speciation in the S. feuerborni group, unlike in many
      other simuliid taxa, did not involve cytological differentiation of sex
      chromosomes.

PMID- 28610136
TI  - New genus and two new species of American Desmiphorini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae,
      Lamiinae).
AB  - Rosalbopsis wappesi, a new species belonging to a new genus of Desmiphorini, is
      described from Panama. Eupogonius obrienorum sp. nov. is described from Mexico.

PMID- 28610137
TI  - Taxonomy of <i>Paraplatyarthrus</i> Javidkar and King (Isopoda: Oniscidea:
      Paraplatyarthridae) with description of five new species from Western Australia,
      and comments on Australian <i>Trichorhina</i> Budde-Lunde, 1908 (Platyarthridae).
AB  - The oniscidean fauna of Australia is generally poorly known but recent sampling
      has revealed a new family, Paraplatyarthridae, found in both terrestrial and
      groundwater calcretes of central Western Australia. The family was initially
      described based on a new genus and species, Paraplatyarthrus subterraneus
      Javidkar and King, 2015. Here we describe an additional five Paraplatyarthrus
      species from the Yilgarn region of Western Australia, based on both morphological
      and molecular evidence (COI divergences). Four species are subterranean: P.
      crebesconiscus Javidkar and King sp. nov., P. cunyuensis Javidkar and King sp.
      nov., P. occidentoniscus Javidkar and King sp. nov., and P. pallidus Javidkar and
      King sp. nov., and one is a surface species, P. nahidae Javidkar and King sp.
      nov. A key to their identification is provided along with information on their
      distribution. In addition, type material of the two described Australian species
      of Platyarthridae, Trichorhina australiensis Wahrberg, 1922 from Western
      Australia and T. tropicalis Lewis, 1998 from Queensland, are examined.
      Morphological reassessment of type material shows T. australiensis belongs to
      Paraplatyarthrus (comb. nov.) and that T. tropicalis is correctly placed in
      Trichorhina, confirming that the genus and family Platyarthridae occur in
      Australia.

PMID- 28610138
TI  - <i>Cambarus</i> (<i>C.</i>) <i>appalachiensis</i>, a new species of crayfish
      (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from the New River Basin of Virginia and West Virginia,
      USA.
AB  - Cambarus (Cambarus) appalachiensis is a stream-dwelling crayfish endemic to the
      greater New River basins of Virginia and West Virginia. The new species is
      morphologically most similar to Cambarus sciotensis. Cambarus appalachiensis can
      be differentiated from C. sciotensis by its more elongated chelae which possess a
      single mesial row of tubercles, reduced to no tuberculation on the dorsal
      longitudinal ridge of the dactyl, and reduced lateral impression. Cambarus
      sciotensis has a more subrectangular chelae with two rows of mesial margin
      tubercles on the chelae, as well as both a pronounced dorsal-longitudinal ridge
      and pronounced lateral impression. Several chelae meristic ratios also
      differentiate C. appalachiensis from C. sciotensis. Within the New, Gauley, and
      lower portions of the Greenbrier basins C. appalachiensis is the dominant
      tertiary burrowing Cambarus species, and as such, is considered stable across its
      range.

PMID- 28610139
TI  - Contributions to the millipede genus <i>Nepalella</i> Shear, 1979 from China,
      with four new species and first results on phylogeny based on DNA-barcoding
      (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Megalotylidae).
AB  - Four new species of the chordeumatidan millipede genus Nepalella Shear, 1979,
      family Megalotylidae, are described from caves in southern China: N. troglodytes
      sp. nov., N. lobata sp. nov., N. jinfoshan sp. nov., and N. wangi sp. nov. Three
      of them (except N. lobata sp. nov.) are presumed troglobites. Additional locality
      records of two cave congeners, N. caeca Shear, 1999 and N. grandoides Golovatch,
      Geoffroy & Mauries, 2006, are also provided. DNA-barcoding based on the COI
      mitochondrial gene is documented in this genus and for species of the order
      Chordeumatida outside Europe for the first time. Interspecific p-distances
      between Nepalella species amount to 8.5-15.9%, while intraspecific p-distances
      are 0-6.8%. The species of Nepalella are found to show a surprisingly low genetic
      distance from the European genus Atractosoma Fanzago, 1876, family
      Craspedosomatidae Gray in Jones, 1843, potentially based on the very limited
      number of barcoding sequences of the order Chordeumatida being available.

PMID- 28610140
TI  - Three new <i>Batillipes</i> species (Arthrotardigrada: Batillipedidae) from the
      Brazilian coast.
AB  - Three new tardigrade species, Batillipes brasiliensis sp. nov., Batillipes
      dandarae sp. nov. and Batillipes potiguarensis sp. nov., are described from
      shallow subtidal sediments of the Brazilian coast. B. brasiliensis sp. nov. and
      B. dandarae sp. nov. have toes 3 and 4 on leg IV different in length, so they can
      be included in the D group of species, while B. potiguarensis sp. nov., with toes
      3 and 4 on leg IV equal in length belong to the A group. Batillipes brasiliensis
      sp. nov. is characterized by having an ala-like caudal expansion; cuticular
      projections on the coxal region of legs I-III, and lateral projections. The
      lateral projection located between the third and fourth legs is fringed with
      digit-shaped expansions. Batillipes dandarae sp. nov. has a dorsal blunt
      enlargement in the scapular region; a pointed triangular caudal appendage, and no
      lateral projections. The new species exhibits a sensorial spine on legs I
      inserted posteriorly and turning forward, and anus surrounded by a peculiar
      cuticular structure constituted by six platelets. Batillipes potiguarensis sp.
      nov. is characterized by a unique combination of characters: scapular region well
      developed, protruding laterally at the level of the first pair of legs; lateral
      blunt processes between legs, and prominent roundish caudal protrusion. In
      addition, the new species exhibits cephalic appendages with swollen tips, evident
      secondary clavae, and very short sense organs on the legs IV.

PMID- 28610141
TI  - New species and new behavioral data of <i>Phlugiola</i> Karny, 1907 (Orthoptera:
      Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae) from the Brazilian Amazonian Rainforest.
AB  - Phlugiola Karny, 1907 is a genus of small predatory katydids with six included
      species distributed in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Suriname. In this
      paper two new Brazilian species are described, Phlugiola longipedes sp. nov.
      (type locality: Amazonas, Tefe) and Phlugiola igarape sp. nov., (type locality:
      Acre, Bujari) both from tropical rainforests. Behavioral data and natural history
      notes are provided.

PMID- 28610142
TI  - The natural history and morphology of two bromeliad associated hispines from
      Brazil: <i>Acentroptera</i> <i>basilica</i> Thomson, 1856 and <i>A. cf.
      tessellata</i> Baly, 1958 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Sceloenoplini).
AB  - The natural history of Acentroptera basilica Guerin-Meneville, 1844 and A. cf.
      tessellata Baly, 1958 (Cassidinae: Sceloenoplini) associated with Aechmea
      aquilega Salisb. and Vriesea sp. (Bromeliaceae), respectively, is registered.
      Adults of both species are leaf scrapers, although larvae are leaf-miners. The
      immature stages of both species of Acentroptera are described and illustrated for
      the first time. The male and the female genitalia of A. basilica and new records
      for both species are also included.

PMID- 28610143
TI  - A new species of <i>Leptolalax</i> (Anura: Megophryidae) from northern Vietnam.
AB  - We describe a new, medium-sized Leptolalax species from Vietnam. Leptolalax
      petrops sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of having a
      medium-sized body (23.6-27.6 mm in 21 adult males, 30.3-47.0 mm in 17 adult
      females), immaculate white chest and belly, no distinct black markings on the
      head, highly tuberculate skin texture, toes lacking webbing and with narrow
      lateral fringes, and a call consisting of an average of four notes and a dominant
      frequency of 5.6-6.4 kHz (at 24.5-25.3  degrees C). Uncorrected sequence
      divergences between L. petrops sp. nov. and all homologous DNA sequences
      available for the 16S rRNA gene are >8%.

PMID- 28610144
TI  - Three new species of the family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Turkey.
AB  - Three new species of the family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) are described
      and illustrated based on female specimens collected from various plants in Turkey
      Eharius denizliensis Doker & Kazak sp. nov., Typhlodromus (Anthoseius)
      karaisaliensis Doker & Kazak sp. nov. and Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) papadoulisi
      Doker & Kazak sp. nov.

PMID- 28610145
TI  - Review of the genus <i>Sophonia</i> (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) with three new
      species from India.
AB  - A review of the genus Sophonia Melichar from India is presented. Fifteen valid
      species are recognized of which three new species, Sophonia tridenta sp. nov.
      (Sikkim: Gangtok), Sophonia vidarvya sp. nov. (Meghalaya: Barapani) and Sophonia
      intricata sp. nov. (Himachal Pradesh: Katrain) from India are described and
      illustrated. Habitus photographic illustrations, a checklist and a modified key
      for all species from the Indian subcontinent are provided.

PMID- 28610146
TI  - The bark louse family Stenopsocidae (Psocodea: Psocomorpha) newly recorded from
      Laos, with description of three new species.
AB  - The order Psocodea is poorly known from Laos. Here three new species of
      Stenopsocidae were described, i.e., Malostenopsocus lacteus sp. nov., Stenopsocus
      abnomis sp. nov., and Stenopsocus wangi sp. nov. Stenopsocus externus Banks, 1937
      is also newly recorded from Laos.

PMID- 28610147
TI  - Erratum: SIMON WEIGMANN, DAVID A. EBERT, PAUL J. CLERKIN, MATTHIAS F.W. STEHMANN
      & GAVIN J.P. NAYLOR (2016) Bythaelurus bachi n. sp., a new deep-water catshark
      Carcharhiniformes, Scyliorhinidae) from the southwestern Indian Ocean, with a
      review of Bythaelurus species and a key to their identification. Zootaxa, 4208
      (5): 401-432.

PMID- 28610148
TI  - The Italian species of <i>Pritha</i> (Araneae, Filistatidae): a critical revision
      and description of two new species.
AB  - The species of Pritha Lehtinen, 1967 in Italy are revised for the first time, and
      a preliminary putative diagnosis for the genus is provided. Two new Italian
      species are described: Pritha parva sp. nov. (male and female) and P. sagittata
      sp. nov. (male and female). P. pallida (Kulczynski, 1897) and the type species P.
      nana (Simon, 1868) are entirely re-described. The copulatory organs, some other
      somatic characters and the habitus of each sex of the four Italian species are
      illustrated and photographed at high magnifications. P. debilis (Simon, 1911) and
      P. vestita (Simon, 1873) are removed from the synonymy with P. nana and
      revalidated to species status, and a lectotype is designated for the latter. P.
      pallida is recorded from Spain and Greece for the first time. Distribution,
      behavioural aspects and ecology of the four Italian species are discussed and
      photographs of live specimens, webs and habitats are provided.

PMID- 28610149
TI  - Exceptionally preserved Leptolepidae (Actinopterygii, Teleostei) from the late
      Early Jurassic Fossil-Lagerstatten of Grimmen and Dobbertin (Mecklenburg-Western
      Pomerania, Germany).
AB  - Exceptionally well-preserved fishes of the family Leptolepidae (Actinopterygii,
      Teleostei) from the late Early Jurassic Fossil-Lagerstatten of Grimmen and
      Dobbertin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, NE Germany) are reported and detailed
      anatomical descriptions are given. The described material specifically derives
      from the "Green Series", which represents a specific facies that falls within the
      lower part of the early Toarcian Harpoceras falciferum ammonite Zone. Complete
      skeletons are rare, and most specimens are represented by isolated skulls. Most
      of the skulls are fully articulated and show only a low degree of compaction,
      while some specimens are almost three-dimensionally preserved. The leptolepid
      fauna comprises Leptolepis coryphaenoides, L. normandica, L. jaegeri, a possible
      Proleptolepis, and two other taxa, which are described in open nomenclature.
      Several anatomical characters, such as the shape of premaxilla, maxilla, dentary,
      preopercle, the cephalic sensory canals, and the dentition of the jaws, are
      discussed and compared to former studies. The new material provides novel
      insights into morphology, diversity and palaeobiogeography of leptolepid fishes.
      The records of Leptolepis coryphaenoides, L. normandica and L. jaegeri from
      Grimmen and Dobbertin represent the northeastern-most occurrences of these
      species from Europe, suggesting that they inhabited the whole central European
      epicontinental sea during the early Toarcian. The possible occurrence of
      Proleptolepis in the lower Toarcian of Grimmen suggests that this genus might
      have had a much wider palaeobiogeographical and temporal distribution, since
      specimens attributed to Proleptolepis have previously been reported only from the
      Sinemurian of western Europe.

PMID- 28610150
TI  - Revision of the Oriental Genus <i>Physodera</i> Eschscholtz, 1829 (Coleoptera,
      Carabidae, Lebiini, Physoderina), with the descriptions of two new species.
AB  - The Oriental genus Physodera Eschscholtz, 1829 is revised. A key to species is
      provided, along with distribution maps, and illustrations of habitus and male
      genitalia of all available species. Two new species are described: Physodera
      sciakyi sp. n. (type locality: S. Sulawesi, Indonesia), and Physodera unicolor
      sp. n. (type locality: Zhejiang, China). Three new synonyms are proposed:
      Physodera parvicollis Van de Poll, 1889 = Physodera eschscholtzii Parry, 1849,
      Allocota sumatrensis Kirschenhofer, 1996 = Physodera eschscholtzii Parry, 1849,
      and Physodera noctiluca Mohnike, 1875= Physodera dejeani Eschscholtz, 1829.

PMID- 28610151
TI  - A new genus and four new species of subfamily Cyclocypridinae (Crustacea,
      Ostracoda) from Thailand.
AB  - A new genus, Dentocypria n. gen., in the subfamily Cyclocypridinae Kaufmann, 1900
      is described from Thailand. The main distinguishing characters of the new genus
      are the presence of an internal tooth on the antero-ventral part of the left
      valve, the marginal tubercles on the right valve, the very elongated terminal
      segment of the madibular palp, the absence of setae on the basal segment of the
      second thoracopod (T2), the unusually long e-seta of T2, the short terminal
      segment of the third thoracopod (T3), the long Sp seta of the caudal ramus and
      the morphology of prehensile palps and hemipenis. Four new species of the new
      genus are here described: Dentocypria mesquitai n. gen. n. sp., Dentocypria
      chantaranothaii n. gen. n. sp., Dentocypria smithi n. gen. n. sp. and Dentocypria
      aequiloba n. gen. n. sp. A brief discussion on the generic characters and a key
      to the genera of the subfamily are provided.

PMID- 28610154
TI  - Notes on the Agrilus fauna of the Colombian Amazon (Coleoptera, Buprestidae).
AB  - A brief trip to Caqueta and Putumayo prov., South Colombia, during the month of
      November 2016, allowed us to discover two species new to science. The research
      was undertaken under the auspices of a joint educational/scientific project with
      the Apostolic Vicariate of the Consolata Fathers in the department of Putumayo
      (South Colombia).

PMID- 28610152
TI  - Three new species of the genus <i>Caccothryptus</i> Sharp, 1902 from Asia
      (Coleoptera: Limnichidae).
AB  - Caccothryptus Sharp, 1902 is a genus of Limnichidae with a mainly Oriental
      distribution, with only some species at the fringes of the Palaearctic (Hernando
      & Ribera 2014, 2016). The genus was recently revised by Hernando & Ribera (2014),
      which described 14 new species and divided the by then 20 species in five species
      groups, the compactus, rouyeri, testudo, jaechi and zetteli groups. Subsequently,
      Yoshitomi (2015) described four additional species in the C. testudo group,
      rising the total number of species to 24. In this paper we describe three
      additional species in the testudo and compactus groups, among them the so far
      westernmost species of the genus, from Uttarakhand (India).

PMID- 28610155
TI  - Priority and synonymy of some North American cicada genera (Hemiptera: Cicadidae:
      Cicadinae: Cryptotympanini).
AB  - The status of several North American cicada genera is reconsidered based on the
      recent erection of new genera and historical evidence. Megatibicen Sanborn &
      Heath, 2016 is shown to have priority over Megatibicen Lee, 2016 (which was
      changed by the author to Gigatibicen Lee, 2016 prior to formal publication).
      Ameritibicen Lee, 2016 is shown to be a junior synonym of Megatibicen Sanborn &
      Heath, 2016 and both Ameritibicen n. syn. and and Gigatibicen Lee, 2016 n. syn.
      are synonymized here to Megatibicen Sanborn & Heath. The species placed in
      Gigatibicen are returned to Megatibicen to become Megatibicen auletes (Germar,
      1834) n. comb., Megatibicen resh (Haldeman, 1852) n. comb., and Megatibicen
      resonans (Walker, 1850) n. comb. while the species placed in Ameritibicen remain
      in Megatibicen due to the junior synonym status of Ameritibicen. The monospecific
      Paratibicen Lee, 2016 n. syn. is shown to be a junior synonym of Neotibicen Hill
      & Marshall, 2015 and its species is reassigned to Neotibicen to become Neotibicen
      similaris (Smith & Grossbeck, 1907) n. comb.

PMID- 28610156
TI  - A new species of <i>Leuctra</i> from Turkey, and notes on Anatolian
      <i>Rhabdiopteryx</i> (Plecoptera: Leuctridae & Taeniopterygidae).
AB  - In the recent annotated catalogue of the Turkish Plecoptera, the fauna of
      Anatolia are considered remarkably rich with 32 micro-endemic species currently
      recorded (Darilmaz et al. 2016). The major hot spot is the Pontus, the eastern
      Black Sea region of Turkey. Nearly half of these micro-endemic stonefly species
      are only known from this region. The eastern subregion of the Pontus has a direct
      connection with the Caucasian stonefly fauna. This subregion even has an endemic
      species group of Leuctra Stephens, 1836, presently including four known species
      (Vincon & Sivec 2001).

PMID- 28610153
TI  - New unavailable names in Buprestidae (Coleoptera) and a short comment on the
      electronic publication of new names.
AB  - Since the catalogue of Buprestoidea was published (Bellamy, 2008-2009) we have
      been adding new taxa into the printed copy in the National Museum, Prague. During
      this work we have found some questionable descriptions which were published in
      the electronic publication "Procrustomachia" which has no official status and
      does not meet the requirements for the publication of scientific names in
      zoology; the names published in this way are unavailable according to the Code
      (ICZN, 1999, 2012). The situation is discussed in the following text.

PMID- 28610157
TI  - First description of the female <i>Elimaea</i> <i>melanocantha</i> (Walker, 1869)
      (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) from India.
AB  - The genus Elimaea Stal, 1874 was established for the type species Phaneroptera
      subcarinata Stal 1861 (Hongkong), the type genus of the Phaneropterinae. These
      insects are poorly known from India. Relevant important work on the taxonomy and
      distribution of Tettigoniidae of northeastern India include those of Barman &
      Srivastava (1976), Shishodia (2000), Shishodia & Tandon (2000), Barman (2003),
      Shishodia et al. (2003 & 2010) and, recently, Nagar et al. (2014, 2015a-b) have
      reported new and additional species of Phaneropterinae from India. The tribe
      Elimaeini Yakobson, 1905 (group Elimaeae Brunner, 1878) is known to comprise
      three Oriental genera, Elimaea Stal, 1874; Hemielimaea Brunner, 1878; and Ectadia
      Brunner, 1878. Karny (1926) divided the genus into three subgenera: Orthelimaea,
      Rhaebelimaea and Elimaea s. str., based on the shape of the anterior femora and
      the branching in the radius sector of the tegmen. Of these, Elimaea is most
      speciose and quite widespread in the Indian sub-continent. Gorochov (2013)
      reported two species, Elimaea melanocantha (Walker, 1869) and Elimaea
      nigrosignata Bolivar, 1900 in the group Neoelimaea. The terminology used is that
      of Ingrisch (1998) and Rentz and Colless (1990).

PMID- 28610159
TI  - Revision of <i>Neacomys spinosus</i> (Thomas, 1882) (Rodentia: Cricetidae) with
      emphasis on Peruvian populations and the description of a new species.
AB  - The large spiny mouse Neacomys spinosus (Thomas, 1882) has been considered the
      widest ranging species of the genus, occurring in southern Colombia, eastern
      Peru, western Brazil and northern Bolivia. The morphological variation between
      subspecies and populations of N. spinosus has been noted; nonetheless, this
      variation has not been assessed in a morphological or molecular context. Here, we
      present a taxonomic revision of Neacomys spinosus s.l. using qualitative and
      quantitative morphological analyses. These analyses were complemented with
      molecular analysis to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among species of
      Neacomys, based on sequences of the cytochrome b gene. Our results reveal that N.
      spinosus s.l. is a monophyletic group, and morphological and molecular evidence
      to differentiate three taxa: N. spinosus s.s., an endemic species from mountain
      cloud forests in Peru; N. amoenus s.l. from the Cerrado between Bolivia and
      Brazil to the Amazonia between Ecuador and northern Peru, and Neacomys sp. nov.
      from mountain cloud forests from southern Peru to Bolivia. Also, our molecular
      results indicate that Neacomys is still far from being completely known. For
      instance, there are three candidate species pending of taxonomic revision.
      Finally, we propose three species groups within Neacomys: "paracou", "tenuipes"
      and "spinosus", and discuss biogeographical scenarios of the genus within South
      America.

PMID- 28610160
TI  - Kalyptorhynchia (Platyhelminthes: Rhabdocoela) from KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa),
      with the description of six new species.
AB  - Fifteen species of kalyptorhynch flatworms, twelve of them eukalyptorhynchs and
      three schizorhynchs, are reported from the KwaZulu-Natal coast in South Africa.
      Six species are new to science, five of which belong to Eukalyptorhynchia, the
      remaining one to Schizorhynchia. One of the new eukalyptorhynch species,
      Uncinorhynchus linusi n. sp., belongs to the taxon Gnathorhynchidae Meixner, 1929
      and can be distinguished from other species of Uncinorhynchus Karling, 1947 based
      on the detailed structure of the proboscis hooks and the hard part in the male
      genital system. Two other species are members of the Koinocystididae Meixner,
      1924. Itaipusa sbui n. sp. is characterised by an armed cirrus with two
      transversal bands of lamellar spines and by the detailed structure of the female
      genital system. The other new koinocystidid cannot be placed in any existing
      taxon and therefore a new genus is erected: Bhambathorhynchus abursalis n. gen.
      n. sp. It is characterised by the presence of two bent hooks in the male system,
      each one connected to a muscular bulb, and by the absence of a copulatory bursa.
      The remaining two new species of Eukalyptorhynchia, Lagenopolycystis mandelai n.
      sp. and Phonorhynchoides gondwanae n. sp., are members of the taxon
      Polycystididae Graff, 1905 and can be distinguished from their respective
      congeners by the detailed structure of their hard parts in the male genital
      system. The latter species also occurs on the Indian subcontinent. The discussion
      on the phylogenetic position of the new species of Phonorhynchoides leads to the
      formal split of this non-monophyletic genus into two taxa: Phonorhynchoides
      Beklemischev, 1927 and Phonorhynchopsis n. gen. The sixth and last new species,
      Baltoplana cupressus n. sp., is a member of the taxon Cheliplanidae Schilke, 1970
      (Schizorhynchia) and combines an armed cirrus with a single accessory cirrus in
      the copulatory organ. For two more species, Prognathorhynchus spec. and
      Carcharodorhynchus spec., the available material is inadequate for a formal
      description, but they are mentioned and illustrated to allow future recognition.
      Six known species, Pocillorhynchus spiroductus Schockaert, 1982, Duplacrorhynchus
      heyleni Artois & Schockaert, 1999, Gyratrix hermaphroditus Ehrenberg, 1831,
      Paulodora contortoides Artois & Tessens, 2008, P. drepanophora Artois & Tessens,
      2008 and Cheliplana pileola Jouk & De Vocht, 1989 are reported from South Africa
      for the first time and additional remarks on their morphology are given. An
      additional species, Brachyrhynchoides oosterlyncki (Willems, Reygel & Artois,
      2013) Willems, Reygel & Artois, 2013 was recently described from South Africa and
      India (see Artois et al., 2013b, 2013c), and is mentioned here for the sake of
      completeness.

PMID- 28610161
TI  - The amazing diversity of the genus <i>Monospilus</i> Sars, 1862 (Crustacea:
      Branchiopoda: Aloninae) in South America.
AB  - The main goal of this paper is to describe three new species of the genus
      Monospilus Sars, 1862 (Crustacea: Cladocera). Monospilus macroerosus sp. nov.
      differs from other species of the genus in several peculiar morphological traits,
      the most striking being the presence of a saw-shaped pecten of teeth on the
      postabdominal claw. This species inhabits semiterrestrial habitats (wet leaf
      litter on hydromorphic soil from gallery forest), exhibiting adaptations related
      to movement and food handling in this type of habitat. Monospilus brachyspinus
      sp. nov. inhabits truly aquatic habitats, where lives being associated with
      macrophytes and submerged leaves. It may be recognized by the postabdominal claw,
      which is armed with proximal spinulae modified in a short spine. In Monospilus
      sp., the proximal spinulae are modified in a long and slender spine. So far,
      Monospilus sp. occurs in southern South America, while Monospilus macroerosus sp.
      nov. and Monospilus brachyspinus sp. nov. occur in the Cerrado biome in Brazil,
      in the central portion of South America. Some conclusions about the conservation
      status of new species also are made.

PMID- 28610158
TI  - A new <i>Schistura</i> from the Salween basin in western Yunnan (Teleostei:
      Nemacheilidae).
AB  - River loaches of the genus Schistura McClelland 1838 are small, elongated,
      benthic fishes of the family Nemacheilidae. Species in the genus are part of a
      subsistence fishery in several Southeast Asian countries due to their tasty flesh
      and relative abundance in suitable habitats. Fluvial environments with gravelly
      bottoms in tropical and subtropical regions can be co-inhabited by several
      species of nemacheilid loaches. Kottelat (1990) reported up to six different
      species coexisting in Indochinese streams in some instances. With about 200 valid
      taxa, Schistura is the most diverse genus within the family Nemacheilidae
      (Kottelat 2012). Species allocated within this genus share a moderately arched
      mouth, a medially notched lower lip, lack lateral labial pads, possess an air
      bladder without a secondary chamber, and reach a maximum standard length between
      19 and 120 mm (Kottelat 1990; Ou et al. 2011).

PMID- 28610162
TI  - Revalidation of <i>Platystigma</i> Kennedy, 1920, with a synopsis of the
      <i>quadratum</i> species group and the description of three new species (Odonata:
      Pseudostigmatidae).
AB  - The genus Platystigma Kennedy, 1920 is revalidated based mainly on the third
      segment of the penis that is plate-like, whereas in the other Pseudostigmatidae
      it is a flagellum. Dijkstra et al (2014) have merged this family into the
      Coenagrionidae. However, we prefer to maintain the long-used name
      Pseudostigmatidae until more detailed phylogenetic studies with more sampling are
      done. Eight species are here considered in the genus, three of which are
      described as new: P. humaita, P. minimum and P. quadratum. The genus is divided
      in two species group, jocaste and quadratum, the latter studied here. The
      hitherto unknown male of P. martinezi (Machado 1985) is described for the first
      time. Evidence for exophytic oviposition is presented in at least one species of
      the genus. A key is provided for the species of the quadratum group.

PMID- 28610163
TI  - A new small bent-toed gecko of the genus <i>Cyrtodactylus</i> (Squamata:
      Gekkonidae) from the lower slopes of Mount Tambora, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia.
AB  - We describe the sixth species of bent-toed gecko from the Lesser Sunda Islands,
      Indonesia. This species was first collected on the banks of the Oi Marai River on
      the low northern slopes of Gunung (Mount) Tambora on Sumbawa Island. The new
      species is differentiated from Greater Sunda Islands (including Sulawesi) and
      Lesser Sunda Islands congeners by having the following unique combination of
      characters: (1) two scales between the second pair of postmentals in contact with
      the first pair; (2) dorsal surface of antebrachium tuberculate; (3) no tubercles
      on dorsal surface of brachium; (4) dorsal surfaces of thigh and crus tuberculate;
      (5) 18 irregularly aligned, longitudinal rows of keeled tubercles at midbody; (6)
      26-27 paravertebral tubercles; (7) 40 ventral scales between indistinct
      ventrolateral folds; (8) 16-17 fourth-toe subdigital scales; (9) a continuous
      enlarged precloacal and femoral scales present, with the enlarged femoral scales
      arranged in three rows; (10) males with five to six precloacal pores, with four
      larger pores situated in a short groove; (11) femoral pores absent in both sexes;
      (12) lack of transversely enlarged subcaudal scales; and (13) 7-9 irregular,
      paired black blotches on the body.

PMID- 28610164
TI  - A new and five rare bdelloids from Korea.
AB  - A taxonomic study on bdelloid rotifers collected from various terrestrial
      habitats at six different locations in Korea yielded 12 new Korean records and a
      new species, Philodina koreana n. sp. Among the 12 new Korean records, eight
      species and two subspecies are new to Asia. These new Asian records include five
      rare species with poorly known distributions. Philodina childi Milne and P.
      scabra Milne were rediscovered in Korea almost 100 years after the original
      descriptions from South Africa. Our study is the first to report Habrotrocha
      longicalcarata Berzins outside its type locality. Macrotrachela nixa Donner has
      previously been reported only from New Zealand and the Antarctic after
      description from Spain. Finally, H. solida Donner is recorded outside Europe for
      the first time. Here, we provide a description of the new species and discuss the
      taxonomy and distribution of these five rare species. In addition, a partial
      sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (mtCOX1) for P.
      koreana n. sp. as well as a taxonomic key for the Philodina species recorded from
      Korea to date are also provided here.

PMID- 28610165
TI  - Studies in Guatemalan Ensifera: New <i>Glaphyrosoma</i> species (Orthoptera:
      Anostostomatidae) and additional data for other described species.
AB  - We describe three new species in the genus Glaphyrosoma: G. magnaproctalis n.
      sp., G. franciscoasturiasi n. sp. and G. hectorcentenoi n. sp. We provide new
      data on the distribution of G. karnyi, G. beretka and G. anderi in Guatemala. We
      propose G. bruneri as nomen dubium and we define the status of specimens recorded
      as G. gracile in Guatemala and Costa Rica. We also include a species distribution
      map of this genus with the information available to us up to date and a key to
      species.

PMID- 28610166
TI  - Three new species of <i>Alburnoides</i> from the southern Black Sea basin
      (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).
AB  - Three new Alburnoides species are described from the southern Black Sea basin.
      Alburnoides kurui, new species, from the Yesilirmak drainage, is distinguished
      from other species of Alburnoides in the southern Black Sea basin, the Marmara
      basin and the Anatolian Aegean basin by having a scaleless keel between the
      posterior pelvic fin base and the anus or with rarely 1 scale covering the
      anterior part of the keel; 50-59 total lateral-line scales; 131/2-151/2 branched
      anal-fin rays and 7-9 gill rakers. Alburnoides freyhofi, new species, from the
      Kizilirmak drainage, is distinguished by having a scaleless keel between the
      posterior pelvic fin base and the anus, 44-53 total lateral-line scales; 141/2
      161/2 branched anal-fin rays and 5-7 gill rakers. Alburnoides kosswigi, new
      species, from the Sakarya drainage, is distinguished by having a scaleless keel
      between the posterior pelvic fin base and the anus or rarely with 1-3 scales
      covering the anterior part of the keel; 43-57 total lateral-line scales; 111/2-13
      (14)1/2 branched anal-fin rays and 5-7 gill rakers.

PMID- 28610169
TI  - Erratum: GIORGIO SABELLA & ADAM SIMA (2016) Study on Tychini of Balkan Peninsula
      (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae). Zootaxa, 4200 (4): 591-599.

PMID- 28610171
TI  - Phylogenetic relationships and morphology of the <i>Pristimantis leptolophus</i>
      species group (Amphibia: Anura: Brachycephaloidea), with the recognition of a new
      species group in <i>Pristimantis</i> Jimenez de la Espada, 1870.
AB  - We evaluate the monophyly and phylogenetic relationships of the Pristimantis
      leptolophus species group and describe its external morphology, osteology, and
      some myological characteristics. We also compare the P. leptolophus species group
      to other related species groups. The P. leptolophus group is not monophyletic due
      to the inclusion of P. acatallelus, formerly believed to be part of the P.
      devillei group. The revised P. leptolophus group is composed of nine named
      species and six unnamed species. Based on our results, we recognize a new species
      group, the P. boulengeri species group, composed of eight species, many of which
      were previously assigned to the P. lacrimosus species group.

PMID- 28610168
TI  - A new species of <i>Prosopistoma</i> Latreille, 1833 and redescription of <i>P.
      indicum</i> Peters, 1967 (Ephemeroptera: Prosopistomatidae) from the Western
      Ghats, India.
AB  - Prosopistoma someshwarensis n. sp. is described based on larvae collected from
      the streams of central Western Ghats, and P. indicum Peters, 1967 is redescribed
      based on fresh material from additional localities of the southern and central
      Western Ghats of peninsular India. A brief discussion on their ecology and
      biogeography, and a key to the Indian species of Prosopistoma, are also provided.
      The Indian species may be distinguished from one another based on the
      segmentation of the antennae, carapace colourations, the setation of the tibiae
      and mandibular canines, and the morphology of gills 2.

PMID- 28610167
TI  - Phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography reveals the internal morphology of a
      new fossil species of the <i>Corticaria</i>-<i>sylvicola</i>-group (Coleoptera:
      Latridiidae).
AB  - Corticaria amberica sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Latridiidae) from Baltic amber is
      described and illustrated using the features of the male genitalia. To study
      these features, phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography was used for the first
      time with a member of this family. A literature-based checklist of fossil and
      subfossil Latridiidae is provided. The following new synonymy is established:
      Latridius alexeevi Bukejs, Kirejtshuk & Rucker, 2011 = Latridius usovae Sergi &
      Perkovsky, 2014 syn. nov. New fossil records for the species Latridius alexeevi
      Bukejs, Kirejtshuk & Rucker, Latridius jantaricus Borowiec, Revelieria groehni
      Sergi, Perkovsky & Reike, and Corticarina palaeominuta Reike are also presented.

PMID- 28610173
TI  - Description of four new genera and five new species of cicadas from New Caledonia
      (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadoidea, Cicadidae).
AB  - The four endemic new genera Paulaudalna gen. nov., Bispinalta gen. nov.,
      Melanesiana gen. nov. and Strepuntalna gen. nov. are described from New
      Caledonia. The genus Paulaudalna includes two new species: Paulaudalna marginata
      sp. nov., as type species, and Paulaudalna amieuensis sp. nov. The genus
      Bispinalta is described from the new species Bispinalta caledonica sp. nov., and
      comes from bushy forest at summit of pic Ouitchambo at Boulouparis. The genus
      Melanesiana is described from the new species Melanesiana kataouii sp. nov., that
      is found in bushy forest at massif du Kepeto (Pouembout). The genus Strepuntalna
      is represented by the new species Strepuntalna. renaudetii sp. nov., and is
      encountered in bushy forest of south and central chain. Except Paulaudalna
      amieuensis, male calling songs of the new species are described from field
      recordings.

PMID- 28610170
TI  - Integration of molecular, bioacoustical and morphological data reveals two new
      cryptic species of <i>Pelodytes</i> (Anura, Pelodytidae) from the Iberian
      Peninsula.
AB  - Parsley frogs (Pelodytes) comprise the only genus in the family Pelodytidae, an
      ancient anuran lineage that split from their closest relatives over 140 million
      years ago. Pelodytes is a Palearctic group restricted to Western Eurasia
      including three extant species: the eastern species P. caucasicus, endemic to the
      Caucasus area, and two closely related species inhabiting Western Europe: the
      Iberian endemic P. ibericus and the more widespread P. punctatus. Previous
      studies based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers have revealed the
      existence of two additional lineages of Parsley frogs in the Iberian Peninsula,
      which have been flagged as candidate species. Here, we integrate novel molecular,
      morphological and bioacoustical data to assess the differentiation of the four
      western Parsley frog lineages. Species trees and Bayesian population assignment
      analyses based on nuclear markers confirm previous studies and concordantly
      delineate four parapatric lineages with narrow hybrid zones. Mitochondrial
      divergence is low (< 2% pairwise distances in the 16S rRNA gene), in line with
      previously reported low mitochondrial substitution rates in non-neobatrachian
      frogs. Based on concordance between mitochondrial and nuclear markers, we
      conclude that four species of Parsley frogs occur in Western Europe: Pelodytes
      punctatus, distributed from northern Italy to northeastern Spain; Pelodytes
      ibericus, inhabiting southern Spain and southern Portugal; Pelodytes atlanticus
      sp. nov., from the Portuguese Atlantic coast; and Pelodytes hespericus sp. nov.,
      occurring in central and eastern Spain. However, bioacoustical and morphological
      differentiation of these species is low, with no obvious and qualitative
      diagnostic characters allowing full species discrimination. Differences in the
      relative size of metacarpal tubercles exist but this character is variable.
      Pelodytes ibericus and Pelodytes atlanticus are smaller than the other two
      species, and P. ibericus has shorter limbs and various distinctive osteological
      characters. Bioacoustically, the pattern by which two different note types are
      combined in advertisement calls separates P. hespericus from the remaining
      species. Despite these differences, we emphasize that the taxonomic status of all
      four western Parsley frogs requires additional investigation, especially the
      patterns of genetic admixture across contact zones. While a status of separate
      species best conforms to the currently available data, alternative hypotheses are
      also discussed.

PMID- 28610172
TI  - A new polytypic species of yellow-shouldered bats, genus <i>Sturnira</i>
      (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), from the Andean and coastal mountain
      systems of Venezuela and Colombia.
AB  - Sturnira is the most speciose genus of New World leaf-nosed bats
      (Phyllostomidae). We name Sturnira adrianae, new species. This taxon is born
      polytypic, divided into a larger subspecies (S. a. adrianae) widespread in the
      mountains of northern and western Venezuela, and northern Colombia, and a smaller
      subspecies (S. a. caripana) endemic to the mountains of northeastern Venezuela.
      The new species inhabits evergreen, deciduous, and cloud forests at mainly medium
      (1000-2000 m) elevations. It has long been confused with S. ludovici, but it is
      more closely related to S. oporaphilum. It can be distinguished from other
      species of Sturnira by genetic data, and based on discrete and continuously
      varying characters. Within the genus, the new species belongs to a clade that
      also includes S. oporaphilum, S. ludovici, S. hondurensis, and S. burtonlimi. The
      larger new subspecies is the largest member of this clade. The two new subspecies
      are the most sexually dimorphic members of this clade. The smaller new subspecies
      is restricted to small mountain systems undergoing severe deforestation
      processes, therefore can be assigned to the Vulnerable (VU) conservation category
      of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

PMID- 28610174
TI  - The complete mitochondrial genome of the styloperlid stonefly species
      <i>Styloperla</i> <i>spinicercia</i> Wu (Insecta: Plecoptera) with family-level
      phylogenetic analyses of the Pteronarcyoidea.
AB  - We present the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence of the stonefly,
      Styloperla spinicercia Wu, 1935 (Plecoptera: Styloperlidae), the type species of
      the genus Styloperla and the first complete mt genome for the family
      Styloperlidae. The genome is circular, 16,129 base pairs long, has an A+T content
      of 70.7%, and contains 37 genes including the large and small ribosomal RNA
      (rRNA) subunits, 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes and a large non
      coding region (CR). All of the PCGs use the standard initiation codon ATN except
      ND1 and ND5, which start with TTG and GTG. Twelve of the PCGs stop with
      conventional terminal codons TAA and TAG, except ND5 which shows an incomplete
      terminator signal T. All tRNAs have the classic clover-leaf structures with the
      dihydrouridine (DHU) arm of tRNASer(AGN) forming a simple loop. Secondary
      structures of the two ribosomal RNAs are presented with reference to previous
      models. The structural elements and the variable numbers of tandem repeats are
      described within the control region. Phylogenetic analyses using both Bayesian
      (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods support the previous hypotheses
      regarding family level relationships within the Pteronarcyoidea. The genetic
      distance calculated based on 13 PCGs and two rRNAs between Styloperla sp. and S.
      spinicercia is provided and interspecific divergence is discussed.

PMID- 28610175
TI  - Seven new species of <i>Bibloplectus</i> Reitter (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae:
      Pselaphinae) from Eastern United States with notes on distributions of previously
      described species.
AB  - Seven new species in the genus Bibloplectus Reitter, 1881 are described:
      Bibloplectus ellisi Owens and Carlton, new species; Bibloplectus levis Owens and
      Carlton, new species; Bibloplectus parki Owens and Carlton, new species;
      Bibloplectus quadratum Owens and Carlton, new species; Bibloplectus suteri Owens
      and Carlton, new species; Bibloplectus steevesi Owens and Carlton, new species;
      and Bibloplectus tishechkini Owens and Carlton, new species. New species are
      integrated into the previously published key, supported by illustrations of
      diagnostic characters, and a revised key and checklist to eastern North American
      species is presented. All new species described in this study were obtained from,
      and are deposited in, collections of the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH).
      Additionally, label data for 1122 Bibloplectus specimens from the FMNH and from
      111 specimens from the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM) were combined to
      provide updated distributional information on existing species and note
      significant range extensions.

PMID- 28610176
TI  - Two new dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) from the Miocene of Carinthia
      (Austria).
AB  - Two new species of fossil dragonflies from the Middle Miocene fossil site
      Schabetabach (Carinthia, Austria) are described. The presence of Gomphaeschna
      carinthiae sp. nov. and Ictinogomphus hassleri sp. nov. in the fossil record of
      Central Europe confirms the scenario of a more widespread distribution of the
      represented genera in the Miocene in contrast to their Recent distribution.

PMID- 28610177
TI  - New species and records of Leuctridae (Plecoptera) from Guangxi, China, on the
      basis of morphological and molecular data, with emphasis on <i>Rhopalopsole</i>.
AB  - The species of Leuctridae (Plecoptera) from Guangxi, China are reviewed. Two
      species of Rhopalopsole are described as new to science, R. cestroidea sp. nov.
      and R. triangulis sp. nov., belonging to the R. vietnamica group and the R.
      magnicerca group, respectively. Six species of Leuctridae are now known for
      Guangxi including two additional species of Rhopalopsole and one Paraleuctra
      recorded for the first time. The previously unknown female of R. duyuzhoui Sivec
      & Harper, 2008 is described from specimens from Guangxi. Characters are
      illustrated for the separation of R. furcospina (Wu, 1973) and R. sinensis Yang &
      Yang, 1993. Mitochondrial sequences of five Rhopalopsole species support their
      specific recognition.

PMID- 28610178
TI  - A new stem-coenagrionoid genus of damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid
      Cretaceous Burmese amber.
AB  - A new genus and species of damselfly, Burmagrion marjanmatoki, gen. et sp. nov.,
      is described from Early Cretaceous Burmese amber. It is attributed to the basal
      stem group of Coenagrionoidea. The inclusion of five wings from the same species
      suggests that the amber piece contains the remains of a mating pair of
      damselflies.

PMID- 28610179
TI  - Two new species of callanthiid fishes of the genus <i>Grammatonotus</i>
      (Percoidei: Callanthiidae) from Pohnpei, western Pacific.
AB  - In late July/early August 2015, ichthyologists from the Bishop Museum collecting
      fishes off Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands group, western Pacific Ocean, obtained
      specimens of two undescribed species of Grammatonotus. One of the new species, G.
      xanthostigma, closely resembles the recently described G. brianne, differing most
      strikingly in the shape of the caudal fin. The other, G. pelipel, is distinctive
      in having the following combination of characters: disjunct lateral line, barred
      pattern of coloration (most distinctive in small individuals), and caudal fin
      truncate to slightly emarginate in small specimens, but with upper and lower
      lobes produced in largest example known. Herein we provide characters that
      distinguish callanthiids from other percoids and that distinguish Grammatonotus
      from Callanthias, the other genus in the family Callanthiidae, along with
      descriptions of the new species.

PMID- 28610181
TI  - Resolving the status of <i>Pyriporoides</i> and <i>Daisyella</i> (Bryozoa:
      Cheilostomata), with the systematics of some additional taxa of Calloporoidea
      having an ooecial heterozooid.
AB  - Based on the examination of type and newly discovered specimens, the scope of the
      calloporid genus Pyriporoides Hayward & Thorpe, 1989 is expanded to include
      Daisyella Gordon, 1989. All species of Pyriporoides have colonies of branching
      uniserial runners and acleithral ovicells that are borne on and/or develop
      concurrently with a distal heterozooid, not the distal autozooid. The ooecial
      heterozooid is usually kenozooidal but can be avicularian. Correlated characters
      include, inter alia: a raised granular rim that encloses a generally well
      developed cryptocystal shelf, and a longitudinally elongate opesia that may be
      constricted and asymmetrical. Articulated perioral/pericryptocystal spines are
      present as well as occasional accessory spines borne on the lateral gymnocyst.
      Pyriporoides is mostly austral in distribution, ranging from the southern Indian
      Ocean and New Zealand's subantarctic islands to West Antarctica, with an outlier
      in the northeast Atlantic. Three additional genera, one little known, two new to
      science, have species with small, mostly spot-like, colonies that share most of
      the zooidal characters of Pyriporoides and so are described and discussed in this
      context. These genera are Apiophragma Hayward & Ryland, 1993, Olisthella n. gen.
      and Bryobrownius n. gen. A cladistic analysis of the taxa described herein plus
      selected outgroup species of Calloporidae and Pyrisinellidae identified an
      apparent clade within or derived from Calloporidae, the significance of which is
      discussed.

PMID- 28610180
TI  - Leaf-feeding <i>Mycterothrips</i>: two new species from southern Iran
      (Thysanoptera: Thripidae).
AB  - Mycterothrips doostii sp. n. and Mycterothrips zagrosi sp. n. are described and
      illustrated from Fars province, southern Iran, on the basis of specimens
      collected on green leaves of Juglans regia and Amygdalus scoparia respectively.
      M. doostii is closely related to M. aureus and M. weii, whereas M. zagrosi
      resembles M. sanubari and M. glycines in color and structure.

PMID- 28610182
TI  - Taxonomic review of the genera <i>Micridium</i> Motschulsky, 1869 and
      <i>Micridina</i> Johnson, 1969 (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) with eleven new species
      including the first records from South America and Madagascar.
AB  - The six recognised species of the genus Micridium Motschulsky, 1869: M. vittatum
      (Motschulsky, 1845) M. halidaii (Matthews, 1868), M. angulicolle (Fairmaire,
      1858), M. lineatum (Le Conte, 1863). M. rhodeanum (Casey, 1924) and M. groehni
      Polilov & Perkovsky, 2004 are reviewed and eleven new species: M. attenboroughi
      sp.n., M. boliviense sp.n., M. elegans sp. n., M. foveatum sp.n., M. inornatum
      sp.n., M. johnsoni sp.n., M. newtoni sp.n., M. oweni sp.n., M. proprium sp.n., M.
      quadridens sp.n. and M. thayerae sp.n. are added. The new species are the first
      records of the genus from South America and Madagascar. The morphological
      characteristics separating Micridium from other genera in the tribe Ptiliini are
      discussed and the genus synonymised with the closely related monotypic genus
      Micridina Johnson, 1969 with its single species M. hilli Johnson, 1969. The
      synonymy of Dilinium Casey, 1924 with Micridium is confirmed and the type species
      D. rhodeanum Casey, 1924 re-described. Micridium groehni, described from a single
      specimen in Baltic amber, does not appear to belong to Micridium as defined here.
      A key to the new species is provided.

PMID- 28610185
TI  - New taxa of Orthoptera (Insecta Tettigoniidae Phaneropterinae) from Madagascar.
AB  - The author reports the results of a study on Orthoptera collected in Madagascar
      and preserved in two European Natural History museums. He describes
      Symmetroraggea depravata n. sp., Parapyrrhicia longipodex n. sp., Madagascarantia
      bartolozzii n. gen. n. sp., Mimoscudderia spinicercata n. sp. In addition, he
      lists new records or unknown taxonomical characters of Xenodus nobilis Carl, 1914
      and Parapyrrhicia virilis Carl, 1914.

PMID- 28610183
TI  - Melittofauna and Other Potential Pollinators in Wetland and Uplands in South
      Central Nebraska (Insecta: Apoidea).
AB  - Our objective was to document potential wild pollinating insects in south central
      Nebraska. This intensively cultivated region is known as the Rainwater Basin and
      contains some of the most endangered wetland systems in North America. We used
      blue vane traps to passively collect insects and insect nets to actively collect
      on flowering plants from April through October in 2014 and 2015. Habitat types
      included playa wetlands, adjacent mixed and tallgrass prairies, and agricultural
      fields. Over 112,000 insects were collected; Hymenoptera represented 78% of the
      total, and the families Apidae and Halictidae comprised 99% of the total
      melittofauna. Insects from 13 orders were collected, but Hymenoptera, Diptera,
      and Coleoptera were the most abundant potential pollinators.

PMID- 28610184
TI  - <i>Indopamphantus</i> <i>makutaensis</i>, a new genus and species, and
      Indopamphantini, a new tribe of Pamphantinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera:
      Geocoridae), as the first representative of the subfamily from the Oriental
      Region.
AB  - Indopamphantini trib. nov., a new tribe of subfamily Pamphantinae of family
      Geocoridae, is erected for Indopamphantus gen. nov., containing one species, I.
      makutaensis sp. nov., as the first member of this subfamily from the Oriental
      Region. The strikingly myrmecomorphic I. makutaensis, collected only from Makuta
      range area within Coorg [Kodagu] district at altitudes of up to 909 metres in the
      canopy of Vateria indica L. (Dipterocarpaceae), a tree indigenous to the Western
      Ghats in south India, is described and illustrated. The affinities of the new
      tribe with other tribes within the Pamphantinae as well with other related
      subfamilies of Geocoridae and families of Lygaeoidea are discussed. The
      Geocoridae and Pamphantinae are redefined to accommodate this new tribe.

PMID- 28610187
TI  - <i>Cladotanytarsus</i> Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae): several distinctive
      species reviewed on the basis of records from Canada and USA.
AB  - Two species of the genus Cladotanytarsus Kieffer, 1921 are described as adult
      males, both peculiar in having distinctively elongated hypopygial anal points.
      The male of Cladotanytarsus bilyji Gilka et Puchalski, sp. nov. (Canada,
      Manitoba; USA, Ohio) is presumed to be a close relative of C. nigrovittatus
      (Goetghebuer, 1922). Another unknown Cladotanytarsus species (USA, Illinois and
      Louisiana) keys with the European C. donmcbeani Langton et McBean, 2010. The
      intraspecific variability of the male C. acornutus Jacobsen et Bilyj, 2007 is
      also presented on the basis of new records (Canada, Ontario; USA, South
      Carolina). Cladotanytarsus males with similarly structured elongate anal points
      are reviewed, including C. tobaquardecimus Kikuchi et Sasa, 1990, considered a
      junior synonym (syn. nov.) of C. conversus (Johannsen, 1932). As a compilation of
      this study, a key to the identification of the adult males of 14 Cladotanytarsus
      species is provided.

PMID- 28610189
TI  - Two new species of Stigmaeidae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Rhaphignathoidea) from
      Brazil.
AB  - Two new species of Stigmaeidae, Agistemus rodriguezi Paktinat-Saeij & Cruz sp.
      nov. and Eryngiopus moraesi Paktinat-Saeij & Barroso sp. nov. are described and
      illustrated on the basis of adult specimens from northern Brazil.

PMID- 28610190
TI  - <i>Pseudoleptonema</i> <i>tansoongnerni</i> new species (Hydropsychidae:
      Trichoptera) with species list of Trichoptera from Li Phi Falls, Mekong River,
      southern Laos.
AB  - A new species named Pseudoleptonema tansoongnerni n. sp. is presented along with
      a list of Trichoptera from Li Phi falls, Mekong River, southern Laos.
      Pseudoleptonema tansoongnerni n. sp. is described and figured based on adult
      males and females. It is distinguished from the others by its forewing pattern
      and color, which is yellowish brown.

PMID- 28610188
TI  - Revision of the South American grassland leafhopper genus <i>Cortona</i> Oman
      (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Deltocephalini) with description of
      four new species from Argentina.
AB  - The South American leafhopper genus Cortona is moved from Macrostelini to
      Deltocephalini and is reviewed. Its type species and four new species, C.
      catanachae sp. n., C. concordica sp. n., C. otamendiensis sp. n., and C. silvai
      sp. n., are illustrated and described from Argentina. A checklist and a key to
      species are provided.

PMID- 28610191
TI  - New earthworm species of <i>Righiodrilus</i> (Clitellata, Glossoscolecidae) from
      eastern Amazonia.
AB  - Three new species of the glossoscolecid earthworm genus Righiodrilus are
      described from material collected in northern Para and Maranhao States, Brazil.
      Rhigiodrilus gurupi n. sp. is characterized by four pairs of post-testicular
      spermathecae in xiv-xvii. Rhigiodrilus viseuensis n. sp. is distinguished by
      tubercula pubertatis in xix-xxiii and clitellum in xvi-xxiii. Rhigiodrilus moju
      n. sp. is the only species in the genus that lacks tubercula pubertatis. We
      provide an updated key and a distribution map for all species of Righiodrilus.

PMID- 28610192
TI  - Intraspecific variation in adult <i>Uvitellina</i> <i>iraquensis</i> Dronen, Ali
      & Al-Amura, 2013 (Cyclocoelidae: Haematotrephinae) from two collection sites of
      white-tailed lapwing, <i>Vanellus</i> <i>leucurus</i> (Lichtenstein)
      (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae), in Iraq.
AB  - A total of 19 white-tailed lapwing, Vanellus leucurus, were collected from
      Huwazah Marsh, north-eastern Basrah Province, Iraq from February to March and in
      October, 2011 (collection site #1) and 60 V. leucurus were collected from Al
      Hammar Marshes, Thi-Qar Province, southern Iraq from July to November, 2012
      (collection site #2), and examined for cyclocoelids. Nineteen Uvitellina
      iraquensis Dronen, Ali & Al-Amura, 2013 from site #1 and 17 specimens from site
      #2 were fixed with minimal compression for comparisons of morphological
      characteristics, measurements, morphometric percentages and morphometric ratios
      commonly used to distinguish species of cyclocoelids. An additional five adult
      specimens from site #1 were fixed without compression for comparisons. Specimens
      from site # 1 (n=24) represented only fully-developed, non-senescing adults,
      while those from site #2 (n=17) could be divided into fully-developed (non
      senescing) adults (n=8); younger (smaller, less developed) adults (n=5) and
      senescing adults (n=4). The following characteristics were relatively consistent,
      and appeared to be valuable in identifying groups of similar species and
      distinguishing species in Uvitellina: the presence or absence of the oral sucker;
      the oral sucker/pharynx width ratio; the posterior extent of the cirrus sac
      relative to the intestinal bifurcation; the position of the genital pore relative
      to the pharynx; the position of the testes in the body; the length of the
      intertesticular space; the length of the posttesticular space; the lateral
      disposition of the uterine loops; the presence of a posteriorly-directed, tail
      like extension off the posterior confluence of the vitelline fields; the
      posterior extent of the uterine loops relative to the gonads; and the size of
      fully-developed eggs. It may be beneficial to calculate the percentage that
      measurements represent relative to the body length to provide insight into the
      relationship of the size of a structure to increased size of the specimens
      (growth). Specimens fixed without compression appeared to be less uniform, less
      symmetrical, shorter, more distorted and the internal details were more difficult
      to see.

PMID- 28610186
TI  - Phylogenetic analysis of the Neotropical <i>Pristimantis</i> <i>leptolophus</i>
      species group (Anura: Craugastoridae): molecular approach and description of a
      new polymorphic species.
AB  - Pristimantis, distributed throughout the New World tropics, is the most speciose
      vertebrate genus. Pristimantis presents an enormous morphological diversity and
      is currently divided into several demonstrably non-monophyletic phenetic species
      groups. With the purpose of increasing our understanding of Pristimantis
      systematics, we present the first phylogenetic analysis using molecular evidence
      to test the monophyly and infer evolutionary relationships within the
      Pristimantis leptolophus group, an endemic group of frogs from the highlands of
      the Colombian Andes. Our phylogenetic reconstruction recovers the group as
      monophyletic with high support, indicating general concordance between molecular
      data and morphological data. In addition, we describe a new polymorphic species
      lacking conspicuous tubercles, a regular attribute among species of the P.
      leptolophus species group and endemic from the Paramo de Sonson complex
      (Antioquia, Colombia). The phylogenetic position of the new species is inferred
      and other systematic implications in the light of our results are discussed.

PMID- 28610194
TI  - Description of a new kinorhynch species, <i>Paracentrophyes</i> <i>sanchezae</i>
      n. sp. (Kinorhyncha: Allomalorhagida) from the Gulf of Mexico, with differential
      notes on one additional, yet undescribed species of the genus.
AB  - A new kinorhynch species, Paracentrophyes sanchezae n. sp., is described from the
      Gulf of Mexico. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by its
      relatively low number of perispinal setae. In addition to the new species, the
      existence of one undescribed species of Paracentrophyes in the Gulf of Mexico is
      also reported. This undescribed species has very short lateral terminal spines,
      and the number of perispinal setae is lower than in any other known species of
      Paracentrophyes. Diagnostic notes are provided for this unnamed species, but the
      available material is too limited to provide a formal description.

PMID- 28610195
TI  - Three new species of <i>Pergalumna</i> (Acari: Oribatida: Galumnidae) from the
      tropical rainforest of Veracruz, Mexico.
AB  - Three new species of oribatid mites of the genus Pergalumna from a tropical rain
      forest in Veracruz, Mexico are described. Pergalumna hypergranulosa sp. nov.
      differs from Pergalumna granulatus Balogh & Mahunka, 1967 by unilaterally
      barbulated bothridial setae, elongated notogastric porose areas, and also a more
      profuse granulation of the cerotegument. Pergalumna obsidiana sp. nov. differs
      from P. granulatus by the unilateral barbulation of bothridial setae and the
      presence of protuberances on the genital plates; from Pergalumna paralongisetosa
      Ermilov & Kaluz, 2012 by a diverging cerotegumental granulation on the
      notogaster. Pergalumna dactylaris sp. nov. differs from Pergalumna striata (Perez
      Inigo & Baggio, 1980) by its bigger size and the presence of three notogastric
      porose areas instead of four and from Pergalumna decorata Balogh & Mahunka, 1977,
      also by the bigger size, a different position of setae lm and la and smaller but
      not minute interlamellar setae. These are the first Mexican species descriptions
      of this genus.

PMID- 28610196
TI  - Revision of the non-Afrotropical species of <i>Trigastrotheca</i> Cameron
      (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) with descriptions of four new species.
AB  - The Asian species of Trigastrotheca are revised. Four species are described as
      new: T. pariyanonthae sp. nov. from Thailand, T. sureeratae sp. nov. from
      Thailand, T. luzonensis sp. nov. from the Philippines, and T. maetoi sp. nov.
      from Indonesia (Kalimantan). Trigastrotheca tridentata (Enderlein) is redescribed
      and recorded from India for the first time. A key is provided to differentiate
      all non-Afrotropical species of the genus.

PMID- 28610197
TI  - Eight new species of Dolichopodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from northern Iran.
AB  - Dipterological surveys were conducted in different sites in western and central
      parts of northern Iran (Guilan, Mazandaran, Kordestan, East and West Azerbaijan
      and Ardabil provinces) during 2010-2011 using Malaise traps, and during 2012-2014
      employing sweep nets. A total of 110 species were collected, including 42
      Dolichopodinae. Eleven dolichopodine species proved new to science, eight of
      which are described here: Dolichopus fuscicercus sp. nov., D. subimmaculatus sp.
      nov., Gymnopternus flavitibia sp. nov., G. atratus sp. nov., Hercostomus
      setitibia sp. nov., H. albicoxa sp. nov., Poecilobothrus annulitarsis sp. nov.
      and P. innotabilis sp. nov. Some of these species strongly resemble European
      species and even share near identical conspicuous male secondary sexual
      characters.

PMID- 28610198
TI  - Review of robber flies of the genus <i>Stichopogon</i> Loew (Diptera: Asilidae:
      Stichopogoninae) from Egypt.
AB  - The Egyptian fauna of the asilid genus Stichopogon Loew is revised. Nine species
      are recognized including two new records, Stichopogon deserti Theodor, 1980 and
      S. scaliger Loew, 1847. A key to species, lists of material examined and their
      distribution are included. The occurrence of S. maroccanus in Egypt is discussed
      and clarified.

PMID- 28610193
TI  - Description of <i>Brachymeria philornisae</i> sp. n. (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae),
      a parasitoid of the bird parasite <i>Philornis</i> <i>trinitensis</i> (Diptera:
      Muscidae) in Tobago, with a review of the sibling species.
AB  - In this paper, we describe and illustrate a new species of parasitoid wasp as
      Brachymeria philornisae Delvare, sp. nov. The new species was reared from
      Philornis trinitensis Dodge & Aitken (Diptera: Muscidae) puparia that were found
      in the nests of the bird species Mimus gilvus (Vieillot) (Mimidae) and Tiaris
      bicolor (L.) (Thraupidae) in Tobago. The new species is of particular interest as
      it may be considered a potential biological control agent in locations where
      Philornis species are invasive, such as the Galapagos Islands. Closely related
      Brachymeria species had taxonomically ambiguous relationship in the past and are
      compared and reviewed. The species have been classified in the subgenus
      Pseudobrachymeria, but are here treated within the newly defined subconica
      species-group of Brachymeria as part of a sibling species complex designated as
      the subrugosa complex. Species assigned to the subconica species-group are listed
      and five, one unnamed, are assigned to the subrugosa complex and their females
      keyed. Species are separated by qualitative characters and morphometry using
      distance measurements. Trigonura annulipes Costa Lima is renamed as Brachymeria
      costalimai Delvare nom. nov. because of secondary homonymy.

PMID- 28610200
TI  - A new species of <i>Cicadatra</i> Kolenati, 1857 from China, with primary
      phylogenetic analyses of the tribe Cicadatrini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae).
AB  - A new species of the genus Cicadatra Kolenati, 1857, C. hei sp. nov., from
      Sichuan Province, China is described. A key to the species of Cicadatra from
      China is provided. Morphological characters for 9 taxa of the tribe Cicadatrini
      and for 3 outgroup taxa are examined to present the first phylogenetic
      reconstruction within the Cicadatrini. The monophyly of Cicadatrini is supported,
      and Cicadatrini is more allied to the outgroup Cicadetta of the subfamily
      Cicadettinae (= Tibicininae auct.) from TNT and WinClada analyses. The systematic
      status of the tribe Cicadatrini is discussed. The genus Cicadalna Boulard, 2006
      is recognized to be a junior synonym of Emathia Stal, 1866, and Cicadalna
      takensis Boulard, 2006 is transferred from Cicadalna to Emathia to become Emathia
      takensis (Boulard, 2006) comb. nov.

PMID- 28610199
TI  - Morphological and molecular evidence for a new species of freshwater crab of the
      genus <i>Sudanonautes</i> Bott, 1955 (Brachyura: Potamoidea: Potamonautidae) from
      Cameroon, with notes on its ecology.
AB  - A new species of freshwater crab of the genus Sudanonautes Bott, 1955, is
      described from the tropical rainforests of Edea and Tiko in southern Cameroon,
      Central Africa. Sudanonautes tiko n. sp. is recognized by a unique combination of
      characters of the carapace, thoracic sternum, chelipeds, and male first gonopod,
      and by distinct mtDNA sequences for two loci (COI and 16S rRNA). A diagnosis,
      illustrations, and a tree of phylogenetic relationships based on mtDNA sequences
      are provided, along with a comparison to similar species from the region. Brief
      notes are provided on the ecology of the new species and of three other species
      of Sudanonautes collected during this study.

PMID- 28610202
TI  - <i>Reisseronia</i> <i>annae</i> sp. nov.-a new parthenogenetic bagworm moth from
      Poland (Lepidoptera, Psychidae).
AB  - Reisseronia annae sp. nov. is described from the province of Upper Silesia in
      southern Poland. The species is similar to its parthenogenetic relatives
      Reisseronia imielinella Malkiewicz, Sobczyk & Larysz, 2013 and R. gertrudae
      Sieder, 1962. The diagnosis of other related congeneric species is provided. The
      habitat and life history is described.

PMID- 28610203
TI  - New species of <i>Ameletus</i> Eaton, 1885 from the Russian Far East with notes
      on <i>Ameletus</i> <i>camtschaticus</i> Ulmer 1927 (Ephemeroptera: Ameletidae).
AB  - The male imagoes, larvae, and eggs of Ameletus allengaensis sp. nov. and Ameletus
      sirotskii sp. nov. from the Russian Far East are described. Based on the
      structure of the male genitalia, the imago and larvae of A. allengaensis sp. nov.
      and A. sirotskii sp. nov. are similar to those of A. camtschaticus, but the
      discovery of these new species and separation from A. camtschaticus were
      confirmed by studies of the morphology of the larvae and male imago, as well as
      molecular analysis. Identity of various developmental stages of the new species
      were confirmed by analysis of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI)
      DNA barcode, which was also used to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships
      within the genus Ameletus. The intraspecific sequence divergence based on the
      Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) distance ranged from 0.0-2.5%, whereas the interspecific
      sequence divergence based on the K2P distance ranged from 6.2-7.9% within A.
      sirotskii sp. nov., A. allengaensis sp. nov. and A. camtschaticus. Male imagoes
      of A. allengaensis sp. nov., A. sirotskii sp. nov., and A. camtschaticus can be
      distinguished by the size and location of small denticles on the ventral plate of
      the penis. The larvae of A. allengaensis sp. nov. differ from those of A.
      sirotskii sp. nov. by the size of gills I and II. In A. allengaensis sp. nov.,
      gill I is almost twice as small as gill II; in A. sirotskii sp. nov., gill I is
      only slightly smaller than gill II. Both new species differ from A. camtschaticus
      by gill II, which does not have an anal rib on the anal margin.

PMID- 28610204
TI  - Revision of the <i>Belostoma</i> <i>dentatum</i> group <i>sensu</i> Nieser
      (Insecta, Heteroptera, Belostomatidae).
AB  - Species of Belostoma in the dentatum and subspinosum groups are large and closely
      related, and have been combined by some authors into a single group, the dentatum
      group, comprising 15 species. This group is recognized by the scutellum reaching
      the nodal line and the ventral diverticulum of the phallus with distinct dorsal
      caudal and ventroapical protuberances. Previously, each group included five and
      10 species, respectively; members of the dentatum group ranged in length from
      38.0 to 52.0 mm, whereas those of the subspinosum group ranged from 26.0 to 40.0
      mm. The following species of the dentatum group, now reformulated, include:
      Belostoma anurum (Herrich-Schaffer), B. asiaticum (Mayr), B. bordoni De Carlo, B.
      cummingsi De Carlo, B. columbiae Lauck, B. dallasi De Carlo, B. dentatum (Mayr),
      B. elongatum Montandon, B. ellipticum Latreille, B. foveolatum (Mayr), B. guianae
      Lauck, B. harrisi Lauck, B. malkini Lauck, B. porteri De Carlo, B. pseudoguianae
      Roback & Nieser, B. subspinosum Palisot de Beauvois, and B. venezuelae Lauck.
      Belostoma bordoni is herein included in the dentatum group based on male
      genitalic morphology, and the subspecies B. subspinosum subpinosum (Palisot de
      Beauvois) and B. subspinosum cupreomicans (Stal) are synonymized as a single
      valid species, B. subspinosum. Belostoma peruvianum De Carlo is synonymized with
      B. dentatum. Based on the study of male genitalic characteristics, B.
      cachoeirinhensis Lanzer-de-Souza appears to be conspecific with B. cummingsi;
      however, because we could not borrow types of B. cachoeirinhensis, we do not
      synonymize it. Sketches of specimens identified either as B. boscii (Le Peletier
      de Saint-Fargeau & Serville) or B. anurum by A.L. Montandon from Museum National
      d'Histoire Naturelle are provided with comments in order to show the variation of
      male genitalia through the B. subspinosum complex. Our findings suggest that the
      dorsal arms of the phallotheca curved apically to be diagnostic of this complex.
      No firm conclusion is possible because of the great variation in the male
      genitalia; however, the general aspect of the ventroapical protuberance together
      with the dorsal arms provide some definition of B. subspinosum. A key to these
      species is also given, deeply modified after D.R. Lauck and N. Nieser.

PMID- 28610205
TI  - <i>Rhinobatos</i> <i>austini</i> n. sp., a new species of guitarfish
      (Rhinopristiformes: Rhinobatidae) from the Southwestern Indian Ocean.
AB  - Rhinobatos austini sp. n. is described from the southwestern Indian Ocean based
      on four specimens collected from the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa and
      from Mozambique. The new species, with one exception, can be distinguished from
      all other members of this genus by a prominent teardrop-shaped dark blotch on the
      ventral surface of its snout. Its closest congener, R. holcorhynchus, also has a
      prominent teardrop-shaped blotch on its snout, but the new species differs from
      it by a lack of prominent thorns and tubercles on it dorsal disc surface and a
      very striking dorsal surface colour pattern of paired spots, some forming darker
      transverse bands across its back. Geographically, these two species broadly
      overlap, but R. austini appears to be a shallow, more coastal species (<1-107 m)
      compared to R. holcorhynchus that has a mostly offshore (75-254 m) depth
      distribution.

PMID- 28610207
TI  - <i>Microlepidogaster</i> <i>negomata</i>, a new hypoptopomatine catfish
      (Loricariidae: Hypoptopomatinae) from Rio Sao Francisco basin, southeastern
      Brazil.
AB  - The number of species of Microlepidogaster recently increased considerably, the
      genus presently comprises six species distributed in the Parana, Sao Francisco,
      and Jequitinhonha river basins. A new species of Microlepidogaster is herein
      described from the upper Rio Sao Francisco basin, which can be distinguished from
      all congeners by having two exclusive features within the genus: skin over
      swimbladder opening with two to five reduced unperforated platelets, and ventral
      laminar expansion of coracoid enclosing completely or almost completely the
      arrector fossa of the pectoral girdle. In addition, other features to recognize
      this species are: snout covered by many small plates bearing slender pointed
      odontodes; presence of iris operculum; exposure of pectoral girdle restricted to
      the lateral portion; presence of pectoral axillary slit only in juveniles;
      anterior portion of compound supraneural plus first dorsal-fin proximal radial
      contacting the neural spine of the eighth or ninth vertebra; first anal-fin
      pterygiophore covered only by skin; and uninterrupted, long median and mid-dorsal
      series of lateral plates.

PMID- 28610206
TI  - A new species of <i>Pseudocalotes</i> (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Bukit Barisan
      Range of Sumatra with an Estimation of its phylogeny.
AB  - We describe a new species of Pseudocalotes from montane forests of the central,
      western coast of Sumatra. The combination of 3 or 4 interoculabials, slightly
      enlarged and heavily keeled scales on the lower flanks, a white scapular spot, a
      relatively long fifth toe, bicarinate lamellae at the base of Toe III, absence of
      a postrictal modified scale, and three rows of paravertebrals directed dorsally
      and posteriorly distinguishes the new species from its congeners on Sumatra and
      Java. Among the new characters defined in this study, counts of subdigital
      lamellae within the "span of Toe V" proved particularly useful for diagnosing
      species of Pseudocalotes. Phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences identified a
      monophyletic group containing the Sumatran and Javan Pseudocalotes. Based on the
      phylogeny, we define a P. cybelidermus Group containing P. cybelidermus and P.
      guttalineatus and a P. tympanistriga Group containing P. tympanistriga, P.
      rhammanotus, and the new species. Combinations of five morphological characters
      define each of these two clades. As currently defined, Pseudocalotes is
      polyphyletic; Javan and Sumatran species are more closely related to other
      draconines such as Dendragama boulengeri than they are to some mainland species.

PMID- 28610210
TI  - A new genus and species of clearwing moths (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) from South
      Sudan.
AB  - A new clearwing moth genus and species is described and illustrated from South
      Sudan: Lolibaia salimi gen. nov. et sp. nov.. This is the first record of the
      family Sesiidae from that country. The holotype is deposited in the collection of
      the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of
      Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

PMID- 28610209
TI  - The Neotropical species of the predaceous midge genus <i>Austrohelea</i> Wirth &
      Grogan (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).
AB  - Two new Neotropical species of the predaceous midge genus Austrohelea Wirth &
      Grogan, A. sirii n. sp. and A. spinosa n. sp., and the previously known A.
      shannoni (Wirth & Blanton) are described, illustrated and photomicrographs
      provided of male and female specimens collected from several localities in
      Argentine and Chilean Patagonia. The similarities and differences between the
      three Neotropical species are discussed, and a key is provided of the males and
      females of these three species. The distribution of A. shannoni is extended to
      the southernmost region of South America.

PMID- 28610208
TI  - On mysterious occurrence of butterflies in the genus <i>Delias</i> at Jinmen
      Islands, with clarification on the nomenclature of <i>D. pasithoe</i> (Linnaeus,
      1767) and <i>D. acalis</i> (Godart, 1819) in southern China.
AB  - In recent years, a considerable number of pierid butterflies of the genus Delias
      have been found from Jinmen Islands, where no available hostplants grow,
      rendering a proof of cross sea water migration of these butterflies. It is
      suggested here that these butterflies come from nearby continent of eastern
      China, visiting the islands for nectar acquisition in seasons when nectar is in
      short supply because they mostly show up in autumn months. Samples obtained
      during the survey contained two species, namely Delias pasithoe (Linnaeus, 1767)
      and Delias acalis (Godart, 1819). Subspecific names applied to both species in
      eastern China appear to involve nomenclatural problems, with erroneous usage in
      recent literature.

PMID- 28610211
TI  - One new species of <i>Amphinemura</i> and description of the female of <i>A.
      ancistroidea</i> Li & Yang (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from Guangxi Zhuang
      Autonomous Region of southern China.
AB  - A new nemourid species, Amphinemura yao sp. nov. is described from the Daoyao
      Mountains of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China. Amphinemura
      ancistroidea Li & Yang, 2007 is newly recorded from Guangxi and the female is
      described for the first time including the internal vaginal complex. The new
      species is compared with related taxa.

PMID- 28610213
TI  - A new genus for the Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Aves: Passeriformes):  a suggested
      adjustment to the classification of the Thraupidae.
AB  - Recent DNA-based studies have found that the genus Thraupis, as traditionally
      defined, is polyphyletic, with the Blue-and-yellow Tanager (historically treated
      as Thraupis bonariensis) being sister to the Fawn-breasted Tanager (Pipraeidea
      melanonota). As a result, most subsequent classifications lumped both species
      under a single genus, Pipraeidea. Here I show that both species differ markedly
      in plumage, morphology, voice, and behavior, each of them being more similar to a
      distantly related species than to each other. As such, I argue that the treatment
      of the Blue-and-yellow Tanager in Pipraeidea creates an undiagnosable genus
      contrasting greatly with the generic limits commonly applied to the tanagers. To
      avoid this situation, I propose the recognition of a new genus, Remsenornis gen.
      nov., for the Blue-and-yellow Tanager.

PMID- 28610212
TI  - New distributional records and life stage description of <i>Caenis</i> species
      (Ephemeroptera: Caenidae) from Brazil.
AB  - The genus Caenis Stephens, 1835 is well represented in South America with 24
      recorded species (14 in Brazil). Based on additional material from Brazil, we
      describe for the first time the nymphal and egg stages of C. reissi, and re
      describe the eggs of C. cuniana. New distributional records for these species and
      Caenis elidioi are given, and C. teipunensis (previously described from
      Venezuela) is reported for the first time from Brazil.

PMID- 28610214
TI  - Revised morphology of <i>Pycnonemosaurus</i> <i>nevesi</i> Kellner & Campos, 2002
      (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) and its phylogenetic relationships.
AB  - Abelisaurid theropods were most abundant in the Gondwana during the Cretaceous
      Period. Pycnonemosaurus nevesi Kellner & Campos, 2002 was the first abelisaurid
      dinosaur described from the Bauru Group (Brazil, Upper Cretaceous). Nevertheless,
      its initial description was based on the comparison of a restricted number of
      remains with other abelisaurids. In this paper, I present a new description of
      the morphology of Pycnonemosaurus nevesi, including three new caudal transverse
      processes and a discussion of several new characteristics based on perspectives
      derived from recently described abelisauroids. Pycnonemosaurus nevesi differs
      from other abelisaurids based on the following features: a pubis with a small
      rounded foot and a ventrally-bowed anterior distal end; posterior caudal
      vertebrae with a hook-shaped transverse process that has an anterodistal
      expansion that is short and bowed; a strong and massive tibia with a well
      developed lateral malleolus that is ventrally expanded. The unfused sutures
      represent signs of skeletal immaturity, but the specific ontogenetic stage is
      still uncertain. The current phylogenetic analysis suggests strongly relationship
      within Pycnonemosaurus and the most-derived abelisaurids (e.g Carnotaurus and
      Aucasaurus).

PMID- 28610201
TI  - A new species of <i>Soikiella</i> Nowicki (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) from
      Italy.
AB  - A new species of Soikiella Nowicki (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) that emerged
      mostly from galls induced by Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu (Hymenoptera:
      Cynipidae) on chestnut is described from Italy. The characterization of the new
      taxon, Soikiella italica Viggiani sp. n., was performed through a morpho
      molecular approach. A key to the species of Soikiella is given. Emerging from the
      same samples were a few females of an unidentified species of Trichogramma
      Westwood that likely emerged from eggs of Lepidoptera associated with the galls.
      The true host of S. italica is also indicated to be the eggs of some insect other
      than D. kuriphilus that uses their galls as oviposition sites.

PMID- 28610215
TI  - Three new species of squat lobsters of the genus <i>Fennerogalathea</i> Baba,
      1988 (Decapoda: Galatheidae) from the Pacific Ocean.
AB  - The genus Fennerogalathea Baba, 1988 was known to contain two species: F. chacei
      Baba, 1988, the type species, from the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia and F.
      chirostyloides Tirmizi & Javed, 1993 from the Bay of Bengal. In the present
      study, three new species of the genus are described and illustrated: F. chani n.
      sp. from Papua New Guinea, F. cultrata n. sp. from New Caledonia and Vanuatu and
      F. ensifera n. sp. from Fiji. The new species are morphologically distinguishable
      on the basis of the shape and spination of the rostrum and the presence/absence
      of a small spine on the frontal margin of the carapace. The species also show
      clear genetic differences (COI and 16S rDNA) among them.

PMID- 28610216
TI  - The Apseudomorpha (Crustacea: Tanaidacea) of the Gulf of Cadiz and Horseshoe
      Continental Rise (NE Atlantic): A taxonomic review with new records, species, and
      ecological data.
AB  - The apseudomorphan tanaidaceans of the deep sea have been under-studied,
      especially in chemosynthetic habitats. A total of ten species present in the Gulf
      of Cadiz and the Horseshoe Continental Rise (SW off the Iberian Peninsula) are
      listed here, and new distribution data, ecological remarks and description of one
      new species of Atlantapseudes (Atlantapseudes curvatus sp. nov.) from recent
      research cruises are added. Pseudosphyrapus azorensis and Francapseudes
      uniarticulatus are recorded for the first time since the original descriptions.
      Notes on morphological development of Leviapseudes segonzaci and intraspecific
      variation of F. uniarticulatus are included, together with illustrations and
      descriptions of the material from the Gulf of Cadiz to complement previous
      descriptions.

PMID- 28610217
TI  - A new genus and species of Neotropical Nemobiinae (Insecta: Orthoptera:
      Grylloidea: Trigonidiidae: Nemobiinae).
AB  - A new genus and a new species of Neotropical cricket is described: Pepoapua
      cariacica n. gen., n. sp., occurring in four Atlantic Forest remnants in the
      states of Bahia and Espirito Santo, Brazil. This new genus is morphologically
      similar in external characteristics, both male and female genitalia, with two
      other Neotropical genera of Nemobiinae: Amanayara and Kevanemobius. The
      combination of the external morphological characteristics, along with male
      genitalia, characterize a new genus through combination of the following
      characters: (i) males and females with morphologically similar tegmina; (ii)
      tegmina reduced, not reaching half of the second abdominal segment; (iii) dorsal
      field of the tegmina with parallel veins, without stridulatory vein or any
      specialized area for sound production; (iv) tibia of the first pair of legs
      without tympanum; (v) tibia of the third pair of legs with seven dorsal spurs,
      four inner and three outer, the proximo-dorsal inner spur reduced in size and the
      disto-dorsal inner spur without glandular aspect; (vi) ovipositor with distal
      portion of the dorsal and ventral valves serrated; (vii) male genitalia without
      evident bristles or sensillas; (viii) pseudepiphallic median lobe presenting
      apical and ventral projections.

PMID- 28610219
TI  - A new species of <i>Neoeutrypanus</i> Monne, 1977 from Guatemala (Coleoptera,
      Cerambycidae).
AB  - Neoeutrypanus Monne, 1977 was reviewed by Botero & Monne (2015); currently, the
      genus is composed by 12 species, distributed from Mexico to the north of
      Argentina (Monne, 2017). Herein, we describe a new species from Guatemala and a
      modify the key proposed by Botero & Monne (2015) to include the new species.

PMID- 28610220
TI  - Corrections and clarifications to the descriptions of <i>Biendongella</i> and
      <i>Sovvityazius</i> (Perciformes: Gobiidae).
AB  - Prokofiev (2015a) described two new genera and species of Amblyopinae and
      reported new amblyopine records from waters off Indonesia, the Philippines, and
      Vietnam. In reviewing Prokofiev's figures and reading the descriptions of his new
      genera, Biendongella Prokofiev, 2015 and Sovvityazius Prokofiev, 2015, it
      appeared likely that these new taxa were based on species also under examination
      by Koichi Shibukawa and me. However, some differences existed between our
      specimens and those described by Prokofiev in the pterygiophore formula (DF), the
      presence/absence of hypural 5, and the number of epurals. The data and
      information on these characters were not abundantly clear from the text and
      clarification was needed. For example, on page 786 of Prokofiev (2015a) the
      following diagnostic feature of Biendongella was provided, "DF 3 1221, vacant
      interneural gap between spined and soft parts of D present; two first
      pterygiophores of soft part of D each located in its interneural gap...". Similar
      wording exists for Sovvityazius on page 789, "DF 3 1221, vacant gap between
      spined and soft parts of D present; two first pterygiophores of soft part of D
      each in its interneural space...". As for hypural 5 and the number of epurals,
      the same statement is given for both Biendongella and Sovvityazius on pages 786
      and 789, respectively, "Hypural 5 and epural 2 absent." These character states
      struck me as remarkable as they are atypical for amblyopines. With respect to the
      DF character above, amblyopine gobies with a pterygiophore formula of 3-1221 have
      no interneural gap and the interneural space immediately posterior to the
      pterygiophore of the ultimate spinous ray contains two pterygiophores (Murdy
      2011). As for the latter characters, hypural 5 and two epurals are present in
      amblyopine gobies (Shibukawa and Murdy 2012). In a detailed email to Prokofiev, I
      asked for clarification of these discrepancies and whether Biendongella and
      Sovvityazius have the amblyopine synapomorphy of the ultimate pterygiophore
      supporting a single ray (Murdy & Shibukawa 2001), which was not mentioned in the
      description of either genus.

PMID- 28610221
TI  - First record of spongillaflies (Neuroptera: Sisyridae) from Colombia.
AB  - The family Sisyridae (spongillaflies) is a small group of neuropterans
      distributed in all Biogeographic realms (Cover & Resh 2008). As in Nevrorthidae,
      Sisyridae is distinguished among other Neuroptera families by their strictly
      aquatic larvae (Wichard et al. 2002). The phylogenetic relationships of Sisyridae
      have been controversial i.e. the family was recovered at different positions
      within the Neuropterida phylogeny as a basal group among members of Neuroptera or
      whitin the suborder Hemerobiiformia with a very variable placement (Randolf et
      al. 2013). Currently the species richness of this group reaches 70
      representatives in four genera, namely Climacia McLachlan, 1869 (New World),
      Sisyra Burmeister, 1839 (cosmopolitan), Sisyrina Banks, 1939 (Africa, Asia and
      Australia), and Sisyborina Monserrat, 1981 (endemic to Africa) (Parfin & Gurney
      1956; Cover & Resh 2008).

PMID- 28610222
TI  - <i>Anagrus</i> <i>nedotepae</i> sp. n. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg
      parasitoid of <i>Nedotepa curta</i> (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), a pest of coconut
      palm in West Africa.
AB  - A new Afrotropical species of Anagrus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), A.
      nedotepae Triapitsyn sp. n., is described and illustrated. The type series was
      reared from parasitized eggs of the leafhopper Nedotepa curta Dmitriev
      (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) during a survey for its natural enemies in Cote
      d'Ivoire. This peculiar leafhopper, recently described from Ghana (Dmitriev
      2016), lays its eggs on leaflets of coconut palm, and could be an economically
      important pest of this crop in West Africa, particularly because it is a
      suspected vector of the phytoplasma associated with the Cote d'Ivoire Lethal
      Yellowing disease of coconut, as characterized by Arocha-Rosete et al. (2014).
      Coconut lethal yellowing diseases cause severe economic losses to the very
      important coconut growing industry in several West African countries and
      elsewhere, being considered a threat of global economic and social significance
      (Gurr et al. 2016). Thus, the parasitoid may be of potential importance for
      natural biological control of this pest and urgently needs a scientific name to
      be used in further publications on its biology and ecology. Such studies are
      currently underway by the second author, who collected the type series of the new
      species.

PMID- 28610223
TI  - Review of the enigmatic genus <i>Boalda</i> with transfer of <i>pulcherrima</i>
      Kohler from <i>Nephelistis</i> and description of two new species (Lepidoptera:
      Noctuidae).
AB  - Schaus (1929: 49) described Boalda gyona in a monobasic genus known only from the
      holotype taken in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Biezanko et al. (1957) reported the
      species from Uruguay. A number of specimens of Boalda similar to gyona were
      collected recently in Paraguay, at least two of which match the anomalous
      Argentinian taxon Nephelistis pulcherrima Kohler (1947: 77-78). Herein the genus
      Boalda is reviewed, with one new species described from the Paraguayan samples,
      and with N. pulcherrima transferred Boalda. A singleton specimen from Parque
      Nacional Cerro Cora, Dpto. Amambay, Paraguay, is figured but not described as a
      distinct species because of a lack of additional specimens.

PMID- 28610224
TI  - Redescription of <i>Zoica</i> <i>puellula</i> (Simon, 1898) (Araneae: Lycosidae:
      Zoicinae) and transfer of <i>Zoica</i> <i>harduarae</i> (Biswas & Roy, 2008) to
      Agelenidae C.L. Koch, 1837.
AB  - The genus Zoica Simon, 1898 comprises the smallest members of the family
      Lycosidae (Lehtinen & Hippa 1979; Framenau et al. 2009) and all the members are
      vagrant (Lehtinen & Hippa 1979). The genus was revised by Lehtinen & Hippa (1979)
      and currently has 12 described species (World Spider Catalog 2017). The species
      Zoica puellula (Simon, 1898) was based on an unspecified number of female
      specimens from Sri Lanka, and its original description (Simon 1898) is inadequate
      and lacks illustrations. The male and female genitalia of this species were
      subsequently illustrated several times (Roewer 1960; Lehtinen & Hippa 1979;
      Tikader & Malhotra 1980); however these illustrations are insufficient for proper
      identification and the internal female genitalia of this species have not been
      illustrated. Additionally, Tikader and Malhotra (1980) inferred the presence of
      Z. puellula in India from records of this species in Sri Lanka, but it has not
      yet been found in India. Here we redescribe Z. puellula based on the type
      material and newly collected specimens and extend its known geographic
      distribution to India. We also remove Zoica harduarae (Biswas & Roy, 2008), which
      was described from India, from the genus.

PMID- 28610225
TI  - Battling the un-dead: the status of the Diptera genus-group names originally
      proposed in Johann Wilhelm Meigen's 1800 pamphlet.
AB  - The work of Meigen 1800 was suppressed by the ICZN Commission in 1963 for the
      purposes of zoological nomenclature. The work as such is still to be treated as
      having been published and it remains available as a source of published
      descriptions and illustrations. Therefore, while the names in Meigen (1800) are
      deemed unavailable, a subsequent usage of any of the names may be considered a
      novel proposal. We review the first post-Meigen 1800 occurrence of each name, its
      first date of availability and authorship, and determine status and synonymy.
      Designations of type species are given for the following genus-group names:
      Coryneta Hendel, 1908 [Hybotidae]; Cyanea Hendel, 1908 [Hippoboscidae]. Acting as
      First Reviser, we select the following as the correct original spelling from
      multiple original spellings: Calirrhoe Hendel, 1908. New synonymies are proposed
      for the following: Ablabesmyia Johannsen, 1905 under Pelopia Latreille, 1802, n.
      syn. [Limoniidae]; Amasia Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Penthetria Meigen, 1803,
      n. syn. [Bibionidae]; Amphinome Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Limonia Meigen,
      1803, n. syn. [Limoniidae]; Antiopa Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Chrysotoxum
      Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Syrphidae]; Apivora Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Volucella
      Geoffroy, 1762, n. syn. [Syrphidae]; Atalanta Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under
      Clinocera Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Empididae]; Calirrhoe Meigen & Hendel in Hendel,
      1908 under Prosena Le Peletier & Audinet-Serville, 1828, n. syn. [Tachinidae];
      Chrysozona Hendel, 1903 under Haematopota Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Tabanidae];
      Cinxia Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Sericomyia Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Syrphidae];
      Cleona Meigen in Hendel 1908 under Callomyia Meigen, 1804, n. syn.
      [Platypezidae]; Clythia Hendel, 1903 under Platypeza Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Platypezidae]; Coryneta Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Tachydromia Meigen, 1803,
      n. syn. [Hybotidae]; Crocuta Bezzi, 1907 under Siphona Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Tachinidae]; Cyanea Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Melophagus Latreille, 1802, n.
      syn. [Hippoboscidae]; Cypsela Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Sphaerocera Latreille,
      1804, n. syn. [Sphaeroceridae]; Dionnaea Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Rhamphomyia
      Meigen, 1822, n. syn. [Empididae]; Dorilas Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under
      Pipunculus Latreille, 1802, n. syn. [Pipunculidae]; Echinodes Meigen in Hendel,
      1908 under Eriothrix Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Tachinidae]; Erinna Hendel, 1903
      under Xylophagus Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Xylophagidae]; Eulalia Hendel, 1903 under
      Odontomyia Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Stratiomyidae]; Euphrosyne Meigen in Hendel,
      1908 under Macrocera Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Keroplatidae]; Flabellifera Osten
      Sacken, 1882 under Tanyptera Latreille, 1804, n. syn. [Tipulidae]; Fungivora
      Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Mycetophila Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Mycetophilidae];
      Helea Osten Sacken, 1882 under Ceratopogon Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Ceratopogonidae]; Hermione Bezzi, 1908 under Oxycera Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Stratiomyidae]; Itonida Bezzi, 1908 under Cecidomyia Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Cecidomyiidae]; Lampetia Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Merodon Meigen, 1803, n.
      syn. [Syrphidae]; Laphria Bezzi, 1907 under Laphria Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Asilidae]; Lapria Bezzi, 1907 under Laphria Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Asilidae];
      Larvaevora Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Tachina Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Tachinidae]; Liriope Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Ptychoptera Meigen, 1803, n.
      syn. [Ptychopteridae]; Lycoria Latreille, 1802 under Sylvicola Harris, 1776, n.
      syn. [Anisopodidae]; Melusina Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Trichocera Meigen,
      1803, n. syn. [Trichoceridae]; Musidora Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Lonchoptera
      Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Lonchopteridae]; Noeza Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Hybos
      Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Hybotidae]; Omphrale Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under
      Scenopinus Latreille, 1802, n. syn. [Scenopinidae]; Pales Bezzi, 1906 under
      Nephrotoma Meigen, 1803, n. syn . [Tipulidae]; Penthesilea Meigen in Hendel, 1908
      under Blera Billberg, 1820, n. syn. [Syrphidae]; Petaurista Meigen in Hendel,
      1908 under Trichocera Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Trichoceridae]; Phalaenula
      Desmarest, 1818 under Psychoda Latreille, 1797, n. syn. [Psychodidae]; Philia
      Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Dilophus Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Bibionidae]; Phryne
      Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Sylvicola Harris, 1776, n. syn. [Anisopodidae];
      Polymeda Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Erioptera Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Limoniidae]; Polyxena Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Cordyla Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Mycetophilidae]; Potamida Hendel, 1903 under Clitellaria Meigen, 1803, n. syn.
      [Stratiomyidae]; Rhodogyne Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Gymnosoma Meigen, 1803,
      n. syn. [Tachinidae]; Salmacia Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Gonia Meigen, 1803,
      n. syn. [Tachinidae]; Scathophaga Meigen, 1803 under Scopeuma Latreille, 1802, n.
      syn. [Scathophagidae]; Coremacera Rondani, 1856 under Statinia Latreille, 1802,
      n. syn. [Sciomyzidae]; Tendipes Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Chironomus Meigen,
      1803, n. syn. [Chironomidae]; Titania Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Chlorops
      Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Chloropidae]; Trepidaria Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under
      Calobata Meigen, 1803, n. syn. [Micropezidae]; Tritonia Meigen in Hendel, 1908
      under Temnostoma Le Peletier & Audinet-Serville, 1828, n. syn. [Syrphidae];
      Tubifera Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Eristalis Latreille, 1804, n. syn.
      [Syrphidae]; Urophora Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 under Euribia Latreille, 1802, n.
      syn. [Tephritidae]; Zelima Hendel, 1903 under Xylota Meigen, 1822, n. syn.
      [Syrphidae]; Zelmira Meigen in Hendel, 1908 under Orfelia Costa, 1857, n. syn.
      [Keroplatidae]. The following three names have not been found to be synonymous
      with any other taxon, and are treated here as nomina dubia: Orithea Meigen in
      Hendel, 1908; Salpyga Meigen in Hendel, 1908; Titia Meigen in Hendel, 1908
      (preoccupied). The following four names are found to be senior synonyms of more
      commonly used genus-group names: Euribia Latreille, 1802 of Urophora Robineau
      Desvoidy, 1830, n. syn. [Tephritidae]; Pelopia Latreille, 1802 of Ablabesmyia
      Johannsen, 1905, n. syn.; Scopeuma Latreille, 1802 of Scathophaga Meigen, 1803,
      n. syn. [Scathophagidae]; Statinia Latreille, 1802 of Coremacera Rondani, 1856,
      n. syn. [Sciomyzidae]. If they are construed as threatening stability of
      nomenclature and/or taxonomy, applications to the ICZN Commission may be
      warranted to request suppression of these names in favor of their junior
      synonyms.

PMID- 28610226
TI  - Integrative taxonomy reveals cryptic diversity in neotropical grasshoppers:
      taxonomy, phylogenetics, and evolution of the genus <i>Sphenarium</i>
      Charpentier, 1842 (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae).
AB  - The genus Sphenarium Charpentier, 1842 comprises the most diverse group of the
      New World Pyrgomorphidae. These grasshoppers show an extensive variation in
      external morphology, and are culturally and economically important for Mexican
      people since pre-Hispanic times. Nevertheless, the taxonomy of Sphenarium has
      been chaotic and remained incompletely resolved until now. Following an
      integrative taxonomic framework, we infer the number of species in this genus by
      species delimitation based on morphological, phylogenetic, and geographic
      information. Based on our results, we revise the genus and redefine 9 species and
      describe 8 new species (S. adelinae sp.n., S. crypticum sp.n., S. infernalis
      sp.n., S. miztecum sp.n., S. occidentalis sp.n., S. tarascum sp.n., S. totonacum
      sp.n. and S. zapotecum sp.n.). Moreover, we update the knowledge of the
      evolutionary relationships and biogeographic patterns of Sphenarium species. Our
      results also demonstrate the importance of historic geological and climatic
      events on the lineage diversification of this genus. Different levels of
      morphological and genetic differentiation among species suggest a complex
      interplay between evolutionary forces during the evolution of these neotropical
      grasshoppers.

PMID- 28610227
TI  - Revision and phylogeny of <i>Hypotelus</i> Erichson: a Neotropical genus of
      minute rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Piestinae).
AB  - The rove beetle genus Hypotelus Erichson, 1839 is one of seven extant genera of a
      subfamily with a historically misinterpreted concept, status and phylogenetic
      position. The genus comprises minute species that have been found under the bark
      of trees or in leaf litter mainly in Neotropical forests. The major aim of this
      study was to test the monophyly of this genus based on adult morphology and to
      review its species. Cladistic analyses were performed and Hypotelus is a
      monophyletic genus supported by 8 synapomorphies and includes five new species:
      H. brevitarsus sp. nov., H. castaneus sp. nov., H. corniculatus sp. nov., H.
      melanodelta sp. nov. and H. scheerpeltzi sp. nov. Additionally, all species are
      described/redescribed and illustrated, most of them for the first time. An
      identification key, geographical records and natural history data for each
      species are also provided.

PMID- 28610218
TI  - Two new brackish-water species of <i>Macrostomum</i> (Platyhelminthes,
      Macrostomida) from mangrove wetland in southern China.
AB  - In this paper, two new brackish-water species of Macrostomum (M. shenzhenensis n.
      sp. and M qiaochengensis n. sp.) collected from the artificial lake in Overseas
      Chinese Town mangrove wetland, are described based on the morphology of the penis
      stylet and on a molecular phylogenetic analysis. M. shenzhenensis n. sp. has an
      elongate, narrow stylet with torus-shaped distal wall thickening, while M.
      qiaochengensis n. sp. has a hook-like stylet with a pointed end. Both the 18S and
      28S rDNA phylogenetic analyses of M shenzhenensis n. sp. and M qiaochengensis n.
      sp. support the establishments of these two new species. Finally, categorization
      of these two new species based on the morphology of sperm and penis stylet, as
      well as other morphological features of the reproductive system is briefly
      discussed.

PMID- 28610228
TI  - Pipunculidae (Diptera) from southern Iran, including two new species of the genus
      <i>Tomosvaryella</i> Aczel.
AB  - We provide data on the distribution of 23 big-headed fly species (Diptera:
      Brachycera: Pipunculidae) from Fars province, southern Iran. Two new species of
      the genus Tomosvaryella Aczel, T. angulata sp. nov. and T. pistacia sp. nov., are
      described and illustrated. The new species show a clear morphological affiliation
      to the T. congoana species-group that was hitherto only known from the
      Afrotropical region. Nine species recorded herein represent first records for
      Iran. The number of pipunculid species recorded from Iran is now raised to 30. By
      DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial COI gene, males and females could be
      unequivocally associated with each other for most species.

PMID- 28610230
TI  - <i>Lampetra</i> <i>soljani</i>, a new brook lamprey from the southern Adriatic
      Sea basin (Petromyzontiformes: Petromyzontidae).
AB  - Lampetra soljani, new species, is described from the lower Neretva River in the
      Adriatic Sea basin. Previously it was identified as L. zanandreai. Based on
      morphological similarity and mitochondrial genetic data, it is related to L.
      lanceolata and L. ninae from the Black Sea basin. Lampetra soljani is
      distinguished from all other species of Lampetra by having a marmorate flank
      pattern in live, fully grown ammocoetes, and in some adults (vs. plain colour
      pattern). Lampetra soljani is distinguished from other Lampetra species by having
      three velar tentacles, 54-57 trunk myomeres between the last branchial opening
      and the anus, no posterial teeth and a bicuspid middle endolateral tooth.
      Lampetra soljani is also well distinguished by COI barcode data from its
      congeners. The new species is widespread in the Neretva River drainage and
      lampreys from Lake Skadar basin are likely to belong to this species also.

PMID- 28610231
TI  - New records of <i>Rhagoletis</i> (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Colombia, with
      discussion on the morphological variations of some species.
AB  - Rhagoletis jamaicensis Foote, 1981 and an undetermined species of the psalida
      group, are recorded for the first time in Colombia. The morphological variations
      of the Colombian specimens of these species and of other species closely related
      are discussed.

PMID- 28610232
TI  - A new species of <i>Bembecia</i> from China, with a catalogue of Chinese species
      of the genus (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae).
AB  - A new species, Bembecia altyntaghica sp. nov. from the Altyn-Tagh Mts., Gansu,
      West China, is described and illustrated. The data on its biotope and host plant
      are presented and illustrated as well. An annotated catalogue of the Chinese
      members of the genus Bembecia is added to this paper. The catalogue contains the
      following information: the references to the original descriptions, information
      on name-bearing types, complete bibliographies of the presented taxa, data on
      host plants and distribution. Here below the Oriental species Bembecia fortis
      Diakonoff, 1967 is transferred to the genus Oligophlebia Hampson, 1893 comb. nov.
      (Sesiidae: Paraglosseciini).

PMID- 28610233
TI  - A new genus and species of entocytherid ostracod (Ostracoda: Entocytheridae) from
      the John Day River Basin of Oregon, U.S.A., with a key to genera of the subfamily
      Entocytherinae.
AB  - Targeted sampling efforts by the authors for the signal crayfish, Pacifastacus
      leniusculus, from its native range in the John Day River Basin, Oregon, U.S.A.
      yielded entocytherid ostracods with a male copulatory complex so clearly
      different from other entocytherines that a new genus, Aurumcythere gen. nov. is
      proposed to receive them. This newly proposed, apparently nonsclerotized, genus
      with hook and spur-like prominences of the posteroventral end of the peniferum is
      the first new genus of the subfamily Entocytherinae named since Hobbs & Peters
      described Aphelocythere (= Waltoncythere) in 1977. Aurumcythere gen. nov.
      represents only the second genus of entocytherid known from the Pacific
      Northwest. Lack of sclerotization in Aurumcythere gen. nov. provides new insight
      into poorly understood mating behaviors of entocytherid ostracods.

PMID- 28610235
TI  - Description of two new <i>Capnia</i> species (Plecoptera: Capniidae) from the
      Hengduan Mountains of southwestern China.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Capnia from the Hengduan Mountains of southwestern
      China, C. oblata sp. nov. and C. xiei sp. nov. are described and illustrated as
      new members of the C. cordata Kimmins species group. Capnia oblata sp. nov. is
      characterized by posteromedial process of tergum 9 connecting antecosta with the
      medial sclerite bar. Capnia xiei sp. nov. is characterized by main epiproct
      sclerite bifurcate apically and basally with a bilamellar structure. The new
      species are compared with similar taxa.

PMID- 28610236
TI  - Erratum: XIAO ZHANG, ZEHUA ZHANG & DING YANG (2016) Five new species of
      Geranomyia Haliday, 1833 (Diptera, Limoniidae) from China. Zootaxa, 4154(2): 139
      154.

PMID- 28610234
TI  - Discovery of the subfamily Rhopalomutillinae (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) in China
      and description of <i>Pherotilla brothersi</i> sp. nov.
AB  - The subfamily Rhopalomutillinae of the family Mutillidae, represented by the
      genus Pherotilla Brothers, 2015, is newly recorded from China. Pherotilla
      brothersi Zhou, Lelej & Xu, sp. nov. (China: Yunnan) is described and
      illustrated. A key to the Oriental species of Pherotilla is given.

PMID- 28610238
TI  - Revision of the circumtropical glasseye fish <i>Heteropriacanthus</i>
      <i>cruentatus </i>(Perciformes: Priacanthidae), with resurrection of two species.
AB  - The glasseye fish Heteropriacanthus, previously known as a monotypic genus, is
      now divided into three species based on morphological and genetic features. After
      examination on the type specimens and literature, herein we resurrect two junior
      binomens, H. carolinus (Cuvier, 1829) from the Indo-Pacific Ocean and H. fulgens
      (Lowe, 1838) from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Heteropriacanthus cruentatus
      (Lacepede, 1801) is now considered to be restricted to the Atlantic and
      southwestern Indian oceans. In light of these observations we discuss the
      evolutionary history of the genus.

PMID- 28610237
TI  - A review of the taxonomy and osteology of the <i>Rhombophryne</i>
      <i>serratopalpebrosa</i> species group (Anura: Microhylidae) from Madagascar,
      with comments on the value of volume rendering of micro-CT data to taxonomists.
AB  - Over the last three years, three new species of saw-browed diamond frogs
      (Rhombophryne serratopalpebrosa species group)-a clade of cophyline microhylid
      frogs native to northern and eastern Madagascar-have been described. We here
      review the taxonomy of these frogs based on a new multi-gene phylogeny of the
      group, which confirms its monophyly but is insufficiently resolved to clarify
      most intra-group relationships. We confirm Rhombophryne guentherpetersi (Guibe,
      1974) to be a member of this group, and we re-describe it based on its type
      series and newly collected material; the species is characterised by small
      superciliary spines (overlooked in its original description), as well as large
      tibial glands and an unusually laterally compressed pectoral girdle. We go on to
      describe two new species of this group from northern Madagascar: both R. diadema
      sp. nov. from the Sorata Massif and R. regalis sp. nov. from several sites in the
      northeast of the island possess three superciliary spines, but they are
      characterised by several subtle morphological and osteological differences. The
      new species are separated from all known congeners by an uncorrected pairwise
      distance of at least 5.1% in a ca. 550 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene. In order
      to highlight the significance of the skeleton in the taxonomy of this group, we
      provide a detailed description of its generalized osteology based on volume
      rendered micro-CT scans of all described members, revisiting already-described
      skeletons of some species, and describing the skeletons of R. guentherpetersi, R.
      coronata, and the new taxa for the first time. Use of volume rendering, instead
      of surface rendering of micro-CT data, resulted in some discrepancies due to the
      properties of each method. We discuss these inconsistencies and their bearing on
      the relative value of surface and volume rendering in the taxonomist's toolkit.
      We argue that, while surface models are more practical for the reader, volumes
      are generally a more objective representation of the data. Thus, taxonomic
      description work should be based on volume rendering when possible, with surface
      models presented as an aid to the reader.

PMID- 28610239
TI  - Taxonomic revision of the speckled crabs, genus <i>Arenaeus</i> Dana, 1851
      (Brachyura: Portunidae) based on morphological and molecular data.
AB  - The family Portunidae Rafinesque, 1815 presents a series of taxonomic problems
      such as paraphyletic groups, synonymizations, and unresolved complexes of cryptic
      species. Arenaeus Dana, 1851, encompasses only two species with mirrored
      distributions along the coasts of the Americas. Despite of comprising two
      widespread species, there is a scarcity of information on their biology and
      ecology and on the relationships with other genera in the family. Because of the
      lack of studies comprising both species and the imprecise or erroneous taxonomic
      descriptions for the species of Arenaeus, we conducted a thorough taxonomic
      revision of the genus and used data from fragments of the 16S rRNA and the
      cytochrome oxidase I (COI) genes to investigate the validity of Arenaeus
      cribrarius (Lamarck, 1818) and Arenaeus mexicanus (Gerstaecker, 1856). A range of
      easily discernible and objective characteristics distinguish the species,
      including the number of rostral teeth, the number of carpal spines, and the
      presence of a spine on the epistome region. This last feature, although never
      properly addressed in the literature, was diagnostic in discriminating the taxa.
      Results of molecular analyses also supported the separate identity of the two
      species. Assemblages generated in COI analyses reflected no geographic pattern or
      geographic partitioning, suggesting that dispersion and gene flow could be
      sufficiently high to hinder genetic differentiation through the extensive
      distribution range of the Atlantic species, A. cribrarius. Furthermore, molecular
      results and morphological analyses may indicate a closer relationship among
      particular groups of portunids and Arenaeus. Morphology of the carapace and of
      the first male gonopods may be the most prominent characteristics supporting such
      view. We have shed light on the status of the genus Arenaeus and its members,
      clarified some taxonomical issues, and provide an identification key for the
      species.

PMID- 28610240
TI  - Four new species of terrestrial-breeding frogs of the genus <i>Phrynopus
      </i>(Anura: Terrarana: Craugastoridae) from Rio Abiseo National Park, Peru.
AB  - We describe four new species of terrestrial-breeding frogs belonging to the genus
      Phrynopus from specimens collected on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera
      Oriental (2800-3850 m) near and within Rio Abiseo National Park, Provincia
      Mariscal Caceres, Departments of San Martin and La Libertad, northeastern Peru.
      All four species lack a visible tympanum and inhabit the upper ridges and slopes
      within or adjacent to the Park. Phrynopus anancites sp. nov. and P. capitalis sp.
      nov. inhabit the wet montane grasslands on the upper ridges and valleys from 3600
      to 3850 m. Phrynopus anancites (SVL = 25.3 mm) has coarsely aerolated skin and
      olive green coloration and has small vomerine teeth, while P. capitalis (female
      SVL = 35.6 mm) is characterized by a large head, short limbs, and distinctive
      dorsal pattern. Phrynopus dumicola sp. nov. (female SVL = 25.3 mm) has a short
      head and dark colored body with granular skin on the flanks, and is known only
      from forest patches along the treeline from 3225 to 3550 m, whereas P. personatus
      sp. nov. (female SVL = 28.2 mm) has a dark facemask and bright yellow groin spots
      (possibly aposematic), and inhabits a narrow band of continuous tropical montane
      rain forest from 2890 to 3110 m. We report infection with Batrachochytrium
      dendrobatidis from one specimen of P. dumicola collected in July of 1988. With
      the addition of these four new species, Phrynopus now includes 32 nominal
      species.

PMID- 28610241
TI  - A new species of iguana <i>Brachylophus</i> Cuvier 1829 (Sauria: Iguania:
      Iguanidae) from Gau Island, Fiji Islands.
AB  - The south Pacific iguanas (Brachylophus) currently have three recognized living
      species in Fiji.  Recent surveys have uncovered more specific variation
      (morphological and genetic) within the genus and have better defined the
      geographic ranges of the named species.  One of these recent discoveries is a
      strikingly different iguana from all other island populations in Fiji which is
      restricted to Gau Island of the Lomaiviti Province.  Gau is the fifth largest
      island in Fiji and maintains excellent upland forests in the higher elevations. 
      We describe this population from Gau Island as a new species, Brachylophus gau
      sp. nov., in recognition of its type locality.

PMID- 28610242
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Anthaxia</i> (<i>Anthaxia</i>) (Coleoptera:
      Buprestidae) from The Islamic Republic of Iran.
AB  - Anthaxia (Anthaxia) skorpiki sp. nov., a new species from The Islamic Republic
      Iran is described and illustrated. The newly described species is compared to the
      three most similar West Palaearctic members of Anthaxia nitidula species-group,
      including male genitalia.

PMID- 28610244
TI  - Description of unknown sexes in two <i>Pireneitega</i> species from Tajikistan
      (Araneae: Agelenidae, Coelotinae).
AB  - Pireneitega Kishida, 1955, with 35 species, is the second largest genus of
      Coelotinae (WSC 2017). The genus was recently revised in Tajikistan (Zhang &
      Marusik 2016). Among the six species found in the region, only one is known by
      both sexes. After the revision was published, Sergei Zonstein sent me a material
      containing the unknown female of Pireneitega kovblyuki Zhang et Marusik, 2016 and
      the unknown male of P. tyurai Zhang et Marusik, 2016. Both samples were collected
      in type localities. The goal of this paper is to provide illustrated description
      of unknown sexes of abovementioned species.

PMID- 28610243
TI  - First record of the Granulate Ambrosia Beetle, <i>Xylosandrus</i>
      <i>crassiusculus </i>(Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), in the Iberian
      Peninsula.
AB  - The Granulate Ambrosia Beetle Xylosandrus crassiusculus, an alien species of
      Asian origin, was recorded for first time in the Iberian Peninsula. Many
      specimens were collected in October 2016 in the Valencia region (Spain) from
      infested carob trees. The species is included in the EPPO Alert List as causing
      serious damage in many Mediterranean regions. A key for the morphological
      identification of the Xylosandrus species occurring in Europe is also reported.

PMID- 28610245
TI  - A new species of <i>Naryciodes</i> Matsumura, 1931 (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae)
      from Korea.
AB  - The genus Naryciodes was originally proposed as a monobasic genus (type species:
      Naryciodes posticalis Matsumura) by Matsumura (1931) in Tineidae. About fifty
      years later, the genus was transferred to Limacodidae by Inoue (1982) because the
      larvae possess an autapomorphic character of Limacodidae: the lack of crochets on
      the prolegs (Epstein et al. 1999).

PMID- 28610246
TI  - Two new Australian fungus-feeding thrips in two new Plectrothripini genera
      (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae).
AB  - Two new genera are erected of plectrothripine Phlaeothripidae from northern
      Australia, each based on a single species. One has a long stout projection
      ventrally on the second antennal segment, the other has a unique arrangement of
      the dorsal facets of the compound eyes. In both of them the thoracic ventral
      sclerites are extensively eroded.

PMID- 28610247
TI  - Review of the genus <i>Bythonia</i> Oman 1936 with description of a new species
      and new record from Venezuela (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Iassinae).
AB  - Bythonia freytagi sp. nov. is diagnosed and described from northern Venezuela.
      Bythonia rugosa is recorded for the first time in Venezuela from the southern
      state of Amazonas. The presence of both species of Bythonia in Venezuela
      represent the first occurrences of this genus north of the Equator. Comments on
      the relationships of the described species are made and two species groups are
      proposed. A checklist and key to the known species of the genus are provided.

PMID- 28610229
TI  - A new East African genus of spirostreptid millipedes (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida,
      Spirostreptidae), with notes on their fungal ectoparasite <i>Rickia gigas</i>.
AB  - The new genus Tropostreptus is erected to accommodate seven species which are all
      endemic in Tanzania: T. hamatus (Demange, 1977) (type species, = Spirostreptus
      hamatus Demange, 1977), T. sigmatospinus sp. nov., T. microcephalus sp. nov., T.
      droides sp. nov., T. kipunji spec. nov., T. austerus (Attems, 1950) (=
      Epistreptus austerus Attems, 1950) and T. severus sp. nov. All but one (T.
      sigmatospinus) of the species are restricted to the Eastern Arc Mts. in a wide
      sense, i.e., including Mt. Rungwe. Notes are included on Rickia gigas Santamaria
      et al., 2016 (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales), which infects several Tropostreptus
      species. The typical, long-celled form of R. gigas grows on body parts of both
      sexes coming into contact during copulation, whereas a short-celled form also
      ascribed to R. gigas grows on the hind margin of body rings of both sexes. A key
      to Tropostreptus species is included.

PMID- 28610250
TI  - Two new <i>Gammarus</i> species and a new name (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Gammaridae)
      from Northwest China.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Gammarus are described and illustrated from
      Northwest China. A new species name Gammarus tianshan nom. nov. is proposed to
      replace G. montanus Hou et al., 2004. Gammarus simplex sp. nov. from Altay,
      Xinjiang, is characterized by uropod III with simple setae on both rami and
      urosomite I only with setae on dorsal margin. Gammarus glaber sp. nov. from
      Qinghai, is characterized by uropod III with few simple and plumose setae.
      Detailed morphological description and differences from related species are
      discussed. A distribution map of the new species and related species is provided.

PMID- 28610249
TI  - Comparative morphological and molecular taxonomic study of six <i>Achaeta
      </i>species (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) with the description of a new
      <i>Achaeta</i> species from Koszeg Mountains, Hungary.
AB  - Five Achaeta species (A. affinis, A. bohemica sensu stricto, A. camerani, A. cf.
      danica, A. unibulba) and a new species, described here as A. tothi sp. n., were
      found during the investigation of the enchytraeid fauna of western Hungary (Orseg
      National Park and Koszeg Mts.). Comparative morphological and molecular taxonomic
      investigations were performed with several individuals representing these six
      Achaeta species. A detailed description of the new species is given, and we also
      present some additional morphological data and photos about the other five
      Achaeta species. Such information could have importance in subsequent taxonomic
      studies and will aid the discrimination among the members of genus Achaeta.
      Furthermore, the obtained sequences could serve as references in forthcoming
      studies applying DNA-based taxon identification.

PMID- 28610251
TI  - <i>Dichomeris</i> Hubner, 1818 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Dichomeridinae)  from
      Cambodia, including associated Chinese species.
AB  - In a faunal study of the micromoths in Cambodia, thirteen species of the genus
      Dichomeris (Gelechiidae, Dichomeridinae) are recognized, including associated
      Chinese species. Eight species are described as new: D. arcuata sp. nov., D.
      splendiptera sp. nov., D. samkosensis sp. nov., D. foliforma sp. nov., D.
      magnimacularis sp. nov., D. hainanensis sp. nov., D. cambodiensis sp. nov., D.
      acutivalvata sp. nov. Five species are newly recorded for Cambodia: D. orientis
      Park & Hodges, D. fuscusitis Li & Zheng, D. obsepta (Meyrick), D. microsphena
      Meyrick, and D. matsumurai Ponomarenko & Ueda. . Images of adults and genitalia
      are provided.

PMID- 28610253
TI  - <i>Oxynoemacheilus</i> <i>zarzianus</i>, a new loach from the Lesser Zab River
      drainage in Iraqi Kurdistan (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).
AB  - Oxynoemacheilus zarzianus, new species, is described from the Lesser Zab River
      drainage, a tributary of the lower Tigris. It is distinguished from other
      Oxynoemacheilus species in the Tigris drainage by having a slightly emarginate
      caudal fin, no suborbital groove in males, a complete lateral line, the posterior
      process of the bony air-bladder capsule directed posteriorly, the flank and
      posterior part of back covered by scales, short barbels and a deep caudal
      peduncle. It is the fourth Oxynoemacheilus species known from the Lesser Zab
      drainage, where such loaches seem to be highly isolated in headwaters.
      Oxynoemacheilus species diversity in the Euphrates and Tigris drainage is
      exceptional high. Today 22 species are known from the entire Euphrates and Tigris
      drainage and 15 from the Tigris drainage alone.

PMID- 28610252
TI  - Redescription of the pagurid hermit crab <i>Catapaguroides</i> <i>fragilis</i>
      (Melin, 1939) and descriptions of two new species from deep-sea off the Ryukyu
      Islands, Japan (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura).
AB  - Three species of the pagurid hermit crab genus Catapaguroides A. Milne-Edwards &
      Bouvier, 1892, all from Japanese waters, are reported. Catapaguroides fragilis
      (Melin, 1939) is redescribed on the basis of the holotype and additional material
      from southern Japan. Diagnostic characters of this poorly known species are fully
      assessed. Two new species, C. bythos and C. rubromaculatus, are described and
      illustrated on the basis of material from upper bathyal depths off the Ryukyu
      Islands. Catapaguroides rubromaculatus n. sp. resembles C. fragilis and C.
      hirsutus Komai & Rahayu, 2013, but the characteristic shape of the ocular
      peduncle and the elongate male right sexual tube with an anteriorly directed
      distal portion readily separate C. rubromaculatus n. sp. from the latter two
      congeners. Catapaguroides bythos n. sp. appears close to C. mortenseni de Saint
      Laurent, 1968 and C. pectinipes (Lewinsohn, 1969), but the different armature of
      the chelipeds distinguishes C. bythos n. sp. from the latter two allies.
      Catapaguroides is now represented by 30 species.

PMID- 28610254
TI  - Three new Macropsini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) leafhopper species from Australia.
AB  - Three new species, Macropsella recta, Toropsis minuspina and Varicopsella
      apecurvata spp. nov. are described and illustrated from Australia. Leafhoppers of
      the subfamily Macropsinae are found abundantly in the Holarctic, Oriental and
      Australian regions (Linnavuori, 1978) and have been collected from around the
      world, except for Antarctica, Oceania and South America (Hamilton, 1980). Both
      Hamilton (1980) and Evans (1966) suggested that there were likely a myriad of
      uncollected and undescribed species in Australia alone and Evans (1971) commented
      that the Macropsinae are possibly more abundant in Australia than anywhere else
      in the world. Day and Fletcher (1994) listed 45 macropsine species in eight
      genera and mentioned that the Australian fauna needs "a thorough examination to
      establish the generic affinities of the species...". In her unpublished doctoral
      dissertation, Semeraro (2014) recently completed a revision and phylogeny of the
      Australian fauna, documenting an additional 50 undescribed species and proposing
      changes to the generic classification, but this work has not yet been published.
      The new Australian species described herein, representing three genera, one not
      previously recorded in Australia, were not included in Semeraro's (2014)
      dissertation.Study of samples recently collected from Australia revealed the
      presence of 3 new species, representing the genera Macropsella Hamilton, Toropsis
      Hamilton and Varicopsella Hamilton.Macropsella was established by Hamilton (1980)
      with Macropsis saidora Evans, 1971 as the type species. Five Macropsis species
      describeded by Evans (1971), one Macropsis species described by Kirkaldy (1907)
      and new species Macropsella complicata Hamilton (1980) were previously included
      in this genus. The seven species of this genus are known only from New Guinea and
      Northern Australia. Members of this genus can be distinguished by their usually
      white spotted tegminal veins, tapered male pygofer and laterally directed short
      ventral pygofer spines.Toropsis was established by Hamilton (1980) with Oncopsis
      balli Kirkaldy, 1907 as the type species. Six Oncopsis species (Evans, 1935,
      1941) and three Macropsis species (Evans, 1971; Metcalf, 1966) were transferred
      to this genus by Hamilton (1980). So far, ten species recorded in this genus, and
      all of these species are recorded only from Australia. Toropsis can be
      distinguished by the wide face, small and flat front, inflated pronotum, unarmed
      male pygofer and relatively small dorsal connectives.Varicopsella was established
      by Hamilton (1980) for seven species from the Oriental region, with Macropsis
      breakeyi Merino, 1936 as its type species. More recently, Li et al. (2014) added
      a new species and subgenus Varicopsella (Multispinulosa) hamiltoni from China,
      but this species appears to be incorrectly placed in Varicopsella. Yang et al.
      (2016) added V. odontoida from Thailand. This genus can be distinguished by the
      depressed head, fused lora and frontoclypeus, and the two-jointed dorsal
      connective of the male.

PMID- 28610255
TI  - New records of harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones) from Minnesota, USA.
AB  - Harvestmen (Opiliones) are a diverse order of arachnids composed of more than
      6,600 described species which together span an almost global distribution.
      Although these animals may occur in extremely high abundance in both pristine and
      disturbed habitats, much of harvestman diversity remains undescribed,
      undocumented, and/or in need of taxonomic attention. In the current study, we
      focus on the harvestman diversity of the state of Minnesota, USA, where a lack of
      local expertise and effort has left the species richness of the state largely
      undocumented. We document two genera and seven species previously unrecorded in
      the state.-Leiobunum aldrichi, L. calcar, L. flavum, L. politum, L. ventricosum,
      L. vittatum,  and Odiellus pictus.

PMID- 28610256
TI  - New species of aturid water mites from southern Africa (Acari: Hydrachnidia:
      Aturidae).
AB  - One new subgenus, i.e. Shebaturus and one new species, Amperaturus globulipes n.
      sp. is described from South Africa. Hexaxonopsis clavigera (Walter, 1922) is re
      described. New records are given for South Africa and Namibia, including the
      first records of the genera Aturus Kramer and Kongsbergia Thor.

PMID- 28610257
TI  - Two new species of <i>Rhopalopsole</i> (Plecoptera: Leuctridae) from China.
AB  - Two new species of the genus Rhopalopsole, R. brevidigitata Qian & Du, sp. nov.
      and R. faciursina Qian & Du, sp. nov. are described and illustrated from Yunnan
      Province of southwestern China. The new species are compared to similar taxa in
      the R. vietnamica and R. shaanxiensis groups, respectively.

PMID- 28610258
TI  - An annotated catalogue of the gamasid mites associated with small mammals in
      Asiatic Russia. The family Haemogamasidae (Acari: Mesostigmata: Gamasina).
AB  - We provide a list of the species of the family Haemogamasidae Oudemans, 1926
      living in Asiatic Russia, with data on their synonymy, distribution, and
      relationships with mammal hosts. In total, 23 species of mites distributed
      between two genera (Eulaelaps Berlese, 1903, and Haemogamasus Berlese, 1889) are
      covered.

PMID- 28610248
TI  - A reevaluation of the specimens of <i>Mesocoelium</i> (Trematoda: Mesocoeliidae)
      in the Coleccion Nacional de Helmintos, Mexico.
AB  - Species of Mesocoelium Odhner, 1901 (Digenea) are generally similar and are often
      difficult to distinguish. Currently there are 42 specimens of this genus held in
      the Coleccion Nacional de Helmintos (CNHE) of the Instituto de Biologia,
      Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, which previously have been assigned to
      three species: M. monas Rudolphi, 1819, M. travassosi Pereira & Cuocolo, 1940 and
      M. leiperi Bhalerao, 1936. Upon reevaluation of these specimens it was determined
      that 27, could not be assigned to species level and 15 could only be assigned to
      body type (carli and leiperi) because of the poor conditions of preservation of
      the material. The remaining 15 specimens were of sufficient quality to be
      identified to species and were found to represent M. americanum Harwood, 1932, M.
      danforthi Hoffman, 1935, M. meggitti Bhalerao, 1927, M. cf. americanum Harwood,
      1932, and M. cf. danforthi Hoffman, 1935. Neither M. monas nor M. travassosi
      could be confirmed among these specimens; however, Mesocoelium meggitti (syn. M.
      travassosi) was confirmed. Mesocoelium danforthi is recorded for the first time
      in the Mexican collection. The presence of M. cf. gonocephali Singh, 1967 and M.
      cf. microon Nicoll, 1914 also among the 15 specimens of sufficient quality to be
      identified to species, needs to be confirmed through collects of new material.
      Finally, in future studies, we propose to improve the quality of specimens by
      fixing them considering the modifications to this process proposed herein, and
      compliment these morphological studies with molecular studies.

PMID- 28610259
TI  - New data on brown lacewing genus <i>Wesmaelius</i> Kruger, 1922 from China
      (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae), with a key to Chinese species.
AB  - A new species of the genus Wesmaelius is described from China: Wesmaelius
      dissectus sp. nov., which was found in Sichuan province. Wesmaelius ravus
      (Withycombe, 1923) was recorded in China for the first time in Hubei province and
      Inner Mongolia. The Wesmaelius helanensis Tian & Liu, 2011 is redescribed, with
      the first discovery of female in China. Updated keys to the adult males and
      females of the Wesmaelius from China are also provided.

PMID- 28610260
TI  - A new species of <i>Aedes</i> Meigen subgenus <i>Ochlerotatus</i> Lynch
      Arribalzaga (Diptera: Culicidae) from the coastal wetlands of the desert in
      northern Chile: morphological and molecular identification.
AB  - Aedes (Ochlerotatus) sallumae Gonzalez & Reyes n. sp. is described and validated
      using morphological characters of the adult male and female, male genitalia and
      immature stages, and its cytochrome oxidase unit 1 mitochondrial gene sequence
      (COI). Aedes (Och.) sallumae is morphologically close to Ae. (Och.) albifasciatus
      (Macquart). However, these species can be distinguished based on characters of
      the males and females, male genitalia and fourth-instar larvae. Aedes (Och.)
      sallumae was collected in the geographically isolated desert zone of northern
      Chile, the Atacama Desert. This isolation suggests allopatric speciation, with
      Ae. (Och.) sallumae divergent from its sister species Ae. (Och.) albifasciatus.
      Molecular characterization showed a difference of more than 8% between these
      species, supporting their recognition as different species.

PMID- 28610261
TI  - On the taxonomy of <i>Anaceratagallia</i> Zachvatkin, 1946 (Homoptera:
      Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae: Agalliinae) of Western Kyrgyzstan.
AB  - In Western Kyrgyzstan the genus Anaceratagallia includes four species: A. venosa
      (de Fourcroy, 1785), A. aciculata (Horvath, 1894), A. laevis (Ribaut, 1935) = A.
      acuteangulata Dubovskiy, 1966 nec Zachvatkin, 1946, and A. alabugensis Dubovskiy,
      1966 = A. collicola Dubovskiy, 1966, syn. n. = A. turanica Dubovskiy, 1966, syn.
      n. = A. laevis Dubovskiy, 1966 nec Ribaut, 1935. Illustrated descriptions and
      male calling signal oscillograms for all species are given. The range of A.
      acuteangulata Zachvatkin, 1946 includes Italy, Greece, Turkey, and North
      Caucasus; records of this species from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia are
      erroneous. Investigation of morphological and acoustic characters in
      Anaceratagallia showed that small differences in the shape of male genitalia and
      2nd abdominal apodemes are not species-specific traits.

PMID- 28610262
TI  - A new species of <i>Leptolalax</i> (Anura: Megophryidae) from Vietnam.
AB  - We describe a new, medium-sized Leptolalax species from north central Vietnam.
      Leptolalax puhoatensis sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a
      combination of having a body size range of 24.2-28.1 mm in eight adult males and
      27.3-31.5 mm in three adult females; distinct dorsolateral markings including
      blackish spots on the flank and dark canthal and/or temporal streaks; males with
      a reddish-brown venter, often with faint white dusting and females with a pale
      pink venter; skin on dorsum with tiny, indistinct, low tubercles in preservative,
      more distinct and forming low dorsal ridges on dorsal surface in life; toes with
      webbing basal and narrow lateral fringes; iris copper in upper half and golden in
      lower half; and a call consisting of a single note and a dominant frequency of
      4.9-5.6 kHz (at 22.3-25.8o C). Uncorrected sequence divergences between L.
      puhoatensis sp. nov. and all homologous 16S rRNA sequences available for known
      species in the genus are >=6.3%.

PMID- 28610264
TI  - Contribution to the knowledge of the Neotropical species of
      <i>Smeryngolaphria</i> Hermann, 1912 (Diptera: Asilidae: Laphriinae).
AB  - The male of Smeryngolaphria gurupi Artigas, Papavero & Pimentel, 1988 and the
      female of Smeryngolaphria taperignae Artigas, Papavero & Pimentel, 1988 are
      described for the first time. The habitus, thorax, abdomen, male and female
      terminalia with external and internal structures are illustrated and described.
      The external and internal structures of the male and female of Smeryngolaphria
      gorayebi Artigas, Papavero & Pimentel, 1988, Smeryngolaphria maculipennis
      (Macquart, 1846) and Smeryngolaphria numitor (Osten Sacken, 1887) are described
      and illustrated, Smeryngolaphria numitor for the first time. A map with the new
      records is provided.

PMID- 28610265
TI  - Description of the male of the spider <i>Eustala</i> <i>vellardi</i> Mello
      Leitao, 1924,the female of <i>E. delasmata</i> Bryant, 1945 and seven species of
      <i>Eustala</i> Simon, 1895 declared as <i>nomina</i> <i>dubia</i> (Araneae,
      Araneidae).
AB  - The male of Eustala vellardi Mello-Leitao, 1924 and the female of E. delasmata
      Bryant, 1945 are described for the first time and new distribution records are
      provided. The types of E. tridentata (C.L. Koch, 1838), E. tristis (Blackwall,
      1862), E. essequibensis (Hingston, 1932), E. uncicurva Franganillo, 1936, E.
      nigerrima Mello-Leitao, 1940, and E. albicans (Caporiacco, 1954), are apparently
      lost, and those names are therefore, considered nomina dubia. Eustala andina
      Chamberlin, 1916, which is based on an immature female is also considered a nomen
      dubium.

PMID- 28610266
TI  - Two new <i>Auletta</i> Schmidt, 1870 (Axinellidae; Demospongiae; Porifera) from
      Brazil.
AB  - The genus Auletta Schmidt, 1970 comprises 14 valid species, with six known from
      the Atlantic Ocean. The genus was previously recorded for the Brazilian coast
      only in 1967 from surveys in Pernambuco State. The present paper describes two
      new Auletta from Northeastern Brazil. Auletta akaroa sp. nov. is from Alagoas
      State and it has a stalked tubular shape and small sinuous styles and strongyles.
      Auletta laboreli sp. nov. was found in Pernambuco State and it is a sponge with a
      cylindrical and cavernous body composed of styles with blunt and telescopic tips
      and sinuous strongyles. Both new species were compared with the other valid
      species of Auletta. The spicule complement and external morphology of the new
      species are discussed.

PMID- 28610267
TI  - <i>Canthyporus reebae</i> sp. nov. from the Itremo and Andringitra mountains of
      central eastern Madagascar (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Hydroporinae).
AB  - Canthyporus reebae sp. nov. is described from the south-eastern part of the
      Itremo mountain range and from the Andringitra massif in central eastern
      Madagascar. The new species is the second one of the genus Canthyporus
      Zimmermann, 1919 to be recorded from Madagascar, the other being C. pauliani
      Guignot, 1951, so far endemic to the northern massif of Tsaratanana. The habitus
      and male and female reproductive structures of the new species are illustrated.
      Canthyporus reebae sp. nov. differs from C. pauliani notably by larger size, less
      parallel-sided and more evenly convex habitus, paler pronotum, more weakly
      impressed body surface reticulation, and a different shape of the median lobe of
      aedeagus. Differences with similar C. hottentottus-group species from mainland
      Africa are also discussed. Data on habitat preferences of C. reebae sp. nov. and
      a distribution map of Malagasy Canthyporus are presented and discussed.

PMID- 28610268
TI  - New species and records of Perlidae (Plecoptera) from Espirito Santo State,
      Brazil.
AB  - Two new species of the perlid genus Anacroneuria, A. rotunda n. sp and A. pitii
      n. sp are described from Espirito Santo State, Brazil. Additionally, six species
      of Anacroneuria and four species of Kempnyia are reported for the first time from
      Espirito Santo State. Records are also provided for A. debilis, A. subcostalis,
      K. flava, K. gracilenta, and K. neotropica. An undetermined species of
      Macrogynoplax based on nymphs is also reported from Espirito Santo State.

PMID- 28610269
TI  - Feather mites of the genera <i>Dubininia</i> and <i>Cacatualges</i> (Acari:
      Xolalgidae) associated with parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) of the Old World.
AB  - This paper gives a systematic revision of feather mites of the genera Dubininia
      Vassilev, 1958 and Cacatualges Dabert, Badek and Skoracki, 2007 (Xolalgidae:
      Ingrassiinae) associated with parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) of the Old World.
      Five new species are described: Cacatualges probosciger sp. n. from Probosciger
      aterrimus (Gmelin) (Cacatuidae) from New Guinea, Dubininia charmosynae sp. n.
      from Charmosyna pulchella Gray GR (Psittaculidae) from New Guinea, D.
      micropsittae sp. n. from Micropsitta pusio pusio (Scaltter) (Psittaculidae) from
      New Guinea, D. nestori sp. n. from Nestor notabilis Gould (Strigopidae) from New
      Zealand, and D. pezopori sp. n. from Pezoporus wallicus (Kerr) (Psittaculidae)
      from Tasmania, Australia. Four previously described species of Dubininia are
      redescribed based on material from type hosts: D. curta (Trouessart, 1885) from
      Platycercus elegans (Gmelin) (Psittaculidae), D. lorina (Trouessart, 1885) from
      Lorius domicella (Linnaeus) (Psittaculidae), D. melopsittaci Atyeo and Gaud, 1987
      from Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw) (Psittaculidae), and D. psittacina
      (Trouessart, 1885) from Strigops harboptilus Gray GR (Strigopidae) from New
      Zealand. A new diagnosis for the genus Dubininia is provided. A key to all
      presently known Dubininia species is provided for the first time.

PMID- 28610270
TI  - Revision of the genus <i>Bradyporus</i> Charpentier, 1825 (Orthoptera:
      Tettigoniidae: Bradyporinae).
AB  - The genus Bradyporus Charpentier is taxonomically revised using information
      obtained from numerous recently collected specimens. Bradyporus is divided into
      two subgenera Bradyporus Charpentier s.str. and Callimenus Fischer von Waldheim.
      Five species groups are distinguished in the latter subgenus. Sixteen species and
      subspecies are listed. Bradyporus (Callimenus) multituberculatus
      multituberculatus (Fischer von Waldheim, 1833) and Bradyporus (Callimenus)
      multituberculatus montandoni (Burr, 1898) are designated subspecies for the first
      time. Previously synonymized Bradyporus (Callimenus) macrogaster skopjensis
      Karaman, 1961 is reinstated as a valid species. A new species, Bradyporus
      (Callimenus) gocmeni Unal, sp. nov. from Eastern Turkey and the previously
      unknown female of Bradyporus (Callimenus) skopjensis Karaman, 1961 are described.
      A Neotype for Bradyporus (Callimenus) macrogaster longicollis (Fieber, 1853) is
      designated. Nomenclatural and taxonomical problems are discussed under the
      relevant taxa. Phylogenetic relationships based on morphology of the subgenera,
      species groups, and the species and subspecies of each species group are
      proposed. Morphological derived and ancestral characters are discussed. A key to
      the lower taxa of the genus is provided with 207 original figures including 3
      distributional maps. A check-list of the lower taxa of the genus is given.
      Additionally the IUCN Red List statuses of the species and subspecies are
      included.

PMID- 28610271
TI  - A new <i>Neotibicen</i> cicada subspecies (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from the
      southeastern USA forms hybrid zones with a widespread relative despite a
      divergent male calling song.
AB  - A morphologically cryptic subspecies of Neotibicen similaris (Smith and
      Grossbeck) is described from forests of the Apalachicola region of the
      southeastern United States. Although the new form exhibits a highly distinctive
      male calling song, it hybridizes extensively where it meets populations of the
      nominate subspecies in parapatry, by which it is nearly surrounded. This is the
      first reported example of hybridization between North American nonperiodical
      cicadas. Acoustic and morphological characters are added to the original
      description of the nominate subspecies, and illustrations of complex hybrid song
      phenotypes are presented. The biogeography of N. similaris is discussed in light
      of historical changes in forest composition on the southeastern Coastal Plain.

PMID- 28610272
TI  - Identity of the oribatid mite <i>Oribata</i> <i>curva</i> and transfer to
      <i>Trichogalumna</i> (Acari, Oribatida, Galumnidae), with discussion of
      nomenclatural and biogeographical issues in the '<i>curva</i>' species-group.
AB  - Based on the study of type material, other historical specimens, and new
      collections, the adult of the thelytokous oribatid mite Oribata curva Ewing, 1907
      (Galumnidae) is redescribed and the name is recombined to Trichogalumna curva
      (Ewing, 1907) comb. nov. A confusing history of synonymies and misidentifications
      is traced in detail, and their effect on published statements about biogeography
      is assessed. Reliable records of T. curva are only those from North America. The
      tropical mite Pergalumna ventralis (Willmann, 1932) is not a subspecies of T.
      curva. The widely-reported Trichogalumna nipponica (Aoki, 1966) and other similar
      species form a complex with T. curva that needs further morphological and
      molecular assessment.

PMID- 28610273
TI  - Taxonomy of '<i>Euconnus</i> complex'. Part XII. Synonymy circle of
      <i>Psomophus</i>, <i>Spanioconnus</i>, <i>Scydmaenites</i> and <i>Xestophus</i>
      (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).
AB  - Status of subgenera established for Euconnus Thomson with three-segmented
      antennal club is clarified. Examination of the type species of Psomophus Casey,
      Spanioconnus Ganglbauer, Scydmaenites Croissandeau and Xestophus Casey led to the
      conclusion that differences in morphological structures between all these taxa
      are minor and represent character variability within one subgenus. Consequently,
      Spanioconnus is maintained as a junior synonym of Psomophus; Scydmaenites is
      synonymized with Psomophus; and Xestophus, already placed as a junior synonym of
      Psomophus by Franz and later resurrected by O'Keefe, is again synonymized with
      Psomophus. Based on small morphological differences (visible only in the antennal
      structure), it is suggested that in future Psomophus may be placed as a junior
      synonym of Euconnus s. str. An emended diagnosis of Psomophus is given, and
      lectotypes are designated for Euconnus callidus Casey, Euconnus kraatzi Reitter
      and Scydmaenus salinator LeConte.

PMID- 28610275
TI  - A new species of the genus <i>Discoelius</i> Latreille, 1809 (Hymenoptera:
      Vespidae: Eumeninae) from India.
AB  - Discoelius vasukii Pannure & Carpenter, sp. nov. is described and illustrated
      from Tamil Nadu, India. Discoelius Latreille, 1809 is a small genus of solitary
      wasp with ten species and one subspecies described, of which D. aurantiacus
      Nguyen, D. emeishanensus Zhou & Li, D. esakii Yasumatsu, D. longinodus Yamane, D.
      nigriclypeus Zhou & Li, D. turneri (Meade-Waldo), D. wangi Yamane and D. zonalis
      (Panzer) are recorded from Oriental Region (Zhou et al. 2013; Nguyen 2016). Only
      a single species, D. turneri described from Shillong (Meghalaya) (Meade-Waldo,
      1910) and later recorded from Sikkim (Giordani Soika 1960) has been previously
      known from India. In this study, we describe a new species of Discoelius from
      India based on a single female specimen collected at Valparai (Tamil Nadu),
      India.

PMID- 28610274
TI  - Tadpole of the Critically Endangered Sterling's Toothed Toad (<i>Oreolalax
      sterlingae</i>).
AB  - Sterling's Toothed Toad, Oreolalax sterlingae (Nguyen et al. 2013), was described
      from near the summit of the highest peak in Vietnam, Mount Fansipan, Lao Cai
      Province. The species is the only member of the genus in Vietnam and is presently
      known from a single stream system on Mount Fansipan at about 2800 m elevation.
      The closest congener occurs more than 200 km away in China (Fei et al. 2010), and
      the relationship of O. sterlingae within the genus is not known. Because of its
      extremely small range and profound habitat modifications and pollution at the
      site, O. sterlingae was recently assessed as Critically Endangered (IUCN SSC
      2015).

PMID- 28610276
TI  - Description of a new species of <i>Enispa</i> Walker, 1866 (Lepidoptera:
      Erebidae, Boletobiinae) from Thailand.
AB  - The genus Enispa Walker, 1866, type species: Enispa eosarialis Walker, 1866
      [Borneo, Sarawak] (= Micraeschus Butler, 1878, type species: Hyria elataria
      Walker, 1861 [Sri Lanka]), contains several species, about 20 of which described
      and many still undescribed, some also probably misplaced. The genus occurs in
      Indo-Australian tropics and subtropics. Presently there are 5 species known from
      Borneo, with mention of several undescribed Enispa-like species (Holloway, 2009).
      From Thailand there are 8 species illustrated in Kononenko & Pinratana's (2013)
      book, 5 of which unidentified and some others, based on specimens originated from
      present author, which most probably are not Enispa. Nielsen & al. (1996)
      mentioned 7 species in Australia.

PMID- 28610277
TI  - <i>Helobdella</i> <i>buzz</i> n. sp. (Clitellata: Hirudinida), a bromeliad leech
      from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
AB  - Tank bromeliads are important components of tropical forests and are capable of
      hosting many species of invertebrates in their tank water, such as insect larvae,
      ostracods and oligochaetes (Frank & Lounibos 2009; Jocque & Field 2014;
      Richardson 1999).

PMID- 28610278
TI  - First record of the genus <i>Zethus</i> Fabricius, 1804 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae,
      Eumeninae) from China with description of a new species.
AB  - The genus Zethus Fabricius, 1804, is newly recorded from China. The male of
      Zethus malayanus Gusenleitner, 2010 is described and figured for the first time.
      Zethus nanlingensis Nguyen & Xu, sp. nov. (South China, Guangdong) is described
      and figured.

PMID- 28610263
TI  - Taxonomic and distributional notes on Spongilla-flies (Neuroptera: Sisyridae)
      from Southeastern Brazil with first interactive key to the species of the
      country.
AB  - Based on adults collected from Espirito Santo, Southeastern Brazil, we present
      the first reports of Sisyridae from the state, expanding the known distributional
      range of five species of Climacia McLachlan and Sisyra Burmeister. Adults were
      collected throughout two basins, Rio Doce and Sao Mateus, and its tributaries in
      the north of the state with Pennsylvania light trap. Two species are reported for
      the first time from Southeastern Brazil. Furthermore, we describe the male of
      Climacia basalis Banks and compare it with the male of its junior synonym, C.
      desordenata Monserrat. In addition, traditional and interactive keys are proposed
      for the identification of all the species of Sisyridae reported from Brazil.

PMID- 28610280
TI  - A new genus and subgenus of Alysiini from China, with the description of two new
      species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Alysiinae).
AB  - A new alysiine genus (Braconidae, Alysiinae, Alysiini) from SE China, Dacnulysia
      gen. nov. (type species: D. chaenomastax sp. nov.) with aberrant mandible and
      head shape is described and illustrated. A new species of the genus Phaenocarpa
      Foerster, 1863, with an aberrant ovipositor, P. platychora sp. nov., from SE
      China is included as type species in a new subgenus, Clistalysia nov. A key to
      the subgenera of Phaenocarpa Foerster is included; Idiolexis Foerster, 1863, and
      Kahlia Ashmead, 1900, are recognised as valid subgenera.

PMID- 28610279
TI  - Redescription of <i>Cletocamptus</i> albuquerquensis and <i>C. dominicanus</i>
      (Harpacticoida: Canthocamptidae <i>incertae</i> <i>sedis</i>), and description of
      two new species from the US Virgin Islands and Bonaire.
AB  - The history surrounding the identity of Cletocamptus albuquerquensis (Herrick,
      1894) and C. dominicanus Kiefer, 1934 is very complex. This complexity has been
      exacerbated by incomplete, and in some cases erroneous, original descriptions of
      these two species. Also, new records from other locations did not describe the
      significant characters needed to clearly delineate them. This led several authors
      to consider C. dominicanus as a synonym of C. albuquerquensis, among other
      taxonomical considerations regarding, for example, the status of Marshia
      brevicaudata Herrick, 1894. Inspection of biological material from Saskatchewan
      (southern Canada), Wyoming (central US), Trinidad and Tobago, and the British
      Virgin Islands, identified by other researchers as C. albuquerquensis, as well as
      of newly collected material from Great Salt Lake (Utah, central US), Puerto Rico,
      Culebra Island, Vieques Island, St. John Island (US Virgin Islands), San Salvador
      (Bahamas), and Santa Marta (Colombia), revealed that C. albuquerquensis and C.
      dominicanus are distinct and identifiable species, distributed in a more
      restricted area than previously thought. Additionally, we describe a new species,
      C. tainoi sp. nov., from St. John Island (US Virgin Islands), and we propose
      another new species, C. chappuisi sp. nov., for two males from Bonaire previously
      identified as C. albuquerquensis. Finally, we give some observations on tube-pore
      like structures, previously overlooked, on the endopod of the male leg three.

PMID- 28610281
TI  - An enigmatic new genus of Hormiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from South India.
AB  - A new Hormiinae genus Indohormius gen. nov. with type species I. keralensis sp.
      nov. is described and illustrated. Comparison of this genus with some Hormiinae
      and Rhyssalinae genera are provided. The composition of the subfamily Hormiinae
      and the position of the new genus on a molecular phylogenetic tree are discussed.

PMID- 28610285
TI  - Taxonomic changes of some neotropical species of Arctiini Leach (Lepidoptera:
      Erebidae: Arctiinae).
AB  - Arctiini (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) is the most speciose tribe of tiger
      moths. In this study, the taxonomy of some Neotropical species of this tribe is
      reviewed based on habitus and, in some cases, genitalia of type specimens.
      Lectotypes are designated for two names. Four new combinations are proposed:
      Agaraea sericeum (Zerny, 1931) comb. n., Biturix nigrostriata (Rothschild, 1909)
      comb. n., Carales fasciatus (Rothschild, 1909) comb. n. and Opharus pallida
      (Dognin, 1910) comb. n. Six new synonymies are proposed: Agaraea nigrotuberculata
      Bryk, 1953 (=Agaraea klagesi (Rothschild, 1909)), Opharus ochracea Joicey &
      Talbot, 1918 and Pelochyta fergusoni Watson & Goodger, 1986 (=Opharus pallida
      (Dognin, 1910)), Melese flavescens Joicey & Talbot, 1918 (=Melese paranensis
      Dognin, 1911), Leucanopsis infucata (Berg, 1882) (=Pareuchaetes aurata aurata
      (Butler, 1875)) and Tessellota pura Breyer, 1957 (=Tessellota cancellata
      (Burmeister, 1878)). Moreover, Opharus ochracea Joicey & Talbot, 1918 comb. rev.
      is returned to the original genus. For each rearrangement, both remarks and
      information about type specimens are provided.

PMID- 28610288
TI  - Two new species of the subgenus <i>Brachyphytodecta</i> Bechyne, 1948
      (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, <i>Gonioctena</i>) from Sichuan, Southwest China.
AB  - Two new species, Gonioctena (Brachyphytodecta) davidi sp. nov. and G. (B.)
      kangdingensis sp. nov., are described from Sichuan, China. Both are easily
      distinguished from other species by the presence of many micro-denticles on
      apicolateral surface of aedeagus, which is a unique character in the genus
      Gonioctena Chevrolat, 1836. A distribution map, photographs and diagnostic
      characters with illustrations of each species are included.

PMID- 28610283
TI  - Two new species of Parandrinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the genera
      <i>Parandra</i> and <i>Acutandra</i> from South America.
AB  - Two new species of high-elevation Parandrinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) are
      described from Bolivia and Ecuador, South America. Both species are unusual in
      having piceous coloration over most of the dorsal surface. Parandra (Tavandra)
      santossilvai Lingafelter & Tishechkin, new species, is described from Achira,
      Santa Cruz Province, Bolivia, a site at 2,000 meters elevation. Acutandra
      caterinoi Lingafelter & Tishechkin, new species, is described from Pichincha
      Province, Ecuador, from sites between 1,900-2,500 meters. Illustrations,
      descriptions, diagnoses, and discussion of their generic and subgeneric
      placements are included.

PMID- 28610282
TI  - New species, new records and updated subgeneric key of <i>Bactrocera</i> Macquart
      (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae: Dacini) from India.
AB  - Two new species of genus Bactrocera Macquart, namely B. (Sinodacus) brevipunctata
      David and Hancock, sp. nov. and B. (Bactrocera) furcata David and Hancock, sp.
      nov., are described from India. B. (B.) aethriobasis Hardy, B. (B.) rubigina Wang
      & Zhao, B. (B.) syzygii Tsuruta & White and B. (B.) tuberculata (Bezzi) are
      recorded for the first time from India. Updated keys to twelve subgenera of
      Bactrocera and Indian species of Bactrocera (Bactrocera) are also provided.

PMID- 28610284
TI  - A new species of <i>Gynacantha</i> Rambur, 1842 from Cat Tien National Park,
      Vietnam (Odonata: Aeshnidae).
AB  - Gynacantha cattienensis spec. nov. is described from Cat Tien National Park, Dong
      Nai Province, Vietnam, on the basis of male and female specimens. This species is
      close in structure to G. khasiaca McLachlan, 1896, and differs in details of
      cerci, auricles and thorax coloration. Historical records of G. khasiaca from
      Vietnam may refer to this new species. Some information on its biology is
      provided.

PMID- 28610287
TI  - A new species of <i>Cornutalis</i> Sakakibara (Membracidae: Smiliinae: Acutalini)
      from Colombia.
AB  - The genus Cornutalis Sakakibara currently includes two valid species, Cornutalis
      cauca Sakakibara, 1997 (from Colombia) and C. valida Sakakibara, 1997 (from
      Ecuador). Herein, a new species, Cornutalis andinum sp. n., is described from the
      highlands in Colombia; additionally, a host plant is recorded for the first time
      for the genus. Also, a distribution map, a key to the species, and observations
      on the location and preservation state of type-specimens are included.

PMID- 28610290
TI  - Four new species and new records of Atopsyche Banks (Trichoptera: Hydrobiosidae)
      from Pantepui biogeographical region (Venezuela).
AB  - Four new species of the genus Atopsyche Banks (Hydrobiosidae) from Pantepui
      biogeographical region (Venezuela) are described and illustrated: Atopsyche
      (Atopsaura) inmae n. sp., Atopsyche (Atopsaura) cristinae n. sp., Atopsyche
      (Atopsaura) svitoki n. sp., and Atopsyche (Atopsaura) carmenae n. sp. Molecular
      analyses (cox1 sequences) allowed larva-adult associations and the morphological
      description of larvae of two of the new species (A. inmae and A. cristinae). A
      phylogenetic tree is performed to assess the molecular validity of the species,
      establish evolutionary relation among them and interpret historical biogeography
      of tepuis. Finally, two new distributional records for A. (Atopsaura) atahuallpa
      are included, which up to now was known only from the type locality.

PMID- 28610286
TI  - A survey for potential biological control agents of <i>Pereskia</i>
      <i>aculeata</i> Miller (Cactaceae) in Brazil reveals two new species of
      <i>Horismenus</i> Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae).
AB  - This paper deals with the description of two new species of Horismenus Walker
      (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) from Brazil, parasitoids of larvae of Adetus analis
      (Haldeman) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Both species are similar to Horismenus
      steirastomae (Girault), a species that also parasitizes cerambycids. Adetus
      analis is a pest of Sechium edule (Jacq.) Swartz (Cucurbitaceae), a minor crop in
      Brazil, Argentina and U.S.A., but also feeds in stems of Pereskia aculeata Miller
      (Cactaceae), an ornamental plant that has become a problematic weed species in
      Africa, where it was introduced. The two new Horismenus species are described,
      diagnosed, and compared to H. steirastomae.

PMID- 28610291
TI  - Anaphothrips genus-group: key to world genera, with two new species and three new
      records from Japan (Thysanoptera, Thripidae).
AB  - An identification key is provided to the 40 genera worldwide that comprise the
      Anaphothrips genus-group of Thripinae. Oxythrips japonicus sp.n. and Rubiothrips
      galii sp.n. are described from Japan, and the members of Anaphothrips genus-group
      from Japan are reviewed, with 15 species in eight genera. Anaphothrips swezeyi
      Moulton, Caprithrips insularis Beshear and C. melanophthalmus (Bagnall) are newly
      recorded from Japan.

PMID- 28610292
TI  - The species of Hemiancistrus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from Ecuador.
AB  - At the Fish Collection of the Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Escuela
      Politecnica Nacional, Quito, three species traditionally grouped in the genus
      Hemiancistrus were identified: H. annectens (Regan 1904), H. landoni Eigenmann
      1916, and a new specie described here. The new species inhabits exclusively in
      the Esmeraldas River Basin, Pacific slope, northwestern Ecuador. It is easily
      recognized by the completely naked abdomen, with rounded, dark spots, and a
      different color pattern on the dorsal and caudal fins. A comparative analysis of
      bones related to the opercular mobility, shows important differences between H.
      annectens, H. landoni, and the new species, suggesting that H. annectens does not
      belong to the genus Hemiancistrus or the Ancistrini group. According to the
      characteristics observed in these bones, H. annectens shows greater similarity to
      those reported in species of the Hypostomini group, supporting its inclusion in
      this group, but placing it in the genus Hypostomus requires further analysis. On
      the other hand, the conditions observed on the bones of Hemiancistrus landoni and
      the new species suggest that both are inside of the Ancistrini group. The new
      species is placed in the genus Hemiancistrus tentatively, pending future
      analysis.

PMID- 28610295
TI  - First record of hawker dragonflies from Eocene Baltic amber (Odonata: Anisoptera:
      Gomphaeschnidae).
AB  - Based on three specimens, the first record of hawker dragonflies from Baltic
      amber is described in a new genus with two new species: Elektrogomphaeschna
      peterthieli gen. et sp. nov. and E. annekeae sp. nov.. They belong to the family
      Gomphaeschnidae and are tentatively attributed to the extinct subfamily
      Gomphaeschnaoidinae. The latter was previously only known from Cretaceous fossils
      and is here shown to have survived the K-Pg mass extinction event. This discovery
      also confirms the still higher diversity of Gomphaeschnidae during the Paleogene
      compared to the Neogene that was dominated by the more derived Aeshnidae sensu
      stricto.

PMID- 28610294
TI  - Notes on the genus Navicordulia Machado & Costa, 1995 (Odonata: Anisoptera:
      Corduliidae s. str.): description of a new species, phylogenetic affinities and
      aspects of biogeography.
AB  - Based on a single male specimen, a remarkable new species of the genus
      Navicordulia is described from the Massif du Mitaraka in French Guiana (Tumuc
      Humac Mountains). Another new species of this genus is also reported from the
      same locality but is not described. This is the first record of the genus from
      French Guiana, hitherto being unknown within a radius of more than 1000 km.
      Apparent rarity or absence of records is probably due to its secretive habits.
      Navicordulia tumucurakensis sp. nov. presents unique characters not present in
      other species of the genus including: almost no excavation of the anal angle,
      proximal sternal pilose ridge of abdominal segment 7 transformed into two large
      lateral oreillets disconnected from the median carina, additional distal sternal
      pilose ridge transformed into a medial knob, epiproct not extending beyond the
      distal half of the cerci, very long cerci surpassing those of described species,
      cerci lacking ventro-medial carina and tubercle and exhibiting a distal ventral
      brush of hair-like setae. It is a forest species inhabiting hilly landscapes at
      low altitude, unlike other closely related intertropical species which are
      encountered in more elevated areas above 850 m. It is most closely related to N.
      longistyla, a typical cerrado species from the central Brazilian plateau or
      possibly to N. nitens from the central south Venezuelan Guaiquinima Tepui. Based
      on unique derived male abdominal structures and also on the female ovipositor and
      related structures, the South American genus Navicordulia and the Southeast
      Asian/Melanesian genus Metaphya are considered current adelphotaxa. This
      disrupted geographic distribution could be explained by a common ancestor having
      had a Gondwanian dispersal until the Late Cretaceous or Paleocene.

PMID- 28610289
TI  - Updated checklist of Balearic leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).
AB  - The first updated checklist of Balearic leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) since 1960
      is presented here, evincing the presence of 118 species. This estimation is
      clearly lower than the 141 species reported in the only list available to date
      (Jolivet, 1953), and the dissimilarity is even more pronounced if we take into
      account that 22 new species have been added during this period. The possible
      explanations for these differences are discussed. The main island in the
      archipelago holds most of the species (Mallorca, 113 spp.), followed by Menorca
      (71 spp.), Eivissa (39 spp.) and Formentera (19 spp.). Thus, the Gymnesian
      islands (Mallorca and Menorca) are more species-rich than the Pityusic ones
      (Eivissa and Formentera). The number of species per island is significantly
      correlated with their respective areas not only for the Balearic but also for the
      much larger western Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, and these
      abundances are not related with their nearness to the closest mainland. Among the
      different subfamilies and tribes, the Balearic flea-beetles (Alticinae) are
      clearly more prevalent whereas on the contrary, the Clytrini are less represented
      in comparison with the nearest mainland (Iberian Peninsula). The presented
      checklist includes four endemic species, Cryptocephalus majoricensis (Mallorca,
      Menorca and Formentera), C. tramuntanae (Mallorca), Cyrtonus majoricensis
      (Mallorca) and Timarcha balearica (Mallorca and Menorca). Furthermore, two
      adventitious species, Monoxia obesula and Epitrix hirtipennis of North American
      origin, have been reported for the first time in the Balearic Islands, in
      agreement with previous findings in other Mediterranean countries.

PMID- 28610296
TI  - Three new species of Mesonemoura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from China.
AB  - Three new species of the stonefly genus Mesonemoura, M. bispina sp. nov., M.
      trapezoidea sp. nov., and M. zwicki sp. nov., are described from China. Genitalic
      similarities with related species are discussed. The types are deposited in the
      Entomological Museum of China Agricultural University, Beijing and Henan
      Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, respectively.

PMID- 28610293
TI  - Notes on Phalangiidae (Arachnida: Opiliones) of southern Africa with description
      of new species and comments on within-species variation.
AB  - Notes are provided on a collection of Afrotropical harvestmen (Opiliones:
      Palpatores: Phalangiidae) from the California Academy of Sciences. A new species
      of Rhampsinitus, R. conjunctidens n. sp., is described from Limpopo province of
      South Africa. Rhampsinitus flavobrunneus Starega 2009 and R. silvaticus Lawrence
      1931 are recognised as junior synonyms of R. nubicolus Lawrence 1963 and R.
      vittatus Lawrence 1931, respectively. Both R. conjunctidens and R. nubicolus are
      recognised as exhibiting strong male dimorphism with major males exhibiting
      larger body size and greatly enlarged chelicerae relative to minor males; minor
      males cannot be readily identified to species without examination of genitalia. A
      discussion is also provided on generic boundaries within Afrotropical
      Phalangiidae, and a generic key to males of the region is presented.

PMID- 28610297
TI  - Ephuta icema Casal, 1969 and its host Auplopus subaurarius Dreisbach, 1963
      (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae, Pompilidae) from Brazil.
AB  - The male and female of Ephuta icema Casal, 1969 are reared from the host Auplopus
      subaurarius Dreisbach, 1963 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) that allow to unit both
      sexes for this mutillid and describe hitherto unknown male. A review of all the
      previous host records for the genus Ephuta Say, 1836 is given.

PMID- 28610299
TI  - Siphonoecetini Just, 1983 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Ischyroceridae) 11:
      Cephaloecetes schioettei sp. nov. from The Philippines.
AB  - The new species described below, Cephaloecetes schioettei, is the second
      siphonoecetine to be recorded from the archipelago region of Indonesia, The
      Philippines and Papua New Guinea. The previous reports were of Borneoecetes wongi
      Barnard & Thomas, 1984 from Borneo and from Papua New Guinea by Myers (1995).

PMID- 28610298
TI  - Eupithecia gypsophilata, a new species in the graphata species group of the genus
      Eupithecia Curtis (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae).
AB  - A new species of the geometrid genus Eupithecia is described from Spain:
      Eupithecia gypsophilata sp. n. This species belongs to the graphata species group
      and is somewhat similar externally to Eupithecia gemellata Herrich-Schaffer,
      1861.

PMID- 28610300
TI  - New species of leaf-mining Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) from the Neotropical and
      Ando-Patagonian regions, with new data on host plants.
AB  - The paper treats fifteen species of leaf-mining pygmy moths (Insecta,
      Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae) discovered in the Neotropics (British Virgin Islands,
      Belize, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Ecuador), and Ando-Patagonian region
      (Argentina and Chile). Except for two species, all belong to Stigmella Schrank.
      Twelve species are new, and are named and described in the current paper:
      Stigmella apicibrunella Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. decora Diskus & Stonis, sp.
      nov.; S. unicaudata Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. sanmartini Remeikis & Stonis,
      sp. nov.; S. patula Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. torosa Remeikis & Stonis, sp.
      nov.; S. monstrata Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. huahumi Remeikis & Stonis, sp.
      nov.; S. venezuelica Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. virginica Remeikis & Stonis,
      sp. nov.; Fomoria miranda Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov.; and Hesperolyra robinsoni
      Stonis, sp. n. Newly discovered variation of male genitalia of the Andean
      Stigmella rudis Puplesis & Robinson, 2000 is briefly discussed, and the formerly
      poorly understood Stigmella hylomaga (Meyrick, 1931) is redescribed and
      documented with photographs for the first time. We also present more photographs
      and add some addtional information on Stigmella gallicola van Nieukerken &
      Nishida, a recently described gall-maker from Costa Rica.The paper also provides
      new host-plant data: some of the described (or redescribed) species are reported
      for the first time as leaf-miners on plants belonging to Euphorbiaceae (Acalypha
      padifolia Kunth), Salicaceae (Azara microphylla Hook. f.), Fabaceae (Inga
      spectabilis (Vahl) Willd. or I. edulis Mart.), Rhamnaceae (Colletia spinosissima
      J. F. Gmel.), Geraniaceae or Vivianiaceae (Rhynchotheca spinosa Ruiz & Pav.), and
      Asteraceae (Mutisia decurrens Cav.). All species treated in the paper are
      illustrated with photographs of the adults and genitalia, a distribution map, and
      also photographs of the leaf-mines and host plants when available.

PMID- 28610301
TI  - Redescription of the numbat tick Ixodes (Sternalixodes) myrmecobii Roberts, 1962
      (Acari: Ixodidae) with descriptions of the male and nymph, and new host records.
AB  - Limited knowledge regarding the biology and identification of the Australian tick
      Ixodes myrmecobii exists with only the female described to date. Here we provide
      a description of the male and nymph as well as a redescription of the female. All
      described stages are molecularly characterised using the cytochrome c oxidase
      subunit 1 (CO1) and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) loci. An updated list of
      hosts is presented including the first records from humans, cattle and several
      native species. Information on the distribution and conservation status of this
      species is also included.

PMID- 28610302
TI  - An annotated checklist of earthworms of Greece (Clitellata: Megadrili).
AB  - The earthworm fauna of Greece is reviewed. According to the up-to-date checklist,
      the earthworm fauna of Greece consists of 67 species and subspecies, of which 59
      taxa belong to the family Lumbricidae, three to Megascolecidae, two to
      Acanthodrilidae and to Ocnerodrilidae and one taxon to the family Criodrilidae.
      Three species are recorded for the first time from the country: Allolobophora
      kosowensis kosowensis Karaman, 1968, Amynthas gracilis (Kinberg, 1867) and
      Eukerria saltensis (Beddard, 1895). Eisenia spelaea var. athenica Cernosvitov,
      1938 is proposed to be a synonym of Aporrectodea rosea (Savigny, 1826). The
      earthworm fauna of Greece is characterized by a large number of strict endemic
      species belonging to the family Lumbricidae (9 taxa), together with the
      occurrence of another 10 Balkanic endemic species.

PMID- 28610303
TI  - Type specimens and names assigned to Coprophanaeus (Megaphanaeus) d'Olsoufieff,
      1924, the largest New World dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Phanaeini).
AB  - Currently 13 species-group names assigned to the subgenus Megaphanaeus of
      Coprophanaeus are deemed available (or 'potentially available'), four of which
      denote valid species. In the present work we review the nomenclatural history of
      those names and conclude that two of them, Scarabaeus satelles Lichtenstein, 1796
      and Copris ajax Sturm, 1826, are unavailable. For the other 11 names, we found
      type specimens of five, Scarabaeus bellicosus Olivier, 1789, Copris ensifer
      Germar, 1821, Phanaeus septentrionalis Pessoa, 1934, P. vicinus Martinez, 1944,
      and P. vicinus var. argentinus Martinez, 1944. Two lectotypes are designated, one
      for Copris ensifer and other for Phanaeus septentrionalis. We were unable to
      locate the type series of the four names described by Castelnau (1840), i.e.
      Phanaeus ducalis, P. sylvanus, P. heros and P. miles, and of P. bonariensis Gory,
      1844 and Scarabaeus lancifer Linne, 1767. For the latter, based on some
      iconotypes, we found that its type series was composite, including specimens of
      two different Megaphanaeus species, and, in addition, it was mixed with Copris
      ensifer type series. In order to fix the name to a sole species, a neotype is
      designated for Scarabaeus lancifer. The history of the names are presented in
      detail, and the application of these names to species is briefly re-discussed.

PMID- 28610304
TI  - Systematics of Eutropis rugifera (Stoliczka, 1870) (Squamata: Scincidae)
      including the redescription of the holotype.
AB  - Eutropis rugifera has long been identified as a widespread species complex
      distributed in Nicobar, Peninsular Malaysia, Greater Sundaic Islands, Bali,
      Sulawesi and the Philippines. This skink was described by Stoliczka in 1870 from
      Nicobar Island based on a single specimen (holotype by monotypy). Later, Peters
      (1871), Bartlett (1895) and Werner (1896) described three more species which were
      morphologically similar to Euprepes percarinatus (from Java), Mabuia rubricollis
      (Borneo) and M. quinquecarinata (Sumatra) respectively, which are currently
      considered junior objective synonyms of Eutropis rugifera. We examined all the
      available synonym types and voucher specimens of Eutropis rugifera deposited at
      several museums. A morphological examination of the types of this species and
      mtDNA analysis (584 bp of 16S rRNA) of the samples from different biogeographic
      regions revealed that Eutropis rugifera from Nicobar Island, Bali Island, and
      Bawean Island are composed of a monophyletic species. However, the taxonomic
      status of the above population requires further clarification, and the population
      in Bawean Island may represent a cryptic species. Finally, we provide a complete
      redescription of E. rugifera based on its holotype.

PMID- 28610305
TI  - A newly recognised Australian endemic species of Austrolecanium Gullan & Hodgson
      1998 (Hemiptera: Coccidae) from Queensland.
AB  - Austrolecanium cryptocaryae Lin & Cook sp. n. is described based on adult female
      morphology and DNA sequences from mitochondrial and nuclear loci. This Australian
      endemic species was found on the underside of leaves of Cryptocarya microneura
      (Lauraceae) in Queensland. All phylogenetic analyses of four independent DNA loci
      and a concatenated dataset show that A. cryptocaryae is monophyletic and closely
      related to A. sassafras Gullan & Hodgson, the type species of Austrolecanium
      Gullan & Hodgson. The adult female of A. cryptocaryae is described and
      illustrated and a table is provided of the characters that differ among adult
      females of the three species of Austrolecanium currently recognised (A. cappari
      (Froggatt), A. cryptocaryae sp. n. and A. sassafras).

PMID- 28610306
TI  - Typhlocarcinus kerala, a new species of rhizopine crab from southwestern India,
      and the identity of T. craterifer Rathbun, 1914 (Crustacea: Brachyura:
      Pilumnidae).
AB  - A new species of rhizopine crab of the genus Typhlocarcinus Stimpson, 1858
      (family Pilumnidae), is described from southwestern India. Typhlocarcinus kerala
      sp. nov. is characterised by its granular carapace with the dorsal regions well
      demarcated and the gastro-cardiac grooves deep, the anterolateral margin entire
      and prominently granulated, the posterolateral margin lacks a low granulated
      lobe, proportions of the ambulatory legs and shape of the female telson.

PMID- 28610307
TI  - Three new species of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Bahia State,
      Brazil.
AB  - During a survey of predatory mites on cocoa cropping areas in Bahia State, north
      eastern Brazil, three undescribed species of Phytoseiidae were collected on
      natural vegetation associated with crops. Typhlodromips baculiductus n. sp.,
      Graminaseius bahiensis n. sp. and Typhlodromalus annulatus n. sp. are described
      and diagnosed. Comments on the boundary between the genera Amblydromalus Chant &
      McMurtry and Typhlodromalus Muma are also included.

PMID- 28610308
TI  - Overview of the  Ferdina-like Goniasteridae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) including
      a new subfamily, three new genera and fourteen new species.
AB  - Recent assignment of some goniasterid-like Ophidiasteridae into the Goniasteridae
      has led to further re-evaluation of other ophidiasterids as possible
      goniasterids. This led to the discovery of new genera and species supported by a
      distinctive set of characteristics which support a new subfamily, the Ferdininae,
      a group originally outlined by Marsh and Price (1991) within the Goniasteridae.
      The historical Ophidiasteridae is paraphyletic and includes several nominal
      ophidiasterid genera (e.g., Fromia, Neoferdina, etc.). Newly described material
      has led to the inclusion of six genera,within this group, of which three,
      Bathyferdina n. gen., Eosaster n. gen., and Kanakaster n. gen., are newly
      described. Fourteen new species in five genera are described. This includes
      Bathyferdina aireyae n. gen., n. sp., Eosaster nadiae n. gen., n. sp., Ferdina
      mena n. sp., Kanakaster balutensis n. gen., n. sp., Kanakaster convexus n. gen.,
      n. sp., Kanakaster discus n. gen., n. sp., Kanakaster larae n. gen., n. sp.,
      Kanakaster plinthinos n. gen., n. sp., Kanakaster solidus n. gen., n. sp.,
      Neoferdina annae n. sp., Neoferdina antigorum, n. sp., Neoferdina momo, n. sp.,
      Neoferdina oni, n. sp., and Paraferdina plakos, n. sp. Identification keys,
      synopses, and description of these taxa are included.

PMID- 28610309
TI  - Fossil butterflies, calibration points and the molecular clock (Lepidoptera:
      Papilionoidea).
AB  - Fossil butterflies are extremely rare. Yet, they are the only direct evidence of
      the first appearance of particular characters and as such, they are crucial for
      calibrating a molecular clock, from which divergence ages are estimated. In turn,
      these estimates, in combination with paleogeographic information, are most
      important in paleobiogeographic considerations. The key issue here is the correct
      allocation of fossils on the phylogenetic tree from which the molecular clock is
      calibrated.The allocation of a fossil on a tree should be based on an apomorphic
      character found in a tree based on extant species, similar to the allocation of a
      new extant species. In practice, the latter is not done, at least not explicitly,
      on the basis of apomorphy, but rather on overall similarity or on a phylogenetic
      analysis, which is not possible for most butterfly fossils since they usually are
      very fragmentary. Characters most often preserved are in the venation of the
      wings. Therefore, special attention is given to possible apomorphies in
      venational characters in extant butterflies. For estimation of divergence times,
      not only the correct allocation of the fossil on the tree is important, but also
      the tree itself influences the outcome as well as the correct determination of
      the age of the fossil. These three aspects are discussed. All known butterfly
      fossils, consisting of 49 taxa, are critically reviewed and their relationship to
      extant taxa is discussed as an aid for correctly calibrating a molecular clock
      for papilionoid Lepidoptera. In this context some aspects of age estimation and
      biogeographic conclusions are briefly mentioned in review. Specific information
      has been summarized in four appendices.

PMID- 28610310
TI  - Species names based on photographs: debate closed.
AB  - Discussions of current issues of broad interest in zoological taxonomy are
      encouraged in Zootaxa (Zhang 2007). One recent topic examines species names based
      on photographs without preserved specimens. This is not a new topic: as Ceriaco
      et al. (2016) correctly noted, this topic was previously discussed about a decade
      ago in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemesio 2007; Donegan 2008), and was soon followed by a
      series of opinions and rebuttals when the critically endangered species Galapagos
      pink land iguana-Conolophus marthae Gentile & Snell, 2009-was named without a
      preserved holotype (Donegan 2009; Nemesio 2009a,b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell
      2009; Minelli 2009).

PMID- 28610311
TI  - The "wild shot": photography for more biology in natural history collections, not
      for replacing vouchers.
AB  - Recently a correspondence in Zootaxa (Ceriaco et al., 2016) with more than 450
      signatories including taxonomists, curators and other taxonomy users from all
      continents has received wide attention and has stimulated extensive discussion (a
      true buzz) around the possible interpretations of the Code (ICZN) about
      photography in taxonomy (Researchgate website link). This short note was
      necessary to recall the necessity of preserved specimens as vouchers for
      taxonomy, in response to photography-based taxonomy (PBT) as defended by Pape et
      al. (2016), and in a broad sense, for all the life sciences. This had been widely
      discussed and argued by Dubois & Nemesio (2007) who concluded on the importance
      of vouchers in taxonomy. But if the subject of these papers and discussions are
      about photography as the only way to document a new species, none of them
      discussed really what photography could represent in enhancing knowledge in
      natural sciences based on collections of specimens including type series and in
      association with other media (video and sound).

PMID- 28610312
TI  - Images are not and should not ever be type specimens: a rebuttal to Garraffoni &
      Freitas.
AB  - Note. This original form of this rebuttal was submitted to Science on 3 March
      2017 (limited to 300 words as per Science editorial policy) but rejected on 13
      March 2017. Herein, we elaborate on our original Science submission in order to
      more fully address the issue without the length limitations. This rebuttal is
      followed by the list of the signatories who supported our original submission.

PMID- 28610313
TI  - A case of Appalachian endemism: Revision of the Cambarus robustus complex
      (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in the Kentucky and Licking River basins of Kentucky, USA,
      with the description of three new species.
AB  - The amazing levels of freshwater biodiversity found in the Appalachian Mountains
      of the eastern United States are among the highest recorded globally. Localized
      endemics make up much of this diversity, with numerous fish, freshwater mussels,
      salamanders and crayfish often being restricted to a single watershed, and in
      some instances, subwatersheds. Much of this diversity is the product of the
      processes of vicariance and historical stream drainage patterns. Herein, we
      describe three new crayfish species, all previously members of the Cambarus
      robustus complex, which occur in the Appalachian portion of the Kentucky and
      Licking river basins in Kentucky, USA. All three species differ from each other
      morphologically, genetically, and zoogeographically, fulfilling the requirements
      of the integrated species concept. Cambarus guenteri occurs in the southern
      tributaries of the Kentucky River mainstem as well as throughout the South Fork
      Kentucky River. Cambarus taylori is a narrow endemic, which only occurs in the
      Middle Fork Kentucky River. Cambarus hazardi, which has the widest distribution
      of the three new species, occurs in the North Fork Kentucky River, Red River, and
      upper reaches of the Licking River basin. Stream piracy events between the
      Cumberland and South Fork Kentucky River, as well as the Licking, Red and North
      Fork Kentucky rivers, are theorized to be important in the evolution of this
      complex. Cambarus guenteri is proposed as currently stable, though both C.
      taylori and C. hazardi are considered imperiled at this time due to habitat
      destruction throughout both of their respective ranges.

PMID- 28610314
TI  - Two new Pseudoceros (Polycladida: Pseudocerotidae) and a Prostheceraeus
      (Polycladida: Euryleptidae) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
AB  - Polyclads are free-living marine flatworms known for their striking colour and
      patterns. These animals though frequently encountered are still understudied in
      the Indian context. The present paper describes three new species, two belonging
      to the genus Pseudoceros Lang, 1884 and one to the genus Prostheceraeus Schmarda,
      1859. Pseudoceros auranticrinis sp. nov. is characterised by whitish cream
      background colour, brown mottling with numerous white and dark brown spots all
      over the body except margins and a smooth dorsal surface with orange
      pseudotentacles, Pseudoceros vishnui sp. nov. is characterised by having purple
      to violet spots on dorsum with margin made up of blue spots, while Prostheceraeus
      fuscolineatus sp. nov. is characterised by presence of brown longitudinal lines
      on dorsum and black erected tentacles. This is the first description of any
      species under the genus Prostheceraeus from central Indo-Pacific as well as
      Indian Ocean. Some insights on feeding behaviour of P. vishnui sp. nov. are also
      provided.

PMID- 28610315
TI  - Redescription of types of Sphecodes (Austrosphecodes) (Hymenoptera: Halictinae)
      from Argentina and Brazil.
AB  - Here I provide taxonomic notes on types of Sphecodes (Austrosphecodes) which are
      deposited in South American institutions. Sphecodes andinus Schrottky, 1906, S.
      brasiliensis Schrottky, 1910, S. bruchi Schrottky, 1906, S. cordillerensis
      Jorgensen, 1912, S. coriae Moure & Hurd, 1987, S. inornatus (Schrottky, 1902), S.
      melanopus Schrottky, 1906, S. mendocinus Jorgensen, 1912, and S. minarum
      Schrottky, 1910 are redescribed. The male of S. brasiliensis, S. convergens
      Michener, 1978, and the female of S. inornatus are described for the first time.
      The lectotype of Halictus meridionalis Jorgensen, 1912 is presently designated.

PMID- 28610316
TI  - A new whitefly genus and species, Himalayaleyrodes sarcococcae Dubey (Hemiptera:
      Aleyrodidae) infesting Christmas box (Buxaceae) in Western Himalaya, India.
AB  - Puparia, immatures and adults of a new whitefly genus and species,
      Himalayaleyrodes sarcococcae Dubey are described from the Western Himalaya,
      India. The new species was found feeding on leaves as well as on green stems of
      Sarcococca saligna (D. Don) Muell. Biological information, habitus, line arts,
      photomicrographs of holotype and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images are
      given for this new taxon. Also, we discuss similarities and dissimilarities of
      puparia of the new genus with its closely related genus Bemisia Quaintance &
      Baker. Feeding behaviour is discussed.

PMID- 28610317
TI  - A new species of Limnonectes (Amphibia: Anura: Dicroglossidae) from Vietnam.
AB  - A new species of Limnonectes is described from northeastern Vietnam based on
      morphological and molecular differences. Morphologically, the new species is
      distinguishable from its congeners on the basis of a combination of the following
      diagnostic characters: Large size (SVL 50.1-68.9 in males, 45.5-63.0 mm in
      females); males with moderately enlarged head (HL/SVL 0.48), head longer than
      wide; vomerine teeth present; external vocal sacs absent; rostral length short
      (RL/SVL 0.16 in males, 0.15 in females); tympanum distinct (TD/ED 0.63 in males,
      0.60 in females); dorsal surface of head, body and flanks with flattened
      tubercles; dorsal surface of tibia possessing small tubercles; supratympanic fold
      present; dorsolateral fold absent; webbing formula I0-0II0-1/3III0-1/3IV1/2-0V;
      in life, dorsum yellowish brown with a dark brown marking; throat and chest white
      with dark brown marking; ventral surface of fore and hind limbs as well as belly
      white. In phylogenetic analyses, the new species is placed as the sister taxon to
      Limnonectes fujianensis with strong statistical support in all analyses.

PMID- 28610318
TI  - Two new species of Trimma (Pisces; Gobiidae) from Fiji, south-western Pacific
      Ocean.
AB  - Two new species of Trimma are described from Fiji. Trimma bathum n. sp. lacks
      scales on the cheeks, opercle and predorsal midline, has 18-19 unbranched
      pectoral fin rays, an unbranched 5th pelvic fin ray that is 40-56% the length of
      the 4th ray, 17-18 gill rakers on the outer surface of the first gill arch, a U
      shaped interorbital and a narrow slit-like postorbital trench, a low, median
      fleshy ridge extending half-way towards the orbit from the origin of the first
      dorsal fin, and, when freshly collected, a pink head and body with most body
      scales having an orange-brown spot or short bar at their centres. The species is
      currently known only from off Suva Harbour, Viti Levu, Fiji. Trimma finistrinum
      n. sp. has a bony interorbital equal to the pupil diameter, a fully scaled nape
      of 12-14 scales, a second dorsal spine that may reach posteriorly to the middle
      of the second dorsal fin, the papillae in the longitudinal row immediately below
      the eye either single or with two papillae in a vertical row, unbranched pectoral
      fin rays, usually a branched fifth pelvic-fin ray that is about half length of
      the fourth ray, and a large diffuse dark blotch on the posterior part of the
      caudal peduncle. A colour pattern of a brownish body with most body scales having
      golden- to greenish-yellow (pale in preservative) centres is unique among species
      of the genus. The species is currently recorded only from off the north and east
      coasts of Viti Levu, Fiji.

PMID- 28610319
TI  - Nine true bugs (Heteroptera) newly-discovered in Illinois.
AB  - Six heteropteran species are reported for the first time from Illinois based on
      recently caught specimens from various bioinventories: the flat bug Neuroctenus
      pseudonymus Bergroth (Aradidae: Mezirinae), the stilt bug Metacanthus multispinus
      (Ashmead) (Berytidae: Metacanthinae), the leaf-footed bugs Anasa repetita
      Heidemann and Chelinidea vittiger Uhler (Coreidae: Coreinae), the ambush bug
      Phymata fasciata fasciata (Gray) (Reduviidae: Phymatinae), and the scentless
      plant bug Arhyssus nigristernum (Signoret) (Rhopalidae: Rhopalinae).
      Additionally, three more records for the flat bug Nannium pusio Heidemann
      (Aradidae) and the scentless plant bugs Aufeius impressicollis Stal and Niesthrea
      louisianica Sailer (Rhopalidae) are newly-reported for the state based on
      material in the Illinois Natural History Insect Collection (INHS). Supplementing
      these notes are dichotomous keys to the species of Mezirinae, Berytidae,
      Coreidae, Phymatinae, and Rhopalidae of Illinois.

PMID- 28610320
TI  - Description of a new subspecies of Talicada nyseus (Guerin-Meneville, 1843) from
      Hainan, China (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), with notes on the genus Talicada Moore,
      1881.
AB  - An insular population of Talicada nyseus was discovered from Hainan Island,
      representing a butterfly species unrecorded in China. Materials of this species
      from Hainan were compared with the races from other regions, revealing that the
      wing pattern is distinct from that of other subspecies, and is hereinto described
      as T. nyseus lami ssp. nov.. Information on immature stage and host association
      of the new subspecies, and notes on the genus is also provided.

PMID- 28610321
TI  - Enneophyllus ecarina, a new species of scaphopod shell dwelling hermit crab
      (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae) from deep-sea off the Ryukyu Islands,
      southern Japan.
AB  - A second species of the pagurid genus Enneophyllus McLaughlin, 1997, E. ecarina
      n. sp., is described and illustrated on the basis of two specimens collected from
      the upper bathyal depths off Amami-ohshima Island, Ryukyu Islands, southern
      Japan. The new species is immediately distinguished from the sole known congener,
      E. spinirostris McLaughlin, 1997, from the Banda Sea, Indonesia, by the non
      operculiform right chela and fewer ventral spiniform setae of the ambulatory
      dactyli. The type species of Enneophillus, E. spinirostris, was represented only
      by the male holotype, and examination of the female paratype of this new species
      enables documentation of female characteristics in the generic diagnosis. Like E.
      spinirostris, the new species inhabits scaphopod shells.

PMID- 28610323
TI  - Correction of existing generic and species concepts in Platyceroidini
      (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae) and the description of four new species of
      Platyceroides Benesh.
AB  - The endemic North American stag beetle tribe Platyceroidini Paulsen & Hawks
      (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae) is reviewed. All primary types were studied
      and the existing generic and species concepts are subsequently corrected. Based
      on study of the male genitalia and external morphology, the previously monotypic
      genus Platyceropsis Benesh is reduced to subgeneric status under Platyceroides
      Benesh, new status, and the species Platyceroides laticollis (Casey) and
      Platyceroides keeni (Casey) new combination are transferred to this subgenus.
      Praocerus, new subgenus, is created to contain the species Platyceroides latus
      (Fall), and P. viriditinctus (Benesh). In the nominal subgenus, confusion has
      resulted from the historic misapplication of the oldest available name,
      Platyceroides agassii (LeConte), resulting in significant underestimation of the
      number of extant taxa. Lectotypes are designated for four species-group names
      (listed in their original combinations): Platycerus latus Fall, Platycerus opacus
      Fall, Platycerus pacificus Casey, and Platycerus parvicollis Casey. Four new
      species (Platyceroides barrae, P. infernus, P. pampinatus, and P. umpquus) are
      described from California and Oregon, United States of America. The following
      species are valid and are removed from synonymy with P. agassii: P. pacificus
      (Casey), revised status, and P. californicus (Casey), revised status. The synonym
      Platycerus parvicollis Casey is transferred from Platyceroides agassii to P.
      californicus, new synonymy. With the addition of four new species and the
      correction of the mistaken synonymies the total number of species in the tribe
      Platyceroidini is now 16.

PMID- 28610322
TI  - Analysis of the genus Sunamphitoe Spence Bate, 1857 (Amphipoda: Ampithoidae) with
      descriptions of eight new species.
AB  - Sunamphitoe Spence Bate, 1857 is one of several ampithoid amphipod genera to be
      reasonably specific to its algal host. Sunamphitoe was recently shown to be a
      senior synonym of Peramphithoe Conlan & Bousfield, 1982 by both morphological and
      molecular phylogenetic analyses that included selected exemplars of both putative
      genera. Phylogenetic analysis considering all species of Sunamphitoe herein
      corroborates the validity of this synonymy and also delineates several
      morphological groups within the genus. Eight new species are descibed herein,
      Sunamphitoe angrox sp. nov., S. batavia sp. nov., S. dampierensis sp. nov., S.
      jonathani sp. nov., S. lehae sp. nov., S. mixtura sp. nov., S. naturaliste sp.
      nov., and S. stevesmithi sp. nov., all from Australia and New Zealand; the status
      of the problematic New Zealand species, Sunamphitoe aorangi is resolved.

PMID- 28610324
TI  - Three new species and one new subspecies of Deserticossus Yakovlev, 2006
      (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, with world
      catalogue of the genus.
AB  - Three new species and one new subspecies of the genus Deserticossus Yakovlev,
      2006 are described: Deserticossus doroshkini Yakovlev & Witt sp. nov. from
      eastern Kazakhstan (Tarbagatai Mts.), D. selevini Yakovlev & Witt sp. nov. from
      southeastern Kazakhstan (Malye Boguty Mts.), D. kamelini Yakovlev & Witt sp. nov.
      from Kyrgyzstan (Fergana Valley), and D. tsingtauana didenkoi Yakovlev & Witt
      subsp. nov. from Russia (Southern Siberia, Buryatia Republic). The described
      species and subspecies of Deserticossus are listed, with notes on the type
      material, synonymies, and distribution for each taxon.

PMID- 28610325
TI  - A brief history of the generic classification of the Trochilini (Aves:
      Trochilidae): the chaos of the past and problems to be resolved.
AB  - The generic classification of the Trochilidae is unusually complicated because
      early authors, faced with a deluge of specimens with little or no data, often
      based species and genus names on superficial plumage characters derived from
      figured plates of varying artistic quality and reproduction. Working
      independently and with little knowledge of species distributions and with the
      fixation of type species for genera inconsistent or ignored, these authors
      produced a bewildering array of generic synonyms. The generic nomenclature of the
      largest and most recently derived clade of hummingbirds, the tribe Trochilini or
      "emeralds", presents an unusually tangled web. Here we review the history of
      hummingbird generic nomenclature from Linnaeus to the present, giving detailed
      attention to two generic names that epitomize this confusion: Amazilia (the
      variety of spellings, supposed type species and circumscriptions makes for an
      especially complicated tangle) and Leucippus (for which nearly every successive
      author has advocated a different circumscription). Through application of the
      International Code for Zoological Nomenclature, this review lays the foundation
      for a revision of the generic nomenclature of the emeralds to bring it into
      conformity with recent genetic studies elucidating the phylogeny of this clade.

PMID- 28610326
TI  - Macrochelid mites (Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) from Sao Paulo state, Brazil,
      with description of a new species of Macrocheles.
AB  - Macrochelid mites have been reported in several papers about mites of different
      habitats in Brazil, but this is the first work specifically conducted to
      determine the macrochelids from that country. The main goal was to determine
      macrochelid species in microhabitats where the stable fly is usually found in
      commercial cattle farms. In total, 1359 specimens were collected from cow manure
      and litter in different regions of Sao Paulo state. These represented ten species
      of three genera. One of these, Macrocheles embersoni n. sp. is here described as
      new to science. Other macrochelid species are expected to be found in the study
      area, when other types of microhabitats are explored.

PMID- 28610327
TI  - Tanytarsini (Diptera: Chironomidae) from madicolous habitat in Southeast Brazil:
      new species and new records.
AB  - Tanytarsini (Diptera: Chironomidae: Chironominae) collected from madicolous
      habitats in Brazil are analyzed, and three new species of Tanytarsus van der Wulp
      are described and illustrated: T. angelae sp. n. and T. alaidae sp. n. as adult
      male and T. alienus sp. n. as male and female. New records of another Brazilian
      Tanytarsus species are also presented, and immature stages of Paratanytarsus
      silentii Trivinho-Strixino are described.

PMID- 28610328
TI  - A new Cyana Walker, 1854 from Vietnam (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae).
AB  - A new species of the genus Cyana Walker, 1854, C. aurantifascia Volynkin, Cerny &
      Dubatolov, sp. nov. is described from Vietnam. The Cyana dohertyi and Cyana
      phaedra species-groups are established. The new species belongs to the C.
      dohertyi species-group. Diagnostic comparisons are made with species of similar
      habitus belonging to the same and to other species-group. Adults, male and female
      genitalia of the new and related species are illustrated.

PMID- 28610329
TI  - Two new species of Nemouridae (Plecoptera) from Vietnam.
AB  - Two new species belonging to the family Nemouridae, Nemoura kontumensis sp. nov.
      and Amphinemura konplongensis sp. nov. are described from the Central Highlands
      of Vietnam. Remarks on the affinities with related species are given.

PMID- 28610330
TI  - Catalogue of distribution of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Brazilian
      Amazonia. IV. Alopoglossidae, Gymnophthalmidae.
AB  - We present distribution data of all Alopoglossidae and Gymnophthalmidae lizards
      known from the Brazilian Amazonia, totaling 54 species-level taxa, belonging to
      17 genera and two families. This represents 22 more species-level taxa than
      previously reported. Data were based on 17,431 specimens deposited in three North
      American and eight Brazilian museums, including the main collections harboring
      Amazonian material. Most species (~80%) are endemic to Amazonia; non-endemic
      species are mainly associated with open vegetation (savanna) enclaves or open dry
      (semideciduous) forest in Amazonia, with a few exceptions. As a whole, seven taxa
      (including one species complex) are widespread in Amazonia, six are restricted to
      eastern Amazonia, seven to western Amazonia, two to southwestern Amazonia, 11 to
      southern Amazonia, 11 to northern Amazonia (either in part of it or widespread in
      the Guiana region), and six to the southern peripheral portion of Amazonia.
      Besides, four species present unique distributions. Considering this study and
      the other three catalogues of distribution of lizards already published, the
      total number of lizard species from Brazilian Amazonia increased from 97 to 142
      species-level tava. It represents an increase of 45 species from the region since
      the last revision.

PMID- 28610331
TI  - Review of the European species of Diglyphus Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)
      including the description of a new species.
AB  - The European species of Diglyphus Walker are reviewed. Fifteen species are
      included. One of these, D. clematidis sp. n., is described as new, and one, D.
      anadolucus Doganlar, is recorded as new to Europe. Several of the species have
      their geographical distribution increased as many new country records are
      introduced. New host records and compilation of host records from the literature
      are presented in tables. To facilitate the identification of the species a key
      and numerous illustrations are included. The identity of one of the species
      described from Europe, D. phytomyzae Ruschka, is unclear. It has not been
      possible to locate the type material of this species and the original description
      is not detailed enough to make an unambiguous interpretation possible. Two
      species, D. scapus Yefremova from Iran and D. sensilis Yefremova from Turkey, are
      discussed as they occur in the vicinity of Europe.

PMID- 28610332
TI  - Review of the genus Cyrtosia Perris (Diptera: Mythicomyiidae: Platypyginae) in
      Iran, with description of three new species.
AB  - The genus Cyrtosia in Iran is reviewed and includes the description of three new
      species: C. bispermatheca sp. nov., C. baccadomus sp. nov. and C. zieglerii sp.
      nov. from northern Iran; and presents a key to species known to occur in Iran.
      Notes on C. meridionalis Rondani, 1863 and C. pusilla Loew, 1873, both previously
      recorded from Iran, are also provided.

PMID- 28610333
TI  - A new morphologically cryptic species of Phyllomedusa (Anura: Phyllomedusidae)
      from Amazonian forests of northern Peru revealed by DNA sequences.
AB  - We describe and name Phyllomedusa chaparroi sp. nov., a medium-sized species
      (snout-vent length in adult males 67.9-77.5 mm) of monkey frog from Amazonian
      rainforests of northern Peru. Although morphologically most similar to P.
      boliviana and P. camba (indistinguishable from the latter in external qualitative
      and quantitative traits), phylogenetic analysis of combined mitochondrial and
      nuclear markers place the new species sister to a clade containing P. neildi, P.
      tarsius, and P. trinitatis. Phyllomedusa chaparroi can be readily differentiated
      from these species by having a dark reddish-brown iris with indistinct tiny
      orange spots versus an orange iris with marked dark reticulation found in P.
      neildi, P. tarsius, and P. trinitatis. Furthermore, genetic distances for a 532
      bp sequence of the 16S gene between the new species and its sister species are
      2.8-4.1 %, whereas distances are 4.5-5.5 % to the morphologically cryptic P.
      camba. We briefly discuss the importance of DNA sequences in revealing
      morphologically cryptic species and modify the content of the P. tarsius species
      group based on phylogenetic analyses and observations on iris coloration.

PMID- 28610334
TI  - Morphological description of early zoeal stages of Alpheus brasileiro Anker, 2012
      reared in the laboratory, including a revision of the larval morphology of the
      first zoeal stage of the genus Alpheus Fabricius, 1798 (Caridea: Alpheidae).
AB  - The aims of this study were to describe and illustrate the early larval stages of
      the snapping shrimp Alpheus brasileiro Anker, 2012 and to review the larval
      morphology (Zoea I) of the genus Alpheus Fabricius, 1798. Larvae were obtained
      from two females with embryos collected in an intertidal estuary in Cananeia, Sao
      Paulo state, Brazil. The published descriptions of all available Alpheus zoea I
      (only 14 spp., 4.7%) were used for a comparison of larval morphology. The zoeae I
      of Alpheus species are very similar, but A. brasileiro can be separated from the
      other studied species by the following set of characteristics: antennal scale 5
      segmented with 11 plumose setae and 2 simple setae; coxal endite of maxillule
      with 3 simple setae and 2 sparsely plumose setae; and coxal endite of maxilla
      with 1 simple seta and 1 sparsely plumose seta. The description of early larval
      development of A. brasileiro indicates consistent characteristics, which, when
      analyzed along with other morphological, molecular, and biogeographical aspects,
      can help to elucidate the complex phylogenetic relationships between the species
      in the group. However, this is the first zoeal description of a member of Alpheus
      armillatus species complex and it therefore does not permit a comparison. Only
      with new additional descriptions we will be able to generate a clearer scenario
      in this field due the high similarity among the species.

PMID- 28610335
TI  - Rhigonema naylae n. sp. (Rhigonematomorpha: Rhigonematidae) a new parasitic
      nematode from a Japanese polydesmid millipede (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae).
AB  - Rhigonema naylae n. sp. (Rhigonematomorpha: Rhigonematidae) is described from the
      hindgut of the polydesmid millipede Parafontaria laminata (Attems, 1909)
      (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae), from Aichi prefecture, Japan. The new species is
      characterized by having a medium sized body in both sexes, the cephalic collar
      partially fused to the body cuticle, but not overhanging the body contour;
      cervical region densely covered in short, fine microtrichs that extend from the
      posterior margin of the cephalic collar to ca. 1.5 oesophagus lengths posterior
      to the basal bulb; tail short and conoid, subulate in females and with a short
      mucron in males; female genital tract of Type 2 according to Adamson (1987);
      males with a complement of 23 copulatory papillae, one post-cloacal pair lateral
      and two sub-dorsal. This arrangement of copulatory papillae is typical from the
      African/Asian species and contributes to the segregation of R. naylae n. sp. from
      the American/Australasian taxa. Description is supplemented by SEM images.
      Partial sequences of the D2-D3 LSU rDNA and 18S SSU rDNA were obtained. This
      constitutes the second species of the genus Rhigonema Cobb, 1898 described from
      the Japanese archipelago.

PMID- 28610336
TI  - First record of a new epibionts suctorian ciliate Tokophrya huangmeiensis sp.n.
      (Ciliophora, Phyllopharyngea) from redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus von
      Martens 1868.
AB  - A new suctorian ciliate, Tokophrya huangmeiensis sp. n. was isolated from the
      carapace of redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus, during investigation of fish
      ciliates diversity in freshwater aquaculture of Hubei, China. The zooids of newly
      isolated ciliate were found aggregated into colonies on stalks of another ciliate
      Epistylis. The adults of this newly found species were characterized by an
      elongated pyramidal shaped and corrugated cell body with two fascicles of
      tentacles on the apical part of cell body. Stalks were hollow and transparent
      with longitudinal striations. The single contractile vacuole was located in the
      apical region and an elongated rho-shaped macronucleus was situated along the
      long axis of cell body. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the subclass Suctoria
      is monophyletic and comprises the groups Exogenina, Evaginogenina and Endogenina,
      where Exogenina is the earliest branching lineage among these three groups.
      Tokophrya huangmeiensis sp. n. clustered with the other Tokophrya species and
      within the Endogenina subgroup as expected.

PMID- 28610338
TI  - Revision of the genus Doryscus Jacoby (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae).
AB  - The genus Doryscus Jacoby, 1887 is revised. Twelve new species are described: D.
      indochinensis sp. nov. from China (Yunnan), India, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam; D.
      krausi sp. nov. from Laos and Thailand; D. kubani sp. nov., from China (Yunnan);
      D. geiseri sp. nov. from Singapore and Thailand; D. nepalensis sp. nov. from
      Bhutan, north India, and Nepal; D. luzonensis sp. nov., and D. mindanaoensis sp.
      nov. from Philippines; D. barclayi sp. nov., D. boreri sp. nov., D. javanensis
      sp. nov., and D. sumatrensis sp. nov. from Indonesia; D. wangi sp. nov. from East
      Malaysia (Sabah). Doryscus chujoi Takizawa, 1978 and D. varians (Gressitt &
      Kimoto, 1963) are removed from synonymy with D. testaceus Jacoby, 1887. Doryscus
      nigricollis Jiang, 1992 and D. marginicollis Jiang, 1992 are regarded as junior
      synonyms of D. varians (Gressitt & Kimoto, 1963). A lectotype is designated for
      Doryscus testaceus Jacoby, 1887.

PMID- 28610337
TI  - Cacoplistes (Laminogryllus) brevisparamerus sp. nov., a new species of
      Cachoplistinae (Orthoptera: Phalangopsidae) from Guangxi, China.
AB  - Cacoplistes (Laminogryllus) brevisparamerus sp. nov. was collected from Guangxi,
      China. New species is similar to C. (L.) choui Liu & Shi, 2012, but differs from
      the latter by the shape of male genitalia. The description and illustrations of
      the new species are provided. A distribution map of all species of Cacoplistes is
      presented.

PMID- 28610339
TI  - Redescription of the freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium jelskii (Miers, 1877)
      (Caridea, Palaemonidae).
AB  - Macrobrachium jelskii is a freshwater shrimp endemic to South America, occurring
      in all major Brazilian basins. It is used in various activities, such as fishing,
      fishkeeping and even as food for humans and animals, and therefore its
      distribution is affected by anthropic influence. Misidentification of M. jelskii
      is recurrent because of its morphological similarity to some sympatric species
      such as M. amazonicum and M. acanthurus. Thus, the aim of this study is to
      redescribe M. jelskii, proposing some characteristics that allow for a clearer
      differentiation of this species when compared to other similar congeneric species
      that occur in South America. The informative characters were the size and the
      shape of the rostrum, the ratio of the carpus and chela, the ratio of the chela
      and carapace length and the shape of the carpus of the second pereiopod, as well
      as the ratio between the length of the internal pair of posterior spine of telson
      and median apex of the posterior margin of telson. Although the intraspecific
      variability is high, the combination of the characters mentioned herein,
      including a morphological key, is very useful and makes it easier to
      differentiate between these three species.

PMID- 28610340
TI  - Myxosporea (Cnidaria : Myxozoa) infecting the saddled seabream Oblada melanura
      (L. 1758) (Teleostei : Sparidae) and the painted comber Serranus scriba (L. 1758)
      (Teleostei : Serranidae) in Tunisia.
AB  - First parasitological surveys of Myxozoa are performed on the sparid saddled
      seabream Oblada melanura (Linnaeus, 1758) and the serranid painted comber
      Serranus scriba (Linnaeus, 1758) caught from the Bay of Bizerte and the Gulf of
      Tunis respectively in Northeast Tunisia, Western Mediterranean. In this study, 6
      bivalvulid myxosporean species belonging to the 3 genera Ceratomyxa Thelohan,
      1892, Myxodavisia Zhao, Zhou, Kent & Whipps, 2008 and Zschokkella Auerbach, 1910,
      are isolated infecting their hosts. Two species Ceratomyxa sp. 1 ex O. melanura
      (Prevalence (P) = 36%) and Ceratomyxa sp. 2 ex O. melanura (P = 13%) infected the
      saddled seabream and four species Ceratomyxa sp. 1 ex S. scriba (P = 11.7%),
      Ceratomyxa sp. 2 ex S. scriba (P = 6.7%), Myxodavisia sp. (P = 8.3%) and
      Zschokkella sp. (P = 5.6%) infected the painted comber. These myxosporeans
      differ, in vegetative stages and/or in mature spores, from all the previously
      known congeneric species, and are described here on the basis of their
      morphological and morphometric features, their host and tissue specificities and
      their biogeographical distribution. This is the first report of myxosporean
      infections in O. melanura and S. scriba. The occurrence of two ceratomyxid
      species in each host species supports that the genus Ceratomyxa is host-specific
      not only in sparids but also in serranids, which agrees with data previously
      obtained from Sparidae in Mediterranean Sea and from Serranidae in GBR,
      Australia. A member of the myxosporean genus Myxodavisia is recorded from the
      Mediterranean Sea for the first time, and Zschokkella spp. infections have not
      previously been recorded from a host in Serranidae. During the examination, a
      several cases of Co-infection among myxosporeans, both with two and three
      species, are provided and statistically studied. Indeed, 5% of the breams and
      9.4% of the combers are infected with more than one myxosporean parasite. The
      relationship between myxosporean infections and some biological parameters are
      pointed out. A higher prevalence of myxosporean infection is coincided with the
      peak period of spawning activity in May-June for S. scriba. For both hosts,
      analysis using Fulton's condition factor (K) has revealed no significant
      difference between infected and non-infected fishes. Clinically, no external
      signs of disease have been occurred in infected hosts, but some changes in the
      bile fluid, colour, and viscosity and in the gall bladder 's tissue are examined
      in S. scriba.

PMID- 28610341
TI  - Validation of Astropecten jarli Madsen, 1950 and implications for A. cingulatus
      Sladen, 1883 (Paxillosida: Astropectinidae).
AB  - Astropecten is a major paxillosid genus with a widely occurring presence in
      tropical and temperate seas. Astropecten jarli from off the west coast of Africa,
      in the Eastern Atlantic Region, was placed in synonymy with Astropecten
      cingulatus, a widespread species from the Western Atlantic Region, producing the
      only amphi-Atlantic Astropecten species. Examination of the holotypes of both
      species and other specimens of A. cingulatus and A. jarli revealed that A. jarli
      has a greater major radius:minor radius than A. cingulatus at all sizes, a unique
      adambulacral spine configuration, and different spination on the inferomarginal
      plates. ANCOVA indicates A. cingulatus and A. jarli have similar major
      radius:number of superomarginal plates at small sizes but are distinguishable by
      the number of superomarginal plates in large individuals. The ratio of the width
      of the paxillar area:width of the superomarginal plates is greater in A. jarli.
      Some specimens identified as A. cingulatus from the Eastern Atlantic Region do
      not fit the description of either A. cingulatus or A. jarli. We conclude that A.
      jarli is morphologically distinct from A. cingulatus and should be recognized as
      a valid species. Astropecten cingulatus does not have an amphi-Atlantic
      distribution and is limited to the Western Atlantic Region.

PMID- 28610342
TI  - Description of Metopiellus painensis sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), first
      troglobitic Pselaphinae from Brazil.
AB  - Metopiellus painensis new species, of the Neotropical pselaphine tribe
      Metopiasini, is described from Pains region, Brasil (Minas Gerais). Major
      diagnostic features are illustrated and a key to the known species is given.

PMID- 28610343
TI  - Monotypic no longer: a new species of Panca Evans (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae:
      Hesperiinae: Moncini) from South America.
AB  - A new species belonging to the previously monotypic genus Panca Evans, 1955, P.
      moseri Dolibaina, Carneiro & O. Mielke sp. nov., from grasslands areas of Peru,
      Bolivia and Brazil is described. Adults and male and female genitalia of the new
      species are illustrated, described in detail, and compared with the type species
      of the genus, Lerodea subpunctuli Hayward, 1934, and with its externally most
      similar and sympatric species, Vidius mictra Evans, 1955. The systematic position
      of the genus Panca and its association with lowland open natural habitats of
      South America are discussed.

PMID- 28610344
TI  - A new species of the genus Burmagomphus Williamson (Odonata: Gomphidae) from
      Northern Thailand.
AB  - Burmagomphus chiangmaiensis sp. nov. (holotype: Ban Luang, Chom Thong, Chiang Mai
      province, Thailand, 890-900 m, 14 v 2012) is described and illustrated. It can be
      differentiated from its most similar congener, B. apricus from China, by shape of
      posterior hamulus, yellow trapezoid band on occiput, and larger size.

PMID- 28610345
TI  - Danothrips litseae sp.n. (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) from India on leaves of
      Litsea.
AB  - Danothrips litseae sp. n. is described from Litsea sp. in North East India. This
      is the third species of the genus with distinct tergal craspeda, also weak,
      indistinct, irregular scallop-like projections on the sternites. Molecular data
      of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (mtCOI) from specimens of this species are
      also generated as additional data for future studies.

PMID- 28610346
TI  - A description of three new species of the genus Alienia Fibiger, 2011 from
      Southeast Asia (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Hypenodinae: Micronoctuini).
AB  - The genus Alienia Fibiger, 2011 of the tribe Micronoctuini of Hypenodinae is
      revised. Two new species: Alienia fibigeri sp.n. and Alienia cambodiaa sp.n. are
      described from Cambodia; a new species, Alienia laosa sp.n. from Laos described.
      A key for identification of Alienia based on male genitalia is present. The adult
      and genitalia of the new species are illustrated.

PMID- 28610348
TI  - Bees of the Hemihalictus series of Lasioglossum Curtis (Hymenoptera, Halictidae)
      in South Korea.
AB  - The South Korean fauna of the Hemihalictus series belonging to the genus
      Lasioglossum Curtis are reviewed. Twenty-seven species are recognized for the
      country. Lasioglossum laevoides Ebmer is recorded from the Korean Peninsula for
      the first time. The following species are newly recorded from South Korea: L.
      albipes villosum Ebmer, L. calceatum (Scopoli), L. kiautschouense (Strand), L.
      sakagamii Ebmer, L. speculinum (Cockerell), L. subfulvicorne subfulvicorne
      (Bluthgen), L. villosulum (Kirby), and L. vulsum (Vachal). Illustrated keys to
      females and males of South Korean species are provided. Bionomical data such as
      flight and flower records in South Korea are given.

PMID- 28610347
TI  - Review of the Genus Ambotingis Drake and Ruhoff (Hemiptera: Heteroptera:
      Tingidae).
AB  - Dictyla ainsliei (Drake and Poor) is transferred to the genus Ambotingis Drake
      and Ruhoff, redescribed, and reported from Costa Rica for the first time.
      Ambotingis senta (Drake and Hambleton) is also diagnosed, and a key for the
      separation of the two species is provided.

PMID- 28610349
TI  - Revision of the genus Shairella Chujo, 1962 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae:
      Galerucinae) from Taiwan, with descriptions of five new species.
AB  - The brachelytrous galerucine genus Shairella Chujo is reviewed based on
      examination of 240 specimens. Five new species are described: S. cheni sp. nov.,
      S. chungi sp. nov., S. guoi sp. nov., S. motienensis sp. nov., and S. tsoui sp.
      nov. The diversity and distribution of most of Shairella species are reflected on
      one major host plant - Clinopodium laxiflorum var. taiwanianum. Smaller compound
      eyes relative to otherwise similar galerucines are characteristic for Shairella
      and may be related to nocturnal behavior. The occurrence of a subapical white
      band on the antenna and its possible function is discussed.

PMID- 28610350
TI  - A taxonomic review of the Korean species of the subgenus Datomicra Mulsant & Rey
      of the genus Atheta Thomson, with description of a new species (Coleoptera,
      Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae).
AB  - A taxonomic review of the subgenus Datomicra Mulsant & Rey of the genus Atheta
      Thomson in Korea is presented. A new synonym is proposed: Datomicra Mulsant &
      Rey, 1874 = Datostiba Sawada, 1976, syn. nov. The subgenus is represented in
      Korea by eight species including a new species, Atheta (Datomicra)
      semidentiventris Lee & Ahn, sp. nov. Two species [A. (D.) dadopora Thomson and A.
      (D.) dentiventris Bernhauer] are new to the Korean Peninsula and one [A. (D.)
      celata (Erichson)] to South Korea. A key, descriptions, habitus photographs and
      illustrations of the diagnostic characters of the new species and two newly
      recorded species are provided.

PMID- 28610351
TI  - World checklist of flea-beetles of the genus Epitrix (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae:
      Galerucinae: Alticini).
AB  - The world checklist of the genus Epitrix (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae:
      Alticini) is necessary, since many species of this genus are serious pests of
      potato and other Solanaceae, and since some species have been inadvertedly
      introduced from one continent to another and established. We have compiled the
      catalogue of all species described to date. There are 162 species and 11
      subspecies in the world. The geographic distribution is indicated for each
      species.

PMID- 28610353
TI  - A new species of Arctoseius Thor, 1930 (Acari: Ascidae) from taiga regions of the
      Palaearctic, with a key to Arctoseius species of Fennoscandia, NW Europe.
AB  - A new mesostigmatid mite species belonging to the genus Arctoseius Thor, 1930, is
      described based on material from subarctic coniferous forests, Finland, and Altai
      highlands, Russia. Arctoseius ambiguus sp. nov. is similar to Arctoseius
      venustulus (Berlese, 1916), but can be distinguished from the latter by its
      larger size, wider dorsal shield, weakly sclerotized presternal platelets,
      pronounced differences in the length of opisthonotal setae, and distinct
      punctation of the anal shield. A key for 15 Arctoseius species recorded in
      continental North-Western Europe (Fennoscandia) is given. The Fennoscandian fauna
      of Arctoseius species is rather specialised. It includes four European temperate
      species and five cryobiontic (arctic, arcto-montane, arcto-boreo-montane) ones.

PMID- 28610352
TI  - Revision of the grassland leafhopper genusJilinga Ghauri (Hemiptera:
      Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Paralimnini) with description of a new species
      from China.
AB  - The paralimnine leafhopper genus Jilinga Ghauri is revised and additional
      characters of the leg and female genitalia are described. A new species, Jilinga
      taibaiensis sp. nov., from China is described. Habitus photographs and
      illustrations of male and female genitalia of J. taibaiensis sp. nov. and J.
      asymmetrica Xing are provided. A key is given to distinguish males of five
      species.

PMID- 28610354
TI  - A new color pattern of the Bungarus candidus complex (Squamata: Elapidae) from
      Vietnam based on morphological and molecular data.
AB  - Kraits with black and white bands from Nui Chua National Park, central Vietnam
      are morphologically similar to the Burmese Krait, Bungarus magnimaculatus,
      however, analysis of molecular data finds them to be nested within the B.
      candidus complex.

PMID- 28610355
TI  - A new species of Cladotanytarsus (Lenziella) from Oregon supports the systematic
      concept of the subgenus (Diptera: Chironomidae).
AB  - A new species of the genus Cladotanytarsus Kieffer, 1921 and the small subgenus
      Lenziella Kieffer, 1922 is described from Southern Oregon, USA. The adult male of
      C. (L.) glaber Gilka et Puchalski, sp. nov., featuring tibial lobes armed with
      dense setae and a large globular swelling of the hypopygial inferior volsella,
      supports the recently defined systematic concept for Lenziella. This subgenus is
      known from seven species distributed in the Northern Hemisphere (1 European, 1
      Palaearctic and 5 Nearctic), the males of which are included in an updated
      identification key.

PMID- 28610356
TI  - A remarkable new genus of Protosmylinae (Neuroptera: Osmylidae) from late Eocene
      Florissant, Colorado.
AB  - Pseudosmylidia relicta gen. et sp. nov. (Neuroptera: Osmylidae) is described from
      the late Eocene of Florissant (U.S.A., Colorado). It is assigned to the subfamily
      Protosmylinae based on the presence of two venational features characteristic of
      the subfamily: most crossveins in the radial to intramedial spaces of the
      forewing are arranged in four gradate series, and CuP is short and simple or
      forked only once in the hind wing. This genus is remarkable by CuP in the
      forewing bearing few pectinate branches. This is the only genus of extant and
      Cenozoic fossil Osmylidae in which this plesiomorphic condition is retained.

PMID- 28610358
TI  - Supplement to the knowledge of the genus Scaphidium Olivier of East China
      (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scaphidiinae).
AB  - A new species, Scaphidium ahrensi sp. n., is described from Fujian Province and
      its diagnostic characters are illustrated. Scaphidium vicinum Pic, 1915 is
      discovered from mainland China for the first time. A modified key is given to
      accommodating these two species.

PMID- 28610357
TI  - A new species of the genus Oxyporus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae:
      Oxyporinae) in Yunnan Province, China.
AB  - Oxyporus (Oxyporus) wangae sp. nov. is described from Yunnan, China. Color images
      of the habitus and aedeagus of the new species are included. A key to the genus
      Oxyporus of Yunnan Province species is provided.

PMID- 28610359
TI  - Paracrossidius radekcervenkai (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), a new
      species from China.
AB  - A new species of Paracrossidius Balthasar, 1932 (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae:
      Aphodiinae) from China is described and compared with similar species.
      Paracrossidius was originally described as a monotypic subgenus based on the type
      species Aphodius (Paracrossidius) instigator Balthasar, 1932 from Sichuan
      Province, China. Paracrossidius is currently considered a genus with 10
      previously described species, most of which inhabit various parts of China
      (Dellacasa et al. 2016).

PMID- 28610360
TI  - Morphological features of larvae of Pandalus eous, P. goniurus>, and P. tridents
      (Decapoda, Pandalidae) from planktonic samples taken in marine waters near
      Kamchatka Peninsula.
AB  - Description of larvae of three species: Pandalus eous, P. goniurus and P. tridens
      (family Pandalidae) from planktonic samples taken in the Okhotsk Sea, Avacha
      Gulf, and in the Bering Sea is given. Morphological features of larvae for the
      purpose of their identification are compared. Features which are not subject to
      significant intraspecific variation, and which is useful for the separation of
      these species in larval period are discussed. The most important features for
      identification of larvae of these species may be the structure of the rostrum,
      the presence or absence of denticles on the carapace and abdomen, the number of
      setae on different legs. The most reliable feature for the separation of larvae
      of these species into stages of zoea is the structure of the maxilla. A key to
      identify of species in larval stages and drawings of separate stages are given.

PMID- 28610361
TI  - Description of a new species of Gymnotocinclus from the rio Tocantins basin with
      phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Hypoptopomatinae (Siluriformes:
      Loricariidae).
AB  - Gymnotocinclus canoeiro n. sp. of the Hypoptopomatinae is described from small
      tributaries of the upper rio Tocantins basin. It is distinguished from G.
      anosteos by having five characters: (1) the presence of body dermal plates, (2)
      the pectoral girdle not exposed in ventral view, (3) the pelvic spine longer than
      pectoral spine in males, (4) the pectoral fin with seven to eight branched rays,
      and (5) the presence of an adipose fin. Furthermore, maximum likelihood (ML)
      analysis was used to estimate a molecular phylogeny from previously published
      data of one nuclear (F-Reticulon 4) and three mitochondrial (16S RNA, COI and
      CytB) genes. The phylogenetic results revealed the new species as a sister taxon
      of Gymnotocinclus anosteos within the Otothyrini. We also included samples of
      Nannoplecostomus eleonorae that appeared sister group to all other
      Neoplecostomini species, and Plesioptopoma curvidens that appeared within the
      Neoplecostomini forming a sister clade to all species of Neoplecostomus, except
      N. ribeirensis and the species of Pareiorhina, except P. rudolphi.

PMID- 28610362
TI  - A new species of <i>Cavernocypris</i> Hartmann, 1964 (Crustacea: Ostracoda) from
      caves in South Korea.
AB  - Surveys of caves in South Korea yielded a new species of the ostracod genus
      Cavernocypris Hartmann, 1964, herein described as Cavernocypris danielopoli Smith
      & Kamiya n. sp. This is the fifth described species in this widely distributed
      genus, and can be discriminated from its congeners by the highly triangular shape
      of the carapace in lateral view, caused by a large dorsal protrusion on the left
      valve. A second triangular-shaped morphotype was also collected, differing from
      the first by a lower carapace and less pronounced dorsal protrusion. As it is not
      clear at present if this represents a separate species or intraspecific
      variation, it is left in open nomenclature. The lack of a pigmented eye, a highly
      triangular carapace and no carapace pigmentation suggests that Cavernocypris
      danielopoli Smith & Kamiya n. sp. is the most adapted species in the genus to a
      stygobiotic lifestyle. Another Korean species, Cavernocypris coreana (McKenzie,
      1972), found in caves and spring discharges, has a reduced number of antennule
      segments, common for stygobiotic species, but this feature is lacking in the new
      species. This suggests that within the genus, species have followed different
      evolutionary pathways to adapt to the subterranean realm.

PMID- 28610363
TI  - Integrative taxonomy reveals two sympatric species of the genus Eucriotettix
      Hebard, 1930 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae).
AB  - Limno-terrestrial pygmy grasshoppers are mostly recognised using morphology but
      characters used are not always clear-cut for species identification. From a
      faunistic survey in Singapore, Eucriotettix were collected and two new species
      are identified and described here: E. guentheri sp. nov. and E. simulans sp. nov.
      This was done by iteratively incorporating morphological, molecular,
      morphometric, and ecological data. Mitochondrial COI trees, COI cluster analysis,
      microhabitat preference, and morphometric analyses provide strong enough indirect
      evidence that the specimens comprise a pair of species. A key to species of
      Eucriotettix from Singapore is also provided.

PMID- 28610364
TI  - Revision of Tomocerus similis Chen & Ma, with discussion of the kinoshitai
      complex and the distal tibiotarsal chaetae in Tomocerinae (Collembola,
      Tomoceridae).
AB  - Molecular analysis and a detailed morphological comparison revealed that
      Tomocerus similis Chen & Ma was described from individuals belonging to several
      species from several localities. Based on both old and new material from Anhui
      and Jiangsu Provinces, China, T. similis is redescribed and two new species are
      described. The three species are morphologically similar. Tomocerus persimilis
      sp. nov. differs from the others by the presence of central macrochaeta on head
      and of several distinct distal inner teeth on unguis. Tomocerus dissimilis sp.
      nov. is characterised by pointed tenent hairs on anterior legs. Remarks are made
      on the systematics and ecology of the kinoshitai complex, and on the taxonomic
      value of tenent hair and its adjacent chaetae.

PMID- 28610365
TI  - One new species and two redescriptions of Marphysa (Eunicidae, Annelida) species
      of the Aenea-group from Australia.
AB  - Species of Marphysa belonging to the Aenea-group have compound falcigers as the
      subacicular chaetae along the entire body. Around 30 species belong to this
      group, among these, two have originally been described based on Australian
      specimens, M. bifurcata and M. sessilobranchiata. Here, we redescribe both
      species based on type and non-type material and describe a species new to
      science, M. pseudosessiloa n. sp., including intraspecific variation. Informative
      features for the identification of these species are relative length of
      prostomial appendages in relation to prostomium, shape of notopodial cirri, left
      MxIV plate, left and right MxIV attachment lamellae and placement of branchial
      stem. A taxonomic key to species of Marphysa currently reported from Australia is
      also provided.

PMID- 28610366
TI  - First record of Cephenniitae in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, with
      description of new species of Cephennodes and Cephennomicrus of Mussau and Manus
      Islands (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).
AB  - The supertribe Cephenniitae and the tribe Cephenniini are for the first time
      recorded from the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Cephennodes (s. str.)
      mussauinsularis sp. n. and Cephennomicrus manusianus sp. n. are described, based
      on specimens collected respectively on Mussau Island (New Ireland Province) and
      Manus Island (Manus Province).

PMID- 28610367
TI  - One new species and one new recorded species of the genus Kuzicus (Tettigoniidae:
      Meconematinae: Meconematini) from China.
AB  - In this paper, a new species of the genus Kuzicus from China, Kuzicus (Kuzicus)
      leptocercus sp. nov., is described, with a new recorded species, Kuzicus
      (Kuzicus) koeppeli Sanger & Helfert, 2004 from China. The distribution data and
      morphological photographs of Kuzicus (Kuzicus) leptocercus sp. nov. and Kuzicus
      (Kuzicus) koeppeli Sanger & Helfert, 2004 are provided. All specimens are
      preserved in the Museum of Hebei University.

PMID- 28610368
TI  - A new species and a new record of the subgenus Dilatognathus Kluge 2012
      (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: genus Choroterpes Eaton, 1881) from India.
AB  - A new species belonging to the subgenus Dilatognathus of the genus Choroterpes is
      described based on larvae collected from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Choroterpes
      (Dilatognathus) nicobarensis n. sp. can be distinguished from all other species
      of Dilatognathus by the absence of a tusk on the maxillary apex, has ventro
      apical flange and dentiseta directed distally, as in Choroterpes other than
      Dilatognathus. Choroterpes (Dilatognathus) nigella (Kang & Yang 1994) is newly
      recorded based on larvae collected in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West
      Bengal. Remarks on the evolution of the mouth apparatus of the subgenus
      Dilatognathus are given.

PMID- 28610369
TI  - Cassida sekerkai sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), a new species
      from Madagascar.
AB  - Cassida sekerkai sp. nov. is described from Madagascar. This species belongs to
      the group with completely black pronotal and elytral disc.

PMID- 28610370
TI  - The genera and species of Comatulidae (Comatulida: Crinoidea): taxonomic
      revisions and a molecular and morphological guide.
AB  - We provide a guide for identification of Comatulidae, a family of crinoid
      echinoderms, incorporating morphological and molecular evidence. A non
      dichotomous key for all genera is included, as well as photographs of species
      most likely to be encountered in the tropical western Pacific Ocean. Based on
      sequencing of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and other genes when necessary,
      we identified four cases where taxonomic revision was needed. We synonymized
      Comaster nobilis under Comaster schlegelii, and Clarkcomanthus exilis under
      Clarkcomanthus comanthipinnus, and re-described Clarkcomanthus albinotus. We also
      showed the variation of COI sequences within and among species, which varies from
      lineage to lineage. In some cases, specimens with obvious morphological disparity
      possessed very little intraspecific molecular diversity (<1%). In others,
      specimens with nearly identical external appearances exhibited quite divergent
      COI sequences (up to 6%). These results, combined with the non-dichotomous key
      herein, offer guidelines for identification and discussion of existing and new
      species of Comatulidae.

PMID- 28610371
TI  - Water beetles from the Bokkeveld Plateau: a semi-arid hotspot of freshwater
      biodiversity in the Northern Cape of South Africa.
AB  - The Bokkeveld Plateau in the Northern Cape of South Africa supports a complex
      transition zone between the fynbos and succulent karoo biomes on the margins of
      Namaqualand. A combination of regular winter rainfall, geology and strong
      rainfall gradients mean that the region supports a diverse and highly endemic
      flora. Recent sampling of aquatic beetles in the Bokkeveld demonstrates that this
      region also has a diverse freshwater fauna, including a number of apparent
      endemics. Five new species of Hydraenidae (Pterosthetops chrysomallus sp. nov.,
      Parastetops porcellus sp. nov., Mesoceration castaneum sp. nov., M. chasmum sp.
      nov., and M. sabulosum sp. nov.) are described from the Bokkeveld, and new
      records provided for 68 other water beetle taxa recorded during recent fieldwork
      in the region, 28 of which are new to Northern Cape Province. Most of the newly
      described species are relatively common in the region, suggesting that additional
      taxa may remain undetected in this apparent hotspot of freshwater diversity.

PMID- 28610372
TI  - A checklist of seed-beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) from Iran.
AB  - The fauna of Iranian Bruchinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is summarized in this
      paper. In total 117 species from 14 genera (Spermophagus Schoenherr, Zabrotes
      Horn, Acanthobruchidius Borowiec, Acanthoscelides Schilsky, Bruchidius Schilsky,
      Callosobruchus Pic, Mimosestes Bridwell, Paleoacanthoscelides Borowiec,
      Palaeobruchidius Egorov, Specularius Bridwell, Stator Bridwell, Bruchus Linnaeus,
      Caryedon Schoenherr, Rhaebus Fischer von Waldheim) are listed as the fauna of
      Iran.

PMID- 28610373
TI  - Seven new species of the Stenus cirrus group (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) from
      Guangxi, South China.
AB  - Seven new species of the Stenus cirrus group collected from Guangxi, South China
      are described and illustrated: S. hujiayaoi Liu and Tang, sp. n., S. bullatus Liu
      and Tang, sp. n., S. exesus Liu and Tang, sp. n., S. damingshanus Liu and Tang,
      sp. n., S. jinxiuensis Liu and Tang, sp. n., S. lianhuashanus Liu and Tang, sp.
      n., S. hechiensis Liu and Tang, sp. n. The diagnostic characters of the new
      species are illustrated, and a key to species of the group from Guangxi is
      provided.

PMID- 28610374
TI  - A new species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from Central Africa and a key
      to the Trachylepis of West and Central Africa.
AB  - A new species of skink, Trachylepis gonwouoi sp. nov. is described from Cameroon
      and the Republic of the Congo. It differs from all other species of Trachylepis
      in Central-West Africa by a combination of number of keels on dorsal scales (3
      5); moderate SVL (maximum size of 80 mm); number of scale rows at midbody (28
      34); number of supracilliaries (6-10); a well defined lateral white stripe,
      bordered by black, extending from under the eye to the insertion of the hind
      limb; and a ventral color in life of bright blue-green. Trachylepis gonwouoi sp.
      nov. was found in association with disturbed forest at elevations from 50 to
      1050m. This species is syntopic with T. affinis and T. maculilabris. In order to
      aid in the identification of Trachylepis in West and Central Africa with the
      addition of T. gonwouoi sp. nov., we provide an updated key to the Trachylepis
      found from Mauritania through the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This key
      combines previous literature that treated Western and Central African taxa
      separately and represents the most comprehensive key for Trachylepis in West
      Central Africa to date.

PMID- 28610375
TI  - Description of six new species of the genus Ripeacma (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae)
      from China, with a checklist of the world species.
AB  - Six new species of the genus Ripeacma Moriuti, Saito & Lewvanich, 1985 are
      described: R. rostratiformis sp. nov. from Hainan, R. angustizonalis sp. nov.
      from Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, R. fusoidea sp. nov. from Yunnan, R. lunata
      sp. nov. from Guizhou, R. ventilatiformis sp. nov. from Hong Kong and Hainan, and
      R. sentosa sp. nov. from Guangxi; three species are newly recorded for China: R.
      yaiensis Moriuti, Saito & Lewvanich, 1985, R. nangae Moriuti, Saito & Lewvanich,
      1985 and R. tirawati Moriuti, Saito & Lewvanich, 1985. Images of adults and
      genitalia of the new species are provided. A checklist of the Ripeacma species is
      given on a worldwide basis.

PMID- 28610376
TI  - Descriptions of two new species of Torodorinae (Lepidoptera, Lecithoceridae),
      with three new records of Torodora Meyrick from Laos.
AB  - Two new species of Torodorinae: Caveana plenalinea Park, sp. nov. and Antiochtha
      hemitatos Park, sp. nov., are described from Laos. At the same time, three
      species of the genus Torodora are reported for the first time from Laos.

PMID- 28610377
TI  - Two new synonyms from Tibet (Diptera: Empididae: Clinocerinae).
AB  - The subfamily Clinocerinae (Empididae, Diptera) are aquatic dance flies, most
      commonly encountered in fast flowing rocky streams and creeks. The adults often
      rest on emergent rocks and are rather common in temperate regions.

PMID- 28610378
TI  - Type designations and taxonomic remarks for Nearctic sap beetles in the subfamily
      Carpophilinae Erichson (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).
AB  - The subfamily Carpophilinae, in particular the genus Carpophilus Stephens,
      represents one of the most speciose lineages within Nitidulidae. The subfamily is
      comprised of more than 250 described species that are found worldwide in every
      habitable region, and have been transported by man in stored products to remote
      islands and archipelagos (Ewing & Cline 2005; Parsons 1943). The ubiquitous
      Carpophilus dimidiatus (L.) is an example of a cosmopolitan species that has been
      reported from every continent except Antarctica, but likely has been transported
      there as well. Members of Carpophilinae are well recognized by their abbreviated
      elytra, compact bodies, and distinct three-segmented antennal club. Many taxa are
      present in fermenting food products and dried goods. Some members are also
      commonly found in flowering plants such as cacti, cycads, and agricultural plants
      such as atemoya (a hybrid of sugar-apple and cherimoya) (Nagel et al. 1989).

PMID- 28610379
TI  - Diplocephalus komposchi n. sp., a new species of erigonine spider (Araneae,
      Linyphiidae) from Austria.
AB  - The erigonine cladistic analyses of Hormiga (2000) and Miller & Hormiga (2004)
      demonstrated unambiguous support for a sister-taxon relationship between the
      genera Diplocephalus and Savignia. These genera, in addition to others, are
      commonly placed in the Savignia-group. Although the Savignia-group is not
      monophyletic as it was originally circumscribed by Millidge (1977), it contains a
      monophyletic core of genera that has been supported in various cladistic
      analyses, starting with Hormiga (2000). According to the most recent phylogenetic
      study (Frick et al. 2010), a clade within the Savignia-group included
      Diplocephalus along with Araeoncus, Dicymbium, Erigonella, Glyphesis and
      Savignia. Frick et al. (2010) included three Diplocephalus species - cristatus,
      latifrons and picinus - in their cladistic analyses. While D. latifrons and D.
      picinus were found to be the most basal species of the Savignia-group, D.
      cristatus was the most distal one.

PMID- 28610380
TI  - A cryptic new species of hummingbird of the Campylopterus largipennis complex
      (Aves: Trochilidae).
AB  - A new species of Campylopterus sabrewing is described from eastern Brazilian
      tropical dry forests occurring below 900 m asl. Its holotype (MZUSP 99024) is an
      adult female from Sitio Duboca (16 degrees 43'19''S, 43 degrees 58'20''W,
      elevation 840 m), municipality of Montes Claros, state of Minas Gerais. A
      taxonomic revision based on more than 1,000 museum specimens revealed that the
      new taxon, together with C. largipennis, C. diamantinensis and C. obscurus (with
      C. aequatorialis considered as a subjective junior synonym) should be ranked as
      species. We provide a key to permit easy identification of the four species. The
      new species is very similar to the parapatric C. diamantinensis of high altitude
      "campos rupestres" above 1,000 m asl, differing from it by its smaller size and
      longer light tail tips, as well as by sternum measurements. Given the several
      threats faced by the habitat to which the new species is endemic, we propose to
      consider it as Vulnerable under the IUCN criteria.

PMID- 28610381
TI  - Descriptions of three new species of the harvestmen genus Pseudogagrella
      (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae: Gagrellinae) from Taiwan, supported by morphological
      and molecular evidence.
AB  - Three new species of Opiliones are delimited and described from central and
      northern Taiwan based on morphological and molecular evidence. Pseudogagrella
      dorsomaculata sp. nov., collected from the Dasyueshan Forest Recreation Area,
      Heping, Taichung, resembles P. andoi Suzuki 1977, but can be recognized by the
      different pattern of the first abdominal tergite and the morphology of the penile
      grans. Pseudogagrella nigridorsa sp. nov., collected from the Lalashan National
      Forest Sanctuary, Fusing, Taoyuan, resembles P. arishana Suzuki 1977, but can be
      recognized by the different pattern of legs and the morphology of the penile
      stylus. Pseudogagrella sauteri sp. nov., also collected from the Dasyueshan
      Forest Recreation Area, resembles P. cyanea (Roewer 1915) and P. taiwana Suzuki
      1977, but can be distinguished by the morphology of the alate part of the penis.
      Molecular evidence from mitochondrial 16S rDNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I
      (COI) supports the identity of the three new species.

PMID- 28610382
TI  - Annotated list of Mimallonidae (Lepidoptera, Mimallonoidea) from Trinidad and
      Tobago, with the description of a new species of Cicinnus Blanchard, 1852 and
      taxonomic notes.
AB  - We present the first list focused on Mimallonidae from Trinidad and Tobago and
      report seven genera and 13 species from Trinidad, and two genera and two species
      from Tobago, one species of which has not yet been found in Trinidad. All species
      found on these islands are figured, with the exception of the species known only
      from Tobago. Additionally, we describe a new species: Cicinnus trini, sp. n. This
      new species is closely allied to C. beta (Schaus, 1910), comb. n. and C. veigli
      (Schaus, 1934), comb. n. which we transfer to Cicinnus Blanchard, 1852 from
      Psychocampa Grote & Robinson, 1866 based on male genitalia characteristics. We
      designate lectotypes for C. beta, C. magnapuncta (Kaye, 1901), and Trogoptera
      guianaca Schaus, 1928.

PMID- 28610383
TI  - Two new species of Crocodile Skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Tribolonotus) from the
      Solomon Archipelago.
AB  - We describe two new species of the scincid lizard genus Tribolonotus from the
      islands of Buka and Choiseul in the Solomon Archipelago, closely related to, and
      previously included within, T. pseudoponceleti. One species, T. parkeri sp. nov.,
      is endemic to Buka Island and was revealed in our previous study via
      taxonomically focused analyses of both next-generation sequencing data and
      morphology. Here, we also further support the validity of this species by more
      taxonomically comprehensive Bayesian species delimitation of three Sanger
      sequenced nuclear loci. The second species, T. choiseulensis sp. nov., is endemic
      to Choiseul Island and was revealed by an expanded morphological data analysis.
      These results suggest that numerous other species found on multiple island groups
      in the Solomon Archipelago may similarly represent complexes of multiple, closely
      related species, and that the biodiversity of the region is vastly
      underestimated.

PMID- 28610384
TI  - Saying goodbye to monotypy in the poorly known genus Austrophyto Lopes, 1989
      (Diptera: Sarcophagidae): new diagnosis and description of two new species.
AB  - The Argentinean endemic genus Austrophyto Lopes, 1989 is revised. The diagnosis
      of the genus is revised and circumscribed, especially focusing on the
      configuration of the male terminalia. The male of Austrophyto cordobensis is
      redescribed and two new species, A. noa sp. nov. and A. mariluisi sp. nov., are
      described. Structures of the male terminalia of all species are documented and
      compared. A key to the adult males of the species is presented. The genus
      Austrophyto Lopes is now represented by three species distributed in north
      western Argentina.

PMID- 28610385
TI  - Complete mitochondrial genome and taxonomic revision of Cardiodactylus muiri
      Otte, 2007 (Gryllidae: Eneopterinae: Lebinthini).
AB  - In the present study, we report the high-coverage complete mitochondrial genome
      (mitogenome) of the cricket Cardiodactylus muiri Otte, 2007. The mitogenome was
      sequenced using a long-PCR approach on an Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine
      (PGM) for next generation sequencing technology. The total length of the
      amplified mitogenome is 16,328 bp, representing 13 protein-coding genes, 22
      transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and one noncoding region (D-loop
      region). The new sets of long-PCR primers reported here are invaluable resources
      for future comparative evolutionary genomic studies in Orthopteran insects. The
      new mitogenome sequence is compared with published cricket mitogenomes. In the
      taxonomic part, we present new records for the species and describe life-history
      traits, habitat and male calling song of the species; based on observation of new
      material, the species Cardiodactylus buru Gorochov & Robillard, 2014 is
      synonymized under C. muiri.

PMID- 28610386
TI  - Taxonomic notes on the genus Protanilla (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Leptanillinae)
      from Taiwan.
AB  - A new species of Protanilla Taylor, 1990, P. jongi sp. nov., from Taiwan is
      described and illustrated, along with a supplementary description of the queen
      morphology of P. lini Terayama, 2009 and biological notes of Protanilla species.
      Furthermore, Furcotanilla Xu, 2012 is considered a junior synonym of Protanilla
      on reanalysis of purported diagnostic characters. A key to the world fauna of
      genus Protanilla based on the worker caste is provided.

PMID- 28610388
TI  - A new species of the genus Phytoecia Dejean, 1835 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from
      Greece.
AB  - Phytoecia (Pilemia) kruszelnickii sp. nov. from Greece is described.
      Distinguishing characters from closely related species are given and discussed.
      Moreover, Phytoecia (Pilemia) moreana Breuning 1943 stat. nov. is distinguished
      as a separate species based on morphological and structural differences.
      According to the results of our research, P. kruszelnickii is distributed
      exclusively within the continental part of Greece (Thessaly region) and P.
      moreana only occurs in the Peloponnese peninsula. However, the taxonomic division
      and distribution range of Phytoecia (Pilemia) hirsutula (Frolich, 1793) require
      further research.

PMID- 28610387
TI  - Vietelmis jablonskii, a new species of riffle beetle from Laos and Thailand and
      new faunistic records on Vietelmis Deleve, 1968 from Malaysia (Coleoptera:
      Elmidae).
AB  - A new species of riffle beetle, Vietelmis jablonskii, from Laos and Thailand is
      described and illustrated. Differences to other Vietelmis species are discussed
      and an identification key for the Vietelmis is presented. New faunistic records
      are provided for V. kovaci Kodada & Ciampor, 2000; the genus Vietelmis is newly
      recorded for Thailand.

PMID- 28610389
TI  - A new Indian record and morphological variation for Eulimnadia khoratensis Rogers
      et al., 2016 (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata).
AB  - Eulimnadia Packard, 1874 is the most species rich and widely distributed genus
      within the Limnadiidae (Reed et al. 2015). Species identification relies
      primarily on egg morphology as adult morphological characters show high
      variability, sometimes within the same populations and hence of little use
      (Rabet, 2010; Rogers et al. 2012). Seven species are currently known from the
      Indian subcontinent (sensu Rogers & Padhye 2015) and SE Asia (Rogers et al.
      2016). Of these, four species, viz. E. compressa (Baird, 1860), E. michaeli Nayar
      & Nair, 1968 and E. indocylindrova Durga Prasad and Simhachalam, 2004, E. azisi
      Babu and Nandan, 2010 are known from peninsular India (Padhye et al. 2015; Rogers
      & Padhye, 2015), although, much of this region remains unstudied (Padhye pers.
      obs.). With this background, we present a new Indian record of E. khoratensis
      Rogers, Dadseepai and Sanoamuang, 2016 from the Western region of Maharashtra
      state, India, extending its distribution a few thousand kilometers westwards.

PMID- 28610390
TI  - Review of Cycadophila Xu, Tang & Skelley (Coleoptera: Erotylidae:
      Pharaxonothinae) inhabiting Cycas (Cycadaceae) in Asia, with descriptions of a
      new subgenus and thirteen new species.
AB  - The genus Cycadophila Xu, Tang & Skelley (Coleoptera: Erotylidae:
      Pharaxonothinae) associated with Cycas L. (Cycadacaeae) in Asia is reviewed.
      Strobilophila, new subgenus, with five species is described: Cycadophila
      (Strobilophila) assamensis new species, C. (S.) hiepi new species, C. (S.)
      kwaiensis new species, C. (S.) tansachai new species and C. (S.) yangi new
      species, all associated with Cycas. For the nominate subgenus Cycadophila eight
      new species are described, Cycadophila (Cycadophila) abyssa new species, C. (C.)
      collina new species,C. (C.) samara new species, C. (C.) convexa new species, C.
      (C.) cyclochasma new species, C. (C.) eurynota new species, C. (C.) papua new
      species, and C. (C.) torquata new species and four new generic combinations are
      proposed: C. (C.) vittata (Arrow) new combination, C. (C.) discimaculata (Mader)
      new combination, C. (C.) intermedia (Chujo) new combination, and C. (C.) lata
      (Grouvelle) new combination. Only the first three listed species of the nominate
      subgenus have known associations with Cycas. Species are distinguished on the
      basis of morphology and/or by analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. The larva of
      subgenus Strobilophila is described based on individuals collected together with
      adults and matched with analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Keys to subgenera
      and species of known adults and larvae are provided.

PMID- 28610391
TI  - Systematics, biogeography and host-plant relationships of the Neotropical jumping
      plant-louse genus Russelliana (Hemiptera: Psylloidea).
AB  - The Neotropical genus Russelliana (Psyllidae: Aphalaroidinae) is revised and its
      phylogenetic, host-plant and biogeographical relationships are discussed. Twenty
      four species are described as new, bringing the number of known species to 43. An
      identification key is provided for the adults. A phylogenetic analysis of 26
      morphological characters resulted in 54 most parsimonious trees. The consensus
      tree is well resolved at the base but poorly at the crown. Most Russelliana
      species are monophagous or oligophagous with the exception of R. solanicola which
      is polyphagous. With eight plant families, the host range of Russelliana is
      broader than that of other aphalaroidine genera. The hosts for 29 species are
      confirmed, those for 12 species are suggested based on phylogenetic
      relationships. The species associated with Asteraceae (4 spp.) and most of the
      Fabaceae-feeders (12 spp.) form each a monophyletic group, those associated with
      Verbenaceae (5 spp.) are paraphyletic and those with Solanaceae are polyphyletic
      (16 spp.). The two species associated with Rosaceae are not closely related.
      These patterns suggest repeated host shifts. Whether there is cospeciation in
      some groups cannot be judged as neither psyllid nor host phylogenies are
      sufficiently resolved. The world psylloid fauna comprises relatively few species
      associated with Solanaceae. The number of 16 Russelliana species with confirmed
      or likely solanaceous hosts is, therefore, surprising and important in view of
      the potential pest status of some Russelliana spp. The genus is restricted to
      temperate and subtropical South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Southern Brazil,
      Chile, Peru and Uruguay). Most species are known from the Western Andean part of
      the continent. Only four species are currently known from Eastern South America.
      The cladogram suggests that geographical vicariance may account for at least part
      of the observed species richness, as five vicariant events were detected for
      Russelliana. A better resolution of the cladogram may reveal more cases of
      geographical vicariance.

PMID- 28610392
TI  - A Phylogeny and Classification of the Amphipoda with the establishment of the new
      order Ingolfiellida (Crustacea: Peracarida).
AB  - A classification is proposed for the order Amphipoda. The Amphipoda includes six
      suborders, the Pseudingolfiellidea, Hyperiidea, Colomastigidea, Hyperiopsidea,
      Senticaudata (described in a previous contribution (Lowry & Myers 2013)) and
      Amphilochidea. The suborder Ingolfiellidea is raised to order status. A cladistic
      tree, based on morphology, is presented illustrating the relationships of the
      Amphipoda at parvorder level. A tree for the families of the Physomatidira and
      Physocephalatidira, a tree for the Maxillipiidira, Oedicerotidira, Eusiridira and
      Amphilochidira and a tree for the Synopiidira, Haustoriidira and Lysianassidira,
      are provided. Families are listed together with their included genera. New
      families are diagnosed.

PMID- 28610393
TI  - S, N Co-Doped Graphene Quantum Dot/TiO2 Composites for Efficient Photocatalytic
      Hydrogen Generation.
AB  - S, N co-doped graphene quantum dots (S,N-GQDs) coupled with P25 (TiO2) (S,N
      GQD/P25) have been prepared via simply hydrothermal method. The as-prepared S,N
      GQD/P25 composites exhibited excellent photocatalytic hydrogen generation
      activities, with a significantly extended light absorption range and superior
      durability without loading any noble metal cocatalyst. The photocatalytic
      activity of this composite under visible light (lambda = 400-800 nm) was greatly
      improved compared with that of pure P25. This remarkable improvement in
      photocatalytic activity of the S,N-GQD/P25 composites can be attributed to that
      S,N-GQDs play a key role to enhance visible light absorption and facilitate the
      separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes. Generally, this
      work could provide new insights into the facile fabrication of photocatalytic
      composites as high performance photocatalysts.

PMID- 28610394
TI  - Facile Synthesis and Optical Properties of Small Selenium Nanocrystals and
      Nanorods.
AB  - Selenium is an important element for human's health, small size is very helpful
      for Se nanoparticles to be absorbed by human's body. Here, we present a facile
      approach to fabrication of small selenium nanoparticles (Nano-Se) as well as
      nanorods by dissolving sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) in glycerin and using glucose as
      the reduction agent. The as-prepared selenium nanoparticles have been
      characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and high
      resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The morphology of small Se
      nanoparticles and nanorods have been demonstrated in the TEM images. A small
      amount of 3-mercaptoproprionic acid (MPA) and glycerin play a key role on
      controlling the particle size and stabilize the dispersion of Nano-Se in the
      glycerin solution. In this way, we obtained very small and uniform Se
      nanoparticles; whose size ranges from 2 to 6 nm. This dimension is much smaller
      than the best value (>20 nm) ever reported in the literatures. Strong quantum
      confinement effect has been observed upon the size-dependent optical spectrum of
      these Se nanoparticles.

PMID- 28610395
TI  - Tm3+ Modified Optical Temperature Behavior of Transparent Er3+-Doped Hexagonal
      NaGdF4 Glass Ceramics.
AB  - Er3+-doped and Er3+-Tm3+-co-doped transparent hexagonal NaGdF4 glass ceramics are
      fabricated via melt-quenching method. The emissions of Er3+-doped NaGdF4 glass
      ceramics are adjusted from the green to red by varying the concentration of Tm3+
      ion under the excitation of 980 nm. The spectrum, thermal quenching ratio,
      fluorescence intensity ratios, and optical temperature sensitivity of the
      transparent glass ceramics are observed to be dependent on the pump power. The
      maximum value of relative sensitivity reaches 0.001 K-1 at 334 K in Er3+-doped
      NaGdF4, which shifts toward the lower temperature range by co-doping with Tm3+
      ions, and has a maximum value of 0.00081 K-1 at 292 K. This work presents a
      method to improve the optical temperature behavior of Er3+-doped NaGdF4 glass
      ceramics. Moreover, the relative sensitivity SR is proved to be dependent on the
      pump power of 980-nm lasers in Er3+-doped NaGdF4 and Er3+-Tm3+-co-doped NaGdF4.

PMID- 28610396
TI  - Nanoparticle Delivery of Artesunate Enhances the Anti-tumor Efficiency by
      Activating Mitochondria-Mediated Cell Apoptosis.
AB  - Artemisinin and its derivatives were considered to exert a broad spectrum of anti
      cancer activities, and they induced significant anti-cancer effects in tumor
      cells. Artemisinin and its derivatives could be absorbed quickly, and they were
      widely distributed, selectively killing tumor cells. Since low concentrations of
      artesunate primarily depended on oncosis to induce cell death in tumor cells, its
      anti-tumor effects were undesirable and limited. To obtain better anti-tumor
      effects, in this study, we took advantage of a new nanotechnology to design novel
      artesunate-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles to achieve the mitochondrial
      accumulation of artesunate and induce mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. The
      results showed that when compared with free artesunate's reliance on oncotic
      death, artesunate-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles showed higher
      cytotoxicity and their significant apoptotic effects were induced through the
      distribution of artesunate in the mitochondria. This finding indicated that
      artesunate-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles damaged the mitochondrial
      integrity and activated mitochondrial-mediated cell apoptosis by upregulating
      apoptosis-related proteins and facilitating the rapid release of cytochrome C.

PMID- 28610397
TI  - Sliding Speed-Dependent Tribochemical Wear of Oxide-Free Silicon.
AB  - Fundamental understanding of tribochemical wear mechanism of oxide-free single
      crystalline silicon (without native oxide layer) is essential to optimize the
      process of ultra-precision surface manufacturing. Here, we report sliding speed
      dependent nanowear of oxide-free silicon against SiO2 microspheres in air and in
      deionized water. When contact pressure is too low to induce Si yield,
      tribochemical wear occurs with the existence of water molecules and wear volume
      decreases logarithmically to constant as sliding speed increased. TEM and Raman
      observations indicate that the dynamics of rupture and reformation of interfacial
      bonding bridges result in the variation of tribochemical wear of the oxide-free
      Si with the increase of sliding speed.

PMID- 28610398
TI  - Promotion on Acetone Sensing of Single SnO2 Nanobelt by Eu Doping.
AB  - SnO2 nanobelts (NBs) have unique structural and functional properties which
      attract great attention in gas detecting. In this work, Eu doping is adopted to
      improve the gas sensitivity of pure SnO2, especially to enhance the response to
      one single gas. The Eu-doped SnO2 NBs, pure-SnO2 NBs, and their single NB devices
      are fabricated by simple techniques. The sensing properties of the two sensors
      have been experimentally investigated. It is found that the two sensors possess
      long-term stability with rapid response performance, and Eu doping improves the
      electronic performance and the gas-sensing response, particularly to acetone. In
      addition, the effects aroused by Eu have been theoretically calculated, which
      indicates that Eu doping enhances the sensing performance of SnO2. Consequently,
      Eu-doped SnO2 NBs show great potential applications in the detection of acetone.

PMID- 28610399
TI  - Sexual Dysfunction in Females after Cancer Treatment: an Unresolved Issue
AB  - Cancer besides being a leading cause of mortality also creates a myriad of
      morbidities in survivors whether treatedor untreated. Among women surviving after
      gynecological malignancies sexual dysfunction is a morbidity unexploredin Indian
      context because of cultural barriers. With the increasing proportion of women
      surviving carcinoma of thecervix, quality of life has become an important
      clinical issue. Despite the immense distress it causes in patients,
      sexualdysfunction is neither screened nor treated in Indian scenario. Despite
      this recognition, the area is not well researchedand there is a paucity of
      information on the impact of cancer treatment on sexual health in Indian Context.
      Researchhas shown that up to 50% of women treated for cervix cancers have sexual
      dysfunction as they recover and becomecancer survivors. This article aims to
      review the phases of sexual response and how each may be affected by the
      physicaland emotional stress of cancer diagnosis and treatment. We will then
      discuss existing tools for assessment of sexualfunction and approaches to their
      treatment. Finally, we will conclude with advice to health care professionals
      based oncurrent research and suggest questions for future study.

PMID- 28610400
TI  - Shammah (Smokeless Tobacco) and Public Health
AB  - Shammah is a preparation of smokeless tobacco (ST) that is frequently used in the
      Arabian Peninsula, especiallyin Saudi Arabia. A mixture of powdered tobacco,
      lime, ash, black pepper, oils and flavorings, shammah in is placed inthe buccal
      cavity or lower labial vestibule of the mouth. The user (or dipper) spits out
      insoluble debris. ST is linked toa number of harmful effects such as dental
      disease, oral cancer, oesophagus cancer, and pancreas cancer. It also
      causesadverse reproductive effects including stillbirth, premature birth and low
      birth weight. The importation of ST productsis prohibited in Saudi Arabia.
      Legislative action to combat the use of ST (moist snuff and chewing tobacco) in
      SaudiArabia appeared in 1990. The actual percentage use may be higher than
      reported since shammah is illegal in SaudiArabia and there may be some
      unwillingness to admit to its use. Data on ST use in the Arabian Peninsula are
      sparse.Most studies conducted there focused on the prevalence of shammah use
      among adolescents rather than among adults.This review paper aimed to understand
      the pattern of use of shammah and its adverse health effects. It also aimed
      toprovide suitable epidemiological data for public health policy makers.

PMID- 28610401
TI  - Oncogenesis of Thyroid Cancer
AB  - Thyroid neoplasms encompass a variety of lesions that range from benign adenomas
      to malignancies. Theselatter can be well-differentiated, poorly differentiated or
      undifferentiated (anaplastic) carcinomas. More than 95% ofthyroid cancers are
      derived from thyroid follicular cells, while 2-3% (medullary thyroid cancers,
      MTC) originate fromcalcitonin producing C-cells. Over the last decade,
      investigators have developed a clearer understanding of geneticalterations
      underlying thyroid carcinogenesis. A number of point mutations and translocations
      are involved, not only inits tumorigenesis, but also as have potential use as
      diagnostic and prognostic indicators and therapeutic targets. Manyoccur in genes
      for several important signaling pathways, in particular the mitogen-activated
      protein kinase (MAPK)pathway. Sporadic (isolated) lesions account for 75% of MTC
      cases, while inherited MTC, often in association withmultiple endocrine neoplasia
      (MEN) type 2A and 2B syndromes, constitute the remainder. However, non-MEN
      familialMTC may also occur. Advances in genetic testing have revolutionized the
      management of MTC, with prospects ofgenetic screening, testing and early
      prophylactic thyroidectomy. Ethical concerns of these advances are addressed.

PMID- 28610402
TI  - Malignant Salivary Gland Tumors and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Infection: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
AB  - Background: Salivary gland tumors are rare head and neck tumors with
      lymphoepithelial carcinoma (LEC) as aparticularly infrequent variant. This study
      was an evaluation of the incidence of EBV infection in malignant salivarygland
      tumors with the emphasis on tumor type and geographical area. Methods: Five
      databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect,Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane library)
      were searched for data on the prevalence of EBV in malignant salivarygland
      tumors. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted with Comprehensive Meta
      Analysis software version2.0 (CMA 2.0) using the event rate (ER) for estimation
      of the incidence of EBV in the salivary gland tumor patients.Publication bias was
      lacking as assessed through funnel plot analysis with the Begg's and Egger's
      tests (P>0.05).Results: Out of 618 studies searched in databases, 19 reported the
      prevalence of EBV in malignant salivary glandtumors and were included in the
      present meta-analysis. The pooled ER of all studies was 44% [95%CI=21.5
      69.2%]with extreme heterogeneity that for the studies in America was 44.2%
      [95%CI=4.1-93.6%], in Asia (249 patients)was 70% [95%CI= 33.4-91.6%] and in
      Europe was 11.8% [95%CI=7.4-85.5%] with extreme heterogeneity for threesubgroups.
      The pooled ER for patients with undifferentiated carcinoma was 86.7% [95%CI=71.5
      94.4%] comparedwith 6.6% [95%CI=2.5-16.5%] for other carcinomas. Conclusions: The
      incidence of EBV infection in malignantsalivary gland tumors in Asia was greater
      than in Europe and America and the higher presence of EBV infection inLEC cases
      implies that EBV may be a major factor in its etiology or pathogenesis. Genetic,
      environmental and othergeographic factors may also be involved.

PMID- 28610403
TI  - Functional Disability in Women Submitted to Breast Cancer Treatment
AB  - The objective of the study presented herein was to verify the prevalence of
      functional disability and its associatedfactors in women submitted to breast
      cancer treatment. A cross-sectional study was carried out, in 101 women
      diagnosedwith malignant breast cancer neoplasm, who underwent cancer treatment at
      least 12 months before the study, andremained under clinical monitoring.
      Functional disability was measured by the DASH instrument. Data
      collectionincluded variables related to socioeconomic characteristics, life
      habits, health conditions, clinical tumor characteristicsand therapeutic
      approach. Bivariate analysis was carried out by Pearson's chi-square test or
      Fisher's exact test, calculatingthe prevalence ratio with a 95% confidence
      interval. Multivariate analysis utilized Poisson's Regression with
      robustvariance. A statistical significance of 0.05 was considered. Prevalence of
      functional disability in the studied samplewas 22.8% (CI95% 13.9-31.6).
      Functional disability was statistically significantly associated with age (p =
      0.035) andaccess to health services (p = 0.028). It was concluded that younger
      patients suffered higher impact of breast cancertreatment on disability.
      Regarding access to health services, women that received public clinical
      monitoring reportedhigher occurrences of functional disability. This pointed
      towards the necessity of more organized, less bureaucratic,and effective health
      services in the assistance network, directed to the minimization of the impacts
      of cancer treatmenton health and life conditions of breast cancer survivors.

PMID- 28610404
TI  - Effects of Tobacco on Salivary Antioxidative and Immunologic Systems
AB  - Background: Tobacco use is a harmful habit that causes adverse effects on oral
      health and plays a most importantrole in cancer development. Saliva is the first
      fluid that is exposed to tobacco and its antioxidant system plays animportant
      role in anti-cancer potential; therefore, this study was designed to compare the
      antioxidant activity andimmunologic system of saliva in tobacco users (smokers
      and smokeless tobacco users) and non-users. Materials andMethods: In this cross
      sectional study, unstimulated saliva samples of 75 healthy individuals from three
      equal groupswere investigated. Participants in group A had no periodontal disease
      and never smoked. Group B had no periodontaldisease, never used smokeless
      tobacco, but had 3 years history of smoking at least 10 cigarettes daily. The
      twenty-fiveparticipants in group C had no periodontal disease and had 1 year
      history of chewing a 10-g tobacco packet daily.Activity of salivary superoxide
      dismutase (SOD), salivary glutathione peroxide, and salivary IgA concentration
      wasevaluated. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 18) and running Kruskal
      Wallis test. Statistical significance wasset at p<0.05. Results: There were
      significant differences in the activities of the two enzymes and salivary IgA
      levelsamong the three groups. Activity of glutathione peroxide was higher in
      smokeless tobacco users. (P<0.001) while thatof superoxide dismutase was higher
      in non-tobacco users than users (P<0.001). Salivary IgA levels were higher
      amongsmokeless tobacco users (p=0.04). Conclusion: Based on the results of the
      present study, the use of tobacco productsdecreases the antioxidative activity of
      the saliva and increases salivary IgA levels at the same time.

PMID- 28610406
TI  - Prognostic Nomogram for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with FOLFOX 4
AB  - Background: The Oxaliplatin plus 5-Fluorouracil /Leucovorin (FOLFOX4) regimen
      have been approved by ChineseFood and Drug Administration (CFDA), and covered by
      health insurance for patients with advanced hepatocellularcarcinoma (HCC) in
      China. However, the efficacy of FOLFOX4 for HCC patients is still under debate.
      In this study,we aimed to establish a nomogram to identify HCC patients who might
      benefit from FOLFOX4 chemotherapy baseon individual profile. Methods: A total of
      184 patients from the EACH study who were treated with FOLFOX4 wereincluded in
      this analysis. Backward Cox proportional hazards regression combined with
      clinical experience was used toselect variables for construction of the nomogram.
      The nomogram performance was assessed in terms of discriminationand calibration.
      The results were validated using bootstrap resampling. Results: Six variables
      were included in theprognostic models based on their clinical relevance: age,
      maximum tumor diameter, lymph node status, aspartateaminotransferase (AST), total
      bilirubin (TBIL) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The calibration curve showed that
      thepredicted survival probabilities closely matched the actual observations. The
      C-index of the model was 0.75 (95%CI:0.71-0.80). This value was significantly
      superior to the one for the following staging systems: BCLC (0.67, P=0.004),CUPI
      (0.66, P<0.001), AJCC seventh edition (0.63, P=0.002), GRETCH (0.63, P<0.001).
      Conclusions: The proposednomogram showed accurate prognostic prediction for 6
      month overall survival of patients treated with FOLFOX4 andcould be useful for
      clinicians counseling patients and making treatment decisions.

PMID- 28610405
TI  - The Investigation of Polymorphisms in DNA Repair Genes (XRCC1, APE1 and XPD) in
      Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
AB  - Background: PCOS was reported to arise from the interaction of genetic and
      environmental factors. Some studiesreported that women with PCOS have DNA damage
      and chromosome breakage. Such studies bring to mind the genesthat are involved in
      DNA repairing. At present, several DNA repair genes and, as products of these
      genes, certainpolymorphisms that alter the activity of proteins are known in the
      literature. The aim of this dissertation is to study thegenomic instability that
      have been reported in PCOS cases along with the relationship between XRCC1
      Arg194Trp,XRCC1 Arg399Gln, APE1 Asp148Glu, and XPD Lys751Gln polymorphisms in
      order to contribute to the pathogenesis ofPCOS. Methods: Polymorphisms in DNA
      repair genes have been associated with the increased risk of various diseasesand
      could also be related to the etiology of PCOS. Therefore, we conducted a study
      including 114 women with PCOSand 91 controls. These polymorphisms were determined
      by quantitative real time PCR and melting curve analysis usingLightCycler.
      Results: Comparing the control groups at the end of the study, the results have
      not shown any statisticallysignificant difference as far as XRCC1 Arg194Trp,
      XRCC1 Arg399Gln, and XPD Lys751Gln polymorphisms areconcerned. However, there
      were notable differences between the groups in terms of APE1 Asp148Glu
      polymorphism.Associated with this condition, it has been noted that both mutant
      allele (Glu) frequency (37.72 % in the study group;19.23% in the control group,
      p=0.0001) and homozygous mutant genotype (Glu/Glu) frequency (%12.28 in the
      studygroup; %6.60 in the control group, p=0.015) have been higher in the study
      group.

PMID- 28610407
TI  - Lack of HPV in Benign and Malignant Epithelial Ovarian Tumors in Iran
AB  - Background: Ovarian epithelial tumors one of the most common gynecological
      neoplasms; we here evaluated thepresence of HPV in benign and malignant examples.
      Methods: In this cross-sectional study the records of 105 patientswith epithelial
      ovarian tumors (benign and malignant) referred to Imam Hossein University
      Hospital from 2012 to 2015were evaluated along with assessment of the presence of
      the HPV infection using PCR. Results: Among 105 patients,comprising 26 (24.8%)
      with malignant and 79 (75.2%) with benign lesions, the factors found to impact on
      malignancywere age at diagnosis, age at first pregnancy, number of pregnancies
      and hormonal status. However, malignancies wasnot related to abortion, late
      menopause, and early menarche. In none of the ovarian tissues (benign and
      malignant) wasHPV DNA found. Conclusion: In this study HPV DNA could not be found
      in any epithelial ovarian tumors (benignand malignant) removed from 105 women;
      more studies with larger sample size are needed for a definite conclusion.

PMID- 28610408
TI  - Knowledge and Awareness about Cervical Cancer Vaccine (HPV) Among Parents in
      Sharjah
AB  - Background and aim: Cervical cancer (CC) is the 7th most common cancer worldwide.
      It is the 4th most commoncancer in females causing 7.5% of all female cancer
      deaths. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection is the leadingcause of CC and other
      diseases worldwide. Despite several measures taken to reduce the risk of
      infection with HPV,the most effective method remains the HPV vaccine. The aim of
      this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes ofparents in Sharjah towards
      HPV and whether or not they would vaccinate their daughters. Methods and
      Material: Aquantitative, observational cross-sectional study of 400 subjects was
      conducted in public venues in Sharjah. Probabilitysampling method was used for
      selection of subjects (parents who have daughters). A self-administered 32-
      questionquestionnaire was distributed. SPSS 21 (Statistical Package for Social
      Sciences) was used for entry and analysis of data.Frequency was calculated, Chi
      square test was used to conduct bivariate analysis and bar charts and tables were
      used topresent the results. Results: 78.3% of the population had heard of CC,
      41.3 % of HPV, and 36.5% of the HPV vaccine.Among them, the percentages of the
      correctly answered knowledge-related questions were found to be 66.2%, 50.9%and
      52.1% for CC, HPV and HPV vaccine, respectively. 76.6% of parents were willing to
      vaccinate their daughters.The percentage increased to 92.9%, if the ministry of
      health (MOH) recommended the vaccine. A significant correlationwas found between
      the spouse's level of education, HPV (Pearson-chi square value: 5.049 and p:
      0.025) and HPVvaccine (Pearson-chi square value: 4.057 and p:0.044). Conclusions:
      Despite the public's lack of knowledge, the studyshowed a noticeable increase in
      parent's willingness to vaccinate their daughters if the government recommends
      andprovides the HPV vaccine. However, proper evaluation of the vaccine's efficacy
      from a socioeconomic point of viewis needed before recommending its
      implementation in the UAE immunization schedule.

PMID- 28610410
TI  - Prognostic Value of Clinicopathological Factors for Indonesian Breast Carcinomas
      of Different Molecular Subtypes
AB  - Background: Breast carcinoma (BC) is a heterogeneous disease due to its different
      molecular profiles i.e. luminal(luminal A and luminal B) and non-luminal (HER2
      positive and triple negative) subtypes. Prognostic value ofclinicopathological
      factors of Indonesian BC of different molecular subtypes has never been reported
      previously. Thisstudy aims to elaborate prognostic impacts on Indonesian BCs
      focusing on separate molecular subtypes. Methods: Ahundred and fifty cases of
      invasive BC, stage I-IIIA, in Sardjito Hospital, Indonesia, were stained using
      anti ER, PR,HER2 and Ki-67 antibodies. Survival and prognostic values were
      statistically analyzed. Results: Compared to theluminal subtypes, the non-luminal
      subtypes demonstrated higher proportions of intermediate-to-high grade, stage
      IIIA,positive lymph node infiltration and mortality. The triple negative subtype
      was typically intermediate-to-high grade,stage IIIA and with a high relative
      death risk. Luminal A lesions were characteristically low grade, stage I-II and
      lesslikely to cause death. Conclusion: In non-luminal BC, staging and lymph node
      metastasis are independent prognosticfactors for survival in HER2 positive and
      triple negative subtypes, respectively. In luminal BC, clinicopathologicalfactors
      demonstrated no influence on survival. This study suggests that staging and lymph
      node metastasis are correlatedwith survival in non-luminal Indonesian BCs.

PMID- 28610409
TI  - Impact of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val 158Met (rs4680) Polymorphism on Breast
      Cancer Susceptibility in Asian Population
AB  - Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an important estrogen
      metabolizing enzyme. Numerouscase-control studies have evaluated the role COMT
      Val 158Met (rs4680;472G->A) polymorphism in the risk of breastcancer and provided
      inconclusive results, hence present meta-analysis was designed to get a more
      reliable assessment inAsian population. Methods: A total of 26 articles were
      identified through a search of four electronic databases- PubMed,Google Scholar,
      Science Direct and Springer link, up to March, 2016. Pooled odds ratios (ORs)
      with 95% con!fidenceintervals (CIs) were used as association measure to find out
      relationship between COMT Val158Metpolymorphism andthe risk of breast cancer. We
      also assessed between study heterogeneity and publication bias. All statistical
      analyseswere done by Open Meta-Analyst. Results: Twenty six case-control studies
      involving 5,971 breast cancer patients and7,253 controls were included in the
      present meta-analysis. The results showed that the COMT Val158Met polymorphismwas
      significantly associated with breast cancer risk except heterozygote model(allele
      contrast odds ratio (ORAvsG)=1.13, 95%CI=1.02-1.24,p=0.01; heterozygote/co
      dominant ORGAvsGG= 1.03, 95%CI=0.96-1.11,p=0.34; homozygoteORAAvsGG= 1.38, 95%CI=
      1.08-1.76,p=0.009; dominant model ORAA+GAvsGG= 1.08, 95%CI=1.01-1.16,p=0.02;and
      recessive model ORAAvsGA+GG= 1.35, 95%CI=1.07-1.71,p=0.01). In addition, we also
      performed subgroupanalysis based on source of controls and menopausal state of
      patients. Conclusions: In conclusion, the COMT Val158Metpolymorphism was related
      to increased breast cancer susceptibility in the Asian population.

PMID- 28610411
TI  - Modified Bat Algorithm for Feature Selection with the Wisconsin Diagnosis Breast
      Cancer (WDBC) Dataset
AB  - Early diagnosis of breast cancer is essential to save lives of patients. Usually,
      medical datasets include a large varietyof data that can lead to confusion during
      diagnosis. The Knowledge Discovery on Database (KDD) process helps toimprove
      efficiency. It requires elimination of inappropriate and repeated data from the
      dataset before final diagnosis.This can be done using any of the feature
      selection algorithms available in data mining. Feature selection is consideredas
      a vital step to increase the classification accuracy. This paper proposes a
      Modified Bat Algorithm (MBA) for featureselection to eliminate irrelevant
      features from an original dataset. The Bat algorithm was modified using simple
      randomsampling to select the random instances from the dataset. Ranking was with
      the global best features to recognize thepredominant features available in the
      dataset. The selected features are used to train a Random Forest (RF)
      classificationalgorithm. The MBA feature selection algorithm enhanced the
      classification accuracy of RF in identifying the occurrenceof breast cancer. The
      Wisconsin Diagnosis Breast Cancer Dataset (WDBC) was used for estimating the
      performanceanalysis of the proposed MBA feature selection algorithm. The proposed
      algorithm achieved better performance interms of Kappa statistic, Mathew's
      Correlation Coefficient, Precision, F-measure, Recall, Mean Absolute Error
      (MAE),Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Relative Absolute Error (RAE) and Root
      Relative Squared Error (RRSE).

PMID- 28610412
TI  - Diagnostic Value of Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Evaluation
      of Metastatic Axillary Lymph Nodes in a Sample of Iranian Women with Breast
      Cancer
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of diffusion weighted magnetic
      resonance imaging (DW-MRI) inassessment of metastases in axillary lymph nodes
      (ALNs) in a sample of Iranian women with breast cancer. Methods:A total of 50
      axillary lymph nodes from 30 female patients with histologically verified breast
      cancer were assessedby 1.5 T MRI. DWI was implemented at b-values of 50, 400 and
      800 s/mm2. Short axis diameter, presence of fattyhilum and apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC) values (min, max and mean) of metastatic and non-metastatic
      ALNswas compared. Cutoff ADC values to discriminate between benign and malignant
      axillary lymph nodes were analyzedwith receiver coefficient characteristic (ROC)
      curves. Result: The final histopathological examination revealed 46%(n=23)
      metastatic and 54% (n=27) non-metastatic ALNs. There was no statistically
      significant difference in short axisdiameter between the two groups (p = 0.537).
      However there was significantly correlation between loss of fatty hilumand
      presence of metastases (p < 0.001) and ADC values (0.255 +/- 0.19*10-3 mm2/s vs
      0.616 +/-0.3*10-3 mm2/s (ADCmin), 1.088 +/- 0.22*10-3 mm2/s vs 1.497 +/- 0.24*10
      3 mm2/s (ADC max) and 0.824 +/- 0.103 *10-3 mm2/s vs 1.098 +/-0.23 *10-3 mm2/s
      (ADC mean)) of metastatic ALNs were significantly lower than those of non
      metastatic ALNs (p< 0.001). The optimal mean ADC cut-off value for
      differentiation between metastatic and non-metastatic ALNs was0.904*10-3 mm2/s
      which had a higher specificity (88.9%) and accuracy (91.8%) as compared with ADC
      min and ADCmax. Conclusion: DWI-MRI and ADC values are promising imaging methods
      which can assess metastatic ALNs inbreast cancer with high sensitivity,
      specificity and accuracy.

PMID- 28610413
TI  - A Model Approach for Assessing the Benefits of HPV Testing against Cytology in
      Screening for Cervical Cancer Precursors in Thailand
AB  - Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of HPV 16/18
      genotyping test, high risk HPV DNAtesting, alone and in conjunction with the
      liquid-based cytology method in screening for cervical cancer precursors.Methods:
      A Markov model was used to describe the course of the cases of CIN2+ that had
      been detected over a 35year period. Screening programs started at age 30 and were
      performed at an interval of once every five years. Themodel compared three
      strategies of HPV 16/18 genotyping with reflex cytology triage, high-risk HPV
      testing alonewith referral to colposcopy and cytology-based screening with
      referral to colposcopy. We assumed the rate of patientslost to follow-up for
      those referred to colposcopy would be 0%. The clinical parameters were estimated
      using the datafrom a study conducted by the Thailand National Cancer Institute.
      Result: Of the three screening strategies evaluated,the high risk HPV DNA testing
      alone was the most effective for detecting CIN2+ over the 35 year study period.It
      detected 143 and 510 cases per 100,000 women more than the HPV 16/18 genotyping
      test and cytology-basedstrategy, respectively. The HPV genotyping test detected
      368 cases per 100,000 women more than the cytology-basedapproach. In addition,
      when viewed with five year intervals, there were missed cases totaling
      approximately half ofthe detected cases screened by the cytology strategy and 10%
      of cases detected with screening by the HPV genotypingtest. Conclusion: This
      study strongly indicates that HPV/DNA testing is preferable to cytology-based
      screening forcervical cancer precursors. However, the balance between the
      benefits, burdens and cost of each screening programshould be considered.

PMID- 28610414
TI  - Role of Galectin-3 Combined with Multi- Detector Contrast Enhanced Computed
      Tomography in Predicting Disease Recurrence in Patients with Ovarian Cancer
AB  - Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is an endogenous beta-galactoside-binding lectin, playing an
      important role in the pathogenesisof multiple malignancies. Aim of the study was
      to evaluate in a group of patients treated for ovarian cancer (EOC),the role of
      Gal-3 combined with multi-detector contrast-enhanced computed tomography (MDCT),
      as predictor ofrecurrence disease. Seventeen follow-up patients with recurrent
      ovarian cancer and 13 follow-up patients with stableovarian disease, who
      performed MDCT at one-year follow-up after cytoreductive treatment, were
      enrolled. SerumGal-3 concentrations were determined by using ELISA method. Twenty
      healthy controls were included in the analysis.Two radiologist blinded to
      patients status, reviewed MDCT exams, recording the following signs of disease
      recurrence:local tumor spread, enlarged lymph-nodes, carcinomatosis implants and
      metastases. We calculated the respectivethreshold values of Gal- 3 identified by
      ROC curve analysis for each imaging findings related to disease recurrence:
      lymphoadenopathies 92.45 ng/ml (AUC: 0.81, Se=91% Spe=73%), carcinomatosis 85.95
      ng/ml (AUC:0.93 Se=93.7%, Spe=92.8%), local tumor spread 99.05 (AUC:0.90,
      Se=100%, Spe=73% ) and metastasis 99.05ng/ml (AUC:0,78, Se=100% , Spe=70%). A
      significant correlation between high Gal-3 serum levels and presence of local
      tumorspread (n=11/17, p:0.001), carcinomatosis (n=16/17, p:0.00),
      lymphoadenopathies (n=15/17, p:0.00) and metastasis(n=11/17, p:0.003) related
      with recurrence disease was observed. Patients with recurrence of ovarian cancer
      presentshigher Gal-3 values compared to women with stable diseases. Gal-3
      combined to CECT should be used to improvethe monitoring of EOC patients.

PMID- 28610415
TI  - Synergistic Anticancer Effects of Silibinin and Chrysin in T47D Breast Cancer
      Cells
AB  - Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most significant causes of female cancer
      death worldwide. Although severalchemotherapeutics have been developed to treat
      this type of cancer, issues remain such as low survival rates and
      highreoccurrence after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. To explore a
      chemopreventive approach to enhancing breast cancertreatment efficacy, the
      antiproliferative effects of a combination of chrysin and silibinin, two herbal
      substances, in T47Dbreast cancer cells were assessed. Materials and Methods:
      Cytotoxicity of the agents singly and in combination wasevaluated by MTT assay.
      Also, qRT-PCR was used to measure the expression levels of hTERT and cyclin D1
      genes after48 h treatment. Results: Cell viability assays revealed that chrysin
      or silibinin alone inhibited proliferation in a doseand time-dependent manner,
      and combining the drugs synergistically induced growth inhibition in the breast
      cancer cellline. The precise nature of this interaction was further analyzed by
      the median-effect method, where the combinationindices (CI) were <1 for
      combination treatments, indicating synergism regarding T47D cell proliferation.
      qPCR resultsshowed that the drug combination also synergistically down-regulated
      the mRNA levels of hTERT and cyclin D1 at allused concentrations compared with
      the drugs used alone after 48 h treatment (P <= 0.05). Conclusion: The data
      provideevidence that synergistic antiproliferative effects of Chrysin and
      Silibinin are linked to the down-regulation of cyclinD1 and hTERT genes, and
      suggest that their combination may have therapeutic value in treatment of breast
      cancer.

PMID- 28610416
TI  - Bacterial Vaginosis and Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia: Is there an
      Association or is Co-Existence Incidental?
AB  - Objectives: To determine associations, if any, of bacterial vaginosis with
      cervical pre-neoplastic lesions and evaluateany effects of sub-categorization of
      smears with bacterial vaginosis. Methods: All cervico-vaginal smears reported
      aspositive for bacterial vaginosis over a five-year period were reviewed and sub
      categorized into 'type I (dysbacteriosis)'and 'type II (pure Gardenerella
      infection)' smears by two cytopathologists (PS, SG). The proportion of smears
      withhealthy flora and pre-neoplastic lesions was compared with those having
      bacterial vaginosis in conjunction with suchchanges. In addition, a comparison
      was also attempted between the frequencies of pre-neoplastic lesions with the
      twocategories of bacterial vaginosis smears. Results: Bacterial vaginosis was
      diagnosed in 28.6% (7017 of the 24,565)of the 24,565 smears received in the
      Institute during the study period. Of these 7,017 smears with bacterial
      vaginosis,53% (3717) were categorized as type I and 42.7% (3000) as type II by
      both cytopathologists. Pre-neoplastic lesionswere detected in 10.2% of smears
      with bacterial vaginosis compared to 5.7% of those with healthy flora
      (P<0.0001).Of the sub-categories of bacterial vaginosis, the risk of detecting
      precancerous lesion was higher for type II smears(P<0.001). Conclusion: Sub
      categorization of bacterial vaginosis, as performed in the Dutch coding system,
      may beworthwhile due to the strikingly different risk of associated preneoplasia.

PMID- 28610417
TI  - Effect of Midwifery-Based Counseling Support Program on Body Image of Breast
      Cancer Women Survivors
AB  - Background: Treatment for breast cancer can give rise to complications with
      important psychological impact. Onechange in patients regards body image. The aim
      of this research was to study the effect of a midwifery-based counselingsupport
      program on the body image of breast cancer survivors. Materials and Methods: In
      this randomized clinicaltrial, the study population was constituted by 80 breast
      cancer patients referred to Tuba Clinic in Sari, north of Iran,randomly assigned
      to two groups. Inclusion criteria included breast cancer diagnosis, mastectomy
      experience, age of 30to 60 years, primary school education or higher, being
      married, and receiving hormone therapy. The Body Image Scaleand Beck Depression
      Inventory were completed by intervention and control groups prior to the
      intervention and againafterwards. This program was implemented to the
      intervention group (two groups each consisting of 20 patients) for sixweekly
      sessions, each lasting 90 minutes. The collected data were analyzed suing SPSS
      through Mann-Whitney U andWilcoxon tests. Results: The results showed that the
      average age of participants in the intervention and control groupswere 46.8 +/-
      6.85 and 48.9 +/- 5.86, respectively. Body image scores in the intervention and
      control groups before thesupport program were respectively 21.82 +/- 1.66 and
      21.7 +/- 1.48, and after the support program they were 7.05+/- 2.70and 22.92 +/
      1.49, respectively. Therefore, the results indicate that the support program was
      effective in improving bodyimage. Conclusion: This study showed that the support
      program had a positive effect on the body image of patients.Therefore, it is
      suggested that it should be used as an effective method for all breast cancer
      survivors.

PMID- 28610418
TI  - KRAS Gene Polymorphisms and their Impact on Breast Cancer Risk in an Iranian
      Population
AB  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the let-7 miRNA binding site within the
      3' untranslated region (3'UTR)of KRAS appear related to the risk of cancer. The
      present case-control study was conducted with 244 BC patients and 204healthy
      women to examine whether KRAS polymorphisms (rs61764370 T/G and rs712 G/T) are
      associated with breastcancer (BC) risk in an Iranian population. The polymerase
      chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP) method was used
      for genotyping of KRAS SNPs. Our results showed that the rs61764370 TG
      genotype(OR= 3.73; 95% CI =1.38-10.08; P=0.007) as well as the G allele OR= 3.56;
      95% CI =1.33-9.53; P=0.008, respectively)increased the risk of BC. However, the
      KRAS rs712 TT vs GG+GT genotype in a recessive model was associated witha reduced
      risk of BC (OR= 0.56; 95% CI =0.38-0.84; P=0.006). In addition, the rs712 T
      allele decreased the risk ofBC compared with the G allele (OR=0.75, 95%CI=0.58
      0.97, P=0.031). However, we found no relationship amongKRAS SNPs and
      clinicopathological characteristics of BC patients (P>0.05). Taken together, the
      present study providedevidence of relationships between KRAS polymorphisms and BC
      risk in a southeast Iranian population. Additionalstudies using larger sample
      sizes and diverse ethnicities are now warranted.

PMID- 28610419
TI  - Gene Expression Profiling of Chemokines and Their Receptors in Low and High Grade
      Astrocytoma
AB  - Background: Despite intense interest in molecular characterization and searches
      for novel therapeutic targets, theglioblastoma remains a formidable clinical
      challenge. Among many contributors to gliomagenesis, chemokines havedrawn special
      attention due to their involvement in a plethora of biological processes and
      pathological conditions. Inthe present study we aimed to elucidate any pro
      gliomagenic chemokine axis and probable roles in development ofglioblastoma
      multiforme (GBM). Method: An array of 84 chemokines, chemokine receptors and
      related genes werestudied by real time PCR with comparison between low grade
      astrocytoma (diffuse astrocytoma - grade II) and highgrade astrocytoma
      (glioblastoma multiforme - grade IV). Gene ontology analysis and database mining
      were performedto funnel down the important axis in GBM followed by validation at
      the protein level by immunohistochemistry on tissuemicroarrays. Results: Gene
      expression and gene ontology analysis identified CXCL8 as an important chemokine
      whichwas more frequently up-regulated in GBM as compared to diffuse astrocytoma.
      Further we demonstrated localizationof CXCL8 and its receptors in glioblastoma
      possibly affecting autocrine and paracrine signalling that promotes tumorcell
      proliferation and neovascularisation with vascular mimicry. Conclusion: From
      these results CXCL8 appears to bean important gliomagenic chemokine which may be
      involved in GBM growth by promoting tumor cell proliferationand
      neovascularization via vascular mimicry. Further in vitro and in vivo
      investigations are required to explore itspotential candidature in anti-GBM
      therapy.

PMID- 28610420
TI  - Genetic Association between ERCC2, NBN, RAD51 GeneVariants and Osteosarcoma Risk:
      a Systematic Review andMeta-Analysis
AB  - Background: To date, only a few studies have investigated associations between
      ERCC2, NBN, and RAD51variants and risk of developing osteosarcoma. In this
      systematic review and meta-analysis, we focused on clarifyinglinks. Materials and
      Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and ISI web of
      knowledgedatabases to identify relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were used to calculatethe strength of associations
      with fixed effect models. Results: No statistical evidence of association was
      found betweenERCC2 rs13181 (G vs. T: OR= 1.224, 95% CI: 0.970-1.545, p= 0.088; GT
      vs. TT: OR= 1.135, 95% CI: 0.830-1.552,p= 0.428; GG vs. TT: OR= 1.247, 95% CI:
      0.738-2.108, p= 0.409; GG+GT vs. TT: OR= 1.174, 95% CI: 0.929-1.484,p= 0.179; GG
      vs. GT+TT: OR= 1.476, 95% CI: 0.886-2.460, p= 0.135), ERCC2 rs1799793 (GA+AA vs.
      GG: OR=1.279, 95% CI: 0.912-1.793, p= 0.154), NBN rs709816 (OR= 1.047, 95% CI:
      0.763-1.437, p= 0.775), NBN rs1805794(OR= 1.126, 95% CI: 0.789-1.608, p= 0.513),
      RAD51 rs1801320 (OR= 0.977, 95% CI: 0.675-1.416, p= 0.904), RAD51rs1801321 (TT+GT
      vs. GG: OR= 1.167, 95% CI: 0.848-1.604, p= 0.343), RAD51 rs12593359 (GG+GT vs.
      TT: OR=0.761, 95% CI: 0.759-1.470, p= 0.744) polymorphisms and osteosarcomas. The
      lack of the original data limited ourfurther evaluation of the adjusted ORs
      concerning age and gender; however, the previous individual studies
      resultsindicated the age- and gender-specific effects of two ERCC2 rs1799793 and
      NBN rs1805794 variants on osteosarcomarisk. Conclusion: The results suggested a
      lack of association between the ERCC2 (rs13181 and rs1799793), NBN(rs709816 and
      rs1805794), and RAD51 (rs1801320, rs1801321, and rs12593359) variants with
      osteosarcoma risk.Further comprehensive and well-designed studies are required to
      assess the role for ERCC2, NBN, RAD51 variantsin osteosarcoma development more
      adequately.

PMID- 28610421
TI  - Electro-Acupuncture Therapy Increases Serum Interferon-gammaLevels in Rats with
      7, 12 Dimethylbenz(alpha)anthracene(DMBA)-Induced Breast Tumors
AB  - Objective: To determine the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on serum
      levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)in rats with 7,12
      dimethylbenz(alpha)anthracene (DMBA)-induced breast tumors. Methods: Twenty five
      female Wistarrats were divided randomly into 5 groups: normal group (N; neither
      DMBA-induced nor treated with EA); controlgroup (C; DMBA-induced only); EA 3 days
      : (DMBA-induced + EA for 3 days); EA 5 days: (DMBA-induced + EAfor 5 days); EA 10
      days: (DMBA-induced + EA for 10 days) group. Animals were acclimatized from day 1
      to day 7.Subcutaneus injections of DMBA 10mg/kg BW was administered every second
      day, from days 7 to 35. Acupuncturewas performed every second day from day 42.
      Rats were sacrificed on the second day after the last acupuncture, breasttumors
      excised and stained histological sections were analysed by light microscopy. At
      sacrifice, blood was extractedfrom the heart for measurement of serum IFN-gamma
      by ELISA. Results: All of the DMBA-induced rats developed tumors.Electro
      acupuncture significantly increased IFN-gamma levels in DMBA induced rats, when
      compared to control group.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that EA significantly
      increases IFN-gamma levels in DMBA-induced breast tumors.

PMID- 28610422
TI  - Tracking Intramolecular Vibrational Redistribution in Polyatomic Small-Molecule
      Liquids by Ultrafast Time-Frequency-Resolved CARS.
AB  - Selective excitation of C-H stretching vibrational modes, detection of
      intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR), and vibrational modes
      coupling in the electronic ground state of benzene are performed by using
      femtosecond time- and frequency-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering
      (CARS) spectroscopy. Both of the parent modes in the Raman-active bands are
      coherently excited by an ultrafast stimulated Raman pump, giving initial
      excitations of 3056 cm-1 (A1g) and 3074 cm-1 (E2g) and subsequent IVR from the
      parent modes to daughter modes of 1181 and 992 cm-1, and the coherent vibrational
      coupling of the relevant modes is tracked. The directionality and selectivity of
      IVR and coherent coupling among all of the relevant vibrational modes are
      discussed in the view of molecular symmetry.

PMID- 28610423
TI  - Introduction: Super-Resolution and Single-Molecule Imaging.

PMID- 28610424
TI  - Single-Molecule Chemistry with Surface- and Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.
AB  - Single-molecule (SM) surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced
      Raman spectroscopy (TERS) have emerged as analytical techniques for
      characterizing molecular systems in nanoscale environments. SERS and TERS use
      plasmonically enhanced Raman scattering to characterize the chemical information
      on single molecules. Additionally, TERS can image single molecules with
      subnanometer spatial resolution. In this review, we cover the development and
      history of SERS and TERS, including the concept of SERS hot spots and the
      plasmonic nanostructures necessary for SM detection, the past and current
      methodologies for verifying SMSERS, and investigations into understanding the
      signal heterogeneities observed with SMSERS. Moving on to TERS, we cover tip
      fabrication and the physical origins of the subnanometer spatial resolution.
      Then, we highlight recent advances of SMSERS and TERS in fields such as
      electrochemistry, catalysis, and SM electronics, which all benefit from the
      vibrational characterization of single molecules. SMSERS and TERS provide new
      insights on molecular behavior that would otherwise be obscured in an ensemble
      averaged measurement.

PMID- 28610425
TI  - Programmable Nanopatterns by Controlled Debonding of Soft Elastic Films.
AB  - We report a facile patterning technique capable of creating nanostructures with
      different feature heights (hS), periodicities (lambdaS), aspect ratios (AR), and
      duty ratios (DR), using a single grating stamp with fixed feature height hP and
      periodicity lambdaP. The proposed method relies on controlling the extent of
      debonding and morphology of the contact instability features, when a rigid
      patterned stamp is gradually debonded from a soft elastic film to which it was in
      initial conformal contact. Depending on whether the instability wavelength
      (lambdaF scales with the film thickness hF as lambdaF ~ 3hF) and the periodicity
      of the stamp feature (lambdaP) are commensurate or not, it is possible to obtain
      features along each stamp protrusion when lambdaF ~ lambdaP or patterns that span
      several stripes of the stamp when lambdaF > lambdaP. In both cases, the patterns
      fabricated during debonding are taller than the original stamp features (hS >
      hP). We show that hS can be modulated by controlling the extent of debonding as
      well as the shear modulus of the film (MU). Additionally, when lambdaF > lambdaP,
      progressive debonding leads to the gradual peeling of replicated features, which,
      in turn, allows possible tuning of the duty ratio (DR) of the patterns. Finally
      we show that by the simultaneous modulation of AR, DR, and hS, it becomes
      possible to create surfaces with controlled wettability.

PMID- 28610427
TI  - Forum: Focus on India.

PMID- 28610426
TI  - Porous, Hyper-cross-linked, Three-Dimensional Polymer as Stable, High Rate
      Capability Electrode for Lithium-Ion Battery.
AB  - Organic materials containing active carbonyl groups have attracted considerable
      attention as electrodes in Li-ion batteries due to their reversible redox
      activity, ability to retain capacity, and, in addition, their ecofriendly nature.
      Introduction of porosity will help accommodate as well as store small ions and
      molecules reversibly. In the present work, we introduce a mesoporous triptycene
      related, rigid network polymer with high specific surface area as an electrode
      material for rechargeable Li-ion battery. The designed polymer with a three
      dimensional (3D), rigid porous network allows free movement of ions/electrolyte
      as well as helps in interacting with the active anhydride moieties (containing
      two carbonyl groups). Considerable intake of Li+ ions giving rise to very high
      specific capacity of 1100 mA h g-1 at a discharge current of 50 mA g-1 and ~120
      mA h g-1 at a high discharge current of 3 A g-1 are observed with excellent
      cyclability up to 1000 cycles. This remarkable rate capability, which is one of
      the highest among the reported organic porous polymers to date, makes the
      triptycene-related rigid 3D network a very good choice for Li-ion batteries and
      opens up a new method to design polymer-based electrode materials for metal-ion
      battery technology.

PMID- 28610429
TI  - Optimization of electrospun poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) mats for the rapid
      reversible adhesion of mammalian cells.
AB  - Poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (pNIPAM) is a "smart" polymer that responds to
      changes in altering temperature near physiologically relevant temperatures,
      changing its relative hydrophobicity. Mammalian cells attach to pNIPAM at 37 
      degrees C and detach spontaneously as a confluent sheet when the temperature is
      shifted below the lower critical solution temperature (~32  degrees C). A variety
      of methods have been used to create pNIPAM films, including plasma
      polymerization, self-assembled monolayers, and electron beam ionization. However,
      detachment of confluent cell sheets from these pNIPAM films can take well over an
      hour to achieve potentially impacting cellular behavior. In this work, pNIPAM
      mats were prepared via electrospinning (i.e., espNIPAM) by a previously described
      technique that the authors optimized for cell attachment and rapid cell
      detachment. Several electrospinning parameters were varied (needle gauge,
      collection time, and molecular weight of the polymer) to determine the optimum
      parameters. The espNIPAM mats were then characterized using Fourier-transform
      infrared, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The
      espNIPAM mats showing the most promise were seeded with mammalian cells from
      standard cell lines (MC3T3-E1) as well as cancerous tumor (EMT6) cells. Once
      confluent, the temperature of the cells and mats was changed to ~25  degrees C,
      resulting in the extremely rapid swelling of the mats. The authors find that
      espNIPAM mats fabricated using small, dense fibers made of high molecular weight
      pNIPAM are extremely well-suited as a rapid release method for cell sheet
      harvesting.

PMID- 28610432
TI  - QSAR model for prediction of the therapeutic potency of N-benzylpiperidine
      derivatives as AChE inhibitors.
AB  - A new family of AChE inhibitors, N-benzylpiperidines, showed exceptional efficacy
      in vitro and in vivo, minimal side effects and high selectivity for
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Three regression methods were chosen in this work to
      develop robust predictive models, namely multiple linear regression (MLR),
      genetic function approximation (GFA) and multilayer perceptron network (MLP). Ten
      descriptors were selected for a dataset of 99 molecules, using a genetic
      algorithm. The best results were obtained for MLP with a 10-6-1 artificial neural
      network model trained with the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) algorithm.
      Statistical prediction for MLR and GFA were r2 = 0.882 and r2 = 0.875,
      respectively. Because internal and external validation strategies play an
      important role, we adopted all available validation strategies to check the
      robustness of the models. All criteria used to validate these models revealed the
      superiority of the GFA model. Therefore, the models developed in this study
      provide an excellent prediction of the inhibitory concentration of a new family
      of AChE inhibitors.

PMID- 28610431
TI  - Palliative Care Experience in the Last 3 Months of Life: A Quantitative
      Comparison of Care Provided in Residential Hospices, Hospitals, and the Home From
      the Perspectives of Bereaved Caregivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study captured the end-of-life care experiences across various
      settings from bereaved caregivers of individuals who died in residential hospice.
      METHODS: A retrospective, observational design using the CaregiverVoice survey
      with bereaved caregivers of patients in 22 hospices in Ontario, Canada. The
      survey assessed various dimensions of the patient's care experiences across
      multiple care settings in the last 3 months of life. RESULTS: A total of 1153
      caregivers responded to the survey (44% response rate). In addition to hospice
      care, caregivers reported that 74% of patients received home care, 61% had a
      hospitalization, 42% received care at a cancer center, and 10% lived in a nursing
      home. Most caregivers (84%-89%) rated the addressing of each support domain
      (relief of physical pain, relief of other symptoms, spiritual support, and
      emotional support) by hospice as either "excellent" or "very good." These
      proportions were less favorable for home care (40%-47%), cancer center (46%-54%),
      and hospital (37%-48%). Significantly, better experiences were reported for the
      last week of life where hospice was considered the main setting of care, opposed
      to other settings ( P < .0001 across domains). Overall, across settings pain
      management tended to be the highest-rated domain and spiritual support the
      lowest. CONCLUSION: This is one of few quantitative examinations of the care
      experience of patients who accessed multiple care settings in the last months of
      life and died in a specialized setting such as residential hospice. These
      findings emphasize the importance of replicating the hospice approach in
      institutional and home settings, including greater attention to emotional and
      spiritual dimensions of care.

PMID- 28610433
TI  - Reoperation Rates After Combined Anterior Cruciate Ligament and Anterolateral
      Ligament Reconstruction: A Series of 548 Patients From the SANTI Study Group With
      a Minimum Follow-up of 2 Years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early clinical results of anterolateral ligament (ALL) reconstruction
      are promising, but concerns exist due to high rates of complications after other
      types of lateral extra-articular tenodesis. The rate of surgery after combined
      anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and ALL reconstruction is not known. PURPOSE: To
      determine the rate of reoperation after combined ACL and ALL reconstruction.
      STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: A retrospective
      analysis of prospectively collected data from the Scientific ACL Network
      International (SANTI) Study Group database was performed to include all patients
      who had undergone combined ACL and ALL reconstruction between January 2012 and
      June 2014. At the end of the study period, all patients were contacted by
      telephone, and the operative notes of those who stated that they had undergone
      reoperation were reviewed to determine the type and rates of the subsequent
      procedures performed. Descriptive data were analyzed for the entire patient
      cohort. RESULTS: The study population comprised 548 quadruple hamstring graft
      (4HT)+ALL reconstructions. The mean age (+/-SD) was 24.3 +/- 7.9 years (range,
      11.9-55.7 years), and 70.3% of subjects were male. The mean duration of follow-up
      was 35.5 +/- 8.0 months (range, 24-54 months). Seventy-two patients (13.1%)
      underwent ipsilateral reoperation. This comprised a total of 77 procedures. Graft
      revision occurred in 14 knees (2.6%) at a mean of 18.3 months (+/-7.4 months)
      after the index procedure. There were 63 reoperations for ipsilateral, non-graft
      rupture-related indications (meniscus, n = 30; arthrofibrosis, n = 22; removal of
      hardware, n = 4; deep infection, n = 3; arthroscopic lavage without infection, n
      = 4). The only specific complications related to the ALL procedure (n = 3) were
      all related to femoral hardware that required removal. In both univariate and
      multivariate analyses, only the presence of a medial meniscal lesion at the index
      procedure was significantly associated with ipsilateral reoperation (odds ratio,
      2.58; 95% CI, 1.43-4.76; P = .002). CONCLUSION: The reoperation rate after
      combined ACL and ALL reconstruction in this series is broadly comparable to the
      reoperation rate after isolated ACL reconstruction as reported in previous
      studies. In addition, the high rates of knee stiffness and reoperation reported
      in historical series of nonanatomic, lateral extra-articular tenodesis were not
      observed in the current series.

PMID- 28610434
TI  - Isoflavones and gastrointestinal infection: Two potential triggers for reversible
      cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome.
AB  - Background Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is an important
      differential diagnosis of singular or recurrent thunderclap headache. Prognosis
      is generally good, however complications of the transient segmental vasospasms of
      cerebral arteries such as stroke, subarachnoidal hemorrhage and brain edema may
      worsen the clinical outcome. Although the exact pathomechanism is still unclear,
      various vasoactive substances and conditions (e.g. post partum) have been
      identified as triggering RCVS. Cases We report on the clinical course and
      management of two cases of typical RCVS that were associated with two different
      precipitants previously not described: A gastrointestinal infection and
      isoflavones, which are phytoestrogens used for menopausal vasomotor symptoms.
      Discussion In the case of gastrointestinal infection, either systemic
      inflammatory processes might lead to disturbances of vascular tone, or the
      repetitive vomiting that resembles Valsalva manoeuvers known to trigger RCVS. In
      the case of isoflavone intake, it may be their estrogenic potential that induces
      dysregulation of cerebral arteries, a mechanism known from other states of
      hormonal change such as post-partum angiopathy. However, the association of both
      precipitating factors with RCVS in our two cases is not a proof for a causal
      relationship, and there may have been additional potential triggers for RCVS.
      Conclusion In patients with (gastrointestinal) infection and concomitant
      thunderclap headache, RCVS should be considered as an important differential
      diagnosis due to its major complications. Since RCVS may be triggered by various
      vasoactive substances, taking the medical history should always include over-the
      counter drugs and dietary supplements (such as the isoflavones) beside the
      regular medication.

PMID- 28610435
TI  - Access and engagement in HIV care among a national cohort of women living with
      HIV in Canada.
AB  - Attrition along the cascade of HIV care poses significant barriers to attaining
      the UNAIDS targets of 90-90-90 and achieving optimal treatment outcomes for
      people living with HIV. Understanding the correlates of attrition is critical and
      particularly for women living with HIV (WLWH) as gender disparities along the
      cascade have been found. We measured the proportion of the 1425 WLWH enrolled in
      the Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) who
      had never accessed HIV medical care, who reported delayed linkage into HIV care
      (>3 months between diagnosis and initial care linkage), and who were not engaged
      in HIV care at interview (<1 visit in prior year). Correlates of these cascade
      indicators were determined using univariate and multivariable logistic
      regression. We found that 2.8% of women had never accessed HIV care. Of women who
      had accessed HIV care, 28.7% reported delayed linkage and 3.7% were not engaged
      in HIV care. Indigenous women had higher adjusted odds of both a lack of access
      and delayed access to HIV care. Also, a younger age, unstable housing, history of
      recreational drug use, and experiences of everyday racism emerged as important
      barriers to ever accessing care. Programmatic efforts to support early linkage to
      and engagement in care for WLWH in Canada must address several social
      determinants of health, such as housing insecurity and social exclusion, and
      prioritize engagement of Indigenous women through culturally safe and competent
      practices.

PMID- 28610436
TI  - Obstructive sleep apnoea in diabetes: Does it matter?
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is very common in patients with Type 2 diabetes
      (T2D), which is not surprising considering that obesity is a common risk factor
      for both conditions. In general population studies, OSA has been shown to be
      associated with several comorbidities including increased risk of road traffic
      accidents, T2D, hypertension and lack of nocturnal dipping of blood pressure,
      hyperlipidaemia, increased inflammation, increased risk of cardiovascular disease
      and mortality, increased risk of atrial fibrillation, worse quality of life, and
      erectile dysfunction. However, the impact of OSA on diabetes-related vascular and
      metabolic outcomes remains unclear. Furthermore, the impact of continuous
      positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment in patients with T2D is also unclear.
      This unclarity regarding the impact of OSA and CPAP in patients with T2D has
      possibly contributed to the lack of screening for OSA in patients with T2D in the
      UK despite the high prevalence of OSA in patients with T2D. In this commentary, I
      provide an overview about OSA with a particular focus on its role and impact in
      patients with T2D.

PMID- 28610438
TI  - Pneumorachis associated with persistent tachycardia after blunt thoracic trauma.
AB  - Pneumorachis, or intraspinal air, can be a rare result of blunt thoracic trauma.
      We report the case of a 40-year-old man with multiple injuries and pneumorachis
      associated with persistent tachycardia. As factors that increase heart rate were
      gradually ruled out, intraspinal air was considered the potential culprit.
      Computed tomography revealed intraspinal air at the thoracic level, which
      possibly promoted cardiac arrhythmogenesis. Air may transiently compress the
      preganglionic cardiac sympathetic nerves and increase sympathetic output to the
      heart.

PMID- 28610437
TI  - A new ferulic acid ester from Rhodiola wallichiana var. cholaensis
      (Crassulaceae).
AB  - A new ferulic acid ester, 6-feruloyloxyhexanoic acid (1), was isolated along with
      10 known ones (2-11), from the concentrated water extract of Rhodiola wallichiana
      var. cholaensis. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of
      extensive spectroscopic methods including Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic
      resonance (2D NMR) experiments. Compound 3 was isolated from this plant for the
      first time. The protective effects against H2O2-induced myocardial cell injury in
      cultured H9c2 cells were also evaluated. Compounds 1, 5 and 7-11 provided
      significant protective effects on H2O2-induced H9c2 cells injury at the
      concentration of 25 MUg/mL. And the protective effects of compound 1 was also
      investigated by the oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) tests.

PMID- 28610439
TI  - Congenitally corrected transposition: complex anatomic repair or Fontan pathway?
AB  - Background Successful anatomic repair of congenitally corrected transposition of
      the great arteries achieves excellent outcomes. Several centers report excellent
      long-term survival with the Fontan pathway as well. We have selectively applied
      both approaches depending on individual patient morphology, with anatomic repair
      preferred but utilizing the Fontan pathway when high technical complexity or
      operative risk is anticipated. Methods Hospital records over an 18-year period
      (1998-2016) were reviewed to identify patients with congenitally corrected
      transposition of the great arteries who underwent surgical management.
      Physiological repairs and hypoplastic ventricles were excluded. Patient- and
      procedure-related variables were reviewed. Results We identified 19 patients.
      Group 1 consisted of 12 anatomic repairs, of which 10 (83.3%) required prior
      interim staging procedures. Mean age at anatomic repair was 2.6 +/- 1.3 years,
      mean follow-up was 8.7 +/- 5.3 years. Nine (75%) patients experienced important
      complications and 4 (33.3%) required reintervention during follow-up. There were
      no deaths; one patient required heart transplantation. Group 2 (7 patients)
      underwent Fontan palliation. Mean age at Fontan completion was 7.2 +/- 3.8 years,
      mean follow-up was 6.3 +/- 4 years. There was no reintervention, death, or
      transplant. Conclusion Patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the
      great arteries and two adequate-sized ventricles do well with both anatomic
      repair and the Fontan pathway in the medium term. Excellent outcomes with reduced
      early complication and reintervention rates can be achieved for this cohort of
      patients when a strategy of avoiding complex anatomic repair in favor of the
      Fontan pathway is used.

PMID- 28610441
TI  - How much is too much?

PMID- 28610442
TI  - The effect of a corrective functional exercise program on postural thoracic
      kyphosis in teenagers: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a corrective functional exercise program
      on postural thoracic kyphosis in teenagers in China. DESIGN: A single-blind
      randomized controlled trial including students with a thoracic kyphosis angle
      (TKA) >40 degrees  measured using the SpinalMouse. SETTING: China Institute of
      Sport Science and three middle schools in Beijing, China. SUBJECTS: A total of
      181 subjects were included in this trial; of these, 164 subjects were included in
      the analyses (intervention group, n = 81; control group, n = 83). INTERVENTION:
      The intervention group received a functional exercise program designed to correct
      postural thoracic kyphosis, and the control group received an exercise program
      designed in accordance with the state-regulated curriculum. MAIN MEASURES: The
      primary outcome variable was TKA. Secondary outcome variables were lumbar
      lordosis angle (LLA), sacral angle (SA), and incline angle (INA) measured in the
      upright position; thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine range of motion (ROM) and
      INA ROM (change in center of gravity) measured in the forward bending and
      extended positions; and changes in TKA, LLA, SA, and INA measured during the
      Matthiass test. RESULTS: There were significant differences in pretest and
      posttest TKA in both groups (intervention group: pretest 47.09 +/- 5.45, posttest
      38.31 +/- 9.18, P < 0.0001; control group: pretest 47.47 +/- 6.06, posttest 43.59
      +/- 7.49, P < 0.0001). After adjustment for gender and pretest values, there were
      significant differences in posttest TKA, change in SA, and thoracic ROM in the
      intervention group compared to the control group ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The
      corrective functional exercise program designed for this study improved
      exaggerated thoracic kyphosis in teenagers.

PMID- 28610440
TI  - Circumflex coronary artery originating from the right pulmonary artery in adult.
AB  - Anomalous origin of the circumflex coronary artery from the right pulmonary
      artery is rare, and symptoms are related to the collateralization and amount of
      myocardium that it supplies. A 50-year-old woman with severe bicuspid aortic
      valve stenosis had the diagnosis of anomalous origin of the circumflex coronary
      artery from the right pulmonary artery before valve replacement. Ligation and
      division of the circumflex coronary artery was performed. Myocardial ischemia was
      not observed. The patient was discharged after an uneventful recovery.

PMID- 28610443
TI  - Valorization of potato peel: a biorefinery approach.
AB  - Potato is the fourth main crop consumed worldwide and is an important constituent
      in the human diet. Consequently, potato is widely used in food-processing
      industries. However, these industries generate massive amounts of potato peel
      (PP) as a by-product, which is usually considered a waste, and is discarded.
      Interestingly, recent research suggests that PP is a valuable source of bioactive
      compounds, which can be converted into value-added products. In this study, we
      review the physicochemical composition and valorization of PP. In addition to
      being used as a dietary fiber or medicine, the value-added products obtained by
      the fermentation of PP have multiple uses, including their use as adsorbents,
      biocomposites and packaging materials. These products can also be used in energy
      production, biopolymer film development, corrosion inhibition and the synthesis
      of cellulose nanocrystals. The biorefinery approach for PP will increase the
      value of this waste by producing an array of value-added products and reducing
      extensive waste generation.

PMID- 28610444
TI  - Midostaurin for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Midostaurin is a multikinase tyrosine kinase inhibitor acting against targets
      known to be expressed in hematologic malignancies, especially acute myeloid
      leukemia. Midostaurin combined with chemotherapy followed by single-agent
      maintenance therapy elicited statistically significant and clinically meaningful
      improvement in overall survival versus placebo in patients with newly diagnosed
      FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia. Although gastrointestinal events were more
      common with midostaurin, overall the drug was relatively well tolerated. Of note,
      midostaurin is metabolized by cytochrome P450-3A4 (CYP3A4); therefore,
      concomitant strong CYP3A4 inhibitors should be used with caution. Preliminary
      safety results from an ongoing trial evaluating midostaurin as a single agent in
      the post-transplant setting are encouraging. In addition, studies have evaluated
      its safety and efficacy in advanced systemic mastocytosis.

PMID- 28610445
TI  - Aversive eye gaze during a speech in virtual environment in patients with social
      anxiety disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: One of the main characteristics of social anxiety disorder is
      excessive fear of social evaluation. In such situations, anxiety can influence
      gaze behaviour. Thus, the current study adopted virtual reality to examine eye
      gaze pattern of social anxiety disorder patients while presenting different types
      of speeches. METHODS: A total of 79 social anxiety disorder patients and 51
      healthy controls presented prepared speeches on general topics and impromptu
      speeches on self-related topics to a virtual audience while their eye gaze was
      recorded. Their presentation performance was also evaluated. RESULTS: Overall,
      social anxiety disorder patients showed less eye gaze towards the audience than
      healthy controls. Types of speech did not influence social anxiety disorder
      patients' gaze allocation towards the audience. However, patients with social
      anxiety disorder showed significant correlations between the amount of eye gaze
      towards the audience while presenting self-related speeches and social anxiety
      cognitions. CONCLUSION: The current study confirms that eye gaze behaviour of
      social anxiety disorder patients is aversive and that their anxiety symptoms are
      more dependent on the nature of topic.

PMID- 28610446
TI  - Impacts of pulsed electric field and heat treatment on quality and sensory
      properties and microbial inactivation of pomegranate juice.
AB  - Synergistic effects of pulsed electric field+mild heat on quality properties of
      pomegranate juice were modeled using the best-fit multiple (non-) linear
      regression models with inactivation kinetics parameters of Escherichia coli
      O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus. No significant difference was detected between
      the control and the treated samples in terms of pH;  degrees Brix; total
      antioxidant capacity; total monomeric anthocyanin content; total ascorbic acid
      concentration; and the sensory properties of flavor, taste, aftertaste, and
      overall acceptance ( p > 0.05). An exposure of 65.3 J and 40 C caused an increase
      on conductivity; titratable acidity; L*, a*, and b* values; and a decrease of
      browning index, total phenolic content, total antioxidant capacity, total
      monomeric anthocyanin content, total ascorbic acid concentration, and in the
      sensory properties of color and sourness in pomegranate juice. The goodness-of
      fit for the best-fit multiple (non-) linear regression models in descending order
      belonged to E. coli O157:H7 (92.98%), S. aureus (84.06%), color a* (83.9%),
      titratable acidity (81.3%), color L* (78.5%), color b* (78.3%), conductivity
      (74.8%), total phenolic content (74.1%), and total ascorbic acid concentration
      (64.74%), respectively. De and ze values for E. coli O157:H7 and S. aureus ranged
      from 105.64 to 1093.25 and from 79.18 to 1057.73 us with 27.39 and 30.80 J,
      consequently.

PMID- 28610447
TI  - Significance of heat-moisture treatment conditions on the pasting and gelling
      behaviour of various starch-rich cereal and pseudocereal flours.
AB  - The impact of heat-moisture treatment processing conditions (15%, 25%, and 35%
      moisture content; 1, 3, and 5 h heating time at 120 C) on the viscosity pasting
      and gelling profiles of different grain flours matrices (barley, buckwheat,
      sorghum, high beta-glucan barley, and wheat) was investigated by applying
      successive cooking and cooling cycles to rapid visco analyser canisters with
      highly hydrated samples (3.5:25, w:w). At a milder heat-moisture treatment
      conditions (15% moisture content, 1 h heating time), except for sorghum, heat
      moisture treatment flours reached much higher viscosity values during earlier
      pasting and subsequent gelling than the corresponding native counterparts.
      Besides heat-moisture treatment wheat flour, the described behaviour found also
      for non-wheat-treated flours has not been previously reported in the literature.
      An increased hydrophobicity of prolamins and glutelins in low moisture-short
      heating time heat-moisture treatment of non-wheat flours with high protein
      content (12.92%-19.95%) could explain the enhanced viscosity profile observed.

PMID- 28610448
TI  - FIT@Home editorial: Supporting a new era of cardiac rehabilitation at home?

PMID- 28610449
TI  - Diabetes distress, illness perceptions and glycaemic control in adults with type
      2 diabetes.
AB  - The emotional distress associated with adjusting to and living with diabetes has
      been termed diabetes distress. Diabetes distress is associated with glycaemic
      control but interventions to reduce diabetes distress have failed to consistently
      improve diabetes control. Various illness perceptions have previously been linked
      with both diabetes distress and glycaemic control but interrelationships between
      these features have not been previously investigated. We hypothesised that
      illness perceptions mediate the relationship between diabetes distress and
      glycaemia. Participants with type 2 diabetes attending diabetes outpatient
      clinics (n = 84) provided demographic and clinical information and completed the
      Diabetes Distress Scale-17 and the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire. Using
      regression analysis we demonstrated that the illness perceptions of personal
      control, regimen-related distress, socioeconomic status and insulin use were
      significant contributors in the final model predicting HbA1c. Higher levels of
      personal control were associated with better glycaemic control. Conversely,
      regimen-related distress was associated with hyperglycaemia. Mediation analyses
      showed that the relationship between regimen-related distress and HbA1c was
      mediated by personal control. Our work suggests that psychological interventions
      designed to reduce diabetes distress may be more efficacious in improving
      glycaemic control if they address an individual's perception of personal control.

PMID- 28610451
TI  - Cognitive function is largely intact in methadone maintenance treatment patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To confirm our previous findings of less cognitive impairments (based
      on cognitive screening tools) among methadone maintenance treatment (MMT)
      patients who achieved take-home dose (THD) privileges. METHODS: a random sample
      of 65 Israeli MMT patients were studied using computerised, age and education
      standardised, cognitive domains (attention, executive function, memory, motor
      skills), and non-computerised phonetic and semantic verbal fluency. RESULTS:
      Cognitive scores were within +/-1 standard deviation (SD) of average for most
      domains, including non-verbal IQ, attention and motor skills. Verbal fluency and
      memory were >1 SD below average (mean = 84; z = -1.1 for both). Females were
      younger than the males and had poorer motor skills (P = 0.005) but better verbal
      memory (P < 0.0005). Opiate usage duration correlated with reaction time (P =
      0.05) and inversely with verbal memory (P = 0.01). Overall cognitive function was
      poorest among 25 (38.5%) current drug users, and 6 (9.2%) lifetime schizophrenia
      patients. Cognitive domains were comparable between THD privileges subgroups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite heterogeneity in MMT duration, abuse duration, substance use
      and psychiatric comorbidity, all performed within +/-1 SD of average for age and
      education in most cognitive domains. Our findings challenge the notion of MMT as
      being synonymous with compromised cognition and may lead to reduced bias
      regarding cognitive function of MMT patients.

PMID- 28610450
TI  - Novel tumor markers provide improved prediction of survival after diagnosis of
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
AB  - Existing prognostic tools for HIV + diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) fail to
      accurately predict patient outcomes. To develop a novel prognostic algorithm
      incorporating molecular tumor characteristics and HIV disease factors, we
      included 80 patients with HIV-related DLBCL diagnosed between 1996 and 2007.
      Immunohistochemistry staining was used to analyze the expression of 26 tumor
      markers. Clinical data were collected from medical records. Logistic regression
      and bootstrapping were used to select and assess stability of the prognostic
      model, respectively. Of the tumor markers examined, expression of cMYC, Ki 67,
      CD44, EBV, SKP2, BCL6, p53, CD20 and IgM were associated with two-year mortality.
      The final prognostic model, confirmed in bootstrapped samples, included IPI,
      circulating CD4 cell count, history of clinical AIDS, and expression of CD44,
      p53, IgM and EBV. This model incorporating HIV disease history and tumor markers,
      achieved better prediction for two-year mortality [AUC = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.78-0.96]
      compared with IPI alone [AUC = 0.63 (0.51-0.75)].

PMID- 28610452
TI  - Outcomes of flexor tendon repairs in zone 2 subzones with early active
      mobilization.
AB  - : We report on the outcomes of flexor tendon repair in zone 2 subzones with early
      active mobilization in 102 fingers in 88 consecutive patients. There were 28, 53,
      15, and six fingers with repairs in zones 2A to 2D, respectively. Rupture of the
      repair occurred in four fingers, all in zone 2B. Excluding those with repair
      ruptures, the mean total active motion was 230 degrees  (range 143 degrees -286
      degrees ). Evaluated with Tang's criteria, the outcomes were ranked excellent in
      39 fingers, good in 46, fair in ten, poor in three, and failure in four. The
      outcomes in zone 2C were significantly inferior to those in zones 2B and 2D ( p =
      0.02). Our results suggest that the tendon laceration in the area covered by the
      A2 pulley (zone 2C) is the most difficult area to obtain satisfactory active
      digital motion and tendon repair in zone 2B is the area where the risk of rupture
      is highest. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28610453
TI  - Proposed Criteria for the Use of Low-Dose Vitamin K Supplementation in Patients
      Using Vitamin K Antagonists: A Literature Review of a Clinical Controversy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) have been used for decades to prevent
      thromboembolic events, but can be burdensome to patients based on numerous
      factors impacting anticoagulation control. Low-dose vitamin K supplementation has
      been theorized to improve anticoagulation control in patients on VKAs that may be
      vitamin K deficient. The objective of this literature review is to propose
      criteria for implementing low-dose vitamin K supplementation in patients on VKAs.
      LITERATURE REVIEW: The CHEST 2012 antithrombotic guidelines recommended against
      routine use of vitamin K supplementation in patients on VKAs. An observational
      study and three randomized controlled trials pertaining to this recommendation
      were evaluated. A literature review was also performed on other studies looking
      at the impact of low-dose vitamin K supplementation on anticoagulation control
      through a search in PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. One
      retrospective and two prospective studies were reviewed. Six of the seven studies
      demonstrated a non-statistically significant trend in data supporting improvement
      in anticoagulation control with low-dose vitamin K supplementation. CONCLUSION:
      While many of the studies did not achieve significant results, the majority
      demonstrated a trend in support of the improvement of anticoagulation control
      with low-dose vitamin K supplementation in patients on VKAs.

PMID- 28610454
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes and their association with
      alcoholism risk, personality and anthropometric traits among Malaysian university
      students.
AB  - Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in alcohol-metabolizing genes -
      ADH1B (Arg47His), ADH1C (Ile350Val) and ALDH2 (Glu504Lys) have been extensively
      associated with flush reaction and alcoholism. Therefore, we investigated the
      association of these three SNPs with alcohol-induced reactions (AIRs), alcoholism
      risk, personality and anthropometric traits among Malaysian university students.
      AIRs, Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) and Ten-Item Personality were
      surveyed, anthropometric measurements and DNA samples were taken. Among 264 valid
      drinkers (111 males, 153 females; 229 ethnic Chinese, 35 ethnic Indians), the
      minor allele frequencies for ADH1B, ADH1C, ALDH2 among Chinese/Indians were
      .45/.07, .33/.40, .32/.41, respectively; distribution of ADH1B alleles
      significantly different between ethnicities. Current/former experiences of
      flushing, hives, heart palpitations after alcohol consumption; and sleepiness,
      headache reactions, early and overall SRE were significantly different between
      ethnicities and genders, respectively. Overall SRE score was associated with
      ADH1C and ALDH2 alleles. 'Openness to Experiences' was associated with ALDH2
      genotypes and alleles; Glu/Glu or Glu carriers showed significantly higher means.
      ADH1B Arg/Arg and Arg carriers showed significantly higher total body and
      subcutaneous fats but association was abolished after controlling for ethnicity.
      In conclusion, gender and ethnicity, but not alcohol-metabolizing gene variants,
      play a role in influencing the manifestation of AIRs.

PMID- 28610455
TI  - Non-Fourier thermal transport induced structural hierarchy and damage to collagen
      ultrastructure subjected to laser irradiation.
AB  - Comprehending the mechanism of thermal transport through biological tissues is an
      important factor for optimal ablation of cancerous tissues and minimising
      collateral tissue damage. The present study reports detailed mapping of the rise
      in internal temperature within the tissue mimics due to NIR (1064 nm) laser
      irradiation, both for bare mimics and with gold nanostructures infused. Gold
      nanostructures such as mesoflowers and nanospheres have been synthesised and used
      as photothermal converters to enhance the temperature rise, resulting in
      achieving the desired degradation of malignant tissue in targeted region. Thermal
      history was observed experimentally and simulated considering non-Fourier dual
      phase lag (DPL) model incorporated Pennes bio-heat transfer equation using COMSOL
      Multiphysics software. The gross deviation in temperature i.e. rise from the
      classical Fourier model for bio-heat conduction suggests additional effects of
      temperature rise on the secondary structures and morphological and physico
      chemical changes to the collagen ultrastructures building the tissue mass. The
      observed thermal denaturation in the collagen fibril morphologies have been
      explained based on the physico-chemical structure of collagen and its response to
      thermal radiation. The large shift in frequency of amides A and B is pronounced
      at a depth of maximum temperature rise compared with other positions in tissue
      phantom. Observations for change in band of amide I, amide II, and amide III are
      found to be responsible for damage to collagen ultra-structure. Variation in the
      concentration of gold nanostructures shows the potentiality of localised
      hyperthermia treatment subjected to NIR radiation through a proposed free radical
      mechanism.

PMID- 28610456
TI  - Consumer heterogeneity in sugar consumption with special reference to fat and
      cholesterol intake.
AB  - Consumers make dietary choices based on information they have. This study
      examines consumer choice of food products considering the healthfulness of
      multiple nutrients. We focus on high levels of sugars because higher levels of
      intake are associated with adverse health and nutritional outcomes. We find an
      important association of sugar consumption with the healthfulness of a diet based
      on saturated fat intake and cholesterol intake. Consumers making healthier
      choices in one nutrient are not making healthier choices on other nutrients. Our
      results suggest that individuals who were making better dietary choices based on
      saturated fats were consuming more sugars. This could indicate challenges with
      the existing standard nutrition label as an information tool towards making
      healthful choices on multiple nutrients.

PMID- 28610457
TI  - Suicidal self-stabbing: A report of 12 cases from Crete, Greece.
AB  - Sharp-force trauma is a popular cause of homicide and suicide in many countries.
      Characterisation of the injuries between the two is crucial for a differential
      diagnosis. The current paper reviews 12 self-inflicted sharp-force trauma deaths
      from the island of Crete in Greece. Forensic reports between 1999 and 2015 were
      collated, and we studied the number and location of injuries, the demographic
      characteristics of the deceased, the sharp object and the medical history of the
      deceased. One third of the cases where the forensic reports were available (3/10)
      involved multiple injuries, and one case involved a combination of stabbing and
      hanging. Most injuries involved a kitchen knife. Ninety-two per cent (11/12) of
      the victims involved male Greek nationals aged >50 years. The type and location
      of injuries were not found to be specific to suicide alone. Thus, death-scene
      investigation remains crucial to the differential diagnosis between suicide and
      homicide. This is the first report on self-inflicted sharp-force fatalities in
      Greece.

PMID- 28610458
TI  - Large-scale parallel genome assembler over cloud computing environment.
AB  - The size of high throughput DNA sequencing data has already reached the terabyte
      scale. To manage this huge volume of data, many downstream sequencing
      applications started using locality-based computing over different cloud
      infrastructures to take advantage of elastic (pay as you go) resources at a lower
      cost. However, the locality-based programming model (e.g. MapReduce) is
      relatively new. Consequently, developing scalable data-intensive bioinformatics
      applications using this model and understanding the hardware environment that
      these applications require for good performance, both require further research.
      In this paper, we present a de Bruijn graph oriented Parallel Giraph-based Genome
      Assembler (GiGA), as well as the hardware platform required for its optimal
      performance. GiGA uses the power of Hadoop (MapReduce) and Giraph (large-scale
      graph analysis) to achieve high scalability over hundreds of compute nodes by
      collocating the computation and data. GiGA achieves significantly higher
      scalability with competitive assembly quality compared to contemporary parallel
      assemblers (e.g. ABySS and Contrail) over traditional HPC cluster. Moreover, we
      show that the performance of GiGA is significantly improved by using an SSD-based
      private cloud infrastructure over traditional HPC cluster. We observe that the
      performance of GiGA on 256 cores of this SSD-based cloud infrastructure closely
      matches that of 512 cores of traditional HPC cluster.

PMID- 28610459
TI  - An automated pipeline for mitochondrial segmentation on ATUM-SEM stacks.
AB  - It is possible now to look more closely into mitochondrial physical structures
      due to the rapid development of electron microscope (EM). Mitochondrial physical
      structures play important roles in both cellular physiology and neuronal
      functions. Unfortunately, the segmentation of mitochondria from EM images has
      proven to be a difficult and challenging task, due to the presence of various
      subcellular structures, as well as image distortions in the sophisticated
      background. Although the current state-of-the-art algorithms have achieved some
      promising results, they have demonstrated poor performances on these mitochondria
      which are in close proximity to vesicles or various membranes. In order to
      overcome these limitations, this study proposes explicitly modelling the
      mitochondrial double membrane structures, and acquiring the image edges by way of
      ridge detection rather than by image gradient. In addition, this study also
      utilizes group-similarity in context to further optimize the local misleading
      segmentation. Then, the experimental results determined from the images acquired
      by automated tape-collecting ultramicrotome scanning electron microscopy (ATUM
      SEM) demonstrate the effectiveness of this study's proposed algorithm.

PMID- 28610460
TI  - Vitamin D levels in newborns and association with neonatal hypocalcemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D has many important functions in our body. Especially in
      intrauterine and early infancy periods, Vitamin D plays a major role in bone
      development, growth, and the maturation of tissues such as lung and brain. Fetus
      is dependent on the mother in terms of Vitamin D and maternal Vitamin D
      deficiency results in a Vitamin D deficient newborn. The purpose of this study
      was to determine the levels of Vitamin D in newborns and to investigate the
      association between Vitamin D status of the baby and neonatal hypocalcemia.
      METHOD: Vitamin D, calcium, and parathyroid hormone levels of 750 infants, born
      between 1 January 2014 and 30 June 2015 and followed in Ondokuz Mayis University
      Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were analyzed retrospectively. Blood levels of
      Vitamin D were checked within 3 days after birth. A 25(OH)D3 level of <10 ng/ml
      indicated severe, levels between 10 and 20 ng/ml, which indicated moderate and
      levels between 20 and 30 ng/ml indicated mild Vitamin D deficiency. Serum calcium
      levels below 8 mg/dl in term infants and below 7 mg/dl in preterm infants were
      accepted as hypocalcemia. Hypocalcemia that developed within the first week after
      birth was defined as early, while hypocalcemia after one week were defined as
      late hypocalcemia. RESULTS: A total of 44% of the infants in the study were
      girls, while 56% were boys; 38% were term and 62% were preterm. Average 25(OH)D3
      level of all infants was 11.4 +/- 10.2 (0-153) ng/ml. Only 30 (4%) infants had
      normal (>30 ng/ml) 25(OH)D3 levels; 68 (9%) had mild, 234 (31%) had moderate and
      418 (56%) had severe vitamin D deficiency. No correlation was found between
      Vitamin D levels and gender, mother's age, gestational week or birth weight. In
      79 (17.2%) preterms, neonatal hypocalcemia was observed. Vitamin D levels of the
      premature infants who had early neonatal hypocalcemia were statistically
      significantly lower when compared with those who did not have early neonatal
      hypocalcemia (p = .02). No significant difference was found between the Vitamin D
      levels of the term infants who had early neonatal hypocalcemia and those who did
      not (p= .29). No significant difference was found between the Vitamin D levels of
      the infants who had late neonatal hypocalcemia and those who did not (in preterm
      p = .27; in term p = .29). CONCLUSIONS: Although lack of Vitamin D is preventable
      and curable, it is an important health problem for newborns in Turkey. In our
      study, 56% of the infants were found to have severe lack of Vitamin D and lack of
      Vitamin D was found to be associated with early neonatal hypocalcemia in preterm
      newborns. However, long-term effects of lack of Vitamin D in infancy are not
      fully known. In order to be able to prevent neonatal Vitamin D deficiency, 1200
      IU/day vitamin D was supplemented to mothers from the 12th gestational week to
      6th month of the birth, which was put into effect by the Ministry of Health in
      2011, and should be applied by all health workers.

PMID- 28610461
TI  - The impact of transferred vascularized toe joint length on motion arc of
      reconstructed finger proximal interphalangeal joints: a cadaveric study.
AB  - Vascularized toe joint transfer for finger proximal interphalangeal joint
      reconstruction can result in sub-optimal arc of motion and extension lag due to
      inappropriate intercalated bony segment length. We investigated the impact of
      intercalated segment length on passive arc of motion and extension lag of the
      reconstructed proximal interphalangeal joint. Cadaveric intercalated joint grafts
      were harvested from lesser toes and transferred to cadaveric fingers. The pre
      determined finger proximal interphalangeal joint defect size was 2 cm. Three
      different intercalated segment lengths were inserted and resulting proximal
      interphalangeal joint arc of motion and extension lag were measured. The average
      arc of motion of finger proximal interphalangeal joints was 81 degrees  and 54
      degrees  for toe proximal interphalangeal joints. Long intercalated segments had
      an average arc of motion of 30 degrees  with 32 degrees  extension lag. Equal
      length intercalated segments had an average 49 degrees  arc of motion with 15
      degrees  extension lag. Short intercalated segments had an average arc of motion
      of 71 degrees  with 8 degrees  extension lag. Shorter intercalated segments
      provide the greatest reduction in extension lag.

PMID- 28610464
TI  - Methodological quality and reporting of systematic reviews in hand and wrist
      pathology.
AB  - : The objective of this study was to assess methodological and reporting quality
      of systematic reviews in hand and wrist pathology. MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane
      Library were searched from inception to November 2016 for relevant studies.
      Reporting quality was evaluated using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic
      Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and methodological quality using a measurement
      tool to assess systematic reviews, the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews
      (AMSTAR). Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used to identify
      features associated with improved methodological quality. A total of 91 studies
      were included in the analysis. Most reviews inadequately reported PRISMA items
      regarding study protocol, search strategy and bias and AMSTAR items regarding
      protocol, publication bias and funding. Systematic reviews published in a
      plastics journal, or which included more authors, were associated with higher
      AMSTAR scores. A large proportion of systematic reviews within hand and wrist
      pathology literature score poorly with validated methodological assessment tools,
      which may affect the reliability of their conclusions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I.

PMID- 28610465
TI  - Successful Truncal Valve Replacement With a Mechanical Valve After Bilateral
      Pulmonary Artery Banding.
AB  - Surgical management of truncus arteriosus, or common arterial trunk, has expanded
      over the past three decades to include earlier surgical intervention, initially
      during infancy and now chiefly in the neonatal period. Many studies have shown
      that preoperative truncal valve insufficiency is an independent risk factor for
      mortality. We herein present the case of a five-month-old boy with severe truncal
      valve insufficiency who underwent repair of common arterial trunk and prosthetic
      replacement of the truncal valve with associated annular enlargement after
      initial stabilization in the newborn period via palliative bilateral pulmonary
      artery banding. We believe that initial bilateral pulmonary artery banding
      represents a viable option for some cases of common arterial trunk involving
      truncal valve insufficiency.

PMID- 28610466
TI  - The Effect of Practice and Visual Feedback on Oral-Diadochokinetic Rates for
      Younger and Older Adults.
AB  - Assessments of oral-diadochokinetic rates are commonly performed to evaluate oral
      motor skills. However, the appropriate administration protocol is not defined,
      and varies across therapists, clinics and laboratories. In three experiments and
      an auxiliary one, this study analyzes the effects of brief (motor) practice and
      visual feedback on the performance of 98 younger (20-40 years old) and 78 older
      adults (over 65) with the sequential motion rate (SMR) version. Overall rates
      were significantly faster for younger over older adults. Irrespective of age
      group, averaged performance was significantly better on the second round, but the
      third round was found to be superfluous, across experiments and age-groups.
      Visual feedback (using a mirror) was found to be detrimental for younger adults,
      eliminating the advantage reaped from a practice round. For older adults, visual
      feedback did not alter the effect of a practice round. Sensory (visual)
      degradation is presented as a possible source for this age-related difference. We
      discuss these findings and suggest an administration protocol for younger and
      older adults with the SMR version, including a total of two rounds and no visual
      feedback.

PMID- 28610467
TI  - Longitudinal covariance of resting-state cardiac function and borderline
      personality disorder symptoms in adolescent non-suicidal self-injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cardiac function is altered in borderline personality disorder (BPD).
      In adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) resting heart rate (HR) and
      vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) are associated with BPD symptoms.
      The study aimed to investigate longitudinal covariance of BPD symptoms and
      cardiac function in adolescent NSSI. METHODS: HR and vmHRV were recorded in
      female adolescents with NSSI (n = 17) completing a baseline and 1-year follow-up
      assessment. Physiological data, structured clinical interviews and self-reports
      were obtained at both time points. Predictors of change in clinical outcomes and
      cardiac function were assessed. RESULTS: Patients showed a reduction of NSSI
      (z(34;17) = -3.79, P < 0.0001), depressive symptoms (z(34;17) = -3.74, P <
      0.0001), and increases in the level of functioning (z(34;17) = 2.87, P = 0.004).
      Symptoms of BPD and frequency of BPD diagnosis did not significantly change. No
      significant differences on HR or vmHRV were observed. Changes in BPD symptoms
      were associated with changes in HR (r(17)= 0.532, P = 0.028) and vmHRV (r(17) = 
      0.516, P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal changes in BPD symptomatology in
      adolescents engaging in NSSI are associated with changes in resting cardiac
      function. Clinical studies are needed to investigate the utility of cardiac
      markers to track treatment outcome in adolescents with BPD.

PMID- 28610468
TI  - Analysis of preventability of stroke-related maternal death from the nationwide
      registration system of maternal deaths in Japan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The number of stroke-related maternal deaths is increasing in Japan.
      We investigated methods to reduce maternal death from stroke. METHODS: We
      analyzed stroke-related maternal deaths in Japan reported to the Committee of the
      Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare from 2010 to 2014 inclusive. RESULTS: A
      total of 35 cases were identified. The median maternal age was 35 years (range 22
      45) and the incidence of stoke in women >=40 was seven-fold higher than in <34.
      Etiologies were pregnancy induced hypertension in 16, subarachnoid hemorrhage in
      seven, cerebral infarction in three, arteriovenous malformation in two, Moyamoya
      disease in one, and origin unknown cerebral hemorrhage in six. These cases
      occurred in antepartum 43%, in postpartum 31%, and in intrapartum 26%. 23 cases
      were deemed non-preventable and 12 cases preventable. Possible preventable
      factors occurred antepartum in 23, postpartum in seven, and intrapartum in six.
      Preventable features included inadequate hypertension control (33%), presenting
      too late for termination of pregnancy (14%), delayed hospitalization (11%), and
      delayed maternal transfer (11%). CONCLUSIONS: A total of 90% of strokes were
      hemorrhagic, and older mothers (>= 40) were most at risk. Most possible
      preventable factors occurred antepartum, and improved control of hypertension and
      earlier termination would help to reduce maternal death from stroke.

PMID- 28610470
TI  - WITHDRAWN: A case of filum terminale arterial venous fistula needing a long
      arterial access for transarterial shunt obliteration.

PMID- 28610469
TI  - The American Board of Vascular Medicine Endovascular Board Examination - Raising
      the bar by testing the test.

PMID- 28610472
TI  - Incidental breast carcinoma in reduction mammoplasty.
AB  - AIM: The objective of this study was to analyze the incidence and treatment
      options of occult cancer or atypical lesions found in the histopathological
      examination of reduction mammoplasty (RM) specimens. The role of preoperative
      mammography and systematic histopathological examination are discussed. METHODS:
      We performed a retrospective single-center database review of all patients who
      underwent a RM between January 2005 and December 2014. Preoperative examination,
      histopathological findings and follow-up were documented. RESULTS: A total of
      1045 patients underwent RM, of which 97% were bilateral (1021). All patients
      received a mammography and routine clinical examination to exclude cancer
      preoperatively. The overall mean patient age was 40.2 years (14.2-73.4). A total
      of 19 patients (1.18%) had significant histopathological findings, all of whom
      were over 40 years of age. There were 4 incidental carcinomas (0.38%), of which 2
      were DCIS (0.19%) and 2 invasive ductal carcinomas (0.19%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Incidence of postoperative diagnosis of occult breast cancer in RM specimens
      remains low, but poses significant therapeutic challenges. While emphasis should
      lay on preoperative diagnostics, routine histological analysis of RM specimens is
      recommended.

PMID- 28610473
TI  - Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), stress, and sex
      hormones.
AB  - Stressor exposure is associated with the onset and severity of many
      psychopathologies that are more common in women than men. Moreover, the
      maladaptive expression and function of stress-related hormones have been
      implicated in these disorders. Evidence suggests that PACAP has a critical role
      in the stress circuits mediating stress-responding, and PACAP may interact with
      sex hormones to contribute to sex differences in stress-related disease. In this
      review, we describe the role of the PACAP/PAC1 system in stress biology, focusing
      on the role of stress-induced alterations in PACAP expression and signaling in
      the development of stress-induced behavioral change. Additionally, we present
      more recent data suggesting potential interactions between stress, PACAP, and
      circulating estradiol in pathological states, including PTSD. These studies
      suggest that the level of stress and circulating gonadal hormones may
      differentially regulate the PACAPergic system in males and females to influence
      anxiety-like behavior and may be one mechanism underlying the discrepancies in
      human psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 28610471
TI  - Mechanically Loading Cell/Hydrogel Constructs with Low-Intensity Pulsed
      Ultrasound for Bone Repair.
AB  - Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has been shown to be effective for
      orthopedic fracture repair and nonunion defects, but the specific mechanism
      behind its efficacy is still unknown. Previously, we have shown a measurable
      acoustic radiation force at LIPUS intensities traditionally used for clinical
      treatment and have applied this force to osteoblastic cells encapsulated in type
      I collagen hydrogels. Our goal in this study is to provide insight and inform the
      appropriate design of a cell therapy approach to bone repair in which osteoblasts
      are embedded in collagen hydrogels, implanted into a bony defect, and then
      transdermally stimulated using LIPUS-derived acoustic radiation force to enhance
      bone formation at the earliest time points after bone defect repair. To this end,
      in this study, we demonstrate the ability to measure local hydrogel deformations
      in response to LIPUS-induced acoustic radiation force and reveal that hydrogel
      deformation varies with both LIPUS intensity and hydrogel stiffness.
      Specifically, hydrogel deformation is positively correlated with LIPUS intensity
      and this deformation is further increased by reducing the stiffness of the
      hydrogel. We have also shown that encapsulated osteoblastic cells respond to
      increases in LIPUS intensity by upregulating both cyclooxygenase 2 and
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), both implicated in new bone formation and well
      established responses to the application of fluid forces on osteoblast cells.
      Finally, we demonstrate that combining an increase in LIPUS with a three
      dimensional culture environment upregulates both markers beyond their expression
      noted from either experimental condition alone, suggesting that both LIPUS and
      hydrogel encapsulation, when combined and modulated appropriately, can enhance
      osteoblastic response considerably. These studies provide important information
      toward a clinically relevant cell therapy treatment for bone defects that allows
      the transdermal application of mechanical loading to bone defects without
      physically destabilizing the defect site.

PMID- 28610475
TI  - General and specific factors of working alliance in parent training: A bifactor
      exploratory structural equation modelling approach.
AB  - The Working Alliance Inventory Short form (WAI-S) comprises 12 items that measure
      3 subdomains (goal, task, and bond). In the present study, we evaluated the
      factor structure of WAI-S in a parent management training (PMT) context, by
      investigating a series of different factor models, including standard
      confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) models and more recent alternatives, like the
      exploratory structural equation model (ESEM), the bifactor-CFA, and the bifactor
      exploratory structural equation model (B-ESEM). The study sample consisted of 259
      Norwegian parents receiving PMT - the Oregon model (PMTO). Alliance was rated by
      parents of children with emerging or present conduct problems after the first
      therapy session. Results showed that the B-ESEM model provided best model fit to
      the data. Estimated sources of variance and omega reliabilities supported a
      strong general alliance factor, but revealed poor quality of the specific
      factors. Overall, the present study implies that specific factors of working
      alliance should be interpreted with caution; rather one should rely on a general
      working alliance construct. Clinical or methodological significance of this
      article: Findings suggest that working alliance, as measured by WAI-S in a PMT
      context, is best reflected by a general construct that also take into account
      multidimensionality. However, only the general factors provide acceptable
      reliability. Consequently, practitioners should use the specific factors with
      caution. The indicators of the specific factors should be improved.

PMID- 28610474
TI  - Trunk Function and Ischial Pressure Offloading in Individuals with Spinal Cord
      Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a relationship between trunk function and
      offloading of the ischial tuberosities in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
      (SCI). DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional evaluation. SETTING: Sub-acute
      rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen non-ambulatory participants with
      complete or incomplete traumatic and non-traumatic SCI, American Spinal Injury
      Association Impairment Scale (AIS), Classification A-D. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Isometric trunk strength using a hand held dynamometer, the ability to reach
      using the multidirectional reach test and offloading times of the ischial
      tuberosities using a customized pressure mat. RESULTS: Participants who were able
      to engage in the multidirectional reach test were defined as "Reachers", whereas
      individuals who were unable to engage in the multidirectional reach test were
      defined as "Non-Reachers". Trunk strength was significantly higher in Reachers
      compared with Non-Reachers (P < 0.05). Offloading times over the left and right
      ischial tuberosities were lower in Non-Reachers when compared with Reachers,
      however the results were statistically significant only for offloading over the
      right ischial tuberosity (P < 0.05). There was no correlation between trunk
      strength and pressure offloading times for both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless
      of an individual's ability to engage in a reaching task, participants with spinal
      cord injury spent more time offloading the left ischial tuberosity compared with
      the right ischial tuberosity. The study highlights the need to identify factors
      that may contribute to offloading behavior in individuals with spinal cord injury
      who lack sufficient trunk strength.

PMID- 28610477
TI  - Lower extremity joint coupling variability during gait in young adults with and
      without chronic ankle instability.
AB  - Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a condition resulting from a lateral ankle
      sprain. Shank-rearfoot joint-coupling variability differences have been found in
      CAI patients; however, joint-coupling variability (VCV) of the ankle and proximal
      joints has not been explored. Our purpose was to analyse VCV in adults with and
      without CAI during gait. Four joint-coupling pairs were analysed: knee sagittal
      ankle sagittal, knee sagittal-ankle frontal, hip frontal-ankle sagittal and hip
      frontal-ankle frontal. Twenty-seven adults participated (CAI:n = 13, Control:n =
      14). Lower extremity kinematics were collected during walking (4.83 km/h) and
      jogging (9.66 km/h). Vector-coding was used to assess the stride-to-stride
      variability of four coupling pairs. During walking, CAI patients exhibited higher
      VCV than healthy controls for knee sagittal-ankle frontal in latter parts of
      stance thru mid-swing. When jogging, CAI patients demonstrated lower VCV with
      specific differences occurring across various intervals of gait. The increased
      knee sagittal-ankle frontal VCV in CAI patients during walking may indicate an
      adaptation to deal with the previously identified decrease in variability in
      transverse plane shank and frontal plane rearfoot coupling during walking; while
      the decreased ankle-knee and ankle-hip VCV identified in CAI patients during
      jogging may represent a more rigid, less adaptable sensorimotor system ambulating
      at a faster speed.

PMID- 28610476
TI  - Budd-Chiari syndrome with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage: Characteristic and
      long-term outcomes of endovascular treatment.
AB  - Purpose To identify the characteristics and evaluate the long-term outcomes of
      endovascular treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome with upper gastrointestinal
      hemorrhage. Methods Forty-seven consecutive Budd-Chiari syndrome patients with
      upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage were referred for the treatment with
      percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty, and subsequently underwent follow
      up. Data were retrospectively collected and follow-up observations were performed
      at 1, 2, 2-5, and 5-8 years postoperatively. Results Cirrhosis was presented in
      16 patients, and splenoportography reviewed obvious varices in 18 patients.
      Percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty was technically successful in all
      patients. Major procedure-related complications occurred in 3 of the 47 patients
      (6.38%). The cumulative 1, 2, 2-5, and 5-8 year primary patency rates were 100%
      (46/46), 93.2% (41/44), 90.9% (40/44), and 86.4% (19/22), respectively. The
      cumulative 1, 2, 2-5, and 5-8 year secondary patency rates were 100% (47/47),
      100% (44/44), 100% (44/44), and 95.5% (21/22), respectively. Mean and median
      duration of primary patency was 65.17 +/- 3.78 and 69.0 +/- 5.69 months,
      respectively. No upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage recurred during follow-ups.
      The mean survival time was 66.97 +/- 3.61 months and the median survival time was
      69.0 +/- 4.10 months. Conclusion PTBA was an effective treatment that can prevent
      recurrence of the life-threatening complications and ensured long-term
      satisfactory clinical outcomes for Budd-Chiari syndrome patients with upper
      gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Percutaneous transhepatic variceal embolization was
      not recommended for all Budd-Chiari syndrome patients with upper gastrointestinal
      hemorrhage.

PMID- 28610478
TI  - A new method of auxiliary purification for motor vehicle exhaust.
AB  - As a result of the limitations of current purification technologies, purification
      efficiency is relatively low, particularly during startup or in the case of other
      abnormal automobile exhaust. Therefore, a new method of auxiliary purification is
      proposed in this paper. The acidic solution of potassium permanganate can oxidize
      carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide at relatively high
      temperatures and the alkaline solution of potassium permanganate can selectively
      absorb nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. Therefore, we carried out the
      experiment using a solution of potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid as well
      as a solution of sodium carbonate and potassium permanganate, which served as the
      reagents for the auxiliary purification. The results of the test showed that
      after auxiliary purification by the acidic solution of potassium permanganate and
      the alkaline solution of potassium permanganate, the concentrations of carbon
      monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and solid particles in the emissions were
      considerably lower than the concentrations prior to purification. It is possible
      to reduce the motor vehicle exhaust by the auxiliary purification of the
      solutions.

PMID- 28610479
TI  - Quetiapine abuse and dependence: is pharmacokinetics important?

PMID- 28610480
TI  - Induced Redifferentiation of Human Chondrocytes from Articular Cartilage Lesion
      in Alginate Bead Culture After Monolayer Dedifferentiation: An Alternative Cell
      Source for Cell-Based Therapies?
AB  - Human chondrocytes isolated from articular cartilage (AC) lesions as an
      alternative cell source to the standard nonweight-bearing notch biopsy site may
      hold clinical potential for cell-based therapies. The aim was to characterize
      human AC lesion site chondrocytes, compare them to notch chondrocytes, and
      evaluate their redifferentiation potential after monolayer expansion and
      subsequent three-dimensional (3D) alginate bead culture. Lesion chondrocytes from
      knee joints of 20 patients with International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS)
      grade 3 and 4 cartilage defects were analyzed ex vivo or cultured in primary
      alginate bead culture, monolayer expansion, or redifferentiated in alginate
      culture following monolayer expansion. The mRNA expression of the types I, II,
      and X collagen, and the proteoglycan aggrecan was compared between the four
      groups. In addition, notch chondrocytes of nine patients were compared to lesion
      chondrocytes ex vivo. AC lesion chondrocytes displayed ex vivo a nondegenerative
      phenotype, characterized by a relatively high mRNA expression of aggrecan and
      type II and X collagen, but a low type I collagen expression and a low ratio of
      type I to II collagen mRNA expression. Compared to notch chondrocytes, the mRNA
      expression of aggrecan and type II collagen was comparable and the ratio of type
      I to II collagen mRNA expression was below 1 in both groups, indicating a
      functional chondrocyte phenotype. Dedifferentiation led to a significantly
      altered degenerative mRNA expression profile. Induced redifferentiation in
      alginate beads after monolayer expansion significantly improved the mRNA
      expression of aggrecan, the type I and II collagen, and the type I to II collagen
      ratio, compared to monolayer expansion only. These data suggested that
      redifferentiating lesion chondrocytes after monolayer expansion in alginate beads
      resulted in a pool of cells with greater chondrogenic potential, compared to
      expanded dedifferentiated chondrocytes. Collectively, these data suggest that ex
      vivo and redifferentiated lesion chondrocytes may hold nonutilized clinical
      potential for the tissue engineering of AC.

PMID- 28610481
TI  - Efficacy of Humanized Mesenchymal Stem Cell Cultures for Bone Tissue Engineering:
      A Systematic Review with a Focus on Platelet Derivatives.
AB  - Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is the most commonly used supplement for ex vivo
      expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) for bone tissue engineering
      applications. However, from a clinical standpoint, it is important to substitute
      animal-derived products according to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP)
      guidelines. Humanized alternatives to FBS include three categories of products:
      human serum (HS), human platelet derivatives (HPDs)-including platelet lysate
      (PL) or platelet releasate (PR), produced by freeze/thawing or chemical
      activation of platelet concentrates, respectively, and chemically defined media
      (serum-free) (CDM). In this systematic literature review, the in vitro and in
      vivo osteogenic potential of hMSCs expanded in humanized (HS-, HPD-, or CDM
      supplemented) media versus hMSCs expanded in FBS-supplemented media, was
      compared. In addition, PL and PR were compared in terms of their growth factor
      (GF)/cytokine-content and cell-culture efficacy. When using either 10-20%
      autologous or pooled HS, 3-10% pooled HPDs or CDM supplemented with GFs, in
      comparison with 10-20% FBS, a majority of studies reported similar or superior in
      vitro proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, and in vivo bone formation in
      ectopic or orthotopic rodent models. Moreover, a trend for higher GF content was
      observed in PL versus PR, although evidence for cell culture efficacy is limited.
      In summary, humanized supplements seem at least equally effective as FBS for hMSC
      expansion and osteogenic differentiation. Although pooled HPDs appear to be the
      most favorable supplement for large-scale hMSC expansion, further efforts are
      needed to standardize the preparation and composition of these products in
      compliance with cGMP standards.

PMID- 28610482
TI  - Randomised controlled trial of a healthy lifestyle intervention among smokers
      with psychotic disorders: Outcomes to 36 months.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: People living with psychotic disorders (schizophrenia spectrum and
      bipolar disorders) have high rates of cardiovascular disease risk behaviours,
      including smoking, physical inactivity and poor diet. We report cardiovascular
      disease risk, smoking cessation and other risk behaviour outcomes over 36 months
      following recruitment into a two-arm randomised controlled trial among smokers
      with psychotic disorders. METHODS: Participants ( N = 235) drawn from three sites
      were randomised to receive nicotine replacement therapy plus (1) a Healthy
      Lifestyles intervention delivered over approximately 9 months or (2) a largely
      telephone-delivered intervention (designed to control for nicotine replacement
      therapy provision, session frequency and other monitoring). The primary outcome
      variables were 10-year cardiovascular disease risk and smoking status, while the
      secondary outcomes included weekly physical activity, unhealthy eating, waist
      circumference, psychiatric symptomatology, depression and global functioning.
      RESULTS: Significant reductions in cardiovascular disease risk and smoking were
      detected across the 36-month follow-up period in both intervention conditions,
      with no significant differences between conditions. One-quarter (25.5%) of
      participants reported reducing cigarettes per day by 50% or more at multiple post
      treatment assessments; however, few (8.9%) managed to sustain this across the
      majority of time points. Changes in other health behaviours or lifestyle factors
      were modest; however, significant improvements in depression and global
      functioning were detected over time in both conditions. Participants experiencing
      worse 'social discomfort' at baseline (e.g. anxiety, mania, poor self-esteem and
      social disability) had on average significantly worse global functioning, lower
      scores on the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey physical scale and significantly
      greater waist circumference. CONCLUSION: Although the telephone-delivered
      intervention was designed as a comparison condition, it achieved excellent
      retention and comparable outcomes. Telephone-delivered smoking cessation support
      may potentially help to reduce smoking rates among people with psychotic
      disorders. Discomfort in social situations may also be a useful target for future
      health interventions, addressing confidence and social skills, and promoting
      social networks that reduce inactivity.

PMID- 28610483
TI  - The Wellcome Image Awards 2017.

PMID- 28610484
TI  - A nutritional intervention programme at a worksite canteen to promote a healthful
      lifestyle inspired by the traditional Mediterranean diet.
AB  - This study investigates the effectiveness and long-term impact on the composition
      of the habitual diet of a nutritional intervention programme - undertaken through
      panels, totems, and table mats or handout leaflets - based on the promotion at a
      worksite canteen of healthy food-choices resembling the traditional Mediterranean
      diet. A significantly higher choice of dishes based on wholegrain cereals,
      legumes, white meat and fish, and a lower choice of dishes based on refined
      cereals, red and processed meat, eggs and cheese was observed at the end of the
      intervention and after six months and three years of follow-ups. A significantly
      better adherence to the nutritional recommendations for saturated-fat,
      cholesterol, sugars and fibre was observed. This study reveals that a nutritional
      intervention programme promoting the traditional Mediterranean diet and utilising
      a minimally intensive approach is feasible and effective to modify in a
      beneficial way the dietary habits of a working population and keep these changes
      in the long-term.

PMID- 28610485
TI  - Effects of the bilayer nano-hydroxyapatite/mineralized collagen-guided bone
      regeneration membrane on site preservation in dogs.
AB  - This study was aimed at assessing the effects of the porous mineralized collagen
      plug with or without the bilayer mineralized collagen-guided bone regeneration
      membrane on alveolar ridge preservation in dogs. The third premolars in the
      bilateral maxilla of mongrel dogs ( N = 12) were extracted. Twenty-four alveolar
      sockets were thus randomly divided into three groups: membrane + collagen plug
      (MP, n = 8), nonmembrane + collagen plug (NP, n = 8) and blank group without any
      implantation (BG, n = 8). Radiographic assessment was carried out immediately and
      in the 2nd, 6th, and 12th week after surgery. The bone-repairing effects of the
      two grafts were respectively evaluated by clinical observation, X-ray micro
      computed tomography examination, and histological analysis in the 8th and 12th
      week after surgery. Three groups presented excellent osseointegration without any
      inflammation or dehiscence. X-ray micro-computed tomography and histological
      assessment indicated that the ratios of new bone formation of MP group were
      significantly higher than those of NP group and BG group in the 8th and 12th week
      after surgery ( P < 0.05). As a result, the porous mineralized collagen plug with
      or without the bilayer mineralized collagen-guided bone regeneration membrane
      could reduce the absorption of alveolar ridge compared to BG group, and the
      combined use of porous mineralized collagen plug and bilayer mineralized collagen
      guided bone regeneration could further improve the activity of bone regeneration.

PMID- 28610486
TI  - Resveratrol-loaded glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles
      wrapping resveratrol nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization, and targeting
      effect on liver tumors.
AB  - In this study, glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles
      wrapping resveratrol nanoparticles were prepared to establish a tumor targeting
      nano-sized drug delivery system. Glycyrrhizic acid was coupled to human serum
      albumin, and resveratrol was encapsulated in glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human
      serum albumin by high-pressure homogenization emulsification. The average
      particle size of sample nanoparticles prepared under the optimal conditions was
      108.1 +/- 5.3 nm with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.001, and the amount of
      glycyrrhizic acid coupled with human serum albumin was 112.56 ug/mg. The drug
      encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency were 83.6 and 11.5%,
      respectively. The glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles
      wrapping resveratrol nanoparticles were characterized through laser light
      scattering, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared
      spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry,
      thermogravimetric analyses, and gas chromatography. The characterization results
      showed that resveratrol in glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin
      nanoparticles wrapping resveratrol nanoparticles existed in amorphous state and
      the residual amounts of chloroform and methanol in nanoparticles were separately
      less than the international conference on harmonization (ICH) limit. The in vitro
      drug-release study showed that the nanoparticles released the drug slowly and
      continuously. The inhibitory rate of glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum
      albumin nanoparticles wrapping resveratrol nanoparticles was measured using 3
      (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2 H-tetrazolium bromide method. The IC50
      values of glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles wrapping
      resveratrol nanoparticles and resveratrol were 62.5 and 95.5 ug/ml, respectively.
      The target ability of glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin
      nanoparticles wrapping resveratrol nanoparticles for HepG2 cells was evaluated
      using fluorescence-modified albumin techniques. The uptake rate of glycyrrhizic
      acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles wrapping resveratrol
      nanoparticles was higher than that of pure resveratrol and increased with
      increased nanoparticles concentration. The in vivo body distribution of
      glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles wrapping
      resveratrol nanoparticles labeled with the near-infrared fluorophore Cy5 was
      monitored in H22 tumor-bearing mice through near-infrared fluorescence imaging
      systems. Glycyrrhizic acid-conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles wrapping
      resveratrol nanoparticles exhibited effective target orientation to liver tumor
      and sustained-release property.

PMID- 28610488
TI  - Dementia risk lowered by social support from adult children.
AB  - The risk of developing dementia in older people is reduced if they receive
      positive social support from their adult children, new research suggests.

PMID- 28610487
TI  - Establishment of novel meniscal scaffold structures using polyglycolic and poly-l
      lactic acids.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate various types of meniscus scaffolds
      that mimic the meniscus structure, and to establish a novel cell-free meniscus
      scaffold with polyglycolic acid or poly-l-lactic acid. Four types of scaffolds
      were implanted into Japanese white rabbits: poly-l-lactic acid sponge poly-l
      lactic acid, PGA-coated PLLA sponge, PGA lamination, and film-coated PGA
      lamination. Samples were harvested at 8 and 12 weeks after implantation, and a
      compression stress test was performed. The meniscus size and Ishida scores were
      evaluated for regenerated tissue. Immunohistochemistry was analyzed by anti-type
      I, II and X collagen antibodies to investigate the structure of the regenerated
      tissue, and by anti-iNOS antibody to investigate the inflammatory tissue of the
      meniscus. The cell nuclei of lymphocytes and foreign body multinucleated giant
      cells were counted in hematoxylin and eosin staining. Modified Mankin scores for
      cartilage degeneration were used for assessment after Safranin-O/Fast Green
      staining. The biomechanical test showed that l- and film-coated PGA lamination
      exhibited greater strength than s- and PGA-coated PLLA sponge. At 12 weeks, the
      size of meniscus and the Ishida score in implanted film-coated PGA lamination
      were improved significantly compared with the defect groups. The type II collagen
      staining intensity in the PGA lamination lamination is significantly higher than
      the defect at eight weeks. The staining intensity of iNOS and number of
      lymphocytes significantly increased in sponge poly-l-lactic acid at eight weeks,
      and increased in p-PLLA at 12 weeks. Foreign body multinucleated giant cells in
      implantation groups appeared, especially at eight weeks. The Mankin score for
      film-coated PGA lamination was significantly lower than for the defect at 12
      weeks. Novel meniscal scaffolds especially PGA should possess not only biological
      but also biomechanical functions. In conclusions, film-coated PGA lamination was
      the beneficial property for meniscus scaffold from the points of better
      biomechanical function, good regeneration, and less inflammation with
      chondroprotective effects.

PMID- 28610489
TI  - Ruling out antibiotics.
AB  - Most upper respiratory tract infections are viral. As antibiotics are only
      effective if the infection is caused by bacteria, they are not recommended in
      most cases. However, prescribing for respiratory tract infections in primary care
      is not an exact science, and deciding whether an infection is viral or bacterial
      is often down to individual clinicians.

PMID- 28610491
TI  - Body fat location could help to predict risk of cancer.
AB  - Cancer risk in older people may be predictable by the area of the body where fat
      is stored, researchers say.

PMID- 28610490
TI  - What is the point of bedside handovers?
AB  - What is the point of bedside handovers? I would be furious if any personal
      information was divulged about me in front of other patients or relatives. The
      only thing they are good for is ensuring safe handover of infusions and drains.

PMID- 28610492
TI  - Intentional rounding: Assessing the evidence.
AB  - Every nurse knows that on a busy shift there are patients who risk losing out on
      care and attention. There is the quiet old lady in the corner who never asks for
      anything; the patient who sleeps a lot and is easier not to disturb; the
      demanding patient who everyone scuttles past.

PMID- 28610493
TI  - Tragic loss of a good nurse.
AB  - I was so sad when I heard that nurse Kirsty Boden had been killed in the London
      Bridge terrorist attack. Her patients and colleagues have been robbed of an
      excellent caring nurse.

PMID- 28610495
TI  - One-to-one care from dedicated nurses helped allay my anxieties.
AB  - I have had excellent care from two nurses at two different hospitals in Heart of
      England NHS Foundation Trust in the West Midlands.

PMID- 28610494
TI  - Resign en masse or strike - it is time for nurses to get tough.
AB  - The annual Florence Nightingale memorial service, held in Westminster Abbey to
      commemorate International Nurses Day on May 12, is a poignant occasion where you
      feel you are renewing your nursing vows.

PMID- 28610496
TI  - Tributes paid to nurse who died while helping others during London attack.
AB  - The family of a nurse who died during the London terror attack has hailed her as
      a hero who 'ran towards danger' to help others.

PMID- 28610498
TI  - Assistant practitioners scheme to 'bridge the gap'.
AB  - An NHS trust is training assistant practitioners (APs) to bridge the gap between
      the duties of healthcare assistants and nurses.

PMID- 28610497
TI  - Pushing the boundaries for children with complex needs.
AB  - Since winning the RCN Wales Nurse of the Year title last year, life has been a
      whirlwind for Sian Thomas.

PMID- 28610500
TI  - It's time to raise the profile of endometriosis.
AB  - 'I never thought I'd be standing on Westminster Bridge shouting about periods,'
      said a friend. She had been on a march to highlight the importance of early
      diagnosis of a life-changing, fertility-wrecking, career-destroying condition.

PMID- 28610501
TI  - Race equality in the NHS: a plan for progress.
AB  - Two years ago it became compulsory for NHS organisations to show how they are
      addressing race equality for their staff.

PMID- 28610502
TI  - 'My job challenges me every day'.
AB  - After qualifying as a children's nurse at the end of 1990, Brian McGowan worked
      as a staff nurse in paediatric intensive care before moving on to work in burns
      and reconstructive surgery. He developed the clinical educator post in Belfast,
      Northern Ireland and, after a brief stint as a research nurse, was appointed as a
      lecturer at Ulster University in 2001. He and his wife Fiona have two children,
      Jack and Sarah.

PMID- 28610503
TI  - Student life - A collaborative approach to pre-registration education.
AB  - Collaborative learning is essential to the education of pre-registration nurses.
      At Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust we have adopted
      a coaching approach to education using the Collaborative Learning in Practice
      (CLiP) model.

PMID- 28610504
TI  - Readers' panel - Should all nurses wear body cameras when at work?
AB  - Our experts consider a hot topic of the day.

PMID- 28610505
TI  - Lonely students more at risk of mental health problems.
AB  - Students who feel lonely are at greater risk of developing mental health
      problems, including anxiety and depression, a study has found.

PMID- 28610507
TI  - Promoting professionalism.
AB  - Essential facts Helping nurses provide the best care possible is at the heart of
      new guidance on professionalism from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and
      chief nursing officers from across the UK.

PMID- 28610506
TI  - Developing and evaluating a foundation preceptorship programme for newly
      qualified nurses.
AB  - In 2014, an innovative, three-tiered foundation preceptorship programme for newly
      qualified nurses was developed in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation
      Trust. The programme was to be mandatory for newly qualified nurses commencing
      Band 5 posts in the trust, and has a structured curriculum that integrates skills
      development, preceptorship and clinical supervision. Aim To evaluate the Oxford
      University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust foundation preceptorship programme for
      newly qualified nurses commencing Band 5 posts in the trust. Method Data were
      collected through questionnaires and focus groups with newly qualified nurses and
      nurse managers in the trust. Findings Respondents indicated the foundation
      preceptorship programme had positive value and improved the experience of newly
      qualified nurses during their first year of clinical practice. Newly qualified
      nurses wished to regularly reflect with experienced nurses and obtain feedback on
      their practice from clinical experts to develop their clinical skills. A
      professionally-regulated agreed percentage of preceptor-preceptee supervision
      time may enhance preceptorship standards. Conclusion The foundation preceptorship
      programme had several benefits for newly qualified nurses and nurse managers, and
      their feedback on the programme was positive. The development and evaluation of
      the foundation preceptorship programme may inform the future education and
      training of newly qualified nurses during their first year in clinical practice.

PMID- 28610508
TI  - Getting ready to take the lead in neonatal care.
AB  - Inspiring others is important to Nicky McCarthy, who works in a trail-blazing
      role as an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner.

PMID- 28610511
TI  - Mindfulness.
AB  - What was the nature of the CPD activity, practice-related feedback and/or event
      and/or experience in your practice? The article discussed how mindfulness and
      self-compassion can enhance compassionate care. At a time when the NHS is under
      increased pressure and media scrutiny, it was useful to read about strategies
      that support nurses to manage this pressure and maintain high standards of care.

PMID- 28610514
TI  - Preterm babies more at risk of heart failure in subsequent years.
AB  - Preterm babies are more likely to develop heart failure during their childhood
      and adolescence than those born at full term, researchers have found.

PMID- 28610515
TI  - Money tree for some....
AB  - The Conservative party says there is no magic tree for public sector workers, so
      why is there a money tree for MPs and tax cuts for corporations and high earners?
      We have lost the bursary, and students will have to pay for their training. If
      pay stays the way it is, there will be consequences for the profession and the
      NHS. School leavers and mature students will not train to do a job that leaves
      them in debit and poor.

PMID- 28610512
TI  - Learning disability nurse named RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year.
AB  - A learning disability nurse has been named RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year
      for integrating services for young people with intellectual disabilities.

PMID- 28610516
TI  - Credentialing is 15 years behind.
AB  - I was pleased to see the RCN inviting applications for the credentialing scheme
      (news, 31 May). I note the piece indicated that credentialing will provide formal
      recognition of high quality advanced-level nursing practice.

PMID- 28610517
TI  - Showing strong leadership during a period of change.
AB  - Think back to any change within your clinical environment that has had a direct
      impact on your role. It may have been limited to your ward or something that was
      implemented across the whole of your NHS trust. Now think of all the emotions
      linked to this change, both positive and negative.

PMID- 28610519
TI  - Nurse vacancies climb to all-time high in Scotland.
AB  - Nursing and midwifery vacancies in Scotland continue to rise, as does spend on
      temporary staff, according to data released by the Information Services Division
      Scotland (ISD).

PMID- 28610518
TI  - Our health secretary remains, but his priorities must change.
AB  - So welcome back, Jeremy Hunt. Many congratulations on your re-appointment, even
      if the election did not pan out as you had hoped. Your mandate is weak, but your
      leader is keen to 'get on with the job', so here's what nurses would like you to
      prioritise over the next 12 months.

PMID- 28610521
TI  - Memorial held for Dame Sheila Quinn.
AB  - The life of 'remarkable' former RCN president Dame Sheila Quinn was celebrated at
      a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral in London last week.

PMID- 28610522
TI  - Election wins boost nurse numbers in the Commons.
AB  - Nursing voices in parliament have been strengthened following the election of a
      fourth nurse to the House of Commons.

PMID- 28610524
TI  - New government must start listening, say nurse leaders.
AB  - The NHS is at risk of further decay unless the new government heeds warnings by
      healthcare staff, say nursing leaders.

PMID- 28610523
TI  - Nursing workforce crisis is self-inflicted.
AB  - For years this country has been sleepwalking towards a major nursing shortage
      that is self-inflicted. The Brexit vote was a wake-up call, but it has merely
      quickened the pace towards a staffing crisis that was already coming.

PMID- 28610525
TI  - Baby Symptom Checker.
AB  - A new online baby symptom checker has been launched by Nutricia Early Life
      Nutrition to enhance conversations between healthcare professionals and parents
      about common feeding problems.

PMID- 28610526
TI  - Considering patient experience and evidence-based choice of medicines in
      medicines optimisation.
AB  - Medicines optimisation can be used by healthcare professionals to support
      patients to gain maximum benefit from their medicines, with two of the main
      principles being understanding the patient experience and ensuring medicines
      choice is evidence-based. Non-adherence is a significant issue in medicines
      management. Relational aspects of the patient experience, such as empathetic two
      way communication between the healthcare professional and patient, the provision
      of clear information and shared decision-making, can have a positive influence on
      whether patients take their medicines as intended. In practice, the degree of
      influence exerted by evidence-based guidelines may result in tensions between the
      healthcare professional's choice of medicines and the patient's experience, while
      the prevalence of multimorbidity may mean that some patients are prescribed
      medicines from several clinical guidelines. This raises issues in relation to
      patient morbidity and safety, including the potential for issues with
      polypharmacy and an increased risk of adverse drug reactions. Medication review
      is an important tool for identifying the patient's medication burden, and
      deprescribing - the planned reduction of medicines that may no longer be
      effective - is emerging as a strategy to reduce polypharmacy. Further progress is
      required to increase patient involvement in the development of guidance for
      medicines management to enhance the quality of patient care, particularly in
      relation to their values and preferences. Similarly, further research is
      necessary to identify how patients make decisions about their medicines use.

PMID- 28610527
TI  - Proper People: Early Asylum Life in the Words of Those Who Were There Scrimgeour
      David Proper People: Early Asylum Life in the Words of Those Who Were There 480pp
      L14.99 York Publishing Services 978099371509 0993371507 [Formula: see text].
AB  - This text is essential for anyone interested in the history of psychiatric care.
      It covers the period 1818-1869, taking us through the biographies of mentally ill
      patients in Yorkshire's West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Wakefield.

PMID- 28610528
TI  - Oncologists say hospice is best place for blood cancer care.
AB  - Patients with blood cancer needing end of life care are better off in a hospice
      than being cared for at home, according to a survey of US oncologists.

PMID- 28610529
TI  - Regulation is not the only way.
AB  - Healthcare regulation is about public protection. Whether the public is at
      increased risk from a nurse practitioner, and whether that risk can be addressed
      within the current regulatory framework, has been grappled with by the
      profession, regulators and employers for years.

PMID- 28610530
TI  - Speaking up for patient safety.
AB  - In my second year of training I was in placement on a cardiac/respiratory ward
      where I was caring for a bay of four patients under the supervision of my mentor.

PMID- 28610531
TI  - Keep handovers in the office.
AB  - Patient information is meant to be confidential. How is that possible when you
      give a bedside handover with other patients in the room (Readers' Panel, June 7).
      Handovers should be done in the office, followed by a walk around to introduce
      yourself as the nurse taking over the care, and to check on any infusions.

PMID- 28610532
TI  - Get dressed and get well.
AB  - [Figure: see text] I read your #endPJparalysis news analysis (31 May) with wonder
      and anger. I have worked in rehabilitation nursing for more than 20 years from
      strokes to surgical to amputation. We always strive to get patients dressed, to
      aid recovery, promote independence, encourage exercise and to help the patient
      regain their individuality. I am shocked that the acute sector is making such a
      fuss about something they should have been doing all along.

PMID- 28610533
TI  - Not Your Average Nurse: The Entertaining True Story of a Student Nurse in 1970s
      London Groff Maggie Not Your Average Nurse: The Entertaining True Story of a
      Student Nurse in 1970s London 352pp L7.99 Penguin 9780552174145 0552174149
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - This lighthearted and reflective account was written for the author's daughter to
      give her an insight into her mother's early years of training as a nursing
      student.

PMID- 28610535
TI  - NMC consults on 'radical' nurse education plans.
AB  - The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched a public consultation on its
      long-awaited plans for a 'radical' overhaul of UK nurse education.

PMID- 28610536
TI  - Triceps Ruptures After Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics: A Report of 2 Cases.
AB  - Rupture of the triceps brachii tendon is exceedingly rare, and surgical repair is
      generally indicated. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics have been implicated in tendon
      pathology, including tendon ruptures. Triceps rupture has not been previously
      reported in the setting of fluoroquinolone antibiotic therapy. We present 2 cases
      of triceps tendon rupture after treatment with fluoroquinolones. In both cases,
      triceps repair was performed with good outcomes. These cases highlight a risk of
      fluoroquinolone-induced tendinopathy to athletes. The sports medicine team should
      be aware of this risk and consider it when choosing antibiotics to treat
      athletes.

PMID- 28610538
TI  - Study of death to preservation time and its impact on utilisation of donor
      corneas.
AB  - To evaluate the impact of death-to-preservation time (DPT) on effective
      utilisation of donor corneas. In a prospective observational study conducted at
      our tertiary eye centre, donated corneas received over a 15-month period from
      November 2011 to January 2013 were evaluated. Donor age, donor refrigeration
      (done or not), DPT, endothelial cell density (ECD), corneal grading, clinical
      utilisation and surgical outcome after graft transplantation were noted. To
      analyse the impact of different DPT on donor cornea transplantation, primary
      outcome measures (corneal grading and endothelial cell density) and secondary
      outcome measures (primary graft failure and graft infection) were analysed. A
      total of 990 corneas were assessed. Primary outcomes showed no significant
      difference for higher DPT ( P > 0.01). ECD, where DPT was >12 h, was better for
      refrigerated corneas ( P < 0.001). Prolonged DPT had no significant effect on
      primary graft failure ( P = 0.131) and graft infection ( P = 0.137) in the first
      month after transplantation. We find that DPT should not be the only criteria to
      assess the cornea quality; other donor characteristics should be considered
      equally important. Donor refrigeration should be encouraged in cases where early
      retrieval is not possible.

PMID- 28610539
TI  - Service system and cognitive outcomes for young children with autism spectrum
      disorders in a rural area of Taiwan.
AB  - Chiayi is a rural county located in southwestern Taiwan, and the effectiveness of
      its early intervention service system for autism spectrum disorders was studied
      in detail. A total of 71 children with autism spectrum disorders ( n = 35) and
      developmental delay ( n = 36) aged 2.5 years were referred from the only Early
      Intervention Reporting and Referral Center in Chiayi and followed up at 4 years.
      Results showed relatively low and varied services of early intervention for both
      groups during two time-point periods and a relative lack of specific early
      intervention programs for children with autism spectrum disorders. It was found,
      however, that cognitive abilities were increased for autism spectrum disorders
      and developmental delay groups. Additionally, the Early Learning Score at the
      initial evaluation could contribute to the high learner autism spectrum disorders
      subgroup. Parental socio-economic level was also determined to benefit the high
      learner developmental delay subgroup.

PMID- 28610537
TI  - Overcoming multiple myeloma drug resistance in the era of cancer 'omics'.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) is among the most compelling examples of cancer in which
      research has markedly improved the length and quality of lives of those
      afflicted. Research efforts have led to 18 newly approved treatments over the
      last 12 years, including seven in 2015. However, despite significant improvement
      in overall survival, MM remains incurable as most patients inevitably, yet
      unpredictably, develop refractory disease. Recent advances in high-throughput
      'omics' techniques afford us an unprecedented opportunity to (1) understand drug
      resistance at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic level; (2) discover
      novel diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic biomarkers; (3) develop novel
      therapeutic targets and rational drug combinations; and (4) optimize risk-adapted
      strategies to circumvent drug resistance, thus bringing us closer to a cure for
      MM. In this review, we provide an overview of 'omics' technologies in MM
      biomarker and drug discovery, highlighting recent insights into MM drug
      resistance gleaned from the use of 'omics' techniques. Moving from the bench to
      bedside, we also highlight future trends in MM, with a focus on the potential use
      of 'omics' technologies as diagnostic, prognostic, or response/relapse monitoring
      tools to guide therapeutic decisions anchored upon highly individualized,
      targeted, durable, and rationally informed combination therapies with curative
      potential.

PMID- 28610541
TI  - Expanding the global reach of research in autism.

PMID- 28610540
TI  - Services for children with autism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Little information is available about autism spectrum disorder services in the
      Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A sample of 205 parents completed an online survey about
      the use of autism spectrum disorder services for their children. The results
      revealed that on average, children began services by 3.3 years. Most parents
      reported utilizing non-medical treatments followed by biomedical treatments and
      cultural and religious treatment. The age at the initiation of services and the
      type of treatments used differed by parent's income, educational attainment, the
      extent of knowledge about autism spectrum disorders, and geographic location.
      Some child characteristics also influenced the use of services. The disparities
      in service utilization in Saudi Arabia point to the need to develop policy and
      interventions that can mitigate the paucity of services for children with autism
      spectrum disorders. More research is needed to better understand service use and
      the decision-making processes that underlie treatment selection by parents of
      children with autism spectrum disorders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

PMID- 28610544
TI  - The Biomechanical Properties of Human Craniofacial Sutures and Relevant Variables
      in Sutural Distraction Osteogenesis: A Critical Review.
AB  - Sutures are synarthroses connecting the bones of the head with each other through
      a fibrous sutural ligament. The knowledge of their biomechanical properties is
      relevant in the application of regenerative techniques for the treatment of
      craniofacial conditions, such as the sutural distraction osteogenesis (SDO).
      However, their mechanical characterization has not received a systematic
      approach, and both clinical treatments and virtual simulations lack clear
      mechanical parameters. Online databases (PubMed(c), Cochrane Library(c), Google
      Scholar(c)), references of full-text articles, and previous reviews of the
      literature were searched. Articles quantifying the biomechanical properties of
      human sutures were included without date, language, or publication restrictions.
      A qualitative analysis was carried out based on source, sample, load, and
      measurement characteristics. Subsequently, mechanical parameters were discussed
      for each suture analyzed. No previous review was found debating the topic. Seven
      studies were included, only six sutures were analyzed among the about 39 existing
      ones, and important situations such as compressive and static loading were not
      considered. Only three studies analyzing the coronal, sagittal, and metopic
      sutures provided a clear description of the methods and determined parameters of
      sutures of infants and children. Although a selective load application on sutures
      is capable of modifying the craniofacial development, little is known about the
      optimal forces to be applied. The present findings may help to estimate the
      forces transferred to the sutural ligament during SDO when the strain is
      measured, and to advance the rationale of the application of certain parameters
      to optimize the clinical outcome.

PMID- 28610543
TI  - Does diathermy smoke contaminate processed salvaged blood in cardiac surgery?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A cell salvage device is used in cardiac surgery with the aim of
      reducing allogeneic blood transfusion. Suction of blood from the operating field
      used for the device is often accompanied by diathermy smoke. There is limited
      published research to know if this blood is then contaminated with clinically
      significant levels of harmful chemicals from this smoke. Postoperative cardiac
      surgery patients are already physiologically vulnerable, making the optimization
      of salvaged blood worth considering. METHODS: Ten patients who had cardiac
      surgery using a cell salvage device from a single institution had samples taken
      from the processed blood just prior to transfusion. Samples were tested for
      carbon monoxide (CO), cyanide and benzene. Results were compared to preoperative
      co-oximetry results and normal adult laboratory reference ranges. Demographic
      data about the patients was collected, including the type of operation, gender,
      age, body mass index, smoking status and amount of salvaged blood collected and
      processed. RESULTS: Primary surgery was coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in
      three patients, mitral valve repair or replacement in three patients and one each
      of aortic valve replacement (AVR)/CABG, AVR/plication of the aorta, CABG/external
      wrapping of the aorta and valve-sparing root replacement. None were smokers.
      Neither the blood CO level prior to surgery nor in the processed salvaged blood
      was above the normal limit of 2% for non-smokers. There was no processed blood
      benzene found. Cyanide levels in the processed blood ranged from 1.8 to 44.1
      MUmol/l (where <8 MUmol/l is considered within the normal adult laboratory
      limit). CONCLUSION: Despite the obvious limitations of the current study, it
      shows that cyanide levels can be found many times the normal level in processed
      salvaged blood. Whilst the total dose of cyanide is small, the potential impact
      may be clinically significant due to cyanide's effect on mitochondrial metabolism
      in the heart and brain.

PMID- 28610545
TI  - Personalized medicine of patients with respiratory infections through the
      measurement of specific blood biomarkers: fact or fiction?

PMID- 28610546
TI  - Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for the prevention of venous
      thromboembolism.
AB  - Objective Venous thromboembolism, encompassing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary
      embolism, is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting one in
      1000 adults per year. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation is the transcutaneous
      application of electrical impulses to elicit muscle contraction, preventing
      venous stasis. This review aims to investigate the evidence underlying the use of
      neuromuscular electrical stimulation in thromboprophylaxis. Methods The Medline
      and Embase databases were systematically searched, adhering to PRISMA guidelines,
      for articles relating to electrical stimulation and thromboprophylaxis. Articles
      were screened according to a priori inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results The
      search strategy identified 10 randomised controlled trials, which were used in
      three separate meta-analyses: five trials compared neuromuscular electrical
      stimulation to control, favouring neuromuscular electrical stimulation (odds
      ratio of deep vein thrombosis 0.29, 95% confidence interval 0.13-0.65; P = .003);
      three trials compared neuromuscular electrical stimulation to heparin, favouring
      heparin (odds ratio of deep vein thrombosis 2.00, 95% confidence interval 1.13
      3.52; P = .02); three trials compared neuromuscular electrical stimulation as an
      adjunct to heparin versus heparin only, demonstrating no significant difference
      (odds ratio of deep vein thrombosis 0.33, 95% confidence interval 0.10-1.14; P =
      .08). Conclusion Neuromuscular electrical stimulation significantly reduces the
      risk of deep vein thrombosis compared to no prophylaxis. It is inferior to
      heparin in preventing deep vein thrombosis and there is no evidence for its use
      as an adjunct to heparin.

PMID- 28610547
TI  - Human Plasma Rich in Growth Factors Improves Survival and Neurite Outgrowth of
      Spiral Ganglion Neurons In Vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Platelet-rich and platelet-poor plasma (PRP and PPP) are autologous
      preparations from peripheral blood and contain several growth factors and
      cytokines involved in tissue repair. Although their neuroprotective and
      neuroregenerative properties have been already described, little is known about
      their effects in the inner ear. We, therefore, examined the effects of PRP and
      PPP on spiral ganglion neurons (SGN) in vitro. RESULTS: For all experiments,
      spiral ganglia were isolated from neonatal rats and were cultured in serum-free
      medium. PRP from human venous blood was added to dissociated SGN. Treatment with
      PRP (1:10, 1:50) significantly increased the neuronal survival and the neuronal
      outgrowth of SGN. This effect was completely reversed by the addition of Bay 11
      (nuclear factor kappa B-inhibitor) and SB203580 (p38 mitogen-activated protein
      kinase [p38MAPK]-inhibitor). Furthermore, PPP was used as a cell-free matrix for
      the attachment of spiral ganglion explants. Coating with activated PPP improved
      the adhesion and neurite outgrowth of spiral ganglia explants. Therefore,
      activated PPP is a promising alternative for poly d/l-ornithine and laminin
      coating due to the gelatinous composition through the activation of PPP with
      calcium gluconate. PRP promotes neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects on
      SGN when administered in adequate concentrations. These beneficial effects seem
      to be depending on NF-kappaB and the p38MAPK pathways. CONCLUSION: Preparations
      from autologous whole blood (PRP and PPP, respectively) present an interesting
      alternative for pharmacological intervention to the inner ear since they contain
      a balanced and natural composition of trophic factors.

PMID- 28610549
TI  - Healthy Aging After Age 65: A Life-Span Health Production Function Approach.
AB  - This article examines the determinants of healthy aging using Grossman's
      framework of a health production function. Healthy aging, sometimes described as
      successful aging, is produced using a variety of inputs, determined in early
      life, young adulthood, midlife, and later life. A healthy aging production
      function is estimated using nationally representative data from the 2010 and 2012
      Health and Retirement Study on 7,355 noninstitutionalized seniors. Using a
      simultaneous equation mediation model, we quantify how childhood factors
      contribute to healthy aging, both directly and indirectly through their effects
      on mediating adult outcomes. We find that favorable childhood conditions
      significantly improve healthy aging scores, both directly and indirectly,
      mediated through education, income, and wealth. We also find that good health
      habits have positive effects on healthy aging that are larger in magnitude than
      the effects of childhood factors. Our findings suggest that exercising,
      maintaining proper weight, and not smoking are likely to translate into healthier
      aging.

PMID- 28610548
TI  - Combining forward and backward mortality estimation.
AB  - Demographers often form estimates by combining information from two data sources
      a challenging problem when one or both data sources are incomplete. A classic
      example entails the construction of death probabilities, which requires death
      counts for the subpopulations under study and corresponding base population
      estimates. Approaches typically entail 'back projection', as in Wrigley and
      Schofield's seminal analysis of historical English data, or 'inverse' or 'forward
      projection' as used by Lee in his important reanalysis of that work, both
      published in the 1980s. Our paper shows how forward and backward approaches can
      be optimally combined, using a generalized method of moments (GMM) framework. We
      apply the method to the estimation of death probabilities for relatively small
      subpopulations within the United States (men born 1930-39 by state of birth by
      birth cohort by race), combining data from vital statistics records and census
      samples.

PMID- 28610550
TI  - Quality of Life Trajectories of Older Adults Living in Senior Housing.
AB  - Quality of life (QoL) in the face of declining health, mobility, and social
      losses is a central issue for older adults. Our study examined changes in QoL
      over time for older adults residing in independent senior housing within
      continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) and estimated how residents'
      social engagement during their first year influenced QoL over the next 4 years.
      Data were drawn from a 5-year panel study of 267 older adults who moved into
      senior housing within four CCRCs. Although initial QoL varied between
      individuals, QoL declined for the group over time. One component of early social
      engagement-participating in a greater number of formal social activities
      organized by the CCRC-significantly slowed the rate of decline in QoL. Findings
      suggest that senior housing residents may benefit from early participation in
      organized social and leisure activities soon after move-in to forestall declines
      in QoL over the long term.

PMID- 28610551
TI  - Passive cooling of cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues using phase changing
      materials: feasibility study using a numerical model.
AB  - In many dermatological applications, lowering the temperature of skin and
      maintaining specific temperatures for extended periods of time are fundamental
      requirements for treatment; for example, in targeting adipose tissue and managing
      cutaneous pain. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using phase
      changing materials (PCMs) as an alternative passive, open-loop, heat extraction
      method for cooling cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues. We used a finite
      difference parametric approach to model the spatial and temporal progression of
      the heat transferred from the skin to a PCM in contact with the skin surface. We
      modelled the thermal performance of different PCMs, including different
      thicknesses. In addition, we used our model to propose application strategies.
      Numerical simulations demonstrate the feasibility of using PCMs for extracting
      heat from the skin and upper fat layers, inducing and maintaining similar
      temperatures as those induced by active closed-loop cooling with a cold plate. In
      terms of development, the critical design parameters are the temperature range of
      solidification of the material, the thickness of the material, and the rate of
      melting. Our study suggests that PCM-based devices may offer an alternative skin
      and adipose tissue cooling method that is simple to implement and use.

PMID- 28610552
TI  - A fragile assemblage: Mutant bird flu and the limits of risk assessment.
AB  - This paper examines the recent public controversy sparked by the laboratory
      creation of a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza transmissible among
      mammals. The contours of the controversy can be understood by tracking the
      assemblage of actors, institutions and devices gathered together in response to
      the governmental problem of how to manage emerging diseases. The grouping is
      tenuously held together by a shared commitment to the project of 'pandemic
      preparedness'. However, as the controversy unfolds, it becomes clear that the
      main actors involved do not share a common understanding of the problem to be
      addressed by pandemic preparedness, and the assemblage threatens to decompose. At
      the center of the dispute is the question of how to assess the risks and benefits
      of research in a field characterized by urgency and uncertainty.

PMID- 28610553
TI  - Zombie projects, negative networks, and multigenerational science: The
      temporality of the International Map of the World.
AB  - The International Map of the World was a hugely ambitious scheme to create
      standardized maps of the entire world. It was first proposed in 1891 and remained
      a going concern until 1986. Over the course of the project's official life,
      nearly every country in the world took part, and map sheets were published
      showing all but a few areas of the planet. But the project ended quite
      unceremoniously, repudiated by cartographers and mapping institutions alike, and
      it is now remembered as a 'sad story' of network failure. How can we evaluate
      this kind of sprawling, multigenerational project? In order to move beyond
      practitioners' (and historians') habit of summarizing the entire endeavor using
      the blunt categories of success and failure, I propose a more temporally aware
      reading, one that both disaggregates the (persistent) project from the (always
      changing) network and sees project and network as invertible, with the
      possibility of zombie projects and negative networks that can remain robust even
      when disconnected from their original goals. I therefore see the abandonment of
      the International Map of the World as resulting from vigorous collaboration and
      new norms in cartography, not from lack of cooperation or other resources. New
      categories are required for analyzing science over the long duree.

PMID- 28610554
TI  - SLC7A11 Overexpression in Glioblastoma Is Associated with Increased Cancer Stem
      Cell-Like Properties.
AB  - System xc- is a sodium-independent electroneutral transporter, comprising a
      catalytic subunit xCT (SLC7A11), which is involved in importing cystine. Certain
      cancers such as gliomas upregulate the expression of system xc-, which confers a
      survival advantage against the detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) by increasing generation of the antioxidant glutathione. However, ROS have
      also been shown to function as targeted, intracellular second messengers in an
      array of physiological processes such as proliferation. Several studies have
      implicated ROS in important cancer features such as migration, invasion, and
      contribution to a cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotype. The role of system xc-
      in regulating these ROS-sensitive processes in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the
      most aggressive malignant primary brain tumor in adults, remains unknown. Stable
      SLC7A11 knockdown and overexpressing U251 glioma cells were generated and
      characterized to understand the role of redox and system xc- in glioma
      progression. SLC7A11 knockdown resulted in higher endogenous ROS levels and
      enhanced invasive properties. On the contrary, overexpression of SLC7A11 resulted
      in decreased endogenous ROS levels as well as decreased migration and invasion.
      However, SLC7A11-overexpressing cells displayed actin cytoskeleton changes
      reminiscent of epithelial-like cells and exhibited an increased CSC-like
      phenotype. The enhanced CSC-like phenotype may contribute to increased
      chemoresistance and suggests that overexpression of SLC7A11 in the context of GBM
      may contribute to tumor progression. These findings have important implications
      for cancer management where targeting system xC- in combination with other
      chemotherapeutics can reduce cancer resistance and recurrence and improve GBM
      patient survival.

PMID- 28610555
TI  - Indication for selfing in geographically separated populations and evidence for
      Pleistocene survival within the Alps: the case of Cylindrus obtusus (Pulmonata:
      Helicidae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cylindrus obtusus is one of the most prominent endemic snail species
      of the Eastern Alps. It is restricted to alpine meadows and calcareous rocky
      habitats above 1500 m. Peculiar intraspecific differences have been observed in
      its genital tract in the eastern populations the two mucus glands associated with
      the love dart sac are highly variable, while almost no variation was observed in
      the western populations. This raises the question whether the mode and success of
      reproduction of the respective populations are different. To find out whether
      these anatomical differences reflect genetic differentiation, which might be an
      indication for distinct glacial refugia, we investigated a 650 bp fragment of the
      mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene (COI) (280 individuals) and 9
      microsatellite loci from samples (487 individuals from 29 populations) covering
      the whole distribution range of the species. RESULTS: The COI sequences show a
      geographic differentiation between eastern, central and western populations. The
      westernmost localities, which were covered under ice sheets during glacial
      periods, are characterized by extreme low variability. Overall genetic distances
      among all individuals are small (max. 1.7% p-distance). The microsatellite
      analysis reveals a high differentiation between populations, implying restriction
      of gene flow. The highest genetic variability was found in the central
      populations. Remarkably, nearly all individuals from the eastern populations,
      which are more variable in their genital morphology, are homozygous in all
      microsatellite loci, although different alleles were found within populations.
      CONCLUSIONS: The most peculiar outcome of the study is the strong evidence for
      selfing in C. obtusus as indicated by the microsatellite data in the easternmost
      populations. This finding is supported by the deformation of the mucus glands in
      the same populations. Since mucus glands play an important role in sexual
      reproduction, it seems plausible that in selfing organisms these structures are
      reduced. The phylogeographic structure revealed by COI sequences implies that the
      species has survived the ice ages within the Calcareous Alps. The small genetic
      distances among all individuals (max. 1.7%) suggest that C. obtusus has
      experienced severe bottlenecks in the past.

PMID- 28610556
TI  - Toileting behaviors and overactive bladder in patients with type 2 diabetes: a
      cross-sectional study in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overactive bladder is more prevalent in patients with type 2 diabetes
      than in those without diabetes. Unhealthy toileting behaviors may be associated
      with the development and worsening of overactive bladder symptoms. However,
      little is known about the relationships between toileting behaviors and
      overactive bladder in patients with diabetes. This study aimed to identify
      unhealthy toileting behaviors that patients with type 2 diabetes adopted to empty
      their bladders and investigate the relationships between toileting behaviors and
      overactive bladder. METHODS: Patients with type 2 diabetes from the endocrinology
      outpatient department of a hospital in China were recruited. The Toileting
      Behaviors-Women's Elimination Behavior and Overactive Bladder Symptom Score
      questionnaires were used to assess the patients' toileting behaviors and
      overactive bladder symptoms. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to
      explore the relationships between toileting behaviors and overactive bladder.
      RESULTS: Almost 14% of patients with diabetes had overactive bladder. The
      unhealthiest toileting behavior was premature voiding. In the multivariate
      logistic regression analysis, premature voiding (OR = 1.286, p = 0.016) and
      straining to void (OR = 1.243, p = 0.026) were associated with overactive
      bladder. There was a greater likelihood of having overactive bladder when
      patients engaged in unhealthy toileting behaviors (premature voiding and
      straining to void). CONCLUSIONS: Overactive bladder in patients with type 2
      diabetes was more than twofold higher than that in the general population. Thus,
      overactive bladder is not just an inconsequential condition for patients with
      diabetes. Unhealthy toileting behaviors, e.g., premature voiding and straining to
      void, may contribute to the onset or worsening of overactive bladder in patients
      with diabetes. Identification and awareness of these modifiable behavioral
      factors during diabetes care is an essential component of primary prevention,
      alleviation, and management of overactive bladder symptoms.

PMID- 28610557
TI  - Integration of quantitated expression estimates from polyA-selected and rRNA
      depleted RNA-seq libraries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The availability of fast alignment-free algorithms has greatly
      reduced the computational burden of RNA-seq processing, especially for relatively
      poorly assembled genomes. Using these approaches, previous RNA-seq datasets could
      potentially be processed and integrated with newly sequenced libraries.
      Confounding factors in such integration include sequencing depth and methods of
      RNA extraction and selection. Different selection methods (typically, either
      polyA-selection or rRNA-depletion) omit different RNAs, resulting in different
      fractions of the transcriptome being sequenced. In particular, rRNA-depleted
      libraries sample a broader fraction of the transcriptome than polyA-selected
      libraries. This study aimed to develop a systematic means of accounting for
      library type that allows data from these two methods to be compared. RESULTS: The
      method was developed by comparing two RNA-seq datasets from ovine macrophages,
      identical except for RNA selection method. Gene-level expression estimates were
      obtained using a two-part process centred on the high-speed transcript
      quantification tool Kallisto. Firstly, a set of reference transcripts was defined
      that constitute a standardised RNA space, with expression from both datasets
      quantified against it. Secondly, a simple ratio-based correction was applied to
      the rRNA-depleted estimates. The outcome is an almost perfect correlation between
      gene expression estimates, independent of library type and across the full range
      of levels of expression. CONCLUSION: A combination of reference transcriptome
      filtering and a ratio-based correction can create equivalent expression profiles
      from both polyA-selected and rRNA-depleted libraries. This approach will allow
      meta-analysis and integration of existing RNA-seq data into transcriptional atlas
      projects.

PMID- 28610559
TI  - Sclerosing mesenteritis and mesenteric panniculitis - clinical experience and
      radiological features.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sclerosing mesenteritis (SM) is sometimes used as an umbrella-term
      for idiopathic inflammatory conditions in the mesentery. Mesenteric panniculitis
      (MP) is a radiological finding and its relation to clinical SM is not fully
      understood. The aims of this study were to determine whether any correlation
      could be found between the radiological findings and the clinical disease course.
      METHODS: Patients observed due to idiopathic inflammation of the mesentery were
      identified. If SM could be verified histologically or MP radiologically, the
      patients were included in this descriptive retro perspective study. RESULTS:
      Typical radiological changes were observed in 27 patients. A majority (23/27) of
      these patients had mild to moderate symptoms. This group with typical radiology
      was labelled MP. Four patients were included due to histologically verified
      disease but had uncharacteristic radiology involving multiple compartments of the
      abdomen. All four had marked systemic inflammation, fever and fluctuating
      radiologic findings. Three had severe disease with multiple hospitalisations and
      complications but responded promptly to corticosteroids. This group was denoted
      SM. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified two subgroups of patients; firstly, MP with
      stable and characteristic radiologic changes and secondly SM with atypical
      radiology and a more aggressive clinical course. We propose that the term SM
      should be reserved for this latter condition.

PMID- 28610560
TI  - Prevalence and molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus, including
      methicillin resistant strains, isolated from bulk can milk and raw milk products
      in pastoral communities of South-West Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus strains are now regarded as zoonotic agents. In
      pastoral settings where human-animal interaction is intimate, multi-drug
      resistant microorganisms have become an emerging zoonotic issue of public health
      concern. The study of S. aureus prevalence, antimicrobial resistance and clonal
      lineages in humans, animals and food in African settings has great relevance,
      taking into consideration the high diversity of ethnicities, cultures and food
      habits that determine the lifestyle of the people. Little is known about milk
      carriage of methicillin resistant S. aureus strains (MRSA) and their virulence
      factors in Uganda. Here, we present the prevalence of MRSA in bulk can milk and
      raw milk products in pastoral communities of south-west Uganda. We also present
      PFGE profiles, spa-types, as well as frequency of enterotoxins genes. METHODS: S.
      aureus was identified by the coagulase test, susceptibility testing by the Kirby
      Bauer disc diffusion and E-test methods and MRSA by detection of the mecA gene
      and SCCmec types. The presence of Panton - Valentine Leucocidin (PVL) genes and
      staphylococcal enterotoxins was determined by PCR, while genotyping was by PFGE
      and spa typing. RESULTS: S. aureus were isolated from 30/148 (20.3%) milk and
      11/91(12%) sour milk samples. mecA gene carriage, hence MRSA, was detected in
      23/41 (56.1%) of the isolates, with 21 of the 23 (91.3%) being SCCmec type V;
      while up to 30/41 (73.2%) of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline. Only
      five isolates carried the PVL virulence gene, while PFGE typing revealed ten
      clusters (ranging from two seven isolates each) that comprised 83% of the sample,
      and only eight isolates with unique pulsotypes. The largest PFGE profile (E)
      consisted of seven isolates while t7753, t1398, and t2112 were the most common
      spa-types. Thirty seven of the 41 strains (90.2%) showed at least one of the
      eight enterotoxin genes tested, with sem 29 (70.7%), sei 25 (61%) and seg 21
      (51.2%) being the most frequently observed genes. CONCLUSION: This is the first
      study to demonstrate MRSA and enterotoxin genes in raw milk and its products in
      Uganda. The fact that over 90% of the isolates carried at least one gene encoding
      enterotoxins shows a high risk of spread of foodborne diseases through milk in
      this setting.

PMID- 28610558
TI  - The many faces of Pluripotency: in vitro adaptations of a continuum of in vivo
      states.
AB  - Pluripotency defines the propensity of a cell to differentiate into, and
      generate, all somatic, as well as germ cells. The epiblast of the early mammalian
      embryo is the founder population of all germ layer derivatives and thus
      represents the bona fide in vivo pluripotent cell population. The so-called
      pluripotent state spans several days of development and is lost during
      gastrulation as epiblast cells make fate decisions towards a mesoderm, endoderm
      or ectoderm identity. It is now widely recognized that the features of the
      pluripotent population evolve as development proceeds from the pre- to post
      implantation period, marked by distinct transcriptional and epigenetic
      signatures. During this period of time epiblast cells mature through a continuum
      of pluripotent states with unique properties. Aspects of this pluripotent
      continuum can be captured in vitro in the form of stable pluripotent stem cell
      types. In this review we discuss the continuum of pluripotency existing within
      the mammalian embryo, using the mouse as a model, and the cognate stem cell types
      that can be derived and propagated in vitro. Furthermore, we speculate on
      embryonic stage-specific characteristics that could be utilized to identify
      novel, developmentally relevant, pluripotent states.

PMID- 28610561
TI  - Blended care vs. usual care in the treatment of depressive symptoms and disorders
      in general practice [BLENDING]: study protocol of a non-inferiority randomized
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The majority of patients with depressive disorders are treated by
      general practitioners (GPs) and are prescribed antidepressant medication.
      Patients prefer psychological treatments but they are under-used, mainly due to
      time constraints and limited accessibility. A promising approach to deliver
      psychological treatment is blended care, i.e. guided online treatment. However,
      the cost-effectiveness of blended care formatted as an online psychological
      treatment supported by the patients' own GP or general practice mental health
      worker (MHW) in routine primary care is unknown. We aim to demonstrate non
      inferiority of blended care compared with usual care in patients with depressive
      symptoms or a depressive disorder in general practice. Additionally, we will
      explore the real-time course over the day of emotions and affect, and events
      within individuals during treatment. METHODS: This is a pragmatic non-inferiority
      trial including 300 patients with depressive symptoms, recruited by collaborating
      GPs and MHWs. After inclusion, participants are randomized to either blended care
      or usual care in routine general practice. Blended care consists of the 'Act and
      Feel' treatment: an eight-week web-based program based on behavioral activation
      with integrated monitoring of depressive symptomatology and automatized feedback.
      GPs or their MHWs coach the participants through regular face-to-face or
      telephonic consultations with at least three sessions. Depressive symptomatology,
      health status, functional impairment, treatment satisfaction, daily activities
      and resource use are assessed during a follow-up period of 12 months. During
      treatment, real-time fluctuations in emotions and affect, and daily events will
      be rated using ecological momentary assessment. The primary outcome is the
      reduction of depressive symptoms from baseline to three months follow-up. We will
      conduct intention-to-treat analyses and supplementary per-protocol analyses.
      DISCUSSION: This trial will show whether blended care might be an appropriate
      treatment strategy for patients with depressive symptoms and depressive disorder
      in general practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register: NTR4757; 25
      August 2014. http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4757 .
      (Archived by WebCite(r) at http://www.webcitation.org/6mnXNMGef ).

PMID- 28610562
TI  - End-stage renal disease: a risk factor of deep neck infection - a nationwide
      follow-up study in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Uremia is likely a risk factor for deep neck infection (DNI).
      However, only a few relevant cases have been reported, and evidence sufficient to
      support this hypothesis is lacking. The aim of the study is to investigate the
      effects of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on DNI. METHODS: We used the database
      of the Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patients (RFCIP), a subset of the
      National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan, to conduct a
      retrospective follow-up study. Between 1997 and 2013, a total of 157,340 patients
      in Taiwan with ESRD who received dialysis were registered in the RFCIP, whom were
      matched with a database consisting of 1,000,000 randomly selected patients who
      represented the national population, to conduct the follow-up study for
      investigating the incidence of DNI in the ESRD and control cohorts. RESULTS: In
      the ESRD group, 280 DNIs were identified with an incidence rate of 43 per 100,000
      person-years. In the comparison group, 194 DNIs were identified with an incidence
      rate of 20 per 100,000 person-years. The incidence rate ratio was 2.16 (p <
      0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the ESRD group had a significantly
      higher cumulative incidence of DNI (p < 0.001). According to Cox regression
      analysis, the hazard ratio of ESRD for DNI was 2.23 (p < 0.001). The therapeutic
      methods (non-surgery and surgery), performance of tracheostomy, duration of
      hospitalization did not differ significantly between the two groups, except more
      ESRD-DNI patients were admitted to intensive care units. The mortality rate of
      patients with DNI in the ESRD group was significantly higher than that in the
      control group (8.6% for ESRD vs 3.6% for control, p = 0.032). Furthermore, the
      Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a poorer survival outcome in the ESRD group (p
      = 0.029). However, the individual survival outcomes following non-surgical and
      surgical therapies in the ESRD group did not differ significantly (p = 0.31).
      CONCLUSIONS: ESRD is a predisposing factor for DNI, increasing its risk by
      twofold. In the patients with ESRD, DNI was not associated with higher rates of
      surgical debridement, tracheostomy, and mediastinal complications or longer
      hospital stays; however, it was associated with poorer survival outcomes,
      regardless of the therapeutic method.

PMID- 28610563
TI  - Progression of function and pain relief as indicators for returning to sports
      after arthroscopic isolated type II SLAP repair-a prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the currently used surgical techniques in isolated type II
      SLAP lesions is arthroscopic SLAP repair. Postoperatively, patients tend to
      suffer from a prolonged period of pain and are restricted in their sports
      activities for at least 6 months. The aim of this study was to prospectively
      evaluate the clinical outcome as well as the postoperative course of pain after
      arthroscopic type II SLAP repair. METHODS: Outcome measures were assessed using
      the Individual Relative Constant Score (CSindiv), the American Shoulder and Elbow
      Surgeons (ASES) Score, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and the Short Form 36 (SF
      36). Data were collected preoperatively, as well as at 3, 6, 12 and >24 months
      postoperatively. RESULTS: Eleven patients with an average age of 31.8 years
      (range: 22.8-49.8 years) underwent arthroscopic repair of isolated type II SLAP
      lesions. Mean follow-up time was 41.9 months (range: 36.1-48.4 months). 6 months
      after surgery, there was a statistically significant improvement of function
      according to the CSindiv (p = 0.004), the ASES Score (p = 0.006), and the SF-36
      subscale "physical functioning" (p = 0.014) and a statistically significant
      decrease of pain according to the VAS (p = 0.007) and the SF-36 subscale "bodily
      pain" (p = 0.022) compared to preoperative levels. CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic
      repair of isolated type II SLAP lesions with suture anchors leads to a
      satisfactory functional outcome and return to pre-injury sports levels, with
      delayed, but significant pain relief observed 6 months after surgery. Thus, a
      return to sports should not be allowed earlier than 6 months after surgery, when
      patients have reached pain-free function and recovered strength. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Researchregistry1761 (UIN).

PMID- 28610564
TI  - Using genotyping to delineate tuberculosis transmission in long-term care
      facilities: single facility 4-year experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Residents in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are vulnerable to
      tuberculosis (TB) transmission; however, to delineate possible routes of TB
      transmission in LTCFs is difficult. This study aimed to address the use of
      regular genotyping surveillance to delineate TB transmission in LTCFs. METHODS:
      All of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in the reported 620-bed LTCF between
      July 2011 and August 2015 were genotyped, and we retrospectively compared
      epidemiological data and genotyping results. RESULTS: A total of 42 subjects were
      diagnosed with culture-positive pulmonary TB infection during the 4-year period.
      Their median age was 76.5 years, and 64.3% (27/42) of them were male. Genotyping
      identified 5 clustered TB infections involving 76.2% (32/42) of all TB subjects.
      In a multivariate logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease, and body mass index, subjects with clustered TB
      infection were less likely to be Activities of Daily Living (ADL)-dependence
      (adjOR 0.073, 95% CI 0.007-0.758) when compared with subjects having individual
      TB infections. Prolonged surveillance is essential given that the median interval
      to diagnose secondary subjects was 673 days. Finally, only 63.0% (17/27) of the
      27 secondary TB subjects in this study had contact history with index subject in
      the same ward. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, possible routes of TB transmission in
      a complex TB outbreak at LTCFs might be delineated by routine genotyping
      surveillance and regular health check-up.

PMID- 28610565
TI  - The influence of dehydration on the prognosis of acute ischemic stroke for
      patients treated with tissue plasminogen activator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many studies have determined that dehydration is an independent
      predictor of outcome after ischemic stroke (IS); however, none have determined if
      the use of thrombolytic therapy modifies the negative impact of poor hydration.
      To inform the stroke registry established at our institution, we conducted a
      retrospective study to determine if dehydration remains a negative prognostic
      factor after IS patients treated with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).
      METHODS: Between 2007 and 2012, we recruited 382 subjects; 346 had data available
      and were divided into 2 groups on the basis of their blood urea
      nitrogen/creatinine (BUN/Cr) ratio. Dehydrated subjects had a BUN/Cr ratio >= 15;
      hydrated subjects had a BUN/Cr < 15. The primary outcome was impairment at
      discharge as graded by the Barthel Index (BI) and the modified Rankin Scale
      (mRS). RESULTS: The dehydration group had a greater mean age; more women; lower
      mean levels of hemoglobin, triglycerides, and sodium; and higher mean potassium
      and glucose levels. A favorable outcome as assessed by the mRS (<=2) was
      significantly less frequent among dehydrated subjects, but a favorable outcome by
      the BI (>=60) was not. Logistic regression and multivariate models confirmed that
      dehydration is an independent predictor of poor outcome by both the mRS and the
      BI; however, it was not predictive when patients were stratified by Trial of Org
      10,172 in Acute Stroke Treatment subtype. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that
      use of thrombolytic therapy does not eliminate the need to closely monitor
      hydration status in patients with IS.

PMID- 28610566
TI  - The effect of Astragalus polysaccharides on attenuation of diabetic
      cardiomyopathy through inhibiting the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways
      in high glucose -stimulated H9C2 cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apoptosis plays a critical role in the progression of diabetic
      cardiomyopathy (DC). Astragalus polysaccharides (APS), an extract of astragalus
      membranaceus (AM), is an effective cardioprotectant. Currently, little is known
      about the detailed mechanisms underlying cardioprotective effects of APS. The
      aims of this study were to investigate the potential effects and mechanisms of
      APS on apoptosis employing a model of high glucose induction of apoptosis in H9C2
      cells. METHODS: A model of high glucose induction of H9C2 cell apoptosis was
      adopted in this research. The cell viabilities were analyzed by MTT assay, and
      the apoptotic response was quantified by flow cytometry. The expression levels of
      the apoptosis related proteins were determined by Real-time PCR and western
      blotting. RESULTS: Incubation of H9C2 cells with various concentrations of
      glucose (i.e., 5.5, 12.5, 25, 33 and 44 mmol/L) for 24 h revealed that cell
      viability was reduced by high glucose dose-dependently. Pretreatment of cells
      with APS could inhibit high glucose-induced H9C2 cell apoptosis by decreasing the
      expressions of caspases and the release of cytochrome C from mitochondria to
      cytoplasm. Further experiments also showed that APS could modulate the ratio of
      Bcl-2 to Bax in mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS: APS decreases high glucose-induced
      H9C2 cell apoptosis by inhibiting the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins of
      both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways and modulating the ratio of Bcl-2 to
      Bax in mitochondria.

PMID- 28610567
TI  - MLPA identification of dystrophin mutations and in silico evaluation of the
      predicted protein in dystrophinopathy cases from India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD)
      are X-linked recessive disorders caused by mutations in the DMD gene. The aim of
      this study was to predict the effect of gene mutations on the dystrophin protein
      and study its impact on clinical phenotype. METHODS: In this study, 415
      clinically diagnosed patients were tested for mutations by Multiplex ligation
      dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Muscle biopsy was performed in 34 patients
      with negative MLPA. Phenotype-genotype correlation was done using PROVEAN,
      hydrophobicity and eDystrophin analysis. We have utilized bioinformatics tools in
      order to evaluate the observed mutations both at the level of primary as well as
      secondary structure. RESULTS: Mutations were identified in 75.42% cases, of which
      there were deletions in 91.6% and duplications in 8.30%. As per the reading frame
      rule, 84.6% out-of frame and 15.3% in-frame mutations were noted. Exon 50 was the
      most frequently deleted exon and the exon 45-52 region was the hot-spot for
      deletions in this cohort. There was no correlation noted between age of onset or
      creatine kinase (CK) values with extent of gene mutation. The PROVEAN analysis
      showed a deleterious effect in 94.5% cases and a neutral effect in 5.09% cases.
      Mutations in exon 45-54 (out of frame) and exon 46-54 (in-frame) regions in the
      central rod domain of dystrophin showed more negative scores compared to other
      domains in the present study. Hydrophobicity profile analysis showed that the
      hydrophobic regions I & III were equally affected. Analysis of deletions in hinge
      III hydrophobic region by the eDystrophin programme also predicted a hybrid
      repeat seen to be associated with a BMD like disease progression, thus making the
      hinge III region relatively tolerant to mutations. CONCLUSIONS: We found that,
      while the predictions made by the software utilized might have overall
      significance, the results were not convincing on a case by case basis. This
      reflects the inadequacy of the currently available tools and also underlines the
      possible inadequacy of MLPA to detect other minor mutations that might enhance or
      suppress the effect of the primary mutation in this large gene. Next Generation
      Sequencing or targeted Sanger sequencing on a case by case basis might improve
      phenotype- genotype correlation.

PMID- 28610568
TI  - Fetal and infant exposure to severe Chinese famine increases the risk of adult
      dyslipidemia: Results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the associations between the Chinese famine exposure in
      early life and the dyslipidemia in adulthood. METHODS: We selected 2752
      participants from the baseline survey of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal
      Study (CHARLS) 2011-2012 to evaluate the associations of early life the Chinese
      famine exposure with risk of dyslipidemia in adulthood. Dyslipidemia was defined
      as TC (Total Cholesterol): HDL-C (High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol) ratio >=
      5.0 or use cholesterol lowering drugs. Famine exposure cohorts were categorized
      by birthdates of participants. Binary logistics regression model was used to
      examine the associations of early-life famine exposure with the risk of
      dyslipidemia. RESULTS: The dyslipidemia prevalence of the non-exposed cohort,
      fetal stage-, infant stage-, and preschool stage-exposed cohorts in adulthood was
      15.7%, 23.1%, 22.0%, and 18.6%, respectively. Early-life exposure to the Chinese
      famine significantly increased LDL cholesterol concentrations in adulthood after
      adjusted for age. The risks of dyslipidemia in fetal (OR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.23
      2.03; P < 0.001) and infant (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.15-2.00; P = 0.003) stage
      exposed cohorts were significantly higher than the non-exposed cohort after
      adjusted for gender and current family economic status. Following gender
      stratification, we found that fetal (OR = 1.80; 95% CI: 1.26-2.57; P = 0.001),
      infant (OR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.17-2.62; P = 0.006), and preschool (OR = 1.63; 95%
      CI: 1.10-2.42; P = 0.015) -stage exposure to severe famine aggravated the risk of
      dyslipidemia in female adults. However, the similar association was not observed
      for male adults. CONCLUSIONS: Early-life exposure to severe Chinese famine could
      link with the higher dyslipidemia risk in female adulthood, but not in male
      adulthood. This gender-specific effect might be associated with the hypothesis
      that parents in China prefer boys to girls traditionally or survivors' bias.

PMID- 28610569
TI  - A novel tamponade agent for management of post partum hemorrhage: adaptation of
      the Xstat mini-sponge applicator for obstetric use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although uterine tamponade is an effective treatment for postpartum
      hemorrhage (PPH), current methods have key limitations in their use, particularly
      in low resource settings. The XStatTM Mini Sponge Dressing (MSD) is approved for
      the management of non-compressible wounds in the battlefield/trauma setting. The
      MSD applies highly compressed medical sponges capable of stopping high-flow
      arterial bleeding within seconds. The objective of our study was to adopt the MSD
      for use in managing PPH. METHODS: We performed desktop testing using a uterine
      model with pressure sensors to compare key design elements of the obstetrical
      prototype MSD (fundal pressure achieved, reduction in fluid loss, time to deploy,
      and time to remove) with alternativetechniques (uterine packing, balloon
      tamponade). To evaluate safety, we delivered the fetus of pregnant ewes by
      cesarean section and used the prototype to deliver the MSD into one uterine horn,
      and closed the hysterotomy. We followed the clinical recovery of animals (n = 3)
      over 24 h, and then removed the reproductive tract for histologic evaluation. To
      evaluate late effects, we surgically removed the MSDs after 24 h, and followed
      the clinical recovery of animals (n = 6) for an additional seven days before
      tissue removal. RESULTS: The obstetrical prototype has a long tapered delivery
      system designed to be deployed during vaginal examination, and administers three
      times the volume of the approved MSD trauma bandage. The MSD are deployed within
      a mesh bag to facilitate removal by vaginaltraction. On desktop testing, the MSD
      resulted in the highest average fundal pressure (113 mmHg), followed by the MSD
      bag device (85.8 mmHg), gauze packing (15.5 mmHg), and the uterine balloon (8.2
      mmHg). The MSD bag test group achieved the largest fluid flow reduction of -74%,
      followed by gauze packing (-55%), MSD (-35%), and uterine balloon (-19%). Animal
      testing demonstrated good uterine fill with no evidence of adverse clinical
      recovery, uterine trauma or infection at 24 h, or up to 7 days following device
      removal. CONCLUSION: We adapted a highly effective trauma dressing and applicator
      for use in the treatment of severe PPH. Preliminary desktop and animal testing
      provide a basis for initial clinical trials in women.

PMID- 28610571
TI  - Erratum to: Effects of platelet rich plasma (PRP) on human gingival fibroblast,
      osteoblast and periodontal ligament cell behaviour.

PMID- 28610570
TI  - Exploring infant feeding practices: cross-sectional surveys of South Western
      Sydney, Singapore, and Ho Chi Minh City.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infant feeding practices are known to influence the child's long-term
      health. Studies have associated obesity and other diseases with reduced
      breastfeeding and early introduction of high calorie beverages (HCBs). The rising
      prevalence of obesity is already a problem in most developed countries,
      especially Australia, but cultural differences are influential. Our aim is to
      examine and compare infant feeding practices and educational levels of
      respondents through questionnaires in three culturally different sites:
      Campbelltown (South Western Sydney), Australia, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City,
      Vietnam (HCMC). METHODS: Consenting parents and carers (aged >=18 years old) of
      at least one child (<=6 years old) were recruited from paediatric clinics in
      Campbelltown, Singapore and HCMC. Participants completed an infant feeding
      practices questionnaire regarding breastfeeding, beverage and solid initiation in
      addition to the parent's ethnicity, age, and educational level. Data was analysed
      quantitatively using SPSS. RESULTS: Two hundred eighty-three participants were
      recruited across the three sites, HCMC (n = 84), Campbelltown (n = 108), and
      Singapore (n = 91). 237 (82.6%) children were breastfed but in all only 100
      (60.2%) were exclusively breastfed for five months or more. There was a
      statistical difference in rates of breast feeding between each region. HCMC (n =
      18, 21.4%) had the lowest, followed by Campbelltown (n = 35, 32.4%), and then
      Singapore (n = 47, 51.7%). There was also a difference in rates of introduction
      of HCBs by 3 years of age, with those in HCMC (n = 71, 84.5%) were higher than
      Campbelltown (n = 71, 65.8%) and Singapore (n = 48, 52.8%). The educational level
      of respondents was lower in Vietnam where only 46.4% (n = 39) had completed post
      secondary education, compared to 75.0% (n = 81) in Campbelltown and 75.8% (n =
      69) in Singapore. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of breast feeding were inversely correlated
      with rates of introduction of HCB and positively related to educational
      achievement. Vietnam had lowest rates of breast feeding, higher rates of
      introduction of HCBs, and lower rates of education. Given rising rates of
      obesity, there is a need for more effective programmes to promote breast feeding
      and restrict false advertising of HCBs.

PMID- 28610572
TI  - POstLAparoscopic Reduction of pain By combining intraperitoneal normal salinE And
      the pulmonary Recruitment maneuver (POLAR BEAR trial). RCT to estimate reduction
      in pain after laparoscopic surgery when using a combination therapy of
      intraperitoneal normal saline and the pulmonary recruitment maneuver.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Shoulder pain and pain in the upper abdomen are common complaints
      after laparoscopy, sometimes surpassing the pain at incision sites. The incidence
      of shoulder pain ranges from 35 to 80%. Post-laparoscopic pain is caused by
      retention of carbon dioxide in the abdomen, which irritates the phrenic nerve and
      diaphragm, causing referred pain in the shoulder and in the upper abdomen. A
      promising strategy to reduce this post-laparoscopic pain is the pulmonary
      recruitment maneuver, which indirectly increases intraperitoneal pressure and
      thereby facilitates removal of residual carbon dioxide. An alternative strategy
      is the infusion of intraperitoneal normal saline. With normal saline infusion,
      carbon dioxide rises and escapes through the port sites. In addition, normal
      saline offers a physiologic buffer system to dissolve excess carbon dioxide.
      METHODS/DESIGN: This multicenter randomized controlled trial is conducted in two
      teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. Women between 18 and 65 years of age, with
      an ASA classification of I-II who are scheduled to undergo an elective
      laparoscopic procedure with benign gynecologic indication can participate.
      Following informed consent, participants are randomly allocated into two groups
      at the end of the surgical procedure. In the intervention group, the upper
      abdomen is filled with normal saline infusion with the patient in the
      Trendelenburg position. Then the anesthesiologist performs a standardized
      pulmonary recruitment maneuver with a pressure of 40 cm H2O. The trocar sleeve
      valves will be left open, so carbon dioxide can escape the abdominal cavity. With
      the patient in a neutral position the instruments are removed from the abdomen.
      In the control group, carbon dioxide is removed from the abdominal cavity at the
      end of surgery, with gentle abdominal pressure and passive exsufflation through
      the port sites, with open sleeve valves. The primary outcomes are the incidence
      and intensity of post-laparoscopic pain in the shoulder, upper abdomen and at the
      operation sites, at 8, 24 and 48 h after surgery. Secondary outcomes are
      postoperative use of analgesics, nausea, vomiting and pulmonary complications.
      DISCUSSION: This study may reduce post-laparoscopic pain in women undergoing
      laparoscopy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Dutch trial register, number NTR4812 .

PMID- 28610573
TI  - Correlation between short- and long-term effects of intravitreal ranibizumab
      therapy on macular edema after branch retinal vein occlusion: a prospective
      observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The correlation between the short- and long-term effects of
      intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) on macular edema after branch retinal vein
      occlusion (BRVO) remains unclear. We assessed the correlation between the short-
      and long-term effects of IVR on macular edema after BRVO. METHODS: Twenty-one
      eyes with macular edema after BRVO were enrolled in this prospective
      observational study. We measured the foveal thickness (FT) and the best-corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) before, 1 day after, and 1 month after IVR (0.5 mg) and then
      at least every 2 months thereafter until 6 months after the injection. If the
      macular edema recurred, another injection was administered. The primary endpoint
      was the change from baseline in the BCVA (DeltaVA). RESULTS: The mean logarithm
      of the minimum angle of resolution VA improved significantly (p = 0.01, p <
      0.0001, respectively) after 1 day from 0.65 +/- 0.28 to 0.51 +/- 0.21 (20/89 to
      20/63, Snellen equivalent) and after 6 months to 0.29 +/- 0.24 (20/39, Snellen
      equivalent). The mean FT decreased significantly (p < 0.0001) after 1 day from
      482 +/- 85 MUm to 349 +/- 75 MUm and after 6 months to 305 +/- 84 MUm. The 1-day
      VA was significantly (r = 0.68, p = 0.0007) positively correlated with the 6
      month VA. The 1-day DeltaVA was significantly (r = 0.79, p < 0.0001) positively
      correlated with the 6-month DeltaVA. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term effects of IVR
      may predict the long-term effects of IVR in macular edema secondary to BRVO.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration number: UMIN000027003 . Retrospectively
      registered. (April/15/2017).

PMID- 28610574
TI  - Predicting evidence-based treatment sustainment: results from a longitudinal
      study of the Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implementation support models are increasingly being used to enhance
      the delivery of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) in routine care settings. Little
      is known about the extent to which these models lead to continued EBT use after
      implementation support ends. Moreover, few empirical studies longitudinally
      examine the hypothesized factors associated with long-term psychosocial EBT use
      (i.e., sustainment). In an effort to address this gap, the current study examined
      sustainment of an EBT called the Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach (A
      CRA) following the end of implementation support. METHODS: Between 2006 and 2010,
      the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded 3 years of
      A-CRA implementation support to 82 community-based organizations around the USA.
      The extent to which A-CRA was sustained following grant end and the hypothesized
      factors associated with EBT sustainment were collected using both retrospective
      and prospective data. We examined the extent to which 10 core treatment elements
      of A-CRA were sustained and the associations between the extent of A-CRA
      sustainment and hypothesized factors using a pattern-mixture longitudinal
      modeling approach. RESULTS: Staff from 76 organizations participated in data
      collection for a 92.86% response rate. On average, about half of the 10 core
      treatment elements were sustained following the loss of implementation support.
      Factors that appeared most important to A-CRA sustainment included
      characteristics that were related to the outer setting (communication, funding,
      and partnerships), inner setting (political support, organizational capacity, and
      supervisor turnover rate), implementation support period (number of clinicians
      and supervisors certified and employed at support end and number of youth
      served), and staff perceptions of the intervention (implementation difficulty,
      relative advantage, and perceived success). CONCLUSIONS: Even with multiple years
      of implementation support, community-based organizations face challenges in
      sustaining EBT delivery over time. Consistent with implementation theories,
      multiple factors appear related with EBT sustainment, including the degree of
      implementation during the initial support period, as well as adequate funding,
      infrastructure support, and staff support following the end of funding.

PMID- 28610575
TI  - Monitoring the impact of trade agreements on national food environments: trade
      imports and population nutrition risks in Fiji.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trade agreements are increasingly recognised as playing an
      influential role in shaping national food environments and the availability and
      nutritional quality of the food supply. Global monitoring of food environments
      and trade policies can strengthen the evidence base for the impact of trade
      policy on nutrition, and support improved policy coherence. Using the INFORMAS
      trade monitoring protocol, we reviewed available food supply data to understand
      associations between Fiji's commitments under WTO trade agreements and food
      import volume trends. METHODS: First, a desk review was conducted to map and
      record in one place Fiji's commitments to relevant existing trade agreements that
      have implications for Fiji's national food environment under the domains of the
      INFORMAS trade monitoring protocol. An excel database was developed to document
      the agreements and their provisions. The second aspect of the research focused on
      data extraction. We began with identifying food import volumes into Fiji by
      country of origin, with a particular focus on a select number of 'healthy and
      unhealthy' foods. We also developed a detailed listing of transnational food
      corporations currently operating in Fiji. RESULTS: The study suggests that Fiji's
      WTO membership, in conjunction with associated economic and agricultural policy
      changes have contributed to increased availability of both healthy and less
      healthy imported foods. In systematically monitoring the import volume trends of
      these two categories of food, the study highlights an increase in healthy foods
      such as fresh fruits and vegetables and whole-grain refined cereals. The study
      also shows that there has been an increase in less healthy foods including fats
      and oils; meat; processed dairy products; energy-dense beverages; and processed
      and packaged foods. CONCLUSION: By monitoring the trends of imported foods at
      country level from the perspective of trade agreements, we are able to develop
      appropriate and targeted interventions to improve diets and health. This would
      enable national health interventions to both identify areas of concern, and to
      ensure that interventions take into account the trade context.

PMID- 28610576
TI  - Socioeconomic disparities in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of
      hypertension over the life course in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The socioeconomically disadvantaged populations are more likely to
      suffer from hypertension, and few have effectively treated and controlled their
      hypertension. Research on socioeconomic disparities in prevalence, awareness,
      treatment, and control of hypertension is warranted to inform the development of
      new strategies for reducing such health inequities. METHODS: The China Health and
      Nutrition Survey (CHNS) followed up 20,174 individuals over a 20-year period. We
      added seven key socioeconomic indicators with age and age-squared into the mixed
      effects models to explicitly assess the effect of socioeconomic determinants on
      hypertension throughout the adult life course. RESULTS: Prevalence of
      hypertension was at a higher level in the younger birth cohorts than that in the
      older generations. Age-related increases in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and
      control of hypertension were observed over the adult life course. Males, insured
      and ethnic Han were more likely to suffer from hypertension than their
      counterparts [coefficient (95% confidence intervals): 0.07(0.04, 0.09),
      0.02(0.01, 0.03) and 0.05(0.03, 0.07), respectively]. Hypertension was more
      prevalent among individuals with higher income who lived in urbanized
      communities, and less among those with higher education attainment [coefficient
      (95% confidence intervals): -0.07(-0.12, -0.016)] across adulthood. High-level
      urbanization and education increased the probabilities of awareness, treatment,
      and control of hypertension, while household income decreased them [coefficient
      (95% confidence intervals): 0.28(0.17, 0.39), 0.27(0.17, 0.37) and 0.14(0.08,
      0.21), respectively] over the adult life course. CONCLUSIONS: Community
      urbanicity brought the raise in awareness, treatment, and control of
      hypertension, but also led to an increase in prevalence of hypertension. People
      with fewer educational years or higher income may be the disadvantaged population
      of hypertension over the adult life course in China.

PMID- 28610577
TI  - Coronary angiogenic effect of long-term administration of Nigella sativa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary angiogenesis is one of the preferable adaptive responses of
      aerobic training. Previous studies found inotropic and hypertrophic cardiac
      effects for long-term administration of Nigella sativa (NS), but no studies have
      explored its coronary angiogenic effect. The present study compared the effect of
      long-term NS- administration and exercise training on the induction of coronary
      angiogenesis. METHOD: Fifteen adult male Wistar rats were divided into three
      groups: control, NS-fed, and exercise-trained (Ex). The NS-fed rats were
      administered 800 mg/Kg NS orally for eight weeks. The (Ex) rats were trained on a
      five-lane treadmill at a speed of 18 m/min and a grade of 32 degrees  for two
      hour/day for eight weeks. After the experiment, the hearts were extracted and
      immunohistological slides were prepared using rat vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF), platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1), Von
      Willebrand factor (VWF) and nitric oxide synthase-2 (NOS-2) antibodies (Ab).
      Photomicrographs were analysed using ImageJ software, and the % of the
      immunostained-area of 10 fields per specimen was recorded. RESULT: VEGF was
      significantly higher in the NS- (2.59+/-1.37%) and Ex rats (2.51+/-1.86%)
      compared to the control group (1.58+/-0.78%) with P<0.01. The VWF was
      significantly lower in the two experimental groups (1.57+/-0.83%, 1.07+/-0.72%)
      for NS and Ex groups respectively, compared to the controls (2.38+/-1.72) with
      p<0.01. Only Ex group had a higher PECAM-1 (1.79+/-0.78%) and lower NOS-2 (0.83+/
      0.57%) than the control group (1.19+/-1.17%, 1.25+/-1.19%) for PECAM-1 and NOS-2
      with P<0.01 and P<0.05 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated
      an increase in VEGF and a decrease of the VWF in the hearts of Nigella-fed and
      exercise-trained rats. This might indicate the potentiality for induction of
      coronary angiogenesis via long-term administration of NS and exercise training.
      NS effect on coronary angiogenesis needs to be explored further as it might lead
      to a new promising preventive and therapeutic agent of the ischemic heart
      disease.

PMID- 28610578
TI  - Sub-national assessment of aid effectiveness: A case study of post-conflict
      districts in Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In post-conflict settings, many state and non-state actors interact
      at the sub-national levels in rebuilding health systems by providing funds,
      delivering vital interventions and building capacity of local governments to
      shoulder their roles. Aid relationships among actors at sub-national level
      represent a vital lever for health system development. This study was undertaken
      to assess the aid-effectiveness in post-conflict districts of northern Uganda.
      METHOD: This was a three district cross sectional study conducted from January to
      April 2013. A two stage snowball approach used to construct a relational-network
      for each district. Managers of organizations (ego) involved service delivery were
      interviewed and asked to list the external organizations (alters) that contribute
      to three key services. For each inter-organizational relationship (tie) a custom
      made tool designed to reflect the aid-effectiveness in the Paris Declaration was
      used. RESULTS: Three hundred eighty four relational ties between the
      organizations were generated from a total of 85 organizations interviewed.
      Satisfaction with aid relationships was mostly determined by 1) the extent ego
      was able to negotiate own priorities, 2) ego's awareness of expected results, and
      3) provision of feedback about ego's performance. Respectively, the B
      coefficients were 16%, 38% and 19%. Disaggregated analysis show that satisfaction
      of fund-holders was also determined by addressing own priorities (30%), while
      provider satisfaction was mostly determined by awareness of expected results
      (66%) and feedback on performance (23%). All results were significant at p-value
      of 0.05. Overall, the regression models in these analyses accounted for 44% to
      62% of the findings. CONCLUSION: Sub-national assessment of aid effectiveness is
      feasible with indicators adapted from the global parameters. These findings
      illustrate the focus on "results" domain and less on "ownership" and "resourcing"
      domains. The capacity and space for sub-national level authorities to negotiate
      local priorities requires more attention especially for health system development
      in post-conflict settings.

PMID- 28610579
TI  - Reported community-level indoor residual spray coverage from two-stage cluster
      surveys in sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in malaria
      endemic areas. Indoor residual spray is an effective intervention to control
      malaria, but high community-level coverage is needed to maximize its impact.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Using thirty-four two-stage cluster surveys (e.g.,
      demographic and health surveys) and lot quality assurance sampling, indoor
      residual spray was estimated at the community level (i.e. enumeration-area)
      across sub-Saharan Africa since 2010. For communities receiving indoor residual
      spray a logistic regression predicted whether community-level coverage exceeded
      50% or not. Household-level coverage was equitable both in terms of wealth and
      urban/rural, with poorer and rural houses more likely to be sprayed than richer
      and urban houses. Coverage of indoor residual spray at the community level is
      poor across the continent, with 54% of communities receiving the intervention not
      reaching 50% coverage. Having >50% coverage at the community-level was not
      associated with increasing the number of houses sprayed in the country.
      CONCLUSIONS: Implementation and monitoring of indoor residual coverage at small
      geographical scales need to improve greatly to receive maximum benefit of the
      intervention.

PMID- 28610580
TI  - Parental decision making involvement and decisional conflict: a descriptive
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decisional conflict is a state of uncertainty about the best
      treatment option among competing alternatives and is common among adult patients
      who are inadequately involved in the health decision making process. In
      pediatrics, research shows that many parents are insufficiently involved in
      decisions about their child's health. However, little is known about parents'
      experience of decisional conflict. We explored parents' perceived decision making
      involvement and its association with parents' decisional conflict. METHOD: We
      conducted a descriptive survey study in a pediatric tertiary care hospital. Our
      survey was guided by validated decisional conflict screening items (i.e., the
      SURE test). We administered the survey to eligible parents after an ambulatory
      care or emergency department consultation for their child. RESULTS: Four hundred
      twenty-nine respondents were included in the analysis. Forty-eight percent of
      parents reported not being offered treatment options and 23% screened positive
      for decisional conflict. Parents who reported being offered options experienced
      less decisional conflict than parents who reported not being offered options (5%
      vs. 42%, p < 0.001). Further, parents with options were more likely to: feel sure
      about the decision (RR 1.08, 95% CI 1.02-1.15); understand the information (RR
      1.92, 95% CI 1.63-2.28); be clear about the risks and benefits (RR 1.12, 95% CI
      1.05-1.20); and, have sufficient support and advice to make a choice (RR 1.07,
      95% CI 1.03-1.11). CONCLUSION: Many parents in our sample experienced decisional
      conflict after their clinical consultation. Involving parents in the decision
      making process might reduce their risk of decisional conflict. Evidence based
      interventions that support parent decision making involvement, such as shared
      decision making, should be evaluated and implemented in pediatrics as a strategy
      to reduce parents' decisional conflict.

PMID- 28610581
TI  - Household air pollution from cooking and risk of adverse health and birth
      outcomes in Bangladesh: a nationwide population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Household air pollution (HAP) from cooking with solid fuels has
      become a leading cause of death and disability in many developing countries
      including Bangladesh. We assess the association between HAP and risk of selected
      adverse birth and maternal health outcomes. METHODS: Data for this study were
      extracted from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey conducted during 2007
      2014. Selected adverse birth outcomes were acute respiratory infection (ARI)
      among children, stillbirth, low birth weight (LBW), under-five mortality,
      neonatal mortality and infant mortality. Maternal pregnancy complications and
      cesarean delivery were considered as the adverse maternal health outcomes. Place
      of cooking, use of solid fuel within the house boundary and in living room were
      the exposure variables. To examine the association between exposure and outcome
      variables, we used a series of multiple logistic regression models accounted for
      complex survey design. RESULTS: Around 90% of the respondents used solid fuel
      within the house boundary, 11% of them used solid fuel within the living room.
      Results of multiple regression indicated that cooking inside the house increased
      the risk of neonatal mortality (aOR,1.25; 95% CI, 1.02-1.52), infant mortality
      (aOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.00-1.40), ARI (aOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.08-1.33), LBW (aOR,
      1.25; 95% CI, 1.10-1.43), and cesarean delivery (aOR,1.18; 95% CI, 1.01-1.29).
      Use of solid fuel, irrespective of cooking places, increased the risk of
      pregnancy complications (aOR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.19-1.55). Compared to participants
      who reported cooking outside the house, the risk of ARI, LBW were significantly
      high among those who performed cooking within the house, irrespective of type of
      cooking fuel. CONCLUSION: Indoor cooking and use of solid fuel in household
      increase the risk of ARI, LBW, cesarean delivery, and pregnancy complication.
      These relationships need further investigation using more direct measures of
      smoke exposure and clinical measures of health outcomes. The use of clean fuels
      and structural improvement in household design such as provision of stove
      ventilation should be encouraged to reduce such adverse health consequences.
      TRAIL REGISTRATION: Data related to health were collected by following the
      guidelines of ICF international and Bangladesh Medical Research Council. The
      registration number of data collection was 132,989.0.000, and the data-request
      was registered on March 11, 2015.

PMID- 28610583
TI  - Erratum to: Similar cardiometabolic effects of high- and moderate-intensity
      training among apparently healthy inactive adults: a randomized clinical trial.

PMID- 28610582
TI  - Behavioral and neural adaptations in response to five weeks of balance training
      in older adults: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While the positive effect of balance training on age-related
      impairments in postural stability is well-documented, the neural correlates of
      such training adaptations in older adults remain poorly understood. This study
      therefore aimed to shed more light on neural adaptations in response to balance
      training in older adults. METHODS: Postural stability as well as spinal reflex
      and cortical excitability was measured in older adults (65-80 years) before and
      after 5 weeks of balance training (n = 15) or habitual activity (n = 13).
      Postural stability was assessed during one- and two-legged quiet standing on a
      force plate (static task) and a free-swinging platform (dynamic task). The total
      sway path was calculated for all tasks. Additionally, the number of errors was
      counted for the one-legged tasks. To investigate changes in spinal reflex
      excitability, the H-reflex was assessed in the soleus muscle during quiet upright
      stance. Cortical excitability was assessed during an antero-posterior
      perturbation by conditioning the H-reflex with single-pulse transcranial magnetic
      stimulation. RESULTS: A significant training effect in favor of the training
      group was found for the number of errors conducted during one-legged standing (p
      = .050 for the static and p = .042 for the dynamic task) but not for the sway
      parameters in any task. In contrast, no significant effect was found for cortical
      excitability (p = 0.703). For spinal excitability, an effect of session (p <
      .001) as well as an interaction of session and group (p = .009) was found;
      however, these effects were mainly due to a reduced excitability in the control
      group. CONCLUSIONS: In line with previous results, older adults' postural
      stability was improved after balance training. However, these improvements were
      not accompanied by significant neural adaptations. Since almost identical studies
      in young adults found significant behavioral and neural adaptations after four
      weeks of training, we assume that age has an influence on the time course of such
      adaptations to balance training and/or the ability to transfer them from a
      trained to an untrained task.

PMID- 28610584
TI  - Serum levels of environmental pollutants is a risk factor for breast cancer in
      Inuit: a case control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Environmental Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) can alter the
      hormone homeostasis by mimicking, interfering or blocking the function of
      hormones; moreover POPs are hypothesized to modify the risk of breast cancer. The
      association between POPs and breast cancer has been widely studied but the
      conclusions are inconsistent. The present study examined the associations between
      serum levels of POPs and breast cancer with focus on the highly exposed
      Greenlandic Inuit population. METHODS: The study design was a case-control study
      of Inuit women from Greenland. The participants were asked to complete a
      questionnaire with information on reproductive history and lifestyle and to
      provide a blood sample. The sampling was carried out in two time periods (2000
      2003 and 2011-2014). The serum levels were determined of 14 polychlorinated
      biphenyls (PCBs), 11 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), 16 perfluoroalkyl acids
      (PFAAs), 1 polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and 9 polybrominated diphenyl ethers
      (PBDEs). Independent samples t-test was used to compare differences between cases
      and controls and odds ratios (OR) adjusted for identified confounders were
      obtained using logistic regression. RESULTS: The study population included 77
      breast cancer cases and 84 controls. The majority of the measured compounds
      declined significantly from 2000 - 2003 to 2011-2014. However, for the
      perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) an increase was observed. The serum
      levels were significantly higher in cases compared to controls for the majority
      of the compounds, and after adjusting for age the difference was maintained for
      ?OCP, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), ?PFAA, ?perfluorinated
      sulfonic acids (PFSA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorooctane
      sulfonate (PFOS). For the lipophilic POPs, high serum levels (middel/highest vs.
      lowest tertile) of ?PCB, ?estrgoenicPCB, PCB99, PCB138, PCB153, PCB170, PCB170,
      and PCB183 was associated with breast cancer risk; for the amphiphilic PFAAs,
      high serum levels of ?PFAA, ?PFCA, ?PFSA, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA),
      perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), PFHxS, and PFOS
      were associated with breast cancer risk. CONCLUSION: Significant, positive
      associations between breast cancer risk and PCBs and PFAAs were observed. The
      associations indicate that environmental exposure to POPs can be a factor
      increasing the risk for breast cancer in Inuit women.

PMID- 28610585
TI  - Capped antigenomic RNA transcript facilitates rescue of a plant rhabdovirus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recovery of recombinant negative-stranded RNA viruses from cloned
      cDNAs is an inefficient process as multiple viral components need to be delivered
      into cells for reconstitution of infectious entities. Previously studies have
      shown that authentic viral RNA termini are essential for efficient virus rescue.
      However, little is known about the activity of viral RNAs processed by different
      strategies in supporting recovery of plant negative-stranded RNA virus. METHODS:
      In this study, we used several versions of hammerhead ribozymes and a truncated
      cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter to generate precise 5' termini of sonchus
      yellow net rhabdovirus (SYNV) antigenomic RNA (agRNA) derivatives. These agRNAs
      were co-expressed with the SYNV core proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves to
      evaluate their efficiency in supporting fluorescent reporter gene expression from
      an SYNV minireplicon (MR) and rescue of full-length virus. RESULTS: Optimization
      of hammerhead ribozyme cleavage activities led to improved SYNV MR reporter gene
      expression. Although the MR agRNA processed by the most active hammerhead
      variants is comparable to the capped, precisely transcribed agRNA in supporting
      MR activity, efficient recovery of recombinant SYNV was only achieved with capped
      agRNA. Further studies showed that the capped SYNV agRNA permitted transient
      expression of the nucleocapsid (N) protein, and an agRNA derivatives unable to
      express the N protein in cis exhibited dramatically reduced rescue efficiency.
      CONCLUSION: Our study reveals superior activity of precisely transcribed, capped
      SYNV agRNAs to uncapped, hammerhead ribozyme-processed agRNAs, and suggests a cis
      acting function for the N protein expressed from the capped agRNA during recovery
      of SYNV from plasmids.

PMID- 28610586
TI  - Genotyping of high-risk anal human papillomavirus (HPV): ion torrent-next
      generation sequencing vs. linear array.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our next generation sequencing (NGS)-based human papillomavirus (HPV)
      genotyping assay showed a high degree of concordance with the Roche Linear Array
      (LA) with as little as 1.25 ng formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded-derived genomic
      DNA in head and neck and cervical cancer samples. This sensitive genotyping assay
      uses barcoded HPV PCR broad-spectrum general primers 5+/6+ (BSGP)5+/6+ applicable
      to population studies, but it's diagnostic performance has not been tested in
      cases with multiple concurrent HPV infections. METHODS: We conducted a cross
      sectional study to compare the positive and negative predictive value (PPV and
      NPV), sensitivity and specificity of the NGS assay to detect HPV genotype
      infections as compared to the LA. DNA was previously extracted from ten anal swab
      samples from men who have sex with men in Nigeria enrolled on the TRUST/RV368
      cohort study. Two-sample tests of proportions were used to examine differences in
      the diagnostic performance of the NGS assay to detect high vs. low-risk HPV type
      specific infections. RESULTS: In total there were 94 type-specific infections
      detected in 10 samples with a median of 9.5, range (9 to 10) per sample. Using
      the LA as the gold standard, 84.4% (95% CI: 75.2-91.2) of the same anal type
      specific infections detected on the NGS assay had been detected by LA. The PPV
      and sensitivity differed significantly for high risk (PPV: 90%, 95% CI: 79.5
      96.2; sensitivity: 93.1%, 95% CI: 83.3-98.1) as compared to low risk HPV (PPV:
      73%, 95% CI: 54.1-87.7; sensitivity: 61.1, 95% CI: 43.5-76.9) (all p < 0.05). The
      NPV for all types was 92.5% (95% CI: 88.4-95.4). The NPV and specificity were
      similar for high and low risk HPVs (all p > 0.05). The NGS assay detected 10 HPV
      genotypes that were not among the 37 genotypes found on LA (30, 32, 43, 44, 74,
      86, 87, 90, 91, 114). CONCLUSIONS: The NGS assay accurately detects multiple HPV
      infections in individual clinical specimens with limited sample volume and has
      extended coverage compared to LA.

PMID- 28610587
TI  - The use of birds as pets in Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of birds as pets has been a historical tradition in Mexico
      since prehispanic times. It has survived through bird traders, called pajareros,
      which is a local name given to the trade (derived from pajaro, the Spanish word
      for bird). However, the trade of birds has not been sufficiently described;
      therefore, the goal of this paper is to analyze the bird trade in Mexico using
      the components of an ethnoecology scheme known as kosmos-corpus-praxis complex.
      METHODS: Qualitative research techniques were used, including ethnographic
      immersion, participative research, and interviews of 79 pajareros in 22
      localities in nine Mexican states. RESULTS: The activity of the pajareros occurs
      within their households, with each member having distinct roles. The roles
      involved in bird trading are capturing, acclimation, maintenance, and sale. Their
      assignment depends on gender, age, and residential location (rural or urban).
      Beyond their households, the pajareros are well organized in trade unions and are
      represented by a leader, who acts as an intermediate between them and the
      government officers who are involved in the authorization of federal permits. The
      pajareros use 96 species of birds, most of which are native to Mexico. Practicing
      the trade requires highly specific knowledge of the biology, ecology, habitat,
      nutrition, diseases, and behavior of the birds, as well as the abiotic components
      of their environment, such as climatology and geography. The cosmovision of
      pajarero households is embedded in their identity, making them proud of their
      trade. CONCLUSIONS: Our paper provides the first comprehensive description of the
      pajarero trade, showing evidence of local communitarian management in the places
      where the wild birds are captured.

PMID- 28610588
TI  - Cell foundry with high product specificity and catalytic activity for 21
      deoxycortisol biotransformation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 21-deoxycortisol (21-DF) is the key intermediate to manufacture
      pharmaceutical glucocorticoids. Recently, a Japan patent has realized 21-DF
      production via biotransformation of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) by purified
      steroid 11beta-hydroxylase CYP11B1. Due to the less costs on enzyme isolation,
      purification and stabilization as well as cofactors supply, whole-cell should be
      preferentially employed as the biocatalyst over purified enzymes. No reports as
      so far have demonstrated a whole-cell system to produce 21-DF. Therefore, this
      study aimed to establish a whole-cell biocatalyst to achieve 21-DF transformation
      with high catalytic activity and product specificity. RESULTS: In this study,
      Escherichia coli MG1655(DE3), which exhibited the highest substrate
      transportation rate among other tested chassises, was employed as the host cell
      to construct our biocatalyst by co-expressing heterologous CYP11B1 together with
      bovine adrenodoxin and adrenodoxin reductase. Through screening CYP11B1s (with
      mutagenesis at N-terminus) from nine sources, Homo sapiens CYP11B1 mutant
      (G25R/G46R/L52 M) achieved the highest 21-DF transformation rate at 10.6 mg/L/h.
      Furthermore, an optimal substrate concentration of 2.4 g/L and a corresponding
      transformation rate of 16.2 mg/L/h were obtained by screening substrate
      concentrations. To be noted, based on structural analysis of the enzyme-substrate
      complex, two types of site-directed mutations were designed to adjust the
      relative position between the catalytic active site heme and the substrate.
      Accordingly, 1.96-fold enhancement on 21-DF transformation rate (to 47.9 mg/L/h)
      and 2.78-fold improvement on product/by-product ratio (from 0.36 to 1.36) were
      achieved by the combined mutagenesis of F381A/L382S/I488L. Eventually, after 38-h
      biotransformation in shake-flask, the production of 21-DF reached to 1.42 g/L
      with a yield of 52.7%, which is the highest 21-DF production as known.
      CONCLUSIONS: Heterologous CYP11B1 was manipulated to construct E. coli
      biocatalyst converting 17-OHP to 21-DF. Through the strategies in terms of (1)
      screening enzymes (with N-terminal mutagenesis) sources, (2) optimizing substrate
      concentration, and most importantly (3) rational design novel mutants aided by
      structural analysis, the 21-DF transformation rate was stepwise improved by 19.5
      fold along with 4.67-fold increase on the product/byproduct ratio. Eventually,
      the highest 21-DF reported production was achieved in shake-flask after 38-h
      biotransformation. This study highlighted above described methods to obtain a
      high efficient and specific biocatalyst for the desired biotransformation.

PMID- 28610589
TI  - High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T is a biomarker for atherosclerosis in
      systemic lupus erythematous patients: a cross-sectional controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main cause of death in systemic
      lupus erythematous (SLE) patients. The Framingham score underestimates the risk
      for CVD in this population. Our study aimed to determine whether serum high
      sensitivity cardiac troponin T (HS-cTnT) might help to identify SLE patients at
      risk for CVD. METHODS: The presence of carotid plaques was prospectively assessed
      by ultrasound in 63 consecutive SLE patients asymptomatic for CVD and 18
      controls. Serum HS-cTnT concentration was measured using the
      electrochemiluminescence method. Factors associated with carotid plaques were
      identified and multivariate analysis was performed. RESULTS: Framingham score was
      low in both SLE patients (median 1 (range 1-18%)) and controls (1 (1-13%)).
      Nevertheless, 23 (36.5%) SLE patients, but only 2 (11.1%) controls (p = 0.039),
      had carotid plaque detected by vascular ultrasound. In the multivariate analysis,
      only age (p = 0.006) and SLE status (p = 0.017) were independently associated
      with carotid plaques. Serum HS-cTnT concentration was detectable (i.e. >3 ng/L)
      in 37 (58.7%) SLE patients and 6 (33.3%) controls (p = 0.057). Interestingly, 87%
      of SLE patients with carotid plaques, but only 42.5% of SLE patients without
      plaques (p < 0.001), had detectable HS-cTnT. Conversely, 54.5% of SLE patients
      with detectable HS-cTnT, but only 11.5% with undetectable HS-cTnT (p < 0.001),
      had a carotid plaque. In the multivariate analysis, only body mass index (p =
      0.006) and HS-cTnT (p = 0.033) were statistically associated with carotid plaques
      in SLE patients. Overall, the risk of having a carotid plaque was increased by 9
      (odds ratio 9.26, 95% confidence interval 1.55-90.07) in SLE patients in whom HS
      cTnT was detectable in serum. CONCLUSION: Serum HS-cTnT level is high and
      associated with carotid plaques in SLE patients who are at an apparently low risk
      for CVD according to the Framingham score. HS-cTnT may be a useful biomarker for
      SLE-associated atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28610590
TI  - A continuous quality improvement intervention to improve the effectiveness of
      community health workers providing care to mothers and children: a cluster
      randomised controlled trial in South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Community health workers (CHWs) play key roles in delivering health
      programmes in many countries worldwide. CHW programmes can improve coverage of
      maternal and child health services for the most disadvantaged and remote
      communities, leading to substantial benefits for mothers and children. However,
      there is limited evidence of effective mentoring and supervision approaches for
      CHWs. METHODS: This is a cluster randomised controlled trial to investigate the
      effectiveness of a continuous quality improvement (CQI) intervention amongst CHWs
      providing home-based education and support to pregnant women and mothers. Thirty
      CHW supervisors were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 15) and control (n =
      15) arms. Four CHWs were randomly selected from those routinely supported by each
      supervisor (n = 60 per arm). In the intervention arm, these four CHWs and their
      supervisor formed a quality improvement team. Intervention CHWs received a 2-week
      training in WHO Community Case Management followed by CQI mentoring for 12 months
      (preceded by 3 months lead-in to establish QI processes). Baseline and follow-up
      surveys were conducted with mothers of infants <12 months old living in
      households served by participating CHWs. RESULTS: Interviews were conducted with
      736 and 606 mothers at baseline and follow-up respectively; socio-demographic
      characteristics were similar in both study arms and at each time point. At follow
      up, compared to mothers served by control CHWs, mothers served by intervention
      CHWs were more likely to have received a CHW visit during pregnancy (75.7 vs
      29.0%, p < 0.0001) and the postnatal period (72.6 vs 30.3%, p < 0.0001).
      Intervention mothers had higher maternal and child health knowledge scores (49 vs
      43%, p = 0.02) and reported higher exclusive breastfeeding rates to 6 weeks (76.7
      vs 65.1%, p = 0.02). HIV-positive mothers served by intervention CHWs were more
      likely to have disclosed their HIV status to the CHW (78.7 vs 50.0%, p = 0.007).
      Uptake of facility-based interventions were not significantly different.
      CONCLUSIONS: Improved training and CQI-based mentoring of CHWs can improve
      quantity and quality of CHW-mother interactions at household level, leading to
      improvements in mothers' knowledge and infant feeding practices. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT01774136.

PMID- 28610591
TI  - Propensity score-matching analysis of postoperative radiotherapy for stage IIIA
      N2 non-small cell lung cancer using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End
      Results database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the effects of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) on
      the survival of patients with resected stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). METHODS: A total of 3,334 patients with resected stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC in
      2004 to 2013 were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
      database and stratified according to use of PORT. Propensity score-matching (PSM)
      methods were used to balance the baseline characteristics of patients who did (n
      = 744) or did not (n = 744) undergo PORT. Overall survival (OS) and lung cancer
      specific survival (LCSS) were compared between these two patient groups. RESULTS:
      After PSM, PORT increased OS (hazard ratio, 0.793; p = 0.001) and LCSS (hazard
      ratio, 0.837; p = 0.022) compared with no PORT. The OS benefit for PORT was
      mainly seen in patients aged <60 years (5-year OS, 35.4% versus 28.9% for PORT
      versus no PORT, respectively; p = 0.026) and in those who underwent lobectomy (5
      year OS, 43.5% versus 34.5% for PORT versus no PORT, respectively; p = 0.001).
      The LCSS benefit for PORT was significant in patients undergoing lobectomy (5
      year LCSS, 48.3% versus 42.3% for PORT versus no PORT, respectively; p = 0.036).
      CONCLUSIONS: The survival benefits of PORT were primarily observed in patients
      with resected stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC who were <60 years of age or had undergone
      lobectomy.

PMID- 28610592
TI  - Xenon in the treatment of panic disorder: an open label study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current treatments of panic disorder (PD) are limited by adverse
      effects, poor efficacy, and need for chronic administration. The established
      safety profile of subanesthetic concentrations of xenon gas, which is known to
      act as a glutamate subtype NMDA receptor antagonist, coupled with preclinical
      studies demonstrating its effects in other anxiety related conditions, prompted
      us to evaluate its feasibility and efficacy in treatment of patients with PD.
      METHODS: An open-label clinical trial of xenon-oxygen mixture was conducted in 81
      patients with PD; group 1 consisting of patients only with PD (N = 42); and group
      2 patients with PD and other comorbidities (N = 39). RESULTS: Based on the
      analysis of the results of a number of psychometric scales used in this study
      (SAS, HADS, CGI), several conclusions can be made: (1) xenon is a potentially
      effective modality in acute treatment of PD; (2) an anti-panic effect of xenon
      administration persists for at least 6 months after the completion of the active
      phase of treatment; (3) xenon inhalation is well tolerated, with the drop-out
      rates being much lower than that of conventional pharmacotherapy (5.8% vs. 15%);
      (4) the severity of depressive disorders that frequently accompany PD can be
      significantly reduced with the use of xenon; (5) xenon may be considered as an
      alternative to benzodiazepines in conjunction with cognitive-behavioral therapy
      as a safe modality in treatment of anxiety disorder. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      support the need for randomized double-blind clinical trials to further study
      xenon-based interventions. Trial registration This clinical trial was
      retrospectively registered on April 14th, 2017 as ISRCTN15184285 in the ISRCTN
      database.

PMID- 28610593
TI  - Erratum to: MiRNA expression in the cartilage of patients with osteoarthritis.

PMID- 28610594
TI  - The genetic diversity and population structure of domestic Aedes aegypti
      (Diptera: Culicidae) in Yunnan Province, southwestern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There was no record of Aedes aegypti in Yunnan Province, China, until
      2002, but this species is now continuously found in nine cities (or counties).
      Until now, little was known about the genetic diversity and population structure
      of this invasive species. Thus, a detailed understanding of the invasion
      strategies, colonisation and dispersal of this mosquito from a population
      genetics perspective is urgently needed for controlling and eliminating this
      disease vector. METHODS: The genetic diversity and population structure of Ae.
      aegypti communities were analysed by screening nine microsatellite loci from 833
      Ae. aegypti mosquitoes sampled from 28 locations in Yunnan Province. RESULTS: In
      total, 114 alleles were obtained, and the average polymorphic information content
      (PIC) value was 0.672. The value of the alleles per locus ranged from 2.90 to
      5.18, with an average of 4.04. The value of He ranged from 0.353 to 0.681, and
      the value of Ho within populations ranged from 0.401 to 0.689. Of the 28
      locations, two showed significant departures from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
      (HWE) with P-values less than 0.05, and a bottleneck effect was detected among
      locations from Ruili and the border areas with the degree of 60% and 50%,
      respectively. Combined with the F-statistics (FIT = 0.222; FCT = 0.145), the
      analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that there was substantial
      molecular variation among individuals, accounting for 77.76% of the sample, with
      a significant P-value (<0.0001). The results suggest that genetic differences in
      Ae. aegypti originated primarily among individuals rather than among populations.
      Furthermore, the STRUCTURE and UPGMA cluster analyses showed that Ae. aegypti
      from the border areas were genetically isolated compared to those from the cities
      Ruili and Jinghong, consistent with the results of the Mantel test (R 2 = 0.245,
      P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Continuous invasion contributes to the maintenance of
      Ae. aegypti populations' genetic diversity and different invasion accidents
      result in the genetic difference among Ae. aegypti populations of Yunnan
      Province.

PMID- 28610596
TI  - Complete human serum maintains viability and chondrogenic potential of human
      synovial stem cells: suitable conditions for transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In our clinical practice, we perform transplantations of autologous
      synovial mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cartilage and meniscus regenerative
      medicine. One of the most important issues to ensuring clinical efficacy involves
      the transport of synovial MSCs from the processing facility to the clinic.
      Complete human serum (100% human serum) is an attractive candidate material in
      which to suspend synovial MSCs for their preservation during transport. The
      purpose of this study was to investigate whether complete human serum maintained
      MSC viability and chondrogenic potential and to examine the optimal temperature
      conditions for the preservation of human synovial MSCs. METHODS: Human synovium
      was harvested from the knees of 14 donors with osteoarthritis during total knee
      arthroplasty. Passage 2 synovial MSCs were suspended at 2 million cells/100 MUL
      in Ringer's solution or complete human serum at 4, 13, and 37  degrees C for 48
      h. These cells were analyzed for live cell rates, cell surface marker expression,
      metabolic activity, proliferation, and adipogenic, calcification, and
      chondrogenic differentiation potentials before and after preservation. RESULTS:
      After preservation, synovial MSCs maintained higher live cell rates in human
      serum than in Ringer's solution at 4 and 13  degrees C. Synovial MSCs preserved
      in human serum at 4 and 13  degrees C also maintained high ratios of propidium
      iodide- and annexin V- cells. MSC surface marker expression was not altered in
      cells preserved at 4 and 13  degrees C. The metabolic activities of cells
      preserved in human serum at 4 and 13  degrees C was maintained, while
      significantly reduced in other conditions. Replated MSCs retained their
      proliferation ability when preserved in human serum at 4 and 13  degrees C.
      Adipogenesis and calcification potential could be observed in cells preserved in
      each condition, whereas chondrogenic potential was retained only in cells
      preserved in human serum at 4 and 13  degrees C. CONCLUSION: The viability and
      chondrogenic potential of synovial MSCs were maintained when the cells were
      suspended in human serum at 4 and 13  degrees C.

PMID- 28610595
TI  - Stem cell models of Alzheimer's disease: progress and challenges.
AB  - A major challenge to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) has been the lack of physiologically relevant in vitro models which
      capture the precise patient genome, in the cell type of interest, with
      physiological expression levels of the gene(s) of interest. Induced pluripotent
      stem cell (iPSC) technology, together with advances in 2D and 3D neuronal
      differentiation, offers a unique opportunity to overcome this challenge and
      generate a limitless supply of human neurons for in vitro studies. iPSC-neuron
      models have been widely employed to model AD and we discuss in this review the
      progress that has been made to date using patient-derived neurons to recapitulate
      key aspects of AD pathology and how these models have contributed to a deeper
      understanding of AD molecular mechanisms, as well as addressing the key
      challenges posed by using this technology and what progress is being made to
      overcome these. Finally, we highlight future directions for the use of iPSC
      neurons in AD research and highlight the potential value of this technology to
      neurodegenerative research in the coming years.

PMID- 28610597
TI  - Anti-connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) monoclonal antibody attenuates
      skin fibrosis in mice models of systemic sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by fibrosis of the skin and
      internal organs. Although the involvement of connective tissue growth factor
      (CTGF/CCN2) has been well-documented in SSc fibrosis, the therapeutic potential
      of targeting CTGF in SSc has not been fully investigated. Our aim was to examine
      the therapeutic potential of CTGF blockade in a preclinical model of SSc using
      two approaches: smooth muscle cell fibroblast-specific deletion of CTGF (CTGF
      knockout (KO)) or a human anti-CTGF monoclonal antibody, FG-3019. METHODS:
      Angiotensin II (Ang II) was administered for 14 days by subcutaneous osmotic pump
      to CTGF KO or C57BL/6 J mice. FG-3019 was administered intraperitoneally three
      times per week for 2 weeks. Skin fibrosis was evaluated by histology and
      hydroxyproline assay. Immunohistochemistry staining was used for alpha smooth
      muscle actin (alphaSMA), platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta
      (PDGFRbeta), pSmad2, CD45, von Willebrand factor (vWF), and immunofluorescence
      staining was utilized for procollagen and Fsp1. RESULTS: Ang II-induced skin
      fibrosis was mitigated in both CTGF KO and FG-3019-treated mice. The blockade of
      CTGF reduced the number of cells expressing PDGFRbeta, procollagen, alphaSMA,
      pSmad2, CD45, and Fsp1 in the dermis. In addition, inhibition of CTGF attenuated
      vascular injury as measured by the presence of vWF-positive cells. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our data indicate that inhibition of CTGF signaling presents an attractive
      therapeutic approach in SSc.

PMID- 28610598
TI  - Forensic toxicology analysis of self-poisoning suicidal deaths in Tehran, Iran;
      trends between 2011-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suicide ranks among the top ten causes of death in all age groups all
      over the world. There are many methods for committing suicide including self
      poisoning, firearm and hanging. The aim of the present study was to provide an
      overview of self-poisoning related suicidal deaths with special focus on forensic
      toxicology analysis results in Tehran, Iran from 2011 to 2015. METHODS: All
      suspicious cases with the the history of self-poisoning were investigated to
      define the cause and manner of death under the supervision of forensic medicine
      practitioners. Postmortem samples were analysed in forensic toxicology laboratory
      to confirm the presence of drugs in cadaver of suicidal cases. Drugs and poisons
      were analysed using thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid
      chromatography, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, headspace gas
      chromatography and gas chromatography equipped with nitrogen phosphorus detector.
      Demographic data were collected from autopsy reports of all cases with confirmed
      self-poisoning suicidal cause of death. RESULTS: Results showed that 674 cases of
      self-poisoning deaths were investigated during a five-year study period, of which
      68.55% were male. The most often used suicide method was self-poisoning in young
      population. Phosphine gas liberated from aluminum phosphide tablets was the most
      toxic substance detected in postmortem samples (619 cases) followed by opioids,
      methamphetamine, organophosphates, cyanide and strychnine. CONCLUSION: In
      conclusion self-poisoning suicidal death was predominant in young male population
      in Tehran, Iran. It seems that free access to suicide means such as drugs and
      poisons should be restricted by national and health authorities. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

PMID- 28610599
TI  - Reversible diabetes mellitus induced by use of, and improved after
      discontinuation of, the antiretroviral medication zidovudine: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the advent of effective antiretroviral therapy, the care of
      patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection became more like that of
      other chronic diseases. Diabetes mellitus can also occur as one of the chronic
      illnesses affecting patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. We
      report a case of newly developed diabetes mellitus in a patient with human
      immunodeficiency virus infection, most likely caused by the nucleoside analogue
      zidovudine, and its improvement after discontinuation of zidovudine. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A Chinese man in his 30s visited our outpatient clinic for routine
      follow-up of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Blood tests showed
      hyperglycemia with a glucose level of 31.8 mmol/L and hemoglobin A1c of 8.5%. He
      was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and treated with oral diabetic medications.
      The use of zidovudine was suspected as the cause of his diabetes, and it was
      replaced by other antiretroviral medication. His hyperglycemia improved, and he
      now no longer requires diabetic medications. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes mellitus can
      develop with the use of antiretroviral medications, but its occurrence associated
      with use of zidovudine is quite rare. Healthcare personnel should be aware of
      this rare, yet important, side effect.

PMID- 28610600
TI  - The cumulative number of micro-haemorrhages and micro-thromboses in nailfold
      videocapillaroscopy is a good indicator of disease activity in systemic
      sclerosis: a validation study of the NEMO score.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some abnormalities in nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC), such as the
      presence of micro-haemorrhages (MHEs), micro-thromboses (MTs), giant capillaries
      (GCs) and reduction in the number of capillaries (nCs), suggest a disease
      activity (DA) phase in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In a previous paper, we showed
      that the number of micro-haemorrhages and micro-thromboses (the so-called NEMO
      score) was the NVC feature more closely associated with DA. The present study was
      aimed at validating the NEMO score as a measure of DA in patients with SSc.
      METHODS: Two cohorts of 122 and 97 patients with SSc who were referred to two
      different rheumatology units, one in Milan and one in Naples, respectively,
      constituted the validation cohorts. The NEMO score, the total number of GCs and
      the mean nCs per digit were the parameters defined in each patient by eight
      finger NVC. An expert operator analysed the NVCs in each of the participating
      units. The European Scleroderma Study Group (ESSG) index was used to define the
      DA level in each patient at the time of NVC examination. RESULTS: The NEMO score
      was the NVC parameter more strictly correlated with the ESSG score in both the
      Milan and Naples cohorts (p < 0.0001), and it was the only one among the NVC
      variables that gave a significant contribution in a logistic model where the ESSG
      score represented the dependent variable. ROC curve analysis confirmed that the
      NEMO score had the best performance in measuring DA. The AUC of the NEMO score
      was significantly greater than the AUCs obtained by plotting the sensitivity and
      specificity of the number of GCs and the mean nCs (p < 0.0001 in all cases). The
      NEMO score values that showed the best sensitivity-specificity balance in
      capturing patients with a relevant DA level were slightly higher in the Naples
      cohort than in the Milan cohort. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that the
      presence of a certain number of MHEs and MTs in NVC may be considered a strong
      warning signal of a current phase of DA in patients with SSc.

PMID- 28610601
TI  - Positioning In Macular hole Surgery (PIMS): statistical analysis plan for a
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of idiopathic full-thickness macular holes involves
      surgery to close the hole. Some surgeons advise patients to adopt a face-down
      position to increase the likelihood of successful macular hole closure. However,
      patients often find the face-down positioning arduous. There is a lack of
      conclusive evidence that face-down positioning improves the outcome. The
      'Positioning In Macular hole Surgery' (PIMS) trial will assess whether advice to
      position face-down after surgery improves the surgical success rate for the
      closure of large (>=400 MUm) macular holes. METHODS/DESIGN: The PIMS trial is a
      multicentre, parallel-group, superiority clinical trial with 1:1 randomisation.
      Patients (n = 192) with macular holes (>=400 MUm) will be randomised after
      surgery to either face-down positioning or face-forward positioning for at least
      8 h (which can be either consecutive or nonconsecutive) a day, for 5 days
      following surgery. Inclusion criteria are: presence of an idiopathic full
      thickness macular hole >=400 MUm in diameter, as measured by optical coherence
      tomography (OCT) scans, on either or both eyes; patients electing to have surgery
      for a macular hole, with or without simultaneous phacoemulsification and
      intraocular lens implant; ability and willingness to position face-down or in an
      inactive face-forward position; a history of visual loss suggesting a macular
      hole of 12 months' or less duration. The primary outcome is successful macular
      hole closure at 3 months post surgery. The treatment effect will be reported as
      an odds ratio with 95% confidence interval, adjusted for size of macular hole and
      phakic lens status at baseline. Secondary outcome measures at 3 months are:
      further surgery for macular holes performed or planned (of those with
      unsuccessful closure); patient-reported experience of positioning; whether
      patients report they would still have elected to have the operation given what
      they know at follow-up; best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measured using
      Snellen charts at a standard distance of 6 m; patient-reported health and quality
      of life assessed using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire
      (VFQ-25). DISCUSSION: The PIMS trial is the first multicentre randomised control
      trial to investigate the value of face-down positioning following macular hole
      standardised surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised
      Controlled Trials Number registry, ID: ISRCTN12410596. Registered on 11 February
      2015. United Kingdom Clinical Research Network, ID: UKCRN17966 . Registered on 26
      November 2014.

PMID- 28610602
TI  - Associations of criminal justice and substance use treatment involvement with
      HIV/HCV testing and the HIV treatment cascade among people who use drugs in
      Oakland, California.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People who smoke crack cocaine and people who inject drugs are at
      risk for criminal justice involvement as well as HIV and HCV infection. Compared
      to criminal justice involvement, substance use treatment (SUT) can be cost
      effective in reducing drug use and its associated health and social costs. We
      conducted a cross-sectional study of people who smoke crack cocaine and people
      who inject drugs to examine the association between incarceration, community
      supervision and substance use treatment with HIV/HCV testing, components of the
      HIV treatment cascade, social and physical vulnerability and risk behavior.
      METHODS: Targeted sampling methods were used to recruit people who smoke crack
      cocaine and people who inject drugs (N = 2072) in Oakland, California from 2011
      to 2013. Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted prevalence
      ratios between study exposures and outcomes. RESULTS: The overall HIV prevalence
      was 3.3% (95% CI 2.6-4.1). People previously experiencing incarceration were 21%
      (p < 0.001) and 32% (p = 0.001), respectively, more likely to report HIV and HCV
      testing; and were not more likely to report receiving HIV care or initiating ART.
      People previously experiencing community supervision were 17% (p = 0.001) and 15%
      (p = 0.009), respectively, more likely to report HIV and HCV testing; and were
      not more likely to report receiving HIV care or initiating ART. People with a
      history of SUT were 15% (p < 0.001) and 23% (p < 0.001), respectively, more
      likely to report receiving HIV and HCV testing, 67% (p = 0.016) more likely to
      report HIV care, and 92% (p = 0.012) more likely to report HIV treatment
      initiation. People previously experiencing incarceration or community supervision
      were also more likely to report homelessness, trouble meeting basic needs and
      risk behavior. CONCLUSIONS: People with a history of substance use treatment
      reported higher levels of HCV and HIV testing and greater access to HIV care and
      treatment among HIV-positive individuals. People with a history of incarceration
      or community supervision reported higher levels of HCV and HIV testing, but not
      greater access to HIV care or treatment among HIV-positive individuals.,
      Substance use treatment programs that are integrated with other services for HIV
      and HCV will be critical to simultaneously address the underlying reasons drug
      involved people engage in drug-related offenses and improve access to essential
      medical services.

PMID- 28610603
TI  - An Australian Indigenous community-led suicide intervention skills training
      program: community consultation findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known of the appropriateness of existing gatekeeper suicide
      prevention programs for Indigenous communities. Despite the high rates of
      Indigenous suicide in Australia, especially among Indigenous youth, it is unclear
      how effective existing suicide prevention programs are in providing appropriate
      management of Indigenous people at risk of suicide. METHODS: In-depth, semi
      structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with Indigenous communities
      in rural and regional areas of Southern Queensland. Thematic analysis was
      performed on the gathered information. RESULTS: Existing programs were time
      intensive and included content irrelevant to Indigenous people. There was
      inconsistency in the content and delivery of gatekeeper training. Programs were
      also not sustainable for rural and regional Indigenous communities. CONCLUSIONS:
      Appropriate programs should be practical, relevant, and sustainable across all
      Indigenous communities, with a focus on the social, emotional, cultural and
      spiritual underpinnings of community wellbeing. Programs need to be developed in
      thorough consultation with Indigenous communities. Indigenous-led suicide
      intervention training programs are needed to mitigate the increasing rates of
      suicide experienced by Indigenous peoples living in rural and remote locations.

PMID- 28610604
TI  - Age- and environment-dependent changes in chemical defences of larval and post
      metamorphic toads.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemical defences are widespread in animals, but how their production
      is adjusted to ecological conditions is poorly known. Optimal defence theory
      predicts that inducible defences are favoured over constitutive defences when
      toxin production is costly and the need for it varies across environments.
      However, if some environmental changes occur predictably (e.g. coupled to
      transitions during ontogeny), whereas others are unpredictable (e.g. predation,
      food availability), changes in defences may have constitutive as well as plastic
      elements. To investigate this phenomenon, we raised common toad (Bufo bufo)
      tadpoles with ad libitum or limited food and in the presence or absence of
      chemical cues on predation risk, and measured their toxin content on 5 occasions
      during early ontogeny. RESULTS: The number of compounds showed limited variation
      with age in tadpoles and was unaffected by food limitation and predator cues. The
      total amount of bufadienolides first increased and later decreased during
      development, and it was elevated in young and mid-aged tadpoles with limited food
      availability compared to their ad libitum fed conspecifics, whereas it did not
      change in response to cues on predation risk. We provide the first evidence for
      the active synthesis of defensive toxin compounds this early during ontogeny in
      amphibians. Furthermore, the observation of increased quantities of
      bufadienolides in food-restricted tadpoles is the first experimental
      demonstration of resource-dependent induction of elevated de novo toxin
      production, suggesting a role for bufadienolides in allelopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study shows that the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in chemical defences may
      depend on the ecological context (i.e. predation vs. competition). Our results
      furthermore suggest that the age-dependent changes in the diversity of toxin
      compounds in developing toads may be fixed (i.e., constitutive), timed for the
      developmental stages in which they are most reliant on their chemical arsenal,
      whereas inducible plasticity may prevail in the amount of synthesized compounds.

PMID- 28610605
TI  - Adherence to response-guided pegylated interferon and ribavirin for people who
      inject drugs with hepatitis C virus genotype 2/3 infection: the ACTIVATE study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aims of this analysis were to investigate treatment completion
      and adherence among people with ongoing injecting drug use or receiving opioid
      substitution therapy (OST) in a study of response-guided therapy for chronic HCV
      genotypes 2/3 infection. METHODS: ACTIVATE was a multicenter clinical trial
      recruited between 2012 and 2014. Participants with genotypes 2/3 were treated
      with directly observed peg-interferon alfa-2b (PEG-IFN) and self-administered
      ribavirin for 12 (undetectable HCV RNA at week 4) or 24 weeks (detectable HCV RNA
      at week 4). Outcomes included treatment completion, PEG-IFN adherence, ribavirin
      adherence, and sustained virological response (SVR, undetectable HCV RNA >12
      weeks post-treatment). RESULTS: Among 93 people treated, 59% had recently
      injected drugs (past month), 77% were receiving OST and 56% injected drugs during
      therapy. Overall, 76% completed treatment. Mean on-treatment adherence to PEG-IFN
      and ribavirin were 98.2% and 94.6%. Overall, 6% of participants missed >1 dose of
      PEG-IFN and 31% took <95% of their prescribed ribavirin., Higher treatment
      completion was observed among those receiving 12 vs. 24 weeks of treatment (97%
      vs. 46%, P < 0.001) while the proportion of participants with 95% on-treatment
      ribavirin adherence was similar between groups (67% vs. 72%, P = 0.664).
      Receiving 12 weeks of therapy was independently associated with treatment
      completion. No factors were associated with 95% RBV adherence. Neither recent
      injecting drug use at baseline nor during therapy was associated with treatment
      completion or adherence to ribavirin. In adjusted analysis, treatment completion
      was associated with SVR (aOR 23.9, 95% CI 2.9-193.8). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated a high adherence to directly observed PEG-IFN and self-administered
      ribavirin among people with ongoing injecting drug use or receiving OST. These
      data also suggest that shortening therapy from 24 to 12 weeks can lead to
      improved treatment completion. Treatment completion was associated with improved
      response to therapy. ACTIVATE trial registration number: NCT01364090 - May 31,
      2011.

PMID- 28610607
TI  - Resveratrol distinctively modulates the inflammatory profiles of immune and
      endothelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The phenolic substance resveratrol (RES) is a plant metabolite known
      to modulate numerous physiological functions and to exert beneficial effects as a
      cancer-chemopreventing agent and on neurological, hepatic, and cardiovascular
      systems. Since the compound affects the lifespan of yeast and flies it might be
      an anti-aging substance. Mechanistically, RES is involved in down regulating the
      inflammatory response. The pleiotropic effects of RES in cells of the immune and
      endothelial system were examined in this study. RESULTS: Murine macrophages
      (RAW264.7 cells), human monocytic/leukemia cells (THP-1), PBLs and HUVECs were
      incubated with RES and activated with inflammatory stimuli such as LPS or TNF
      alpha. Inflammatory mediators and adhesion molecules were measured by multiplex
      analysis and gene expression was quantified by RT-PCR. In PBLs, which were
      activated with LPS, RES blunted the production of TNF-alpha, CCL2/MCP-1,
      CCL5/RANTES, CXCL8/IL-8, whereas it increased the production of IL-1beta, IL-6,
      CCL4/MIP-1beta and CXCL10/IP-10. Thus, in the blood compartment chemokines
      attracting mainly monocytes were up-regulated by RES, while those attracting T
      lymphocytes or neutrophils were diminished. At conditions of endothelial
      dysfunction (ED), RES reduced the expression of cytokines, chemokines, ICAM and
      GM-CSF in TNF-alpha activated HUVECs, whereas eNOS expression was corrected to
      pre-ED homeostasis. In macrophages nitric oxide, PGE2, cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL
      1beta, IL-6) and chemokines (CCL2/MCP-1, CCL4/MIP-1beta, CCL5/RANTES, CXCL10/IP
      10) were reduced by the phenolic substance. CONCLUSIONS: RES had cell-specific
      and context-dependent effects, in particular on the expression of IL-1beta, IL-6,
      CCL4/MIP-1beta and CXCL10/IP-10. It enhanced cellular features that mirror
      increased alertness to disturbed immune homeostasis in the vascular-endothelial
      compartment (e.g. increased production of IL-1beta or IL-6), whereas it blunted
      inflammatory mediators in macrophages and consequently chronic inflammation. We
      infer from the present in vitro study, that RES has unique properties in the
      regulation of inflammatory and immune responses, which are controlled in a
      complex hierarchical and temporal order.

PMID- 28610609
TI  - Estimation of basic reproduction number of the Middle East respiratory syndrome
      coronavirus (MERS-CoV) during the outbreak in South Korea, 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In South Korea, an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome
      (MERS) occurred in 2015. It was the second largest MERS outbreak. As a result of
      the outbreak in South Korea, 186 infections were reported, and 36 patients died.
      At least 16,693 people were isolated with suspicious symptoms. This paper
      estimates the basic reproduction number of the MERS coronavirus (CoV), using data
      on the spread of MERS in South Korea. METHODS: The basic reproduction number of
      an epidemic is defined as the average number of secondary cases that an infected
      subject produces over its infectious period in a susceptible and uninfected
      population. To estimate the basic reproduction number of the MERS-CoV, we employ
      data from the 2015 South Korea MERS outbreak and the susceptible-infected-removed
      (SIR) model, a mathematical model that uses a set of ordinary differential
      equations (ODEs). RESULTS: We fit the model to the epidemic data of the South
      Korea outbreak minimizing the sum of the squared errors to identify model
      parameters. Also we derive the basic reproductive number as the terms of the
      parameters of the SIR model. Then we determine the basic reproduction number of
      the MERS-CoV in South Korea in 2015 as 8.0977. It is worth comparing with the
      basic reproductive number of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa including
      Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, which had values of 1.5-2.5. CONCLUSIONS:
      There was no intervention to control the infection in the early phase of the
      outbreak, thus the data used here provide the best conditions to evaluate the
      epidemic characteristics of MERS, such as the basic reproduction number. An
      evaluation of basic reproduction number using epidemic data could be problematic
      if there are stochastic fluctuations in the early phase of the outbreak, or if
      the report is not accurate and there is bias in the data. Such problems are not
      relevant to this study because the data used here were precisely reported and
      verified by Korea Hospital Association.

PMID- 28610606
TI  - Biologic therapies for refractory juvenile dermatomyositis: five years of
      experience of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance in North
      America.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognosis of children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) has
      improved remarkably since the 1960's with the use of corticosteroid and
      immunosuppressive therapy. Yet there remain a minority of children who have
      refractory disease. Since 2003 the sporadic use of biologics (genetically
      engineered proteins that usually are derived from human genes) for inflammatory
      myositis has been reported. In 2011-2016 we investigated our collective
      experience of biologics in JDM through the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology
      Research Alliance (CARRA). METHODS: The JDM biologic study group developed a
      survey on the CARRA member experience using biologics for Juvenile DM utilizing
      Delphi consensus methods in 2011-2012. The survey was completed online by the
      CARRA members interested in JDM in 2012. A second survey was similarly developed
      that provided more opportunity to describe their experiences with biologics in
      JDM in detail and was completed by CARRA members in Feb 2013. During three CARRA
      meetings in 2013-2015, nominal group techniques were used for achieving consensus
      on the current choices of biologic drugs. A final survey was performed at the
      2016 CARRA meeting. RESULTS: One hundred and five of a potential 231 pediatric
      rheumatologists (42%) responded to the first survey in 2012. Thirty-five of 90
      had never used a biologic for Juvenile DM at that time. Fifty-five of 91
      (denominators vary) had used biologics for JDM in their practice with 32%, 5%,
      and 4% using rituximab, etanercept, and infliximab, respectively, and 17% having
      used more than one of the three drugs. Ten percent used a biologic as
      monotherapy, 19% a biologic in combination with methotrexate (mtx), 52% a
      biologic in combination with mtx and corticosteroids, 42% a combination of a
      biologic, mtx, corticosteroids (steroids), and an immunosuppressive drug, and 43%
      a combination of a biologic, IVIG and mtx. The results of the second survey
      supported these findings in considerably more detail with multiple combinations
      of drugs used with biologics and supported the use of rituximab, abatacept, anti
      TNFalpha drugs, and tocilizumab in that order. One hundred percent recommended
      that CARRA continue studying biologics for JDM. The CARRA meeting survey in 2016
      again supported the study and use of these four biologic drug groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our CARRA JDM biologic work group developed and performed three
      surveys demonstrating that pediatric rheumatologists in North America have been
      using multiple biologics for refractory JDM in numerous scenarios from 2011 to
      2016. These survey results and our consensus meetings determined our choice of
      four biologic therapies (rituximab, abatacept, tocilizumab and anti-TNFalpha
      drugs) to consider for refractory JDM treatment when indicated and to evaluate
      for comparative effectiveness and safety in the future. Significance and
      Innovations This is the first report that provides a substantial clinical
      experience of a large group of pediatric rheumatologists with biologics for
      refractory JDM over five years. This experience with biologic therapies for
      refractory JDM may aid pediatric rheumatologists in the current treatment of
      these children and form a basis for further clinical research into the
      comparative effectiveness and safety of biologics for refractory JDM.

PMID- 28610610
TI  - Atypical findings of perineural cysts on postmyelographic computed tomography: a
      case report of intermittent intercostal neuralgia caused by thoracic perineural
      cysts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perineural cysts are sometimes found incidentally with magnetic
      resonance imaging, and clinical symptoms requiring treatment are rare. Perineural
      cysts typically exhibit delayed filling with contrast medium on myelography,
      which is one of the criteria used by Tarlov to distinguish perineural cysts from
      meningeal diverticula. We present a case of multiple thoracolumbar perineural
      cysts, one of which was considered the cause of intermittent intercostal
      neuralgia with atypical findings on postmyelographic computed tomography seen as
      selective filling of contrast medium. CASE PRESENTATION: A 61-year-old woman
      presented with intermittent pain on her left chest wall with distribution of the
      pain corresponding to the T10 dermatome. Magnetic resonance imaging showed
      multiple thoracolumbar perineural cysts with the largest located at the left T10
      nerve root. On postmyelographic computed tomography immediately after contrast
      medium injection, the largest cyst and another at left T9 showed selective
      filling of contrast medium, suggesting that inflow of cerebrospinal fluid to the
      cyst exceeded outflow. Three hours after the injection, the intensity of the
      cysts was similar to the intensity of the thecal sac, and by the next day,
      contrast enhancement was undetectable. The patient was treated with an
      intercostal nerve block at T10, and the pain subsided. However, after 9 months of
      observation, the neuralgia recurred, and the nerve block was repeated with good
      effect. There was no recurrence 22 months after the last nerve block.
      CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that intermittent elevation of cerebrospinal fluid
      pressure in the cyst caused the neuralgia because of an imbalance between
      cerebrospinal fluid inflow and outflow, and repeated intercostal nerve blocks
      resolved the neuralgia. Our case demonstrates the mechanism of cyst expansion.

PMID- 28610608
TI  - Isoliquiritigenin alleviates early brain injury after experimental intracerebral
      hemorrhage via suppressing ROS- and/or NF-kappaB-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome
      activation by promoting Nrf2 antioxidant pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) induces potently oxidative stress
      responses and inflammatory processes. Isoliquiritigenin (ILG) is a flavonoid with
      a chalcone structure and can activate nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2
      (Nrf2)-mediated antioxidant system, negatively regulate nuclear factor-kappaB (NF
      kappaB) and nod-like receptor family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3)
      inflammasome pathways, but its role and potential molecular mechanisms in the
      pathology following ICH remain unclear. The present study aimed to explore the
      effects of ILG after ICH and underlying mechanisms. METHODS: ICH model was
      induced by collagenase IV (0.2 U in 1 MUl sterile normal saline) in male Sprague
      Dawley rats weighing 280-320 g. Different doses of ILG (10, 20, or 40 mg/kg) was
      administrated intraperitoneally at 30 min, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h after modeling,
      respectively. Rats were intracerebroventricularly administrated with control
      scramble small interfering RNA (siRNA) or Nrf2 siRNA at 24 h before ICH
      induction, and after 24 h, ICH model was established with or without ILG (20
      mg/kg) treatment. All rats were dedicated at 24 or 72 h after ICH. Neurological
      deficits, histological damages, brain water content (BWC), blood-brain barrier
      (BBB) disruption, and neuronal degeneration were evaluated; quantitative real
      time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence, western blot, and
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were carried out; catalase, superoxide
      dismutase activities and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and glutathione/oxidized
      glutathione contents were measured. RESULTS: ILG (20 and 40 mg/kg) markedly
      alleviated neurological deficits, histological damages, BBB disruption, brain
      edema, and neuronal degeneration, but there was no significant difference between
      two dosages. ILG (20 mg/kg) significantly suppressed the NF-kappaB and NLRP3
      inflammasome pathways and activated Nrf2-mediated antioxidant system. Gene
      silencing of Nrf2 aggravated the neurological deficits, brain edema, and neuronal
      degeneration and increased the protein levels of NF-kappaB p65, NLRP3
      inflammasome components, and IL-1beta. ILG delivery significantly attenuated the
      effects of Nrf2 siRNA interference mentioned above. CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneal
      administration of ILG after ICH reduced early brain impairments and neurological
      deficits, and the mechanisms were involved in the regulation of ROS and/or NF
      kappaB on the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome pathway by the triggering of Nrf2
      activity and Nrf2-induced antioxidant system. In addition, our experimental
      results may make ILG a potential candidate for a novel therapeutical strategy for
      ICH.

PMID- 28610611
TI  - Telemedicine screening of retinal diseases with a handheld portable non-mydriatic
      fundus camera.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We modified and reconstructed a high image quality portable non
      mydriatic fundus camera and compared it with the tabletop fundus camera to
      evaluate the efficacy of the new camera in detecting retinal diseases. METHODS:
      We designed and built a novel portable handheld fundus camera with telemedicine
      system. The image quality of fundus cameras was compared to that of existing
      commercial tabletop cameras by taking photographs of 364 eyes from the 254
      patients. In all 800 fundus images taken by two camera types, 400 images per
      camera, were graded with the four image clarity classifications. RESULTS: Using
      the portable fundus camera, 63% (252/400) images were graded as excellent overall
      quality, 20.5% (82/400) were good, 11.75% (47/400) were fair, and 4.75% (19/400)
      were inadequate. Using the tabletop fundus camera, 70.75% (283/400) images were
      graded as excellent overall quality, 20.4% (51/400) were good, 13.25% (53/400)
      were fair, and 3.25% (13/400) were inadequate. Common retinal diseases were
      easily identified from fundus images obtained from the portable fundus camera.
      CONCLUSION: The new type of non-mydriatic portable fundus camera was qualified to
      have professional quality of fundus images. The revolutionary screening camera
      provides a foundational platform which can potentially improve the accessibility
      of retinal screening programmes.

PMID- 28610612
TI  - Deeper wedge resection and parenchymal-sparing bronchoplasty of the secondary
      carina: an alternative surgical technique for removal of tumor located at the
      orifice of upper lobar bronchus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleeve resection and reconstruction of the bronchial corner between
      the upper lobar bronchus and the intermediate bronchus is technique demanding.
      CASE PRESENTATION: A 33-year-old Chinese man suffered from recurrence of low
      grade malignant mucoepidermoid carcinoma located at the orifice of upper lobar
      bronchus with invasion to the main bronchus nearly 1 year after he had undergone
      an incomplete bronchoscopic resection. With detailed preoperative and
      intraoperative evaluation by computed tomography and bronchoscopy, a deeper wedge
      resection and bronchoplasty of the secondary carina was performed. The freedom
      from tumor cells at the cut-edges was guaranteed by frozen examination. The
      postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was free from recurrence for
      18 months after the surgery. CONCLUSIONS: With an R0 resection, the procedure
      described in the present case report was feasible and relatively easy, thus an
      alternative to sleeve lobectomy or sleeve bronchial resection for small-size low
      grade malignancy located at the orifice of upper lobar bronchus.

PMID- 28610613
TI  - 100 million years of multigene family evolution: origin and evolution of the
      avian MHC class IIB.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene duplication has led to a most remarkable adaptation involved in
      vertebrates' host-pathogen arms-race, the major histocompatibility complex (MHC).
      However, MHC duplication history is as yet poorly understood in non-mammalian
      vertebrates, including birds. RESULTS: Here, we provide evidence for the
      evolution of two ancient avian MHC class IIB (MHCIIB) lineages by a duplication
      event prior to the radiation of all extant birds >100 million years ago, and
      document the role of concerted evolution in eroding the footprints of the avian
      MHCIIB duplication history. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that eroded
      footprints of gene duplication histories may mimic birth-death evolution and that
      in the avian MHC the presence of the two lineages may have been masked by
      elevated rates of concerted evolution in several taxa. Through the presence of a
      range of intermediate evolutionary stages along the homogenizing process of
      concerted evolution, the avian MHCIIB provides a remarkable illustration of the
      erosion of multigene family duplication history.

PMID- 28610614
TI  - Drug safety analyses in a rheumatoid arthritis registry: application of different
      approaches regarding timing of exposure and confounder measurement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient registry data serves an increasing role in drug safety and
      comparative effectiveness research, but registry databases often do not contain
      confounder information measured at the same time that treatments begin. This
      study evaluated a set of approaches for estimating confounder values at treatment
      initiation using actual data from a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) registry to examine
      the risk of infection associated with different biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs).
      METHODS: We examined the risk of infection associated with starting a TNF
      inhibitor (TNFi) versus any of the other non-TNFi bDMARDs. Different confounder
      assessment approaches were tested. All approaches were tested in Cox proportional
      hazard regression models that used a propensity score (PS). The confounder of
      interest was the disease activity score (DAS28-CRP). The confounder assessment
      approaches utilized different temporal relationships between the DAS28-CRP
      measurement and the start of the treatments of interest. RESULTS: We included 219
      subjects with RA with 269 initiations of either a TNFi or a different bDMARD or
      both. Among this group, 305 infections were reported and confirmed through chart
      review. The hazard ratio (HR) for the risk of infection associated with use of a
      non-TNFi bDMARD ranged from 1.17 to 3.03 using 13 different approaches; only the
      approach with the highest HR produced results significantly different than one,
      but this approach included the fewest subjects and infections. CONCLUSIONS: The
      relative risk of infection for TNFi and other non-TNFi bDMARDs was similar using
      various approaches regarding which DAS28-CRP score should be used as the baseline
      measure in adjusted analyses.

PMID- 28610615
TI  - Quantitative trait loci at the 11q23.3 chromosomal region related to dyslipidemia
      in the population of Andhra Pradesh, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the characteristic atherogenic dyslipidemia of south Indian
      population and crucial role of APOA1, APOC3, APOA4 and APOA5 genes clustered in
      11q23.3 chromosomal region in regulating lipoprotein metabolism and cholesterol
      homeostasis, a large number of recently identified variants are to be explored
      for their role in regulating the serum lipid parameters among south Indians.
      METHODS: Using fluidigm SNP genotyping platform, a prioritized set of 96 SNPs of
      the 11q23.3 chromosomal region were genotyped on 516 individuals from Hyderabad,
      India, and its vicinity and aged >45 years. RESULTS: The linear regression
      analysis of the individual lipid traits viz., TC, LDLC, HDLC, VLDL and TG with
      each of the 78 SNPs that confirm to HWE and with minor allele frequency > 1%,
      suggests 23 of those to be significantly associated (p <= 0.05) with at least one
      of these quantitative traits. Most importantly, the variant rs632153 is involved
      in elevating TC, LDLC, TG and VLDLs and probably playing a crucial role in the
      manifestation of dyslipidemia. Additionally, another three SNPs rs633389,
      rs2187126 and rs1263163 are found risk conferring to dyslipidemia by elevating
      LDLC and TC levels in the present population. Further, the ROC (receiver
      operating curve) analysis for the risk scores and dyslipidemia status yielded a
      significant area under curve (AUC) = 0.675, suggesting high discriminative power
      of the risk variants towards the condition. The interaction analysis suggests
      rs10488699-rs2187126 pair of the BUD13 gene to confer significant risk
      (Interaction odds ratio = 14.38, P = 7.17 * 105) towards dyslipidemia by
      elevating the TC levels (beta = 37.13, p = 6.614 * 105). On the other hand, the
      interaction between variants of APOA1 gene and BUD13 and/or ZPR1 regulatory genes
      at this region are associated with elevated TG and VLDL. CONCLUSION: The variants
      at 11q23.3 chromosomal region seem to determine the quantitative lipid traits and
      in turn dyslipidemia in the population of Hyderabad. Particularly, the variants
      rs632153, rs633389, rs2187126 and rs1263163 might be risk conferring to
      dyslipidemia by elevating LDLC and TC levels, while the variants of APOC3 and
      APOA1 genes might be the genetic determinants of elevated triglycerides in the
      present population.

PMID- 28610616
TI  - Underutilisation of routinely collected data in the HIV programme in Zambia: a
      review of quantitatively analysed peer-reviewed articles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extent to which routinely collected HIV data from Zambia has been
      used in peer-reviewed published articles remains unexplored. This paper is an
      analysis of peer-reviewed articles that utilised routinely collected HIV data
      from Zambia within six programme areas from 2004 to 2014. METHODS: Articles on
      HIV, published in English, listed in the Directory of open access journals,
      African Journals Online, Google scholar, and PubMed were reviewed. Only articles
      from peer-reviewed journals, that utilised routinely collected data and included
      quantitative data analysis methods were included. Multi-country studies involving
      Zambia and another country, where the specific results for Zambia were not
      reported, as well as clinical trials and intervention studies that did not take
      place under routine care conditions were excluded, although community trials
      which referred patients to the routine clinics were included. Independent
      extraction was conducted using a predesigned data collection form. Pooled
      analysis was not possible due to diversity in topics reviewed. RESULTS: A total
      of 69 articles were extracted for review. Of these, 7 were excluded. From the 62
      articles reviewed, 39 focused on HIV treatment and retention in care, 15
      addressed prevention of mother-to-child transmission, 4 assessed social
      behavioural change, and 4 reported on voluntary counselling and testing. In our
      search, no articles were found on condom programming or voluntary male medical
      circumcision. The most common outcome measures reported were CD4+ count, clinical
      failure or mortality. The population analysed was children in 13 articles, women
      in 16 articles, and both adult men and women in 33 articles. CONCLUSION: During
      the 10 year period of review, only 62 articles were published analysing routinely
      collected HIV data in Zambia. Serious consideration needs to be made to maximise
      the utility of routinely collected data, and to benefit from the funds and
      efforts to collect these data. This could be achieved with government support of
      operational research and publication of findings based on routinely collected
      Zambian HIV data.

PMID- 28610617
TI  - Stimulating collaboration between human and veterinary health care professionals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the need to control outbreaks of (emerging) zoonotic diseases
      and the need for added value in comparative/translational medicine, jointly
      addressed in the One Health approach [One health Initiative (n.d.a). About the
      One Health Initiative. http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/about.php . Accessed 13
      September 2016], collaboration between human and veterinary health care
      professionals is limited. This study focuses on the social dilemma experienced by
      health care professionals and ways in which an interdisciplinary approach could
      be developed. RESULTS: Based on Gaertner and Dovidio's Common Ingroup Identity
      Model, a number of questionnaires were designed and tested; with PROGRESS, the
      relation between collaboration and common goal was assessed, mediated by
      decategorization, recategorization, mutual differentiation and knowledge sharing.
      This study confirms the Common Ingroup Identity Model stating that common goals
      stimulate collaboration. Decategorization and mutual differentiation proved to be
      significant in this relationship; recategorization and knowledge sharing mediate
      this relation. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that the Common Ingroup Identity
      Model theory helps us to understand how health care professionals perceive the
      One Health initiative and how they can intervene in this process. In the One
      Health approach, professional associations could adopt a facilitating role.

PMID- 28610618
TI  - Relatively frequent switching of transcription start sites during cerebellar
      development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alternative transcription start site (TSS) usage plays important
      roles in transcriptional control of mammalian gene expression. The growing
      interest in alternative TSSs and their role in genome diversification spawned
      many single-gene studies on differential usages of tissue-specific or temporal
      specific alternative TSSs. However, exploration of the switching usage of
      alternative TSS usage on a genomic level, especially in the central nervous
      system, is largely lacking. RESULTS: In this study, We have prepared a unique set
      of time-course data for the developing cerebellum, as part of the FANTOM5
      consortium ( http://fantom.gsc.riken.jp/5/ ) that uses their innovative capturing
      of 5' ends of all transcripts followed by Helicos next generation sequencing. We
      analyzed the usage of all transcription start sites (TSSs) at each time point
      during cerebellar development that provided information on multiple RNA isoforms
      that emerged from the same gene. We developed a mathematical method that
      systematically compares the expression of different TSSs of a gene to identify
      temporal crossover and non-crossover switching events. We identified 48,489 novel
      TSS switching events in 5433 genes during cerebellar development. This includes
      9767 crossover TSS switching events in 1511 genes, where the dominant TSS shifts
      over time. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a relatively high prevalence of TSS switching
      in cerebellar development where the resulting temporally-specific gene
      transcripts and protein products can play important regulatory and functional
      roles.

PMID- 28610619
TI  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patient iPSC-derived astrocytes impair autophagy
      via non-cell autonomous mechanisms.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a devastating neurodegenerative disease, is
      characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons and the accumulation of
      misfolded protein aggregates. The latter suggests impaired proteostasis may be a
      key factor in disease pathogenesis, though the underlying mechanisms leading to
      the accumulation of aggregates is unclear. Further, recent studies have indicated
      that motor neuron cell death may be mediated by astrocytes. Herein we demonstrate
      that ALS patient iPSC-derived astrocytes modulate the autophagy pathway in a non
      cell autonomous manner. We demonstrate cells treated with patient derived
      astrocyte conditioned medium demonstrate decreased expression of LC3-II, a key
      adapter protein required for the selective degradation of p62 and ubiquitinated
      proteins targeted for degradation. We observed an increased accumulation of p62
      in cells treated with patient conditioned medium, with a concomitant increase in
      the expression of SOD1, a protein associated with the development of ALS.
      Activation of autophagic mechanisms with Rapamycin reduces the accumulation of
      p62 puncta in cells treated with patient conditioned medium. These data suggest
      that patient astrocytes may modulate motor neuron cell death by impairing
      autophagic mechanisms, and the autophagy pathway may be a useful target in the
      development of novel therapeutics.

PMID- 28610620
TI  - Metabolic syndrome is independently associated with a mildly reduced estimated
      glomerular filtration rate: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and mildly reduced
      estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) remains unclear. Therefore, we
      aimed to evaluate the association between MS and a mildly reduced eGFR in Chinese
      adults. METHODS: Anthropometric and biochemical examinations were performed in
      2992 individuals. The eGFR was calculated from the creatinine level. MS was
      defined according to the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria as the presence of
      three or more risk factors. Mildly reduced eGFR was defined as a value between 60
      and 90 mL/min/1.73 m2. Multiple linear regression and multiple logistic
      regression analysis were used to evaluate association between metabolic syndrome
      and estimate glomerular filtration rate. RESULTS: After adjusting for several
      potential confounders, the participants with MS showed a 1.29-fold increased odds
      ratio for a mildly reduced eGFR compared with those without MS. Additionally, the
      odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)) for mildly reduced eGFR in
      participants with elevated triglycerides (TG), decreased high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL), obesity and elevated fasting blood glucose (FPG) after multivariable
      adjustment were 1.25 (1.05-1.49), 1.23 (1.03-1.48), 1.22 (1.03-1.45) and 0.64
      (0.52-0.78), respectively. The odds ratios (95% CIs) for hyperfiltration in
      participants with elevated FPG and HbA1c levels after multivariable adjustment
      were 1.53 (1.30-1.81) and 2.86 (2.00-4.09), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MS is
      associated with an increased risk of a mildly reduced eGFR in the Chinese
      population, and several individual components of MS have different impacts on
      eGFR levels. MS had dual roles on renal damage. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR-TRC-
      14005029 . Registered 28 July 2014.

PMID- 28610621
TI  - Exploration of the methodological quality and clinical usefulness of a cross
      sectional sample of published guidance about exercise training and physical
      activity for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinicians are encouraged to use guidelines to assist in providing
      evidence-based secondary prevention to patients with coronary heart disease.
      However, the expanding number of publications providing guidance about exercise
      training may confuse cardiac rehabilitation clinicians. We therefore sought to
      explore the number, scope, publication characteristics, methodological quality,
      and clinical usefulness of published exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation
      guidance. METHODS: We included publications recommending physical activity,
      exercise or cardiac rehabilitation for patients with coronary heart disease.
      These included systematically developed clinical practice guidelines, as well as
      other publications intended to support clinician decision making, such as
      position papers or consensus statements. Publications were obtained via
      electronic searches of preventive cardiology societies, guideline databases and
      PubMed, to November 2016. Publication characteristics were extracted, and two
      independent assessors evaluated quality using the 23-item Appraisal of Guidelines
      Research and Evaluation II (AGREE) tool. RESULTS: Fifty-four international
      publications from 1994 to 2016 were identified. Most were found on preventive
      cardiology association websites (n = 35; 65%) and were freely accessible (n = 50;
      93%). Thirty (56%) publications contained only broad recommendations for physical
      activity and cardiac rehabilitation referral, while 24 (44%) contained the
      necessary detailed exercise training recommendations. Many were labelled as
      "guidelines", however publications with other titles (e.g. scientific statements)
      were common (n = 24; 44%). This latter group of publications contained a
      significantly greater proportion of detailed exercise training recommendations
      than clinical guidelines (p = 0.017). Wide variation in quality also existed,
      with 'applicability' the worst scoring AGREE II domain for clinical guidelines
      (mean score 53%) and 'rigour of development' rated lowest for other guidance
      types (mean score 33%). CONCLUSIONS: While a large number of guidance documents
      provide recommendations for exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation, most have
      limitations in either methodological quality or clinical usefulness. The lack of
      rigorously developed guidelines which also contain necessary detail about
      exercise training remains a substantial problem for clinicians.

PMID- 28610622
TI  - Very-late-onset cytomegalovirus disease: a case-report and review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection remains one of the most common and
      feared complications of transplantation, justifying prophylaxis or preemptive
      strategies guided by donor and recipient CMV serostatus. In case of seronegative
      donor and recipient (D-/R-), no prophylaxis is recommended. Late-onset CMV
      disease is usually defined as occurring after prophylaxis discontinuation in D+/R
      transplant patients. CASE PRESENTATION: We are reporting the case of a D-/R-
      kidney Caucasian transplant recipient presenting with CMV primoinfection 12 years
      after renal transplant, and discuss the role of a secondary prophylaxis so late
      after transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Primary infections leading to late-onset CMV
      disease in transplant patients remain rare. Recurrent disease has been described
      in as many as one-third of these patients. A systematic secondary prophylaxis in
      this particular group of patients is questionable.

PMID- 28610623
TI  - Transplantation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells reduces liver
      fibrosis more effectively than Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stromal cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from various tissues have shown
      moderate therapeutic efficacy in reversing liver fibrosis in preclinical models.
      Here, we compared the relative therapeutic potential of pooled, adult human bone
      marrow (BM)- and neonatal Wharton's jelly (WJ)-derived MSCs to treat CCl4-induced
      liver fibrosis in rats. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with CCl4 for
      8 weeks to induce irreversible liver fibrosis. Ex-vivo expanded, pooled human
      MSCs obtained from BM and WJ were intravenously administered into rats with liver
      fibrosis at a dose of 10 * 106 cells/animal. Sham control and vehicle-treated
      animals served as negative and disease controls, respectively. The animals were
      sacrificed at 30 and 70 days after cell transplantation and hepatic
      hydroxyproline content, histopathological, and immunohistochemical analyses were
      performed. RESULTS: BM-MSCs treatment showed a marked reduction in liver fibrosis
      as determined by Masson's trichrome and Sirius red staining as compared to those
      treated with the vehicle. Furthermore, hepatic-hydroxyproline content and
      percentage collagen proportionate area were found to be significantly lower in
      the BM-MSCs-treated group. In contrast, WJ-MSCs treatment showed less reduction
      of fibrosis at both time points. Immunohistochemical analysis of BM-MSCs-treated
      liver samples showed a reduction in alpha-SMA+ myofibroblasts and increased
      number of EpCAM+ hepatic progenitor cells, along with Ki-67+ and human matrix
      metalloprotease-1+ (MMP-1+) cells as compared to WJ-MSCs-treated rat livers.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that BM-MSCs are more effective than WJ-MSCs in
      treating liver fibrosis in a CCl4-induced model in rats. The superior therapeutic
      activity of BM-MSCs may be attributed to their expression of certain MMPs and
      angiogenic factors.

PMID- 28610624
TI  - Normal limits of the electrocardiogram derived from a large database of Brazilian
      primary care patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the normal limits of the electrocardiogram (ECG) is
      mandatory for establishing which patients have abnormal ECGs. No studies have
      assessed the reference standards for a Latin American population. Our aim was to
      establish the normal ranges of the ECG for pediatric and adult Brazilian primary
      care patients. METHODS: This retrospective observational study assessed all the
      consecutive 12-lead digital electrocardiograms of primary care patients at least
      1 year old in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, recorded between 2010 and 2015. ECGs
      were excluded if there were technical problems, selected abnormalities were
      present or patients with selected self-declared comorbidities or on drug therapy.
      Only the first ECG from patients with multiple ECGs was accepted. The University
      of Glasgow ECG analysis program was used to automatically interpret the ECGs. For
      each variable, the 1st, 2nd, 50th, 98th and 99th percentiles were determined and
      results were compared to selected studies. RESULTS: A total of 1,493,905 ECGs
      were recorded. 1,007,891 were excluded and 486.014 were analyzed. This large
      study provided normal values for heart rate, P, QRS and T frontal axis, P and QRS
      overall duration, PR and QT overall intervals and QTc corrected by Hodges,
      Bazett, Fridericia and Framingham formulae. Overall, the results were similar to
      those from other studies performed in different populations but there were
      differences in extreme ages and specific measurements. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      has provided reference values for Latinos of both sexes older than 1 year. Our
      results are comparable to studies performed in different populations.

PMID- 28610625
TI  - Health-related quality of life and health preference of Chinese patients with
      diabetes mellitus managed in primary care and secondary care setting: decrements
      associated with individual complication and number of complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health preference of
      patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are essential in health economic evaluations
      but data on Chinese population is rare. This study aims to evaluate HRQoL and
      health preference of diabetic patients with different diabetic complications in
      Chinese population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1275
      patients with DM, including 518 subjects with various DM-related complications.
      HRQoL and health preference were estimated using SF-12 and SF-6D questionnaires,
      respectively. Disease status of DM and complications were identified from
      documented clinical diagnosis. Multivariable regression was used to investigate
      the effects of specific complications on HRQoL and health preference, adjusting
      for socio-demographic and clinical parameters. RESULTS: The presence of any
      diabetic complication was associated with lower physical component summary (-3.81
      points, P < 0.01), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) showed greatest reduction (
      7.05 points, P < 0.01). Mental component summary and mental health (MH) scores
      were not decreased in any of the diabetic complications. The health preference
      score for diabetic subjects without complications was 0.882 (95% CI, 0.778 to
      0.989). The reductions of health preference score were significant for stroke (
      0.042, 95% CI -0.072 to -0.012), ESRD (-0.055, 95% CI -0.093 to -0.017), and
      sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) (-0.043, 95% CI -0.075 to -0.010),
      while heart disease had an insignificant reduction (-0.017, 95% CI -0.042 to
      0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of any of the four major diabetic complications
      (heart disease, stroke, ESRD and STDR) was associated with lower HRQoL and health
      preference scores. Findings of this study facilitated the cost-effectiveness
      studies of alternative management strategies for prevention of diabetic
      complications in Chinese population.

PMID- 28610626
TI  - Social accountability in primary health care in West and Central Africa:
      exploring the role of health facility committees.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social accountability has been emphasised as an important strategy to
      increase the quality, equity, and responsiveness of health services. In many
      countries, health facility committees (HFCs) provide the accountability interface
      between health providers and citizens or users of health services. This article
      explores the social accountability practices facilitated by HFCs in Benin, Guinea
      and the Democratic Republic of Congo. METHODS: The paper is based on a cross-case
      comparison of 11 HFCs across the three countries. The HFCs were purposefully
      selected based on the (past) presence of community participation support
      programs. The cases were derived from qualitative research involving document
      analysis as well as interviews and focus group discussions with health workers,
      citizens, committee members, and local authorities. RESULTS: Most HFCs facilitate
      social accountability by engaging with health providers in person or through
      meetings to discuss service failures, leading to changes in the quality of
      services, such as improved health worker presence, the availability of night
      shifts, the display of drug prices and replacement of poorly functioning health
      workers. Social accountability practices are however often individualised and not
      systematic, and their success depends on HFC leadership and synergy with other
      community structures. The absence of remuneration for HFC members does not seem
      to affect HFC engagement in social accountability. CONCLUSIONS: Most HFCs in this
      study offer a social accountability forum, but the informal and non-systematic
      character and limited community consultation leave opportunities for the
      exclusion of voices of marginalised groups. More inclusive, coherent and
      authoritative social accountability practices can be developed by making explicit
      the mandate of HFC in the planning, monitoring, and supervision of health
      services; providing instruments for organising local accountability processes;
      strengthening opportunities for community input and feedback; and strengthening
      links to formal administrative accountability mechanisms in the health system.

PMID- 28610627
TI  - Multiple biomarkers predict disease severity, progression and mortality in COPD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous
      disease characterized by multiple subtypes and variable disease progression.
      Blood biomarkers have been variably associated with subtype, severity, and
      disease progression. Just as combined clinical variables are more highly
      predictive of outcomes than individual clinical variables, we hypothesized that
      multiple biomarkers may be more informative than individual biomarkers to predict
      subtypes, disease severity, disease progression, and mortality. METHODS:
      Fibrinogen, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), surfactant protein D (SP-D), soluble
      Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts (sRAGE), and Club Cell Secretory
      Protein (CC16) were measured in the plasma of 1465 subjects from the COPDGene
      cohort and 2746 subjects from the ECLIPSE cohort. Regression analysis was
      performed to determine whether these biomarkers, individually or in combination,
      were predictive of subtypes, disease severity, disease progression, or mortality,
      after adjustment for clinical covariates. RESULTS: In COPDGene, the best
      combinations of biomarkers were: CC16, sRAGE, fibrinogen, CRP, and SP-D for
      airflow limitation (p < 10-4), SP-D, CRP, sRAGE and fibrinogen for emphysema (p <
      10-3), CC16, fibrinogen, and sRAGE for decline in FEV1 (p < 0.05) and progression
      of emphysema (p < 10-3), and all five biomarkers together for mortality (p <
      0.05). All associations except mortality were validated in ECLIPSE. The
      combination of SP-D, CRP, and fibrinogen was the best model for mortality in
      ECLIPSE (p < 0.05), and this combination was also significant in COPDGene.
      CONCLUSION: This comprehensive analysis of two large cohorts revealed that
      combinations of biomarkers improve predictive value compared with clinical
      variables and individual biomarkers for relevant cross-sectional and longitudinal
      COPD outcomes.

PMID- 28610628
TI  - Case report: microcephaly associated with Zika virus infection, Colombia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently there has been a large outbreak of Zika virus infections in
      Colombia, South America. The epidemic began in September 2015 and continued to
      April 2017, for the total number of Zika cases reported of 107,870. For those
      confirmed Zika cases, there were nearly 20,000 (18.5%) suspected to be pregnant
      women, resulting in 157 confirmed cases of microcephaly in newborns reported by
      their health government agency. There is a clear under-estimation of the total
      number of cases and in addition no prior publications have been published to
      demonstrate the clinical aspects of the Zika infection in Colombia. We
      characterized one Zika presentation to be able to compare and contrast with other
      cases of Zika infection already reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: In
      this case report, we demonstrate congenital microcephaly at week 19 of gestation
      in a 34-year-old mother who showed symptoms compatible with Zika virus infection
      from Sincelejo, State of Sucre, in the Colombian Caribbean. Zika virus RNA was
      detected in the placenta using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR). At week 25, the fetus weigh estimate was 770 g, had a cephalic
      perimeter of 20.2 cm (5th percentile), ventriculomegaly on the right side and
      dilatation of the fourth ventricle. At week 32, the microcephaly was confirmed
      with a cephalic perimeter of 22 cm, dilatation of the posterior atrium to 13 mm,
      an abnormally small cerebellum (29 mm), and an augmented cisterna magna. At birth
      (39 weeks by cesarean section), the head circumference was 27.5 cm, and
      computerized axial tomography (Siemens Corp, 32-slides) confirmed microcephaly
      with calcifications. CONCLUSION: We report a first case of maternal Zika virus
      infection associated with fetal microcephaly in Colombia and confirmed similar
      presentation to those observed previous in Brazil, 2015-2016.

PMID- 28610629
TI  - The use of imepitoin (PexionTM) on fear and anxiety related problems in dogs - a
      case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fear and anxiety based problems are common in dogs. Alongside
      behaviour modification programmes, a range of psychopharmacological agents may be
      recommended to treat such problems, but few are licensed for use in dogs and the
      onset of action of some can be delayed. The low affinity partial benzodiazepine
      receptor agonist imepitoin (PexionTM, Boehringer Ingelheim) is licensed for
      treating canine epilepsy, has a fast onset of action in dogs and has demonstrated
      anxiolytic properties in rodent models. This case series reports on the use of
      imepitoin in a group of dogs identified as having fear/anxiety based problems.
      Twenty dogs were enrolled into the study, attended a behaviour consultation and
      underwent routine laboratory evaluation. Nineteen dogs proceeded to be treated
      with imepitoin orally twice daily (starting dose approximately 10 mg/kg, with
      alterations as required to a maximum 30 mg/kg) alongside a patient-specific
      behaviour modification plan for a period of 11-19 weeks. Progress was monitored
      via owner report through daily diary entries and telephone follow-up every two
      weeks. A Positive and Negative Activation Scale (PANAS) of temperament was also
      completed by owners during baseline and at the end of the study. RESULTS: The
      primary outcome measure was average weekly global scores (AWG) from the owner
      diaries. Average weekly reaction scores (AWR) for each type of eliciting context
      was used as a secondary outcome. Seventeen dogs completed the trial. Treatment
      with imepitoin alongside a behaviour modification programme resulted in owner
      reported improvement with reduced AWG and reduced AWR for anxiety across a range
      of social and non-social eliciting contexts including noise sensitivities.
      Significant improvement was apparent within the first week of treatment, and
      further improvements seen at the 11 week review point. There was a significant
      reduction in negative activation (PANAS) with 76.5% of owners opting to continue
      imepitoin at their own expense after completion of the study. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study provides initial evidence indicating the potential value of imepitoin
      (PexionTM) alongside appropriate behaviour modification for the rapid alleviation
      of signs of fear and anxiety in dogs. Further research with a larger subject
      population and a placebo control would be useful to confirm the apparent efficacy
      reported here.

PMID- 28610630
TI  - Osteosarcoma of the lower limb metastasized to the septum and right side of the
      heart: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metastatic cardiac tumors are far more common than primary tumors.
      Although the hematogenous spread of osteosarcoma is well known, the imaging
      findings of cardiovascular involvement by osteosarcoma are seldom reported and
      can be difficult to recognize. CASE PRESENTATION: A 21-year-old man of African
      descent presented to our center complaining of shortness of breath, awareness of
      heart beats, easy fatigability, swelling of lower limbs, and left-side chest
      discomfort for the past 6 months getting worse for the last 3 months prior to his
      third readmission. In 2004 he was admitted with the diagnosis of osteosarcoma of
      his left calcaneus bone confirmed by bone biopsy and treated at an oncology
      center with several cycles of radiotherapy and chemotherapy; he was declared
      cured after 5 years of annual clinical and radiological skeletal survey follow
      ups. In the current admission, a physical examination revealed bilateral lower
      limb swelling, pansystolic murmur on the left side of his sternum at fourth
      intercostal space (tricuspid area) grade three, hepatomegaly with a liver span of
      17 cm, and a positive fluid test and shifting dullness. CONCLUSIONS: This case
      report presents a 21-year-old man with relapsed osteosarcoma manifesting as
      metastatic lesions to his right ventricle encroaching on his interventricular
      septum, which was identified by transthoracic/transesophageal echocardiography
      computed tomography scan and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 28610632
TI  - Erratum to: Liver morphometrics and metabolic blood profile across divergent
      phenotypes for feed efficiency in the bovine.

PMID- 28610631
TI  - Simulation of complex data structures for planning of studies with focus on
      biomarker comparison.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are a growing number of observational studies that do not only
      focus on single biomarkers for predicting an outcome event, but address questions
      in a multivariable setting. For example, when quantifying the added value of new
      biomarkers in addition to established risk factors, the aim might be to rank
      several new markers with respect to their prediction performance. This makes it
      important to consider the marker correlation structure for planning such a study.
      Because of the complexity, a simulation approach may be required to adequately
      assess sample size or other aspects, such as the choice of a performance measure.
      METHODS: In a simulation study based on real data, we investigated how to
      generate covariates with realistic distributions and what generating model should
      be used for the outcome, aiming to determine the least amount of information and
      complexity needed to obtain realistic results. As a basis for the simulation a
      large epidemiological cohort study, the Gutenberg Health Study was used. The
      added value of markers was quantified and ranked in subsampling data sets of this
      population data, and simulation approaches were judged by the quality of the
      ranking. One of the evaluated approaches, the random forest, requires original
      data at the individual level. Therefore, also the effect of the size of a pilot
      study for random forest based simulation was investigated. RESULTS: We found that
      simple logistic regression models failed to adequately generate realistic data,
      even with extensions such as interaction terms or non-linear effects. The random
      forest approach was seen to be more appropriate for simulation of complex data
      structures. Pilot studies starting at about 250 observations were seen to provide
      a reasonable level of information for this approach. CONCLUSIONS: We advise to
      avoid oversimplified regression models for simulation, in particular when
      focusing on multivariable research questions. More generally, a simulation should
      be based on real data for adequately reflecting complex observational data
      structures, such as found in epidemiological cohort studies.

PMID- 28610633
TI  - Health-care users, key community informants and primary health care workers'
      views on health, health promotion, health assets and deficits: qualitative study
      in seven Spanish regions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although some articles have analysed the definitions of health and
      health promotion from the perspective of health-care users and health care
      professionals, no published studies include the simultaneous participation of
      health-care users, primary health care professionals and key community
      informants. Understanding the perception of health and health promotion amongst
      these different stakeholders is crucial for the design and implementation of
      successful, equitable and sustainable measures that improve the health and
      wellbeing of populations. Furthermore, the identification of different health
      assets and deficits by the different informants will generate new evidence to
      promote healthy behaviours, improve community health and wellbeing and reduce
      preventable inequalities. The objective of this study is to explore the concept
      of health and health promotion and to compare health assets and deficits as
      identified by health-care users, key community informants and primary health care
      workers with the ultimate purpose to collect the necessary data for the design
      and implementation of a successful health promotion intervention. METHODS: A
      descriptive-interpretive qualitative research was conducted with 276 participants
      from 14 primary care centres of 7 Spanish regions. Theoretical sampling was used
      for selection. We organized 11 discussion groups and 2 triangular groups with
      health-care users; 30 semi-structured interviews with key community informants;
      and 14 discussion groups with primary health care workers. A thematic content
      analysis was carried out. RESULTS: Health-care users and key community informants
      agree that health is a complex, broad, multifactorial concept that encompasses
      several interrelated dimensions (physical, psychological-emotional, social,
      occupational, intellectual, spiritual and environmental). The three participants'
      profiles consider health promotion indispensable despite defining it as complex
      and vague. In fact, most health-care users admit to having implemented some
      change to promote their health. The most powerful motivators to change lifestyles
      are having a disease, fear of becoming ill and taking care of oneself to maintain
      health. Health-care users believe that the main difficulties are associated with
      the physical, social, working and family environment, as well as lack of
      determination and motivation. They also highlight the need for more information.
      In relation to the assets and deficits of the neighbourhood, each group
      identifies those closer to their role. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, participants
      showed a holistic and positive concept of health and a more traditional,
      individual approach to health promotion. We consider therefore crucial to depart
      from the model of health services that focuses on the individual and the disease
      toward a socio-ecological health model that substantially increases the
      participation of health-care users and emphasizes health promotion, wellbeing and
      community participation.

PMID- 28610634
TI  - Medication-related visits in a pediatric emergency department: an 8-years
      retrospective analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are limited data on the characterization of medication-related
      visits (MRVs) to the emergency department (ED) in pediatric patients in Italy. We
      have estimated the frequency, severity, and classification of MRVs to the ED in
      pediatric patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data for children
      seeking medical evaluation for a MRV over an 8 years period. A medication-related
      ED visit was identified by using a random pharmacist assessment, emergency
      physician assessment, and in case of conflicting events, by a third investigators
      random assessment. RESULTS: In this study, regarding a single tertiary center in
      Italy, on a total of 147,643 patients from 0 to 14 years old, 497 medication
      related visits were found, 54% of which occurred in children from 0 to 2 years of
      age. Severity was classified as mild in 21.6% of cases, moderate in 67.2% of
      cases, and severe in 11.2% of cases. The most common events were related to drug
      use without indication (51%), adverse drug reactions (30.3%), supratherapeutic
      dosage (13.2%) and improper drug selection (4.5%). The medication classes most
      frequently implicated in an ADE were anti-infective drugs for systemic use
      (28.9%), central nervous system agents (22.3%) and respiratory system drugs
      (10.8%). The most common symptom manifestations were dermatologic conditions
      (46.1%), general disorder and administration site conditions (29.7%) and
      gastrointestinal symptoms (16.0%). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the
      first study in Italy evaluating the epidemiologic characteristics of MRVs
      confirming a significant cause of healthcare contact resulting in ED visits and
      hospital admissions with associated resource utilization. Our results suggests
      further future prospective, large-sample sized, and multicenter research is
      necessary to better understand the impact of MRVs and to develop strategies to
      provide care plans and monitor patients to prevent medication-related visits.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

PMID- 28610635
TI  - Cellular function reinstitution of offspring red blood cells cloned from the
      sickle cell disease patient blood post CRISPR genome editing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a disorder of red blood cells (RBCs)
      expressing abnormal hemoglobin-S (HbS) due to genetic inheritance of homologous
      HbS gene. However, people with the sickle cell trait (SCT) carry a single allele
      of HbS and do not usually suffer from SCD symptoms, thus providing a rationale to
      treat SCD. METHODS: To validate gene therapy potential, hematopoietic stem cells
      were isolated from the SCD patient blood and treated with CRISPR/Cas9 approach.
      To precisely dissect genome-editing effects, erythroid progenitor cells were
      cloned from single colonies of CRISPR-treated cells and then expanded for
      simultaneous gene, protein, and cellular function studies. RESULTS: Genotyping
      and sequencing analysis revealed that the genome-edited erythroid progenitor
      colonies were converted to SCT genotype from SCD genotype. HPLC protein assays
      confirmed reinstallation of normal hemoglobin at a similar level with HbS in the
      cloned genome-edited erythroid progenitor cells. For cell function evaluation, in
      vitro RBC differentiation of the cloned erythroid progenitor cells was induced.
      As expected, cell sickling assays indicated function reinstitution of the genome
      edited offspring SCD RBCs, which became more resistant to sickling under hypoxia
      condition. CONCLUSIONS: This study is an exploration of genome editing of SCD
      HSPCs.

PMID- 28610636
TI  - Whole-cell biocatalysts by design.
AB  - Whole-cell biocatalysts provide unique advantages and have been widely used for
      the efficient biosynthesis of value-added fine and bulk chemicals, as well as
      pharmaceutically active ingredients. What is more, advances in synthetic biology
      and metabolic engineering, together with the rapid development of molecular
      genetic tools, have brought about a renaissance of whole-cell biocatalysis. These
      rapid advancements mean that whole-cell biocatalysts can increasingly be
      rationally designed. Genes of heterologous enzymes or synthetic pathways are
      increasingly being introduced into microbial hosts, and depending on the
      complexity of the synthetic pathway or the target products, they can enable the
      production of value-added chemicals from cheap feedstock. Metabolic engineering
      and synthetic biology efforts aimed at optimizing the existing microbial cell
      factories concentrate on improving heterologous pathway flux, precursor supply,
      and cofactor balance, as well as other aspects of cellular metabolism, to enhance
      the efficiency of biocatalysts. In the present review, we take a critical look at
      recent developments in whole-cell biocatalysis, with an emphasis on strategies
      applied to designing and optimizing the organisms that are increasingly modified
      for efficient production of chemicals.

PMID- 28610637
TI  - The effects of resistance training on muscle strength, joint pain, and hand
      function in individuals with hand osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hand osteoarthritis is a common condition characterised by joint pain
      and muscle weakness. These factors are thought to contribute to ongoing
      disability. Some evidence exists that resistance training decreases pain,
      improves muscle strength, and enhances function in people with knee and hip
      osteoarthritis. However, there is currently a lack of consensus regarding its
      effectiveness in people with hand osteoarthritis. Therefore, the aim of this
      systematic review and meta-analysis was to establish whether resistance training
      in people with hand osteoarthritis increases grip strength, decreases joint pain,
      and improves hand function. METHODS: Seven databases were searched from 1975
      until July 1, 2016. Randomised controlled trials were included. The Cochrane Risk
      of Bias Tool was used to assess studies' methodological quality. The Grade of
      Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system was adopted to
      rate overall quality of evidence. Suitable studies were pooled using a random
      effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: Five studies were included with a total of 350
      participants. The majority of the training programs did not meet recommended
      intensity, frequency, or progression criteria for muscle strengthening. There was
      moderate-quality evidence that resistance training does not improve grip strength
      (mean difference = 1.35; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.84, 3.54; I 2 = 50%; p
      = 0.23 ). Low-quality evidence showed significant improvements in joint pain
      (standardised mean difference (SMD) = -0.23; 95% CI = -0.42, -0.04; I 2 = 0%; p =
      0.02) which were not clinically relevant. Low-quality evidence demonstrated no
      improvements in hand function following resistance training (SMD = -0.1; 95% CI =
      -0.33, 0.13; I 2 = 28%; p = 0.39). CONCLUSION: There is no evidence that
      resistance training has a significant effect on grip strength or hand function in
      people with hand osteoarthritis. Low-quality evidence suggests it has a small,
      clinically unimportant pain-relieving effect. Future studies should investigate
      resistance training regimes with adequate intensity, frequency, and progressions
      to achieve gains in muscle strength.

PMID- 28610639
TI  - Impact of the IVF laboratory environment on human preimplantation embryo
      phenotype.
AB  - The phenotype of the human embryo conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF),
      that is its morphology, developmental kinetics, physiology and metabolism, can be
      affected by numerous components of the laboratory and embryo culture system
      (which comprise the laboratory environment). The culture media formulation is
      important in determining embryo phenotype, but this exists within a culture
      system that includes oxygen, temperature, pH and whether an embryo is cultured
      individually or in a group, all of which can influence embryo development.
      Significantly, exposure of an embryo to one suboptimal component of the culture
      system of laboratory typically predisposes the embryo to become more vulnerable
      to a second stressor, as has been well documented for atmospheric oxygen and
      individual culture, as well as for oxygen and ammonium. Furthermore, the inherent
      viability of the human embryo is derived from the quality of the gametes from
      which it is created. Patient age, aetiology, genetics, lifestyle (as well as
      ovarian stimulation in women) are all known to affect the developmental potential
      of gametes and hence the embryo. Thus, as well as considering the impact of the
      IVF laboratory environment, one needs to be aware of the status of the infertile
      couple, as this impacts how their gametes and embryos will respond to an in vitro
      environment. Although far from straight forward, analysing the interactions that
      exist between the human embryo and its environment will facilitate the creation
      of more effective and safer treatments for the infertile couple.

PMID- 28610640
TI  - Multi-country outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis infection linked to the
      international ice hockey tournament.
AB  - In April 2015, Finnish public health authorities alerted European Union member
      states of a possible multi-country Salmonella enteritidis outbreak linked to an
      international youth ice-hockey tournament in Latvia. The European Centre for
      Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Finnish and Latvian authorities initiated
      an outbreak investigation to identify the source. The investigation included a
      description of the outbreak, retrospective cohort study, microbiological
      investigation and trace-back. We identified 154 suspected and 96 confirmed cases
      from seven countries. Consuming Bolognese sauce and salad at a specific event
      arena significantly increased the risk of illness. Isolates from Finnish, Swedish
      and Norwegian cases had an identical multiple-locus variable-number of tandem
      repeats analysis-profile (3-10-6-4-1). Breaches in hygiene and food storing
      practices in the specific arena's kitchen allowing for cross-contamination were
      identified. Riga Cup participants were recommended to follow good hand hygiene
      and consume only freshly cooked foods. This investigation demonstrated that the
      use of ECDC's Epidemic Intelligence Information System for Food- and Waterborne
      Diseases and Zoonoses platform was essential to progress the investigation by
      facilitating information exchange between countries. Cross-border data sharing to
      perform whole genome sequencing gave relevant information regarding the source of
      the outbreak.

PMID- 28610641
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 28610638
TI  - BADERI: an online database to coordinate handsearching activities of controlled
      clinical trials for their potential inclusion in systematic reviews.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews provide the best evidence on the effect of health
      care interventions. They rely on comprehensive access to the available scientific
      literature. Electronic search strategies alone may not suffice, requiring the
      implementation of a handsearching approach. We have developed a database to
      provide an Internet-based platform from which handsearching activities can be
      coordinated, including a procedure to streamline the submission of these
      references into CENTRAL, the Cochrane Collaboration Central Register of
      Controlled Trials. METHODS: We developed a database and a descriptive analysis.
      Through brainstorming and discussion among stakeholders involved in handsearching
      projects, we designed a database that met identified needs that had to be
      addressed in order to ensure the viability of handsearching activities. Three
      handsearching teams pilot tested the proposed database. Once the final version of
      the database was approved, we proceeded to train the staff involved in
      handsearching. RESULTS: The proposed database is called BADERI (Database of
      Iberoamerican Clinical Trials and Journals, by its initials in Spanish). BADERI
      was officially launched in October 2015, and it can be accessed at
      www.baderi.com/login.php free of cost. BADERI has an administration subsection,
      from which the roles of users are managed; a references subsection, where
      information associated to identified controlled clinical trials (CCTs) can be
      entered; a reports subsection, from which reports can be generated to track and
      analyse the results of handsearching activities; and a built-in free text search
      engine. BADERI allows all references to be exported in ProCite files that can be
      directly uploaded into CENTRAL. To date, 6284 references to CCTs have been
      uploaded to BADERI and sent to CENTRAL. The identified CCTs were published in a
      total of 420 journals related to 46 medical specialties. The year of publication
      ranged between 1957 and 2016. CONCLUSIONS: BADERI allows the efficient management
      of handsearching activities across different countries and institutions.
      References to all CCTs available in BADERI can be readily submitted to CENTRAL
      for their potential inclusion in systematic reviews.

PMID- 28610642
TI  - Using agility to combat cyber attacks.
AB  - Some incident response practitioners feel that they have been locked in a battle
      with cyber criminals since the popular adoption of the internet. Initially,
      organisations made great inroads in preventing and containing cyber attacks. In
      the last few years, however, cyber criminals have become adept at eluding defence
      security technologies and rapidly modifying their exploit strategies for
      financial or political gains. Similar to changes in military combat tactics,
      cyber criminals utilise distributed attack cells, real-time communications, and
      rapidly mutating exploits to minimise the potential for detection. Cyber
      criminals have changed their attack paradigm. This paper describes a new incident
      response paradigm aimed at combating the new model of cyber attacks with an
      emphasis on agility to increase the organisation's ability to respond rapidly to
      these new challenges.

PMID- 28610643
TI  - Evacuation decision-making : Building a model to account for risk-taking
      preference.
AB  - One of the most stressful decisions a coastal emergency manager may face is the
      decision to order a large-scale evacuation for a hurricane. Even in a best-case
      scenario, evacuations are not a panacea. They are unpopular, expensive,
      disruptive and highly vulnerable to their own hazards. These issues become even
      more daunting when exacerbated by high populations in vulnerable areas, limited
      evacuation routes and a lack of nearby shelter space, which combine to create
      extremely long evacuation clearance times. Add forecast errors and uncertainty to
      these and one begins to understand the complexity of the decision-making process.
      These were the challenges faced by the authors as they tried to define and
      document the evacuation decision-making process in Lee County in Southwest
      Florida.

PMID- 28610644
TI  - Gaining efficiency by centralising the corporate business resiliency process.
AB  - Organisations have compiled many business continuity plans over the years in
      response to uncontrollable events and natural disasters. As the types of threats
      increase, even more plans are being created. Unfortunately, many corporations do
      not communicate the existence of these various plans outside of their centre of
      excellence. Creating a centralised oversight of your business resiliency process
      brings many benefits, including greater awareness, a bigger pool of expertise,
      common terminology and reducing the chances of redundant efforts. Having an
      overarching corporate response plan in place makes it possible to have high-level
      leadership trained and ready in case an extreme event occurs.

PMID- 28610645
TI  - Prepare to protect: Operating and maintaining a tornado safe room.
AB  - Operating and maintaining a tornado safe room can be critical to the effective
      continuity of business operations because a firm's most valuable asset is its
      people. This paper describes aspects of operations and maintenance (O&M) for
      existing tornado safe rooms as well as a few planning and design aspects that
      affect the ultimate operation of a safe room for situations where a safe room is
      planned, but not yet constructed. The information is based on several Federal
      Emergency Management Agency safe room publications that provide guidance on
      emergency management and operations, as well as the design and construction of
      tornado safe rooms.

PMID- 28610646
TI  - Operational risk assessment.
AB  - In the world of risk management, which encompasses the business continuity
      disciplines, many types of risk require evaluation. Financial risk is most often
      the primary focus, followed by product and market risks. Another critical area,
      which typically lacks a thorough review or may be overlooked, is operational
      risk. This category encompasses many risk exposure types including those around
      building structures and systems, environmental issues, nature, neighbours,
      clients, regulatory compliance, network, data security and so on. At times,
      insurance carriers will assess internal hazards, but seldom do these assessments
      include more than a cursory look at other types of operational risk. In heavily
      regulated environments, risk assessments are required but may not always include
      thorough assessments of operational exposures. Vulnerabilities may linger or go
      unnoticed, only to become the catalyst for a business disruption at a later time,
      some of which are so severe that business recovery becomes nearly impossible.
      Businesses may suffer loss of clients as the result of a prolonged disruption of
      services. Comprehensive operational risk assessments can assist in identifying
      such vulnerabilities, exposures and threats so that the risk can be minimised or
      removed. This paper lays out how an assessment of this type can be successfully
      conducted.

PMID- 28610648
TI  - Personality traits and thinking dispositions: Individual differences call for
      'smart' messaging.
AB  - This paper reveals potentially innate psychological differences to explain
      differing responses to the same information that cannot be explained by personal
      circumstances, such as age, financial situation and physical constraints. The
      study examines three well-known cognitive, psychological constructs as measures
      of these innate differences: cognitive reflection, need for cognitive closure and
      psychological function preferences. The data reveal who innately: (1) makes the
      best decisions without full information; (2) is the most/least receptive to
      simple, instructive messages; and (3) is the most credible information
      intermediary. According to the findings, those who tend to make the best
      decisions under normal circumstances using uncertain or incomplete information
      may be the least receptive to the simple, instructive message approach frequently
      used in emergency preparedness. Furthermore, those who make the best information
      intermediaries are most likely a subset of this same group - those who respond
      well to an abundance of information and do not respond well to the concise
      directive. Nevertheless, once a deadline (or immediate crisis) approaches, people
      increase in their need to 'decide something', and generally all become more
      receptive to simple, instructive messages than they may be under normal
      circumstances (no immediate crisis).These findings are particularly important for
      business continuity and emergency management communications in promoting optimal
      emergency preparedness and response.

PMID- 28610647
TI  - Health crises due to infectious and communicable diseases : European preparedness
      and response tools in an international context.
AB  - The combination of changes in eating habits, ways of living, globalisation,
      extensive travelling and the migration of millions of people around the world may
      be contributing to increased health risks. Certainly, health crises today are
      proving highly complex. More and more people are travelling and may carry with
      them unexpected virus vectors such as mosquitoes. Preparedness is challenging and
      there is a need for action plans to safeguard the growing at-risk population.
      Health crises can potentially affect a large proportion of the population and may
      lead to a significant increase in mortality or to an abnormally high death rate.
      This should be integrated into the general concept of national and international
      surveillance in order to provide a prepared response in the event of crisis. This
      paper provides an inventory of the relevant laws, guidelines and tools in Europe
      (and to a lesser degree, beyond), and proposes answers to the health crisis
      problems associated with infectious and communicable diseases. In crisis
      management, communication is an important factor to consider. This paper can
      serve as a tool for people involved in crisis preparedness.

PMID- 28610649
TI  - Enhancing resiliency for elderly populations : Shelter-in-place planning and
      training at facilities serving elderly populations through the Rhode Island
      Senior Resiliency Project.
AB  - Elderly populations are disproportionately affected by disasters. In part, this
      is true because for many older adults, special assistance is needed to mitigate
      the consequences of disasters on their health and wellbeing. In addition, many
      older adults may reside in diverse living complexes such as long-term care
      facilities, assisted living facilities and independent-living senior housing
      complexes. Planning for each type of facility is different and the unique
      features of these facilities must be considered to develop readiness to deal with
      disasters. Based on this, the Rhode Island Department of Health established the
      Senior Resiliency Project to bolster the level of resiliency for the types of
      living facilities housing older adults. The project involves performing onsite
      assessments of energy resources, developing site-specific sheltering-inplace and
      energy resiliency plans, and educating and training facility employees and
      residents on these plans and steps they can take to be better prepared. Based on
      the feasibility of conducting these activities within a variety of facilities
      housing older adults, the project is segmented into three phases. This paper
      describes survey findings, outcomes of interventions, challenges and
      recommendations for bridging gaps observed in phases 1 and 2 of the project.

PMID- 28610650
TI  - Testing for chlamydial infection: are we meeting clinical guidelines? Evidence
      from a state-level laboratory data linkage analysis for 15- to 29-year-olds.
AB  - : Background Clinical guidelines recommend annual chlamydia tests for all
      sexually active people aged 15-29 years. This study measured adherence to these
      guidelines and compared testing rates to the projected levels required to reduce
      chlamydia prevalence. METHODS: All chlamydia tests conducted in Tasmania during
      2012-13, for residents aged 15-29 years, were linked. Data linkage allowed
      individuals who had multiple tests across different healthcare settings to be
      counted only once each year in analyses. Rates of testing and test positivity by
      age, sex, rebate status and socioeconomic indicators were measured. RESULTS:
      There were 31899 eligible tests conducted in 24830 individuals. Testing coverage
      was higher in females (21%, 19404/92685) than males (6%, 5426/98123). Positivity
      was higher in males (16%, 862/5426) than females (10%, 1854/19404). Most tests
      (81%, 25803/31899) were eligible for a rebate. Positivity was higher in females
      with non-rebatable tests (12%, 388/3116 compared with those eligible for a rebate
      (9%, 1466/16285). More testing occurred in areas of middle disadvantage (10%,
      9688/93678) compared with least (8%, 1680/21670) and most (10%, 7284/75460) (both
      P<0.001) disadvantaged areas. Higher test positivity was found in areas of most
      disadvantage (11%, 822/7284) compared with middle- (10%, 983/9688) and least-
      (8%, 139/1680) disadvantaged areas. CONCLUSIONS: Chlamydia testing rates are
      lower than recommended levels. Sustaining the current testing rates in females
      aged 20-24 years may reduce population prevalence within 10 years. This study
      meets key priorities of national strategies for chlamydia control by providing a
      method of monitoring testing coverage and evidence to evaluate prevention
      programs.

PMID- 28610651
TI  - Increased high molecular weight adiponectin, but decreased total adiponectin and
      kisspeptin, in central precocious puberty compared with aged-matched prepubertal
      girls.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to compare serum leptin, kisspeptin, total
      adiponectin, high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin and neuropeptide Y (NPY)
      levels between girls with central precocious puberty (CPP; n=26, 7-9.5 years old)
      and age-matched controls (n=29) including or excluding obese girls. Leptin and
      NPY levels were comparable between CPP and control girls. Kisspeptin levels were
      lower in the CPP than control group, and were positively correlated with
      oestrogen in the control group and with systolic and diastolic blood pressure in
      the CPP group. Kisspeptin levels were negatively correlated with FSH and LH in
      the CPP group. Total adiponectin levels were lower in CPP than control girls, and
      were negatively correlated with Tanner stage and body mass index, but positively
      correlated with the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index in the control
      group. HMW adiponectin was higher in the CPP than control group, and was
      positively correlated with Tanner stage and LH in all girls. Total adiponectin
      had a strong positive correlation with HMW adiponectin in the CPP group (r=0.915)
      compared with the control group (r=0.371). In conclusion, kisspeptin may be
      associated with increased oestrogen in prepubertal girls, but with increased
      blood pressure in girls with CPP. In girls entering puberty, HMW adiponectin was
      increased and associated with reproductive parameters. Based on these
      observations, HMW adiponectin probably plays an essential role in the initiation
      of puberty and is a candidate marker for the prediction of CPP.

PMID- 28610652
TI  - Novel insights into the role of cell-free seminal mRNAs on semen quality and
      cryotolerance of spermatozoa in bulls (Bos taurus).
AB  - The aim of the present study was to ascertain the effectiveness of seminal plasma
      mRNAs as markers to assess the reproductive performance of bulls. Semen samples
      (33 ejaculates) from 11 bulls were evaluated for sperm kinematic and functional
      parameters. Total RNA was isolated from cell-free seminal (cfs) using TRIzol LS
      reagent and the concentration of cfs-RNA was 24.4+/-2.3ugmL-1 seminal plasma. The
      cfs-RNA was fragmented to a size of 25-500bp. Of the cfs-mRNAs screened using
      real time PCR, expression of protamine 1 (PRM1) was positively (P<0.05)
      associated with the mitochondrial membrane potential of raw semen, whereas
      expression of Fas Ligand (FASLG) was negatively (P<0.05) associated with sperm
      velocity, membrane integrity and chromatin distribution in post-thaw semen
      samples. The percentage of Type A spermatozoa (amplitude of lateral movement of
      head >2.5MUm and straightness >85%) in raw semen was positively (P<0.05)
      associated with bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), ubiquitin conjugating enzyme
      E2D3 (UBE2D3), tumour-associated necrotic factor-associated death domain (TRADD)
      and caspase-3 (CASP3) expression. Nerve growth factor (NGF) expression was
      positively (P<0.05) associated with the maintenance of post-thaw functional
      membrane integrity in spermatozoa and could be used to assess the cryotolerance
      of bull semen. In conclusion, the expression of cfs mRNAs can be used to assess
      the reproductive performance of males and to predict the sensitivity of
      spermatozoa to cryoinjury.

PMID- 28610653
TI  - Prospective cohort study of childhood behaviour problems and adolescent sexual
      risk-taking: gender matters.
AB  - : Background Externalising (delinquent, aggressive) and internalising
      (anxious/depressed, withdrawn) behaviour problems are prevalent in childhood. Few
      studies have prospectively measured relationships between childhood behaviour
      problems and adolescent health risk behaviour, a major predictor of morbidity and
      mortality. This study sought to determine relationships, by gender, between
      childhood behaviour problems and adolescent risky sexual behaviours and substance
      use. METHODS: In a population-based birth cohort [The Western Australian
      Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study], total, externalising and internalising behaviour
      problems (domain-specific T>=60) were calculated from parent-reported Child
      Behavior Checklist at ages 2, 5, 8, 10 and 14 years. At age 17 years, 1200 (49%
      male) participants reported sexual and substance use activity Results: For both
      genders, those with earlier externalising behaviour problems were more likely to
      be sexually active (oral sex or sexual intercourse) by age 17 years. Males with
      childhood externalising behaviour problems were more likely to have multiple
      sexual partners by age 17 years than those without such problems [adjusted odds
      ratio (aOR) 2.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.49-5.86]. Females with childhood
      externalising behaviour problems were more likely to have had unwanted sex (aOR
      1.91, 95% CI 1.04-3.53). Externalising behaviour problems were associated with
      substance use for both genders. No association was found between internalising
      behaviour problems and risky behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: Externalising behaviour
      problems from as early as 5 years old in boys and 8 years old in girls predict a
      range of risky sexual behaviour in adolescence, which has important implications
      for targeting interventions in adolescence.

PMID- 28610654
TI  - Periprosthetic Infection in Joint Replacement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The volume of joint replacement surgery has risen steadily in recent
      years, because the population is aging and increasingly wishes to reserve a high
      functional status onward into old age. Infection is among the more common
      complications of joint replacement surgery, arising in 0.2% to 2% of patients, or
      as many as 9% in special situations such as the implantation of megaprostheses.
      The associated morbidity and mortality are high. It is thus very important to
      minimize risk factors for infection and to optimize the relevant diagnostic and
      therapeutic strategies. METHODS: This review is based on pertinent publications
      retrieved by a selective search in PubMed, including current guidelines and
      expert recommendations. RESULTS: The crucial diagnostic step is joint biopsy for
      the identification of the pathogenic organism, which succeeds with over 90%
      sensitivity and specificity. If the prosthesis is firmly anchored in bone, the
      pathogen is of a type that responds well to treatment, and symptomatic infection
      has been present only for a short time, then rapidly initiated treatment can save
      the prosthesis in 35-90% of cases. The pillars of treatment are thorough surgical
      care (radical debridement) and targeted antibiotic therapy. On the other hand, if
      the prosthesis is loose or the pathogen is of a poorly treatable type, the
      infection can generally only be cured by a change of the prosthesis. This can be
      performed in either one or two procedures, always in conjunction with systemic
      antibiotic therapy tailored to the specific sensitivity and resistance pattern of
      the pathogen. CONCLUSION: The risk of infection of an artificial joint is low,
      but the overall prevalence of such infections is significant, as the number of
      implanted joints is steadily rising. Artificial joint infections should be
      treated by a standardized algorithm oriented toward the recommendations of
      current guidelines. Many of these recommendations, however, are based only on
      expert opinion, as informative studies providing high-grade evidence are lacking.
      Thus, for any particular clinical situation, there may now be multiple
      therapeutic approaches with apparently comparable efficacy. Randomized trials are
      urgently needed.

PMID- 28610656
TI  - Decompensated Right Heart Failure Caused by Large Tumor Masses.

PMID- 28610655
TI  - The Diagnosis and Treatment of Sjogren's Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sjogren's syndrome is one of the more common inflammatory
      rheumatological diseases, with a prevalence of at least 0.4% in Germany. METHODS:
      This review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a selective search in
      PubMed. Special attention is drawn to updated classification criteria and current
      treatment recommendations. RESULTS: Sjogren's syndrome has a wide variety of
      presentations, ranging from the local involvement of exocrine glands with
      keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomia (the leading signs of the disease) to
      the systemic, extraglandular involvement of multiple organs. Fatigue also
      markedly worsens the patients' quality of life. Serologic testing reveals
      antinuclear auto-antibodies (anti-Ro/ SSA and anti-La/SSB) as well as rheumatoid
      factors. The histological hallmark of the disease is focal lymphocytic
      infiltration in otherwise normal-appearing glandular acini. The disease also
      markedly elevates the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the B-cell series, which
      arises in about 5% of patients. Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) differs from the
      secondary form (sSS), which appears in the setting of another autoimmune disease,
      particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (15-36%), rheumatoid arthritis (20
      32%), and limited or progressive systemic sclerosis (11-24%). Disease-modifying
      therapy is reserved for patients with systemic involvement; there is limited
      evidence for its efficacy. Because of the complexity of this disease, some of its
      clinical manifestations may require interdisciplinary treatment. CONCLUSION: The
      main considerations in the interdisciplinary care of patients with Sjogren's
      disease are measures to improve quality of life, pharmacological and non
      pharmacological treatments to keep disease activity in check, and management of
      the risk of lymphoma. Future therapeutic approaches must take the heterogeneity
      of the disease into account.

PMID- 28610657
TI  - Delirium as a Risk Factor for POCD.

PMID- 28610658
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 28610659
TI  - Indeterminate Cell Histiocytosis in Children: A Case Report.

PMID- 28610660
TI  - Palmoplantar Lichen Planus: The Spectrum of Clinical Manifestations in a Single
      Patient.

PMID- 28610661
TI  - ?

PMID- 28610662
TI  - Clinical, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Implications in Psoriasis Associated With
      Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - In recent years the concept of psoriasis as a systemic disease has gained
      acceptance due to its association with numerous comorbid conditions, particularly
      atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Several studies have shown that
      patients with psoriasis, especially younger patients and those with more severe
      forms of psoriasis or with psoriatic arthritis, have a higher prevalence of risk
      factors and metabolic syndrome, as well as an increased risk of major
      cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, and
      peripheral arterial disease. Furthermore, it remains unclear which of the current
      treatments might be more effective in reducing cardiovascular risk in these
      patients. It is therefore important for dermatologists to be aware of this
      increased risk, to be able to detect modifiable risk factors early and, when
      appropriate, refer patients to other specialists for the prevention of major
      cardiovascular events.

PMID- 28610663
TI  - Eculizumab-C5 complexes express a C5a neoepitope in vivo: Consequences for
      interpretation of patient complement analyses.
AB  - The complement system has obtained renewed clinical focus due to increasing
      number of patients treated with eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody inhibiting
      cleavage of C5 into C5a and C5b. The FDA approved indications are paroxysmal
      nocturnal haemoglobinuria and atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome, but many other
      diseases are candidates for complement inhibition. It has been postulated that
      eculizumab does not inhibit C5a formation in vivo, in contrast to what would be
      expected since it blocks C5 cleavage. We recently revealed that this finding was
      due to a false positive reaction in a C5a assay. In the present study, we
      identified expression of a neoepitope which was exposed on C5 after binding to
      eculizumab in vivo. By size exclusion chromatography of patient serum obtained
      before and after infusion of eculizumab, we document that the neoepitope was
      exposed in the fractions containing the eculizumab-C5 complexes, being positive
      in this actual C5a assay and negative in others. Furthermore, we confirmed that
      it was the eculizumab-C5 complexes that were detected in the C5a assay by adding
      an anti-IgG4 antibody as detection antibody. Competitive inhibition by anti-C5
      antibodies localized the epitope to the C5a moiety of C5. Finally, acidification
      of C5, known to alter C5 conformation, induced a neoepitope reacting identical to
      the one we explored, in the C5a assays. These data are important for
      interpretation of complement analyses in patients treated with eculizumab.

PMID- 28610664
TI  - Retraction notice to: Silencing EGFR/HER3 signaling with a novel anti-EGFR domain
      II/IV antibody [Cancer Lett. 357 (2015) 374-383].

PMID- 28610665
TI  - Anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa IgG antibodies and chronic airway infection in
      bronchiectasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infection is
      important in the management of bronchiectasis, but requires repeated sputum
      sampling. We hypothesized that serum anti-PA IgG antibodies could diagnose
      chronic PA infection at a single visit. METHODS: Clinically stable bronchiectasis
      patients were studied prospectively. Chronic PA infection was defined as 2 or
      more positive sputum samples at least 3 months apart and/or failure to clear PA
      following eradication treatment. Baseline serum anti-PA IgG was determined by a
      validated ELISA kit. RESULTS: A total of 408 patients were included. Sixty of
      them (14.7%) had chronic PA infection and had higher anti-PA IgG levels (median
      6.2 vs. 1.3 units, p < 0.001). Antibody levels showed direct significant
      correlations with exacerbation frequency, the bronchiectasis severity index and
      sputum inflammatory markers. Fifty-seven patients with chronic PA infection had a
      positive test, giving 95% sensitivity, 74.4% specificity and AUROC of 0.87.
      During follow-up, 38 patients had a new PA isolation. Eradication at 12 months
      was achieved in 89.5% of subjects with a negative antibody test and 15.8% of
      patients with a positive test. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-PA IgG test is highly accurate
      to detect chronic PA infection in bronchiectasis patients. In addition, it may be
      a marker of disease severity and treatment response.

PMID- 28610667
TI  - Why choose tiotropium for my patient? A comprehensive review of actions and
      outcomes versus other bronchodilators.
AB  - PURPOSE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are leading
      causes of morbidity and mortality. This narrative review provides an appraisal of
      the pharmacological and clinical characteristics of tiotropium in COPD and
      asthma, and examines how these compare with other long-acting bronchodilators.
      The evidence base is placed into context by relating it to factors affecting
      clinicians' choice of therapy. MAIN FINDINGS: Desirable attributes of a long
      acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) maintenance therapy include effective
      pharmacological bronchodilation, improved lung function, exacerbation efficacy,
      and positive effects on symptom control, exercise capacity and quality of life
      across a broad patient population. Tolerability and convenience of use are also
      important for patient well-being and treatment adherence. Tiotropium shows higher
      affinity for muscarinic receptors than ipratropium, and prolonged binding to the
      M3 receptor compared with other LAMAs. In COPD, tiotropium has demonstrated
      improved lung function and exacerbation prevention compared with placebo or long
      acting beta2-agonists, similar exacerbation efficacy to other LAMAs, and enhanced
      symptom control and health status versus placebo. UniTinA-asthma(r) showed the
      benefits of add-on tiotropium in patients with uncontrolled mild to moderate and
      severe asthma. Tiotropium is well tolerated, with an incidence of adverse events
      similar to placebo, except for known infrequent side effects of anticholinergics.
      Tiotropium HandiHaler(r) and Respimat(r) augment inhaler choice in COPD.
      PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS: With over 10 years' prescribing history and 50 million
      patient-years of use, tiotropium has the benefit of a more extensive clinical
      evidence base than other long-acting bronchodilators, with demonstrated efficacy
      and safety in COPD and symptomatic asthma.

PMID- 28610666
TI  - Informal caregiving in COPD: A systematic review of instruments and their
      measurement properties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing symptoms and activity restriction associated with COPD
      progression greatly impact on the lives of their informal caregivers, who play a
      vital role in maintaining their health. An understanding of this impact is
      important for clinicians to support caregivers and maintain a viable patient
      environment at home. This systematic review aimed to identify the instruments
      commonly used to assess informal caregiving in COPD and describe their
      measurement properties in this population. METHODS: Searches were conducted in
      PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and PsycINFO and in references of key
      articles, until November 2016 (PROSPERO: CRD42016041401). Instruments used to
      assess the impact of COPD on caregivers were identified and their properties
      described. Quality of studies was rated using the COnsensus-based Standards for
      the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. Quality of
      the measurement properties of instruments was rated as 'positive', 'negative' or
      'indeterminate'. RESULTS: Patients cared for, had moderate to very severe COPD
      and the sample of caregivers ranged from 24 to 406. Thirty-five instruments were
      used in fifty studies to assess caregivers' psychological status and mood (9
      instruments), burden/distress (12 instruments), quality of life (5 instruments)
      or other (9 instruments). Eighteen studies assessed the measurement properties of
      21 instruments, most commonly hypothesis testing (known validity) and internal
      consistency. Study quality varied from 'poor' to 'fair' and with many properties
      rated as 'indeterminate'. CONCLUSIONS: Although several instruments have been
      used to assess the impact of COPD on caregivers, an increased understanding of
      their properties is needed before their widespread implementation.

PMID- 28610668
TI  - Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the St George's Respiratory
      Questionnaire in patients with severe asthma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Limited data exist on the quantitative validity of the St George's
      Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) in asthma populations. This study evaluated the
      psychometric properties of the SGRQ in patients with severe asthma. METHODS: This
      was a post-hoc analysis of pooled data from MENSA (N = 576; NCT01691508) and
      SIRIUS (N = 135; NCT01691521), two randomized, placebo controlled trials of
      mepolizumab in patients with severe asthma. Patients completed the SGRQ at
      Baseline and Exit (MENSA Week 32; SIRIUS Week 24). Distributional
      characteristics, internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability,
      convergent and discriminant validity, known-groups validity and responsiveness
      were assessed. RESULTS: Internal consistency reliability was acceptable for the
      total and domain scores at Baseline and Exit (Cronbach's alpha was 0.92 and 0.94
      at Baseline and Exit, respectively, for the total score). Test-retest reliability
      was demonstrated (intraclass correlation coefficients >0.7) for total score and
      the Activity and Impacts domains. Convergent and discriminant validity were
      demonstrated with measures associated or not associated with respiratory-related
      health status. Known groups validity based on baseline FEV1% predicted, Asthma
      Control Questionnaire (ACQ)-5 score, exacerbations and eosinophil counts was
      demonstrated for the SGRQ total and domain scores. Responses to therapy based on
      clinician-rated response, patient-rated response, ACQ-5 change score and
      exacerbations generally correlated with improvements in SGRQ scores. CONCLUSIONS:
      This analysis demonstrated that the SGRQ has acceptable psychometric properties
      in patients with severe asthma, exceeding the thresholds for adequate
      reliability, validity and responsiveness. The SGRQ appears to be a good
      instrument for identifying response to therapy in patients with severe asthma.

PMID- 28610669
TI  - Riociguat for pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic
      pulmonary hypertension: Results from a phase II long-term extension study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Riociguat was well tolerated and improved exercise and functional
      capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable
      chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) in a 12-week Phase II
      trial. We present final data from the long-term extension phase of this study.
      METHODS: During this multicenter, open-label, uncontrolled long-term extension
      study, riociguat dose could be changed at the physician's discretion (range 0.5
      2.5 mg three times daily). The primary outcome was long-term safety and
      tolerability of riociguat; secondary outcomes included 6-minute walking distance,
      World Health Organization functional class, survival, and clinical worsening-free
      survival. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients (inoperable CTEPH, n = 41; PAH, n = 27)
      entered the long-term extension. Median treatment duration at the final data cut
      off was 77 months. The most common adverse events were nasopharyngitis (57%) and
      peripheral edema (37%). Three patients (4%) experienced serious adverse events of
      hemoptysis: two moderate, one severe, none fatal or considered drug-related. At
      Month 48, 6-minute walking distance increased from baseline by 69 +/- 105 m, and
      World Health Organization functional class improved/stabilized/worsened versus
      baseline in 50/45/5% of patients. Three-year survival and clinical worsening-free
      survival were 91% and 49%, respectively (with patients censored if they withdrew
      without experiencing an event). Starting a new PAH treatment was the most
      frequent clinical worsening event. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in exercise and
      functional capacity were maintained at 4 years in patients remaining on
      treatment, with no new safety signals identified. These data support riociguat as
      a long-term treatment option for PAH and inoperable CTEPH. TRIAL REGISTERED AT:
      ClinicalTrials.gov. REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00454558.

PMID- 28610670
TI  - Lung ultrasound as a diagnostic tool for radiographically-confirmed pneumonia in
      low resource settings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children
      worldwide; however, its diagnosis can be challenging, especially in settings
      where skilled clinicians or standard imaging are unavailable. We sought to
      determine the diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound when compared to
      radiographically-confirmed clinical pediatric pneumonia. METHODS: Between January
      2012 and September 2013, we consecutively enrolled children aged 2-59 months with
      primary respiratory complaints at the outpatient clinics, emergency department,
      and inpatient wards of the Instituto Nacional de Salud del Nino in Lima, Peru.
      All participants underwent clinical evaluation by a pediatrician and lung
      ultrasonography by one of three general practitioners. We also consecutively
      enrolled children without respiratory symptoms. Children with respiratory
      symptoms had a chest radiograph. We obtained ancillary laboratory testing in a
      subset. RESULTS: Final clinical diagnoses included 453 children with pneumonia,
      133 with asthma, 103 with bronchiolitis, and 143 with upper respiratory
      infections. In total, CXR confirmed the diagnosis in 191 (42%) of 453 children
      with clinical pneumonia. A consolidation on lung ultrasound, which is our primary
      endpoint for pneumonia, had a sensitivity of 88.5%, specificity of 100%, and an
      area under-the-curve of 0.94 (95% CI 0.92-0.97) when compared to radiographically
      confirmed clinical pneumonia. When any abnormality on lung ultrasound was
      compared to radiographically-confirmed clinical pneumonia the sensitivity
      increased to 92.2% and the specificity decreased to 95.2%, with an area under-the
      curve of 0.94 (95% CI 0.91-0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Lung ultrasound had high
      diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of radiographically-confirmed pneumonia.
      Added benefits of lung ultrasound include rapid testing and high inter-rater
      agreement. Lung ultrasound may serve as an alternative tool for the diagnosis of
      pediatric pneumonia.

PMID- 28610671
TI  - Pulmonary manifestations of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.
AB  - Urothelial carcinoma (Transitional cell carcinoma) of the bladder is the pre
      dominant histological type of bladder cancer in the United States and Europe.
      Patients with bladder cancer usually present with painless hematuria. The
      diagnosis is often delayed, as the symptoms are similar to various other benign
      conditions such as urinary tract infection, prostatitis or renal calculi. In some
      patients, the metastatic lesions will cause the initial presenting symptoms. We
      conducted a MedLine/PubMED search identifying all relevant articles with
      "pulmonary manifestations", "urothelial bladder cancer", "manifestations of
      bladder cancer" or a combination of these terms in the title. The pulmonary
      manifestations of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder include metastatic disease
      including cavitary lesions, endobronchial, pleural, or lymph node metastasis
      pleural effusion and chylothorax. Pulmonary embolism and tumor embolism is
      another manifestation of this cancer. Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Gurin
      therapy for bladder cancer has been associated with a range of adverse effects
      including the systemic spread of Bacilli Calmette-Guerin immunotherapy affecting
      the lungs. Other drugs used to treat bladder cancer can be associated with drug
      related pneumonitis. Other rare manifestations include a sarcoid like reaction
      and systemic granulomatous disease to Bacilli Calmette-Guerin therapy. In this
      review we discuss the various pulmonary manifestations of urothelial carcinoma of
      the bladder. A high index of suspicion with these presentations can lead to an
      early diagnosis and assist in instituting an appropriate intervention.

PMID- 28610672
TI  - Agoraphobic avoidance predicts emotional distress and increased physical concerns
      in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anxiety and panic attacks are more common in chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) than in the overall population. Individuals with panic
      attacks often attempt to avoid situations perceived as at risk of eliciting
      bodily sensations such as dyspnea, which paradoxically may lead to anxiety
      related responsivity. Although there is some evidence that COPD individuals
      restrict their participation in various life activities because they fear that
      these may trigger breathlessness, little is known about agoraphobic avoidance and
      its impact on cognitions and emotional distress in this population. It was thus
      our aim to investigate the degree of agoraphobic avoidance in COPD individuals,
      its clinical concomitants and consequences. METHODS: A total of 48 patients with
      COPD and 48 matched controlled subjects completed measures of anxiety
      sensitivity, agoraphobic avoidance, anxiety and depression. Objective COPD
      severity was measured using forced expiratory volume in the first second.
      RESULTS: Patients showed significant impairment in respiratory functioning and
      psychological distress. Relative to the control, the COPD group exhibited greater
      depression, anxiety, physical symptom concerns and avoidance (alone and
      accompanied), irrespective of whether they were panickers or not. Patients with
      high avoidance showed more intense physical concerns when compared to those with
      low avoidance. Importantly, the level of avoidance predicted emotional distress
      and increased physical concerns in COPD. CONCLUSIONS: Physical concerns scores in
      COPD patients are partially explained by avoidance in this group. The results of
      the study provide evidence for the importance of evaluating avoidance in COPD
      patients and implicate targeting this behavior in therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28610673
TI  - Sit-to-stand tests for COPD: A literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sit-to-stand tests (STST) have recently been developed as easy-to-use
      field tests to evaluate exercise tolerance in COPD patients. As several
      modalities of the test exist, this review presents a synthesis of the advantages
      and limitations of these tools with the objective of helping health professionals
      to identify the STST modality most appropriate for their patients. METHOD:
      Seventeen original articles dealing with STST in COPD patients have been
      identified and analysed including eleven on 1min-STST and four other versions of
      the test (ranging from 5 to 10 repetitions and from 30 s to 3 min). In these
      studies the results obtained in sit-to-stand tests and the recorded physiological
      variables have been correlated with the results reported in other functional
      tests. RESULTS: A good set of correlations was achieved between STST performances
      and the results reported in other functional tests, as well as quality of life
      scores and prognostic index. According to the different STST versions the
      processes involved in performance are different and consistent with more or less
      pronounced associations with various physical qualities. These tests are easy to
      use in a home environment, with excellent metrological properties and
      responsiveness to pulmonary rehabilitation, even though repetition of the same
      movement remains a fragmented and restrictive approach to overall physical
      evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The STST appears to be a relevant and valid tool to
      assess functional status in COPD patients. While all versions of STST have been
      tested in COPD patients, they should not be considered as equivalent or
      interchangeable.

PMID- 28610674
TI  - Elevated serum D-dimer level is associated with an increased risk of acute
      exacerbation in interstitial lung disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early recognition of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD)
      who have an increased risk of developing acute exacerbation (AE) or preclinical
      AE may be clinically useful, since AE is associated with poor outcome and
      preventive measures would be of interest to ILD researchers. This study evaluated
      the relationship between elevated serum D-dimer level (>=0.4 mcg/mL) and
      subsequent AE or preclinical AE in patients with ILD. METHODS: This single
      center, retrospective study was performed from October 2009 through September
      2015 in patients with ILD who were >=18 years old and had idiopathic pulmonary
      fibrosis, other idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, chronic hypersensitivity
      pneumonitis, ILD related to collagen tissue disease, or combined pulmonary
      fibrosis/emphysema. The primary outcome measure was AE development within three
      months from each D-dimer measurement. The secondary outcome measures were
      respiratory-related hospitalization, all-cause hospitalization, venous
      thromboembolism (VTE), and all-cause mortality within three months. RESULTS: A
      total of 263 patients (mean age, 64.1 years) with 374 D-dimer measurements
      (median, 0.44 mcg/mL) were included. The risk of developing AE was significantly
      higher in patients with elevated serum D-dimer level (adjusted odds ratio: 10.46;
      95% CI: 1.24-88.11; p = 0.03). Patients with elevated serum D-dimer level had
      increased risk for respiratory-related hospitalization, all-cause
      hospitalization, VTE, and all-cause mortality. The other factors predictive for
      AE were home oxygen therapy, increased serum lactate dehydrogenase, decreased
      FVC, and decreased FEV1.0. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated serum D-dimer is associated with
      the risk of developing AE. Serum D-dimer may be used as a prognostic marker to
      predict AE or recognize preclinical AE.

PMID- 28610676
TI  - Dance movement therapy and falls prevention.
AB  - Falls are a leading cause of morbidity, healthcare use and mortality. Dance is a
      popular form of physical activity among older people and previous research has
      suggested that it may improve various health outcomes in this population,
      including balance, gait and muscle performance. A systematic review of the
      potential benefits of dance on falls and fear of falling is lacking. Thus, we
      conducted a systematic review considering all randomized controls trials (RCTs)
      investigating if dance can reduce falls and improve fear of falling in older
      adults. Major databases were searched from inception until 1 March 2017 and a
      total of 10 RCTs were identified, which included a total of 680 people (n=356
      dance, n=324 control). Overall, the mean age of the samples was 69.4 years, and
      75.2% were female. Across four RCTs, dance therapy reduced falls versus usual
      care in only one study. Dance therapy improved fear of falling in two out of
      three included RCTs. There were no serious adverse events reported in the RCTs.
      In summary, we found a paucity of studies investigating the effect of dance on
      falls and fear of falling and the evidence base is preliminary and equivocal.
      Given the heterogeneity of the included samples and interventions, in addition to
      the short-term follow-up, no firm conclusions can be drawn. However, dance
      appears to be safe and, given its popularity and demonstrated benefits on other
      health/wellbeing outcomes in older adults, it is important that future research
      considers its potential benefits on falls/fear of falling in older age.

PMID- 28610675
TI  - Effect of a single exacerbation on decline in lung function in COPD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: COPD exacerbations are associated with accelerated lung function
      decline, but whether they are causal is unknown. We evaluated the effect of a
      single exacerbation on rate of lung function change using data from the 4-year
      Understanding Potential Long-term Impacts on Function with Tiotropium (UPLIFT(r))
      trial. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of annual rates of decline in FEV1 and FVC
      before and after a single (and the only) moderate-to-severe exacerbation in
      patients during UPLIFT(r) (exacerbator subgroup), compared with changes between
      the first and second half of the study in a non-exacerbator subgroup. A
      sensitivity analysis examined annual rates of decline in matched pairs of
      exacerbators and non-exacerbators. RESULTS: Following the single moderate-to
      severe exacerbation, mean annual decline in post-bronchodilator lung function
      increased compared with the rate of decline before the exacerbation (FEV1 76.5
      vs. 39.1 mL/year, p = 0.003; FVC 106.5 vs. 34.7 mL/year, p = 0.011). In non
      exacerbators, there were no differences in rates of decline between the first and
      second halves of the study (post-bronchodilator FEV1 38.2 vs. 41.8 mL/year, FVC
      45.3 vs. 43.9 mL/year. Before the single (moderate-to-severe) exacerbation in the
      exacerbator subgroup, declines in post-bronchodilator FEV1 or FVC were similar to
      non-exacerbators in the first half of the study; after the single exacerbation
      they were significantly higher than for non-exacerbators in the second half of
      the study. The sensitivity analysis showed similar results. CONCLUSION: A single
      COPD exacerbation may result in significant increase in the rate of decline in
      lung function.

PMID- 28610677
TI  - Association between vitamin D status and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)
      concentration in the Korean elderly population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be associated with the risk
      of cardiovascular disease. We investigated the relationship between vitamin D
      status and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) concentration, a marker of
      endothelial dysfunction, in the Korean elderly population. STUDY DESIGN: A cross
      sectional study was conducted on 269 men and 382 women (mean age, 71.6 years)
      enrolled in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP), a
      population-based longitudinal study of health determinants in elderly Koreans. We
      stratified patients by vitamin D status into three groups according to serum 25
      hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level: sufficient (>=30ng/mL, n=25), insufficient (10
      <30ng/mL, n=516), and deficient (<10ng/mL, n=110). To measure endothelial
      dysfunction, ADMA concentration was assayed by high-performance liquid
      chromatography. The association between 25(OH)D status and ADMA concentration was
      analyzed by multiple linear regression models. RESULTS: The mean ADMA
      concentration was significantly higher in the insufficient 25(OH)D group
      (0.665MUmol/L, p=0.001) and the deficient 25(OH)D group (0.734MUmol/L, p<0.001)
      compared with the sufficient 25(OH)D group (0.589MUmol/L). Even after adjusting
      for sex, age, body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, total and HDL
      cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), smoking status, and
      drinking status, ADMA concentrations were higher in the insufficient group
      (beta=0.0742MUmol/L, p=0.001) and the deficient group (beta=0.1417MUmol/L,
      p<0.001) compared than in the sufficient group. In a sex-stratified analysis,
      25(OH)D deficiency was associated with higher ADMA levels in both women (p<0.001)
      and men (p=0.007), while 25(OH)D deficiency was associated with higher ADMA
      levels in women (p<0.001) but not in men (p=0.631). CONCLUSION: Our findings
      suggest that low serum 25(OH)D level may be associated with endothelial
      dysfunction in elderly Korean people.

PMID- 28610678
TI  - Anti-Mullerian hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, antral follicle count, and
      risk of menopause within 5 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of concentration of anti-Mullerian hormone
      (AMH), antral follicle count (AFC), and concentration of follicle stimulating
      hormone (FSH) to predict the onset of menopause. STUDY DESIGN: The Coronary
      Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA) Women's Study was an
      ancillary study to CARDIA, a population-based study of adults aged 18-30 years
      followed for 3 decades. For this report, participants were women (n=426) who had
      attended the CARDIA year 15-16 (2000-2001) examination, had at least one ovary,
      were not pregnant, and underwent serum AMH and FSH measurement and transvaginal
      ultrasonography in 2002-2003. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The probability of menopause
      in 5 years based upon AMH, FSH, and AFC. RESULTS: The mean age of the women at
      the time of AMH, FSH, and AFC assessment was 43 years. The cumulative incidence
      of menopause at 25 years (or follow-up) was 27% (n=426), and the incidence within
      5 years was 13% (n=55). Among women aged 45-49 years, undetectable AMH
      concentrations were associated with a greater than 60% probability of menopause
      within 5 years, whereas approximately 1/3 of women with no or just one antral
      follicle experienced menopause within 5 years. Both low and high concentrations
      of FSH were associated with greater odds of menopause than intermediate
      concentrations. Models with multiple markers did not improve the prediction of
      menopause over that afforded by models with single markers. CONCLUSION: The
      ability to predict onset of menopause was improved with any of the three
      menopausal markers in addition to age. AMH concentrations were more closely
      associated with menopause than AFC or FSH.

PMID- 28610679
TI  - The presence of a membrane-bound progesterone receptor induces growth of breast
      cancer with norethisterone but not with progesterone: A xenograft model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: During menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) a possible increase in breast
      cancer risk is thought to depend mainly on the progestogen component. In vitro
      studies have shown that the progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1)
      is important for tumor proliferation induced by progestogens. The primary aim of
      this study was to compare for the first time the natural progestogen,
      progesterone (P), with a synthetic progestogen, norethisterone (NET), using a
      xenograft model. METHODS: MCF7 cells, transfected with PGRMC1 plasmid or empty
      vector, were injected into nude mice and estradiol (E2) pellets were implanted.
      After 12days, NET or P or placebo pellets were implanted. Tumor volumes in all
      groups (6 mice/group) were monitored for 6-7 weeks. Immunohistochemical
      expression of PGRMC1 and KI-67 was assessed. These experiments were repeated
      using T47D cells. RESULTS: Compared with the control condition, E2 and sequential
      E2/NET combination increased xenograft tumor growth with MCF7 and T47D cells that
      transgenically expressed PGRMC1 (p<0.01); progesterone did not increase growth.
      Breast cancer cells transfected with empty vectors did not respond to either
      progestogen. Comparing KI-67 and PGRMC1 expression, the Pearson correlation was
      r=0.848, p=0.002. CONCLUSIONS: E2 plus NET increases tumor growth in human breast
      cancer cells overexpressing PGRMC1, but there is no change with progesterone. To
      our knowledge, this is the first comparison of both progestogens in vivo using
      nude mice, which are frequently used in xenograft models. Clinical trials are
      needed to determine whether women with overexpression of PGRMC1 are at increased
      risk of breast cancer if NET instead of progesterone is used in MHT.

PMID- 28610681
TI  - Relationship between duration of breast-feeding and obesity in korean women: The
      korea national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHANES) 2010-2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Breast-feeding is associated with maternal health, such as electrolyte
      metabolism, lipid profile and body component change. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the relationship between duration of breast-feeding and obesity in
      postmenopausal women. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Korea National Health
      and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2010-2012, a cross-sectional study in
      a Korean population. A total of 6621 postmenopausal women were analyzed. RESULTS:
      Body mass index and waist circumference were greater in women who had breast-fed
      for 6 months or more than in those who had not (BMI: 23.7+/-0.1 vs 24.5+/-0.1,
      P<0.0001; WC: 80.6+/-0.4 vs 82.8+/-0.3, P<0.001). This association persisted
      after adjustment for confounding factors (BMI: odds ratio[OR]1.54, 95% confidence
      interval[CI] 1.19-2.0; WC: OR1.67, 95% CI 1.29-2.17). The duration of breast
      feeding tended to increase with increasing BMI and WC (P for trend, 0.001 for
      each). The proportions of women with greater BMI and WC increased with increasing
      duration of breast-feeding (27.3% in <=6 months vs 41.2% in >18months, P<0.0001).
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that prolonged breast-feeding may
      be associated with greater BMI and WC among postmenopausal women.

PMID- 28610680
TI  - Intimate personal violence and caregiving: Influences on physical and mental
      health in middle-aged women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate if women with a history of having experienced intimate
      partner violence (IPV) who undertook caregiving would experience worse mental and
      physical health compared to those without caregiving roles. STUDY DESIGN AND MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: IPV, caregiving history and data on covariates were collected
      between 1996 and 2010 from 8453 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study
      on Women's Health aged between 45 and 65 over the course of the study. Regression
      analyses were used to analyse the association of IPV and caregiving (categorised
      as IPV+caregiving, IPV+no caregiving, no IPV+caregiving, no IPV+no caregiving),
      with and without adjustment for covariates, on mental and physical health-related
      quality of life (HRQOL), depressive symptoms and perceived stress, measured in
      2010. RESULTS: Experiencing IPV and being a caregiver was associated with poor
      health outcomes on three of the four outcomes (depressive symptoms, OR 2.08, 95%
      CI 1.58, 2.75; stress, OR 2.11, 95% CI 1.55, 2.87; physical HRQOL beta -2.39, 95%
      CI -3.34, -1.44; all p<=0.001, fully adjusted) compared with not experiencing IPV
      or caregiving. On these outcomes, IPV and caregiving combined had a stronger
      association than IPV or caregiving separately. For mental HRQOL, a weaker
      association was found (OR 1.41 95% CI 1.02, 1.95, fully adjusted, p=0.04).
      CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides evidence for the cumulative health impact of
      stressful life events, both those that are perpetrated against an individual
      (violence) and those undertaken with a degree of personal agency (caregiving).
      The findings underscore the need to understand the drivers of poor health, for
      clinicians to ask about life circumstances of patients experiencing poor health,
      and for the provision of referral pathways for complex cases.

PMID- 28610682
TI  - Menopausal hormone therapy may increase non-allergic rhinitis among
      postmenopausal women: Results from the Korea National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey (2010-2012).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between menopausal hormone therapy
      (MHT) and chronic rhinitis. METHODS: The data used in this study were derived
      from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The analysis
      included 2967 postmenopausal women under 70 years of age, and there were no
      missing data. Questionnaire responses regarding MHT, current life habits,
      reproductive history, and rhinitis were reviewed. The levels of total
      immunoglobulin E (IgE) and specific IgE for Dermatophagoides farinae,
      cockroaches, and dogs were measured, using approximately 10% of all samples. We
      compared women who were users of MHT and non-users of MHT. We also compared women
      with and without chronic rhinitis. RESULTS: Of 2967 women matching the study
      criteria, 567 were MHT users. The proportion of general rhinitis symptoms was
      greater among MHT users (24.5%) than among MHT non-users (18.9%, p=0.003). The
      proportion of cases of rhinorrhea or posterior nasal drip was also greater among
      MHT users (6.3% vs. 4.3%, p=0.042), while there were no differences between the
      two groups in the proportion of cases of nasal obstruction. There were no
      differences in total IgE and specific IgE levels between the two groups. MHT was
      used by 23.4% of women with chronic rhinitis and 18.0% of women without chronic
      rhinitis. Age, waist circumference, and body mass index were also greater among
      women without chronic rhinitis than among those with chronic rhinitis.
      CONCLUSIONS: MHT may cause non-allergic rhinitis in postmenopausal women. Age and
      obesity may also affect the occurrence of non-allergic rhinitis in postmenopausal
      women.

PMID- 28610683
TI  - Variations over time in the effects of age and sex on hospitalization rates
      before and after admission to a nursing home: A German cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined hospitalization rates for nursing home residents before
      and after their entry to the home, stratified by sex and age. STUDY DESIGN: A
      cohort study was conducted using data from a large health insurance fund on
      127,227 residents aged 65 years and over newly admitted to a nursing home between
      January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2014. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: We assessed
      hospitalization rates and proportions being hospitalized in 6-month intervals one
      year before nursing home placement and up to 5 years thereafter. Multiple Poisson
      regression models were fitted to calculate relative risks (RR). RESULTS: Mean age
      was 84.0 years and 74.6% of the cohort were females. Hospitalization rates were
      194.4 per 100 person-years (PY) in the 12 months before entry to the nursing home
      and 120.0 per 100 PY thereafter. Rates were highest immediately before entry in
      both sexes. The influence of age was most pronounced in the 12-7 months before
      entry (RR: 2.37 for 65-74 vs. 95+ years) and declined thereafter (1.29-1.38 up to
      month 24 after entry). In contrast, the influence of sex was greater after entry
      (RR: 1.13 for males vs. females in the 12-7 months before and 1.23-1.31 up to
      month 24 after entry). CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalization rates of nursing home
      residents are much higher in Germany than in other Western countries. We have
      provided some insight into the influence of age and sex on hospitalization rates,
      which varied over the period (time before and after entry to the nursing home)
      analyzed. We urgently recommend that future studies on the hospitalization of
      residents stratify their analyses by sex, age and period.

PMID- 28610684
TI  - A cross-sectional cluster analysis of the combined association of physical
      activity and sleep with sociodemographic and health characteristics in mid-aged
      and older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify how different patterns of physical
      activity, sleep duration and sleep quality cluster together, and to examine how
      the identified clusters differ in terms of socio-demographic and health
      characteristics. STUDY DESIGN AND OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants were adults from
      Brisbane, Australia, aged 42-72 years who reported their physical activity, sleep
      duration, sleep quality, socio-demographic and health characteristics in 2011
      (n=5854). Two-step Cluster Analyses were used to identify clusters. Cluster
      differences in socio-demographic and health characteristics were examined using
      chi square tests (p<0.05). RESULTS: Four clusters were identified: 'Poor
      Sleepers' (31.2%), 'Moderate Sleepers' (30.7%), 'Mixed Sleepers/Highly Active'
      (20.5%), and 'Excellent Sleepers/Mixed Activity' (17.6%). The 'Poor Sleepers'
      cluster had the highest proportion of participants with less-than-recommended
      sleep duration and poor sleep quality, had the poorest health characteristics and
      a high proportion of participants with low physical activity. CONCLUSION:
      Physical activity, sleep duration and sleep quality cluster together in distinct
      patterns and clusters of poor behaviours are associated with poor health status.
      Multiple health behaviour change interventions which target both physical
      activity and sleep should be prioritised to improve health outcomes in mid-aged
      adults.

PMID- 28610685
TI  - The "overweight paradox" in the prognosis of acute coronary syndrome for patients
      with heart failure-A truth for all? A 10-year follow-up study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In established acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with major complications
      (i.e. heart failure), overweight/obese patients usually have a survival
      advantage. To what extent this is irrespective of other characteristics remains
      inconclusive. The role of body mass index (BMI) in ACS prognosis (fatal/recurrent
      non-fatal cardiac episodes) and background potential interactions were evaluated.
      STUDY DESIGN: In 2006-2009, 1000 consecutive patients, hospitalized at First
      Cardiology Clinic of Athens with a diagnosis of ACS were enrolled in the study.
      All patients were classified according to heart failure phenotypes. One-month, 1
      , 2- and 10-year follow-up examinations were performed (75% participation rate).
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overweight was defined as 25<=BMI<=29.9kg/m2 and obesity
      as BMI >29.9kg/m2. RESULTS: BMI status and 10-year ACS prognosis followed a J
      shape association (p=0.009). Overweight patients had significantly better ACS
      prognosis than their normal-weight counterparts (OR=0.45, 95% CI (0.23, 0.90)).
      Significant interactions were observed between sociodemographic, clinical and
      lifestyle parameters and BMI on 10-year ACS prognosis (all ps for
      interaction<=10%); the aforementioned paradoxical association was retained only
      in patients who: were female (OR=0.37, 95% CI (0.16, 0.82)); were aged <=65 years
      (OR=0.25, 95% CI (0.09, 0.69)), HFrEF (OR=0.35, 95% CI (0.13, 0.89)); were
      hypercholesterolemic (OR=0.23, 95% CI (0.07, 0.81)); had no hypertension
      (OR=0.31, 95% CI (0.12, 0.82)) or diabetes mellitus (OR=0.29, 95% CI (0.09,
      0.95)); had moderate/high adherence to a Mediterranean diet (OR=0.43, 95% CI
      (0.22, 0.86)); and were physically active (OR=0.37, 95% CI (0.15, 0.88)).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although the overweight paradox was observed in the 10-year ACS
      prognosis of heart failure patients, this paradoxical association was not the
      case for all.

PMID- 28610686
TI  - Levels of physical activity and sleep patterns among older people with dementia
      living in long-term care facilities: A 24-h snapshot.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To objectively measure over a 24-h period the daytime and nighttime
      levels of physical activity and sleep patterns of older people with dementia
      living in long-term care facilities. STUDY DESIGN: Nested within a larger
      research program, this cross-sectional study involved 415 residents, aged >=60
      years, with a documented diagnosis of dementia, from 28 long-term care facilities
      in south-east Queensland, Australia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Residents wore
      SenseWear(r) activity armbands continuously for 24h, with data recorded for: step
      count; total energy expenditure; metabolic equivalent of task (MET); and the
      amount of time spent physically active, lying down, awake, and asleep. Residents'
      levels of cognitive impairment (assessed using the Rowland Universal Dementia
      Assessment Scale) and agitation (assessed using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation
      Inventory-Short Form), and demographic data were also collected. RESULTS: From a
      total of 415 residents monitored with the SenseWear(r) activity armbands, 192 met
      the valid wear-time of 21h or more, and had activity and sleep data recorded.
      These residents were largely inactive during the daytime (engaged in an average
      of 1.8h of light physical activity), but achieved recommended amounts of sleep at
      night (average of 6.8h). There was considerable variation within the sample, and
      activity and sleep differed by sex (p<0.001), age (p=0.010), mobility (p<0.001),
      and antipsychotic usage (p=0.030). CONCLUSIONS: These data can be used by long
      term care clinicians to assist in planning interventions and care approaches
      which promote physical activity and good sleep practices, and are individualized
      to physical and cognitive capabilities. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials
      Registry (ACTRN12614000508673).

PMID- 28610687
TI  - Assessing the thickness of the vaginal wall and vaginal mucosa in pre-menopausal
      versus post-menopausal women by transabdominal ultrasound: A feasibility study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: As life expectancy increases, the number of women reporting adverse
      genito-urinary symptoms (genitourinary syndrome of menopause; GSM) from
      menopause, including vaginal dryness and sexual pain, also will increase. Current
      objective measurements of vaginal atrophy such as maturation index require
      vaginal swabs and are invasive; at present, no minimally invasive measurements
      exist. The purpose of this study was to assess whether total vaginal wall
      thickness (TVT) and total vaginal mucosa thickness (TMT) as measured by
      transabdominal ultrasound could qualify as additional objective markers of
      vaginal wall thinning which could be related to menopausal status. DESIGN: Women
      presenting for pelvic ultrasound had a transabdominal ultrasound scan performed
      to measure TVT and TMT at the level of the bladder trigone. In addition, a
      transvaginal endometrial lining thickness was measured. RESULTS: The ultrasound
      measurement data from 76 participants showed that there was a significant
      difference in the mean value for TVT and endometrial lining between pre- and post
      menopausal women. The same difference in mean was not observed for TMT.
      CONCLUSION: TVT may be a reliable measure of vaginal thinning, which worsens with
      estrogen decline. These preliminary data also suggest that TMT does not have the
      same correlation as the TVT measurement. A larger sample is needed to further
      assess the usefulness and sensitivity of these measures and whether there is
      clinical and/or research usefulness in obtaining vaginal wall measurements by
      transabdominal ultrasound.

PMID- 28610688
TI  - Efficacy of patient-specific bolus created using three-dimensional printing
      technique in photon radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: A commercially available bolus ("commercial-bolus") does not make
      complete contact with the irregularly shaped patient skin. This study aims to
      customise a patient-specific three-dimensional (3D) bolus using a 3D printing
      technique ("3D-bolus") and to evaluate its clinical feasibility for photon
      radiotherapy. METHODS: The 3D-bolus was designed using a treatment planning
      system (TPS) in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine-Radiotherapy
      (DICOM-RT) format, and converted to stereolithographic format for printing. To
      evaluate its physical characteristics, treatment plans were created for water
      equivalent phantoms that were bolus-free, or had a flat-form printed 3D-bolus, a
      TPS-designed bolus ("virtual-bolus"), or a commercial-bolus. These plans were
      compared based on the percentage depth dose (PDD) and target-volume dose volume
      histogram (DVH) measurements. To evaluate the clinical feasibility, treatment
      plans were created for head phantoms that were bolus-free or had a 3D-bolus, a
      virtual-bolus, or a commercial-bolus. These plans were compared based on the
      target volume DVH. RESULTS: In the physical evaluation, the 3D-bolus provided
      effective dose coverage in the build-up region, which was equivalent to the
      commercial-bolus. With regard to the clinical feasibility, the air gaps were
      lesser with the 3D-bolus when compared to the commercial-bolus. Furthermore, the
      prescription dose could be delivered appropriately to the target volume. The 3D
      bolus has potential use for air-gap reduction compared to the commercial-bolus
      and facilitates target-volume dose coverage and homogeneity improvement.
      CONCLUSIONS: A 3D-bolus produced using a 3D printing technique is comparable to a
      commercial-bolus applied to an irregular-shaped skin surface.

PMID- 28610689
TI  - Experimental assessment of proton dose calculation accuracy in inhomogeneous
      media.
AB  - PURPOSE: Proton therapy with Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) has the potential to
      improve radiotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, its promises are jeopardized by
      the sensitivity of the dose distributions to uncertainties, including dose
      calculation accuracy in inhomogeneous media. Monte Carlo dose engines (MC) are
      expected to handle heterogeneities better than analytical algorithms like the
      pencil-beam convolution algorithm (PBA). In this study, an experimental phantom
      has been devised to maximize the effect of heterogeneities and to quantify the
      capability of several dose engines (MC and PBA) to handle these. METHODS: An
      inhomogeneous phantom made of water surrounding a long insert of bone tissue
      substitute (1*10*10 cm3) was irradiated with a mono-energetic PBS field (10*10
      cm2). A 2D ion chamber array (MatriXX, IBA Dosimetry GmbH) lied right behind the
      bone. The beam energy was such that the expected range of the protons exceeded
      the detector position in water and did not attain it in bone. The measurement was
      compared to the following engines: Geant4.9.5, PENH, MCsquare, as well as the MC
      and PBA algorithms of RayStation (RaySearch Laboratories AB). RESULTS: For a
      gamma-index criteria of 2%/2mm, the passing rates are 93.8% for Geant4.9.5, 97.4%
      for PENH, 93.4% for MCsquare, 95.9% for RayStation MC, and 44.7% for PBA. The
      differences in gamma-index passing rates between MC and RayStation PBA
      calculations can exceed 50%. CONCLUSION: The performance of dose calculation
      algorithms in highly inhomogeneous media was evaluated in a dedicated experiment.
      MC dose engines performed overall satisfactorily while large deviations were
      observed with PBA as expected.

PMID- 28610690
TI  - Investigating output and energy variations and their relationship to delivery QA
      results using Statistical Process Control for helical tomotherapy.
AB  - The aims of this study were to investigate machine beam parameters using the
      TomoTherapy quality assurance (TQA) tool, establish a correlation to patient
      delivery quality assurance results and to evaluate the relationship between
      energy variations detected using different TQA modules. TQA daily measurement
      results from two treatment machines for periods of up to 4years were acquired.
      Analyses of beam quality, helical and static output variations were made.
      Variations from planned dose were also analysed using Statistical Process Control
      (SPC) technique and their relationship to output trends were studied. Energy
      variations appeared to be one of the contributing factors to delivery output dose
      seen in the analysis. Ion chamber measurements were reliable indicators of energy
      and output variations and were linear with patient dose verifications.

PMID- 28610691
TI  - Radiological properties of 3D printed materials in kilovoltage and megavoltage
      photon beams.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study evaluates the radiological properties of different 3D
      printing materials for a range of photon energies, including kV and MV CT imaging
      and MV radiotherapy beams. METHODS: The CT values of a number of materials were
      measured on an Aquilion One CT scanner at 80kVp, 120kVp and a Tomotherapy Hi Art
      MVCT imaging beam. Attenuation of the materials in a 6MV radiotherapy beam was
      investigated. RESULTS: Plastic filaments printed with various infill densities
      have CT values of -743+/-4, -580+/-1 and -113+/-3 in 120kVp CT images which
      approximate the CT values of low-density lung, high-density lung and soft tissue
      respectively. Metal-infused plastic filaments printed with a 90% infill density
      have CT values of 658+/-1 and 739+/-6 in MVCT images which approximate the
      attenuation of cortical bone. The effective relative electron density REDeff is
      used to describe the attenuation of a megavoltage treatment beam, taking into
      account effects relating to the atomic number and mass density of the material.
      Plastic filaments printed with a 90% infill density have REDeff values of 1.02+/
      0.03 and 0.94+/-0.02 which approximate the relative electron density RED of soft
      tissue. Printed resins have REDeff values of 1.11+/-0.03 and 1.09+/-0.03 which
      approximate the RED of bone mineral. CONCLUSIONS: 3D printers can model a variety
      of body tissues which can be used to create phantoms useful for both imaging and
      dosimetric studies.

PMID- 28610692
TI  - A didactic experiment showing the Compton scattering by means of a clinical gamma
      camera.
AB  - We describe a didactic approach aimed to explain the effect of Compton scattering
      in nuclear medicine imaging, exploiting the comparison of a didactic experiment
      with a gamma camera with the outcomes from a Monte Carlo simulation of the same
      experimental apparatus. We employed a 99mTc source emitting 140.5keV photons,
      collimated in the upper direction through two pinholes, shielded by 6mm of lead.
      An aluminium cylinder was placed on the source at 50mm of distance. The energy of
      the scattered photons was measured on the spectra acquired by the gamma camera.
      We observed that the gamma ray energy measured at each step of rotation gradually
      decreased from the characteristic energy of 140.5keV at 0 degrees  to 102.5keV at
      120 degrees . A comparison between the obtained data and the expected results
      from the Compton formula and from the Monte Carlo simulation revealed a full
      agreement within the experimental error (relative errors between -0.56% and
      1.19%), given by the energy resolution of the gamma camera. Also the electron
      rest mass has been evaluated satisfactorily. The experiment was found useful in
      explaining nuclear medicine residents the phenomenology of the Compton scattering
      and its importance in the nuclear medicine imaging, and it can be profitably
      proposed during the training of medical physics residents as well.

PMID- 28610693
TI  - Assessment of peak skin dose in interventional cardiology: A comparison between
      Gafchromic film and dosimetric software em.dose.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the use of a dose mapping software to Gafchromic film
      measurement for a simplified peak skin dose (PSD) estimation in interventional
      cardiology procedure. METHODS: The study was conducted on a total of 40 cardiac
      procedures (20 complex coronary angioplasty of chronic total occlusion (CTO) and
      20 coronary angiography and coronary angioplasty (CA-PTCA)) conducted between
      January 2014 to December 2015. PSD measurement (PSDFilm) was obtained by placing
      XR-RV3 Gafchromic under the patient's back for each procedure. PSD (PSDem.dose)
      was computed with the software em.dose(c). The calculation was performed on the
      dose metrics collected from the private dose report of each procedure. Two
      calculation methods (method A: fluoroscopic kerma equally spread on cine
      acquisition and B: fluoroscopic kerma is added to one air Kerma cine acquisition
      that contributes to the PSD) were used to calculate the fluoroscopic dose
      contribution as fluoroscopic data were not recorded in our interventional room.
      Statistical analyses were carried out to compare PSDFilm and PSDem.dose. RESULTS:
      The PSDFilm median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) was 0.251(0.190;0.336)Gy for CA
      PTCA and 1.453(0.767;2.011)Gy for CTO. For method-A, the PSDem.dose was
      0.248(0.182;0.369)Gy for CA-PTCA and 1.601(0.892;2.178)Gy for CTO, and
      0.267(0.223;0.446)Gy and 1.75 (0.912;2.584)Gy for method-B, respectively. For the
      two methods, the correlation between PSDFilm and PSDem.dose was strong. For all
      cardiology procedures investigated, the mean deviation between PSDFilm and
      PSDem.dose was 3.4+/-21.1% for method-A and 17.3%+/-23.9% for method-B.
      CONCLUSION: The dose mapping software is convenient to calculate peak skin dose
      in interventional cardiology.

PMID- 28610694
TI  - Preconditioned alternating projection algorithm for solving the penalized
      likelihood SPECT reconstruction problem.
AB  - PURPOSE: The authors recently developed a preconditioned alternating projection
      algorithm (PAPA) for solving the penalized-likelihood SPECT reconstruction
      problem. The proposed algorithm can solve a wide variety of non-differentiable
      optimization models. This work is dedicated to comparing the performance of PAPA
      with total variation (TV) regularization (TV-PAPA) and a novel forward-backward
      algorithm with nested expectation maximization (EM)-TV iteration scheme (FB-EM
      TV). METHODS: Monte Carlo technique was used to simulate multiple noise
      realizations of the fan-beam collimated SPECT data for a piecewise constant
      phantom with warm background, and hot and cold spheres with uniform activities at
      two noise levels. They were reconstructed using the aforementioned algorithms
      with attenuation, scatter, distance-dependent collimator blurring and sensitivity
      corrections. Noise suppressing performance, lesion detectability, lesion
      contrast, contrast recovery coefficient, convergence speed and selection of
      optimal parameters were evaluated. The conventional EM algorithms with TV post
      filter (TVPF-EM) and Gaussian post-filter (GPF-EM) were used as benchmarks.
      RESULTS: The TV-PAPA and FB-EM-TV demonstrated similar performance in all
      investigated categories. Both algorithms outperformed TVPF-EM in terms of image
      noise suppression, lesion detectability, lesion contrast and convergence speed.
      We established that the optimal parameters versus information density
      approximately followed power laws, which offers a guidance in parameter selection
      for reconstruction methods. CONCLUSIONS: For the simulated SPECT data, TV-PAPA
      and FB-EM-TV produced qualitatively and quantitatively similar images. They
      performed better than the benchmark TVPF-EM and GPF-EM, with only limited loss of
      lesion contrast.

PMID- 28610695
TI  - A fuzzy-based system reveals Alzheimer's Disease onset in subjects with Mild
      Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most frequent neurodegenerative form of dementia.
      Although dementia cannot be cured, it is very important to detect preclinical AD
      as early as possible. Several studies demonstrated the effectiveness of the joint
      use of structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and cognitive measures to
      detect and track the progression of the disease. Since hippocampal atrophy is a
      well known biomarker for AD progression state, we propose here a novel
      methodology, exploiting it as a searchlight to detect the best discriminating
      features for the classification of subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
      converting (MCI-c) or not converting (MCI-nc) to AD. In particular, we define a
      significant subdivision of the hippocampal volume in fuzzy classes, and we train
      for each class Support Vector Machine SVM classifiers on cognitive and
      morphometric measurements of normal controls (NC) and AD patients. From the ADNI
      database, we used MRI scans and cognitive measurements at baseline of 372
      subjects, including 98 subjects with AD, and 117 NC as a training set, 86 with
      MCI-c and 71 with MCI-nc as an independent test set. The accuracy of early
      diagnosis was evaluated by means of a longitudinal analysis. The proposed
      methodology was able to accurately predict the disease onset also after one year
      (median AUC=88.2%, interquartile range 87.2%-89.0%). Besides its robustness, the
      proposed fuzzy methodology naturally incorporates the uncertainty degree
      intrinsically affecting neuroimaging features. Thus, it might be applicable in
      several other pathological conditions affecting morphometric changes of the
      brain.

PMID- 28610696
TI  - Use of PTW-microDiamond for relative dosimetry of unflattened photon beams.
AB  - PURPOSE: The increasing interest in SBRT treatments encourages the use of
      flattening filter free (FFF) beams. Aim of this work was to evaluate the
      performance of the PTW60019 microDiamond detector under 6MV and 10MVFFF beams
      delivered with the EDGE accelerator (Varian Medical System, Palo Alto, USA). A
      flattened 6MV beam was also considered for comparison. METHODS: Short term
      stability, dose linearity and dose rate dependence were evaluated. Dose per pulse
      dependence was investigated in the range 0.2-2.2mGy/pulse. MicroDiamond profiles
      and output factors (OFs) were compared to those obtained with other detectors for
      field sizes ranging from 40*40cm2 to 0.6*0.6cm2. In small fields, volume
      averaging effects were evaluated and the relevant correction factors were applied
      for each detector. RESULTS: MicroDiamond short term stability, dose linearity and
      dependence on monitor unit rate were less than 0.8% for all energies. Response
      variations with dose per pulse were found within 1.8%. MicroDiamond output
      factors (OF) values differed from those measured with the reference ion-chamber
      for less than 1% up to 40*40cm2 fields where silicon diodes overestimate the dose
      of ~3%. For small fields (<3*3cm2) microDiamond and the unshielded silicon diode
      were in good agreement. CONCLUSIONS: MicroDiamond showed optimal characteristics
      for relative dosimetry even under high dose rate beams. The effects due to dose
      per pulse dependence up to 2.2mGy/pulse are negligible. Compared to other
      detectors, microDiamond provides accurate OF measurements in the whole range of
      field sizes. For fields <1cm correction factors accounting for fluence
      perturbation and volume averaging could be required.

PMID- 28610697
TI  - Respiratory motion of adrenal gland metastases: Analyses using four-dimensional
      computed tomography images.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the respiratory motion of adrenal gland metastases in three
      dimensional directions using four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) images.
      METHODS: From January 2013 to May 2016, 12 patients with adrenal gland metastases
      were included in this study. They all underwent 4DCT scans to assess respiratory
      motion of adrenal gland metastases in free breathing state. The 4DCT images were
      sorted into 10 image series according to the respiratory phase from the end
      inspiration to the end expiration, and then transferred to FocalSim workstation.
      All gross tumor volumes (GTVs) of adrenal gland metastases were drawn by a single
      physician and confirmed by a second. Relative coordinates of adrenal gland
      metastases were automatically generated to calculate adrenal gland metastases
      motion in different axial directions. RESULTS: The average respiratory motion of
      adrenal gland metastases in left-right (LR), cranial-caudal (CC), anterior
      posterior (AP), 3-dimensional (3D) vector directions was 3.4+/-2.2mm, 9.5+/
      5.5mm, 3.8+/-2.0mm and 11.3+/-5.3mm, respectively. The ratios were 58.6%+/-11.4%
      and 63.2%+/-12.5% when the volumes of GTVIn0% and GTV In100% were compared with
      volume of IGTV10phase. The volume ratio of IGTV10phase to GTV3D was 1.73+/-0.48.
      CONCLUSIONS: Adrenal gland metastasis is a respiration-induced moving target, and
      an internal target volume boundary should be provided when designing the
      treatment plan. The CC motion of adrenal gland metastasis is predominant and
      >5mm, thus motion management strategies are recommended for patients undergoing
      external radiotherapy for adrenal gland metastasis.

PMID- 28610698
TI  - Denoising portal images by minimizing the SURE estimator on a parameterized
      family of shrinkage functions.
AB  - The number of verification portal images in radiotherapy has increased in the
      last years. On the other hand, radiation delivered during imaging is not confined
      to the treatment volumes, but also affects the surrounding organs and tissues. In
      order to reduce the overall radiation dose due to imaging, one approach would be
      to reduce the dose per image, but noise would increase and the quality of portal
      images would reduce. The limited quality of portal images makes it difficult to
      propose a reduction of dose if there is no way to effectively reduce noise.
      Denoising algorithms could be the solution if the quality of the restored image
      can match the image obtained with a standard dose. In this work the statistical
      properties of noise in a portal imaging system and the statistical properties of
      portal images are used to develop an efficient denoising method. The result is a
      method that minimizes the Stein's unbiased risk estimator (SURE) in the image
      domain over a parametric family of shrinkage functions operating in the wavelet
      domain. The presented denoising method shows a better performance than the
      adaptive Wiener estimator for different portal images and noise energies.

PMID- 28610699
TI  - An accurate model for the computation of the dose of protons in water.
AB  - PURPOSE: The accurate and fast calculation of the dose in proton radiation
      therapy is an essential ingredient for successful treatments. We propose a novel
      approach with a minimal number of parameters. METHODS: The approach is based on
      the exact calculation of the electromagnetic part of the interaction, namely the
      Moliere theory of the multiple Coulomb scattering for the transversal 1D
      projection and the Bethe-Bloch formula for the longitudinal stopping power
      profile, including a gaussian energy straggling. To this e.m. contribution the
      nuclear proton-nucleus interaction is added with a simple two-parameter model.
      Then, the non gaussian lateral profile is used to calculate the radial dose
      distribution with a method that assumes the cylindrical symmetry of the
      distribution. RESULTS: The results, obtained with a fast C++ based computational
      code called MONET (MOdel of ioN dosE for Therapy), are in very good agreement
      with the FLUKA MC code, within a few percent in the worst case. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study provides a new tool for fast dose calculation or verification, possibly for
      clinical use.

PMID- 28610700
TI  - Computation of the electron beam quality [Formula: see text] factors for the
      NE2571, NE2571A and NE2581A thimble ionization chambers using PENELOPE.
AB  - The quality correction factor [Formula: see text] for electron beams was
      calculated for three thimble ionization chambers, namely, NE2571, NE2571A and
      NE2581A. The Monte Carlo code PENELOPE was used to estimate the overall
      correction factor fc,Q of these chambers for electron beams with nominal energies
      ranging between 6 and 22MeV, corresponding to a Varian Clinac 2100 C/D. A 60Co
      beam was used as reference quality Q0. Also eight monoenergetic electron beams
      reproducing the quality index R50 of the Clinac beams were considered. The
      [Formula: see text] factors were calculated as the ratio between fc,Q and
      [Formula: see text] . Those obtained for the NE2571 ionization chamber show a
      nice agreement with those calculated by Muir and Rogers with EGSnrc. As it
      occurred to other ionization chambers analyzed in previous works, the [Formula:
      see text] factors found for the monoenergetic beams are larger (smaller) than
      those corresponding to the Clinac beams at low (high) R50 values, the differences
      being slightly above 0.5%. Finally, the [Formula: see text] factors obtained in
      the case of the NE2571A chamber are systematically ~0.5% below those of its
      predecessor chamber, the NE2571.

PMID- 28610701
TI  - Sensitivity and stability of optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters with
      filled deep electron/hole traps under pre-irradiation and bleaching conditions.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the characteristics of optically stimulated
      luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs) with fully filled deep electron/hole traps, and
      determine the optimal bleaching conditions for these OSLDs to minimize the
      changes in dose sensitivity or linearity according to the accumulated dose.
      METHODS: InLight nanoDots were used as OSLDs. The OSLDs were first pre-irradiated
      at a dose greater than 5kGy to fill the deep electron and hole traps, and then
      bleached (OSLDfull). OSLDfull characteristics were investigated in terms of the
      full bleaching, fading, regeneration of luminescence, dose linearity, and dose
      sensitivity with various bleaching conditions. For comparison, OSLDs with un
      filled deep electron/hole traps (OSLDempty) were investigated in the same manner.
      RESULTS: The fading for OSLDfull exhibited stable signals after 10min, for 1 and
      10Gy. The mean supra-linear index values for OSLDfull were 1.001+/-0.001 for
      doses from 2 to 10Gy. Small variations in dose sensitivity were obtained for
      OSLDfull within standard deviations of 0.85% and 0.71%, whereas those of
      OSLDempty decreased by 2.3% and 4.2% per 10Gy for unfiltered and filtered
      bleaching devices, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Under the bleaching conditions
      determined in this study, clinical dosimetry with OSLDfull is highly stable,
      minimizing the changes in dose sensitivity or linearity for the clinical dose.

PMID- 28610702
TI  - A "quality-control-based correction method" for displayed dose indices on CT
      scanner consoles in patient dose surveys.
AB  - PURPOSE: A new quality-control-based (QC-based) method is introduced to obtain
      correction factors to be applied to displayed patient dose indices (CTDIVol and
      DLP) on CT scanner consoles to verify improvement of dose surveys for diagnostic
      reference levels (DRLs) determination. METHOD: An available data-base of QC
      documents and reports of 57 CT scanners in Tehran, Iran was used to estimate
      CTDIVol, DLP and relevant correction factors for three CT examination types
      including head, chest and abdomen/pelvis. The correction factor is the ratio of
      QC-based estimated dose to displayed dose. A dose survey was performed by
      applying on-site "data collection method" and correction factors obtained in
      order to select CT scanners in three modes for determination of CT DRLs by
      inclusion of: (a) all CT scanners before displayed dose indices were corrected
      (57), (b) only CT scanners calibrated by QC experts (41) and (c) all CT scanners
      after displayed dose indices were corrected (57). RESULTS: For the 41 CT
      scanners, correction factors of three examination types obtained in this study
      are within the acceptance tolerance of IAEA HHS-19. The correction factors range
      from 0.45 to 1.7 (average of 3 examinations) which is due to the change in the
      calibrated value of CTDIVol over extended time. The DRL differences in three
      modes are within +/-1.0% for CTDIVol and +/-12.4% for DLP. CONCLUSIONS: The "QC
      based correction method" applied to mode (c) has improved the DRLs obtained by
      other two modes. This method is a strong alternative to "direct dose measurement"
      with simplicity and cost effectiveness.

PMID- 28610703
TI  - Air density dependence of the response of the PTW SourceCheck 4pi ionization
      chamber for 125I brachytherapy seeds.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the air density dependence of the response of the new
      SourceCheck 4pi ionization chamber, manufactured by PTW. METHODS: The air density
      dependence of three different SourceCheck 4pi chambers was studied by measuring
      125I sources. Measurements were taken by varying the pressure from 746.6 to
      986.6hPa in a pressure chamber. Three different HDR 1000 Plus ionization chambers
      were also analyzed under similar conditions. A linear and a potential-like
      function of the air density were fitted to experimental data and their
      achievement in describing them was analyzed. RESULTS: SourceCheck 4pi chamber
      response showed a residual dependence on the air density once the standard
      pressure and temperature factor was applied. The chamber response was
      overestimated when the air density was below that under normal atmospheric
      conditions. A similar dependence was found for the HDR 1000 Plus chambers
      analyzed. A linear function of the air density permitted a very good description
      of this residual dependence, better than with a potential function. No
      significant variability between the different specimens of the same chamber model
      studied was found. CONCLUSION: The effect of overestimation observed in the
      chamber responses once they are corrected for the standard pressure and
      temperature may represent a non-negligible ~4% overestimation in high altitude
      cities as ours (700m AMSL). This overestimation behaves linearly with the air
      density in all cases analyzed.

PMID- 28610704
TI  - Variation of the prescription dose using the analytical anisotropic algorithm in
      lung stereotactic body radiation therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the dosimetric
      variation regarding the analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA) relative to other
      algorithms in lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). We conducted a
      multi-institutional study involving six institutions using a secondary check
      program and compared the AAA to the Acuros XB (AXB) in two institutions. METHODS:
      All lung SBRT plans (128 patients) were generated using the AAA, pencil beam
      convolution with the Batho (PBC-B) and adaptive convolve (AC). All institutions
      used the same secondary check program (simple MU analysis [SMU]) implemented by a
      Clarkson-based dose calculation algorithm. Measurement was performed in a
      heterogeneous phantom to compare doses using the three different algorithms and
      the SMU for the measurements. A retrospective analysis was performed to compute
      the confidence limit (CL; mean+/-2SD) for the dose deviation between the AAA,
      PBC, AC and SMU. The variations between the AAA and AXB were evaluated in two
      institutions, then the CL was acquired. RESULTS: In comparing the measurements,
      the AAA showed the largest systematic dose error (3%). In calculation
      comparisons, the CLs of the dose deviation were 8.7+/-9.9% (AAA), 4.2+/-3.9% (PBC
      B) and 5.7+/-4.9% (AC). The CLs of the dose deviation between the AXB and the AAA
      were 1.8+/-1.5% and -0.1+/-4.4%, respectively, in the two institutions.
      CONCLUSIONS: The CL of the AAA showed much larger variation than the other
      algorithms. Relative to the AXB, larger systematic and random deviations still
      appeared. Thus, care should be taken in the use of AAA for lung SBRT.

PMID- 28610705
TI  - Anastomotic ulcers in short bowel syndrome: New suggestions from a
      multidisciplinary approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Anastomotic ulceration (AU) is a rare potential life
      threatening complication that may occur after intestinal resection. The diagnosis
      is often delayed after a long-lasting history of refractory anemia. The
      pathogenesis remains unknown and there are no established therapies. The aim of
      the study was to analyze the medical history of children with short bowel
      syndrome (SBS) who were experiencing AU. METHODS: Records of SBS children were
      retrospectively reviewed. Demographics, baseline characteristics, presentation,
      diagnosis and treatment of AU cases were analyzed. RESULTS: Eight out of 114
      children with SBS were identified as having AU. Mean gestational age was
      32.5weeks. Underlying diseases were: 5 necrotising enterocolitis, 2 gastroschisis
      and 1 multiple intestinal atresia. The mean age at AU diagnosis was 6.5years
      (diagnosis delay of 35months). All but 2 patients had AU persistency after
      medical treatment. Endoscopic treatment (2 argon plasma coagulation; 1 platelet
      rich fibrin instillation; 2 endoscopic hydrostatic dilations) was effective in 3
      out of 5 children. Surgery was required in 3 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Severe bowel
      ischemic injury, especially in preterm infant, could predispose to AU
      development. Medical treatment showed discouraging results. We firstly described
      that different endoscopic treatment could be attempted before resorting to
      further surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 28610706
TI  - Ultrasound-guided bilateral rectus sheath block vs. conventional local analgesia
      in single port laparoscopic appendectomy for children with nonperforated
      appendicitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite its minimally invasive approach, laparoscopic surgery can
      cause considerable pain. Regional analgesic techniques such as the rectus sheath
      block (RSB) offer improved pain management following elective umbilical hernia
      repair in the pediatric population. This effect has not been examined in
      laparoscopic single-incision surgery in children. We sought to compare the
      efficacy of bilateral ultrasound-guided RSB versus local anesthetic infiltration
      (LAI) in providing postoperative pain relief in pediatric single-incision
      transumbilical laparoscopic assisted appendectomy (TULA) with same-day discharge.
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 275 children, ages 4 to 17 years old, who
      underwent TULA for uncomplicated appendicitis in a single institution from August
      2014 to July 2015. We compared those that received preincision bilateral RSB
      (n=136) with those who received LAI (n=139). The primary outcome was narcotic
      administration. Secondary outcomes included initial and mean scores, time from
      anesthesia induction to release, operative time, time to rescue dose of analgesic
      in the PACU and time to PACU discharge. RESULTS: Total narcotic administration
      was significantly reduced in patients that underwent preincision RSB compared to
      those that received conventional LAI, with a mean of 0.112 mg/kg of morphine
      versus 0.290 mg/kg morphine (p<0.0001). Patients undergoing RSB reported lower
      initial (0.38 vs. 2.38; p<0.0001) and mean pain scores (1.26 vs. 1.77; p<0.015).
      Time to rescue analgesia was prolonged in patients undergoing RSB compared to LAI
      (58.93min vs. 41.56min; p=0.047). CONCLUSION: Preincision RSB for TULA in
      uncomplicated appendicitis in children is associated with decreased opioid
      consumption and lower pain scores compared with LAI. As the addition of this
      procedure only added 6.67min to time under anesthesia, we feel that it is a
      viable option for postoperative pain control in pediatric single-incision
      laparoscopic surgery. RETROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY: LEVEL III EVIDENCE.

PMID- 28610707
TI  - PtAUREO1a and PtAUREO1b knockout mutants of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum
      are blocked in photoacclimation to blue light.
AB  - Aureochromes are blue light receptors specifically found in photosynthetic
      Stramenopiles (algae). Four different Aureochromes have been identified in the
      marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (PtAUREO 1a, 1b, 1c, and 2). Since blue
      light is necessary for high light acclimation in diatoms, it has been
      hypothesized that Aureochromes might play an important role in the light
      acclimation capacity of diatoms. This hypothesis was supported by an RNAi
      knockdown line of PtAUREO1a, which showed a phenotype different from wild type
      cells when grown in either blue or red light. Here, we show for the first time
      the phenotype and the photoacclimation reaction of TALEN-mediated knockout
      mutants of PtAUREO1a and PtAUREO1b, clearly proving the necessity of Aureochromes
      for light acclimation under blue light. However, both mutants do also show
      specific differences in their respective phenotypes. Hence, PtAUREO1a and 1b are
      not functionally redundant in photoacclimation to blue light, and their specific
      contribution needs to be clarified further.

PMID- 28610708
TI  - Research Domain Criteria Constructs: Integrative reviews and empirical
      perspectives.

PMID- 28610709
TI  - Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide on dentin collagen.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Infiltration of adhesive on dentin matrix depends on interaction of
      surface and adhesive. Interaction depends on dentin wettability, which can be
      enhanced either by increasing dentin surface energy or lowering the surface
      energy of adhesive. The objective was to examine the effect of dimethyl sulfoxide
      (DMSO) on demineralized dentin wettability and dentin organic matrix expansion.
      METHODS: Acid-etched human dentin was used for sessile drop contact angle
      measurement to test surface wetting on 1-5% DMSO-treated demineralized dentin
      surface, and linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) to measure
      expansion/shrinkage of dentinal matrix. DMSO-water binary liquids were examined
      for surface tension changes through concentrations from 0 to 100% DMSO. Kruskal
      Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to test the differences in dentin
      wettability, expansion and shrinkage, and Spearman test to test the correlation
      between DMSO concentration and water surface tension. The level of significance
      was p<0.05. RESULTS: Pretreatment with 1-5% DMSO caused statistically significant
      concentration-dependent increase in wetting: the immediate contact angles
      decreased by 11.8% and 46.6% and 60s contact angles by 9.5% and 47.4% with 1% and
      5% DMSO, respectively. DMSO-water mixtures concentration-dependently expanded
      demineralized dentin samples less than pure water, except with high (>=80%) DMSO
      concentrations which expanded demineralized dentin more than water. Drying times
      of LVDT samples increased significantly with the use of DMSO. SIGNIFICANCE:
      Increased dentin wettability may explain the previously demonstrated increase in
      adhesive penetration with DMSO-treated dentin, and together with the expansion of
      collagen matrix after drying may also explain previously observed increase in
      dentin adhesive bonding.

PMID- 28610710
TI  - Lipoleiomyosarcoma of the Mediastinum in an Asymptomatic Male Patient.

PMID- 28610711
TI  - Publishing in a Regional Journal.

PMID- 28610712
TI  - The effect of heating rate and sintering temperature on the elastic modulus of
      porcelain tiles.
AB  - The scope of the present study is to investigate the change of elastic modulus
      with the physical and mechanical properties of porcelain tiles. In the study,
      porcelain tiles were sintered at different temperatures and at different heating
      rates to obtain minimum water absorption (%). After this, the time of flight of
      longitudinal and shear ultrasonic waves was measured through the tile. The time
      of flight of ultrasonic waves was measured using contact ultrasonic transducers
      operating on a pulse-echo mode. Using the time of flight of the ultrasonic waves
      and the thickness of the tiles, the velocity of the waves was determined. Using
      the ultrasonic velocities and bulk density, the elastic modulus of the tiles was
      determined. Helium pycnometry, a bend test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
      and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were also carried out. The results show that
      the elastic modulus decreased with an increase of total porosity, but increased
      with bulk density and firing shrinkage. There is a polynomial relationship
      between elastic modulus and strength.

PMID- 28610713
TI  - Structural model of standard ultrasonic transducer array developed for FEM
      analysis of mechanical crosstalk.
AB  - One of the reasons of distortions in ultrasonic imaging are crosstalk effects.
      They can be divided into groups according to the way of their formation. One of
      them is constituted by mechanical crosstalk, which is propagated by a
      construction of a multi-element array of piezoelectric transducers. When an
      individual transducer is excited, mechanical vibrations are transferred to
      adjacent construction components, thereby stimulating neighboring transducers to
      an undesired operation. In order to explore ways of the propagation of such
      vibrations, the authors developed the FEM model of the array of piezoelectric
      transducers designed for calculations in COMSOL Multiphysics software.
      Simulations of activating individual transducers and calculated electrical
      voltages appearing on transducers unstimulated intentionally, were performed in
      the time domain in order to assess the propagation velocity of different
      vibration modes through the construction elements. On this basis, conclusions
      were drawn in terms of the participation of various construction parts of the
      array of piezoelectric transducers in the process of creating the mechanical
      crosstalk. The elaborated FEM model allowed also to examine the ways aimed at
      reducing the transmission of mechanical crosstalk vibrations through the
      components of the array. Studies showed that correct cuts in the fasteners and
      the front layer improve the reduction of the mechanical crosstalk effect. The
      model can become a helpful tool in the process of design and modifications of
      manufactured ultrasonic arrays particularly in terms of mechanical crosstalk
      reduction.

PMID- 28610714
TI  - Adaptation of the scientific method in intensive care units: Patient with Kennedy
      terminal ulcer.

PMID- 28610715
TI  - Specific activation of inhibitory interneurons in the spinal dorsal horn
      suppresses repetitive scratching in mouse models of chronic itch.

PMID- 28610716
TI  - Skin inflammation leads immunoglobulin G aggregation and deposition in multiple
      organs.

PMID- 28610717
TI  - Increased TREM-1 expression in inflamed skin has no functional impact on the
      pathogenesis of cutaneous disorders.

PMID- 28610718
TI  - Echinacea purpurea-derived alkylamides exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects
      and alleviate clinical symptoms of atopic eczema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic eczema (AE) is a chronic inflammatory and pruritic skin
      disease. There is still an unmet need for topical anti-inflammatory and anti
      pruritic substances exhibiting an excellent safety profile. The endocannabinoid
      system is known to regulate various aspects of cutaneous barrier and immune
      functions, thus targeting it may be a valid approach for alleviating the symptoms
      of AE. OBJECTIVE: To assess the putative efficacy of Echinacea purpurea-derived
      alkylamides (Ec. extract) activating cannabinoid (CB)-2 receptors in exerting
      anti-inflammatory effects and alleviating symptoms of AE. METHODS: In vitro anti
      inflammatory efficiency was investigated by monitoring the effects of Ec. extract
      on poly-(I:C)-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression (Q-PCR) and release
      (ELISA) of HaCaT keratinocytes. Irritancy and sensitization potential (assessed
      by Human Repeat Insult Patch Test; Clinical trial 1); clinical efficiency in
      alleviating symptoms of AE (Clinical trial 2) as well as effects on human skin
      structure and lipid content (Clinical trial 3 followed by transmission electron
      microscopy and HPTLC) were investigated in randomized double blind clinical
      trials. RESULTS: Ec. extract significantly reduced mRNA expression as well as
      release of poly-(I:C)-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-8) in
      keratinocytes. Thus, not surprisingly, the well-tolerated (Clinical trial 1) Ec.
      extract-based cream reduced local SCORAD statistically significantly, not only
      compared to baseline, but also compared to the comparator (Clinical trial 2). Of
      great importance, besides the in vitro anti-inflammatory effects, administration
      of the Ec. extract-based cream also resulted in significantly higher levels of
      overall epidermal lipids, ceramide EOS (omega-esterified fatty acid+sphingosine
      sphingoid base), and cholesterol at Day 15 compared to baseline as well as
      significantly greater numbers of intercellular lipid lamellae in the
      intercellular space (Clinical trial 3). CONCLUSION: The investigated Ec. extract
      shows great potential in alleviating cutaneous symptoms of AE, and by exerting
      remarkable anti-inflammatory actions and restoring the epidermal lipid barrier,
      it will be very likely a well-tolerated, powerful novel ingredient for the
      adjuvant therapy of AE.

PMID- 28610719
TI  - Altered attentional filters in subjects with graded levels of sensorineural
      hearing loss.
AB  - Near-threshold tones (targets) in noise that are preceded by cues of the same
      frequency or occur with a high probability are detected better than tones of
      other frequencies that may occur with a lower probability (probes); the better
      detection of targets than probes defines the attentional filter. We measured
      attentional filters using a cued probe-signal procedure with a two-interval
      forced-choice (2IFC) method in normal-hearing subjects (N = 15) and subjects with
      sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL; N = 14) with a range of hearing levels.
      Attentional filters were altered in SNHL subjects, who detected low-frequency
      probes as well as targets at all hearing levels and who detected high-frequency
      probes increasingly well with increasing hearing level. These effects were
      present in both intervals of the 2IFC procedure. As auditory filters measured
      psychophysically are typically asymmetric in subjects with SNHL, these results
      suggest that the signal frequencies affected by the attentional filter are
      governed by the shapes of the auditory filters at and around the cue frequency.
      The normal-hearing subjects showed the expected attentional filters in the first
      interval and shallower filters in the second interval, suggesting that the cue
      evoked attentional process is transient. In the first interval, both low- and
      high-frequency probes were detected better as hearing level increased over a
      narrow range (from -5 to 10 dB at the target frequency), with a resultant loss of
      attentional filtering. This finding adds to observations of variable auditory
      function in individuals with clinically normal hearing thresholds established by
      audiometry.

PMID- 28610720
TI  - Limiting the effects of dry mouth.

PMID- 28610721
TI  - Cationic liposomal vectors incorporating a bolaamphiphile for oligonucleotide
      antimicrobials.
AB  - Antibacterial resistance has become a serious crisis for world health over the
      last few decades, so that new therapeutic approaches are strongly needed to face
      the threat of resistant infections. Transcription factor decoys (TFD) are a
      promising new class of antimicrobial oligonucleotides with proven in vivo
      activity when combined with a bolaamphiphilic cationic molecule, 12-bis-THA.
      These two molecular species form stable nanoplexes which, however, present very
      scarce colloidal stability in physiological media, which poses the challenge of
      drug formulation and delivery. In this work, we reformulated the 12-bis-THA/TFD
      nanoplexes in a liposomal carrier, which retains the ability to protect the
      oligonucleotide therapeutic from degradation and deliver it across the bacterial
      cell wall. We performed a physical-chemical study to investigate how the
      incorporation of 12-bis-THA and TFD affects the structure of POPC- and POPC/DOPE
      liposomes. Analysis was performed using dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta
      potential measurements, small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), and steady-state
      fluorescence spectroscopy to better understand the structure of the liposomal
      formulations containing the 12-bis-THA/TFD complexes. Oligonucleotide delivery to
      model Escherichia coli bacteria was assessed by means of confocal scanning laser
      microscopy (CLSM), evidencing the requirement of a fusogenic helper lipid for
      transfection. Preliminary biological assessments suggested the necessity of
      further development by modulation of 12-bis-THA concentration in order to
      optimize its therapeutic index, i.e. the ratio of antibacterial activity to the
      observed cytotoxicity. In summary, POPC/DOPE/12-bis-THA liposomes appear as
      promising formulations for TFD delivery.

PMID- 28610722
TI  - Factors Promoting Survival After Prolonged Resuscitation Attempts: A Case of
      Survival With Good Neurological Outcome Following 60 Minutes of Downtime After
      Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sudden cardiac arrest is a significant cause of death affecting
      approximately 25,000 people in Australia annually. METHODS: We present an out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with prolonged down time and recurrent ventricular
      arrhythmias treated with extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation. RESULTS: The
      patient survived to hospital discharge with good neurological outcome.
      CONCLUSION: The patient's excellent outcome was a result of immediate good
      quality CPR, high level premorbid function, reversible cause of arrest and rapid
      access to an ECMO centre.

PMID- 28610723
TI  - Pathophysiology of Paroxysmal and Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: Rotors, Foci
      and Fibrosis.
AB  - Recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying atrial
      fibrillation (AF) have further underscored the complex pathophysiological basis
      of the arrhythmia. It has become apparent that the current clinical
      classification of AF does not reflect the severity of the underlying atrial
      disease. Atrial fibrosis has been identified as the key structural change in
      different substrates that are responsible for the perpetuation of AF. Three
      dimensional electroanatomical mapping and late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic
      resonance imaging are novel modalities that can be used to facilitate
      identification and quantitation of atrial fibrosis for improved delineation of
      the AF substrate. Advances in AF mapping technology using endocardial 'panaromic'
      basket-type catheter and non-invasive body surface electrodes have facilitated
      the identification of two major arrhythmic mechanisms of interest, namely
      rotational ('rotors') and ectopic focal activations ('foci'). Ongoing research on
      these potential drivers of AF may provide guidance to more mechanistic based
      therapies to improve outcomes for this complex arrhythmia in the future. Here, we
      aim to review the differences in AF substrate in those with paroxysmal and more
      persistent forms of the arrhythmia by evaluating fibrosis, rotors and foci,
      towards improved AF substrate classification and individualised substrate based
      therapies.

PMID- 28610724
TI  - Corrigendum to "Histone Methyltransferase aflrmtA gene is involved in the
      morphogenesis, mycotoxin biosynthesis, and pathogenicity of Aspergillus flavus"
      [Toxicon 127 (2017, Mar 1) 112-121]. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.01.013. Epub
      2017 Jan 19.

PMID- 28610725
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 28610726
TI  - The metabolomic profile of red non-V. vinifera genotypes.
AB  - Wild American genotypes represent an important part of the Vitis germplasm in
      relation to grape improvement. Today, these genotypes are currently involved in
      breeding programmes in order to introgress traits resistant to pests and diseases
      in V. vinifera cultivars. Nevertheless, the metabolic composition of their grapes
      has not been widely investigated. This study aimed to explore in detail the
      metabolomic profile in terms of simple phenolic, proanthocyanidin, anthocyanin
      and lipid compounds in two hybrids and five American genotypes. The results were
      compared with those of two V. vinifera cultivars. A multi-targeted metabolomics
      approach using a combination of LC-MS and LC-DAD methods was used to identify and
      quantify 124 selected metabolites. The genotypes studied showed considerable
      variability in the metabolomic profile according to the grape composition of V.
      vinifera and other Vitis genotypes. As regards the composition of anthocyanins,
      not all wild genotypes contained both mono- and di-glucoside derivatives. Wild
      genotype 41B and V. vinifera cultivars contained only monoglucoside anthocyanins.
      The proanthocyanidins of non-V. vinifera genotypes were mainly rich in oligomers
      and short-chain polymers. The analysis of lipids in wild Vitis genotypes, here
      reported for the first time, showed the existence of a certain diversity in their
      composition suggesting a strong influence of the environmental conditions on the
      general lipid pattern.

PMID- 28610727
TI  - Is caffeic acid, as the major metabolite present in Moscatel wine protein haze
      hydrolysate, involved in protein haze formation?
AB  - This work was conducted to identify the major low molecular weight compounds
      present in the wine precipitate and to assess their potential contribution to
      wine protein haze formation. The heat-induced protein precipitate from a white
      Moscatel of Alexandria wine was subjected to alkaline hydrolysis. The major
      compound present was found to be caffeic acid among other minor, unidentified
      compounds. Caffeic acid was identified by both UV-vis and 1H NMR spectra. The
      concentration of caffeic acid in the original wine sample was 1.1mg/L, as
      quantified by HPLC following SPE. Heat stability tests were performed using two
      different concentrations of caffeic acid and its ester caftaric acid in model
      wine solution added of isolated wine protein. No correlation was found between
      caffeic or caftaric acid concentration and haze forming potential in wine model
      solution. This work shows that caffeic acid is present in considerable amounts in
      Moscatel wine protein haze, but does not seem to trigger or participate in the
      protein aggregation mechanism upon heating.

PMID- 28610728
TI  - Cluster shading modifies amino acids in grape (Vitis vinifera L.) berries in a
      genotype- and tissue-dependent manner.
AB  - Amino acid composition of the grape berry at harvest is important for wine
      making. The present study investigates the complex interplay between tissue,
      cultivar and light conditions that determine berry amino acid content. Twenty
      amino acids were assessed in the berry skin and pulp of two grape cultivars
      (Gamay Noir and Gamay Freaux), grown under either light exposure or cluster
      shading conditions. In all samples, cluster shading significantly reduced most
      amino acids, except gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and phenylalanine. However,
      the magnitude of the decrease was stronger in the skin (67.0% decrease) than in
      the pulp (30.4%) and stronger in cv. Gamay Noir (69.7%) than in Gamay Freaux
      (30.7%). Cluster shading also significantly modified amino acid composition by
      decreasing the proline content while increasing the GABA content. These results
      are of oenological interest for shaping the amino acid composition of the must
      and improving wine quality.

PMID- 28610729
TI  - Targeted and untargeted high resolution mass approach for a putative profiling of
      glycosylated simple phenols in hybrid grapes.
AB  - Vitis vinifera is one of the most widespread grapevines around the world
      representing the raw material for high quality wine production. The availability
      of more resistant interspecific hybrid vine varieties, developed from crosses
      between Vitis vinifera and other Vitis species, has generated much interest, also
      due to the low environmental effect of production. However, hybrid grape wine
      composition and varietal differences between interspecific hybrids have not been
      well defined, particularly for the simple phenols profile. The dynamic of these
      phenols in wines, where the glycosylated forms can be transformed into the free
      ones during winemaking, also raises an increasing health interest by their role
      as antoxidants in wine consumers. In this work an on-line SPE clean-up device, to
      reduce matrix interference, was combined with ultra-high liquid chromatography
      high resolution mass spectrometry in order to increase understanding of the
      phenolic composition of hybrid grape varieties. Specifically, the phenolic
      composition of 4 hybrid grape varieties (red, Cabernet Cantor and Prior; white,
      Muscaris and Solaris) and 2 European grape varieties (red, Merlot; white,
      Chardonnay) was investigated, focusing on free and glycosidically bound simple
      phenols and considering compound distribution in pulp, skin, seeds and wine.
      Using a targeted approach 53 free simple phenols and 7 glycosidic precursors were
      quantified with quantification limits ranging from 0.001 to 2mgKg-1 and
      calibration R2 of 0.99 for over 86% of compounds. The untargeted approach made it
      possible to tentatively identify 79 glycosylated precursors of selected free
      simple phenols in the form of -hexoside (N=30), -pentoside (21), -hexoside
      hexoside (17), -hexoside-pentoside (4), -pentoside-hexoside (5) and -pentoside
      pentoside (2) derivatives on the basis of accurate mass, isotopic pattern and
      MS/MS fragmentation.

PMID- 28610730
TI  - Elicitors used as a tool to increase stilbenes in grapes and wines.
AB  - Two preharvest treatments (methyl jasmonate or cell wall yeast) of grapevines
      (Monastrell and Tempranillo) were applied during two vintages (2014 and 2015) to
      check whether these elicitors enhanced stilbene accumulation in berries at the
      moment of harvest and in the corresponding wines elaborated with them. The main
      objective was checking the effect of treatment, variety and year on stilbene
      composition due to the interesting health-related properties of these compounds
      in both grapes and wines. The results pointed to inter-varietal and inter-annual
      differences, and that the treatments generally enhanced the stilbene composition
      of grapes and, particularly, of wines. The increase was more evident in
      Monastrell variety than in Tempranillo variety and in their wines more than their
      grapes during 2014 vintage but not during 2015 vintage.

PMID- 28610731
TI  - Moscatel vine-shoot extracts as a grapevine biostimulant to enhance wine quality.
AB  - Non-aromatic vine-shoot extracts (Airen) has been recently proposed as
      "viticultural biostimulants" when applied to grapevine. In this paper, the
      application of extracts from non-toasted (MVS) and toasted (MVSToasted) vine
      shoots from the well-known aromatic variety such Moscatel were applied on Airen
      grapevine leaves, observing an increased for grape yield and wines with a lower
      alcohol degree. All wines at the end of the alcoholic fermentation were
      characterized by their fruity and floral descriptors, especially MVS wines; and 4
      months later, MSV and MVSToasted wines surprised by their higher spicy notes,
      which correspond with the highest OAVs values for compounds such as
      norisoprenoids (beta-damascenone), vanillin derivatives (vanillin,
      acetovanillone) and volatile phenols (guaiacol, syringol), compared to control
      wine. Wine phenolic composition was affected positively over all by MVS in case
      of phenolic acids. These results confirm that Moscatel vine-shoot extracts foliar
      application into Airen non-aromatic grapevines produce an interesting enhance on
      wine quality.

PMID- 28610732
TI  - Early leaf removal applied in warm climatic conditions: Impact on Tempranillo
      wine volatiles.
AB  - Defoliation is a cultural practice with demonstrated benefits in grape and wine
      quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of early leaf
      removal applied in warm climatic conditions on volatile composition of
      Tempranillo wines. During three consecutive vintages (2009-2011) wine volatile
      compounds (alcohols, C6-compounds, ethyl esters, acetates, volatile acids,
      lactones and carbonyl compounds) from defoliated and non-defoliated vines were
      identified and quantified by GC-MS. Early leaf removal induced the increase of
      the concentration of all families of volatile compound quantified with exception
      of lactones. Significant increase was observed for 23 out 34 volatile compounds
      analyzed. The vintage effect also was shown, where the highest effect of
      defoliation was exhibited in 2009 vintage. Principal component analysis (PCA)
      showed a good separation of defoliation, non-defoliation and vintage according to
      wine volatile composition. The analysis of odour activity value (OAV) exhibited
      an increase of fruity and floral odour on Tempranillo wines when early
      defoliation was applied.

PMID- 28610733
TI  - Comparison of fortified, sfursat, and passito wines produced from fresh and
      dehydrated grapes of aromatic black cv. Moscato nero (Vitis vinifera L.).
AB  - Moscato nero d'Acqui is an Italian aromatic black winegrape variety characterized
      by a low content of anthocyanins (mostly tri-substituted), a satisfactory content
      of high molecular mass tannins, and a fair amount of terpenes. The grapes were
      subjected to a postharvest dehydration process under controlled thermohygrometric
      conditions (16-18 degrees C, 55-70 RH%, 0.6m/s air speed) with the aim to produce
      three different special wine types (fortified, sfursat, and passito) from fresh,
      partially dehydrated (27 degrees Brix), and withered (36 degrees Brix) grapes,
      respectively. Chemical traits of produced grapes and wines were then evaluated
      through spectrophotometric, HPLC, and GC-MS methods. Increased contents of skin
      phenolic compounds and reduced extractable contents of seed phenolic compounds
      were observed as dehydration progressed. Few significant differences were found
      in the anthocyanin profile of grapes, although the relative abundance of
      coumaroylated anthocyanins was higher in dehydrated grapes. The predominant free
      volatile compound found in grapes was geraniol, which decreased with increasing
      water loss, whereas the contents of major glycosylated volatile compounds
      increased even above the concentration effect. The changes in the phenolic
      composition among wines agreed with those among grape skins. Fortified wines were
      chromatically unsatisfactory probably due to the low content of total
      anthocyanins, whereas sfursat and passito wines meet good chromatic
      characteristics as a result of the concentration effect during grape dehydration.
      Fortified and sfursat wines had free aroma profiles richer in 2-phenylethanol and
      citronellol, whereas passito wines were mainly composed of 2-phenylethanol and 2
      phenylethyl acetate, citronellol being the predominant terpenol in all the wine
      types studied.

PMID- 28610734
TI  - Impact of post-harvest ozone treatments on the skin phenolic extractability of
      red winegrapes cv Barbera and Nebbiolo (Vitis vinifera L.).
AB  - Recently the use of ozone as sanitizing agent has been proposed on winegrapes in
      order to control mycobiota after harvest. The aim of this work was to investigate
      possible indirect physico-chemical effects of ozone treatment on berry skin
      phenolic composition and extractability. Vitis vinifera L. cv Nebbiolo and
      Barbera, chosen for their different anthocyanin profiles, were post-harvest
      treated for 24 and 72h with gaseous ozone (30MUL/L). Skin anthocyanin and
      flavanol extractability was assessed during maceration (6, 24, 48, 96, 168 and
      240h) using a wine-like solution. In our experimental conditions, ozone did not
      affect significantly the final extraction yield of anthocyanins (TA),
      proanthocyanidins (PRO), and flavanols reactive to vanillin (FRV) in Barbera,
      although TA and FRV extractabilities were higher in control samples than in ozone
      treated samples during the first stages of maceration. In Nebbiolo, the final TA
      extraction yield was positively influenced by the ozone treatment (68.6, 64.2,
      and 59.9% for 24h ozone-treated berries, 72h ozone-treated berries and control
      samples, respectively). Final PRO and FRV extractability also increased in both
      ozone-treated samples compared to the control (+8.6-9.1% for PRO and +7.3-11.7%
      for FRV). No significant differences were found among treatments for individual
      anthocyanins in both cultivars at the end of maceration. Therefore, the use of
      ozone as sanitizing agent in red varieties prior to winemaking process can be
      considered because it did not negatively affect the extractability of skin
      anthocyanins and flavanols.

PMID- 28610735
TI  - Indications of the prominent role of elemental sulfur in the formation of the
      varietal thiol 3-mercaptohexanol in Sauvignon blanc wine.
AB  - Elemental sulfur is a fungicide traditionally used to control Powdery Mildew in
      the production of grapes. The presence of sulfur residues in grape juice has been
      associated with increased production of hydrogen sulfide during fermentation,
      which could take part in the formation of the varietal thiol 3-mercaptohexanol.
      This work examines whether elemental sulfur additions to Sauvignon blanc juice
      can increase the levels of sought-after varietal thiols. Initial trials were
      performed in South Africa and indicated a positive impact of sulfur on the levels
      of thiols. Further experiments were then carried out with New Zealand Sauvignon
      blanc and confirmed a positive relationship between elemental sulfur additions
      and wine varietal thiols. The formation of hydrogen sulfide was observed when the
      addition of elemental sulfur was made to clarified juice, along with an increase
      in further reductive sulfur compounds. When the addition of sulfur was made to
      pressed juice, prior to clarification, the production of reductive sulfur
      compounds was drastically decreased. Some mechanistic considerations are also
      presented, involving the reduction of sulfur to hydrogen sulfide prior to
      fermentation.

PMID- 28610736
TI  - Impact of initial lipid content and oxygen supply on alcoholic fermentation in
      champagne-like musts.
AB  - Available nitrogen, lipids, or oxygen are nutrients with major impact on the
      kinetics of winemaking fermentation. Assimilable nitrogen is usually the growth
      limiting nutrient which availability determines the fermentation rate and
      therefore the fermentation duration. In some particular cases, as in Champagne,
      grape musts have high available nitrogen content and low turbidity, i.e., below
      50 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU). In the case of low turbidity, the
      availability of lipids, particularly phytosterols, becomes limiting. In this
      situation, control of oxygenation, which is necessary for lipid synthesis by
      yeast, is particularly crucial during fermentation. To mimic and understand these
      situations, a synthetic medium simulating the average composition of a Champagne
      must was used. This medium contained phytosterol (mainly beta-sitosterol)
      concentrations ranging from 0 to 8mg/L corresponding to turbidity between 10 and
      90 NTU. Population reached during the stationary phase and the maximum
      fermentation rate are conditioned by the initial phytosterol concentration
      determining the amount of nitrogen consumption. An early loss of viability was
      observed when the lipid concentrations were very low. For example, the viability
      continuously decreased during the stationary phase to a final value of 50% for an
      initial phytosterol concentration of 1mg/L. In some fermentations, 10mg/L oxygen
      were added at the end of the growth phase to combine the effects of initial
      content of phytosterols in the musts and the de novo synthesis of ergosterol and
      unsaturated fatty acids induced by oxygen addition. Effect of oxygen supply on
      the fermentation kinetics was particularly significant for media with low
      phytosterol contents. For example, the maximum fermentation rate was increased by
      1.4-fold and the fermentation time was 70h shorter with oxygen addition in the
      medium containing 2mg/L of phytosterols. As a consequence of the oxygen supply,
      for the media containing 3, 5 and 8mg/L of phytosterols, the assimilable nitrogen
      was completely exhausted and the fermentation kinetics, as well as the final
      populations and viabilities (greater than 90%), were identical for the 3
      conditions. The impacts of the lipid content and additional oxygen on acetate,
      glycerol and succinate synthesis were also studied. The phytosterols decreased
      the acetate and increased the succinate synthesis, and oxygenation resulted in a
      decrease in succinate formation. This work highlights the similarities and
      differences between the effects of lipids and oxygen on fermentation kinetics and
      yeast metabolism. This research highlights the need for an optimal combined
      management of lipid content in the must via turbidity and oxygenation,
      particularly in nitrogen-rich musts.

PMID- 28610737
TI  - The impact of wine components on fractionation of Cu and Fe in model wine
      systems: Macromolecules, phenolic and sulfur compounds.
AB  - A variety of techniques have been developed with the ability to measure different
      forms of metals in wine with the ultimate aim of providing a more accurate
      indicator of metal induced spoilage of wine. This study was conducted in order to
      identify which wine components influence the measurement of Cu and Fe in their
      fractionated and/or electrochemically active forms. The measurement techniques
      involved detection of labile Cu by stripping potentiometry and fractionation of
      Cu and Fe by sequential solid phase extraction, with detection by inductively
      coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. The wine components assessed
      included those extracted from wine (red wine tannin, white wine protein, white
      wine polysaccharide, red wine polyphenol, white wine polyphenol), and
      commercially available monomeric compounds, including phenolic compounds and
      sulfur-containing compounds. For Cu, only hydrogen sulfide, which is known to
      induce the formation of Cu(I) sulfide, showed any appreciable influence on the
      fractionation and electrochemical detection of Cu. This form of Cu was also
      identified as the major component of red and white wines. For Fe, the
      fractionation was different for red versus white wine, and influenced
      significantly by extracted red wine polyphenol, (-)-epicatechin, gallic acid and
      tartaric acid. The wine components showed more influence on Fe at pH4.00 compared
      to pH3.25. These results enable a targeted use of these techniques in the
      assessment of metal-induced spoilage of wine.

PMID- 28610738
TI  - Blood pressure and blood sugar assessment by recent dental school graduates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent dental school graduates' willingness to assess blood pressure
      and blood sugar in practice is positively influenced by having a workplace policy
      fostering these assessments. Negative influences toward these assessments include
      practice culture issues and time management concerns. The aim of this study was
      to determine whether 2010-2014 graduates of the School of Dental Medicine at
      Buffalo, NY (UB-SDM) continue to assess blood pressure and capillary blood sugar
      after graduation. STUDY DESIGN: Starting in 2010, UB-SDM predoctoral students
      were required to assess blood pressure (BP) on all patients and capillary blood
      sugar (CBS) on all patients with diabetes at every clinic appointment. UB-SDM
      graduates from 2010-2014 were sent an anonymous survey consisting of 34 questions
      to determine whether these assessments continue after graduation. The survey
      consisted of BP and CBS assessment parameters, including benefits and barriers to
      assessments. RESULTS: Although UB-SDM graduates generally assessed BP (77%) and
      CBS (23%), most did not follow the school's strict educational policies when
      providing these services. Dental practice policies mandating BP and CBS
      assessments were positively correlated with UB-SDM graduates' actually providing
      these services. Lack of time and poor practice support were cited as negative
      factors toward BP and CBS assessments. CONCLUSIONS: Disparities between UB-SDM
      educational efforts and entrenched dental practice cultures must be addressed in
      order for our graduates to fully embrace BP and CBS assessments in practice.

PMID- 28610739
TI  - Histologic and immunohistochemical identification of cribriform adenocarcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether tumors originally classified as adenocarcinoma not
      otherwise specified (Adca-NOS), adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), and polymorphous
      low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) could be reclassified as cribriform
      adenocarcinoma of the tongue and minor salivary gland (CATMSG). STUDY DESIGN:
      Tumors diagnosed between 1992 and 2014 at Oral Pathology Laboratory, Inc. (New
      York Presbyterian Hospital) were selected. Each tumor was reviewed by 3 oral
      pathologists to confirm the diagnosis of CATMSG. After review, 11 of 70 Adca-NOS,
      5 of 38 ACCs, and 5 of 23 PLGAs met the histologic criteria for CATMSG. One case
      diagnosed as CATMSG in 2014 was used as a control, and the following stains were
      completed: epithelial membrane antigen, Hector battifora mesothelial-1, p16, and
      CAM 5.2. Eleven Adca-NOS, 2 ACCs (tissue was available for only 2 of the 5
      adenoid cystic carcinoma cases), and 5 PLGAs underwent immunohistochemical (IHC)
      staining. Positive HMBE-1, p16, and CAM 5.2 staining along with negative staining
      for epithelial membrane antigen were considered supportive of a diagnosis of
      CATMSG. RESULTS: Based on histologic features and IHC results, we were able to
      reclassify 10 tumors (8 Adca-NOS and 2 PLGA) as CATMSG. CONCLUSION: CATMSG should
      be distinguished from other salivary gland tumors with similar histologic
      features. The diagnosis of CATMSG can be made on hematoxylin and eosin staining
      alone, but IHC analysis can be useful for confirmation.

PMID- 28610740
TI  - Toxicity and biodistribution of orally administered casein nanoparticles.
AB  - In the last years, casein nanoparticles have been proposed as carriers for the
      oral delivery of biologically active compounds. However, till now, no information
      about their possible specific hazards in vivo was available. The aim of this work
      was to assess the safety of casein nanoparticles when administered orally to
      animals through a 90 days dose-repeated toxicity study (OECD guideline 408), that
      was performed in Wistar rats under GLP conditions. After 90 days, no evidences of
      significant alterations in animals treated daily with 50, 150 or 500 mg/kg bw of
      nanoparticles were found. This safety agrees well with the fact that
      nanoparticles were not absorbed and remained within the gut as observed by
      radiolabelling in the biodistribution study. After 28 days, there was a
      generalized hyperchloremia in males and females treated with the highest dose of
      500 mg/kg bw, that was coupled with hypernatremia in the females. These effects
      were related to the presence of mannitol which was used as excipient in the
      formulation of casein nanoparticles. According to these results, the No Observed
      Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) could be established in 150 mg/kg bw/day and the
      Lowest Observed Effect Level (LOEL) could be established in 500 mg/kg bw/day.

PMID- 28610741
TI  - RIFM FRAGRANCE INGREDIENT SAFETY ASSESSMENT, 2-Methylbutanol, CAS Registry Number
      137-32-6.

PMID- 28610742
TI  - Interventional Treatment for Hepatic Artery Thrombosis after Liver
      Transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate short-term and long-term effectiveness of interventional
      treatment for hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March
      2003 to October 2015, 34 patients (32 male and 2 female; mean age, 45 y; range 7
      64 y) with HAT were identified 0-21d (mean 6.5 d +/- 6.0) after liver
      transplantation and underwent interventional treatments. Technical success,
      clinical success, complications, hepatic artery patency, and survival time were
      assessed. RESULTS: All 34 patients underwent urokinase thrombolytic treatment.
      The mean dosage of urokinase was 1,250,000 U +/- 1,000,000 (range, 350,000
      9,000,000 U). Thrombolysis treatment required 5-120 h (mean 50 h +/- 31) for
      completion. In 21 patients, stents were also implanted during thrombolytic
      treatment. In 3 patients with splenic artery steal syndrome, proximal splenic
      artery embolization was performed during thrombolytic treatment. The technical
      and clinical success rate was 91% (31/34), with treatment failure in 3 children.
      Hemorrhage was observed in 11 cases. Local necrotic foci in the transplanted
      liver were found on CT in 5 patients. Complications associated with the
      interventional procedures occurred in 2 patients. Patency rates of the hepatic
      artery at 1 y, 2 y, 3 y, and 5 y were 96%, 93%, 83%, and 83%. Overall survival
      rate at 1 y, 2 y, 3 y, and 5 y were 82%, 73%, 57%, and 57%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Interventional treatment can achieve satisfactory short-term and long-term
      effectiveness for adult HAT.

PMID- 28610743
TI  - Valproate and sodium butyrate attenuate manganese-decreased locomotor activity
      and astrocytic glutamate transporters expression in mice.
AB  - Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element, but chronic overexposure to this
      metal, either environmentally or occupationally may cause manganism, a disease
      analogous to Parkinson's disease. Inhibitors of histone deacetylases, such as
      valproic acid (VPA) and sodium butyrate (NaB) exert neuroprotective effects in
      various animal models of neurological disorders. Thus, the present study
      investigated whether VPA or NaB prevent Mn-induced neurotoxicity by assessing
      locomotor activities and expression of astrocytic glutamate transporters,
      glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) and glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST), in
      C57BL/6 mice. C57BL/6 mice were pretreated with VPA (200mg/kg, i.p.) or NaB
      (1200mg/kg, i.p.) prior to intranasal instillation of Mn (30mg/kg) continually
      for 21days, followed by open-field and rota-rod behavioral tests and analyses of
      astrocytic glutamate transporters GLT-1 and GLAST protein/mRNA levels. The
      results showed that Mn significantly decreased locomotor activity as determined
      by total distance travelled, stereotypic and ambulatory counts. Mn also
      significantly decreased rota-rod activity reflecting altered motor coordination.
      Pretreatment with VPA and NaB with Mn reversed the effects of Mn on the locomotor
      activity and motor coordination. VPA and NaB also attenuated the Mn-induced
      decrease in GLT-1 and GLAST mRNA and protein levels in the cerebral cortical and
      cerebellar regions of mice. These results suggest that VPA and NaB exert
      protective effects against Mn toxicity seem in vitro are also shown in vivo. VPA
      and NaB pretreatment in mice enhancing astrocytic glutamate transporter GLT-1
      expression as well as locomotor activities. Future research endeavors are
      warranted to determine if the therapeutic potential of VPA and NaB is via common
      molecular mechanism, namely, inhibition of histone deacetylases.

PMID- 28610744
TI  - Prenatal manganese exposure and intrinsic functional connectivity of emotional
      brain areas in children.
AB  - Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace metal that is neurotoxic at high levels of
      exposure. Disruption of brain maturation processes during the prenatal period may
      have lasting consequences. During this critical period, the developing human
      brain is uniquely vulnerable to exposure to environmental toxicants such as Mn,
      and prenatal Mn exposure has been associated with changes in brain areas involved
      in emotion processing and regulation. The goal of the present pilot study was to
      examine whether prenatal Mn exposure is associated with changes in the intrinsic
      functional connectivity (iFC) of the brain in childhood, focusing on changes in
      emotional brain areas. We selected 15 subjects (age 6-7 years) from an ongoing
      longitudinal birth cohort study to participate in a resting state functional
      magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Prenatal Mn exposure was determined from
      maternal blood collected during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. We used
      seed-based correlation analyses and independent component analyses to examine
      whether prenatal Mn exposure was associated with the iFC of the brain in
      children. We found that the right globus pallidus showed reduced iFC with the
      dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and lateral prefrontal cortex in children who
      were exposed to higher prenatal Mn levels, after controlling for sociodemographic
      confounders (SES, maternal education, child sex, home environment support) and
      environmental confounders (prenatal lead exposure and air pollution). These
      findings suggest that prenatal Mn exposure is associated with reduced iFC of
      brain areas involved in emotion processing and regulation in children. Future
      studies should investigate whether this reduced iFC mediates the association
      between prenatal Mn exposure and emotional dysfunction in childhood.

PMID- 28610745
TI  - The impact of type and number of bowel resections on anastomotic leakage risk in
      advanced ovarian cancer surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for anastomotic leakage (AL) in patients
      undergoing primary advanced ovarian cancer surgery and to evaluate the prognostic
      implication of AL on overall survival in these patients. METHODS: We analyzed our
      institutional database for primary EOC and included all consecutive patients
      treated by debulking surgery including any type of full circumferential bowel
      resection beyond appendectomy between 1999 and 2015. We performed logistic
      regression models to identify risk factors for AL and log-rank tests and Cox
      proportional hazards models to evaluate the association between AL and survival.
      RESULTS: AL occurred in 36/800 (4.5%; 95% confidence interval [3%-6%]) of all
      patients with advanced ovarian cancer and 36/518 (6.9% [5%-9%]) patients
      undergoing bowel resection during debulking surgery. One hundred fifty-six
      (30.1%) patients had multiple bowel resections. In these patients, AL rate per
      patient was only slightly higher (9.0% [5%-13%]) than in patients with
      rectosigmoid resection only (6.9% [4%-10%]), despite the higher number of
      anastomosis. No independent predictive factors for AL were identified. AL was
      independently associated with shortened overall survival (HR 1.9 [1.2-3.4],
      p=0.01). CONCLUSION: In the present study, no predictive pre- and/or
      intraoperative risk factors for AL were identified. AL rate was mainly influenced
      by rectosigmoid resection and only marginally increased by additional bowel
      resections.

PMID- 28610746
TI  - A universal genetic testing initiative for patients with high-grade, non-mucinous
      epithelial ovarian cancer and the implications for cancer treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Genetic counseling (GC) and germline genetic testing (GT) for BRCA1
      and BRCA2 are considered standard of care for patients with high-grade, non
      mucinous epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers
      (HGOC). We describe a universal genetic testing initiative to increase the rates
      of recommendation and acceptance of GC and GT to >80% for patients with HGOC at
      our institution. METHODS: Data from a consecutive cohort of patients seen in our
      gynecologic oncology clinics between 9/1/2012 and 8/31/2015 for evaluation of
      HGOC were retrospectively analyzed. Data were abstracted from the tumor registry,
      medical records, and research databases. Descriptive statistics were used to
      evaluate patient characteristics and GC, GT, and PARP inhibitor use. Various
      clinic interventions were developed, influenced by the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle
      method, which included physician-coordinated GT, integrated GC, and assisted GC
      referrals. RESULTS: A cohort of 1636 patients presented to the gynecologic
      oncology clinics for evaluation of HGOC during our study period, and 1423 (87.0%)
      were recommended to have GC and GT. Of these, 1214 (85.3%) completed GT and 217
      (17.9%) were found to have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Among BRCA-positive
      patients, 167 had recurrent or progressive disease, and 56 of those received PARP
      inhibitor therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of GC and GT recommendation and
      completion among patients with HGOC at our institution exceeded 80% following the
      implementation of a universal genetic testing initiative. Universal genetic
      testing of patients with HGOC is one strategy to identify those who may benefit
      from PARP inhibitor therapy.

PMID- 28610747
TI  - Cathepsin B plays a critical role in inducing Alzheimer's disease-like phenotypes
      following chronic systemic exposure to lipopolysaccharide from Porphyromonas
      gingivalis in mice.
AB  - A number of clinical and experimental studies have revealed a strong association
      between periodontitis and accelerated cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease
      (AD); however, the mechanism of the association is unknown. In the present study,
      we tested the hypothesis that cathepsin (Cat) B plays a critical role in the
      initiation of neuroinflammation and neural dysfunction following chronic systemic
      exposure to lipopolysaccharide from Porphyromonas gingivalis (PgLPS) in mice
      (1mg/kg, daily, intraperitoneally). Young (2months old) and middle-aged (12months
      old) wild-type (WT; C57BL/6N) or CatB-deficient (CatB-/-) mice were exposed to
      PgLPS daily for 5 consecutive weeks. The learning and memory function were
      assessed using the passive avoidance test, and the expression of amyloid
      precursor protein (APP), CatB, TLR2 and IL-1beta was analyzed in brain tissues by
      immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. We found that chronic systemic
      exposure to PgLPS for five consecutive weeks induced learning and memory deficits
      with the intracellular accumulation of Abeta in neurons in the middle-aged WT
      mice, but not in young WT or middle-aged CatB-/- mice. PgLPS significantly
      increased the expression of CatB in both microglia and neurons in middle-aged WT
      mice, while increased expression of mature IL-1beta and TLR2 was restricted to
      microglia in the hippocampus of middle-aged WT mice, but not in that of the
      middle-aged CatB-/- ones. In in vitro studies, PgLPS (1ug/ml) stimulation
      upregulated the mean mRNA expression of IL-1beta, TLR2 and downregulated the
      protein levels of IkappaBalpha in the cultured MG6 microglia as well as in the
      primary microglia from WT mice, which were significantly inhibited by the CatB
      specific inhibitor CA-074Me as well as by the primary microglia from CatB-/-
      mice. Furthermore, the mean mRNA expression of APP and CatB were significantly
      increased in the primary cultured hippocampal neurons after treatment with
      conditioned medium from PgLPS-treated WT primary microglia, but not after
      treatment with conditioned medium neutralized with anti-IL-1beta, and not after
      treatment with conditioned medium from PgLPS-treated CatB-/- primary microglia or
      with PgLPS directly. Taken together, these findings indicate that chronic
      systemic exposure to PgLPS induces AD-like phenotypes, including microglia
      mediated neuroinflammation, intracellular Abeta accumulation in neurons and
      impairment of the learning and memory functions in the middle-aged mice in a CatB
      dependent manner. We propose that CatB may be a therapeutic target for preventing
      periodontitis-associated cognitive decline in AD.

PMID- 28610748
TI  - Transgenerational seasonal timer for suppression of sexual morph production in
      the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
AB  - Many aphid species switch reproductive modes seasonally, with the sexual
      generations appearing in autumn. Sexual generations are induced by short days. It
      has been reported that the appearance of sexual morphs is suppressed by a
      transgenerational factor (a seasonal timer) over several generations after
      hatching from overwintered eggs. The present study examined whether the seasonal
      timer measures the number of days from hatching or the number of generations from
      hatching using the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris (Homoptera: Aphididae).
      Effects of temperature and photoperiod on the seasonal timer were also examined
      by successive rearing. The ability to produce sexual morphs was strongly
      suppressed in stem mothers (the foundress generation), and gradually recovered
      over successive generations produced during a few months. The duration for which
      the seasonal timer could function depended on the number of days from hatching
      and temperature, but not on photoperiod or the number of generations from
      hatching. We thus showed in a single study that the seasonal timer of the pea
      aphid has all the physiological characteristics shown in separate studies in
      different aphid species.

PMID- 28610749
TI  - Older widows' perspectives on sexuality: A life course perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexuality is a significant component in human experience and has an
      important impact on the individual's general well-being. Life course events and
      the social construction of sexuality lead older widows to reflect upon their
      sexuality. PURPOSE: To explore and describe the ways in which older widows
      construct and perceive their sexuality along the life course. METHOD: A
      phenomenological-qualitative approach was conducted. Data collection was
      performed through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 17 widows, between
      the ages of 62-91, followed by content analysis. RESULTS: Three major themes
      emerged: (a) Approaching sexuality: Conservative vs. progressive attitudes; (b)
      Multiple ways of perceiving sexuality: Constructing a sexual identity along the
      life course; and (c) Sexual self-perception: Integrating late life and widowhood.
      CONCLUSION: Sexuality among widows in later life includes continuity and change
      processes. In the context of social construction, sexuality is a subject that
      should be examined in greater depth.

PMID- 28610750
TI  - Understanding the experiences of racialized older people through an
      intersectional life course perspective.
AB  - This article proposes the development of an intersectional life course
      perspective that is capable of exploring the links between structural
      inequalities and the lived experience of aging among racialized older people.
      Merging key concepts from intersectionality and life course perspectives, the
      authors suggest an analytic approach to better account for the connections
      between individual narratives and systems of domination that impinge upon the
      everyday lives of racialized older people. Our proposed intersectional life
      course perspective includes four dimensions: 1) identifying key events and their
      timing, 2) examining locally and globally linked lives, 3) exploring categories
      of difference and how they shape identities, 4) and assessing how processes of
      differentiation, and systems of domination shape the lives, agency and resistance
      among older people. Although applicable to various forms of marginalization, we
      examine the interplay of racialization, immigration, labour and care in later
      life to highlight relationships between systems, events, trajectories, and linked
      lives. The illustrative case example used in this paper emerged from a larger
      critical ethnographic study of aging in the Filipino community in Montreal,
      Canada. We suggest that an intersectional life course perspective has the
      potential to facilitate a deeper understanding of the nexus of structural,
      personal and relational processes that are experienced by diverse groups of older
      people across the life course and into late life.

PMID- 28610751
TI  - What are we talking about? Constructions of loneliness among older people in the
      Swedish news-press.
AB  - Loneliness among older people is an issue that engages the general public and
      various professions and organizations in contemporary Swedish society. One public
      arena where this engagement is particularly evident is within the Swedish news
      press, where articles on loneliness among older people are frequently published.
      Loneliness is commonly perceived as significantly related to ageing and older
      people. In addition, the mass media is considered to have a crucial influence in
      shaping general perceptions of older people. The aim of this study is to examine
      how loneliness among older people is constructed in the Swedish news-press and
      whether there is a prevailing "loneliness discourse" within this context. The
      empirical material consists of 94 articles from the Swedish news-press from the
      years 2013-2014. Two dominating discourses was found. Loneliness - within the
      discourse of eldercare, politics and the welfare society, is primarily written
      about in news articles and debate articles by a variety of authors, such as
      politicians and representatives from organizations. Within this discourse,
      loneliness is utilized as a concept to motivate the need for political change and
      the allocations of resources and to amplify deficiencies within eldercare,
      politics and the welfare society. The second discourse, Loneliness - within the
      discourse of volunteer work, is addressed in reportage articles written by
      journalists. In this discourse focus was on depicting volunteers and enhancing
      the importance of volunteer work. Here, loneliness serves as a motive for
      performing volunteer work. In addition, the discourse of Research reports on
      older people's health was found, although less significant compared to the two
      major discourses. Within this discourse ageing is presented as a risk, where
      loneliness is one of these risk factors. Despite some minor differences,
      loneliness, within all three discourses, is given the meaning of being a problem
      that needs to be solved. A central finding in this study is that focus in the
      articles, from Swedish news-press, is not mainly on loneliness but rather on
      eldercare, politics and the welfare state, volunteer work and health among older
      people. Loneliness is, consequently, used as a concept to motivate the need for
      political change and the allocation of resources for older people, to enhance the
      values of volunteer work and to emphasize the risks associated with ageing.

PMID- 28610752
TI  - Age ascription as a resource and a source of resistance - An interactional study
      of health professionals' castings of patients into the category 'old'.
AB  - This case study aims to give an understanding of what actions health
      professionals' castings of patients into the category 'old' perform on a medical
      and social level as well as what actions patients' interactional management of
      these castings perform. Particularly, this study aims to bring to the fore the
      negotiability of health professionals' perspectivating age ascriptions. This is
      done with the conversation analytic method (CA) according to which altercasting
      is a mutual construction performed turn by turn and shaped by the reactions of
      the interlocutor who can approve, resist, or modify the identity in question. The
      data are drawn from two Swedish television documentaries on health encounters.
      Three major findings are presented. Firstly, the castings of the patients into
      the category 'old' are in several cases embedded in metaphors that either
      position the patient's body in the role of a victim of old age or in the role of
      a machine to routinely check. Secondly, the castings with a fateful approach to
      old age are ambivalent; whereas they serve as resources for the health
      professionals' normalizing of medical projects and perspectives, they can
      constitute sources of problems for the patients' doctorability and/or agency.
      Thirdly, the health professionals' perspectivating age ascriptions are
      negotiable; their design facilitates resistance to them, and the patients accept,
      modify, interrupt or reverse them.

PMID- 28610753
TI  - "I had a good time when I was young": Interpreting descriptions of continuity
      among older people.
AB  - Messages describing how best to age are prominent in gerontological theory,
      research and the media. These prescriptions for ageing may foster positive
      experiences in later life; however, they may also obscure the social and situated
      nature of expectations for ageing well. Continuity Theory proposes ageing well is
      achieved through continuity of activity and stability of relationships and
      identity over the life course. Continuity seems adaptive, yet prioritising
      continuity may not match the expectations, desires and realities of older people.
      To understand continuity among older people, the present study used
      interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyse transcripts from eleven
      participants over the age of 79 years. Continuity was important for older people
      in this study, who described a range of practices that supported internal and
      external continuity. Participants acknowledged both positive and negative changes
      in roles and obligations as they aged which impacted on continuity of identity.
      Continuity of identity was linked both to being 'just like always' and 'just like
      everyone else'. Examining these accounts shows how they are tied to expectations
      that older people should both maintain earlier patterns of behaviour while also
      negotiating changing social expectations for behaviour that are linked to age.
      These tensions point to the balance between physical, environmental and
      interpersonal change and the negotiation of social expectations which together
      structure possibilities for ageing well.

PMID- 28610754
TI  - Power and ambivalence in intergenerational communication: Deciding to
      institutionalize in Shanghai.
AB  - China's tradition of taking care of one's aging parents continues to evolve, as
      evidenced by the growth in nursing home residents in Shanghai. However, how these
      families make the decision to institutionalize remains unclear. To fill this gap,
      this study draws on power relations to examine communication dynamics when oldest
      old and their adult children decide to institutionalize. This study used a
      phenomenological approach. Twelve dyads of matched elderly residents and their
      children participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews (N=24). The format and
      content of intergenerational communication indicated that both conflicts and
      compromises took place. Adult children achieved greater decision-making power
      than their frail parents, which evoked older adults' ambivalent feelings. A
      discrepancy in perceived filial piety between generations also emerged. These
      dynamics of caregiving decision-making offer insight in understanding evolving
      filial piety in urban China.

PMID- 28610755
TI  - Epistemological erasure: The subject of abuse in the problematization of 'elder
      abuse'.
AB  - The academic field of literature pertaining to elder abuse emerges largely from
      gerontology with contributions from a variety of disciplines including geriatric
      medicine, nursing, public health, law, psychology, sociology and social work.
      This paper presents a critical review of articles drawn from this literature to
      identify current directions leading the development of empirical research in this
      field. The objective measurement of prevalence, the identification and
      correlation of psycho-social risk factors and practice-based research oriented to
      intervention and prevention are identified as privileged sites for scientific
      investigation. These sites are critically analysed in terms of their underpinning
      rationalities to reveal the operation of a hegemonic post-positivist
      epistemological framework. This framework enables an expert professional
      discourse to structure knowledge and the field of inquiry through constructions
      of the 'subject of abuse' as a statistical figure, a factorial subject of risk
      and universally vulnerable. These modes of representation preclude subjective
      lived experience and, in doing so, inaugurate an 'epistemological erasure' of the
      embodied subject of abuse. The review attends to the limited body of qualitative
      research in the field, some of which claims a politicized empiricism of 'voice'.
      However, whilst the findings produced by this research suggest theoretically and
      conceptually fertile lines of inquiry, these have not disrupted or extended the
      dominant discourses in the field. This paper argues that an epistemological gulf,
      riven through a politics of evidence, ensures the reproduction of dominant
      discourses and their attendant limitations in ways that forestall the conceptual
      and theoretical advancement of the field.

PMID- 28610757
TI  - Rural pension reform in China: A critical analysis.

PMID- 28610756
TI  - Crossing a Line: A narrative of risk-taking by older women serving as caregivers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caregiving carried out by adults for other adults is increasing
      around the world as the demographics of many industrialized countries shift
      toward an older population with escalating care needs toward the end of life.
      Although much has been written about caregiving, few studies document the
      experiences of providing care as narrated by the caregivers. AIM: To explore the
      everyday experiences of older adults serving as primary informal caregivers to
      significant others. METHODS: A process of narrative inquiry was used via repeated
      interviews with three older women caregivers providing care to family members or
      friends. The data were analyzed using storyboarding techniques and identifying
      critical turning points, culminating in a poetic transcription of the resulting
      narrative. RESULTS: These caregivers describe a tension that exists across their
      experiences and communication with authorities on whom they rely for guidance and
      collaboration. Situations in which this tension pushes the caregivers to act in
      ways that represent risk to themselves or their care recipients are central to
      the collective narrative. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: The everyday experiences
      of older adult caregivers include not only familiar care routines, but also
      advocacy on behalf of care recipients and negotiations with external authorities,
      resulting at times in unwelcome risk-taking. Their narrative warrants attention
      due to the lack of power described by caregivers when acting on behalf of their
      care recipients and the need for those in authority to recognize their dilemma.

PMID- 28610758
TI  - The everyday food practices of community-dwelling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
      Transgender (LGBT) older adults.
AB  - Malnutrition during old age is a significant public health issue. Prevailing
      behavioral and structural senior malnutrition interventions have had marginal
      success, largely failing to reflect the realities of people's daily lives. This
      novel study employed Social Practice Theory (SPT) to explore the food practices
      of an under-researched, yet highly vulnerable, segment of the older adult
      population-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) seniors. Four focus
      groups were conducted with 31 older adult clients and volunteers at a national
      LGBT social service and advocacy organization. Findings revealed that food
      practices-far from being mere expressions of individuals' choices or immutable
      habits-are entities composed of meanings, materials, and competences that are
      structured as they are performed repeatedly in a social context. Gaining insight
      into how and why diverse older adults perform food practices in light of
      obstacles common to aging has important implications for senior nutrition program
      and policy development.

PMID- 28610759
TI  - How architectural design affords experiences of freedom in residential care for
      older people.
AB  - Human values and social issues shape visions on dwelling and care for older
      people, a growing number of whom live in residential care facilities. These
      facilities' architectural design is considered to play an important role in
      realizing care visions. This role, however, has received little attention in
      research. This article presents a case study of a residential care facility for
      which the architects made considerable effort to match the design with the care
      vision. The study offers insights into residents' and caregivers' experiences of,
      respectively, living and working in this facility, and the role of architectural
      features therein. A single qualitative case study design was used to provide in
      depth, contextual insights. The methods include semi-structured interviews with
      residents and caregivers, and participant observation. Data concerning design
      intentions, assumptions and strategies were obtained from design documents,
      through a semi-structured interview with the architects, and observations on
      site. Our analysis underlines the importance of freedom (and especially freedom
      of movement), and the balance between experiencing freedom and being bound to a
      social and physical framework. It shows the architecture features that can have a
      role therein: small-scaleness in terms of number of residents per dwelling unit,
      size and compactness; spatial generosity in terms of surface area, room to
      maneuver and variety of places; and physical accessibility. Our study challenges
      the idea of family-like group living. Since we found limited sense of group
      belonging amongst residents, our findings suggest to rethink residential care
      facilities in terms of private or collective living in order to address
      residents' social freedom of movement. Caregivers associated 'hominess' with
      freedom of movement, action and choice, with favorable social dynamics and with
      the building's residential character. Being perceived as homey, the facility's
      architectural design matches caregivers' care vision and, thus, helped them
      realizing this vision.

PMID- 28610760
TI  - Iatrogenic Kaposi's Sarcoma: a Retrospective Cohort Study in an Italian Tertiary
      Care Centre.
AB  - AIMS: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a lymphoangioproliferative multicentric disorder.
      Among its four distinct clinical variants, iatrogenic KS (iKS) typically affects
      patients who have received immunosuppressant regimens for organ transplants,
      proliferative disorders, or immune-mediated diseases. The aim of the current
      study was to examine the characteristics of a cohort of patients with iKS,
      evaluating the differences in terms of epidemiological and clinical features,
      management and outcomes between organ transplant recipients (OTR) and patients
      immunosuppressed for other medical conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      retrospective study included, out of 1389 KS patients, 143 patients suffering
      from iKS being followed in an Italian tertiary care centre from November 1995 to
      December 2016. Demographic data, clinical features, previous immunosuppressive
      therapies, management, and outcomes were recorded for each patient. RESULTS: We
      detected iKS in 10.3% of the analysed KS population. The mean age was 71.9 years
      in non-OTR versus 51.4 years in OTR (P = 0.04). Staging at diagnosis showed a
      more severe disease in non-OTR than in OTR, with stage IA observed in 33.3% of
      OTR versus 11.8% of non-OTR (P < 0.001) and stage IVB in 29.1% of non-OTR versus
      12.1% of OTR (P = 0.001). Corticosteroids represented the most frequent
      immunosuppressive drugs at diagnosis in both groups, in conjunction with
      cyclosporine A in OTR. Immunosuppressant reduction or withdrawal was carried out
      in 93.9% of OTR versus 63.6% of non-OTR (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: As
      corticosteroids and cyclosporine A are the most common iKS-inducing drugs, their
      reduction or withdrawal, wherever possible, is needed. Differences in disease
      severity at presentation between OTR and non-OTR may interfere with the choice of
      management strategy and the consequent outcome.

PMID- 28610761
TI  - Comparative proteomic analysis provides insight into the biological role of
      protein phosphatase inhibitor-2 from Arabidopsis.
AB  - : Protein phosphatase inhibitor-2 (PPI-2) is a conserved eukaryotic effector
      protein that inhibits type one protein phosphatases (TOPP). A transfer-DNA
      knockdown of AtPPI-2 resulted in stunted growth in both vegetative and
      reproductive phases of Arabidopsis development. At the cellular level, AtPPI-2
      knockdown had 35 to 40% smaller cells in developing roots and leaves. This
      developmental phenotype was rescued by transgenic expression of the AtPPI-2 cDNA
      behind a constitutive promoter. Comparative proteomics of developing leaves of
      wild type (WT) and AtPPI-2 mutant revealed reduced levels of proteins associated
      with chloroplast development, ribosome biogenesis, transport, and cell cycle
      regulation processes. Decreased abundance of several ribosomal proteins, a DEAD
      box RNA helicase family protein (AtRH3), Clp protease (ClpP3) and proteins
      associated with cell division suggests a bottleneck in chloroplast ribosomal
      biogenesis and cell cycle regulation in AtPPI-2 mutant plants. In contrast, eight
      out of nine Arabidopsis TOPP isoforms were increased at the transcript level in
      AtPPI-2 leaves compared to WT. A protein-protein interaction network revealed
      that >75% of the differentially accumulated proteins have at least secondary
      and/or tertiary connections with AtPPI-2. Collectively, these data reveal a
      potential basis for the growth defects of AtPPI-2 and support the presumed role
      of AtPPI-2 as a master regulator for TOPPs, which regulate diverse growth and
      developmental processes. BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Comparative label-free
      proteomics was used to characterize an AtPPI-2T-DNA knockdown mutant. The
      complex, reduced growth phenotype supports the notion that AtPPI-2 is a global
      regulator of TOPPs, and possibly other proteins. Comparative proteomics revealed
      a range of differences in protein abundance from various cellular processes such
      as chloroplast development, ribosome biogenesis, and transporter activity in the
      AtPPI-2 mutant relative to WT Arabidopsis. Collectively the results of proteomic
      analysis and the protein-protein network suggest that AtPPI-2 is involved in a
      wide range of biological processes either directly or indirectly including
      plastid biogenesis, translational mechanisms, and cell cycle regulation. The
      proposed protein interaction network comprises a testable model underlying
      changes in protein abundance in the AtPPI-2 mutant, and provides a better
      framework for future studies.

PMID- 28610762
TI  - Early Trifecta valve failure: Report of a cluster of cases from a tertiary care
      referral center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Trifecta valve (St Jude Medical, Inc, St Paul, Minn) was approved
      for commercial use by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2011. Several
      isolated cases have been reported since then, describing early structural valve
      deterioration. We report a case series of 8 Trifecta valve failures, describing
      patients' clinical substrate and management, and the pathologic characteristics
      of the explanted valves. METHODS: Trifecta valve failure occurred in 7 patients
      (8 valves) receiving 19-mm (n = 2), 21-mm (n = 3), 23-mm (n = 1), and 25-mm (n =
      2) valves. The mean duration of valve durability was 32 +/- 21 months, and the
      most common lesion was prosthetic regurgitation. The mean Society of Thoracic
      Surgeons risk score for perioperative mortality at the time of reintervention was
      9.75% +/- 8.1%. Heart failure exacerbation was the most common presenting
      symptom. RESULTS: Five patients underwent surgical aortic valve replacement, 2
      patients received valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and 1
      patient died of cardiogenic shock before reintervention. The most common
      pathologic finding in the explanted valves was a tan-yellow fibrofatty
      circumferential pannus adherent to the inflow portion of the Trifecta valve.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide further insights into the pathologic mechanisms
      leading to early Trifecta valve failure. In addition to tear of the noncoronary
      cusp of the Trifecta prosthesis described as the most common mechanism in the
      literature for its failure, circumferential pannus formation composed of
      fibrofatty tissue in the inflow portion and leaflet calcification concentrated
      around the posts in the outflow portion are important mechanisms contributing
      toward early Trifecta valve failure.

PMID- 28610763
TI  - Inflammatory cell infiltration and resolution of kidney inflammation is
      orchestrated by the cold-shock protein Y-box binding protein-1.
AB  - Tubular cells recruit monocytic cells in inflammatory tubulointerstitial kidney
      diseases. The cell-cell communication that establishes pro- or anti-inflammatory
      activities is mainly influenced by cytokines, reactive oxygen species, nitric
      oxide, and phagocytosis. Key proteins orchestrating these processes such as cold
      shock proteins linked with chemoattraction and cell maturation have been
      identified. The prototypic member of the cold-shock protein family, Y-box binding
      protein (YB)-1, governs specific phenotypic alterations in monocytic cells and
      was explored in the present study. Following tubulointerstitial injury by
      unilateral ureteral obstruction, increased inflammatory cell infiltration and
      tubular cell CCL5 expression was found in conditional Ybx1 knockout animals with
      specific depletion in monocytes/macrophages (YB-1DeltaLysM). Furthermore, YB
      1DeltaLysM mice exhibit enhanced tissue damage, myofibroblast activation, and
      fibrosis. To investigate relevant molecular mechanism(s), we utilized bone marrow
      derived macrophage cultures and found that YB-1-deficient macrophages display
      defects in cell polarization and function, including reduced proliferation and
      nitric oxide production, loss of phagocytic activity, and failure to upregulate
      IL-10 and CCL5 expression in response to inflammatory stimuli. Co-culture with
      primary tubular cells confirmed these findings. Thus, monocytic YB-1 has
      prominent and distinct roles for cellular feed-forward crosstalk and resolution
      of inflammatory processes by its ability to regulate cell differentiation and
      cytokine/chemokine synthesis.

PMID- 28610764
TI  - [Here where the paths cross: XXXVII Congress of the semFYC].

PMID- 28610766
TI  - Feasibility and cost-effectiveness of at home azacitidine administration.

PMID- 28610765
TI  - TNF-alpha-308 polymorphism determines clinical manifestations and therapeutic
      response of ankylosing spondylitis in Han Chinese.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: There is ongoing debate as to whether tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-308 is associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The
      aim of the present study was to determine whether TNF-alpha-308 is involved into
      genetic susceptibility, clinical features and therapeutic response of AS in Han
      Chinese. METHODS: Two hundred and sixty AS patients with 260 ethnically matched
      healthy blood donors were enrolled into the present study. TNF-alpha-308 promoter
      polymorphism was identified using polymerase chain reaction amplification with
      restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. RESULTS: Population genetic
      analysis showed that the prevalence of allele A and G/A genotype was equally
      infrequent in both AS patients (3.85% and 7.69%) and healthy subjects (4.23% and
      8.46%). Compared with the carriers of G/G genotype, remarkably elevated
      erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum C-reactive protein were observed in AS
      patients with G/A variant (87.06+/-49.40 vs. 55.53+/-42.99mm/h, P=.0126; 54.95+/
      27.77 vs. 34.36+/-36.13mg/dl, P=.0116, respectively), and they always presented
      with inflammatory spinal pain (70.00% vs. 43.33%, P=0.0214) and suffered
      relatively mild sacroiliitis (65.00% vs. 41.67%, P=0.0431). The allele G and G/G
      genotype were more frequent in good responders to anti-TNF-alpha treatment
      (96.55% vs. 73.53%, P=.0032; 93.10% vs. 47.06%, P=.0015), whereas there was no
      obvious superiority of them in predicting therapeutic response of conventional
      medications for AS. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that TNF-alpha-308 polymorphism
      may influence the clinical features rather than susceptibility to AS in our Han
      Chinese.

PMID- 28610767
TI  - Disseminated infection due to Mycobacterium bovis after intravesical instillation
      of bacillus Calmette-Guerin.

PMID- 28610768
TI  - Intracranial subarachnoid fat and hemorrhage secondary to sacral fracture with
      spondylopelvic dissociation.
AB  - We describe a case of fat droplets and blood in the cerebral subarachnoid space
      secondary in a patient with a complex sacral fracture without associated cranial
      trauma, a few days after admission. To our knowledge, there is only one published
      case with similar findings and without any other underlying lesion as cause. We
      explain the differences in the mechanism of production between this direct fat
      embolism and brain fat embolism syndrome, which is an intravascular embolism with
      different radiological appearance. The most important features of sacral fracture
      with spondylopelvic dissociation are described. Finally, this entity should be
      taken into account in the differential diagnosis of the few causes of fat in the
      subarachnoid space. In the context of high-energy trauma fractures of the sacrum
      or spine must be ruled out as a potential cause of this uncommon intracranial
      finding.

PMID- 28610769
TI  - Insight into the contribution of isoprostanoids to the health effects of omega 3
      PUFAs.
AB  - Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have been reported to confer beneficial
      health effects notably in the field of cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases.
      The current knowledge suggests a significant portion of the effects of omega 3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids are mediated by their oxygenated metabolites. This
      review attempts to cover the current literature about the contribution of
      specific omega 3 oxygenated metabolites, namely omega 3 isoprostanoids, which are
      produced through free-radical mediated oxidation. A special emphasis has been
      given to the most biologically relevant omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
      namely the alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids. The
      review includes a comprehensive description of the biosynthetic pathways, a
      summary of studies related to the biological significance of omega 3
      isoprostanoids as well as a critical description of analytical development in the
      field of omega 3 isoprostanoids profiling in biological samples.

PMID- 28610770
TI  - Non-compliance in the Emergency Department: Is there a difference between medical
      and psychiatric patient's reasons and use of the Emergency Department.

PMID- 28610771
TI  - Body mass index is associated with inappropriate tidal volumes in adults
      intubated in the emergency department.

PMID- 28610772
TI  - Are height and weight estimates in ED patients reliable for setting the
      ventilator?

PMID- 28610774
TI  - False-positive HIV nucleic acid amplification testing during CAR T-cell therapy.
AB  - Advancements in immunotherapy have opened a new era in oncology, to include
      genetic modification of human T-cells to express a chimeric antigen receptor
      (CAR) that enables targeted tumor recognition (Kochenderfer et al., 2015; Lee et
      al., 2015; Maus and Levine 2016; Rosenberg et al., 2008). Herein, we report a
      false-positive HIV testing in a patient who had undergone CAR T-cell therapy
      created with a lentiviral vector.

PMID- 28610773
TI  - Contrast-induced acute kidney injury in interventional cardiology: Emerging
      evidence and unifying mechanisms of protection by remote ischemic conditioning.
AB  - Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is a common complication of many
      diagnostic and therapeutic cardiovascular procedures. It is associated with
      longer in-hospital stay, more complicated hospitalization course, and higher in
      hospital morbidity and mortality. With increasing use of contrast media in
      various diagnostic and interventional procedures, the prevalence of CI-AKI is
      expected to rise. Although pre-hydration with intravenous normal saline is
      recommended in patients with elevated risk of CI-AKI, this approach is often not
      feasible in many clinical settings. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC), elicited
      by application of one or more, brief, non-injurious episodes of ischemia and
      reperfusion of a limb, is a promising therapy for preventing or attenuating the
      deleterious effects of contrast media on the kidney. Although the mechanisms of
      protection by RIC have not been completely defined, complex humoral, neural, and
      inflammatory pathways have been hypothesized to be in play. Given that RIC is non
      invasive and cheap, it is attractive from clinical and economic perspective as a
      therapy to protect the kidney from CI-AKI. In this succinct review, we highlight
      the unifying mechanisms of CI-AKI and provide an overview of proposed biological
      mechanisms of renal protection by RIC. Emerging pre-clinical and clinical
      evidence in interventional cardiology is also discussed.

PMID- 28610775
TI  - Cytotoxic effect of a novel naphthylchalcone against multiple cancer cells
      focusing on hematologic malignancies.
AB  - Chalcones are natural compounds described in the literature by its several
      properties including cytotoxic activity against several tumor types. Considering
      that the search for new chemotherapeutic agents is still necessary, the aim of
      this study was to investigate the cytotoxic mechanisms involved in cell death
      induced by a synthetic chalcone (A23) on different tumor cells. Chalcone A23
      reduced the cell viability of twelve tumor cell lines in a concentration and time
      dependent manner and it was more cytotoxic against acute leukemia cells.
      Interestingly, the compound was non cytotoxic to normal cells and non-hemolytic
      to normal red blood cells. Chalcone A23 decreased the expression of cell
      proliferation marker KI-67 and blocked the G2/M phase in both K562 and Jurkat
      cell lines. Cells treated with A23 showed morphological features suggestive of
      apoptosis, the "latter pattern" in agarose gel, the externalization of
      phosphatidylserine and caspase-3 and PARP cleavage. Chalcone A23 significantly
      reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased the expression of anti
      apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and survivin and increased the expression of pro
      apoptotic protein Bax, confirming the involvement of the intrinsic pathway. The
      increased mitochondrial permeability resulted in the release of AIF, cytochrome c
      and endonuclease G from the mitochondria to the cytosol. In addition, chalcone
      A23 increased the expression of FasR and induced Bid cleavage, showing the
      involvement of the extrinsic pathway. Finally, chalcone A23 seems to have a
      synergic effect with the chemotherapy drugs cytarabine and vincristine. These
      results suggest that A23 is an interesting compound with strong and selective
      anti-tumor activity.

PMID- 28610776
TI  - Two-stage late reconstruction with a fresh large osteochondral shell allograft
      transplantation (FLOCSAT) for a large ostechondral defect in a non-union after a
      lateral tibia plateau fracture 2-year follow up.
AB  - This is the description of a 58-year-old female patient presenting 8 months after
      a horse riding accident with significant pain and inability to walk
      independently. Imaging revealed a large osseous defect of the lateral tibia
      plateau which was not united posteriorly. The patient refused knee replacement
      and we developed a patient specific two-step procedure for her. Step 1: Filling
      of the defect with a large cortico-cancellous autograft from the posterior iliac
      crest; step 2: Transplantation of a fresh large osteochondral shell allograft
      (FLOCSAT). The postoperative protocol included continuous passive motion (CPM),
      partial weight bearing for three months, and physiotherapy. Based on the concept
      of immuno-privileged cartilage tissue, the patient did not get any immuno
      suppressive therapy. Pain-, activity of daily living, Lysholm and Tegner scores
      were evaluated before defect filling surgery with autograft, before allograft
      transplantation, and at 12 and 24 months after allograft transplantation. There
      were no complications. Radiographic analyses with plain films and CT scans
      revealed solid osseous integration within 3 month. The patient regained excellent
      functionality in both, activities of daily living and sports (back to horse
      riding, trampolin jumping). Knee arthroscopy after 1year showed excellent
      condition of the lateral meniscus and the cartilage of the lateral tibia plateau.
      Chimerism/DNA analysis of a cartilage biopsy showed, that at 1year 32% of the
      donor cells have been already replaced by the patient's own cells. To our
      knowledge, this is the first case of a patient who sustained such a large defect
      during a tibia plateau fracture, and got successfully treated with a fresh large
      osteochondral shell allograft transplantation in a two-step procedure.

PMID- 28610777
TI  - A meta-analysis of the efficacy of whole-body computed tomography imaging in the
      management of trauma and injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic injury is the third leading cause of death overall. To
      optimize the outcomes in these patients, hospitals employ whole-body computed
      tomography (WBCT) imaging due to the high diagnostic yield and potential to
      identify missed injuries. However, this delays time-critical interventions.
      Currently, there is an absence of any high-level evidence to support or refute
      either view. We present a meta-analysis of the available literature to elucidate
      the efficacy of WBCT in improving the outcomes of trauma, specifically the
      mortality rate. METHODS: A systematic review of studies comparing WBCT and
      selective CT imaging in secondary survey was conducted, using MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      the Cochrane Review and Scopus databases. The articles were evaluated for
      intervention using WBCT to reduce mortality rate, followed by subgroup analysis
      for other secondary measures, using Review Manager 5.3 software. RESULTS: Eleven
      studies of 32,207 patients were included. There were lower overall (OR=0.79; 95%
      CI 0.74,0.83, p<0.05) and 24h mortality rates (OR=0.72, 95% CI 0.66,0.79, p<0.05)
      in the WBCT cohort. Additionally, patients in the WBCT arm spent less time in the
      emergency room (MD=-14.81; 95% CI -17.02, -12.60, p<0.00001) and needing
      ventilation (MD=-2.01; 95% CI -2.41, -1.62, p<0.05) despite a higher baseline
      injury severity score. CONCLUSION: The analysis shows that WBCT is associated
      with better outcomes, including a lower overall and 24h mortality rate, however
      the included studies are mostly observational and show considerable
      heterogeneity. Further work is required to make definitive clinical
      recommendations for a tailored algorithm in managing trauma patients.

PMID- 28610778
TI  - A comparison between non-powder gun and powder-gun injuries in a young pediatric
      population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Non-powder guns (NPG) are viewed as toys for children by the
      general public. Literature on firearm injuries in the pediatric population is
      increasing, however there are still large gaps in the published literature
      regarding NPG. We intended to identify and compare the epidemiology,
      circumstances of injury and outcomes of children with NPG versus powder-gun
      injuries (GSW). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a 6-year retrospective
      analysis of children 0-14 years old treated for NPG and GSW injuries at our level
      one pediatric trauma center. Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson's X2 were used to
      compare continuous and categorical variables, respectively. RESULTS: There were
      43 NPG and 112 GSWs. Patients were predominantly male (36 children; 84%) NPG vs.
      92 children; 82% GSW) with a median age in both groups of 11 years. Analysis of
      residential zip codes showed that 74% (32 children) NPG injuries and 85% (95
      children) GSW lived in regions with higher poverty than the national level.
      Children with NPG injuries were more likely to be Caucasian (24 children; 56%)
      and to have suffered an unintentional injury (36 children; 84%), while children
      with GSW were African-American (80 children; 71%; p=0.0002) and victims of
      assault (50 children; 45%; p<0.0001). When compared with NPG, children with GSW
      had more severe injuries, longer hospital stays, and higher overall mortality.
      There were no significant differences in rate of emergent OR intervention and ED
      mortality between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight two important
      findings. First, NPG injuries were accidental and thus preventable with improved
      legislation and public education. Second, health disparities related to gun
      violence among African-Americans are prevalent even in early childhood and
      prevention efforts should include this younger population.

PMID- 28610779
TI  - Survival and Complications Following Surgery and Radiation for Localized Prostate
      Cancer: An International Collaborative Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluation of treatment options for localized prostate cancer (PCa)
      remains among the highest priorities for comparative effectiveness research.
      Surgery and radiotherapy (RT) are the two interventions most commonly used.
      OBJECTIVE: To provide a critical narrative review of evidence of the comparative
      effectiveness and harms of surgery and RT in the treatment of localized PCa.
      EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A collaborative critical narrative review of the literature
      was conducted. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Evidence to clearly guide treatment choice in
      PCa remains insufficient. Randomized trials are underpowered for clinically
      meaningful endpoints and have demonstrated no difference in overall or PCa
      specific survival. Observational studies have consistently demonstrated an
      absolute survival benefit for men treated with radical prostatectomy, but are
      limited by selection bias and residual confounding errors. Surgery and RT are
      associated with comparable health-related quality of life following treatment in
      three randomized trials. Randomized data regarding urinary, erectile, and bowel
      function show few long-term (>5 yr) differences, although short-term continence
      and erectile function were worse following surgery and short-term urinary bother
      and bowel function were worse following RT. There has been recent recognition of
      other complications that may significantly affect the life trajectory of those
      undergoing PCa treatment. Of these, hospitalization, the need for urologic,
      rectoanal, and other major surgical procedures, and secondary cancers are more
      common among men treated with RT. Androgen deprivation therapy, frequently co
      administered with RT, may additionally contribute to treatment-related morbidity.
      Technological innovations in surgery and RT have shown inconsistent oncologic and
      functional benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Owing to underpowered randomized control
      studies and the selection biases inherent in observational studies, the question
      of which treatment provides better PCa control cannot be definitively answered
      now or in the near future. Complications following PCa treatment are relatively
      common regardless of treatment approach. These include the commonly identified
      issues of urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, and others including
      hospitalization and invasive procedures to manage complications and secondary
      malignancies. Population-based outcome studies, rather than clinical trial data,
      will be necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the relative benefits and
      risks of each therapeutic approach. PATIENT SUMMARY: Surgery and radiotherapy are
      the most common interventions for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Comparisons
      of survival after these treatments are limited by various flaws in the relevant
      studies. Complications are common regardless of the treatment approach.

PMID- 28610780
TI  - Analysis of transcription factors, microRNAs and cytokines involved in T
      lymphocyte differentiation in patients with tuberculosis after directly observed
      treatment short-course.
AB  - Tuberculosis (Tb) is an infectious disease in which the immune system plays an
      important role. MicroRNAs are involved in the development and maintenance of CD4
      + T lymphocyte subpopulations. miR-326 regulates the differentiation to Th17
      cells and miR-29 correlates with the Th1 response. The aim of this study was to
      determine the role of microRNAs, Transcription Factors, and cytokines in Th
      differentiation before and after the directly observed treatment short-course
      (DOTS). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum from Tb patients were
      collected at times 0 (before therapy), 2 (after the intensive phase), and 6
      months (after the holding phase). The cells were cultivated in presence or
      absence of ESAT-6 (10 MUg/ml) and CFP-10 (10 MUg/ml). Transcription Factor and
      microRNA expressions were analyzed by qPCR and cytokine production in both serum
      and culture supernatant using ELISA. A decrease in Th1 response with a
      diminishing in the relative expression of TBET and miR-29a at 2 and 6 months
      after the anti-Tb therapy (p < 0.01) were found. The miR-326 levels decreased
      after the intensive phase of the DOTS scheme. However, subdivision of the Tb
      patients according to gender, showed increased levels of miR-29a and miR-155 in
      females after the intensive phase of the therapeutic treatment when compared to
      time 0 and similar increased levels of miR-326 at time 6 versus time 0. In
      contrast, we observed a decrease in miR-326 levels in males at 6 months when
      compared to before therapy (time 0). In addition, high production of IL-17 in the
      culture supernatant was found at 2 and 6 months (p < 0.05) while in serum IL-17
      was decreased. A positive correlation between IL-17 and RORC2 at time 6 was
      detected (p = 0.0202, r = 0.7880). In conclusion, these data suggest a reduction
      in Th1 and an induction of Th17 response after the anti-Tb therapy.

PMID- 28610781
TI  - Pilot studies of a human BCG challenge model.
AB  - Despite the great effort to develop an effective vaccine against tuberculosis
      (TB) there is currently no reliable and safe human challenge model that can be
      used for in vivo evaluation of new TB vaccine candidates and/or elucidation of
      the mechanisms of TB protective immunity. In this study, five volunteers were
      challenged with BCG intradermally (ID). Swab specimens were collected at multiple
      time points from the vaccination site pre- and post-vaccination to quantitate
      mycobacterial shedding as a surrogate of in vivo mycobacterial immunity. We
      compared the performance of the TaqMan qPCR assay against colony-forming unit
      cultures on 7H10 agar plates, and time to positivity (TTP) of mycobacterial
      growth indicator tubes (MGIT) in order to evaluate the reproducibility and
      sensitivity in measuring BCG burden in swab specimens. BCG was detected in swab
      specimens from all five volunteers by at least one method, and no single method
      was superior in terms of sensitivity and reproducibility. A comparison of all
      three methods showed significant correlations by Spearman's rank test between
      7H10 agar plating and qPCR (R = 0.601, P = 0.00072), MGIT culture TTP and 7H10
      agar plating (R = 0.412, P = 0.029) as well as MGIT culture TTP and qPCR (R = 
      0.708, P = 0.00003). However, the three methods were somewhat different with
      regard to early versus late detection of BCG shedding post-challenge. This ID BCG
      challenge model has unique potential to further explore correlations between
      reactogenicity and immune mechanisms involved in protection against mycobacterial
      infections, and could therefore become a reliable tool in the evaluation process
      of new TB vaccination strategies.

PMID- 28610783
TI  - Green Fluorescent Protein as a protein localization and topological reporter in
      mycobacteria.
AB  - The cell envelope-associated proteins of Mycobacterium species play critical
      functions in the physiology and pathogenicity of these microorganisms. Because
      the determination of their subcellular localization and transmembrane topology is
      often critical to the understanding of their function, we investigated whether
      the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) could be used as a reporter to probe protein
      localization and map the topology of inner membrane proteins directly in intact
      mycobacterial cells. To this end, two GFP-based mycobacterial reporter plasmids
      were engineered and their functionality validated using a variety of membrane
      associated, exported and cytosolic proteins.

PMID- 28610782
TI  - Assessment of treatment response by colony forming units, time to culture
      positivity and the molecular bacterial load assay compared in a mouse
      tuberculosis model.
AB  - The aim of the study is to compare counting of colony forming units (CFU), the
      time to positivity (TTP) assay and the molecular bacterial load (MBL) assay, and
      explore whether the last assays can detect a subpopulation which is unable to
      grown on solid media. CFU counting, TTP and the MBL assay were used to determine
      the mycobacterial load in matched lung samples of a murine tuberculosis model.
      Mice were treated for 24 weeks with 4 treatment arms: isoniazid (H) - rifampicin
      (R) - pyrazinamide (Z), HRZ-Streptomycin (S), HRZ - ethambutol (E) or ZES.
      Inverse relationships were observed when comparing TPP with CFU or MBL. Positive
      associations were observed when comparing CFU with MBL. Description of the net
      elimination of bacteria was performed for CFU vs. time, MBL vs. time and 1/TTP
      vs. time and fitted by nonlinear regression. CFU vs. time and 1/TTP vs. time
      showed bi-phasic declines with the exception of HRZE. A similar rank order, based
      on the alpha slope, was found comparing CFU vs. time and TTP vs. time,
      respectively HRZE, HRZ, HRZS and ZES. In contrast, MBL vs. time showed a mono
      phasic decline with a flat gradient of elimination and a different rank order
      respectively, ZES, HRZ, HRZE and HRZS. The correlations found between methods
      reflects the ability of each to discern the general mycobacterial load. Based on
      the description of net elimination, we conclude that the MBL assay can detect a
      subpopulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is not detected by the CFU or
      TTP assays.

PMID- 28610784
TI  - Molecular investigation of active binding site of isoniazid (INH) and insight
      into resistance mechanism of S315T-MtKatG in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - Multi drug resistant tuberculosis is a major threat for mankind. Resistance
      against Isoniazid (INH), targeting MtKatG protein, is one of the most commonly
      occurring resistances in MDR TB strains. S315T-MtKatG mutation is widely reported
      for INH resistance. Despite having knowledge about the mechanism of INH, exact
      binding site of INH to MtKatG is still uncertain and proposed to have three
      presumable binding sites (site-1, site-2, and site-3). In the current study
      docking, molecular dynamics simulation, binding free energy estimation, principal
      component analysis and free energy landscape analysis were performed to get
      molecular level details of INH binding site on MtKatG, and to probe the effect of
      S315T mutation on INH binding. Molecular docking and MD analysis suggested site-1
      as active binding site of INH, where the effects of S315T mutation were observed
      on both access tunnel as well as molecular interaction between INH and its
      neighboring residues. MMPBSA also supported site-1 as potential binding site with
      lowest binding energy of -44.201 kJ/mol. Moreover, PCA and FEL revealed that
      S315T mutation not only reduces the dimension of heme access tunnel but also
      showed that extra methyl group at 315 position altered heme cavity, enforcing
      heme group distantly from INH, and thus preventing INH activation. The present
      study not only investigated the active binding site of INH but also provides a
      new insight about the conformational changes in the binding site of S315T-MtKatG.

PMID- 28610785
TI  - Chemokines additional to IFN-gamma can be used to differentiate among
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection possibilities and provide evidence of an
      early clearance phenotype.
AB  - Current diagnostic tests for tuberculosis (TB) remain limited in their ability to
      discriminate between active TB (ATB) and latent TB infection (LTBI). Early
      clearance (EC) of TB by individuals exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a
      debated phenomenon for which evidence is lacking. We measured and compared
      secreted chemokines in the plasma fraction from 48 ATB, 38 LTBI, 162 presumed EC
      and 39 healthy controls (HC) using the QuantiFERON(r)-TB Gold In-Tube assay.
      Single chemokine markers were limited in their ability to discriminate between
      ATB and LTBI: IFN-gamma showed 16.7% sensitivity; CCL2 showed moderate
      sensitivity (70.8%) and specificity (74.4%); CXCL10 showed high sensitivity
      (87.5%) and specificity (78.9%). Compared to IFN-gamma alone, IFN-gamma combined
      with CXCL10 significantly improved (p < 0.001) the sensitivity and specificity to
      discriminate between ATB and HC (97.9% sensitivity and 94.9% specificity) and
      between ATB and LTBI (89.6% sensitivity and 71.1% specificity). Levels of CCL2
      were very significantly lower (p < 0.0001) in EC compared to HC groups and hence
      CCL2 is a useful marker for EC. This study demonstrated the potential application
      of profiling using multiple chemokines for differentiating among the various M.
      tuberculosis infection possibilities. We also present evidence to support the EC
      phenomenon based on the decrease of CCL2 levels.

PMID- 28610786
TI  - A brief history of tuberculosis in the Czech Lands.
AB  - Tuberculosis currently remains a serious medical problem, therefore increased
      attention is being paid to this disease. Paleopathological studies focused on the
      monitoring of morbid changes in skeletal remains of historical populations
      facilitate a detailed study of the development of this disease. They provide
      direct evidence of the existence of tuberculosis and its past forms. In addition
      to literary and iconographic sources, the present study is focused on recording
      the findings of bone tuberculosis in historical osteological sets from the Czech
      Lands and is the starting point for their detailed review. Approximately 76 cases
      of bone tuberculosis from the Czech Lands have been published and more or less
      reliably documented from 20 archeological sites dated back from the Eneolithic to
      the modern period.

PMID- 28610787
TI  - SpolSimilaritySearch - A web tool to compare and search similarities between
      spoligotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.
AB  - Spoligotyping is one of the most commonly used polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      based methods for identification and study of genetic diversity of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Despite its known limitations if used alone, the
      methodology is particularly useful when used in combination with other methods
      such as mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units - variable number of tandem
      DNA repeats (MIRU-VNTRs). At a worldwide scale, spoligotyping has allowed
      identification of information on 103,856 MTBC isolates (corresponding to 98049
      clustered strains plus 5807 unique isolates from 169 countries of patient origin)
      contained within the SITVIT2 proprietary database of the Institut Pasteur de la
      Guadeloupe. The SpolSimilaritySearch web-tool described herein (available at:
      http://www.pasteur-guadeloupe.fr:8081/SpolSimilaritySearch) incorporates a
      similarity search algorithm allowing users to get a complete overview of similar
      spoligotype patterns (with information on presence or absence of 43 spacers) in
      the aforementioned worldwide database. This tool allows one to analyze spread and
      evolutionary patterns of MTBC by comparing similar spoligotype patterns, to
      distinguish between widespread, specific and/or confined patterns, as well as to
      pinpoint patterns with large deleted blocks, which play an intriguing role in the
      genetic epidemiology of M. tuberculosis. Finally, the SpolSimilaritySearch tool
      also provides with the country distribution patterns for each queried
      spoligotype.

PMID- 28610788
TI  - Evaluation of antigen specific interleukin-1beta as a biomarker to detect cattle
      infected with Mycobacterium bovis.
AB  - Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a major world-wide health problem that has been
      difficult to control, due to the lack of an effective vaccine and limited ability
      of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the ancillary whole blood interferon-gamma
      (IFN-gamma) release assay (IGRA) to detect all infected animals. A 6 h cytokine
      flow cytometric IFN-gamma (CFC) assay was developed in effort to overcome these
      limitations and expand methods for studying the mechanisms of bTB
      immunopathogenesis. The present study was conducted to evaluate IL-1beta as a
      biomarker to use in conjunction with the IFN-gamma CFC assay to improve the
      diagnostic accuracy for bTB. Three animal groups with predefined Mbv infection
      status were used for analysis of IL-1beta in plasma from whole blood cultures
      stimulated with ESAT-6/CFP-10 for 20-24 h. Parallel stimulations were performed
      for enumeration of IFN-gamma producing T cells. Data analysis showed that Mbv
      infected animals have a higher frequency of IFN-gamma producing CD4+ T cells and
      plasma IL-1beta than animals exposed to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) or
      uninfected control animals, with a significant correlation between the two
      readouts, thus allowing differentiation between the three animal groups. IL-1beta
      has the potential to serve as an additional biomarker for detecting cattle
      infected with Mbv.

PMID- 28610789
TI  - Comparative study of genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a Northern
      Indian setting with strains reported from other parts of India and neighboring
      countries.
AB  - This study was carried out to characterize Mycobacterium tuberculosis population
      in Ghatampur, Kanpur, North India, by spoligotyping and Mycobacterial
      Interspersed Repetitive Units-Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (MIRU-VNTRs)
      typing. A total of 335 isolates were genotyped by spoligotyping and Central Asian
      (CAS) sub-lineage was the most prevalent, comprising 59.1% of all isolates. Other
      lineages were: East-African Indian (EAI) (19.10%), T (5.07%), Beijing (3.28%),
      Manu (2.98%), X (2.68%), S (0.89%), H3 (0.59%), Ural (0.59%), LAM 9 (0.29%) and
      unknown (5.37%). This data was compared with 8444 clinical isolates from other
      parts of India and neighboring countries. Thanks to interrogation of the SITVIT2
      database, which shows that China is unique in having a predominance of Beijing
      lineage; Iran in having an almost equal proportion of Ural and CAS lineages;
      while the rest of the Middle-East and Indian subcontinent shows a gradient of CAS
      lineage predominating in the north of tropic of cancer, and the ancestral EAI
      lineage in South India and South-East Asia. Additionally, 12 loci MIRU-VNTR
      typing efficiently discriminated 13 spoligotype-defined clusters into 92
      patterns; 53 isolates showed >70% homology. It was observed that Beijing lineage
      strains were more frequently associated with MDR strains (p-value = 0.001). A
      multi-step application of combination of spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing for
      analyzing the molecular epidemiology of TB may provide a better means of
      fingerprinting and studying transmission dynamics.

PMID- 28610791
TI  - The role of the time-kill kinetics assay as part of a preclinical modeling
      framework for assessing the activity of anti-tuberculosis drugs.
AB  - Novel treatment strategies for tuberculosis are urgently needed. Many different
      preclinical models assessing anti-tuberculosis drug activity are available, but
      it is yet unclear which combination of models is most predictive of clinical
      treatment efficacy. The aim of this study was to determine the role of our in
      vitro time kill-kinetics assay as an asset to a predictive preclinical modeling
      framework assessing anti-tuberculosis drug activity. The concentration- and time
      dependent mycobacterial killing capacities of six anti-tuberculosis drugs were
      determined during exposure as single drugs or in dual, triple and quadruple
      combinations towards a Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype strain and
      drug resistance was assessed. Streptomycin, rifampicin and isoniazid were most
      active against fast-growing M. tuberculosis. Isoniazid with rifampicin or high
      dose ethambutol were the only synergistic drug combinations. The addition of
      rifampicin or streptomycin to isoniazid prevented isoniazid resistance. In vitro
      ranking showed agreement with early bactericidal activity in tuberculosis
      patients for some but not all anti-tuberculosis drugs. The time-kill kinetics
      assay provides important information on the mycobacterial killing dynamics of
      anti-tuberculosis drugs during the early phase of drug exposure. As such, this
      assay is a valuable component of the preclinical modeling framework.

PMID- 28610790
TI  - miR-30c is specifically repressed in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculous pleurisy (PLTB) is a common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. It
      often resolves without chemotherapy being hence considered a rather benign
      manifestation of the disease. Patients with PLTB mount an effective anti
      mycobacterial response, unlike those with active pulmonary TB (pTB) that were
      shown to present an imbalance in plasma immune and endocrine mediators. In this
      work, we explored whether expression of the active isoform of the glucocorticoid
      receptor (hGRalpha) in the context of the inflammatory-anti-inflammatory
      responses of TB patients may be associated to microRNA levels. As expected, the
      inflammatory response triggered in patients coexists with increased circulating
      cortisol and altered hGRalpha levels in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
      However, while hGRalpha expression is significantly downregulated in PLTB, its
      levels in pTB patients are higher within the control values. These results point
      out to the existence of an additional mechanism tending to preserve hGRalpha
      levels probably to deal with the chronic inflammation observed in pTB. In this
      regard, we found that miR-30c is strongly downregulated in mononuclear cells of
      pTB patients compared to PLTB cases, showing an expression profile opposite to
      that seen with hGRalpha. Interestingly, low levels of miR-30c are specific for
      this active form of TB, as its expression is not altered in mononuclear cells
      from either healthy controls or patients with tuberculous or non-tuberculous
      pleurisy. Moreover, miR-30c and hGRalpha also showed an inverse expression
      pattern in M. tuberculosis-stimulated THP-1 macrophage cultures. In sum, our
      studies identify miR-30c as a specific correlate of pulmonary manifestations of
      TB, potentially involved in the altered glucocorticoid sensitivity observed in
      these patients.

PMID- 28610793
TI  - A novel automatic molecular test for detection of multidrug resistance
      tuberculosis in sputum specimen: A case control study.
AB  - MiniLab tuberculosis (ML TB) assay is a new automatic diagnostic tool for
      diagnosis of multidrug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB). This study was conducted
      with aims to know the performance of this assay. Sputum sample from 224 TB
      suspects was collected from tuberculosis suspects seeking medical care at Beijing
      Chest hospital. The sputum samples were directly used for smear and ML TB test.
      The left sputum sample was used to conduct Xpert MTB/RIF, Bactec MGIT culture and
      drug susceptibility test (DST). All discrepancies between the results from DST,
      molecular and phenotypic methods were confirmed by DNA Sequencing. The
      sensitivity and specificity of ML TB test for detecting MTBC from TB suspects
      were 95.1% and 88.9%, respectively. The sensitivity for smear negative TB
      suspects was 64.3%. For detection of RIF resistance, the sensitivity and
      specificity of ML TB test were 89.2% and 95.7%, respectively. For detection of
      INH resistance, the sensitivity and specificity of ML TB test were 78.3% and
      98.1%, respectively. ML TB test showed similar performance to Xpert MTB/RIF for
      detection of MTBC and RIF resistance. In addition, ML TB also had good
      performance for INH resistance detection.

PMID- 28610794
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of action, resistance, detection to the first-line anti
      tuberculosis drugs: Rifampicin and pyrazinamide in the post whole genome
      sequencing era.
AB  - Recent studies in addition to studies based on whole genome sequencing (WGS) of
      clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from diverse geographical
      regions have provided useful insights into the mechanisms of drug resistance. Of
      importance, are some of the findings pertaining to mechanisms of resistance to
      two of the first-line anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs, namely, rifampicin (RIF) and
      pyrazinamide (PZA). For example, the implication of mutations in rpoA and rpoC
      genes that act as compensatory mutations for those in the rpoB gene with respect
      to RIF resistance is noteworthy. Similarly, in the case of PZA resistance, the
      role of rpsA and panD genes has recently been noted. This highlights the evolving
      knowledge of resistance to these drugs. The present article provides a detailed
      account of the molecular mechanisms of resistance against two sterilizing first
      line anti-TB drugs (RIF and PZA) as well as an overview of sequence-based methods
      for detection of resistance to the drugs.

PMID- 28610792
TI  - Quantitative and qualitative iNKT repertoire associations with disease
      susceptibility and outcome in macaque tuberculosis infection.
AB  - Correlates of immune protection that reliably predict vaccine efficacy against
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection are urgently needed. Invariant NKT
      cells (iNKTs) are CD1d-dependent innate T cells that augment host antimicrobial
      immunity through production of cytokines, including interferon (IFN)-gamma and
      tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. We determined peripheral blood iNKT numbers,
      their proliferative responses and iNKT subset proportions after in vitro antigen
      expansion by alpha-galactosylceramide (alphaGC) in a large cohort of mycobacteria
      naive non-human primates, and macaques from Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)
      vaccine and Mtb challenge studies. Animals studied included four genetically
      distinct groups of macaques within cynomolgus and rhesus species that differ in
      their susceptibility to Mtb infection. We demonstrate significant differences in
      ex vivo iNKT frequency between groups, which trends towards an association with
      susceptibility to Mtb, but no significant difference in overall iNKT
      proliferative responses. Susceptible animals exhibited a skewed CD4+/CD8+ iNKT
      subset ratio in comparison to more Mtb-resistant groups. Correlation of iNKT
      subsets post BCG vaccination with clinical disease manifestations following Mtb
      challenge in the Chinese cynomolgus and Indian rhesus macaques identified a
      consistent trend linking increased CD8+ iNKTs with favourable disease outcome.
      Finally, a similar iNKT profile was conferred by BCG vaccination in rhesus
      macaques. Our study provides the first detailed characterisation of iNKT cells in
      macaque tuberculosis infection, suggesting that iNKT repertoire differences may
      impact on disease outcome, which warrants further investigation.

PMID- 28610795
TI  - Perceived fatigue following pediatric burns.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fatigue is a common consequence of numerous pediatric health conditions.
      In adult burn survivors, fatigue was found to be a major problem. The current
      cross-sectional study is aimed at determining the levels of perceived fatigue in
      pediatric burn survivors. METHODS: Perceived fatigue was assessed in 23 children
      and adolescents (15 boys and 8 girls, aged 6-18 years, with burns covering 10-46%
      of the total body surface area, 1-5 years post burn) using both child self- and
      parent proxy reports of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Multidimensional
      Fatigue Scale. Outcomes were compared with reference values of non-burned peers.
      RESULTS: At group level, pediatric burn survivors did not report significantly
      more symptoms of fatigue than their non-burned peers. Individual assessments
      showed, however, that four children experienced substantial symptoms of fatigue
      according to the child self-reports, compared to ten children according to the
      parent proxy reports. Furthermore, parents reported significantly more symptoms
      of fatigue than the children themselves. Age, gender, extent of burn, length of
      hospital stay, and number of surgeries could not predict the level of perceived
      fatigue post-burn. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that fatigue is prevalent in
      at least part of the pediatric burn population after 1-5 years. However, the fact
      that parents reported significantly more symptoms of fatigue then the children
      themselves, hampers evident conclusions. It is essential for clinicians and
      therapists to consider both perspectives when evaluating pediatric fatigue after
      burn and to determine who needs special attention, the pediatric burn patient or
      its parent.

PMID- 28610796
TI  - Recursive parameter estimation for Hammerstein-Wiener systems using modified EKF
      algorithm.
AB  - This paper focuses on the recursive parameter estimation for the single input
      single output Hammerstein-Wiener system model, and the study is then extended to
      a rarely mentioned multiple input single output Hammerstein-Wiener system.
      Inspired by the extended Kalman filter algorithm, two basic recursive algorithms
      are derived from the first and the second order Taylor approximation. Based on
      the form of the first order approximation algorithm, a modified algorithm with
      larger parameter convergence domain is proposed to cope with the problem of small
      parameter convergence domain of the first order one and the application limit of
      the second order one. The validity of the modification on the expansion of
      convergence domain is shown from the convergence analysis and is demonstrated
      with two simulation cases.

PMID- 28610797
TI  - The diversity of methoxyphenols released by pyrolysis-gas chromatography as
      predictor of soil carbon storage.
AB  - The variable extent to which environmental factors are involved in soil carbon
      storage is currently a subject of controversy. In fact, justifying why some soils
      accumulate more organic matter than others is not trivial. Some abiotic factors
      such as organo-mineral associations have classically been invoked as the main
      drivers for soil C stabilization. However, in this research indirect evidences
      based on correlations between soil C storage and compositional descriptors of the
      soil organic matter are presented. It is assumed that the intrinsic structure of
      soil organic matter should have a bearing in the soil carbon storage. This is
      examined here by focusing on the methoxyphenols released by direct pyrolysis from
      a wide variety of topsoil samples from continental Mediterranean ecosystems from
      Spain with different properties and carbon content. Methoxyphenols are typical
      signature compounds presumptively informing on the occurrence and degree of
      alteration of lignin in soils. The methoxyphenol assemblages (12 major guaiacyl-
      and syringyl-type compounds) were analyzed by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index was chosen to describe the
      complexity of this phenolic signature. A series of exploratory statistical
      analyses (simple regression, partial least squares regression, multidimensional
      scaling) were applied to analyze the relationships existing between chemical and
      spectroscopic characteristics and the carbon content in the soils. These
      treatments coincided in pointing out that significant correlations exist between
      the progressive molecular diversity of the methoxyphenol assemblages and the
      concentration of organic carbon stored in the corresponding soils. This potential
      of the diversity in the phenolic signature as a surrogate index of the carbon
      storage in soils is tentatively interpreted as the accumulation of plant
      macromolecules altered into microbially reworked structures not readily
      recognized by soil enzymes. From a quantitative viewpoint, the partial least
      squares regression models exclusively based on total abundances of the 12 major
      methoxyphenols were especially successful in forecasting soil carbon storage.

PMID- 28610799
TI  - Anna Cohuet: Studying Mosquitoes to Stop Malaria Transmission.

PMID- 28610798
TI  - Ideal versus real automated twin column recycling chromatography process.
AB  - The full baseline separation of two compounds (selectivity factors alpha<1.03) is
      either impractical (too long analysis times) or even impossible when using a
      single column of any length given the pressure limitations of current LC
      instruments. The maximum efficiency is that of an infinitely long column operated
      at infinitely small flow rates. It is determined by the maximum allowable system
      pressure, the column permeability (particle size), the viscosity of the eluent,
      and the intensity of the effective diffusivity of the analytes along the column.
      Alternatively, the twin-column recycling separation process (TCRSP) can overcome
      the efficiency limit of the single-column approach. In the TCRSP, the sample
      mixture may be transferred from one to a second (twin) column until its band has
      spread over one column length. Basic theory of chromatography is used to confirm
      that the speed-resolution performance of the TCRSP is intrinsically superior to
      that of the single-column process. This advantage is illustrated in this work by
      developing an automated TCRSP for the challenging separation of two polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) isomers (benzo[a]anthracene and chrysene) in the
      reversed-phase retention mode at pressure smaller than 5000psi. The columns used
      are the 3.0mm*150mm column packed with 3.5MUm XBridge BEH-C18 material
      (alpha=1.010) and the 3.0mm or 4.6mm*150mm columns packed with the same 3.5MUm
      XSelect HSST3 material (alpha=1.025). The isocratic mobile phase is an
      acetonitrile-water mixture (80/20, v/v). Remarkably, significant differences are
      observed between the predicted retention times and efficiencies of the ideal
      TCRSP (given by the number of cycles multiplied by the retention time and
      efficiency of one column) and those of the real TCRSP. The fundamental
      explanation lies in the pressure-dependent retention of these PAHs or in the
      change of their partial molar volume as they are transferred from the mobile to
      the stationary phase. A revisited retention and efficiency model is then built to
      predict the actual performance of real TCRSPs. The experimental and calculated
      resolution data are found in very good agreement for a change, Deltavm=
      10cm3/mol, of the partial molar volume of the two PAH isomers upon transfer from
      the acetonitrile-water eluent mixture to the silica-C18 stationary phase.

PMID- 28610800
TI  - Human IgG repertoire of malaria antigen-immunized human immune system (HIS) mice.
AB  - Humanized mouse models present an important tool for preclinical evaluation of
      new vaccines and therapeutics. Here we show the human variable repertoire of
      antibody sequences cloned from a previously described human immune system (HIS)
      mouse model that possesses functional human CD4+ T cells and B cells, namely HIS
      CD4/B mice. We sequenced variable IgG genes from single memory B-cell and plasma
      cell sorted from splenocytes or whole blood lymphocytes of HIS-CD4/B mice that
      were vaccinated with a human plasmodial antigen, a recombinant Plasmodium
      falciparum circumsporozoite protein (rPfCSP). We demonstrate that rPfCSP
      immunization triggers a diverse B-cell IgG repertoire composed of various human
      VH family genes and distinct V(D)J recombinations that constitute diverse CDR3
      sequences similar to humans, although low hypermutated sequences were generated.
      These results demonstrate the substantial genetic diversity of responding human B
      cells of HIS-CD4/B mice and their capacity to mount human IgG class-switched
      antibody response upon vaccination.

PMID- 28610802
TI  - Herbal Medicine in Children With Respiratory Tract Infection: Systematic Review
      and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Herbal medicines are particularly regarded as an alternative or
      complement to conventional pharmaceuticals in the treatment and prevention of
      respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Therefore, the purpose of this review was to
      identify evidence for herbal therapy in the treatment of RTIs concerning
      effectiveness and safety. METHODS: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane
      Library were searched through February 12, 2015. Randomized controlled trials
      that compared herbal therapy with no treatment, placebo, or any pharmaceutical
      medication in children and adolescents (age 0 to 18 years) with RTI were
      eligible. RESULTS: Eleven trials with 2181 participants were included. No clear
      evidence for Echinacea (4 trials) or an herbal compound preparation (1 trial) in
      preventing RTI symptoms was found. Meta-analysis revealed evidence for efficacy
      (responder rates: risk ratio [RR], 2.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54-4.26;
      P < .01; heterogeneity: I2 = 38%; chi-square = 9.63; P = .14) and safety
      (patients with adverse events: RR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.42-2.66; P = .9;
      heterogeneity: I2 = 72%; chi-square = 10.64; P = .01) of Pelargonium sidoides in
      treating RTI symptoms compared with placebo (6 trials). CONCLUSIONS: Because of
      conflicting evidence in the included studies no concrete conclusion on effects of
      Echinacea could be drawn so far. In the case of Pelargonium sidoides, meta
      analysis revealed moderate evidence for efficacy and safety in the treatment of
      RTIs in children.

PMID- 28610801
TI  - Effect of Myocardial Infarction With Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries on Physical
      Capacity and Quality-of-Life.
AB  - Patients with myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries
      (MINOCA), including Takotsubo syndrome (TS), are considered to have a better
      survival compared with those with coronary heart disease (CHD). Studies of
      patients with MINOCA measuring physical and mental function including matched
      control groups are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the physical
      capacity and quality of life in patients with MINOCA. One-hundred patients with
      MINOCA along with TS (25%) were investigated from 2007 to 2011. A bicycle
      exercise stress test was performed 6 weeks after hospitalization and QoL was
      investigated by the Short Form Survey 36 at 3 months' follow-up. Both a healthy
      and a CHD group that were age and gender matched were used as controls. The
      MINOCA group had a lower physical capacity (139 +/- 42 W) compared with the
      healthy control group (167 +/- 53 W, p <0.001) but better than the CHD control
      group (124 +/- 39 W, p = 0.023). Patients with MINOCA had lower physical and
      mental component summary scores compared with the healthy controls (p <0.001) and
      lower mental component summary (p = 0.012), mental health (p = 0.016), and
      vitality (p = 0.008) scores compared with the CHD controls. In conclusion, the
      findings of this first study on exercise capacity and QoL in patients with MINOCA
      showed both physical and mental distress from 6 weeks to 3 months after the acute
      event similar to CHD controls and in some perspectives even lower scores
      especially in the mental component of QoL.

PMID- 28610803
TI  - Catatonia is not schizophrenia and it is treatable.
AB  - Catatonia is a cluster of motor features that appears in many recognized
      psychiatric illnesses, that according to the DSM-5 it is not linked as a subtype
      to schizophrenia anymore. The classic signs are mutism, a rigid posture, fixed
      staring, stereotypic movements, and stupor, which are all part of a broad
      psychopathology that may be found in affective, thought, neurological, toxic,
      metabolic and immunological disorders. Despite the many etiologies, catatonia may
      be a life-threatening condition with a specific treatment. Benzodiazepines are
      the first line therapeutic option for catatonia, being lorazepam the first-choice
      drug. Eighty percent of the patients are relieved by the use of barbiturates or
      benzodiazepines, while in those who fail, an improvement is achieved by
      electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). With more than 60years of use in catatonic
      patients, ECT has proven to be an effective and safe tool for the treatment of
      this frequent and sometimes forgotten syndrome.

PMID- 28610804
TI  - Mechanisms of Connectome Development.
AB  - At the centenary of D'Arcy Thompson's seminal work 'On Growth and Form',
      pioneering the description of principles of morphological changes during
      development and evolution, recent experimental advances allow us to study change
      in anatomical brain networks. Here, we outline potential principles for
      connectome development. We will describe recent results on how spatial and
      temporal factors shape connectome development in health and disease.
      Understanding the developmental origins of brain diseases in individuals will be
      crucial for deciding on personalized treatment options. We argue that
      longitudinal studies, experimentally derived parameters for connection formation,
      and biologically realistic computational models are needed to better understand
      the link between brain network development, network structure, and network
      function.

PMID- 28610805
TI  - Cobalamin disorder CblC presenting with hemolytic uremic syndrome and pulmonary
      hypertension.

PMID- 28610806
TI  - Heart failure in patients with kidney disease and iron deficiency; the role of
      iron therapy.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease and anaemia are common in heart failure (HF) and are
      associated with a worse prognosis in these patients. Iron deficiency is also
      common in patients with HF and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality,
      regardless of the presence or absence of anaemia. While the treatment of anaemia
      with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in patients with HF have failed to show a
      benefit in terms of morbidity and mortality, treatment with IV iron in patients
      with HF and reduced ejection fraction and iron deficiency is associated with
      clinical improvement. In a posthoc analysis of a clinical trial, iron therapy
      improved kidney function in patients with HF and iron deficiency. In fact, the
      European Society of Cardiology's recent clinical guidelines on HF suggest that in
      symptomatic patients with reduced ejection fraction and iron deficiency,
      treatment with IV ferric carboxymaltose should be considered to improve symptoms,
      the ability to exercise and quality of life. Iron plays a key role in oxygen
      storage (myoglobin) and in energy metabolism, and there are pathophysiological
      bases that explain the beneficial effect of IV iron therapy in patients with HF.
      All these aspects are reviewed in this article.

PMID- 28610807
TI  - Phacoemulsification versus laser iridotomy in primary angle closure glaucoma. A
      difficult decision.

PMID- 28610808
TI  - Sarcoidosis of the lacrimal gland as a first manifestation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/METHOD: The first manifestation of sarcoidosis is usually at the
      pulmonary level. The case is described of a 40-year-old female patient, who
      presented with an increased volume of the lacrimal gland and mechanical ptosis of
      upper left eyelid as the first expression of this disease. RESULT/CONCLUSION: The
      diagnosis of systemic sarcoidosis with primary presentation of the lacrimal gland
      was made after performing several immunological studies with negative results,
      imaging studies, and taking of glandular and lymph node biopsies. A favourable
      response was achieved with oral methotrexate treatment.

PMID- 28610809
TI  - An evaluation of touchscreen versus keyboard/mouse interaction for large screen
      process control displays.
AB  - The objectives of this study were to test the effect of interaction device on
      performance in a process control task (managing a tank farm). The study compared
      the following two conditions: a) 4K-resolution 55" screen with a 21" touchscreen
      versus b) 4K-resolution 55" screen with keyboard/mouse. The touchscreen acted
      both as an interaction device for data entry and navigation and as an additional
      source of information. A within-subject experiment was conducted among 20 college
      engineering students. A primary task of preventing tanks from overfilling as well
      as a secondary task of manual logging with situation awareness questions were
      designed for the study. Primary Task performance (including tank level at
      discharge, number of tank discharged and performance score), Secondary Task
      Performance (including Tank log count, performance score), system interaction
      times, subjective workload, situation awareness questionnaire, user experience
      survey regarding usability and condition comparison were used as the measures.
      Parametric data resulted in two metrics statistically different means between the
      two conditions: The 4K-keyboard condition resulted in faster Detection +
      Navigation time compared to the 4K-touchscreen condition, by about 2 s, while
      participants within the 4K-touchscreen condition were about 2 s faster in data
      entry than in the 4K-keyboard condition. No significant results were found for:
      performance on the secondary task, situation awareness, and workload.
      Additionally, no clear significant differences were found in the non-parametric
      data analysis. However, participants showed a slight preference for the 4K
      touchscreen condition compared to the 4K-keyboard condition in subjective
      responses in comparing the conditions. Introducing the touchscreen as an
      additional/alternative input device showed to have an effect in interaction
      times, which suggests that proper design considerations need to be made. While
      having values shown on the interaction device provides value, a potential issue
      of visual distraction exists when having an additional visual display. The
      allocation of visual attention between primary displays and the touchscreen
      should be further investigated.

PMID- 28610810
TI  - Developing a contributing factor classification scheme for Rasmussen's AcciMap:
      Reliability and validity evaluation.
AB  - One factor potentially limiting the uptake of Rasmussen's (1997) Accimap method
      by practitioners is the lack of a contributing factor classification scheme to
      guide accident analyses. This article evaluates the intra- and inter-rater
      reliability and criterion-referenced validity of a classification scheme
      developed to support the use of Accimap by led outdoor activity (LOA)
      practitioners. The classification scheme has two levels: the system level
      describes the actors, artefacts and activity context in terms of 14 codes; the
      descriptor level breaks the system level codes down into 107 specific
      contributing factors. The study involved 11 LOA practitioners using the scheme on
      two separate occasions to code a pre-determined list of contributing factors
      identified from four incident reports. Criterion-referenced validity was assessed
      by comparing the codes selected by LOA practitioners to those selected by the
      method creators. Mean intra-rater reliability scores at the system (M = 83.6%)
      and descriptor (M = 74%) levels were acceptable. Mean inter-rater reliability
      scores were not consistently acceptable for both coding attempts at the system
      level (MT1 = 68.8%; MT2 = 73.9%), and were poor at the descriptor level (MT1 =
      58.5%; MT2 = 64.1%). Mean criterion referenced validity scores at the system
      level were acceptable (MT1 = 73.9%; MT2 = 75.3%). However, they were not
      consistently acceptable at the descriptor level (MT1 = 67.6%; MT2 = 70.8%).
      Overall, the results indicate that the classification scheme does not currently
      satisfy reliability and validity requirements, and that further work is required.
      The implications for the design and development of contributing factors
      classification schemes are discussed.

PMID- 28610812
TI  - Dimensions of vehicle sounds perception.
AB  - Vehicle sounds play an important role concerning customer satisfaction and can
      show another differentiating factor of brands. With an online survey of 1762
      German and American customers, the requirement characteristics of high-quality
      vehicle sounds were determined. On the basis of these characteristics, a
      requirement profile was generated for every analyzed sound. These profiles were
      investigated in a second study with 78 customers using real vehicles. The
      assessment results of the vehicle sounds can be represented using the dimensions
      "timbre", "loudness", and "roughness/sharpness". The comparison of the
      requirement profiles and the assessment results show that the sounds which are
      perceived as pleasant and high-quality, more often correspond to the requirement
      profile. High-quality sounds are characterized by the fact that they are rather
      gentle, soft and reserved, rich, a bit dark and not too rough. For those sounds
      which are assessed worse by the customers, recommendations for improvements can
      be derived.

PMID- 28610811
TI  - Human factors in mental healthcare: A work system analysis of a community-based
      program for older adults with depression and dementia.
AB  - Mental healthcare is a critical but largely unexplored application domain for
      human factors/ergonomics. This paper reports on a work system evaluation of a
      home-based dementia and depression care program for older adults, the Aging Brain
      Care program. The Workflow Elements Model was used to guide data collection and
      analysis of 59 h of observation, supplemented by key informant input. We
      identified four actors, 37 artifacts across seven types, ten action categories,
      and ten outcomes including improved health and safety. Five themes emerged
      regarding barriers and facilitators to care delivery in the program: the
      centrality of relationship building; the use of adaptive workarounds; performance
      of duplicate work; travel and scheduling challenges; and communication-related
      factors. Findings offer new insight into how mental healthcare services are
      delivered in a community-based program and key work-related factors shaping
      program outcomes.

PMID- 28610813
TI  - Motor adaptation capacity as a function of age in carrying out a repetitive
      assembly task at imposed work paces.
AB  - The working population is getting older. Workers must adapt to changing
      conditions to respond to the efforts required by the tasks they have to perform.
      In this laboratory-based study, we investigated the capacities of motor
      adaptation as a function of age and work pace. Two phases were identified in the
      task performed: a collection phase, involving dominant use of the lower limbs;
      and an assembly phase, involving bi-manual motor skills. Results showed that
      senior workers were mainly limited during the collection phase, whereas they had
      less difficulty completing the assembly phase. However, senior workers did
      increase the vertical force applied while assembling parts, whatever the work
      pace. In younger and middle-aged subjects, vertical force was increased only for
      the faster pace. Older workers could adapt to perform repetitive tasks under
      different time constraints, but adaptation required greater effort than for
      younger workers. These results point towards a higher risk of developing
      musculoskeletal disorders among seniors.

PMID- 28610814
TI  - Analyzing crowdsourced ratings of speech-based take-over requests for automated
      driving.
AB  - Take-over requests in automated driving should fit the urgency of the traffic
      situation. The robustness of various published research findings on the
      valuations of speech-based warning messages is unclear. This research aimed to
      establish how people value speech-based take-over requests as a function of
      speech rate, background noise, spoken phrase, and speaker's gender and emotional
      tone. By means of crowdsourcing, 2669 participants from 95 countries listened to
      a random 10 out of 140 take-over requests, and rated each take-over request on
      urgency, commandingness, pleasantness, and ease of understanding. Our results
      replicate several published findings, in particular that an increase in speech
      rate results in a monotonic increase of perceived urgency. The female voice was
      easier to understand than a male voice when there was a high level of background
      noise, a finding that contradicts the literature. Moreover, a take-over request
      spoken with Indian accent was found to be easier to understand by participants
      from India than by participants from other countries. Our results replicate
      effects in the literature regarding speech-based warnings, and shed new light on
      effects of background noise, gender, and nationality. The results may have
      implications for the selection of appropriate take-over requests in automated
      driving. Additionally, our study demonstrates the promise of crowdsourcing for
      testing human factors and ergonomics theories with large sample sizes.

PMID- 28610815
TI  - Corrigendum to "Kansei engineering as a tool for the design of in-vehicle rubber
      keypads" [Appl. Ergon. 61C (2017) 01-11].

PMID- 28610816
TI  - Egocentric distance perception and performance of direct pointing in stereoscopic
      displays.
AB  - In this study, the interaction performances and spatial perceptions in
      stereoscopic environments were investigated. The experiment compared direct user
      interactions during pointing at a target, which was continuously visible or
      presented briefly and disappeared, in both stereoscopic and real environments, at
      three parallax/depth levels. The position data, collected by a motion system,
      were used to compute accuracy, signed error, movement time, and throughput. The
      results showed inaccurate egocentric distance judgment in stereoscopic displays
      and accurate perceptions in the real world. The overall inaccuracy, which was
      overestimation of about 10 cm, was relatively better than that achieved in
      previous studies. The overestimation decreased as the egocentric distance
      increased. However, providing visual objects did not improve the accuracy. The
      study concluded that direct pointing could minimize the underestimation problems
      commonly reported in stereoscopic viewing studies and showed practical
      significance for developers to focus on incorporating more direct and natural
      human-virtual reality interactions for improved performance. The findings of this
      study provide insight towards the development of less expensive displays and
      their applications. Implications of this work and engineering solutions are also
      discussed.

PMID- 28610817
TI  - Vascular diseases of the liver. Clinical Guidelines from the Catalan Society of
      Digestology and the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver.
AB  - Despite their relatively low prevalence, vascular diseases of the liver represent
      a significant health problem in the field of liver disease. A common
      characteristic shared by many such diseases is their propensity to cause portal
      hypertension together with increased morbidity and mortality. These diseases are
      often diagnosed in young patients and their delayed diagnosis and/or
      inappropriate treatment can greatly reduce life expectancy. This article reviews
      the current body of evidence concerning Budd-Chiari syndrome, non-cirrhotic
      portal vein thrombosis, idiopathic portal hypertension, sinusoidal obstruction
      syndrome, hepatic vascular malformations in hereditary haemorrhagic
      telangiectasia, cirrhotic portal vein thrombosis and other rarer vascular
      diseases including arterioportal fistulas. It also includes a section on the
      diagnostic imaging of vascular diseases of the liver and their treatment from a
      haematological standpoint (study of thrombotic diathesis and anticoagulation
      therapy). All recommendations are based on published studies extracted from
      PubMed. The quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were rated in
      accordance with the GRADE system (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment
      Development and Evaluation). In the absence of sufficient evidence,
      recommendations were based on the opinion of the committee that produced the
      guide.

PMID- 28610818
TI  - Effect of pre-emptive analgesia on clinical parameters and tissue levels of TNF
      alpha and IL-1beta in third molar surgery: a triple-blind, randomized, placebo
      controlled study.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate whether pre-emptive analgesia modifies the tissue
      expression of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 1 beta (IL
      1beta), and whether there is an association with postoperative surgical outcomes.
      A triple-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of patients undergoing
      mandibular third molar removal was performed. Volunteers were allocated randomly
      to receive etoricoxib 120 mg, ibuprofen 400 mg, or placebo 1h before surgery.
      Twenty-four surgical sites per group were required (95% confidence level and 80%
      statistical power). Pain scores differed significantly between groups (P<0.001).
      Etoricoxib and ibuprofen reduced pain scores compared to placebo (P<0.05). Pain
      scores peaked at 4h postoperative in the experimental groups, but at 2h
      postoperative in the placebo group (P<0.05). A significant reduction in TNF-alpha
      concentration from time 0' to time 30' was seen for ibuprofen (P=0.001) and
      etoricoxib (P=0.016). The ibuprofen group showed a significant reduction in IL
      1beta levels from time 0' to time 30' (P=0.038). In conclusion, TNF-alpha and IL
      1beta levels and the inflammatory events in third molar surgery were inversely
      associated with the degree of cyclooxygenase 2 selectivity of the non-steroidal
      anti-inflammatory drugs used pre-emptively. Patients given pre-emptive analgesia
      showed significant reductions in the clinical parameters pain, trismus, and
      oedema when compared to the placebo group.

PMID- 28610819
TI  - Simulation of three surgical techniques combined with two different bone-borne
      forces for surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion of the maxillofacial
      complex: a finite element analysis.
AB  - Surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE) is a common treatment to
      correct transverse maxillary deficiencies. Finite element analysis was simulated
      for six designs of SARPE based on a computed tomography scan of a human skull:
      median osteotomy with palatal (type A) or alveolar ridge (type B) bone-borne
      force, additional lateral osteotomy with palatal (type C) or alveolar ridge (type
      D) bone-borne force, and additional pterygomaxillary separation with palatal
      (type E) or alveolar ridge (type F) bone-borne force. The transverse expansion
      was about 1.0mm. The distribution of von Mises stress and the displacement were
      evaluated. The largest stress distribution was after types A and B, followed by
      types C and D, and finally types E and F. Displacement increased simultaneously.
      Palatal bone-borne forces (types A, C, and E) led to higher stress distributions
      in the midface and maxilla, but to a more parallel expansion compared with
      alveolar ridge-borne forces (types B, D, and F). The largest bony displacements
      at the midpalatal suture were anterior in all models. Increased weakening of the
      bony pillar of the facial skeleton and the use of palatal bone-borne forces leads
      to a decrease in stress distribution in the midface and to a more parallel
      transverse expansion of the maxilla.

PMID- 28610820
TI  - Mandibular symphyseal midline distraction osteogenesis for micrognathia
      associated with aglossia and situs inversus totalis.
AB  - Aglossia is a rare congenital abnormality, often associated with micrognathia and
      limb defects. Situs inversus totalis is also a rare congenital abnormality,
      defined as a mirror-image reversal of all the asymmetric organs of the thorax and
      abdomen. The concurrence of these two abnormalities has only been reported in
      eight similar cases in the literature. Although micrognathia and malocclusion
      were observed in all of these cases, few treatments were performed for the
      patients' dentofacial deformities. This report describes the case of a 7-year-old
      boy suffering from micrognathia, aglossia, and situs inversus totalis
      simultaneously, and the treatment for his micrognathia by mandibular symphyseal
      midline distraction osteogenesis, guided by virtual surgical planning and a three
      dimensional printed surgical template. In a review of the literature, this is the
      first case of micrognathia associated with aglossia and situs inversus totalis
      that has been treated by mandibular symphyseal midline distraction osteogenesis
      for the dentofacial deformity.

PMID- 28610821
TI  - Superolateral dislocation of the intact mandibular condyle: report of a rare case
      with a review.
AB  - Dislocation of the temporomandibular joint, which represents 3% of all dislocated
      joints reported in the body, occurs when the mandibular condyle is displaced
      anteriorly beyond the articular eminence. Although anterior dislocation of the
      mandibular condyle is well documented in the literature, superior, lateral, and
      posterior dislocation of the condyle is rare. Only a few reports documenting
      superolateral dislocation with anterior mandible fractures have been published in
      the past. However such dislocations without any associated fractures are even
      rarer. This report documents a case of superolateral dislocation of an intact
      mandible in a 48-year-old woman following a traumatic incident. This paper also
      reviews previously documented case reports and focuses on the causative
      mechanism, dynamics, and management of such dislocations.

PMID- 28610822
TI  - VR-CoDES and patient-centeredness. The intersection points between a measure and
      a concept.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional sequences (VR-CoDES) system
      has been applied in a wide range of studies, in some of these, because of its
      attention on healthcare provider's ability to respond to patient emotions, it has
      been used as a proxy of patient-centeredness. The paper aims to discuss how the
      VR-CoDES can contribute to the broader concept of patient-centeredness and its
      limitations. METHODS: VR-CoDES and patient-centeredness concept are briefly
      described, trying to detect commonalities and distinctions. The VR-CoDES
      dimensions of Explicit/non explicit responding and Providing or Reducing Space
      are analysed in relation to relevant aspects of patient-centred communication.
      RESULTS: Emotional aspects are encompassed within patient-centeredness model, but
      they represent only one of the numerous dimensions that contribute to define
      patient-centeredness as well as Explicit/non explicit responding and Providing or
      Reducing Space serve different functions during communication. CONCLUSION: The VR
      CoDES can contribute to operationalize the description of emotional aspects
      emerging in a consultation, by inducing coders to adopt a factual attitude in
      assessing how health providers react to patient's expression of emotions.
      PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: To better define empirically which measure affective
      aspects and dimensions of health provider responses are relevant and may
      contribute to patient-centeredness in different clinical settings.

PMID- 28610823
TI  - Pre-vaccination evolution of antibodies among infants 0, 3 and 6months of age: A
      longitudinal analysis of measles, enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus 16.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to waning levels of maternal antibodies (measles; enterovirus 71,
      EV71; and coxsackievirus A16, CoxA16), some infants may lose protection against
      infection prior to vaccination. Using a longitudinal design, we examine how
      maternal antibody levels evolve over time in infants prior to vaccination.
      METHODS: In 2013-2014, we collected sera at ages 0, 3 and 6months from infants.
      We assayed for levels of measles IgG antibody (717, 233 and 75 sample sera tested
      at months 0, 3 and 6, respectively), and neutralizing antibodies for EV71 and
      CoxA16 (225, 217, and 72). Demographic and health information were collected, and
      a linear mixed model (LMM) was used to describe antibody levels over time.
      RESULTS: Pre-vaccination monotonic antibody decreases were observed for measles
      (1410, 195 and 22mIU/ml, p<0.001), EV71 (1:19.9, 6.3 and 4.5, p<0.001) and CoxA16
      (1:16.3, 5.9, and 4.5, p<0.001). At 6months of age, only 2.7% (95%CI, 0.6-8.3),
      6.8% (95%CI, 2.7-14.4) and 5.6% (95%CI, 1.9-12.7) of infants were antibody
      positive for measles, EV71 and CoxA16, respectively. LMM findings indicated that
      infants with higher antibody titers at birth experienced a greater loss of
      antibody level. An infection rate of 1.3% (95%CI, 0.1-6.1) was reported for both
      EV71 and CoxA16. CONCLUSIONS: Further modifications of vaccination strategies for
      measles, earlier vaccination for EV71 infection, and deployment of a CoxA16
      vaccine need to be considered to limit infection among the very young.

PMID- 28610824
TI  - Safety and perception: What are the greatest enemies of HPV vaccination
      programmes?
AB  - Vaccines stimulate a person's immune system to produce an adequate reaction
      against a specific infectious agent; i.e. the person is protected from that
      disease without having to get it first. As vaccines are administrated to healthy
      subjects, they are held to the highest standards of safety. Regarding human
      papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, at present three prophylactic vaccines are
      licensed (bivalent HPV 16/18, quadrivalent HPV 6/11/16/18 and the nonovalent HPV
      6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58 vaccine). Pre- and post-licensure studies (i.e. not yet
      for nonovalent HPV vaccine) confirm that HPV vaccines are generally safe and well
      tolerated, site injections symptoms are the most common adverse events (AEs)
      reported, and pain is the most frequently referred local symptom. Serious AEs are
      rare and not associated with severe sequelae, at least no vaccine-related deaths
      have occurred. Despite these scientific evidences, it is still difficult to
      explain to the population the importance of a good vaccination programme. There
      are many determinants for HPV vaccines hesitancy which represent a barrier that
      must be overcome in order to increase vaccine coverage, including psychological
      reactions, religious or cultural aspects, and fear of possible AEs (demyelinating
      diseases, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - CRPS, or Postural Orthostatic
      Tachycardia Syndrome - POTS). A weak communication strategy which frequently
      suffers due to spread of unverified news by media and websites may lead to the
      failure of a vaccination programme. Such a situation happened in Japan (2013),
      due to which a great number of women remain vulnerable to HPV-related cancers. In
      order to resolve the issues around HPV vaccines acceptance, it is necessary to
      use good communication strategies. Multicomponent and dialogue-based
      interventions seem to be the most effective, especially if an adequate language
      is used, customized according to the vaccination programme target.

PMID- 28610826
TI  - Structural, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical evidence of testosterone
      effects and its ablation on the bulbourethal gland of the Artibeus planirostris
      bat (Chiroptera, Mammalia).
AB  - This study evaluated the effects of testosterone in the bulbourethral glands (BG)
      of the bat, Artibeus planirostris, by performing castration and posterior
      hormonal supplementation of the animals. The results showed a decrease in
      testosterone levels in animals 15days after castration, which induced a small
      reduction in epithelium height, percentage of AR+ cells, and an increase in the
      amount of basal cells. This reduction became more severe in groups castrated for
      longer periods (19 and 22days), where there was also an increase in apoptotic
      cells. Moreover, the hormonal supplementation increased testosterone levels
      (after 3 and 7days of supplementation), causing a glandular reactivation that
      increased the epithelium height and AR expression. In conclusion, BG took longer
      to respond to ablation of testosterone than other reproductive glands, since it
      showed evident aspects of regression only in animals 22days after castrated.

PMID- 28610825
TI  - Integrating Next-Generation Dendritic Cell Vaccines into the Current Cancer
      Immunotherapy Landscape.
AB  - Cancer immunotherapy is experiencing a renaissance spearheaded by immune
      checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This has spurred interest in 'upgrading' existing
      immunotherapies that previously experienced only sporadic success, such as
      dendritic cells (DCs) vaccines. In this review, we discuss the major molecular,
      immunological, and clinical determinants of existing first- and second-generation
      DC vaccines. We also outline the future trends for next-generation DC vaccines
      and describe their major hallmarks and prerequisites necessary for high
      anticancer efficacy. In addition, using existing data we compare DC vaccines with
      ICIs targeting CTLA4, PD1, and PD-L1, and argue that in various contexts next
      generation DC vaccines are ready to meet some challenges currently confronting
      ICIs, thereby raising the need to integrate DC vaccines in future combinatorial
      immunotherapy regimens.

PMID- 28610827
TI  - IL-6 and CRP are superior in early differentiation between mild and non-mild
      acute pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The revised Atlanta classification on acute pancreatitis (AP)
      presents distinct criteria for severity categorization. Due to the lack of
      reliable prognostic markers, a majority of patients with AP are currently
      hospitalized and initially managed identically. As incidence and financial costs
      are rising the need for early severity differentiation will increase. This study
      aimed to investigate the capacity of biomarkers to stratify AP patients during
      the initial course of the disease. METHODS: Patients with AP were prospectively
      enrolled and dichotomized into mild or non-mild (moderately severe and severe AP)
      according to the revised Atlanta classification. Serum samples taken within 13-36
      h after onset of disease were analyzed for 20 biomarkers. Through receiver
      operating curves cut-off levels were set for 5 biomarkers whose stratifying
      ability was further analyzed. Additionally, the patients were classified
      according to the harmless acute pancreatitis score (HAPS). RESULTS: Among the 175
      patients, 70.9% had mild and 29.1% non-mild AP. CRP and IL-6 combined, with cut
      off levels 57.0 and 23.6 respectively, demonstrated superior discriminative
      capacity with an area under the curve of 0.803, sensitivity 98%, specificity 54%
      and a positive and negative likelihood ratio of 2.1 and 0.06 for the non-mild
      group. Regarding the mild group likelihood ratios were positive 26.5 and negative
      0.48. The identification potential of the HAPS was generally inferior when
      compared to CRP plus IL-6. CONCLUSIONS: In this study CRP and IL-6 demonstrate a
      clinically relevant capacity to differentiate mild from non-mild AP early in the
      course of AP.

PMID- 28610829
TI  - Corrigendum to "beta-arrestins negatively control human adrenomedullin type 1
      receptor internalization" [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 487 (2) (2017) 438
      443].

PMID- 28610828
TI  - Revised nodal stage for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previously we have proposed a modified European Neuroendocrine Tumor
      Society (mENETS) staging system for pNETs, which is more suitable than either the
      American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) or the European Neuroendocrine Tumor
      Society (ENETS) systems. However, it is necessary to revise the nodal stage of
      the mENETS system for the under representation of stage III diseases. METHODS:
      Nodal substages of the upper gastrointestinal organs (N0: 0 node, N1: 1-2 nodes;
      N2: >=3 nodes) or the lower gastrointestinal organs (0: 0 node, N1: 1-3 nodes,
      and N2:>= 4 nodes) were incorporated into the mENETS system and evaluated using
      the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry series. RESULTS:
      The mENETS classification with the upper gastrointestinal N-stage revision (stage
      III, 17.1%) had better proportional distribution than the mENETS classification
      (stage III, 8.7%) or the lower gastrointestinal N-stage revision (stage III,
      14.5%). N-stage revision (N0: 0 node, N1: 1-2 nodes; N2: >=3 nodes) was
      incorporated in the mENETS staging definition for further analysis. Survival
      curves were well separated by nodal substages. HRs of stage IIA (T3N0M0) and IIB
      (T1-3N1M0) of the mENETS classification with N-stage revision were similar,
      indicating these two substages should be attributed to stage II. Survival curves
      were well separated by stage using the mENETS classification with N-stage
      revision. CONCLUSIONS: The mENETS classification with N-stage revision (N0: 0
      node, N1: 1-2 nodes; N2: >=3 nodes) had better prognostic value and proportional
      distribution than the mENETS classification for pNETs and can be used in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28610830
TI  - Mutual regulation between infant facial affect and maternal touch in depressed
      and nondepressed dyads.
AB  - The ability to regulate affect is important for later adaptive child development.
      In the first months of life, infants have limited resources for regulating their
      own affects (e.g. by gaze aversion), and for this reason they are dependent on
      external affect regulation from their parents. Previous research suggests that
      touch is an important means through which parents regulate their infants'
      affects. Also, previous research has shown that post-partum depressed (PPD)
      mothers and nonclinical mothers differ in their touching behaviors when
      interacting with their infants. We examined the affect-regulating function of
      affectionate, caregiving and playful maternal touch in 24 PPD and 47 nonclinical
      mother-infant dyads when infants were four months old. In order to investigate
      the direction of effects and to account for repeated observations, the data were
      analysed using time-window sequential analysis and Generalized Estimating
      Equations. The results showed that mothers adapt their touching behaviors
      according to negative infant facial affect; thus, when the infant displays
      negative facial affect, the mothers were less likely to initiate playful touch
      and more likely to initiate caregiving touch. Unexpectedly, only in the PPD
      dyads, were the mothers more likely to initiate affectionate touch when their
      infants were displaying negative facial affect. Our results also showed that
      mothers use specific touch types to regulate infants' negative and positive
      affects; infants are more likely to initiate positive affect during periods with
      playful touch, and more likely to terminate negative affect during periods with
      caregiving touch.

PMID- 28610831
TI  - Complete genome sequence of the aerobically denitrifying thermophilic bacterium
      Chelatococcus daeguensis TAD1.
AB  - Chelatococcus daeguensis TAD1 is a themophilic bacterium isolated from a
      biotrickling filter used to treat NOx in Ruiming Power Plant, located in
      Guangzhou, China, which shows an excellent aerobic denitrification activity at
      high temperature. The complete genome sequence of this strain was reported in the
      present study. Genes related to the aerobic denitrification were identified
      through whole genome analysis. This work will facilitate the mechanism of aerobic
      denitrification and provide evidence for its potential application in the
      nitrogen removal.

PMID- 28610833
TI  - Yes, Your Neck Is Broken: Lessons From a Radiologist in the Surgical Intensive
      Care Unit.

PMID- 28610832
TI  - Comparison of antimicrobial activity between ceftolozane-tazobactam and
      ceftazidime-avibactam against multidrug-resistant isolates of Escherichia coli,
      Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study compared the activity of ceftolozane-tazobactam and
      ceftazidime-avibactam against 120 bacterial strains, including extended-spectrum
      beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE),
      and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, isolated from patients admitted to Cleveland Clinic
      Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. METHODS: In vitro susceptibility was tested
      using the Etest strip minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method, and PCR was
      used to characterize the carbapenemase enzymes produced by CRE strains. RESULTS:
      All 29 ESBL isolates were susceptible to ceftazidime-avibactam (MIC50
      0.125MUg/ml), whereas all but one were susceptible to ceftolozane-tazobactam
      (MIC50 0.38MUg/ml). Twenty-seven (45%) CRE isolates were susceptible to
      ceftazidime-avibactam (MIC50 >=256MUg/ml), whereas only six (10%) isolates were
      susceptible to ceftolozane-tazobactam (MIC50 >=256MUg/ml). Very few NDM-1
      isolates were susceptible to ceftazidime-avibactam, whereas the majority of OXA
      48 isolates were susceptible. Twenty-nine (94%) P. aeruginosa isolates were
      susceptible to ceftazidime-avibactam (MIC50 1.5MUg/ml), whereas 30 (97%) isolates
      were susceptible to ceftolozane-tazobactam (MIC50 0.75MUg/ml). CONCLUSIONS:
      Ceftolozane-tazobactam and ceftazidime-avibactam showed comparable activity
      against ESBL and P. aeruginosa, with ceftazidime-avibactam having lower MICs
      against ESBL isolates and ceftolozane-tazobactam having lower MICs against P.
      aeruginosa. Ceftazidime-avibactam showed better activity against all CRE isolates
      except for those carrying the NDM-1 enzyme.

PMID- 28610834
TI  - The evolution of ecosystem ascendency in a complex systems based model.
AB  - General patterns in ecosystem development can shed light on driving forces behind
      ecosystem formation and recovery and have been of long interest. In recent years,
      the need for integrative and process oriented approaches to capture ecosystem
      growth, development and organisation, as well as the scope of information theory
      as a descriptive tool has been addressed from various sides. However data
      collection of ecological network flows is difficult and tedious and comprehensive
      models are lacking. We use a hierarchical version of the Tangled Nature Model of
      evolutionary ecology to study the relationship between structure, flow and
      organisation in model ecosystems, their development over evolutionary time scales
      and their relation to ecosystem stability. Our findings support the validity of
      ecosystem ascendency as a meaningful measure of ecosystem organisation, which
      increases over evolutionary time scales and significantly drops during periods of
      disturbance. The results suggest a general trend towards both higher integrity
      and increased stability driven by functional and structural ecosystem
      coadaptation.

PMID- 28610835
TI  - Antibiofilm effect of ultrasound combined with microbubbles against
      Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm.
AB  - Biofilms are difficult to eradicate due to their resistance to antibiotics and
      host immune cells. Ultrasound microbubbles have emerged as a new treatment
      modality with the underlying mechanisms largely unknown. In this study, we
      exposed 24-h-old Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms established in OptiCellTM
      chambers to ultrasound in combination with microbubbles, and investigated the
      activities of vancomycin and neutrophils against S. epidermidis biofilms after
      treatment. The antibiofilm mechanims of ultrasound microbubbles were explored in
      terms of bacterial permeability and biofilm-associated gene expression. After
      treatment of ultrasound (1MHz, 0.5W/cm2, 50% duty cycle) combined with
      microbubbles in the concentration of 1% and 4% (v/v) for 5min, bacterial
      permeability to extracellular fluorescent dyes was enhanced and the expression of
      icaA was down-regulated while that of agrB and RNAIII up-regulated. Post
      treatment biofilms were more sensitive to vancomycin by demonstrating reduced
      biomass than those exposed to vancomycin alone (P<0.05). The phagocytosis,
      oxidative burst activity as well as chemotaxis of neutrophils in response to
      biofilms were also significantly increased. The bioeffect of ultrasound combined
      with microbubbles was generally more significant than that of ultrasound alone,
      and dependent on microbubble concentration. This study demonstrated that
      ultrasound combined with microbubbles could enhance the activities of antibiotics
      and neutrophils against biofilms possibly via mechanical and biochemical
      mechanisms, and may provide an efficient and non-invasive antibiofilm alternative
      apart from chemical and biological approaches.

PMID- 28610836
TI  - Population dynamics of Noctiluca scintillans during a bloom in a semi-enclosed
      bay in Hong Kong.
AB  - Noctiluca scintillans, a heterotrophic dinoflagellate responsible for most of the
      red tides in Hong Kong waters was investigated to determine the influence of
      biotic and abiotic factors in determining its population dynamics. N. scintillans
      first occurred in January when temperature was ~17 degrees C, and reached a
      maximum of 1980cellsL-1 one month later. N. scintillans interacted with trophic
      compartments from picoplankton to mesozooplankton, but its population development
      was largely related to the availability of phytoplankton, especially diatoms.
      Growth rates in microcosms (with mainly biological factors) ranged from -0.38 to
      1.11d-1 and were similar to the field in situ growth rates (physical and
      biological factors). Thus, optimum hydrographical conditions (temperature and
      water stability), and a rich food supply were necessary for N. scintillans to
      bloom. Its spatial distribution pattern was a result of biological and physical
      coupling, but mainly controlled by physical accumulation processes such as winds,
      tides and currents.

PMID- 28610837
TI  - Future directions in recognizing and dealing with the first seizure presentation 
      Research and operational issues.

PMID- 28610838
TI  - Bcl-2 expression is essential for development and normal physiological properties
      of tooth hard tissue and saliva production.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apoptosis plays a fundamental role in appropriate tissue development
      and function. Although expression of Bcl-2 has been reported during tooth and
      submandibular gland (SMG) development, the physiological role Bcl-2 plays during
      these processes has not been addressed. This study was performed to evaluate the
      impact of Bcl-2 expression on the formation and properties of tooth hard tissue,
      and saliva production. METHODS: Twenty-four mice (12 males and 12 females) were
      divided into three groups of eight (n=8): group A (Bcl-2 +/+), group B (Bcl-2 +/
      ), and group C (Bcl-2 -/-) and subjected to micro-CT analyses. The mineral
      content of first molars was analyzed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM) color dot map. The surface microhardness was determined
      by Vickers test on labial surfaces of incisors. Saliva was collected from
      different groups of mice after subcutaneous injection of pilocarpine. RESULTS:
      Samples from Bcl-2 -/- mice showed significantly smaller micro-CT values, lower
      and poor crystallinity of hydroxyapatite (HA), and lowest surface micro hardness.
      SMG from Bcl-2 -/- mice showed remarkable reduction in size, consistent with
      reduced saliva accumulation. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of Bcl-2 expression in SMG
      did not affect the expression of other Bcl-2 family members. Thus, Bcl-2
      expression influence on the formation and properties of tooth hard tissue, and
      saliva accumulation. SIGNIFICANCE: Bcl-2 expression has a significant impact on
      the mineralogical content of enamel crystals of tooth structure. Lack of Bcl-2
      expression led to impaired production of enamel ACP crystals.

PMID- 28610840
TI  - Measuring and managing health system performance: An update from New Zealand.
AB  - In July 2016, New Zealand introduced a new approach to measuring and monitoring
      health system performance. This 'Systems Level Measure Framework' (SLMF) has
      evolved from the Integrated Performance and Incentive Framework (IPIF) previously
      reported in this journal. The SLMF is designed to stimulate a 'whole of system'
      approach that requires inter-organisational collaboration. Local 'Alliances'
      between government and non-government health sector organisations are responsible
      for planning and achieving improved health system outcomes such as reducing
      ambulatory sensitive hospitalisation for young children, and reducing acute
      hospital bed days. It marks a shift from the previous regime of output and
      process targets, and from a pay-for-performance approach to primary care. Some
      elements of the earlier IPIF proposal, such as general practice quality measures,
      and tiered levels of performance, were not included in the SLM framework. The
      focus on health system outcomes demonstrates policy commitment to effective
      integration of health services. However, there remain considerable challenges to
      successful implementation. An outcomes framework makes it challenging to
      attribute changes in outcomes to organisational and collaborative strategies. At
      the local level, the strength and functioning of collaborative relationships
      between organisations vary considerably. The extent and pace of change may also
      be constrained by existing funding arrangements in the health system.

PMID- 28610841
TI  - Hsp27 promotes ABCA1 expression and cholesterol efflux through the
      PI3K/PKCzeta/Sp1 pathway in THP-1 macrophages.
AB  - Heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) is a putative biomarker and therapeutic target in
      atherosclerosis. This study was to explore the potential mechanisms underlying
      Hsp27 effects on ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) expression and
      cellular cholesterol efflux. THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells were infected
      with adenovirus to express wild-type Hsp27, hyper-phosphorylated Hsp27 mimic (3D
      Hsp27), antisense Hsp27 or hypo-phosphorylated Hsp27 mimic (3A Hsp27). Wild-type
      and 3D Hsp27 were found to up-regulate ABCA1 mRNA and protein expression and
      increase cholesterol efflux from cells. Expression of antisense or 3A Hsp27
      suppressed the expression of ABCA1 and cholesterol efflux. Furthermore, over
      expression of wild-type and 3D Hsp27 significantly increased the levels of
      phosphorylated specificity protein 1 (Sp1), protein kinase C zeta (PKCzeta) and
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). In addition, the up-regulation of ABCA1
      expression and cholesterol efflux induced by 3D Hsp27 was suppressed by
      inhibition of Sp1, PKCzeta and PI3K with specific kinase inhibitors. Taken
      together, our results revealed that Hsp27 may up-regulate the expression of ABCA1
      and promotes cholesterol efflux through activation of the PI3K/PKCzeta/Sp1 signal
      pathway in THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells. Our findings may partly explain
      the mechanisms underlying the anti-atherogenic effect of Hsp27.

PMID- 28610842
TI  - Fumigaclavine C exhibits anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing high mobility
      group box protein 1 relocation and release.
AB  - A previous study demonstrated that Fumigaclavine C (FC) had a potential
      immunosuppressive activity against concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in mice.
      However, the precise mechanisms of the anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective
      effects of FC are incompletely delineated. This study further investigated the
      protective effects of FC on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine RAW264.7
      cells and the underlying molecular mechanism in liver kupffer cells. FC
      differentially attenuated the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF
      alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon gamma
      (IFN-gamma), and high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB-1). Intriguingly, FC
      significantly suppressed LPS-induced HMGB-1 nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling
      relocation and release. FC notably decreased the phosphorylation levels of
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1),
      protein kinase C beta II (PKCbetaII), and protein kinase C gamma (PKCgamma).
      PKCbetaII/gamma played an important part in this signaling pathway cascade.
      Furthermore, the docking simulation revealed that FC could directly bind to the
      HMGB-1 B box interfering with Lys90 and Leu145. All of these results indicated
      that FC exhibited anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects through
      suppressing HMGB-1 relocation and release by interfering with Lys90 and Leu145.

PMID- 28610843
TI  - Eye problem in Zika virus infection.

PMID- 28610839
TI  - Fly Fishing for Histones: Catch and Release by Histone Chaperone Intrinsically
      Disordered Regions and Acidic Stretches.
AB  - Chromatin is the complex of eukaryotic DNA and proteins required for the
      efficient compaction of the nearly 2-meter-long human genome into a roughly 10
      micron-diameter cell nucleus. The fundamental repeating unit of chromatin is the
      nucleosome: 147bp of DNA wrapped about an octamer of histone proteins.
      Nucleosomes are stable enough to organize the genome yet must be dynamically
      displaced and reassembled to allow access to the underlying DNA for
      transcription, replication, and DNA damage repair. Histone chaperones are a non
      catalytic group of proteins that are central to the processes of nucleosome
      assembly and disassembly and thus the fluidity of the ever-changing chromatin
      landscape. Histone chaperones are responsible for binding the highly basic
      histone proteins, shielding them from non-specific interactions, facilitating
      their deposition onto DNA, and aiding in their eviction from DNA. Although most
      histone chaperones perform these common functions, recent structural studies of
      many different histone chaperones reveal that there are few commonalities in
      their folds. Importantly, sequence-based predictions show that histone chaperones
      are highly enriched in intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) and acidic
      stretches. In this review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms underpinning
      histone binding, selectivity, and regulation of these highly dynamic protein
      regions. We highlight new evidence suggesting that IDRs are often critical for
      histone chaperone function and play key roles in chromatin assembly and
      disassembly pathways.

PMID- 28610845
TI  - Hemochromatosis and blood donation.
AB  - The voluntary, unpaid, altruistic blood donor is a cornerstone of current
      transfusion medicine. The complexity of medical and ethical issues related to
      blood donation and hemochromatosis has led to a large number of studies related
      to the safety of the hemochromatosis donor and the quality of the blood
      components produced from these donations. The issue of accepting persons with HC
      as blood donors is diverting, both in Europe and worldwide and without joint
      guidelines. A questionnaire-based study was performed and mailed to all 25 blood
      bank leaders in Norway. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the data. Eight
      of 22 blood banks strictly followed national guidelines concerning persons with
      hemochromatosis. Other blood banks make local adjustments. 16 of 22 responding
      blood banks accept hemochromatosis donors and five do not, and one answered
      partly yes. The reasons the blood bank leaders supported the acceptance of
      hemochromatosis donors differ. Based on published papers and the present
      questionnaire, we believe that a clear definition of the "hemochromatosis donor"
      and guidelines with more detailed information on an acceptable donation regime
      would be important to overcome the weak points in blood donor eligibility
      criteria.

PMID- 28610846
TI  - [Frequent attenders in Primary Health Care Centres and frequent attenders in
      Emergency Departments].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors of frequent attenders (HF) in Primary Health
      Care (PHC) centres in a sample of frequent attenders (HF) in Emergency
      Departments (ED). DESIGN: This was an observational, retrospective, multicentre
      cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: The HF patients were selected from patients seen in
      the ED between January 1 and December 31, 2013. Setting Patients were recruited
      from 17 public hospitals of the Community of Madrid, Spain. METHOD: Variables on
      the index visit to the ED were collected. The sample was analysed in terms of
      being or not being an HF user in PHC. An HF user is considered a patient who made
      at least 10 visits in each level of care for a year. RESULTS: A total of 1284 HF
      patients were included. An analysis was performed on 423 (32.9%) HF users in ED
      with 16 (12-25) visits to PHC vs. 861 (67.1%) non-HF users in ED, with 4 (2-6)
      visits to PHC. Independent predictors of HF in PHC: over 65 years (OR: 1.51; 95%
      CI: 1.07-2.13; P=.019), cognitive impairment (OR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.01-2.65;
      P=.049), taking >3 drugs (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.06-2.30; P=.025), and living in the
      community vs. nursing home or homeless (OR: 3.05; 95% CI: 1.14-8.16; P=.026).
      CONCLUSIONS: Among HF patients in the ED, the fact that of being over 65 years,
      taking 3or more drugs, suffering cognitive impairment, and living in the
      community, are also considered to be predictors of HF in PHC.

PMID- 28610844
TI  - Overexpression of eIF4F components in meningiomas and suppression of meningioma
      cell growth by inhibiting translation initiation.
AB  - Meningiomas frequently display activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, leading
      to elevated levels of phospho-eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding
      proteins, which enhances protein synthesis; however, it is not known whether
      inhibition of protein translation is an effective treatment option for
      meningiomas. We found that human meningiomas expressed high levels of the three
      components of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4F (eIF4F) translation initiation
      complex, eIF4A, eIF4E, and eIF4G. The expression of eIF4A and eIF4E was important
      in sustaining the growth of NF2-deficient benign meningioma Ben-Men-1 cells, as
      shRNA-mediated knockdown of these proteins strongly reduced cell proliferation.
      Among a series of 23 natural compounds evaluated, silvestrol, which inhibits
      eIF4A, was identified as being the most growth inhibitory in both primary
      meningioma and Ben-Men-1 cells. Silvestrol treatment of meningioma cells
      prominently induced G2/M arrest. Consistently, silvestrol significantly decreased
      the amounts of cyclins D1, E1, A, and B, PCNA, and Aurora A. In addition, total
      and phosphorylated AKT, ERK, and FAK, which have been shown to be important
      drivers for meningioma cell proliferation, were markedly lower in silvestrol
      treated Ben-Men-1 cells. Our findings suggest that inhibiting protein translation
      could be a potential treatment for meningiomas.

PMID- 28610847
TI  - [Application of the cultural competence model in the experience of care in
      nursing professionals Primary Care].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To know the experiences and perceptions of nurses in providing care
      and health promotion, women belonging to groups at risk of social vulnerability,
      applying the model of cultural competence Purnell. DESIGN: Phenomenological
      qualitative study. LOCATION: Department of Health Elda. PARTICIPANTS: A total of
      22 primary care professional volunteers. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews and
      focus groups with recording and content analysis, according to the theory model
      of cultural competence. RESULTS: Socio-cultural factors influence the
      relationship between professionals and users of the system. The subtle racism and
      historical prejudices create uncomfortable situations and mistrust. The language
      barrier makes it difficult not only communication, but also the monitoring and
      control of the health-disease process. The physical appearance and stereotypes
      are determining factors for primary care professionals. Although perceived misuse
      of health services are also talking about changes. The spiritual aspects of
      religious beliefs alone are taken into account in the case of Muslim women, not
      being considered as important in the case of Gypsy women and Romanian women.
      CONCLUSIONS: To provide quality care, consistent and culturally competent, it is
      necessary to develop training programs for professionals in cultural competence,
      to know the culture of other, and work without preconceived ideas, and
      ethnocentric; since the greater the knowledge of the cultural group being served,
      the better the quality of care provided.

PMID- 28610848
TI  - Modulating phonemic fluency performance in healthy subjects with transcranial
      magnetic stimulation over the left or right lateral frontal cortex.
AB  - A growing body of evidence have suggested that non-invasive brain stimulation
      techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial
      direct current stimulation (tDCS), can improve the performance of aphasic
      patients in language tasks. For example, application of inhibitory rTMS or tDCs
      over the right frontal lobe of dysphasic patients resulted in improved naming
      abilities. Several studies have also reported that in healthy controls (HC) tDCS
      application over the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) improve performance in naming
      and semantic fluency tasks. The aim of this study was to investigate in HC, for
      the first time, the effects of inhibitory repetitive TMS (rTMS) over left and
      right lateral frontal cortex (BA 47) on two phonemic fluency tasks (FAS or FPL).
      44 right-handed HCs were administered rTMS or sham over the left or right lateral
      frontal cortex in two separate testing sessions, with a 24h interval, followed by
      the two phonemic fluency tasks. To account for possible practice effects, an
      additional 22 HCs were tested on only the phonemic fluency task across two
      sessions with no stimulation. We found that rTMS-inhibition over the left lateral
      frontal cortex significantly worsened phonemic fluency performance when compared
      to sham. In contrast, rTMS-inhibition over the right lateral frontal cortex
      significantly improved phonemic fluency performance when compared to sham. These
      results were not accounted for practice effects. We speculated that rTMS over the
      right lateral frontal cortex may induce plastic neural changes to the left
      lateral frontal cortex by suppressing interhemispheric inhibitory interactions.
      This resulted in an increased excitability (disinhibition) of the contralateral
      unstimulated left lateral frontal cortex, consequently enhancing phonemic fluency
      performance. Conversely, application of rTMS over the left lateral frontal cortex
      may induce a temporary, virtual lesion, with effects similar to those reported in
      left frontal patients.

PMID- 28610849
TI  - Dynamic spatial organization of the occipito-temporal word form area for second
      language processing.
AB  - Despite the left occipito-temporal region having shown consistent activation in
      visual word form processing across numerous studies in different languages, the
      mechanisms by which word forms of second languages are processed in this region
      remain unclear. To examine this more closely, 16 Chinese-English and 14 English
      Chinese late bilinguals were recruited to perform lexical decision tasks to
      visually presented words in both their native and second languages (L1 and L2)
      during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Here we demonstrate that
      visual word form processing for L1 versus L2 engaged different spatial areas of
      the left occipito-temporal region. Namely, the spatial organization of the visual
      word form processing in the left occipito-temporal region is more medial and
      posterior for L2 than L1 processing in Chinese-English bilinguals, whereas
      activation is more lateral and anterior for L2 in English-Chinese bilinguals. In
      addition, for Chinese-English bilinguals, more lateral recruitment of the
      occipito-temporal region was correlated with higher L2 proficiency, suggesting
      higher L2 proficiency is associated with greater involvement of L1-preferred
      mechanisms. For English-Chinese bilinguals, higher L2 proficiency was correlated
      with more lateral and anterior activation of the occipito-temporal region,
      suggesting higher L2 proficiency is associated with greater involvement of L2
      preferred mechanisms. Taken together, our results indicate that L1 and L2 recruit
      spatially different areas of the occipito-temporal region in visual word
      processing when the two scripts belong to different writing systems, and that the
      spatial organization of this region for L2 visual word processing is dynamically
      modulated by L2 proficiency. Specifically, proficiency in L2 in Chinese-English
      is associated with assimilation to the native language mechanisms, whereas L2 in
      English-Chinese is associated with accommodation to second language mechanisms.

PMID- 28610850
TI  - Dietary myo-inositol deficiency decreased the growth performances and impaired
      intestinal physical barrier function partly relating to nrf2, jnk, e2f4 and mlck
      signaling in young grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).
AB  - In this study, we investigated the effects of dietary myo-inositol on the growth
      and intestinal physical barrier functions of young grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon
      idella). A total of 540 young grass carp (221.83 +/- 0.84 g) were fed six diets
      containing graded levels of myo-inositol (27.0, 137.9, 286.8, 438.6, 587.7 and
      737.3 mg/kg) for 10 weeks. After the growth trial, fish were challenged with
      Aeromonas hydrophila for 14 days. The results indicated that compared with
      optimal myo-inositol levels, myo-inositol deficiency (27.0 mg/kg diet): (1)
      decreased glutathione (GSH) contents and antioxidant enzymes activities, and down
      regulated the mRNA levels of antioxidant enzymes [not glutathione-S-transferase
      (gst) p1 and gstp2] and NF-E2-related factor 2 (nrf2), whereas up-regulated the
      reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl (PC)
      contents, and the mRNA levels of Kelch-like-ECH-associated protein 1 (keap1) in
      three intestinal segments of young grass carp (P < 0.05). (2) Up-regulated
      cysteinyl aspartic acid-protease (caspase)-2, -3, -7, -8, -9, apoptotic protease
      activating factor-1 (apaf-1), Bcl2-associated X protein (bax), fas ligand (fasl),
      gen-activated protein kinase (p38mapk) and c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (jnk)
      mRNA levels, whereas down-regulated B-cell lymphoma-2 (bcl-2), inhibitor of
      apoptosis proteins (iap) and myeloid cell leukemia-1 (mcl-1) mRNA levels in three
      intestinal segments of young grass carp (P < 0.05). (3) Down-regulated mRNA
      levels of cell cycle proteins cyclin b, cyclin d, cyclin e and E2F transcription
      factor 4 (e2f4) in three intestinal segments of young grass carp (P < 0.05). (4)
      Down-regulated the mRNA levels of zonula occludens (zo) 1, zo-2, occludin,
      claudin-b, -c, -f, -3c, -7a, -7b as well as -11, and up-regulated the mRNA levels
      of claudin-12, -15a (not -15b) and myosin light chain kinase (mlck) in three
      intestinal segments of young grass carp (P < 0.05). All above data indicated that
      dietary myo-inositol deficiency could damage physical barrier function in three
      intestinal segments of fish. Finally, the myo-inositol requirements based on the
      percent weight gain (PWG), reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents in the proximal
      intestine (PI), relative mRNA levels of caspase-2 (PI), cyclin b (MI) as well as
      claudin-b (PI) were estimated to be 276.7, 304.1, 327.9, 416.7 and 313.2 mg/kg
      diet, respectively.

PMID- 28610852
TI  - Colorectal cancer is increased in chronic liver diseases: Is surveillance the
      answer?

PMID- 28610851
TI  - Biodiversity Models: What If Unsaturation Is the Rule?
AB  - Improving biodiversity predictions is essential if we are to meet the challenges
      posed by global change. As knowledge is key to feed models, we need to evaluate
      how debated theory can affect models. An important ongoing debate is whether
      environmental constraints limit the number of species that can coexist in a
      community (saturation), with recent findings suggesting that species richness in
      many communities might be unsaturated. Here, we propose that biodiversity models
      could address this issue by accounting for a duality: considering communities as
      unsaturated but where species composition is constrained by different scale
      dependent biodiversity drivers. We identify a variety of promising advances for
      incorporating this duality into commonly applied biodiversity modelling
      approaches and improving their spatial predictions.

PMID- 28610853
TI  - The role of early colonoscopy in acute lower GI bleeding: summarizing conflicting
      data in the presence of society recommendations.

PMID- 28610854
TI  - Endoscopic ablation of low-grade dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus: Have all the
      boxes been checked for us to move on?

PMID- 28610855
TI  - EUS targeting of vascular thrombosis: Risky business?

PMID- 28610856
TI  - Radiofrequency ablation for intraductal extension of ampullary neoplasms: Are we
      ready to feel the burn?

PMID- 28610857
TI  - Overtube-assisted EUS with FNA for esophageal stenosis.

PMID- 28610858
TI  - Preoperative decompression and diagnosis of pancreatic head adenocarcinoma in a
      patient with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass by means of EUS-guided gastric pouch
      hepaticogastrostomy.

PMID- 28610859
TI  - Patient safety during sedation directed by anesthesia professionals.

PMID- 28610860
TI  - Needle-knife fistulotomy and risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis.

PMID- 28610861
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28610862
TI  - Does the fluid choice matter for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis?

PMID- 28610863
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28610864
TI  - Avulsion for the treatment of visible residual neoplasia during EMR of colorectal
      polyps: Is "heat" required?

PMID- 28610865
TI  - Response.

PMID- 28610866
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28610867
TI  - Editor's comments.

PMID- 28610868
TI  - Endoscopic submucosal dissection and EMR for large colorectal polyps: "the
      perfect is the enemy of good".

PMID- 28610869
TI  - Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection and its journey to the West.

PMID- 28610870
TI  - Spinal epidural involvement in Erdheim-Chester disease: 18F-FDG PET/CT findings.

PMID- 28610871
TI  - Primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung and 18F-FDG PET/CT.

PMID- 28610872
TI  - High-grade glioma mimicking limbic encephalitis on 18F-FDG PET/CT scan.

PMID- 28610873
TI  - Williams syndrome transcription factor (WSTF) acts as an activator of estrogen
      receptor signaling in breast cancer cells and the effect can be abrogated by
      1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.
AB  - A majority of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancers are growth
      stimulated by estrogens. The ability to inhibit the ER signaling pathway is
      therefore of critical importance in the current treatment of ER+ breast cancers.
      It has been reported that 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 down-regulates the
      expression of the CYP19A1 gene, encoding the aromatase enzyme that catalyzes the
      synthesis of estradiol. Furthermore, 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 has also been
      reported to down-regulate the expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha),
      the main mediator of ER signaling. This study reports a novel transcription
      factor critical to 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-mediated regulation of
      estrogenic signaling in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We have investigated the
      molecular mechanisms for the 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-mediated down
      regulation of CYP19A1 and ERalpha gene expression in human MCF-7 breast cancer
      cells and found that Williams syndrome transcription factor (WSTF) plays a key
      role by binding to the promoters of CYP19A1 and ERalpha. Although sometimes
      reported as an inhibitor of gene expression, we found that WSTF acts as an
      activator of the promoter activity of both CYP19A1 and ERalpha. Silencing of WSTF
      by siRNA transfection resulted in decreased aromatase-dependent cell growth as
      well as decreased ER signaling in the cells. When cells were treated with
      1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, WSTF was dissociated from the promoters and the
      promoter activities of CYP19A1 and ERalpha were decreased. We have measured the
      expression of WSTF in ER-positive tumor-samples from breast cancer patients and
      found that WSTF is expressed in the majority of the investigated samples and that
      the expression is higher in cancer tissue than in normal tissue. However, we were
      not able to show any significant association between the WSTF expression in the
      tumor and the disease free and overall survival in this patient group who have
      received adjuvant tamoxifen treatment, nor between the WSTF expression and the
      expression of ERalpha, progesterone receptor or HER2. The major conclusions of
      this study are that WSTF acts as an activator of ER signaling in MCF-7 breast
      cancer cells, that this action can be inhibited by 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3,
      and that the expression of WSTF is higher in breast cancer tissue than in normal
      tissue. WSTF may by a new target for treatment of estrogen-dependent breast
      cancer cell growth.

PMID- 28610874
TI  - On-nylon membrane detection of nucleic acid molecules by rolling circle
      amplification.
AB  - Positively-charged nylon membrane (NM) is a general solid-phase support for
      nucleic acid detection due to its convenient immobilization of nucleic acid
      materials by direct electrostatic adherence and simple UV crosslinking. Rolling
      circle amplification (RCA) is a widely used isothermal DNA amplification
      technique for nucleic acid detection. Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) is a new
      fluorescence technique with high sensitivity due to low background. This study
      developed a simple method for detecting nucleic acid molecules by combining the
      advantages of NM, RCA and NIRF, named NIRF-based solid phase RCA on nylon
      membrane (NM-NIRF-sRCA). The detection system of this method only need two kinds
      of nucleic acid molecules: target-specific probes with a RCA primer (P) at their
      3' end and a rolling circle (RC). The detection procedure consists of four steps:
      (1) immobilizing detected nucleic acids on NM by UV crosslinking; (2) hybridizing
      NM with specific probes and RC; (3) amplifying by a RCA reaction containing
      biotin-dUTP; (4) incubating NM with NIRF-labeled streptavidin and imaging with a
      NIRF imager. The method was fully testified by detecting oligonucleotides, L1
      fragments of various HPV subtypes cloned in plasmid, and E.coli genomic DNA. This
      study thus provides a new facile method for detecting nucleic acid molecules.

PMID- 28610875
TI  - Identification and risk estimation of movement strategies during cutting
      maneuvers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Approximately 70% of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur
      in non-contact situations during cutting and landing maneuvers. Parameters such
      as footstrike patterns and trunk orientation were found to influence ACL relevant
      knee loading, however, the relationship between the whole body movement and
      injury risk is debated. This study identifies whole body movement strategies that
      increase injury risk, and provides training recommendations to reduce this risk
      or enable a save return to sports after injury. DESIGN: Experimental cross
      sectional study design. METHODS: Three dimensional movement analysis was carried
      out to investigate 50 participants performing anticipated 90 degrees  cutting
      maneuvers. To identify and characterize movement strategies, footstrike pattern,
      knee valgus moment, knee internal rotation moment, angle of attack, shoulder and
      pelvis axis were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping. RESULTS: Three
      different movement strategies were identified. One strategy included rearfoot
      striking in combination with a relatively upright body position which generated
      higher knee joint loads than the second strategy, forefoot striking in
      combination with more backwards leaning and pre-rotation of the trunk towards the
      new movement direction. A third strategy combined forefoot striking with less
      preorientation which increased the ACL relevant knee joint load compared to the
      second strategy. CONCLUSIONS: The identified movement strategies clearly pre
      determine the injury risk during non-contact situations with the third strategy
      as the most unfavorable one. Compared to the study of isolated parameters, the
      analysis of the whole body movement allowed for detailed separation of more risky
      from less risky cutting strategies. These results give practical recommendations
      for the prevention of ACL injury.

PMID- 28610876
TI  - A Single Substitution Changes Zika Virus Infectivity in Mosquitoes.
AB  - Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused outbreaks in the Pacific and the Americas. The
      mechanism underlying the recent ZIKV epidemic remains obscure. A recent study
      reveals that an amino acid substitution is associated with increased infectivity
      of ZIKV in the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

PMID- 28610877
TI  - Effect of CO2 on Peroxynitrite-Mediated Bacteria Killing: Response to Tsikas et
      al.

PMID- 28610878
TI  - Electrospraying of polymer solutions: Study of formulation and process
      parameters.
AB  - Over the past decade, electrospraying has proven to be a promising method for the
      preparation of amorphous solid dispersions, an established formulation strategy
      to improve the oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drug compounds. Due to the
      lack of fundamental knowledge concerning adequate single nozzle electrospraying
      conditions, a trial-and-error approach is currently the only option. The
      objective of this paper is to study/investigate the influence of the different
      formulation and process parameters, as well as their interplay, on the formation
      of a stable cone-jet mode as a prerequisite for a reproducible production of
      monodisperse micro- and nanoparticles. To this purpose, different polymers
      commonly used in the formulation of solid dispersions were electrosprayed to map
      out the workable parameter ranges of the process. The experiments evaluate the
      importance of the experimental parameters as flow rate, electric potential
      difference and the distance between the tip of the nozzle and collector. Based on
      this, the type of solvent and the concentration of the polymer solutions, along
      with their viscosity and conductivity, were identified as determinative
      formulation parameters. This information is of utmost importance to rationally
      design further electrospraying methods for the preparation of amorphous solid
      dispersions.

PMID- 28610879
TI  - Preactivated thiolated glycogen as mucoadhesive polymer for drug delivery.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to synthesize and characterize a novel thiolated
      glycogen, so-named S-preactivated thiolated glycogen, as a mucosal drug delivery
      systems and the assessment of its mucoadhesive properties. In this regard,
      glycogen-cysteine and glycogen-cysteine-2-mercaptonicotinic acid conjugates were
      synthesized. Glycogen was activated by an oxidative ring opening with sodium
      periodate resulting in reactive aldehyde groups to which cysteine was bound via
      reductive amination. The obtained thiolated polymer displayed 2203.09+/-200MUmol
      thiol groups per gram polymer. In a second step, the thiol moieties of thiolated
      glycogen were protected by disulfide bond formation with the thiolated aromatic
      residue 2-mercaptonicotinic acid (2MNA). In vitro screening of mucoadhesive
      properties was performed on porcine intestinal mucosa using different methods. In
      particular, in terms of rheology investigations of mucus/polymer mixtures, the S
      preactivated thiolated glycogen showed a 4.7-fold increase in dynamic viscosity
      over a time period of 5h, in comparison to mucus/Simulated Intestinal Fluid
      control. The S-preactivated polymer remained attached on freshly excised porcine
      mucosa for 45h. Analogous results were obtained with tensile studies
      demonstrating a 2.7-fold increase in maximum detachment force and 3.1- fold
      increase in total work of adhesion for the S-preactivated polymer compared to
      unmodified glycogen. Moreover, water-uptake studies showed an over 4h continuing
      weight gain for the S-preactivated polymer, whereas disintegration took place for
      the unmodified polymer within the first hour. Furthermore, even in the highest
      tested concentration of 2mg/ml the new conjugates did not show any cytotoxicity
      on Caco-2 cell monolayer using an MTT assay. According to these results, S
      preactivated glycogen represents a promising type of mucoadhesive polymers useful
      for the development of various mucosal drug delivery systems.

PMID- 28610881
TI  - Impaired innate immune cells in cystic fibrosis: Is it really a surprise?

PMID- 28610880
TI  - Comparison of Analgesic Efficacy of Laparoscope-Assisted and Ultrasound-Guided
      Transversus Abdominis Plane Block after Laparoscopic Colorectal Operation: A
      Randomized, Single-Blind, Non-Inferiority Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been used as a component
      of multimodal analgesia after abdominal operation. We introduced a new
      laparoscope-assisted TAP (LTAP) block technique using intraperitoneal injection
      and compared its analgesic effect with that of an ultrasound-guided TAP (UTAP)
      block in terms of postoperative pain control. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective,
      randomized, single-blinded non-inferiority clinical trial was conducted with
      patients undergoing elective laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer. Eighty
      patients were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to the UTAP and LTAP groups. At the
      end of the operation, opioid consumption and numeric rating scores (NRS; 0 [no
      pain] to 10 [worst pain]) of pain were recorded at 2, 6, 24, and 48 hours
      postoperatively and were compared between the groups. The primary end point was
      pain NRS during rest at 24 hours after operation. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients
      in the LTAP group and 35 patients in the UTAP group completed the study protocol.
      We found no significant difference in mean +/- SD pain NRS during rest at 24
      hours between the LTAP group (3.90 +/- 1.7) and the UTAP group (4.5 +/- 1.9). The
      mean difference in pain NRS during rest at 24 hours was 0.57 (95% CI -0.26 to
      1.41). Because the lower boundary of a 95% CI for the differences in pain NRS was
      > -1, non-inferiority was established. There was no significant difference
      between the groups in NRS pain during rest, NRS pain on movement, and
      postoperative morphine consumption during the 48 hours after operation.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results show our new LTAP block technique was non-inferior to
      the ultrasound-guided technique in providing a TAP block after laparoscopic
      colorectal operation.

PMID- 28610882
TI  - Advantage of Induction Chemoradiotherapy for Lung Cancer in Securing Cancer-Free
      Bronchial Margin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchoplasty is a useful procedure for preserving pulmonary
      function. For this procedure, it is critical to secure the negative surgical
      margin for avoiding local recurrence. In this study, we examined the status of
      the surgical bronchial margin as well as the clinical outcomes in bronchoplasty
      with or without induction chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). METHODS: The medical records of NSCLC patients who underwent
      bronchoplasty at our institution between January 1999 and September 2014 were
      reviewed. We compared the clinical outcomes of bronchoplasty with or without
      induction CRT. RESULTS: A total of 58 NSCLC patients were included in this study.
      Among these, 38 patients underwent primary surgical procedure with bronchoplasty
      and 20 patients underwent bronchoplasty after induction CRT. Intraoperative
      pathologic diagnosis for the surgical margin of the bronchus revealed that the
      patients in the primary surgical procedure group had a significantly higher rate
      of positive surgical margin than the induction CRT group (p = 0.023), requiring
      an additional bronchial resection to secure the negative margin. After additional
      resection of positive bronchial stumps, no significant difference was found in
      the rate of positive margin with postoperative histologic diagnosis between the
      two groups. In addition, no significant differences in the postoperative
      complication rate and overall and recurrence-free survivals were observed between
      the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that induction CRT before
      surgical procedure may help ensure the intraoperative negative surgical margin of
      the bronchus. Our study also indicates that bronchoplasty after induction CRT is
      feasible in comparison with bronchoplasty in primary surgical procedure.

PMID- 28610883
TI  - The Validation of a No-Drain Policy After Thoracoscopic Major Lung Resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The omission of postoperative chest tube drainage may contribute to
      early recovery after thoracoscopic major lung resection; however, a validation
      study is necessary before the dissemination of a selective drain policy. METHODS:
      A total of 162 patients who underwent thoracoscopic anatomical lung resection for
      lung tumors were enrolled in this study. Alveolar air leaks were sealed with a
      combination of bioabsorbable mesh and fibrin glue. The chest tube was removed
      just after the removal of the tracheal tube in selected patients in whom complete
      pneumostasis was obtained. RESULTS: Alveolar air leaks were identified in 112
      (69%) of the 162 patients in an intraoperative water-seal test performed just
      after anatomical lung resection. The chest tube could be removed in the operating
      room in 102 (63%) of the 162 patients. There were no cases of 30-day
      postoperative mortality or in-hospital death. None of the 102 patients who did
      not undergo postoperative chest tube placement required redrainage for a
      subsequent air leak or subcutaneous emphysema. The mean length of postoperative
      hospitalization was shorter in patients who had not undergone postoperative chest
      tube placement than in those who had. The omission of chest tube placement was
      associated with a reduction in the visual analog scale for pain from
      postoperative day 0 until postoperative day 3, in comparison with patients who
      underwent chest tube placement. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of our validation cohort
      revealed that a no-drain policy is safe in selected patients undergoing
      thoracoscopic major lung resection and that it may contribute to an early
      recovery.

PMID- 28610885
TI  - Three-Dimensional-Printed Bioengineered Tracheal Grafts: Preclinical Results and
      Potential for Human Use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to develop a process using three-dimensional (3D) printing
      to create bioengineered tracheal grafts (BETGs) for reconstruction of anterior
      tracheal defects in a large-animal model (porcine) that would have translational
      relevance for potential human use. METHODS: Preoperative computed tomographic
      scans were used to create virtual 3D models of the animal airways. Anatomically
      scaled tracheal grafts were subsequently developed using 3D-printed
      polycaprolactone and extracellular matrix. A 4-cm anterior tracheal defect (about
      50% of the length of the subject trachea) was surgically created in 4-week-old
      female Yorkshire pigs and reconstructed using the customized grafts. Gross and
      microscopic analyses of the grafts were performed. RESULTS: The BETGs were
      implanted in 7 animals. There was adequate graft-native trachea size match at the
      operation. The trachea was successfully reconstructed in all cases. Gross
      examination at autopsy showed a structurally intact, well-incorporated graft.
      Histologic evaluation showed respiratory mucosal coverage and vascularity of the
      graft. Five of 7 animals outlived the 3-month study period. The animals had
      approximately 100% growth during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: We report of a 3D
      printed BETG to repair long-segment anterior tracheal defects in a large-animal
      model. Although the study duration is short, this work presents an efficient
      strategy for tracheal graft bioengineering with potential translational relevance
      for human use.

PMID- 28610884
TI  - Outcomes for Low-Risk Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement: A Benchmark for Aortic
      Valve Technology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two large, randomized trials are underway evaluating transcatheter
      aortic valve replacement (AVR) against conventional surgical AVR. We analyzed
      contemporary, real-world outcomes of surgical AVR in low-risk patients to provide
      a practical benchmark of outcomes and cost for evaluating current and future
      transapical AVR technology. METHODS: From 2010 to 2015, 2,505 isolated AVR
      operations were performed for severe aortic stenosis at 18 statewide cardiac
      institutions. Of these, 2,138 patients had a Society of Thoracic Surgeons
      predicted risk of mortality of less than 4%, and 1,119 met other clinical and
      hemodynamic criteria as outlined in the PARTNER 3 (The Placement of Transcatheter
      Aortic Valves) protocol. Patients with endocarditis, end-stage renal disease,
      ejection fraction of less than 0.45, bicuspid valves, and previous valve
      replacements were excluded. Outcomes of interest included operative death and
      postoperative adverse events. RESULTS: The median Society of Thoracic Surgeons
      predicted risk of mortality for the study-eligible patients was 1.44%, with a
      median age of 72 years (interquartile range [IQR], 65 to 78 years). Operative
      mortality was 1.3%, permanent stroke was 1.3%, and pacemaker requirement was
      4.2%. The most common adverse events were transfusion of 2 or more units of red
      blood cells (18%) and atrial fibrillation (28%). The median length of stay was 6
      days (IQR, 5 to 8 days). Median total hospital cost was $37,999 (IQR, $30,671 to
      $46,138). Examination of complications by age younger than 65 vs 65 or older
      demonstrated a significantly lower need for transfusion (11.2%, p < 0.001) and
      incidence of atrial fibrillation (17.1%, p < 0.001) but no difference in
      operative mortality (2.2% vs 0.9%, p = 0.1), major morbidity (10.4% vs 12.6%, p =
      0.3), or total hospital costs. CONCLUSIONS: Low-risk patients undergoing surgical
      AVR in the current era have excellent results. The most common complications were
      atrial fibrillation and bleeding. These real-world results should provide
      additional context for upcoming transcatheter clinical trial data.

PMID- 28610886
TI  - Conversion From Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting to On-Pump Coronary
      Artery Bypass Grafting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) has been shown to be
      an effective strategy for surgical revascularization. The purpose of this study
      was to define the incidence of intraoperative conversion from OPCAB to on-pump
      coronary artery bypass grafting (ONCAB) and report outcomes based on the reason
      for conversion. METHODS: Starting in July 2007, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons
      database captured patients that were planned OPCAB but then were converted to
      ONCAB. A total of 196,576 patients undergoing planned OPCAB within the Society of
      Thoracic Surgeons National Database from July 2007 to June 2014 were evaluated.
      Patients were grouped according to their intraoperative conversion to
      cardiopulmonary bypass: (1) planned conversion, (2) unplanned conversion for
      visualization, (3) unplanned conversion for hemodynamic instability, and (4) no
      conversion (OPCAB). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine
      risk factors for conversion. RESULTS: The overall rate of conversion from OPCAB
      to ONCAB was 5.5%, with 49.6% of the conversions being planned. When compared
      with those not undergoing conversion (OPCAB, 30-day mortality observed to
      expected ratio [O/E], 0.8), those undergoing conversion to ONCAB experienced
      greater 30-day mortality regardless of etiology of conversion (planned conversion
      O/E, 1.4; unplanned conversion for visualization O/E, 1.6; and unplanned
      conversion for hemodynamic instability O/E, 2.7). Similar O/E ratios were
      observed for renal failure and prolonged ventilation following conversion.
      Logistic regression analysis showed advanced age, ejection fraction less than
      35%, preoperative intraaortic balloon pump placement, increasing number of
      diseased coronary arteries, preoperative heart failure within 2 weeks, and urgent
      procedural status were all independent predictors for conversion to ONCAB (p <=
      0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative conversion from OPCAB to ONCAB remains a
      morbid event with a risk of mortality much higher than expected. Surgeons should
      consider elective ONCAB in those with a high risk for conversion during OPCAB.

PMID- 28610888
TI  - Applying differential dynamic logic to reconfigurable biological networks.
AB  - Qualitative and quantitative modeling frameworks are widely used for analysis of
      biological regulatory networks, the former giving a preliminary overview of the
      system's global dynamics and the latter providing more detailed solutions.
      Another approach is to model biological regulatory networks as hybrid systems,
      i.e., systems which can display both continuous and discrete dynamic behaviors.
      Actually, the development of synthetic biology has shown that this is a suitable
      way to think about biological systems, which can often be constructed as networks
      with discrete controllers, and present hybrid behaviors. In this paper we discuss
      this approach as a special case of the reconfigurability paradigm, well studied
      in Computer Science (CS). In CS there are well developed computational tools to
      reason about hybrid systems. We argue that it is worth applying such tools in a
      biological context. One interesting tool is differential dynamic logic (dL),
      which has recently been developed by Platzer and applied to many case-studies. In
      this paper we discuss some simple examples of biological regulatory networks to
      illustrate how dL can be used as an alternative, or also as a complement to
      methods already used.

PMID- 28610889
TI  - High-resolution CT findings of pulmonary tuberculosis in liver transplant
      patients.
AB  - AIM: To assess the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings in liver
      transplant patients diagnosed with pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The HRCT findings from 19 patients diagnosed
      with pulmonary tuberculosis infection after liver transplantation were reviewed.
      The patients included were 12 men and seven women, age range 23-65 years; mean
      age 57 years. The diagnosis was established with Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      detection in bronchoalveolar lavage, sputum, or biopsy. HRCT images were reviewed
      independently by two observers who reached a consensus decision. The HRCT
      findings were classified as (1) miliary nodules; (2) cavitation and centrilobular
      tree-in-bud nodules; (3) ground-glass attenuation and consolidation; and (4)
      mediastinal lymph node enlargement. RESULTS: The time between the transplantation
      and the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis ranged from 7 to 153 days with an
      average of 79 days. The main HRCT pattern was cavitation and centrilobular tree
      in-bud nodules (79%) followed by mediastinal lymph node enlargement (10.4%),
      ground-glass attenuation or consolidation (5.2%) and miliary nodules (5.2%). None
      of the patients presented pleural effusion. The cavitation and centrilobular tree
      in-bud nodules pattern had upper lobe predominance, and ground-glass attenuation
      and consolidation pattern had middle lobe/lingular segment predominance.
      CONCLUSION: The main HRCT pattern of pulmonary tuberculosis in liver transplant
      patients was cavitation and centrilobular tree-in-bud nodules.

PMID- 28610890
TI  - The Algal Revolution.
AB  - Algae are (mostly) photosynthetic eukaryotes that occupy multiple branches of the
      tree of life, and are vital for planet function and health. In this review, we
      highlight a transformative period in studies of the evolution and functioning of
      this extraordinary group of organisms and their potential for novel applications,
      wrought by high-throughput 'omic' and reverse genetic methods. We cover the
      origin and diversification of algal groups, explore advances in understanding the
      link between phenotype and genotype, consider algal sex determination, and review
      progress in understanding the roots of algal multicellularity. Experimental
      evolution studies to determine how algae evolve in changing environments are
      highlighted, as is their potential as production platforms for compounds of
      commercial interest, such as biofuel precursors, nutraceuticals, or therapeutics.

PMID- 28610887
TI  - A hormonal cue promotes timely follicle cell migration by modulating
      transcription profiles.
AB  - Cell migration is essential during animal development. In the Drosophila ovary,
      the steroid hormone ecdysone coordinates nutrient sensing, growth, and the timing
      of morphogenesis events including border cell migration. To identify downstream
      effectors of ecdysone signaling, we profiled gene expression in wild-type
      follicle cells compared to cells expressing a dominant negative Ecdysone receptor
      or its coactivator Taiman. Of approximately 400 genes that showed differences in
      expression, we validated 16 candidate genes for expression in border and
      centripetal cells, and demonstrated that seven responded to ectopic ecdysone
      activation by changing their transcriptional levels. We found a requirement for
      seven putative targets in effective cell migration, including two other nuclear
      hormone receptors, a calcyphosine-encoding gene, and a prolyl hydroxylase. Thus,
      we identified multiple new genetic regulators modulated at the level of
      transcription that allow cells to interpret information from the environment and
      coordinate cell migration in vivo.

PMID- 28610891
TI  - N-butyldeoxynojirimycin delays motor deficits, cerebellar microgliosis, and
      Purkinje cell loss in a mouse model of mucolipidosis type IV.
AB  - Mucolipidosis type IV (MLIV) is a lysosomal storage disease exhibiting
      progressive intellectual disability, motor impairment, and premature death. There
      is currently no cure or corrective treatment. The disease results from mutations
      in the gene encoding mucolipin-1, a transient receptor potential channel believed
      to play a key role in lysosomal calcium egress. Loss of mucolipin-1 and
      subsequent defects lead to a host of cellular aberrations, including accumulation
      of glycosphingolipids (GSLs) in neurons and other cell types, microgliosis and,
      as reported here, cerebellar Purkinje cell loss. Several studies have
      demonstrated that N-butyldeoxynojirimycin (NB-DNJ, also known as miglustat), an
      inhibitor of the enzyme glucosylceramide synthase (GCS), successfully delays the
      onset of motor deficits, improves longevity, and rescues some of the cerebellar
      abnormalities (e.g., Purkinje cell death) seen in another lysosomal disease known
      as Niemann-Pick type C (NPC). Given the similarities in pathology between MLIV
      and NPC, we examined whether miglustat would be efficacious in ameliorating
      disease progression in MLIV. Using a full mucolipin-1 knockout mouse (Mcoln1-/-),
      we found that early miglustat treatment delays the onset and progression of motor
      deficits, delays cerebellar Purkinje cell loss, and reduces cerebellar
      microgliosis characteristic of MLIV disease. Quantitative mass spectrometry
      analyses provided new data on the GSL profiles of murine MLIV brain tissue and
      showed that miglustat partially restored the wild type profile of white matter
      enriched lipids. Collectively, our findings indicate that early miglustat
      treatment delays the progression of clinically relevant pathology in an MLIV
      mouse model, and therefore supports consideration of miglustat as a therapeutic
      agent for MLIV disease in humans.

PMID- 28610892
TI  - Novel human neuronal tau model exhibiting neurofibrillary tangles and
      transcellular propagation.
AB  - Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's
      disease, frontotemporal dementia and progressive supranuclear palsy, which are
      associated with the pathological aggregation of tau protein into neurofibrillary
      tangles (NFT). Studies have characterized tau as a "prion-like" protein given its
      ability to form distinct, stable amyloid conformations capable of transcellular
      and multigenerational propagation in clonal fashion. It has been proposed that
      progression of tauopathy could be due to the prion-like propagation of tau,
      suggesting the possibility that end-stage pathologies, like NFT formation, may
      require an instigating event such as tau seeding. To investigate this, we applied
      a novel human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) system we have developed to
      serve as a human neuronal model. We introduced the tau repeat domain (tau-RD)
      with P301L and V337M (tau-RD-LM) mutations into hiPSC-derived neurons and
      observed expression of tau-RD at levels similar to total tau in postmortem AD
      brains. Tau aggregation occurred without the addition of recombinant tau fibrils.
      The conditioned media from tau-RD cultures contained tau-RD seeds, which were
      capable of inducing aggregate formation in homotypic mode in non-transduced
      recipient neuronal cultures. The resultant NFTs were thioflavin-positive, silver
      stain-positive, and assumed fibrillary appearance on transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) with immunogold, which revealed paired helical filament 1 (PHF1)
      positive NFTs, representing possible recruitment of endogenous tau in the
      aggregates. Functionally, expression of tau-RD caused neurotoxicity that
      manifested as axon retraction, synaptic density reduction, and enlargement of
      lysosomes. The results of our hiPSC study were reinforced by the observation that
      Tau-RD-LM is excreted in exosomes, which mediated the transfer of human tau to
      wild-type mouse neurons in vivo. Our hiPSC human neuronal system provides a model
      for further studies of tau aggregation and pathology as well as a means to study
      transcellular propagation and related neurodegenerative mechanisms.

PMID- 28610893
TI  - An insight into the molecular mechanism of the temporary enhancement effect of
      isopulegol decanoate on the skin.
AB  - Chemical enhancers are widely used to facilitate drug permeation in transdermal
      drug delivery system (TDDS) and the effect of chemical enhancers is desired to be
      temporary. Though temporary enhancement effect of chemical enhancers has been
      widely discussed, there is still a lack of knowledge about the molecular
      mechanism of temporary enhancement effect. Using the skin permeation of
      flurbiprofen as a probe, the temporary enhancement effect of isopulegol decanoate
      (ISO-10) was evaluated with in vitro permeation experiment and confocal laser
      scanning microscopy (CLSM). In addition, molecular mechanism of skin recovery was
      explored with skin retention of ISO-10, attenuated total reflection Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), molecular dynamic (MD) simulation and
      transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Temporary enhancement effect of ISO-10 was
      observed by the permeation of flurbiprofen after the treatment of 180min.
      Furthermore, temporary enhancement effect of ISO-10 on the diffusion of
      intercellular lipid in the stratum cornuem (SC) was observed by ATR-FTIR,
      molecular dynamic (MD) simulation. The SC barrier function recovered with the
      existence of ISO-10 in the lipid bilayer as indicated by the retention study and
      TEWL. In conclusion, the lipid bilayer accepted the enhancer as a new component
      to form a new stable arrangement, resulted the recovery of the skin barrier
      function. This work processed a novel mechanism of the recovery of skin barrier
      function after the addition of chemical enhancers.

PMID- 28610895
TI  - Editorial overview: Neurobiology of sleep 2017.

PMID- 28610894
TI  - Mangiferin protects rat myocardial tissue against cyclophosphamide induced
      cardiotoxicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mangiferin is a highly potent antioxidant present in mango leaves
      which is utilized for therapeutic purposes. OBJECTIVE: The present study was
      undertaken to evaluate the cardioprotective effect of mangiferin against
      cyclophosphamide induced cardiotoxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were treated
      with 100 mg/kg of mangiferin in alone and interactive groups for 10 days. Apart
      from normal and mangiferin control groups, all the groups were subjected to
      cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg, i.p.) toxicity on Day 1 and effects of different
      treatments were analyzed by changes in serum biomarkers, tissue antioxidant
      levels, electrocardiographic parameters, lipid profile and histopathological
      evaluation. RESULTS: Mangiferin treated group showed decrease in serum biomarker
      enzyme levels and increase in tissue antioxidant levels. Compared to
      cyclophosphamide control group, mangiferin treated animals showed improvement in
      lipid profile, electrocardiographic parameters, histological score and mortality.
      CONCLUSION: The present findings clearly suggest the protective role of
      mangiferin as a powerful antioxidant preventing cardiotoxicity caused by
      cyclophosphamide.

PMID- 28610897
TI  - Efficacy and safety of etomidate-based sedation compared with propofol-based
      sedation during ERCP in low-risk patients: a double-blind, randomized,
      noninferiority trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Etomidate is a short-acting intravenous hypnotic with a
      safety profile that is superior to alternative drugs such as propofol. However,
      there is a lack of evidence on the safety of etomidate in ERCP. The objective of
      this study was to compare efficacy and safety profiles of etomidate and propofol
      for endoscopic sedation. METHODS: This single-center, randomized, double-blind,
      noninferiority trial included patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists
      (ASA) physical status I to II who had been scheduled for ERCP. All patients
      received .05 mg/kg midazolam intravenously as pretreatment before receiving
      etomidate or propofol. Either etomidate or propofol was then administered
      according to group allocation. The primary endpoint was an overall respiratory
      event. A noninferiority margin of 10% was assumed. RESULTS: Sixty-three and 64
      patients were enrolled in the etomidate and propofol groups, respectively.
      Respiratory events were identified in 10 patients (15.6%) in the etomidate group
      and 16 patients (25.4%) on the propofol group, with a rate difference of -9.8% (1
      sided 97.5% confidence interval, -infinity to 4.2%). The overall incidence of
      cardiovascular events tended to be higher in the etomidate group (67.2% vs 50.8%,
      P = .060). In particular, tachycardia (heart rate > 100 beats/min) was more
      common in the etomidate group than in the propofol group (64.1% vs 34.9%, P =
      .001). Transient hypotension tended to be less common in the etomidate group (6.3
      vs 15.9%, P = .084). CONCLUSIONS: Etomidate-based sedation during ERCP was
      noninferior to propofol-based sedation in terms of the overall incidence of
      respiratory events in patients with ASA physical status I to II. (International
      Clinical Trials Registry Platform number: KCT0001926.).

PMID- 28610896
TI  - Breast-conserving therapy for breast cancer: Cosmetic results and options for
      delayed reconstruction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Optimisation of the cosmetic outcome after breast-conserving therapy
      (BCT) is important. We aimed to determine the cosmetic outcome following BCT and
      factors influencing this cosmesis and identify the most favourable options for
      delayed breast reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four reconstructive
      surgeons evaluated the cosmetic outcome of 109 patients after BCT. Additionally,
      the surgeons indicated which patients were amenable for delayed reconstruction
      and the preferred type of reconstruction. The inter- and intra-observer agreement
      of the surgeons was rated. RESULTS: The mean overall cosmetic outcome was rated
      as fair (2.7/4.0, SD 0.9, 1.0-4.0). Risk factors for a poor cosmesis were larger
      breast size (OR 3.81, p = 0.040), larger tumour (OR 1.63, p = 0.028) and axillary
      lymph node dissection (ALND) (OR 3.09, p = 0.013). Reconstruction of the
      ipsilateral side was recommended in 55.6% and 94.5% and contralateral
      reconstruction in 16.7% and 73.3% of patients with good and poor cosmesis,
      respectively. Flap reconstruction and lipofilling were most commonly reported for
      the ipsilateral, and breast reduction for the contralateral breast, with
      reasonable improvement expected (2.2/4.0, SD 0.5, 1.08-3.3). The inter- (0.5-0.7)
      and intra-observer (0.63-0.79) agreement of the cosmesis was moderate to good,
      however, poor regarding the recommended reconstruction techniques (mainly <
      0.50). CONCLUSION: Cosmetic outcome after BCT is influenced by breast and tumour
      size and ALND. Although several reconstructive options are available, the optimal
      method for revision surgery has not yet been determined. Future studies are
      necessary to obtain evidence-based guidelines for reconstructive surgery after
      BCT.

PMID- 28610898
TI  - Immediate versus delayed postpartum use of levonorgestrel contraceptive implants:
      a randomized controlled trial in Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of long-acting, highly effective contraception has the potential
      to improve women's ability to avoid short interpregnancy intervals, which are
      associated with an increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality, and
      preterm delivery. In Uganda, contraceptive implants are not routinely available
      during the immediate postpartum period. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was
      to compare the proportion of women using levonorgestrel contraceptive implants at
      6 months after delivery in women randomized to immediate or delayed insertion.
      STUDY DESIGN: This was a randomized controlled trial among women in Kampala,
      Uganda. Women who desired contraceptive implants were randomly assigned to
      insertion of a 2-rod contraceptive implant system containing 75 mg of
      levonorgestrel immediately following delivery (within 5 days of delivery and
      before discharge from the hospital) or delayed insertion (6 weeks postpartum).
      The primary outcome was implant utilization at 6 months postpartum. RESULTS: From
      June to October 2015, 205 women were randomized, 103 to the immediate group and
      102 to the delayed group. Ninety-three percent completed the 6 month follow-up
      visit. At 6 months, implant use was higher in the immediate group compared with
      the delayed group (97% vs 68%; P < .001), as was the use of any highly effective
      contraceptive (98% vs 81%; P = .001). Women in the immediate group were more
      satisfied with the timing of implant placement. If given the choice, 81% of women
      in the immediate group and 63% of women in the delayed group would choose the
      same timing of placement again (P = .01). There were no serious adverse events in
      either group. CONCLUSION: Offering women the option of initiating contraceptive
      implants in the immediate postpartum period has the potential to increase
      contraceptive utilization, decrease unwanted pregnancies, prevent short
      interpregnancy intervals, and help women achieve their reproductive goals.

PMID- 28610899
TI  - Reproductive rights advocacy: not just for the family-planning community.
AB  - Women and families benefit from access to the full spectrum of reproductive care,
      including family-planning services. We commend our family-planning colleagues on
      their tireless dedication to preserve the rights of women through advocacy. While
      several of our perinatology peers have also set an example by dedication to these
      issues, advocacy for patient access to reproductive care options has not been a
      focus of the larger perinatology community. The time has come for individual
      perinatologists, as well as the overall perinatology community, to join them and
      do the work needed to preserve access to safe care, including contraception and
      abortion services. In this call to action, we detail several ways that
      individuals and the community can become more involved in working for
      reproductive rights.

PMID- 28610901
TI  - Neural dynamics of two players when using nonverbal cues to gauge intentions to
      cooperate during the Prisoner's Dilemma Game.
AB  - Social interaction is a fundamental part of our daily lives; however, exactly how
      our brains use social cues to determine whether to cooperate without being
      exploited remains unclear. In this study, we used an electroencephalography (EEG)
      hyperscanning approach to investigate the effect of face-to-face contact on the
      brain mechanisms underlying the decision to cooperate or defect in an iterated
      version of the Prisoner's Dilemma Game. Participants played the game either in
      face-to-face or face-blocked conditions. The face-to-face interaction led players
      to cooperate more often, providing behavioral evidence for the use of these
      nonverbal cues in their social decision-making. In addition, the EEG
      hyperscanning identified temporal dynamics and inter-brain synchronization across
      the cortex, providing evidence for involvement of these regions in the processing
      of face-to-face cues to read each other's intent to cooperate. Most notably, the
      power of the alpha frequency band (8-13Hz) in the right temporoparietal region
      immediately after seeing a round outcome significantly differed between face-to
      face and face-blocked conditions and predicted whether an individual would adopt
      a 'cooperation' or 'defection' strategy. Moreover, inter-brain synchronies within
      this time and frequency range reflected the use of these strategies. This study
      provides evidence for how the cortex uses nonverbal social cues to determine
      other's intentions, and highlights the significance of power in the alpha band
      and inter-brain phase synchronizations in high-level socio-cognitive processing.

PMID- 28610900
TI  - Persistence of fimbrial tissue on the ovarian surface after salpingectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Salpingectomy is recommended as a risk-reducing strategy for
      epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. The gold standard procedure is complete tubal
      excision. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of
      residual fimbrial/tubal tissue on ovarian surfaces after salpingectomy. STUDY
      DESIGN: Prospective analysis of patients who underwent salpingo-oophorectomy with
      or without hysterectomy for benign indications, early cervical cancer, or low
      risk endometrial cancer at a UK National Health Service Trust. Salpingectomy with
      or without hysterectomy was performed initially, followed by oophorectomy within
      the same operation. Separately retrieved tubes and ovaries were sectioned
      serially and examined completely histologically. The main outcome measure was
      histologically identified fimbrial/ tubal tissue on ovarian surface. Chi
      square/Fisher's exact tests were used to evaluate categoric variables. RESULTS:
      Twenty-five consecutive cases (mean age, 54.8 +/- 5.0 years) that comprised 41
      adnexae (unilateral, 9; bilateral, 16) were analyzed. Seventeen (68.0%), 5
      (20.0%), and 3 (12.0%) procedures were performed by consultant gynecologists,
      subspecialty/specialist trainees, and consultant gynecologic oncologists,
      respectively. Twelve of 25 procedures (48.0%) were laparoscopic, and 13 of 25
      procedures (52.0%) involved laparotomy. Four of 25 patients (16.0%; 95%
      confidence interval, 4.5-36.1%) or 4 of 41 adnexae (9.8%; 95% confidence
      interval, 2.7-23.1%) showed residual microscopic fimbrial tissue on the ovarian
      surface. Tubes/ovaries were free of adhesions in 23 cases. Two cases had dense
      adnexal adhesions, but neither had residual fimbrial tissue on the ovary.
      Residual fimbrial tissue was not associated significantly with surgical route or
      experience (consultant, 3/20 [15%]; trainee, 1/5 [20%]; P=1.0). CONCLUSION:
      Residual fimbrial tissue remains on the ovary after salpingectomy in a
      significant proportion of cases and could impact the level of risk-reduction that
      is obtained.

PMID- 28610902
TI  - Post-stimulus fMRI and EEG responses: Evidence for a neuronal origin hypothesised
      to be inhibitory.
AB  - Post-stimulus undershoots, negative responses following cessation of stimulation,
      are widely observed in functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) blood oxygenation
      level dependent (BOLD) data. However, the debate surrounding whether the origin
      of this response phase is neuronal or vascular, and whether it provides
      functionally relevant information, that is additional to what is contained in the
      primary response, means that undershoots are widely overlooked. We simultaneously
      recorded electroencephalography (EEG), BOLD and cerebral blood-flow (CBF)
      [obtained from arterial spin labelled (ASL) fMRI] fMRI responses to hemifield
      checkerboard stimulation to test the potential neural origin of the fMRI post
      stimulus undershoot. The post-stimulus BOLD and CBF signal amplitudes in both
      contralateral and ipsilateral visual cortex depended on the post-stimulus power
      of the occipital 8-13Hz (alpha) EEG neuronal activity, such that trials with
      highest EEG power showed largest fMRI undershoots in contralateral visual cortex.
      This correlation in post-stimulus EEG-fMRI responses was not predicted by the
      primary response amplitude. In the contralateral visual cortex we observed a
      decrease in both cerebral rate of oxygen metabolism (CMRO2) and CBF during the
      post-stimulus phase. In addition, the coupling ratio (n) between CMRO2 and CBF
      was significantly lower during the positive contralateral primary response phase
      compared with the post-stimulus phase and we propose that this reflects an
      altered balance of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal activity. Together our data
      provide strong evidence that the post-stimulus phase of the BOLD response has a
      neural origin which reflects, at least partially, an uncoupling of the neuronal
      responses driving the primary and post-stimulus responses, explaining the
      uncoupling of the signals measured in the two response phases. We suggest our
      results are consistent with inhibitory processes driving the post-stimulus EEG
      and fMRI responses. We therefore propose that new methods are required to model
      the post-stimulus and primary responses independently, enabling separate
      investigation of response phases in cognitive function and neurological disease.

PMID- 28610904
TI  - An unusual cause of biliary metal stent obstruction.

PMID- 28610903
TI  - Comparison of infectious influenza A virus quantification methods employing
      immuno-staining.
AB  - Infections caused by highly variable influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose perpetual
      threat to humans as well as to animals. Their surveillance requires reliable
      methods for their qualitative and quantitative analysis. The most frequently
      utilized quantification method is the titration by plaque assay or 50% tissue
      culture infectious dose estimation by TCID50. However, both methods are time
      consuming. Moreover, some IAV strains form hardly visible plaques, and the
      evaluation of TCID50 is subjective. Employment of immuno-staining into the
      classic protocols for plaque assay or TCID50 assay enables to avoid these
      problems and moreover, shorten the time needed for reliable infectious virus
      quantification. Results obtained by these two alternatives of classic virus
      titration methods were compared to the newer rapid culture assay (RCA), where
      titration endpoint of infectious virus was estimated microscopically based on the
      immuno-staining of infected cells. In our analysis of compared methods, five
      different IAV strains of H1, H3 and H5 subtypes were used and results were
      statistically evaluated. We conclude that the RCA proved to be at least as
      reliable in assessment of infectious viral titer as plaque assay and TCID50,
      considering the employed immuno-staining.

PMID- 28610905
TI  - Anal cancer: French Intergroup Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis,
      treatment and follow-up (SNFGE, FFCD, GERCOR, UNICANCER, SFCD, SFED, SFRO,
      SNFCP).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This document is a summary of the French Intergroup guidelines
      regarding the management of anal carcinomas, published in November 2016. METHODS:
      It is a collaborative work produced under the auspices of the majority of the
      French medical societies involved in the management of anal cancer. It is based
      on the previous guidelines published in 2010. Recommendations are graded in three
      categories, according to the amount of evidence found in the literature. RESULTS:
      Non-metastatic anal carcinomas can be divided into two risk groups, according to
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or endorectal-ultrasonograpy. Localized small
      cancers (T1N0) are mainly treated by exclusive radiation therapy in the case of
      cancers of the anal canal, or by surgery in the case of cancers of the anal
      margin. The recommended treatment of locally advanced tumours (T2-T4, N0-N2) is
      definitive concomitant radio-chemotherapy. Salvage surgery should be reserved for
      patients with poor response, tumour progression or local relapse after radio
      chemotherapy, or in cases of persistent vaginal fistula or total anal
      incontinence after the cessation of radio-chemotherapy. In the case of metastatic
      tumours, current therapeutic recommendations are based on less robust evidence;
      with chemotherapy playing a major role. CONCLUSION: These recommendations are
      permanently being reviewed, and each individual case must be discussed inside a
      multidisciplinary team.

PMID- 28610906
TI  - A walnut-containing meal had similar effects on early satiety, CCK, and PYY, but
      attenuated the postprandial GLP-1 and insulin response compared to a nut-free
      control meal.
AB  - Regular nut consumption is associated with lower adiposity and reduced weight
      gain in adulthood. Walnut feeding studies have observed minimal effect on body
      weight despite potential additional energy intake. Several mechanisms may explain
      why consuming nuts promotes weight control, including increased early phase
      satiety, possibly reflected in postprandial response of gastrointestinal and
      pancreatic peptides hypothesized to affect appetite. The purpose of this study
      was to compare postprandial insulin, glucagon and gastrointestinal peptide
      response and satiety following a meal with ~54% of energy from walnuts or cream
      cheese, using a within-subject crossover study design in overweight/obese adults
      (N = 28). Sixty minutes after the walnut-containing meal, glucagon-like peptide-1
      was lower than after the reference meal (p=0.0433), and peptide YY,
      cholecystokinin and ghrelin did not differ after the two meals. Sixty and 120 min
      after the walnut-containing meal, pancreatic polypeptide (p = 0.0014 and p =
      0.0002) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0079)
      were lower than after the reference meal, and 120 min after the walnut-containing
      meal, glucagon was higher (p=0.0069). Insulin and C-peptide increased at 60 min
      in response to both meals but were lower at 120 min after the walnut-containing
      meal (p=0.0349 and 0.0237, respectively). Satiety measures were similar after
      both meals. These findings fail to support the hypothesis that acute postprandial
      gastrointestinal peptide response to a walnut-containing meal contributes to
      increased satiety. However, inclusion of walnuts attenuated the postprandial
      insulin response, which may contribute to the more favorable lipid profile
      observed in association with regular walnut consumption.

PMID- 28610907
TI  - Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-like peptide and 20-hydroxyecdysone regulate the
      growth and development of the male genital disk through different mechanisms in
      the silkmoth, Bombyx mori.
AB  - It is well established that ecdysteroids play pivotal roles in the regulation of
      insect molting and metamorphosis. However, the mechanisms by which ecdysteroids
      regulate the growth and development of adult organs after pupation are poorly
      understood. Recently, we have identified insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-like
      peptides (IGFLPs), which are secreted after pupation under the control of 20
      hydroxyecdysone (20E). In the silkmoth, Bombyx mori, massive amounts of Bombyx
      IGFLP (BIGFLP) are present in the hemolymph during pupal-adult development,
      suggesting its importance in the regulation of adult tissue growth. Thus, we
      hypothesized that the growth and development of adult tissues including imaginal
      disks are regulated by the combined effects of BIGFLP and 20E. In this study, we
      investigated the growth-promoting effects of BIGFLP and 20E using the male
      genital disks of B. mori cultured ex vivo, and further analyzed the cell
      signaling pathways mediating hormone actions. We demonstrate that 20E induces the
      elongation of genital disks, that both hormones stimulate protein synthesis in an
      additive manner, and that BIGFLP and 20E exert their effects through the
      insulin/IGF signaling pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway,
      respectively. These results show that the growth and development of the genital
      disk are coordinately regulated by both BIGFLP and 20E.

PMID- 28610908
TI  - The ABC transporter ABCH-9C is needed for cuticle barrier construction in Locusta
      migratoria.
AB  - ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters constitute a large superfamily of
      proteins that mediate transport of a diverse number of substrates including
      nutrients, lipids and xenobiotics across membranes serving a variety of
      developmental and physiological functions. Here, we report on the molecular
      properties and biological roles of the ABC transporter LmABCH-9C in the migratory
      locust Locusta migratoria. LmABCH-9C was expressed continuously during nymphal
      development in all tissues including the integument. Expression was highest just
      after molting. Suppression of LmABCH-9C transcript levels by RNA interference
      (RNAi) in nymphs provoked death during or soon after molting to the next stage.
      These nymphs lost weight within minutes after molting. Moreover, high humidity
      rescued the lethality of molted dsLmABCH-9C-injected nymphs. In histological
      experiments, we find that the amounts of inner-cuticular lipids are reduced in
      nymphs with suppressed LmABCH-9C expression. These data together indicate that
      LmABCH-9C is needed for lipid-dependent desiccation resistance, paralleling the
      function of ABCH-9C in Tribolium castaneum. Hence, the function of this ABC
      transporter seems to be conserved across insect species ranging from
      hemimetabolous (L. migratoria) to holometabolous (T. castaneum) species. In
      addition, we find that cuticle inward impermeability is compromised in nymphs
      with reduced LmABCH-9C function. In summary, consistent with the model that
      cuticular lipids are necessary to prevent desiccation and penetration of
      xenobiotics in insects, we hypothesize that LmABCH-9C is involved in the
      construction of a lipid-based barrier at the surface of the cuticle especially
      after molting to protect the animal against uncontrolled water loss and entry.
      Susceptibility of this ABC transporter to RNAi-mediated knockdown designates it
      as an excellent target for RNAi-based insect pest control.

PMID- 28610910
TI  - Effects of extinction in multiple contexts on renewal of instrumental responses.
AB  - In two experiments with rats, we investigated the effects of using multiple
      contexts during extinction on renewal of lever-pressing behavior. During the
      first phase of both experiments, rats were reinforced to press a lever for food
      in Context A. Then, responses underwent extinction. For half of the animals,
      extinction sessions were conducted in a single context, whereas the other half
      received extinction in three different contexts. In Experiment 1, we observed
      that extinction in multiple contexts eliminated ABC renewal, but had no
      detectable impact on ABA renewal. Experiment 2 revealed that conducting extended
      extinction training in multiple contexts attenuated ABA renewal. Theoretical and
      clinical implications of the present findings are discussed.

PMID- 28610911
TI  - Airway Glucose Homeostasis: A New Target in the Prevention and Treatment of
      Pulmonary Infection.
AB  - In health, the glucose concentration of airway surface liquid (ASL) is 0.4 mM,
      about 12 times lower than the blood glucose concentration. Airway glucose
      homeostasis comprises a set of processes that actively maintain low ASL glucose
      concentration against the transepithelial gradient. Tight junctions between
      airway epithelial cells restrict paracellular glucose movement. Epithelial
      cellular glucose transport and metabolism removes glucose from ASL. Low ASL
      glucose concentrations make an important contribution to airway defense against
      infection, limiting bacterial growth by restricting nutrient availability. Both
      airway inflammation, which increases glucose permeability of tight junctions, and
      hyperglycemia, which increases the transepithelial glucose gradient, increase ASL
      glucose concentrations, with the greatest effect seen where they coexist.
      Elevated ASL glucose drives proliferation of bacteria able to use glucose as a
      carbon source, including Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and other
      gram-negative bacteria. Clinically, this appears to be important in driving
      exacerbations of chronic lung disease, especially in patients with comorbid
      diabetes mellitus. Drugs can restore airway glucose homeostasis by reducing the
      permeability of tight junctions (eg, metformin), increasing epithelial cell
      glucose transport (eg, beta-agonists, insulin), and/or by lowering blood glucose
      (eg, dapagliflozin). In cell culture and animal models these reduce ASL glucose
      concentrations and limit bacterial growth, preventing infection. Observational
      studies in humans indicate that airway glucose homeostasis-modifying drugs could
      prevent chronic lung disease exacerbations if tested in randomized trials.

PMID- 28610909
TI  - RIP1 has a role in CD40-mediated apoptosis in human follicular lymphoma cells.
AB  - CD40 is a cell surface receptor which belongs to tumor necrosis factor receptor
      (TNFR) family members. It transmits signals that regulate diverse cellular
      responses such as proliferation, differentiation, adhesion molecule expression
      and apoptosis. Unlike other TNFR family members (TRAIL-R, Fas-R and TNFR1), the
      CD40 cytoplasmic tail lacks death domain. However, CD40 is capable of inducing
      apoptosis in different types of cancer cells including lymphoma. The apoptotic
      effect of CD40 is linked to the involvement of Fas, TRAIL or receptor interacting
      protein 1 (RIP1) kinase. We have previously shown that CD40 activation has anti
      apoptotic or apoptotic effect in follicular lymphoma (FL) cell lines. In this
      study, we investigated the mechanism by which CD40 mediates apoptosis in a
      follicular lymphoma cell line, HF4.9. We show here that CD40-induced apoptosis
      was dependent on caspase-8 activation because caspase-8 specific inhibitor, Z
      IETD-FMK completely prevented apoptosis. Therefore, the involvement of TRAIL, Fas
      and RIP1 in caspase-8 activation was examined. The exogenous TRAIL-induced
      apoptosis was fully prevented by anti-TRAIL neutralizing antibody. However, the
      antibody had no effect on CD40-induced apoptosis indicating that CD40 did not
      induce the expression of endogenous TRAIL in HF4.9 cells. Moreover, the cells
      were not sensitive to Fas-mediated apoptosis. Interestingly, RIP1 specific
      inhibitor, necrostatin-1 decreased CD40-induced apoptosis, which showed that RIP1
      has a role in caspase-8 activation. In conclusion, the survival or apoptotic
      effects of CD40-mediated signaling might be related to the differentiation stages
      of FL cells.

PMID- 28610912
TI  - Characteristics of cardiomyopathy in Alstrom syndrome: Prospective single-center
      data on 38 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alstrom syndrome (AS) is a rare monogenetic disorder with multi-organ
      involvement. Complex metabolic disturbances are common and cardiomyopathy is a
      well-recognized feature in infants as well as in older children and adults.
      Although the mechanism of cardiomyopathy is not known, previous reports suggest
      that individuals with infantile-onset cardiac disease recover completely.
      METHODS: In this single center prospective series of 38 children and adults (age
      range 1.7 to 37.9years; 20 females) with AS, we evaluated cardiac manifestations
      in detail, in the context of specific ALMS1 mutations and multisystem
      involvement. All patients underwent ALMS1 sequencing, biochemical testing,
      electrocardiogram, and echocardiographic imaging with speckle tracking to
      evaluate systolic strain; 21 patients underwent cardiac magnetic resonance
      imaging with T1 mapping. RESULTS: Approximately half of patients (17/38) had a
      previous diagnosis of cardiomyopathy. Global longitudinal strain, a measure of
      systolic contractile function, was abnormal in 94% of patients and correlated
      with body mass index (r=0.602, p=0.002) and C-reactive protein level (r=0.56,
      p=0.004), but only in children. Electrocardiographic abnormalities were seen in
      two-thirds of patients, and left ventricular dilatation and/or dysfunction was
      present in 4 adults and 4 children. CONCLUSION: AS patients with a history of
      resolved infantile cardiomyopathy continue to have residual impairment in cardiac
      function. For patients with a normal ejection fraction and no prior cardiac
      history, strain can be abnormal, suggesting subclinical cardiac involvement.
      Close cardiac screening and aggressive modification of other manifestations of AS
      that are risk factors for cardiac disease, including obesity, inflammation,
      diabetes and dyslipidemia, are essential in caring for patients with AS.

PMID- 28610913
TI  - Correlation between urinary GAG and anti-idursulfase ERT neutralizing antibodies
      during treatment with NICIT immune tolerance regimen: A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Antibodies to intravenous idursulfase enzyme replacement therapy
      (ERT) for patients with Hunter syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type II, MPS II)
      can have a harmful clinical impact, including both increasing risk of infusion
      reactions and inhibiting therapeutic activity. Thus, failure to monitor anti
      idursulfase antibodies and neutralizing antibodies, and delays in reporting
      results, may postpone critical clinical decisions. HYPOTHESIS: Urinary
      glycosaminoglycan (GAG) levels may be used as a biomarker for anti-idursulfase
      antibodies and neutralizing antibodies to improve timeliness in monitoring and
      managing ERT. METHODS: This is a case report describing a patient with MPS II
      with high levels of neutralizing antibodies and worsened clinical status who was
      treated for five years with a non-immunosuppressive and non-cytotoxic immune
      tolerance (NICIT) regimen, consisting of intravenous immune globulin and frequent
      infusions of idursulfase. Neutralizing antibodies and total anti-idursulfase
      antibodies were measured by two different methods, the direct 1,9
      dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) assay and cetylpyridinium chloride carbazole-borate
      (CPC) assay. RESULTS: Neutralizing antibodies, measured as percent inhibition of
      enzyme activity and also by total neutralizing antibody titer, were correlated
      with quantitative urinary GAG measured by DMB assay (p=0.026, p=0.0067), and
      quantitative urinary GAG by CPC assay with percent inhibition of enzyme activity
      by neutralizing antibodies (p=0.0475). The NICIT regimen showed a sustained
      immune tolerance after five years and was well-tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary
      GAG, measured by DMB assay, may be a biomarker for anti-idursulfase neutralizing
      antibodies and is useful for managing immune tolerance regimens for patients with
      MPS II who have high levels of anti-idursulfase neutralizing antibodies. This
      study highlights the importance of regular and frequent monitoring of urinary GAG
      in patients with MPS II who are receiving ERT. The NICIT regimen, with less drug
      toxicities, may be preferred in patients with MPS who have a high risk of
      infections and whose disease progresses less rapidly than some other lysosomal
      storage diseases, such as infantile Pompe disease.

PMID- 28610914
TI  - An increase level of acylation stimulating protein is correlated with metabolic
      risk markers in North Indian obese women.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The present study was to investigate the association between
      serum acylation stimulating protein (ASP) level with metabolic risk factors in
      North Indian obese women. METHODS: This is a case control study, total n=322
      women aged between 20 and 45 years (n=162 with metabolic syndrome & n=160 without
      metabolic syndrome) were recruited for the study according to National
      Cholesterol Education Program Treatment Panel (NCEPATP) guidelines. Serum ASP
      level were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Results
      indicated that circulating ASP and other metabolic risk factors (waist
      circumference, triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose etc) were significantly
      higher in women with metabolic syndrome (WmetS) than in women without syndrome
      (WometS) (p<0.001). Furthermore circulating ASP was significantly higher
      possitively correlated with waist circumference (r=0.51, p<0.001), triglyceride
      (r=0.56, p<0.001), glucose (r=0.70, p<0.001), and negatively correlated with high
      density lipoprotein(r=-0.56, p<0.001) in women with metabolic syndrome.
      CONCLUSIONS: Conclusively circulating ASP was found to be significantly
      associated with hyperlipidemia, obesity and obesity related disorders in North
      Indian obese women.

PMID- 28610915
TI  - Association between insulin resistance and total plasma homocysteine levels in
      type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in south west Nigeria.
AB  - AIM: To determine the levels of serum homocysteine and its association with
      insulin resistance among T2DM patients at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching
      Hospital, Ile Ife Nigeria. METHODS: It was a cross sectional study. It involved
      consecutive recruitment of 100 T2DM subjects with 100 age and sex matched
      controls. The fasting plasma glucose, serum creatinine, fasting lipid profile,
      glycosylated haemoglobin levels, fasting serum insulin and plasma homocysteine
      concentration were done. Insulin resistance was also determined. SPSS version
      17.0 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of subjects was not
      significantly different from controls. (58.9+/-8.3 vs. 59.0+/-8.3years, p=0.926
      respectively). Mean Homocysteine level (tHcy) was significantly higher among T2DM
      subjects compared to controls (27.4+/-12.1 and 8.3+/-3.2MUmol/L respectively,
      p=0.0001). Hyperhomocystinaemia was commoner among diabetic subjects compared
      with controls (81% vs. 5%, p<0.0001). T2DM with hyperhomocystinaemia were more
      likely to have poorer glucose control profile using glycated haemoglobin (7.4+/
      1.9 vs 6.4+/-1.4%, p=0.04) and fasting blood glucose 8.6+/-2.2 vs 7.5+/-2.4mmol/L
      p=0.047 and insulin resistance (4.4+/-4.3 vs. 2.0+/-0.6, p=0.02) compared with
      T2DM with normohomocystenaemia. There were significant associations between
      hyperhomocystinaemic T2DM patients and IR, HbA1c, TC, TG and LDL cholesterol.
      CONCLUSION: The study showed higher homocysteine levels in T2DM than controls.
      Homocysteine level is worsened by increasing insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia
      and poor glucose control. Homocysteine level is a potential cardiovascular risk
      marker in type 2 diabetic mellitus subjects.

PMID- 28610916
TI  - The rhizoferrin biosynthetic gene in the fungal pathogen Rhizopus delemar is a
      novel member of the NIS gene family.
AB  - Iron is essential for growth and in low iron environments such as serum many
      bacteria and fungi secrete ferric iron-chelating molecules called siderophores.
      All fungi produce hydroxamate siderophores with the exception of Mucorales fungi,
      which secrete rhizoferrin, a polycarboxylate siderophore. Here we investigated
      the biosynthesis of rhizoferrin by the opportunistic human pathogen, Rhizopus
      delemar. We searched the genome of R. delemar 99-880 for a homologue of the
      bacterial NRPS-independent siderophore (NIS) protein, SfnaD, that is involved in
      biosynthesis of staphyloferrin A in Staphylococcus aureus. A protein was
      identified in R. delemar with 22% identity and 37% similarity with SfnaD,
      containing an N-terminal IucA/IucC family domain, and a C-terminal conserved
      ferric iron reductase FhuF-like transporter domain. Expression of the putative
      fungal rhizoferrin synthetase (rfs) gene was repressed by iron. The rfs gene was
      cloned and expressed in E.coli and siderophore biosynthesis from citrate and
      diaminobutane was confirmed using high resolution LC-MS. Substrate specificity
      was investigated showing that Rfs produced AMP when oxaloacetic acid,
      tricarballylic acid, ornithine, hydroxylamine, diaminopentane and diaminopropane
      were employed as substrates. Based on the production of AMP and the presence of a
      mono-substituted rhizoferrin, we suggest that Rfs is a member of the superfamily
      of adenylating enzymes. We used site-directed mutagenesis to mutate selected
      conserved residues predicted to be in the Rfs active site. These studies revealed
      that H484 is essential for Rfs activity and L544 may play a role in amine
      recognition by the enzyme. This study on Rfs is the first characterization of a
      fungal NIS enzyme. Future work will determine if rhizoferrin biosynthesis is
      required for virulence in Mucorales fungi.

PMID- 28610917
TI  - Rapid and sustained antidepressant effects of resolvin D1 and D2 in a chronic
      unpredictable stress model.
AB  - Resolvin D1 (RvD1) and D2 (RvD2) are lipid mediators that are derived from
      docosahexaenoic acid. We recently demonstrated that intracerebroventricular
      (i.c.v.) infusions of RvD1 or RvD2 attenuate lipopolysaccharide-induced
      depression-like behaviors via mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling.
      However, the antidepressant effects of RvD1 and RvD2 have not been fully
      investigated. Here, we examined the antidepressant effects of RvD1 and RvD2 using
      the tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST) in murine chronic
      unpredictable stress (CUS) model. Male BALB/c mice (7 weeks) were subjected to 5
      weeks of CUS and then received with a single i.c.v. infusion of RvD1 (10ng), RvD2
      (10ng), or vehicle. In vehicle-infused mice, CUS significantly increased
      immobility in the TST both 2 and 24h after i.c.v. infusion, these depression-like
      behaviors were significantly ameliorated by RvD1 or RvD2. Similar results were
      obtained from the FST. Intracerebroventricular infusion of RvD1 or RvD2 did not
      affect locomotor activity. These results demonstrate that RvD1 and RvD2 produce
      rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in the CUS model.

PMID- 28610918
TI  - CD155 blockade improves survival in experimental sepsis by reversing dendritic
      cell dysfunction.
AB  - Immunosuppression is involved in septic processes, and results in an inability to
      eradicate the primary infection as well as a propensity to acquire secondary
      infections. In the present study, we found that the expression of CD155 on
      dendritic cells (DCs) and TIGIT on T cells were strikingly increased in septic
      mice. Furthermore, anti-CD155 antibody treatment could improve survival rate in
      mouse sepsis models through deceasing bacterial burden in both blood and
      peritoneal lavage fluid. Meanwhile, CD155 blockade efficiently increased the
      expression of TNF-a, IL-6 and decreased the level of IL-10 in blood and
      peritoneal lavage fluid of septic mice. In addition, overexpression of CD155 did
      not affect DCs maturation marker genes, but significantly increased the
      production of IL-10 and reduced the production of IL-12p40 and IL-12p70.
      Consequently, our data suggest that increase of CD155 on DCs promotes
      immunosuppressive effects by modulating cytokine production in sepsis.

PMID- 28610919
TI  - Neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells induced by the transgene
      mediated overexpression of single transcription factors.
AB  - Pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can differentiate into multiple
      cell lineages, thus, providing one of the best platforms to study molecular
      mechanisms during cell differentiation. Recently, we have reported rapid and
      efficient differentiation of hESCs into functional neurons by introducing a
      cocktail of synthetic mRNAs encoding five transcription factors (TFs): NEUROG1,
      NEUROG2, NEUROG3, NEUROD1, and NEUROD2. Here we further tested a possibility that
      even single transcription factors, when expressed ectopically, can differentiate
      hESCs into neurons. To this end, we established hESC lines in which each of these
      TFs can be overexpressed by the doxycycline-inducible piggyBac vector. The
      overexpression of any of these five TFs indeed caused a rapid and rather uniform
      differentiation of hESCs, which were identified as neurons based on their
      morphologies, qRT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, calcium-imaging
      analyses and patch clamp recordings demonstrated that these differentiated cells
      are electrophysiologically functional. Interestingly, neural differentiations
      occurred despite the cell culture conditions that rather promote the maintenance
      of the undifferentiated state. These results indicate that over-expression of
      each of these five TFs can override the pluripotency-specific gene network and
      force hESCs to differentiate into neurons.

PMID- 28610920
TI  - Photoinactivation related dynamics of ctenophore photoproteins: Insights from
      molecular dynamics simulation under electric-field.
AB  - Photoinactivation is a common phenomenon in bioluminescence ctenophore
      photoproteins (e.g mnemiopsin, berovin and BfosPP) with still unknown mechanism.
      The activity of coelenterate photoproteins (e.g aequorin), which has high
      structural similarity with ctenophore photoproteins, is not affected by light.
      Recently, we have characterized the effects of light on ctenophore photoprotein
      mnemiopsin, in different conformations, which has demonstrated light induced
      structural changes, uniquely secondary structures, of both apo and holo
      mnemiopsin. This paper is further expansion of our previous work, by applying
      molecular dynamics simulations to investigate photoinactivation related dynamics
      of berovin at atomistic level, in comparison with aequorin, under the influence
      of electric component of electromagnetic field. The results have indicated that
      the intense electric filed could influence structure of both berovin and aequorin
      but in different manner, whereas moderate electric field only effects on
      berovin's structure remarkably. In this case, increased helicity of residues E180
      M193 and decreased helical contents of L38-D46 and L125-D138 segments are
      considerable in berovin as well as flexibility elevation of calcium binding
      loops. These changes cause structural expansion of berovin, especially at N
      terminal domain, in direction of electric field. In conclusion, the induced
      structural changes of mentioned helical parts together with elevated fluctuation
      of their adjacent segments, N26-D46 and M193-Y206, indicate the influence of
      light on substrate stabilizing residues, Arg41 and Y204. This condition could
      presumably leads to inactivation of bioluminescence reaction due to separation of
      substrate from the cavity of the protein.

PMID- 28610921
TI  - Alterations in conformational topology and interaction dynamics caused by L418A
      mutation leads to activity loss of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isocitrate lyase.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis isocitrate lyase (MtbICL) is a key enzyme of the
      glyoxylate cycle that catalyzes the cleavage of isocitrate to succinate and
      glyoxylate and is a potential antituberculosis drug target. The aim of this
      research was to explore the structural alterations induced by L418A point
      mutation that caused the loss of enzyme activity. In-depth structural analyses
      were carried out for understanding the influence of L418A mutation using
      techniques, viz. molecular dynamics, principal component analysis, time-dependent
      secondary structure, residue interaction network and molecular docking. Since
      L418A mutation site is structurally far from the active site, it cannot influence
      the binding of the substrate directly. Our results showed that collective
      motions, residual mobility, and flexibility of the enzyme increased upon
      mutation. The mutated residue changed the global conformational dynamics of the
      system along with the residue-residue interaction network, leading to a loss of
      the enzyme activity. The docking results suggest that L418A mutation influenced
      the binding interactions of the substrate with several residues in the active
      site of MtbICL. This study provides information on the structural dynamics of
      MtbICL and highlights the importance of residue level interactions in the
      protein. Thus, our results may provide significant guidance to the scientific
      community engaged in designing potent inhibitors targeting MtbICL.

PMID- 28610923
TI  - L368F/V408F double mutant of IBD of LEDGF/p75 retains interaction with M178I
      mutant of HIV-1 integrase.
AB  - Lens-epithelium-derived-growth factor (LEDGF/p75) is an essential host protein
      for integration of HIV-1 DNA into host genome. Earlier alanine scanning
      mutational analysis has revealed that residues I365, D366 and F406 in the
      integrase binding domain (IBD) of p75 are critical for interaction with HIV-1
      integrase (IN), while K364, V408 have intermediate effect and residues N367,
      L368, R405, K407 show wild type binding with IN. To gain insight into
      contribution of side chains of L368 and V408 that are adjacent to critical
      residues I365 and F406, respectively, site directed mutation of these residues to
      Ile/Leu, Met and Phe has been performed and characterized in this study. In
      contrast to alanine substitution, L368F mutation showed a ~25% decrease, while
      V408L and V408F showed wild type binding, to IN. Docking analysis of I365, D366
      and F406 mutants of IBD with IN predicts that interaction between residue
      M178(IN) and I365(IBD) might lead to an encounter complex formation. Accordingly,
      M178I mutant of IN failed to interact with IBD. Interestingly, a L368F/V408F
      double mutant of IBD restored binding to M178I mutant of IN, indicating that
      altered hydrophobicity in the inter helical loops of IBD might make I365 more
      accessible for interaction with IN.

PMID- 28610922
TI  - Central administration of GLP-1 and GIP decreases feeding in mice.
AB  - Glucagon-like peptide-1 amide (GLP-1) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP)
      are incretin hormones regulating energy metabolism. GLP-1 and GIP combination is
      suggested as a promising therapeutic strategy for treatment of obesity and
      diabetes. However, the neuronal mechanisms are not yet investigated. In the
      present study, we investigated the role of central GLP-1 and GIP in regulation of
      body weight homeostasis. The effect of GLP-1 with GIP on food intake, body
      weight, locomotor activity were determined following intracerebroventricular
      (ICV) administration of GLP-1 and/or GIP in mice. ICV administration of low dose
      GLP-1 (0.3 nmol) and GIP (1 and 3 nmol) did not change food intake. However, ICV
      administration of higher doses GLP-1 (1 and 3 nmol) and GIP (6 nmol)
      significantly decreased food intake and body weight. To investigate the synergic
      effect of ICV GLP-1 and GIP, subeffective dose GLP-1 (0.3 nmol) and subeffective
      dose GIP (1 nmol) were chosen for further co-administration study. ICV co
      administration of GLP-1 and GIP significantly decreased food intake, body weight
      and drinking. ICV co-administration of GLP-1 and GIP significantly increased
      neuronal activation and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) expression in hypothalamic
      arcuate nucleus. The neuronal activation and POMC expression were observed in two
      distinct neuronal populations. These results provide neuronal mechanisms
      supporting the development of GLP-1 and GIP combination therapeutics for
      treatment of obesity and diabetes.

PMID- 28610924
TI  - Embryonic expression patterns of Eukaryotic EndoU ribonuclease family gene endouC
      in zebrafish.
AB  - Endou proteins belong to the Eukaryotic EndoU ribonuclease family of enzymes that
      present high sequence homology with the founding member XendoU domain. The
      enzymatic activity and three-dimensional structure of some Endou proteins have
      been previously reported. However, their molecular structure and gene expression
      patterns during embryogenesis remain to be elucidated. Therefore, we took
      zebrafish (Danio rerio) endouC as the model to study molecular structure and gene
      expression dynamics at different developmental stages. Zebrafish endouC cDNA
      contains 930 base pairs encoding 309 amino acid residues, sharing 27%, 27%, 27%,
      and 25% identity with that of human, mouse, chicken and frog, respectively. A
      phylogenetic tree showed that zebrafish EndouA was clustered with vertebrate
      Endou groups, while zebrafish EndouB and EndouC were found to belong to a unique
      monophyletic group. Furthermore, the endouC transcript was detected in one-cell
      embryos, suggesting that it is a maternal gene. While the endouC transcript was
      only weakly present at early developmental stages, its expression was greatly
      increased in embryos from 18 to 48 h post-fertilization (hpf) and then decreased
      after 72 hpf. Finally, endouC was ubiquitously expressed throughout the whole
      embryo during early embryogenesis, but its expression was enriched in brain, eyes
      and fin buds from 24 to 96 hpf.

PMID- 28610925
TI  - Development of chitosan based extended-release antioxidant films by control of
      fabrication variables.
AB  - In this study, mechanical, optical and permeability to water vapor of chitosan
      containing alpha-tocopherol film as the function of preparation conditions
      including concentration of emulsifier and speed of homogenization have
      investigated. In addition, the effect of above mentioned variables and presence
      of ethanol as co-surfactant on the release rate of alpha-tocopherol from chitosan
      film to fatty food simulant (ethanol 95%) were investigated. Fourier transform
      infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry were employed to
      analyze the structural and thermal properties of the films. Results showed that
      the incorporation of alpha-tocopherol and preparation conditions affected the
      physical and mechanical properties of the chitosan films. Obtained results
      indicated that increasing the concentration of Tween 80 increased the release
      rate of alpha-tocopherol in the most studied films. Increasing the stirring speed
      of homogenization and the presence of ethanol considerably decreased the release
      rate of alpha-tocopherol at the most film samples. The lowest amount of released
      antioxidant was 8.6-10% of total incorporated alpha-tocopherol at the first
      stages and is obtained when ethanol used during preparation of film forming
      solution. Our results indicated that the release rate of alpha-tocopherol could
      be controlled by changing the stirring speed of homogenization and especially
      ethanol presence, considerably.

PMID- 28610926
TI  - Effects of single and co-immobilization on the product specificity of type I
      pullulanase from Anoxybacillus sp. SK3-4.
AB  - Type I pullulanase from Anoxybacillus sp. SK3-4 (PulASK) is an unusual
      debranching enzyme that specifically hydrolyzes starch alpha-1,6 linkages at long
      branches producing oligosaccharides (>=G8), but is nonreactive against short
      branches; thus, incapable of producing reducing sugars (G1-G7). We report on the
      effects of both single and co-immobilization of PulASK on product specificity.
      PulASK was purified and immobilized through covalent attachment to three epoxides
      (ReliZyme EP403/M, Immobead IB-150P, and Immobead IB-150A) and an amino-epoxide
      (ReliZyme HFA403/M) activated supports. Following immobilization, all PulASK
      derivatives were active on both short and long branches in starch producing
      reducing sugars (predominantly maltotriose) and oligosaccharides (>=G8),
      respectively, a feature that is absent in the free enzyme. This study also
      demonstrated that co-immobilization of PulASK and alpha-amylase from
      Anoxybacillus sp. SK3-4 (TASKA) on ReliZyme HFA403/M significantly changed the
      product specificity compared to the free enzymes alone or individually
      immobilized enzymes. In conclusion, individual or co-immobilization caused
      changes in the product specificity, presumably due to changes in the enzyme
      binding pocket caused by the influence of carrier surface properties (hydrophobic
      or hydrophilic) and the lengths of the spacer arms.

PMID- 28610927
TI  - Quorum sensing molecule-farnesol increased the production and biological
      activities of extracellular polysaccharide from Trametes versicolor.
AB  - A novel strategy of exposing 2-day-old mycelia cultures to 0.8mM farnesol was
      developed to stimulate extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) production in Trametes
      versicolor submerged cultures. Farnesol, a quorum sensing molecule in fungi,
      could significantly increase EPS production by promoting polysaccharide
      biosynthesis and regulating mycelial morphology. EPS yield reached a maximum of
      2.56g/L that was 2.7-fold greater than that of control cultures. Farnesol made T.
      versicolor develop into fluffy, loose and multi-hyphae morphology, which
      facilitated the excretion of intracellular polysaccharide into culture medium.
      Moreover, EPS from farnesol-induced cultures (EPS-F) with higher carbohydrate and
      uronic acid contents mainly contained high molecular weight polysaccharide
      (134kDa, 85%), and comprised glucose, mannose and galactose in a molar ratio of
      34.2:2.1:1.0. These physicochemical properties led to stronger antioxidant and
      antitumor activities of EPS-F. This is the first report that farnesol can
      significantly improve the production of polysaccharide with higher biological
      activities. It provides a novel strategy to enhance the production and
      bioactivity of mushroom polysaccharide using microbial quorum sensing molecules.

PMID- 28610928
TI  - Kinetic and biophysical characterization of a lysosomal alpha-l-fucosidase from
      the fresh water mussel, Lamellidens corrianus.
AB  - Kinetic and biophysical studies have been carried out on a lysosomal alpha-l
      fucosidase purified from the fresh water mussel, Lamellidens corrianus. The
      enzyme migrates as a single band in SDS-PAGE as well as native PAGE corresponding
      to a Mr of 56kDa. Mass spectrometric analysis yielded a molecular mass of
      56175.1Da for the enzyme, and peptide mass fingerprinting studies showed that it
      shares sequence homology with other fucosidases. Zymogram analysis showed that
      the alpha-l-fucosidase hydrolyzed 4-methyl umbelliferyl alpha-l-fucopyranoside.
      The pH and temperature optima of the enzyme were found to be 5.0-6.0 and 60
      degrees C, respectively. The KM, Vmax and kcat values of the enzyme estimated
      with p-nitrophenyl fucopyranoside are 0.85mM, 27.20 mU/mL and 1.01s-1,
      respectively. The inhibition constant (Ki) of the enzyme towards l-Fucose is
      1.09mM. CD spectral analysis has shown that the protein contains predominantly
      beta-sheets in its secondary structure. Chemical unfolding studies indicate that
      alpha-l-fucosidase unfolds in a broad sigmoidal, cooperative unfolding
      transition, centered at ~2.2M for both guanidinium chloride and guanidinium
      thiocyanate. The present results obtained with the L. corrianus alpha-l
      fucosidase are expected to provide further insights into the various biological
      processes associated with fucosidases and help in exploiting this enzyme in
      therapeutic applications.

PMID- 28610929
TI  - A selenium polysaccharide from Platycodon grandiflorum rescues PC12 cell death
      caused by H2O2 via inhibiting oxidative stress.
AB  - In this paper, a selenium polysaccharide (PGP1) was isolated from the radix of
      Platycodon grandiflorum. We investigated the protective capacity of PGP1 against
      the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage in cultured rat
      pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Cells were pretreated with various doses of PGP1
      (50, 100 and 200MUg/mL) for 24h before exposure to 0.5mM H2O2 for 12h. Cell
      viability, LDH release, apoptotic rates, malondialdehyde (MDA) content,
      antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and intracellular
      accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined. The results showed
      pretreatment of PC12 cells with PGP1 prior to H2O2 exposure inhibited the
      decrease of cell viability, decreased the apoptotic rates, prevented membrane
      damage (LDH release) and attenuated intracellular ROS formation in PC12 cells
      injured by H2O2. Meanwhile, PGP1 increased SOD activity, while it decreased the
      level of MDA and the production of lipid peroxidation, in PC12 cells after H2O2
      exposure. These findings suggested that PGP1 may be considered as a potential
      useful antioxidant agent in reducing neuronal oxidative damage via inhibiting
      oxidative stress.

PMID- 28610930
TI  - Dental age is more appropriate than chronological age for evaluating the
      mandibular movement range in children.
AB  - PURPOSE: The measurement of excursive jaw movements is an important instrument
      for evaluating the functional condition of the temporomandibular system. Dento
      maxillofacial development differs widely within different age, weight or height
      clusters. Tooth eruption is part of the development of the temporomandibular
      system. Therefore, the dental developmental stage might reflect temporomandibular
      development more appropriately. The aim of this study was to investigate whether
      the dental age is a more suitable parameter for evaluating the mandibular
      movement range of children in the mixed dentition stage than chronological age.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective study, the mandibular movement range and
      relevant temporomandibular findings of 146 children aged 8-10 yr were assessed
      clinically. Alginate impressions were taken and dental casts were generated.
      Dental age was assessed from the casts. RESULTS: The mean mouth opening capacity
      was 46.2 mm (SD = 5.2); the mean laterotrusion to the left was 10.1 mm (SD = 1.9)
      and to the right 10.0 mm (SD = 1.8). For protrusion, the mean value was 9.1 mm
      (SD = 2.0). There was a statistically highly significant correlation between
      dental age and maximal active mouth opening extent. Statistically significant
      correlations between chronological age and active jaw movement capacity could not
      be shown. CONCLUSIONS: In children in the mixed dentition stage, dental age seems
      to reflect the developmental stage of the temporomandibular system more
      adequately than chronological age. Therefore, dental age-related normative values
      could be more appropriate for evaluating the temporomandibular system in
      children. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: 20100302-161.

PMID- 28610931
TI  - Can cyst volume be used to stratify risk of complications following cyst defect
      reconstruction with iliac crest graft?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The role of the volume of radicular and dentigerous cysts on
      clinical symptoms is unclear and potentially may predict development of pre- and
      postoperative complications, especially after cystectomies with large bony
      defects. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess pre- and postoperative
      symptoms associated to the volume of jaw cysts. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Retrospective chart review of 111 patients with follicular or dentigerous cysts
      from 2008-2012. Anterior iliac crest grafts were used to fill defects after
      cystectomy. chi2-test was performed to analyze associations between two
      qualitative variables. Binary logistic regression analysis was used as
      multivariate analysis. P-values p < 0.05 were considered as significant. Volume
      measurement was performed in a semiautomatic segmentation method with the
      software "ITK-Snap". RESULTS: Postoperative hypaesthesia correlated significantly
      with histology (p = 0.025) and localization (p = 0.006). Volume was associated
      significantly with preoperative hypaesthesia (p = 0.052), postoperative
      hypaesthesia (p < 0.001), wound healing complications (p < 0.001) and length of
      wound healing complications (p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis identified volume
      as independent risk factor for postoperative hypaesthesia (p = 0.015).
      CONCLUSIONS: Volume analysis appears to be a method that allows risk
      stratification after surgery of jaw cysts. Therefore we recommend a precise
      treatment planning with the means of volume analysis to improve therapy outcome
      of patients with jaw cysts.

PMID- 28610932
TI  - Automatic environmental disinfection with hydrogen peroxide and silver ions
      versus manual environmental disinfection with sodium hypochlorite: a multicentre
      randomized before-and-after trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: New technologies for automated disinfection have been developed,
      including the use of hydrogen peroxide atomized by specific equipment, with
      associated silver compounds. AIMS: To compare the effectiveness of an automated
      disinfection system with hydrogen peroxide <8% and silver ion versus a manual
      method with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite solution when evaluating the reduction of
      microbial mesophilic contamination and Clostridium difficile presence; and to
      evaluate the time required for both of these processes. METHODS: This was a
      randomized multicentre trial performed in different hospital wards that had been
      occupied previously by patients with Clostridium difficile infection. When
      patients were discharged their rooms were randomized to one of two
      decontamination arms. The surfaces where sampled using swabs, before and after
      disinfection. Swab samples were cultured for quantitative detection of microbial
      mesophilic contamination and qualitative detection of C. difficile. FINDINGS:
      Before disinfection, 13% of surfaces decontaminated with hydrogen peroxide and
      silver ions and 20% of surfaces decontaminated with sodium hypochlorite showed
      presence of C. difficile spores. After disinfection, the samples containing C.
      difficile were 0% (P < 0.001) in the group decontaminated with hydrogen peroxide
      and silver ions, and were 3% (P < 0.001) in the group decontaminated with sodium
      hypochlorite. This difference was not statistically significant; nor was the
      difference in the reduction of the microbial mesophilic contamination.
      CONCLUSION: The differences between the groups were not statistically
      significant; however, the disinfection with hydrogen peroxide and silver ions is
      preferable due to less dependence on operators.

PMID- 28610933
TI  - Herbal laxatives and antiemetics in pregnancy.
AB  - Constipation appears in the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy, while nausea is
      the strongest in the 1st trimester. This review summarizes the applicability of
      herbal laxatives and antiemetics in pregnancy. A human study has shown that flax
      oil as laxative is safe from 2nd trimester. Human data is not available about the
      rhubarb, but animal studies reveal that its emodin content induces fetal
      abnormalities. Fenugreek induces teratogenic malformation both in human and
      animals. Senna seed is proved as a safe laxative in pregnancy. The antiemetic
      ginger is safe during 1st trimester, but it reduces the gestational period when
      applied from the 2nd trimester. Cannabis induces fetal neurological disorders
      while fennel can shorten the gestational age. There is herbal alternative for
      laxative therapy (senna) for the whole length of pregnancy, but nausea and
      vomiting might be reduced by herbal medicine (ginger) safely in the 1st
      trimester, only.

PMID- 28610934
TI  - Boarding ICU patients: Are our rounding practices subpar?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) patients "boarding" in ICUs
      other than the designated home unit have been shown to suffer increased rates of
      complications. We hypothesized that ICU rounding practices are different when
      SICU patients are housed in home vs. boarding ICUs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: SICU
      rounds were observed at an academic quaternary medical center. Individual patient
      rounding time and order seen on rounds along with patient data and demographics
      were recorded. Multivariable regression analysis was used for comparison between
      patients. RESULTS: Non-boarders were older, observed on a later post ICU
      admission day and were more likely to be mechanically ventilated. Boarded
      patients were often seen at the end of rounds and for less time. Not being a
      boarder, age, APACHE II score on admission, vasopressor use, and positive
      pressure ventilation all predicted increased rounding time. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical
      ICU patients boarding in non-preferred units are often seen at the end of rounds,
      result in a greater reliance upon telephone communication, and receive less
      bedside attention from ICU provider teams.

PMID- 28610935
TI  - Prone positioning reduces perineal infections when performing the miles
      procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abdominoperineal resection (APR) remains the cornerstone treatment
      for rectal cancers less than 5 cm from the anal verge. The perineal portion of an
      APR can be done with the patient in lithotomy or repositioned to prone jack-knife
      position, which influences accessibility, visualization and ability to close the
      wound. This paper analyses the effect of patient positioning on perineal wound
      dehiscence and infections. METHODS: A retrospective review of all rectal cancer
      patients who underwent an APR at Massachusetts General Hospital between 2004 and
      2014 (n = 149). Patients were divided into supine (n = 91) or prone (n = 58)
      positioning as documented in operative reports. RESULTS: Twenty-two percent of
      supine positioned patients developed a perineal wound infection, versus 3.4% of
      the prone patients (P = 0.002). Perineal wound dehiscence rate was also higher in
      the supine positioned group (14.3% vs. prone 3.4%; P = 0.032). Multivariable
      analysis showed OR = 9.2 of developing a perineal wound infection for supine
      positioned patients, compared to prone, corrected for obesity and smoking
      history. CONCLUSION: Repositioning patients into prone position for the perineal
      portion of an APR was associated with significantly lower perineal wound
      infection and dehiscence rates compared to supine positioned patients.

PMID- 28610936
TI  - Safety of early ambulation following blunt abdominal solid organ injury: A
      prospective observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is continued debate regarding the optimal period of bed-rest
      and in-hospital monitoring for non-operative management of solid organ injury
      following blunt trauma. METHODS: Single center, prospective, observational study
      of blunt solid organ injuries from 07/2014-02/2016, managed initially without
      surgical or angiographic intervention. Early ambulation was defined as <=24 h.
      RESULTS: 79 patients met inclusion criteria, with 36 (45.6%) in the early
      ambulation group and 43 (54.4%) in the late ambulation group. There were zero
      complications in the early ambulation group, and three complications in the late
      ambulation group (complications, p = 0.246; further interventions, p = 0.498).
      Median ICU LOS was zero days and three days for early vs. late ambulation, p =
      0.001. Median total LOS was two days and five days for early vs. late ambulation,
      p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: Early ambulation is safe in patients undergoing non
      operative management of their solid organ injury, and may result in a reduced
      length of stay.

PMID- 28610937
TI  - Hookworm infections among migrant workers in Malaysia: Molecular identification
      of Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale.
AB  - Ongoing urbanisation of the working population as well as cross-border migration
      of workers particularly into large cities has contributed to the development and
      growth of urban slums. These deprived areas are conducive for the transmission of
      intestinal pathogens including hookworm. The aim of this study was to determine
      both the prevalence and species identity of hookworm infections among the migrant
      worker community in Malaysia. A total of 388 faecal samples were collected from
      migrant workers between September 2014 and August 2015, representing workers from
      five employment sectors: construction, manufacturing, agriculture and
      plantations, food services and domestic services. Faecal samples were examined by
      microscopy and positive samples were subjected to molecular analysis. A total of
      51 samples (13.1%) were positive by microscopy for hookworm infections. A two
      step PCR based method amplifying a fragment of the 28S rRNA-ITS2 region was used
      to identify infections by Necator americanus and Ancylostoma spp. PCR products
      positive for Ancylostoma spp. were sequenced bidirectionally, and sequences
      analysed through BLAST and phylogenetic analysis. Samples containing Ancylostoma
      duodenale were further characterized by amplification and sequencing a fragment
      of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene. PCR amplicons were successfully
      obtained from 42 (82.4%) of 51 samples, with 81.0% (34 of 42) identified as
      Necator americanus, 16.7% (7 of 42) as Ancylostoma spp. and 2.4% (1 of 42) as
      mixed infections of both species. All eight Ancylostoma spp. were confirmed to be
      Ancylostoma duodenale and this is the first time A. duodenale was reported in
      Malaysia. Samples containing A. duodenale from Nepalese and Indonesian workers
      shared high-similarity and were distinct compared to sequences from other
      countries. This study highlights the prevalence of hookworm infections among
      migrant workers living in Malaysia. Our findings underscore the necessity of
      screening migrant workers for hookworm infections, particularly those working in
      food-related services and industries.

PMID- 28610938
TI  - Toxoplasmosis: Seroprevalence in pregnant women, and serological and molecular
      screening in neonatal umbilical cord blood.
AB  - Toxoplasmosis is a common zoonotic disease that can also be transmitted from the
      mother to the embryo, with the risk of congenital infection varying around the
      world. The aim of this study was to screen pregnant women and their neonates for
      toxoplasmosis by serologic and molecular methods and assess the impact of risk
      factors associated with toxoplasmosis on the rate of congenital infection. This
      study was conducted at a regional maternity hospital in Arak, the capital of the
      Markazi Province in Iran, during a period of six months. All selected pregnant
      women (n=261) and the corresponding cord blood samples were serologically
      screened for toxoplasmosis, with seropositive samples also undergoing molecular
      testing. Demographic data, as well as information related to the risk factors
      associated with the transmission of the disease, were collected from mothers and
      their neonates. The detection of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies and the extraction of
      DNA from blood samples were conducted using commercial kits. Results showed that
      the sera of 87 maternal blood samples (33.3%) and 40 cord blood samples (15.3%)
      were positive for anti-Toxoplasma antibodies (IgG and/or IgM). Molecular
      screening of the seropositive samples only identified one positive cord blood
      sample. In other words, the diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis was definitive
      in only one neonate. There was no significant association between the risk of
      parasite transmission and neonatal seropositivity (p >0.05). Therefore, the
      results showed that the prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis in the studied
      area was consistent with the global rate and suggest that the implementation of
      newborn screening and follow-up testing could help reduce the disease risk.

PMID- 28610939
TI  - Outcome of challenging HIV case consultations provided via teleconference by the
      Clinician Consultation Center to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the collaboration and prospective outcome of challenging
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases presented by Board of Prisons (BOP)
      pharmacists in consultation with Clinician Consultation Center (CCC) clinical
      pharmacists and physicians to improve correctional patient care. SETTING: Federal
      correctional facilities. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Pharmacists improve care of
      incarcerated persons infected with HIV. PRACTICE INNOVATION: Pharmacists
      evaluate, implement, and provide successful oversight of HIV/hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) care. EVALUATION: Retrospective review of the clinical outcomes of HIV and
      HCV coinfected cases implemented by BOP pharmacists following CCC clinical
      consultations from 2010 through 2012. RESULTS: Most cases focused on selecting
      optimal antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in patients experiencing treatment
      failure by interpreting resistance tests, limiting ART toxicity, identifying
      adherence strategies, and managing HIV/HCV coinfection. In 32 of the 34 cases
      presented, 87.5% (28/32) of CCC recommendations were implemented, resulting in
      89% of those patients (25/28) achieving optimal virologic or clinical outcome.
      Complete virologic suppression occurred in 64% (18/28), and significant viral
      load reductions in 25% (7/28) of the cases. No changes occurred in 2 patients,
      and data were not available in 2 others lost to follow-up. BOP participation has
      increased since its inception from 6 to 12-15 pharmacists per call. Discussions
      also included updates in antiretroviral guidelines, screening and management of
      patients coinfected with HIV and HCV, and implications for BOP guidelines.
      CONCLUSION: BOP clinical consultant pharmacists can successfully implement CCC
      recommendations to achieve desired clinical outcomes. Consultations and
      educational efforts from CCC experts assist BOP pharmacists in ensuring
      excellence in management of complex HIV/HCV issues and medication regimens to
      achieve desired outcomes. CCC collaboration and BOP pharmacist involvement have
      improved patient care. Using a team approach to include BOP clinical pharmacists
      and obtaining expert opinion in management of other chronic illnesses may be a
      model that can be considered to improve correctional care.

PMID- 28610940
TI  - Establishment of a research pharmacy to support Ebola clinical research in
      Liberia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article describes the establishment of a research pharmacy to
      support the Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia (PREVAIL)
      vaccine study for Ebola virus disease. SETTING: This article describes the
      establishment of the pharmacy element to support the overall research program
      during an Ebola outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia, in 2014 and 2015. PRACTICE
      INNOVATION: The need for the rapid establishment of infrastructure to support the
      Liberia-United States joint clinical research partnership in response to the
      emerging Ebola virus disease provided the opportunity for collaboration among
      Liberian and U.S. pharmacists. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Resource austere and
      research naive. EVALUATION: Research pharmacy prepared and randomized 1500
      vaccinations in support of PREVAIL. RESULTS: Experiences of the Liberian and U.S.
      pharmacists involved in the program are described. CONCLUSION: The partnership
      was successful in the conduct of the study. More importantly, the capacity for
      Liberian pharmacists to support clinical research was established. In addition,
      the U.S. team learned several important lessons that will help prepare them for
      responding to research needs in future infectious disease outbreaks.

PMID- 28610941
TI  - Implementation of a pharmacist-driven immunization program designed to improve
      overall vaccination rates in indigent and uninsured patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the results of a pharmacist-driven immunization program
      designed to increase overall vaccination rates among the low-income, uninsured
      patients in a free clinic. SETTING: Cape Fear Clinic, a free clinic located in
      Wilmington, North Carolina. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Cape Fear Clinic provides
      medical, pharmacy, mental health, and dental services to adults in 4 eastern
      North Carolina counties who are uninsured and have incomes of no more than 200%
      of Federal Poverty Guidelines. PRACTICE INNOVATION: A pharmacist-driven
      immunization program consisting of a comprehensive chart review of every active
      clinic patient in order to improve the vaccination status of the clinic's
      patients at no cost to the patient. INTERVENTIONS: Student pharmacists completed
      a comprehensive chart review of every active clinic patient to identify patients
      eligible for immunizations according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization
      Practices guidelines. EVALUATION: More than 500 patients eligible for
      immunizations were notified of their immunization status and educated about
      indicated vaccinations. Patients willing to receive indicated vaccinations would
      present to the pharmacy and a pharmacist or student pharmacist administered the
      necessary doses. RESULTS: The vaccine initiative was introduced January 1, 2015
      and has since delivered 1878 doses of vaccines as of June 30, 2016. CONCLUSION:
      The immunization program implemented by pharmacists and student pharmacists at
      Cape Fear Clinic has been successful in increasing awareness of vaccine
      preventable diseases as well as increasing rates of vaccination among eligible
      clinic patients.

PMID- 28610942
TI  - Evaluation of a pharmacist-managed electrolyte protocol in outpatients on
      antiarrhythmic medications.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist-managed treatment
      protocol in achieving and maintaining serum potassium level ([K+]) in the desired
      range. SETTING: Antiarrhythmic Medications Clinic, The Ohio State University
      Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, from 2009 to 2013. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION:
      Patients are referred for antiarrhythmic monitoring at this pharmacist-run,
      electrophysiologist-supervised clinic. Each visit includes medication
      reconciliation for drug interaction identification, patient interview for
      potential adverse effects or arrhythmia symptoms, patient education, and drug
      therapy monitoring through ordering and review of objective testing. PRACTICE
      INNOVATION: In 2009, a novel, pharmacist-managed electrolyte protocol was
      established for less than ideal [K+] found during antiarrhythmic monitoring. The
      protocol was intended to standardize and improve practice, versus pre-protocol
      management through separate electrophysiology offices. The protocol was designed
      to maintain [K+] of 4.0-5.0 mmol/L, and it used dietary advice and magnesium and
      potassium supplementation to normalize [K+]. EVALUATION: The performance of the
      pharmacist-managed electrolyte protocol was evaluated in consecutive patients
      seen between June 2009 and July 2013 with [K+] less than 4.0 mmol/L. [K+] during
      initial visit and laboratory tests were scheduled at weekly intervals after
      intervention until corrected. Maintenance of [K+] was assessed during the next
      visit to the clinic. Patients whose management involved pre-protocol between
      October 2008 and May 2009 at the clinic served as controls. RESULTS: One-hundred
      ninety-one encounters were evaluated from the post-protocol (treatment) group and
      41 encounters from the pre-protocol (control) group. Desired [K+] was reached in
      161 (84%) post-protocol patient encounters, compared with 21 (49%) in the control
      group (P < 0.01). Median time to target was 14 days (range, 3-203 days) in the
      treatment group and 146 days (range, 7-285 days) in the control group (P < 0.01).
      Of 125 encounters that received follow-up in the treatment group, 75% remained at
      desired [K+]. CONCLUSION: A pharmacist-managed electrolyte protocol, implemented
      as part of a comprehensive antiarrhythmic monitoring service, effectively
      achieves and maintains desired [K+].

PMID- 28610944
TI  - Bilateral leg oedema after bariatric surgery: A selenium-deficient
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - This report describes a case of selenium-deficient cardiomyopathy secondary to
      bariatric surgery (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery). A 40 year-old woman
      presented with bilateral leg oedema nine months after the surgical procedure.
      Timely diagnosis of selenium-deficient cardiomyopathy was due to the recognition
      of symptoms of heart failure, increased NT pro-BNP level, detection of myocardial
      diastolic dysfunction and impaired left ventricular global longitudinal strain by
      echocardiography, and early identification of selenium deficiency. Symptoms
      resolution, cardiac biomarkers and echocardiographic abnormalities normalization
      were observed after 3 months of oral selenium supplementation and conventional
      heart failure therapy. Any sign of heart failure after bariatric surgery should
      require screening for a nutrient-deficient cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28610946
TI  - Editorial: The continuum of dysglycemia: Predicting progression from prediabetes
      to type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28610945
TI  - Atherosclerosis associated with dynamic inflammation changes after multifactorial
      intervention in short-duration type 2 diabetes: A randomized, controlled, 10-year
      follow-up trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the impact of dynamic changes in inflammation on
      atherosclerosis in short-duration type 2 diabetes after multifactorial
      intervention. METHODS: In this randomized controlled study, a total of 150 type 2
      diabetes patients who had a mean age of 49.8+/-7.3years, 51% male, with disease
      duration <1year and without evidence of atherosclerosis were randomized into an
      intensive intervention group (IG), in which patients received multiple risk
      factors intervention by the special project team and tried to reach the pre
      determined intervention goals, and a conventional group (CG), in which patients
      received standard diabetes care by the clinic doctor. All patients recieved
      intervention study for 7 years, then underwent a 3-year observational follow-up
      study. The primary endpoints were occurrence of subclinical atherosclerosis,
      defined as the intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (CC
      IMT)>=1.0mm or formation of atherosclerosis plaques, and the occurrence of
      cardiovascular events. RESULTS: 68 patients in IG and 65 patients in CG completed
      the 10-year study. The cumulative incidence of subclinical atherosclerosis was
      30.7% vs 57.3% (IG vs CG, HR 0.36, 95% CI 0.22-0.60, P<0.0001) and that of
      cardiovascular events was 12.0% vs 22.7% (IG vs CG, HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.21-0.98,
      P=0.0516). High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) reduction from baseline
      to the 10-year follow-up was -1.54mg/L (IG) and -0.67mg/L (CG) with difference
      (IG minus CG) of -0.87mg/L(95% CI -0.72 to -1.02, P=0.008) and the natural
      logarithm of serum amyloid A (SAA) reduction was -4.04 (IG) and -1.44 (CG) with
      difference (IG minus CG) of -2.60 (95% CI -2.30 to -2.90, P=0.002). The decrease
      in general score of inflammatory markers (combination of hs-CRP and SAA) was
      independently associated with subclinical atherosclerosis (OR=0.65, P=0.045) and
      cardiovascular events (OR=0.60, P=0.042). CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic changes in
      inflammation act as an important factor that affects the occurrence of
      atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes patients. Multifactorial intensive
      intervention can reduce systemic low-grade inflammation and delay the occurrence
      of atherosclerosis in short-duration type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28610943
TI  - Stretch-induced actomyosin contraction in epithelial tubes: Mechanotransduction
      pathways for tubular homeostasis.
AB  - Many tissues in our body have a tubular shape and are constantly exposed to
      various stresses. Luminal pressure imposes tension on the epithelial and
      myoepithelial or smooth muscle cells surrounding the lumen of the tubes.
      Contractile forces generated by actomyosin assemblies within these cells oppose
      the luminal pressure and must be calibrated to maintain tube diameter homeostasis
      and tissue integrity. In this review, we discuss mechanotransduction pathways
      that can lead from sensation of cell stretch to activation of actomyosin
      contractility, providing rapid mechanochemical feedback for proper tubular tissue
      function.

PMID- 28610947
TI  - Impaired balance is related to the progression of diabetic complications in both
      young and older adults.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the balance ability in younger and older adults with
      diabetes and evaluate the associations between balance ability and microvascular
      complications. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study compared 162
      participants and 177 controls with and without type 2 diabetes, respectively.
      Balance ability was assessed using two static (one-legged stance and postural
      sway area) and two dynamic (Timed Up and Go [TUG] and Functional Reach) tests.
      Diabetic microangiopathy was also evaluated. RESULTS: Participants with diabetes,
      including both younger (<50years) and older (>=50years) participants, showed
      significantly worse balance ability in all four tests and were more likely to
      have a history of falls than the controls (all P<0.01). In all age groups, severe
      impairment of balance ability was associated with progression of diabetic
      microvascular complications. In all and older diabetic adults, a longer duration
      of diabetes (P=0.022) and higher TUG test score (P=0.004), and female sex
      (P=0.01) and higher TUG score (P=0.001), respectively, were related to a history
      of falls. On the other hand, among younger diabetic adults, only a non
      significant association with longer duration of diabetes (P=0.066) was observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Impaired balance ability correlates with microvascular diabetic
      complications. Accurate assessment of balance ability in adults with diabetes
      could predict the risk of falls, particularly benefitting people with diabetic
      complications.

PMID- 28610950
TI  - Coherence in P300 as a predictor for the recovery from disorders of
      consciousness.
AB  - Accurate and reliable prognostic judgments for disorders of consciousness (DOCs)
      can provide useful information for clinicians in the establishment of appropriate
      care plan, and may affect end-of-life decisions of caregivers. But until now no
      certain or standardized prognostic indicator has been constructed to predict the
      probability of awareness recovery. This study aims to assess higher-order
      cortical information processing in DOCs by event-related potential (ERP) and
      determine the value of P300 to predict the long-term prognosis. Two locked-in
      (LIS) patients and eighteen DOCs were evaluated with a hierarchical cognitive
      assessment by ERP. We used subject's own name (SON) as a deviant stimulus, 1000Hz
      tone and subject's derived name (SDN) as a standard stimulus in two paradigms
      respectively. P300 elicited by SON was used to assess the information processing.
      The patients' clinical outcomes were followed up at 2, 6 and 12 months after ERP
      recordings. The results showed that a P300 component was observed in both
      paradigms in two LIS patients. All of MCS and four out of nine UWS/VS showed an
      intact P300 in either paradigm. All of the five patients with P300 in both
      paradigms were finally awake after 12 months, while none of the eight patients
      without P300 regained consciousness. A highly significant relationship between
      P300 and subsequent recovery was found. The results provide evidence that P300 in
      the hierarchical bedside neurophysiologic oddball procedure can accurately
      characterize the level of cognitive preservation, and may serve as an alternative
      tool to predict the likelihood of recovery of DOCs.

PMID- 28610948
TI  - Adaptive Capacity: An Evolutionary Neuroscience Model Linking Exercise,
      Cognition, and Brain Health.
AB  - The field of cognitive neuroscience was transformed by the discovery that
      exercise induces neurogenesis in the adult brain, with the potential to improve
      brain health and stave off the effects of neurodegenerative disease. However, the
      basic mechanisms underlying exercise-brain connections are not well understood.
      We use an evolutionary neuroscience approach to develop the adaptive capacity
      model (ACM), detailing how and why physical activity improves brain function
      based on an energy-minimizing strategy. Building on studies showing a combined
      benefit of exercise and cognitive challenge to enhance neuroplasticity, our ACM
      addresses two fundamental questions: (i) what are the proximate and ultimate
      mechanisms underlying age-related brain atrophy, and (ii) how do lifestyle
      changes influence the trajectory of healthy and pathological aging?

PMID- 28610951
TI  - Filling the gap: Evidence for a spatial differentiation in trace eyeblink
      conditioning.
AB  - Trace eyeblink conditioning is used as a translational model of declarative
      memory but restricted to the temporal domain. Potential spatial aspects have
      never been experimentally addressed. We employed a spatiotemporal trace eyeblink
      conditioning paradigm in which a spatial dimension (application side of the
      unconditioned stimulus) was differentially coded by tone frequency of the
      conditioned stimulus and recorded conditioned reactions from both eyes. We found
      more and stronger conditioned reactions at the side predicted by the conditioned
      stimulus but only in aware participants. Thus, spatial effects are present in
      trace eyeblink conditioning and may be differentially conditioned depending on
      the awareness about the spatial relation between conditioned and unconditioned
      stimulus.

PMID- 28610952
TI  - Structural diversity of marine cyclic peptides and their molecular mechanisms for
      anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, and other clinical applications.
AB  - Many cyclic peptides and analogues derived from marine sources are known to
      possess biological properties, including anticancer, antitumor, antibacterial,
      antifungal, antiparasitic, anti-inflammation, anti-proliferative, anti
      hypertensive, cytotoxic, and antibiotic properties. These compounds demonstrate
      different activities and modes of action according to their structure such as
      cyclic oligopeptide, cyclic lipopeptide, cyclic glycopeptide and cyclic
      depsipeptide. The recent advances in application of the above-mentioned cyclic
      peptides were reported in dolastatins, soblidotin, didemnin B, aplidine,
      salinosporamide A, kahalalide F and bryostatin 1 and they are currently in
      clinical trials. These cyclic peptides are possible novel drugs discovered and
      developed from marine origin. Literature data concerning the potential properties
      of marine cyclic peptides were reviewed here, and the structural diversity and
      biological activities of marine cyclic peptides are discussed in relation to the
      molecular mechanisms of these marine cyclic peptides.

PMID- 28610953
TI  - A thirty-year quest for a role of R-Ras in cancer: from an oncogene to a
      multitasking GTPase.
AB  - Since the identification of R-Ras, which is the first Ras-related GTPase isolated
      based on sequence similarity to the classical RAS oncogene, more than 160 members
      of the Ras superfamily of GTPases have been identified and classified into the
      Ras, Rho, Rap, Rab, Ran, Arf, Rheb, RGK, Rad, Rit, and Miro subfamilies. R-Ras
      belongs to the Ras subfamily of small G-proteins, which are frequently implicated
      in cell growth and differentiation. Although the roles of R-Ras in cellular
      transformation and integrin-mediated cell adhesion have been extensively studied,
      the physiological function of this enigmatic G-protein was only revealed when a
      mouse strain deficient in R-Ras was generated. In parallel, a plethora of
      research findings also linked R-Ras with processes including tumor angiogenesis,
      axon guidance, and immune cell trafficking. Several upstream factors that
      modulate R-Ras GTP-binding were identified including Notch, semaphorin, and
      chemokine C-C motif ligand 21. A review of our evolving understanding of the role
      of R-Ras in oncogenesis is timely, as this year marks the 30th anniversary of the
      publication describing the cloning of R-Ras.

PMID- 28610949
TI  - Calorie restriction in rodents: Caveats to consider.
AB  - The calorie restriction paradigm has provided one of the most widely used and
      most useful tools for investigating mechanisms of aging and longevity. By far,
      rodent models have been employed most often in these endeavors. Over decades of
      investigation, claims have been made that the paradigm produces the most robust
      demonstration that aging is malleable. In the current review of the rodent
      literature, we present arguments that question the robustness of the paradigm to
      increase lifespan and healthspan. Specifically, there are several questions to
      consider as follows: (1) At what age does CR no longer produce benefits? (2) Does
      CR attenuate cognitive decline? (3) Are there negative effects of CR, including
      effects on bone health, wound healing, and response to infection? (4) How
      important is schedule of feeding? (5) How long does CR need to be imposed to be
      effective? (6) How do genotype and gender influence CR? (7) What role does
      dietary composition play? Consideration of these questions produce many caveats
      that should guide future investigations to move the field forward.

PMID- 28610955
TI  - Radiomic machine-learning classifiers for prognostic biomarkers of advanced
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - We aimed to identify optimal machine-learning methods for radiomics-based
      prediction of local failure and distant failure in advanced nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma (NPC). We enrolled 110 patients with advanced NPC. A total of 970
      radiomic features were extracted from MRI images for each patient. Six feature
      selection methods and nine classification methods were evaluated in terms of
      their performance. We applied the 10-fold cross-validation as the criterion for
      feature selection and classification. We repeated each combination for 50 times
      to obtain the mean area under the curve (AUC) and test error. We observed that
      the combination methods Random Forest (RF) + RF (AUC, 0.8464 +/- 0.0069; test
      error, 0.3135 +/- 0.0088) had the highest prognostic performance, followed by RF
      + Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost) (AUC, 0.8204 +/- 0.0095; test error, 0.3384 +/-
      0.0097), and Sure Independence Screening (SIS) + Linear Support Vector Machines
      (LSVM) (AUC, 0.7883 +/- 0.0096; test error, 0.3985 +/- 0.0100). Our radiomics
      study identified optimal machine-learning methods for the radiomics-based
      prediction of local failure and distant failure in advanced NPC, which could
      enhance the applications of radiomics in precision oncology and clinical
      practice.

PMID- 28610954
TI  - Feedback regulation of ALDOA activates the HIF-1alpha/MMP9 axis to promote lung
      cancer progression.
AB  - Distant metastasis and recurrence are the greatest challenges in the clinical
      management of lung cancer. Despite advances in targeted therapies, high mortality
      rates persist. Therefore, alternative therapeutic interventions are urgently
      required. Accumulating evidence indicates that normalizing tumor metabolism may
      be a way to increase therapeutic efficacy and to reduce tumor malignancy. Here,
      we analyzed integrated transcriptomics data and an shRNA library against
      glycolytic enzymes and found that elevated Aldolase A expression is highly
      correlated with metastatic potential and a poor prognosis in patients with non
      small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We validated our in silico findings with an
      immunohistochemical analysis of clinical samples. Aldolase A silencing
      significantly suppressed metastatic potential both in vitro and in vivo, whereas
      the ectopic overexpression of Aldolase A resulted in the opposite phenotype.
      Furthermore, our microarray and Ingenuity Pathway Analyses (IPA) revealed that
      Aldolase A-driven lung cancer metastasis was closely linked to hypoxia inducible
      factor 1 alpha (HIF-1alpha)-downstream signaling. Importantly, Aldolase A
      overexpression may promote the release of lactate to block PHD activities and
      further induce HIF-1alpha stabilization. Aldolase A and nuclear HIF-1alpha
      overexpression levels were positively correlated and were significantly
      associated with a poorer survival rate in lung cancer patients (P = 0.008 for
      Overall Survival, P = 0.021 for Disease-free Survival). Furthermore, MMP9, a
      downstream target of HIF-1alpha, was significantly upregulated after ALDOA
      overexpression. A MMP9 inhibitor significantly inhibited cell invasion and
      migration in ALDOA-HIF-1alpha axis-induced lung cancer. In summary, our results
      reveal the molecular mechanism of Aldolase A in promoting lung cancer metastasis
      via PHD-mediated stabilization of HIF-1alpha and the subsequent activation of
      MMP9. The ALDOA-HIF-1alpha axis may provide a new therapeutic target for
      metastatic lung cancer treatment.

PMID- 28610956
TI  - Upregulation of microRNA-137 expression by Slug promotes tumor invasion and
      metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer cells through suppression of TFAP2C.
AB  - The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulator, Slug, plays multifaceted
      roles in controlling lung cancer progression, but its downstream targets and
      mechanisms in promoting lung cancer progression have not been well defined. In
      particular, the miRNAs downstream of Slug in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
      remain undetermined. Here, we report that miR-137 is downstream of the EMT
      regulator, Slug, in lung cancer cells. Slug binds directly to the E-box of the
      miR-137 promoter and up-regulates its expression in lung cancer cells. Knockdown
      of miR-137 abolished Slug-induced cancer invasion and migration, whereas
      upregulation of miR-137 was found to trigger lung cancer cell invasion and
      progression by direct suppressing TFAP2C (transcription factor AP-2 gamma).
      Clinical data showed that lung adenocarcinoma patients with low-level expression
      of Slug and miR-137 but high-level expression of TFAP2C experienced significantly
      better survival. miR-137 is a Slug-induced miRNA that relays the pro-metastatic
      effects of Slug by targeting TFAP2C. Our findings add new components to the Slug
      mediated regulatory network in lung cancer, and suggest that Slug, miR-137, and
      TFAP2C may be useful prognostic markers in lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 28610959
TI  - Engaging Undergraduates in Research: Designing and Developing a One-Semester,
      Course-Based Research Project.

PMID- 28610958
TI  - Sulfate, nitrate and blood pressure - An EPIC interaction between sulfur and
      nitrogen.
AB  - Nitrate (NO3-)-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables are not only part of a
      healthy diet, but increasingly marketed for primary prevention of cardiovascular
      disease (CVD) and used as ergogenic aids by competitive athletes. While there is
      abundant evidence for mild hypotensive effects of nitrate on acute application
      there is limited data on chronic intake in humans, and results from animal
      studies suggest no long-term benefit. This is important as nitrate can also
      promote the formation of nitrosamines. It is therefore classified as 'probably
      carcinogenic to humans', although a beneficial effect on CVD risk might
      compensate for an increased cancer risk. Dietary nitrate requires reduction to
      nitrite (NO2-) by oral commensal bacteria to contribute to the formation of
      nitric oxide (NO). The extensive crosstalk between NO and hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
      related metabolites may further affect nitrate's bioactivity. Using nitrate and
      nitrite concentrations of drinking water - the only dietary source continuously
      monitored for which detailed data exist - in conjunction with data of >14,000
      participants of the EPIC-Norfolk study, we found no inverse associations with
      blood pressure or CVD risk. Instead, we found a strong interaction with sulfate
      (SO42-). At low sulfate concentrations, nitrate was inversely associated with BP
      (-4mmHg in top quintile) whereas this was reversed at higher concentrations
      (+3mmHg in top quintile). Our findings have a potentially significant impact for
      pharmacology, physiology and public health, redirecting our attention from the
      oral microbiome and mouthwash use to interaction with sulfur-containing dietary
      constituents. These results also indicate that nitrate bioactivation is more
      complex than hitherto assumed. The modulation of nitrate bioactivity by sulfate
      may render dietary lifestyle interventions aimed at increasing nitrate intake
      ineffective and even reverse potential antihypertensive effects, warranting
      further investigation.

PMID- 28610957
TI  - Effectiveness of heart rate control on hemodynamics in critically ill patients
      with atrial tachyarrhythmias managed by amiodarone.
AB  - Atrial tachyarrhythmias (AT) are common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and
      might contribute to hemodynamic instability if heart rate (HR) is persistently
      too rapid. We aimed to assess if HR control below 115 or 130bpm with amiodarone
      improves hemodynamics in ICU patients with AT. This observational study included
      73 ICU patients with disabling AT receiving amiodarone for HR control. A total of
      525 changes (mainly within 4-8h) in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and 167 changes
      in plasma lactate in response to HR variations above 115 or 130bpm were analyzed.
      Epinephrine, sedative drugs, fluid loading, use of diuretics, continuous renal
      replacement therapy and amiodarone dosing were among covariables assessed.
      Univariable analysis showed that HR variations above 115bpm were poorly
      correlated to change in MAP (r=0.11, p<0.01). Multivariable analysis showed that
      changes in MAP were still positively associated to HR variation (p<0.05) and to
      initiation or termination of epinephrine (p<0.05) or sedatives infusions
      (p<0.05). Changes in plasma lactate did not correlate to HR variations above
      115bpm. When considering 130 bpm as a threshold, HR variations were not
      associated to changes in MAP or to changes in plasma lactate. Amiodarone dose was
      associated to HR decrease but not to MAP or plasma lactate increase. In ICU
      patients with AT, strict HR control below 115bpm or 130bpm with amiodarone does
      not improve hemodynamics. A prospective randomized trial assessing strict versus
      lenient HR control in this setting is needed.

PMID- 28610960
TI  - No Difference Between Noxious and Innocuous Thermal Stimulation on Motor Recovery
      of Upper Extremity in Patients With Acute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial
      With 6-Month Follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thermal stimulation (TS) has been developed and incorporated into
      stroke rehabilitation. However, whether noxious and innocuous TS induce the same
      effects on motor function recovery after stroke is still unknown. A comparative
      study of different temperature combination regimens is needed. OBJECTIVE: To
      compare the short- and long-term effectiveness between noxious and innocuous TS
      on motor recovery of upper extremity in patients with acute stroke. DESIGN:
      Randomized, controlled trial with concealed allocation, intention-to-treat
      analysis and blinded outcome assessors. SETTING: A university hospital
      rehabilitation department in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 79 patients with
      acute ischemic stroke were recruited. The majority had moderate to severe motor
      impairment of the upper extremity (UE). INTERVENTION: In addition to traditional
      rehabilitation, the experimental group (n = 39) underwent noxious TS (heat pain
      46-47 degrees C/cold pain 7-8 degrees C), and the control group (n = 40) received
      innocuous TS (heat 40-41 degrees C/cold 20-21 degrees C). TS intervention was
      applied for 30 minutes once per day and for a total of 20-24 times during
      hospital stay. A custom-made TS instrument, comprising 2 thermal stimulators and
      their respective thermal pads constructed in a closed-loop system, was used.
      OUTCOMES: The Fugl-Meyer upper extremity score (the primary outcome), Action
      Research Arm Test, Motricity Index, Barthel Index, and modified Ashworth scale
      (the secondary outcomes) were administered by a blinded assessor at baseline,
      post-12th TS, post-intervention, 1-month, and 6-month follow-ups. RESULTS: No
      significant differences between groups were found on the primary outcome at
      postintervention and follow-up assessments. At 1-month follow-up, the innocuous
      group showed a small effect (partial eta2 = 0.02) that was greater than that of
      the noxious group, but that effect was eliminated at 6 months. Both groups
      presented significant within-group improvements over time (both P < .001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Combining noxious TS with traditional rehabilitation did not yield
      better short-term or long-term results than combining innocuous TS with
      traditional rehabilitation on UE functional recovery for individuals with acute
      stroke. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 28610961
TI  - Histone acetylation favours the cardiovascular commitment of adipose tissue
      derived stromal cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although adipose stromal cells (ASCs) retain the ability to
      transdifferentiate at low rate towards the cardiac lineage, the potential
      mechanisms underlying such process have still to be elucidated. METHODS: Since
      chromatin state modifications are involved in several processes regulating the
      cellular cell fate commitment, we aimed at evaluating the role of histone protein
      acetylation in the cardiovascular-like transdifferentiation of ASCs. RESULTS: We
      found a clear increase of histone 3 acetylation status paralleled by a
      significant upregulation of cardiac TnI gene expression, in ASCs treated with the
      conditioned medium of primary cardiomyocyte cell cultures for 72h. This result
      suggests that histone acetylation contributes to the transdifferentiation of ASCs
      towards the cardiac lineage. In order to directly test this hypothesis, ASCs
      cultured with regular medium were treated with SAHA, a pan histone deacetylase
      inhibitor. We found that SAHA enhanced the cardiac permissive state of ASCs,
      increasing both mRNA and protein expression of cardiovascular genes, particularly
      cTnI. This suggests that histone acetylation induction is sufficient to promote
      cardiovascular transdifferentiation. CONCLUSIONS: The control of ASC fate by
      epigenetic regulators might be an interesting tool to boost both cardiac
      commitment and regenerative capacities of ASCs.

PMID- 28610962
TI  - Coronary physiology in patients with severe aortic stenosis: Comparison between
      fractional flow reserve and instantaneous wave-free ratio.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The functional assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) in
      patients with aortic stenosis (AS) has not been validated so far, and the best
      strategy to physiologically investigate the relevance of coronary stenosis in
      this specific setting of patients remains undetermined. The aim of the study is
      to compare the diagnostic performance of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) and
      fractional flow reserve (FFR) in patients with severe AS. METHODS: The functional
      significance of 179 coronary lesions was investigated with on-line iFR and FFR
      measurements in 85 AS patients and compared with a control group formed by 167
      patients (290 lesions) with stable CAD and without AS. The iFR-FFR diagnostic
      agreement has been tested using the conventional 0.80 FFR cut-off. RESULTS: The
      correlation between iFR and FFR was similar between AS and CAD patients, as well
      as the area under the curve at ROC curve analysis (0.97 vs 0.96, p=0.88).
      However, using the standard iFR 0.89 threshold, the diagnostic accuracy of iFR
      was significantly lower in AS compared with CAD (76.3% vs 86.1%, p=0.009).
      According to ROC analysis, the best iFR cut-off in predicting FFR<=0.8 was lower
      in AS (0.83, J=0.82) compared with CAD (0.89, J=0.81). Using the ROC derived cut
      off of 0.83, the iFR accuracy increased significantly (91.3%, p=0.003) while
      maintaining an elevated negative predictive value (95.5%). CONCLUSIONS: In the
      presence of severe AS, conventional iFR cut-off had lower diagnostic agreement
      with FFR classification of coronary lesions compared to stable CAD patients. AS
      seems to influence iFR cut-off ischemic thresholds and deserves further
      comparative studies.

PMID- 28610963
TI  - The influence of night-time hypertension on left ventricular mechanics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate left ventricular (LV) mechanics
      in individuals with daytime, night-time and day-nighttime hypertension. METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study included 272 untreated subjects who underwent 24-hour
      ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and complete two-dimensional
      echocardiographic examination including strain analysis. According to current
      guidelines, night-time hypertension was defined as nocturnal systolic blood
      pressure>=120mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure>=70mmHg and day-time
      hypertension as systolic blood pressure>=135mmHg and/or diastolic blood
      pressure>=85mmHg. RESULTS: The study sample included 61 normotensive subjects
      (22%), 77 isolated daytime hypertension (28%), 40 isolated night-time
      hypertension (15%) and 94day-nighttime hypertension (35%). LV longitudinal and
      circumferential strain gradually and significantly decreased from normotensive
      subjects across patients with isolated daytime and night-time hypertension to
      hypertensive individuals with persistent hypertension. Radial strain was similar
      between the observed groups. LV twist increased from normotensive subjects across
      isolated daytime and night-time hypertensive patients to day-nighttime
      hypertensive individuals. Hypertensive patients with day-nighttime and night-time
      hypertension are significantly more associated with decreased longitudinal and
      circumferential strain than hypertensive patients with isolated day-time
      hypertension and normotension. CONCLUSION: LV mechanics gradually deteriorated
      from normotensive controls, across isolated day- and night-time hypertension, to
      day-nighttime hypertension. Patients with night-time and day-nighttime
      hypertension are associated with higher risk of LV mechanical dysfunction than
      normotensives and day-time hypertensives.

PMID- 28610964
TI  - Don't wait for the weight.

PMID- 28610965
TI  - [Splenic granulomas in a girl with Crohn's disease].

PMID- 28610966
TI  - Smoking Habits among Greek University Students after the Financial Crisis
AB  - Background: University students worldwide seem to have increased rates of
      smoking, alcohol abuse, binge drinkingepisodes and harmful consumption trends,
      raising a serious public health issue. The aim of the present study was
      toinvestigate university students' smoking habits and exposure to secondary smoke
      amid a financial crisis. Methods: Thepresent descriptive, correlational analysis
      was conducted at the University of Peloponnese. Results: The average ageof the
      sample (n=203) was 24.9 years (+/-7.6 years) with 36.0% of the participants
      (n=73) being postgraduate students.Some 51.2% (n=104) of the participants said
      they didn't smoke and 46.3% (n=94, p=0.003) reported no secondary smokeexposure
      during the past week at home. The majority of the remainder initiated smoking at
      age 16-17 (48.5%, n=48),and 64.6% (n=42) said the financial crisis did not lead
      them to change their smoking habits. Conclusions: The majorityof students support
      smoking ban laws in enclosed public spaces, but also their replies highlighted
      poor implementationon behalf of the state and the authorities. The financial
      crisis did not appear to have affected student smoking habits.

PMID- 28610967
TI  - Trends in Rehabilitation Services Use in Chinese Children and Adolescents With
      Intellectual Disabilities: 2007-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate trends in rehabilitation services use in children and
      adolescents with intellectual disabilities, and to explore factors potentially
      contributing to the trends. DESIGN: A population-based study using a multistage,
      randomized cluster-sampling process to ascertain participants in 2006. A
      subsample was selected for follow-up surveys from 2007 to 2013. SETTING: Thirty
      one provinces of China. PARTICIPANTS: Children (N=5432) aged 0 to 17 years with
      intellectual disabilities were followed up for 7 years. INTERVENTIONS: Not
      applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome variable was whether individuals
      received at least 1 of the following rehabilitation services in the past 12
      months: occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech or communication
      therapy. RESULTS: Overall, the utilization rates of rehabilitation services
      significantly increased from 14.4% in 2007 to 37.1% in 2013. The trends were also
      significant in children aged 0 to 10 and 11 to 17 years, in boys and girls, and
      in rural participants. From 2007 to 2013, rehabilitation services utilization
      increased at an annual rate of 22.39% (95% confidence interval, 18.11%-26.82%) in
      the total sample. The rise was only significant in rural rather than urban
      individuals, resulting in the urban-rural gap in rehabilitation services use
      being narrowed. However, minority populations and those without health insurance
      still received fewer rehabilitation services than their respective counterparts.
      CONCLUSIONS: There were upward trends in rehabilitation services use in
      participants over time, and the urban-rural gap was narrowed. However, there were
      still socioeconomic differences on rehabilitation services use among children and
      adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

PMID- 28610968
TI  - Comparison of the Effect of Sensory-Level and Conventional Motor-Level
      Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulations on Quadriceps Strength After Total Knee
      Arthroplasty: A Prospective Randomized Single-Blind Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare sensory-level neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES)
      and conventional motor-level NMES in patients after total knee arthroplasty.
      DESIGN: Prospective randomized single-blind trial. SETTING: Hospital total
      arthroplasty center: inpatients. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with osteoarthritis
      (N=66; mean age, 73.5+/-6.3y; 85% women) were randomized to receive either
      sensory-level NMES applied to the quadriceps (the sensory-level NMES group),
      motor-level NMES (the motor-level NMES group), or no stimulation (the control
      group) in addition to a standard rehabilitation program. INTERVENTIONS: Each type
      of NMES was applied in 45-minute sessions, 5d/wk, for 2 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Data for the quadriceps maximum voluntary isometric contraction, the
      leg skeletal muscle mass determined using multiple-frequency bioelectrical
      impedance analysis, the timed Up and Go test, the 2-minute walk test, the visual
      analog scale, and the range of motion of the knee were measured preoperatively
      and at 2 and 4 weeks after total knee arthroplasty. RESULTS: The motor-level NMES
      (P=.001) and sensory-level NMES (P=.028) groups achieved better maximum voluntary
      isometric contraction results than did the control group. The motor-level NMES
      (P=.003) and sensory-level NMES (P=.046) groups achieved better 2-minute walk
      test results than did the control group. Some patients in the motor-level NMES
      group dropped out of the experiment because of discomfort. CONCLUSIONS: Motor
      level NMES significantly improved muscle strength and functional performance more
      than did the standard program alone. Motor-level NMES was uncomfortable for some
      patients. Sensory-level NMES was comfortable and improved muscle strength and
      functional performance more than did the standard program alone.

PMID- 28610969
TI  - Relationship Between Head-Turn Gait Speed and Lateral Balance Function in
      Community-Dwelling Older Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare gait speed during head-forward and side-to
      side head-turn walking in individuals with lower versus greater lateral balance.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: University research laboratory.
      PARTICIPANTS: Older adults (N=93; 42 men, 51 women; mean age +/- SD, 73 +/-
      6.08y) who could walk independently. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Balance tolerance
      limit (BTL), defined as the lowest perturbation intensity where a multistep
      balance recovery pattern was first evoked in response to randomized lateral waist
      pull perturbations of standing balance to the left and right sides, at 6
      different intensities (range from level 2: 4.5-cm displacement at 180cm/s2
      acceleration, to level 7: 22.5-cm displacement at 900cm/s2 acceleration); (2)
      gait speed, determined using an instrumented gait mat; (3) balance, evaluated
      with the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale; and (4) mobility,
      determined with the Timed Up and Go (TUG). RESULTS: Individuals with low versus
      high BTL had a slower self-selected head-forward gait speed and head-turn gait
      speed (P=.002 and P<.001, respectively); the magnitude of difference was greater
      in head-turn gait speed than head-forward gait speed (Cohen's d=1.0 vs 0.6). Head
      turn gait speed best predicted BTL. BTL was moderately and positively related
      (P=.003) to the ABC Scale and negatively related (P=.017) to TUG. CONCLUSIONS:
      Head-turn gait speed is affected to a greater extent than head-forward gait speed
      in older individuals with poorer lateral balance and at greater risk of falls.
      Moreover, head-turn gait speed can be used to assess the interactions of
      limitations in lateral balance function and gait speed in relation to fall risk
      in older adults.

PMID- 28610970
TI  - Internal Maxillary Artery Bypass with Radial Artery Graft Treatment of Giant
      Intracranial Aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Giant intracranial aneurysms (GIAs) can be approached via
      microsurgical and endovascular techniques. Use of flow diversion devices has
      yielded favorable outcomes, and indications for cerebral revascularization have
      dramatically decreased. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and validity of using
      internal maxillary artery (IMA) bypass with an interposed graft to treat GIAs.
      METHODS: During a 6-year period, high-flow IMA bypass procedures were performed
      in 32 patients with GIAs at our institute. Intraoperative Doppler sonography,
      indocyanine green, and postoperative angiography were used to assess the patency
      of the graft conduit and the stability of the aneurysm. Neurologic function was
      assessed with the modified Rankin Scale. RESULTS: The mean GIA size was 33.7 mm
      (range, 25.3-64 mm), and all showed a nonsaccular morphology, except for 1
      patient who underwent a first attempt at surgical clipping of a saccular
      aneurysm. Complete occlusion (65.6%, n = 21) or great diminishment (28.1%, n = 9)
      of the GIA was shown in 30 patients and the graft patency rate was 90.6% (n =
      29). No deaths resulting from bypass surgery occurred. Functionally favorable
      outcomes (modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2) were recorded in 65.6% of patients
      at discharge, and the rate increased to 71.9% at the most recent follow-up (mean,
      40.6 months). Surgical-related complications involving hydrocephalus and ischemic
      and hemorrhagic episodes were encountered in 5 patients, but 4 had complete
      regression of their neurologic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the grave
      natural history and treatment complexity of these lesions, this study showed
      satisfactory results in the treatment of GIAs with IMA bypass.

PMID- 28610971
TI  - Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli cell factory for highly active xanthine
      dehydrogenase production.
AB  - The aim of this work was to demonstrate the first proof-of-concept for the use of
      ab initio-aided assembly strategy intensifying in vivo biosynthesis process to
      construct Escherichia coli cell factory overproducing highly active xanthine
      dehydrogenase (XDH). Three global regulator (IscS, TusA and NarJ) and four
      chaperone proteins (DsbA, DsbB, NifS and XdhC) were overexpressed to aid the
      formation and ordered assembly of three redox center cofactors of Rhodobacter
      capsulatus XDH in E. coli. The NifS, IscS and DsbB enhanced the specific activity
      of RcXDH by 30%, 94% and 49%, respectively. The combinatorial expression of NarJ
      and IscS synergistically increased the specific activity by 129% and enhanced the
      total enzyme activity by a remarkable 3.9-fold. The crude enzyme showed nearly
      the same coupling efficiency of electron transfer and product formation as
      previously purified XDHs, indicating an integrity and efficient assembly of
      highly active XDH.

PMID- 28610972
TI  - Development and evaluation of consolidated bioprocessing yeast for ethanol
      production from ionic liquid-pretreated bagasse.
AB  - This work aimed to study the use of consolidated bioprocess (CBP) yeast
      expressing five cellulase genes (BGL, XYNII, EGII, CBHI and CBHII) for ethanol
      production from ionic liquid-pretreated bagasse and Laubholz unbleached Kraft
      pulp (LUKP). A proposed screening method shows that the optimal cellulase ratio
      varies for each biomass substrate, and thus it is essential to breed CBP yeast
      having optimal cellulase-displaying ratio for the target biomass. CBP yeast
      specialized towards bagasse produced 0.93g/l ethanol whiles that for LUKP
      produced 0.71g/l ethanol, which is approximately 4 and 2-fold, respectively,
      higher than that of the wild type. The cell-surface displayed enzymes
      synergistically contributed to the degradation of the biomass. The developed CBP
      yeast is a potential cheap source for consolidated bioprocessing of ethanol and
      the proposed screening method can be used for matching CBP yeast to a target
      biomass.

PMID- 28610973
TI  - A two-plasmid inducible CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool for Clostridium
      acetobutylicum.
AB  - CRISPR/Cas-based genetic engineering has revolutionised molecular biology in both
      eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Several tools dedicated to the genomic transformation
      of the Clostridium genus of Gram-positive bacteria have been described in the
      literature; however, the integration of large DNA fragments still remains
      relatively limited. In this study, a CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool using a two
      plasmid strategy was developed for the solventogenic strain Clostridium
      acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Codon-optimised cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes was
      placed under the control of an anhydrotetracycline-inducible promoter on one
      plasmid, while the gRNA expression cassettes and editing templates were located
      on a second plasmid. Through the sequential introduction of these vectors into
      the cell, we achieved highly accurate genome modifications, including nucleotide
      substitution, gene deletion and cassette insertion up to 3.6kb. To demonstrate
      its potential, this genome editing tool was used to generate a marker-free mutant
      of ATCC 824 that produced an isopropanol-butanol-ethanol mixture. Whole-genome
      sequencing confirmed that no off-target modifications were present in the
      mutants. Such a tool is a prerequisite for efficient metabolic engineering in
      this solventogenic strain and provides an alternative editing strategy that might
      be applicable to other Clostridium strains.

PMID- 28610975
TI  - PNA monomers fully compatible with standard Fmoc-based solid-phase synthesis of
      pseudocomplementary PNA.
AB  - Here we report the synthesis of new PNA monomers for pseudocomplementary PNA
      (pcPNA) that are fully compatible with standard Fmoc chemistry. The thiocarbonyl
      group of the 2-thiouracil (sU) monomer was protected with the 4-methoxy-2
      methybenzyl group (MMPM), while the exocyclic amino groups of diaminopurine (D)
      were protected with Boc groups. The newly synthesized monomers were incorporated
      into a 10-mer PNA oligomer using standard Fmoc chemistry for solid-phase
      synthesis. Oligomerization proceeded smoothly and the HPLC and MALDI-TOF MS
      analyses indicated that there was no remaining MMPM on the sU nucleobase. The new
      PNA monomers reported here would facilitate a wide range of applications, such as
      antigene PNAs and DNA nanotechnologies.

PMID- 28610974
TI  - Positive modulation of alpha5 GABAA receptors in preadolescence prevents reduced
      locomotor response to amphetamine in adult female but not male rats prenatally
      exposed to lipopolysaccharide.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administered
      intraperitoneally (i.p.) to pregnant Wistar rat dams, at embryonic days 15 and 16
      (E15/16), induced a decrease of baseline locomotor activity and diminished
      reactivity to amphetamine in adult female offspring. In the present study we
      aimed to assess the duration of LPS-induced maternal immune activation (MIA) and
      investigate possible changes in levels of main neurotransmitters in fetal brain
      during MIA. We hypothesized that the observed behavioral changes may be linked
      with MIA-induced disturbance of prenatal GABAergic system development, especially
      with alpha5 GABAA receptors (alpha5GABAARs), expression of which takes place
      between E14 and E17. Thereafter, we set to investigate if later potentiation of
      alpha5GABAARs in offspring's preadolescence (from postnatal day 22-28) could
      prevent the deficit in locomotor reactivity to amphetamine observed in adulthood,
      at postnatal day P60. The elevation of IL-6 in amniotic fluid 6h after LPS
      treatment (100MUg/kg, i.p.) at E15 was concurrent with a significant increase of
      GABA and decrease of glutamate concentration in fetal brain. Moreover, repeated
      administration of MP-III-022, a selective positive allosteric modulator of
      alpha5GABAARs, at a dose (2mg/kg daily, i.p.) derived from a separate
      pharmacokinetic study, prevented the LPS-induced decrease in locomotor reactivity
      to amphetamine (0.5mg/kg, i.p.) in adult females. These results were not mirrored
      in the parallel set of experiments with male offspring from LPS-treated rats. The
      results suggest that pharmacological potentiation of alpha5GABAARs activity in
      preadolescence may ameliorate at least some of adverse consequences of exposure
      to MIA in utero.

PMID- 28610976
TI  - Dioscin suppresses TGF-beta1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and
      suppresses A549 lung cancer migration and invasion.
AB  - Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important cellular process, occurs
      during cancer development and progression, has a crucial role in metastasis by
      enhancing the motility of tumor cells. Dioscin is a polyphenolic component
      isolated from Phyllanthus amarus, which exhibits a wide range of pharmacological
      and physiological activities, such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti
      obesity, anti-fungal, and anti-viral activities. However, the possible role of
      dioscin in the EMT is unclear. We investigated the suppressive effect of dioscin
      on the EMT. Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1) is known to induce EMT
      in a number of cancer cell types and promote lung adenocarcinoma migration and
      invasion. To verify the inhibitory role of dioscin in lung cancer migration and
      invasion, we investigated the use of dioscin as inhibitors of TGF-beta1-induced
      EMT in A549 lung cancer cells in vitro. Here, we found that dioscin prominently
      increased expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and expression of the
      mesenchymal marker N-cadherin and Snail during the TGF-beta1-induced EMT. In
      addition, dioscin inhibited the TGF-beta1-induced increase in cell migration and
      invasion of A549 lung cancer cells. Also, dioscin remarkably inhibited TGF-beta1
      regulated activation of MMP-2/9, Smad2, and p38. Taken together, our findings
      provide new evidence that dioscin suppresses lung cancer migration, and invasion
      in vitro by inhibiting the TGF-beta1-induced EMT.

PMID- 28610977
TI  - Novel 3-fluoro-6-methoxyquinoline derivatives as inhibitors of bacterial DNA
      gyrase and topoisomerase IV.
AB  - Novel (non-fluoroquinolone) inhibitors of bacterial type II topoisomerases
      (NBTIs) are an emerging class of antibacterial agents. We report an optimized
      series of cyclobutylaryl-substituted NBTIs. Compound 14 demonstrated excellent
      activity both in vitro (S. aureus MIC90=0.125MUg/mL) and in vivo (systemic and
      tissue infections). Enhanced inhibition of Topoisomerase IV correlated with
      improved activity in S. aureus strains with mutations conferring resistance to
      NBTIs. Compound 14 also displayed an improved hERG IC50 of 85.9MUM and a
      favorable profile in the anesthetized guinea pig model.

PMID- 28610979
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of steroidal derivatives bearing a small ring
      as vitamin D receptor agonists.
AB  - A novel series of 3-ketolithocholic acid derivatives as well as estrone
      derivatives bearing a small ring for the conformational fixation of the side
      chain were synthesized by using a catalytic [2+2] cycloaddition and a ring
      contraction rearrangement. The steroidal derivatives were evaluated for
      transcriptional activation of vitamin D receptor by luciferase reporter assays.
      Among them, two estrone derivatives showed a higher efficacy of the
      transactivation of vitamin D receptor than 3-ketolithocholic acid, and the small
      ring moieties were found to be important for the efficacy.

PMID- 28610980
TI  - Synthetic ligand promotes gene expression by affecting GC sequence in promoter.
AB  - A naphthyridine carbamate tetramer (NCT8) is a synthetic compound, which
      selectively binds to nucleic acids containing CGG/CGG sequence. Although NCT8 is
      a promising compound for a wide range of DNA and RNA based biotechnology such as
      modulation of specific gene expression, little is known about its behavior in
      human cells. In the present study, we investigated the changes induced in gene
      expression by NCT8. Genes differentially expressed in the presence of NCT8 in
      HeLa cells were identified by whole-transcriptome analysis. The whole
      transcriptome analysis showed that NCT8 significantly induced up-regulation of
      specific genes, whose promoter region has GC-rich sequence.

PMID- 28610978
TI  - Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationships of pyrimido[4,5-b]indole
      4-amines as microtubule depolymerizing agents that are effective against
      multidrug resistant cells.
AB  - To identify the structural features of 9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indoles as microtubule
      depolymerizers, pyrimido[4,5-b]indoles 2-8 with varied substituents at the 2-, 4-
      and 5-positions were designed and synthesized. Nucleophilic displacement of 2,5
      substituted-4-chloro-pyrimido[4,5-b]indoles with appropriate arylamines was the
      final step employed in the synthesis of target compounds 2-8. Compounds 2 and 6
      had two-digit nanomolar potency (IC50) against MDA-MB-435, SK-OV-3 and HeLa
      cancer cells in vitro. Compounds 2 and 6 also depolymerized microtubules
      comparable to the lead compound 1. Compounds 2, 3, 6 and 8 were effective in
      cells expressing P-glycoprotein or the betaIII isotype of tubulin, mechanisms
      that are associated with clinical drug resistance to microtubule targeting drugs.
      Proton NMR and molecular modeling studies were employed to identify the
      structural basis for the microtubule depolymerizing activity of pyrimido[4,5
      b]indoles.

PMID- 28610981
TI  - 3D-QSAR (CoMFA, CoMSIA), molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations
      study of 6-aryl-5-cyano-pyrimidine derivatives to explore the structure
      requirements of LSD1 inhibitors.
AB  - Recently, Histone Lysine Specific Demethylase 1 (LSD1) was regarded as a
      promising anticancer target for the novel drug discovery. And several small
      molecules as LSD1 inhibitors in different structures have been reported. In this
      work, we carried out a molecular modeling study on the 6-aryl-5-cyano-pyrimidine
      fragment LSD1 inhibitors using three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity
      relationship (3D-QSAR), molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations.
      Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity
      indices analysis (CoMSIA) were used to generate 3D-QSAR models. The results show
      that the best CoMFA model has q2=0.802, r2ncv=0.979, and the best CoMSIA model
      has q2=0.799, r2ncv=0.982. The electrostatic, hydrophobic and H-bond donor fields
      play important roles in the models. Molecular docking studies predict the binding
      mode and the interactions between the ligand and the receptor protein. Molecular
      dynamics simulations results reveal that the complex of the ligand and the
      receptor protein are stable at 300K. All the results can provide us more useful
      information for our further drug design.

PMID- 28610982
TI  - Synthesis, potential anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities study of (S)-N
      substituted-1-phenyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-2(1H)-carboxamides.
AB  - A series of (S)-N-substitued-1-phenyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-2(1H)-carboxamide
      derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-inflammatory
      and analgesic effects in vivo. Among the synthesized compounds 2a and 2n showed
      the best anti-inflammatory activity (inhibition rate: 95% and 92.7%,
      respectively) and analgesic effect (inhibition rate: 100% and 100%,
      respectively), which was greater than that or nearly equivalent to that of
      indomethacin. Compounds 2a and 2n were selected to test their inhibitory effects
      against ovine COX-1 and COX-2 using the cyclooxygenase inhibition assay in vitro.
      Compounds 2a and 2n are weak inhibitors of COX-1 isozyme but displayed moderate
      COX-2 isozyme inhibitory effects (IC50=0.47MUM and 1.63MUM, respectively) and COX
      2 selectivity indexes (SI=11.5 and 4.8). Furthermore, compound 2a was more
      inhibitors of COX-2 isozyme active than the reference drug celecoxib.

PMID- 28610983
TI  - Design and synthesis of a novel inhibitor of T. Viride chitinase through an in
      silico target fishing protocol.
AB  - In the last ten years, we identified and developed a new therapeutic class of
      antifungal agents, the macrocyclic amidinoureas. These compounds are active
      against several Candida species, including clinical isolates resistant to
      currently available antifungal drugs. The mode of action of these molecules is
      still unknown. In this work, we developed an in-silico target fishing procedure
      to identify a possible target for this class of compounds based on shape
      similarity, inverse docking procedure and consensus score rank-by-rank. Chitinase
      enzyme emerged as possible target. To confirm this hypothesis a novel macrocyclic
      derivative has been produced, specifically designed to increase the inhibition of
      the chitinase. Biological evaluation highlights a stronger enzymatic inhibition
      for the new derivative, while its antifungal activity drops probably because of
      pharmacokinetic issues. Collectively, our data suggest that chitinase represent
      at least one of the main target of macrocyclic amidinoureas.

PMID- 28610985
TI  - Design, synthesis and herbicidal activity study of aryl 2,6-disubstituted
      sulfonylureas as potent acetohydroxyacid synthase inhibitors.
AB  - A series of sulfonylurea derivatives containing a 2,6-disubstituted aryl moiety
      were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their herbicidal activities. Most of
      these compounds showed excellent inhibitory rates against both monocotyledonous
      and dicotyledonous weeds, especially 10a, 10h and 10i. They exhibited equivalent
      or superior herbicidal efficiency than commercial chlorsulfuron at the dosage of
      15g/ha and the preliminary SAR was summarized. In order to illuminate the
      molecular mechanism of several potent compounds, their apparent inhibition
      constant (Kiapp) of Arabidopsis thaliana acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) were
      determined and the results confirmed that these compounds were all potent AHAS
      inhibitors. 10i have a Kiapp of 11.5nM, which is about 4 times as potent as
      chlorsulfuron (52.4nM).

PMID- 28610986
TI  - Web-like bronchial stenosis secondary to granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

PMID- 28610987
TI  - Tracking interlead heterogeneity of R- and T-wave morphology to disclose latent
      risk for sudden cardiac death.
AB  - Sudden cardiac death (SCD) due primarily to ventricular fibrillation claims 1.5
      million lives worldwide each year. In 45%-50% of cases, it is the first
      manifestation of underlying heart disease. Traditional risk factors including
      smoking, hypertension, age, sex, as well as depressed left ventricular ejection
      fraction lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity to forewarn of impending
      life-threatening arrhythmias. There has been a decades-long search for
      electrocardiographic (ECG) markers of SCD risk. Several interval-based indices
      such as QT dispersion and Tpeak-Tend interval held initial promise but ultimately
      yielded mixed results. Recently, the focus has been on interlead heterogeneity of
      R- and T-wave morphology. The new approaches have involved advanced analytical
      tools including vectorcardiographic techniques and second central moment analysis
      of QRS-aligned templates to quantify heterogeneity of depolarization and
      repolarization waveforms. The results of current studies appear to be robust and
      worthy of further exploration. This review examines the electrophysiological
      underpinnings of heterogeneity-based risk assessment and provides an update of
      clinical techniques. We also discuss future directions whereby tracking
      heterogeneity may help to disclose latent risk for SCD not only in ECG recordings
      made at rest but also during ambulatory ECG monitoring and exercise tolerance
      testing.

PMID- 28610984
TI  - SAR and characterization of non-substrate isoindoline urea inhibitors of
      nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT).
AB  - Herein we disclose SAR studies that led to a series of isoindoline ureas which we
      recently reported were first-in-class, non-substrate nicotinamide
      phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) inhibitors. Modification of the isoindoline
      and/or the terminal functionality of screening hit 5 provided inhibitors such as
      52 and 58 with nanomolar antiproliferative activity and preclinical
      pharmacokinetics properties which enabled potent antitumor activity when dosed
      orally in mouse xenograft models. X-ray crystal structures of two inhibitors
      bound in the NAMPT active-site are discussed.

PMID- 28610989
TI  - Making lead extraction safer.

PMID- 28610990
TI  - Atrial-ventricular differences in rabbit cardiac voltage-gated Na+ currents:
      Basis for atrial-selective block by ranolazine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Class 1 antiarrhythmic drugs are highly effective in restoring and
      maintaining sinus rhythm in atrial fibrillation patients but carry a risk of
      ventricular tachyarrhythmia. The antianginal agent ranolazine is a prototypic
      atrial-selective voltage-gated Na+ channel blocker but the mechanisms underlying
      its atrial-selective action remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined
      the mechanisms underlying the atrial-selective action of ranolazine. METHODS:
      Whole-cell voltage-gated Na+ currents (INa) were recorded at room temperature
      (~22 degrees C) from rabbit isolated left atrial and right ventricular myocytes.
      RESULTS: INa conductance density was ~1.8-fold greater in atrial than in
      ventricular cells. Atrial INa was activated at command potentials ~7 mV more
      negative and inactivated at conditioning potentials ~11 mV more negative than
      ventricular INa. The onset of inactivation of INa was faster in atrial cells than
      in ventricular myocytes. Ranolazine (30 MUM) inhibited INa in atrial and
      ventricular myocytes in a use-dependent manner consistent with preferential
      activated/inactivated state block. Ranolazine caused a significantly greater
      negative shift in voltage of half-maximal inactivation in atrial cells than in
      ventricular cells, the recovery from inactivation of INa was slowed by ranolazine
      to a greater extent in atrial myocytes than in ventricular cells, and ranolazine
      produced an instantaneous block that showed marked voltage dependence in atrial
      cells. CONCLUSION: Differences exist between rabbit atrial and ventricular
      myocytes in the biophysical properties of INa. The more negative voltage
      dependence of INa activation and inactivation, together with trapping of the drug
      in the inactivated channel, underlies an atrial-selective action of ranolazine.

PMID- 28610992
TI  - Anti-liver cancer activity in vitro and in vivo induced by 2-pyridyl 2,3-thiazole
      derivatives.
AB  - A total of 24 hybrid compounds containing pyridyl and 1,3-thiazole moieties were
      screened against HL-60 (leukemia), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), HepG2
      (hepatocellular carcinoma), NCI-H292 (lung carcinoma) human tumor cell lines and
      non-tumor cells (PBMC, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells). Most of them
      were highly potent in at least one cell line tested (IC50<=3MUM), being HL-60 the
      most sensitive and HepG2 the most resistant cell line. Among them, TAP-07 and TP
      07 presented cytotoxic activity in all tumor cell lines, including HepG2 (IC50
      2.2 and 5.6MUM, respectively) without antiproliferative effects to normal cells
      (PBMC) (IC50>30MUM), making TAP-07 and TP-07, the compounds with the most
      favorable selectivity index. TAP-07 and TP-07 induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells
      and presented in vivo antitumor activity in hepatocellular xenograft cancer model
      in C.B-17 severe combined immunodeficient mice. Systemic toxicological verified
      by biochemical and histopathological techniques reveled no major signs of
      toxicity after treatment with TAP-07 and TP-07. Together the results indicated
      the anti-liver cancer activity of 2-pyridyl 2,3-thiazole derivatives.

PMID- 28610988
TI  - Genome-wide association study of heart rate and its variability in
      Hispanic/Latino cohorts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although time-domain measures of heart rate variability (HRV) are
      used to estimate cardiac autonomic tone and disease risk in multiethnic
      populations, the genetic epidemiology of HRV in Hispanics/Latinos has not been
      characterized. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to conduct a genome-wide
      association study of heart rate (HR) and its variability in the Hispanic
      Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis,
      and Women's Health Initiative Hispanic SNP-Health Association Resource project (n
      = 13,767). METHODS: We estimated HR (bpm), standard deviation of normal-to-normal
      interbeat intervals (SDNN, ms), and root mean squared difference in successive,
      normal-to-normal interbeat intervals (RMSSD, ms) from resting, standard 12-lead
      ECGs. We estimated associations between each phenotype and 17 million genotyped
      or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), accounting for relatedness and
      adjusting for age, sex, study site, and ancestry. Cohort-specific estimates were
      combined using fixed-effects, inverse-variance meta-analysis. We investigated
      replication for select SNPs exceeding genome-wide (P <5 * 10-8) or suggestive (P
      <10-6) significance thresholds. RESULTS: Two genome-wide significant SNPs
      replicated in a European ancestry cohort, 1 one for RMSSD (rs4963772; chromosome
      12) and another for SDNN (rs12982903; chromosome 19). A suggestive SNP for HR
      (rs236352; chromosome 6) replicated in an African-American cohort. Functional
      annotation of replicated SNPs in cardiac and neuronal tissues identified
      potentially causal variants and mechanisms. CONCLUSION: This first genome-wide
      association study of HRV and HR in Hispanics/Latinos underscores the potential
      for even modestly sized samples of non-European ancestry to inform the genetic
      epidemiology of complex traits.

PMID- 28610991
TI  - Antitumor effectiveness of a combined therapy with a new cucurbitacin B
      derivative and paclitaxel on a human lung cancer xenograft model.
AB  - Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignant tumors,
      with a high mortality rate due to the elevated risk of resistance. Natural
      cucurbitacins and their derivatives are recognized as promising antitumor
      compounds for several types of cancer, including NSCLC. In a recent study
      published by our research group, DACE (2-deoxy-2-amine-cucurbitacin E), which is
      a semisynthetic derivative of cucurbitacin B, showed potential in vitro
      synergistic antiproliferative effects combined with paclitaxel (PTX) in A549
      cells. In sequence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vivo
      antitumor efficacy of this combined therapy as well as with these drugs
      individually, using a human NSCLC xenograft model. Some indicators of sub chronic
      toxicity that could be affected by treatments were also assessed. The results
      obtained in vivo with the combined treatment (1mg/kg+PTX 10mg/kg) showed the most
      effective reduction of the relative tumor volume and the highest inhibition of
      tumor growth and proliferation, when compared with those of the single
      treatments. Furthermore, scintigraphic images, obtained before and after the
      treatments, showed that the most effective protocol able to reduce the residual
      viable tumor mass was the combined treatment. All treatment regimens were well
      tolerated without significant changes in body weight and no histological and
      functional damage to liver and kidney tissues. These results corroborate our
      previous in vitro synergistic effects published. Taken together, these insights
      are novel and highlight the therapeutic potential of DACE and PTX combination
      scheme for NSCLC.

PMID- 28610993
TI  - Effects of a co-micronized composite containing palmitoylethanolamide and
      polydatin in an experimental model of benign prostatic hyperplasia.
AB  - Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), a fatty acid amide-signaling molecule has well-known
      anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. Nevertheless, PEA does not possess
      the ability to prevent free radicals formation. Polydatin (PLD), a biological
      precursor of resveratrol, has antioxidant activity. A combination of PEA and PLD
      could, conceivably, have beneficial effects on oxidative stress produced by
      inflammatory processes. In the present study we investigated the effects of a co
      micronized composite containing PEA and PLD (m(PEA/PLD)) in a model of
      testosterone-induced benign hyperplasia (BPH). BPH was provoked in rats by daily
      administration of testosterone propionate (3mg/kg) for 14days. This protocol
      leads to alterations in prostate morphology and increased levels of prostaglandin
      E2 and dihydrotestosterone as well as of 5alpha-reductase 1 and 5alpha-reductase
      2 expression. Moreover, testosterone induced marked inflammation in terms of an
      increase in nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappaB p65 and consequently
      in IkappaB-alpha degradation as well as disregulation of inducible nitric oxide
      synthase, cyclooxygenase-2 and manganese superoxide dismutase expression and in
      the apoptosis pathway. Our results show, for the first time, that m(PEA/PLD) is
      capable of decreasing prostate weight and dihydrotestosterone production in BPH
      induced rats. These effects were most likely correlated to the anti-inflammatory
      and apoptotic effects of m(PEA/PLD). Accordingly, these results support the view
      that m(PEA/PLD) should be further studied as a potent candidate for the
      management of BPH.

PMID- 28610995
TI  - Zingerone reduces HMGB1-mediated septic responses and improves survival in septic
      mice.
AB  - High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is considered a late mediator of sepsis and the
      inhibition of HMGB1-mediated severe inflammatory responses and restoration of
      endothelial integrity have emerged as attractive therapeutic strategies for the
      management of sepsis. Zingerone (ZGR), a phenolic alkanone isolated from ginger,
      has been reported to possess various pharmacological activities. We examined the
      effects of ZGR on HMGB1-mediated septic responses and survival rate in a mouse
      model of sepsis. ZGR was administered after HMGB1 challenge. The antiseptic
      activity of ZGR was determined from the measurements of permeability, leukocyte
      adhesion and migration, activation of pro-inflammatory proteins, and the
      production of tissue injury markers in HMGB1-activated HUVECs and mice. ZGR
      significantly reduced HMGB1 release in LPS-activated HUVECs via the SIRT1
      mediated deacetylation of HMGB1. And, ZGR suppressed the production of TNF-alpha
      and IL-6 and the activation of NF-kappaB and ERK 1/2 by HMGB1. ZGR also inhibited
      HMGB1-mediated hyperpermeability and leukocyte migration in mice. In addition,
      treatment with ZGR reduced the CLP-induced release of HMGB1, sepsis-related
      mortality, and tissue injury in vivo. Our results indicated that ZGR might be
      useful in the treatment of sepsis by targeting HMGB1.

PMID- 28610996
TI  - From cheminformatics to structure-based design: Web services and desktop
      applications based on the NAOMI library.
AB  - Nowadays, computational approaches are an integral part of life science research.
      Problems related to interpretation of experimental results, data analysis, or
      visualization tasks highly benefit from the achievements of the digital era.
      Simulation methods facilitate predictions of physicochemical properties and can
      assist in understanding macromolecular phenomena. Here, we will give an overview
      of the methods developed in our group that aim at supporting researchers from all
      life science areas. Based on state-of-the-art approaches from structural
      bioinformatics and cheminformatics, we provide software covering a wide range of
      research questions. Our all-in-one web service platform ProteinsPlus
      (http://proteins.plus) offers solutions for pocket and druggability prediction,
      hydrogen placement, structure quality assessment, ensemble generation, protein
      protein interaction classification, and 2D-interaction visualization.
      Additionally, we provide a software package that contains tools targeting
      cheminformatics problems like file format conversion, molecule data set
      processing, SMARTS editing, fragment space enumeration, and ligand-based virtual
      screening. Furthermore, it also includes structural bioinformatics solutions for
      inverse screening, binding site alignment, and searching interaction patterns
      across structure libraries. The software package is available at
      http://software.zbh.uni-hamburg.de.

PMID- 28610994
TI  - Manganese-induced sex-specific gut microbiome perturbations in C57BL/6 mice.
AB  - Overexposure to manganese (Mn) leads to toxic effects, such as promoting the
      development of Parkinson's-like neurological disorders. The gut microbiome is
      deeply involved in immune development, host metabolism, and xenobiotics
      biotransformation, and significantly influences central nervous system (CNS) via
      the gut-brain axis, i.e. the biochemical signaling between the gastrointestinal
      tract and the CNS. However, it remains unclear whether Mn can affect the gut
      microbiome and its metabolic functions, particularly those linked to
      neurotoxicity. In addition, sex-specific effects of Mn have been reported, with
      no mechanism being identified yet. Recently, we have shown that the gut
      microbiome is largely different between males and females, raising the
      possibility that differential gut microbiome responses may contribute to sex
      selective toxicity of Mn. Here, we applied high-throughput sequencing and gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics to explore how Mn2+
      exposure affects the gut microbiome and its metabolism in C57BL/6 mice. Mn2+
      exposure perturbed the gut bacterial compositions, functional genes and fecal
      metabolomes in a highly sex-specific manner. In particular, bacterial genes
      and/or key metabolites of neurotransmitter synthesis and pro-inflammatory
      mediators are significantly altered by Mn2+ exposure, which can potentially
      affect chemical signaling of gut-brain interactions. Likewise, functional genes
      involved in iron homeostasis, flagellar motility, quorum sensing, and Mn
      transportation/oxidation are also widely changed by Mn2+ exposure. Taken
      together, this study has demonstrated that Mn2+ exposure perturbs the gut
      microbiome and its metabolic functions, which highlights the potential role of
      the gut microbiome in Mn2+ toxicity, particularly its sex-specific toxic effects.

PMID- 28610997
TI  - Identification of multienzymatic complexes in the Clonostachys byssicola
      secretomes produced in response to different lignocellulosic carbon sources.
AB  - Multienzymatic complexes with plant lignocellulose-degrading activities have
      recently been identified in filamentous fungi secretomes. Such complexes have
      potential biotechnological applications in the degradation of agro-industrial
      residues. Fungal species from the Clonostachys genus have been intensively
      investigated as biocontrol agents; however so far their use as producers of
      lignocellulose-degrading enzymes has not been extensively explored. Secretomes of
      Clonostachys byssicola following growth on different carbon sources (passion
      fruit peel, soybean hulls, cotton gin trash, banana stalk, sugarcane bagasse,
      orange peel, and a composition of soybean hulls: cotton gin trash:orange peel)
      were subjected to enzymatic assays. Remarkable differences were observed among
      the samples, especially regarding levels of mannanase and pectinase activities.
      Secretomes were then subjected to Blue Native PAGE in order to resolve putative
      protein complexes which subsequently had their composition revealed by trypsin
      digestion followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The protein bands (named I, II, III and
      IV) were shown to be composed by holocellulolytic enzymes, mainly cellulases and
      xylanases as well as proteins involved in biocontrol processes, such as
      chitinases and proteases. The high diversity of proteins found in these
      multicatalytic assemblies confirms C. byssicola as a novel source of plant
      biomass-degrading enzymes.

PMID- 28610998
TI  - Support material dictates the attached biomass characteristics during the
      immobilization process in anaerobic continuous-flow packed-bed bioreactor.
AB  - Hydrogen is considered to be an ideal energy alternative to replace
      environmentally burdensome fossil fuels. For its long-term production the
      immobilized biofilm system is the most promising and to choose the right support
      material the most challenging. In this respect, the anaerobic up-flow bioreactors
      packed with four most used support materials (polyethylene, polyurethane,
      activated carbon and expanded clay) were tested to investigate the crucial
      bacteria sensitive period-the immobilization process. Seven-day-operation was
      necessary and sufficient to reach metabolic and microbial stability regardless of
      support material used. The support material had an influence on the microbial
      metabolic activity as well as on quantity and quality characteristics of the
      immobilized microbial community, being polyethylene and expanded clay more
      appropriate as supports among the materials evaluated; this could be attributed
      to pH alteration. The obtained results suggest that the support material dictates
      the outcome of the immobilization process in the anaerobic continuous-flow
      bioreactor.

PMID- 28610999
TI  - Changes in faecal bacteria during fattening in finishing swine.
AB  - Body fat accumulation in mice and human is linked to the percentage of Firmicutes
      and Bacteroidetes, two bacterial phyla dominant in the large intestine. However,
      little is known about the relationship between the composition of the gut
      microbiota and fattening in pig. This study aimed to investigate the abundance of
      Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Bacteroides, which is the major genus within
      Bacteroidetes, in porcine faeces during fattening. Ten 4-month-old crossbred pigs
      were given free access to commercial feed for fattening and water for 14 weeks.
      Daily feed intake and body weight were measured every 2 weeks. Faecal samples
      were collected at 0, 4, 8, and 14 weeks, and plasma samples were collected every
      2 weeks. Daily feed intake increased until 8 weeks, and then decreased. Body
      weight increased with fattening during the experimental period. Feed efficiency
      showed high values at 0-4 and 6-8 weeks. The level of Firmicutes increased (P <
      0.05), whereas those of Bacteroides and Bacteroidetes decreased (P < 0.05) with
      fattening. The total short chain fatty acid content in the faeces increased (P <
      0.05) with fattening until 8 weeks and then decreased (P < 0.05) at 14 weeks.
      There were no significant relationships between the level of Firmicutes and feed
      intake or plasma leptin concentration. The levels of Bacteroidetes and
      Bacteroides correlated with feed intake, body weight, and plasma leptin or plasma
      urea nitrogen (PUN) concentration. Our results suggested that the level of
      Firmicutes increased and those of Bacteroidetes and Bacteroides decreased with
      increase in feed intake and body weight, similar to previous results obtained for
      mice and human. However, energy extraction from feed was not influenced by
      compositional alteration of gut flora, because daily gain and feed efficiency did
      not show high values towards the end of the fattening period. Manipulating the
      gut microbiota might help improve fattening performance, although further studies
      are necessary to understand the relationships between the composition of gut
      microbiota and energy absorption.

PMID- 28611000
TI  - Sterility of Selected Operative Sites During Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To describe the type and quantity of bacteria found
      intraoperatively on the abdomen, vagina, surgical gloves, instrument tips, and
      uterus at distinct time points during total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH).
      DESIGN: Observational study (Canadian Task Force classification III). SETTING:
      Academic affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: Thirty-one women undergoing TLH for
      benign indications in 2016. INTERVENTIONS: After antibiotic prophylaxis and
      chlorhexidine preparation, swabs were collected from the vaginal fornices and
      abdomen. During subsequent TLH, additional swabs were collected from the
      following sites: surgeon's gloves after placement of the uterine manipulator,
      tips of instruments used to close the vaginal cuff, uterine fundus after
      extraction, and surgeon's gloves after removal of the uterus. A calibrated loop
      was used to inoculate each specimen onto 5% blood and chocolate agars for growth
      of aerobes and onto Brucella blood, phenylethyl alcohol, kanamycin vancomycin,
      and Bacteroides bile esculin agars for growth of anaerobes. Manual colony counts
      were tabulated for all positive cultures and reported in colony-forming units per
      milliliter (CFU/mL). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Anaerobic growth was not seen
      on the instrument tips, in the vagina, or on the abdomen of any patient. Aerobic
      bacterial growth was not seen in the vagina of any patient. On the surgeon's
      gloves after uterine manipulator placement, no patients demonstrated sufficient
      bacterial growth to potentially cause surgical site infection (>=5000 CFU/mL). On
      the surgeon's gloves following uterine extraction, 1 patient demonstrated
      sufficient growth to potentially cause infection. None of the patients developed
      surgical site infections postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Cultures from multiple
      operative sites yielded bacterial growth, but the bacterial concentrations did
      not exceed the threshold for infection in 98.9% of cultures. Given absent growth
      from vaginal cultures and rare growth from abdominal cultures, chlorhexidine
      gluconate 4% is considered an appropriate surgical preparation for use in
      laparoscopic hysterectomy.

PMID- 28611001
TI  - Improvement of endothelial progenitor outgrowth cell (EPOC)-mediated
      vascularization in gelatin-based hydrogels through pore size manipulation.
AB  - : In addition to chemical compositions, physical properties of scaffolds, such as
      pore size, can also influence vascularization within the scaffolds. A larger pore
      has been shown to improve host vascular tissue invasion into scaffolds. However,
      the influence of pore sizes on vascularization by endothelial cells directly
      encapsulated in hydrogels remains unknown. In this study, micro-cavitary
      hydrogels with different pore sizes were created in gelatin-methacrylate
      hydrogels with dissolvable gelatin microspheres (MS) varying in sizes. The effect
      of pore sizes on vascular network formation by endothelial progenitor outgrowth
      cells (EPOCs) encapsulated in hydrogels was then investigated both in vitro and
      in vivo. When cultured in vitro, vascular networks were formed around pore
      structures in micro-cavitary hydrogels. The middle pore size supported best
      differentiation of EPOCs and thus best hydrogel vascularization in vitro. When
      implantation in vivo, functional connections between encapsulated EPOCs and host
      vasculature micro-cavitary hydrogels were established. Vascularization in vivo
      was promoted best in hydrogels with the large pore size due to the increased
      vascular tissue invasion. These results highlight the difference between in vitro
      and in vivo culture conditions and indicate that pore sizes shall be designed for
      in vitro and in vivo hydrogel vascularization respectively. Pore sizes for
      hydrogel vascularization in vitro shall be middle ones and pore sizes for
      hydrogel vascularization in vivo shall be large ones. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
      This study reveals that the optimal pore size for hydrogel vascularization in
      vitro and in vivo is different. The middle pore size supported best
      differentiation of EPOCs and thus best hydrogel vascularization in vitro, while
      vascularization in vivo was promoted best in hydrogels with the large pore size
      due to the increased vascular tissue invasion. These results highlight the
      difference between in vitro and in vivo culture conditions and indicate that pore
      sizes shall be designed for in vitro and in vivo hydrogel vascularization
      respectively. Pore sizes for hydrogel vascularization in vitro shall be middle
      ones and pore sizes for hydrogel vascularization in vivo shall be large ones.

PMID- 28611003
TI  - Atomic layer deposited ZrO2 nanofilm on Mg-Sr alloy for enhanced corrosion
      resistance and biocompatibility.
AB  - : The biodegradability and good mechanical property of magnesium alloys make them
      potential biomedical materials. However, their rapid corrosion rate in the human
      body's environment impairs these advantages and limits their clinical use. In
      this work, a compact zirconia (ZrO2) nanofilm was fabricated on the surface of a
      magnesium-strontium (Mg-Sr) alloy by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method,
      which can regulate the thickness of the film precisely and thus also control the
      corrosion rate. Corrosion tests reveal that the ZrO2 film can effectively reduce
      the corrosion rate of Mg-Sr alloys that is closely related to the thickness of
      the film. The cell culture test shows that this kind of ZrO2 film can also
      enhance the activity and adhesion of osteoblasts on the surfaces of Mg-Sr alloys.
      STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of the current work is to develop a
      zirconia nanofilm on biomedical MgSr alloy with controllable thickness precisely
      through atomic layer deposition technique. By adjusting the thickness of
      nanofilm, the corrosion rate of Mg-Sr alloy can be modulated, thereafter, the
      degradation rate of Mg-based alloys can be controlled precisely according to
      actual clinical requirement. In addition, this zirconia nanofilm modified Mg-Sr
      alloys show excellent biocompatibility than the bare samples. Hence, this work
      provides a new surface strategy to control the degradation rate while improving
      the biocompatibility of substrates.

PMID- 28611004
TI  - An in situ-forming phospholipid-based phase transition gel prolongs the duration
      of local anesthesia for ropivacaine with minimal toxicity.
AB  - : An injectable, phospholipid-based phase transition gel (PPTG) has been
      developed for prolonging the release of ropivacaine (RO) for local anesthesia.
      PPTG was prepared by mixing phospholipids, medium-chain triglyceride and ethanol.
      Prior to injection, the PPTG is in a sol state with low viscosity. After
      subcutaneous injection, the PPTG rapidly forms a gel in situ, which acts as a
      drug release depot as verified by in vitro release profiles and in vivo
      pharmacokinetics. Administering RO-PPTG to rats led to a significantly smaller
      initial burst release than administering RO solution or RO base suspension. Nerve
      blockade in guinea pigs lasted 3-fold longer after injection of RO-PPTG than
      after injection of RO solution. RO-PPTG showed good biocompatibility and
      excellent degradability in vivo. These results suggest that this PPTG-based depot
      system may be useful for sustained release of local anesthetics to prolong
      analgesia without causing systemic toxicity. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The
      sustained release of local anesthetics at the surgical site after a single
      injection is the optimal method to control post-surgical pain. In situ forming
      implant is an attractive alternative for the sustained release of local
      anesthetics. However, its practical use is highly limited by certain drawbacks
      including high viscosity, involved toxic organic solvents and fast drug release.
      To date, phospholipids-based phase transition gel (PPTG) is emerging for clinical
      development because of the non-toxicity, biocompatibility and ready availability
      of phospholipids in body. Thus, we present a novel strategy for sustained release
      of local anesthetics to control post-surgical pain based on PPTG, which showed a
      prolonged duration of nerve blockade and excellent biocompatibility.

PMID- 28611002
TI  - Chondrogenesis of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in 3-dimensional,
      photocrosslinked hydrogel constructs: Effect of cell seeding density and material
      stiffness.
AB  - : Three-dimensional hydrogel constructs incorporated with live stem cells that
      support chondrogenic differentiation and maintenance offer a promising
      regenerative route towards addressing the limited self-repair capabilities of
      articular cartilage. In particular, hydrogel scaffolds that augment
      chondrogenesis and recapitulate the native physical properties of cartilage, such
      as compressive strength, can potentially be applied in point-of-care procedures.
      We report here the synthesis of two new materials, [poly-l-lactic
      acid/polyethylene glycol/poly-l-lactic acid] (PLLA-PEG 1000) and [poly-d,l-lactic
      acid/polyethylene glycol/poly-d,l-lactic acid] (PDLLA-PEG 1000), that are
      biodegradable, biocompatible (>80% viability post fabrication), and possess high,
      physiologically relevant mechanical strength (~1500 to 1800kPa). This study
      examined the effects of physiologically relevant cell densities (4, 8, 20, and
      50*106/mL) and hydrogel stiffnesses (~150kPa to~1500kPa Young's moduli) on
      chondrogenesis of human bone marrow stem cells incorporated in hydrogel
      constructs fabricated with these materials and a previously characterized PDLLA
      PEG 4000. Results showed that 20*106cells/mL, under a static culture condition,
      was the most efficient cell seeding density for extracellular matrix (ECM)
      production on the basis of hydroxyproline and glycosaminoglycan content.
      Interestingly, material stiffness did not significantly affect chondrogenesis,
      but rather material concentration was correlated to chondrogenesis with
      increasing levels at lower concentrations based on ECM production, chondrogenic
      gene expression, and histological analysis. These findings establish optimal cell
      densities for chondrogenesis within three-dimensional cell-incorporated
      hydrogels, inform hydrogel material development for cartilage tissue engineering,
      and demonstrate the efficacy and potential utility of PDLLA-PEG 1000 for point-of
      care treatment of cartilage defects. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Engineering
      cartilage with physiologically relevant mechanical properties for point-of-care
      applications represents a major challenge in orthopedics, given the generally low
      mechanical strengths of traditional hydrogels used in cartilage tissue
      engineering. In this study, we characterized a new material that possesses high
      mechanical strength similar to native cartilage, and determined the optimal cell
      density and scaffold stiffness to achieve the most efficient chondrogenic
      response from seeded human bone marrow stem cells. Results show robust
      chondrogenesis and strongly suggest the potential of this material to be applied
      clinically for point-of-care repair of cartilage defects.

PMID- 28611005
TI  - Bottom-up synthesis of WS2 nanosheets with synchronous surface modification for
      imaging guided tumor regression.
AB  - : Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been receiving
      great attention as NIR photothermal transducing agent in tumor photothermal
      therapy. Keeping in mind the low efficiency of the conventional top-down
      exfoliated 2D TMDs and the complexity of their surface modifications, we herein
      proposed a bottom-up strategy for the one-pot hydrothermal and controlled
      synthesis of surface polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) modified WS2 nanosheets. The
      material design was based on the chelating-coordinating effect between the lone
      pair electrons of oxygen of PVP carbonyl group and the unoccupied orbital (5d
      orbitals) of tungsten. The WS2 nanosheets with synchronous surface PVP grafting
      showed an excellent photothermal conversion performance, while the surface
      anchored PVP guaranteed its colloidal stability. Moreover, the strong X-ray
      attenuation ability and near-infrared (NIR) absorbance of WS2-PVP360kDa enabled
      the sensitive in vitro and in vivo computed tomography and photoacoustic imaging.
      The WS2-PVP360kDa nanosheets were biocompatible and exhibited promising in vitro
      and in vivo anti-cancer efficacy. Findings in this report may greatly promote the
      design of colloidal stable and biocompatible 2D TMDs and their future clinical
      translations. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A bottom-up strategy for the one-pot and
      controlled synthesis of surface polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) modified WS2
      nanosheets was proposed for the first time. By hydrothermally treating the
      mixture solution of tetrathiotungstate and PVP, Owing to the chelating
      coordinating effect between the lone pair electrons of oxygen of PVP carbonyl
      group and the unoccupied orbital (5d orbitals) of tungsten, PVP was synchronously
      graphed on WS2-PVP nanosheets surface. The formed WS2-PVP nanosheets were
      colloidal stable, biocompatible, and exhibited promising computed tomography,
      photoacoustic imaging and tumor photothermal therapy efficacy both in vitro and
      in vivo.

PMID- 28611006
TI  - Intensive versus moderate atorvastatin therapy and one-year graft patency after
      CABG: Rationale and design of the ACTIVE (Aggressive Cholesterol Therapy to
      Inhibit Vein Graft Events) randomized controlled trial (NCT01528709).
AB  - RATIONALE: Saphenous vein graft disease remains a major limitation of coronary
      artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). Statin therapy inhibits the development of
      vein graft disease and improves outcomes after CABG. However, it is unclear
      whether treatment with high-dose statins will further slow the process of vein
      graft disease and improve graft patency, as compared to conventional moderate
      doses. Therefore, the goal of this study will be to evaluate the efficacy of high
      dose statin therapy versus moderate-dose statin therapy for the prevention of
      saphenous vein graft occlusion following CABG. STUDY DESIGN: The Aggressive
      Cholesterol Therapy to Inhibit Vein Graft Events (ACTIVE) trial is a multi-center
      double-blind randomized controlled trial enrolling patients who have undergone
      multi-vessel CABG with at least one saphenous vein graft. Patients will be
      randomized to receive either atorvastatin 80mg daily or atorvastatin 10mg daily
      for one year starting within 5days after surgery. The target enrollment is 100
      patients in each arm (200 patients total). Lipid levels will be assessed every
      3months. After one year, patients will undergo computed tomography (CT) coronary
      angiography to assess the incidence of vein graft occlusion and stenosis.
      CONCLUSION: This trial is the first prospective study to evaluate the impact of
      early postoperative high-dose statin therapy on graft patency after CABG. Should
      high-dose statin therapy reduce the incidence of postoperative graft occlusion,
      the results will add to the growing evidence supporting the role of high
      intensity statins for modern lipid management after coronary surgical
      revascularization (ClinicalTrials.govNCT01528709).

PMID- 28611008
TI  - The Female Athlete Body (FAB) study: Rationale, design, and baseline
      characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eating Disorders (EDs) are serious psychiatric illnesses marked by
      psychiatric comorbidity, medical complications, and functional impairment.
      Research indicates that female athletes are often at greater risk for developing
      ED pathology versus non-athlete females. The Female Athlete Body (FAB) study is a
      three-site, randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to assess the efficacy of
      a behavioral ED prevention program for female collegiate athletes when
      implemented by community providers. This paper describes the design,
      intervention, and participant baseline characteristics. Future papers will
      discuss outcomes. METHODS: Female collegiate athletes (N=481) aged 17-21 were
      randomized by site, team, and sport type to either FAB or a waitlist control
      group. FAB consisted of three sessions (1.3h each) of a behavioral ED prevention
      program. Assessments were conducted at baseline (pre-intervention), post
      intervention (3weeks), and six-, 12-, and 18-month follow-ups. RESULTS: This
      study achieved 96% (N=481) of target recruitment (N=500). Few group differences
      emerged at baseline. Total sample analyses revealed moderately low baseline
      instances of ED symptoms and clinical cases. CONCLUSIONS: Health risks associated
      with EDs necessitate interventions for female athletes. The FAB study is the
      largest existing RCT for female athletes aimed at both reduction of ED risk
      factors and ED prevention. The methods presented and population recruited for
      this study represent an ideal intervention for assessing the effects of FAB on
      both the aforementioned outcomes. We anticipate that findings of this study
      (reported in future papers) will make a significant contribution to the ED risk
      factor reduction and prevention literature.

PMID- 28611007
TI  - Using social media to deliver weight loss programming to young adults: Design and
      rationale for the Healthy Body Healthy U (HBHU) trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The transitional period from late adolescence to early adulthood is a
      vulnerable period for weight gain, with a twofold increase in overweight/obesity
      during this life transition. In the United States, approximately one-third of
      young adults have obesity and are at a high risk for weight gain. PURPOSE: To
      describe the design and rationale of a National Institute of Diabetes and
      Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) sponsored randomized, controlled clinical
      trial, the Healthy Body Healthy U (HBHU) study, which compares the differential
      efficacy of three interventions on weight loss among young adults aged 18
      35years. METHODS: The intervention is delivered via Facebook and SMS Text
      Messaging (text messaging) and includes: 1) targeted content (Targeted); 2)
      tailored or personalized feedback (Tailored); or 3) contact control (Control).
      Recruitment is on-going at two campus sites, with the intervention delivery
      conducted by the parent site. A total of 450 students will be randomly-assigned
      to receive one of three programs for 18months. We hypothesize that: a) the
      Tailored group will lose significantly more weight at the 6, 12, 18month follow
      ups compared with the Targeted group; and that b) both the Tailored and Targeted
      groups will have greater weight loss at the 6, 12, 18month follow-ups than the
      Control group. We also hypothesize that participants who achieve a 5% weight loss
      at 6 and 18months will have greater improvements in their cardiometabolic risk
      factors than those who do not achieve this target. We will examine intervention
      costs to inform implementation and sustainability other universities. Expected
      study completion date is 2019. CONCLUSIONS: This project has significant public
      health impact, as the successful translation could reach as many as 20 million
      university students each year, and change the current standard of practice for
      promoting weight management within university campus communities.
      ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT02342912.

PMID- 28611009
TI  - Comprehensive study of the drug delivery properties of poly(l-lactide)
      poly(ethylene glycol) nanoparticles in rats and tumor-bearing mice.
AB  - Nanoparticles made of polylactide-poly(ethylene glycol) block-copolymer (PLA-PEG)
      are promising vehicles for drug delivery due to their biodegradability and
      controllable payload release. However, published data on the drug delivery
      properties of PLA-PEG nanoparticles are heterogeneous in terms of nanoparticle
      characteristics and mostly refer to low injected doses (a few mg nanoparticles
      per kg body weight). We have performed a comprehensive study of the
      biodistribution of nanoparticle formulations based on PLA-PEG nanoparticles of
      ~100nm size at injected doses of 30 to 140mg/kg body weight in healthy rats and
      nude tumor-bearing mice. Nanoparticle formulations differed by surface PEG
      coverage and by release kinetics of the encapsulated model active pharmaceutical
      ingredient (API). Increase in PEG coverage prolonged nanoparticle circulation
      half-life up to ~20h in rats and ~10h in mice and decreased retention in liver,
      spleen and lungs. Circulation half-life of the encapsulated API grew monotonously
      as the release rate slowed down. Plasma and tissue pharmacokinetics was dose
      linear for inactive nanoparticles, but markedly dose-dependent for the model
      therapeutic formulation, presumably because of the toxic effects of released API.
      A mathematical model of API distribution calibrated on the data for inactive
      nanoparticles and conventional API form correctly predicted the distribution of
      the model therapeutic formulation at the lowest investigated dose, but for higher
      doses the toxic action of the released API had to be explicitly modelled. Our
      results provide a coherent illustration of the ability of controllable-release
      PLA-PEG nanoparticles to serve as an effective drug delivery platform to alter
      API biodistribution. They also underscore the importance of physiological effects
      of released drug in determining the biodistribution of therapeutic drug
      formulations at doses approaching tolerability limits.

PMID- 28611010
TI  - Cases of ALK-Rearranged Lung Cancer with 5-Year Progression-Free Survival with
      Crizotinib as Initial Precision Therapy.

PMID- 28611011
TI  - Application of Plasma Genotyping Technologies in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A
      Practical Review.
AB  - The rational treatment of metastatic NSCLC hinges on the timely detection of
      potentially targetable genomic alterations to guide therapy. Recent advances in
      highly sensitive genotyping technologies have allowed for development of novel
      plasma genotyping assays that are capable of noninvasively detecting targetable
      alterations in plasma cell-free DNA without reliance on traditional tissue
      genotyping. The rapid development of plasma genotyping has led to an explosion in
      the number of assay platforms available from both commercial and laboratory
      sources. The sheer number of such platforms has led to confusion among
      oncologists as to both the test characteristics and limitations of individual
      plasma genotyping assays and the clinical context in which these tests may be
      utilized either alone or in combination with traditional tissue genotyping.
      Reliable data from prospective validation against a tissue genotyping reference
      standard are available for only a limited number of platforms. Careful
      retrospective validation of alternative platforms utilizing paired tissue and
      plasma specimens collected under the auspices of clinical trials represent an
      alternative but reliable validation strategy. A consistent trend among these well
      validated plasma genotyping assays has been the observation of high specificity
      and positive predictive value and more limited sensitivity. At present, validated
      assays can be considered actionable in instances in which a targetable genomic
      alteration is detected or an alternative nontargetable driver mutation is
      detected and can be used to infer the absence of one of the former.

PMID- 28611012
TI  - Peculiar Cold-Induced Leukoagglutination in Mycoplasma pneumoniae Pneumonia.

PMID- 28611013
TI  - The Effect of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells on the Granulocytic
      Differentiation of HL-60 Cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stromal cells that can
      differentiate into a variety of cell types. They control the process of
      hematopoiesis by secreting regulatory cytokines and growth factors and by the
      expression of important cell adhesion molecules for cell-to-cell interactions.
      This investigation was intended to examine the effect of bone marrow (BM)-derived
      MSCs on the differentiation of HL-60 cells according to morphological evaluation,
      flow cytometry analysis, and gene expression profile. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      BM-MSCs were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10%
      fetal bovine serum (FBS). After the third passage, the BM-MSCs were irradiated at
      30 Gy. To compare how the HL-60 cells differentiated in groups treated
      differently, HL-60 cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 and supplemented with 10%
      FBS. The HL-60 cells were seeded into six-well culture plates and treated with
      all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), BM-MSCs, or BM-MSCs in combination with ATRA,
      while one well remained as untreated HL-60 cells. The expression levels of the
      granulocyte subset-specific genes in the HL-60 cells were assayed by real-time
      polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Our results revealed that BM-MSCs support the
      granulocytic differentiation of the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60.
      CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, we concluded that BM-MSCs may be
      an effective resource in reducing or even preventing ATRA's side effects and may
      promote differentiation for short medication periods. Though BM-MSCs are
      effective resources, more complementary studies are necessary to improve this
      differentiation mechanism in clinical cases.

PMID- 28611014
TI  - Understanding Smart Home Sensor Data for Ageing in Place Through Everyday
      Household Routines: A Mixed Method Case Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An ongoing challenge for smart homes research for aging-in-place is
      how to make sense of the large amounts of data from in-home sensors to facilitate
      real-time monitoring and develop reliable alerts. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our
      study was to explore the usefulness of a routine-based approach for making sense
      of smart home data for the elderly. METHODS: Maximum variation sampling was used
      to select three cases for an in-depth mixed methods exploration of the daily
      routines of three elderly participants in a smart home trial using 180 days of
      power use and motion sensor data and longitudinal interview data. RESULTS: Sensor
      data accurately matched self-reported routines. By comparing daily movement data
      with personal routines, it was possible to identify changes in routine that
      signaled illness, recovery from bereavement, and gradual deterioration of sleep
      quality and daily movement. Interview and sensor data also identified changes in
      routine with variations in temperature and daylight hours. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings demonstrated that a routine-based approach makes interpreting sensor
      data easy, intuitive, and transparent. They highlighted the importance of
      understanding and accounting for individual differences in preferences for
      routinization and the influence of the cyclical nature of daily routines, social
      or cultural rhythms, and seasonal changes in temperature and daylight hours when
      interpreting information based on sensor data. This research has demonstrated the
      usefulness of a routine-based approach for making sense of smart home data, which
      has furthered the understanding of the challenges that need to be addressed in
      order to make real-time monitoring and effective alerts a reality.

PMID- 28611015
TI  - Too Far to Care? Measuring Public Attention and Fear for Ebola Using Twitter.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2014, the world was startled by a sudden outbreak of Ebola.
      Although Ebola infections and deaths occurred almost exclusively in Guinea,
      Sierra Leone, and Liberia, few potential Western cases, in particular, caused a
      great stir among the public in Western countries. OBJECTIVE: This study builds on
      the construal level theory to examine the relationship between psychological
      distance to an epidemic and public attention and sentiment expressed on Twitter.
      Whereas previous research has shown the potential of social media to assess real
      time public opinion and sentiment, generalizable insights that further the theory
      development lack. METHODS: Epidemiological data (number of Ebola infections and
      fatalities) and media data (tweet volume and key events reported in the media)
      were collected for the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and Twitter content from the
      Netherlands was coded for (1) expressions of fear for self or fear for others and
      (2) psychological distance of the outbreak to the tweet source. Longitudinal
      relations were compared using vector error correction model (VECM) methodology.
      RESULTS: Analyses based on 4500 tweets revealed that increases in public
      attention to Ebola co-occurred with severe world events related to the epidemic,
      but not all severe events evoked fear. As hypothesized, Web-based public
      attention and expressions of fear responded mainly to the psychological distance
      of the epidemic. A chi-square test showed a significant positive relation between
      proximity and fear: chi22=103.2 (P<.001). Public attention and fear for self in
      the Netherlands showed peaks when Ebola became spatially closer by crossing the
      Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Fear for others was mostly predicted by the
      social distance to the affected parties. CONCLUSIONS: Spatial and social distance
      are important predictors of public attention to worldwide crisis such as
      epidemics. These factors need to be taken into account when communicating about
      human tragedies.

PMID- 28611016
TI  - How Do You #relax When You're #stressed? A Content Analysis and Infodemiology
      Study of Stress-Related Tweets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stress is a contributing factor to many major health problems in the
      United States, such as heart disease, depression, and autoimmune diseases.
      Relaxation is often recommended in mental health treatment as a frontline
      strategy to reduce stress, thereby improving health conditions. Twitter is a
      microblog platform that allows users to post their own personal messages
      (tweets), including their expressions about feelings and actions related to
      stress and stress management (eg, relaxing). While Twitter is increasingly used
      as a source of data for understanding mental health from a population
      perspective, the specific issue of stress-as manifested on Twitter-has not yet
      been the focus of any systematic study. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was
      to understand how people express their feelings of stress and relaxation through
      Twitter messages. In addition, we aimed at investigating automated natural
      language processing methods to (1) classify stress versus nonstress and
      relaxation versus nonrelaxation tweets, and (2) identify first-hand experience
      that is, who is the experiencer-in stress and relaxation tweets. METHODS: We
      first performed a qualitative content analysis of 1326 and 781 tweets containing
      the keywords "stress" and "relax," respectively. We then investigated the use of
      machine learning algorithms-in particular naive Bayes and support vector machines
      to automatically classify tweets as stress versus nonstress and relaxation versus
      nonrelaxation. Finally, we applied these classifiers to sample datasets drawn
      from 4 cities in the United States (Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and San
      Francisco) obtained from Twitter's streaming application programming interface,
      with the goal of evaluating the extent of any correlation between our automatic
      classification of tweets and results from public stress surveys. RESULTS: Content
      analysis showed that the most frequent topic of stress tweets was education,
      followed by work and social relationships. The most frequent topic of relaxation
      tweets was rest & vacation, followed by nature and water. When we applied the
      classifiers to the cities dataset, the proportion of stress tweets in New York
      and San Diego was substantially higher than that in Los Angeles and San
      Francisco. In addition, we found that characteristic expressions of stress and
      relaxation varied for each city based on its geolocation. CONCLUSIONS: This
      content analysis and infodemiology study revealed that Twitter, when used in
      conjunction with natural language processing techniques, is a useful data source
      for understanding stress and stress management strategies, and can potentially
      supplement infrequently collected survey-based stress data.

PMID- 28611018
TI  - Use weak government to push for local NHS change, says MP.

PMID- 28611017
TI  - Web Use for Symptom Appraisal of Physical Health Conditions: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Web has become an important information source for appraising
      symptoms. We need to understand the role it currently plays in help seeking and
      symptom evaluation to leverage its potential to support health care delivery.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim was to systematically review the literature currently
      available on Web use for symptom appraisal. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE,
      PsycINFO, ACM Digital Library, SCOPUS, and Web of Science for any empirical
      studies that addressed the use of the Web by lay people to evaluate symptoms for
      physical conditions. Articles were excluded if they did not meet minimum quality
      criteria. Study findings were synthesized using a thematic approach. RESULTS: A
      total of 32 studies were included. Study designs included cross-sectional
      surveys, qualitative studies, experimental studies, and studies involving
      website/search engine usage data. Approximately 35% of adults engage in Web use
      for symptom appraisal, but this proportion varies between 23% and 75% depending
      on sociodemographic and disease-related factors. Most searches were symptom-based
      rather than condition-based. Users viewed only the top search results and
      interacted more with results that mentioned serious conditions. Web use for
      symptom appraisal appears to impact on the decision to present to health
      services, communication with health professionals, and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Web
      use for symptom appraisal has the potential to influence the timing of help
      seeking for symptoms and the communication between patients and health care
      professionals during consultations. However, studies lack suitable comparison
      groups as well as follow-up of participants over time to determine whether Web
      use results in health care utilization and diagnosis. Future research should
      involve longitudinal follow-up so that we can weigh the benefits of Web use for
      symptom appraisal (eg, reductions in delays to diagnosis) against the
      disadvantages (eg, unnecessary anxiety and health care use) and relate these to
      health care costs.

PMID- 28611019
TI  - MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Aberrations of the X chromosome as cause of male
      infertility.
AB  - Male infertility is most commonly caused by spermatogenetic failure, clinically
      noted as oligo- or a-zoospermia. Today, in approximately 20% of azoospermic
      patients, a causal genetic defect can be identified. The most frequent genetic
      causes of azoospermia (or severe oligozoospermia) are Klinefelter syndrome
      (47,XXY), structural chromosomal abnormalities and Y-chromosomal microdeletions.
      Consistent with Ohno's law, the human X chromosome is the most stable of all the
      chromosomes, but contrary to Ohno's law, the X chromosome is loaded with regions
      of acquired, rapidly evolving genes, which are of special interest because they
      are predominantly expressed in the testis. Therefore, it is not surprising that
      the X chromosome, considered as the female counterpart of the male-associated Y
      chromosome, may actually play an essential role in male infertility and sperm
      production. This is supported by the recent description of a significantly
      increased copy number variation (CNV) burden on both sex chromosomes in infertile
      men and point mutations in X-chromosomal genes responsible for male infertility.
      Thus, the X chromosome seems to be frequently affected in infertile male
      patients. Four principal X-chromosomal aberrations have been identified so far:
      (1) aneuploidy of the X chromosome as found in Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY or
      mosaicism for additional X chromosomes). (2) Translocations involving the X
      chromosome, e.g. nonsyndromic 46,XX testicular disorders of sex development (XX
      male syndrome) or X-autosome translocations. (3) CNVs affecting the X chromosome.
      (4) Point mutations disrupting X-chromosomal genes. All these are reviewed herein
      and assessed concerning their importance for the clinical routine diagnostic
      workup of the infertile male as well as their potential to shape research on
      spermatogenic failure in the next years.

PMID- 28611020
TI  - CONSTANS Companion: CO Binds the NF-YB/NF-YC Dimer and Confers Sequence-Specific
      DNA Binding.

PMID- 28611021
TI  - Secrets of the Forest: Volatiles First Discovered in Pine Trees Propagate Defense
      Signals within and between Plants.

PMID- 28611022
TI  - FDA pulls opioid from market over misuse concerns.

PMID- 28611023
TI  - Accumulation of classical monocytes defines a subgroup of MDS that frequently
      evolves into CMML.

PMID- 28611024
TI  - Platelet amyloid precursor protein is a modulator of venous thromboembolism in
      mice.
AB  - The amyloid precursor protein (APP), primarily known as the precursor of amyloid
      peptides that accumulate in the brain of patients with Alzheimer disease, is
      abundant in platelets, but its physiological function remains unknown. In this
      study, we investigated the role of APP in hemostasis and thrombosis, using APP
      knockout (KO) mice. Ex vivo aggregation, secretion, and integrin alphaIIbbeta3
      inside-out activation induced by several agonists were normal in APP-deficient
      platelets, but the number of circulating platelets was reduced by about 20%, and
      their size was slightly increased. Tail bleeding time was normal, and in vivo,
      the absence of APP did not alter thrombus formation in the femoral artery. In
      contrast, in a model of vein thrombosis induced by flow restriction in the
      inferior vena cava, APP-KO mice, as well as chimeric mice with selective
      deficiency of APP in blood cells, developed much larger thrombi than control
      animals, and were more sensitive to embolization. Consistent with this, in a
      pulmonary thromboembolism model, larger vessels were occluded. APP-KO mice
      displayed a shorter APTT, but not PT, when measured in the presence of platelets.
      Moreover, the activity of factor XIa (FXIa), but not FXIIa, was higher in APP-KO
      mice compared with controls. APP-KO mice presented a higher number of circulating
      platelet-leukocyte aggregates, and neutrophils displayed a greater tendency to
      protrude extracellular traps, which were more strongly incorporated into venous
      thrombi. These results indicate that platelet APP limits venous thromboembolism
      through a negative regulation of both fibrin formation and neutrophil function.

PMID- 28611025
TI  - How I treat patients with aggressive lymphoma at high risk of CNS relapse.
AB  - Central nervous system (CNS) relapses are an uncommon yet devastating
      complication of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The identification of patients at high
      risk of secondary CNS relapse is therefore paramount. Retrospective data indicate
      prophylactic CNS-directed therapies may reduce the risk of CNS involvement;
      however, no consensus exists about dose, timing, or route of therapy. In
      addition, prophylaxis is not without risk of treatment-related complications and
      morbidity. Here, we present a series of case vignettes highlighting our approach
      to common dilemmas encountered in routine clinical practice. We review the method
      of assessing CNS relapse risk, factors that increase the likelihood of relapse
      including histologic subtype, MYC rearrangement, protein expression, and
      extranodal involvement, and review our clinical practice based on available
      evidence in administering CNS-directed prophylaxis.

PMID- 28611026
TI  - Map4k4 impairs energy metabolism in endothelial cells and promotes insulin
      resistance in obesity.
AB  - The blood vasculature responds to insulin, influencing hemodynamic changes in the
      periphery, which promotes tissue nutrient and oxygen delivery and thus metabolic
      function. The lymphatic vasculature regulates fluid and lipid homeostasis, and
      impaired lymphatic function can contribute to atherosclerosis and obesity. Recent
      studies have suggested a role for endothelial cell (EC) mitogen-activated protein
      kinase kinase kinase kinase 4 (Map4k4) in developmental angiogenesis and
      lymphangiogenesis as well as atherosclerosis. Here, we show that inducible EC
      Map4k4 deletion in adult mice ameliorates metabolic dysfunction in obesity
      despite the development of chylous ascites and a concomitant striking increase in
      adipose tissue lymphocyte content. Despite these defects, animals lacking
      endothelial Map4k4 were protected from skeletal muscle microvascular rarefaction
      in obesity, and primary ECs lacking Map4k4 displayed reduced senescence and
      increased metabolic capacity. Thus endothelial Map4k4 has complex and opposing
      functions in the blood and lymphatic endothelium postdevelopment. Whereas blood
      endothelial Map4k4 promotes vascular dysfunction and impairs glucose homeostasis
      in adult animals, lymphatic endothelial Map4k4 is required to maintain lymphatic
      vascular integrity and regulate immune cell trafficking in obesity.

PMID- 28611027
TI  - The intestinal-renal axis for arginine synthesis is present and functional in the
      neonatal pig.
AB  - The intestinal-renal axis for endogenous arginine synthesis is an interorgan
      process in which citrulline produced in the small intestine is utilized by the
      kidney for arginine synthesis. The function of this axis in neonates has been
      questioned because during this period the enzymes needed for arginine synthesis
      argininosuccinate synthase (ASS1) and lyase (ASL) are present in the gut.
      However, evidence of high plasma citrulline concentrations in neonates suggests
      otherwise. We quantified in vivo citrulline production in premature (10 days
      preterm), neonatal (7 days old), and young pigs (35 days old) using citrulline
      tracers. Neonatal pigs had higher fluxes (69 umol.kg-1.h-1, P < 0.001) than
      premature and young pigs (43 and 45 umol.kg-1.h-1, respectively). Plasma
      citrulline concentration was also greater in neonatal pigs than in the other age
      groups. We also determined the site of synthesis and utilization of citrulline in
      neonatal and young pigs by measuring organ balances across the gut and the
      kidney. Citrulline was released from the gut and utilized by the kidney in both
      neonatal and young pigs. The abundance and localization of the enzymes involved
      in the synthesis and utilization were determined in intestinal and kidney tissue.
      Despite the presence of ASS1 and ASL in the neonatal small intestine, the lack of
      colocalization with the enzymes that produce citrulline results in the release of
      citrulline by the PDV and its utilization by the kidney to produce arginine. In
      conclusion, the intestinal-renal axis for arginine synthesis is present in the
      neonatal pig.

PMID- 28611029
TI  - Whole Exome Sequencing Identifies Truncating Variants in Nuclear Envelope Genes
      in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The genetic variation underlying many heritable forms of
      cardiovascular disease is incompletely understood, even in patients with strong
      family history or early age at onset. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used whole exome
      sequencing to detect pathogenic variants in 55 patients with suspected monogenic
      forms of cardiovascular disease. Diagnostic analysis of established disease genes
      identified pathogenic variants in 21.8% of cases and variants of uncertain
      significance in 34.5% of cases. Three patients harbored heterozygous nonsense or
      splice-site variants in the nucleoporin genes NUP37, NUP43, and NUP188, which
      have not been implicated previously in cardiac disease. We also identified a
      heterozygous splice site variant in the nuclear envelope gene SYNE1 in a child
      with severe dilated cardiomyopathy that underwent transplant, as well as in his
      affected father. To confirm a cardiovascular role for these candidate genes in
      vivo, we used morpholinos to reduce SYNE1, NUP37, and NUP43 gene expression in
      zebrafish. Morphant embryos displayed cardiac abnormalities, including
      pericardial edema and heart failure. Furthermore, lymphoblasts from the patient
      carrying a SYNE1 splice-site variant displayed changes in nuclear morphology and
      protein localization that are consistent with disruption of the nuclear envelope.
      CONCLUSIONS: These data expand the repertoire of pathogenic variants associated
      with cardiovascular disease and validate the diagnostic and research use of whole
      exome sequencing. We identify NUP37, NUP43, and NUP188 as novel candidate genes
      for cardiovascular disease, and suggest that dysfunction of the nuclear envelope
      may be an under-recognized component of inherited cardiac disease in some cases.

PMID- 28611031
TI  - CPT1A Missense Mutation Associated With Fatty Acid Metabolism and Reduced Height
      in Greenlanders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inuit have lived for thousands of years in an extremely cold
      environment on a diet dominated by marine-derived fat. To investigate how this
      selective pressure has affected the genetic regulation of fatty acid metabolism,
      we assessed 233 serum metabolic phenotypes in a population-based sample of 1570
      Greenlanders. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using array-based and targeted genotyping, we
      found that rs80356779, a p.Pro479Leu variant in CPT1A, was strongly associated
      with markers of n-3 fatty acid metabolism, including degree of unsaturation
      (P=1.16*10-34), levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, n-3 fatty acids, and
      docosahexaoenic acid relative to total fatty acid levels (P=2.35*10-15, P=4.02*10
      19, and P=7.92*10-27). The derived allele (L479) occurred at a frequency of 76.2%
      in our sample while being absent in most other populations, and we found strong
      signatures of positive selection at the locus. Furthermore, we found that each
      copy of L479 reduced height by an average of 2.1 cm (P=1.04*10-9). In exome
      sequencing data from a sister population, the Nunavik Inuit, we found no other
      likely causal candidate variant than rs80356779. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that
      a common CPT1A missense mutation is strongly associated with a range of metabolic
      phenotypes and reduced height in Greenlanders. These findings are important from
      a public health perspective and highlight the usefulness of complex trait genetic
      studies in isolated populations.

PMID- 28611033
TI  - Repeats and Survival in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1.

PMID- 28611030
TI  - Association Between Mutation Size and Cardiac Involvement in Myotonic Dystrophy
      Type 1: An Analysis of the DM1-Heart Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In myotonic dystrophy type 1, the association between mutation size
      (CTG expansion) and the severity of cardiac involvement is controversial. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: We selected 855 patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (women, 51%;
      median age, 37 years), with genetic testing performed at the moment of their
      initial cardiac evaluation, out of 1014 patients included in the Myotonic
      Dystrophy Type 1-Heart Registry between January 2000 and December 2015. We
      studied the association between CTG expansion size and other baseline
      characteristics and (1) cardiac involvement at baseline and (2) the incidence of
      death, sudden death, and other cardiac adverse events. At initial presentation,
      the median CTG expansion size was 530 (interquartile range, 300-830). In
      multivariate analysis, larger expansions were associated with the presence at
      baseline of conduction defects on the ECG and left ventricular systolic
      dysfunction. In a median 11.5 years of follow-up period, 210 patients died (25%),
      including 32 suddenly (4%). Supraventricular arrhythmias developed over lifetime
      in 166 patients (19%), sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias in 17 (2%), and
      permanent pacemakers were implanted in 181 (21%). In Cox regression analyses,
      larger CTG expansions were significantly associated with (1) total death, sudden
      death, and pacemaker implantation in a model, including CTG expansion size, age,
      sex, diabetes mellitus, and (2) all end points except sudden death in a model
      including all baseline characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The size of the CTG
      expansion in the blood of myotonic dystrophy type 1 patients is associated with
      total and sudden deaths, conduction defects, left ventricular dysfunction, and
      supraventricular arrhythmias. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT01136330.

PMID- 28611032
TI  - Genome-Wide Dynamics of Nascent Noncoding RNA Transcription in Porcine Heart
      After Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microarrays and RNA sequencing are widely used to profile
      transcriptome remodeling during myocardial ischemia. However, the steady-state
      RNA analysis lacks in sensitivity to detect all noncoding RNA species and does
      not provide separation between transcriptional and post-transcriptional
      regulations. Here, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of nascent RNA
      profiles of mRNAs, primary micro-RNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and enhancer RNAs in
      a large animal model of acute infarction. METHODS AND RESULTS: Acute infarction
      was induced by cardiac catheterization of domestic swine. Nuclei isolated from
      healthy, border zone, and ischemic regions of the affected heart were subjected
      to global run-on sequencing. Global run-on sequencing analysis indicated that
      half of affected genes are regulated at the level of transcriptional pausing. A
      gradient of induction of inflammatory mediators and repression of peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor signaling and oxidative phosphorylation was
      detected when moving from healthy toward infarcted area. In addition, we
      interrogated the transcriptional regulation of primary micro-RNAs and provide
      evidence that several arrhythmia-related target genes exhibit repression at post
      transcriptional level. We identified 450 long noncoding RNAs differently
      regulated by ischemia, including novel conserved long noncoding RNAs expressed in
      antisense orientation to myocardial transcription factors GATA-binding protein 4,
      GATA-binding protein 6, and Kruppel-like factor 6. Finally, characterization of
      enhancers exhibiting differential expression of enhancer RNAs pointed a central
      role for Kruppel-like factor, MEF2C, ETS, NFY, ATF, E2F2, and NRF1 transcription
      factors in determining transcriptional responses to ischemia. CONCLUSIONS: Global
      run-on sequencing allowed us to follow the gradient of gene expression occurring
      in the ischemic heart and identify novel noncoding RNAs regulated by oxygen
      deprivation. These findings highlight potential new targets for diagnosis and
      treatment of myocardial ischemia.

PMID- 28611034
TI  - The Missing LINC for Genetic Cardiovascular Disease?

PMID- 28611035
TI  - Metabolic Anthropology: Selection Pressure Shapes Fatty Acid Metabolism in
      Greenlandic Inuit Populations.

PMID- 28611036
TI  - Dark Side of the Deep Heart.

PMID- 28611037
TI  - Inhibition of Renal Sodium-Glucose Cotransport With Empagliflozin Lowers Fasting
      Plasma Glucose and Improves beta-Cell Function in Subjects With Impaired Fasting
      Glucose.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine the effect of renal sodium-glucose
      cotransporter inhibition with empagliflozin on the fasting plasma glucose (FPG)
      concentration and beta-cell function in subjects with impaired fasting glucose
      (IFG). Eight subjects with normal fasting glucose (NFG) and eight subjects with
      IFG received empagliflozin (25 mg/day) for 2 weeks. FPG concentration and beta
      cell function was measured with a nine-step hyperglycemic clamp before and 48 h
      and 14 days after the start of empagliflozin. Empagliflozin caused 50 +/- 4 and
      45 +/- 4 g glucosuria on day 2 in subjects with IFG and NFG, respectively, and
      the glucosuria was maintained for 2 weeks in both groups. The FPG concentration
      decreased only in subjects with IFG from 110 +/- 2 to 103 +/- 3 mg/dL (P < 0.01)
      after 14 days. The FPG concentration remained unchanged (95 +/- 2 to 94 +/- 2
      mg/dL) in subjects with NFG. Empagliflozin enhanced beta-cell function only in
      subjects with IFG. The incremental area under the plasma C-peptide concentration
      curve during the hyperglycemic clamp increased by 22 +/- 4 and 23 +/- 4% after 48
      h and 14 days, respectively (P < 0.01); the plasma C-peptide response remained
      unchanged in subjects with NFG. Insulin sensitivity during the hyperglycemic
      clamp was not affected by empagliflozin in either IFG or NFG. Thus, beta-cell
      function measured with the insulin secretion/insulin sensitivity (disposition)
      index increased significantly in IFG, but not in subjects with normal glucose
      tolerance. Inhibition of renal sodium-glucose cotransport with empagliflozin in
      subjects with IFG and NFG produces comparable glucosuria but lowers the plasma
      glucose concentration and improves beta-cell function only in subjects with IFG.

PMID- 28611038
TI  - Intermittent Dosing with Sulindac Provides Effective Colorectal Cancer
      Chemoprevention in the Azoxymethane-Treated Mouse Model.
AB  - Sulindac is an NSAID that can provide effective chemoprevention for colorectal
      cancer. In this study, alternative dosing regimens of sulindac were evaluated for
      their chemoprevention effectiveness in the azoxymethane-treated A/J mouse model
      of colorectal cancer. High-resolution endoscopic optical coherence tomography was
      utilized to time-serially measure tumor number and tumor burden in the distal
      colon as the biological endpoints. Four treatment groups were studied: (i) daily
      for 20 weeks (sulindac-daily); (ii) for 2 weeks, then no sulindac for 2 weeks,
      cycle repeated 5 times (sulindac-2); (iii) for 10 weeks ("on"), then no sulindac
      for 10 weeks ("off"; sulindac-10); and (iv) no sulindac (sulindac-none). Sulindac
      2 and sulindac-daily had statistically significantly lower final tumor counts and
      slopes (change in number of tumors per week) when compared with sulindac-none (P
      < 0.0001). All of the treatment groups had statistically significantly lower
      final tumor burdens and slopes when compared with sulindac-none (P < 0.001).
      There was a prolonged latency period in the sulindac-10 group, with no
      significant difference between the "off" portion of this treatment and sulindac
      none. These results suggest that, although daily doses of sulindac provide the
      most optimal effects, intermittent doses of sulindac in a 50% duty cycle with an
      overall 4-week period (sulindac-2 model) can provide highly effective
      chemoprevention of colorectal cancer in this model. After cessation of sulindac
      treatment (sulindac-10 "off"), there is no evidence of either a persistent
      chemopreventive effect or a rebound effect. Cancer Prev Res; 10(8); 459-66.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611039
TI  - Chemoprevention Uptake among Women with Atypical Hyperplasia and Lobular and
      Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.
AB  - Women with atypical hyperplasia and lobular or ductal carcinoma in situ
      (LCIS/DCIS) are at increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer.
      Chemoprevention with selective estrogen receptor modulators or aromatase
      inhibitors can reduce breast cancer risk; however, uptake is estimated to be less
      than 15% in these populations. We sought to determine which factors are
      associated with chemoprevention uptake in a population of women with atypical
      hyperplasia, LCIS, and DCIS. Women diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia/LCIS/DCIS
      between 2007 and 2015 without a history of invasive breast cancer were identified
      (N = 1,719). A subset of women (n = 73) completed questionnaires on breast cancer
      and chemoprevention knowledge, risk perception, and behavioral intentions.
      Descriptive statistics were generated and univariate and multivariable log
      binomial regression were used to estimate the association between
      sociodemographic and clinical factors and chemoprevention uptake. In our sample,
      29.3% had atypical hyperplasia, 23.3% had LCIS, and 47.4% had DCIS; 29.4% used
      chemoprevention. Compared with women with atypical hyperplasia, LCIS [RR, 1.43;
      95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-1.76] and DCIS (RR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.28-1.86)
      were significantly associated with chemoprevention uptake, as was medical
      oncology referral (RR, 5.79; 95% CI, 4.80-6.98). Younger women were less likely
      to take chemoprevention (RR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.42-0.87), and there was a trend
      toward increased uptake in Hispanic compared with non-Hispanic white women. The
      survey data revealed a strong interest in learning about chemoprevention, but
      there were misperceptions in personal breast cancer risk and side effects of
      chemoprevention. Improving communication about breast cancer risk and
      chemoprevention may allow clinicians to facilitate informed decision-making about
      preventative therapy. Cancer Prev Res; 10(8); 434-41. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611040
TI  - beta-Catenin Is a Candidate Therapeutic Target for Myeloid Neoplasms with
      del(5q).
AB  - Deletion of the chromosome 5q [del(5q)] is one of the most common cytogenetic
      abnormalities observed in patients with de novo myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
      and therapy-related MDS or acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/tAML). Emerging evidence
      indicates that activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway contributes to the
      development of myeloid neoplasms with del(5q). Whether beta-catenin is a
      potential therapeutic target for myeloid neoplasms with del(5q) has yet to be
      evaluated. Here, we report that genetic deletion of a single allele of beta
      catenin rescues ineffective hematopoiesis in an Apc haploinsufficient mouse
      model, which recapitulates several characteristic features of the preleukemic
      stage of myeloid neoplasms with a -5/del(5q). In addition, loss of a single
      allele of beta-catenin reversed the defective self-renewal capacity of Apc
      haploinsufficient hematopoietic stem cells and reduced the frequency of apoptosis
      induced by Apc haploinsufficiency. Suppression of beta-catenin by indomethacin or
      beta-catenin shRNA reduced proliferation and survival of human leukemia cell
      lines with del(5q) but not of control leukemia cell lines in vitro; beta-catenin
      inactivation also inhibited leukemia progression in vivo in xenograft mice
      reconstituted with del(5q) leukemia cell lines. Inhibition of beta-catenin also
      stunted growth and colony-forming abilities of primary bone marrow cells from
      del(5q) AML patients in vitro Overall, our data support the idea that beta
      catenin could serve as a therapeutic target for the treatment of myeloid
      neoplasms with del(5q). Cancer Res; 77(15); 4116-26. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611041
TI  - An Immunosuppressive Dendritic Cell Subset Accumulates at Secondary Sites and
      Promotes Metastasis in Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) after complete surgical resection is
      often followed by distant metastatic relapse for reasons that remain unclear. In
      this study, we investigated how the immune response at secondary sites affects
      tumor spread in murine models of metastatic PDAC. Early metastases were
      associated with dense networks of CD11b+CD11c+MHC-II+CD24+CD64lowF4/80low
      dendritic cells (DC), which developed from monocytes in response to tumor
      released GM-CSF. These cells uniquely expressed MGL2 and PD-L2 in the metastatic
      microenvironment and preferentially induced the expansion of T regulatory cells
      (Treg) in vitro and in vivo Targeted depletion of this DC population in Mgl2DTR
      hosts activated cytotoxic lymphocytes, reduced Tregs, and inhibited metastasis
      development. Moreover, blocking PD-L2 selectively activated CD8 T cells at
      secondary sites and suppressed metastasis, suggesting that the DCs use this
      particular pathway to inhibit CD8 T-cell-mediated tumor immunity. Phenotypically
      similar DCs accumulated at primary and secondary sites in other models and in
      human PDAC. These studies suggest that a discrete DC subset both expands Tregs
      and suppresses CD8 T cells to establish an immunosuppressive microenvironment
      conducive to metastasis formation. Therapeutic strategies to block the
      accumulation and immunosuppressive activity of such cells may help prevent PDAC
      progression and metastatic relapse after surgical resection. Cancer Res; 77(15);
      4158-70. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611042
TI  - Competition between DNA Methylation, Nucleotide Synthesis, and Antioxidation in
      Cancer versus Normal Tissues.
AB  - Global DNA hypomethylation occurs in many cancer types, but there is no
      explanation for its differential occurrence or possible impact on cancer cell
      physiology. Here we address these issues with a computational study of genome
      scale DNA methylation in 16 cancer types. Specifically, we identified (i) a
      possible determinant for global DNA methylation in cancer cells and (ii) a
      relationship between levels of DNA methylation, nucleotide synthesis, and
      intracellular oxidative stress in cells. We developed a system of kinetic
      equations to capture the metabolic relations among DNA methylation, nucleotide
      synthesis, and antioxidative stress response, including their competitions for
      methyl and sulfur groups, based on known information about one-carbon metabolism
      and trans-sulfuration pathways. We observed a kinetic-based regulatory mechanism
      that controls reaction rates of the three competing processes when their shared
      resources are limited, particularly when the nucleotide synthesis rates or
      oxidative states are high. The combination of this regulatory mechanism and the
      need for rapid nucleotide synthesis, as well as high production of glutathione
      dictated by cancer-driving forces, led to the nearly universal observations of
      reduced global DNA methylation in cancer. Our model provides a natural
      explanation for differential global DNA methylation levels across cancer types
      and supports the observation that more malignant cancers tend to exhibit reduced
      DNA methylation levels. Insights obtained from this work provide useful
      information about the complexities of cancer due to interplays among competing,
      dynamic biological processes. Cancer Res; 77(15); 4185-95. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611044
TI  - Characterization of MK-4166, a Clinical Agonistic Antibody That Targets Human
      GITR and Inhibits the Generation and Suppressive Effects of T Regulatory Cells.
AB  - GITR is a T-cell costimulatory receptor that enhances cellular and humoral
      immunity. The agonist anti-mouse GITR antibody DTA-1 has demonstrated efficacy in
      murine models of cancer primarily by attenuation of Treg-mediated immune
      suppression, but the translatability to human GITR biology has not been fully
      explored. Here, we report the potential utility of MK-4166, a humanized GITR mAb
      selected to bind to an epitope analogous to the DTA-1 epitope, which enhances the
      proliferation of both naive and tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL). We also
      investigated the role of GITR agonism in human antitumor immune responses and
      report here the preclinical characterization and toxicity assessment of MK-4166,
      which is currently being evaluated in a phase I clinical study. Expression of
      human GITR was comparable with that of mouse GITR in tumor-infiltrating Tregs
      despite being drastically lower in other human TILs and in many human peripheral
      blood populations. MK-4166 decreased induction and suppressive effects of Tregsin
      vitro In human TIL cultures, MK-4166 induced phosphorylation of NFkappaB and
      increased expression of dual specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6), indicating that
      MK-4166 activated downstream NFkappaB and Erk signaling pathways. Furthermore, MK
      4166 downregulated FOXP3 mRNA in human tumor infiltrating Tregs, suggesting that,
      in addition to enhancing the activation of TILs, MK-4166 may attenuate the Treg
      mediated suppressive tumor microenvironment. Cancer Res; 77(16); 4378-88. (c)2017
      AACR.

PMID- 28611043
TI  - Arl13b Promotes Gastric Tumorigenesis by Regulating Smo Trafficking and
      Activation of the Hedgehog Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Inhibitors of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway transducer Smoothened (Smo) have been
      approved for cancer treatment, but Smo mutations often lead to tumor resistance
      and it remains unclear how Smo is regulated. In this study, we identified the
      small GTPase Arl13b as a novel partner and regulator of Smo. Arl13b regulated Smo
      stability, trafficking, and localization, which are each crucial for Hh
      signaling. In gastric cancer cells, Arl13b stimulated proliferation, migration,
      and invasion in vitro and in vivo In clinical specimens of gastric cancer, Arl13b
      expression correlated strongly with tumor size and depth of invasion; patients
      with high levels of Arl13b had a poor prognosis. Our results show how Arl13b
      participates in Hh pathway activation in gastric cancer. Cancer Res; 77(15); 4000
      13. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611046
TI  - Autocrine BMP-4 Signaling Is a Therapeutic Target in Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Poor prognoses for colorectal cancer patients with metastatic lesions have driven
      demand for the development of novel targeted therapies. Here, we demonstrate that
      expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP-4) is universally upregulated in
      human colorectal cancer cells and tissues, resulting in activated BMP signaling.
      Inhibition of endogenous BMP signaling by the BMP type I receptor inhibitor LDN
      193189 elevated expression of the phosphatase DUSP5 in colorectal cancer cells,
      inducing apoptosis via dephosphorylation of Erk MAPK. Administering LDN-193189 to
      mice diminished tumor formation of colorectal cancer cells. Our findings suggest
      inhibition of autocrine BMP-4 as a candidate treatment strategy for colorectal
      cancer. Cancer Res; 77(15); 4026-38. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611045
TI  - RGS12 Is a Novel Tumor-Suppressor Gene in African American Prostate Cancer That
      Represses AKT and MNX1 Expression.
AB  - African American (AA) men exhibit a relatively high incidence and mortality due
      to prostate cancer even after adjustment for socioeconomic factors, but the
      biological basis for this disparity is unclear. Here, we identify a novel region
      on chromosome 4p16.3 that is lost selectively in AA prostate cancer. The negative
      regulator of G-protein signaling RGS12 was defined as the target of 4p16.3
      deletions, although it has not been implicated previously as a tumor-suppressor
      gene. RGS12 transcript levels were relatively reduced in AA prostate cancer, and
      prostate cancer cell lines showed decreased RGS12 expression relative to benign
      prostate epithelial cells. Notably, RGS12 exhibited potent tumor-suppressor
      activity in prostate cancer and prostate epithelial cell lines in vitro and in
      vivo We found that RGS12 expression correlated negatively with the oncogene MNX1
      and regulated its expression in vitro and in vivo Further, MNX1 was regulated by
      AKT activity, and RGS12 expression decreased total and activated AKT levels. Our
      findings identify RGS12 as a candidate tumor-suppressor gene in AA prostate
      cancer, which acts by decreasing expression of AKT and MNX1, establishing a novel
      oncogenic axis in this disparate disease setting. Cancer Res; 77(16); 4247-57.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611047
TI  - Smurf2-Mediated Stabilization of DNA Topoisomerase IIalpha Controls Genomic
      Integrity.
AB  - DNA topoisomerase IIalpha (Topo IIalpha) ensures genomic integrity and unaltered
      chromosome inheritance and serves as a major target of several anticancer drugs.
      Topo IIalpha function is well understood, but how its expression is regulated
      remains unclear. Here, we identify the E3 ubiquitin ligase Smurf2 as a
      physiologic regulator of Topo IIalpha levels. Smurf2 physically interacted with
      Topo IIalpha and modified its ubiquitination status to protect Topo IIalpha from
      the proteasomal degradation in dose- and catalytically dependent manners. Smurf2
      depleted cells exhibited a reduced ability to resolve DNA catenanes and
      pathological chromatin bridges formed during mitosis, a trait of Topo IIalpha
      deficient cells and a hallmark of chromosome instability. Introducing Topo
      IIalpha into Smurf2-depleted cells rescued this phenomenon. Smurf2 was a
      determinant of Topo IIalpha protein levels in normal and cancer cells and
      tissues, and its levels affected cell sensitivity to the Topo II-targeting drug
      etoposide. Our results identified Smurf2 as an essential regulator of Topo
      IIalpha, providing novel insights into its control and into the suggested tumor
      suppressor functions of Smurf2. Cancer Res; 77(16); 4217-27. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611049
TI  - Comprehensive Evaluation of Protein Coding Mononucleotide Microsatellites in
      Microsatellite-Unstable Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Approximately 15% of colorectal cancers exhibit microsatellite instability (MSI),
      which leads to accumulation of large numbers of small insertions and deletions
      (indels). Genes that provide growth advantage to cells via loss-of-function
      mutations in microsatellites are called MSI target genes. Several criteria to
      define these genes have been suggested, one of them being simple mutation
      frequency. Microsatellite mutation rate, however, depends on the length and
      nucleotide context of the microsatellite. Therefore, assessing the general impact
      of mismatch repair deficiency on the likelihood of mutation events is paramount
      when following this approach. To identify MSI target genes, we developed a
      statistical model for the somatic background indel mutation rate of
      microsatellites to assess mutation significance. Exome sequencing data of 24 MSI
      colorectal cancers revealed indels at 54 million mononucleotide microsatellites
      of three or more nucleotides in length. The top 105 microsatellites from 71 genes
      were further analyzed in 93 additional MSI colorectal cancers. Mutation
      significance and estimated clonality of mutations determined the most likely MSI
      target genes to be the aminoadipate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase AASDH and the
      solute transporter SLC9A8 Our findings offer a systematic profiling of the
      somatic background mutation rate in protein-coding mononucleotide
      microsatellites, allowing a full cataloging of the true targets of MSI in
      colorectal cancer. Cancer Res; 77(15); 4078-88. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611048
TI  - Targeting SRC Coactivators Blocks the Tumor-Initiating Capacity of Cancer Stem
      like Cells.
AB  - Tumor-initiating cells (TIC) represent cancer stem-like cell (CSC) subpopulations
      within tumors that are thought to give rise to recurrent cancer after therapy.
      Identifying key regulators of TIC/CSC maintenance is essential for the
      development of therapeutics designed to limit recurrence. The steroid receptor
      coactivator 3 (SRC-3) is overexpressed in a wide range of cancers, driving tumor
      initiation, cell proliferation, and metastasis. Here we report that SRC-3
      supports the TIC/CSC state and induces an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) by driving expression of the master EMT regulators and stem cell markers.
      We also show that inhibition of SRC-3 and SRC-1 with SI-2, a second-generation
      SRC-3/SRC-1 small-molecule inhibitor, targets the CSC/TIC population both in
      vitro and in vivo Collectively, these results identify SRC coactivators as
      regulators of stem-like capacity in cancer cells and that these coactivators can
      serve as potential therapeutic targets to prevent the recurrence of cancer.
      Cancer Res; 77(16); 4293-304. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611051
TI  - Sulfhaemoglobinaemia caused by ferrous sulfate.
AB  - A 78-year-old man was referred from his primary care clinic to the emergency
      department due to bluish discolouration of his lips and decreased oxygen
      saturation on pulse oximetry. The patient was asymptomatic. Physical exam was
      normal except for lip cyanosis. A CT pulmonary angiogram was negative for
      pulmonary embolism. Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis with co-oximetry showed low
      oxyhaemoglobin, normal partial pressure of oxygen and methaemoglobinaemia, but an
      unexplained 'gap' in total haemoglobin saturation. This gap was felt to be due to
      sulfhaemoglobinaemia. After a thorough review of his medications, ferrous sulfate
      was stopped which resulted in resolution in patient's cyanosis and normalisation
      of his ABG after 7 weeks.

PMID- 28611052
TI  - Caspase-8 controls the secretion of inflammatory lysyl-tRNA synthetase in
      exosomes from cancer cells.
AB  - Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs), enzymes that normally control protein
      synthesis, can be secreted and have different activities in the extracellular
      space, but the mechanism of their secretion is not understood. This study
      describes the secretion route of the ARS lysyl-tRNA synthetase (KRS) and how this
      process is regulated by caspase activity, which has been implicated in the
      unconventional secretion of other proteins. We show that KRS is secreted from
      colorectal carcinoma cells within the lumen of exosomes that can trigger an
      inflammatory response. Caspase-8 cleaved the N-terminal of KRS, thus exposing a
      PDZ-binding motif located in the C terminus of KRS. Syntenin bound to the exposed
      PDZ-binding motif of KRS and facilitated the exosomic secretion of KRS
      dissociated from the multi-tRNA synthetase complex. KRS-containing exosomes
      released by cancer cells induced macrophage migration, and their secretion of TNF
      alpha and cleaved KRS made a significant contribution to these activities, which
      suggests a novel mechanism by which caspase-8 may promote inflammation.

PMID- 28611053
TI  - The rs7903146 Variant in the TCF7L2 Gene Increases the Risk of Prediabetes/Type 2
      Diabetes in Obese Adolescents by Impairing beta-Cell Function and Hepatic Insulin
      Sensitivity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to explore the mechanism by which TCF7L2
      rs7903146 risk allele confers susceptibility to impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)
      or type 2 diabetes (T2D) in obese adolescents. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The
      rs7903146 variant in the TCF7L2 gene was genotyped in a multiethnic cohort of 955
      youths. All subjects underwent an oral glucose tolerance test with the use of the
      Oral Minimal Model to assess insulin secretion, and 33 subjects underwent a
      hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. In 307 subjects, a follow-up oral glucose
      tolerance test was repeated after 3.11 +/- 2.36 years. RESULTS: The TCF7L2
      rs7903146 risk allele was associated with higher 2-h glucose levels in Caucasians
      (P = 0.006) and African Americans (P = 0.009), and a trend was seen also in
      Hispanics (P = 0.072). Also, the T allele was associated with decreased beta-cell
      responsivity and IGT (P < 0.05). Suppression of endogenous hepatic glucose
      production was lower in subjects with the risk variant (P = 0.006). Finally, the
      odds of showing IGT/T2D at follow-up were higher in subjects carrying the minor
      allele (odds ratio 2.224; 95% CI 1.370-3.612; P = 0.0012). CONCLUSIONS: The
      rs7903146 variant in the TCF7L2 gene increases the risk of IGT/T2D in obese
      adolescents by impairing beta-cell function, and hepatic insulin sensitivity
      predicts the development of IGT/T2D over time.

PMID- 28611055
TI  - Vaccination alone will not halt the next global pandemic.

PMID- 28611054
TI  - Cooking Methods for Red Meats and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Study of
      U.S. Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined different cooking methods for red meats in
      relation to type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk among U.S. women who consumed red meats
      regularly (>=2 servings/week). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We monitored 59,033
      women (1986-2012) aged 30-55 years and free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
      and cancer at baseline when information on frequency of different cooking methods
      for red meats, including broiling, barbequing, roasting, pan-frying, and
      stewing/boiling, was collected. RESULTS: During 1.24 million person-years of
      follow-up, we documented 6,206 incident cases of T2D. After multivariate
      adjustment including red meat cooking methods, total red meat and processed red
      meat intake were both associated with a monotonically increased T2D risk (both P
      trend <0.05). After multivariate adjustment including total red meat intake, a
      higher frequency of broiling, barbequing, and roasting red meats was each
      independently associated with a higher T2D risk. When comparing >=2 times/week
      with <1 time/month, the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CI of T2D were 1.29 (1.19,
      1.40; P trend <0.001) for broiling, 1.23 (1.11, 1.38; P trend <0.001) for
      barbequing, and 1.11 (1.01, 1.23; P trend = 0.14) for roasting. In contrast, the
      frequency of stewing/boiling red meats was not associated with T2D risk, and an
      inverse association was observed for pan-frying frequency and T2D risk. The
      results remained similar after cooking methods were further mutually adjusted.
      CONCLUSIONS: Independent of total red meat consumption, high-temperature and/or
      open-flame cooking methods for red meats, especially broiling and barbequing, may
      further increase diabetes risk among regular meat eaters.

PMID- 28611056
TI  - IGF1 potentiates the pro-inflammatory response in human peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells via MAPK.
AB  - Acromegaly is characterized by growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor
      1 (IGF1) excess and is accompanied by an increased cardiovascular diseases (CVD)
      risk. As innate immune responses are crucial in CVD development, and IGF1 is
      linked to subclinical inflammation, we hypothesized that GH/IGF1 excess
      contributes to CVD development by potentiating systemic inflammation. We aimed to
      assess the effects of GH/IGF1 on inflammatory cytokine production. Whole blood
      from acromegaly patients and healthy volunteers and peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells (PBMCs) from healthy volunteers were stimulated with Toll-like receptor
      (TLR) ligands, with or without adding GH or IGF1 (in PBMC). Cytokine
      concentrations were measured by ELISA. The underlying signalling pathways were
      investigated by the inhibition of downstream targets of the IGF1 receptor. The
      following results were obtained. GH or IGF1 alone did not influence cytokine
      production in PBMCs. GH did not affect TLR-induced cytokine production, but co
      stimulation with IGF1 dose dependently increased the TLR ligand-induced
      production of IL6 (P < 0.01), TNF alpha (P = 0.02) and IFNg (P < 0.01), as well
      as the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL10 (P = 0.01). IGF1 had no
      effect on IL1B, IL17 and IL22 production. Inhibition of the MAPK pathway, but not
      mTOR, completely abrogated the synergistic effect of IGF1 on the LPS-induced IL6
      and TNF alpha production. In whole blood of acromegaly patients, ex vivo IL6
      production was increased (P < 0.01). In conclusion, IGF1, but not GH, has pro
      inflammatory effects, probably via the MAPK signalling pathway and might be
      involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in acromegaly. The increased IL10
      production possibly counteracts the pro-inflammatory effects.

PMID- 28611057
TI  - Middle ear adenoma with uncommon presentation and literature review.
AB  - Middle ear adenoma (MEA) is a rare benign tumour. Here we report a case of MEA in
      a 39-year-old man with hearing loss. Some significant histopathological features
      of MEA and neuroendocrine differentiation identified by immunohistochemistry are
      described. The tumour showed remarkable and rare degenerative histological
      characteristics. There were a few tumour cells which were covered by degenerated
      tissue. Consequently, following frozen biopsy, the tumour was misdiagnosed as
      chronic ear inflammation. No recurrence was seen in this patient after 45 months
      of follow-up; regular clinical and radiological follow-up is necessary since
      recurrence is possible. A literature review for MEA is presented and this type of
      tumour is discussed clinically, microscopically and immunohistochemically. The
      differential diagnosis and associated treatment are described.

PMID- 28611059
TI  - Daphne Marsh Baston.

PMID- 28611058
TI  - GNRHR biallelic and digenic mutations in patients with normosmic congenital
      hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Normosmic congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (nCHH) is a rare
      disorder characterised by lack of pubertal development and infertility, due to
      deficient production, secretion or action of gonadotropin-releasing hormone
      (GnRH) and, unlike Kallmann syndrome, is associated with a normal sense of smell.
      Mutations in the GNRHR gene cause autosomal recessive nCHH. The aim of this study
      was to determine the prevalence of GNRHR mutations in a group of 40 patients with
      nCHH. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of 40 unrelated patients with nCHH. METHODS:
      Patients were screened for mutations in the GNRHR gene by DNA sequencing.
      RESULTS: GNRHR mutations were identified in five of 40 patients studied. Four
      patients had biallelic mutations (including a novel frameshift deletion
      p.Phe313Metfs*3, in two families) in agreement with autosomal recessive
      inheritance. One patient had a heterozygous GNRHR mutation associated with a
      heterozygous PROKR2 mutation, thus suggesting a possible role of synergistic
      heterozygosity in the pathogenesis of the disorder. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      further expands the spectrum of known genetic defects associated with nCHH.
      Although GNRHR mutations are usually biallelic and inherited in an autosomal
      recessive manner, the presence of a monoallelic mutation in a patient should
      raise the possibility of a digenic/oligogenic cause of nCHH.

PMID- 28611060
TI  - Unique Motifs and Length of Hairpin in Oleosin Target the Cytosolic Side of
      Endoplasmic Reticulum and Budding Lipid Droplet.
AB  - Plant cytosolic lipid droplets (LDs) are covered with a layer of phospholipids
      and oleosin and were extensively studied before those in mammals and yeast.
      Oleosin has short amphipathic N- and C-terminal peptides flanking a conserved 72
      residue hydrophobic hairpin, which penetrates and stabilizes the LD Oleosin is
      synthesized on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and extracts ER-budding LDs to cytosol.
      To delineate the mechanism of oleosin targeting ER-LD, we have expressed modified
      oleosin genes in Physcomitrella patens for transient expression and tobacco
      (Nicotiana tabacum) BY2 cells for stable transformation. The results have
      identified oleosin motifs for targeting ER-LD and oleosin as the sole molecule
      responsible for budding-LD entering cytosol. Both the N-terminal and C-terminal
      peptides are not required for the targeting. The hairpin, including its entire
      length, initial N-portion residues, and hairpin-loop of three Pro and one Ser
      residues, as well as the absence of an N-terminal ER-targeting peptide, are
      necessary for oleosin targeting ER and moving onto budding LDs and extracting
      them to cytosol. In a reverse approach, eliminations of these necessities allow
      the modified oleosin to enter the ER lumen and extract budding LDs to the ER
      lumen. Modified oleosin with an added vacuole signal peptide transports the ER
      luminal LDs to vacuoles. The overall findings define the mechanism of oleosin
      targeting ER-LDs and extracting budding LDs to the cytosol as well as reveal
      potential applications.

PMID- 28611061
TI  - Clinical events and echocardiographic lesion progression rate in subjects with
      mild or moderate aortic regurgitation.
AB  - Background: The rate of progression of aortic regurgitation (AR) is not well
      described. Current guidelines state that asymptomatic patients with mild AR
      should be followed up every 3-5 years and 1-2 yearly for moderate AR. This study
      describes the lesion and clinical based progression of mild and moderate AR in a
      population of patients undergoing systematic follow-up.Methods and results: 341
      patients with either mild or moderate AR were included. The rates of clinical
      events (death, aortic valve replacement and cardiac hospitalization) and
      progression of AR are reported. 341 patients were included; mean age was 71.1
      years (IQR 66-80 years) and the median follow-up period was 4.6 (IQR 2-6.7)
      years. 292 patients did not have any events during follow-up. 3 patients required
      aortic valve replacement (2 of these due to severe aortic stenosis and 1 due to
      severe mitral regurgitation and co-existent moderate AR). 44 patients required
      cardiac hospitalization. 9 patients died during follow-up and 35 patients (10%)
      showed a progression of AR during follow-up with an average time of 4.0 +/- 2.6
      years. 8 patients (2.3% of the total) progressed to severe AR. Patients with
      mixed valvular pathology showed a greater increase in AR progression (27 (15%) vs
      8 (5%); P = 0.004).Conclusions: Over medium term systematic follow-up progression
      and clinical events in patients with AR is rare, regardless of etiology. Patients
      who suffered from AR as an isolated valve pathology were less likely to show AR
      progression over time.

PMID- 28611065
TI  - Who should we scan after head injury?

PMID- 28611062
TI  - Selective imaging of internalized proteopathic alpha-synuclein seeds in primary
      neurons reveals mechanistic insight into transmission of synucleinopathies.
AB  - Direct cell-to-cell transmission of proteopathic alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn)
      aggregates is thought to underlie the progression of neurodegenerative
      synucleinopathies. However, the specific intracellular processes governing this
      transmission remain unclear because currently available model systems are
      limited. For example, in cell culture models of alpha-syn-seeded aggregation, it
      is difficult to discern intracellular from extracellular exogenously applied
      alpha-syn seed species. Herein, we employed fluorescently labeled alpha-syn
      preformed fibrils (pffs) in conjunction with the membrane-impermeable
      fluorescence quencher trypan blue to selectively image internalized alpha-syn
      seeds in cultured primary neurons and to quantitatively characterize the
      concentration dependence, time course, and inhibition of pff uptake. To study the
      long-term fates of exogenous alpha-syn pffs in neurons, we developed a pff
      species labeled at amino acid residue 114 with the environmentally insensitive
      fluorophore BODIPY or the pH-sensitive dye pHrodo red. We found that pffs are
      rapidly trafficked along the endolysosomal pathway, where most of the material
      remains for days. We also found that brief pharmacological perturbation of
      lysosomes shortly after the pff treatment causes aberrations in intracellular
      processing of pff seeds concomitant with an increased rate of inclusion formation
      via recruitment of endogenous alpha-syn to a relatively small number of exogenous
      seeds. Our results validate a quantitative assay for pff uptake in primary
      neurons, implicate lysosomal processing as the major fate of internalized
      proteopathic seeds, and suggest lysosomal integrity as a significant rate
      determining step in the transmission of alpha-syn pathology. Further, lysosomal
      processing of transmitted seeds may represent a new therapeutic target to combat
      the spread of synucleinopathies.

PMID- 28611064
TI  - Cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein 1 (PABPC1) interacts with the RNA-binding
      protein hnRNPLL and thereby regulates immunoglobulin secretion in plasma cells.
AB  - Increasing evidence indicates that alternative processing of mRNA, including
      alternative splicing, 3' alternative polyadenylation, and regulation of mRNA
      stability/translation, represents a major mechanism contributing to protein
      diversification. For example, in alternative polyadenylation, the 3' end of the
      immunoglobulin heavy chain mRNA is processed during B cell differentiation, and
      this processing involves RNA-binding proteins. hnRNPLL (heterogeneous nuclear
      ribonucleoprotein L-like protein) is an RNA-binding protein expressed in
      terminally differentiated lymphocytes, such as memory T cells and plasma cells.
      hnRNPLL regulates various processes of RNA metabolism, including alternative pre
      mRNA splicing and RNA stability. In plasma cells, hnRNPLL also regulates the
      transition from the membrane isoform of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (mIgH) to
      the secreted isoform (sIgH), but the precise mechanism remains to be identified.
      In this study, we report that hnRNPLL specifically associates with cytoplasmic
      PABPC1 (poly(A)-binding protein 1) in both T cells and plasma cells. We found
      that although PABPC1 is not required for the alternative splicing of CD45, a
      primary target of hnRNPLL in lymphocytes, PABPC1 does promote the binding of
      hnRNPLL to the immunoglobulin mRNA and regulates switching from mIgH to sIgH in
      plasma cells. Given the recently identified role of PABPC1 in mRNA alternative
      polyadenylation, our findings suggest that PABPC1 recruits hnRNPLL to the 3'-end
      of RNA and regulates the transition from membrane Ig to secreted Ig through mRNA
      alternative polyadenylation. In conclusion, our study has revealed a mechanism
      that regulates immunoglobulin secretion in B cells via cooperation between a
      plasma cell-specific RBP (hnRNPLL) and a universally expressed RBP (PABPC1).

PMID- 28611066
TI  - Should patients with coeliac disease pay for their treatment?

PMID- 28611063
TI  - Global proteomic analysis of advanced glycation end products in the Arabidopsis
      proteome provides evidence for age-related glycation hot spots.
AB  - Glycation is a post-translational modification resulting from the interaction of
      protein amino and guanidino groups with carbonyl compounds. Initially, amino
      groups react with reducing carbohydrates, yielding Amadori and Heyns compounds.
      Their further degradation results in formation of advanced glycation end products
      (AGEs), also originating from alpha-dicarbonyl products of monosaccharide
      autoxidation and primary metabolism. In mammals, AGEs are continuously formed
      during the life of the organism, accumulate in tissues, are well-known markers of
      aging, and impact age-related tissue stiffening and atherosclerotic changes.
      However, the role of AGEs in age-related molecular alterations in plants is still
      unknown. To fill this gap, we present here a comprehensive study of the age
      related changes in the Arabidopsis thaliana glycated proteome, including the
      proteins affected and specific glycation sites therein. We also consider the
      qualitative and quantitative changes in glycation patterns in terms of the
      general metabolic background, pathways of AGE formation, and the status of plant
      anti-oxidative/anti-glycative defense. Although the patterns of glycated proteins
      were only minimally influenced by plant age, the abundance of 96 AGE sites in 71
      proteins was significantly affected in an age-dependent manner and clearly
      indicated the existence of age-related glycation hot spots in the plant proteome.
      Homology modeling revealed glutamyl and aspartyl residues in close proximity
      (less than 5 A) to these sites in three aging-specific and eight differentially
      glycated proteins, four of which were modified in catalytic domains. Thus, the
      sites of glycation hot spots might be defined by protein structure that
      indicates, at least partly, site-specific character of glycation.

PMID- 28611067
TI  - Maximising paediatricians' roles in improving children's oral health: lessons
      from Leicester.
AB  - AIMS: To provide an overview of steps taken to improve oral health in one UK city
      and to review factors relevant to maximising the contribution that paediatricians
      (and potentially other health professionals) can make to improving oral health.
      METHODS: The article provides information on the strategic approach taken in
      Leicester, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in England, and also one of
      the most deprived. Over a third of children aged 3 years, and half of those aged
      5 years, have experience of obvious dental decay. The collaborative strategic
      approach taken includes implementing a comprehensive evidence-based early
      intervention programme from birth (Healthy Teeth, Happy Smiles!) and a focus on
      professional education and engagement. In order to ensure sustainability and
      further improvement, wider engagement with paediatricians and other primary care
      providers is essential and is increasingly recognised by professional
      bodies.Literature relevant to the factors which inhibit engagement with
      paediatricians and others is reviewed and highlights issues of knowledge and
      competency, policies and guidelines, time and capacity and referral and access.
      CONCLUSION: Children's oral health in England has improved over the last 30
      years, but inequalities persist, with those living in areas of higher deprivation
      experiencing a substantially higher burden of dental disease. The article
      highlights several potential barriers which can be reduced. Collaboration is
      encouraged between medical and dental professionals as well as commissioners and
      providers at both the national and local level in order for oral health to be
      fully integrated within general health. Such collaboration requires appropriate
      leadership in order to develop policies that support curriculum changes, drive
      the implementation of associated guidelines, design integrated healthcare service
      provision and develop the partnership relationships to support this work.

PMID- 28611069
TI  - Paediatrics in Russia: past, present and future.

PMID- 28611068
TI  - Early growth in children with coeliac disease: a cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study growth during the first 2 years of life in children
      later diagnosed with coeliac disease compared with children without, in a time
      with changing epidemiology and improved diagnostics. DESIGN: A prospective
      population-based pregnancy cohort study. SETTING: The nationwide Norwegian Mother
      and Child Cohort Study. PATIENTS: 58 675 children born between 2000 and 2009 with
      prospectively collected growth data. Coeliac disease was identified through
      combined data from questionnaires and the Norwegian Patient Register. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: The differences in height and weight at age 0, 3, 6, 8, 12, 15
      18 and 24 months using internally standardised age and gender-specific z-scores.
      Linear regression and mixed models were used. RESULTS: During a median follow-up
      of 8.6 years (range 4.6-14.2), 440 children (0.8%) were diagnosed with coeliac
      disease at a mean age of 4.4 years (range 1.5-8.5). Children with coeliac disease
      had significantly lower z-scores for height from 12 months (-0.09 standard
      deviation scores (SDS), 95% CI -0.18 to -0.01) and weight from 15 to 18 months of
      life (-0.09 SDS, 95% CI -0.18 to -0.01) compared with cohort controls. The
      longitudinal analysis from 0 to 24 months yielded a significant reduction in
      height z-score per year (-0.07 SDS, 95% CI -0.13 to -0.01) but not for weight
      among children with coeliac disease. Excluding children diagnosed before age 2
      years gave similar results. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that growth
      retardation in children later diagnosed with coeliac disease commonly starts at
      12 months of age, and precedes clinical symptoms that usually bring the suspicion
      of diagnosis.

PMID- 28611070
TI  - Tackling the childhood obesity crisis: acute paediatricians are not playing their
      part.

PMID- 28611072
TI  - Decoupled leaf and root carbon economics is a key component in the ecological
      diversity and evolutionary divergence of deciduous and evergreen lineages of
      genus Rhododendron.
AB  - PREMISE: We explored trait-trait and trait-climate relationships for 27
      Rhododendron species while accounting for phylogenetic relationships and within
      species variation to investigate whether leaf and root traits are coordinated
      across environments and over evolutionary time, as part of a whole-plant
      economics spectrum. METHODS: We examined specific leaf area (SLA) and four root
      traits: specific root length (SRL), specific root tip abundance (SRTA), first
      order diameter, and link average length, for plants growing in a cold, seasonal
      climate (Kirtland, Ohio) and a warmer, less seasonal climate (Federal Way,
      Washington) in the United States. We estimated a phylogeny and species' climate
      of origin, determined phylogenetic signal on mean traits and within-species
      variation, and used phylogenetically informed analysis to compare trait-trait and
      trait-climate relationships for deciduous and evergreen lineages. RESULTS: Mean
      SLA and within-species variation in SRL were more similar between close relatives
      than expected by chance. SLA and root traits differed according to climate of
      origin and across growth environments, though SLA differed within- and among
      species less than roots. A negative SRL-SRTA correlation indicates investment in
      foraging scale vs. precision as a fundamental trade-off defining the root
      economic spectrum. Also, the deciduous clade exhibited a strong negative
      relationship between SLA and SRL, while evergreen clades showed a weaker positive
      or no relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Our work suggests that natural selection has
      shaped relationships between above- and belowground traits in genus Rhododendron
      and that leaf and root traits may evolve independently. Morphological decoupling
      may help explain habitat diversity among Rhododendron species, as well as the
      changes accompanying the divergence of deciduous and evergreen lineages.

PMID- 28611071
TI  - Seedling response to environmental variability: The relationship between
      phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary history in closely related Eucalyptus
      species.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Phenotypic plasticity is an important means through which
      organisms cope with environmental variability. We investigated seedling
      plasticity in the green ash eucalypts within a phylogenetic framework to examine
      the relationship between plasticity and evolutionary history. The green ashes are
      a diverse group, which include the tallest flowering plant in the world
      (Eucalyptus regnans) and a rare mallee less than 1 m tall (E. cunninghamii).
      METHODS: Seedlings of 12 species were exposed to high and low nutrient and water
      availability in a factorial experiment. Leaf trait and total plant plasticity
      were evaluated using the phenotypic plasticity index. A phylogeny of the species
      was estimated using genome-wide scans. KEY RESULTS: We found significant
      differences in functional traits across species, growth forms, and substrates in
      response to changes in resource availability. Many traits (e.g., leaf width) were
      highly plastic for most species. Interspecific differences in leaf-level
      plasticity was significant, however plasticity was not correlated with phylogeny.
      Species with broader environmental niches had higher leaf-level plasticity than
      species with narrower environmental ranges. CONCLUSIONS: Plastic responses to
      environmental variability can differ widely among closely related species, and
      plasticity is therefore likely to be associated with many factors, including
      habitat and range size, as well as evolutionary history. Our results provided
      insights for species delimitation in Eucalyptus, which have management
      implications. Because of the high number of rare species and that other species
      are commercially important, a more comprehensive understanding of plasticity is
      essential for predicting their response to changing climates.

PMID- 28611073
TI  - Population genetic structure of the rock outcrop species Encholirium spectabile
      (Bromeliaceae): The role of pollination vs. seed dispersal and evolutionary
      implications.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Inselbergs are terrestrial, island-like rock outcrop
      environments that present a highly adapted flora. The epilithic bromeliad
      Encholirium spectabile is a dominant species on inselbergs in the Caatinga of
      northeastern Brazil. We conducted a population genetic analysis to test whether
      the substantial phenotypic diversity of E. spectabile could be explained by
      limited gene flow among populations and to assess the relative impact of pollen
      vs. seed dispersal on the genetic structure of the species. METHODS: Nuclear and
      chloroplast microsatellite markers were used to genotype E. spectabile
      individuals from 20 rock outcrop locations, representing four geographic regions:
      northern Espinhaco Range, Borborema Plateau, southwestern Caatinga and
      southeastern Caatinga. F-statistics, structure, and other tools were applied to
      evaluate the genetic makeup of populations. KEY RESULTS: Considerable levels of
      genetic diversity were revealed. Genetic structuring among populations was
      stronger on the plastid as compared with the nuclear level, indicating higher
      gene flow via bat pollination as compared with seed dispersal by wind. structure
      and AMOVA analyses of the nuclear data suggested a high genetic differentiation
      between two groups, one containing all populations from the southeastern Caatinga
      and the other one comprising all remaining samples. CONCLUSIONS: The strong
      genetic differentiation between southeastern Caatinga and the remaining regions
      may indicate the occurrence of a cryptic species in E. spectabile. The unique
      genetic composition of each inselberg population suggests in situ conservation as
      the most appropriate protection measure for this plant lineage.

PMID- 28611074
TI  - Cervical spinal glioblastoma multiforme in the elderly.
AB  - Spinal glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is uncommon, and its diagnosis may be
      challenging. This is especially true in the elderly population. Best management
      strategy remains to be defined. The purpose of this report is to document this
      rare condition, increase awareness (as a potential differential diagnosis) and
      propose treatment options in the elderly; a review of the relevant literature is
      included. A biopsy may be beneficial in given circumstances as cervical spinal
      GBM carries a better prognosis compared with intramedullary metastasis.

PMID- 28611075
TI  - Identification and Functional Characterization of Hypoxia-Induced Endoplasmic
      Reticulum Stress Regulating lncRNA (HypERlnc) in Pericytes.
AB  - RATIONALE: Pericytes are essential for vessel maturation and endothelial barrier
      function. Long noncoding RNAs regulate many cellular functions, but their role in
      pericyte biology remains unexplored. OBJECTIVE: Here, we investigate the effect
      of hypoxia-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress regulating long noncoding RNAs
      (HypERlnc, also known as ENSG00000262454) on pericyte function in vitro and its
      regulation in human heart failure and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: RNA sequencing in human primary pericytes identified hypoxia
      regulated long noncoding RNAs, including HypERlnc. Silencing of HypERlnc
      decreased cell viability and proliferation and resulted in pericyte
      dedifferentiation, which went along with increased endothelial permeability in
      cocultures consisting of human primary pericyte and human coronary microvascular
      endothelial cells. Consistently, Cas9-based transcriptional activation of
      HypERlnc was associated with increased expression of pericyte marker genes.
      Moreover, HypERlnc knockdown reduced endothelial-pericyte recruitment in Matrigel
      assays (P<0.05). Mechanistically, transcription factor reporter arrays
      demonstrated that endoplasmic reticulum stress-related transcription factors were
      prominently activated by HypERlnc knockdown, which was confirmed via
      immunoblotting for the endoplasmic reticulum stress markers IRE1alpha (P<0.001),
      ATF6 (P<0.01), and soluble BiP (P<0.001). Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and gene
      ontology pathway analyses of RNA sequencing experiments after HypERlnc knockdown
      indicate a role in cardiovascular disease states. Indeed, HypERlnc expression was
      significantly reduced in human cardiac tissue from patients with heart failure
      (P<0.05; n=19) compared with controls. In addition, HypERlnc expression
      significantly correlated with pericyte markers in human lungs derived from
      patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and from donor
      lungs (n=14). CONCLUSIONS: Here, we show that HypERlnc regulates human pericyte
      function and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response. In addition, RNA
      sequencing analyses in conjunction with reduced expression of HypERlnc in heart
      failure and correlation with pericyte markers in idiopathic pulmonary arterial
      hypertension indicate a role of HypERlnc in human cardiopulmonary disease.

PMID- 28611076
TI  - Learning a Comorbidity-Driven Taxonomy of Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension.
AB  - RATIONALE: Pediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a heterogeneous condition
      with varying natural history and therapeutic response. Precise classification of
      PH subtypes is, therefore, crucial for individualizing care. However, gaps remain
      in our understanding of the spectrum of PH in children. OBJECTIVE: We seek to
      study the manifestations of PH in children and to assess the feasibility of
      applying a network-based approach to discern disease subtypes from comorbidity
      data recorded in longitudinal data sets. METHODS AND RESULTS: A retrospective
      cohort study comprising 6 943 263 children (<18 years of age) enrolled in a
      commercial health insurance plan in the United States, between January 2010 and
      May 2013. A total of 1583 (0.02%) children met the criteria for PH. We identified
      comorbidities significantly associated with PH compared with the general
      population of children without PH. A Bayesian comorbidity network was constructed
      to model the interdependencies of these comorbidities, and network-clustering
      analysis was applied to derive disease subtypes comprising subgraphs of highly
      connected comorbid conditions. A total of 186 comorbidities were found to be
      significantly associated with PH. Network analysis of comorbidity patterns
      captured most of the major PH subtypes with known pathological basis defined by
      the World Health Organization and Panama classifications. The analysis further
      identified many subtypes documented in only a few case studies, including rare
      subtypes associated with several well-described genetic syndromes. CONCLUSIONS:
      Application of network science to model comorbidity patterns recorded in
      longitudinal data sets can facilitate the discovery of disease subtypes. Our
      analysis relearned established subtypes, thus validating the approach, and
      identified rare subtypes that are difficult to discern through clinical
      observations, providing impetus for deeper investigation of the disease subtypes
      that will enrich current disease classifications.

PMID- 28611077
TI  - Kidney Function Can Predict Pregnancy Outcomes.

PMID- 28611079
TI  - Elevated cAMP improves signal-to-noise ratio in amphibian rod photoreceptors.
AB  - The absolute sensitivity of vertebrate retinas is set by a background noise,
      called dark noise, which originates from several different cell types and is
      generated by different molecular mechanisms. The major share of dark noise is
      produced by photoreceptors and consists of two components, discrete and
      continuous. Discrete noise is generated by spontaneous thermal activations of
      visual pigment. These events are undistinguishable from real single-photon
      responses (SPRs) and might be considered an equivalent of the signal. Continuous
      noise is produced by spontaneous fluctuations of the catalytic activity of the
      cGMP phosphodiesterase. This masks both SPR and spontaneous SPR-like responses.
      Circadian rhythms affect photoreceptors, among other systems by periodically
      increasing intracellular cAMP levels ([cAMP]in), which increases the size and
      changes the shape of SPRs. Here, we show that forskolin, a tool that increases
      [cAMP]in, affects the magnitude and frequency spectrum of the continuous and
      discrete components of dark noise in photoreceptors. By changing both components
      of rod signaling, the signal and the noise, cAMP is able to increase the
      photoreceptor signal-to-noise ratio by twofold. We propose that this results in a
      substantial improvement of signal detection, without compromising noise
      rejection, at the rod bipolar cell synapse.

PMID- 28611081
TI  - Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of autoimmune diseases:
      beware of cell-to-cell contact.

PMID- 28611078
TI  - Midterm eGFR and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: The Clinical Significance of
      Gestational Hyperfiltration.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although hemodynamic adaptation plays a crucial role
      in maintaining gestation, the clinical significance of midterm renal
      hyperfiltration (MRH) on pregnancy outcomes is unknown. DESIGN, SETTING,
      PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This was an observational cohort study. Women with
      a singleton pregnancy and a serum creatinine measurement during their second
      trimester were followed at two university hospitals in Korea between 2001 and
      2015. Those with substantial renal function impairment or who delivered during
      the second trimester were not considered. MRH was represented by the highest
      eGFR, which was calculated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology
      Collaboration method. An adverse pregnancy event was defined by the composition
      of preterm birth (gestational age <37 weeks), low birth weight (<2.5 kg), and
      preeclampsia. RESULTS: Data from 1931 pregnancies were included. The relationship
      between midterm eGFR and adverse pregnancy outcomes, which occurred in 538
      mothers, was defined by a nonlinear U-shaped curve. The adjusted odds ratio and
      associated 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of an adverse pregnancy outcome for
      eGFR levels below and above the reference level of 120-150 ml/min per 1.73 m2
      were 1.97 (95% CI, 1.34 to 2.89; P<0.001) for >=150 ml/min per 1.73 m2; 1.57 (95%
      CI, 1.23 to 2.00; P<0.001) for 90-120 ml/min per 1.73 m2; and 4.93 (95% CI, 1.97
      to 12.31; P<0.001) for 60-90 ml/min per 1.73 m2. Moreover, among mothers without
      baseline CKD, women with adverse pregnancy outcomes had less prominent MRH than
      those without (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We identified a unique U-shaped
      relationship between midterm eGFR and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and the optimal
      range of midterm eGFR levels was 120-150 ml/min per 1.73 m2. In those without
      evident functional renal impairment, the absence of prominent MRH might be a
      significant risk factor for poor pregnancy outcomes.

PMID- 28611080
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging assessed inflammation in the wrist is associated with
      patient-reported physical impairment, global assessment of disease activity and
      pain in early rheumatoid arthritis: longitudinal results from two randomised
      controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine whether MRI assessed inflammation and damage in the wrist
      of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are associated with patient
      reported outcomes (PROs). METHODS: Wrist and hand MRIs of 210 patients with early
      RA from two investigator-initiated, randomised controlled studies
      (CIMESTRA/OPERA) were assessed according to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology
      RA MRI score (RAMRIS) for synovitis, tenosynovitis, osteitis, bone erosions and
      joint space narrowing (JSN) at baseline, 1 and 5 years follow-up. These features,
      and changes therein, were assessed for associations with health assessment
      questionnaires (HAQ), patient global visual analogue scales (VAS-PtGlobal) and
      VAS-pain using Spearman's correlations, generalised estimating equations and
      univariate/multivariable linear regression analyses. MRI features were further
      tested for trends against specific hand-related HAQ items using Jonckheere trend
      tests. RESULTS: MRI inflammation, but not damage, showed statistically
      significant associations with HAQ, VAS-PtGlobal and VAS-pain for status and
      change scores, independently of C reactive protein and swollen joint count. MRI
      assessed synovitis was most consistently associated with PROs, particularly VAS
      PtGlobal and VAS-pain. MRI-assessed synovitis and tenosynovitis mean scores were
      positively associated with patient-reported difficulty to cut meat and open a
      milk carton (p<0.01), and similar patterns were seen for other hand-related HAQ
      items. Incorporating metacarpophalangeal joints in the analyses did not
      strengthen the associations between MRI pathology and PROs. CONCLUSIONS: MRI
      assessed inflammation, but not damage, in early RA wrists is associated with
      patient-reported physical impairment, global assessment of disease activity and
      pain and influences the physical function in the hand. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT00660647.

PMID- 28611082
TI  - A population-based cohort study of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial
      lung disease: comorbidity and mortality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare mortality risks in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
      associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) and patients with RA without ILD.
      DESIGN: Matched cohort study. SETTING: The study was conducted in Denmark, using
      nationwide, prospectively collected data. PARTICIPANTS: Among patients with RA
      diagnosed between 2004 and 2016, 679 patients with RA-ILD were matched for birth
      year, gender and age at RA diagnosis with 11 722 patients with RA but without
      ILD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality risks were assessed using Kaplan-Meier
      mortality curves, and hazard rate ratios (HRRs) for death were estimated using
      Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: The number of prevalent RA
      patients more than doubled from 15 352 to 35 362 individuals during the study
      period. RA-ILD was seen in 2.2% of incident RA patients. 34.0% of RA-ILD cases
      were diagnosed within 1 year prior to and 1 year after the RA diagnosis. One-year
      mortality was 13.9% (95% CI, 11.4% to 16.7%) in RA-ILD and 3.8% (95% CI, 3.5% to
      4.2%) in non-ILD RA, 5-year mortality was 39.0% (34.4% to 43.5%) and 18.2% (17.3%
      to 19.1%) and 10-year mortality was 60.1% (52.9% to 66.5%) and 34.5% (32.8% to
      36.1%), respectively. The HRRs for death were 2 to 10 times increased for RA-ILD
      compared with non-ILD RA, irrespective of follow-up period. Stratified analysis
      showed that the HRR for death was highest in the first months after the diagnosis
      of RA-ILD was made, especially in patients diagnosed with RA before diagnosis of
      ILD. HRR was higher in males and in patients without comorbidity as assessed by
      the Charlson Comorbidity Index. CONCLUSIONS: ILD is a serious complication in RA,
      with a significantly increased mortality compared with a large matched cohort of
      RA comparisons without ILD.

PMID- 28611083
TI  - Inhibition of Ciliogenesis Promotes Hedgehog Signaling, Tumorigenesis, and
      Metastasis in Breast Cancer.
AB  - Primary cilia are chemosensors that play a dual role to either activate or
      repress Hedgehog signaling, depending on presence or absence of ligand,
      respectively. While inhibition of ciliogenesis has been shown to be
      characteristic of breast cancers, the functional consequence is unknown. Here,
      for the first time, inhibition of ciliogenesis led to earlier tumor formation,
      faster tumor growth rate, higher grade tumor formation, and increased metastasis
      in the polyoma middle T (PyMT) mouse model of breast cancer. In in vitro model
      systems, inhibition of ciliogenesis resulted in increased expression of Hedgehog
      target genes through a mechanism involving loss of the repressor form of the GLI
      transcription factor (GLIR) and activation of Hedgehog target gene expression
      through cross-talk with TGF-alpha (TGFA) signaling. Bioinformatics analysis
      revealed that increased Hedgehog signaling is frequently associated with
      increased TGFA; signaling in patients with triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC),
      a particularly aggressive breast cancer subtype. These results identify a
      previously unrecognized role for inhibition of ciliogenesis in breast cancer
      progression. This study identifies inhibition of ciliogenesis as an important
      event for activation of Hedgehog signaling and progression of breast cancer to a
      more aggressive, metastatic disease.Implications: These findings change the way
      we understand how cancer cells turn on a critical signaling pathways and a
      provide rationale for developing novel therapeutic approaches to target
      noncanonical Hedgehog signaling for the treatment of breast cancer. Mol Cancer
      Res; 15(10); 1421-30. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611084
TI  - Introducing InterSECT: The International Stroke Early Career and Training
      Section.

PMID- 28611086
TI  - Developing a Stroke Center.

PMID- 28611085
TI  - CCR6 (CC Chemokine Receptor 6) Is Essential for the Migration of Detrimental
      Natural Interleukin-17-Producing gammadelta T Cells in Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Immune-mediated tissue damage after stroke evolves within
      the first days, and lymphocytes contribute to the secondary injury. Our goal was
      to identify T-cell subpopulations, which trigger the immune response. METHODS: In
      a model of experimental stroke, we analyzed the immune phenotype of interleukin
      17 (IL-17)-producing gammadelta T cells and explored the therapeutic potential of
      neutralizing anti-IL-17 antibodies in combination with mild therapeutic
      hypothermia. RESULTS: We show that brain-infiltrating IL-17-positive gammadelta T
      cells expressed the Vgamma6 segment of the gammadelta T cells receptor and were
      largely positive for the chemokine receptor CCR6 (CC chemokine receptor 6), which
      is a characteristic for natural IL-17-producing gammadelta T cells. These innate
      lymphocytes are established as major initial IL-17 producers in acute infections.
      Genetic deficiency in Ccr6 was associated with diminished infiltration of natural
      IL-17-producing gammadelta T cells and a significantly improved neurological
      outcome. In the ischemic brain, IL-17 together with tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      triggered the expression of CXC chemokines and neutrophil infiltration.
      Therapeutic targeting of synergistic IL-17 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      pathways by IL-17 neutralization and therapeutic hypothermia resulted in
      additional protective effects in comparison to an anti-IL-17 antibody treatment
      or therapeutic hypothermia alone. CONCLUSIONS: Brain-infiltrating IL-17-producing
      gammadelta T cells belong to the subset of natural IL-17-producing gammadelta T
      cells. In stroke, these previously unrecognized innate lymphocytes trigger a
      highly conserved immune reaction, which is known from host responses toward
      pathogens. We demonstrate that therapeutic approaches targeting synergistic IL-17
      and tumor necrosis factor-alpha pathways in parallel offer additional
      neuroprotection in stroke.

PMID- 28611087
TI  - Acute Ischemic Stroke After Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Incidence
      and Impact on Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to nearly 300 000
      annual US hospitalizations and increased lifetime risk of acute ischemic stroke
      (AIS). Occurrence of AIS immediately after TBI has not been well characterized.
      We evaluated AIS acutely after TBI and its impact on outcome. METHODS: A
      prospective database of moderate to severe TBI survivors, admitted to inpatient
      rehabilitation at 22 Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems centers and their
      referring acute-care hospitals, was analyzed. Outcome measures were AIS
      incidence, duration of posttraumatic amnesia, Functional Independence Measure,
      and Disability Rating Scale, at rehabilitation discharge. RESULTS: Between
      October 1, 2007, and March 31, 2015, 6488 patients with TBI were enrolled in the
      Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database. One hundred and fifty
      nine (2.5%) patients had a concurrent AIS, and among these, median age was 40
      years. AIS was associated with intracranial mass effect and carotid or vertebral
      artery dissection. High-velocity events more commonly caused TBI with dissection.
      AIS predicted poorer outcome by all measures, accounting for a 13.3-point
      reduction in Functional Independence Measure total score (95% confidence
      interval, -16.8 to -9.7; P<0.001), a 1.9-point increase in Disability Rating
      Scale (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.5; P<0.001), and an 18.3-day increase in
      posttraumatic amnesia duration (95% confidence interval, 13.1-23.4; P<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic stroke is observed acutely in 2.5% of moderate to severe
      TBI survivors and predicts worse functional and cognitive outcome. Half of TBI
      patients with AIS were aged <=40 years, and AIS patients more often had cervical
      dissection. Vigilance for AIS is warranted acutely after TBI, particularly after
      high-velocity events.

PMID- 28611088
TI  - Impact of social service and public health spending on teenage birth rates across
      the USA: an ecological study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether greater state-level spending on social and public
      health services such as income, education and public safety is associated with
      lower rates of teenage births in USA. DESIGN: Ecological study. SETTING: USA.
      PARTICIPANTS: 50 states. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Our primary outcome measure was
      teenage birth rates. For analyses, we constructed marginal models using repeated
      measures to test the effect of social spending on teenage birth rates, accounting
      for several potential confounders. RESULTS: The unadjusted and adjusted models
      across all years demonstrated significant effects of spending and suggested that
      higher spending rates were associated with lower rates of teenage birth, with
      effects slightly diminishing with each increase in spending (linear effect: B=
      0.20; 95% CI -0.31 to 0.08; p<0.001 and quadratic effect: B=0.003; 95% CI 0.002
      to 0.005; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Higher state spending on social and public health
      services is associated with lower rates of teenage births. As states seek ways to
      limit healthcare costs associated with teenage birth rates, our findings suggest
      that protecting existing social service investments will be critical.

PMID- 28611090
TI  - A qualitative analysis of the Three Good Things intervention in healthcare
      workers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intensive care unit (ICU) personnel have an elevated prevalence of
      job-related burn-out and post-traumatic stress disorder, which can ultimately
      impact patient care. To strengthen healthcare workers' skills to deal with
      stressful events, it is important to focus not only on minimising suffering but
      also on increasing happiness, as this entails many more benefits than simply
      feeling good. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the content of the
      'good things' reported by healthcare workers participating in the 'Three Good
      Things' intervention. METHODS: In a tertiary care medical centre, a sample of 89
      neonatal ICU (NICU) healthcare professionals registered for the online
      intervention. Of these, 32 individuals eventually participated fully in the 14
      day online Three Good Things intervention survey. Daily emails reminded
      participants to reflect on and respond to the questions: "What are the three
      things that went well today?" and "What was your role in bringing them about?" To
      analyse their responses, we applied a thematic analysis, which was guided by our
      theoretical understanding of resilience. RESULTS: Involving more than 1300
      statements, the Three Good Things responses of the 32 study participants,
      including registered nurses, physicians and neonatal nurse practitioners, led to
      the identification of three main themes: (1) having a good day at work; (2)
      having supportive relationships and (3) making meaningful use of self-determined
      time. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show the personal and professional relevance of
      supportive relationships strengthened by clear communication and common
      activities that foster positive emotions. The Three Good Things exercise
      acknowledges the importance of self-care in healthcare workers and appears to
      promote well-being, which might ultimately strengthen resilience.

PMID- 28611089
TI  - Protocol for a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effects of providing
      essential medicines at no charge: the Carefully seLected and Easily Accessible at
      No Charge Medicines (CLEAN Meds) trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cost-related non-adherence to medicines is common in low-income,
      middle-income and high-income countries such as Canada. Medicine non-adherence is
      associated with poor health outcomes and increased mortality. This randomised
      trial will test the impact of a carefully selected list of essential medicines at
      no charge (compared with usual medicine access) in primary care patients
      reporting cost-related non-adherence. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is an open
      label, parallel two-arm, superiority, individually randomised controlled trial
      conducted in three primary care sites (one urban, two rural) in Ontario, Canada,
      that was codesigned by a community guidance panel. Adult patients (>=18 years)
      who report cost-related non-adherence to medicines are eligible to participate in
      the study. Participants will be randomised to receive free and convenient access
      to a carefully selected list of 125 essential medicines (based on the WHO's Model
      List of Essential Medicines) or usual means of medicine access. Care for patients
      in both groups will otherwise be unchanged. The primary outcome of this trial is
      adherence to appropriately prescribed medicines. Secondary outcomes include
      medicine adherence, appropriate prescribing, blood pressure, haemoglobin A1c, low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol, patient-oriented outcomes and healthcare costs.
      All participants will be followed for at least 12 months. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained in all three participating sites.
      Results of the main trial and secondary outcomes will be submitted for
      publication in a peer-reviewed journal and discussed with members of the public
      and decision makers. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02744963.

PMID- 28611091
TI  - Inhibition of MicroRNA-146a and Overexpression of Its Target Dihydrolipoyl
      Succinyltransferase Protect Against Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy
      and Dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases remain the predominant cause of death
      worldwide, with the prevalence of heart failure continuing to increase. Despite
      increased knowledge of the metabolic alterations that occur in heart failure,
      novel therapies to treat the observed metabolic disturbances are still lacking.
      METHODS: Mice were subjected to pressure overload by means of angiotensin-II
      infusion or transversal aortic constriction. MicroRNA-146a was either genetically
      or pharmacologically knocked out or genetically overexpressed in cardiomyocytes.
      Furthermore, overexpression of dihydrolipoyl succinyltransferase (DLST) in the
      murine heart was performed by means of an adeno-associated virus. RESULTS:
      MicroRNA-146a was upregulated in whole heart tissue in multiple murine pressure
      overload models. Also, microRNA-146a levels were moderately increased in left
      ventricular biopsies of patients with aortic stenosis. Overexpression of microRNA
      146a in cardiomyocytes provoked cardiac hypertrophy and left ventricular
      dysfunction in vivo, whereas genetic knockdown or pharmacological blockade of
      microRNA-146a blunted the hypertrophic response and attenuated cardiac
      dysfunction in vivo. Mechanistically, microRNA-146a reduced its target DLST-the
      E2 subcomponent of the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, a rate
      controlling tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme. DLST protein levels significantly
      decreased on pressure overload in wild-type mice, paralleling a decreased
      oxidative metabolism, whereas DLST protein levels and hence oxidative metabolism
      were partially maintained in microRNA-146a knockout mice. Moreover,
      overexpression of DLST in wild-type mice protected against cardiac hypertrophy
      and dysfunction in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether we show that the microRNA-146a
      and its target DLST are important metabolic players in left ventricular
      dysfunction.

PMID- 28611092
TI  - Altering Metabolic Profiles of Drugs by Precision Deuteration 2: Discovery of a
      Deuterated Analog of Ivacaftor with Differentiated Pharmacokinetics for Clinical
      Development.
AB  - Ivacaftor is currently used for the treatment of cystic fibrosis as both
      monotherapy (Kalydeco; Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA) and combination
      therapy with lumacaftor (Orkambi; Vertex Pharmaceuticals). Each therapy targets
      specific patient populations: Kalydeco treats patients carrying one of nine
      gating mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator
      (CFTR) protein, whereas Orkambi treats patients homozygous for the F508del CFTR
      mutation. In this study, we explored the pharmacological and metabolic effects of
      precision deuteration chemistry on ivacaftor by synthesizing two novel deuterated
      ivacaftor analogs, CTP-656 (d9-ivacaftor) and d18-ivacaftor. Ivacaftor is
      administered twice daily and is extensively converted in humans to major
      metabolites M1 and M6; therefore, the corresponding deuterated metabolites were
      also prepared. Both CTP-656 and d18-ivacaftor showed in vitro pharmacologic
      potency similar to that in ivacaftor, and the deuterated M1 and M6 metabolites
      showed pharmacology equivalent to that in the corresponding metabolites of
      ivacaftor, which is consistent with the findings of previous studies of
      deuterated compounds. However, CTP-656 exhibited markedly enhanced stability when
      tested in vitro. The deuterium isotope effects for CTP-656 metabolism (DV = 3.8,
      DV/K = 2.2) were notably large for a cytochrome P450-mediated oxidation. The
      pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of CTP-656 and d18-ivacaftor were assessed in six
      healthy volunteers in a single-dose crossover study, which provided the basis for
      advancing CTP-656 in development. The overall PK profile, including the 15.9-hour
      half-life for CTP-656, suggests that CTP-656 may be dosed once daily, thereby
      enhancing patient adherence. Together, these data continue to validate deuterium
      substitution as a viable approach for creating novel therapeutic agents with
      properties potentially differentiated from existing drugs.

PMID- 28611093
TI  - Danirixin: A Reversible and Selective Antagonist of the CXC Chemokine Receptor 2.
AB  - CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) is a key receptor in the chemotaxis of
      neutrophils to sites of inflammation. The studies reported here describe the
      pharmacological characterization of danirixin, a CXCR2 antagonist in the diaryl
      urea chemical class. Danirixin has high affinity for CXCR2, with a negative log
      of the 50% inhibitory concentration (pIC50) of 7.9 for binding to Chinese hamster
      ovary cell (CHO)-expressed human CXCR2, and 78-fold selectivity over binding to
      CHO-expressed CXCR1. Danirixin is a competitive antagonist against CXCL8 in Ca2+
      mobilization assays, with a KB (the concentration of antagonist that binds 50% of
      the receptor population) of 6.5 nM and antagonist potency (pA2) of 8.44, and is
      fully reversible in washout experiments over 180 minutes. In rat and human whole
      blood studies assessing neutrophil activation by surface CD11b expression
      following CXCL2 (rat) or CXCL1 (human) challenge, danirixin blocks the CD11b
      upregulation with pIC50s of 6.05 and 6.3, respectively. Danirixin dosed orally
      also blocked the influx of neutrophils into the lung in vivo in rats following
      aerosol lipopolysaccharide or ozone challenge, with median effective doses
      (ED50s) of 1.4 and 16 mg/kg respectively. Thus, danirixin would be expected to
      block chemotaxis in disease states in which neutrophils are increased in response
      to inflammation, such as pulmonary diseases. In comparison with navarixin, a
      CXCR2 antagonist from a different chemical class, the binding characterization of
      danirixin is distinct. These observations may offer insight into the previously
      observed clinical differences in induction of neutropenia between these
      compounds.

PMID- 28611095
TI  - Exercise-Related Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Among the General Population in
      the Era of Public-Access Defibrillation: A Population-Based Observation in Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise can trigger sudden cardiac arrest. Early initiation of
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator use by
      laypersons could maximize the survival rate following exercise-related out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). METHODS AND RESULTS: OHCA data between 2005 and
      2012 were obtained from a prospective population-based OHCA registry in Osaka
      Prefecture. Patients with OHCA of presumed cardiac origin and occurring before
      emergency medical service personnel arrival were included. The incidence trends
      of exercise-related OHCA over the 8-year study period were assessed. Among
      patients with bystander-witnessed, exercise-related OHCA, the trends in the
      initiation of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, public-access
      defibrillation, and outcome were evaluated. The primary outcome was 1-month
      survival with favorable neurological outcome, defined as cerebral performance
      category 1 or 2. During the study period, 0.7% of OHCAs of cardiac origin (222/31
      030) were exercise related. The incidence of exercise-related OHCA increased from
      1.8 (per million population per year) in 2005 to 4.3 in 2012. Of these, 83.8%
      (186/222) were witnessed by bystanders. Among the patients with bystander
      witnessed, exercise-related OHCA, the proportion that received bystander
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation (50.0% in 2005 and 86.2% in 2012) and public-access
      defibrillation (7.1% in 2005 and 62.1% in 2012) significantly increased during
      the study period. Furthermore, the rate of 1-month survival with favorable
      neurological outcome among these patients significantly improved (from 28.6% in
      2005 to 58.6% in 2012). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rate of exercise-related OHCA
      was low in the study population. The increase in bystander cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation and public-access defibrillation rates were associated with
      improved outcome among patients with bystander-witnessed, exercise-related OHCA.

PMID- 28611094
TI  - Agonist-specific Protein Interactomes of Glucocorticoid and Androgen Receptor as
      Revealed by Proximity Mapping.
AB  - Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and androgen receptor (AR) are steroid-inducible
      transcription factors (TFs). The GR and the AR are central regulators of various
      metabolic, homeostatic and differentiation processes and hence important
      therapeutic targets, especially in inflammation and prostate cancer,
      respectively. Hormone binding to these steroid receptors (SRs) leads to DNA
      binding and activation or repression of their target genes with the aid of
      interacting proteins, coregulators. However, protein interactomes of these
      important drug targets have remained poorly defined. We used proximity-dependent
      biotin identification to map the protein interaction landscapes of GR and AR in
      the presence and absence of their cognate agonist (dexamethasone, 5alpha
      dihydrotestosterone) and antagonist (RU486, enzalutamide) in intact human cells.
      We reproducibly identified more than 30 proteins that interacted with the GR in
      an agonist-specific manner and whose interactions were significantly influenced
      by the DNA-binding function of the receptor. Interestingly, the agonist-dependent
      interactome of the GR overlapped considerably with that of the AR. In addition to
      known coactivators, corepressors and components of BAF (SWI/SNF) chromatin
      remodeling complex, we identified a number of proteins, including lysine
      methyltransferases and demethylases that have not been previously linked to
      glucocorticoid or androgen signaling. A substantial number of these novel agonist
      dependent GR/AR-interacting proteins, e.g. BCOR, IRF2BP2, RCOR1, and TLE3, have
      previously been implicated in transcription repression. This together with our
      data on the effect of BCOR, IRF2BP2, and RCOR1 on GR target gene expression
      suggests multifaceted functions and roles for SR coregulators. These first high
      confidence SR interactomes will aid in therapeutic targeting of the GR and the
      AR.

PMID- 28611097
TI  - Epidemiology, Endovascular Treatment, and Prognosis of Cerebral Venous
      Thrombosis: US Center Study of 152 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare cause of stroke that poses
      diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic challenges. Mainstay treatment is
      systemic anticoagulation, but endovascular treatment is increasingly advocated.
      Our objectives were to describe the epidemiology, treatment, and prognosis of 152
      patients with cerebral venous thrombosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: This was a
      retrospective study of consecutive cerebral venous thrombosis cases from 2006 to
      2013 at a comprehensive stroke center through hospital discharge. Predictors of
      full recovery (modified Rankin Scale scores 0-1) were analyzed with multiple
      logistic regression and presented as adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs). The population was young (average age: 42 years),
      majority female (69%), and commonly presenting with cerebral edema (63%), and 72%
      were transferred in. All patients received systemic anticoagulation; 49% (n=73)
      required endovascular treatment. Reasons for requiring endovascular treatment
      included cerebral edema, herniation, or hemorrhagic infarct (n=38); neurologic
      decline (n=17); rethrombosis, persistent occlusion, or clot propagation (n=10);
      extensive clot burden (n=7); and persistent headache despite anticoagulation
      (n=1). There were 7 (10%) procedural complications. Recanalization was successful
      (61%), partial (30%), and unsuccessful (9%). Overall, 60% fully recovered.
      Positive predictors of full recovery included hormonal etiology, particularly for
      patients who were transferred in (AOR: 7.06 [95% CI, 2.27-21.96], interaction
      P=0.03) and who had migraine history (AOR: 4.87 [95% CI, 1.01-23.50], P=0.05),
      whereas negative predictors of full recovery were cerebral edema (AOR: 0.11 [95%
      CI, 0.04-0.34], P<0.001) and motor weakness (AOR: 0.28 [95% CI, 0.09-0.96],
      P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: As one of the largest cohort studies, our findings suggest
      that cerebral edema, history of migraine, and hormonal etiology were prognostic
      and that endovascular treatment might be a safe and effective treatment for
      cerebral venous thrombosis when conventional management is inadequate.

PMID- 28611098
TI  - Ticagrelor and Eptifibatide Bolus Versus Ticagrelor and Eptifibatide Bolus With 2
      Hour Infusion in High-Risk Acute Coronary Syndromes Patients Undergoing Early
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes,
      inhibition of platelet aggregation (IPA) with a potent P2Y12 inhibitor,
      ticagrelor, was inferior to tirofiban infusion at 2 hours, indicating that
      glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors are still needed. Ticagrelor and eptifibatide
      bolus only may maximally inhibit platelet aggregation and decrease bleeding, but
      IPA with ticagrelor and eptifibatide bolus versus 2-hour infusion is unknown.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 70 P2Y12-naive patients, with high-risk non-ST
      segment elevation acute coronary syndromes, were randomized to ticagrelor and
      eptifibatide bolus (group 1) versus ticagrelor and eptifibatide bolus with 2-hour
      infusion (group 2). Levels of IPA with ADP, thrombin receptor-activating peptide,
      collagen, and high on-treatment platelet reactivity were measured by light
      transmission aggregometry at baseline and at 2, 6, and 24 hours after
      percutaneous coronary intervention in both groups. The primary end point, IPA
      with ADP 20 MUmol/L at 2 hours, was 99.59+/-0.43% in group 1 versus 99.88+/-1.0%
      in group 2 (P<0.001 for noninferiority). High on-treatment platelet reactivity
      with ADP was zero at 2, 6, and 24 hours in both groups. IPA levels with ADP,
      thrombin receptor-activating peptide, and collagen were significantly higher at 2
      and 6 hours than at 24 hours in both groups. Periprocedural myocardial infarction
      was not significantly different between the groups. Hemoglobin level was
      significantly less at 24 hours versus baseline in group 2 (13.35+/-1.8 versus
      12.38+/-1.8 g/dL, respectively; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Ticagrelor and eptifibatide
      bolus maximally inhibited platelet aggregation at 2 hours, which was associated
      with no significant hemoglobin drop after percutaneous coronary intervention.
      This obviates the need for eptifibatide 2-hour infusion and might decrease
      bleeding complications. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01919723.

PMID- 28611099
TI  - Cell-based, bioluminescent assay for monitoring the interaction between PCSK9 and
      the LDL receptor.
AB  - Monitoring the expression of cell-surface receptors, their interaction with
      extracellular ligands, and their fate upon ligand binding is important for
      understanding receptor function and developing new therapies. We describe a cell
      based method that utilizes bioluminescent protein complementation technology to
      interrogate binding of a cellular receptor with its extracellular protein ligand,
      specifically LDL receptor (LDLR) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type
      9 (PCSK9). Purified, full-length tagged PCSK9 is added to assay wells containing
      cells that stably express LDLR with an extracellular complementary tag. When the
      tagged PCSK9 binds the receptor, a bright luminescence signal is generated. The
      interaction is detected at the cell membrane with add-and-read simplicity, no
      wash steps, and flexibility, allowing data to be collected in endpoint format,
      kinetically, or with bioluminescent imaging. The assay is flexible, is rapid, and
      reports accurate biology. It is amenable to 96-well and 384-well formats, and the
      robustness allows for screening of new drug candidates (Z' = 0.83). The assay
      reports correct potencies for antibody titrations across a 50%-150% potency range
      and detects potency changes due to heat stress, suggesting that it may be useful
      during drug development. This assay technology can be broadly applied when
      studying other receptors with their extracellular ligands, whether protein or
      small-molecule binding partners.

PMID- 28611096
TI  - Thymosin Beta-4 Is Elevated in Women With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection
      Fraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thymosin beta-4 (TB4) is an X-linked gene product with
      cardioprotective properties. Little is known about plasma concentration of TB4 in
      heart failure (HF), and its relationship with other cardiovascular biomarkers. We
      sought to evaluate circulating TB4 in HF patients with preserved (HFpEF) or
      reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction compared to non-HF controls. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: TB4 was measured using a liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
      assay in age- and sex-matched HFpEF (n=219), HFrEF (n=219) patients, and controls
      (n=219) from a prospective nationwide study. Additionally, a 92-marker multiplex
      proximity extension assay was measured to identify biomarker covariates. Compared
      with controls, plasma TB4 was elevated in HFpEF (985 [421-1723] ng/mL versus 1401
      [720-2379] ng/mL, P<0.001), but not in HFrEF (1106 [556-1955] ng/mL, P=0.642).
      Stratifying by sex, only women (1623 [1040-2625] ng/mL versus 942 [386-1891]
      ng/mL, P<0.001), but not men (1238.5 [586-1967] ng/mL versus 1004 [451-1538]
      ng/mL, P=1.0), had significantly elevated TB4 in the setting of HFpEF. Adjusted
      for New York Heart Association class, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide,
      age, and myocardial infarction, hazard ratio to all-cause mortality is
      significantly higher in women with elevated TB4 (1.668, P=0.036), but not in men
      (0.791, P=0.456) with HF. TB4 is strongly correlated with a cluster of 7 markers
      from the proximity extension assay panel, which are either X-linked, regulated by
      sex hormones, or involved with NF-kappaB signaling. CONCLUSIONS: We show that
      plasma TB4 is elevated in women with HFpEF and has prognostic information.
      Because TB4 can preserve EF in animal studies of cardiac injury, the relation of
      endogenous, circulating TB4 to X chromosome biology and differential outcomes in
      female heart disease warrants further study.

PMID- 28611100
TI  - AMPK activation enhances the anti-atherogenic effects of high density
      lipoproteins in apoE-/- mice.
AB  - HDL plays crucial roles at multiple stages of the pathogenesis of
      atherosclerosis. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a therapeutic candidate
      for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, the effect of AMPK
      activation on HDL functionality has not been established in vivo. We assessed the
      effects of pharmacological AMPK activation using A-769662, AICAR, metformin, and
      IMM-H007 on the atheroprotective functions of HDL in apoE-deficient (apoE-/-)
      mice fed with a high-fat diet. After administration, there were no changes in
      serum lipid levels among the groups. However, mice treated with AMPK activators
      showed significantly enhanced reverse cholesterol transport in vivo and in vitro.
      AMPK activation also increased the expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1 in macrophages
      and scavenger receptor class B type I and LCAT in the liver. HDL from AMPK
      activation mice exhibited lower HDL inflammatory index and myeloperoxidase
      activity and higher paraoxonase 1 activity than HDL from untreated mice, implying
      superior antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities. Pharmacological AMPK
      activation also induced polarization of macrophages to the M2 state and reduced
      plasma lipid peroxidation, inflammatory cytokine production, and atherosclerotic
      plaque formation in apoE-/- mice. These observations suggest that pharmacological
      AMPK activation enhances the anti-atherogenic properties of HDL in vivo. This
      likely represents a key mechanism by which AMPK activation attenuates
      atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28611101
TI  - Reducing Sepsis Deaths in Newborns Through Home Visitation and Active Case
      Detection: Is it Realistic?

PMID- 28611103
TI  - Hospitals and GP surgeries may be targets for terrorists, police warn.

PMID- 28611102
TI  - Effect on Neonatal Mortality of Newborn Infection Management at Health Posts When
      Referral Is Not Possible: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Rural Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recently provided guidelines for
      outpatient treatment of possible severe bacterial infections (PSBI) in young
      infants, when referral to hospital is not feasible. This study evaluated newborn
      infection treatment at the most peripheral level of the health system in rural
      Ethiopia. METHODS: We performed a cluster-randomized trial in 22 geographical
      clusters (11 allocated to intervention, 11 to control). In both arms, volunteers
      and government-employed Health Extension Workers (HEWs) conducted home visits to
      pregnant and newly delivered mothers; assessed newborns; and counseled caregivers
      on prevention of newborn illness, danger signs, and care seeking. Volunteers
      referred sick newborns to health posts for further assessment; HEWs referred
      newborns with PSBI signs to health centers. In the intervention arm only, between
      July 2011 and June 2013, HEWs treated newborns with PSBI with intramuscular
      gentamicin and oral amoxicillin for 7 days at health posts when referral to
      health centers was not possible or acceptable to caregivers. Intervention
      communities were informed of treatment availability at health posts to encourage
      care seeking. Masking was not feasible. The primary outcome was all-cause
      mortality of newborns 2-27 days after birth, measured by household survey data.
      Baseline data were collected between June 2008 and May 2009; endline data,
      between February 2013 and June 2013. We sought to detect a 33% mortality
      reduction. Analysis was by intention to treat. (ClinicalTrials.gov registry:
      NCT00743691). RESULTS: Of 1,011 sick newborns presenting at intervention health
      posts, 576 (57%) were identified by HEWs as having at least 1 PSBI sign; 90%
      refused referral and were treated at the health post, with at least 79%
      completing the antibiotic regimen. Estimated treatment coverage at health posts
      was in the region of 50%. Post-day 1 neonatal mortality declined more in the
      intervention arm (17.9 deaths per 1,000 live births at baseline vs. 9.4 per 1,000
      at endline) than the comparison arm (14.4 per 1,000 vs. 11.2 per 1,000,
      respectively). After adjusting for baseline mortality and region, the estimated
      post-day 1 mortality risk ratio was 0.83, but the result was not statistically
      significant (95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.24; P=.33). INTERPRETATION: When
      referral to higher levels of care is not possible, HEWs can deliver outpatient
      antibiotic treatment of newborns with PSBI, but estimated treatment coverage in a
      rural Ethiopian setting was only around 50%. While our data suggest a mortality
      reduction consistent with that which might be expected at this level of coverage,
      they do not provide conclusive results.

PMID- 28611104
TI  - Cisplatin Increases Sensitivity to FGFR Inhibition in Patient-Derived Xenograft
      Models of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) is a molecularly complex and genomically
      unstable disease. No targeted therapy is currently approved for lung SqCC,
      although potential oncogenic drivers of SqCC have been identified, including
      amplification of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1). Reports from a
      recently completed clinical trial indicate low response rates in patients treated
      with FGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, suggesting inadequacy of FGFR1
      amplification as a biomarker of response, or the need for combination treatment.
      We aimed to develop accurate models of lung SqCC and determine improved targeted
      therapies for these tumors. We show that detection of FGFR1 mRNA by RNA in situ
      hybridization is a better predictor of response to FGFR inhibition than FGFR1
      gene amplification using clinically relevant patient-derived xenograft (PDX)
      models of lung SqCC. FGFR1-overexpressing tumors were observed in all histologic
      subtypes of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) as assessed on a tissue
      microarray, indicating a broader range of tumors that may respond to FGFR
      inhibitors. In FGFR1-overexpressing PDX tumors, we observed increased
      differentiation and reduced proliferation following FGFR inhibition. Combination
      therapy with cisplatin was able to increase tumor cell death, and dramatically
      prolonged animal survival compared to single-agent treatment. Our data suggest
      that FGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors can benefit NSCLC patients with FGFR1
      overexpressing tumors and provides a rationale for clinical trials combining
      cisplatin with FGFR inhibitors. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(8); 1610-22. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611105
TI  - The DNA-Binding Polyamine Moiety in the Vectorized DNA Topoisomerase II Inhibitor
      F14512 Alters Reparability of the Consequent Enzyme-Linked DNA Double-Strand
      Breaks.
AB  - Poisons of topoisomerase II (TOP2) kill cancer cells by preventing religation of
      intermediate DNA breaks during the enzymatic process and thus by accumulating
      enzyme-drug-DNA complexes called TOP2 cleavage-complex (TOP2cc). F14512 is a
      highly cytotoxic polyamine-vectorized TOP2 inhibitor derived from etoposide and
      currently in clinical trials. It was shown in vitro that F14512 has acquired DNA
      binding properties and that the stability of TOP2cc was strongly increased.
      Paradoxically, at equitoxic concentrations in cells, F14512 induced less DNA
      breaks than etoposide. Here, we directly compared etoposide and F14512 for their
      rates of TOP2cc production and resolution in human cells. We report that
      targeting of TOP2alpha and not TOP2beta impacts cell killing by F14512, contrary
      to etoposide that kills cells through targeting both isoforms. Then, we show that
      despite being more cytotoxic, F14512 is less efficient than etoposide at
      producing TOP2alpha cleavage-complex (TOP2alphacc) in cells. Finally, we report
      that compared with TOP2alphacc mediated by etoposide, those generated by F14512
      persist longer in the genome, are not dependent on TDP2 for cleaning break ends
      from TOP2alpha, are channeled to a larger extent to resection-based repair
      processes relying on CtIP and BRCA1 and promote RAD51 recruitment to damaged
      chromatin. In addition to the addressing of F14512 to the polyamine transport
      system, the properties uncovered here would be particularly valuable for a
      therapeutic usage of this new anticancer compound. More generally, the concept of
      increasing drug cytotoxicity by switching the repair mode of the induced DNA
      lesions via addition of a DNA-binding moiety deserves further developments. Mol
      Cancer Ther; 16(10); 2166-77. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611106
TI  - A Novel Combination Treatment Targeting BCL-XL and MCL1 for KRAS/BRAF-mutated and
      BCL2L1-amplified Colorectal Cancers.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, and
      exhibits heterogeneous characteristics in terms of genomic alterations,
      expression signature, and drug responsiveness. Although there have been
      considerable efforts to classify this disease based on high-throughput sequencing
      techniques, targeted treatments for specific subgroups have been limited. KRAS
      and BRAF mutations are prevalent genetic alterations in colorectal cancers, and
      patients with mutations in either of these genes have a worse prognosis and are
      resistant to anti-EGFR treatments. In this study, we have found that a subgroup
      of colorectal cancers, defined by having either KRAS or BRAF (KRAS/BRAF)
      mutations and BCL2L1 (encoding BCL-XL) amplification, can be effectively targeted
      by simultaneous inhibition of BCL-XL (with ABT-263) and MCL1 (with YM-155). This
      combination treatment of ABT-263 and YM-155 was shown to have a synergistic
      effect in vitro as well as in in vivo patient-derived xenograft models. Our data
      suggest that combined inhibition of BCL-XL and MCL1 provides a promising
      treatment strategy for this genomically defined colorectal cancer subgroup. Mol
      Cancer Ther; 16(10); 2178-90. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611107
TI  - IL6 Receptor Blockade Enhances Chemotherapy Efficacy in Pancreatic Ductal
      Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Inflammation mediated by activation of JAK/STAT signaling is a major cause of
      chemotherapy resistance in cancer. We studied the impact of selectively blocking
      the IL6 receptor (IL6R) as a strategy to inhibit IL6-induced STAT activation and
      to overcome chemoresistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). To do
      this, STAT activation was investigated in tumors arising spontaneously in LSL
      KrasG12D/+;LSL-Trp53R172H/+;Pdx-1Cre (KPC) mice. Plasma from patients with PDAC
      was assessed for its ability to activate STAT3/SOCS3 in human monocytes using
      immunofluorescence microscopy and quantitative gene expression assays. KPC mice
      and syngeneic mice (wild type and IL6-/-) implanted with KPC-derived cell lines
      were treated with an IL6R-blocking antibody (anti-IL6R). The impact of treatment
      on tumor growth in KPC mice and mice with KPC-derived tumor implants was
      monitored using ultrasonography and calipers, respectively. Tumors were analyzed
      by IHC to detect changes in STAT activation, tumor viability, and proliferation.
      We found that STAT3 was the most activated STAT protein in PDAC tumors from KPC
      mice. Plasma from patients with advanced PDAC stimulated STAT3/SOCS3 activation
      in human monocytes. In mice, anti-IL6R antibodies targeted Ly6Chi monocytes,
      inhibited STAT3 activation in tumor cells, and decreased tumor cell proliferation
      in vivo IL6R blockade in combination with chemotherapy induced tumor cell
      apoptosis, tumor regressions, and improved overall survival. Overall, we show
      that IL6 signaling drives STAT3 activation in tumor cells and mediates
      chemoresistance in PDAC. Thus, disrupting IL6 signaling using anti-IL6R
      antibodies holds promise for improving chemotherapy efficacy in PDAC. Mol Cancer
      Ther; 16(9); 1898-908. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611109
TI  - An In Vivo Functional Screen Identifies JNK Signaling As a Modulator of
      Chemotherapeutic Response in Breast Cancer.
AB  - Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for advanced breast cancer;
      however, resistance is an inevitable event for the majority of patients with
      metastatic disease. Moreover, there is little information available to guide
      stratification of first-line chemotherapy, crucial given the common development
      of multidrug resistance. Here, we describe an in vivo screen to interrogate the
      response to anthracycline-based chemotherapy in a syngeneic metastatic breast
      cancer model and identify JNK signaling as a key modulator of chemotherapy
      response. Combining in vitro and in vivo functional analyses, we demonstrate that
      JNK inhibition both promotes tumor cell cytostasis and blocks activation of the
      proapoptotic protein Bax, thereby antagonizing chemotherapy-mediated
      cytotoxicity. To investigate the clinical relevance of this dual role of JNK
      signaling, we developed a proliferation-independent JNK activity signature and
      demonstrate high JNK activity to be enriched in triple-negative and basal-like
      breast cancer subtypes. Consistent with the dual role of JNK signaling in vitro,
      high-level JNK pathway activation in triple-negative breast cancers is associated
      both with poor patient outcome in the absence of chemotherapy treatment and, in
      neoadjuvant clinical studies, is predictive of enhanced chemotherapy response.
      These data highlight the potential of monitoring JNK activity as early biomarker
      of response to chemotherapy and emphasize the importance of rational treatment
      regimes, particularly when combining cytostatic and chemotherapeutic agents. Mol
      Cancer Ther; 16(9); 1967-78. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611108
TI  - Wnt/beta-catenin Signaling Contributes to Tumor Malignancy and Is Targetable in
      Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common type of sarcoma and
      usually harbors either a KIT or PDGFRA mutation. However, the molecular basis for
      tumor malignancy is not well defined. Although the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling
      pathway is important in a variety of cancers, its role in GIST is uncertain.
      Through analysis of nearly 150 human GIST specimens, we found that some human
      GISTs expressed beta-catenin and contained active, dephosphorylated nuclear beta
      catenin. Furthermore, advanced human GISTs expressed reduced levels of the Wnt
      antagonist DKK4. Accordingly, in human GIST T1 cells, Wnt stimulation increased
      beta-catenin-mediated transcriptional activity in a reporter assay as well as
      transcription of the downstream target genes Axin2 and CCND1 In contrast, DKK4
      overexpression in GIST T1 cells reduced Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. In addition,
      we showed that nuclear beta-catenin stability was partially regulated by the E3
      ligase COP1, as demonstrated with coimmunoprecipitation and COP1 knockdown. Three
      molecular inhibitors of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway demonstrated antitumor
      efficacy in various GIST models, both in vitro and in vivo Notably, the tankyrase
      inhibitor G007-LK alone had substantial activity against tumors of genetically
      engineered KitV558Delta/+ mice, and the effect was increased by the addition of
      the Kit inhibitor imatinib mesylate. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that
      Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is a novel therapeutic target for selected untreated
      or imatinib-resistant GISTs. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(9); 1954-66. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611110
TI  - The LIFTMOR-M (Lifting Intervention For Training Muscle and Osteoporosis
      Rehabilitation for Men) trial: protocol for a semirandomised controlled trial of
      supervised targeted exercise to reduce risk of osteoporotic fracture in older men
      with low bone mass.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The primary aim of the proposed study is to examine the efficacy of
      an 8-month supervised, high-intensity progressive resistance training and impact
      loading programme in comparison with a supervised machine-based isometric
      exercise training programme using the bioDensity system in older men with low
      bone mass. We will also determine the safety and acceptability of each exercise
      training mode. Intervention group responses will be compared with those of a self
      selected, non-randomised control sample of sex-matched and age-matched men who
      will follow their usual lifestyle activities for 8 months. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:
      Apparently healthy men over 50 years with low bone mass, screened for medical
      conditions and medications known to adversely affect bone health, will be
      recruited. Eligible participants will be randomly allocated to 8 months of either
      exercise programme with block randomisation based on presence or absence of
      osteoporosis medications. A twice-weekly, 30-minute, supervised exercise
      programme will be conducted for both groups. The primary outcome will be change
      in femoral neck areal bone mineral density determined by dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA). Secondary outcomes, assessed at baseline and 8 months, will
      include: DXA-derived whole-body, bilateral proximal femur and lumbar spine areal
      bone mineral density; proximal femur bone geometry and volumetric density
      extracted using three-dimensional hip analysis software; anthropometry; body
      composition; kyphosis; vertebral fracture assessment; physical function; safety
      (adverse events and injuries); and compliance. Intention-to-treat and per
      protocol analyses will be conducted. DISCUSSION: Whether a high-intensity, low
      repetition progressive resistance training and impact loading programme or a
      machine-based isometric exercise programme can improve determinants of fracture
      risk, without causing injury, has not been examined in men. Determination of the
      efficacy, safety and acceptability of such programmes will facilitate formulation
      of future exercise guidelines for older men with low bone mass at risk of
      fragility fracture, a group who have previously been under-represented. ETHICS
      AND DISSEMINATION: Participant confidentiality will be maintained with
      publication of results. The study has been granted ethical approval from the
      Griffith University Human Research Ethics Committee (Protocol number
      AHS/07/14/HREC). TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian New Zealand Clinical
      Trials Registry (www.anzctr.org.au)ANZCTR12616000344493; Pre-results.

PMID- 28611111
TI  - The impact of interventions to improve the quality of prescribing and use of
      antibiotics in primary care patients with respiratory tract infections: a
      systematic review protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the most common reason for
      primary care (PC) consultations and for antibiotic prescribing and use. The
      majority of RTIs have a viral aetiology however, and antibiotic consumption is
      ineffective and unnecessary. Inappropriate antibiotic use contributes greatly to
      antibiotic resistance (ABR) leading to complications, increased adverse events,
      reconsultations and costs. Improving antibiotic consumption is thus crucial to
      containing ABR, which has become an urgent priority worldwide. We will
      systematically review the evidence about interventions aimed at improving the
      quality of antibiotic prescribing and use for acute RTI. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We
      will include primary peer-reviewed and grey literature of studies conducted on in
      hours and out-of-hours PC patients (adults and children): (1) randomised
      controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs and/or cluster-RCTs evaluating the
      effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of patient-targeted and clinician
      targeted interventions and (2) RCTs and other study designs evaluating the
      effectiveness of public campaigns and regulatory interventions. We will search
      MEDLINE (EBSCOHost), EMBASE (Elsevier), the Cochrane Library (Wiley), CINHAL
      (EBSCOHost), PsychINFO (EBSCOHost), Web of Science, LILACS (Latin American and
      Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences), TRIP (Turning Research Into Practice)
      and opensgrey.eu without language restriction. We will also search the reference
      lists of included studies and relevant reviews. Primary outcomes include the
      rates of (guideline-recommended) antibiotics prescribed and/or used. Secondary
      outcomes include immediate or delayed use of antibiotics, and feasibility and
      acceptability outcomes. We will assess study eligibility and risk of bias, and
      will extract data. Data permitting, we will perform meta-analyses. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: This is a systematic review protocol and so formal ethical
      approval is not required. We will not collect confidential, personal or primary
      data. The findings of this review will be disseminated at national and
      international scientific meetings. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO trial
      (CRD42017035305).

PMID- 28611112
TI  - MicroRNA-150 regulates steroidogenesis of mouse testicular Leydig cells by
      targeting STAR.
AB  - Leydig cells are essential for male reproductive development throughout life.
      Production of androgens as well as intermediate steroids is tightly regulated.
      Although microRNAs (miRNAs) are suggested to play important roles in
      spermatogenesis, little is currently known regarding the regulation of
      steroidogenesis by miRNAs in Leydig cells. Here, we found that miR-150 was
      predominantly expressed in Leydig cells within mouse testis. Therefore, we
      determined steroidogenesis of the Leydig cells in which miR-150 was knocked down
      or overexpressed using miR-150 antagomir and agomir, respectively. Compared with
      negative control group, a significant increase of STAR expression was observed in
      miR-150 antagomir-treated Leydig cells. Conversely, STAR expression was
      significantly reduced in miR-150 agomir-transfected Leydig cells. Production of
      sex-steroid precursors and testosterone of Leydig cells was also negatively
      controlled by miR-150. We further identified Star as a target of miR-150 using
      luciferase reporter assay. Finally, we confirmed that miR-150 was necessary for
      steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis in vivo via intratesticular injection of miR
      150 antagomir or agomir. Taken together, our studies suggest that miR-150
      negatively regulates the expression of STAR and steroidogenesis of Leydig cells
      in mice.

PMID- 28611113
TI  - Active paraoxonase 1 is synthesised throughout the internal boar genital organs.
AB  - The paraoxonase type 1 (PON1) is an enzyme with antioxidant properties recently
      identified in the seminal plasma (SP) of several species, including the porcine.
      The aims of the present study were to (1) describe the immunohistochemical
      localisation of PON1 in the genital organs of fertile boars and (2) evaluate the
      relationship among PON1 activity and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)
      concentration in fluids of the boar genital organs. Immunohistochemical analysis
      demonstrated that PON1 was present in testis (specifically in Leydig cells, blood
      vessels, spermatogonia and elongated spermatids), epididymis (specifically in the
      cytoplasm of the principal epithelial cells, luminal secretion and in the
      surrounding smooth muscle) and the lining epithelia of the accessory sexual
      glands (cytoplasmic location in the prostate and membranous in the seminal
      vesicle and bulbourethral glands). The Western blotting analysis confirmed the
      presence of PON1 in all boar genital organs, showing in all of them a band of 51
      kDa and an extra band of 45 kDa only in seminal vesicles. PON1 showed higher
      activity levels in epididymal fluid than those in SP of the entire ejaculate or
      of specific ejaculate portions. A highly positive relationship between PON1
      activity and HDL-C concentration was found in all genital fluids. In sum, all
      boar genital organs contributing to sperm-accompanying fluid/s were able to
      express PON1, whose activity in these genital fluids is highly dependent on the
      variable HDL-C concentration present.

PMID- 28611114
TI  - Notch1 deficiency in postnatal neural progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus leads
      to emotional and cognitive impairment.
AB  - It is well known that Notch1 signaling plays a crucial role in embryonic neural
      development and adult neurogenesis. The latest evidence shows that Notch1 also
      plays a critical role in synaptic plasticity in mature hippocampal neurons. So
      far, deeper insights into the function of Notch1 signaling during the different
      steps of adult neurogenesis are still lacking, and the mechanisms by which Notch1
      dysfunction is associated with brain disorders are also poorly understood. In the
      current study, we found that Notch1 was highly expressed in the adult-born
      immature neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Using a genetic approach to
      selectively ablate Notch1 signaling in late immature precursors in the postnatal
      hippocampus by cross-breeding doublecortin (DCX)+ neuron-specific
      proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-alpha Cre mice with floxed Notch1 mice, we
      demonstrated a previously unreported pivotal role of Notch1 signaling in survival
      and function of adult newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus. Moreover, behavioral
      and functional studies demonstrated that POMC-Notch1-/- mutant mice showed
      anxiety and depressive-like behavior with impaired synaptic transmission
      properties in the dentate gyrus. Finally, our mechanistic study showed
      significantly compromised phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding
      protein (CREB) in Notch1 mutants, suggesting that the dysfunction of Notch1
      mutants is associated with the disrupted pCREB signaling in postnatally generated
      immature neurons in the dentate gyrus.-Feng, S., Shi, T., Qiu, J., Yang, H., Wu,
      Y., Zhou, W., Wang, W., Wu, H. Notch1 deficiency in postnatal neural progenitor
      cells in the dentate gyrus leads to emotional and cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28611115
TI  - Montgomery--time to focus on consent but not to panic.

PMID- 28611117
TI  - Low-Field Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Compelling Case for Cardiac
      Magnetic Resonance's Future.

PMID- 28611118
TI  - High Field Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Case for Ultrahigh Field Cardiac
      Magnetic Resonance.

PMID- 28611116
TI  - Recent Advances in Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance: Techniques and
      Applications.
AB  - Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging has become the gold standard for
      evaluating myocardial function, volumes, and scarring. Additionally,
      cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging is unique in its comprehensive tissue
      characterization, including assessment of myocardial edema, myocardial siderosis,
      myocardial perfusion, and diffuse myocardial fibrosis. Cardiovascular magnetic
      resonance imaging has become an indispensable tool in the evaluation of
      congenital heart disease, heart failure, cardiac masses, pericardial disease, and
      coronary artery disease. This review will highlight some recent novel
      cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging techniques, concepts, and applications.

PMID- 28611119
TI  - Turbulent Kinetic Energy Assessed by Multipoint 4-Dimensional Flow Magnetic
      Resonance Imaging Provides Additional Information Relative to Echocardiography
      for the Determination of Aortic Stenosis Severity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), assessed by 4-dimensional (4D) flow
      magnetic resonance imaging, is a measure of energy loss in disturbed flow as it
      occurs, for instance, in aortic stenosis (AS). This work investigates the
      additional information provided by quantifying TKE for the assessment of AS
      severity in comparison to clinical echocardiographic measures. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Fifty-one patients with AS (67+/-15 years, 20 female) and 10 healthy age
      matched controls (69+/-5 years, 5 female) were prospectively enrolled to undergo
      multipoint 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging. Patients were split into 2 groups
      (severe and mild/moderate AS) according to their echocardiographic mean pressure
      gradient. TKE values were integrated over the aortic arch to obtain peak TKE.
      Integrating over systole yielded total TKEsys and by normalizing for stroke
      volume, normalized TKEsys was obtained. Mean pressure gradient and TKE correlated
      only weakly (R2=0.26 for peak TKE and R2=0.32 for normalized TKEsys) in the
      entire study population including control subjects, while no significant
      correlation was observed in the AS patient group. In the patient population with
      dilated ascending aorta, both peak TKE and total TKEsys were significantly
      elevated (P<0.01), whereas mean pressure gradient was significantly lower
      (P<0.05). Patients with bicuspid aortic valves also showed significantly
      increased TKE metrics (P<0.01), although no significant difference was found for
      mean pressure gradient. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated TKE levels imply higher energy
      losses associated with bicuspid aortic valves and dilated ascending aortic
      geometries that are not assessable by current echocardiographic measures. These
      findings indicate that TKE may provide complementary information to
      echocardiography, helping to distinguish within the heterogeneous population of
      patients with moderate to severe AS.

PMID- 28611120
TI  - Letter by Giani and Rossi Regarding Article, "Factors Associated With Left Atrial
      Remodeling in the General Population".

PMID- 28611121
TI  - Advanced Assessment of Aortic Stenosis Reflecting the Complex Interplay of Valve,
      Ventricle, Vessel, and Flow.

PMID- 28611122
TI  - Response by de Lemos et al to Letter Regarding Article "Factors Associated With
      Left Atrial Remodeling in the General Population".

PMID- 28611123
TI  - Sex Differences in Mortality Based on United Network for Organ Sharing Status
      While Awaiting Heart Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are sex differences in mortality while awaiting heart
      transplantation, and the reason remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included
      all adults in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients placed on the
      heart transplant active waitlist from 2004 to 2015. The primary end point was all
      cause mortality. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were performed to
      evaluate survival by United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) status at the time
      of listing. Random survival forest was used to identify sex interactions for the
      competing risk of death and transplantation. There were 33 069 patients (25%
      women) awaiting heart transplantation. This cohort included 7681 UNOS status 1A
      (26% women), 13 027 UNOS status 1B (25% women), and 12 361 UNOS status 2 (26%
      women). During a median follow-up of 4.3 months, 1351 women and 4052 men died.
      After adjusting for >20 risk factors, female sex was associated with a
      significant risk of death among UNOS status 1A (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.14; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.01-1.29) and UNOS status 1B (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.17;
      95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.30). In contrast, female sex was significantly
      protective for time to death among UNOS status 2 (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.85;
      95% confidence interval, 0.76-0.95). Sex differences in probability of
      transplantation were present for every UNOS status, and >20 sex interactions were
      identified for mortality and transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: When stratified by
      initial UNOS status, women had a higher mortality than men as UNOS status 1 and a
      lower mortality as UNOS status 2. With >20 sex interactions for mortality and
      transplantation, further evaluation is warranted to form a more equitable
      allocation system.

PMID- 28611124
TI  - Endothelial Senescence Contributes to Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection
      Fraction in an Aging Mouse Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of global aging, the prevalence of heart failure with
      preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) continues to rise. Although HFpEF
      pathophysiology remains incompletely understood, endothelial inflammation is
      stated to play a central role. Cellular senescence is a process of cellular
      growth arrest linked with aging and inflammation. We used mice with accelerated
      aging to investigate the role of cellular senescence in HFpEF development.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Senescence-accelerated mice (SAM, n=18) and control mice
      with normal senescence (n=15) were fed normal chow or a high-fat, high-salt diet
      (WD). Vascular and cardiac function was assessed at 8, 16, and 24 weeks of age.
      At 24 weeks, both SAM on WD (SAM-WD) and SAM on regular diet displayed
      endothelial dysfunction, as evidenced by impaired acetylcholine-induced
      relaxation of aortic segments and reduced basal nitric oxide. At week 24, SAM-WD
      had developed HFpEF, characterized by diastolic dysfunction, left ventricular
      hypertrophy, left atrial dilatation, and interstitial fibrosis. Also, exercise
      capacity was reduced and lung weight increased. Cardiovascular inflammation and
      senescence were assessed by immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining
      of hearts and aortas. SAM-WD showed increased endothelial inflammation
      (intercellular adhesion molecule 1 expression) and increased endothelial
      senescence (acetyl-p53/CD31 costaining). The latter correlated with diastolic
      function and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: SAM
      develop endothelial dysfunction. Adding a high-salt, high-fat diet accelerates
      endothelial senescence and instigates endothelial inflammation. This coincides
      with hemodynamic and structural changes typical of HFpEF. Targeting endothelial
      senescence could be a new therapeutic avenue in HFpEF.

PMID- 28611125
TI  - Design and Rationale of the Phase 3 ATTR-ACT Clinical Trial (Tafamidis in
      Transthyretin Cardiomyopathy Clinical Trial).
AB  - : Transthyretin amyloidosis is a rare, life-threatening disease resulting from
      aggregation and deposition of transthyretin amyloid fibrils in various tissues.
      There are 2 predominate phenotypic presentations of the disease: transthyretin
      familial amyloid polyneuropathy, which primarily affects the peripheral nerves,
      and transthyretin cardiomyopathy (TTR-CM), which primarily affects the heart.
      However, there is a wide overlap with symptoms at presentation and disease course
      being highly variable and influenced by the underlying transthyretin mutation,
      age of the affected individual, sex, and geographic location. Treatment of
      transthyretin amyloidosis is typically focused on symptom management. Although
      tafamidis has been shown to delay neurologic progression of transthyretin
      familial amyloid polyneuropathy, there are no approved pharmacologic therapies
      shown to improve survival in TTR-CM. The natural history of TTR-CM is poorly
      characterized, which presents difficulties for the design of large-scale trials
      for new treatments. This review provides a brief overview of TTR-CM and the
      challenges of identifying clinically meaningful end points and study parameters
      to determine the efficacy of treatments for rare diseases. The design and
      rationale behind the ongoing phase 3 ATTR-ACT study (Tafamidis in Transthyretin
      Cardiomyopathy Clinical Trial), an international, multicenter, double-blind,
      placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, is also outlined. The ATTR-ACT
      study will provide important insight into the efficacy and safety of tafamidis
      for the treatment of TTR-CM. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01994889.

PMID- 28611126
TI  - Patient-Reported Health-Related Quality of Life Is a Predictor of Outcomes in
      Ambulatory Heart Failure Patients Treated With Left Ventricular Assist Device
      Compared With Medical Management: Results From the ROADMAP Study (Risk Assessment
      and Comparative Effectiveness of Left Ventricular Assist Device and Medical
      Management).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prospective observational ROADMAP study (Risk Assessment and
      Comparative Effectiveness of Left Ventricular Assist Device and Medical
      Management) demonstrated that ambulatory advanced heart failure patients selected
      for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) were more likely to be alive at 1 year
      on original therapy with >=75-m improvement in 6-minute walk distance compared
      with patients assigned to optimal medical management. Whether baseline health
      related quality of life (hrQoL) resulted in a heterogeneity of this treatment
      benefit is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patient-reported hrQoL was assessed with
      EuroQol questionnaire and visual analogue scale (VAS). We aimed to identify
      predictors of event-free survival and survival with acceptable hrQoL (VAS>=60).
      LVAD patients had significant improvement in 3 of 5 EuroQol dimensions (P<0.05),
      but no significant changes were observed with optimal medical management. Among
      patients with baseline VAS<55, survival on original treatment was lower for
      optimal medical management patients compared with those assigned to LVAD (58+/-7%
      versus 82+/-5%; P=0.004). No such difference was seen if baseline VAS was >=55
      (70+/-7% versus 75+/-9%; P=0.79). Survival on original therapy with acceptable
      quality of life was also more likely with LVAD versus optimal medical management
      if baseline VAS was <55, whereas outcomes in patients with higher baseline VAS
      scores were similar regardless of treatment assignment (P=0.046 for treatment arm
      and baseline VAS interaction). CONCLUSIONS: LVAD therapy resulted in improvement
      of patient health status in heart failure patients with low self-reported hrQoL,
      but not in patients with acceptable quality of life at the time of LVAD
      implantation. Patient-reported hrQoL should be integrated into decision making
      concerning the use and timing of LVAD therapy in heart failure patients who are
      symptom limited but remain ambulatory. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01452802.

PMID- 28611129
TI  - Microvascular Paradigm in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Quest
      for Proof of Concept.

PMID- 28611127
TI  - Pulmonary Hypertension Is Associated With a Higher Risk of Heart Failure
      Hospitalization and Mortality in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: The
      Jackson Heart Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African Americans develop chronic kidney disease and pulmonary
      hypertension (PH) at disproportionately high rates. Little is known whether PH
      heightens the risk of heart failure (HF) admission or mortality among chronic
      kidney disease patients, including patients with non-end-stage renal disease.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed African Americans participants with chronic
      kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 or
      urine albumin/creatinine >30 mg/g) and available echocardiogram-derived pulmonary
      artery systolic pressure (PASP) from the Jackson Heart Study (N=408). We used Cox
      models to assess whether PH (PASP>35 mm Hg) was associated with higher rates of
      HF hospitalization and mortality. In a secondary, cross-sectional analysis, we
      examined the relationship between cystatin C (a marker of renal function) and
      PASP and potential mediators, including BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide) and
      endothelin-1. In our cohort, the mean age was 63+/-13 years, 70% were female, 78%
      had hypertension, and 22% had PH. Eighty-five percent of the participants had an
      estimated glomerular filtration rate >30 mL/min per 1.73 m2. During follow-up,
      13% were hospitalized for HF and 27% died. After adjusting for potential
      confounders, including BNP, PH was found to be associated with HF hospitalization
      (hazard ratio, 2.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-4.86) and the combined outcome
      of HF hospitalization or mortality (hazard ratio, 1.84; confidence interval, 1.09
      3.10). Log cystatin C was directly associated with PASP (adjusted beta =2.5 [95%
      confidence interval, 0.8-4.1] per standard deviation change in cystatin C).
      Mediation analysis showed that BNP and endothelin-1 explained 56% and 40%,
      respectively, of the indirect effects between cystatin C and PASP. CONCLUSIONS:
      Among African Americans with chronic kidney disease, PH, which is likely
      pulmonary venous hypertension, was associated with a higher risk of HF admission
      and mortality.

PMID- 28611128
TI  - Decreased KCNE2 Expression Participates in the Development of Cardiac Hypertrophy
      by Regulation of Calcineurin-NFAT (Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cells) and
      Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND: KCNE2 is a promiscuous auxiliary subunit of voltage-gated cation
      channels. A recent work demonstrated that KCNE2 regulates L-type Ca2+ channels.
      Given the important roles of altered Ca2+ signaling in structural and functional
      remodeling in diseased hearts, this study investigated whether KCNE2 participates
      in the development of pathological hypertrophy. METHODS AND RESULTS: We found
      that cardiac KCNE2 expression was significantly decreased in phenylephrine
      induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes and in
      transverse aortic constriction-induced cardiac hypertrophy in mice, as well as in
      dilated cardiomyopathy in human. Knockdown of KCNE2 in neonatal rat ventricular
      myocytes reproduced hypertrophy by increasing the expression of ANP (atrial
      natriuretic peptide) and beta-MHC (beta-myosin heavy chain), and cell surface
      area, whereas overexpression of KCNE2 attenuated phenylephrine-induced
      cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Knockdown of KCNE2 increased intracellular Ca2+
      transient, calcineurin activity, and nuclear NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T
      cells) protein levels, and pretreatment with inhibitor of L-type Ca2+ channel
      (nifedipine) or calcineurin (FK506) attenuated the activation of calcineurin-NFAT
      pathway and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Meanwhile, the phosphorylation levels of
      p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase were
      increased, and inhibiting the 3 cascades of mitogen-activated protein kinase
      reduced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by KCNE2 knockdown. Overexpression of
      KCNE2 in heart by ultrasound-microbubble-mediated gene transfer suppressed the
      development of hypertrophy and activation of calcineurin-NFAT and mitogen
      activated protein kinase pathways in transverse aortic constriction mice.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that cardiac KCNE2 expression is decreased
      and contributes to the development of hypertrophy via activation of calcineurin
      NFAT and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. Targeting KCNE2 is a
      potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of hypertrophy.

PMID- 28611130
TI  - Precision Medicine for Heart Failure: Lessons From Oncology.

PMID- 28611131
TI  - A retrospective study on the incidence of post-cataract surgery Descemet's
      membrane detachment and outcome of air descemetopexy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the anatomic and functional outcome of air descemetopexy in
      postcataract surgery Descemet's membrane detachment (DMD). DESIGN: Retrospective
      study. METHODS: Setting: Institutional. STUDY POPULATION: Records of 112 patients
      who underwent air descemetopexy for postcataract surgery sight-threatening DMD at
      Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry, between January 2013 and December 2015 were
      studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Anatomical outcome refers to reattachment of the
      Descemet's membrane (DM). Functional outcome was given by the best-corrected
      visual acuity. RESULTS: The mean age was 66.47+/-8.46 (SD) years, the male to
      female ratio was 45:67. The incidence of DMD was more in extracapsular cataract
      extraction (0.26%) and manual small incision cataract surgery (0.11%) than
      phacoemulsification (0.04%) (p=0.005 and p<0.0001). DMD was more common among
      surgical trainees (0.17%) than consultants (0.07%) (p<=0.0001). After primary air
      descemetopexy, 78 (71%) out of the 110 patients had DM reattachment. The
      complications noted after descemetopexy include persistent DMD (21.8%), corneal
      decompensation (7.3%), appositional angle closure (18%), pupillary block with air
      (2.7%) and uveitis (2.7%). Age, sex and timing of intervention did not influence
      the reattachment rate. Fifteen patients underwent repeat air descemetopexy for
      persistent DMD among whom nine (60%) had successful reattachment. Almost 75% of
      patients had vision better than 6/18 1 month after anatomically successful
      descemetopexy. CONCLUSION: Air descemetopexy is a safe and efficient modality of
      treatment of DMD and should be tried even in patients with severe DMD before
      planning a major surgery like endothelial keratoplasty.

PMID- 28611132
TI  - Posterior chamber phakic intraocular lens implantation: comparative, multicentre
      study in 351 eyes with low-to-moderate or high myopia.
AB  - AIM: To compare the clinical outcomes of posterior chamber phakic intraocular
      lens implantation with a central hole (Hole Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL),
      STAAR Surgical) for low-to-moderate myopia and for high myopia. METHODS: This
      multicentre retrospective case series comprised 351 eyes of 351 consecutive
      patients undergoing ICL implantation. Eyes were divided into groups based on
      preoperative degree of myopia: group 1; 57 eyes, manifest spherical equivalent
      less than -6 dioptres (D), and group 2; 294 eyes, -6 D or more. Safety, efficacy,
      predictability, stability and adverse events were compared preoperatively; and at
      1 day, 1 week and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively, RESULTS: Uncorrected and
      corrected visual acuities were -0.17+/-0.14 and -0.21+/-0.10 logMAR in group 1,
      and -0.16+/-0.09 and -0.21+/-0.08 logMAR in group 2, 1 year postoperatively. In
      groups 1 and 2, 98% and 99% of eyes were within 1.0 D of the targeted correction.
      Manifest refraction changes of -0.12+/-0.34 D (group 1) and -0.18+/-0.43 D (group
      2) occurred from 1 day to 1 year. ICL exchanges were necessary in two eyes (0.7%)
      in group 2. No vision-threatening complications occurred at any time.
      CONCLUSIONS: The ICL performed well for the correction of both low-to-moderate
      myopia and high myopia throughout the 1-year observation period. The clinical
      outcomes of ICL implantation for low-to-moderate myopia are essentially
      equivalent to those for high myopia.

PMID- 28611134
TI  - Toothpick-induced aortoenteric fistula presenting as sepsis.
AB  - Aortoenteric fistulas (AEF) are a rare but life-threatening cause of
      gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. We present the case of a primary AEF caused by
      ingestion of a toothpick by a 47-year-old male. This is the 10th known case in
      the literature in which a foreign body was found to be the cause of a
      communication between the aorta and the GI tract. Most foreign objects have been
      sewing needles; this is the first known case of a toothpick penetration. The
      patient presented to our institution with polymicrobial sepsis and bilateral
      pulmonary septic emboli. The patient was successfully treated but required
      multiple interventions and a prolonged intensive care unit admission.

PMID- 28611135
TI  - A rare testicular vein anatomical variant contributes to right-sided varicocoele
      formation and leads to the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma.

PMID- 28611133
TI  - Long-term clinical outcome of femtosecond laser-assisted lamellar keratectomy
      with phototherapeutic keratectomy in anterior corneal stromal dystrophy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term outcome of femtosecond laser-assisted lamellar
      keratectomy (FLK) with phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) in patients with
      anterior corneal stromal dystrophies. METHODS: A total of 10 eyes from seven
      patients who underwent FLK were included. The patients had suffered from
      recurrent corneal erosion or visual disturbance in anterior corneal dystrophies
      (five Avellino dystrophies and two lattice dystrophies). Planar-shaped lamellar
      keratectomy was performed using femtosecond laser. The amount of corneal excision
      was determined by the depth of corneal opacity. Additional PTK with mitomycin C
      application was performed for smoothening of corneal cut surface. The patients
      were evaluated with following parameters: uncorrected visual acuity, best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA), mean anterior keratometric value, corneal
      irregularity, corneal high-order aberrations (HOA) and the recurrence of corneal
      erosion. RESULTS: Mean duration of follow-up was 64 months (2.5-9.5 years). The
      BCVA improved more than two lines of Snellen chart at last visit. The changes of
      keratometric values were within +/-1 D in eight out of 10 eyes. Corneal
      irregularities in central 5 mm cornea and the values of total corneal HOA in
      central 6 mm cornea decreased by 0.3-3.1 D and 0.01-2.2 um, respectively. Corneal
      erosion did not recur in any of those patients during follow-up and corneal
      dystrophy did not recur in eight out of 10 eyes. CONCLUSION: In anterior corneal
      stromal dystrophies, FLK with PTK can be an effective surgical option to improve
      VA through decreasing corneal irregularities and HOA, while minimising corneal
      curvature changes.

PMID- 28611136
TI  - A rare case of Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies abscessus prosthetic valve
      endocarditis and the clinical importance of inducible erm(41) gene testing.
AB  - A 56-year-old man with a history of injection drug use and two prior episodes of
      native valve infective endocarditis presented with dyspnoea on exertion. Our
      preliminary work-up revealed bacteraemia with reported growth of 'Mycobacterium
      abscessus group' on multiple blood cultures. The patient was later found to have
      eustachian valve and prosthetic pulmonic valve endocarditis. Initially, he
      responded to standard antimycobacterial therapy for rapidly growing mycobacteria
      (RGM) with supporting laboratory susceptibilities. However, he later developed
      refractory disease and persistent bacteraemia in the setting of these alleged
      susceptible antibiotics. Further molecular testing revealed a functional and
      inducible erm(41) gene which confers macrolide resistance. A subspecies analysis
      of the M abscessus group revealed the subspecies to be abscessus We present a
      challenging case of M abscessus subsp. abscessus bacteraemia and prosthetic valve
      endocarditis with further discussion on treatment and management of this
      infection along with the taxonomic complexity of this ubiquitous RGM.

PMID- 28611137
TI  - Aberrant course of superficial radial nerve in the forearm: an anatomical
      variation and its clinical implications.
AB  - The superficial radial nerve (SRN) is the terminal pure sensory branch of the
      radial nerve supplying dorsal aspects of the proximal portion of the lateral
      three and a half digits including the lateral two-thirds of the dorsum of the
      hand. It transits from its submuscular position to a subcutaneous position by
      passing between the brachioradialis and extensor carpi radialis longus tendons
      around 7 to 9 cm proximal to the radial styloid. We present a case where this
      nerve instead of its normal forearm course, pierced the brachioradialis tendon to
      become subcutaneous.

PMID- 28611138
TI  - Cardiac arrest following arteriovenous fistula manipulation: a cautionary note.
AB  - Arteriovenous fistulas can lead to a number of different chronic complications.
      We describe a case where a patient developed a thrombosis within her
      brachiobasilic arteriovenous fistula, which was manually manipulated in order to
      restore fistula flow. This resulted in a pulseless electrical activity cardiac
      arrest within a few minutes. After ten minutes of chest compressions and
      intubation, there was return of spontaneous circulation. No epinephrine was given
      nor shocks administered. Patient was extubated within minutes and was alert,
      orientated and haemodynamically stable. CT pulmonary angiogram showed extensive
      bilateral pulmonary emboli. Manual manipulation of the arteriovenous fistula lead
      to significant amounts of thrombus embolising to the pulmonary arteries, and
      resultant cardiac arrest due to circulatory compromise. Chest compressions likely
      dislodged these emboli, allowing circulation to recommence. We publish this as a
      cautionary note of a rare but potentially fatal complication.

PMID- 28611139
TI  - Unrecognised diaphragmatic hernia in a refugee child: an incidental diagnosis.
AB  - A 4-year-old boy from Syria was evaluated at the emergency department because of
      an upper airway viral illness. His physical examination showed a significant
      intensity reduction of all heart sounds in the absence of any other pathological
      signs. As the child was affected with Down's syndrome and had suffered thoracic
      and abdominal trauma because of bombardments, a diaphragmatic hernia was
      immediately suspected and was confirmed through a simple chest X-ray. A careful
      clinical examination is crucial in refugee children and adolescents, as several
      medical and surgical disorders could have escaped previously.

PMID- 28611140
TI  - Giant iridodialysis with wound dehiscence following penetrating keratoplasty: an
      ocular emergency.

PMID- 28611141
TI  - de Garengeot hernia with a mucinous neoplasm of the appendix, two clinical
      rarities combine to yield a first for the literature.

PMID- 28611142
TI  - Bilateral persistent fetal vasculature: mimicker of retinoblastoma.
AB  - We describe a case of bilateral persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) in a 3-month
      old boy who presented with bilateral white pupillary reflex and a possible
      diagnosis of retinoblastoma. On ultrasonography, there was an echogenic band in
      the posterior segment of both eyes which connected the posterior surface of the
      lens capsule to the optic disc. Colour Doppler revealed the presence of
      vascularity in the band along its entire length. No calcification or mass lesion
      was seen. These findings are diagnostic of PFV. Most cases of PFV are unilateral
      and sporadic in nature and closely mimic retinoblastoma. Although rare, PFV
      should be considered in the differential diagnosis when examining a case of
      bilateral leukocoria. Paediatricians should be aware of this rare but serious
      entity.

PMID- 28611143
TI  - Retroperitoneal haemangiopericytoma.
AB  - A 55-year-old woman, diagnosed with a renal mass by abdominal ultrasonography
      (USG) in an external medical centre, presented to our hospital. The medical
      history was unremarkable except for diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The
      haemogram and urine tests were normal. The only pathology revealed in routine
      biochemistry tests was increased glucose level (164a?0/00mg/dL). The repeat USG
      performed in our hospital revealed a solid hypoechoic mass lesion approximately
      4a?0/00cm in diameter closely adjacent to the right kidney. At Doppler
      ultrasonography, the tumour demonstrated intense vascularisation. An abdominal CT
      scan was performed to characterise the lesion. The CT scan revealed a 42A
      39a?0/00mm mass lesion with regular contours adjacent to the right kidney. In the
      arterial phase, the tumour demonstrated intense enhancement and in the delayed
      phase the images showed washout (figure 1). The patient underwent surgery and
      after histopathological examination retroperitoneal haemangiopericytoma was
      diagnosed and no relapse or distant organ metastasis was detected throughout the
      2-year follow-up.

PMID- 28611144
TI  - Shoulder pain in smokers could be a life changer.

PMID- 28611145
TI  - Missed Nursing Care: Understanding and Improving Nursing Care Quality in
      Pediatrics.

PMID- 28611146
TI  - Missed Nursing Care in Pediatrics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A growing literature suggests that missed nursing care is common in
      hospitals and may contribute to poor patient outcomes. There has been scant
      empirical evidence in pediatric populations. Our objectives were to describe the
      frequency and patterns of missed nursing care in inpatient pediatric settings and
      to determine whether missed nursing care is associated with unfavorable work
      environments and high nurse workloads. METHODS: A cross-sectional study using
      registered nurse survey data from 2006 to 2008 was conducted. Data from 2187
      NICU, PICU, and general pediatric nurses in 223 hospitals in 4 US states were
      analyzed. For 12 nursing activities, nurses reported about necessary activities
      that were not done on their last shift because of time constraints. Nurses
      reported their patient assignment and rated their work environment. RESULTS: More
      than half of pediatric nurses had missed care on their previous shift. On
      average, pediatric nurses missed 1.5 necessary care activities. Missed care was
      more common in poor versus better work environments (1.9 vs 1.2; P < .01). For 9
      of 12 nursing activities, the prevalence of missed care was significantly higher
      in the poor environments (P < .05). In regression models that controlled for
      nurse, nursing unit, and hospital characteristics, the odds that a nurse missed
      care were 40% lower in better environments and increased by 70% for each
      additional patient. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses in inpatient pediatric care settings that
      care for fewer patients each and practice in a professionally supportive work
      environment miss care less often, increasing quality of patient care.

PMID- 28611147
TI  - The limitations of humanising healthcare.

PMID- 28611148
TI  - Failure to account for practice effects leads to clinical misinterpretation of
      cognitive outcome following carotid endarterectomy.
AB  - Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a surgical procedure to remove stenotic
      atherosclerotic plaque from the origin of the carotid artery to reduce the risk
      of major stroke. Its impact on postoperative cognitive function (POCF) remains
      controversial; complicated, in part, by a traditional failure to account for
      practice effects incurred during consecutive psychometric testing. To address
      this for the first time, we performed psychometric testing (learning and memory,
      working memory, attention and information processing, and visuomotor
      coordination) in 15 male patients aged 68 +/- 8 years with symptomatic carotid
      stenosis the day before and 24 h following elective CEA (two consecutive tests,
      48 h apart). Multiple baselining was also performed in a separate cohort of 13
      educationally, anthropometrically and age-matched controls (63 +/- 9 years) not
      undergoing revascularization at identical time points with additional measures
      performed over a further 96 h (four consecutive tests, each 48 h apart). A single
      consecutive test in the control group resulted in progressive improvements in
      learning and memory, working memory, and attention and information (P < 0.05 vs.
      Test 1), with three tests required before cognitive performance stabilized.
      Following correction for practice effects in the patient group, CEA was
      associated with a deterioration rather than an improvement in learning and memory
      as originally observed (P < 0.05). These findings highlight the potential for the
      clinical misinterpretation of POCF unless practice effects are taken into account
      and provide practical recommendations for implementation within the clinical
      setting.

PMID- 28611149
TI  - Glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide: effects
      alone and in combination on insulin secretion and glucose disappearance in mice.
AB  - Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide
      (GIP) stimulate insulin secretion. They are both released after meal ingestion,
      and therefore they might cooperate in their actions. However, whether there is a
      cooperative action of the two incretins is not known. This study therefore
      investigated the effects on insulin secretion and glucose disappearance of GLP-1
      and GIP when given together with intravenous glucose both alone and in
      combination in mice. Four different doses were used (0.003, 0.03, 0.3 and 3.0
      nmol/kg), which ranged from subthreshold to maximal doses to stimulate first
      phase insulin secretion as evident from initial dose-response studies. It was
      found that at 0.03 nmol/kg and higher doses, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion
      was augmented by both incretins. When they were given in combination, no further
      increase was observed, indicating no synergistic effect. Also, glucose
      disappearance rate was increased by 0.03 and 3.0 nmol/kg of the two incretins,
      both when they were given alone and in combination with, again, no synergy.
      Finally, glucose effectiveness (an index of noninsulin-mediated processes) was
      enhanced by the two incretins, in particular GIP We also found that insulin
      dependent and insulin-independent mechanisms contributed 38% and 62%,
      respectively, to glucose tolerance after glucose alone; with GIP, the
      contribution by noninsulin-dependent processes was remarkably dominant and with
      GLP-1, insulin-dependent processes were prevailing. In conclusion, GIP and GLP-1
      stimulate insulin secretion and glucose effectiveness in mice with no synergistic
      action, but with a dissociated contributory effector on glucose disposal: with
      GLP-1 being more active on insulin-dependent processes and GIP more active on
      noninsulin-dependent processes.

PMID- 28611150
TI  - Effects of stress during pregnancy on hepatic glucogenic capacity in rat dams and
      their fetuses.
AB  - Stress during pregnancy is associated with metabolic dysfunction in the adult
      offspring in human and other animals. However, little is known about the
      metabolic effects of pregnancy stress on the mothers and fetuses during pregnancy
      itself. This study aimed to determine the consequences of the common experimental
      procedures of injection and single housing in pregnant rats on fetal and maternal
      hepatic glucogenic capacities. On day (D) 20 of pregnancy, feto-placental weights
      and the glycogen content and activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase
      (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) of fetal and maternal liver were
      measured in rats pair or single housed from D1 with or without saline injection
      from D15 to D19. Housing and saline injection both affected hepatic glucogenic
      capacity. In maternal liver, saline injection but not housing reduced glycogen
      content and raised G6Pase activity, whereas housing but not treatment increased
      PEPCK activity. In fetuses, housing and injection interacted in regulating PEPCK
      activity and reducing hepatic glycogen content and placental weight. Body weight
      was decreased and hepatic G6Pase increased by injection but not housing in the
      fetuses. Single-housed dams ate less than those pair-housed near term while
      saline injection elevated maternal plasma corticosterone concentrations. Thus,
      single housing and saline injection are both stresses during rat pregnancy that
      alter feto-placental weight and hepatic glucogenic capacity of the fetuses and
      dams near term. Routine experimental procedures per se may, therefore, have
      consequences for offspring hepatic phenotype as well as modifying the outcomes of
      dietary and other environmental challenges during pregnancy.

PMID- 28611151
TI  - Fate mapping neurons and glia derived from Dbx1-expressing progenitors in mouse
      preBotzinger complex.
AB  - The brainstem preBotzinger complex (preBotC) generates the inspiratory breathing
      rhythm, and its core rhythmogenic interneurons are derived from Dbx1-expressing
      progenitors. To study the neural bases of breathing, tamoxifen-inducible Cre
      driver mice and Cre-dependent reporters are used to identify, record, and perturb
      Dbx1 preBotC neurons. However, the relationship between tamoxifen administration
      and reporter protein expression in preBotC neurons and glia has not been
      quantified. To address this problem, we crossed mice that express tamoxifen
      inducible Cre recombinase under the control of the Dbx1 gene (Dbx1CreERT2) with
      Cre-dependent fluorescent reporter mice (Rosa26tdTomato), administered tamoxifen
      at different times during development, and analyzed tdTomato expression in the
      preBotC of their offspring. We also crossed Rosa26tdTomato reporters with mice
      that constitutively express Cre driven by Dbx1 (Dbx1Cre) and analyzed tdTomato
      expression in the preBotC of their offspring for comparison. We show that Dbx1
      expressing progenitors give rise to preBotC neurons and glia. Peak neuronal
      tdTomato expression occurs when tamoxifen is administered at embryonic day 9.5
      (E9.5), whereas tdTomato expression in glia shows no clear relationship with
      tamoxifen timing. These results can be used to bias reporter protein expression
      in neurons (or glia). Tamoxifen administration at E9.5 labels 91% of Dbx1-derived
      neurons in the preBotC, yet only 48% of Dbx1-derived glia. By fate mapping Dbx1
      expressing progenitors, this study illustrates the developmental assemblage of
      Dbx1-derived cells in preBotC, which can be used to design intersectional Cre/lox
      experiments that interrogate its cellular composition, structure, and function.

PMID- 28611152
TI  - Hepatic vein pressure predicts GFR in cirrhotic patients with hemodynamic kidney
      dysfunction.
AB  - The role of "nephrocongestion" in hemodynamic renal disease is understudied.
      Intra-abdominal hypertension accompanies liver disease and renal disease. Our
      hypothesis states that in those patients with liver disease, hepatic vein
      pressure measured during a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS)
      procedure reflects intra-abdominal pressure and predicts estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR). We gathered data from our clinical database and chart
      review on a cohort of cirrhotic patients who received TIPS at Montefiore as part
      of their clinical care between 2004 and 2014. We evaluated association of
      demographic and measured variables with eGFR in those subjects without end-stage
      renal disease (ESRD). Using multivariate regression, we examined the relationship
      between eGFR and hepatic vein pressure while adjusting for age, proteinuria, and
      ultrasound evidence for parenchymal kidney disease. The mean age of the subjects
      was 57 years old. Two thirds of the patients were male, 23% were White, and 20%
      were Black. A higher percentage of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), as
      determined by lower than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, had proteinuria and ultrasound
      evidence for parenchymal kidney disease. A multivariate linear regression showed
      a significant and negative association between hepatic vein pressure and eGFR
      when adjusting for age, race, and proteinuria. Hepatic vein pressure is
      negatively and significantly associated with eGFR in those patients with liver
      failure. This finding has major implications for the way we evaluate hemodynamic
      renal disease.

PMID- 28611153
TI  - Effects of short-term mild hypercapnia during head-down tilt on intracranial
      pressure and ocular structures in healthy human subjects.
AB  - Many astronauts experience ocular structural and functional changes during long
      duration spaceflight, including choroidal folds, optic disc edema, globe
      flattening, optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) distension, retinal nerve fiber
      layer thickening, and decreased visual acuity. The leading hypothesis suggests
      that weightlessness-induced cephalad fluid shifts increase intracranial pressure
      (ICP), which contributes to the ocular structural changes, but elevated ambient
      CO2 levels on the International Space Station may also be a factor. We used the
      spaceflight analog of 6 degrees  head-down tilt (HDT) to investigate possible
      mechanisms for ocular changes in eight male subjects during three 1-h conditions:
      Seated, HDT, and HDT with 1% inspired CO2 (HDT + CO2). Noninvasive ICP,
      intraocular pressure (IOP), translaminar pressure difference (TLPD = IOP-ICP),
      cerebral and ocular ultrasound, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans of
      the macula and the optic disc were obtained. Analysis of one-carbon pathway
      genetics previously associated with spaceflight-induced ocular changes was
      conducted. Relative to Seated, IOP and ICP increased and TLPD decreased during
      HDT During HDT + CO2 IOP increased relative to HDT, but there was no significant
      difference in TLPD between the HDT conditions. ONSD and subfoveal choroidal
      thickness increased during HDT relative to Seated, but there was no difference
      between HDT and HDT + CO2 Visual acuity and ocular structures assessed with OCT
      imaging did not change across conditions. Genetic polymorphisms were associated
      with differences in IOP, ICP, and end-tidal PCO2 In conclusion, acute exposure to
      mild hypercapnia during HDT did not augment cardiovascular outcomes, ICP, or TLPD
      relative to the HDT condition.

PMID- 28611155
TI  - Enhancement of intrarenal plasma membrane calcium pump isoform 1 expression in
      chronic angiotensin II-infused mice.
AB  - Plasma membrane calcium pump isoform 1 (PMCA1) is encoded by ATPase plasma
      membrane Ca2+transporting 1 (ATP2B1), the most likely candidate gene responsible
      for hypertension. Although PMCA1 is highly expressed in the kidney, little is
      known about regulation of its renal expression in various pathological conditions
      in vivo. Our study was designed to elucidate regulation of renal PMCA1 expression
      in mice. We employed three mouse models for kidney disease. These were the
      unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO), the remnant kidney using 5/6 nephrectomy,
      and chronic angiotensin II administration models. Mice were assessed for systolic
      blood pressure and renal injury in accordance with the damage induced in the
      specific model. Kidney PMCA1 mRNA levels were measured in all mice. The UUO model
      showed renal fibrosis but no changes in blood pressure or renal PMCA1 mRNA
      expression. Similarly, the 5/6 nephrectomy model exhibited declined renal
      function without changes in blood pressure or renal PMCA1 mRNA expression. In
      contrast, chronic angiotensin II administration increased albuminuria and blood
      pressure as well as significantly increasing renal PMCA1 mRNA and protein
      expression. These results suggest that renal PMCA1 has a role as one of the
      molecules involved in angiotensin II-induced hypertension and kidney injury.

PMID- 28611154
TI  - Cytoresistance after acute kidney injury is limited to the recovery period of
      proximal tubule integrity and possibly involves Hippo-YAP signaling.
AB  - Rat proximal tubule (PT) cells that have recovered from severe acute kidney
      injury induced by uranyl acetate (UA) develop cytoresistance to subsequent UA
      treatments. We reported that enhanced G1 arrest might contribute to
      cytoresistance. Herein, we examined these mechanisms by investigating Yes
      associated protein (YAP), a regulator of cell number, and survivin, a downstream
      mediator of YAP that inhibits apoptosis. Rats pretreated with saline (vehicle
      group) or UA (AKI group) were injected with UA 2 weeks, 2 months, or 6 months
      after treatment. Cytoresistance, evaluated by serum creatinine, was observed at 2
      weeks, was attenuated at 2 months, and was lost at 6 months in the AKI group.
      Based on immunohistochemistry, overexpressed YAP/survivin in PT cells and an
      increased number of PT cells was found before the second insult at 2 weeks,
      regressed gradually, and returned to a normal value by 6 months in the AKI group.
      Cell cycle status, assessed by flow cytometry, was equivalent in all groups
      before the second insult. However, early G1 phase (cyclin D1-) and p27+ PT cells
      increased in the AKI group compared to those in the vehicle group until 2 months,
      but were comparable to those in the vehicle group at 6 months. p21+ PT cells
      increased at 2 weeks, but normalized by 2 months. Thus, PT cells that have
      recovered from AKI transiently overexpress YAP/survivin, probably inhibiting
      apoptosis and resulting in acquired cytoresistance. This effect occurs until PT
      remodeling is complete, subceullular PT integrity is restored, and cell numbers
      are normalized.

PMID- 28611156
TI  - Clinical prediction rule for delayed hemothorax after minor thoracic injury: a
      multicentre derivation and validation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: About 75% of patients with minor thoracic injury are discharged after
      an emergency department visit. However, complications such as delayed hemothorax
      can occur. We sought to derive and validate a clinical decision rule to predict
      hemothorax in patients discharged from the emergency department. METHODS: We
      conducted a 6-year prospective cohort study in 4 university-affiliated emergency
      departments. Patients aged 16 years or older presenting with a minor thoracic
      injury were assessed at 5 time points (initial visit and 7, 14, 30 and 90 d after
      the injury). Radiologists' reports were reviewed for the presence of hemothorax.
      We used log-binomial regression models to identify predictors of hemothorax.
      RESULTS: A total of 1382 patients were included: 830 in the derivation phase and
      552 in the validation phase. Of these, 151 (10.9%) had hemothorax at the 14-day
      follow-up. Patients 65 years of age or older represented 25.3% (210/830) and
      23.7% (131/552) of the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. The final
      clinical decision rule included a combination of age (> 70 yr, 2 points; 45-70
      yr, 1 point), fracture of any high to mid thorax rib (ribs 3-9, 2 points) and
      presence of 3 or more rib fractures (1 point). Twenty (30.8%) of the 65 high-risk
      patients (score >= 4) experienced hemothorax during the follow-up period. The
      clinical decision rule had a high specificity (90.7%, 95% confidence interval
      87.7%-93.1%) in this high-risk group, thus guiding appropriate post-emergency
      care. INTERPRETATION: One patient out of every 10 presented with delayed
      hemothorax after discharge from the emergency department. Implementation of this
      validated clinical decision rule for minor thoracic injury could guide emergency
      discharge plans.

PMID- 28611157
TI  - The prevalence of death anxiety among patients with breast cancer.

PMID- 28611160
TI  - A rare case of late solitary vertebral metastasis from an adenoid cystic
      carcinoma of the lacrimal gland.
AB  - Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland is one among the common
      malignancies affecting the lacrimal gland. However, overall, it is a rare
      condition. It has a rather poor prognosis with local recurrence and distant
      haematological metastasis which are invariably multiple. We present a rare case
      of a 51-year-old woman who presented with localised lower thoracic pain with
      collapse of the T10 vertebral body, which turned out be a solitary late
      metastasis from her previously treated lacrimal gland tumour.

PMID- 28611158
TI  - Essential role of CCL21 in establishment of central self-tolerance in T cells.
AB  - The chemokine receptor CCR7 directs T cell relocation into and within lymphoid
      organs, including the migration of developing thymocytes into the thymic medulla.
      However, how three functional CCR7 ligands in mouse, CCL19, CCL21Ser, and
      CCL21Leu, divide their roles in immune organs is unclear. By producing mice
      specifically deficient in CCL21Ser, we show that CCL21Ser is essential for the
      accumulation of positively selected thymocytes in the thymic medulla. CCL21Ser
      deficient mice were impaired in the medullary deletion of self-reactive
      thymocytes and developed autoimmune dacryoadenitis. T cell accumulation in the
      lymph nodes was also defective. These results indicate a nonredundant role of
      CCL21Ser in the establishment of self-tolerance in T cells in the thymic medulla,
      and reveal a functional inequality among CCR7 ligands in vivo.

PMID- 28611161
TI  - Follicular dendritic sarcoma masquerading as fibrosing mediastinitis.
AB  - Fibrosing mediastinitis (FM) is a rare disorder resulting from abnormal
      immunological-mediated fibro-proliferative reaction in the mediastinum. Here, we
      describe a case of a 46-year-old female with an incidentally found 11*9 cm
      posterior mediastinal mass. Multiple biopsies of this unresectable, 18
      fluorodeoxyglucose avid mass revealed marked fibrosis without any evidence of
      malignancy, suggesting idiopathic fibrosing mediastinitis as our initial
      diagnosis. Multiple interventions including a trial of steroids, fluconazole, and
      azathioprine to target fibrosing mediastinitis were not successful. Repeat biopsy
      was consistent with primary mediastinal follicular dendritic cell sarcoma. The
      manuscript highlights the heightened need for suspecting occult malignancies in
      cases of FM presenting with an indeterminate cause.

PMID- 28611159
TI  - Population genomics and the evolution of virulence in the fungal pathogen
      Cryptococcus neoformans.
AB  - Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes
      approximately 625,000 deaths per year from nervous system infections. Here, we
      leveraged a unique, genetically diverse population of C. neoformans from sub
      Saharan Africa, commonly isolated from mopane trees, to determine how selective
      pressures in the environment coincidentally adapted C. neoformans for human
      virulence. Genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of 387 isolates,
      representing the global VNI and African VNB lineages, highlighted a deep,
      nonrecombining split in VNB (herein, VNBI and VNBII). VNBII was enriched for
      clinical samples relative to VNBI, while phenotypic profiling of 183 isolates
      demonstrated that VNBI isolates were significantly more resistant to oxidative
      stress and more heavily melanized than VNBII isolates. Lack of melanization in
      both lineages was associated with loss-of-function mutations in the BZP4
      transcription factor. A genome-wide association study across all VNB isolates
      revealed sequence differences between clinical and environmental isolates in
      virulence factors and stress response genes. Inositol transporters and catabolism
      genes, which process sugars present in plants and the human nervous system, were
      identified as targets of selection in all three lineages. Further phylogenetic
      and population genomic analyses revealed extensive loss of genetic diversity in
      VNBI, suggestive of a history of population bottlenecks, along with unique
      evolutionary trajectories for mating type loci. These data highlight the complex
      evolutionary interplay between adaptation to natural environments and
      opportunistic infections, and that selection on specific pathways may predispose
      isolates to human virulence.

PMID- 28611163
TI  - Angle closure as a cause for intermittent headache in a child.
AB  - Angle closure is usually associated with older patients, as it typically
      manifests in middle to later life, being associated with an age-related increased
      lens volume. However, angle closure can occur in any age group if there is an
      anatomical predisposition that promotes pupillary block or an anterior pulling of
      the iris. During an acute angle closure, patients generally experience ocular
      pain, headache, nausea, vomiting and conjunctival hyperaemia. These attacks can
      be misinterpreted as migraine, particularly if subacute or chronic and the
      demographic characteristics of the patient do not suggest a primary angle closure
      event. Diagnosing a headache as ocular related is of paramount importance, since
      there is an effective treatment. We report a case of a child with intermittent
      headache which revealed a subacute angle closure in both eyes.

PMID- 28611162
TI  - A large chronic pericardial effusion in an ultramarathon runner with anti-CCP
      positive rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Pericardial effusions arise as an extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). Pericardial effusions are often asymptomatic, particularly in the
      early phase, but patients are at risk of cardiac tamponade as the effusion
      progresses. We discuss the case of a 40-year-old male ultramarathon runner with
      RA who presented with mild pleuritic chest pain and exertional dyspnoea after a
      recent long-haul flight. Despite a relative tachycardia, his observations were
      otherwise unremarkable. His blood tests revealed a C-reactive protein (CRP) of 86
      mg/L and an anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) titre of 360 units/mL.
      He was initially diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism; however, a large
      pericardial effusion was found incidentally on CT pulmonary angiogram with over
      1500 mL subsequently drained. The patient's symptoms resolved and CRP normalised
      2 weeks later. This unique case illustrates that physically fit patients may
      physiologically compensate for large pericardial effusions and that arthritic
      symptoms do not correlate with the severity of extra-articular features in RA.

PMID- 28611164
TI  - Fulminant tumefactive multiple sclerosis in pregnancy.
AB  - A 35-year-old pregnant woman was admitted with acute onset of paresthesias and
      word finding difficulty. Initial MRI scan of the brain was suggestive of
      ischaemic event. During hospitalisation, she had a rapid course with worsening of
      her neurological deficit that prompted additional testing. Further investigations
      were consistent with tumefactive multiple sclerosis. After a poor initial
      response to intravenous steroids and plasma exchange, and discussion of all
      available therapeutic options, the patient decided to proceed with elective
      termination. Introduction of physical, occupational, speech and disease-modifying
      therapy resulted in clinical improvement.

PMID- 28611165
TI  - Incarcerated inguinal hernia as a complication of new-onset ascites.
AB  - This case report presents a patient who developed an acute incarcerated inguinal
      hernia as a result of newly acquired ascites, a complication of ascites that is
      not well documented in the medical literature. His story highlights an important
      and potentially morbid complication of new-onset ascites.

PMID- 28611166
TI  - Cytomegalovirus duodenitis in immunocompetent patients: what else should we look
      for?
AB  - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a well-recognised complication of
      immunodeficiency, although the burden of CMV disease in immunocompetent adults is
      still unknown. We present the case of a 54-year-old male patient admitted due to
      severe diarrhoea, epigastric pain and fever. Initial diagnostic workup revealed
      pericardial and pleural effusion, enlarged abdominal lymph nodes and mild
      elevation of liver enzymes. CMV serology was IgM positive, and upper endoscopy
      revealed proximal enteritis. Histology and immunohistochemistry of duodenal
      samples confirmed CMV disease. An extensive investigation of possible
      immunodeficiency was conducted with positron emission tomography (PET) scan
      revealing an abnormal hypermetabolic pulmonary nodule. The patient underwent a
      right superior lobectomy which, on analysis, confirmed an atypical
      bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumour. We report this case to reinforce the
      importance of considering CMV infection as a differential diagnosis in apparent
      immunocompetent patients and to emphasise the importance of looking for any
      condition that may cause any degree of immune dysfunction.

PMID- 28611167
TI  - Fetal MRI of thoraco-omphalopagus conjoined twins.

PMID- 28611168
TI  - Rapid development and recurrence of translocation renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - Translocation renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a rare aggressive malignancy in
      adults. A 40-year-old man presented with painless macroscopic haematuria. Initial
      investigations of renal ultrasound, CT scan, urine culture and urine cytology
      were normal. On rigid cystoscopy and pyelo-ureteroscopy, bleeding was seen from a
      normal-appearing right renal upper pole. An arteriovenous malformation was
      suspected, and laser cautery was performed. Left renal biopsy was performed due
      to proteinuria and suggested IgA nephropathy. The patient represented with
      haematuria and repeat imaging only 17 months after first presentation displayed a
      9.8 cm right renal tumour with renal vein thrombus. An upper tract urothelial
      cancer was suspected, and the patient underwent right nephroureterectomy.
      Histopathology revealed translocation RCC, completely excised. Ten months
      postoperatively, metastasis was seen on surveillance imaging and subsequently
      confirmed on biopsy. The patient was referred for systemic therapy and remains
      alive 19 months postprocedure.

PMID- 28611169
TI  - Morel-Lavallee lesion of the proximal tibia in an obese patient after low-energy
      trauma.
AB  - Morel-Lavallee lesions (MLL) are usually localised in the hip or gluteal region,
      but have rarely been reported at the proximal tibia. We present a case of an
      overweight patient, aged 59, with a MLLof the left proximal tibia after a low
      energy fall in his backyard. MLL pathogenesis, history, radiographic imaging,
      applied treatment and relevant literature to this specific case and MLL in
      general are discussed. Initially the patient's MLL was managed conservatively
      until he presented with persisting pain and swelling. The lesion was subsequently
      treated by needle aspiration and stabilising knee brace.

PMID- 28611170
TI  - Go-karting injury: a case of laryngeal trauma.
AB  - We report a case of accidental strangulation and crush injury to the anterior
      neck resulting in laryngeal trauma. This extremely uncommon mechanism of injury
      provides a safety warning regarding precautions with neck wear, and the unusual
      resulting injury represents an opportunity to review best practice in management
      of laryngeal trauma.

PMID- 28611171
TI  - Pitfalls of the duplex system: the mystery of the missing stone.
AB  - A duplex ureter constitutes about 1% of the renal tract anomalies.A 39-year-old
      man presented with a 4-week history of left loin pain and microscopic haematuria.
      Investigation with a non-contrast CT KUB revealed a 6 mm non-obstructing calculus
      in the left distal ureter.Left ureteroscopy and lithotripsy was planned. However,
      ureteroscopy failed to identify the calculus. A double J ureteric stent was left
      in situ and the procedure abandoned in favour of further assessment with a CT
      urogram. Imaging surprisingly showed a left duplex ureter with the calculus in
      the non-stented ureter.Repeat ureteroscopy noted the second ureter opening within
      the distal intramural part of the stented ureter. The calculus was identified and
      laser lithotripsy performed. A double J stent was appropriately reinserted and
      removed 2 weeks later.Our case highlights the importance of contrasted imaging
      prior to performing ureteroscopy for calculus disease.

PMID- 28611172
TI  - Incidental bilateral optic nerve hypoplasia.

PMID- 28611173
TI  - A case of hepatic, renal and duodenal penetration by a Celect inferior vena caval
      filter.
AB  - Inferior vena caval (IVC) filters are used as a mechanical option for the
      treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) when standard anticoagulation therapy
      is either contraindicated or VTE recurs despite adequate anticoagulation. Filters
      are not without risk, however. Reported complications include filter migration
      and fracture of filter components, leading to IVC rupture and penetration into
      pericaval tissues (notably kidney, heart, pericardium, thoracic cavity, liver,
      bowel and aorta). Here we describe an extreme case of multiple organ penetration
      by a standard Celect caval filter.

PMID- 28611174
TI  - Geriatric monitoring units could provide solution to ICU overcrowding and improve
      survival in older hospitalised patients.

PMID- 28611175
TI  - Parents and informal caregivers feel they receive insufficient communication
      about routine childhood vaccination.

PMID- 28611176
TI  - Family-centred advanced care planning with adolescents living with HIV is
      perceived as important, helpful and meaningful.

PMID- 28611178
TI  - Detecting and treating brain cancer.
AB  - A systems biology approach identifies plasma biomarkers and potential therapeutic
      targets for patients with glioblastoma.

PMID- 28611181
TI  - Ligand-activated Notch undergoes DTX4-mediated ubiquitylation and bilateral
      endocytosis before ADAM10 processing.
AB  - The Notch signaling pathway, which is activated by cell-cell contact, is a major
      regulator of cell fate decisions. Mammalian Notch1 is present at the cell surface
      as a heterodimer of the Notch extracellular domain associated with the
      transmembrane and intracellular domains. After ligand binding, Notch undergoes
      proteolysis, releasing the Notch intracellular domain (NICD) that regulates gene
      expression. We monitored the early steps of activation with biochemical analysis,
      immunofluorescence analysis, and live-cell imaging of Notch1-expressing cells. We
      found that, upon ligand binding, Notch1 at the cell surface was ubiquitylated by
      the E3 ubiquitin ligase DTX4. This ubiquitylation event led to the
      internalization of the Notch1 extracellular domain by the ligand-expressing cell
      and the internalization of the membrane-anchored fragment of Notch1 and DTX4 by
      the Notch1-expressing cell, which we referred to as bilateral endocytosis. ADAM10
      generates a cleavage product of Notch that is necessary for the formation of the
      NICD, which has been thought to occur at the cell surface. However, we found that
      blocking dynamin-mediated endocytosis of Notch1 and DTX4 reduced the
      colocalization of Notch1 with ADAM10 and the formation of the ADAM10-generated
      cleavage product of Notch1, suggesting that ADAM10 functions in an intracellular
      compartment to process Notch. Thus, this study suggests that a specific pool of
      ADAM10 acts on Notch in an endocytic compartment, rather than at the cell
      surface.

PMID- 28611182
TI  - The lost language of the RNA World.
AB  - The possibility of an RNA World is based on the notion that life on Earth passed
      through a primitive phase without proteins, a time when all genomes and enzymes
      were composed of ribonucleic acids. Numerous apparent vestiges of this ancient
      RNA World remain today, including many nucleotide-derived coenzymes, self
      processing ribozymes, metabolite-binding riboswitches, and even ribosomes. Many
      of the most common signaling molecules and second messengers used by modern
      organisms are also formed from RNA nucleotides or their precursors. For example,
      nucleotide derivatives such as cAMP, ppGpp, and ZTP, as well as the cyclic
      dinucleotides c-di-GMP and c-di-AMP, are intimately involved in signaling diverse
      physiological or metabolic changes in bacteria and other organisms. We describe
      the potential diversity of this "lost language" of the RNA World and speculate on
      whether additional components of this ancient communication machinery might
      remain hidden though still very much relevant to modern cells.

PMID- 28611183
TI  - The lncRNA H19 mediates breast cancer cell plasticity during EMT and MET
      plasticity by differentially sponging miR-200b/c and let-7b.
AB  - Metastasis is a multistep process by which tumor cells disseminate from their
      primary site and form secondary tumors at a distant site. The pathophysiological
      course of metastasis is mediated by the dynamic plasticity of cancer cells, which
      enables them to shift between epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes through a
      transcriptionally regulated program termed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) and its reverse process, mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). Using
      a mouse model of spontaneous metastatic breast cancer, we investigated the
      molecular mediators of metastatic competence within a heterogeneous primary tumor
      and how these cells then manipulated their epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity
      during the metastatic process. We isolated cells from the primary mammary tumor,
      the circulation, and metastatic lesions in the lung in TA2 mice and found that
      the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) H19 mediated EMT and MET by differentially acting
      as a sponge for the microRNAs miR-200b/c and let-7b. We found that this ability
      enabled H19 to modulate the expression of the microRNA targets Git2 and Cyth3,
      respectively, which encode regulators of the RAS superfamily member adenosine 5'
      diphosphate (ADP) ribosylation factor (ARF), a guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase)
      that promotes cell migration associated with EMT and disseminating tumor cells.
      Decreasing the abundance of H19 or manipulating that of members in its axis
      prevented metastasis from grafts in syngeneic mice. Abundance of H19, GIT2, and
      CYTH3 in patient samples further suggests that H19 might be exploited as a
      biomarker for metastatic cells within breast tumors and perhaps as a therapeutic
      target to prevent metastasis.

PMID- 28611185
TI  - David Oliver: How can we plan for old age if we won't discuss it honestly?

PMID- 28611184
TI  - Regulation of the ubiquitylation and deubiquitylation of CREB-binding protein
      modulates histone acetylation and lung inflammation.
AB  - Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element-binding protein (CREB)
      binding protein (CBP) is a histone acetyltransferase that plays a pivotal role in
      the control of histone modification and the expression of cytokine-encoding genes
      in inflammatory diseases, including sepsis and lung injury. We found that the E3
      ubiquitin ligase subunit FBXL19 targeted CBP for site-specific ubiquitylation and
      proteasomal degradation. The ubiquitylation-dependent degradation of CBP reduced
      the extent of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-dependent histone acetylation and cytokine
      release in mouse lung epithelial cells and in a mouse model of sepsis.
      Furthermore, we demonstrated that the deubiquitylating enzyme USP14 (ubiquitin
      specific peptidase 14) stabilized CBP by reducing its ubiquitylation. LPS
      increased the stability of CBP by reducing the association between CBP and FBXL19
      and by activating USP14. Inhibition of USP14 reduced CBP protein abundance and
      attenuated LPS-stimulated histone acetylation and cytokine release. Together, our
      findings delineate the molecular mechanisms through which CBP stability is
      regulated by FBXL19 and USP14, which results in the modulation of chromatin
      remodeling and the expression of cytokine-encoding genes.

PMID- 28611186
TI  - Success, Failure, and Transparency in Biomarker-Based Drug Development: A Case
      Study of Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although biomarkers are used as surrogate measures for drug targeting
      and approval and are generally based on plausible biological hypotheses, some are
      found to not correlate well with clinical outcomes. Over-reliance on inadequately
      validated biomarkers in drug development can lead to harm to trial subjects and
      patients and to research waste. To shed greater light on the process and ethics
      of biomarker-based drug development, we conducted a systematic portfolio analysis
      of cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors, a drug class designed to
      improve lipid profiles and prevent cardiovascular events. Despite years of
      development, no cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitor has yet been
      approved for clinical use. METHODS AND RESULTS: We searched PubMed and
      Clinicaltrials.gov for clinical studies of 5 known cholesterol ester transfer
      protein inhibitors: anacetrapib, dalcetrapib, evacetrapib, TA-8995, and
      torcetrapib. Published reports and registration records were extracted for
      patient demographic characteristics and study authors' recommendations of
      clinical usage or further testing. We used Accumulating Evidence and Research
      Organization graphing to depict the portfolio of research activities and a
      Poisson model to examine trends. We identified 100 studies for analysis that
      involved 96 944 human subjects. The data from only 41 201 (42%) of the human
      subjects had been presented in a published report. For the 3 discontinued
      cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors, we found a pattern of consistently
      positive results on lipid-modification end points followed by negative results
      using clinical end points. CONCLUSIONS: Inefficiencies and harms can arise if a
      biomarker hypothesis continues to drive trials despite successive failures.
      Regulators, research funding bodies, and public policy makers may need to play a
      greater role in evaluating and coordinating biomarker-driven research programs.

PMID- 28611188
TI  - New quantitative features for the morphological differentiation of abnormal
      lymphoid cell images from peripheral blood.
AB  - AIMS: This work aims to propose a set of quantitative features through digital
      image analysis for significant morphological qualitative features of different
      cells for an objective discrimination among reactive, abnormal and blast lymphoid
      cells. METHODS: Abnormal lymphoid cells circulating in peripheral blood in
      chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, B-prolymphocytic leukaemia, hairy cell leukaemia,
      splenic marginal zone lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, T
      prolymphocytic leukaemia, T large granular lymphocytic leukaemia and Sezary
      syndrome, normal, reactive and blast lymphoid cells were included. From 325
      patients, 12 574 cell images were obtained and 2676 features (27 geometric and
      2649 related to colour and texture) were extracted and analysed. RESULTS: We
      analysed the 20 most relevant features for the morphological differentiation of
      the 12 lymphoid cell groups under study. Most of them showed significant
      differences: 19 comparing follicular and mantle cells, 18 for blast and reactive
      cells, 17 for Sezary cells and T prolymphocytes and 16 for B and T prolymphocytes
      and 16 for villous lymphocytes. Moreover, a total of five quantitative features
      were significant for the discrimination among reactive and the set of abnormal
      lymphoid cells included. CONCLUSIONS: Image analysis may assist in quantifying
      cell morphology turning qualitative data into quantitative values. New
      cytological variables were established based on geometric and colour/texture
      features to contribute to a more accurate and objective morphological assessment
      of lymphoid cells and their association with flow cytometry methods may be
      interesting to explore in the next future.

PMID- 28611187
TI  - Comparing Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Among Large Teaching and
      Urban Hospitals in China and the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease is prevalent in China, with concomitant
      increases in the volume of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The present
      study aims to compare CABG-related outcomes between China and the United States
      among large teaching and urban hospitals. METHODS AND RESULTS: Observational
      analysis of patients aged >=18 years, discharged from acute-care, large teaching
      and urban hospitals in China and the United States after hospitalization for an
      isolated CABG surgery. Data were obtained from the Chinese Cardiac Surgery
      Registry in China and the National Inpatient Sample in the United States.
      Analysis was stratified by 2 periods: 2007, 2008, and 2010; and 2011 to 2013
      periods. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, and the secondary outcome
      was length of stay. The sample included 51 408 patients: 32 040 from 77 hospitals
      in the China-CABG group and 19 368 from 303 hospitals in the US-CABG group. In
      the 2007 to 2008, 2010 period and for all-age and aged >=65 years, the China-CABG
      group had higher mortality than the US-CABG group (1.91% versus 1.58%, P=0.059;
      and 3.12% versus 2.20%, P=0.004) and significantly higher age-, sex-, and
      comorbidity-adjusted odds of death (odds ratio, 1.58; 95% confidential interval,
      1.22-2.04; and odds ratio, 1.73; 95% confidential interval, 1.24-2.40). There
      were no significant mortality differences in the 2011 to 2013 period. For
      preoperative, postoperative, and total hospital stay, respectively, the median
      (interquartile range) length of stay across the entire study period between China
      CABG and US-CABG groups were 9 (8) versus 1 (3), 9 (6) versus 6 (3), and 20 (12)
      versus 7 (5) days (all P<0.001). This difference did not change significantly
      over time. CONCLUSIONS: In 2011 to 2013, there was no significant difference in
      in-hospital mortality among patients who underwent an isolated CABG surgery in
      large teaching and urban hospitals in China and the United States. The longer
      length of stay in China may represent an opportunity for improvement.

PMID- 28611189
TI  - An evaluation of a coagulation system (Xprecia Stride) for utilisation in
      anticoagulation management.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the reliability and performance of the Xprecia Stride
      coagulometer under the conditions in which it is most likely to be used. METHODS:
      The performance of the Xprecia Stride coagulometer was compared with a local
      laboratory and the CoaguChek systems routinely used for international normalised
      ratio (INR) estimation within one primary and one secondary care based
      anticoagulation clinic in Birmingham. Anticoagulation clinic personnel were
      trained to use the Xprecia Stride. Patients attending the clinics were eligible
      if aged >=18 years and had received warfarin for at least 3 months. Consenting
      participants provided capillary blood samples for parallel testing on the Xprecia
      Stride and CoaguChek systems. At the secondary care clinic, a venous blood sample
      was also collected for laboratory INR estimation. INR results were compared using
      linear regression analysis and Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS: A total of 102
      laboratory and 205 parallel coagulometer INR tests were performed. Linear
      regression revealed strong correlation between the Xprecia Stride and the
      laboratory (r=0.83) and between the Xprecia Stride and CoaguChek systems
      (r=0.92). Within the therapeutic range, agreement between the systems was very
      good with 87% of the Xprecia Stride and laboratory INR results and 93% of the
      Xprecia Stride and CoaguChek INR results being within 0.5 INR units of each
      other. CONCLUSION: INRs tested using the Xprecia Stride system showed good
      agreement with the laboratory and CoaguChek systems. Findings indicate that in
      the hands of the intended users the Xprecia Stride is accurate, reliable and
      acceptable for use in a routine clinical setting.

PMID- 28611191
TI  - Is aircraft noise exposure associated with cardiovascular disease and
      hypertension? Results from a cohort study in Athens, Greece.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We followed up, in 2013, the subjects who lived near the Athens
      International Airport and had participated in the cross-sectional multicountry
      HYENA study in 2004-2006. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of exposure to
      aircraft and road traffic noise with the incidence of hypertension and other
      cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: From the 780 individuals who participated in
      the cross-sectional study, 537 were still living in the same area and 420
      accepted to participate in the follow-up. Aircraft and road traffic noise
      exposure was based on the estimations conducted in 2004-2006, linking geocoded
      residential addresses of the participants to noise levels. We applied multiple
      logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for potential
      confounders. RESULTS: The incidence of hypertension was significantly associated
      with higher aircraft noise exposure during the night. Specifically, the OR for
      hypertension per 10 dB increase in Lnight aircraft noise exposure was 2.63 (95%
      CI 1.21 to 5.71). Doctor-diagnosed cardiac arrhythmia was significantly
      associated with Lnight aircraft noise exposure, when prevalent and incident cases
      were considered with an OR of 2.09 (95% CI 1.07 to 4.08). Stroke risk was also
      increased with increasing noise exposure but the association was not significant.
      Twenty-four-hour road traffic noise associations with the outcomes considered
      were weaker and less consistent. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our cohort study
      suggests that long-term exposure to aircraft noise, particularly during the
      night, is associated with incident hypertension and possibly, also,
      cardiovascular effects.

PMID- 28611190
TI  - CBL family E3 ubiquitin ligases control JAK2 ubiquitination and stability in
      hematopoietic stem cells and myeloid malignancies.
AB  - Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) is a central kinase in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells
      (HSPCs), and its uncontrolled activation is a prominent oncogenic driver of
      hematopoietic neoplasms. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation
      of JAK2 have remained elusive. Here we report that the Casitas B-cell lymphoma
      (CBL) family E3 ubiquitin ligases down-regulate JAK2 stability and signaling via
      the adaptor protein LNK/SH2B3. We demonstrated that depletion of CBL/CBL-B or LNK
      abrogated JAK2 ubiquitination, extended JAK2 half-life, and enhanced JAK2
      signaling and cell growth in human cell lines as well as primary murine HSPCs.
      Built on these findings, we showed that JAK inhibitor (JAKi) significantly
      reduced aberrant HSPCs and mitigated leukemia development in a mouse model of
      aggressive myeloid leukemia driven by loss of Cbl and Cbl-b Importantly, primary
      human CBL mutated (CBLmut ) leukemias exhibited increased JAK2 protein levels and
      signaling and were hypersensitive to JAKi. Loss-of-function mutations in CBL E3
      ubiquitin ligases are found in a wide range of myeloid malignancies, which are
      diseases without effective treatment options. Hence, our studies reveal a novel
      signaling axis that regulates JAK2 in normal and malignant HSPCs and suggest new
      therapeutic strategies for treating CBLmut myeloid malignancies.

PMID- 28611192
TI  - Does 'job' predict exposure to magnetic fields?

PMID- 28611194
TI  - Opinion: Smart farming is key to developing sustainable agriculture.

PMID- 28611197
TI  - Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Patient-Derived Xenograft Panel with Metabolic
      Inhibitors Reveals Efficacy of Phenformin.
AB  - Purpose: To identify effective metabolic inhibitors to suppress the aggressive
      growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), we explored the in vivo
      antitumor efficacy of metabolic inhibitors, as single agents, in a panel of
      patient-derived PDAC xenograft models (PDX) and investigated whether genomic
      alterations of tumors correlate with the sensitivity to metabolic
      inhibitors.Experimental Design: Mice with established PDAC tumors from 6 to 13
      individual PDXs were randomized and treated, once daily for 4 weeks, with either
      sterile PBS (vehicle) or the glutaminase inhibitor bis-2-(5-phenylacetamido-1,3,4
      thiadiazol-2-yl)ethyl sulfide (BPTES), transaminase inhibitor aminooxyacetate
      (AOA), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase inhibitor dichloroacetate (DCA), autophagy
      inhibitor chloroquine (CQ), and mitochondrial complex I inhibitor
      phenformin/metformin.Results: Among the agents tested, phenformin showed
      significant tumor growth inhibition (>30% compared with vehicle) in 5 of 12
      individual PDXs. Metformin, at a fivefold higher dose, displayed significant
      tumor growth inhibition in 3 of 12 PDXs similar to BPTES (2/8 PDXs) and DCA (2/6
      PDXs). AOA and CQ had the lowest response rates. Gene set enrichment analysis
      conducted using the baseline gene expression profile of pancreatic tumors
      identified a gene expression signature that inversely correlated with phenformin
      sensitivity, which is in agreement with the phenformin gene expression signature
      of NIH Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS). The PDXs
      that were more sensitive to phenformin showed a baseline reduction in amino acids
      and elevation in oxidized glutathione. There was no correlation between
      phenformin response and genetic alterations in KRAS, TP53, SMAD4, or
      PTENConclusions: Phenformin treatment showed relatively higher antitumor efficacy
      against established PDAC tumors, compared with the efficacy of other metabolic
      inhibitors and metformin. Phenformin treatment significantly diminished PDAC
      tumor progression and prolonged tumor doubling time. Overall, our results serve
      as a foundation for further evaluation of phenformin as a therapeutic agent in
      pancreatic cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5639-47. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611196
TI  - ATF3 Repression of BCL-XL Determines Apoptotic Sensitivity to HDAC Inhibitors
      across Tumor Types.
AB  - Purpose: Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are epigenome-targeting small
      molecules approved for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and multiple
      myeloma. They have also demonstrated clinical activity in acute myelogenous
      leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer, and estrogen receptor-positive breast
      cancer, and trials are underway assessing their activity in combination regimens
      including immunotherapy. However, there is currently no clear strategy to
      reliably predict HDACi sensitivity. In colon cancer cells, apoptotic sensitivity
      to HDACi is associated with transcriptional induction of multiple immediate-early
      (IE) genes. Here, we examined whether this transcriptional response predicts
      HDACi sensitivity across tumor type and investigated the mechanism by which it
      triggers apoptosis.Experimental Design: Fifty cancer cell lines from diverse
      tumor types were screened to establish the correlation between apoptotic
      sensitivity, induction of IE genes, and components of the intrinsic apoptotic
      pathway.Results: We show that sensitivity to HDACi across tumor types is
      predicted by induction of the IE genes FOS, JUN, and ATF3, but that only ATF3 is
      required for HDACi-induced apoptosis. We further demonstrate that the
      proapoptotic function of ATF3 is mediated through direct transcriptional
      repression of the prosurvival factor BCL-XL (BCL2L1) These findings provided the
      rationale for dual inhibition of HDAC and BCL-XL, which we show strongly
      cooperate to overcome inherent resistance to HDACi across diverse tumor cell
      types.Conclusions: These findings explain the heterogeneous responses of tumor
      cells to HDACi-induced apoptosis and suggest a framework for predicting response
      and expanding their therapeutic use in multiple cancer types. Clin Cancer Res;
      23(18); 5573-84. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611198
TI  - Phase I Dose-Escalation and -Expansion Study of the BRAF Inhibitor Encorafenib
      (LGX818) in Metastatic BRAF-Mutant Melanoma.
AB  - Purpose: Encorafenib, a selective BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi), has a pharmacologic
      profile that is distinct from that of other clinically active BRAFis. We
      evaluated encorafenib in a phase I study in patients with BRAFi treatment-naive
      and pretreated BRAF-mutant melanoma.Experimental Design: The pharmacologic
      activity of encorafenib was first characterized preclinically. Encorafenib
      monotherapy was then tested across a range of once-daily (50-700 mg) or twice
      daily (75-150 mg) regimens in a phase I, open-label, dose-escalation and 
      expansion study in adult patients with histologically confirmed
      advanced/metastatic BRAF-mutant melanoma. Study objectives were to determine the
      maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and/or recommended phase II dose (RP2D),
      characterize the safety and tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile, and assess
      the preliminary antitumor activity of encorafenib.Results: Preclinical data
      demonstrated that encorafenib inhibited BRAF V600E kinase activity with a
      prolonged off-rate and suppressed proliferation and tumor growth of BRAF V600E
      mutant melanoma models. In the dose-escalation phase, 54 patients (29 BRAFi
      pretreated and 25 BRAFi-naive) were enrolled. Seven patients in the dose
      determining set experienced dose-limiting toxicities. Encorafenib at a dose of
      300 mg once daily was declared the RP2D. In the expansion phase, the most common
      all-cause adverse events were nausea (66%), myalgia (63%), and palmar-plantar
      erythrodysesthesia (54%). In BRAFi-naive patients, the overall response rate
      (ORR) and median progression-free survival (mPFS) were 60% and 12.4 months [95%
      confidence interval (CI), 7.4-not reached (NR)]. In BRAFi-pretreated patients,
      the ORR and mPFS were 22% and 1.9 months (95% CI, 0.9-3.7).Conclusions: Once
      daily dosing of single-agent encorafenib had a distinct tolerability profile and
      showed varying antitumor activity across BRAFi-pretreated and BRAFi-naive
      patients with advanced/metastatic melanoma. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5339-48.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611199
TI  - U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approval Summary: Atezolizumab for Metastatic
      Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - On October 18, 2016, the FDA approved atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ; Genentech, Inc.)
      for treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC)
      whose disease progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy.
      Approval was based on demonstration of clinically meaningful improvements in
      overall survival (OS) and an acceptable safety profile in two randomized clinical
      trials (OAK and POPLAR). Median OS in OAK, a phase III trial, was 13.8 months
      [95% confidence interval (CI), 11.8-15.7] in the atezolizumab arm compared with
      9.6 months (95% CI, 8.6-11.2) in the docetaxel arm [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.74; 95%
      CI, 0.63-0.87; P = 0.0004]. Median OS in POPLAR, a phase II trial, was 12.6
      months (95% CI, 9.7-16.0) and 9.7 months (95% CI, 8.6-12.0; HR = 0.69; 95% CI,
      0.52-0.92) for the atezolizumab and docetaxel arms, respectively. In patients
      treated with atezolizumab, the most common (>=20%) adverse reactions were
      fatigue, decreased appetite, dyspnea, cough, nausea, musculoskeletal pain, and
      constipation; the most common (>=2%) grade 3 to 4 adverse events were dyspnea,
      pneumonia, hypoxia, hyponatremia, fatigue, anemia, musculoskeletal pain,
      aspartate aminotransferase increase, alanine aminotransferase increase,
      dysphagia, and arthralgia. Clinically significant immune-related adverse events
      for patients receiving atezolizumab included 1.4% incidence each of grade 3 to 4
      pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, and thyroid disease. Clin Cancer Res; 23(16);
      4534-9. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611200
TI  - Dendritic Cell/Cytokine-Induced Killer Cell Immunotherapy Combined with S-1 in
      Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Prospective Study.
AB  - Purpose: Advanced pancreatic cancer has remained challenging to treat
      effectively. This study aimed to investigate the clinical effects and safety of
      immunotherapy with dendritic cells and cytokine-induced killer cells (DC-CIK)
      administered with the chemotherapy (CT) S-1 in this malignancy.Experimental
      Design: Consecutive patients (n = 47) with advanced pancreatic cancer were
      treated with either DC-CIK + S-1, DC-CIK alone, S-1 alone, or best supportive
      care.Results: DC-CIK plus S-1 produced significantly longer median OS and PFS
      (212 and 136 days) compared with DC-CIK (128 and 85 days), CT (141 and 92 days),
      or supportive care only (52 and 43 days; P < 0.001). After adjusting for
      competing risk factors, DC-CIK combined with S-1 and receipt of 2 or more cycles
      of DC-CIK treatment remained independent predictors of disease-free and overall
      survival (P < 0.05). Phenotypic analysis of PBMCs demonstrated that the CD3+,
      CD3+/CD4+, and CD8+/CD28+ T-cell subsets were elevated (P < 0.05), while the
      CD3+/CD8+, CD3+/CD16+/CD56+ and CD4+/CD25+ cell subsets were significantly
      decreased after DC-CIK cell therapy (P < 0.05). There were no grade 3 or 4
      toxicities. In addition, the mutational frequency in cell-free tumor DNA (cfDNA)
      declined in 4 of 14 patients who received DC-CIK, and was associated with a more
      favorable survival.Conclusions: Treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with
      combined DC-CIK infusions and S-1 was safe, resulted in favorable PFS and OS, and
      modulated the peripheral blood immune repertoire. Clin Cancer Res; 23(17); 5066
      73. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611201
TI  - Relationship of the Breast Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Immune Microenvironment with
      Clinicopathological and Genetic Features.
AB  - Purpose: The immune microenvironment of breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
      has yet to be fully explored, and the relationship of immune cells to genetic
      features of DCIS is unknown.Experimental Design: We quantified tumor associated
      lymphocytes (TIL) and evaluated PD-L1 protein levels by immunohistochemistry in a
      cohort of pure DCIS (138 and 79 cases, respectively), some of which had copy
      number (n = 55) and mutation data (n = 20).Results: TILs were identified in the
      stroma surrounding DCIS (119/138, 86%) and present at a median TIL score of 5%
      (range, 0%-90%). Most DCIS were negative for tumor cell PD-L1 staining (89%), but
      25% of cases were positive for immune cell staining. We observed that, as in
      invasive breast cancer, TILs and PD-L1 positivity were significantly greater in
      high-grade (P = 0.002/0.035), ER-negative (P = 0.02/0.02), and ERBB2-amplified
      tumors (P < 0.001/0.048). Comedo necrosis was significantly positively associated
      with TILs (P < 0.0001) but not with PD-L1. The TILs score was significantly
      higher in cases with TP53 mutation (P = 0.03) but not with PIK3CA or GATA3
      mutation. In the cases with copy number data, both the fraction of the genome
      altered and the number of telomeric imbalances were significantly positively
      correlated with TILs (both P < 0.001). This result strongly contrasted with
      invasive breast cancer data, where aneuploidy was not correlated to TIL
      levels.Conclusions: Although a small cohort, our data suggest a preliminary model
      by which the progression of DCIS to invasive carcinoma may involve an altered
      relationship of tumor copy number with the immune microenvironment, possibly by
      the immunoediting of the tumor. Clin Cancer Res; 23(17); 5210-7. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611202
TI  - Role of Platelet-Derived Tgfbeta1 in the Progression of Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Transforming growth factor beta1 (Tgfbeta1) plays an important role in
      cancer. Most of Tgfbeta1 in plasma is from platelets; thus, we studied whether
      platelet Tgfbeta1 has any role in the progression of ovarian cancer, and whether
      this role is limited to metastasis or also involves the growth of primary
      tumors.Experimental Design: We compared the growth of murine ovarian cancer cell
      induced tumors in platelet-specific Tgfbeta1-deficient mice and wild-type mice.
      Using resected tumor nodules, we studied the effect of platelet Tgfbeta1 on
      neoangiogenesis and on platelet extravasation into tumors. To investigate the
      effect of Tgfbeta1 at different stages of ovarian cancer, we reduced expression
      of Tgfbeta1 receptor (its TgfbetaR1 component) in tumors at different time points
      after injection of cancer cells, and compared the final tumor size.Results: Lack
      of platelet Tgfbeta1 in mice reduced tumor growth, neoangiogenesis, and platelet
      extravasation. Ovarian cancer tumors in platelet-specific Tgfbeta1-deficient mice
      reached less than half of their size in wild-type littermates. Knockdown of
      TgfbetaR1 on cancer cells in the first 2 weeks after their injection reduced
      tumor growth, but was less effective if initiated after 3 weeks.Conclusions: We
      showed that platelet Tgfbeta1 increased the growth of primary tumors in murine
      models of ovarian cancer. We also showed that inhibition of TgfbetaR1 is more
      effective in reducing the growth of ovarian cancer if initiated earlier. Our
      results supported a therapeutic benefit in preventing platelet activation,
      degranulation, and release of Tgfbeta1 in ovarian cancer. Clin Cancer Res;
      23(18); 5611-21. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611203
TI  - Detection of Head and Neck Cancer in Surgical Specimens Using Quantitative
      Hyperspectral Imaging.
AB  - Purpose: This study intends to investigate the feasibility of using hyperspectral
      imaging (HSI) to detect and delineate cancers in fresh, surgical specimens of
      patients with head and neck cancers.Experimental Design: A clinical study was
      conducted in order to collect and image fresh, surgical specimens from patients
      (N = 36) with head and neck cancers undergoing surgical resection. A set of
      machine-learning tools were developed to quantify hyperspectral images of the
      resected tissue in order to detect and delineate cancerous regions which were
      validated by histopathologic diagnosis. More than two million reflectance
      spectral signatures were obtained by HSI and analyzed using machine-learning
      methods. The detection results of HSI were compared with autofluorescence imaging
      and fluorescence imaging of two vital-dyes of the same specimens.Results:
      Quantitative HSI differentiated cancerous tissue from normal tissue in ex vivo
      surgical specimens with a sensitivity and specificity of 91% and 91%,
      respectively, and which was more accurate than autofluorescence imaging (P <
      0.05) or fluorescence imaging of 2-NBDG (P < 0.05) and proflavine (P < 0.05). The
      proposed quantification tools also generated cancer probability maps with the
      tumor border demarcated and which could provide real-time guidance for surgeons
      regarding optimal tumor resection.Conclusions: This study highlights the
      feasibility of using quantitative HSI as a diagnostic tool to delineate the
      cancer boundaries in surgical specimens, and which could be translated into the
      clinic application with the hope of improving clinical outcomes in the future.
      Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5426-36. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611205
TI  - Mouse PDX Trial Suggests Synergy of Concurrent Inhibition of RAF and EGFR in
      Colorectal Cancer with BRAF or KRAS Mutations.
AB  - Purpose: To evaluate the antitumor efficacy of cetuximab in combination with
      LSN3074753, an analog of LY3009120 and pan-RAF inhibitor in 79 colorectal cancer
      patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models.Experimental Design: Seventy-nine well
      characterized colorectal cancer PDX models were employed to conduct a single
      mouse per treatment group (n = 1) trial.Results: Consistent with clinical
      results, cetuximab was efficacious in wild-type KRAS and BRAF PDX models, with an
      overall response rate of 6.3% and disease control rate (DCR) of 20.3%. LSN3074753
      was active in a small subset of PDX models that harbored KRAS or BRAF mutations.
      However, the combination treatment displayed the enhanced antitumor activity with
      DCR of 35.4%. Statistical analysis revealed that BRAF and KRAS mutations were the
      best predictors of the combinatorial activity and were significantly associated
      with synergistic effect with a P value of 0.01 compared with cetuximab alone. In
      12 models with BRAF mutations, the combination therapy resulted in a DCR of
      41.7%, whereas either monotherapy had a DCR of 8.3%. Among 44 KRAS mutation
      models, cetuximab or LSN3074753 monotherapy resulted in a DCR of 13.6% or 11.4%,
      respectively, and the combination therapy increased DCR to 34.1%. Molecular
      analysis suggests that EGFR activation is a potential feedback and resistant
      mechanism of pan-RAF inhibition.Conclusions: MAPK and EGFR pathway activations
      are two major molecular hallmarks of colorectal cancer. This mouse PDX trial
      recapitulated clinical results of cetuximab. Concurrent EGFR and RAF inhibition
      demonstrated synergistic antitumor activity for colorectal cancer PDX models with
      a KRAS or BRAF mutation. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5547-60. (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611206
TI  - Pulmonary Vein Isolation Alone Versus Additional Linear Ablation in Patients With
      Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Converted to Paroxysmal Type With Antiarrhythmic
      Drug Therapy: A Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) type can vary depending on condition and
      timing, and some patients who initially present with persistent AF may be changed
      to paroxysmal AF after antiarrhythmic drug medication and cardioversion. We
      investigated whether circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) alone is an
      effective rhythm control strategy in patients with persistent AF to paroxysmal
      AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled 113 patients with persistent AF to
      paroxysmal AF (male 75%, 60.4+/-10.1 years old) who underwent catheter ablation
      for nonvalvular AF at 3 tertiary hospitals. The participants were randomly
      assigned to 2 groups: CPVI alone (n=59) or CPVI plus linear ablation (CPVI+Line;
      posterior box+anterior line, n=54). Compared with the CPVI+Line, CPVI alone
      required shorter procedure (187.2+/-58.0 versus 211.2+/-63.9 min; P=0.043) and
      ablation times (4922.1+/-1110.5 versus 6205.7+/-1425.2 s; P<0.001) without
      difference in procedure-related major complication (3% versus 2%; P=0.611).
      Antiarrhythmic drug utility rates after ablation were not different between the 2
      groups (22% versus 30%; P=0.356). Overall, AF-free survival (log-rank; P=0.206)
      and AF and antiarrhythmic drug-free survival (log-rank; P=0.321) were not
      different between groups. CONCLUSIONS: CPVI alone is an effective rhythm control
      strategy with a shorter procedure time in persistent AF patients converted to
      paroxysmal AF compared with CPVI with linear ablation. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier:
      NCT02176616.

PMID- 28611208
TI  - Modifying Arrhythmia Behavior Preablation With Drug Therapy May Improve Single
      Procedure Efficacy of a Limited Ablation Strategy in Patients With Persistent
      Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 28611204
TI  - Clinical and Genome-Wide Analysis of Cisplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in
      Survivors of Adult-Onset Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Our purpose was to characterize the clinical influences, genetic risk
      factors, and gene mechanisms contributing to persistent cisplatin-induced
      peripheral neuropathy (CisIPN) in testicular cancer survivors (TCSs).Experimental
      Design: TCS given cisplatin-based therapy completed the validated EORTC QLQ
      CIPN20 questionnaire. An ordinal CisIPN phenotype was derived, and associations
      with age, smoking, excess drinking, hypertension, body mass index, diabetes,
      hypercholesterolemia, cumulative cisplatin dose, and self-reported health were
      examined for 680 TCS. Genotyping was performed on the Illumina
      HumanOmniExpressExome chip. Following quality control and imputation, 5.1 million
      SNPs in 680 genetically European TCS formed the input set. GWAS and PrediXcan
      were used to identify genetic variation and genetically determined gene
      expression traits, respectively, contributing to CisIPN. We evaluated two
      independent datasets for replication: Vanderbilt's electronic health database
      (BioVU) and the CALGB 90401 trial.Results: Eight sensory items formed a subscale
      with good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.88). Variables significantly
      associated with CisIPN included age at diagnosis (OR per year, 1.06; P = 2 * 10
      9), smoking (OR, 1.54; P = 0.004), excess drinking (OR, 1.83; P = 0.007), and
      hypertension (OR, 1.61; P = 0.03). CisIPN was correlated with lower self-reported
      health (OR, 0.56; P = 2.6 * 10-9) and weight gain adjusted for years since
      treatment (OR per Deltakg/m2, 1.05; P = 0.004). PrediXcan identified lower
      expressions of MIDN and RPRD1B, and higher THEM5 expression as associated with
      CisIPN (P value for each < 5 * 10-6) with replication of RPRD1B meeting
      significance criteria (Fisher combined P = 0.0089).Conclusions: CisIPN is
      associated with age, modifiable risk factors, and genetically determined
      expression level of RPRD1B Further study of implicated genes could elucidate the
      pathophysiologic underpinnings of CisIPN. Clin Cancer Res; 23(19); 5757-68.
      (c)2017 AACR.

PMID- 28611207
TI  - Adult Ventricular Myocytes Segregate KCNQ1 and KCNE1 to Keep the IKs Amplitude in
      Check Until When Larger IKs Is Needed.
AB  - BACKGROUND: KCNQ1 and KCNE1 assemble to form the slow delayed rectifier (IKs)
      channel critical for shortening ventricular action potentials during high beta
      adrenergic tone. However, too much IKs under basal conditions poses an
      arrhythmogenic risk. Our objective is to understand how adult ventricular
      myocytes regulate the IKs amplitudes under basal conditions and in response to
      stress. METHODS AND RESULTS: We express fluorescently tagged KCNQ1 and KCNE1 in
      adult ventricular myocytes and follow their biogenesis and trafficking paths. We
      also study the distribution patterns of native KCNQ1 and KCNE1, and their
      relationship to IKs amplitudes, in chronically stressed ventricular myocytes, and
      use COS-7 cell expression to probe the underlying mechanism. We show that KCNQ1
      and KCNE1 are both translated in the perinuclear region but traffic by different
      routes, independent of each other, to their separate subcellular locations. KCNQ1
      mainly resides in the jSR (junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum), whereas KCNE1
      resides on the cell surface. Under basal conditions, only a small portion of
      KCNQ1 reaches the cell surface to support the IKs function. However, in response
      to chronic stress, KCNQ1 traffics from jSR to the cell surface to boost the IKs
      amplitude in a process depending on Ca binding to CaM (calmodulin). CONCLUSIONS:
      In adult ventricular myocytes, KCNE1 maintains a stable presence on the cell
      surface, whereas KCNQ1 is dynamic in its localization. KCNQ1 is largely in an
      intracellular reservoir under basal conditions but can traffic to the cell
      surface and boost the IKs amplitude in response to stress.

PMID- 28611209
TI  - The highly overlapping actions of Lh signaling and Fsh signaling on zebrafish
      spermatogenesis.
AB  - Gonadotropin signaling plays a pivotal role in the spermatogenesis of
      vertebrates, but exactly how gonadotropins regulate the process in non-mammalian
      species remains elusive. Using a gene knockout approach in zebrafish, we have
      previously demonstrated the non-canonical action of gonadotropin signaling on
      spermatogenesis by analyzing four single mutant lines (lhb, lhr, fshb and fshr)
      and three double mutant lines (lhb;fshb, lhr;fshr and fshb;lhr). In this study,
      we further investigated the actions of gonadotropins on the testis by
      establishing three other double-mutant zebrafish lines (lhb;lhr, fshb;fshr and
      lhb;fshr). All lhb;lhr and fshb;fshr mutant males were fertile. Analysis on the
      gonadosomatic index and testicular histology in these lhb;lhr and fshb;fshr
      mutants demonstrated that Lh signaling and Fsh signaling could functionally
      compensate each other in the testis. Intriguingly, it was found that the lhb;fshr
      mutant male fish were also morphologically and histologically normal and
      functionally fertile, a phenomenon which could be explained by the cross
      activation of Lhr by Fsh. We have demonstrated this cross-reactivity for the
      first time in zebrafish. Fsh was shown to activate Lhr using three different
      assay systems, in which Lh-Fshr activation was also confirmed. Taken together, we
      conclude that the action of Lh signaling and Fsh signaling is redundant in that
      either alone can support zebrafish spermatogenesis based on two observations.
      First, that either Lh signaling or Fsh signaling alone is sufficient to support
      male fertility. Second, that the two gonadotropin ligands could promiscuously
      activate both receptors. Apart from revealing the complexity of gonadotropin
      signaling in controlling male reproduction in zebrafish, this study also shed
      light toward a better understanding on the evolution of gonadotropin signaling in
      vertebrates from fish to mammals.

PMID- 28611210
TI  - HB-EGF regulates Prss56 expression during mouse decidualization via EGFR/ERK/EGR2
      signaling pathway.
AB  - Embryo implantation and decidualization are key steps for successful
      reproduction. Although numerous factors have been identified to be involved in
      embryo implantation and decidualization, the mechanisms underlying these
      processes are still unclear. Based on our preliminary data, Prss56, a trypsin
      like serine protease, is strongly expressed at implantation site in mouse uterus.
      However, the expression, regulation and function of Prss56 during early pregnancy
      are still unknown. In mouse uterus, Prss56 is strongly expressed in the
      subluminal stromal cells at implantation site on day 5 of pregnancy compared to
      inter-implantation site. Under delayed implantation, Prss56 expression is
      undetected. After delayed implantation is activated by estrogen, Prss56 is
      obviously induced at implantation site. Under artificial decidualization, Prss56
      signal is seen at the primary decidual zone at the initial stage of artificial
      decidualization. When stromal cells are induced for in vitro decidualization,
      Prss56 expression is significantly elevated. Dtprp expression under in vitro
      decidualization is suppressed by Prss56 siRNA. In cultured stromal cells, HB-EGF
      markedly stimulates Prss56 expression through EGFR/ERK pathway. Based on promoter
      analysis, we also showed that Egr2 is involved in Prss56 regulation by HB-EGF.
      Collectively, Prss56 expression at implantation site is modulated by HB
      EGF/EGFR/ERK signaling pathway and involved in mouse decidualization.

PMID- 28611212
TI  - Amy Josephine Reed.

PMID- 28611211
TI  - Metabolic and neuroprotective effects of dapagliflozin and liraglutide in
      diabetic mice.
AB  - This study assessed the metabolic and neuroprotective actions of the sodium
      glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor dapagliflozin in combination with the GLP-1
      agonist liraglutide in dietary-induced diabetic mice. Mice administered low-dose
      streptozotocin (STZ) on a high-fat diet received dapagliflozin, liraglutide,
      dapagliflozin-plus-liraglutide (DAPA-Lira) or vehicle once-daily over 28 days.
      Energy intake, body weight, glucose and insulin concentrations were measured at
      regular intervals. Glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, hormone and
      biochemical analysis, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry densitometry, novel object
      recognition, islet and brain histology were examined. Once-daily administration
      of DAPA-Lira resulted in significant decreases in body weight, fat mass, glucose
      and insulin concentrations, despite no change in energy intake. Similar
      beneficial metabolic improvements were observed regarding glucose tolerance,
      insulin sensitivity, HOMA-IR, HOMA-beta, HbA1c and triglycerides. Plasma
      glucagon, GLP-1 and IL-6 levels were increased and corticosterone concentrations
      decreased. DAPA-Lira treatment decreased alpha cell area and increased insulin
      content compared to dapagliflozin monotherapy. Recognition memory was
      significantly improved in all treatment groups. Brain histology demonstrated
      increased staining for doublecortin (number of immature neurons) in dentate gyrus
      and synaptophysin (synaptic density) in stratum oriens and stratum pyramidale.
      These data demonstrate that combination therapy of dapagliflozin and liraglutide
      exerts beneficial metabolic and neuroprotective effects in diet-induced diabetic
      mice. Our results highlight important personalised approach in utilising
      liraglutide in combination with dapagliflozin, instead of either agent alone, for
      further clinical evaluation in treatment of diabetes and associated
      neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 28611213
TI  - Spacer capture and integration by a type I-F Cas1-Cas2-3 CRISPR adaptation
      complex.
AB  - CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems capture DNA fragments from invading
      bacteriophages and plasmids and integrate them as spacers into bacterial CRISPR
      arrays. In type I-E and II-A CRISPR-Cas systems, this adaptation process is
      driven by Cas1-Cas2 complexes. Type I-F systems, however, contain a unique fusion
      of Cas2, with the type I effector helicase and nuclease for invader destruction,
      Cas3. By using biochemical, structural, and biophysical methods, we present a
      structural model of the 400-kDa Cas14-Cas2-32 complex from Pectobacterium
      atrosepticum with bound protospacer substrate DNA. Two Cas1 dimers assemble on a
      Cas2 domain dimeric core, which is flanked by two Cas3 domains forming a groove
      where the protospacer binds to Cas1-Cas2. We developed a sensitive in vitro assay
      and demonstrated that Cas1-Cas2-3 catalyzed spacer integration into CRISPR
      arrays. The integrase domain of Cas1 was necessary, whereas integration was
      independent of the helicase or nuclease activities of Cas3. Integration required
      at least partially duplex protospacers with free 3'-OH groups, and leader
      proximal integration was stimulated by integration host factor. In a coupled
      capture and integration assay, Cas1-Cas2-3 processed and integrated protospacers
      independent of Cas3 activity. These results provide insight into the structure of
      protospacer-bound type I Cas1-Cas2-3 adaptation complexes and their integration
      mechanism.

PMID- 28611214
TI  - Interplay between tolerance mechanisms to copper and acid stress in Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - Copper (Cu) is a key antibacterial component of the host innate immune system and
      almost all bacterial species possess systems that defend against the toxic
      effects of excess Cu. The Cu tolerance system in Gram-negative bacteria is
      composed minimally of a Cu sensor (CueR) and a Cu export pump (CopA). The cueR
      and copA genes are encoded on the chromosome typically as a divergent but
      contiguous operon. In Escherichia coli, cueR and copA are separated by two
      additional genes, ybaS and ybaT, which confer glutamine (Gln)-dependent acid
      tolerance and contribute to the glutamate (Glu)-dependent acid resistance system
      in this organism. Here we show that Cu strongly inhibits growth of a ?copA mutant
      strain in acidic cultures. We further demonstrate that Cu stress impairs the
      pathway for Glu biosynthesis via glutamate synthase, leading to decreased
      intracellular levels of Glu. Addition of exogenous Glu rescues the ?copA mutant
      from Cu stress in acidic conditions. Gln is also protective but this relies on
      the activities of YbaS and YbaT. Notably, expression of both enzymes is up
      regulated during Cu stress. These results demonstrate a link between Cu stress,
      acid stress, and Glu/Gln metabolism, establish a role for YbaS and YbaT in Cu
      tolerance, and suggest that subtle changes in core metabolic pathways may
      contribute to overcoming host-imposed copper toxicity.

PMID- 28611216
TI  - Ubiquitin S65 phosphorylation engenders a pH-sensitive conformational switch.
AB  - Ubiquitin (Ub) is an important signaling protein. Recent studies have shown that
      Ub can be enzymatically phosphorylated at S65, and that the resulting pUb
      exhibits two conformational states-a relaxed state and a retracted state.
      However, crystallization efforts have yielded only the structure for the relaxed
      state, which was found similar to that of unmodified Ub. Here we present the
      solution structures of pUb in both states obtained through refinement against
      state-specific NMR restraints. We show that the retracted state differs from the
      relaxed state by the retraction of the last beta-strand and by the extension of
      the second alpha-helix. Further, we show that at 7.2, the pKa value for the
      phosphoryl group in the relaxed state is higher by 1.4 units than that in the
      retracted state. Consequently, pUb exists in equilibrium between protonated and
      deprotonated forms and between retracted and relaxed states, with
      protonated/relaxed species enriched at slightly acidic pH and
      deprotonated/retracted species enriched at slightly basic pH. The heterogeneity
      of pUb explains the inability of phosphomimetic mutants to fully mimic pUb. The
      pH-sensitive conformational switch is likely preserved for polyubiquitin, as
      single-molecule FRET data indicate that pH change leads to quaternary
      rearrangement of a phosphorylated K63-linked diubiquitin. Because cellular pH
      varies among compartments and changes upon pathophysiological insults, our
      finding suggests that pH and Ub phosphorylation confer additional target
      specificities and enable an additional layer of modulation for Ub signals.

PMID- 28611215
TI  - Genome-wide CRISPR screen identifies HNRNPL as a prostate cancer dependency
      regulating RNA splicing.
AB  - Alternative RNA splicing plays an important role in cancer. To determine which
      factors involved in RNA processing are essential in prostate cancer, we performed
      a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen to identify the genes that are required
      for prostate cancer growth. Functional annotation defined a set of essential
      spliceosome and RNA binding protein (RBP) genes, including most notably
      heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (HNRNPL). We defined the HNRNPL-bound
      RNA landscape by RNA immunoprecipitation coupled with next-generation sequencing
      and linked these RBP-RNA interactions to changes in RNA processing. HNRNPL
      directly regulates the alternative splicing of a set of RNAs, including those
      encoding the androgen receptor, the key lineage-specific prostate cancer
      oncogene. HNRNPL also regulates circular RNA formation via back splicing.
      Importantly, both HNRNPL and its RNA targets are aberrantly expressed in human
      prostate tumors, supporting their clinical relevance. Collectively, our data
      reveal HNRNPL and its RNA clients as players in prostate cancer growth and
      potential therapeutic targets.

PMID- 28611217
TI  - RNA target profiles direct the discovery of virulence functions for the cold
      shock proteins CspC and CspE.
AB  - The functions of many bacterial RNA-binding proteins remain obscure because of a
      lack of knowledge of their cellular ligands. Although well-studied cold-shock
      protein A (CspA) family members are induced and function at low temperature,
      others are highly expressed in infection-relevant conditions. Here, we have
      profiled transcripts bound in vivo by the CspA family members of Salmonella
      enterica serovar Typhimurium to link the constitutively expressed CspC and CspE
      proteins with virulence pathways. Phenotypic assays in vitro demonstrated a
      crucial role for these proteins in membrane stress, motility, and biofilm
      formation. Moreover, double deletion of cspC and cspE fully attenuates Salmonella
      in systemic mouse infection. In other words, the RNA ligand-centric approach
      taken here overcomes a problematic molecular redundancy of CspC and CspE that
      likely explains why these proteins have evaded selection in previous virulence
      factor screens in animals. Our results highlight RNA-binding proteins as
      regulators of pathogenicity and potential targets of antimicrobial therapy. They
      also suggest that globally acting RNA-binding proteins are more common in
      bacteria than currently appreciated.

PMID- 28611218
TI  - Immunoengineering nerve repair.
AB  - Injuries to the peripheral nervous system are major sources of disability and
      often result in painful neuropathies or the impairment of muscle movement and/or
      normal sensations. For gaps smaller than 10 mm in rodents, nearly normal
      functional recovery can be achieved; for longer gaps, however, there are
      challenges that have remained insurmountable. The current clinical gold standard
      used to bridge long, nonhealing nerve gaps, the autologous nerve graft
      (autograft), has several drawbacks. Despite best efforts, engineering an
      alternative "nerve bridge" for peripheral nerve repair remains elusive; hence,
      there is a compelling need to design new approaches that match or exceed the
      performance of autografts across critically sized nerve gaps. Here an
      immunomodulatory approach to stimulating nerve repair in a nerve-guidance
      scaffold was used to explore the regenerative effect of reparative monocyte
      recruitment. Early modulation of the immune environment at the injury site via
      fractalkine delivery resulted in a dramatic increase in regeneration as evident
      from histological and electrophysiological analyses. This study suggests that
      biasing the infiltrating inflammatory/immune cellular milieu after injury toward
      a proregenerative population creates a permissive environment for repair. This
      approach is a shift from the current modes of clinical and laboratory methods for
      nerve repair, which potentially opens an alternative paradigm to stimulate
      endogenous peripheral nerve repair.

PMID- 28611219
TI  - Inhibitory engrams in perception and memory.
AB  - Nervous systems use excitatory cell assemblies to encode and represent sensory
      percepts. Similarly, synaptically connected cell assemblies or "engrams" are
      thought to represent memories of past experience. Multiple lines of recent
      evidence indicate that brain systems create and use inhibitory replicas of
      excitatory representations for important cognitive functions. Such matched
      "inhibitory engrams" can form through homeostatic potentiation of inhibition onto
      postsynaptic cells that show increased levels of excitation. Inhibitory engrams
      can reduce behavioral responses to familiar stimuli, thereby resulting in
      behavioral habituation. In addition, by preventing inappropriate activation of
      excitatory memory engrams, inhibitory engrams can make memories quiescent, stored
      in a latent form that is available for context-relevant activation. In neural
      networks with balanced excitatory and inhibitory engrams, the release of innate
      responses and recall of associative memories can occur through focused
      disinhibition. Understanding mechanisms that regulate the formation and
      expression of inhibitory engrams in vivo may help not only to explain key
      features of cognition but also to provide insight into transdiagnostic traits
      associated with psychiatric conditions such as autism, schizophrenia, and
      posttraumatic stress disorder.

PMID- 28611220
TI  - Energetics and dynamics of a light-driven sodium-pumping rhodopsin.
AB  - The conversion of light energy into ion gradients across biological membranes is
      one of the most fundamental reactions in primary biological energy transduction.
      Recently, the structure of the first light-activated Na+ pump, Krokinobacter
      eikastus rhodopsin 2 (KR2), was resolved at atomic resolution [Kato HE, et al.
      (2015) Nature 521:48-53]. To elucidate its molecular mechanism for Na+ pumping,
      we perform here extensive classical and quantum molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulations of transient photocycle states. Our simulations show how the dynamics
      of key residues regulate water and ion access between the bulk and the buried
      light-triggered retinal site. We identify putative Na+ binding sites and show how
      protonation and conformational changes gate the ion through these sites toward
      the extracellular side. We further show by correlated ab initio quantum chemical
      calculations that the obtained putative photocycle intermediates are in close
      agreement with experimental transient optical spectroscopic data. The combined
      results of the ion translocation and gating mechanisms in KR2 may provide a basis
      for the rational design of novel light-driven ion pumps with optogenetic
      applications.

PMID- 28611221
TI  - Optogenetic control of mitochondrial metabolism and Ca2+ signaling by
      mitochondria-targeted opsins.
AB  - Key mitochondrial functions such as ATP production, Ca2+ uptake and release, and
      substrate accumulation depend on the proton electrochemical gradient (DeltaMUH+)
      across the inner membrane. Although several drugs can modulate DeltaMUH+, their
      effects are hardly reversible, and lack cellular specificity and spatial
      resolution. Although channelrhodopsins are widely used to modulate the plasma
      membrane potential of excitable cells, mitochondria have thus far eluded
      optogenetic control. Here we describe a toolkit of optometabolic constructs based
      on selective targeting of channelrhodopsins with distinct functional properties
      to the inner mitochondrial membrane of intact cells. We show that our strategy
      enables a light-dependent control of the mitochondrial membrane potential
      (Deltapsim) and coupled mitochondrial functions such as ATP synthesis by
      oxidative phosphorylation, Ca2+ dynamics, and respiratory metabolism. By directly
      modulating Deltapsim, the mitochondria-targeted opsins were used to control
      complex physiological processes such as spontaneous beats in cardiac myocytes and
      glucose-dependent ATP increase in pancreatic beta-cells. Furthermore, our
      optometabolic tools allow modulation of mitochondrial functions in single cells
      and defined cell regions.

PMID- 28611222
TI  - All-angle negative refraction of highly squeezed plasmon and phonon polaritons in
      graphene-boron nitride heterostructures.
AB  - A fundamental building block for nanophotonics is the ability to achieve negative
      refraction of polaritons, because this could enable the demonstration of many
      unique nanoscale applications such as deep-subwavelength imaging, superlens, and
      novel guiding. However, to achieve negative refraction of highly squeezed
      polaritons, such as plasmon polaritons in graphene and phonon polaritons in boron
      nitride (BN) with their wavelengths squeezed by a factor over 100, requires the
      ability to flip the sign of their group velocity at will, which is challenging.
      Here we reveal that the strong coupling between plasmon and phonon polaritons in
      graphene-BN heterostructures can be used to flip the sign of the group velocity
      of the resulting hybrid (plasmon-phonon-polariton) modes. We predict all-angle
      negative refraction between plasmon and phonon polaritons and, even more
      surprisingly, between hybrid graphene plasmons and between hybrid phonon
      polaritons. Graphene-BN heterostructures thus provide a versatile platform for
      the design of nanometasurfaces and nanoimaging elements.

PMID- 28611224
TI  - Random subsets of structured deterministic frames have MANOVA spectra.
AB  - We draw a random subset of [Formula: see text] rows from a frame with [Formula:
      see text] rows (vectors) and [Formula: see text] columns (dimensions), where
      [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are proportional to [Formula: see
      text] For a variety of important deterministic equiangular tight frames (ETFs)
      and tight non-ETFs, we consider the distribution of singular values of the
      [Formula: see text]-subset matrix. We observe that, for large [Formula: see
      text], they can be precisely described by a known probability distribution
      Wachter's MANOVA (multivariate ANOVA) spectral distribution, a phenomenon that
      was previously known only for two types of random frames. In terms of convergence
      to this limit, the [Formula: see text]-subset matrix from all of these frames is
      shown to be empirically indistinguishable from the classical MANOVA (Jacobi)
      random matrix ensemble. Thus, empirically, the MANOVA ensemble offers a universal
      description of the spectra of randomly selected [Formula: see text] subframes,
      even those taken from deterministic frames. The same universality phenomena is
      shown to hold for notable random frames as well. This description enables exact
      calculations of properties of solutions for systems of linear equations based on
      a random choice of [Formula: see text] frame vectors of [Formula: see text]
      possible vectors and has a variety of implications for erasure coding, compressed
      sensing, and sparse recovery. When the aspect ratio [Formula: see text] is small,
      the MANOVA spectrum tends to the well-known Marcenko-Pastur distribution of the
      singular values of a Gaussian matrix, in agreement with previous work on highly
      redundant frames. Our results are empirical, but they are exhaustive, precise,
      and fully reproducible.

PMID- 28611223
TI  - Enhanced interplanetary panspermia in the TRAPPIST-1 system.
AB  - We present a simple model for estimating the probability of interplanetary
      panspermia in the recently discovered system of seven planets orbiting the
      ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 and find that panspermia is potentially orders of
      magnitude more likely to occur in the TRAPPIST-1 system compared with the Earth
      to-Mars case. As a consequence, we argue that the probability of abiogenesis is
      enhanced on the TRAPPIST-1 planets compared with the solar system. By adopting
      models from theoretical ecology, we show that the number of species transferred
      and the number of life-bearing planets are also likely to be higher because of
      the increased rates of immigration. We propose observational metrics for
      evaluating whether life was initiated by panspermia on multiple planets in the
      TRAPPIST-1 system. These results are also applicable to habitable exoplanets and
      exomoons in other planetary systems.

PMID- 28611225
TI  - Reply to Dekel et al.: Preagricultural commensal niches for the house mouse and
      origins of human sedentism.

PMID- 28611226
TI  - Mammal domestication and the symbiotic spectrum.

PMID- 28611227
TI  - Lung Injury Etiology and Other Factors Influencing the Relationship Between Dead
      Space Fraction and Mortality in ARDS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In ARDS, elevated pulmonary dead-space fraction (VD/VT) is a
      particularly strong indicator of mortality risk. Whether the magnitude of VD/VT
      is modified by the underlying etiology of ARDS and whether this influences the
      strength of its association with mortality remains unknown. We sought to
      elucidate the impact of ARDS etiology on VD/VT and also to determine whether ARDS
      severity, as classified by the Berlin definition, has correspondence with changes
      in VD/VT. METHODS: This single-center, retrospective, observational study (2010
      2016) measured VD/VT in 685 subjects with ARDS as part of clinical management
      with lung-protective ventilation. Volumetric capnography was used to measure
      VD/VT with 99% of measurements occurring within 48 h of ARDS onset. Demographic
      information as well as illness severity scores and pulmonary mechanics data also
      were collected. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was done to assess the
      strength of association between VD/VT and mortality. RESULTS: VD/VT was elevated
      across etiologies, with aspiration and pneumonia having significantly higher
      VD/VT than non-pulmonary sepsis or trauma. Differences in the magnitude of VD/VT
      across etiologies did not necessarily correspond with mortality between
      etiologies. However, within each etiology grouping, VD/VT was significantly
      elevated in non-survivors versus survivors. The same results were found in both
      moderate and severe (but not mild) ARDS using the Berlin definition. In the final
      adjusted model, the strongest mortality risk was VD/VT, wherein the risk of death
      increased by 22% for every 0.05 increase in VD/VT. CONCLUSIONS: VD/VT magnitude
      varies by ARDS etiology, as does mortality. Only in mild ARDS does VD/VT fail to
      distinguish non-survivors from survivors. Nonetheless, VD/VT has the strongest
      association with mortality risk in those with ARDS.

PMID- 28611228
TI  - Effect of Interval Between Actuations of Albuterol Hydrofluoroalkane Pressurized
      Metered-Dose Inhalers on Their Aerosol Characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Albuterol hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) either alone or with a valved
      holding chamber is used to treat bronchoconstriction. Delays between actuation
      and inhalation are common. Currently, the recommended interval between actuations
      of an albuterol HFA is 60 s. Using a shorter interval when multiple actuations
      are ordered will improve productivity in the hospital setting. METHODS: We
      studied aerosol characteristics of albuterol HFA (Ventolin, ProAir, and
      Proventil) with a cascade impactor calibrated at 30 L/min. We studied pressurized
      metered-dose inhalers (pMDI) alone, coupled to a nonelectrostatic valved holding
      chamber, and coupled to the valved holding chamber but introducing a 10-s delay
      between actuation and measurement. We tested intervals between actuations of 60,
      30, and 15 s (not for delay scenario). The variable of most interest was fine
      particle mass. Albuterol was measured by spectrophotometer (276 nm). RESULTS:
      Variations in fine-particle mass from 60-s values were < 15% for Ventolin and
      ProAir for all conditions tested and for Proventil with a valved holding chamber.
      Variations in fine-particle mass from 60-s values were > 15% for Proventil (pMDI
      alone with a 30-s interval and pMDI/valved holding chamber with delay and a 30-s
      interval). Adding a valved holding chamber increased fine-particle mass for all
      brands (ProAir 7-12%, Ventolin 26-35%, and Proventil 44-47%). The introduction of
      a 10-s delay reduced fine-particle mass for all brands (ProAir 34-39%, Ventolin
      39-42%, and Proventil 27-32%). Comparison of fine-particle mass among brands
      showed that Proventil was > ProAir > Ventolin. CONCLUSIONS: Decreasing the
      interval between actuations from 60 to 30 and 15 s does not seem to affect the
      aerosol characteristics of ProAir and Ventolin. Although some changes were
      noticed for Proventil, the pMDI outperformed Ventolin that had the lowest fine
      particle mass. The use of a valved holding chamber increased fine-particle mass,
      but introducing a 10-s delay between actuation and inhalation significantly
      reduced fine-particle mass.

PMID- 28611229
TI  - Variation in Definition of Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation.
AB  - Consistency of definitional criteria for terminology applied to describe subject
      cohorts receiving mechanical ventilation within ICU and post-acute care settings
      is important for understanding prevalence, risk stratification, effectiveness of
      interventions, and projections for resource allocation. Our objective was to
      quantify the application and definition of terms for prolonged mechanical
      ventilation. We conducted a scoping review of studies (all designs except single
      case study) reporting a study population (adult and pediatric) using the term
      prolonged mechanical ventilation or a synonym. We screened 5,331 references,
      reviewed 539 full-text references, and excluded 120. Of the 419 studies
      (representing 38 countries) meeting inclusion criteria, 297 (71%) reported data
      on a heterogeneous subject cohort, and 66 (16%) included surgical subjects only
      (46 of those 66, 70% cardiac surgery). Other studies described COPD (16, 4%),
      trauma (22, 5%), neuromuscular (17, 4%), and sepsis (1, 0.2%) cohorts. A total of
      741 terms were used to refer to the 419 study cohorts. The most common terms
      were: prolonged mechanical ventilation (253, 60%), admission to specialized unit
      (107, 26%), and long-term mechanical ventilation (79, 19%). Some authors (282,
      67%) defined their cohorts based on duration of mechanical ventilation, with 154
      studies (55%) using this as the sole criterion. We identified 37 different
      durations of ventilation ranging from 5 h to 1 y, with > 21 d being the most
      common (28 of 282, 7%). For studies describing a surgical cohort, minimum
      ventilation duration required for inclusion was >= 24 h for 20 of 66 studies
      (30%). More than half of all studies (237, 57%) did not provide a
      reason/rationale for definitional criteria used, with only 28 studies (7%)
      referring to a consensus definition. We conclude that substantial variation
      exists in the terminology and definitional criteria for cohorts of subjects
      receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation. Standardization of terminology and
      definitional criteria is required for study data to be maximally informative.

PMID- 28611230
TI  - Effect of a Motivational Interviewing-Based Health Coaching on Quality of Life in
      Subjects With COPD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Improving quality of life (QOL) is a key goal in the care of patients
      with COPD. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has clearly been shown to improve QOL,
      but is not accessible to many eligible patients. There is a need for alternative
      programs designed to improve patient well-being that are accessible to all
      patients with COPD. Our goal was to pilot test a simple, telephone-based health
      coaching intervention that was recently shown to decrease readmission among
      hospitalized COPD patients and stable COPD patients eligible for PR. METHODS:
      Subjects received a 3-month intervention consisting of 10 health-coaching
      telephone calls based on motivational interviewing principles. Outcome measures
      included dyspnea level, measured by the modified Medical Research Council scale,
      and QOL, measured by the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire and a single-item
      general self-rated health status. RESULTS: Fifty subjects with moderate to severe
      COPD were enrolled in the study. Forty-four subjects (86%) completed the study
      intervention. Dyspnea measured by the modified Medical Research Council score
      improved significantly after the intervention (P = .002). The domains of fatigue,
      emotional function, and mastery on the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire
      and the single-item QOL question also improved significantly after the 3 months
      of health coaching (P = .001, P = .001, P = .007, and P = .03, respectively).
      Thirty-six (71%) subjects had a clinically meaningful improvement in at least 1
      study end point (either in the severity of dyspnea or a domain of QOL). Thirty
      subjects (58%) had an improvement of >=0.5 points, the minimum clinically
      important difference in at least 1 component of the Chronic Respiratory Disease
      Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: A telephone-delivered motivational interviewing-based
      coaching program for COPD patients is a feasible, well-accepted (by both
      participants and providers), simple, and novel intervention to improve the well
      being of patients with COPD. This pilot study provides insight into a possible
      alternative to a conventional PR program for patients with limited access to that
      program.

PMID- 28611231
TI  - Validation of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction with the IQ*SPECT System in
      Small-Heart Patients.
AB  - The IQ*SPECT system, which is equipped with multifocal collimators (SMARTZOOM)
      and uses ordered-subset conjugate gradient minimization as the reconstruction
      algorithm, reduces the acquisition time of myocardial perfusion imaging compared
      with conventional SPECT systems equipped with low-energy high-resolution
      collimators. We compared the IQ*SPECT system with a conventional SPECT system for
      estimating left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients with a small
      heart (end-systolic volume < 20 mL). Methods: The study consisted of 98
      consecutive patients who underwent a 1-d stress-rest myocardial perfusion imaging
      study with a 99mTc-labeled agent for preoperative risk assessment. Data were
      reconstructed using filtered backprojection for conventional SPECT and ordered
      subset conjugate gradient minimization for IQ*SPECT. End-systolic volume, end
      diastolic volume, and LVEF were calculated using quantitative gated SPECT (QGS)
      and cardioREPO software. We compared the LVEF from gated myocardial perfusion
      SPECT to that from echocardiographic measurements. Results: End-diastolic volume,
      end-systolic volume, and LVEF as obtained from conventional SPECT, IQ*SPECT, and
      echocardiography showed a good to excellent correlation regardless of whether
      they were calculated using QGS or using cardioREPO. Although LVEF calculated
      using QGS significantly differed between conventional SPECT and IQ*SPECT (65.4%
      +/- 13.8% vs. 68.4% +/- 15.2%) (P = 0.0002), LVEF calculated using cardioREPO did
      not (69.5% +/- 10.6% vs. 69.5% +/- 11.0%). Likewise, although LVEF calculated
      using QGS significantly differed between conventional SPECT and IQ*SPECT (75.0 +/
      9.6 vs. 79.5 +/- 8.3) (P = 0.0005), LVEF calculated using cardioREPO did not
      (72.3% +/- 9.0% vs. 74.3% +/- 8.3%). Conclusion: In small-heart patients, the
      difference in LVEF between IQ*SPECT and conventional SPECT was less when
      calculated using cardioREPO than when calculated using QGS.

PMID- 28611232
TI  - Nuclear Imaging of a Cardiac Paraganglioma.
AB  - We report a case of a cardiac paraganglioma in the right atrioventricular groove
      in which the use of different nuclear medicine studies aided in the diagnosis.

PMID- 28611233
TI  - Spleen Uptake on a Bone Scan.
AB  - We present a patient with spleen uptake on bone scanning that was due to sickle
      cell disease. We also discuss other etiologies for this finding.

PMID- 28611234
TI  - Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Diagnosed with Triple-Phase Bone Scanning.
AB  - In this report, we present a case of complex regional pain syndrome in a 55-y-old
      woman in whom the diagnosis was made on the basis of the bone scan findings. We
      also discuss the typical and atypical scintigraphic presentations of this entity,
      including pathophysiology and management.

PMID- 28611235
TI  - Improvement in exercise duration, lung function and well-being in G551D-cystic
      fibrosis patients: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, cross-over
      study with ivacaftor treatment.
AB  - : G551D, a mutation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator
      (CFTR) gene, results in impaired chloride channel function in cystic fibrosis
      (CF) with multiple end-organ manifestations. The effect of ivacaftor, a CFTR
      potentiator, on exercise capacity in CF is unknown. Twenty G551D-CF patients were
      recruited to a single-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 28-day crossover
      study of ivacaftor. Variables measured included percentage change from baseline
      (%Delta) of VO2max (maximal oxygen consumption, primary outcome) during
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), relevant other CPET physiological
      variables, lung function, body mass index (BMI), sweat chloride and disease
      specific health related quality of life (QOL) measures (CFQ-R and Alfred Wellness
      (AWEscore)). %DeltaVO2max was unchanged compared with placebo as was %Deltaminute
      ventilation. However, %Deltaexercise time (mean 7.3, CI 0.5-14,1, P=0.0222)
      significantly increased as did %DeltaFEV1 (11.7%, range 5.3-18.1, P<0.005) and
      %DeltaBMI (1.2%, range 0.1-2.3, P=0.0393) whereas sweat chloride decreased (mean 
      43.4; range -55.5-18.1 mmol.l-1, P<0.005). Total and activity based domains in
      both CFQ-R and AWEscore also increased. A positive treatment effect on
      spirometry, BMI (increased), SCT (decreased) and total and activity based CF
      specific QOL measures was expected. However, the lack of discernible improvement
      in VO2max and VE despite other positive changes including spirometric lung
      function and exercise time with a 28-day ivacaftor intervention suggests that
      ventilatory parameters are not the sole driver of change in exercise capacity in
      this study cohort. Investigation over a more prolonged period may delineate the
      potential interdependencies of the observed discordances over time. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT01937325.

PMID- 28611237
TI  - Safety Analysis of Premenopausal Breast Cancer Patients in PALOMA-3 Study: Is It
      Worth Mentioning?

PMID- 28611236
TI  - Quantitation of circulating GDF-11 and beta2-MG in aged patients with age-related
      impairment in cognitive function.
AB  - Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF-11) has been implicated in reverse effects
      of ageing on the central nervous system of humans. beta2-microglobulin (beta2-MG)
      has been reported to negatively regulate cognition. However, there is a lot of
      controversy about the role of GDF-11 and beta2-MG in ageing and cognitive
      regulation. To examine the involvement of GDF-11 and beta2-MG in the ageing
      process and cognitive dysfunction, a total of 51 healthy subjects and 41 elderly
      patients with different degrees of age-related cognitive impairment participated
      in the study. We measured plasma GDF-11 and beta2-MG levels using ELISA and
      immunoturbidimetry, respectively. The results were statistically analyzed to
      evaluate the associations between levels of GDF-11 and beta2-MG, and ageing and
      cognitive impairments. Circulating GDF-11 levels did not decline with age or
      correlate with ageing in healthy Chinese males. We did not detect differences in
      circulating GDF-11 levels amongst the healthy advanced age and four cognitive
      impairment groups. beta2-MG levels increased with age, but there was no
      significant difference between healthy elderly males and advanced age males.
      Increased levels of beta2-MG were observed in the dementia group compared with
      the healthy advanced age group. Our results suggest that circulating GDF-11 may
      not exert a protective effect during the ageing process or on cognitive function,
      and beta2-MG may play a role in ageing and cognitive impairment. However, it is
      possible that the relatively small sample size in the present study affected the
      quality of the statistical analysis, and future studies are needed to further
      validate our findings.

PMID- 28611238
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 28611239
TI  - Light harvesting in phototrophic bacteria: structure and function.
AB  - This review serves as an introduction to the variety of light-harvesting (LH)
      structures present in phototrophic prokaryotes. It provides an overview of the LH
      complexes of purple bacteria, green sulfur bacteria (GSB), acidobacteria,
      filamentous anoxygenic phototrophs (FAP), and cyanobacteria. Bacteria have
      adapted their LH systems for efficient operation under a multitude of different
      habitats and light qualities, performing both oxygenic (oxygen-evolving) and
      anoxygenic (non-oxygen-evolving) photosynthesis. For each LH system, emphasis is
      placed on the overall architecture of the pigment-protein complex, as well as any
      relevant information on energy transfer rates and pathways. This review addresses
      also some of the more recent findings in the field, such as the structure of the
      CsmA chlorosome baseplate and the whole-cell kinetics of energy transfer in GSB,
      while also pointing out some areas in need of further investigation.

PMID- 28611240
TI  - Classic Spotlights: Selected Highlights from the First 100 Years of the Journal
      of Bacteriology.

PMID- 28611242
TI  - Evaluation of Small-Animal PET Outcome Measures to Detect Disease Modification
      Induced by BACE Inhibition in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer Disease.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the effects of chronic administration of an
      inhibitor of the beta-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) on
      Alzheimer-related pathology by multitracer PET imaging in transgenic APPPS1-21
      (TG) mice. Methods: Wild-type (WT) and TG mice received vehicle or BACE inhibitor
      (60 mg/kg) starting at 7 wk of age. Outcome measures of brain metabolism,
      neuroinflammation, and amyloid-beta pathology were obtained through small-animal
      PET imaging with 18F-FDG, 18F-peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (18F-PBR), and
      18F-florbetapir (18F-AV45), respectively. Baseline scans were acquired at 6-7 wk
      of age and follow-up scans at 4, 7, and 12 mo. 18F-AV45 uptake was measured at 8
      and 13 mo of age. After the final scans, histologic measures of amyloid-beta
      (4G8), microglia (ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1), astrocytes (glial
      fibrillary acidic protein), and neuronal nuclei were performed. Results: TG mice
      demonstrated significant age-associated increases in 18F-AV45 uptake. An effect
      of treatment was observed in the cortex (P = 0.0014), hippocampus (P = 0.0005),
      and thalamus (P < 0.0001). Histology confirmed reduction of amyloid-beta
      pathology in TG-BACE mice. Regardless of treatment, TG mice demonstrated
      significantly lower 18F-FDG uptake than WT mice in the thalamus (P = 0.0004) and
      hippocampus (P = 0.0332). Neuronal nucleus staining was lower in both TG groups
      in the thalamus and cortex. 18F-PBR111 detected a significant age-related
      increase in TG mice (P < 0.0001) but did not detect the treatment-induced
      reduction in activated microglia as demonstrated by histology. Conclusion:
      Although 18F-FDG, 18F-PBR111, and 18F-AV45 all detected pathologic alterations
      between TG and WT mice, only 18F-AV45 could detect an effect of BACE inhibitor
      treatment. However, changes in WT binding of 18F-AV45 undermine the specificity
      of this effect.

PMID- 28611243
TI  - Optimization of a Collagen-Targeted PET Probe for Molecular Imaging of Pulmonary
      Fibrosis.
AB  - There is a large unmet need for a simple, accurate, noninvasive, quantitative,
      and high-resolution imaging modality to detect lung fibrosis at early stage and
      to monitor disease progression. Overexpression of collagen is a hallmark of organ
      fibrosis. Here, we describe the optimization of a collagen-targeted PET probe for
      staging pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: Six peptides were synthesized, conjugated to
      a copper chelator, and radiolabeled with 64Cu. The collagen affinity of each
      probe was measured in a plate-based assay. The pharmacokinetics and metabolic
      stability of the probes were studied in healthy rats. The capacity of these
      probes to detect and stage pulmonary fibrosis in vivo was assessed in a mouse
      model of bleomycin-induced fibrosis using PET imaging. Results: All probes
      exhibited affinities in the low micromolar range (1.6 MUM < Kd < 14.6 MUM) and
      had rapid blood clearance. The probes showed 2- to 8-fold-greater uptake in the
      lungs of bleomycin-treated mice than sham-treated mice, whereas the distribution
      in other organs was similar between bleomycin-treated and sham mice. The probe
      64Cu-CBP7 showed the highest uptake in fibrotic lungs and the highest target-to
      background ratios. The superiority of 64Cu-CBP7 was traced to a much higher
      metabolic stability compared with the other probes. The specificity of 64Cu-CBP7
      for collagen was confirmed by comparison with a nonbinding isomer.
      Conclusion:64Cu-CBP7 is a promising candidate for in vivo imaging of pulmonary
      fibrosis.

PMID- 28611244
TI  - 18F-FDG Uptake During Early Adjuvant Chemotherapy Predicts Histologic Response in
      Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Osteosarcoma.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of 18F-FDG uptake in
      the primary tumor at diagnosis, during therapy, and after therapy with a
      histologic response and event-free survival in pediatric and young adult patients
      with osteosarcoma (OS). Methods: Serial (baseline and 5 and 10 wk after start of
      therapy) 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging was performed in patients with newly diagnosed OS
      treated uniformly in a therapeutic trial at a single institution. Whole-body
      images were obtained approximately 1 h after injection of 18F-FDG. Logistic
      regression was used to study the association of tumor uptake and changes in
      SUVmax between 0, 5, and 10 wk for both clinical endpoints. Results: Thirty-four
      patients (17 males; median age, 12.2 y; age range, 6.8-19.1 y) underwent PET
      imaging; 25 (74%) had localized disease. Primary tumor locations included the
      femur (n = 17; 50%), tibia (n = 9; 26%), and humerus (n = 5; 15%). Logistic
      regression showed that SUVmax at 5 wk (P = 0.034) and 10 wk (P = 0.022) and
      percentage change from baseline at 10 wk (P = 0.021) were highly predictive of a
      histologic response. Using SUVmax of 4.04 at week 5, SUVmax of 3.15 at week 10,
      and 60% decrease from baseline at week 10 as cutoff values, we determined that
      the respective sensitivities were 0.93, 0.93, and 0.79 and that the respective
      specificities were 0.53, 0.71, and 0.76. Conclusion: SUVmax on routine images at
      5 or 10 wk and percentage change in SUVmax from baseline to week 10 were
      metabolic predictors of a histologic response in OS. These findings may be useful
      in the early identification of patients who are responding poorly to therapy and
      may benefit from a change in treatment.

PMID- 28611245
TI  - Optimization of SPECT Measurement of Myocardial Blood Flow with Corrections for
      Attenuation, Motion, and Blood Binding Compared with PET.
AB  - Myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) measured with PET
      have clinical value. SPECT cameras with solid-state detectors can obtain dynamic
      images for measurement of MBF and MFR. In this study, SPECT measurements of MBF
      made using 99mTc-tetrofosmin were compared with PET in the same patients.
      Methods: Thirty-one patients underwent PET MBF rest-stress studies performed with
      82Rb or 13N-ammonia within 1 mo of their SPECT study. Dynamic rest-stress
      measurements were made using a SPECT camera. Kinetic parameters were calculated
      using a 1-tissue-compartment model and converted to MBF and MFR. Processing with
      and without corrections for attenuation (+AC and -AC), patient body motion (+MC
      and -MC), and binding of the tracer to red blood cells (+BB and -BB) was
      evaluated. Results: Both +BB and +MC improved the accuracy and precision of
      global SPECT MBF compared with PET MBF, resulting in an average difference of
      0.06 +/- 0.37 mL/min/g. Global MBF and detection of abnormal MFR were not
      significantly improved with +AC. Global SPECT MFR with +MC and +BB had an area
      under the receiver-operating curve of 0.90 (+AC) to 0.95 (-AC) for detecting
      abnormal PET MFR less than 2.0. Regional analysis produced similar results with
      an area under the receiver-operating curve of 0.84 (+AC) to 0.87 (-AC).
      Conclusion: Solid-state SPECT provides global MBF and MFR measurements that
      differ from PET by 2% +/- 32% (MBF) and 2% +/- 28% (MFR).

PMID- 28611246
TI  - Inhibition of Avian Influenza A Virus Replication in Human Cells by Host
      Restriction Factor TUFM Is Correlated with Autophagy.
AB  - Avian influenza A viruses generally do not replicate efficiently in human cells,
      but substitution of glutamic acid (Glu, E) for lysine (Lys, K) at residue 627 of
      avian influenza virus polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) can serve to overcome host
      restriction and facilitate human infectivity. Although PB2 residue 627 is
      regarded as a species-specific signature of influenza A viruses, host restriction
      factors associated with PB2627E have yet to be fully investigated. We conducted
      immunoprecipitation, followed by differential proteomic analysis, to identify
      proteins associating with PB2627K (human signature) and PB2627E (avian signature)
      of influenza A/WSN/1933(H1N1) virus, and the results indicated that Tu elongation
      factor, mitochondrial (TUFM), had a higher binding affinity for PB2627E than
      PB2627K in transfected human cells. Stronger binding of TUFM to avian-signature
      PB2590G/591Q and PB2627E in the 2009 swine-origin pandemic H1N1 and 2013 avian
      origin H7N9 influenza A viruses was similarly observed. Viruses carrying avian
      signature PB2627E demonstrated increased replication in TUFM-deficient cells, but
      viral replication decreased in cells overexpressing TUFM. Interestingly, the
      presence of TUFM specifically inhibited the replication of PB2627E viruses, but
      not PB2627K viruses. In addition, enhanced levels of interaction between TUFM and
      PB2627E were noted in the mitochondrial fraction of infected cells. Furthermore,
      TUFM-dependent autophagy was reduced in TUFM-deficient cells infected with
      PB2627E virus; however, autophagy remained consistent in PB2627K virus-infected
      cells. The results suggest that TUFM acts as a host restriction factor that
      impedes avian-signature influenza A virus replication in human cells in a manner
      that correlates with autophagy.IMPORTANCE An understanding of the mechanisms that
      influenza A viruses utilize to shift host tropism and the identification of host
      restriction factors that can limit infection are both critical to the prevention
      and control of emerging viruses that cross species barriers to target new hosts.
      Using a proteomic approach, we revealed a novel role for TUFM as a host
      restriction factor that exerts an inhibitory effect on avian-signature PB2627E
      influenza virus propagation in human cells. We further found that increased TUFM
      dependent autophagy correlates with the inhibitory effect on avian-signature
      influenza virus replication and may serve as a key intrinsic mechanism to
      restrict avian influenza virus infection in humans. These findings provide new
      insight regarding the TUFM mitochondrial protein and may have important
      implications for the development of novel antiviral strategies.

PMID- 28611247
TI  - The Malaria Parasite Cyclin H Homolog PfCyc1 Is Required for Efficient
      Cytokinesis in Blood-Stage Plasmodium falciparum.
AB  - All well-studied eukaryotic cell cycles are driven by cyclins, which activate
      cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and these protein kinase complexes are viable
      drug targets. The regulatory control of the Plasmodium falciparum cell division
      cycle remains poorly understood, and the roles of the various CDKs and cyclins
      remain unclear. The P. falciparum genome contains multiple CDKs, but
      surprisingly, it does not contain any sequence-identifiable G1-, S-, or M-phase
      cyclins. We demonstrate that P. falciparum Cyc1 (PfCyc1) complements a G1 cyclin
      depleted Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain and confirm that other identified
      malaria parasite cyclins do not complement this strain. PfCyc1, which has the
      highest sequence similarity to the conserved cyclin H, cannot complement a
      temperature-sensitive yeast cyclin H mutant. Coimmunoprecipitation of PfCyc1 from
      P. falciparum parasites identifies PfMAT1 and PfMRK as specific interaction
      partners and does not identify PfPK5 or other CDKs. We then generate an
      endogenous conditional allele of PfCyc1 in blood-stage P. falciparum using a
      destabilization domain (DD) approach and find that PfCyc1 is essential for blood
      stage proliferation. PfCyc1 knockdown does not impede nuclear division, but it
      prevents proper cytokinesis. Thus, we demonstrate that PfCyc1 has a functional
      divergence from bioinformatic predictions, suggesting that the malaria parasite
      cell division cycle has evolved to use evolutionarily conserved proteins in
      functionally novel ways.IMPORTANCE Human infection by the eukaryotic parasite
      Plasmodium falciparum causes malaria. Most well-studied eukaryotic cell cycles
      are driven by cyclins, which activate cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) to promote
      essential cell division processes. Remarkably, there are no identifiable cyclins
      that are predicted to control the cell cycle in the malaria parasite genome.
      Thus, our knowledge regarding the basic mechanisms of the malaria parasite cell
      cycle remains unsatisfactory. We demonstrate that P. falciparum Cyc1 (PfCyc1), a
      transcriptional cyclin homolog, complements a cell cycle cyclin-deficient yeast
      strain but not a transcriptional cyclin-deficient strain. We show that PfCyc1
      forms a complex in the parasite with PfMRK and the P. falciparum MAT1 homolog.
      PfCyc1 is essential and nonredundant in blood-stage P. falciparum PfCyc1
      knockdown causes a stage-specific arrest after nuclear division, demonstrating
      morphologically aberrant cytokinesis. This work demonstrates a conserved
      PfCyc1/PfMAT1/PfMRK complex in malaria and suggests that it functions as a
      schizont stage-specific regulator of the P. falciparum life cycle.

PMID- 28611248
TI  - The Aspergillus fumigatus CrzA Transcription Factor Activates Chitin Synthase
      Gene Expression during the Caspofungin Paradoxical Effect.
AB  - Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes invasive
      aspergillosis (IA), a life-threatening disease in immunocompromised humans. The
      echinocandin caspofungin, adopted as a second-line therapy in combating IA, is a
      beta-1,3-glucan synthase inhibitor, which, when used in high concentrations,
      reverts the anticipated A. fumigatus growth inhibition, a phenomenon called the
      "caspofungin paradoxical effect" (CPE). The CPE has been widely associated with
      increased chitin content in the cell wall due to a compensatory upregulation of
      chitin synthase-encoding genes. Here, we demonstrate that the CPE is dependent on
      the cell wall integrity (CWI) mitogen-activated protein kinase MpkAMPK1 and its
      associated transcription factor (TF) RlmARLM1, which regulate chitin synthase
      gene expression in response to different concentrations of caspofungin.
      Furthermore, the calcium- and calcineurin-dependent TF CrzA binds to and
      regulates the expression of specific chitin synthase genes during the CPE. These
      results suggest that the regulation of cell wall biosynthetic genes occurs by
      several cellular signaling pathways. In addition, CrzA is also involved in cell
      wall organization in the absence of caspofungin. Differences in the CPE were also
      observed between two A. fumigatus clinical isolates, which led to the
      identification of a novel basic leucine zipper TF, termed ZipD. This TF functions
      in the calcium-calcineurin pathway and is involved in the regulation of cell wall
      biosynthesis genes. This study therefore unraveled additional mechanisms and
      novel factors governing the CPE response, which ultimately could aid in
      developing more effective antifungal therapies.IMPORTANCE Systemic Aspergillus
      fumigatus infections are often accompanied by high mortality rates. The fungal
      cell wall is important for infection as it has immunomodulatory and immunoevasive
      properties. Paradoxical growth of A. fumigatus in the presence of high
      concentrations of the cell wall-disturbing agent caspofungin has been observed
      for more than a decade, although the mechanistic nature of this phenomenon
      remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we show that the CWI pathway components
      MpkA and RlmA as well as the calcium/calcineurin-responsive transcription factor
      CrzA regulate the expression of cell wall biosynthetic genes during the
      caspofungin paradoxical effect (CPE). Furthermore, an additional, novel
      calcium/calcineurin-responsive transcription factor was identified to play a role
      in cell wall biosynthesis gene expression during the CPE. This work paints a
      crucial role for calcium metabolism in the CPE and provides further insight into
      the complex regulation of cell wall biosynthesis, which could ultimately lead to
      the development of more efficient antifungal therapies.

PMID- 28611249
TI  - A Herpesviral Immediate Early Protein Promotes Transcription Elongation of Viral
      Transcripts.
AB  - Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) genes are transcribed by cellular RNA polymerase
      II (RNA Pol II). While four viral immediate early proteins (ICP4, ICP0, ICP27,
      and ICP22) function in some capacity in viral transcription, the mechanism by
      which ICP22 functions remains unclear. We observed that the FACT complex
      (comprised of SSRP1 and Spt16) was relocalized in infected cells as a function of
      ICP22. ICP22 was also required for the association of FACT and the transcription
      elongation factors SPT5 and SPT6 with viral genomes. We further demonstrated that
      the FACT complex interacts with ICP22 throughout infection. We therefore
      hypothesized that ICP22 recruits cellular transcription elongation factors to
      viral genomes for efficient transcription elongation of viral genes. We
      reevaluated the phenotype of an ICP22 mutant virus by determining the abundance
      of all viral mRNAs throughout infection by transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq).
      The accumulation of almost all viral mRNAs late in infection was reduced compared
      to the wild type, regardless of kinetic class. Using chromatin
      immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), we mapped the location of RNA Pol II
      on viral genes and found that RNA Pol II levels on the bodies of viral genes were
      reduced in the ICP22 mutant compared to wild-type virus. In contrast, the
      association of RNA Pol II with transcription start sites in the mutant was not
      reduced. Taken together, our results indicate that ICP22 plays a role in
      recruiting elongation factors like the FACT complex to the HSV-1 genome to allow
      for efficient viral transcription elongation late in viral infection and
      ultimately infectious virion production.IMPORTANCE HSV-1 interacts with many
      cellular proteins throughout productive infection. Here, we demonstrate the
      interaction of a viral protein, ICP22, with a subset of cellular proteins known
      to be involved in transcription elongation. We determined that ICP22 is required
      to recruit the FACT complex and other transcription elongation factors to viral
      genomes and that in the absence of ICP22 viral transcription is globally reduced
      late in productive infection, due to an elongation defect. This insight defines a
      fundamental role of ICP22 in HSV-1 infection and elucidates the involvement of
      cellular factors in HSV-1 transcription.

PMID- 28611251
TI  - Erratum for Mund et al., "The Fitness of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing
      Signal Cheats Is Influenced by the Diffusivity of the Environment".

PMID- 28611250
TI  - Translational Control of the SigR-Directed Oxidative Stress Response in
      Streptomyces via IF3-Mediated Repression of a Noncanonical GTC Start Codon.
AB  - The major oxidative stress response in Streptomyces is controlled by the sigma
      factor SigR and its cognate antisigma factor RsrA, and SigR activity is tightly
      controlled through multiple mechanisms at both the transcriptional and
      posttranslational levels. Here we show that sigR has a highly unusual GTC start
      codon and that this leads to another level of SigR regulation, in which SigR
      translation is repressed by translation initiation factor 3 (IF3). Changing the
      GTC to a canonical start codon causes SigR to be overproduced relative to RsrA,
      resulting in unregulated and constitutive expression of the SigR regulon.
      Similarly, introducing IF3* mutations that impair its ability to repress SigR
      translation has the same effect. Thus, the noncanonical GTC sigR start codon and
      its repression by IF3 are critical for the correct and proper functioning of the
      oxidative stress regulatory system. sigR and rsrA are cotranscribed and
      translationally coupled, and it had therefore been assumed that SigR and RsrA are
      produced in stoichiometric amounts. Here we show that RsrA can be transcribed and
      translated independently of SigR, present evidence that RsrA is normally produced
      in excess of SigR, and describe the factors that determine SigR-RsrA
      stoichiometry.IMPORTANCE In all sigma factor-antisigma factor regulatory
      switches, the relative abundance of the two proteins is critical to the proper
      functioning of the system. Many sigma-antisigma operons are cotranscribed and
      translationally coupled, leading to a generic assumption that the sigma and
      antisigma factors are produced in a fixed 1:1 ratio. In the case of sigR-rsrA, we
      show instead that the antisigma factor is produced in excess over the sigma
      factor, providing a buffer to prevent spurious release of sigma activity. This
      excess arises in part because sigR has an extremely rare noncanonical GTC start
      codon, and as a result, SigR translation initiation is repressed by IF3. This
      finding highlights the potential significance of noncanonical start codons, very
      few of which have been characterized experimentally. It also emphasizes the
      limitations of predicting start codons using bioinformatic approaches, which rely
      heavily on the assumption that ATG, GTG, and TTG are the only permissible start
      codons.

PMID- 28611252
TI  - The Primary Enveloped Virion of Herpes Simplex Virus 1: Its Role in Nuclear
      Egress.
AB  - Many viruses migrate between different cellular compartments for successive
      stages of assembly. The HSV-1 capsid assembles in the nucleus and then transfers
      into the cytoplasm. First, the capsid buds through the inner nuclear membrane,
      becoming coated with nuclear egress complex (NEC) protein. This yields a primary
      enveloped virion (PEV) whose envelope fuses with the outer nuclear membrane,
      releasing the capsid into the cytoplasm. We investigated the associated molecular
      mechanisms by isolating PEVs from US3-null-infected cells and imaging them by
      cryo-electron microscopy and tomography. (pUS3 is a viral protein kinase in whose
      absence PEVs accumulate in the perinuclear space.) Unlike mature extracellular
      virions, PEVs have very few glycoprotein spikes. PEVs are ~20% smaller than
      mature virions, and the little space available between the capsid and the NEC
      layer suggests that most tegument proteins are acquired later in the egress
      pathway. Previous studies have proposed that NEC is organized as hexamers in
      honeycomb arrays in PEVs, but we find arrays of heptameric rings in extracts from
      US3-null-infected cells. In a PEV, NEC contacts the capsid predominantly via the
      pUL17/pUL25 complexes which are located close to the capsid vertices. Finally,
      the NEC layer dissociates from the capsid as it leaves the nucleus, possibly in
      response to pUS3-mediated phosphorylation. Overall, nuclear egress emerges as a
      process driven by a program of multiple weak interactions.IMPORTANCE On its
      maturation pathway, the newly formed HSV-1 nucleocapsid must traverse the nuclear
      envelope, while respecting the integrity of that barrier. Nucleocapsids (125 nm
      in diameter) are too large to pass through the nuclear pore complexes that
      conduct most nucleocytoplasmic traffic. It is now widely accepted that the
      process involves envelopment/de-envelopment of a key intermediate-the primary
      enveloped virion. In wild-type infections, PEVs are short-lived, which has
      impeded study. Using a mutant that accumulates PEVs in the perinuclear space, we
      were able to isolate PEVs in sufficient quantity for structural analysis by cryo
      electron microscopy and tomography. The findings not only elucidate the
      maturation pathway of an important human pathogen but also have implications for
      cellular processes that involve the trafficking of large macromolecular
      complexes.

PMID- 28611254
TI  - Patterns of Genetic Structure and Linkage Disequilibrium in a Large Collection of
      Pea Germplasm.
AB  - Pea (Pisum sativum, L.) is a major pulse crop used both for animal and human
      alimentation. Owing to its association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, it is also
      a valuable component for low-input cropping systems. To evaluate the genetic
      diversity and the scale of linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay in pea, we genotyped
      a collection of 917 accessions, gathering elite cultivars, landraces, and wild
      relatives using an array of ~13,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP).
      Genetic diversity is broadly distributed across three groups corresponding to
      wild/landraces peas, winter types, and spring types. At a finer subdivision
      level, genetic groups relate to local breeding programs and type usage. LD
      decreases steeply as genetic distance increases. When considering subsets of the
      data, LD values can be higher, even if the steep decay remains. We looked for
      genomic regions exhibiting high level of differentiation between wild/landraces,
      winter, and spring pea, respectively. Two regions on linkage groups 5 and 6
      containing 33 SNPs exhibit stronger differentiation between winter and spring
      peas than would be expected under neutrality. Interestingly, QTL for resistance
      to cold acclimation and frost resistance have been identified previously in the
      same regions.

PMID- 28611253
TI  - N6-methyladenosine is required for the hypoxic stabilization of specific mRNAs.
AB  - Post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA during oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia,
      can affect the survivability of cells. Hypoxia has been shown to increase
      stability of a subset of ischemia-related mRNAs, including VEGF. RNA binding
      proteins and miRNAs have been identified as important for post-transcriptional
      regulation of individual mRNAs, but corresponding mechanisms that regulate global
      stability are not well understood. Recently, mRNA modification by N6
      methyladenosine (m6A) has been shown to be involved in post-transcriptional
      regulation processes including mRNA stability and promotion of translation, but
      the role of m6A in the hypoxia response is unknown. In this study, we investigate
      the effect of hypoxia on RNA modifications including m6A. Our results show
      hypoxia increases m6A content of poly(A)+ messenger RNA (mRNA), but not in total
      or ribosomal RNA in HEK293T cells. Using m6A mRNA immunoprecipitation, we
      identify specific hypoxia-modified mRNAs, including glucose transporter 1 (Glut1)
      and c-Myc, which show increased m6A levels under hypoxic conditions. Many of
      these mRNAs also exhibit increased stability, which was blocked by knockdown of
      m6A-specific methyltransferases METTL3/14. However, the increase in mRNA
      stability did not correlate with a change in translational efficiency or the
      steady-state amount of their proteins. Knockdown of METTL3/14 did reveal that m6A
      is involved in recovery of translational efficiency after hypoxic stress.
      Therefore, our results suggest that an increase in m6A mRNA during hypoxic
      exposure leads to post-transcriptional stabilization of specific mRNAs and
      contributes to the recovery of translational efficiency after hypoxic stress.

PMID- 28611256
TI  - A Duplicated, Truncated amh Gene Is Involved in Male Sex Determination in an Old
      World Silverside.
AB  - A master sex-determining gene, the Y chromosome-linked anti-Mullerian hormone
      (amhy) gene, has been described in two New World atheriniform species but little
      is known on the distribution, evolution, and function(s) of this gene in other
      Atheriniformes. Interestingly, amhy has been found to coexist with temperature
      dependent sex determination (TSD), providing a unique opportunity to explore the
      interplay between genotypic and environmental sex determination. In this study,
      the search for an amhy homolog was extended to an Old World atheriniform, the
      cobaltcap silverside Hypoatherina tsurugae (Atherinidae). The full sequences,
      including the coding and noncoding regions, of the autosomal amh (amha) and a
      putative amhy were obtained. The deduced Amha and Amhy proteins comprised 511 and
      340 amino acids (aa), respectively. PCR analysis with genomic DNA from wild
      adults and from laboratory-reared juveniles revealed a high, but not complete
      association of ~95% between amhy and maleness. The spatiotemporal expression of
      amhy and amha during gonadal sex differentiation was analyzed by qRT-PCR and in
      situ hybridization (ISH). amhy transcription (in amhy-positive larvae) started
      before and peaked during histological differentiation of the gonads whereas amha
      was negligible during the same period in both genotypes. These results
      demonstrate that the amhy, although with some structural differences in relation
      to the amhy of some New World atheriniforms, is strongly associated with maleness
      and probably important for testicular development in this Old World atheriniform.
      Thus, amhy is a candidate sex determination gene in cobaltcap silverside and it
      will be key to scrutinize the mechanism of sex determination in this species.

PMID- 28611255
TI  - A Kinome RNAi Screen in Drosophila Identifies Novel Genes Interacting with Lgl,
      aPKC, and Crb Cell Polarity Genes in Epithelial Tissues.
AB  - In both Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian systems, epithelial structure and
      underlying cell polarity are essential for proper tissue morphogenesis and organ
      growth. Cell polarity interfaces with multiple cellular processes that are
      regulated by the phosphorylation status of large protein networks. To gain
      insight into the molecular mechanisms that coordinate cell polarity with tissue
      growth, we screened a boutique collection of RNAi stocks targeting the kinome for
      their capacity to modify Drosophila "cell polarity" eye and wing phenotypes.
      Initially, we identified kinase or phosphatase genes whose depletion modified
      adult eye phenotypes associated with the manipulation of cell polarity complexes
      (via overexpression of Crb or aPKC). We next conducted a secondary screen to test
      whether these cell polarity modifiers altered tissue overgrowth associated with
      depletion of Lgl in the wing. These screens identified Hippo, Jun kinase (JNK),
      and Notch signaling pathways, previously linked to cell polarity regulation of
      tissue growth. Furthermore, novel pathways not previously connected to cell
      polarity regulation of tissue growth were identified, including Wingless
      (Wg/Wnt), Ras, and lipid/Phospho-inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathways.
      Additionally, we demonstrated that the "nutrient sensing" kinases Salt Inducible
      Kinase 2 and 3 (SIK2 and 3) are potent modifiers of cell polarity phenotypes and
      regulators of tissue growth. Overall, our screen has revealed novel cell polarity
      interacting kinases and phosphatases that affect tissue growth, providing a
      platform for investigating molecular mechanisms coordinating cell polarity and
      tissue growth during development.

PMID- 28611257
TI  - Isolated Intrapulmonary Vascular Dilatations and the Risk of Developing
      Hepatopulmonary Syndrome in Liver Transplant Candidates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The natural history of intrapulmonary vascular dilations (IPVD) and
      their impact on patient outcomes in the setting of portal hypertension has only
      been described in small series. AIMS: To assess the development of
      hepatopulmonary sindrome (HPS) in patients with isolated IPVD and to evaluate
      outcomes of IPVD and HPS among patients evaluated for liver transplantation (LT).
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from a prospective cohort of patients evaluated for LT
      with standardized screening for HPS were analyzed. IPVDs were defined as the
      presence of microbubbles in the left atrium > 3 cycles following right atrial
      opacification. HPS was defined as the presence of IPVD and hypoxemia (Alveolar
      arterial gradient >= 15 mmHg) in the absence of concomitant cardiopulmonary
      disease. RESULTS: A total of 104 patients with negative contrast-enhanced
      echocardiogram (CE) were compared to 63 patients with IPVD and 63 patients with
      HPS. Only four patients were categorized as 'severe' HPS based on degree of
      hipoxemia (defined as PaO2 < 60 mmHg). Twenty IPVD patients were followed with
      ABG over a mean duration of 21 months (range 9-43), of whom 7 (35%) subsequently
      met HPS criteria. Overall unadjusted survival from the time of LT evaluation
      using multi-state survival models that accounted for pre- and post-LT time was
      not statistically different among the three groups (negative CE, IPVD, and HPS; p
      > 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IPVD appear to have a substantial risk of
      developing oxygenation impairment over time and progress to HPS. In our cohort,
      survival in patients with HPS and isolated IPVD is not different when compared to
      thosewithout IPVDs.

PMID- 28611258
TI  - Independent Predictors of Mortality and Resource Utilization in Viral Hepatitis
      Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B (HBV) and C viruses (HCV) are important causes of
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our aim was to assess mortality and resource
      utilization of patients with HCC-related to HBV and HCV. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)
      Medicare linked database (2001-2009) was used. Medicare claims included patient
      demographic information, diagnoses, treatment, procedures, ICD-9 codes, service
      dates, payments, coverage status, survival data, carrier claims, and Medicare
      Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) data. HCC related to HBV/HCV and non-cancer
      controls with HBV/HCV were included. Pair-wise comparisons were made by t-tests
      and chi-square tests. Logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs)
      with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used. RESULTS: We included 2,711 cases
      of HCC (518 HBV, 2,193 HCV-related) and 5,130 non-cancer controls (1,321 HBV,
      3,809 HCV). Between 2001-2009, HCC cases related to HBV and HCV increased.
      Compared to controls, HBV and HCV patients with HCC were older, more likely to be
      male (73.2% vs 48.9% and 57.1% vs. 50.5%), die within one-year (49.3% vs. 20.3%
      and 52.2% vs. 19.2%), have decompensated cirrhosis (44.8% vs. 6.9% and 53.9% vs.
      10.4%) and have higher inpatient ($60.471 vs. $47.223 and $56.033 vs. $41.005)
      and outpatient charges ($3,840 vs. $3,328 and $3,251 vs. $2,096) (all P < 0.05).
      In two separate multivariate analyses, independent predictors of one-year
      mortality were older age, being male and the presence of decompensated cirrhosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: The rate of viral hepatitis-related HCC is increasing. Mortality and
      resource utilization related to HBV and HCV-related HCC is substantial.

PMID- 28611259
TI  - Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Survival of Patients with Intrahepatic
      Cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence, related risk factors, and survival of
      intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in a Mexican population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      conducted a cross-sectional study at Medica Sur Hospital in Mexico City with
      approval of the local research ethics committee. We found cases by reviewing all
      clinical records of in-patients between October 2005 and January 2016 who had
      been diagnosed with malignant liver tumors. Clinical characteristics and
      comorbidities were obtained to evaluate the probable risk factors and the
      Charlson index. The cases were staged based on the TNM staging system for bile
      duct tumors used by the American Joint Committee on Cancer and median patient
      survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: We
      reviewed 233 cases of hepatic cancer. Amongst these, hepatocellular carcinomas
      represented 19.3% (n = 45), followed by intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, which
      accounted for 7.7% (n = 18). The median age of patients with intrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinoma was 63 years, and most of them presented with cholestasis and
      intrahepatic biliary ductal dilation. Unfortunately, 89% (n = 16) of them were in
      an advanced stage and 80% had multicentric tumors. Median survival was 286 days
      among patients with advanced stage tumors (25th-75th interquartile range, 174-645
      days). No correlation was found between the presence of comorbidities defined by
      the Charlson index, and survival. We evaluated the presence of definite and
      probable risk factors for the development of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma,
      that is, smoking, alcohol consumption, and primary sclerosing cholangitis.
      DISCUSSION: We found an overall prevalence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma of
      7.7%; unfortunately, these patients were diagnosed at advanced stages. Smoking
      and primary sclerosing cholangitis were the positive risk factors for its
      development in this population.

PMID- 28611260
TI  - Sensitivity and Specificity of Biochemical Tests for Diagnosis of Intrahepatic
      Cholestasis of Pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is linked with
      increased risk of fetal complications. An accurate diagnostic test is needed to
      diagnose this disorder on time. We aimed to assess sensitivity and specificity of
      laboratory tests used for diagnosis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and
      determine more reliable cut-off values of transaminases. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Sixty one symptomatic patients with ICP and 29 healthy pregnant women were
      included in the retrospective analysis. RESULTS: ICP patients had higher total
      bile acids (TBA) levels than healthy women (32 vs. 6; P < 0.0001) due to increase
      in cholic acid (CA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA). CA/CDCA ratio was
      significantly higher in ICP patients compared to healthy pregnant women (1.13 vs.
      0.68; P < 0.00002). TBA, CA, CDCA and CA/CDCA ratio demonstrate the following
      sensitivity (94%, 96%, 89%, 71.9%) and specificity (63%, 63%, 59%, 79.3%,
      respectively) for ICP diagnosis. Lowering cut-off values for ALT (31 U/L) and AST
      (30 U/L) resulted only in minimal increase of sensitivity to 92.2% vs. 90.1% for
      ALT and to 92.2%, vs. 90.6% for AST. CONCLUSION: The present study did not reveal
      any single specific and sensitive marker for reliable diagnosis of ICP.
      Establishment of lower cut-off values for transaminases activity might only
      minimally increase the accuracy of diagnosing ICP.

PMID- 28611261
TI  - Non-neoplastic Portal Vein Thrombosis in HCV Cirrhosis Patients: Is it an Immuno
      Inflammatory Disorder?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a critical complication in
      cirrhotic patients. We explored the role of the activated factor VII-antithrombin
      (FVIIa-AT) complex and enhanced monocytic tissue factor (TF) expression in the
      development and prediction of non-neoplastic PVT in cirrhotic patients. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A total of 30 HCV-cirrhosis patients were included in our study.
      They were compared to 35 cirrhotic patients without PVT, 15 non-cirrhotic
      patients with PVT, and 15 healthy controls. The plasma level of the FVIIa-AT
      complexes was analyzed by ELISA. MIF CD142, CD86, and HLA-DR on monocytes (CD14)
      were determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Compared with cirrhotic patients
      without PVT, cirrhotic patients with PVT had comparable plasma values of FVIIa,
      AT, and the FVIIa-AT complex. However, they had significantly lower values
      compared to non-cirrhotic patients with PVT and healthy controls. Cirrhotic
      patients with PVT had increased monocytic TF expression (MIF CD142) compared to
      non-PVT cirrhotic patients and healthy controls [86.5 (93.5) vs. 18 (32.0) and
      11.0 (6.0), respectively; p < 0.001 for each]. However, cirrhosis PVT could not
      be distinguished from non-cirrhosis PVT. The area under the ROC curve of MIF
      CD142 was 0.759 (0.641- 0.876; p = 0.000) at an optimal cut-off value of 45,
      which yielded a sensitivity of 60% and a specificity of 77.1%, as well as a PPV
      and NPV of 69.2% for each. CONCLUSION: Enhanced expression of monocytic TF may
      have a role in the development and prediction of non-neoplastic PVT in HCV
      cirrhosis patients. Large multicenter studies are necessary to validate our
      results.

PMID- 28611262
TI  - Relative Adrenal Insufficiency is Associated with the Clinical Outcome in
      Patients with Stable Decompensated Cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical impact of relative adrenal insufficiency (AI) on
      patients with stable decompensated cirrhosis (DeCi) has not been yet elucidated.
      AIM: Explore the association between AI and outcome [death or liver
      transplantation (LT)] in patients with DeCi. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with
      DeCi presenting no active complication have been included. Clinical and
      laboratory data, including serum levels of corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG),
      interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNFalpha) were recorded in
      each participant. Salivary cortisol (SC) and serum total cortisol (STC) were
      assessed at (T0) and 1 h (T60) after intravenous injection of 250 MUg
      corticotropin. RESULTS: 113 consecutive patients were totally tested. Median SC
      was 3.9 ng/mL and 15.5 ng/mL and median STC was 10.7 MUg/dL and 22.7 MUg/dL at T0
      and T60 respectively. The patients with AI [group 1, n = 34 (30%)] had
      significantly lower systolic blood pressure (106 +/- 12 vs. 113 +/- 13 mmHg, p =
      0.05), serum sodium (133 +/- 7 vs. 137 +/- 12 mEq/ L, p = 0.04), HDL (29.9 +/- 14
      vs. 38.6 +/- 18 mg/dL, p = 0.034) and albumin (2.7 +/- 0.5 vs. 3.1 +/- 0.5 g/dL,
      p = 0.002), but higher direct bilirubin (median: 1.6 vs. 0.8 mg/dL, p = 0.029)
      compared to those without AI [group 2, n = 79 (70%)]. Moreover, group 1 patients
      presented more frequently past history of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP)
      [10/34 (29.4%) vs. 6/79 (7.5%), p = 0.002]. AI was significantly associated with
      death [HR = 2.65, 95% C.I.: 1.55 - 4.52, p = 0.003 over a follow up period of 12
      (6-48) months.] Conclusions. The presence of AI in patients with stable DeCi
      predispose to obvious clinical implications since it is associated with
      circulatory dysfunction, previous history of SBP and worse survival.

PMID- 28611263
TI  - Hepatic Echinococcosis with Thoracic Involvement. Clinical Characteristics of a
      Prospective Series of Cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Thoracic involvement (TIHE) is one of the evolutionary
      complications of hepatic echinococcosis (HE). AIM: The aim of this study was to
      describe the clinical characteristics and postoperative morbidity (POM) of a
      series of patients with TIHE treated surgically. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Series of
      cases of patients treated for TIHE between 2000 and 2014 in the Hospital Regional
      and Clinica Mayor in Temuco, Chile, with a minimum 12-month follow-up. The
      outcome variable was "development of POM". Descriptive statistics were used.
      RESULTS: The series was composed of 37 patients with a mean age of 53.2 +/- 47.4
      years (51.4% female). Mean cyst diameter was 19.4 +/- 15.5 cm, and 75.7% of the
      lesions were located in the right hepatic lobe. The most frequent surgical
      technique used for the cyst was subtotal pericystectomy (56.8%); the residual
      cavity was treated by capitonnage (27.0%) or omentoplasty (21.6%), and a
      phrenoplasty with or without prosthetic material was performed for the TIHE. Mean
      hospital stay was 6.0 +/- 5.7 days and follow-up was 61.4 +/- 79.9 months; a
      mortality rate of 2.7% (one patient) and a POM of 24.3% (9 patients) were
      verified. CONCLUSION: TIHE is an uncommon evolutionary complication of HE
      associated with significant POM rate.

PMID- 28611264
TI  - Symptoms of Daytime Sleepiness and Sleep Apnea in Liver Cirrhosis Patients.
AB  - : Background/propose. Sleep disturbance and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)
      have been reported in patients with hepatic cirrhosis with no hepatic
      encephalopathy (HE). The objective of this study was to evaluate daytime
      sleepiness and risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among liver cirrhosis
      patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at King
      Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC)-Riyadh over a period of six months, using a
      structured questionnaire that investigated: 1) Sleep patterns and daytime
      sleepiness using the Epworth Sleeping Scale (ESS), and 2) The risk for sleep
      apnea using the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ). We enrolled patients with a confirmed
      diagnosis of liver cirrhosis who were being followed at the hepatology and pre
      liver transplant clinics. RESULTS: We enrolled 200 patients with liver cirrhosis,
      57.5% of whom were male. The mean age was 60 (+/- SD 12.2). The reported
      prevalence of EDS, OSA, and both EDS and OSA were 29.5%, 42.9%, and 13.6%,
      respectively. The prevalence of EDS was higher in patients with Hepatitis-C and
      patients with DM, who experienced short sleep duration. We did not find any
      association between the severity of liver disease and EDS or OSA as measured by
      Child-Pugh scores (CPS). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of OSA and EDS is high among liver
      cirrhosis patients. Those patients with cirrhosis secondary to Hepatitis C are at
      higher risk of EDS and OSA. Both EDS and OSA affect patients designated as CPS
      Class A more frequently than patients designated as CPS Class B.

PMID- 28611265
TI  - Hepatoprotective Effect of Curcumin on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Through
      Autophagic and Apoptic Pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE: Microtubule-associated protein light chain 3-II (LC3
      II), and Sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1) are proteins that can be used as markers for
      autophagic pathway. Bcl-2 protein is reported to be inversely correlated with
      apoptosis. We aimed to investigate the effects of curcumin on liver inflammation
      and fibrosis up to the first dysplastic stage of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      induced by Thioacetamide (TAA) in rats and to clarify the effects of curcumin on
      LC3-II, SQSTM1, and Bcl-2. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into four
      groups: Control group, TAA group, Curcumin low-dose group, and Curcumin highdose
      group. The last three groups received TAA 200 mg/kg i.p. twice weekly for 18
      weeks. Oxidative stress markers as hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration
      and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were measured by colorimetric methods.
      Hepatic SQSTM1 concentration was measured by ELISA, and gene expression levels of
      Bcl-2, and LC3-II were measured by RT-PCR.We also investigated the in vitro
      effect of curcumin on HepG2 cells viability through MTT assay, and the
      involvement of autophagy in this effect. RESULTS: Curcumin increased the survival
      percent in rats, decreased -fetoprotein (AFP) concentration, and serum aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST) activity, and increased serum albumin concentration.
      Curcumin also significantly reduced oxidative stress in liver, inhibited
      apoptosis, and induced autophagy. In vitro, curcumin (50 uM) decreased HepG2
      cells viabilityand the concentration of SQSTM1. CONCLUSIONS: Curcumin leads to
      protection against TAA induced HCC up to the first dysplastic stage through
      activating autophagic pathway and inhibiting apoptosis. Also, the antioxidant
      activity of curcumin almost prevents liver fibrosis.

PMID- 28611266
TI  - Retinoid X Receptor alpha-Dependent HBV Minichromosome Remodeling and Viral
      Replication.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: The HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) is organized
      into a minichromosome in the nuclei of infected hepatocytes through interactions
      with histone and nonhistone proteins. Retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRalpha), a
      liver-enriched nuclear receptor, participates in regulation of HBV replication
      and transcription through modulation of HBV enhancer 1 and core promoter
      activity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study investigated RXRalpha involvement in
      HBV cccDNA epigenetic modifications. Quantitative cccDNA chromatin
      immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was applied to study the recruitment of RXRalpha,
      histones, and chromatin-modifying enzymes to HBV minichromosome in HepG2 cells
      after transfection of the linear HBV genome. RESULTS: RXRalpha Was found to
      directly bind to HBV cccDNA; recruitment of RXRalpha to HBV mini-chromosome
      paralleled HBV replication, histone recruitment, and histone acetylation in
      HBVcccDNA. Moreover, RXRalpha overexpression or knock-down significantly
      increased or impaired the recruitment of the p300 acetyltransferase to
      cccDNAminichromosome. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirmed the regulation of
      RXRalpha on HBV replication in vitro and demonstrated the modulation of RXRalpha
      on HBV cccDNA epigenetics. These findings provide a profound theoretical and
      experimental basis for late-model antiviral treatment acting on the HBV cccDNA
      and minichromosome.

PMID- 28611267
TI  - Occult Hepatitis C Infection Among Hemodialysis Patients: A Prevalence Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Occult hepatitis C infection (OHCI) is the presence of HCV
      RNA in the liver or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) accompanying with
      negative serologic results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence
      of OHCI among Iranian chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      In this cross sectional study 200 chronic HD patients with negative HCV antibody
      enrolled the study. Blood sample of patients were obtained, followed by
      Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) testing for detection of HCV RNA. Patients with
      positive serum HCV RNA were considered as manifest hepatitis C infection (MHCI).
      However, patients with negative serum HCV RNA underwent further tests on PBMCs
      for detection of OHCI. RESULTS: Serum HCV RNA was positive in 2 (1%) patients
      whom considered as MHCI, and 6 (3.03%) patients had positive PBMC HCV RNA.
      CONCLUSION: In conclusion, chronic HD patients have been considered as a high
      risk group for hepatitis C infection. The results of this study suggest that
      these patients are also at risk for OHCI. Furthermore, evaluating PBMCs to detect
      HCV RNA would be a sensitive diagnostic method to find OHCI patients.

PMID- 28611268
TI  - Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading
      causes of cirrhosis. As a result of chronic inflammatory response to the virus,
      HCV-infected patients may be at a higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).
      However, the data on this association is unclear. This systematic review and meta
      analysis was conducted with the aims to summarize all available evidence.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A literature search was performed using MEDLINE and EMBASE
      from inception to April 2016. Studies that reported relative risks, odd ratios,
      or hazard ratios comparing the risk of VTE among HCV-infected patients vs.
      subjects without HCV infection were included. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and 95%
      confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse
      variance method. RESULTS: Three studies met our eligibility criteria and were
      included in analysis. The pooled RR of VTE in HCV-infected patients vs. subjects
      without HCV infection was 1.38 (95% CI, 1.08-1.77, I2 = 40%). Subgroup analysis
      showed that risk was increased for both pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous
      thrombosis (DVT) even though without adequate power to demonstrate statistical
      significance (Pooled RR of 1.34, 95% CI, 0.67-2.66 for PE and pooled RR 1.45, 95%
      CI, 0.93-2.77 for DVT). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated a significantly
      increased risk of VTE among HCV-infected patients. Further studies are required
      to clarify how this risk should be addressed in clinical practice.

PMID- 28611269
TI  - The Role of TIPS in patients with Refractory Ascites and Portal Vein Thrombosis.
AB  - Nowadays the contraindication for Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
      (TIPS) in patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) had been modify. The
      experience and technology have reduce the complications for this procedure. We
      report a case of refractory ascites and portal vein thrombosis to emphasize the
      role of TIPS in the treatment for this condition.

PMID- 28611270
TI  - Two Cases of Primary Hepatic Neuroendocrine Tumors and a Review of the Current
      Literature.
AB  - Neuroendocrine tumors comprise approximately 1-2% of all gastrointestinal tumors,
      and while the liver is the most common site for metastasis of these tumors,
      primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors are very rare entities. Since first being
      reported in 1958, there have been less than 150 cases reported in the literature.
      Because of the infrequent occurrence of these tumors, the pool of data available
      for analysis regarding these tumors is small. As such, the medical community must
      rely on the publication of case report data to further enlarge this data pool,
      with the hopes of eventually having enough data to draw meaningful, statistically
      significant conclusions with regard to diagnosis and management of these rare
      tumors. We have encountered two patients at our institution within the last year
      with primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors. We present their cases in this
      manuscript in an effort to contribute to the available data on the disease. We
      also provide a concise review of the literature available to date regarding
      primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors.

PMID- 28611271
TI  - Expression of Natural Killer Cell Inhibitory Receptors is Associated with
      Significant Liver Injury in Chronic Hepatitis C in Children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Natural Killer (NK) cells play an important role in innate
      immune response to viral infections and their high proportion is situated in the
      liver. The aim of this study was to analyze possible relation between the
      expression of NK cell receptors and varied intensity of liver lesions in chronic
      hepatitis C (CHC) in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study included 105 children
      with CHC - 54 boys and 51 girls, age 13.62 +/- 3.48 years. Blood specimens were
      taken at the day of the liver biopsy. Histological evaluation was performed
      according to METAVIR scoring system. Circulating NK cells were evaluated by flow
      cytometry. The results were shown as a proportion of cells expressing evaluated
      receptor and its' mean fluorescent intensity (MFI). RESULTS: In 58 children with
      CHC (55.2%) significant liver fibrosis was observed ( >=F2). Higher proportion of
      cells expressing CD158e inhibitory receptors was observed in the group of
      children with ALT > 2UNL (21.11 +/- 14.60 vs. 12.22 +/- 8.99%; p = 0.037). While
      higher proportion of cells expressing inhibitory CD158b receptor was observed in
      children with significant fibrosis (F >= 2) compared to minimal fibrosis (F < 2) 
      (34.14 +/- 12.44 vs. 27.48 +/- 8.71%; p = 0.049). Children with advanced
      fibrosis (F >= 3) had higher MFI of NK cell CD 158b receptor than children with
      fibrosis scored F < 3 - (5344.20 +/- 3407.49 vs. 2979.67 +/- 1190.64; p = 0.049).
      Proportion of NK cells expressing CD158b was found a predictor of significant
      fibrosis in univariate analysis - [OR 1.065; 95%CI (1.07-1.15); p = 0.046].
      CONCLUSIONS: Higher proportion of NK cells expressing inhibitory CD158b and
      CD158e receptors is associated with significant liver injury.

PMID- 28611272
TI  - A Case Report of Hepatocellular Carcinoma 5 Years After HBsAg Loss in Chronic
      Hepatitis Delta: How Long Surveillance is Required?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis delta virus infection occurs as acute co-infection or as
      superinfection in patients with preexisting chronic hepatitis B. Chronic
      hepatitis delta leads to more severe disease than chronic hepatitis B, with more
      rapid progression of fibrosis and increased risk of hepatocelullar carcinoma.
      CASE REPORT: We report a case of hepatocelullar carcinoma 5 years after
      spontaneous clearance of Hepatitis B surface antigen in a patient with previous
      chronic hepatitis delta. He had been diagnosed with acute hepatitis delta
      superinfection 30 years ago which evolved to chronic delta infection and
      subsequently development of liver cirrhosis. Despite no specific antiviral
      treatment, he lost HBsAg persistently with later regression of cirrhosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis delta who
      cleared HBsAg with improvement of liver fibrosis by non invasive techniques, it
      remains unknown how long hepatocelullar carcinoma surveillance has to be
      maintained.

PMID- 28611273
TI  - Racial Disparities in Hepatitis C Treatment Eligibility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C (HCV) is more prevalent in African Americans than in any
      other racial group in the United States. However, African Americans are more
      likely to be deemed ineligible for HCV treatment than non-African Americans.
      There has been limited research into the origins of racial disparities in HCV
      treatment eligibility. AIM: The purpose of this study was to compare medical and
      non-medical characteristics commonly assessed in clinical practice that could
      potentially contribute to HCV treatment ineligibility disparities between African
      American and non-African American patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with
      confirmed HCV RNA considering treatment (n = 309) were recruited from university
      affiliated and VA liver and infectious disease clinics. RESULTS: African
      Americans and non-African Americans did not differ in prevalence of lifetime and
      current psychiatric disorders and risky behaviors, and HCV knowledge. HCV
      clinical characteristics were similar between both groups in terms of HCV
      exposure history, number of months aware of HCV diagnosis, stage of fibrosis, and
      HCV virologic levels. African Americans did have higher proportions of diabetes,
      renal disease, and bleeding ulcer. CONCLUSIONS: No clinical evidence was found to
      indicate that African Americans should be more often deemed ineligible for HCV
      treatment than other racial groups. Diabetes and renal disease do not fully
      explain the HCV treatment ineligibility racial disparity, because HCV patients
      with these conditions are priority patients for HCV treatment because of their
      greater risk for cirrhosis, steatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The findings
      suggest that an underlying contributor to the HCV treatment eligibility disparity
      disfavoring African Americans could be racial discrimination.

PMID- 28611274
TI  - Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of Pharmacologic Agents in Non
      alcoholic Steatohepatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no standardized treatment regimen for non
      alcoholic steatohepatitis. AIM: We performed a metaanalysis of high quality
      randomized controlled trials that evaluated treatment response to metformin,
      thiazolidinediones (TZDs), and vitamin E in adult patients with non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis. Outcome measures were improvement in liver histology,
      biochemical, and anthropometric measures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Nine trials met
      inclusion criteria (3 with TZD, 3 with Metformin, 2 with Vitamin E and 1 with
      both TZD and Vitamin E.). RESULTS: With metformin, weighted liver histologic
      scores for steatosis, ballooning, and fibrosis did not demonstrate significant
      improvement and lobular inflammation worsened significantly (weighted mean
      increase 0.21, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.31, P < 0.0001). The liver histology score
      including steatosis (OR 3.51, 95% CI 2.14 to 5.78) and lobular inflammation (OR
      2.65, 95% CI 1.69 to 4.15) improved with TZDs. Hepatic fibrosis (OR 1.58, 95% CI
      0.98 to 2.54) and ballooning scores (OR 1.84, 95% CI 0.94 to 3.58) did not
      demonstrate significant improvement. With Vitamin E, weighted liver histologic
      scores for steatosis (weighted mean decrease -0.60, 95% CI -0.85 to -0.35, P <
      0.0001), lobular inflammation (weighted mean decrease - 0.40, 95% CI -0.61 to 
      0.20, P = 0.0001) and ballooning (weighted mean decrease -0.30, 95% CI -0.54 to 
      0.07, P = 0.01) demonstrated significant improvement compared to placebo.
      Fibrosis did not significantly change. CONCLUSION: In patients with NASH, TZDs
      and Vitamin E improve liver histologic scores but metformin does not. Insulin
      resistance also improves with both TZDs and metformin. Fibrosis does not improve
      with any of the agents.

PMID- 28611277
TI  - Association of RASgrf1 methylation with epileptic seizures.
AB  - DNA methylation, one of the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation, has been
      suggested to be related with epilepsy. RASgrf1 is a paternally imprinted gene and
      has a differentially methylated region (DMR) at the promoter that can silence
      gene expression. We have previously observed the down-regulation of RASgrf1 in
      the temporal neocortex of epilepsy patients and in the hippocampus of epileptic
      animals. Here, we further explored the dynamic change (1-day acute period, 10-day
      latent period and 45-day chronic phase) of DNA methylation and RASgrf1 expression
      after acute epileptic seizures in kainic acid (KA)-treated mice, and we observed
      the impact of N-phthalyl-L-tryptophan (RG108), a DNA methyltransferase (DNMT)
      inhibitor, on an acute epileptic model by polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
      western blotting, and bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP). The results directly showed
      that the methylation of the RASgrf1 promoter gradually increased and reached a
      maximal level at the latent period, with subsequent suppression of RASgrf1 mRNA
      and protein expression levels, which reached a minimum level in the chronic
      phase. RG108 inhibited the increased methylation of the RASgrf1 gene, with
      significant inhibition occurring at the latent period, and restored RASgrf1
      expression levels in the chronic phase. In addition, we demonstrated that RG108
      could suppress acute epileptic seizures in KA-treated mice and epileptic
      discharges in 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)-treated hippocampal slices. These findings
      demonstrate that RASgrf1 is closely associated with epilepsy via the aberrant
      methylation of RASgrf1, and regulating the methylation status of relevant genes
      might be an intriguing topic in future research on epilepsy.

PMID- 28611279
TI  - Selective inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-2 in the multiple myeloma-bone
      microenvironment.
AB  - Multiple myeloma is a plasma cell malignancy that homes aberrantly to bone
      causing extensive skeletal destruction. Despite the development of novel
      therapeutic agents that have significantly improved overall survival, multiple
      myeloma remains an incurable disease. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is
      associated with cancer and is significantly overexpressed in the bone marrow of
      myeloma patients. These data provide rationale for selectively inhibiting MMP-2
      activity as a multiple myeloma treatment strategy. Given that MMP-2 is
      systemically expressed, we used novel "bone-seeking" bisphosphonate based MMP-2
      specific inhibitors (BMMPIs) to target the skeletal tissue thereby circumventing
      potential off-target effects of MMP-2 inhibition outside the bone marrow-tumor
      microenvironment. Using in vivo models of multiple myeloma (5TGM1, U266), we
      examined the impact of MMP-2 inhibition on disease progression using BMMPIs. Our
      data demonstrate that BMMPIs can decrease multiple myeloma burden and protect
      against cancer-induced osteolysis. Additionally, we have shown that MMP-2 can be
      specifically inhibited in the multiple myeloma-bone microenvironment,
      underscoring the feasibility of developing targeted and tissue selective MMP
      inhibitors. Given the well-tolerated nature of bisphosphonates in humans, we
      anticipate that BMMPIs could be rapidly translated to the clinical setting for
      the treatment of multiple myeloma.

PMID- 28611284
TI  - Activation of the ATF2/CREB-PGC-1alpha pathway by metformin leads to dopaminergic
      neuroprotection.
AB  - Progressive dopaminergic neurodegeneration is responsible for the canonical motor
      deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD). The widely prescribed anti-diabetic
      medicine metformin is effective in preventing neurodegeneration in animal models;
      however, despite the significant potential of metformin for treating PD, the
      therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms underlying dopaminergic
      neuroprotection by metformin are largely unknown.In this study, we found that
      metformin induced substantial proteomic changes, especially in metabolic and
      mitochondrial pathways in the substantia nigra (SN). Consistent with this data,
      metformin increased mitochondrial marker proteins in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.
      Mitochondrial protein expression by metformin was found to be brain region
      specific, with metformin increasing mitochondrial proteins in the SN and the
      striatum, but not the cortex. As a potential upstream regulator of mitochondria
      gene transcription by metformin, PGC-1alpha promoter activity was stimulated by
      metformin via CREB and ATF2 pathways. PGC-1alpha and phosphorylation of ATF2 and
      CREB by metformin were selectively increased in the SN and the striatum, but not
      the cortex. Finally, we showed that metformin protected dopaminergic neurons and
      improved dopamine-sensitive motor performance in an MPTP-induced PD animal model.
      Together these results suggest that the metformin-ATF2/CREB-PGC-1alpha pathway
      might be promising therapeutic target for PD.

PMID- 28611289
TI  - Next generation sequencing and molecular imaging identify EGFR mutation and
      amplification in a glioblastoma multiforme patient treated with an EGFR
      inhibitor: a case report.
AB  - Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and amplifications are
      frequently reported in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients. In this case
      report, we utilize next-generation sequencing (NGS) and EGFR molecular imaging to
      investigate intratumoral heterogeneity in a male patient presenting with GBM.
      Further, we describe the patient's clinical course as well as outcomes of
      targeted EGFR therapy with erlotinib, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).
      NGS demonstrated the presence of an EGFR mutation and amplification in our
      patient. Molecular imaging revealed a heterogeneous expression pattern of EGFR in
      the frontal and temporal lobes. This patient briefly responded to erlotinib
      therapy. However, the patient relapsed and died from progressive neurological
      deterioration. Partial response and acquired secondary resistance may be
      attributed to intratumoral heterogeneity. Combination of NGS and EGFR molecular
      imaging may be helpful in understanding intratumoral molecular heterogeneity and
      may aid in developing individualized GBM treatments, thereby improving outcomes.

PMID- 28611288
TI  - An AML1-ETO/miR-29b-1 regulatory circuit modulates phenotypic properties of acute
      myeloid leukemia cells.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by an aggressive clinical course
      and frequent cytogenetic abnormalities that include specific chromosomal
      translocations. The 8;21 chromosomal rearrangement disrupts the key hematopoietic
      RUNX1 transcription factor, and contributes to leukemia through recruitment of co
      repressor complexes to RUNX1 target genes, altered subnuclear localization, and
      deregulation of the myeloid gene regulatory program. However, a role of non
      coding microRNAs (miRs) in t(8;21)-mediated leukemogenesis is minimally
      understood. We present evidence of an interplay between the tumor suppressor miR
      29b-1 and the AML1-ETO (also designated RUNX1-RUNX1T1) oncogene that is encoded
      by the t(8;21). We find that AML1-ETO and corepressor NCoR co-occupy the miR
      29a/b-1 locus and downregulate its expression in leukemia cells. Conversely, re
      introduction of miR-29b-1 in leukemia cells expressing AML1-ETO causes
      significant downregulation at the protein level through direct targeting of the
      3' untranslated region of the chimeric transcript. Restoration of miR-29b-1
      expression in leukemia cells results in decreased cell growth and increased
      apoptosis. The AML1-ETO-dependent differentiation block and transcriptional
      program are partially reversed by miR-29b-1. Our findings establish a novel
      regulatory circuit between the tumor-suppressive miR-29b-1 and the oncogenic AML1
      ETO that controls the leukemic phenotype in t(8;21)-carrying acute myeloid
      leukemia.

PMID- 28611290
TI  - A fragment of the alarmin prothymosin alpha as a novel biomarker in murine models
      of bacteria-induced sepsis.
AB  - Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that requires urgent care. Thus, the
      identification of specific and sensitive biomarkers for its early diagnosis and
      management are of clinical importance. The alarmin prothymosin alpha (proTalpha)
      and its decapeptide proTalpha(100-109) are immunostimulatory peptides related to
      cell death. In this study, we generated bacterial models of sepsis in mice using
      two Klebsiella pneumoniae strains (L-78 and ATCC 43816) and monitored sepsis
      progression using proTalpha(100-109) as a biomarker. Serum concentration of
      proTalpha(100-109) gradually increased as sepsis progressed in mice infected with
      L-78, a strain which, unlike ATCC 43816, was phagocytosed by
      monocytes/macrophages. Analysis of splenocytes from L-78-infected animals
      revealed that post-infection spleen monocytes/macrophages were gradually driven
      to caspase-3-mediated apoptosis. These results were verified in vitro in L-78
      infected human monocytes/macrophages. Efficient phagocytosis of L-78 by monocytes
      stimulated their apoptosis and the concentration of proTalpha(100-109) in culture
      supernatants increased. Human macrophages strongly phagocytosed L-78, but
      resisted cell death. This is the first report suggesting that high levels of
      proTalpha(100-109) correlate, both in vitro and in vivo, with increased
      percentages of cell apoptosis. Moreover, we showed that low levels of
      proTalpha(100-109) early post-infection likely correlate with sepsis resolution
      and thus, the decapeptide could eventually serve as an early surrogate biomarker
      for predicting bacteria-induced sepsis outcome.

PMID- 28611292
TI  - Ring finger protein 125, as a potential highly aggressive and unfavorable
      prognostic biomarker, promotes the invasion and metastasis of human gallbladder
      cancers via activating the TGF- beta1-SMAD3-ID1 signaling pathway.
AB  - Human gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a lethal aggressive malignant neoplasm.
      Identification of potential molecular biomarkers and development of targeted
      therapeutics for GBC patients is very necessary. In this study, we firstly
      investigated the correlation between ring finger protein 125 (RNF125) expression
      and the metastasis and prognosis of GBC, and the underlying molecular mechanism.
      RNF125 expression in a cohort of GBC tissues was examined; its correlation with
      clinicopathological and prognostic factors of GBC patients was analyzed.
      Moreover, the metastasis-related difference expressed genes in highly and lowly
      aggressive GBC cell lines were identified; and the influence of RNF125 knockdown
      on the metastatic phenotypes and characteristic EMT markers in highly aggressive
      GBC NOZ cells was detected. Furthermore, the underlying molecular mechanism of
      RNF125 effect was explored. The results showed that RNF125 was highly expressed
      in GBC tissues and related with aggressive characteristics such as Nevin stage (P
      = 0.041) etc. and unfavorable prognosis of GBC patients (P = 0.023, log-rank
      test). And, RNF125 was proved to a positive metastasis-related gene in vitro.
      RNF125 knockdown inhibited the invasion and migration, enhanced the adhesion,
      upregulated E-cadherin and beta-catenin expression, and downregulated vimentin
      and N-cadherin expression (all P < 0.001) of NOZ cells in vitro. RNF125 promoting
      effect on GBC tumor progression was identified to relate with the activation of
      TGF-beta1-SMAD3-ID1 signaling pathway. These findings firstly confirm that high
      RNF125 expression is related with aggressive characteristics and unfavorable
      prognosis of GBC patients; RNF125 promotes the invasion and metastasis of human
      GBCs via activating the TGF-beta1-SMAD3-ID1 signaling pathway.

PMID- 28611293
TI  - Identification of molecular biomarkers for pancreatic cancer with mRMR shortest
      path method.
AB  - The high mortality rate of pancreatic cancer makes it one of the most studied
      diseases among all cancer types. Many researches have been conducted to
      understand the mechanism underlying its emergence and pathogenesis of this
      disease. Here, by using minimum-redundancy-maximum-relevance (mRMR) method, we
      studied a set of transcriptome data of pancreatic cancer. As we gradually added
      features to achieve the most accurate classification results of Jackknife, a gene
      set of 9 genes was identified. They were NHS, SCML2, LAMC2, S100P, COL17A1,
      AMIGO2, PTPRR, KPNA7 and KCNN4. Through STRING 2.0 protein-protein interactions
      (PPIs) analysis, 40 proteins were identified in the shortest paths between genes
      in the gene set, 30 of them passed the permutation test, which indicated they
      were hubs in the background network. Those genes in the protein-protein
      interaction network were enriched to 37 functional modules, such as: negative
      regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter, negative regulation
      of ERK1 and ERK2 cascade and BMP signaling pathway. Our study indicated new
      mechanism of pancreatic cancer, suggesting potential therapeutic targets for
      further study.

PMID- 28611294
TI  - Microarray-based detection and expression analysis of new genes associated with
      drug resistance in ovarian cancer cell lines.
AB  - PURPOSE: The present study is to discover a new genes associated with drug
      resistance development in ovarian cancer. METHODS: We used microarray analysis to
      determine alterations in the level of expression of genes in cisplatin- (CisPt),
      doxorubicin- (Dox), topotecan- (Top), and paclitaxel- (Pac) resistant variants of
      W1 and A2780 ovarian cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemistry assay was used to
      determine protein expression in ovarian cancer patients. RESULTS: We observed
      alterations in the expression of 22 genes that were common to all three cell
      lines that were resistant to the same cytostatic drug. The level of expression of
      13 genes was upregulated and that of nine genes was downregulated. In the CisPt
      resistant cell line, we observed downregulated expression of ABCC6, BST2, ERAP2
      and MCTP1; in the Pac-resistant cell line, we observe upregulated expression of
      ABCB1, EPHA7 and RUNDC3B and downregulated expression of LIPG, MCTP1, NSBP1,
      PCDH9, PTPRK and SEMA3A. The expression levels of three genes, ABCB1, ABCB4 and
      IFI16, were upregulated in the Dox-resistant cell lines. In the Top-resistant
      cell lines, we observed increased expression levels of ABCG2, HERC5, IFIH1, MYOT,
      S100A3, SAMD4A, SPP1 and TGFBI and decreased expression levels of MCTP1 and
      PTPRK. The expression of EPHA7, IFI16, SPP1 and TGFBI was confirmed at protein
      level in analyzed ovarian cancer patients.. CONCLUSIONS: The expression profiles
      of the investigated cell lines indicated that new candidate genes are related to
      the development of resistance to the cytostatic drugs that are used in first- and
      second-line chemotherapy of ovarian cancer.

PMID- 28611295
TI  - Assessment of concordance between fresh-frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin
      embedded tumor DNA methylation using a targeted sequencing approach.
AB  - DNA methylation is altered in many types of disease, including metastatic
      colorectal cancer. However, the methylome has not yet been fully described in
      archival formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples in the context of
      matched fresh-frozen (FF) tumor material at base-pair resolution using a targeted
      approach. Using next-generation sequencing, we investigated three pairs of
      matched FFPE and FF samples to determine the extent of their similarity. We
      identified a 'bowing' pattern specific to FFPE samples categorized by a lower CG
      proportion at the start of sequence reads. We have found no evidence that this
      affected methylation calling, nor concordance of results. We also found no
      significant increase in deamination, measured by C>T transitions, previously
      considered a result of crosslinking DNA by formalin fixation and a barrier to the
      use of FFPE in methylation studies. The methods used in this study have shown
      sensitivity of between 60-70% based on positions also methylated in colorectal
      cancer cell lines. We demonstrate that FFPE material is a useful source of tumor
      material for methylation studies using targeted sequencing.

PMID- 28611296
TI  - Does the 1H-NMR plasma metabolome reflect the host-tumor interactions in human
      breast cancer?
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) is the most common diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of
      cancer death in women worldwide. There is an obvious need for a better
      understanding of BC biology. Alterations in the serum metabolome of BC patients
      have been identified but their clinical significance remains elusive. We
      evaluated by 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy, filtered plasma
      metabolome of 50 early (EBC) and 15 metastatic BC (MBC) patients. Using Principal
      Component Analysis, Partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis and Hierarchical
      Clustering we show that plasma levels of glucose, lactate, pyruvate, alanine,
      leucine, isoleucine, glutamate, glutamine, valine, lysine, glycine, threonine,
      tyrosine, phenylalanine, acetate, acetoacetate, beta-hydroxy-butyrate, urea,
      creatine and creatinine are modulated across patients clusters. In particular
      lactate levels are inversely correlated with the tumor size in the EBC cohort
      (Pearson correlation r = -0.309; p = 0.044). We suggest that, in BC patients,
      tumor cells could induce modulation of the whole patient's metabolism even at
      early stages. If confirmed in a lager study these observations could be of
      clinical importance.

PMID- 28611297
TI  - Endogenous IL-33 has no effect on the progression of fibrosis during experimental
      steatohepatitis.
AB  - Interleukin (IL)-33 has been recently reported to be strongly pro-fibrogenic in
      various models of liver disease. Our aim was to study the role of endogenous IL
      33 in a diet-induced model of steatohepatitis. IL-33 deficient mice and wild type
      (WT) littermates received a high-fat diet (HFD), or a standard diet for 12 weeks.
      The HFD-induced steatohepatitis was associated with an upregulation of IL-33
      transcripts and protein. An insulin tolerance test revealed lower systemic
      insulin sensitivity in IL-33-/-HFD mice than in WT-HFD mice. Nevertheless, IL-33
      deficiency did not affect the severity of liver inflammation by histological and
      transcriptomic analyses, nor the quantity of liver fibrosis. Livers from HFD mice
      had more myeloid populations, markedly fewer NKT cells and higher proportion of
      ST2+ Treg cells and ST2+ type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), all unaffected by
      IL-33 deficiency. In conclusion, deficiency of endogenous IL-33 does not affect
      the evolution of experimental diet-induced steatohepatitis towards liver
      fibrosis.

PMID- 28611298
TI  - Tumor diversity and evolution revealed through RADseq.
AB  - Cancer is an evolutionary disease, and there is increasing interest in applying
      tools from evolutionary biology to understand cancer progression. Restriction
      site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) was developed for the field of
      evolutionary genetics to study adaptation and identify evolutionary relationships
      among populations. Here we apply RADseq to study tumor evolution, which allows
      for unbiased sampling of any desired frequency of the genome, overcoming the
      selection bias and cost limitations inherent to exome or whole-genome sequencing.
      We apply RADseq to both human pancreatic cancer and zebrafish melanoma samples.
      Using either a low-frequency (SbfI, 0.4% of the genome) or high-frequency (NsiI,
      6-9% of the genome) cutter, we successfully identify single nucleotide
      substitutions and copy number alterations in tumors, which can be augmented by
      performing RADseq on sublineages within the tumor. We are able to infer
      phylogenetic relationships between primary tumors and metastases. These same
      methods can be used to identify somatic mosaicism in seemingly normal, non
      cancerous tissues. Evolutionary studies of cancer that focus on rates of tumor
      evolution and evolutionary relationships among tumor lineages will benefit from
      the flexibility and efficiency of restriction-site associated DNA sequencing.

PMID- 28611299
TI  - Cblb-deficient T cells are less susceptible to PD-L1-mediated inhibition.
AB  - Modulation of the immune system for the treatment of primary and metastatic
      tumors has been a goal of cancer research for many years. The E3 ubiquitin ligase
      Cbl-b has been established as an intracellular checkpoint that limits T cell
      activation, critically contributing to the maintenance of self-tolerance.
      Furthermore, it has been shown that Cblb deficiency enhances T cell effector
      functions towards tumors. Blockade of the immune checkpoints CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD
      L1 has recently emerged as a promising strategy in the development of effective
      cancer immune therapies. Therefore, we explored the concept of targeting
      different checkpoints concomitantly. Interestingly, we observed that CTLA-4 but
      not PD-L1 based immunotherapy selectively enhanced the anti-tumor phenotype of
      Cblb-deficient mice. In agreement with the in vivo results, in vitro experiments
      showed that Cblb-/- T cells were less susceptible to PD-L1-mediated suppression
      of T cell proliferation and IFNgamma secretion. Taken together, our findings
      reveal a so far unappreciated function of Cbl-b in the regulation of PD-1
      signaling in murine T cells.

PMID- 28611313
TI  - Targeting the proteasome in epilepsy.

PMID- 28611314
TI  - Olaparib and somatic BRCA mutations.

PMID- 28611300
TI  - Consistency mapping of 16 lymph node stations in gastric cancer by CT-based
      vessel-guided delineation of 255 patients.
AB  - In order to refine the location and metastasis-risk density of 16 lymph node
      stations of gastric cancer for neoadjuvant radiotherapy, we retrospectively
      reviewed the initial images and pathological reports of 255 gastric cancer
      patients with lymphatic metastasis. Metastatic lymph nodes identified in the
      initial computed tomography images were investigated by two radiologists with
      gastrointestinal specialty. A circle with a diameter of 5 mm was used to identify
      the central position of each metastatic lymph node, defined as the LNc (the
      central position of the lymph node). The LNc was drawn at the equivalent location
      on the reference images of a standard patient based on the relative distances to
      the same reference vessels and the gastric wall using a Monaco(r) version 5.0
      workstation. The image manipulation software Medi-capture was programmed for
      image analysis to produce a contour and density atlas of 16 lymph node stations.
      Based on a total of 2846 LNcs contoured (31-599 per lymph node station), we
      created a density distribution map of 16 lymph node drainage stations of the
      stomach on computed tomography images, showing the detailed radiographic
      delineation of each lymph node station as well as high-risk areas for lymph node
      metastasis. Our mapping can serve as a template for the delineation of gastric
      lymph node stations when defining clinical target volume in pre-operative
      radiotherapy for gastric cancer.

PMID- 28611315
TI  - The tuberous sclerosis complex gets fatter.

PMID- 28611317
TI  - India meets the challenge and goes for gold.

PMID- 28611318
TI  - Need to encourage the basic dental science.

PMID- 28611319
TI  - Assessing alpha-tocopherol levels in patients with keratocystic odontogenic
      tumor: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: A keratocystic odontogenic tumour (KCOT) is a benign uni- or
      multicystic, intraosseous tumour of odontogenic origin, with a characteristic
      lining of parakeratinized stratified squamous epithelium and potential for
      aggressive, infiltrative behaviour. Various studies in hamsters showed that,
      alpha-Tocopherol, which is an active biological form of Vitamin E, is a potent
      antioxidant known to inhibit tumour formation and also regression of established
      tumours. So, the aim of the present pilot study was to assess the levels of Alpha
      Tocopherol(Vitamin E) in Patients with KCOT and compare them with Vitamin E
      levels in normal healthy individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 20
      individuals were taken and Alpha Tocopherol levels in serum were assessed.
      Independent sample t test was used to analyse the data. Serum Vitamin-E levels
      were found to be decreased in KCOT cases. RESULTS: Mean Vitamin-E level was found
      to be decreased (mean + S.D. = 10,549.34 +/- 2494.21 ng/mL) as compared to
      healthy controls (mean + S.D. = 13,982.42 +/- 2178.02 ng/mL). The reduction in
      serum vitamin E level was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The
      reduction in Vitamin E levels in KCOT patients might be suggestive of the
      possible interrelation between Vitamin E and KCOT invivo. Also, increase in
      intake of Vitamin E might help in reducing the risk of recurrence in KCOT by
      reducing the dysregulation of Cyclin D1 and Down-Regulation of mutant p53.

PMID- 28611320
TI  - Prevalence of low back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome among dental practitioners
      in Dakshina Kannada and Coorg District.
AB  - CONTEXT: Dental practitioners who usually have to work for long durations in a
      particular fixed posture are more prone to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs),
      particularly those involving the hand and wrist and also of the lower back. AIMS:
      To study the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and low back pain (LBP)
      among dental practitioners and to correlate the symptoms with the duration of
      practice. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A closed-end questionnaire was distributed to 100
      dental practitioners from Dakshina Kannada and Coorg districts of Karnataka,
      India. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Analyses were carried out using Chi-square test
      and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The study found that 86% of the total
      population of dentists practicing for more than 5 years showed symptoms of CTS
      and 54.0% experienced LBP. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of MSDs related to hands, wrists,
      and low back is widely prevalent among the dentists, which severely impact their
      work efficiency. Precautionary measures early in the clinical practice such as
      proper ergonomics in the operating field and few strengthening exercises as
      described in this study can reduce the onset and progression of the symptoms.

PMID- 28611321
TI  - Salivary Interleukin-6 - A pioneering marker for correlating diabetes and chronic
      periodontitis: A comparative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease which is
      multifactorial. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the major systemic factors to
      influence the severity of chronic periodontitis. Numerous inflammatory markers
      are produced in the course of the disease which is secreted in saliva too. This
      study evaluates the salivary concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in
      periodontitis patients with type 2 diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole saliva
      samples were collected from eighty patients who were further divided into four
      groups; healthy (control group; n = 20), untreated periodontitis (UPD; n = 20),
      DM (DM; n = 20), and UPD + DM (n = 20 groups). Salivary IL-6 concentrations were
      determined by standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Results show
      that the UPD patients with and without DM exhibited higher concentrations of
      salivary IL-6 than the control group and diabetes groups. Further, the salivary
      IL-6 was correlated with glycosylated hemoglobin A levels in patients with
      diabetes. CONCLUSION: Concentration of salivary IL-6 was elevated in patients
      with periodontitis with and without diabetes. Thus, salivary IL-6 levels can be
      considered as an important biomarker in the diagnosis of periodontitis and
      diabetes.

PMID- 28611322
TI  - Screening the antigenic properties of Porphyromonas gingivalis and level of
      raised antibodies after antigenic injection into Balb/c Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Different diagnostic screening tests have been developed to detect
      periodontal disease in the early stages. Despite these advances still, there is a
      need for a more practical and beneficial diagnostic test. AIM: The aim of this
      study was to investigate the possibility of developing such a kit based on the
      body immune response against Porphyromonas gingivalis. METHOD AND MATERIALS: This
      experimental study was conducted by culturing P. gingivalis and extracting its
      antigens. These antigens were injected into peritoneal cavity of four Balb/c
      mice. Finally, the pattern, type, and quantity of antibody response against P.
      gingivalis antigen were detected. Results of the study showed that 3.0 * 108
      cells of P. gingivalis are an appropriate count for stimulating the immunization
      in Balb/c mice and the subsequent amount of antibody (IgG) production was 81.5
      MUg/ml. RESULT: The antigenic injections which were done in the current study
      could mimic the condition of periodontal disease and the raise of P. gingivalis
      in the body. CONCLUSION: The obtained data can be used in future attempts to
      develop practical and usable test kits against P. gingivalis.

PMID- 28611323
TI  - Evaluation of gingival blood as a minimally invasive screening tool for diabetes
      mellitus among 40-59-year-old adults in dental clinics: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a quick, safe, and minimally invasive method to screen for
      diabetes using gingival blood with the help of self-monitoring glucometer during
      periodontal examination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A hospital-based, cross-sectional
      comparative study was conducted among 40-59-year-old diabetic and nondiabetic
      population who had come for their master health examination to a private tertiary
      care hospital (Global Hospital and Health City) in Chennai. Among them, those who
      fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Thirty diabetic and
      thirty nondiabetic patients with moderate to severe gingivitis were enrolled and
      subjected to routine clinical periodontal examination. Blood samples of two sites
      were analyzed using a glucose self-monitoring device (Accu-Check). Patients were
      tested for venous fasting blood sugar (VFBS), venous postprandial blood sugar
      (VPPS), gingival fasting blood sugar (GFBS) level, gingival postprandial blood
      sugar (GPPS) level, peripheral fingerstick fasting blood sugar (PFBS) level, and
      peripheral fingerstick postprandial sugar (PPPS) level. Data obtained were
      statistically analyzed using Student's t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation
      test. RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was found between GFBS and
      VFBS, GFBS and PFBS, GPPS and VPPS, and GPPS and PPPS (P < 0.01) in both diabetic
      and nondiabetic patients correlation. Using venous blood glucose level as a gold
      standard, the sensitivity and specificity of GFBS was 93% and 100%, respectively,
      whereas in GPPS, the sensitivity and specificity was 80% and 96%, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Gingival blood glucometry can be used as a minimally invasive
      screening tool for diabetes mellitus in dental clinics.

PMID- 28611324
TI  - Comparative evaluation of Mangifera indica leaf mouthwash with chlorhexidine on
      plaque accumulation, gingival inflammation, and salivary streptococcal growth.
AB  - AIMS: This study aims to compare the efficacy of a mango (Mangifera indica) leaf
      mouthwash with chlorhexidine on plaque status, gingival status, and salivary
      Streptococcus mutans count. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of twenty children,
      aged 8-14 years, Mangalore Residential School, Karnataka, India, was allocated
      into two groups. Group A (10) and Group B (10) were given test mouthwash "mango
      leaf mouthwash" and chlorhexidine, respectively. The clinical trial was carried
      out for 1/2 h after rinsing and after 5 days, during which children were asked to
      rinse once daily, with 10 ml of the given mouthwash 1/2 h after tooth brushing.
      RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in microbial count, improved plaque
      control and gingival health in mango leaf and chlorhexidine mouthwash groups with
      higher reduction in microbial count, and better plaque control and gingival
      health seen in chlorhexidine group. CONCLUSION: Herbal alternatives proved to be
      an effective and safe alternative to conventional modes of treatment.

PMID- 28611316
TI  - Effects of resveratrol, curcumin, berberine and other nutraceuticals on aging,
      cancer development, cancer stem cells and microRNAs.
AB  - Natural products or nutraceuticals have been shown to elicit anti-aging, anti
      cancer and other health-enhancing effects. A key target of the effects of natural
      products may be the regulation of microRNA (miR) expression which results in cell
      death or prevents aging, diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases. This review
      will focus on a few natural products, especially on resveratrol (RES), curcumin
      (CUR) and berberine (BBR). RES is obtained from the skins of grapes and other
      fruits and berries. RES may extend human lifespan by activating the sirtuins and
      SIRT1 molecules. CUR is isolated from the root of turmeric (Curcuma longa). CUR
      is currently used in the treatment of many disorders, especially in those
      involving an inflammatory process. CUR and modified derivatives have been shown
      to have potent anti-cancer effects, especially on cancer stem cells (CSC). BBR is
      also isolated from various plants (e.g., Coptis chinensis) and has been used for
      centuries in traditional medicine to treat diseases such as adult- onset
      diabetes. Understanding the benefits of these and other nutraceuticals may result
      in approaches to improve human health.

PMID- 28611326
TI  - Serum Cyfra 21-1 levels in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients and its
      clinicopathologic correlation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant
      tumor in the oral and maxillofacial region. The diagnosis in most cases is made
      at advanced stages with lymph node metastases and thus has a poor prognosis.
      Evidence suggests that detection of molecular abnormalities might be useful in
      screening for early malignancy. Cytokeratins (CKs) are part of the epithelial
      cytoskeleton. In malignancy, some CK filament fragments might be released in the
      serum. CK19 fragment Cyfra 21-1 is useful tumor marker for squamous cell
      carcinoma, but its clinical value in OSCC has not been confirmed. Hence, the aim
      was to investigate the diagnostic value of serum Cyfra 21-1 in OSCC patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The preoperative serum Cyfra 21-1 concentration of forty
      OSCC patients and forty healthy controls was detected by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercial Cyfra 21-1 ELISA kit Xema Co.,
      Ltd., Moscow, Russia. All statistical analyses were performed on STATISTICA
      statistical software (Windows version 6.0). RESULTS: There was a statistically
      significant difference (P P P = 0.459). CONCLUSION: It could thus be conjectured
      from the present study that increased serum Cyfra 21-1 level can be used as an
      adjunctive serological marker for the OSCC disease staging.

PMID- 28611325
TI  - Esthetic preferences of laypersons of different cultures and races with regard to
      smile attractiveness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Culture and ethnicity are among the factors affecting esthetic
      judgment of individuals. AIMS: This study aimed to assess the acceptability
      threshold of variations in four components of an esthetic smile namely vertical
      lip thickness, dental midline deviation, buccal corridor, and the golden ratio in
      maxillary lateral incisors display among laypersons of different races and
      cultures. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Raters (n = 35 in each city) among laypersons of
      nine cities namely Istanbul, Isfahan, Tabriz, Tehran, Doha, Rome, Sydney,
      Chicago, and Yazd, were given a photo album containing 27 random images of an
      attractive female smile, digitally altered with regard to the four smile
      components. They scored each picture from 0 to 100 in terms of smile
      attractiveness. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed using SPSS 13 and the
      acceptability threshold for each component was calculated in each city using the
      Spearman and Wilcoxon tests. P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
      RESULTS: No significant differences were noted with regard to the increased
      vertical lip thickness, and an acceptability threshold could not be determined
      for it. The acceptability thresholds for midline deviations, buccal corridor, and
      the golden ratio were different among different cities. One-millimeter increase
      in the displayed width of maxillary lateral incisors was more desirable than the
      golden ratio standard width. CONCLUSION: Culture and race may significantly
      affect the esthetic preference of individuals with regard to smile
      attractiveness.

PMID- 28611327
TI  - Overgrowth of costochondral graft in temporomandibular joint ankylosis
      reconstruction: A retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis is a situation in which the
      mandibular condyle is fused to the glenoid fossa by bone or fibrous tissue. The
      management of TMJ ankylosis has a complicated chore, and it is challenging for
      the maxillofacial surgeon because of technical hitches and high rate of
      reankylosis. Costochondral graft (CCG) is a common treatment modality for TMJ
      ankylosis. One of disadvantages of CCG is unpredictability of growth pattern and
      risk of overgrowth. This report illustrates the fate of CCG used in the TMJ
      reconstruction and also the management of patients with CCG overgrowth. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A retrospective evaluation of 14 patients presented with unilateral
      TMJ ankylosis reconstructed using CCG treated in our hospital from 2000 to 2013
      was done. Only patients with unilateral ankylosis treated by CCG with at least 2
      year follow-up and complete case records with clinical and radiographic details
      were included in the study. Patients with bilateral ankylosis, reankylosis,
      missing details, and the patients with <2-year follow-up were excluded from the
      study. The patients were selected based on the specified inclusion/exclusion
      criteria. All the patients were analyzed clinically and radiographically. Facial
      appearance, jaw motion, occlusion, contour, and linear growth changes were
      documented preoperatively, immediately postoperatively, and long term (>2 years).
      RESULTS: Totally 14 unilateral temporomandibular ankylosis cases were
      reconstructed using CCG from the period of 2000-2013. The mean age of the
      patients is 5.2 years with the standard deviation of 1.48 ranging from 3 to 9
      years. Follow-up of the patients ranges from 2 to 6 years with mean follow-up of
      3 years. Out of 14 patients, 2 patients had normal growth of CCG after the mean
      follow-up of 3 years, whereas 5 patients presented with moderate growth, 4
      patients with CCG overgrowth, and 3 patients presented with no growth of CCG
      following surgery. Overgrown CCG was treated with condylar shaving, and
      orthodontic elastic was maintained to stabilize the occlusion. Moderately grown
      and nongrowing CCG was treated by internal distractor for the management of
      facial symmetry. Facial asymmetry and malocclusion were successfully corrected in
      all patients with altered growth pattern. CONCLUSION: The growth pattern of the
      CCG is extremely unpredictable, which can be in the form of no growth at all or
      excessive growth, and mandibular overgrowth on the grafted site can actually be
      more troublesome than the lack of growth. Care should also be taken to ensure
      proper postoperative functional therapy and to examine the role of cartilage
      thickness on future growth in young patients.

PMID- 28611328
TI  - Volumetric analysis of root filling with cold lateral compaction, Obtura II,
      Thermafil, and Calamus using spiral computerized tomography: An In vitro Study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present study is volumetric analysis of root canal filling
      with cold lateral compaction, Obtura II, Thermafil, and Calamus using spiral
      computerized tomography (SCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Root canals of eighty
      mandibular premolars were instrumented using rotary ProTaper, and the volume of
      the canal space was measured using spiral computerized tomography (SCT). The
      teeth were divided into four groups of twenty teeth each, and root canals filled
      by lateral compaction technique, Thermafil carriers, Obtura II, and Calamus
      techniques, respectively. AH Plus was used as a sealer with all techniques. The
      filled volume in each canal was measured using SCT, and the percentage of
      obturated volume (POV) was calculated. The data were statistically analyzed using
      ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS: The four groups
      were comparable in canal volume. The overall POV was 78.11%, 85.72%, 82.50%, and
      87.89% for lateral compaction, Thermafil, Obtura II, and Calamus, respectively (P
      Conclusion: The greatest POV was obtained with Calamus and Thermafil. Voids were
      seen in all root fillings.

PMID- 28611329
TI  - Comparative evaluation of shaping ability of V-Taper 2H, ProTaper Next, and
      HyFlex CM in curved canals using cone-beam computed tomography: An in vitro
      Study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the canal transportation and canal
      centering ability in the preparation of curved root canals after instrumentation
      with V-Taper 2H, ProTaper Next (PN), and Hyflex CM files using cone-beam computed
      tomography (CBCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty mesiobuccal canals of mandibular
      molars with an angle of curvature ranging from 20 to 40 were divided according to
      the instrument used in canal preparation into three groups of ten samples each: V
      Taper 2H (Group 1), PN (Group 2), and Hyflex CM (Group 3). The teeth were
      instrumented according to manufacturer's guidelines up to 30 no. apical
      preparation. Canals were scanned using a CBCT scanner before and after
      preparation to evaluate the transportation and centering ratio at 3 mm, 6 mm, and
      9 mm from the apex. The amount of transportation and centering ability was
      assessed. The three groups were statistically compared with analysis of variance
      and post hoc Tukey test. RESULTS: All instruments maintained the original canal
      curvature with significant differences between the different files. Data
      suggested that V-Taper 2H files presented the best outcomes for both the
      variables evaluated. V-Taper 2H files caused lesser transportation and remained
      better centered in the canal than PN and Hyflex CM files. However, it was seen
      that PN caused less transportation in apical level than Hyflex CM. CONCLUSION:
      The canal preparation with V-Taper 2H showed lesser transportation and better
      centering ability than PN and Hyflex CM.

PMID- 28611330
TI  - Mini review: Multifaceted role played by cyclin D1 in tumor behavior.
AB  - The objective of this paper is to discuss and put forward the various diversified
      roles of cyclin D1 in cancer. Neoplasia is defined by abnormal regulation of the
      cell cycle. Cyclin D1 could be a protein derived from the PRAD1, CCND1, or bcl-1
      sequence on body 11q13 that is concerned in each traditional regulation of the
      cell cycle and pathologic process. Within the G1 (resting) part of the cell
      cycle, cyclin D1 in conjunction with its cyclin-dependent enzyme (cyclin
      dependent kinase) partner is accountable for transition to the S (DNA synthesis)
      part by phosphorylating the merchandise of the metastatic tumor sequence (protein
      retinoblastoma) that then releases transcription factors vital within the
      initiation of DNA replication. Amplification of the sequence or overexpression of
      the cyclin D1 releases a cell from its traditional controls and causes
      transformation to a malignant composition. Analysis of those changes provides
      vital diagnostic information in oral carcinogenesis and is of prognostic value in
      several cancers. Data of cyclin D1's role in malignancy at the assorted sites
      provide a basis on which future treatment directed against this molecule will
      proceed.

PMID- 28611331
TI  - Body dysmorphic disorder: Diagnosis, clinical aspects and treatment strategies.
AB  - AIM: With the increased demand to undertake dental aesthetic and reconstructive
      procedures, it is imperative for all dental clinicians to have an understanding
      of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Patient's preoccupations with perceived defect
      in appearance or excessive concern about minimal flaws are among diagnostic
      criteria of BDD. Such patients are difficult to please and often undergo cosmetic
      procedures such as orthodontic treatment. METHODOLOGY: Literature search in
      PubMed/MEDLINE was conducted from 1891 to 2015. A manual search of relevant
      articles and review was done and relevant data was collected and analysed.
      RESULTS: One of the most common areas of preoccupation is the dento-facial
      region, with up to 20% of patients diagnosed with BDD expressing specific concern
      regarding their dental appearance. CONCLUSION: BDD patients often request
      multiple aesthetic procedures, but remain unsatisfied with their treatment
      results.

PMID- 28611332
TI  - Gingival tissue proliferation into the tooth following iatrogenic miniscrew
      insertion: A newer underreported complication.
AB  - Miniscrew implant (MSI) has been reported to be an excellent, supportive
      orthodontic anchorage tool. The placement of MSI is not free from complication
      and foremost of which is penetration of MSI into the vital tooth structures. This
      case report is probably the first to report a newer underreported complication.
      Interestingly, a small bit of gingival tissue was found deep inside the dentin of
      the tooth, surviving and proliferating in the MSI-damaged zone. This case report
      is probably the first to give direct histological evidence in humans that a MSI
      can cause implantation phenomenon which has the potential to give rise to
      numerous pathologies including pulpal, periodontal, and cystic transformation.
      Through this report, it is emphasized that clinicians should have a structured,
      formal MSI placement training to avoid such instances and also underlines the
      need to develop protocols to be followed in the instance of an inadvertent MSI
      penetration.

PMID- 28611333
TI  - Triple dens invaginatus in a single tooth: Rarest of rare case report.
AB  - Dens invaginatus is a rare malformation affecting the teeth. The teeth that are
      most commonly affected are the permanent maxillary lateral incisors. The
      mandibular posterior teeth are rarely affected by dens invaginatus. In most of
      the cases, a single dens invaginatus is seen affecting the tooth. Cases of double
      dens invaginatus affecting a single tooth are rare, and those of triple dens
      invaginatus in a single tooth are even rarer. Here, we present a case of a 14
      year-old where three dens invaginatus were seen in the mandibular second
      premolar. This is the fourth case of three dens invaginatus in a single tooth as
      only three have been reported previously.

PMID- 28611335
TI  - The role of N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of non-acetaminophen acute liver
      failure.

PMID- 28611334
TI  - Surgical pneumatization through maxillary sinus wall and the schneiderian
      membrane: A new technique to facilitate augmentation of the maxillary sinus.
AB  - A minimum subantral bone height in the posterior maxilla may require a bone
      augmentation where a sinus lift procedure is the most commonly used technique,
      either preceding or simultaneously with the implant installation. While elevating
      the Schneiderian membrane ruptures are common, possibly resulting in less bone
      formation. In this paper, we propose the surgical pneumatization of the
      Schneiderian membrane as a new technique to minimize the risk of such
      complications. This can be achieved mainly by creating a hole for the immediate
      and increased passage of air through the Schneiderian membrane and the maxillary
      sinus wall above the region of augmentation.

PMID- 28611337
TI  - BRAF mutation is associated with poor clinicopathological outcomes in colorectal
      cancer: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The clinical relevance of the BRAF mutation in colorectal
      carcinoma (CRC) remains controversial. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis
      to evaluate the precise relationship of BRAF mutation to clinicopathological
      features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic search of the electronic databases,
      including PubMed, the Web of Knowledge, and the China Journal Net was performed
      between January 2005 and December 2015. Outcomes of interest included gender,
      tumor site, tumor differentiation, node involvement, tumor size, and AJCC stage.
      We calculated the pooled odds ratios (ORs) or risk ratios with 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) for each study using a random or fixed-effect model. RESULTS:
      Twenty-five studies with a total of 13208 patients were included. BRAF mutation
      positive CRC patients were 1464 (11.1%). Our meta-analysis revealed that, in
      patients with CRC, the BRAF mutation was associated with female, proximal site,
      poor differentiation, >5 cm size, and advanced AJCC stage. CONCLUSIONS: This meta
      analysis demonstrated that BRAF mutation was closely related to adverse
      pathological features and poor outcome of CRC.

PMID- 28611336
TI  - Safety of non-anesthesia provider administered propofol sedation in non-advanced
      gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety of non
      anesthesia provider (NAPP) administered propofol sedation in patients undergoing
      non-advanced gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopic procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane central register of controlled trials, Scopus, and Web
      of Science databases were searched for prospective observational trials involving
      non-advanced endoscopic procedures. From a total of 608 publications, 25
      [colonoscopy (9), upper GI endoscopy (5), and combined procedures (11)] were
      identified to meet inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Data was analyzed for
      hypoxia rates, airway intervention rates, and airway complication rates. RESULTS:
      A total of 137,087 patients were involved. A total of 2931 hypoxia episodes
      (defined as an oxygen saturation below 90%) were reported with a pooled hypoxia
      rate of 0.014 (95% CI being 0.008-0.023). Similarly, pooled airway intervention
      rates and pooled airway complication rates were 0.002 (95% CI being 0.006-0.001)
      and 0.001 (95% CI being 0.000-0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of
      adverse events in patients undergoing non-advanced GI endoscopic procedures with
      NAPP sedation are extremely small. Similar data for anesthesia providers is not
      available. It is prudent for anesthesia providers to demonstrate their
      superiority in prospective randomized controlled trials, if they like to retain
      exclusive ownership over propofol sedation in patients undergoing GI endoscopy.

PMID- 28611339
TI  - Policy of screening for colorectal cancer in Saudi Arabia: A prospective
      analysis.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Several
      policies of CRC screening are available in different countries. The idea of
      screening is to identify patients at risk by detection of precancerous and small
      cancers early enough before they become advanced. In Saudi Arabia (SA), there is
      no countrywide policy for CRC screening despite the increasing incidence of the
      disease. Screening for CRC is a multidisciplinary approach that requires
      education programs, substantial financial support, several logistic measures, and
      predetermined resources before implementing such a program. We performed a
      prospective and systematic analysis of the of the screening policy of CRC in SA
      in view of high demand, anticipated development, and implementation of such a
      policy in the near future. We also attempted to investigate the justification for
      developing such a policy, as well as the difficulties, barriers, and
      opportunities that may be faced in its implementation. Further, we highlighted
      the current view of similar international screening policies. In this analysis,
      we adopted the framework for health policy analysis that examines four areas
      which may affect policy development, namely; content, context, process and
      actors.

PMID- 28611338
TI  - Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with double balloon enteroscope in
      patients with altered gastrointestinal anatomy: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and
      safety of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with double balloon
      enteroscope (DBE-ERCP) in patients with altered gastrointestinal anatomy in a
      meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was
      conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library covering the period from
      January 2001 to December 2015. Data were selected and abstracted from eligible
      studies and were pooled using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed
      using the I2 test. RESULTS: Ten studies involving a total of 301 patients were
      included in the analysis. The pooled enteroscopy, diagnostic, and therapeutic
      success rates were 89.75% [95% confidence interval (CI): 79.65-94.30%], 79.92%
      (95% CI: 68.06-89.59%), and 63.55% (95% CI: 53.70-72.86%), respectively. DBE-ERCP
      related complications occurred in 18 patients including perforation (5),
      pancreatitis (3), cholangitis (9), and bleeding (1). The incidence of DBE-ERCP
      related complication was 6.27% (95% CI: 2.61-11.38%). CONCLUSION: Diagnostic and
      therapeutic DBE-ERCPs are feasible in patients with altered gastrointestinal
      anatomy. DBE-ERCP may be considered when pancreaticobiliary diseases occur in
      patients undergoing Roux-en-Y reconstruction or pancreaticoduodenectomy.

PMID- 28611340
TI  - Role of N-acetylcysteine treatment in non-acetaminophen-induced acute liver
      failure: A prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare but severe medical
      emergency. To date, there is no established treatment for non-acetaminophen
      induced acute liver failure (NAI-ALF) other than liver transplantation, and
      little is known about the use of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in NAI-ALF. A randomized
      case control study was conducted with the aim to determine the effect of NAC on
      the mortality of NAI-ALF patients, as well as to evaluate the safety and efficacy
      of NAC use. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 80 patients diagnosed with NAI-ALF
      were included in the study. Forty patients received NAC infusion for 72 h whereas
      the control group received placebo. The variables evaluated were demographic
      characteristics, signs and symptoms, biochemical parameters, and clinical course
      during hospitalization. RESULTS: The two groups (NAC and control) were comparable
      for various baseline characteristics (such as etiology of ALF, INR, alanine
      aminotransferase, creatinine, albumin, and grade of encephalopathy), except for
      age. Although majority of patients had undetermined etiology (32.5% in NAC group
      and 42.5% in control group), the second main cause was acute hepatitis E and drug
      or toxin-induced ALF. The mortality decreased to 28% with the use of NAC versus
      53% in the control group (P = 0.023). The use of NAC was associated with shorter
      length of hospital stay in survived patients (P = 0.002). Moreover, the survival
      of patients was improved by NAC (P = 0.025). Also, drug-induced ALF showed
      improved outcome compared to other etiologies. CONCLUSION: The findings of the
      study recommend the use of NAC along with conventional treatments in patients
      with NAI-ALF in non-transplant centers while awaiting referrals and conclude the
      use of NAC as safe.

PMID- 28611341
TI  - Prevalence and molecular characterization of hepatitis D virus in Saudi Arabia: A
      single-center study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus that is
      dependent on hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) for transmission and
      replication. HDV significance arises from the possibility of poor prognosis of
      hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In Saudi Arabia, HDV prevalence varied from 8
      to 32% before the HBV vaccination program and ranged from 0 to 14.7% after the
      vaccination program was started. The last study, performed in 2004, showed a
      prevalence of 8.6% in hospital-based HBV cases and 3.3% in healthy donors. The
      aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and molecular
      characterization of HDV in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients at the King
      Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by molecular and
      serological techniques. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to
      detect HDV at the molecular level in Saudi Arabia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The
      study included samples from 182 CHB patients from Jeddah; 13 samples with HBsAg
      negative were excluded. Samples were tested for HDV-Ab, viral RNA by reverse
      transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the HDV L-Ag region and
      sequence analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 44.36 years;
      75.1% of the participants were Saudi nationals, 58% were males. Nine samples were
      positive for HDV-Ab and four were borderline; all were subjected to RT-PCR
      amplification. Three of the positive HDV-Ab cases and 1 borderline case were
      positive by RT-PCR. All the positive cases had HBV genotype D, and the positive
      RT-PCR cases were positive for HBV DNA. One of the HDV viremic samples was of
      genotype 1 by sequencing. The prevalence of HDV in the study was 7.7%, which was
      lower in Saudis (6.3%) than in non-Saudis (11.9%). CONCLUSION: HDV coinfection
      does not seem to have an effect on the clinical status of the recruited CHB cases
      in this study. More studies are needed to investigate the genetic diversity in
      other areas such as the southern parts of the Kingdom.

PMID- 28611343
TI  - HBsAg clearance in chronic hepatitis B patients with add-on pegylated interferon
      alfa-2a to ongoing tenofovir treatment: A randomized controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The ideal end point of treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus
      (HBV) infection is sustained off-therapy hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss
      with or even without seroconversion to anti-HBs. We investigated the role of
      adding PEGylated interferon (PEG IFN) to ongoing tenofovir treatment in chronic
      HBV patients for achieving HBsAg clearance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this
      randomized controlled trial, chronic HBV patients who have been receiving
      tenofovir for >6 months with HBV viral load <2000 IU/ml were randomized into two
      groups. One group (add-on therapy) was given subcutaneous PEG IFN 180 mcg weekly
      for 12 months in addition to tenofovir. Patients in the other group received only
      tenofovir 300 mg orally on a daily basis. Patients in both groups were followed
      up for a total of two years, and patients in both groups were given tenofovir 300
      mg daily indefinitely until they developed HBsAg clearance. RESULTS: Twenty-three
      patients were allocated to the PEG IFN and tenofovir (add-on therapy) group, and
      another 25 patients were recruited to the tenofovir monotherapy group. Before
      randomization, patients had received tenofovir for 1135 mean days (range203 to
      1542 days). One patient (4.3%) in add-on therapy lost HBsAg and seroconverted.
      Within two years, mean HBsAg decreased significantly with add-on therapy (from
      4753 IU/ml to 2402; P= 0.03); and it decreased from 5957 IU/ml to 4198; P= 0.09
      in tenofovir monotherapy group. More patients in the add-on group developed
      serious side effects, with treatment discontinuation, and dose reductions (P =
      0.3). CONCLUSION: PEG IFN and tenofovir add-on therapy was successful in
      achieving HBsAg clearance and seroconversion in 4.3% of the patients. Add-on
      therapy patients had a significant decrease in HBsAg levels in two years; and no
      significant decrease in HBsAg levels with the tenofovir monotherapy. With no
      significant HBsAg clearance, the utility of this combination regimen is
      questionable.

PMID- 28611342
TI  - Is plasma caveolin-1 level a prognostic biomarker in metastatic pancreatic
      cancer?
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the prognostic significance of plasma caveolin (CAV)
      1 and its association with survival and treatment response rates in metastatic
      pancreatic cancer (MPC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Plasma samples were prospectively
      collected from 41 patients with newly diagnosed MPC. Moreover, plasma samples
      were collected from 48 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 41 healthy
      individuals (control groups) for assessing Cav-1 levels. Plasma Cav-1 levels were
      evaluated at baseline and after three cycles of chemotherapy in the patients with
      MPC. RESULTS: The median Cav-1 level was 13.8 ng/mL for the patients with MPC and
      12.2 ng/mL for healthy individuals (P = 0.009). The Cav-1 cut-off level was
      calculated as 11.6 ng/mL by using the receiver operating characteristic curve.
      The median overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 5 and 2.4
      months, respectively, for participants with a high basal plasma Cav-1 level; the
      corresponding values were 10.5 and 9.4 months for participants with a low plasma
      Cav-1 level (P = 0.011 and P= 0.003, respectively). Of the 41 patients with MPC,
      23 completed at least three cycles of chemotherapy. The median Cav-1 level was 13
      ng/mL for post-treatment MPC (r2: 0.917; P= 0.001). High basal plasma caveolin-1
      level have continued to remain at high levels even after chemotherapy, showing a
      trend toward worse response rates (P = 0.086). CONCLUSION: High basal plasma Cav
      1 levels seem to be associated with poor survival and tend to yield worse
      therapeutic outcomes in patients with MPC. This study is the first to evaluate
      the prognostic significance of plasma Cav-1 levels as a prognostic factor in
      patients with MPC. However, larger prospective clinical trials are warranted.

PMID- 28611344
TI  - Plasma ghrelin and leptin in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and its
      association with nutritional status.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ghrelin and leptin are thought to play a role in the loss of
      appetite in active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study seeks to probe
      into the association of these markers with regards to IBD and the nutritional
      status of these patients. A case-control study was conducted between May 2015 and
      March 2016 at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH). Thirty-one patients with
      IBD (both active and non-active) and forty-one healthy controls (both non-fasting
      and fasting) were recruited. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Plasma ghrelin and leptin
      levels were determined using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) technique. The
      nutritional status was determined through the standardized Mini-Nutritional
      Assessment (MNA) questionnaire. RESULTS: The difference in the plasma ghrelin
      between active (263.7 pg/mL) and non-active (108 pg/mL) cases was significant (P=
      0.02). The difference in mean plasma leptin level between active cases (229.4
      pg/mL) vs. non-active cases (359.7 pg/mL) was insignificant (P= 0.4). In fasting
      (2028.6 pg/mL) and non-fasting controls (438.8 pg/mL), the mean plasma ghrelin
      values was significantly different (P< 0.01). In contrast, the plasma leptin
      level difference between fasting (727.3 pg/mL) and non-fasting (577 pg/mL)
      controls was insignificant (P= 0.14). There is a statistically significant
      association in mean ghrelin levels between the case group and the control group
      (P< 0.01). With regards to nutritional status, the mean MNA score of active cases
      compared to fasting controls was 18.8 +/- 5 vs. 20.8 +/- 3.8, respectively (P<
      0.01) Conclusion: Ghrelin levels were lower in the active IBD cases compared to
      the inactive ones, signifying an underlying pathology as etiology to this
      phenomenon. Furthermore, ghrelin levels were significantly lower in both case
      groups compared to the controls. These findings, along with the disparity in the
      MNA scores, insinuate a possible link between hormone levels and the loss of
      appetite from which these patients suffer.

PMID- 28611345
TI  - Neuroblastoma amplified sequence gene mutation: A rare cause of recurrent liver
      failure in children.
AB  - Neuroblastoma amplified sequence (NBAS) gene mutation or infantile liver failure
      syndrome type 2 (ILFS type 2) is an extremely rare disease characterized by
      episodic liver failure precipitated by intercurrent febrile illness, and liver
      function recovering completely. Here, we report a 4-year-old girl with recurrent
      hepatitis. A diagnosis of ILFS type 2 was made based on NBAS mutation gene found
      by whole-exome sequencing. Our case provides a new insight toward considering
      NBAS mutation as a part of the differential diagnoses of any infant presenting
      with recurrent liver failure or hepatitis. We recommend sequencing NBAS in cases
      of recurrent hepatitis in infancy of unknown cause, especially in individuals
      with fever-associated hepatic dysfunction.

PMID- 28611346
TI  - A rare etiology of idiopathic acute pancreatitis.

PMID- 28611347
TI  - Erratum: Does combining liraglutide with intragastric balloon insertion improve
      sustained weight reduction?
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.4103/1319-3767.203362.].

PMID- 28611348
TI  - Early Detection of Subclinical Aortic Valve Endocarditis with the CardioMEMS
      Heart Failure System.
AB  - BACKGROUND The CardioMEMS Heart Failure System is a well validated tool to
      optimize management of systolic and diastolic heart failure and has been shown to
      reduce the risk of hospitalization by 37%. We are reporting a unique case of
      acute aortic valve insufficiency as a first sign of endocarditis, detected early
      in a patient with the CardioMEMS device. CASE REPORT A 79-year-old man with dual
      bioprosthetic mitral and aortic valve replacement and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy
      had a CardioMEMS Heart Failure System implanted 2 months following valve
      replacement surgery. The CardioMEMS System detected a gradual but steady increase
      in the pulmonary artery pressures while the patient was completely asymptomatic.
      A transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrated evidence of severe aortic valve
      regurgitation and mobile vegetation. The diagnosis of infective endocarditis was
      made with evidence of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and
      involvement of the bioprosthetic aortic valve. The patient ultimately underwent
      treatment with intravenous antibiotics and redo aortic valve replacement.
      CONCLUSIONS While the CardioMEMS Heart Failure System is effective in reducing
      readmission rates for patients with class III heart failure, it can detect early
      hemodynamic changes from conditions other than congestive heart failure. Our case
      illustrated the CardioMEMS-assisted early diagnosis of infective endocarditis
      prior to clinical deterioration.

PMID- 28611349
TI  - Stromal Expression of Vimentin Predicts the Clinical Outcome of Stage II
      Colorectal Cancer for High-Risk Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND Increased expression of vimentin in tissue samples from patients with
      colorectal cancer (CRC) has been previously demonstrated, but its prognostic
      significance remains controversial, and the clinical significance for patients
      with stage II CRC is still unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      expression of vimentin in CRC and its potential prognostic significance. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS We analyzed vimentin expression in 203 CRC tissue samples from
      patients with stage II cancer using immunohistochemistry, and correlated the
      findings with clinicopathological patient features. CRC-specific survival (CSS)
      and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
      Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional
      hazards method for survival. RESULTS Vimentin expression was significantly
      correlated only with tumor (T) stage (p=0.024). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis
      indicated that vimentin expression could stratify the CSS and DFS of patients
      with stage II CRC at high risk (p=0.029, p=0.042, respectively), but not those of
      low-risk stage II patients (p=0.208, p=0.361, respectively). Univariate and
      multivariate analysis further revealed that stromal vimentin expression is an
      independent prognostic factor for CSS and DFS of high-risk stage II patients
      (p=0.043, p=0.022, respectively). Moreover, high-risk stage II patients with low
      stromal vimentin expression benefitted more from standard adjuvant chemotherapy
      than those with high stromal vimentin expression (CSS: p=0.012 vs. p=0.407; DFS:
      p=0.017 vs. p=0.420). CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that stromal vimentin
      expression is a promising indicator for survival prediction and adjuvant
      chemotherapy response in patients with stage II CRC with high-risk factors for
      recurrence.

PMID- 28611350
TI  - FGF23 is synthesised locally by renal tubules and activates injury-primed
      fibroblasts.
AB  - In kidney disease, higher circulating levels of the mineral-regulating hormone
      fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23 are predictive of disease progression but
      direct pathogenic effects on the kidney are unknown. We sought evidence of local
      renal synthesis in response to unilateral ureteric obstruction in the mouse, and
      pro-fibrotic actions of FGF23 on the fibroblast in vitro. Acute
      tubulointerstitial injury due to unilateral ureteric obstruction stimulated renal
      FGF23 synthesis by tubules, and downregulated inactivating proprotein
      convertases, without effects on systemic mineral metabolism. In vitro, FGF23 had
      divergent effects on fibroblast activation in cells derived from normal and
      obstructed kidneys. While FGF23 failed to stimulate fibrogenesis in normal
      fibroblasts, in those primed by injury, FGF23 induced pro-fibrotic signalling
      cascades via activation of TGF-beta pathways. Effects were independent of alpha
      klotho. Tubule-derived FGF23 may amplify myofibroblast activation in acute renal
      injury, and might provide a novel therapeutic target in renal fibrosis.

PMID- 28611352
TI  - Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) of Rotating Modes Driven by Electrons in Electron
      Cyclotron Masers.
AB  - The well-defined orbital angular momentum (OAM) of rotating cavity modes
      operating near the cutoff frequency excited by gyrating electrons in a high-power
      electron cyclotron maser (ECM)-a gyrotron-has been derived by photonic and
      electromagnetic wave approaches. A mode generator was built with a high-precision
      3D printing technique to mimic the rotating gyrotron modes for precise low-power
      measurements and shows clear natural production of higher-order OAM modes. Cold
      test measurements of higher-order OAM mode generation promise the realization
      towards wireless long-range communications using high-power ECMs.

PMID- 28611351
TI  - New insight into the function of wheat glutenin proteins as investigated with two
      series of genetic mutants.
AB  - Among the three major food crops (rice, wheat and maize), wheat is unique in
      accumulating gluten proteins in its grains. Of these proteins, the high and low
      molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs and LMW-GSs) form glutenin
      macropolymers that are vital for the diverse end-uses of wheat grains. In this
      work, we developed a new series of deletion mutants lacking one or two of the
      three Glu-1 loci (Glu-A1, -B1 and -D1) specifying HMW-GSs. Comparative analysis
      of single and double deletion mutants reinforced the suggestion that Glu-D1
      (encoding the HMW-GSs 1Dx2 and 1Dy12) has the largest effects on the parameters
      related to gluten and dough functionalities and breadmaking quality. Consistent
      with this suggestion, the deletion mutants lacking Glu-D1 or its combination with
      Glu-A1 or Glu-B1 generally exhibited strong decreases in functional glutenin
      macropolymers (FGMPs) and in the incorporation of HMW-GSs and LMW-GSs into FGMPs.
      Further examination of two knockout mutants missing 1Dx2 or 1Dy12 showed that
      1Dx2 was clearly more effective than 1Dy12 in promoting FGMPs by enabling the
      incorporation of more HMW-GSs and LMW-GSs into FGMPs. The new insight obtained
      and the mutants developed by us may aid further research on the control of wheat
      end-use quality by glutenin proteins.

PMID- 28611353
TI  - Determination of arsenic and lead in single hair strands by laser ablation
      inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to develop matrix-matched hair standards and a LA
      ICP-MS technique for determination of the As and Pb in a single human hair using
      single spot scan mode. These results could subsequently be used to infer when the
      element entered the body. This study was conducted in two parts. First, a method
      was developed and validated for the elemental analysis of hair by LA-ICP-MS. A
      calibration strategy in LA-ICP-MS was developed using prepared matrix-matched
      laboratory hair standards doped with analytes of interest at a defined
      concentration. The use of hair strand standards enables calibration curves to be
      obtained by plotting the analyte ion (M+) intensity normalized to34S+(the ratio
      M+/34S+) as a function of the concentration determined by ICP-MS of the acidic
      digests. The linear correlation coefficients (R2) of the calibration curves for
      the analytes As and Pb were typically between 0.9970 and 0.9998, respectively.
      Second, an actual hair was measured using the developed method. The spatial
      distribution of As along the hair was observed in a hair sample from a leukaemia
      patient treated with arsenic trioxide (As2O3). The actual and estimated times
      over which the drug entered the body were compared and discussed.

PMID- 28611355
TI  - Improved efficacy of an arthropod toxin expressing fungus against insecticide
      resistant malaria-vector mosquitoes.
AB  - The continued success of malaria control efforts requires the development, study
      and implementation of new technologies that circumvent insecticide resistance. We
      previously demonstrated that fungal pathogens can provide an effective delivery
      system for mosquitocidal or malariacidal biomolecules. Here we compared genes
      from arthropod predators encoding insect specific sodium, potassium and calcium
      channel blockers for their ability to improve the efficacy of Metarhizium against
      wild-caught, insecticide-resistant anophelines. Toxins expressed under control of
      a hemolymph-specific promoter increased fungal lethality to mosquitoes at spore
      dosages as low as one conidium per mosquito. One of the most potent, the EPA
      approved Hybrid (Ca++/K+ channel blocker), was studied for pre-lethal effects.
      These included reduced blood feeding behavior, with almost 100% of insects
      infected with ~6 spores unable to transmit malaria within 5 days post-infection,
      surpassing the World Health Organization threshold for successful vector control
      agents. Furthermore, recombinant strains co-expressing Hybrid toxin and AaIT (Na+
      channel blocker) produced synergistic effects, requiring 45% fewer spores to kill
      half of the mosquitoes in 5 days as single toxin strains. Our results identify a
      repertoire of toxins with different modes of action that improve the utility of
      entomopathogens as a technology that is compatible with existing insecticide
      based control methods.

PMID- 28611354
TI  - Chronic low-dose exposure to a mixture of environmental endocrine disruptors
      induces microRNAs/isomiRs deregulation in mouse concomitant with intratesticular
      estradiol reduction.
AB  - Humans are environmentally exposed not only to single endocrine-disrupting
      chemicals (EDCs) but to mixtures that affect their reproductive health. In
      reproductive tissues, microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key targets of EDCs.
      Here, we analysed changes in the testis "miRNome" (and their biogenesis
      mechanism) in chronically exposed adult mice to a cocktail of five EDCs
      containing 0.3 mg/kg-body weight (BW)/day of each phthalate (DEHP, DBP, BBP) and
      0.05 mg/kg-BW/day of each alkylphenol (NP, OP), from conception to adulthood. The
      testis "miRNome" was characterised using next-generation sequencing (NGS).
      Expression levels of genes involved in miRNA biogenesis were measured by RT-qPCR,
      as well as several physiological and cytological parameters. We found two up
      regulated, and eight down-regulated miRNAs and thirty-six differentially
      expressed isomiRs along with an over-expression of Drosha, Adar and Zcchc11. A
      significant decrease of intratesticular estradiol but not testosterone was
      detected. Functional analysis showed altered spermatogenesis, germ cell apoptosis
      and negative correlation of miR-18a-5p with Nr1h2 involved in the deregulation of
      the steroidogenesis pathway. Here, we present the first association between
      miRNA/isomiRs deregulation, their mechanisms of biogenesis and histopathological
      and hormonal alterations in testes of adult mice exposed to a mixture of low-dose
      EDCs, which can play a role in male infertility.

PMID- 28611356
TI  - The osteogenesis-promoting effects of alpha-lipoic acid against glucocorticoid
      induced osteoporosis through the NOX4, NF-kappaB, JNK and PI3K/AKT pathways.
AB  - Recently, accumulating evidence has indicated that glucocorticoid-induced
      osteoporosis (GIOP) is closely related to oxidative stress and apoptosis. Alpha
      lipoic acid (LA), a naturally endogenous anti-oxidant, possesses anti-oxidative
      and anti-apoptosis activities, implicating LA as a therapeutic agent for the
      treatment of GIOP. In this study, the osteogenesis-promoting effects of LA
      against GIOP were investigated and the mechanisms were further probed. Here, the
      results showed that LA inhibited oxidative stress, suppressed apoptosis and
      improved osteopenia by promoting the expression of osteogenesis markers,
      including ALP, COL-I, OCN, BMP-2, RUNX2 and OSX. Further study revealed that the
      osteogenesis-promoting effects of LA likely occur via the regulation of the NOX4,
      NF-kappaB, JNK and PI3K/AKT pathways. The present study indicated that LA may
      prevent GIOP and promote osteogenesis and might be a candidate for the treatment
      of GIOP.

PMID- 28611358
TI  - Geometric quantum discords of interacting qubits in thermal reservoir.
AB  - We examined decay dynamics of various geometric quantum discords (GQDs) for two
      interacting qubits described by the Heisenberg XY model and further coupled
      independently to their respective thermal reservoirs. Compared to the case of
      noninteracting qubits, our results showed that decay rates of the GQDs can be
      retarded apparently by properly choosing system parameters of the interaction
      term. In the long-time limit, the asymptotic values of the GQDs are enhanced
      evidently by tuning anisotropy of the model and strength of the transverse
      magnetic field. We further illuminated the relations between different GQDs on
      characterizing quantum correlations, and observed multiple sudden change
      behaviors of their dynamics.

PMID- 28611357
TI  - Compartmentalized 3D Tissue Culture Arrays under Controlled Microfluidic
      Delivery.
AB  - We demonstrate an in vitro microfluidic cell culture platform that consists of
      periodic 3D hydrogel compartments with controllable shapes. The microchip is
      composed of approximately 500 discontinuous collagen gel compartments locally
      patterned in between PDMS pillars, separated by microfluidic channels. The
      typical volume of each compartment is 7.5 nanoliters. The compartmentalized
      design of the microchip and continuous fluid delivery enable long-term culturing
      of Caco-2 human intestine cells. We found that the cells started to spontaneously
      grow into 3D folds on day 3 of the culture. On day 8, Caco-2 cells were co
      cultured for 36 hours under microfluidic perfusion with intestinal bacteria (E.
      coli) which did not overgrow in the system, and adhered to the Caco-2 cells
      without affecting cell viability. Continuous perfusion enabled the preliminary
      evaluation of drug effects by treating the co-culture of Caco-2 and E. coli with
      34 ug ml-1 chloramphenicol during 36 hours, resulting in the death of the
      bacteria. Caco-2 cells were also cultured in different compartment geometries
      with large and small hydrogel interfaces, leading to differences in proliferation
      and cell spreading profile of Caco-2 cells. The presented approach of
      compartmentalized cell culture with facile microfluidic control can substantially
      increase the throughput of in vitro drug screening in the future.

PMID- 28611359
TI  - Chloroplast Genomic Resource of Paris for Species Discrimination.
AB  - Paris is famous in China for its medicinal value and has been included in the
      Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Inaccurate identification of these species could confound
      their effective exploration, conservation, and domestication. Due to the
      plasticity of the morphological characteristics, correct identification among
      Paris species remains problematic. In this regard, we report the complete
      chloroplast genome of P. thibetica and P. rugosa to develop highly variable
      molecular markers. Comparing three chloroplast genomes, we sought out the most
      variable regions to develop the best cpDNA barcodes for Paris. The size of Paris
      chloroplast genome ranged from 162,708 to 163,200 bp. A total of 134 genes
      comprising 81 protein coding genes, 45 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes were observed
      in all three chloroplast genomes. Eight rapidly evolving regions were detected,
      as well as the difference of simple sequence repeats (SSR) and repeat sequence.
      Two regions of the coding gene ycf1, ycf1a and ycf1b, evolved the quickest and
      were proposed as core barcodes for Paris. The complete chloroplast genome
      sequences provide more integrated and adequate information for better
      understanding the phylogenetic pattern and improving efficient discrimination
      during species identification.

PMID- 28611360
TI  - Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning.
AB  - Can humans produce well-timed blink responses to a neutral stimulus voluntarily,
      without receiving any blink-eliciting, unconditional, stimulus? And if they can,
      to what degree does classical eyeblink conditioning depend on volition? Here we
      show that voluntary blink responses learned in two paradigms that did not involve
      any unconditional blink-eliciting stimuli, display timing that is as good, or
      better than, the timing of blink responses learned in a standard eyeblink
      conditioning paradigm. The exceptional timing accuracy likely stems from the fact
      that, in contrast to previous studies, we challenged our participants to blink in
      a timed manner, and not merely to blink so as to avoid the corneal air puff.
      These results reveal a remarkable level of voluntary control over a simple
      movement, and they challenge the view that learning during eyeblink conditioning
      is necessarily automatic and involuntary.

PMID- 28611363
TI  - Single- and dual-band filtering-response power dividers embedded SIW filter with
      improved output isolation.
AB  - Two filtering-response power dividers embedded substrate integrated waveguide
      (SIW) filter are presented in this paper. By employing different SIW resonators,
      single- and dual-band filtering response are achieved, respectively. The even-
      and odd-mode method and the coupled resonator theory are applied to analyze the
      presented power dividers. In addition, a novel isolation technique using multiple
      isolation resistors is proposed to improve the output isolation performance of
      the filtering-response power divider with multiple resonators. To verify the
      proposed circuits, the single- and dual-band filtering-response power dividers
      are designed, fabricated and measured. Reasonable agreement between the simulated
      and measured results is achieved. Moreover, the measured output isolation of the
      fabricated dual-band filtering-response power divider with multiple resonators is
      about 20 dB, which demonstrates the theoretical predication.

PMID- 28611361
TI  - Discovery of a novel conformational equilibrium in urokinase-type plasminogen
      activator.
AB  - Although trypsin-like serine proteases have flexible surface-exposed loops and
      are known to adopt higher and lower activity conformations, structural
      determinants for the different conformations have remained largely obscure. The
      trypsin-like serine protease, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), is
      central in tissue remodeling processes and also strongly implicated in tumor
      metastasis. We solved five X-ray crystal structures of murine uPA (muPA) in the
      absence and presence of allosteric molecules and/or substrate-like molecules. The
      structure of unbound muPA revealed an unsuspected non-chymotrypsin-like protease
      conformation in which two beta-strands in the core of the protease domain
      undergoes a major antiparallel-to-parallel conformational transition. We next
      isolated two anti-muPA nanobodies; an active-site binding nanobody and an
      allosteric nanobody. Crystal structures of the muPA:nanobody complexes and
      hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry revealed molecular insights about
      molecular factors controlling the antiparallel-to-parallel equilibrium in muPA.
      Together with muPA activity assays, the data provide valuable insights into
      regulatory mechanisms and conformational flexibility of uPA and trypsin-like
      serine proteases in general.

PMID- 28611362
TI  - Zinc-modified Calcium Silicate Coatings Promote Osteogenic Differentiation
      through TGF-beta/Smad Pathway and Osseointegration in Osteopenic Rabbits.
AB  - Surface-modified metal implants incorporating different ions have been employed
      in the biomedical field as bioactive dental implants with good osseointegration
      properties. However, the molecular mechanism through which surface coatings exert
      the biological activity is not fully understood, and the effects have been
      difficult to achieve, especially in the osteopenic bone. In this study, We
      examined the effect of zinc-modified calcium silicate coatings with two different
      Zn contents to induce osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow-derived
      pericytes (BM-PCs) and osteogenetic efficiency in ovariectomised rabbits. Ti-6Al
      4V with zinc-modified calcium silicate coatings not only enhanced proliferation
      but also promoted osteogenic differentiation and mineralized matrix deposition of
      rat BM-PCs as the zinc content and culture time increased in vitro. The
      associated molecular mechanisms were investigated by Q-PCR and Western blotting,
      revealing that TGF-beta/Smad signaling pathway plays a direct and significant
      role in regulating BM-PCs osteoblastic differentiation on Zn-modified coatings.
      Furthermore, in vivo results that revealed Zn-modified calcium silicate coatings
      significantly promoted new bone formation around the implant surface in
      osteopenic rabbits as the Zn content and exposure time increased. Therefore, Zn
      modified calcium silicate coatings can improve implant osseointegration in the
      condition of osteopenia, which may be beneficial for patients suffering from
      osteoporosis-related fractures.

PMID- 28611365
TI  - Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels.
AB  - Sound produced by fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) permits the use of passive
      acoustic methods to identify the timing and location of spawning. However,
      difficulties in relating sound levels to abundance have impeded the use of
      passive acoustics to conduct quantitative assessments of biomass. Here we show
      that models of measured fish sound production versus independently measured fish
      density can be generated to estimate abundance and biomass from sound levels at
      FSAs. We compared sound levels produced by spawning Gulf Corvina (Cynoscion
      othonopterus) with simultaneous measurements of density from active acoustic
      surveys in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico. During the formation of FSAs, we
      estimated peak abundance at 1.53 to 1.55 million fish, which equated to a biomass
      of 2,133 to 2,145 metric tons. Sound levels ranged from 0.02 to 12,738 Pa2, with
      larger measurements observed on outgoing tides. The relationship between sound
      levels and densities was variable across the duration of surveys but stabilized
      during the peak spawning period after high tide to produce a linear relationship.
      Our results support the use of active acoustic methods to estimate density,
      abundance, and biomass of fish at FSAs; using appropriately scaled empirical
      relationships, sound levels can be used to infer these estimates.

PMID- 28611364
TI  - Association of Polymorphisms in Pharmacogenetic Candidate Genes with Propofol
      Susceptibility.
AB  - Significant individual susceptibility to intravenous anesthetic propofol exists.
      The etiology of individual variability in the response to propofol may be
      influenced by genetic polymorphisms in metabolic and functional pathways. With
      current pharmacogenetics and modern molecular biology technologies, it is
      possible to study the influence of genetic polymorphisms on susceptibility to
      propofol. When inducing general anesthesia with intravenous propofol, high
      individual susceptibility to propofol was found. Using Sequenom MassARRAY single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, we identified a mutation (rs6313) in
      the 5HT2A gene that was correlated to individual susceptibility to propofol
      effect-site concentration (Cep) and onset time of propofol induction. Carriers of
      the minor allele (G) of 5HT2A rs6313 required less propofol (20% decrease in Cep)
      and less time (40% decrease in onset time) to induce anesthesia. Moreover,
      associations were found between the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor SNP
      rs2279020 and the SCN9A SNP rs6746030 and the susceptibility of bispectral index
      (BIS) after propofol-induced anesthesia. In addition, dominant mutations in
      GABAA1 rs2279020, GABAA2 rs11503014, and CHRM2 rs1824024 were putatively
      associated with cardiovascular susceptibility to propofol anesthesia. No gene
      gene interactions were found through a standardized measure of linkage
      disequilibrium and a multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis. Our results
      suggest that genetic polymorphisms related to mechanisms of propofol anesthesia
      are involved in propofol susceptibility.

PMID- 28611367
TI  - The Hippocampus Sparing Volume Modulated Arc Therapy does not Influence Plan
      Quality on Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients.
AB  - Irradiation on hippocampus would lead to neuro-cognitive dysfunction in locally
      advanced nasopharyneal carcinoma (LA-NPC) patients accepting radiotherapy. Our
      study here aimed to investigate if undergoing hippocampus sparing (HS) volume
      modulated arc therapy (VMAT) would influence the plan quality in LA NPC patients.
      We designed three kinds of radiotherapeutic plans for 11 LA NPC patients:
      conventional VMAT (C-VMAT), HS-VMAT and HS intensity modulated radiation therapy
      with dynamic multileaf collimator (HS-dMLC). And the dose distribution on targets
      and surrounding organs at risk (OAR) were carefully evaluated. We found out that
      the expected doses on hippocampus were significantly lowered in HS-VMAT (899 +/-
      378 cGy) and HS-dMLC (896 +/- 321 cGy) as compared to C-VMAT (1518 +/- 337 cGy, p
      < 0.05), but meaningless difference was presented on plan quality of targets (p >
      0.05). Moreover, lower radiation doses on brain stem were observed in HS-VMAT
      plan in comparison with C-VMAT plan (p < 0.05). However, there were no
      statistically meaningful diversities in the doses received by other OARs among
      all plans. Here we concluded that HS-VMAT presented promising advantages on
      protecting hipppcampus and brain stem as compared to C-VMAT and HS-dMLC, but
      enthusiastically had no effects on plan quality in LA-NPC patients.

PMID- 28611366
TI  - Safety of Acupuncture: Overview of Systematic Reviews.
AB  - Acupuncture is increasingly used worldwide. It is becoming more accepted by both
      patients and healthcare providers. However, the current understanding of its
      adverse events (AEs) is fragmented. We conducted this overview to collect all
      systematic reviews (SRs) on the AEs of acupuncture and related therapies. MEDLINE
      and EMBASE were searched from inception to December 2015. Methodological quality
      of included reviews was assessed with a validated instrument. Evidence was
      narratively reported. Seventeen SRs covering various types of acupuncture were
      included. Methodological quality of the reviews was overall mediocre. Four major
      categories of AEs were identified, which are organ or tissue injuries (13
      reviews, median: 36 cases, median deaths: 4), infections (11 reviews, median: 17
      cases, median deaths: 0.5), local AEs or reactions (12 reviews, median: 8.5
      cases, no deaths were reported), and other complications such as dizziness or
      syncope (11 reviews, median: 21 cases, no deaths were reported). Minor and
      serious AEs can occur during the use of acupuncture and related modalities,
      contrary to the common impression that acupuncture is harmless. Serious AEs are
      rare, but need significant attention as mortality can be associated with them.
      Referrals should consider acupuncturists' training credibility, and patient
      safety should be a core part of acupuncture education.

PMID- 28611368
TI  - Variable thermal expansion of glass-ceramics containing Ba1-xSrxZn2Si2O7.
AB  - Up to now, the thermal expansion behavior of multiphase glass-ceramics cannot be
      predicted reliably because of the nescience about the formation of the type and
      concentration of crystalline phases. In the system BaO-SrO-ZnO-SiO2, recently a
      new phase based on Ba1-xSrxZn2Si2O7 solid solutions was found, which exhibits
      unexpected low and highly anisotropic thermal expansion, which can be used for an
      adjustment of the thermal expansion properties. In the case of sealing materials
      for high-temperature reactors, the formation of this phase should be avoided.
      Hence, in this manuscript the concentration thresholds in which these solid
      solutions precipitate from glasses were determined. The phase analysis was
      correlated with the thermal expansion behavior of the glass-ceramics. Depending
      on the Ba/Sr-ratio of the glasses and the considered temperature range, the
      coefficients of thermal expansion of the glass-ceramics vary between 19.4.10-6 K
      1 and 4.8.10-6 K-1. The concentration thresholds in which the as mentioned phases
      form via crystallization of glasses differ strongly from the literature values
      obtained via conventional ceramic mixed oxide route.

PMID- 28611369
TI  - Enhanced chondrogenesis of bone marrow-derived stem cells by using a combinatory
      cell therapy strategy with BMP-2/TGF-beta1, hypoxia, and COL1A1/HtrA1 siRNAs.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold promise for cartilage engineering. Here, we
      aimed to determine the best culture conditions to induce chondrogenesis of MSCs
      isolated from bone marrow (BM) of aged osteoarthritis (OA) patients. We showed
      that these BM-MSCs proliferate slowly, are not uniformly positive for stem cell
      markers, and maintain their multilineage potential throughout multiple passages.
      The chondrogenic lineage of BM-MSCs was induced in collagen scaffolds, under
      normoxia or hypoxia, by BMP-2 and/or TGF-beta1. The best chondrogenic induction,
      with the least hypertrophic induction, was obtained with the combination of BMP-2
      and TGF-beta1 under hypoxia. Differentiated BM-MSCs were then transfected with
      siRNAs targeting two markers overexpressed in OA chondrocytes, type I collagen
      and/or HtrA1 protease. siRNAs significantly decreased mRNA and protein levels of
      type I collagen and HtrA1, resulting in a more typical chondrocyte phenotype, but
      with frequent calcification of the subcutaneously implanted constructs in a nude
      mouse model. Our 3D culture model with BMP-2/TGF-beta1 and COL1A1/HtrA1 siRNAs
      was not effective in producing a cartilage-like matrix in vivo. Further
      optimization is needed to stabilize the chondrocyte phenotype of differentiated
      BM-MSCs. Nevertheless, this study offers the opportunity to develop a combinatory
      cellular therapy strategy for cartilage tissue engineering.

PMID- 28611370
TI  - Peroxyoxalate Chemiluminescent Reaction as a Tool for Elimination of Tumour Cells
      Under Oxidative Stress.
AB  - The overproduction of hydrogen peroxide is an inherent feature of some tumour
      cells and inflamed tissues. We took advantage of this peculiarity to eliminate
      cells using chemiluminescent peroxyoxalate reaction. We designed dispersions
      containing polyoxalate and tetramethylhematoporhyrin (TMHP) in dimethylphthalate
      droplets stabilized with Pluronic L64. The porphyrin plays the dual role. On the
      one hand, it serves as an activator of the peroxyoxalate reaction of polyoxalate
      with intracellular hydrogen peroxide and experiences excitation as a result of
      the reaction. The light emitted in the reaction in the model system without cells
      was used to optimize the dispersion's composition. On the other hand, TMHP acts
      as a photosensitizer (PS) causing cell damage. The formation of singlet oxygen
      led to cell elimination if the dispersions were used in combination with inducers
      of oxidative stress: hydrogen peroxide, paraquat, antitumour drug doxorubicin, or
      a nutritional additive menadione. The PS-induced cytotoxicity correlated with the
      level of intracellular ROS. The developed approach targeted to endogenous ROS is
      orthogonal to the classical chemotherapy and can be applied to increase its
      efficiency.

PMID- 28611371
TI  - Ohmyungsamycins promote antimicrobial responses through autophagy activation via
      AMP-activated protein kinase pathway.
AB  - The induction of host cell autophagy by various autophagy inducers contributes to
      the antimicrobial host defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), a major
      pathogenic strain that causes human tuberculosis. In this study, we present a
      role for the newly identified cyclic peptides ohmyungsamycins (OMS) A and B in
      the antimicrobial responses against Mtb infections by activating autophagy in
      murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). OMS robustly activated autophagy,
      which was essentially required for the colocalization of LC3 autophagosomes with
      bacterial phagosomes and antimicrobial responses against Mtb in BMDMs. Using a
      Drosophila melanogaster-Mycobacterium marinum infection model, we showed that OMS
      A-induced autophagy contributed to the increased survival of infected flies and
      the limitation of bacterial load. We further showed that OMS triggered AMP
      activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation, which was required for OMS-mediated
      phagosome maturation and antimicrobial responses against Mtb. Moreover, treating
      BMDMs with OMS led to dose-dependent inhibition of macrophage inflammatory
      responses, which was also dependent on AMPK activation. Collectively, these data
      show that OMS is a promising candidate for new anti-mycobacterial therapeutics by
      activating antibacterial autophagy via AMPK-dependent signaling and suppressing
      excessive inflammation during Mtb infections.

PMID- 28611372
TI  - Fuel loads acquired at a stopover site influence the pace of intercontinental
      migration in a boreal songbird.
AB  - Long-distance migratory organisms are under strong selection to migrate quickly.
      Stopovers demand more time than flying and are used by individuals to refuel
      during migration, but the effect of fuel loads (fat) acquired at stopover sites
      on the subsequent pace of migration has not been quantified. We studied stopover
      behaviour of Grey-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus) at a site in northern
      Colombia and then tracked their migration using an intercontinental radio
      telemetry array. Tracking confirmed long-distance flights of more than 3000 km,
      highlighting the key importance of a single stopover site to the migration
      strategy of this species. Our results suggest that these songbirds behave as time
      minimizers as predicted by optimal migration theory, and that fuel loads acquired
      at this South American stopover site, together with departure date, carry-over to
      influence the pace of migration, contributing to differences in travel time of up
      to 30 days in birds subsequently detected in the U. S. and Canada. Such variation
      in the pace of migration arising from a single stopover site, likely has
      important fitness consequences and suggests that identifying important fuelling
      sites will be essential to effectively conserve migratory species.

PMID- 28611373
TI  - Is there any clinical relevant difference between non mosaic Klinefelter Syndrome
      patients with or without Androgen Receptor variations?
AB  - Klinefelter Syndrome (KS) is the most common chromosomal disorder in men leading
      to non-obstructive azoospermia. Spermatozoa can be found by TESE in about 50% of
      adults with KS despite severe testicular degeneration. We evaluated AR variations
      and polymorphism length in 135 non-mosaic KS patients, aimed to find possible
      correlation with clinical features, sex hormones and sperm retrieval. Among 135
      KS patients we found AR variations in eight subjects (5.9%). All variations but
      one caused a single amino acid substitution. Four variations P392S, Q58L, L548F,
      A475V found in six patients had been previously described to be associated with
      different degrees of androgen insensitivity. Moreover we observed in two patients
      Y359F and D732D novel variations representing respectively a missense variation
      and a synonymous variation not leading to amino acid substitution. All the
      Klinefelter patients with AR gene variations were azoospermic. Spermatozoa were
      retrieved with TESE for two men (40%), sperm retrieval was unsuccessful in other
      3 patients. This is the only study reporting AR variations in KS patients.
      Relevant clinical differences not emerged between AR mutated and not AR mutated
      KS patients, but does each variation play an important role in the trasmission to
      the offspring obtained by ART in this patients?

PMID- 28611374
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Mycobacterium indicus pranii as an adjunct therapy in
      Category II pulmonary tuberculosis in a randomized trial.
AB  - Prolonged treatment of tuberculosis (TB) often leads to poor compliance, default
      and relapse, converting primary TB patients into category II TB (Cat IITB) cases,
      many of whom may convert to multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). We have evaluated
      the immunotherapeutic potential of Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) as an
      adjunct to Anti-Tubercular Treatment (ATT) in Cat II pulmonary TB (PTB) patients
      in a prospective, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, multicentric
      clinical trial. 890 sputum smear positive Cat II PTB patients were randomized to
      receive either six intra-dermal injections (2 + 4) of heat-killed MIP at a dose
      of 5 * 108 bacilli or placebo once in 2 weeks for 2 months. Sputum smear and
      culture examinations were performed at different time points. MIP was safe with
      no adverse effects. While sputum smear conversion did not show any statistically
      significant difference, significantly higher number of patients (67.1%) in the
      MIP group achieved sputum culture conversion at fourth week compared to the
      placebo (57%) group (p = 0.0002), suggesting a role of MIP in clearance of the
      bacilli. Since live bacteria are the major contributors for sustained incidence
      of TB, the potential of MIP in clearance of the bacilli has far reaching
      implications in controlling the spread of the disease.

PMID- 28611375
TI  - Identification of an in vivo orally active dual-binding protein-protein
      interaction inhibitor targeting TNFalpha through combined in silico/in vitro/in
      vivo screening.
AB  - TNFalpha is a homotrimeric pro-inflammatory cytokine, whose direct targeting by
      protein biotherapies has been an undeniable success for the treatment of chronic
      inflammatory diseases. Despite many efforts, no orally active drug targeting
      TNFalpha has been identified so far. In the present work, we identified through
      combined in silico/in vitro/in vivo approaches a TNFalpha direct inhibitor,
      compound 1, displaying nanomolar and micromolar range bindings to TNFalpha.
      Compound 1 inhibits the binding of TNFalpha with both its receptors TNFRI and
      TNFRII. Compound 1 inhibits the TNFalpha induced apoptosis on L929 cells and the
      TNFalpha induced NF-kappaB activation in HEK cells. In vivo, oral administration
      of compound 1 displays a significant protection in a murine TNFalpha-dependent
      hepatic shock model. This work illustrates the ability of low-cost combined in
      silico/in vitro/in vivo screening approaches to identify orally available small
      molecules targeting challenging protein-protein interactions such as homotrimeric
      TNFalpha.

PMID- 28611376
TI  - Allopregnanolone mediates the exacerbation of Tourette-like responses by acute
      stress in mouse models.
AB  - Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple
      tics and sensorimotor abnormalities, the severity of which is typically increased
      by stress. The neurobiological underpinnings of this exacerbation, however,
      remain elusive. We recently reported that spatial confinement (SC), a moderate
      environmental stressor, increases tic-like responses and elicits TS-like
      sensorimotor gating deficits in the D1CT-7 mouse, one of the best-validated
      models of TS. Here, we hypothesized that these adverse effects may be mediated by
      neurosteroids, given their well-documented role in stress-response orchestration.
      Indeed, SC increased the levels of progesterone, as well as its derivatives
      5alpha-dihydroprogesterone and allopregnanolone, in the prefrontal cortex (PFC)
      of D1CT-7 mice. Among these steroids, however, only allopregnanolone (5-15 mg/kg,
      IP) dose-dependently exacerbated TS-like manifestations in D1CT-7, but not wild
      type littermates; these effects were countered by the benchmark anti-tic therapy
      haloperidol (0.3 mg/kg, IP). Furthermore, the phenotypic effects of spatial
      confinement in D1CT-7 mice were suppressed by finasteride (25-50 mg/kg, IP), an
      inhibitor of the main rate-limiting enzyme in allopregnanolone synthesis. These
      findings collectively suggest that stress may exacerbate TS symptoms by promoting
      allopregnanolone synthesis in the PFC, and corroborate previous clinical results
      pointing to finasteride as a novel therapeutic avenue to curb symptom
      fluctuations in TS.

PMID- 28611377
TI  - Atrial fibrillation as a prognostic indicator of myocardial infarction and
      cardiovascular death: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate whether atrial fibrillation (AF) predicts
      myocardial infarction (MI) or cardiovascular (CV) death. AF is a well-established
      risk factor for thrombotic stroke and all-cause mortality. PubMed, EmBase, and
      Cochrane Central were searched for articles comparing the incidence rates of MI,
      CV death, or CV events between AF and non-AF patients. Relative risk ratio (RR)
      was used as effect estimate. Crude and adjusted RRs were calculated. Data were
      pooled using a random-effects model. The meta-analysis included 27 studies. In
      the unadjusted analysis, AF patients had a nonsignificant trend toward a higher
      risk of MI compared with non-AF patients; however, a significant association was
      found. The crude data analysis showed that AF was associated with increased risk
      of CV death (P < 0.05) and CV events (P < 0.05). These associations remained
      significant after pooling data from adjusted models (CV death: RR = 1.95, 95% CI
      1.51-2.51, P < 0.05; CV events: RR = 2.10, 95% CI 1.50-2.95, P < 0.05). These
      results showed that AF is an independent risk factor for MI, CV death, and CV
      events.

PMID- 28611378
TI  - Identification of postsynaptic phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) roles
      for synaptic plasticity using chemically induced dimerization.
AB  - Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), one of the key phospholipids,
      directly interacts with several membrane and cytosolic proteins at neuronal
      plasma membranes, leading to changes in neuronal properties including the feature
      and surface expression of ionotropic receptors. Although PIP2 is also
      concentrated at the dendritic spines, little is known about the direct
      physiological functions of PIP2 at postsynaptic as opposed to presynaptic sites.
      Most previous studies used genetic and pharmacological methods to modulate
      enzymes that alter PIP2 levels, making it difficult to delineate time- or region
      specific roles of PIP2. We used chemically-induced dimerization to translocate
      inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase (Inp54p) to plasma membranes in the presence
      of rapamycin. Upon redistribution of Inp54p, long-term depression (LTD) induced
      by low-frequency stimulation was blocked in the mouse hippocampal CA3-CA1
      pathway, but the catalytically-dead mutant did not affect LTD induction.
      Collectively, PIP2 is critically required for induction of LTD whereas
      translocation of Inp54p to plasma membranes has no effect on the intrinsic
      properties of the neurons, basal synaptic transmission, long-term potentiation or
      expression of LTD.

PMID- 28611379
TI  - Transfer behavior of odorous pollutants in wastewater sludge system under typical
      chemical conditioning processes for dewaterability enhancement.
AB  - Chemical conditioning has been used for enhancing wastewater sludge
      dewaterability for many years, but the characteristics of odorous pollutants
      emission in sludge conditioning were still unclear. In this work, the transfer
      behavior of different odorous pollutants between air, liquid and solid phases
      under typical chemical conditioning processes for high-pressure dewatering was
      systematically investigated. The results indicated that that besides hydrogen
      sulfide (H2S) and ammonia (NH3), 21 kinds of volatile organic contaminants (VOCs)
      were identified and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS),
      while the concentrations and composition of odorous pollutants varied greatly for
      different conditioning processes. VOCs were composed by three main constituents
      including benzenes, halogeno benzene and hydrocarbons. According to mass balance
      analysis, about 50% of VOCs adsorbed within sludge extracellular polymeric
      substances (EPS) fraction. Since EPS was damaged and/or flocculation in different
      chemical conditioning processes, VOCs distributed in solid phase transformed into
      liquid phase and then released into air. The discrepancies in mass of odorous
      pollutants before and after chemical conditioning were likely to be related to
      chemical conversion under acidification, oxidation and precipitation in the
      presence of ferric ions.

PMID- 28611380
TI  - Sol-gel Autocombustion Synthesis of Nanocrystalline High-entropy Alloys.
AB  - A reduction in the particle size is expected to improve the properties and
      increase the application potential of high-entropy alloys. Therefore, in this
      study, a novel sol-gel autocombustion technique was first used to synthesize high
      entropy alloys. The average grain size of the prepared nanocrystalline CoCrCuNiAl
      high-entropy alloys showed was 14 nm with an excellent and uniform dispersion,
      exhibiting a distinct magnetic behavior similar to the superparamagnetic
      behavior. We show that the metal nitrates first form (Co,Cu,Mg,Ni,Zn)O high
      entropy oxides, and then in situ reduce to CoCrCuNiAl high-entropy alloys by the
      reducing gases, and the chelation between citric acid and the metal ions and the
      in situ chemical reactions are the dominant reaction mechanisms. We demonstrate
      that the sol-gel autocombustion process is an efficient way to synthesize solid
      solution alloys eluding the restriction of a high mixing entropy.

PMID- 28611381
TI  - Bias-selectable nBn dual-band long-/very long-wavelength infrared photodetectors
      based on InAs/InAs1-xSbx/AlAs1-xSbx type-II superlattices.
AB  - Type-II superlattices (T2SLs) are a class of artificial semiconductors that have
      demonstrated themselves as a viable candidate to compete with the state-of-the
      art mercury-cadmium-telluride material system in the field of infrared detection
      and imaging. Within type-II superlattices, InAs/InAs1-xSbx T2SLs have been shown
      to have a significantly longer minority carrier lifetime. However, demonstration
      of high-performance dual-band photodetectors based on InAs/InAs1-xSbx T2SLs in
      the long and very long wavelength infrared (LWIR & VLWIR) regimes remains
      challenging. We report the demonstration of high-performance bias-selectable dual
      band long-wavelength infrared photodetectors based on new InAs/InAs1-xSbx/AlAs1
      xSbx type-II superlattice design. Our design uses two different bandgap
      absorption regions separated by an electron barrier that blocks the transport of
      majority carriers to reduce the dark current density of the device. As the
      applied bias is varied, the device exhibits well-defined cut-off wavelengths of
      either ~8.7 or ~12.5 MUm at 77 K. This bias-selectable dual-band photodetector is
      compact, with no moving parts, and will open new opportunities for multi-spectral
      LWIR and VLWIR imaging and detection.

PMID- 28611382
TI  - 3D ultra-high resolution seismic imaging of shallow Solfatara crater in Campi
      Flegrei (Italy): New insights on deep hydrothermal fluid circulation processes.
AB  - Seismic tomography can be used to image the spatial variation of rock properties
      within complex geological media such as volcanoes. Solfatara is a volcano located
      within the Campi Flegrei, a still active caldera, so it is of major importance to
      characterize its level of activity and potential danger. In this light, a 3D
      tomographic high-resolution P-wave velocity image of the shallow central part of
      Solfatara crater is obtained using first arrival times and a multiscale approach.
      The retrieved images, integrated with the resistivity section and temperature and
      the CO2 flux measurements, define the following characteristics: 1. A depth
      dependent P-wave velocity layer down to 14 m, with Vp < 700 m/s typical of poorly
      consolidated tephra and affected by CO2 degassing; 2. An intermediate layer,
      deepening towards the mineralized liquid-saturated area (Fangaia), interpreted as
      permeable deposits saturated with condensed water; 3. A deep, confined high
      velocity anomaly associated with a CO 2 reservoir. These features are expression
      of an area located between the Fangaia, water saturated and replenished from deep
      aquifers, and the main fumaroles, superficial relief of the deep rising CO2 flux.
      Therefore, the changes in the outgassing rate greatly affect the shallow
      hydrothermal system, which can be used as a "mirror" of fluid migration processes
      occurring at depth.

PMID- 28611383
TI  - Integrin alpha2beta1 in nonactivated conformation can induce focal adhesion
      kinase signaling.
AB  - Conformational activation of integrins is generally required for ligand binding
      and cellular signalling. However, we have previously reported that the
      nonactivated conformation of alpha2beta1 integrin can also bind to large ligands,
      such as human echovirus 1. In this study, we show that the interaction between
      the nonactivated integrin and a ligand resulted in the activation of focal
      adhesion kinase (FAK) in a protein kinase C dependent manner. A loss-of-function
      mutation, alpha2E336A, in the alpha2-integrin did not prevent the activation of
      FAK, nor did EDTA-mediated inactivation of the integrin. Full FAK activation was
      observed, since phosphorylation was not only confirmed in residue Y397, but also
      in residues Y576/7. Furthermore, initiation of downstream signaling by paxillin
      phosphorylation in residue Y118 was evident, even though this activation was
      transient by nature, probably due to the lack of talin involvement in FAK
      activation and the absence of vinculin in the adhesion complexes formed by the
      nonactivated integrins. Altogether these results indicate that the nonactivated
      integrins can induce cellular signaling, but the outcome of the signaling differs
      from conventional integrin signaling.

PMID- 28611384
TI  - The correlation between the expression of genes involved in drug metabolism and
      the blood level of tacrolimus in liver transplant receipts.
AB  - Immunosuppressive medications, such as tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil, are
      commonly used for reducing the risk of organ rejection in receipts of allogeneic
      organ transplant. The optimal dosages of these drugs are required for preventing
      rejection and avoiding toxicity to receipts. This study aimed to identify the
      correlation between the expression profiling of genes involved in drug metabolism
      and the blood level of tacrolimus in liver transplant receipts. Sixty-four liver
      transplant receipts were enrolled in this retrospective study. Receipts were
      divided into low (2-5.9 ng/ml) and high (6-15 ng/ml) tacrolimus groups. Clinical
      assessment showed that the blood level of tacrolimus was inversely correlated
      with the liver function evaluated by blood levels of total bilirubin and
      creatinine. Compared to the high tacrolimus group, expression levels of six
      cytochrome P450 enzymes, CYP1A1, CYP2B6, CYP3A5, CYP4A11, CYP19A1, and CYP17A1
      were significantly higher in the low tacrolimus group. The expression levels of
      these genes were negatively correlated with the tacrolimus blood level. Enzyme
      assays showed that CYP3A5 and CYP17A1 exerted direct metabolic effects on
      tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil, respectively. These results support
      clinical application of this expression profiling of genes in drug metabolism for
      selection of immunosuppressive medications and optimal dosages for organ
      transplant receipts.

PMID- 28611385
TI  - Indium selenide: an insight into electronic band structure and surface
      excitations.
AB  - We have investigated the electronic response of single crystals of indium
      selenide by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, electron energy
      loss spectroscopy and density functional theory. The loss spectrum of indium
      selenide shows the direct free exciton at ~1.3 eV and several other peaks, which
      do not exhibit dispersion with the momentum. The joint analysis of the
      experimental band structure and the density of states indicates that spectral
      features in the loss function are strictly related to single-particle
      transitions. These excitations cannot be considered as fully coherent plasmons
      and they are damped even in the optical limit, i.e. for small momenta. The
      comparison of the calculated symmetry-projected density of states with electron
      energy loss spectra enables the assignment of the spectral features to
      transitions between specific electronic states. Furthermore, the effects of
      ambient gases on the band structure and on the loss function have been probed.

PMID- 28611386
TI  - Effects of transient high temperature treatment on the intestinal flora of the
      silkworm Bombyx mori.
AB  - The silkworm Bombyx mori is a poikilotherm and is therefore sensitive to various
      climatic conditions. The influence of temperature on the intestinal flora and the
      relationship between the intestinal flora and gene expression in the silkworm
      remain unknown. In the present study, changes of the intestinal flora at 48, 96
      and 144 h following transient high temperature treatment (THTT) of 37  degrees C
      for 8 h were investigated. According to principal component analysis, the
      abundances of Enterococcus and Staphylococcus showed a negative correlation with
      other dominant genera. After THTT, the gene expression levels of spatzle-1 and
      dicer-2 were increased and decreased, respectively, which suggested that the Toll
      and RNAi pathways were activated and suppressed, respectively. The species-gene
      expression matrix confirmed that the spatzle-1 and dicer-2 gene expression levels
      were negatively and positively correlated, respectively, with the abundance of
      Enterococcus and Staphylococcus in the control. The abundance of Variovorax post
      THTT was positively correlated with the spatzle-1 gene expression level, whereas
      the community richness of Enterococcus was negatively correlated with the spatzle
      1 gene expression level and positively correlated with the dicer-2. The results
      of the present investigation provide new evidence for understanding the
      relationships among THTT, intestinal flora and host gene expression.

PMID- 28611387
TI  - Visuotactile integration modulates motor performance in a perceptual decision
      making task.
AB  - Body ownership is critically dependent on multimodal integration as for instance
      revealed in the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) and a number of studies which have
      addressed the neural correlates of the processes underlying this phenomenon. Both
      experimental and clinical research have shown that the structures underlying body
      ownership seem to significantly overlap with those of motor control including the
      parietal and ventral premotor cortices, Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ) and the
      insula. This raises the question of whether this structural overlap between body
      ownership and motor control structures is of any functional significance. Here,
      we investigate the specific question of whether experimentally induced ownership
      over a virtual limb can modulate the performance of that limb in a simple
      sensorimotor task. Using a Virtual reality (VR) environment we modulate body
      ownership in three experimental conditions with respect to the (in)congruence of
      stimulus configurations. Our results show that the degree of ownership directly
      modulates motor performance. This implies that body ownership is not exclusively
      a perceptual and/or subjective multimodal state but that it is tightly coupled to
      systems for decision-making and motor control.

PMID- 28611388
TI  - Aberrant plasticity of peripheral sensory axons in a painful neuropathy.
AB  - Neuronal cells express considerable plasticity responding to environmental cues,
      in part, through subcellular mRNA regulation. Here we report on the extensive
      changes in distribution of mRNAs in the cell body and axon compartments of
      peripheral sensory neurons and the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) landscapes
      after unilateral sciatic nerve entrapment (SNE) injury in rats. Neuronal cells
      dissociated from SNE-injured and contralateral L4 and L5 dorsal root ganglia were
      cultured in a compartmentalized system. Axonal and cell body RNA samples were
      separately subjected to high throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). The injured
      axons exhibited enrichment of mRNAs related to protein synthesis and nerve
      regeneration. Lengthening of 3'UTRs was more prevalent in the injured axons,
      including the newly discovered alternative cleavage and polyadenylation of NaV1.8
      mRNA. Alternative polyadenylation was largely independent from the relative
      abundance of axonal mRNAs; but they were highly clustered in functional pathways
      related to RNA granule formation in the injured axons. These RNA-Seq data
      analyses indicate that peripheral nerve injury may result in highly selective
      mRNA enrichment in the affected axons with 3'UTR alterations potentially
      contributing to the mechanism of neuropathic pain.

PMID- 28611389
TI  - Nuclear TRADD prevents DNA damage-mediated death by facilitating non-homologous
      end-joining repair.
AB  - TNF receptor-associated death domain (TRADD) is an essential mediator of TNF
      receptor signaling, and serves as an adaptor to recruit other effectors. TRADD
      has been shown to cycle between the cytoplasm and nucleus due to its nuclear
      localization (NLS) and export sequences (NES). However, the underlying function
      of nuclear TRADD is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that cytoplasmic TRADD
      translocates to DNA double-strand break sites (DSBs) during the DNA damage
      response (DDR). Deficiency of TRADD or its sequestration in cytosol leads to
      accumulation of gammaH2AX-positive foci in response to DNA damage, which is
      reversed by nuclear TRADD expression. TRADD facilitates non-homologous end
      joining (NHEJ) by recruiting NHEJ repair factors 53BP1 and Ku70/80 complex,
      whereas TRADD is dispensable for homologous recombination (HR) repair. Finally,
      an impaired nuclear localization of TRADD triggers cell death through the
      persistent activation of JNK and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).
      Thus, our findings suggest that translocation of TRADD to DSBs into the nucleus
      contributes to cell survival in response to DNA damage through an activation of
      DNA damage repair.

PMID- 28611390
TI  - Protective and therapeutic effect of felodipine against bleomycin-induced
      pulmonary fibrosis in mice.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) involves alveolar epithelial injury and
      abnormal collagen production caused by activated fibroblasts; transforming growth
      factor (TGF)-beta1 is implicated in this activation. In this study, we screened
      for chemicals capable of inhibiting TGF-beta1-induced collagen production in
      cultured fibroblasts from medicines already in clinical use. We selected
      felodipine based on its extent of collagen production inhibition, clinical safety
      profile, and other pharmacological activity. Felodipine is a dihydropyridine Ca2+
      channel blocker that has been used clinically to treat patients with high blood
      pressure. Felodipine suppressed collagen production within LL29 cells in the
      presence of TGF-beta1, but not in its absence. Intratracheal administration of
      felodipine prevented bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, alteration of lung
      mechanics and respiratory dysfunction. Felodipine also improved pulmonary
      fibrosis, as well as lung and respiratory function when administered after
      fibrosis development. Furthermore, administration of felodipine suppressed a
      bleomycin-induced increase in activated fibroblasts in the lung. We also found
      other dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel blockers (nifedipine and benidipine) inhibited
      collagen production in vitro and partially prevented bleomycin-induced pulmonary
      fibrosis, alteration of lung mechanics and respiratory dysfunction in vivo. We
      propose that these Ca2+ channel blockers may be therapeutically beneficial for
      IPF patients.

PMID- 28611391
TI  - Isothiocyanates are detected in human synovial fluid following broccoli
      consumption and can affect the tissues of the knee joint.
AB  - Osteoarthritis is a major cause of disability and there is no current
      pharmaceutical treatment which can prevent the disease or slow its progression.
      Dietary advice or supplementation is clearly an attractive option since it has
      low toxicity and ease of implementation on a population level. We have previously
      demonstrated that sulforaphane, a dietary isothiocyanate derived from its
      glucosinolate precursor which is found in broccoli, can prevent cartilage
      destruction in cells, in in vitro and in vivo models of osteoarthritis. As the
      next phase of this research, we enrolled 40 patients with knee osteoarthritis
      undergoing total knee replacement into a proof-of-principle trial. Patients were
      randomised to either a low or high glucosinolate diet for 14 days prior to
      surgery. We detected ITCs in the synovial fluid of the high glucosinolate group,
      but not the low glucosinolate group. This was mirrored by an increase in ITCs and
      specifically sulforaphane in the plasma. Proteomic analysis of synovial fluid
      showed significantly distinct profiles between groups with 125 differentially
      expressed proteins. The functional consequence of this diet will now be tested in
      a clinical trial.

PMID- 28611392
TI  - Targeted sequencing of both DNA strands barcoded and captured individually by RNA
      probes to identify genome-wide ultra-rare mutations.
AB  - Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) has been widely implemented in biological
      research and has made a profound impact on patient care. One of the essential NGS
      applications is to identify disease-causing sequence variants, where high
      coverage and accuracy are needed. Here, we reported a novel NGS pipeline, termed
      a Sequencing System of Digitalized Barcode Encrypted Single-stranded Library from
      Extremely Low (quality and quantity) DNA Input with Probe-based DNA Enrichment by
      RNA probes targeting DNA duplex (DEEPER-Seq). This method combines an ultra
      sensitive single-stranded library construction with barcoding error correction,
      termed DEEPER-Library; and a DNA capture approach using RNA probes targeting both
      DNA strands, termed DEEPER-Capture. DEEPER-Seq can create NGS libraries from as
      little as 20 pg DNA with PCR error correcting capabilities, and capture target
      sequences at an average ratio of 29.2% by targeting both DNA strands
      simultaneously with an over 98.6% coverage. Our method tags and sequences each of
      the two strands of a DNA duplex independently and only scores mutations that are
      found at the same position in both strands, which allows us to identify mutations
      with allelic fractions down to 0.03% in a whole exome sequencing (WES) study with
      a background error rate of one artificial error per 4.8 * 109 nucleotides.

PMID- 28611393
TI  - In-depth method assessments of differentially expressed protein detection for
      shotgun proteomics data with missing values.
AB  - Considering as one of the major goals in quantitative proteomics, detection of
      the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) plays an important role in biomarker
      selection and clinical diagnostics. There have been plenty of algorithms and
      tools focusing on DEP detection in proteomics research. However, due to the
      different application scopes of these methods, and various kinds of experiment
      designs, it is not very apparent about the best choice for large-scale proteomics
      data analyses. Moreover, given the fact that proteomics data usually contain high
      percentage of missing values (MVs), but few replicates, a systematic evaluation
      of the DEP detection methods combined with the MV imputation methods is essential
      and urgent. Here, we analyzed a total of four representative imputation methods
      and five DEP methods on different experimental and simulated datasets. The
      results showed that (i) MV imputation could not always improve the performances
      of DEP detection methods and the imputation effects differed in the missing value
      percentages; (ii) the DEP detection methods had different statistical powers
      affected by the percentage of MVs. Two statistical methods (i.e. the empirical
      Bayesian random censoring threshold model, and the significance analysis of
      microarray) performed better than the other evaluated methods in terms of
      accuracy and sensitivity.

PMID- 28611396
TI  - Coupling neutron reflectivity with cell-free protein synthesis to probe membrane
      protein structure in supported bilayers.
AB  - The structure of the p7 viroporin, an oligomeric membrane protein ion channel
      involved in the assembly and release of the hepatitis C virus, was determined
      from proteins expressed and inserted directly into supported model lipid
      membranes using cell-free protein expression. Cell-free protein expression
      allowed (i ) high protein concentration in the membrane, (ii ) control of the
      protein's isotopic constitution, and (iii ) control over the lipid environment
      available to the protein. Here, we used cell-free protein synthesis to directly
      incorporate the hepatitis C virus (HCV) p7 protein into supported lipid bilayers
      formed from physiologically relevant lipids (POPC or asolectin) for both direct
      structural measurements using neutron reflectivity (NR) and conductance
      measurements using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). We report that HCV p7
      from genotype 1a strain H77 adopts a conical shape within lipid bilayers and
      forms a viroporin upon oligomerization, confirmed by EIS conductance
      measurements. This combination of techniques represents a novel approach to the
      study of membrane proteins and, through the use of selective deuteration of
      particular amino acids to enhance neutron scattering contrast, has the promise to
      become a powerful tool for characterizing the protein conformation in
      physiologically relevant environments and for the development of biosensor
      applications.

PMID- 28611395
TI  - Shear stress induces endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition via the transcription
      factor Snail.
AB  - Blood flow influences atherosclerosis by generating wall shear stress, which
      alters endothelial cell (EC) physiology. Low shear stress induces
      dedifferentiation of EC through a process termed endothelial-to-mesenchymal
      transition (EndMT). The mechanisms underlying shear stress-regulation of EndMT
      are uncertain. Here we investigated the role of the transcription factor Snail in
      low shear stress-induced EndMT. Studies of cultured EC exposed to flow revealed
      that low shear stress induced Snail expression. Using gene silencing it was
      demonstrated that Snail positively regulated the expression of EndMT markers
      (Slug, N-cadherin, alpha-SMA) in EC exposed to low shear stress. Gene silencing
      also revealed that Snail enhanced the permeability of endothelial monolayers to
      macromolecules by promoting EC proliferation and migration. En face staining of
      the murine aorta or carotid arteries modified with flow-altering cuffs
      demonstrated that Snail was expressed preferentially at low shear stress sites
      that are predisposed to atherosclerosis. Snail was also expressed in EC overlying
      atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries from patients with ischemic heart
      disease implying a role in human arterial disease. We conclude that Snail is an
      essential driver of EndMT under low shear stress conditions and may promote early
      atherogenesis by enhancing vascular permeability.

PMID- 28611394
TI  - Identification of the ectoenzyme CD38 as a marker of committed preadipocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Characterisation of the adipocyte cellular lineage is
      required for a better understanding of white adipose tissue homoeostasis and
      expansion. Although several studies have focused on the phenotype of the most
      immature adipocyte progenitors, very few tools exist to identify committed cells.
      In haematopoiesis, the CD38 ectoenzyme is largely used to delineate various
      stages of stem cell lineage commitment. We hypothesise that this marker could be
      used to identify committed preadipocytes. METHODS: Complementary strategies
      including flow cytometry, cell-sorting approaches, immunohistochemistry and
      primary cultures of murine adipose progenitors isolated from different fat pads
      of control or high-fat diet exposed C57BL/6 J mice were used to determine the
      molecular expression profile, proliferative and differentiation potentials of
      adipose progenitors expressing the CD38 molecule. RESULTS: We demonstrate here
      that a subpopulation of CD45- CD31- CD34+ adipose progenitors express the cell
      surface protein CD38. Using a cell-sorting approach, we found that native CD45-
      CD31- CD34+ CD38+ (CD38+) adipose cells expressed lower CD34 mRNA and protein
      levels and higher levels of adipogenic genes such as Pparg, aP2, Lpl and Cd36
      than did the CD45- CD31- CD34+ CD38- (CD38-) population. When cultivated, CD38+
      cells displayed reduced proliferative potential, assessed by BrdU incorporation
      and colony-forming unit assays, and greater adipogenic potential. In vitro, both
      CD38 mRNA and protein levels were increased during adipogenesis and CD38- cells
      converted into CD38+ cells when committed to the adipogenic differentiation
      programme. We also found that obesity development was associated with an increase
      in the number of CD38+ adipose progenitors, this effect being more pronounced in
      intra-abdominal than in subcutaneous fat, suggesting a higher rate of adipocyte
      commitment in visceral depots. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data demonstrate that
      CD38 represents a new marker that identifies committed preadipocytes as CD45-
      CD31- CD34low CD38+ cells.

PMID- 28611397
TI  - Identification of GXXXXG motif in Chrysophsin-1 and its implication in the design
      of analogs with cell-selective antimicrobial and anti-endotoxin activities.
AB  - Marine fish antimicrobial peptide, chrysophsin-1 possesses versatile biological
      activities but its non-selective nature restricts its therapeutic possibilities.
      Often small alterations in structural motifs result in significant changes in the
      properties of concerned proteins/peptides. We have identified GXXXXG motif in
      chrysophsin-1. Glycine residue(s) of this motif in Chrysophsin-1 was/were
      replaced with alanine, valine and proline residue(s). Of these, proline
      substituted Chrysophsin-1 analogs exhibited significantly reduced cytotoxicity
      towards mammalian cells. Further, these analogs showed broad-spectrum activity
      against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria, Methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus strains and fungi and also retained antibacterial activity
      in presence of physiological salts, serum and at elevated temperatures indicative
      of their therapeutic potential. These Chrysophsin-1 analogs also inhibited
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced pro-inflammatory responses in THP-1 cells and in
      murine primary macrophages. One of these single proline-substituted Chrysophsin-1
      analogs inhibited LPS-stimulated pro-inflammatory cytokine production in BALB/c
      mice and elicited appreciable survival of mice administered with a lethal dose of
      LPS in a model of severe sepsis. The data for the first time showed the
      implication of GXXXXG motifs in functional and biological properties of an
      antimicrobial peptide and could be useful to design novel anti-microbial and anti
      endotoxin peptides by employing this motif.

PMID- 28611398
TI  - Derivation and Validation of a Mortality Risk Score for Severe Hand, Foot and
      Mouth Disease in China.
AB  - Outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) have increased recently, as has
      the case fatality rate in severe cases. No scoring system currently exists to
      predict mortality risk for severe HFMD in previous study. We retrospectively
      collected laboratory parameters for 546 patients with severe HFMD (a derivation
      and a validation cohort) at Hunan Children's Hospitals between January 2012 and
      December 2014. We developed a mortality risk score comprising four laboratory
      parameters: blood glucose (GLU), white blood cells (WBC), lactate (LAC), and N
      terminal-probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Using an "optimal" cutoff
      score of 4, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative
      predictive value was 88.00%, 96.14%, 62.86% and 99.08%, respectively, in the
      derivation cohort. Among severe HFMD patients with low- and high-risk scores in
      the validation cohort, case fatality rates were 1.49% and 74.07%, respectively.
      According to the "optimal" cut-off in the derivation cohort, the sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were
      80.95%, 93.83%, 62.96% and 97.44%, respectively, in the derivation cohort. The
      mortality risk score demonstrated good discrimination (AUC > 0.9) and calibration
      (P > 0.05) in both cohorts. The mortality risk score, comprising WBC, GLU, LAC
      and NT-proBNP, has been demonstrated good discrimination and calibration in the
      both cohorts.

PMID- 28611399
TI  - Homozygous truncating mutation in NRAP gene identified by whole exome sequencing
      in a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - The genetic background of dilated cardiomyopathy is highly heterogeneous, with
      close to 100 known genes and a number of candidates described to date. Nebulin
      related-anchoring protein (NRAP) is an actin-binding cytoskeletal protein
      expressed predominantly in striated and cardiac muscles, and is involved in
      myofibrillar assembly in the foetal heart and in force transmission in the adult
      heart. The homozygous NRAP truncating variant (rs201084642), which is predicted
      to introduce premature stop codon into all NRAP isoforms, was revealed in the
      dilated cardiomyopathy patient using whole exome sequencing. The same genotype
      was detected in the asymptomatic proband's brother. The expression of the NRAP
      protein was undetectable in the patient's heart muscle by the Western blot.
      Genotyping for rs201084642 in the ethnically matched cohort of 231 dilated
      cardiomyopathy patients did not reveal any additional subjects with this variant.
      Our findings suggest that the biallelic loss-of-function mutation in NRAP could
      constitute a relatively rare, low-penetrance genetic risk factor for dilated
      cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28611400
TI  - The importance of naming cryptic species and the conservation of endemic
      subterranean amphipods.
AB  - Molecular taxonomy often uncovers cryptic species, reminding us that taxonomic
      incompleteness is even more severe than previous thought. The importance of
      cryptic species for conservation is poorly understood. Although some cryptic
      species may be seriously threatened or otherwise important, they are rarely
      included in conservation programs as most of them remain undescribed. We analysed
      the importance of cryptic species in conservation by scrutinizing the South
      European cryptic complex of the subterranean amphipod Niphargus stygius sensu
      lato. Using uni- and multilocus delineation methods we show that it consists of
      15 parapatric and sympatric species, which we describe using molecular diagnoses.
      The new species are not mere "taxonomic inflation" as they originate from several
      distinct branches within the genus and coexist with no evidence of lineage
      sharing. They are as evolutionarily distinct as average nominal species of the
      same genus. Ignoring these cryptic species will underestimate the number of
      subterranean endemics in Slovenia by 12 and in Croatia by four species, although
      alpha diversity of single caves remains unchanged. The new taxonomy renders
      national Red Lists largely obsolete, as they list mostly large-ranged species but
      omit critically endangered single-site endemics. Formal naming of cryptic species
      is critical for them to be included in conservation policies and faunal listings.

PMID- 28611401
TI  - A Diet Diverse in Bamboo Parts is Important for Giant Panda (Ailuropoda
      melanoleuca) Metabolism and Health.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the metabolic response in giant pandas
      (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to the consumption of certain parts of bamboo above
      ground growth. Giant pandas were provisioned with three species of bamboo:
      Phyllostachys bissetii, of which they only consume the culm (culm group);
      Bashania fargesii, of which they only consume the leaves (leaf group); and
      Qiongzhuea opienensis, of which they only consume the shoots (shoot group). The
      "culm" group absorbed the highest amount of calories and fiber, but was in short
      energy supply (depressed tricarboxylic acid cycle activity), and high fiber level
      diet might reduce the digestibility of protein. The "culm" and "leaf" groups
      absorbed less protein, and had a lower rate of body mass growth than the "shoot"
      group. Digestion of fiber requires energy input and yields low caloric extraction
      from the culm and leaf, and protein intake is important for increasing body mass.
      However, long-term consumption of shoots may have a potentially negative effect
      on the health because of high protein composition. Therefore, a balanced diet
      consisting of diverse plant parts of bamboo is important for the overall
      metabolic function and health of captive giant pandas.

PMID- 28611402
TI  - Dynamic Nuclear Polarization NMR as a new tool to investigate the nature of
      organic compounds occluded in plant silica particles.
AB  - The determination of the chemical nature of the organic matter associated with
      phytoliths remains a challenge. This difficulty mainly stems from amounts of
      organic carbon (C) that are often well below the detection limit of traditional
      spectroscopic tools. Conventional solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
      (NMR) is widely used to examine the nature and structure of organic molecules,
      but its inherent low sensitivity prohibits the observation of diluted samples.
      The recent advent of commercial microwave source in the terahertz range triggered
      a renewed interest in the Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) technique to improve
      the signal to noise ratio of solid-state NMR experiments. With this technique,
      the 13C spectrum of a phytolith sample containing 0.1% w/w C was obtained
      overnight with sufficient quality to permit a semi-quantitative analysis of the
      organic matter, showing the presence of peptides and carbohydrates as predominant
      compounds. Considering the natural abundance of the 13C isotope, this experiment
      demonstrates that DNP NMR is sufficiently sensitive to observe spin systems
      present in amounts as low as a few tens of ppm.

PMID- 28611403
TI  - Temporal trends in initiation of VKA, rivaroxaban, apixaban and dabigatran for
      the treatment of venous thromboembolism - A Danish nationwide cohort study.
AB  - Danish nationwide registries were used to investigate temporal trends in
      initiation of rivaroxaban or apixaban or dabigatran versus vitamin K antagonists
      (VKA) in patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE). Patients treated with one of
      the NOACs (rivaroxaban, dabigatran, apixaban) or VKA were identified between
      February 2012 and September 2016. A total of 19,578 patients were included of
      which 10,844 (55.4%) were treated with VKA and 8,734 (44.6%) were treated with
      NOACs (rivaroxaban 7,572, apixaban 1,066, and dabigatran 96). Temporal trends
      showed a decrease in the initiation of VKA (p-value for decreasing trend, p <
      0001) and an increase in the initiation of rivaroxaban and apixaban (p-value for
      increasing trend, p < 0001). By September 2016, 12%, 70%, 16%, and 2% of patients
      with VTE were initiated on VKA, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran. Patients
      with previous VTE, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, cancer, and
      thrombophilia were more likely to be initiated on VKA compared with one of the
      NOACs. In conclusion the initiation of rivaroxaban and apixaban is increasing
      significantly over time in patients with VTE. Patients with previous VTE, chronic
      kidney disease, liver disease, cancer, and thrombophilia were more likely to be
      initiated on VKA compared with rivaroxaban or apixaban.

PMID- 28611404
TI  - Molecular identification in metabolomics using infrared ion spectroscopy.
AB  - Small molecule identification is a continually expanding field of research and
      represents the core challenge in various areas of (bio)analytical science,
      including metabolomics. Here, we unequivocally differentiate enantiomeric N
      acetylhexosamines in body fluids using infrared ion spectroscopy, providing
      orthogonal identification of molecular structure unavailable by standard liquid
      chromatography/high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. These results illustrate
      the potential of infrared ion spectroscopy for the identification of small
      molecules from complex mixtures.

PMID- 28611406
TI  - Targeted next-generation sequencing of the 16S-23S rRNA region for culture
      independent bacterial identification - increased discrimination of closely
      related species.
AB  - The aim of this study was to develop an easy-to-use culture-free diagnostic
      method based on next generation sequencing (NGS) of PCR amplification products
      encompassing whole 16S-23S rRNA region to improve the resolution of bacterial
      species identification. To determine the resolution of the new method 67 isolates
      were subjected to four identification methods: Sanger sequencing of the 16S rRNA
      gene; NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region using MiSeq (Illumina) sequencer; Microflex
      MS (Bruker) and VITEK MS (bioMerieux). To evaluate the performance of this new
      method when applied directly on clinical samples, we conducted a proof of
      principle study with 60 urine samples from patients suspected of urinary tract
      infections (UTIs), 23 BacT/ALERT (bioMerieux) positive blood culture bottles and
      21 clinical orthopedic samples. The resolution power of NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA
      region was superior to other tested identification methods. Furthermore, the new
      method correctly identified pathogens established as the cause of UTIs and blood
      stream infections with conventional culture. NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region also
      showed increased detection of bacterial microorganisms in clinical samples from
      orthopedic patients. Therefore, we conclude that our method has the potential to
      increase diagnostic yield for detection of bacterial pathogenic species compared
      to current methods.

PMID- 28611405
TI  - Local immunization impacts the response of dairy cows to Escherichia coli
      mastitis.
AB  - Current vaccines to Escherichia coli mastitis have shown some albeit limited
      efficacy. Their mode of action has not been documented, and immune responses
      protecting the mammary gland against E. coli are not completely understood. To
      improve our knowledge of mammary gland immune protection, cows immunized either
      intramuscularly or intramammarily with the E. coli P4 were submitted to a
      homologous mastitis challenge. A third group of mock-immunized cows serve as
      challenge controls. Local immunization modified favorably the course of
      infection, by improving bacterial clearance while limiting inflammation. Systemic
      clinical signs and reduction in milk secretion were also contained. This occurred
      with a modification of the cytokine profile, such as an increase in IFN-gamma and
      a reduction in TNF-alpha concentrations in milk. Concentrations of IL-17A and IL
      22 increased in milk at the onset of the inflammatory response and remained high
      up to the elimination of bacteria, but concentrations did not differ between
      groups. Accelerated bacteriological cure was not linked to an increase in the
      initial efficiency of phagocytosis in milk. Results support the idea that
      antibodies did not play a major role in the improvement, and that cell-mediated
      immunity is the key to understanding E. coli vaccine-induced protection of the
      mammary gland.

PMID- 28611407
TI  - Evaluation of the MTBDRplus 2.0 assay for the detection of multidrug resistance
      among persons with presumptive pulmonary TB in China.
AB  - We have conducted a multicenter study of the diagnostic accuracy of the MTBDRplus
      2.0 assay in compared with conventional and molecular reference standard in four
      tuberculosis (TB)-specialized hospitals of China. A total of 5038 patients were
      enrolled in this study. The overall sensitivity of the assay for the diagnosis of
      TB was 92.7% [1723/1858, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 91.5-93.9]. In smear
      positive/culture-positive cases the sensitivity was 97.7% (995/1018, 95% CI: 96.6
      98.6), whereas in smear-negative/culture-positive cases it was 86.7% (728/840,
      95% CI: 84.2-88.9). The agreement rate between MTBDRplus 2.0 and Xpert MTB/RIF
      was 97.7% (1015/1039, 95% CI: 96.6-98.5) for smear-positive cases and 97.0%
      (3682/3794, 95% CI: 96.5-97.6) for smear-negative cases. As compared with
      phenotypic drug susceptibility testing, the MTBDRplus 2.0 correctly identified
      298 of 315 patients (94.6%, 95% CI: 91.5-96.8) with rifampicin-resistance. As
      noted previously, isoniazid resistance is associated with many different
      mutations and consequently the sensitivity compared to phenotypic testing was
      lower (81.0%, 95% CI: 76.8-84.7). In conclusion, this assay is a rapid, accurate
      test in terms of increased sensitivity for detecting smear-negative TB patients,
      as well as an alternative for detecting both RIF and INH resistance in persons
      with presumptive TB, whereas the absence of a mutation in the specimens must be
      interpreted cautiously.

PMID- 28611409
TI  - Soil biochar amendment affects the diversity of nosZ transcripts: Implications
      for N2O formation.
AB  - Microbial nitrogen transformation processes such as denitrification represent
      major sources of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Soil biochar
      amendment has been shown to significantly decrease N2O emissions in various
      soils. However, the effect of biochar on the structure and function of microbial
      communities that actively perform nitrogen redox transformations has not been
      studied in detail yet. To analyse the community composition of actively
      denitrifying and N2O-reducing microbial communities, we collected RNA samples at
      different time points from a soil microcosm experiment conducted under
      denitrifying conditions and performed Illumina amplicon sequencing targeting
      nirK, typical nosZ and atypical nosZ mRNA transcripts. Within 10 days, biochar
      significantly increased the diversity of nirK and typical nosZ transcripts and
      resulted in taxonomic shifts among the typical nosZ-expressing microbial
      community. Furthermore, biochar addition led to a significant increase in
      transcript production among microbial species that are specialized on direct N2O
      reduction from the environment. Our results point towards a potential coupling of
      biochar-induced N2O emission reduction and an increase in microbial N2O reduction
      activity among specific groups of typical and atypical N2O reducers. However,
      experiments with other soils and biochars will be required to verify the
      transferability of these findings to other soil-biochar systems.

PMID- 28611408
TI  - Phylogeography of Petrolisthes armatus, an invasive species with low dispersal
      ability.
AB  - Theoretically, species with high population structure are likely to expand their
      range, because marginal populations are free to adapt to local conditions;
      however, meta-analyses have found a negative relation between structure and
      invasiveness. The crab Petrolisthes armatus has a wide native range, which has
      expanded in the last three decades. We sequenced 1718 bp of mitochondrial DNA
      from native and recently established populations to determine the population
      structure of the former and the origin of the latter. There was phylogenetic
      separation between Atlantic and eastern Pacific populations, and between east and
      west Atlantic ones. Haplotypes on the coast of Florida and newly established
      populations in Georgia and South Carolina belong to a different clade from those
      from Yucatan to Brazil, though a few haplotypes are shared. In the Pacific,
      populations from Colombia and Ecuador are highly divergent from those from Panama
      and the Sea of Cortez. In general, populations were separated hundreds to million
      years ago with little subsequent gene flow. High genetic diversity in the newly
      established populations shows that they were founded by many individuals. Range
      expansion appears to have been limited by low dispersal rather than lack of
      ability of marginal populations to adapt to extreme conditions.

PMID- 28611410
TI  - Politeness and Compassion Differentially Predict Adherence to Fairness Norms and
      Interventions to Norm Violations in Economic Games.
AB  - Adherence to norms and interventions to norm violations are two important forms
      of social behaviour modelled in economic games. While both appear to serve a
      prosocial function, they may represent separate mechanisms corresponding with
      distinct emotional and psychological antecedents, and thus may be predicted by
      different personality traits. In this study, we compared adherence to fairness
      norms in the dictator game with responses to violations of the same norms in
      third-party punishment and recompensation games with respect to prosocial traits
      from the Big Five and HEXACO models of personality. The results revealed a
      pattern of differential relations between prosocial traits and game behaviours.
      While norm adherence in the dictator game was driven by traits reflecting good
      manners and non-aggression (the politeness aspect of Big Five agreeableness and
      HEXACO honesty-humility), third-party recompensation of victims-and to a lesser
      extent, punishment of offenders-was uniquely driven by traits reflecting
      emotional concern for others (the compassion aspect of Big Five agreeableness).
      These findings demonstrate the discriminant validity between similar prosocial
      constructs and highlight the different prosocial motivations underlying economic
      game behaviours.

PMID- 28611411
TI  - Silver Nanowire/Colorless-Polyimide Composite Electrode: Application in Flexible
      and Transparent Resistive Switching Memory.
AB  - Improving the performance of resistive switching memories, while providing high
      transparency and excellent mechanical stability, has been of great interest
      because of the emerging need for electronic wearable devices. However, it remains
      a great challenge to fabricate fully flexible and transparent resistive switching
      memories because not enough research on flexible and transparent electrodes, for
      their application in resistive switching memories, has been conducted. Therefore,
      it has not been possible to obtain a nonvolatile memory with commercial
      applications. Recently, an electrode composed of a networked structure of Ag
      nanowires (AgNWs) embedded in a polymer, such as colorless polyimide (cPI), has
      been attracting increasing attention because of its high electrical, optical, and
      mechanical stability. However, for an intended use as a transparent electrode and
      substrate for resistive switching memories, it still has the crucial disadvantage
      of having a limited surface coverage of conductive pathways. Here, we introduce a
      novel approach to obtain a AgNWs/cPI composite electrode with a high figure-of
      merit, mechanical stability, surface smoothness, and abundant surface coverage of
      conductive networks. By employing the fabricated electrodes, a flexible and
      transparent resistive memory could be successfully fabricated.

PMID- 28611412
TI  - Fiber Optic Sensor for Real-Time Sensing of Silica Scale Formation in Geothermal
      Water.
AB  - We present a novel fiber optic sensor for real-time sensing of silica scale
      formation in geothermal water. The sensor is fabricated by removing the cladding
      of a multimode fiber to expose the core to detect the scale-formation-induced
      refractive index change. A simple experimental setup was constructed to measure
      the transmittance response using white light as a source and a spectroscopy
      detector. A field test was performed on geothermal water containing 980 mg/L
      dissolved silica at 93  degrees C in Sumikawa Geothermal Power Plant, Japan. The
      transmittance response of the fiber sensor decreased due to the formation of
      silica scale on the fiber core from geothermal water. An application of this
      sensor in the evaluation of scale inhibitors was demonstrated. In geothermal
      water containing a pH modifier, the change of transmittance response decreased
      with pH decrease. The effectiveness of a polyelectrolyte inhibitor in prevention
      of silica scale formation was easily detectable using the fiber sensor in
      geothermal water.

PMID- 28611414
TI  - Ribosome cycle emerges from DNA replication.

PMID- 28611413
TI  - A microengineered model of RBC transfusion-induced pulmonary vascular injury.
AB  - Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion poses significant risks to critically ill
      patients by increasing their susceptibility to acute respiratory distress
      syndrome. While the underlying mechanisms of this life-threatening syndrome
      remain elusive, studies suggest that RBC-induced microvascular injury in the
      distal lung plays a central role in the development of lung injury following
      blood transfusion. Here we present a novel microengineering strategy to model and
      investigate this key disease process. Specifically, we created a microdevice for
      culturing primary human lung endothelial cells under physiological flow
      conditions to recapitulate the morphology and hemodynamic environment of the
      pulmonary microvascular endothelium in vivo. Perfusion of the microengineered
      vessel with human RBCs resulted in abnormal cytoskeletal rearrangement and
      release of intracellular molecules associated with regulated necrotic cell death,
      replicating the characteristics of acute endothelial injury in transfused lungs
      in vivo. Our data also revealed the significant effect of hemodynamic shear
      stress on RBC-induced microvascular injury. Furthermore, we integrated the
      microfluidic endothelium with a computer-controlled mechanical stretching system
      to show that breathing-induced physiological deformation of the pulmonary
      microvasculature may exacerbate vascular injury during RBC transfusion. Our
      biomimetic microsystem provides an enabling platform to mechanistically study
      transfusion-associated pulmonary vascular complications in susceptible patient
      populations.

PMID- 28611415
TI  - Translation: RAPping with ribosomes.

PMID- 28611416
TI  - Giant Magnetic Band Gap in the Rashba-Split Surface State of Vanadium-Doped
      BiTeI: A Combined Photoemission and Ab Initio Study.
AB  - One of the most promising platforms for spintronics and topological quantum
      computation is the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with strong spin-orbit
      interaction and out-of-plane ferromagnetism. In proximity to an s-wave
      superconductor, such 2DEG may be driven into a topologically non-trivial
      superconducting phase, predicted to support zero-energy Majorana fermion modes.
      Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, we
      study the 2DEG at the surface of the vanadium-doped polar semiconductor with a
      giant Rashba-type splitting, BiTeI. We show that the vanadium-induced
      magnetization in the 2DEG breaks time-reversal symmetry, lifting Kramers
      degeneracy of the Rashba-split surface state at the Brillouin zone center via
      formation of a huge gap of about 90 meV. As a result, the constant energy contour
      inside the gap consists of only one circle with spin-momentum locking. These
      findings reveal a great potential of the magnetically-doped semiconductors with a
      giant Rashba-type splitting for realization of novel states of matter.

PMID- 28611417
TI  - Direct evidence for cell adhesion-mediated radioresistance (CAM-RR) on the level
      of individual integrin beta1 clusters.
AB  - The cellular interaction with the extracellular matrix (ECM) modulates many key
      processes such as proliferation, migration, differentiation and survival. In
      addition, cells cultured under 3D conditions in presence of an ECM display a
      marked radioresistance towards ionizing radiation (IR) in comparison to
      conventionally 2D cultured cells. This process, also known as "cell-adhesion
      mediated-radio-resistance" (CAM-RR), has been linked to the chromatin structure
      that differs between cells cultured on stiff surfaces versus cell grown on soft
      planar supports or in 3D environments. As integrins are the key mediators of cell
      adhesion and mechanosensing, they originate the molecular signalling towards
      chromatin remodelling in response to a cell's microenvironment. We aimed to
      investigate this molecular origin that leads to CAM-RR by investigating the
      distribution of integrins at the single molecule level and show that cells
      cultured in 2D keep a lower fraction of integrin beta1 in clusters and maintain a
      less defined cluster status than 3D cultured cells. Upon X-irradiation this
      nanoscale distribution of integrin beta1 is disturbed at much lower dosages in 2D
      versus 3D cultured cells. Radioresistance is thus linked to the ability to
      maintain a well defined organization of integrins in clusters, making integrin
      distribution a potential drug target for radiosensitization.

PMID- 28611418
TI  - Arrestins contribute to amyloid beta-induced cell death via modulation of
      autophagy and the alpha7nAch receptor in SH-SY5Y cells.
AB  - Amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) is believed to contribute to the development of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we showed that Abeta25-35 rapidly caused
      activation of autophagy, subsequently leading to reduction of autophagy
      associated with cellular apoptosis. Further investigation revealed that the
      accumulation of beta-arrestin 1 (ARRB1) caused by Abeta25-35 contributed to the
      induction of autophagic flux. The depletion of ARRB1 led to decreases in the
      expression of LC3B, Atg7, and Beclin-1, which are essential for the initiation of
      autophagy. ARRB1 depletion also reduced downstream ERK activity and promoted
      Abeta25-35-induced cell death. As with ARRB1, transient upregulation of ARRB2 by
      Abeta25-35 was observed after short treatment durations, whereas genetic
      reduction of ARRB2 caused a marked increase in the expression of the alpha7nAch
      receptor at the cell surface, which resulted in partial reversal of Abeta25-35
      induced cell death. Although expression of both ARRB1 and ARRB2 was reduced in
      serum from patients with AD, the levels of ARRB1 were much lower than those of
      ARRB2 in AD. Thus, our findings indicate that ARRB1/2 play different roles in
      Abeta25-35 cytotoxicity, which may provide additional support for exploring the
      underlying molecular mechanism of AD.

PMID- 28611419
TI  - Interaction of PKR with single-stranded RNA.
AB  - Although the antiviral kinase PKR was originally characterized as a double
      stranded RNA activated enzyme it can be stimulated by RNAs containing limited
      secondary structure. Single-stranded regions in such RNAs contribute to binding
      and activation but the mechanism is not understood. Here, we demonstrate that
      single-stranded RNAs bind to PKR with micromolar dissociation constants and can
      induce activation. Addition of a 5'-triphosphate slightly enhances binding
      affinity. Single-stranded RNAs also activate PKR constructs lacking the double
      stranded RNA binding domain and bind to a basic region adjacent to the N-terminus
      of the kinase. However, the isolated kinase is not activated by and does not bind
      single-stranded RNA. Photocrosslinking measurements demonstrate that that the
      basic region interacts with RNA in the context of full length PKR. We propose
      that bivalent interactions with the double stranded RNA binding domain and the
      basic region underlie the ability of RNAs containing limited structure to
      activate PKR by enhancing binding affinity and thereby increasing the population
      of productive complexes containing two PKRs bound to a single RNA.

PMID- 28611420
TI  - A Guide to Design Functional Molecular Liquids with Tailorable Properties using
      Pyrene-Fluorescence as a Probe.
AB  - Solvent-free, nonvolatile, room-temperature alkylated-pi functional molecular
      liquids (FMLs) are rapidly emerging as a new generation of fluid matter. However,
      precision design to tune their physicochemical properties remains a serious
      challenge because the properties are governed by subtle pi-pi interactions among
      functional pi-units, which are very hard to control and characterize. Herein, we
      address the issue by probing pi-pi interactions with highly sensitive pyrene
      fluorescence. A series of alkylated pyrene FMLs were synthesized. The
      photophysical properties were artfully engineered with rational modulation of the
      number, length, and substituent motif of alkyl chains attached to the pyrene
      unit. The different emission from the excimer to uncommon intermediate to the
      monomer scaled the pyrene-pyrene interactions in a clear trend, from stronger to
      weaker to negligible. Synchronously, the physical nature of these FMLs was
      regulated from inhomogeneous to isotropic. The inhomogeneity, unexplored before,
      was thoroughly investigated by ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy techniques.
      The result provides a clearer image of liquid matter. Our methodology
      demonstrates a potential to unambiguously determine local molecular organizations
      of amorphous materials, which cannot be achieved by conventional structural
      analysis. Therefore this study provides a guide to design alkylated-pi FMLs with
      tailorable physicochemical properties.

PMID- 28611421
TI  - Presence of caffeine reversibly interferes with efficacy of acupuncture-induced
      analgesia.
AB  - Acupuncture is an alternative treatment for wide spectrum chronic pain. However,
      its validity remains controversial due to the disputed efficacy assessed in
      various clinical studies. Moreover, variability amongst individuals complicates
      the predictability of outcome, which impedes the integration of acupuncture into
      mainstream pain management programs. In light of our previous finding that the
      analgesic effect of acupuncture is mediated by adenosine A1 receptor activation
      at the acupuncture point, we here report that in acute and chronic animal pain
      models, oral intake of caffeine, a potent adenosine receptor antagonist,
      interferes with acupuncture analgesia, even at a low dose. Local administration
      of caffeine at the acupuncture point was sufficient to eliminate the analgesic
      effect, dismissing the systemic action of caffeine. Such interference was
      reversible, as caffeine withdrawal fully restored the efficacy of acupuncture by
      the next day, and long-term exposure to caffeine did not alter A1 receptor
      expression at the acupuncture point. Combined, these data indicate that a trace
      amount of caffeine can reversibly block the analgesic effects of acupuncture, and
      controlling caffeine consumption during acupuncture may improve pain management
      outcomes.

PMID- 28611423
TI  - Catalytic transformation of functionalized carboxylic acids using multifunctional
      rhenium complexes.
AB  - Carboxylic acids (CAs) are one of the most ubiquitous and important chemical
      feedstocks available from biorenewable resources, CO2, and the petrochemical
      industry. Unfortunately, chemoselective catalytic transformations of CH n CO2H (n
      = 1-3) groups into other functionalities remain a significant challenge. Herein,
      we report rheniumV complexes as extremely effective precatalysts for this
      purpose. Compared to previously reported heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts
      derived from high- or low-valent metals, the present method involves a alpha-C-H
      bond functionalization, a hydrogenation, and a hydrogenolysis, which affords
      functionalized alcohols with a wide substrate scope and high chemoselectivity
      under relatively mild reaction conditions. The results represent an important
      step toward a paradigm shift from 'low-valent' to 'high-valent' metal complexes
      by exploring a new portfolio of selective functional group transformations of
      highly oxygenated organic substrates, as well as toward the exploitation of CAs
      as a valuable biorenewable feedstock.

PMID- 28611422
TI  - Bone Fusion in Normal and Pathological Development is Constrained by the Network
      Architecture of the Human Skull.
AB  - Craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of cranial bones, affects the correct
      development of the skull producing morphological malformations in newborns. To
      assess the susceptibility of each craniofacial articulation to close prematurely,
      we used a network model of the skull to quantify the link reliability (an index
      based on stochastic block models and Bayesian inference) of each articulation. We
      show that, of the 93 human skull articulations at birth, the few articulations
      that are associated with non-syndromic craniosynostosis conditions have
      statistically significant lower reliability scores than the others. In a similar
      way, articulations that close during the normal postnatal development of the
      skull have also lower reliability scores than those articulations that persist
      through adult life. These results indicate a relationship between the
      architecture of the skull and the specific articulations that close during normal
      development as well as in pathological conditions. Our findings suggest that the
      topological arrangement of skull bones might act as a structural constraint,
      predisposing some articulations to closure, both in normal and pathological
      development, also affecting the long-term evolution of the skull.

PMID- 28611424
TI  - Low Loss Nanostructured Polymers for Chip-scale Waveguide Amplifiers.
AB  - On-chip waveguide amplifiers offer higher gain in small device sizes and better
      integration with photonic devices than the commonly available fiber amplifiers.
      However, on-chip amplifiers have yet to make its way into the mainstream due to
      the limited availability of materials with ideal light guiding and amplification
      properties. A low-loss nanostructured on-chip channel polymeric waveguide
      amplifier was designed, characterized, fabricated and its gain experimentally
      measured at telecommunication wavelength. The active polymeric waveguide core
      comprises of NaYF4:Yb,Er,Ce core-shell nanocrystals dispersed within a SU8
      polymer, where the nanoparticle interfacial characteristics were tailored using
      hydrolyzed polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-graft-poly(methyl methacrylate)
      to improve particle dispersion. Both the enhanced IR emission intensity from our
      nanocrystals using a tri-dopant scheme and the reduced scattering losses from our
      excellent particle dispersion at a high solid loading of 6.0 vol% contributed to
      the outstanding optical performance of our polymeric waveguide. We achieved one
      of the highest reported gain of 6.6 dB/cm using a relatively low coupled pump
      power of 80 mW. These polymeric waveguide amplifiers offer greater promise for
      integrated optical circuits due to their processability and integration
      advantages which will play a key role in the emerging areas of flexible
      communication and optoelectronic devices.

PMID- 28611425
TI  - Pancreatic adenocarcinoma response to chemotherapy enhanced with non-invasive
      radio frequency evaluated via an integrated experimental/computational approach.
AB  - Although chemotherapy combined with radiofrequency exposure has shown promise in
      cancer treatment by coupling drug cytotoxicity with thermal ablation or thermally
      induced cytotoxicity, limited access of the drug to tumor loci in hypo
      vascularized lesions has hampered clinical application. We recently showed that
      high-intensity short-wave capacitively coupled radiofrequency (RF) electric
      fields may reach inaccessible targets in vivo. This non-invasive RF combined with
      gemcitabine (Gem) chemotherapy enhanced drug uptake and effect in pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC), notorious for having poor response and limited therapeutic
      options, but without inducing thermal injury. We hypothesize that the enhanced
      cytotoxicity derives from RF-facilitated drug transport in the tumor
      microenvironment. We propose an integrated experimental/computational approach to
      evaluate chemotherapeutic response combined with RF-induced phenotypic changes in
      tissue with impaired transport. Results show that RF facilitates diffusive
      transport in 3D cell cultures representing hypo-vascularized lesions, enhancing
      drug uptake and effect. Computational modeling evaluates drug vascular
      extravasation and diffusive transport as key RF-modulated parameters, with
      transport being dominant. Assessment of hypothetical schedules following current
      clinical protocol for Stage-IV PDAC suggests that unresponsive lesions may be
      growth-restrained when exposed to Gem plus RF. Comparison of these projections to
      experiments in vivo indicates that synergy may result from RF-induced cell
      phenotypic changes enhancing drug transport and cytotoxicity, thus providing a
      potential baseline for clinically-focused evaluation.

PMID- 28611426
TI  - Radioiodination of BODIPY and its application to a nuclear and optical dual
      functional labeling agent for proteins and peptides.
AB  - In molecular imaging research, the development of multimodal imaging probes has
      recently attracted much attention. In the present study, we prepared
      radioiodinated BODIPY and applied it as a nuclear and optical dual functional
      labeling agent for proteins and peptides. We designed and synthesized
      [125I]BODIPY with a N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester, and evaluated its utility
      as a nuclear and fluorescent dual labeling agent for proteins and peptides. In
      the radioiodination reaction of BODIPY-NHS with [125I]NaI, [125I]BODIPY-NHS was
      obtained at a 48% radiochemical yield. When we carried out the conjugation
      reaction of [125I]BODIPY-NHS with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and RGD (Arg-Gly
      Asp) peptide as a model protein and peptide, respectively, [125I]BODIPY-BSA and
      [125I]BODIPY-RGD peptide were successfully prepared at 98 and 82% radiochemical
      yields, respectively. Furthermore, we prepared [123I]BODIPY-trastuzumab by this
      conjugation reaction and successfully applied it to single photon emission
      computed tomography (SPECT) imaging studies using tumor-bearing mice, suggesting
      that radioiodinated BODIPY-NHS serves as a dual functional labeling agent for
      proteins and peptides. Since iodine has various radioisotopes that can be used
      for SPECT and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, biological research,
      and radiotherapy, the radioiodinated BODIPY may be extensively applicable from
      basic to clinical research.

PMID- 28611427
TI  - Canine Leishmaniasis Progression is Associated with Vitamin D Deficiency.
AB  - The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of suffering from a
      plethora of health disorders, ranging from autoimmune processes to infectious
      diseases has been widely described. Nonetheless, the potential role of vitamin D
      in visceral leishmaniasis remains uncharacterized. In the Mediterranean basin,
      where the dog is leishmania's main peri-domestic reservoir, control measures
      against the canine disease have shown beneficial effects on the incidence of
      human leishmaniasis. In this study, we measured the vitamin D levels in serum
      samples from a cohort of 68 healthy and disease dogs from a highly endemic area
      and we have also studied the relationship of these levels with parasitological
      and immunological parameters. The sick dogs presented significantly lower (P <
      0.001) vitamin D levels (19.6 ng/mL) than their non-infected (31.8 ng/mL) and the
      asymptomatic counterparts (29.6 ng/mL). In addition, vitamin D deficiency
      correlated with several parameters linked to leishmaniasis progression. However,
      there was no correlation between vitamin D levels and the Leishmania-specific
      cellular immune response. Moreover, both the leishmanin skin test and the IFN
      gamma levels displayed negative correlations with serological, parasitological
      and clinical signs. Further studies to determine the functional role of vitamin D
      on the progression and control of canine leishmaniasis are needed.

PMID- 28611428
TI  - Deep-sequencing of Marburg virus genome during sequential mouse passaging and
      cell-culture adaptation reveals extensive changes over time.
AB  - Marburg virus (MARV) has caused outbreaks of filoviral hemorrhagic fever since
      its discovery in 1967. The largest and deadliest outbreak occurred in Angola in
      2005, with 252 cases and 227 deaths. In 2014, we developed a mouse-adapted MARV,
      Angola variant through serial passaging in mice. The mouse-adapted MARV exhibits
      many of the hallmarks of MARV disease in humans. By applying deep-sequencing to
      every passage of the virus, we are able to study virus evolution in this host
      with surprising precision. We show that two regions go through substantial
      changes: the intergenic region between NP and VP35, as well as the first 100
      amino acids of the VP40 protein. Our results also reveal that there were profound
      changes during the production of the final virus stock in cell culture. Overall,
      our results show that a handful of regions carry most of the mutations acquired
      during the adaptation of the virus to a new host and that many mutations become
      fixed very early during the adaptation process.

PMID- 28611429
TI  - Streptococcus sp. in neonatal endotracheal tube biofilms is associated with
      ventilator-associated pneumonia and enhanced biofilm formation of Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa PAO1.
AB  - Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a serious complication of mechanical
      ventilation leading to high morbidity and mortality among intubated neonates in
      neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Endotracheal tube (ETT) biofilm flora were
      considered to be responsible for the occurrence of VAP as a reservoir of
      pathogens. However, regarding neonates with VAP, little is known about the
      complex microbial signatures in ETT biofilms. In the present study, a culture
      independent approach based on next generation sequencing was performed as an
      initial survey to investigate the microbial communities in ETT biofilms of 49
      intubated neonates with and without VAP. Our results revealed a far more complex
      microflora in ETT biofilms from intubated neonates compared to a previous culture
      based study. The abundance of Streptococci in ETT biofilms was significantly
      related to the onset of VAP. By isolating Streptococci in ETT biofilms, we found
      that Streptococci enhanced biofilm formation of the common nosocomial pathogen
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and decreased IL-8 expression of airway epithelia
      cells exposed to the biofilm conditioned medium of PAO1. This study provides new
      insight into the pathogenesis of VAP among intubated neonates. More studies
      focusing on intubated neonates are warranted to develop strategies to address
      this important nosocomial disease in NICUs.

PMID- 28611432
TI  - Capacity limit for faster-than-Nyquist non-orthogonal frequency-division
      multiplexing signaling.
AB  - Faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signal achieves higher spectral efficiency and capacity
      compared to Nyquist signal due to its smaller pulse interval or narrower
      subcarrier spacing. Shannon limit typically defines the upper-limit capacity of
      Nyquist signal. To the best of our knowledge, the mathematical expression for the
      capacity limit of FTN non-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (NOFDM)
      signal is first demonstrated in this paper. The mathematical expression shows
      that FTN NOFDM signal has the potential to achieve a higher capacity limit
      compared to Nyquist signal. In this paper, we demonstrate the principle of FTN
      NOFDM by taking fractional cosine transform-based NOFDM (FrCT-NOFDM) for
      instance. FrCT-NOFDM is first proposed and implemented by both simulation and
      experiment. When the bandwidth compression factor alpha is set to 0.8 in FrCT
      NOFDM, the subcarrier spacing is equal to 40% of the symbol rate per subcarrier,
      thus the transmission rate is about 25% faster than Nyquist rate. FTN NOFDM with
      higher capacity would be promising in the future communication systems,
      especially in the bandwidth-limited applications.

PMID- 28611433
TI  - Domain wall motion in Pb(Zr0.20Ti0.80)O3 epitaxial thin films.
AB  - Two Pb(Zr0.20Ti0.80)O3 samples of different thickness and domain configuration
      have been studied. The c-domain sample was found to have a higher coercive field
      E c and higher dielectric losses than the other which presents approximately 60%
      of c-domains and 40% of a-domains as observed by piezo force microscopy (PFM)
      characterization. Hyperbolic law measurements reveal that the higher coercive
      field is due to domain wall pinning in deeper defects and hence a higher field E
      th is required for unpinning. The dissipation factors due to domain wall motion,
      however, are similar in both samples since the domain wall density is low and
      there is almost no interaction between domain walls. The higher dielectric losses
      in the c-domain oriented sample are a result of a greater contribution from the
      lattice and seem to be due to strain from the substrate, which is not relieved in
      a thin sample. PFM and dielectric characterization are complementary methods
      which provide a better understanding of the domain wall motion.

PMID- 28611430
TI  - 'Candidatus Cochliophilus cryoturris' (Coxiellaceae), a symbiont of the testate
      amoeba Cochliopodium minus.
AB  - Free-living amoebae are well known for their role in controlling microbial
      community composition through grazing, but some groups, namely Acanthamoeba
      species, also frequently serve as hosts for bacterial symbionts. Here we report
      the first identification of a bacterial symbiont in the testate amoeba
      Cochliopodium. The amoeba was isolated from a cooling tower water sample and
      identified as C. minus. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and transmission
      electron microscopy revealed intracellular symbionts located in vacuoles. 16S
      rRNA-based phylogenetic analysis identified the endosymbiont as member of a
      monophyletic group within the family Coxiellaceae (Gammaprotebacteria;
      Legionellales), only moderately related to known amoeba symbionts. We propose to
      tentatively classify these bacteria as 'Candidatus Cochliophilus cryoturris'. Our
      findings add both, a novel group of amoeba and a novel group of symbionts, to the
      growing list of bacteria-amoeba relationships.

PMID- 28611431
TI  - Fibroblastic reticular cells of the lymphoid tissues modulate T cell activation
      threshold during homeostasis via hyperactive cyclooxygenase-2/prostaglandin E2
      axis.
AB  - Fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) in the T cell zone of lymph nodes (LNs) are
      pivotal for T cell survival, mobility, and peripheral tolerance. Here, we
      demonstrate that during homeostasis, FRCs also suppress T cell activation via
      producing high level of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) due to their thousands-fold
      higher cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression than immune cells. This hyperactive
      COX-2/PGE2-induced suppression is evident during antigen-specific and non-antigen
      specific activations. It is implicated as suppressed TCR-signaling cascades,
      reduced alterations in activation markers, and inhibited cytokine production of
      freshly isolated T cells or T cells co-cultured with FRCs compared with those
      cultured without FRCs. Different from T cell dysfunction, this FRC-mediated
      suppression is surmountable by enhancing the strength of stimulation and is
      reversible by COX-2 inhibitors. Furthermore, T cells in the FRC environment where
      Cox-2 is genetic inactivated are more sensitive and rapidly activated upon
      stimulations than those in WT environment. Significantly, FRCs of human lymphoid
      organs manifest similar COX-2/PGE2 hyperactivity and T cell suppression.
      Together, this study identifies a previously unappreciated intrinsic mechanism of
      FRCs shared between mice and humans for suppressing T cell sensitivity to
      activation via PGE2, underscoring the importance of FRCs in shaping the
      suppressive milieu of lymphoid organs during homeostasis.

PMID- 28611435
TI  - Using defects to store energy in materials - a computational study.
AB  - Energy storage occurs in a variety of physical and chemical processes. In
      particular, defects in materials can be regarded as energy storage units since
      they are long-lived and require energy to be formed. Here, we investigate energy
      storage in non-equilibrium populations of materials defects, such as those
      generated by bombardment or irradiation. We first estimate upper limits and
      trends for energy storage using defects. First-principles calculations are then
      employed to compute the stored energy in the most promising elemental materials,
      including tungsten, silicon, graphite, diamond and graphene, for point defects
      such as vacancies, interstitials and Frenkel pairs. We find that defect
      concentrations achievable experimentally (~0.1-1 at.%) can store large energies
      per volume and weight, up to ~5 MJ/L and 1.5 MJ/kg for covalent materials.
      Engineering challenges and proof-of-concept devices for storing and releasing
      energy with defects are discussed. Our work demonstrates the potential of storing
      energy using defects in materials.

PMID- 28611434
TI  - Linking optical and molecular signatures of dissolved organic matter in the
      Mediterranean Sea.
AB  - Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a key role in global biogeochemical cycles
      and experiences changes in molecular composition as it undergoes processing. In
      the semi-closed basins of the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea, these gradual
      molecular modifications can be observed in close proximity. In order to extend
      the spatial resolution of information on DOM molecular composition available from
      ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry in this area, we relate this data to
      optical (fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy) measurements. Covariance
      between molecular formulae signal intensities and carbon-specific fluorescence
      intensities was examined by means of Spearman's rank correlations. Fifty two per
      cent of the assigned molecular formulae were associated with at least one optical
      parameter, accounting for 70% of the total mass spectrum signal intensity.
      Furthermore, we obtained significant multiple linear regressions between optical
      and intensity-weighted molecular indices. The resulting regression equations were
      used to estimate molecular parameters such as the double bond equivalent,
      degradation state and occurrence of unsaturated aliphatic compounds from optical
      measurements. The statistical linkages between DOM molecular and optical
      properties illustrate that the simple, rapid and cost-efficient optical
      spectroscopic measurements provide valuable proxy information on the molecular
      composition of open ocean marine DOM.

PMID- 28611436
TI  - Antibacterial and detoxifying activity of NZ17074 analogues with multi-layers of
      selective antimicrobial actions against Escherichia coli and Salmonella
      enteritidis.
AB  - NZ17074 (N1), an arenicin-3 derivative isolated from the lugworm, has potent
      antibacterial activity and is cytotoxic. To reduce its cytotoxicity, seven N1
      analogues with different structures were designed by changing their disulfide
      bonds, hydrophobicity, or charge. The "rocket" analogue-N2 and the "kite"
      analogue-N6 have potent activity and showed lower cytotoxicity in RAW264.7 cells
      than N1. The NMR spectra revealed that N1, N2, and N6 adopt beta-sheet structures
      stabilized by one or two disulfide bonds. N2 and N6 permeabilized the outer/inner
      membranes of E. coli, but did not permeabilize the inner membranes of S.
      enteritidis. N2 and N6 induced E. coli and S. enteritidis cell cycle arrest in
      the I-phase and R-phase, respectively. In E. coli and in S. enteritidis, 18.7
      43.8% of DNA/RNA/cell wall synthesis and 5.7-61.8% of DNA/RNA/protein synthesis
      were inhibited by the two peptides, respectively. Collapsed and filamentous E.
      coli cells and intact morphologies of S. enteritidis cells were observed after
      treatment with the two peptides. Body weight doses from 2.5-7.5 mg/kg of N2 and
      N6 enhanced the survival rate of peritonitis- and endotoxemia-induced mice;
      reduced the serum IL-6, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha levels; and protected mice from
      lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury. These data indicate that N2 and N6,
      through multiple selective actions, may be promising dual-function candidates as
      novel antimicrobial and anti-endotoxin peptides.

PMID- 28611437
TI  - Reproductive Isolation through Experimental Manipulation of Sexually Antagonistic
      Coevolution in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Promiscuity can drive the evolution of sexual conflict before and after mating
      occurs. Post mating, the male ejaculate can selfishly manipulate female
      physiology, leading to a chemical arms race between the sexes. Theory suggests
      that drift and sexually antagonistic coevolution can cause allopatric populations
      to evolve different chemical interactions between the sexes, thereby leading to
      postmating reproductive barriers and speciation. There is, however, little
      empirical evidence supporting this form of speciation. We tested this theory by
      creating an experimental evolutionary model of Drosophila melanogaster
      populations undergoing different levels of interlocus sexual conflict. We found
      that allopatric populations under elevated sexual conflict show assortative
      mating, indicating premating reproductive isolation. Further, these allopatric
      populations also show reduced copulation duration and sperm defense ability when
      mating happens between individuals across populations compared to that within the
      same population, indicating postmating prezygotic isolation. Sexual conflict can
      cause reproductive isolation in allopatric populations through the coevolution of
      chemical (postmating prezygotic) as well as behavioural (premating) interactions
      between the sexes. Thus, to our knowledge, we provide the first comprehensive
      evidence of postmating (as well as premating) reproductive isolation due to
      sexual conflict.

PMID- 28611438
TI  - Features of electron gas in InAs nanowires imposed by interplay between nanowire
      geometry, doping and surface states.
AB  - We present a study of electron gas properties in InAs nanowires determined by
      interaction between nanowire geometry, doping and surface states. The electron
      gas density and space distribution are calculated via self-consistent solution of
      coupled Schroedinger and Poisson equations in the nanowires with a hexagonal
      cross-section. We show that the density of surface states and the nanowire width
      define the spatial distribution of the electrons. Three configurations can be
      distinguished, namely the electrons are localized in the center of the wire, or
      they are arranged in a uniform tubular distribution, or finally in a tubular
      distribution with additional electron accumulation at the corners of the
      nanowire. The latter one is dominating for most experimentally obtained
      nanowires. N-type doping partly suppresses electron accumulation at the nanowire
      corners. The electron density calculated for both, various nanowire widths and
      different positions of the Fermi level at the nanowire surface, is compared with
      the experimental data for intrinsic InAs nanowires. Suitable agreement is
      obtained by assuming a Fermi level pinning at 60 to 100 meV above the conduction
      band edge, leading to a tubular electron distribution with accumulation along the
      corners of the nanowire.

PMID- 28611439
TI  - Raman micro-spectroscopy as a viable tool to monitor and estimate the ionic
      transport in epithelial cells.
AB  - The typical response to the lowering of plasma Na+ concentration and blood
      pressure in our body involves the release of aldosterone from the adrenal glands,
      which triggers the reabsorption of sodium in the kidney. Although the effects of
      aldosterone on this physiological mechanism were extensively studied in the past
      decades, there are still some aspects to be fully elucidated. In the present
      study, we propose for the first time a new approach based on Raman spectroscopy
      to monitor the ionic activity in aldosterone-treated A6 renal epithelial cells.
      This spectroscopic technique is capable of probing the cells through their
      thickness in a non-destructive and nimble way. The spectroscopic variations of
      the Raman bands associated to the O-H stretching of water were correlated to the
      variations of ionic concentration in the intracellular and extracellular fluids.
      The increase of Na+ concentration gradients was clearly visualized in the cytosol
      of aldosterone-treated cells. The enhancement of the Na+ current density induced
      by aldosterone was estimated from the variation of the ionic chemical potential
      across the intracellular space. In addition, the variation of the O-H Raman bands
      of water was used to quantify the cell thickness, which was not affected by
      aldosterone.

PMID- 28611440
TI  - Declaration of local chemical eradication of the Argentine ant: Bayesian
      estimation with a multinomial-mixture model.
AB  - Determining the success of eradication of an invasive species requires a way to
      decide when its risk of reoccurrence has become acceptably low. In Japan, the
      area populated by the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), is expanding, and
      eradication via chemical treatment is ongoing at various locations. One such
      program in Tokyo was apparently successful, because the ant population decreased
      to undetectable levels within a short time. However, construction of a population
      model for management purposes was difficult because the probability of detecting
      ants decreases rapidly as the population collapses. To predict the time when the
      ant was eradicated, we developed a multinomial-mixture model for chemical
      eradication based on monthly trapping data and the history of pesticide
      applications. We decided when to declare that eradication had been successful by
      considering both 'eradication' times, which we associated with eradication
      probabilities of 95% and 99%, and an optimal stopping time based on a 'minimum
      expected economic cost' that considered the possibility that surveys were stopped
      too soon. By applying these criteria, we retroactively declared that Argentine
      ants had been eradicated 38-42 months after the start of treatments (16-17 months
      after the last sighting).

PMID- 28611442
TI  - Competing Factors Link to Bone Health in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Chronic Low
      Grade Inflammation Takes a Toll.
AB  - Chronic inflammation predisposes to poor bone health. Women with polycystic ovary
      syndrome (PCOS) experience androgen excess, ovulatory disturbances, insulin
      resistance, abdominal adiposity and chronic inflammation. Our objective was to
      investigate the relationships among bone health parameters, chronic subclinical
      inflammation and anthropometric measures in premenopausal women with and without
      PCOS. In 61 premenopausal women, 22 women with PCOS and 39 controls, we assessed
      bone parameters (total hip bone mineral density [BMD] by dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry and radius strength-strain index [SSI] by peripheral quantitative
      computed tomography), inflammation (C-reactive protein/albumin), oxidative stress
      (leukocyte telomere length, urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine); hemoglobin A1c;
      anthropometric measures (body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, cross-sectional
      muscle area). A diagnosis of PCOS negatively predicted (beta = -0.251, p = 0.022)
      hip BMD in a regression model including weight. In women with PCOS, inflammation,
      which was predicted by increased waist-to-height ratio and current use of oral
      contraceptives, attenuated the positive influences of increased weight and muscle
      mass on bone strength and was inversely associated with radial SSI (R2 = 0.25, p
      = 0.018). In conclusion, chronic subclinical inflammation may negatively impact
      bone physiology in women with PCOS. Strategies focused on reducing abdominal
      adiposity and avoiding medications that increase inflammation may counter this
      effect.

PMID- 28611443
TI  - Identification of a gene cluster for telomestatin biosynthesis and heterologous
      expression using a specific promoter in a clean host.
AB  - Telomestatin, a strong telomerase inhibitor with G-quadruplex stabilizing
      activity, is a potential therapeutic agent for treating cancers. Difficulties in
      isolating telomestatin from microbial cultures and in chemical synthesis are
      bottlenecks impeding the wider use. Therefore, improvement in telomestatin
      production and structural diversification are required for further utilization
      and application. Here, we discovered the gene cluster responsible for
      telomestatin biosynthesis, and achieved production of telomestatin by
      heterologous expression of this cluster in the engineered Streptomyces
      avermitilis SUKA strain. Utilization of an optimal promoter was essential for
      successful production. Gene disruption studies revealed that the tlsB, tlsC, and
      tlsO-T genes play key roles in telomestatin biosynthesis. Moreover, exchanging
      TlsC core peptide sequences resulted in the production of novel telomestatin
      derivatives. This study sheds light on the expansion of chemical diversity of
      natural peptide products for drug development.

PMID- 28611441
TI  - Label-free imaging of bone multiscale porosity and interfaces using third
      harmonic generation microscopy.
AB  - Interfaces provide the structural basis of essential bone functions. In the
      hierarchical structure of bone tissue, heterogeneities such as porosity or
      boundaries are found at scales ranging from nanometers to millimeters, all of
      which contributing to macroscopic properties. To date, however, the complexity or
      limitations of currently used imaging methods restrict our understanding of this
      functional integration. Here we address this issue using label-free third
      harmonic generation (THG) microscopy. We find that the porous lacuno-canalicular
      network (LCN), revealing the geometry of osteocytes in the bone matrix, can be
      directly visualized in 3D with submicron precision over millimetric fields of
      view compatible with histology. THG also reveals interfaces delineating volumes
      formed at successive remodeling stages. Finally, we show that the structure of
      the LCN can be analyzed in relation with that of the extracellular matrix and
      larger-scale structures by simultaneously recording THG and second-harmonic
      generation (SHG) signals relating to the collagen organization.

PMID- 28611444
TI  - EP4 inhibition attenuates the development of diabetic and non-diabetic
      experimental kidney disease.
AB  - The therapeutic targeting of prostanoid subtype receptors may slow the
      development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) through mechanisms that are distinct
      from those of upstream COX inhibition. Here, employing multiple experimental
      models of CKD, we studied the effects of inhibition of the EP4 receptor, one of
      four receptor subtypes for the prostanoid prostaglandin E2. In streptozotocin
      diabetic endothelial nitric oxide synthase knockout mice, EP4 inhibition
      attenuated the development of albuminuria, whereas the COX inhibitor indomethacin
      did not. In Type 2 diabetic db/db mice, EP4 inhibition lowered albuminuria to a
      level comparable with that of the ACE inhibitor captopril. However, unlike
      captopril, EP4 inhibition had no effect on blood pressure or hyperfiltration
      although it did attenuate mesangial matrix accumulation. Indicating a glucose
      independent mechanism of action, EP4 inhibition also attenuated proteinuria
      development and glomerular scarring in non-diabetic rats subjected to surgical
      renal mass ablation. Finally, in vitro, EP4 inhibition prevented transforming
      growth factor-beta1 induced dedifferentiation of glomerular podocytes. In rodent
      models of diabetic and non-diabetic CKD, EP4 inhibition attenuated renal injury
      through mechanisms that were distinct from either broadspectrum COX inhibition or
      "standard of care" renin angiotensin system blockade. EP4 inhibition may
      represent a viable repurposing opportunity for the treatment of CKD.

PMID- 28611445
TI  - Insulin-like growth factor I and its binding protein-3 are regulators of
      lactation and maternal responsiveness.
AB  - Adaptation to motherhood includes maternal behaviour and lactation during the
      postpartum period. The major organizing centres of maternal behaviour and
      lactation are located in the hypothalamic medial preoptic area (MPOA) and the
      arcuate nucleus, respectively. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is an
      effector of the growth hormone axis; however, its function in the brain is
      largely unexplored. We identified increased maternal IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP
      3) expression in preoptic rat microarray data and confirmed it by RT-PCR. In situ
      hybridization histochemistry showed markedly elevated IGFBP-3 expression in the
      MPOA and the arcuate nucleus in rat dams. Prolonged intracerebroventricular
      injection of IGF-I or antagonism of brain IGFBP-3 with an inhibitor (NBI-31772)
      using osmotic minipumps increased pup retrieval time, suggesting reduced maternal
      motivation. Suckling-induced prolactin release and pup weight gain were also
      suppressed by IGF-I, suggesting reduced lactation. In addition, IGF-I-induced
      tyrosine hydroxylase expression and its specific phosphorylation in
      tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons suppress prolactin secretion. Thus, IGF-I
      may inhibit both behavioural and lactational alterations in mothers. Neurons in
      the MPOA and arcuate nuclei express IGFBP-3 during the postpartum period to
      neutralize IGF-I effects. IGFBP-3 can prevent the blockade of maternal behaviour
      and lactation exerted by IGF-I, suggesting a novel modulatory mechanism
      underlying the behavioural and hormonal effects during central maternal
      adaptations.

PMID- 28611446
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of gene expression and protein secretion of Babesia canis
      during virulent infection identifies potential pathogenicity factors.
AB  - Infections of dogs with virulent strains of Babesia canis are characterized by
      rapid onset and high mortality, comparable to complicated human malaria. As in
      other apicomplexan parasites, most Babesia virulence factors responsible for
      survival and pathogenicity are secreted to the host cell surface and beyond where
      they remodel and biochemically modify the infected cell interacting with host
      proteins in a very specific manner. Here, we investigated factors secreted by B.
      canis during acute infections in dogs and report on in silico predictions and
      experimental analysis of the parasite's exportome. As a backdrop, we generated a
      fully annotated B. canis genome sequence of a virulent Hungarian field isolate
      (strain BcH-CHIPZ) underpinned by extensive genome-wide RNA-seq analysis. We find
      evidence for conserved factors in apicomplexan hemoparasites involved in immune
      evasion (e.g. VESA-protein family), proteins secreted across the iRBC membrane
      into the host bloodstream (e.g. SA- and Bc28 protein families), potential
      moonlighting proteins (e.g. profilin and histones), and uncharacterized antigens
      present during acute crisis in dogs. The combined data provides a first predicted
      and partially validated set of potential virulence factors exported during fatal
      infections, which can be exploited for urgently needed innovative intervention
      strategies aimed at facilitating diagnosis and management of canine babesiosis.

PMID- 28611448
TI  - Ultrafast nonlinear optical response in solution dispersions of black phosphorus.
AB  - We report the spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) effect for solution
      dispersions of black phosphorus (BP). The experimental results suggest that this
      concentration-dependent coherent light diffraction is due to the ultrafast and
      large third-order optical nonlinearity of BP. The third-order nonlinear
      susceptibility of BP has been simply obtained about 10-19 m2/V2 by analyzing the
      experimental results. The fast relaxation time during dynamic relaxation is
      obtained as 0.13 ps. Our experimental results imply novel potential application
      of BP in ultrafast nonlinear phase modulation devices based on their nonlinear
      optical response.

PMID- 28611447
TI  - SerpinB3 Promotes Pro-fibrogenic Responses in Activated Hepatic Stellate Cells.
AB  - SerpinB3 is a hypoxia- and hypoxia-inducible factor-2alpha-dependent cystein
      protease inhibitor that is up-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and in
      parenchymal cells during chronic liver diseases (CLD). SerpinB3 up-regulation in
      CLD patients has been reported to correlate with the extent of liver fibrosis and
      the production of transforming growth factor-beta1, but the actual role of
      SerpinB3 in hepatic fibrogenesis is still poorly characterized. In the present
      study we analyzed the pro-fibrogenic action of SerpinB3 in cell cultures and in
      two different murine models of liver fibrosis. "In vitro" experiments revealed
      that SerpinB3 addition to either primary cultures of human activated
      myofibroblast-like hepatic stellate cells (HSC/MFs) or human stellate cell line
      (LX2 cells) strongly up-regulated the expression of genes involved in
      fibrogenesis and promoted oriented migration, but not cell proliferation. Chronic
      liver injury by CCl4 administration or by feeding a methionine/choline deficient
      diet to transgenic mice over-expressing human SerpinB3 in hepatocytes confirmed
      that SerpinB3 over-expression significantly increased the mRNA levels of pro
      fibrogenic genes, collagen deposition and alphaSMA-positive HSC/MFs as compared
      to wild-type mice, without affecting parenchymal damage. The present study
      provides for the first time evidence that hepatocyte release of SerpinB3 during
      CLD can contribute to liver fibrogenesis by acting on HSC/MFs.

PMID- 28611449
TI  - High-order exceptional points in optomechanics.
AB  - We study mechanical cooling in systems of coupled passive (lossy) and active
      (with gain) optical resonators. We find that for a driving laser which is red
      detuned with respect to the cavity frequency, the supermode structure of the
      system is radically changed, featuring the emergence of genuine high-order
      exceptional points. This in turn leads to giant enhancement of both the
      mechanical damping and the spring stiffness, facilitating low-power mechanical
      cooling in the vicinity of gain-loss balance. This opens up new avenues of
      steering micromechanical devices with exceptional points beyond the lowest-order
      two.

PMID- 28611450
TI  - Investigation of Electric Field Induced Mixing in Silicon Micro Ring Resonators.
AB  - In this paper we present a detailed theoretical investigation of the electric
      field induced mixing effect, in which the up and down frequency-conversion
      processes are obtained by inducing an effective second order susceptibility via
      the periodic spatial distribution of reversed biased p-i-n junctions. The
      possibility of realizing a frequency generation process within an integrated
      microring resonator is demonstrated here, by simulations, in the silicon on
      insulator platform. Furthermore, general physical features have been investigated
      by means of a comparative analysis of the frequency generation performance as a
      function of the input pump power, the linear and nonlinear losses, and the
      coupling factors. A conversion efficiency of 627.5 %/W has been obtained for the
      second harmonic generation process. Therefore, an improvement of 4 to 50 times
      with respect to the straight waveguides is achieved, depending on the cavity ring
      radius. Finally, for the up/down conversion, from telecom idler to mid-IR and
      from Mid-IR to telecom signal, respectively, an efficiency of 85.9%/W and 454.4
      %/W has been obtained in the silicon microring resonator, respectively.

PMID- 28611451
TI  - Beta sitosterol and Daucosterol (phytosterols identified in Grewia tiliaefolia)
      perturbs cell cycle and induces apoptotic cell death in A549 cells.
AB  - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths both in developed and
      developing countries. Since majority of the existing therapeutic methods harms
      both normal and malignant cells, a viable alternative is to switch into safe and
      beneficial traditional medicinal plants. Hence the present study was framed to
      identify selective anti-lung cancer agents from the medicinal plant Grewia
      tiliaefolia (GT). Cell viability experiments showed that benzene extract of GT
      (BGT) leaf effectively inhibited the growth of A549 cells, while being non-toxic
      to normal human lung L132 and PBMC cells. Ames and comet assays demonstrated that
      BGT is of non-mutagenic and non-genotoxic nature in untransformed cells. The
      hematological and histopathological profiles of the in vivo acute and sub-acute
      toxicity studies demonstrated that BGT is safe and tolerable. Importantly,
      western blot analysis and Annexin V-FITC staining confirmed that BGT promotes
      mitochondrial dependent apoptotic cell death in A549 cells by arresting cell
      cycle at G2/M phase. Bio-assay guided fractionation revealed the presence of
      phytosteols (beta-sitosterol and daucosterol) which significantly inhibited the
      growth of A549 cells both alone and in combination. This study warrants that
      these phytosterols in alone or in combination can be considered as safe and
      potential drug candidates for lung cancer treatment.

PMID- 28611452
TI  - Abrupt p-n junction using ionic gating at zero-bias in bilayer graphene.
AB  - Graphene is a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications. In this
      report, a double gated bilayer graphene FET has been made using a combination of
      electrostatic and electrolytic gating in order to form an abrupt p-n junction.
      The presence of two Dirac peaks in the gating curve of the fabricated device
      confirms the formation of a p-n junction. At low temperatures, when the
      electrolyte is frozen intentionally, the photovoltage exhibits a six-fold pattern
      indicative of the hot electron induced photothermoelectric effect that has also
      been seen in graphene p-n junctions made using metallic gates. We have observed
      that the photovoltage increases with decreasing temperature indicating a dominant
      role of supercollision scattering. Our technique can also be extended to other 2D
      materials and to finer features that will lead to p-n junctions which span a
      large area, like a superlattice, that can generate a larger photoresponse. Our
      work creating abrupt p-n junctions is distinct from previous works that use a
      source-drain bias voltage with a single ionic gate creating a spatially graded p
      n junction.

PMID- 28611453
TI  - Adaptive Carbon Allocation by Plants Enhances the Terrestrial Carbon Sink.
AB  - Carbon allocation is one of the most important physiological processes to
      optimize the plant growth, which exerts a strong influence on ecosystem structure
      and function, with potentially large implications for the global carbon budget.
      However, it remains unclear how the carbon allocation pattern has changed at
      global scale and impacted terrestrial carbon uptake. Based on the Community
      Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model, this study shows the increasing
      partitioning ratios to leaf and wood and reducing ratio to root globally from
      1979 to 2014. The results imply the plant optimizes carbon allocation and reaches
      its maximum growth by allocating more newly acquired photosynthate to leaves and
      wood tissues. Thus, terrestrial vegetation has absorbed 16% more carbon averagely
      between 1979 and 2014 through adjusting their carbon allocation process. Compared
      with the fixed carbon allocation simulation, the trend of terrestrial carbon sink
      from 1979 to 2014 increased by 34% in the adaptive carbon allocation simulation.
      Our study highlights carbon allocation, associated with climate change, needs to
      be mapped and incorporated into terrestrial carbon cycle estimates.

PMID- 28611454
TI  - Integrated analysis and transcript abundance modelling of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 in
      developing secondary xylem.
AB  - Despite the considerable contribution of xylem development (xylogenesis) to plant
      biomass accumulation, its epigenetic regulation is poorly understood.
      Furthermore, the relative contributions of histone modifications to
      transcriptional regulation is not well studied in plants. We investigated the
      biological relevance of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 in secondary xylem development using
      ChIP-seq and their association with transcript levels among other histone
      modifications in woody and herbaceous models. In developing secondary xylem of
      the woody model Eucalyptus grandis, H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 genomic spans were
      distinctly associated with xylogenesis-related processes, with (late)
      lignification pathways enriched for putative bivalent domains, but not early
      secondary cell wall polysaccharide deposition. H3K27me3-occupied genes, of which
      753 (~31%) are novel targets, were enriched for transcriptional regulation and
      flower development and had significant preferential expression in roots. Linear
      regression models of the ChIP-seq profiles predicted ~50% of transcript abundance
      measured with strand-specific RNA-seq, confirmed in a parallel analysis in
      Arabidopsis where integration of seven additional histone modifications each
      contributed smaller proportions of unique information to the predictive models.
      This study uncovers the biological importance of histone modification antagonism
      and genomic span in xylogenesis and quantifies for the first time the relative
      correlations of histone modifications with transcript abundance in plants.

PMID- 28611455
TI  - Electron-band theory inspired design of magnesium-precious metal bulk metallic
      glasses with high thermal stability and extended ductility.
AB  - Magnesium-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) exhibit high specific strengths and
      excellent glass-forming ability compared to other metallic systems, making them
      suitable candidates for next-generation materials. However, current Mg-based BMGs
      tend to exhibit low thermal stability and are prone to structural relaxation and
      brittle failure. This study presents a range of new magnesium-precious metal
      based BMGs from the ternary Mg-Ag-Ca, Mg-Ag-Yb, Mg-Pd-Ca and Mg-Pd-Yb alloy
      systems with Mg content greater than 67 at.%. These alloys were designed for high
      ductility by utilising atomic bond-band theory and a topological efficient atomic
      packing model. BMGs from the Mg-Pd-Ca alloy system exhibit high glass-forming
      ability with critical casting sizes of up to 3 mm in diameter, the highest glass
      transition temperatures (>200  degrees C) of any reported Mg-based BMG to date,
      and sustained compressive ductility. Alloys from the Mg-Pd-Yb family exhibit
      critical casting sizes of up to 4 mm in diameter, and the highest compressive
      plastic (1.59%) and total (3.78%) strain to failure of any so far reported Mg
      based glass. The methods and theoretical approaches presented here demonstrate a
      significant step forward in the ongoing development of this extraordinary class
      of materials.

PMID- 28611456
TI  - In-situ Electrodeposition of Highly Active Silver Catalyst on Carbon Fiber Papers
      as Binder Free Cathodes for Aluminum-air Battery.
AB  - Carbon fiber papers supported Ag catalysts (Ag/CFP) with different coverage of
      electro-active site are prepared by electrochemical deposition and used as binder
      free cathodes in primary aluminum-air (Al-air) battery. Scanning Electron
      Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction studies are carried out to characterize the as
      prepared Ag/CFP air cathodes. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities on these
      air cathodes in alkaline solutions are systematic studied. A newly designed
      aluminum-air cell is used to further determine the cathodes performance under
      real operation condition and during the test, the Ag/CFP electrodes show
      outstanding catalytic activity for ORR in concentrated alkaline electrolyte, and
      no obvious activity degradation is observed after long-time discharge. The
      electrochemical test results display the dependence of coverage of the electro
      active Ag on the catalytic performance of the air cathodes. The resulting primary
      Al-air battery made from the best-performing cathode shows an impressive
      discharge peak power density, outperforming that of using commercial nano
      manganese catalyst air electrodes.

PMID- 28611457
TI  - Strong 3D and 1D magnetism in hexagonal Fe-chalcogenides FeS and FeSe vs. weak
      magnetism in hexagonal FeTe.
AB  - We present a comparative theoretical study of the hexagonal forms of the Fe
      chalcogenides FeS, FeSe and FeTe with their better known tetragonal forms. While
      the tetragonal forms exhibit only an incipient antiferromagnetism and
      experimentally show superconductivity when doped, the hexagonal forms of FeS and
      FeSe display a robust magnetism. We show that this strong magnetism arises from a
      van Hove singularity associated with the direct Fe-Fe c-axis chains in the
      generally more three-dimensional NiAs structure. We also find that hexagonal FeTe
      is much less magnetic than the other two hexagonal materials, so that
      unconventional magnetically-mediated superconductivity is possible, although a
      large T c value is unlikely.

PMID- 28611458
TI  - Performance of four modern whole genome amplification methods for copy number
      variant detection in single cells.
AB  - Whole genome amplification (WGA) has become an invaluable tool to perform copy
      number variation (CNV) detection in single, or a limited number of cells.
      Unfortunately, current WGA methods introduce representation bias that limits the
      detection of small CNVs. New WGA methods have been introduced that might have the
      potential to reduce this bias. We compared the performance of PicoPLEX DNA-Seq
      (Picoseq), DOPlify, REPLI-g and Ampli-1 WGA for aneuploidy screening and copy
      number analysis using shallow whole genome massively parallel sequencing (MPS),
      starting from single or a limited number of cells. Although the four WGA methods
      perform differently, they are all suited for this application.

PMID- 28611459
TI  - Smart pH-sensitive nanoassemblies with cleavable PEGylation for tumor targeted
      drug delivery.
AB  - A new acidly sensitive PEGylated polyethylenimine linked by Schiff base (PEG-s
      PEI) was designed to render pH-sensitive PEGylation nanoassemblies through
      multiple interactions with indomethacin and docetaxel (DTX). DTX nanoassemblies
      driven by PEG-s-PEI thus formulated exhibited an excellent pH-sensitivity
      PEGylation cleavage performance at extracellular pH of tumor microenvironment,
      compared to normal tissues, thereby long circulated in blood but were highly
      phagocytosed by tumor cells. Consequently, this smart pH-sensitive PEGylation
      cleavage provided an efficient strategy to target tumor microenvironment, in turn
      afforded superior therapeutic outcome in anti-tumor activity.

PMID- 28611460
TI  - Chlorophyll derivatives enhance invertebrate red-light and ultraviolet
      phototaxis.
AB  - Chlorophyll derivatives are known to enhance vision in vertebrates. They are
      thought to bind visual pigments (i.e., opsins apoproteins bound to retinal
      chromophores) directly within the retina. Consistent with previous findings in
      vertebrates, here we show that chlorin e6 - a chlorophyll derivative - enhances
      photophobicity in a flatworm (Dugesia japonica), specifically when exposed to UV
      radiation (lambda = 405 nm) or red light (lambda = 660 nm). This is the first
      report of chlorophyll derivatives acting as modulators of invertebrate
      phototaxis, and in general the first account demonstrating that they can
      artificially alter animal response to light at a behavioral level. Our findings
      show that the interaction between chlorophyll derivatives and opsins virtually
      concerns the vast majority of bilaterian animals, and also occurs in visual
      systems based on rhabdomeric (rather than ciliary) opsins.

PMID- 28611461
TI  - JNK Activation Turns on LPS- and Gram-Negative Bacteria-Induced NADPH Oxidase
      Dependent Suicidal NETosis.
AB  - Neutrophils cast neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to ensnare microbial
      pathogens. Nevertheless, the molecular rheostats that regulate NETosis in
      response to bacteria are not clearly established. We hypothesized that stress
      activated protein kinase or c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (SAPK/JNK) is a molecular
      switch that turns on NETosis in response to increasing concentrations of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and Gram-negative bacteria. Here we show that
      Escherichia coli LPS (0111:B4; 10-25 MUg/ml), but not phorbol myristate acetate
      (PMA), activates JNK in human neutrophils in a dose-dependent manner. JNK
      inhibitors SP600125 and TCSJNK6o, and a TLR4 inhibitor TAK242 suppress reactive
      oxygen species production and NETosis in LPS-, but not PMA-treated neutrophils.
      Diphenyleneiodonium suppresses LPS-induced NETosis, confirming that endotoxin
      induces NADPH oxidase-dependent NETosis. Immunoblots, Sytox Green assays, and
      confocal microscopy of cleaved caspase-3 and nuclear morphology show that JNK
      inhibition does not induce apoptosis in LPS-stimulated neutrophils. JNK
      inhibition also suppresses NETosis induced by two typical Gram-negative bacteria,
      E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Therefore, we propose that neutrophils use a
      TLR4-dependent, JNK-mediated molecular sensing mechanism to initiate NADPH
      oxidase-dependent suicidal NETosis in response to increasing concentrations of
      LPS, and Gram-negative bacteria. The LPS-TLR4-JNK activation axis determines the
      fate of these cells: to be or not to be NETotic neutrophils.

PMID- 28611462
TI  - Highly phosphorylated functionalized rice starch produced by transgenic rice
      expressing the potato GWD1 gene.
AB  - Starch phosphorylation occurs naturally during starch metabolism in the plant and
      is catalysed by glucan water dikinases (GWD1) and phosphoglucan water
      dikinase/glucan water dikinase 3 (PWD/GWD3). We generated six stable individual
      transgenic lines by over-expressing the potato GWD1 in rice. Transgenic rice
      grain starch had 9-fold higher 6-phospho (6-P) monoesters and double amounts of 3
      phospho (3-P) monoesters, respectively, compared to control grain. The shape and
      topography of the transgenic starch granules were moderately altered including
      surface pores and less well defined edges. The gelatinization temperatures of
      both rice flour and extracted starch were significantly lower than those of the
      control and hence negatively correlated with the starch phosphate content. The 6
      P content was positively correlated with amylose content and relatively long
      amylopectin chains with DP25-36, and the 3-P content was positively correlated
      with short chains of DP6-12. The starch pasting temperature, peak viscosity and
      the breakdown were lower but the setback was higher for transgenic rice flour.
      The 6-P content was negatively correlated with texture adhesiveness but
      positively correlated with the cohesiveness of rice flour gels. Our data
      demonstrate a way forward to employ a starch bioengineering approach for clean
      modification of starch, opening up completely new applications for rice starch.

PMID- 28611463
TI  - Dressmakers show enhanced stereoscopic vision.
AB  - The ability to estimate the distance of objects from one's self and from each
      other is fundamental to a variety of behaviours from grasping objects to
      navigating. The main cue to distance, stereopsis, relies on the slight offsets
      between the images derived from our left and right eyes, also termed disparities.
      Here we ask whether the precision of stereopsis varies with professional
      experience with precise manual tasks. We measured stereo-acuities of dressmakers
      and non-dressmakers for both absolute and relative disparities. We used a
      stereoscope and a computerized test removing monocular cues. We also measured
      vergence noise and bias using the Nonius line technique. We demonstrate that
      dressmakers' stereoscopic acuities are better than those of non-dressmakers, for
      both absolute and relative disparities. In contrast, vergence noise and bias were
      comparable in the two groups. Two non-exclusive mechanisms may be at the source
      of the group difference we document: (i) self-selection or the fact that stereo
      vision is functionally important to become a dressmaker, and (ii) plasticity, or
      the fact that training on demanding stereovision tasks improves stereo-acuity.

PMID- 28611464
TI  - Relict high-Andean ecosystems challenge our concepts of naturalness and human
      impact.
AB  - What would current ecosystems be like without the impact of mankind? This
      question, which is critical for ecosystem management, has long remained
      unanswered due to a lack of present-day data from truly undisturbed ecosystems.
      Using mountaineering techniques, we accessed pristine relict ecosystems in the
      Peruvian Andes to provide this baseline data and compared it with the surrounding
      accessible and disturbed landscape. We show that natural ecosystems and human
      impact in the high Andes are radically different from preconceived ideas.
      Vegetation of these 'lost worlds' was dominated by plant species previously
      unknown to science that have become extinct in nearby human-affected ecosystems.
      Furthermore, natural vegetation had greater plant biomass with potentially as
      much as ten times more forest, but lower plant diversity. Contrary to our
      expectations, soils showed relatively little degradation when compared within a
      vegetation type, but differed mainly between forest and grassland ecosystems. At
      the landscape level, a presumed large-scale forest reduction resulted in a
      nowadays more acidic soilscape with higher carbon storage, partly ameliorating
      carbon loss through deforestation. Human impact in the high Andes, thus, had
      mixed effects on biodiversity, while soils and carbon stocks would have been
      mainly indirectly affected through a suggested large-scale vegetation change.

PMID- 28611465
TI  - Fibroblasts derived from oesophageal adenocarcinoma differ in DNA methylation
      profile from normal oesophageal fibroblasts.
AB  - Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) is increasing in incidence and has a poor
      prognosis. Tumour derived fibroblasts (TDFs) differ functionally from normal
      fibroblasts (NDFs), and play a pivotal role in cancer. Many of the differences
      persist through subculture. We measured the DNA methylation profiles of 10 TDFs
      from OAC with 12 NDF from normal oesophageal mucosa using Infinium
      HumanMethylation450 Beadchips and found they differed in multidimensional scaling
      analysis. We identified 4,856 differentially methylated CpGs (DMCs, adjusted p <
      0.01 and absolute difference in average beta-value > 0.15), of which 3,243
      (66.8%) were hypomethylated in TDFs compared to NDFs. Hypermethylated DMCs were
      enriched at transcription start sites (TSSs) and in CpG islands, and depleted in
      transcriptional enhancers. Gene ontology analysis of genes with DMCs at TSSs
      revealed an enrichment of genes involved in development, morphogenesis,
      migration, adhesion, regulation of processes and response to stimuli. Alpha
      smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) is a marker of activated fibroblasts and a poor
      prognostic indicator in OAC. Hypomethylated DMCs were observed at the TSS of
      transcript variant 2 of alpha-SMA, which correlated with an increase in alpha-SMA
      protein expression. These data suggest that DNA methylation may contribute to the
      maintenance of the TDF phenotype.

PMID- 28611466
TI  - Satellite tagging of Mediterranean fin whales: working towards the identification
      of critical habitats and the focussing of mitigation measures.
AB  - Mediterranean fin whales comprise a genetically distinct population, listed as
      Vulnerable (VU) in the IUCN Red List. Collisions with vessels are believed to
      represent the main cause of human-induced mortality. The identification of
      critical habitats (including migration routes) incorporating satellite telemetry
      data is therefore crucial to develop focussed conservation efforts. Between 2012
      and 2015 thirteen fin whales were equipped with satellite transmitters, 8 in the
      Pelagos Sanctuary (although two ceased within two days) and 5 in the Strait of
      Sicily, to evaluate movements and habitat use. A hierarchical switching state
      space model was used to identify transiting and area-restricted search (ARS)
      behaviours, believed to indicate foraging activities. All whales undertook mid-
      to long-distance migrations, crossing some of the world's busiest maritime
      routes. Areas where the animals predominantly engaged in ARS behaviour were
      identified in both study areas. The telemetry data were compared with results
      from ecosystem niche modelling, and showed that 80% of tagged whale positions was
      near (<7 km) the closest suitable habitat. The results contribute to the view
      that precautionary management should include establishment of a coordinated and
      dynamic basin-wide management scheme; if appropriate, this may include the
      establishment of protected areas by specific regional Conventions.

PMID- 28611467
TI  - Phytohormonal crosstalk modulates the expression of miR166/165s, target Class III
      HD-ZIPs, and KANADI genes during root growth in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Both phytohormones and non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) play important role in root
      development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Mature miR166/165 s, which are derived from
      precursor transcripts of concerned genes, regulate developmental processes,
      including leaf and root patterning, by targeting Class III HOMEODOMAIN LEUCINE
      ZIPPER (HD-ZIP III) transcription factors (TFs). However, their regulation
      through hormones remained poorly understood. Here, we show that several
      phytohormones dynamically regulate the spatio-temporal expression pattern of
      miR166/165 and target HD-ZIP IIIs in developing roots. Hormone signaling pathway
      mutants show differential expression pattern of miR166/165, providing further
      genetic evidence for multilayered regulation of these genes through
      phytohormones. We further show that a crosstalk of at least six different
      phytohormones regulate the miR166/165, their target HD-ZIP IIIs, and KANADI
      (KANs). Our results suggest that HD-ZIP IIIs mediated root development is
      modulated both transcriptionally through phytohormones and KANs, and post
      transcriptionally by miR166/165 that in turn are also regulated by the
      phytohormonal crosstalk.

PMID- 28611468
TI  - Insights into enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diversity in Bangladesh utilizing
      genomic epidemiology.
AB  - Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) cause more than 500,000 deaths each year
      in the developing world and are characterized on a molecular level by the
      presence of genes that encode the heat-stable (ST) and/or heat-labile (LT)
      enterotoxins, as well as surface structures, known as colonization factors (CFs).
      Genome sequencing and comparative genomic analyses of 94 previously
      uncharacterized ETEC isolates demonstrated remarkable genomic diversity, with 28
      distinct sequence types identified in three phylogenomic groups. Interestingly,
      there is a correlation between the genomic sequence type and virulence factor
      profiles based on prevalence of the isolate, suggesting that there is an optimal
      combination of genetic factors required for survival, virulence and transmission
      in the most successful clones. A large-scale BLAST score ratio (LS-BSR) analysis
      was further applied to identify ETEC-specific genomic regions when compared to
      non-ETEC genomes, as well as genes that are more associated with clinical
      presentations or other genotypic markers. Of the strains examined, 21 of 94 ETEC
      isolates lacked any previously identified CF. Homology searches with the
      structural subunits of known CFs identified 6 new putative CF variants. These
      studies provide a roadmap to exploit genomic analyses by directing investigations
      of pathogenesis, virulence regulation and vaccine development.

PMID- 28611470
TI  - A three-component coupling approach to the ACE-ring substructure of C19-diterpene
      alkaloids.
AB  - C19-diterpene alkaloids are a class of alkaloids with pharmacologically important
      activities having an intricately fused hexacyclic ABCDEF-ring system. Here we
      report expeditious assembly of the ACE-ring substructure 4a by applying a three
      component coupling strategy. A radical-polar crossover reaction between an AE
      ring radical precursor, a C-ring radical acceptor and an aldehyde was realized by
      the actions of Et3B and O2, resulting in the installation of three new
      stereocenters and extension of the carbon chain corresponding to the B-ring. As
      the ACE-ring 4a possesses the correct C4,11-quaternary and C10-tertiary carbons,
      4a would serve as an advanced intermediate for constructing the entire C19
      diterpene alkaloid structures.

PMID- 28611469
TI  - Antimicrobial sulfonamides clear latent Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus infection and
      impair MDM2-p53 complex formation.
AB  - Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), also known as human herpesvirus 8, is the
      causative agent of Kaposi sarcoma; this malignant angiosarcoma is usually treated
      with conventional antitumor agents that can control disease evolution, but do not
      clear the latent KSHV episome that binds to cellular DNA. Some commercial
      antibacterial sulfonamides were tested for the ability to suppress latent KSHV.
      Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and cytofluorometry assays were used for detecting both
      viral DNA and the latency factor LANA (latency-associated nuclear antigen) in BC3
      cells, respectively. The capacity of sulfonamides to impair MDM2-p53 complex
      formation was detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The
      analysis of variance was performed according to one-way analysis of variance with
      Fisher as a post hoc test. Here we show that sulfonamide antibiotics are able to
      suppress the KSHV latent state in permanently infected BC3 lymphoma cells and
      interfere with the formation of the MDM2-p53 complex that KSHV seemingly needs to
      support latency and to trigger tumor cell transformation. These findings detected
      a new molecular target for the activity of sulfonamides and offer a new potential
      perspective for treating KSHV-induced lymphoproliferative diseases.

PMID- 28611471
TI  - Evaluation of the immature platelet fraction contribute to the differential
      diagnosis of hereditary, immune and other acquired thrombocytopenias.
AB  - The differential diagnosis of immune (ITP) and hereditary macrothrombocytopenia
      (HM) is key to patient management. The immature platelet fraction (IPF)
      represents the subset of circulating platelets with higher RNA content, and has
      been shown to distinguish hypo- from hyperproliferative thrombocytopenias. Here
      we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of IPF in the differential diagnosis between
      HM and other thrombocytopenias in a population of patients with post-chemotherapy
      thrombocytopenia (n = 56), bone marrow failure (n = 22), ITP (n = 105) and HM (n
      = 27). TPO levels were also measured in HM and ITP matched for platelet counts.
      Platelet counts were similar in all patient groups. Higher IPF values were
      observed in both ITP (12.3%; 2.4-65.6%) and HM (29.8%; 4.6-65.9%) compared to
      hypoproliferative thrombocytopenias. IPF values were also higher in HM compared
      to ITP, yielding a diagnostic accuracy of 0.80 (95%CI 0.70-0.90; P < 0.0001) to
      distinguish these two conditions. Intra- and inter-assays reproducibility of IPF
      in HM patients revealed that this is a stable parameter. In conclusion, IPF is
      increased in HM compared to both ITP and other thrombocytopenias and contributes
      to the differentiation between ITP and HM. Further studies are warranted to
      understand the biological rationale of these findings and to its incorporation in
      diagnostic algorithms of HM.

PMID- 28611472
TI  - CD11a/ICAM-1 blockade combined with IL-2 targeting therapy causes a paradoxical
      acceleration of type 1 diabetes.
AB  - Enhancement of regulatory T-cell (Treg) function is the goal of many
      immunotherapies aimed at treating type 1 diabetes (T1D). The use of interleukin
      (IL)-2 is hindered by its effects on other populations such as effector T cells
      and NK cells. Combination therapies aimed at suppressing effector T cells while
      using IL-2 to expand Tregs could be beneficial and have been trialed in T1D
      patients. We have investigated a combination therapy using IL-2 and alphaCD11a
      blocking antibody to simultaneously expand Tregs and suppress the activation and
      migration of autoreactive T cells. When non-obese diabetic mice were treated with
      low-dose IL-2/anti-IL-2 complexes (IL-2c) and alphaCD11a, significant Treg
      expansion occurred in both the spleen and pancreas. Activation and IFNgamma
      production by islet-specific T cells was robustly suppressed in the periphery
      following IL-2c/alphaCD11a treatment. Surprisingly, combination therapy
      accelerated diabetes onset compared with control treatments. Analysis of IL-2
      responsive populations found that combination therapy increased the activation of
      CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells specifically within the pancreas
      despite concomitant Treg expansion. Blocking effector T-cell migration with the
      inhibitor FTY720 together with IL-2c treatment also resulted in intra-pancreatic
      expansion of effector cell populations. Thus, inhibiting effector T-cell
      migration into the islets unleashes islet-resident pathogenic effectors in the
      presence of low doses of exogenous IL-2.

PMID- 28611473
TI  - APC-targeted proinsulin expression inactivates insulin-specific memory CD8+ T
      cells in NOD mice.
AB  - Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from T-cell-mediated autoimmune destruction of
      pancreatic beta cells. Effector T-cell responses emerge early in disease
      development and expand as disease progresses. Following beta-cell destruction, a
      long-lived T-cell memory is generated that represents a barrier to islet
      transplantation and other cellular insulin-replacement therapies. Development of
      effective immunotherapies that control or ablate beta-cell destructive effector
      and memory T-cell responses has the potential to prevent disease progression and
      recurrence. Targeting antigen expression to antigen-presenting cells inactivates
      cognate CD8+ effector and memory T-cell responses and has therapeutic potential.
      Here we investigated this in the context of insulin-specific responses in the non
      obese diabetic mouse where genetic immune tolerance defects could impact on
      therapeutic tolerance induction. Insulin-specific CD8+ memory T cells transferred
      to mice expressing proinsulin in antigen-presenting cells proliferated in
      response to transgenically expressed proinsulin and the majority were rapidly
      deleted. A small proportion of transferred insulin-specific Tmem remained
      undeleted and these were antigen-unresponsive, exhibited reduced T cell receptor
      (TCR) expression and H-2Kd/insB15-23 tetramer binding and expressed co-inhibitory
      molecules. Expression of proinsulin in antigen-presenting cells also abolished
      the diabetogenic capacity of CD8+ effector T cells. Therefore, destructive
      insulin-specific CD8+ T cells are effectively inactivated by enforced proinsulin
      expression despite tolerance defects that exist in diabetes-prone NOD mice. These
      findings have important implications in developing immunotherapeutic approaches
      to T1D and other T-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 28611474
TI  - p38alpha regulates cytokine-induced IFNgamma secretion via the Mnk1/eIF4E pathway
      in Th1 cells.
AB  - The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is involved in the
      regulation of immune and inflammatory processes. We used p38alpha-conditional,
      p38beta-deficient and p38alpha/beta double-null mouse models to address the role
      of these two p38 MAPK in CD4+ T cells, and found that p38alpha deficiency causes
      these cells to hyperproliferate. Our studies indicate that both p38alpha and
      p38beta are dispensable for T helper cell type 1 (Th1) differentiation but, by
      controlling interferon (IFN)gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha
      production, are critical for normal Th1 effector function. We found that both
      p38alpha and p38beta modulate T-cell receptor-induced IFNgamma and TNFalpha
      production, whereas only p38alpha regulates cytokine-induced IFNgamma production.
      The lack of p38alpha and p38beta did not affect transcription and mRNA stability
      of Ifng. However, the absence of p38alpha in Th1 cells resulted in a decreased
      MNK1 phosphorylation after cytokine activation, and MNK1 inhibition blocked
      IFNgamma production. Our results indicate that p38alpha regulates IFNgamma
      secretion through the activation of the MNK1/eIF4E pathway of translation
      initiation and identify specific functions for p38alpha and p38beta in T-cell
      proliferation.

PMID- 28611476
TI  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis: Ursodeoxycholic acid derivative: safe and
      effective.

PMID- 28611475
TI  - Murine LRBA deficiency causes CTLA-4 deficiency in Tregs without progression to
      immune dysregulation.
AB  - Inherited mutations in lipopolysaccharide-responsive beige-like anchor (LRBA)
      cause a recessive human immune dysregulation syndrome with memory B-cell and
      antibody deficiency (common variable immunodeficiency), inflammatory bowel
      disease, enlarged spleen and lymph nodes, accumulation of activated T cells and
      multiple autoimmune diseases. To understand the pathogenesis of the syndrome,
      C57BL/6 mice carrying a homozygous truncating mutation in Lrba were produced
      using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene targeting. These mice revealed that LRBA has a
      critical, cell-autonomous role in promoting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4
      (CTLA-4) accumulation within CD4 effector T cells and FOXP3+ T-regulatory cells
      (Tregs). In young mice, or in chimeric mice where only half of the T cells are
      LRBA deficient, low CTLA-4 was the only detectable abnormality in Tregs, whereas
      in old mice FOXP3 was also decreased. Low CTLA-4 did not translate into increased
      CD86 on B cells unless the LRBA-deficient mice were immunised, and neither
      immunisation nor chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection
      precipitated immune dysregulation. LRBA deficiency did not alter antigen-specific
      B-cell activation, germinal centre (GC) formation, isotype switching or affinity
      maturation. Paradoxically, CD86 was decreased on GC B cells in LRBA-deficient
      mice, pointing to compensatory mechanisms for controlling CD86 in the face of low
      CTLA-4. These results add to the experimental rationale for treating LRBA
      deficiency with the CTLA4-Ig fusion protein, Abatacept, and pose questions about
      the limitations of laboratory experiments in mice to reproduce human disease in
      natura.

PMID- 28611478
TI  - Therapy: Bacteriophages important for FMT efficacy.

PMID- 28611479
TI  - NAFLD: PNPLA3 and obesity: a synergistic relationship in NAFLD.

PMID- 28611477
TI  - A guide to multimodal endoscopy imaging for gastrointestinal malignancy - an
      early indicator.
AB  - Multimodality imaging is an essential aspect of endoscopic surveillance for the
      detection of neoplastic lesions, such as dysplasia or intramucosal cancer,
      because it improves the efficacy of endoscopic surveillance and therapeutic
      procedures in the gastrointestinal tract. This approach reveals mucosal
      abnormalities that cannot be detected by standard endoscopy. Currently, these
      imaging techniques are divided into those for primary detection and those for
      targeted imaging and characterization, the latter being used to visualize areas
      of interest in detail and permit histological evaluation. This Review outlines
      the use of virtual chromoendoscopy, narrow-band imaging, autofluorescence
      imaging, optical coherence tomography, confocal endomicroscopy and volumetric
      laser endomicroscopy as new imaging techniques for diagnostic investigation of
      the gastrointestinal tract. Insights into use of multimodal endoscopic imaging
      for early disease detection, in particular for pre-malignant lesions, in the
      oesophagus, stomach and colon are described.

PMID- 28611481
TI  - IBD: Phase II trial success for anti-MADCAM1 antibody.

PMID- 28611482
TI  - Infection: Unlocking the 'crypto' drug cabinet.

PMID- 28611483
TI  - Longitudinal shear wave imaging for elasticity mapping using optical coherence
      elastography.
AB  - Shear wave measurements for the determination of tissue elastic properties have
      been used in clinical diagnosis and soft tissue assessment. A shear wave
      propagates as a transverse wave where vibration is perpendicular to the wave
      propagation direction. Previous transverse shear wave measurements could detect
      the shear modulus in the lateral region of the force; however, they could not
      provide the elastic information in the axial region of the force. In this study,
      we report the imaging and quantification of longitudinal shear wave propagation
      using optical coherence tomography to measure the elastic properties along the
      force direction. The experimental validation and finite element simulations show
      that the longitudinal shear wave propagates along the vibration direction as a
      plane wave in the near field of a planar source. The wave velocity measurement
      can quantify the shear moduli in a homogeneous phantom and a side-by-side
      phantom. Combining the transverse shear wave and longitudinal shear wave
      measurements, this system has great potential to detect the directionally
      dependent elastic properties in tissues without a change in the force direction.

PMID- 28611484
TI  - Chemical etching of silicon carbide in pure water by using platinum catalyst.
AB  - Chemical etching of SiC was found to proceed in pure water with the assistance of
      a Pt catalyst. A 4H-SiC (0001) wafer was placed and slid on a polishing pad in
      pure water, on which a thin Pt film was deposited to give a catalytic nature.
      Etching of the wafer surface was observed to remove protrusions preferentially by
      interacting with the Pt film more frequently, thus flattening the surface. In the
      case of an on-axis wafer, a crystallographically ordered surface was obtained
      with a straight step-and-terrace structure, the height of which corresponds to
      that of an atomic bilayer of Si and C. The etching rate depended upon the
      electrochemical potential of Pt. The vicinal surface was observed at the
      potential at which the Pt surface was bare. The primary etching mechanism was
      hydrolysis with the assistance of a Pt catalyst. This method can, therefore, be
      used as an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology.

PMID- 28611480
TI  - Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for
      Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope
      of prebiotics.
AB  - In December 2016, a panel of experts in microbiology, nutrition and clinical
      research was convened by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics
      and Prebiotics to review the definition and scope of prebiotics. Consistent with
      the original embodiment of prebiotics, but aware of the latest scientific and
      clinical developments, the panel updated the definition of a prebiotic: a
      substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health
      benefit. This definition expands the concept of prebiotics to possibly include
      non-carbohydrate substances, applications to body sites other than the
      gastrointestinal tract, and diverse categories other than food. The requirement
      for selective microbiota-mediated mechanisms was retained. Beneficial health
      effects must be documented for a substance to be considered a prebiotic. The
      consensus definition applies also to prebiotics for use by animals, in which
      microbiota-focused strategies to maintain health and prevent disease is as
      relevant as for humans. Ultimately, the goal of this Consensus Statement is to
      engender appropriate use of the term 'prebiotic' by relevant stakeholders so that
      consistency and clarity can be achieved in research reports, product marketing
      and regulatory oversight of the category. To this end, we have reviewed several
      aspects of prebiotic science including its development, health benefits and
      legislation.

PMID- 28611485
TI  - Frequency dependence of the coercive field of 0.71Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.29PbTiO3
      single crystal from 0.01 Hz to 5 MHz.
AB  - The frequency dependence of the coercive field Ec in [001]c poled
      0.71Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.29PbTiO3 single crystals was investigated as a function of
      frequency f from 0.01 Hz to 5 MHz. Ec was found to be proportional to [Formula:
      see text] as predicted by the Ishibashi and Orihara model, but our results showed
      two frequency regimes separated at around 1.0 MHz with different beta values.
      This change of switching kinetics may be due to the presence of slower relaxation
      times for non-180 degrees  domain switching and heterogeneous nucleation of polar
      nanoregions, whose contribution to polarization reversal is frozen out beyond 1.0
      MHz, leading to a larger beta.

PMID- 28611486
TI  - Quantitative measurements of dielectrophoresis in a nanoscale electrode array
      with an atomic force microscopy.
AB  - Nanoelectronic devices integrated with dielectrophoresis (DEP) have been promoted
      as promising platforms for trapping, separating, and concentrating target
      biomarkers and cancer cells from a complex medium. Here, we visualized DEP and
      DEP gradients in conventional nanoelectronic devices by using multi-pass atomic
      force microcopy techniques. Our measurements directly demonstrated a short range
      DEP only at sharp step edges of electrodes, frequency dependent DEP polarity, and
      separation distance dependent DEP strength. Additionally, non-uniform DEP along
      the edges of the electrodes due to a large variation in electric field strength
      was observed. The strength and apparent working distance of DEP were measured to
      be an order of a few nN and 80 nm within the limited scale of particles and other
      parameters such as an ionic strength of the medium. This method provides a
      powerful tool to quantify the strength and polarity of DEP and allows optimizing
      and calibrating the device's operating parameters including the driving field
      strength for the effective control and manipulation of target biomolecules.

PMID- 28611487
TI  - Athermal synchronization of laser source with WDM filter in a silicon photonics
      platform.
AB  - In an optical interconnect circuit, microring resonators (MRRs) are commonly used
      in wavelength division multiplexing systems. To make the MRR and laser
      synchronized, the resonance wavelength of the MRR needs to be thermally
      controlled, and the power consumption becomes significant with a high-channel
      count. Here, we demonstrate an athermally synchronized rare-earth-doped laser and
      MRR. The laser comprises a Si3N4 based cavity covered with erbium-doped Al2O3 to
      provide gain. The low thermo-optic coefficient of Al2O3 and Si3N4 and the
      comparable thermal shift of the effective index in the laser and microring cross
      sections enable lasing and resonance wavelength synchronization over a wide range
      of temperatures. The power difference between matched and unmatched channels
      remains greater than 15 dB from 20 to 50  degrees C due to a synchronized
      wavelength shift of 0.02 nm/ degrees C. The athermal synchronization approach
      reported here is not limited to microring filters but can be applied to any Si3N4
      filter with integrated lasers using rare earth ion doped Al2O3 as a gain medium
      to achieve system-level temperature control free operation.

PMID- 28611488
TI  - Molecular dynamics studies of defect formation during heteroepitaxial growth of
      InGaN alloys on (0001) GaN surfaces.
AB  - We investigate the formation of extended defects during molecular-dynamics (MD)
      simulations of GaN and InGaN growth on (0001) and ([Formula: see text]) wurtzite
      GaN surfaces. The simulated growths are conducted on an atypically large scale by
      sequentially injecting nearly a million individual vapor-phase atoms towards a
      fixed GaN surface; we apply time-and-position-dependent boundary constraints that
      vary the ensemble treatments of the vapor-phase, the near-surface solid-phase,
      and the bulk-like regions of the growing layer. The simulations employ newly
      optimized Stillinger-Weber In-Ga-N-system potentials, wherein multiple binary and
      ternary structures are included in the underlying density-functional-theory
      training sets, allowing improved treatment of In-Ga-related atomic interactions.
      To examine the effect of growth conditions, we study a matrix of >30 different MD
      growth simulations for a range of In x Ga 1-x N-alloy compositions (0 <= x <=
      0.4) and homologous growth temperatures [0.50 <= T/T*m (x) <= 0.90], where T*m
      (x) is the simulated melting point. Growths conducted on polar (0001) GaN
      substrates exhibit the formation of various extended defects including stacking
      faults/polymorphism, associated domain boundaries, surface roughness,
      dislocations, and voids. In contrast, selected growths conducted on semi-polar
      ([Formula: see text]) GaN, where the wurtzite-phase stacking sequence is revealed
      at the surface, exhibit the formation of far fewer stacking faults. We discuss
      variations in the defect formation with the MD growth conditions, and we compare
      the resulting simulated films to existing experimental observations in InGaN/GaN.
      While the palette of defects observed by MD closely resembles those observed in
      the past experiments, further work is needed to achieve truly predictive large
      scale simulations of InGaN/GaN crystal growth using MD methodologies.

PMID- 28611489
TI  - Bioengineering of Nitrilases Towards Its Use as Green Catalyst: Applications and
      Perspectives.
AB  - Nitrilases are commercial biocatalysts used for the synthesis of plastics,
      paints, fibers in the chemical industries, pharmaceutical drugs and herbicides
      for agricultural uses. Nitrilase hydrolyses the nitriles and dinitriles to their
      corresponding carboxylic acids and ammonia. They have a broad range of substrate
      specificities as well as enantio-, regio- and chemo-selective properties which
      make them useful for biotransformation of nitriles to important compounds because
      of which they are considered as 'Green Catalysts'. Nitriles are widespread in
      nature and synthesized as a consequence of anthropogenic and biological
      activities. These are also present in certain plant species and are known to
      cause environmental pollution. Biotransformation using native organisms as
      catalysts tends to be insufficient since the enzyme of interest has very low
      amount in the total cellular protein, rate of reaction is slow along with the
      instability of enzymes. Therefore, to overcome these limitations, bioengineering
      offers an alternative approach to alter the properties of enzymes to enhance the
      applicability and stability. The present review highlights the aspects of
      producing the recombinant microorganisms and overexpressing the enzyme of
      interest for the enhanced stability at high temperatures, immobilization
      techniques, extremes of pH, organic solvents and hydrolysing dintriles to chiral
      compounds which may enhance the possibilities for creating specific enzymes for
      biotransformation.

PMID- 28611490
TI  - Gene Specific DNA Sensors for Diagnosis of Pathogenic Infections.
AB  - Gene specific DNA based sensors have potential applications for rapid and real
      time monitoring of hybridization signal with the target nucleic acid of
      pathogens. Different types of DNA based sensors and their applications have been
      studied for rapid and accurate detection of pathogens causing human diseases.
      These sensors are based on surface plasmon resonance, quantum-dots, molecular
      beacons, piezoelectric and electrochemical etc. Curbing epidemics at an early
      stage is one of the massive challenges in healthcare systems. Timely detection of
      the causative organism may provide a solution to restrain mortality caused by the
      disease. With the advent of interdisciplinary sciences, bioelectronics has
      emerged as an effective alternative for disease diagnostics. Gene specific DNA
      sensors present themselves as cost-effective, sensitive and specific platforms
      for detection of disease causing pathogens. The mini review explores different
      transducer based sensors and their potential in diagnosis of acute and chronic
      diseases.

PMID- 28611491
TI  - Phytases of Probiotic Bacteria: Characteristics and Beneficial Aspects.
AB  - Probiotics play a vital role in clinical applications for the treatment of
      diarrhea, obesity and urinary tract infections. Phytate, an anti-nutrient,
      chelates essential minerals that are vital for human health. In the past few
      decades, research reports emphasize extensively on phytate degradation in
      animals. There is a growing need for finding alternate strategies of phytate
      utilization in human, as they are unable to produce phytase. At this juncture,
      probiotics can be utilized for phytase production to combat mineral deficiency in
      humans. The main focus of this review is on improving phosphate bioavailability
      by employing two approaches: supplementation of (1) fermented food products that
      contain probiotics and (2) recombinant phytase producing bacteria. In addition,
      several factors influencing phytase activity such as bacterial viability, optimal
      pH, substrate concentration and specificity were also discussed.

PMID- 28611492
TI  - Genome Mining and Predictive Functional Profiling of Acidophilic Rhizobacterium
      Pseudomonas fluorescens Pt14.
AB  - Pseudomonas fluorescens Pt14 is a non-pathogenic and acidophilic bacterium
      isolated from acidic soil (pH 4.65). Genome sequencing of strain Pt14 was
      performed using Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT) sequencing to get insights into
      unique existence of this strain in acidic environment. Complete genome sequence
      of this strain revealed a chromosome of 5,841,722 bp having 5354 CDSs and 88
      RNAs. Phylogenomic reconstruction based on 16S rRNA gene, Average Nucleotide
      Identity (ANI) values and marker proteins revealed that strain Pt14 shared a
      common clade with P. fluorescens strain A506 and strain SS101. ANI value of
      strain Pt14 in relation to strain A506 was found 99.23% demonstrating a very
      close sub-species association at genome level. Further, orthology determination
      among these three phylogenetic neighbors revealed 4726 core proteins. Functional
      analysis elucidated significantly higher abundance of sulphur metabolism (>1*)
      which could be one of the reasons for the survival of strain Pt14 under acidic
      conditions (pH 4.65). Acidophilic bacteria have capability to oxidize sulphur
      into sulphuric acid which in turn can make the soil acidic and genome-wide
      analysis of P. fluorescens Pt14 demonstrated that this strain contributes towards
      making the soil acidic.

PMID- 28611494
TI  - Dark-Fermentative Biological Hydrogen Production from Mixed Biowastes Using
      Defined Mixed Cultures.
AB  - Biological hydrogen (H2) production from the biowastes is widely recognized as a
      suitable alternative approach to utilize low cost feed instead of costly
      individual sugars. In the present investigation, pure and mixed biowastes were
      fermented by defined sets of mixed cultures for hydrolysis and H2 production.
      Under batch conditions, up to 65, 67 and 70 L H2/kg total solids (2%, TS) were
      evolved from apple pomace (AP), onion peels (OP) and potato peels (PP) using a
      combination of hydrolytic mixed culture (MHC5) and mixed microbial cultures (MMC4
      or MMC6), respectively. Among the different combinations of mixed biowastes
      including AP, OP, PP and pea-shells, the combination of OP and PP exhibited
      maximum H2 production of 73 and 84 L/kg TS with MMC4 and MMC6, respectively. This
      study suggested that H2 production can be effectively regulated by using defined
      sets of mixed cultures for hydrolysis and H2 production from pure and mixed
      biowastes as feed even under unsterile conditions.

PMID- 28611493
TI  - Construction, Selection and Immunogenicity of Recombinant Fowlpox Candidate
      Vaccine Co-expressing HIV-1 gag and gp145.
AB  - An HIV candidate vaccine for the Chinese population was designed by constructing
      a recombinant fowlpox virus expressing HIV-1 gag and HIV gp145 proteins via
      homologous recombination and plaque screening using enhanced green fluorescent
      protein (EGFP) as the reporter gene. EGFP in the recombinant was then knocked out
      with the Cre/Loxp system yielding rFPVHg-Hp, which was identified at the genomic,
      transcriptional and translational levels. The immunogenicity of rFPVHg-Hp was
      analyzed by measuring levels of HIV-specific antibodies and IFN-gamma-secreting
      splenocytes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and IFN enzyme-linked immune
      spot test in the BALB/c mouse model. Results showed that rFPV could not stimulate
      HIV-1 specific antibodies or IFN-gamma-secreting cells by a single immunization.
      Meanwhile, in the prime-boost strategy, HIV-p24 antibodies (P < 0.01) and IFN
      gamma-secreting cells (P < 0.05) were induced strongly by the candidate vaccine
      after the boost immunization. Thus, both humoral and cellular immunity could be
      elicited by the candidate vaccine in a prime-boost immunization strategy. This
      study provides a foundation for future preclinical studies on the HIV rFPVHg-Hp
      candidate vaccine.

PMID- 28611496
TI  - A Bacteriophage Mediated Gold Nanoparticles Synthesis and Their Anti-biofilm
      Activity.
AB  - In the present study, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesis was carried out by
      using a rare bacteriophage which is morphologically similar to 7-11 phages of the
      C3 morphotype of tailed phage belonging to Podoviridae family as green route.
      Effect of various physiological parameters like pH, temperature and concentration
      of gold chloride salt on AuNPs synthesis was studied. The reaction mixtures have
      shown vivid colours at various physiological parameters. Phage inspired AuNPs
      were further characterized by using different techniques such as UV-Vis
      spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive
      spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dynamic light scattering (DLS).
      DLS study revealed synthesis of various sizes of AuNPs in the range of 20-100 nm.
      SEM studies revealed synthesis of varied shaped AuNPs, viz., spheres, hexagons,
      triangles, rhomboids and rectangular etc. The presence of Au in the
      nanostructures was confirmed by EDS. The XRD pattern reflects the crystalline
      nature and nano size of AuNPs. These phage inspired AuNPs showed anti-bacterial
      activity against different bacterial pathogens. Anti-biofilm activity of AuNPs
      was evaluated on a glass slide. It was noticed that at 0.2 mM concentration of
      these AuNPs about 80% of biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a human
      pathogen was inhibited. Thus, the phage inspired AuNPs synthesis could be
      potential therapeutic agents against human pathogens.

PMID- 28611495
TI  - Antibacterial, Anticancer and Neuroprotective Activities of Rare Actinobacteria
      from Mangrove Forest Soils.
AB  - Mangrove is a complex ecosystem that contains diverse microbial communities,
      including rare actinobacteria with great potential to produce bioactive
      compounds. To date, bioactive compounds extracted from mangrove rare
      actinobacteria have demonstrated diverse biological activities. The discovery of
      three novel rare actinobacteria by polyphasic approach, namely Microbacterium
      mangrovi MUSC 115T, Sinomonas humi MUSC 117T and Monashia flava MUSC 78T from
      mangrove soils at Tanjung Lumpur, Peninsular Malaysia have led to the screening
      on antibacterial, anticancer and neuroprotective activities. A total of ten
      different panels of bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) ATCC 43300, ATCC 70069, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NRBC 112582 and others were
      selected for antibacterial screening. Three different neuroprotective models
      (hypoxia, oxidative stress, dementia) were done using SHSY5Y neuronal cells while
      two human cancer cells lines, namely human colon cancer cell lines (HT-29) and
      human cervical carcinoma cell lines (Ca Ski) were utilized for anticancer
      activity. The result revealed that all extracts exhibited bacteriostatic effects
      on the bacteria tested. On the other hand, the neuroprotective studies
      demonstrated M. mangrovi MUSC 115T extract exhibited significant neuroprotective
      properties in oxidative stress and dementia model while the extract of strain M.
      flava MUSC 78T was able to protect the SHSY5Y neuronal cells in hypoxia model.
      Furthermore, the extracts of M. mangrovi MUSC 115T and M. flava MUSC 78T
      exhibited anticancer effect against Ca Ski cell line. The chemical analysis of
      the extracts through GC-MS revealed that the majority of the compounds present in
      all extracts are heterocyclic organic compound that could explain for the
      observed bioactivities. Therefore, the results obtained in this study suggested
      that rare actinobacteria discovered from mangrove environment could be potential
      sources of antibacterial, anticancer and neuroprotective agents.

PMID- 28611497
TI  - Stress-Tolerant Viridibacillus arenosi Strain IHB B 7171 from Tea Rhizosphere as
      a Potential Broad-Spectrum Microbial Inoculant.
AB  - Viridibacillus arenosi strain IHB B 7171 identified based on 16S rRNA gene
      sequence produced colony forming units (cfu/ml) ranging from 3.3 * 104 to 1.2 *
      1010 under pH 5-11, 2.2 * 102 to 1.4 * 1010 for temperature 5-40  degrees C, 2.4
      * 102 to 1.1 * 1010 for PEG 6000 10-30%, 2.2 * 102 to 1.4 * 1010 for 2.5-10%
      NaCl, 3.1 * 103 to 1.7 * 109 for 2.5-7.5 mM CaCl2, 2.2 * 102 to 1.4 * 107 for 2.5
      7.5 mM AlCl3, and 3.2 * 102 to 1.2 * 107 for 2.5-7.5 mM FeCl3. The activities of
      plant growth-promoting attributes with the increasing acidity, desiccation and
      salinity ranged from 408 to 101, 20 to 8, 14 to 5 ug/ml P-liberated from tri
      calcium phosphate, aluminium phosphate and iron phosphate, 20-9% siderophore
      units, 14-4 ug/ml IAA and 190-16 alpha-ketobutyrate h/mg protein ACC-deaminase
      activity. Plant height, leaf number, and leaf weight on treatment with bacterial
      inoculum showed an increment of 9.5, 17.6, 54.5 and 31.0% in tea seedlings,
      respectively. The bacterium also enhanced plant height and yield by 10 and 13% in
      pea and 2.8 and 13.9% in wheat. The results exhibited stress-tolerance and plant
      growth-promoting activities by the strain under stressed growth-conditions with
      potential as a broad-spectrum plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium.

PMID- 28611498
TI  - In Vitro Characterization of Lactobacillus plantarum Strains with Inhibitory
      Activity on Enteropathogens for Use as Potential Animal Probiotics.
AB  - The present study evaluates the probiotic properties of three Lactobacillus
      plantarum strains MJM60319, MJM60298, and MJM60399 possessing antimicrobial
      activity against animal enteric pathogens. The three strains did not show
      bioamine production, mucinolytic and hemolytic activity and were susceptible to
      common antibiotics. The L. plantarum strains survived well in the simulated
      orogastrointestinal transit condition and showed adherence to Caco-2 cells in
      vitro. The L. plantarum strains showed strong antimicrobial activity against
      enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella
      enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, Choleraesuis and Gallinarum
      compared to the commercial probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. The
      mechanism of antimicrobial activity of the L. plantarum strains appeared to be by
      the production of lactic acid. Furthermore, the L. plantarum strains tolerated
      freeze-drying and maintained higher viability in the presence of cryoprotectants
      than without cryoprotectants. Finally, the three L. plantarum strains tolerated
      NaCl up to 8% and maintained >60% growth. These characteristics of the three L.
      plantarum strains indicate that they could be applied as animal probiotic after
      appropriate in vivo studies.

PMID- 28611499
TI  - Lactobacillus futsaii CS3, a New GABA-Producing Strain Isolated from Thai
      Fermented Shrimp (Kung-Som).
AB  - Kung-Som is a popular traditional Thai fermented shrimp product. It is rich in
      glutamic acid, which is the major substrate for the biosynthesis of gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA) by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). In the present study, LAB
      from Kung-Som were isolated, screened for GABA formation, and the two isolates
      that transform glutamic acid most efficiently into GABA were identified. Based on
      the API-CHL50 fermentation profile and a phylogenetic tree of 16S rDNA sequences,
      strain CS3 and CS5 were identified as Lactobacillus futsaii, which was for the
      first time shown to be a promising GABA producer. L. futsaii CS3 was the most
      efficient microorganism for the conversion of 25 mg/mL monosodium glutamate (MSG)
      to GABA, with a maximum yield of more than 99% conversion rate within 72 h. The
      open reading frame (ORF) of the glutamate decarboxylase (gad) gene was identified
      by PCR. It consists of 1410 bp encoding a polypeptide of 469 amino acids with a
      predicted molecular weight of 53.64 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) of 5.56.
      Moreover, a good quality of the constructed model of L. futsaii CS3 was also
      estimated. Our results indicate that L. futsaii CS3 could be of interest for the
      production of GABA-enriched foods by fermentation and for other value-added
      products.

PMID- 28611500
TI  - Optimization of Nutrients and Culture Conditions for Alkaline Protease Production
      Using Two Endophytic Micrococci: Micrococcus aloeverae and Micrococcus
      yunnanensis.
AB  - An endophytic species of Micrococcus was isolated from Aloe vera leaf (syn. Aloe
      barbadensis) and screened for protease production with five other species of
      Micrococcus. Data indicated that endophytic Micrococcus aloeverae AE-6 MCC 2184T
      and Micrococcus yunnanensis DSM 21948T showed efficient protease production
      potential and secreted active protease at high salt (10%), temperature (40 
      degrees C) and in wide range of pH 8-10. Unlike M. yunnanensis DSM 21948T,
      protease production by M. aloeverae AE-6 MCC 2184T was stringently controlled by
      pH. Protease induction study using different group of peptides, peptide
      carbohydrates and peptide macronutrient combinations showed variable response
      with both the organisms. Result indicated that the amount of protease was not
      directly related to cell biomass but it depends on nature of inducible peptides.
      In this study we also developed a modified agar-well assay for semi-quantitative
      data from large number of replicates.

PMID- 28611501
TI  - Influence of Diet Composition on Cattle Rumen Methanogenesis: A Comparative
      Metagenomic Analysis in Indian and Exotic Cattle.
AB  - Comparative metagenomics approach has been used in this study to discriminate
      colonization of methanogenic population in different breeds of cattle. We
      compared two Indian cattle breeds (Gir and Kankrej) and two exotic cattle
      (Holstein and Jersey) breeds. Using a defined dietary plan for selected Indian
      varieties, the diet dependent shifts in microbial community and abundance of the
      enzymes associated with methanogenesis were studied. This data has been compared
      with the available rumen metagenome data from Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle.
      The abundance of genes for methanogenesis in Holstein and Jersey cattle came from
      Methanobacteriales order whereas, majority of the enzymes for methanogenesis in
      Gir and Kankrej cattle came from Methanomicrobiales order. The study suggested
      that by using slow/less digestible feed, the propionate levels could be
      controlled in rumen; and in turn, this would also help in further reducing the
      hydrogenotrophic production of methane. The study proposes that with the designed
      diet plan the overall methanogenic microbial pool or the individual methanogens
      could be targeted for development of methane mitigation strategies.

PMID- 28611502
TI  - Deep Sequencing Reveals Highly Variable Gut Microbial Composition of Invasive
      Fish Mossambicus Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) Collected from Two Different
      Habitats.
AB  - Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) is one of the most invasive fish found
      throughout the World and emerged as a major threat to the indigenous fishes in
      many countries. Investigating the gut microbial diversity of such fishes is one
      of the ways to understand its physiology. In the present study, we have explored
      the gut microbial community structure of tilapia using 16S rRNA gene sequencing
      on the Illumina Miseq platform. Our study showed significant differences in
      tilapia gut microbiota collected from different habitats (i.e. river and lakes)
      suggesting the influence of habitat on the gut microbial diversity of tilapia.
      This study gives a first insight into the mossambicus tilapia gut microbiota and
      provides a reference for future studies.

PMID- 28611503
TI  - Exploiting Phosphate-Starved cells of Scenedesmus sp. for the Treatment of Raw
      Sewage.
AB  - Phosphate depletion is one of the favorable ways to enhance the sewage water
      treatment with the algae, however, detailed information is essential with respect
      to internal phosphate concentration and physiology of the algae. The growth rate
      of the phosphate-starved Scenedesmus cells was reduced drastically after 48 h.
      Indicating cells entered in the stationary phase of the growth cycle. Fourier
      Transform Infrared analysis of phosphate-starved Scenedesmus cells showed the
      reduction in internal phosphate concentration and an increase in
      carbohydrate/phosphate and carbohydrate/lipid ratio. The phosphate-starved
      Scenedesmus cells, with an initial cell density of, 1 * 106 cells mL-1 shows 87%
      phosphate and 100 % nitrogen removal in 24 h. The normal Scenedesmus cells need
      approximately 48 h to trim down the nutrients from wastewater up to this extent.
      Other microalgae, Ankistrodesmus, growth pattern was not affected due to
      phosphate starvation. The cells of Ankistrodesmus was able to reduce 71%
      phosphate and 73% nitrogen within 24 h, with an initial cell density of, 1 * 106
      cells mL-1.

PMID- 28611504
TI  - Genetic Diversity of Arcobacter Species of Animal and Human Origin in Andhra
      Pradesh, India.
AB  - Arcobacter is an emerging foodborne pathogen having zoonotic significance.
      Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) PCR and repetitive
      sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) analysis of a total of 41 Arcobacter isolates
      revealed a greater degree of genetic diversity. ERIC-PCR genotyping distinguished
      14, 13 and 12 genotypes among 16, 13 and 12 isolates of A. butzleri, A.
      cryaerophilus and A. skirrowii, respectively. Rep-PCR genotyping distinguished
      15, 12 and 11 genotypes among 16, 13 and 12 isolates of A. butzleri, A.
      cryaerophilus and A. skirrowii, respectively. The discriminatory power for ERIC
      and rep-PCR was found to be 0.997 and 0.996, respectively. Close clustering
      between isolates of animal and human origin are indicative of probable zoonotic
      significance.

PMID- 28611505
TI  - Development and Optimization of a Reverse Transcription Hemi-Nested PCR Primer
      for the Detection of Potato Mop-Top Virus at Quarantine Inspection Sites in
      Korea.
AB  - Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) is classified as a plant quarantine virus in Korea.
      It is tested at import inspection sites. In this study, two sets of reverse
      transcription-hemi-nested polymerase chain reaction primers were developed to
      diagnose PMTV. In addition, modified- positive control plasmid was developed for
      the identification of false positive results in plant quarantine. The assay is
      expected to be useful for improving the detection and diagnosis of PMTV.

PMID- 28611506
TI  - Indian Science Culture Needs a Paradigm Shift.
AB  - There is a general impression in the scientific community in our country that the
      way science is taught, leant and the work culture of research and management of
      academic and research institutions is not conducive to cutting edge research,
      innovation and making world leaders. Mentoring continues to be poor with some
      exceptions. Very often, senior scientists with long innings in science teaching
      and research express anguish at the status quo in spite of a number of policy
      documents and recommendations for change. Indian science culture (teaching,
      research as well as administration) is a matter of prime concern and the issues
      cannot be pushed under the carpet if we desire a qualitative change. Most of the
      institutions of higher learning churn out graduates and post graduates who are
      largely unemployable. There are concerns on the number of Ph.Ds and not on the
      quality of Ph.D. One major consequence of the weak post graduates and Ph.Ds is
      the non-availability of competent faculty. Weakness and lack of interest in
      science learning starts from school. Learning continues to be by rote which is
      the prime reason for our low global rank in science and mathematics competence.
      Teaching and research apart there are umpteen other issues in over all culture of
      institutions and universities engaged in science teaching and research. Few oases
      of excellence are exceptions in the vast pool of mediocrity. Some points which
      need prime attention are: adoption of a tenure track system on the pattern of US
      institutions; feedback on and evaluation of teaching and mentoring; bottom up
      approach for candid feedback on issues which require long term solutions for
      efficiency and sound deliverables, cultivating the culture of working in front
      line areas, full transparency in working and an all out exit from culture of
      feudalism. This transformation needs commitment on the part of the politicians
      who man the respective departments of science education, research and human
      resource development. I am sure such a cultural change and paradigm shift from
      the status quo does not need extra funds and can be surely ushered in without
      money.

PMID- 28611507
TI  - A Proinflammatory Effect of the beta-Glucan from Pleurotus cornucopiae Mushroom
      on Macrophage Action.
AB  - PCPS from P. citrinopileatus mushroom extract is a beta-1,6-glucan possessing a
      proinflammatory effect on innate immune cells. The PCPS stimulated THP-1
      macrophages to secrete significant levels of TNF. Moreover, the mRNA expressions
      of TNF and IL-1beta were significantly enhanced by PCPS treatment. However, the
      PCPS did not induce to express both IL-12 and IL-10 mRNA in the macrophages.
      Next, the P. cornucopiae extract (containing mainly PCPS) treatment against mice
      showed significant increases in TNF and IL-1beta mRNA expressions in the
      peritoneal macrophages of them. In this study, the expression levels of IFNgamma
      mRNA in the spleen were almost the same between the extract- (PCPS-) treated
      group and control group. However, the expression of IL-4 mRNA showed a lower
      level in the extract-treated group than that in the control. Our results
      suggested that the PCPS could induce proinflammatory action in the immune
      response. In addition, the proinflammatory effect of the PCPS on THP-1 was
      enhanced by 5'-GMP-Na, while it was reduced by vitamin D2. These two compounds
      are majorly contained in the P. citrinopileatus mushroom. Therefore, these
      results suggested that the P. citrinopileatus mushroom might contain other immune
      regulative compounds, such as vitamin D2, as well as PCPS.

PMID- 28611508
TI  - Correlation between IL36alpha and IL17 and Activity of the Disease in Selected
      Autoimmune Blistering Diseases.
AB  - Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), bullous pemphigoid (BP), and pemphigus vulgaris
      (PV) are autoimmune bullous skin conditions with eosinophilic and neutrophilic
      infiltrations. While cytokines are crucial for the affinity and activation of
      different leukocyte cells in the inflammation and blister formation, there are no
      studies concerning a role of IL-36. The goal of the study was to analyze whether
      interleukin 36 is involved in pathogenesis of DH, BP, and PV. And the second aim
      of the study was the estimation of correlation between Il-36 and IL-17 and titers
      of specific antibodies in these diseases. Expression of IL-36 and IL-17 was
      detected in serum in all DH, BP, and PV samples. Serum levels of IL-36 and IL
      17alpha were statistically higher in DH, BP, and PV groups as compared to the
      control group. IL-36alpha levels were statistically higher in DH patients, as
      compared to patients with PV and BP. Our results showed that IL-36 may be helpful
      in the diagnostic and monitoring of the activity of the disease. IL 36 may play a
      relevant role of enrolling eosinophils and neutrophils in DH, BP, and PV and
      finally provoke tissue injury.

PMID- 28611509
TI  - Hepatitis C in injection drug users: It is time to treat.
AB  - Injection drug users (IDUs) are at risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, due
      to needle and syringe sharing. Chronic HCV infection is a major cause of liver
      related morbidity and mortality but can be cured with antiviral treatment leading
      to sustained viral response (SVR). It is well demonstrated that, when close
      cooperation between specialists in drug addiction and psychiatrists is assured,
      patients on maintenance treatment with methadone/buprenorphine can be treated for
      HCV with response rate, tolerability and side effects similar to those reported
      in non-IDUs. Current guidelines recommend that active injection drug use should
      not exclude patients from HCV treatment, but many services remain reluctant to
      treat IDUs. No significant pharmacodynamic interactions were reported between
      approved direct anti-viral agents (DAAs) and buprenorphine or methadone. Dose
      adjustments are not recommended; therefore DAAs appear to be the "perfect"
      therapy for patients taking opiate substitutive therapy. These suggestions have
      been recently recognized by the European Association for the Study of the Liver
      (EASL) and included in EASL Recommendations on Treatment of Hepatitis C 2016.
      Guidelines confirm that HCV treatment for IDUs should be considered on an
      individualized basis and delivered within a multidisciplinary team setting; a
      history of intravenous drug use and recent drug use at treatment initiation are
      not associated with reduced SVR and decisions to treat must be made on a case-by
      case basis.

PMID- 28611510
TI  - Cyclooxygenase 2 in liver dysfunction and carcinogenesis: Facts and perspectives.
AB  - The biosynthesis of prostaglandins and thromboxanes has been a focus of interest
      in the management of many liver diseases. Cyclooxygenases are the enzymes
      involved in the first step of the biosynthesis of these lipid mediators and
      selective inhibitors for these isoenzymes as well as pharmacological analogues of
      prostaglandins have been developed and are currently applied therapeutically.
      Here we discuss the implications of these enzymes in the onset of metabolic and
      lipid disorders in the liver and their potential role in the progression of the
      diseases towards fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28611511
TI  - First quarter century of laparoscopic liver resection.
AB  - The beginnings of laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) were at the start of the
      1990s, with the initial reports being published in 1991 and 1992. These were
      followed by reports of left lateral sectionectomy in 1996. In the years
      following, the procedures of LLR were expanded to hemi-hepatectomy,
      sectionectomy, segmentectomy and partial resection of posterosuperior segments,
      as well as the parenchymal preserving limited anatomical resection and modified
      anatomical (extended and/or combining limited) resection procedures. This
      expanded range of LLR procedures, mimicking the expansion of open liver resection
      in the past, was related to advances in both technology (instrumentation) and
      technical skill with conceptual changes. During this period of remarkable
      development, two international consensus conferences were held (2008 in
      Louisville, KY, United States, and 2014 in Morioka, Japan), providing up-to-date
      summarizations of the status and perspective of LLR. The advantages of LLR have
      become clear, and include reduced intraoperative bleeding, shorter hospital stay,
      and - especially for cirrhotic patients-lower incidence of complications (e.g.,
      postoperative ascites and liver failure). In this paper, we review and discuss
      the developments of LLR in operative procedures (extent and style of liver
      resections) during the first quarter century since its inception, from the aspect
      of relationships with technological/technical developments with conceptual
      changes.

PMID- 28611513
TI  - Brain changes detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy
      in patients with Crohn's disease.
AB  - Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic, non-specific granulomatous inflammatory
      disorder that commonly affects the small intestine and is a phenotype of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). CD is prone to relapse, and its incidence
      displays a persistent increase in developing countries. However, the pathogenesis
      of CD is poorly understood, with some studies emphasizing the link between CD and
      the intestinal microbiota. Specifically, studies point to the brain-gut-enteric
      microbiota axis as a key player in the occurrence and development of CD.
      Furthermore, investigations have shown white-matter lesions and neurologic
      deficits in patients with IBD. Based on these findings, brain activity changes in
      CD patients have been detected by blood oxygenation level dependent functional
      magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI). BOLD-fMRI functions by detecting a local
      increase in relative blood oxygenation that results from neurotransmitter
      activity and thus reflects local neuronal firing rates. Therefore, biochemical
      concentrations of neurotransmitters or metabolites may change in corresponding
      brain regions of CD patients. To further study this phenomenon, brain changes of
      CD patients can be detected non-invasively, effectively and accurately by BOLD
      fMRI combined with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). This approach can
      further shed light on the mechanisms of the occurrence and development of
      neurological CD. Overall, this paper reviews the current status and prospects on
      fMRI and MRS for evaluation of patients with CD based on the brain-gut-enteric
      microbiota axis.

PMID- 28611512
TI  - Hepatitis A virus infection and hepatitis A vaccination in human immunodeficiency
      virus-positive patients: A review.
AB  - Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is one of the most common infectious etiologies of acute
      hepatitis worldwide. The virus is known to be transmitted fecal-orally, resulting
      in symptoms ranging from asymptomatic infection to fulminant hepatitis. HAV can
      also be transmitted through oral-anal sex. Residents from regions of low
      endemicity for HAV infection often remain susceptible in their adulthood.
      Therefore, clustered HAV infections or outbreaks of acute hepatitis A among men
      who have sex with men and injecting drug users have been reported in countries of
      low endemicity for HAV infection. The duration of HAV viremia and stool shedding
      of HAV may be longer in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals
      compared to HIV-negative individuals with acute hepatitis A. Current guidelines
      recommend HAV vaccination for individuals with increased risks of exposure to HAV
      (such as from injecting drug use, oral-anal sex, travel to or residence in
      endemic areas, frequent clotting factor or blood transfusions) or with increased
      risks of fulminant disease (such as those with chronic hepatitis). The
      seroconversion rates following the recommended standard adult dosing schedule (2
      doses of HAVRIX 1440 U or VAQTA 50 U administered 6-12 mo apart) are lower among
      HIV-positive individuals compared to HIV-negative individuals. While the response
      rates may be augmented by adding a booster dose at week 4 sandwiched between the
      first dose and the 6-mo dose, the need of booster vaccination remain less clear
      among HIV-positive individuals who have lost anti-HAV antibodies.

PMID- 28611515
TI  - Transition of pediatric to adult care in inflammatory bowel disease: Is it as
      easy as 1, 2, 3?
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a heterogeneous group of chronic diseases
      with a rising prevalence in the pediatric population, and up to 25% of IBD
      patients are diagnosed before 18 years of age. Adolescents with IBD tend to have
      more severe and extensive disease and eventually require graduation from
      pediatric care toadult services. The transition of patients from pediatric to
      adult gastroenterologists requires careful preparation and coordination, with
      involvement of all key players to ensure proper collaboration of care and avoid
      interruption in care. This can be challenging and associated with gaps in
      delivery of care. The pediatric and adult health paradigms have inherent
      differences between health care models, as well as health care priorities in IBD.
      The readiness of the young adult also influences this transition of care, with
      often times other overlaps in life events, such as school, financial independence
      and moving away from home. These patients are therefore at higher risk for poorer
      clinical disease outcomes. The aim of this paper is to review concepts pertinent
      to transition of care of young adults with IBD to adult care, and provides
      resources appropriate for an IBD pediatric to adult transition of care model.

PMID- 28611514
TI  - Perspectives of traditional Chinese medicine in pancreas protection for acute
      pancreatitis.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common diseases. AP is associated with
      significant morbidity and mortality, but it lacks specific and effective
      therapies. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most popular
      complementary and alternative medicine modalities worldwide for the treatment of
      AP. The current evidence from basic research and clinical studies has shown that
      TCM has good therapeutic effects on AP. This review summarizes the widely used
      formulas, single herbs and monomers that are used to treat AP and the potential
      underlying mechanisms of TCM. Because of the abundance, low cost, and safety of
      TCM as well as its ability to target various aspects of the pathogenesis, TCM
      provides potential clinical benefits and a new avenue with tremendous potential
      for the future treatment of AP.

PMID- 28611516
TI  - Colorectal cancer population screening programs worldwide in 2016: An update.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world.
      The incidence and mortality show wide geographical variations. Screening is
      recommended to reduce both incidence and mortality. However, there are
      significant differences among studies in implementation strategies and detection.
      This review aimed to present the results and strategies of different screening
      programs worldwide. We reviewed the literature on national and international
      screening programs published in PubMed, on web pages, and in clinical guidelines.
      CRC Screening programs are currently underway in most European countries, Canada,
      specific regions in North and South America, Asia, and Oceania. The most
      extensive screening strategies were based on fecal occult blood testing, and more
      recently, the fecal immunochemical test (FIT). Participation in screening has
      varied greatly among different programs. The Netherlands showed the highest
      participation rate (68.2%) and some areas of Canada showed the lowest (16%).
      Participation rates were highest among women and in programs that used the FIT
      test. Men exhibited the greatest number of positive results. The FIT test has
      been the most widely used screening program worldwide. The advent of this test
      has increased participation rates and the detection of positive results.

PMID- 28611517
TI  - Urinary metabolic insights into host-gut microbial interactions in healthy and
      IBD children.
AB  - AIM: To identify metabolic signatures in urine samples from healthy and
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) children. METHODS: We applied liquid
      chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to targeted mass spectrometry (MS)
      based metabolite profiling to identify and quantify bile acids and host-gut
      microbial metabolites in urine samples collected from 21 pediatric IBD patients
      monitored three times over one year (baseline, 6 and 12 mo), and 27 age- and
      gender-matched healthy children. RESULTS: urinary metabolic profiles of IBD
      children differ significantly from healthy controls. Such metabolic differences
      encompass central energy metabolism, amino acids, bile acids and gut microbial
      metabolites. In particular, levels of pyroglutamic acid, glutamic acid, glycine
      and cysteine, were significantly higher in IBD children in the course of the
      study. This suggests that glutathione cannot be optimally synthesized and
      replenished. Whilst alterations of the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids in
      pediatric IBD patients is known, we show here that non-invasive urinary bile acid
      profiling can assess those altered hepatic and intestinal barrier dysfunctions.
      CONCLUSION: The present study shows how non-invasive sampling of urine followed
      by targeted MS-based metabonomic analysis can elucidate and monitor the metabolic
      status of children with different GI health/disease status.

PMID- 28611518
TI  - M2-like Kupffer cells in fibrotic liver may protect against acute insult.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the mechanism of hepatoprotection conferred by liver fibrosis
      through evaluating the activation phenotype of kupffer cells. METHODS: Control
      and fibrotic mice were challenged with a lethal dose of D-GalN/lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS), and hepatic damage was assessed by histology, serum alanine transferase
      (ALT) levels, and hepatic expression of HMGB1, a potent pro-inflammatory
      mediator. The localization of F4/80 (a surrogate marker of KCs), HMGB1, and type
      I collagen (Col-1) was determined by immunofluorescence staining. The phenotype
      of KCs was characterized by real-time PCR. KCs isolated from control or fibrotic
      mice were challenged with LPS or HMGB1 peptide, and HMGB1 translocation was
      analyzed. RESULTS: Liver fibrosis protected mice against D-GalN/LPS challenge, as
      shown by improved hepatic histology and reduced elevation of ALT compared with
      the normal mice treated in the same way. This hepatoprotection was also
      accompanied by inhibition of HMGB1 expression in the liver. Co-localization of
      F4/80, HMGB1, and Col-1 was found in fibrotic livers, indicating the close
      relationship between KCs, HMGB1 and liver fibrosis. KCs isolated from fibrotic
      mice predominantly exhibited an M2-like phenotype. In vitro experiments showed
      that HMGB1 was localized in the nucleus of the majority of M2-like KCs and that
      the translocation of HMGB1 was inhibited following stimulation with LPS or HMGB1
      peptide, while both LPS and HMGB1 peptide elicited translocation of intranuclear
      HMGB1 in KCs isolated from the control mice. CONCLUSION: M2-like Kupffer cells in
      fibrotic liver may exert a protective effect against acute insult by inhibiting
      the translocation of HMGB1.

PMID- 28611519
TI  - Sonographic appearance of anal cushions of hemorrhoids.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic value of different sonographic methods in
      hemorrhoids. METHODS: Forty-two healthy volunteers and sixty-two patients with
      grades I-IV hemorrhoids received two different sonographic examinations from
      January 2013 to January 2016 at the First and Second Hospitals of Xinjiang
      Medical University in a prospective way. We analyzed the ultrasonographic
      findings of these participants and evaluated the outcomes. Resected grades III
      and IV hemorrhoid tissues were pathologically examined. The concordance of
      ultrasonographic results with pathology results was assessed with the Cohen's
      kappa coefficient. RESULTS: All healthy volunteers and all patients had no
      particular complications related to sonography. There were no statistically
      significant differences between the participants regarding age (P = 0.5919),
      gender (P = 0.4183), and persistent symptoms (P > 0.8692). All healthy control
      participants had no special findings. However, 30 patients with hemorrhoids
      showed blood signals around the dentate line on ultrasonography. When grades I
      and II hemorrhoids were analyzed, there were no significant differences between
      transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), transperianal ultrasound (TPUS), and transvaginal
      ultrasound (TVUS) (P > 0.05). Grades III and IV hemorrhoids revealed blood flow
      with different directions which could be observed as a "mosaic pattern". In
      patients with grades III and IV hemorrhoids, the number of patients with "mosaic
      pattern" as revealed by TRUS, TPUS and TVUS was 22, 12, and 4, respectively.
      Patients with grades III and IV disease presented with a pathologically abnormal
      cushion which usually appeared as a "mosaic pattern" in TPUS and an arteriovenous
      fistula in pathology. Subepithelial vessels of resected grades III and IV
      hemorrhoid tissues were manifested by obvious structural impairment and
      retrograde and ruptured changes of internal elastic lamina. Some parts of the
      Trietz's muscle showed hypertrophy and distortion. Arteriovenous fistulas and
      venous dilatation were obvious in the anal cushion of hemorhoidal tissues. After
      pathological results with arteriovenous fistulas were taken as the standard
      reference, we evaluated the compatibility between the two methods according to
      the Cohen's kappa co-efficiency calculation. The compatibility (Cohein kappa co
      efficiency value) between "mosaic pattern" in the TPUS and arteriovenous fistula
      in pathology was very good (K = 0.8939). When compared between different groups,
      TRUS presented the advantage that the mosaic pattern could be confirmed in more
      patients, especially for group A. There was a statistical difference when
      comparing group A with group B or C (P < 0.05 for both). There were obvious
      statistical differences between group A and group B with regard to the vessel
      diameter and blood flow velocity measured by TRUS (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Patients with grades III and IV hemorrhoids present with a pathologically
      abnormal cushion which usually appears as a "mosaic pattern" in sonography, which
      is in accord with an arteriovenous fistula in pathology. There are clearly
      different hemorrhoid structures shown by sonography. "Mosaic pattern" may be a
      parameter for surgical indication of grades III and IV hemorrhoids.

PMID- 28611520
TI  - Effect of NDC80 in human hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the role of nuclear division cycle (NDC)80 in human
      hepatocellular carcinogenesis. METHODS: NDC80 gene expression was analyzed by
      real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 47 paired
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent tissues. The HCC cell line SMMC-7721
      was transfected with lentivirus to silence endogenous NDC80 gene expression,
      which was confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting.
      The effects of NDC80 silencing on SMMC-7721 cell proliferation were evaluated by
      Cellomics ArrayScan VTI imaging. Cell cycle analysis and apoptosis were detected
      with flow cytometry. Colony formation was assessed by fluorescence microscopy.
      RESULTS: NDC80 expression levels in HCC tissues were significantly higher than
      those in the adjacent tissues. Functional studies demonstrated that NDC80
      silencing significantly reduced SMMC-7721 cell proliferation and colony
      formation. Knockdown of NDC80 resulted in increased apoptosis and cell cycle
      arrest at S-phase. NDC80 contributed to HCC progression by reducing apoptosis and
      overcoming cell cycle arrest. CONCLUSION: Elevated expression of NDC80 may play a
      role in promoting the development of HCC.

PMID- 28611521
TI  - Animal experimental studies using small intestine endoscope.
AB  - AIM: To assess the feasibility and safety of a novel enteroscope, negative
      pressure suction endoscope in examining the small intestine of a porcine model.
      METHODS: In vitro experiments in small intestinal loops from 20 pigs and in vivo
      experiments in 20 living pigs were conducted. RESULTS: In in vitro experiments, a
      negative pressure of > 0.06 MPa was necessary for optimal visualization of the
      intestine, and this pressure did not cause gross or histological damage to the
      mucosa. For satisfactory examination of the small intestine in vivo, higher
      negative pressure (> 1.00 MPa) was required. Despite this higher pressure, the
      small intestine did not show any gross or microscopic damage in the suctioned
      areas. The average time of examination in the living animals was 60 +/- 7.67 min.
      The animals did not experience any apparent ill effects from the procedure.
      CONCLUSION: Small intestine endoscope was safely performed within a reasonable
      time period and enabled complete visualization of the intestine in most cases.

PMID- 28611522
TI  - Radiological response and inflammation scores predict tumour recurrence in
      patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization before liver
      transplantation.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the prognostic value of the radiological response after
      transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and inflammatory markers in patients
      affected by hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) awaiting liver transplantation (LT).
      METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the preoperative predictors of HCC
      recurrence in 70 patients treated with conventional (n = 16) or doxorubicin
      eluting bead TACE (n = 54) before LT. The patient and tumour characteristics,
      including the static and dynamic alpha-fetoprotein, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte
      ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) measurements, were recorded.
      Treatment response was classified according to the modified Response Evaluation
      Criteria in Solid Tumours (mRECIST) and the European Association for the Study of
      the Liver (EASL) criteria as complete response (CR), partial response (PR),
      stable disease or progressive disease. After examination of the explanted livers,
      histological necrosis was classified as complete (100% of the cumulative tumour
      area), partial (50%-99%) or minimal (< 50%) and was correlated with the
      preoperative radiological findings. RESULTS: According to the pre-TACE
      radiological evaluation, 22/70 (31.4%) and 12/70 (17.1%) patients were beyond
      Milan and University of San Francisco (UCSF) criteria, respectively. After TACE
      procedures, the objective response (CR + PR) rates were 71.4% and 70.0% according
      to mRECIST and EASL criteria, respectively. The agreement between the two
      guidelines in defining the radiological response was rated as very good both for
      the overall and target lesion response (weighted k-value: 0.98 and 0.93,
      respectively). Complete and partial histological necrosis were achieved in 14/70
      (20.0%) and 28/70 (40.0%) patients, respectively. Using histopathology as the
      reference standard, mRECIST criteria correctly classified necrosis in 72.9%
      (51/70) of patients and EASL criteria in 68.6% (48/70) of cases. The mRECIST non
      response to TACE [Exp(b) = 9.2, p = 0.012], exceeding UCSF criteria before TACE
      [Exp(b) = 4.7, p = 0.033] and a preoperative PLR > 150 [Exp(b) = 5.9, p = 0.046]
      were independent predictors of tumour recurrence. CONCLUSION: The radiological
      response and inflammatory markers are predictive of tumour recurrence and allow
      the proper selection of TACE-treated candidates for LT.

PMID- 28611523
TI  - Surgical management of liver diseases invading the hepatocaval confluence based
      on IH classification: The surgical guideline in our center.
AB  - AIM: to investigate the short-term outcomes and risk factors indicating
      postoperative death of patients with lesions adjacent to the hepatocaval
      confluence. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 54 consecutive patients who
      underwent hepatectomy combined with inferior vena cava (IVC) and/or hepatic vein
      reconstruction (HVR) from January 2012 to January 2016 at our liver surgery
      center. The patients were divided into 5 groups according to the range of IVC and
      hepatic vein involvement. The patient details, indications for surgery, operative
      techniques, intra- and postoperative outcomes were compared among the 5 groups.
      Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore factors predictive
      of overall operative death. RESULTS: IVC replacement was carried out in 37
      (68.5%) patients and HVR in 17 (31.5%) patients. Type I2H2 had the longest
      operative blood loss, operative duration and overall liver ischemic time (all, P
      < 0.05). Three patients of Type I3H1 with totally occluded IVC did not need IVC
      reconstruction. Total postoperative morbidity rate was 40.7% (22 patients) and
      the operative mortality rate was 16.7% (9 patients). Factors predictive of
      operative death included IVC replacement (P = 0.048), duration of liver ischemia
      (P = 0.005) and preoperative liver function being Child-Pugh B (P = 0.025).
      CONCLUSION: IVC replacement, duration of liver ischemia and preoperative poor
      liver function were risk factors predictive of postoperative death. We should be
      cautious about IVC replacement, especially in Type I2H2. For Type I3H1, it was
      unnecessary to replace IVC when the collateral circulation was established.

PMID- 28611524
TI  - Study on the value of serum miR-106b for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To analyze the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a population
      that underwent health checkups and had high serum miR-106b levels. METHODS: A
      total of 335 subjects who underwent checkups in the Digestive and Liver Disease
      Department of our hospital were randomly selected. RT-PCR was used to detect the
      level of miR-106b in serum samples. Laboratory and imaging examinations were
      carried out to confirm the HCC diagnosis in patients who had a > 2-fold change in
      miR-106b levels. Ultrasound-guided biopsy was also used for HCC diagnosis when
      necessary. On this basis, the clinical data of these subjects, including history
      of hepatitis virus infection, obesity, long-term history of alcohol use and stage
      of HCC, were collected. Then, the impact of these factors on the level of miR
      106b in serum was analyzed. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      curve was drawn to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of miR-106b for HCC. RESULTS:
      A total of 35 subjects had abnormal serum miR-106b levels, of which 20 subjects
      were diagnosed with HCC. t-test revealed that the difference in serum miR-106b
      level in terms of sex, age, history of hepatitis virus infection, obesity and
      long-term history of alcohol use was not statistically significant. However,
      serum miR-106b levels in patients with advanced HCC (stage III/IV) was higher
      than in patients with early HCC (stage I/II), and the difference was
      statistically significant (P = 0.000). Moreover, the ROC curve revealed that the
      area under the curve value for miR-106b was 0.885, which shows that serum miR
      106b level has a certain clinical value for HCC diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The random
      sampling survey shows that serum miR-106b level is a valuable diagnostic marker
      for HCC. However, the diagnostic threshold value needs to be further researched.

PMID- 28611525
TI  - Clinical significance of expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and E
      cadherin in gastric carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: to investigate the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)
      and E-cadherin in gastric carcinoma and to analyze their clinical significance.
      METHODS: A total of 146 patients were selected for this study, including 38
      patients with intestinal metaplasia, 42 with dysplasia, and 66 with primary
      gastric cancer. In addition, 40 patients with normal gastric tissues were
      selected as controls. The expression of PCNA and E-cadherin was detected by
      immunohistochemistry. Differences in PCNA and the E-cadherin labeling indexes
      among normal gastric mucosa, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and gastric
      carcinoma were compared. Subjects with normal gastric tissues were assigned to a
      normal group, while gastric cancer patients were assigned to a gastric cancer
      group. The difference in PCNA and E-cadherin expression between these two groups
      was compared. The relationship between expression of PCNA and E-cadherin and
      clinicopathological features was also explored in gastric cancer patients.
      Furthermore, prognosis-related factors, as well as the expression of PCNA and E
      cadherin, were analyzed in patients with gastric cancer to determine the 3-year
      survival of these patients. RESULTS: The difference in PCNA and the E-cadherin
      labeling indexes among normal gastric mucosa, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia,
      and gastric carcinoma was statistically significant (P < 0.05). During the
      transition of normal gastric mucosa to gastric cancer, the PCNA labeling index
      gradually increased, while the E-cadherin labeling index gradually decreased (P <
      0.05). The PCNA labeling index was significantly higher and the E-cadherin
      labeling index was significantly lower in gastric cancer than in dysplasia (P <
      0.05). The expression of PCNA was significantly higher in the gastric cancer
      group than in the normal group, but E-cadherin was weaker (P < 0.05). There was a
      negative correlation between the expression of PCNA and E-cadherin in gastric
      carcinoma (r = -0.741, P = 0.000). PCNA expression differed significantly between
      gastric cancer patients with and without lymph node metastasis and between
      patients at different T stages. E-cadherin expression also differed significantly
      between gastric cancer patients with and without lymph node metastasis (P <
      0.05). High T stage and positive PCNA expression were risk factors for the
      prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (RR > 1), while the positive expression
      of E-cadherin was a protective factor (RR < 1). The sensitivity, specificity, and
      accuracy of PCNA positivity in predicting the 3-year survival of patients with
      gastric cancer were 93.33%, 38.89%, and 0.64, respectively; while these values
      for E-cadherin negativity were 80.0%, 41.67%, and 0.59, respectively. When PCNA
      positivity and E-cadherin negativity were combined, the sensitivity, specificity,
      and accuracy were 66.67%, 66.67%, and 0.67, respectively. CONCLUSION: Combined
      detection of PCNA and E-cadherin can improve the accuracy of assessing the
      prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

PMID- 28611526
TI  - Different techniques for harvesting grafts for living donor liver
      transplantation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - AIM: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on minimally vs
      conventional invasive techniques for harvesting grafts for living donor liver
      transplantation. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and the Cochrane
      Library were searched comprehensively for studies comparing MILDH with
      conventional living donor hepatectomy (CLDH). Intraoperative and postoperative
      outcomes (operative time, estimated blood loss, postoperative liver function,
      length of hospital stay, analgesia use, complications, and survival rate) were
      analyzed in donors and recipients. Articles were included if they: (1) compared
      the outcomes of MILDH and CLDH; and (2) reported at least some of the above
      outcomes. RESULTS: Of 937 articles identified, 13, containing 1592 patients, met
      our inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. For donors,
      operative time [weighted mean difference (WMD) = 20.68, 95%CI: -6.25-47.60, P =
      0.13] and blood loss (WMD = -32.61, 95%CI: -80.44-5.21, P = 0.18) were comparable
      in the two groups. In contrast, analgesia use (WMD = -7.79, 95%CI: -14.06-1.87, P
      = 0.01), postoperative complications [odds ratio (OR) = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.44-0.89, P
      = 0.009], and length of hospital stay (WMD): -1.25, 95%CI: -2.35-0.14, P = 0.03)
      significantly favored MILDH. No differences were observed in recipient outcomes,
      including postoperative complications (OR = 0.93, 95%CI: 0.66-1.31, P = 0.68) and
      survival rate (HR = 0.96, 95%CI: 0.27-3.47, P = 0.95). Funnel plot and
      statistical methods showed a low probability of publication bias. CONCLUSION:
      MILDH is safe, effective, and feasible for living donor liver resection with
      fewer donor postoperative complications, reduced length of hospital stay and
      analgesia requirement than CLDH.

PMID- 28611527
TI  - Successful treatment of a pancreatic schwannoma by spleen-preserving distal
      pancreatectomy.
AB  - Schwannomas are neurogenic tumors that arise from the neural sheaths of
      peripheral nerves. These tumors can be located in any area of the human body; the
      most common locations are the head, neck, trunk and extremities. Pancreatic
      schwannomas are very rare. Over the past 40 years, only 67 cases of pancreatic
      schwannomas have been reported in the English literature. Here we present a case
      of pancreatic schwannoma in a 62-year-old male. The tumor was revealed by
      ultrasound and computed tomography in the neck and body of the pancreas. An
      accurate diagnosis was difficult to obtain preoperatively. The patient consented
      to the performance of a laparotomy, and the mass was found in the neck and body
      of the pancreas and successfully treated using a spleen-preserving distal
      pancreatectomy with splenic artery and vein preservation. The procedure has only
      been reported in one other case of pancreatic schwannoma; here we present the
      second reported case. Macroscopically, the tumor was well circumscribed, gray
      white in color and 3.3 cm * 2.8 cm in size. Microscopically, the tumor cells were
      spindle-shaped and had a palisading arrangement with no atypia, which are results
      compatible with a benign tumor. Both hypercellular and hypocellular areas were
      visible. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were strongly positive for S-100
      protein. The tumor was definitively diagnosed as a schwannoma of the pancreatic
      neck and body. The patient was followed for 72 mo and has been doing well without
      any complications.

PMID- 28611529
TI  - Non-invasive stimulation techniques to relieve abdominal/pelvic pain: Is more
      always better?
AB  - Chronic abdominal and pelvic pain is a common condition that has significant
      impact on quality of life, and causes billions of dollars in direct and indirect
      costs. Emerging data suggest that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS),
      alone or in combination with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS),
      could be a promising therapeutic avenue to reduce chronic pain. The encouraging
      results coming from these studies prompted us to try combining TENS and tDCS in 4
      of our patients who suffered from chronic abdominal/pelvic pain and to compare
      the effect with 5 other patients who received TENS alone. Pain intensity was
      assessed with a visual analog scale before, during and after the stimulation. We
      observed that there was a slight decrease in pain which was similar in both
      patient groups (TENS alone and TENS combined with tDCS). These observations
      suggest that combining TENS and tDCS in patients suffering from chronic pelvic
      and/or abdominal pain produces no additional benefit, compared to TENS alone.
      Future studies, looking at the effect of several/consecutive TENS and tDCS
      sessions should be conducted.

PMID- 28611528
TI  - Preoperative detection and localization of small bowel hemangioma: Two case
      reports.
AB  - Among the various diagnostic modalities for small bowel hemangioma, video capsule
      endoscopy (VCE) and double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) can be recommended as part
      of the work-up in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB). DBE is
      superior to VCE in the accuracy of diagnosis and therapeutic potential, while in
      most cases total enteroscopy cannot be achieved through only the antegrade or
      retrograde DBE procedures. As treatment for small bowel bleeding, especially
      spout bleeding, localization of the lesion for the decision of DBE insertion
      facilitates early treatment, such as endoscopic hemostatic clipping, allowing
      patients to avoid useless transfusion and the worsening of their disease into
      life-threatening status. Applying endoscopic India ink marking prior to
      laparoscopic surgical resection is a particularly useful technique for more
      minimally invasive treatment. We report two cases of small bowel hemangioma found
      in examinations for OGIB that were treated with combination of laparoscopic and
      endoscopic modalities.

PMID- 28611531
TI  - ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF JUMP COEFFICIENTS IN DISCRETE STOCHASTIC DIFFUSION MODELS.
AB  - In computational systems biology, the mesoscopic model of reaction-diffusion
      kinetics is described by a continuous time, discrete space Markov process. To
      simulate diffusion stochastically, the jump coefficients are obtained by a
      discretization of the diffusion equation. Using unstructured meshes to represent
      complicated geometries may lead to negative coefficients when using piecewise
      linear finite elements. Several methods have been proposed to modify the
      coefficients to enforce the nonnegativity needed in the stochastic setting. In
      this paper, we present a method to quantify the error introduced by that change.
      We interpret the modified discretization matrix as the exact finite element
      discretization of a perturbed equation. The forward error, the error between the
      analytical solutions to the original and the perturbed equations, is bounded by
      the backward error, the error between the diffusion of the two equations. We
      present a backward analysis algorithm to compute the diffusion coefficient from a
      given discretization matrix. The analysis suggests a new way of deriving
      nonnegative jump coefficients that minimizes the backward error. The theory is
      tested in numerical experiments indicating that the new method is superior and
      also minimizes the forward error.

PMID- 28611530
TI  - Comparison Between Laparoscopy and Laparotomy in Systematic Para-Aortic
      Lymphadenectomy for Patients with Endometrial Cancer: A Retrospective Multicenter
      Study.
AB  - Objective: Laparoscopic surgery has been developed worldwide due to its minimal
      invasion as well as noninferiority, compared with laparotomy. However, whether or
      not laparoscopic systematic para-aortic lymphadenectomy for endometrial cancer is
      feasible and has advantages of various clinical factors, such as a short hospital
      stay, less blood loss, and faster recovery, compared with open surgery has not
      yet been clarified. The aim of this study was to compare a laparoscopic procedure
      with laparotomy for para-aortic lymphadenectomy for patients with endometrial
      cancer. Study Design: This was a retrospective multicenter study of laparoscopic
      systematic para-aortic lymphadenectomy for endometrial cancer in five
      institutions. Materials and Methods: The current authors conducted a
      retrospective multicenter study of laparoscopic systematic para-aortic
      lymphadenectomy for endometrial cancer. The study involved patients from five
      institutions in Japan between January 2008 and March 2016. Clinical data were
      compared with those of a laparotomic procedure performed around the same period.
      Results: A total of 54 patients in the laparoscopic group and 99 patients in the
      laparotomic group were analyzed. In the laparoscopic group, 21 patients had stage
      IA disease, 19 had stage IB disease, 5 had stage II disease, and 9 had stage III
      disease. In the laparotomic group, 35 patients had stage IA disease, 19 had stage
      IB disease, 9 had stage II disease, and 36 had stage III disease. There were no
      significant differences in characteristics between the groups, including age,
      body mass index, and histologic type. The mean operative time in the laparoscopic
      group was 483 +/- 102 minutes, while that in the laparotomic group was 481 +/-
      106 minutes (p = 0.9). The laparoscopic group had less intraoperative blood loss
      (143 +/- 253 versus 988 +/- 694 mL; p < 0.01) and shorter hospital stays (8.4 +/-
      5.7 versus 16.1 +/- 8.0 days; p < 0.01). The rates of intraoperative
      complications were not significantly different between the groups. No cases of
      ileus occurred in the laparoscopic group. Procedures for 2 of the 54 patients in
      the laparoscopic group were converted to laparotomy. The number of dissected
      pelvic lymph nodes (31.8 +/- 10.1 versus 39.9 +/- 15.9, p < 0.01) and para-aortic
      lymph nodes (26.2 +/- 10.9 versus 31.1 +/- 13.2; p = 0.02) were lower in the
      laparoscopic group than in the laparotomic group. The postoperative minimum level
      of hemoglobin was higher in the laparoscopic group than in the laparotomic group
      (10.4 +/- 1.1 g/dL versus 9.9 +/- 1.4 g/dL; p = 0.02). In contrast, the
      postoperative maximum level of C-reactive protein was lower in the laparoscopic
      group than in the laparotomic group (6.3 +/- 3.8 mg/dL versus 10.2 +/- 4.9 mg/dL;
      p < 0.01). The recurrence rate was not significantly different between the groups
      in the above time period (7.4% versus 14.3%; p = 0.2). Conclusions: Laparoscopic
      systematic para-aortic lymphadenectomy is feasible and can be substituted for
      laparotomic procedures for patients with early stage endometrial cancer. ( J
      GYNECOL SURG 33:105).

PMID- 28611533
TI  - Functional Budd-Chiari Syndrome Associated With Severe Polycystic Liver Disease.
AB  - A 50-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease secondary to autosomal dominant
      polycystic kidney disease was referred to a quaternary care center due to
      significantly increased abdominal girth. Her physical examination revealed tense
      ascites and abdominal collateral veins. A 10-L paracentesis improved abdominal
      discomfort and disclosed a transudate, suggestive of portal hypertension. A
      computed tomographic scan revealed massive hepatomegaly caused by multiple cysts
      of variable sizes, distributed throughout all hepatic segments. Contrast-enhanced
      imaging uncovered extrinsic compression of hepatic and portal veins, resulting in
      functional Budd-Chiari syndrome and portal hypertension. Although image-guided
      drainage followed by sclerosis of dominant cysts could potentially lead to
      alleviation of the extrinsic compression, the associated significant risk of cyst
      hemorrhage and infection precluded this procedure. In this scenario, the decision
      was to submit the patient to a liver-kidney transplantation. After 1 year of this
      procedure, the patient maintains normal liver and kidney function and refers
      significant improvement in quality of life.

PMID- 28611534
TI  - Therapeutic Strategies in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

PMID- 28611532
TI  - Progress towards a more predictive model for hohlraum radiation drive and
      symmetry.
AB  - For several years, we have been calculating the radiation drive in laser-heated
      gold hohlraums using flux-limited heat transport with a limiter of 0.15,
      tabulated values of local thermodynamic equilibrium gold opacity, and an
      approximate model for not in a local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) gold
      emissivity (DCA_2010). This model has been successful in predicting the radiation
      drive in vacuum hohlraums, but for gas-filled hohlraums used to drive capsule
      implosions, the model consistently predicts too much drive and capsule bang times
      earlier than measured. In this work, we introduce a new model that brings the
      calculated bang time into better agreement with the measured bang time. The new
      model employs (1) a numerical grid that is fully converged in space, energy, and
      time, (2) a modified approximate NLTE model that includes more physics and is in
      better agreement with more detailed offline emissivity models, and (3) a reduced
      flux limiter value of 0.03. We applied this model to gas-filled hohlraum
      experiments using high density carbon and plastic ablator capsules that had
      hohlraum He fill gas densities ranging from 0.06 to 1.6 mg/cc and hohlraum
      diameters of 5.75 or 6.72 mm. The new model predicts bang times to within +/-100
      ps for most experiments with low to intermediate fill densities (up to 0.85
      mg/cc). This model predicts higher temperatures in the plasma than the old model
      and also predicts that at higher gas fill densities, a significant amount of
      inner beam laser energy escapes the hohlraum through the opposite laser entrance
      hole.

PMID- 28611535
TI  - Biological Subtypes of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are defined as tumors that are negative
      for estrogen, progesterone and HER-2 receptor. At a percentage of 10-20% TNBCs
      represent a minority in all breast cancers. However, because of the poor
      prognosis this particular subtype, triple negative disease accounts for a
      disproportionate number of metastatic cases and breast cancer deaths.
      Identification of its subtypes is essential for understanding the biological
      characteristics and clinical behavior of TNBC, as well as for developing
      personalized treatments. This review will focus on the great progress that has
      been made in the past few years on identifying new targets in TNBC subtypes and a
      variety of new treatment options that are on the verge of routine clinical
      application.

PMID- 28611537
TI  - Therapeutic Advances and New Directions for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a molecularly diverse grouping with poor
      prognosis for which chemotherapy remains the foundation of treatment. The
      molecular heterogeneity of the disease rationalizes its diverse biological
      behavior and differential response to treatment. Estimates of up to 20% of
      patients diagnosed have germline mutations in DNA-damage repair-pathway genes,
      namely BRCA1 and 2, and this can be used to select patients likely to respond to
      platinums and/or inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Similar
      strategies can be utilized in other subtypes of TNBC that have 'BRCA-like' tumor
      biology due to the presence of mutations in alternate DNA-damage repair genes.
      The diverse biological behavior of TNBC and its variable response to chemotherapy
      were largely decoded following genotyping studies that enabled the identification
      of distinct molecular subtypes, such that the biological and genetic
      heterogeneity of the disease could be understood. This subsequently enabled the
      identification of therapeutic 'vulnerabilities' for each subtype that encompass
      biological processes including proliferation, DNA repair, apoptosis,
      angiogenesis, immune modulation, and invasion and metastasis. To expedite the
      development of therapies for high-risk, early-stage breast cancer, we have
      adopted novel trial designs and re-defined endpoints as surrogates of clinical
      outcomes. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current standard and
      experimental treatment options for TNBC.

PMID- 28611536
TI  - Germline Mutations in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with a poor prognosis and
      defines a subgroup of patients who do not benefit from endocrine or anti-HER2
      therapy. Rather than being a biological entity, TNBC represents a heterogeneous
      disease, and further subtyping is necessary to establish targeted therapies.
      Germline mutational status may serve as a robust biomarker predicting therapy
      response, especially with respect to compounds challenging the DNA repair
      machinery. Patients with TNBC usually show an early onset of the disease, as well
      as a positive family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer in more than one
      third of all cases, which suggests that TNBC is closely associated with a
      hereditary disease cause. In unselected TNBC cases, the prevalence of pathogenic
      germline BRCA1/2 mutations is approximately twice as high as in breast cancer
      overall. Early age at diagnosis and positive family history are strong predictors
      for an increased BRCA1/2 mutation probability, which is up to 40% when both risk
      factors are considered. Apart from BRCA1/2, the rarely mutated breast cancer
      predisposition genes PALB2 and FANCM have been associated with TNBC. This review
      summarizes the role of germline mutational status in TNBC pathogenesis. Clinical
      trials addressing BRCA1/2 mutation carriers are discussed.

PMID- 28611538
TI  - Breast-Conserving Surgery Under Local Anesthesia in Elderly Patients with Severe
      Cardiorespiratory Comorbidities: A Hospital-Based Case-Control Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We report the feasibility and safety of local anesthesia (LA) in
      patients having breast-conserving surgery (BCS). METHODS: 37 patients with
      American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score of 4 having BCS under LA and 54
      age-matched subjects with ASA score of 3-4 having BCS under general anesthesia
      (GA) were included. Patients were retrospectively evaluated for the follow-up
      duration, duration of surgery, postoperative satisfaction scores (1-10),
      complication and survival time for locoregional recurrence and overall survival
      rates. RESULTS: The mean follow-up duration was 55.09 +/- 13.49 months (range 38
      104) in GA group, and 58.7 +/- 15.5 months (range 20-99) in LA group. There was a
      significant difference in the duration of surgery (p < 0.001). In the LA group, 5
      patients (13.5%) had minor complications including seroma, wound infection or
      hematoma, whereas 6 patients (11.1%) had minor complications in the GA group (p >
      0.05). The re-excision rate due to positive tumor margins was 5.4% (2 patients)
      in the LA group and 5.5% in the GA group, respectively. The locoregional
      recurrence-free survival and overall survival rate was not different between 2
      groups (p = 0.192, p = 0.93). CONCLUSION: BCS under LA seemed to be effective and
      safe in selected high-risk elderly patients.

PMID- 28611539
TI  - Using Anchoring Vignettes in the Evaluation of Breast Cancer Survivors' Quality
      of Life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer survivors often rate their general health as good even
      though they experience detriments in functioning and multiple symptoms. The
      hypothesis of this study is that breast cancer survivors changed their frames of
      reference for evaluating their own health. METHODS: A sample of 308 breast cancer
      survivors were asked to assess their state of health on a 0-100 scale. In
      addition, 2 vignettes (fictional persons suffering from various health
      complaints) were designed. The cancer survivors were asked to assess the health
      of the characters in these vignettes as well. A sample of the general population
      (n = 639) served as controls. RESULTS: There were only marginal differences
      between the cancer survivors (M = 65.8) and the controls (M = 65.5) in how they
      assessed their own state of health. However, the cancer survivors rated the
      vignette character with physical problems as being significantly healthier
      compared to the general population (effect size: d = 0.55). The group differences
      in the assessment of the vignette character with mental problems was markedly
      lower (d = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: It is not sufficient to assess the general self
      assessed health state of cancer survivors. Anchoring vignettes are a promising
      tool for use in correcting for response shift effects.

PMID- 28611541
TI  - Effectiveness of Pertuzumab, Trastuzumab, and Docetaxel Combination Neoadjuvant
      Chemotherapy for HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most aggressive form of
      primary breast cancer. CASE REPORT: A 40-year-old woman was referred to our
      hospital for evaluation of an induration in the right breast, suspected to be
      breast cancer. The tumor was diagnosed as estrogen receptor-negative,
      progesterone receptor-negative, HER2-positive, T4dN3cM0 stage IIIc IBC with
      axillary lymph node metastasis. Rather than surgical intervention, we chose a
      systemic treatment approach with pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel (PTD)
      combination therapy which was shown to be effective for HER2-positive IBC in the
      NeoSphere trial. After 4 cycles of treatment, the patient had a partial response,
      allowing mastectomy of the right breast and axillary lymph node dissection to
      achieve local control. We review this case because of the success of PTD
      combination neoadjuvant chemotherapy for HER2-positive IBC. CONCLUSION: To
      improve the poor prognosis of IBC, combined modality therapy is required,
      including chemotherapy and local treatment such as surgery and/or radiation
      therapy. In this case, combination neoadjuvant chemotherapy with PTD for HER2
      positive IBC was effective, and this regimen may contribute to further
      improvements in the cure rate for this malignancy.

PMID- 28611540
TI  - Evaluation of QTc Interval Prolongation in Breast Cancer Patients after Treatment
      with Epirubicin, Cyclophosphamide, and Docetaxel and the Influence of
      Interobserver Variation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy with anthracyclines is associated with life-threatening
      electrocardiographic alterations including corrected QT (QTc) interval
      prolongation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study we assessed the effect of
      epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and docetaxel (EC-Doc) on the QTc interval in 10
      patients with early breast cancer. Cardiac toxicity was assessed with symptoms,
      transthoracic echocardiography, electrocardiography (ECG), and serum cardiac
      markers at baseline and after 4 cycles of EC and 4 cycles of docetaxel. To
      evaluate the influence of interobserver variation, the QTc interval was analyzed
      by a cardiologist, a gynecologist, and with automated ECG interpretation
      software. RESULTS: There was a significant QTc prolongation after EC treatment
      independent of the investigator. In addition, a significant increase in N
      terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels was noted
      after EC treatment. QTc prolongation and NT-proBNP levels normalized after
      docetaxel treatment. Other biochemical markers were within normal ranges. No
      clinically relevant effect on left ventricular ejection fraction was observed.
      CONCLUSION: This prospective study demonstrated that EC treatment increases the
      QTc interval and NT-proBNP levels in women with early breast cancer. This effect
      was reversible and independent of docetaxel administration. Moreover, the
      treating physician can safely perform QTc interval evaluation as part of clinical
      routine independent of his/her specialty. Due to the small number of patients,
      further conclusions are limited at this point.

PMID- 28611542
TI  - Protecting Effects of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist on Chemotherapy
      Induced Ovarian Damage in Premenopausal Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is no universal consensus on whether gonadotropin-releasing
      hormone (GnRH) agonist could protect chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage in
      premenopausal breast cancer patients. This meta-analysis was conducted to
      estimate the protective effects of GnRH agonist on premenopausal breast cancer
      patients in details. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI and the
      Chinese Wangfang Database, conference proceedings and clinical trials were
      searched to find studies reported since 2000. Heterogeneity for the eligible data
      was assessed and a pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was
      calculated. RESULTS: Resumption of menses rate was improved in the GnRH agonist
      and chemotherapy-combination groups versus chemotherapy-alone groups (OR = 1.36,
      95% CI: 1.19-1.56). Furthermore, the results indicated that spontaneous pregnancy
      rate was improved in the experimental groups versus the controls (OR = 1.90, 95%
      CI: 1.06-3.41). In addition, no publication bias was found using a Begg's funnel
      plot. CONCLUSION: The results of the current meta-analysis indicate that a GnRH
      agonist could improve resumption of menses rate and pregnancy rate for
      premenopausal breast cancer patients. However, more evaluation may be considered
      to prove this theory.

PMID- 28611543
TI  - San Antonio 2016: Progress on the Long Way to Individualized Treatment of Breast
      Cancer.

PMID- 28611544
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28611545
TI  - Retrotransposing Gremlins May Disrupt Our Brain's Genomes.

PMID- 28611547
TI  - A Novel Heterozygous Intragenic Sequence Variant in DLX6 Probably Underlies First
      Case of Autosomal Dominant Split-Hand/Foot Malformation Type 1.
AB  - Split-hand and foot malformation (SHFM; MIM 183600) is a rare human genetic limb
      malformation. It is characterized by missing digital rays in the hands and feet.
      SHFMs vary in severity from mild abnormalities affecting a single limb to acute
      malformations involving all 4 limbs. It is inherited, as part of both a syndromic
      and nonsyndromic disorder, in an autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, and X
      linked patterns. So far, 9 loci of hand and foot malformation have been mapped on
      human chromosomes. The present study describes a family with 2 affected
      individuals segregating SHFM in an autosomal dominant fashion. Sanger sequencing
      of the genes involved in SHFM was performed to identify the disease-causing
      variant. Sequence analysis revealed the first heterozygous missense variant
      (c.632T>A, p.Val211Glu) in the distal-less homeobox 6 (DLX6) gene, located in
      chromosome 7q21, causing SHFM in the present family. This study supports the
      evidence of DLX6 as an SHFM-causing gene.

PMID- 28611548
TI  - Hippocampal Characteristics and Invariant Sequence Elements Distribution of GLRA2
      and GLRA3 C-to-U Editing.
AB  - Glycine receptor alpha2 and alpha3 subunit (GLRA2/GLRA3) high-affinity variants,
      of which the subjacent amino acid substitutions issue from C-to-U RNA editing,
      are thought to influence tonic inhibition and pathophysiology. In light of the
      detection of GLRA3 NM_006529:r.1157C>U and GLRA2 NM_002063:r.1416C>U exchanges in
      hippocampus explants of temporal lobe epilepsy patients, we now examine the
      healthy situation and relate it to the epileptic situation by ascertaining
      controls in a legitimate reanalysis. The GLRA2 and GLRA3 editing events that
      would ultimately result in a glycine receptor with increased affinity occur in
      the postmortem nonepileptic hippocampus. Most notably, their relative amounts do
      not significantly differ from those in increased damaged hippocampus explants,
      whereas curbed relative amounts in epileptic explants without cell loss come out
      statistically significant. Local sequence alignment reveals invariant sequence
      stretches consistent in GLRA2/ GLRA3 and other edited transcripts that coincide
      with known APOB sequence elements. Concerning the essential mooring element,
      GLRA2/GLRA3 comply strictly only with the motif's 5' part. While this lack of
      canonical mooring elements and uncertain action of the famous deaminase APOBEC1
      suggest a specific regulation of GLRA2/GLRA3 editing, its reduction in the less
      damaged epileptic hippocampus could be attributed to anomalous epileptic
      neurogenesis.

PMID- 28611549
TI  - Mutation c.943G>T (p.Ala315Ser) in FGFR2 Causing a Mild Phenotype of Crouzon
      Craniofacial Dysostosis in a Three-Generation Family.
AB  - Crouzon syndrome craniofacial dysostosis type I [OMIM 123500] is caused by
      mutations in the gene encoding fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 (FGFR2). An
      overlapping phenotype with Muenke and Crouzon syndrome with acanthosis nigricans
      (FGFR3 mutations) is known. The clinical diagnosis can be corroborated by
      molecular studies in about 80-90% of the cases. No clear genotype/phenotype
      correlation has been identified yet. Here, we describe a second family with a
      mild phenotype in which the FGFR2 mutation c.943G>T leading to the amino acid
      substitution p.Ala315Ser was detected. Five affected family members showed
      craniofacial dysostosis without overt craniosynostosis. They all had midface
      hypoplasia. Crouzonoid appearance with mild protrusion of bulbi was only apparent
      in our index patient as well as obstructive sleep apnea episodes leading to
      reduced oxygen saturation; therefore, surgical intervention was suggested. One
      other affected family member additionally had iris coloboma.

PMID- 28611550
TI  - Familial 5q12.3 Microdeletion: Evidence for a Locus Associated with Epilepsy.
AB  - The clinical use of array comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) has
      allowed the identification of very rare deletion and duplication disorders, such
      as 5q12 deletion syndrome (OMIM 615668) described as a contiguous gene deletion
      syndrome of chromosome 5q12. Chromosome microdeletions including band 5q12 have
      rarely been reported and have been associated with different phenotypes showing
      postnatal growth restriction, intellectual disability, epileptic seizures,
      hyperactivity, and ocular abnormalities. In this study, we describe a family in
      which array-CGH analysis revealed the presence of an interstitial microdeletion
      spanning approximately 2.9 Mb in the 5q12 region. The microdeletion is associated
      with epilepsy in the father and 2 siblings (a boy and a girl). So far, this is
      the first report in which a familial microdeletion 5q12 manifests in epilepsy. We
      suggest that this familial microdeletion could delineate a locus for
      susceptibility to epilepsy.

PMID- 28611551
TI  - First Two Cases of Bloom Syndrome in Russia: Lack of Skin Manifestations in a BLM
      c.1642C>T (p.Q548X) Homozygote as a Likely Cause of Underdiagnosis.
AB  - Bloom syndrome (BS) is an exceptionally rare hereditary disease. Typical
      manifestations of BS usually include growth deficiency, a characteristic facial
      appearance, skin hypersensitivity to ultraviolet irradiation, and a strong
      predisposition to early-onset cancers. We have previously described a recurrent
      BLM c.1642C>T (p.Q548X) mutation, which is present in heterozygous state in 0.2
      0.6% of individuals of Slavic origin. Despite the high occurrence of this founder
      allele, BS has not yet been described in patients of Slavic ethnicity. Here, we
      present 2 cases of BS, which were missed by standard genetic counseling and were
      eventually identified entirely due to chance. Our patients show the need for
      further investigations to confirm whether the atypical appearance of BS is indeed
      characteristic for biallelic carriers of the c.1642C>T (p.Q548X) allele and
      whether the absence of skin manifestations contributes to the underdiagnosis of
      the disease in Russia. Therefore, we suggest that all Slavic patients with only
      one single clinical feature of BS are to be screened for this allele and
      subjected to further analysis wherever appropriate. In addition to identifying
      new BS patients, this effort will help to clarify the frequency of "atypical BS"
      with incomplete phenotypic manifestations.

PMID- 28611552
TI  - A Novel Mutation in PITX2 in a Patient with Axenfeld-Rieger Syndrome.
AB  - Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant condition. Anomalies
      include anterior segment dysgenesis of the eye, dental anomalies, maxillary
      hypoplasia, periumbilical anomalies, and congenital heart defects. We report a
      patient with Peters anomaly, dysmorphic features, congenital heart defect,
      umbilical hernia, short stature, and developmental delay. Diagnostic sequencing
      of 23 genes known to be causally related to the condition was performed on the
      patient, parents, and maternal grandparents. A variant of uncertain significance
      in PITX2 was identified. The mother had the same mutation and the father did not.
      The mother had decreased vision, congenitally missing teeth, and required jaw
      surgery as a child. Her asymptomatic parents elected to be tested and were
      negative for the mutation. The mutation, NM_153427.2:c.272G>A (p.Arg91Gln), is
      predicted to be damaging by PolyPhen-2 (score of 0.997), identified as a missense
      mutation with an allele frequency of 1.648e-05 by the Exome Aggregation
      Consortium, and has been reported in ClinVar once, by the laboratory that
      analyzed our patient's sample. Due to the in silico predictions and the results
      of family studies, it is suggested that this variant can be classified as
      pathogenic according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
      2015 rule Pathogenic(iii)(b), specifically rules PS2, PM2, PM5, PP1, and PP3.

PMID- 28611546
TI  - Inherited Congenital Cataract: A Guide to Suspect the Genetic Etiology in the
      Cataract Genesis.
AB  - Cataracts are the principal cause of treatable blindness worldwide. Inherited
      congenital cataract (CC) shows all types of inheritance patterns in a syndromic
      and nonsyndromic form. There are more than 100 genes associated with cataract
      with a predominance of autosomal dominant inheritance. A cataract is defined as
      an opacity of the lens producing a variation of the refractive index of the lens.
      This variation derives from modifications in the lens structure resulting in
      light scattering, frequently a consequence of a significant concentration of high
      molecular-weight protein aggregates. The aim of this review is to introduce a
      guide to identify the gene involved in inherited CC. Due to the manifold clinical
      and genetic heterogeneity, we discarded the cataract phenotype as a cardinal
      sign; a 4-group classification with the genes implicated in inherited CC is
      proposed. We consider that this classification will assist in identifying the
      probable gene involved in inherited CC.

PMID- 28611553
TI  - A Female Patient with FMR1 Premutation and Mosaic X Chromosome Aneuploidy and Two
      Sons with Intellectual Disability.
AB  - In this report, we describe a molecular cytogenetic study of a family burdened
      with intellectual disability (ID) and suicide. Our study revealed that the mother
      has a heterozygous premutation in the FMR1 gene and supernumerary X chromosomes
      as well as X-derived marker chromosomes. Both of her sons have ID and a normal
      chromosome number. One of the sons has fragile X syndrome, and the other has ID
      of an unclear nature.

PMID- 28611554
TI  - Giant Fecalith Causing Near Intestinal Obstruction and Rectal Ischemia.
AB  - Fecal impaction if left untreated can lead to the hardening of stools and the
      formation of fecalith. Fecaliths rarely cause serious complications and are
      usually managed conservatively. We present this rare case of a giant fecalith
      causing near obstruction in an institutionalized paraplegic patient at high risk
      for chronic constipation and fecal impaction. This case was also unusual for
      causing ischemic pressure necrosis in the rectum, thereby highlighting the
      possible serious complications of fecalith.

PMID- 28611555
TI  - A Case of Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia Which Was Aggravated by Acid Reducer.
AB  - Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) is known to be characterized by red
      patches or spots in a diffuse or linear array in the antrum of the stomach. The
      precise etiology of GAVE remains to be elucidated. Argon plasma laser coagulation
      (APC) has been used to control oozing from GAVE; however, there is no
      satisfactory long-term effect of APC in the control of oozing from GAVE. An acid
      reducer is used after APC because even physiological acid exposure might delay
      post-APC ulcer healing. We describe the case of a patient who had used an acid
      reducer and experienced repeated gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to GAVE. After
      ceasing to administer the acid reducer, incidences of hospitalization due to
      oozing from GAVE stopped. After the administration of the acid reducer was
      restarted, the patient had tarry stool, and diffuse oozing of blood was seen
      again. We report a first case of GAVE which was aggravated by acid reducer.

PMID- 28611556
TI  - Therapeutic Interventional Endoscopic Ultrasound Based on Rare Cases in
      Indonesia: A Single-Center Experience in Unselected Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is still not widely available and has a
      barrier in most Southeast Asian countries due to lack of training program, high
      cost, and hospital investment. In this study, we would like to show the impact of
      therapeutic interventional EUS procedures in gastroenterology practice in
      Indonesia, which represents the biggest Southeast Asian country. METHODS:
      Patients who underwent interventional EUS procedure in Medistra Hospital were
      prospectively recruited within 1 year. RESULTS: Of 147 patients who underwent EUS
      procedures, 39 patients underwent fine needle aspiration. Most of the cases
      suffered from pancreatic cancer (47.5%) followed by ampullary cancer (20%),
      gastric subepithelial mass (10%), and other conditions. There were 4 rare cases
      that underwent therapeutic interventional EUS procedures. Patients with large
      mesenteric cyst attached to the gastric wall and large left liver lobe cyst with
      gastric compression who were previously suspected with gastrointestinal stromal
      tumor were successfully managed by cyst aspiration. One patient with a large
      pseudocyst due to chronic pancreatitis was successfully managed by plastic stent
      placement. Another patient with duodenal duplication cyst causing duodenal
      obstruction was managed by inserting a plastic stent through the cyst. No
      complications were observed during and after the therapeutic EUS procedures.
      CONCLUSIONS: Innovation in interventional EUS has a high impact in
      gastroenterology practice as well as in a developing country like Indonesia,
      which represents the biggest Southeast Asian country. Further developments are
      needed regarding the cost, investment, and especially the necessary training
      curriculum to make this technology available in tertiary referral centers.

PMID- 28611557
TI  - Endoscopic Full-Thickness Resection of Synchronous Adenocarcinomas of the Distal
      Rectum.
AB  - Endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR) with an innovative full-thickness
      resection device (FTRD; Ovesco Endoscopy, Tubingen, Germany) allows a safe and
      complete full-thickness resection of early colorectal cancer. We present the
      first case of two EFTR performed at the same time to treat synchronous rectal
      adenocarcinomas.

PMID- 28611558
TI  - Two SPINK1 Mutations Induce Early-Onset Severe Chronic Pancreatitis.
AB  - The SPINK1 protein is a potent antiprotease that can inactivate any
      intrapancreatic trypsin activity that would otherwise induce autodigestion of the
      pancreas. SPINK1 mutations have been recognized to be associated with chronic
      pancreatitis in patients without a family history of pancreatitis. We here
      describe the case of a 24-year-old woman referred to our service for recurrent
      abdominal pain and search for the cause of chronic calcifying pancreatitis, who
      was found to carry 2 SPINK1 mutations.

PMID- 28611559
TI  - Pediatric Tourette Syndrome: A Tic Disorder with a Tricky Presentation.
AB  - Dysphagia is a condition in which disruption of the swallowing process interferes
      with a patient's ability to eat. This may result in coughing or choking while
      swallowing, food sticking in the throat, or globus sensation. Eosinophilic
      esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic immune-mediated disease with a varied clinical
      spectrum of symptoms including dysphagia. Tourette syndrome (TS) is an inherited
      neurological disorder that manifests itself as a series of motor and vocal tics
      and may include oropharyngeal dysphagia. Dysphagia as a result of TS generally
      affects female, elderly patients and is not reported in children. While the
      pathophysiology is relatively unknown, experts believe TS is closely linked to
      damage or abnormalities in the basal ganglia of the brain. We present this
      interesting pediatric case of dysphagia due to EoE, which had been previously
      thought to be related to the patient's TS.

PMID- 28611561
TI  - A Rare Cause of Right-Sided Air Bubble on Chest Radiograph: Intrathoracic Gastric
      Volvulus Related to Morgagni Hernia.
AB  - Morgagni hernia is a rare disorder in adulthood, and most of the cases are
      asymptomatic. Symptomatic cases are extremely rare and present with life
      threatening complications. Early diagnosis and surgery are lifesaving. We hereby
      present an adult case of symptomatic Morgagni hernia. Diaphragmatic herniation of
      the stomach and mesenteroaxial rotation led to intrathoracic gastric volvulus in
      this case. A right-sided air bubble on a chest radiogram was the only finding
      leading to the suspicion of diaphragmatic hernia. Computed tomography in the
      diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernias is of great importance.

PMID- 28611560
TI  - Gallstone Ileus Caused by Cholecystocolonic Fistula and Gallstone Impaction in
      the Sigmoid Colon: Review of the Literature and Novel Surgical Treatment with
      Trephine Loop Colostomy.
AB  - Gallstone ileus is an uncommon cause of intestinal obstruction and occurs
      following the formation of a cholecystoenteric fistula, permitting passage of
      gallstones into the gastrointestinal tract. Impaction of a gallstone in the
      sigmoid colon is rare and is usually at sites of previous colonic disease.
      Definitive management can be challenging due to the advanced age and co-morbidity
      usually seen in this group of patients. We describe a patient successfully
      managed with on-table endoscopy and, under local anaesthetic, the formation of a
      left iliac fossa trephine loop colostomy, permitting an enterolithotomy to
      deliver the stone whilst accommodating for severe pre-existing distal sigmoid
      diverticular disease. A review of the literature identified various endoscopic
      and surgical treatments that, depending on local expertise and patient
      characteristics, can be considered on a case-by-case basis. We advocate the
      management described in this case for patients presenting with large bowel
      obstruction due to gallstone ileus, with a background of diverticular disease and
      who are not fit for general anaesthetic or formal bowel resection, as an
      alternative to medical palliation alone.

PMID- 28611562
TI  - Perianal Pagetoid Intraepithelial Carcinoma.
AB  - Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) involving the perianal region is rare and
      challenging to manage. Primary EMPD involves stand-alone noninvasive lesions
      within the epidermis, while secondary EMPD involves phenotypically similar
      lesions derived from separate underlying malignancies. Differentiating between
      primary and secondary EMPD is challenging when no underlying malignancies are
      detected during workup. Continued reporting of perianal EMPD cases is encouraged
      so that risk stratification can be improved and patients can be managed with an
      appropriate level of aggressiveness. Herein, we report the case of a 74-year-old
      woman who chose aggressive surgical management after being diagnosed with
      perianal pagetoid intraepithelial carcinoma from a suspected occult underlying
      primary colorectal tumor.

PMID- 28611563
TI  - Disseminated Coccidioidomycosis Presenting as Carcinomatosis Peritonei and
      Intestinal Coccidioidomycosis in a Patient with HIV.
AB  - Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a fungal infection endemic in southwestern regions of
      the United States, northwestern regions of Mexico, and some areas of Brazil and
      Argentina. Clinical presentation varies depending on the extent of the infection
      and the immune status of the host. The most common presentation ranges from flu
      like symptoms to self-limiting pneumonia. Extrapulmonary presentations are
      uncommon and may involve the meninges, skin, and bone. Gastrointestinal and
      peritoneal involvement is extremely rare. Here we report a case of disseminated
      CM presenting as carcinomatosis peritonei as an AIDS-defining illness in a young
      male.

PMID- 28611564
TI  - Eosinophilic Pancreatitis: A Rare Cause of Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis.
AB  - Eosinophilic pancreatitis is a rare form of recurrent acute pancreatitis that
      demonstrates distinct histologic features, including diffuse, periductal, acinar,
      and septal inflammatory infiltrates comprised of a pure or predominant population
      of eosinophils, eosinophilic phlebitis and arteritis, and localized eosinophilic
      infiltrates with pseudocyst formation. It is associated with elevated serum
      immunoglobulin E levels, an elevated eosinophil count with systemic
      manifestations, and eosinophilic infiltrates in other organs of the
      gastrointestinal tract. We present a case of eosinophilic pancreatitis in a 44
      year-old man who was diagnosed after pancreatic resection for recurrent bouts of
      acute pancreatitis. While the gross and histologic evaluations matched other
      reported cases of eosinophilic pancreatitis, our patient had only minimal
      peripheral eosinophilia, no reported history of symptoms related to elevated
      eosinophilia or immunoglobulin E, and only mild eosinophilic infiltrates in his
      gallbladder.

PMID- 28611565
TI  - Shock due to Splenic Injury after Colonoscopy.
AB  - Colonoscopy is a common and increasingly performed procedure. It is used both as
      a diagnostic and therapeutic modality. Splenic injury after colonoscopy is a
      rare, yet life-threatening complication, most often caused by traction on the
      splenocolic ligament or excessive manipulation during the procedure. Although non
      operative treatment is preferred upon splenic injury, early surgical or
      radiological intervention may be necessary in specific cases, for example in case
      of haemodynamic instability. A 71-year-old Caucasian man was referred to our
      emergency room due to shock after colonoscopy 2 days earlier. A computed
      tomography scan showed splenic rupture with active intra-abdominal, venous blood
      loss, and microperforation of the colon. An immediate splenectomy and colon
      repair were performed through laparotomy. After 6 days, the patient was
      discharged from hospital in good health. Although splenic rupture is a rare
      complication of colonoscopy, patients with abdominal pain and/or shock should be
      checked for complications such as splenic injury and colon perforation.

PMID- 28611566
TI  - Periorbital Ecchymosis (Raccoon Eye) and Orbital Hematoma following Endoscopic
      Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a conventional technique
      for diagnosis and treatment of pancratobiliary diseases, which is associated with
      various complications, including pancreatitis, hemorrhage, cholangitis,
      perforation, and mortality. In our case, a 69-year-old woman with positive
      hepatobiliary symptoms underwent ERCP, at the end of which a rare complication
      (raccoon eye) occurred, which was hypothesized to be due to amyloidosis, but the
      patient refused to complete the diagnostic procedure and became symptom free
      after 3 weeks. Racoon eye or periorbital ecchymosis is caused by blood tracking
      into periorbital tissues, which is frequently observed after head trauma but is
      also observed in systemic diseases, such as amyloidosis, neuroblastoma, and
      surgical interventions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of
      raccoon eye after ERCP; further reports will help to confirm that this
      complication should also be considered before performing ERCP and that complete
      diagnostic tests for the predisposing diseases prior to ERCP are necessary.

PMID- 28611567
TI  - Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence Using the Highly Sensitive
      Fucosylated Fraction of Alpha-Fetoprotein.
AB  - Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-L3 was originally reported as a hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC)-specific tumor marker, and recent accumulation of evidence has revealed
      that AFP-L3 frequency predicts the biological malignancy potential of HCC.
      However, AFP-L3 elevation from undetectable levels after curative treatment could
      not be discussed due to the difficulties of calculating AFP-L3 concentrations
      when serum AFP levels were low. Here, as a novel method, we used highly sensitive
      AFP-L3 frequency to predict HCC recurrence after curative treatment. Our cases
      illustrate that recognizing elevation of AFP-L3 from undetectable levels led to
      the early detection of recurrent HCC due to more careful surveillance.

PMID- 28611568
TI  - Two Anomalies in One: A Rare Case of an Intrahepatic Gallbladder with a
      Cholecystogastric Fistula.
AB  - The gallbladder can be situated in a variety of anomalous positions. An
      intrahepatic gallbladder - the second most common ectopic location of the
      gallbladder - is one that is completely embedded within the liver parenchyma.
      Described in the literature as early as 1935, intrahepatic gallbladders
      predominantly result from a developmental anomaly but in some instances have been
      reported to be secondary to chronic inflammation. The significance of an
      intrahepatic gallbladder lies in the fact that 60% of the cases are associated
      with gallstones and may present a challenge for the general surgeon during
      cholecystectomy and other biliary operations in addition to causing misdiagnosis
      on imaging. Intrahepatic gallbladders are unusual, but the incidence of an
      intrahepatic gallbladder with a cholecystogastric fistula is rare.
      Cholecystogastric fistulas commonly are a complication of long-term
      cholelithiasis or chronic cholecystitis with subsequent gallstone ileus. Herein,
      we present the case of an 80-year-old man who presented with 2 months of
      progressive weakness, fatigue, decreased appetite, and intermittent right-sided
      abdominal pain, and was found to have a markedly distended and irregular
      intrahepatic gallbladder measuring 12.2 * 11.5 * 13.4 cm on CT, as well as a
      cholecystogastric fistula on esophagogastroduodenoscopy. During
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy, the gallbladder was entered directly via the
      fistulous tract. The patient was on i.v. antibiotics with tube feeds via a
      nasojejunal tube initially, followed by p.o. which he tolerated. He was
      eventually discharged with referral for surgical evaluation. Given the potential
      for cholelithiasis and fistulation, physicians should have a high index of
      suspicion and recommend timely endoscopic and/or surgical management to avoid
      future complications.

PMID- 28611569
TI  - Bacterial Ulcerative Esophagitis in an Immunocompetent Patient.
AB  - Bacterial esophagitis is a very rare condition usually occurring in patients with
      immunosuppression. To our best knowledge, bacterial esophagitis without
      underlying immunosuppressive disease has not been reported. We report an
      immunocompetent patient with bacterial esophagitis caused by B-hemolytic
      Streptococcus which resulted in an esophageal stricture. A 68-year-old female was
      admitted for odynophagia which had developed several days before. Upper endoscopy
      revealed extensive ulceration covered by whitish exudates with submucosal edema
      at the proximal esophagus. She was treated with steroids and empirical broad
      spectrum antibiotics. Within 14 days the symptoms improved. Since growth of B
      hemolytic Streptococcus was detected in nasal smear culture, bacterial
      esophagitis was suspected. Gram staining was carried out on the already obtained
      tissue that had been fixed with formalin. There was heavy infiltration with gram
      positive cocci morphologically consistent with Streptococcus. Since the bacterial
      colony was demonstrated histologically, the diagnosis of bacterial esophagitis
      caused by B-hemolytic Streptococcus was confirmed. In addition, complete
      resolution of the inflammation following antibiotics therapy was further evidence
      of the bacterial cause of the esophagitis.

PMID- 28611570
TI  - Development and Improvement of Simple Colonic Mucosal Ulcer during Treatment of
      Severe Ulcerative Colitis with Tacrolimus.
AB  - Diarrhea, melena, and lower abdominal pain developed in a male in his 20s and
      colonoscopy showed pancolitis-type severe ulcerative colitis (UC). Treatment was
      initiated with 4,000 mg of 5-aminosalicylic acid and 60 mg/day of prednisolone,
      but the symptoms and inflammatory reaction worsened with prednisolone dose
      reduction. Tacrolimus was added to the treatment, which subsequently induced
      remission. Serial colonoscopies during the treatment showed improvement in ulcer
      and mucosal edema throughout the entire large intestine, but a new solitary round
      ulcer appeared at the end of the ileum. Since no signs of Behcet's disease were
      noted, it was considered as a simple ulcer, a complication of UC. Tacrolimus
      treatment was continued based on continued improvement in clinical features and
      colonic mucosa, excluding the end of the ileum. Colonoscopy at 6 months after
      initiation of tacrolimus showed healing of the large intestinal mucosa, although
      mild congestion was still noted. The solitary round ulcer at the end of the ileum
      improved to a small erosion. We report the improvement of a simple ulcer that
      developed during tacrolimus treatment.

PMID- 28611571
TI  - Exosomes and Homeostatic Synaptic Plasticity Are Linked to Each other and to
      Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases by Database
      Enabled Analyses of Comprehensively Curated Datasets.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive and autosomal dominant
      neurodegeneration caused by CAG expansion in the huntingtin gene (HTT), but the
      pathophysiological mechanism of mutant HTT (mHTT) remains unclear. To study HD
      using systems biological methodologies on all published data, we undertook the
      first comprehensive curation of two key PubMed HD datasets: perturbation genes
      that impact mHTT-driven endpoints and therefore are putatively linked causally to
      pathogenic mechanisms, and the protein interactome of HTT that reflects its
      biology. We perused PubMed articles containing co-citation of gene IDs and MeSH
      terms of interest to generate mechanistic gene sets for iterative enrichment
      analyses and rank ordering. The HD Perturbation database of 1,218 genes highly
      overlaps the HTT Interactome of 1,619 genes, suggesting links between normal HTT
      biology and mHTT pathology. These two HD datasets are enriched for protein
      networks of key genes underlying two mechanisms not previously implicated in HD
      nor in each other: exosome synaptic functions and homeostatic synaptic
      plasticity. Moreover, proteins, possibly including HTT, and miRNA detected in
      exosomes from a wide variety of sources also highly overlap the HD datasets,
      suggesting both mechanistic and biomarker links. Finally, the HTT Interactome
      highly intersects protein networks of pathogenic genes underlying Parkinson's,
      Alzheimer's and eight non-HD polyglutamine diseases, ALS, and spinal muscular
      atrophy. These protein networks in turn highly overlap the exosome and
      homeostatic synaptic plasticity gene sets. Thus, we hypothesize that HTT and
      other neurodegeneration pathogenic genes form a large interlocking protein
      network involved in exosome and homeostatic synaptic functions, particularly
      where the two mechanisms intersect. Mutant pathogenic proteins cause dysfunctions
      at distinct points in this network, each altering the two mechanisms in specific
      fashion that contributes to distinct disease pathologies, depending on the gene
      mutation and the cellular and biological context. This protein network is rich
      with drug targets, and exosomes may provide disease biomarkers, thus enabling
      drug discovery. All the curated datasets are made available for other
      investigators. Elucidating the roles of pathogenic neurodegeneration genes in
      exosome and homeostatic synaptic functions may provide a unifying framework for
      the age-dependent, progressive and tissue selective nature of multiple
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28611573
TI  - Simultaneous and Continuous Estimation of Shoulder and Elbow Kinematics from
      Surface EMG Signals.
AB  - In this paper, we present a simultaneous and continuous kinematics estimation
      method for multiple DoFs across shoulder and elbow joint. Although simultaneous
      and continuous kinematics estimation from surface electromyography (EMG) is a
      feasible way to achieve natural and intuitive human-machine interaction, few
      works investigated multi-DoF estimation across the significant joints of upper
      limb, shoulder and elbow joints. This paper evaluates the feasibility to estimate
      4-DoF kinematics at shoulder and elbow during coordinated arm movements.
      Considering the potential applications of this method in exoskeleton, prosthetics
      and other arm rehabilitation techniques, the estimation performance is presented
      with different muscle activity decomposition and learning strategies. Principle
      component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA) are
      respectively employed for EMG mode decomposition with artificial neural network
      (ANN) for learning the electromechanical association. Four joint angles across
      shoulder and elbow are simultaneously and continuously estimated from EMG in four
      coordinated arm movements. By using ICA (PCA) and single ANN, the average
      estimation accuracy 91.12% (90.23%) is obtained in 70-s intra-cross validation
      and 87.00% (86.30%) is obtained in 2-min inter-cross validation. This result
      suggests it is feasible and effective to use ICA (PCA) with single ANN for multi
      joint kinematics estimation in variant application conditions.

PMID- 28611572
TI  - 4R-Cembranoid Improves Outcomes after 6-Hydroxydopamine Challenge in Both In
      vitro and In vivo Models of Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - (1S, 2E, 4R, 6R,-7E, 11E)-2, 7, 11-cembratriene-4, 6-diol (4R) is one of the
      cembranoids found in tobacco leaves. Previous studies have found that 4R
      protected acute rat hippocampal slices against neurotoxicity induced by N-methyl
      D-aspartate (NMDA) and against the toxic organophosphorus compounds paraoxon and
      diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP). Furthermore, in vivo, 4R reduced the infarct
      size in a rodent ischemic stroke model and neurodegeneration caused by DFP. The
      present study expanded our previous study by focusing on the effect of 4R in
      Parkinson's disease (PD) and elucidating its underlying mechanisms using 6
      hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced injury models. We found that 4R exhibited
      significant neuroprotective activity in the rat unilateral 6-OHDA-induced PD
      model in vivo. The therapeutic effect was evident both at morphological and
      behavioral levels. 4R (6 and 12 mg/kg) treatments significantly improved outcomes
      of 6-OHDA-induced PD in vivo as indicated by reducing forelimb asymmetry scores
      and corner test scores 4 weeks after injection of 6-OHDA (p < 0.05). The
      therapeutic effect of 4R was also reflected by decreased depletion of tyrosine
      hydroxylase (TH) in the striatum and substantia nigra (SN) on the side injected
      with 6-OHDA. TH expression was 70.3 and 62.8% of the contralateral side in
      striatum and SN, respectively, after 6 mg/kg 4R treatment; furthermore, it was
      80.1 and 79.3% after treatment with 12 mg/kg of 4R. In the control group, it was
      51.9 and 23.6% of the contralateral striatum and SN (p < 0.05). Moreover, 4R also
      protected differentiated neuro-2a cells from 6-OHDA-induced cytotoxicity in
      vitro. The activation of p-AKT and HAX-1, and inhibition of caspase-3 and
      endothelial inflammation, were involved in 4R-mediated protection against 6-OHDA
      induced injury. In conclusion, the present study indicates that 4R shows a
      therapeutic effect in the rat 6-OHDA-induced PD model in vivo and in 6-OHDA
      challenged neuro-2a cells in vitro.

PMID- 28611574
TI  - Intra- and Postoperative Electrocochleography May Be Predictive of Final
      Electrode Position and Postoperative Hearing Preservation.
AB  - Introduction: The objectives of the current study were to (1) determine the
      relationship between electrocochleography (ECochG), measured from the cochlear
      implant (CI) electrode array during and after implantation, and postoperative
      audiometric thresholds, (2) determine the relationship between ECochG amplitude
      and electrode scalar location determined by computerized tomography (CT); and (3)
      determine whether changes in cochlear microphonic (CM) amplitude during electrode
      insertion were associated with postoperative hearing. Materials and Methods:
      Eighteen subjects undergoing CI with an Advanced Bionics Mid-Scala device were
      prospectively studied. ECochG responses were recorded using the implant coupled
      to a custom signal recording unit. ECochG amplitude collected intraoperatively
      concurrent with CI insertion and at activation was compared with audiometric
      thresholds postoperatively. Sixteen patients also underwent postoperative CT to
      determine scalar location and the relationship to ECochG measures and residual
      hearing. Results: Mean low-frequency pure tone average (LFPTA) increased
      following surgery by an average of 28 dB (range 8-50). Threshold elevation was
      significantly greater for electrodes with scalar dislocation. No correlation was
      found between intraoperative ECochG and postoperative behavioral thresholds
      collapsed across frequency; however, mean differences in thresholds measured by
      intraoperative ECochG and postoperative audiometry were significantly smaller for
      electrodes inserted completely within scala tympani (ST) vs. those translocating
      from ST to scala vestibuli. A significant correlation was observed between
      postoperative ECochG thresholds and behavioral thresholds obtained at activation.
      Discussion: Postoperative audiometry currently serves as a marker for
      intracochlear trauma though thresholds are not obtained until device activation
      or later. When measured at the same time-point postoperatively, low-frequency
      ECochG thresholds correlated with behavioral thresholds. Intraoperative ECochG
      thresholds, however, did not correlate significantly with postoperative
      behavioral thresholds suggesting that changes in cochlear physiology occur
      between electrode insertion and activation. ECochG may hold clinical utility
      providing surgeons with feedback regarding insertion trauma due to scalar
      translocation, which may be predictive of postoperative hearing preservation.
      Conclusion: CI insertion trauma is generally not evident until postoperative
      audiometry when loss of residual hearing is confirmed. ECochG has potential to
      provide estimates of trauma during insertion as well as reliable information
      regarding degree of hearing preservation.

PMID- 28611575
TI  - ICA-Derived EEG Correlates to Mental Fatigue, Effort, and Workload in a
      Realistically Simulated Air Traffic Control Task.
AB  - Electroencephalograph (EEG) has been increasingly studied to identify distinct
      mental factors when persons perform cognitively demanding tasks. However, most of
      these studies examined EEG correlates at channel domain, which suffers the
      limitation that EEG signals are the mixture of multiple underlying neuronal
      sources due to the volume conduction effect. Moreover, few studies have been
      conducted in real-world tasks. To precisely probe EEG correlates with specific
      neural substrates to mental factors in real-world tasks, the present study
      examined EEG correlates to three mental factors, i.e., mental fatigue [also known
      as time-on-task (TOT) effect], workload and effort, in EEG component signals,
      which were obtained using an independent component analysis (ICA) on high-density
      EEG data. EEG data were recorded when subjects performed a realistically
      simulated air traffic control (ATC) task for 2 h. Five EEG independent component
      (IC) signals that were associated with specific neural substrates (i.e., the
      frontal, central medial, motor, parietal, occipital areas) were identified. Their
      spectral powers at their corresponding dominant bands, i.e., the theta power of
      the frontal IC and the alpha power of the other four ICs, were detected to be
      correlated to mental workload and effort levels, measured by behavioral metrics.
      Meanwhile, a linear regression analysis indicated that spectral powers at five
      ICs significantly increased with TOT. These findings indicated that different
      levels of mental factors can be sensitively reflected in EEG signals associated
      with various brain functions, including visual perception, cognitive processing,
      and motor outputs, in real-world tasks. These results can potentially aid in the
      development of efficient operational interfaces to ensure productivity and safety
      in ATC and beyond.

PMID- 28611576
TI  - Maternal Different Degrees of Iodine Deficiency during Pregnant and Lactation
      Impair the Development of Cerebellar Pinceau in Offspring.
AB  - Aims: Iodine is critical for synthesis of thyroid hormones (TH). And iodine
      deficiency (ID) is one of the most significant reasons of intellectual disability
      and motor memory impairment, although the potential mechanisms are still under
      investigation. Presently, mild ID and marginal ID are largely ignored problems
      for women of child bearing age. Mild ID is a subtle form of TH deficiency, which
      shows low levels of free thyroxine (FT4) and relatively normal free
      triiodothyronine (FT3) or thyroid stimulation hormone (TSH). And marginal ID is a
      milder form of ID with decreased total T4 (TT4) but relatively normal FT3, FT4,
      and TSH. Therefore, we investigated the effects of maternal different degrees of
      ID on the development of pinceau in cerebellar purkinje cells (PCs) and studied
      the expression of pinceau related protein, which is crucial for the development
      and maturation of pinceau. Methods and Results: Three developmental iodine
      deficient rat models were created by feeding dam rats with an iodine-deficient
      diet and deionized water supplemented with potassiumiodide. Our study showed that
      different degrees of ID inhibited cerebellar pinceau synapse development and
      maturation on postnatal day (PN) 14 and PN21. What's more, mild and severe ID
      reduced the expression of AnkG, beta4-spectrin, neurofascin186 and NrCAM on PN7,
      PN14, and PN21. However, marginal ID rarely altered expression of these proteins
      in the offspring. Conclusion: These results suggested that maternal mild and
      severe ID impaired the development and maturation of cerebellar pinceau, which
      may be attributed to the decrease of AnkG, beta4-spectrin, neurofascin 186, and
      NrCAM. And the alteration of development and maturation in cerebellar pinceau in
      the offspring were also observed following maternal marginal ID, which is
      slighter than that of mild ID.

PMID- 28611577
TI  - The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Lipoxygenase and Cyclo-Oxygenase Inhibitors in
      Inflammation-Induced Human Fetal Glia Cells and the Abeta Degradation Capacity of
      Human Fetal Astrocytes in an Ex vivo Assay.
AB  - Chronic inflammation is a common phenomenon present in the background of multiple
      neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The arachidonic
      acid pathway overproduces proinflammatory eicosanoids during these states and
      glial cells in the brain gradually lose their vital functions of protecting and
      supporting neurons. In this study, the role of different key enzymes of the
      eicosanoid pathway mediating inflammatory responses was examined in vitro and ex
      vivo using human fetal glial cells. Astrocytes and microglia were exposed to
      proinflammatory agents i.e., cytokines interleukin 1-beta (IL-1beta) and tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF-alpha). ELISA assays were used to examine the effects of
      inhibitors of key enzymes in the eicosanoid pathway. Inhibitors for 5
      lipoxygenase (5-LOX) and cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX-2) in both cell types and 5-, 12
      , and 15-LOX-inhibitor in astrocytes reduced significantly IL-6 secretion,
      compared to exposed glial cells without inhibitors. The cytokine antibody array
      showed that especially treatments with 5, -12, and -15 LOX inhibitor in
      astrocytes, 5-LOX inhibitor in microglia and COX-2 inhibitor in both glial cell
      types significantly reduced the expression of multiple proinflammatory cytokines.
      Furthermore, human fetal astrocytes and microglia were cultured on top of AD
      affected and control human brain sections for 30 h. According to the
      immunochemical evaluation of the level of total Abeta, astrocytes were very
      efficient at degrading Abeta from AD-affected brain sections ex vivo;
      simultaneously added enzyme inhibitors did not increase their Abeta degradation
      capabilities. Microglia were not able to reduce the level of total Abeta during
      the 30 h incubation time.

PMID- 28611579
TI  - Stacked Autoencoders for the P300 Component Detection.
AB  - Novel neural network training methods (commonly referred to as deep learning)
      have emerged in recent years. Using a combination of unsupervised pre-training
      and subsequent fine-tuning, deep neural networks have become one of the most
      reliable classification methods. Since deep neural networks are especially
      powerful for high-dimensional and non-linear feature vectors,
      electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) are one of the
      promising applications. Furthermore, to the authors' best knowledge, there are
      very few papers that study deep neural networks for EEG/ERP data. The aim of the
      experiments subsequently presented was to verify if deep learning-based models
      can also perform well for single trial P300 classification with possible
      application to P300-based brain-computer interfaces. The P300 data used were
      recorded in the EEG/ERP laboratory at the Department of Computer Science and
      Engineering, University of West Bohemia, and are publicly available. Stacked
      autoencoders (SAEs) were implemented and compared with some of the currently most
      reliable state-of-the-art methods, such as LDA and multi-layer perceptron (MLP).
      The parameters of stacked autoencoders were optimized empirically. The layers
      were inserted one by one and at the end, the last layer was replaced by a
      supervised softmax classifier. Subsequently, fine-tuning using backpropagation
      was performed. The architecture of the neural network was 209-130-100-50-20-2.
      The classifiers were trained on a dataset merged from four subjects and
      subsequently tested on different 11 subjects without further training. The
      trained SAE achieved 69.2% accuracy that was higher (p < 0.01) than the accuracy
      of MLP (64.9%) and LDA (65.9%). The recall of 58.8% was slightly higher when
      compared with MLP (56.2%) and LDA (58.4%). Therefore, SAEs could be preferable to
      other state-of-the-art classifiers for high-dimensional event-related potential
      feature vectors.

PMID- 28611580
TI  - Commentary: "Hearing faces and seeing voices": Amodal coding of person identity
      in the human brain.

PMID- 28611578
TI  - Prefrontal Hemodynamics in Toddlers at Rest: A Pilot Study of Developmental
      Variability.
AB  - Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive functional
      neuroimaging modality. Although, it is amenable to use in infants and young
      children, there is a lack of fNIRS research within the toddler age range. In this
      study, we used fNIRS to measure cerebral hemodynamics in the prefrontal cortex
      (PFC) in 18-36 months old toddlers (n = 29) as part of a longitudinal study that
      enrolled typically-developing toddlers as well as those "at risk" for language
      and other delays based on presence of early language delays. In these toddlers,
      we explored two hemodynamic response indices during periods of rest during which
      time audiovisual children's programming was presented. First, we investigate
      Lateralization Index, based on differences in oxy-hemoglobin saturation from left
      and right prefrontal cortex. Then, we measure oxygenation variability (OV) index,
      based on variability in oxygen saturation at frequencies attributed to cerebral
      autoregulation. Preliminary findings show that lower cognitive (including
      language) abilities are associated with fNIRS measures of both lower OV index and
      more extreme Lateralization index values. These preliminary findings show the
      feasibility of using fNIRS in toddlers, including those at risk for developmental
      delay, and lay the groundwork for future studies.

PMID- 28611582
TI  - CIFAR10-DVS: An Event-Stream Dataset for Object Classification.
AB  - Neuromorphic vision research requires high-quality and appropriately challenging
      event-stream datasets to support continuous improvement of algorithms and
      methods. However, creating event-stream datasets is a time-consuming task, which
      needs to be recorded using the neuromorphic cameras. Currently, there are limited
      event-stream datasets available. In this work, by utilizing the popular computer
      vision dataset CIFAR-10, we converted 10,000 frame-based images into 10,000 event
      streams using a dynamic vision sensor (DVS), providing an event-stream dataset of
      intermediate difficulty in 10 different classes, named as "CIFAR10-DVS." The
      conversion of event-stream dataset was implemented by a repeated closed-loop
      smooth (RCLS) movement of frame-based images. Unlike the conversion of frame
      based images by moving the camera, the image movement is more realistic in
      respect of its practical applications. The repeated closed-loop image movement
      generates rich local intensity changes in continuous time which are quantized by
      each pixel of the DVS camera to generate events. Furthermore, a performance
      benchmark in event-driven object classification is provided based on state-of-the
      art classification algorithms. This work provides a large event-stream dataset
      and an initial benchmark for comparison, which may boost algorithm developments
      in even-driven pattern recognition and object classification.

PMID- 28611581
TI  - Glial Endozepines Inhibit Feeding-Related Autonomic Functions by Acting at the
      Brainstem Level.
AB  - Endozepines are endogenous ligands for the benzodiazepine receptors and also
      target a still unidentified GPCR. The endozepine octadecaneuropeptide (ODN), an
      endoproteolytic processing product of the diazepam-binding inhibitor (DBI) was
      recently shown to be involved in food intake control as an anorexigenic factor
      through ODN-GPCR signaling and mobilization of the melanocortinergic signaling
      pathway. Within the hypothalamus, the DBI gene is mainly expressed by non
      neuronal cells such as ependymocytes, tanycytes, and protoplasmic astrocytes, at
      levels depending on the nutritional status. Administration of ODN C-terminal
      octapeptide (OP) in the arcuate nucleus strongly reduces food intake. Up to now,
      the relevance of extrahypothalamic targets for endozepine signaling-mediated
      anorexia has been largely ignored. We focused our study on the dorsal vagal
      complex located in the caudal brainstem. This structure is strongly involved in
      the homeostatic control of food intake and comprises structural similarities with
      the hypothalamus. In particular, a circumventricular organ, the area postrema
      (AP) and a tanycyte-like cells forming barrier between the AP and the adjacent
      nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) are present. We show here that DBI is highly
      expressed by ependymocytes lining the fourth ventricle, tanycytes-like cells, as
      well as by proteoplasmic astrocytes located in the vicinity of AP/NTS interface.
      ODN staining observed at the electron microscopic level reveals that ODN
      expressing tanycyte-like cells and protoplasmic astrocytes are sometimes found in
      close apposition to neuronal elements such as dendritic profiles or axon
      terminals. Intracerebroventricular injection of ODN or OP in the fourth ventricle
      triggers c-Fos activation in the dorsal vagal complex and strongly reduces food
      intake. We also show that, similarly to leptin, ODN inhibits the swallowing
      reflex when microinjected into the swallowing pattern generator located in the
      NTS. In conclusion, we hypothesized that ODN expressing cells located at the
      AP/NTS interface could release ODN and modify excitability of NTS
      neurocircuitries involved in food intake control.

PMID- 28611583
TI  - Pattern Recognition of Momentary Mental Workload Based on Multi-Channel
      Electrophysiological Data and Ensemble Convolutional Neural Networks.
AB  - In this paper, we deal with the Mental Workload (MWL) classification problem
      based on the measured physiological data. First we discussed the optimal depth
      (i.e., the number of hidden layers) and parameter optimization algorithms for the
      Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). The base CNNs designed were tested according
      to five classification performance indices, namely Accuracy, Precision, F
      measure, G-mean, and required training time. Then we developed an Ensemble
      Convolutional Neural Network (ECNN) to enhance the accuracy and robustness of the
      individual CNN model. For the ECNN design, three model aggregation approaches
      (weighted averaging, majority voting and stacking) were examined and a resampling
      strategy was used to enhance the diversity of individual CNN models. The results
      of MWL classification performance comparison indicated that the proposed ECNN
      framework can effectively improve MWL classification performance and is featured
      by entirely automatic feature extraction and MWL classification, when compared
      with traditional machine learning methods.

PMID- 28611584
TI  - Glial and Neuronal Glutamate Transporters Differ in the Na+ Requirements for
      Activation of the Substrate-Independent Anion Conductance.
AB  - Excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are secondary active transporters of L
      glutamate and L- or D-aspartate. These carriers also mediate a thermodynamically
      uncoupled anion conductance that is gated by Na+ and substrate binding. The
      activation of the anion channel by binding of Na+ alone, however, has only been
      demonstrated for mammalian EAAC1 (EAAT3) and EAAT4. To date, no difference has
      been observed for the substrate dependence of anion channel gating between the
      glial, EAAT1 and EAAT2, and the neuronal isoforms EAAT3, EAAT4 and EAAT5. Here we
      describe a difference in the Na+-dependence of anion channel gating between glial
      and neuronal isoforms. Chloride flux through transporters without glutamate
      binding has previously been described as substrate-independent or "leak" channel
      activity. Choline or N-methyl-D-glucamine replacement of external Na+ ions
      significantly reduced or abolished substrate-independent EAAT channel activity in
      EAAT3 and EAAT4 yet has no effect on EAAT1 or EAAT2. The interaction of Na+ with
      the neuronal carrier isoforms was concentration dependent, consistent with
      previous data. The presence of substrate and Na+-independent open states in the
      glial EAAT isoforms is a novel finding in the field of EAAT function. Our results
      reveal an important divergence in anion channel function between glial and
      neuronal glutamate transporters and highlight new potential roles for the EAAT
      associated anion channel activity based on transporter expression and
      localization in the central nervous system.

PMID- 28611586
TI  - The Distribution of Charged Amino Acid Residues and the Ca2+ Permeability of
      Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: A Predictive Model.
AB  - Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are cation-selective ligand-gated ion
      channels exhibiting variable Ca2+ permeability depending on their subunit
      composition. The Ca2+ permeability is a crucial functional parameter to
      understand the physiological role of nAChRs, in particular considering their
      ability to modulate Ca2+-dependent processes such as neurotransmitter release.
      The rings of extracellular and intracellular charged amino acid residues adjacent
      to the pore-lining TM2 transmembrane segment have been shown to play a key role
      in the cation selectivity of these receptor channels, but to date a quantitative
      relationship between these structural determinants and the Ca2+ permeability of
      nAChRs is lacking. In the last years the Ca2+ permeability of several nAChR
      subtypes has been experimentally evaluated, in terms of fractional Ca2+ current
      (Pf, i.e., the percentage of the total current carried by Ca2+ ions). In the
      present study, the available Pf-values of nAChRs are used to build a simplified
      modular model describing the contribution of the charged residues in defined
      regions flanking TM2 to the selectivity filter controlling Ca2+ influx. This
      model allows to predict the currently unknown Pf-values of existing nAChRs, as
      well as the hypothetical Ca2+ permeability of subunit combinations not able to
      assemble into functional receptors. In particular, basing on the amino acid
      sequences, a Pf > 50% would be associated with homomeric nAChRs composed by
      different alpha subunits, excluding alpha7, alpha9, and alpha10. Furthermore,
      according to the model, human alpha7beta2 receptors should have Pf-values ranging
      from 3.6% (4:1 ratio) to 0.1% (1:4 ratio), much lower than the 11.4% of homomeric
      alpha7 nAChR. These results help to understand the evolution and the function of
      the large diversity of the nicotinic receptor family.

PMID- 28611585
TI  - Role of N-Arachidonoyl-Serotonin (AA-5-HT) in Sleep-Wake Cycle Architecture,
      Sleep Homeostasis, and Neurotransmitters Regulation.
AB  - The endocannabinoid system comprises several molecular entities such as
      endogenous ligands [anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)],
      receptors (CB1 and CB2), enzymes such as [fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAHH) and
      monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL)], as well as the anandamide membrane transporter.
      Although the role of this complex neurobiological system in the sleep-wake cycle
      modulation has been studied, the contribution of the blocker of FAAH/transient
      receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1), N-arachidonoyl
      serotonin (AA-5-HT) in sleep has not been investigated. Thus, in the present
      study, varying doses of AA-5-HT (5, 10, or 20 mg/Kg, i.p.) injected at the
      beginning of the lights-on period of rats, caused no statistical changes in sleep
      patterns. However, similar pharmacological treatment given to animals at the
      beginning of the dark period decreased wakefulness (W) and increased slow wave
      sleep (SWS) as well as rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). Power spectra analysis of
      states of vigilance showed that injection of AA-5-HT during the lights-off period
      diminished alpha spectrum across alertness in a dose-dependent fashion. In
      opposition, delta power spectra was enhanced as well as theta spectrum, during
      SWS and REMS, respectively. Moreover, the highest dose of AA-5-HT decreased wake
      related contents of neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE),
      epinephrine (EP), serotonin (5-HT) whereas the levels of adenosine (AD) were
      enhanced. In addition, the sleep-inducing properties of AA-5-HT were confirmed
      since this compound blocked the increase in W caused by stimulants such as
      cannabidiol (CBD) or modafinil (MOD) during the lights-on period. Additionally,
      administration of AA-5-HT also prevented the enhancement in contents of DA, NE,
      EP, 5-HT and AD after CBD of MOD injection. Lastly, the role of AA-5-HT in sleep
      homeostasis was tested in animals that received either CBD or MOD after total
      sleep deprivation (TSD). The injection of CBD or MOD increased alertness during
      sleep rebound period after TSD. However, AA-5-HT blocked this effect by allowing
      animals to display an enhancement in sleep across sleep rebound period. Overall,
      our findings provide evidence that AA-5-HT is an important modulator of sleep,
      sleep homeostasis and neurotransmitter contents.

PMID- 28611587
TI  - Downregulation of MicroRNA-193b-3p Promotes Autophagy and Cell Survival by
      Targeting TSC1/mTOR Signaling in NSC-34 Cells.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease
      characterized by the death of upper and lower motor neurons. MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
      are reported to be closely related to the development of ALS. However, the
      precise functions of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of ALS remain largely unknown. In
      previous studies, we determined that miRNA-193b-3p was significantly
      downregulated in patients with sporadic ALS (sALS). Here, we observed that miRNA
      193b-3p was downregulated in the SOD1G93A mouse model of ALS and promoted cell
      death in NSC-34 cells. We further found that miR-193b-3p directly targeted
      tuberous sclerosis 1 (TSC1) to regulate mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1
      (mTORC1) activity. Downregulation of miR-193b-3p led to TSC1 increase accompanied
      with mTORC1 inactivation, and vice versa. Moreover, downregulation of miR-193b-3p
      promoted protective autophagy and cell survival in NSC-34 cells. In contrast,
      upregulation of miR-193b-3p activated mTORC1 signaling, leading to inhibition of
      autophagy and promotion of cell death. Taken together, our study suggests that
      downregulation of miR-193b-3p is required for cell survival by targeting
      TSC1/mTOR signaling in NSC-34 cells and provides a novel target for improving the
      clinical therapy of ALS.

PMID- 28611588
TI  - Time-Dependent, HIV-Tat-Induced Perturbation of Human Neurons In Vitro: Towards a
      Model for the Molecular Pathology of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders.
AB  - A significant proportion of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV)-positive
      individuals are affected by the cognitive, motor and behavioral dysfunction that
      characterizes HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). While the molecular
      etiology of HAND remains largely uncharacterized, HIV transactivator of
      transcription (HIV-Tat) is thought to be an important etiological cause. Here we
      have used mass spectrometry (MS)-based discovery proteomics to identify the
      quantitative, cell-wide changes that occur when non-transformed, differentiated
      human neurons are treated with HIV-Tat over time. We identified over 4000 protein
      groups (false discovery rate <0.01) in this system with 131, 118 and 45 protein
      groups differentially expressed at 6, 24 and 48 h post treatment, respectively.
      Alterations in the expression of proteins involved in gene expression and
      cytoskeletal maintenance were particularly evident. In tandem with proteomic
      evidence of cytoskeletal dysregulation we observed HIV-Tat induced functional
      alterations, including a reduction of neuronal intrinsic excitability as assessed
      by patch-clamp electrophysiology. Our findings may be relevant for understanding
      in vivo molecular mechanisms in HAND.

PMID- 28611589
TI  - Mitochondrial Effects of PGC-1alpha Silencing in MPP+ Treated Human SH-SY5Y
      Neuroblastoma Cells.
AB  - The dopaminergic neuron degeneration and loss that occurs in Parkinson's disease
      (PD) has been tightly linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. Although the aged
      related cause of the mitochondrial defect observed in PD patients remains
      unclear, nuclear genes are of potential importance to mitochondrial function.
      Human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC
      1alpha) is a multi-functional transcription factor that tightly regulates
      mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative capacity. The goal of the present study
      was to explore the potential pathogenic effects of interference by the PGC-1alpha
      gene on N-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+)-induced SH-SY5Y cells. We utilized
      RNA interference (RNAi) technology to probe the pathogenic consequences of
      inhibiting PGC-1alpha in the SH-SY5Y cell line. Remarkably, a reduction in PGC
      1alpha resulted in the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential,
      intracellular ATP content and intracellular H2O2 generation, leading to the
      translocation of cytochrome c (cyt c) to the cytoplasm in the MPP+-induced PD
      cell model. The expression of related proteins in the signaling pathway (e.g.,
      estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRalpha), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1),
      NRF-2 and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma)) also
      decreased. Our finding indicates that small interfering RNA (siRNA) interference
      targeting the PGC-1alpha gene could inhibit the function of mitochondria in
      several capacities and that the PGC-1alpha gene may modulate mitochondrial
      function by regulating the expression of ERRalpha, NRF-1, NRF-2 and PPARgamma.
      Thus, PGC-1alpha can be considered a potential therapeutic target for PD.

PMID- 28611590
TI  - Cryptochrome Is a Regulator of Synaptic Plasticity in the Visual System of
      Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Drosophila CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) is a blue light sensitive protein with a key role
      in circadian photoreception. A main feature of CRY is that light promotes an
      interaction with the circadian protein TIMELESS (TIM) resulting in their
      ubiquitination and degradation, a mechanism that contributes to the
      synchronization of the circadian clock to the environment. Moreover, CRY
      participates in non-circadian functions such as magnetoreception, modulation of
      neuronal firing, phototransduction and regulation of synaptic plasticity. In the
      present study we used co-immunoprecipitation, yeast 2 hybrid (Y2H) and in situ
      proximity ligation assay (PLA) to show that CRY can physically associate with the
      presynaptic protein BRUCHPILOT (BRP) and that CRY-BRP complexes are located
      mainly in the visual system. Additionally, we present evidence that light
      activated CRY may decrease BRP levels in photoreceptor termini in the distal
      lamina, probably targeting BRP for degradation.

PMID- 28611591
TI  - Metabolism of the Endocannabinoid Anandamide: Open Questions after 25 Years.
AB  - Cannabis extracts have been used for centuries, but its main active principle ?9
      tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was identified about 50 years ago. Yet, it is only 25
      years ago that the first endogenous ligand of the same receptors engaged by the
      cannabis agents was discovered. This "endocannabinoid (eCB)" was identified as N
      arachidonoylethanolamine (or anandamide (AEA)), and was shown to have several
      receptors, metabolic enzymes and transporters that altogether drive its
      biological activity. Here I report on the latest advances about AEA metabolism,
      with the aim of focusing open questions still awaiting an answer for a deeper
      understanding of AEA activity, and for translating AEA-based drugs into novel
      therapeutics for human diseases.

PMID- 28611592
TI  - Commentary: GARLH Family Proteins Stabilize GABAA Receptors at Synapses.

PMID- 28611594
TI  - Overexpression of Mineralocorticoid Receptors in the Mouse Forebrain Partly
      Alleviates the Effects of Chronic Early Life Stress on Spatial Memory,
      Neurogenesis and Synaptic Function in the Dentate Gyrus.
AB  - Evidence from human studies suggests that high expression of brain
      mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) may promote resilience against negative
      consequences of stress exposure, including childhood trauma. We examined, in
      mice, whether brain MR overexpression can alleviate the effects of chronic early
      life stress (ELS) on contextual memory formation under low and high stress
      conditions, and neurogenesis and synaptic function of dentate gyrus granular
      cells. Male mice were exposed to ELS by housing the dam with limited nesting and
      bedding material from postnatal day (PND) 2 to 9. We investigated the moderating
      role of MRs by using forebrain-specific transgenic MR overexpression (MR-tg)
      mice. Low-stress contextual (i.e., object relocation) memory formation was
      hampered by ELS in wildtype but not MR-tg mice. Anxiety like behavior and high
      stress contextual (i.e., fear) memory formation were unaffected by ELS and/or MR
      expression level. At the cellular level, an interaction effect was observed
      between ELS and MR overexpression on the number of doublecortin-positive cells,
      with a significant difference between the wildtype ELS and MR-tg ELS groups. No
      interaction was found regarding Ki-67 and BrdU staining. A significant
      interaction between ELS and MR expression was further observed with regard to
      mEPSCs and mIPSC frequency. The ratio of evoked EPSC/IPSC or NMDA/AMPA responses
      was unaffected. Overall, these results suggest that ELS affects contextual memory
      formation under low stress conditions as well as neurogenesis and synaptic
      transmission in dentate granule cells, an effect that can be alleviated by MR
      overexpression.

PMID- 28611597
TI  - Functional Properties of Human NMDA Receptors Associated with Epilepsy-Related
      Mutations of GluN2A Subunit.
AB  - Genetic variants of the glutamate activated N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor
      (NMDAR) subunit GluN2A are associated with the hyperexcitable states manifested
      by epileptic seizures and interictal discharges in patients with disorders of the
      epilepsy-aphasia spectrum (EAS). The variants found in sporadic cases and
      families are of different types and include microdeletions encompassing the
      corresponding GRIN2A gene as well as nonsense, splice-site and missense GRIN2A
      defects. They are located at different functional domains of GluN2A and no clear
      genotype-phenotype correlation has emerged yet. Moreover, GluN2A variants may be
      associated with phenotypic pleiotropy. Deciphering the consequences of pathogenic
      GRIN2A variants would surely help in better understanding of the underlying
      mechanisms. This emphasizes the need for functional studies to unravel the basic
      functional properties of each specific NMDAR variant. In the present study, we
      have used patch-clamp recordings to evaluate kinetic changes of mutant NMDARs
      reconstituted after co-transfection of cultured cells with the appropriate
      expression vectors. Three previously identified missense variants found in
      patients or families with disorders of the EAS and situated in the N-terminal
      domain (p.Ile184Ser) or in the ligand-binding domain (p.Arg518His and
      p.Ala716Thr) of GluN2A were studied in both the homozygous and heterozygous
      conditions. Relative surface expression and current amplitude were significantly
      reduced for NMDARs composed of mutant p.Ile184Ser and p.Arg518His, but not
      p.Ala716His, as compared with wild-type (WT) NMDARs. Amplitude of whole-cell
      currents was still drastically decreased when WT and mutant p.Arg518His-GluN2A
      subunits were co-expressed, suggesting a dominant-negative mechanism. Activation
      times were significantly decreased in both homozygous and heterozygous conditions
      for the two p.Ile184Ser and p.Arg518His variants, but not for p.Ala716His.
      Deactivation also significantly increased for p.Ile184Ser variant in the
      homozygous but not the heterozygous state while it was increased for p.Arg518His
      in both states. Our data indicate that p.Ile184Ser and p.Arg518His GluN2A
      variants both impacted on NMDAR function, albeit differently, whereas p.Ala716His
      did not significantly influence NMDAR kinetics, hence partly questioning its
      direct and strong pathogenic role. This study brings new insights into the
      functional impact that GRIN2A variants might have on NMDAR kinetics, and provides
      a mechanistic explanation for the neurological manifestations seen in the
      corresponding human spectrum of disorders.

PMID- 28611596
TI  - Ethidium Bromide Modifies The Agarose Electrophoretic Mobility of CAG*CTG
      Alternative DNA Structures Generated by PCR.
AB  - The abnormal expansion of unstable simple sequence DNA repeats can cause human
      disease through a variety of mechanisms, including gene loss-of-function, toxic
      gain-of-function of the encoded protein and toxicity of the repeat-containing RNA
      transcript. Disease-associated unstable DNA repeats display unusual biophysical
      properties, including the ability to adopt non-B-DNA structures. CAG*CTG
      trinucleotide sequences, in particular, have been most extensively studied and
      they can fold into slipped-stranded DNA structures, which have been proposed as
      mutation intermediates in repeat size expansion. Here, we describe a simple assay
      to detect unusual DNA structures generated by PCR amplification, based on their
      slow electrophoretic migration in agarose and on the effects of ethidium bromide
      on the mobility of structural isoforms through agarose gels. Notably, the
      inclusion of ethidium bromide in agarose gels and running buffer eliminates the
      detection of additional slow-migrating DNA species, which are detected in the
      absence of the intercalating dye and may be incorrectly classified as mutant
      alleles with larger than actual expansion sizes. Denaturing and re-annealing
      experiments confirmed the slipped-stranded nature of the additional DNA species
      observed in agarose gels. Thus, we have shown that genuine non-B-DNA
      conformations are generated during standard PCR amplification of CAG*CTG
      sequences and detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. In contrast, ethidium
      bromide does not change the multi-band electrophoretic profiles of repeat
      containing PCR products through native polyacrylamide gels. These data have
      implications for the analysis of trinucleotide repeat DNA and possibly other
      types of unstable repetitive DNA sequences by standard agarose gel
      electrophoresis in diagnostic and research protocols. We suggest that proper
      sizing of CAG*CTG PCR products in agarose gels should be performed in the
      presence of ethidium bromide.

PMID- 28611595
TI  - mTORC1 Is a Local, Postsynaptic Voltage Sensor Regulated by Positive and Negative
      Feedback Pathways.
AB  - The mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) serves as a
      regulator of mRNA translation. Recent studies suggest that mTORC1 may also serve
      as a local, voltage sensor in the postsynaptic region of neurons. Considering
      biochemical, bioinformatics and imaging data, we hypothesize that the activity
      state of mTORC1 dynamically regulates local membrane potential by promoting and
      repressing protein synthesis of select mRNAs. Our hypothesis suggests that mTORC1
      uses positive and negative feedback pathways, in a branch-specific manner, to
      maintain neuronal excitability within an optimal range. In some dendritic
      branches, mTORC1 activity oscillates between the "On" and "Off" states. We define
      this as negative feedback. In contrast, positive feedback is defined as the
      pathway that leads to a prolonged depolarized or hyperpolarized resting membrane
      potential, whereby mTORC1 activity is constitutively on or off, respectively. We
      propose that inactivation of mTORC1 increases the expression of voltage-gated
      potassium alpha (Kv1.1 and 1.2) and beta (Kvbeta2) subunits, ensuring that the
      membrane resets to its resting membrane potential after experiencing increased
      synaptic activity. In turn, reduced mTORC1 activity increases the protein
      expression of syntaxin-1A and promotes the surface expression of the ionotropic
      glutamate receptor N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type subunit 1 (GluN1) that
      facilitates increased calcium entry to turn mTORC1 back on. Under conditions such
      as learning and memory, mTORC1 activity is required to be high for longer periods
      of time. Thus, the arm of the pathway that promotes syntaxin-1A and Kv1 protein
      synthesis will be repressed. Moreover, dendritic branches that have low mTORC1
      activity with increased Kv expression would balance dendrites with constitutively
      high mTORC1 activity, allowing for the neuron to maintain its overall activity
      level within an ideal operating range. Finally, such a model suggests that
      recruitment of more positive feedback dendritic branches within a neuron is
      likely to lead to neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 28611593
TI  - Autophagy and Its Impact on Neurodegenerative Diseases: New Roles for TDP-43 and
      C9orf72.
AB  - Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism where intracellular material is degraded by
      vesicular structures called autophagolysosomes. Autophagy is necessary to
      maintain the normal function of the central nervous system (CNS), avoiding the
      accumulation of misfolded and aggregated proteins. Consistently, impaired
      autophagy has been associated with the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative
      diseases. The proteins TAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43), which regulates RNA
      processing at different levels, and chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72),
      probably involved in membrane trafficking, are crucial in the development of
      neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and
      Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD). Additionally, recent studies have
      identified a role for these proteins in the control of autophagy. In this
      manuscript, we review what is known regarding the autophagic mechanism and
      discuss the involvement of TDP-43 and C9orf72 in autophagy and their impact on
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 28611598
TI  - Early Paradoxical Increase of Dopamine: A Neurochemical Study of Olfactory Bulb
      in Asymptomatic and Symptomatic MPTP Treated Monkeys.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease with both motor and non
      motor manifestations. Hyposmia is one of the early non-motor symptoms, which can
      precede motor symptoms by several years. The relationship between hyposmia and PD
      remains elusive. Olfactory bulb (OB) pathology shows an increased number of
      olfactory dopaminergic cells, protein aggregates and dysfunction of
      neurotransmitter systems. In this study we examined tissue levels of dopamine
      (DA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and their metabolites, of
      noradrenaline (NA) and of the amino acid neurotransmitters aspartate, glutamate,
      taurine and gamma-aminobutyric acid in OBs of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6
      tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) treated Macaca fascicularis in different stages,
      including monkeys who were always asymptomatic, monkeys who recovered from mild
      parkinsonian signs, and monkeys with stable moderate or severe parkinsonism. DA
      was increased compared to controls, while neither NA and 5-HT nor the amino acid
      neurotransmitters were significantly changed. Furthermore, DA increased before
      stable motor deficits appear with +51% in asymptomatic and +96% in recovered
      monkeys. Unchanged DA metabolites suggest a special metabolic profile of the
      newly formed DA neurons. Significant correlation of homovanillic acid (HVA) with
      taurine single values within the four MPTP groups and of aspartate with taurine
      within the asymptomatic and recovered MPTP groups, but not within the controls
      suggest interactions in the OB between taurine and the DA system and taurine and
      the excitatory neurotransmitter triggered by MPTP. This first investigation of OB
      in various stages after MPTP administration suggests that the DA increase seems
      to be an early phenomenon, not requiring profound nigrostriatal neurodegeneration
      or PD symptoms.

PMID- 28611600
TI  - Changes in Alpha Frequency and Power of the Electroencephalogram during Volatile
      Based General Anesthesia.
AB  - Oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) at the alpha frequency (8-12 Hz)
      are thought to be ubiquitous during surgical anesthesia, but the details of how
      this oscillation responds to ongoing changes in volatile anesthetic concentration
      have not been well characterized. It is not known how often alpha oscillations
      are absent in the clinical context, how sensitively alpha frequency and power
      respond to changes in anesthetic concentration, and what effect increased age has
      on alpha frequency. Bipolar EEG was recorded frontally from 305 patients
      undergoing surgery with sevoflurane or desflurane providing general anesthesia. A
      new method of detecting the presence of alpha oscillations based on the stability
      of the rate of change of the peak frequency in the alpha range was developed.
      Linear concentration-response curves were fitted to assess the sensitivity of
      alpha power and frequency measures to changing levels of anesthesia. Alpha
      oscillations were seen to be inexplicably absent in around 4% of patients.
      Maximal alpha power increased with increasing volatile anesthetic concentrations
      in half of the patients, and decreased in the remaining patients. Alpha frequency
      decreased with increasing anesthetic concentrations in near to 90% of patients.
      Increasing age was associated with decreased sensitivity to volatile anesthesia
      concentrations, and with decreased alpha frequency, which sometimes transitioned
      into the theta range (5-7 Hz). While peak alpha frequency shows a consistent
      slowing to increasing volatile concentrations, the peak power of the oscillation
      does not, suggesting that frequency might be more informative of depth of
      anesthesia than traditional power based measures during volatile-based
      anesthesia. The alpha oscillation becomes slower with increasing age, even when
      the decreased anesthetic needs of older patients were taken into account.

PMID- 28611601
TI  - Lack of Responsiveness during the Onset and Offset of Sevoflurane Anesthesia Is
      Associated with Decreased Awake-Alpha Oscillation Power.
AB  - Anesthetic drugs are typically administered to induce altered states of arousal
      that range from sedation to general anesthesia (GA). Systems neuroscience studies
      are currently being used to investigate the neural circuit mechanisms of
      anesthesia-induced altered arousal states. These studies suggest that by
      disrupting the oscillatory dynamics that are associated with arousal states,
      anesthesia-induced oscillations are a putative mechanism through which anesthetic
      drugs produce altered states of arousal. However, an empirical clinical
      observation is that even at relatively stable anesthetic doses, patients are
      sometimes intermittently responsive to verbal commands during states of light
      sedation. During these periods, prominent anesthesia-induced neural oscillations
      such as slow-delta (0.1-4 Hz) oscillations are notably absent. Neural correlates
      of intermittent responsiveness during light sedation have been insufficiently
      investigated. A principled understanding of the neural correlates of intermittent
      responsiveness may fundamentally advance our understanding of neural dynamics
      that are essential for maintaining arousal states, and how they are disrupted by
      anesthetics. Therefore, we performed a high-density (128 channels)
      electroencephalogram (EEG) study (n = 8) of sevoflurane-induced altered arousal
      in healthy volunteers. We administered temporally precise behavioral stimuli
      every 5 s to assess responsiveness. Here, we show that decreased eyes-closed,
      awake-alpha (8-12 Hz) oscillation power is associated with lack of responsiveness
      during sevoflurane effect-onset and -offset. We also show that anteriorization
      the transition from occipitally dominant awake-alpha oscillations to frontally
      dominant anesthesia induced-alpha oscillations-is not a binary phenomenon.
      Rather, we suggest that periods, which were defined by lack of responsiveness,
      represent an intermediate brain state. We conclude that awake-alpha oscillation,
      previously thought to be an idling rhythm, is associated with responsiveness to
      behavioral stimuli.

PMID- 28611602
TI  - Brain Mechanisms during Course of Anesthesia: What We Know from EEG Changes
      during Induction and Recovery.

PMID- 28611603
TI  - Inactivation of the Lateral Entorhinal Area Increases the Influence of Visual
      Cues on Hippocampal Place Cell Activity.
AB  - The hippocampus is important for both navigation and associative learning. We
      previously showed that the hippocampus processes two-dimensional (2D) landmarks
      and objects differently. Our findings suggested that landmarks are more likely to
      be used for orientation and navigation, whereas objects are more likely to be
      used for associative learning. The process by which cues are recognized as
      relevant for navigation or associative learning, however, is an open question.
      Presumably both spatial and nonspatial information are necessary for classifying
      cues as landmarks or objects. The lateral entorhinal area (LEA) is a good
      candidate for participating in this process as it is implicated in the processing
      of three-dimensional (3D) objects and object location. Because the LEA is one
      synapse upstream of the hippocampus and processes both spatial and nonspatial
      information, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the LEA modulates how the
      hippocampus uses 2D landmarks and objects. To test this hypothesis, we
      temporarily inactivated the LEA ipsilateral to the dorsal hippocampal recording
      site using fluorophore-conjugated muscimol (FCM) 30 min prior to three foraging
      sessions in which either the 2D landmark or the 2D object was back-projected to
      the floor of an open field. Prior to the second session we rotated the 2D cue by
      90 degrees . Cues were returned to the original configuration for the third
      session. Compared to the Saline treatment, FCM inactivation increased the
      percentage of rotation responses to manipulations of the landmark cue, but had no
      effect on information content of place fields. In contrast, FCM inactivation
      increased information content of place fields in the presence of the object cue,
      but had no effect on rotation responses to the object cue. Thus, LEA inactivation
      increased the influence of visual cues on hippocampal activity, but the impact
      was qualitatively different for cues that are useful for navigation vs. cues that
      may not be useful for navigation. FCM inactivation also led to reductions in both
      frequency and power of hippocampal theta rhythms, indicative of the loss of
      functionally important LEA inputs to hippocampus. These data provide evidence
      that the LEA is involved in modulating how the dorsal hippocampus utilizes visual
      environmental cues.

PMID- 28611599
TI  - The Melanin-Concentrating Hormone as an Integrative Peptide Driving Motivated
      Behaviors.
AB  - The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is an important peptide implicated in the
      control of motivated behaviors. History, however, made this peptide first known
      for its participation in the control of skin pigmentation, from which its name
      derives. In addition to this peripheral role, MCH is strongly implicated in
      motivated behaviors, such as feeding, drinking, mating and, more recently,
      maternal behavior. It is suggested that MCH acts as an integrative peptide,
      converging sensory information and contributing to a general arousal of the
      organism. In this review, we will discuss the various aspects of energy
      homeostasis to which MCH has been associated to, focusing on the different inputs
      that feed the MCH peptidergic system with information regarding the homeostatic
      status of the organism and the exogenous sensory information that drives this
      system, as well as the outputs that allow MCH to act over a wide range of
      homeostatic and behavioral controls, highlighting the available morphological and
      hodological aspects that underlie these integrative actions. Besides the well
      described role of MCH in feeding behavior, a prime example of hypothalamic
      mediated integration, we will also examine those functions in which the
      participation of MCH has not yet been extensively characterized, including
      sexual, maternal, and defensive behaviors. We also evaluated the available data
      on the distribution of MCH and its function in the context of animals in their
      natural environment. Finally, we briefly comment on the evidence for MCH acting
      as a coordinator between different modalities of motivated behaviors,
      highlighting the most pressing open questions that are open for investigations
      and that could provide us with important insights about hypothalamic-dependent
      homeostatic integration.

PMID- 28611604
TI  - On the Accuracy of In Vivo Ethanol and Acetaldehyde Monitoring, a Key Tile in the
      Puzzle of Acetaldehyde as a Neuroactive Agent.
AB  - Over the last 20 years researchers have explored the postulated role of
      acetaldehyde (ACD) as a mediator of some of the actions of ethanol (EtOH) in the
      central nervous system (CNS). However, efforts have been hampered mainly by the
      difficulty of directly measuring in vivo EtOH and ACD levels in the CNS and thus,
      our knowledge is based on indirect evidences. Although technically challenging,
      the development of reliable methods for in vivo measurement of ACD and EtOH is of
      paramount importance to solve the "puzzle of acetaldehyde as a neuroactive
      agent." In this short review we discuss the recent advances on brain EtOH
      pharmacokinetic and state-of-the-art available techniques that could be used for
      in vivo detect EtOH and ACD both non-invasively (magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy), and invasively (microdialysis and biosensors). Among the different
      in vivo sampling techniques described, particular emphasis is paid to the field
      of enzyme-based amperometric biosensors. Biosensors have gained much attention in
      recent years for their ability to online monitor biological signals in vivo, and
      several micro- and nano-structured devices have been successfully used for in
      vivo studies. Owing to their high temporal and spatial resolution, biosensors
      could provide the adequate technology for studying in vivo EtOH pharmacokinetic.

PMID- 28611605
TI  - Different Roles for Honey Bee Mushroom Bodies and Central Complex in Visual
      Learning of Colored Lights in an Aversive Conditioning Assay.
AB  - The honey bee is an excellent visual learner, but we know little about how and
      why it performs so well, or how visual information is learned by the bee brain.
      Here we examined the different roles of two key integrative regions of the brain
      in visual learning: the mushroom bodies and the central complex. We tested bees'
      learning performance in a new assay of color learning that used electric shock as
      punishment. In this assay a light field was paired with electric shock. The other
      half of the conditioning chamber was illuminated with light of a different
      wavelength and not paired with shocks. The unrestrained bee could run away from
      the light stimulus and thereby associate one wavelength with punishment, and the
      other with safety. We compared learning performance of bees in which either the
      central complex or mushroom bodies had been transiently inactivated by
      microinjection of the reversible anesthetic procaine. Control bees learned to
      escape the shock-paired light field and to spend more time in the safe light
      field after a few trials. When ventral lobe neurons of the mushroom bodies were
      silenced, bees were no longer able to associate one light field with shock. By
      contrast, silencing of one collar region of the mushroom body calyx did not alter
      behavior in the learning assay in comparison to control treatment. Bees with
      silenced central complex neurons did not leave the shock-paired light field in
      the middle trials of training, even after a few seconds of being shocked. We
      discussed how mushroom bodies and the central complex both contribute to aversive
      visual learning with an operant component.

PMID- 28611606
TI  - Long-Term Sertraline Intake Reverses the Behavioral Changes Induced by Prenatal
      Stress in Rats in a Sex-Dependent Way.
AB  - Early life stress is a major factor underlying the vulnerability to respond to
      stressful events later in life. The present study attempted to evaluate the role
      of prenatal stress affecting the development of stress-related disorders and
      their reversion by postnatal exposure to Sertraline (SERT), a front-line
      medication for medication for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans. To
      achieve this, adult male and female prenatally stressed (PS) or unstressed
      (Controls) offspring rats, following oral chronic treatment with SERT (5
      mg/kg/day; from 1 month to 4 months old), or not, were studied prior to and after
      a traumatic event. First, anxiety-like behavior during the prepulse inhibition
      (PPI) test, a modulation of the startle reflex, was examined in all animals.
      Subsequently, the animals were subjected to a session of mild inescapable
      footshocks (IS; 0.35 mA, 5 s) in a shuttle box that was followed by 4 days of
      situational reminders in the aversive context. Prior to the footshocks no effects
      of PS or SERT were shown, and no changes in PPI and the habituation to the
      shuttle box were found. After them, PS led animals to exhibit behavioral
      alterations. When compared to the Controls, PS animals of both sexes displayed
      less rearing activity in the aversive environment. PS males responded less to
      footshock delivery and, in most of the animals, fear extinction was impaired.
      Moreover, the early postnatal exposure to SERT lessened the behavioral impact of
      PS in females, while in males it had no effect. Current results extend previous
      data from our laboratory, showing that PS heightened vulnerability to stress
      later on, and that SERT acts differently in males and females.

PMID- 28611607
TI  - Generating Executable Models of the Drosophila Central Complex.
AB  - The central complex (CX) is a set of neuropils in the center of the fly brain
      that have been implicated as playing an important role in vision-mediated
      behavior and integration of spatial information with locomotor control. In
      contrast to currently available data regarding the neural circuitry of neuropils
      in the fly's vision and olfactory systems, comparable data for the CX neuropils
      is relatively incomplete; many categories of neurons remain only partly
      characterized, and the synaptic connectivity between CX neurons has yet to be
      fully determined. Successful modeling of the information processing functions of
      the CX neuropils therefore requires a means of easily constructing and testing a
      range of hypotheses regarding both the high-level structure of their neural
      circuitry and the properties of their constituent neurons and synapses. To this
      end, we have created a web application that enables simultaneous graphical
      querying and construction of executable models of the CX neural circuitry based
      upon currently available information regarding the geometry and polarity of the
      arborizations of identified local and projection neurons in the CX. The
      application's novel functionality is made possible by the Fruit Fly Brain
      Observatory, a platform for collaborative study and development of fruit fly
      brain models.

PMID- 28611608
TI  - Coping Style Modifies General and Affective Autonomic Reactions of Domestic Pigs
      in Different Behavioral Contexts.
AB  - Based on individual adaptive strategies (coping), animals may react differently
      to environmental challenges in terms of behavior and physiology according to
      their emotional perception. Emotional valence as well as arousal may be derived
      by measuring vagal and sympathetic tone of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). We
      investigated the situation-dependent autonomic response of 16 domestic pigs with
      either a reactive or a proactive coping style, previously selected according to
      the backtest which is accepted in piglets to assess escape behavior. At 11 weeks
      of age, the pigs were equipped with an implantable telemetric device, and heart
      rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and their respective variabilities (HRV, BPV) were
      recorded for 1 h daily over a time period of 10 days and analyzed in four
      behavioral contexts (resting, feeding, idling, handling). Additionally, the first
      minute of feeding and handling was used for a short-term analysis of these
      parameters in 10-s intervals. Data from day 1-3 (period 1) and day 8-10 (period
      2) were grouped into two separate periods. Our results revealed general
      differences between the coping styles during feeding, resting and handling, with
      proactive pigs showing higher HR compared to reactive pigs. This elevated HR was
      based on either lower vagal (resting) or elevated sympathetic activation
      (feeding, handling). The short-term analysis of the autonomic activation during
      feeding revealed a physiological anticipation reaction in proactive pigs in
      period 1, whereas reactive pigs showed this reaction only in period 2. Food
      intake was characterized by sympathetic arousal with concurrent vagal withdrawal,
      which was more pronounced in proactive pigs. In contrast, neither coping style
      resulted in an anticipation reaction to handling. Vagal activation increased in
      reactive pigs during handling, while proactive pigs showed an increase in
      sympathetically driven arousal in period 2. Our findings confirm significant
      context-related differences in the general autonomic reaction of pigs with
      different coping styles. Additionally, the two coping styles differ in their
      affective appraisal over the time course of the experiment, underlining the
      importance of taking individual differences into account when studying affect and
      emotion in humans and animals.

PMID- 28611609
TI  - Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Post-stroke Chronic Aphasia: The
      Impact of Baseline Severity and Task Specificity in a Pilot Sample.
AB  - Emerging evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
      can improve aspects of language production in persons with chronic non-fluent
      aphasia due to left hemisphere stroke. However, to date, studies exploring
      factors that predict response to tDCS in this or any patient population remain
      sparse, as are studies that investigate the specific aspects of language
      performance that are most responsive to stimulation. The current study explored
      factors that could predict recovery of language fluency and which aspects of
      language fluency could be expected to improve with the identified factor(s). We
      report nine patients who demonstrated deficits in fluency as assessed using the
      Cookie Theft picture description task of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia
      Examination. In the treatment condition, subjects received a 2.0 mA current
      through 5 cm * 5 cm electrodes for 20 min at a site previously shown to elicit a
      patient-dependent optimal response to tDCS. They were then tested 2-weeks and 2
      months after treatment. In the sham condition, a subset of these subjects were
      tested on the same protocol with sham instead of real tDCS. The current study
      assessed language fluency improvements in measures of production at the word
      level and sentence level, grammatical accuracy, and lexical selection as a
      function of baseline aphasia severity. A more severe baseline language profile
      was associated with larger improvements in fluency at the word-level after real
      tDCS but not sham stimulation. These improvements were maintained at the 2-week
      follow-up. The results suggest that for at least some outcome measures, baseline
      severity may be an important factor in predicting the response to tDCS in
      patients with chronic non-fluent aphasia. Moving forward, the ability to identify
      patient factors that can predict response could help refine strategies for the
      administration of therapeutic tDCS, focusing attention on those patients most
      likely to benefit from stimulation.

PMID- 28611610
TI  - Music Games: Potential Application and Considerations for Rhythmic Training.
AB  - Rhythmic skills are natural and widespread in the general population. The
      majority can track the beat of music and move along with it. These abilities are
      meaningful from a cognitive standpoint given their tight links with prominent
      motor and cognitive functions such as language and memory. When rhythmic skills
      are challenged by brain damage or neurodevelopmental disorders, remediation
      strategies based on rhythm can be considered. For example, rhythmic training can
      be used to improve motor performance (e.g., gait) as well as cognitive and
      language skills. Here, we review the games readily available in the market and
      assess whether they are well-suited for rhythmic training. Games that train
      rhythm skills may serve as useful tools for retraining motor and cognitive
      functions in patients with motor or neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g.,
      Parkinson's disease, dyslexia, or ADHD). Our criteria were the peripheral used to
      capture and record the response, the type of response and the output measure.
      None of the existing games provides sufficient temporal precision in stimulus
      presentation and/or data acquisition. In addition, games do not train selectively
      rhythmic skills. Hence, the available music games, in their present form, are not
      satisfying for training rhythmic skills. Yet, some features such as the device
      used, the interface or the game scenario provide good indications for devising
      efficient training protocols. Guidelines are provided for devising serious music
      games targeting rhythmic training in the future.

PMID- 28611611
TI  - A Synchronous Motor Imagery Based Neural Physiological Paradigm for Brain
      Computer Interface Speller.
AB  - Brain Computer Interface (BCI) speller is a typical BCI-based application to help
      paralyzed patients express their thoughts. This paper proposed a novel motor
      imagery based BCI speller with Oct-o-spell paradigm for word input. Furthermore,
      an intelligent input method was used for improving the performance of the BCI
      speller. For the English word spelling experiment, we compared synchronous
      control with previous asynchronous control under the same experimental condition.
      There were no significant differences between these two control methods in the
      classification accuracy, information transmission rate (ITR) or letters per
      minute (LPM). And the accuracy rates of over 70% validated the feasibility for
      these two control strategies. It was indicated that MI-based synchronous control
      protocol was feasible for BCI speller. And the efficiency of the predictive text
      entry (PTE) mode was superior to that of the Non-PTE mode.

PMID- 28611612
TI  - Spasticity Measurement Based on Tonic Stretch Reflex Threshold in Children with
      Cerebral Palsy Using the PediAnklebot.
AB  - Nowadays, objective measures are becoming prominent in spasticity assessment, to
      overcome limitations of clinical scales. Among others, Tonic Stretch Reflex
      Threshold (TSRT) showed promising results. Previous studies demonstrated the
      validity and reliability of TSRT in spasticity assessment at elbow and ankle
      joints in adults. Purposes of the present study were to assess: (i) the
      feasibility of measuring TSRT to evaluate spasticity at the ankle joint in
      children with Cerebral Palsy (CP), and (ii) the correlation between objective
      measures and clinical scores. A mechatronic device, the pediAnklebot, was used to
      impose 50 passive stretches to the ankle of 10 children with CP and 3 healthy
      children, to elicit muscles response at 5 different velocities. Surface
      electromyography, angles, and angular velocities were recorded to compute dynamic
      stretch reflex threshold; TSRT was computed with a linear regression through
      angles and angular velocities. TSRTs for the most affected side of children with
      CP resulted into the biomechanical range (95.7 +/- 12.9 degrees  and 86.7 +/-
      17.4 degrees  for Medial and Lateral Gastrocnemius, and 75.9 +/- 12.5 degrees 
      for Tibialis Anterior). In three patients, the stretch reflex was not elicited in
      the less affected side. TSRTs were outside the biomechanical range in healthy
      children. However, no correlation was found between clinical scores and TSRT
      values. Here, we demonstrated the capability of TSRT to discriminate between
      spastic and non-spastic muscles, while no significant outcomes were found for the
      dorsiflexor muscle.

PMID- 28611613
TI  - Simultaneous Processing of Noun Cue and to-be-Produced Verb in Verb Generation
      Task: Electromagnetic Evidence.
AB  - A long-standing but implicit assumption is that words strongly associated with a
      presented cue are automatically activated in the memory through rapid spread of
      activation within brain semantic networks. The current study was aimed to provide
      direct evidence of such rapid access to words' semantic representations and to
      investigate its neural sources using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and distributed
      source localization technique. Thirty-three neurotypical subjects underwent the
      MEG recording during verb generation task, which was to produce verbs related to
      the presented noun cues. Brain responses evoked by the noun cues were examined
      while manipulating the strength of association between the noun and the potential
      verb responses. The strong vs. weak noun-verb association led to a greater noun
      related neural response at 250-400 ms after cue onset, and faster verb
      production. The cortical sources of the differential response were localized in
      left temporal pole, previously implicated in semantic access, and left
      ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), thought to subserve controlled semantic
      retrieval. The strength of the left VLPFC's response to the nouns with strong
      verb associates was positively correlated to the speed of verbs production. Our
      findings empirically validate the theoretical expectation that in case of a
      strongly connected noun-verb pair, successful access to target verb
      representation may occur already at the stage of lexico-semantic analysis of the
      presented noun. Moreover, the MEG results suggest that contrary to the previous
      conclusion derived from fMRI studies left VLPFC supports selection of the target
      verb representations, even if they were retrieved from semantic memory rapidly
      and effortlessly. The discordance between MEG and fMRI findings in verb
      generation task may stem from different modes of neural activation captured by
      phase-locked activity in MEG and slow changes of blood-oxygen-level-dependent
      (BOLD) signal in fMRI.

PMID- 28611615
TI  - Online EEG-Based Workload Adaptation of an Arithmetic Learning Environment.
AB  - In this paper, we demonstrate a closed-loop EEG-based learning environment, that
      adapts instructional learning material online, to improve learning success in
      students during arithmetic learning. The amount of cognitive workload during
      learning is crucial for successful learning and should be held in the optimal
      range for each learner. Based on EEG data from 10 subjects, we created a
      prediction model that estimates the learner's workload to obtain an unobtrusive
      workload measure. Furthermore, we developed an interactive learning environment
      that uses the prediction model to estimate the learner's workload online based on
      the EEG data and adapt the difficulty of the learning material to keep the
      learner's workload in an optimal range. The EEG-based learning environment was
      used by 13 subjects to learn arithmetic addition in the octal number system,
      leading to a significant learning effect. The results suggest that it is feasible
      to use EEG as an unobtrusive measure of cognitive workload to adapt the learning
      content. Further it demonstrates that a promptly workload prediction is possible
      using a generalized prediction model without the need for a user-specific
      calibration.

PMID- 28611614
TI  - Functional and Structural Network Recovery after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A 1
      Year Longitudinal Study.
AB  - Brain connectivity after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has not been
      investigated longitudinally with respect to both functional and structural
      networks together within the same patients, crucial to capture the multifaceted
      neuropathology of the injury and to comprehensively monitor the course of
      recovery and compensatory reorganizations at macro-level. We performed a
      prospective study with 49 mTBI patients at an average of 5 days and 1 year post
      injury and 49 healthy controls. Neuropsychological assessments as well as resting
      state functional and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging were obtained.
      Functional and structural connectome analyses were performed using network-based
      statistics. They included a cross-sectional group comparison and a longitudinal
      analysis with the factors group and time. The latter tracked the subnetworks
      altered at the early phase and, in addition, included a whole-brain group * time
      interaction analysis. Finally, we explored associations between the evolution of
      connectivity and changes in cognitive performance. The early phase of mTBI was
      characterized by a functional hypoconnectivity in a subnetwork with a large
      overlap of regions involved within the classical default mode network. In
      addition, structural hyperconnectivity in a subnetwork including central hub
      areas such as the cingulate cortex was found. The impaired functional and
      structural subnetworks were strongly correlated and revealed a large anatomical
      overlap. One year after trauma and compared to healthy controls we observed a
      partial normalization of both subnetworks along with a considerable compensation
      of functional and structural connectivity subsequent to the acute phase.
      Connectivity changes over time were correlated with improvements in working
      memory, divided attention, and verbal recall. Neuroplasticity-induced recovery or
      compensatory processes following mTBI differ between brain regions with respect
      to their time course and are not fully completed 1 year after trauma.

PMID- 28611618
TI  - Potential Mechanisms and Functions of Intermittent Neural Synchronization.
AB  - Neural synchronization is believed to play an important role in different brain
      functions. Synchrony in cortical and subcortical circuits is frequently variable
      in time and not perfect. Few long intervals of desynchronized dynamics may be
      functionally different from many short desynchronized intervals although the
      average synchrony may be the same. Recent analysis of imperfect synchrony in
      different neural systems reported one common feature: neural oscillations may go
      out of synchrony frequently, but primarily for a short time interval. This study
      explores potential mechanisms and functional advantages of this short
      desynchronizations dynamics using computational neuroscience techniques. We show
      that short desynchronizations are exhibited in coupled neurons if their delayed
      rectifier potassium current has relatively large values of the voltage-dependent
      activation time-constant. The delayed activation of potassium current is
      associated with generation of quickly-rising action potential. This "spikiness"
      is a very general property of neurons. This may explain why very different neural
      systems exhibit short desynchronization dynamics. We also show how the
      distribution of desynchronization durations may be independent of the
      synchronization strength. Finally, we show that short desynchronization dynamics
      requires weaker synaptic input to reach a pre-set synchrony level. Thus, this
      dynamics allows for efficient regulation of synchrony and may promote efficient
      formation of synchronous neural assemblies.

PMID- 28611616
TI  - Differential Functional Connectivity Alterations of Two Subdivisions within the
      Right dlPFC in Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) often show impairments in
      executive function (EF) like decision-making and action control. The right
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) has been strongly implicated in EF in
      healthy subjects and has repeatedly been reported to show alterations related to
      EF impairment in PD. Recently, two key regions for cognitive action control have
      been identified within the right dlPFC by co-activation based parcellation. While
      the posterior region is engaged in rather basal EF like stimulus integration and
      working memory, the anterior region has a more abstract, supervisory function. To
      investigate whether these functionally distinct subdivisions of right dlPFC are
      differentially affected in PD, we analyzed resting-state functional connectivity
      (FC) in 39 PD patients and 44 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Patients
      were examined both after at least 12 h withdrawal of dopaminergic drugs (OFF) and
      under their regular dopaminergic medication (ON). We found that only the
      posterior right dlPFC subdivision shows FC alterations in PD, while the anterior
      part remains unaffected. PD-related decreased FC with posterior right dlPFC was
      found in the bilateral medial posterior parietal cortex (mPPC) and left dorsal
      premotor region (PMd) in the OFF state. In the medical ON, FC with left PMd
      normalized, while decoupling with bilateral mPPC remained. Furthermore, we
      observed increased FC between posterior right dlPFC and the bilateral dorsomedial
      prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) in PD in the ON state. Our findings point to
      differential disturbances of right dlPFC connectivity in PD, which relate to its
      hierarchical organization of EF processing by stronger affecting the functionally
      basal posterior aspect than the hierarchically higher anterior part.

PMID- 28611619
TI  - Hammering Does Not Fit Fitts' Law.
AB  - While movement is essential to human wellbeing, we are still unable to reproduce
      the deftness and robustness of human movement in automatons or completely restore
      function to individuals with many types of motor impairment. To better understand
      how the human nervous system plans and controls movements, neuromechanists employ
      simple tasks such as upper extremity reaches and isometric force tasks. However,
      these simple tasks rarely consider impacts and may not capture aspects of motor
      control that arise from real-world complexity. Here we compared existing models
      of motor control with the results of a periodic targeted impact task extended
      from Bernstein's seminal work: hammering a nail into wood. We recorded impact
      forces and kinematics from 10 subjects hammering at different frequencies and
      with hammers with different physical properties (mass and face area). We found
      few statistical differences in most measures between different types of hammer,
      demonstrating human robustness to minor changes in dynamics. Because human motor
      control is thought to obey optimality principles, we also developed a feedforward
      optimal simulation with a neuromechanically inspired cost function that
      reproduces the experimental data. However, Fitts' Law, which relates movement
      time to distance traveled and target size, did not match our experimental data.
      We therefore propose a new model in which the distance moved is a logarithmic
      function of the time to move that yields better results (R2 >= 0.99 compared to
      R2 >= 0.88). These results support the argument that humans control movement in
      an optimal way, but suggest that Fitts' Law may not generalize to periodic impact
      tasks.

PMID- 28611617
TI  - Prediction of the Seizure Suppression Effect by Electrical Stimulation via a
      Computational Modeling Approach.
AB  - In this paper, we identified factors that can affect seizure suppression via
      electrical stimulation by an integrative study based on experimental and
      computational approach. Preferentially, we analyzed the characteristics of
      seizure-like events (SLEs) using our previous in vitro experimental data. The
      results were analyzed in two groups classified according to the size of the
      effective region, in which the SLE was able to be completely suppressed by local
      stimulation. However, no significant differences were found between these two
      groups in terms of signal features or propagation characteristics (i.e.,
      propagation delays, frequency spectrum, and phase synchrony). Thus, we further
      investigated important factors using a computational model that was capable of
      evaluating specific influences on effective region size. In the proposed model,
      signal transmission between neurons was based on two different mechanisms:
      synaptic transmission and the electrical field effect. We were able to induce
      SLEs having similar characteristics with differentially weighted adjustments for
      the two transmission methods in various noise environments. Although the SLEs had
      similar characteristics, their suppression effects differed. First of all, the
      suppression effect occurred only locally where directly received the stimulation
      effect in the high noise environment, but it occurred in the entire network in
      the low noise environment. Interestingly, in the same noise environment, the
      suppression effect was different depending on SLE propagation mechanism; only a
      local suppression effect was observed when the influence of the electrical field
      transmission was very weak, whereas a global effect was observed with a stronger
      electrical field effect. These results indicate that neuronal activities
      synchronized by a strong electrical field effect respond more sensitively to
      partial changes in the entire network. In addition, the proposed model was able
      to predict that stimulation of a seizure focus region is more effective for
      suppression. In conclusion, we confirmed the possibility of a computational model
      as a simulation tool to analyze the efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) and
      investigated the key factors that determine the size of an effective region in
      seizure suppression via electrical stimulation.

PMID- 28611622
TI  - Psoriatic Alopecia in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent, and relatively common inflammatory
      dermatologic condition, which demonstrates various clinical manifestations
      including hair loss. It was once believed that alopecia was not a presentation of
      scalp psoriasis, but it is now widely accepted that psoriatic alopecia exists.
      Although the majority of patients get hair regrowth, it can potentially lead to
      permanent hair loss. Herein, we report a case of 26-year-old female patient with
      systemic lupus erythematosus who presented with scalp hair loss and nonpruritic
      scaly plaques on the scalp. Her clinical presentation, dermoscopic, and
      histopathologic findings were consistent with psoriatic alopecia. Additionally,
      we also described a novel scalp dermoscopic pattern of "patchy dotted vessels"
      which we detected in the lesion of scalp psoriasis.

PMID- 28611620
TI  - ATPP: A Pipeline for Automatic Tractography-Based Brain Parcellation.
AB  - There is a longstanding effort to parcellate brain into areas based on micro
      structural, macro-structural, or connectional features, forming various brain
      atlases. Among them, connectivity-based parcellation gains much emphasis,
      especially with the considerable progress of multimodal magnetic resonance
      imaging in the past two decades. The Brainnetome Atlas published recently is such
      an atlas that follows the framework of connectivity-based parcellation. However,
      in the construction of the atlas, the deluge of high resolution multimodal MRI
      data and time-consuming computation poses challenges and there is still short of
      publically available tools dedicated to parcellation. In this paper, we present
      an integrated open source pipeline (https://www.nitrc.org/projects/atpp), named
      Automatic Tractography-based Parcellation Pipeline (ATPP) to realize the
      framework of parcellation with automatic processing and massive parallel
      computing. ATPP is developed to have a powerful and flexible command line
      version, taking multiple regions of interest as input, as well as a user-friendly
      graphical user interface version for parcellating single region of interest. We
      demonstrate the two versions by parcellating two brain regions, left precentral
      gyrus and middle frontal gyrus, on two independent datasets. In addition, ATPP
      has been successfully utilized and fully validated in a variety of brain regions
      and the human Brainnetome Atlas, showing the capacity to greatly facilitate brain
      parcellation.

PMID- 28611623
TI  - Visual Loss Induced by Adalimumab Used for Plaque Psoriasis.
AB  - A 61-year-old Caucasian male with severe plaque psoriasis without joint
      involvement was initiated on adalimumab therapy. Shortly thereafter he presented
      to the emergency room with acute loss of vision in the right eye. A comprehensive
      systemic workup was instituted which included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      with and without gadolinium of the brain and orbits. MRI revealed findings that
      were consistent with CNS demyelination and retrobulbar optic neuritis. Immediate
      cessation of adalimumab was instituted without any other systemic therapy.
      Complete return of vision occurred within 6 weeks. No additional psoriatic or
      neurologic treatment was instituted, and the patient has remained stable now for
      14 months.

PMID- 28611621
TI  - Whole Body Awareness for Controlling a Robotic Transfemoral Prosthesis.
AB  - Restoring locomotion functionality of transfemoral amputees is essential for
      early rehabilitation treatment and for preserving mobility and independence in
      daily life. Research in wearable robotics fostered the development of innovative
      active mechatronic lower-limb prostheses designed with the goal to reduce the
      cognitive and physical effort of lower-limb amputees in rehabilitation and daily
      life activities. To ensure benefits to the users, active mechatronic prostheses
      are expected to be aware of the user intention and properly interact in a closed
      human-in-the-loop paradigm. In the state of the art various cognitive interfaces
      have been proposed to online decode the user's intention. Electromyography in
      combination with mechanical sensing such as inertial or pressure sensors is a
      widely adopted solution for driving active mechatronic prostheses. In this
      framework, researchers also explored targeted muscles re-innervation for an
      objective-oriented surgical amputation promoting wider usability of active
      prostheses. However, information kept by the neural component of the cognitive
      interface deteriorates in a prolonged use scenario due to electrodes-related
      issues, thereby undermining the correct functionality of the active prosthesis.
      The objective of this work is to present a novel controller for an active
      transfemoral prosthesis based on whole body awareness relying on a wireless
      distributed non-invasive sensory apparatus acting as cognitive interface. A
      finite-state machine controller based on signals monitored from the wearable
      interface performs subject-independent intention detection of functional tasks
      such as ground level walking, stair ascent, and sit-to-stand maneuvres and their
      main sub-phases. Experimental activities carried out with four transfemoral
      amputees (among them one dysvascular) demonstrated high reliability of the
      controller capable of providing 100% accuracy rate in treadmill walking even for
      weak subjects and low walking speeds. The minimum success rate was of 94.8% in
      performing sit-to-stand tasks. All the participants showed high confidence in
      using the transfemoral active prosthesis even without training period thanks to
      intuitiveness of the whole body awareness controller.

PMID- 28611624
TI  - Flare-Up of Rheumatoid Arthritis by Anti-CTLA-4 Antibody but Not by Anti-PD1
      Therapy in a Patient with Metastatic Melanoma.
AB  - A 47-year-old female patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with
      methotrexate, was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. After surgical removal of
      the tumor, the patient started treatment with ipilimumab while methotrexate was
      stopped. One week after initiation of ipilimumab, the patient developed typical
      symptoms of RA. Analgetic therapy was started. After 4 cycles of ipilimumab,
      melanoma progression was radiologically evident. The treatment plan was changed
      to pembrolizumab (anti-PD1 antibody), and the patient did not show active signs
      of RA anymore. Despite treatment with pembrolizumab, the patient died 4 months
      later due to tumor progression. The exact mechanism by which ipilimumab (anti
      CTLA-4 antibody) provoked RA symptoms is still not fully understood. This subject
      needs more investigation, especially in an era in which immunotherapies are a
      standard therapy for patients with malignancy.

PMID- 28611625
TI  - Necrolytic Acral Erythema in Seronegative Hepatitis C.
AB  - Necrolytic acral erythema (NAE) is a distinctive skin disorder. The exact cause
      and pathogenesis is still unclear. Most studies report an association of NAE with
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We report a 64-year-old woman who presented
      with chronic mildly pruritic brownish to erythematous rashes on both lateral
      malleoli for 7 months. The clinical and histopathological findings were
      compatible with NAE. However, the serologic marker for HCV was negative.

PMID- 28611626
TI  - Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma Mimicking Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and
      Systemic Symptoms (DRESS Syndrome).
AB  - Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITCL) is a rare, aggressive lymphoma which
      derives from follicular helper T cells, commonly affecting the elderly
      population. It accounts for 2% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas, with a reported 5
      year overall survival rate of less than 30%. Very often, the clinical picture of
      AITCL encompasses systemic symptoms such as generalized lymphadenopathy,
      hepatosplenomegaly, skin rash, anemia, and polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia.
      Here we report on the case of a female patient who presented with clinical
      features resembling drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS
      syndrome) prior to the definitive diagnosis of AITCL. The index of suspicion for
      cutaneous manifestations of lymphoma, and especially AITCL, must be high,
      particularly in atypical clinical courses of drug eruptions or if skin lesions
      relapse and are refractory to standard high-dose systemic corticosteroids.

PMID- 28611627
TI  - Panniculitis Associated with MEK Inhibitor Therapy: An Uncommon Adverse Effect.
AB  - The combination of MEK inhibitor (cobimetinib, trametinib) and BRAF inhibitor
      (vemurafenib, dabrafenib) is now the first-line treatment in patients with BRAF
      V600-mutated metastatic melanoma. This association reduces cutaneous adverse
      events induced by BRAF inhibitors alone, including photosensitivity, hand-foot
      syndrome, hyperkeratosis, alopecia, skin papillomas, keratoacanthomas, and
      squamous-cell carcinomas. While panniculitis has exceptionally been reported with
      BRAF inhibitors, this rare side effect has never been described with the use of
      MEK inhibitors. We present here the first observation of panniculitis strictly
      induced by MEK inhibitors. Indeed, 10 days after the initiation of combined
      treatment with cobimetinib and vemurafenib for metastatic melanoma, our patient
      developed panniculitis predominantly on the upper and lower extremities. These
      cutaneous nodules disappeared during cobimetinib intermissions and recurred while
      the molecule was resumed. Recurrence of cutaneous nodules was observed after
      initiation of trametinib combined with dabrafenib, and resolved once again with
      trametinib discontinuation. We believe that clinicians should be aware of this
      cutaneous adverse event in patients treated with combined therapy, which can lead
      to unfounded BRAF inhibitor treatment discontinuation and compromise the
      antitumor response. Our case suggests a class effect linked with the MEK
      inhibition pharmacodynamic activity. Finally, laboratory investigation and
      histopathological examination are mandatory to exclude other panniculitis
      etiologies and subcutaneous metastasis of melanoma.

PMID- 28611628
TI  - Overlapping DRESS and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome: Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - Drug-induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) include acute generalized
      exanthematous pustulosis, drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms
      (DRESS), and epidermal necrolysis (Stevens-Johnson syndrome [SJS], toxic
      epidermal necrolysis). The identification of the causal drug is crucial in order
      to avoid further exposure, but making the right differential diagnosis of the
      type of SCAR is equally important since treatment, follow-up, and prognosis of
      different SCARs are not the same. These syndromes are distinct entities with
      different clinical, biological, and histological patterns, but sometimes the
      early distinction between 2 SCARs can be extremely challenging, and overlapping
      conditions could therefore be taken into consideration, although true overlapping
      SCARs are very rare when using strict diagnostic criteria (described by the
      RegiSCAR group). Only a better understanding of the physiopathology of the SCARs
      could possibly explain these ambiguities and overlaps. We report a case of SCAR
      in an 86-year-old patient probably induced by allopurinol and simultaneously
      fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for DRESS and SJS, thus considered as an
      overlapping case of SCARs.

PMID- 28611629
TI  - Cutaneous Corynebacterium Infection Presenting with Disseminated Skin Nodules and
      Ulceration.
AB  - In the context of the European migrant crisis, more and more cases of cutaneous
      diphtheria are seen. A typical presentation includes painful cutaneous
      ulcerations with grayish-whitish pseudomembranes. Here we present 2 male Eritrean
      patients suffering from cutaneous nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae
      (patient 1) and Corynebacterium striatum (patient 2) infection.

PMID- 28611630
TI  - Sweet's Syndrome Successfully Treated with Granulocyte and Monocyte Adsorption
      Apheresis.
AB  - Sweet's syndrome is a neutrophilic dermatosis characterized by an abrupt onset of
      painful erythematous lesions showing neutrophilic infiltrates in the dermis.
      Fever and an elevated neutrophil level are generally observed. Sweet's syndrome
      may be idiopathic, malignancy-associated, or drug-induced (mainly involving
      granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) administration). Although systemic
      corticosteroids are usually effective, the symptoms of Sweet's syndrome recur in
      some refractory cases. Herein, we report a case of a 55-year-old Japanese woman
      with recurrent symptoms of fever (>39 degrees C) and painful erythematous lesions
      on her four extremities, trunk, and neck. Laboratory findings revealed
      leukocytosis and high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and G-CSF. She was
      diagnosed with a recurrence of Sweet's syndrome, and was exclusively treated with
      granulocyte and monocyte adsorption apheresis (GMA) therapy once a week for 3
      consecutive weeks. After the first session of GMA therapy, all symptoms including
      the erythematous lesions and fever were completely resolved, and serum G-CSF
      level was reduced. Leukocyte count, neutrophil count, serum amyloid A protein,
      and CRP levels were restored within normal ranges by 2 weeks. Thus, GMA therapy
      can successfully treat a patient with recurrent Sweet's syndrome, potentially
      related to the restoration of elevated serum G-CSF levels.

PMID- 28611631
TI  - Successful Treatment of Chronic Staphylococcus aureus-Related Dermatoses with the
      Topical Endolysin Staphefekt SA.100: A Report of 3 Cases.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus plays an important role in skin and soft tissue infections
      and contributes to the pathophysiology of complex skin disorders such as atopic
      dermatitis. Bacterial resistance against commonly used antibiotics has increased
      considerably in the last decades demanding alternative treatment approaches. We
      present 3 cases where patients with chronic and recurrent S. aureus-related
      dermatoses were successfully treated with Staphefekt SA.100. Staphefekt SA.100 is
      a recombinant phage endolysin for topical skin application that specifically
      targets both methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant S. aureus. As a
      consequence of its specific mechanism of action, bacterial resistance is unlikely
      to develop. In our 3 cases, resistance induction was not observed. Our results
      indicate that targeted treatment with Staphefekt might be an attractive
      alternative for (long-term) classical antibiotic therapy, and confirmatory
      randomized controlled trials are warranted to evaluate its clinical efficacy and
      safety.

PMID- 28611632
TI  - Infliximab-Induced Aseptic Meningitis during the Treatment of Psoriatic
      Arthritis.
AB  - A 42-year-old Japanese man presented with persistent headache during treatment
      for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with infliximab. Treatment with infliximab was
      initiated 3 years before and the psoriatic skin lesions with arthritis were well
      controlled. However, after 21 doses of infliximab, the skin lesions and joint
      pain exacerbated and became intractable. Ten days after the dosage of infliximab
      was increased, the patient experienced headache and nausea with high fever. He
      had scaly, well-circumscribed erythemas on his trunk, extremities, and deformed
      nails. He also had swelling and pain in multiple joints. His complete blood and
      differential leukocyte counts were normal. The level of C-reactive protein was
      16.66 mg/dL, whereas anti-infliximab antibodies were absent. Nuchal rigidity was
      absent and there were no abnormal neurological findings; however, jolt test
      results were positive. Results from magnetic resonance imaging were normal,
      whereas those from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination were almost normal. The
      CSF contained mononuclear cells and was negative for bacteriological cultures,
      India ink staining, and polymerase chain reaction amplification of herpesvirus
      group DNA. Headache and nausea improved 2 months after infliximab was
      discontinued. The patient failed to respond to infliximab treatment for PsA, and
      we diagnosed infliximab-induced aseptic meningitis. Infliximab was discontinued
      and treatment with ustekinumab and methotrexate was initiated. Thereafter, the
      psoriatic skin lesion and joint pain gradually improved. Infliximab-induced
      aseptic meningitis may be a differential diagnosis when symptoms of meningitis
      develop during infliximab administration.

PMID- 28611633
TI  - Hematogenous Renal Cell Carcinoma Metastasis in the Postoperative Temporal Bone.
AB  - Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) involving the temporal bone is a rare
      entity. It is usually asymptomatic and misdiagnosis as acute otitis media,
      mastoiditis, and Ramsay-Hunt syndrome in early onset is not uncommon. We report a
      case of RCC metastasis to the postoperative temporal bone in the middle of
      molecular targeted therapy. A 60-year-old man presented left facial palsy with
      severe retro-auricular pain and he also underwent left middle ear surgery for
      cholesteatoma more than 30 years before and had been aware of discontinuous
      otorrhea; therefore, initially we speculated that facial palsy was derived from
      recurrent cholesteatoma or Ramsay-Hunt syndrome. Exploratory tympanotomy revealed
      RCC metastasis and postoperative MR indicated hematogenous metastasis. To the
      best of our knowledge, no report was obtained on temporal bone metastasis in the
      middle of chemotherapy or hematogenous metastasis in the postoperative middle
      ear. Metastasis in the temporal bone is still a possible pathological condition
      despite the development of present cancer therapy. Besides, this case indicates
      that hematogenous metastasis can occur in the postoperative state of the temporal
      bone.

PMID- 28611634
TI  - A Case of Noncuratively Resected Gastric Cancer and Postoperative Chemotherapy
      with S-1 Monotherapy Resulting in Long-Term Survival for Over 8 Years.
AB  - We report the case of a noncuratively resected gastric cancer patient who was
      successfully treated with S-1 monotherapy, resulting in long-term survival of 96
      months. A 72-year-old woman underwent noncurative resection of subtotal
      gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer with conglomerated lymph node metastasis
      and pancreatic invasion. She received chemotherapy with S-1 monotherapy
      postoperatively. S-1 (100 mg/day) was administered orally after breakfast and
      dinner for 28 days followed by a 14-day break for a total of 52 months. Regular
      checkups with esophagogastroduodenoscopy, abdominopelvic computed tomography, and
      fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography revealed no evidence
      of cancer 96 months after the operation. The patient was effectively treated with
      long-term administration of S-1 after noncurative gastrectomy for advanced
      gastric cancer.

PMID- 28611635
TI  - Difference in Neutropenia due to Administration Schedule of TAS-102.
AB  - TAS-102 significantly improves overall survival in patients with metastatic
      colorectal cancer. The most common adverse event of TAS-102 is bone marrow
      suppression, which leads to neutropenia. The incidence of neutropenia is high,
      and there is no known effective prevention method. Furthermore, the
      administration method of TAS-102 is complicated. We reported that neutropenia
      could be avoided by changing to a simple administration method of TAS-102.

PMID- 28611636
TI  - Autoimmune Diabetes and Thyroiditis Complicating Treatment with Nivolumab.
AB  - Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) ligand inhibitors have gained popularity in the
      treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. The immune system is regulated
      by stimulatory and inhibitory signaling and aims to achieve the balance between
      activation and inhibition. Treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors enhances
      immune response, but is also known to diminish immune tolerance and increase
      autoimmune toxicity. Here we present a case of a patient with advanced squamous
      cell lung cancer who developed type I diabetes and thyroiditis after treatment
      with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab. The presence of autoimmune diabetes
      mellitus and thyroiditis were confirmed by markedly elevated titers of the
      glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody and thyroid peroxidase antibody,
      respectively. This report serves to heighten awareness of potential autoimmune
      toxicities related to anti-PD-1 therapy, especially as these toxicities are
      manageable if identified in a timely manner.

PMID- 28611637
TI  - A Case of Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome Induced by
      Cisplatin/Pemetrexed Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer.
AB  - This report presents the case of a 60-year-old woman who was diagnosed with stage
      IV lung adenocarcinoma with asymptomatic brain metastases and commenced
      chemotherapy with cisplatin/pemetrexed (CDDP/Pem). She experienced tonic-clonic
      convulsions on day 9 of the first cycle, which were accompanied by increased
      blood pressure (173/69 mm Hg) and headache. Therefore, brain MRI was performed to
      check for stroke or progression of brain metastatic foci. T2-weighted, FLAIR, and
      ADC map images showed high-intensity areas in the subcortical region of the
      bilateral parieto-occipital lobes, leading to a diagnosis of posterior reversible
      encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). The symptoms improved after treatment with
      antihypertensive and antiepileptic drugs. Clinicians should keep it in mind that
      central nervous system symptoms during anticancer therapy containing Pem may
      indicate possible PRES.

PMID- 28611638
TI  - Rapid Disease Progression of Liver Metastases following Resection in a Liver
      Transplanted Patient with Probable Lynch Syndrome - A Case Report and Review of
      the Literature.
AB  - Solid organ transplantation provides life-saving therapy for patients with end
      stage organ disease, and its outcomes have been improving dramatically over the
      past few decades. However, substantial morbidity results from chronic
      immunosuppressive therapy administered to prevent graft rejection. It predisposes
      patients to several life-threatening complications, such as opportunistic
      microbial infections and the development of different types of cancers. Here, we
      presented the case of a young man with probable Lynch syndrome, who developed an
      aggressive colon carcinoma after long-term immunosuppressive therapy due to a
      prior liver transplantation. Based on this case report, we attempt to find an
      answer to the question about the risk of cancer development or recurrence in
      patients with familial syndromes receiving long-term immunosuppressive therapy
      and to find out how it can be minimized. Answering these questions is
      particularly important, given the facts that disease course is substantially more
      aggressive among transplanted patients and that prognosis is poor due to lack of
      immunocompetence, especially in the setting of Lynch syndrome.

PMID- 28611639
TI  - Superior Vena Cava Syndrome in a Patient with Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Case
      Report.
AB  - Superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome, a potential oncologic emergency, is closely
      associated with malignancy and right-sided lung cancer in particular. A case of
      SVC syndrome presenting with facial swelling, neck distension, and enlarged veins
      of the upper chest, which developed over a period of 5 weeks in a 46-year-old
      patient on a clinical trial with small-cell lung cancer, is reported. Computed
      tomography scan of the chest revealed slight enlargement of a superior
      conglomerate mediastinal lymphadenopathy and intramural thrombus of the SVC. The
      etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of the SVC syndrome are discussed.

PMID- 28611640
TI  - Visual Loss from Choroidal Melanoma Mimicking Neurological Syndromes.
AB  - Melanoma of the eye is rare, but can mimic a range of disorders. This report
      highlights 2 cases of choroidal melanoma with vision loss mimicking neurological
      diagnoses. The first patient is a 41-year-old white male with a known history of
      multiple sclerosis and a previous episode of optic neuritis in the right eye, who
      presented with a 6-month history of decreased vision in the same eye, and
      occasional photopsiae. He was treated with 2 courses of oral steroids for
      presumed recurrent optic neuritis. After a temporary improvement in his symptoms,
      his vision worsened, following which he had a head MRI, which revealed a solid
      intraocular mass. He was subsequently diagnosed with a choroidal melanoma for
      which he was treated successfully with ruthenium-106 plaque brachytherapy. The
      second patient is a 57-year-old female, who presented with a progressive
      cerebellar syndrome under investigation by the neurology service, as well as
      decreased vision in the right eye. Her visual acuity gradually deteriorated and
      her neurological assessment, which included a PET-CT, revealed uptake in the
      right eye. The diagnosis of a choroidal melanoma was made, and following
      conservative treatment with proton beam radiotherapy, she had an enucleation of
      the eye. Intraocular tumours can masquerade as many different entities.
      Unexplained unilateral visual loss, especially if it is atypical for a
      neurological syndrome, should prompt dilated fundoscopy and referral to an
      ophthalmologist.

PMID- 28611641
TI  - A Case of Anoxic Brain Injury Presenting with Agraphia of kanji in the
      Foreground.
AB  - A 63-year-old woman was hospitalized for rehabilitation from the aftereffects of
      an anoxic brain injury. In addition to a general cognitive decline, agraphia of
      kana and kanji was noted at the time of admission, which had advanced to agraphia
      which is dominant in kanji at the time of hospital discharge. Brain magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed no stroke lesions, and brain perfusion scintigraphy
      found a decreased blood flow in the bilateral parietal lobes. We hereby report on
      this case because case reports on agraphia caused by anoxic brain injury are
      extremely rare.

PMID- 28611642
TI  - A Case Report of Severe Delirium after Amantadine Withdrawal.
AB  - Amantadine is frequently used in addition to dopaminergic substances like
      dopamine agonists or L-Dopa in advanced Parkinson disease (PD). However, adverse
      effects like hallucinations limit its use. PD patients developing severe
      psychotic symptoms upon treatment with either dopaminergic substances and/or
      amantadine need to stop intake of any psychotropic substance. Here, we report the
      case of a 71-year-old PD patient without previously known cognitive impairment.
      He presented with drug-induced psychotic symptoms due to changes in his
      therapeutic regimen (increase in COMT inhibitors, newly introduced MAO B
      inhibitors). Also, amantadine had been part of his long-term medication for more
      than 2 years. The severity of his psychotic symptoms required a L-Dopa
      monotherapy. After changing his medication, the patient developed severe delirium
      that resolved rapidly after i.v. amantadine infusion, suggesting an amantadine
      withdrawal syndrome. Amantadine withdrawal syndrome is a rare adverse event that
      may present even in PD patients without cognitive impairment. This case report
      highlights the need for a gradual withdrawal of amantadine even if acute and
      severe psychotic symptoms are present. Moreover, this is the first report of a
      cognitively unimpaired patient developing an amantadine withdrawal syndrome.

PMID- 28611643
TI  - Uncommon Presentation of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension in a Patient with
      Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a rare condition
      characterized by increased intracranial pressure without clinical, laboratory, or
      radiological evidence of intracranial pathology. Early management could prevent
      irreversible outcomes. CASE PRESENTATION: A 17-year-old single Arabian female of
      Arab origin presented with a 2-day complaint of horizontal diplopia and transient
      visual obscurations. She denied any history of headache or decreased vision. The
      patient was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome a year prior to
      presentation. Examination revealed bilateral moderate papilledema and limited
      left eye abduction. However, visual acuity and fields were normal. Increased
      intracranial pressure was confirmed by lumbar puncture opening pressure (550 mm
      H<Sub>2</Sub>O). The cerebrospinal fluid composition and imaging of brain and
      cerebral venous system were normal. The diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial
      hypertension was confirmed and the patient was treated with acetazolamide 500 mg
      twice per day. The symptoms totally resolved within 3 days and the papilledema
      disappeared after 2 months. CONCLUSION: Awareness of such uncommon presentation
      of idiopathic intracranial hypertension emphasizes the critical importance of
      detailed ophthalmic examination and shows the good prognosis of early management.

PMID- 28611644
TI  - Conjunctival Chemosis Caused by Exposure of the Lacrimal Caruncle: A Case Report.
AB  - An 84-year-old woman presented with a 3-month history of conjunctival chemosis in
      the left eye. At the first examination, the chemosis neighbored the lacrimal
      caruncle and was localized in the inferomedial region of the conjunctiva. During
      eyelid closure, only the left lacrimal caruncle was exposed. One month later, the
      chemosis further extended to the inferolateral region. We debulked the lacrimal
      caruncle to prevent the exposure of the caruncle. One month after the surgery,
      conjunctival chemosis had resolved completely. At the postoperative 6-month
      follow-up, the patient showed no recurrence of chemosis.

PMID- 28611645
TI  - An Overwhelming Desire to Be Blind: Similarities and Differences between Body
      Integrity Identity Disorder and the Wish for Blindness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The urge to be permanently blind is an extremely rare mental health
      disturbance. The underlying cause of this desire has not been determined yet, and
      it is uncertain whether the wish for blindness is a condition that can be
      included in the context of body integrity identity disorder, a condition where
      people feel an overwhelming need to be disabled, in many cases by amputation of a
      limb or through paralysis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to test the
      hypothesis that people with a desire for blindness suffer from a greater degree
      of visual stress in daily activities than people in a healthy visual control
      group. METHOD: We created a Likert scale questionnaire to measure visual stress,
      covering a wide range of everyday situations. The wish for blindness is extremely
      rare and worldwide only 5 people with an urge to be blind were found to
      participate in the study (4 female, 1 male). In addition, a control group of 35
      (28 female, 7 male) visually healthy people was investigated. Questions
      addressing issues that may be experienced by participants with a desire to be
      blind were integrated into the questionnaire. RESULTS: The hypothesis that people
      with a desire for blindness suffer from a significantly higher visual overload in
      activities of daily living than visually healthy subjects was confirmed; the
      significance of visual stress between these groups was p < 0.01. In addition, an
      interview with the 5 affected participants supported the causal role of visual
      overload. CONCLUSIONS: The desire for blindness seems to originate from visual
      overload caused by either ophthalmologic or organic brain disturbances. In
      addition, psychological reasons such as certain personal character traits may
      play an active role in developing, maintaining, and reinforcing one's desire to
      be blind.

PMID- 28611646
TI  - Corneal Cross-Linking as a Treatment for Fungal Keratitis Associated with Corneal
      Melting.
AB  - We present the case of a young male that suffered from fungal corneal abscess and
      corneal melting. The patient was treated successfully by corneal cross-linking.
      Taking into account our experience from this case, we offer to consider corneal
      cross-linking as a therapeutic option in cases of fungal keratitis.

PMID- 28611647
TI  - Pediatric Bilateral Blue Laser Pointer-Induced Maculopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We report the first case of pediatric bilateral blue laser pointer
      maculopathy with complete resolution of visual symptoms. CASE: A 12-year-old boy
      presented with bilateral decreased visual acuity and central scotomata after blue
      laser pointer exposure. He was treated with a Medrol Dosepak and topical
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), with gradual visual acuity improved
      from 20/40 OU to 20/20 OU over 22 weeks, but with persistent evidence of outer
      retinal layer disruption from the external limiting membrane to the
      interdigitation zone. CONCLUSION: Oral steroids and topical NSAIDs may be
      effective in improving visual outcomes in laser pointer maculopathy in the
      pediatric population.

PMID- 28611648
TI  - Complete Recovery from Blindness in Case of Compressive Optic Neuropathy due to
      Unruptured Anterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysm.
AB  - It is not common for an isolated visual symptom to be the first indication of an
      aneurysm compressing the optic nerve. The compression can lead to blindness, and
      a recovery from the blindness is rare. We report a female with a left painless
      optic neuropathy caused by an unruptured anterior cerebral artery aneurysm. The
      patient had a temporal hemianopic visual field defect, which progressed to
      blindness in the left eye, while the right visual function was not affected. A
      coil embolization of the aneurysm completely restored her visual acuity to 20/20.
      These findings suggest that aneurysmal lesions should be ruled out in case of
      unilateral optic neuropathy with hemianopic visual field defects and progressive
      visual loss.

PMID- 28611649
TI  - A Case of Diabetic Macular Edema with Prominent Chorioretinal Folds.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of diabetic macular edema with prominent chorioretinal
      folds. CASE REPORT: This study involved a 55-year-old male with untreated
      bilateral diabetic retinopathy who had undergone cataract surgery at another
      clinic. Following that surgery, diabetic macular edema rapidly exacerbated,
      accentuating marked cystoid macular edema and radial chorioretinal folds in the
      macula. Investigation of his medical history revealed that in addition to
      diabetes, he had uncontrolled hypertension and severe diabetic nephropathy.
      Vitreous surgery was performed on both eyes due to a resistance to a subtenon
      injection of triamcinolone acetonide or intravitreal injection of an antivascular
      endothelial growth factor agent. After surgery, the macular edema and
      chorioretinal folds showed a tendency towards improvement. Thereafter, kidney
      transplant surgery was performed for renal failure, and a mild tendency of
      chorioretinal folds was observed. CONCLUSION: In the case presented in this
      study, we observed remarkable cystoid macular edema in the fovea centralis and
      theorize that distortion with the surrounding tissue might have occurred, thus
      leading to the formation of chorioretinal folds around the macula.

PMID- 28611650
TI  - Anterior 360 degrees  Synechiolysis in a Case of Late Iridocorneal Adhesions
      after 25-G Vitrectomy: Surgical and Physiopathogenetic Aspects.
AB  - We describe the case of an 86-year-old patient, pseudophakic in both eyes and
      with high myopia, who had previously had a 25-G vitrectomy with 20% C3F8 used as
      a tamponade due to a total retinal detachment with choroidal hemorrhages and
      macular hole. At the postoperative 4-month follow-up, we found 360 degrees 
      iridocorneal synechiae with elevated intraocular pressure due to angle closure in
      all sectors, with an adherent retina and in the absence of choroidal
      hemorrhage/detachment and of corneal edema or endothelial damage. The patient
      was, therefore, hospitalized to receive 360 degrees  anterior synechiolysis with
      a single opening to the corneal limbus, like in paracentesis, with topical
      anesthesia. We have tried to study the possible causes of this case history.
      However, it should be recognized that the development of iridocorneal synechiae
      and the rise of intraocular pressure can be a possible complication of air/C3F8
      vitrectomy, which cannot be managed with medical therapy. It will be essential to
      monitor the situation and to hospitalize the patient for surgical synechiolysis
      to restore the normal anatomy and physiology and to correct the ocular
      hypertension. During the vitrectomy, we will have to introduce in advance an
      adequate amount of viscoelastic material in the anterior chamber and to perform a
      preventive surgical iridectomy, even if the iridocorneal angle is open in all
      sectors.

PMID- 28611651
TI  - Usefulness of Intravitreal Bevacizumab for Retinopathy of Prematurity with
      Severely Dilated Tunica Vasculosa Lentis and Poor Mydriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laser therapy has been the gold standard treatment for retinopathy of
      prematurity (ROP), while intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) is reported to be of
      significant benefit for zone I ROP. A problem with laser therapy is that it is
      difficult to administer in ROP patients with severely dilated tunica vasculosa
      lentis and poor mydriasis. However, although IVB treatment has been performed in
      such severe ROP cases, only 1 report has discussed its usefulness. CASE 1: A male
      infant was born with a birth weight of 382 g at 23 weeks' gestation. As
      visualization was poor and laser therapy could not be performed due to dilated
      tunica vasculosa lentis and poor mydriasis, IVB (0.625 mg/0.025 mL) was
      administered to both eyes. Following treatment, the ROP gradually improved, with
      regression of the dilated tunica vasculosa lentis and improvement of the
      mydriasis in both eyes. CASE 2: A male infant was born with a birth weight of 698
      g at 25 weeks' gestation. As laser therapy could not be performed due to severely
      dilated tunica vasculosa lentis and poor mydriasis, IVB (0.625 mg/0.025 mL) was
      administered to both eyes. Following treatment, the ROP gradually improved, with
      regression of the dilated tunica vasculosa lentis and improvement of the
      mydriasis in both eyes. CONCLUSIONS: IVB is potentially more useful than laser
      therapy for the treatment of severe ROP with dilated tunica vasculosa lentis and
      poor mydriasis.

PMID- 28611652
TI  - A Novel ABCA4 Mutation Associated with a Late-Onset Stargardt Disease Phenotype:
      A Hypomorphic Allele?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stargardt disease (STGD) is the most common juvenile hereditary
      macular dystrophy. In the majority of cases, the diagnosis is made prior to 20
      years of age and usually leads to loss of central vision. Late-onset STGD affects
      a smaller number of patients. Identifying genetic changes which could be
      associated with clinically important differences in severity or presentation of
      the disease is important for understanding the mechanisms of visual loss and for
      planning future therapeutic approaches. METHODS: We report a patient with the
      classic phenotype of STGD with late-onset mild disease exhibiting a slow clinical
      progression over 14 months of follow-up. RESULTS: A 37-year-old man presented
      with STGD and good vision of 6/24 in the right eye and of 6/6 in the left eye as
      well as typical electrophysiology findings. Objective and subjective visual
      deterioration was not noted over a period of 14 months. Macular genetic testing
      revealed a novel missense mutation in ABCA4 (Thr829Met) combined with Gly1961Glu,
      a classic STGD mutation usually associated with a moderately severe phenotype.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the Thr829Met mutation could give rise to a
      hypomorphic allele of the ABC transporter with a resultant phenotype of
      comparatively mild STGD.

PMID- 28611653
TI  - Familial Retinal Arteriolar Tortuosity with Acute Hippocampal Infarction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of familial retinal arteriolar tortuosity with acute
      hippocampal infarction. METHOD: Single-patient case report. RESULTS: A 50-year
      old woman presented with blurred vision and was found to have cataract, retinal
      hemorrhages, and tortuous retinal arterioles in both eyes. Similar findings of
      tortuous retinal arterioles were observed in her daughter and son. In her past
      history of 6 years prior to the visit, she had been diagnosed with transient
      global amnesia after brain magnetic resonance imaging, which showed hippocampal
      infarction and multiple chronic ischemic lesions in the periventricular and
      subcortical white matter. CONCLUSION: Familial retinal arteriolar tortuosity is
      known to affect the retinal vessels only. To our knowledge, this is the first
      report of ischemic injury to the brain in a patient with familial retinal
      arteriolar tortuosity.

PMID- 28611654
TI  - Age-Related Gene Expression in the Frontal Cortex Suggests Synaptic Function
      Changes in Specific Inhibitory Neuron Subtypes.
AB  - Genome-wide expression profiling of the human brain has revealed genes that are
      differentially expressed across the lifespan. Characterizing these genes adds to
      our understanding of both normal functions and pathological conditions.
      Additionally, the specific cell-types that contribute to the motor, sensory and
      cognitive declines during aging are unclear. Here we test if age-related genes
      show higher expression in specific neural cell types. Our study leverages data
      from two sources of murine single-cell expression data and two sources of age
      associations from large gene expression studies of postmortem human brain. We
      used nonparametric gene set analysis to test for age-related enrichment of genes
      associated with specific cell-types; we also restricted our analyses to specific
      gene ontology groups. Our analyses focused on a primary pair of single-cell
      expression data from the mouse visual cortex and age-related human post-mortem
      gene expression information from the orbitofrontal cortex. Additional pairings
      that used data from the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, somatosensory cortex and
      blood were used to validate and test specificity of our findings. We found robust
      age-related up-regulation of genes that are highly expressed in oligodendrocytes
      and astrocytes, while genes highly expressed in layer 2/3 glutamatergic neurons
      were down-regulated across age. Genes not specific to any neural cell type were
      also down-regulated, possibly due to the bulk tissue source of the age-related
      genes. A gene ontology-driven dissection of the cell-type enriched genes
      highlighted the strong down-regulation of genes involved in synaptic transmission
      and cell-cell signaling in the Somatostatin (Sst) neuron subtype that expresses
      the cyclin dependent kinase 6 (Cdk6) and in the vasoactive intestinal peptide
      (Vip) neuron subtype expressing myosin binding protein C, slow type (Mybpc1).
      These findings provide new insights into cell specific susceptibility to normal
      aging, and suggest age-related synaptic changes in specific inhibitory neuron
      subtypes.

PMID- 28611655
TI  - Obesity and Co-morbid Conditions Are Associated with Specific Neuropsychiatric
      Symptoms in Mild Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) in MCI, and midlife obesity increase
      the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. It is unknown whether obesity
      or related health conditions modify the risk of NPS or severity of cognitive
      impairment in MCI. Methods: One hundred and thirteen subjects with MCI were
      assessed near the time of MCI diagnosis. The sample was divided by BMI and
      related disorders, type-2 diabetes (T2D) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to
      measure the relationship of these groups with NPS and severity of MCI. NPSs
      scores were evaluated based on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI
      Q) and Geriatric Depression Scale, along with NPI-Q clusters. MCI-severity was
      estimated based on a composite z-score of neuropsychological tests. Results:
      Obese and overweight subjects represented 65% of the sample and were on average 7
      years younger than normal weight subjects. The presence of obesity, T2D and OSA
      status modified the prevalence and severity of specific NPI-Q symptom clusters,
      specifically affective symptoms were more frequent across groups and severe in OB
      and T2D. Total NPS scores were higher for subjects with T2D and OSA although MCI
      severity did not differ across groups. Conclusion: MCI subjects with obesity, T2D
      and OSA demonstrated a higher susceptibility to psychopathologic changes.

PMID- 28611656
TI  - Dissecting the Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegenerative Diseases through Network
      Biology.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases are rarely caused by a mutation in a single gene but
      rather influenced by a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental
      factors. Emerging high-throughput technologies such as RNA sequencing have been
      instrumental in deciphering the molecular landscape of neurodegenerative
      diseases, however, the interpretation of such large amounts of data remains a
      challenge. Network biology has become a powerful platform to integrate multiple
      omics data to comprehensively explore the molecular networks in the context of
      health and disease. In this review article, we highlight recent advances in
      network biology approaches with an emphasis in brain-networks that have provided
      insights into the molecular mechanisms leading to the most prevalent
      neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's (PD) and
      Huntington's diseases (HD). We discuss how integrative approaches using multi
      omics data from different tissues have been valuable for identifying biomarkers
      and therapeutic targets. In addition, we discuss the challenges the field of
      network medicine faces toward the translation of network-based findings into
      clinically actionable tools for personalized medicine applications.

PMID- 28611657
TI  - Vestibular Adaptations Induced by Gentle Physical Activity Are Reduced Among
      Older Women.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the ability of older individuals to maintain
      an efficient upright stance in contexts of vestibular sensory manipulation,
      according to their physical activity status. Two groups of healthy older women
      (aged over 65) free from any disorders (i.e., neurological, motor and metabolic
      disorders) and vestibular disturbances, participated in this study. One group
      comprised participants who regularly practiced gentle physical activities, i.e.,
      soft gym, aquarobic, active walking, ballroom dancing (active group, age: 73.4
      (5.8) years, n = 17), and one group comprised participants who did not practice
      physical activities (non-active group, age: 73.7 (8.1) years, n = 17). The
      postural control of the two groups was compared in a bipedal reference condition
      with their eyes open and two vestibular sensory manipulation conditions (i.e.,
      bipolar binaural galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) at 3 mA, in accordance
      with two designs). The main results indicate that there was no difference between
      the active and the non-active groups in all the conditions. It is likely that the
      aging process and the type of physical practice had limited the ability of the
      active group to counteract the effects of vestibular sensory manipulation on
      postural control more efficiently than the non-active group.

PMID- 28611658
TI  - Neuroprotective and Anti-Aging Potentials of Essential Oils from Aromatic and
      Medicinal Plants.
AB  - The use of essential oils (EOs) and their components is known since long in
      traditional medicine and aromatherapy for the management of various diseases, and
      is further increased in the recent times. The neuroprotective and anti-aging
      potentials of EOs and their possible mechanism of actions were evaluated by
      numerous researchers around the globe. Several clinically important EOs and their
      components from Nigella sativa, Acorus gramineus, Lavandula angustifolia,
      Eucalyptus globulus, Mentha piperita, Rosmarinus officinalis, Jasminum sambac,
      Piper nigrum and so many other plants are reported for neuroprotective effects.
      This review article was aimed to summarize the current finding on EOs tested
      against neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer disease (AD) and dementia. The
      effects of EOs on pathological targets of AD and dementia including amyloid
      deposition (Abeta), neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), cholinergic hypofunction,
      oxidative stress and glutamatergic abnormalities were focused. Furthermore,
      effects of EOs on other neurological disorders including anxiety, depression,
      cognitive hypofunction epilepsy and convulsions were also evaluated in detail. In
      conclusion, EOs were effective on several pathological targets and have improved
      cognitive performance in animal models and human subjects. Thus, EOs can be
      developed as multi-potent agents against neurological disorders with better
      efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness.

PMID- 28611659
TI  - Vitamin D, Homocysteine, and Folate in Subcortical Vascular Dementia and
      Alzheimer Dementia.
AB  - Dementia is a worldwide health problem which affects millions of patients;
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) and subcortical vascular dementia (sVAD) are the two
      most frequent forms of its presentation. As no definite therapeutic options have
      been discovered, different risk factors for cognitive impairment have been
      searched for potential therapies. This report focuses on the possible evidence
      that vitamin D deficiency and hyper-homocysteinemia can be considered as two
      important factors for the development or the progression of neurodegenerative or
      vascular pathologies. To this end, we assessed: the difference in vascular risk
      factors and vitamin D-OH25 levels among groups of sVAD, AD, and healthy age
      matched controls; the association of folate, B12, homocysteine, and vitamin D
      with sVAD/AD and whether a deficiency of vitamin D and an increment in
      homocysteine levels may be related to neurodegenerative or vessel damages. The
      commonly-considered vascular risk factors were collected in 543 patients and
      compared with those obtained from a healthy old volunteer population. ANOVA group
      comparison showed that vitamin D deficiency was present in demented cases, as
      well as low levels of folate and high levels of homocysteine, more pronounced in
      sVAD cases. The statistical models we employed, with regression models built, and
      adjustments for biochemical, demographic and neuropsychiatric scores, confirmed
      the association between the three measures (folate decrease, hyperhomocysteinemia
      and vitamin D decrease) and dementia, more pronounced in sVAD than in AD.

PMID- 28611660
TI  - Neurodegeneration and the Circadian Clock.
AB  - Despite varied etiologies and symptoms, several neurodegenerative diseases
      specifically, Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's (PD), and Huntington's diseases (HDs)
      share the common feature of abnormal circadian rhythms, such as those in behavior
      (e.g., disrupted sleep/wake cycles), physiological processes (e.g., diminished
      hormone release) and biochemical activities (e.g., antioxidant production).
      Circadian disturbances are among the earliest symptoms of these diseases, and the
      molecular mechanisms of the circadian system are suspected to play a pivotal, and
      possibly causal, role in their natural histories. Here, we review the common
      circadian abnormalities observed in ADs, PDs and HDs, and summarize the evidence
      that the molecular circadian clockwork directly influences the course of these
      disease states. On the basis of this research, we explore several circadian
      oriented interventions proposed as treatments for these neurological disorders.

PMID- 28611662
TI  - An Antifungal Mechanism of Protolichesterinic Acid from the Lichen Usnea
      albopunctata Lies in the Accumulation of Intracellular ROS and Mitochondria
      Mediated Cell Death Due to Apoptosis in Candida tropicalis.
AB  - Candida species causes superficial and life-threatening systemic infections and
      are difficult to treat due to the resistance of these organism to various
      clinically used drugs. Protolichesterinic acid is a well-known lichen compound.
      Although the antibacterial activity of protolichesterinic acid has been reported
      earlier, the antifungal property and its mechanism of action are still largely
      unidentified. The goal of the present investigation is to explore the
      anticandidal activity and mechanism of action of protolichesterinic acid,
      especially against Candida tropicalis. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)
      value was established through microdilution techniques against four Candida
      species and out of four species tested, C. tropicalis showed a significant effect
      (MIC: 2 MUg/ml). In the morphological interference assay, we observed the
      enhanced inhibition of hyphae when the cells were treated with protolichesterinic
      acid. Time-kill assay demonstrated that the maximum rate of killing was recorded
      between 2 and 6 h. C. tropicalis exposed to protolichesterinic acid exhibited an
      increased ROS production, which is one of the key factors of fungal death. The
      rise in ROS was due to the dysfunction of mitochondria caused by
      protolichesterinic acid. We confirmed that protolichesterinic acid-induced
      dysfunction of mitochondria in C. tropicalis. The damage of cell membrane due to
      protolichesterinic acid treatment was confirmed by the influx of propidium iodide
      and was further confirmed by the release of potassium ions. The treatment of
      protolichesterinic acid also triggered calcium ion signaling. Moreover, it
      commenced apoptosis which is clearly evidenced by Annexin V and propidium iodide
      staining. Interestingly protolichesterinic acid recorded excellent
      immunomodulatory property when tested against lymphocytes. Finally
      protolichesterinic acid showed low toxicity toward a normal human cell line
      Foreskin (FS) normal fibroblast. In in vivo test, protolichesterinic acid
      significantly enhanced the survival of C. tropicalis infected Caenorhabditis
      elegans. This investigation proposes that the protolichesterinic acid induces
      apoptosis in C. tropicalis via the enhanced accumulation of intracellular ROS and
      mitochondrial damage, which leads fungal cell death via apoptosis. Our work
      revealed a new key aspect of mechanisms of action of protolichesterinic acid in
      Candida species. This article is the first study on the antifungal and mechanism
      of action of protolichesterinic acid in Candida species.

PMID- 28611664
TI  - 2-Pentadecyl-2-Oxazoline, the Oxazoline of Pea, Modulates Carrageenan-Induced
      Acute Inflammation.
AB  - N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) involve a family of lipid molecules existent in animal
      and plant, with N-palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) that arouses great attention owing
      to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and neuroprotective activities. Because PEA
      is produced on demand and exerts pleiotropic effects, the modulation of specific
      amidases for NAEs (and in particular NAE-hydrolyzing acid amidase NAAA, which is
      more selective for PEA) could be a condition to preserve its levels. Here we
      investigate the effect of 2-Pentadecyl-2-oxazoline (PEA-OXA) the oxazoline of
      PEA, on human recombinant NAAA in vitro and in an established model of
      Carrageenan (CAR)-induced rat paw inflammation. PEA-OXA dose-dependently
      significantly inhibited recombinant NAAA and, orally administered to rats (10
      mg/kg), limiting histological damage, thermal hyperalgesia and the increase of
      infiltrating inflammatory cells after CAR injection in the rat right hindpaw,
      compared to ultramicronized PEA given orally at the same dose (10 mg/kg). These
      effects were accompanied by elevation of paw PEA levels. Moreover, PEA-OXA
      markedly reduced neutrophil infiltration and pro-inflammatory cytokine release
      and prevented CAR-induced IkappaB-alpha degradation, nuclear translocation of NF
      kappaB p65, the increase of inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2,
      intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and mast cell activation. Experiments in PPAR
      alpha knockout mice showed that the anti-inflammatory effects of PEA-OXA were not
      dependent on the presence of PPAR-alpha receptors. In conclusion, NAAA modulators
      as PEA-OXA could help to maximize the tissue availability of PEA by increasing
      its levels and anti-inflammatory effects.

PMID- 28611663
TI  - Epigenetic Modifications to H3K9 in Renal Tubulointerstitial Cells after
      Unilateral Ureteric Obstruction and TGF-beta1 Stimulation.
AB  - Introduction: Epigenetic regulation of fibrogenesis through post-translational
      histone modifications (marks) may be a key determinant of progression in renal
      disease. In this study, we examined the distribution and acquisition of histone 3
      Lysine 9 (H3K9) marks after injury and stimulation with the pro-fibrotic cytokine
      TGF-beta1. Our focus was on their presence in activated fibroblasts
      (myofibroblasts) and epithelial cells (epithelial-mesenchymal transition).
      Methods and Results: Immunofluorescent microscopy was used to examine global H3K9
      acetylation (H3K9Ac) and tri-methylation (H3K9Me3) after unilateral ureteric
      obstruction (UUO) in mice. Confocal, super resolution microscopy and flow
      cytometry were used to determine the in vitro effect of TGF-beta1 on structural
      arrangement of these marks, and their relationship with alpha-smooth muscle actin
      (alphaSMA) expression, a marker of myofibroblasts and early EMT. The number of
      individual histone marks was increased 10 days after UUO (p < 0.05 vs. control),
      with both marks clearly seen in various cell types including proximal tubules and
      myofibroblasts. Sub-nuclear microscopy in primary rat renal fibroblasts and a
      proximal tubule cell line (NRK-52e) showed that H3K9Ac was co-localized with
      phosphorylated-Ser2 RNA polymerase II (pRNAPol II), while H3K9Me3 was not,
      consistent with permissive and repressive effects on gene expression
      respectively. In both cell types H3K9Ac was diffusely distributed throughout the
      nucleus, while H3K9Me3 was found in compartments resembling the nucleolus, and in
      the case of the fibroblast, also juxtapositioned with the nuclear membrane. TGF
      beta1 had no effect on H3K9Ac marks in either cell, but resulted in a
      redistribution of H3K9Me3 within the fibroblast nucleus. This was unrelated to
      any change in mitogenesis, but was associated with increased alphaSMA expression.
      Conclusion: These findings highlight why it is important to consider the
      epigenetics of each cell individually, because whilst no overall enrichment
      occurred, renal myofibroblast differentiation was accompanied by distinct changes
      in histone mark arrangements.

PMID- 28611661
TI  - Discovery and Development of Calcium Channel Blockers.
AB  - In the mid 1960s, experimental work on molecules under screening as coronary
      dilators allowed the discovery of the mechanism of calcium entry blockade by
      drugs later named calcium channel blockers. This paper summarizes scientific
      research on these small molecules interacting directly with L-type voltage
      operated calcium channels. It also reports on experimental approaches translated
      into understanding of their therapeutic actions. The importance of calcium in
      muscle contraction was discovered by Sidney Ringer who reported this fact in
      1883. Interest in the intracellular role of calcium arose 60 years later out of
      Kamada (Japan) and Heibrunn (USA) experiments in the early 1940s. Studies on
      pharmacology of calcium function were initiated in the mid 1960s and their
      therapeutic applications globally occurred in the the 1980s. The first part of
      this report deals with basic pharmacology in the cardiovascular system
      particularly in isolated arteries. In the section entitled from calcium
      antagonists to calcium channel blockers, it is recalled that drugs of a series of
      diphenylpiperazines screened in vivo on coronary bed precontracted by angiotensin
      were initially named calcium antagonists on the basis of their effect in
      depolarized arteries contracted by calcium. Studies on arteries contracted by
      catecholamines showed that the vasorelaxation resulted from blockade of calcium
      entry. Radiochemical and electrophysiological studies performed with
      dihydropyridines allowed their cellular targets to be identified with L-type
      voltage-operated calcium channels. The modulated receptor theory helped the
      understanding of their variation in affinity dependent on arterial cell membrane
      potential and promoted the terminology calcium channel blocker (CCB) of which the
      various chemical families are introduced in the paper. In the section entitled
      tissue selectivity of CCBs, it is shown that characteristics of the drug,
      properties of the tissue, and of the stimuli are important factors of their
      action. The high sensitivity of hypertensive animals is explained by the partial
      depolarization of their arteries. It is noted that they are arteriolar dilators
      and that they cannot be simply considered as vasodilators. The second part of
      this report provides key information about clinical usefulness of CCBs. A section
      is devoted to the controversy on their safety closed by the Allhat trial (2002).
      Sections are dedicated to their effect in cardiac ischemia, in cardiac
      arrhythmias, in atherosclerosis, in hypertension, and its complications. CCBs
      appear as the most commonly used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. As
      far as hypertension is concerned, globally the prevalence in adults aged 25 years
      and over was around 40% in 2008. Usefulness of CCBs is discussed on the basis of
      large clinical trials. At therapeutic dosage, they reduce the elevated blood
      pressure of hypertensive patients but don't change blood pressure of normotensive
      subjects, as was observed in animals. Those active on both L- and T-type channels
      are efficient in nephropathy. Alteration of cognitive function is a complication
      of hypertension recognized nowadays as eventually leading to dementia. This
      question is discussed together with the efficacy of CCBs in cognitive pathology.
      In the section entitled beyond the cardiovascular system, CCBs actions in
      migraine, neuropathic pain, and subarachnoid hemorrhage are reported. The final
      conclusions refer to long-term effects discovered in experimental animals that
      have not yet been clearly reported as being important in human pharmacotherapy.

PMID- 28611665
TI  - Toll-Like Receptor 4 in Paraventricular Nucleus Mediates Visceral
      Hypersensitivity Induced by Maternal Separation.
AB  - Neonatal maternal separation (MS) is a major early life stress that increases the
      risk of emotional disorders, visceral pain perception and other brain
      dysfunction. Elevation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling in the
      paraventricular nucleus (PVN) precipitates early life colorectal distension (CRD)
      induced visceral hypersensitivity and pain in adulthood. The present study aimed
      to investigate the role of TLR4 signaling in the pathogenesis of postnatal MS
      induced visceral hypersensitivity and pain during adulthood. The TLR4 gene was
      selectively knocked out in C57BL/10ScSn mice (Tlr4-/-). MS was developed by
      housing the offspring alone for 6 h daily from postnatal day 2 to day 15.
      Visceral hypersensitivity and pain were assessed in adulthood. Tlr4+/+, but not
      Tlr4-/-, mice that had experienced neonatal MS showed chronic visceral
      hypersensitivity and pain. TLR4 immunoreactivity was observed predominately in
      microglia in the PVN, and MS was associated with an increase in the expression of
      protein and/or mRNA levels of TLR4, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), CRF
      receptor 1 (CRFR1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-1beta in Tlr4+/+
      mice. These alterations were not observed in Tlr4-/- mice. Local administration
      of lipopolysaccharide, a TLR4 agonist, into the lateral cerebral ventricle
      elicited visceral hypersensitivity and TLR4 mRNA expression in the PVN, which
      could be prevented by NBI-35965, an antagonist to CRFR1. The present results
      indicate that neonatal MS induces a sensitization and upregulation of microglial
      TLR4 signaling activity, which facilitates the neighboring CRF neuronal activity
      and, eventually, precipitates visceral hypersensitivity in adulthood. Highlights
      (1)Neonatal MS does not induce chronic visceral hypersensitivity and pain in Tlr4
      /- mice.(2)Neonatal MS increases the expression of TLR4 mRNA, CRF protein and
      mRNA, CRFR1 protein, TNF-alpha protein, and IL-1beta protein in Tlr4+/+
      mice.(3)TLR4 agonist LPS (i.c.v.) elicits visceral hypersensitivity and TLR4 mRNA
      expression in the PVN.

PMID- 28611666
TI  - Mineralocorticoid Receptor Signaling as a Therapeutic Target for Renal and
      Cardiac Fibrosis.
AB  - Activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) plays important roles in both
      physiological and pathological events. Blockade of MR signaling with MR
      antagonists (MRAs) has been used clinically to treat kidney and cardiac disease
      associated with hypertension and other chronic diseases, resulting in suppression
      of fibrosis in these organs. However, the current use of steroidal MRAs has been
      limited by off target effects on other hormone receptors or adverse effects on
      kidney tubular function. In this review, we summarize recent insights into the
      profibrotic roles of MR signaling in kidney and cardiovascular disease. We review
      experimental in vitro data identifying the pathological mechanisms associated
      with MR signaling in cell types found in the kidney (mesangial cells, podocytes,
      tubular cells, macrophages, interstitial fibroblasts) and heart (cardiomyocytes,
      endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, macrophages). In addition, we
      demonstrate the in vivo importance of MR signaling in specific kidney and cardiac
      cell types by reporting the outcomes of cell type selective MR gene deletion in
      animal models of kidney and cardiac disease and comparing these findings to those
      obtained with MRAs treatment. This review also includes a discussion of the
      potential benefits of novel non-steroidal MRAs for targeting kidney and cardiac
      fibrosis compared to existing steroidal MRAs, as well as the possibility of novel
      combination therapies and cell selective delivery of MRAs.

PMID- 28611668
TI  - Selective Tissue Distribution Mediates Tissue-Dependent PPARgamma Activation and
      Insulin Sensitization by INT131, a Selective PPARgamma Modulator.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying the enhancement of insulin sensitivity by selective
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma modulators (sPPARgammaMs) are
      still not completely known. Here, the representative sPPARgammaM, INT131, was
      used as a probe to investigate the insulin-sensitizing mechanisms of sPPARgammaM
      in the context of tissue selective compound distribution and PPARgamma
      regulation. First, 30 mg kg-1 INT131 was observed to produce an insulin
      sensitizing effect comparable to that of 10 mg kg-1 rosiglitazone (RSG) in both
      db/db and DIO mice using the oral glucose and insulin tolerance tests. Similar to
      RSG, INT131 significantly increased brown adipose tissue (BAT) mass and adipocyte
      size and up-regulated the expression of BAT-specific genes. Compared with RSG,
      INT131 exhibited greater potency in inducing white adipose tissue (WAT) browning,
      decreasing adipocyte size, and increasing BAT-specific and function-related gene
      expression in subcutaneous WAT (sWAT). However, it did not induce hepatomegaly or
      hepatic steatosis, which is associated with lower levels of lipogenic genes
      expression. Pharmacokinetic analysis reveals that in contrast with RSG, INT131
      shows higher Cmax, and much longer residency time (AUC0-12h), as well relatively
      lower elimination rate in adipose tissues and skeletal muscle, this demonstrated
      INT131 distributed predominantly in adipose tissue. Whereas, INT131 was less
      abundant in the liver. These results thus suggest that the tissue-selective
      distribution underlies INT131's selective PPARgamma modulation. Compounds
      favoring adipose tissue may aid in development of better, safer sPPARgammaM to
      address the insulin resistance of diabetes.

PMID- 28611667
TI  - Dammarane Sapogenins Ameliorates Neurocognitive Functional Impairment Induced by
      Simulated Long-Duration Spaceflight.
AB  - Increasing evidence indicates the occurrence of cognitive impairment in
      astronauts under spaceflight compound conditions, but the underlying mechanisms
      and countermeasures need to be explored. In this study, we found that learning
      and memory abilities were significantly reduced in rats under a simulated long
      duration spaceflight environment (SLSE), which includes microgravity, isolation
      confinement, noises, and altered circadian rhythms. Dammarane sapogenins (DS),
      alkaline hydrolyzed products of ginsenosides, can enhance cognition function by
      regulating brain neurotransmitter levels and inhibiting SLSE-induced neuronal
      injury. Bioinformatics combined with experimental verification identified that
      the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway was inhibited and the MAPK pathway was activated during
      SLSE-induced cognition dysfunction, whereas DS substantially ameliorated the
      changes in brain. These findings defined the characteristics of SLSE-induced
      cognitive decline and the mechanisms by which DS improves it. The results provide
      an effective candidate for improving cognitive function in spaceflight missions.

PMID- 28611669
TI  - CD24 Expression Is Increased in 5-Fluorouracil-Treated Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
      Cells.
AB  - The cancer stem cell (CSC) model suggests that there are subsets of cells within
      a tumor with increased proliferation and self-renewal capacity, which play a key
      role in therapeutic resistance. The importance of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in
      carcinogenesis has been previously established and the use of COX-2 inhibitors as
      celecoxib has been shown to exert antitumor effects. The present study
      investigated whether treatment of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cells with 5
      fluorouracil (5-FU) or the growth of tumor spheres increased the proportion of
      CSCs and also if treatment with celecoxib was able to reduce the putative CSC
      markers in this tumor. OE19 and OE33 EAC cells surviving 5-FU exposure exhibited
      an increase in CSC markers CD24 and ABCG2 and also an increased resistance to
      apoptosis. EAC cell lines had the capacity to form multiple spheres displaying
      typical CSC functionalities such as self-renewal and increased CD24 levels. In
      addition, after the induction of differentiation, cancer cells reached levels of
      CD24 similar to those observed in the parental cells. Treatment with celecoxib
      alone or in combination with 5-FU also resulted in a reduction of CD24
      expression. Moreover, celecoxib inhibited the growth of tumor spheres. These
      findings showing a reduction in CSC markers induced by celecoxib suggest that the
      COX-2 inhibitor might be a candidate for combined chemotherapy in the treatment
      of EAC. However, additional clinical and experimental studies are needed.

PMID- 28611670
TI  - Identification of Epigallocatechin-3- Gallate as an Inhibitor of Phosphoglycerate
      Mutase 1.
AB  - Targeting metabolic enzymes is believed to provide new therapeutic opportunities
      for cancer therapy. Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) is a glycolytic enzyme that
      importantly coordinates glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) flux and
      serine biosynthesis in cancer cells and hence gains increasing interest of
      inhibitor discovery. Only few PGAM1 inhibitors have been reported and the
      molecular potency remains very limited. In an effort to discover new PGAM1
      inhibitors, we carried out a biochemical assay-based screen that was focused on
      natural products derived small molecule compounds. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate
      (EGCG), the major natural catechins of green tea extract, was identified as a
      PGAM1 inhibitor that was tremendously more potent than known PGAM1 inhibitors.
      Further studies combining molecular docking and site-specific mutagenesis
      revealed that EGCG inhibited PGAM1 enzymatic activity in a manner independent of
      substrate competition. EGCG modulated the intracellular level of 2
      phosphoglycerate, impaired glycolysis and PPP and inhibited proliferation of
      cancer cells. This study suggested EGCG as a chemical scaffold for the discovery
      of potent PGAM1 inhibitors and gained mechanistic insights to understand the
      previously appreciated anticancer properties of EGCG.

PMID- 28611671
TI  - Targeting Hypoxia Inducible Factors-1alpha As a Novel Therapy in Fibrosis.
AB  - Fibrosis, characterized by increased extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and
      widespread vasculopathy, has the prominent trait of chronic hypoxia. Hypoxia
      inducible factors-1alpha (HIF-1alpha), a key transcriptional factor in response
      to this chronic hypoxia, is involved in fibrotic disease, such as Systemic
      sclerosis (SSc). The implicated function of HIF-1alpha in fibrosis include
      stimulation of excessive ECM, vascular remodeling, and futile angiogenesis with
      further exacerbation of chronic hypoxia and deteriorate pathofibrogenesis. This
      review will focus on the molecular biological behavior of HIF-1alpha in
      regulating progressive fibrosis. Better understanding of the role for HIF-1alpha
      regulated pathways in fibrotic disease will accelerate development of novel
      therapeutic strategies that target HIF-1alpha. Such new therapeutic strategies
      may be particularly effective for treatment of the prototypic, multisystem
      fibrotic, autoimmune disease SSc.

PMID- 28611672
TI  - Telemedicine for the Management of Glycemic Control and Clinical Outcomes of Type
      1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized
      Controlled Studies.
AB  - Importance: Telemedicine has been shown to be an efficient and effective means of
      providing care to patients with chronic disease especially in remote and
      undeserved regions, by improving access to care and reduce healthcare cost.
      However, the evidence surrounding its applicability in type 1 diabetes remains
      scarce and conflicting. Objective: To synthesize evidence and quantify the
      effectiveness of telemedicine interventions for the management of glycemic and
      clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes patients, relative to comparator conditions.
      Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and
      CINAHL were searched for published articles since inception until December 2016.
      Study Selection: Original articles reporting the results of randomized controlled
      studies on the effectiveness of telemedicine in people with type 1 diabetes were
      included. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Two reviewers independently extracted
      data, assessed quality, and strength of evidence. Interventions were categorized
      based upon the telemedicine focus (monitoring, education, consultation, case
      management, and peer mentoring). Main Outcome and Measure: Absolute change in
      glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from baseline to follow-up assessment.
      Results: A total of 38 studies described in 41 articles were identified. Positive
      effects on glycemic control were noted with studies examining telemedicine, with
      a mean reduction of 0.18% at the end of intervention. Studies with longer
      duration (>6 months) who had recruited patients with a higher baseline HbA1c
      (>=9%) were associated with larger effects. Telemedicine interventions that
      involve individualized assessments, audit with feedback and skill building were
      also more effective in improving glycemic control. However, no benefits were
      observed on blood pressure, lipids, weight, quality of life, and adverse events.
      Conclusions and Relevance: There is insufficient evidence to support telemedicine
      use for glycemic control and other clinically relevant outcome among patients
      with type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 28611673
TI  - Reversing EGFR Mediated Immunoescape by Targeted Monoclonal Antibody Therapy.
AB  - Uncontrolled growth is a signature of carcinogenesis, in part mediated by
      overexpression or overstimulation of growth factor receptors. The epidermal
      growth factor receptor (EGFR) mediates activation of multiple oncogenic signaling
      pathways and escape from recognition by the host immune system. We discuss how
      EGFR signaling downregulates tumor antigen presentation, upregulates suppressive
      checkpoint receptor ligand programmed death ligand (PD-L1), induces secretion of
      inhibitory molecules such as transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) and
      reprograms the metabolic pathways in cancer cells to upregulate aerobic
      glycolysis and lactate secretion that ultimately lead to impaired cellular
      immunity mediated by natural killer (NK) cell and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL).
      Ultimately, our understanding of EGFR-mediated escape mechanisms has led us to
      design EGFR-specific monoclonal antibody therapies that not only inhibit tumor
      cell metabolic changes and intrinsic oncogenic signaling but also activates
      immune cells that mediate tumor clearance. Importantly, targeted immunotherapy
      may also benefit from combination with antibodies that target other
      immunosuppressive pathways such PD-L1 or TGFbeta and ultimately enhance clinical
      efficacy.

PMID- 28611674
TI  - Is Marathon Training Harder than the Ironman Training? An ECO-method Comparison.
AB  - Purpose: To compare the absolute and relative training load of the Marathon (42k)
      and the Ironman (IM) training in recreational trained athletes. Methods: Fifteen
      Marathoners and Fifteen Triathletes participated in the study. Their performance
      level was the same relative to the sex's absolute winner at the race. No
      differences were presented neither in age, nor in body weight, height, BMI,
      running VO2max max, or endurance training experience (p > 0.05). They all trained
      systematically for their respective event (IM or 42k). Daily training load was
      recorded in a training log, and the last 16 weeks were compared. Before this, gas
      exchange and lactate metabolic tests were conducted in order to set individual
      training zones. The Objective Load Scale (ECOs) training load quantification
      method was applied. Differences between IM and 42k athletes' outcomes were
      assessed using Student's test and significance level was set at p < 0.05.
      Results: As expected, Competition Time was significantly different (IM 11 h 45
      min +/- 1 h 54 min vs. 42k 3 h 6 min +/- 28 min, p < 0.001). Similarly, Training
      Weekly Avg Time (IM 12.9 h +/- 2.6 vs. 42k 5.2 +/- 0.9), and Average Weekly ECOs
      (IM 834 +/- 171 vs. 42k 526 +/- 118) were significantly higher in IM (p < 0.001).
      However, the Ratio between Training Load and Training Time was superior for 42k
      runners when comparing ECOs (IM 65.8 +/- 11.8 vs. 42k 99.3 +/- 6.8) (p < 0.001).
      Finally, all ratios between training time or load vs. Competition Time were
      superior for 42k (p < 0.001) (Training Time/Race Time: IM 1.1 +/- 0.3 vs. 42k 1.7
      +/- 0.5), (ECOs Training Load/Race Time: IM 1.2 +/- 0.3 vs. 42k 2.9 +/- 1.0).
      Conclusions: In spite of IM athletes' superior training time and total or weekly
      training load, when comparing the ratios between training load and training time,
      and training time or training load vs. competition time, the preparation of a 42k
      showed to be harder.

PMID- 28611676
TI  - Autonomic Modulation in Patients with Heart Failure Increases Beat-to-Beat
      Variability of Ventricular Action Potential Duration.
AB  - Background: Exaggerated beat-to-beat variability of ventricular action potential
      duration (APD) is linked to arrhythmogenesis. Sympathetic stimulation has been
      shown to increase QT interval variability, but its effect on ventricular APD in
      humans has not been determined. Methods and Results: Eleven heart failure
      patients with implanted bi-ventricular pacing devices had activation-recovery
      intervals (ARI, surrogate for APD) recorded from LV epicardial electrodes under
      constant RV pacing. Sympathetic activity was increased using a standard autonomic
      challenge (Valsalva) and baroreceptor indices were applied to determine changes
      in sympathetic stimulation. Two Valsalvas were performed for each study and were
      repeated, both off and on bisoprolol. In addition sympathetic nerve activity
      (SNA) was measured from skin electrodes on the thorax using a novel validated
      method. Autonomic modulation significantly increased mean short-term variability
      in ARI; off bisoprolol mean STV increased from 3.73 +/- 1.3 to 5.27 +/- 1.04 ms
      (p = 0.01), on bisoprolol mean STV of ARI increased from 4.15 +/- 1.14 to 4.62 +/
      1 ms (p = 0.14). Adrenergic indices of the Valsalva demonstrated significantly
      reduced beta-adrenergic function when on bisoprolol (Delta pressure recovery
      time, p = 0.04; Delta systolic overshoot in Phase IV, p = 0.05). Corresponding
      increases in SNA from rest both off (1.4 uV, p < 0.01) and on (0.7 uV, p < 0.01)
      bisoprolol were also seen. Conclusions: Beat-to-beat variability of ventricular
      APD increases during brief periods of increased sympathetic activity in patients
      with heart failure. Bisoprolol reduces, but does not eliminate, these effects.
      This may be important in the genesis of ventricular arrhythmias in heart failure
      patients.

PMID- 28611677
TI  - Greater Neural Adaptations following High- vs. Low-Load Resistance Training.
AB  - We examined the neuromuscular adaptations following 3 and 6 weeks of 80 vs. 30%
      one repetition maximum (1RM) resistance training to failure in the leg extensors.
      Twenty-six men (age = 23.1 +/- 4.7 years) were randomly assigned to a high- (80%
      1RM; n = 13) or low-load (30% 1RM; n = 13) resistance training group and
      completed leg extension resistance training to failure 3 times per week for 6
      weeks. Testing was completed at baseline, 3, and 6 weeks of training. During each
      testing session, ultrasound muscle thickness and echo intensity, 1RM strength,
      maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) strength, and contractile
      properties of the quadriceps femoris were measured. Percent voluntary activation
      (VA) and electromyographic (EMG) amplitude were measured during MVIC, and during
      randomly ordered isometric step muscle actions at 10-100% of baseline MVIC. There
      were similar increases in muscle thickness from Baseline to Week 3 and 6 in the
      80 and 30% 1RM groups. However, both 1RM and MVIC strength increased from
      Baseline to Week 3 and 6 to a greater degree in the 80% than 30% 1RM group. VA
      during MVIC was also greater in the 80 vs. 30% 1RM group at Week 6, and only
      training at 80% 1RM elicited a significant increase in EMG amplitude during MVIC.
      The peak twitch torque to MVIC ratio was also significantly reduced in the 80%,
      but not 30% 1RM group, at Week 3 and 6. Finally, VA and EMG amplitude were
      reduced during submaximal torque production as a result of training at 80% 1RM,
      but not 30% 1RM. Despite eliciting similar hypertrophy, 80% 1RM improved muscle
      strength more than 30% 1RM, and was accompanied by increases in VA and EMG
      amplitude during maximal force production. Furthermore, training at 80% 1RM
      resulted in a decreased neural cost to produce the same relative submaximal
      torques after training, whereas training at 30% 1RM did not. Therefore, our data
      suggest that high-load training results in greater neural adaptations that may
      explain the disparate increases in muscle strength despite similar hypertrophy
      following high- and low-load training programs.

PMID- 28611675
TI  - Cardiac Autonomic Responses during Exercise and Post-exercise Recovery Using
      Heart Rate Variability and Systolic Time Intervals-A Review.
AB  - Cardiac parasympathetic activity may be non-invasively investigated using heart
      rate variability (HRV), although HRV is not widely accepted to reflect
      sympathetic activity. Instead, cardiac sympathetic activity may be investigated
      using systolic time intervals (STI), such as the pre-ejection period. Although
      these autonomic indices are typically measured during rest, the "reactivity
      hypothesis" suggests that investigating responses to a stressor (e.g., exercise)
      may be a valuable monitoring approach in clinical and high-performance settings.
      However, when interpreting these indices it is important to consider how the
      exercise dose itself (i.e., intensity, duration, and modality) may influence the
      response. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to review the
      literature regarding how the exercise dosage influences these autonomic indices
      during exercise and acute post-exercise recovery. There are substantial
      methodological variations throughout the literature regarding HRV responses to
      exercise, in terms of exercise protocols and HRV analysis techniques. Exercise
      intensity is the primary factor influencing HRV, with a greater intensity
      eliciting a lower HRV during exercise up to moderate-high intensity, with minimal
      change observed as intensity is increased further. Post-exercise, a greater
      preceding intensity is associated with a slower HRV recovery, although the dose
      response remains unclear. A longer exercise duration has been reported to elicit
      a lower HRV only during low-moderate intensity and when accompanied by
      cardiovascular drift, while a small number of studies have reported conflicting
      results regarding whether a longer duration delays HRV recovery. "Modality" has
      been defined multiple ways, with limited evidence suggesting exercise of a
      greater muscle mass and/or energy expenditure may delay HRV recovery. STI
      responses during exercise and recovery have seldom been reported, although
      limited data suggests that intensity is a key determining factor. Concurrent
      monitoring of HRV and STI may be a valuable non-invasive approach to investigate
      autonomic stress reactivity; however, this integrative approach has not yet been
      applied with regards to exercise stressors.

PMID- 28611678
TI  - A Fourth KLK4 Mutation Is Associated with Enamel Hypomineralisation and
      Structural Abnormalities.
AB  - "Amelogenesis imperfecta" (AI) describes a group of genetic conditions that
      result in defects in tooth enamel formation. Mutations in many genes are known to
      cause AI, including the gene encoding the serine protease, kallikrein related
      peptidase 4 (KLK4), expressed during the maturation stage of amelogenesis. In
      this study we report the fourth KLK4 mutation to be identified in autosomal
      recessively-inherited hypomaturation type AI, c.632delT, p.(L211Rfs*37)
      (NM_004917.4, NP_004908.4). This homozygous variant was identified in five
      Pakistani AI families and is predicted to result in a transcript with a premature
      stop codon that escapes nonsense mediated decay. However, the protein may
      misfold, as three of six disulphide bonds would be disrupted, and may be degraded
      or non-functional as a result. Primary teeth were obtained from one affected
      individual. The enamel phenotype was characterized using high-resolution
      computerized X-ray tomography (CT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy
      dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and microhardness testing (MH). Enamel from
      the affected individual (referred to as KLK4 enamel) was hypomineralised in
      comparison with matched control enamel. Furthermore, KLK4 inner enamel was
      hypomineralised compared with KLK4 outer enamel. SEM showed a clear structural
      demarcation between KLK4 inner and outer enamel, although enamel structure was
      similar to control tissue overall. EDX showed that KLK4 inner enamel contained
      less calcium and phosphorus and more nitrogen than control inner enamel and KLK4
      outer enamel. MH testing showed that KLK4 inner enamel was significantly softer
      than KLK4 outer enamel (p < 0.001). However, the hardness of control inner enamel
      was not significantly different to that of control outer enamel. Overall, these
      findings suggest that the KLK4 c.632delT mutation may be a common cause of
      autosomal recessive AI in the Pakistani population. The phenotype data obtained
      mirror findings in the Klk4-/- mouse and suggest that KLK4 is required for the
      hardening and mineralization of the inner enamel layer but is less essential for
      hardening and mineralization of the outer enamel layer.

PMID- 28611679
TI  - Icariin, a Novel Blocker of Sodium and Calcium Channels, Eliminates Early and
      Delayed Afterdepolarizations, As Well As Triggered Activity, in Rabbit
      Cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Icariin, a flavonoid monomer from Herba Epimedii, has confirmed pharmacological
      and biological effects. However, its effects on arrhythmias and cardiac
      electrophysiology remain unclear. Here we investigate the effects of icariin on
      ion currents and action potentials (APs) in the rabbit myocardium. Furthermore,
      the effects of icariin on aconitine-induced arrhythmias were assessed in whole
      rabbits. Ion currents and APs were recorded in voltage-clamp and current-clamp
      mode in rabbit left ventricular myocytes (LVMs) and left atrial myocytes (LAMs),
      respectively. Icariin significantly shortened action potential durations (APDs)
      at 50 and 90% repolarization (APD50 and APD90) and reduced AP amplitude (APA) and
      the maximum upstroke velocity (Vmax) of APs in LAMs and LVMs; however, icariin
      had no effect on resting membrane potential (RMP) in these cells. Icariin
      decreased the rate-dependence of the APD and completely abolished anemonia toxin
      II (ATX-II)-induced early afterdepolarizations (EADs). Moreover, icariin
      significantly suppressed delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) and triggered
      activities (TAs) elicited by isoproterenol (ISO, 1 MUM) and high extracellular
      calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]o, 3.6 mM) in LVMs. Icariin also decreased INaT in
      a concentration-dependent manner in LAMs and LVMs, with IC50 values of 12.28 +/-
      0.29 MUM (n = 8 cells/4 rabbits) and 11.83 +/- 0.92 MUM (n = 10 cells/6 rabbits;
      p > 0.05 vs. LAMs), respectively, and reversed ATX-II-induced INaL in a
      concentration-dependent manner in LVMs. Furthermore, icariin attenuated ICaL in a
      dose-dependent manner in LVMs. The corresponding IC50 value was 4.78 +/- 0.89 MUM
      (n = 8 cells/4 rabbits), indicating that the aforementioned current in LVMs was
      2.8-fold more sensitive to icariin than ICaL in LAMs (13.43 +/- 2.73 MUM; n = 9
      cells/5 rabbits). Icariin induced leftward shifts in the steady-state
      inactivation curves of INaT and ICaL in LAMs and LVMs but did not have a
      significant effect on their activation processes. Moreover, icariin had no
      effects on IK1 and IKr in LVMs or Ito and IKur in LAMs. These results revealed
      for the first time that icariin is a multichannel blocker that affects INaT, INaL
      and ICaL in the myocardium and that the drug had significant inhibitory effects
      on aconitine-induced arrhythmias in whole rabbits. Therefore, icariin has
      potential as a class I and IV antiarrhythmic drug.

PMID- 28611680
TI  - Mono-Heteromeric Configurations of Gap Junction Channels Formed by Connexin43 and
      Connexin45 Reduce Unitary Conductance and Determine both Voltage Gating and
      Metabolic Flux Asymmetry.
AB  - In cardiac tissues, the expression of multiple connexins (Cx40, Cx43, Cx45, and
      Cx30.2) is a requirement for proper development and function. Gap junctions
      formed by these connexins have distinct permeability and gating mechanisms. Since
      a single cell can express more than one connexin isoform, the formation of hetero
      multimeric gap junction channels provides a tissue with an enormous repertoire of
      combinations to modulate intercellular communication. To study further the perm
      selectivity and gating properties of channels containing Cx43 and Cx45, we
      studied two monoheteromeric combinations in which a HeLa cell co-transfected with
      Cx43 and Cx45 was paired with a cell expressing only one of these connexins.
      Macroscopic measurements of total conductance between cell pairs indicated a
      drastic reduction in total conductance for mono-heteromeric channels. In terms of
      Vj dependent gating, Cx43 homomeric connexons facing heteromeric connexons only
      responded weakly to voltage negativity. Cx45 homomeric connexons exhibited no
      change in Vj gating when facing heteromeric connexons. The distributions of
      unitary conductances (gammaj) for both mono-heteromeric channels were smaller
      than predicted, and both showed low permeability to the fluorescent dyes Lucifer
      yellow and Rhodamine123. For both mono-heteromeric channels, we observed flux
      asymmetry regardless of dye charge: flux was higher in the direction of the
      heteromeric connexon for MhetCx45 and in the direction of the homomeric Cx43
      connexon for MhetCx43. Thus, our data suggest that co-expression of Cx45 and Cx43
      induces the formation of heteromeric connexons with greatly reduced permeability
      and unitary conductance. Furthermore, it increases the asymmetry for voltage
      gating for opposing connexons, and it favors asymmetric flux of molecules across
      the junction that depends primarily on the size (not the charge) of the crossing
      molecules.

PMID- 28611681
TI  - Dose-Response of High-Intensity Training (HIT) on Atheroprotective miRNA-126
      Levels.
AB  - Aim: MicroRNA-126 (miR-126) exerts beneficial effects on vascular integrity,
      angiogenesis, and atherosclerotic plaque stability. The purpose of this
      investigation was to analyze the dose-response relationship of high-intensity
      interval training (HIIT) on miR-126-3p and -5p levels. Methods: Sixty-one
      moderately trained individuals (females = 31 [50.8%]; 22.0 +/- 1.84 years) were
      consecutively recruited and allocated into three matched groups using exercise
      capacity. During a 4-week intervention a HIIT group performed three exercise
      sessions/week of 4 * 30 s at maximum speed (all-out), a progressive HIIT
      (proHIIT) group performed three exercise sessions/week of 4 * 30 s at maximum
      speed (all-out) with one extra session every week (up to 7 * 30 s) and a low
      intensity training (LIT) control group performed three exercise sessions/week for
      25 min <75% of maximum heart rate. Exercise miR-126-3p/-5p plasma levels were
      determined using capillary blood from earlobes. Results: No exercise-induced
      increase in miR-126 levels was detected at baseline, neither in the LIT (after 25
      min low-intensity running) nor the HIIT groups (after 4 min of high-intensity
      running). After the intervention, the LIT group presented an increase in miR-126
      3p, while in the HIIT group, miR-126-3p levels were still reduced (all p < 0.05).
      An increase for both, miR-126-3p and -5p levels (all p < 0.05, pre- vs. during
      and post-exercise) was detected in the proHIIT group. Between group analysis
      revealed that miR-126-3p levels after LIT and proHIIT increased by 2.12 +/- 2.55
      and 1.24 +/- 2.46 units (all p < 0.01), respectively, compared to HIIT (-1.05 +/-
      2.6 units). Conclusions: LIT and proHIIT may be performed to increase individual
      miR-126 levels. HIIT without progression was less effective in increasing miR
      126.

PMID- 28611682
TI  - Elevated Circulating Trimethylamine N-Oxide Levels Contribute to Endothelial
      Dysfunction in Aged Rats through Vascular Inflammation and Oxidative Stress.
AB  - Vascular endothelial dysfunction, a characteristic of the aging process, is an
      important risk factor for cardiovascular disease in aging. Although, vascular
      inflammation and oxidative stress are major contributors to endothelial
      dysfunction in aging, the underlying mechanisms during the aging process are not
      fully understood. Accumulating evidence reveals that gut microbiota-dependent
      metabolite trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is implicated in the pathogenesis of
      many cardiovascular diseases. We tested the hypothesis that aging increases
      circulating TMAO levels, which induce vascular inflammation and oxidative stress,
      resulting in age-associated endothelial dysfunction. Old (22-mo-old) and young (4
      mo-old) Fischer-344 rats were treated without (control) or with 1.0% 3,3-Dimethyl
      1-butanol (DMB, an inhibitor of trimethylamine formation) in drinking water for 8
      weeks. Compared with young control group, old control group had markedly higher
      plasma TMAO levels, which were reduced by DMB treatment. Endothelium-dependent
      relaxation of aorta in response to acetylcholine was impaired in old control
      group compared with young control group as indicated by decreased maximal
      relaxation (Emax) and reduced area under the curve (AUC). Emax and AUC were both
      normalized in old rats treated with DMB. No difference in endothelial-independent
      relaxation in response to sodium nitroprusside was observed among groups.
      Molecular studies revealed that old control group exhibits increased expression
      of proinflammatory cytokines and superoxide production, and decreased expression
      of endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) in the aorta, all of which were
      restored by DMB treatment. These results suggest that aging increases circulating
      TMAO levels, which may impair eNOS-derived NO bioavailability by increasing
      vascular inflammation and oxidative stress, contributing to aging-associated
      endothelial dysfunction.

PMID- 28611684
TI  - Protective Role for LPA3 in Cardiac Hypertrophy Induced by Myocardial Infarction
      but Not by Isoproterenol.
AB  - Background: We previously reported that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) promoted
      cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro via one of its G protein-coupled receptor
      subtypes, LPA3. In this study, we examined the role of LPA3 in cardiac
      hypertrophy induced by isoproterenol (ISO) and myocardial infarction. Methods:In
      vitro, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) were subjected to LPA3 knocked-down,
      or pretreated with a beta-adrenergic receptor (beta-AR) antagonist (propranolol)
      before LPA/ISO treatment. Cardiomyocyte size and hypertrophic gene (ANP, BNP)
      mRNA levels were determined. In vivo, [Formula: see text] and wild-type mice were
      implanted subcutaneously with an osmotic mini-pump containing ISO or vehicle for
      2 weeks; echocardiography was performed to determine the heart weight/body weight
      ratio, cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area, and level of ANP mRNA expression.
      [Formula: see text] and wild-type mice were subjected to permanent coronary
      artery ligation or sham surgery for 4 weeks; cardiac function, including the
      degree of hypertrophy and infarction size, was determined. Results:In vitro, we
      found that knocked-down LPA3 in NRCMs did not attenuate ISO-induced hypertrophy,
      and propranolol was unable to abolish LPA-induced hypertrophy. In vivo, chronic
      ISO infusion caused cardiac hypertrophy in wild-type mice, while hypertrophic
      responses to ISO infusion were not attenuated in [Formula: see text] mice.
      However, in a myocardial infarction (MI) model, [Formula: see text] mice
      exhibited reduced cardiac hypertrophy compared to wild-type mice at 4 weeks post
      MI, which was associated with reduced cardiac function and increased infarct
      size. Conclusions: Our data show that LPA3 appears to play a protective role in
      myocardial hypertrophy post-MI, but does not appear to be involved in the
      hypertrophy that occurs in response to beta-AR stimulation in vivo and in vitro.
      These results implicate LPA-LPA3 lipid signaling in cardiac hypertrophy occurring
      after pathological insults like MI, which presents a new variable in beta-AR
      independent hypertrophy. Thus, modulation of LPA3 signaling might represent a new
      strategy for preventing the stressed myocardium from ischemia injury.

PMID- 28611683
TI  - Pathways that Regulate ROS Scavenging Enzymes, and Their Role in Defense Against
      Tissue Destruction in Periodontitis.
AB  - Periodontitis, an inflammatory disease that affects the tissues surrounding the
      teeth, is a common disease worldwide. It is caused by a dysregulation of the host
      inflammatory response to bacterial infection, which leads to soft and hard tissue
      destruction. In particular, it is the excessive inflammation in response to
      bacterial plaque that leads to the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from
      neutrophils, which, then play a critical role in the destruction of periodontal
      tissue. Generally, ROS produced from immune cells exhibit an anti-bacterial
      effect and play a role in host defense and immune regulation. Excessive ROS,
      however, can exert cytotoxic effects, cause oxidative damage to proteins, and
      DNA, can interfere with cell growth and cell cycle progression, and induce
      apoptosis of gingival fibroblasts. Collectively, these effects enable ROS to
      directly induce periodontal tissue damage. Some ROS also act as intracellular
      signaling molecules during osteoclastogenesis, and can thus also play an indirect
      role in bone destruction. Cells have several protective mechanisms to manage such
      oxidative stress, most of which involve production of cytoprotective enzymes that
      scavenge ROS. These enzymes are transcriptionally regulated via NRF2, Sirtuin,
      and FOXO. Some reports indicate an association between periodontitis and these
      cytoprotective enzymes' regulatory axes, with superoxide dismutase (SOD) the most
      extensively investigated. In this review article, we discuss the role of
      oxidative stress in the tissue destruction manifest in periodontitis, and the
      mechanisms that protect against this oxidative stress.

PMID- 28611685
TI  - Entosis Acts as a Novel Way within Sertoli Cells to Eliminate Spermatozoa in
      Seminiferous Tubule.
AB  - The present study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that in vivo entosis
      is a novel pathway for eliminating spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules (ST)
      during hibernation of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle. Western blot analysis
      revealed that the expression of LAMP1 in the testis was significantly higher
      during hibernation than that during non-hibernation. Immunohistochemistry
      reaction showed that LAMP1-positive substance was distributed within the Sertoli
      cells of the testis. Further examination by transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM), many degraded spermatozoa being enwrapped within large entotic vacuoles in
      Sertoli cells. The nucleus and the flagellum of the spermatozoa were shown to be
      decomposed and digested inside entotic vacuoles within Sertoli cells. More than
      two spermatozoa heads were always observed in each internalized vacuoles.
      Deserving note is that, a number of different autophagosomes, including initial
      autophagic vesicles and degradative autophagic vesicles were found inside the
      entotic vacuoles of the Sertoli cells during hibernation. At the end of
      hibernation, entotic vacuoles and their autophagosomes disappeared, and numerous
      large lipid droplets (LDs) appeared within the Sertoli cells. Adherens junctions
      were apparent between Sertoli cells and developing germ cells, which is the
      ultrastructural basis of entosis. Taken together, the results presented here show
      that in the turtle: (1) entosis with internal autophagosomes can take place
      within normal body cells during hibernation; (2) spermatozoa, as a highly
      differentiated cell can be internalized and degraded within Sertoli cell by
      entosis in vivo, which is in favor of the next reproductive cycle in the turtle.

PMID- 28611686
TI  - Hypoxia-Related Hormonal Appetite Modulation in Humans during Rest and Exercise:
      Mini Review.
AB  - Obesity is associated with numerous chronic ailments and represents one of the
      major health and economic issues in the modernized societies. Accordingly, there
      is an obvious need for novel treatment approaches. Recently, based on the reports
      of reduced appetite and subsequent weight loss following high-altitude sojourns,
      exposure to hypoxia has been proposed as a viable weight-reduction strategy.
      While altitude-related appetite modulation is complex and not entirely clear,
      hypoxia-induced alterations in hormonal appetite modulation might be among the
      key underlying mechanisms. The present paper summarizes the up-to-date research
      on hypoxia/altitude-induced changes in the gut and adipose tissue derived
      peptides related to appetite regulation. Orexigenic hormone ghrelin and
      anorexigenic peptides leptin, glucagon-like peptide-1, peptide YY, and
      cholecystokinin have to-date been investigated as potential modulators of hypoxia
      driven appetite alterations. Current evidence suggests that hypoxia can,
      especially acutely, lead to decreased appetite, most probably via reduction of
      acylated ghrelin concentration. Hypoxia-related short and long-term changes in
      other hormonal markers are more unclear although hypoxia seems to importantly
      modulate leptin levels, especially following prolonged hypoxic exposures. Limited
      evidence also suggests that different activity levels during exposures to hypoxia
      do not additively affect hormonal appetite markers. Although very few studies
      have been performed in obese/overweight individuals, the available data indicate
      that hypoxia/altitude exposures do not seem to differentially affect appetite
      regulation via hormonal pathways in this cohort. Given the lack of experimental
      data, future well-controlled acute and prolonged studies are warranted to expand
      our understanding of hypoxia-induced hormonal appetite modulation and its
      kinetics in health and disease.

PMID- 28611688
TI  - Commentary: High-intensity Intermittent Training vs. Moderate-intensity
      Intermittent Training: Is It a Matter of Intensity or Intermittent Efforts?

PMID- 28611687
TI  - The Effect of Renal Denervation on Plasma Adipokine Profile in Patients with
      Treatment Resistant Hypertension.
AB  - Background: We previously demonstrated the effectiveness of renal denervation
      (RDN) to lower blood pressure (BP) at least partially via the reduction of
      sympathetic stimulation to the kidney. A number of adipocyte-derived factors are
      implicated in BP control in obesity. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine
      whether RDN may have salutary effects on the adipokine profile in patients with
      resistant hypertension (RH). Methods: Fifty seven patients with RH undergoing RDN
      program have been included in this study (65% males, age 60.8 +/- 1.5 years, BMI
      32.6 +/- 0.7 kg/m2, mean +/- SEM). Throughout the study, the patients were on an
      average of 4.5 +/- 2.7 antihypertensive drugs. Automated seated office BP
      measurements and plasma concentrations of leptin, insulin, non-esterified fatty
      acids (NEFA), adiponectin and resistin were assessed at baseline and the 3 months
      after RDN. Results: There was a significant reduction in mean office systolic
      (168.75 +/- 2.57 vs. 155.23 +/- 3.17 mmHg, p < 0.001) and diastolic (90.68 +/-
      2.31 vs. 83.74 +/- 2.36 mmHg, p < 0.001) BP 3 months after RDN. Body weight,
      plasma leptin and resistin levels and heart rate remained unchanged. Fasting
      insulin concentration significantly increased 3 months after the procedure (20.05
      +/- 1.46 vs. 29.70 +/- 2.51 uU/ml, p = 0.002). There was a significant drop in
      circulating NEFA at follow up (1.01 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.47 +/- 0.04 mEq/l, p < 0.001).
      Adiponectin concentration was significantly higher after RDN (5,654 +/- 800 vs.
      6,644 +/- 967 ng/ml, p = 0.024). Conclusions: This is the first study to
      demonstrate that RDN is associated with potentially beneficial effects on aspects
      of the adipokine profile. Increased adiponectin and reduced NEFA production may
      contribute to BP reduction via an effect on metabolic pathways. Clinical Trial
      Registration Number: NCT00483808, NCT00888433.

PMID- 28611689
TI  - Monitoring Notch Signaling-Associated Activation of Stem Cell Niches within
      Injured Dental Pulp.
AB  - Dental pulp stem/progenitor cells guarantee tooth homeostasis, repair and
      regeneration throughout life. The decision between renewal and differentiation of
      these cells is influenced by physical and molecular interactions with stromal
      cells and extracellular matrix molecules forming the specialized microenvironment
      of dental pulp stem cell niches. Here we study the activation of putative pulp
      niches after tooth injury through the upregulation of Notch signaling pathway.
      Notch1, Notch2, and Notch3 molecules were used as markers of dental pulp
      stem/progenitor cells. Upon dental injury, Notch1 and Notch3 are detected in
      cells related to vascular structures suggesting a role of these proteins in the
      activation of specific pulpal perivascular niches. In contrast, a population of
      Notch2-positive cells that are actively proliferative is observed in the apical
      part of the pulp. Kinetics of these cells is followed up with a lipophilic DiI
      labeling, showing that apical pulp cells migrate toward the injury site where
      dynamic regenerative/repair events occur. The knowledge of the activation and
      regulation of dental pulp stem/progenitor cells within their niches in pathologic
      conditions may be helpful for the realization of innovative dental treatments in
      the near future.

PMID- 28611690
TI  - Rethinking a Negative Event: The Affective Impact of Ruminative versus Imagery
      Based Processing of Aversive Autobiographical Memories.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ruminative (abstract verbal) processing during recall of aversive
      autobiographical memories may serve to dampen their short-term affective impact.
      Experimental studies indeed demonstrate that verbal processing of non
      autobiographical material and positive autobiographical memories evokes weaker
      affective responses than imagery-based processing. In the current study, we
      hypothesized that abstract verbal or concrete verbal processing of an aversive
      autobiographical memory would result in weaker affective responses than imagery
      based processing. METHODS: The affective impact of abstract verbal versus
      concrete verbal versus imagery-based processing during recall of an aversive
      autobiographical memory was investigated in a non-clinical sample (n = 99) using
      both an observational and an experimental design. Observationally, it was
      examined whether spontaneous use of processing modes (both state and trait
      measures) was associated with impact of aversive autobiographical memory recall
      on negative and positive affect. Experimentally, the causal relation between
      processing modes and affective impact was investigated by manipulating the
      processing mode during retrieval of the same aversive autobiographical memory.
      RESULTS: Main findings were that higher levels of trait (but not state) measures
      of both ruminative and imagery-based processing and depressive symptomatology
      were positively correlated with higher levels of negative affective impact in the
      observational part of the study. In the experimental part, no main effect of
      processing modes on affective impact of autobiographical memories was found.
      However, a significant moderating effect of depressive symptomatology was found.
      Only for individuals with low levels of depressive symptomatology, concrete
      verbal (but not abstract verbal) processing of the aversive autobiographical
      memory did result in weaker affective responses, compared to imagery-based
      processing. DISCUSSION: These results cast doubt on the hypothesis that
      ruminative processing of aversive autobiographical memories serves to avoid the
      negative emotions evoked by such memories. Furthermore, findings suggest that
      depressive symptomatology is associated with the spontaneous use and the
      affective impact of processing modes during recall of aversive autobiographical
      memories. Clinical studies are needed that examine the role of processing modes
      during aversive autobiographical memory recall in depression, including the
      potential effectiveness of targeting processing modes in therapy.

PMID- 28611691
TI  - Morphine Reward Promotes Cue-Sensitive Learning: Implication of Dorsal Striatal
      CREB Activity.
AB  - Different parallel neural circuits interact and may even compete to process and
      store information: whereas stimulus-response (S-R) learning critically depends on
      the dorsal striatum (DS), spatial memory relies on the hippocampus (HPC).
      Strikingly, despite its potential importance for our understanding of addictive
      behaviors, the impact of drug rewards on memory systems dynamics has not been
      extensively studied. Here, we assessed long-term effects of drug- vs food
      reinforcement on the subsequent use of S-R vs spatial learning strategies and
      their neural substrates. Mice were trained in a Y-maze cue-guided task, during
      which either food or morphine injections into the ventral tegmental area (VTA)
      were used as rewards. Although drug- and food-reinforced mice learned the Y-maze
      task equally well, drug-reinforced mice exhibited a preferential use of an S-R
      learning strategy when tested in a water-maze competition task designed to
      dissociate cue-based and spatial learning. This cognitive bias was associated
      with a persistent increase in the phosphorylated form of cAMP response element
      binding protein phosphorylation (pCREB) within the DS, and a decrease of pCREB
      expression in the HPC. Pharmacological inhibition of striatal PKA pathway in drug
      rewarded mice limited the morphine-induced increase in levels of pCREB in DS and
      restored a balanced use of spatial vs cue-based learning. Our findings suggest
      that drug (opiate) reward biases the engagement of separate memory systems toward
      a predominant use of the cue-dependent system via an increase in learning-related
      striatal pCREB activity. Persistent functional imbalance between striatal and
      hippocampal activity could contribute to the persistence of addictive behaviors,
      or counteract the efficiency of pharmacological or psychotherapeutic treatments.

PMID- 28611692
TI  - Development of a Mobile Phone Addiction Craving Scale and Its Validation in a
      Spanish Adult Population.
AB  - In some people, problematic cell phone use can lead to situations in which they
      lose control, similar to those observed in other cases of addiction. Although
      different scales have been developed to assess its severity, we lack an
      instrument that is able to determine the desire or craving associated with it.
      Thus, with the objective of evaluating craving for cell phone use, in this study,
      we develop and present the Mobile Phone Addiction Craving Scale (MPACS). It
      consists of eight Likert-style items, with 10 response options, referring to
      possible situations in which the interviewee is asked to evaluate the degree of
      restlessness that he or she feels if the cell phone is unavailable at the moment.
      It can be self-administered or integrated in an interview when abuse or problems
      are suspected. With the existence of a single dimension, reflected in the
      exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the scale presents adequate reliability and
      internal consistency (alpha = 0.919). Simultaneously, we are able to show
      significantly increased correlations (r = 0.785, p = 0.000) with the Mobile Phone
      Problematic Use Scale (MPPUS) and state anxiety (r = 0.330, p = 0.000). We are
      also able to find associations with impulsivity, measured using the urgency,
      premeditation, perseverance, and sensation seeking scale, particularly in the
      dimensions of negative urgency (r = 0.303, p = 0.000) and positive urgency (r =
      0.290, p = 0.000), which confirms its construct validity. The analysis of these
      results conveys important discriminant validity among the MPPUS user categories
      that are obtained using the criteria by Chow et al. (1). The MPACS demonstrates
      higher levels of craving in persons up to 35 years of age, reversing with age. In
      contrast, we do not find significant differences among the sexes. Finally, a
      receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis allows us to establish the
      scores from which we are able to determine the different levels of craving, from
      the absence of craving to that referred to as addiction. Based on these results,
      we can conclude that this scale is a reliable tool that complements ongoing
      studies on problematic cell phone use.

PMID- 28611694
TI  - Acute Frontal Lobe Dysfunction Following Prefrontal Low-Frequency Repetitive
      Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in a Patient with Treatment-Resistant
      Depression.
AB  - The potential of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to treat
      numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders has been thoroughly studied for
      the last two decades. Here, we report for the first time, the case of a 65-year
      old woman suffering from treatment-resistant depression who developed an acute
      frontal lobe syndrome following eight sessions of low-frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS) to
      the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while also treated with sertraline and
      mianserin. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying such an unexpected acute
      frontal lobe dysfunction are discussed in relation to the therapeutic use of LF
      rTMS in combination with pharmacotherapy in depressed patients.

PMID- 28611693
TI  - Paired-Associative Stimulation-Induced Long-term Potentiation-Like Motor Cortex
      Plasticity in Healthy Adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using
      paired-associative stimulation (PAS) to study excitatory and inhibitory
      plasticity in adolescents while examining variables that may moderate plasticity
      (such as sex and environment). METHODS: We recruited 34 healthy adolescents (aged
      13-19, 13 males, 21 females). To evaluate excitatory plasticity, we compared mean
      motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by single-pulse transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (TMS) before and after PAS at 0, 15, and 30 min. To evaluate
      inhibitory plasticity, we evaluated the cortical silent period (CSP) elicited by
      single-pulse TMS in the contracted hand before and after PAS at 0, 15, and 30
      min. RESULTS: All participants completed PAS procedures. No adverse events
      occurred. PAS was well tolerated. PAS-induced significant increases in the ratio
      of post-PAS MEP to pre-PAS MEP amplitudes (p < 0.01) at all post-PAS intervals.
      Neither socioeconomic status nor sex was associated with post-PAS MEP changes.
      PAS induced significant CSP lengthening in males but not females. CONCLUSION: PAS
      is a feasible, safe, and well-tolerated index of adolescent motor cortical
      plasticity. Gender may influence PAS-induced changes in cortical inhibition. PAS
      is safe and well tolerated by healthy adolescents and may be a novel tool with
      which to study adolescent neuroplasticity.

PMID- 28611696
TI  - Selling and Smooth-Talking: Effects of Interviewer Impression Management from a
      Signaling Perspective.
AB  - Prior research suggests that interviewers play an important role in representing
      their organization and in making the interview a pleasant experience for
      applicants. This study examined whether impression management used by
      interviewers (organization-enhancement and applicant-enhancement) is perceived by
      applicants, and how it influences applicants' attitudes, intentions, and
      emotions. Adopting a signaling perspective, this article argues that applicants'
      positive attitudes and intentions toward the organization increase if
      interviewers not only enhance the organization, but if the signals they sent
      (i.e., organization-enhancement) are actually received by the applicant.
      Similarly, applicants' positive emotions should increase if interviewers not only
      enhance the applicant, but if the signals they send (i.e., applicant-enhancement)
      are actually received by the applicant. A field study that involved video coding
      interviewers' impression management behavior during 153 selection interviews and
      pre- and post-interview applicant surveys showed that the signals sent by
      interviewers during the interview were received by applicants. In addition,
      applicants rated the organization's prestige and their own positive affect after
      the interview more positively when they perceived higher levels of organization
      enhancement during the interview. Furthermore, applicants reported more positive
      affect and interview self-efficacy after the interview when they perceived higher
      levels of interviewer applicant-enhancement. We also found an indirect effect of
      interviewers' organization-enhancement on organizational prestige through
      applicants' perceptions of organization-enhancement as well as indirect effects
      of interviewers' applicant-enhancement on applicants' positive affect and
      interview self-efficacy through applicants' perceptions of applicant-enhancement.
      Our findings contribute to an integrated understanding of the effects of
      interviewer impression management and point out both risks and chances in selling
      and smooth-talking toward applicants.

PMID- 28611695
TI  - Social Cognition in Children Born Preterm: A Perspective on Future Research
      Directions.
AB  - Preterm birth is a major risk factor for children's development. It affects
      children's cognitive and intellectual development and is related to impairments
      in IQ, executive functions, and well-being, with these problems persisting into
      adulthood. While preterm children's intellectual and cognitive development has
      been studied in detail, their social development and social-cognitive
      competencies have received less attention. Namely, preterm children show problems
      in interactions with others. These interaction problems are present in
      relationships with parents, teachers, and peers. Parents' behavior has been
      identified as a possible mediator of children's social behavior. Maternal
      sensitivity and responsiveness as well as absence of mental disorders foster
      children's social development. In this article, we will report on the social side
      of impairments that preterm children face. The review of the literature revealed
      that preterm infants' joint attention abilities are impaired: They are less
      likely to initiate joint attention with others and to respond to others' efforts
      to engage in joint attention. These deficits in joint attention might contribute
      to later impairments in social cognition, which in turn might affect social
      interaction skills. Based on these three domains (i.e., problems in social
      interaction, parental behavior, and impairments in joint attention), we suggest
      that preterm children's social cognitive abilities should be investigated more
      intensively.

PMID- 28611698
TI  - Improving Assessment of the Spectrum of Reward-Related Eating: The RED-13.
AB  - A diversity of scales capture facets of reward-related eating (RRE). These scales
      assess food cravings, uncontrolled eating, addictive behavior, restrained eating,
      binge eating, and other eating behaviors. However, these scales differ in terms
      of the severity of RRE they capture. We sought to incorporate the items from
      existing scales to broaden the 9-item Reward-based Eating Drive scale (RED-9;
      Epel et al., 2014), which assesses three dimensions of RRE (lack of satiety,
      preoccupation with food, and lack of control over eating), in order to more
      comprehensively assess the entire spectrum of RRE. In a series of 4 studies, we
      used Item Response Theory models to consider candidate items to broaden the RED
      9. Studies 1 and 2 evaluated the abilities of additional items from existing
      scales to increase the RED-9's coverage across the spectrum of RRE. Study 3
      evaluated candidate items identified in Studies 1 and 2 in a new sample to assess
      the extent to which they accounted for more variance in areas less well-covered
      by the RED-9. Study 4 tested the ability of the RED-13 to provide consistent
      coverage across the range of the RRE spectrum. The resultant RED-13 accounted for
      greater variability than the RED-9 by reducing gaps in coverage of RRE in middle
      to-low ranges. Like the RED-9, the RED-13 was positively correlated with BMI. The
      RED-13 was also positively related to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes as well as
      cravings for sweet and savory foods. In summary, the RED-13 is a brief self
      report measure that broadly captures the spectrum of RRE and may be a useful tool
      for identifying individuals at risk for overweight or obesity.

PMID- 28611697
TI  - Violations of Expectations As Matter for the Believing Process.
AB  - For the purpose of this communication it is postulated that violation of
      expectation means a disturbing event or conflict interfering with a previously
      established mental state that affords a firm belief or confident feeling.
      According to this hypothesis a violation of an expectation contradicts
      predictions and intentions that have been attained on stored experiences,
      valuations, and actual mood. We will argue that the notion of belief as static or
      stable which is usually described by expressions such as "my belief" or "our
      general belief" has to be extended to accommodate the process of belief
      formation. The credition model emphasizes the procedural aspect of belief by
      which the "process of believing" becomes similar to other psychological
      processes. We will describe that the "violation of expectation" can be decoded
      from the credition perspective and has brain functional correlates.

PMID- 28611699
TI  - The Age Effects on the Cognitive Processes of Intention-Based and Stimulus-Based
      Actions: An ERP Study.
AB  - The functional decline in action among older adults is caused not only by
      physical weakness but also by cognitive decline. In this study, we aimed to
      compare the cognitive effects of age between intention-based and stimulus-based
      action modes electrophysiologically. Because age-related declines in cognitive
      function might proceed distinctly according to specific action modes and
      processes, four specific cognitive processes, action-effect binding, stimulus
      response linkage, action-effect feedback control, and effect-action retrieval,
      were investigated. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during a modified
      acquisition-test paradigm in young (mean age = 21, SD = 2) and old (mean age =
      69, SD = 5) groups. A temporal bisection task and a movement pre-cuing task were
      used during the acquisition and test phases, respectively. Using ERP indices
      including readiness potential (RP), P3, N2 and contingent negative variation
      (CNV) to identify these four specific processes for the two action modes, we
      revealed the effects of age on each ERP index. The results showed similar
      patterns of waveforms but consistently decreasing amplitudes of all four ERP
      indices in the old age group compared with the young age group, which indicates
      not only generally declining functions of action preparation in older adults but
      also age effects specific to the action modes and processes that might otherwise
      be mixed together under confounding experimental conditions. Particularly, an
      interference effect indexed by the differences in the amplitudes of CNV between
      congruent and incongruent tasks was observed in the young age group, which is
      consistent with previous behavioral reports. However, this effect was absent in
      the old age group, indicating a specific age-related deficit in the effect-action
      retrieval process of intention-based action, which might be caused by an age
      related deficit in associative memory. In sum, this study investigated the
      cognitive processes of two action modes from a developmental perspective and
      suggests the importance of adding associative memory training to interventions
      for older adults with the aim of improving intention-based action.

PMID- 28611700
TI  - Brain Knowledge and the Prevalence of Neuromyths among Prospective Teachers in
      Greece.
AB  - Although very often teachers show a great interest in introducing findings from
      the field of neuroscience in their classrooms, there is growing concern about the
      lack of academic instruction on neuroscience on teachers' curricula because this
      has led to a proliferation of neuromyths. We surveyed 479 undergraduate (mean age
      = 19.60 years, SD = 2.29) and 94 postgraduate students (mean age = 28.52 years,
      SD = 7.16) enrolled in Departments of Education at the University of Thessaly and
      the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. We used a 70-item
      questionnaire aiming to explore general knowledge on the brain, neuromyths, the
      participants' attitude toward neuroeducation as well as their reading habits.
      Prospective teachers were found to believe that neuroscience knowledge is useful
      for teachers (90.3% agreement), to be somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to the
      brain (47.33% of the assertions were answered correctly), but to be less well
      informed when it comes to neuroscientific issues related to special education
      (36.86% correct responses). Findings further indicate that general knowledge
      about the brain was found to be the best safeguard against believing in
      neuromyths. Based on our results we suggest that prospective teachers can benefit
      from academic instruction on neuroscience. We propose that such instruction takes
      place in undergraduate courses of Departments of Education and that emphasis is
      given in debunking neuromyths, enhancing critical reading skills, and dealing
      with topics relevant to special education.

PMID- 28611701
TI  - Virtual Learning Simulations in High School: Effects on Cognitive and Non
      cognitive Outcomes and Implications on the Development of STEM Academic and
      Career Choice.
AB  - The present study compared the value of using a virtual learning simulation
      compared to traditional lessons on the topic of evolution, and investigated if
      the virtual learning simulation could serve as a catalyst for STEM academic and
      career development, based on social cognitive career theory. The investigation
      was conducted using a crossover repeated measures design based on a sample of 128
      high school biology/biotech students. The results showed that the virtual
      learning simulation increased knowledge of evolution significantly, compared to
      the traditional lesson. No significant differences between the simulation and
      lesson were found in their ability to increase the non-cognitive measures. Both
      interventions increased self-efficacy significantly, and none of them had a
      significant effect on motivation. In addition, the results showed that the
      simulation increased interest in biology related tasks, but not outcome
      expectations. The findings suggest that virtual learning simulations are at least
      as efficient in enhancing learning and self-efficacy as traditional lessons, and
      high schools can thus use them as supplementary educational methods. In addition,
      the findings indicate that virtual learning simulations may be a useful tool in
      enhancing student's interest in and goals toward STEM related careers.

PMID- 28611702
TI  - Search and Coherence-Building in Intuition and Insight Problem Solving.
AB  - Coherence-building is a key concept for a better understanding of the underlying
      mechanisms of intuition and insight problem solving. There are several accounts
      that address certain aspects of coherence-building. However, there is still no
      proper framework defining the general principles of coherence-building. We
      propose a four-stage model of coherence-building. The first stage starts with
      spreading activation restricted by constraints. This dynamic is a well-defined
      rule based process. The second stage is characterized by detecting a coherent
      state. We adopted a fluency account assuming that the ease of information
      processing indicates the realization of a coherent state. The third stage is
      designated to evaluate the result of the coherence-building process and assess
      whether the given problem is solved or not. If the coherent state does not fit
      the requirements of the task, the process re-enters at stage 1. These three
      stages characterize intuition. For insight problem solving a fourth stage is
      necessary, which restructures the given representation after repeated failure, so
      that a new search space results. The new search space enables new coherent
      states. We provide a review of the most important findings, outline our model,
      present a large number of examples, deduce potential new paradigms and measures
      that might help to decipher the underlying cognitive processes.

PMID- 28611703
TI  - "You Should Have Seen the Look on Your Face...": Self-awareness of Facial
      Expressions.
AB  - The awareness of facial expressions allows one to better understand, predict, and
      regulate his/her states to adapt to different social situations. The present
      research investigated individuals' awareness of their own facial expressions and
      the influence of the duration and intensity of expressions in two self-reference
      modalities, a real-time condition and a video-review condition. The participants
      were instructed to respond as soon as they became aware of any facial movements.
      The results revealed that awareness rates were 57.79% in the real-time condition
      and 75.92% in the video-review condition. The awareness rate was influenced by
      the intensity and (or) the duration. The intensity thresholds for individuals to
      become aware of their own facial expressions were calculated using logistic
      regression models. The results of Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) revealed
      that video-review awareness was a significant predictor of real-time awareness.
      These findings extend understandings of human facial expression self-awareness in
      two modalities.

PMID- 28611704
TI  - Passion, Trait Self-Control, and Wellbeing: Comparing Two Mediation Models
      Predicting Wellbeing.
AB  - Research has found that passion and trait self-control represented key
      determinants of wellbeing. Yet, no study to date has attempted to investigate the
      mediating influences of trait self-control and passion for accounting for the
      relationships between passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing (dependent
      variable). Using different frameworks, such as the dualistic model of passion and
      the neo-socioanalytic theory, the present study proposed two mediation models,
      considering either trait self-control (model 1) or passion (model 2) as the
      mediating variable. Five hundred nine volunteers from the United States (326
      females and 183 males; Mage = 31.74, SDage = 11.05, from 18 to 70 years old), who
      reported being passionate about a specific activity (e.g., fishing, swimming,
      blogging; Mpassion = 5.94, SDpassion = 0.89), answered questionnaires assessing
      harmonious and obsessive passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing (measured
      through hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing scales). Preliminary analyses revealed
      that both models were significant (model 1: absolute GoF = 0.366, relative GoF =
      0.971, outer model GoF = 0.997, inner model GoF = 0.973, R2 = 18.300%, p < 0.001;
      model 2: absolute GoF = 0.298; relative GoF = 0.980; outer model GoF = 0.997;
      inner model GoF = 0.982; R2 = 12.111%, p < 0.001). Correlational analyses
      revealed positive relationships between harmonious passion, trait self-control,
      and wellbeing, and no relationships of obsessive passion with trait self-control
      and wellbeing. Mediation analyses revealed that trait self-control significantly
      mediated the relationship between harmonious passion and wellbeing (i.e., partial
      mediation, VAF = 33.136%). Harmonious passion appeared to significantly mediate
      the positive effect of trait self-control on wellbeing; however, the size of the
      mediating effect indicated that (almost) no mediation would take place (i.e., VAF
      = 11.144%). The present study is the first to examine the relationships between
      passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing, and supports the view that trait self
      control and harmonious passion represent not only adaptive and powerful
      constructs, but also key determinants of wellbeing. Implications for the study of
      passion, trait self-control and wellbeing are discussed.

PMID- 28611705
TI  - Proposers' Economic Status Affects Behavioral and Neural Responses to Unfairness.
AB  - Economic status played an important role in the modulation of economic decision
      making. The present fMRI study aimed at investigating how economic status
      modulated behavioral and neural responses to unfairness in a modified Ultimatum
      Game (UG). During scanning, participants played as responders in the UG, and they
      were informed of the economic status of proposers before receiving offers. At the
      behavioral level, higher rejection rates and lower fairness ratings were revealed
      when proposers were in high economic status than in low economic status. Besides,
      the most time-consuming decisions tended to occur at lower unfairness level when
      the proposers were in high (relative to low) economic status. At the neural
      level, stronger activation of left thalamus was revealed when fair offers were
      proposed by proposers in high rather than in low economic status. Greater
      activation of right medial prefrontal cortex was revealed during acceptance to
      unfair offers in high economic status condition rather than in low economic
      status condition. Taken together, these findings shed light on the significance
      of proposers' economic status in responders' social decision making in UG.

PMID- 28611706
TI  - The Moderating Effect of Employee Political Skill on the Link between Perceptions
      of a Victimizing Work Environment and Job Performance.
AB  - Research has generally revealed only a weak link, if any at all, between
      victimization-related experiences and job performance. Drawing on the commonly
      used conservation of resources perspective, we argue that such inconsistent
      evidence in the organizational literature stems from an over-focus on personal
      resources at the expense of considering the role of social resources.
      Victimization is an interpersonal phenomenon with social ramifications. Its
      effects may be better captured when measured from the standpoint of the social
      environment, and analyzed relative to an employee's capacity to effectively
      regulate those social resources. With the latter capacity being encapsulated by
      the construct of political skill, we conducted two studies to explore the
      moderating influence of employee political skill on the relationship between
      employee perceptions of a victimizing work environment and employee task
      performance. In Study 1, employees with low political skill exhibited reduced
      task performance when perceiving a victimizing environment, and this link was
      found to be mediated by tension in Study 2. Those with high political skill
      exhibit no change in performance across victimization perceptions in Study 2, yet
      an increase in performance in Study 1. We discuss our findings relative to the
      victimization and political skill literatures.

PMID- 28611707
TI  - The Affective Norms for Polish Short Texts (ANPST) Database Properties and Impact
      of Participants' Population and Sex on Affective Ratings.
AB  - The Affective Norms for Polish Short Texts (ANPST) dataset (Imbir, 2016d) is a
      list of 718 affective sentence stimuli with known affective properties with
      respect to subjectively perceived valence, arousal, dominance, origin, subjective
      significance, and source. This article examines the reliability of the ANPST and
      the impact of population type and sex on affective ratings. The ANPST dataset was
      introduced to provide a recognized method of eliciting affective states with
      linguistic stimuli more complex than single words and that included contextual
      information and thus are less ambiguous in interpretation than single word.
      Analysis of the properties of the ANPST dataset showed that norms collected are
      reliable in terms of split-half estimation and that the distributions of ratings
      are similar to those obtained in other affective norms studies. The pattern of
      correlations was the same as that found in analysis of an affective norms dataset
      for words based on the same six variables. Female psychology students' valence
      ratings were also more polarized than those of their female student peers
      studying other subjects, but arousal ratings were only higher for negative words.
      Differences also appeared for all other measured dimensions. Women's valence
      ratings were found to be more polarized and arousal ratings were higher than
      those made by men, and differences were also present for dominance, origin, and
      subjective significance. The ANPST is the first Polish language list of sentence
      stimuli and could easily be adapted for other languages and cultures.

PMID- 28611708
TI  - Editorial: Fitting Psychometric Models: Issues and New Developments.

PMID- 28611709
TI  - Relationships between Motor and Executive Functions and the Effect of an Acute
      Coordinative Intervention on Executive Functions in Kindergartners.
AB  - There is growing evidence indicating positive, causal effects of acute physical
      activity on cognitive performance of school children, adolescents, and adults.
      However, only a few studies examined these effects in kindergartners, even though
      correlational studies suggest moderate relationships between motor and cognitive
      functions in this age group. One aim of the present study was to examine the
      correlational relationships between motor and executive functions among 5- to 6
      year-olds. Another aim was to test whether an acute coordinative intervention,
      which was adapted to the individual motor functions of the children, causally
      affected different executive functions (i.e., motor inhibition, cognitive
      inhibition, and shifting). Kindergartners (N = 102) were randomly assigned either
      to a coordinative intervention (20 min) or to a control condition (20 min). The
      coordination group performed five bimanual exercises (e.g., throwing/kicking
      balls onto targets with the right and left hand/foot), whereas the control group
      took part in five simple activities that hardly involved coordination skills
      (e.g., stamping). Children's motor functions were assessed with the Movement
      Assessment Battery for Children 2 (Petermann, 2009) in a pre-test (T1), 1 week
      before the intervention took place. Motor inhibition was assessed with the Simon
      says task (Carlson and Wang, 2007), inhibition and shifting were assessed with
      the Hearts and Flowers task (Davidson et al., 2006) in the pre-test and again in
      a post-test (T2) immediately after the interventions. Results revealed
      significant correlations between motor functions and executive functions
      (especially shifting) at T1. There was no overall effect of the intervention.
      However, explorative analyses indicated a three-way interaction, with the
      intervention leading to accuracy gains only in the motor inhibition task and only
      if it was tested directly after the intervention. As an unexpected effect, this
      result needs to be treated with caution but may indicate that the effect of acute
      coordinative exercise is temporally limited and emerges only for motor
      inhibition, but not for cognitive inhibition or shifting. More generally, in
      contrast to other studies including older participants and endurance exercises,
      no general effect of an acute coordinative intervention on executive functions
      was revealed for kindergartners.

PMID- 28611711
TI  - English Validation of the Parental Socialization Scale-ESPA29.
AB  - Parenting styles have traditionally been studied following the classical two
      dimensional orthogonal model of parental socialization. The Parental
      Socialization Scale ESPA29 is used to measure the four styles of parental
      socialization through the acceptance/involvement and strictness/imposition
      dimensions. The ESPA29 scale is a developmentally appropriate measure of
      parenting styles, which has been validated in several languages including
      Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. In this study, the English
      translation of the ESPA29 was evaluated. The objective of the work is to test the
      ESPA29's structure of parenting practices with a United States sample measuring
      parenting practices using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory
      factor analysis (CFA). The scores of fathers' and mothers' behavioral practices
      toward their children were obtained for a sample of 911 United States adolescents
      between 14 and 18 years of age. First, the total sample was split and a principal
      components analysis with varimax rotation was carried out with one of the two
      halves. EFA showed a two-factor structure fully congruent with the theoretical
      model for mothers' and fathers' scores. Next, a CFA was calculated on the second
      half by using the factor structure obtained in the previous EFA. The CFA
      replicated the two-factor structure with appropriate fit index. The seven
      parenting practices that were measured loaded appropriately on the
      acceptance/involvement and strictness/imposition dimensions. Then, the multigroup
      analysis between girls and boys showed equal loading in the factors and equal
      covariation between the acceptance/involvement and the strictness/imposition
      dimensions. Additionally, the two dimensions of the ESPA29 scale were related to
      self-esteem in order to obtain an external validity index. The findings confirm
      the invariant structure of the ESPA29 was in the United States and their
      equivalence in both fathers' and mothers' scores. These findings validate the
      instrument and confirm its applicability in cross-cultural research on parenting
      practices and child adjustment.

PMID- 28611713
TI  - Assessing Empathy across Childhood and Adolescence: Validation of the Empathy
      Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA).
AB  - Empathy plays a crucial role in healthy social functioning and in maintaining
      positive social relationships. In this study, 1250 children and adolescents (10
      15 year olds) completed the newly developed Empathy Questionnaire for Children
      and Adolescents (EmQue-CA) that was tested on reliability, construct validity,
      convergent validity, and concurrent validity. The EmQue-CA aims to assess empathy
      using the following scales: affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and intention
      to comfort. A Principal Components Analysis, which was directly tested with a
      Confirmatory Factor Analysis, confirmed the proposed three-factor model resulting
      in 14 final items. Reliability analyses demonstrated high internal consistency of
      the scales. Furthermore, the scales showed high convergent validity, as they were
      positively correlated with related scales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index
      (Davis, 1983). With regard to concurrent validity, higher empathy was related to
      more attention to others' emotions, higher friendship quality, less focus on own
      affective state, and lower levels of bullying behavior. Taken together, we show
      that the EmQue-CA is a reliable and valid instrument to measure empathy in
      typically developing children and adolescents aged 10 and older.

PMID- 28611710
TI  - Promising Links between Meditation and Reduced (Brain) Aging: An Attempt to
      Bridge Some Gaps between the Alleged Fountain of Youth and the Youth of the
      Field.
AB  - Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies has reported a positive
      impact of meditation on cerebral aging. However, the underlying mechanisms for
      these seemingly brain-protecting effects are not well-understood. This may be due
      to the fact, at least partly, that systematic empirical meditation research has
      emerged only recently as a field of scientific scrutiny. Thus, on the one hand,
      critical questions remain largely unanswered; and on the other hand, outcomes of
      existing research require better integration to build a more comprehensive and
      holistic picture. In this article, we first review theories and mechanisms
      pertaining to normal (brain) aging, specifically focusing on telomeres,
      inflammation, stress regulation, and macroscopic brain anatomy. Then, we
      summarize existing research integrating the developing evidence suggesting that
      meditation exerts positive effects on (brain) aging, while carefully discussing
      possible mechanisms through which these effects may be mediated.

PMID- 28611712
TI  - Executive Function Buffers the Association between Early Math and Later Academic
      Skills.
AB  - Extensive evidence has suggested that early academic skills are a robust
      indicator of later academic achievement; however, there is mixed evidence of the
      effectiveness of intervention on academic skills in early years to improve later
      outcomes. As such, it is clear there are other contributing factors to the
      development of academic skills. The present study tests the role of executive
      function (EF) (a construct made up of skills complicit in the achievement of goal
      directed tasks) in predicting 5th grade math and reading ability above and beyond
      math and reading ability prior to school entry, and net of other cognitive
      covariates including processing speed, vocabulary, and IQ. Using a longitudinal
      dataset of N = 1292 participants representative of rural areas in two distinctive
      geographical parts of the United States, the present investigation finds EF at
      age 5 strongly predicts 5th grade academic skills, as do cognitive covariates.
      Additionally, investigation of an interaction between early math ability and EF
      reveals the magnitude of the association between early math and later math varies
      as a function of early EF, such that participants who have high levels of EF can
      "catch up" to peers who perform better on assessments of early math ability.
      These results suggest EF is pivotal to the development of academic skills
      throughout elementary school. Implications for further research and practice are
      discussed.

PMID- 28611715
TI  - From Threat to Relief: Expressing Prejudice toward Atheists as a Self-Regulatory
      Strategy Protecting the Religious Orthodox from Threat.
AB  - We claim that religious orthodoxy is related to prejudice toward groups that
      violate important values, i.e., atheists. Moreover, we suggest that expressing
      prejudice may efficiently reduce the threat posed by this particular group among
      people who hold high levels, but not low levels, of orthodox belief. We tested
      these assumptions in an experimental study in which, after being exposed to
      atheistic worldviews (value-threat manipulation), high and low orthodox
      participants were allowed (experimental condition) or not (control condition) to
      express prejudice toward atheists. Threat was operationalized by cardiovascular
      reactivity, i.e., heart rate (HR); the higher the HR index, the higher the
      threat. The results found that people who hold high (vs. low) levels of orthodox
      belief responded with increased HR after the threat manipulation. However, we
      observed decreased HR after the expression of prejudice toward atheists among
      highly orthodox participants compared to the control condition. We did not find
      this effect among people holding low levels of orthodox belief. Thus, we conclude
      that expressing prejudice toward this particular group may be an efficient
      strategy to cope with the threat posed by this group for highly orthodox people.
      The results are discussed in light of previous findings on religious beliefs and
      the self-regulatory function of prejudice.

PMID- 28611716
TI  - Depression and Identity: Are Self-Constructions Negative or Conflictual?
AB  - Negative self-views have proved to be a consistent marker of vulnerability for
      depression. However, recent research has shown that a particular kind of
      cognitive conflict, implicative dilemma, is highly prevalent in depression. In
      this study, the relevance of these conflicts is assessed as compared to the
      cognitive model of depression of a negative view of the self. In so doing, 161
      patients with major depression and 110 controls were assessed to explore negative
      self-construing (self-ideal discrepancy) and conflicts (implicative dilemmas), as
      well as severity of symptoms. Results showed specificity for the clinical group
      indicating a pattern of mixed positive and negative self-descriptions with a high
      rate of conflict. Regression analysis lent support to the conflict hypothesis in
      relation to clinically relevant indicators such as symptom severity, global
      functioning. However, self-ideal discrepancy was a stronger predictor of group
      membership. The findings showed the relevance of cognitive conflicts to
      compliment the well-consolidated theory of negative self-views. Clinical
      implications for designing interventions are discussed.

PMID- 28611714
TI  - Movement Interferes with Visuospatial Working Memory during the Encoding: An ERP
      Study.
AB  - The present study focuses on the functional interactions of cognition and manual
      action control. Particularly, we investigated the neurophysiological correlates
      of the dual-task costs of a manual-motor task (requiring grasping an object,
      holding it, and subsequently placing it on a target) for working memory (WM)
      domains (verbal and visuospatial) and processes (encoding and retrieval). Thirty
      participants were tested in a cognitive-motor dual-task paradigm, in which a
      single block (a verbal or visuospatial WM task) was compared with a dual block
      (concurrent performance of a WM task and a motor task). Event-related potentials
      (ERPs) were analyzed separately for the encoding and retrieval processes of
      verbal and visuospatial WM domains both in single and dual blocks. The behavioral
      analyses show that the motor task interfered with WM and decreased the memory
      performance. The performance decrease was larger for the visuospatial task
      compared with the verbal task, i.e., domain-specific memory costs were obtained.
      The ERP analyses show the domain-specific interference also at the
      neurophysiological level, which is further process-specific to encoding. That is,
      comparing the patterns of WM-related ERPs in the single block and dual block, we
      showed that visuospatial ERPs changed only for the encoding process when a motor
      task was performed at the same time. Generally, the present study provides
      evidence for domain- and process-specific interactions of a prepared manual-motor
      movement with WM (visuospatial domain during the encoding process). This study,
      therefore, provides an initial neurophysiological characterization of functional
      interactions of WM and manual actions in a cognitive-motor dual-task setting, and
      contributes to a better understanding of the neuro-cognitive mechanisms of motor
      action control.

PMID- 28611717
TI  - N450 and LPC Event-Related Potential Correlates of an Emotional Stroop Task with
      Words Differing in Valence and Emotional Origin.
AB  - Affective meaning of verbal stimuli was found to influence cognitive control as
      expressed in the Emotional Stroop Task (EST). Behavioral studies have shown that
      factors such as valence, arousal, and emotional origin of reaction to stimuli
      associated with words can lead to lengthening of reaction latencies in EST.
      Moreover, electrophysiological studies have revealed that affective meaning
      altered amplitude of some components of evoked potentials recorded during EST,
      and that this alteration correlated with the performance in EST. The emotional
      origin was defined as processing based on automatic vs. reflective mechanisms,
      that underlines formation of emotional reactions to words. The aim of the current
      study was to investigate, within the framework of EST, correlates of processing
      of words differing in valence and origin levels, but matched in arousal,
      concreteness, frequency of appearance and length. We found no behavioral
      differences in response latencies. When controlling for origin, we found no
      effects of valence. We found the effect of origin on ERP in two time windows: 290
      570 and 570-800 ms. The earlier effect can be attributed to cognitive control
      while the latter is rather the manifestation of explicit processing of words. In
      each case, reflective originated stimuli evoked more positive amplitudes compared
      to automatic originated words.

PMID- 28611718
TI  - Barking up the Wrong Tree: Why and How We May Need to Revise Alcohol Addiction
      Therapy.
AB  - One of the main characteristics of alcohol abuse and addiction is the loss of
      control over alcohol intake and the continuation of drinking in the face of
      negative consequences. Mounting evidence strongly suggests that an alcohol
      induced imbalance between goal-directed and habitual behavior may be one of the
      main driving factors of this key feature of addiction and furthermore play a key
      role in staying abstinent. Current therapies often focus only on deficient
      inhibitory control (i.e., goal-directed behavior), but largely neglect the
      potential of the well-functioning habit formation found in patients. Yet,
      focusing on intact habitual/automatic mechanisms in addition to or maybe even
      instead of deficient cognitive control might equip us with a more effective tool
      to battle the current alcohol abuse and addiction epidemic, especially with
      respect to more severely impacted patients who likely suffer from permanent
      alcohol-induced brain damage. Against this background, I would like to advocate
      the application and scientific evaluation of habit reversal therapy (HRT) for
      alcohol abuse and addiction.

PMID- 28611719
TI  - Hablo Ingles y Espanol: Cultural Self-Schemas as a Function of Language.
AB  - Research has demonstrated that bilingual individuals experience a "double
      personality," which allows them to shift their self-schemas when they are primed
      with different language modes. In this study, we examine whether self-schemas
      change in Mexican-American (N = 193) bilinguals living in the U.S. when they
      provide open-ended personality self-descriptions in both English and Spanish. We
      used the Meaning Extraction Helper (MEH) software to extract the most salient
      self-schemas that influence individuals' self-defining process. Following a
      qualitative-inductive approach, words were extracted from the open-ended essays
      and organized into semantic clusters, which were analyzed qualitatively and
      named. The results show that as expected, language primed bilinguals to think
      about different self-schemas. In Spanish, their Mexican self-schemas were more
      salient; whereas, in English their U.S. American self-schemas were more salient.
      Similarities of self-schemas across languages were assessed using a quantitative
      approach. Language differences and similarities in theme definition and
      implications for self-identity of bilinguals are discussed.

PMID- 28611720
TI  - Family Function and Self-esteem among Chinese University Students with and
      without Grandparenting Experience: Moderating Effect of Social Support.
AB  - This study examines the association between family function and self-esteem of
      Chinese university students with grandparenting experience, and explores the
      moderating effects of social support in this link. Two thousand five hundred
      thirty university students (1372 males and 1158 females) from a Chinese
      university completed the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Rosenberg's Self
      esteem Scale, and the Family Assessment Device (FAD). Six hundred and forty-five
      (25.69%) students reported grandparenting experience and they reported lower
      scores on self-esteem and social support than the students raised only by their
      parents. The grandparenting group scored higher on such dimensions of family
      functioning as Communication, Role, Affective Involvement, Affective
      Responsiveness, and General Family Function (GF) than their counterpart group.
      For both groups, self-esteem scores were positively correlated with social
      support scores, while negatively correlated with FAD all sub-scale scores.
      Hierarchical regression analysis showed that for the students with grandparenting
      experience the social support moderated the relationship between GF and self
      esteem. When students reported a high level of social support, those with low GF
      score reported higher scores in self-esteem than those with low self-esteem.
      However, in case of low social support, there were no differences in self-esteem
      between groups with high and low GF scores. These findings suggest that social
      support plays a positive role to relieve the adverse impact of poor family
      function on self-esteem of the adolescents with grandparenting experience. In
      addition, the significance and limitations of the results will be discussed.

PMID- 28611721
TI  - A Method of Q-Matrix Validation for the Linear Logistic Test Model.
AB  - The linear logistic test model (LLTM) is a well-recognized psychometric model for
      examining the components of difficulty in cognitive tests and validating
      construct theories. The plausibility of the construct model, summarized in a
      matrix of weights, known as the Q-matrix or weight matrix, is tested by (1)
      comparing the fit of LLTM with the fit of the Rasch model (RM) using the
      likelihood ratio (LR) test and (2) by examining the correlation between the Rasch
      model item parameters and LLTM reconstructed item parameters. The problem with
      the LR test is that it is almost always significant and, consequently, LLTM is
      rejected. The drawback of examining the correlation coefficient is that there is
      no cut-off value or lower bound for the magnitude of the correlation coefficient.
      In this article we suggest a simulation method to set a minimum benchmark for the
      correlation between item parameters from the Rasch model and those reconstructed
      by the LLTM. If the cognitive model is valid then the correlation coefficient
      between the RM-based item parameters and the LLTM-reconstructed item parameters
      derived from the theoretical weight matrix should be greater than those derived
      from the simulated matrices.

PMID- 28611722
TI  - Commentary: Stimulation of the Posterior Cortical-Hippocampal Network Enhances
      Precision of Memory Recollection.

PMID- 28611723
TI  - The (Biological or Cultural) Essence of Essentialism: Implications for Policy
      Support among Dominant and Subordinated Groups.
AB  - Most research links (racial) essentialism to negative intergroup outcomes. We
      propose that this conclusion reflects both a narrow conceptual focus on
      biological/genetic essence and a narrow research focus from the perspective of
      racially dominant groups. We distinguished between beliefs in biological and
      cultural essences, and we investigated the implications of this distinction for
      support of social justice policies (e.g., affirmative action) among people with
      dominant (White) and subordinated (e.g., Black, Latino) racial identities in the
      United States. Whereas, endorsement of biological essentialism may have similarly
      negative implications for social justice policies across racial categories, we
      investigated the hypothesis that endorsement of cultural essentialism would have
      different implications across racial categories. In Studies 1a and 1b, we
      assessed the properties of a cultural essentialism measure we developed using two
      samples with different racial/ethnic compositions. In Study 2, we collected data
      from 170 participants using an online questionnaire to test the implications of
      essentialist beliefs for policy support. Consistent with previous research, we
      found that belief in biological essentialism was negatively related to policy
      support for participants from both dominant and subordinated categories. In
      contrast, the relationship between cultural essentialism and policy support
      varied across identity categories in the hypothesized way: negative for
      participants from the dominant category but positive for participants from
      subordinated categories. Results suggest that cultural essentialism may provide a
      way of identification that subordinated communities use to mobilize support for
      social justice.

PMID- 28611724
TI  - Model Evaluation in Generalized Structured Component Analysis Using Confirmatory
      Tetrad Analysis.
AB  - Generalized structured component analysis (GSCA) is a component-based approach to
      structural equation modeling (SEM). GSCA regards weighted composites or
      components of indicators as proxies for latent variables and estimates model
      parameter via least squares without resorting to a distributional assumption such
      as multivariate normality of indicators. As with other SEM approaches, model
      evaluation is a crucial procedure in GSCA that is used to examine whether a
      hypothesized model is consistent with the data in hand. However, the few
      descriptive measures of model evaluation available for GSCA are limited to
      evaluating models in a more confirmatory manner. This study integrates
      confirmatory tetrad analysis (CTA) into GSCA for model evaluation or comparison.
      Although CTA has been used in factor-based SEM as an inferential statistic, CTA
      is actually more compatible with GSCA because it is completely free of the
      multivariate normality assumption. Utilizing empirical data collected for 18,174
      students' social skills in an early childhood longitudinal study of 2010-11
      kindergarten cohort, we demonstrate the capability and applicability of CTA in
      GSCA and compare its performance with existing measures for GSCA.

PMID- 28611725
TI  - Multiparameter Electromyography Analysis of the Masticatory Muscle Activities in
      Patients with Brainstem Stroke at Different Head Positions.
AB  - The performance of the masticatory muscle is frequently affected and presents
      high heterogeneity poststroke. Surface electromyography (EMG) is widely used to
      quantify muscle movement patterns. However, only a few studies applied EMG
      analysis on the research of masticatory muscle activities poststroke, and most of
      which used single parameter-root mean squares (RMS). The aim of this study was to
      fully investigate the performance of masticatory muscle at different head
      positions in healthy subjects and brainstem stroke patients with multiparameter
      EMG analysis. In this study, 15 healthy subjects and six brainstem stroke
      patients were recruited to conduct maximum voluntary clenching at five different
      head positions: upright position, left rotation, right rotation, dorsal flexion,
      and ventral flexion. The EMG signals of bilateral temporalis anterior and
      masseter muscles were recorded, and parameters including RMS, median frequency,
      and fuzzy approximate entropy of the EMG signals were calculated. Two-way
      analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures and Bonferroni post hoc test
      were used to evaluate the effects of muscle and head position on EMG parameters
      in the healthy group, and the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was
      conducted in the patient group. The Welch-Satterthwaite t-test was used to
      compare the between-subject difference. We found a significant effect of subject
      and muscles but no significant effect of head positions, and the masticatory
      muscles of patients after brainstem stroke performed significantly different from
      healthy subjects. Multiparameter EMG analysis might be an informative tool to
      investigate the neural activity related movement patterns of the deficient
      masticatory muscles poststroke.

PMID- 28611726
TI  - The Effect of Spatial Smoothing on Representational Similarity in a Simple Motor
      Paradigm.
AB  - Multi-voxel pattern analyses (MVPA) are often performed on unsmoothed data, which
      is very different from the general practice of large smoothing extents in
      standard voxel-based analyses. In this report, we studied the effect of smoothing
      on MVPA results in a motor paradigm. Subjects pressed four buttons with two
      different fingers of the two hands in response to auditory commands. Overall,
      independent of the degree of smoothing, correlational MVPA showed distinctive
      patterns for the different hands in all studied regions of interest (motor
      cortex, prefrontal cortex, and auditory cortices). With regard to the effect of
      smoothing, our findings suggest that results from correlational MVPA show a minor
      sensitivity to smoothing. Moderate amounts of smoothing (in this case, 1-4 times
      the voxel size) improved MVPA correlations, from a slight improvement to large
      improvements depending on the region involved. None of the regions showed signs
      of a detrimental effect of moderate levels of smoothing. Even higher amounts of
      smoothing sometimes had a positive effect, most clearly in low-level auditory
      cortex. We conclude that smoothing seems to have a minor positive effect on MVPA
      results, thus researchers should be mindful about the choices they make regarding
      the level of smoothing.

PMID- 28611727
TI  - Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation to Enhance Upper Limb Motor Practice Poststroke: A
      Model for Selection of Cortical Site.
AB  - Motor practice is an essential part of upper limb motor recovery following
      stroke. To be effective, it must be intensive with a high number of repetitions.
      Despite the time and effort required, gains made from practice alone are often
      relatively limited, and substantial residual impairment remains. Using non
      invasive brain stimulation to modulate cortical excitability prior to practice
      could enhance the effects of practice and provide greater returns on the
      investment of time and effort. However, determining which cortical area to target
      is not trivial. The implications of relevant conceptual frameworks such as
      Interhemispheric Competition and Bimodal Balance Recovery are discussed. In
      addition, we introduce the STAC (Structural reserve, Task Attributes,
      Connectivity) framework, which incorporates patient-, site-, and task-specific
      factors. An example is provided of how this framework can assist in selecting a
      cortical region to target for priming prior to reaching practice poststroke. We
      suggest that this expanded patient-, site-, and task-specific approach provides a
      useful model for guiding the development of more successful approaches to
      neuromodulation for enhancing motor recovery after stroke.

PMID- 28611729
TI  - Editorial: Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue: Formation, Function, and Impact on Health
      and Disease.

PMID- 28611728
TI  - Are Movement Artifacts in Magnetic Resonance Imaging a Real Problem?-A Narrative
      Review.
AB  - Movement artifacts compromise image quality and may interfere with
      interpretation, especially in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications with
      low signal-to-noise ratio such as functional MRI or diffusion tensor imaging, and
      when imaging small lesions. High image resolution has high sensitivity to motion
      artifacts and often prolongs scan time that again aggravates movement artifacts.
      During the scan fast imaging techniques and sequences, optimal receiver coils,
      careful patient positioning, and instruction may minimize movement artifacts.
      Physiological noise sources are motion from respiration, flow and pulse coupled
      to cardiac cycles, from the swallowing reflex and small spontaneous head
      movements. Par example, in resting-state functional MRI spontaneous neuronal
      activity adds 1-2% of signal change, even under optimal conditions signal
      contributions from physiological noise remain a considerable fraction hereof.
      Movement tracking during imaging may allow for prospective correction or
      postprocessing steps separating signal and noise.

PMID- 28611730
TI  - Exploiting Nanobodies in the Detection and Quantification of Human Growth Hormone
      via Phage-Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Monitoring blood levels of human growth hormone (hGH) in most
      children with short stature deficiencies is crucial for taking a decision of
      treatment with extended course of daily and expensive doses of recombinant hGH
      (rhGH or Somatropin(r)). Besides, misusing of rhGH by sportsmen is banned by the
      World Anti-Doping Agency and thus sensitive GH-detecting methods are highly
      welcome in this field. Nanobodies are the tiniest antigen-binding entity derived
      from camel heavy chain antibodies. They were successfully generated against
      numerous antigens including hormones. METHODS: A fully nanobody-based sandwich
      ELISA method was developed in this work for direct measurement of GH in
      biological samples. RESULTS: Two major characteristics of nanobody were exploited
      for this goal: the robust and stable structure of the nanobody (NbGH04) used to
      capture hGH from tested samples, and the great ability of tailoring, enabling the
      display of the anti-GH detector nanobody (NbGH07) on the tip of M13-phage. Such
      huge, stable, and easy-to-prepare phage-Nb was used in ELISA to provide an
      amplified signal. Previously, NbGH04 was retrieved on immobilized hGH by phage
      display from a wide "immune" cDNA library prepared from a hGH-immunized camel.
      Here, and in order to assure epitope heterogeneity, NbGH07 was isolated from the
      same library using NbGH04-captured hGH as bait. Interaction of both nanobodies
      with hGH was characterized and compared with different anti-GH nanobodies and
      antibodies. The sensitivity (~0.5 ng/ml) and stability of the nanobody-base
      sandwich ELISA were assessed using rhGH before testing in the quantification of
      hGH in blood sera and cell culture supernatants. CONCLUSION: In regard to all
      advantages of nanobodies; stability, solubility, production affordability in
      Escherichia coli, and gene tailoring, nanobody-based phage sandwich ELISA
      developed here would provide a valuable method for hGH detection and
      quantification.

PMID- 28611731
TI  - The Genomic Architecture of Novel Simulium damnosum Wolbachia Prophage Sequence
      Elements and Implications for Onchocerciasis Epidemiology.
AB  - Research interest in Wolbachia is growing as new discoveries and technical
      advancements reveal the public health importance of both naturally occurring and
      artificial infections. Improved understanding of the Wolbachia bacteriophages
      (WOs) WOcauB2 and WOcauB3 [belonging to a sub-group of four WOs encoding serine
      recombinases group 1 (sr1WOs)], has enhanced the prospect of novel tools for the
      genetic manipulation of Wolbachia. The basic biology of sr1WOs, including host
      range and mode of genomic integration is, however, still poorly understood. Very
      few sr1WOs have been described, with two such elements putatively resulting from
      integrations at the same Wolbachia genome loci, about 2 kb downstream from the
      FtsZ cell-division gene. Here, we characterize the DNA sequence flanking the FtsZ
      gene of wDam, a genetically distinct line of Wolbachia isolated from the West
      African onchocerciasis vector Simulium squamosum E. Using Roche 454 shot-gun and
      Sanger sequencing, we have resolved >32 kb of WO prophage sequence into three
      contigs representing three distinct prophage elements. Spanning >=36 distinct WO
      open reading frame gene sequences, these prophage elements correspond roughly to
      three different WO modules: a serine recombinase and replication module (sr1RRM),
      a head and base-plate module and a tail module. The sr1RRM module contains
      replication genes and a Holliday junction recombinase and is unique to the sr1
      group WOs. In the extreme terminal of the tail module there is a SpvB protein
      homolog-believed to have insecticidal properties and proposed to have a role in
      how Wolbachia parasitize their insect hosts. We propose that these wDam prophage
      modules all derive from a single WO genome, which we have named here sr1WOdamA1.
      The best-match database sequence for all of our sr1WOdamA1-predicted gene
      sequences was annotated as of Wolbachia or Wolbachia phage sourced from an
      arthropod. Clear evidence of exchange between sr1WOdamA1 and other Wolbachia WO
      phage sequences was also detected. These findings provide insights into how
      Wolbachia could affect a medically important vector of onchocerciasis, with
      potential implications for future control methods, as well as supporting the
      hypothesis that Wolbachia phages do not follow the standard model of phage
      evolution.

PMID- 28611732
TI  - Specificity Re-evaluation of Oligonucleotide Probes for the Detection of Marine
      Picoplankton by Tyramide Signal Amplification-Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization.
AB  - Oligonucleotide probes are increasingly being used to characterize natural
      microbial assemblages by Tyramide Signal Amplification-Fluorescent in situ
      Hybridization (TSA-FISH, or CAtalysed Reporter Deposition CARD-FISH). In view of
      the fast-growing rRNA databases, we re-evaluated the in silico specificity of
      eleven bacterial and eukaryotic probes and competitor frequently used for the
      quantification of marine picoplankton. We performed tests on cell cultures to
      decrease the risk for non-specific hybridization, before they are used on
      environmental samples. The probes were confronted to recent databases and
      hybridization conditions were tested against target strains matching perfectly
      with the probes, and against the closest non-target strains presenting one to
      four mismatches. We increased the hybridization stringency from 55 to 65%
      formamide for the Eub338+EubII+EubIII probe mix to be specific to the Eubacteria
      domain. In addition, we found that recent changes in the Gammaproteobacteria
      classification decreased the specificity of Gam42a probe, and that the Roseo536R
      and Ros537 probes were not specific to, and missed part of the Roseobacter clade.
      Changes in stringency conditions were important for bacterial probes; these
      induced, respectively, a significant increase, in Eubacteria and Roseobacter and
      no significant changes in Gammaproteobacteria concentrations from the
      investigated natural environment. We confirmed the eukaryotic probes original
      conditions, and propose the Euk1209+NChlo01+Chlo02 probe mix to target the
      largest picoeukaryotic diversity. Experiences acquired through these
      investigations leads us to propose the use of seven steps protocol for complete
      FISH probe specificity check-up to improve data quality in environmental studies.

PMID- 28611734
TI  - Influence of Phosphorus and Cell Geometry on the Fractionation of Sulfur Isotopes
      by Several Species of Desulfovibrio during Microbial Sulfate Reduction.
AB  - We investigated the influence of organic substrates and phosphate concentration
      on the rates of dissimilatory microbial sulfate reduction and the 34S/32S
      isotopic fractionation produced by several Desulfovibrio species. Our experiments
      corroborate the previously reported species-specific correlation between sulfur
      isotope fractionation and cell-specific sulfate reduction rates. We also identify
      cell size as a key factor that contributes to the species-effect of this
      correlation. Phosphate limitation results in larger cells and contributes to a
      small decrease in sulfur isotope fractionation concomitant with an apparent
      increase in cell-specific sulfate reduction rates. Sulfur isotope fractionation
      in phosphate-limited cultures asymptotically approaches a lower limit of
      approximately 50/00 as cell-specific sulfate reduction rates increase to >100
      fmol cell-1 day-1. These experimental results test models that link the
      reversibilities of enzymatic steps in dissimilatory sulfate reduction to sulfur
      isotope fractionation and show that these models can provide consistent
      predictions across large variations in physiological states experienced by
      sulfate reducing bacteria.

PMID- 28611733
TI  - Helicobacter pylori Antibody Reactivities and Colorectal Cancer Risk in a Case
      control Study in Spain.
AB  - Background: Several studies have suggested that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)
      infection is a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), while others have not
      confirmed this hypothesis. This work aimed to assess the relation of CRC with H.
      pylori seropositivity and with seropositivity to 16 H. pylori proteins, in the
      MultiCase-Control study, MCC-Spain. Methods: MCC-Spain is a multicase-control
      study carried out in Spain from 2008 to 2013. In total, 2,140 histologically
      confirmed incident CRC cases and 4,098 population-based controls were recruited.
      Controls were frequency-matched by sex, age, and province. Epidemiological data
      were collected through a questionnaire fulfilled by face-to-face interviews and a
      self-administered food-frequency questionnaire. Seroreactivities against 16 H.
      pylori proteins were determined in 1,488 cases and 2,495 controls using H. pylori
      multiplex serology. H. pylori seropositivity was defined as positivity to >=4
      proteins. Multivariable logistic regression mixed models were used to estimate
      odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results:H. pylori
      seropositivity was not associated with increased CRC risk (OR = 0.91; 95% CI:
      0.71-1.16). Among H. pylori seropositive subjects, seropositivity to Cagdelta
      showed a lower CRC risk, and risk decreased with increasing number of proteins
      seropositive. Seropositivity to the most recognized virulence factors, CagA and
      VacA, was not associated with a higher CRC risk. No statistically significant
      heterogeneity was identified among tumor sites, although inverse relations were
      stronger for left colon cancer. An interaction with age and sex was found: H.
      pylori seropositivity was associated with a lower CRC risk in men younger than 65
      and with a higher risk in older women. Conclusions: Our results suggest that
      neither H. pylori seropositivity, nor seropositivity to the virulence factor CagA
      are associated with a higher CRC risk. A possible effect modification by age and
      sex was identified.

PMID- 28611735
TI  - The Effects of Cropping Regimes on Fungal and Bacterial Communities of Wheat and
      Faba Bean in a Greenhouse Pot Experiment Differ between Plant Species and
      Compartment.
AB  - Many bacteria and fungi in the plant rhizosphere and endosphere are beneficial to
      plant nutrient acquisition, health, and growth. Although playing essential roles
      in ecosystem functioning, our knowledge about the effects of multiple cropping
      regimes on the plant microbiome and their interactions is still limited. Here, we
      designed a pot experiment simulating different cropping regimes. For this
      purpose, wheat and faba bean plants were grown under controlled greenhouse
      conditions in monocultures and in two intercropping regimes: row and mixed
      intercropping. Bacterial and fungal communities in bulk and rhizosphere soils as
      well as in the roots and aerial plant parts were analyzed using large-scale
      metabarcoding. We detected differences in microbial richness and diversity
      between the cropping regimes. Generally, observed effects were attributed to
      differences between mixed and row intercropping or mixed intercropping and
      monoculture. Bacterial and fungal diversity were significantly higher in bulk
      soil samples of wheat and faba bean grown in mixed compared to row intercropping.
      Moreover, microbial communities varied between crop species and plant
      compartments resulting in different responses of these communities toward
      cropping regimes. Leaf endophytes were not affected by cropping regime but
      bacterial and fungal community structures in bulk and rhizosphere soil as well as
      fungal community structures in roots. We further recorded highly complex changes
      in microbial interactions. The number of negative inter-domain correlations
      between fungi and bacteria decreased in bulk and rhizosphere soil in
      intercropping regimes compared to monocultures due to beneficial effects. In
      addition, we observed plant species-dependent differences indicating that intra-
      and interspecific competition between plants had different effects on the plant
      species and thus on their associated microbial communities. To our knowledge,
      this is the first study investigating microbial communities in different plant
      compartments with respect to multiple cropping regimes using large-scale
      metabarcoding. Although a simple design simulating different cropping regimes was
      used, obtained results contribute to the understanding how cropping regimes
      affect bacterial and fungal communities and their interactions in different plant
      compartments. Nonetheless, we need field experiments to properly quantify
      observed effects in natural ecosystems.

PMID- 28611736
TI  - Copper Resistance in Aspergillus nidulans Relies on the PI-Type ATPase CrpA,
      Regulated by the Transcription Factor AceA.
AB  - Copper homeostasis has been extensively studied in mammals, bacteria, and yeast,
      but it has not been well-documented in filamentous fungi. In this report, we
      investigated the basis of copper tolerance in the model fungus Aspergillus
      nidulans. Three genes involved in copper homeostasis have been characterized.
      First, crpA the A. nidulans ortholog of Candida albicans CaCRP1 gene encoding a
      PI-type ATPase was identified. The phenotype of crpA deletion led to a severe
      sensitivity to Cu+2 toxicity and a characteristic morphological growth defect in
      the presence of high copper concentration. CrpA displayed some promiscuity
      regarding metal species response. The expression pattern of crpA showed an
      initial strong elevation of mRNA and a low continuous gene expression in response
      to long term toxic copper levels. Coinciding with maximum protein expression
      level, CrpA was localized close to the cellular surface, however protein
      distribution across diverse organelles suggests a complex regulated trafficking
      process. Secondly, aceA gene, encoding a transcription factor was identified and
      deleted, resulting in an even more extreme copper sensitivity than the DeltacrpA
      mutant. Protein expression assays corroborated that AceA was necessary for metal
      inducible expression of CrpA, but not CrdA, a putative metallothionein the
      function of which has yet to be elucidated.

PMID- 28611738
TI  - Identification of Cyanobacteria in a Eutrophic Coastal Lagoon on the Southern
      Baltic Coast.
AB  - Cyanobacteria are found worldwide in various habitats. Members of the
      picocyanobacteria genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus dominate in
      oligotrophic ocean waters. Other picocyanobacteria dominate in eutrophic fresh or
      brackish waters. Usually, these are morphologically determined as species of the
      order Chroococcales/clade B2. The phytoplankton of a shallow, eutrophic brackish
      lagoon was investigated. Phytoplankton was dominated by Aphanothece-like
      morphospecies year-round for more than 20 years, along a trophy and salinity
      gradient. A biphasic approach using a culture-independent and a culture-dependent
      analysis was applied to identify the dominant species genetically. The 16S rRNA
      gene phylogeny of clone sequences and isolates indicated the dominance of
      Cyanobium species (order Synechococcales sensu Komarek/clade C1 sensu Shih). This
      difference between morphologically and genetically based species identifications
      has consequences for applying the Reynolds functional-groups system, and for
      validity long-term monitoring data. The literature shows the same pattern as our
      results: morphologically, Aphanothece-like species are abundant in eutrophic
      shallow lagoons, and genetically, Cyanobium is found in similar habitats. This
      discrepancy is found worldwide in the literature on fresh- and brackish-water
      habitats. Thus, most Aphanothece-like morphospecies may be, genetically, members
      of Cyanobium.

PMID- 28611737
TI  - De Novo Biosynthesis of Apigenin, Luteolin, and Eriodictyol in the Actinomycete
      Streptomyces albus and Production Improvement by Feeding and Spore Conditioning.
AB  - Nutraceutical compounds as plant flavonoids play an important role in prevention
      and modulation of diverse heath conditions, as they exert interesting antifungal,
      antibacterial, antioxidant, and antitumor effects. They also possess anti
      inflammatory activities in arthritis, cardiovascular disease or neurological
      diseases, as well as modulatory effects on the CYP450 activity on diverse drugs.
      Most flavonoids are bioactive molecules of plant origin, but their industrial
      production is sometimes hindered due to reasons as low concentration in the plant
      tissues, presence in only some species or as a complex mixture or inactive
      glycosides in plant vacuolae. In this work, we describe the de novo biosynthesis
      of two important flavones, apigenin and luteolin, and one known flavanone,
      eriodictyol. Their plant biosynthetic pathways have been reconstructed for
      heterologous expression in Streptomyces albus, an actinomycete bacterium
      manageable at industrial production level. Also, production levels for apigenin
      have been improved by feeding with naringenin precursor, and timing for
      settlement of secondary metabolism has been advanced by spore conditioning. In
      the cases of eriodictyol and luteolin, their production in this important type of
      biotechnology-prone bacteria, the actinomycetes, had not been described in the
      literature yet.

PMID- 28611739
TI  - The PK-PD Relationship and Resistance Development of Danofloxacin against
      Mycoplasma gallisepticum in An In Vivo Infection Model.
AB  - Mycoplasma gallisepticum is the causative agent of chronic respiratory disease
      (CRD), a prevalent disease of poultry, which is responsible for significant
      economic losses in farms. Although several antimicrobial agents are currently
      recommended for the treatment and prevention of M. gallisepticum infections,
      investigations of M. gallisepticum have been hampered by their fastidious growth
      requirements and slow growth rate. As such, little work has been conducted
      concerning the PK/PD relationship and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance between
      antimicrobials against M. gallisepticum. In the present study, danofloxacin was
      orally administrated to the infected chickens once daily for 3 days by an
      established in vivo M. gallisepticum infection model. Not only the concentrations
      of danofloxacin in plasma and lung tissues were analyzed, but also the counting
      of viable cells and changes in antimicrobial susceptibility in air sac and lung
      were determined. The PK and PD data were fitted by WinNonlin to evaluate the
      PK/PD interactions of danofloxacin against M. gallisepticum. PCR amplification of
      quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) and DNA sequencing were
      performed to identify point mutations in gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE of the
      selected resistant mutant strains. In addition, susceptibility of enrofloxacin,
      ofloxacin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and norfloxacin against these mutant
      strains were also determined. The PK profiles indicated that danofloxacin
      concentration in the lung tissues was higher than plasma. Mycoplasmacidal
      activity was achieved when infected chickens were exposed to danofloxacin at the
      dose group above 2.5 mg/kg. The ratios of AUC24/MIC (the area under the
      concentration-time curve over 24 h divided by the MIC) for 2 log10 (CFU) and 3
      log10 (CFU) reduction were 31.97 and 97.98 L h/kg, respectively. Substitutions of
      Ser-83->Arg or Glu-87->Gly in gyrA; Glu-84->Lys in parC were observed in the
      resistant mutant strains that were selected from the dose group of 1 and 2.5
      mg/kg. MICs of danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin,
      and norfloxacin against the resistant mutant strains with a single mutation in
      position-83 were higher than that with a single mutation in position-87. These
      findings suggested that danofloxacin may be therapeutically effective to treat M.
      gallisepticum infection in chickens if administered at a dosage of 5.5 mg/kg once
      daily for 3 days.

PMID- 28611740
TI  - The Shift of the Intestinal Microbiome in the Innate Immunity-Deficient Mutant
      rde-1 Strain of C. elegans upon Orsay Virus Infection.
AB  - The status of intestinal microbiota is a determinant of host health. However, the
      alteration of the gut microbiota caused by the innate immune response to virus
      infection is unclear. Caenorhabditis elegans and its natural virus Orsay provide
      an excellent model of host-virus interactions. We evaluated the intestinal
      microbial community complexity of the wild-type N2 and the innate immunity
      deficient mutant rde-1 (ne219) strains of C. elegans upon Orsay virus infection.
      The gut microbiota diversity was decreased in rde-1 (ne219) mutant animals, and a
      large number of genes were associated with the difference between infected and
      uninfected rde-1 (ne219) mutant animals. Therefore, this study provides the first
      evaluation of the alterations caused by Orsay virus on intestinal microbiota in
      wildtype and innate immunity-deficient animals using C. elegans as the model
      species. Our findings indicate that virus infection may alters the microbiome in
      animals with defective immune response.

PMID- 28611741
TI  - Glycosylation of a Capsule-Like Complex (CLC) by Francisella novicida Is Required
      for Virulence and Partial Protective Immunity in Mice.
AB  - Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative bacterium and the etiologic agent of
      tularemia. F. tularensis may appear encapsulated when examined by transmission
      electron microscopy (TEM), which is due to production of an extracellular capsule
      like complex (CLC) when the bacterium is grown under specific environmental
      conditions. Deletion of two glycosylation genes in the live vaccine strain (LVS)
      results in loss of apparent CLC and attenuation of LVS in mice. In contrast, F.
      novicida, which is also highly virulent for mice, is reported to be non
      encapsulated. However, the F. novicida genome contains a putative polysaccharide
      locus with homology to the CLC glycosylation locus in F. tularensis. Following
      daily subculture of F. novicida in Chamberlain's defined medium, an electron
      dense material surrounding F. novicida, similar to the F. tularensis CLC, was
      evident. Extraction with urea effectively removed the CLC, and compositional
      analysis indicated the extract contained galactose, glucose, mannose, and
      multiple proteins, similar to those found in the F. tularensis CLC. The same
      glycosylation genes deleted in LVS were targeted for deletion in F. novicida by
      allelic exchange using the same mutagenesis vector used for mutagenesis of LVS.
      In contrast, this mutation also resulted in the loss of five additional genes
      immediately upstream of the targeted mutation (all within the glycosylation
      locus), resulting in strain F. novicida Delta1212-1218. The subcultured mutant F.
      novicida Delta1212-1218 was CLC-deficient and the CLC contained significantly
      less carbohydrate than the subcultured parent strain. The mutant was severely
      attenuated in BALB/c mice inoculated intranasally, as determined by the lower
      number of F. novicida Delta1212-1218 recovered in tissues compared to the parent,
      and by clearance of the mutant by 10-14 days post-challenge. Mice immunized
      intranasally with F. novicida Delta1212-1218 were partially protected against
      challenge with the parent, produced significantly reduced levels of inflammatory
      cytokines, and their spleens contained only areas of lymphoid hyperplasia,
      whereas control mice challenged with the parent exhibited hypercytokinemia and
      splenic necrosis. Therefore, F. novicida is capable of producing a CLC similar to
      that of F. tularensis, and glycosylation of the CLC contributed to F. novicida
      virulence and immunoprotection.

PMID- 28611742
TI  - Analysis of the Genome and Mobilome of a Dissimilatory Arsenate Reducing
      Aeromonas sp. O23A Reveals Multiple Mechanisms for Heavy Metal Resistance and
      Metabolism.
AB  - Aeromonas spp. are among the most ubiquitous microorganisms, as they have been
      isolated from different environmental niches including waters, soil, as well as
      wounds and digestive tracts of poikilothermic animals and humans. Although much
      attention has been paid to the pathogenicity of Aeromonads, the role of these
      bacteria in environmentally important processes, such as transformation of heavy
      metals, remains to be discovered. Therefore, the aim of this study was a detailed
      genomic characterization of Aeromonas sp. O23A, the first representative of this
      genus capable of dissimilatory arsenate reduction. The strain was isolated from
      microbial mats from the Zloty Stok mine (SW Poland), an environment strongly
      contaminated with arsenic. Previous physiological studies indicated that O23A may
      be involved in both mobilization and immobilization of this metalloid in the
      environment. To discover the molecular basis of the mechanisms behind the
      observed abilities, the genome of O23A (~5.0 Mbp) was sequenced and annotated,
      and genes for arsenic respiration, heavy metal resistance (hmr) and other
      phenotypic traits, including siderophore production, were identified. The
      functionality of the indicated gene modules was assessed in a series of minimal
      inhibitory concentration analyses for various metals and metalloids, as well as
      mineral dissolution experiments. Interestingly, comparative analyses revealed
      that O23A is related to a fish pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida
      A449 which, however, does not carry genes for arsenic respiration. This indicates
      that the dissimilatory arsenate reduction ability may have been lost during
      genome reduction in pathogenic strains, or acquired through horizontal gene
      transfer. Therefore, particular emphasis was placed upon the mobilome of O23A,
      consisting of four plasmids, a phage, and numerous transposable elements, which
      may play a role in the dissemination of hmr and arsenic metabolism genes in the
      environment. The obtained results indicate that Aeromonas sp. O23A is well
      adapted to the extreme environmental conditions occurring in the Zloty Stok mine.
      The analysis of genome encoded traits allowed for a better understanding of the
      mechanisms of adaptation of the strain, also with respect to its presumable role
      in colonization and remediation of arsenic-contaminated waters, which may never
      have been discovered based on physiological analyses alone.

PMID- 28611743
TI  - Identification and Characterization of Mycoplasma feriruminatoris sp. nov.
      Strains Isolated from Alpine Ibex: A 4th Species in the Mycoplasma mycoides
      Cluster Hosted by Non-domesticated Ruminants?
AB  - The genus Mycoplasma, a group of free-living, wall-less prokaryotes includes more
      than 100 species of which dozens are primary pathogens of humans and domesticated
      animals. Mycoplasma species isolated from wildlife are rarely investigated but
      could provide a fuller picture of the evolutionary history and diversity of this
      genus. In 2013 several isolates from wild Caprinae were tentatively assigned to a
      new species, Mycoplasma (M.) feriruminatoris sp. nov., characterized by an
      unusually rapid growth in vitro and close genetic proximity to ruminant
      pathogenic species. We suspected that atypical isolates recently collected from
      Alpine ibex in France belonged to this new species. The present study was
      undertaken to verify this hypothesis and to further characterize the French ibex
      isolates. Phylogenetic analyses were performed to identify the isolates and
      position them in trees containing several other mycoplasma species pathogenic to
      domesticated ruminants. Population diversity was characterized by genomic
      macrorestriction and by examining the capacity of different strains to produce
      capsular polysaccharides, a feature now known to vary amongst mycoplasma species
      pathogenic to ruminants. This is the first report of M. feriruminatoris isolation
      from Alpine ibex in France. Phylogenetic analyses further suggested that M.
      feriruminatoris might constitute a 4th species in a genetic cluster that so far
      contains only important ruminant pathogens, the so-called Mycoplasma mycoides
      cluster. A PCR assay for specific identification is proposed. These French
      isolates were not clonal, despite being collected in a restricted region of the
      Alps, which signifies a considerable diversity of the new species. Strains were
      able to concomitantly produce two types of capsular polysaccharides, beta-(1->6)
      galactan and beta-(1->6)-glucan, with variation in their respective ratio, a
      feature never before described in mycoplasmas.

PMID- 28611744
TI  - RNAseq Reveals Complex Response of Campylobacter jejuni to Ovine Bile and In vivo
      Gallbladder Environment.
AB  - Colonization of the gallbladder by enteric pathogens such as Salmonella typhi,
      Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter jejuni is thought to play a key role in
      transmission and persistence of these important zoonotic agents; however, little
      is known about the molecular mechanisms that allow for bacterial survival within
      this harsh environment. Recently, a highly virulent C. jejuni sheep abortion (SA)
      clone represented by the clinical isolate IA3902 has emerged as the dominant
      cause for sheep abortion in the United States. Previous studies have indicated
      that the C. jejuni clone SA can frequently be isolated from the gallbladders of
      otherwise healthy sheep, suggesting that the gallbladder may serve as an
      important reservoir for infection. To begin to understand the molecular
      mechanisms associated with survival in the host gallbladder, C. jejuni IA3902 was
      exposed for up to 24 h to both the natural ovine host in vivo gallbladder
      environment, as well as ovine bile in vitro. Following exposure, total RNA was
      isolated from the bile and high throughput deep sequencing of strand specific
      rRNA-depleted total RNA was used to characterize the transcriptome of IA3902
      under these conditions. Our results demonstrated for the first time the complete
      transcriptome of C. jejuni IA3902 during exposure to an important host
      environment, the sheep gallbladder. Exposure to the host environment as compared
      to in vitro bile alone provided a more robust picture of the complexity of gene
      regulation required for survival in the host gallbladder. A subset of genes
      including a large number of protein coding genes as well as seven previously
      identified non-coding RNAs were confirmed to be differentially expressed within
      our data, suggesting that they may play a key role in adaptation upon exposure to
      these conditions. This research provides valuable insights into the molecular
      mechanisms that may be utilized by C. jejuni IA3902 to colonize and survive
      within the inhospitable gallbladder environment.

PMID- 28611745
TI  - The Hybrid Strategy of Thermoactinospora rubra YIM 77501T for Utilizing Cellulose
      as a Carbon Source at Different Temperatures.
AB  - Thermoactinospora rubra YIM 77501T is an aerobic, Gram-positive, spore-forming
      and cellulose degrading thermophilic actinomycete isolated from a sandy soil
      sample of a volcano. Its growth temperature range is 28-60 degrees C. The genomic
      sequence of this strain revealed that there are 27 cellulase genes belonging to
      six glycoside hydrolase families. To understand the strategy that this strain
      uses to utilize carbon sources such as cellulose at different temperatures,
      comparative transcriptomics analysis of T. rubra YIM 77501T was performed by
      growing it with cellulose (CMC) and without cellulose (replaced with glucose) at
      30, 40, and 50 degrees C, respectively. Transcriptomic analyses showed four
      cellulase genes (TrBG2, TrBG3, TrBG4, and ThrCel6B) were up-regulated at 30, 40,
      and 50 degrees C. The rate of gene expression of TrBG2, TrBG3, TrBG4, and
      ThrCel6B were 50 degrees C > 30 degrees C > 40 degrees C. One cellulase gene
      (TrBG1) and two cellulase genes (TrBG5 and ThrCel6A) were up-regulated only at 30
      and 50 degrees C, respectively. These up-regulated cellulase genes were cloned
      and expressed in Escherichia coli. The enzymatic properties of up-regulated
      cellulases showed a variety of responses to temperature. Special up-regulated
      cellulases TrBG1 and ThrCel6A displayed temperature acclimation for each growth
      condition. These expression patterns revealed that a hybrid strategy was used by
      T. rubra to utilize carbon sources at different temperatures. This study provides
      genomic, transcriptomics, and experimental data useful for understanding how
      microorganisms respond to environmental changes and their application in
      enhancing cellulose hydrolysis for animal feed and bioenergy production.

PMID- 28611748
TI  - Microbial Metabolism in Soil at Subzero Temperatures: Adaptation Mechanisms
      Revealed by Position-Specific 13C Labeling.
AB  - Although biogeochemical models designed to simulate carbon (C) and nitrogen (N)
      dynamics in high-latitude ecosystems incorporate extracellular parameters,
      molecular and biochemical adaptations of microorganisms to freezing remain
      unclear. This knowledge gap hampers estimations of the C balance and ecosystem
      feedback in high-latitude regions. To analyze microbial metabolism at subzero
      temperatures, soils were incubated with isotopomers of position-specifically 13C
      labeled glucose at three temperatures: +5 (control), -5, and -20 degrees C. 13C
      was quantified in CO2, bulk soil, microbial biomass, and dissolved organic carbon
      (DOC) after 1, 3, and 10 days and also after 30 days for samples at -20 degrees
      C. Compared to +5 degrees C, CO2 decreased 3- and 10-fold at -5 and -20 degrees
      C, respectively. High 13C recovery in CO2 from the C-1 position indicates
      dominance of the pentose phosphate pathway at +5 degrees C. In contrast,
      increased oxidation of the C-4 position at subzero temperatures implies a switch
      to glycolysis. A threefold higher 13C recovery in microbial biomass at -5 than +5
      degrees C points to synthesis of intracellular compounds such as glycerol and
      ethanol in response to freezing. Less than 0.4% of 13C was recovered in DOC after
      1 day, demonstrating complete glucose uptake by microorganisms even at -20
      degrees C. Consequently, we attribute the fivefold higher extracellular 13C in
      soil than in microbial biomass to secreted antifreeze compounds. This suggests
      that with decreasing temperature, intracellular antifreeze protection is
      complemented by extracellular mechanisms to avoid cellular damage by
      crystallizing water. The knowledge of sustained metabolism at subzero
      temperatures will not only be useful for modeling global C dynamics in ecosystems
      with periodically or permanently frozen soils, but will also be important in
      understanding and controlling the adaptive mechanisms of food spoilage organisms.

PMID- 28611747
TI  - Microbial Community and Functional Structure Significantly Varied among Distinct
      Types of Paddy Soils But Responded Differently along Gradients of Soil Depth
      Layers.
AB  - Paddy rice fields occupy broad agricultural area in China and cover diverse soil
      types. Microbial community in paddy soils is of great interest since many
      microorganisms are involved in soil functional processes. In the present study,
      Illumina Mi-Seq sequencing and functional gene array (GeoChip 4.2) techniques
      were combined to investigate soil microbial communities and functional gene
      patterns across the three soil types including an Inceptisol (Binhai), an Oxisol
      (Leizhou), and an Ultisol (Taoyuan) along four profile depths (up to 70 cm in
      depth) in mesocosm incubation columns. Detrended correspondence analysis revealed
      that distinctly differentiation in microbial community existed among soil types
      and profile depths, while the manifest variance in functional structure was only
      observed among soil types and two rice growth stages, but not across profile
      depths. Along the profile depth within each soil type, Acidobacteria,
      Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes increased whereas Cyanobacteria, beta-proteobacteria,
      and Verrucomicrobia declined, suggesting their specific ecophysiological
      properties. Compared to bacterial community, the archaeal community showed a more
      contrasting pattern with the predominant groups within phyla Euryarchaeota,
      Thaumarchaeota, and Crenarchaeota largely varying among soil types and depths.
      Phylogenetic molecular ecological network (pMEN) analysis further indicated that
      the pattern of bacterial and archaeal communities interactions changed with soil
      depth and the highest modularity of microbial community occurred in top soils,
      implying a relatively higher system resistance to environmental change compared
      to communities in deeper soil layers. Meanwhile, microbial communities had higher
      connectivity in deeper soils in comparison with upper soils, suggesting less
      microbial interaction in surface soils. Structure equation models were developed
      and the models indicated that pH was the most representative characteristics of
      soil type and identified as the key driver in shaping both bacterial and archaeal
      community structure, but did not directly affect microbial functional structure.
      The distinctive pattern of microbial taxonomic and functional composition along
      soil profiles implied functional redundancy within these paddy soils.

PMID- 28611750
TI  - Nutrient Stoichiometry Shapes Microbial Community Structure in an Evaporitic
      Shallow Pond.
AB  - Nutrient availability and ratios can play an important role in shaping microbial
      communities of freshwater ecosystems. The Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB) in Mexico
      is a desert oasis where, perhaps paradoxically, high microbial diversity
      coincides with extreme oligotrophy. To better understand the effects of nutrients
      on microbial communities in CCB, a mesocosm experiment was implemented in a
      stoichiometrically imbalanced pond, Lagunita, which has an average TN:TP ratio of
      122 (atomic). The experiment had four treatments, each with five spatial
      replicates - unamended controls and three fertilization treatments with different
      nitrogen:phosphorus (N:P) regimes (P only, N:P = 16 and N:P = 75 by atoms). In
      the water column, quantitative PCR of the 16S rRNA gene indicated that P
      enrichment alone favored proliferation of bacterial taxa with high rRNA gene copy
      number, consistent with a previously hypothesized but untested connection between
      rRNA gene copy number and P requirement. Bacterial and microbial eukaryotic
      community structure was investigated by pyrosequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes
      from the planktonic and surficial sediment samples. Nutrient enrichment shifted
      the composition of the planktonic community in a treatment-specific manner and
      promoted the growth of previously rare bacterial taxa at the expense of the more
      abundant, potentially endemic, taxa. The eukaryotic community was highly enriched
      with phototrophic populations in the fertilized treatment. The sediment microbial
      community exhibited high beta diversity among replicates within treatments, which
      obscured any changes due to fertilization. Overall, these results showed that
      nutrient stoichiometry can be an important factor in shaping microbial community
      structure.

PMID- 28611749
TI  - Sustaining Rare Marine Microorganisms: Macroorganisms As Repositories and
      Dispersal Agents of Microbial Diversity.
AB  - Recent analyses revealed that most of the biodiversity observed in marine
      microbial communities is represented by organisms with low abundance but,
      nonetheless essential for ecosystem dynamics and processes across both temporal
      and spatial scales. Surprisingly, few studies have considered the effect of
      macroorganism-microbe interactions on the ecology and distribution dynamics of
      rare microbial taxa. In this review, we synthesize several lines of evidence that
      these relationships cannot be neglected any longer. First, we provide empirical
      support that the microbiota of macroorganisms represents a significant part of
      marine bacterial biodiversity and that host-microbe interactions benefit to
      certain microbial populations which are part of the rare biosphere (i.e.,
      opportunistic copiotrophic organisms). Second, we reveal the major role that
      macroorganisms may have on the dispersal and the geographic distribution of
      microbes. Third, we introduce an innovative and integrated view of the
      interactions between microbes and macroorganisms, namely sustaining the rares,
      which suggests that macroorganisms favor the maintenance of marine microbial
      diversity and are involved in the regulation of its richness and dynamics.
      Finally, we show how this hypothesis complements existing theories in microbial
      ecology and offers new perspectives about the importance of macroorganisms for
      the microbial biosphere, particularly the rare members.

PMID- 28611746
TI  - Adaptations to High Salt in a Halophilic Protist: Differential Expression and
      Gene Acquisitions through Duplications and Gene Transfers.
AB  - The capacity of halophiles to thrive in extreme hypersaline habitats derives
      partly from the tight regulation of ion homeostasis, the salt-dependent
      adjustment of plasma membrane fluidity, and the increased capability to manage
      oxidative stress. Halophilic bacteria, and archaea have been intensively studied,
      and substantial research has been conducted on halophilic fungi, and the green
      alga Dunaliella. By contrast, there have been very few investigations of
      halophiles that are phagotrophic protists, i.e., protozoa. To gather fundamental
      knowledge about salt adaptation in these organisms, we studied the transcriptome
      level response of Halocafeteria seosinensis (Stramenopiles) grown under
      contrasting salinities. We provided further evolutionary context to our analysis
      by identifying genes that underwent recent duplications. Genes that were highly
      responsive to salinity variations were involved in stress response (e.g.,
      chaperones), ion homeostasis (e.g., Na+/H+ transporter), metabolism and transport
      of lipids (e.g., sterol biosynthetic genes), carbohydrate metabolism (e.g.,
      glycosidases), and signal transduction pathways (e.g., transcription factors). A
      significantly high proportion (43%) of duplicated genes were also differentially
      expressed, accentuating the importance of gene expansion in adaptation by H.
      seosinensis to high salt environments. Furthermore, we found two genes that were
      lateral acquisitions from bacteria, and were also highly up-regulated and highly
      expressed at high salt, suggesting that this evolutionary mechanism could also
      have facilitated adaptation to high salt. We propose that a transition toward
      high-salt adaptation in the ancestors of H. seosinensis required the acquisition
      of new genes via duplication, and some lateral gene transfers (LGTs), as well as
      the alteration of transcriptional programs, leading to increased stress
      resistance, proper establishment of ion gradients, and modification of cell
      structure properties like membrane fluidity.

PMID- 28611752
TI  - Ecthyma Gangrenosum: Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa?
AB  - Background: Ecthyma gangrenosum (EG) are necrotic lesions that develop in the
      context of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia. Isolated reports describe EG in the
      setting of non-Pseudomonal infections. In a patient with EG, initial blood
      cultures showed Escherichia coli, and almost occulted P. aeruginosa bacteremia.
      Based on the clinical picture we suspected preponderant P. aeruginosa bacteremia,
      outgrown by concomitant low-grade E. coli bacteremia in the blood culture vials.
      Methods: We performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays with
      specific primers for P. aeruginosa and E. coli on blood collected at the same
      time for blood cultures. We also performed quantitative cultures of the strains
      isolated from the patient's blood. Results: Quantitative PCR showed that there
      were 1.5 * 10E7 copies/milliliter (ml) of P. aeruginosa DNA, whereas the quantity
      of E. coli DNA was below the detection limit of 2 * 10E4 copies/ml. We estimated
      that there was at least 1000 times more P. aeruginosa than E. coli. Quantitative
      cultures showed that E. coli grew faster than P. aeruginosa. Conclusion: Our
      patient with EG had preponderant P. aeruginosa bacteremia, that was almost
      occulted by concomitant low-grade E. coli bacteremia. Quantitative PCR was
      complementary to blood cultures in the final microbiological diagnosis, and
      proved beneficial in establishing the etiology of EG. This may question the
      existence of non-Pseudomonal EG, and also shows that blood culture results do not
      always reflect an "exact picture" of what happens in the patient's blood at the
      time of sampling. This case illustrates the importance of communication between
      the clinician and the microbiology laboratory to ensure best possible results.

PMID- 28611751
TI  - Cable Bacteria and the Bioelectrochemical Snorkel: The Natural and Engineered
      Facets Playing a Role in Hydrocarbons Degradation in Marine Sediments.
AB  - The composition and metabolic traits of the microbial communities acting in an
      innovative bioelectrochemical system were here investigated. The system, known as
      Oil Spill Snorkel, was recently developed to stimulate the oxidative
      biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in anoxic marine sediments. Next
      Generation Sequencing was used to describe the microbiome of the bulk sediment
      and of the biofilm growing attached to the surface of the electrode. The analysis
      revealed that sulfur cycling primarily drives the microbial metabolic activities
      occurring in the bioelectrochemical system. In the anoxic zone of the
      contaminated marine sediment, petroleum hydrocarbon degradation occurred under
      sulfate-reducing conditions and was lead by different families of
      Desulfobacterales (46% of total OTUs). Remarkably, the occurrence of filamentous
      Desulfubulbaceae, known to be capable to vehicle electrons deriving from sulfide
      oxidation to oxygen serving as a spatially distant electron acceptor, was
      demonstrated. Differently from the sediment, which was mostly colonized by
      Deltaproteobacteria, the biofilm at the anode hosted, at high extent, members of
      Alphaproteobacteria (59%) mostly affiliated to Rhodospirillaceae family (33%) and
      including several known sulfur- and sulfide-oxidizing genera. Overall, we showed
      the occurrence in the system of a variety of electroactive microorganisms able to
      sustain the contaminant biodegradation alone or by means of an external
      conductive support through the establishment of a bioelectrochemical connection
      between two spatially separated redox zones and the preservation of an efficient
      sulfur cycling.

PMID- 28611753
TI  - Differential Survival of Hyper-Aerotolerant Campylobacter jejuni under Different
      Gas Conditions.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni accounts for a significant number of foodborne illnesses
      around the world. C. jejuni is microaerophilic and typically does not survive
      efficiently in oxygen-rich conditions. We recently reported that hyper
      aerotolerant (HAT) C. jejuni are highly prevalent in retail poultry meat. To
      assess the capabilities of HAT C. jejuni in foodborne transmission and infection,
      in this study, we investigated the prevalence of virulence genes in HAT C. jejuni
      and the survival in poultry meat in atmosphere at a refrigeration temperature.
      When we examined the prevalence of eight virulence genes in 70 C. jejuni strains
      from raw poultry meat, interestingly, the frequencies of detecting virulence
      genes were significantly higher in HAT C. jejuni strains than aerosenstive C.
      jejuni strains. This suggests that HAT C. jejuni would potentially be more
      pathogenic than aerosensitive C. jejuni. Under aerobic conditions, aerosensitive
      C. jejuni survived at 4 degrees C in raw poultry meat for 3 days, whereas HAT C.
      jejuni survived in poultry meat for a substantially extended time; there was a
      five-log CFU reduction over 2 weeks. In addition, we measured the effect of other
      gas conditions, including N2 and CO2, on the viability of HAT C. jejuni in
      comparison with aerosensitive and aerotolerant strains. N2 marginally affected
      the viability of C. jejuni. However, CO2 significantly reduced the viability of
      C. jejuni both in culture media and poultry meat. Based on the results, modified
      atmosphere packaging using CO2 may help us to control poultry contamination with
      HAT C. jejuni.

PMID- 28611754
TI  - Campylobacter coli in Organic and Conventional Pig Production in France and
      Sweden: Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to evaluate and compare the prevalence and
      antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter coli in conventional and organic pigs
      from France and Sweden. Fecal or colon samples were collected at farms or at
      slaughterhouses and cultured for Campylobacter. The minimum inhibitory
      concentrations of ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, tetracycline,
      erythromycin, and gentamicin were determined by microdilution for a total of 263
      French strains from 114 pigs from 50 different farms and 82 Swedish strains from
      144 pigs from 54 different farms. Erythromycin resistant isolates were examined
      for presence of the emerging rRNA methylase erm(B) gene. The study showed that
      within the colon samples obtained in each country there was no significant
      difference in prevalence of Campylobacter between pigs in organic and
      conventional productions [France: conventional: 43/58 (74%); organic: 43/56 (77%)
      and Sweden: conventional: 24/36 (67%); organic: 20/36 (56%)]. In France, but not
      in Sweden, significant differences of percentages of resistant isolates were
      associated with production type (tetracycline, erythromycin) and the number of
      resistances was significantly higher for isolates from conventional pigs. In
      Sweden, the number of resistances of fecal isolates was significantly higher
      compared to colon isolates. The erm(B) gene was not detected in the 87
      erythromycin resistant strains tested.

PMID- 28611755
TI  - Efficacy of Phage Therapy in Controlling Rabbit Colibacillosis and Changes in
      Cecal Microbiota.
AB  - Phage therapy is a valid weapon that we could use to fight against pathogens.
      Bacteriophages kill bacteria and self-proliferate in the digestive tract.
      Furthermore, it was assumed that phage therapy could preserve the existing gut
      microbiota. In this study, 45 rabbits were equally divided into three groups
      after they were orally inoculated with pathogenic Escherichia coli to induce gut
      infection. Each group was treated with bacteriophage ZRP1 (Group P),
      ciprofloxacin lactate (Group A), or phosphate-buffered solution (PBS) (Group N).
      Another 15 healthy rabbits composed the control group (Group C). The body weight
      gain decreased significantly, but the white blood cell (WBC) count, especially
      the percentage of large WBCs, and the serum endotoxin levels increased
      significantly after infection. The result of microscopic examination of the ileum
      showed that E. coli ZR1 adhered to villi and caused hemorrhage inside the villi.
      Groups P and A rabbits recovered after treatments, and both bacteriophage and
      antibiotic treatment significantly decreased the eaeA gene concentration in cecal
      contents. The microbiota in cecal contents changed in infected rabbits that were
      treated with PBS. The relative abundance of Clostridiales and YS2 decreased but
      the relative abundance of Enterobacteriales increased significantly. According to
      the principal components analysis, the microbiota of Groups P and C rabbits were
      similar to one another in type and relative abundance but different from those of
      Groups N and A rabbits. The results demonstrated that oral administration of
      bacteriophage can cure gut infection with minimal impact on the cecal microbiota.

PMID- 28611756
TI  - Pathogenic Leptospira Secreted Proteases Target the Membrane Attack Complex: A
      Potential Role for Thermolysin in Complement Inhibition.
AB  - Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by spirochetes from the genus Leptospira. This
      disease is common in tropical and subtropical areas, constituting a serious
      public health problem. Pathogenic Leptospira have the ability to escape the human
      Complement System, being able to survive when in contact with normal human serum.
      In a previous study, our group demonstrated that supernatants of pathogenic
      Leptospira (SPL) inhibit the three activation pathways of the Complement System.
      This inhibition can be directly correlated with the activity of secreted
      proteases, which cleave the Complement molecules C3, Factor B (Alternative
      Pathway), C4 and C2 (Classical and Lectin Pathways). In this work, we analyze the
      activity of the leptospiral proteases on the components of Terminal Pathway of
      Complement, called the membrane attack complex (MAC). We observed that proteases
      present in SPL from different Leptospira strains were able to cleave the purified
      proteins C5, C6, C7, C8, and C9, while culture supernatant from non-pathogenic
      Leptospira strains (SNPL) had no significant proteolytic activity on these
      substrates. The cleavages occurred in a time-dependent and specificity manner. No
      cleavage was observed when we used whole serum as a source of C5-C9 proteins,
      probably because of the abundant presence of plasma protease inhibitors such as
      alpha2-macroglobulin. Complement protein cleavage by SPL was inhibited by 1,10
      phenanthroline, indicating the involvement of metalloproteases. Furthermore, 1,10
      phenanthroline- treated normal human serum diminished pathogenic leptospira
      survival. We also analyzed the proteolytic activity of thermolysin (LIC13322) a
      metalloprotease expressed exclusively by pathogenic Leptospira strains.
      Recombinant thermolysin was capable of cleaving the component C6, either purified
      or as part of the SC5b-9 complex. Furthermore, we found that the MAC proteins C6
      C9 interact with thermolysin, indicating that this metalloprotease may have an
      additional inhibitory effect on these molecules by direct interactions. Finally,
      a functional assay demonstrated that thermolysin was able to inhibit MAC
      dependent erythrocytes lysis. We conclude that proteases secreted exclusively by
      pathogenic Leptospira strains are capable of degrading several Complement
      effector molecules, representing potential targets for the development of new
      therapies and prophylactic approaches in leptospirosis.

PMID- 28611757
TI  - The Protein Disulfide Isomerase of Botrytis cinerea: An ER Protein Involved in
      Protein Folding and Redox Homeostasis Influences NADPH Oxidase Signaling
      Processes.
AB  - Botrytis cinerea is a filamentous plant pathogen, which infects hundreds of plant
      species; within its lifestyle, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      and a balanced redox homeostasis are essential parameters. The pathogen is
      capable of coping with the plant's oxidative burst and even produces its own ROS
      to enhance the plant's oxidative burst. Highly conserved NADPH oxidase (Nox)
      complexes produce the reactive molecules. The membrane-associated complexes
      regulate a large variety of vegetative and pathogenic processes. Besides their
      commonly accepted function at the plasma membrane, recent studies reveal that Nox
      complexes are also active at the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. In this
      study, we identified the essential ER protein BcPdi1 as new interaction partner
      of the NoxA complex in B. cinerea. Mutants that lack this ER chaperone display
      overlapping phenotypes to mutants of the NoxA signaling pathway. The protein
      appears to be involved in all major developmental processes, such as the
      formation of sclerotia, conidial anastomosis tubes and infection cushions (IC's)
      and is needed for full virulence. Moreover, expression analyses and reporter gene
      studies indicate that BcPdi1 affects the redox homeostasis and unfolded protein
      response (UPR)-related genes. Besides the close association between BcPdi1 and
      BcNoxA, interaction studies provide evidence that the ER protein might likewise
      be involved in Ca2+ regulated processes. Finally, we were able to show that the
      potential key functions of the protein BcPdi1 might be affected by its
      phosphorylation state.

PMID- 28611759
TI  - Energy Charge as an Indicator of Pexophagy in Pichia pastoris.
AB  - Pichia pastoris is a good model for pexophagy research owing to its diverse
      pexophagy modes (macropexophagy and micropexophagy) exhibited during carbon
      source shift from methanol to other carbon sources. The critical condition that
      triggers activation of macropexophagy and micropexophagy is important for
      clarifying the P. pastoris pexophagy mechanism and human peroxisomal disorders.
      In this study, the pexophagy modes of P. pastoris were confirmed by green
      fluorescent protein expression and alcohol oxidase and formate dehydrogenase
      activities. Furthermore, intracellular energy charge (EC) was found to be a
      determinant of pexophagy activation. During methanol induction, the EC was about
      0.5. And the final EC value was related to the pexophagy mode when carbon source
      switched from methanol to others. Macropexophagy and micropexophagy occurred when
      the EC increased to 0.6-0.75 and above 0.75, respectively. Thus, different EC
      values were considered as the important factor to trigger different pexophagy
      modes in P. pastoris. The results obtained in this study could help in achieving
      better control of the pexophagy modes to study the pexophagy mechanism.

PMID- 28611760
TI  - Bacterial Composition and Diversity in Breast Milk Samples from Mothers Living in
      Taiwan and Mainland China.
AB  - Human breast milk is widely recognized as the best source of nutrients for
      healthy growth and development of infants; it contains a diverse microbiota.
      Here, we characterized the diversity of the microbiota in the breast milk of East
      Asian women and assessed whether delivery mode influenced the microbiota in the
      milk of healthy breast-feeding mothers. We profiled the microbiota in breast milk
      samples collected from 133 healthy mothers in Taiwan and in six regions of
      mainland China (Central, East, North, Northeast, South, and Southwest China) by
      using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. Lactation stage (months postpartum when the milk
      sample was collected) and maternal body mass index did not influence the breast
      milk microbiota. Bacterial composition at the family level differed significantly
      among samples from the seven geographical regions. The five most predominant
      bacterial families were Streptococcaceae (mean relative abundance: 24.4%),
      Pseudomonadaceae (14.0%), Staphylococcaceae (12.2%), Lactobacillaceae (6.2%), and
      Oxalobacteraceae (4.8%). The microbial profiles were classified into three
      clusters, driven by Staphylococcaceae (abundance in Cluster 1: 42.1%),
      Streptococcaceae (Cluster 2: 48.5%), or Pseudomonadaceae (Cluster 3: 26.5%).
      Microbial network analysis at the genus level revealed that the abundances of the
      Gram-positive Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Rothia were negatively
      correlated with those of the Gram-negative Acinetobacter, Bacteroides, Halomonas,
      Herbaspirillum, and Pseudomonas. Milk from mothers who had undergone Caesarian
      section (C-section group) had a significantly higher abundance of Lactobacillus
      (P < 0.05) and a higher number of unique unclassified operational taxonomic units
      (OTUs) (P < 0.001) than that from mothers who had undergone vaginal delivery
      (vaginal group). These findings revealed that (i) geographic differences in the
      microbial profiles were found in breast milk from mothers living in Taiwan and
      mainland China, (ii) the predominant bacterial families Streptococcaceae,
      Staphylococcaceae, and Pseudomonadaceae were key components for forming three
      respective clusters, and (iii) a significantly greater number of unique OTUs was
      found in the breast milk from mothers who had undergone C-section than from those
      who had delivered vaginally.

PMID- 28611758
TI  - Genome-Wide Analyses Reveal Genes Subject to Positive Selection in Pasteurella
      multocida.
AB  - Pasteurella multocida, a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen, has led to a broad
      range of diseases in mammals and birds, including fowl cholera in poultry,
      pneumonia and atrophic rhinitis in swine and rabbit, hemorrhagic septicemia in
      cattle, and bite infections in humans. In order to better interpret the genetic
      diversity and adaptation evolution of this pathogen, seven genomes of P.
      multocida strains isolated from fowls, rabbit and pigs were determined by using
      high-throughput sequencing approach. Together with publicly available P.
      multocida genomes, evolutionary features were systematically analyzed in this
      study. Clustering of 70,565 protein-coding genes showed that the pangenome of 33
      P. multocida strains was composed of 1,602 core genes, 1,364 dispensable genes,
      and 1,070 strain-specific genes. Of these, we identified a full spectrum of genes
      related to virulence factors and revealed genetic diversity of these potential
      virulence markers across P. multocida strains, e.g., bcbAB, fcbC, lipA, bexDCA,
      ctrCD, lgtA, lgtC, lic2A involved in biogenesis of surface polysaccharides, hsf
      encoding autotransporter adhesin, and fhaB encoding filamentous haemagglutinin.
      Furthermore, based on genome-wide positive selection scanning, a total of 35
      genes were subject to strong selection pressure. Extensive analyses of protein
      subcellular location indicated that membrane-associated genes were highly
      abundant among all positively selected genes. The detected amino acid sites
      undergoing adaptive selection were preferably located in extracellular space,
      perhaps associated with bacterial evasion of host immune responses. Our findings
      shed more light on conservation and distribution of virulence-associated genes
      across P. multocida strains. Meanwhile, this study provides a genetic context for
      future researches on the mechanism of adaptive evolution in P. multocida.

PMID- 28611761
TI  - Different Types of Dietary Fibers Trigger Specific Alterations in Composition and
      Predicted Functions of Colonic Bacterial Communities in BALB/c Mice.
AB  - Soluble dietary fibers (SDF) are fermented more than insoluble dietary fibers
      (IDF), but their effect on colonic bacterial community structure and function
      remains unclear. Thus, bacterial community composition and function in the colon
      of BALB/c mice (n = 7) fed with a high level (approximately 20%) of typical SDF,
      oat-derived beta-glucan (G), microcrystalline cellulose (M) as IDF, or their
      mixture (GM), were compared. Mice in group G showed a lowest average feed intake
      (p < 0.05) but no change on the average body weight gain (p > 0.05) compared to
      other groups, which may be associated with the highest concentration of colonic
      propionate (p < 0.05) in these mice. The bacterial alpha-diversity of group G was
      significantly lower than other groups (p < 0.01). In group G, the relative
      abundance of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes was significantly
      increased, whereas bacteria from the phylum Firmicutes were significantly
      decreased (p < 0.01). The core bacteria for different treatments showed distinct
      differences. Bacteroides, Dehalobacterium, and Prevotella, including known
      acetogens and carbohydrate fermenting organisms, were significantly increased in
      relative abundance in group G. In contrast, Adlercreutzia, Odoribacter, and
      Coprococcus were significantly more abundant in group M, whereas Oscillospira,
      Desulfovibrio, and Ruminoccaceae, typical hydrogenotrophs equipped with multiple
      carbohydrate active enzymes, were remarkably enriched in group GM (p < 0.05). The
      relative abundance of bacteria from the three classes of Proteobacteria,
      Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria (including Enterobacteriaceae) and
      Deltaproteobacteria, were significantly more abundant in group G, indicating a
      higher ratio of conditional pathogenic bacteria in mice fed dietary beta-glucan
      in current study. The predicted colonic microbial function showed an enrichment
      of "Energy metabolism" and "Carbohydrate metabolism" pathways in mice from group
      G and M, suggesting that the altered bacterial community in the colon of mice
      with the two dietary fibers probably resulted in a more efficient degradation of
      dietary polysaccharides. Our result suggests that the influence of dietary beta
      glucan (SDF) on colonic bacterial community of mice was more extensively than MCC
      (IDF). Co-supplementation of the two fibers may help to increase the bacterial
      diversity and reduce the conditional pathogens in the colon of mice.

PMID- 28611762
TI  - Magnetotactic Coccus Strain SHHC-1 Affiliated to Alphaproteobacteria Forms
      Octahedral Magnetite Magnetosomes.
AB  - Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are morphologically and phylogenetically diverse
      prokaryotes. They can form intracellular chain-assembled magnetite (Fe3O4) or
      greigite (Fe3S4) nanocrystals each enveloped by a lipid bilayer membrane called a
      magnetosome. Magnetotactic cocci have been found to be the most abundant
      morphotypes of MTB in various aquatic environments. However, knowledge on
      magnetosome biomineralization within magnetotactic cocci remains elusive due to
      small number of strains that have been cultured. By using a coordinated
      fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy method, we discovered a unique
      magnetotactic coccus strain (tentatively named SHHC-1) in brackish sediments
      collected from the estuary of Shihe River in Qinhuangdao city, eastern China. It
      phylogenetically belongs to the Alphaproteobacteria class. Transmission electron
      microscopy analyses reveal that SHHC-1 cells formed many magnetite-type
      magnetosomes organized as two bundles in each cell. Each bundle contains two
      parallel chains with smaller magnetosomes generally located at the ends of each
      chain. Unlike most magnetotactic alphaproteobacteria that generally form
      magnetosomes with uniform crystal morphologies, SHHC-1 magnetosomes display a
      more diverse variety of crystal morphology even within a single cell. Most
      particles have rectangular and rhomboidal projections, whilst others are
      triangular, or irregular. High resolution transmission electron microscopy
      observations coupled with morphological modeling indicate an idealized model
      elongated octahedral crystals, a form composed of eight {111} faces. Furthermore,
      twins, multiple twins and stack dislocations are frequently observed in the SHHC
      1 magnetosomes. This suggests that biomineralization of strain SHHC-1 magnetosome
      might be less biologically controlled than other magnetotactic
      alphaproteobacteria. Alternatively, SHHC-1 is more sensitive to the unfavorable
      environments under which it lives, or a combination of both factors may have
      controlled the magnetosome biomineralization process within this unique MTB.

PMID- 28611763
TI  - Lauroyl Arginate Ethyl Blocks the Iron Signals Necessary for Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa Biofilm Development.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous gram-negative bacterium capable of forming
      a biofilm on living and non-living surfaces, which frequently leads to
      undesirable consequences. We found that lauroyl arginate ethyl (LAE), a synthetic
      non-oxidizing biocide, inhibited biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa at a sub
      growth inhibitory concentration under both static and flow conditions. A global
      transcriptome analysis was conducted using a gene chip microarray to identify the
      genes targeted by LAE. In response to LAE treatment, P. aeruginosa cells up
      regulated iron acquisition and signaling genes and down-regulated iron storage
      genes. LAE demonstrated the capacity to chelate iron in an experiment in which
      free LAE molecules were measured by increasing the ratio of iron to LAE.
      Furthermore, compared to untreated cells, P. aeruginosa cells treated with LAE
      exhibited enhanced twitching motility, a phenotype that is usually evident when
      the cells are starved for iron. Taken together, these results imply that LAE
      generated iron-limiting conditions, and in turn, blocked iron signals necessary
      for P. aeruginosa biofilm development. As destroying or blocking signals leading
      to biofilm development would be an efficient way to mitigate problematic
      biofilms, our findings suggest that LAE can aid in reducing P. aeruginosa
      biofilms for therapeutic and industrial purposes.

PMID- 28611764
TI  - Interplay of Pathogen-Induced Defense Responses and Symbiotic Establishment in
      Medicago truncatula.
AB  - Suppression of host innate immunity appears to be required for the establishment
      of symbiosis between rhizobia and host plants. In this study, we established a
      system that included a host plant, a bacterial pathogen and a symbiotic rhizobium
      to study the role of innate immunity during symbiotic interactions. A pathogenic
      bacterium, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000 (Pst DC3000), was shown
      to cause chlorosis in Medicago truncatula A17. Sinorhizobium meliloti strain
      Sm2011 (Sm2011) and Pst DC3000 strain alone induced similar defense responses in
      M. truncatula. However, when co-inoculated, Sm2011 specifically suppressed the
      defense responses induced by Pst DC3000, such as MAPK activation and ROS
      production. Inoculation with Sm2011 suppressed the transcription of defense
      related genes triggered by Pst DC3000 infection, including the receptor of
      bacterial flagellin (FLS2), pathogenesis-related protein 10 (PR10), and the
      transcription factor WRKY33. Interestingly, inoculation with Pst DC3000
      specifically inhibited the expression of the symbiosis marker genes nodule
      inception and nodulation pectate lyase and reduced the numbers of infection
      threads and nodules on M. truncatula A17 roots, indicating that Pst DC3000
      inhibits the establishment of symbiosis in M. truncatula. In addition, defense
      related genes, such as MAPK3/6, RbohC, and WRKY33, exhibited a transient increase
      in their expression in the early stage of symbiosis with Sm2011, but the
      expression dropped down to normal levels at later symbiotic stages. Our results
      suggest that plant innate immunity plays an antagonistic role in symbiosis by
      directly reducing the numbers of infection threads and nodules.

PMID- 28611765
TI  - A Small Number of Low-abundance Bacteria Dominate Plant Species-specific
      Responses during Rhizosphere Colonization.
AB  - Plant growth can be affected by soil bacteria. In turn, plants are known to
      influence soil bacteria through rhizodeposits and changes in abiotic conditions.
      We aimed to quantify the phylotype richness and relative abundance of rhizosphere
      bacteria that are actually influenced in a plant species-specific manner and to
      determine the role of the disproportionately large diversity of low-abundance
      bacteria belonging to the rare biosphere (<0.1 relative abundance) in this
      process. In addition, we aimed to determine whether plant phylogeny has an
      influence on the plant species-specific rhizosphere bacterial community. For this
      purpose, 19 herbaceous plant species from five different plant orders were grown
      in a common soil substrate. Bacterial communities in the initial soil substrate
      and the established rhizosphere soils were compared by 16S rRNA gene amplicon
      sequencing. Only a small number of bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs,
      97% sequence identity) responded either positively (ca. 1%) or negatively (ca.
      1%) to a specific plant species. On average, 91% of plant-specific positive
      response OTUs comprised bacteria belonging to the rare biosphere, highlighting
      that low-abundance populations are metabolically active in the rhizosphere. In
      addition, low-abundance OTUs were in terms of their summed relative abundance
      major drivers of the bacterial phyla composition across the rhizosphere of all
      tested plant species. However, no effect of plant phylogeny could be observed on
      the established rhizosphere bacterial communities, neither when considering
      differences in the overall established rhizosphere communities nor when
      considering plant species-specific responders only. Our study provides a
      quantitative assessment of the effect of plants on their rhizosphere bacteria
      across multiple plant orders. Plant species-specific effects on soil bacterial
      communities involved only 18-111 bacterial OTUs out of several 1000s; this
      minority may potentially impact plant growth in plant-bacteria interactions.

PMID- 28611766
TI  - Establishment and Application of a High Throughput Screening System Targeting the
      Interaction between HCV Internal Ribosome Entry Site and Human Eukaryotic
      Translation Initiation Factor 3.
AB  - Viruses are intracellular obligate parasites and the host cellular machinery is
      usually recruited for their replication. Human eukaryotic translation initiation
      factor 3 (eIF3) could be directly recruited by the hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      internal ribosome entry site (IRES) to promote the translation of viral proteins.
      In this study, we establish a fluorescence polarization (FP) based high
      throughput screening (HTS) system targeting the interaction between HCV IRES and
      eIF3. By screening a total of 894 compounds with this HTS system, two compounds
      (Mucl39526 and NP39) are found to disturb the interaction between HCV IRES and
      eIF3. And these two compounds are further demonstrated to inhibit the HCV IRES
      dependent translation in vitro. Thus, this HTS system is functional to screen the
      potential HCV replication inhibitors targeting human eIF3, which is helpful to
      overcome the problem of viral resistance. Surprisingly, one compound HP-3, a kind
      of oxytocin antagonist, is discovered to significantly enhance the interaction
      between HCV IRES and eIF3 by this HTS system. HP-3 is demonstrated to directly
      interact with HCV IRES and promote the HCV IRES-dependent translation both in
      vitro and in vivo, which strongly suggests that HP-3 has potentials to promote
      HCV replication. Therefore, this HTS system is also useful to screen the
      potential HCV replication enhancers, which is meaningful for understanding the
      viral replication and screening novel antiviral drugs. To our knowledge, this is
      the first HTS system targeting the interaction between eIF3 and HCV IRES, which
      could be applied to screen both potential HCV replication inhibitors and
      enhancers.

PMID- 28611767
TI  - Natural Killer Defective Maturation Is Associated with Adverse Clinical Outcome
      in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - Accumulating evidence highlights natural killer (NK) cell parameters as potential
      prognostic factors in cancer patients, which provides a strong rationale for
      developing therapeutic strategies aiming at restoring NK cell. However, reaching
      this point warrants better characterization of tumor-induced NK cell alterations.
      Our group recently reported heterogeneous NK maturation in acute myeloid leukemia
      (AML) patients. However, the clinical significance of such observations remained
      to be assessed on a larger cohort of patients. NK maturation based on expression
      of CD56, CD57, and KIR was assessed by flow cytometry in newly diagnosed AML
      patients (N = 87 patients from GOELAMS-LAM-IR-2006 multicenter trial). Clinical
      outcome was evaluated with regard to NK maturation profiles. Unsupervised
      integrated analysis of NK maturation markers confirmed the existence of three
      distinct groups of patients [hypomaturation (24.1%), intermediate maturation
      (66.7%), and hypermaturation (9.2%)]. In univariate analysis, significant
      differences in overall survival (OS) (P = 0.0006) and relapse-free survival (RFS)
      (P < 0.0001) were observed among these different groups. Patients with
      hypomaturation profile had reduced OS, with 3-year OS rates of 12.5 vs 57.1 and
      57.4% for patients with intermediate and hypermaturation, respectively.
      Consistently, patients with hypomaturation profile had reduced RFS, with 3-year
      RFS rates of 0 vs 52.6 and 73.3% for patients with intermediate and
      hypermaturation, respectively. In multivariate Cox regression models, NK
      hypomaturation remained significantly associated with reduced OS and RFS,
      independent of other factors [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.15, P = 0.004 and HR = 8.23,
      P = 0.003, respectively]. NK maturation defects were further explored by mass
      cytometry and revealed that NK hypomaturation profile is associated with a
      reduced frequency of memory-like NK cells. In conclusion, besides classical
      alterations of NK triggering and inhibitory receptors expression in AML, we
      confirm that the homeostasis of NK maturation can be modified in the context of
      AML, notably with a deep maturation blockade in almost 10% patients.

PMID- 28611768
TI  - Innate Immunity and Breast Milk.
AB  - Human milk is a dynamic source of nutrients and bioactive factors; unique in
      providing for the human infant's optimal growth and development. The growing
      infant's immune system has a number of developmental immune deficiencies placing
      the infant at increased risk of infection. This review focuses on how human milk
      directly contributes to the infant's innate immunity. Remarkable new findings
      clarify the multifunctional nature of human milk bioactive components. New
      research techniques have expanded our understanding of the potential for human
      milk's effect on the infant that will never be possible with milk formulas. Human
      milk microbiome directly shapes the infant's intestinal microbiome, while the
      human milk oligosaccharides drive the growth of these microbes within the gut.
      New techniques such as genomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and glycomics are
      being used to describe this symbiotic relationship. An expanded role for
      antimicrobial proteins/peptides within human milk in innate immune protection is
      described. The unique milieu of enhanced immune protection with diminished
      inflammation results from a complex interaction of anti-inflammatory and
      antioxidative factors provided by human milk to the intestine. New data support
      the concept of mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue and its contribution to the
      cellular content of human milk. Human milk stem cells (hMSCs) have recently been
      discovered. Their direct role in the infant for repair and regeneration is being
      investigated. The existence of these hMSCs could prove to be an easily harvested
      source of multilineage stem cells for the study of cancer and tissue
      regeneration. As the infant's gastrointestinal tract and immune system develop,
      there is a comparable transition in human milk over time to provide fewer immune
      factors and more calories and nutrients for growth. Each of these new findings
      opens the door to future studies of human milk and its effect on the innate
      immune system and the developing infant.

PMID- 28611769
TI  - Analysis of Complement C3 Gene Reveals Susceptibility to Severe Preeclampsia.
AB  - Preeclampsia (PE) is a common vascular disease of pregnancy with genetic
      predisposition. Dysregulation of the complement system has been implicated, but
      molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. In this study, we determined
      the potential linkage of severe PE to the most central complement gene, C3. Three
      cohorts of Finnish patients and controls were recruited for a genetic case
      control study. Participants were genotyped using Sequenom genotyping and Sanger
      sequencing. Initially, we studied 259 Finnish patients with severe PE and 426
      controls from the Southern Finland PE and the Finnish population-based PE
      cohorts. We used a custom-made single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping
      assay consisting of 98 SNPs in 18 genes that encode components of the complement
      system. Following the primary screening, C3 was selected as the candidate gene
      and consequently Sanger sequenced. Fourteen SNPs from C3 were also genotyped by a
      Sequenom panel in 960 patients with severe PE and 705 controls, including already
      sequenced individuals. Three of the 43 SNPs observed within C3 were associated
      with severe PE: rs2287845 (p = 0.038, OR = 1.158), rs366510 (p = 0.039, OR =
      1.158), and rs2287848 (p = 0.041, OR = 1.155). We also discovered 16 SNP
      haplotypes with extreme linkage disequilibrium in the middle of the gene with a
      protective (p = 0.044, OR = 0.628) or a predisposing (p = 0.011, OR = 2.110)
      effect to severe PE depending on the allele combination. Genetic variants
      associated with PE are located in key domains of C3 and could thereby influence
      the function of C3. This is, as far as we are aware, the first candidate gene in
      the complement system with an association to a clinically relevant PE
      subphenotype, severe PE. The result highlights a potential role for the
      complement system in the pathogenesis of PE and may help in defining prognostic
      and therapeutic subgroups of preeclamptic women.

PMID- 28611770
TI  - Relevance of CD6-Mediated Interactions in the Regulation of Peripheral T-Cell
      Responses and Tolerance.
AB  - The CD6 lymphocyte receptor has been involved in the pathophysiology of different
      autoimmune disorders and is now considered a feasible target for their treatment.
      In vitro data show the relevance of CD6 in the stabilization of adhesive contacts
      between T-cell and antigen-presenting cells, and the modulation of T-cell
      receptor signals. However, the in vivo consequences of such a function are yet
      undisclosed due to the lack of suitable genetically modified animal models. Here,
      the in vitro and in vivo challenge of CD6-deficient (CD6-/-) cells with
      allogeneic cells was used as an approach to explore the role of CD6 in immune
      responses under relative physiological stimulatory conditions. Mixed lymphocyte
      reaction (MLR) assays showed lower proliferative responses of splenocytes from
      CD6-/- mice together with higher induction of regulatory T cells (Treg,
      CD4+CD25+FoxP3+) with low suppressive activity on T and B-cell proliferation. In
      line with these results, CD6-/- mice undergoing a lupus-like disorder induced by
      chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) showed higher serum titers of anti
      double-stranded DNA and nucleosome autoantibodies. This occurred together with
      reduced splenomegaly, which was associated with lower in vivo bromodesoxyuridine
      incorporation of spleen cells and with increased percentages of spleen follicular
      B cells (B2, CD21+CD23hi) and Treg cells. Interestingly, functional analysis of
      in vivo-generated CD6-/- Treg cells exhibited defective suppressive activity. In
      conclusion, the data from MLR and cGvHD-induced lupus-like models in CD6-/- mice
      illustrate the relevance of CD6 in T (and B) cell proliferative responses and,
      even more importantly, Treg induction and suppressive function in the in vivo
      maintenance of peripheral tolerance.

PMID- 28611771
TI  - TNF Lectin-Like Domain Restores Epithelial Sodium Channel Function in Frameshift
      Mutants Associated with Pseudohypoaldosteronism Type 1B.
AB  - Previous in vitro studies have indicated that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      activates amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) current through
      its lectin-like (TIP) domain, since cyclic peptides mimicking the TIP domain
      (e.g., solnatide), showed ENaC-activating properties. In the current study, the
      effects of TNF and solnatide on individual ENaC subunits or ENaC carrying mutated
      glycosylation sites in the alpha-ENaC subunit were compared, revealing a similar
      mode of action for TNF and solnatide and corroborating the previous assumption
      that the lectin-like domain of TNF is the relevant molecular structure for ENaC
      activation. Accordingly, TNF enhanced ENaC current by increasing open probability
      of the glycosylated channel, position N511 in the alpha-ENaC subunit being
      identified as the most important glycosylation site. TNF significantly increased
      Na+ current through ENaC comprising only the pore forming subunits alpha or
      delta, was less active in ENaC comprising only beta-subunits, and showed no
      effect on ENaC comprising gamma-subunits. TNF did not increase the membrane
      abundance of ENaC subunits to the extent observed with solnatide. Since the alpha
      subunit is believed to play a prominent role in the ENaC current activating
      effect of TNF and TIP, we investigated whether TNF and solnatide can enhance
      alphabetagamma-ENaC current in alpha-ENaC loss-of-function frameshift mutants.
      The efficacy of solnatide has been already proven in pathological conditions
      involving ENaC in phase II clinical trials. The frameshift mutations alphaI68fs,
      alphaT169fs, alphaP197fs, alphaE272fs, alphaF435fs, alphaR438fs, alphaY447fs,
      alphaR448fs, alphaS452fs, and alphaT482fs have been reported to cause
      pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1B (PHA1B), a rare, life-threatening, salt-wasting
      disease, which hitherto has been treated only symptomatically. In a heterologous
      expression system, all frameshift mutants showed significantly reduced amiloride
      sensitive whole-cell current compared to wild type alphabetagamma-ENaC, whereas
      membrane abundance varied between mutants. Solnatide restored function in alpha
      ENaC frameshift mutants to current density levels of wild type ENaC or higher
      despite their lacking a binding site for solnatide, previously located to the
      region between TM2 and the C-terminus of the alpha-subunit. TNF similarly
      restored current density to wild type levels in the mutant alphaR448fs.
      Activation of betagamma-ENaC may contribute to this moderate current enhancement,
      but whatever the mechanism, experimental data indicate that solnatide could be a
      new strategy to treat PHA1B.

PMID- 28611772
TI  - Bovine Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils Cast Neutrophil Extracellular Traps against
      the Abortive Parasite Neospora caninum.
AB  - Neospora caninum represents a relevant apicomplexan parasite causing severe
      reproductive disorders in cattle worldwide. Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET)
      generation was recently described as an efficient defense mechanism of
      polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) acting against different parasites. In vitro
      interactions of bovine PMN with N. caninum were analyzed at different ratios and
      time spans. Extracellular DNA staining was used to illustrate the typical
      molecules of NETs [i.e., histones (H3), neutrophil elastase (NE), myeloperoxidase
      (MPO), pentraxin] via antibody-based immunofluorescence analyses. Functional
      inhibitor treatments were applied to reveal the role of several enzymes [NADPH
      oxidase (NOX), NE, MPO, PAD4], ATP-dependent P2Y2 receptor, store-operated
      Ca++entry (SOCE), CD11b receptor, ERK1/2- and p38 MAPK-mediated signaling pathway
      in tachyzoite-triggered NETosis. N. caninum tachyzoites triggered NETosis in a
      time- and dose-dependent manner. Scanning electron microscopy analyses revealed
      NET structures being released by bovine PMN and entrapping tachyzoites. N.
      caninum-induced NET formation was found not to be NOX-, NE-, MPO-, PAD4-, ERK1/2
      , and p38 MAP kinase-dependent process since inhibition of these enzymes led to a
      slight decrease of NET formation. CD11b was also identified as a neutrophil
      receptor being involved in NETosis. Furthermore, N. caninum-triggered NETosis
      depends on Ca++ influx as well as neutrophil metabolism since both the inhibition
      of SOCE and of P2Y2-mediated ATP uptake diminished NET formation. Host cell
      invasion assays indicated that PMN-derived NETosis hampered tachyzoites from
      active host cell invasion, thereby inhibiting further intracellular replication.
      NET formation represents an early and effective mechanism of response of the
      innate immune system, which might reduce initial infection rates during the acute
      phase of cattle neosporosis.

PMID- 28611773
TI  - Fatty Acid Oxidation Compensates for Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Warburg Effect in
      Glucose-Deprived Monocytes.
AB  - Monocytes enter sites of microbial or sterile inflammation as the first line of
      defense of the immune system and initiate pro-inflammatory effector mechanisms.
      We show that activation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces them to
      undergo a metabolic shift toward aerobic glycolysis, similar to the Warburg
      effect observed in cancer cells. At sites of inflammation, however, glucose
      concentrations are often drastically decreased, which prompted us to study
      monocyte function under conditions of glucose deprivation and abrogated Warburg
      effect. Experiments using the Seahorse Extracellular Flux Analyzer revealed that
      limited glucose supply shifts monocyte metabolism toward oxidative
      phosphorylation, fueled largely by fatty acid oxidation at the expense of lipid
      droplets. While this metabolic state appears to provide sufficient energy to
      sustain functional properties like cytokine secretion, migration, and
      phagocytosis, it cannot prevent a rise in the AMP/ATP ratio and a decreased
      respiratory burst. The molecular trigger mediating the metabolic shift and the
      functional consequences is activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
      Taken together, our results indicate that monocytes are sufficiently
      metabolically flexible to perform pro-inflammatory functions at sites of
      inflammation despite glucose deprivation and inhibition of the LPS-induced
      Warburg effect. AMPK seems to play a pivotal role in orchestrating these
      processes during glucose deprivation in monocytes.

PMID- 28611775
TI  - Inhibition of Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88 Reduces Human and Mouse T-Cell
      Interleukin-17 and IFNgamma Production and Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune
      Encephalomyelitis Induced in Mice.
AB  - Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) recruits signaling proteins to the
      intracellular domain of receptors belonging to the toll-like/interleukin-1 (IL-1)
      receptor superfamily. Mice lacking MyD88 are highly susceptible to infectious
      diseases, but tend to resist experimentally induced autoimmune diseases such as
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and manifest diminished allograft
      rejection. We reasoned that inhibition of MyD88 should influence the cytokine
      profile of responding T cells by blocking costimulatory molecule expression by
      antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and by inhibiting T-cell responses to IL-18. We
      now report that inhibition of MyD88 in human APCs led to decreased IFNgamma and
      IL-17 production and a shift to IL-4 production by responding T cells in a mixed
      lymphocyte reaction. Direct inhibition of Myd88 in mouse and human T cells also
      reduced their production of IFNgamma in response to IL-12/IL-18 stimulation.
      Finally, systemic MyD88 antagonism significantly reduced the clinical
      manifestations of EAE in mice. Thus, MyD88 appears to be a key factor in
      determining T cell phenotype and represents a potential target for therapeutic
      intervention.

PMID- 28611776
TI  - Editorial: Transplant Rejection and Tolerance-Advancing the Field through
      Integration of Computational and Experimental Investigation.

PMID- 28611774
TI  - Epidemiology, Mechanisms, and Diagnosis of Drug-Induced Anaphylaxis.
AB  - Anaphylaxis is an acute, life-threatening, multisystem syndrome resulting from
      the sudden release of mediators by mast cells and basophils. Although anaphylaxis
      is often under-communicated and thus underestimated, its incidence appears to
      have risen over recent decades. Drugs are among the most common triggers in
      adults, being analgesics and antibiotics the most common causal agents.
      Anaphylaxis can be caused by immunologic or non-immunologic mechanisms.
      Immunologic anaphylaxis can be mediated by IgE-dependent or -independent
      pathways. The former involves activation of Th2 cells and the cross-linking of
      two or more specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies on the surface of mast cells or
      basophils. The IgE-independent mechanism can be mediated by IgG, involving the
      release of platelet-activating factor, and/or complement activation. Non
      immunological anaphylaxis can occur through the direct stimulation of mast cell
      degranulation by some drugs, inducing histamine release and leading to
      anaphylactic symptoms. Work-up of a suspected drug-induced anaphylaxis should
      include clinical history; however, this can be unreliable, and skin tests should
      also be used if available and validated. Drug provocation testing is not
      recommended due to the risk of inducing a harmful reaction. In vitro testing can
      help to confirm anaphylaxis by analyzing the release of mediators such as
      tryptase or histamine by mast cells. When immunologic mechanisms are suspected,
      serum-sIgE quantification or the use of the basophil activation test can help
      confirm the culprit drug. In this review, we will discuss multiple aspects of
      drug-induced anaphylaxis, including epidemiology, mechanisms, and diagnosis.

PMID- 28611777
TI  - Molecular Signatures of Human Regulatory T Cells in Colorectal Cancer and Polyps.
AB  - Regulatory T cells (Tregs), a subset of CD4+ or CD8+ T cells, play a pivotal role
      in regulating immune homeostasis. An increase in Tregs was reported in many
      tumors to be associated with immune suppression and evasion in cancer patients.
      Despite the importance of Tregs, the molecular signatures that contributed to
      their pathophysiological relevance remain poorly understood and controversial. In
      this study, we explored the gene expression profiles in Tregs derived from
      patients with colorectal cancer [colorectal carcinoma (CRC), n = 15], colorectal
      polyps (P, n = 15), and in healthy volunteers (N, n = 15). Tregs were analyzed
      using CD4+CD25+CD127lowFoxP3+ antibody markers. Gene expression profiling
      analysis leads to the identification of 61 and 66 immune-related genes in Tregs
      derived from CRC and P patients, respectively, but not in N-derived Treg samples.
      Of these, 30 genes were differentially expressed both in CRC- and P-derived Tregs
      when compared to N-derived Tregs. Most of the identified genes were involved in
      cytokine/chemokine mediators of inflammation, chemokine receptor, lymphocyte
      activation, and T cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathways. This study highlights
      some of the molecular signatures that may affect Tregs' expansion and possible
      suppression of function in cancer development. Our findings may provide a better
      understanding of the immunomodulatory nature of Tregs and could, therefore, open
      up new avenues in immunotherapy.

PMID- 28611778
TI  - Peg-Interferon Lambda Treatment Induces Robust Innate and Adaptive Immunity in
      Chronic Hepatitis B Patients.
AB  - : IFN-lambda (IFNlambda) is a member of the type III IFN family and is reported
      to possess anti-pathogen, anti-cancer, and immunomodulatory properties; however,
      there are limited data regarding its impact on host immune responses in vivo. We
      performed longitudinal and comprehensive immunosurveillance to assess the ability
      of pegylated (peg)-IFNlambda to augment antiviral host immunity as part of a
      clinical trial assessing the efficacy of peg-IFNlambda in chronic hepatitis B
      (CHB) patients. These patients were pretreated with directly acting antiviral
      therapy (entecavir) for 12 weeks with subsequent addition of peg-IFNlambda for up
      to 32 weeks. In a subgroup of patients, the addition of peg-IFNlambda provoked
      high serum levels of antiviral cytokine IL-18. We also observed the enhancement
      of natural killer cell polyfunctionality and the recovery of a pan-genotypic HBV
      specific CD4+ T cells producing IFN-gamma with maintenance of HBV-specific CD8+ T
      cell antiviral and cytotoxic activities. It was only in these patients that we
      observed strong virological control with reductions in both viral replication and
      HBV antigen levels. Here, we show for the first time that in vivo peg-IFNlambda
      displays significant immunostimulatory properties with improvements in the main
      effectors mediating anti-HBV immunity. Interestingly, the maintenance in HBV
      specific CD8+ T cells in the presence of peg-IFNlambda is in contrast to previous
      studies showing that peg-IFNalpha treatment for CHB results in a detrimental
      effect on the functionality of this important antiviral T cell compartment.
      CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01204762.

PMID- 28611779
TI  - Diametric Role of the Latency-Associated Protein Acr1 of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis in Modulating the Functionality of Pre- and Post-maturational Stages
      of Dendritic Cells.
AB  - It is instrumental for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to persist within its
      host in dormancy. Mtb represses most of its metabolic machinery during latency,
      but upregulates the expression of latency-associated protein alpha-crystallin
      protein (Acr1). Therefore, it is imperative to understand how throughout
      dormancy, Mtb employs Acr1 to regulate the host immunity. This study reveals that
      Acr1 exhibits divergent effect on the pre- and post-maturation stages of
      dendritic cells (DCs). In the current study, we demonstrate that early encounter
      of bone marrow cells with Acr1 while differentiating into DCs (AcrDCpre), leads
      to impairment in their maturation. In contrast, when exposed to Acr1 after
      maturation (AcrDCpost), DCs show augmentation in their activity, secretion of TNF
      alpha, IL-12, IL-6, and activation of T cells. Additionally, AcrDCpost promoted
      the polarization of naive CD4 T cells to Th1 cells and Th17 cells and restricted
      the intracellular growth of Mtb. Furthermore, these DCs upregulated the
      expression of CCR7 and exhibited enhanced migratory capabilities. The discrete
      impact of Acr1 on DCs is mediated through a mechanism involving STAT-1, SOCS-3,
      ERK, TLR-4, and NF-kappaB signaling pathways. This study reveals the
      unprecedented role of Acr1 in distinctly modulating the function of DCs at
      different stages of maturation.

PMID- 28611781
TI  - Exploration of the Conformational Dynamics of Major Histocompatibility Complex
      Molecules.
AB  - Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules are loaded with a wide variety
      of self- and non-self-peptides in their binding grooves and present these to T
      cell receptors (TCRs) in order to activate the adaptive immune system. A large
      number of crystal structures of different MHC alleles with different bound
      peptides have been determined, and they have been found to be quite similar to
      one another regardless of the bound peptide sequence. The structures do not
      change markedly even when forming complexes with TCRs. Nonetheless, the degree of
      TCR activation does differ markedly depending on the peptide presented by the
      MHC. Recent structural studies in solution rather than as crystals have suggested
      that the conformational dynamics of MHC molecules may be responsible for the MHC
      stability differences. Furthermore, it was shown that the conformational dynamics
      of MHC molecules is important for peptide loading and presentation to TCR. Here,
      we describe the static and dynamic structures of MHC molecules and appropriate
      methods to analyze them. We focus particularly on nuclear magnetic resonance
      (NMR), one of the most powerful tools to study dynamic properties of proteins.
      The number of such studies in the literature is limited, but in this review, we
      show that NMR is valuable for elucidating the structural dynamics of MHC
      molecules.

PMID- 28611780
TI  - IL-10 Dysregulation in Acute Mountain Sickness Revealed by Transcriptome
      Analysis.
AB  - Acute mountain sickness (AMS), which may progress to life-threatening high
      altitude cerebral edema, is a major threat to millions of people who live in or
      travel to high altitude. Although studies have revealed the risk factors and
      pathophysiology theories of AMS, the molecular mechanisms of it do not
      comprehensively illustrate. Here, we used a system-level methodology, RNA
      sequencing, to explore the molecular mechanisms of AMS at genome-wide level in 10
      individuals. After exposure to high altitude, a total of 1,164 and 1,322
      differentially expressed transcripts were identified in AMS and non-AMS groups,
      respectively. Among them, only 328 common transcripts presented between the two
      groups. Immune and inflammatory responses were overrepresented in participants
      with AMS, but not in non-AMS individuals. Anti-inflammatory cytokine IL10 and
      inflammation cytokines IF17F and CCL8 exhibited significantly different genetic
      connectivity in AMS compared to that of non-AMS individuals based on network
      analysis. IL10 was downregulated and both IF17F and CCL8 were upregulated in AMS
      individuals. Moreover, the serum concentration of IL10 significantly decreased in
      AMS patients after exposure to high altitude (p = 0.001) in another population (n
      = 22). There was a large negative correlation between the changes in IL10
      concentration, r(22) = -0.52, p = 0.013, and Lake Louise Score. Taken together,
      our analysis provides unprecedented characterization of AMS transcriptome and
      identifies that genes involved in immune and inflammatory responses were
      disturbed in AMS individuals by high-altitude exposure. The reduction of IL10
      after exposure to high altitude was associated with AMS.

PMID- 28611782
TI  - Long-Term Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Outcomes of Patients with Chronic
      Kidney Disease in the Era of Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The following registry (Katowice-Zabrze retrospective registry) aimed
      to assess the influence of a chronic kidney disease (CKD) on long-term clinical
      outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using
      either first-generation (DES-I) or second-generation (DES-II) drug-eluting
      stents. METHODS: The study group consisted of 1,908 consecutive patients, of whom
      331 (17.3%) had CKD. CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate
      of <60 mL/min/m2. We evaluated the major adverse cardiac and cerebral events
      (MACCE), i.e., the composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and
      target vessel revascularization at the 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: CKD patients
      had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction and more often a history of MI and
      PCI. Coronary angiography revealed that multivessel coronary artery disease,
      intracoronary thrombus, and extensive calcifications were more frequent in
      patients with CKD. However, the SYNTAX score did not vary between patients with
      or without CKD. There was a higher rate of in-hospital bleedings requiring blood
      transfusion in patients with CKD. At the 1-year follow-up, MACCE (17.8 vs. 12.6%,
      HR = 1.46 [95% CI 1.05-2.03], p = 0.009) and death (8.4 vs. 2.3%, HR = 3.9 [95%
      CI 2.0-7.5], p < 0.001) were more often observed in CKD patients. Multivariable
      Cox analysis revealed that CKD was an independent risk predictor of death after
      PCI at the 1-year follow-up (HR = 2.1 [95% CI 1.2-3.6], p = 0.004). In comparison
      to DES-I, the use of DES-II did not decrease the adverse effect of CKD on MACCE.
      CONCLUSION: CKD patients had an increased risk of in-hospital bleeding requiring
      blood transfusion and a higher risk of MACCE and death at the 12-month follow-up.
      The use of second-generation DES did not improve clinical outcomes in patients
      with CKD at the 12-month follow-up.

PMID- 28611783
TI  - Apolipoprotein L1 Genetic Variants Are Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease but
      Not with Cardiovascular Disease in a Population Referred for Cardiac
      Catheterization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While the association between APOL1 genetic variants and chronic
      kidney disease (CKD) has been established, their association with cardiovascular
      disease (CVD) is unclear. This study sought to understand CKD and cardiovascular
      risk conferred by APOL1 variants in a secondary cardiovascular prevention
      population. METHODS: Two risk variants in APOL1 were genotyped in African
      Americans (n = 1,641) enrolled in the CATHGEN biorepository, comprised of
      patients referred for cardiac catheterization at Duke University Hospital,
      Durham, NC, USA (2001-2010). Individuals were categorized as noncarriers (n =
      722), heterozygote (n = 771), or homozygote carriers (n = 231) of APOL1 risk
      alleles. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models
      adjusted for CVD risk factors were used to assess the association between APOL1
      risk variants and prevalent and incident CKD, prevalent coronary artery disease
      (CAD), incident CVD events, and mortality. RESULTS: The previously identified
      association between APOL1 variants and prevalent CKD was confirmed (OR: 1.85, 95%
      CI: 1.33-2.57, p = 0.0002). No statistically significant associations were
      detected between APOL1 variants and incident CKD or prevalent CAD, incident CVD
      events or mortality. Age, type 2 diabetes, and ejection fraction at baseline were
      significant clinical factors that predicted the risk of incident CKD in a
      subgroup analysis of APOL1 homozygous individuals. CONCLUSION: APOL1 genetic
      variants are not associated with CAD or incident CVD events in a cohort of
      individuals with a high burden of cardiometabolic risk factors. In individuals
      with homozygous APOL1 status, factors that predicted subsequent CKD included age,
      presence of type 2 diabetes, and ejection fraction at baseline.

PMID- 28611784
TI  - The Central Role of Endothelial Dysfunction in Cardiorenal Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) has emerged as a critical process in
      cardiorenal syndrome (CRS). The concept that ED is closely linked with cardiac
      and renal dysfunction has become an important target for CRS-related research and
      clinical practice. SUMMARY: The sequence of events leading to ED is initiated by
      type I endothelial activation (almost immediately) and type II endothelial
      activation (over hours, days, and even months), followed by endothelial apoptosis
      and endothelial necrosis. The fact that ED is a continual cellular event divides
      this process into reversible ED (endothelial activation) and irreversible ED
      (endothelial apoptosis and necrosis). This basic research-defined concept may
      have clinical implications. Although most antihypertensive drugs (ACE inhibitors,
      statins, etc.) are effective in patients with hypertension and diabetes, some of
      them have proved to be ineffective, which may partly be attributed to
      irreversible ED. Even though the etiology of ED consists mainly of asymmetric
      dimethylarginine, nitric oxide, oxidative stress, and anti-endothelial cell
      antibodies, many other inducers of ED have been identified. In addition, a
      distinct role of ED has been reported for each type of CRS in humans. KEY
      MESSAGES: Further study is warranted to prove whether ED holds promise as a
      pharmacological target in CRS patients.

PMID- 28611785
TI  - Initiation and Cessation Timing of Renal Replacement Therapy in Patients with
      Type 1 Cardiorenal Syndrome: An Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Renal replacement therapy (RRT) is a rescue therapy for patients
      with type 1 cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) with poor prognoses. However, the optimal
      timing for initiation and cessation of RRT remains controversial. The purpose of
      this study was to determine the optimal timing of initiation and cessation of RRT
      for patients with type 1 CRS. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, patients
      with refractory type 1 CRS receiving RRT were divided into 3 groups according to
      weaning from RRT and death within 90 days. Baseline characteristics, underlying
      heart disease, comorbidities, drug use before RRT, indicators of RRT initiation,
      and prognosis were compared between the 3 groups. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients
      were enrolled, which included 27 males and 25 females with a mean age of 70.7 +/-
      16.1 years and a 90-day mortality rate of 65.4%. The mean urine output before RRT
      initiation was 800 mL/ 24 h in the RRT-independent group, 650 mL/24 h in the RRT
      dependent group, and 345 mL/ 24 h in the death group (p = 0.021). Additionally,
      there were obvious differences in fluid balance between the 3 groups (167, 250,
      and 1,270 mL, respectively, p = 0.016). Patients could be successfully weaned
      from RRT when urine output was >880 mL and fluid balance volume was <150 mL.
      CONCLUSION: The mean fluid balance of survivors was remarkably less than that of
      the death group at RRT initiation. RRT termination can be considered when urine
      output is >880 mL/24 h and volume balance is <150 mL/24 h.

PMID- 28611786
TI  - Spironolactone Treatment and Effect on Survival in Chronic Heart Failure Patients
      with Reduced Renal Function: A Propensity-Matched Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Spironolactone may be hazardous in heart failure (HF) patients
      with renal dysfunction due to risk of hyperkalemia and worsened renal function.
      We aimed to evaluate the effect of spironolactone on all-cause mortality in HF
      outpatients with renal dysfunction in a propensity-score-matched study. METHODS:
      A total of 2,077 patients from the Norwegian Heart Failure Registry with renal
      dysfunction (eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2) not treated with spironolactone at the
      first visit at the HF clinic were eligible for the study. Patients started on
      spironolactone at the outpatient HF clinics (n = 206) were propensity-score
      matched 1:1 with patients not started on spironolactone, based on 16 measured
      baseline characteristics. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to
      investigate the independent effect of spironolactone on 2-year all-cause
      mortality. RESULTS: Propensity score matching identified 170 pairs of patients,
      one group receiving spironolactone and the other not. The two groups were well
      matched (mean age 76.7 +/- 8.1 years, 66.4% males, and eGFR 46.2 +/- 10.2
      mL/min/1.73 m2). Treatment with spironolactone was associated with increased
      potassium (delta potassium 0.31 +/- 0.55 vs. 0.05 +/- 0.41 mmol/L, p < 0.001) and
      decreased eGFR (delta eGFR -4.12 +/- 12.2 vs. -0.98 +/- 7.88 mL/min/1.73 m2, p =
      0.006) compared to the non-spironolactone group. After 2 years, 84% of patients
      were alive in the spironolactone group and 73% of patients in the non
      spironolactone group (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.37-0.92, p = 0.020). CONCLUSION: In HF
      outpatients with renal dysfunction, treatment with spironolactone was associated
      with improved 2-year survival compared to well-matched patients not treated with
      spironolactone. Favorable survival was observed despite worsened renal function
      and increased potassium in the spironolactone group.

PMID- 28611787
TI  - Lack of Diuretic Efficiency (but Not Low Diuresis) Early in An Acutely
      Decompensated Heart Failure Episode Is Associated with Increased 180-Day
      Mortality.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The assessment of the amount of urine produced by the dose of
      administered diuretic has been proposed as the main signal of interest in
      diuretic responsiveness - diuretic efficiency (DE). The main aim of our study is
      to determine if a low DE is associated with 180-day all-cause mortality (ACM).
      METHODS: During a 3-year period, we retrospectively studied patients with acutely
      decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and respiratory insufficiency admitted to the
      emergency room of a tertiary university hospital in Porto, Portugal. A total of
      170 patients (age 76.2 +/- 10.3 years) were included. The outcome of ACM occurred
      in 43 (25.3%) patients during the 180-day follow-up period. DE was evaluated for
      a maximum of 3 h after emergency room admission. The lowest DE was defined as
      <=140 mL of diuresis per 40 mg of furosemide equivalents. RESULTS: No significant
      differences in age, comorbidities, baseline HF symptoms, or disease-modifying
      medication were found between the lowest and highest DE groups. The lowest DE
      group had higher blood urea and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
      levels (41.3 +/- 24.5 vs. 56.7 +/- 23.2 mL/min/1.73 m2, p < 0.001). The patients
      with the lowest DE had significantly higher rates of ACM during the 180-day
      follow-up, even after adjustment for other clinically relevant variables: hazard
      ratio (HR) [95% CI] = 2.31 [1.16-4.58], p = 0.016. The lowest diuresis (<=300 mL)
      and the highest intravenous furosemide dose (>80 mg) alone were not significantly
      associated with the outcome. After adjustment for N-terminal prohormone of brain
      natriuretic peptide, the association between the lowest DE and the outcome lost
      strength (HR [95% CI] = 1.53 [0.75-3.13], p = 0.240). CONCLUSION: A low DE (<=140
      mL/40 mg of furosemide) in the first 3 h after an ADHF episode was associated
      with increased mid-term mortality rates.

PMID- 28611788
TI  - Prognostic Implications of Chronic Kidney Disease on Patients Presenting with ST
      Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction with versus without Stent Thrombosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited data is present regarding long-term outcomes in chronic
      kidney disease (CKD) patients presenting with stent thrombosis (ST). We evaluated
      the possible implications of CKD on long-term mortality in patients presenting
      with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and treated with primary
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and its interaction with the presence
      of ST. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 1,722 STEMI patients treated with
      primary PCI. Baseline CKD was categorized as an estimated glomerular filtration
      rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 at presentation. The presence of ST was determined using
      the Academic Research Consortium definitions. Patients were evaluated for the
      presence of CKD and ST, as well as for long-term mortality. RESULTS: A total of
      448/1,722 (26%) patients had baseline CKD. Patients with CKD were older and had
      more comorbidities and a higher rate of ST (4 vs. 7%, respectively, p < 0.001).
      In a univariate analysis, long-term mortality was significantly higher among
      those with CKD compared to those without CKD (17.6 vs. 2.7%, p < 0.001). The
      presence of ST did not alter long-term mortality in both CKD and no-CKD patients.
      In a Cox regression model, CKD was an independent predictor of long-term
      mortality (hazard ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.17-3.56, p = 0.01), while
      ST as a covariate was not significantly associated with long-term mortality.
      CONCLUSION: Among STEMI patients, CKD, but not ST, is a predictor of long-term
      mortality.

PMID- 28611789
TI  - Association of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 with Mortality in a Prospective
      Hemodialysis Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Cardiovascular disease and protein-energy wasting are among the
      strongest predictors of the high mortality of dialysis patients. In the general
      population, the novel cardiovascular and wasting biomarker, growth
      differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), is associated with decreased survival.
      However, little is known about GDF15 in dialysis patients. METHODS: Among
      prevalent hemodialysis patients participating in a prospective study (October
      2011 to August 2015), we examined the association of baseline GDF15 levels with
      all-cause mortality using unadjusted and case mix-adjusted death hazard ratios
      (HRs) that controlled for age, sex, race, ethnicity, diabetes, and dialysis
      vintage. RESULTS: The mean age +/- SD of the 203 patients included in the study
      was 53.2 +/- 14.5 years, and the cohort included 41% females, 34% African
      Americans, and 48% Hispanics. GDF15 levels (mean +/- SD 5.94 +/- 3.90 ng/mL;
      range 1.58-39.8 ng/mL) were higher among older patients and were inversely
      associated with serum creatinine concentrations as a surrogate for muscle mass.
      Each 1.0 ng/mL increase in GDF15 was associated with an approximately 17-18%
      higher mortality risk in the unadjusted and case mix models (p < 0.05).
      Increments of about 1 SD (a 4.0 ng/mL increase in GDF15) were associated with a
      nearly 2-fold higher death risk. The highest GDF15 tertile was associated with
      higher mortality risk (reference: lowest tertile): the HRs (95% CI) were 3.19
      (1.35-7.55) and 2.45 (1.00-6.00) in the unadjusted and the case mix-adjusted
      model, respectively. These incremental death trends were confirmed in cubic
      spline models. CONCLUSION: Higher circulating GDF15 levels are associated with
      higher mortality risk in hemodialysis patients. Future studies are needed to
      determine whether GDF15 may represent a novel therapeutic target for
      cardiovascular disease, wasting, and death in this population.

PMID- 28611790
TI  - Saccharification Performances of Miscanthus at the Pilot and Miniaturized Assay
      Scales: Genotype and Year Variabilities According to the Biomass Composition.
AB  - HIGHLIGHTS Biomass production and cell wall composition are differentially
      impacted by harvesting year and genotypes, influencing then cellulose conversion
      in miniaturized assay.Using a high-throughput miniaturized and semi-automated
      method for performing the pretreatment and saccharification steps at laboratory
      scale allows for the assessment of these factors on the biomass potential for
      producing bioethanol before moving to the industrial scale. The large genetic
      diversity of the perennial grass miscanthus makes it suitable for producing
      cellulosic ethanol in biorefineries. The saccharification potential and year
      variability of five genotypes belonging to Miscanthus * giganteus and Miscanthus
      sinensis were explored using a miniaturized and semi-automated method, allowing
      the application of a hot water treatment followed by an enzymatic hydrolysis. The
      studied genotypes highlighted distinct cellulose conversion yields due to their
      distinct cell wall compositions. An inter-year comparison revealed significant
      variations in the biomass productivity and cell wall compositions. Compared to
      the recalcitrant genotypes, more digestible genotypes contained higher amounts of
      hemicellulosic carbohydrates and lower amounts of cellulose and lignin. In
      contrast to hemicellulosic carbohydrates, the relationships analysis between the
      biomass traits and cellulose conversion clearly showed the same negative effect
      of cellulose and lignin on cellulose digestion. The miniaturized and semi
      automated method we developed was usable at the laboratory scale and was reliable
      for mimicking the saccharification at the pilot scale using a steam explosion
      pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Therefore, this miniaturized method will
      allow the reliable screening of many genotypes for saccharification potential.
      These findings provide valuable information and tools for breeders to create
      genotypes combining high yield, suitable biomass composition, and high
      saccharification yields.

PMID- 28611791
TI  - Regional Association Analysis of MetaQTLs Delineates Candidate Grain Size Genes
      in Rice.
AB  - Molecular mapping studies which aim to identify genetic basis of diverse
      agronomic traits are vital for marker-assisted crop improvement. Numerous
      Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) mapped in rice span long genomic intervals with
      hundreds to thousands of genes, which limits their utilization for marker
      assisted genetic enhancement of rice. Although potent, fine mapping of QTLs is
      challenging task as it requires screening of large number of segregants to
      identify suitable recombination events. Association mapping offers much higher
      resolution as compared to QTL mapping, but detects considerable number of
      spurious QTLs. Therefore, combined use of QTL and association mapping strategies
      can provide advantages associated with both these methods. In the current study,
      we utilized meta-analysis approach to identify metaQTLs associated with grain
      size/weight in diverse Indian indica and aromatic rice accessions. Subsequently,
      attempt has been made to narrow-down identified grain size/weight metaQTLs
      through individual SNP- as well as haplotype-based regional association analysis.
      The study identified six different metaQTL regions, three of which were
      successfully revalidated, and substantially scaled-down along with GS3 QTL
      interval (positive control) by regional association analysis. Consequently, two
      potential candidate genes within two reduced metaQTLs were identified based on
      their differential expression profiles in different tissues/stages of rice
      accessions during seed development. The developed strategy has broader practical
      utility for rapid delineation of candidate genes and natural alleles underlying
      QTLs associated with complex agronomic traits in rice as well as major crop
      plants enriched with useful genetic and genomic information.

PMID- 28611794
TI  - Variation of Soil Bacterial Communities in a Chronosequence of Rubber Tree (Hevea
      brasiliensis) Plantations.
AB  - Regarding rubber tree plantations, researchers lack a basic understanding of soil
      microbial communities; specifically, little is known about whether or not soil
      microbial variation is correlated with succession in these plantations. In this
      paper, we used high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to investigate the
      diversity and composition of the soil bacterial communities in a chronosequence
      of rubber tree plantations that were 5, 10, 13, 18, 25, and 30 years old. We
      determined that: (1) Soil bacterial diversity and composition show changes over
      the succession stages of rubber tree plantations. The diversity of soil bacteria
      were highest in 10, 13, and 18 year-old rubber tree plantations, followed by 30
      year-old rubber tree plantations, whereas 5 and 25 year-old rubber tree
      plantations had the lowest values for diversity. A total of 438,870 16S rDNA
      sequences were detected in 18 soil samples from six rubber tree plantations,
      found in 28 phyla, 66 classes, 139 orders, 245 families, 355 genera, and 645
      species, with 1.01% sequences from unclassified bacteria. The dominant phyla were
      Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia
      (relative abundance large than 3%). There were differences in soil bacterial
      communities among different succession stages of rubber tree plantation. (2) Soil
      bacteria diversity and composition in the different stages was closely related to
      pH, vegetation, soil nutrient, and altitude, of which pH, and vegetation were the
      main drivers.

PMID- 28611792
TI  - Structural and Functional Insights into WRKY3 and WRKY4 Transcription Factors to
      Unravel the WRKY-DNA (W-Box) Complex Interaction in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum
      L.). A Computational Approach.
AB  - The WRKY transcription factors (TFs), play crucial role in plant defense response
      against various abiotic and biotic stresses. The role of WRKY3 and WRKY4 genes in
      plant defense response against necrotrophic pathogens is well-reported. However,
      their functional annotation in tomato is largely unknown. In the present work, we
      have characterized the structural and functional attributes of the two identified
      tomato WRKY transcription factors, WRKY3 (SlWRKY3), and WRKY4 (SlWRKY4) using
      computational approaches. Arabidopsis WRKY3 (AtWRKY3: NP_178433) and WRKY4
      (AtWRKY4: NP_172849) protein sequences were retrieved from TAIR database and
      protein BLAST was done for finding their sequential homologs in tomato. Sequence
      alignment, phylogenetic classification, and motif composition analysis revealed
      the remarkable sequential variation between, these two WRKYs. The tomato WRKY3
      and WRKY4 clusters with Solanum pennellii showing the monophyletic origin and
      evolution from their wild homolog. The functional domain region responsible for
      sequence specific DNA-binding occupied in both proteins were modeled [using
      AtWRKY4 (PDB ID:1WJ2) and AtWRKY1 (PDBID:2AYD) as template protein structures]
      through homology modeling using Discovery Studio 3.0. The generated models were
      further evaluated for their accuracy and reliability based on qualitative and
      quantitative parameters. The modeled proteins were found to satisfy all the
      crucial energy parameters and showed acceptable Ramachandran statistics when
      compared to the experimentally resolved NMR solution structures and/or X-Ray
      diffracted crystal structures (templates). The superimposition of the functional
      WRKY domains from SlWRKY3 and SlWRKY4 revealed remarkable structural similarity.
      The sequence specific DNA binding for two WRKYs was explored through DNA-protein
      interaction using Hex Docking server. The interaction studies found that SlWRKY4
      binds with the W-box DNA through WRKYGQK with Tyr408, Arg409, and Lys419 with the
      initial flanking sequences also get involved in binding. In contrast, the SlWRKY3
      made interaction with RKYGQK along with the residues from zinc finger motifs.
      Protein-protein interactions studies were done using STRING version 10.0 to
      explore all the possible protein partners involved in associative functional
      interaction networks. The Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed the
      functional dimension and characterized the identified WRKYs based on their
      functional annotation.

PMID- 28611793
TI  - The Ectopic Overexpression of the Cotton Ve1 and Ve2-Homolog Sequences Leads to
      Resistance Response to Verticillium Wilt in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Verticillium wilt, caused by the Verticillium dahliae phytopathogen, is a
      devastating disease affecting many economically important crops. A receptor-like
      protein (RLP) gene, Ve1, has been reported to confer resistance to V. dahliae in
      tomato plants, but few genes have been found to be involved in cotton
      Verticillium wilt resistance. Here, we cloned two RLP gene homologs, Gossypium
      barbadense resistance gene to Verticillium dahliae 1 (GbaVd1) and GbaVd2, from
      the Verticillium wilt-resistant cultivar G. barbadense cv. Hai7124. GbaVd1 and
      GbaVd2 display sequence divergence, but both encode typical RLPs. Virus-induced
      gene silencing of GbaVd1 or GbaVd2 compromised the resistance of cotton to V.
      dahliae, and both genes conferred Verticillium wilt resistance after interfamily
      transfer into Arabidopsis. Microarray analysis revealed that GbaVd1 and GbaVd2
      participate in Verticillium wilt resistance in Arabidopsis through activation of
      defense responses, including the endocytosis process, signaling factors,
      transcription factors and reinforcement of the cell wall, as demonstrated by
      lignification in Arabidopsis transgenic plants. In addition, microarray analysis
      showed that GbaVd1 and GbaVd2 differentially mediate resistance signaling and
      activation of defense responses after overexpression in Arabidopsis. Thus, GbaVd1
      and GbaVd2 encode RLPs and act as disease resistance genes that mediate the
      defense response against V. dahliae in cotton.

PMID- 28611795
TI  - Grape Composition under Abiotic Constrains: Water Stress and Salinity.
AB  - Water stress and increasing soil salt concentration represent the most common
      abiotic constrains that exert a negative impact on Mediterranean vineyards
      performance. However, several studies have proven that deficit irrigation
      strategies are able to improve grape composition. In contrast, irrigation with
      saline waters negatively affected yield and grape composition, although the
      magnitude of these effects depended on the cultivar, rootstock, phenological
      stage when water was applied, as well as on the salt concentration in the
      irrigation water. In this context, agronomic practices that minimize these
      effects on berry composition and, consequently, on wine quality must be achieved.
      In this paper, we briefly reviewed the main findings obtained regarding the
      effects of deficit irrigation strategies, as well as irrigation with saline
      water, on the berry composition of both red and white cultivars, as well as on
      the final wine. A meta-analysis was performed using published data for red and
      white varieties; a general liner model accounting for the effects of cultivar,
      rootstock, and midday stem water potential was able to explain up to 90% of the
      variability in the dataset, depending on the selected variable. In both red and
      white cultivars, berry weight, must titratable acidity and pH were fairly well
      simulated, whereas the goodness-of-fit for wine attributes was better for white
      cultivars.

PMID- 28611796
TI  - Identification of Important Physiological Traits and Moderators That Are
      Associated with Improved Salt Tolerance in CBL and CIPK Overexpressors through a
      Meta-Analysis.
AB  - The CBL-CIPK pathway is a plant-specific Ca2+ sensor relaying pathway that has
      been shown to be involved in plant response to salt stress. Over-expression of
      CBL-CIPK network genes has been reported to increase salt tolerance in many
      studies. The studies on the overexpression of CBL-CIPK network genes, however,
      have used various indices to evaluate the effect of these genes on salt tolerance
      and have indicated a variety of roles for the major CBL-CIPK pathway genes.
      Therefore, it is of great interest to analyze the various effects resulting from
      the overexpression CBL-CIPK pathway genes and their relation to salt tolerance.
      The meta-analysis conducted in the present study investigated how over-expression
      of CBLs or CIPKs in transgenic plants affects the response to salt stress and
      identified the increase or decrease that occurs in these experimental variables
      when foreign CIPK or CBL genes are overexpressed in transgenic plants. The data
      from the collective studies on over-expression of CIPKs indicated that 6 of the
      11 examined parameters (main effects) increased by 22% or more, while two of the
      six examined parameters increased by at least 78% in transgenic plants
      overexpressing CBL genes. In addition to analyzing the impact of overexpression
      on the main effects, eight different modifying parameters were also analyzed.
      Results indicated that several moderators impact the extent to which
      overexpression of CBLs and CIPKs affect the main parameters. The majority of CBLs
      have been obtained from dicotyledonous plants and most of the CBLs and CIPKs have
      been expressed in dicotyledonous plants. In comparison to homologous expression,
      the meta-analysis indicated that heterogeneous expression of CBLs resulted in
      greater increases in seed germination. The results of the meta-analysis provide
      information that could be useful in designing research to examine the mechanisms
      by which CBL-CIPK pathway genes increase salt tolerance in plants.

PMID- 28611797
TI  - Characterization and Regulation of Aquaporin Genes of Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor
      (L.) Moench] in Response to Waterlogging Stress.
AB  - Waterlogging is a significant environmental constraint to crop production, and a
      better understanding of plant responses is critical for the improvement of crop
      tolerance to waterlogged soils. Aquaporins (AQPs) are a class of channel-forming
      proteins that play an important role in water transport in plants. This study
      aimed to examine the regulation of AQP genes under waterlogging stress and to
      characterize the genetic variability of AQP genes in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor).
      Transcriptional profiling of AQP genes in response to waterlogging stress in
      nodal root tips and nodal root basal regions of two tolerant and two sensitive
      sorghum genotypes at 18 and 96 h after waterlogging stress imposition revealed
      significant gene-specific pattern with regard to genotype, root tissue sample,
      and time point. For some tissue sample and time point combinations, PIP2-6, PIP2
      7, TIP2-2, TIP4-4, and TIP5-1 expression was differentially regulated in tolerant
      compared to sensitive genotypes. The differential response of these AQP genes
      suggests that they may play a tissue specific role in mitigating waterlogging
      stress. Genetic analysis of sorghum revealed that AQP genes were clustered into
      the same four subfamilies as in maize (Zea mays) and rice (Oryza sativa) and that
      residues determining the AQP channel specificity were largely conserved across
      species. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from 50 sorghum accessions
      were used to build an AQP gene-based phylogeny of the haplotypes. Phylogenetic
      analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms of sorghum AQP genes placed the
      tolerant and sensitive genotypes used for the expression study in distinct
      groups. Expression analyses suggested that selected AQPs may play a pivotal role
      in sorghum tolerance to water logging stress. Further experimentation is needed
      to verify their role and to leverage phylogenetic analyses and AQP expression
      data to improve waterlogging tolerance in sorghum.

PMID- 28611798
TI  - A Transcriptomics and Comparative Genomics Analysis Reveals Gene Families with a
      Role in Body Plan Complexity.
AB  - We analyzed tissue-specific transcriptomes of Arabidopsis thaliana and identified
      66 gene families with a high frequency of "gradient genes" - genes showing a
      significant expression gradient between tissues. Gradient gene families include
      many with roles in hormone and peptide signaling, cell wall synthesis and
      remodeling, secondary metabolism, transcriptional regulation, and transport
      between cells. We compared the size of the gradient gene families among the
      genomes of four plant species with radically different body plans - a single
      celled algae, a moss, a eudicot, and a monocot - and found that most of the
      gradient gene families (58/66) expanded in parallel with the evolution of
      morphological complexity. A novel measure of tissue diversity was used to show
      that members of any one gradient gene family tend not to be clustered in a single
      tissue, but are rather apportioned evenly across the tissues studied. Considered
      together, our results suggest that the diversification of these gene families
      supported the diversification of tissue types and the evolution of body plan
      complexity in plants.

PMID- 28611799
TI  - Endophytic Paecilomyces formosus LHL10 Augments Glycine max L. Adaptation to Ni
      Contamination through Affecting Endogenous Phytohormones and Oxidative Stress.
AB  - This study investigated the Ni-removal efficiency of phytohormone-producing
      endophytic fungi Penicillium janthinellum, Paecilomyces formosus, Exophiala sp.,
      and Preussia sp. Among four different endophytes, P. formosus LHL10 was able to
      tolerate up to 1 mM Ni in contaminated media as compared to copper and cadmium.
      P. formosus LHL10 was further assessed for its potential to enhance the
      phytoremediation of Glycine max (soybean) in response to dose-dependent increases
      in soil Ni (0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 mM). Inoculation with P. formosus LHL10
      significantly increased plant biomass and growth attributes as compared to non
      inoculated control plants with or without Ni contamination. LHL10 enhanced the
      translocation of Ni from the root to the shoot as compared to the control. In
      addition, P. formosus LHL10 modulated the physio-chemical apparatus of soybean
      plants during Ni-contamination by reducing lipid peroxidation and the
      accumulation of linolenic acid, glutathione, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase,
      catalase, and superoxide dismutase. Stress-responsive phytohormones such as
      abscisic acid and jasmonic acid were significantly down-regulated in fungal
      inoculated soybean plants under Ni stress. LHL10 Ni-remediation potential can be
      attributed to its phytohormonal synthesis related genetic makeup. RT-PCR analysis
      showed the expression of indole-3-acetamide hydrolase, aldehyde dehydrogenase for
      indole-acetic acid and geranylgeranyl-diphosphate synthase, ent-kaurene oxidase
      (P450-4), C13-oxidase (P450-3) for gibberellins synthesis. In conclusion, the
      inoculation of P. formosus can significantly improve plant growth in Ni-polluted
      soils, and assist in improving the phytoremediation abilities of economically
      important crops.

PMID- 28611800
TI  - Small RNA-Sequencing Links Physiological Changes and RdDM Process to Vegetative
      to-Floral Transition in Apple.
AB  - Transition from vegetative to floral buds is a critical physiological change
      during flower induction that determines fruit productivity. Small non-coding RNAs
      (sRNAs) including microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are
      pivotal regulators of plant growth and development. Although the key role of
      sRNAs in flowering regulation has been well-described in Arabidopsis and some
      other annual plants, their relevance to vegetative-to-floral transition
      (hereafter, referred to floral transition) in perennial woody trees remains under
      defined. Here, we performed Illumina sequencing of sRNA libraries prepared from
      vegetative and floral bud during flower induction of the apple trees. A large
      number of sRNAs exemplified by 33 previously annotated miRNAs and six novel
      members display significant differential expression (DE) patterns. Notably, most
      of these DE-miRNAs in floral transition displayed opposite expression changes in
      reported phase transition in apple trees. Bioinformatics analysis suggests most
      of the DE-miRNAs targeted transcripts involved in SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING
      PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) gene regulation, stress responses, and auxin and gibberellin
      (GA) pathways, with further suggestion that there is an inherent link between
      physiological stress response and metabolism reprogramming during floral
      transition. We also observed significant changes in 24 nucleotide (nt) sRNAs that
      are hallmarks for RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway, suggestive of the
      correlation between epigenetic modifications and the floral transition. The study
      not only provides new insight into our understanding of fundamental mechanism of
      poorly studied floral transition in apple and other woody plants, but also
      presents important sRNA resource for future in-depth research in the apple
      flowering physiology.

PMID- 28611801
TI  - Melatonin Improves the Photosynthetic Apparatus in Pea Leaves Stressed by
      Paraquat via Chlorophyll Breakdown Regulation and Its Accelerated de novo
      Synthesis.
AB  - The positive effect of melatonin on the function of the photosynthetic apparatus
      is known, but little is known about the specific mechanisms of melatonin's action
      in plants. The influence of melatonin on chlorophyll metabolism of 24-day-old
      Pisum sativum L. seedlings during paraquat (PQ)-induced oxidative stress was
      investigated in this study. Seeds were hydro-primed with water (H), 50 and 200
      MUM melatonin/water solutions (H-MEL50, H-MEL200), while non-primed seeds were
      used as controls (C). Increases in chlorophyllase activity (key enzyme in
      chlorophyll degradation) and 5-aminolevulinic acid contents (the first compound
      in the porphyrin synthesis pathway) were observed in H-MEL50 and H-MEL200 leaf
      disks. This suggests that melatonin may accelerate damaged chlorophyll breakdown
      and its de novo synthesis during the first hours of PQ treatment. Elevated level
      of pheophytin in control leaf disks following 24 h of PQ incubation probably was
      associated with an enhanced rate of chlorophyll degradation through formation of
      pheophytin as a chlorophyll derivative. This validates the hypothesis that
      chlorophyllide, considered for many years, as a first intermediate of chlorophyll
      breakdown is not. This is indicated by the almost unchanged chlorophyll to
      chlorophyllide ratio after 24 h of PQ treatment. However, prolonged effects of PQ
      induced stress (48 h) revealed extensive discolouration of control and water
      treated leaf disks, while melatonin treatment alleviated PQ-induced
      photobleaching. Also the ratio of chlorophyll to chlorophyllide and porphyrin
      contents were significantly higher in plants treated with melatonin, which may
      indicate that this indoleamine both retards chlorophyll breakdown and stimulates
      its de novo synthesis during extended stress. We concluded that melatonin added
      into the seeds enhances the ability of pea seedlings to accelerate chlorophyll
      breakdown and its de novo synthesis before stress appeared and for several hours
      after, while during prolonged PQ incubation melatonin delays chlorophyll
      degradation.

PMID- 28611802
TI  - Involvement of Trichoderma harzianum Epl-1 Protein in the Regulation of Botrytis
      Virulence- and Tomato Defense-Related Genes.
AB  - Several Trichoderma spp. are well known for their ability to: (i) act as
      important biocontrol agents against phytopathogenic fungi; (ii) function as
      biofertilizers; (iii) increase the tolerance of plants to biotic and abiotic
      stresses; and (iv) induce plant defense responses via the production and
      secretion of elicitor molecules. In this study, we analyzed the gene-regulation
      effects of Trichoderma harzianum Epl-1 protein during the interactions of mutant
      Deltaepl-1 or wild-type T. harzianum strains with: (a) the phytopathogen Botrytis
      cinerea and (b) with tomato plants, on short (24 h hydroponic cultures) and long
      periods (4-weeks old plants) after Trichoderma inoculation. Our results indicate
      that T. harzianum Epl-1 protein affects the in vitro expression of B. cinerea
      virulence genes, especially those involved in the botrydial biosynthesis (BcBOT
      genes), during the mycoparasitism interaction. The tomato defense-related genes
      were also affected, indicating that Epl-1 is involved in the elicitation of the
      salicylic acid pathway. Moreover, Epl-1 also regulates the priming effect in host
      tomato plants and contributes to enhance the interaction with the host tomato
      plant during the early stage of root colonization.

PMID- 28611803
TI  - Shading Contributes to the Reduction of Stem Mechanical Strength by Decreasing
      Cell Wall Synthesis in Japonica Rice (Oryza sativa L.).
AB  - Low solar radiation caused by industrial development and solar dimming has become
      a limitation in crop production in China. It is widely accepted that low solar
      radiation influences many aspects of plant development, including slender, weak
      stems and susceptibility to lodging. However, the underlying mechanisms are not
      well understood. To clarify how low solar radiation affects stem mechanical
      strength formation and lodging resistance, the japonica rice cultivars
      Wuyunjing23 (lodging-resistant) and W3668 (lodging-susceptible) were grown under
      field conditions with normal light (Control) and shading (the incident light was
      reduced by 60%) with a black nylon net. The yield and yield components, plant
      morphological characteristics, the stem mechanical strength, cell wall
      components, culm microstructure, gene expression correlated with cellulose and
      lignin biosynthesis were measured. The results showed that shading significantly
      reduced grain yield attributed to reduction of spikelets per panicles and grain
      weight. The stem-breaking strength decreased significantly under shading
      treatment; consequently, resulting in higher lodging index in rice plant in both
      varieties, as revealed by decreased by culm diameter, culm wall thickness and
      increased plant height, gravity center height. Compared with control, cell wall
      components including non-structural carbohydrate, sucrose, cellulose, and lignin
      reduced quite higher. With histochemical straining, shading largely reduced
      lignin deposition in the sclerenchyma cells and vascular bundle cells compared
      with control, and decreased cellulose deposition in the parenchyma cells of culm
      tissue in both Wuyunjing23 and W3668. And under shading condition, gene
      expression involved in secondary cell wall synthesis, OsPAL, OsCOMT, OsCCoAOMT,
      OsCCR, and OsCAD2, and primary cell wall synthesis, OsCesA1, OsCesA3, and OsCesA8
      were decreased significantly. These results suggest that gene expression involved
      in the reduction of lignin and cellulose in both sclerenchyma and parenchyma
      cells, which attribute to lignin and cellulose in culm tissue and weak mechanical
      tissue, consequently, result in poor stem strength and higher lodging risks.
      Highlights: (1) Shading decreases the stem mechanical strength of japonica rice
      by decreasing non-structural carbohydrate, sucrose, lignin, and cellulose
      accumulation in culms. (2) The decrease of carbon source under shading condition
      is the cause for the lower lignin and cellulose accumulation in culm. (3) The
      expression of genes involved in lignin and primarily cell wall cellulose
      biosynthesis (OsCesA1, OsCesA3, and OsCesA8) at the stem formation stage are down
      regulated under shading condition, inducing defective cell wall development and
      poor lodging resistance.

PMID- 28611804
TI  - Development and Event-specific Detection of Transgenic Glyphosate-resistant Rice
      Expressing the G2-EPSPS Gene.
AB  - Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide, due to its broad spectrum, low cost, low
      toxicity, high efficiency, and non-selective characteristics. Rice farmers rarely
      use glyphosate as a herbicide, because the crop is sensitive to this chemical.
      The development of transgenic glyphosate-tolerant rice could greatly improve the
      economics of rice production. Here, we transformed the Pseudomonas fluorescens G2
      5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene G2-EPSPS, which
      conferred tolerance to glyphosate herbicide into a widely used japonica rice
      cultivar, Zhonghua 11 (ZH11), to develop two highly glyphosate-tolerant
      transgenic rice lines, G2-6 and G2-7, with one exogenous gene integration. Seed
      germination tests and glyphosate-tolerance assays of plants grown in a greenhouse
      showed that the two transgenic lines could greatly improve glyphosate-tolerance
      compared with the wild-type; The glyphosate-tolerance field test indicated that
      both transgenic lines could grow at concentrations of 20,000 ppm glyphosate,
      which is more than 20-times the recommended concentration in the field. Isolation
      of the flanking sequence of transgenic rice G2-6 indicated that the 5'-terminal
      of T-DNA was inserted into chromosome 8 of the rice genome. An event-specific PCR
      test system was established and the limit of detection of the primers reached
      five copies. Overall, the G2-EPSPS gene significantly improved glyphosate
      tolerance in transgenic rice; furthermore, it is a useful candidate gene for the
      future development of commercial transgenic rice.

PMID- 28611806
TI  - Opportunities and Constraints in Characterizing Landscape Distribution of an
      Invasive Grass from Very High Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery.
AB  - Understanding spatial distributions of invasive plant species at early
      infestation stages is critical for assessing the dynamics and underlying factors
      of invasions. Recent progress in very high resolution remote sensing is
      facilitating this task by providing high spatial detail over whole-site extents
      that are prohibitive to comprehensive ground surveys. This study assessed the
      opportunities and constraints to characterize landscape distribution of the
      invasive grass medusahead (Elymus caput-medusae) in a ~36.8 ha grassland in
      California, United States from 0.15m-resolution visible/near-infrared aerial
      imagery at the stage of late spring phenological contrast with dominant grasses.
      We compared several object-based unsupervised, single-run supervised and
      hierarchical approaches to classify medusahead using spectral, textural, and
      contextual variables. Fuzzy accuracy assessment indicated that 44-100% of test
      medusahead samples were matched by its classified extents from different methods,
      while 63-83% of test samples classified as medusahead had this class as an
      acceptable candidate. Main sources of error included spectral similarity between
      medusahead and other green species and mixing of medusahead with other vegetation
      at variable densities. Adding texture attributes to spectral variables increased
      the accuracy of most classification methods, corroborating the informative value
      of local patterns under limited spectral data. The highest accuracy across
      different metrics was shown by the supervised single-run support vector machine
      with seven vegetation classes and Bayesian algorithms with three vegetation
      classes; however, their medusahead allocations showed some "spillover" effects
      due to misclassifications with other green vegetation. This issue was addressed
      by more complex hierarchical approaches, though their final accuracy did not
      exceed the best single-run methods. However, the comparison of classified
      medusahead extents with field segments of its patches overlapping with survey
      transects indicated that most methods tended to miss and/or over-estimate the
      length of the smallest patches and under-estimate the largest ones due to
      classification errors. Overall, the study outcomes support the potential of cost
      effective, very high-resolution sensing for the site-scale detection of
      infestation hotspots that can be customized to plant phenological schedules.
      However, more accurate medusahead patch delineation in mixed-cover grasslands
      would benefit from testing hyperspectral data and using our study's framework to
      inform and constrain the candidate vegetation classes in heterogeneous locations.

PMID- 28611805
TI  - Transcriptomic Analysis in Strawberry Fruits Reveals Active Auxin Biosynthesis
      and Signaling in the Ripe Receptacle.
AB  - The role of auxin in ripening strawberry (Fragaria *ananassa) fruits has been
      restricted to the early stages of development where the growth of the receptacle
      is dependent on the delivery of auxin from the achenes. At later stages, during
      enlargement of the receptacle, other hormones have been demonstrated to
      participate to different degrees, from the general involvement of gibberellins
      and abscisic acid to the more specific of ethylene. Here we report the
      involvement of auxin at the late stages of receptacle ripening. The auxin content
      of the receptacle remains constant during ripening. Analysis of the transcriptome
      of ripening strawberry fruit revealed the changing expression pattern of the
      genes of auxin synthesis, perception, signaling and transport along with achene
      and receptacle development from the green to red stage. Specific members of the
      corresponding gene families show active transcription in the ripe receptacle. For
      the synthesis of auxin, two genes encoding tryptophan aminotransferases, FaTAA1
      and FaTAR2, were expressed in the red receptacle, with FaTAR2 expression peaking
      at this stage. Transient silencing of this gene in ripening receptacle was
      accompanied by a diminished responsiveness to auxin. The auxin activity in the
      ripening receptacle is supported by the DR5-directed expression of a GUS reporter
      gene in the ripening receptacle of DR5-GUS transgenic strawberry plants.
      Clustering by co-expression of members of the FaAux/IAA and FaARF families
      identified five members whose transcriptional activity was increased with the
      onset of receptacle ripening. Among these, FaAux/IAA11 and FaARF6a appeared, by
      their expression level and fold-change, as the most likely candidates for their
      involvement in the auxin activity in the ripening receptacle. The association of
      the corresponding ARF6 gene in Arabidopsis to cell elongation constitutes a
      suggestive hypothesis for FaARF6a involvement in the same cellular process in the
      growing and ripening receptacle.

PMID- 28611807
TI  - Size and Reproductive Traits Rather than Leaf Economic Traits Explain Plant
      Community Composition in Species-Rich Annual Vegetation along a Gradient of Land
      Use Intensity.
AB  - Agricultural land use imposes a major disturbance on ecosystems worldwide, thus
      greatly modifying the taxonomic and functional composition of plant communities.
      However, mechanisms of community assembly, as assessed by plant functional
      traits, are not well known for dryland ecosystems under agricultural disturbance.
      Here we investigated trait responses to disturbance intensity and availability of
      resources to identify the main drivers of changes in composition of semiarid
      communities under diverging land use intensities. The eastern Mediterranean study
      region is characterized by an extended rainless season and by very diverse,
      mostly annual communities. At 24 truly replicated sites, we recorded the
      frequency of 241 species and the functional traits of the 53 most common species,
      together with soil resources and disturbance intensity across a land use gradient
      ranging from ungrazed shrubland to intensively managed cropland (six land use
      types). Multivariate RLQ analysis (linking functional traits, sites and
      environmental factors in a three-way ordination) and fourth corner analysis
      (revealing significant relations between traits and environmental factors) were
      used in a complementary way to get insights into trait-environment relations.
      Results revealed that traits related to plant size (reflecting light absorption
      and competitive ability) increased with resource availability, such as soil
      phosphorus and water holding capacity. Leaf economic traits, such as specific
      leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), and leaf dry matter content showed
      low variation across the disturbance gradient and were not related to
      environmental variables. In these herbaceous annual communities where plants grow
      and persist for just 3-5 months, SLA and LNC were unrelated, which together with
      relatively high SLA values might point to strategies of drought escape and
      grazing avoidance. Seed mass was high both at higher and lower resource
      availability, whereas seed number increased with the degree of disturbance. The
      strong response of size and reproduction traits, and the missing response of leaf
      economic traits reveal light interception and resource competition rather than
      resource acquisition and litter decomposition as drivers of plant community
      composition. Deviations from trait relationships observed in commonly studied
      temperate ecosystems confirm that climatic conditions play a fundamental role by
      filtering species with particular life forms and ecological strategies.

PMID- 28611808
TI  - Network Analysis Reveals a Common Host-Pathogen Interaction Pattern in
      Arabidopsis Immune Responses.
AB  - Many plant pathogens secrete virulence effectors into host cells to target
      important proteins in host cellular network. However, the dynamic interactions
      between effectors and host cellular network have not been fully understood. Here,
      an integrative network analysis was conducted by combining Arabidopsis thaliana
      protein-protein interaction network, known targets of Pseudomonas syringae and
      Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis effectors, and gene expression profiles in the
      immune response. In particular, we focused on the characteristic network topology
      of the effector targets and differentially expressed genes (DEGs). We found that
      effectors tended to manipulate key network positions with higher betweenness
      centrality. The effector targets, especially those that are common targets of an
      individual effector, tended to be clustered together in the network. Moreover,
      the distances between the effector targets and DEGs increased over time during
      infection. In line with this observation, pathogen-susceptible mutants tended to
      have more DEGs surrounding the effector targets compared with resistant mutants.
      Our results suggest a common plant-pathogen interaction pattern at the cellular
      network level, where pathogens employ potent local impact mode to interfere with
      key positions in the host network, and plant organizes an in-depth defense by
      sequentially activating genes distal to the effector targets.

PMID- 28611810
TI  - Evolutionary Analysis of MIKCc-Type MADS-Box Genes in Gymnosperms and
      Angiosperms.
AB  - MIKCc-type MADS-box genes encode transcription factors that control floral organ
      morphogenesis and flowering time in flowering plants. Here, in order to determine
      when the subfamilies of MIKCc originated and their early evolutionary trajectory,
      we sampled and analyzed the genomes and large-scale transcriptomes representing
      all the orders of gymnosperms and basal angiosperms. Through phylogenetic
      inference, the MIKCc-type MADS-box genes were subdivided into 14 monophyletic
      clades. Among them, the gymnosperm orthologs of AGL6, SEP, AP1, GMADS, SOC1,
      AGL32, AP3/PI, SVP, AGL15, ANR1, and AG were identified. We identified and
      characterized the origin of a novel subfamily GMADS within gymnosperms but lost
      orthologs in monocots and Brassicaceae. ABCE model prototype genes were
      relatively conserved in terms of gene number in gymnosperms, but expanded in
      angiosperms, whereas SVP, SOC1, and GMADS had dramatic expansions in gymnosperms
      but conserved in angiosperms. Our results provided the most detailed evolutionary
      history of all MIKCc gene clades in gymnosperms and angiosperms. We proposed that
      although the near complete set of MIKCc genes had evolved in gymnosperms, the
      duplication and expressional transition of ABCE model MIKCc genes in the ancestor
      of angiosperms triggered the first flower.

PMID- 28611812
TI  - Pitfalls in Root Trait Calculations: How Ignoring Diameter Heterogeneity Can Lead
      to Overestimation of Functional Traits.
AB  - Specific root length (SRL) and root tissue density (RTD) are ecologically
      functional traits which are calculated from root length or volume and root dry
      weight. Both can be converted into each other using the root diameter assuming
      roots are cylindrical. The calculation of volume from length or length from
      volume is, however, problematic because samples of roots do usually not have a
      constant diameter. Ignorance of the diameter heterogeneity leads to an
      overestimation of length and an underestimation of volume if standard formulas
      are used. Here I show for two datasets that SRL and RTD are overestimated on
      average 67% for the two analyzed datasets, but up to 150%, if calculated from
      each other. I further highlight that the volume values for the total sample as
      provided by the commonly used software WinRHIZOTM should only be used for objects
      with constant diameter. I recommend to use volume values provided for each
      diameter class of a sample if WinRHIZOTM is used. If manual methods, like the
      line-intersect method, are used, roots should be separated into diameter classes
      before length measurements if the volume is calculated from length. Trait to
      trait conversions for whole samples are not recommended.

PMID- 28611811
TI  - Heading Date Is Not Flowering Time in Spring Barley.

PMID- 28611809
TI  - Proteomic Analysis of Lipid Droplets from Arabidopsis Aging Leaves Brings New
      Insight into Their Biogenesis and Functions.
AB  - Lipid droplets (LDs) are cell compartments specialized for oil storage. Although
      their role and biogenesis are relatively well documented in seeds, little is
      known about their composition, structure and function in senescing leaves where
      they also accumulate. Here, we used a label free quantitative mass spectrometry
      approach to define the LD proteome of aging Arabidopsis leaves. We found that its
      composition is highly different from that of seed/cotyledon and identified 28
      proteins including 9 enzymes of the secondary metabolism pathways involved in
      plant defense response. With the exception of the TRIGALACTOSYLDIACYLGLYCEROL2
      protein, we did not identify enzymes implicated in lipid metabolism, suggesting
      that growth of leaf LDs does not occur by local lipid synthesis but rather
      through contact sites with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or other membranes. The
      two most abundant proteins of the leaf LDs are the CALEOSIN3 and the SMALL RUBBER
      PARTICLE1 (AtSRP1); both proteins have structural functions and participate in
      plant response to stress. CALEOSIN3 and AtSRP1 are part of larger protein
      families, yet no other members were enriched in the LD proteome suggesting a
      specific role of both proteins in aging leaves. We thus examined the function of
      AtSRP1 at this developmental stage and found that AtSRP1 modulates the expression
      of CALEOSIN3 in aging leaves. Furthermore, AtSRP1 overexpression induces the
      accumulation of triacylglycerol with an unusual composition compared to wild
      type. We demonstrate that, although AtSRP1 expression is naturally increased in
      wild type senescing leaves, its overexpression in senescent transgenic lines
      induces an over-accumulation of LDs organized in clusters at restricted sites of
      the ER. Conversely, atsrp1 knock-down mutants displayed fewer but larger LDs.
      Together our results reveal that the abundancy of AtSRP1 regulates the neo
      formation of LDs during senescence. Using electron tomography, we further provide
      evidence that LDs in leaves share tenuous physical continuity as well as numerous
      contact sites with the ER membrane. Thus, our data suggest that leaf LDs are
      functionally distinct from seed LDs and that their biogenesis is strictly
      controlled by AtSRP1 at restricted sites of the ER.

PMID- 28611813
TI  - Insights into Host Cell Modulation and Induction of New Cells by the Corn Smut
      Ustilago maydis.
AB  - Many filamentous fungal pathogens induce drastic modulation of host cells causing
      abnormal infectious structures such as galls, or tumors that arise as a result of
      re-programming in the original developmental cell fate of a colonized host cell.
      Developmental consequences occur predominantly with biotrophic phytopathogens.
      This suggests that these host structures result as an outcome of efficient
      defense suppression and intimate fungal-host interaction to suit the pathogen's
      needs for completion of its infection cycle. This mini-review mainly summarizes
      host cell re-programming that occurs in the Ustilago maydis - maize interaction,
      in which the pathogen deploys cell-type specific effector proteins with varying
      activities. The fungus senses the physiological status and identity of colonized
      host cells and re-directs the endogenous developmental program of its host. The
      disturbance of host cell physiology and cell fate leads to novel cell shapes,
      increased cell size, and/or the number of host cells. We particularly highlight
      the strategies of U. maydis to induce physiologically varied host organs to form
      the characteristic tumors in both vegetative and floral parts of maize.

PMID- 28611814
TI  - Mapping and Preliminary Analysis of ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) as the Candidate
      Gene Underlying the Male Sterility (MS-5) Mutant in Melon (Cucumis melo L.).
AB  - Melon is an important agricultural and economic vegetable crop worldwide. The
      genetic male sterility mutant (ms-5) has a recessive nuclear gene that controls
      the male sterility germplasm. Male sterility could reduce the cost of F1 seed
      production in melon, but heterozygous fertile plants should be removed before
      pollination. In this study, bulked segregant analysis combined with specific
      length amplified fragment sequencing was applied to map the single nuclear male
      sterility recessive gene. A 30-kb candidate region on chromosome 9 located on
      scaffold 000048 and spanning 2,522,791 to 2,555,104 bp was identified and further
      confirmed by cleavage amplified polymorphic sequence markers based on parental
      line resequencing data and classical mapping of 252 F2 individuals. Gene
      prediction indicated that six annotated genes are present in the 30-kb candidate
      region. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed significant differences in the expression
      level of the LOC103498166 ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) gene in male-sterile lines
      (ms-5) and male-fertile (HM1-1) lines during the 2-mm (tetrad) and 5-mm (the
      first pollen mitosis) periods, and negative regulation of the AMS candidate gene
      transcription factor was also detected. Sequencing and cluster analysis of the
      AMS transcription factor revealed five single-nucleotide polymorphisms between
      the parental lines. The data presented herein suggest that the AMS transcription
      factor is a possible candidate gene for single nuclear male sterility in melon.
      The results of this study will help breeders to identify male-sterile and 
      fertile plants at seeding as marker-assisted selection methods, which would
      reduce the cost of seed production and improve the use of male-sterile lines in
      melon.

PMID- 28611815
TI  - Interactions between Plant Metabolites Affect Herbivores: A Study with
      Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids and Chlorogenic Acid.
AB  - The high structural diversity of plant metabolites suggests that interactions
      among them should be common. We investigated the effects of single metabolites
      and combinations of plant metabolites on insect herbivores. In particular we
      studied the interacting effects of pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PAs), and chlorogenic
      acid (CGA), on a generalist herbivore, Frankliniella occidentalis. We studied
      both the predominantly occurring PA N-oxides and the less frequent PA free bases.
      We found antagonistic effects between CGA and PA free bases on thrips mortality.
      In contrast PA N-oxides showed synergistic interactions with CGA. PA free bases
      caused a higher thrips mortality than PA N-oxides while the reverse was through
      for PAs in combination with CGA. Our results provide an explanation for the
      predominate storage of PA N-oxides in plants. We propose that antagonistic
      interactions represent a constraint on the accumulation of plant metabolites, as
      we found here for Jacobaea vulgaris. The results show that the bioactivity of a
      given metabolite is not merely dependent upon the amount and chemical structure
      of that metabolite, but also on the co-occurrence metabolites in, e.g., plant
      cells, tissues and organs. The significance of this study is beyond the concerns
      of the two specific groups tested here. The current study is one of the few
      studies so far that experimentally support the general conception that the
      interactions among plant metabolites are of great importance to plant-environment
      interactions.

PMID- 28611816
TI  - Environmental Influences on the Growing Season Duration and Ripening of Diverse
      Miscanthus Germplasm Grown in Six Countries.
AB  - The development of models to predict yield potential and quality of a Miscanthus
      crop must consider climatic limitations and the duration of growing season. As a
      biomass crop, yield and quality are impacted by the timing of plant developmental
      transitions such as flowering and senescence. Growth models are available for the
      commercially grown clone Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg), but breeding programs have
      been working to expand the germplasm available, including development of
      interspecies hybrids. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of
      diverse germplasm beyond the range of environments considered suitable for a
      Miscanthus crop to be grown. To achieve this, six field sites were planted as
      part of the EU OPTIMISC project in 2012 in a longitudinal gradient from West to
      East: Wales-Aberystwyth, Netherlands-Wageningen, Stuttgart-Germany, Ukraine
      Potash, Turkey-Adana, and Russia-Moscow. Each field trial contained three
      replicated plots of the same 15 Miscanthus germplasm types. Through the 2014
      growing season, phenotypic traits were measured to determine the timing of
      developmental stages key to ripening; the tradeoff between growth (yield) and
      quality (biomass ash and moisture content). The hottest site (Adana) showed an
      accelerated growing season, with emergence, flowering and senescence occurring
      before the other sites. However, the highest yields were produced at Potash,
      where emergence was delayed by frost and the growing season was shortest.
      Flowering triggers varied with species and only in Mxg was strongly linked to
      accumulated thermal time. Our results show that a prolonged growing season is not
      essential to achieve high yields if climatic conditions are favorable and in
      regions where the growing season is bordered by frost, delaying harvest can
      improve quality of the harvested biomass.

PMID- 28611817
TI  - Rational Water and Nitrogen Management Improves Root Growth, Increases Yield and
      Maintains Water Use Efficiency of Cotton under Mulch Drip Irrigation.
AB  - There is a need to optimize water-nitrogen (N) applications to increase seed
      cotton yield and water use efficiency (WUE) under a mulch drip irrigation system.
      This study evaluated the effects of four water regimes [moderate drip irrigation
      from the third-leaf to the boll-opening stage (W1), deficit drip irrigation from
      the third-leaf to the flowering stage and sufficient drip irrigation thereafter
      (W2), pre-sowing and moderate drip irrigation from the third-leaf to the boll
      opening stage (W3), pre-sowing and deficit drip irrigation from the third-leaf to
      the flowering stage and sufficient drip irrigation thereafter (W4)] and N
      fertilizer at a rate of 520 kg ha-1 in two dressing ratios [7:3 (N1), 2:8 (N2)]
      on cotton root morpho-physiological attributes, yield, WUE and the relationship
      between root distribution and dry matter production. Previous investigations have
      shown a strong correlation between root activity and water consumption in the 40
      120 cm soil layer. The W3 and especially W4 treatments significantly increased
      root length density (RLD), root volume density (RVD), root mass density (RMD),
      and root activity in the 40-120 cm soil layer. Cotton RLD, RVD, RMD was decreased
      by 13.1, 13.3, and 20.8%, respectively, in N2 compared with N1 at 70 days after
      planting (DAP) in the 0-40 cm soil layer. However, root activity in the 40-120 cm
      soil layer at 140 DAP was 31.6% higher in N2 than that in N1. Total RMD, RLD and
      root activity in the 40-120 cm soil were significantly and positively correlated
      with shoot dry weight. RLD and root activity in the 40-120 cm soil layer was
      highest in the W4N2 treatments. Therefore increased water consumption in the deep
      soil layers resulted in increased shoot dry weight, seed cotton yield and WUE.
      Our data can be used to develop a water-N management strategy for optimal cotton
      yield and high WUE.

PMID- 28611818
TI  - Long-Term Effects of Red- and Blue-Light Emitting Diodes on Leaf Anatomy and
      Photosynthetic Efficiency of Three Ornamental Pot Plants.
AB  - Light quality critically affects plant development and growth. Development of
      light-emitting diodes (LEDs) enables the use of narrow band red and/or blue
      wavelengths as supplementary lighting in ornamental production. Yet, long periods
      under these wavelengths will affect leaf morphology and physiology. Leaf anatomy,
      stomatal traits, and stomatal conductance, leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf),
      and photosynthetic efficiency were investigated in three ornamental pot plants,
      namely Cordyline australis (monocot), Ficus benjamina (dicot, evergreen leaves),
      and Sinningia speciosa (dicot, deciduous leaves) after 8 weeks under LED light.
      Four light treatments were applied at 100 MUmol m-2 s-1 and a photoperiod of 16 h
      using 100% red (R), 100% blue (B), 75% red with 25% blue (RB), and full spectrum
      white light (W), respectively. B and RB resulted in a greater maximum quantum
      yield (Fv/Fm) and quantum efficiency (PhiPSII) in all species compared to R and W
      and this correlated with a lower biomass under R. B increased the stomatal
      conductance compared with R. This increase was linked to an increasing stomatal
      index and/or stomatal density but the stomatal aperture area was unaffected by
      the applied light quality. Leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) was not
      significantly affected by the applied light qualities. Blue light increased the
      leaf thickness of F. benjamina, and a relative higher increase in palisade
      parenchyma was observed. Also in S. speciosa, increase in palisade parenchyma was
      found under B and RB, though total leaf thickness was not affected. Palisade
      parenchyma tissue thickness was correlated to the leaf photosynthetic quantum
      efficiency (PhiPSII). In conclusion, the role of blue light addition in the
      spectrum is essential for the normal anatomical leaf development which also
      impacts the photosynthetic efficiency in the three studied species.

PMID- 28611819
TI  - YSK2 Type Dehydrin (SbDhn1) from Sorghum bicolor Showed Improved Protection under
      High Temperature and Osmotic Stress Condition.
AB  - YSK2 type dehydrin from Sorghum bicolor (SbDhn1) showed a high level of
      transcript accumulation when subjected to high temperature and osmotic stress.
      The high transcript level occurring in such stress situation might lead to a
      protective effect; though the exact mechanism by which this is achieved remains
      poorly understood. Nevertheless, our results provide compelling evidence to prove
      that transgenic tobacco lines overexpressing SbDhn1 gene showed improve stress
      tolerance as assessed by reduced membrane damage and low MDA content.
      Furthermore, we demonstrate here SbDhn1 expressing lines were only able to
      recover after stress treatment. In this study, we have provided direct evidence
      for the protection rendered by SbDHN1 protein to a temperature-sensitive enzyme
      under both high temperature and osmotic stress. We extended this analysis to the
      whole plant proteome where the addition of SbDHN1 protein helped in retaining the
      solubility of the protein was demonstrated. Interestingly, in vitro experiments
      carried out with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), showed aggregate formation upon
      subjecting it to high temperature. However, in presence of SbDHN1 protein very
      few aggregates were observed. Aggregation assay showed a high level of aggregates
      in wild-type or empty vector transformed plants as compared to SbDhn1 transgenic
      lines. Confocal microscopy images in leaf peel sections of wild-type plants
      showed high amounts of aggregates as compared with transgenic lines. This study
      provides evidence for the protection rendered by SbDHN1 protein under high
      temperature by inhibiting the aggregate formation and provide the rational for
      the mechanism how these proteins ameliorate the adverse stress conditions.

PMID- 28611821
TI  - Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment Show Lower Visual Short-Term Memory
      Performance in Feature Binding Tasks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early cognitive changes in people at risk of developing dementia may
      be detected using behavioral tests that examine the performance of typically
      affected brain areas, such as the hippocampi. An important cognitive function
      supported by the hippocampi is memory binding, in which object features are
      associated to create a unified percept. AIM: To compare visual short-term memory
      (VSTM) binding performance for object names, locations, and identities between a
      participant group known to be at higher risk of developing dementia (mild
      cognitive impairment [MCI]) and healthily aging controls. METHODS: Ten MCI and 10
      control participants completed five VSTM tests that differed in their requirement
      of remembering bound or unbound object names, locations, and identities, along
      with a standard neuropsychological test (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination
      [ACE]-III). RESULTS: The performance of the MCI participants was selectively and
      significantly lower than that of the healthily aging controls for memory tasks
      that required object-location or name-location binding. CONCLUSION: Tasks that
      measure unimodal (object-location) and crossmodal (name-location) binding
      performance appear to be particularly effective for the detection of early
      cognitive changes in those at higher risk of developing dementia due to
      Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 28611820
TI  - White Matter Disruption and Connected Speech in Non-Fluent and Semantic Variants
      of Primary Progressive Aphasia.
AB  - Differential patterns of white matter disruption have recently been reported in
      the non-fluent (nfvPPA) and semantic (svPPA) variants of primary progressive
      aphasia (PPA). No single measure is sufficient to distinguish between the PPA
      variants, but connected speech allows for the quantification of multiple
      measures. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the white
      matter correlates associated with connected speech features in PPA. We examined
      the relationship between white matter metrics and connected speech deficits using
      an automated analysis of transcriptions of connected speech and diffusion tensor
      imaging in language-related tracts. Syntactic, lexical, and semantic features
      were automatically extracted from transcriptions of topic-directed interviews
      conducted with groups of individuals with nfvPPA or svPPA as well as with a group
      of healthy controls. A principal component analysis was performed in order to
      reduce the number of language measures and yielded a five-factor solution. The
      results indicated that nfvPPA patients differed from healthy controls on a
      syntactic factor, and svPPA patients differed from controls on two semantic
      factors. However, the patient groups did not differ on any factor. Moreover, a
      correlational analysis revealed that the lexical richness factor was
      significantly correlated with radial diffusivity in the left inferior
      longitudinal fasciculus, which suggests that semantic deficits in connected
      speech reflect a disruption of this ventral pathway, and which is largely
      consistent with the results of previous studies. Using an automated approach for
      the analysis of connected speech combined with probabilistic tractography, the
      present findings demonstrate that nfvPPA patients are impaired relative to
      healthy controls on syntactic measures and have increased radial diffusivity in
      the left superior longitudinal fasciculus, whereas the svPPA group was impaired
      on lexico-semantic measures relative to controls and showed increased radial
      diffusivity in the uncinate and inferior longitudinal fasciculus bilaterally.

PMID- 28611822
TI  - Disease Progression in Mild Dementia due to Alzheimer Disease in an 18-Month
      Observational Study (GERAS): The Impact on Costs and Caregiver Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: We assessed whether cognitive and functional decline in
      community-dwelling patients with mild Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia were
      associated with increased societal costs and caregiver burden and time outcomes.
      METHODS: Cognitive decline was defined as a >=3-point reduction in the Mini
      Mental State Examination and functional decline as a decrease in the ability to
      perform one or more basic items of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study
      Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADCS-ADL) or >=20% of instrumental ADL
      items. Total societal costs were estimated from resource use and caregiver hours
      using 2010 costs. Caregiver burden was assessed using the Zarit Burden Interview
      (ZBI); caregiver supervision and total hours were collected. RESULTS: Of 566
      patients with mild AD enrolled in the GERAS study, 494 were suitable for the
      current analysis. Mean monthly total societal costs were greater for patients
      showing functional (+61%) or cognitive decline (+27%) compared with those without
      decline. In relation to a typical mean monthly cost of approximately EUR 1,400 at
      baseline, this translated into increases over 18 months to EUR 2,254 and 1,778
      for patients with functional and cognitive decline, respectively. The number of
      patients requiring supervision doubled among patients showing functional or
      cognitive decline compared with those not showing decline, while caregiver total
      time increased by 70 and 33%, respectively and ZBI total score by 5.3 and 3.4
      points, respectively. CONCLUSION: Cognitive and, more notably, functional decline
      were associated with increases in costs and caregiver outcomes in patients with
      mild AD dementia.

PMID- 28611823
TI  - Genetic Variability as a Regulator of TLR4 and NOD Signaling in Response to
      Bacterial Driven DNA Damage Response (DDR) and Inflammation: Focus on the
      Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract.
AB  - The fundamental role of human Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NOD-like receptors
      (NLRs), the two most studied pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs), is the
      protection against pathogens and excessive tissue injury. Recent evidence
      supports the association between TLR/NLR gene mutations and susceptibility to
      inflammatory, autoimmune, and malignant diseases. PRRs also interfere with
      several cellular processes, such as cell growth, apoptosis, cell proliferation,
      differentiation, autophagy, angiogenesis, cell motility and migration, and DNA
      repair mechanisms. We briefly review the impact of TLR4 and NOD1/NOD2 and their
      genetic variability in the process of inflammation, tumorigenesis and DNA repair,
      focusing in the gastrointestinal tract. We also review the available data on new
      therapeutic strategies utilizing TLR/NLR agonists and antagonists for cancer,
      allergic diseases, viral infections and vaccine development against both
      infectious diseases and cancer.

PMID- 28611825
TI  - Epigenetic Combinatorial Patterns Predict Disease Variants.
AB  - Most genetic variants identified in genome-wide association studies are noncoding
      and are likely tagging nearby causal variants. It is a challenging task to
      pinpoint the precise locations of disease-causal variants and understand their
      functions in disease. A promising approach to improve fine mapping is to
      integrate the functional data currently available on hundreds of human tissues
      and cell types. Although there are several methods that use functional data to
      prioritize disease variants, they mainly use linear models, or equivalent naive
      likelihood-based models for prediction. Here, we investigate whether study of the
      combinatorial patterns of functional data across cell types can improve
      prediction accuracy for disease variants. Using functional annotation in 127
      human cell types, we first introduce a Bayesian method to identify recurring cell
      type-specificity partitions on the scale of the genome. We show that our de novo
      identification of epigenome partition patterns agrees well with known cell-type
      origins and that the associated functional elements are strongly enriched in
      disease variants. Using epigenetic cell-type specificity in addition to
      enrichment of functional elements, we further demonstrate that the power to
      predict disease variants can be greatly improved over that achievable with linear
      models. Our approach thus provides a new way to prioritize disease functional
      variants for testing.

PMID- 28611824
TI  - Posttranscriptional Regulation Controls Calretinin Expression in Malignant
      Pleural Mesothelioma.
AB  - Calretinin (CALB2) is a diagnostic and prognostic marker in malignant pleural
      mesothelioma (MPM). We previously reported that calretinin expression is
      regulated at the mRNA level. The presence of a medium-sized (573 nucleotide) 3'
      untranslated region (3'UTR) predicted to contain binding sites for miR
      30a/b/c/d/e and miR-9 as well as an adenine/uridine-rich element (ARE) in all
      three transcripts arising from the CALB2 gene, suggests that calretinin
      expression is regulated via posttranscriptional mechanisms. Our aim was to
      investigate the role of the CALB2-3'UTR in the posttranscriptional regulation of
      calretinin expression in MPM. CALB2-3'UTR was inserted downstream of the
      luciferase reporter gene using pmiRGLO vector and reporter expression was
      determined after transfection into MPM cells. Targeted mutagenesis was used to
      generate variants harboring mutated miR-30 family and ARE binding sites.
      Electrophoretic mobility shift assay was used to test for the presence of ARE
      binding proteins. CALB2-3'UTR significantly decreased luciferase activity in MPM
      cells. Analysis of mutation in the ARE site revealed a further destabilization of
      the reporter and human antigen R (HuR) binding to the ARE sequence was detected.
      The mutation of two miR-30 binding sites abolished CALB2-3'UTR destabilization
      effect; a transient delivery of miR-30e-5p mimics or anti-miR into MPM cells
      resulted in a significant decrease/increase of the luciferase reporter expression
      and calretinin protein, respectively. Moreover, overexpression of CALB2-3'UTR
      quenched the effect of miR-30e-5p mimics on calretinin protein levels, possibly
      by sequestering the mimics, thereby suggesting a competitive endogenous RNA
      network. Finally, by data mining we observed that expression of miR-30e-5p was
      negatively correlated with the calretinin expression in a cohort of MPM patient
      samples. Our data show the role of (1) adenine-uridine (AU)-binding proteins in
      calretinin stabilization and (2) miR-30e-5p in the posttranscriptional negative
      regulation of calretinin expression via interaction with its 3'UTR. Furthermore,
      our study demonstrates a possible physiological role of calretinin's
      alternatively spliced transcripts.

PMID- 28611827
TI  - Repeated Mechanical Thrombectomy in Recurrent Large Vessel Occlusion Acute
      Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endovascular therapy has been proven effective for the treatment of
      large vessel occlusion strokes (LVOS). However, the feasibility and potential
      benefits of repeat thrombectomy for recurrent stroke is unclear. We aim to report
      our experience with repeat thrombectomy for recurrent LVOS. METHODS: We reviewed
      our prospectively collected endovascular database for patients who underwent
      repeated mechanical thrombectomy. Baseline characteristics, procedural data and
      outcomes were evaluated. Patients with repeat thrombectomy were compared to
      patients with single thrombectomy. For patients with repeat thrombectomy, imaging
      and procedural variables were compared between first and last procedures.
      RESULTS: Out of 697 patients treated within the study period, 15 patients (2%)
      had repeat thrombectomies (14 treated twice and one thrice). The mean age was 63
      +/- 15 years and 40% were males. The median time between the first and last
      procedure was 18 (1-278) days. Cardioembolism (66%) was the most common etiology,
      followed by intracranial atherosclerosis (13%) and large vessel atherosclerosis
      (6%). At 90 days after the last thrombectomy, 60% of patients achieved a modified
      Rankin Scale score of 0-2 and 20% were deceased. There were no statistically
      significant differences in demographics, stroke severity, time from last known
      normal to puncture, reperfusion rates, hemorrhagic complications, good clinical
      outcomes and mortality between patients who underwent repeat thrombectomy and
      those who had a single thrombectomy. CONCLUSION: In properly selected patients
      suffering recurrent LVOS, repeated mechanical thrombectomy appears to be feasible
      and safe. A previous thrombectomy should not discourage aggressive treatment as
      these patients may achieve similar rates of good clinical outcomes as those who
      undergo single thrombectomy.

PMID- 28611826
TI  - The Evolution of Bacterial Genome Architecture.
AB  - The genome architecture of bacteria and eukaryotes evolves in opposite directions
      when subject to genetic drift, a difference that can be ascribed to the fact that
      bacteria exhibit a mutational bias that deletes superfluous sequences, whereas
      eukaryotes are biased toward large insertions. Expansion of eukaryotic genomes
      occurs through the addition of non-functional sequences, such as repetitive
      sequences and transposable elements, whereas variation in bacterial genome size
      is largely due to the acquisition and loss of functional accessory genes. These
      properties create the situation in which eukaryotes with very similar numbers of
      genes can have vastly different genome sizes, while in bacteria, gene number
      scales linearly with genome size. Some bacterial genomes, however, particularly
      those of species that undergo bottlenecks due to recent association with hosts,
      accumulate pseudogenes and mobile elements, conferring them a low gene content
      relative to their genome size. These non-functional sequences are gradually
      eroded and eliminated after long-term association with hosts, with the result
      that obligate symbionts have the smallest genomes of any cellular organism. The
      architecture of bacterial genomes is shaped by complex and diverse processes, but
      for most bacterial species, genome size is governed by a non-adaptive process,
      i.e., genetic drift coupled with a mutational bias toward deletions. Thus,
      bacteria with small effective population sizes typically have the smallest
      genomes. Some marine bacteria counter this near-universal trend: despite having
      immense population sizes, selection, not drift, acts to reduce genome size in
      response to metabolic constraints in their nutrient-limited environment.

PMID- 28611828
TI  - Heads Up! A Novel Provocative Maneuver to Guide Acute Ischemic Stroke Management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A common dilemma in acute ischemic stroke management is whether to
      pursue recanalization therapy in patients with large vessel occlusions but
      minimal neurologic deficits. We describe and report preliminary experience with a
      provocative maneuver, i.e. 90-degree elevation of the head of bed for 30 min,
      which stresses collaterals and facilitates decision-making. METHODS: A
      prospective cohort study of <7.5 h of acute anterior circulation territory
      ischemia patients with minimal deficits despite middle cerebral artery (MCA) or
      internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusive disease. RESULTS: Five patients met the
      study entry criteria. Their mean age was 78.4 years (range 65-93). All presented
      with substantial deficits (median NIHSS score 11, range 5-22), but improved while
      in supine position during initial imaging to normal or near-normal (NIHSS score 0
      2). MRA showed persistent M1 MCA occlusions in 4, critical ICA stenosis or
      occlusion in 1, and substantial perfusion-diffusion mismatch in all. To evaluate
      the potential for eventual collateral failure, patients were placed in a head of
      bed upright posture. Mean arterial pressure and heart rate were unchanged. Two
      showed no neurologic worsening and were treated with supportive care with
      excellent final outcome. Three showed worsening, including recurrent hemiparesis
      and aphasia at the 6th, recurrent aphasia at the 23rd, and recurrent hemineglect
      at the 15th upright minute. These 3 underwent endovascular recanalization
      therapies with successful reperfusion and excellent final outcome. CONCLUSION:
      The 'Heads Up' test may be a useful, simple maneuver to assess the risk of
      collateral failure and guide the decision to pursue recanalization therapy in
      acute cerebral ischemia patients with minimal deficits despite persisting large
      cerebral artery occlusion.

PMID- 28611830
TI  - Endovascular Therapy Demonstrates Benefit over Intravenous Recombinant Tissue
      Plasminogen Activator Based on Repeatedly Measured National Institutes of Health
      Stroke Scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Interventional Management of Stroke (IMS) III trial
      was a randomized controlled trial designed to compare the effect of endovascular
      therapy after intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (i.v. rt-PA)
      as compared to i.v. rt-PA alone. The primary outcome was modified Rankin Scale at
      90 days. Secondary outcomes included National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale
      (NIHSS), which was assessed repeatedly through 90 days. The objective of this
      analysis is to evaluate the treatment effect of endovascular therapy over time on
      NIHSS. METHODS: 656 subjects were enrolled in the IMS III trial, including 434
      subjects randomized to endovascular therapy and 222 to i.v. rt-PA only. NIHSS
      scores evaluated at 40 min, 24 h, Day 5, and Day 90 were included in the
      analysis. A covariance structure model was used to investigate the treatment
      effect on NIHSS over time, adjusting for relevant covariates including baseline
      stroke severity. Model assumptions were valid. RESULTS: Based on the covariance
      structure model, after adjusting for relevant baseline covariates, a significant
      time-by-treatment interaction effect (p = 0.0137) was observed. Only NIHSS at Day
      90 showed a significant treatment effect (p = 0.0473), with subjects in the
      endovascular arm having a lower NIHSS (less neurologic deficit) compared to the
      i.v. rt-PA arm. CONCLUSIONS: The IMS III trial demonstrated an endovascular
      treatment effect based on the secondary outcome of NIHSS. However, the magnitude
      of this treatment effect varied by the time of assessment. It was only at Day 90
      that the endovascular arm had a significantly lower NIHSS compared to that in the
      i.v. rt-PA arm.

PMID- 28611829
TI  - Stent Retriever-Mediated Manual Aspiration Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic
      Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stent retriever thrombectomy and manual aspiration
      thrombectomy (MAT) have each been shown to lead to high rates of recanalization
      as single-modality endovascular stroke therapy. We sought to describe the safety
      and efficacy of a multimodal approach combining these two techniques termed
      'stent retriever-mediated manual aspiration thrombectomy' (SMAT) and compared
      them to MAT alone. METHODS: Retrospective review of a prospectively acquired
      acute endovascular stroke database. RESULTS: 195 consecutive patients with large
      vessel occlusion were identified between July 2013 and April 2015. Occlusion
      distribution was as follows: 52% middle cerebral artery segment 1 (M1), 6% M2,
      29% internal carotid artery, and 13% vertebrobasilar. Median onset to treatment
      time was 278 min. Intravenous rtPA was administered in 33% of cases, whereas 34%
      of cases had symptom onset beyond 8 h. Effective recanalization (TICI 2b/3) was
      achieved in 91% of patients and in 49% of patients, only a single pass was
      necessary. Median groin puncture to recanalization time was 40 min. Symptomatic
      intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 5% of patients. Favorable outcomes defined
      as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2 were noted in 42% of patients. Compared
      with MAT alone, SMAT achieved a similar rate of effective recanalization (91 vs.
      88%, p = n.s.) but was associated with faster access to reperfusion times (49 vs.
      77 min, p < 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: SMAT is a safe and efficacious method to
      achieve rapid revascularization that leads to faster recanalization compared to
      manual aspiration alone. Future prospective comparisons are necessary to
      establish the most clinically effective therapy for acute thrombectomy.

PMID- 28611831
TI  - Salvage of Herniated Flow Diverters Using Stent and Balloon Anchoring Techniques:
      A Technical Note.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pipeline embolization device (PED; Medtronic, MN, USA) can
      sometimes herniate into the aneurysmal sac in an unexpected manner during or
      shortly after its deployment due to device foreshortening. In this report, we
      describe 2 endovascular techniques, which can be used to reposition a herniated
      PED construct into a more favorable alignment. SUMMARY: In a 67-year-old patient
      who had an intraprocedural herniation of a PED device into a giant cavernous
      aneurysm, a stent anchor technique was used to reverse the herniation, reorient
      the PED construct, and achieve successful flow diversion. In a different patient
      with a giant superior hypophyseal aneurysm, a balloon anchor technique followed
      by deployment of an LVIS Jr (Microvention, Tustin, CA, USA) stent was used to
      reverse the herniation into the aneurysmal sac. KEY MESSAGES: Stent anchor and
      balloon anchor techniques as described here can be used to reposition PED
      constructs, which have unexpectedly herniated into the aneurysm sac during
      attempted flow diversion for the treatment of giant aneurysms.

PMID- 28611832
TI  - Comparison of 3-Month Stroke Disability and Quality of Life across Modified
      Rankin Scale Categories.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score 0-2 has been used to
      define "good outcome" while stroke patients with mRS 3 are grouped with mRS 4-6
      as having "poor outcome." Long-term data comparing quality of life (QoL),
      particularly across the mRS 2, 3, and 4 subgroups, are sparse. METHODS:
      Participants in the Interventional Management of Stroke 3 (IMS3) trial with
      documented 3-month mRS, functional disability (Barthel index [BI]), and self
      reported EQ5D-3L QoL questionnaires at 3 months after stroke were included. EQ5D
      3L summary indices were calculated using published utility weights for the US
      population. BI and EQ5D-3L indices were compared across mRS categories using
      multiple pairwise comparisons with appropriate alpha error corrections. RESULTS:
      Four hundred twenty-three patients were included (mean age 64 +/- 13 years,
      median baseline NIHSS 16 [IQR 12-19], mean BI 84.1 +/- 25.3, and mean EQ5D-3L
      index 0.73 +/- 0.24). While significant differences in BI were observed across
      mRS categories, QoL in the mRS 2 and 3 categories was similar. Based on BI and
      EQ5D-3L index, mRS 3 status was more similar to mRS 2 than to mRS 4 status, and
      large heterogeneity in the mRS 3 group was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic stroke
      patients who achieve mRS 2 and 3 functional outcomes seem to have similar health
      related QoL scores. mRS 0-3, rather than 0-2, should be considered a good outcome
      category in moderate to severe ischemic stroke.

PMID- 28611833
TI  - Open-Label Phase I Clinical Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Cilostazol
      in Patients Undergoing Internal Carotid Artery Stent Placement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One-month dual antiplatelet treatment, with aspirin and clopidogrel,
      following internal carotid artery stent placement is the current standard of care
      to prevent in-stent thrombosis. Cilostazol, an antiplatelet drug, has been
      demonstrated to have a safety profile comparable to aspirin and clopidogrel.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of cilostazol and aspirin
      therapy following internal carotid artery stent placement up to 1 month
      postprocedure. METHODS: A phase I open-label, nonrandomized two-center
      prospective study was conducted. All subjects received aspirin (325 mg/day) and
      cilostazol (200 mg/day) 3 days before extracranial stent placement. Two
      antiplatelet agents were continued for 1 month postprocedure followed by aspirin
      daily monotherapy. The primary efficacy end point was the 30-day composite
      occurrence of death, cerebral infarction, transient ischemic attack, and in-stent
      thrombosis. The primary safety end point was bleeding. RESULTS: Twelve subjects
      (mean age +/- SD, 66 +/- 12 years; 9 males) were enrolled and underwent internal
      carotid artery angioplasty and stent placement. None of the subjects who
      successfully followed the study protocol experienced any complications at the 1-
      and 3-month follow-ups. One patient had a protocol deviation due to concurrent
      use of enoxaparin (1 mg/kg twice daily) in addition to aspirin and cilostazol,
      resulting in a fatal symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage following successful
      stent placement on postprocedure day 1. One patient discontinued cilostazol after
      the first dose secondary to dizziness. CONCLUSION: The use of cilostazol and
      aspirin for internal carotid artery stent placement appears to be safe, but
      protocol compliance needs to be emphasized.

PMID- 28611834
TI  - Mechanical Thrombectomy in Pregnancy: Report of 2 Cases and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mechanical thrombectomy has recently proved extremely effective in
      improving the outcome of patients with large vessel occlusion. Despite this,
      questions still remain over certain cohorts of patients that were excluded from
      the large randomised controlled trials. One such cohort includes pregnant
      patients. Although thromboembolic stroke is uncommon in pregnancy, the outcome
      from this pathology can be devastating. SUMMARY: We present 2 cases of mechanical
      thrombectomy in pregnancy both of which underwent successful flow restoration
      without complications. We discuss the incidence of stroke in pregnancy, potential
      pitfalls of imaging, radiation protection issues, and the role of thrombolysis as
      well as the available literature on mechanical thrombectomy in this cohort. KEY
      MESSAGE: Thrombectomy in pregnancy can be performed safely with no significant
      changes required to the procedure itself. Radiation exposure during the procedure
      should be minimised and shielding used to prevent scatter radiation to the fetus;
      however, given the potential risks of thrombolysis in this cohort of patients,
      mechanical thrombectomy should be considered in all stages of pregnancy.

PMID- 28611835
TI  - Risk of Intracranial Hemorrhage after Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic
      Stroke: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intracranial hemorrhage is a major complication of endovascular
      treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Controlled clinical trials
      reported varied incidences of intracranial hemorrhage after endovascular
      treatment. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate whether endovascular treatment,
      compared with medical treatment, increases the risk of intracranial hemorrhage in
      patients with acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: The current publications on
      endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke were systematically reviewed.
      Rates of intracranial hemorrhage after endovascular treatment for acute ischemic
      stroke reported in controlled clinical trials were pooled and analyzed. Random
      and fixed-effect models were used to pool the outcomes. For analyzing their
      individual risks, intracranial hemorrhages after endovascular treatment were
      classified as symptomatic and asymptomatic. RESULTS: Eleven studies involving
      1,499 patients with endovascular treatment and 1,320 patients with medical
      treatment were included. After pooling the data, the risk of any intracranial
      hemorrhage was significantly higher in patients with endovascular treatment than
      in patients with medical treatment (35.0 vs. 19.0%, OR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.64-3.97,
      p < 0.00001). The risk of asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was also
      significantly higher in patients with endovascular treatment than in those with
      medical treatment (28 vs. 12%, OR = 3.16, 95% CI: 1.62-6.16, p < 0.001). However,
      the risks of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage were similar in patients with
      endovascular treatment and in those with medical treatment (5.6 vs. 5.2%, OR =
      1.09, 95% CI: 0.79-1.50, p = 0.61). CONCLUSION: Although the risk of any
      intracranial hemorrhage may increase after endovascular treatment, the risk of
      symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage may remain similar as compared with medical
      treatment.

PMID- 28611836
TI  - Simultaneous Kissing Stenting: A Valuable Technique for Reconstructing the
      Stenotic Initial Segment of the Right Subclavian Artery.
AB  - Atherosclerotic stenosis or occlusion often involves the subclavian artery. For
      lesions that are close to the orifice of the right subclavian artery, stenting of
      the right subclavian artery itself blocks the pathway from the innominate artery
      to the right carotid artery and causes problems in patients with multiple
      angiostenosis, especially involving the right carotid system. In this study, we
      report 2 cases using simultaneous kissing stenting (SKS) of the right subclavian
      artery and the right carotid artery to relieve right subclavian stenosis and
      maintain right carotid system patency. Standard stenting methods were used to
      perform SKS. Two self-expanding stents were implanted simultaneously into the
      initial segment of the right subclavian artery and the right carotid artery,
      forming a "Y" shape, with the overlap of the proximal segments in the innominate
      artery >=5 mm. After SKS, the stenosed right subclavian artery was dilated, and
      the patency of the right carotid system was maintained. The symptoms of patients
      were relieved and the stents were intact at several months of follow-up. In
      conclusion, SKS of the right subclavian artery and the right carotid artery might
      be a safe and effective procedure when the stenotic or occlusive lesion in the
      initial segment of the right subclavian artery is close to the orifice, and
      lesions (or potential ones) exist in the right carotid system.

PMID- 28611837
TI  - Embolization of Sacral Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas: A Case Series and Literature
      Review.
AB  - The authors report 2 cases of sacral dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF) presenting
      with gradual neurologic decline characterized by progressive lower extremity
      weakness and bowel and bladder incontinence. Spinal angiography demonstrated a
      sacral dural AVF with perimedullary vein engorgement and drainage extending to
      the level of the cervical spine in both cases. The fistulas were completely
      obliterated with n-BCA (n-butyl cyanoacrylate) embolic agent in one case, and
      with ethylene vinyl alcohol (Onyx) in the second, resulting in improvement of the
      symptoms in both patients. The unique features of this case report include the
      rare location of the fistula's origin, the necessity for complete spinal
      angiography, and the use of intraoperative monitoring in one case to guide
      embolization treatment.

PMID- 28611838
TI  - Endovascular Embolization of Intracranial Infectious Aneurysms in Patients
      Undergoing Open Heart Surgery Using n-Butyl Cyanoacrylate.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mycotic aneurysms are a serious complication of infective
      endocarditis with increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage. Patients undergoing
      open heart surgery for valve repair or replacement are exposed to anticoagulants,
      increasing the risk of aneurysm bleeding. These patients may require endovascular
      or surgical aneurysm treatment prior to heart surgery, but data on this approach
      are scarce. METHODS: Retrospective review of consecutive patients with infectious
      endocarditis and mycotic aneurysms treated endovascularly with Trufill n-butyl
      cyanoacrylate (n-BCA) at the Cleveland Clinic between January 2013 and December
      2015. RESULTS: Nine patients underwent endovascular treatment of mycotic
      aneurysms with n-BCA (mean age of 39 years). On imaging, 4 patients had
      intracerebral hemorrhage, 2 had multiple embolic infarcts, and the rest had no
      imaging findings. Twelve mycotic aneurysms were detected (3 patients with 2
      aneurysms). Seven aneurysms were in the M4 middle cerebral artery segment, 4 in
      the posterior cerebral artery distribution, and 1 in the callosomarginal branch.
      n-BCA was diluted in ethiodized oil (1:1 to 1:2). Embolization was achieved in a
      single rapid injection with immediate microcatheter removal. Complete aneurysm
      exclusion was achieved in all cases without complications. All patients underwent
      open heart surgery and endovascular embolization within a short interval, 2 with
      both procedures on the same day. There were no new hemorrhages after aneurysm
      embolization. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular embolization of infectious intracranial
      aneurysms with liquid embolics can be performed successfully in critically ill
      patients requiring immediate open heart surgery and anticoagulation. Early
      embolization prior to and within a short interval from open heart surgery is
      feasible.

PMID- 28611839
TI  - Utilization of a Novel, Multi-Durometer Intracranial Distal Access Catheter:
      Nuances and Experience in 110 Consecutive Cases of Aneurysm Flow Diversion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coaxial catheter support systems provide a safe and stable foundation
      in endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Increasingly, robust distal
      intracranial support is sought during complex neurointerventions. The AXS
      Catalyst 5 distal access catheter (Cat5) is a new intracranial catheter designed
      for improved trackability and stability. We report the first experience using
      Cat5 for aneurysm treatment by flow diversion. METHODS: A single-center aneurysm
      database was reviewed for cases of aneurysm treatment with the Pipeline
      embolization device (PED) that utilized Cat5. Data were collected for patient
      demographics, aneurysm characteristics, procedural details, catheter positions,
      vessel tortuosity, and catheter related complications. RESULTS: One hundred and
      ten cases of aneurysm flow diversion were successfully performed using Cat5.
      Patient age ranged from 21 to 86 years (mean 57 +/- 12.5 years) with 84% women.
      Aneurysm size ranged from 2 to 28 mm (mean 5.7 +/- 5.0 mm), with 97% in the
      anterior circulation. Twenty-four aneurysms (22%) were located beyond the ICA
      termination. Significant cervical carotid tortuosity was present in 26% of cases,
      and moderate to severe cavernous tortuosity (cavernous grade >=2) in 45% of
      cases. Cat5 was tracked to the intended distal position in all cases with 100%
      technical success of PED implantation. No iatrogenic catheter-related vessel
      injury occurred, and major neurological morbidity occurred in 1 patient (1%).
      SUMMARY: The Cat5 is a novel, multi-durometer cranial distal access catheter
      designed for use in tri-axial systems. We have demonstrated the utility of Cat5
      in 110 successful cases of flow diversion with a wide range of complexity. This
      catheter is a new tool in the neurointerventionalist's armamentarium to achieve
      robust and atraumatic distal access.

PMID- 28611840
TI  - Deep Learning for Plant Identification in Natural Environment.
AB  - Plant image identification has become an interdisciplinary focus in both
      botanical taxonomy and computer vision. The first plant image dataset collected
      by mobile phone in natural scene is presented, which contains 10,000 images of
      100 ornamental plant species in Beijing Forestry University campus. A 26-layer
      deep learning model consisting of 8 residual building blocks is designed for
      large-scale plant classification in natural environment. The proposed model
      achieves a recognition rate of 91.78% on the BJFU100 dataset, demonstrating that
      deep learning is a promising technology for smart forestry.

PMID- 28611842
TI  - Betulin-Based Oleogel to Improve Wound Healing in Dystrophic Epidermolysis
      Bullosa: A Prospective Controlled Proof-of-Concept Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Skin fragility and recurrent wounds are hallmarks of hereditary
      epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Treatment options to accelerate wound healing are
      urgently needed. Oleogel-S10 contains a betulin-rich triterpene extract from
      birch bark. In this study, we tested the wound healing properties of topical
      Oleogel-S10 in patients with dystrophic EB. METHODS: We conducted an open,
      blindly evaluated, controlled, prospective phase II pilot trial in patients with
      dystrophic EB (EudraCT number 2010-019945-24). Healing of wounds treated with and
      without topical Oleogel-S10 was compared. Primary efficacy variable was faster
      reepithelialization as determined by 2 blinded experts. The main secondary
      outcome variable of the study was percentage of wound epithelialization. RESULTS:
      Twelve wound pairs of 10 patients with dystrophic EB were evaluated. In 5 of 12
      cases, both blinded reviewers considered epithelialization of the intervention
      wounds as superior. In 3 cases, only one reviewer considered Oleogel-S10 as
      superior and the other one as equal to control. Measurements of wound size showed
      a trend towards accelerated wound healing with the intervention but without
      reaching statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate a potential
      for faster reepithelialization of wounds in patients with dystrophic EB when
      treated with Oleogel-S10 but larger studies are needed to confirm significance.

PMID- 28611841
TI  - Applications of Computational Intelligence in Time Series.

PMID- 28611843
TI  - Effect of Artificial Aging Protocols on Surface Gloss of Resin Composites.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of aging protocols on
      surface gloss of composites. Cylindrical resin composite specimens (6 mm in
      diameter, 1 mm thick) were fabricated and divided into three groups (N = 60):
      microfilled (MiFi), nanohybrid (NaHy), and nanofilled (NaFi). Specimens were
      distributed into four aging subgroups: thermocycling (5 degrees  to 55 degrees C,
      15,000 cycles); ethanol immersion (15 days); brushing (10,750 cycles); and light
      aging (216 h). Surface gloss readings (Novo-Curve, Rhopoint TM, England) were
      performed at baseline (R0) and after every one-third of aging protocols (R1 to
      R3). Data were submitted to one-way repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey's test
      (5%). Overall, surface gloss alterations were detected over time (p < 0.001).
      Thermocycling reduced surface gloss, except for NaHy. Ethanol immersion resulted
      in surface gloss reduction after R1 for MiFi and NaFi, while reduction after R1
      and R2 was detected for NaHy. For brushing, gloss reduction was detected after R1
      and R3 for all composites. For light aging, gloss was reduced after R1 and R2 for
      MiFi and NaFi, while a reduction only after R1 was detected for NaHy. The studied
      aging protocols affect surface gloss differently, being material and aging
      therapy dependent. In general, the surface gloss is reduced with aging.

PMID- 28611844
TI  - Immediate Loading of Single Implants in the Anterior Maxilla: A 1-Year
      Prospective Clinical Study on 34 Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present the outcomes of immediately loaded single implants placed in
      the anterior maxilla. METHODS: Over a 2-year period, all patients referred to a
      private clinic were considered for enrolment in this study. Inclusion criteria
      were single-tooth placement in postextraction sockets or healed sites of the
      anterior maxilla. All implants were immediately loaded and followed for a period
      of 1 year after the placement of definitive crowns. The outcome measures were
      implant stability, survival, and success. RESULTS: 34 patients were selected and
      43 tapered implants with a knife-edge thread design and a nanostructured, calcium
      incorporated surface (Anyridge(r), Megagen, Gyeongsang, Korea) were installed.
      Two implants were not sufficiently stable at placement (ISQ < 60) and were
      considered failed for immediate loading; 41 implants had an ISQ >= 60 at
      placement and were immediately loaded. One year after the placement of definitive
      crowns, no implant failures were reported, for a survival rate of 100%. No
      biological complications were found, but 2 implants had their prosthetic
      abutments loosened: the implant success rate was 95.2%. CONCLUSIONS: In the
      present study on the immediate loading of single implants in the anterior
      maxilla, positive outcomes were reported, with high survival (100%) and success
      (95.2%) rates (the present study has been registered in the ISRCTN registry, a
      publicly available trial register recognized by WHO and ICMJE, with number
      ISRCTN12935478).

PMID- 28611845
TI  - Novel Nanotechnology of TiO2 Improves Physical-Chemical and Biological Properties
      of Glass Ionomer Cement.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the performance of glass ionomer cement (GIC)
      added with TiO2 nanotubes. TiO2 nanotubes [3%, 5%, and 7% (w/w)] were
      incorporated into GIC's (Ketac Molar EasyMixTM) powder component, whereas
      unblended powder was used as control. Physical-chemical-biological analysis
      included energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), surface roughness (SR), Knoop
      hardness (SH), fluoride-releasing analysis, cytotoxicity, cell morphology, and
      extracellular matrix (ECM) composition. Parametric or nonparametric ANOVA were
      used for statistical comparisons (alpha <= 0.05). Data analysis revealed that EDS
      only detected Ti at the 5% and 7% groups and that GIC's physical-chemical
      properties were significantly improved by the addition of 5% TiO2 as compared to
      3% and GIC alone. Furthermore, regardless of TiO2 concentration, no significant
      effect was found on SR, whereas GIC-containing 7% TiO2 presented decreased SH
      values. Fluoride release lasted longer for the 5% and 7% TiO2 groups, and cell
      morphology/spreading and ECM composition were found to be positively affected by
      TiO2 at 5%. In conclusion, in the current study, nanotechnology incorporated in
      GIC affected ECM composition and was important for the superior microhardness and
      fluoride release, suggesting its potential for higher stress-bearing site
      restorations.

PMID- 28611846
TI  - Safety of Allogeneic Canine Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell
      Intraspinal Transplantation in Dogs with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.
AB  - This is a pilot clinical study primarily designed to assess the feasibility and
      safety of X-ray-guided percutaneous intraspinal injection of allogeneic canine
      adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells in dogs with chronic spinal cord
      injury. Six dogs with chronic paraplegia (>=six months) were intraparenchymally
      injected with allogeneic cells in the site of lesion. Cells were obtained from
      subcutaneous adipose tissue of a healthy dog, cultured to passage 3, labeled with
      99mTechnetium, and transplanted into the lesion by percutaneous X-ray-guided
      injection. Digital X-ray efficiently guided cell injection as 99mTechnetium
      labeled cells remained in the injection site for at least 24 hours after
      transplantation. No adverse effects or complications (infection, neuropathic
      pain, or worsening of neurological function) were observed during the 16-week
      follow-up period after transplantation. Three animals improved locomotion as
      assessed by the Olby scale. One animal walked without support, but no changes in
      deep pain perception were observed. We conclude that X-ray-guided percutaneous
      intraspinal transplantation of allogeneic cells in dogs with chronic spinal cord
      injury is feasible and safe. The efficacy of the treatment will be assessed in a
      new study involving a larger number of animals.

PMID- 28611847
TI  - Inhalation Dose and Source Term Studies in a Tribal Area of Wayanad, Kerala,
      India.
AB  - Among radiation exposure pathways to human beings, inhalation dose is the most
      prominent one. Radon, thoron, and their progeny contribute more than 50 per cent
      to the annual effective dose due to natural radioactivity. South west coast of
      India is classified as a High Natural Background Radioactivity Area and large
      scale data on natural radioactivity and dosimetry are available from these
      coastal regions including the Neendakara-Chavara belt in the south of Kerala.
      However, similar studies and reports from the northern part of Kerala are scarce.
      The present study involves the data collection and analysis of radon, thoron, and
      progeny concentration in the Wayanad district of Kerala. The radon concentration
      was found to be within a range of 12-378 Bq/m3. The thoron concentration varied
      from 15 to 621 Bq/m3. Progeny concentration of radon and thoron and the diurnal
      variation of radon were also studied. In order to assess source term, wall and
      floor exhalation studies have been done for the houses showing elevated
      concentration of radon and thoron. The average values of radon, thoron, and their
      progeny are found to be above the Indian average as well as the average values
      reported from the High Natural Background Radioactivity Areas of Kerala.
      Exhalation studies of the soil samples collected from the vicinity of the houses
      show that radon mass exhalation rate varied from below detectable limit (BDL) to
      a maximum of 80 mBq/kg/h. The thoron surface exhalation rate ranged from BDL to
      17470 Bq/m2/h.

PMID- 28611849
TI  - Nonparametric Subgroup Identification by PRIM and CART: A Simulation and
      Application Study.
AB  - Two nonparametric methods for the identification of subgroups with outstanding
      outcome values are described and compared to each other in a simulation study and
      an application to clinical data. The Patient Rule Induction Method (PRIM)
      searches for box-shaped areas in the given data which exceed a minimal size and
      average outcome. This is achieved via a combination of iterative peeling and
      pasting steps, where small fractions of the data are removed or added to the
      current box. As an alternative, Classification and Regression Trees (CART)
      prediction models perform sequential binary splits of the data to produce subsets
      which can be interpreted as subgroups of heterogeneous outcome. PRIM and CART
      were compared in a simulation study to investigate their strengths and weaknesses
      under various data settings, taking different performance measures into account.
      PRIM was shown to be superior in rather complex settings such as those with few
      observations, a smaller signal-to-noise ratio, and more than one subgroup. CART
      showed the best performance in simpler situations. A practical application of the
      two methods was illustrated using a clinical data set. For this application, both
      methods produced similar results but the higher amount of user involvement of
      PRIM became apparent. PRIM can be flexibly tuned by the user, whereas CART,
      although simpler to implement, is rather static.

PMID- 28611850
TI  - Use of the Kalman Filter for Aortic Pressure Waveform Noise Reduction.
AB  - Clinical applications that require extraction and interpretation of physiological
      signals or waveforms are susceptible to corruption by noise or artifacts. Real
      time hemodynamic monitoring systems are important for clinicians to assess the
      hemodynamic stability of surgical or intensive care patients by interpreting
      hemodynamic parameters generated by an analysis of aortic blood pressure (ABP)
      waveform measurements. Since hemodynamic parameter estimation algorithms often
      detect events and features from measured ABP waveforms to generate hemodynamic
      parameters, noise and artifacts integrated into ABP waveforms can severely
      distort the interpretation of hemodynamic parameters by hemodynamic algorithms.
      In this article, we propose the use of the Kalman filter and the 4-element
      Windkessel model with static parameters, arterial compliance C, peripheral
      resistance R, aortic impedance r, and the inertia of blood L, to represent aortic
      circulation for generating accurate estimations of ABP waveforms through noise
      and artifact reduction. Results show the Kalman filter could very effectively
      eliminate noise and generate a good estimation from the noisy ABP waveform based
      on the past state history. The power spectrum of the measured ABP waveform and
      the synthesized ABP waveform shows two similar harmonic frequencies.

PMID- 28611848
TI  - Brain MR Image Classification for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis Based on
      Multifeature Fusion.
AB  - We propose a novel classification framework to precisely identify individuals
      with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from normal
      controls (NC). The proposed method combines three different features from
      structural MR images: gray-matter volume, gray-level cooccurrence matrix, and
      Gabor feature. These features can obtain both the 2D and 3D information of
      brains, and the experimental results show that a better performance can be
      achieved through the multifeature fusion. We also analyze the multifeatures
      combination correlation technologies and improve the SVM-RFE algorithm through
      the covariance method. The results of comparison experiments on public
      Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database demonstrate the
      effectiveness of the proposed method. Besides, it also indicates that
      multifeatures combination is better than the single-feature method. The proposed
      features selection algorithm could effectively extract the optimal features
      subset in order to improve the classification performance.

PMID- 28611851
TI  - Acceleration of Image Segmentation Algorithm for (Breast) Mammogram Images Using
      High-Performance Reconfigurable Dataflow Computers.
AB  - Image segmentation is one of the most common procedures in medical imaging
      applications. It is also a very important task in breast cancer detection. Breast
      cancer detection procedure based on mammography can be divided into several
      stages. The first stage is the extraction of the region of interest from a breast
      image, followed by the identification of suspicious mass regions, their
      classification, and comparison with the existing image database. It is often the
      case that already existing image databases have large sets of data whose
      processing requires a lot of time, and thus the acceleration of each of the
      processing stages in breast cancer detection is a very important issue. In this
      paper, the implementation of the already existing algorithm for region-of
      interest based image segmentation for mammogram images on High-Performance
      Reconfigurable Dataflow Computers (HPRDCs) is proposed. As a dataflow engine
      (DFE) of such HPRDC, Maxeler's acceleration card is used. The experiments for
      examining the acceleration of that algorithm on the Reconfigurable Dataflow
      Computers (RDCs) are performed with two types of mammogram images with different
      resolutions. There were, also, several DFE configurations and each of them gave a
      different acceleration value of algorithm execution. Those acceleration values
      are presented and experimental results showed good acceleration.

PMID- 28611852
TI  - CNV Analysis of Host Responses to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome
      Virus Infection.
AB  - Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a devastating disease
      with a significant impact on the swine industry causing major economic losses.
      The objective of this study is to examine copy number variations (CNVs)
      associated with the group-specific host responses to PRRS virus infection. We
      performed a genome-wide CNV analysis using 660 animals genotyped with on the
      porcine SNP60 BeadChip and discovered 7097 CNVs and 271 CNV regions (CNVRs). For
      this study, we used two established traits related to host response to the virus,
      i.e. viral load (VL, area under the curve of log-transformed serum viremia from 0
      to 21 days post infection) and weight gain (WG42 from 0 to 42 days post
      infection). To investigate the effects of CNVs on differential host responses to
      PRRS, we compared groups of animals with extreme high and low estimated breeding
      values (EBVs) for both traits using a case-control study design. For VL, we
      identified 163 CNVRs (84 Mb) from the high group and 159 CNVRs (76 Mb) from the
      low group. For WG42, we detected 126 (68 Mb) and 156 (79 Mb) CNVRs for high and
      low groups, respectively. Based on gene annotation within group-specific CNVRs,
      we performed network analyses and observed some potential candidate genes. Our
      results revealed these group-specific genes are involved in regulating innate and
      acquired immune response pathways. Specifically, molecules like interferons and
      interleukins are closely related to host responses to PRRS virus infection.

PMID- 28611854
TI  - Arginine/Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Ratio in Colorectal Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a naturally occurring amino
      acid that inhibits the effects of nitric oxide synthetases, producing
      considerable effects on the vascular system. Recent studies have suggested that
      increased ADMA is a major contributor to endothelial dysfunction, resulting in
      significant effects on cardiovascular and renal function. METHODS: The study
      sample consisted of five male and 11 female patients scheduled for elective
      laparoscopic colorectal surgery; patients were between 41 and 77 years of age.
      Venous whole blood (8 - 10 mL) was collected from patients prior to colorectal
      surgery, as well as on postoperative day 1 and 2. Arginine, citrulline, ADMA, and
      symmetric dimethylarginine levels were measured in collected blood using liquid
      chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Data from the amino-acid
      blood analysis demonstrated that the levels of L-citrulline and L-arginine
      decreased on postoperative days 1, coinciding with an increase of ADMA levels.
      The overall result of these changes was a decrease in the arginine to ADMA ratio
      by 21% from the preoperative period to postoperative day 2 (P = 0.02).
      CONCLUSIONS: The data collected through this study demonstrate a significant
      increase in systemic ADMA levels following major laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

PMID- 28611853
TI  - An Unsettled Debate About the Potential Role of Infection in Pathogenesis of
      Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Association of infection with atherosclerosis is by no means new. Several sero
      epidemiological and pathologic studies as well as animal models have shown a link
      between infection and atherosclerosis. Exciting discoveries in recent times
      related to role of inter-individual genetic variation in modulating inflammatory
      response to infection have reignited the enthusiasm in proving a causal link
      between infection and atherosclerosis. The purpose of this article was to review
      and analyze the available evidence linking infection with atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28611855
TI  - Variables to Predict Nephrological Disease in General, and Glomerulonephritis in
      Particular, in Patients With Microhematuria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microhematuria (MH) is a symptom frequently leading to uncertainty as
      to when a nephrology referral is appropriate. Because MH may be indicative of
      severe kidney disorders, prompt diagnosis and potential treatment initiation can
      be important. We aimed to identify further variables that point at a
      nephrological cause, in particular of glomerulonephritis (GN), when MH is
      diagnosed. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data acquired from patients
      attending a nephrology office due to MH was performed. Demographic information
      and diagnostic tests were evaluated in order to identify factors that were
      associated with a nephrological cause. RESULTS: Patients with MH (n = 805) as
      indicated by a urine stick analysis were included. Of these, MH was confirmed by
      urine sediment analysis in 543 patients (67.5%). Of those, 48.3% had a
      nephrological cause, including 12.4% with GN and 2.9% with rapid progressive GN
      (RPGN). A urine dipstick finding of >= 250 erythrocytes per microliter,
      microalbuminuria and elevated leukocytes increased the probability of having a GN
      to 62.4%. Furthermore, the presence of microalbuminuria, GFR < 60 mL/min, history
      of hypertension and diabetes mellitus increased the probability for all
      nephrological causes to 95.4%. CONCLUSION: There are a number of factors
      available that help to assess the need for a nephrology referral in patients with
      microhematuria.

PMID- 28611856
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Trial of Vildagliptin Versus Alogliptin: Effective Switch
      From Sitagliptin in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the effects of vildagliptin or alogliptin on blood
      glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately
      controlled by sitagliptin. METHODS: In a single-center open-label trial, 35
      patients with inadequate glycemic control on sitagliptin therapy (50 mg once
      daily) were randomly switched to treatment with vildagliptin (50 mg twice daily)
      or alogliptin (25 mg once daily). After 12 weeks, patients who failed to achieve
      the target HbA1c level of < 7.0% with vildagliptin or alogliptin treatment were
      switched to high-dose sitagliptin (100 mg once daily) and the effect on glycemic
      control was assessed. RESULTS: Vildagliptin did not significantly alter the mean
      plasma glucose level (175.5 +/- 54.4 mg/dL vs. 179.1 +/- 73.4 mg/dL) or HbA1c
      (8.01% vs. 8.02%) after 12 weeks. With alogliptin, mean plasma glucose increased
      from 175.4 +/- 50.9 mg/dL to 195.3 +/- 55.0 mg/dL after 12 weeks and HbA1c
      increased significantly from 8.0% to 8.3% (P < 0.05). At 12 weeks after switching
      from vildagliptin to high-dose sitagliptin (100 mg daily), HbA1c was increased to
      8.3%, but it was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced to the baseline level of 8.0%
      after switching from alogliptin. The reduction of HbA1c was significantly greater
      in the vildagliptin group than the alogliptin group (P = 0.008), but the response
      rate (achieving the target HbA1c < 7.0%) did not differ significantly between the
      two groups. CONCLUSION: The glucose-lowering effects of these three dipeptidyl
      peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors (vildagliptin, alogliptin, and sitagliptin) were
      different, and the effects of vildagliptin and sitagliptin were stronger than
      that of alogliptin.

PMID- 28611857
TI  - Chronic Achilles Tendon Rupture Reconstruction Using the Lindholm Method and the
      Vulpius Method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the clinical and functional outcomes of chronic
      Achilles tendon rupture reconstruction via the Lindholm technique and via the
      Vulpius' lengthening of the gastrocnemius. METHODS: We evaluated 15 patients with
      chronic Achilles tendon rupture (Lindholm technique in eight patients and primary
      repair with the Vulpius technique in seven patients). In the final follow-up, the
      Hooker scale was used to measure the ankle functional capacity in all patients.
      The patients were evaluated on the basis of their capability to stand on tiptoe
      on the affected limb and the time required to return to pre-injury daily
      activities. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 19.6 months (range, 12 - 38
      months). The mean time to return to work and daily activity was 3.2 months. The
      mean calf atrophy at the end of follow-up was 1.2 cm (range, 0 - 2.5 cm). At the
      last follow-up visit, no patient had any limitation in the activities of daily
      living and the active and passive ankle range of motion was good. All patients
      were able to perform single-leg heel rises at the end of follow-up and the Hooker
      scores were excellent for 11 patients and satisfactory for four patients.
      CONCLUSION: The reconstruction of chronic Achilles tendon ruptures via the
      Lindholm technique or via the Vulpius technique is associated with good clinical
      and functional outcomes.

PMID- 28611858
TI  - Impact of Hemorheology Assessed by the Microchannel Method on Pulsatility Index
      of the Common Carotid Artery in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is known to be closely associated with the
      risk of ischemic stroke. Recent clinical studies have reported that a high
      pulsatility index (PI) of the cerebral or carotid artery, which is estimated by
      ultrasonography, also reflects a risk of ischemic stroke. This cross-sectional
      study aimed to clarify the impact of hemorheology assessed by the microchannel
      method on the PI of the common carotid artery (CCA) in patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus in terms of the primary prevention of ischemic stroke. METHODS:
      In total, 349 outpatients on treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (131 men and
      218 women; mean age +/- standard deviation: 65 +/- 11 years) with no history of
      cardiovascular events, including ischemic stroke, were enrolled. The whole blood
      passage time (WBPT) as a marker of hemorheology and the PI of CCA were measured
      using commercial devices, and their relationships to various clinical parameters
      were examined. RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was observed between
      WBPT and the PI of CCA (r = 0.49, P < 0.001). Furthermore, multivariate analysis
      revealed that patients with high WBPT (>=70 s) had significantly higher risk
      (odds ratio: 5.2; 95% confidence interval: 2.4 - 9.2; P < 0.001) of being
      detected with a high PI of CCA (>= 2) than those with low WBPT (<= 52.0 s).
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that WBPT was an important
      determination factor for the PI of CCA, suggesting that an increase in WBPT can
      potentially predict the incidence of ischemic stroke in patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 28611859
TI  - Ipragliflozin Improves Glycemic Control and Decreases Body Fat in Patients With
      Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ipragliflozin, a sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitor, was
      administered to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus for 24 weeks to evaluate
      its effect on glycemic control and body composition. METHODS: This was an
      investigator-initiated multicenter prospective intervention study in which
      ipragliflozin (50 mg) was administered once daily and glycemic control, blood
      pressure, body weight (BW), body composition (measured by a biological impedance
      method), the lipid profile, and adverse events were evaluated after 4, 12, and 24
      weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Efficacy and safety up to 24 weeks of ipragliflozin
      therapy were analyzed in 367 patients and 451 patients, respectively. Hemoglobin
      A1c decreased significantly from 8.07% at the start of ipragliflozin therapy to
      7.26% in week 24 (P < 0.001). Fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels were
      significantly reduced by ipragliflozin. In week 24, there were significant
      decreases from baseline in BW (-2.6 kg), waist circumference (-2.9 cm), and body
      fat mass (-1.9 kg) (P < 0.001). The body water mass and mineral mass were
      decreased significantly by 0.5 and by 0.1 kg, respectively (P < 0.001), whereas
      the protein mass did not change significantly. Intracellular water mass did not
      change significantly, whereas extracellular water mass showed a significant
      decrease of 0.5 kg (P < 0.001). Muscle mass did not change in the upper and lower
      limbs, but that of the trunk decreased significantly (P < 0.001). There was a
      significant decrease in the fasting triglyceride level and a significant increase
      in fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, while low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol was unchanged. Adverse events occurred in 23.5% of the
      patients, with a high frequency of genital infections, such as vulvovaginal
      candidiasis (3.1%) and genital pruritus (1.8%). Adverse drug reactions were noted
      in 13.7% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of ipragliflozin for 24
      weeks improved glycemic control and decreased BW. Reduction of body fat accounted
      for more than 70% of the total weight loss and reduction of extracellular water
      accounted for about 20%.

PMID- 28611860
TI  - Renal Function and Outcomes With Use of Left Ventricular Assist Device
      Implantation and Inotropes in End-Stage Heart Failure: A Retrospective Single
      Center Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and inotrope therapy serve as a
      bridge to transplant (BTT) or as destination therapy in patients who are not
      heart transplant candidates. End-stage heart failure patients often have impaired
      renal function, and renal outcomes after LVAD therapy versus inotrope therapy
      have not been evaluated. METHODS: In this study, 169 patients with continuous
      flow LVAD therapy and 20 patients with continuous intravenous inotrope therapy
      were analyzed. The two groups were evaluated at baseline and at 3 and 6 months
      after LVAD or inotrope therapy was started. The incidence of acute kidney injury
      (AKI), need for renal replacement therapy (RRT), BTT rate, and mortality for 6
      months following LVAD or inotrope therapy were studied. Results between the
      groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square with continuity
      correction or Fischer's exact at the significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: Mean
      glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was not statistically different between the two
      groups, with P = 0.471, 0.429, and 0.847 at baseline, 3 and 6 months,
      respectively. The incidence of AKI, RRT, and BTT was not statistically different.
      Mortality was less in the inotrope group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Intravenous
      inotrope therapy in end-stage heart failure patients is non-inferior for
      mortality, incidence of AKI, need for RRT, and renal function for 6-month follow
      up when compared to LVAD therapy. Further studies are needed to compare the
      effectiveness of inotropes versus LVAD implantation on renal function and
      outcomes over a longer time period.

PMID- 28611861
TI  - Effects of Six Kinds of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors on Metabolic
      Parameters, and Summarized Effect and Its Correlations With Baseline Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) blocks reabsorption
      of glucose by inhibiting SGLT2 in kidney, promotes the renal excretion of glucose
      and improves blood glucose control without requiring insulin secretion. Anti
      atherosclerotic effects of SGLT2is have not been fully elucidated until today.
      METHODS: We retrospectively picked up patients with type 2 diabetes who had been
      continuously prescribed SGLT2i for 3 months or more between April 2014 and
      December 2016 by a chart-based analysis, and compared metabolic parameters
      including coronary risk factors before the SGLT2i treatment with the data at 3
      and 6 months after the SGLT2i treatment started. RESULTS: We found 26 patients
      treated with tofogliflozin, 34 patients with canagliflozin, 27 patients with
      empagliflozin, 23 patients with ipragliflozin, 68 patients with dapagliflozin and
      71 patients with luseogliflozin. Each SGLT2i ameliorated metabolic parameters, in
      different patterns. SGLT2is reduced body weight, systolic and diastolic blood
      pressures, plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine
      aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, uric acid, triglyceride and non-high
      density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and elevated HDL-C; however, they did
      not affect LDL-cholesterol levels. Change in each metabolic parameter was
      significantly correlated with each metabolic parameter at baseline. CONCLUSION:
      The present study demonstrated that SGLT2i ameliorated body weight, blood
      pressure, liver function, serum lipids and uric acid, in addition to improvement
      of glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 28611862
TI  - Mini-Laparoscopic Versus Conventional Laparoscopic Surgery for Benign Adnexal
      Masses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive endoscopic surgery has become an acceptable method
      for gynecologic indications for more than 20 years. We aimed to compare clinical
      and surgical outcomes between mini-laparoscopic surgery (MLS) and conventional
      laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for benign adnexal masses. As far as we know, no
      comparative study exists between these two minimal invasive procedures. METHODS:
      During the period between January 2014 and December 2016, a total number of 132
      laparoscopic surgeries were performed for bening adnexal masses in our clinic.
      Seventy women underwent CLS and 62 women underwent MLS. Pathological results and
      operating time of procedures, estimated blood loss, preoperative and
      postoperative complications, patient scale and observer scale (POSAS) and length
      of hospital stay were recorded. RESULTS: There was no difference between the two
      groups regarding preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative surgical procedure
      performed, and length of hospital stay. The groups were compared in terms of
      postoperative pathological diagnosis using the Chi-square test, and there was a
      statistically significant difference between the two groups. Comparing the
      operation time and hematocrit change, there were statistically significant
      differences between the two groups. Both patient and observer PSOAS scar scores
      were better in MLS group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Mini-laparoscopy can be safely
      and effectively used to perform benign adnexal mass surgery.

PMID- 28611863
TI  - Effect of Azilsartan on Day-to-Day Variability in Home Blood Pressure: A
      Prospective Multicenter Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The blood pressure variability (BPV) such as visit-to-visit, day-by
      day, and ambulatory BPV has been also shown to be a risk of future cardiovascular
      events. However, the effects of antihypertensive therapy on BPV remain unclear.
      The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of azilsartan after
      switching from another angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) on day-to-day BPV in
      home BP monitoring. METHODS: This prospective, multicenter, open-labeled, single
      arm study included 28 patients undergoing treatment with an ARB, which was
      switched to azilsartan after enrollment. The primary outcome was the change in
      the mean of the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation of morning
      home BP for 5 consecutive days from baseline to the 24-week follow-up. The
      secondary outcome was the change in arterial stiffness measured by the cardio
      ankle vascular index. RESULTS: The mean BPs in the morning and evening for 5 days
      did not statistically differ between baseline and 24 weeks. For the morning BP,
      the means of the standard deviations and coefficient of variation of the systolic
      BP were significantly decreased from 7.4 +/- 3.6 mm Hg to 6.1 +/- 3.2 mm Hg and
      from 5.4+/-2.7% to 4.6+/-2.3% (mean +/- standard deviation, P = 0.04 and P =
      0.04, respectively). For the evening BP, no significant change was observed in
      the systolic or diastolic BPV. The cardio-ankle vascular index significantly
      decreased from 8.3 +/- 0.8 to 8.1 +/- 0.8 (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Switching from
      another ARB to azilsartan reduced day-to-day BPV in the morning and improved
      arterial stiffness.

PMID- 28611864
TI  - Entamoeba histolytica Infection in Female Sex Workers: A Matched Case-Control
      Study in Durango, Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infection with Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica) can be
      potentially transmitted by sexual contact. The seroepidemiology of E. histolytica
      in female sex workers has not been studied. The aim of the study was to determine
      whether E. histolytica is associated with the occupation of female sex work. In
      addition, the correlates of E. histolytica seroprevalence in female sex workers
      were also investigated. METHODS: We performed an age- and gender-matched case
      control study of 187 female sex workers and 374 women without sex work. Cases and
      controls were tested for the presence of E. histolytica IgG antibodies using a
      commercially available enzyme-linked immunoassay. Seroprevalence association with
      the characteristics of female sex workers was determined by bivariate analysis.
      RESULTS: Anti-E. histolytica IgG antibodies were found in five (2.7%) of 187
      female sex workers and in 16 (4.3%) of 374 controls (odds ratios (OR) = 0.61; 95%
      confidence intervals (CI): 0.22 - 1.70; P = 0.34). Mean optical density of the
      immunoassay in seropositive cases and controls was 1.35 +/- 0.93 and 0.73 +/-
      0.45, respectively (P = 0.05). Seroprevalence of E. histolytica infection did not
      vary significantly with age, education, socioeconomic level, or health status of
      sex workers. Seropositivity to E. histolytica did not correlate with work
      characteristics such as duration in the occupation, condom use, type of sex, or a
      history of sexually transmitted diseases, or with behavioral variables such as
      washing hands before eating, or consumption of untreated water. CONCLUSIONS:
      Results indicate that female sex workers do not have an increased risk for E.
      histolytica infection in Durango City, Mexico. Further studies to determine the
      risk of infection with E. histolytica by sexual contact should be conducted.

PMID- 28611865
TI  - Dietary Modification Trial in Community-Dwelling Japanese Elderly: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examined the effects of 6-month nutrition education
      programs for community-dwelling elderly. METHODS: This study enrolled 50
      community-dwelling elderly who regularly visit outpatient clinics. The programs
      had three goals: salt reduction, increase in dietary fiber, and adequate protein
      intake. Since it would be difficult for elderly to achieve all goals
      concurrently, a single goal was chosen by participants themselves. Anthropometric
      measurements, blood sampling, and assessment of dietary intake were performed at
      baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS: The nutrition education program for
      salt reduction was well accepted by the participants and the amount of daily salt
      intake showed median value of 9.6 g at baseline, 8.0 g at 3 months and 8.1 g at 6
      months (P = 0.005). The amount of dietary fiber intake only slightly increased
      after taking the nutrition program (median value of 13.4 g at baseline, 15.3 g at
      3 months and 15.5 g at 6 months; P = 0.695), because of difficulties in
      introducing new food options to the diet. After taking the adequate protein
      intake program, participants showed small decreases in protein (a modification
      from 1.24 g/kg IBW to 1.20 g/kg IBW) and salt intake (8.2 to 7.3 g) at 3 months,
      but the effects were not sustained at 6 months. CONCLUSION: This nutrition
      education program focusing on a single nutrient may serve as a strategy to
      successfully reduce salt intake and improve systolic blood pressure control in
      community-dwelling elderly individuals who regularly visit outpatient clinics. In
      our view, dietary and lifestyle habits should be taken into account as much as
      possible in nutrition education for elderly individuals.

PMID- 28611867
TI  - A Comparative Study of the Trends of Imported Dengue Cases in Korea and Japan
      2011 - 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue is a mosquito-borne febrile disease that represents a major
      public health problem in tropical and subtropical areas. Even though Korea and
      Japan are not the regions where dengue is epidemic, there have been many imported
      cases in both countries, and in increasing numbers. A better understanding of the
      characteristics of the prevalence of dengue and the recent trends in these
      neighboring countries may provide information to promote improvement and control
      strategies for both. The present study investigated the epidemiological status of
      imported dengue cases in Korea and Japan between 2011 and 2015, and compared
      their characteristics. METHODS: We analyzed the annual transition of prevalence,
      geographic origin of dengue infection, and seasonal distribution of occurrence.
      The raw data on dengue cases in Korea were obtained from the Korea Center for
      Disease Control and Prevention infectious diseases surveillance website and
      Korean Statistical Information Service website. Data on dengue cases in Japan
      were obtained from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan's
      Infectious Disease Surveillance Center website. RESULTS: There were 893 reported
      cases in Korea and 1,054 in Japan between 2011 and 2015. Cumulative incidence per
      100,000 overseas travelers from Japan did not substantially differ from that for
      Korea (1.22 vs. 1.16, respectively), despite Japan's population being roughly 2.5
      times larger. These results suggest Koreans engage in overseas travel more than
      Japanese. For Korea and Japan, Southeast Asia was the region accounting for the
      most cases of infection (89.4% vs. 75.4%, respectively). Notably, the Philippines
      and Indonesia were, respectively, the leading origin countries for Korean (38.1%)
      and Japanese (23.3%) cases. Seasonal distribution shows August and September were
      the months in which the largest number of cases occurred in Korea and Japan,
      respectively. These differences evidently derive from characteristics of travel
      destinations and timing of holidays. CONCLUSION: Based on the recent increasing
      trend in imported dengue cases in both countries, a more rigorous information
      system that can effectively provide warning of dengue risk and means of
      prevention for travelers headed to at-risk areas is urgently needed in both
      countries.

PMID- 28611866
TI  - Association of Cognitive Impairment in Patients on 3-Hydroxy-3-Methyl-Glutaryl
      CoA Reductase Inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of
      death in the United States. A reduction in cholesterol with 3-hydroxy-3-methyl
      glutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors (statin) significantly reduces mortality and
      morbidity. Statins may be associated with cognitive impairment or dementia. Our
      aim was to study the association of cognitive impairment or dementia in patients
      who were on a statin. METHODS: Electronic medical records of 3,500 adult patients
      in our suburban internal medicine office were reviewed. RESULTS: There were 720
      (20.6%) patients in the statin treatment group. Dementia or cognitive impairment
      was an associated comorbid condition in 7.9% patients in the statin treatment
      group compared to 3.1% patients in the non-statin group (P < 0.001). Analysis of
      all of the patients with cognitive impairment or dementia showed that among the
      age ranges of 51 years through 100 years, the patients in the statin treatment
      group had a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment or dementia compared to the
      non-statin group. In the statin treatment group, we found significantly higher
      prevalence of hyperlipidemia (86.3%), hypertension (69.6%), diabetes mellitus
      (36.0%), osteoarthritis (31.5%), coronary artery disease (26.1%), hypothyroidism
      (21.5%) and depression (19.3%) compared to the non-statin group (P < 0.001).
      About 39.9% of the patients with dementia or cognitive impairment were on statin
      therapy compared to 18.9% patients who had no dementia or cognitive impairment
      and were on statin therapy (P < 0.001). Among the patients with cognitive deficit
      or dementia in the statin treatment group, the majority of the patients were
      either on atorvastatin (43.9%) or simvastatin (35.1%), followed by rosuvastatin
      (12.2%) and pravastatin (8.8%). We found greater odds of dementia or cognitive
      impairment with each year increase in age (1.3 times), in women (2.2 times),
      African American race (2.7 times), non-consumption of moderate amount of alcohol
      (two times), diabetes mellitus (1.6 times), hypothyroidism (1.7 times),
      cerebrovascular accident (3.2 times), and other rheumatological diseases (1.8
      times). CONCLUSIONS: The association of dementia or cognitive impairment was
      significantly higher in the patients who were on statin therapy compared to the
      patients who were not on a statin.

PMID- 28611868
TI  - Gastrointestinal Tract Amyloidosis Presenting With Pneumatosis Intestinalis.
AB  - Pneumatosis intestinalis is a radiographic finding of gas pockets within the
      bowel wall. It can be associated with a range of diagnoses, but the most life
      threatening causes are mesenteric ischemia, bowel necrosis, and bowel
      obstruction. Here we present the case of a patient with multiple myeloma who had
      pneumatosis intestinalis due to gastrointestinal amyloidosis, which is a rare
      manifestation of systemic amyloid disease. The patient had both transthyretin
      (ATTR) amyloidosis and acquired apolipoprotein serum amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis
      that are not usually seen in conjunction with multiple myeloma, which is most
      commonly associated with light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. This case highlights the
      importance of considering Congo red staining of bowel biopsies for amyloid
      deposition in patients undergoing endoscopy for unexplained gastrointestinal
      tract symptoms and even pneumatosis intestinalis, so as to avoid a delay in
      diagnosis that is typically seen with amyloidosis. Since each subtype of
      amyloidosis requires different therapy, amyloid subtyping is crucial, even with
      co-existing multiple myeloma.

PMID- 28611869
TI  - Automatic optimization of drug cocktails on an integrated microfluidic system.
AB  - Drug cocktails have been popular for a variety of therapies of complicated
      diseases. Nevertheless, it is a tediously challenging task to optimize
      formulations, especially using traditional methods. Hence, an automatic system
      capable of precise dispensing multiple drugs is of great need. Herein, a new
      integrated microfluidic system combined with a two-axis traverse module was
      developed to dispense and mix a small amount of drug combination precisely and
      automatically. This on-chip dispensing process could be performed with a precise
      and accurate manner when compared to the manual operations. The efficacy of both
      single and multiple drugs could be examined through the developed microfluidic
      system with extremely low variation of drug formulations. Analysis of cell
      viabilities for normal and tumor cells was also performed to verify potential
      drug combinations. It is envisioned that this automatic system, which is flexible
      to combine with standard cell analysis methods and novel drug formulation
      algorithm, could provide precise and high-throughput drug cocktail formulations
      and expedite the drug screening processes.

PMID- 28611870
TI  - Acetylated bovine serum albumin differentially inhibits polymerase chain reaction
      in microdevices.
AB  - Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is widely used as an additive in polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR)-based microfluidic devices to passivate reactors and alleviate
      nucleic-acid amplification. BSA is available commercially in two types: either
      acetylated or non-acetylated. A survey of literature indicates that both types of
      BSA are used in PCR-based microfluidic devices. Our study results reveal that the
      use of acetylated BSA in PCR micro-devices leads to differential inhibition of
      PCR, compared to non-acetylated BSA. This result is noticed for the first time,
      and the differential inhibition generally goes un-noticed, as compared to
      complete PCR inhibition.

PMID- 28611871
TI  - Efficient extraction of oil from droplet microfluidic emulsions.
AB  - Droplet microfluidic techniques can perform large numbers of single molecule and
      cell reactions but often require controlled, periodic flow to merge, split, and
      sort droplets. Here, we describe a simple method to convert aperiodic flows into
      periodic ones. Using an oil extraction module, we efficiently remove oil from
      emulsions to readjust the droplet volume fraction, velocity, and packing,
      producing periodic flows. The extractor acts as a universal adaptor to connect
      microfluidic modules that do not operate under identical flow conditions, such as
      droplet generators, incubators, and merger devices.

PMID- 28611872
TI  - Why the EMTALA Mandate for Emergency Care Does not Equal Healthcare "Coverage".

PMID- 28611873
TI  - The Economics of an Admissions Holding Unit.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: With increasing attention to the actual cost of delivering care,
      return-on-investment calculations take on new significance. Boarded patients in
      the emergency department (ED) are harmful to clinical care and have significant
      financial opportunity costs. We hypothesize that investment in an admissions
      holding unit for admitted ED patients not only captures opportunity cost but also
      significantly lowers direct cost of care. METHODS: This was a three-phase study
      at a busy urban teaching center with significant walkout rate. We first
      determined the true cost of maintaining a staffed ED bed for one patient-hour and
      compared it to alternative settings. The opportunity cost for patients leaving
      without being seen was then conservatively estimated. Lastly, a convenience
      sample of admitted patients boarding in the ED was observed continuously from one
      hour after decision-to-admit until physical departure from the ED to capture a
      record of every interaction with a nurse or physician. RESULTS: Personnel costs
      per patient bed-hour were $58.20 for the ED, $24.80 for an inpatient floor,
      $19.20 for the inpatient observation unit, and $10.40 for an admissions holding
      area. An eight-bed holding unit operating at practical capacity would free 57.4
      hours of bed space in the ED and allow treatment of 20 additional patients. This
      could yield increased revenues of $27,796 per day and capture opportunity cost of
      $6.09 million over 219 days, in return for extra staffing costs of $218,650.
      Analysis of resources used for boarded patients was determined by continuous
      observation of a convenience sample of ED-boarded patients, which found near-zero
      interactions with both nursing and physicians during the boarding interval.
      CONCLUSION: Resource expense per ED bed-hour is more than twice that in non
      critical care inpatient units. Despite the high cost of available resources,
      boarded non-critical patients receive virtually no nursing or physician
      attention. An admissions holding unit is remarkably effective in avoiding the
      mismatch of the low-needs patients in high-cost care venues. Return on investment
      is enormous, but this assumes existing clinical space for this unit.

PMID- 28611874
TI  - Ultrasound vs. Computed Tomography for Severity of Hydronephrosis and Its
      Importance in Renal Colic.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Supporting an "ultrasound-first" approach to evaluating renal colic
      in the emergency department (ED) remains important for improving patient care and
      decreasing healthcare costs. Our primary objective was to compare emergency
      physician (EP) ultrasound to computed tomography (CT) detection of hydronephrosis
      severity in patients with suspected renal colic. We calculated test
      characteristics of hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound for detecting
      ureteral stones or ureteral stone size >5mm. We then analyzed the association of
      hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound, stone size >5mm, and proximal stone
      location with 30-day events. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study
      of ED patients with suspected renal colic undergoing CT. Subjects had an EP
      performed ultrasound evaluating for the severity of hydronephrosis. A chart
      review and follow-up phone call was performed. RESULTS: We enrolled 302 subjects
      who had an EP-performed ultrasound. CT and EP ultrasound results were comparable
      in detecting severity of hydronephrosis (x2=51.7, p<0.001). Hydronephrosis on EP
      performed ultrasound was predictive of a ureteral stone on CT (PPV 88%; LR+
      2.91), but lack of hydronephrosis did not rule it out (NPV 65%). Lack of
      hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound makes larger stone size >5mm less
      likely (NPV 89%; LR- 0.39). Larger stone size > 5mm was associated with 30-day
      events (OR 2.30, p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Using an ultrasound-first approach to
      detect hydronephrosis may help physicians identify patients with renal colic. The
      lack of hydronephrosis on ultrasound makes the presence of a larger ureteral
      stone less likely. Stone size >5mm may be a useful predictor of 30-day events.

PMID- 28611875
TI  - Patient Perspectives on Accessing Acute Illness Care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Older adults use the emergency department (ED) at high rates,
      including for illnesses that could be managed by their primary care providers
      (PCP). Policymakers have implemented barriers and incentives, often financial, to
      try to modify use patterns but with limited success. This study aims to
      understand the factors that influence older adults' decision to obtain acute
      illness care from the ED rather than from their PCPs. METHODS: We performed a
      qualitative study using a directed content analysis approach from February to
      October 2013. Fifteen community-dwelling older adults age>=65 years who presented
      to the ED of an academic medical center hospital for care and who were discharged
      home were enrolled. Semi-structured interviews were conducted initially in the ED
      and subsequently in patients' homes over the following six weeks. All interviews
      were audio-recorded, transcribed, verified, and coded. The study team jointly
      analyzed the data and identified themes that emerged from the interviews.
      RESULTS: The average age of study participants was 74 years (standard deviation
      +/-7.2 years); 53% were female; 80% were white. We found five themes that
      influenced participants' decisions to obtain acute illness care from the ED:
      limited availability of PCP-based care, variable interactions with healthcare
      providers and systems, limited availability of transportation for illness care,
      desire to avoid burdening friends and family, and previous experiences with
      illnesses. CONCLUSION: Community-dwelling older adults integrate multiple factors
      when deciding to obtain care from an ED rather than their PCPs. These factors
      relate to personal and social considerations, practical issues, and individual
      perceptions based on previous experiences. If these findings are validated in
      confirmatory studies, policymakers wishing to modify where older adults receive
      care should consider person-centered interventions at the system and individual
      level, such as decision support, telemedicine, improved transport services,
      enhancing PCPs' capabilities, and enhancing EDs' resources to care for older
      patients.

PMID- 28611876
TI  - Effectiveness of Resident Physicians as Triage Liaison Providers in an Academic
      Emergency Department.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Emergency department (ED) crowding is associated with detrimental
      effects on ED quality of care. Triage liaison providers (TLP) have been used to
      mitigate the effects of crowding. Prior studies have evaluated attending
      physicians and advanced practice providers as TLPs, with limited data evaluating
      resident physicians as TLPs. This study compares operational performance outcomes
      between resident and attending physicians as TLPs. METHODS: This retrospective
      cohort study compared aggregate operational performance at an urban, academic ED
      during pre- and post-TLP periods. The primary outcome was defined as cost
      effectiveness based upon return on investment (ROI). Secondary outcomes were
      defined as differences in median ED length of stay (LOS), median door-to-provider
      (DTP) time, proportion of left without being seen (LWBS), and proportion of "very
      good" overall patient satisfaction scores. RESULTS: Annual profit generated for
      physician-based collections through LWBS capture (after deducting respective
      salary costs) equated to a gain (ROI: 54%) for resident TLPs and a loss (ROI: 
      31%) for attending TLPs. Accounting for hospital-based collections made both
      profitable, with gains for resident TLPs (ROI: 317%) and for attending TLPs (ROI:
      86%). Median DTP time for resident TLPs was significantly lower (p<0.0001) than
      attending or historical control. Proportion of "very good" patient satisfaction
      scores and LWBS was improved for both resident and attending TLPs over historical
      control. Overall median LOS was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Resident
      and attending TLPs improved DTP time, patient satisfaction, and LWBS rates. Both
      resident and attending TLPs are cost effective, with residents having a more
      favorable financial profile.

PMID- 28611877
TI  - Emergency Department Pain Management Following Implementation of a Geriatric Hip
      Fracture Program.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Over 300,000 patients in the United States sustain low-trauma
      fragility hip fractures annually. Multidisciplinary geriatric fracture programs
      (GFP) including early, multimodal pain management reduce morbidity and mortality.
      Our overall goal was to determine the effects of a GFP on the emergency
      department (ED) pain management of geriatric fragility hip fractures. METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective study including patients age >=65 years with fragility
      hip fractures two years before and two years after the implementation of the GFP.
      Outcomes were time to (any) first analgesic, use of acetaminophen and fascia
      iliaca compartment block (FICB) in the ED, and amount of opioid medication
      administered in the first 24 hours. We used permutation tests to evaluate
      differences in ED pain management following GFP implementation. RESULTS: We
      studied 131 patients in the pre-GFP period and 177 patients in the post-GFP
      period. In the post-GFP period, more patients received FICB (6% vs. 60%;
      difference 54%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 45-63%; p<0.001) and acetaminophen
      (10% vs. 51%; difference 41%, 95% CI 32-51%; p<0.001) in the ED. Patients in the
      post-GFP period also had a shorter time to first analgesic (103 vs. 93 minutes;
      p=0.04) and received fewer morphine equivalents in the first 24 hours (15mg vs.
      10mg, p<0.001) than patients in the pre-GFP period. CONCLUSION: Implementation of
      a GFP was associated with improved ED pain management for geriatric patients with
      fragility hip fractures. Future studies should evaluate the effects of these
      changes in pain management on longer-term outcomes.

PMID- 28611878
TI  - Physician Variability in Management of Emergency Department Patients with Chest
      Pain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chest pain is a common emergency department (ED) presentation
      accounting for 8-10 million visits per year in the United States. Physician-level
      factors such as risk tolerance are predictive of admission rates. The recent
      advent of accelerated diagnostic pathways and ED observation units may have an
      impact in reducing variation in admission rates on the individual physician
      level. METHODS: We conducted a single-institution retrospective observational
      study of ED patients with a diagnosis of chest pain as determined by diagnostic
      code from our hospital administrative database. We included ED visits from 2012
      and 2013. Patients with an elevated troponin or an electrocardiogram (ECG)
      demonstrating an ST elevation myocardial infarction were excluded. Patients were
      divided into two groups: "admission" (this included observation and inpatients)
      and "discharged." We stratified physicians by age, gender, residency location,
      and years since medical school. We controlled for patient- and hospital-related
      factors including age, gender, race, insurance status, daily ED volume, and lab
      values. RESULTS: Of 4,577 patients with documented dispositions, 3,252 (70.9%)
      were either admitted to the hospital or into observation (in an ED observation
      unit or in the hospital), while 1,333 (29.1%) were discharged. Median number of
      patients per physician was 132 (interquartile range 89-172). Average admission
      rate was 73.7+/-9.5% ranging from 54% to 96%. Of the 3,252 admissions, 2,638
      (81.1%) were to observation. There was significant variation in the admission
      rate at the individual physician level with adjusted odds ratio ranging from 0.42
      to 5.8 as compared to the average admission. Among physicians' characteristics,
      years elapsed since finishing medical school demonstrated a trend towards
      association with a higher admission probability. CONCLUSION: There is substantial
      variation among physicians in the management of patients presenting with chest
      pain, with physician experience playing a role.

PMID- 28611879
TI  - Pitfalls in Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome in Low-Risk
      Chest Pain.
AB  - Less than half of patients with a chest pain history indicative of acute coronary
      syndrome have a diagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG) on initial presentation to the
      emergency department. The physician must dissect the ECG for elusive, but
      perilous, characteristics that are often missed by machine analysis. ST
      depression is interpreted and often suggestive of ischemia; however, when
      exclusive to leads V1-V3 with concomitant tall R waves and upright T waves, a
      posterior infarction should first and foremost be suspected. Likewise, diffuse ST
      depression with elevation in aVR should raise concern for left main- or triple
      vessel disease and, as with the aforementioned, these ECG findings are grounds
      for acute reperfusion therapy. Even in isolation, certain electrocardiographic
      findings can suggest danger. Such is true of the lone T-wave inversion in aVL,
      known to precede an inferior myocardial infarction. Similarly, something as
      ordinary as an upright and tall T wave or a biphasic T wave can be the only
      marker of ischemia. ECG abnormalities, however subtle, should give pause and
      merit careful inspection since misinterpretation occurs in 20-40% of misdiagnosed
      myocardial infarctions.

PMID- 28611881
TI  - Screening for Victims of Sex Trafficking in the Emergency Department: A Pilot
      Program.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of sex trafficking
      victims live in the United States. Several screening tools for healthcare
      professionals to identify sex trafficking victims have been proposed, but the
      effectiveness of these tools in the emergency department (ED) remains unclear.
      Our primary objective in this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a
      screening survey to identify adult victims of sex trafficking in the ED. We also
      compared the sensitivity of emergency physician concern and a screening survey
      for identifying sex trafficking victims in the ED and determined the most
      effective question(s) for identifying adult victims of sex trafficking. METHODS:
      We enrolled a convenience sample of medically stable female ED patients, age 18
      40 years. Patients completed a 14-question survey. Physician concern for sex
      trafficking was documented prior to informing the physician of the survey
      results. A "yes" answer to any question or physician concern was considered a
      positive screen, and the patient was offered social work consultation. We defined
      a "true positive" as a patient admission for or social work documentation of sex
      trafficking. Demographic and clinical information were collected from the
      electronic medical record. RESULTS: We enrolled 143 patients, and of those 39
      (27%, 95% confidence interval [CI] [20%-35%]) screened positive, including 10
      (25%, 95% CI [13%-41%]) ultimately identified as victims of sex trafficking.
      Sensitivity of the screening survey (100%, 95% CI [74%-100%]) was better than
      physician concern (40%, 95% CI [12%-74%]) for identifying victims of sex
      trafficking, difference 60%, 95% CI [30%-90%]. Physician specificity (91%, 95% CI
      [85%-95%]), however, was slightly better than the screening survey (78%, 95% CI
      [70%-85%]), difference 13%, 95% CI [4%-21%]. All 10 (100%, 95%CI [74%-100%])
      "true positive" cases answered "yes" to the screening question regarding abuse.
      CONCLUSION: Identifying adult victims of sex trafficking in the ED is feasible. A
      screening survey appears to have greater sensitivity than physician concern, and
      a single screening question may be sufficient to identify all adult victims of
      sex trafficking in the ED.

PMID- 28611880
TI  - Optimizing the Use of a Precious Resource: The Role of Emergency Physicians in a
      Humanitarian Crisis.
AB  - Emergency physicians (EP) are uniquely suited to provide care in crises as a
      result of their broad training, ability to work quickly and effectively in high
      pressure, austere settings, and their inherent flexibility. While emergency
      medicine training is helpful to support the needs of crisis-affected and
      displaced populations, it is not in itself sufficient. In this article we review
      what an EP should carefully consider prior to deployment.

PMID- 28611882
TI  - Difference in R01 Grant Funding Among Osteopathic and Allopathic Emergency
      Physicians over the Last Decade.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Receiving an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
      is regarded as a major accomplishment for the physician researcher and can be
      used as a means of scholarly activity for core faculty in emergency medicine
      (EM). However, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires
      that a grant must be obtained for it to count towards a core faculty member's
      scholarly activity, while the American Osteopathic Association states that an
      application for a grant would qualify for scholarly activity whether it is
      received or not. The aim of the study was to determine if a medical degree
      disparity exists between those who successfully receive an EM R01 grant and those
      who do not, and to determine the publication characteristics of those recipients.
      METHODS: We queried the NIH RePORTER search engine for those physicians who
      received an R01 grant in EM. Degree designation was then determined for each
      grant recipient based on a web-based search involving the recipient's name and
      the location where the grant was awarded. The grant recipient was then queried
      through PubMed central for the total number of publications published in the
      decade prior to receiving the grant. RESULTS: We noted a total of 264 R01 grant
      recipients during the study period; of those who received the award, 78.03% were
      allopathic physicians. No osteopathic physician had received an R01 grant in EM
      over the past 10 years. Of those allopathic physicians who received the grant,
      44.17% held a dual degree. Allopathic physicians had an average of 48.05
      publications over the 10 years prior to grant receipt and those with a dual
      degree had 51.62 publications. CONCLUSION: Allopathic physicians comprise the
      majority of those who have received an R01 grant in EM over the last decade.
      These physicians typically have numerous prior publications and an advanced
      degree.

PMID- 28611883
TI  - Altitude-Related Change in Endotracheal Tube Cuff Pressures in Helicopter EMS.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Over-inflation of endotracheal tube (ETT) cuffs has the potential
      to lead to scarring and stenosis of the trachea.1, 2,3, 4 The air inside an ETT
      cuff is subject to expansion as atmospheric pressure decreases, as happens with
      an increase in altitude. Emergency medical services helicopters are not
      pressurized, thereby providing a good environment for studying the effects of
      altitude changes ETT cuff pressures. This study aims to explore the relationship
      between altitude and ETT cuff pressures in a helicopter air-medical transport
      program. METHODS: ETT cuffs were initially inflated in a nonstandardized manner
      and then adjusted to a pressure of 25 cmH2O. The pressure was again measured when
      the helicopter reached maximum altitude. A final pressure was recorded when the
      helicopter landed at the receiving facility. RESULTS: We enrolled 60 subjects in
      the study. The mean for initial tube cuff pressures was 70 cmH2O. Maximum
      altitude for the program ranged from 1,000-3,000 feet above sea level, with a
      change in altitude from 800-2,480 feet. Mean cuff pressure at altitude was 36.52
      +/- 8.56 cmH2O. Despite the significant change in cuff pressure at maximum
      altitude, there was no relationship found between the maximum altitude and the
      cuff pressures measured. CONCLUSION: Our study failed to demonstrate the expected
      linear relationship between ETT cuff pressures and the maximum altitude achieved
      during typical air-medical transportation in our system. At altitudes less than
      3,000 feet above sea level, the effect of altitude change on ETT pressure is
      minimal and does not require a change in practice to saline-filled cuffs.

PMID- 28611884
TI  - Emergency Medical Services Professionals' Attitudes About Community Paramedic
      Programs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The number of community paramedic (CP) programs has expanded to
      mitigate the impact of increased patient usage on emergency services. However, it
      has not been determined to what extent emergency medical services (EMS)
      professionals would be willing to participate in this model of care. With this
      project, we sought to evaluate the perceptions of EMS professionals toward the
      concept of a CP program. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional study method to
      evaluate the perceptions of participating EMS professionals with regard to their
      understanding of and willingness to participate in a CP program. Approximately
      350 licensed EMS professionals currently working for an EMS service that provides
      coverage to four states (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma) were invited
      to participate in an electronic survey regarding their perceptions toward a CP
      program. We analyzed interval data using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis
      one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation as appropriate.
      Multivariate logistic regression was performed to examine the impact of
      participant characteristics on their willingness to perform CP duties.
      Statistical significance was established at p <= 0.05. RESULTS: Of the 350 EMS
      professionals receiving an invitation, 283 (81%) participated. Of those
      participants, 165 (70%) indicated that they understood what a CP program entails.
      One hundred thirty-five (58%) stated they were likely to attend additional
      education in order to become a CP, 152 (66%) were willing to perform CP duties,
      and 175 (75%) felt that their respective communities would be in favor of a local
      CP program. Using logistic regression with regard to willingness to perform CP
      duties, we found that females were more willing than males (OR = 4.65; p = 0.03)
      and that those participants without any perceived time on shift to commit to CP
      duties were less willing than those who believed their work shifts could
      accommodate additional duties (OR = 0.20; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The majority of
      EMS professionals in this study believe they understand CP programs and perceive
      that their communities want them to provide CP-level care. While fewer in number,
      most are willing to attend additional CP education and/or are willing to perform
      CP duties.

PMID- 28611885
TI  - American Association for Emergency Psychiatry Task Force on Medical Clearance of
      Adult Psychiatric Patients. Part II: Controversies over Medical Assessment, and
      Consensus Recommendations.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The emergency medical evaluation of psychiatric patients presenting
      to United States emergency departments (ED), usually termed "medical clearance,"
      often varies between EDs. A task force of the American Association for Emergency
      Psychiatry (AAEP), consisting of physicians from emergency medicine, physicians
      from psychiatry and a psychologist, was convened to form consensus
      recommendations for the medical evaluation of psychiatric patients presenting to
      U.S.EDs. METHODS: The task force reviewed existing literature on the topic of
      medical evaluation of psychiatric patients in the ED and then combined this with
      expert consensus. Consensus was achieved by group discussion as well as iterative
      revisions of the written document. The document was reviewed and approved by the
      AAEP Board of Directors. RESULTS: Eight recommendations were formulated. These
      recommendations cover various topics in emergency medical examination of
      psychiatric patients, including goals of medical screening in the ED, the
      identification of patients at low risk for co-existing medical disease, key
      elements in the ED evaluation of psychiatric patients including those with
      cognitive disorders, specific language replacing the term "medical clearance,"
      and the need for better science in this area. CONCLUSION: The evidence indicates
      that a thorough history and physical examination, including vital signs and
      mental status examination, are the minimum necessary elements in the evaluation
      of psychiatric patients. With respect to laboratory testing, the picture is less
      clear and much more controversial.

PMID- 28611886
TI  - Managing Acute Behavioural Disturbances in the Emergency Department Using the
      Environment, Policies and Practices: A Systematic Review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Effective strategies for managing acute behavioural disturbances
      (ABDs) within emergency departments (EDs) are needed given their rising
      occurrence and negative impact on safety, psychological wellbeing, and staff
      turnover. Non-pharmacological interventions for ABD management generally fall
      into four categories: environmental modifications; policies; practice changes;
      and education. Our objective was to systematically review the efficacy of
      strategies for ABD management within EDs that involved changes to environment,
      architecture, policy and practice. METHODS: We performed systematic searches of
      CINAHL Plus with Full Text, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and EMBASE, as well as reference
      lists of relevant review articles to identify relevant studies published between
      January 1985 - April 2016. We included studies written in English, which reported
      management of behavioural disturbances in adults associated with the ED through
      the use of environmental modifiers (including seclusion, restraint, specialised
      rooms, architectural changes), policy, and practice-based interventions excepting
      education-only interventions. Efficacy outcomes of interest included incidence,
      severity, and duration of ABD, incidence of injuries, staff absenteeism,
      restraint use, restraint duration, and staff and patient perceptions. Two
      reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts, and assessed the relevancy
      and eligibility of studies based on full-text articles. Two authors independently
      appraised included studies. A narrative synthesis of findings was undertaken.
      RESULTS: Studies reporting interventions for managing ABDs within the ED are
      limited in number and quality. The level of evidence for efficacy is low,
      requiring caution in conclusions. While there is preliminary evidence for
      environmental change in the form of specialised behavioural rooms, security
      upgrades and ED modifications, these are not supported by evidence from
      controlled studies. Many of these "common sense" environmental changes
      recommended in many guidelines have been widely implemented in EDs. CONCLUSION:
      There is an unambiguous gap in the literature regarding the efficacy of
      interventions for ABD management in EDs involving environmental, policy or
      practice-based changes. With growing demand on EDs, and with increasing numbers
      of ABDs, identification of robust evidence-based interventions for safe and
      effective ABD management is vital.

PMID- 28611887
TI  - Derivation and Validation of The Prehospital Difficult Airway IdentificationTool
      (PreDAIT): A Predictive Model for Difficult Intubation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Endotracheal intubation (ETI) in the prehospital setting poses
      unique challenges where multiple ETI attempts are associated with adverse patient
      outcomes. Early identification of difficult ETI cases will allow providers to
      tailor airway-management efforts to minimize complications associated with ETI.
      We sought to derive and validate a prehospital difficult airway identification
      tool based on predictors of difficult ETI in other settings. METHODS: We
      prospectively collected patient and airway data on all airway attempts from 16
      Advanced Life Support (ALS) ground emergency medical services (EMS) agencies from
      January 2011 to October 2014. Cases that required more than two ETI attempts and
      cases where an alternative airway strategy (e.g. supraglottic airway) was
      employed after one unsuccessful ETI attempt were categorized as "difficult." We
      used a random allocation sequence to split the data into derivation and
      validation subsets. Using backward elimination, factors with a p<0.1 were
      included in the multivariable regression for the derivation cohort and then
      tested in the validation cohort. We used this model to determine the area under
      the curve (AUC), and the sensitivity and specificity for each cut point in both
      the derivation and validation cohorts. RESULTS: We collected data on 1,102 cases
      with 568 in the derivation set (155 difficult cases; 27%) and 534 in the
      validation set (135 difficult cases; 25%). Of the collected variables, five
      factors were predictive of difficult ETI in the derivation model (adjusted odds
      ratio, 95% confidence interval [CI]): Glasgow coma score [GCS] >3 (2.15, 1.19
      3.88), limited neck movement (2.24, 1.28-3.93), trismus/jaw clenched (2.24, 1.09
      4.6), inability to palpate the landmarks of the neck (5.92, 2.77-12.66), and
      fluid in the airway such as blood or emesis (2.25, 1.51-3.36). This was the most
      parsimonious model and exhibited good fit (Hosmer-Lemeshow test p = 0.167) with
      an AUC of 0.68 (95% CI [0.64-0.73]). When applied to the validation set, the
      model had an AUC of 0.63 (0.58-0.68) with high specificity for identifying
      difficult ETI if >=2 factors were present (87.7% (95% CI [84.1-90.8])).
      CONCLUSION: We have developed a simple tool using five factors that may aid
      prehospital providers in the identification of difficult ETI.

PMID- 28611888
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Tranexamic Acid in Prehospital Traumatic Hemorrhagic
      Shock: Outcomes of the Cal-PAT Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The California Prehospital Antifibrinolytic Therapy (Cal-PAT) study
      seeks to assess the safety and impact on patient mortality of tranexamic acid
      (TXA) administration in cases of trauma-induced hemorrhagic shock. The current
      study further aimed to assess the feasibility of prehospital TXA administration
      by paramedics within the framework of North American emergency medicine standards
      and protocols. METHODS: This is an ongoing multi-centered, prospective,
      observational cohort study with a retrospective chart-review comparison. Trauma
      patients identified in the prehospital setting with signs of hemorrhagic shock by
      first responders were administered one gram of TXA followed by an optional second
      one-gram dose upon arrival to the hospital, if the patient still met inclusion
      criteria. Patients administered TXA make up the prehospital intervention group.
      Control group patients met the same inclusion criteria as TXA candidates and were
      matched with the prehospital intervention patients based on mechanism of injury,
      injury severity score, and age. The primary outcomes were mortality, measured at
      24 hours, 48 hours, and 28 days. Secondary outcomes measured included the total
      blood products transfused and any known adverse events associated with TXA
      administration. RESULTS: We included 128 patients in the prehospital intervention
      group and 125 in the control group. Although not statistically significant, the
      prehospital intervention group trended toward a lower 24-hour mortality rate
      (3.9% vs 7.2% for intervention and control, respectively, p=0.25), 48-hour
      mortality rate (6.3% vs 7.2% for intervention and control, respectively, p=0.76),
      and 28-day mortality rate (6.3% vs 10.4% for intervention and control,
      respectively, p=0.23). There was no significant difference observed in known
      adverse events associated with TXA administration in the prehospital intervention
      group and control group. A reduction in total blood product usage was observed
      following the administration of TXA (control: 6.95 units; intervention: 4.09
      units; p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Preliminary evidence from the Cal-PAT study suggests
      that TXA administration may be safe in the prehospital setting with no
      significant change in adverse events observed and an associated decreased use of
      blood products in cases of trauma-induced hemorrhagic shock. Given the current
      sample size, a statistically significant decrease in mortality was not observed.
      Additionally, this study demonstrates that it may be feasible for paramedics to
      identify and safely administer TXA in the prehospital setting.

PMID- 28611889
TI  - Evaluating the Laboratory Risk Indicator to Differentiate Cellulitis from
      Necrotizing Fasciitis in the Emergency Department.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is an uncommon but rapidly progressive
      infection that results in gross morbidity and mortality if not treated in its
      early stages. The Laboratory Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis (LRINEC)
      score is used to distinguish NF from other soft tissue infections such as
      cellulitis or abscess. This study analyzed the ability of the LRINEC score to
      accurately rule out NF in patients who were confirmed to have cellulitis, as well
      as the capability to differentiate cellulitis from NF. METHODS: This was a 10
      year retrospective chart-review study that included emergency department (ED)
      patients >=18 years old with a diagnosis of cellulitis or NF. We calculated a
      LRINEC score ranging from 0-13 for each patient with all pertinent laboratory
      values. Three categories were developed per the original LRINEC score guidelines
      denoting NF risk stratification: high risk (LRINEC score >=8), moderate risk
      (LRINEC score 6-7), and low risk (LRINEC score <=5). All cases missing laboratory
      values were due to the absence of a C-reactive protein (CRP) value. Since the
      score for a negative or positive CRP value for the LRINEC score was 0 or 4
      respectively, a LRINEC score of 0 or 1 without a CRP value would have placed the
      patient in the "low risk" group and a LRINEC score of 8 or greater without CRP
      value would have placed the patient in the "high risk" group. These patients
      missing CRP values were added to these respective groups. RESULTS: Among the 948
      ED patients with cellulitis, more than one-tenth (10.7%, n=102 of 948) were
      moderate or high risk for NF based on LRINEC score. Of the 135 ED patients with a
      diagnosis of NF, 22 patients had valid CRP laboratory values and LRINEC scores
      were calculated. Among the other 113 patients without CRP values, six patients
      had a LRINEC score >= 8, and 19 patients had a LRINEC score <= 1. Thus, a total
      of 47 patients were further classified based on LRINEC score without a CRP value.
      More than half of the NF group (63.8%, n=30 of 47) had a low risk based on LRINEC
      <=5. Moreover, LRINEC appeared to perform better in the diabetes population than
      in the non-diabetes population. CONCLUSION: The LRINEC score may not be an
      accurate tool for NF risk stratification and differentiation between cellulitis
      and NF in the ED setting. This decision instrument demonstrated a high false
      positive rate when determining NF risk stratification in confirmed cases of
      cellulitis and a high false negative rate in cases of confirmed NF.

PMID- 28611890
TI  - Index to Predict In-hospital Mortality in Older Adults after Non-traumatic
      Emergency Department Intubations.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Our goal was to develop and validate an index to predict in
      hospital mortality in older adults after non-traumatic emergency department (ED)
      intubations. METHODS: We used Vizient administrative data from hospitalizations
      of 22,374 adults >=75 years who underwent non-traumatic ED intubation from 2008
      2015 at nearly 300 U.S. hospitals to develop and validate an index to predict in
      hospital mortality. We randomly selected one half of participants for the
      development cohort and one half for the validation cohort. Considering 25
      potential predictors, we developed a multivariable logistic regression model
      using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method to determine factors
      associated with in-hospital mortality. We calculated risk scores using points
      derived from the final model's beta coefficients. To evaluate calibration and
      discrimination of the final model, we used Hosmer-Lemeshow chi-square test and
      receiver-operating characteristic analysis and compared mortality by risk groups
      in the development and validation cohorts. RESULTS: Death during the index
      hospitalization occurred in 40% of cases. The final model included six variables:
      history of myocardial infarction, history of cerebrovascular disease, history of
      metastatic cancer, age, admission diagnosis of sepsis, and admission diagnosis of
      stroke/ intracranial hemorrhage. Those with low-risk scores (<6) had 31% risk of
      in-hospital mortality while those with high-risk scores (>10) had 58% risk of in
      hospital mortality. The Hosmer-Lemeshow chi-square of the model was 6.47
      (p=0.09), and the c-statistic was 0.62 in the validation cohort. CONCLUSION: The
      model may be useful in identifying older adults at high risk of death after ED
      intubation.

PMID- 28611891
TI  - A User's Guide to the ALiEM Emergency Medicine Match Advice Web Series.
AB  - ALiEM EM Match Advice is a web series hosted on the Academic Life in Emergency
      Medicine website. The intended audience includes senior medical students seeking
      a residency in emergency medicine (EM) and the faculty members who advise them.
      Each episode features a panel of three EM program directors who discuss a
      critical step in the residency application process. This article serves as a
      user's guide to the series, including a timeline for viewing each episode, brief
      summaries of the panel discussions, and reflection questions for discussion
      between students and their faculty advisors.

PMID- 28611892
TI  - Academic Primer Series: Five Key Papers about Study Designs in Medical Education.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A proper understanding of study design is essential to creating
      successful studies. This is also important when reading or peer reviewing
      publications. In this article, we aimed to identify and summarize key papers that
      would be helpful for faculty members interested in learning more about study
      design in medical education research. METHODS: The online discussions of the 2016
      2017 Academic Life in Emergency Medicine Faculty Incubator program included a
      robust and vigorous discussion about education study design, which highlighted a
      number of papers on that topic. We augmented this list of papers with further
      suggestions by expert mentors. Via this process, we created a list of 29 papers
      in total on the topic of medical education study design. After gathering these
      papers, our authorship group engaged in a modified Delphi approach to build
      consensus on the papers that were most valuable for the understanding of proper
      study design in medical education. RESULTS: We selected the top five most highly
      rated papers on the topic domain of study design as determined by our study
      group. We subsequently summarized these papers with respect to their relevance to
      junior faculty members and to faculty developers. CONCLUSION: This article
      summarizes five key papers addressing study design in medical education with
      discussions and applications for junior faculty members and faculty developers.
      These papers provide a basis upon which junior faculty members might build for
      developing and analyzing studies.

PMID- 28611893
TI  - Academic Primer Series: Key Papers About Competency-Based Medical Education.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Competency-based medical education (CBME) presents a paradigm shift
      in medical training. This outcome-based education movement has triggered
      substantive changes across the globe. Since this transition is only beginning,
      many faculty members may not have experience with CBME nor a solid foundation in
      the grounding literature. We identify and summarize key papers to help faculty
      members learn more about CBME. METHODS: Based on the online discussions of the
      2016-2017 ALiEM Faculty Incubator program, a series of papers on the topic of
      CBME was developed. Augmenting this list with suggestions by a guest expert and
      by an open call on Twitter for other important papers, we were able to generate a
      list of 21 papers in total. Subsequently, we used a modified Delphi study
      methodology to narrow the list to key papers that describe the importance and
      significance for educators interested in learning about CBME. To determine the
      most impactful papers, the mixed junior and senior faculty authorship group used
      three-round voting methodology based upon the Delphi method. RESULTS: Summaries
      of the five most highly rated papers on the topic of CBME, as determined by this
      modified Delphi approach, are presented in this paper. Major themes include a
      definition of core CBME themes, CBME principles to consider in the design of
      curricula, a history of the development of the CBME movement, and a rationale for
      changes to accreditation with CBME. The application of the study findings to
      junior faculty and faculty developers is discussed. CONCLUSION: We present five
      key papers on CBME that junior faculty members and faculty experts identified as
      essential to faculty development. These papers are a mix of foundational and
      explanatory papers that may provide a basis from which junior faculty members may
      build upon as they help to implement CBME programs.

PMID- 28611894
TI  - Academic Primer Series: Key Papers About Peer Review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peer review, a cornerstone of academia, promotes rigor and
      relevance in scientific publishing. As educators are encouraged to adopt a more
      scholarly approach to medical education, peer review is becoming increasingly
      important. Junior educators both receive the reviews of their peers, and are also
      asked to participate as reviewers themselves. As such, it is imperative for
      junior clinician educators to be well-versed in the art of peer reviewing their
      colleagues' work. In this article, our goal was to identify and summarize key
      papers that may be helpful for faculty members interested in learning more about
      the peer-review process and how to improve their reviewing skills. METHODS: The
      online discussions of the 2016-17 Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM)
      Faculty Incubator program included a robust discussion about peer review, which
      highlighted a number of papers on that topic. We sought to augment this list with
      further suggestions by guest experts and by an open call on Twitter for other
      important papers. Via this process, we created a list of 24 total papers on the
      topic of peer review. After gathering these papers, our authorship group engaged
      in a consensus-building process incorporating Delphi methods to identify the
      papers that best described peer review, and also highlighted important tips for
      new reviewers. RESULTS: We found and reviewed 24 papers. In our results section,
      we present our authorship group's top five most highly rated papers on the topic
      of peer review. We also summarize these papers with respect to their relevance to
      junior faculty members and to faculty developers. CONCLUSION: We present five key
      papers on peer review that can be used for faculty development for novice writers
      and reviewers. These papers represent a mix of foundational and explanatory
      papers that may provide some basis from which junior faculty members might build
      upon as they both undergo the peer-review process and act as reviewers in turn.

PMID- 28611895
TI  - Academic Primer Series: Key Papers About Teaching with Technology.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Modern learners have immediate, unlimited access to a wide variety
      of online resources. To appeal to this current generation of learners, educators
      must embrace the use of technology. However, educators must balance newer, novel
      technologies with traditional methods to achieve the best learning outcomes.
      Therefore, we aimed to review several papers useful for faculty members wishing
      to incorporate technology into instructional design. METHODS: We identified a
      broad list of papers relevant to teaching and learning with technology within the
      online discussions of the Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) Faculty
      Incubator. This list was augmented with suggestions by a guest expert (BT) and an
      open call on Twitter (tagged with the #meded and #FOAMed hashtags) yielding 24
      papers. We then conducted a modified three-round Delphi process within the
      authorship group, including junior and senior faculty members, to identify the
      most impactful papers. RESULTS: We pared the list of 24 papers to five that were
      most highly rated. Two were research papers and three were commentaries or
      editorials. The authorship group reviewed and summarized these papers with
      specific consideration to their value to junior educators and faculty developers.
      CONCLUSION: This is a key reading list for junior faculty members and faculty
      developers interested in teaching with technology. The commentary contextualizes
      the importance of these papers for medical educators, to optimize use of
      technology in their teaching or incorporate into faculty development.

PMID- 28611896
TI  - Pain Perception in Latino vs. Caucasian and Male vs. Female Patients: Is There
      Really a Difference?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pain is a common emergency department (ED) complaint. It is
      important to understand the differences in pain perception among different ethnic
      and demographic populations. METHODS: We applied a standardized painful stimulus
      to Caucasian and Latino adult patients to determine whether the level of pain
      reported differed depending on ethnicity (N=100; 50 Caucasian [C], 50 Latino [L]
      patients) and gender (N=100; 59 female, 41 male). Patients had an initial pain
      score of 0 or 1. A blood pressure cuff was inflated 20 mm HG above the patient's
      systolic blood pressure and held for three minutes. Pain scores, using both a 10
      cm visual analog scale (VAS) and a five-point Likert scale, were taken at the
      point of maximal stimulus (2 minutes 50 seconds after inflation), and at one- and
      two-minute intervals post deflation. RESULTS: There was a statistically
      significant difference between the Likert scale scores of Caucasian and Latino
      patients at 2min 50sec (mean rank: 4.35 [C] vs. 5.75 [L], p<0.01), but not on the
      VAS (mean value: 2.94 [C] vs. 3.46 [L], p=0.255). Women had a higher perception
      of pain than males at 2min 50sec on the VAS (mean value: 3.86 [F] vs. 2.24 [M],
      p<0.0001), and the Likert scale (mean rank: 5.63 [F] vs. 4.21 [M], p<0.01).
      CONCLUSION: Latinos and women report greater pain with a standardized pain
      stimulus as compared to Caucasians and men.

PMID- 28611897
TI  - Feasibility of an ED-to-Home Intervention to Engage Patients: A Mixed-Methods
      Investigation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Older, chronically ill patients with limited health literacy are
      often under-engaged in managing their health and turn to the emergency department
      (ED) for healthcare needs. We tested the impact of an ED-initiated coaching
      intervention on patient engagement and follow-up doctor visits in this high-risk
      population. We also explored patients' care-seeking decisions. METHODS: We
      conducted a mixed-methods study including a randomized controlled trial and in
      depth interviews in two EDs in northern Florida. Participants were chronically
      ill older ED patients with limited health literacy and Medicare as a payer
      source. Patients were assigned to an evidence-based coaching intervention (n= 35)
      or usual post-ED care (n= 34). Qualitative interviews (n=9) explored patients'
      reasons for ED use. We assessed average between-group differences in patient
      engagement over time with the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) tool, using
      logistic regression and a difference-in-difference approach. Between-group
      differences in follow-up doctor visits were determined. We analyzed qualitative
      data using open coding and thematic analysis. RESULTS: PAM scores fell in both
      groups after the ED visit but fell significantly more in "usual care" (average
      decline -4.64) than "intervention" participants (average decline -2.77)
      (beta=1.87, p=0.043). There were no between-group differences in doctor visits.
      Patients described well-informed reasons for ED visits including onset and
      severity of symptoms, lack of timely provider access, and immediate and
      comprehensive ED care. CONCLUSION: The coaching intervention significantly
      reduced declines in patient engagement observed after usual post-ED care.
      Patients reported well-informed reasons for ED use and will likely continue to
      make ED visits unless strategies, such as ED-initiated coaching, are implemented
      to help vulnerable patients better manage their health and healthcare.

PMID- 28611898
TI  - Utility of the History and Physical Examination in the Detection of Acute
      Coronary Syndromes in Emergency Department Patients.
AB  - Chest pain accounts for approximately 6% of all emergency department (ED) visits
      and is the most common reason for emergency hospital admission. One of the most
      serious diagnoses emergency physicians must consider is acute coronary syndrome
      (ACS). This is both common and serious, as ischemic heart disease remains the
      single biggest cause of death in the western world. The history and physical
      examination are cornerstones of our diagnostic approach in this patient group.
      Their importance is emphasized in guidelines, but there is little evidence to
      support their supposed association. The purpose of this article was to summarize
      the findings of recent investigations regarding the ability of various components
      of the history and physical examination to identify which patients presenting to
      the ED with chest pain require further investigation for possible ACS. Previous
      studies have consistently identified a number of factors that increase the
      probability of ACS. These include radiation of the pain, aggravation of the pain
      by exertion, vomiting, and diaphoresis. Traditional cardiac risk factors
      identified by the Framingham Heart Study are of limited diagnostic utility in the
      ED. Clinician gestalt has very low predictive ability, even in patients with a
      non-diagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG), and gestalt does not seem to be enhanced
      appreciably by clinical experience. The history and physical alone are unable to
      reduce a patient's risk of ACS to a generally acceptable level (<1%). Ultimately,
      our review of the evidence clearly demonstrates that "atypical" symptoms cannot
      rule out ACS, while "typical" symptoms cannot rule it in. Therefore, if a patient
      has symptoms that are compatible with ACS and an alternative cause cannot be
      identified, clinicians must strongly consider the need for further investigation
      with ECG and troponin measurement.

PMID- 28611899
TI  - Perspectives on Home-based Healthcare as an Alternative to Hospital Admission
      After Emergency Treatment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study objective was to explore emergency physicians' (EP)
      awareness, willingness, and prior experience regarding transitioning patients to
      home-based healthcare following emergency department (ED) evaluation and
      treatment; and to explore patient selection criteria, processes, and services
      that would facilitate use of home-based healthcare as an alternative to
      hospitalization. METHODS: We provided a five-question survey to 52 EPs, gauging
      previous experience referring patients to home-based healthcare, patient
      selection, and motivators and challenges when considering home-based options as
      an alternative to admission. In addition, we conducted three focus groups and
      four interviews. RESULTS: Of participating EPs, 92% completed the survey, 38%
      reported ordering home-based healthcare from the ED as an alternative to
      admission, 90% ranked cellulitis among the top three medical conditions for home
      based healthcare, 90% ranked "reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and observation
      stays" among their top three perceived motivators for using home-based care, and
      77% ranked "no existing process in place to refer to home-based care" among their
      top three perceived barriers. Focus group and interview themes included the need
      for alternatives to admission; the longer-term benefits of home-based healthcare;
      the need for streamlined transition processes; and the need for highly qualified
      home-care staff capable of responding the same day or within 24 hours.
      CONCLUSION: The study found that EPs are receptive to referring patients for home
      based healthcare following ED treatment and believe people with certain diagnoses
      are likely to benefit, with the dominant barrier being the absence of an
      efficient referral process.

PMID- 28611900
TI  - Replacement of Dislodged Gastrostomy Tubes After Stoma Dilation in the Pediatric
      Emergency Department.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A dislodged gastrostomy tube (GT) is a common complaint that
      requires evaluation in the pediatric emergency department (ED) and, on occasion,
      will require stoma dilation to successfully replace the GT. The objective of this
      study was to describe the frequency that stoma dilation is required, the success
      rate of replacement, complications encountered, and the techniques used to
      confirm placement of the GT after dilation. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective
      medical record review of children 0-18 years who presented to the pediatric ED
      from February 2013 through February 2015 with a dislodged GT that required stoma
      dilation by pediatric emergency physicians with serially increasing Foley
      catheter sizes prior to successful placement of the GT. RESULTS: We reviewed a
      total of 302 encounters in 215 patients, with 97 (32%) of the encounters
      requiring stoma dilation prior to replacing a GT. The median amount of dilation
      was 2 French between the initial Foley catheter size and the final GT size. There
      was a single complication of a mal-positioned balloon that was identified at the
      index visit. No delayed complications were encountered. We performed confirmation
      of placement in all patients. The two most common forms of confirmation were
      aspiration of gastric contents (56/97 [58%]) followed by contrast radiograph in
      39 (40%). CONCLUSION: The practice of serial dilation of a gastrostomy stoma site
      to allow successful replacement of a gastrostomy tube in pediatric patients who
      present to the ED with a dislodged gastrostomy tube is generally successful and
      without increased complication. All patients received at least one form of
      confirmation for appropriate GT placement with the most common being aspiration
      of gastric contents.

PMID- 28611901
TI  - A Comparison of Urolithiasis in the Presence and Absence of Microscopic Hematuria
      in the Emergency Department.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Urolithiasis is a common medical condition that accounts for a
      large number of emergency department (ED) visits each year and contributes
      significantly to annual healthcare costs. Urinalysis is an important screening
      test for patients presenting with symptoms suspicious for urolithiasis. At
      present there is a paucity of medical literature examining the characteristics of
      ureteral stones in patients who have microscopic hematuria on urinalysis versus
      those who do not. The purpose of this study was to examine mean ureteral stone
      size and its relationship to the incidence of clinically significant
      hydronephrosis in patients with and without microscopic hematuria. METHODS: This
      is a retrospective chart review of patient visits to a single, tertiary academic
      medical center ED between July 1, 2008, and August 1, 2013, of patients who
      underwent non-contrast computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis and
      urinalysis. For patient visits meeting inclusion criteria, we compared mean stone
      size and the rate of moderate-to-severe hydronephrosis found on imaging in
      patients with and without microscopic hematuria on urinalysis. RESULTS: Out of a
      total of 2,370 patient visits 393 (16.6%) met inclusion criteria. Of those, 321
      (82%) had microscopic hematuria present on urinalysis. Patient visits without
      microscopic hematuria had a higher rate of moderate-to-severe hydronephrosis
      (42%), when compared to patients with microscopic hematuria present (25%,
      p=.005). Mean ureteral stone size among patient visits without microscopic
      hematuria was 5.7 mm; it was 4.7 mm for those patients with microscopic hematuria
      (p=.09). For ureteral stones 5 mm or larger, the incidence of moderate-to-severe
      hydronephrosis was 49%, whereas for ureteral calculi less than 5 mm in size, the
      incidence of moderate-to-severe hydronephrosis was 14% (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION:
      Patients visiting the ED with single-stone ureterolithiasis without microscopic
      hematuria on urinalysis could be at increased risk of having moderate-to-severe
      hydronephrosis compared to similar patients presenting with microscopic hematuria
      on urinalysis. Although the presence of hematuria on urinalysis is a moderately
      sensitive screening test for urolithiasis, these results suggest patients without
      hematuria tend to have more clinically significant ureteral calculi, making their
      detection more important. Clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion
      for urolithiasis, even in the absence of hematuria, since ureteral stones in
      these patients were found to be associated with a higher incidence of obstructive
      uropathy.

PMID- 28611902
TI  - The Current Role of Stem Cells in Orthopaedic Surgery.
AB  - Basic science and experimental research on stem cells has increased exponentially
      in the last decade. Our present knowledge about stem cell biology is better than
      ever before. This new paradigm shift in research has been reflected in the field
      of orthopaedic surgery. Various experimental models have suggested a potential
      application of stem cells for different orthopaedic conditions, and early
      clinical results of stem cell use have been encouraging. These cells can be
      easily isolated, processed and made available for clinical use. From healing of
      bone defects caused by trauma, tumor or infection to cartilage defects, nerve,
      tendon and ligament healing, stem cell use has the potential to revolutionize
      orthopaedic practice. The purpose of this article is to orient a general
      orthopaedic surgeon towards the current use and clinical applications of stem
      cell based therapy in orthopaedics and to provide a complete overview of the
      clinical advances in this field.

PMID- 28611904
TI  - The Outcomes of Selective Nerve Root Block for Disc Induced Lumbar Radiculopathy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Use of Selective Nerve Root Block (SNRB) in lumbar region to
      relieve radicular pain along the course of a particular nerve is being practiced
      in the recent past. We observed and tabulated therapeutic outcomes of this
      procedure in management of radiculopathy induced by a prolapsed disc affecting a
      particular lumbar nerve root. METHODS: 40 patients with various grades of disc
      prolapse affecting a particular lumbar nerve root presenting with chronic
      radicular pain were identified irrespective of age and sex. All were injected
      with a combination of 40 mg of Methylprednisolone based suspension with local
      anaesthetic over the affected nerve root and results were analyzed. RESULTS:
      Those graded mild had 4.3 months relief and those graded moderate had 2.5 months
      relief. Those with severe disc prolapse had no relief except for the immediate
      postprocedural relief. Only 20% patients had relief up to 6 months. CONCLUSION:
      Effect of SNRB is typically short acting in majority of patients and recurrence
      is expected. It creates a window period with reduced pain but of varied intervals
      depending on the pathology. It did not alter the prognosis in those with severe
      disease where surgery is well indicated. Level of Evidence - Level 4.

PMID- 28611905
TI  - Functional Outcome With Percutaneous Ilio-sacral Screw Fixation For Posterior
      Pelvic Ring Injuries In Patients Involved In Heavy Manual Laboring.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Unstable posterior pelvic ring injuries are best treated with
      operative methods due to better post-op functional score. Our patient cohort was
      involved in heavy manual laboring frequently required ground level work in their
      activities of daily living. There are very few outcome studies dealing
      exclusively with such patients. MATERIALS & METHODS: Forty one patients who were
      treated with percutaneous sacroiliac screw fixation under fluoroscopic guidance
      and were followed-up for at least one year were analyzed retrospectively for
      functional outcome using the Majeed score. RESULTS: Twenty one (51.22%) and
      thirteen (31.70%) patients were found to be in excellent and good categories
      respectively and majority of the patients (thirty/73.17%) were able to return to
      their original occupation with or without minor adjustments. CONCLUSION:
      Percutaneous ilio-sacral screw fixation for posterior pelvic unstable injuries is
      an acceptable mode of treatment in patients involved in heavy manual laboring.

PMID- 28611903
TI  - Outcome Determining Factors for displaced Intra-articular Calcaneal Fractures
      treated operatively.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Calcaneal fractures are caused by high energy trauma and mostly are
      intra-articular fractures. Nondisplaced intra-articular calcaneal fracture (IACF)
      can be treated non-operatively. However, displaced intra-articular need to be
      reduced and fixed anatomically to facilitate early ankle rehabilitation and
      minimize functional impairment. This study was done to find out the outcome of
      the IACF patients who underwent operative treatment. METHODS: 62 patients with
      IACF were selected in this study and had been followed up from June 2009 to May
      2013. They were placed into two groups; the operative treated and non-operative
      treated groups. Bilateral ankle lateral view plain radiographs were taken for
      comparison of the Bohler and Gissane angles. Both groups of patients were
      assessed by the Maryland Foot Score (MFS) and the SF-36v2 general health survey
      questionnaire. The ability of the patients to perform activity of daily living
      (ADL) and /or return to work (RTW) was assessed as well. RESULTS: The operative
      treatment group of displaced IACF patients achieved no significant better scores
      in the mean MFS and SF-36v2 mean scores as compared to non operated cases. There
      was no difference in RTW between the 2 groups, but earlier ADL was recorded in
      the operated group. However, this study had found 5 associated factors which
      causes major effect to the patients' outcome to treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The
      patient's compliance with post-operative rehabilitation regimen were found to be
      significantly related with the outcomes.

PMID- 28611906
TI  - Combined Lumbar-Sacral Plexus Block in High Surgical Risk Geriatric Patients
      undergoing Early Hip Fracture Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the postoperative outcome after using combined lumbar and
      sacral plexus block (CLSB), as a sole anesthetic method in hip fracture (HF)
      surgery in highrisk geriatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-center
      retrospective study was conducted, between 2010 and 2012, on 70 elderly HF
      patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists grading III-IV who underwent
      early surgical intervention with our CLSB protocol. Perioperative data, outcome,
      and complications were recorded. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients (69%) had ongoing
      anticoagulant medication. Postoperatively, all patients were hemodynamically
      stable and awake. None of them required general anesthesia conversion. Minor
      anesthetic-related complications were found in nine patients. One patient (1%)
      died from sepsis due to pneumonia. Patients' satisfactions were all rated as very
      good or excellent. CONCLUSION: CLSB is an interesting anesthetic option in HF
      surgery, especially in high surgical risk geriatric patients. This method offers
      an excellent clinical efficiency and high patients' satisfaction without serious
      complications.

PMID- 28611907
TI  - Pattern of Cortical Fracture following Corticotomy for Distraction Osteogenesis.
AB  - Corticotomy is an essential procedure for deformity correction and there are many
      techniques described. However there is no proper classification of the fracture
      pattern resulting from corticotomies to enable any studies to be conducted. We
      performed a retrospective study of corticotomy fracture patterns in 44 patients
      (34 tibias and 10 femurs) performed for various indications. We identified four
      distinct fracture patterns, Type I through IV classification based on the
      fracture propagation following percutaneous corticotomy. Type I transverse
      fracture, Type II transverse fracture with a winglet, Type III presence of
      butterfly fragment and Type IV fracture propagation to a fixation point. No
      significant correlation was noted between the fracture pattern and the underlying
      pathology or region of corticotomy.

PMID- 28611908
TI  - The Economic Impact of Managing Late Presentation of Developmental Dysplasia of
      Hip (DDH).
AB  - Delayed presentation of Developmental Dysplasia of Hip (DDH) comes with
      challenges in treatment as well as high surgical cost. Therefore the objective of
      this study is to quantify the economic impact of management of late presentation
      of DDH during a last 3-year period. We conducted a retrospective study with
      analysis of DDH cases managed between years 2012 to 2014. Early and late
      presentations of DDH were identified and cost management for both was estimated.
      Out of twenty-four DDH cases, thirteen cases fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
      All were female with majority of them presenting with unilateral DDH
      predominantly of the left hip. Most patients presented after age of six months
      and the principal complaint was abnormal or limping gait. The grand total cost
      for managing DDH during the three years period was USD 12,385.51, with 86% of the
      amount having been used to manage late presentation of DDH that was mostly
      contributed by the cost of surgery. We concluded that delayed presentation of DDH
      contributes heavily to high national expenditure. Early detection of DDH cases
      with systematic neonatal screening may help to minimize the incidence of the late
      presenting DDH and subsequently reduce the economic burden to the government.

PMID- 28611909
TI  - The Use of Passive Straight Leg Raising Test: A Survey of Clinicians.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Passive Straight Leg Raising Test (PSLRT) is one of the most
      commonly performed test in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to
      survey the practice and interpretation of PSLRT amongst clinicians working in a
      tertiary care hospital. METHODS: A 15 item questionnaire survey was developed
      covering various aspects of PSLRT. Orthopaedic surgeons(n=15), neurosurgeons
      (n=7) and physiotherapists (n=9)were identified as clinicians performing this
      test regularly and were approached to take part in the survey. RESULTS: The PSLRT
      was used in all cases of back and leg pain by 68% and correctly performed by
      30/31. There was a wide variation in the angle at which it was considered
      positive (median 45 degrees; range 10-90 degrees). Only 7/31 correctly recognised
      reproduction of leg pain as indicative of a positive PSLRT. The sitting
      /distraction SLRT andwell leg / cross SLRT was performed only by 3/31 and 16/31
      of clinicians respectively. 90% felt that a positive PSLRT suggested nerve root
      irritation and 57% thought it was due to stretch of dura and / or nerve root.
      23/31 clinicians felt that PSLRT was useful or very useful and 90% reported that
      result of PSLRT would affect the way they treat a patient. CONCLUSIONS: PSLRT is
      widely used, correctly performed and felt to be useful in practice. But the
      interpretation of a positive test, understanding of its mechanism and useof
      variations is poor. There is a need to improve the interpretation and
      understanding of PSLRT amongst its users.

PMID- 28611910
TI  - Jellyfish Envenomation Resulting In Vascular Insufficiency And Neurogenic Injury
      of Upper Limb.
AB  - Following a week after a jellyfish sting, a young man presented with regional
      cyanosis and threat of distal gangrene secondary to vascular spasm in the
      forearm. The patient also suffered from transient paresis and numbness of the
      affected upper limb. Contrasted imaging revealed unopacified vessels in the
      distal forearm and worsening swelling warranted emergency surgical fasciotomy for
      impending compartment syndrome. This case highlights the occurrence of jellyfish
      envenomation and the need for early treatment.

PMID- 28611911
TI  - Complete Brachial Plexus Injury - An Amputation Dilemma. A Case Report.
AB  - Brachial plexus injuries with intact yet flail limb presents with problems of
      persistent neuropathic pain and recurrent shoulder dislocations, that render the
      flail limb a damn nuisance. As treating surgeons, we are faced with the dilemma
      of offering treatment options, bearing in mind the patient's functional status
      and expectations. We present a case of a 55-year old housewife with complete
      brachial plexus injury begging for surgical amputation of her flail limb, 6 years
      post-injury. Here we discuss the outcome of transhumeral amputation and the
      possibility of offering early rather than delayed amputations in this group of
      patients.

PMID- 28611912
TI  - Toe-tourniquet syndrome: A rare potentially devastating entity.
AB  - Toe-tourniquet syndrome is a rare and commonly misdiagnosed condition caused by a
      hair or a fiber wrapped around digits (fingers and toes). A four months baby girl
      who was crying and presented with redness and swelling at her 2nd and 3rd toes of
      right foot. Child had red and swollen 2nd and 3rd toes of right foot with hair
      end protruding through wounds. Constricting hairs were cut and removed.
      Toetourniquet syndrome is a rare entity which is caused by hair wrapped around a
      toe or a digit. Diagnosis is mostly clinical. In order to prevent this condition
      to happen, education of parents and clinicians is a cornerstone.

PMID- 28611913
TI  - A Rare Incidence of Breakage of tip of Micropituitary Forceps during Percutaneous
      Discectomy - How to Remove it: A Case Report.
AB  - Breakage of the tip of the micropituitary forceps during spine surgery is a rare
      occurrence. Retrieval of the broken tip could be a challenge in minimally
      invasive surgeries due to limitation of access and retrieval instruments. We
      describe our experience in handling such a situation during percutaneous
      radiofrequency discectomy. The removal was attempted, without converting into
      open surgery, by utilising percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy working
      cannula and guided by image intensifier. We were able to remove the fragment
      without any significant morbidity to the patient. This technique for removal has
      not been reported previously in the literature.

PMID- 28611914
TI  - Immediate Revascularization of A Traumatic Limb Vascular Injury associated with
      Major Pelvic Injuries.
AB  - High velocity pelvic injury with limb vascular injury poses difficulties as
      immediate surgery for limb reperfusion is indicated. However immediate vascular
      intervention deviates from conventional principles of damage control following
      major injuries. We present two cases of this rare combination of injuries. In
      both cases, early limb revascularization is possible despite presented with
      multiple injuries and pelvic fracture.

PMID- 28611915
TI  - Sequential Proximal Tibial Stress Fractures associated with Prolonged usage of
      Methotrexate and Corticosteroids: A Case Report.
AB  - Stress fractures of the proximal tibia metaphysis are rare in the elderly. We
      present a case of a 65-year old male who developed sequential proximal tibia
      stress fractures associated with prolonged usage of methotrexate and prednisolone
      within a span of 18 months. Magnetic Resonance Imaging revealed an incomplete
      stress fracture involving the medial proximal tibial region. The patient was
      treated with stemmed total knee arthroplasty (TKA) bilaterally. Stress fractures
      should be considered in patients with atypical knee pain who have a history of
      methotrexate and prednisolone usage. TKA is an effective treatment in stress
      fractures of the proximal tibia.

PMID- 28611916
TI  - Synovial Cyst: A Culprit for Recalcitrant Iliotibial Band Syndrome: A Case
      Report.
AB  - We present the case of a 56-year old gentleman who presented with recalcitrant
      iliotibial band (ITB) friction syndrome which did not improve with various
      modalities of conservative treatment. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the
      affected knee did not show pathology typical of ITB friction syndrome. However,
      open exploration revealed a synovial cyst deep to the iliotibial band, abutting
      against the anterolateral capsule. The presence of distinctive clinical signs on
      physical examination should alert clinicians to consider knee synovial cyst as a
      differential diagnosis when dealing with recalcitrant ITB syndrome.

PMID- 28611917
TI  - The Role of Nerve Exploration in Supracondylar Humerus Fracture in Children with
      Nerve Injury.
AB  - The supracondylar humerus fracture (SCHF) in children is common and can be
      complicated with nerve injury either primarily immediate post-trauma or
      secondarily posttreatment. The concept of neurapraxic nerve injury makes most
      surgeons choose to 'watch and see' the nerve recovery before deciding second
      surgery if the nerve does not recover. We report three cases of nerve injury in
      SCHF, all of which underwent nerve exploration for different reasons. Early
      reduction in the Casualty is important to release the nerve tension before
      transferring the patient to the operation room. If close reduction fails, we
      proceed to explore the nerve together with open reduction of the fracture. In
      iatrogenic nerve injury, we recommend nerve exploration to determine the surgical
      procedure that is causing the injury. Primary nerve exploration will allow early
      assessment of the injured nerve and minimize subsequent surgery.

PMID- 28611918
TI  - Endoscopic Transoral Resection of an Axial Chordoma: A Case Report.
AB  - Upper cervical chordoma (UCC) is rare condition and poses unique challenges to
      surgeons. Even though transoral approach is commonly employed, a minimally
      invasive technique has not been established. We report a 44-year old Malay lady
      who presented with a 1 month history of insidious onset of progressive neck pain
      without neurological symptoms. She was diagnosed to have an axial (C2) chordoma.
      Intralesional resection of the tumour was performed transorally using the
      Destandau endoscopic system (Storz, Germany). Satisfactory intralesional excision
      of the tumour was achieved. She had a posterior fixation of C1-C4 prior to that.
      Her symptoms improved postoperatively and there were no complications noted. She
      underwent adjuvant radiotherapy to minimize local recurrence. Endoscopic excision
      of UCC via the transoral approach is a safe option as it provides an excellent
      magnified view and ease of resection while minimizing the operative morbidity.

PMID- 28611919
TI  - Markers of arterial stiffness in a sample of Lebanese subjects with Grade I
      essential hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Arterial stiffness is becoming a major global condition associated
      with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems and death. Several markers have
      been linked to arterial stiffness. METHODS: To determine and evaluate these
      relations, anthropometric parameters (weight, height, and pulse rate),
      biochemical profile, and central and peripheral indices of arterial function were
      measured in 114 Lebanese subjects with Grade I essential hypertension. RESULTS:
      Age was associated with a higher pulse wave velocity (p = .001), central systolic
      blood pressure (p = .013), central pulse pressure (p = .028), central
      augmentation index (p <= .0001) with a lower heart rate (p = .08), and glomerular
      filtration rate (p = .019). Pulse wave velocity was found to be higher in older
      subjects (>65 years) and correlated with higher body mass index (r = .85)
      independent of age. Aging also correlated with higher plasma glucose and
      alterations in calcium-phosphorus metabolism. CONCLUSION: Aging is associated
      with increased arterial stiffness which is reflected by an increase in the pulse
      wave velocity, augmentation index, central pulse pressure, and central systolic
      blood pressure with a reduction in heart rate. Also, a higher body mass index and
      a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (< 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) are associated
      with increased arterial stiffness while calcium and phosphorus metabolism may
      play a role by promoting vascular calcification.

PMID- 28611920
TI  - Quality of life in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis: A
      phenomenographic study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis perceive reduced quality of life in
      several domains, such as physical health, level of independence, environment and
      personal beliefs, compared with the healthy population. There is an increasing
      interest in quality of life in clinical and medical interventions. Few studies
      have explored patients' individual conceptions of quality of life, and interviews
      can thus complement quantitative studies. There is a need for a deeper
      understanding of the patients' experiences of quality of life, with regard to
      living with a long-term condition such as rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of this
      study was to explore the variation of ways in which patients with established
      rheumatoid arthritis understand the concept of quality of life. METHODS: The
      study had a qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach, which was used
      to describe variations in how individuals experience their quality of life. The
      study is based on interviews with 22 patients with established rheumatoid
      arthritis enrolled in the BARFOT (better anti-rheumatic pharmacotherapy) study.
      RESULTS: The concept of quality of life could be understood in three different
      ways: (1) independence in terms of physical functioning and personal finances,
      (2) empowerment in how to manage life and (3) participation as an experience of
      belonging in a social context. CONCLUSION: The different conceptions of quality
      of life reflect the complexity in the concept, including physical, psychological
      and social aspects. This complexity is important to have in mind when health
      professionals support patients in enhancing their quality of life.

PMID- 28611921
TI  - Adherence of self-monitoring of blood glucose in persons with type 1 diabetes in
      Sweden.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The primary aim was to evaluate the extent to which persons with type
      1 diabetes perform self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) according to
      guidelines. Secondary objectives were to investigate predictors for good SMBG
      adherence, reasons for non-adherence, and association between SMBG frequency and
      hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). METHODS: This was a survey-based cross-sectional study.
      Questionnaires were sent out to 600 random patients at five sites. Patients were
      included if they were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and >=18 years old and
      excluded if they were currently using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).
      Analysis of data was performed separately for the three sites where the answer
      frequency was >=70%. RESULTS: In total, 138 of 314 study participants, 43.9% (95%
      CI 38.5% to 49.4%) performed SMBG >=4 times per day. For the three clinics where
      >=70% of surveyed patients were included in the analysis, results were similar,
      41.3% (95% CI 34.7% to 47.8%). Top three reported reasons for not performing more
      frequent SMBG were lack of time, not remembering, and self-consciousness.
      Frequency of SMBG was associated with HbA1c levels (p<0.0001). 30% of patients
      believed that <=3 SMBG/day was recommended by healthcare providers. CONCLUSIONS:
      Less than 50% of patients in Sweden follow guidelines of SMBG >=4 times per day,
      despite glucose meters and strips being generally available at no cost. This
      indicates a need for further support in performing SMBG and increased
      availability of other tools for glucose monitoring.

PMID- 28611922
TI  - The bZIP transcription factor MdHY5 regulates anthocyanin accumulation and
      nitrate assimilation in apple.
AB  - The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor HY5 plays a multifaceted
      role in plant growth and development. Here the apple MdHY5 gene was cloned based
      on its homology with Arabidopsis HY5. Expression analysis demonstrated that MdHY5
      transcription was induced by light and abscisic acid treatments. Electrophoretic
      mobility shift assays and transient expression assays subsequently showed that
      MdHY5 positively regulated both its own transcription and that of MdMYB10 by
      binding to E-box and G-box motifs, respectively. Furthermore, we obtained
      transgenic apple calli that overexpressed the MdHY5 gene, and apple calli
      coloration assays showed that MdHY5 promoted anthocyanin accumulation by
      regulating expression of the MdMYB10 gene and downstream anthocyanin biosynthesis
      genes. In addition, the transcript levels of a series of nitrate reductase genes
      and nitrate uptake genes in both wild-type and transgenic apple calli were
      detected. In association with increased nitrate reductase activities and nitrate
      contents, the results indicated that MdHY5 might be an important regulator in
      nutrient assimilation. Taken together, these results indicate that MdHY5 plays a
      vital role in anthocyanin accumulation and nitrate assimilation in apple.

PMID- 28611924
TI  - PCS/MVA syndrome caused by an Alu insertion in the BUB1B gene.
AB  - We report a case of premature chromatid separation/mosaic variegated aneuploidy
      syndrome identified by microcephaly on fetal ultrasound and confirmed by
      cytogenetic analysis of amniotic fluid. Initial mutational analysis of the entire
      coding region of the BUB1B gene failed to identify any causative mutations.
      However, further analysis revealed a known compound heterozygous mutation in the
      upstream region of this gene and a novel Alu insertion mutation in the intron.

PMID- 28611923
TI  - A novel UBE2A mutation causes X-linked intellectual disability type Nascimento.
AB  - X-linked intellectual disability (ID) type Nascimento (MIM #300860), also known
      as ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 A (UBE2A) deficiency syndrome, is a congenital
      malformation syndrome characterized by moderate to severe ID, speech impairment,
      dysmorphic facial features, genital anomalies and skin abnormalities. Here, we
      report a Japanese patient with severe ID and congenital cataract. We identified a
      novel hemizygous mutation (c.76G>A, p.Gly26Arg) in UBE2A by whole-exome
      sequencing.

PMID- 28611925
TI  - Prevalence and Correlates of Intestinal Parasites among Patients Admitted to
      Mirembe National Mental Health Hospital, Dodoma, Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neglected tropical diseases continue to be one of the leading causes
      of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Psychiatric patients are
      among groups at risk for parasitic infection although control and monitoring
      programs largely overlook this population. This study aimed at determining
      prevalence and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection among
      patients admitted to a psychiatric facility. METHOD: The study followed cross
      sectional design; all the residing patients that met the inclusion criteria were
      included in the survey. Stool samples were collected and examined by direct wet
      preparation and formol-ether concentration. Data were analyzed with STATA version
      12.1; Chi-square test was computed to determine the level of significance at p
      value < 0.05. RESULTS: Of all 233 patients who returned the stool samples, 29
      (12.45%) screened were positive for an intestinal parasite. There was no
      significant association between parasite carriage and age, sex, or duration of
      hospital stay. CONCLUSION: The study shows that intestinal parasitic infection is
      common among patients in a psychiatric facility and highlights that parasitic
      infections that enter through skin penetration may be a more common mode of
      transmission than the oral route. Furthermore, the study underscores the need for
      surveillance and intervention programs to control and manage these infections.

PMID- 28611926
TI  - Aneurysm of the Pulmonary Artery in Fallot's Tetralogy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary artery aneurysms are a rare entity. Etiologies of these
      findings are multiple, but they are exceptionally associated with Fallot's
      Tetralogy. In this study, we present an unusual case of an important aneurysm of
      the left pulmonary artery associated with Fallot's Tetralogy disease. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 30-year-old woman has been admitted for dyspnea and cyanosis. The
      data which had been obtained from echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, and
      angio-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested the existence of an important
      aneurysm of the left pulmonary artery associated with a regular Fallot's disease
      with a pulmonic stenosis. We have noticed the presence of a small restrictive
      patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Therefore, the patient was referred to surgical
      correction. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary artery aneurysms associated with Fallot's
      Tetralogy are rarely reported. The natural history of these rare arterial
      aneurysms has to be clarified.

PMID- 28611927
TI  - 3D Evaluation of Palatal Rugae in Identical Twins.
AB  - The study of identical twins can point out potential limitations in biometrics
      and forensic odontology. This case report presents three-dimensional (3D) palatal
      rugae analysis in monozygotic twins utilizing digital models obtained directly by
      scanning the maxillary dental arch with the iTero(r) intraoral digital scanner.
      The results show that the rugae patterns contain related but not identical
      features between the pair of identical twins. Dental study models taken on a
      regular basis for diagnosis and treatment planning in dentistry include the
      palatal rugae, which could be valuable to forensics in identical twin
      identification cases.

PMID- 28611928
TI  - A Case of Granuloma Annulare Associated with Secukinumab Use.
AB  - Granuloma annulare (GA) is a benign inflammatory dermatosis characterized
      clinically by dermal papules and annular plaques. The pathogenesis of GA is not
      well understood, although it is thought to result from a delayed-type
      hypersensitivity reaction in which inflammatory cells elicit connective tissue
      degradation. This condition has been seen following the use of several drugs,
      including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors, which paradoxically
      have also been reported to treat GA. We report the case of a patient who
      developed GA in association with secukinumab, an interleukin-17A antagonist, and
      discuss its implications for our understanding of the pathogenesis of GA.

PMID- 28611929
TI  - Epidural Anesthesia for Cesarean Section in a Pregnant Woman with Marfan Syndrome
      and Dural Ectasia.
AB  - Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a genetic disorder of connective tissue, characterized
      by variable clinical features and multisystem complications. The anesthetic
      management during delivery is debated. Regional anesthesia has been used with
      success during cesarean delivery, but in some MFS patients there is a probability
      of erratic and inadequate spread of intrathecal local anesthetics as a result of
      dural ectasia. In these cases, epidural anesthesia may be a particularly useful
      technique during cesarean delivery because it allows an adequate spread and
      action of local anesthetic with a controlled onset of anesthesia, analgesia, and
      sympathetic block and a low risk of perioperative complications. We report the
      perioperative management of a patient with MFS and dural ectasia who successfully
      underwent cesarean section using epidural technique anesthesia. The previous
      pregnancy of this woman ended with cesarean section with a failed spinal
      anesthesia that was converted to general anesthesia due to unknown dural ectasia
      at that time.

PMID- 28611930
TI  - Vestibular Derangement and Motion Intolerance in VATER Association.
AB  - VATER association is a nonrandom occurrence of congenital malformations:
      vertebral defects, anal atresia, tracheoesophageal fistula, renal defects, and
      radial bone anomalies. We report the case of a 19-year-old man with a childhood
      diagnosis of VATER association, who presented to the motion sickness clinic with
      severe seasickness. We discuss the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of
      vestibular pathophysiology, which was confirmed by MRI of lateral semicircular
      canal and vestibule dysplasia. We suggest the possibility of vestibular
      involvement as part of the developmental field defect associated with VATER
      syndrome, which hitherto has rarely been reported.

PMID- 28611931
TI  - Spontaneous Rupture of Renal Metastasis from Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - We report a rare life-threatening case of spontaneous rupture of renal metastasis
      from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that was managed by emergent transcatheter
      arterial embolization (TAE). A 76-year-old woman diagnosed with HCC presented
      with acute back pain in her right side and was transferred to our hospital.
      Initial enhanced computed tomography revealed retroperitoneal hemorrhage from the
      right kidney, which was retrospectively diagnosed as a spontaneous rupture of the
      metastatic renal tumor from the primary HCC. Detailed examination identified an
      active retroperitoneal hemorrhage from the lesion and the patient's condition
      became hemodynamically unstable; hence emergent TAE was performed. The
      hospitalization period after the TAE was uneventful and sorafenib was
      subsequently administered. Unfortunately, two months after the TAE, the tumor
      locally progressed within the retroperitoneal space. Tumors were controlled by
      repeated TAE as the patient did not want to undergo a nephrectomy. Consequently,
      she survived for more than one year after emergent TAE, exhibiting low levels of
      tumor marker. After rupture of the metastatic renal HCC, tumors were expected to
      progress into the retroperitoneal space, and nephrectomy was the next possible
      radical treatment to offer the best chance of long-term disease control.

PMID- 28611932
TI  - Physiotherapy in Parkinson's Disease: Building ParkinsonNet in Czechia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the availability
      and quality of physiotherapy (PT) for Parkinson's disease (PD). BACKGROUND:
      Despite evidence about the benefits of PT, there is no data regarding its use in
      Czechia. METHODS: Questionnaires were sent to 368 PD patients seen in a single
      movement disorders centre within two years (inclusion criteria: idiopathic PD,
      Hoehn and Yahr stage <5, and residence in Prague) and to 211 physical therapists
      (PTs) registered in Prague. The patient questionnaire evaluated limitations in 6
      core areas and in activities of daily living and inquired about experience with
      PT. The PTs questionnaire evaluated knowledge about PD, number of PD patients
      treated yearly, and details of therapy. RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned by
      248 patients and 157 PTs. PT was prescribed to 70/248 patients. The effects were
      satisfactory in 79% and lasted >3 months in 60/64. About half of the PTs have no
      experience with PD patients, 26% reported <3, and 5% see >10 yearly. The most
      widely used techniques were neurodevelopmental treatments. CONCLUSION: Present PD
      healthcare model in Czechia is suboptimal (low PT prescription, non-evidence
      based PT). Implementation of European PT Guidelines for PD and the introduction
      of an efficient model of care are needed.

PMID- 28611933
TI  - Monochorionic-Triamniotic Triplet Pregnancy Complicated by Twin Reversed Arterial
      Perfusion Sequence: Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - Background  Monochorionic-triamniotic pregnancies are rare and fraught with
      complications. Case  A case of monochorionic-triamniotic triplet pregnancy
      complicated by twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence is presented. The
      patient declined termination or selective fetal reduction. Triplet C was
      acardiac. At 24 weeks, triplet B developed polyhydramnios. At 30 weeks,
      polyhydramnios was seen in all three amniotic sacs, but without signs of fetal
      hydrops and with normal Doppler velocimetry measurements in the umbilical artery,
      middle cerebral artery, and ductus arteriosus of triplets A and B. At 32 2/7
      weeks, the patient presented with preterm premature rupture of membranes and
      preterm labor. Two live male infants were delivered by cesarean delivery weighing
      1,350 and 1,390 g, respectively; the acardiac fetus weighed 1,460 g. Pathology
      examination revealed a single placenta weighing1,250 g, with evidence of direct
      vascular connections between triplets A and C as well as between triplets A and
      B. Conclusion  Monochorionic-triamniotic triplet pregnancy with TRAP sequence is
      rare. Although the risk of complications is high, such pregnancies can be managed
      conservatively in select cases.

PMID- 28611934
TI  - Etiology and Perinatal Outcome of Nonimmune Hydrops Fetalis in Southern China.
AB  - Objective  This study aims to analyze the etiology and perinatal outcome of
      nonimmune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) in Southern China. Methods  All cases with NIHF
      diagnosed antenatally from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2014 were identified
      and analyzed. Results  Total 482 cases of NIHF were identified during the study
      period. The most common cause of NIHF was hemoglobin (Hb) Bart's disease (61.8%),
      followed by chromosomal abnormalities (13.5%), idiopathic etiology (13.1%),
      cardiac abnormalities (6.4%), and others (5.2%). After 20 weeks' gestation, a
      total of 408 cases of NIHF presented, including Hb Bart's disease (279 cases),
      cardiac abnormalities (27 cases), and infection (7 cases). NIHF caused by
      chromosomal abnormalities mainly presented between 15 and 19 weeks' gestation. Of
      the 482 cases, 459 cases elected termination of pregnancy. The remaining 23 cases
      elected to continue their pregnancy. Among them, 14 (60.9%) resulted in
      intrauterine fetal death, 6 had neonatal death, 3 infants survived to 1 year of
      age. Of the three infants, one has cerebral palsy, and the remaining two are
      normal. Conclusions  Hb Bart's disease is the most common cause of NIHF in
      Southern China. An effective prenatal screening and counseling program for
      thalassemia in this region may be the most effective way to lower the incidence
      NIHF.

PMID- 28611936
TI  - Large Transcalvarial Meningioma: Surgical Resection Aided by Preoperative
      Embolization.
AB  - Meningiomas are the most common type of primary brain tumors, accounting for
      about 30% of all brain tumors. Meningiomas originate from the meninges and can be
      associated with any part of the skull. Classification of meningiomas is based
      upon the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system and prognosis of
      meningiomas can be determined via histologic grading. Surgery is the gold
      standard treatment option for all types of meningiomas. Due to the high
      vascularity of some meningiomas, surgical resection can lead to certain
      complications including intraoperative blood loss and hemorrhage. Strategies for
      complication avoidance include preoperative embolization of the meningioma
      vascular supply. Preoperative embolization has been shown to assist in surgical
      resection of selected tumors and decrease intraoperative blood loss. We present a
      case of successful preoperative embolization for a large, complex, transcalvarial
      meningioma along with a literature review on this topic.

PMID- 28611935
TI  - Gastrointestinal Amyloidosis: Review of the Literature.
AB  - Gastrointestinal amyloidosis (GIA), a protein deposition disorder, represents a
      complex common pathway that encompasses multiple etiologies and presentations. It
      represents a significant diagnostic and treatment challenge. The disease results
      from the deposition of insoluble extracellular protein fragments that have been
      rendered resistant to digestion. GIA can be acquired or genetic, and most
      commonly results from chronic inflammatory disorders (AA amyloidosis),
      hematologic malignancy (AL amyloidosis), and end-stage renal disease (Beta-2
      amyloidosis). The deposition of these abnormal proteins interferes with
      gastrointestinal tract (GI) organ structure and function, most notably in the
      liver and small bowel. Presentation from GI involvement includes cirrhotic
      sequelae, abdominal pain, malabsorption, and GI bleeding. Diagnosis hinges on
      pathologic examination of affected tissue, with classic green birefringence under
      polarized light. Abdominal fat pad and rectal mucosal biopsy have been described
      as sites of higher sensitivity for diagnosis. Serum amyloid P scintigraphy is
      near 90% sensitive for diagnosis of AA amyloidosis. Patients should be considered
      for further evaluation to rule out additional organ involvement, notably cardiac
      and renal. Treatment hinges on an adequate suppression of the predisposing
      inflammatory disorder, or malignancy, followed by supportive therapy. Prognosis
      varies depending on the etiology of the disease, with the AL subtype showing
      worse outcomes, as well as those with hepatic involvement.

PMID- 28611937
TI  - Stauffer's Syndrome in Pancreatic Cancer: First Case Report.
AB  - Stauffer's syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome classically associated with
      renal cell carcinoma. It presents as abnormal hepatic panel in the absence of
      hepatic disease, which improves with treatment of the cancer and worsens with
      recurrence. Here, we describe a case of hepatic panel abnormalities in a patient
      with pancreatic cancer with no evidence of metastatic disease to the liver,
      primary hepatobiliary etiology, or clear offending medications. We believe this
      to be the first reported case of Stauffer's syndrome in patients with pancreatic
      cancer.

PMID- 28611938
TI  - Anatomic study of the vascular perfusion of the sternum and its clinical
      relevance in deep sternal wound infection.
AB  - Introduction: Deep sternal wound infections (DSWI) are a rare but devastating
      complication after median sternotomy. Minor perfusion in bone and soft tissue,
      especially after recruiting the internal mammary artery for bypass supports the
      development of wound infection and nonunion of the sternal bone. The aim of the
      study was the macroscopic and radiological presentation of the vascular system
      supplying the sternum, in particular the compensating blood supply routes in the
      event that the internal mammary artery is no longer available after use as a
      bypass vessel. Method: This anatomic study was carried out on the anterior chest
      wall of 7 specimens. The thorax plates of 7 specimens were analyzed
      macroscopically after microsurgical preparation. Different anatomic preparations
      were produced using different contrast or form-giving substances. Radiological
      analysis and three-dimensional reconstructions were performed to show
      alternative, collateral sternal vessel perfusion under estimation of the loss of
      the internal thoracic artery due to a bypass. Results: The length of the ITA
      (internal thoracic artery), measured from the beginning of the first rib to the
      division into the superior epigastric artery and musculophrenic artery, was an
      average of 16.3 cm. On average, 18.5 branches were delivered from each artery, 10
      medially to the sternum supply, and 8 to the intercostal muscle. Conclusion: Our
      analysis gives an overview of the macroanatomic vessel system supplying the
      sternal bone, describing especially a common trunk deriving from the ITA and
      supplying multiple branches and playing an important role in building a
      collateral circulation of the sternum. For better evaluation, in vivo CT analysis
      with contrast media should be performed in patients prior to the operation and
      directly after the use of the double ITA to demonstrate the change in perfusion
      of the sternum. In the future, preconditioning of the sternum by coiling the
      deriving branches could become an option, although patient selection has to be
      improved and further analysis of the topic performed.

PMID- 28611939
TI  - Selective Targeting of the L858R Mutation (EGFR) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A
      Mechanism for Advancing Targeted Chemotherapy.
AB  - Lung cancer remains one of today's most deadly and intractable cancers. Non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for roughly 85% of lung cancers, with an
      extremely poor survival rate. To ensure patient comfort and survival, the
      development of a selective therapy is imperative. However, lung cancer does not
      display surface proteins associated uniquely with tumor cells; thus, it is very
      difficult to develop a tumor-specific drug. Current techniques that target
      overexpression of proteins or inhibit growth pathways are either non-specific or
      prone to rapid drug resistance. The goal was to design a drug targeted to
      structural mutations expressed by tumor-associated general surface proteins,
      thereby combating the lack of tumor-unique markers in lung cancer. Mutant EGFR
      was identified as a potential target due to its prominence in tumor cells. Due to
      their size, it was determined that small molecules would be most effective at
      targeting isolated changes in protein structure, and thereby differentiating
      between the tumor-associated mutant EGFR and the healthy wild type.
      Conformational analysis of a virtual binding study conducted in VINA predicted a
      set of drug-like small molecules specific for the L858R mutation in EGFR. One
      molecule (ZN47) was then acquired and conjugated to a carrier protein to form a
      multifaceted hapten-protein conjugate. Multiple ELISAs were conducted to confirm
      the specificity of the conjugate to both tumor-associated mutant EGFRs. The
      results indicate that the identified molecule may be highly selective for tumor
      associated L858R-EGFR, but further research, including a complete dosage-binding
      study, is necessary for full validation.

PMID- 28611941
TI  - The European Thyroid Journal Reaches Its Sixth Year of Publication with Honours.

PMID- 28611940
TI  - Involvement of Chromatin Remodeling Genes and the Rho GTPases RhoB and CDC42 in
      Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ovarian clear cell carcinomas (OCCCs) constitute a rare ovarian cancer
      subtype with distinct clinical features, but may nonetheless be difficult to
      distinguish morphologically from other subtypes. There is limited knowledge of
      genetic events driving OCCC tumorigenesis beyond ARID1A, which is reportedly
      mutated in 30-50% of OCCCs. We aimed to further characterize OCCCs by combined
      global transcriptional profiling and targeted deep sequencing of a panel of well
      established cancer genes. Increased knowledge of OCCC-specific genetic
      aberrations may help in guiding development of targeted treatments and ultimately
      improve patient outcome. METHODS: Gene expression profiling of formalin-fixed,
      paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue from a cohort of the major ovarian cancer
      subtypes (cohort 1; n = 67) was performed using whole-genome cDNA-mediated
      Annealing, Selection, extension and Ligation (WG-DASL) bead arrays, followed by
      pathway, gene module score, and gene ontology analyses, respectively. A second
      FFPE cohort of 10 primary OCCCs was analyzed by targeted DNA sequencing of a
      panel of 60 cancer-related genes (cohort 2). Non-synonymous and non-sense
      variants affecting single-nucleotide variations and insertions or deletions were
      further analyzed. A tissue microarray of 43 OCCCs (cohort 3) was used for
      validation by immunohistochemistry and chromogenic in situ hybridization.
      RESULTS: Gene expression analyses revealed a distinct OCCC profile compared to
      other histological subtypes, with, e.g., ERBB2, TFAP2A, and genes related to
      cytoskeletal actin regulation being overexpressed in OCCC. ERBB2 was, however,
      not overexpressed on the protein level and ERBB2 amplification was rare in the
      validation cohort. Targeted deep sequencing revealed non-synonymous variants or
      insertions/deletions in 11/60 cancer-related genes. Genes involved in chromatin
      remodeling, including ARID1A, SPOP, and KMT2D were frequently mutated across OCCC
      tumors. CONCLUSION: OCCCs appear genetically heterogeneous, but harbor frequent
      alterations in chromatin remodeling genes. Overexpression of TFAP2A and ERBB2 was
      observed on the mRNA level in relation to other ovarian cancer subtypes. However,
      overexpression of ERBB2 was not reflected by HER2 amplification or protein
      overexpression in the OCCC validation cohort. In addition, Rho GTPase-dependent
      actin organization may also play a role in OCCC pathogenesis and warrants further
      investigation. The distinct biological features of OCCC discovered here may
      provide a basis for novel targeted treatment strategies.

PMID- 28611942
TI  - Variability among TSH Measurements Can Be Reduced by Combining a Glycoengineered
      Calibrator to Epitope-Defined Immunoassays.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Measuring protein markers with variable glycosylation, such as
      thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), with high accuracy is not an easy task.
      Despite highly sensitive third-generation tests, discrepancies among TSH assays
      still remain unsolved and are the focus of important standardization efforts.
      Earlier work from our group showed that a lack of similarity in epitope
      expression between standards and samples may account for discordant hormone
      measurements. In this study, we aimed at producing a glycoengineered TSH with
      serum-type glycosylation and compared its immunological behavior to that of the
      international standards. STUDY DESIGN: Recombinant glycoengineered TSH (rgTSH)
      was produced in glycoengineered Chinese hamster ovary cells to express a highly
      sialylated TSH and tested in newly designed assays. Two groups of assays
      targeting defined epitopes were constructed and TSH levels were estimated in a
      panel of 84 clinical samples (2.1-22.4 mIU/l) based on the use of the current 3rd
      IS 81/565, the 1st IRP 94/674 and rgTSH calibrations. RESULTS: Calibration based
      on rgTSH was found to significantly reduce the percentage difference means of
      assays compared to the pituitary standard. We also found that a switch from a
      mIU/l (3rd IS 81/565) to ng/l (rgTSH) basis can be established within the normal
      as well as in the mid to upper normal range of TSH levels. Of interest, TSH
      assays targeting the main immunogenic region displayed variable TSH values,
      indicating that, in this region, epitopes should be defined for assays to deliver
      similar values. CONCLUSIONS: A glycoengineered TSH with serum-type glycosylation
      proved to be a new calibrator efficient in harmonizing TSH values.

PMID- 28611944
TI  - Pre-Operative Lugol's Iodine Treatment in the Management of Patients Undergoing
      Thyroidectomy for Graves' Disease: A Review of the Literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To undertake a review of the relevant English literature published on
      the pre-operative use of Lugol's iodine in the management of patients undergoing
      thyroidectomy for Graves' disease. SEARCH STRATEGY: We reviewed all relevant
      papers found through Ovid Medline, PubMed, EMBASE and the American Thyroid
      Association website. Searches were limited to the English language only.
      EVALUATION METHOD: The critical appraisal tool CASP was used to help analyse the
      papers. Following this, the evidence was ranked using the Harbour and Miller
      classification of hierarchy. RESULTS: Four papers were deemed appropriate for
      analysis. The evidence contained within the review is considered weak. The
      literature available in the public domain regarding the use of iodinated
      solutions in the pre-operative period for those patients about to undergo
      thyroidectomy for Graves' disease is scant. CONCLUSION: Having undertaken an
      extensive literature review, we are of the opinion that the evidence on which the
      American Thyroid Association's guidance on the use of preoperative Lugol's iodine
      is based is tenuous. There appears to be little in the way of sound clinical
      evidence that post-operative outcomes are any different following a course of
      Lugol's iodine. Given the lack of robust clinical evidence regarding the clinical
      need for iodine solution in the pre-operative period, it appears clear that a
      larger, prospective, randomised controlled trial of all relevant outcomes -
      clinical and scientific - is required to answer whether or not patient
      preparation with Lugol's iodine is in fact necessary prior to operative
      intervention for Graves' disease.

PMID- 28611943
TI  - Association between Serum Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Levels and Visceral Adipose
      Tissue: A Population-Based Study in Northeast Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abdominal obesity is a major driver for adverse medical conditions.
      While an interaction between adipose tissue and thyroid function is thought to
      exist, to our knowledge, no study has examined the effect of thyroid-stimulating
      hormone (TSH) on visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in a population-based context.
      OBJECTIVE: We determined an association between serum TSH levels and VAT.
      METHODS: A sample of 1,021 female and 956 male adults aged 20-79 years was drawn
      from registry offices in the cross-sectional, population-based Study of Health in
      Pomerania Trend (SHIP Trend) in Northeast Germany from 2008 to 2012. Our main
      exposure was serum TSH levels. Our main outcome was VAT measured using magnetic
      resonance imaging. The possibly mediating role of leptin on the TSH-VAT
      association was also assessed. RESULTS: A total of 1,719 participants (87.9%) had
      serum TSH levels within the reference range. The mean volume of VAT was 5.33
      liters for men and 2.83 liters for women. No association between TSH and VAT
      (beta = 0.06, 95% CI: -0.02, 0.14) was observed, and there were no differences
      detected between sexes. VAT was strongly associated with leptin with a greater
      effect in women than in men. Leptin was strongly associated with TSH.
      CONCLUSIONS: No association between TSH and VAT was observed. Other biomarkers
      such as leptin may play a role in the relationship between thyroid function and
      metabolic risk.

PMID- 28611945
TI  - Pregnant Greek Women May Have a Higher Prevalence of Iodine Deficiency than the
      General Greek Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adequate dietary iodine consumption, predicted via the urinary iodine
      concentration (UIC), is necessary for normal thyroid function and for the
      neurodevelopment of fetuses and neonates. The general population of Greece is
      considered to be iodine sufficient, but our preliminary findings suggest that
      Greek pregnant women are at risk of iodine deficiency. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to
      estimate the thyroid function and UIC in a representative population of pregnant
      Greek women. METHODS: UIC and thyroid function were assessed in 1,118 women from
      19 representative areas of the country. RESULTS: The median UIC was found to be
      127.1 ug/l (range 7.8-2,296), which is indicative of insufficient iodine intake
      according to the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO) for pregnant
      women. The median UIC was below the minimal recommended value of 150 ug/l in 61%
      of the women, and below 100 or 50 ug/l in 32 and 7%, respectively. An optimal
      iodine intake (150-250 ug/l) was observed in 26%, and was over the cut-off of 500
      ug/l in 2% of the subjects. Serum thyrotropin significantly increased between
      trimesters, from 1.57 +/- 1.2, to 1.68 +/- 1.0 and to 2.02 +/- 1.2 mU/l (p <
      0.001). Serum-free thyroxine decreased significantly between trimesters, from
      1.22 +/- 0.34, to 1.01 +/- 0.21 and 0.96 +/- 0.2 ng/ml (p < 0.05). Serum
      thyroglobulin levels remained unchanged over the trimesters and were not
      correlated with UIC. CONCLUSIONS: While the general population of Greece is
      iodine sufficient, these findings suggest that, according to the WHO, the
      majority of pregnant Greek women are iodine deficient. These data strongly
      suggest that a proactive policy should be developed to lower iodine deficiency
      risk in this population of women.

PMID- 28611946
TI  - Patients with Multifocal Macroscopic Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Have a Low Risk
      of Recurrence at Early Follow-Up after Total Thyroidectomy and Radioactive Iodine
      Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multifocal thyroid cancer involvement is a common presentation in
      papillary thyroid cancer. The risk of recurrence of intrathyroidal multifocal
      papillary microcarcinoma (<1 cm) is documented to be low. However, the risk of
      recurrence of multifocal macroscopic thyroid cancer is not known. Prior studies
      have suggested that both the number of foci and the presence of nodal involvement
      at diagnosis are important predictors of recurrence in multifocal papillary
      thyroid carcinoma (PTC). OBJECTIVES: In this retrospective review of 99 patients
      presenting with multifocal macroscopic PTC (with 2 tumor foci >1 cm) without
      gross extrathyroidal extension, we examined the clinical outcomes of patients in
      the first 2 years after the initial therapy and at the end of the follow-up
      period (median: 5 years). RESULTS: Half of the patients presenting with
      multifocal macroscopic PTC had nodal involvement at diagnosis. Only 4 patients
      had a recurrence on long-term follow-up, all with classic or tall-cell variant
      PTC with bulky nodal involvement at diagnosis. The number of tumor foci did not
      influence the risk of recurrence in this cohort. The median time to recurrence in
      these 4 patients was 11 years, with all patients having a recurrence after 9
      years of follow-up. None of patients developed distant metastasis or died from
      thyroid cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Patients presenting with multifocal macroscopic
      papillary thyroid cancer without bulky nodal involvement or gross extrathyroidal
      extension have a low risk of thyroid cancer recurrence.

PMID- 28611947
TI  - Thirty-Five Years of Thyroid Cancer Experience in a Paediatric Population:
      Incidence Trends in Lithuania between 1980 and 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid cancer (TC) is a rare condition in children. It may be
      associated with radiation, iodine deficiency or familial inheritance. AIMS: The
      objectives of this study were to analyse the prevalence and incidence trends over
      3 decades and clinical features of TC in the paediatric population in Lithuania.
      METHODS: We reviewed all TC cases diagnosed in children aged less than 18 years
      during the period 1980-2014 using medical records from 3 main hospitals in
      Lithuania where such TC cases are managed. RESULTS: During the 35-year period
      (1980-2014) there were 57 cases (45 females) of TC in children in Lithuania. The
      mean age at the time of diagnosis was 14.51 +/- 0.52 years. The crude incidence
      rate of TC ranged from 0 to 0.93 cases per 100,000 children per year and the mean
      annual increase was 5.26% (p < 0.001). Papillary carcinoma was the most common
      histological type (73.7%). No association was found between the incidence of TC
      and the reported areas of radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl accident.
      In total, 8.8% of patients had secondary TC after initial radiotherapy of a
      primary oncologic disease. CONCLUSION: The incidence of TC in the Lithuanian
      paediatric population between 1980 and 2014 ranged from 0 to 0.93 cases per
      100,000 children per year and there was a 5.26% annual increase (p < 0.001), most
      probably related to the increased use of ultrasound testing.

PMID- 28611948
TI  - Van Wyk-Grumbach Syndrome with Kocher-Debre-Semelaigne Syndrome: Case Report of a
      Rare Association.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Van Wyk-Grumbach syndrome (VWGS) is a rare presentation of juvenile
      hypothyroidism which manifests in females as chronic autoimmune hypothyroidism,
      isosexual pseudoprecocious puberty, and multicystic ovaries. It uniquely presents
      with short stature and delayed bone age unlike other causes of precocious
      puberty. Kocher-Debre-Semelaigne (KDSS) is a rare presentation of juvenile
      hypothyroidism manifesting as calf muscle pseudohypertrophy, delayed contraction
      and relaxation of reflexes, and percussion myxedema. OBJECTIVES: To diagnose the
      rare association of VWGS and KDSS and to conduct a follow-up of the patient on
      replacement therapy. METHODS: We present a case of a 9-year-old female child who
      presented to the endocrine department with complaints of intermittent vaginal
      bleeding, short stature, and difficulty in walking. On evaluation she was found
      to be having autoimmune hypothyroidism, FSH-dominated isosexual pseudoprecocious
      puberty, delayed bone age, secondary pituitary macroadenoma, delayed relaxation
      of deep tendon reflexes, and pseudohypertrophy of calf muscles. The diagnosis of
      VWGS associated with KDSS was made. The patient was initially put on 25 MUg
      thyroxine replacement, which was titrated accordingly, and was followed up after
      6 months and 1 year. RESULTS: All the features of the syndrome improved after 12
      months of adequate thyroxine replacement. CONCLUSIONS: VWGS and KDSS are rare
      presentations of juvenile hypothyroidism, and their association is even rarer.
      Early diagnosis and prompt replacement therapy can avoid unnecessary
      investigations and surgical interventions.

PMID- 28611949
TI  - Pseudomalabsorption of Levothyroxine: A Challenge for the Endocrinologist in the
      Treatment of Hypothyroidism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypothyroidism due to non-compliance with levothyroxine therapy
      (pseudomalabsorption) is rare. The diagnosis is considered in patients with
      persistent severe hypothyroidism despite treatment with large doses of
      levothyroxine. Intestinal malabsorption, drug and dietary interference with
      levothyroxine absorption and nephrotic syndrome should be excluded. The diagnosis
      of pseudomalabsorption can be demonstrated by using "an oral 1,000 ug of
      levothyroxine test" showing a rapid decrease in thyroid-stimulating hormone and
      increase in thyroxine. There are however few data on the sensitivity and
      specificity of the test in large cohorts of hypothyroid patients. Treatment of
      pseudomalabsorption is controversial, with reports using parenteral,
      intramuscular or single weekly oral dosing of levothyroxine. CASES: We report 3
      patients who presented with persistent clinical and biochemical signs of
      hypothyroidism despite replacement therapy with high doses of levothyroxine.
      Pseudomalabsorption was diagnosed by a systematic approach, including prior
      exclusion of digestive, liver and kidney diseases. A peroral challenge test was
      positive in all cases. Patients denied non-compliance, and a psychiatric approach
      was elusive. Two of the patients were treated successfully with a single
      supervised weekly 1,000-ug administration of levothyroxine, while non-supervised
      weekly administration resulted in hypothyroidism confirming pseudomalabsorption.
      CONCLUSIONS: Non-compliance with medical therapy should be considered in patients
      with treatment-refractory hypothyroidism. Supervised once weekly levothyroxine
      treatment is a safe and well-tolerated treatment option, obviating the need for
      parenteral administration of the drug. Apart from the medical treatment, there is
      also a need for psychiatric evaluation and care.

PMID- 28611950
TI  - The SaeRS Two-Component System Controls Survival of Staphylococcus aureus in
      Human Blood through Regulation of Coagulase.
AB  - The SaeRS two-component system plays important roles in regulation of key
      virulence factors and pathogenicity. In this study, however, we found that the
      deletion mutation of saeRS enhanced bacterial survival in human blood, whereas
      complementation of the mutant with SaeRS returned survival to wild-type levels.
      Moreover, these phenomena were observed in different MRSA genetic background
      isolates, including HA-MRSA WCUH29, CA-MRSA 923, and MW2. To elucidate which
      gene(s) regulated by SaeRS contribute to the effect, we conducted a series of
      complementation studies with selected known SaeRS target genes in trans. We found
      coagulase complementation abolished the enhanced survival of the SaeRS mutant in
      human blood. The coa and saeRS deletion mutants exhibited a similar survival
      phenotype in blood. Intriguingly, heterologous expression of coagulase decreased
      survival of S. epidermidis in human blood. Further, the addition of recombinant
      coagulase to blood significantly decreased the survival of S. aureus. Further,
      analysis revealed staphylococcal resistance to killing by hydrogen peroxide was
      partially dependent on the presence or absence of coagulase. Furthermore,
      complementation with coagulase, but not SaeRS, returned saeRS/coa double mutant
      survival in blood to wild-type levels. These data indicate SaeRS modulates
      bacterial survival in blood in coagulase-dependent manner. Our results provide
      new insights into the role of staphylococcal SaeRS and coagulase on bacterial
      survival in human blood.

PMID- 28611953
TI  - Bronchial Epithelial Cells from Cystic Fibrosis Patients Express a Specific Long
      Non-coding RNA Signature upon Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) is the leading cause of chronic lung infection in
      Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients. It is well recognized that CF epithelial cells
      fail to develop an appropriate response to infection, allowing bacterial
      colonization and a chronic inflammatory response. Since long non-coding RNAs
      (lncRNAs), are known to play a key role in regulating mammalian innate immune
      response, we hypothesized that CF cells exposed to Pa could express a specific
      lncRNA signature responsible of the maladaptative CF response. We analyzed
      transcriptomic datasets to compare the expression profiles of lncRNAs in primary
      CF and non-CF epithelial cells infected with Pa at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h of infection.
      Our analysis identified temporal expression signatures of 25, 73, 15, and 26
      lncRNA transcripts differentially expressed at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h post-infection
      respectively, between CF and non-CF cells. In addition, we identified profiles
      specific to CF and non-CF cells. The differential expression of two candidate
      lncRNAs were independently validated using real-time PCR. We identified a
      specific CF signature of lncRNA expression in a context of Pa infection that
      could potentially play a role in the maladaptive immune response of CF patients.

PMID- 28611951
TI  - Protease Inhibitors in Tick Saliva: The Role of Serpins and Cystatins in Tick
      host-Pathogen Interaction.
AB  - The publication of the first tick sialome (salivary gland transcriptome) heralded
      a new era of research of tick protease inhibitors, which represent important
      constituents of the proteins secreted via tick saliva into the host. Three major
      groups of protease inhibitors are secreted into saliva: Kunitz inhibitors,
      serpins, and cystatins. Kunitz inhibitors are anti-hemostatic agents and tens of
      proteins with one or more Kunitz domains are known to block host coagulation
      and/or platelet aggregation. Serpins and cystatins are also anti-hemostatic
      effectors, but intriguingly, from the translational perspective, also act as
      pluripotent modulators of the host immune system. Here we focus especially on
      this latter aspect of protease inhibition by ticks and describe the current
      knowledge and data on secreted salivary serpins and cystatins and their role in
      tick-host-pathogen interaction triad. We also discuss the potential therapeutic
      use of tick protease inhibitors.

PMID- 28611952
TI  - Multiple Phenotypic Changes Define Neutrophil Priming.
AB  - Exposure to pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, mitochondrial contents, and
      bacterial and viral products induces neutrophils to transition from a basal state
      into a primed one, which is currently defined as an enhanced response to
      activating stimuli. Although, typically associated with enhanced generation of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the NADPH oxidase, primed neutrophils show
      enhanced responsiveness of exocytosis, NET formation, and chemotaxis. Phenotypic
      changes associated with priming also include activation of a subset of functions,
      including adhesion, transcription, metabolism, and rate of apoptosis. This review
      summarizes the breadth of phenotypic changes associated with priming and reviews
      current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms behind those changes. We conclude
      that the current definition of priming is too restrictive. Priming represents a
      combination of enhanced responsiveness and activated functions that regulate both
      adaptive and innate immune responses.

PMID- 28611954
TI  - Super-Resolution Imaging of Protein Secretion Systems and the Cell Surface of
      Gram-Negative Bacteria.
AB  - Gram-negative bacteria have a highly evolved cell wall with two membranes
      composed of complex arrays of integral and peripheral proteins, as well as
      phospholipids and glycolipids. In order to sense changes in, respond to, and
      exploit their environmental niches, bacteria rely on structures assembled into or
      onto the outer membrane. Protein secretion across the cell wall is a key process
      in virulence and other fundamental aspects of bacterial cell biology. The final
      stage of protein secretion in Gram-negative bacteria, translocation across the
      outer membrane, is energetically challenging so sophisticated nanomachines have
      evolved to meet this challenge. Advances in fluorescence microscopy now allow for
      the direct visualization of the protein secretion process, detailing the dynamics
      of (i) outer membrane biogenesis and the assembly of protein secretion systems
      into the outer membrane, (ii) the spatial distribution of these and other
      membrane proteins on the bacterial cell surface, and (iii) translocation of
      effector proteins, toxins and enzymes by these protein secretion systems. Here we
      review the frontier research imaging the process of secretion, particularly new
      studies that are applying various modes of super-resolution microscopy.

PMID- 28611955
TI  - Uncovering Differences in Virulence Markers Associated with Achromobacter Species
      of CF and Non-CF Origin.
AB  - Achromobacter spp. are recognized as emerging pathogens in hospitalized as well
      as in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. From 2012 to 2015, we collected 69 clinical
      isolates (41 patient) of Achromobacter spp. from 13 patients with CF (CF
      isolates, n = 32) and 28 patients receiving care for other health conditions (non
      CF isolates, n = 37). Molecular epidemiology and virulence potential of isolates
      were examined. Antimicrobial susceptibility, motility, ability to form biofilms
      and binding affinity to mucin, collagen, and fibronectin were tested to assess
      their virulence traits. The nrdA gene sequencing showed that A. xylosoxidans was
      the most prevalent species in both CF and non-CF patients. CF patients were also
      colonized with A. dolens/A. ruhlandii, A. insuavis, and A. spiritinus strains
      while non-CF group was somewhat less heterogenous, although A. insuavis, A.
      insolitus, and A. piechaudii strains were detected beside A. xylosoxidans. Three
      strains displayed clonal distribution, one among patients from the CF group and
      two among non-CF patients. No significant differences in susceptibility to
      antimicrobials were observed between CF and non-CF patients. About one third of
      the isolates were classified as strong biofilm producers, and the proportion of
      CF and non-CF isolates with the ability to form biofilm was almost identical. CF
      isolates were less motile compared to the non-CF group and no correlation was
      found between swimming phenotype and biofilm formation. On the other hand, CF
      isolates exhibited higher affinity to bind mucin, collagen, and fibronectin. In
      generall, CF isolates from our study exhibited in vitro properties that could be
      of importance for the colonization of CF patients.

PMID- 28611956
TI  - Comparative Genomic and Phylogenetic Analysis of a Shiga Toxin Producing Shigella
      sonnei (STSS) Strain.
AB  - Shigella strains are important agents of bacillary dysentery, and in recent years
      Shigella sonnei has emerged as the leading cause of shigellosis in industrialized
      and rapidly developing countries. More recently, several S. sonnei and Shigella
      flexneri strains producing Shiga toxin (Stx) have been reported from sporadic
      cases and from an outbreak in America. In the present study we aimed to shed
      light on the evolution of a recently identified Shiga toxin producing S. sonnei
      (STSS) isolated in Europe. Here we report the first completely assembled whole
      genome sequence of a multidrug resistant (MDR) Stx-producing S. sonnei (STSS)
      clinical strain and reveal its phylogenetic relations. STSS 75/02 proved to be
      resistant to ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol,
      thrimetoprim, and sulfomethoxazol. The genome of STSS 75/02 contains a 4,891,717
      nt chromosome and seven plasmids including the 214 kb invasion plasmid (pInv)
      harboring type III secretion system genes and associated effectors. The
      chromosome harbors 23 prophage regions including the Stx1 converting prophage.
      The genome carries all virulence determinants necessary for an enteroinvasive
      lifestyle, as well as the Stx1 encoding gene cluster within an earlier described
      inducible converting prophage. In silico SNP genotyping of the assembled genome
      as well as 438 complete or draft S. sonnei genomes downloaded from NCBI GenBank
      revealed that S. sonnei 75/02 belongs to the more recently diverged global MDR
      lineage (IIIc). Targeted screening of 1131 next-generation sequencing projects
      taken from NCBI Short Read Archive of confirms that only a few S. sonnei isolates
      are Stx positive. Our results suggest that the acquisition of Stx phages could
      have occurred in different environments as independent events and that multiple
      horizontal transfers are responsible for the appearance of Stx phages in S.
      sonnei strains.

PMID- 28611959
TI  - Measuring the Impact of Femoral Head Size on Dislocation Rates Following Total
      Hip Arthroplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the femoral head's size has
      an impact on dislocation rates following total hip arthroplasty (THA). MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Five hundreds forty-three THA performed using a posterolateral
      approach in our hospital and followed up more than 6 months were included in this
      study. We evaluated dislocation rates based on the size of femoral head (28 mm
      vs. over 32 mm) and further investigated the dislocation rates classified into
      primary and revision surgery. Patient-related and surgical factors were reviewed
      to evaluate risk factors impacting dislocation rates. RESULTS: Dislocation
      occurred in 9.6% of cases (n=52; 32 males and 20 females). Of this dislocation
      group, 36 were treated with femoral heads 28 mm in diameter (9.8% of all patients
      treated with 28 mm femoral heads) and 16 were treated with femoral heads 32 mm
      and over (9.1% of all patients treated with femoral heads of at least 32 mm). The
      percentages of patients experiencing dislocation were not significantly different
      among the two groups (i.e., 28 mm vs. >=32 mm). However, after revision surgery,
      the dislocation rate in the 28-mm group was significantly higher than the >=32-mm
      group (P<0.05). In a case-control study comparing dislocation and non-dislocation
      groups, the risk of dislocation was 6 times higher in patients with habitual
      alcohol intake, and 9.2 times higher in patients with a neuropsychiatric disorder
      (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Patient factors are considered to have a more significant
      impact on dislocation rates following THA than the size of femoral head.

PMID- 28611957
TI  - Genetic Virulence Profile of Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Strains Isolated
      from Danish Children with Either Acute or Persistent Diarrhea.
AB  - Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is frequently found in diarrheal stools
      worldwide. It has been associated with persistent diarrhea, weight loss, and
      failure to thrive in children living in developing countries. A number of
      important EAEC virulence genes are identified; however, their roles in acute and
      persistent diarrhea have not been previously investigated. The aim of this study
      was to identify specific EAEC virulence genes associated with duration and type
      of diarrhea in Danish children. We aimed to improve the current diagnostics of
      EAEC and enable targeting of strains with an expected severe disease course.
      Questionnaires answered by parents provided information regarding duration of
      diarrhea and presence of blood or mucus. A total of 295 EAEC strains were
      collected from children with acute (<=7 days) and persistent diarrhea (>=14 days)
      and were compared by using multiplex PCR targeting the genes sat, sepA, pic,
      sigA, pet, astA, aatA, aggR, aaiC, aap, agg3/4C, ORF3, aafA, aggA, agg3A, agg4A,
      and agg5A. Furthermore, the distribution of EAEC genes in strains collected from
      cases of bloody, mucoid, and watery diarrhea was investigated. The classification
      and regression tree analysis (CART) was applied to investigate the relationship
      between EAEC virulence genes and diarrheal duration and type. Persistent diarrhea
      was associated with strains lacking the pic gene (p = 0.002) and with the
      combination of the genes pic, sat, and absence of the aggA gene (p = 0.05).
      Prolonged diarrhea was associated with the combination of the genes aatA and astA
      (p = 0.03). Non-mucoid diarrhea was associated with strains lacking the aatA gene
      (p = 0.004). Acute diarrhea was associated with the genes aggR, aap, and aggA by
      individual odds ratios. Resistance toward gentamicin and ciprofloxacin was
      observed in 7.5 and 3% of strains, respectively. Multi-drug resistance was
      observed in 38% of strains. Genetic host factors have been associated with an
      increased risk of EAEC-associated disease. Therefore, we investigated a panel of
      risk factors in two groups of children-EAEC-positive and EAEC-negative-to
      identify additional factors predisposing to disease. The duration of
      breastfeeding was positively correlated with the likelihood of belonging to the
      EAEC-negative group of children.

PMID- 28611958
TI  - Management of Blood Loss in Hip Arthroplasty: Korean Hip Society Current
      Consensus.
AB  - The volume of hip arthroplasty is stiffly increasing because of excellent
      clinical outcomes, however it has not been shown to decrease the incidence of
      transfusions due to bleeding related to this surgery. This is an important
      consideration since there are concerns about the side effects and social costs of
      transfusions. First, anemia should be assessed at least 30 days before elective
      hip arthroplasty, and if the subject is diagnosed as having anemia, an additional
      examination of the cause of the anemia should be carried and steps taken to
      address the anemia. Available iron treatments for anemia take 7 to 10 days to
      facilitate erythropoiesis, and preoperative iron supplementation, either oral or
      intravenous, is recommended. When using oral supplements for iron storage,
      administer elemental iron 100 mg daily for 2 to 6 weeks before surgery, and
      calculate the dose using intravenous supplement. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a
      synthetic derivative of the lysine component, which reduces blood loss by
      inhibiting fibrinolysis and clot degradation. TXA is known to be an effective
      agent for reducing postoperative bleeding and reducing the need for transfusions
      in primary and revision total hip arthroplasties. Patient blood management has
      improved the clinical outcome after hip arthroplasty through the introduction and
      research of various agents, thereby reducing the need for allogeneic blood
      transfusions and reducing the risk of transfusion-related infections and the
      duration of hospitalizations.

PMID- 28611960
TI  - What Is Important in Selecting a Designated Hospital for the Korean Veterans with
      Hip Fractures?
AB  - PURPOSE: The Korea Veterans Health Service (KVHS) implemented the 'designated
      hospital system' so that veterans can receive prompt medical attention at
      hospitals near their residences when experience medical emergencies, including
      hip fractures. We analyzed the hospital-selection process of Korean veterans
      following a hip fracture. We then evaluated (the validity and considerations) for
      choosing designated hospitals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population
      consisted of 183 veteran patients (84 treated at a single veterans hospital and
      the remaining 99 treated at 39 designated hospitals) who underwent hip fracture
      between January 2010 and February 2015 in the Honam region of South Korea. The
      subjects were divided into the 'nearest group' (those who chose the hospital
      closest to their residences) and the 'non-nearest group' (those who did not
      choose the hospital closest to their residences). We compared the age, ambulatory
      status, combined disease and fracture type, factors that we speculated may impact
      hospital choice. RESULTS: Although the patients had difficulty moving due to hip
      fractures, 116 (63.4%) patients choose hospitals that were not closest to their
      residences. Patients with three or more comorbidities (P=0.028) and older ages
      (P=0.046) were statistically more likely to fall into the non-nearest group.
      Ambulatory status and fracture type were shown not to significantly impact choice
      between nearest and non-nearest hospital. Patients in the non-nearest group
      tended to seek care at larger hospitals. CONCLUSION: Korean veterans with hip
      fractures tended to seek care at larger hospitals, regardless of distance. We
      must therefore consider the number of beds and departments when choosing
      designated hospitals.

PMID- 28611961
TI  - Radiographic Outcomes of Osteosynthesis Using Proximal Femoral Nail Antirotation
      (PFNA) System in Intertrochanteric Femoral Fracture: Has PFNA II Solved All the
      Problems?
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated the geometric discrepancies between the proximal femur in
      Koreans and two types of proximal femoral nail using plain radiographs. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A total of 100 consecutive patients (38 treated with proximal
      femoral nail antirotation [PFNA], 62 PFNA II) with intertrochanteric fracture
      were retrospectively identified. The minimum follow up period was 32 months. The
      geometric analysis of the proximal femur was performed using preoperative true
      hip antero-posterior radiographs of the unaffected side, and the data were
      compared with the PFNA and PFNA II dimensions. Postoperative assessments were
      performed using postoperative radiographs for the proximal protruding length of
      nail tip, quality of reduction, implant position and the presence of lateral
      cortical impingement. RESULTS: The geometric dimensions of the proximal femur
      were different between the two proximal femoral nail types. No impingement was
      detected in patients treated with PFNA II, whereas 13 cases of lateral
      impingement were observed in patients treated with PFNA. A significant
      association was observed between the short proximal femur and the presence of
      lateral cortical impingement (P=0.032) and between impingement and intraoperative
      reduction loss (P=0.012). Proximal protrusion of the nail tip was seen in 71
      patients and no difference was observed between two groups. CONCLUSION: Our study
      demonstrates that the flat lateral surface of PFNA II can avoid lateral cortical
      impingement, which provide better fixation for intertrochanteric fracture.
      However, there was still a problem associated with longer proximal end of PFNA II
      compared with the proximal femoral length in Korean.

PMID- 28611962
TI  - Clinical Results of Complex Subtrochanteric Femoral Fractures with Long
      Cephalomedullary Hip Nail.
AB  - PURPOSE: Good results of the cephalomedullary nails have been reported in
      proximal femoral fractures recently. Based on length of nails and shape of screws
      fixed in a femoral head for proximal fragment fixation, the proper nail length
      was in dispute. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and
      radiological results of a long cephalomedullary hip nail for the treatment of
      comminuted subtrochanteric femoral fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one
      consecutive patients with severe subtrochanteric femoral fractures who had
      undergone intramedullary fixation using long-PFNA II between March 2010 and March
      2013 were followed-up for over 12 months. Their mean age was 64.8 years old
      (range, 43-85 years). Sixteen of 22 cases were high energy trauma. According to
      Seinsheimer's classification, 5 cases were type IV and 16 cases were type V. For
      radiological assessment, time to union, change of neck-shaft angle, sliding
      length, tip-apex distance (TAD) and leg length discrepancy (LLD) were measured.
      For clinical evaluation, a modified Koval index was investigated. RESULTS: Mean
      operation time was 96 minutes. An average decrease of neck-shaft angle was 4.5
      degrees . The average sliding length of the helical blade was 4.2 mm. Average LLD
      was 3.0 mm, and TAD was 23.0 mm. Mean modified Koval index score at final follow
      up was 4.6 points. All the 21 subtrochanteric fractures healed uneventfully on an
      average of 24.2 weeks (range, 18-30 weeks). CONCLUSION: Long cephalomedullary hip
      nail provides excellent clinical and radiological outcomes in the comminuted
      subtrochanteric fracture.

PMID- 28611963
TI  - Pelvic Insufficiency Fracture in Severe Osteoporosis Patient.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate clinical features and the effect of parathyroid hormone
      (PTH) on treatment outcomes of patients with pelvic insufficiency fractures.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients diagnosed with pelvic insufficiency
      fractures were evaluated retrospectively. All patients had osteoporosis with mean
      lumbar T score of -3.9 (range, -3.1 to -6.4) and the mean age was 76.5 years. In
      all cases, simple radiography and computed tomography was used for final
      diagnosis; additional magnetic resonance imaging and technetium bone scans were
      used to confirm the diagnosis in 2 and 6 patients, respectively. Initial
      conservative treatment was used in all cases; treatment with PTH was applied in 5
      cases. Radiological follow-up was done every 4 weeks up to 6 months and every 3
      months thereafter. Symptom improvement was measured using visual analogue scale
      (VAS) score. RESULTS: Fractures were located: i) sacrum and pubis (9 cases), ii)
      isolated sacrum (4 cases) and iii) isolated pubis (2 cases). One case showed
      fracture displacement and pain aggravation at 4 week follow-up which was treated
      with percutaneous sacro-iliac fixation using cannulated screws. Duration of bone
      union was significantly shorter in the patients who used PTH (P<0.05). VAS scores
      were also lower in the group treated with PTH; however, statistical significance
      was not reached. CONCLUSION: In patients with osteoporosis, a pelvic
      insufficiency fracture should be considered if pain is experienced in the pelvic
      area in the absence of major trauma. While nonoperatic has been shown to be
      sufficient for treatment, our study shows that PTH therapy shortens treatment
      period and could be a favorable treatment option.

PMID- 28611964
TI  - Lateral Femoral Bowing and the Location of Atypical Femoral Fractures.
AB  - PURPOSE: Atypical femoral fractures (AFFs) occur in two distinct part,
      subtrochanter and diaphysis. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      relationship between the lateral femoral bowing angle and the location of AFF.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included a total of 56 cases in 45 patients who
      underwent surgical treatment between January 2010 and December 2015. For the
      diaphyseal and subtrochanteric AFFs, we evaluated the relationship between the
      anatomic location and lateral femoral bowing angle. Lateral femoral bowing angle
      was measured by two orthopaedic surgeons and average value of two calibrators was
      used in statistic analysis. Other variables like age, height, weight, body mass
      index and bone mineral density were also evaluated. We also calculated the cutoff
      value for the location of the fractures from the raw data. RESULTS: The average
      lateral femoral bowing angle was 10.10 degrees +/-3.79 degrees  (3 degrees -19
      degrees ) in diaphyseal group and 3.33 degrees +/-2.45 degrees  (1.5 degrees -11
      degrees ) in subtrochanter group. Lateral femoral bowing angle was statistically
      significant in logistic regression analysis. According to the receiver operating
      characteristic curve, cutoff value for the location of the fracture was 5.25
      degrees . In other words, the femoral diaphyseal fractures are more frequent if
      the lateral femoral bowing angle is greater than 5.25 degrees . CONCLUSION: The
      lateral femoral bowing angle is associated with the location of the AFFs and the
      cutoff value of lateral femoral bowing angle was 5.25 degrees .

PMID- 28611965
TI  - Dissociation of Polyethylene Liner of the Dual Mobility Acetabular Component
      after Closed Reduction of Dislocation: A Case Report.
AB  - A dual mobility acetabular component has a structure that combines a polyethylene
      liner and a femoral head, unlike the general design of acetabular cups, making
      the dissociation of a polyethylene liner highly unlikely. In addition, it
      increases the range of motion and reduces the possibility of dislocations by
      increasing a jump distance. A fifty-one-year-old male who had received total hip
      arthroplasty with the dual mobility acetabular component visited a hospital for a
      posterior hip dislocation 10 weeks after the operation. At the emergency room,
      closed reduction was performed and the dislocation was reduced. However, plain
      imaging test revealed polyethylene liner dissociation after the closed reduction.
      Revision surgery was performed. We will report a rare case of early dislocation
      of the dual mobility acetabular component and dissociation of polyethylene liner
      accompanied with a literature review.

PMID- 28611966
TI  - Periprostetic Joint Infection Caused by Salmonella: Case Reports of Two
      Azathioprine and Prednisolone Induced-immunocompromised Patients.
AB  - Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) due to Salmonella is rare. It frequently
      occurs patients receiving immunosuppressive medicine. We describe two
      periprosthetic Salmonella infection of two immunocompromised patients. Both of
      patients were receiving azathioprine and prednisolone therapy. First patient
      presented six years after total hip arthroplasty with a huge abscess on her right
      thigh that was reached to femoral component through the lytic area of lateral
      femur. Second patient presented with drainage from his hip and he had undergone
      two-step revision surgery for PJI 3 months ago. There is no consensus in the
      treatment of periprosthetic salmonella infections. We prefer two-step revision
      surgery for these infections as previously described in the literature.

PMID- 28611967
TI  - Superior Gluteal Artery Pseudoaneurysm Caused by Pelvic C-Clamp Blind
      Application: A Case Report.
AB  - To control such a hemorrhage, a displaced pelvic ring must be rapidly reduced and
      stabilized with a pelvic binder, an external fixator, or a pelvic clamp. Among
      them, pelvic clamps can be life-saving but pin malposition may cause vascular
      complications. We present a case of superior gluteal artery pseudoaneurysm caused
      by AO pelvic C-clamp pin malposition.

PMID- 28611968
TI  - Outcome of Internal Fixation and Corticocancellous Grafting of Symphysis Pubis
      Diastasis Which Developed after Malunion of Pubic Rami Fracture.
AB  - We report a case of pubic symphysis diastasis, which was initially asymptomatic;
      however, it became symptomatic with urinary incontinence during pregnancy. The
      patient was treated with open reduction and internal fixation of the symphysis
      pubis. A corticocancellous autograft was used for filling the gap which remained
      despite bilateral compression of the iliac bones. We obtained satisfactory
      outcome in terms of symptoms at the 3 years' follow-up; however, there was
      instability findings in the X-rays with broken screws. We conclude that
      asymptomatic pubic symphysis diastasis might be symptomatic after additional
      trauma (such as pregnancy) in the following days, if it was unstable in the very
      beginning of injury. Fixation of old pubic symphysis diastasis with
      reconstruction plate by filling the gap by using corticocancellous autograft,
      might not prevent ultimate implant failure if the symphysis pubis diastasis is
      part of an unstable pelvic fracture in the very beginning.

PMID- 28611971
TI  - Diagnosis and Management of Hepatobiliary Complications in Autosomal Recessive
      Polycystic Kidney Disease.
AB  - Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is a congenital hepatorenal
      fibrocystic disease. The hepatic manifestations of ARPKD can range from
      asymptomatic to portal hypertension and massively dilated biliary system that
      results in liver transplantation. Hepatic complications of ARPKD typically
      present with signs of portal hypertension (splenomegaly and thrombocytopenia) or
      cholangitis. Liver disease in ARPKD does not always correlate with severity of
      renal disease. Management of ARPKD-related liver disease is largely treating
      specific symptoms, such as antibiotics for cholangitis or endoscopic treatment
      for variceal bleeding. If complications cannot be managed medically, liver
      transplantation may be indicated. This mini-review will discuss the clinical
      manifestations and management of children with ARPKD liver disease.

PMID- 28611969
TI  - Anastomotic Strictures after Esophageal Atresia Repair: Incidence,
      Investigations, and Management, Including Treatment of Refractory and Recurrent
      Strictures.
AB  - Improved surgical techniques, as well as preoperative and postoperative care,
      have dramatically changed survival of children with esophageal atresia (EA) over
      the last decades. Nowadays, we are increasingly seeing EA patients experiencing
      significant short- and long-term gastrointestinal morbidities. Anastomotic
      stricture (AS) is the most common complication following operative repair. An
      esophageal stricture is defined as an intrinsic luminal narrowing in a clinically
      symptomatic patient, but no symptoms are sensitive or specific enough to diagnose
      an AS. This review aims to provide a comprehensive view of AS in EA children.
      Given the lack of evidence-based data, we critically analyzed significant studies
      on children and adults, including comments on benign strictures with other
      etiologies. Despite there is no consensus about the goal of the luminal diameter
      based on the patient's age, esophageal contrast study, and/or endoscopy are
      recommended to assess the degree of the narrowing. A high variability in
      incidence of ASs is reported in literature, depending on different definitions of
      AS and on a great number of pre-, intra-, and postoperative risk factor
      influencing the anastomosis outcome. The presence of a long gap between the two
      esophageal ends, with consequent anastomotic tension, is determinant for
      stricture formation and its response to treatment. The cornerstone of treatment
      is endoscopic dilation, whose primary aims are to achieve symptom relief, allow
      age-appropriate capacity for oral feeding, and reduce the risk of pulmonary
      aspiration. No clear advantage of either balloon or bougie dilator has been
      demonstrated; therefore, the choice is based on operator experience and comfort
      with the equipment. Retrospective evidences suggest that selective dilatations
      (performed only in symptomatic patients) results in significantly less number of
      dilatation sessions than routine dilations (performed to prevent symptoms) with
      equal long-term outcomes. The response to dilation treatment is variable, and
      some patients may experience recurrent and refractory ASs. Adjunctive treatments
      have been used, including local injection of steroids, topical application of
      mitomycin C, and esophageal stenting, but long-term studies are needed to prove
      their efficacy and safety. Stricture resection or esophageal replacement with an
      interposition graft remains options for AS refractory to conservative treatments.

PMID- 28611972
TI  - Racial Discrimination during Adolescence Predicts Mental Health Deterioration in
      Adulthood: Gender Differences among Blacks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the existing knowledge regarding the negative mental health
      consequences of perceived racial discrimination, very few researchers have used a
      longitudinal design with long-term follow-up periods to explore gender
      differences in this association over time. OBJECTIVE: The current longitudinal
      study aimed to investigate gender differences in predictive role of an increase
      in perceived racial discrimination during adolescence for mental health
      deterioration a decade later when they are transitioning to young adulthood.
      METHODS: Current study followed 681 Black youths for 18 years from 1994 (mean age
      15) to 2012 (mean age 32). All participants spent their adolescence and
      transition to young adulthood in an economically disadvantaged urban area in the
      Midwest of the United States. Independent variable was perceived racial
      discrimination measured in 1999 and 2002. Outcomes were psychological symptoms
      (anxiety and depression) measured in 1999 and at end of follow-up (2012).
      Covariates included sociodemographics (age, family structure, and parental
      employment) measured in 1994. Gender was used to define groups in a multigroup
      structural equation model to test moderating effects. RESULTS: Multigroup
      structural equation modeling showed that among male Black youth, an increase in
      perceived racial discrimination from age 20 to 23 was predictive for an increase
      in symptoms of anxiety and depression from age 20 to 32. Among female Black
      youth, change in perceived racial discrimination did not predict future change in
      depressive or anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSION: While racial discrimination is
      associated with negative mental health consequences for both genders, male and
      female Black youth differ in regard to long-term effects of an increase in
      perceived discrimination on deterioration of psychological symptoms. Black males
      seem to be more susceptible than Black females to the psychological effects of an
      increase in racial discrimination over time.

PMID- 28611973
TI  - Quantifying the Modern City: Emerging Technologies and Big Data for Active Living
      Research.
AB  - Opportunities and infrastructure for active living are an important aspect of a
      community's design, livability, and health. Features of the built environment
      influence active living and population levels of physical activity, but objective
      study of the built environment influence on active living behaviors is
      challenging. The use of emerging technologies for active living research affords
      new and promising means to obtain objective data on physical activity behaviors
      and improve the precision and accuracy of measurements. This is significant for
      physical activity promotion because precise measurements can enable detailed
      examinations of where, when, and how physical activity behaviors actually occur,
      thus enabling more effective targeting of particular behavior settings and
      environments. The aim of this focused review is to provide an overview of trends
      in emerging technologies that can profoundly change our ability to understand
      environmental determinants of active living. It discusses novel technological
      approaches and big data applications to measure and track human behaviors that
      may have broad applications across the fields of urban planning, public health,
      and spatial epidemiology.

PMID- 28611970
TI  - Bronchiectasis in Children: Current Concepts in Immunology and Microbiology.
AB  - Bronchiectasis is a complex chronic respiratory condition traditionally
      characterized by chronic infection, airway inflammation, and progressive decline
      in lung function. Early diagnosis and intensive treatment protocols can stabilize
      or even improve the clinical prognosis of children with bronchiectasis. However,
      understanding the host immunologic mechanisms that contribute to recurrent
      infection and prolonged inflammation has been identified as an important area of
      research that would contribute substantially to effective prevention strategies
      for children at risk of bronchiectasis. This review will focus on the current
      understanding of the role of the host immune response and important pathogens in
      the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis (not associated with cystic fibrosis) in
      children.

PMID- 28611974
TI  - Internal Medicine Residency Program in Guyana: A Collaborative Model for
      Sustainable Graduate Medical Education in Resource-Limited Settings.
AB  - The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) started the Internal
      Medicine/Infectious Diseases residency program in 2013. It was a collaborative
      initiative between GPHC and University of Maryland. Since that time the program
      has gone through many trials and developed new partnerships and collaboration and
      emerged as a young successful program with close international links that have
      worked and persevered in developing the successful academic and professional
      careers of its residents. International collaborations have resulted in applying
      innovative methods of teaching to deliver the curriculum in a sustainable manner
      in a resource-limited setting. The article discusses in detail the history of the
      program and the roles that the collaborative partners have played in the
      evolution of the program.

PMID- 28611975
TI  - Effect of Promotional Initiatives on Visits to a Dedicated Website for Physical
      Activity and Non-Communicable Disease in Luxembourg: An Event Study.
AB  - The Sport-Sante project and its website (www.sport-sante.lu) promote physical
      activity for individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Luxembourg. Our
      purpose was to perform an event study analysis to evaluate the effects of
      communication and promotional initiatives on the number of visits to the Sport
      Sante website. Between September 2015 and May 2016, the Sport-Sante website was
      promoted during different initiatives, including participation in health-related
      events or publication of articles in local journals. The daily number of visits
      to www.sport-sante.lu website (i.e., our outcome) was recorded using Google
      Analytics and compared to a counterfactual collected with its benchmarking tool.
      The counterfactual was defined as the daily number of visits to websites in the
      same field. A model was created to evaluate the relationship between the number
      of visits to www.sport-sante.lu website and the number of visits to similar
      websites during a control period with no promotional initiatives (from July 2015
      to September 2015). The effect of promotional initiatives was subsequently
      tested, by comparing the actual number of visits to our website (up to 2 days
      after each event) with the theoretical number of visits predicted by the model.
      Twenty-two initiatives were identified, of which 11 were participations at major
      health-related events and 11 publications of popular science articles. Of these
      22 initiatives, the event study identified 2 popular science articles and 1
      interactive workshop that significantly increased the daily number of visits to
      the www.sport-sante.lu website. One of the two articles was published on the day
      before the workshop was held, which did not allow us to distinguish its specific
      impact. The second article was published in the main national newspaper. This is
      the first time to our knowledge that an event study analysis has been used to
      evaluate the impact of promotional initiatives on the number of visits to a
      dedicated website for physical activity and NCDs. Our results indicate that some
      initiatives can aid in the number of visits, but in general their impact is
      limited. To observe an increased rate of participation in physical activity,
      additional promotional and evaluative strategies should be explored.

PMID- 28611976
TI  - A Sustained Partnership between a Haitian Children's Hospital and North American
      Academic Medical Centers.
AB  - Global health initiatives from academic medical centers have rapidly proliferated
      over the last decade. This paper endeavors to describe our 5-year experience as
      an academic medical collaborative supporting healthcare delivery, medical
      training, and research at Hopital Saint Damien-Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs, the
      only freestanding children's hospital in Haiti. Descriptions of the history and
      current activities of our academic medical collaborative, its partnership and
      communication structure, its evolution to fill the expressed needs of our host
      site, its funding mechanisms, and its challenges and opportunities for the future
      are included.

PMID- 28611977
TI  - Clinicopathology of Early Gastric Carcinoma: An Update for Pathologists and
      Gastroenterologists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The WHO defines early gastric carcinoma (EGC) as invasive carcinoma
      up to the submucosal layer, regardless of nodal metastasis. The recent study
      results indicate that EGC varies in location, histology, nodal metastasis, and
      prognosis. SUMMARY: The heterogeneity in EGC may be related to various types of
      epithelial stem cells. The most important stem cells include Lgr5+ cells at the
      base of a gastric unit in the antrum-pylorus-cardia, Mist1+ cells at the
      isthmus/Troy+ cells at the base in the corpus-fundus, and Sox2+ cells at the base
      in almost all regions. Dysregulation of these cells along with environmental
      factors transform stem cells in different regions into malignancy in genetically
      susceptible populations. KEY MESSAGE: The 2 most vulnerable regions for EGC have
      been found along the lesser curvature: the cardia in elderly patients and antrum
      angularis in mid-aged and elderly patients. Most hereditary early-onset gastric
      carcinomas are concentrated in the corpus-fundus of young women. By histology,
      the most common EGC type is tubular adenocarcinoma in many growth patterns,
      starting in the neck of a gastric unit. Worse prognosis has been found in early
      papillary, compared to tubular, adenocarcinoma, related to deeper penetration,
      more lymphovascular invasion, and more liver and nodal metastases. Contrary to
      the common belief, intramucosal signet ring cell carcinoma demonstrates low risk
      of nodal metastasis, comparable to early intestinal-type EGC. PRACTICAL
      IMPLICATIONS: The overall risk for nodal metastasis in EGC is low but
      significant. It is urgent to organize multicenter studies on risk of nodal
      metastasis in EGC in order to establish more reliable clinical practice
      guidelines to treat EGC patients.

PMID- 28611978
TI  - Periodontal Pathogens in the Etiology of Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related
      deaths worldwide. Chronic pancreatitis is frequently observed in patients with
      pancreatic cancer, and a significant relationship between orodigestive cancer
      related deaths and chronic periodontitis has been detected. Porphyromonas
      gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola, collectively called
      the Red complex, are the major pathogens responsible for chronic periodontitis
      and secrete peptidylarginine deiminase. Anti-P. gingivalis antibodies titers are
      higher in pancreatic cancer patients than in healthy subjects. SUMMARY: This
      review examines the association between oral bacteria and the etiology of
      pancreatic cancer. KEY MESSAGE: High rates of tumor suppressor gene p53
      mutations, particularly p53 arginine mutations, were detected in pancreatic
      cancer patients. K-ras arginine mutations were detected in patients with
      pancreatic cancer. Oral bacteria peptidylarginine deiminases might lead to the
      p53 and K-ras point mutations by degrading arginine. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Oral
      bacteria are likely to be responsible for the development of pancreatic cancer.
      If this hypothesis is true, it may reveal the real cause of pancreatic cancer,
      which is a fatal disease.

PMID- 28611979
TI  - Impact of Preferentially Expressed Antigen of Melanoma on the Prognosis of
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retinoids, vitamin A and its derivatives, have an antitumor effect on
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The function of retinoids is exerted by the
      complex of retinoic acid (RA) with the heterodimer of retinoid X receptor and the
      RA receptor. The preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) acts as a
      dominant repressor of RA signaling by binding to the complex. The significance of
      PRAME on the prognosis of HCC remains to be clarified. METHODS: PRAME mRNA
      expression was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in
      both tumor and non-tumor tissues of 100 HCC patients who received surgical
      resection. The effect of PRAME knockdown on DR5-mediated RA transcriptional
      activity was examined. RESULTS: In tumor tissues, there were significant
      associations among PRAME expression, clinical stage, tumor markers, and tumor
      numbers. In non-tumor tissues, there were significant associations among PRAME
      expression, overall survival, and disease-free survival. The knockdown of PRAME
      caused no reduction in DR5-mediated transcriptional activity of RA, suggesting
      that PRAME acts via other mechanisms than the DR5 RA-responsive elements.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that PRAME expression is a novel prognostic
      marker in HCC patients.

PMID- 28611980
TI  - There Is No Role for Colonoscopy after Diverticulitis among Asian Patients Less
      than 50 Years of Age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy is advocated following acute diverticulitis to ensure
      that malignancy is not missed. In an Asian population, diverticulitis is more
      common in the right colon and in younger patients. The purpose of this study is
      to examine the utility of colonoscopy amongst Asian patients <50 years of age who
      have had colonic diverticulitis. METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients
      aged 50 years and under who were treated for colonic diverticulitis between 2012
      and 2014 was performed. All patients were advised to undergo a colonoscopy when
      the diverticulitis had settled, and findings at colonoscopy were recorded.
      RESULTS: Fifty-five patients aged <50 years had acute diverticulitis. Forty-eight
      (87.3%) had right-sided diverticulitis. Amongst them, 45 (93.8%) had Hinchey 1a,
      1b or 2 diverticulitis, while none had Hinchey 4 diverticulitis. Excluding the
      only patient that underwent a colonic resection, 27 (50.0%) patients returned for
      a colonoscopy. None of these patients were found to have colorectal cancer or an
      advanced adenoma. Six (11.1%) of them had adenomas with low-grade dysplasia.
      CONCLUSION: Right-sided diverticulitis is more common in the young Asian
      population. Most patients can be conservatively treated. Follow-up colonoscopy
      may not be required in these patients.

PMID- 28611981
TI  - The Clinical Significance of Alpha-Fetoprotein mRNAs in Patients with
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) mRNA-expressing cells are candidates for
      circulating tumor cells in hepatocellular carcinoma. We analyzed portal vein
      blood, peripheral blood, and peritoneal lavage samples to detect the presence of
      AFP mRNA-expressing cells, and explored their relationship with metastasis.
      METHODS: We measured the AFP mRNA expression in 112 sets of portal vein and
      peripheral blood samples and 61 peritoneal lavage samples that had been obtained
      during surgery. We estimated the change in the positive ratio of patients with
      AFP mRNA, the associated background factors, and the rate of recurrence. RESULTS:
      The change in AFP mRNA positivity in the peripheral blood specimens was
      remarkable, while that in the portal vein blood and peritoneal lavage samples was
      similar during hepatectomy. Tumor location was the only factor associated with
      AFP mRNA positivity. The rate of recurrence was higher in the patients who were
      positive for AFP mRNA than in those who were negative 9-24 months after
      hepatectomy. During this limited period, the recurrence rate in the AFP mRNA
      positive cases was significantly higher than that in the AFP mRNA-negative cases
      (p = 0.0472). Postoperative AFP mRNA positivity was not related to very early
      recurrence (0-9 months) or multicentric liver carcinogenesis (>24 months).
      CONCLUSION: AFP mRNA positivity in the peripheral blood was elevated after
      hepatectomy, and the elevation depended on the tumor location. AFP mRNA
      positivity might contribute to recurrence-free survival 9-24 months after
      hepatectomy.

PMID- 28611983
TI  - Accuracy of Multidetector-Row Computed Tomography in the Preoperative Diagnosis
      of Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Gastric Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Preoperative lymph node staging in gastric cancer patients is
      important. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of
      computed tomography (CT) in assessing lymph nodes in patients with gastric
      cancer. METHODS: A total of 56 patients had undergone standardized gastric
      resection with lymphadenectomy between October 2013 and June 2015 were reviewed
      retrospectively. The short axis diameter of the largest lymph node per station
      was recorded when reviewing the preoperative CT images. Diagnostic accuracy was
      calculated by comparing CT with histopathological findings. RESULTS: In 518
      stations dissected at surgery, 56 included lymph nodes with metastasis. Among
      them, lymph nodes were visualized on preoperative CT in 26 stations. No lymph
      node was detected in 382 stations among 462 infiltration-negative stations. The
      cutoff of 12 mm had the highest accuracy rate of 0.896. CONCLUSION: The accuracy
      of CT in the preoperative diagnosis of lymph node metastasis in patients with
      gastric cancer remains poor. Therefore, surgeons should pay attention to the
      visibility of lymph nodes on CT. Detection of lymph nodes on CT can be utilized
      for a more accurate diagnosis such as fine-needle aspiration biopsy.

PMID- 28611982
TI  - Enucleation versus Anatomic Resection for Giant Hepatic Hemangioma: A Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatic hemangiomas are the most common benign liver tumors, and the
      management of giant hepatic hemangioma (GHH) is still in controversial. The aim
      of this meta-analysis was to compare the postoperative outcomes of enucleation
      versus anatomic resection for GHH. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and
      the Cochrane Library were searched from January 1988 to December 2015 to identify
      studies comparing the outcomes of enucleation versus anatomic resection for GHH.
      Finally, we performed this meta-analysis using the Review Manager 5.3 software,
      and the results were presented as risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with
      corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). The major limitation is that all data
      were derived from nonrandomized studies, and we cannot exclude potential
      selection bias. RESULTS: Nine studies involving 1,185 patients were included. The
      results showed that there was a lower incidence of complications (RR = 0.66, 95%
      CI 0.52 to 0.84, I2 = 0%, p = 0.0007); no incidents of death occurred among the 9
      included trials. Blood loss (MD = -419.07 mL, 95% CI -575.04 to -263.09, I2 =
      83%, p < 0.00001), duration of surgery (MD = -23.5 min, 95% CI -45.28 to -1.74,
      I2 = 0%, p = 0.03), and length of hospital stay (MD = -1.59 days, 95% CI -3.06 to
      -0.13, I2 = 0%, p = 0.03) were much lower in the enucleation group. CONCLUSIONS:
      GHH can be removed safely by either enucleation or anatomic resection.
      Enucleation can preserve more hepatic parenchyma and reduce postoperative
      complications, which is why it should be the preferred surgical procedure for
      suitable lesions.

PMID- 28611984
TI  - Editorial: In Search of In vivo MSC.

PMID- 28611985
TI  - Adaptation through Collaboration: Developing Novel Platforms to Advance the
      Delivery of Advanced Therapies to Patients.
AB  - For the nascent field of advanced therapies, collaboration will be a game
      changer, turning scientific progress that was once unimaginable into
      transformative medical practice. Despite promise for lifelong management and even
      cure of disease, skepticism remains about the feasibility of their delivery to
      patients, fueling investment risks. With the potential for long-term
      effectiveness in need of frequent reassessment, current approaches to predict
      real-life drug performance bear little relevance, necessitating novel and
      iterative schemes to monitoring the benefit-risk profiles throughout the life
      span of advanced therapies. This work explains that reinventing an adoption route
      for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products is as much about the scientific and
      clinical components, as it is about the organizational structures, requiring an
      unprecedented level of interactions between stakeholders not traditionally
      connected; from developers and regulators, to payers, patients, and funders. By
      reflecting on the successes and lessons learned from the growing space of global
      precompetitive consortia and public-private partnerships, as well as a number of
      emerging accelerated development pathways, this work aims to inform the
      foundations for a future roadmap that can smooth the path to approval,
      reimbursement, and access, while delivering value to all stakeholders. Echoing
      the growing demands to bring these transformative products to patients, it
      provides critical insights to enhance our capacity in three fundamental domains:
      deploying the operational flexibilities offered by the growing space of
      collaborations, utilizing emerging flexible and accelerated pathways to tackle
      challenges in quantifying long-term effectiveness, and building the necessary
      digital and clinical infrastructure for knowledge development.

PMID- 28611986
TI  - SCiPad: Effective Implementation of Telemedicine Using iPads with Individuals
      with Spinal Cord Injuries, a Case Series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) must often travel long
      distances to see a rehabilitation specialist. While telemedicine (TM) for
      pressure ulcer management has been used in this population, real-time video
      telecommunication using iPad has never been described. OBJECTIVE: The objective
      of this study was to provide specialized care for persons with SCI through TM
      consultation expediently in order to address medical needs, manage secondary
      complications, and to improve quality of life (QoL) of individuals with SCI.
      METHODS: Ten individuals with SCI participated in the TM program using iPads for
      6 months as a feasibility study at a single-center, county hospital. The
      participants contacted the project staff for SCI-related conditions and were then
      connected to an SCI-trained health-care provider within 24 hours via FaceTime.
      Main outcome measures included health-care utilization; QoL and psychosocial
      measures collected at baseline and at 6 months: Reintegration to Normal Living
      Index (RNLI), Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A), and Patient Health Questionnaire
      9 (PHQ-9); and a Program Satisfaction Survey. RESULTS: Ten patients (seven with
      tetraplegia, three with paraplegia; eight males and two females) with an average
      age of 34.4 (18-54) years were enrolled. The average baseline and 6-month follow
      up scores were RNLI-70.1 +/- 19.7 and 74.7 +/- 21.8, respectively; LSI-A-25.4 +/-
      7.4 and 26.4 +/- 8.2, respectively; and PHQ-9 were 6.8 +/- 7.2 and 8.6 +/- 6.1,
      respectively. TM encounters included topics such as pain, bladder and skin
      management, medication changes, and lab results. The Program Satisfaction Survey
      yielded positive results with 100% of program completers stating they would
      recommend the program and would like to continue having TM. CONCLUSION: This is
      the first known successful project using iPad to provide TM in the SCI
      population. This study discusses the implementation of such a TM program in a
      health system including limitations. It describes the clinical viability of TM
      using iPads in the SCI population for care beyond that of just pressure ulcer
      management. This project provides evidence for using a tablet device like an iPad
      as an effective and efficient patient management tool.

PMID- 28611988
TI  - Management of Orbital and Periorbital Venous Malformation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To review our management of common venous malformation (VM) affecting
      the orbit and/or periorbital area. METHODS: Consecutive patients with orbital
      and/or periorbital VM were identified from our vascular anomalies database.
      Demographic details of the patients, anatomic site(s) affected, symptoms and
      signs, presence of a family history of VM, and types of treatment(s) were
      collected, supplemented by chart review. RESULTS: A total of 24 patients' age 1
      68 (mean, 30) years with orbital and/or periorbital VM presented with cosmetic
      concerns (n = 17, 71%), distensibility (n = 15, 63%), pain (n = 9, 38%), diplopia
      (n = 4, 17%), and spontaneous thrombosis (n = 1, 8%). The VM caused globe
      dystopia (n = 13, 54%), enophthalmos (n = 6, 25%), proptosis (n = 3, 12%),
      exotropia (n = 3, 12%), and pseudoptosis with visual obstruction (n = 3, 13%). A
      total of 11 (46%) patients were managed conservatively. 13 (54%) patients
      underwent active treatment. Ethanol sclerotherapy (ES) was performed in six
      patients with extensive facial VM associated with orbital/periorbital
      involvement, resulting in symptomatic improvement in five patients, one of whom
      developed skin necrosis and another patient developed reduced infraorbital nerve
      sensation. Surgery was performed for localized lesion (n = 3, 23%), for extensive
      lesions (n = 4, 31%) and as an adjunct to ES (n = 6, 46%) resulting in
      symptomatic improvement in all patients. One patient required correction of lower
      lid ectropion. CONCLUSION: Orbital and/or periorbital VMs are heterogeneous, and
      management needs to be individualized. Surgery is used for localized lesions
      aiming for complete excision, as a debulking procedure for extensive
      orbital/periorbital VM when ES was not possible, or following ES for extensive
      facial VM with orbital and/or periorbital involvement.

PMID- 28611987
TI  - Complement in Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - The complement system is considered to be an important part of innate immune
      system with a significant role in inflammation processes. The activation can
      occur through classical, alternative, or lectin pathway, resulting in the
      creation of anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, possessing a vast spectrum of immune
      functions, and the assembly of terminal complement cascade, capable of direct
      cell lysis. The activation processes are tightly regulated; inappropriate
      activation of the complement cascade plays a significant role in many renal
      diseases including organ transplantation. Moreover, complement cascade is
      activated during ischemia/reperfusion injury processes and influences delayed
      graft function of kidney allografts. Interestingly, complement system has been
      found to play a role in both acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejections and
      thrombotic microangiopathy. Therefore, complement system may represent an
      interesting therapeutical target in kidney transplant pathologies.

PMID- 28611989
TI  - Expression of Cathepsins B, D, and G in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-Wildtype
      Glioblastoma.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the expression of cathepsins B, D, and G, in relation to the
      cancer stem cell (CSC) subpopulations, we have previously characterized within
      isocitrate dehydogenase (IDH)-wildtype glioblastoma (IDHWGB). METHODS: 3,3
      Diaminobezidine (DAB) immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for cathepsins B, D, and
      G, was performed on 4MUm-thick formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded IDHWGB samples
      obtained from six patients. Two representative DHWGB samples from the original
      cohort of patients were selected for immunofluorescent (IF) IHC staining, to
      identify the localization of the cathepsins in relation to the CSC
      subpopulations. NanoString gene expression analysis and colorimetric in situ
      hybridization (CISH) were conducted to investigate the transcriptional activation
      of genes encoding for cathepsins B, D, and G. Data obtained from cell counting of
      DAB IHC-stained slides and from NanoString analysis were subjected to statistical
      analyses to determine significance. RESULTS: Cathepsin B and cathepsin D were
      detected in IDHWGB by DAB IHC staining. IF IHC staining demonstrated the
      expression of both cathepsin B and cathepsin D by the OCT4+ and SALL4+ CSC
      subpopulations. NanoString gene analysis and CISH confirmed the abundant
      transcript expression of these cathepsins. The transcriptional and translational
      expressions of cathepsin G were minimal and were confined to cells within the
      microvasculature. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the expression of cathepsin
      B and cathepsin D but not cathepsin G within the CSC subpopulations of IDHWGB at
      both the transcriptional and translational level. Cathepsin G was expressed at
      low levels and was not localized to the CSC population of IDHWGB. The novel
      finding of cathepsin B and cathepsin D in IDHWGB suggests the presence of bypass
      loops for the renin-angiotensin system, which may facilitate the production of
      angiotensin peptides. Elucidating the precise role of these cathepsins may lead
      to better understanding and more effective treatment of this aggressive tumor.

PMID- 28611992
TI  - Comment on Robert Baran's Zakon Lecture, 2016.

PMID- 28611993
TI  - Autobiography of a Loner Tackling the Nail.

PMID- 28611991
TI  - Substrate Discrimination by ClpB and Hsp104.
AB  - ClpB of E. coli and yeast Hsp104 are homologous molecular chaperones and members
      of the AAA+ (ATPases Associated with various cellular Activities) superfamily of
      ATPases. They are required for thermotolerance and function in disaggregation and
      reactivation of aggregated proteins that form during severe stress conditions.
      ClpB and Hsp104 collaborate with the DnaK or Hsp70 chaperone system,
      respectively, to dissolve protein aggregates both in vivo and in vitro. In yeast,
      the propagation of prions depends upon Hsp104. Since protein aggregation and
      amyloid formation are associated with many diseases, including neurodegenerative
      diseases and cancer, understanding how disaggregases function is important. In
      this study, we have explored the innate substrate preferences of ClpB and Hsp104
      in the absence of the DnaK and Hsp70 chaperone system. The results suggest that
      substrate specificity is determined by nucleotide binding domain-1.

PMID- 28611990
TI  - Structure and Function of p97 and Pex1/6 Type II AAA+ Complexes.
AB  - Protein complexes of the Type II AAA+ (ATPases associated with diverse cellular
      activities) family are typically hexamers of 80-150 kDa protomers that harbor two
      AAA+ ATPase domains. They form double ring assemblies flanked by associated
      domains, which can be N-terminal, intercalated or C-terminal to the ATPase
      domains. Most prominent members of this family include NSF (N-ethyl-maleimide
      sensitive factor), p97/VCP (valosin-containing protein), the Pex1/Pex6 complex
      and Hsp104 in eukaryotes and ClpB in bacteria. Tremendous efforts have been
      undertaken to understand the conformational dynamics of protein remodeling type
      II AAA+ complexes. A uniform mode of action has not been derived from these
      works. This review focuses on p97/VCP and the Pex1/6 complex, which both
      structurally remodel ubiquitinated substrate proteins. P97/VCP plays a role in
      many processes, including ER- associated protein degradation, and the Pex1/Pex6
      complex dislocates and recycles the transport receptor Pex5 from the peroxisomal
      membrane during peroxisomal protein import. We give an introduction into existing
      knowledge about the biochemical and cellular activities of the complexes before
      discussing structural information. We particularly emphasize recent electron
      microscopy structures of the two AAA+ complexes and summarize their structural
      differences.

PMID- 28611994
TI  - Common Allergens Identified Based on Patch Test Results in Patients with
      Suspected Contact Dermatitis of the Scalp.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contact dermatitis of the scalp is common and might be caused by many
      chemicals including metals, ingredients of shampoos and conditioners, dyes, or
      other hair treatments. Eliciting a careful history and patch tests are necessary
      to identify the responsible allergen and prevent relapses. OBJECTIVES: To
      identify allergens that may cause contact dermatitis of the scalp by reviewing
      patch test results. METHODS: We reviewed the records of 1,015 patients referred
      for patch testing at the Dermatology Department of the University of Miami. A
      total of 226 patients (205 females and 21 males) with suspected scalp contact
      dermatitis were identified, and the patch test results and clinical data for
      those patients were analyzed. Most patients were referred for patch testing from
      a specialized hair clinic at our institution. RESULTS: The most common allergens
      in our study population were nickel (23.8%), cobalt (21.0%), balsam of Peru
      (18.2%), fragrance mix (14.4%), carba mix (11.6%), and propylene glycol (PG)
      (8.8%). The majority of patients were females aged 40-59 years, and scalp itching
      or burning were reported as the most common symptom. CONCLUSION: Frequent sources
      of allergens for metals include hair clasps, pins, and brushes, while frequent
      sources of allergens for preservatives, fragrance mix, and balsam of Peru include
      shampoos, conditioners, and hair gels. Frequent sources of allergens for PG
      include topical medications.

PMID- 28611995
TI  - An Update on the Disappearing Nail Bed.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nail bed may epithelialize and develop dermatoglyphics after long
      standing onycholysis. We have called this phenomenon the disappearing nail bed
      (DNB). DNB may present as a shortened or narrow nail bed. METHODS: Examination of
      all 20 nails was performed in each patient enrolled to the study. DNB was defined
      as the presence of a nail which is at least 20% shorter and/or narrower than the
      identical nail on the opposite hand or foot. Age, sex, and nail history were
      recorded. Fungal studies were done on all patients with DNB if that nail
      exhibited clinical signs of onychomycosis. RESULTS: Of 540 patients, 71 (13.15%)
      showed DNB. Sixty patients had only the toenails involved, and 10 patients had
      only the fingernails involved. One patient had both toenails and fingernails
      involved. The average age for fingernail DNB was 67.2 years and 69.6 years for
      toenails DNB. Nail history was remarkable for biting in 8 patients, nail trauma
      in 11 patients, and surgery in 12 patients. With respect to the toenails,
      onychomycosis was found in 22 patients of the DNB group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      suggests that DNB is a common phenomenon, which is more likely to appear in
      advancing age and is associated with onychomycosis.

PMID- 28611996
TI  - Frontal Hairline Recession: A Diagnostic Pitfall.

PMID- 28611997
TI  - The Burden of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in a Cohort of Patients in Southern
      Finland: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that
      impacts the quality of life. METHODS: We evaluated its burden in a cohort of 26
      Finnish patients in a single-center cross-sectional study. Demographic data,
      disease history, clinical data, treatment patterns, and workability were
      collected. Patients responded to the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and
      Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21). RESULTS: Mean age of HS patients was 44.2
      years and mean diagnostic delay was 13.7 years. Pain was rated the most
      bothersome symptom. Mean DLQI score was 8.31. Women consistently had higher
      scores than men for every item of the DLQI. Mean BDI-21 score was 10.69. Higher
      Hurley stage at visit (p = 0.001), female gender (p = 0.018), and higher BDI-21
      score (p = 0.022) were variables that significantly affected the total DLQI
      score, whereas female gender (p = 0.004) was the only variable that significantly
      affected the total BDI-21 score using stepwise regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS:
      The burden of HS is for the first time reported in Finland. The diagnostic delay
      is longer than previously reported and the results suggest that women are
      impacted by the disease more than men.

PMID- 28611998
TI  - Recurrent Paronychia as a Presenting Manifestation of Pemphigus Vulgaris: A Case
      Report.
AB  - Nail involvement in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an unusual clinical finding. The
      most common clinical manifestations include chronic paronychia and onychomadesis.
      We report an adult female patient with PV who initially presented with chronic
      paronychia of multiple fingernails and toenails before the onset of
      vesiculobullous eruptions. Later on, after complete resolution, there was
      recurrence of pemphigus presenting as hemorrhagic paronychia of the left index
      finger. Systemic treatment with corticosteroids and azathioprine led to complete
      resolution of mucocutaneous lesions as well as nail manifestations. Thus, chronic
      treatment-resistant paronychia may be an early and important sign of generalized
      pemphigus in certain patients.

PMID- 28611999
TI  - Asymptomatic Longitudinal Pachyxanthonychia of the Fingernail.

PMID- 28612000
TI  - Intermittent Chronic Telogen Effluvium.
AB  - Chronic telogen effluvium is most often intermittent, alternating periods of
      spontaneous remissions with episodes of unexplained relapses. This article
      reports the case of a male who was able to graphically depict the sequence of
      emotional events and the corresponding severity of his telogen effluvium during
      31 months. The case is interesting as it documents for the first time the
      intermittency of chronic telogen effluvium and the pathogenetic role of emotional
      strains, and it stresses the importance of the modified wash test in evaluating
      the severity of hair shedding.

PMID- 28612002
TI  - Longitudinal Asymptomatic Xanthonychia.

PMID- 28612001
TI  - Botulinum Toxin Off-Label Use in Dermatology: A Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium
      botulinum which causes a flaccid muscle paralysis. It is currently used for
      aesthetic treatments and in the focal hyperhidrosis. Recently, botulinum toxin
      has also been used experimentally in many other dermatological conditions with
      good results. OBJECTIVE: To review and analyze the possible botulinum toxin off
      label applications published. METHODS: A retrospective review of the published
      data was conducted. CONCLUSIONS: this potent drug can lead to several off-label
      indications of interest for dermatologists. Further clinical trials are still
      needed to better understand the real efficacy and safety of these applications
      and to standardize injection and dose protocols.

PMID- 28612003
TI  - Discontinuation of Peritoneal Dialysis after Late Initiation of Eculizumab in a
      Case of Familial Atypical Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome is caused by a thrombotic
      microangiopathy and manifests itself with hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and
      organ ischemia. Its etiology is a mutation affecting the genes encoding for
      proteins of the complement system. Early treatment with eculizumab (8.6 months
      from the moment of presentation), a humanized monoclonal antibody against
      complement, is shown to be effective in controlling symptoms and reversing organ
      damage. We present a patient with a mutation not previously described in the
      literature. Late treatment with eculizumab resulted in a good therapeutic
      response, eliminating the need for peritoneal dialysis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 34
      year-old woman showed symptoms and laboratory findings consistent with atypical
      hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Genetic analysis revealed an unusual mutation of the
      complement regulatory gene not seen previously. Due to unavailability of
      eculizumab at the time of presentation, conventional treatment was started with
      poor response. Late initiation of eculizumab resulted in discontinuation of
      peritoneal dialysis and yielded a good and sustained clinical response.
      CONCLUSIONS: This case shows that eculizumab treatment for patients with atypical
      hemolytic-uremic syndrome, even when initiated many months after beginning on
      dialysis, might offer substantial benefits and improve the patients' quality of
      life.

PMID- 28612005
TI  - Renal-Limited "Lupus-Like" Nephritis: How Much of a Lupus?
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by
      development of autoantibodies to nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. A small subset
      of SLE patients who had the typical clinical features of SLE was reported to show
      persistently negative antinuclear antibody tests. Our report describes a 5-year
      old male who presented with histopathological findings suggestive of lupus
      nephritis with no clinical signs or symptoms of SLE and negative autoantibodies.
      He was treated with corticosteroids, mycophenolate mofetil, and monthly
      intravenous cyclophosphamide. During the 2-year follow-up period, the proteinuria
      resolved and kidney function improved with continued negative autoantibody
      workup. This case presents a category of renal-limited "lupus-like"
      glomerulonephritis which can be challenging to treat and carries a poor
      prognosis.

PMID- 28612004
TI  - Extracranial Aneurysms in 2 Patients with Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney
      Disease.
AB  - Unlike autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), autosomal recessive
      polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is not generally known to be associated with
      vascular abnormalities. Only 4 cases of ARPKD patients with intracranial
      aneurysms have been reported previously. We present 2 ARPKD patients with
      extracranial vascular abnormalities: a young man with infrarenal aortic and iliac
      artery aneurysms complicated by dissection and a teenage girl with multiple
      splenic and gastric artery aneurysms and arterial vascular malformations. These
      cases raise the question of whether vascular integrity and development may be
      impaired in ARPKD, perhaps through molecular mechanisms overlapping with ADPKD.
      This possibility is supported by studies in mice that show ARPKD gene expression
      in the walls of large blood vessels.

PMID- 28612006
TI  - Cisplatin Therapy Does Not Worsen Renal Function in Severe Antenatal Bartter
      Syndrome.
AB  - A 30-year-old man with severe antenatal Bartter syndrome, diagnosed and treated
      in infancy, developed testicular carcinoma. Despite the known renal complications
      of cisplatin, this drug was used for his chemotherapy because of its superior
      antineoplastic effect. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration was
      continued during cisplatin therapy. Despite an increase in his oral potassium
      requirement, renal function was maintained following completion of chemotherapy.
      In spite of its significant associated nephrotoxicity, cisplatin can be used in
      patients with severe antenatal Bartter syndrome if required for therapy of
      malignancy.

PMID- 28612007
TI  - Erdheim-Chester Disease Presenting with Secondary Hypertension as a Result of
      Bilateral, Proximal Renal Artery Stenosis: A Case Report.
AB  - Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare, non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis
      presenting most commonly with bone and central nervous system symptoms, including
      but not limited to bone pain and diabetes insipidus. We present a known case of
      ECD, which was referred for secondary hypertension workup and diagnosed with
      severe, proximal, bilateral renal artery stenosis.

PMID- 28612008
TI  - Hybrid Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio-Fractional Flow Reserve versus Fractional
      Flow Reserve in the Real World.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) is a novel method to assess
      the ischemic potential of coronary artery stenoses. Clinical trial data have
      shown that iFR has acceptable diagnostic agreement with fractional flow reserve
      (FFR), the reference standard for the functional assessment of coronary stenoses.
      This study compares iFR measurements with FFR measurements in a real world,
      single-center setting. METHODS AND RESULTS: Instantaneous wave-free ratio and FFR
      were measured in 50 coronary artery lesions in 42 patients, with FFR <= 0.8
      classified as functionally significant. An iFR-only technique, using a treatment
      cut-off value, iFR <= 0.89, provided a classification agreement of 84% with FFR
      <= 0.80. Use of a hybrid iFR-FFR technique, incorporating FFR measurement for
      lesions within the iFR gray zone of 0.86-0.93, would improve classification
      agreement with FFR to 94%, with diagnosis achieved without the need for hyperemia
      in 57% patients. CONCLUSION: This study in a real-world setting demonstrated good
      classification agreement between iFR and FFR. Use of a hybrid iFR-FFR technique
      would achieve high diagnostic accuracy while minimizing adenosine use, compared
      with routine FFR.

PMID- 28612011
TI  - Professor Joachim Mossner Retires as Editor-in-Chief.

PMID- 28612010
TI  - Recombinant Swinepox Virus Expressing Glycoprotein E2 of Classical Swine Fever
      Virus Confers Complete Protection in Pigs upon Viral Challenge.
AB  - Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly contagious and serious viral disease that
      affects the pig industry worldwide. The glycoprotein E2 of the classical swine
      fever virus (CSFV) can induce neutralizing antibodies, and it is widely used for
      novel vaccine development. To explore the development of a vaccine against CSFV
      infections, the gene of glycoprotein E2 was inserted into the swinepox virus
      (SPV) genome by homologous recombination. The culture titers of rSPV-E2 remained
      at about 4.3 * 106 TCID50 for more than 60 passages in PK15 and swine testis cell
      lines. The rSPV-E2 could not be replicated in Vero, MDBK or other non-porcine
      cell lines. After two to three passages, the SPV specific gene of rSPV-E2 could
      not been detected in the non-porcine cell culture. To evaluate the immunogenicity
      of rSPV-E2, 20 CSFV seronegative minipigs were immunized with rSPV-E2, a
      commercial C-strain vaccine, wild-type SPV (wtSPV; negative control), or PBS (a
      no-challenge control). After challenge with CSFV, pigs in the rSPV-E2-immunized
      group showed significantly shorter fever duration compared with the wtSPV-treated
      group (P < 0.05). E2-specific antibodies in the rSPV-E2-immunized group increased
      dramatically after vaccination and increased continuously over time. CSFV genomic
      copies in the serum of rSPV-E2-immunized pigs were significantly less compared
      with the wtSPV-treated group at all time points after challenge (P < 0.01).
      Significant reduction in gross lung lesion scores, histopathological liver,
      spleen, lung, and kidney lesion scores were noted in the rSPV-E2-immunized group
      compared with the wtSPV-treated group (P < 0.01). The results suggested that the
      recombinant rSPV-E2 provided pigs with significant protection from CSFV
      infections; thus, rSPV-E2 offers proof of principle for the development of a
      vaccine for the prevention of CSFV infections in pigs.

PMID- 28612012
TI  - Oligometastases of Gastrointestinal Cancer Origin.

PMID- 28612013
TI  - Oligometastatic Disease in Colorectal Cancer - How to Proceed?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oligometastatic disease in colorectal cancer may affect the liver,
      lung, and peritoneum. This review mainly focuses on colorectal liver metastases
      (CRLM) and highlights recommendations and therapeutic strategies drawn from the
      current literature and consensus conferences. The following data address a
      paradigm shift in surgical approaches to CRLM, pushing the limits of multimodal
      treatment concepts. METHODS: A systematic review of the relevant literature on
      multimodal treatment strategies for synchronous and metachronous CRLM is
      presented. RESULTS: The choice of treatment strategy depends on the clinical
      scenario; however, perioperative chemotherapy and the liver-first concept in
      synchronous CRLM are favored with subsequent partial extended liver resection
      with or without various augmentation techniques for liver surgery. CONCLUSION:
      Surgical strategies should be strongly defined with regard to an adequate liver
      remnant. All patients with synchronous CRLM should be evaluated by a
      multidisciplinary team.

PMID- 28612014
TI  - Oligometastatic Disease in Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer - How to Proceed?
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the present study we review and discuss the current evidence and
      suggest how to proceed in the management of oligometastatic disease in upper
      gastrointestinal cancer. METHODS: An electronic search of the PubMed database for
      relevant articles was performed. RESULTS: Both the search for 'oligometastasis',
      'oligometastases', 'oligometastatic', 'oligometastatic disease' as well as
      'esophageal' and 'esophageal cancer' and the search for 'oligometastasis',
      'oligometastases', 'oligometastatic', 'oligometastatic disease' as well as
      'gastric', 'gastric cancer', 'stomach', and 'stomach cancer' yielded very few
      studies. Most data need to be extrapolated in general studies on oligometastatic
      diseases of different origins. No randomized controlled trial could be found.
      CONCLUSION: In the absence of data to formulate recommendations on how to proceed
      in the treatment of oligometastatic disease in upper gastrointestinal cancer, a
      more aggressive treatment of oligometastatic disease can be considered in
      patients whose tumors show a more favorable neoplastic behavior after the 'test
      of time'. The RENAISSANCE study will certainly deliver important data regarding
      this aspect.

PMID- 28612009
TI  - Cardiac Cell Senescence and Redox Signaling.
AB  - Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of the ability of the organism to
      cope with stressors and to repair tissue damage. As a result, chronic diseases,
      including cardiovascular disease, increase their prevalence with aging,
      underlining the existence of common mechanisms that lead to frailty and age
      related diseases. In this frame, the progressive decline of the homeostatic and
      reparative function of primitive cells has been hypothesized to play a major role
      in the evolution of cardiac pathology to heart failure. Although initially it was
      believed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) were produced in an unregulated
      manner as a byproduct of cellular metabolism, causing macromolecular damage and
      aging, accumulating evidence indicate the major role played by redox signaling in
      physiology. Aim of this review is to critically revise evidence linking ROS to
      cell senescence and aging and to provide evidence of the primary role played by
      redox signaling, with a particular emphasis on the multifunctional protein
      APE1/Ref in stem cell biology. Finally, we will discuss evidence supporting the
      role of redox signaling in cardiovascular cells.

PMID- 28612016
TI  - Oligometastatic Disease in the Peritoneal Space with Gastrointestinal Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Treatment options for patients with gastrointestinal cancer and
      oligometastastic disease remain the domain of the medical oncologist. However, in
      selected cases, attempts to remove or destroy the tumor burden seem appropriate.
      BACKGROUND DATA: During the last decade, the treatment of localized and isolated
      tumor nodules, such as lung, liver or peritoneal metastasis, has changed.
      Previously, these patients with metastatic disease only received palliative
      chemotherapy. Combined treatment approaches and new techniques demonstrate that
      additional surgery to destroy or remove the metastases seem to be of major
      benefit to patients. METHODS: The recently published important literature
      regarding peritoneal metastases and oligometastases in gastrointestinal cancer
      was analyzed. RESULTS: The most important factor in the treatment of peritoneal
      metastases and in cytoreductive surgery is patient selection. Resection of
      peritoneal metastases should be considered. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal
      chemotherapy is feasible. However, further results of randomized trials are
      necessary. Several randomized trials are on the way and will be available in 1-2
      years. Systemic chemotherapy alone as an adequate management plan for all sites
      of metastatic disease is not compatible with a high standard of care. Formulating
      an optimal plan combining re-operative surgery with regional plus systemic
      chemotherapy is a necessary task of the multidisciplinary team. CONCLUSIONS: In
      oligometastastic disease of gastrointestinal cancer origin, the selection process
      is the most important factor for survival. Further studies are needed to
      determine optimal treatment options.

PMID- 28612015
TI  - Oligometastatic Disease in Pancreatic Cancer - How to Proceed?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy and will become
      the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the USA and also in Germany
      by 2030. Furthermore, the majority of patients with pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC) will present with distant metastases, limiting surgical
      management in this population as there is little evidence available to support
      surgical or ablative treatment options for advanced-stage disease. However,
      highly selected patients suffering from synchronous and metachronous
      oligometastatic PDAC may potentially benefit from a surgical resection with an
      acceptable morbidity. METHODS: This review summarizes and discusses the current
      literature on the management of oligometastatic disease regarding PDAC, focusing
      on para-aortic lymph nodes as well as isolated hepatic and pulmonary metastases.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In order to further investigate the feasibility and
      efficacy of such an approach, a prospective multicenter trial, in which survival
      and quality of life after metastatic resection and systemic chemotherapy is
      evaluated, has to be initiated. Additionally, local and locoregional ablation
      techniques or stereotactic body radiation therapy as therapeutic options for
      isolated metastases in PDAC need further research in order to determine their
      significance and benefit.

PMID- 28612017
TI  - Treatment Options in Colorectal Liver Metastases: Hepatic Arterial Infusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The liver is the most common site for metastases from colorectal
      cancer (CRC) with the majority of these patients having unresectable disease.
      METHODS: This is a retrospective review of studies using hepatic arterial
      infusion (HAI) therapy to treat liver metastasis from CRC. A PubMed search of
      randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies from 2006 to present was
      conducted using the search terms 'hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) therapy',
      'colorectal cancer', and 'treatment of liver metastases'. RESULTS: The first
      randomized studies comparing HAI to systemic therapy with 5
      fluorouracil/leucovorin produced significantly higher response rates of 41 versus
      14%. Systemic therapy has improved with the addition of irinotecan and
      oxaliplatin; however, the responses with HAI and these modern agents have also
      increased, with responses as high as 80%. For patients with wild-type KRAS, HAI
      and systemic therapy produced a median survival of 68 months. In patients with
      refractory disease, response rates are in the 30% range with a median survival of
      20 months. Adjuvant HAI after liver resection has shown an increase of hepatic
      disease-free survival and overall disease-free survival when compared to systemic
      therapy alone in three of four randomized trials. A recent update of the adjuvant
      trials after liver resection at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has shown
      a 5-year survival of 78%. CONCLUSION: HAI therapy has a role in treating hepatic
      metastases from CRC in both the resectable and unresectable setting.

PMID- 28612018
TI  - Treatment Options in Oligometastatic Disease: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
      - Focus on Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Improvements in systemic therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer
      (CRC) have markedly extended survival, rendering local control of metastases to
      critical organs of increasing importance, especially in the oligometastatic
      setting where the disease may not yet have acquired the ability to widely
      disseminate. While surgical resection remains the gold standard for
      oligometastases in many organs, stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)
      presents a non-invasive alternative for achieving local control. METHODS: A
      literature review was performed to identify and summarize the findings of key
      prospective and retrospective studies that have shaped the field of SBRT for
      oligometastases to the lung, liver, and spine with a focus on oligometastases
      from CRC in particular. RESULTS: Modern dose-escalated SBRT regimens can achieve
      1-year local control rates of 77-100%, 90-100%, and 81-95% for oligometastases
      involving the lung, liver, and spine, respectively. Rates of grade 3 or greater
      toxicity with contemporary SBRT techniques are consistently low at <10% in the
      lung, <5% in the liver, and <2%/8% for neurologic/non-neurologic toxicity in the
      spine, respectively. CONCLUSION: SBRT appears safe and effective for treating
      oligometastases involving the lung, liver, and spine. Randomized trials comparing
      SBRT to surgical resection and other local therapeutic modalities for the
      treatment of CRC oligometastases bear consideration.

PMID- 28612019
TI  - Thermal Ablation in the Management of Colorectal Cancer Patients with
      Oligometastatic Liver Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection of limited colorectal liver disease improves long
      term survival and can be curative in a subset of selected cases. Image-guided
      percutaneous ablation therapies have emerged as safe and effective alternative
      options for selected patients with unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CLM)
      that can be ablated with margins. Ablation causes focal destruction of tissue and
      has increasingly been shown to provide durable eradication of tumors. METHODS: A
      selective review of literature was conducted in PubMed, focusing on recent
      studies reporting on the safety, efficacy, and long-term outcomes of percutaneous
      ablation modalities in the treatment of CLM. The present work gives an overview
      of the different ablation techniques, their current clinical indications, and
      reported outcomes from most recently published studies. The 'test of time'
      concept for using ablation as a first local therapy is also described. RESULTS:
      There are several thermal ablative tools currently available, including
      radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation, and cryoablation. Most data to
      date originated from the application of RFA. Adjuvant thermal ablation in the
      treatment of oligometastatic colon cancer liver disease offers improved oncologic
      outcomes. The ideal CLM amenable to percutaneous ablation is a solitary tumor
      with the largest diameter up to 3 cm that can be completely ablated with a
      sufficient margin. 5-year overall survival rates up to 70% after ablation of
      unresectable CLM have been reported. Pathologic confirmation of complete tumor
      necrosis with margins over 5 mm provides best long-term local tumor control by
      thermal ablation. CONCLUSION: Current evidence suggests that percutaneous
      ablation as adjuvant to chemotherapy improves oncologic outcomes of patients with
      CLM. For small tumors that can be ablated completely with clear margins,
      percutaneous ablation may offer outcomes similar to those of surgery.

PMID- 28612020
TI  - Pattern and Dynamics of Distant Metastases in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies report the incidence of metastatic patterns in colorectal
      cancer. Furthermore, little is known about dynamic aspects of these metastases
      during the course of disease. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study involved
      385 patients who received anti-tumor treatment at our institution (Department of
      Medical Oncology, University Hospital Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University
      Munich, Germany) for metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma between 2007 and 2014.
      We reviewed all available imaging results of these patients to document the
      presence and detailed localization of metastases. RESULTS: Most of the evaluated
      patients were initially diagnosed with metastases in the liver (70%), followed by
      the lungs (24%), distant lymph nodes (16%), and peritoneum (15%), besides rare
      anatomical sites (<5%). Colon and rectal cancer as well as synchronous and
      metachronous metastases differed with regard to the pattern of individual
      metastatic sites. The median time to first progressive disease (PD) with new
      metastases was 12.6 months. The time intervals between first and second as well
      as second and third PD with new metastases were comparable with 10.5 and 10.8
      months, respectively. At initial diagnosis, the mean number of metastatic sites
      was 1.4 and increased to 2.6 at the third PD with new metastases. For patients
      with initially one metastatic site, the mean number increased to 2.2. CONCLUSION:
      The present analysis provides detailed information on the pattern and evolution
      of colorectal cancer metastases over time. Thus, it may establish the basis for
      prospective future research in this field.

PMID- 28612021
TI  - Oligometastases of Gastrointestinal Cancer Origin.

PMID- 28612023
TI  - Perception of Community Pharmacists towards Dispensing Errors in Community
      Pharmacy Setting in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dispensing errors are inevitable occurrences in community pharmacies
      across the world. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the community
      pharmacists' perception towards dispensing errors in the community pharmacies in
      Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted
      among 47 community pharmacists selected through convenience sampling. Data were
      analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and
      Pearson's Chi-square test of independence were conducted with P <= 0.05
      considered statistically significant. RESULT: The majority of respondents were in
      the 23-28-year age group (N = 26, 55.3%) and with at least B.Pharm degree (N =
      25, 53.2%). Poor prescription handwriting and similar/confusing names were
      perceived to be the main contributing factors while all the strategies and types
      of dispensing errors were highly acknowledged by the respondents. Group
      differences (P < 0.05) in opinions were largely due to educational level and age.
      CONCLUSION: Dispensing errors were associated with prescribing quality and design
      of dispensary as well as dispensing procedures. Opinion differences relate to age
      and educational status of the respondents.

PMID- 28612022
TI  - Current and Future Targets for Mucosal Healing in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - The induction and subsequent maintenance of mucosal healing has emerged as one of
      the central therapeutic goals in the management of patients with inflammatory
      bowel disease (IBD) (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis). Current and novel
      treatment options are assessed regarding their therapeutic efficacy on the basis
      of their ability to induce mucosal healing. However, there is still substantial
      debate about the precise definition of mucosal healing. Here, we will give an
      overview regarding the definitions of mucosal healing as well as its probable
      effects on long-term disease behavior and finally focus on current and potential
      therapeutic targets to achieve this therapeutic goal in IBD patients.

PMID- 28612024
TI  - The Potential of a Brown Microalga Cultivated in High Salt Medium for the
      Production of High-Value Compounds.
AB  - Amphora sp. was isolated from the Sfax Solar Saltern and cultivated under
      hypersaline conditions. It contains moderate rates of proteins, lipids, sugars,
      and minerals and a prominent content of bioactive compounds: polyphenols,
      chlorophyll a, carotenoids, and fatty acids. The analysis of fatty acids with
      GC/MS showed that the C16 series accounted for about 75% of Amphora sp. lipids.
      Saturated fatty acids whose palmitic acid was the most important (27.41%)
      represented 41.31%. Amphora sp. was found to be rich in monounsaturated fatty
      acids with dominance of palmitoleic acid. It also contains a significant
      percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids with a high amount of eicosapentaenoic
      acid (2.36%). Among the various solvents used, ethanol at 80% extracted the
      highest amounts of phenols and flavonoids that were 38.27 mg gallic acid
      equivalent and 17.69 mg catechin equivalent g-1 of dried extract, respectively.
      Using various in vitro assays including DPPH and ABTS radicals methods, reducing
      power assay, and beta-carotene bleaching assay, the 80% ethanolic extract showed
      high antioxidant activity. A strong antibacterial activity was checked against
      Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus) and Gram
      negative bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella enterica). These results
      are in favor of Amphora sp. valorization in aquaculture and food and
      pharmaceutical industries.

PMID- 28612025
TI  - Effects of Streptococcus sanguinis Bacteriocin on Deformation, Adhesion Ability,
      and Young's Modulus of Candida albicans.
AB  - In order to study the thallus changes on microscopic morphology and mechanical
      properties of Candida albicans antagonized by Streptococcus sanguinis
      bacteriocin, the adhesion ability and Young's modulus of thalli and hypha of
      Candida albicans were measured by the relative measurement method using atomic
      force microscope's (AFM) tapping model. The results showed that the average
      adhesion ability and Young's modulus of thalli were 7.35 +/- 0.77 nN and 7.33 +/-
      1.29 Mpa, respectively; the average adhesion ability and Young's modulus of hypha
      were 9.82 +/- 0.39 nN and 4.04 +/- 0.76 Mpa, respectively. After being
      antagonized by Streptococcus sanguinis bacteriocin, the adhesion ability was
      decreased along with the increasing of deformation in reaction region and Young's
      modulus followed the same changes. It could be concluded that the adhesion
      ability of hypha was greater than thalli, Young's modulus of hypha was less than
      thalli, and adhesion ability and Young's modulus of Candida albicans were
      decreased significantly after being antagonized by Streptococcus sanguinis
      bacteriocin.

PMID- 28612026
TI  - Postoperative Compensatory Ammonium Excretion Subsequent to Systemic Acidosis in
      Cardiac Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative acid-base imbalances, usually acidosis, frequently
      occur after cardiac surgery. In most cases, the human body, not suffering from
      any severe preexisting illnesses regarding lung, liver, and kidney, is capable of
      transient compensation and final correction. The aim of this study was to
      correlate the appearance of postoperatively occurring acidosis with renal
      ammonium excretion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 07/2014 and 10/2014, a total
      of 25 consecutive patients scheduled for elective isolated coronary artery bypass
      grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled in this prospective
      observational study. During the operative procedure and the first two
      postoperative days, blood gas analyses were carried out and urine samples
      collected. Urine samples were analyzed for the absolute amount of ammonium.
      RESULTS: Of all patients, thirteen patients developed acidosis as an initial
      disturbance in the postoperative period: five of respiratory and eight of
      metabolic origin. Four patients with respiratory acidosis but none of those with
      metabolic acidosis subsequently developed a base excess > +2 mEq/L. CONCLUSION:
      Ammonium excretion correlated with the increase in base excess. The acidosis
      origin seems to have a large influence on renal compensation in terms of ammonium
      excretion and the possibility of an overcorrection.

PMID- 28612027
TI  - Antimicrobial Activity of Quinazolin Derivatives of 1,2-Di(quinazolin-4
      yl)diselane against Mycobacteria.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) is one of the leading causes of
      morbidity and mortality. Currently, the emergence of drug resistance has an
      urgent need for new drugs. In previous study, we found that 1,2-di(quinazolin-4
      yl)diselane (DQYD), a quinazoline derivative, has anticancer activities against
      many cancers. However, whether DQYD has the activity of antimycobacterium is
      still little known. Here our results show that DQYD has a similar value of the
      minimum inhibitory concentration with clinical drugs against mycobacteria and
      also has the ability of bacteriostatic activity with dose-dependent and time
      dependent manner. Furthermore, the activities of DQYD against M. tuberculosis are
      associated with intracellular ATP homeostasis. Meanwhile, mycobacterium DNA
      damage level was increased after DQYD treatment. But there was no correlation
      between survival of mycobacteria in the presence of DQYD and intercellular
      reactive oxygen species. This study enlightens the possible benefits of
      quinazoline derivatives as potential antimycobacterium compounds and furtherly
      suggests a new strategy to develop new methods for searching antituberculosis
      drugs.

PMID- 28612028
TI  - Chronic Kidney Dysfunction Can Increase the Risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis after
      Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is one of the major complications of total
      joint arthroplasty (TJA). Chronic kidney dysfunction (CKD) has proven to promote
      a proinflammatory and prothrombotic state and is prevalent among patients
      undergoing TJA. The purpose of this study is to identify whether CKD increase the
      risk of DVT following TJA. METHODS: In a retrospective study, 1274 patients who
      underwent primary TJA were studied. CKD is graded in 5 stages. Univariate and
      multivariate analysis were used to identify the association of CKD and its
      severity with postoperative DVT. RESULTS: There were 1139 (89.4%) participants
      with normal kidney function, 103 (8.1%) with mildly decreased kidney function,
      and 32 (2.5%) with stage 3 and 4 CKD. A total of 244 patients (19.2%) were
      diagnosed with DVT. Sixty-four patients (5.0%) developed symptomatic DVT.
      Advanced age, female gender, malignancy, and eGFR showed significant association
      with total DVT. BMI, thrombosis history, malignancy, and eGFR were associated
      with symptomatic DVT. After adjusting for age, gender, BMI, and malignancy, eGFR
      was found to be related to both total and symptomatic DVT. CONCLUSIONS: CKD is an
      important risk factor for both total and symptomatic DVT following TJA.
      Postoperative prophylaxis should be made a priority in this population.

PMID- 28612029
TI  - In Vitro Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Alimentary Canal Extracts from
      the Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier Larvae.
AB  - The invasive red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera:
      Curculionidae), is considered one of the world's most devastating insect pests to
      palm trees. It was observed that larvae of this pest are able to inhibit
      microbial growth on the rearing media when they start feeding and this
      observation has led us to study the effect of red palm weevils on various
      microbial species. The antimicrobial effect of extracts from different parts of
      the alimentary canal on Gram positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis and
      Staphylococcus aureus), Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella
      spp.), Candida albicans, and Penicillium sp. was tested using the agar well
      diffusion method. All extracts inhibited the tested microbial species. Foregut
      extracts had the greatest zones of growth inhibition. Enterococcus faecalis,
      Staphylococcus aureus, and Penicillium sp. were significantly sensitive to the
      extracts and had the largest growth inhibition zones. It is concluded that the
      gut extracts contain potent antimicrobial activity and may provide a new source
      of antimicrobial peptides.

PMID- 28612030
TI  - Effect of Gamma Rays on Sophora davidii and Detection of DNA Polymorphism through
      ISSR Marker.
AB  - Sophora davidii (Franch.) Kom. ex Pavol is an important medicinal plant and a
      feeding scrub with ecological value. The effects of different gamma irradiation
      doses (20-140 Kr) on seed germination and seedling morphology were investigated
      in S. davidii, and intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to
      identify the DNA polymorphism among mutants. Significant variations were observed
      for seed germination, stem diameter, and number of branches per plant. The
      improved agronomic traits, such as stem diameter and number of branches per
      plant, were recorded at 80 Kr dose and 20 Kr dose for seed germination. ISSR
      analysis generated in total 183 scorable fragments, of which 94 (51.37%) were
      polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphism ranged from 14.29 to 93.33 with an
      average of 45.69%. Jaccard's coefficients of dissimilarity varied from 0.6885 to
      1.000, indicative of the level of genetic variation among the mutants. The
      constructed dendrogram grouped the entities into five clusters. Consequently, it
      was concluded that gamma rays irradiation of seeds generates a sufficient number
      of induced mutations and that ISSR analysis offered a useful molecular marker for
      the identification of mutants.

PMID- 28612033
TI  - Estimation of Mode Effects in the Health and Retirement Study Using Measurement
      Models.
AB  - Using multiple modes to collect data is becoming a standard practice in survey
      agencies. While this should lower costs and reduce non-response error it may have
      detrimental effects on measurement quality. This is of special concern in panel
      surveys where a key focus is on measuring change over time and where changing
      modes may have an effect on key measures. In this paper we use a quasi
      experimental design from the Health and Retirement Study to compare the
      measurement quality of two scales between face-to-face, telephone and Web modes.
      Panel members were randomly assigned to receive a telephone survey or enhanced
      face-to-face survey in the 2010 core wave, while this was reversed in the 2012
      core wave. In 2011, panelists with Internet access completed a Web survey
      containing selected questions from the core waves. We examine the responses from
      3251 respondents who participated in all three waves, using latent models to
      identify measurement mode effects. The two scales, depression and physical
      activity, show systematic differences between interviewer administered modes
      (i.e., face-to-face and telephone) and the self-administered one (i.e., Web).
      Possible explanations are discussed.

PMID- 28612031
TI  - MicroRNA-29b Contributes to Collagens Imbalance in Human Osteoarthritic and
      Dedifferentiated Articular Chondrocytes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Decreased expression of collagen type II in favour of collagen type I
      or X is one hallmark of chondrocyte phenotype changes in osteoarthritic (OA)
      cartilage. MicroRNA- (miR-) 29b was previously shown to target collagens in
      several tissues. We studied whether it could contribute to collagen imbalance in
      chondrocytes with an impaired phenotype. METHODS: After preliminary microarrays
      screening, miR-29b levels were measured by RT- quantitative PCR in in vitro
      models of chondrocyte phenotype changes (IL-1beta challenge or serial
      subculturing) and in chondrocytes from OA and non-OA patients. Potential miR-29b
      targets identified in silico in 3'-UTRs of collagens mRNAs were tested with
      luciferase reporter assays. The impact of premiR-29b overexpression in ATDC5
      cells was studied on collagen mRNA levels and synthesis (Sirius red staining)
      during chondrogenesis. RESULTS: MiR-29b level increased significantly in IL-1beta
      stimulated and weakly in subcultured chondrocytes. A 5.8-fold increase was
      observed in chondrocytes from OA versus non-OA patients. Reporter assays showed
      that miR-29b targeted COL2A1 and COL1A2 3'-UTRs although with a variable recovery
      upon mutation. In ATDC5 cells overexpressing premiR-29b, collagen production was
      reduced while mRNA levels increased. CONCLUSIONS: By acting probably as a
      posttranscriptional regulator with a different efficacy on COL2A1 and COL1A2
      expression, miR-29b can contribute to the collagens imbalance associated with an
      abnormal chondrocyte phenotype.

PMID- 28612032
TI  - Genetics and Molecular Biology of Epstein-Barr Virus-Encoded BART MicroRNA: A
      Paradigm for Viral Modulation of Host Immune Response Genes and Genome Stability.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus, a ubiquitous human herpesvirus, is associated through
      epidemiologic evidence with common autoimmune syndromes and cancers. However,
      specific genetic mechanisms of pathogenesis have been difficult to identify. In
      this review, the author summarizes evidence that recently discovered noncoding
      RNAs termed microRNA encoded by Epstein-Barr virus BARF (BamHI A right frame)
      termed BART (BamHI A right transcripts) are modulators of human immune response
      genes and genome stability in infected and bystander cells. BART expression is
      apparently regulated by complex feedback loops with the host immune response
      regulatory NF-kappaB transcription factors. EBV-encoded BZLF-1 (ZEBRA) protein
      could also regulate BART since ZEBRA contains a terminal region similar to
      ankyrin proteins such as IkappaBalpha that regulate host NF-kappaB. BALF-2 (BamHI
      A left frame transcript), a viral homologue of the immunoglobulin and T cell
      receptor gene recombinase RAG-1 (recombination-activating gene-1), may also be
      coregulated with BART since BALF-2 regulatory sequences are located near the BART
      locus. Viral-encoded microRNA and viral mRNA transferred to bystander cells
      through vesicles, defective viral particles, or other mechanisms suggest a new
      paradigm in which bystander or hit-and-run mechanisms enable the virus to
      transiently or chronically alter human immune response genes as well as the
      stability of the human genome.

PMID- 28612034
TI  - Effects of laser polarization on responses of the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator X
      Rhod-1 in neurons and myelin.
AB  - Laser-scanning optical microscopes generally do not control the polarization of
      the exciting laser field. We show that laser polarization and imaging mode
      (confocal versus two photon) exert a profound influence on the ability to detect
      [Formula: see text] changes in both cultured neurons and living myelin. With two
      photon excitation, increasing ellipticity resulted in a [Formula: see text]
      reduction in resting X-Rhod-1 fluorescence in homogeneous bulk solution, cell
      cytoplasm, and myelin. In contrast, varying the angle of a linearly polarized
      laser field only had appreciable effects on dyes that partitioned into myelin in
      an ordered manner. During injury-induced [Formula: see text] increases, larger
      ellipticities resulted in a significantly greater injury-induced signal increase
      in neurons, and particularly in myelin. Indeed, the traditional method of
      measuring [Formula: see text] changes using one-photon confocal mode with
      linearly polarized continuous wave laser illumination produced no appreciable X
      Rhod-1 signal increase in ischemic myelin, compared to a robust [Formula: see
      text] fluorescence increase with two-photon excitation and optimized ellipticity
      with the identical injury paradigm. This underscores the differences in one-
      versus two-photon excitation and, in particular, the under-appreciated effects of
      laser polarization on the behavior of certain [Formula: see text] reporters,
      which may lead to substantial underestimates of the real [Formula: see text]
      fluctuations in various cellular compartments.

PMID- 28612035
TI  - Method for detecting voxelwise changes in fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission
      tomography brain images via background adjustment in cancer clinical trials.
AB  - An important challenge to using fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography
      (FDG-PET) in clinical trials of brain tumor patients is to identify malignant
      regions whose metabolic activity shows significant changes between pretreatment
      and a posttreatment scans in the presence of high normal brain background
      metabolism. This paper describes a semiautomated processing and analysis pipeline
      that is able to detect such changes objectively with a given false detection
      rate. Image registration and voxelwise comparison of the pre- and posttreatment
      images were performed. A key step is adjustment of the observed difference by the
      estimated background change at each voxel, thereby overcoming the confounding
      effect of spatially heterogeneous metabolic activity in the brain. Components of
      the proposed method were validated via phantom experiments and computer
      simulations. It achieves a false response volume accuracy of 0.4% at a
      significance threshold of 3 standard deviations. It is shown that the proposed
      methodology can detect lesion response with 100% accuracy with a tumor-to
      background-ratio as low as 1.5, and it is not affected by the background brain
      glucose metabolism change. We also applied the method to FDG-PET patient images
      from a clinical trial to assess treatment effects of lapatinib, which
      demonstrated significant changes in metabolism corresponding to tumor regions.

PMID- 28612036
TI  - Mixed spine metastasis detection through positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography synthesis and multiclassifier.
AB  - Bone metastases are a frequent occurrence with cancer, and early detection can
      guide the patient's treatment regimen. Metastatic bone disease can present in
      density extremes as sclerotic (high density) and lytic (low density) or in a
      continuum with an admixture of both sclerotic and lytic components. We design a
      framework to detect and characterize the varying spectrum of presentation of
      spine metastasis on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT)
      data. A technique is proposed to synthesize CT and PET images to enhance the
      lesion appearance for computer detection. A combination of watershed, graph cut,
      and level set algorithms is first run to obtain the initial detections.
      Detections are then sent to multiple classifiers for sclerotic, lytic, and mixed
      lesions. The system was tested on 44 cases with 225 sclerotic, 139 lytic, and 92
      mixed lesions. The results showed that sensitivity (false positive per patient)
      was 0.81 (2.1), 0.81 (1.3), and 0.76 (2.1) for sclerotic, lytic, and mixed
      lesions, respectively. It also demonstrates that using PET/CT data significantly
      improves the computer aided detection performance over using CT alone.

PMID- 28612037
TI  - Large-scale image region documentation for fully automated image biomarker
      algorithm development and evaluation.
AB  - With the advent of fully automated image analysis and modern machine learning
      methods, there is a need for very large image datasets having documented
      segmentations for both computer algorithm training and evaluation. This paper
      presents a method and implementation for facilitating such datasets that
      addresses the critical issue of size scaling for algorithm validation and
      evaluation; current evaluation methods that are usually used in academic studies
      do not scale to large datasets. This method includes protocols for the
      documentation of many regions in very large image datasets; the documentation may
      be incrementally updated by new image data and by improved algorithm outcomes.
      This method has been used for 5 years in the context of chest health biomarkers
      from low-dose chest CT images that are now being used with increasing frequency
      in lung cancer screening practice. The lung scans are segmented into over 100
      different anatomical regions, and the method has been applied to a dataset of
      over 20,000 chest CT images. Using this framework, the computer algorithms have
      been developed to achieve over 90% acceptable image segmentation on the complete
      dataset.

PMID- 28612038
TI  - Resection planning for robotic acoustic neuroma surgery.
AB  - Acoustic neuroma surgery is a procedure in which a benign mass is removed from
      the internal auditory canal (IAC). Currently, this surgical procedure requires
      manual drilling of the temporal bone followed by exposure and removal of the
      acoustic neuroma. This procedure is physically and mentally taxing to the
      surgeon. Our group is working on the development of an acoustic neuroma surgery
      robot (ANSR) to perform the initial drilling procedure. Planning the ANSR's
      drilling region using preoperative CT requires expertise and takes about 35 min.
      We propose an approach for automatically producing a resection plan for the ANSR
      that would avoid damage to sensitive ear structures and require minimal editing
      by the surgeon. We first compute an atlas-based segmentation of the mastoid
      section of the temporal bone, refine it based on the position of anatomical
      landmarks, and apply a safety margin to the result to produce the automatic
      resection plan. In experiments with CTs from nine subjects, our automated process
      resulted in a resection plan that was verified to be safe in every case.
      Approximately 2 min were required in each case for the surgeon to verify and edit
      the plan to permit functional access to the IAC. We measured a mean Dice
      coefficient of 0.99 and surface error of 0.08 mm between the final and
      automatically proposed plans. These preliminary results indicate that our
      approach is a viable method for resection planning for the ANSR and drastically
      reduces the surgeon's planning effort.

PMID- 28612039
TI  - Erratum: Large-field-of-view optical elastography using digital image correlation
      for biological soft tissue investigation (erratum).
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1117/1.JMI.4.1.014505.].

PMID- 28612040
TI  - Double-shot MeV electron diffraction and microscopy.
AB  - In this paper, we study by numerical simulations a time-resolved MeV electron
      scattering mode where two consecutive electron pulses are used to capture the
      evolution of a material sample on 10 ps time scales. The two electron pulses are
      generated by illuminating a photocathode in a radiofrequency photogun by two
      short laser pulses with adjustable delay. A streak camera/deflecting cavity is
      used after the sample to project the two electron bunches on two well separated
      regions of the detector screen. By using sufficiently short pulses, the 2D
      spatial information from each snapshot can be preserved. This "double-shot"
      technique enables the efficient capture of irreversible dynamics in both
      diffraction and imaging modes. In this work, we demonstrate both modes in start
      to-end simulations of the UCLA Pegasus MeV microscope column.

PMID- 28612041
TI  - Structural and dynamic insights into the role of conformational switching in the
      nuclease activity of the Xanthomonas albilineans Cas2 in CRISPR-mediated adaptive
      immunity.
AB  - Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and CRISPR
      associated (Cas) proteins constitute a microbial, adaptive immune system
      countering invading nucleic acids. Cas2 is a universal Cas protein found in all
      types of CRISPR-Cas systems, and its role is implicated in new spacer acquisition
      into CRISPR loci. In subtype I-C CRISPR-Cas systems, Cas2 proteins are metal
      dependent double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) nucleases, and a pH-dependent
      conformational transition has been proposed as a prerequisite for catalytic
      action. Here, we report the crystal structure of Xanthomonas albilineans Cas2
      (XaCas2) and provide experimental evidence of a pH-dependent conformational
      change during functional activation. XaCas2 crystallized at an acidic pH
      represented a catalytically inactive conformational state in which two Asp8
      residues were too far apart to coordinate a single catalytic metal ion.
      Consistently, XaCas2 exhibited dsDNA nuclease activity only under neutral and
      basic conditions. Despite the overall structural similarity of the two protomers,
      significant conformational heterogeneity was evident in the putative hinge
      regions, suggesting that XaCas2 engages in hinge-bending conformational
      switching. The presence of a Trp residue in the hinge region enabled the
      investigation of hinge dynamics by fluorescence spectroscopy. The pH dependence
      of the fluorescence intensity overlapped precisely with that of nuclease
      activity. Mutational analyses further suggested that conformational activation
      proceeded via a rigid-body hinge-bending motion as both D8E and hinge mutations
      significantly reduced nuclease activity. Together, our results reveal strong
      correlations between the conformational states, catalytic activity, and hinge
      dynamics of XaCas2, and provide structural and dynamic insights into the
      conformational activation of the nuclease function of Cas2.

PMID- 28612042
TI  - Determination of Adeno-associated Virus Rep DNA Binding Using Fluorescence
      Anisotropy.
AB  - Quantitative measurement of proteins binding to DNA is a requisite to fully
      characterize the structural determinants of complex formation necessary to
      understand the DNA transactions that regulate cellular processes. Here we
      describe a detailed protocol to measure binding affinity of the adeno-associated
      virus (AAV) Rep68 protein for the integration site AAVS1 using fluorescent
      anisotropy. This protocol can be used to measure the binding constants of any DNA
      binding protein provided the substrate DNA is fluorescently labeled.

PMID- 28612043
TI  - Validation of a Single Question Health Literacy Screening Tool for Older Adults.
AB  - Objectives: Health Literacy skills are important for people of all ages. Older
      adults have the lowest health literacy rates. The purpose of this study was to
      assess health literacy rates and validate the use of a screening tool with older
      adults. Methods: Participants included a convenience sample, age 65 years or
      older, English speaking with corrected vision of 20/100 or better and typical
      cognitive skills. Participants completed the 36-item Short Test of Functional
      Health Literacy Assessment (STOFHLA) and a single item screening (SIS) tool.
      Results of STOFHLA and SIS were compared using nonparametric statistics. Results:
      Of the 64 participants, 94% had adequate scores on the STOFHLA, while 64% self
      reported confidence in filling out medical forms, p = .006, chi2 = 7.606, df(1).
      Conclusion: Results suggest that use of health literacy screening tools for older
      adults may be of value. Additional studies are needed to expand the study sample
      and validate the findings of this study.

PMID- 28612044
TI  - Health Care Merged With Senior Housing: Description and Evaluation of a
      Successful Program.
AB  - Objective: This article describes and evaluates a successful partnership between
      a large health care organization and housing for seniors. The program provides on
      site, primary care visits by a physician and a nurse in addition to intensive
      social services to residents in an affordable senior housing apartment building
      located in Pennsylvania. Per Donabedian's "Structure-Process-Outcome" model, the
      program demonstrated positive health care outcomes for its participants via a
      prescribed structure. To provide guidance for replication in similar settings, we
      qualitatively evaluated the processes by which successful outcomes were obtained.
      Methods: With program structures in place and outcomes measured, this case study
      collected and analyzed qualitative information taken from key informant
      interviews on care processes involved in the program. Themes were extracted from
      semistructured interviews and used to describe the processes that helped and
      hindered the program. Results and Discussion: Common processes were identified
      across respondents; however, the nuanced processes that lead to successful
      outcomes suggest that defined structures and processes may not be sufficient to
      produce similar outcomes in other settings. Further research is needed to
      determine the program's replicability and policy implications.

PMID- 28612045
TI  - Lack of TRPM5-Expressing Microvillous Cells in Mouse Main Olfactory Epithelium
      Leads to Impaired Odor-Evoked Responses and Olfactory-Guided Behavior in a
      Challenging Chemical Environment.
AB  - The mammalian main olfactory epithelium (MOE) modifies its activities in response
      to changes in the chemical environment. This process is essential for maintaining
      the functions of the olfactory system and the upper airway. However, mechanisms
      involved in this functional maintenance, especially those occurring via paracrine
      regulatory pathways within the multicellular MOE, are poorly understood.
      Previously, a population of non-neuronal, transient receptor potential M5
      expressing microvillous cells (TRPM5-MCs) was identified in the MOE, and the
      initial characterization of these cells showed that they are cholinergic and
      responsive to various xenobiotics including odorants at high concentrations.
      Here, we investigated the role of TRPM5-MCs in maintaining olfactory function
      using transcription factor Skn-1a knockout (Skn-1a-/-) mice, which lack TRPM5-MCs
      in the MOE. Under our standard housing conditions, Skn-1a-/- mice do not differ
      significantly from control mice in odor-evoked electro-olfactogram (EOG)
      responses and olfactory-guided behaviors, including finding buried food and
      preference reactions to socially and sexually relevant odors. However, after a 2
      wk exposure to high-concentration odor chemicals and chitin powder, Skn-1a-/-
      mice exhibited a significant reduction in their odor and pheromone-evoked EOG
      responses. Consequently, their olfactory-guided behaviors were impaired compared
      with vehicle-exposed Skn-1a-/- mice. Conversely, the chemical exposure did not
      induce significant changes in the EOG responses and olfactory behaviors of
      control mice. Therefore, our physiological and behavioral results indicate that
      TRPM5-MCs play a protective role in maintaining the olfactory function of the
      MOE.

PMID- 28612046
TI  - Shaping of Signal Transmission at the Photoreceptor Synapse by EAAT2 Glutamate
      Transporters.
AB  - Photoreceptor ribbon synapses tonically release glutamate. To ensure efficient
      signal transmission and prevent glutamate toxicity, a highly efficient glutamate
      removal system provided by members of the SLC1 gene family is required. By using
      a combination of biophysical and in vivo studies, we elucidate the role of
      excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) proteins in synaptic glutamate
      homeostasis at the zebrafish photoreceptor synapse. The main glutamate sink is
      provided by the glial EAAT2a, reflected by reduced electroretinographic responses
      in EAAT2a-depleted larvae. EAAT2b is located on the tips of cone pedicles and
      contributes little to glutamate reuptake. However, this transporter displays both
      a large chloride conductance and leak current, being important in stabilizing the
      cone resting potential. This work demonstrates not only how proteins originating
      from the same gene family can complement each other's expression profiles and
      biophysical properties, but also how presynaptic and glial transporters are
      coordinated to ensure efficient synaptic transmission at glutamatergic synapses
      of the central nervous system.

PMID- 28612047
TI  - Wortmannin Attenuates Seizure-Induced Hyperactive PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling,
      Impaired Memory, and Spine Dysmorphology in Rats.
AB  - Numerous studies have shown epilepsy-associated cognitive deficits, but less is
      known about the effects of one single generalized seizure. Recent studies
      demonstrate that a single, self-limited seizure can result in memory deficits and
      induces hyperactive phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt (protein kinase B)/mechanistic
      target of rapamycin (PI3K/Akt/mTOR) signaling. However, the effect of a single
      seizure on subcellular structures such as dendritic spines and the role of
      aberrant PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling in these seizure-induced changes are unclear.
      Using the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model, we induced a single generalized seizure
      in rats and: (1) further characterized short- and long-term hippocampal and
      amygdala-dependent memory deficits, (2) evaluated whether there are changes in
      dendritic spines, and (3) determined whether inhibiting hyperactive PI3K/Akt/mTOR
      signaling rescued these alterations. Using the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin (Wort),
      we partially rescued short- and long-term memory deficits and altered spine
      morphology. These studies provide evidence that pathological PI3K/Akt/mTOR
      signaling plays a role in seizure-induced memory deficits as well as aberrant
      spine morphology.

PMID- 28612050
TI  - A Rapid Segmentation-Insensitive "Digital Biopsy" Method for Radiomic Feature
      Extraction: Method and Pilot Study Using CT Images of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Quantitative imaging approaches compute features within images' regions of
      interest. Segmentation is rarely completely automatic, requiring time-consuming
      editing by experts. We propose a new paradigm, called "digital biopsy," that
      allows for the collection of intensity- and texture-based features from these
      regions at least 1 order of magnitude faster than the current manual or
      semiautomated methods. A radiologist reviewed automated segmentations of lung
      nodules from 100 preoperative volume computed tomography scans of patients with
      non-small cell lung cancer, and manually adjusted the nodule boundaries in each
      section, to be used as a reference standard, requiring up to 45 minutes per
      nodule. We also asked a different expert to generate a digital biopsy for each
      patient using a paintbrush tool to paint a contiguous region of each tumor over
      multiple cross-sections, a procedure that required an average of <3 minutes per
      nodule. We simulated additional digital biopsies using morphological procedures.
      Finally, we compared the features extracted from these digital biopsies with our
      reference standard using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to characterize
      robustness. Comparing the reference standard segmentations to our digital
      biopsies, we found that 84/94 features had an ICC >0.7; comparing erosions and
      dilations, using a sphere of 1.5-mm radius, of our digital biopsies to the
      reference standard segmentations resulted in 41/94 and 53/94 features,
      respectively, with ICCs >0.7. We conclude that many intensity- and texture-based
      features remain consistent between the reference standard and our method while
      substantially reducing the amount of operator time required.

PMID- 28612049
TI  - Episodic Tags Enhance Striatal Valuation Signals during Temporal Discounting in
      pathological Gamblers.
AB  - Similar to many addiction disorders, pathological gambling is associated with an
      increased preference for immediate rewards (steep temporal discounting). In
      healthy participants, episodic future thinking has been shown to reduce
      impulsivity during intertemporal choice. Here, we examine for the first time a
      modulation of temporal discounting via episodic future thinking in a group of
      pathological gamblers. We investigated a sample of 24 pathological gamblers and
      24 matched healthy controls with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
      Participants made intertemporal choices in two experimental conditions. In the
      control condition, delayed monetary rewards were offered with the respective
      amount and delay. In the episodic condition, rewards were additionally associated
      with participant-specific personal future events. We replicated previous findings
      of increased temporal discounting in pathological gambling. On a trend level,
      episodic future thinking attenuated discounting across all participants. We found
      that pathological gamblers could successfully recruit a prospection related
      network during decision-making in the presence of episodic information. The
      episodic condition modulated the functional connection between ventromedial
      prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ventral striatum, a mechanism that might support
      the increase in striatal value coding observed in the episodic condition in
      gamblers. However, in controls, but not in gamblers, valuation signal changes in
      the hippocampus were associated with less impulsive behavior. We provide first
      evidence that by episodic cues during intertemporal decision-making striatal
      valuation signals can be enhanced in pathological gamblers. Further research is
      needed to explore interventions that reliably reduce impulsive choice behavior in
      pathological gambling.

PMID- 28612051
TI  - RNF4 interacts with multiSUMOylated ETV4.
AB  - Protein SUMOylation represents an important regulatory event that changes the
      activities of numerous proteins. Recent evidence demonstrates that polySUMO
      chains can act as a trigger to direct the ubiquitin ligase RNF4 to substrates to
      cause their turnover through the ubiquitin pathway. RNF4 uses multiple SUMO
      interaction motifs (SIMs) to bind to these chains. However, in addition to
      polySUMO chains, a multimeric binding surface created by the simultaneous
      SUMOylation of multiple residues on a protein or complex could also provide a
      platform for the recruitment of multi-SIM proteins like RNF4. Here we demonstrate
      that multiSUMOylated ETV4 can bind to RNF4 and that a unique combination of SIMs
      is required for RNF4 to interact with this multiSUMOylated platform. Thus RNF4
      can bind to proteins that are either polySUMOylated through a single site or
      multiSUMOylated on several sites and raises the possibility that such multiSIM
      multiSUMO interactions might be more widespread.

PMID- 28612048
TI  - Obesity Accelerates Alzheimer-Related Pathology in APOE4 but not APOE3 Mice.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk is modified by both genetic and environmental risk
      factors, which are believed to interact to cooperatively modify pathogenesis.
      Although numerous genetic and environmental risk factors for AD have been
      identified, relatively little is known about potential gene-environment
      interactions in regulating disease risk. The strongest genetic risk factor for
      late-onset AD is the epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE4). An important
      modifiable risk factor for AD is obesity, which has been shown to increase AD
      risk in humans and accelerate development of AD-related pathology in rodent
      models. Potential interactions between APOE4 and obesity are suggested by the
      literature but have not been thoroughly investigated. In the current study, we
      evaluated this relationship by studying the effects of diet-induced obesity (DIO)
      in the EFAD mouse model, which combines familial AD transgenes with human APOE3
      or APOE4. Male E3FAD and E4FAD mice were maintained for 12 weeks on either a
      control diet or a Western diet high in saturated fat and sugars. We observed that
      metabolic outcomes of DIO were similar in E3FAD and E4FAD mice. Importantly, our
      data showed a significant interaction between diet and APOE genotype on AD
      related outcomes in which Western diet was associated with robust increases in
      amyloid deposits, beta-amyloid burden, and glial activation in E4FAD but not in
      E3FAD mice. These findings demonstrate an important gene-environment interaction
      in an AD mouse model that suggests that AD risk associated with obesity is
      strongly influenced by APOE genotype.

PMID- 28612052
TI  - A CRISPR/Cas9-based method and primer design tool for seamless genome editing in
      fission yeast.
AB  - In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe the prevailing approach for gene
      manipulations is based on homologous recombination of a PCR product that contains
      genomic target sequences and a selectable marker. The CRISPR/Cas9 system has
      recently been implemented in fission yeast, which allows for seamless genome
      editing without integration of a selection marker or leaving any other genomic
      'scars'. The published method involves manual design of the single guide RNA
      (sgRNA), and digestion of a large plasmid with a problematic restriction enzyme
      to clone the sgRNA. To increase the efficiency of this approach, we have
      established and optimized a PCR-based system to clone the sgRNA without
      restriction enzymes into a plasmid with a dominant natMX6 (nourseothricin)
      selection marker. We also provide a web-tool, CRISPR4P, to support the design of
      the sgRNAs and the primers required for the entire process of seamless DNA
      deletion. Moreover, we report the preparation of G1-synchronized and
      cryopreserved S. pombe cells, which greatly increases the efficiency and speed
      for transformations, and may also facilitate standard gene manipulations.
      Applying this optimized CRISPR/Cas9-based approach, we have successfully deleted
      over 80 different non-coding RNA genes, which are generally lowly expressed, and
      have inserted 7 point mutations in 4 different genomic regions.

PMID- 28612054
TI  - Pediatric vesicoureteral reflux: Slow but steady steps.

PMID- 28612053
TI  - Micro-epidemiological structuring of Plasmodium falciparum parasite populations
      in regions with varying transmission intensities in Africa.
AB  - Background: The first models of malaria transmission assumed a completely mixed
      and homogeneous population of parasites.  Recent models include spatial
      heterogeneity and variably mixed populations. However, there are few empiric
      estimates of parasite mixing with which to parametize such models. Methods: Here
      we genotype 276 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 5199 P. falciparum
      isolates from two Kenyan sites (Kilifi county and Rachuonyo South district) and
      one Gambian site (Kombo coastal districts) to determine the spatio-temporal
      extent of parasite mixing, and use Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and linear
      regression to examine the relationship between genetic relatedness and distance
      in space and time for parasite pairs. Results: Using 107, 177 and 82 SNPs that
      were successfully genotyped in 133, 1602, and 1034 parasite isolates from The
      Gambia, Kilifi and Rachuonyo South district, respectively, we show that there are
      no discrete geographically restricted parasite sub-populations, but instead we
      see a diffuse spatio-temporal structure to parasite genotypes.  Genetic
      relatedness of sample pairs is predicted by relatedness in space and time.
      Conclusions: Our findings suggest that targeted malaria control will benefit the
      surrounding community, but unfortunately also that emerging drug resistance will
      spread rapidly through the population.

PMID- 28612055
TI  - Genetics of vesicoureteral reflux and congenital anomalies of the kidney and
      urinary tract.
AB  - The definition of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) is
      the disease of structural malformations in the kidney and/or urinary tract
      containing vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). These anomalies can cause pediatric
      chronic kidney disease. However, the pathogenesis of CAKUT is not well
      understood, because identifying the genetic architecture of CAKUT is difficult
      due to the phenotypic heterogeneity and multifactorial genetic penetrance. We
      describe the current genetic basis and mechanisms of CAKUT including VUR via
      approaching the steps and signaling pathways of kidney developmental processes.
      We also focus on the newly developed strategies and challenges to fully address
      the role of the associated genes in the pathogenesis of the disease.

PMID- 28612056
TI  - Critical appraisal of the top-down approach for vesicoureteral reflux.
AB  - Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) has been linked to recurrent urinary tract infections
      (UTIs), renal scarring, hypertension, renal insufficiency and end-stage kidney
      disease. Different imaging strategies have been proposed to approach children
      presenting with UTI to sort out patients with significant VUR while minimizing
      patient morbidity, radiation exposure and financial burden. None of these imaging
      strategies is universally accepted. The"top-down approach" (TDA) aims at
      restricting the number of voiding cystourethrograms (VCUGs) and its associated
      morbidity while identifying patients with clinically-significant reflux. In this
      approach, children presenting with febrile UTIs are acutely investigated with
      dimercapto-succinic acid (DMSA) renal scans to identify patients with renal
      parenchymal inflammation. Those with evidence of renal affection are offered VCUG
      and late DMSA scan to identify VUR and permanent renal scarring, respectively.
      Although TDA could identify clinically-significant VUR with high sensitivity, it
      is not without limitations. The approach segregates patients based on the
      presence of DMSA cortical lesions omitting the morbidity and the economic burden
      of UTI. Additionally, some of DMSA lesions are attributed to congenital dysplasia
      and unrelated to UTI. Ionizing radiation exposure, financial costs, limited
      availability of DMSA scans in the acute setting, variability in interpreting the
      results and low yield of actionable findings on DMSA scans are some other
      limitations. In this review, we tried to address the drawbacks of the TDA and
      reinforce the value of patient-centered approach for VUR.

PMID- 28612057
TI  - Imaging studies and biomarkers to detect clinically meaningful vesicoureteral
      reflux.
AB  - The work-up of a febrile urinary tract infection is generally performed to detect
      vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and its possible complications. The imaging
      modalities most commonly used for this purpose are renal-bladder ultrasound,
      voiding cystourethrogram and dimercapto-succinic acid scan. These studies each
      contribute valuable information, but carry individual benefits and limitations
      that may impact their efficacy. Biochemical markers are not commonly used in
      pediatric urology to diagnose or differentiate high-risk disease, but this is the
      emerging frontier, which will hopefully change our approach to VUR in the future.
      As it becomes more apparent that there is tremendous clinical variation within
      grades of VUR, the need to distinguish clinically significant from insignificant
      disease grows. The unfortunate truth about VUR is that recommendations for
      treatment may be inconsistent. Nuances in clinical decision-making will always
      exist, but opinions for medical versus surgical intervention should be more
      standardized, based on risk of injury to the kidney.

PMID- 28612058
TI  - Vesicoureteral reflux and continuous prophylactic antibiotics.
AB  - Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) management must be tailored based on the risk for
      further infections and renal scarring, gender, likelihood of spontaneous
      resolution, and parental preferences. Because we now understand that sterile VUR
      is benign and most reflux spontaneously resolves over time, the initial approach
      in majority of children is non-surgical with continuous antibiotic prophylaxis
      (CAP) and correction of bladder and bowel dysfunction. Despite increasing
      utilization of CAP over the past four decades, the efficacy of antibiotic
      prophylaxis has been questioned due to conflicting results of studies plagued
      with design flaws and inadequate subject sample size. The Randomized Intervention
      for Children with Vesicoureteral Reflux (RIVUR) trial, which was designed to
      address many of the limitations from previous studies, provided much needed
      answers. In this review, we sought to describe the controversy surrounding VUR
      management, highlight the results of RIVUR trial, and discuss how the RIVUR
      findings impact our understanding of CAP in the management of VUR.

PMID- 28612060
TI  - Aggressive diagnosis and treatment for posterior urethral valve as an etiology
      for vesicoureteral reflux or urge incontinence in children.
AB  - Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is one of the most common diseases in pediatric
      urology and classified into primary and secondary VUR. Although posterior
      urethral valve (PUV) is well known as a cause of the secondary VUR, it is
      controversial that minor urethral deformity recognized in voiding
      cystourethrography represents mild end of PUV spectrum and contributes to the
      secondary VUR. We have been studying for these ten years congenital urethral
      obstructive lesions with special attention to its urethrographic and endoscopic
      morphology as well as therapeutic response with transurethral incision. Our
      conclusion to date is that congenital obstructive lesion in the postero
      membranous urethra is exclusively PUV (types 1 and 3) and that severity of
      obstruction depends on broad spectrum of morphological features recognized in
      PUV. Endoscopic diagnostic criteria for PUV are being consolidated.

PMID- 28612059
TI  - Endoscopic injection therapy.
AB  - Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved dextranomer/hyaluronic acid
      copolymer (Deflux) for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux, endoscopic
      injection therapy using Deflux has become a popular alternative to open surgery
      and continuous antibiotic prophylaxis. Endoscopic correction with Deflux is
      minimally invasive, well tolerated, and provides cure rates approaching those of
      open surgery (i.e., approximately 80% in several studies). However, in recent
      years a less stringent approach to evaluating urinary tract infections (UTIs) and
      concerns about long-term efficacy and complications associated with endoscopic
      injection have limited the use of this therapy. In addition, there is little
      evidence supporting the efficacy of endoscopic injection therapy in preventing
      UTIs and vesicoureteral reflux-related renal scarring. In this report, we
      reviewed the current literature regarding endoscopic injection therapy and
      provided an updated overview of this topic.

PMID- 28612061
TI  - Management of vesicoureteral reflux in neurogenic bladder.
AB  - Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is a significant risk factor for pyelonephritis and
      renal scarring. VUR can occur through a defective ureterovesical junction (UVJ)
      or an overwhelmed normal UVJ mechanism such as in bladder dysfunction of
      congenital, acquired, or behavioral etiology. There are numerous causes for the
      development of a neurogenic bladder from spinal dysraphisms to spinal cord trauma
      and even centrally based abnormalities in children with apparently normal motor
      function (inappropriately termed nonneurogenic neurogenic bladder). The
      foundation of managing reflux in these neurogenic bladders is to maintain low
      bladder pressures which will commonly mean that compliance will be normal as
      well. There have been several publications that have shown that if bladder
      pressures are lowered simply with clean intermittent catheterization and
      medications that the reflux can resolve spontaneously. Alternatively, the
      patients that are in need of bladder augmentation can have spontaneous resolution
      of their reflux with the resulting increase in capacity. Surgical intervention is
      called for when bladder capacity is adequate and the reflux persists or if it is
      part of a larger operation to increase capacity and to manage outlet resistance.
      In some instances, reimplantation is necessary because the ureters interfere with
      the bladder neck procedure. Aside from open and robotic surgical intervention the
      use of endoscopic injectable agents is beginning to become more popular
      especially when combined with intravesical botulinum toxin A injections. Great
      strides are being made in the management of patients with neurogenic bladders and
      we are seeing more choices for the urologist to be able to manage these patients.

PMID- 28612062
TI  - In vitro pharmacological interaction of caffeine and first-line antibiotics is
      antagonistic against clinically important bacterial pathogens.
AB  - The in vitro antibacterial activity of pure caffeine powder and its interaction
      with first line antibiotic against bacterial isolates were investigated with the
      macrobroth dilution and the checkerboard assay methods. This study showed that
      caffeine and the antibiotics exhibited various degrees of antibacterial
      activities. While caffeine had MICs ranging between 67.19 and 268.75 ug/ml,
      chloramphenicol was characterized by MICs between 0.98 and 31.25 ug/ml, kanamycin
      - 15.63-62.5 ug/ml, nalidixic acid - 0.49-250 ug/ml, erythromycin - 0.49-62.5
      ug/ml, tetracycline - 1.99-62.5 ug/ml and metronidazole - 15.63-31.25 ug/ml.
      Combining 1/2 MICs and MICs of caffeine with the antibiotics as well as direct
      combination of caffeine and the antibiotics resulted in significant reduction of
      antibiotics' effectiveness. The fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI)
      for the combination of 1/2 MICs of caffeine with different antibiotics showed
      antagonistic interactions with the antibiotics except kanamycin which had
      additive and indifferent interactions with caffeine. The FICI of the MICs of
      caffeine combined with antibiotics showed a reduction in the number of
      antagonistic interactions as chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid and erythromycin
      showed some indifferent interactions while kanamycin was the only antibiotic that
      showed indifferent interaction against all the bacterial isolates. The direct
      combination of caffeine and the antibiotics resulted in significant antagonistic
      interactions higher than in the case when caffeine, at the 1/2 MICs and MICs, was
      combined with the antibiotics. Although caffeine demonstrated significant
      antibacterial activity against the selected bacterial isolates, its combination
      with the selected antibiotics resulted in significant antagonistic interactions.
      Caffeine should not be combined with antibiotics as this could result in serious
      therapeutic failure and, possibly, drug toxicity in vivo.

PMID- 28612063
TI  - Bioelements in hair of children with selected neurological disorders.
AB  - We have analyzed concentrations of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), copper (Cu),
      zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) in hair of a group of 82 children with mental
      retardation, in which 9 patients suffered from epilepsy, 18 from the Down's
      syndrome and 55 from cerebral palsy. Girls comprised little over 50% of the
      patients. In the group of boys with epilepsy, we found Mg, Ca, Cu and Fe
      deficiency, and normal level of Zn. In the group of girls with epilepsy, apart
      from low Fe concentration, a high level of Ca, Mg, Zn, and Cu was noted. For
      girls with the Down's syndrome, a high or normal level of Ca, Mg, Zn and Cu was
      found, whereas the Fe concentration varied and presented itself in a non
      characteristic way. Both groups of children with cerebral palsy, i.e. boys and
      girls, displayed low Fe concentration in their hair; low Cu level was found in
      older patients as well. In this group of patients, we also noted high
      concentrations of Ca, Mg and Zn in girls and normal in boys. A high concentration
      of Ca in girls with cerebral palsy requires separate analysis. The obtained
      results could be useful as guidance in the direction and determination of the
      amount of possible patient nutritional supplementation.

PMID- 28612064
TI  - E2F site in the essential promoter region does not confer S phase-specific
      transcription of the ABCC10 gene in human prostate cancer cells.
AB  - ABCC10 (MRP7) plays a role in cellular detoxification and resistance to
      anticancer drugs. Since ABCC10 gene transcription in human prostate cancer
      CWR22Rv1 cells was found dependent on E2F binding sequence motif, ABCC10
      expression in G1 and S phases of the cell cycle of CWR22Rv1 cells, was analyzed.
      The cells were synchronized in G1 phase by double thymidine block and in S phase
      by thymidine/mimosine double block. ABCC10 mRNA level was found to be similar in
      S phase-synchronized and asynchronous cell populations. In G1 phase it decreased
      by 2.4- to 3-fold. It is thus inferred, that ABCC10 expression in CWR22Rv1 cells
      is not S phase-specific but is primarily associated with cell proliferation.

PMID- 28612065
TI  - Field effects to slow magnetic relaxation in a mononuclear Ni(ii) complex.
AB  - A mononuclear Ni(ii) complex [Ni(NCS)2(nqu)2(H2O)2].2nqu (nqu - 5-nitroquinoline)
      shows a field induced slow magnetic relaxation with three relaxation domains. The
      relaxation time for the low-frequency mode is as slow as tau = 0.3 s at T = 1.9 K
      and BDC = 0.4 T.

PMID- 28612066
TI  - Pt-Cu hierarchical quasi great dodecahedrons with abundant twinning defects for
      hydrogen evolution.
AB  - Hierarchical metal nanostructures which exhibit an open structure and a high
      density of twin defects accessible to reactants hold great promise in catalysis.
      Here, we report a facile synthesis of Pt-Cu hierarchical quasi great
      dodecahedrons (HQGDs) which present 5-fold symmetry and are composed of multiple
      ordered branched units with a frame structure. HQGDs evolve from icosahedral
      seeds with multiple {111} twin planes, followed by the growth of higher-order
      branches. Owing to the unique frame structure associated with multiple twin
      defects, HQGDs showed much higher HER catalytic activity and better durability
      relative to commercial Pt/C.

PMID- 28612068
TI  - Quantitative control of CaCO3 growth on quartz crystal microbalance sensors as a
      signal amplification method.
AB  - The surface crystallization of CaCO3 on gold was monitored by a quartz crystal
      microbalance (QCM). Quantitative control of the grown crystals was realized by
      adjusting the ratio of two functional groups, -N(CH3)3 and -COOH, on SAMs.
      Crystals with uniform size, morphology and polymorphism were obtained. The amount
      of crystals formed was found to increase with an increase in the -COOH group. The
      proposed quantitative control of crystallization can be an effective mass
      amplification strategy for QCM to enhance its assay sensitivity.

PMID- 28612067
TI  - Stretch-dependent changes in molecular conformation in fibronectin nanofibers.
AB  - Fibronectin (FN) is an extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoprotein that plays an
      important role in a wide range of biological processes including embryonic
      development, wound healing, and fibrosis. Recent evidence has demonstrated that
      FN is mechanosensitive, where the application of force induces conformational
      changes within the FN molecule to expose otherwise cryptic binding domains.
      However, it has proven technically challenging to dynamically monitor how the
      nanostructure of FN fibers changes as a result of force-induced extension, due in
      part to the inherent complexity of FN networks within tissue and cell-generated
      extracellular matrix (ECM). This has limited our understanding of FN matrix
      mechanobiology and the complex bi-directional signaling between cells and the
      ECM, and de novo FN fiber fabrication strategies have only partially addressed
      this. Towards addressing this need, we have developed a modified surface
      initiated assembly (SIA) technique to engineer FN nanofibers that we can
      uniaxially stretch to >7-fold extensions and subsequently immobilize them in the
      stretched state for high resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging. Using
      this approach, we analyzed how the nanostructure of FN molecules within the
      nanofibers changed with stretch. In fully contracted FN nanofibers, we observed
      large, densely packed, isotropically-oriented nodules. With intermediate
      extension, uniaxially-aligned fibrillar regions developed and nodules became
      progressively smaller. At high extension, the nanostructure consisted of highly
      aligned fibrils with small nodules in a beads-on-a-string arrangement. In
      summary, we have established a methodology to uniaxially stretch FN fibers and
      monitor changes in nanostructure using AFM. Our results provide new insight into
      how FN fiber extension can affect the morphology of the constituent FN molecules.

PMID- 28612069
TI  - Copper nanoparticles socketed in situ into copper phyllosilicate nanotubes with
      enhanced performance for chemoselective hydrogenation of esters.
AB  - Copper nanoparticles exsoluted in situ under a reducing atmosphere at elevated
      temperatures are socketed into the parent copper phyllosilicate nanotubes and
      exhibit excellent catalytic performance and superior stability for the selective
      hydrogenation of various esters to alcohols.

PMID- 28612070
TI  - Effect of pH on chitosan hydrogel polymer network structure.
AB  - Chitosan is a molecule that can form water-filled 3D polymer networks with a wide
      range of applications. A new coarse-grained model for chitosan hydrogel was
      developed to explore its pH-dependent self-assembly behavior and mechanical
      properties. Our results indicate that the underlying polymer physical
      crosslinking pattern induced by solution pH has a significant effect on hydrogel
      elastic moduli. With this model, we obtain pH-dependent structural and mechanical
      property changes in agreement with experimental observations, and provide a
      molecular mechanism behind the changes in polymer crosslinking patterns.

PMID- 28612071
TI  - Palladium-catalyzed intermolecular carbonylative cross-coupling of heteroaryl
      C(sp2)-H bonds with amines: an efficient strategy for oxidative
      aminocarbonylation of azoles.
AB  - An efficient palladium-catalyzed oxidative aminocarbonylation of azoles has been
      developed. This system allows for intermolecular carbonylative cross-coupling of
      aromatic C(sp2)-H bonds with simple amines, which has often been asked for, but
      has not been realized so far. It provides a straightforward approach to a variety
      of azol-2-amides.

PMID- 28612072
TI  - Efficient energy-level modification of novel pyran-annulated perylene diimides
      for photocatalytic water splitting.
AB  - We design and synthesize four pyran-embedded perylene diimide (PDI) compounds
      through a straightforward methodology. UV-driven photocatalytic water splitting
      using the compounds as photocatalysts demonstrates that the highest
      photocatalytic H2 evolution rate under UV light is 0.90 mmol g-1 h-1, which paves
      the way towards organic photoresponsive materials.

PMID- 28612073
TI  - cis-Decalin oxidation as a stereochemical probe of in-MOF versus on-MOF
      catalysis.
AB  - Development of catalyst-controlled C-H hydroxylation could provide direct access
      to valuable synthetic targets, such as primary metabolites. Here, we report a new
      family of porous materials, comprised of 2-dimensional metalloporphyrin layers
      and flexible aliphatic linkers, and demonstrate C-H hydroxylation activity. We
      demonstrate that the stereochemistry of cis-decalin oxidation provides a useful
      tool for differentiating catalysis in from catalysis on porous materials, which
      is critical to leveraging the potential of porous materials for catalyst
      controlled oxidation chemistry.

PMID- 28612075
TI  - SERS-active metal-organic frameworks with embedded gold nanoparticles.
AB  - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely used in the detection of
      targets and strongly depends on the interaction and the distance between the
      targets and nanoparticles. Herein, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were first
      easily synthesized on a large scale via a water bath method, especially Uio-66
      and Uio-67. MOFs embedded with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for SERS enhancement
      were successfully fabricated via an impregnation strategy. The synthesized
      AuNPs/MOF-199, AuNPs/Uio-66, and AuNPs/Uio-67 composites, with LSPR properties
      and high adsorption capability of MOFs to preconcentrate the analytes close to
      the surface of the AuNPs, exhibited excellent SERS activity. The effects of the
      reducing concentrations of sodium citrate on the SERS activity, and the stability
      and reproducibility of the AuNP/MOFs have been discussed via the detection of
      acetamiprid. The SERS intensity enhanced by the composites was retained for more
      than 40 days under ambient conditions with the reducing concentrations of sodium
      citrate at 0.16%, 0.20%, and 0.16%. The limits of detection with the signal/noise
      ratio higher than 3 at the characteristic peak 632 cm-1 were 0.02 MUM, 0.009 MUM,
      and 0.02 MUM for acetamiprid. Most interestingly, the AuNP/MOF-199 composites,
      whose morphology was long tube sheet, exhibited excellent SERS activity. These
      novel composites with high sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility provide a
      new route for the detection of pesticides via the SERS technology.

PMID- 28612074
TI  - Cobaloxime-catalyzed hydration of terminal alkynes without acidic promoters.
AB  - Cobaloxime (Co(dmgBF2)2.2H2O), an inexpensive first-row transition-metal complex,
      catalyzed hydration of terminal alkynes gave the corresponding methyl ketones in
      good to excellent yields under neutral conditions (additional protic acids and
      silver salts are not required). A wide range of functional groups, such as allyl
      ether, benzyl ethers, carboxylic esters, imides, amides, nitro, and halogens,
      were tolerated. The mild reaction conditions together with the inexpensive
      feature and easy availability of the catalyst well address the current challenges
      in the field of alkyne hydration.

PMID- 28612076
TI  - Improving ruthenium-based ECL through nonionic surfactants and tertiary amines.
AB  - The influence of surfactants and coreactants on Ru(bpy)32+ electrogenerated
      chemiluminescence (ECL) was investigated comparatively. Specifically, the
      influence that the two tertiary amines, N-butyldiethanolamine (NBEA) and 2
      (dibutylamino)ethanol (DBAE) have on the ECL reaction, alone and in the presence
      of the two surfactants TritonTM X-100 and Zonyl(r) FSN, was investigated, in
      comparison with that of the well-studied and established coreactant
      tripropylamine (TPA). Experiments were conducted on poly(methyl methacrylate)
      substrates coated with plasma-evaporated gold as used in many miniaturized
      systems. Upon optimization and study of the various combinations, the combination
      of NBEA/Zonyl FSN provided superior ECL signal characteristics. A limit of
      detection (LOD) of 2.2 nM Ru(bpy)32+ was obtained. Compared with the LOD of 0.59
      MUM for the commonly used TPA/TritonTM X-100 system, the resulting LOD is
      enhanced by a factor of 250. In addition, significantly more stable signals lead
      to an increase in sensitivity by a factor of 50. This makes the NBEA/Zonyl(r) FSN
      system an attractive ECL strategy, especially for miniaturized analytical
      systems. Furthermore, it became clear that previously postulated effects of
      surfactants on the enhancement of coreactant-based ECL do not translate to other
      surfactants and coreactants. We could demonstrate that more complicated
      mechanisms are at play as the ECL intensity for Ru(bpy)32+/NBEA was the highest
      in the presence of Zonyl(r) FSN, whereas the ECL signal decreased significantly
      upon introduction of the surfactant with DBAE as coreactant.

PMID- 28612077
TI  - Neuronavigated high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for
      chronic post-stroke dysphagia: A randomized controlled study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are potential benefits of repetitive transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (rTMS) in improving swallowing functions after stroke; however, few
      studies have been performed in the chronic stroke population. This study aims to
      distil the key effects of rTMS on swallowing functions and swallowing-related
      quality of life. METHODS: Twenty-two participants with chronic post-stroke
      dysphagia were randomly assigned into active or sham rTMS groups. Seven
      participants withdrew from the study, thus data from 15 participants (mean age
      64.6 years) were analysed. Participants received 3,000 pulses of 5 Hz rTMS
      (active: n = 11; sham: n = 4) on the tongue area of the motor cortex for 10 days
      over a period of 2 weeks. All participants were assessed 1 week before, and 2
      months, 6 months and 12 months after stimulation. Outcomes were measured by a
      videofluoroscopic swallowing study, swallowing-related quality-of-life
      questionnaire and Iowa Oral Performance Instrument. RESULTS: No statistically
      significant effects were identified for any outcome measures. CONCLUSION: This
      study indicates that 5 Hz rTMS applied over the tongue area of the motor cortex
      is not effective for improving swallowing function in individuals with chronic
      post-stroke dysphagia. Possible explanations for these non-significant results
      are dis cussed. Future studies should explore the potential of the current
      protocol in conjunction with conventional dysphagia therapy.

PMID- 28612078
TI  - An insight into the EANM technologist committee benchmark document on nuclear
      medicine technologists' competencies.

PMID- 28612079
TI  - The potential of 223Ra and 18F-fluoride imaging to predict bone lesion response
      to treatment with 223Ra-dichloride in castration-resistant prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to calculate bone lesion absorbed doses
      resulting from a weight-based administration of 223Ra-dichloride, to assess the
      relationship between those doses and corresponding 18F-fluoride uptake and to
      assess the potential of quantitative 18F-fluoride imaging to predict response to
      treatment. METHODS: Five patients received two intravenous injections of 223Ra
      dichloride, 6 weeks apart, at 110 kBq/kg whole-body weight. The biodistribution
      of 223Ra in metastatic lesions as a function of time after administration as well
      as associated lesion dosimetry were determined from serial 223Ra scans. PET/CT
      imaging using 18F-fluoride was performed prior to the first treatment (baseline),
      and at week 6 immediately before the second treatment and at week 12 after
      baseline. RESULTS: Absorbed doses to metastatic bone lesions ranged from 0.6 Gy
      to 44.1 Gy. For individual patients, there was an average factor difference of
      5.3 (range 2.5-11.0) between the maximum and minimum lesion dose. A relationship
      between lesion-absorbed doses and serial changes in 18F-fluoride uptake was
      demonstrated (r2 = 0.52). A log-linear relationship was demonstrated (r2 = 0.77)
      between baseline measurements of 18F-fluoride uptake prior to 223Ra-dichloride
      therapy and changes in uptake 12 weeks after the first cycle of therapy.
      Correlations were also observed between both 223Ra and 18F-fluoride uptake in
      lesions (r = 0.75) as well as between 223Ra absorbed dose and 18F-fluoride uptake
      (r = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: There is both inter-patient and intra-patient
      heterogeneity of absorbed dose estimates to metastatic lesions. A relationship
      between 223Ra lesion absorbed dose and subsequent lesion response was observed.
      Analysis of this small group of patients suggests that baseline uptake of 18F
      fluoride in bone metastases is significantly correlated with corresponding uptake
      of 223Ra, the associated 223Ra absorbed dose and subsequent lesion response to
      treatment.

PMID- 28612080
TI  - Color and emotion: effects of hue, saturation, and brightness.
AB  - Previous studies on emotional effects of color often failed to control all the
      three perceptual dimensions of color: hue, saturation, and brightness. Here, we
      presented a three-dimensional space of chromatic colors by independently varying
      hue (blue, green, red), saturation (low, medium, high), and brightness (dark,
      medium, bright) in a factorial design. The 27 chromatic colors, plus 3 brightness
      matched achromatic colors, were presented via an LED display. Participants (N =
      62) viewed each color for 30 s and then rated their current emotional state
      (valence and arousal). Skin conductance and heart rate were measured
      continuously. The emotion ratings showed that saturated and bright colors were
      associated with higher arousal. The hue also had a significant effect on arousal,
      which increased from blue and green to red. The ratings of valence were the
      highest for saturated and bright colors, and also depended on the hue. Several
      interaction effects of the three color dimensions were observed for both arousal
      and valence. For instance, the valence ratings were higher for blue than for the
      remaining hues, but only for highly saturated colors. Saturated and bright colors
      caused significantly stronger skin conductance responses. Achromatic colors
      resulted in a short-term deceleration in the heart rate, while chromatic colors
      caused an acceleration. The results confirm that color stimuli have effects on
      the emotional state of the observer. These effects are not only determined by the
      hue of a color, as is often assumed, but by all the three color dimensions as
      well as their interactions.

PMID- 28612081
TI  - Betting on transitivity in probabilistic causal chains.
AB  - Causal reasoning is crucial to people's decision making in probabilistic
      environments. It may rely directly on data about covariation between variables
      (correspondence) or on inferences based on reasonable constraints if larger
      causal models are constructed based on local relations (coherence). For causal
      chains an often assumed constraint is transitivity. For probabilistic causal
      relations, mismatches between such transitive inferences and direct empirical
      evidence may lead to distortions of empirical evidence. Previous work has shown
      that people may use the generative local causal relations A -> B and B -> C to
      infer a positive indirect relation between events A and C, despite data showing
      that these events are actually independent (von Sydow et al. in Proceedings of
      the thirty-first annual conference of the cognitive science society. Cognitive
      Science Society, Austin, 2009, Proceedings of the 32nd annual conference of the
      cognitive science society. Cognitive Science Society, Austin, 2010, Mem Cogn
      44(3):469-487, 2016). Here we used a sequential learning scenario to investigate
      how transitive reasoning in intransitive situations with negatively related
      distal events may relate to betting behavior. In three experiments participants
      bet as if they were influenced by a transitivity assumption, even when the data
      strongly contradicted transitivity.

PMID- 28612082
TI  - Reaching Out for Help: An Analysis of the Differences Between Refugees Who Accept
      and Those Who Decline Community Mental Health Services.
AB  - In 2012, clinics in Louisville, Kentucky began to use the RHS-15 to screen for
      mental health issues among refugees. At the same time, mental health outreach
      programs were developed and implemented by the Mental Health Coordinator. Data
      from 563 refugee clients referred to the Mental Health Coordinator from 2012 to
      2015 was analyzed to examine differences between refugees who accepted referral
      to community mental health services and those who declined on the variables age,
      gender, country of origin, time in the U.S., and referral source. Results
      indicate significant differences with regard to time in the U.S. and referral
      source. Those more likely to accept services included refugees in the U.S. more
      than 240 days and those referred by non-clinic sources. Findings improve our
      understanding of the characteristics of refugees who accept and decline mental
      health services and support the value of both formal screening and community
      outreach programs.

PMID- 28612084
TI  - Histological Evaluation of Bone Repair with Hydroxyapatite: A Systematic Review.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological bone response in animal
      experiments by applying hydroxyapatite grafts in critical and non-critical size
      bone defects. Current report followed the guidelines established by the Preferred
      Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Animal experiments were
      selected by assessing repair of bone defects with hydroxyapatite as bone graft
      and with blood clot only as control. Eight articles were identified in
      specialized literature and included in the meta-analysis. Statistical analysis
      was carried out with a random-effect model (p = 0.05). Subgroup analyses were
      further performed to investigate bone repair in critical and non-critical bone
      defects. Comprehensive analysis of bone repair outcome showed a statistically
      significant difference between hydroxyapatite and blood clot control (p < 0.05).
      Subgroup analyses showed statistically significant difference for critical bone
      defects (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was reported in non
      critical bone defects (p > 0.05). Although animal studies revealed a high risk of
      bias and results should be interpreted with caution, the literature suggests that
      non-critical bone defects may heal spontaneously and without the need of a bone
      graft. Conversely, when critical-size defects are present, the use of
      hydroxyapatite bone graft improves the bone repair process.

PMID- 28612083
TI  - Does combination therapy with tamsulosin and trospium chloride improve lower
      urinary tract symptoms after SEEDS brachytherapy for prostate cancer compared
      with tamsulosin alone? : A prospective, randomized, controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of combination therapy with an alpha-blocker
      and an anticholinergic to monotherapy with an alpha blocker on lower urinary
      tract symptoms (LUTS) following brachytherapy in prostate cancer patients.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 124 patients that had been clinically diagnosed
      with localized prostate cancer and underwent prostate brachytherapy were enrolled
      in the present study. Patients were randomized and allocated to two groups,
      including 60 to the combination group (tamsulosin 0.2 mg/day and trospium
      chloride 20 mg twice daily) and 64 to the monotherapy group (tamsulosin 0.2
      mg/day). Treatment began 1 day after brachytherapy and continued for 6 months.
      LUTS were compared between the two groups using the total International Prostate
      Symptom Score (IPSS), storage and voiding IPSS subscores, quality of life (QoL)
      scores, maximum flow rate (Qmax), and postvoid residual (PVR) urine volume at 1,
      3, 6, and 12 months after implantation. RESULTS: In all, 111 patients were
      ultimately analyzed in the study. Compared with pretreatment scores, a
      significant increase in total IPSS was found at 1, 3, and 6 months in both
      groups, but no statistically significant differences were observed between the
      two groups. The combination therapy group showed a greater decrease in the IPSS
      storage score compared with the monotherapy group at 1, 3, and 6 months (p =
      0.031, 0.030 and 0.042, respectively). Patients receiving tamsulosin plus
      trospium chloride also showed significant improvements in QoL at 1 and 3 months
      compared with tamsulosin alone (P = 0.039, P = 0.047). Between the two groups,
      there was no significant difference in IPSS voiding score, Qmax, and PVR from
      baseline to each point of the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with
      tamsulosin and trospium chloride helped to improve IPSS storage symptoms and Qol
      scores in prostate brachytherapy patients with LUTS compared with tamsulosin
      monotherapy.

PMID- 28612085
TI  - Moving from millifluidic to truly microfluidic sub-100-MUm cross-section 3D
      printed devices.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) printing has generated considerable excitement in recent
      years regarding the extensive possibilities of this enabling technology. One area
      in which 3D printing has potential, not only for positive impact but also for
      substantial improvement, is microfluidics. To date many researchers have used 3D
      printers to make fluidic channels directed at point-of-care or lab-on-a-chip
      applications. Here, we look critically at the cross-sectional sizes of these 3D
      printed fluidic structures, classifying them as millifluidic (larger than 1 mm),
      sub-millifluidic (0.5-1.0 mm), large microfluidic (100-500 MUm), or truly
      microfluidic (smaller than 100 MUm). Additionally, we provide our prognosis for
      making 10-100-MUm cross-section microfluidic features with custom-formulated
      resins and stereolithographic printers. Such 3D printed microfluidic devices for
      bioanalysis will accelerate research through designs that can be easily created
      and modified, allowing improved assays to be developed.

PMID- 28612086
TI  - Comparison of 6-mm Versus 8-mm-Tip Cryoablation Catheter for the Treatment of
      Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia in Children: A Prospective Study.
AB  - Due to its safety profile, cryoablation (Cryo) for atrioventricular nodal
      reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is more commonly preferred over radiofrequency (RF)
      ablation in children in recent years. Recent studies demonstrated high long-term
      success rates comparable to radiofrequency ablation. The aim of this prospective
      study was to compare the efficacy and safety of an 8-mm-tip versus 6-mm-tip Cryo
      catheter in the treatment of AVNRT in children. A total of 125 consecutive
      patients over 10 years of age with AVNRT were included. EnSite system (St.
      JudeMedical, St Paul, MN, USA) was used to reduce or eliminate fluoroscopy. The
      acute procedural success was 100% in both groups. The prodecure duration for the
      8-mm-tip group was shorter (151.6 +/- 63.2 vs. 126.6 +/- 36.7 min, p < 0.01,
      respectively). Fluoroscopy was used in only 7 patients. The mean follow-up
      duration was 14.6 +/- 8.4 months (median 13.5 months, min. 3 months and max. 27
      months). The recurrence rate for AVNRT was also comparable between the two groups
      (6-mm tip: 9.6 vs. 8-mm tip: 8%). Cryo of AVNRT is a safe and effective procedure
      with comparable acute and mid-term follow-up success rates using 6-mm and 8-mm
      tip catheters in children. In addition, procedure duration is shorter with an 8
      mm-tip Cryo catheter.

PMID- 28612087
TI  - Effects of vascular formation during alveolar bone process morphogenesis in mice.
AB  - The alveolar bone process is the thickened ridge of bone that bears the teeth and
      is known to have dynamic functional interactions with surrounding tissues.
      However, the detailed morphological changes that occur during alveolar bone
      process development and the underlying molecular mechanisms behind this
      morphogenesis have not been elucidated. In this study, we examined the detailed
      morphological changes of the alveolar bone process during mouse development using
      HE and MTC staining. In addition, we evaluated the precise localization pattern
      of various signaling molecules involved in blood vessel formation including CD31,
      alpha-SMA, VEGF, periostin, and TGF-beta. Innervation of the alveolar bone
      process was examined following injection of the nerve terminal dye AM1-43. The
      morphological and immunohistochemical data suggested that there is an intimate
      relationship between alveolar bone process development and blood vessel
      formation. To more closely examine the role of blood vessels in alveolar bone
      process formation, we microinjected mice with a clinically available anti-VEGF
      antibody, bevacizumab, at PN5 and analyzed the effects 5 days later. Compared to
      the control animals, anti-VEGF treated animals showed a disruption of the
      integration of bony tissues to form the alveolar bone process structures, which
      should contain the periodontal ligaments. Based on these data, we conclude that
      specific morphogenesis of the alveolar bone process is closely associated with
      blood vessel formation.

PMID- 28612088
TI  - Trichosporon inkin disseminated infection.

PMID- 28612090
TI  - Organic Solvent-Tolerant Marine Microorganisms as Catalysts for Kinetic
      Resolution of Cyclic beta-Hydroxy Ketones.
AB  - Chiral cyclic beta-hydroxy ketones represent key motifs in the production of
      natural products of biological interest. Although the molecules are structurally
      simple, they require cumbersome synthetic steps to get access to them and their
      synthesis remains a challenge in organic chemistry. In this report, we describe a
      straightforward approach to enantiomerically enriched (R)- and (S)-3
      hydroxycyclopentanone 2a, (R)- and (S)-3-hydroxycyclohexanone 2b, and (R)- and
      (S)-3-hydroxycycloheptanone 2c involving a transesterification resolution of the
      racemates using whole cells of marine microorganisms as catalysts and vinyl
      acetate the acyl donor and solvent. Twenty-six strains from a wide collection of
      isolates from marine sediments were screened, and seven strains were found to
      markedly catalyze the resolution in an asymmetric fashion. Using the strain
      Serratia sp., (R)-2a was isolated in 27% yield with 92% ee and (S)-2a in 65%
      yield with 43% ee, corresponding to an E-value of 37; (R)-2b was isolated in 25%
      yield with 91% ee and (S)-2b in 67% yield with 39% ee, corresponding to an E
      value of 40; and (R)-2c was isolated in 30% yield with 96% ee and (S)-2c in 63%
      yield with 63% ee, corresponding to an E-value of 75.

PMID- 28612091
TI  - Intracellular vorinostat accumulation and its relationship to histone deacetylase
      activity in soft tissue sarcoma patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the regulation of chromatin-structure and histone function, histone
      deacetylases (HDACs) are key enzymes and thus modulators of epigenetic regulation
      and gene expression. Accesses of the HDAC inhibitor vorinostat to intracellular
      compartments are essential to exert epigenetic effects. METHODS: In ten sarcoma
      patients receiving oral Zolinza (400 mg qd) vorinostat concentrations in plasma
      and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were quantified using validated
      LC/MS/MS assays to determine intracellular and extracellular pharmacokinetic
      data. Cellular HDAC activity was evaluated using a fluorogenic assay.
      Concentration-response relationships were established between intracellular and
      extracellular vorinostat concentrations and HDAC inhibition in PBMCs. RESULTS:
      Pharmacokinetics of vorinostat and its two main inactive metabolites were
      determined over 8 h in plasma and PBMCs. Steady state AUCs (+/-SD) and T1/2 (+/
      SD) were calculated to 4.61 +/- 0.87 h uM and 1.73 +/- 0.69 h (plasma) and 15.2
      +/- 9.03 h uM and 5.30 +/- 4.27 h (PBMCs). Intracellular accumulation of
      vorinostat was determined together with prolonged vorinostat elimination in
      PBMCs. Cellular HDAC inhibition increased parallel with vorinostat concentrations
      in plasma and PBMCs. For effective inhibition of cellular HDACs (IC50) vorinostat
      concentrations of 0.05 uM in plasma and 0.17 uM in PBMCs were necessary.
      CONCLUSION: HDAC inhibition closely followed intracellular vorinostat
      concentrations and was short-lasting, which may contribute to the limited
      efficacy seen with vorinostat in solid tumors so far.

PMID- 28612089
TI  - The intensive care delirium research agenda: a multinational, interprofessional
      perspective.
AB  - Delirium, a prevalent organ dysfunction in critically ill patients, is
      independently associated with increased morbidity. This last decade has witnessed
      an exponential growth in delirium research in hospitalized patients, including
      those critically ill, and this research has highlighted that delirium needs to be
      better understood mechanistically to help foster research that will ultimately
      lead to its prevention and treatment. In this invited, evidence-based paper, a
      multinational and interprofessional group of clinicians and researchers from
      within the fields of critical care medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics,
      anesthesiology, geriatrics, surgery, neurology, nursing, pharmacy, and the
      neurosciences sought to address five questions: (1) What is the current standard
      of care in managing ICU delirium? (2) What have been the major recent advances in
      delirium research and care? (3) What are the common delirium beliefs that have
      been challenged by recent trials? (4) What are the remaining areas of uncertainty
      in delirium research? (5) What are some of the top study areas/trials to be done
      in the next 10 years? Herein, we briefly review the epidemiology of delirium, the
      current best practices for management of critically ill patients at risk for
      delirium or experiencing delirium, identify recent advances in our understanding
      of delirium as well as gaps in knowledge, and discuss research opportunities and
      barriers to implementation, with the goal of promoting an integrated research
      agenda.

PMID- 28612092
TI  - Involvement of cytochrome P450 in cisplatin treatment: implications for toxicity.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the CYP450
      enzyme family and cisplatin toxicity. METHODS: This article examined a collection
      of studies suggesting that CYP450 enzymes may influence cisplatin toxicity. We
      performed a narrative mini-review. RESULTS: The studies review showed that CYP450
      enzymes have an important role in drug-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity,
      mainly CYP2E1 and CYP4A11. The studies also suggested that the cisplatin and
      CYP2E1 interaction leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      other oxidants resulting in renal injury; and that ROS generated by both the use
      of cisplatin and by the CYP2E1 increases tissue damage, induces apoptosis, and
      causes liver failure. CONCLUSIONS: We observed that there is an important
      relationship between CYP450 and cisplatin, involving increased toxicity. However,
      the possible mechanisms described for the involvement of CYP450 enzymes in
      nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity induced by cisplatin need to be confirmed by
      further studies. Therefore, there is a need for a deeper investigation focusing
      on cisplatin toxicity mediated by CYP450 enzymes, which would undoubtedly
      contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms that have been implicated
      so far.

PMID- 28612094
TI  - Emergent ureteral stone treatment: Whom? When?

PMID- 28612093
TI  - Clinical Trial Design in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
AB  - Randomized clinical trials provide the gold standard evidence base to guide
      clinical practice. Despite major advances in trial design, pediatric clinical
      trials are still difficult to perform and pose unique challenges, including the
      need to consider the impact of developmental changes in trial design. Advances
      within pediatric rheumatology combined with the need to comply with legislative
      requirements have driven new approaches to performing pediatric clinical trials
      such as utilization of large research networks, incorporation of patient and
      family stakeholders in the planning and implementation of clinical trials, and
      the development of novel trial designs. The expansion of available biological
      therapeutics that now includes biosimilar drugs highlights the important and
      difficult balance of providing new and cost-effective drugs to children while
      ensuring safety in a vulnerable population. Future advances in juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis (JIA) clinical trials will likely be the application of
      precision medicine based on biologic, rather than phenotypic, classification of
      JIA, with improved understanding of pediatric clinical pharmacology. Clinical
      trial simulations and comparative effectiveness studies are important supplements
      to traditional clinical trials, permitting efficient studies and results that are
      more generalizable.

PMID- 28612095
TI  - Maternal-fetal vitamin D receptor polymorphisms significantly associated with
      preterm birth.
AB  - PURPOSE: Preterm birth (PTB) is a complex trait with strong genetic background,
      whose etiology is not fully understood. It was recently suggested that pregnancy
      duration is affected by fetal genetic variation even more than by the maternal
      genome. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is involved in embryonic implantation and
      fertility. We studied the association between both maternal and neonatal vitamin
      D receptor (VDR) genetic variation and PTB. METHODS: Maternal and fetal
      (umbilical cord) DNA was isolated from Jewish Israeli idiopathic preterm newborns
      (24-36 weeks, n = 146) and control term newborns (>37 weeks, n = 229). Maternal
      and fetal VDR polymorphisms (FokI, ApaI, BsmI, TaqI) were analyzed by restriction
      fragment length polymorphism analysis. Using SPSS analysis to correlate VDR
      genotypes with phenotypic variation: pregnancy duration, preterm birth and
      spontaneous miscarriages, adjusted for gravidity, parity and gender of newborn.
      RESULTS: Women homozygous to VDR ApaI (AA) genotype had significant twofold
      increase risk for PTB [OR 1.973, (CI) 1.183-3.289, p = 0.009] compared to
      heterozygous women. Male newborns had significant (p < 0.05) 1.73-fold increase
      of PTB. Women with history of previous (>=1) spontaneous miscarriage had a
      significant increased risk for PTB if their newborn carried either of the VDR
      BsmI homozygous (BB or bb) genotypes compared to the heterozygous (Bb) genotype
      [OR 6.857, (CI) 1.273-36.934, p = 0.018 and OR 9.231, (CI) 1.753-48.618, p =
      0.008, respectively], or VDR ApaI homozygous (AA or aa) genotype compared to
      heterozygous (Aa) genotype [OR 4.33, (CI) 1.029-18.257, p = 0.046 and OR 7.2,
      (CI) 1.34-38.917, p = 0.021, respectively]. CONCLUSIONS: We show association
      between maternal and fetal VDR genotype variants with PTB.

PMID- 28612096
TI  - The birth of the synapse.
AB  - It has long been held that the rise of neurons as a specialized cell type also
      marked the onset of the grand evolutionary journey for chemical synapses.
      Research over recent decades has shown, however, that the most dynamic chapters
      of synaptic history have been 'written' out of the context of neurobiology and
      neuronal evolution, dating back to the early metazoa and unicellular living
      forms. Here, I consider and discuss emerging evidence suggesting the exaptive
      origin of chemical synapses, via tinkering and neo-functionalization of already
      existent junctional morphologies and constituents of primeval paracrine
      signalling. Through combination and collateral use of long-established structures
      and functions, a remarkable enrichment of regulatory and control mechanisms of
      complex living organisms was achieved, without large-scale reorganization of the
      genome, with tremendous impact on the evolution and life on our planet.

PMID- 28612097
TI  - A response from Morgan, Byron, Baig, Stepanov and Brewer.

PMID- 28612098
TI  - Measurement of the Maximum Frequency of Electroglottographic Fluctuations in the
      Expiration Phase of Volitional Cough as a Functional Test for Cough Efficiency.
AB  - The hypotheses of the present study were that the maximum frequency of
      fluctuation of electroglottographic (EGG) signals in the expiration phase of
      volitional cough (VC) reflects the cough efficiency and that this EGG parameter
      is affected by impaired laryngeal closure, expiratory effort strength, and
      gender. For 20 normal healthy adults and 20 patients diagnosed with unilateral
      vocal fold paralysis (UVFP), each participant was fitted with EGG electrodes on
      the neck, had a transnasal laryngo-fiberscope inserted, and was asked to perform
      weak/strong VC tasks while EGG signals and a high-speed digital image of the
      larynx were recorded. The maximum frequency was calculated in the EGG fluctuation
      region coinciding with vigorous vocal fold vibration in the laryngeal HSDIs. In
      addition, each participant underwent spirometry for measurement of three
      aerodynamic parameters, including peak expiratory air flow (PEAF), during
      weak/strong VC tasks. Significant differences were found for both maximum EGG
      frequency and PEAF between the healthy and UVFP groups and between the weak and
      strong VC tasks. Among the three cough aerodynamic parameters, PEAF showed the
      highest positive correlation with the maximum EGG frequency. The correlation
      coefficients between the maximum EGG frequency and PEAF recorded simultaneously
      were 0.574 for the whole group, and 0.782/0.717/0.823/0.688 for the
      male/female/male-healthy/male-UVFP subgroups, respectively. Consequently, the
      maximum EGG frequency measured in the expiration phase of VC was shown to reflect
      the velocity of expiratory airflow to some extent and was suggested to be
      affected by vocal fold physical properties, glottal closure condition, and the
      expiratory function.

PMID- 28612099
TI  - Sexual violence as a risk factor for family planning-related outcomes among young
      Burundian women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to examine associations between experience of sexual
      violence and family planning-related outcomes. METHODS: A multi-stage cluster
      survey was conducted among a representative sample of 744 young women aged 15-24
      in eight provinces in Burundi. RESULTS: The prevalence of young women who
      reported having ever been physically forced to have sexual intercourse was 26.1%.
      Young women who had experienced sexual violence (ever) were 2.5 times more likely
      not to have used any modern contraceptives in the 12 months preceding the survey.
      They were also 2.3 times more likely to report that their last pregnancy was
      unplanned. Higher odds of not being able to negotiate contraceptive use with
      their partners were only reported by young women having experienced sexual
      violence in the 12 months prior to the survey when adjusted for confounders.
      CONCLUSIONS: Sexual violence was found to be significantly associated with
      contraceptive negotiation and use as well as unplanned pregnancy. Weak perceived
      ability to negotiate contraceptive use highlights gender inequalities leaving
      young women vulnerable to unprotected sex and thus unplanned pregnancies.

PMID- 28612101
TI  - [Ocular involvement in atopic dermatitis].

PMID- 28612100
TI  - Costs and outcomes of improving population health through better social housing:
      a cohort study and economic analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the impact of warmth-related housing
      improvements on the health, well-being, and quality of life of families living in
      social housing. METHODS: An historical cohort study design was used. Households
      were recruited by Gentoo, a social housing contractor in North East England.
      Recruited households were asked to complete a quality of life, well-being, and
      health service use questionnaire before receiving housing improvements (new
      energy-efficient boiler and double-glazing) and again 12 months afterwards.
      RESULTS: Data were collected from 228 households. The average intervention cost
      was L3725. At 12-month post-intervention, a 16% reduction (-L94.79) in household
      6-month health service use was found. Statistically significant positive
      improvements were observed in main tenant and household health status (p < 0.001;
      p = 0.009, respectively), main tenant satisfaction with financial situation (p =
      0.020), number of rooms left unheated per household (p < 0.001), frequency of
      household outpatient appointments (p = 0.001), and accident/emergency department
      attendance (p < 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Warmth-related housing improvements may be a
      cost-effective means of improving the health of social housing tenants and
      reducing health service expenditure, particularly in older populations.

PMID- 28612103
TI  - Dihydromyricetin protects human umbilical vein endothelial cells from injury
      through ERK and Akt mediated Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.
AB  - Atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease is the predominant cause of death
      worldwide. Ox-LDL-induced vascular endothelial cell injury is a major factor in
      the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Dihydromyricetin (DMY) is a flavonoid
      extracted from vine tea that exerts multiple pharmacological activities,
      including cardio-protective, anti-tumor, and anti-oxidative effects. However, it
      is unreported that DMY shows protective effects on ox-LDL-induced endothelial
      cell injury. In this study, we used an ox-LDL injured human umbilical vein
      endothelial cell (HUVEC) in vitro model to explore the protective effects and
      mechanism of DMY. HUVECs were pretreatment with DMY and then exposed to ox-LDL,
      the cell viability was measured. Then, the anti-oxidative enzymes were tested by
      commercial kits and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by
      flow cytometry, cell apoptosis was determined by Annexin-V/PI assay and apoptosis
      related proteins were detected by western blot. Our results showed that DMY
      pretreatment provided cytoprotective effects by suppressing ox-LDL-induced
      endothelial cell apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, caspase-3
      activation, and modulation of oxidative enzymes, thereby inhibiting ROS
      generation. The anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects of DMY were abrogated
      by the transfection of Nrf2 siRNAs and HO-1 inhibitor ZnPP. Furthermore, DMY
      might activate the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway through activation of the Akt and ERK1/2
      pathways, as shown by the inhibition of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling by the inhibitors
      PD98059 or LY294002 and the transfection of ERK, Akt siRNAs. In this study, DMY
      protects HUVECs from ox-LDL-induced oxidative injury by activating Akt and
      ERK1/2, which subsequently activates Nrf2/HO-1 signaling, thereby up-regulating
      antioxidant enzymes and anti-apoptotic proteins.

PMID- 28612104
TI  - Production of paclitaxel with anticancer activity by two local fungal endophytes,
      Aspergillus fumigatus and Alternaria tenuissima.
AB  - Among 60 fungal endophytes isolated from twigs, bark, and mature leaves of
      different plant species, two fungal isolates named TXD105 and TER995 were capable
      of producing paclitaxel in amounts of up to 84.41 and 37.92 MUg L-1,
      respectively. Based on macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, ITS1-5.8S
      ITS2 rDNA sequence, and phylogenetic characteristic analysis, the two respective
      isolates were identified as Aspergillus fumigatus and Alternaria tenuissima. In
      the effort to increase paclitaxel magnitude by the two fungal strains, several
      fermentation conditions including selection of the proper fermentation medium,
      agitation rate, incubation temperature, fermentation period, medium pH, medium
      volume, and inoculum nature (size and age of inoculum) were tried. Fermentation
      process carried out in M1D medium (pH 6.0) and maintained at 120 rpm for 10 days
      and at 25  degrees C using 4% (v/v) inoculum of 5-day-old culture stimulated the
      highest paclitaxel production to attain 307.03 MUg L-1 by the A. fumigatus
      strain. In the case of the A. tenuissima strain, fermentation conditions
      conducted in flask basal medium (pH 6.0) and maintained at 120 rpm for 14 days
      and at 25  degrees C using 8% (v/v) inoculum of 7-day-old culture were found the
      most favorable to attain the highest paclitaxel production of 124.32 MUg L-1.
      Using the MTT-based assay, fungal paclitaxel significantly inhibited the
      proliferation of five different cancer cell lines with 50% inhibitory
      concentration values varied from 3.04 to 14.8 MUg mL-1. Hence, these findings
      offer new and alternate sources with excellent biotechnological potential for
      paclitaxel production by fungal fermentation.

PMID- 28612105
TI  - [Polytrauma and concomitant traumatic brain injury : The role of the trauma
      surgeon].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Concomitant traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases mortality and
      reduces quality of life of polytrauma patients. These facts demand effective
      treatment strategies while the growing specialization of medicine is questioning
      the role of the trauma surgeon in the management of these patients. OBJECTIVES:
      Which factors influence outcome of polytrauma with concomitant TBI? Who should be
      responsible for the management of these patients and what is the limit of
      management? MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search using Medline via PubMed
      was performed with Medical Subject Headings and text word search. RESULTS: The
      crucial factors for outcome are absence of hypotension, adherence to pre- and in
      hospital standards like fast transportation to appropriate centers, priority
      based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and strict adherence to principles of
      damage control surgery. Patients with polytrauma and TBI are treated by different
      specialties around the world based on the trauma system, geographic circumstances
      and resources. Investigations of operative and conservative management by
      different medical specialties showed comparable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In an age
      of standardization and a high degree of specialization in the field of medicine,
      the trauma surgeon still seems to be able to ensure an optimal treatment of
      polytrauma and concomitant TBI by focusing on priority-based diagnostic and
      therapeutic strategies and adhering to principles of damage control surgery.

PMID- 28612107
TI  - Response of the authors to comment by Lagana et al. on: Transvaginal specimen
      removal in minimally invasive surgery (World J Urol. 2016 Jun; 34(6):779-87).

PMID- 28612106
TI  - The kynurenine:tryptophan ratio as a predictor of incident type 2 diabetes
      mellitus in individuals with coronary artery disease.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The tryptophan metabolite kynurenine has potent immune
      modulatory and vasoactive properties. Experimental data implicate kynurenine in
      obesity-related morbidities. Epidemiological studies are, however, sparse. We
      evaluated associations of the plasma and urine kynurenine:tryptophan ratio (KTR)
      to incident type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We followed 2519 individuals with coronary
      artery disease (CAD; 73.1% men) without diabetes at baseline for a median of 7.6
      years, during which 173 (6.9%) new incidences of type 2 diabetes were identified.
      Multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied to investigate the prospective
      relationships of plasma and urine KTR with new onset type 2 diabetes. RESULTS: At
      inclusion, mean (SD) age was 61.3 (10.4) years, BMI was 25.9 (3.71) kg/m2 and
      median (interquartile range) HbA1c was 5.6% (5.0%-6.0%) (38 [31-42] mmol/mol).
      Plasma KTR was not significantly related to type 2 diabetes risk. By contrast,
      urine KTR showed a strong positive association. Comparing quartile 4 with
      quartile 1, the HRs (95% CIs) were 2.59 (1.56, 4.30) and 2.35 (1.39, 3.96) in the
      age- and sex-adjusted and multivariate models, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Urine KTR is a strong predictor of incident type 2
      diabetes in individuals with CAD. Potential clinical implications and possible
      pathogenic roles of renal kynurenine excretion in type 2 diabetes development
      should be further elucidated.

PMID- 28612108
TI  - Surgical therapy of prostatitis: a systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The clinical term "prostatitis" refers to a clinical syndrome defined by
      the following 4 distinct entities: acute bacterial prostatitis (category 1),
      chronic bacterial prostatitis (category 2), chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic
      pain syndrome (category 3), and asymptomatic prostatitis (category 4) The
      etiology of the chronic forms is still not fully understood and choice of therapy
      is often debated. The objective of this systematic review is to collect evidence
      on the surgical treatment of the chronic form of prostatitis and to evaluate its
      clinical implication. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search and
      identified 6683 relevant publications, of which 16 were included in the review.
      RESULTS: Transurethral prostate resection was performed in 110 patients; 78
      patients (70%) were reported as "cured", 16 patients (15%) as improved, and 16
      patients (15%) as unchanged. Radical prostatectomy was performed in 21 patients;
      a full resolution of prostatitis related symptoms was reported for 20 patients
      (95%). No increased rates of complications or unusual complications were noted.
      CONCLUSIONS: Surgical therapy of chronic bacterial prostatitis or chronic pelvic
      pain syndrome might be a viable option; however, since little evidence is
      currently available and no randomized controlled trials have been conducted, the
      presently available data does not provide a base for clinical decisions.

PMID- 28612109
TI  - Erratum to: Risk of cancer incidence before the age of 15 years after exposure to
      ionising radiation from computed tomography: results from a German cohort study.

PMID- 28612110
TI  - Differential killing and radio-modifying effects of iodoacetate in mammalian
      normal and cancer cells.
AB  - To explore possible applications of iodoacetate (IA), a glycolytic inhibitor, in
      cancer treatment, we screened its cytotoxicity and radioprotective/sensitizing
      efficacy in three different mammalian cell lines; A549 (human lung carcinoma),
      MCF7 (human mammary cancer), a non-cancerous CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells
      and human lymphocytes. Experiments were carried out using IA concentrations
      ranging from 0.01 to 2.5 ug/ml, with or without 60Cogamma-radiation. In the
      outcomes, IA was found to exhibit higher toxicity in the cancer cells, whereas it
      was non-toxic/marginally toxic to the non-cancerous cells. Considerably higher
      glucose uptake in both cancer cells lines was observed indicating higher rates of
      glycolysis. IA significantly inhibited glycolysis as reflected by GAPDH activity
      inhibition. Radiomodifying effects of IA were found to be concentration dependent
      in both cancerous and non-cancerous cells. The response in non-cancerous was
      found to be biphasic: at lower concentrations, it offered significant
      radioprotection; however, the protection decreased with increasing concentration.
      Moreover, at the highest tested concentration, marginal radiosensitization was
      also observed (as indicated by clonogenic assay). In both cancer cells, IA
      offered significant amount of radiosensitization which was considerably high at
      higher concentrations. Further experiments were carried out to estimate the Dose
      Modification Factor (DMF) to quantify and compare relative radiosensitization by
      IA in cancer and normal cell lines. The DMF was calculated for three different
      concentrations of IA, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 ug/ml, and corresponding values were found
      to be 1.26, 1.43, and 1.89 for A549 cancer cells, whereas for normal CHO cells,
      it was 1.13, 1.13, and 1.24. In conclusion, differential killing and
      radiosensitizing effects of IA suggest that it may have potential use as a
      anticancer agent and radiosensitizer in cancer therapy.

PMID- 28612111
TI  - Probable mechanisms involved in the antipsychotic-like activity of methyl
      jasmonate in mice.
AB  - Psychosis is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder that affects millions of
      individuals worldwide and impairs the quality of life and productivity of the
      patients. The clinical efficacy of antipsychotic drugs has been compromised by
      adverse effects, relapse, and therapeutic failures, thus necessitating search for
      alternative agents. Methyl jasmonate (MJ) is a bioactive compound reported to
      have beneficial effects in various neurological disorders. This study was
      undertaken to investigate the antipsychotic-like effects of MJ in mice. Male
      Swiss mice were pretreated intraperitoneally with MJ (25-100 mg/kg) or vehicle
      (10 mL/kg) 60 min prior to bromocriptine (5 mg/kg) or acute injection of ketamine
      (10 mg/kg). Thereafter, each mouse was observed for stereotype behaviors for 2
      min at 10, 15, 20, 30, and 45 min post-bromocriptine injection. Another set of
      mice received MJ (25-100 mg/kg) or vehicle (10 mL/kg) 60 min after chronic
      ketamine injection (20 mg/kg, i.p) once daily for 14 consecutive days.
      Afterwards, locomotor activity and memory function in this sequence were
      evaluated using open field and Y-maze tests. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA)
      and glutathione (GSH) and activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in
      the brain were determined. MJ significantly inhibited stereotypy behavior induced
      by bromocriptine or acute ketamine injection, which suggest antipsychotic-like
      activity. It also attenuated hyper-locomotion and memory deficits induced by
      chronic injection of ketamine in mice. The increased oxidative stress as shown by
      the altered brain levels of MDA, GSH, and activity of antioxidant enzymes induced
      by chronic injection of ketamine was reduced by MJ. Taken together, these
      findings suggest that MJ demonstrated antipsychotic-like property via mechanism
      related to its antioxidant property and interference with dopaminergic
      neurotransmission.

PMID- 28612112
TI  - Sex disparities in hospitalization and mortality rates for venous
      thromboembolism.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major health problem for both men and women.
      Whether sex disparities exist for outcomes after acute VTE is unknown. We sought
      to measure sex-specific rates of hospitalization for and mortality from acute
      VTE. We used a population-based administrative dataset from Alberta, Canada,
      covering the years 2002 to 2012. We used Poisson regression to measure the
      incidence rate ratio for hospitalization and Cox regression to test for sex
      disparities in short-term all-cause mortality after adjusting for potential
      confounders. Of those diagnosed with VTE, 55.9% were women. The proportion of
      hospitalized women for VTE was 24.4 versus 27.8% in men (p < 0.001). The risk
      adjusted incidence rate ratio for VTE hospitalization increased with age for both
      sex. While women younger than 80 years old were less likely to be hospitalized
      than men, sex disparities for the risk of hospitalization were not significant
      after age 80 (p = 0.93). The adjusted 90-day all-cause mortality rate for women
      was 4.0% compared to 4.9% in men (adjusted HR = 1.0, p = 0.49). Women with acute
      VTE were less likely than men to be hospitalized in most age groups, but sex
      disparities in short-term all-cause mortality were not found.

PMID- 28612113
TI  - Gluten- and casein-free diet and autism spectrum disorders in children: a
      systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: Effective treatments for core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders
      (ASD) are lacking. We systematically updated evidence on the effectiveness of a
      gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet as a treatment for ASD in children.
      METHODS: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases were searched up
      until August 2016, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs); additional references
      were obtained from reviewed articles. RESULTS: Six RCTs (214 participants) were
      included. With few exceptions, there were no statistically significant
      differences in autism spectrum disorder core symptoms between groups, as measured
      by standardized scales. One trial found that compared with the control group, in
      the GFCF diet group there were significant improvements in the scores for the
      'communication' subdomain of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and for
      the 'social interaction' subdomain of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale. Another
      trial found significant differences between groups in the post-intervention
      scores for the 'autistic traits', 'communication', and 'social contact'
      subdomains of a standardized Danish scheme. The remaining differences, if
      present, referred to parent-based assessment tools or other developmental/ASD
      related features. No adverse events associated with a GFCF diet were reported.
      CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there is little evidence that a GFCF diet is beneficial for
      the symptoms of ASD in children.

PMID- 28612114
TI  - Chronic pain and quality of life after inguinal hernia repair using the COMI
      hernia score.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Core Outcome Measure Index (COMI) is a brief and multidimensional,
      patient-orientated outcome questionnaire that assesses chronic pain and quality
      of life after groin hernia repair. The primary aim of this study was to
      prospectively assess the COMI-hernia score, over an extended period of time in a
      single large cohort of patients. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-eight male
      patients with inguinal hernia repair were included in the present study. Patients
      were recruited prospectively with an average follow-up of 3 years. RESULTS: COMI
      hernia total and the COMI-hernia pain scores were significantly lower following
      surgery and remained unchanged over time. Young patients' age (p = 0.043), high
      preoperative COMI-hernia total score (p = 0.018), and bilateral hernias (p =
      0.035) were identified as independent risk factors for adverse outcome after
      groin hernia repair. Both COMI-hernia total and the COMI-hernia pain scores
      significantly (p < 2.2*10-16 and p < 1.638*10-11) correlated with patient's
      satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The COMI score reflects a reliable tool to assess the
      outcome following groin hernia repair.

PMID- 28612115
TI  - Survival outcome and prognostic factors after pancreatoduodenectomy for distal
      bile duct carcinoma: a retrospective multicenter study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pancreatoduodenectomy is the most common operative procedure performed
      for distal bile duct carcinoma. Data on outcome after surgery for this rare
      malignancy is scarce, especially from western countries. The purpose of this
      study is to explore the prognostic factors and outcome after
      pancreatoduodenectomy for distal bile duct carcinoma. METHODS: Patients receiving
      pancreatoduodenectomy for distal bile duct carcinoma were identified from
      institutional databases of five German and one Russian academic centers for
      pancreatic surgery. Univariable and multivariable general linear model, Kaplan
      Meier method, and Cox regression were used to identify prognostic factors for
      postoperative mortality and overall survival. RESULTS: N = 228 patients operated
      from 1994 to 2015 were included. Reoperation (OR 5.38, 95%CI 1.51-19.22, p =
      0.010), grade B/C postpancreatectomy hemorrhage (OR 3.73, 95%CI 1.13-12.35, p =
      0.031), grade B/C postoperative pancreatic fistula (OR 4.29, 95%CI 1.25-14.72, p
      = 0.038), and advanced age (OR 4.00, 95%CI 1.12-14.03, p = 0.033) were
      independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality in multivariable analysis.
      Median survival was 29 months, 5-year survival 27%. Positive resection margin (HR
      2.07, 95%CI 1.29-3.33, p = 0.003), high tumor grade (HR 1.71, 95%CI 1.13-2.58, p
      = 0.010), lymph node (HR 1.68, 95%CI 1.13-2.51, p = 0.011), and distant
      metastases (HR 2.70, 95%CI 1.21-5.58, p = 0.014), as well as severe non-fatal
      postoperative complications (HR 1.64, 95%CI 1.04-2.58, p = 0.033) were
      independent negative prognostic factors for survival in multivariable analysis.
      CONCLUSION: Distant metastases and positive resection margin are the strongest
      negative prognostic factors for survival after pancreatoduodenectomy for distal
      bile duct carcinoma; thus, surgery with curative intent is only warranted in
      patients with local disease, where R0 resection is feasible.

PMID- 28612116
TI  - Prevention of parastomal hernia in the emergency setting.
AB  - AIM: This study assessed safety and efficacy associated with hernia prophylaxis
      using a retromuscular slowly resorbable synthetic mesh for stoma reinforcement.
      METHOD: This was a cohort study with a historic reference group. The study took
      place in a high-volume surgical department. During a 2-year period (July 2012
      July 2014), we included 109 patients undergoing emergency surgery with formation
      of ileostomy or colostomy. All patients received a retromuscular slowly
      resorbable synthetic mesh (TIGR(r), Novus Scientific) at the stoma site. The
      reference group included 117 patients who underwent emergency stoma formation
      without a prophylactic mesh in the 2-year period prior to July 2012. The primary
      endpoint was effect on prevention of parastomal hernia within 1 year. Secondary
      endpoints were 30-day and 1-year complications including mortality. RESULTS: The
      operative field was contaminated or dirty in 48% of the procedures. Operative
      time was significantly longer in the mesh group. The cumulative incidences of
      parastomal hernia at 1 year for the control and the mesh group were 8 and 7% (p =
      0.424), respectively. The postoperative 30-day and 1-year rate of complications,
      reoperations and mortality were not different between the two groups. No patients
      underwent removal of the mesh and no clinical mesh infections were seen.
      CONCLUSION: Use of a resorbable synthetic mesh during emergency ostomy formation
      showed no significant preventive effect on formation of parastomal hernia after 1
      year. Although surgery was often conducted in a severely contaminated field, the
      procedure was without significantly increased complication rate.

PMID- 28612117
TI  - Full genome sequence of jujube mosaic-associated virus, a new member of the
      family Caulimoviridae.
AB  - We report a new circular DNA virus identified from a Chinese jujube tree showing
      mosaic-like symptoms. The genome of this virus is 7194 bp in length and contains
      five putative open reading frames (ORFs), all on the plus-strand of the genome.
      The genomic organization, primer binding sites and the sizes of the ORFs were
      similar to those reported for other badnaviruses (family Caulimoviridae), except
      for ORF3, which was split into ORF3a and ORF3b with a 70-nt intergenic region.
      Furthermore, this new virus shares low nucleotide sequence identity (<50%) with
      other members of the family Caulimoviridae. Consequently, we propose this virus
      as a new member of the family Caulimoviridae and refer to it as jujube mosaic
      associated virus (JuMaV).

PMID- 28612118
TI  - Microbial transformation of naringenin derivatives.
AB  - Microbial transformations of (+/-)-7-O-prenylnaringenin (7-PN, 1) and (+/-)-7-O
      allylnaringenin (7-AN, 2) have isolated four metabolites (3-6). Structures of
      these novel compounds were identified as 5,4'-dihydroxy-7-O-[(2E)-4-hydroxy-3
      methyl-2-buten-1-yl]flavanone (3), 5,4'-dihydroxy-7-O-(2,3-dihdroxy-3
      methylbutyl)flavanone (4), 5,4'-dihydroxy-7-O-(2,3-dihdroxypropyl)flavanone (5),
      and 5-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-7-O-allyl-4'-hydroxyflavanone (6) based on
      spectroscopy. Compounds 1-6 were evaluated for their radical scavenging capacity
      using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). The derivatives 3-6 exhibited more
      potent antioxidant activity than their corresponding substrates 1 and 2.

PMID- 28612119
TI  - Reproducibility for pathological prognostic parameters of the Oxford
      classification of IgA nephropathy: statistical issue.

PMID- 28612120
TI  - Anti-allodynic action of the disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug iguratimod in
      a rat model of neuropathic pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis experience nociceptive as well as
      neuropathic pain. The effect of iguratimod (IGU), a disease-modifying anti
      rheumatic drug, on neuropathic pain in a rat model of chronic constriction injury
      (CCI) was examined in this study. METHODS: CCI was induced by making four
      ligations on the left sciatic nerve. Rats with stable signs of static allodynia
      were selected 2 weeks after the surgery and drug treatments were started (day 0).
      The test drugs were orally administered once daily for 15 days. The threshold of
      mechanical pain response in the hind paw was evaluated by the von Frey hair test
      in a blinded manner. To observe histological changes in the spinal cord, the L4
      region was subjected to immunohistochemical analysis for the detection of
      microglial cells. RESULTS: IGU showed an anti-allodynic effect on CCI-induced
      neuropathic pain at days 6 and 14, but not at 90 min after the first
      administration of IGU. This effect of IGU was observed until day 21. Furthermore,
      IGU decreased the number of Iba-1-positive cells, which had been increased at the
      ipsilateral side of the dorsal horn by CCI. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest
      that IGU suppresses neuropathic pain via a different mechanism from that of
      current therapeutics.

PMID- 28612121
TI  - Estimation of respiratory volume from thoracoabdominal breathing distances:
      comparison of two models of machine learning.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to both improve the accuracy of
      respiratory volume (V) estimates using the respiratory magnetometer
      plethysmography (RMP) technique and facilitate the use of this technique. METHOD:
      We compared two models of machine learning (ML) for estimating [Formula: see
      text]: a linear model (multiple linear regression-MLR) and a nonlinear model
      (artificial neural network-ANN), and we used cross-validation to validate these
      models. Fourteen healthy adults, aged [Formula: see text] years participated in
      the present study. The protocol was conducted in a laboratory test room. The
      anteroposterior displacements of the rib cage and abdomen, and the axial
      displacements of the chest wall and spine were measured using two pairs of
      magnetometers. [Formula: see text] was estimated from these four signals, and the
      respiratory volume was simultaneously measured using a spirometer ([Formula: see
      text]) under lying, sitting and standing conditions as well as various exercise
      conditions (working on computer, treadmill walking at 4 and 6 km[Formula: see
      text], treadmill running at 9 and 12  km [Formula: see text] and ergometer
      cycling at 90 and 110 W). RESULTS: The results from the ANN model fitted the
      spirometer volume significantly better than those obtained through MLR.
      Considering all activities, the difference between [Formula: see text] and
      [Formula: see text] (bias) was higher for the MLR model ([Formula: see text] L)
      than for the ANN model ([Formula: see text] L). CONCLUSION: Our results
      demonstrate that this new processing approach for RMP seems to be a valid tool
      for estimating V with sufficient accuracy during lying, sitting and standing and
      under various exercise conditions.

PMID- 28612122
TI  - Effect of passive heat stress and exercise in the heat on arterial stiffness.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prior evidence indicates that acute heat stress and aerobic exercise
      independently reduce arterial stiffness. The combined effects of exercise and
      heat stress on PWV are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the
      effects of heat stress with passive heating and exercise in the heat on arterial
      stiffness. METHODS: Nine participants (n = 3 females, 47 +/- 11 years old; 24.1
      +/- 2.8 kg/m2) completed four trials. In a control trial, participants rested
      supine (CON). In a passive heating trial (PH), participants were heated with a
      water-perfusion suit. In two other trials, participants cycled at ~50% of
      [Formula: see text] in a hot (~40  degrees C; HC trial) or cool (~15  degrees C;
      CC trial) environment. Arterial stiffness, measured by PWV, was obtained at
      baseline and after each intervention (immediately, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min post).
      Central PWV (C PWV) was assessed between the carotid/femoral artery sites. Upper
      and lower peripheral PWV was assessed using the radial/carotid (U PWV) and
      dorsalis pedis/femoral (L PWV) artery sites. The mean body temperature (T B) was
      calculated from the skin and rectal temperatures. RESULTS: No significant changes
      in T B were observed during the CON and CC trials. As expected, the PH and HC
      trials elevated T B 2.69 +/- 0.23  degrees C and 1.67 +/- 0.27  degrees C,
      respectively (p < 0.01). PWV did not change in CON, CC, or HC (p > 0.05).
      However, in the PH trial, U PWV was reduced immediately (-107 +/- 81 cm/s) and 15
      min (-93 +/- 82 cm/s) post-heating (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Heat stress via
      exercise in the heat does not acutely change arterial stiffness. However, passive
      heating reduces U PWV, indicating that heat stress has an independent effect on
      PWV.

PMID- 28612124
TI  - Distribution of dipeptides in different protein structural classes: an effort to
      find new similarities.
AB  - Finding any regularity in the sequences of proteins and determining their
      correlation with structural features are of great interest for an understanding
      of molecular biology. We statistically analyzed the relative frequencies of all
      400 possible dipeptides in a data set containing randomly selected proteins of
      different defined structural classes including all-alpha, all-beta, alpha + beta
      and alpha/beta families. We found that the distribution of dipeptides is not the
      same for different structural classes, and some of them are significantly far
      from a random distribution. A tendency of a given amino acid to localize in the
      first or second position of a dipeptide depending on the structural class of
      protein was also found. Interestingly, some amino acids may be substituted for
      each other in the first or second positions of specific dipeptides in each
      structural class. This finding apparently contrasts with the routine expectation
      from the viewpoint of amino acid properties, as classically understood.

PMID- 28612123
TI  - The influence of vitamin C on the interaction between acute mental stress and
      endothelial function.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether orally administered vitamin C attenuates expected
      mental stress-induced reductions in brachial artery endothelial function as
      measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD). METHODS: Fifteen men (21 +/- 2 years)
      were given 1000 mg of vitamin C or placebo over two visits in a randomized,
      double-blinded, within-subject design. Acute mental stress was induced using the
      Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Saliva samples for cortisol determination and
      FMD measures were obtained at baseline, pre-TSST, and 30 and 90-min post-TSST. An
      additional saliva sample was obtained immediately post-TSST. Cardiovascular
      stress reactivity was characterized by changes in heart rate (HR) and mean
      arterial pressure (MAP). RESULTS: A significant stress response was elicited by
      the TSST in both conditions [MAP, HR, and salivary cortisol increased (p <
      0.001)]. Overall FMD did not differ pre- vs. post-stress (time: p = 0.631) and
      there was no effect of vitamin C (condition: p = 0.792) (interaction between time
      and condition, p = 0.573). However, there was a correlation between cortisol
      reactivity and changes in FMD from pre- to post-stress in the placebo condition
      (r 2 = 0.66, p < 0.001) that was abolished in the vitamin C condition (r 2 =
      0.02, p = 0.612). CONCLUSION: Acute mental stress did not impair endothelial
      function, and vitamin C disrupted the relationship between cortisol reactivity
      and changes in FMD post-stress. This suggests that acute mental stress does not
      universally impair endothelial function and that reactive oxygen species
      signaling may influence the interaction between FMD and stress responses.

PMID- 28612125
TI  - Impact of Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and Immediate Reconstruction on
      Health-Related Quality of Life in Women at High Risk for Breast Carcinoma:
      Results of the Mastectomy Reconstruction Outcomes Consortium Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although bilateral prophylactic mastectomy (BPM) can reduce the risk
      of breast cancer, the decision to proceed surgically can have significant
      consequences and requires careful deliberation. To facilitate decision making for
      women at high risk for breast carcinoma, the risks and benefits of BPM should be
      well-elucidated. We sought to determine the effects of BPM and immediate
      reconstruction on health-related quality-of-life outcomes among a multisite
      cohort of women at high risk for breast carcinoma. METHODS: Patient-reported
      outcome data were prospectively collected as part of the Mastectomy
      Reconstruction Outcomes Consortium Study, and data on a subgroup of 204 high-risk
      women who elected to have BPM and immediate reconstruction were evaluated.
      Baseline scores were compared with scores at 1 or 2 years after reconstruction.
      RESULTS: Satisfaction with breasts and psychosocial well-being were significantly
      higher at both 1 and 2 years (p < 0.01); however, anxiety was significantly lower
      at 1 or 2 years (p < 0.01) and physical well-being of the chest and upper body
      was significantly worse at 1 year (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results highlight
      the impact of BPM and immediate reconstruction on health-related quality-of-life
      outcomes in this setting. BPM and reconstruction can result in significant,
      positive, lasting changes in a woman's satisfaction with her breasts, as well as
      her psychosocial well-being. Furthermore, presurgery anxiety was significantly
      reduced by 1 year post-reconstruction and remained reduced at 2 years. With this
      knowledge, women at high risk for breast carcinoma, and their providers, will be
      better equipped to make the best individualized treatment decisions.

PMID- 28612126
TI  - Immaturity of Bile Canalicular-Ductule Networks in the Future Liver Remnant While
      Associating Liver Partition and Portal Vein Occlusion for Staged Hepatectomy
      (ALPPS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: We studied histologic changes of bile canalicular-ductule networks in
      the future liver remnant (FLR) while associating liver partition and portal vein
      occlusion for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS), since little is known about
      regeneration of these networks during the relatively short interval between
      procedures in ALPPS. METHODS: Bile canalicular-ductule networks were examined in
      specimens from eight patients treated with ALPPS and six patients undergoing
      hepatectomy following portal vein embolization (PVE). Expression of multidrug
      resistance-1 (MDR1), a membrane transporter in bile canaliculi (BC), was analyzed
      immunohistochemistcally. Morphologic changes of BC and tight junctions (TJs)
      adjoining BC were also assessed electron microscopically. RESULTS: Extrapolated
      kinetic growth of the FLR was greater during ALPPS (17.2 +/- 6.8 mL/day) than
      after PVE (6.3 +/- 3.4 mL/day; p = 0.005), and continuity of the MDR1-positive
      bile canalicular networks was less evident in ALPPS than PVE (p < 0.001).
      Electron microscopically, no significant difference was evident in numbers of BC
      or BC lumen size between the two groups; however, development of microvilli in BC
      was poorer in the ALPPS group than in the PVE group (p < 0.001). TJ/desmosome
      complexes were shorter in the ALPPS group (0.69 +/- 0.52 MUm) than in the PVE
      group (1.09 +/- 0.50 MUm; p < 0.001), and leaky TJs were seen more frequently in
      the ALPPS group (64.9 vs. 23.6%; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Regeneration of bile
      canalicular-ductule networks in the FLR was poorer in ALPPS than PVE, which may
      be associated with prolonged cholestasis following final hepatectomy in ALPPS.

PMID- 28612127
TI  - Expression and Clinical Significance of Herpes Virus Entry Mediator (HVEM) in
      Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint blockades are currently actively investigated in
      invasive breast cancers. Given the complexity of immune regulation, multiple
      inhibitory molecules within the immune checkpoint framework would be involved in
      tumor immune escape. Evaluation of the components within the framework is a
      prerequisite for not only identification of additional treatment targets and
      optimization of immunotherapeutic strategies but also understanding the
      prognostic value of these molecules. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined a recently
      described component, herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM), in a large cohort of
      invasive breast cancers using immunohistochemistry, and evaluated its clinical
      relevance. HVEM expression was associated with aggressive tumor features, namely
      high grade (p < 0.001), high pT (p = 0.001) and pN stage (p = 0.008), and was
      most prevalently found in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-overexpressed
      subtype (67%). Interestingly, a negative association with programmed death-ligand
      1 (p = 0.021) has been observed. The prognostic impact of HVEM depended on the
      level of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), with the worst outcome occurring
      in patients with low TIL, HVEM-positive tumors. CONCLUSION: HVEM plays
      significant oncogenic roles in breast carcinogenesis, and may also be a tumor
      specific target.

PMID- 28612128
TI  - [Vascular diagnostics in peripheral arteries].
AB  - Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is the most frequent cause for reduced perfusion
      in peripheral arteries. Patients with PAD have often manifestations of
      atherosclerosis in other vascular territories. Typical symptoms are intermittent
      claudication or rest pain and acral lesions in patients with critical limb
      ischemia. The majority of PAD patients are clinically asymptomatic; therefore, it
      makes sense to screen for PAD in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. The
      ankle brachial index (ABI) is regarded as an easy and cost-effective method for
      baseline diagnostics. If ABI measurement confirms the suspected PAD, a detailed
      diagnostic pathway should follow in which duplex sonography plays a central role.
      In some cases, additional radiologic imaging preferably by magnet resonance
      imaging is necessary to complete the diagnostic workup or to plan therapeutic
      procedures.

PMID- 28612129
TI  - Coffee consumption and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: evidence from the Italian
      multicentre case-control study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Several investigations have analysed the association between coffee
      intake and risk of cancer. Contradictory results were reported by the studies
      conducted in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) few of which report results according
      to main NHL subgroups. The present study is aimed at evaluating the association
      between coffee consumption and the risk of NHL by analysing data from a large
      Italian multicentre case-control study that included 1,418 interviewed cases
      (1,301 B cell and 117 T cell NHL), diagnosed between 1990 and 1993, and 1,774
      population healthy controls. METHODS: The association was evaluated by standard
      logistic regression analysis. Odds ratio (OR) estimates were adjusted for gender,
      age, residence area, educational level, previous chemotherapy treatment, smoking
      habit and exposure to electromagnetic fields, radiation, pesticides and aromatic
      hydrocarbons. RESULTS: For all B cell lymphomas, an increased risk (OR 1.6, 95%
      CI 1.2-2.0) was observed in the highest exposure category (consumption >4 cups
      per day for at least 30 years), but without a clear dose-response trend. Subgroup
      analyses highlighted an increased risk for drinkers of at least four cups per day
      for follicular lymphoma (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2-3.4). The risk increased with years
      of exposure and was more elevated among current smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Consumption
      of more than four cups of coffee per day enhances the risk of lymphoma,
      especially the follicular subtype. Further investigations based on large cohorts
      and accurate measures of exposure are needed to confirm the observed
      associations.

PMID- 28612130
TI  - Acute Brain Diseases as Triggers for Stress Cardiomyopathy: Clinical
      Characteristics and Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients
      with neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy (NSC) among patients admitted to our
      neuroscience intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: Following institutional review
      board approval, consecutive adult patients admitted to the NICU between 2009 and
      2013 with definite and possible NSC were included. Data on patient demographics,
      baseline clinical information, cardiac function, and laboratory values were
      collected. Outcomes included length of stay, modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at
      discharge and long-term follow-up. Continuous variables were compared using a
      student's t test, and categorical variables were compared using a Chi-square
      test. RESULTS: Among 34 patients included in the study, the most common
      presenting symptom was dyspnea (17 patients, 50%). Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)
      was the most common neurological inciting event (11 patients, 32.4%), but two
      thirds of this cohort had other neurological triggers. The most common
      electrocardiogram changes were QT-interval prolongation (30 patients, 88.2%) and
      T-wave inversion (22 patients, 64.7%). The most common echocardiographic pattern
      was the apical variant (14 patients, 41.2%), and 26% of patients had right
      ventricular involvement (P = 0.03) which was a predictor of poor outcome along
      with inotropic support (P = 0.006). Functional outcome was poor (mRS > 3) in 53%
      of patients at discharge, but function improved over time in most survivors.
      CONCLUSIONS: NSC is most common after SAH, but can result from a wide spectrum of
      acute brain insults. Requirement of inotropic support was the strongest indicator
      of prognosis at last follow-up. Patients with NSC often have poor function at
      discharge but many improve over time.

PMID- 28612131
TI  - Three-Factor Versus Four-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for the Emergent
      Management of Warfarin-Associated Intracranial Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Four-factor prothrombin complex concentrates (PCC) produce a more
      rapid and complete INR correction compared with 3-factor PCC in patients
      receiving warfarin. It is unknown if this improves clinical outcomes in the
      setting of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: This multicenter,
      retrospective cohort study included patients presenting with warfarin-associated
      ICH reversed with either 4- or 3-factor PCC. The primary outcome was in-hospital
      mortality. Secondary outcomes were 30-day mortality, discharge location,
      intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital-free days, INR reversal, and
      thromboembolic (TE) events at 90 days. Each was analyzed using regression
      analysis. Continuous and binary outcomes were analyzed using linear and logistic
      regression, respectively, while ordinal regression was used for discharge
      location. RESULTS: Of the 103 patients, 63 received 4-factor PCC. Median age was
      79 years [interquartile intervals(IQI 73-84)], median presenting INR was 2.7 (2.2
      3.3), and presenting ICH was intraparenchymal in 51% of patients. In-hospital and
      30-day mortality were 25 and 35%, respectively. In-hospital mortality was greater
      among those who received 4-factor PCC, yet was not statistically significant (OR
      2.2, 95% CI 0.59-9.4, p = 0.26), as having Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) <=8 explained
      most of the difference (OR 48, 95% CI 14-219, p <0.001). The effect of 4-factor
      PCC was not statistically significant in any of the secondary analyses. Crude
      rates of TE events were higher in the 4-factor PCC group (19 vs. 10%), though not
      significantly. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital mortality was not improved with the use
      of 4- versus 3-factor PCC in the emergent reversal of warfarin-associated ICH.
      Secondary clinical outcomes were similarly nonsignificant.

PMID- 28612132
TI  - Hemorrhage Rate After External Ventricular Drain Placement in Subarachnoid
      Hemorrhage: Time to Heparin Administration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The use of antiplatelet or anticoagulants has previously been shown to
      increase hemorrhagic complications of ventricular catheterization. Although
      heparin use 24 h after ventriculostomy appears safe, the safety of heparin
      immediately (within 4 h) after ventriculostomy is unknown. The objective of this
      study was to assess the safety of heparin immediately (within 4 h) after
      ventriculostomy in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients undergoing endovascular
      treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of 46
      patients with aneurysmal SAH secondary to aneurysm rupture who required
      ventriculostomy. Post-ventriculostomy imaging was carefully reviewed for tract
      hemorrhaging. Timing of heparinization was noted. Early heparinization was within
      4 h after ventriculostomy, and intermediate heparinization was between 4 and 24 h
      after ventriculostomy. RESULTS: Overall, the tract hemorrhage rate was 26.1% for
      the study cohort-mostly grade I tract hemorrhages-consistent with the existing
      literature. The tract hemorrhage rate in the early (<4 h) heparin group was a
      remarkable 58.8%. The hemorrhages were also notably larger in the early (<4 h)
      heparin group. CONCLUSION: Although heparin appears to be safe after 4 h,
      immediate heparinization (within 4 h) after ventriculostomy significantly
      increases the odds of tract hemorrhage. Additional time should be afforded
      between ventriculostomy and heparinization to avoid potentially devastating
      external ventricular drain tract hemorrhage. It is advisable to wait a sufficient
      time (at least 4 h) after ventriculostomy before embarking on endovascular
      treatment of ruptured aneurysms.

PMID- 28612133
TI  - Brain-Specific Serum Biomarkers Predict Neurological Morbidity in Diagnostically
      Diverse Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unexpected neurological morbidity in Pediatric Intensive Care Units
      (PICUs) remains high and is difficult to detect proactively. Brain-specific
      biomarkers represent a novel approach for early detection of neurological injury.
      We sought to determine whether serum concentrations of neuron-specific enolase
      (NSE), myelin basic protein (MBP), and S100B, specific for neurons,
      oligodendrocytes, and glia, respectively, were predictive of neurological
      morbidity in critically ill children. METHODS: Serum was prospectively collected
      on days 1-7 from diagnostically diverse PICU patients (n = 103). Unfavorable
      neurological outcome at hospital discharge was defined as Pediatric Cerebral
      Performance Category (PCPC) score of 3-6 with a deterioration from baseline. NSE,
      MBP, and S100B concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      RESULTS: Peak biomarker levels were greater in patients with unfavorable versus
      favorable neurological outcome [NSE 39.4 +/- 44.1 vs. 12.2 +/- 22.9 ng/ml (P =
      0.005), MBP 9.1 +/- 11.5 vs. 0.6 +/- 1.3 ng/ml (P = 0.003), S100B 130 +/- 232 vs.
      34 +/- 70 pg/ml (P = 0.04), respectively; mean +/- SD]. Peak levels were each
      independently associated with unfavorable neurological outcome when controlling
      for presence of primary neurologic admission diagnosis and poor baseline PCPC
      using logistic regression analysis (NSE, P = 0.04; MBP, P = 0.004; S100B, P =
      0.04), and had the following receiver operating characteristics: NSE 0.75 (0.58,
      0.92), MBP 0.81 (0.66, 0.94), and S100B 0.80 (0.67, 0.93) (area under the curve
      [95% confidence intervals]). CONCLUSIONS: Prospectively collected brain-specific
      serum biomarkers predict unfavorable neurological outcome in critically ill
      children. Serum biomarkers used in conjunction with clinical data could be used
      to generate models predicting early detection of neurological injury, allowing
      for more timely diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, potentially reducing
      neurological morbidity in the PICU.

PMID- 28612135
TI  - Comparative Study of GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay and Multiplex PCR Assay for Direct
      Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Suspected Pulmonary Tuberculosis
      Patients.
AB  - Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is one of the major infectious diseases in
      developing countries. The objective of this study was to compare rapid
      diagnostics technique, GeneXpert MTB/RIF (GeneXpert) and Multiplex PCR assay
      (MPCR) targeting IS6110 segment and mpb64 gene for direct detection of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in suspected PTB patients. A cross sectional
      study was carried among 105 sputum samples from suspected PTB patients to
      evaluate GeneXpert and Multiplex PCR who visited National Tuberculosis Center,
      Nepal. The patient's sputum samples were used directly for the GeneXpert whereas
      DNA extraction by CTAB method was followed to process the sample for MPCR. The
      sensitivity and specificity of GeneXpert and MPCR in smear positive cases was
      78.6, 33.3, and 100.0%, 66.7%, respectively (P = 0.125). However, in smear
      negative cases sensitivity and specificity of both methods exhibited 90.9, 95.2,
      and 100.0%, 100.0% respectively (P = 0.625). Finally, the sensitivity and
      specificity of GeneXpert and MPCR were 82.9, 95.3 and 100.0%, 98.5% respectively,
      (P = 0.549) in pulmonary cases. Comparatively, we observed higher sensitivity and
      specificity for MPCR than GeneXpert for both smear positive and negative samples.
      Thus, we recommend MPCR alongside GeneXpert for the better diagnostic accuracy of
      PTB in a resource-limited country where tuberculosis is endemic.

PMID- 28612134
TI  - Ketamine-induced behavioural and brain oxidative changes in mice: an assessment
      of possible beneficial effects of zinc as mono- or adjunct therapy.
AB  - RATIONALE: We studied the influence of zinc, haloperidol or olanzapine on
      neurobehaviour (open-field, radial arm maze and elevated plus maze) and brain
      antioxidant status in vehicle- or ketamine-treated mice, with the aim of
      ascertaining the potentials of zinc in counteracting ketamine's effects.
      OBJECTIVES: Experiment 1 assessed the effects of zinc in healthy animals and the
      relative degrees of modulation of ketamine's effects by zinc, haloperidol or
      olanzapine, respectively. Experiment 2 assessed the modulation of ketamine's
      effects following co-administration of zinc with haloperidol or olanzapine.
      METHODS: Male mice weighing 18-20 g each were used. Animals were pretreated with
      ketamine (except vehicle, zinc, haloperidol and olanzapine controls) for 10 days
      before commencement of 14-day treatment (day 11-24) with vehicle, zinc,
      haloperidol or olanzapine (alone or in combination). Ketamine injection also
      continued alongside zinc and/or standard drugs in the ketamine-treated groups.
      Zinc, haloperidol and olanzapine were administered by gavage. Treatments were
      given daily and behaviours assessed on days 11 and 24. On day 24, animals were
      sacrificed and whole brain homogenates used for estimation of glutathione, nitric
      oxide and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. RESULTS: Ketamine increased open-field
      behaviours, nitric oxide and MDA levels, while it decreased working memory,
      social interaction and glutathione. Administration of zinc alone or in
      combination with haloperidol or olanzapine was associated with variable degrees
      of reversal of these effects. CONCLUSION: Zinc may have the potential of a
      possible therapeutic agent and/or adjunct in the reversal of schizophrenia-like
      changes in behaviour and brain oxidative status.

PMID- 28612136
TI  - Identification of two novel chicken GPR133 variants and their expression in
      different tissues.
AB  - GPR133 (G protein-coupled receptor 133) plays significant roles in various
      physiological processes. Alternatively splicing (AS) variants of GPR133 in many
      species have been predicted in multiple databases, but there is no available
      information about the AS events of chicken GPR133 (cGPR133). In the present
      study, two chicken GPR133 variants, cGPR133-va and cGPR133-vb, were identified by
      a combination of reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of
      cDNA 5'-ends (5' RACE). Sequence analysis shows that cGPR133-va and cGPR133-vb
      are resulting from different AS modules and their sequences are predicted to
      encode two distinct putative proteins, respectively. Quantitative real-time PCR
      (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that cGPR133-va and cGPR133-vb are widely expressed
      in different tissues, while exhibiting specific expression profile. Altogether,
      our results first demonstrate the existence of novel cGPR133 variants and
      illustrate its transcriptional diversity and their widespread distribution, which
      provides a foundation for the further research of GPR133.

PMID- 28612138
TI  - Transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channel as a target of
      crotamiton and its bimodal effects.
AB  - The sensation of itching can be defined as "an unpleasant cutaneous sensation
      that provokes a desire to scratch." The perception of itching is not critical for
      the maintenance of life, but persistent itching can be extremely irritating and
      decreases the quality of life. Crotamiton (N-ethyl-o-crotonotoluidide) has been
      used as an anti-itch agent for humans for around 70 years. In spite of the long
      use of crotamiton, its mechanism of action remains unknown. We hypothesized that
      crotamiton might have effects on transient receptor potential (TRP) channels
      expressed in the peripheral nervous system and the skin. We first examined the
      effects of crotamiton on TRP channels by whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. We
      found that crotamiton strongly inhibited TRPV (vanilloid) 4 channels followed by
      large currents after crotamiton washout. In mice, crotamiton inhibited itch
      related behaviors induced by a TRPV4-selective agonist (GSK1016790A). We
      biophysically investigated the large TRPV4 currents after crotamiton washout.
      Comparing single-channel open probabilities and current amplitudes of TRPV4,
      increases in both parameters were found to contribute to the large washout
      currents of TRPV4. Because the change in current amplitudes suggested pore
      dilation of TRPV4, we examined this possibility with cation replacement
      experiments and by measuring changes in reversal potentials. Greater cation
      influxes and changes in reversal potentials upon crotamiton washout were
      observed, suggesting that the TRPV4 pore dilated in its uninhibited state. From
      these results, we identified the molecular target of crotamiton as TRPV4 and
      demonstrated pore dilation of TRPV4 upon crotamiton washout.

PMID- 28612137
TI  - Cross talk between the Crumbs complex and Hippo signaling in renal epithelial
      cells.
AB  - Cell polarity has a crucial role in organizing cells into tissues and in
      mediating transport processes and cell-cell communication. Especially the cells
      of the nephron require apicobasal polarity to establish and maintain their
      barrier function. The Crumbs complex including the integral membrane protein
      Crumbs, as well as Pals1 and Patj, is essential for the establishment of
      apicobasal polarity. The interactions of the core proteins and the interplay with
      other processes have been characterized in various epithelial cell lines in
      detail. Notably, Crb2 and Crb3 are expressed within the kidney and play an
      important role in the proper function of podocytes and tubules, respectively. The
      interaction of polarity proteins and components of the Hippo pathway-an
      evolutionarily highly conserved kinase cascade regulating cell proliferation,
      organ size, and tissue regeneration-has been discovered recently. Here, we
      discuss potential molecular and physiological links between the Crumbs complex
      and the Hippo pathway in renal cells.

PMID- 28612139
TI  - Anorectal malformations, associated congenital anomalies and their investigation
      in a South African setting.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to investigate the types of anorectal
      malformations (ARM), incidence of associated abnormalities and investigative
      methods used in patients treated at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital
      and to determine whether these are in keeping with recent literature. Mortality
      rates were also reviewed. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients with ARM
      between 1993 and 2016 was undertaken. Clinical notes were reviewed and correlated
      with radiology and cardiac databases. Abnormalities were grouped according to
      genitourinary, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems. The
      data were separated into three periods to ascertain whether the workup strategy
      had changed over the years. RESULTS: A total of 282 patients were included. There
      were 134 (47.5%) high and 116 (41.1%) low lesions and unspecified in 32 (11.3%)
      patients. There were 59 (20.9%) vestibular fistulae, 46 (16.3%) combined
      rectourethral fistulae (rectoprostatic, rectobulbar and unspecified
      rectourethral) and 42 (14.9%) perineal fistulae. Associated abnormalities were
      detected in 152/221 (69%). Abnormalities were: Genitourinary 88/204 (43.1%),
      musculoskeletal 80/188 (42.5%), cardiac 44/218 (20.1%) and gastrointestinal
      12/216 (5.6%). Twenty patients demised. CONCLUSION: Vestibular fistulae were most
      common followed by rectourethral and perineal fistulae. Musculoskeletal and
      genitourinary abnormalities were the most common associated findings. The
      mortality rate was 7% and cardiac lesions contributed to mortality. As knowledge
      of ARM improved, so has awareness of associated malformations. This has led to
      improved, more active workup, in keeping with the latest literature.

PMID- 28612142
TI  - Erratum to: A Colorimetric and Fluorescent Probe Based on Michael Acceptor Type
      Diketopyrrolopyrrole for Cyanide Detection.

PMID- 28612140
TI  - A phase II study of ipilimumab plus temozolomide in patients with metastatic
      melanoma.
AB  - Checkpoint blockade has revolutionized the treatment of melanoma; however, it
      benefits only the minority of patients. Several agents have been combined with
      immunotherapy to improve T-cell activation and persistence including growth
      factor, chemotherapy, and radiation. Preclinical data suggest that temozolomide,
      which metabolizes to the same active compound as dacarbazine, selectively
      depletes regulatory T cells. This potential immunomodulatory effect of
      temozolomide provides rationale for combination with ipilimumab. We performed an
      open-label single-arm phase II study of ipilimumab plus temozolomide in the
      frontline setting for patients with metastatic melanoma and LDH <=2* upper limit
      of normal. Ipilimumab was given at 10 mg/kg on day 1 and temozolomide 200 mg/m2
      orally days 1-4 every 3 weeks for four doses followed by maintenance ipilimumab
      every 12 weeks plus temozolomide every 4 weeks. The primary objective of the
      study was 6-month PFS. A total of 64 patients were enrolled and the 6-month PFS
      was 45% with median OS of 24.5 months. There were 10 (15.6%) confirmed partial
      responses and 10 (15.6%) confirmed complete responses. Duration of response
      amongst responders is 35 months with 10 patients demonstrating an ongoing
      response at median follow-up of 20 months. There were no deaths or unexpected
      toxicities on study. The most common gastrointestinal side effects were nausea
      and constipation rather than diarrhea or colitis. These results suggest that the
      combination of induction ipilimumab plus temozolomide could potentially be an
      effective strategy to enhance antitumor activity with a manageable toxicity
      profile. These findings warrant further evaluation in a large prospective study.

PMID- 28612141
TI  - Deterministic identifiability of population pharmacokinetic and pharmacokinetic
      pharmacodynamic models.
AB  - Identifiability is an important component of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic
      (PKPD) model development. Structural identifiability is concerned with the
      uniqueness of the model parameters for a set of perfect input-output data and
      deterministic identifiability with the precision of parameter estimation given
      imperfect input-output data. We introduce two subcategories of deterministic
      identifiability, external and internal, and consider factors that distinguish
      between these forms. We define external deterministic identifiability as a
      function of externally controllable variables, i.e., the design, and internal
      deterministic identifiability as a function of the model and its parameter
      values. The concepts are explored using three common PK and PKPD models, and
      verified for their precision for the selected set of parameter values under
      optimal design.

PMID- 28612144
TI  - Fast calcium transients translate the distribution and conduction of neural
      activity in different regions of a single sensory neuron.
AB  - In the present study, cytosolic calcium concentration changes were recorded in
      response to various forms of excitations, using the fluorescent calcium indicator
      dye OG-BAPTA1 together with the current or voltage clamp methods in stretch
      receptor neurons of crayfish. A single action potential evoked a rise in the
      resting calcium level in the axon and axonal hillock, whereas an impulse train or
      a large saturating current injection would be required to evoke an equivalent
      response in the dendrite region. Under voltage clamp conditions, amplitude
      differences between axon and dendrite responses vanished completely. The fast
      activation time and the modulation of the response by extracellular calcium
      concentration changes indicated that the evoked calcium transients might be
      mediated by calcium entry into the cytosol through a voltage-gated calcium
      channel. The decay of the responses was slow and sensitive to extracellular
      sodium and calcium concentrations as well as exposure to 1-10 mM NiCl2 and 10-500
      uM lanthanum. Thus, a sodium calcium exchanger and a calcium ATPase might be
      responsible for calcium extrusion from the cytosol. Present results indicate that
      the calcium indicator OG-BAPTA1 might be an efficient but indirect way of
      monitoring regional membrane potential differences in a single neuron.

PMID- 28612143
TI  - ADHD modulates the course of delinquency: a 15-year follow-up study of young
      incarcerated man.
AB  - There is growing evidence of an association between ADHD and rule-breaking
      behaviour and that subjects with ADHD are more likely to be involved in the legal
      system. However, the research on ADHD as a risk factor not only for delinquency
      but also for recidivism is scarce and findings are controversial. Therefore, we
      explored the impact of ADHD on the course of delinquency in a sample of
      incarcerated young men. We conducted a 15-year follow-up study by investigating
      the criminal records of 106 former youth prisoners. Criminal recidivism was
      operationalized through three variables: criminal recidivism; frequency of
      recidivism; and time to recidivism. The incremental predictive validity of ADHD
      was analysed using survival analysis and controlled for confounders associated
      with recidivism. Offenders with ADHD (n = 74) reoffended 2.5 times faster and
      showed a higher rate of recidivism and further incarcerations compared to non
      ADHD offenders (n = 33), even when controlling for general risk factors such as
      antisocial personality disorder. Median survival rate ranged between 6 and 7
      months in the ADHD groups and 25 months in the non-ADHD group. Our results
      revealed that ADHD has an incremental predictive power on criminal recidivism,
      even above general risk factors. Moreover, the criminogenic influence of ADHD
      appeared to be crucial in terms of the interplay of childhood ADHD,
      irrespectively of the persistence of the symptomatology into later life. Our
      findings therefore highlight the importance of early intervention and
      consequently prevention.

PMID- 28612146
TI  - Diabetic neuropathic cachexia with profound autonomic dysfunction in a young
      female with type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 28612145
TI  - Transanal Hartmann's colostomy reversal assisted by laparoscopy: outcomes of the
      first 10 patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Restoration of intestinal continuity after Hartmann's procedure is
      a technically difficult surgery associated with significant morbidity and
      mortality. This study presents the short-term results of a new approach: a
      transanal Hartmann's colostomy reversal assisted by laparoscopy. METHOD: This is
      a retrospective analysis of data collected in one tertiary hospital, from October
      2013 to November 2015. RESULTS: During the study period, there were ten cases of
      transanal Hartmann's reversal. Reasons for Hartmann's procedure were: complicated
      diverticulitis (4), anastomotic leak (3), and recto-sigmoid cancer (3). Rectal
      stump length was 10.4 +/- 4.5 cm. Reconstruction was achieved in all patients.
      One low colorectal anastomosis was hand-sewn, the other 9 were stapled. Mean
      operative time was 204 +/- 65 min. Diverting loop ileostomies were created in
      five patients and all were closed during the following year. One case required
      hand-assistance but there was no conversion to open surgery. Iatrogenic
      laparoscopic enterotomies occurred in four patients and all were repaired
      primarily without consequences. Three patients had a total of four post-operative
      complications: ileus (2), abdominal abscess and wound infection (1). None
      required reoperation. Mean length of stay was 7.2 +/- 4.3 days. One required
      readmission. CONCLUSION: A transanal Hartmann's reversal assisted by laparoscopy
      is a new approach for a difficult surgery. It has the potential to be an
      additional tool in the case of hostile pelvises or with a rectal stump difficult
      to identify. The surgery remains challenging and indications need to be
      clarified.

PMID- 28612147
TI  - Fluoroscopic Targeting of Wallstents and Amplatzer Vascular Plugs in Sharp
      Recanalization of Chronic Venous Occlusions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: Sharp recanalization of chronic venous occlusions is
      usually performed with targeting of wire-capture devices like loop snares or
      balloons. We describe sharp recanalization of chronic venous occlusions using
      self-expanding stents and vascular plugs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed all sharp venous recanalization procedures performed
      over an 11-month period and found Wallstent and Amplatzer vascular plug (AVP)
      targeting was performed in 16 patients. Patient demographics, occlusion site,
      targeting device, technical success of the targeting, and overall procedural
      success were recorded. RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in twelve (86%)
      Wallstent and two (67%) AVP deployments. Procedural success was achieved in 15
      (94%). Three minor complications occurred. CONCLUSION: Wallstent and AVP
      targeting may be a useful technique when performing sharp recanalization for
      chronic venous occlusions. These devices expand the target space and present the
      same cross section viewed from any angle and can directly capture and extract the
      wire, features helpful in regions with crowded vascular anatomy.

PMID- 28612148
TI  - First detection and genotyping of Giardia intestinalis in stool samples collected
      from children in Ghazni Province, eastern Afghanistan and evaluation of the PCR
      assay in formalin-fixed specimens.
AB  - It is estimated that faecal-orally transmitted diseases are common in
      Afghanistan, as a consequence of poor hygienic standards of life and widespread
      contamination of water and food with both human and animal faeces. However, there
      is little information in the literature concerning infections caused by
      intestinal parasites in the Afghan population. In this study, we report the
      occurrence of Giardia intestinalis assemblages (A and B) in formalin-fixed stool
      samples collected from 245 Afghan schoolchildren living in Ghazni Province in
      eastern Afghanistan. Detection of the parasite's DNA and genotyping was performed
      using real-time PCR, specific to the beta-giardin gene of G. intestinalis.
      Positive results were recorded in 52 (21.2%) samples. Genotyping was successful
      in 39 faecal samples and showed the predominance of assemblage B of G.
      intestinalis in this population (15 assemblage A and 24 assemblage B). Co
      infection with both genotypes A and B was detected in four samples. Additionally,
      we evaluated the effect of 10% buffered formalin fixative on the detection of G.
      intestinalis DNA using real-time PCR and nested PCR characterised by different
      lengths of PCR products (74 and 479 bp, respectively). The human faeces
      containing the Giardia cysts were tested for 16 weeks. Amplification of G.
      intestinalis DNA with real-time PCR was possible up to 6 weeks of preservation of
      stool sample in formalin, compared to only 2 weeks with nested PCR. This suggests
      that real-time PCR is a more suitable tool in cases where stool samples have to
      be kept in formalin for longer periods of time.

PMID- 28612149
TI  - 35-Year Experience with Surgical Treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa is a painful and disfiguring chronic
      inflammatory condition affecting both men and women. Medical treatments, such as
      antibiotics and immunosuppressive agents, are often ineffective. Over time,
      patients can suffer from recurrent abscesses, chronic purulent drainage,
      scarring, and contractures that can only be corrected by surgical excision. There
      is no agreement, however, on the best way for the surgeon to manage this
      condition. The purpose of this review is to describe the results of surgical
      treatment of this condition in a large cohort of patients managed by local
      excision of hidradenitis, healing by secondary intention and reoperation as
      needed. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective review was conducted of all patients
      operated on by the author for hidradenitis over a 35-year period. Specific data
      abstracted included patient age, weight, admission, length of stay, wound size,
      type of wound care, number of post-op visits, time to heal, and recurrence. Most
      wounds healed by secondary intention and were managed using simple tap water
      moistened plain gauze dressings changed three times a day. RESULTS: From 1979
      through 2014, 122 patients (56 men and 66 women), median age 38, underwent 245
      operations for hidradenitis suppurativa. Patients underwent from 1 to 10
      procedures; 61 patients (50%) underwent two or more procedures; and 26 (21%)
      underwent three or more. Wound sizes at operation ranged from quite small to over
      1500 cm2. Men were older (42 vs 34 years, p < 0.001) and had larger median wound
      size (98 vs 55 cm2, p < 0.001). A total of 197 wounds healed by secondary
      intention: 83 of these (median size 159 cm2) were left completely open at the
      time of surgery; 117 (median size 100 cm2) were partially closed. A total of 30
      wounds (median size 38 cm2) were closed primarily; 15 (median size 196 cm2) were
      closed by skin graft. Patients undergoing 139 procedures were admitted to the
      hospital for the initial wound care. Their median combined total wound size was
      160 cm2; length of stay was 5.5 days; and median time to heal was 60 days. In
      total, 106 procedures were ambulatory; median wound size was 30 cm2; and median
      time to heal was 40 days. Recurrent or new disease was common, with some patients
      requiring multiple procedures over many years to maintain control of symptoms.
      Although wound healing can take up to several months, patients quickly learned
      how to care for themselves and were usually pain-free after the first two or
      three weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa by wide
      local excision with healing by secondary intention using tap water-moistened
      plain gauze dressings changed 2-3 times per day is a simple, practical approach
      that has good results. Recurrence of disease is common and should not be thought
      of as a failure of surgical treatment, but rather as a feature of the disease
      that must be anticipated and managed.

PMID- 28612150
TI  - Single Versus Multiple Solid Organ Injuries Following Blunt Abdominal Trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe the pattern of solid organ injuries (SOIs) and
      analyze the characteristics, management and outcomes based on the multiplicity of
      SOIs. METHODS: A retrospective study in a Level 1 trauma center was conducted and
      included patients admitted with blunt abdominal trauma between 2011 and 2014.
      Data were analyzed and compared for patients with single versus multiple SOIs.
      RESULTS: A total of 504 patients with SOIs were identified with a mean age of 28
      +/- 13 years. The most frequently injured organ was liver (45%) followed by
      spleen (30%) and kidney (18%). One-fifth of patients had multiple SOIs, of that
      87% had two injured organs. Patients with multiple SOIs had higher frequency of
      head injury and injury severity scores (p < 0.05). The majority of SOIs were
      treated nonoperatively, whereas operative management was required in a quarter of
      patients, mostly in patients with multiple SOIs (p = 0.01). Blood transfusion,
      sepsis and hospital stay were greater in multiple than single SOIs (p < 0.05).
      The overall mortality was 11% which was comparable between the two groups. In
      patients with single SOIs, the mortality was significantly higher in those who
      had pancreatic (28.6%) or hepatic injuries (13%) than the other SOIs. CONCLUSION:
      SOIs represent one-tenth of trauma admissions in Qatar. Although liver was the
      most frequently injured organ, the rate of mortality was higher in pancreatic
      injury. Patients with multiple SOIs had higher morbidity which required frequent
      operative management. Further prospective studies are needed to develop
      management algorithm based on the multiplicity of SOIs.

PMID- 28612151
TI  - The Genetics Journey: A Case Report of a Genetic Diagnosis Made 30 Years Later.
AB  - Mandibulofacial dysostosis with microcephaly (MFDM) is a rare autosomal dominant
      condition that was first described in 2006. The causative gene, EFTUD2,
      identified in 2012. We report on a family that initially presented to a pediatric
      genetics clinic in the 1980s for evaluation of multiple congenital anomalies. Re
      evaluation of one member thirty years later resulted in a phenotypic and
      molecularly confirmed diagnosis of MFDM. This family's clinical histories and the
      novel EFTUD2 variant identified, c.1297_1298delAT (p.Met433Valfs*17), add to the
      literature about MFDM. This case presented several genetic counseling challenges
      and highlights that "the patient" can be multiple family members. We discuss
      testing considerations for an unknown disorder complicated by the time constraint
      of the patient's daughter's pregnancy and how the diagnosis changed previously
      provided recurrence risks. Of note, 1) the 1980s clinic visit letters provided
      critical information about affected family members and 2) the patient's husband's
      internet search of his wife's clinical features also yielded the MFDM diagnosis,
      illustrating the power of the internet in the hands of patients. Ultimately, this
      case emphasizes the importance of re-evaluation given advances in genetics and
      the value of a genetic diagnosis for both patient care and risk determination for
      family members.

PMID- 28612152
TI  - Harassment of adults by immatures in bonobos (Pan paniscus): testing the
      Exploratory Aggression and Rank Improvement hypotheses.
AB  - The immatures of many primate species frequently pester adult group members with
      aggressive behaviors referred to as a type of harassment. Although these
      behaviors are characteristic of immatures as they develop from infancy through
      adolescence, there have been few studies that specifically address the adaptive
      significance of harassment. Two functional hypotheses have been generated from
      observations of the behavior in chimpanzees. The Exploratory Aggression
      hypothesis describes harassment as a mechanism used by immatures to learn about
      the parameters of aggression and dominance behavior and to acquire information
      about novel, complex, or unpredictable relationships. The Rank Improvement
      hypothesis describes harassment as a mechanism of dominance acquisition used by
      immatures to outrank adults. This study investigated harassment of adults by
      immatures in a group of bonobos housed at the Columbus Zoo and compared the
      results to the predictions outlined by the Exploratory Aggression and Rank
      Improvement hypotheses. Although all immature bonobos in this group harassed
      adults, adolescents performed the behavior more frequently than did infants or
      juveniles and low-ranking adults were targeted more frequently than high-ranking.
      Targets responded more with agonistic behaviors than with neutral behaviors and
      the amount of harassment an individual received was significantly correlated with
      the amount of agonistic responses given. Furthermore, bouts of harassment were
      found to continue significantly more frequently when responses were agonistic
      than when they were neutral. Adolescents elicited mostly agonistic responses from
      targets whereas infants and juveniles received mostly neutral responses. These
      results support predictions from each hypothesis where harassment functions both
      as a mechanism of social exploration and as a tool to establish dominance rank.

PMID- 28612153
TI  - Streptococcus pneumoniae antimicrobial resistance decreased in the Helsinki
      Metropolitan Area after routine 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination of
      infants in Finland.
AB  - Since the introduction of 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) into
      the Finnish national vaccination program in September 2010, the incidence of
      invasive pneumococcal disease in children has decreased steeply in Finland. We
      studied the antimicrobial susceptibility of invasive and non-invasive
      Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) isolated in the Helsinki Metropolitan
      Area during 2009-2014. We divided the data into two age groups: isolates from
      patients <5 years old and >=5 years old. We also studied the serotype
      distribution of invasive isolates and of a subset of non-invasive multidrug
      resistant isolates. The invasive isolate numbers recovered from patients aged <5
      years old declined from 33/228 (15%) in 2009 to 8/208 (4%) in 2014 (p < 0.001)
      and non-invasive isolate numbers declined during the same time period from
      221/595 (37%) to 119/432 (28%) (p < 0.001). At the same time, the proportion of
      penicillin non-susceptible non-invasive isolates in this age group decreased from
      25% (56/220) to 13% (15/119) (p = 0.001) and multidrug-resistant isolates from
      22% (49/220) to 6% (7/119) (p < 0.001), respectively. The number of PCV10
      serotype isolates also decreased among the serotyped multidrug-resistant non
      invasive isolates. Among patients aged >=5 years old, the isolate numbers did not
      show a similar decreasing trend compared to the younger group and, further, the
      number of non-PCV10 serotype isolates increased in invasive cases. To conclude,
      the antimicrobial non-susceptibility of pneumococcus has decreased markedly,
      especially among young patients (<5 years old), following PCV10 implementation in
      Finland.

PMID- 28612154
TI  - Frailty phenotype and the role of levodopa challenge test in geriatric inpatients
      with mild parkinsonian signs.
AB  - Deficiency in dopaminergic system function may be one of the hypothetical reasons
      of the frailty syndrome but its role still remains unclear. The aim of our study
      was to assess the frailty phenotype prevalence in geriatric inpatients with mild
      parkinsonian signs (MPS) and to investigate levodopa test in the frail patients
      with MPS. We examined 118 participants: 90 with MPS and 28 in control group
      (without MPS). The frailty syndrome presence was evaluated by the Fried criteria.
      Deficiency in dopaminergic system function was assessed by one of the
      modifications of an acute levodopa challenge test (LCT): in MPS group every
      patient was examined by performing Up and Go Test and also Step Test before and 3
      h after taking 125 mg of Madopar (levodopa + benserazide). Sixty-nine study
      subjects (58%) met criteria for frailty. Fifty-five participants in MPS group
      (61.1% of MPS group) and fourteen (50%) in control group. All of the patients
      that scored positive in walk speed criterion of frailty were frail. When all MPS
      patients were considered, the number of components scored positive for frailty
      was directly related to the walk speed (r = -0.70, p < 0.0001). In MPS group LCT
      scores were significantly higher for frailty patients compared to non-frailty (p
      = 0.0027). When all MPS patients were considered, the number of components scored
      positive for frailty was directly related LCT score (r = 0.37, p = 0.0004). There
      was a relationship between LCT and walk speed (r = -0.31, p = 0.0032). Our
      observations provide new information about the relationship between frailty and
      MPS, suggest the need for increased awareness of frailty in MPS patients and
      conversely. Our study provides data for a discussion on pathophysiological
      background of the frailty syndrome (FS), emphasizing the theories of the
      important impact of dopaminergic system deficit and encourages further research
      on the role of LCT in measuring it.

PMID- 28612156
TI  - Reduction of SR Ca2+ leak and arrhythmogenic cellular correlates by SMP-114, a
      novel CaMKII inhibitor with oral bioavailability.
AB  - Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ leak induced by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent
      protein kinase II (CaMKII) is centrally involved in atrial and ventricular
      arrhythmogenesis as well as heart failure remodeling. Consequently, treating SR
      Ca2+ leak has been proposed as a novel therapeutic paradigm, but compounds for
      use in humans are lacking. SMP-114 ("Rimacalib") is a novel, orally available
      CaMKII inhibitor developed for human use that has already entered clinical phase
      II trials to treat rheumatoid arthritis. We speculated that SMP-114 might also be
      useful to treat cardiac SR Ca2+ leak. SMP-114 significantly reduces SR Ca2+ leak
      (as assessed by Ca2+ sparks) in human atrial (0.72 +/- 0.33 sparks/100 um/s vs.
      control 3.02 +/- 0.91 sparks/100 um/s) and failing left ventricular (0.78 +/-
      0.23 vs. 1.69 +/- 0.27 sparks/100 um/s) as well as in murine ventricular
      cardiomyocytes (0.30 +/- 0.07 vs. 1.50 +/- 0.28 sparks/100 um/s). Associated with
      lower SR Ca2+ leak, we found that SMP-114 suppressed the occurrence of
      spontaneous arrhythmogenic spontaneous Ca2+ release (0.356 +/- 0.109 vs. 0.927 +/
      0.216 events per 30 s stimulation cessation). In consequence, post-rest
      potentiation of Ca2+-transient amplitude (measured using Fura-2) during the 30 s
      pause was improved by SMP-114 (52 +/- 5 vs. 37 +/- 4%). Noteworthy, SMP-114 has
      these beneficial effects without negatively impairing global excitation
      contraction coupling: neither systolic Ca2+ release nor single cell contractility
      was compromised, and also SR Ca2+ reuptake, in line with resulting cardiomyocyte
      relaxation, was not impaired by SMP-114 in our assays. SMP-114 demonstrated
      potential to treat SR Ca2+ leak and consequently proarrhythmogenic events in
      rodent as well as in human atrial cardiomyocytes and cardiomyocytes from patients
      with heart failure. Further research is necessary towards clinical use in cardiac
      disease.

PMID- 28612158
TI  - Long-term follow-up of the potential benefits of early nutritional intervention
      in adults with upper gastrointestinal cancer: a pilot randomised trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term survival of all patients who
      participated in a pilot randomised trial of an early nutritional intervention for
      adults with upper gastrointestinal cancer. It also sought to identify factors
      that predicted patient mortality. METHODS: All participants (n = 21) who were
      randomised into the original study were followed for a maximum of 5 years and 2
      months (final follow-up April 2016). The primary outcome measure was time from
      date of recruitment until date of death, ascertained by the Victorian Cancer
      Registry and/or Monash Health Scanned Medical Records. Secondary analyses were
      conducted to identify factors that adversely affected survival. RESULTS: At the
      end of the follow-up period, three patients were alive in the nutrition
      intervention group whilst only two patients were living from the standard care
      group. Visual evaluation of the Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated a
      possible survival benefit from being exposed to the intervention between 6 months
      and 1.4 years post-recruitment, though this benefit dissipated soon after. The
      intervention was not associated with increased survival in univariate analyses,
      but was after adjustment for other factors found to adversely impact on survival
      (adjusted hazard ratio 0.12 (95% CI 0.02-0.72) p = 0.02). These factors were
      being a smoker (14.2 (1.43 to 140.67), p = 0.02); low baseline physical
      functioning (1.11 (1.01 to 1.21), p = 0.03); high baseline fatigue (1.09 (1.02
      1.16), p = 0.007); and high baseline dyspnoea (1.08 (1.02-1.13), p = 0.003).
      CONCLUSION: Early and intensive nutrition intervention may increase the survival
      of people with upper gastrointestinal cancer.

PMID- 28612155
TI  - The role of spatial organization of Ca2+ release sites in the generation of
      arrhythmogenic diastolic Ca2+ release in myocytes from failing hearts.
AB  - In heart failure (HF), dysregulated cardiac ryanodine receptors (RyR2) contribute
      to the generation of diastolic Ca2+ waves (DCWs), thereby predisposing
      adrenergically stressed failing hearts to life-threatening arrhythmias. However,
      the specific cellular, subcellular, and molecular defects that account for
      cardiac arrhythmia in HF remain to be elucidated. Patch-clamp techniques and
      confocal Ca2+ imaging were applied to study spatially defined Ca2+ handling in
      ventricular myocytes isolated from normal (control) and failing canine hearts.
      Based on their activation time upon electrical stimulation, Ca2+ release sites
      were categorized as coupled, located in close proximity to the sarcolemmal Ca2+
      channels, and uncoupled, the Ca2+ channel-free non-junctional Ca2+ release units.
      In control myocytes, stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors with isoproterenol
      (Iso) resulted in a preferential increase in Ca2+ spark rate at uncoupled sites.
      This site-specific effect of Iso was eliminated by the phosphatase inhibitor
      okadaic acid, which caused similar facilitation of Ca2+ sparks at coupled and
      uncoupled sites. Iso-challenged HF myocytes exhibited increased predisposition to
      DCWs compared to control myocytes. In addition, the overall frequency of Ca2+
      sparks was increased in HF cells due to preferential stimulation of coupled
      sites. Furthermore, coupled sites exhibited accelerated recovery from functional
      refractoriness in HF myocytes compared to control myocytes. Spatially resolved
      subcellular Ca2+ mapping revealed that DCWs predominantly originated from coupled
      sites. Inhibition of CaMKII suppressed DCWs and prevented preferential
      stimulation of coupled sites in Iso-challenged HF myocytes. These results suggest
      that CaMKII- (and phosphatase)-dependent dysregulation of junctional Ca2+ release
      sites contributes to Ca2+-dependent arrhythmogenesis in HF.

PMID- 28612157
TI  - Effectiveness of implementing a dyadic psychoeducational intervention for cancer
      patients and family caregivers.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined the effectiveness, feasibility, and satisfaction
      with implementation of the FOCUS program in two US Cancer Support Community
      affiliates in Ohio and California as well as the cost to deliver the program.
      FOCUS is an evidence-based psychoeducational intervention for dyads (cancer
      patients and caregivers). METHODS: A pre-post-intervention design was employed.
      Eleven, five-session Focus programs were delivered by licensed professionals in a
      small group format (three-four dyads/group) to 36 patient-caregiver dyads. An
      Implementation Training Manual, a FOCUS Intervention Protocol Manual, and weekly
      conference calls were used to foster implementation. Participants completed
      questionnaires prior to and following completion of each five-session FOCUS
      program to measure primary (emotional distress, quality of life) and secondary
      outcomes (benefits of illness, self-efficacy, and dyadic communication).
      Enrollment and retention rates and fidelity to FOCUS were used to measure
      feasibility. Cost estimates were based on time and median hourly wages. Repeated
      analysis of variance was used to analyze the effect of FOCUS on outcomes for
      dyads. Descriptive statistics were used to examine feasibility, satisfaction, and
      cost estimates. RESULTS: FOCUS had positive effects on QOL (p = .014), emotional
      (p = .012), and functional (p = .049) well-being, emotional distress (p = .002),
      benefits of illness (p = .013), and self-efficacy (p = .001). Intervention
      fidelity was 85% with enrollment and retention rates of 71.4 and 90%,
      respectively. Participants were highly satisfied. Cost for oversight and delivery
      of the five-session FOCUS program was $168.00 per dyad. CONCLUSIONS: FOCUS is an
      economic and effective intervention to decrease distress and improve the quality
      of life for dyads.

PMID- 28612160
TI  - Reuse and reduce: abdominal CT, lumbar spine MRI, and a potential 1.2 to 3.4
      billion dollars in cost savings.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine how much money could potentially be saved by re-evaluating
      a patient's prior recent abdominal CT for lumbar spine pathology instead of
      ordering a lumbar spine MRI. METHODS: Abdominal CT studies, from all consecutive
      patients who had an abdominal CT within 12 months prior to a lumbar spine MRI
      obtained between 11/1/15 and 5/30/16, were retrospectively reviewed in a blinded
      fashion for the presence of any significant lumbar spine abnormalities. CT
      studies that accurately reflected all normal and abnormal findings when compared
      to the standard of reference, the prospectively interpreted lumbar spine MR
      imaging reports, were used to indicate which lumbar spine MRI studies potentially
      could have been avoided and to calculate the potential cost savings. RESULTS: Of
      the 81 abdominal CT studies that met the inclusion criteria of this study, 62%
      (50/81) were TP, 28% (23/81) were TN, 5% (4/81) were FP, and 5% (4/81) were FN
      studies. 90% (73/81) of the lumbar spine MRI studies could potentially have been
      avoided during the 7 months of this study. The predicted savings by reviewing the
      abdominal CT for lumbar spine abnormalities prior to ordering a lumbar spine MRI
      are an estimated 1.2-3.4 billion dollars per year. CONCLUSION: Recent abdominal
      CT studies should be reviewed for lumbar spine pathology prior to a patient
      undergoing lumbar spine MRI. Avoiding unnecessary lumbar spine MRI studies could
      potentially save the U.S. healthcare system an estimated 1.2-3.4 billion dollars
      per year.

PMID- 28612159
TI  - The impact of personal-, disease- and work-related factors on work ability of
      women with breast cancer living in the community: a cross-sectional survey study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to identify the work ability (WA) of breast
      cancer (BC) survivors during the course of their illness, and the relationships
      between personal-, disease-, and work-related factors, and their WA. METHODS:
      This is a cross-sectional survey study. One hundred fifty-one participants with
      the response rate of 88.9% were recruited from the community in 2014 and 2015.
      RESULTS: BC survivors' WA was at its highest before diagnosis, and then dropped
      to the lowest during treatment. Although their current WA had improved, it has
      not bounced back to that before diagnosis. The resignation rate was 35.8%.
      Factors positively associated with current WA included (a) age and year of
      diagnosis, (b) physical and psychological health and (c) WA before diagnosis or
      during treatment, working years, work control and mastery. However, compliance
      with appropriate healthy eating habits and believing in personal health
      controlled by chance were negatively associated with current WA. Furthermore, the
      participants would more likely to have higher current WA if they (a) were more
      optimistic with good stress management; (b) currently were not receiving
      treatment or other illnesses; (c) perceived less effects of their health
      problems, physical workloads or their cancer diagnoses on their work and (d)
      perceived continue to work in the next 2 years, with good ability to handle
      physical and mental work. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that most BC
      survivors continued to work after their diagnoses. The factors affecting their WA
      were multifactorial. It is important to enhance their positive thinking.

PMID- 28612161
TI  - Texture analysis of FDG PET/CT for differentiating between FDG-avid benign and
      metastatic adrenal tumors: efficacy of combining SUV and texture parameters.
AB  - PURPOSE: To retrospectively investigate the SUV-related and texture parameters
      individually and in combination for differentiating between F-18
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-avid benign and metastatic adrenal tumors with PET/CT.
      METHODS: Thirteen benign adrenal tumors (BATs) and 22 metastatic adrenal tumors
      (MATs) with a metabolic tumor volume (MTV) > 10.0 cm3 and SUV >= 2.5 were
      included. SUVmax, MTV, total lesion glycolysis, and four textural parameters
      [entropy, homogeneity, intensity variability (IV), and size-zone variability]
      were obtained. These parameters were compared between BATs and MATs using Mann
      Whitney U test, and the diagnostic performance was evaluated by the area under
      the curve (AUC) values derived from the receiver operating characteristic
      analysis. The diagnostic value of combining SUV and texture parameters was
      examined using a scoring system. RESULTS: MATs showed significantly higher SUVmax
      (p = 0.004), entropy (p = 0.013), IV (p = 0.006), and lower homogeneity (p =
      0.019) than BATs. The accuracies for diagnosing MATs were 82.9, 82.9, 85.7, and
      71.4% for SUVmax, entropy, IV, and homogeneity, respectively. No significant
      differences in AUC were found among these parameters (p > 0.05 each). When each
      parameter was scored as 0 (negative for malignancy) and 1 (positive for
      malignancy) according to each threshold criterion and the four parameter summed
      scores 0, 1, and 2 were defined as benignity and 3 and 4 as malignancy, the
      sensitivity and specificity and accuracy to predict MATs were 100% (22/22), 84.6%
      (11/13), and 94.3% (33/35), respectively, with 0.97 of the AUC. CONCLUSION: The
      combined use of SUVmax and texture parameters has a potential to significantly
      increase the diagnostic performance to differentiate between large FDG-avid BATs
      and MATs.

PMID- 28612162
TI  - LI-RADS and transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may be eligible for liver
      transplantation. Liver transplant candidates with HCC compete for the same
      deceased donor organs as those without HCC. These scarce organs must be allocated
      fairly and justly to those who will benefit most. Unlike most other cancers, HCC
      is often diagnosed noninvasively by imaging without biopsy confirmation.
      Therefore, radiologists play an important role in diagnosing definite HCC (i.e.,
      LR-5 category) that counts toward staging and determination of liver transplant
      eligibility. This review explains the conversion of LI-RADS observation
      categories to organ procurement and transplantation network classes, illustrates
      the radiologic T-staging systems, reviews selection criteria for liver transplant
      eligibility, and discusses prioritization of liver transplant candidates with
      HCC. In addition, this review summarizes imaging requirements, including contrast
      agents accepted, minimum specifications for dynamic CT or MRI of the liver, and
      modalities accepted for assessment of extrahepatic spread or metastatic disease
      in liver transplant candidates with HCC.

PMID- 28612163
TI  - Repeatability and reproducibility of 2D and 3D hepatic MR elastography with rigid
      and flexible drivers at end-expiration and end-inspiration in healthy volunteers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of 2D and 3D hepatic
      MRE with rigid and flexible drivers at end-expiration and end-inspiration in
      healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine healthy volunteers underwent two
      same-day MRE exams separated by a 5- to 10-min break. In each exam, 2D and 3D MRE
      scans were performed, each under four conditions (2 driver types [rigid,
      flexible] * 2 breath-hold phases [end-expiration, end-inspiration]).
      Repeatability (measurements under identical conditions) and reproducibility
      (measurements under different conditions) were analyzed by calculating bias,
      limit of agreement, repeatability coefficient (RC), reproducibility coefficient
      (RDC), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and concordance correlation
      coefficient (CCC), as appropriate. RESULTS: For 2D MRE, RCs and ICCs range
      between 0.29-0.49 and 0.71-0.91, respectively. For 3D MRE, RCs and ICCs range
      between 0.16-0.26 and 0.84-0.96, respectively. Stiffness values were biased by
      breath-hold phase, being higher at end-inspiration than end-expiration, and the
      differences were significant for 3D MRE (p < 0.01). No bias was found between
      driver types. Inspiration vs. expiration RDCs and CCCs ranged between 0.30-0.54
      and 0.61-0.72, respectively. Rigid vs. flexible driver RDCs and CCCs ranged
      between 0.10-0.44 and 0.79-0.94, respectively. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study
      suggests that 2D MRE and 3D MRE under most conditions potentially have good
      repeatability. Our result also points to the possibility that stiffness measured
      with the rigid and flexible drivers is reproducible. Reproducibility between
      breath-hold phases was modest, suggesting breath-hold phase might be a
      confounding factor in MRE-based stiffness measurement. However, larger studies
      are required to validate these preliminary results.

PMID- 28612164
TI  - Increasing efficiency of MRE for diagnosis of Crohn's disease activity through
      proper sequence selection: a practical approach for clinical trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: To derive the best magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) approach for
      detecting activity and severe lesions in Crohn's disease (CD) to use for
      selecting patients and measuring response to treatment in clinical trials.
      METHODS: We compared the accuracies of MRE (T2-weighted sequences, DWI (b = 800
      s/mm2) sequences, combined T2-weighted and DWI sequences, combined T2-weighted or
      DWI sequences, and MaRIA score based on T2-weighted and contrast-enhanced T1
      weighted sequences) versus ileocolonoscopy (SES-CD) performed within 1 month.
      Bowel segments were classified as inactive (SES-CD < 2), active (SES-CD >= 2), or
      active with severe lesions (ulcers seen at endoscopy). McNemar's test was used to
      compare the accuracies of the different approaches against endoscopy. RESULTS:
      224 segments in 43 patients were analyzed. For detecting active disease, the
      combination of findings from T2 and DWI sequences results in the highest specific
      and accurate sequence combination. Combined T2-weighted and DWI sequences had
      similar sensitivity to those of MaRIA (P = 0.25) but lower specificity (P =
      0.007) and accuracy (P = 0.0013) than MaRIA score. For detecting severe lesions,
      T2-weighted sequences alone had greater accuracy [similar to MaRIA score (P >
      0.999)] than other noncontrast approaches. CONCLUSIONS: T2-weighted sequences
      should be used as a first screening step, and followed by contrast-enhanced T1
      weighted sequences only when abnormal findings are identified; adding DWI does
      not improve the accuracy of MRE.

PMID- 28612165
TI  - Iliac "horns".

PMID- 28612166
TI  - Biodegradation of pyrene by Candida sp. S1 under high salinity conditions.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon is a toxic recalcitrant environmental pollutant
      and its removal from the environment is very essential. In this study, a novel S1
      strain isolated from the tropical rain forest was identified as Candida species
      based on 18S rRNA. The pyrene biodegradation was performed by Candida sp. S1.
      Pyrene was 35% degraded in 15 days. The percentage of pyrene biodegradation
      increased up to 75% with 24 g L-1 of sodium chloride and decreased along with
      increasing salinity. Under the acidic condition, the biodegradation was increased
      up to 60% at pH 5. It was also found that the increasing glucose concentration of
      more than 10 g L-1 had no significant effect on pyrene biodegradation, while
      agitation proved to have greater influence. There was a positive relationship
      between biomass growth and biodegradation rate of pyrene. One pyrene metabolite
      was identified from the extract solution and analyzed by a thin-layer
      chromatography, UV-visible absorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
      The metabolite found in the pyrene degradation was benzoic acid. Suitable
      conditions must be found to promote a successful microbial augmentation in liquid
      culture.

PMID- 28612167
TI  - Efficient identification of SNPs in pooled DNA samples using a dual
      mononucleotide addition-based sequencing method.
AB  - Identifying single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) from pooled samples is critical
      for many studies and applications. SNPs determined by next-generation sequencing
      results may suffer from errors in both base calling and read mapping. Taking
      advantage of dual mononucleotide addition-based pyrosequencing, we present Epds,
      a method to efficiently identify SNPs from pooled DNA samples. On the basis of
      only five patterns of non-synchronistic extensions between the wild and mutant
      sequences using dual mononucleotide addition-based pyrosequencing, we employed an
      enumerative algorithm to infer the mutant locus and estimate the proportion of
      mutant sequence. According to the profiles resulting from three runs with
      distinct dual mononucleotide additions, Epds could recover the mutant bases.
      Results showed that our method had a false-positive rate of less than 3%. Series
      of simulations revealed that Epds outperformed the current method (PSM) in many
      situations. Finally, experiments based on profiles produced by real sequencing
      proved that our method could be successfully applied for the identification of
      mutants from pooled samples. The software for implementing this method and the
      experimental data are available at http://bioinfo.seu.edu.cn/Epds .

PMID- 28612168
TI  - Civilian cerebral gunshot wounds in rural South African patients are associated
      with significantly higher mortality rates than in urban patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study focuses on a specific and often dramatic injury, namely
      gunshot wounds (GSW) of the head in order to determine whether there is a
      discrepancy in outcome between patients who sustain their injury in a rural
      setting and those who sustain it in an urban setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      study involves a retrospective review of our prospectively maintained regional
      electronic trauma registry. All patients who sustained a cerebral GSW from
      January 2010 to December 2014 were reviewed. RESULTS: During the 5-year study
      period, a total of 102 patients sustained an isolated cerebral GSW. Ninety-two
      per cent (94/102) were male and the mean age was 29 years. Ninety-four per cent
      (94/102) of injuries were related to interpersonal violence. Of the 102 patients
      in the study, 54% (55/102) were urban and were transported directly to our trauma
      centre. The remaining 46% (47/102) were rural and were transported to a rural
      district hospital prior to being referred to our trauma centre. The time of
      injury was available in 60% (61/102) of patients. The mean time from injury to
      arrival for all patients was 11 h (SD 7). The mean time from injury to arrival
      was significantly shorter for urban versus rural, 6 h (SD 5) and 15 h (SD 5),
      respectively (p < 0.001). The median admission GCS score was significantly lower
      in rural compared to urban patients (p = 0.022). The need for neurosurgery, need
      for ICU admission or length of hospital stay was not significantly different
      between rural and urban patients. Rural patients have a fourfold higher mortality
      compared with urban patients (36 vs 9%, p = 0.001). Amongst survivors, there was
      no significant difference in median length of hospital stay or mean discharge
      GCS. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral GSWs are highly lethal injuries associated with
      significant mortality. Rural patients have a significantly longer transfer time,
      lower GCS on arrival and higher mortality than urban patients. Efforts should be
      directed at improving the pre-hospital EMS system in order to reduce delay to
      definitive care so that patient outcome can be optimised.

PMID- 28612169
TI  - Diagnostic value of arterial blood gas lactate concentration in the different
      forms of mesenteric ischemia.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of serum lactate measurement in patients with intestinal
      ischemia still remains unclear. The aim of this study was to prospectively
      evaluate the diagnostic performance of arterial blood gas lactate concentrations
      in the patients with acute mesenteric ischemia and its different forms. METHODS:
      All the patients reporting abdominal pain associated with risk factors for
      mesenteric ischemia underwent arterial blood gas and contrast enhanced abdominal
      computer tomography (CT). RESULTS: At CT, 201 patients (70.7%) showed a
      nonischemic disease (group 1) and 83 patients (29.2%) showed findings of
      mesenteric ischemia. Out of these, 35 patients (42.1%) showed bowel ischemia
      secondary to non vascular causes (group 2) and 48 (57.8%) had a vascular
      intestinal ischemia (group 3). Out of these, 20 showed small bowel arterial
      occlusion (group 3a), 13 a small bowel nonocclusive ischemia (group 3b), 7 a
      venous small bowel occlusion (group 3c) and 8 showed isolated colonic ischemia
      (group 3d). The median lactate serum level was significantly higher in patients
      with vascular ischemia if compared with patients with nonischemic disease and
      secondary mesenteric ischemia (p < 0.0001; Kruskal-Wallis test). The areas under
      ROC curves for the lactate serum levels in the groups 2, 3, 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d
      were, respectively, 0.61, 0.85, 0.93, 0.93, 0.68 and 0.67. CONCLUSIONS: Arterial
      blood gas lactate levels seem to show good diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing
      small bowel arterial and nonocclusive ischemia and poor accuracy in diagnosing
      secondary mesenteric ischemia, small bowel venous ischemia and ischemic colitis.

PMID- 28612170
TI  - Emended description of the family Chromatiaceae, phylogenetic analyses of the
      genera Alishewanella, Rheinheimera and Arsukibacterium, transfer of Rheinheimera
      longhuensis LH2-2T to the genus Alishewanella and description of Alishewanella
      alkalitolerans sp. nov. from Lonar Lake, India.
AB  - Phylogenetic analyses were performed for members of the family Chromatiaceae,
      signature nucleotides deduced and the genus Alishewanella transferred to
      Chromatiaceae. Phylogenetic analyses were executed for the genera Alishewanella,
      Arsukibacterium and Rheinheimera and the genus Rheinheimera is proposed to be
      split, with the creation of the Pararheinheimera gen. nov. Furthermore, the
      species Rheinheimera longhuensis, is transferred to the genus Alishewanella as
      Alishewanella longhuensis comb. nov. Besides, the genera Alishewanella and
      Rheinheimera are also emended. Strain LNK-7.1T was isolated from a water sample
      from the Lonar Lake, India. Cells were Gram-negative, motile rods, positive for
      catalase, oxidase, phosphatase, contained C16:0, C17:1omega8c, summed feature3
      (C16:1omega6c and/or C16:1omega7c) and summed feature 8 (C18:1omega7c) as major
      fatty acids, PE and PG as the major lipids and Q-8 as the sole respiratory
      quinone. Phylogenetic analyses using NJ, ME, ML and Maximum parsimony, based on
      16S rRNA gene sequences, identified Alishewanella tabrizica RCRI4T as the closely
      related species of strain LNK-7.1T with a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of
      98.13%. The DNA-DNA similarity between LNK-7.1T and the closely related species
      (A. tabrizica) was only 12.0% and, therefore, strain LNK-7.1T was identified as a
      novel species of the genus Alishewanella with the proposed name Alishewanella
      alkalitolerans sp. nov. In addition phenotypic characteristics confirmed the
      species status to strain LNK-7.1T. The type strain of A. alkalitolerans is LNK
      7.1T (LMG 29592T = KCTC 52279T), isolated from a water sample collected from the
      Lonar lake, India.

PMID- 28612171
TI  - Carer Characteristics and Health, Wellbeing and Employment Outcomes of Older
      Australian Baby Boomers.
AB  - Supporting caregivers and enabling continued workforce participation are central
      strategies in Australia's response to an ageing population, however these
      strategies have potential disadvantages for carers, particularly women, including
      reduced workforce participation and retirement income, and poorer health status.
      This paper explores the nexus between paid work and caregiving for Australia's
      baby boomer cohort as this group faces unprecedented pressures to manage paid
      work alongside caring longer and more intensively for family members, including
      grandchildren. A sample of 1261 men and women aged 60 to 64 completed the 2011-12
      Life Histories and Health survey, a sub-study of the New South Wales 45 and Up
      Study. The survey collected data on sociodemographic, psychosocial, life history
      and health-related variables including caregiving and employment status. Around a
      third (32.5%) of the sample (52.2% female) were involved in some type of
      caregiving at the time. Compared to non-carers, carers reported lower workforce
      participation (45.8% versus 54.7% for non-carers) as well as poorer health, more
      mobility difficulties, lower quality of life and lower self-rated SES. Carers who
      also cared for grandchildren were more likely to be in part-time or no paid work
      compared to other carers. Working carers tended to be more highly educated, have
      fewer mobility difficulties, better self-rated health and higher SES than non
      working carers. Male carers were more likely than female carers to be in full
      time or no paid work. Results indicate that reduced workforce participation and
      health status of caregivers varies by gender and type of caregiving. Policy
      reforms are recommended to mitigate these adverse consequences on those providing
      care, their families, employers and the community.

PMID- 28612172
TI  - Chromium(III) and iron(III) inhibits replication of DNA and RNA viruses.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine the effect of treating of chromium(III) and
      iron(III) and their combinations on Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) and
      Bovine Viral Diarrhoea virus (BVDV) replication. The antiviral efficacies of
      chromium(III) and iron(III) on HSV-1 and BVDV were evaluated using Real Time PCR
      method. Moreover, the cytotoxicity of these microelements was examined using the
      MTT reduction assay. The IC50 (50% inhibiotory concentration) for the chromium
      chloride was 1100 MUM for Hep-2 cells and 1400 MUM for BT cells. The IC50 for the
      iron chloride was 1200 MUM for Hep-2 cells and more than1400 MUM for BT cells.
      The concentration-dependent antiviral activity of chromium chloride and iron
      chloride against HSV-1 and BVDV viruses was observed. In cultures simultaneously
      treated with (1) 200 MUM of CrCl3 and 1000 MUM of FeCl3, (2) 1000 MUM of CrCl3
      and 200 MUM of FeCl3, (3) 400 MUM of CrCl3 and 800 MUM of FeCl3, (4) 800 MUM of
      CrCl3 and 400 MUM of FeCl3 a decrease in number of DNA or RNA copies was observed
      compared with control cells and cells incubated with chromium(III) and iron(III)
      used separately. The synergistic antiviral effects were observed for
      chromium(III) and iron(III) against HSV-1 and BVDV.

PMID- 28612173
TI  - Evaluation of the feeding value of Dichrostachys cinerea pods for fattening pigs
      in Cuba.
AB  - Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arn. is a tropical leguminous shrub widely
      regarded as an invasive species in Cuba, after having invaded a significant
      proportion of its arable land during the past decades. Concurrently, smallholder
      pig producers are highly constrained by the scarcity of protein feeds. This study
      aimed to assess the feeding value of D. cinerea pod meal (DCPM) as an alternative
      protein supplement for pigs in Cuban smallholder production systems. An on-farm
      feeding trial was carried out with three groups (N = 10) of growing-fattening
      pigs over 60 days, where DCPM replaced 0, 15, and 30% in DM of a dietary
      commercial concentrate. Then, in an in vivo digestibility trial with eight
      growing pigs, apparent digestibilities of DCPM were determined for dry matter
      (DM), organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP). Finally, in vitro
      digestibilities for OM (fecal and ileal) and CP (ileal) were determined. In the
      feeding trial, pig body weight gains were not affected by increased dietary
      substitution levels of concentrate for DCPM. Blood parameters, with a few
      exceptions, did not show significant differences among groups. Values for in vivo
      OM and CP digestibilities were 40.81 and 50.26%, and substantially higher than in
      vitro values. In conclusion, our results showed that at least 30% of DM in
      commercial concentrate could be substituted by DCPM without affecting pig growth
      performances under Cuban smallholder conditions. The low digestibility of DCPM
      is, however, not acceptable for intensive pig production systems. In vitro enzyme
      digestibility methods developed for commercial pig feeds are not suitable for
      DCPM without further calibration.

PMID- 28612174
TI  - An Enhanced Shared Decision Making Model to Address Willingness and Ability to
      Undergo Lung Cancer Screening and Follow-Up Treatment in Minority Underserved
      Populations.
AB  - Failure to address willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer treatment
      before lung cancer screening could cause patients unnecessary anxiety, cost and
      care. We employed an enhanced shared decision making (SDM) model to address
      willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer screening of low dose CT (LDCT)
      scanning. We hypothesized that enhanced SDM was feasible and did not discourage
      patients from undergoing lung cancer screening. We performed a prospective study
      of patients referred for lung cancer screening. We measured adherence to the LCS
      protocol, including consent to discuss lung cancer treatment if cancer is found
      and direct questions to patients about willingness and ability to undergo lung
      cancer treatment. We measured race, gender, adherence to the consent process and
      questions regarding willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer treatment and
      subsequent uptake of LDCT. All 190 patients have a documented SDM visit
      addressing the risks and benefits of lung cancer screening and consented to
      discuss lung cancer treatment if lung cancer is diagnosed. One hundred and
      seventy-nine (179) of 190 (94%) answered yes to being willing and able to undergo
      lung cancer treatment. One hundred and eighty-seven (187) patients underwent LDCT
      (98.4%). Discussion about willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer
      treatment should be an essential component of a SDM discussion prior to LDCT.
      This study demonstrated that an enhanced SDM experience is feasible in a clinical
      setting. Furthermore, patients proceeded with LDCT following the enhanced SDM
      process.

PMID- 28612175
TI  - Epidemiology of Kawasaki disease in Italy: surveillance from national
      hospitalization records.
AB  - : Kawasaki disease is a systemic vasculitis with an acute and self-limited
      course. The incidence of the disease differs widely among ethnic groups and is
      higher in the Asian populations. In Italy, no recent data are available. We
      studied the epidemiology of Kawasaki disease in the years 2008-2013 in children 0
      14 years old in Italy using hospital ICD-9 discharge codes with a thorough data
      cleaning for duplicates in order to select the first hospital admission for the
      disease. The disease peaked in the first 2 years of life, with 85.5% of cases
      under 5 years. Male/female ratio was 1.4:1. The incidence rate was 5.7 per
      100,000 children 0-14 years old and 14.7 for children younger than 5 years. The
      incidence rose slightly during the study period and had a seasonal distribution,
      with higher incidence in spring. A coronary artery aneurysm was recorded in 2.2%
      of the patients younger than 5 years of age. CONCLUSION: This is the first
      epidemiologic study on Kawasaki disease incidence in the country of Italy.
      Figures are in line but slightly higher than those reported for other European
      countries. What is known: * Kawasaki disease is more common in Asian populations.
      * European incidence data are scarce. What is new: * Epidemiological data in
      Italy show similar incidence, albeit slightly higher, than in other European
      countries. * Incidence data slightly rose in the recent past.

PMID- 28612176
TI  - Antenatal and postnatal depression in women with obesity: a systematic review.
AB  - Obesity and depression are prevalent complications during pregnancy and
      associated with severe health risks for the mother and the child. The co
      occurrence of both conditions may lead to a particular high-risk group. This
      review provides a systematic overview of the association between pre-pregnancy
      obesity and antenatal or postnatal depression. We conducted a systematic
      electronic literature search for English language articles published between
      January 1990 and March 2017. Inclusion criteria were (a) adult pregnant women,
      (b) women with pre-pregnancy obesity and normal weight controls, (c) definition
      of obesity according to the IOM 1990/2009 criteria, (d) established depression
      measure, and (e) report on the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and
      antenatal or postnatal depression. Fourteen (eight prospective (PS), six cross
      sectional (CS)) studies were included. One study reported data from a large
      community-based sample, and one reported cross-national data. Of 13 studies
      examining pre-pregnancy obesity and antenatal depression, 9 found a higher risk
      or higher levels of antenatal depression among women with obesity relative to
      normal weight (6 PS, 3 CS), while 4 studies found no association (2 PS, 2 CS). Of
      four studies examining pre-pregnancy obesity and postnatal depression, two
      studies found a positive association (two PS), one study (CS) reported different
      findings for different obesity classes, and one study found none (PS). The
      findings suggest that women with obesity are especially vulnerable to antenatal
      depression. There is a need to develop appropriate screening routines and
      targeted interventions to mitigate negative health consequences for the mother
      and the child. Research addressing the association between obesity and postnatal
      depression is too limited to draw solid conclusions. Results are mainly based on
      selective samples, and there is a need for further high-quality prospective
      studies examining the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and antenatal and
      postnatal depression.

PMID- 28612177
TI  - Early life maltreatment but not lifetime depression predicts insecure attachment
      in women.
AB  - Early life maltreatment (ELM) poses a risk for the development of insecure
      attachment and depression over the life span, depending on the type of
      maltreatment (physical, sexual, emotional, neglect) and its severity. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the influence of ELM and lifetime depression on
      adult insecure attachment in a female sample (N = 188), consisting of n = 81
      women with ELM and n = 107 without ELM. Women with ELM reported significantly
      higher scores on insecure attachment than women without ELM. A significant
      interaction effect for ELM * lifetime depression was found: Contradictory to the
      hypotheses, women with ELM but without lifetime depression scored highest on
      avoidant attachment, differing significantly from women with ELM and lifetime
      depression, even though the severity of ELM was higher among women with ELM and
      lifetime depression and they experienced significantly more severe neglect and
      sexual abuse, but not physical or emotional abuse. Regression analyses revealed
      that ELM was the only predictor of avoidant attachment, explaining 15.5% of the
      variance. Results underline the strong influence of ELM on adult attachment and
      are of special importance for prevention and intervention programs.

PMID- 28612178
TI  - Treatment for Depression and Health-Related Quality of Life among Adults with
      Arthritis.
AB  - Depression treatment has been proven to relieve depressive symptoms and pain and
      may therefore improve the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among adults
      with arthritis. The objective of the current study was to examine the HRQoL
      associated with depression treatment among adults with arthritis and depression.
      A retrospective longitudinal cohort study design using data from the Medical
      Expenditure Panel Survey (2009-2012) was adopted. The study sample consisted of
      adults (>= 21 years) with co-existing arthritis and depression (N = 1692).
      Depression treatment was categorized into: antidepressants only, psychotherapy
      with or without antidepressants, and neither antidepressants nor psychotherapy.
      Multivariable Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regressions, which controlled for
      observed selection bias with inverse probability treatment weights (IPTW) were
      built to examine the association between depression treatment categories and the
      HRQoL scores. The OLS regression controlled for factors in the biological,
      psychological and social domains that may affect HRQoL. A majority of individuals
      reported taking antidepressants only (52%), 24.4% reported receiving
      psychotherapy with or without antidepressants and 23% did not receive either
      antidepressants or psychotherapy. In multivariable OLS regression with IPTWs,
      adults using only antidepressants had marginally higher physical component
      summary scores (beta = 0.96, p value = 0.096) compared to no depression
      treatment. There were no significant associations between depression categories
      and mental component summary scores. HRQoL was not affected by depression
      treatment in adults with coexisting arthritis and depression. Improvement in
      HRQoL may require a collaborative care approach and such intense care may not be
      replicated in real-world practice settings.

PMID- 28612179
TI  - Efficacy, Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Up to Two Courses of the Rituximab
      Biosimilar CT-P10 Versus Innovator Rituximab in Patients with Rheumatoid
      Arthritis: Results up to Week 72 of a Phase I Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CT-P10 is a biosimilar of innovator rituximab (RTX), a biological
      therapy used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have responded
      inadequately to anti-tumor necrosis factor agents. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was
      to compare the clinical profile of CT-P10 versus RTX in patients with RA who
      received up to two courses of treatment and were followed for up to 72 weeks.
      METHODS: In this multicenter double-blind phase I study, patients were randomized
      2:1 to receive CT-P10 1000 mg or RTX 1000 mg at weeks 0 and 2. Based on disease
      activity, patients could receive a second course of treatment between weeks 24
      and 48. Efficacy endpoints, including mean change from baseline in Disease
      Activity Score using 28 joints (DAS28), safety, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics,
      and pharmacodynamics were evaluated. RESULTS: In total, 154 patients were
      randomized to CT-P10 or RTX (n = 103 and 51, respectively); 137 (n = 92 and 45)
      completed the first course of treatment, of whom 83 (n = 60 and 23) were re
      treated. Improvements from baseline in all efficacy endpoints were highly similar
      between the CT-P10 and RTX groups over both treatment courses. At week 24 after
      the second course, mean change from week 0 of the first course in DAS28
      erythrocyte sedimentation rate was -2.47 and -2.04 for CT-P10 and RTX,
      respectively, (p = 0.1866) and in DAS28 C-reactive protein was -2.32 and -2.00,
      respectively (p = 0.3268). The proportion of patients positive for antidrug
      antibodies at week 24 after the second treatment course was 20.0% and 21.7% in
      the CT-P10 and RTX groups, respectively. The safety profile of CT-P10 was
      comparable to that of RTX, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties
      were similar. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with RA, efficacy, safety, and other
      clinical data were comparable between CT-P10 and RTX after up to two courses of
      treatment over 72 weeks. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01534884).

PMID- 28612181
TI  - Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1 (LRP1) C4408R Mutant Promotes
      Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) alpha-Cleavage in Vitro.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that the low-density lipoprotein receptor
      related protein-1 (LRP1) plays conflicting roles in Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      pathogenesis, clearing beta-amyloid (Abeta) from the brain while also enhancing
      APP endocytosis and resultant amyloidogenic processing. We have recently
      discovered that co-expression of mutant LRP1 C-terminal domain (LRP1-CT C4408R)
      with Swedish mutant amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) in Chinese hamster ovary
      (CHO) cells decreases Abeta production, while also increasing sAPPalpha and APP
      alpha-C-terminal fragment (alpha-CTF), compared with CHO cells expressing APPswe
      alone. Surprisingly, the location of this mutation on LRP1 corresponded with the
      alpha-secretase cleavage site of APP. Further experimentation confirmed that in
      CHO cells expressing APPswe or wild-type APP (APPwt), co-expression of LRP1-CT
      C4408R decreases Abeta and increases sAPPalpha and alpha-CTF compared with co
      expression of wild-type LRP1-CT. In addition, LRP1-CT C4408R enhanced the
      unglycosylated form of LRP1-CT and reduced APP endocytosis as determined by flow
      cytometry. This finding identifies a point mutation in LRP1 which slows LRP1-CT
      mediated APP endocytosis and amyloidogenic processing, while enhancing APP alpha
      secretase cleavage, thus demonstrating a potential novel target for slowing AD
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 28612180
TI  - Immunogenicity of Biologics in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A systematic review was conducted to explore the immunogenicity of
      biologic agents across inflammatory diseases and its potential impact on
      efficacy/safety. METHODS: Literature searches were conducted through November
      2016 to identify controlled and observational studies of biologics/biosimilars
      administered for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis
      (PsA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), non
      radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA), psoriasis (Ps), Crohn's disease,
      and ulcerative colitis. RESULTS: Of >21,000 screened publications, 443 were
      included. Anti-drug antibody (ADAb) rates varied widely among biologics across
      diseases (and are not directly comparable because of immunoassay heterogeneity);
      the highest overall rates were reported with infliximab (0-83%), adalimumab (0
      54%), and infliximab biosimilar CT-P13 (21-52%), and the lowest with secukinumab
      (0-1%), ustekinumab (1-11%), etanercept (0-13%), and golimumab (0-19%). Most
      ADAbs were neutralizing, except those to abatacept and etanercept. ADAb+ versus
      ADAb- patients had lower rates of clinical response to adalimumab (RA, PsA, JIA,
      AS, Ps), golimumab (RA), infliximab (RA, PsA, AS, Ps), rituximab (RA),
      ustekinumab (Ps), and CT-P13 (RA, AS). Higher rates of infusion-related reactions
      were reported in infliximab- and CT-P13-treated ADAb+ patients. Background
      immunosuppressives/anti-proliferatives reduced biologic immunogenicity across
      diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Based on reviewed reports, biologic/biosimilar
      immunogenicity differs among agents, with the highest rates observed with
      infliximab and adalimumab. As ADAb formation in biologic-/biosimilar-treated
      patients may increase the risk of lost response, the immunogenicity of these
      agents is an important (albeit not the only) consideration in the treatment
      decision-making process.

PMID- 28612183
TI  - Impairments in Walking Ability, Dexterity, and Cognitive Function in Multiple
      Sclerosis Are Associated with Different Regional Cerebellar Gray Matter Loss.
AB  - Both histological and neuroimaging studies highlight the role of the cerebellum
      in multiple sclerosis (MS). There is at least some evidence for associations of
      cerebellar gray matter (GM) loss with motor and cognitive ability. We therefore
      correlated motor and cognitive ability scores (the multiple sclerosis functional
      composite MSFC) with regional cerebellar GM volumes. We used voxel-based
      morphometry (VBM) to assess the regional GM volume loss in a cohort of 45 MS
      patients. For the regression analysis, we used the clinical subscores of the
      multiple sclerosis functional composite (25-ft walk test (T25FW), nine-hole peg
      test (9HPT), paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT)). Decreased GM in
      distinct cerebellar areas was associated with different subscores of the MSFC in
      Larsell's lobule VI with the T25FW (t = 5.16), in lobule IX with the 9HPT (t =
      3.95), and in lobule IX with the PASAT (t = 4.81). Regional volume decrease in
      distinct cerebellar areas involved in motor and cognitive domains were associated
      with clinical impairment in these fields. Our data confirm the relationship
      between cerebellar GM volume loss and disability, extending the knowledge in the
      functional neuroanatomical perspective.

PMID- 28612185
TI  - Solution to redox titration challenge.

PMID- 28612184
TI  - Autopolyploidy leads to rapid genomic changes in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Polyploidy is a widespread feature of plant genomes. As a typical model of
      polyploidy, autopolyploidy has been postulated evolutionary dead ends and
      received little attention compared with allopolyploidy. For the limited data
      available so far, the evolutionary outcome of genome diversity in autopolyploids
      remains controversial in comparison with its diploid ancestors. In the present
      study, the effects of autopolyploidy on genome diversity were revealed at a
      genome-wide scale by comparative analyses of polymorphism between Arabidopsis
      autopolyploids (autotetraploids and autotriploids) and related diploids within
      the first ten successive inbred generations using amplified fragment length
      polymorphism. The results showed that in contrast with diploids, the rapid
      genomic changes (including gain and loss of DNA sequences) in autopolyploids were
      definitely found within the first generations after autopolyploidization, but
      slow down and probably stabilized in the higher generations as a source of
      genetic diversity in the long term. The sequencing of these DNA fragments
      indicated that these changes occurred both on genic and inter-genic (or intronic)
      regions, and quantitative PCR showed that the expression of some corresponding
      genes in the genic regions was obviously affected (including upregulation,
      downregulation and silencing) in autopolyploids. Therefore, this study
      demonstrated that autopolyploidy could lead to rapid genomic changes and probably
      influence expression and function of certain genes within the first generations,
      giving rising to genetic diversification after polyploidization.

PMID- 28612186
TI  - Pink tea challenge.

PMID- 28612187
TI  - Enhancement of Energy Production of the Intervertebral Disc by the Implantation
      of Polyurethane Mass Transfer Devices.
AB  - Insufficient nutrient supply has been suggested to be one of the etiologies for
      intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. We are investigating nutrient transport
      into the IVD as a potential treatment strategy for disc degeneration. Most
      cellular activities in the IVD (e.g., cell proliferation and extracellular matrix
      production) are mainly driven by adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) which is the
      main energy currency. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect
      of increased mass transfer on ATP production in the IVD by the implantation of
      polyurethane (PU) mass transfer devices. In this study, the porcine functional
      spine units were used and divided into intact, device and surgical groups. For
      the device and surgical groups, two puncture holes were created bilaterally at
      the dorsal side of the annulus fibrosus (AF) region and the PU mass transfer
      devices were only implanted into the holes in the device group. Surgical groups
      were observed for the effects of placing the holes through the AF only. After 7
      days of culture, the surgical group exhibited a significant reduction in the
      compressive stiffness and disc height compared to the intact and device groups,
      whereas no significant differences were found in compressive stiffness, disc
      height and cell viability between the intact and device groups. ATP, lactate and
      the proteoglycan contents in the device group were significantly higher than the
      intact group. These results indicated that the implantation of the PU mass
      transfer device can promote the nutrient transport and enhance energy production
      without compromising mechanical and cellular functions in the disc. These results
      also suggested that compromise to the AF has a negative impact on the IVD and
      must be addressed when treatment strategies are considered. The results of this
      study will help guide the development of potential strategies for disc
      degeneration.

PMID- 28612188
TI  - Direct Quantification of Solute Diffusivity in Agarose and Articular Cartilage
      Using Correlation Spectroscopy.
AB  - Articular cartilage is an avascular tissue; diffusive transport is critical for
      its homeostasis. While numerous techniques have been used to quantify diffusivity
      within porous, hydrated tissues and tissue engineered constructs, these
      techniques have suffered from issues regarding invasiveness and spatial
      resolution. In the present study, we implemented and compared two separate
      correlation spectroscopy techniques, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS)
      and raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS), for the direct, and minimally
      invasive quantification of fluorescent solute diffusion in agarose and articular
      cartilage. Specifically, we quantified the diffusional properties of fluorescein
      and Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated dextrans (3k and 10k) in aqueous solutions,
      agarose gels of varying concentration (i.e. 1, 3, 5%), and in different zones of
      juvenile bovine articular cartilage explants (i.e. superficial, middle, and
      deep). In agarose, properties of solute diffusion obtained via FCS and RICS were
      inversely related to molecule size, gel concentration, and applied strain. In
      cartilage, the diffusional properties of solutes were similarly dependent upon
      solute size, cartilage zone, and compressive strain; findings that agree with
      work utilizing other quantification techniques. In conclusion, this study
      established the utility of FCS and RICS as simple and minimally invasive
      techniques for quantifying microscale solute diffusivity within agarose
      constructs and articular cartilage explants.

PMID- 28612182
TI  - Invaginating Presynaptic Terminals in Neuromuscular Junctions, Photoreceptor
      Terminals, and Other Synapses of Animals.
AB  - Typically, presynaptic terminals form a synapse directly on the surface of
      postsynaptic processes such as dendrite shafts and spines. However, some
      presynaptic terminals invaginate-entirely or partially-into postsynaptic
      processes. We survey these invaginating presynaptic terminals in all animals and
      describe several examples from the central nervous system, including giant fiber
      systems in invertebrates, and cup-shaped spines, electroreceptor synapses, and
      some specialized auditory and vestibular nerve terminals in vertebrates. We then
      examine mechanoreceptors and photoreceptors, concentrating on the complex of pre-
      and postsynaptic processes found in basal invaginations of the cell. We discuss
      in detail the role of vertebrate invaginating horizontal cell processes in both
      chemical and electrical feedback mechanisms. We also discuss the common presence
      of indenting or invaginating terminals in neuromuscular junctions on muscles of
      most kinds of animals, and especially discuss those of Drosophila and
      vertebrates. Finally, we consider broad questions about the advantages of
      possessing invaginating presynaptic terminals and describe some effects of aging
      and disease, especially on neuromuscular junctions. We suggest that the
      invagination is a mechanism that can enhance both chemical and electrical
      interactions at the synapse.

PMID- 28612189
TI  - The Inclusion of Chitosan in Poly-epsilon-caprolactone Nanoparticles: Impact on
      the Delivery System Characteristics and on the Adsorbed Ovalbumin Secondary
      Structure.
AB  - This report extensively explores the benefits of including chitosan into poly
      epsilon-caprolactone (PCL) nanoparticles (NPs) to obtain an improved
      protein/antigen delivery system. Blend NPs (PCL/chitosan NPs) showed improved
      protein adsorption efficacy (84%) in low shear stress and aqueous environment,
      suggesting that a synergistic effect between PCL hydrophobic nature and the
      positive charges of chitosan present at the particle surface was responsible for
      protein interaction. Additionally, thermal analysis suggested the blend NPs were
      more stable than the isolated polymers and cytotoxicity assays in a primary cell
      culture revealed chitosan inclusion in PCL NPs reduced the toxicity of the
      delivery system. A quantitative 6-month stability study showed that the inclusion
      of chitosan in PCL NPs did not induce a change in adsorbed ovalbumin (OVA)
      secondary structure characterized by the increase in the unordered conformation
      (random coil), as it was observed for OVA adsorbed to chitosan NPs. Additionally,
      the slight conformational changes occurred, are not expected to compromise
      ovalbumin secondary structure and activity, during a 6-month storage even at high
      temperatures (45 degrees C). In simulated biological fluids, PCL/chitosan NPs
      showed an advantageous release profile for oral delivery. Overall, the
      combination of PCL and chitosan characteristics provide PCL/chitosan NPs valuable
      features particularly important to the development of vaccines for developing
      countries, where it is difficult to ensure cold chain transportation and non
      parenteral formulations would be preferred.

PMID- 28612190
TI  - Correction of hypokyphosis in thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using
      sublaminar bands: a 3D multicenter study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The comparison of implants and correction methods remain
      controversial in AIS. Excellent frontal and axial correction rates have been
      reported with all-screw constructs, but at the expense of sagittal alignment,
      which has a tendency to flatten postoperatively. Posteromedial translation using
      hybrid constructs seems to preserve and improve thoracic kyphosis (TK), but no
      series exist to date with a significant number of hypokyphotic patients. In
      addition, the measures of TK in 2D are often wrong in severe AIS due to axial
      rotation. The goals of this study were therefore to analyze the 3D radiological
      outcomes of a group of hypokyphotic AIS patients operated with sublaminar bands.
      METHODS: 35 consecutive AIS hypokyphotic patients (T4T12 <15 degrees ) operated
      in three centers were included, with a minimum 2-year follow-up. The surgical
      technique was similar in all centers, associating lumbar pedicle screws and
      thoracic sublaminar bands. Posteromedial translation was the main correction
      technique, and no patient underwent prior anterior release. 3D spinal
      reconstructions were performed preoperatively, postoperatively and at the latest
      follow-up by an independent observer using SterEOS (EOS imaging, Paris, France),
      and 2D and 3D measurements were compared. In addition, a new 3D parameter
      [sagittal shift of the apical vertebra (SSAV)], reflecting the translation of the
      apical vertebra of the main curve in the patient sagittal plane, was described
      and reported. RESULTS: The age of the cohort was 16 years and the number of
      sublaminar bands used for correction averaged 6 (+/-1.5). T1T12 and T4T12
      sagittal Cobb angles appeared to be overestimated on 2D postoperatively (3
      degrees , p = 0.002 and 4 degrees , p < 0.001, respectively). Hence, only 3D
      measurements were kept for the quantitative analysis of the postoperative
      correction. T4T12 TK significantly increased after surgery (average 8 degrees  +/
      7 degrees , p < 0.001), but 11 patients (31.4%) remained hypokyphotic. Seven out
      of the eight patients (87.5%) who presented a thoracic lordosis (i.e., T4T12 <0
      degrees ) preoperatively were corrected after surgery (mean gain 16 degrees  +/-
      4 degrees ). A posterior shift (positive SSAV) of the apical vertebra was
      reported in 24 patients (68.6%). In this subgroup, the mean SSAV was +2 cm (+/
      1). Good correlation was found between the SSAV and the postoperative change in
      3D T4T12 kyphosis (r = 0.62). CONCLUSION: Measures in 2D tend to overestimate
      sagittal alignment and are not sufficient to evaluate postoperative correction.
      SSAV is a new 3D parameter reflecting the TK change that needs to be further
      investigated and used in the future. This series confirms that sublaminar bands
      should be considered in hypokyphotic patients, since thoracic sagittal alignment
      was restored in 68.6% of the cases.

PMID- 28612191
TI  - Comparison of inter- and intra-observer reliability among the three
      classification systems for cervical spinal canal stenosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim is to analyze the agreement between different types of
      physicians in terms of the inter-observer and intra-observer reliability in
      addition to the agreement between the experienced and non-experienced physicians
      with respect to three different classification systems for diagnosis of cervical
      spinal canal stenosis. METHODS: Total nine doctors including experienced group of
      three doctors and non-experienced group of six doctors classified the patients
      according to three different classification in an independent, blinded manner
      using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose cervical canal stenosis. MRI
      slice included sagittal plane (midline cut) and an image slice from each
      horizontal plane that penetrated the right center of each disk (C3-4, C4-5, C5-6,
      and C6-7) was made by PPT format. RESULTS: For the inter-observer reliability,
      Vaccaro et al.'s classification system showed the excellent reproducibility,
      followed by Muhle et al. and Kang et al. All three classification systems showed
      excellent reproducibility and substantial agreement in terms of the intra
      observer reliability. CONCLUSIONS: All three classification systems showed
      excellent reproducibility and also displayed a substantial agreement. The
      classification system used by Vaccaro et al. was proven to be a method with
      substantial agreement both in the experienced group and the non-experienced
      group. It can be a useful classification system for simplifying communication
      among all physicians.

PMID- 28612192
TI  - Letter to the Editor concerning "Spinal metallosis: a systematic review" by
      Goldenberg Y, Tee JW, Salinas-La Rosa CM, Murphy M (Eur Spine J; 2016, 25:1467
      1473).

PMID- 28612193
TI  - Risk factors for sciatica leading to hospitalization.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the known or suspected risk factors for sciatica: Tallness,
      overweight, smoking, leisure-time physical exercise, self-reported health and
      occupation, and how they predict hospitalizations due to sciatica. Only a few
      cohort studies have previously focused on the risk factors for sciatica. METHODS:
      The 13,095 subjects, free from low back disorders at the baseline in 1973-1976
      were followed up to the end of 2011 via the Care Register for Health Care. Along
      with an invitation to the health examination, a basic questionnaire concerning
      lifestyle factors was sent to participants. The outcome measure was incident
      sciatica leading to hospitalization. RESULTS: Altogether 702 incident sciatica
      cases occurred. Among men, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence
      interval (CI) was 2.57 (95% CI 1.47-4.50) in metal or machine work, and 1.44
      (1.06-1.95) in other industrial work, compared to that in white-collar
      occupations. Among women, the corresponding risk estimates were 1.81 (1.18-2.78)
      for nurses and related occupations, 1.56 (1.05-2.31) for sales workers, and 1.46
      (1.03-2.08) for industrial workers. Among men, physical exercise during leisure
      predicted a decrease in the risk of sciatica (0.74; 0.55-1.00); this association
      was significantly pronounced in white-collar occupations (0.38; 0.18-0.88). Among
      women, the association between body mass index and the risk of sciatica was only
      modest, but varied greatly between different occupations. CONCLUSIONS: Physically
      demanding work is a strong risk factor for sciatica. Leisure-time physical
      activity seems to protect men against sciatica, while overweight is a risk factor
      among women. However, occupation substantially modifies these associations.

PMID- 28612194
TI  - Clinical and Pathological Risk Factors Associated with Liver Fibrosis and
      Steatosis in African-Americans with Chronic Hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Several factors involved in the development of liver fibrosis
      in African-American patients with chronic hepatitis C have not been well studied.
      We aimed to evaluate some of these risk factors. METHODS: We reviewed pathology
      and medical records of 603 African-Americans with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      infection at Howard University Hospital from January 2004 to December 2013. Among
      the clinical and pathological data collected were HIV (human immunodeficiency
      virus), HCV genotype, hepatitis B virus (HBV), diabetes mellitus (DM),
      hypertension (HTN), body mass index (BMI), and hepatic steatosis. RESULTS: The
      frequency of DM, HTN, HIV, and HBV was 22, 16, 11, and 4%, respectively. Median
      BMI was 27.3 kg/m2. The frequency of fibrosis stages 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 was 2, 48,
      28, 11, and 11%, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression, we found a
      significant association between liver fibrosis stage (3-4 vs. 0-2) and HIV
      infection (OR 2.4, P = 0.026), HTN (OR 3.0, P = 0.001), age (OR 2.6 for every 10
      years, P < 0.001), weight (OR 1.1 for every 10 lb increase, P = 0.002), and
      steatosis grade (OR 1.6, P = 0.002). The frequency of liver steatosis was 73%. In
      an ordinal logistic regression, significant risk factors for steatosis were
      female gender (OR 1.5, P = 0.034) and inflammation grade (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION:
      This study shows that steatosis is independently associated with fibrosis in
      African-American patients with HCV infection. Female patients were at higher risk
      of steatosis.

PMID- 28612195
TI  - Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 in Sri Lankan Gastric Carcinoma Patients
      with Clinicopathological Association and Survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HER2 protein expression indicates adverse prognosis in gastric
      adenocarcinoma (GCa). GCa HER2 positivity ranges from 10 to 22.8%. Similar data
      are scarce in South Asia and unavailable in Sri Lanka. AIM: To evaluate HER2
      protein expression, its clinicopathological relationship and survival in a Sri
      Lankan GCa cohort. METHODS: One hundred consecutive GCa patients were recruited
      prospectively for 2 years. Histological diagnosis was confirmed on endoscopic
      biopsies/gastrectomy specimens. Clinicopathological and overall survival data
      were collected. HER2 expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry. 2+ and
      3+ scores were considered positive. HER2 expression and clinicopathological
      parameters were analyzed by Chi-squared test and multivariate analysis with
      logistic regression using SPSS-21. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were
      used for survival analysis. RESULTS: Study includes 56 biopsies and 44
      resections. Male/female ratio was 1.9:1. Mean age of diagnosis was 61.1 years
      (range 32-82). Majority tumors were proximally located (58%). HER2 positivity was
      9%. Even though intestinal subtype predominated HER2 positivity was mostly among
      diffuse variant (14.8%). In multivariate analysis, mitotic count >5/hpf, high
      nuclear grade and tumor necrosis were significantly associated with HER2
      positivity, while poor differentiation, signet cells, extracellular mucin,
      perineural invasion and pathological nodal metastasis (all p < 0.05) showed a
      correlation in univariate analysis. Mean follow-up duration was 37.4 weeks (range
      0-104). HER2 positivity was associated with a significantly lower median overall
      survival (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: GCa HER2 positivity was 9%, associated with a
      lower median overall survival. Adverse histological features had a positive
      correlation with HER2 positivity. These histological features could direct
      patients for confirmatory HER2 testing in limited resource settings.

PMID- 28612196
TI  - Cell source, differentiation, functional stimulation, and potential application
      of human thermogenic adipocytes in vitro.
AB  - Recent investigations have showed that the functional thermogenic adipocytes are
      present in both infants and adult humans. Accumulating evidence suggests that the
      coexistence of classical and inducible brown (brite) adipocytes in humans at
      adulthood and these adipocytes function to generate heat from energy resulting in
      reducing body fat and improving glucose metabolism. Human thermogenic adipocytes
      can be differentiated in vitro from stem cells, cell lines, or adipose stromal
      vascular fraction. Pre-activated human brite adipocytes in vitro can maintain
      their thermogenic function in normal or obese immunodeficient mice; therefore,
      they improve glucose homeostasis and reduce fat mass in obese animals. These key
      findings have opened a new door to use in vitro thermogenic adipocytes as a cell
      therapy to prevent obesity and related disorders. Thus, this paper intends to
      highlight our knowledge in aspects of in vitro human brite/brown adipocytes for
      the further studies.

PMID- 28612198
TI  - Clausenlanins A and B, Two Leucine-Rich Cyclic Nonapeptides from Clausena
      lansium.
AB  - Two new cyclic nonapeptides, named clausenlanins A (1) and B (2), were isolated
      from the roots and rhizomes of Clausena lansium. Their structures were elucidated
      as cyclo-(Gly1-L-Leu2-L-Ile3-L-Leu4-L-Leu5-L-Leu6-L-Leu7-L-Leu8-L-Leu9) (1) and
      cyclo-(Gly1-L-Leu2-L-Val3-L-Leu4-L-Leu5-L-Leu6-L-Leu7-L-Leu8-L-Leu9) (2)
      respectively on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, particularly 2D
      NMR spectra taken at the temperature of 338 or 303 K and MS.

PMID- 28612197
TI  - The value of multimodality imaging in the investigation of a PSA recurrence after
      radical prostatectomy in the Irish hospital setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The diagnostic evaluation of a PSA recurrence after RP in the Irish
      hospital setting involves multimodality imaging with MRI, CT, and bone scanning,
      despite the low diagnostic yield from imaging at low PSA levels. We aim to
      investigate the value of multimodality imaging in PC patients after RP with a PSA
      recurrence. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with a PSA recurrence after RP who
      underwent multimodality imaging were evaluated. Demographic data, postoperative
      PSA levels, and imaging studies performed at those levels were evaluated.
      RESULTS: Eight (21%) MRIs, 6 (33%) CTs, and 4 (9%) bone scans had PCa-specific
      findings. Three (12%) patients had a positive MRI with a PSA <1.0 ng/ml, while 5
      (56%) were positive at PSA >=1.1 ng/ml (p = 0.05). Zero patient had a positive CT
      TAP at a PSA level <1.0 ng/ml, while 5 (56%) were positive at levels >=1.1 ng/ml
      (p = 0.03). Zero patient had a positive bone at PSA levels <1.0 ng/ml, while 4
      (27%) were positive at levels >=1.1 ng/ml (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The diagnostic
      yield from multimodality imaging, and isotope bone scanning in particular, in PSA
      levels <1.0 ng/ml, is low. There is a statistically significant increase in the
      frequency of positive findings on CT and bone scanning at PSA levels >=1.1 ng/ml.
      MRI alone is of investigative value at PSA <1.0 ng/ml. The indication for CT,
      MRI, or isotope bone scanning should be carefully correlated with the clinical
      question and how it will affect further management.

PMID- 28612200
TI  - Diagnosis and staging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - The management of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a major public
      health concern worldwide. Currently, most PDAC patients are diagnosed in advanced
      stages. The signs and symptoms of the disease, except for jaundice, are non
      specific. Thus, the current challenge is to identify earlier those individuals
      for whom specific screening tools and specific treatments would be beneficial. On
      the basis of the recommendations of the group of experts of multiple medical
      specialties of the GALLgo Project, the patients with PDAC should be managed by a
      multidisciplinary team to assess the personal and family history, the best
      diagnostic and staging procedures and consider all important aspects for
      treatment decisions. In this article, the group of experts proposes strategies to
      shorten the diagnosis times in PDAC patients.

PMID- 28612199
TI  - MRI-guided radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: initial clinical experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a single-institutional experience with the use of magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI)-guided radiotherapy for cancers of the head and neck.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between October 2014 and October 2016, 18 patients with
      newly diagnosed cancers of the head and neck were prospectively enrolled on an
      institutional registry trial investigating the feasibility and efficacy of
      external-beam radiotherapy delivered using on-board MRI. All patients had biopsy
      proven evidence of malignancy, measurable disease, and the ability to provide
      consent. None had previously received any treatment. Median dose was 70 Gy (range
      54-70 Gy). MRI scans were obtained as part of an image-guided registration
      protocol for alignment prior to and during each treatment. Concurrent
      chemotherapy was administered to 14 patients (78%). Patient-reported outcomes
      were assessed using the University of Washington quality of life instrument.
      RESULTS: Seventeen of 18 patients completed the planned intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment of which 15 (83%) had a complete response and 2
      (11%) had a partial response based on initial post-therapy positron emission
      tomography (PET) at 3 months. The 1-year estimates of progression-free survival,
      overall survival, and local-regional control were 95, 96, and 95%, respectively.
      There were no treatment-related fatalities. The incidence of grade 3+ acute
      toxicity was 44%. The proportion of patients rating their health-related quality
      of life as "very good" or "outstanding" at 6 months and 1 year after completion
      of radiation therapy was 60 and 70%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MRI-guided
      radiotherapy achieves clinical outcomes comparable to contemporary series
      reporting on IMRT for head and neck cancer.

PMID- 28612201
TI  - Supportive care in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the cancers with poorest
      prognosis and represents the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in
      Western countries. Despite advances in diagnostic procedures and treatment,
      diagnosis is made in most cases when the disease is locally advanced or
      metastatic. Supportive care aims to improve symptoms, reduce hospital admission
      rates, and preserve quality of life. Proper symptomatic management is critical to
      allow administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Symptomatic management
      should be accomplished in a multidisciplinary fashion. Its primary aims include
      relief of biliary or duodenal obstruction, prevention and/or treatment of
      thromboembolic disease, and control cancer-related pain. Nutritional support and
      optimal replacement therapy in patients with endocrine and/or exocrine
      insufficiency, is mandatory. This manuscript highlights the most significant
      problems faced when caring for patients with advanced PDAC and provides an
      evidence-based approach to symptomatic management.

PMID- 28612202
TI  - Management of unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
AB  - The diagnosis of unresectable locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (LAPC)
      requires confirmation, through imaging tests, of the unfeasibility of achieving a
      complete surgical resection, in the absence of metastatic spread. The increase in
      overall survival (OS), together with an appropriate symptom management is the
      therapeutic target in LAPC, maintaining an acceptable quality of life and, if
      possible, increasing the time until the appearance of metastasis. Chemoradiation
      (CRT) improves OS compared to best support treatment or radiotherapy (RT) but
      with greater toxicity. No significant increase in OS has been achieved with CRT
      when compared to chemotherapy (QT) alone in patients without disease progression
      after four months of treatment with QT. However, a significantly better local
      control, that is, a significant increase in the time to disease progression was
      associated with this approach. The greater effectiveness of the schemes
      FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine (Gem) + Nab-paclitaxel compared to gemcitabine alone,
      has been extrapolated from metastatic disease to LAPC, representing a possible
      alternative for patients with good performance status (ECOG 0-1). In the absence
      of randomized clinical trials, Gem is the standard treatment in LAPC. If disease
      control is achieved after 4-6 cycles of QT, the use of CRT for consolidation can
      be considered an option vs QT treatment maintenance. Capecitabine has a better
      toxicity profile and effectiveness compared to gemcitabine as a radiosensitizer.
      After local progression, and without evidence of metastases, treatment with RT or
      CRT, in selected patients, can support to maintain the regional disease control.

PMID- 28612203
TI  - Neoadjuvant treatment for borderline and resectable pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Nowadays and given the improvement in response rate with the new schemes of
      treatment with chemotherapy, the interest in neoadjuvant treatment for pancreatic
      ductal adenocarcinoma, allowing the early application of systemic therapies, has
      also increased. However, treatment selection fundamentally depends on decisions
      taken by multidisciplinary committees due to the absence of randomized trials on
      this indication and because the available evidence is based primarily on small
      studies. The present manuscript tries to establish recommendations based on the
      available evidence and expert opinion to correctly select the indication, the
      type of treatment, as well as its duration and how to correctly follow-up
      patients during treatment with chemotherapy.

PMID- 28612204
TI  - Three-dimensional isotropic magnetic resonance imaging can provide a reliable
      estimate of the native anterior cruciate ligament insertion site anatomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study quantified the error in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
      insertion site location and area estimated from three-dimensional (3D) isotropic
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by comparing to native insertion sites
      determined via 3D laser scanning. METHODS: Isotropic 3D DESS MRI was acquired
      from twelve fresh-frozen, ACL-intact cadaver knees. ACL insertion sites were
      manually outlined in each MRI slice, and the resulting contours combined to
      determine the 3D insertion site shape. Specimens were then disarticulated, and
      the boundaries of the ACL insertion sites were digitized using a high-accuracy
      laser scanner. MRI and laser scan insertion sites were co-registered to determine
      the percent overlapping area and difference in insertion centroid location.
      RESULTS: Femoral ACL insertion site area averaged 112.7 +/- 17.9 mm2 from MRI and
      109.7 +/- 10.9 mm2 from laser scan (p = 0.345). Tibial insertion area was 134.7
      +/- 22.9 mm2 from MRI and 135.2 +/- 15.1 mm2 from laser scan (p = 0.881).
      Percentages of overlapping area between modalities were 82.2 +/- 10.2% for femurs
      and 81.0 +/- 9.0% for tibias. The root-mean-square differences for ACL insertion
      site centroids were 1.87 mm for femurs and 2.49 mm for tibias. The MRI-estimated
      ACL insertion site centroids were biased on average 0.6 +/- 1.6 mm proximally and
      0.3 +/- 1.9 mm posteriorly for femurs, and 0.3 +/- 1.1 mm laterally and 0.5 +/-
      1.5 mm anteriorly for tibias. CONCLUSION: Errors in ACL insertion site location
      and area estimated from 3D-MRI were determined via comparison with a high
      accuracy 3D laser scanning. Results indicate that MRI can provide estimates of
      ACL insertion site area and centroid location with clinically applicable
      accuracy. MRI-based assessment can provide a reliable estimate of the native ACL
      anatomy, which can be helpful for surgical planning as well as assessment of
      graft tunnel placement.

PMID- 28612205
TI  - While modern medicine evolves continuously, evidence-based research methodology
      remains: how register studies should be interpreted and appreciated.

PMID- 28612206
TI  - Temperature-corrected postmortem 3-T MR quantification of histopathological early
      acute and chronic myocardial infarction: a feasibility study.
AB  - The goal of the present study was to evaluate if quantitative postmortem cardiac
      3-T magnetic resonance (QPMCMR) T1 and T2 relaxation times and proton density
      values of histopathological early acute and chronic myocardial infarction differ
      to the quantitative values of non-pathologic myocardium and other
      histopathological age stages of myocardial infarction with regard to varying
      corpse temperatures. In 60 forensic corpses (25 female, 35 male), a cardiac 3-T
      MR quantification sequence was performed prior to autopsy and cardiac dissection.
      Core body temperature was assessed during MR examinations. Focal myocardial
      signal alterations in synthetically generated MR images were measured for their
      T1, T2, and proton density (PD) values. Locations of signal alteration
      measurements in PMCMR were targeted at heart dissection, and myocardial tissue
      specimens were taken for histologic examinations. Quantified signal alterations
      in QPMCMR were correlated to their according histologic age stage of myocardial
      infarction, and quantitative values were corrected for a temperature of 37 
      degrees C. In QPMCMR, 49 myocardial signal alterations were detected in 43 of 60
      investigated hearts. Signal alterations were diagnosed histologically as early
      acute (n = 16), acute (n = 10), acute with hemorrhagic component (n = 9),
      subacute (n = 3), and chronic (n = 11) myocardial infarction. Statistical
      analysis revealed that based on their temperature-corrected quantitative T1, T2,
      and PD values, a significant difference between early acute, acute, and chronic
      myocardial infarction can be determined. It can be concluded that quantitative 3
      T postmortem cardiac MR based on temperature-corrected T1, T2, and PD values may
      be feasible for pre-autopsy diagnosis of histopathological early acute, acute,
      and chronic myocardial infarction, which needs to be confirmed histologically.

PMID- 28612207
TI  - Is Sexual Activity During Adolescence Good for Future Romantic Relationships?
AB  - Past research has consistently shown that romantic experiences during adolescence
      affect the nature and quality of romantic relationships during emerging
      adulthood. However, less is known about the role of adolescent sexual experiences
      in future sexual and romantic relationships. The current study examined the
      impact of different forms of sexual activity at age 16 (within a romantic
      relationship or casual encounters) on the nature and quality of sexual
      experiences in romantic relationships at age 23. One hundred and forty four
      (59.7% females) 16 year olds reported on their sexual activity within a romantic
      relationship or sexual encounters. In addition they reported on the quality of
      relationships they were involved in and their tendency to suppress emotions
      (included as an aspect of personality). At age 23 they reported on their romantic
      and sexual experiences during the past 2 years (number of short lived
      relationships, numbers of friends with benefits, casual sex encounters) and the
      quality of their romantic relationships (the duration of their longest
      relationship, partner support and feelings of certainty in the relationships).
      Findings showed that the tendency to suppress emotions was associated with lower
      likelihood to engage in casual sex at age 23. However, greater sexual experience
      in casual encounters during adolescence was consistently longitudinally
      associated with different forms of casual sexual encounters and short romantic
      involvements above and beyond the contribution of personality. In contrast,
      sexual activity within a romantic relationship predicted only a few indices of
      the quality of romantic involvement at age 23. The distinctive role of casual
      sexual activity and sexual activity within a romantic relationship for future
      sexual and romantic activities is discussed.

PMID- 28612211
TI  - Retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy: tips and tricks.
AB  - Posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy has recently increased in popularity
      and currently adopted in about 20% of referral centers. It may provide more
      direct access to the adrenals, thus avoiding post-operative adhesions and the
      need for patient repositioning in bilateral adrenalectomy. Although it has been
      suggested to be feasible for large tumors, large tumor size is indicated as the
      main limitation of PRA, mainly because of the small space available for
      dissection.

PMID- 28612210
TI  - Surgical approach to level VI in papillary thyroid carcinoma: an overview.
AB  - One of the most controversial issues in the treatment of thyroid cancer is the
      management of the central neck nodes in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma
      (PTC). Lymph node involvement is common in patients with PTC and it may
      negatively affect recurrence rate and, probably, survival. Although therapeutic
      compartment-oriented central neck dissection is the standard treatment for
      patients with clinical nodal involvement (cN1) PTC, the role and the extension
      for elective or prophylactic central neck dissection (PCND) in patients with
      clinically node negative (cN0) neoplasms remains controversial. In recent years,
      in order to decrease the risk of postoperative complications related to PCND,
      unilateral central neck dissection has emerged as an alternative approach to
      bilateral central neck dissection.

PMID- 28612209
TI  - The Developmental Unfolding of Sibling Influences on Alcohol Use over Time.
AB  - Research has long demonstrated that siblings are similar in their alcohol use,
      however much of this work relies on cross-sectional samples or samples of
      adolescents alone and/or exclusive focus on older siblings' impact on younger
      siblings. Using a three time-point design from early adolescence to early
      adulthood (M ages = 14.9, 18.3, and 22.4 years, respectively; 55% female; 54%
      European ancestry, 38% Asian ancestry), we evaluated the prospective older and
      younger sibling influences on alcohol use across time (N = 613 sibling pairs; 35%
      sisters, 26% brothers, 39% mixed-gender; average age difference = 2.34 years; 34%
      full-biological siblings, 46% genetically-unrelated adopted siblings, 20% pairs
      where one child was the biological offspring of parents and the other was
      adopted). The results from both the traditional and random-intercept cross-lagged
      panel analyses showed that older siblings' alcohol use predicted younger
      siblings' alcohol use across each developmental transition and across a variety
      of sibling contexts (e.g., gender composition, age difference, genetic
      relatedness). On the other hand, younger siblings' alcohol use only predicted
      older siblings' alcohol use when siblings were close in age (1.5 years or less)
      and under conditions of high sibling companionship. These results add to a body
      of literature illustrating how both older and younger siblings are important
      socializing agents of adolescent and early adult alcohol use. Assessing or co
      treating siblings for alcohol problems may be an important add-on to existing
      adolescent and early adult alcohol prevention and intervention programs.

PMID- 28612212
TI  - Risk Behaviors for HIV and HCV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs in Hai
      Phong, Viet Nam, 2014.
AB  - We examined the potential for HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) transmission across
      persons who inject drugs (PWID), men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and female
      commercial sex workers (CSW) PWID and the potential for sexual transmission of
      HIV from PWID to the general population in Hai Phong, Viet Nam. Using respondent
      driven and convenience sampling we recruited 603 participants in 2014. All
      participants used heroin; 24% used non-injected methamphetamine. HIV prevalence
      was 25%; HCV prevalence was 67%. HIV infection was associated with HCV prevalence
      and both infections were associated with length of injecting career. Reported
      injecting risk behaviors were low; unsafe sexual behavior was high among MSM-PWID
      and CSW-PWID. There is strong possibility of sexual transmission to primary
      partners facilitated by methamphetamine use. We would suggest future HIV
      prevention programs utilize multiple interventions including "treatment as
      prevention" to potential sexual transmission of HIV among MSM and CSW-PWID and
      from PWID to the general population.

PMID- 28612213
TI  - Influence of Substance Use Disorders on 2-Year HIV Care Retention in the United
      States.
AB  - Substance use disorders (SUDs) are thought to predict care discontinuity, though
      magnitude and substance-specific variance of effects are unclear. This report of
      analytic work undertaken with a multi-regional American cohort of 9153 care
      enrollees addresses these gaps. Care retention was computed from 24-month post
      linkage clinic visit documentation, with SUD cases identified from patient-report
      screening instruments. Two generalized estimating equations tested binary and
      hierarchial SUD predictors of retention, and potential effect modification by
      patient age-group, sex, and care site. Findings demonstrate: (1) detrimental SUD
      effect, equivalent to a nine percentage-point decrease in retention, with
      independent effects of age-group and care site; (2) substance-specific effect of
      marijuana UD associated with lower retention; and (3) age-modification of each
      effect on care discontinuity, with SUDs serving as a risk factor among 18-29 year
      olds and protective factor among 60+ year-olds. Collective findings document
      patient attributes as influences that place particular subgroups at-risk to
      discontinue care.

PMID- 28612214
TI  - Factors Associated with Mood Disorder Diagnosis Among a Population Based Cohort
      of Men and Women Living With and Without HIV in British Columbia Between 1998 and
      2012.
AB  - Using data from the Comparison of Outcomes and Service Utilization Trends (COAST)
      study we examined factors associated with mood disorder diagnosis (MDD) among
      people living with HIV (PLHIV) and HIV-negative individuals in British Columbia,
      Canada. MDD cases were identified between 1998 and 2012 using International
      Classification of Disease 9 and 10 codes. A total of 491,796 individuals were
      included and 1552 (23.7%) and 60,097 (12.4%) cases of MDD were identified among
      the HIV-positive and HIV-negative populations, respectively. Results showed HIV
      status was associated with greater odds of MDD among men and lower odds among
      women. Among PLHIV, MDD was significantly associated with: identifying as gay,
      bisexual or other men who have sex with men compared to heterosexuals; higher
      viral load; history of injection drug use; and concurrent anxiety, dysthymia, and
      substance use disorders. Findings highlight the need for comprehensive and
      holistic HIV and mental health care.

PMID- 28612215
TI  - The Role of Financial Incentives Along the Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence
      Continuum: A Qualitative Sub-study of the HPTN 065 (TLC-Plus) Study.
AB  - The stages of change (SOC) theory suggests individuals adapt incrementally to
      behaviors like adherence, requiring different strategies over the behavior change
      continuum. Offering financial incentives (FIs) is one strategy to motivate
      adherence. This qualitative sub-study examined adherence barriers and the role of
      FIs to increase viral suppression (VS) among HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN)
      065 study participants categorized into SOC-related adherence stages based on
      changes from baseline to follow-up viral load tests. Of 73 participants, most
      were in Maintenance stage (n = 31), defined as having achieved VS throughout HPTN
      065, or in Action stage (n = 29), defined as moving from virally unsuppressed to
      suppressed in 50% or more of tests. Only 13 were Low Adherers, having achieved VS
      in fewer than 50% of tests. The latter group faced substantial social and
      structural adherence barriers. Participants in the Action stage made positive
      changes to adherence routines to achieve VS. Those in Maintenance were less
      incentivized by FIs, as they were already committed. Results from this sub-study
      suggest FI effectiveness may vary across the SOC continuum, with greatest impact
      for those initiating antiretroviral or without explicit adherence routines. FIs
      may be insufficient to overcome strong social or structural barriers, and
      unnecessary for those intrinsically committed to remaining adherent.

PMID- 28612217
TI  - OX40 promotes obesity-induced adipose inflammation and insulin resistance.
AB  - Adaptive immunity plays a critical role in IR and T2DM development; however, the
      biological mechanisms linking T cell costimulation and glucose metabolism have
      not been fully elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that the costimulatory
      molecule OX40 controls T cell activation and IR development. Inflammatory cell
      accumulation and enhanced proinflammatory gene expression, as well as high OX40
      expression levels on CD4+ T cells, were observed in the adipose tissues of mice
      with diet-induced obesity. OX40-KO mice exhibited significantly less weight gain
      and lower fasting glucose levels than those of WT mice, without obvious adipose
      tissue inflammation. The effects of OX40 on IR are mechanistically linked to the
      promotion of T cell activation, Th1 cell differentiation and proliferation-as
      well as the attenuation of Treg suppressive activity and the enhancement of
      proinflammatory cytokine production-in adipose tissues. Furthermore, OX40
      expression on T cells was positively associated with obesity in humans,
      suggesting that our findings are clinically relevant. In summary, our study
      revealed that OX40 in CD4+ T cells is crucial for adipose tissue inflammation and
      IR development. Therefore, the OX40 signaling pathway may be a new target for
      preventing or treating obesity-related IR and T2DM.

PMID- 28612216
TI  - To be disordered or not to be disordered: is that still a question for proteins
      in the cell?
AB  - There is ample evidence that many proteins or regions of proteins lack a well
      defined folded structure under native-like conditions. These are called
      intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) or intrinsically disordered regions
      (IDRs). Whether this intrinsic disorder is also their main structural
      characteristic in living cells has been a matter of intense debate. The
      structural analysis of IDPs became an important challenge also because of their
      involvement in a plethora of human diseases, which made IDPs attractive targets
      for therapeutic development. Therefore, biophysical approaches are increasingly
      being employed to probe the structural and dynamical state of proteins, not only
      in isolation in a test tube, but also in a complex biological environment and
      even within intact cells. Here, we survey direct and indirect evidence that
      structural disorder is in fact the physiological state of many proteins in the
      proteome. The paradigmatic case of alpha-synuclein is used to illustrate the
      controversial nature of this topic.

PMID- 28612219
TI  - Prospective phase II study evaluating the efficacy of swallow ability screening
      tests and pneumonia prevention using a team approach for elderly patients with
      gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aging partly impairs swallowing function, which is considered a risk
      factor for postoperative pneumonia (PP). We evaluated the efficacy of a new team
      based strategy to reduce the incidence of PP in elderly patients with gastric
      cancer. METHODS: This single-center, prospective phase II study included elderly
      patients (>=75 years old) with gastric cancer undergoing gastric surgery. The
      primary endpoint was the incidence of Clavien-Dindo grade II or higher PP.
      Patients were initially screened using three swallowing function screening tests:
      a symptom questionnaire, the modified water swallow test (MSWT), and the
      repetitive saliva swallowing test (RSST). All patients were provided standard
      preoperative oral checks and care and simple neck muscle training. For patients
      who screened positive, a videofluorographic swallowing study was performed; if an
      abnormality was found, the patient was given intensive swallowing rehabilitation
      both pre- and postoperatively. RESULTS: Of 86 eligible patients enrolled, PP
      developed in 3 (3.5%). The 60% confidence interval of 1.8-6.3% had an upper limit
      below the prespecified threshold of 7.8%. Positive screening results were found
      for 19 patients (22.1%) on the symptom questionnaire, 3 (3.5%) on the MSWT, and 1
      (1.2%) on the RSST. PP was not observed in any patients who screened positive.
      CONCLUSION: In conclusion, although the screening tests we adopted here were not
      sufficient to identify patients at high risk of aspiration pneumonia,
      perioperative interventions using a team approach might be effective in reducing
      the incidence of PP in elderly patients with gastric cancer.

PMID- 28612218
TI  - Collective cell migration has distinct directionality and speed dynamics.
AB  - When a constraint is removed, confluent cells migrate directionally into the
      available space. How the migration directionality and speed increase are
      initiated at the leading edge and propagate into neighboring cells are not well
      understood. Using a quantitative visualization technique-Particle Image
      Velocimetry (PIV)-we revealed that migration directionality and speed had
      strikingly different dynamics. Migration directionality increases as a wave
      propagating from the leading edge into the cell sheet, while the increase in cell
      migration speed is maintained only at the leading edge. The overall
      directionality steadily increases with time as cells migrate into the cell-free
      space, but migration speed remains largely the same. A particle-based compass
      (PBC) model suggests cellular interplay (which depends on cell-cell distance) and
      migration speed are sufficient to capture the dynamics of migration
      directionality revealed experimentally. Extracellular Ca2+ regulated both
      migration speed and directionality, but in a significantly different way,
      suggested by the correlation between directionality and speed only in some
      dynamic ranges. Our experimental and modeling results reveal distinct
      directionality and speed dynamics in collective migration, and these factors can
      be regulated by extracellular Ca2+ through cellular interplay. Quantitative
      visualization using PIV and our PBC model thus provide a powerful approach to
      dissect the mechanisms of collective cell migration.

PMID- 28612221
TI  - The Limping Child - What a Pediatrician Should Know?: Correspondence.

PMID- 28612220
TI  - Individual outcome prediction for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and secondary
      acute myeloid leukemia from MDS after allogeneic hematopoietic cell
      transplantation.
AB  - We integrated molecular data with available prognostic factors in patients
      undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) for
      myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) from
      MDS to evaluate their impact on prognosis. Three hundred four patients were
      sequenced for mutations in 54 genes. We used a Cox multivariate model and
      competing risk analysis with internal and cross validation to identify factors
      prognostic of overall survival (OS), cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), and
      non-relapse mortality (NRM). In multivariate analysis, mutated NRAS, U2AF1, IDH2,
      and TP53 and/or a complex karyotype were significant prognostic markers for OS
      besides age above 60 years, remission status, IPSS-R cytogenetic risk, HCT-CI > 2
      and female donor sex. Mutated NRAS, IDH1, EZH2, and TP53 and/or a complex
      karyotype were genetic aberrations with prognostic impact on CIR. No molecular
      markers were associated with the risk of NRM. The inclusion of molecular
      information results in better risk prediction models for OS and CIR when assessed
      by the Akaike information criterion. Internal cross validation confirmed the
      robustness of our comprehensive risk model. In summary, we propose to combine
      molecular, cytogenetic, and patient- and transplantation-associated risk factors
      into a comprehensive risk model to provide personalized predictions of outcome
      after alloHCT.

PMID- 28612222
TI  - Recent Advances and Controversies in Pediatric Surgery.

PMID- 28612223
TI  - Peak Expiratory Flow Rate as a Monitoring Tool in Asthma.

PMID- 28612224
TI  - Extrahepatic Portal Venous Obstruction: What Should be the Mainstay of Treatment?
AB  - The two cornerstones of management for Extrahepatic portal vein obstruction
      (EHPVO) are endotherapy and surgery [Porto-systemic shunts (PSS)/Mesorex bypass
      (MRB)]. Endotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for acute variceal bleed control
      and has also been used extensively for secondary prophylaxis till variceal
      eradication is achieved. However, long-term follow-up beyond endoscopic
      eradication of esophageal varices (EEEV) indicates that there are numerous
      delayed bleed and non bleed sequelae of EHPVO, which merit surgery as a
      definitive procedure to decompress the hypertensive portal venous system. While
      endotherapy obliterates natural porto-systemic collaterals in the
      gastroesophageal region, persistently raised portal pressures manifest as an
      increase in secondary isolated gastric varices, ectopic varices, portal
      hypertensive vasculopathy, issues related to massive splenomegaly, portal
      biliopathy, growth retardation and hence impaired quality of life (QOL). An ideal
      management strategy should address both bleed and non-bleed consequences of EHPVO
      and translate into a near normal QOL. Further, MRB has opened up new dimensions
      to the management philosophy of EHPVO. This review article critically evaluates
      the role of surgery and endotherapy based on available literature and authors'
      own experience.Surgery and endotherapy are complementary. However, with
      increasing duration of follow-up post EEEV, it is evident that there is
      resurgence in the role of surgery (PSS/MRB) as a single one time definitive
      procedure for alleviating all bleed and delayed non bleed sequelae of
      EHPVO.Surgery for EHPVO (PSS/MRB) should not be allowed to become a dying art and
      future generations of surgeons should continue to receive training in this
      specialized area of surgery.

PMID- 28612225
TI  - Prolonged survival in patients with breast cancer and a history of brain
      metastases: results of a preplanned subgroup analysis from the randomized phase
      III BEACON trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Conventional chemotherapy has limited activity in patients with breast
      cancer and brain metastases (BCBM). Etirinotecan pegol (EP), a novel long-acting
      topoisomerase-1 inhibitor, was designed using advanced polymer technology to
      preferentially accumulate in tumor tissue including brain metastases, providing
      sustained cytotoxic SN38 levels. METHODS: The phase 3 BEACON trial enrolled 852
      women with heavily pretreated locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer
      between 2011 and 2013. BEACON compared EP with treatment of physician's choice
      (TPC; eribulin, vinorelbine, gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, paclitaxel,
      ixabepilone, or docetaxel) in patients previously treated with anthracycline,
      taxane, and capecitabine, including those with treated, stable brain metastases.
      The primary endpoint, overall survival (OS), was assessed in a pre-defined
      subgroup of BCBM patients; an exploratory post hoc analysis adjusting for the
      diagnosis-specific graded prognostic assessment (GPA) index was also conducted.
      RESULTS: In the trial, 67 BCBM patients were randomized (EP, n = 36; TPC, n =
      31). Treatment subgroups were balanced for baseline characteristics and GPA
      indices. EP was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death (HR
      0.51; P < 0.01) versus TPC; median OS was 10.0 and 4.8 months, respectively.
      Improvement in OS was observed in both poorer and better GPA prognostic groups.
      Survival rates at 12 months were 44.4% for EP versus 19.4% for TPC. Consistent
      with the overall BEACON population, fewer patients on EP experienced grade >=3
      toxicity (50 vs. 70%). CONCLUSIONS: The significant improvement in survival in
      BCBM patients provides encouraging data for EP in this difficult-to-treat
      subgroup of patients. A phase three trial of EP in BCBM patients is underway
      (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02915744).

PMID- 28612226
TI  - IRIS study: a phase II study of the steroid sulfatase inhibitor Irosustat when
      added to an aromatase inhibitor in ER-positive breast cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Irosustat is a first-generation, orally active, irreversible steroid
      sulfatase inhibitor. We performed a multicentre, open label phase II trial of the
      addition of Irosustat to a first-line aromatase inhibitor (AI) in patients with
      advanced BC to evaluate the safety of the combination and to test the hypothesis
      that the addition of Irosustat to AI may further suppress estradiol levels and
      result in clinical benefit. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Postmenopausal women with ER
      positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who had derived clinical
      benefit from a first-line AI and who subsequently progressed were enrolled. The
      first-line AI was continued and Irosustat (40 mg orally daily) added. The primary
      endpoint was clinical benefit rate (CBR). Secondary endpoints included safety,
      tolerability, and pharmacodynamic end points. RESULTS: Twenty-seven women were
      recruited, four discontinued treatment without response assessment. Based on
      local reporting, the CBR was 18.5% (95% CI 6.3-38.1%) on an intent to treat
      basis, increasing to 21.7% (95% CI 7.4-43.7%) by per-protocol analysis. In those
      patients that achieved clinical benefit (n = 5), the median (interquartile range)
      duration was 9.4 months (8.1-11.3) months. The median progression-free survival
      time was 2.7 months (95% CI 2.5-4.6) in both the ITT and per-protocol analyses.
      The most frequently reported grade 3/4 toxicities were dry skin (28%), nausea
      (13%), fatigue (13%), diarrhoea (8%), headache (7%), anorexia (7%) and lethargy
      (7%). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of Irosustat to aromatase inhibitor therapy
      resulted in clinical benefit with an acceptable safety profile. The study met its
      pre-defined success criterion by both local and central radiological assessments.

PMID- 28612227
TI  - Development of a Ki-67-based clinical trial assay for neoadjuvant endocrine
      therapy response monitoring in breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The recent publication of the ACOSOG Z1031 trial results demonstrated
      that Ki-67 proliferation marker-based neoadjuvant endocrine therapy response
      monitoring could be used for tailoring the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in
      ER+HER2-negative breast cancer patients. In this paper, we describe the
      development of the Ki-67 clinical trial assay used for this study. METHODS: Ki-67
      assay assessment focused on reproducing a 2.7% Ki-67 cut-point (CP) required for
      calculating the Preoperative Endocrine Prognostic Index and a 10% CP for poor
      endocrine therapy response identification within the first month of neoadjuvant
      endocrine treatment. Image analysis was assessed to increase the efficiency of
      the scoring process. Clinical outcome concordance for two independent Ki-67
      scores was the primary performance metric. RESULTS: Discordant scores led to a
      triage approach where cases with complex histological features that software
      algorithms could not resolve were flagged for visual point counting (17%). The
      final Ki-67 scoring approach was run on T1/2 N0 cases from the P024 and POL
      trials (N = 58). The percent positive agreement for the 2.7% CP was 87.5% (95% CI
      61.7-98.5%); percent negative agreement 88.9% (95% CI: 65.3-98.6%). Minor
      discordance did not affect the ability to predict similar relapse-free outcomes
      (Log-Rank P = 0.044 and P = 0.055). The data for the 10% early triage CP in the
      POL trial were similar (N = 66), the percentage positive agreement was 100%, and
      percent negative agreement 93.55% (95% CI: 78.58-99.21%). The independent
      survival predictions were concordant (Log-rank P = 0.0001 and P = 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: We have developed an efficient and reproducible Ki-67 scoring system
      that was approved by the Clinical Trials Evaluation Program for NCI-supported
      neoadjuvant endocrine therapy trials. Using the methodology described here,
      investigators are able to identify a subgroup of patients with ER+HER2-negative
      breast cancer that can be safely managed without the need of adjuvant
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 28612228
TI  - Pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in situ of the breast: a single institution
      experience with clinical follow-up and centralized pathology review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The natural history of pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in situ (PLCIS)
      remains largely unknown. METHODS: A pathology database search (1995-2012) was
      performed to identify patients diagnosed with an LCIS variant. Patients with
      synchronous breast cancer and/or no evidence of pleomorphism were excluded.
      Original slides were re-evaluated by three pathologists to identify a consensus
      cohort of PLCIS. Borderline lesions with focal atypia were classified as LCIS
      with pleomorphic features (LCIS-PF). Clinical data were obtained from medical
      records. RESULTS: From 233 patients, we identified 32 with an LCIS variant
      diagnosis and no concurrent breast cancer. Following review, 16 cases were
      excluded due to lack of pleomorphism. The remaining 16 were classified as PLCIS
      (n = 11) and LCIS-PF (n = 5). 12/16 patients were treated with surgical excision
      +/- chemoprevention. Patients with a prior breast cancer history and those having
      mastectomy were excluded from outcome analysis. Among the remaining 7 patients
      with PLCIS/LCIS-PF, 4/7 (57%) developed ipsilateral breast cancer at a median
      follow-up of 67 months. Median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis was 56
      years old and median time from PLCIS/LCIS-PF to cancer diagnosis was 59 months
      (range 45-66 months). The four cancers included 1 invasive lobular carcinoma
      (ILC), 1 microinvasive ILC, 1 invasive ductal carcinoma, and 1 ductal carcinoma
      in situ. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that PLCIS in isolation is indeed a rare entity,
      further contributing to the difficulty in determining the actual risk conferred
      by this lesion. Long-term follow-up data on larger cohorts are needed to define
      standardized management and outcomes for patients with PLCIS.

PMID- 28612229
TI  - Metal Accumulations in Water, Sediment, Crab (Callinectes sapidus) and Two Fish
      Species (Mugil cephalus and Anguilla anguilla) from the Koycegiz Lagoon System
      Turkey: An Index Analysis Approach.
AB  - The concentrations of six metals (Hg, Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr and Zn) individual total
      metal load (IMBI) values and its relation to condition index were determined in
      water, sediment and tissues of crab (Callinectes sapidus) and two fish species
      (Mugil cephalus and Anguilla anguilla) inhabiting Koycegiz Lagoon System. The
      average distribution of the IMBI values ranged from 0.033 to 0.265. Distribution
      patterns of IMBI in species follow the sequence: A. anguilla > M. cephalus > C.
      sapidus. Results showed that there are positive relationships between species
      sizes and metal levels in most cases. The concentrations of Pb in muscle in the
      three studied species were in all cases considerably higher than the maximum
      levels set by law. Average Cd, Cu and Zn values in M. cephalus were also higher
      than the limits proposed for fish by FAO/WHO, EC and TFC. Therefore, the human
      consumption of all analysed species is not recommended.

PMID- 28612230
TI  - Right atrial diameter and outcome of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.
AB  - PURPOSE: While AF is considered more like a left atrial (LA) disease, to what
      extent the right atrium contributes to the pathogenesis and ablation outcome of
      AF remains unclear. This study aimed to identify if right atrial diameter (RAD)
      could predict arrhythmia recurrence after catheter ablation of atrial
      fibrillation (AF). METHODS: Four hundred and seventy patients with drug-resistant
      AF [paroxysmal AF (PAF) 196; non-PAF 274] who underwent primary catheter ablation
      were enrolled. Ablation strategy included complete bilateral pulmonary vein
      isolation (PVI) in all patients and additional linear ablation across mitral
      isthmus, LA roof, and tricuspid isthmus in non-PAF cases. Risk factors associated
      with recurrence were determined by a Cox regression model, and the predictive
      power was evaluated by using receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS:
      After 24.3 +/- 18.0 months, 284 patients (60.6%) experienced atrial
      tachyarrhythmia recurrence (111 in PAF, 173 in non-PAF). RAD was moderately
      associated with LA diameter (r = 0.371, P < 0.001), left ventricular ejection
      fraction (r = -0.205, P < 0.001), and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (r
      = 0.319, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that RAD
      was an independent predictor for recurrence only in PAF patients with LAD >=35 mm
      (HR 1.044, 95% CI 1.007-1.082, P = 0.021). The RAD cutoff value of 35.5 mm
      predicts atrial tachyarrhythmia recurrence with 85.4% sensitivity and 29.2%
      specificity. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that RAD over 35.5 mm is associated
      with more recurrence after PAF ablation (log-rank P = 0.034), comparing to those
      with RAD <35.5 mm. CONCLUSIONS: RAD predicts outcome of ablation only in patients
      with PAF and concurrent LA enlargement. Under this condition, RAD <35.5 mm is
      associated with a more favorable recurrence-free survival at over 2-year follow
      up.

PMID- 28612232
TI  - Midostaurin: First Global Approval.
AB  - Midostaurin (Rydapt(r)) is a multikinase inhibitor being developed by Novartis
      Pharmaceuticals. In April 2017, midostaurin was approved in the USA for the
      treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed, FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3
      (FLT3) mutation-positive acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) [in combination with
      standard cytarabine and daunorubicin induction, and cytarabine consolidation], or
      aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM), systemic mastocytosis with associated
      haematological neoplasm (SM-AHN) or mast cell leukaemia (MCL) [collectively known
      as advanced SM]. The article summarizes the milestones in the development of
      midostaurin leading to this first global approval.

PMID- 28612231
TI  - Epsilon-aminocaproic acid prevents high glucose and insulin induced-invasiveness
      in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, modulating the plasminogen activator system.
AB  - Obesity and type II diabetes mellitus have contributed to the increase of breast
      cancer incidence worldwide. High glucose concentration promotes the proliferation
      of metastatic cells, favoring the activation of the plasminogen/plasmin system,
      thus contributing to tumor progression. The efficient formation of plasmin is
      dependent on the binding of plasminogen to the cell surface. We studied the
      effect of epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA), an inhibitor of the binding of
      plasminogen to cell surface, on proliferation, migration, invasion, epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT), and plasminogen activation system, in metastatic
      MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells grown in a high glucose microenvironment and
      treated with insulin. MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with EACA 12.5 mmol/L under
      high glucose 30 mmol/L (HG) and high glucose and insulin 80 nmol/L (HG-I)
      conditions, evaluating: cell population growth, % of viability, migratory, and
      invasive abilities, as well as the expression of uPA, its receptor (uPAR), and
      its inhibitor (PAI-1), by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNAs were evaluated by RT
      PCR. Markers of EMT were evaluated by Western blot. Additionally, the presence of
      active uPA was studied by gel zymography, using casein-plasminogen as substrates.
      EACA prevented the increase in cell population, migration and invasion induced by
      HG and insulin, which was associated with the inhibition of EMT and the
      attenuation of HG- and insulin-dependent expression of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1, MMP-2,
      MMP-9, alpha-enolase (ENO A), and HCAM. The interaction of plasminogen to the
      cell surface and plasmin formation are mediators of the prometastasic action of
      hyperglycemia and insulin, potentially, EACA can be employed in the prevention
      and as adjuvant treatment of breast tumorigenesis promoted by hyperglycemia and
      insulin.

PMID- 28612233
TI  - Targeting the PGD2/CRTH2/DP1 Signaling Pathway in Asthma and Allergic Disease:
      Current Status and Future Perspectives.
AB  - Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) released by degranulating mast cells is believed to play
      a key role in orchestrating mechanisms of inflammation in allergies and asthma.
      The biological effects of PGD2 are mediated by D-prostanoid (DP1), CRTH2 (DP2),
      and thromboxane prostanoid (TP) receptors. The CRTH2 receptor is involved in
      induction of migration and activation of T helper type 2 (Th2) lymphocytes,
      eosinophils, and basophils; up-regulation of adhesion molecules; and promotion of
      pro-inflammatory Th2-type cytokines (interleukin [IL]-4, 5, 13), whereas the DP
      receptor is associated with relaxation of smooth muscles, vasodilation,
      inhibition of cell migration, and apoptosis of eosinophils. A number of
      CRTH2/PGD2 receptor antagonists have been investigated in asthma and allergic
      diseases. The CRTH2 antagonist (OC000459) or dual CRTH2 and TP receptor
      antagonist (ramatroban) were effective in reducing eosinophilia, nasal mucosal
      swelling, and clinical symptoms of allergic rhinitis, with the latter drug
      registered for clinical use in this indication. OC000459 and setipiprant reduced
      the late but not early phase of response in an allergen challenge in atopic
      asthmatics. In persistent asthma, some molecules induced limited improvement in
      lung function, quality of life, and asthma symptoms (OC000459, BI671800), but in
      other trials with AMG 853 and AZ1981 these findings were not confirmed. The clear
      discrepancy between animal studies and clinical efficacy of CRTH2 antagonism in
      allergic rhinitis, and lack of efficacy in a general cohort of asthmatics,
      highlight the issue of patient phenotyping. There is no doubt that the
      PGD2/CATH2/DP1 pathway plays a key role in allergic inflammation and further
      studies with selective or combined antagonisms in well defined cohorts of
      patients are needed.

PMID- 28612234
TI  - Radical-pair-based magnetoreception in birds: radio-frequency experiments and the
      role of cryptochrome.
AB  - The radical-pair hypothesis of magnetoreception has gained a lot of momentum,
      since the flavoprotein cryptochrome was postulated as a structural candidate to
      host magnetically sensitive chemical reactions. Here, we first discuss behavioral
      tests using radio-frequency magnetic fields (0.1-10 MHz) to specifically disturb
      a radical-pair-based avian magnetic compass sense. While disorienting effects of
      broadband RF magnetic fields have been replicated independently in two competing
      labs, the effects of monochromatic RF magnetic fields administered at the
      electronic Larmor frequency (~1.3 MHz) are disparate. We give technical
      recommendations for future RF experiments. We then focus on two candidate
      magnetoreceptor proteins in birds, Cry1a and Cry1b, two splice variants of the
      same gene (Cry1). Immunohistochemical studies have identified Cry1a in the outer
      segments of the ultraviolet/violet-sensitive cone photoreceptors and Cry1b in the
      cytosol of retinal ganglion cells. The identification of the host neurons of
      these cryptochromes and their subcellular expression patterns presents an
      important advance, but much work lies ahead to gain some functional
      understanding. In particular, interaction partners of cryptochrome Cry1a and
      Cry1b remain to be identified. A candidate partner for Cry4 was previously
      suggested, but awaits independent replication.

PMID- 28612235
TI  - Bio-logging, new technologies to study conservation physiology on the move: a
      case study on annual survival of Himalayan vultures.
AB  - Bio-logging, the on-animal deployment of miniaturised electronic data recorders,
      allows for the study of location, body position, and physiology of individuals
      throughout their ontogeny. For terrestrial animals, 1 Hz GPS-position, 3D-body
      acceleration, and ambient temperature provide standard data to link to the
      physiology of life histories. Environmental context is added at ever finer scales
      using remote sensing earth observation data. Here we showcase the use of such bio
      logging approaches in a conservation physiology study on endangered Himalayan
      vultures (Gyps himalayensis). We determine environmental, behavioural, and
      physiological causes of survival in immature birds that roam from wintering sites
      in India, Bhutan, and Nepal towards summer areas in Tibet and Mongolia. Five of
      18 immature griffons died during one year. Individuals that died had failed to
      migrate sufficiently far northward (>1500 km) in spring. Individuals likely died
      if they flew against headwinds from the north or were less able to find thermal
      updrafts. Surviving individuals migrated to cold and dry areas with low
      population density. We highlight flight experience, long distance movements, and
      remote places with low human population as factors critical for the survival of
      Himalayan vultures. High-resolution bio-logging studies can advance conservation
      management by pinpointing where and why migratory animals have problems and die.

PMID- 28612236
TI  - Using optogenetics to assess neuroendocrine modulation of heart rate in
      Drosophila melanogaster larvae.
AB  - The Drosophila melanogaster heart has become a principal model in which to study
      cardiac physiology and development. While the morphology of the heart in
      Drosophila and mammals is different, many of the molecular mechanisms that
      underlie heart development and function are similar and function can be assessed
      by similar physiological measurements, such as cardiac output, rate, and time in
      systole or diastole. Here, we have utilized an intact, optogenetic approach to
      assess the neural influence on heart rate in the third instar larvae. To simulate
      the release of modulators from the nervous system in response to environmental
      influences, we have directed expression of channel-rhodopsin variants to targeted
      neuronal populations to assess the role of these neural ensembles in directing
      release of modulators that may affect heart rate in vivo. Our observations show
      that the activation of targeted neurons, including cholinergic, dopaminergic, and
      serotonergic neurons, stimulate the release of cardioactive substances that
      increase heart rate after the initial activation at both room temperature and in
      a cold environment. This parallels previous studies suggesting these modulators
      play a crucial role in altering heart rate when applied to exposed hearts and
      adds to our understanding of chemical modulation of heart rate in intact
      Drosophila larvae.

PMID- 28612237
TI  - Assessment of the Impact of L-Thyroxine Therapy on Bleeding Risk in Patients
      Receiving Vitamin K Antagonists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have suggested a link exists between L-thyroxine and
      the coagulation system, and, according to some drug interaction studies, L
      thyroxine can potentiate the effect of warfarin. This study sought to assess
      whether thyroid hormone therapy could impact the risk of bleeding in patients
      receiving vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). METHODS: We conducted a monocentric,
      retrospective study on prospectively collected data from consecutive patients
      enrolled in the Registry of patient with AntiThrombotic agents admitted to an
      Emergency Department (RATED) database, and compared the hemorrhage rates (both
      major and nonmajor) of patients receiving treatment with and without L-thyroxine.
      Propensity score matching analysis was performed to reduce the differences
      between patients receiving L-thyroxine and those not receiving L-thyroxine in
      order to reassess bleeding outcomes in patients receiving VKAs. RESULTS: From
      January 2014 to June 2015, 1454 patients receiving VKAs were recruited into the
      RATED database. Overall, 187 patients (12.8%) received L-thyroxine. Patients
      receiving L-thyroxine were more likely to be female than those not receiving L
      thyroxine (78.1 vs. 55%) and more likely to exhibit hypertension (65.5 vs. 55.7%;
      p = 0.015), but less likely to have history of myocardial infarction (9.6 vs.
      16.6%; p = 0.022) or higher creatinine levels (96.1 vs. 112.1 MUmol/L; p = 0.04).
      After propensity score matching, bleeding outcomes were not significantly
      different between patients receiving L-thyroxine and those not receiving L
      thyroxine. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed no evidence that L-thyroxine could
      increase bleeding risk in patients receiving VKAs. However, physicians must be
      aware that patients with thyroid disease receiving VKA therapy could have other
      drug interactions, particularly with amiodarone therapy. CLINICALTRIALS. GOV
      NUMBER: NCT02706080.

PMID- 28612239
TI  - Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever: A State-of-the-Art Review Focused in Pulmonary
      Involvement.
AB  - Dengue fever is an arboviral disease transmitted to humans through the bites of
      infected female Aedes mosquitoes. Dengue virus is a member of the Flaviviridae
      family, and human infection can be caused by any of the four antigenically
      distinct serotypes (DENV 1-4). The infection has become recognized as the most
      important and prevalent arboviral disease in humans, endemic in almost 100
      countries worldwide. Nearly 3 billion people live in areas with transmission
      risk. Autochthonous transmission of the virus in previously disease-free areas,
      increased incidence in endemic areas, and epidemic resurgence in controlled
      regions could increase the risk of contracting more severe forms of the disease,
      such as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)/dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Symptomatic
      dengue virus infection can present with a wide range of clinical manifestations,
      from mild fever to life-threatening DSS. Thoracic complications may manifest as
      pleural effusion, pneumonitis, non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, and
      hemorrhage/hemoptysis. No vaccine is currently available and no specific
      treatment for dengue fever exists, but prevention and prompt management of
      complications in patients with DHF can help reduce mortality. This review
      describes the main clinical, pathological, and imaging findings of thoracic
      involvement in DHF.

PMID- 28612238
TI  - Gene editing in birds takes flight.
AB  - The application of gene editing (GE) technology to create precise changes to the
      genome of bird species will provide new and exciting opportunities for the
      biomedical, agricultural and biotechnology industries, as well as providing new
      approaches for producing research models. Recent advances in modifying both the
      somatic and germ cell lineages in chicken indicate that this species, and
      conceivably soon other avian species, has joined a growing number of model
      organisms in the gene editing revolution.

PMID- 28612240
TI  - Clinical characteristics of peripheral spondyloarthritis without psoriasis,
      inflammatory enteropathy or preceding infection, from a single rheumatology
      clinic in northern India.
AB  - The objective of this study was to characterise the peripheral arthritis of
      spondyloarthritis (pSpA) excluding psoriatic-, inflammatory enteropathy-related,
      post-infectious reactive-SpA and arthritis associated with axial SpA/ankylosing
      spondylitis (axSpA/AS). Patients presenting with the clinical features of the
      broad spectrum of SpA were screened for the presence of peripheral arthritis
      using the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria.
      The other conditions that could cause pSpA, e.g. psoriasis, inflammatory
      enteropathy, reactive arthritis and axSpA/AS, were excluded. Their assessment
      included clinical, laboratory and imaging features. Of a total of 405 patients
      seen within the spectrum of SpA, 25 (6.2%) patients were identified as pSpA with
      none of the conditions that could be attributed to their disease. The male to
      female ratio was 2.6:1; the pattern of involvement was predominantly lower
      extremity asymmetrical large joint oligoarthritis in persons below the age of 40
      years (60% were <30 years of age). Some had soft tissue and/or extra-articular
      manifestations characteristic of SpA (36%) and family history (20%) of SpA
      spectrum of diseases. When compared to peripheral arthritis reported in axial
      axSpA/AS, root/central joint involvement was minimal in pSpA. Otherwise, the
      pattern of arthritis appeared similar. Exclusive peripheral arthritis without the
      presence of the other disease-defining conditions is uncommon, seen only in 6.2%
      of the SpA spectrum diseases. The pattern of joint involvement was similar to
      that observed with axSpA/AS except that the root/central joints were not seen.

PMID- 28612241
TI  - Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of biologic treatments for psoriatic arthritis:
      can we make better use of patient data registries?
AB  - The primary aim of this study is to explore the extent to which registry data may
      fulfill the evidence requirements of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) studies
      evaluating biologic therapies for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA),
      where trial data are lacking or insufficient. In addition, the paper aims to
      identify how future data collection in PsA registries might be better tailored to
      inform CEA research. A review of the literature was performed to identify
      existing registries containing PsA patients. Where possible, information was
      extracted on the design and characteristics of the registries. The registries
      were then appraised according to a set of criteria that was formulated based on
      the methods currently used to model PsA in the CEA literature. A review of the
      literature identified 21 potentially relevant registries from around the world
      containing patients with PsA. There was substantial variation regarding the
      extent to which the registries, as a whole, were useful for the purposes of CEA
      studies. There were also notable disparities found in terms of the accessibility
      of the registries to researchers. The critical review conducted in this study
      showed that all of the registries identified are potentially useful, at least in
      some degree, for the purposes of informing CEA studies in PsA. However, no
      individual registry on its own was found to meet all of the evidence requirements
      when considering how the disease has been modeled previously.

PMID- 28612242
TI  - Histopathologic classification of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated
      glomerulonephritis: achievements, limitations, and perspectives.
AB  - Clinical and histological factors have been identified as predictors of early and
      late renal outcome in ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV). The presence and
      severity of kidney involvement at diagnosis are associated with poor prognosis in
      both patient and renal survival. Histologic findings remain the gold standard for
      diagnosing patients with AAV. In order to quantify the extent of the
      morphological parameters in the renal biopsies and to identify the
      histopathological lesions that predict renal outcome, several scoring systems
      have been proposed to systematically assess kidney biopsies in AAV. Renal
      pathologists from an international working group proposed in 2010 a new
      histopathological classification. This scheme comprises four general categories,
      based on the predominance of the glomerular histological lesions: focal (>=50%
      normal glomeruli); crescentic (>=50% glomeruli with cellular crescents); mixed
      (<50% normal, <50% crescentic, <50% globally sclerotic glomeruli), and sclerotic
      (>=50% globally sclerotic glomeruli). This article reviews the background and the
      main studies that have validated the histopathologic classification of ANCA
      associated glomerulonephritis, the conclusions derived from these studies, and
      the perspectives for the assessment of renal outcome in AAV.

PMID- 28612243
TI  - Increased expression of Bruton's tyrosine kinase in peripheral blood is
      associated with lupus nephritis.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease manifested by
      multiorgan impairment. It is reported that B cells participate in the onset of
      SLE. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk), as a downstream signaling molecule of B cell
      antigen receptor (BCR) signaling pathway, is involved in the development,
      activation, and survival of B cells. The aim of our study was to explore the
      specific role of Btk in lupus nephritis (LN). We determined the percentages of
      Btk+ B cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients by
      flow cytometry and analyzed the correlation between the percentage of Btk+ B
      cells and lupus-related clinical indexes. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect
      the Btk expression in kidney from LN patients and tumor surrounding tissues.
      Compared with controls, the frequency of Btk+ B cells in SLE patients was
      upregulated (p < 0.01), and it was significantly correlated with the SLE Disease
      Activity Index (SLEDAI) (p < 0.01), levels of plasma anti-dsDNA antibody (p <
      0.05), the amount of 24-h urine protein (p < 0.05), and levels of plasma C3 (p <
      0.05). The frequency of Btk+ B cells in the patients with LN was significantly
      higher than those without LN (p < 0.05). Although the Btk expression in
      glomerulus of LN patients was significantly increased compared with controls (p <
      0.001), but it had no correlation with the renal pathology activity index,
      SLEDAI, or 24-h urine protein. In conclusion, the increased expression of Btk in
      peripheral blood was correlated with LN, indicating that it may be a therapeutic
      target for SLE.

PMID- 28612244
TI  - Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in Behcet's disease: a retrospective case
      control study.
AB  - The objective of the study is to investigate the clinical features of Behcet's
      disease (BD) complicated with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). We
      retrospectively analyzed the clinical features of age- and gender-matched BD
      patients with and without CVST. Of the 840 BD patients enrolled, 21 (2.5%, 11
      female, mean age 30.3 +/- 9.5) were diagnosed as CVST. Eighteen patients (85.7%)
      developed neurologic manifestations after BD onset, with an average interval of
      47.6 months (SD 36.1). Onset of neurologic symptoms was mostly progressive
      (89.5%), with headache (95.2%) being the most common symptom. Intracranial
      hypertension occurred in 17 cases (89.5%). Thrombosis was detected mostly in
      transverse (71.4%) and superior sagittal (66.7%) sinuses, with more frequently
      (66.7%) dual or multiple sinuses involved. In addition, extra cranial thrombosis
      was presented in 11 cases. Cerebral infarction was presented in four cases.
      Compared with BD patients without CVST, the prevalence of extra cranial vascular
      involvement (52.4 versus 20.6%; P = 0.005) and BDCAF 2006 score (3.7 +/- 1.4
      versus 1.8 +/- 1.3; P = 1.7863 * 10-7) was higher in BD patients with CVST.
      During a median 7-month follow-up (range 0.3-88.8 months), 18 patients (85.7%)
      achieved remission following glucocorticoid, immunosuppressant therapy,
      anticoagulants, and dehydration, although 3 patients experienced (14.3%) flare.
      No death was reported. CVST is rare complication of BD and predominately
      progressively developed in active BD and after BD onset. It typically features
      intracranial hypertension syndrome and is frequently complicated with extra
      cranial thrombosis; thus, systemic thrombus screening is highly recommended.
      Promptly, diagnosis and aggressive treatment are keys to improve the prognosis.

PMID- 28612245
TI  - Correlates of Police Involvement Among Adolescents and Adults with Autism
      Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - This study aimed to describe police interactions, satisfaction with police
      engagement, as well as examine correlates of police involvement among 284
      adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) followed over a 12- to
      18-month period. Approximately 16% of individuals were reported to have some form
      of police involvement during the study period. Aggressive behaviors were the
      primary concern necessitating police involvement. Individuals with police
      involvement were more likely to be older, have a history of aggression, live
      outside the family home, and have parents with higher rates of caregiver strain
      and financial difficulty at baseline. Most parents reported being satisfied to
      very satisfied with their children's police encounters. Areas for future research
      are discussed in relation to prevention planning.

PMID- 28612246
TI  - Evaluating the Feasibility of a Play-Based Telehealth Intervention Program for
      Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome.
AB  - Here we report the feasibility and acceptability of telehealth for direct
      intervention in children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). Children with PWS have
      social-cognitive challenges that are similar to children with ASD. However,
      developing behavioral interventions for individuals with PWS is faced with the
      significant challenge of enrolling enough participants for local studies where
      multiple visits per week are indicated for effective intervention. This study
      delivered a 6-week play-based intervention via telehealth directly to eight
      children with PWS (6-12 years). Participants completed the program with minimal
      behavioral or technological difficulty (#sessions M = 11.875/12). Behavioral
      Intervention Rating Scale results indicate good acceptability (M = 5.54/6.00).
      These findings support using telehealth in rare disorders and delivering
      intervention directly to children with developmental delays through this
      modality.

PMID- 28612248
TI  - Advancing an Age-Friendly NYC.

PMID- 28612247
TI  - 18F-fluorothymidine PET imaging in gliomas: an update.
AB  - Brain neoplasms constitute a group of tumors with discrete differentiation
      grades, and therefore, course of disease and prognosis. Magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) remains the gold standard method for the investigation of central
      nervous system tumors. However, MRI suffers certain limitations, especially if
      radiation therapy or chemotherapy has been previously applied. On the other hand,
      given the development of newer radiopharmaceuticals, positron emission tomography
      (PET) aims to a better investigation of brain tumors, assisting in the clinical
      management of the patients. In the present review, the potential contribution of
      radiolabeled fluorothymidine (FLT) imaging for the evaluation of brain tumors
      will be discussed. In particular, we will present the role of FLT-PET imaging in
      the depiction of well and poorly differentiated lesions, the assessment of
      patient prognosis and treatment response, and the recognition of disease
      recurrence. Moreover, related semi-quantitative and kinetic parameters will be
      discussed.

PMID- 28612249
TI  - Autologous structural iliac bone grafts in reconstructions of short bone defects
      in the hand and foot after primary bone tumor resections: a single-institution
      retrospective study.
AB  - The use of structural autografts from the iliac crest for reconstruction of bony
      defects in the hand and foot was described by Wilson and Lance in 1965. However,
      very few series of this technique are published and long-term results are
      unknown. We present a single-institution series of 23 patients with a mean follow
      up of 92 months. We also describe a novel modification of this technique using
      the anterior superior iliac spine for reconstruction of the adjacent joint.
      Failure rate was 13% at mean of 17.3 months. All patients had a firm grip in the
      hand and walked without support. Bony fusion was achieved in all cases regardless
      of the type of fixation used. The use of ASIS for joint reconstruction was
      successful, particularly in low-demand joints. We encountered 1 case of
      instability and progressive stiffness in weight-bearing joints. This is a
      reliable method of reconstructing bony defects in the hand or foot following
      tumor resections.

PMID- 28612254
TI  - Effect of urban design on microclimate and thermal comfort outdoors in warm-humid
      Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
AB  - Due to the complexity of built environment, urban design patterns considerably
      affect the microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort in a given urban morphology.
      Variables such as building heights and orientations, spaces between buildings,
      plot coverage alter solar access, wind speed and direction at street level. To
      improve microclimate and comfort conditions urban design elements including
      vegetation and shading devices can be used. In warm-humid Dar es Salaam, the
      climate consideration in urban design has received little attention although the
      urban planning authorities try to develop the quality of planning and design. The
      main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between urban design,
      urban microclimate, and outdoor comfort in four built-up areas with different
      morphologies including low-, medium-, and high-rise buildings. The study mainly
      concentrates on the warm season but a comparison with the thermal comfort
      conditions in the cool season is made for one of the areas. Air temperature, wind
      speed, mean radiant temperature (MRT), and the physiologically equivalent
      temperature (PET) are simulated using ENVI-met to highlight the strengths and
      weaknesses of the existing urban design. An analysis of the distribution of MRT
      in the areas showed that the area with low-rise buildings had the highest
      frequency of high MRTs and the lowest frequency of low MRTs. The study
      illustrates that areas with low-rise buildings lead to more stressful urban
      spaces than areas with high-rise buildings. It is also shown that the use of
      dense trees helps to enhance the thermal comfort conditions, i.e., reduce heat
      stress. However, vegetation might negatively affect the wind ventilation.
      Nevertheless, a sensitivity analysis shows that the provision of shade is a more
      efficient way to reduce PET than increases in wind speed, given the prevailing
      sun and wind conditions in Dar es Salaam. To mitigate heat stress in Dar es
      Salaam, a set of recommendations and guidelines on how to develop the existing
      situation from microclimate and thermal comfort perspectives is outlined. Such
      recommendations will help architects and urban designers to increase the quality
      of the outdoor environment and demonstrate the need to create better urban spaces
      in harmony with microclimate and thermal comfort.

PMID- 28612255
TI  - IL-27 regulates the adherence, proliferation, and migration of MSCs and enhances
      their regulatory effects on Th1 and Th2 subset generations.
AB  - Interleukin 27 (IL-27) regulates T cell function and is involved in inflammation.
      It has been reported that human placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal cells
      (hPMSCs) can inhibit T cell responses and attenuate inflammation reactions.
      However, it is unclear whether IL-27 can regulate hPMSC function. Here, we
      examined the effects of IL-27 upon adherence, migration, and proliferation as
      well as the immunomodulatory effects of hPMSCs. The results show that IL-27
      receptor alpha chain (IL-27Ralpha) is expressed in hPMSCs. IL-27 at 30 ng/ml
      inhibited hPMSC adherence and proliferation, while the migration of hPMSCs was
      promoted with IL-27 at doses of 20 or 30 ng/ml, as determined with use of real
      time cell analysis (RTCA). Moreover, IL-27 promoted regulatory effects of hPMSCs
      through enhancing Th2 and suppressing Th1 subset generation from activated T
      cells in human peripheral blood. IL-27 also enhanced the ability of hPMSCs to
      secrete IL-10 from CD4+T cells through increased expression levels of the
      programmed death ligand 1 (PDL1) in hPMSCs via the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) signaling pathway. In
      conclusion, IL-27 has significant modulatory effects on adherence, proliferation,
      and migration of hPMSCs. IL-27 increased PDL1 expression levels in hPMSCs via the
      JAK/STAT1 pathway, which then enhanced the regulatory effects of hPMSCs upon Th1
      and Th2 cell generations and IL-10 secretion from CD4+T cells.

PMID- 28612256
TI  - Low Dose of Doxorubicin Potentiates the Effect of Temozolomide in Glioblastoma
      Cells.
AB  - Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor with temozolomide (TMZ)-based
      chemotherapy as the main therapeutic strategy. Doxorubicin (DOX) is not used in
      gliomas due to its low bioavailability in the brain; however, new delivery
      strategies and low doses may be effective in the long term, especially as part of
      a drug cocktail. Our aim was to evaluate the chronic effects of low doses of DOX
      and TMZ in GBM. Human U87-ATCC cells and a primary GBM culture were chronically
      treated with TMZ (5 MUM) and DOX (1 and 10 nM) alone or combined. DOX resulted in
      a reduction in the number of cells over a period of 35 days and delayed the cell
      regrowth. In addition, DOX induced cell senescence and reduced tumor sphere
      formation and the proportion of NANOG- and OCT4-positive cells after 7 days. Low
      doses of TMZ potentiated the effects of DOX on senescence and sphere formation.
      This combined response using low doses of DOX may pave the way for its use in
      glioma therapy, with new technologies to overcome its low blood-brain barrier
      permeability.

PMID- 28612257
TI  - Peripheral Alterations in Cytokine and Chemokine Levels After Antidepressant Drug
      Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Mounting evidence suggests that aberrations in immune-inflammatory pathways
      contribute to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), and
      individuals with MDD may have elevated levels of predominantly pro-inflammatory
      cytokines and C-reactive protein. In addition, previous meta-analyses suggest
      that antidepressant drug treatment may decrease peripheral levels of interleukin
      1 beta (IL-1beta) and IL-6. Recently, several new studies examining the effect of
      antidepressants on these cytokines have been published, and so we performed an
      updated meta-analysis of studies that measured peripheral levels of cytokines and
      chemokines during antidepressant treatment in patients with MDD. The
      PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycInfo databases were searched from inception
      through March 9, 2017. Forty-five studies met inclusion criteria (N = 1517).
      Peripheral levels of IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-1beta, IL
      10, IL-2, IL-4, interferon-gamma, IL-8, the C-C motif ligand 2 chemokine (CCL-2),
      CCL-3, IL-1 receptor antagonist, IL-13, IL-17, IL-5, IL-7, and the soluble IL-2
      receptor were measured in at least three datasets and thus were meta-analyzed.
      Antidepressant treatment significantly decreased peripheral levels of IL-6
      (Hedges g = -0.454, P <0.001), TNF-alpha (g = -0.202, P = 0.015), IL-10 (g = 
      0.566, P = 0.012), and CCL-2 (g = -1.502, P = 0.006). These findings indicate
      that antidepressants decrease several markers of peripheral inflammation.
      However, this meta-analysis did not provide evidence that reductions in
      peripheral inflammation are associated with antidepressant treatment response
      although few studies provided separate data for treatment responders and non
      responders.

PMID- 28612258
TI  - Downregulated Glia Interplay and Increased miRNA-155 as Promising Markers to
      Track ALS at an Early Stage.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of
      unknown cause. Absence of specific targets and biomarkers compromise the
      development of new therapeutic strategies and of innovative tools to stratify
      patients and assess their responses to treatment. Here, we investigate changes in
      neuroprotective-neuroinflammatory actions in the spinal cord of SOD1 G93A mice,
      at presymptomatic and symptomatic stages to identify stage-specific biomarkers
      and potential targets. Results showed that in the presymptomatic stage, there are
      alterations in both astrocytes and microglia, which comprise decreased expression
      of GFAP and S100B and upregulation of GLT-1, as well as reduced expression of
      CD11b, M2-phenotype markers, and a set of inflammatory mediators. Reduced levels
      of Connexin-43, Pannexin-1, CCL21, and CX3CL1 further indicate the existence of a
      compromised intercellular communication. In contrast, in the symptomatic stage,
      increased markers of inflammation became evident, such as NF-kappaB/Nlrp3
      inflammasome, Iba1, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and M1-polarizion markers,
      together with a decreased expression of M2-phenotypic markers. We also observed
      upregulation of the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 axis, Connexin-43, Pannexin-1, and of microRNAs
      (miR)-124, miR-125b, miR-146a and miR-21. Reduced motor neuron number and
      presence of reactive astrocytes with decreased GFAP, GLT-1, and GLAST further
      characterized this inflammatory stage. Interestingly, upregulation of miR-155 and
      downregulation of MFG-E8 appear as consistent biomarkers of both presymptomatic
      and symptomatic stages. We hypothesize that downregulated cellular interplay at
      the early stages may represent neuroprotective mechanisms against inflammation,
      SOD1 aggregation, and ALS onset. The present study identified a set of inflamma
      miRNAs, NLRP3-inflammasome, HMGB1, CX3CL1-CX3CR1, Connexin-43, and Pannexin-1 as
      emerging candidates and promising pharmacological targets that may represent
      potential neuroprotective strategies in ALS therapy.

PMID- 28612259
TI  - Apoptosis Following Cortical Spreading Depression in Juvenile Rats.
AB  - Repetitive cortical spreading depression (CSD) can lead to cell death in immature
      brain tissue. Caspases are involved in neuronal cell death in several CSD-related
      neurological disorders, such as stroke and epilepsy. Yet, whether repetitive CSD
      itself can induce caspase activation in adult or juvenile tissue remains unknown.
      Inducing repetitive CSD in somatosensory cortices of juvenile and adult rats in
      vivo, we thus aimed to investigate the effect of repetitive CSD on the expression
      caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-12 in different brain regions using
      immunohistochemistry and western blotting techniques. Higher numbers of dark
      neurons and TUNEL-positive cells were observed in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3
      regions as well as in the entorhinal and somatosensory cortices after CSD in
      juvenile rats. This was accompanied by higher expressions of caspase-3, caspase
      8, and caspase-9. Caspase-12 levels remained unchanged after CSD, suggesting that
      endoplasmic reticulum stress is not involved in CSD-triggered apoptosis. Changes
      in caspase expression were paralleled by a decrease of procaspase-3, procaspase
      8, and procaspase-9 in juvenile rat brain tissue subjected to CSD. In contrast,
      repetitive CSD in adult rats did not result in the upregulation of caspase
      signaling. Our data points to a maturation-dependent vulnerability of brain
      tissue to repetitive CSD with a higher degree of apoptotic damage and caspase
      upregulation observed in juvenile tissue. Findings suggest a key role of caspase
      signaling in CSD-induced cell death in the immature brain. This implies that anti
      apoptotic treatment may prevent CSD-related functional deficits in the immature
      brain.

PMID- 28612261
TI  - Low concentrations of antimony impair DNA damage signaling and the repair of
      radiation-induced DSB in HeLa S3 cells.
AB  - Antimony is utilized in a large variety of industrial applications, leading to
      significant environmental and occupational exposure. Mainly based on animal
      experiments, the IARC and MAK Commission have classified antimony and its
      inorganic compounds as Group 2B or 2 carcinogens, respectively. However, the
      underlying mode(s) of action are still largely unknown. In the present study, we
      investigated the impact of non-cytotoxic up to cytotoxic concentrations of SbCl3
      on DNA DSB repair and cell cycle control in HeLa S3 cells. We induced DSB by
      gamma-irradiation and analyzed inhibitory actions of antimony on potential
      molecular targets of the DSB repair machinery. Antimony disturbed cell cycle
      control, affecting phosphorylation of Chk1. Furthermore, the repair of DSB was
      impaired in the presence of antimony, as monitored by pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis and gammaH2AX foci formation of cells in G1 and G2 phase.
      Specifically, BRCA1 and RAD51 were identified as molecular targets. Our results
      point towards an interference with both non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and
      homologous recombination (HR), and inhibitory effects may be explained by
      interactions with critical cysteine groups; this needs to be further
      investigated. Altogether, the results provide further evidence for the impairment
      of DNA repair processes as one underlying mechanism in antimony-induced
      carcinogenicity.

PMID- 28612260
TI  - Utility of spherical human liver microtissues for prediction of clinical drug
      induced liver injury.
AB  - Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) continues to be a major source of clinical
      attrition, precautionary warnings, and post-market withdrawal of drugs.
      Accordingly, there is a need for more predictive tools to assess hepatotoxicity
      risk in drug discovery. Three-dimensional (3D) spheroid hepatic cultures have
      emerged as promising tools to assess mechanisms of hepatotoxicity, as they
      demonstrate enhanced liver phenotype, metabolic activity, and stability in
      culture not attainable with conventional two-dimensional hepatic models.
      Increased sensitivity of these models to drug-induced cytotoxicity has been
      demonstrated with relatively small panels of hepatotoxicants. However, a
      comprehensive evaluation of these models is lacking. Here, the predictive value
      of 3D human liver microtissues (hLiMT) to identify known hepatotoxicants using a
      panel of 110 drugs with and without clinical DILI has been assessed in comparison
      to plated two-dimensional primary human hepatocytes (PHH). Compounds were treated
      long-term (14 days) in hLiMT and acutely (2 days) in PHH to assess drug-induced
      cytotoxicity over an 8-point concentration range to generate IC50 values.
      Regardless of comparing IC50 values or exposure-corrected margin of safety
      values, hLiMT demonstrated increased sensitivity in identifying known
      hepatotoxicants than PHH, while specificity was consistent across both assays. In
      addition, hLiMT out performed PHH in correctly classifying hepatotoxicants from
      different pharmacological classes of molecules. The hLiMT demonstrated sufficient
      capability to warrant exploratory liver injury biomarker investigation (miR-122,
      HMGB1, alpha-GST) in the cell-culture media. Taken together, this study
      represents the most comprehensive evaluation of 3D spheroid hepatic cultures up
      to now and supports their utility for hepatotoxicity risk assessment in drug
      discovery.

PMID- 28612262
TI  - Intra- and Inter-Individual Differences in Adolescent Depressive Mood: the Role
      of Relationships with Parents and Friends.
AB  - Utilizing four waves of data from 1126 secondary school Dutch adolescents (Mage =
      13.95 at the first wave; 53% boys), the current study examined the interplay
      between parent-adolescent and friend-adolescent relationship quality
      (satisfaction and conflict) in relation to adolescents' depressive mood. Using
      multilevel analyses, the interacting effects of parent/friend relationship
      quality on depressive mood were tested at both the intra- and inter-individual
      level. Analyses at the intra-individual level investigated whether individual
      depressive mood fluctuated along with changes in their social relationships
      regardless of one's general level of depressive mood; and analyses at the inter
      individual level examined whether the average differences in depressive mood
      between adolescents were associated with different qualities of social
      relationships. We interpreted the patterns of interactions between parent and
      friend relationships using four theoretical models: the reinforcement, toxic
      friends, compensation, and additive model. The results demonstrate the
      covariation of parent- and friend- relationship quality with adolescents'
      depressive mood, and highlight that parent and peer effects are not independent
      from each other-affirming the compensation and additive models at the intra
      individual and the reinforcement and additive models at the inter-individual
      level. The findings highlight the robustness of the protective effects of parent
      and peer support and the deleterious effects of conflictual relationships for
      adolescent mental health. The results have implications for both the theoretical
      and practical design of (preventive) interventions aimed at decreasing
      adolescents' depressive mood.

PMID- 28612263
TI  - Tight metabolic control plus ACE inhibitor therapy improves GSD I nephropathy.
AB  - The onset of microalbuminuria (MA) heralds the onset of glomerulopathy in
      patients with glycogen storage disease (GSD) type I. Unlike tubulopathy, which
      responds to improved metabolic control, glomerulopathy in GSD I is considered
      refractory to medical intervention, and it is thought to inexorably progress to
      overt proteinuria and renal failure. Recent reports of reduced microalbuminuria
      following strict adherence to therapy counter this view. In contrast to type Ia,
      little is known regarding the prevalence of kidney disease in GSD Ib, 0, III, VI,
      and IX. Subjects were evaluated with 24-h urine collections between 2005 and 2014
      as part of a longitudinal study of the natural history of GSD. ACE inhibitor
      therapy (AIT) was commenced after documentation of microalbuminuria. Elevated
      urine albumin excretion was detected in 23 of 195 GSD Ia patients (11.7%) and six
      of 45 GSD Ib (13.3%). The median age of onset of microalbuminuria in GSD Ia was
      24 years (range 9-56); in GSD Ib it was 25 years (range 20-38). Of 14 with GSD Ia
      who complied with dietary and AIT during the study period, microalbuminuria
      decreased in 11, in whom metabolic control improved. All 135 patients with the
      ketotic forms of GSD (0, III, VI and IX) consistently had normal microalbumin
      excretion. Strict adherence to dietary therapy and maintenance of optimal
      metabolic control is necessary to halt the progression of GSD Ia glomerulopathy
      in patients treated with AIT. With optimal care, protein excretion can be reduced
      and even normalize.

PMID- 28612264
TI  - Application of recombinant hemagglutinin proteins as alternative antigen
      standards for pandemic influenza vaccines.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The single radial immunodiffusion (SRID) assay, used to quantify
      hemagglutinin (HA) in influenza vaccines, requires reference reagents; however,
      because centralized production of reference reagents may slow the emergency
      deployment of vaccines, alternatives are needed. RESULTS: We investigated the
      production of HA proteins using recombinant DNA technology, rather than a
      traditional egg-based production process. The HA proteins were then used in an
      SRID assay as a reference antigen. We found that HA can be quantified in both egg
      based and cell-based influenza vaccines when recombinant HAs (rHAs) are used as
      the reference antigen. Furthermore, we confirmed that rHAs obtained from strains
      with pandemic potential, such as H5N1, H7N3, H7N9, and H9N2 strains, can be
      utilized in the SRID assay. The rHA production process takes just one month, in
      contrast to the traditional process that takes three to four months. CONCLUSIONS:
      The use of rHAs may reduce the time required to produce reference reagents and
      facilitate timely introduction of vaccines during emergencies.

PMID- 28612265
TI  - Regular enzyme recovery enhances cellulase production by Trichoderma reesei in
      fed-batch culture.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To protect the enzymes during fed-batch cellulase production by means
      of partial enzyme recovery at regular intervals. RESULTS: Extracellular enzymes
      were partially recovered at the intervals of 1, 2, or 3 days. Mycelia were also
      removed to avoid contamination. Increases in the total harvested cellulase (24
      62%) and beta-glucosidase (22-76%) were achieved. In fermentor cultivation when
      the enzymes were recovered every day with 15% culture broth. The total harvested
      cellulase and beta-glucosidase activity increased by 43 and 58%, respectively,
      with fungal cell concentration maintained at 3.5-4.5 g l-1. CONCLUSION: Enzyme
      recovery at regular intervals during fed-batch cellulase cultivation could
      protect the enzyme in the culture broth and enhance the enzyme production when
      the fungal cell concentration is maintained in a reasonable range.

PMID- 28612266
TI  - Daytime napping and risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of prospective
      studies.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prospective studies reported inconsistent findings on the relationship
      between daytime napping and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Categorized and dose
      response meta-analyses were performed to quantify this relation. METHODS:
      Potentially eligible studies were identified by searching PubMed and Embase
      databases. Dose-response effects were assessed by the generalized least squares
      trend estimation and study-specific summary relative risks (RRs) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were computed with a random-effects model. RESULTS:
      Seven prospective studies including one US, four European, and two Chinese
      cohorts involving 249,077 participants and 13,237 cases of T2D were included. The
      overall analyses showed a 17% increased risk of T2D when comparing habitual
      nappers with non-nappers (RR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.08-1.27). By region, the summary RR
      was 1.21 (95% CI 1.17-1.26), 1.15 (95% CI 1.03-1.30) and 1.23 (95% CI 0.87-1.73)
      for the US, European, and Chinese studies, respectively. Limiting to five studies
      that excluded subjects with known major chronic disorders yielded a summary RR of
      1.16 (95% CI 1.03-1.30). A dose-response analysis suggested an 11% (95% CI 7-16%)
      increased T2D risk for each increment in daytime napping of 30 min/day and,
      despite no evidence for nonlinearity (P nonlinearity = 0.65), the increased risk
      of T2D for short nap (<50 min/day) was dominated by the US study. CONCLUSIONS:
      This meta-analysis suggests that daytime napping is associated with an increased
      risk of T2D. Given the limited number of cohorts and inconsistency in terms of
      methodological and population characteristics across these cohorts, residual
      confounders and/or reverse causality cannot be fully addressed, and our findings
      should be interpreted with great caution. Future well-designed prospective
      studies are still warranted.

PMID- 28612267
TI  - Auto-trilevel versus bilevel positive airway pressure ventilation for hypercapnic
      overlap syndrome patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although bilevel positive airway pressure (Bilevel PAP) therapy is
      usually used for overlap syndrome (OS), there is still a portion of OS patients
      in whom Bilevel PAP therapy could not simultaneously eliminate residual apnea
      events and hypercapnia. The current study was expected to explore whether auto
      trilevel positive airway pressure (auto-trilevel PAP) therapy with auto-adjusting
      end expiratory positive airway pressure (EEPAP) can serve as a better alternative
      for these patients. METHODS: From January of 2014 to June of 2016, 32 hypercapnic
      OS patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and
      moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) were recruited. Three
      variable modes of positive airway pressure (PAP) from the ventilator (Prisma25ST,
      Weinmann Inc., Germany) were applicated for 8 h per night. We performed the
      design of each mode at each night with an interval of two nights with no PAP
      treatment as a washout period among different modes. In Bilevel-1 mode (Bilevel
      1), the expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) delivered from Bilevel PAP was
      always set as the lowest PAP for abolishment of snoring. For each patient, the
      inspiratory positive airway pressure (IPAP) was constantly set the same as the
      minimal pressure for keeping end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) <=45 mmHg for all three modes.
      However, the EPAP issued by Bilevel PAP in Bilevel-2 mode (Bilevel-2) was kept 3
      cmH2O higher than that in Bilevel-1. In auto-trilevel mode (auto-trilevel) with
      auto-trilevel PAP, the initial part of EPAP was fixed at the same PAP as that in
      Bilevel-1 while the EEPAP was automatically regulated to rise at a range of <=4
      cmH2O based on nasal airflow wave changes. Comparisons were made for parameters
      before and during or following treatment as well as among different PAP therapy
      modes. The following parameters were compared such as nocturnal apnea hypopnea
      index (AHI), minimal SpO2 (minSpO2), arousal index, sleep structure and
      efficiency, morning PaCO2, and daytime Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). RESULTS:
      Compared with the parameters before PAP therapies, during each mode of PAP
      treatment, significant reduction was detected in nocturnal AHI, arousal index,
      morning PaCO2, and daytime ESS while significant elevation was revealed in
      nocturnal minSpO2 and sleep efficiency (all P < 0.01). Comparison among three PAP
      modes indicated that under the same IPAP, the auto-trilevel PAP mode could result
      in the lowest arousal index, daytime ESS, and the highest sleep efficiency.
      Compared with Bilevel-1, it was detected that (a) AHI was lower but minSpO2 was
      higher in both Bilevel-2 and auto-trilevel (all P < 0.05) and (b) morning PaCO2
      showed no statistical difference from that in auto-trilevel but displayed higher
      in Bilevel-2 (P < 0.05). Compared with Bilevel-2, in auto-trilevel, both AHI and
      minSpO2 showed no obvious changes (all P > 0.05) except with a lower morning
      PaCO2 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Auto-trilevel PAP therapy was superior over
      conventional Bilevel PAP therapy for hypercapnic OS patients with their OSAS
      moderate to severe, since auto-trilevel PAP was more efficacious in synchronous
      elimination of residual obstructive apnea events and CO2 retention as well as in
      obtaining a better sleep quality and milder daytime drowsiness.

PMID- 28612268
TI  - Discordant sleep parameters among actigraphy, polysomnography, and perceived
      sleep in patients with sleep-disordered breathing in comparison with patients
      with chronic insomnia disorder.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although the clinical usefulness of actigraphy (ACT) in chronic insomnia
      disorder (CID) is extensively investigated, the evaluation on the utility of ACT
      in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is limited and the report of comparison with
      perceived sleep by patients and polysomnography (PSG) is scarce. METHODS: Thirty
      six patients with SDB and 30 with CID underwent PSG and ACT, and they reported
      perceived sleep time and latency simultaneously. Sleep parameters (total sleep
      time [TST], sleep onset latency [SOL], sleep efficiency, and wakefulness after
      sleep onset [WASO]) were compared. Agreement among parameters was assessed with
      intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95% confidence interval. RESULTS:
      ACT overestimated TST and underestimated SOL and WASO relative to PSG in both
      groups. Perceived sleep was commonly undervalued relative to PSG or ACT. In post
      hoc analyses, perceived sleep was significantly shorter and SOL significantly
      longer compared to PSG and ACT in both groups. Perception of sleep time by PSG
      was significantly higher than perception by ACT. In the CID group, all sleep
      parameters were significantly correlated between ACT and PSG (ICC = 0.627-0.813).
      In the SDB group, only TST was significantly correlated (ICC = 0.804).
      CONCLUSION: ACT is useful to monitor sleep and sleep quality in patients with
      CID. In patients with SDB, TST by ACT is reliable. However, ACT is insufficient
      to assess sleep quality due to its low agreement with PSG. Significantly lower
      sleep perception relative to PSG and ACT should be considered in the treatment of
      sleep disorders.

PMID- 28612270
TI  - Post-surgical focal inflammatory neuropathy of the sciatic nerve.

PMID- 28612269
TI  - Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Paclitaxel Monotherapy: An Updated Literature
      Review.
AB  - Paclitaxel is an anticancer agent efficacious in the treatment of ovarian,
      breast, and lung cancer. Due to a strong link between the pharmacokinetics and
      therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel, we reviewed the literature on paclitaxel
      pharmacokinetics. Systematic data mining was performed to extract the maximum
      concentration (C max), clearance (CL), and time of paclitaxel plasma
      concentration above 0.05 umol/L (T > 0.05 umol/L) following monotherapy of both
      the widely used cremophor-diluted paclitaxel and nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab
      )paclitaxel. We identified a total of 53 studies yielding 121 aggregated
      pharmacokinetic profiles for paclitaxel monotherapy and extracted reported mean
      and median estimates of pharmacokinetic parameters. Paclitaxel has been studied
      formally at doses of 15-825 mg/m2 and infused over 0.5-96 h; included studies
      examined both weekly and every 3-weeks dosing cycles. The most widely used dose
      of cremophor-diluted paclitaxel, 175 mg/m2 given as a 3-h infusion, leads to an
      interstudy median C max of 5.1 umol/L [interquartile range (IQR) 4.5-5.7], CL of
      12.0 L/h/m2 (IQR 10.9-12.9), and T > 0.05 umol/L of 23.8 h (IQR 21.5-26.8).
      Importantly, the significant interindividual variation widely reported in the
      literature is not reflected in these interstudy estimates of pharmacokinetic
      parameters. Cremophor-diluted paclitaxel pharmacokinetics are non-linear
      following short (<6 h) but not long (>24 h) infusions. A similar pattern of non
      linearity was observed for nab-paclitaxel, although the number of studies was
      limited. The pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel monotherapy have been widely studied
      at numerous dose levels of the Cremophor EL(r) formulation, but are less well
      characterized for the newer nab-paclitaxel formulation. In conclusion, paclitaxel
      pharmacokinetics are non-linear for short infusion times but not for longer
      infusions. Whether a similar conclusion can be drawn for nab-paclitaxel
      formulations requires further study.

PMID- 28612271
TI  - Overexpression of DnaJ-Like Chaperone Enhances Carotenoid Synthesis in
      Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
AB  - Production of functional carotenoids using microalgae may facilitate the
      commercialization of anti-aging nutritional supplements. The green alga
      Chlamydomonas reinhardtii uses a non-mevalonate (MEP) pathway for isopentenyl
      diphosphate (IPP) synthesis. Two enzymes thought to play important roles in this
      MEP pathway to IPP synthesis are 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS)
      and reductase (DXR). DnaJ-like chaperone (Orange protein) is thought to support
      phytoene synthase, a key enzyme in plant carotenoid synthesis. Genes for Orange
      (OR), DXS, and DXR were overexpressed via nuclear transformation into C.
      reinhardtii. CDS of OR, DXS, and DXR were amplified and connected with dual
      promoters of heat-shock protein 70A and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase small
      chain 2. Compared with the parental strain, transformant CrOR#2 produced
      increased lutein and beta-carotene (1.9-fold and 1.7-fold per cell,
      respectively). Transformant CrDXS#1 produced lutein and beta-carotene at lower
      per-cell abundances than those for the parental strain. CrDXR#2 transformant
      produced lutein and beta-carotene at higher per-cell abundances than their
      parental counterpart; however, these transformants produced lutein and beta
      carotene at lower per-medium abundances than their parental counterparts. These
      results suggest that OR protein supports phytoene synthase in C. reinhardtii and
      that the phytoene synthesis step is rate-limiting in carotenoid synthesis.

PMID- 28612272
TI  - Geographic distribution of phylogenetic species of the Fusarium graminearum
      species complex and their 8-ketotrichothecene chemotypes on wheat spikes in Iran.
AB  - Isolates of the Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC, n = 446) were
      collected from wheat spikes from northern and western regions of Iran with a
      history of Fusarium head blight (FHB) occurrences. The trichothecene mycotoxin
      genotypes/chemotypes, the associated phylogenetic species, and geographical
      distribution of these isolates were analyzed. Two phylogenetic species, Fusarium
      asiaticum and F. graminearum, were identified and were found to belong to
      sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) groups V and I. Isolates from F.
      asiaticum species lineage 6 were within SCAR group V, whereas F. graminearum
      species lineage 7 were of SCAR group I. Of the 446 isolates assayed, 274 were F.
      asiaticum species predominantly of the nivalenol (NIV) genotype, while other
      isolates were either deoxynivalenol (DON) plus 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-AcDON)
      or DON plus 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-AcDON) genotype. Based on Tri7 gene
      sequences, a new subpopulation of 15-AcDON producers was observed among F.
      asiaticum strains in which 11-bp repeats were absent in the Tri7 sequences. The
      trichothecene chemotype was confirmed and quantified by high-performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC) in 46 FGSC isolates. Isolates produced NIV (33.4-108.2
      MUg/g) and DON (64.7-473.6 MUg/g) plus either 3-AcDON (51.4-142.4 MUg/g) or 15
      AcDON (24.1-99.3 MUg/g). Among FGSC isolates, F. asiaticum produced the highest
      levels of trichothecenes. Using BIOCLIM based on the climate data of 20-year
      during 1994-2014, modelling geographical distribution of FGSC showed that F.
      asiaticum was restricted to warmer and humid areas with a median value of mean
      annual temperature of about 17.5  degrees C and annual rainfall of 658 mm,
      respectively (P < 0.05). In contrast, F. graminearum (only 15-AcDON producers)
      was restricted to cooler and drier areas, with a median value of the mean annual
      temperature of 14.4  degrees C and an annual rainfall of 384 mm, respectively (P
      < 0.05). Based on climate parameters at anthesis, the recorded distribution of F.
      graminearum and F. asiaticum was similar to that based on BIOCLIM parameters.
      Therefore, geographic differences on the wheat-growing areas in Iran have had a
      significant effect on distribution of FGSC and their trichothecene chemotypes.

PMID- 28612273
TI  - Treadmill exercise alters ecstasy- induced long- term potentiation disruption in
      the hippocampus of male rats.
AB  - 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or ecstasy is a derivative of
      amphetamine that leads to long term potentiation (LTP) disruption in the
      hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Exercise has been accepted as a treatment for the
      improvement of neurodegenerative disease. Herein, the effects of exercise on the
      MDMA- induced neurotoxicity were assessed. Male Wistar rats received
      intraperitoneal injection of MDMA (10 mg/kg) and exercised for one month on a
      treadmill (Simultaneously or asynchronously with MDMA). LTP and expression of
      BDNF were assessed using electrophysiology and western blotting methods,
      respectively. MDMA attenuated the field excitatory post-synaptic potential
      (fEPSP) slope in comparison with the control group, whereas treadmill exercise
      increased this parameter when compared to MDMA group. Furthermore, BDNF
      expression significantly decreased in MDMA group and treadmill exercise could
      increase that. In conclusion, results of this study suggest that synchronous
      exercise is able to improve MDMA-induced LTP changes through increase of BDNF
      expression in the hippocampus of rats.

PMID- 28612274
TI  - Fine structure of the midgut epithelium in the millipede Telodeinopus aoutii
      (Myriapoda, Diplopoda) with special emphasis on epithelial regeneration.
AB  - The midgut of millipedes is composed of a simple epithelium that rests on a basal
      lamina, which is surrounded by visceral muscles and hepatic cells. As the
      material for our studies, we chose Telodeinopus aoutii (Demange, 1971) (Kenyan
      millipede) (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida), which lives in the rain forests of
      Central Africa. This commonly reared species is easy to obtain from local
      breeders and easy to culture in the laboratory. During our studies, we used
      transmission and scanning electron microscopes and light and fluorescent
      microscopes. The midgut epithelium of the species examined here shares
      similarities to the structure of the millipedes analyzed to date. The midgut
      epithelium is composed of three types of cells-digestive, secretory, and
      regenerative cells. Evidence of three types of secretion have been observed in
      the midgut epithelium: merocrine, apocrine, and microapocrine secretion. The
      regenerative cells of the midgut epithelium in millipedes fulfill the role of
      midgut stem cells because of their main functions: self-renewal (the ability to
      divide mitotically and to maintain in an undifferentiated state) and potency
      (ability to differentiate into digestive cells). We also confirmed that spot
      desmosomes are common intercellular junctions between the regenerative and
      digestive cells in millipedes.

PMID- 28612275
TI  - The recent importation of Grapevine Pinot gris virus into Australia.
AB  - A total of 575 commercial grapevine (Vitis vinifera) samples from Australia have
      been tested for a newly emerging virus, Grapevine Pinot gris virus (Trichovirus,
      Betaflexiviridae) during 2015-2017. Nine samples from two states tested positive.
      Six of these were from New South Wales and 3 from South Australia in a total of
      eight varieties. All these varieties were imported from Europe within the last 4
      19 years. A fragment of 431 nucleotides on the coat protein gene of Grapevine
      Pinot gris virus was targeted for virus identification by RT-PCR. The virus
      specificity of each positive sample was confirmed by sequencing followed by the
      BLASTn analysis which showed an identity of up to 99.3% to the virus sequences in
      the NCBI database. The phylogenetic tree as well as pairwise sequence identity
      showed that, although the virus sequence in each variety was unique, they all
      grouped with the isolates from Europe and well away from the South Korean and
      several Chinese isolates. This is the first report of the occurrence of Grapevine
      Pinot gris virus in Australia.

PMID- 28612276
TI  - Clinical risk stratification of acute pulmonary embolism: comparing the
      usefulness of CTA obstruction score and pulmonary perfusion defect score with
      dual-energy CT.
AB  - To compare the ability of CT angiography (CTA) obstruction score and perfusion
      defect score on dual energy CT perfusion imaging (DEPI) for clinical risk
      stratification of patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). 55 patients
      diagnosed as acute PE either by CTA or DEPI were retrospectively enrolled.
      Patients were grouped into high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups in
      accordance to the renewed guidelines of 2014. Consistency between DEPI and CTA in
      diagnosis of PE were assessed. Correlations between CT parameters and right-to
      left ventricular (RV/LV) diameter ratio were evaluated. Difference of CTA
      obstruction score and perfusion defect score across three groups with different
      risks were analyzed. The consistent rate of DEPI with CTA was 75.4%, and the
      Kappa value was 0.412 (p = 0.000). 44.3% of partially obstructive PE showed on
      CTA did not lead to perfusion defect on DEPI. Perfusion defect score was
      significantly correlated with CTA obstruction score and with RV/LV (r = 0.622 and
      0.599, respectively, p < 0.001), and CTA obstruction score had lower correlation
      with RV/LV (r = 0.403, p = 0.003). Perfusion defect score could distinguish low-
      from intermediate-risk groups (p = 0.011). However, CTA obstruction score could
      not distinguish the two groups (p = 0.149). DEPI had fine consistency with CTA to
      diagnose acute PE and offered additional information of physiologic changes.
      Comparing with CTA obstruction score, perfusion defect score could better
      correlate with right ventricular dysfunction, and could be a more promising
      biomarker for clinical risk stratification.

PMID- 28612278
TI  - Efficacy of prophylactic irradiation to the contralateral testis for patients
      with advanced-stage primary testicular lymphoma: an analysis of outcomes at a
      single institution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary testicular lymphoma (PTL) is a rare, extranodal lymphoma that
      often relapses in the contralateral testis. We evaluated outcomes in patients
      with any stage of PTL who had received CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin,
      vincristine, and prednisolone) with rituximab chemotherapy and prophylactic
      radiotherapy to the contralateral testis. METHODS: We retrospectively identified
      15 patients (median age 66 years; range 39-81) diagnosed with diffuse large B
      cell PTL in the period 2000-2014. Characteristics and outcomes of these cases
      were evaluated. RESULTS: All patients received initial orchiectomy followed by
      CHOP with or without rituximab. Thirteen patients received prophylactic
      irradiation to the contralateral testis. During follow-up (median 67 months;
      range 8-190), one patient died of PTL, three died of other disease, and nine were
      free from relapse. For stage I-II disease, 5-year progression-free and overall
      survival rates were 80 and 100%, respectively. For stage III-IV PTL, 5-year
      progression-free and overall survival rates were 50 and 72%, respectively.
      Notably, no patient developed contralateral testicular involvement after
      prophylactic irradiation. CONCLUSIONS: The observed outcomes suggest that the
      combination of (i) CHOP plus rituximab and (ii) radiotherapy for local recurrence
      prophylaxis is promising for both stage I-II and stage III-IV PTL.

PMID- 28612277
TI  - 3.0 T magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion imaging for semi-quantitative
      evaluation of coronary microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - This study aimed to assess coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) differences
      in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients using cardiac magnetic resonance
      (CMR) first-pass perfusion and late gadolinium enhancement imaging. Forty-seven
      patients with HCM and twenty-one healthy volunteers underwent CMR at rest.
      Imaging protocols included short axis cine, first-pass myocardial perfusion, and
      late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). Left ventricular end-diastolic wall thickness
      (EDTH), LGE, time to peak (Tpeak), maximal up-slope (Slopemax), and peak signal
      intensity (SIpeak) were assessed for each myocardial segment. The HCM myocardial
      segments were grouped by the degree of LGE and hypertrophy. Tpeak, SIpeak,
      Slopemax and EDTH in multiple groups were assessed and compared by ANOVA
      test/Kruskal-Wallis test. The Spearman correlation test was used to determine the
      relationships between EDTH, LGE and perfusion parameters (Tpeak, Slopemax and
      SIpeak). Compared to control group segments, Tpeak increased while Slopemax and
      SIpeak decreased in non-LGE/non-hypertrophic segments and LGE/hypertrophic
      segments in the HCM group, while Tpeak increased more significantly in
      LGE/hypertrophic segments (all p < 0.05). Tpeak statistically increased with
      increasing degrees of myocardial LGE (p < 0.01). Differences in Tpeak, SIpeak and
      EDTH were observed between segments with and without hypertrophy (p < 0.05). EDTH
      and LGE were positively correlated with Tpeak (r = 0.279, p = 0.031 and r =
      0.237, p < 0.001). 3.0 T magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion imaging
      identifies abnormal perfusion in non-LGE and non-hypertrophic segments of HCM
      patients, and it may be helpful in the early diagnosis of coronary microvascular
      dysfunction in HCM. This abnormal perfusion is associated with the severity of
      myocardial fibrosis and the degree of hypertrophy.

PMID- 28612279
TI  - Prevalence and clinical outcomes of hepatitis B virus infection in patients with
      aplastic anemia.
AB  - The association of HBV infection with other hematopoietic diseases has been
      discussed previously. However, the clinical significance and clinical outcomes of
      HBV infection in AA patients have not been clarified. In this study, we sought to
      investigate the prevalence and related events of HBV in patients with AA who
      received immunosuppressive therapy. We retrospectively analyzed 245 patients with
      acquired AA. The HBsAg positivity rate was 14.69% in this group of AA patients.
      No significant difference was observed in the severity of AA patients with HBV
      infection and in those without (P = 0.6358). HBV reactivation occurred in 4.76%
      of HBsAg-positive patients who received ATG/ALG + CsA treatment without anti
      viral prophylaxis. HBV-infected patients who received CsA alone did not develop
      reactivation. Patients with HBV reactivation showed favorable clinical outcomes,
      with no HBV-related deaths. There was no significant difference in overall
      probability of survival in patients with different HBV infection status (P =
      0.8617). Given the low rate of reactivation and favorable outcomes after
      reactivation in AA patients, close monitoring of HBV DNA, hepatic function and
      patient immune status may be a more effective approach than routine prophylaxis
      for AA patients with HBV infection undergoing ATG/ALG + CsA treatment. Further
      studies are warranted to clarify the optimal time to initiate anti-viral
      treatment.

PMID- 28612280
TI  - Mid-term and long-term safety and efficacy of bioresorbable vascular scaffolds
      versus metallic everolimus-eluting stents in coronary artery disease: A weighted
      meta-analysis of seven randomised controlled trials including 5577 patients.
AB  - AIMS: Mid- and long-term safety and efficacy of the Absorb bioresorbable vascular
      scaffold (BVS) have been studied in randomised trials; however, most were not
      individually powered for clinical endpoints. We performed a weighted meta
      analysis comparing mid- and long-term outcomes in patients treated with the BVS
      compared with the Xience metallic stent. METHODS AND RESULTS: Randomised trials
      comparing the BVS and Xience were identified by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE and
      conference abstracts. Seven trials were included (BVS n = 3258, Xience n = 2319)
      with follow-up between 1-3 years. The primary outcome of target lesion failure
      occurred more frequently in BVS compared with Xience [OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.11-1.62,
      p = 0.003]. Overall definite or probable device thrombosis occurred more
      frequently with the BVS [OR 2.86; 95% CI 1.88-4.36, p < 0.001] and this extended
      beyond 1 year of follow-up [OR 4.13; 95% CI 1.99-8.57, p < 0.001]. Clinically
      indicated or ischaemia driven target lesion revascularisation [OR 1.43; 95% CI
      1.11-1.83, p = 0.005] and myocardial infarction (all MI) [OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.20
      2.23, p = 0.002] were more frequently seen in the BVS compared with Xience. Rates
      of target vessel failure [OR 1.15; 95% CI 0.91-1.46, p = 0.25] and cardiac death
      [OR 0.91; 95% CI 0.57-1.46, p = 0.71] were not significantly different between
      BVS and Xience. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis shows a higher rate of target
      lesion failure and an almost threefold higher rate of device thrombosis in BVS
      compared with Xience, which extends beyond the first year. Device thrombosis did
      not lead to an overall increased (cardiac) mortality.

PMID- 28612281
TI  - Perioperative management of antiplatelet treatment in patients undergoing
      isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in Dutch cardiothoracic centres.
AB  - BACKGROUND: International guidelines do not provide uniform recommendations
      regarding the use of antiplatelet treatment in the perioperative period in
      patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: A
      questionnaire was sent to all 16 cardiothoracic centres in the Netherlands to
      determine which antiplatelet treatment is used in the perioperative setting.
      Furthermore, a single-centre prospective observational cohort study was performed
      which included all patients undergoing isolated CABG in July 2014. RESULTS:
      Eleven centres responded to the survey. Acetylsalicylic acid monotherapy was
      discontinued before surgery in 6 centres. In patients with an acute coronary
      syndrome receiving dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), most centres discontinued
      the P2Y12 inhibitor preoperatively. DAPT was restarted after surgery in 4
      centres. However, 6 centres continued DAPT in patients who had undergone coronary
      stenting within one month of surgery. In patients with coronary stents, variation
      in the management of antiplatelet therapy increased in proportion to the interval
      between stenting and surgery. A total of 70 patients were included in the
      registry. Acetylsalicylic acid monotherapy was discontinued in 51% of patients
      and restarted in all patients. P2Y12 inhibitor treatment was discontinued before
      surgery in 70% of patients and re-initiated after CABG in 29%. CONCLUSIONS: Major
      differences were observed in the preoperative and postoperative management of
      antiplatelet treatment between different Dutch cardiothoracic centres and within
      a single centre. Part of this variation is probably due to lack of evidence and
      differences between the current guidelines; however, many of the strategies were
      not in accordance with any of these guidelines.

PMID- 28612282
TI  - Probing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells anchoring on TNF-alpha challenged
      vascular endothelia in an in vitro model of the retinal microvascular.
AB  - Retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the eyes; it stems from
      damage to the microvasculature of the retina and eventually compromises vision.
      The diagnosis of retinopathy is difficult to make because there are no early
      symptoms or warning signs. Dysfunction of the retina's microvascular networks is
      believed to be associated with inflammatory cytokines and tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha). To investigate the effect of these cytokines, such as TNF
      alpha, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/glass hydride microfluidic device reflecting
      the physiological structure of the retina's microvasculature was developed. In
      this model, the bifurcations and tortuosity of branch vessels were based on
      photographs of the fundus and an endothelial cell layer (EA.hy926 cells) were
      reconstructed within the microfluidic network. The adhesion, spreading, and
      growth of cells was ensured by optimizing the conditions for cell seeding and
      perfusion. Fluorescent staining was used to visualize the cytoskeleton and
      measurement of the nitric oxide (NO) level proved that the endothelial EA.hy926
      cells had spread in the direction of flow perfusion system, forming artificial
      vascular networks. The endothelial layer was further challenged by TNF-alpha
      perfusion. Cytokine treatment increased the anchoring of peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMCs) on the endothelial layer. The microfluidic device
      developed in this study provides a low-cost platform reflecting the physiological
      structures of the retina's microvasculature. It is anticipated that this device
      will be useful in evaluating the diseased retina as well as in drug screening.

PMID- 28612283
TI  - Cell-laden microgel prepared using a biocompatible aqueous two-phase strategy.
AB  - Microfluidic methods are frequently used to produce cell-laden microgels for
      various biomedical purposes. Such microfluidic methods generally employ oil-water
      systems. The poor distribution of crosslinking reagents in the oil phase limits
      the available gelation strategies. Extracting the microgel from the oil-phase
      also reduces its production efficiency. In this study, an aqueous two-phase
      system (ATPS) involving dextran (DEX) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to
      prepare cell-laden microgel. This avoided the problems associated with an oil
      phase. The microgel precursor polymers and crosslinking reagents were dispersed
      in the DEX and PEG phases, respectively. The ultra-low interfacial tension of the
      ATPS hindered droplet formation. A co-flow microfluidic device was fabricated to
      overcome this problem. The device incorporated a square-wave-changing injection
      force, to improve the efficiency of droplet formation. The microgel precursor
      (including alginate and carboxymethyl cellulose derivatives possessing phenolic
      hydroxyl moieties) could be dispersed in the DEX solution at various
      concentrations. Uniform droplets were formed with controllable diameters, and
      were sequentially converted to microgel by horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed
      crosslinking. Cells were dispersed in the DEX phase with the microgel precursor
      polymer, and retained their high viability and proliferation in the resulting
      microgel. The solubility of gelatin derivatives in the DEX phase was low, but was
      sufficient to impart cell adhesion properties on the microgel.

PMID- 28612284
TI  - Detection of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Genotypes 16 and 18 in Head and Neck
      Squamous Cell Carcinomas in Jordan
AB  - Background: Recently, associations of the human papillomavirus (HPV) with head
      and neck cancer have becomewell established. Of particular concern, the severity
      and pathological outcomes of squamous cell carcinomas areremarkably affected by
      the genotypes of HPV present in such lesions. This study was conducted to
      investigate theoccurrence of HPV genotypes, particularly high risk 16 and 18,
      among oral and laryngeal squamous cell carcinomasin Jordan. Methods: During the
      period of May 2015 to March 2016, we evaluated a total of 108 paraffin
      embeddedtissue samples, histologically confirmed as SCC, of both oral and
      laryngeal tumors for the presence of HPV DNA.DNA was extracted using a Zymogen
      commercial kit. HPV genotypes were detected by nested PCR using consensusprimers
      followed by primer-specific PCR for HPV-16 and HPV-18 genotypes. The genotypes
      were confirmed by DNAsequencing methods. Results: Sixteen samples were positive
      for HPV DNA (14.8%) with higher rates in oral tumorscompared to their laryngeal
      counterparts (20% and 6% respectively). The HPV-16 genotype predominated, being
      detectedin 81.3% of the cases as a single infection and in 18.7% in combination
      with HPV-18. A significant association betweenthe anatomical location and the HPV
      16 genotype was observed (p < 0.05). In contrast, no significant associations
      couldbe established with tumor grade and gender or age. Conclusions: A relatively
      high rate of high-risk HPV genotypes,especially HPV 16, is evident in head and
      neck cancers SCCs in Jordan. Genotyping of HPV might be of considerablevalue for
      evaluation of progression.

PMID- 28612285
TI  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in women with polycystic ovary syndrome:
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an insidious pathologic
      condition that can manifest from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (NASH) with
      potential progression to cirrhosis. Like the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS),
      NAFLD is associated with obesity, diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance and
      metabolic syndrome. PCOS women have an increased risk of NAFLD, but it is
      debatable which features of PCOS, either specific (androgen excess) or unspecific
      (metabolic derangements) affect the NAFLD risk. METHODS: We performed a
      systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that addressed the association of
      PCOS and NAFLD. We selected 17 studies published between 2007 and 2017 that
      included 2734 PCOS patients and 2561 controls of similar age and body mass index
      (BMI). RESULTS: PCOS patients have increased prevalence of NAFLD (odds ratio
      2.54, 95% confidence interval 2.19-2.95). PCOS women with hyperandrogenism
      (classic phenotype) have a higher prevalence of NAFLD compared to women with PCOS
      without hyperandrogenism, even after correction for confounding variables. Among
      women with PCOS, those with NAFLD have higher serum total testosterone (mean
      difference 0.40 nmol/L, 95% CI 0.29-0.50 nmol/L) and free androgen index (mean
      difference 4.46, 95% CI 3.53-5.39) than those without NAFLD. The studies that
      used multivariate analysis controlling for age, BMI, triglycerides, and insulin
      resistance index confirmed that serum androgens are independent predictors of
      NAFLD in women with PCOS. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of NAFLD is increased in
      women with PCOS and the presence of NAFLD is associated with high serum androgen
      levels, in addition to obesity and insulin resistance.

PMID- 28612286
TI  - Placental and maternal serum activin A in spontaneous and induced labor in late
      term pregnancy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Feto-placental unit represents an important source of activin A, a
      member of transforming growth factors-beta involved in the mechanisms of labor.
      No evidences are available on activin A in pregnancies beyond 41 weeks of
      gestation, where induction of labor is often required. The present study aimed to
      evaluate activin A maternal serum levels and placental mRNA expression in term
      and late-term pregnancy, with spontaneous or induced labor, and its possible role
      to predict the response to labor induction. METHODS: Maternal serum samples and
      placental specimens were collected from women with singleton pregnancy admitted
      for either term spontaneous labor (n = 23) or induction of labor for late-term
      pregnancy (n = 41), to evaluate activin A serum levels and placental mRNA
      expression. Univariate and multivariate analyses on activin A serum levels,
      maternal clinical parameters, and cervical length were conducted in women
      undergoing induction of labor. RESULTS: Maternal serum activin A levels and
      placental activin A mRNA expression in late-term pregnancies were significantly
      higher than at term. Late-term pregnancies who did not respond to induction of
      labor showed significantly lower levels of activin A compared to responders. The
      combination of serum activin A and cervical length achieved a sensitivity of 100%
      and a specificity of 93.55% for the prediction of successful induction.
      CONCLUSION: Late-term pregnancy is characterized by hyperexpression of placental
      activin A and increased maternal activin A secretion. By combining maternal serum
      activin A levels with cervical length, a good predictive model for the response
      to induction of labor was elaborated.

PMID- 28612287
TI  - Methylation markers differentiate thyroid cancer from benign nodules.
AB  - PURPOSE: The incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) is increasing. Cytology by itself
      cannot distinguish TC from some benign nodules especially in certain subtypes of
      TC. Our immediate goal is to identify DNA methylation markers for early detection
      of TC and to molecularly differentiate TC subtypes from benign nodules. METHODS:
      Promoter methylation status of 21 candidate genes was examined on formalin-fixed
      paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE) utilizing quantitative methylation-specific
      polymerase chain reaction (QMSP) in a retrospective cohort of 329 patients (56%
      white, 29% African American, 61% female) comprising 71 normal thyroid, 83 benign
      nodules [follicular adenomas (FA)], 90 follicular TC (FTC) and 85 papillary TC
      (PTC). All genes were analyzed individually (Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank sum
      tests) and in combination (logistic regression models) to identify genes whose
      methylation levels might best separate groups. RESULTS: Combination gene panels
      TPO and UCHL1 (ROC = 0.607, sensitivity 78%) discriminated FTC from FA, and
      RASSF1 and TPO (ROC = 0.881, sensitivity 78%) discriminated FTC from normal.
      Methylation of TSHR distinguished PTC from FTC (ROC = 0.701, sensitivity 84%) and
      PTC from FA (ROC = 0.685, sensitivity 70%). The six gene panel of TIMP3, RARB2,
      SERPINB5, RASSF1, TPO and TSHR, which differentiates PTC from normal thyroid, had
      the best combination sensitivity (91%) and specificity (81%) of the panels
      addressing discrimination of cancer tissue. CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant gene
      methylation used in combination panels may be useful clinically in
      differentiating FTC and PTC from benign nodules. If confirmed in additional
      studies, these findings could help reduce the over diagnosis of thyroid cancer
      and surgeries related to over diagnosis.

PMID- 28612289
TI  - Properties of Ideal Point Classification Models for Bivariate Binary Data.
AB  - The ideal point classification (IPC) model was originally proposed for analysing
      multinomial data in the presence of predictors. In this paper, we studied
      properties of the IPC model for analysing bivariate binary data with a specific
      focus on three quantities: (1) the marginal probabilities; (2) the association
      structure between the two binary responses; and (3) the joint probabilities. We
      found that the IPC model with a specific class point configuration represents
      either the marginal probabilities or the association structure. However, the IPC
      model is not able to represent both quantities at the same time. We then derived
      a new parametrization of the model, the bivariate IPC (BIPC) model, which is able
      to represent both the marginal probabilities and the association structure. Like
      the standard IPC model, the results of the BIPC model can be displayed in a
      biplot, from which the effects of predictors on the binary responses and on their
      association can be read. We will illustrate our findings with a psychological
      example relating personality traits to depression and anxiety disorders.

PMID- 28612288
TI  - Magnetic resonance image guidance in external beam radiation therapy planning and
      delivery.
AB  - The use of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in radiation oncology is improving
      dramatically. This review article discusses the necessity of image guidance and
      how MR finds a significant place in radiotherapy planning and delivery. The
      challenges to and current solutions for an in-house MR simulation, dedicated MR
      simulator, estimation of electron density using MR image sets and development of
      MR-compatible treatment planning systems are presented. This article also reviews
      the feasibility, advantages and limitations of MR image-guided radiation therapy
      (MR-IGRT) and its drive toward the integration of radiation beams with MR
      technology. Specifications of Co-60 MR technology and three other MR-linac
      projects worldwide are presented. Online and real-time MR guidance is also
      discussed.

PMID- 28612292
TI  - Building partnerships: a pilot study of stakeholders' attitudes on technology
      disruption in behavioral health delivery and research.
AB  - Collaborations between scientists, care providers, and technology industry
      professionals are becoming more relevant for developing, testing, and
      implementing behavioral health technologies. As the need for such partnerships
      increases, it is important to understand stakeholders' attitudes about their role
      in partnering for developing such technologies and how much do they expect
      technology to impact behavioral research and care. The aim of this study was to
      investigate how much technology disruption do stakeholders expect in healthcare,
      as well as their perceived contribution in partnering for developing behavioral
      health technologies. Stakeholders (N = 74) responded to an online convenience
      sampling survey. Over 89% of participants reported expecting that technology will
      bring at least a moderate amount of disruption in the current models of
      behavioral healthcare, with respondents with the most experience in digital
      health expecting the most disruption. As for their perception of each other's
      role in partnering for developing behavioral health technologies, one group's
      weakness was considered to be complemented by another group's strength. Academics
      were perceived as having more theoretical and research expertise but being less
      technology-savvy, while industry professionals were considered to excel at
      technological and marketing activities. Providers were considered to have the
      most clinical and real-world healthcare industry expertise. Our results indicate
      that technology is expected to disrupt current healthcare models, while also
      highlighting the need for collaboration, as no single group was considered to
      have sufficient expertise and resources to develop successful, effective
      behavioral health technologies on its own. These results may contribute to a
      better understanding of how technology disruption is affecting behavioral
      healthcare from the standpoint of its key players, which may lead to better
      collaborative models of research and care delivery.

PMID- 28612293
TI  - Nowhere to run, rabbit: the cold-war calculus of disease ecology.
AB  - During the cold war, Frank Fenner (protege of Macfarlane Burnet and Rene Dubos)
      and Francis Ratcliffe (associate of A. J. Nicholson and student of Charles Elton)
      studied mathematically the coevolution of host resistance and parasite virulence
      when myxomatosis was unleashed on Australia's rabbit population. Later, Robert
      May called Fenner the "real hero" of disease ecology for his mathematical
      modeling of the epidemic. While Ratcliffe came from a tradition of animal
      ecology, Fenner developed an ecological orientation in World War II through his
      work on malaria control (with Ratcliffe and Ian Mackerras, among others)-that is,
      through studies of tropical medicine. This makes Fenner at least a partial
      exception to other senior disease ecologists in the region, most of whom learned
      their ecology from examining responses to agricultural challenges and animal
      husbandry problems in settler colonial society. Here I consider the local
      ecologies of knowledge in southeastern Australia during this period, and describe
      the particular cold-war intellectual niche that Fenner and Ratcliffe inhabited.

PMID- 28612291
TI  - [F-18]-AV-1451 binding correlates with postmortem neurofibrillary tangle Braak
      staging.
AB  - [F-18]-AV-1451, a PET tracer specifically developed to detect brain
      neurofibrillary tau pathology, has the potential to facilitate accurate diagnosis
      of Alzheimer's disease (AD), staging of brain tau burden and monitoring disease
      progression. Recent PET studies show that patients with mild cognitive impairment
      and AD dementia exhibit significantly higher in vivo [F-18]-AV-1451 retention
      than cognitively normal controls. Importantly, PET patterns of [F-18]-AV-1451
      correlate well with disease severity and seem to match the predicted topographic
      Braak staging of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in AD, although this awaits
      confirmation. We studied the correlation of autoradiographic binding patterns of
      [F-18]-AV-1451 and the stereotypical spatiotemporal pattern of progression of
      NFTs using legacy postmortem brain samples representing different Braak NFT
      stages (I-VI). We performed [F-18]-AV-1451 phosphor-screen autoradiography and
      quantitative tau measurements (stereologically based NFT counts and biochemical
      analysis of tau pathology) in three brain regions (entorhinal cortex, superior
      temporal sulcus and visual cortex) in a total of 22 cases: low Braak (I-II, n =
      6), intermediate Braak (III-IV, n = 7) and high Braak (V-VI, n = 9). Strong and
      selective [F-18]-AV-1451 binding was detected in all tangle-containing regions
      matching precisely the observed pattern of PHF-tau immunostaining across the
      different Braak stages. As expected, no signal was detected in the white matter
      or other non-tangle containing regions. Quantification of [F-18]-AV-1451 binding
      was very significantly correlated with the number of NFTs present in each brain
      region and with the total tau and phospho-tau content as reported by Western blot
      and ELISA. [F-18]-AV-1451 is a promising biomarker for in vivo quantification of
      brain tau burden in AD. Neuroimaging-pathologic studies conducted on postmortem
      material from individuals imaged while alive are now needed to confirm these
      observations.

PMID- 28612290
TI  - Deficiency of TYROBP, an adapter protein for TREM2 and CR3 receptors, is
      neuroprotective in a mouse model of early Alzheimer's pathology.
AB  - Conventional genetic approaches and computational strategies have converged on
      immune-inflammatory pathways as key events in the pathogenesis of late onset
      sporadic Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). Mutations and/or differential expression of
      microglial specific receptors such as TREM2, CD33, and CR3 have been associated
      with strong increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). DAP12 (DNAX
      activating protein 12)/TYROBP, a molecule localized to microglia, is a direct
      partner/adapter for TREM2, CD33, and CR3. We and others have previously shown
      that TYROBP expression is increased in AD patients and in mouse models. Moreover,
      missense mutations in the coding region of TYROBP have recently been identified
      in some AD patients. These lines of evidence, along with computational analysis
      of LOAD brain gene expression, point to DAP12/TYROBP as a potential hub or driver
      protein in the pathogenesis of AD. Using a comprehensive panel of biochemical,
      physiological, behavioral, and transcriptomic assays, we evaluated in a mouse
      model the role of TYROBP in early stage AD. We crossed an Alzheimer's model
      mutant APP KM670/671NL /PSEN1 Deltaexon9 (APP/PSEN1) mouse model with Tyrobp -/-
      mice to generate AD model mice deficient or null for TYROBP (APP/PSEN1; Tyrobp +/
      or APP/PSEN1; Tyrobp -/-). While we observed relatively minor effects of TYROBP
      deficiency on steady-state levels of amyloid-beta peptides, there was an effect
      of Tyrobp deficiency on the morphology of amyloid deposits resembling that
      reported by others for Trem2 -/- mice. We identified modulatory effects of TYROBP
      deficiency on the level of phosphorylation of TAU that was accompanied by a
      reduction in the severity of neuritic dystrophy. TYROBP deficiency also altered
      the expression of several AD related genes, including Cd33. Electrophysiological
      abnormalities and learning behavior deficits associated with APP/PSEN1 transgenes
      were greatly attenuated on a Tyrobp-null background. Some modulatory effects of
      TYROBP on Alzheimer's-related genes were only apparent on a background of mice
      with cerebral amyloidosis due to overexpression of mutant APP/PSEN1. These
      results suggest that reduction of TYROBP gene expression and/or protein levels
      could represent an immune-inflammatory therapeutic opportunity for modulating
      early stage LOAD, potentially leading to slowing or arresting the progression to
      full-blown clinical and pathological LOAD.

PMID- 28612294
TI  - The Potential Role of BMAA in Neurodegeneration.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases are a major public health issue throughout the world
      with devastating effects on patients and families. Sporadic forms of
      neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are generally thought to develop as a consequence
      of genetic susceptibility and environmental influences. A number of environmental
      triggers have been identified in association with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
      and Parkinson's disease. We discuss the role of beta-methylamino-L-alanine in the
      development of neurodegeneration and the potential importance of this neurotoxin
      as a risk for neurodegeneration.

PMID- 28612297
TI  - Erratum to: Bioinformatics Analysis of Estrogen-Responsive Genes.

PMID- 28612295
TI  - Neuroprotective Effect of Creatine and Pyruvate on Enzyme Activities of
      Phosphoryl Transfer Network and Oxidative Stress Alterations Caused by Leucine
      Administration in Wistar Rats.
AB  - Maple syrup urine disease is an autosomal metabolic disease caused by a
      deficiency of branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex activity. In
      this disease occur the accumulation of the branched-chain amino acids leucine,
      isoleucine, and valine and their corresponding branched-chain alpha-keto acids in
      the tissues and body fluids. The affected patients may present psychomotor
      development delay and mental retardation. The pathophysiology of maple syrup
      urine disease is not entirely understood, but leucine seems to be the primary
      neurotoxic metabolite. Creatine and pyruvate are energetics and antioxidants
      substances. In this study, we investigated the effects of leucine administration
      and co-administration of creatine plus pyruvate on several parameters of
      oxidative stress and phosphoryl transfer network in cerebral cortex and
      hippocampus of Wistar rats treated from the 8th to the 21st postpartum day.
      Leucine induced oxidative stress and diminished the activities of pyruvate
      kinase, adenylate kinase, cytosolic and mitochondrial creatine kinase. Co
      administration of creatine plus pyruvate prevented the alterations provoked by
      leucine administration on the oxidative stress and the enzymes of
      phosphoryltransfer network. These results indicate that chronic administration of
      leucine may stimulate oxidative stress and alters the enzymes of
      phosphoryltransfer network in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the rats. It
      is possible that these effects may contribute, along with other mechanisms, to
      the neurological dysfunction found in patients affected by maple syrup urine
      disease. In this case, it is possible that creatine plus pyruvate supplementation
      could benefit to the patients.

PMID- 28612296
TI  - Kinesin-5 Blocker Monastrol Protects Against Bortezomib-Induced Peripheral
      Neurotoxicity.
AB  - Neurotoxicity is a relevant side effect of bortezomib treatment. Previous reports
      have shown that the development of peripheral neuropathy caused by anti
      neoplastic agents may be a result of reduced axonal transport. Based on evidence
      from prior studies that the kinesin-5 inhibitor monastrol enhances axonal
      transport and improves neuronal regeneration, we focused on the neuroprotective
      role of monastrol during the chemotherapeutic treatment with bortezomib.
      Prolonged treatment of C57BL/6 mice with bortezomib induced a length-dependent
      small-fiber neuropathy with axonal atrophy and loss of sensory nerve fibers. The
      administration of monastrol substantially alleviated morphological features of
      axonal injury and functional measures of sensory neuropathy. Cytotoxicity studies
      in leukemia and multiple myeloma cell lines showed no interference of monastrol
      with the cytostatic effects of bortezomib. Our data indicate that the novel
      approach of targeting microtubule turnover by monastrol provides protection
      against bortezomib-induced neurotoxicity. The favorable cytotoxic profile of
      monastrol makes it an interesting candidate as neuroprotective agent in combined
      chemotherapy regimens that warrants further consideration.

PMID- 28612298
TI  - Comparing Strategies for Providing Child and Youth Mental Health Care Services in
      Canada, the United States, and The Netherlands.
AB  - This paper reviews how child and youth mental health care services in Canada, the
      United States, and the Netherlands are organized and financed in order to
      identify systems and individual-level factors that may inhibit or discourage
      access to treatment for youth with mental health problems, such as public or
      private health insurance coverage, out-of-pocket expenses, and referral
      requirements for specialized mental health care services. Pathways to care for
      treatment of mental health problems among children and youth are conceptualized
      and discussed in reference to health insurance coverage and access to specialty
      services. We outline reforms to the organization of health care that have been
      introduced in recent years, and the basket of services covered by public and
      private insurance schemes. We conclude with a discussion of country-level
      opportunities to enhance access to child and youth mental health services using
      existing health policy levers in Canada, the United States and the Netherlands.

PMID- 28612299
TI  - Enhancement of photodynamic inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms by
      disruptive strategies.
AB  - Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) has been used to inactivate microorganisms
      through the use of photosensitizers and visible light. On the one hand, near
      infrared treatment (NIRT) has also bactericidal and dispersal effects on
      biofilms. In addition, dispersal biological tools such as enzymes have also been
      employed in antibiotic combination treatments. The aim of this work was to use
      alternative approaches to increase the PDI efficacy, employing combination
      therapies aimed at the partial disruption of the biofilms, thus potentially
      increasing photosensitizer or oxygen penetration and interaction with bacteria.
      To that end, we applied toluidine blue (TB)-PDI treatment to Staphylococcus
      aureus biofilms previously treated with NIRT or enzymes and investigated the
      outcome of the combined therapies. TB employed at 0.5 mM induced per se 2-log
      drop in S. aureus RN6390 biofilm viability. Each NIRT (980-nm laser) and PDI (635
      nm laser) treatment induced a further reduction of 1-log of viable counts. The
      combination of successive 980- and 635-nm laser treatments on TB-treated biofilms
      induced additive effects, leading to a 4.5-log viable count decrease. Proteinase
      K treatment applied to S. aureus of the Newman strain induced an additive effect
      on PDI mortality, leading to an overall 4-log decrease in S. aureus viability.
      Confocal scanning laser microscopy after biofilm staining with a fluorescent
      viability test and scanning electron microscopy observations were correlated with
      colony counts. The NIRT dose employed (227 J/cm2) led to an increase from 21 to
      47  degrees C in the buffer temperature of the biofilm system, and this NIRT dose
      also induced 100% keratinocyte death. Further work is needed to establish
      conditions under which biofilm dispersal occurs at lower NIRT doses.

PMID- 28612301
TI  - Erratum to: The clinical experience and efficacy of radiofrequency device for
      wrinkle treatment.

PMID- 28612300
TI  - Effects of photobiomodulation therapy on Bothrops moojeni snake-envenomed
      gastrocnemius of mice using enzymatic biomarkers.
AB  - Bothropic venom contains a range of biologically active substances capable of
      causing severe local and systemic envenoming symptomatology within its victims.
      The snake anti-venom is effective against systemic effects but has no
      neutralizing effect against the fast developing local effects. Herein, mice
      gastrocnemius injected with Bothrops moojeni venom (40 MUg/kg) or saline solution
      were irradiated with HeNe (632.8 nm) and GaAs (904 nm) lasers (daily energy
      density of 4 J/cm2; 0.03/0.21 power density; 0.07/0.16 spot size; 1.2/0.04 total
      energy, 1 cm off contact, for HeNe and GaAs lasers, respectively) and euthanized
      in periods ranging from 3 h to 21 days. Blood biochemistry for creatine kinase
      (CK), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (AP), lactate dehydrogenase
      (LDH), aspartate transaminase (AST), and myoglobin and histopathological
      analysis, for assessing the degree of myonecrosis and regeneration of
      gastrocnemius, were done at every time interval. GaAs laser promoted faster
      photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) effects, and the GaAs group exhibited a better
      clinical outcome than the HeNe group. Within the GaAs group, the serum levels of
      CK, LDH, AP, AST, and myoglobin, which were increased by the physiological
      effects of the venom, were reduced to initial baseline before snake envenomation
      in less time than those irradiated by the HeNe laser. However, the group
      receiving irradiation from the HeNe laser returned the levels of ALP activity to
      baseline faster than those of the GaAs group. Histopathological analysis revealed
      enhanced muscle regeneration in mice groups treated with both lasers. PBM
      promoted by GaAs and HeNe showed well-developed centrally nucleate regenerating
      cells and an increased number of newly formed blood vessels when compared to
      unirradiated muscle. We therefore suggest that GaAs had the best outcomes likely
      derived from a deeper penetrating longer wavelength. We conclude that PMBT is a
      promising, non-invasive approach to be further tested in pre-clinical studies
      with a goal to further its clinical use in skeletal muscle recovery in snakebite
      victims.

PMID- 28612302
TI  - A simplified lung ultrasound approach to detect increased extravascular lung
      water in critically ill patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The quantification of B-lines at lung ultrasonography is a valid tool
      to estimate the extravascular lung water (EVLW) in patients after major cardiac
      surgery. However, there is still uncertainty about the correlation between B
      lines and EVLW in a general population of critically ill. AIM: To evaluate a
      simplified lung ultrasonographic assessment as a tool to estimate the EVLW in
      critically ill patients admitted to a polyvalent intensive care unit (ICU).
      METHODS: Nineteen consecutive critically ill patients requiring mechanical
      ventilation and hemodynamic monitoring were enrolled. Lung ultrasonography and
      the thermodilution methodology (PiCCO system) were performed by two independent
      operators. The positive scan at lung ultrasound was defined by visualization of
      at least 3 B-lines. We then compared the number of chest areas positive for B
      lines with the EVLW index obtained by the invasive procedure. RESULTS: A
      significant correlation was found between the number of lung quadrants positive
      for B-lines and EVLW indexed using both actual body weight (rho = 0.612 p =
      0.0053) and predicted body weight (rho = 0.493 p = 0.032). Presence of more than
      3 positive lung quadrants showed a good performance in identifying an EVLW index
      value >10 ml/kg of actual body weight(area under the ROC 0.894; 95% CI 0.668
      0.987 p < 0.0001). Presence of of more than 4 positive lung quadrants indentified
      an EVLW index value >10 ml/kg of predicted body weight (area under the ROC 0.8;
      95% CI 0.556-0.945 p = 0.0048). CONCLUSION: A simplified lung ultrasound approach
      can by used as a reliable noninvasive bedside tool to predict EVLW in emergency
      and critically ill patients.

PMID- 28612303
TI  - Additive Proarrhythmic Effect of Combined Treatment with QT-Prolonging Agents.
AB  - Drug combinations may elevate the risk of proarrhythmia. The aim of the present
      study was to investigate whether combinations of non-cardiovascular agents induce
      an additive increase in the proarrhythmic risk. In 12 female rabbit hearts, a
      drug combination of cotrimoxazole (300 uM), ondansetron (5 uM) and domperidone (1
      uM) was infused after obtaining baseline data. In another 13 hearts, a
      combination of cotrimoxazole (300 uM), ondansetron (5 uM) and erythromycin (300
      uM) was infused. Monophasic action potentials and ECG displayed a significant QT
      prolongation in all groups. This was accompanied by a significant increase in
      action potential duration. Of note, addition of each drug resulted in a further
      increase in the QT interval. Furthermore, a significant elevation of spatial
      dispersion of repolarization was observed. Lowering of potassium concentration in
      bradycardic AV-blocked hearts provoked early afterdepolarizations and torsade de
      pointes (TDP) in both study groups. Under baseline conditions, no episodes of TDP
      recorded. After administration of the first agent, TDP occurred in 5 of 12 hearts
      (37 episodes) and 5 of 13 hearts (26 episodes), respectively. After additional
      infusion of the second drug, TDP were recorded in 7 of 12 hearts (55 episodes)
      and 8 of 13 hearts (111 episodes). After additional infusion of the third drug,
      TDP occurred in 11 of 12 hearts (118 episodes) and 9 of 13 hearts (88 episodes).
      Combined treatment with several non-cardiovascular QT-prolonging agents resulted
      in a remarkable occurrence of proarrhythmia. An additive and significant
      prolongation of cardiac repolarization combined with an increased spatial
      dispersion of repolarization represents the underlying electrophysiological
      mechanism.

PMID- 28612304
TI  - Cardiovascular Effects and Fatality May Differ According to the Formulation of
      Glyphosate Salt Herbicide.
AB  - This study aimed to compare adverse cardiovascular events and fatalities and to
      identify the risk factors for fatalities associated with the glyphosate salt
      herbicide formulation. Additionally, we examined whether glyphosate ammonium salt
      herbicides increased serum ammonia levels. One hundred forty-seven patients were
      divided into an ammonium group (glyphosate ammonium salt herbicide) and an
      isopropylamine (IPA) group (glyphosate IPA salt herbicide) according to the type
      of glyphosate salt formulation ingested. Although no differences in the variables
      were observed between the groups, the IPA group had more fatalities, a higher
      incidence of QTc prolongation and a higher tendency for PR prolongation than the
      ammonium group. Additionally, the IPA group required a longer duration of
      vasopressor administration. PR prolongation and age were independently associated
      with fatalities in glyphosate IPA salt poisoning cases in the multivariate
      regression. Serum ammonia levels were higher at presentation and decreased
      continuously during the first 48 h after presentation in the ammonium group. This
      study is the first to suggest potentially different toxicities, especially
      cardiovascular effects, of glyphosate herbicide poisoning in humans based on the
      glyphosate salt herbicide formulation and to determine the association between PR
      prolongation and fatality in glyphosate IPA salt herbicide poisoning cases.

PMID- 28612305
TI  - The Cardiovascular Effect of Single Injection and Toxicologic Effects of
      Repetitive 2-Week Intravenous Administration of Activin A/BMP-2 Chimera in Beagle
      Dog.
AB  - This study was performed for the purpose to evaluate the effect of activin A/BMP
      2 chimera (AB204) on cardiovascular system and toxicological effect in beagle
      dogs. When administered AB204 at the dose of 0.32 mg/kg via intravenous injection
      in beagle dogs, there were no changes in systolic, diastolic and mean blood
      pressure as well as in pulse rate, in addition that there were no differences in
      ORS complex, PR interval, R-R interval, QT interval and QTcV interval on the
      electrocardiography. Also, when administered AB204 at the doses of 0.25 and 0.5
      mg/kg/day via repetitive intravenous injection for 2 weeks, it did not cause any
      significant changes in general symptoms, weight, food intake, ophthalmologic
      abnormality, urine, hematology, serum biochemistry, organ weight and autopsy
      values. Therefore, AB204 did not affect cardiovascular functions including blood
      pressure, pulse rate and ECG, when administered at the dose of <=0.32 mg/kg via
      single intravenous injection in male beagle dogs. When it was administered at the
      dose of 0.5 mg/kg repetitive intravenous injection for 2 weeks, it did not show
      any toxicity.

PMID- 28612306
TI  - Bone density and body composition in newly licenced professional jockeys.
AB  - : The primary objective is the description of bone mineral density (BMD) and body
      composition in newly licensed jockeys. One in three male, flat jockeys has a very
      low bone mineral density. Further research is needed to assess the short-term
      risk of fractures and long-term health implications of these findings.
      INTRODUCTION: Describe bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition in entry
      level male and female, flat and jump jockeys in Great Britain. METHODS: Data was
      collected on jockeys applying for a professional jockey license between 2013 and
      2015. Areal BMD at the spine, femoral neck (FN), total hip and body composition
      were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan. We examined
      differences between BMD and body composition by gender and race type (flat or
      jump). Volumetric bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) of the spine and FN was
      also calculated to account for group differences in bone size. RESULTS: Seventy
      nine male flat jockeys (age 18.5 +/- 1.9, BMI 19.0 +/- 1.4), 69 male jump (age
      20.7 +/- 2.0, BMI 20.6 +/- 1.3) and 37 female flat jockeys (age 19.3 +/- 2.0, BMI
      20.8 +/- 1.7) took part in this study. Spine BMD Z-scores <=-2 for male flat,
      male jump and female flat jockeys were 29, 13 and 2.7%, respectively. Spine BMD
      was lower in male than female flat jockeys (p<0.001). All BMD scores were lower
      in male flat compared to male jump jockeys (p<0.001). Body fat percent (BF %) was
      lower in male flat jockeys compared to male jump and female flat jockeys
      (p<0.05). Lean mass index (LMI) was lower in male flat compared to male jump
      jockeys (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Male flat jockeys had a significantly lower BMD,
      LMI and BF% compared to jump jockeys and female flat jockeys. Male flat jockeys
      had lower spine BMD scores than females. Individual bone maturation may influence
      these findings. Further investigation into the relevance of low BMD and altered
      body composition on jockey health is required.

PMID- 28612308
TI  - Comparison of good days and sick days of school-age children with cancer
      reflected through their drawings.
AB  - PURPOSE: Childhood cancer disrupts children's daily life experiences. Eliciting
      children's perspectives regarding their life experiences during cancer treatment
      can be challenging. The purpose of this study was to characterize elementary
      school-age children's "good days" and "sick days" through their drawings.
      METHODS: This study used draw-and-tell interviews, a developmentally sensitive
      arts-based technique that supports children's recall and communication of
      information, facilitating a deeper understanding of children's personal
      interpretation and meaning of a given phenomenon of interest. Children were asked
      to draw pictures representing both a "good day" and a "sick day." Following
      completion of each drawing, research team members used a semi-structured
      interview guide to elicit children's explanations of their pictures. Content
      analysis techniques were used to descriptively characterize children's drawings
      followed by thematic analysis to identify commonalities. RESULTS: Participants
      were 27 children 6.33-12.83 years of age (mean 9.16 years; SD = 1.9) receiving
      treatment for cancer. "Good day" and "sick day" pictures were similar with
      regards to the presence of the child, the inclusion of other individuals, and the
      type of art medium used. Children's pictures characterized "good days" as being
      happy, outside in sunny weather, and engaged in activities. In contrast, "sick
      days" were characterized as feeling sad, lying down or reclining, and
      experiencing illness-related symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Children's drawings
      illustrate their capacity to provide rich personal data related to their "good
      days" and "sick days." Incorporating arts-based strategies in the clinical
      setting may provide a child-centric strategy to understand the child's
      perspective and direct interventions.

PMID- 28612309
TI  - Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis-should we use ICSI for all?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is commonly used during pre
      implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in vitro fertilization (IVF), aiming to
      eliminate the risk of contamination from extraneous sperm DNA. Recently, ICSI
      "overuse" in non-male infertility has been doubted, since it does not offer an
      advantage over IVF. Prompted by the aforementioned observations, we sought to
      assess the accuracy of IVF vs ICSI in PGD cases, as might be reflected by a
      difference in the prevalence of discarded embryos as a consequent of parental
      contamination. METHODS: Cohort-historical study of all consecutive patients
      admitted to the IVF-PGD program in a large tertiary center. The percentages of
      complete, incomplete diagnosis, PCR failure, abnormal embryos, and the
      contamination rate with paternal DNA in the IVF-only and the ICSI-only groups. We
      reviewed the computerized files of all consecutive women admitted to our IVF for
      a PGD-PCR cycle. Patients were divided accordingly into three groups: an IVF
      group-where all the oocytes underwent IVF only, an ICSI group-where all oocytes
      underwent ICSI, and a mixed group-where sibling oocytes underwent both IVF and
      ICSI. The laboratory data and the genetic diagnostic results were collected and
      compared between the different insemination groups. RESULTS: Nine-hundred and
      twenty-seven patients underwent IVF-PGD cycles in our program, 315 in the IVF
      group, 565 in the ICSI group, and 47 in the mixed group. No differences were
      observed in fertilization rates, the percentage of embryos available for biopsy,
      and the percentages of complete, incomplete diagnosis, PCR failure, or abnormal
      embryos, between the IVF-only and the ICSI-only groups and between the IVF and
      the ICSI of sibling oocytes in the mixed group. Moreover, contamination with
      paternal DNA, through contamination with sperm cells, was negligible. Not one
      single case of misdiagnosis was encountered during the study period. CONCLUSION:
      It might be therefore concluded that IVF should be the preferred insemination
      methods in PGD cycles, and ICSI should be indicated only in cases of male-factor
      infertility.

PMID- 28612307
TI  - Atypical subtrochanteric fractures in Korean hip fracture study.
AB  - : In Korean, atypical subtrochanteric fractures (ASF) were rare. Higher BMI and
      use of bisphosphonate were significant risk factors of ASF. INTRODUCTION:
      Recently, ASF have been reported to increase among patients on bisphosphonate.
      However, the incidence of ASF and the association between ASF and bisphosphonate
      use have not been well defined in Asian population. Our purposes are (1) to
      estimate the proportion of ASF among Korean patients with proximal femur fracture
      and (2) to determine the associated risk factors of ASF in the Korean patients.
      METHODS: We conducted a multicenter (16 academic hospitals), prospective Korean
      hip fracture study on hip fracture in a cohort of patients aged 50 years or older
      from South Korea between July 2014 and May 2016. As a part of Korean hip fracture
      study, primary analysis examined the proportion of ASF among proximal femur
      fracture. To identify ASF, according to the definition by ASBMR task force, all
      radiographs of subtrochanteric fracture were reviewed. Associated risk factors
      for occurrence of ASF were also evaluated by using multivariable logistic
      regression analysis. RESULTS: Among 1361 patients with proximal femoral fractures
      due to low-energy trauma, 17 fractures (1.2%) were identified as ASF. Higher BMI
      and use of bisphosphonate before injury were independent risk factors of ASF.
      CONCLUSION: In Korean, ASF were rare. Higher BMI and use of bisphosphonate were
      significant risk factors of ASF.

PMID- 28612310
TI  - Histological and biochemical biomarkers analysis reveal strong toxicological
      impacts of pollution in hybrid sparrow (Passer domesticus * Passer
      hispaniolensis) in southern Tunisia.
AB  - Environmental pollution is a great concern worldwide. Our aim was to investigate
      the histopathological injuries and oxidative stress induced by exposure to
      contaminants in liver tissues of hybrid sparrows (Passer domesticus * Passer
      hispaniolensis) living in Gabes city, which is one of the most polluted hot spot
      in Tunisia. Our results show evidence of a pronounced impairment in liver
      function which is confirmed by histopathological changes as well as remarkable
      blood chemical alterations in sparrows living near the Gabes-Ghannouche factory
      complex of phosphate treatment. Moreover, a significant decrease in the hepatic
      activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) was observed in birds
      from Ghannouche when compared to other distant areas. Our study revealed also a
      significant increase in the liver levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive
      substances (TBARS), in sparrows living in Ghannouche, indicating oxidative damage
      to membrane lipids. Overall, our results suggest that the hybrid sparrow offers a
      suitable model for biomonitoring programs of atmosphere pollutants and the
      selected biomarkers may function as useful tool to evaluate the effects of
      pollutants on living organisms.

PMID- 28612311
TI  - A market modeling review study on predicting Malaysian consumer behavior towards
      widespread adoption of PHEV/EV.
AB  - With the rising concern about climate change, there has been an increased public
      awareness that has resulted in new government policies to support scientific
      research for mitigating these problems. Malaysia is among the major energy
      intense countries and is under an excessive burden to advance its energy
      efficiency and to also work towards the reduction of its carbon emission. Plug-in
      hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have the potential to lessen the carbon emission
      and gasoline consumption in order to alleviate environmental problems. Most of
      the energy problems linked to the increasing transportation pollution are now
      being reduced with the solution of the adoption of PHEVs. PHEVs are seen as a
      solution to cut carbon emission, which prevents environmental damages.
      Furthermore, PHEVs' driving range and performance can be comparable to the other
      hybrid vehicles as well as the conventional IC engines that have gasoline and
      diesel tanks. Thus, many efforts are being initiated to promote the use of PHEVs
      as an innovative and affordable transportation system. In order to achieve making
      the consumers aware of the adoption of PHEVs, we used a model which is based on
      the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). This review is based on the
      factors affecting the adoption of PHEVs among Malaysian consumers. The model
      takes into account the ten key features that influence the adoption of PHEVs,
      such as environmental concern, personal norm, attitude, vehicle ownership costs,
      driving range, charging time, intention, subjective norm, perceived behavioral
      control, and personal norm. All these constructs are drivers towards the adoption
      of PHEVs. These factors affect the relationship between the adoption of PHEVs and
      how consumers intend to protect the environment. This review is based on
      improving how the "attitude-action" gap is understood as it is an important
      element for further studies on PHEVs. The aim of the research is to come up with
      a framework that examines how to modify the consumer's environmental concerns in
      acquiring PHEVs. This will pave the way for more academic research and future
      works that can emphasize how to obtain empirical results. The authors'
      recommendation is that, before a consumer's behavior is assessed and considered,
      an observation of the current technology is needed with methods and knowledge of
      the existing technology adoption aspect.

PMID- 28612312
TI  - Chemical and microbial characteristics of municipal drinking water supply systems
      in the Canadian Arctic.
AB  - Drinking water in the vast Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut is sourced from
      surface water lakes or rivers and transferred to man-made or natural reservoirs.
      The raw water is at a minimum treated by chlorination and distributed to
      customers either by trucks delivering to a water storage tank inside buildings or
      through a piped distribution system. The objective of this study was to
      characterize the chemical and microbial drinking water quality from source to tap
      in three hamlets (Coral Harbour, Pond Inlet and Pangnirtung-each has a population
      of <2000) on trucked service, and in Iqaluit (population ~6700), which uses a
      combination of trucked and piped water conveyance. Generally, the source and
      drinking water was of satisfactory microbial quality, containing Escherichia coli
      levels of <1 MPN/100 mL with a few exceptions, and selected pathogenic bacteria
      and parasites were below detection limits using quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction (qPCR) methods. Tap water in households receiving trucked water
      contained less than the recommended 0.2 mg/L of free chlorine, while piped
      drinking water in Iqaluit complied with Health Canada guidelines for residual
      chlorine (i.e. >0.2 mg/L free chlorine). Some buildings in the four communities
      contained manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and/or lead (Pb) concentrations
      above Health Canada guideline values for the aesthetic (Mn, Cu and Fe) and health
      (Pb) objectives. Corrosion of components of the drinking water distribution
      system (household storage tanks, premise plumbing) could be contributing to Pb,
      Cu and Fe levels, as the source water in three of the four communities had low
      alkalinity. The results point to the need for robust disinfection, which may
      include secondary disinfection or point-of-use disinfection, to prevent microbial
      risks in drinking water tanks in buildings and ultimately at the tap.

PMID- 28612313
TI  - Enhancement of simultaneous algicidal and denitrification of immobilized
      Acinetobacter sp. J25 with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
AB  - In this study, immobilization technique was employed to improve simultaneous
      algicidal and denitrification of immobilized Acinetobacter sp. J25 with magnetic
      Fe3O4 in eutrophic landscape water. After 7 days of operation, the maximum
      superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (54.43 U mg-1), nitrate removal efficiency
      (100% (0.2127 mg L-1 h-1)), and chlorophyll-a removal efficiency (89.71%) were
      obtained from the immobilized J25 with magnetic Fe3O4. The results suggest that
      immobilized J25 with magnetic Fe3O4 had better nitrogen removal efficiency and
      algicidal activity in eutrophic landscape water. High-throughput sequencing data
      profiled the strain J25 that was immobilized with magnetic Fe3O4 which changed
      the composition of the microbial community. The results indicated a novel concept
      of enhancing the algicidal and denitrification property of immobilized bacteria
      with magnetic Fe3O4 in eutrophic landscape water.

PMID- 28612314
TI  - Degradation of metaldehyde in water by nanoparticle catalysts and powdered
      activated carbon.
AB  - Metaldehyde, an organic pesticide widely used in the UK, has been detected in
      drinking water in the UK with a low concentration (<1 MUg L-1) which is still
      above the European and UK standard requirements. This paper investigates the
      efficiency of four materials: powdered activated carbon (PAC) and carbon-doped
      titanium dioxide nanocatalyst with different concentrations of carbon (C-1.5, C
      40, and C-80) for metaldehyde removal from aqueous solutions by adsorption and
      oxidation via photocatalysis. PAC was found to be the most effective material
      which showed almost over 90% removal. Adsorption data were well fitted to the
      Langmuir isotherm model, giving a q m (maximum/saturation adsorption capacity)
      value of 32.258 mg g-1 and a K L (Langmuir constant) value of 2.013 L mg-1. In
      terms of kinetic study, adsorption of metaldehyde by PAC fitted well with a
      pseudo-second-order equation, giving the adsorption rate constant k 2 value of
      0.023 g mg-1 min-1, implying rapid adsorption. The nanocatalysts were much less
      effective in oxidising metaldehyde than PAC with the same metaldehyde
      concentration and 0.2 g L-1 loading concentration of materials under UV light;
      the maximum removal achieved by carbon-doped titanium dioxide (C-1.5)
      nanocatalyst was around 15% for a 7.5 ppm metaldehyde solution. Graphical
      abstract ?.

PMID- 28612315
TI  - The differential diagnosis of parotid gland tumors with high-resolution
      ultrasound in otolaryngological practice.
AB  - The aim of the study is to define the utility of ultrasound (US) in
      differentiating benign from malignant parotid tumors as well as pleomorphic
      adenomas (PA) from monomorphic adenoma (MA). Seventy-two consecutive parotid
      gland tumors were analysed with high-resolution ultrasonography (12 MHz) with
      color Doppler imagining. The histopathological diagnosis was confirmed after
      parotidectomy for each lesion. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive
      predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for the US were
      established. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to
      determine the predictive values of echogenicity, heterogeneity, and vascularity
      on color Doppler. Area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for each parameter
      considered. The analysed material included 27 MA, 26 PA, 1 basal cell adenoma, 8
      inflammatory conditions, and 10 malignant neoplasms. The sensitivity,
      specificity, and accuracy of US in differentiation of malignant from benign
      lesions in the parotid gland were 60, 95.2, and 90.3%, respectively. The
      predictive values were: PPV 66.8% and NPV 93.6%. Differentiating diagnoses
      between PA and MA with US resulted in a sensitivity of 61.5%, specificity of
      81.5%, and accuracy of 73.1%. The predictive values were: PPV 50% and NPV 68.8%,
      respectively. For distinguishing malignant from benign tumors, the highest AUC
      values noted were for heterogeneity and vascularization (0.8 and 0.743,
      respectively). The AUC values were the highest for hypoechogenicity and
      vascularization in separating PA from MA (0.718 and 0.685, respectively).

PMID- 28612316
TI  - In reference to 'Therapeutic efficacy of azithromycin and acetylcysteine in
      chronic otitis media with effusion'.

PMID- 28612317
TI  - eHealth in otorhinolaryngology: patients' perspectives and drug induced sedation
      endoscopy.

PMID- 28612318
TI  - Somatosensory Neuron Typing with High-Coverage Single-Cell RNA Sequencing and
      Functional Analysis.
AB  - Different physical and chemical stimuli are detected by the peripheral sensory
      receptors of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, and the generated inputs are
      transmitted via afferent fibers into the central nervous system. The gene
      expression profiles of DRG neurons contribute to the generation, transmission,
      and regulation of various somatosensory signals. Recently, the single-cell
      transcriptomes, cell types, and functional annotations of somatosensory neurons
      have been studied. In this review, we introduce our classification of DRG neurons
      based on single-cell RNA-sequencing and functional analyses, and discuss the
      technical approaches. Moreover, studies on the molecular and cellular mechanisms
      underlying somatic sensations are discussed.

PMID- 28612320
TI  - Scrub typhus causing neonatal hepatitis with acute liver failure-A case series.
AB  - Neonatal hepatitis with acute liver failure due to varied etiology including
      various infections is reported in the past. Scrub typhus as a cause of neonatal
      hepatitis has rarely been reported in literature. A high index of clinical
      suspicion is required for early diagnosis and timely treatment. Severity and
      prognosis of the disease varies widely because several different strains of
      Orientia tsutsugamushi exist with different virulence. Delayed diagnosis can
      result in complication and significant morbidity and mortality. Here, we report
      three cases of neonatal hepatitis with acute liver failure caused by scrub typhus
      to increase awareness.

PMID- 28612319
TI  - Involvement of NF-kappaB and the CX3CR1 Signaling Network in Mechanical Allodynia
      Induced by Tetanic Sciatic Stimulation.
AB  - Tetanic stimulation of the sciatic nerve (TSS) triggers long-term potentiation in
      the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and long-lasting pain hypersensitivity. CX3CL1
      CX3CR1 signaling is an important pathway in neuronal-microglial activation.
      Nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a key signal transduction molecule that
      regulates neuroinflammation and neuropathic pain. Here, we set out to determine
      whether and how NF-kappaB and CX3CR1 are involved in the mechanism underlying the
      pathological changes induced by TSS. After unilateral TSS, significant bilateral
      mechanical allodynia was induced, as assessed by the von Frey test. The
      expression of phosphorylated NF-kappaB (pNF-kappaB) and CX3CR1 was significantly
      up-regulated in the bilateral dorsal horn. Immunofluorescence staining
      demonstrated that pNF-kappaB and NeuN co-existed, implying that the NF-kappaB
      pathway is predominantly activated in neurons following TSS. Administration of
      either the NF-kappaB inhibitor ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate or a CX3CR1
      neutralizing antibody blocked the development and maintenance of neuropathic
      pain. In addition, blockade of NF-kappaB down-regulated the expression of CX3CL1
      CX3CR1 signaling, and conversely the CX3CR1-neutralizing antibody also down
      regulated pNF-kappaB. These findings suggest an involvement of NF-kappaB and the
      CX3CR1 signaling network in the development and maintenance of TSS-induced
      mechanical allodynia. Our work suggests the potential clinical application of NF
      kappaB inhibitors or CX3CR1-neutralizing antibodies in treating pathological
      pain.

PMID- 28612321
TI  - The changing shape of the ISCEV standard pattern onset VEP.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pattern onset VEPs do not always show distinct C1-C2-C3 peaks and
      troughs. Our purpose was to study changes in pattern onset VEP with age to
      determine when the illustrated ISCEV standard onset VEP waveform can be reliably
      recorded. METHODS: We recorded pattern onset VEPs from an Oz electrode referred
      to mid-frontal electrode according to ISCEV standards by presenting checks of 60'
      and 15' side length in a 15 degrees  field. Twenty-four adults aged 20-63 years
      participated. Amplitudes and latencies were collated. Pattern onset adult VEP
      shapes were compared to the waveform published in the ISCEV VEP standard and to
      paediatric pattern onset VEP waveforms recorded from 16 infants aged 7 months.
      RESULTS: The shape of the pattern onset VEP changed gradually with age. The C1-C2
      C3 morphology of the ISCEV standard pattern onset VEP becomes apparent
      consistently after 40 years to 60' check stimulation. As age increases a negative
      trough, C2 is more frequently seen; however, the broad positive peak which
      characterises infant onset VEPs may still be recorded at 20 years. The group
      median measurements of onset VEPs to 60' were C1 7 uV@ 88 ms (range 67-110 ms),
      C2 9 uV@109 ms (range 89-158 ms) and C3 13 uV@121-246 ms. To smaller 15' checks,
      peak latencies were earlier and C2 became more obvious. The group median measures
      of onset VEPs to 15' were C1 2 uV@69 ms (55-108 ms), C2 10 uV@90 ms (77-145 ms)
      and C3 14 uV@122 ms (99-200 ms). CONCLUSION: The ISCEV standard onset VEP best
      describes the waveform configuration and latency of the onset VEP produced by 60'
      checks in adults of more than 40 years of age. The onset VEP waveform produced by
      15' checks is distinguished by more prominent negative C2 and earlier C1 and C2
      latencies.

PMID- 28612322
TI  - Integrative assessment of sediment quality in lower basin affected by former
      mining in Brazil.
AB  - The Ribeira de Iguape River (Southeast Brazil) is metal contaminated by mining
      activities. Despite it has been cataloged as "in via of restoration" by the
      literature, this basin is still a sink of pollution in some segments of the
      fluvial system. This study aimed to assess the sediment quality in the lower part
      of the RIR basin. The employed approach was based on biological responses of the
      freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea after 7-day exposure bioassays using as the
      reference site the Pereque Ecological Park. Toxic responses (burial activity and
      lethality) and biochemical biomarkers (GST, GR, GPx, LPO, MTs, AChE and DNA
      damage) were evaluated and then integrated with metal bioavailability and
      chemical concentrations to address the sediment quality in the area through the
      weight-of-evidence approach. A multivariate analysis identified linkages between
      biological responses and contamination. Results pointed that, despite being below
      the benchmarks of the US Environmental Protection Agency, there is slight metal
      contamination in the lower part of the basin which induces oxidative stress in C.
      fluminea; other toxic responses were sometimes attributed to As and Cr
      bioaccumulation. The sediment quality values (TEL-PEL values in mg/kg) were
      calculated for the current study for As (0.63-1.31), Cr (3.5-11.05), Cs (1.0
      1.17), Cu (6.32-7.32), Ni (6.78-7.46), Ti (42.0-215), V (1.77-8.00). By
      comparison with other international guidelines, the sediment quality of the lower
      basin of the Vale de Ribeira does not identify a significant environmental risk.

PMID- 28612323
TI  - Risk assessment and outcomes of vasoplegia after cardiac surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors and outcomes of
      vasoplegia after cardiac surgery based on our experience with almost 2000 cardiac
      operations performed at our institution. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed
      patients who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) between
      2011 and 2013. Data were available for a total of 1992 patients. We defined
      vasoplegia as hypotension with persistently low systemic vascular resistance
      (<800 dyn/s/cm) and preserved Cardiac Index (>2.5). RESULTS: The rate of
      vasoplegia in our cohort was 20.3% (n = 405). The incidences of mild, moderate,
      and severe vasoplegia were 13.2, 5.7, and 1.5%, respectively. Factors that
      increased risk of vasoplegia included valve operations, heart transplants,
      dialysis-dependent renal failure, age >65, diuretic therapy, and recent
      myocardial infarction. B blocker therapy was protective against vasoplegia.
      CONCLUSION: Vasoplegic syndrome is still a frequently occurring adverse event
      following cardiac surgery. In high risk patients for vasoplegia, it may be
      sensible to proceed with preoperative volume loading (instead of diuresis),
      initiation of low dose vasopressin therapy if needed, and attempting to up
      titrate beta-blocker therapy.

PMID- 28612324
TI  - Assessing the Feasibility and Effectiveness of an App in Improving Knowledge on
      Oral Cancer-an Interventional Study.
AB  - Although current oral health care initiatives have proved to be quite successful,
      a great number of individuals are unaware of how their choice of daily activities
      compromises their oral health. That is why newer technologies like WhatsApp can
      definitely serve as a platform to communicate dental advice, thereby
      strengthening the bridge between health and technology. The objective of the
      study was to assess the effectiveness of WhatsApp as a tool for providing health
      education on tobacco and oral cancer as compared to the conventional health
      education via PowerPoint. The study was a cluster randomized controlled trial,
      single-center study. The students of 18-24 years of age with WhatsApp application
      active in their mobile phones were included. Four classes with 182 students were
      randomly divided into intervention and control groups. Control group received
      health education on oral cancer using a PowerPoint presentation weekly, for a
      total of 4 weeks. Intervention group received health education through WhatsApp
      messaging thrice a week for 4 weeks. Pre- and post-health education knowledge
      scores were assessed using a questionnaire and compared using unpaired and paired
      two-sample t tests. Statistically significant increase in knowledge scores was
      seen in both groups, with highly significant improvement in the intervention
      group (p value = 0.00). Intergroup comparison showed no significant difference in
      knowledge scores at baseline, but a significant difference in post intervention
      knowledge scores (t = -15.05 p<0.001) WhatsApp can be a more effective tool for
      providing dental education on tobacco and oral cancer as compared to conventional
      audio-visual aids.

PMID- 28612325
TI  - Stages of Change for Mammography Among Mexican Women and a Decisional Balance
      Comparison Across Countries.
AB  - An analysis of the adoption of secondary preventive behaviors is significant in
      regions with disparities in mammography use and breast cancer survival.
      Therefore, we determined the cognitive factors and the degree to which they
      differentiate stages of change in mammography among Mexican women. We also
      compared the decisional balance performance at Mexico, Switzerland, South Korea,
      and the USA. A cross-sectional study was designed for women in the stages of
      precontemplation (n = 240), contemplation (n = 243), action (n = 205),
      maintenance (n = 311), and relapse (n = 348). We only considered those >=40 years
      with no cancer history. We measured the pros, cons, and self-efficacy, among
      other components. The decisional balance was estimated, and the result was
      transformed into T-scores. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI)
      were estimated with multinomial logistic regression using precontemplation as the
      reference group. The decisional balance distinguished stages partially: in
      contemplation, the OR was 1.26 (95%CI 1.08, 1.47) and in maintenance, 1.34 (95%CI
      1.13, 1.59); in action and relapse, the statistical significance was marginal (p
      < 0.10). The decisional balance T-score performance registered variations among
      countries. Additionally, the effect of self-efficacy progressively ascended from
      contemplation to action and maintenance (OR = 1.29 [95%CI 1.05, 1.58], 1.53
      [95%CI 1.20, 1.96], and 2.48 [95%CI 1.82, 3.39], respectively). Furthermore, risk
      perception and severity did not have an effect on stages of change among Mexican
      women. Recognition of what provokes action in a population is a key factor in the
      efficacy of screening programs. Variations among countries highlight the
      necessity for importance of investigating cognitive determinants for mammography
      in specific areas.

PMID- 28612326
TI  - Protecting aquatic biodiversity in Europe: How much do EU environmental policies
      support ecosystem-based management?
AB  - The sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems requires better coordination
      between policies span-ning freshwater, coastal and marine environments. Ecosystem
      based management (EBM) has been promoted as a holistic and integrative approach
      for the safekeeping and protection of aquatic biodiversity. The paper assesses
      the degree to which key European environmental policies for the aquatic
      environment, namely the Birds and Habitats Directives, Water Framework Directive
      and Marine Strategy Framework Directive, individually support EBM and can work
      synergistically to implement EBM. This assessment is based on a review of legal
      texts, EU guidance and implementation documents. The paper concludes that EBM can
      be made operational by implementing these key environmental directives.
      Opportunities for improving the integration of EU environmental policies are
      highlighted.

PMID- 28612327
TI  - The J-shaped Curve for Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Historical
      Context and Recent Updates.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The definition and treatment of hypertension have both changed
      dramatically over the last century, with recent trials suggesting benefit for
      lower blood pressure (BP) targets than ever before considered. However, tempering
      the enthusiasm for more intensive BP targets are long-held concerns that BP
      reduction below a certain threshold may pose dangers, the so-called "J-curve." In
      this review, we summarize the evidence for a J-curve in the treatment of
      hypertension. RECENT FINDINGS: The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial
      (SPRINT) reported that achieving a systolic BP target of 120 mmHg reduces
      cardiovascular disease in high-risk individuals, supporting more intensive BP
      reduction. However, contemporary observational studies consistently demonstrate a
      BP J-curve, the threshold of which is often close to the SPRINT target. Studies
      also suggest that the BP level of this J-curve may vary based on patient
      characteristics, including age and comorbidities. There is also more compelling
      evidence for the specific presence of a J-curve between diastolic BP and coronary
      events, in contrast to conflicting evidence of a J-curve with systolic BP and
      cardiovascular disease more generally. There is increased risk of coronary events
      below a diastolic BP of 60-70 mmHg. In comparison, the presence of a systolic J
      curve is less clear and some persons at high risk may actually benefit from
      systolic levels down to 120 mmHg. Therefore, we suggest a personalized approach
      to BP management considering individual risks, benefits, and preferences when
      choosing therapeutic targets. Further, well-designed studies are required to
      support our suggestions and to define J-curve thresholds more clearly.

PMID- 28612328
TI  - Antidepressant Actions of Ketamine Mediated by the Mechanistic Target of
      Rapamycin, Nitric Oxide, and Rheb.
AB  - The weeks/months it takes for traditional antidepressants to act pose an obstacle
      in the management of depression. Ketamine's prompt and sustained antidepressant
      effects constitute a major advance. Multiple studies implicate glutamatergic
      signaling to protein synthesis machinery and synapse formation in ketamine's
      antidepressant effects. Here we review evidence linking ketamine to glutamate
      receptor subtypes and protein homeostasis. We describe a signaling cascade
      wherein nitric oxide drives the formation of a ternary protein complex comprised
      of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, seven in absentia homolog 1, and Ras
      homolog enriched in brain downstream of the glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate
      receptor. Seven in absentia homolog 1 ubiquitylates and degrades Ras homolog
      enriched in brain leading to inhibition of mechanistic target of rapamycin.
      Ketamine inhibits this molecular cascade leading to activation of mechanistic
      target of rapamycin and, in turn, to antidepressant actions.

PMID- 28612329
TI  - Causes of childhood blindness in Ghana: results from a blind school survey in
      Upper West Region, Ghana, and review of the literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: Data on childhood blindness in Ghana are limited. The objectives of this
      study were to determine the major causes of childhood blindness and severe visual
      impairment (SVI) at Wa Methodist School for the Blind in Northern Ghana, and to
      compare our results to those published from other studies conducted in Ghana.
      METHODS: In this retrospective study, data from an eye screening at Wa Methodist
      School in November 2014 were coded according to the World Health
      Organization/Prevention of Blindness standardized reporting methodology. Causes
      of blindness/SVI were categorized anatomically and etiologically, and were
      compared to previously published studies. RESULTS: Of 190 students screened, the
      major anatomical causes of blindness/SVI were corneal scar/phthisis bulbi (CS/PB)
      (n = 28, 15%) and optic atrophy (n = 23, 12%). The major etiological causes of
      blindness/SVI were unknown (n = 114, 60%). Eighty-three (44%) students became
      blind before age one year. Of four published blind school surveys conducted in
      Ghana, CS/PB was the most common anatomical cause of childhood blindness. Over
      time, the prevalence of CS/PB within blind schools decreased in the north and
      increased in the south. Measles-associated visual loss decreased from 52% in 1987
      to 10% in 2014 at Wa Methodist School. CONCLUSIONS: In a blind school in northern
      Ghana, CS/PB was the major anatomical cause of childhood blindness/SVI. While
      CS/PB has been the most common anatomical cause of childhood blindness reported
      in Ghana, there may be regional changes in its prevalence over time. Being able
      to identify regional differences may guide future public health strategies to
      target specific causes.

PMID- 28612330
TI  - Endothelial cell changes after photorefractive keratectomy with graded usage of
      mitomycin C.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare differences in the endothelial cells before and after
      photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for myopia with refractive error graded
      mitomycin C (MMC) application. METHODS: In a prospective randomized clinical
      trial, forty-eight myopic patients referred to Khatam-al-Anbia Eye Hospital,
      Mashhad, Iran, for PRK. Patients were treated with PRK by a Bausch and Lomb
      Technolas 217z excimer laser (Bausch and Lomb, Rochester, NY). MMC was applied
      after PRK 5 s for each diopter of spherical equivalent myopic refractive error
      corrected. The manifest refraction, visual acuity, MMC treatment length, corneal
      pachymetry and specular microscopy were evaluated preoperatively and at 1 and 6
      months postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 48 cases (96 eyes, 68.75% female)
      were treated, with a mean age of 26.70 +/- 4.89 years (range, 18-34 years).
      Postoperative cell density, cell size and polymegathism did not significantly
      change. On the other hand, standard deviation (SD) of cell size (P = 0.008),
      pleomorphism (P = 0.003) and coefficient of variation (CV) (P = 0.016) were
      significantly increased. None of these parameters was related to the length of
      MMC application. Corneal thickness decreased significantly after the operation
      but it increased 6 months postoperatively compared with the first month (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: MMC application for PRK in myopia can affect the endothelial
      cells, but in early follow-ups, it does not affect the cell density or size. Cell
      size was changed but it was obvious not in mean cell size, but in SD and CV. MMC
      time below the 30 s was not significant on endothelial cell changes.

PMID- 28612331
TI  - Isolation and characterization of trophoblasts from enzymatic explants of human
      term placenta.
AB  - In the present study, we describe a new method of isolation and culture of human
      villous and extravillous trophoblasts from term placenta. The cultivation of
      trypsinized placental villous tissue explants, followed by the isolation of cells
      from outgrowth islets allows for obtaining a cytotrophoblast subpopulation that
      is free from contamination by other cell types. Compared to other methods, our
      protocol is mild, simple and effective, does not request costly reagents and
      provides isolation of the mononuclear cytotrophoblast cell populations free from
      contamination by other types of placental cells. The isolated cells proliferated
      and formed a pleomorphic monolayer, where cells fused into a small number of
      binuclear or polynuclear syncytiotrophoblasts. Isolated cytotrophoblast cells
      expressed the specific epithelial intermediate filament cytokeratin 7 (CK7), the
      epithelium-specific cell-cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin and were CD9-, CD45-
      and vimentin-negative. Cyto- and syncytiotrophoblasts obtained by this method can
      be used as a model or tool for the fundamental research of differentiation and
      function of human placental cells, and can provide a new understanding of drug
      distribution in placenta. Their combination with other in vitro cell models can
      be useful for studying a variety of other aspects concerning placental functions,
      which will provide new knowledge for understanding immunology, endocrinology and
      development of placenta.

PMID- 28612333
TI  - Erratum to: Inter-comparison of remote sensing-based shoreline mapping techniques
      at different coastal stretches of India.

PMID- 28612332
TI  - Cocaine-Levamisole-Induced Vasculitis/Vasculopathy Syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To understand the clinical spectrum of cocaine-levamisole
      induced vasculitis. Worldwide recreational drug consumption is high among the
      adult population from various social strata. The use of cocaine with levamisole,
      a frequently added antiparasitic diluent, favors the manifestations of vasculitic
      lesions, especially in the skin. RECENT FINDINGS: New insights into immunological
      mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. There are still many
      unknown aspects in the pathogenesis of this disease, such as the immune system
      interaction with p-ANCAs and the release of inflammatory NETs (neutrophil
      extracellular traps), which are the origin of auto-antigens and tissue damage,
      manifesting as vasculitic purpura on the skin. The clinical presentation
      constitutes a challenge for the clinician to be able to distinguish it from small
      vessel vasculitides. This paper intends to improve the understanding of this
      condition, exhibiting the broad clinical spectrum of local and systemic
      manifestations of cocaine-levamisole-induced vasculitis, to facilitate a timely
      diagnosis, in order to take corrective measures and avoid sequelae, along with
      tissue damage and the consequent deformities and permanent scars.

PMID- 28612334
TI  - Water quality assessment with hierarchical cluster analysis based on Mahalanobis
      distance.
AB  - Water quality assessment is crucial for assessment of marine eutrophication,
      prediction of harmful algal blooms, and environment protection. Previous studies
      have developed many numeric modeling methods and data driven approaches for water
      quality assessment. The cluster analysis, an approach widely used for grouping
      data, has also been employed. However, there are complex correlations between
      water quality variables, which play important roles in water quality assessment
      but have always been overlooked. In this paper, we analyze correlations between
      water quality variables and propose an alternative method for water quality
      assessment with hierarchical cluster analysis based on Mahalanobis distance.
      Further, we cluster water quality data collected form coastal water of Bohai Sea
      and North Yellow Sea of China, and apply clustering results to evaluate its water
      quality. To evaluate the validity, we also cluster the water quality data with
      cluster analysis based on Euclidean distance, which are widely adopted by
      previous studies. The results show that our method is more suitable for water
      quality assessment with many correlated water quality variables. To our
      knowledge, it is the first attempt to apply Mahalanobis distance for coastal
      water quality assessment.

PMID- 28612335
TI  - Monitoring of a mixed land use catchment for pollutant source characterisation.
AB  - Protection of surface water quality is a key driver in catchment management,
      particularly for areas undergoing land use change. Changing land use can result
      in the input of a range of pollutants to surface waters, resulting in water
      quality impairment, leading to eutrophication and the appearance of algae blooms.
      This study investigated a mixed land use coastal catchment by undertaking
      extensive field sampling and data analysis for pollutant source characterisation.
      The objective was to contribute to a greater understanding of pollutant inputs to
      surface water resources and for effective catchment management. Based on data
      analysis results, a diversity of pollutant sources was noted, including both
      natural areas and areas subject to anthropogenic activities such as agriculture
      and urban developments, with agricultural areas being comparatively more
      significant in exporting nutrients. Additionally, pollutant inputs into estuarine
      and freshwater areas were found to have specific characteristics influenced by
      land use. The pollutant inputs from these sources were found to be significantly
      affected by seasonal factors, with the dominant pollutant sources differing
      between the wet and dry seasons. This underlines the importance of taking
      seasonal factors into account in the development of effective catchment
      management strategies. Based on the study outcomes, a critical point monitoring
      program was developed with a focus on preventing algae blooms. This will allow
      the development of a decentralised catchment management strategy where resource
      efficient monitoring of critical pollutant parameters at key locations can be
      undertaken for minimising the risk from algae blooms, rather than implementing a
      whole of catchment and resource-demanding large-scale monitoring program.

PMID- 28612336
TI  - Ammonia, phosphate, phenol, and copper(II) removal from aqueous solution by
      subsurface and surface flow constructed wetland.
AB  - Water pollution is a global problem. During current study, ammonia, phosphate,
      phenol, and copper(II) were removed from aqueous solution by subsurface and
      surface flow constructed wetland. In current investigation, distilled water was
      polluted with four contaminants including ammonia, phosphate, copper (Cu), and
      phenol. Response surface methodology and central composite design were applied to
      optimize pollutant removal during treatment by subsurface flow constructed
      wetland (SSFCW). Contact time (12 to 80 h) and initial pollutant concentration
      (20 to 85 mg/L) were selected as independent factors; some upper and lower ranges
      were also monitored for accuracy. In SSFCW, water hyacinth transplanted in two
      substrate layers, namely zeolite and cockle shell. SSFCW removed 87.7, 81.4,
      74.7, and 54.9% of ammonia, phosphate, Cu, and phenol, respectively, at optimum
      contact time (64.5 h) and initial pollutant concentration (69.2 mg/L). Aqueous
      solution was moved to a surface flow constructed wetland (SFCW) after treating
      via SSFCW at optimum conditions. In SFCW, Typha was transplanted to a fixed
      powdered substrate layer, including bentonite, zeolite, and cockle shell. SFCW
      could develop performance of this combined system and could improve elimination
      efficacy of the four contaminants to 99.99%. So this combined CW showed a good
      performance in removing pollutants. Graphical abstract Wetlands arrangement for
      treating aqueous solution in current study.

PMID- 28612337
TI  - microRNA-371a-3p as informative biomarker for the follow-up of testicular germ
      cell cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin subunit beta (B
      HCG) are informative serum biomarkers for the primary diagnosis and follow-up of
      testicular germ cell cancer (TGCC) patients. About 20% of TGCC patients with a
      non-seminoma (NS) and about 80% with a seminoma (SE) are, however, negative for
      these biomarkers. Embryonic stem cell microRNAs (miRs) may serve as promising
      alternative serum biomarkers. Here we investigated a retrospective series of
      serum samples from selected TGCC patients who developed a relapse in time to test
      the possible additional value of the serum-based ampTSmiR test compared to the
      conventional serum-based protein biomarkers for follow-up. METHODS: We
      investigated 261 retrospective serum samples of six selected fully evaluated TGCC
      patients with a proven relapse using the ampTSmiR test for miR-371a-3p, miR-373
      3p, and miR-367-3p and compared the results to those of the conventional protein
      biomarkers. RESULTS: At primary diagnosis, elevated serum B-HCG, AFP and LDH
      levels were found to be informative in 4/6, 3/6 and 3/6 patients, respectively.
      At primary diagnosis the levels of miR-371a-3p and miR-373-3p were elevated in
      4/4, and miR-367-3p in 3/4 patients. For two cases no starting serum sample was
      available for retrospective miR analysis. Residual disease (overlooked by
      histopathological examination) was detected in one case by miR-371a-3p only. The
      miR-371a-3p level was increased in one patient two months before detection of an
      intracranial metastasis. B-HCG was informative in 3/4 and the ampTSmiR test in
      4/4 patients with a relapse or residual disease. None of the biomarkers were
      informative for the detection of residual mature teratoma. CONCLUSIONS: The
      ampTSmiR test is more sensitive than the conventional TGCC protein biomarkers for
      the detection of residual disease and relapse, excluding mature teratoma.

PMID- 28612338
TI  - Nutritional Rickets and Osteomalacia in the Twenty-first Century: Revised
      Concepts, Public Health, and Prevention Strategies.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Nutritional rickets and osteomalacia are common in dark
      skinned and migrant populations. Their global incidence is rising due to changing
      population demographics, failing prevention policies and missing implementation
      strategies. The calcium deprivation spectrum has hypocalcaemic (seizures, tetany
      and dilated cardiomyopathy) and late hypophosphataemic (rickets, osteomalacia and
      muscle weakness) complications. This article reviews sustainable prevention
      strategies and identifies areas for future research. RECENT FINDINGS: The global
      rickets consensus recognises the equal contribution of vitamin D and dietary
      calcium in the causation of calcium deprivation and provides a three stage
      categorisation for sufficiency, insufficiency and deficiency. For rickets
      prevention, 400 IU daily is recommended for all infants from birth and 600 IU in
      pregnancy, alongside monitoring in antenatal and child health surveillance
      programmes. High-risk populations require lifelong supplementation and food
      fortification with vitamin D or calcium. Future research should identify the true
      prevalence of rickets and osteomalacia, their role in bone fragility and infant
      mortality, and best screening and public health prevention tools.

PMID- 28612339
TI  - Osteocyte Mechanobiology.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Over the past decades, osteocytes have emerged as mechano
      sensors of bone and master regulators of bone homeostasis. This article
      summarizes latest research and progress made in understanding osteocyte
      mechanobiology and critically reviews tools currently available to study these
      cells. RECENT FINDINGS: Whereas increased mechanical forces promote bone
      formation, decrease loading is always associated with bone loss and skeletal
      fragility. Recent studies identified cilia, integrins, calcium channels, and G
      protein coupled receptors as important sensors of mechanical forces and Ca2+ and
      cAMP signaling as key effectors. Among transcripts regulated by mechanical
      forces, sclerostin and RANKL have emerged as potential therapeutic targets for
      disuse-induced bone loss. In this paper, we review the mechanisms by which
      osteocytes perceive and transduce mechanical cues and the models available to
      study mechano-transduction. Future directions of the field are also discussed.

PMID- 28612341
TI  - Cardiomyocyte marker expression in dogs with left atrial enlargement due to
      dilated cardiomyopathy or myxomatous mitral valve disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and myxomatous mitral valve disease
      (MMVD) are common heart conditions in dogs. They have different etiology and
      pathogenesis and although other studies focused on changes in the left ventricles
      of the affected hearts, the aim of our study was to assess the expressions of
      some intrinsic proteins in the enlarged left atria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      performed an immunohistochemical analysis of left atrial specimens obtained from
      15 dogs with DCM, 35 dogs with MMVD and six control dogs. We assessed the
      expression of following proteins: SERCA1, SERCA2, sarcomeric actinin, smooth
      muscle actin, and dystrophin. RESULTS: We noted a higher percentage of SERCA1
      positive cells in the MMVD group and lower percentage of dystrophin-positive
      cells in the DCM group as compared to control group. The expression of other
      proteins was similar in the hearts of control dogs and dogs with heart diseases.
      CONCLUSIONS: The observed changes in the expression patterns of some proteins in
      the atria of dogs with DCM and MMVD suggest that atrial enlargement relies not
      only on volume overload, but also alterations of the intrinsic proteins can
      contribute to the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28612342
TI  - Effect of glycine nitrogen on lettuce growth under soilless culture: a
      metabolomics approach to identify the main changes occurred in plant primary and
      secondary metabolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lettuce is a significant source of antioxidants and bioactive
      compounds. Nitrate is a cardinal fertilizer in horticulture and influences
      vegetable yield and quality; however, the negative effects of nitrate on the
      biosynthesis of flavonoids require further study. It is expected that using
      fertilizers containing organic nitrogen (N) could promote the synthesis of health
      promoting compounds. RESULTS: Lettuces were hydroponically cultured in media
      containing 9 mmol L-1 nitrate or 9 mmol L-1 glycine for 4 weeks. Primary and
      secondary metabolites were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
      (GC/MS) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/ion mobility
      spectrometry/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/IMS/QTOF-MS). Data
      analysis revealed that 29 metabolites were significantly altered between nitrate
      and glycine treatments. Metabolites were tentatively identified by comparison
      with online databases, literature and standards and using collision cross-section
      values. Significant differences in flavonoid biosynthesis, phenolic biosynthesis
      and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle response were observed between N sources.
      Compared with nitrate, glycine promoted accumulation of glycosylated flavonoids
      (quercetin 3-glucoside, quercetin 3-(6"-malonyl-glucoside), luteolin 7
      glucuronide, luteolin 7-glucoside), ascorbic acid and amino acids (l-valine, l
      leucine, l-glutamine, asparagine, l-serine, l-ornithine, 4-aminobutanoic acid, l
      phenylalanine) but reduced phenolic acids (dihydroxybenzoic acid hexose isomers 1
      and 2, chicoric acid, chicoric acid isomer 1) and TCA intermediates (fumaric,
      malic, citric and succinic acids). CONCLUSION: The novel methodology applied in
      this study can be used to characterize metabolites in lettuce. Accumulation of
      glycosylated flavonoids, amino acids and ascorbic acid in response to glycine
      supply provides strong evidence supporting the idea that using amino acids as an
      N source alters the nutritional value of vegetable crops. (c) 2017 Society of
      Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28612340
TI  - Long acting systemic HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: an examination of the field.
AB  - Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of HIV-1 transmission (HIV PrEP)
      has been widely successful as demonstrated by a number of clinical trials.
      However, studies have also demonstrated the need for patients to tightly adhere
      to oral dosing regimens in order to maintain protective plasma and tissue
      concentrations. This is especially true for women, who experience less
      forgiveness from dose skipping than men in clinical trials of HIV PrEP. There is
      increasing interest in long-acting (LA), user-independent forms of HIV PrEP that
      could overcome this adherence challenge. These technologies have taken multiple
      forms including LA injectables and implantables. Phase III efficacy trials are
      ongoing for a LA injectable candidate for HIV PrEP. This review will focus on the
      design considerations for both LA injectable and implantable platforms for HIV
      PrEP. Additionally, we have summarized the existing LA technologies currently in
      clinical and pre-clinical studies for HIV PrEP as well as other technologies that
      have been applied to HIV PrEP and contraceptives. Our discussion will focus on
      the potential application of these technologies in low resource areas, and their
      use in global women's health.

PMID- 28612343
TI  - Mild-moderate congenital hearing loss: secular trends in outcomes across four
      systems of detection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) targets moderate or
      greater hearing loss. However, UNHS also frequently detects children with mild
      loss that results in many receiving early treatment. The benefits of this
      approach are not yet established. We aimed to (i) compare language and
      psychosocial outcomes between four hearing loss detection systems for children
      aged 5-8 years with congenital mild-moderate hearing loss; (ii) determine whether
      age of detection predicts outcomes; and (iii) compare outcomes between children
      identified via well-established UNHS and the general population. METHODS: Linear
      regression adjusted for potential confounding factors was used throughout. Via a
      quasi-experimental design, language and psychosocial outcomes were compared
      across four population-based Australian systems of hearing loss detection:
      opportunistic detection, born 1991-1993, n = 50; universal risk factor referral,
      born 2003-2005, n = 34; newly established UNHS, born 2003-2005, n = 41; and well
      established UNHS, born 2007-2010, n = 21. In pooled analyses, we examined whether
      age of detection predicted outcomes. Outcomes were similarly compared between the
      current well-established UNHS system and typically developing children in the
      Early Language in Victoria Study, born 2003, n = 1217. RESULTS: Age at diagnosis
      and hearing aid fitting fell steadily across the four systems. For moderate
      losses, mean expressive language (P for trend .05) and receptive vocabulary (P
      for trend .06) improved across the four systems, but benefit was not obvious for
      mild losses. In pooled analyses, diagnosis before age six months predicted better
      language outcomes for moderate losses. Children with mild-moderate losses exposed
      to well-established UNHS continue to experience expressive language scores well
      below children in the general population (adjusted mean difference -8.9 points,
      95% CI -14.7 to -3.1). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment arising from UNHS appears to be
      clearly benefitting children with moderate hearing losses. However, rigorous
      trials are needed to quantify benefits, versus costs and potential harms, of
      early aiding of children with mild losses.

PMID- 28612344
TI  - Description and ultrasound targeting of the origin of the suprascapular nerve.
AB  - Anatomical variations in the suprascapular nerve (SSN) and its depth in the
      suprascapular notch can make it difficult to target with ultrasonography (US).
      One alternative could be a proximal approach to the SSN, if US provides a
      reliable description of its origin (orSSN). The primary objective of this study
      was to demonstrate that US can reliably locate the orSSN. The secondary objective
      was to describe the features of the proximal SSN. Seventy brachial plexuses (BPs)
      from 30 healthy volunteers (60 BPs) and 5 cadavers (10 BPs) were included. There
      were two parts to this study: (1) description of the proximal SSN in healthy
      volunteers using US to determine the diameter, depth and location of the orSSN;
      (2) targeting of the orSSN with US in cadaver limbs to determine its distance
      from the needle, ink marking and locating the orSSN. In Part I, the diameter of
      the orSSN averaged 1.33 mm (1-9 mm) and its depth averaged 5.12 mm (2.7-10.6 mm).
      The orSSN was located in the upper trunk of the BP (53) or its posterior division
      (7). In Part II, the orSSN was successfully targeted in nine of the 10 specimens
      by US; the needle/orSSN distance averaged 3.8 mm (0-8 mm). The implanted needle
      was at the orSSN in two cases, proximal to it in seven and distal to it in one.
      US is a valid modality for describing and pinpointing the orSSN, irrespective of
      patient morphology. Clin. Anat. 30:747-752, 2017. (c) 2017Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612345
TI  - Metabolome Comparison of Bioactive and Inactive Rhododendron Extracts and
      Identification of an Antibacterial Cannabinoid(s) from Rhododendron collettianum.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The science of metabolomics offers the possibility to measure full
      secondary plant metabolomes with limited experimental effort to allow
      identification of metabolome differences using principal component analysis (PCA)
      and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of liquid chromatography
      mass spectrometry (LC-MS) data. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate a bioinformatics driven
      hypothesis generator for identification of biologically active compounds in plant
      crude extracts, which is validated by activity guided fractionation. METHODOLOGY:
      Crude extracts of Rhododendron leaves were tested for their antibacterial
      activity using agar diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration assays.
      Extracts were profiled by LC-MS. PCA and PLS-DA were used for differentiation of
      bioactive and inactive extracts and their metabolites. Preparative-high
      performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      spectroscopy were used for separation and structure elucidation of pure
      compound(s) respectively. RESULTS: An antibacterial Rhododendron collettianum was
      compared to a series of inactive extracts. Three metabolites were found to
      distinguish R. collettianum from other species indicating the ability of PCA and
      PLS-DA to suggest potential bioactive substances. An activity-guided
      fractionation of R. collettianum extracts was carried out and
      cannabiorcichromenic acid (CCA) was identified as antibacterial compound thereby
      validating the PCA and PLS-DA generated hypothesis. Four mammalian cell lines
      were used to estimate possible cytotoxicity of CCA. CONCLUSION: It was shown that
      bioinformatics tools facilitate early stage identification of a biologically
      active compound(s) using LC-MS data, which reduce complexity and number of
      separation steps in bioactive screening. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons,
      Ltd.

PMID- 28612346
TI  - In Situ Synthesis of a Supramolecular Hydrogelator at an Oil/Water Interface for
      Stabilization and Stimuli-Induced Fusion of Microdroplets.
AB  - Supramolecular hydrogels are expected to have applications as novel soft
      materials in various fields owing to their designable functional properties.
      Herein, we developed an in situ synthesis of supramolecular hydrogelators, which
      can trigger gelation of an aqueous solution without the need for temperature
      change. This was achieved by mixing two precursors, which induced the synthesis
      of a supramolecular gelator and its instantaneous self-assembly into nanofibers.
      We then performed the in situ synthesis of this supramolecular gelator at an
      oil/water interface to produce nanofibers that covered the surfaces of the oil
      droplets (nanofiber-stabilized oil droplets). External stimuli induced fusion of
      the droplets owing to disassembly of the gelator molecules. Finally, we
      demonstrated that this stimuli-induced droplet fusion triggered a synthetic
      reaction within the droplets. This means that the confined nanofiber-stabilized
      droplets can be utilized as stimuli-responsive microreactors.

PMID- 28612347
TI  - Association between duration of oral contraceptive use and risk of hypertension:
      A meta-analysis.
AB  - A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between duration of
      oral contraceptive use and risk of hypertension. Relevant studies published in
      English or Chinese were identified by a search of PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang
      Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure to January 2017. Seventeen
      articles containing 24 studies with 270,284 participants were included in this
      meta-analysis. The pooled relative risk of hypertension for the highest vs lowest
      category of oral contraceptive duration was 1.47 (95% confidence interval, 1.25
      1.73), and excluding three studies with a relative risk >3.0 yielded a pooled
      relative risk of 1.26 (95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.44). A linear dose
      response relationship was found (Pnonlinearity =0.69) and the risk of
      hypertension increased by 13% (relative risk, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.03
      1.25) for every 5-year increment in oral contraceptive use. The duration of oral
      contraceptive use was positively associated with the risk of hypertension in this
      meta-analysis.

PMID- 28612348
TI  - Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia in an infant with congenital human
      immunodeficiency virus and cytomegalovirus infection.

PMID- 28612349
TI  - Role of hydrotherapy in the amelioration of oxidant-antioxidant status in
      rheumatoid arthritis patients.
AB  - AIM: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease. Reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the pathophysiology of RA. Moderate
      intensity exercises have been reported to have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory
      effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hydrotherapy on
      oxidant-antioxidant status in RA patients. METHODS: Forty RA patients and 30 age-
      and sex-matched healthy controls were included in this study. RA patients were
      subdivided into two groups: the first group (n = 20) received treatment with
      conventional RA drugs, while the second group (n = 20) received hydrotherapy
      along with the conventional drugs for a period of 12 weeks. Disease Activity
      Score of 28 joints (DAS-28), ROS level, protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation,
      DNA damage and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were evaluated before and
      after 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: RA patients showed a significant change in
      the oxidative stress biomarkers (ROS, P < 0.01; ferric reducing antioxidant
      potential, P < 0.001; malondialdehyde, P < 0.01; protein carbonyl, P < 0.001;
      tail length, P < 0.05) and decrease in the activities of anti-oxidant enzymes
      (superoxide dismutase [SOD], P < 0.01; glutathione peroxidase [GPx], P < 0.001).
      Conventional drug treatment has not produced any significant change in these
      parameters. However, cotreatment of drugs with hydrotherapy has decreased
      protein, lipid and DNA oxidation by increasing the activities of antioxidant
      enzymes (SOD and GPx). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that hydrotherapy along
      with drugs has reduced the severity of disease (DAS-28) by ameliorating the
      oxidant-antioxidant status in RA patients. Thus, in addition to conventional
      drugs, RA patients should be advised to have hydrotherapy (moderate intensity
      exercise) in their treatment regimen.

PMID- 28612350
TI  - Blood donor Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato seroprevalence and history of tick
      bites at a northern limit of the vector distribution.
AB  - In order to study the antibody seroprevalence of the causal agent of Lyme
      borreliosis, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), and the history of tick
      bites at a geographical distribution limit of Ixodes ricinus, we compared healthy
      blood donors in geographically extreme regions: the borreliosis-endemic Vestfold
      County (59 degrees N) and the region of northern Norway. Blood samples were
      screened using IgG/VlsE ELISA, and positive/borderline samples were confirmed
      using C6 ELISA and immunoblot assays. Also, donors completed a questionnaire
      consisting of several items including the places they have lived, and whether
      they owned any pets. The seroprevalence was 0.48% (5/1048) in northern Norway and
      9.25% (48/519) in Vestfold County. Seven donors (of 1048) had experienced a
      single tick bite in the southern part of Nordland County (65 degrees N) in
      northern Norway. This first study on B. burgdorferi s.l. antibody seroprevalence
      and tick bites on humans and pets in northern Norway showed that the
      seroprevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. infection and the risk of tick bite in
      northern Norway are insignificant; the fact that only five positive IgG samples
      were detected underscores the very low background seroprevalence. These results
      suggest that so far I. ricinus has not expanded north of the previously
      established geographical distribution limit.

PMID- 28612351
TI  - The role of recombination in evolutionary adaptation of Escherichia coli to a
      novel nutrient.
AB  - The benefits and detriments of recombination for adaptive evolution have been
      studied both theoretically and experimentally, with conflicting predictions and
      observations. Most pertinent experiments examine recombination's effects in an
      unchanging environment and do not study its genomewide effects. Here, we evolved
      six replicate populations of either highly recombining R+ or lowly recombining R-
      E. coli strains in a changing environment, by introducing the novel nutrients L
      arabinose or indole into the environment. The experiment's ancestral strains are
      not viable on these nutrients, but 130 generations of adaptive evolution were
      sufficient to render them viable. Recombination conferred a more pronounced
      advantage to populations adapting to indole. To study the genomic changes
      associated with this advantage, we sequenced the genomes of 384 clones isolated
      from selected replicates at the end of the experiment. These genomes harbour
      complex changes that range from point mutations to large-scale DNA
      amplifications. Among several candidate adaptive mutations, those in the
      tryptophanase regulator tnaC stand out, because the tna operon in which it
      resides has a known role in indole metabolism. One of the highly recombining
      populations also shows a significant excess of large-scale segmental DNA
      amplifications that include the tna operon. This lineage also shows a unique and
      potentially adaptive combination of point mutations and DNA amplifications that
      may have originated independently from one another, to be joined later by
      recombination. Our data illustrate that the advantages of recombination for
      adaptive evolution strongly depend on the environment and that they can be
      associated with complex genomic changes.

PMID- 28612352
TI  - Pain management in home hospice patients: A retrospective descriptive study.
AB  - The development and evaluation of evidence-based, safe, and effective home-based
      pain management models for caregivers implementation is receiving greater
      attention in the literature because of international initiatives intended to
      increase the number of people who receive end-of-life care in home-based
      settings. The purpose of this "retrospective descriptive design" study was to
      describe pharmacological pain management and outcomes for 40 cancer and non
      cancer patients receiving hospice care at home. While the median pain score was
      higher at admission in the cancer group than in the hospice care at home group,
      the difference was not significant at or within 48 hour of admission. Overall,
      there was a significant decrease in pain from the first measurement to the
      second. Within the last seven days of life, the majority of participants were not
      able to provide a pain severity score when asked to evaluate the effectiveness of
      pain management, thus their caregiver provided a proxy evaluation. Pain
      management was effective in the home setting. More research is needed on the best
      methods to teach lay caregivers to assess pain and evaluate the effectiveness of
      pharmacological modalities to manage pain.

PMID- 28612353
TI  - Life cycle assessment case study: Tertiary treatment process options for
      wastewater reuse.
AB  - Tertiary treatment process (including filtration and/or disinfection) is
      necessary to obtain a water quality suited for high-quality reuse from wastewater
      treatment. Industrial pilots representing small real-size treatment units were
      set up downstream of a conventional secondary treatment of a wastewater treatment
      plant in the South of France and their performance followed for 2 y. Life cycle
      assessment (LCA) methodology is used to compare the environmental impacts of
      different treatment processes. Five tertiary treatment trains were studied: 1)
      sand filtration (SF) + storage followed by ultraviolet (UV) dynamic reactor
      disinfection (SF-UVD), 2) sand filtration + UV batch reactor disinfection (SF
      UVB), 3) ultrafiltration (UF), 4) ultrafiltration and UV batch reactor
      disinfection (UF-UVB), and 5) microfiltration (MF) and storage followed by
      dynamic UV disinfection (MF-UVD). The chosen functional unit is "To supply 1 m3
      of water with a quality in compliance with the highest standard of the French
      reuse regulations." The combination of SF with UV disinfection or the use of UF
      alone was found to be equivalent in terms of environmental impact for most of the
      midpoint indicators chosen. Combination of UF with UV disinfection was
      significantly more impacting because the electricity consumption was nearly
      doubled. This study was conducted on an industrial pilot; it may thus be
      representative of industrial facilities implemented to treat higher water flows.
      Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:1113-1121. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28612354
TI  - Quantifying Disparities in Accessibility and Availability of Pediatric Primary
      Care across Multiple States with Implications for Targeted Interventions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify disparities in accessibility and availability of pediatric
      primary care by modeling interventions across multiple states that compare
      publicly insured versus privately insured children, and urban versus rural
      communities. DATA SOURCES: Secondary data sources include 2013 National Plan and
      Provider Enumeration System, 2009 MAX Medicaid claims, 2012 American Community
      Survey. STUDY DESIGN: The study models accessibility and availability of care for
      all children in seven states. METHODS: Optimization modeling with access
      constraints is used to estimate access. Statistical hypothesis testing is used to
      quantify systematic disparities. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: California has the best
      accessibility for privately insured children and Minnesota for publicly insured
      children. Mississippi has the lowest availability for both populations. Overall,
      the disparities in availability for pediatric primary care are not as significant
      as in accessibility. Both rural and urban communities are in need of improvement
      in accessibility to primary care for publicly insured children, although at
      varying levels across states. CONCLUSIONS: Disparities in availability are not as
      significant as disparities in accessibility. Opportunities to improve access to
      pediatric primary care vary by state. Generating specific recommendations for
      small areas is critical to enabling health policy decision makers to improvement
      access.

PMID- 28612355
TI  - Effect of particle size on phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties
      of two persimmon flours from Diospyros kaki Thunb. vars. 'Rojo Brillante' and
      'Triumph' co-products.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This contribution studies the influence of the particle size of
      persimmon flours (from two cultivars, 'Rojo Brillante' and 'Triumph') on their
      primary (sugars and organic acids) and secondary (polyphenols, flavonoids and
      carotenoids) metabolite content, and also on their antioxidant activity, to
      assess whether these flours could find applications in the food industry as a
      potential functional ingredient. RESULTS: The main sugars were fructose and
      glucose and the principal organic acid was malic acid. The highest content of
      total phenols, flavonoids and carotenoids was found in flour fractions from cv.
      'Rojo Brillante'. The phenol profile determined by HPLC identified six phenolic
      compounds in both persimmon flours, the most abundant being gallic acid. The
      greatest ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging capacity and ferric reducing power were
      found in flour fractions from cv. 'Rojo Brillante'. Although the influence of
      particle size on all these properties was not always evident, in general, the
      higher bioactive compound content and antioxidant capacity were in the finest
      particles. CONCLUSION: Co-products from cvs. 'Rojo Brillante' and 'Triumph'
      persimmon juice extraction can be processed to obtain flours rich in sugars,
      organic acids and bioactive compounds, suggesting their possible use as a
      functional ingredient (with antioxidant properties) in different food products.
      (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28612356
TI  - Assessing the influence of rater and subject characteristics on measures of
      agreement for ordinal ratings.
AB  - Widespread inconsistencies are commonly observed between physicians' ordinal
      classifications in screening tests results such as mammography. These
      discrepancies have motivated large-scale agreement studies where many raters
      contribute ratings. The primary goal of these studies is to identify factors
      related to physicians and patients' test results, which may lead to stronger
      consistency between raters' classifications. While ordered categorical scales are
      frequently used to classify screening test results, very few statistical
      approaches exist to model agreement between multiple raters. Here we develop a
      flexible and comprehensive approach to assess the influence of rater and subject
      characteristics on agreement between multiple raters' ordinal classifications in
      large-scale agreement studies. Our approach is based upon the class of
      generalized linear mixed models. Novel summary model-based measures are proposed
      to assess agreement between all, or a subgroup of raters, such as experienced
      physicians. Hypothesis tests are described to formally identify factors such as
      physicians' level of experience that play an important role in improving
      consistency of ratings between raters. We demonstrate how unique characteristics
      of individual raters can be assessed via conditional modes generated during the
      modeling process. Simulation studies are presented to demonstrate the performance
      of the proposed methods and summary measure of agreement. The methods are applied
      to a large-scale mammography agreement study to investigate the effects of rater
      and patient characteristics on the strength of agreement between radiologists.
      Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612357
TI  - Multidimensional assessment of patient condition and mutational analysis in
      peripheral blood, as tools to improve outcome prediction in myelodysplastic
      syndromes: A prospective study of the Spanish MDS group.
AB  - The International Prognostic Scoring System and its revised form (IPSS-R) are the
      most widely used indices for prognostic assessment of patients with
      myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but can only partially account for the observed
      variation in patient outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the relative
      contribution of patient condition and mutational status in peripheral blood when
      added to the IPSS-R, for estimating overall survival and the risk of leukemic
      transformation in patients with MDS. A prospective cohort (2006-2015) of 200
      consecutive patients with MDS were included in the study series and categorized
      according to the IPSS-R. Patients were further stratified according to patient
      condition (assessed using the multidimensional Lee index for older adults) and
      genetic mutations (peripheral blood samples screened using next-generation
      sequencing). The change in likelihood-ratio was tested in Cox models after adding
      individual covariates. The addition of the Lee index to the IPSS-R significantly
      improved prediction of overall survival [hazard ratio (HR) 3.02, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 1.96-4.66, P < 0.001), and mutational analysis significantly
      improved prediction of leukemic evolution (HR 2.64, 1.56-4.46, P < 0.001). Non
      leukemic death was strongly linked to patient condition (HR 2.71, 1.72-4.25, P <
      0.001), but not to IPSS-R score (P = 0.35) or mutational status (P = 0.75).
      Adjustment for exposure to disease-modifying therapy, evaluated as a time
      dependent covariate, had no effect on the proposed model's predictive ability. In
      conclusion, patient condition, assessed by the multidimensional Lee index and
      patient mutational status can improve the prediction of clinical outcomes of
      patients with MDS already stratified by IPSS-R.

PMID- 28612358
TI  - alpha-chymotrypsin in water-acetone and water-dimethyl sulfoxide mixtures: Effect
      of preferential solvation and hydration.
AB  - We investigated water/organic solvent sorption and residual enzyme activity to
      simultaneously monitor preferential solvation/hydration of protein macromolecules
      in the entire range of water content at 25 degrees C. We applied this approach to
      estimate protein destabilization/stabilization due to the preferential
      interactions of bovine pancreatic alpha-chymotrypsin with water-acetone (moderate
      strength H-bond acceptor) and water-DMSO (strong H-bond acceptor) mixtures. There
      are three concentration regimes for the dried alpha-chymotrypsin. alpha
      Chymotrypsin is preferentially hydrated at high water content. The residual
      enzyme activity values are close to 100%. At intermediate water content, the
      dehydrated alpha-chymotrypsin has a higher affinity for acetone/DMSO than for
      water. Residual enzyme activity is minimal in this concentration range. The
      acetone/DMSO molecules are preferentially excluded from the protein surface at
      the lowest water content, resulting in preferential hydration. The residual
      catalytic activity in the water-poor acetone is ~80%, compared with that observed
      after incubation in pure water. This effect is very small for the water-poor
      DMSO. Two different schemes are operative for the hydrated enzyme. At high and
      intermediate water content, alpha-chymotrypsin exhibits preferential hydration.
      However, at intermediate water content, in contrast to the dried enzyme, the
      initially hydrated alpha-chymotrypsin possesses increased preferential hydration
      parameters. At low water content, no residual enzyme activity was observed.
      Preferential binding of DMSO/acetone to alpha-chymotrypsin was detected. Our data
      clearly demonstrate that the hydrogen bond accepting ability of organic solvents
      and the protein hydration level constitute key factors in determining the
      stability of protein-water-organic solvent systems.

PMID- 28612359
TI  - The relationship between moderate alcohol consumption, depressive symptomatology,
      and C-reactive protein: the Health and Retirement Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Moderate alcohol use has been broadly associated with health benefits
      among older adults, including improved mood. Aims of this study were to evaluate
      the relationship of moderate alcohol use and depressive symptomatology over a
      period of eight years, and to examine inflammation, indicated by C-reactive
      protein (CRP), as one mechanism by which this relationship functions. METHODS:
      The study included 3177 community-dwelling participants over the age of 65 in
      2008 drawn from the Health and Retirement Study. Data from the 2006, 2008, 2012,
      and 2014 waves were used. Alcohol use was measured via self-report and was
      dichotomized as abstinent (0 drinks per week) and moderate (1-14 drinks per
      week). Inflammation was measured using CRP, which was collected using an enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay and provided in units of MUg/mL. Control variables
      included gender, age, body mass index (BMI), and medical burden. RESULTS: A
      latent growth curve model with full information maximum likelihood was used, with
      results revealing that moderate drinkers endorsed fewer depressive symptoms at
      baseline and a steeper rate of change over time. Abstinent respondents'
      depressive symptomatology was characterized by a more linear change rate.
      Further, moderate drinkers had lower CRP levels suggesting that inflammation
      partially mediates the relationship between moderate alcohol use and depressive
      symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate alcohol use predicts fewer depressive
      symptoms among older adults. This relationship is partially moderated by CRP and
      is eroded by the passage of time. Future research should identify additional
      mechanisms relating alcohol to positive health outcomes and less depressive
      symptomatology. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612360
TI  - Analysis of local versus imported expanded criteria donor kidneys: A single
      center experience with 497 ECD kidney transplants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The value of importing expanded criteria donor (ECD) kidneys is
      uncertain. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed our single-center experience with
      ECD kidney transplants (KT). RESULTS: Over 12.8 years, we performed 497 ECD KTs
      including 247 local and 250 imported from other donor service areas. The import
      ECD group had more donors (16% vs 9%) >= age 70, more zero human leukocyte
      antigen mismatches (14% vs 2%), more KTs with a cold ischemia time >30 hours (46%
      vs 19%), and fewer kidneys managed with pump preservation (78% vs 92%, all
      P<=.05) compared to the local ECD group. Mean Kidney Donor Profile Index were 80%
      import vs 84% local. With a mean follow-up of 55 months, actual patient and graft
      survival rates were 71% and 58% in import vs 76% and 58% in local ECD KTs,
      respectively. Death-censored graft survival rates were 70% in import vs 69% in
      local ECD KTs. Delayed graft function occurred in 28% import vs 23% local ECD KTs
      (P=NS) whereas the incidence of primary nonfunction was slightly higher with
      import ECD kidneys (4.8% vs 2.4%, P=.23). CONCLUSIONS: Midterm outcomes are
      remarkably similar for import vs local ECD KTs, suggesting that broader sharing
      of ECD kidneys may improve utilization without compromising outcomes.

PMID- 28612361
TI  - FisR activates sigma54 -dependent transcription of sulfide-oxidizing genes in
      Cupriavidus pinatubonensis JMP134.
AB  - Some heterotrophic bacteria are able to oxidize sulfide (H2 S, HS- and S2- ) to
      sulfite and thiosulfate via polysulfide. The genes coding for the oxidation
      enzymes in Cupriavidus pinatubonensis JMP134 have recently been identified;
      however, their regulation is unknown. A regulator gene is adjacent to the operon
      of the sulfide-oxidizing genes, encoding a sigma54 -dependent transcription
      factor (FisR) with three domains: an R domain, an AAA+ domain and a DNA-binding
      domain. Here it is reported that the regulator responds to the presence of
      sulfide and activates the sulfide-oxidizing genes. FisR binds to its cognate
      operator at -114 to -135 bp of the transcription start of the operon. When
      polysulfide reacts with the R domain of FisR through the three conserved cysteine
      residues (C53, C64 and C71), FisR activates the expression of the operon. FisR is
      highly sensitive to polysulfide, activating sigma54 -dependent transcription of
      sulfide-oxidizing genes for sulfide removal. Further, sequence analysis indicates
      that FisR-type regulators are relatively common for controlling sulfide-oxidizing
      genes under sulfide stress in the Proteobacteria.

PMID- 28612362
TI  - The economic burden of neonatal abstinence syndrome in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: While hospital charges related to neonatal abstinence
      syndrome (NAS) have increased recently, there are no data available regarding
      costs. Therefore, we sought to describe the NAS population and compare with the
      non-NAS population, determine the incidence of NAS in the United States and
      estimate the total annual costs and hospital days of NAS admissions, and estimate
      the incremental costs and length of stay of an NAS admission compared with a non
      NAS admission. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational study. Data were obtained
      from the Kids' Inpatient Database (2003-12). Survey-weighting was used to obtain
      national counts of NAS births. The incremental burden of costs and length of stay
      were estimated for NAS admissions and compared to non-NAS admissions. SETTING:
      United States hospitals from states participating in the Kids' Inpatient Database
      (KID), a nationally representative sample of all-payer in-patient pediatric
      discharges. PARTICIPANTS: Infants with a diagnosis of NAS (27 943) were
      identified from the KID using ICD-9-CM codes and compared with non-NAS infants (3
      783 629). MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome measures were provider costs and length
      of stay for NAS and non-NAS admissions. Costs were calculated using cost-to
      charge ratios and were adjusted for inflation to 2014 US dollars. FINDINGS:
      Between 2003 and 2012, NAS admissions increased more than fourfold, resulting in
      a surge in annual costs from US$61 million and 67 869 hospital days in 2003 to
      nearly US$316 million and 291 168 hospital days in 2012. For an infant affected
      by NAS, the hospital stay was nearly 3.5 times as long (16.57 hospital days
      compared with 4.98 for a non-NAS patient, P < 0.001) and the costs more than
      three times greater (US$16 893 compared to US$5610 for a non-affected infant, P <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: The incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome is increasing
      in the United States, and carries an enormous burden in terms of hospital days
      and costs. The number of US hospital admissions involving neonatal abstinence
      syndrome increased more than fourfold between the years 2003 and 2012. In 2012,
      neonatal abstinence syndrome cost nearly $316 million in the United States.

PMID- 28612363
TI  - The effect of dental health education on pregnant women's adherence with
      toothbrushing and flossing - A randomized control trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In a three-arm randomized control trial, this study compared the
      efficacy of dental health education (DHE) with or without a planning intervention
      on adherence to oral health-related behaviours. METHODS: Women (N=154) in their
      second trimester of pregnancy attending three maternal healthcare clinics in
      Kuwait completed an assessment of social cognitions and oral health behaviours
      before a debris and gingival assessment (Plaque Index [PI], Gingival Index [GI])
      was undertaken; this was repeated at 1 month. In addition to treatment as usual
      (TAU), which was a demonstration of OH practices, intervention participants
      received one of two interventions: (i) DHE, which targeted social cognitions; or
      (ii) DHE and planning (DHE&P), which targeted social cognitions and intentions to
      undertake oral health behaviours. The TAU group was given a standard oral hygiene
      leaflet. RESULTS: At Time one (T1) 154 women were eligible and randomly allocated
      to the three groups, respectively: treatment as usual (TAU)=53; DHE=53; DHE and
      planning=48. At Time two (T2), the number of women in each group completing the
      intervention (N=90) was, respectively, as follows TAU=28; DHE=30; DHE&P=32. There
      were no demographic differences between the groups at baseline. The mean age of
      women was 27.80+/-SD 5.40; 43% (n=38) had a high school level education. A mixed
      factor ANOVA analysis demonstrated that all women improved their PI (F=94.343
      df=1 P=.001) and GI (F=73.138 df=1 P=.001) scores. There were no differences in
      self-reported oral hygiene and PI and GI by intervention group. The social
      cognition models (SCM) constructs changed over time in all women (N=90) except
      barriers to attendance (F=1.067 df=1 P=.305). There were no statistically
      significant differences in SCM constructs by intervention group at T2. All women
      reported increasing the frequency of toothbrushing and flossing. CONCLUSIONS: The
      provision of information using a simple leaflet improved the adherence of Kuwaiti
      pregnant with toothbrushing and flossing advice, while the addition of DHE
      targeting social cognitions and planning conferred no additional benefits.

PMID- 28612364
TI  - Successful treatment with placenta-derived decidual stromal cells in a pediatric
      patient with life-threatening acute gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease.
AB  - Severe aGvHD is a life-threatening complication after allogeneic HSCT. The GI
      tract is considered to play a key role in aGvHD, where the disease process can
      start and is one of the major target organs. Here, we present a case of a one
      year-old child with a life-threatening GI-aGvHD stage IV, post-HSCT, resistant to
      steroids and MMF for 4 weeks. He was successfully treated with placenta-derived
      DSC.

PMID- 28612365
TI  - Knowledge, attitude and practice of intensive care unit nurses about physical
      restraint.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical restraint is mainly used in intensive care units (ICUs) to
      prevent delirious or agitated patients from removing tubes and lines connected to
      them. However, inappropriate use of physical restraint could have many
      detrimental physical effects on the patient, such as nerve damage, asphyxiation
      or even death. AIM: The aim of the study is to investigate nurses' knowledge,
      attitude and practice of physical restraint in ICUs in Jordanian hospitals, about
      which little is known. DESIGN: A descriptive and cross-sectional design was used.
      METHODS: A convenience sample of 400 nurses working in three public hospitals and
      one university-affiliated hospital from different geographical regions in Jordan
      was selected. An Arabic version of the Physical Restraint Questionnaire (PRQ) was
      used to collect the data. RESULTS: A total of 300 completed questionnaires were
      returned, with a response rate of 75%. Of the total sample, 51% were males, 65.7%
      were from public hospitals and 80.3% held a bachelor's degree. The mean score in
      the knowledge section was 9.7 (SD =1.7) out of 15; in the attitude section, it
      was 24.7 (SD = 4.8) out of 33; and in the practice section, it was 30.9 (SD =
      3.5) out of 42. Nurses who reported previous related education scored higher on
      the knowledge section (mean = 10.7; SD = 1.4) than nurses who reported no
      previous related education (mean = 9.1; SD = 1.6; p < .001). However, no
      significant differences between these categories were found in relation to
      attitude and practice. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated some lack of knowledge
      and unsafe practices regarding physical restraint in ICUs in Jordan. It suggests
      improving nurses' knowledge, attitude and practices through in-service education
      on best practice for physical restraint, developing policies/guidelines and
      providing adequate staff and equipment to maintain patient safety and prevent
      complications. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Conducting education programmes on
      physical restraint for ICU nurses and providing other preventive strategies are
      important in improving nurses' knowledge, attitude and practice.

PMID- 28612366
TI  - A graphical method for identifying the six types of non-deep physiological
      dormancy in seeds.
AB  - We present a new seed dormancy classification scheme for the non-deep level of
      the class physiological dormancy (PD), which contains six types. Non-deep PD is
      divided into two sublevels: one for seeds that exhibit a dormancy continuum
      (types 1, 2 and 3) and the other for those that do not exhibit a dormancy
      continuum (types 4, 5 and 6). Analysis of previous studies showed that different
      types of non-deep PD also can be identified using a graphical method. Seeds with
      a dormancy (D) <-> conditional dormancy (CD) <-> non-dormancy (ND) cycle have a
      low germination percentage in the early stages of CD, and during dormancy loss
      the germination capacity increases. However, seeds with a CD/ND (i.e. D->CD<->ND)
      cycle germinate to a high percentage at a narrow range of temperatures in the
      early stages of CD. Cardinal temperatures for seeds with either a D/ND or a CD/ND
      cycle change during dormancy loss: the ceiling temperature increases in seeds
      with Type 1, the base temperature decreases in seeds with Type 2 and the base and
      ceiling temperatures decrease and increase, respectively, in seeds with Type 3.
      Criteria for distinguishing the six types of non-deep PD and models of the
      temperature functions of seeds with types 1, 2 and 3 with both types of dormancy
      cycles are presented. The relevancy of our results to modelling the timing of
      weed seedling emergence is briefly discussed.

PMID- 28612367
TI  - Association between genetic variants in the promoter region of a novel antisense
      long noncoding RNA RP11-392P7.6 and colorectal cancer risk.
AB  - There is a widespread occurrence of antisense transcripts' regulation on cancer
      related genes in cancer biology. RP11-392P7.6 is antisense to the coding region
      of cancer-related gene GPRC5D, which has been found recently. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the associations of tagSNPs in the promoter region of
      RP11-392P7.6 with the risk of colorectal cancer. We conducted a two-stage case
      control study, with a discovery set (320 cases and 319 controls) and a validation
      set (501 cases and 538 controls). Four tagSNPs (rs1531970, rs1642199, rs4763903,
      and rs10845671) were selected based on 1000 Genomes Project data and genotyped by
      using the Sequenom MassARRAY genotyping platform. In the discovery set, three
      tagSNPs (rs1642199, rs4763903, and rs10845671) were revealed promising
      associations with the risk of colorectal cancer, among which the rs10845671
      variants were further replicated in the validation set (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.10
      1.20 in heterozygote codominant model; OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.04-1.83 in dominant
      model). When combined the two sets, the above positive associations remained
      unchanged. Rs10845671 was found to be associated with an increased risk of
      colorectal cancer (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.14-1.81 in heterozygote codominant
      model; OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.08-1.69 in dominant model). These findings indicate
      that rs10845671 may contribute to the susceptibility to colorectal cancer and be
      a candidate biomarker for colorectal cancer risk prediction. Environ. Mol.
      Mutagen. 58:434-442, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612368
TI  - Crystal structure of nonspecific lipid transfer protein from Solanum melongena.
AB  - Lipids are considered to protect protein allergens from proteolysis and are
      generally seen to exist in a bound form. One of the well-known plant protein
      families with bound lipids is non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs).
      Structure-function relationships in the case of the members of non-specific lipid
      transfer protein family are not clearly understood. As part of exploring the seed
      proteome, we have analyzed the proteome of a member of Solanaceae family, Solanum
      melongena (eggplant) and a non-specific lipid transfer protein from S. melongena,
      SM80.2 was purified, crystallized and the structure was determined at 1.87 A
      resolution. Overall, the tertiary structure is a cluster of alpha-helices forming
      an internal hydrophobic cavity. Absence of conserved Tyr79, known to govern the
      plasticity of hydrophobic cavity, and formation of hydrogen bond between Asn79
      and Asn36 further reduced the pocket size. Structural analysis of SM80.2 thus
      gives insight about a new hydrogen bond mediated mechanism followed in closure of
      the binding pocket. Extra electron densities observed at two different places on
      the protein surface and not in the cavity could provide interesting physiological
      relevance. In light of allergenic properties, probably overlapping of epitopic
      region and ligand binding on surface could be a main reason. This work shows
      first crystal structure of A-like nsLTP with a close binding pocket and extra
      density on the surface suggesting a plausible intermediate state during transfer.

PMID- 28612369
TI  - Spectroscopic and molecular docking study on the structure-affinity relationship
      and mechanism in the interaction of genistein and its derivatives with bovine
      serum albumin.
AB  - In this paper, the interaction of genistein (GEN) and its four derivatives (GEN1
      4) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated by ultraviolet-visible
      absorption spectra, fluorescence, synchronous fluorescence, three-dimensional
      fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism and molecular docking techniques.
      The experimental results showed that the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA was
      quenched by genisteins and was due to the formation of a genisteins-BSA complex.
      The quenching constant, binding constants, binding sites, intermolecular
      distances and thermodynamic properties were calculated at 298 K, 306 K and 310 K.
      Site marker competitive experiments indicated that the binding site of genisteins
      to BSA was mainly located in subdomain IIA. The conformational investigation
      showed that the presence of 0020 genisteins led to changes in the secondary
      structure of BSA and induced the slight unfolding of protein polypeptides, which
      confirmed some micro-environmental and conformational changes of BSA molecules.
      Furthermore, the binding affinity decreased in the order GEN1 > GEN > GEN4 > GEN3
      > GEN2, which revealed that different type and position of substituents of
      genistein significantly influenced the affinity of compounds to BSA. The number
      of hydroxyl groups on the ring A was the most important factor because increasing
      the hydroxyl groups on ring A clearly enhanced the binding affinity. However,
      trifluoromethylation did not much affect the affinity, alkylation, esterification
      and difluoromethylation slightly enhanced the binding affinity. The results
      obtained herein will provide valuable information about the pharmacokinetics at a
      molecular level and be a useful guideline for the further design of much more
      suitable genistein derivatives.

PMID- 28612370
TI  - Platelet transfusions: are we ready to chill out?

PMID- 28612371
TI  - Estimation in multi-arm two-stage trials with treatment selection and time-to
      event endpoint.
AB  - We consider estimation of treatment effects in two-stage adaptive multi-arm
      trials with a common control. The best treatment is selected at interim, and the
      primary endpoint is modeled via a Cox proportional hazards model. The maximum
      partial-likelihood estimator of the log hazard ratio of the selected treatment
      will overestimate the true treatment effect in this case. Several methods for
      reducing the selection bias have been proposed for normal endpoints, including an
      iterative method based on the estimated conditional selection biases and a
      shrinkage approach based on empirical Bayes theory. We adapt these methods to
      time-to-event data and compare the bias and mean squared error of all methods in
      an extensive simulation study and apply the proposed methods to reconstructed
      data from the FOCUS trial. We find that all methods tend to overcorrect the bias,
      and only the shrinkage methods can reduce the mean squared error. (c) 2017 The
      Authors. Statistics in Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 28612372
TI  - A comparative analysis of biosimilar vs. originator filgrastim in combination
      with plerixafor for stem cell mobilization in lymphoma and multiple myeloma: a
      propensity-score weighted multicenter approach.

PMID- 28612373
TI  - Reduced reward-related neural response to mimicry in individuals with autism.
AB  - Mimicry is a facilitator of social bonds in humans, from infancy. This
      facilitation is made possible through changing the reward value of social
      stimuli; for example, we like and affiliate more with people who mimic us. Autism
      spectrum disorders (ASD) are marked by difficulties in forming social bonds. In
      this study, we investigate whether the reward-related neural response to being
      mimicked is altered in individuals with ASD, using a simple conditioning
      paradigm. Multiple studies in humans and nonhuman primates have established a
      crucial role for the ventral striatal (VS) region in responding to rewards. In
      this study, adults with ASD and matched controls first underwent a conditioning
      task outside the scanner, where they were mimicked by one face and 'anti
      mimicked' by another. In the second part, participants passively viewed the
      conditioned faces in a 3T MRI scanner using a multi-echo sequence. The
      differential neural response towards mimicking vs. anti-mimicking faces in the VS
      was tested for group differences as well as an association with self-reported
      autistic traits. Multiple regression analysis revealed lower left VS response to
      mimicry (mimicking > anti-mimicking faces) in the ASD group compared to controls.
      The VS response to mimicry was negatively correlated with autistic traits across
      the whole sample. Our results suggest that for individuals with ASD and high
      autistic traits, being mimicked is associated with lower reward-related neural
      response. This result points to a potential mechanism underlying the difficulties
      reported by many of individuals with ASD in building social rapport.

PMID- 28612374
TI  - Measuring mimicry: general corticospinal facilitation during observation of
      naturalistic behaviour.
AB  - Mimicry of others' postures and behaviours forms an implicit yet indispensable
      component of social interactions. However, whereas numerous behavioural studies
      have investigated the occurrence of mimicry and its social sensitivity, the
      underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, single-pulse
      transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to measure corticospinal facilitation
      during a naturalistic behaviour observation task adapted from the behavioural
      mimicry literature. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in participants' right hands
      were measured as they observed stimulus videos of a confederate describing
      photographs. MEPs were recorded while confederates were and were not carrying out
      hand and leg behaviours that also differed in spatial extent (i.e. large
      behaviours: face rubbing and leg crossing; small behaviours: finger tapping and
      foot bouncing). Importantly, the cover task instructions did not refer to the
      behaviours but instead required participants to focus on the confederates'
      photograph descriptions in order to later perform a recognition test. A general
      arousal effect was found, with higher MEPs during stimulus video observation than
      during a fixation-cross baseline, regardless of whether or not the confederate
      was carrying out a behaviour at the time of the pulse. When controlling for this
      general arousal effect, results showed that MEPs during observation of the larger
      two behaviours were significantly higher than the smaller two behaviours,
      irrespective of effector. Thus, using a controlled yet naturalistic paradigm,
      this study suggests that general sensorimotor arousal during social interactions
      could play a role in implicit behavioural mimicry.

PMID- 28612375
TI  - Outcome of adolescents and young adults compared to children with Hodgkin
      lymphoma treated with response-based chemotherapy on pediatric protocols: A
      Children's Oncology Group report.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated the outcome of children (<15 years) versus that of
      adolescents and young adults (AYA; 15-<= 21 years) treated for Hodgkin lymphoma
      (HL) in two Pediatric Oncology Group/Children's Oncology Group clinical trials,
      P9425 and P9426, that used dose-dense, response-based chemotherapy and reduced
      dose radiotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Subjects 21 years or younger with HL
      were eligible for these studies. Subjects with low-risk (stages IA, IIA, and
      IIIA1) without large mediastinal adenopathy biopsy-proven HL, eligible for P9426,
      were treated with two to four 28-day cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin,
      vincristine, and etoposide (ABVE) chemotherapy and 25.5 Gy of involved field
      radiotherapy. Subjects with intermediate-risk (stages IB, IIA, IIIA1 with large
      mediastinal adenopathy, and IIIA2) and high-risk (stages IIB, IIIB, and IV)
      biopsy-proven HL, eligible for P9425, were treated with three to five 21-day
      cycles of ABVE plus prednisone and cyclophosphamide (ABVE-PC) chemotherapy and 21
      Gy of involved region radiotherapy. We compared the 5-year event-free survival
      (EFS), based on Kaplan-Meier product-limit method, of children versus that of
      AYA. RESULTS: Four hundred seventy-one subjects were enrolled on P9425 and P9426
      combined. Of these subjects, 203 were AYA, 104 with intermediate and high-risk
      HL, and 99 with low-risk HL. The 5-year EFS of children did not significantly
      differ from that of AYA (85.9 vs. 87.1%) with a median follow up of 7.7 years (P
      = 0.51). CONCLUSION: Given the equivalent and excellent results of therapy, HL
      represents an opportunity for adult and pediatric cancer treatment collaborative
      groups to jointly design clinical trials targeted to AYA. These trials should
      focus on both treatment efficacy and the quality of life of AYA while receiving
      chemotherapy and in reduction of long-term side effects in the survivorship
      years.

PMID- 28612376
TI  - First report on a novel Nigrospora sphaerica isolated from Catharanthus roseus
      plant with anticarcinogenic properties.
AB  - This paper reports on the vinca alkaloid produced by a novel Nigrospora sphaerica
      isolated from Catharanthus roseus. Through liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (LCMS), only the crude mycelia extract of this fungus was positive
      for determination of vinblastine. This vinca alkaloid was then purified by using
      high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and tested for cytotoxicity
      activity using MTT assays. The breast cell line cancer (MDA-MB 231) was treated
      with a purified vinblastine which was intracellulary produced by N. sphaerica.
      The purified vinblastine from extracted leaf of C. roseus was used as a standard
      comparison. A positive result with a value of half maximal inhibitory
      concentration (IC50 ) of > 32 MUg ml-1 was observed compared with standard (IC50
      ) of 350 MUg ml-1 only. It showed that a vinblastine produced by N. sphaerica has
      a high cytotoxicity activity even though the concentration of vinblastine
      produced by this endophytic fungus was only 0.868 MUg ml-1 .

PMID- 28612377
TI  - Apolipoprotein E genotype impact on memory and attention in older persons: the
      moderating role of personality phenotype.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine if phenotypic personality traits modify the association
      of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes with different domains of cognitive
      function. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: 172 non-demented older adults were
      administered the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), a battery of
      neuropsychological tests assessing memory, attention, executive function,
      language, and visuospatial ability, and underwent APOE genotyping. Multivariate
      (multiple-dependent variable) regression models predicting cognitive domains
      tested APOE interactions with personality traits, adjusting for age, sex, and
      education. RESULTS: The APOE epsilon4 allele showed small to modest main effects
      on memory and executive function (1/3 SD deficits for carriers, p < .05), with
      epsilon2 status evidencing minimal and non-significant benefit. Neuroticism
      interacted with both epsilon2 and epsilon4 alleles in associations with attention
      scores (p = .001), with epsilon2 benefits and epsilon4 deficits being marked at
      high Neuroticism (Mean [M] covariate-adjusted Z-score = .39 for epsilon2, -.47
      for epsilon4). The association of epsilon4 with memory was moderated by
      Conscientiousness (p < .001), such that epsilon4 memory deficits were apparent at
      low Conscientiousness (M = -.56), but absent at high levels of Conscientiousness.
      Weaker patterns (p < .05) also suggested epsilon4-related detriments in executive
      function only at lower Conscientiousness, and epsilon2 memory benefits only at
      higher Openness. CONCLUSIONS: Conscientiousness and Neuroticism moderate APOE
      associations with memory and executive function. As such, they may be useful
      phenotypic markers in refining the prognostic significance of this polymorphism.
      Effect-modifying personality traits also provide clues about behavioral and
      psychological factors that influence the cognitive impact of APOE. Copyright (c)
      2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612378
TI  - Trichomonas vaginalis is very rare among women with vaginal discharge in
      Podlaskie province, Poland.
AB  - Trichomonas vaginalis is the most common curable sexually transmitted pathogen
      globally. However, in the European Union (EU), trichomoniasis appears to be a
      rare condition. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of T.
      vaginalis among females attending an STI centre in Bialystok, Poland, using the
      highly sensitive and specific APTIMA T. vaginalis assay. Consecutive females,
      referred by gynaecologists mainly because of abnormal vaginal discharge, were
      diagnosed using wet mount microscopy, culture and APTIMA T. vaginalis assay.
      Among 272 women studied, 82% were pre- and 18% postmenopausal. The average age
      was 36.0 +/- 13.9 (range: 18-86) years. Abnormal discharge (alone or accompanied
      by itch or vulvovaginal burning) was the most frequent complain in both groups
      (66.2% and 48.0%). Erythema and discharge were the most frequent abnormal signs
      (58.6% and 56.0%). Not a single T. vaginalis-positive sample was detected using
      wet mount microscopy, culture or APTIMA T. vaginalis assay. Despite using the
      highly sensitive APTIMA T. vaginalis assay for detection, the pathogen could not
      be identified in females in the studied setting, similar to results from other EU
      settings. The need for general screening using NAAT for this pathogen while
      diagnosing vulvovaginal symptoms in females in Poland appears to be low.

PMID- 28612379
TI  - McCune-Albright syndrome-associated bone marrow failure and extramedullary
      haematopoeisis secondary to fibrous dysplasia.

PMID- 28612380
TI  - Breed, Coat Color, and Hair Length as Risk Factors for Hyperthyroidism in Cats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperthyroidism is very common in older cats, but the
      etiopathogenesis is poorly understood. Decreased risk of hyperthyroidism has been
      reported in certain colorpoint breeds, and this observation previously has been
      hypothesized to result from relatively greater tyrosine availability for thyroid
      hormone production because of limited ability to convert tyrosine to melanin
      pigment. However, studies investigating a potential link between coat
      pigmentation and risk of hyperthyroidism are limited. OBJECTIVE: To identify
      associations between coat phenotype and hyperthyroidism by investigation of
      breed, coat color, and hair length as risk factors for the disease. ANIMALS: Data
      were used from 4,705 cats aged >=10 years, referred to a single veterinary
      teaching hospital (2006-2014) in the United Kingdom. METHODS: Retrospective,
      epidemiological, cross-sectional study using Bayesian multivariable logistic
      regression to assess risk factors for hyperthyroidism. RESULTS: Burmese (odds
      ratio [OR], 0.01; 0.00-0.23; P = .004), Tonkinese (OR, 0.05; 0.00-0.95; P =
      .046), Persian (OR, 0.21; 0.10-0.44; P < .001), Siamese (OR, 0.27; 0.12-0.61; P =
      .002), Abyssinian (OR, 0.04; 0.00-0.74; P = .031), and British shorthair (OR,
      0.47; 0.28-0.79; P = .004) breeds had decreased risk of hyperthyroidism compared
      to domestic shorthairs. Longhaired, nonpurebred cats (OR, 1.30; 1.03-1.64; P =
      .028) were at increased risk of hyperthyroidism. Coat color/pattern was not
      associated with hyperthyroidism in nonpurebred cats. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      IMPORTANCE: We identified decreased risk of hyperthyroidism in the Tonkinese,
      Abyssinian, and British shorthair breeds, identified an association between risk
      of hyperthyroidism and hair length, and confirmed decreased risk in Burmese,
      Siamese, and Persian breeds. Additional studies are warranted to further
      investigate these findings.

PMID- 28612381
TI  - Body mass index as a predictor of outcomes among pediatric kidney transplant
      recipient.
AB  - Controversies exist regarding the impact of obesity on patients undergoing kidney
      transplantation. We sought to estimate the association between BMI and patient
      outcomes (survival and graft function) among pediatric kidney transplant patients
      in the USA. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the United Network for Organ
      Sharing database (1987-2013), which revealed 13 014 pediatric patients (<18 years
      old) who underwent primary kidney transplantation. Patients were stratified into
      five BMI categories established by the World Health Organizations according to
      their Z score, which is based on age, gender and BMI. The -2, 0, and +2
      categories were collapsed and served as the reference group, while the -3 (thin)
      and +3 (obese) categories were evaluated for differences in graft and patient
      survival. The survival rates between these categories were compared using the
      Kaplan-Meier estimator. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to
      adjust for recipient and donor characteristics to estimate the risk of graft loss
      and mortality associated with BMI. Logistic regression models were estimated to
      evaluate whether there was an association between BMI and DGF. There were no
      differences in overall patient (P=.1655) or graft (P=.1688) survival between the
      severely thin, normal, and obese patients. Adjusted models also revealed no
      statistically significant differences in graft or patient survival. There were no
      differences in the odds of DGF (both unadjusted and adjusted) among the three
      groups. The prevalence of obesity is increasing among children who present for
      kidney transplant in the USA. In this national study of pediatric kidney
      transplant recipients, there was no difference in graft or patient survival and
      no differences in rates of DGF among obese children compared to normal and
      underweight children undergoing kidney transplantation.

PMID- 28612382
TI  - Vaccinium meridionale Swartz extracts and their addition in beef burgers as
      antioxidant ingredient.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vaccinium meridionale Swartz (mortino) constitutes a source of
      bioactive phytochemicals, but reports related to its efficient and green
      production are scarce. In this study, pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and
      ultrasound-assisted extraction of mortino were compared. Total phenolic content
      (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (ABTS*+ ) were determined. Beef burgers with 20 g
      kg-1 of mortino (MM) or its PLE extract (ME) were manufactured. Lipid oxidation
      (TBARS) and instrumental color changes were measured after refrigerated storage.
      RESULTS: High TPC (up to 72 g gallic acid equivalent kg-1 extract) was determined
      in mortino extracts, which was positively correlated with antioxidant activity.
      TBARS values of beef burgers containing either MM or ME did not change after
      refrigerated storage, whereas lipid oxidation of control burgers increased
      significantly. The color of burgers with added MM or ME was different (lower b*
      and a* values) from that of control burgers. However, the evolution of color
      after storage was similar between control and ME samples. CONCLUSION: Mortino
      extracts with high TPC can be obtained by PLE. Both mortino and its PLE extract
      are able to control lipid oxidation of beef burgers, but the extract is preferred
      from the color quality point of view. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28612384
TI  - Exploring Partner Intimacy Among Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum:
      A Grounded Theory Investigation.
AB  - In this study, we explored how couples raising children with autism spectrum
      disorder negotiate intimacy, including what contextual and temporal factors
      influence these processes. We conducted conjoint interviews with 12 couples,
      employing grounded theory methodology to collect and analyze the data. Our
      results indicated that fostering intimacy in these couples' relationships
      involves partners working together to make key cognitive and relational shifts.
      Couples are aided or hindered in making these shifts by the degree to which they
      experience various contextual and environmental factors as resources or
      roadblocks. We also found that intimacy is not a fixed point at which couples one
      day arrive, but is an iterative process taking place over time and requiring work
      to develop and maintain.

PMID- 28612383
TI  - A new player in bacterial sulfide-inducible transcriptional regulation.
AB  - Although hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) is perhaps best known as a toxic gas, the
      electron-rich H2 S functions as an energy source and electron donor for
      chemolithotrophic and photosynthetic bacteria, via sulfide oxidation, and is a
      universal substrate for cysteine biosynthesis. These distinct harmful and
      beneficial roles of H2 S suggest the need to 'sense' prevailing concentrations of
      sulfide and downstream reactive sulfur species (RSS) and regulate the expression
      of genes mediating sulfide homeostasis. The paper by Li et al. in this issue of
      Molecular Microbiology adds Cupriavidus FisR to an expanding repertoire of
      regulatory mechanisms that bacteria have evolved to sense cellular RSS and
      mitigate their deleterious effects.

PMID- 28612385
TI  - Genetic accommodation in the wild: evolution of gene expression plasticity during
      character displacement.
AB  - Ecological character displacement is considered crucial in promoting
      diversification, yet relatively little is known of its underlying mechanisms. We
      examined whether evolutionary shifts in gene expression plasticity ('genetic
      accommodation') mediate character displacement in spadefoot toads. Where Spea
      bombifrons and S. multiplicata occur separately in allopatry (the ancestral
      condition), each produces alternative, diet-induced, larval ecomorphs: omnivores,
      which eat detritus, and carnivores, which specialize on shrimp. By contrast,
      where these two species occur together in sympatry (the derived condition),
      selection to minimize competition for detritus has caused S. bombifrons to become
      nearly fixed for producing only carnivores, suggesting that character
      displacement might have arisen through an extreme form of genetic accommodation
      ('genetic assimilation') in which plasticity is lost. Here, we asked whether we
      could infer a signature of this process in regulatory changes of specific genes.
      In particular, we investigated whether genes that are normally expressed more
      highly in one morph ('biased' genes) have evolved reduced plasticity in
      expression levels among S. bombifrons from sympatry compared to S. bombifrons
      from allopatry. We reared individuals from sympatry vs. allopatry on detritus or
      shrimp and measured the reaction norms of nine biased genes. Although different
      genes displayed different patterns of gene regulatory evolution, the combined
      gene expression profiles revealed that sympatric individuals had indeed lost the
      diet-induced gene expression plasticity present in allopatric individuals. Our
      data therefore provide one of the few examples from natural populations in which
      genetic accommodation/assimilation can be traced to regulatory changes of
      specific genes. Such genetic accommodation might mediate character displacement
      in many systems.

PMID- 28612386
TI  - Impact of comorbidities on outcomes of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma.
AB  - International prognostic index (IPI) has remained the primary prognostic tool in
      diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) for more than 20 years. Even though the
      disease is more common in older population, the impact of comorbidities, dose
      reductions, and treatment-related adverse events (TAEs) on the outcome in elderly
      DLBCL patients has not been well established. We studied 413 consecutive patients
      aged >= 60 years who were treated at the Cleveland Clinic. The median age at
      diagnosis was 69 years, 58% of patients had high IPI score, and 85% had low
      Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). Forty percent of patients required dose
      reductions during treatment, 78% achieved CR, and 70% experienced at least one
      grade II-IV TAE. High IPI score, high CCI, reduced dose chemotherapy, TAE, and
      hospitalization were significant predictors of death and relapse. In
      multivariable analysis, high IPI and CCI were independent predictors of overall
      and progression free survival. A simple model combining IPI and CCI could
      reliably distinguish three prognostically separate risk groups. Our results
      suggest that incorporation of CCI in current prognostic models can improve
      prognostication of older DLBCL patients and CCI might be a valuable tool in
      evaluating the eligibility of older patients for clinical trial enrollment.

PMID- 28612387
TI  - Photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence and thermal stability of Sm3+ -activated
      Sr3 La(VO4 )3 red-emitting phosphors.
AB  - A series of Sm3+ -activated Sr3 La(VO4 )3 phosphors were synthesized by a facile
      sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction patterns and photoluminescence
      (PL)/cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra as well as PL decay curves were employed to
      characterize the obtained samples. Upon 402 nm light excitation, the
      characteristic emissions of Sm3+ ions corresponding to 4 G5/2 ->6 HJ transitions
      were observed in all the as-prepared products. The PL emission intensity was
      increased with increase in Sm3+ ion concentration, while concentration quenching
      occurred when the doping concentration was over 4 mol%. The non-radiative energy
      transfer mechanism for concentration quenching of Sm3+ ions was dominated by
      dipole-dipole interaction and the critical distance was around 21.59 A.
      Furthermore, temperature-dependent PL emission spectra revealed that the obtained
      phosphors possessed good thermal stability with an activation energy of 0.19 eV.
      In addition, the CL spectra of the samples were almost the same as the PL
      spectra, and the CL emission intensity showed a tendency to increase with
      increase in accelerating voltage and filament current. These results suggest that
      the Sm3+ -activated Sr3 La(VO4 )3 phosphors with good color coordinates, high
      color purity and superior thermal stability may be a potential candidate for
      applications in white light-emitting diodes and field-emission displays as red
      emitting phosphors.

PMID- 28612388
TI  - Dermatopathology education in the era of modern technology.
AB  - Continuing technological advances are inevitably impacting the study and practice
      of dermatopathology (DP). We are seeing the transition from glass slide
      microscopy to virtual microscopy, which is serving both as an accessible
      educational medium for medical students, residents and fellows in the form of
      online databases and atlases, as well as a research tool to better inform us
      regarding the development of visual diagnostic expertise. Expansion in mobile
      technology is simplifying slide image attainment and providing greater
      opportunities for phone- and tablet-based microscopy, including
      teledermatopathology instruction and consultation in resource-poor areas with
      lack of specialists. Easily accessible mobile and computer-based applications
      ("apps"), including myDermPath and Clearpath, are providing an interactive medium
      for DP instruction. The Internet and social networking sites are enabling rapid
      global communication of DP information and image-sharing, promoting collaborative
      diagnostic research and scholastic endeavors.

PMID- 28612389
TI  - Biochar potential in intensive cultivation of Capsicum annuum L. (sweet pepper):
      crop yield and plant protection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The influence of various biochars on crop yield and disease
      resistance of Capsicum annuum L. (sweet pepper) under modern, high input,
      intensive net house cultivation was tested over the course of 2011-2014 in the
      Arava desert region of Israel. A pot experiment with Lactuca sativa L. (lettuce)
      grown in the absence of fertilizer employed the 3-year-old field trial soils to
      determine if biochar treatments contributed to soil intrinsic fertility. RESULTS:
      Biochar amendments resulted in a significant increase in the number and weight of
      pepper fruits over 3 years. Concomitant with the increased yield, biochar
      significantly decreased the severity of powdery mildew (Leveillula taurica)
      disease and broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) pest infestation. Biochar
      additions resulted in increased soil organic matter but did not influence the pH,
      electrical conductivity or soil or plant mineral nutrients. Intrinsic fertility
      experiments with lettuce showed that two of the four biochar-treated field soils
      had significant positive impacts on lettuce fresh weight and total chlorophyll,
      carotenoid and anthocyanin contents. CONCLUSION: Biochar-based soil management
      can enhance the functioning of intensive, commercial, net house production of
      peppers under the tested conditions, resulting in increased crop yield and plant
      resistance to disease over several years. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28612390
TI  - Spectral investigations on Eu3+ ,Sm3+ -doped and Sm3+ /Eu3+ co-doped potassium
      fluoro-phosphate glass emitting intense orange-red for lighting applications.
AB  - Potassium fluoro-phosphate (KFP) glass singly doped with different concentrations
      of europium (Eu3+ ) or samarium (Sm3+ ) or co-doped (Sm3+ /Eu3+ ) was prepared,
      and their luminescence spectra were investigated. The phase composition of the
      product was verified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Optical transition properties
      of Eu3+ in the studied potassium phosphate glass were evaluated in the framework
      of the Judd-Ofelt theory. The radiative transition rates (AR ), fluorescence
      branching ratios (beta), stimulated emission cross-sections (sigmae ) and
      lifetimes (tauexp ) for certain transitions or levels were evaluated. Red
      emission of Eu3+ was exhibited mainly by the 5 D0 ->7 F2 transition located at
      612 nm. Concentration quenching and energy transfer were observed from
      fluorescence spectra and decay curves, respectively. It was found that the
      lifetimes of the 5 D0 level increased with increase in concentration and then
      decreased. By co-doping with Sm3+ , energy transfer from Sm3+ to Eu3+ occurred
      and contributed to the enhancement in emission intensity. Intense orange-red
      light emission was obtained upon sensitizing with Sm3+ in KFP glass. This
      approach shows significant promise for use in reddish-orange lighting
      applications. The optimized properties of the Sm3+ /Eu3+ co-doped potassium
      phosphate glass might be promising for optical materials.

PMID- 28612391
TI  - Yield, resource use efficiency and trace metal uptake of weeping lovegrass grown
      on municipal sludge-amended soil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are concerns that fertilization using sludge in semi-arid
      areas, where water is limiting, will compound the effect of drought, resulting in
      the decline of yield from potential salt accumulation. This study investigated
      impacts of annual sludge application at 0, 4, 8 and 16 Mg ha-1 on weeping
      lovegrass hay yield, crude protein (CP) content, rainfall use efficiency (RUE),
      nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and trace metal uptake over eight consecutive
      years. RESULTS: Both hay yield and RUE increased by 5-53% as the sludge rate
      increased. Hay yield was highest (13.3 Mg ha-1 ) during the wet season and RUE
      (27.1 kg mm-1 ) during the dry season. RUE was highest at sludge rates of 16 Mg
      ha-1 and NUE at 4 Mg ha-1 . Similarly, municipal sludge application increased CP
      content as well as crop Cr and Zn uptake from the 16 Mg ha-1 treatment.
      CONCLUSION: Results from this study indicated that eight consecutive years of
      treated municipal sludge application increased weeping lovegrass hay yield, CP
      content and RUE. Similarly, trace metal uptake by crop did not differ between the
      zero control and the 16 Mg ha-1 treatment, except for Zn and Cr, which showed a
      slight increment. Nonetheless, all trace metals remained well below the maximum
      tolerable dietary concentrations for domestic animals. (c) 2017 Society of
      Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28612392
TI  - Linking activity-dependent control of axon initial segment structure to the
      cytoskeleton (Commentary on Evans et al. (2017)).

PMID- 28612393
TI  - Network theory and metapopulation persistence: incorporating node self
      connections.
AB  - Network analysis is gaining increasing importance in conservation planning.
      However, which network metrics are the best predictors of metapopulation
      persistence is still unresolved. Here, we identify a critical limitation of graph
      theory-derived network metrics that have been proposed for this purpose: their
      omission of node self-connections. We resolve this by presenting modifications of
      existing network metrics, and developing entirely new metrics, that account for
      node self-connections. Then, we illustrate the performance of these new and
      modified metrics with an age-structured metapopulation model for a real-world
      marine reserve network case study, and we evaluate the robustness of our findings
      by systematically varying particular features of that network. Our new and
      modified metrics predict metapopulation persistence much better than existing
      metrics do, even when self-connections are weak. Existing metrics become good
      predictors of persistence only when self-connections are entirely absent, an
      unrealistic scenario in the overwhelming majority of metapopulation applications.
      Our study provides a set of novel tools that can substantially enhance the extent
      to which network metrics can be employed to understand, and manage for,
      metapopulation persistence.

PMID- 28612394
TI  - Tumor associated CD70 expression is involved in promoting tumor migration and
      macrophage infiltration in GBM.
AB  - Tumor migration/metastasis and immunosuppression are major obstacles in effective
      cancer therapy. Incidentally, these 2 hurdles usually coexist inside tumors,
      therefore making therapy significantly more complicated, as both oncogenic
      mechanisms must be addressed for successful therapeutic intervention. Our recent
      report highlights that the tumor expression of a TNF family member, CD70, is
      correlated with poor survival for primary gliomas. In this study, we investigated
      how CD70 expression by GBM affects the characteristics of tumor cells and the
      tumor microenvironment. We found that the ablation of CD70 in primary GBM
      decreased CD44 and SOX2 gene expression, and inhibited tumor migration, growth
      and the ability to attract monocyte-derived M2 macrophages in vitro. In the tumor
      microenvironment, CD70 was associated with immune cell infiltrates, such as T
      cells; myeloid-derived suppressor cells; and monocytes/macrophages based on the
      RNA-sequencing profile. The CD163+ macrophages were far more abundant than T
      cells were. This overwhelming level of macrophages was identified only in GBM and
      not in low-grade gliomas and normal brain specimens, implying their tumor
      association. CD70 was detected only on tumor cells, not on macrophages, and was
      highly correlated with CD163 gene expression in primary GBM. Additionally, the co
      expression of the CD70 and CD163 genes was found to correlate with decreased
      survival for patients with primary GBM. Together, these data suggest that CD70
      expression is involved in promoting tumor aggressiveness and immunosuppression
      via tumor-associated macrophage recruitment/activation. Our current efforts to
      target this molecule using chimeric antigen receptor T cells hold great potential
      for treating patients with GBM.

PMID- 28612395
TI  - A case of classical maple syrup urine disease that was successfully managed by
      living donor liver transplantation.
AB  - Classical MSUD is often fatal without appropriate medical interventions because
      of metabolic crisis. There are numerous reports suggesting the therapeutic
      potential of deceased donor liver transplantation for MSUD. However, the
      usefulness of LDLT for MSUD is unknown. We report a case of classical MSUD, which
      was successfully managed by LDLT from the patient's father at 1 year of age.
      Abnormal brain findings, which were cured with effective treatment, gradually
      disappeared after LDLT. The patient then developed normally. Findings from this
      case suggest the importance of LDLT for maintaining low leucine levels and
      subsequent normal neurological development. Although LDLT involves a modest
      surgical insult, LDLT with a related donor achieves acceptable leucine levels for
      life.

PMID- 28612396
TI  - Diagnosis of inherited bleeding disorders in the genomic era.
AB  - Inherited bleeding disorders affect between 1 in 1000 individuals for the most
      common disorder, von Willebrand Disease, to only 8 reported cases worldwide of
      alpha-2-antiplasmin deficiency. Those with an identifiable abnormality can be
      divided into disorders of coagulation factors (87%), platelet count and function
      (8%) and the fibrinolytic system (3%). Of the patients registered in the UK with
      a bleeding disorder, the remaining 2% are unclassifiable. In addition to bleeding
      symptoms, patients with an inherited bleeding disorder can manifest other
      abnormalities, making an accurate and complete diagnosis that reflects the
      underlying molecular pathology important. Although some inherited bleeding
      disorders can still be easily diagnosed through a combination of careful clinical
      assessment and laboratory assays of varying degrees of complexity, there are many
      where conventional approaches are inadequate. Improvements in phenotyping assays
      have enhanced our diagnostic armoury but genotyping now offers the most accurate
      and complete diagnosis for some of these conditions. The advent of next
      generation sequencing technology has meant that many genes can now be analysed
      routinely in clinical practice. Here, we discuss the different diagnostic tools
      currently available for inherited bleeding disorders and suggest that genotyping
      should be incorporated at an early stage in the diagnostic pathway.

PMID- 28612397
TI  - Understanding and Treating Offenders with Serious Mental Illness in Public Sector
      Mental Health.
AB  - This article begins with the history of the rise and fall of the state hospitals
      and subsequent criminalization of persons with serious mental illness (SMI).
      Currently, there is a belief among many that incarceration has not been as
      successful as hoped in reducing crime and drug use, both for those with and those
      without SMI. Moreover, overcrowding in correctional facilities has become a
      serious problem necessitating a solution. Consequently, persons with SMI in the
      criminal justice system are now being released in large numbers to the community
      and hopefully treated by public sector mental health. The issues to consider when
      releasing incarcerated persons with SMI into the community are as follows:
      diversion and mental health courts; the expectation that the mental health system
      will assume responsibility; providing asylum and sanctuary; the capabilities,
      limitations, and realistic treatment goals of community outpatient psychiatric
      treatment for offenders with SMI; the need for structure; the use of involuntary
      commitments, including assisted outpatient treatment, conservatorship and
      guardianship; liaison between treatment and criminal justice personnel;
      appropriately structured, monitored, and supportive housing; management of
      violence; and 24-hour structured in-patient care. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612398
TI  - Polyethylene glycol-induced motor recovery after total spinal transection in
      rats.
AB  - AIMS: Despite more than a century of research, spinal paralysis remains
      untreatable via biological means. A new understanding of spinal cord physiology
      and the introduction of membrane fusogens have provided new hope that a
      biological cure may soon become available. However, proof is needed from
      adequately powered animal studies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two groups of rats (n=9,
      study group, n=6 controls) were submitted to complete transection of the dorsal
      cord at T10. The animals were randomized to receive either saline or polyethylene
      glycol (PEG) in situ. After 4 weeks, the treated group had recovered ambulation
      vs none in the control group (BBB scores; P=.0145). One control died. All animals
      were studied with somatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEP) and diffusion tensor
      imaging (DTI). SSEP recovered postoperatively only in PEG-treated rats. At study
      end, DTI showed disappearance of the transection gap in the treated animals vs an
      enduring gap in controls (fractional anisotropy/FA at level: P=.0008).
      CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time in an adequately powered study that the
      paralysis attendant to a complete transection of the spinal cord can be reversed.
      This opens the path to a severance-reapposition cure of spinal paralysis, in
      which the injured segment is excised and the two stumps approximated after
      vertebrectomy/diskectomies.

PMID- 28612399
TI  - Postharvest gaseous ozone treatment enhances quality parameters and delays
      softening in cantaloupe melon during storage at 6  degrees C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of postharvest gaseous
      ozone (O3 ) treatment on quality parameters and cell wall enzymes of cantaloupe
      melon cv. Caldeo during storage at 6  degrees C for 13 days. Fruits were kept in
      cold storage and treated with 0.15 ppm gaseous O3 during the day and 0.3 ppm
      overnight; control fruits (CK) were stored in normal atmosphere. RESULTS:
      Firmness was higher and ethylene concentration significantly lower in O3 fruits
      compared with CK fruits. During storage, microbial counts were lower in both O3
      and CK fruits; from day 9, O3 fruits showed a significant decrease in mesophilic
      aerobes. Additionally, total carotenoids had a tendency to be higher, with no
      significant differences between CK and O3 fruits. The same trend was observed for
      ascorbic acid, colour, total soluble solids content and acidity. Finally, O3
      treatment reduced the activities of cell wall enzymes alpha-arabinopyranosidase,
      beta-galactopyranosidase and polygalacturonase starting from day 3 of storage.
      Pectin methyl esterase activity did not seem to be affected by O3 treatment.
      CONCLUSION: Gaseous O3 treatment during cold storage was effective in decreasing
      ethylene production and delaying fruit softening in cantaloupe melon by extending
      quality maintenance. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 28612400
TI  - In search of educational efficiency: 30 years of Medical Education's top-cited
      articles.
AB  - CONTEXT: Academic journals represent shared spaces wherein the significance of
      thematic areas, methodologies and paradigms are debated and shaped through
      collective engagement. By studying journals in their historical and cultural
      contexts, the academic community can gain insight into the ways in which authors
      and audiences propose, develop, harness, revise and discard research subjects,
      methodologies and practices. METHODS: Thirty top-cited articles published in
      Medical Education between 1986 and 2014 were analysed in a two-step process.
      First, a descriptive classification of articles allowed us to quantify the
      frequency of content areas over the time span studied. Secondly, a discourse
      analysis was conducted to identify the continuities, disruptions and tensions
      within the three most prominent content areas. RESULTS: The top-cited articles in
      Medical Education focused on three major areas of interest: problem-based
      learning, simulation and assessment. In each of these areas of interest, we noted
      a tension between the desire to produce and apply standardised tools, and the
      recognition that the contexts of medical education are highly variable and
      influenced by political and financial considerations. The general preoccupation
      with achieving efficiency may paradoxically jeopardise the ability of medical
      schools to address the contextual needs of students, teachers and patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the topics of interest for a journal's scholarly
      audience and how these topics are discursively positioned, provides important
      information for researchers in deciding how they wish to engage with the field,
      as well as for educators as they assess the relevance of educational products for
      their local contexts.

PMID- 28612401
TI  - Safety and effectiveness of collagenase clostridium histolyticum in the treatment
      of Peyronie's disease using a new modified shortened protocol.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of collagenase clostridium
      histolyticum (CCH; Xiapex(r) , Xiaflex(r) ) in the treatment of Peyronie's
      disease (PD) using a new modified treatment protocol that aims at reducing the
      number of injections needed and reducing patient visits, thus reducing the
      duration and cost of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective study of 53
      patients with PD who had treatment with CCH at a single centre using a new
      modified protocol. The angle of curvature assessment after an intracavernosal
      injection of prostaglandin E1, the International Index of Erectile Function
      (IIEF) and Peyronie's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ) were completed at baseline and
      at week 12 (4 weeks after the last injection). The Global Assessment of
      Peyronie's disease (GAPD) questionnaire was completed at week 12. Under a penile
      block of 10 mL plain lignocaine 1%, a total of three intralesional injections of
      CCH (0.9 mg) were given at 4-weekly intervals using a new modified injection
      technique. In between injections patients used a combination of home modelling,
      stretching and a vacuum device on a daily basis to mechanically stretch the
      plaque. Investigator modelling was not performed. RESULTS: The mean (range)
      penile curvature at baseline was 54 (30-90) degrees . Of the 53 patients in the
      study, 51 patients (96.2%) had an improvement in the angel of curvature by a mean
      (range) of 17.36 (0-40) degrees  or 31.4 (0-57)% from baseline after three CCH
      injections. The final mean (range) curvature was 36.9 (12-75) degrees  (P <
      0.001). There was an improvement in each of the IIEF questionnaire domains, all
      three PDQ domains and the GAPD. CCH was well tolerated by all patients with only
      mild and transient local adverse events. CONCLUSION: The new shortened protocol
      using CCH treatment is safe, effective, and cost efficient. The results of using
      only three CCH injections according to this modified protocol are comparable to
      those of the clinical trials that used eight CCH injections.

PMID- 28612403
TI  - A meta-analysis of anatomy laboratory pedagogies.
AB  - The debate regarding anatomy laboratory teaching approaches is ongoing and
      controversial. To date, the literature has yielded only speculative conclusions
      because of general methodological weaknesses and a lack of summative empirical
      evidence. Through a meta-analysis, this study compared the effectiveness of
      instructional laboratory approaches used in anatomy education to objectively and
      more conclusively synthesize the existing literature. Studies published between
      January 1965 and December 2015 were searched through five databases. Titles and
      abstracts of the retrieved records were screened using eligibility criteria to
      determine their appropriateness for study inclusion. Only numerical data were
      extracted for analysis. A summary effect size was estimated to determine the
      effects of laboratory pedagogies on learner performance and perceptions data were
      compiled to provide additional context. Of the 3,035 records screened, 327
      underwent full-text review. Twenty-seven studies, comprising a total of 7,731
      participants, were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis detected no effect
      (standardized mean difference = -0.03; 95% CI = -0.16 to 0.10; P = 0.62) on
      learner performance. Additionally, a moderator analysis detected no effects (P >=
      0.16) for study design, learner population, intervention length, or specimen
      type. Across studies, student performance on knowledge examinations was
      equivalent regardless of being exposed to either dissection or another laboratory
      instructional strategy. This was true of every comparison investigated (i.e.,
      dissection vs. prosection, dissection vs. digital media, dissection vs.
      models/modeling, and dissection vs. hybrid). In the context of short-term
      knowledge gains alone, dissection is no better, and no worse, than alternative
      instructional modalities. Clin. Anat. 31:122-133, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612404
TI  - Validation of the factor structure of the Five Facets of Mindfulness
      Questionnaire in men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

PMID- 28612402
TI  - Coenzyme B12 synthesis as a baseline to study metabolite contribution of animal
      microbiota.
AB  - Microbial communities thrive in a number of environments. Exploration of their
      microbiomes - their global genome - may reveal metabolic features that contribute
      to the development and welfare of their hosts, or chemical cleansing of
      environments. Yet we often lack final demonstration of their causal role in
      features of interest. The reason is that we do not have proper baselines that we
      could use to monitor how microbiota cope with key metabolites in the hosting
      environment. Here, focusing on animal gut microbiota, we describe the fate of
      cobalamins - metabolites of the B12 coenzyme family - that are essential for
      animals but synthesized only by prokaryotes. Microbiota produce the vitamin used
      in a variety of animals (and in algae). Coprophagy plays a role in its
      management. For coprophobic man, preliminary observations suggest that the gut
      microbial production of vitamin B12 plays only a limited role. By contrast, the
      vitamin is key for structuring microbiota. This implies that it is freely
      available in the environment. This can only result from lysis of the microbes
      that make it. A consequence for biotechnology applications is that, if valuable
      for their host, B12-producing microbes should be sensitive to bacteriophages and
      colicins, or make spores.

PMID- 28612406
TI  - Previously undescribed palpebral branch from the infraorbital canal: Application
      to surgery of the eyelid and treatment of orbital floor fractures.
AB  - The sensory innervation of the inferior eyelid is mainly derived from the
      inferior palpebral branch (IPb) of the infraorbital nerve (ION). This study aimed
      to investigate another, to our knowledge, previously unknown branch, and
      elucidate its location and distribution. Twelve sides from seven fresh frozen
      cadaveric Caucasian heads were used in this study. The specimens were derived
      from two male and four female adult cadavers age. The diameter of the IPb of the
      ION (D1) and branch arising from the upper wall of the infraorbital canal (D2),
      and distance between the branching points of this branch and the anterior border
      of the orbit floor (L1) was measured. A branch to the lower eyelid was found
      arising from the infraorbital canal on the majority of sides. D1 ranged from 0.4
      to 1.1 mm. The branch arising from the upper wall of the infraorbital canal was
      found 10 sides (83%). D2 ranged 0.6 to 1.0 mm. L1 ranged from 10.2 to 19.8 mm.
      All of the branches arising from the upper wall of the infraorbital canal (10
      sides) primarily innervated to the inferior eyelid. We suggest this branch should
      be named the "posterior IPb" of the ION. Knowledge of this branch might decrease
      sensory loss following invasive procedures of the lower orbit. Clin. Anat. 30:835
      838, 2017. (c) 2017Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612405
TI  - A Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Development in Two Astyanax Cavefish
      Populations.
AB  - Organisms that are isolated into extreme environments often evolve extreme
      phenotypes. However, global patterns of dynamic gene expression changes that
      accompany dramatic environmental changes remain largely unknown. The blind
      Mexican cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus, has evolved a number of severe cave
      associated phenotypes including loss of vision and pigmentation, craniofacial
      bone fusions, increased fat storage, reduced sleep, and amplified nonvisual
      sensory systems. Interestingly, surface-dwelling forms have repeatedly entered
      different caves throughout Mexico, providing a natural set of "replicate"
      instances of cave isolation. These surrogate "ancestral" surface-dwelling forms
      persist in nearby rivers, enabling direct comparisons to the "derived" cave
      dwelling form. We evaluated changes associated with subterranean isolation by
      measuring differential gene expression in two geographically distinct cave
      dwelling populations (Pachon and Tinaja). To understand the impact of these
      expression changes on development, we performed RNA-sequencing across four
      critical stages during which troglomorphic traits first appear in cavefish
      embryos. Gene ontology (GO) studies revealed similar functional profiles evolved
      in both independent cave lineages. However, enrichment studies indicated that
      similar GO profiles were occasionally mediated by different genes. Certain
      "master" regulators, such as Otx2 and Mitf, appear to be important loci for cave
      adaptation, as remarkably similar patterns of expression were identified in both
      independent cave lineages. This work reveals that adaptation to an extreme
      environment, in two distinct cavefish lineages, evolves through a combination of
      unique and shared gene expression patterns. Shared expression profiles reflect
      common environmental pressures, while unique expression likely reflects the fact
      that similar adaptive traits evolve through diverse genetic mechanisms.

PMID- 28612407
TI  - Pre-registration interprofessional clinical education in the workplace: a realist
      review.
AB  - CONTEXT: The inclusion of interprofessional education opportunities in clinical
      placements for pre-registration learners has recently been proposed as a strategy
      to enhance graduates' skills in collaborative practice. OBJECTIVES: A realist
      review was undertaken to ascertain the contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of
      formal interprofessional clinical workplace learning. METHODS: Initial scoping
      was carried out, after which Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE were searched from
      2005 to April 2016 to identify formal interprofessional workplace educational
      interventions involving pre-registration learners. Papers reporting studies
      conducted in dedicated training wards were excluded, leaving a total of 30 papers
      to be included in the review. RESULTS: Several educational formats that combined
      students from medicine, nursing, pharmacy and allied health professions were
      identified. These included: the use of engagement by student teams with a real
      patient through interview as the basis for discussion and reflection; the use of
      case studies through which student teams work to promote discussion; structured
      workshops; ward rounds, and shadowing. Meaningful interprofessional student
      discussion and reflection comprised the mechanism by which the outcome of
      learners acquiring knowledge of the roles of other professions and teamwork
      skills was achieved. The mechanism of dialogue during an interaction with a real
      patient allowed the patient to provide his or her perspective and contributed to
      an awareness of the patient's perspective in health care practice. Medication- or
      safety-focused interprofessional tasks contributed to improved safety awareness.
      In the absence of trained facilitators or in the context of negative role
      modelling, programmes were less successful. CONCLUSIONS: In the design of
      workplace education initiatives, curriculum decisions should take into
      consideration the contexts of the initiatives and the mechanisms for achieving
      the education-related outcomes of interest.

PMID- 28612408
TI  - Sulfur-Fluoride Exchange (SuFEx)-Mediated Synthesis of Sterically Hindered and
      Electron-Deficient Secondary and Tertiary Amides via Acyl Fluoride Intermediates.
AB  - Amide bond formation is one of the most executed reactions in chemistry and
      biology. This is largely due to the ubiquity of the amide functional group in
      biological molecules, natural products and pharmaceutically important drugs. We
      report here the development of "SuFExAmide": a new sulfur-fluoride exchange
      (SuFEx) click chemistry based protocol for the efficient amidation of carboxylic
      acids via acyl fluoride intermediates. We have developed benzene-1,3-disulfonyl
      fluoride as a cost effective, powerful and versatile coupling agent, which
      delivers challenging secondary and tertiary amides in excellent yields from
      sterically hindered and electron-deficient amines. The straightforward method
      offers significant benefits over existing protocols in terms of substrate scope,
      efficiency and ease of operation and is demonstrated by the synthesis of 44
      amides, including GNF6702, an antiprotozoal drug candidate. In the majority of
      cases, the amide products are obtained in high yield without the need for excess
      reagents or chromatographic purification.

PMID- 28612409
TI  - Self-Assembled Pd@CeO2 /gamma-Al2 O3 Catalysts with Enhanced Activity for
      Catalytic Methane Combustion.
AB  - Pd@CeO2 /Al2 O3 catalysts are of great importance for real applications, such as
      three-way catalysis, CO oxidation, and methane combustion. In this article, the
      Pd@CeO2 core@shell nanospheres are prepared via the autoredox reaction in aqueous
      phase. Three kinds of methods are then employed, that is, electrostatic
      interaction, supramolecular self-assembly, and physical mixing, to support the as
      prepared Pd@CeO2 nanospheres on gamma-Al2 O3 . A model reaction of catalytic
      methane-combustion is employed here to evaluate the three Pd@CeO2 /gamma-Al2 O3
      samples. As a result, the sample Pd@CeO2 -S-850 prepared via supramolecular self
      assembly and calcined at 850  degrees C exhibits superior catalytic performance
      to the others, which has a far lower light-off temperature (T50 of about 364 
      degrees C). Moreover, almost no deterioration of Pd@CeO2 -S-850 is observed after
      five sequent catalytic cycles. The analysis of H2 -TPR curves concludes that
      there exists hydrogen spillover related to the strong metal-support interaction
      between Pd species and oxides. The strong metal-support interaction and the
      specific surface areas might be responsible for the catalytic performance of the
      Pd@CeO2 samples toward catalytic methane combustion.

PMID- 28612410
TI  - Structural and luminescent studies of erbium-doped CaZrO3 green-emitting
      nanophosphors.
AB  - Erbium (Er) (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 wt%)-doped CaZrO3 nanophosphors were synthesized by
      the sol-gel method using poly(vinyl alcohol) as the chelating agent. Their
      structural and photoluminescence properties were studied using X-ray diffraction
      (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy
      (FESEM-EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence and
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The XRD patterns of the samples
      confirm that nanoscale crystallite sizes. Agglomeration of the samples was
      observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy images. Energy
      dispersive spectroscopy measurements confirmed the existence of Ca, Zr, O and Er
      in the samples. Average particle sizes for the samples were calculated from
      transmission electron microscopy images. FTIR spectra clearly show characteristic
      absorption bands related to the metal oxides, as well as some other organic
      molecules. The photoluminescence spectra show bands in the green region. The
      Commission International de l'Eclairage coordinates were calculated and found to
      be in green region.

PMID- 28612411
TI  - Deficits in temporal processing in mice prenatally exposed to Valproic Acid.
AB  - Temporal processing in the seconds-to-minutes range, known as interval timing, is
      a crucial cognitive function that requires activation of cortico-striatal
      circuits via dopaminergic-glutamatergic pathways. In humans, both children and
      adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present alterations in their
      estimation of time intervals. At present, there are no records of interval timing
      studies in animal models of ASD. Hence, the objective of the present work was to
      evaluate interval timing in a mouse model of prenatal exposure to valproic acid
      (VPA) - a treatment used to induce human-like autistic features in rodent models.
      Animals were assessed for their ability to acquire timing responses in 15-s and
      45-s peak-interval (PI) procedures. Our results indicate that both female and
      male mice prenatally exposed to VPA present decreased timing accuracy and
      precision compared to control groups, as well as deviations from the scalar
      property. Moreover, the observed timing deficits in male VPA mice were reversed
      after early social enrichment. Furthermore, catecholamine determination by HPLC
      ED indicated significant differences in striatal dopaminergic, but not
      serotonergic, content in female and male VPA mice, consistent with previously
      identified alterations in dopamine metabolism in ASD. These deficits in temporal
      processing in a mouse model of autism complement previous results in humans, and
      provide a useful tool for further behavioral and pharmacological studies.

PMID- 28612412
TI  - Ending "poke until you get a gusher": Part II-the evidence based approach to
      vascular access revisited.
AB  - Puncture above the common femoral bifurcation and below the inguinal ligament is
      optimal A vast majority of femoral bifurcations occur below the middle third of
      the femoral head while the inferior epigastric artery rarely descends below the
      middle third Fluoroscopy or if possible, ultrasound, should be used for femoral
      access to optimize safe puncture.

PMID- 28612413
TI  - From D2B to B2D: Value based STEMI care!
AB  - Use of the CADILLIAC Risk Score can accurately identify patients for safe early
      discharge after PCI for STEMI. Early discharge has the potential to both improve
      the quality and decrease the cost of care for STEMI patients. Prospective
      validation of this risk score and formal cost analysis would facilitate
      widespread utilization.

PMID- 28612414
TI  - The invisible scaffold...with invisible benefits?
AB  - Authors suggest the use of an investigator-owned and directed, prospective, non
      randomized, single-arm multicenter registry at 23 Italian hospitals to follow 500
      STEMI patients who receive BVS. Follow-up of patients is out to 5 years to
      determine how a BVS which has been deployed according to the IFU performs in
      these ACS patients. There is no comparator arm. Mandate that patients included in
      this registry follow a strict BVS implantation protocol which is felt to mitigate
      the not insignificant stent thrombosis rates noted with BVS to date.

PMID- 28612415
TI  - "Typical symptoms in the atypical patient? Consider SCAD!"
AB  - Consider SCAD as a potential etiology of cardiac ischemia in young, otherwise
      healthy patients Cardiac biomarker testing should be included in the initial
      evaluation of young patients who present with possible cardiac symptoms If
      unstable symptoms/ongoing ischemia are present, cardiac catheterization should be
      considered to diagnose and treat CAD regardless of etiology.

PMID- 28612416
TI  - Percutaneous coronary interventions in diabetics: The never-ending challenge.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a multisystem disorder and a recognized risk factor for
      coronary artery disease (CAD) and DM patient are particularly challenging for
      revascularization. In this "real world" retrospective study post-PCI DM patients
      showed a high risk profile compared to the non-DM group, given by the higher
      prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, multiple vessel disease, and renal
      dysfunction, with the highest rates seen in the ITDM. Only ITDM patients present
      higher 30-day mortality compared to non-DM patients in the urgent and primary PCI
      setting. Also ITDM, but not those NITDM patients, had an increased long-term
      mortality in the overall cohort and in all PCI setting.

PMID- 28612417
TI  - Length and pressure matter: Expediting evidence-based progress in femoropoliteal
      intervention.
AB  - Preprocedural lesion length and ankle-brachial indices (ABI) synergistically
      predict 12-month patency and repeat revacularization in claudicants treated with
      bare metal nitinol stents for femoropopliteal disease. This predictive length-ABI
      model will permit broader evidence-based indirect comparisons of newer
      femoropopliteal approaches such as drug eluting balloon treatment with or without
      atherectomy. The length-ABI model is a step to supplement and supplant randomized
      controlled trials with indirect comparisons as the necessary evidence source
      expediting innovation and optimizing personalized endovascular therapy for
      infrainguinal obstructive peripheral arterial disease.

PMID- 28612418
TI  - The problem of delirium following transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
AB  - Delirium is a common condition among elderly patients, particularly those
      hospitalized following surgical procedures. A study indicates that delirium
      occurs in 1 out of 5 patients following TAVR and it was found to be associated
      with diminished survival, prolonged hospitalization, and increased healthcare
      utilization. Delirium is potentially preventable and treatable clinical syndrome.

PMID- 28612419
TI  - Striking a balance between quality and cost in PCI.
AB  - Procedural cost control will continue to be increasingly important to the bottom
      line of health care institutions. Reducing cost in PCI need not compromise
      clinical outcomes. Cost awareness can alter physician behavior, enabling monetary
      savings.

PMID- 28612420
TI  - Bivalirudin or heparin for radial access?
AB  - Bivalirudin is a reasonable choice during transradial PCI for acute MI when
      bleeding risk is high and clopidogrel or cangrelor is used Heparin is reasonable
      during transradial PCI when bleeding risk is low and high-intensity antiplatelet
      therapy is used Future studies are required to define the utility of post-PCI
      bivalirudin infusions.

PMID- 28612421
TI  - Melody valve within a dysfunctional freestyle bioprosthesis: Yes, you can fit a
      round peg in a calcified hole.
AB  - Transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (TPVI) within a failed bioprosthetic
      valve is safe and effective Coronary artery compression is a potential risk,
      requiring careful preimplantation balloon dilation testing Prestenting is
      required for TPVI in stentless conduits Improvements in right ventricular volume,
      pressure, pulmonary stenosis, and regurgitation can be maintained in the
      intermediate term Long-term risk for Melody valve endocarditis and valve
      dysfunction necessitates careful monitoring.

PMID- 28612422
TI  - Tenonplasty for closing defects during sclerocorneal surgery-A brief review of
      its anatomy and clinical applications.
AB  - To provide insight into the clinical anatomy of Tenon's capsule and to describe a
      technique to manage sclerocorneal defects using autologous Tenon's tissue. A thin
      layer of Tenon's capsule harvested from the patient's own eye is used to seal the
      defect and act as a scaffold. The Tenon's flap is spread over the defect and held
      in place by Vicryl sutures. A bandage contact lens is then placed on the eye.
      Tenon's capsule is composed of thick fibrous tissue with smooth muscle fibers and
      a thin posterior capsule of orbital fat. It is rich in fibroblasts, which can
      accelerate wound healing and eventually lead to robust scarring without risk of
      immunogenicity and without cost. Tenonplasty uses easily-available autologous
      Tenon's tissue in patients with sclerocorneal defects to preserve globe
      morphology. The technique is a feasible alternative not limited by the
      availability of graft tissue. Clin. Anat. 31:72-76, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612423
TI  - Chemiluminescence selectivity enhancement in the on-chip Ru(bpy)32+ system: The
      potential role of buffer type and pH in the determination of hydrochlorothiazide
      in combined formulations and human plasma.
AB  - A simple and highly selective on-chip Ru(bpy)32+ -oxidant chemiluminescence (CL)
      approach for estimation of a diuretic drug, hydrochlorothiazide (HCZ), in
      biological fluids was realized in the presence of other fixed-dose combination
      drugs by manipulating simultaneously the method of active species (Ru(bpy)33+ )
      production and type of carrier buffer with pH used for the CL reaction. Chemical
      oxidation processes involved in the Ru(bpy)32+ -Ce(IV) CL system have been
      successfully miniaturised in this study using a microfabricated device to
      generate Ru(bpy)33+ instantaneously. The proposed system was then screened using
      HCZ and other drugs in the presence of various buffers and pH to explore the
      difference in CL emission. Ammonium formate buffer (0.15 M) at pH 4.5 exhibited
      excellent selectivity towards HCZ when Ru(bpy)33+ was produced by chemical
      oxidation using Ce(IV). The newly developed conditions do not involve any kind of
      prior separation or isolation procedure to remove other combination therapy drugs
      in formulation and biological samples. The method under fully optimised
      conditions exhibited wide linearity over the concentration range 0.5-1000 ng ml-1
      and low detection and quantification limits of 0.13 and 0.47 ng ml-1 respectively
      for HCZ. Acceptable levels of recoveries were obtained for HCZ from human plasma
      using the proposed method (98.9-100.8%) in the presence of other antihypertensive
      combination therapy drugs. This study postulates that such miniaturised devices
      may find applications especially for on-site analysis, such as doping control
      examinations.

PMID- 28612424
TI  - Sleep-disordered breathing and cognitive functioning in preschool children with
      and without Down syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep affects children's cognitive development, preparedness for
      school and future academic outcomes. People with Down syndrome (DS) are
      particularly at risk for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). To our knowledge, the
      association between SDB and cognition in preschoolers with DS is unknown.
      METHODS: We assessed sleep by using cardiorespiratory polygraphy in 22 typically
      developing (TD) preschoolers and 22 with DS. Cognition was assessed by using the
      Mullen Scales of Early Learning and behaviour by using the Strengths and
      Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The MacArthur Communicative Development
      Inventory (MCDI) measured language level. We predicted that sleep problems would
      be associated with lower cognitive and behavioural functioning. RESULTS: In TD
      children, longer sleep duration was associated with higher scores on MCDI
      expressive language and fewer emotional symptoms such as fear and unhappiness on
      the SDQ, whilst SDB was associated with increased conduct problems and less
      prosocial behaviour on the SDQ. Conversely, for children with DS, SDB was
      associated with increased language understanding and use of actions and gestures
      on the MCDI. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in the TD group support our hypotheses. We
      recommend that sleep problems are screened for and treated as even mild SDB may
      prompt poorer cognition and behaviour. For children with DS, we expect that
      multiple factors in this complex syndrome mask or mediate the association between
      sleep and cognitive development and tighter controls are necessary to uncover
      effects of sleep. We propose longitudinal studies as a necessary tool to assess
      the precise impact of sleep on cognitive development in accounting for individual
      differences in DS.

PMID- 28612426
TI  - Embryology and pathophysiology of the Chiari I and II malformations: A
      comprehensive review.
AB  - Although the Chiari malformations are well-studied and described developmental
      anomalies, there remains some incongruity in regards to their underlying
      etiologies. A number of theories have been proposed with the purpose of
      accounting for the embryology and pathogenesis of the Chiari I and II
      malformations and their associated complications and clinical syndromes. The
      present review aims to review the pertinent literature for all of the main
      theories that have been proposed, and outline their validity and relevance to our
      contemporary understanding of these anomalies. Clin. Anat. 31:202-215, 2018. (c)
      2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612427
TI  - Simulation Based Investigation of Deleterious nsSNPs in ATXN2 Gene and Its
      Structural Consequence Toward Spinocerebellar Ataxia.
AB  - Spinocerebellar degeneration, termed as ataxia is a neurological disorder of
      central nervous system, characterized by limb in-coordination and a progressive
      gait. The patient also demonstrates specific symptoms of muscle weakness,
      slurring of speech, and decreased vibration senses. Expansion of polyglutamine
      trinucleotide (CAG) within ATXN2 gene with 35 or more repeats, results in
      spinocerebellar ataxia type-2. Protein ataxin-2 coded by ATXN2 gene has been
      reported to have a crucial role in translation of the genetic information through
      sequestering the histone acetyl transferases (HAT) resulting in a state of hypo
      acetylation. In the present study, we have evaluated the outcome for 122 non
      synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) reported within ATXN2 gene
      through computational tools such as SIFT, PolyPhen 2.0, PANTHER, I-mutant 2.0,
      Phd-SNP, Pmut, MutPred. The apo and mutant (L305V and Q339L) form of structures
      for the ataxin-2 protein were modeled for gaining insights toward 3D spatial
      arrangement. Further, molecular dynamics simulations and structural analysis were
      performed to observe the brunt of disease associated nsSNPs toward the strength
      and secondary properties of ataxin-2 protein structure. Our results showed that,
      L305V is a highly deleterious and disease causing point substitution. Analysis
      based on RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, number of hydrogen bonds (NH bonds), covariance
      matrix trace, projection analysis for eigen vector demonstrated a significant
      instability and conformation along with rise in mutant flexibility values in
      comparison to the apo form of ataxin-2 protein. The study provides a blue print
      of computational methodologies to examine the ataxin-blend SNPs. J. Cell.
      Biochem. 119: 499-510, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612428
TI  - Outcomes and prognostic factors that influence the success of tooth
      autotransplantation in children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Tooth autotransplantation has been advocated for replacement of
      missing teeth or teeth that are unsuitable for restoration. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the outcomes and prognostic factors that influenced the
      success of tooth transplantation in a paediatric population. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Data were extracted from the records of 75 patients (89 teeth).
      Demographic and prognostic factors were recorded and analysed for the clinical
      and radiographic outcomes for periodontal ligament (PDL) and pulp healing of
      transplanted teeth. RESULTS: The mean age at transplant was 13.2 years, and the
      mean follow-up observation period was 2.6+/-1.8 years with a range of 12.0 months
      to 9.9 years. The main reason for transplantation was to replace upper central
      incisors lost or missing due to dental trauma, hypodontia and dilaceration. Of
      the 45 teeth that were monitored for pulp revascularization, 75.6% showed
      clinical and radiographic signs of pulp healing and 24.4% showed signs of pulp
      necrosis and infection. Pulp healing was significantly related to the stage of
      root development of the transplant. Favourable PDL healing was observed in 87.6%
      of the transplants, while 13.5% showed signs of replacement resorption. PDL
      healing was significantly related to the stage of root formation of the
      transplanted tooth at the time of the surgery, the ease of handling and placement
      of the tooth, and the status of the alveolar bone at the recipient site at the
      time of the surgery. Overall success of tooth transplantation was 87.6%, and the
      survival rate was 94.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Tooth transplantation carried out in
      children and adolescents demonstrated high success and survival, with the stage
      of root development influencing both the pulp and PDL healing of the transplanted
      teeth.

PMID- 28612425
TI  - Iron deficiency across chronic inflammatory conditions: International expert
      opinion on definition, diagnosis, and management.
AB  - Iron deficiency, even in the absence of anemia, can be debilitating, and
      exacerbate any underlying chronic disease, leading to increased morbidity and
      mortality. Iron deficiency is frequently concomitant with chronic inflammatory
      disease; however, iron deficiency treatment is often overlooked, partially due to
      the heterogeneity among clinical practice guidelines. In the absence of
      consistent guidance across chronic heart failure, chronic kidney disease and
      inflammatory bowel disease, we provide practical recommendations for iron
      deficiency to treating physicians: definition, diagnosis, and disease-specific
      diagnostic algorithms. These recommendations should facilitate appropriate
      diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency to improve quality of life and
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28612429
TI  - Bioprospecting challenges in unusual environments.

PMID- 28612430
TI  - IgG subclasses of FVIII inhibitors in an argentine cohort of severe hemophilia A
      patients: Analysis by flow cytometry.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: FVIII inhibitors consist of a polyclonal population of antibodies.
      Previous studies have demonstrated different distribution of IgG subclasses. IgG4
      was associated to high level of FVIII inhibitors and failure of immune tolerance
      induction (ITI) treatment. This study monitored the relative distribution of IgG
      subclasses of anti-FVIII in patients with severe hemophilia A (SHA). METHODS:
      Anti-FVIII antibodies were measured employing an immunomethod, developed in our
      laboratory, that combines flow cytometry (FC) with microspheres coupled (FVIII-m)
      or not (Control-m) to FVIII. Seventy-five patients with SHA were studied, 17
      without inhibitors (Group I); 58 with inhibitor history, 13 low responders: (LR:
      Group II), and 45 high responders (HR: Group III). Eight patients undergoing ITI
      were also included. RESULTS: We found anti-FVIII antibodies in 11 of 27 patients
      (40%) without inhibitors and in 45 of 48 with inhibitors at the moment of the
      study. IgG4 was predominant only in the Group III: P=0.02 in patients with low
      level of inhibitors and P=0.0001 with high titer of inhibitors. Longitudinal
      analysis performed on patients undergoing ITI showed a gradual decrease of IgG4
      values that was associated to improvement of clinical parameters during
      treatment. CONCLUSION: We suggest the use of the FC method to supplement
      functional traditional assays and to help to improve the management of patients
      with SHA.

PMID- 28612431
TI  - Phlorotannin Composition of Laminaria digitata.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Phlorotannins are complex mixtures of phloroglucinol oligomers
      connected via C-C (fucols) or C-O-C (phlorethols) linkages. Their uniformity in
      subunits and large molecular weight hamper their structural analysis. Despite its
      commercial relevance for alginate extraction, phlorotannins in Laminaria digitata
      have not been studied. OBJECTIVE: To obtain quantitative and structural
      information on phlorotannins in a methanolic extract from L. digitata.
      METHODOLOGY: The combined use of 13 C and 1 H NMR spectroscopy allowed
      characterisation of linkage types and extract purity. The purity determined was
      used to calibrate the responses obtained with the colorimetric 2,4
      dimethoxybenzaldehyde (DMBA) and Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) assays. Using NP-flash
      chromatography, phlorotannin fractions separated on oligomer size were obtained
      and enabled structural and molecular weight characterisation using ESI-MS and
      MALDI-TOF-MS. RESULTS: The fucol-to-phlorethol linkage ratio was 1:26 and the
      extract was 60.1% pure, determined by NMR spectroscopy. For DMBA, the response of
      the extract was 12 times lower than that of phloroglucinol, whereas there was no
      difference for FC. By accounting for differences in response, the colorimetric
      assays were applicable for quantification using phloroglucinol as a standard. The
      phlorotannin content was around 4.5% DM. Fucol- and phlorethol-linkage types were
      annotated based on characteristic MSn fragmentations. Structural isomers of
      phlorotannins up to a degree of polymerisation of 18 (DP18) were annotated and
      identification of several isomers hinted at branched phloroglucinol oligomers.
      With MALDI-TOF-MS phlorotannins up to DP27 were annotated. CONCLUSION: By
      combining several analytical techniques, phlorotannins in L. digitata were
      quantified and characterised with respect to fucol-to-phlorethol linkage ratio,
      molecular weight (distribution), and occurrence of structural isomers. Copyright
      (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612432
TI  - Bright, Multi-responsive, Sky-Blue Platinum(II) Phosphors Based on a Tetradentate
      Chelating Framework.
AB  - A new class of highly efficient and stable, blue-phosphorescent PtII complexes
      based on a tetradentate chelating framework has been found to exhibit highly
      sensitive and reversible responses to multiple external stimuli including
      temperature, pressure, and UV irradiation with distinct phosphorescent color
      switching-from blue to red or white. Intermolecular excimer formation is the main
      origin of this intriguing multi-response phenomenon. Highly efficient singlet
      oxygen sensitization by the PtII compounds yields UV-light-induced
      phosphorescence enhancement and color switching.

PMID- 28612433
TI  - Musculin inhibits human T-helper 17 cell response to interleukin 2 by controlling
      STAT5B activity.
AB  - We recently demonstrated that human T-helper (Th) 17 cells, unlike Th1 cells, do
      not proliferate in response to T-cell receptor stimulation, mainly because of
      their reduced capacity to produce and respond to IL-2. In this study, we show
      that their lower responsiveness to IL-2 is due to the selective expression of
      Musculin (MSC), a member of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. We
      show that MSC expression in human Th17 cells is retinoic acid orphan receptor
      (ROR)gammat-dependent, and allows the upregulation of PPP2R2B, a regulatory
      member of the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) enzyme. High PPP2R2B levels in human
      Th17 cells were responsible for the reduced STAT5B Ser-193 phosphorylation upon
      IL-2 signalling and, therefore, impaired STAT5B DNA binding and transcriptional
      activity on IL-2 target genes. PP2A, observed in Th17 cells, controls also STAT3,
      dephosphorylating Ser727, thus increasing its activity that plays a crucial role
      in Th17 development and/or maintenance. Thus, our findings identify an additional
      mechanism responsible for the limited expansion of human Th17 cells, and could
      provide a further explanation for the rarity of these cells in inflamed tissues.

PMID- 28612434
TI  - Effect of increasing taurine and methionine supplementation on urinary taurine
      excretion in a model insectivore, the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla).
AB  - The giant anteater (Mymercophaga tridactyla) is a highly specialized insectivore
      for which nutrient requirements are not clearly established, making diet
      formulation challenging for this species. Multiple clinical reports suggest
      anteaters have an obligate dietary taurine (TAU) requirement. Sulphur amino acid
      (SAA) metabolism in adult anteaters was evaluated using noninvasive methods to
      measure TAU synthesis potential from dietary methionine (MET) and a basal diet
      containing on a dry matter (DM) basis 1.7 mg TAU/kg DM and 6.9 g MET/kg DM.
      Urinary equilibrium times for TAU excretion were determined by feeding the basal
      diet with or without 1.5 g/kg DM supplemental TAU (crossover design; n = 4).
      Effects of supplemental dietary TAU (1.7, 2.0, 2.4, 2.7, 3.0, 3.3 g/kg DM) or MET
      (6.9, 9.0, 11.2 g/kg DM) on urinary TAU were evaluated (randomized block trials;
      n = 5 or 4 respectively). All urinary values (TAU, MET, unbound inorganic
      sulphate) were normalized to creatinine (CRT). Results indicate urinary TAU
      equilibrium in anteaters requires at least 2 weeks of feeding. Urinary ratio of
      TAU to CRT (TAU:CRT) increased as dietary TAU content increased from 1.7 to 3.0
      g/kg DM, consistent with renal homoeostatic modulation of TAU excretion. Our data
      indicate that TAU needs were met by TAU in the basal diet or by de novo
      synthesis. Supplemental MET resulted in ~five- to eightfold increases in urinary
      TAU:CRT excretion, further supporting existence of mechanisms for TAU synthesis
      from dietary SAA in anteaters. Adult anteaters appear able to synthesize TAU when
      diets contain adequate SAA, but dietary TAU may be critical if protein intakes
      are low or of poor quality. This study may provide guidance on choice of domestic
      canids vs. felids as suitable physiologic models for improved nutrition in giant
      anteaters, and also outlines a noninvasive method for assessing TAU
      status/metabolism that may be useful across species.

PMID- 28612436
TI  - A contact allergic reaction to budesonide mimicking immediate-type allergy.

PMID- 28612437
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by pentaerythrityl
      tetracaprylate/tetracaprate.

PMID- 28612438
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by PEG-22/dodecyl glycol copolymer in a skin
      repairing cream.

PMID- 28612439
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by aftershave creams containing Glycyrrhiza
      inflata.

PMID- 28612440
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 28612435
TI  - Racial disparities in survival outcomes by breast tumor subtype among African
      American women in Memphis, Tennessee.
AB  - Racial disparities in survival among African American (AA) women in the United
      States have been well documented. Breast cancer mortality rates among AA women is
      higher in Memphis, Tennessee as compared to 49 of the largest US cities. In this
      study, we investigated the extent to which racial/ethnic disparities in survival
      outcomes among Memphis women are attributed to differences in breast tumor
      subtype and treatment outcomes. A total of 3527 patients diagnosed with stage I
      IV breast cancer between January 2002 and April 2015 at Methodist Health
      hospitals and West Cancer Center in Memphis, TN were included in the analysis.
      Kaplan-Meier survival curves were generated and Cox proportional hazards
      regression were used to compare survival outcomes among 1342 (38.0%) AA and 2185
      (62.0%) non-Hispanic White breast cancer patients by race and breast tumor
      subtype. Over a mean follow-up time of 29.9 months, AA women displayed increased
      mortality risk [adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 1.65; 95% confidence interval (CI),
      1.35-2.03] and were more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages of disease. AA
      women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) had the highest death rate at
      26.7% compared to non-Hispanic White women at 16.5%. AA women with TNBC and
      luminal B/HER2- breast tumors had the highest risk of mortality. Regardless of
      race, patients who did not have surgery had over five times higher risk of dying
      compared to those who had surgery. These findings provide additional evidence of
      the breast cancer disparity gap between AA and non-Hispanic White women and
      highlight the need for targeted interventions and policies to eliminate breast
      cancer disparities in AA populations, particularly in Memphis, TN.

PMID- 28612441
TI  - Blistering phytophotodermatitis of the hands after contact with lime juice.

PMID- 28612442
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by arbutin and dipotassium glycyrrhizate in
      skin-lightening products.

PMID- 28612443
TI  - Contact urticaria syndrome caused by sulfamethoxazole sodium contained in eye
      drops.

PMID- 28612444
TI  - First case of contact dermatitis caused by hydroxypropyl tetrahydropyrantriol
      used in an anti-ageing cream.

PMID- 28612445
TI  - Severe eyelid allergic contact dermatitis secondary to eyelash tint: two case
      reports.

PMID- 28612446
TI  - An Interconnected Ternary MIn2 S4 (M=Fe, Co, Ni) Thiospinel Nanosheet Array: A
      Type of Efficient Platinum-Free Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.
AB  - The ternary iron-group thiospinels of metal diindium sulfides (MIn2 S4 , M=Fe,
      Co, Ni) with a vertically aligned nanosheet array structure are fabricated
      through an in situ solvothermal method on F-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates,
      which are employed as one type of platinum (Pt)-free counter electrodes (CEs) in
      structure-dependent dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A DSSC assembled with
      ternary CoIn2 S4 CE achieves an photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.83
      %, outperforming than that of FeIn2 S4 (7.18 %) and NiIn2 S4 (8.27 %) CEs under
      full sunlight illumination (100 mW cm-2 , AM 1.5 G), which is also comparable
      with that of the Pt CE (8.19 %). Putting aside that the interconnected nanosheet
      array provides fast electron transfer and electrolyte diffusion channels, the
      highest PCE of CoIn2 S4 based DSSC results from its largest specific surface area
      (144.07 m2  g-1 ), providing abundant active sites and the largest electron
      injection efficiency from CE to electrolyte.

PMID- 28612447
TI  - Obesity and the diagnostic accuracy for primary aldosteronism.
AB  - The effects of body mass index on the diagnostic accuracy of primary
      aldosteronism (PA) are inconsistent and yet important considering the high
      prevalence and frequent co-occurrence of obesity and hypertension. The current
      study included 59 adult patients who underwent a stepwise evaluation for PA,
      using aldosterone to renin ratio for case detection and plasma aldosterone
      concentration after saline suppression test and/or 24-hour urinary aldosterone
      after oral sodium loading for case confirmation. Body mass index had a quadratic
      (U-shaped) correlation with plasma aldosterone concentration, plasma renin
      activity, aldosterone to renin ratio, and plasma aldosterone concentration after
      saline suppression test. Among patients with a body mass index >=30 kg/m2 , the
      aldosterone to renin ratio yielded lower case detection accuracy of PA. We
      conclude that obesity results in a nonlinear correlation with plasma aldosterone
      concentration, plasma renin activity, and aldosterone to renin ratio, which
      affects the accuracy of case detection for PA. Patients with a body mass index
      >=30 kg/m2 are less accurately identified as having PA when saline suppression
      and/or oral salt loading tests are used for case confirmation.

PMID- 28612448
TI  - Visible-light photoredox-catalyzed desulfurization of thiol- and disulfide
      containing amino acids and small peptides.
AB  - A scalable protocol for the desulfurization of cysteine by using visible light,
      the photocatalyst Ir(dF(CF3 )ppy)2 (dtb-bpy)PF6 and triethylphosphite under
      biphasic reaction conditions has been developed. The loading of the catalyst can
      be as low as 0.01 mol%, which can be efficiently removed during the workup (<=0.3
      ppm), giving rise to the corresponding desulfurized product in high yields. This
      method has been applied also to cystine, penicillamine, and reduced and oxidized
      glutathione. The desulfurization has been found to be pH sensitive, with an
      optimal pH value of 6.5 and 7.0 for the cysteine derivatives and glutathione,
      respectively. In addition, during the desulfurization of a decapeptide containing
      cysteine and methionine, concurrent oxidation of the two sulfur-containing
      residues to disulfide and sulfoxide has been observed. Therefore, whereas the
      presented protocol allows a straightforward visible light-mediated
      desulfurization of simple thiols by using very low catalyst loading and a cost
      effective trialkylphosphite as thiyl radical trapping agent, its application to
      complex substrates needs to be carefully validated. Copyright (c) 2017 European
      Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612449
TI  - Changes in urine albumin to creatinine ratio with the initiation of hydroxyurea
      therapy among children and adolescents with sickle cell disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Renal damage is a progressive complication of sickle cell disease
      (SCD) that begins in childhood and may progress to renal failure and early
      mortality in 12% of adults with hemoglobin SS (HbSS) SCD. Early sickle
      nephropathy is characterized by hyperfiltration and microalbuminuria; therefore,
      urine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) is an effective screening tool for its
      detection. PROCEDURE: This study investigated the effect of hydroxyurea (HU)
      therapy on urine ACR levels among children with SCD. A retrospective review was
      conducted to identify all patients with HbSS or HbSbeta0 thalassemia of age 7-18
      years who began HU therapy in 2011-2013; a control group of patients not on HU
      were matched by age and baseline hemoglobin. All urine ACR measurements <=24
      months prior to and >=24 months after HU initiation were recorded. RESULTS: There
      were 63 eligible patients on HU and 13 (25%) with albuminuria prior to HU
      initiation. Among those with baseline albuminuria, the median ACR was 96 mg/g
      prior to HU, 39 mg/g at 1 year (P = 0.02), and 25 mg/g at 2 years (P = 0.03).
      Albuminuria normalized in 37.5% (6/16) after 1 year and 61% (8/13) after 2 years
      of HU therapy. Among those without albuminuria prior to HU, 13% (6/47) developed
      albuminuria during HU therapy. Sixteen percent (13/80) of control patients had
      albuminuria in the beginning of study period, which normalized in 15% (two of 13)
      of patients at 1-year follow up. CONCLUSION: Introduction of HU is associated
      with significant decreases in urine ACR in children with SCD and albuminuria.

PMID- 28612450
TI  - Perception of emotional climate in a revolution: Test of a multistage theory of
      revolution in the Tunisian context.
AB  - Participation in social movements and collective action depends upon people's
      capacity to perceive their societal context. We examined this question in the
      context of Arab Spring revolutions. In a classic theory of revolution
      highlighting the role of collective emotions, Brinton (1938) claimed that
      revolutions, far from chaos, proceed in an orderly sequence involving four
      stages: euphoria, degradation, terror, and restoration. The emotional climate
      (EC) as perceived by ordinary Tunisian citizens (2,699 women and 3,816 men) was
      measured during the 4 years of the Tunisian revolution. A quadratic pattern of
      perceived EC measures over time provided strong support to Brinton's model. In
      addition, three different analyses suggested the presence of four distinct stages
      in the evolution of perceived EC. Third, the socio-political developments in
      Tunisia during the four stages proved entirely consistent with both Brinton's
      theoretical model and the perceived EC indicators. Finally, social identification
      proved closely related to the temporal evolution of positive EC scores. In sum,
      data from this study not only lend support to the views put forth in an
      heretofore untested classic theory of revolution but also demonstrate that
      psychosocial measurements can validly monitor a major process of socio-political
      transformation.

PMID- 28612451
TI  - Transplantation related toxicity and mortality in older autologous hematopoietic
      cell transplantation recipients.
AB  - With advances in supportive care, autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (AHCT)
      is increasingly being performed for patients older than 60 years. We analyzed
      patients receiving an AHCT for multiple myeloma or lymphoma in a contemporary
      cohort (2010-2012), with consistent treatment and supportive care and compared
      outcomes [CTCAE grade 3-5 toxicities, nonrelapse mortality (NRM) and overall
      survival (OS)] of younger (40-59 years, n = 77) versus older (>=60 years, n = 67)
      recipients. The proportion of patients with neutropenic infections was higher in
      the older group (64% vs. 44%; P = 0.02). The proportion of patients with any
      grade 3-5 toxicity was also higher in the older group (84% vs. 67%, P = 0.03). In
      multivariate analysis, older age was significantly associated with higher odds
      (OR: 2.57, 95% CI:1.09-6.05) of grade 3-5 toxicity. The NRM was 3% (older) vs. 0%
      (younger) at 1 year. The probability of OS at 2 years was lower in the older
      group (76% vs. 90%, P = 0.04). Though AHCT can be performed safely in older
      recipients, the higher toxicity and slightly higher NRM in this population needs
      attention. Studies focusing on risk-stratification in older patients would
      further help predict toxicity. Further studies addressing enhanced supportive
      care needs for older patients who are most likely to benefit are indicated.

PMID- 28612452
TI  - Unusual interatrial membrane in the left atrium: A newer obstacle for transseptal
      based percutaneous mitral valve repair techniques?
AB  - We present a case of a patient with severe mitral regurgitation referred to our
      Institution for an echocardiographic examination as part of the routine workup to
      assess the eligibility for mitral valve percutaneous repair with either the
      MitraClip or Cardioband systems. Echocardiography showed the presence of an
      unusual interatrial membrane in the left atrium that represented a
      contraindication for the puncture of the interatrial septum. The patient was
      finally deferred to percutaneous mitral valve replacement using transapical
      access.

PMID- 28612453
TI  - Compassionate Attention and Regulation of Eating Behaviour: A pilot study of a
      brief low-intensity intervention for binge eating.
AB  - A low-intensity 4-week intervention that included components of compassion,
      mindfulness, and acceptance was delivered to women diagnosed with binge eating
      disorder. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: intervention
      (n = 11) or waiting list control (n = 9). Participants in the intervention
      condition were invited to practise mindfulness, soothing rhythm breathing, and
      compassionate imagery practices with a focus on awareness and acceptance of
      emotional states and triggers to binge eating and engagement in helpful actions.
      Results revealed that, in the intervention group, there were significant
      reductions in eating psychopathology symptoms, binge eating symptoms, self
      criticism, and indicators of psychological distress; there were significant
      increases in compassionate actions and body image-related psychological
      flexibility. Data suggest that developing compassion and acceptance competencies
      may improve eating behaviour and psychological well-being in individuals with
      binge eating disorder.

PMID- 28612454
TI  - Assessing and comparing the quality of wound centres: a literature review and
      benchmarking pilot.
AB  - Multidisciplinary wound centres are currently facing an increase in both the
      incidence of wounds and the complexity of care. This has resulted in rising costs
      and increased interest in the effectiveness of treatments. Little evidence is
      available regarding optimal wound centre organisation and effectiveness;
      therefore, measuring the quality of wound centres has become more important. This
      study aims to assess the evidence concerning quality by describing the state of
      the art of wound centres and organisational effectiveness by developing
      indicators of quality and by assessing their suitability in a pilot study. A
      multi-method approach was used: a literature review performed resulted in the
      development of an indicator list that was consequently subjected to expert
      review, and a benchmark study was completed comparing eight wound centres in the
      Netherlands. We thus provide a description of the relevant state-of-the-art
      aspects of wound centre organisation, which were multidisciplinary collaborations
      and standardisation of the organisation of care. In literature, significant
      patient-related effects were observed in improved healing rates and decreased
      costs. A total of 48 indicators were selected. The indicator list was tested by a
      benchmark study pilot. In practice, the outcome indicators were especially
      difficult to generate. Six indicators regarding structure, three regarding
      process and five regarding outcome proved feasible to measure and improve quality
      of wound centres.

PMID- 28612455
TI  - Influence of eating quickly and eating until full on anthropometric gains in
      girls: A population-based, longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In examining childhood overweight/obesity, there is a need to
      consider both eating quickly and eating until full. This longitudinal study
      investigated the influence of eating quickly and/or eating until full on
      anthropometric variables and becoming overweight/obese among Japanese
      schoolgirls. METHODS: Study participants were fourth-grade schoolgirls (aged 9 or
      10 years) in Ina Town, Japan. Physical examinations and a questionnaire survey
      were performed at baseline (fourth grade) and after 3 years (seventh grade).
      Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured in the physical
      examinations, while the data on eating quickly and eating until full were
      collected in the questionnaire survey. Analysis of variance and analysis of
      covariance were used to compare the differences in each anthropometric variable
      between fourth and seventh grade among groups. RESULTS: Data on 425 non
      overweight/obese schoolgirls in fourth grade were analyzed. Gains in
      anthropometric variables (body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to
      height ratio) from fourth to seventh grade were significantly larger in the
      "eating quickly and eating until full" group than in the "not eating quickly and
      not eating until full" group. In contrast, there were no significant differences
      in the gains between the "eating quickly or eating until full" group and the "not
      eating quickly and not eating until full" group. The proportion of
      overweight/obese girls in seventh grade was higher in the "eating quickly and
      eating until full" group than in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Eating quickly
      and eating until full had a substantial impact on excess gains in anthropometric
      variables among schoolgirls, suggesting that modifying these eating behaviors may
      help prevent non-overweight/obese girls from the excess gains. Accordingly,
      school health programs need to focus on not eating quickly and/or not eating
      until full to prevent overweight/obesity; it is necessary to emphasize "the risk
      of overweight/obesity associated with these eating behaviors" in schools.

PMID- 28612456
TI  - Day 14 bone marrow examination in the management of acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommends that a repeat bone
      marrow evaluation is carried out seven to ten days following completion of
      induction therapy so that if a patient's day 14 bone marrow shows residual blast
      cell counts of >10%, the patient would proceed early to a second cycle of
      induction therapy. Although blast cell counts of <5% on day 14 bone marrow is
      sensitive in predicting remission on day 28, various studies have found that day
      14 bone marrow is highly nonspecific because a large proportion of patients with
      blast cell counts of >5% on day 14 bone marrow would still attain a complete
      remission of the disease without any further chemotherapy. Clinical decision
      based on day 14 bone marrow will result in some of these patients being given a
      second induction therapy unnecessarily. A second cycle of chemotherapy is
      associated with not only higher risk for treatment-related mortality but also
      increased use of hospital resources such as increased intravenous antimicrobials
      use, longer hospital stay, and higher demand for blood products. In this article,
      we examined the utility, discussed the shortfalls, and re-appraised the values of
      day 14 bone marrow in the management of patients with AML. On the basis of our
      review, we suggest that the practice of day 14 bone marrow examination should be
      re-evaluated and should probably only be carried out in the setting of clinical
      trials with clear questions to address its role in predicting outcome of the
      therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 28612457
TI  - Soluble Platinum Nanoparticles Ligated by Long-Chain N-Heterocyclic Carbenes as
      Catalysts.
AB  - Soluble platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) ligated by two different long-chain N
      heterocyclic carbenes (LC-IPr and LC-IMe) were synthesized and fully
      characterized by TEM, high-resolution TEM, wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), X
      ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and solution NMR. The surface chemistry of
      these NPs (Pt@LC-IPr and Pt@LC-IMe) was investigated by FT-IR and solid state NMR
      using CO as a probe molecule. A clear influence of the bulkiness of the N
      substituents on the size, surface state, and catalytic activity of these Pt NPs
      was observed. While Pt@LC-IMe showed no activity in the hydroboration of
      phenylacetylene, Pt@LC-IPr revealed good selectivity for the trans-isomer, which
      may be supported by a homogeneous species. This is the first example of
      hydroboration of acetylenes catalyzed by non-supported Pt NPs.

PMID- 28612458
TI  - Genetic determinants of HbF in Saudi Arabian and African Benin haplotype sickle
      cell anemia.

PMID- 28612459
TI  - Detection of dermatological abnormalities in the rheumatology clinic using a
      standardized screening exam.
AB  - AIM: To develop a standardized practical screening tool for rheumatologists to
      assess for underlying dermatological manifestations of rheumatic conditions.
      METHODS: A relevant screening tool was developed by consensus between dermatology
      and rheumatology authors. Patients visiting the general rheumatology clinic for
      routine care were systematically assessed based on the standardized screening
      tool. RESULTS: One hundred patients were recruited with 76 being female. The most
      prevalent rheumatic conditions seen in the clinic were rheumatoid arthritis,
      psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. The standardized
      integumentary assessment took a mean of 2.75 (SD 1.61) min. Most patients, 74%,
      reported no concerns with their hair or nails, while 60% reported no concerns
      with their skin. The majority of patients had one abnormality identified, 65%,
      and of those diagnoses, most affected the skin with 71% of patients having an
      identified skin abnormality, compared with the hair (10%) or nails (13%).
      CONCLUSION: The standardized integumentary assessment tool can be successfully
      incorporated into routine clinical practice for rheumatologists without
      significant extension of consultation time and may detect relevant abnormalities
      important for diagnosis which may have been unnoticed by patients. It may
      encourage collaborative care and enhance clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28612460
TI  - Defining low anterior resection syndrome: a systematic review of the literature.
AB  - AIM: There is increasing awareness of the poor functional outcome suffered by
      many patients after sphincter-preserving rectal resection, termed 'low anterior
      resection syndrome' (LARS). There is no consensus definition of LARS and varying
      instruments have been employed to measure functional outcome, complicating
      research into prevalence, contributing factors and potential therapies. We
      therefore aimed to describe the instruments and outcome measures used in studies
      of bowel dysfunction after low anterior resection and identify major themes used
      in the assessment of LARS. METHOD: A systematic review of the literature was
      performed for studies published between 1986 and 2016. The instruments and
      outcome measures used to report bowel function after low anterior resection were
      extracted and their frequency of use calculated. RESULTS: The search revealed 128
      eligible studies. These employed 18 instruments, over 30 symptoms, and follow-up
      time periods from 4 weeks to 14.6 years. The most frequent follow-up period was
      12 months (48%). The most frequently reported outcomes were incontinence (97%),
      stool frequency (80%), urgency (67%), evacuatory dysfunction (47%), gas-stool
      discrimination (34%) and a measure of quality of life (80%). Faecal incontinence
      scoring systems were used frequently. The LARS score and the Bowel Function
      Instrument (BFI) were used in only nine studies. CONCLUSION: LARS is common, but
      there is substantial variation in the reporting of functional outcomes after low
      anterior resection. Most studies have focused on incontinence, omitting other
      symptoms that correlate with patients' quality of life. To improve and
      standardize research into LARS, a consensus definition should be developed, and
      these findings should inform this goal.

PMID- 28612461
TI  - Oxygen Vacancy Engineering of Co3 O4 Nanocrystals through Coupling with Metal
      Support for Water Oxidation.
AB  - Oxygen vacancies can help to capture oxygen-containing species and act as active
      centers for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Unfortunately, effective methods for
      generating a high amount of oxygen vacancies on the surface of various
      nanocatalysts are rather limited. Here, we described an effective way to generate
      oxygen-vacancy-rich surface of transition metal oxides, exemplified with Co3 O4 ,
      simply by constructing highly coupled interface of ultrafine Co3 O4 nanocrystals
      and metallic Ti. Impressively, the amounts of oxygen vacancy on the surface of
      Co3 O4 /Ti surpassed the reported values of the Co3 O4 modified even under highly
      critical conditions. The Co3 O4 /Ti electrode could provide a current density of
      23 mA cm-2 at an OER overpotential of 570 mV, low Tafel slope, and excellent
      durability in neutral medium. Because of the formation of a large amount of
      oxygen vacancies as the active centers for OER on the surface, the TOF value of
      the Co3 O4 @Ti electrode was optimized to be 3238 h-1 at an OER overpotential of
      570 mV, which is 380 times that of the state-of-the-art non-noble nanocatalysts
      in the literature.

PMID- 28612462
TI  - Epithelial invasion after open globe injury.
AB  - Epithelial invasion after open globe injury is a rare complication. Wrong
      treatment (laser opening of the cyst) or no treatment can lead to painful
      blindness. Forty percent (25/62) of patients with block excision with epithelial
      downgrowth had a history of open globe injury. Four of them were female. Their
      mean age was 45 +/-21 years. A tectonic keratoplasty with block excision was
      performed on 25 patients. Seven of them had simultaneously undergone cataract
      surgery. The mean extension of epithelial invasion was 3.0 +/- 1.3 clock hours.
      Laser cystotomy was contraindicated. The diameter of the block excision was 8.2
      +/- 1.5 mm. Histological examination revealed diffuse epithelial invasion in
      three eyes and cystic epithelial downgrowth in 22 eyes. Mean pre- and post
      operative visual acuity (20/60) did not differ significantly. The intraocular
      pressure was 16 +/- 7 mm Hg before and 14 +/- 7 mm Hg after the surgery. Only one
      eye (4%) developed ocular hypotony after block excision. Epithelial invasion can
      become manifest many years after an open globe injury. En block excision for
      cystic epithelial downgrowth with an extension less than 150 degrees is the
      therapy of choice. Opening of the cyst by laser or surgically is not recommended:
      It can induce transformation of cystic into diffuse epithelial invasion, and the
      succeeding secondary glaucoma can be refractory to therapy and lead to blindness.
      Clin. Anat. 31:68-71, 2018. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612463
TI  - Meta-analysis of the predictive value of DNA aneuploidy in malignant
      transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders.
AB  - DNA aneuploidy is an imbalance of chromosomal DNA content that has been
      highlighted as a predictor of biological behavior and risk of malignant
      transformation. To date, DNA aneuploidy in oral potentially malignant diseases
      (OPMD) has been shown to correlate strongly with severe dysplasia and high-risk
      lesions that appeared non-dysplastic can be identified by ploidy analysis.
      Nevertheless, the prognostic value of DNA aneuploidy in predicting malignant
      transformation of OPMD remains to be validated. The aim of this meta-analysis was
      to assess the role of DNA aneuploidy in predicting malignant transformation in
      OPMD. The questions addressed were (i) Is DNA aneuploidy a useful marker to
      predict malignant transformation in OPMD? (ii) Is DNA diploidy a useful negative
      marker of malignant transformation in OPMD? These questions were addressed using
      the PECO method. Five studies assessing aneuploidy as a risk marker of malignant
      change were pooled into the meta-analysis. Aneuploidy was found to be associated
      with a 3.12-fold increased risk to progress into cancer (RR=3.12, 95% CI 1.86
      5.24). Based on the five studies meta-analyzed, "no malignant progression" was
      more likely to occur in DNA diploid OPMD by 82% when compared to aneuploidy
      (RR=0.18, 95% CI 0.08-0.41). In conclusion, aneuploidy is a useful marker of
      malignant transformation in OPMD, although a diploid result should be interpreted
      with caution.

PMID- 28612464
TI  - Recent Advances in Bismuth-Based Nanomaterials for Photoelectrochemical Water
      Splitting.
AB  - In recent years, bismuth-based nanomaterials have drawn considerable interest as
      potential candidates for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting owing to
      their narrow band gaps, nontoxicity, and low costs. The unique electronic
      structure of bismuth-based materials with a well-dispersed valence band
      comprising Bi 6s and O 2p orbitals offers a suitable band gap to harvest visible
      light. This Review presents significant advancements in exploiting bismuth-based
      nanomaterials for solar water splitting. An overview of the different strategies
      employed and the new ideas adopted to improve the PEC performance of bismuth
      based nanomaterials are discussed. Morphology control, the construction of
      heterojunctions, doping, and co-catalyst loading are several approaches that are
      implemented to improve the efficiency of solar water splitting. Key issues are
      identified and guidelines are suggested to rationalize the design of efficient
      bismuth-based materials for sunlight-driven water splitting.

PMID- 28612465
TI  - Mass Spectrometry Imaging of low Molecular Weight Compounds in Garlic (Allium
      sativum L.) with Gold Nanoparticle Enhanced Target.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Garlic (Allium sativum) is the subject of many studies due to its
      numerous beneficial properties. Although compounds of garlic have been studied by
      various analytical methods, their tissue distributions are still unclear. Mass
      spectrometry imaging (MSI) appears to be a very powerful tool for the
      identification of the localisation of compounds within a garlic clove. OBJECTIVE:
      Visualisation of the spatial distribution of garlic low-molecular weight
      compounds with nanoparticle-based MSI. METHODOLOGY: Compounds occurring on the
      cross-section of sprouted garlic has been transferred to gold-nanoparticle
      enhanced target (AuNPET) by imprinting. The imprint was then subjected to MSI
      analysis. RESULTS: The results suggest that low molecular weight compounds, such
      as amino acids, dipeptides, fatty acids, organosulphur and organoselenium
      compounds are distributed within the garlic clove in a characteristic manner. It
      can be connected with their biological functions and metabolic properties in the
      plant. CONCLUSION: New methodology for the visualisation of low molecular weight
      compounds allowed a correlation to be made between their spatial distribution
      within a sprouted garlic clove and their biological function. Copyright (c) 2017
      John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612466
TI  - Reflux-cough syndrome: Assessment of temporal association between reflux episodes
      and cough bursts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastro-esophageal reflux can be the cause of chronic cough. In the
      assessment of the temporal association between reflux and cough, previous studies
      have used a two-minute time window, based on studies in patients with heartburn.
      However, it remains unclear whether the optimal time window duration for the
      evaluation of reflux-induced cough is two minutes as well. Therefore, we aimed to
      determine whether a two-minute time window is optimal to diagnose reflux-induced
      cough. METHODS: In this multicenter study, 137 patients with chronic cough were
      evaluated using 24-h pH-impedance-pressure monitoring. Repetitive symptom
      association analysis was employed using an array of time windows of various
      duration. For each time window, the symptom association probability (SAP) and
      symptom index (SI) were calculated. KEY RESULTS: A total of 4377 cough burst
      episodes and 5074 reflux episodes were detected. The number of patients with a
      positive SAP increased with increasing window duration until a plateau was
      reached around a time window duration of 1.5 min. Similarly, the SI increased
      steeply until a window duration of about 2 min, after which a linear increase was
      seen. CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: A two-minute time window seems appropriate for
      evaluation of the relationship between reflux and chronic cough using 24-h pH
      impedance-pressure monitoring. A time window duration of 30 s or 1 min is too
      short to diagnose patients with reflux-induced cough accurately.

PMID- 28612467
TI  - The effect of age and demographics on rib shape.
AB  - Elderly populations have a higher risk of rib fractures and other associated
      thoracic injuries than younger adults, and the changes in body morphology that
      occur with age are a potential cause of this increased risk. Rib centroidal path
      geometry for 20 627 ribs was extracted from computed tomography (CT) scans of
      1042 live adult subjects, then fitted to a six-parameter mathematical model that
      accurately characterizes rib size and shape, and a three-parameter model of rib
      orientation within the body. Multivariable regression characterized the
      independent effect of age, height, weight, and sex on the rib shape and
      orientation across the adult population, and statistically significant effects
      were seen from all demographic factors (P < 0.0001). This study reports a novel
      aging effect whereby both the rib end-to-end separation and rib aspect ratio are
      seen to increase with age, producing elongated and flatter overall rib shapes in
      elderly populations, with age alone explaining up to 20% of population
      variability in the aspect ratio of mid-level ribs. Age was not strongly
      associated with overall rib arc length, indicating that age effects were related
      to shape change rather than overall bone length. The rib shape effect was found
      to be more strongly and directly associated with age than previously documented
      age-related changes in rib angulation. Other demographic results showed height
      and sex being most strongly associated with rib size, and weight most strongly
      associated with rib pump-handle angle. Results from the study provide a
      statistical model for building rib shapes typical of any given demographic by
      age, height, weight, and sex, and can be used to help build population-specific
      computational models of the thoracic rib cage. Furthermore, results also quantify
      normal population ranges for rib shape parameters which can be used to improve
      the assessment and treatment of rib skeletal deformity and disease.

PMID- 28612468
TI  - Decision-making processes among men with low-risk prostate cancer: A survey
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize decision-making processes and outcomes among men
      expressing early-treatment preferences for low-risk prostate cancer. METHODS: We
      conducted telephone surveys of men newly diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer
      in 2012 to 2014. We analyzed subjects who had discussed prostate cancer treatment
      with a clinician and expressed a treatment preference. We asked about decision
      making processes, including physician discussions, prostate-cancer knowledge,
      decision-making styles, treatment preference, and decisional conflict. We
      compared the responses across treatment groups with chi2 or ANOVA. RESULTS:
      Participants (n = 761) had a median age of 62; 82% were white, 45% had a college
      education, and 35% had no comorbidities. Surveys were conducted at a median of 25
      days (range 9-100) post diagnosis. Overall, 55% preferred active surveillance
      (AS), 26% preferred surgery, and 19% preferred radiotherapy. Participants
      reported routinely considering surgery, radiotherapy, and AS. Most were aware of
      their low-risk status (97%) and the option for AS (96%). However, men preferring
      active treatment (AT) were often unaware of treatment complications, including
      sexual dysfunction (23%) and urinary complications (41%). Most men (63%) wanted
      to make their own decision after considering the doctor's opinion, and about 90%
      reported being sufficiently involved in the treatment discussion. Men preferring
      AS had slightly more uncertainty about their decisions than those preferring AT.
      CONCLUSIONS: Subjects were actively engaged in decision making and considered a
      range of treatments. However, we found knowledge gaps about treatment
      complications among those preferring AT and slightly more decisional uncertainty
      among those preferring AS, suggesting the need for early decision support.

PMID- 28612470
TI  - A Rechargeable Li-CO2 Battery with a Gel Polymer Electrolyte.
AB  - The utilization of CO2 in Li-CO2 batteries is attracting extensive attention.
      However, the poor rechargeability and low applied current density have remained
      the Achilles' heel of this energy device. The gel polymer electrolyte (GPE),
      which is composed of a polymer matrix filled with tetraglyme-based liquid
      electrolyte, was used to fabricate a rechargeable Li-CO2 battery with a carbon
      nanotube-based gas electrode. The discharge product of Li2 CO3 formed in the GPE
      based Li-CO2 battery exhibits a particle-shaped morphology with poor
      crystallinity, which is different from the contiguous polymer-like and
      crystalline discharge product in conventional Li-CO2 battery using a liquid
      electrolyte. Accordingly, the GPE-based battery shows much improved
      electrochemical performance. The achieved cycle life (60 cycles) and rate
      capability (maximum applied current density of 500 mA g-1 ) are much higher than
      most of previous reports, which points a new way to develop high-performance Li
      CO2 batteries.

PMID- 28612469
TI  - Functional analyses of the versicolorin B synthase gene in Aspergillus flavus.
AB  - Aflatoxin is a toxic, carcinogenic mycotoxin primarily produced by Aspergillus
      parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus. Previous studies have predicted the existence
      of more than 20 genes in the gene cluster involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis.
      Among these genes, aflK encodes versicolorin B synthase, which converts
      versiconal to versicolorin B. Past research has investigated aflK in A.
      parasiticus, but few studies have characterized aflK in the animal, plant, and
      human pathogen A. flavus. To understand the potential role of aflK in A. flavus,
      its function was investigated here for the first time using gene replacement and
      gene complementation strategies. The aflK deletion-mutant DeltaaflK exhibited a
      significant decrease in sclerotial production and aflatoxin biosynthesis compared
      with wild-type and the complementation strain DeltaaflK::aflK. DeltaaflK did not
      affect the ability of A. flavus to infect seeds, but downregulated aflatoxin
      production after seed infection. This is the first report of a relationship
      between aflK and sclerotial production in A. flavus, and our findings indicate
      that aflK regulates aflatoxin formation.

PMID- 28612471
TI  - Metal Cations Induced alphabeta-BChl a Heterogeneity in LH1 as Revealed by
      Temperature-Dependent Fluorescence Splitting.
AB  - Two spectral forms of the core light-harvesting complex (LH1) of the purple
      bacterium Thermochromatium (Tch.) tepidum, the native Ca2+ -binding and the Ba2+ 
      substituted one, exhibit different fluorescence (FL) emission spectra at low
      temperature (T). While Ca-LH1 exhibits one emission band, an unusual splitting of
      the fluorescence is observed for Ba-LH1. These two sub-bands display the same
      spectral-width dependence according to T, but their intensity evolves differently
      with T. Based on the crystal structures, we propose that the FL splitting
      originates from a large alphabeta-BChl a transition energy heterogeneity, ~600 cm
      1 , which is much larger compared with other LH1 and LH2 complexes (80-200 cm-1
      ). This large heterogeneity is induced by the inhomogeneous Coulomb (and possibly
      hydrogen-bonding) interactions exerted by Ba2+ . The energy levels of the two
      LH1s were compared using exciton calculations in combination with Redfield
      theory. To simulate the FL splitting, an electronic transition containing two
      resonant bands was considered. This work shows how metal cations incorporated
      into the polypeptide modulate the electronic properties of BChl a aggregates.

PMID- 28612473
TI  - Why mutualist partners vary in quality: mutation-selection balance and incentives
      to cheat in the fig tree-fig wasp mutualism.
AB  - Mutualisms between species are ecologically ubiquitous but evolutionarily
      puzzling. Host discrimination mechanisms that reduce the fitness of uncooperative
      symbionts can stabilise mutualism against collapse, but also present a paradox -
      if discrimination is effective, why do uncooperative symbionts persist? Here, we
      test whether mutations or fitness benefits of cheating best explain the
      prevalence of uncooperative wasps in the fig tree-fig wasp mutualism. By
      combining theory with field-collected data we demonstrate that the proportions of
      pollen-free wasps of strongly discriminating hosts are reached with reasonable
      mutation rates. In contrast, in weakly discriminating hosts, the required
      mutation rates, assuming a single locus, are untenably high, but the required
      cheater advantages fall within expected ranges. We propose that when
      discrimination is weak, uncooperative symbionts proliferate until they reach the
      equilibrium proportion that balances costs and benefits of cheating. Our results
      suggest that mechanisms that resolve the paradox of uncooperative symbionts
      differ among host species.

PMID- 28612472
TI  - Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 2014 World Cup Impact on
      Hospital-Treated Suicide Attempt (Overdose) in Tehran.
AB  - Social influences on suicidal behaviors may be important but are less frequently
      studied than the influences of mental illness, physical illness, and demographic
      variables. Major international sporting events may have an impact on suicidal
      behaviors at the national and local level, an effect possibly mediated by gender
      and age. We examined the association of hospital-treated deliberate self
      poisoning episodes (by gender and by age) in Tehran: before, during, and after
      the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil, in which the Iranian national team
      participated and was eliminated after the pool games. We used a time series
      analysis within an autoregressive integrated moving average model and found a
      significant increase in hospital-treated deliberate self-poisoning during the 4
      week period of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in females but a nonsignificant
      increase in males. A significant increase was also seen in the youngest age group
      (12-20 years), but not in the two older age groups. If the effects of nonsuccess
      at major international sporting events could be shown to have a potential harmful
      effect on aggregate local or national rates of suicidal behaviors, the
      possibility of preventative interventions and preemptive additional service
      provision could be planned in advance of these events.

PMID- 28612474
TI  - Inter-rater reliability of professional-caregiver-reported life events in adults
      with intellectual disabilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The inter-rater reliability (IRR) of the measure of life events in
      adults with intellectual disabilities was investigated. METHOD: Two staff members
      for each of 79 adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) living in group homes
      used a checklist to report the adults' exposure to and intensity of life events
      over the previous 12 months. The IRR was estimated with intraclass correlation
      analysis (ICC). The factors of the level of ID, number of years the rater knew
      the rated person and quality of community care were investigated for possible
      associations with level of reliability. RESULTS: The ICC values for the
      occurrence of life events were .44-.80 depending on the category of life events.
      In general, intensity measures showed lower ICC values. When the rater had known
      the person rated for 2 or more years or the quality of community care was high,
      the ICC values increased, whereas lower levels of ID were associated with lower
      ICC values. CONCLUSIONS: Inter-rater reliability in general was found to be
      acceptable. Further development and research are needed to improve the
      reliability of life event measures for more severe ID.

PMID- 28612475
TI  - How HIV affects health and service use for adults with intellectual and
      developmental disabilities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE(S): Although rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are similar
      for individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities
      (IDD), very little is known about the health needs and service use of those with
      IDD and HIV. Among a population with IDD, we compared the physical and mental
      health profiles, as well as general and mental health service use for those with
      and without HIV. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada using
      linked administrative health and social service databases. METHODS: The
      prevalence of physical conditions and mental health disorders, and patterns of
      service use for any reason and service use for mental health issues were compared
      among Ontario adults with IDD and HIV (n = 107) and without HIV (n = 63 901) in
      log-binomial models adjusted for age, sex and neighbourhood income and rurality.
      RESULTS: Adults with IDD and HIV were more likely than those without HIV to have
      three types of mental health disorders: non-psychotic disorders [aRR: adjusted
      rate ratio (aRR): 1.22 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.47)], psychotic
      disorders [aRR: 1.57 (1.09, 2.28)] and substance use disorders [aRR: 3.52 (2.53,
      4.91)]. Adults with IDD and HIV were also more likely to have emergency
      department visits [aRR: 1.68 (1.42, 1.98)] and hospital admissions [aRR: 2.55
      (1.74, 3.73)] for any reason, and to have mental health emergency department
      visits and/or admissions [aRR: 2.82 (1.90, 4.18)]. DISCUSSION: Adults with IDD
      and HIV have complex health profiles and greater health service use than HIV
      negative adults with IDD. These findings call for closer integration of programs
      delivered by the HIV and disability sectors to optimise the health of this
      patient population.

PMID- 28612476
TI  - Association between speech-language, general cognitive functioning and behaviour
      problems in individuals with Williams syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Williams syndrome (WS) phenotype is described as unique and
      intriguing. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between
      speech-language abilities, general cognitive functioning and behavioural problems
      in individuals with WS, considering age effects and speech-language
      characteristics of WS sub-groups. METHODS: The study's participants were 26
      individuals with WS and their parents. General cognitive functioning was assessed
      with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Token Test
      and the Cookie Theft Picture test were used as speech-language measures. Five
      speech-language characteristics were evaluated from a 30-min conversation
      (cliches, echolalia, perseverative speech, exaggerated prosody and monotone
      intonation). The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL 6-18) was used to assess
      behavioural problems. RESULTS: Higher single-word receptive vocabulary and
      narrative vocabulary were negatively associated with CBCL T-scores for Social
      Problems, Aggressive Behaviour and Total Problems. Speech rate was negatively
      associated with the CBCL Withdrawn/Depressed T-score. Monotone intonation was
      associated with shy behaviour, as well as exaggerated prosody with talkative
      behaviour. WS with perseverative speech and exaggerated prosody presented higher
      scores on Thought Problems. Echolalia was significantly associated with lower
      Verbal IQ. No significant association was found between IQ and behaviour
      problems. Age-associated effects were observed only for the Aggressive Behaviour
      scale. CONCLUSIONS: Associations reported in the present study may represent an
      insightful background for future predictive studies of speech-language, cognition
      and behaviour problems in WS.

PMID- 28612477
TI  - Preliminary experience on the use of PET/CT in the management of pediatric post
      transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a well-known
      complication following prolonged immunosuppression. Contrary to other lymphomas,
      there is no standardized imaging approach to assess PTLD either at staging or for
      response to therapy. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is
      an imaging modality that has proven to be useful in lymphoma. However, there is
      still limited data concerning its use in pediatric PTLD. Our study evaluates the
      use of PET/CT in pediatric PTLD at our institution. METHODS: To assess the role
      of PET/CT in pediatric PTLD, we reviewed the pediatric patients with PTLD who had
      undergone PET/CT at our institution between 2000 and 2016. RESULTS: Nine patients
      were identified. Six had PET/CT at diagnosis. All lesions seen on CT were
      identified with PET/CT. Fourteen PET/CTs were done during treatment. Eight
      PET/CTs were negative, including three where CT showed areas of uncertain
      significance. In these cases, PET/CT helped us to stop treatment and the patients
      remain in remission after a long follow-up (mean 74.3 months; range 12.4-180.9
      months). PET/CT revealed additional disease in two cases, therefore treatment was
      intensified. Six biopsies and close follow-up was done to confirm PET/CT results.
      In one case, PET/CT did not identify central nervous system involvement
      demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSION: PET/CT may have an
      important role in the staging and follow-up of pediatric PTLD. In our cohort,
      PET/CT was helpful in staging and assessing treatment response and in clarifying
      equivocal findings on other imaging modalities.

PMID- 28612478
TI  - High stoma prevalence and stoma reversal complications following anterior
      resection for rectal cancer: a population-based multicentre study.
AB  - AIM: Fashioning a defunctioning stoma is common when performing an anterior
      resection for rectal cancer in order to avoid and mitigate the consequences of an
      anastomotic leakage. We investigated the permanent stoma prevalence, factors
      influencing stoma outcome and complication rates following stoma reversal
      surgery. METHOD: Patients who had undergone an anterior resection for rectal
      cancer between 2007 and 2013 in the northern healthcare region were identified
      using the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry and were followed until the end of
      2014 regarding stoma outcome. Data were retrieved by a review of medical records.
      Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate predefined risk factors for
      stoma permanence. Risk factors for non-reversal of a defunctioning stoma were
      also analysed, using Cox proportional-hazards regression. RESULTS: A total of 316
      patients who underwent anterior resection were included, of whom 274 (87%) were
      defunctioned primarily. At the end of the follow-up period 24% had a permanent
      stoma, and 9% of patients who underwent reversal of a stoma experienced major
      complications requiring a return to theatre, need for intensive care or
      mortality. Anastomotic leakage and tumour Stage IV were significant risk factors
      for stoma permanence. In this series, partial mesorectal excision correlated with
      a stoma-free outcome. Non-reversal was considerably more prevalent among patients
      with leakage and Stage IV; Stage III patients at first had a decreased reversal
      rate, which increased after the initial year of surgery. CONCLUSION: Stoma
      permanence is common after anterior resection, while anastomotic leakage and
      advanced tumour stage decrease the chances of a stoma-free outcome. Stoma
      reversal surgery entails a significant risk of major complications.

PMID- 28612479
TI  - Open-water and under-ice seasonal variations in trace element content and
      physicochemical associations in fluvial bed sediment.
AB  - Across the circumpolar world, intensive anthropogenic activities in the southern
      reaches of many large, northward-flowing rivers can cause sediment contamination
      in the downstream depositional environment. The influence of ice cover on
      concentrations of inorganic contaminants in bed sediment (i.e., sediment quality)
      is unknown in these rivers, where winter is the dominant season. A geomorphic
      response unit approach was used to select hydraulically diverse sampling sites
      across a northern test-case system, the Slave River and delta (Northwest
      Territories, Canada). Surface sediment samples (top 1 cm) were collected from 6
      predefined geomorphic response units (12 sites) to assess the relationships
      between bed sediment physicochemistry (particle size distribution and total
      organic carbon content) and trace element content (mercury and 18 other trace
      elements) during open-water conditions. A subset of sites was resampled under-ice
      to assess the influence of season on these relationships and on total trace
      element content. Concentrations of the majority of trace elements were strongly
      correlated with percent fines and proxies for grain size (aluminum and iron),
      with similar trace element grain size/grain size proxy relationships between
      seasons. However, finer materials were deposited under ice with associated
      increases in sediment total organic carbon content and the concentrations of most
      trace elements investigated. The geomorphic response unit approach was effective
      at identifying diverse hydrological environments for sampling prior to field
      operations. Our data demonstrate the need for under-ice sampling to confirm year
      round consistency in trace element-geochemical relationships in fluvial systems
      and to define the upper extremes of these relationships. Whether contaminated or
      not, under-ice bed sediment can represent a "worst-case" scenario in terms of
      trace element concentrations and exposure for sediment-associated organisms in
      northern fluvial systems. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2916-2924. (c) 2017 SETAC.

PMID- 28612480
TI  - Adolescent narrative comments in assessing medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescent medical interviewing is a difficult topic to teach and
      assess. Programmatic assessment has been gaining interest in medical teaching,
      and shifts the mode of assessment from the traditional assessment of learning
      (e.g. written exams) to the assessment for learning (e.g. feedback). The
      Structured Communication Adolescent Guide (SCAG) is a programmatic assessment
      tool that allows an adolescent patient to provide three types of feedback
      (written, numeric, grade) to a medical student in an authentic clinical
      workplace. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative analysis of written narrative
      feedback from SCAGs completed by non-standardised adolescent patients interviewed
      by third-year medical students. SCAG numerical scores and grades were compared
      between the positive and the negative written narrative feedback. RESULTS: Thirty
      seven (50%) of 74 SCAGs had written narrative feedback. 'Approachable' and
      'confidentiality concerns' were the most common positive and negative written
      comments, respectively. The 'teen-only communication' SCAG section, containing
      the HEADSS (Home, Education, Activities, Drugs, Suicide, Sex) portion of the
      interview, had the highest number of negative comments. All of the positive
      comments had A grades (100%), whereas the negative comments had A (58%), B (37%)
      and C (5%) grades. The 'teen-only communication' and 'initiating the interview'
      SCAG sections had significantly lower numerical scores assigned to negative
      feedback (p = 0.023, p < 0.001). Adolescent medical interviewing is a difficult
      topic to teach and assess DISCUSSION: Confidentiality concerns remain a top
      priority for undergraduate medical education training in adolescent patient
      interviewing. Written narrative feedback is extremely valuable as teens can
      provide both positive and negative comments. This is in contrast to adolescent
      patients most often over-inflating grades or scores to all learners, which can
      mislead the student.

PMID- 28612481
TI  - Review: Biological and Molecular Differences between Tail Regeneration and Limb
      Scarring in Lizard: An Inspiring Model Addressing Limb Regeneration in Amniotes.
AB  - Tissue regeneration in lizards represents a unique model of regeneration and
      scarring in amniotes. The tail and limb contain putative stem cells but also
      dedifferentiating cells contribute to regeneration. Following tail amputation,
      inflammation is low and cell proliferation high, leading to regeneration while
      the intense inflammation in the limb leads to low proliferation and scarring.
      FGFs stimulate tail and limb regeneration and are present in the wound epidermis
      and blastema while they disappear in the limb wound epidermis 2-3 weeks
      postamputation in the scarring outgrowth. FGFs localize in the tail blastema and
      the apical epidermal peg (AEP), an epidermal microregion that allows tail growth
      but is absent in the limb. Inflammatory cells invade the limb blastema and wound
      epidermis, impeding the formation of an AEP. An embryonic program of growth is
      activated in the tail, dominated by Wnt-positive and -negative regulators of cell
      proliferation and noncoding RNAs, that represent the key regenerative genes. The
      balanced actions of these regulators likely impede the formation of a tumor in
      the tail tip. Genes for FACIT and fibrillar collagens, protease inhibitors, and
      embryonic keratins are upregulated in the regenerating tail blastema. A strong
      downregulation of genes for both B and T-lymphocyte activation suggests the
      regenerating tail blastema is a temporal immune-tolerated organ, whereas a
      scarring program is activated in the limb. Wnt inhibitors, pro-inflammatory
      genes, negative regulators of cell proliferation, downregulation of myogenic
      genes, proteases, and oxidases favoring scarring are upregulated. The evolution
      of an efficient immune system may be the main limiting barrier for organ
      regeneration in amniotes, and the poor regeneration of mammals and birds is
      associated with the efficiency of their mature immune system. This does not
      tolerate embryonic antigens formed in reprogrammed embryonic cells (as for
      neoplastic cells) that are consequently eliminated impeding the regeneration of
      lost organs.

PMID- 28612482
TI  - Top-Down Fabrication of Stable Methylammonium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals
      by Employing a Mixture of Ligands as Coordinating Solvents.
AB  - A top-down method is demonstrated for the fabrication of CH3 NH3 PbBr3 and CH3
      NH3 PbI3 perovskite nanocrystals, employing a mixture of ligands oleic acid and
      oleylamine as coordinating solvents. This approach avoids the use of any polar
      solvents, skips multiple reaction steps by employing a simple ultrasonic
      treatment of the perovskite precursors, and yields rather monodisperse blue-,
      green-, and red-emitting methylammonium lead halide nanocrystals with a high
      photoluminescence quantum yield (up to 72 % for the green-emitting nanocrystals)
      and remarkably improved stability. After discussing all relevant reaction
      parameters, the green-emitting CH3 NH3 PbBr3 nanocrystals are employed as a
      component of down-conversion white-light-emitting devices.

PMID- 28612483
TI  - Laparoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection for malignant foot melanoma.
AB  - A 39 year-old woman with malignant foot melanoma underwent wide excision of the
      primary tumor with a safety margin and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for the
      right inguinal lymph node. SLNB was positive and a computed tomography (CT) scan
      revealed right iliac lymph node swelling. Positron emission tomography computed
      tomography (PET-CT) scan of the lymph nodes revealed abnormal uptake of
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). We performed a laparoscopic pelvic lymph node
      obturator, iliac lymph node) dissection. During the operation, several black
      lymph nodes were observed in the iliac lymph node. Pathologically, the iliac
      lymph node consisted of metastasized atypical melanocytes. This surgical method
      for pelvic lymph node dissection is not a standard procedure among institutions.
      There have been no reported cases of malignant melanoma with pelvic lymph node
      metastasis treated by laparoscopic surgery. However, due to the minimally
      invasive technique, this method is worth considering to be used for pelvic lymph
      node dissection in malignant melanoma as well as other cancers in the field of
      urology or gynecology.

PMID- 28612484
TI  - pH Sensing Properties of Flexible, Bias-Free Graphene Microelectrodes in Complex
      Fluids: From Phosphate Buffer Solution to Human Serum.
AB  - Advances in techniques for monitoring pH in complex fluids can have a significant
      impact on analytical and biomedical applications. This study develops flexible
      graphene microelectrodes (GEs) for rapid (<5 s), very-low-power (femtowatt)
      detection of the pH of complex biofluids by measuring real-time Faradaic charge
      transfer between the GE and a solution at zero electrical bias. For an idealized
      sample of phosphate buffer solution (PBS), the Faradaic current is varied
      monotonically and systematically with the pH, with a resolution of ~0.2 pH unit.
      The current-pH dependence is well described by a hybrid analytical-computational
      model, where the electric double layer derives from an intrinsic, pH-independent
      (positive) charge associated with the graphene-water interface and ionizable
      (negative) charged groups. For ferritin solution, the relative Faradaic current,
      defined as the difference between the measured current response and a baseline
      response due to PBS, shows a strong signal associated with ferritin disassembly
      and the release of ferric ions at pH ~2.0. For samples of human serum, the
      Faradaic current shows a reproducible rapid (<20 s) response to pH. By combining
      the Faradaic current and real-time current variation, the methodology is
      potentially suitable for use to detect tumor-induced changes in extracellular pH.

PMID- 28612486
TI  - High-Density Microfluidic Particle-Cluster-Array Device for Parallel and Dynamic
      Study of Interaction between Engineered Particles.
AB  - A high-density and high-performance microfluidic particle-cluster-array device
      utilizing a novel hydrodynamically tunable pneumatic valve (HTPV) is reported for
      parallel and dynamic monitoring of the interactions taking place in particle
      clusters. The key concept involves passive operation of the HTPV through elastic
      deformation of a thin membrane using only the hydrodynamic force inherent in
      microchannel flows. This unique feature allows the discrete and high-density (~30
      HTPVs mm-2 ) arrangement of numerous HTPVs in a microfluidic channel without any
      pneumatic connection. In addition, the HTPV achieves high-performance clustering
      (~92%) of three different particles in an array format through the optimization
      of key design and operating parameters. Finally, a contamination-free, parallel,
      and dynamic biochemical analysis strategy is proposed, which employs a simple one
      inlet-one-outlet device operated by the effective combination of several
      techniques, including particle clustering, the interactions between engineered
      particles, two-phase partitioning and dehydration control of aqueous plugs, and
      shape/color-based particle identification.

PMID- 28612485
TI  - Renal impairment and use of nephrotoxic agents in patients with multiple myeloma
      in the clinical practice setting in the United States.
AB  - Renal impairment is a common complication of multiple myeloma and deterioration
      in renal function or renal failure may complicate clinical management. This
      retrospective study in patients with multiple myeloma using an electronic medical
      records database was designed to estimate the prevalence of renal impairment
      (single occurrence of estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60 mL/min per
      1.73 m2 on or after multiple myeloma diagnosis) and chronic kidney disease (at
      least two eGFR values <60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 after multiple myeloma diagnosis
      that had been measured at least 90 days apart), and to describe the use of
      nephrotoxic agents. Eligible patients had a first diagnosis of multiple myeloma
      (ICD-9CM: 203.0x) between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2015 with no prior
      diagnoses in the previous 6 months. Of 12,370 eligible patients, the prevalence
      of both renal impairment and chronic kidney disease during the follow-up period
      was high (61% and 50%, respectively), and developed rapidly following the
      diagnosis of multiple myeloma (6-month prevalence of 47% and 27%, respectively).
      Eighty percent of patients with renal impairment developed chronic kidney disease
      over the follow-up period, demonstrating a continuing course of declining kidney
      function after multiple myeloma diagnosis. Approximately 40% of patients with
      renal impairment or chronic kidney disease received nephrotoxic agents, the
      majority of which were bisphosphonates. As renal dysfunction may impact the
      clinical management of multiple myeloma and is associated with poor prognosis,
      the preservation of renal function is critical, warranting non-nephrotoxic
      alternatives where possible in managing this population.

PMID- 28612487
TI  - Anagen Effluvium in Association With Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.
AB  - Anagen effluvium (AE) is a type of alopecia with hair loss during the growth
      phase of a hair follicle and is most often associated with cytotoxic
      chemotherapy. This report describes a case of AE in a critically ill 2-year-old
      boy who developed cardiorespiratory failure requiring extracorporeal membranous
      oxygenation. We postulate that the combination of hypotension and hypoxia with
      subsequent reperfusion triggered an apoptotic cascade in the hair matrix,
      resulting in AE.

PMID- 28612489
TI  - Nursing, recycling and the environment.

PMID- 28612488
TI  - Front-line window therapy with cisplatin in patients with primary disseminated
      Ewing sarcoma: A study by the Associazione Italiana di Ematologia ed Oncologia
      Pediatrica and Italian Sarcoma Group.
AB  - The aim was to assess the activity of cisplatin (CDDP) in Ewing sarcoma (ES). The
      study consisted of front-line window therapy with CDDP 120 mg/sqm every 3 weeks
      for two courses in children and young adults with primary disseminated ES.
      Response was assessed using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours
      criteria, and Simon's two-stage design was applied. Twelve consecutive patients
      were enrolled in stage 1. Only one objective response was observed. Since the
      target response rate was not achieved, accrual was stopped and CDDP as a single
      agent in ES was judged unworthy of further assessment.

PMID- 28612490
TI  - HIV testing in persons diagnosed with hepatitis B and C.

PMID- 28612491
TI  - Graphene/Group 5 Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Composites for Electrochemical
      Applications.
AB  - In comparison to the extensive research and great success attained by Group 6
      transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) as hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)
      electrocatalysts, there is limited research focused on metallic Group 5 TMDs for
      use as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution. Density functional theory
      calculations have pointed out that Group 5 TMDs are highly favorable for HER,
      especially vanadium disulfide. In this work, nanocomposites of graphene and Group
      5 TMDs were synthesized by thermal exfoliation of graphene oxide/TMD precursors
      in an H2 S atmosphere or in a H2 atmosphere as a control. Graphene oxide was
      prepared by the Hummers method while vanadium tetrachloride, niobium
      pentachloride, and tantalum pentachloride were utilized as TMD precursors. Then
      the potential of these nanocomposites as electrocatalysts towards HER was
      explored. Although these nanocomposites do not have comparable HER performance to
      Group 6 TMDs, they exhibit higher electrocatalytic activity in comparison with
      thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) in the absence of TMD modification. In
      addition, the capacitive performance of these materials was also investigated in
      consideration of the high capacitance of graphene. It was indicated that the
      presence of TMDs on graphene actually suppress the capacitance performance of
      graphene itself.

PMID- 28612492
TI  - Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis with Wilms' tumor.

PMID- 28612493
TI  - Flow-Regulated Growth of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2 ) Nanotubes in Microfluidics.
AB  - Electrochemical anodization of titanium (Ti) in a static, bulk condition is used
      widely to fabricate self-organized TiO2 nanotube arrays. Such bulk approaches,
      however, require extended anodization times to obtain long TiO2 nanotubes and
      produce only vertically aligned nanotubes. To date, it remains challenging to
      develop effective strategies to grow long TiO2 nanotubes in a short period of
      time, and to control the nanotube orientation. Here, it is shown that the anodic
      growth of TiO2 nanotubes is significantly enhanced (~16-20 times faster) under
      flow conditions in microfluidics. Flow not only controls the diameter, length,
      and crystal orientations of TiO2 nanotubes, but also regulates the spatial
      distribution of nanotubes inside microfluidic devices. Strikingly, when a Ti thin
      film is deposited on silicon substrates and anodized in microfluidics, both
      vertically and horizontally aligned (relative to the bottom substrate) TiO2
      nanotubes can be produced. The results demonstrate previously unidentified roles
      of flow in the regulation of growth of TiO2 nanotubes, and provide powerful
      approaches to effectively grow long, oriented TiO2 nanotubes, and construct
      hierarchical TiO2 nanotube arrays on silicon-based materials.

PMID- 28612494
TI  - Enhanced Interfacial Charge Transfer on a Tungsten Trioxide Photoanode with
      Immobilized Molecular Iridium Catalyst.
AB  - The rational design of active photoanodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water
      splitting is crucial for future applications in sustainable energy conversion. A
      combination of catalysts with photoelectrodes is generally required to improve
      surface kinetics and suppress surface recombination. In this study, we present
      WO3 photoanode modified with the iridium complex [(H4 dphbpy)IrIII (Cp*)Cl]Cl (Ir
      PO3 H2 ; H4 dphbpy=2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-bisphosphonic acid,
      Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadiene (WO3 +Ir-PO3 H2 )- for PEC water oxidation. When
      Ir-PO3 H2 is anchored to a WO3 electrode, the photoanode shows a significant
      improvement in both photocurrent and faradaic efficiency compared to the bare WO3
      photoanode. Under simulated sunlight illumination (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm-2 ) with an
      applied bias of 1.23 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode), the photoanode
      exhibits a photocurrent of 1.16 mA cm-2 in acidic conditions, which is double
      that of the bare WO3 photoanode. The faradaic efficiency is promoted from 56 % to
      95 %. Kinetic studies reveal that Ir-PO3 H2 exhibits a different interfacial
      charge-transfer mechanism on the WO3 photoanode for PEC water oxidation compared
      to iridium oxide. Ir-PO3 H2 , as a water-oxidation catalyst, can accelerate the
      surface charge transfer through rapid surface kinetics.

PMID- 28612495
TI  - Graphdiyne-Supported NiCo2 S4 Nanowires: A Highly Active and Stable 3D
      Bifunctional Electrode Material.
AB  - The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and
      overall water splitting are major energy and chemical conversion efforts.
      Progress in electrocatalytic reactions have shown that the future is limitless in
      many fields. However, it is urgent to develop efficient electrocatalysts. Here,
      the first graphdiyne-supported efficient and bifunctional electrocatalyst is
      reported using 3D graphdiyne foam as scaffolds, and NiCo2 S4 nanowires as
      building blocks (NiCo2 S4 NW/GDF). NiCo2 S4 NW/GDF exhibits outstanding catalytic
      activity and stability toward both OER and HER, as well as overall water
      splitting in alkaline media. Remarkably, it enables a high-performance alkaline
      water electrolyzer with 10 and 20 mA cm-2 at very low cell voltages of 1.53 and
      1.56 V, respectively, and remarkable stability over 140 h of continuous
      electrolysis operation at 20 mA cm-2 . The results indicate that this catalyst
      has a bifunction that overcomes all reported bifunctional, nonprecious-metal
      based ones.

PMID- 28612496
TI  - RIN1 promotes renal cell carcinoma malignancy by activating EGFR signaling
      through Rab25.
AB  - We previously identified the important role of RIN1 expression in the prognosis
      of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). The role of RIN1 in ccRCC malignancy
      and underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here we report that ccRCC
      cells and tissues expressed more RIN1 than normal controls. Gain-of-function and
      loss-of-function studies demonstrated that RIN1 enhanced ccRCC cell growth,
      migration and invasion abilities in vitro and promoted tumor growth and
      metastasis in vivo. Mechanistic studies revealed that RIN1 has an activating
      effect on EGFR signaling in ccRCC. In addition, we unveil Rab25, a critical
      GTPase in ccRCC malignancy, as a functional RIN1 interacting partner. Knockdown
      of Rab25 eliminated the augmentation of carcinoma cell proliferation, migration
      and invasion by ectopic RIN1. We also confirmed that RIN1 and Rab25 expression
      correlates with the overall-survival of ccRCC patients from TCGA. These findings
      suggest that RIN1 plays an important oncogenic role in ccRCC malignancy by
      activation of EGFR signaling through interacting with Rab25, and RIN1 could be
      employed as an effective therapeutic target for ccRCC.

PMID- 28612499
TI  - Xenon Recovery at Room Temperature using Metal-Organic Frameworks.
AB  - Xenon is known to be a very efficient anesthetic gas, but its cost prohibits the
      wider use in medical industry and other potential applications. It has been shown
      that Xe recovery and recycling from anesthetic gas mixtures can significantly
      reduce its cost as anesthetic. The current technology uses series of adsorbent
      columns followed by low-temperature distillation to recover Xe; this method is
      expensive to use in medical facilities. Herein, we propose a much simpler and
      more efficient system to recover and recycle Xe from exhaled anesthetic gas
      mixtures at room temperature using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Among the
      MOFs tested, PCN-12 exhibits unprecedented performance with high Xe capacity and
      Xe/O2 , Xe/N2 and Xe/CO2 selectivity at room temperature. The in situ synchrotron
      measurements suggest that Xe is occupies the small pockets of PCN-12 compared to
      unsaturated metal centers (UMCs). Computational modeling of adsorption further
      supports our experimental observation of Xe binding sites in PCN-12.

PMID- 28612498
TI  - China's health care system reform: Progress and prospects.
AB  - This paper discusses the progress and prospects of China's complex health care
      reform beginning in 2009. The Chinese government's undertaking of systemic reform
      has achieved laudable achievements, including the expansion of social health
      insurance, the reform of public hospitals, and the strengthening of primary care.
      An innovative policy tool in China, policy experimentation under hierarchy,
      played an important role in facilitating these achievements. However, China still
      faces gaps and challenges in creating a single payer system, restructuring the
      public hospitals, and establishing an integrated delivery system. Recently, China
      issued the 13th 5-year plan for medical reform, setting forth the goals, policy
      priorities, and strategies for health reform in the following 5 years. Moreover,
      the Chinese government announced the "Healthy China 2030" blueprint in October
      2016, which has the goals of providing universal health security for all citizens
      by 2030. By examining these policy priorities against the existing gaps and
      challenges, we conclude that China's health care reform is heading in the right
      direction. To effectively implement these policies, we recommend that China
      should take advantage of policy experimentation to mobilize bottom-up initiatives
      and encourage innovations.

PMID- 28612497
TI  - Pharmacotherapy follow-up: Role in active malaria surveillance in a travel
      medicine centre outside the transmission area in Brazil.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Malaria is a potentially severe disease, widespread
      in tropical and subtropical areas. Apart from parasite drug resistance, which
      receives the largest share of attention, several factors directly influence the
      response to antimalarial treatment such as incorrect doses, adverse drug events,
      lack of adherence to treatment, drug quality and drug-drug interactions.
      Pharmacotherapy follow-up can be used to monitor and improve the effectiveness of
      treatment, prevent drug-related problems and ensure patient safety. The aim of
      this study was to describe the results of the implementation of pharmacotherapy
      follow-up of patients with malaria seen at a reference centre for malaria
      diagnosis and treatment (CPD-Mal) located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, an area
      without malaria transmission. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted from
      January 2009 to September 2013 at the Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro
      Chagas (INI) of the Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz). All malaria patients
      enrolled in the study were treated according to the Brazilian Malaria Therapy
      Guidelines. Data collected during pharmacotherapy follow-up were recorded in a
      standardized form. The variables included were age, gender, comorbidities,
      antimalarials and concomitant medications used, adverse drug reactions (ADR),
      clinical and parasitological cure times, and treatment outcomes classified as
      success, recurrence (recrudescence or relapse); and lost to follow-up. The ADR
      were classified by severity (DAIDS-NIH), organ system affected (WHO-ART) and
      likelihood to be caused by drugs (Naranjo scale). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: One
      hundred thirteen cases of malaria were included. Patients were aged between 13
      and 66 years and the majority of them (75.2%) were male. Ninety-four ADR were
      observed, most classified as mild (85.1%), related to disorders of the
      gastrointestinal system (63.8%), such as nausea and vomiting, and assessed as
      "possibly" caused by the antimalarial drugs (91.5%). The majority of clinical
      (90.9%) and parasitological (87.1%) cure occurred less than 72 hours after
      treatment initiation. Pharmacotherapy follow-up of malaria treatment by
      surveillance activities is therefore important regarding information about
      treatment outcomes as well as patient safety, resulting in better patient care
      and reducing the chance of relapses. The results underscore its use as a tool for
      monitoring adherence and drug resistance outside an endemic area. WHAT IS NEW AND
      CONCLUSION: Pharmacotherapy follow-up should be considered a useful malaria
      surveillance tool that can be developed by reference centres for comprehensive
      health care assistance and monitoring of therapeutic resistance.

PMID- 28612500
TI  - Using image J to document healing in ulcers of the foot in diabetes.
AB  - The aim of the study was to assess the reliability of measuring the cross
      sectional area of diabetic foot ulcers using Image J software. The inter- and
      intra-rater reliability of ulcer area measures were assessed using digital images
      of acetate tracings of ulcers of the foot affecting 31 participants in an off
      loading randomised trial. Observations were made independently by five specialist
      podiatrists, one of whom was experienced in the use of Image J software and
      educated the other four in a single session. The mean (+/-SD) of the mean cross
      sectional areas of the 31 ulcers determined independently by the five observers
      was 1386.7 (+/-22.7) mm2 . The correlation between all pairs of observers was
      >0.99 (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference overall between the five
      observers (ANOVA F1.538; P = 0.165) and no difference between any two (paired
      samples test t = -0.787-1.396; P >= 0.088). The correlation between the areas
      determined by two observers on two occasions separated by not less than 1 week
      was very high (0.997 and 0.999; P < 0.001 and <0.001, respectively). The inter-
      and intra-reliability of the Image J software is very high, with no evidence of a
      difference either between or within observers. This technique should be
      considered for both research and clinical use in order to document changes in
      ulcer area.

PMID- 28612501
TI  - A Multiply Bonded Trigonal-Planar Bismuth(III) Complex: Prodigious Lewis Acidity,
      Solvatochromism, Etherification, and Semiconducting Characteristics.
AB  - The formation of a hitherto unknown 4-center, 6pi-conjugated trigonal-planar
      complex, [Bi{Cr(CO)5 }3 ]- (1), is reported, in which the oxidation state of the
      Bi atom is +3, as evidenced by XAS, XPS, and DFT calculations. The BiIII atom in
      1 has dual donor and acceptor properties in its bonding mode. In contrast to the
      mild Lewis acidity of BiIII , the central Bi in 1 functions as a prodigious Lewis
      acid site to exhibit strong affinity toward F- ions, unique solvatochromic
      properties, intriguing etherification through the C-O bond cleavage of alcohols,
      and surprising semiconducting characteristics with an ultra-narrow optical band
      gap of 1.02 eV, which can be attributed to the intermolecular Bi???O and O???O
      interactions in the solid state. The tetrahedral Fe(CO)4 -adduct [{Fe(CO)4
      }Bi{Cr(CO)5 }3 ]3- (1-Fe) allowed the selective demetallation to afford the
      isoelectronic multiply bonded BiCr3 -complex 1 and the BiCr2 Fe-complex,
      [Bi{Cr(CO)5 }2 {Fe(CO)4 }]- (2), which may open a novel pathway for the design of
      the heterometal-incorporated trigonal-planar Bi-Cr complexes.

PMID- 28612502
TI  - Temporally specific miRNA expression patterns in the dorsal and ventral striatum
      of addiction-prone rats.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) within the ventral and dorsal striatum have been shown to
      regulate addiction-relevant behaviours. However, it is unclear how cocaine
      experience alone can alter the expression of addiction-relevant miRNAs within
      striatal subregions. Further, it is not known whether differential expression of
      miRNAs in the striatum contributes to individual differences in addiction
      vulnerability. We first examined the effect of cocaine self-administration on the
      expression of miR-101b, miR-137, miR-212 and miR-132 in nucleus accumbens core
      and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh), as well as dorsomedial striatum and
      dorsolateral striatum (DLS). We then examined the expression of these same miRNAs
      in striatal subregions of animals identified as being 'addiction-prone', either
      immediately following self-administration training or following extinction and
      relapse testing. Cocaine self-administration was associated with changes in miRNA
      expression in a regionally discrete manner within the striatum, with the most
      marked changes occurring in the nucleus accumbens core. When we examined the
      miRNA profile of addiction-prone rats following self-administration, we observed
      increased levels of miR-212 in the dorsomedial striatum. After extinction and
      relapse testing, addiction-prone rats showed significant increases in the
      expression of miR-101b, miR-137, miR-212 and miR-132 in NAcSh, and miR-137 in the
      DLS. This study identifies temporally specific changes in miRNA expression
      consistent with the engagement of distinct striatal subregions across the course
      of the addiction cycle. Increased dysregulation of miRNA expression in NAcSh and
      DLS at late stages of the addiction cycle may underlie habitual drug seeking, and
      may therefore aid in the identification of targets designed to treat addiction.

PMID- 28612503
TI  - Distinctive in vitro signal transduction profile of NLX-112, a potent and
      efficacious serotonin 5-HT1A receptor agonist.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: NLX-112 (befiradol, F13640) is a selective serotonin 5-HT1A receptor
      agonist. Although it has been tested in vivo, little has been reported on its in
      vitro signal transduction profile. METHODS: NLX-112 was tested on G-protein
      activation, inhibition of adenylyl cyclase, ERK1/2 phosphorylation (pERK) and
      receptor internalization in recombinant cell lines. NLX-112 was also tested on G
      protein activation in rat hippocampal membranes. Galpha subunit mRNA expression
      in cell lines and rat brain tissue was quantified by quantitative PCR. KEY
      FINDINGS: For all signalling measures, NLX-112 exhibited agonist efficacy greater
      than for reference compounds ((+/-)8-OH-DPAT or buspirone), but similar to the
      endogenous agonist, serotonin, and was more potent for pERK than other responses.
      In rat hippocampal membranes, NLX-112 stimulated 'total G-proteins' but, unlike
      (+/-)8-OH-DPAT and buspirone, was more potent for Galphao activation. Cell lines
      predominantly expressed Galphai1 and Galphai2 mRNA, with low levels of Galphao,
      whereas in rat brain Galphao subunits showed highest mRNA expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: Unlike reference compounds, NLX-112 was a highly efficacious agonist
      in vitro, preferentially activating pERK in cell lines and Galphao proteins in
      rat hippocampal membranes. However, Galpha subunit mRNA levels differ markedly
      between rat brain and cell lines, warranting caution when extrapolating from
      recombinant systems to native tissues.

PMID- 28612504
TI  - Effect of attention bias modification on brain function and anxiety in patients
      with irritable bowel syndrome: A preliminary electroencephalogram and psycho
      behavioral study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) show a
      reciprocal relationship with anxiety. In this intervention-based study, we
      investigated the utility of attention bias modification (ABM) therapy in patients
      with IBS. We hypothesized that IBS-related electroencephalographic abnormalities
      would be normalized after ABM therapy. METHODS: Seventeen patients with IBS and
      13 healthy subjects completed five ABM intervention sessions over a 2-month
      period. Each session included 128 ABM trials, resulting in a total of 640 trials
      across the intervention period. For each trial, subjects viewed a pair of facial
      expression images and were instructed to indicate the position of the neutral
      face as quickly and accurately as possible by pressing one of two buttons on a
      button box. Electroencephalography data (alpha and beta power percentages) were
      collected during the 1st and 5th sessions. KEY RESULTS: Generalized estimating
      equations of relative alpha power revealed a significant effect of period was
      identified at O2 (P=.036). Paired t tests revealed that ABM significantly
      increased relative alpha power at O2 in patients with IBS. Generalized estimating
      equation of relative beta power revealed a significant effect of the group *
      period interaction was identified at Pz (P=.035). Paired t tests revealed that
      ABM significantly decreased relative beta power at Pz in patients with IBS.
      CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Attention bias modification may normalize brain
      function related to attention and anxiety in patients with IBS.

PMID- 28612506
TI  - Synergistic interactions between corrosion and wear at titanium-based dental
      implant connections: A scoping review.
AB  - Two-piece implant systems are mainly used in oral implantology involving an
      osseointegrated implant connected to an abutment, which supports prosthetic
      structures. It is well documented that the presence of microgaps, biofilms and
      oral fluids at the implant-abutment connection can cause mechanical and
      biological complications. The aim of this review paper was to report the
      degradation at the implant-abutment connection by wear and corrosion processes
      taking place in the oral cavity. Most of the retrieved studies evaluated the wear
      and corrosion (tribocorrosion) of titanium-based materials used for implants and
      abutments in artificial saliva. Electrochemical and wear tests together with
      microscopic techniques were applied to validate the tribocorrosion behavior of
      the surfaces. A few studies inspected the wear on the inner surfaces of the
      implant connection as a result of fatigue or removal of abutments. The studies
      reported increased microgaps after fatigue tests. In addition, data suggest that
      micromovements occurring at the contacting surfaces can increase the wear of the
      inner surfaces of the connection. Biofilms and/or glycoproteins act as
      lubricants, although they can also amplify the corrosion of the surfaces.
      Consequently, loosening of the implant-abutment connection can take place during
      mastication. In addition, wear and corrosion debris such as ions and micro- and
      nanoparticles released into the surrounding tissues can stimulate peri-implant
      inflammation that can lead to pathologic bone resorption.

PMID- 28612505
TI  - SET domain-containing protein 5 is required for expression of primordial germ
      cell specification-associated genes in murine embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Primordial germ cell (PGC) specification is one of the most fundamental processes
      in developmental biology. Because PGCs are a common source of both gametes,
      generation of PGCs from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is a useful model for
      analysing the germ line lineage. Although several studies focused on the role of
      epigenetic regulation on PGC differentiation from ESCs in vitro have been
      published, germ line commitment remains poorly understood. Here, we show that SET
      domain-containing protein (Setd5), which has a previously unknown function, is
      essential for regulating germ cell-associated genes in murine ESCs (mESCs). Even
      though Setd5 knockdown with 3 distinct shRNAs did not affect expression of
      pluripotency genes or levels of global histone methylation, all 3 shRNAs
      significantly diminished the expression of early and late-stage PGC-associated
      genes. Furthermore, our immunoprecipitation assay showed that Setd5 can interact
      with Tbl1xr1 and Ctr9, which are components of 2 different transcriptional
      regulatory complexes, namely, NcoR1 corepressor complex and Paf1 complex,
      respectively, in mESCs. Taken together, our data suggest that Setd5 is required
      for maintaining PGC-associated genes and Setd5-associated protein complexes
      containing Tbl1xr1 and Ctr9, which in turn are likely involved in regulating germ
      cell-related genes in mESCs.

PMID- 28612508
TI  - Incremental benefit of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in the
      assessment of a primary pericardial hemangioma.
AB  - Hemangiomas are rarely found in the heart and pericardial involvement is even
      more rare. We report a case of primary pericardial hemangioma, in which three
      dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) provided incremental benefit
      over standard two-dimensional images. Our case also highlights the importance of
      systematic cropping of the 3D datasets in making a diagnosis of pericardial
      hemangioma with a greater degree of certainty. In addition, we also provide a
      literature review of the features of cardiac/pericardial hemangiomas in a tabular
      form.

PMID- 28612509
TI  - Acceptability of peer clinical observation by faculty members.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most doctors are not observed in the actual practice of medicine
      after they complete training. Direct observation and feedback are seen as
      invaluable in learning in most other professions, at formative stages of medical
      training and in other aspects of academic medicine, yet are not performed at the
      level of the independently practicing clinician. Creating an opportunity for
      faculty member development based on observation of clinical practice is needed
      for continued growth and competence as a clinician. METHODS: Independently
      practicing clinicians within our practice volunteered to both observe and be
      observed by a colleague in clinical practice, and then both give and receive
      feedback. Pairs of clinicians with similar experience levels were created. The
      person being observed set the ground rules for feedback to promote a safe
      environment. RESULTS: Most respondents found both observing and being observed
      useful, comfortable experiences, which were better than most other continuing
      professional development (CPD) initiatives. Both observing and being observed
      seemed to lead to reflection on practice and a change in practice by most
      participants. Most respondents would like to participate again. Both observing
      and being observed seemed to lead to reflection on practice DISCUSSION: Next
      steps include expanding the programme within our group and to other departments
      within our institution. There is potential to use this programme as a model for
      CPD credit. An intradepartmental programme in which participants receive CPD
      credit for the observation of their practice of medicine could meet the primary
      goal of CPD, ensuring doctors are competent and continue to develop in an
      efficient, meaningful and cost-effective way.

PMID- 28612510
TI  - Empowering trainees to promote professionalism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unprofessional behaviour can interfere with patient care. Empowering
      trainees to address each other's unprofessional behaviour can help address a
      larger number of incidents that may not be witnessed by supervisors, as well as
      promote a culture of professionalism in a teaching programme. The goal of the
      study was to teach trainees to effectively address observed unprofessional
      behaviour and to assess the impact of this exercise on the percentage of cases
      directly addressed, reported or ignored 6-12 months after the initial training.
      METHODS: Eighty-four trainees participated in objective structured clinical
      examination (OSCE) cases designed to address a colleague's inappropriate
      behaviour. Baseline and follow-up surveys performed 6-12 months after the OSCE
      were completed detailing the number of incidents witnessed in colleagues and the
      method employed to address those incidents: personally address (with level of
      satisfaction), report or ignore. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the
      number of unprofessional incidents identified after the OSCE (pre-OSCE, 1.12 per
      resident; post-OSCE, 1.69 per resident; t = 2.27, p = 0.029). Of the 72 incidents
      at baseline, 43 per cent were addressed directly and 43 per cent of those had a
      satisfactory resolution. Of the 71 incidents described 6-12 months later, 61 per
      cent were addressed directly and 79 per cent of those had a satisfactory
      resolution. Trainees were more likely to address rather than to report
      unprofessional behaviour chi2 (2, 58) = 13, p = 0.001. Empowering trainees to
      address each other's unprofessional behaviour can help promote a culture of
      professionalism DISCUSSION: The intervention had a significant impact on the
      percentage of trainees that addressed any observed unprofessional behaviour, and
      the rate of satisfaction after doing so. It did not change the percentage of
      cases that were neither addressed nor reported.

PMID- 28612507
TI  - HIV and drug abuse mediate astrocyte senescence in a beta-catenin-dependent
      manner leading to neuronal toxicity.
AB  - Emerging evidence suggests that cell senescence plays an important role in aging
      associated diseases including neurodegenerative diseases. HIV leads to a spectrum
      of neurologic diseases collectively termed HIV-associated neurocognitive
      disorders (HAND). Drug abuse, particularly methamphetamine (meth), is a
      frequently abused psychostimulant among HIV+ individuals and its abuse
      exacerbates HAND. The mechanism by which HIV and meth lead to brain cell
      dysregulation is not entirely clear. In this study, we evaluated the impact of
      HIV and meth on astrocyte senescence using in vitro and several animal models.
      Astrocytes constitute up to 50% of brain cells and play a pivotal role in
      marinating brain homeostasis. We show here that HIV and meth induce significant
      senescence of primary human fetal astrocytes, as evaluated by induction of
      senescence markers (beta-galactosidase and p16INK4A ), senescence-associated
      morphologic changes, and cell cycle arrest. HIV- and meth-mediated astrocyte
      senescence was also demonstrated in three small animal models (humanized mouse
      model of HIV/NSG-huPBMCs, HIV-transgenic rats, and in a meth administration rat
      model). Senescent astrocytes in turn mediated neuronal toxicity. Further, we show
      that beta-catenin, a pro-survival/proliferation transcriptional co-activator, is
      downregulated by HIV and meth in human astrocytes and this downregulation
      promotes astrocyte senescence while induction of beta-catenin blocks HIV- and
      meth-mediated astrocyte senescence. These studies, for the first time,
      demonstrate that HIV and meth induce astrocyte senescence and implicate the beta
      catenin pathway as potential therapeutic target to overcome astrocyte senescence.

PMID- 28612511
TI  - Quantitative Estimation of Ising-Type Magnetic Anisotropy in a Family of C3 
      Symmetric CoII Complexes.
AB  - In this paper, the influence of the structural and chemical effects on the Ising
      type magnetic anisotropy of pentacoordinate CoII complexes has been investigated
      by using a combined experimental and theoretical approach. For this, a deliberate
      design and synthesis of four pentacoordinate CoII complexes [Co(tpa)Cl]?ClO4 (1),
      [Co(tpa)Br]?ClO4 (2), [Co(tbta)Cl]?(ClO4 )?(MeCN)2 ?(H2 O) (3) and
      [Co(tbta)Br]?ClO4 (4) by using the tripodal ligands tris(2-methylpyridyl)amine
      (tpa) and tris[(1-benzyl-1 H-1,2,3-triazole-4-yl)methyl]amine) (tbta) have been
      carried out. Detailed dc and ac measurements show the existence of field-induced
      slow magnetic relaxation behavior of CoII centers with Ising-type magnetic
      anisotropy. A quantitative estimation of the zero-field splitting (ZFS)
      parameters has been effectively achieved by using detailed ab initio theory
      calculations. Computational studies reveal that the wavefunction of all the
      studied complexes has a very strong multiconfigurational character that
      stabilizes the largest ms =+/-3/2 components of the quartet state and hence
      produce a large negative contribution to the ZFS parameters. The difference in
      the magnitudes of the Ising-type anisotropy can be explained through ligand field
      theory considerations, that is, D is larger and negative in the case of weak
      equatorial sigma-donating and strong apical pi-donating ligands. To elucidate the
      role of intermolecular interactions in the magnetic relaxation behavior between
      adjacent CoII centers, a diamagnetic isostructural ZnII analog (5) was
      synthesized and the magnetic dilution experiment was performed.

PMID- 28612512
TI  - Germline factor DDX4 functions in blood-derived cancer cell phenotypes.
AB  - DDX4 (the human ortholog of Drosophila Vasa) is an RNA helicase and is present in
      the germ lines of all metazoans tested. It was historically thought to be
      expressed specifically in germline, but with additional organisms studied, it is
      now clear that in some animals DDX4/Vasa functions outside of the germline, in a
      variety of somatic cells in the embryo and in the adult. In this report, we
      document that DDX4 is widely expressed in soma-derived cancer cell lines,
      including myeloma (IM-9) and leukemia (THP-1) cells. In these cells, the DDX4
      protein localized to the mitotic spindle, consistent with findings in other
      somatic cell functions, and its knockout in IM-9 cells compromised cell
      proliferation and migration activities, and downregulated several cell
      cycle/oncogene factors such as CyclinB and the transcription factor E2F1. These
      results suggest that DDX4 positively regulates cell cycle progression of diverse
      somatic-derived blood cancer cells, implying its broad contributions to the
      cancer cell phenotype and serves as a potential new target for chemotherapy.

PMID- 28612513
TI  - The Sequential Intercept Model and Juvenile Justice: Review and Prospectus.
AB  - Behavioral health needs in justice-involved adolescents are an increasing
      concern, as it has been estimated that two-thirds of youths in the juvenile
      justice system now meet the criteria for one or more psychological disorders.
      This article describes the application of the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM),
      developed to describe five "points of interception" from standard prosecution
      into rehabilitation-oriented alternatives for adults (Munetz & Griffin, 2006), to
      juvenile justice. The five SIM intercepts are: (1) first contact with law
      enforcement or emergency services; (2) initial hearings and detention following
      arrest; (3) jails and courts (including problem-solving courts); (4) re-entry
      from jails, prisons and forensic hospitals; and (5) community corrections and
      community support, including probation and parole. Modifying the SIM for
      application with justice-involved adolescents, this article describes three
      examples of interventions at different intercepts: Intercept 1 (the Philadelphia
      Police School Diversion Program), Intercept 3 (problem-solving courts for
      juveniles), and Intercept 5 (juvenile probation). Relevant research evidence for
      each example is reviewed, and the further application of this model to juveniles
      is described. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612514
TI  - Polymorphic Architectures of Graphene Quantum Dots.
AB  - A systematic strategy for designing structured nanomaterials is demonstrated
      through self-assembly of graphene quantum dots. The approach reveals that
      graphene derivatives at the nanoscale assemble into various architectures of
      nanocrystals in a binary solution system. The shapes of the nanocrystals continue
      to evolve in terms of the intimate association of organic molecules with the
      dispersion medium, obtaining a high index faceted superlattice. This facile
      synthetic process provides a versatile strategy for designing particles to new
      structured materials systems, exploiting the crystallization of layered graphitic
      carbon structures within single crystals.

PMID- 28612515
TI  - The benefits of a peer-assisted mock PACES.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peer-assisted learning (PAL) and mock examinations have been credited
      as effective teaching tools; however, there is a lack of research into their
      effectiveness in PACES (practical assessment of clinical examination skills).
      This study demonstrates an effective model and the benefits of PAL after its
      implementation in a mock PACES at Imperial College London. There is a lack of
      research into the effectiveness of PAL and mock examinations in PACES METHODS: A
      mock PACES was designed for fifth-year medical students. Examiners were recruited
      from the final year and from the foundation year doctor (intern) cohort. A Likert
      scale (1, strongly disagree; 5, strongly agree) questionnaire given before and
      after the exam was used to investigate its effectiveness. RESULTS: A total of 41
      pre-mock exam surveys (57% completion rate) and 57 post-mock exam surveys (79%
      completion rate) were completed. Students felt significantly more confident after
      the mock PACES (mean 3.54 post-mock exam versus 2.68 pre-mock exam), with 90.64
      per cent of students agreeing that this mock PACES was more useful than a lecture
      based format, bedside teaching and small group teaching in order to prepare for
      this exam. Twenty-eight tutor surveys were completed (87.5% completion rate).
      Tutors agreed that the mock PACES had improved their confidence in their teaching
      ability (mean 4.07) and enhanced their clinical knowledge (mean 4.18).
      DISCUSSION: The mock PACES demonstrated benefits to confidence levels and
      knowledge both for tutees and tutors. The results demonstrate an effective model
      in examination preparation for PACES. This reinforces the holistic positive
      attributes gained from the use of PAL and mock examinations, whilst encouraging
      its use within the undergraduate syllabus.

PMID- 28612516
TI  - Autonomic nervous system function in adolescent migraineurs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Migraine is a common and disabling neurological disorder. Studies on
      the relationship between migraine and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) have
      been inconclusive. Moreover, pediatric studies are extremely limited. Therefore,
      the present study investigated interictal ANS function in adolescent migraineurs.
      METHODS: We studied 21 patients with migraine and 26 healthy controls. Beat-to
      beat blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were non-invasively and continuously
      measured in the supine and standing positions. ANS function was evaluated on
      power spectral analysis of HR variability and diastolic BP (DBP) variability.
      RESULTS: Heart rate and systolic BP were not different between the two groups in
      either the supine or standing position. DBP did not differ between groups in the
      standing position, but was significantly higher in migraineurs in the supine
      position. The vasoconstrictor index was significantly higher in migraineurs. High
      frequency (HF) RR interval variability (RR-HF) and the ratio of the low-frequency
      (LF) to HF component of RR interval variability (RR-LF/HF) were not different
      between the two groups in both positions. The LF component of DBP variability
      (DBP-LF) in the supine position was significantly lower in migraineurs, while DBP
      LF during standing in migraineurs was significantly higher than in controls.
      CONCLUSION: Migraineurs have significantly lower sympathetic vasomotor activity
      in the supine position, while sympathetic vasomotor activity was hyperresponsive
      during standing.

PMID- 28612517
TI  - Two-dimensional knowledge-based volumetric reconstruction of the right ventricle
      documents short-term improvement in pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data are scarce about short-term right ventricular changes in
      pulmonary hypertension. Two-dimensional knowledge-based reconstruction of the
      right ventricle with 2D echocardiography (2DKBR) has been shown to be a valid
      alternative to Cardiac MRI. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this longitudinal study 25
      pulmonary hypertension patients underwent 2DKBR of the right ventricle,
      assessment of NT-proBNP levels and functional class at baseline and after a mean
      follow-up of 6.1 months. Patients were followed up clinically for a further mean
      of 8.2 months. The majority of patients had connective tissue disease (CTD)
      associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (n=15) or chronic thromboembolic
      pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH; n=6). A total of 15 patients underwent an
      intervention, either new targeted therapy, escalation of targeted therapy or
      pulmonary endarterectomy. A total of 10 clinically stable patients were routinely
      followed up without any change in therapy. RESULTS: There were significant
      improvements in the right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (111+/-29 mL/m2
      vs 100+/-36 mL/m2; P=.038), end-systolic volume index (72+/-23 mL/m2 vs 61+/-25
      mL/m2; P=.001), and ejection fraction (35+/-10% vs 40+/-9%; P=.030). Changes in
      NT-proBNP levels correlated strongest with changes in end-systolic volume index
      (r=-.77; P=<.0001). Four patients experienced clinical worsening during extended
      follow-up, dilatation of the right ventricle was associated with clinical
      worsening. CONCLUSION: In a CTD and CTEPH dominated patient population
      significant reverse remodeling and improvement of ejection fraction occurred
      despite a short follow-up and was paralleled by significant changes in NT-proBNP
      levels. Further right ventricular dilatation was associated with worse clinical
      outcome. 2DKBR is a feasible substitute for Cardiac MRI to follow-up right
      ventricular indices in pulmonary hypertension.

PMID- 28612518
TI  - Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) Fluorophore Exhibits a Highly Ratiometric
      Fluorescent Response to Zn2+ in vitro and in Human Liver Cancer Cells.
AB  - Two novel organic fluorophores, containing bis-naphthylamide and quinoline
      motifs, have been designed and synthesized. One of the fluorophores contains an
      isobutylene unit and exhibits a significant aggregation-induced emission (AIE)
      and a remarkable highly selective ratiometric fluorescence response towards Zn2+
      in solution as well as in human liver cancer cells. The AIE behavior of this
      fluorophore was fully verified by fluorescence and UV/Vis spectroscopy, quantum
      yield calculations, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which revealed an
      intricate crystal packing system. Conversely, a fluorophore that lacks the
      isobutylene moiety did not exhibit any significant fluorescent properties as a
      result of its more flexible molecular structure that presumably allows free
      intramolecular rotational processes to occur.

PMID- 28612519
TI  - Glucosyltransferase-dependent and -independent effects of TcdB on the proteome of
      HEp-2 cells.
AB  - Toxin B (TcdB) of the nosocomial pathogen C. difficile has been reported to
      exhibit a glucosyltransferase-dependent and -independent effect on treated HEp-2
      cells at toxin concentration above 0.3 nM. In order to investigate and further
      characterize both effects epithelial cells were treated with wild type TcdB and
      glucosyltransferase-deficient TcdBNXN and their proteomes were analyzed by LC-MS.
      Triplex SILAC labeling was used for quantification. Identification of 5212 and
      quantification of 4712 protein groups was achieved. Out of these 257 were
      affected by TcdB treatment, 92 by TcdBNXN treatment and 49 by both. TcdB mainly
      led to changes in proteins that are related to "GTPase mediated signaling" and
      the "cytoskeleton" while "chromatin" and "cell cycle" related proteins were
      altered by both, TcdB and TcdBNXN . The obtained dataset of HEp-2 cell proteome
      helps us to better understand glucosyltransferase-dependent and -independent
      mechanisms of TcdB and TcdBNXN , particularly those involved in pyknotic cell
      death. All proteomics data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with the
      dataset identifier PXD006658
      (https://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD006658).

PMID- 28612521
TI  - Could Modafinil Prevent Psychostimulant Addiction? An Experimental Study in Rats.
AB  - Addiction is a serious health problem which leads to general social impairment.
      The period of adolescence plays a significant role in drug abuse liability.
      Psychostimulants, such as modafinil (MOD), are majorly used by teenagers seeking
      improvements in cognition, which contributes to its indiscriminate use. This
      study aimed to investigate the influence of MOD (64 mg/kg by gavage, once a day)
      treatment during adolescence [post-natal day (PND) 28-42] on amphetamine (AMPH, 4
      mg/kg i.p.)-conditioned place preference (CPP) in early adulthood (PND 60). Our
      findings showed that AMPH increased CPP for the drug and anxiety-like behaviours;
      on the other hand, AMPH decreased the number of crossings and recognition index.
      In addition, AMPH decreased catalase activity and increased reactive species,
      malondialdehyde and carbonyl protein levels in the hippocampus. AMPH also
      increased pro-brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine kinase receptor
      B, dopamine transporter, D1R and decreased BDNF and D2R immunoreactivity.
      Contrarily, animals pre-exposed to MOD showed reduced AMPH-CPP, no locomotor
      impairment, less anxiety-like behaviours and no memory deficits. In addition, MOD
      showed antioxidant activity by preventing AMPH-induced oxidative damage in the
      hippocampus. Moreover, molecular analysis showed that MOD was able to modulate
      the hippocampal dopaminergic system, thus preventing AMPH-induced impairments.
      Animals that received MOD during adolescence showed reduced AMPH-CPP in early
      adulthood. These unexpected behavioural effects of MOD on CPP could be due to its
      hippocampal dopaminergic system modulation, mainly by its action on D1R, which is
      closely linked to drug addiction. Nevertheless, further studies are necessary.

PMID- 28612522
TI  - [The Mechanisms of Trimetazidine Alleviating the Oxidative Stress in Adipose
      derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of trimetazidine (TMZ) on the oxidative
      stress injury in adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs). METHODS: ADSCs
      derived from adipose tissue of SD rats were characterized by flow cytometry and
      multiline age differentiation. ADSCs apoptosis was induced by H2O2 in vitro ,
      Dirrerent concentration of TMZ (250 MUmol/L, 500 MUmol/L) was used to protect
      ADSCs from apoptosis. The morphological features of apoptotic ADSCs were analyzed
      by Hoechst 33342, mitochondrial potential and structure was analyzed by JC-1
      staining and electron microscope, respectively. The apoptotic proteins were
      detected by Western blot. The effect of TMZ on antioxidant capacity of ADSCs was
      evaluated by detecting reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA). RESULTS: The isolated ADSCs
      expressed high levels of CD29 and CD90, low levels of CD34 and CD45 and no
      expression of CD31. ADSCs could be induced to adipocyte and osteoplastic cells.
      After being treated by H2O2, ADSCs displayed apoptosis characteristics with
      increased number of apoptotic cells, decreased mitochondrial transmembrane
      potential and damaged mitochondria. The expressions of apoptotic proteins,
      including Bax, Bad, and Caspase3, were dramatically increased compared to the
      controls; however, the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 was decreased. At the
      meantime, the contents of ROS and MDA were elevated, but the concentrations of
      SOD and GSH were reduced. The treatment of TMZ could partly reverse above
      negative impacts to ADSCs. CONCLUSION: TMZ could improve the survival rate of
      ADSCs by enhancing anti-oxidant defense systems to remove excessive ROS and
      regulating the expression of protective protein.

PMID- 28612520
TI  - Regulation of ITGA3 by the anti-tumor miR-199 family inhibits cancer cell
      migration and invasion in head and neck cancer.
AB  - For patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), survival rates
      have not improved due to local recurrence and distant metastasis. Current
      targeted molecular therapies do not substantially benefit HNSCC patients.
      Therefore, it is necessary to use advanced genomic approaches to elucidate the
      molecular mechanisms underlying the aggressiveness of HNSCC cells. Analysis of
      our microRNA (miRNA) expression signature by RNA sequencing showed that the miR
      199 family (miR-199a-5p, miR-199a-3p, miR-199b-5p and miR-199b-3p) was
      significantly reduced in cancer tissues. Ectopic expression of mature miRNA
      demonstrated that all members of the miR-199 family inhibited cancer cell
      migration and invasion by HNSCC cell lines (SAS and HSC3). These findings
      suggested that both passenger strands and guide strands of miRNA are involved in
      cancer pathogenesis. In silico database and genome-wide gene expression analyses
      revealed that the gene coding for integrin alpha3 (ITGA3) was regulated by all
      members of the miR-199 family in HNSCC cells. Knockdown of ITGA3 significantly
      inhibited cancer cell migration and invasion by HNSCC cells. Moreover,
      overexpression of ITGA3 was confirmed in HNSCC specimens, and high expression of
      ITGA3 predicted poorer survival of the patients (P = 0.0048). Our data revealed
      that both strands of pre-miR-199a (miR-199a-5p and miR-199a-3p) and pre-miR-199b
      (miR-199b-5p and miR-199b-3p) acted as anti-tumor miRNA in HNSCC cells.
      Importantly, the involvement of passenger strand miRNA in the regulation of
      cellular processes is a novel concept in RNA research. Novel miRNA-based
      approaches for HNSCC can be used to identify potential targets for the
      development of new therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 28612523
TI  - [Protective Effects of Intraventricular Transplanted Human Umbilical Cord-derived
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Damages in Rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the therapeutic effect and protective mechanism of human
      umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) on newborn rats with
      hypoxia ischemic brain damage (HIBD). METHODS: Umbilical cord (3-4 cm) was
      collected from a healthy male infant for preparation of hUC-MSCs using explants
      technique. The hUC-MSCs were cultured and labeled with BrdU. The differentiation
      function of MSCs was identified. Healthy SPF grade neonatal SD rats were randomly
      divided into sham (n =30), HIBD (n =36) and hUC-MSCs treated HIBD (n =32) groups.
      BrdU-labeled hUC-MSCs were injected into the right ventricle of the rats in the
      hUC-MSCs treatment group 24 h after successful induction of HIBD. The growth and
      development of the rats were recorded. The neurological behavior of the rats were
      evaluated with Longa score method 3 weeks after hUC-MSCs transplantation. The
      survival, migration, differentiation and pro-differentiation of the transplanted
      hUC-MSCs were measured using immunological fluorescence method. RESULTS: Rats in
      the hUC-MSCs treatment group had significant higher weight gain and lower Longa
      scores (at the second and the third week post transplantation) than those in the
      HIBD group (P<0.05). BrdU positive cells were found in brain tissues 3 weeks
      after transplantation, and they were mainly distributed in the damaged
      hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Three weeks after transplantation, the total
      signal strength of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or neuron-specific
      enclase (NSE) gradually increased. CONCLUSION: Transplanted hUC-MSCs can migrate
      brain damages through differentiating into neuron-like cells and promoting
      endogenous neurological differentiations.

PMID- 28612524
TI  - [Effect of Cell Autophagy on the Apoptosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells
      Induced by Arsenic Trioxide].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of autophagy on the apoptosis of
      hepatocellular carcinoma cells induced by arsenic trioxide (ATO). METHODS:
      Hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells were exposed to ATO. The cell viability was
      detected by MTT after adjustments for autophagy agonist (Rap) and autophagy
      inhibitor (3-MA). The autophagosome was observed under electronic microscope. The
      autophagy related proteins (LC3 and Beclin1) were detected by immunofluorescence.
      The cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS: With 5-20 MUmol/Lof
      ATO, HepG2 cells exposed to 3-MA had significantly lower viability (P <0.05) and
      higher early apoptosis (P <0.05) than those without exposure to 3-MA. Exposure to
      3-MA was also associated with lower expressions of LC3 and Beclin1, with HepG2
      cells showing typical apoptotic characteristics. By contrast, with 5-20 MUmol/Lof
      ATO, the cells exposed to Rap showed significantly higher viability (P <0.05) and
      lower early apoptosis (P<0.05) than those without exposure to Rap. A large number
      of autophagosome appeared in the cells exposed to Rap. Exposure to Rap was
      associated with increased expressions of LC3 and Beclin1, but with no statistical
      significance (P >0.05). CONCLUSION: Targeted autophagy inhibition can
      significantly increase the sensitivity of HepG2 to ATO. The underlining mechanism
      is associated with enhanced apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

PMID- 28612525
TI  - [The Role of DNA Double-strain Damage Repairing Mechanisms in Diabetic
      Atheroscolersis].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify the role of DNA double-strain damage repairing pathway in
      the development of diabetics atherosclerosis. METHODS: Wistar male rats were
      randomly divided into three groups: control group (group A), balloon injury group
      (group B) and diabetes + balloon injury group (group C). Streptozotocin (STZ) was
      injected into rat abdomen to induce diabetes. After stabilizing high glucose,
      rats in group B and group C were both under aortic balloon injury technique and
      fed high lipid forage post-operatively. Glucose levels and weight were observed
      weekly. Segments of aortoa of three groups were taken at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks,
      staining of senescent beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-gal) staining, HE and changes
      of aorta under light microscope were observed. The area of tunica intima (I) and
      tunica media (M) in aorta was measured, and their ratio (I/M) were analyzed.
      Expressions of gamma-histong family 2A variant (gamma-H2AX), phosphorylated
      ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), phosphorylated checkpoint kinasen 2 (CHK2)
      and phosphorylated P53 were detected by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: SA
      beta-gal staining positive areas were dotted around in group B and group C
      [CM(155.3mm]but not in group A at two weeks.At the same time, a slight hyperlasia
      of aortic neointima was observed in HE staining of group B and group C. SA-beta
      gal staining was positive scattered within the tunica intima of aorta of group B
      and group C at four weeks, and HE staining promted a significantly greater of
      aortic neointima in the group C than that in the other two group (P<0.05).
      Positive regions of SA-beta-gal staining were more in group C than group B at six
      weeks. Typical atherosclerotic plaques were formed, vascular smooth muscle cells
      were disordered arranged and foam cells were aggregated in the plaques of group C
      at six weeks post-operatively, and intimal membrane areas increased than group A
      and group B (P <0.05). At 8 weeks, SA-beta-gal positive areas in group C were
      greater than in group B. The arteriolar wall was markedly thickened and the lumen
      was narrowed. The area of intimal membrane and the I/M radio were significantly
      greater in group C than those in group A and group B (P <0.05). Positive
      expressed of gamma-H2AX, phosphorylated ATM, phosphorylated CHK2 and
      phosphorylated P53 were observed in typical atherosclerotic foci of group C, and
      weaker expressed in group B. CONCLUSION: Cellular senescence of vascular
      edothelium is triggered and DNA double-strain damage is increased in diabetes.
      The DNA double-strain damage repairing machines may participate in the
      development of diabetic atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28612526
TI  - [MiR-155 Inhibits the Expression of MMPs in HK2 Cells by Targeting KLF4].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether miR -155 inhibits the expression of matrix
      metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in HK2 cells
      by targeting Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4). METHODS: MiR -155-mimic, miR -155-NC
      empty plasmid, and culture medium were transfected into renal tubular epithelial
      cells, respectively. Six hours later, the expression of miR -155 was detected by
      real time-PCR; the expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 and KLF4 were detected by Western
      blot; and the activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the cells was detected by gelatin
      zymography. Because KLF4 was predicted as the target gene of miR -155 by
      bioinformatics. The miR-155 overexpressed HK2 cells were transfected with KLF4
      overexpression plasmid or empty plasmid. Six hours later, the expressions of MMP
      2, MMP-9 and KLF4, and the activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were measured again.
      Finally, cells containing luciferase plasmids with KLF4-3!d-UTR wild type (WT) or
      mutant (MUT) sequence were constructed and transfected with miR -155-mimic or
      empty plasmid. Luciferase assay was used to confirm whether KLF4 -3!d-UTR was the
      binding site in targeting miR -155#. RESULTS: Compared with the cells transfected
      with empty plasmid, the expression of miR -155 was up-regulated and the
      expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 and KLF4 were down-regulated in the cells transfected
      with miR -155-mimic. Compared with the cells transfected with miR -155 mimic or
      miR -155 mimic+empty plasmid, the expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 and KLF4 were up
      regulated in the KLF4+miR -155 transfected cells. Luciferase assays confirmed
      that miR -155 binds to KLF4 , and KLF4 -3!d-UTR is the target gene of miR -155.
      CONCLUSION: MiR-155 inhibits the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in HK2 cells by
      targeting KLF4 -3!d-UTR.

PMID- 28612527
TI  - [The Effect of p-JAK1/p-STAT3 Signaling Way in Intervening NAFLD by Blueberry
      Probiotic Serum].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the mechanism of interlukin-22 (IL-22)-mediated phosphor
      Janus kinase-1(p-JAK1)/phosphor-signal transducer and activator of transcription
      3 (p-STAT3) signaling way in the experiment of improving non-alcholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD) by blueberry probiotic serum. METHODS: The rat serums with low-,
      medium-, and high-dose of 10% blueberry probiotics, as well as saline were
      prepared. NAFLD model was built by inducing normal liver cell line L-02 with free
      fatty acid (FFA).NAFLD model cells were cultured with saline serum (model group),
      low-, medium-, and high-dose blueberry probiotics serums (low-, medium-, and high
      dose serum groups) , respectively .Normal liver cell group (normal group) was
      cultured with saline serum . Oil Red O staining was used to detect the lipid
      deposition in the cells; the intracellular level of triglyceride (TG) was
      quantitatively determined; the gene and protein expressions of IL-22, p-JAK1, p
      STAT3, sterol-regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c ) were detected by
      RT-PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence methods. RESULTS: Twenty-four hours
      after modeling, a large amount of lipid deposition could be observed in model
      group. Compared with normal group, model group showed lower gene and protein
      expression levels of IL-22, p-JAK1 and p-STAT3 (P <0.01), and higher SREBP-1c and
      TG levels (P <0.01).Compared with model group, TG level and the lipid deposition
      in low-, medium-, and high-dose blueberry probiotics serum groups were gradually
      reduced. High-dose serum group showed higher gene and protein expression levels
      of IL-22, p-JAK1, p-STAT3 and lower SREBP-1c compared with the model, low-, and
      medium-dose serum groups (P <0.01). No significant [CM(155.3mm]differences in
      gene and protein levels between low- andmedium-doseserum groups were found (P
      >0.05). CONCLUSION: The blueberry probiotics could antagonize the NAFLD via p
      JAK1/p-STAT3 signaling way.

PMID- 28612528
TI  - [Effects of Gubentongluo Formula on Oxidative Stress Reflected by Expressions of
      PPARalpha and L-FABP in Mice with IgA Nephropathy].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the underlying mechanism of Gubentongluo Formula in the
      treatment of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided
      into four groups: normal group (n =10), IgAN group (n =10), control group (n =10)
      and treatment group (n =10). Mice in the normal and IgAN groups were
      intragastricly administered with normal saline for 12 weeks; while those in the
      control and treatment groups were given fenofibrate [30 mg/(kg!$d) and
      Gubentongluo Formula [1.67 mL/(g!$d)], respectively. Urinary albumin was detected
      at week 0 and 12. At week 12, protein expressions of peroxisome proliferstor
      activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha), liver fatty acid-binding proteins (L-FABP),
      4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), and hemeoxygenase-1(HO-1) in renal tissues were
      determined by Western blot; mRNA expressions of PPARalpha and L-FABP in renal
      tissues were determined by florescent quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: At week 12, higher levels of
      urinary albumin, pathological injuries in glomerular mesangial area, and lower
      expressions of protein and mRNA of PPARalpha and L-FABP were found in mice in the
      IgAN group compared with those in the normal group (P <0.01). The levels of those
      indicators decreased in those treated with fenofibrate and Gubentongluo Formule,
      but still higher than the normal controls (P <0.01). The mice treated with
      Gubentongluo Formula had more significant improvement than those treated with
      fenofibrate (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: [CM(155.3mm]Gubentongluo formula can improve
      proteinuria and pathological injuries in glomerular mesangial area of IgAN mice,
      due to reduction of oxidative stress in renal tissues through regulating the
      expressions of PPARalpha and L-FABP.

PMID- 28612529
TI  - [The Mechanism of Combination using mTORC1/2 Inhibitor and Imatinib to Suppress
      Cell Proliferation of Ph +ALL Cell Line].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the anti-leukemia effect and mechanism of mTORC1/2
      inhibitor PP242 combined with imatinib (IM) on the proliferation of Ph+ acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cell line SUP-B15. METHODS: SUP-B15 cell line was
      treated with PP242, imatinib (IM), or PP242 plus IM for 72 h, IC50 values (the
      concentration of drug required to kill 50% of the cells) and the combination
      index (CI ) of synergistic cytotoxicity was determined using MTT methods. The
      expressions of PI3K/Akt/mTOR and apoptosis associated proteins were examined by
      Western blot test. RESULTS: The IC50 value of IM alone was (1.50+/-0.09) MUmol/L,
      however, the IC50 values were (0.81+/-0.030) MUmol/L, (0.36+/-0.140) MUmol/L and
      (0.02+/-0.002) MUmol/L combined with 20 nmol/L, 30 nmol/L and 50 nmol/L of PP242,
      and the CI values were 0.764, 0.545 and 0.507, indicating two drugs had highly
      synergistic effect on anti-proliferation in the SUP-B15 cell line. The
      expressions of p-Akt, p-4EBP1, p-elF4E, p-cAbl, p-mTOR and p-P70 were down
      regulated significantly in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner after PP242
      treatment#.Compared with PP242 or IM alone, the down-regulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR
      signaling pathway and the up-regulation of the apoptosis associated proteins (bax
      and cleaved caspase-3) were more significant in the combination of two drugs.
      CONCLUSION: The combination of IM and PP242 could increase the inhibition of
      PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and apoptosis mediated by bax and caspase-3 in
      SUP-B15 cell line.

PMID- 28612531
TI  - [Plasma Free mtDNA and Expression of TLR-9/MAPK in Brain Tissues of Rats with
      Subarachnoid Hemorrhage].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the plasma level of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the
      expression of Toll like receptor-9/mitogen-activated protein kinase (TLR-9/MAPK)
      in the brain tissues of rats with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS: Sprague
      Dawley rats were used to establish SAH models with a modified method of
      endovascular perforation. Twenty four hours after the establishment of the
      models, the plasma level of mtDNA in the rats was detected by real-time PCR; the
      expressions of TLR-9 and P38 MAPK in the brain tissues were detected by reverse
      transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemical staining. Differences between
      the SAH (n =20) and sham-surgical (n =20) groups were compared. RESULTS: Rats in
      the SAH group had higher levels of plasma mtNDA and expressions of TLR-9 and P38
      MAPK in brain tissues than those in the sham-surgical group (P <0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Plasma free mtDNA and expressions of TLR-9/MAPK increase
      simultaneously in rats with SAH. mtDNA may induce system and local inflammation
      reactions in brain.

PMID- 28612530
TI  - [Minocycline Prevent Microglial Activation via Suppression of Adenosine A 2A
      Receptor in a Rat Stroke Ischemia/Reperfusion Model].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether minocycline could inhibit neuroinflammation
      induced by microglia activation through suppression of adenosine A2Areceptor
      (A2AR)expression in rats after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.
      METHODS: Thirty male Sprageue-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:
      sham group, I/R group and minocycline group. The rats were subjected to occlusion
      of the right middle cerebral artery (MCAO) for 2 h to establish stroke I/R model,
      and 3 mg/kg minocycline was injected intravenously immediately after reperfusion
      twice a day in minocycline group. At 24 h after I/R, the inflammatory cytokines
      IL-1beta and IL-6 in peri-infarct region were measured by Western blot, microglia
      activation was detected by double-immunofluorescence labeling. A2AR density was
      detected by immunohistofluorescence and Western blot. RESULTS: The number of
      CD11b-positive cells in I/R group was increased when compared with that in sham
      group. The expressions of IL-1beta, IL-6 and A2AR were markedly up-regulated
      after I/R. Minocycline significantly decreased the expressions of IL-1beta, IL-6
      and A2AR and the number of CD11b-positive cells in peri-infarct region.
      CONCLUSION: Minocycline could prevent cerebral ischemia induced neuroinflammation
      by the suppression of microglial activation, which may be related to down
      regulation of A2AR expression.

PMID- 28612532
TI  - [Neuroprotection Mechanism of Lidocaine in Rabbits with Early Brain Injury
      Resulted from Subarachnoid Hemorrhage].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the neuroprotection mechanism of lidocaine on early
      brain injury resulted from subarachnoid hemorrhage. METHODS: Eighteen New Zealand
      white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups: Sham group, subarachnoid
      hemorrhage (SAH) group and lidocaine treatment (LD) group. Operations were
      performed on all animals under anesthesia. Autologous nonheparinized arterial
      blood (1 mL/kg, body mass) was injected into cisterna magna of rabbits in the SAH
      and LD groups, while saline (1 mL/kg, body mass) was given to rabbits in the sham
      group. Thirty minutes later, intravenous injection of 0.6 mL 20 mg/mL lidocaine
      was given to those in the LD group, and intravenous injection of 0.6 mL saline
      was given to those in the Sham and SAH groups. Food intake and neurological
      impairments of the rabbits were assessed 72 h after the induction of SAH. The
      protein and mRNA experssions of Caspase-3 and cytochrome-c (Cyt-c) in hippocampus
      tissues were detected using real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot. RESULTS:
      Rabbits in the SAH and LD groups had lower food intake and higher mRNA and
      protein expressions of Caspase-3 and Cyt-c than those in the sham groups, which
      was accompanied with varying degrees of neurological impairments. No significant
      differences in food intake and neurological impairments were found between the
      SAH and LD groups (P >0.05). However, rabbits in the LD group had lower levels of
      mRNA and protein expressions of Caspase-3 and Cyt-c than those in the SAH group
      (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: The neuroprotection mechanism of lidocaine on early brain
      injury in rabbits with subarachnoid hemorrhage may be associated with inhibition
      of mitochondrial pathway and downregulated mRNA and protein expressions of
      Caspase-3 and Cyt-c in brain tissues.

PMID- 28612533
TI  - [FAP Expression and Its Association with the Prognosis of Gastric Stromal
      Tumors].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the association of FAP expression with the prognosis of
      gastric stromal tumors (GSTs). METHODS: Paraffin-embedded GSTs samples were
      collected from January 2010 to December 2013 in the department of pathology of
      our hospital. FAP expression was examined by immunohistochemistry staining. Its
      correlations with clinical pathological characteristics and prognosis of GSTs
      were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 98 cases were included in this study. FAP was
      expressed in the cytoplasm of GSTs cells, with a positive rate of 42.9%. No FAP
      expression was found in normal gastric tissues. No differences of FAP expression
      were found in patients with different gender, age and tumor mitotic counts (P
      >0.05). Tumor diameter and risk classification were associated with FAP
      expression (P <0.05). Higher levels of FAP expression were found in larger and
      higher risk tumors. No significant correlations between FAP expression and
      routine immunohistochemical markers were found. Log-rank univariate survival
      analysis showed that mitotic counts, tumor size, postoperative IM and FAP
      expression were associated with recurrence free survival of GSTs patients with
      intermediate-high risks (P <0.05). Cox multivariate survival analysis showed that
      mitotic counts, tumor size, postoperative IM and FAP were independent predictors
      for the prognosis of GSTs patients with intermediate-high risks (P <0.05).
      CONCLUSION: FAP is expressed in the cytoplasm of gastric GIST cells, but not in
      normal gastric tissues. FAP is a predictor for the prognosis of GSTs patients
      with intermediate-high risks.

PMID- 28612534
TI  - [Associations of Preoperative Platelet-to-lymphocyte Ratio and Derived Neutrophil
      to-lymphocyte Ratio with thePrognosis of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the associations of preoperative platelet-to-lymphocyte
      ratio (PLR) and derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (d-NLR) with the prognosis
      of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). METHODS: GIST patients with surgical
      treatment from June 2005 to February 2015 in West China Hospital of Sichuan
      University were enrolled in the study. The results of blood routine tests of the
      patients within one week prior to surgery and their clinical data were extracted.
      The patients were divided into high-PLR/d-NLR (PLR#>153.075, d-NLR#>1.245) and
      low-PLR/d-NLR (PLR<=153.075, d-NLR<=1.245) groups according to the optimal cutoff
      values of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Recurrence-free
      survival (RFS) rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method. COX regression
      analyses were performed to identify factors associated with RFS for GIST patients
      without imatinib treatment. [WTHZ]. RESULTS: [WTBZ]Regardless of imatinib
      treatment, the patients with high PLR and d-NLR had shorter RFS than those with
      low PLR and d-NLR. Tumor diameter, location, mitotic counts, preoperative PLR and
      d-NLR were identified as factors associated with RFS in the univariate analyses.
      The multivariate analysis identified tumor diameter [>=5 cm, hazard ratio (HR):
      4.295, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.772-10.413, P=0.001], non-stomach
      (HR:2.247, 95%CI: 1.200-4.209; P=0.011), mitotic counts (>5/50 HPF: HR:4.678,
      95%CI: 2.364-9.257; P<0.001) and high d-NLR (HR:2.549, 95%CI: 1.159-5.606;
      P=0.1020) as independent factors predicting the prognosis of GIST. The patients
      with high PLR or high d-NLR had shorter RFS than those with low PLR/d-NLR.
      [WTHZ]. CONCLUSION: [WTBZ]Preoperative d-NLR is an independent predictor of RFS
      in GIST. PLR and d-NLR can be used in predicting the recurrence risk of GIST.

PMID- 28612535
TI  - [Prediction and Analysis of Epitopes in clpP2 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To predict and analyze the antigenic epitopes in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis protein caseinolytic protease P2 (clpP2), and explore its
      possibility to be applied as a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine and drug development
      target. METHODS: Secondary structure of clpP2 based on nucleic sequence was
      predicted by DNA Star software. The homologous sequence conformation were
      analyzed by Swiss-Model online software. T cells antigenic epitopes were
      predicted through VaxiPred, and B cell epitopes were predicted by combining use
      of several different prediction programs, such as ABCpred, COBEPro and
      BepiPredPred. The immune characteristics of clpP2 were analyzed by DNA Star,
      SignalP, TMHMM online software and were searched through NCBI database. RESULTS:
      clpP2protein was diverse in structure, composing with a great deal of CTL and Th
      cell epitopes. clpP2 was also predicted to comprise rich potential liner and
      discontinuous B-cell epitopes. These epitopes were accessible on the protein
      surface, located in flexible and hydrophilic regions. CONCLUSION: clpP2 is
      prompted to induce immune responses and developes a novel target in surveillance,
      treatment and vaccine.

PMID- 28612536
TI  - [Resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii to Tigecycline].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the impact of long-term use of antibiotics and
      ultraviolet radiation on the resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii to tigecycline
      and the viability of tigecycline-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii . METHODS:
      Three strains of tigecycline sensitive Acinetobacter baumannii were selected.
      Tigecycline resistance was induced through multi-step method or by ultraviolet
      radiation. Two strains of tigecycline resistant Acinetobacter baumannii were
      repeatedly passaged on blank MHA plates, for the purpose of determination of
      minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of tigecycline using broth microdilution
      method. The tigecycline sensitive (b38) and homologous resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii (b38!d) were cultured separately and conjointly to evaluate its fitness
      costs of tigecycline resistance. RESULTS: Tigecycline resistant strains were
      successfully induced using multi-step method. Ultraviolet radiation did not
      change the sensitivity of the three strains to tigecycline, but elevated the MICs
      of tigecycline. The MICs of tigecycline did not change over 40 generations. It
      took much more time for the resistant strains to reach logarithmic growth phase
      and plateau phase compared with the tigecycline sensitive strains. With repeated
      passage, the tigecycline resistant strains decreased rapidly, even vanished in
      conjointly culture. CONCLUSION: Acinetobacter baumannii can acquire tigecycline
      resistance. The resistance may have genetic stability. The resistant strains have
      less adaptability than the sensitive strains.

PMID- 28612537
TI  - [Convention Ultrasound and Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound Imaging in the Diagnosis
      of Placenta Implantation].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the value of conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast
      enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the diagnosis of placenta residue with
      implantation. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 112 cases of placenta remnants
      from Apr. 2013 to Mar. 2016, all of which were confirmed by pathological results.
      The cases were divided into implanted (n =74) and non-implanted (n =38) groups.
      We compared the characteristics of US and CEUS imaging between the two groups.
      Multi-variate logistic regression models were established to assess the accuracy
      of ultrasound imaging in predicting implantation, including the area under the
      curve (AUC ) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: US
      detected intrauterine lesions, with significant differences between the two
      groups in the clearness of boundaries of lesions (P <0.05) . Differences between
      the two groups were also found in CEUS in enhanced phase, enhanced intensity,
      existence of clear and regular boundaries, and reduced muscle thickness in the
      lesion area (P <0.05). CEUS (91.1%) and US+CEUS (92.0%) had a higher prediction
      accuracy for placenta implantation compared with US (87.5%) (P <0.05). The AUC of
      CEUS (0.922) and US+CEUS (0.952) were also significantly higher than that of US
      (0.887) (P <0.05). No significant differences were observed between CEUS and
      US+CEUS. CONCLUSION: The value of CEUS for predicting placenta implantation is
      higher than US.

PMID- 28612539
TI  - [Urban-Rural Differences in the Role of Family Support in Physical and Mental
      Health of Elderly People in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate social support for elderly in urban and rural
      settings, and determine its role in physical and psychological health of the
      elderly populations. METHODS: Data were extracted from the 2013 China Health and
      Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Physical health was measured by the
      ADL/IADL scale. Mental health was measured by the CES-D scale. Family support
      included financial support, daily care and emotional care. Binary logistic models
      were established to test the associations between family support and physical and
      mental health. RESULTS: For the rural elderly people, financial support from
      children was positively associated with physical health (P <0.05); whereas,
      emotional comfort from children was associated with better mental health (P
      <0.01). Daily care from children was associated with physical and mental health
      of the elderly in both urban and rural settings (P <0.01). CONCLUSION: An urban
      rural difference exists in the role of family support in physical and mental
      health of the elderly. Rural elderly people are more dependent on family support
      than their urban counterparts. Social support needs to be strengthened to reduce
      the urban-rural gap. Meanwhile, family support will continue to play a role in
      improving the health of elderly populations.

PMID- 28612538
TI  - [Risk Factors and Prognosis of Secondary Epilepsy in Children with Viral
      Encephalitis].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical features of viral encephalitis in
      children at acute stage, and the relationship of these clinical features with
      post viral encephalitic epilepsy. METHODS: The children with viral encephalitis
      treated in West China Second University Hospital between January 2010 and January
      2014 were enrolled. The clinical features included general conditions, clinical
      manifestations, video electroencephalogram (VEEG), neuroimaging, virology,
      prognosis and antiepileptic drugs. The logistic regression model analysis was
      utilized to analyze the risk factors for the occurrence, bad control, and poor
      prognosis of post viral encephalitic epilepsy. RESULTS: Total 506 children with
      viral encephalitis were enrolled. Of these, 58(11.46%)developed epilepsy with a
      follow-up period more than 1.5 years. The logistic regression analysis showed
      that the risk factors were repetitive seizures (SB =3.602), detection of clinical
      seizures in EEG (SB =3.061), status epilepticus (SB =2.711) and mental/behavior
      disorder (SB =1.850). Among 58 epilepsy cases, 40(74.07%) had favorable seizure
      control, including 37 cases (92.5%) using no more than two kinds of antiepileptic
      drugs. With Glasgow Outcome Scale, 24 patients (41.38%) had poor prognosis,
      including 20 cases of intellectual and psychomotor retardation (83.33%), 3 cases
      of language disorders (12.50%), 1 case of hearing impairment (4.17%), 3 cases of
      limb dysfunction (12.50%), 3 cases of mortalities (12.50%). Single factor
      analysis suggested status epilepticus in acute phase had more chance to poor
      prognosis, but this was not confirmed by logistic regression analysis.
      CONCLUSION: The risk factors of post viral encephalitic epilepsy in pediatric
      patients comprise the mental/behavior disorder, repetitive seizures, status
      epilepticus, and detection of clinical seizures during VEEG monitoring. The risk
      factors of poor prognosis remain unclear.

PMID- 28612540
TI  - [Prevalence and Associated Factors of Arthritis in Middle- and Old-aged
      Populations in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of arthritis in middle- and old-aged
      populations in China and associated factors. METHODS: Data were drawn from the
      2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Binary logistic
      regression analyses were performed to examine the associations of arthritis with
      social economic status (age, gender, areas, education), comorbidity
      (hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease, liver
      disease, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, digestive disease, asthma),
      lifestyle (smoking, drinking, sleeping) and mental health (depression symptoms).
      RESULTS: About 30.8% of respondents reported arthritis. Those who resided in
      rural areas, drank regularly, and had depression symptoms, hypertension, chronic
      lung disease, liver disease, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, digestive
      disease and asthma had higher prevalence of arthritis than others. CONCLUSION:
      The prevalence of arthritis is high in middle- and old-aged populations in China,
      which deserves increasing attention.

PMID- 28612541
TI  - [Reliability and Validity of a Simplified Version of Acne-specific Quality of
      Life Assessment Instrument in Han Populations in Sichuan].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the reliability and validity of a simplified version of
      acne-specific quality of life (Acne-Qol-19) instrument in Han populations in
      Sichuan province. METHODS: Acne-Qol-19 was administered to 264 acne patients.
      Internal consistency, split-half reliability, content validity, criterion
      validity and construct validity (factor analysis) of Acne-Qol-19 were assessed.
      RESULTS: The Acne-Qol-19 obtained a Cronbach's alpha of 0.953 and split-half
      reliability of 0.902 (Spearman-Brown). Its content validity was well confirmed by
      dermatologists. The Acne-Qol-19 result was strongly associated (r =#-0.745) with
      Cardiff acne disabled index (CADI) (P <0.001). Confirmatory factor analysis
      yielded standardized loading of 0.853-0.944 on self-perception, 0.865-0.945 on
      role-social dimension, 0.383-0.898 on role-emotional dimension, and 0.612-0.867
      on acne symptoms (P <0.01). CONCLUSION: Acne-Qol-19 has good validity and
      reliability in Han populations in Sichuan.

PMID- 28612542
TI  - [Establishment of Bone Metastasis Model of Prostate Cancer in Mice with
      Monitoring of 18F-NaF PET-CT].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish a mouse model bearing human prostate cancer xenograft
      with bone metastasis by the monitoring with X-Ray, Micro CT, and 18F-NaF PET/CT.
      METHODS: Sixteen male Balb/c nude mice were allocated into control (6 mice) and
      experimental group (10 mice). In experimental group, the mice were subjected to
      percutaneous injection of 2*105PC-3 cells into tibial plateau, bone defects were
      assessed after 21 d by X-ray, Micro-CT and 18F-NaF PET/CT, and bone damages were
      evaluated by HE staining. In control group, equal volume of saline was injected
      into the mice. RESULTS: At 21 d post modeling, the significant radioactive 18F-
      NaF signals were found in the tibial intramedullary cavity of all 10 mice in
      experimental group. The ROI value evaluation showed that SUVmaxin control group
      was 0.62+/-0.14, but SUVmaxin tumor group was 2.10+/-0.13, which indicated
      abnormal bone metabolism. The serum alkaline phosphate level and HE staining
      results also confirmed that tumor mediated bone destruction and osteogenesis.
      However, X-ray and Micro-CT did not indicate precise diagnostic bone defect.
      CONCLUSION: Bone metastasis model of prostate PC-3 cancer cells were successfully
      established by intratibial injection. 18F-NaF PET/CT could detect tumor invasion
      and bone osteogenesis in the early stage of modeling.

PMID- 28612543
TI  - [The Improvement in the Primary Culture of Alveolar Epithelial Type of Rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To improve the method of culturing and obtain purified alveolar
      epithelial type1 (AT1) cells of SD rats. METHODS: 1 d newborn SD rats were
      applied for cell culture and brains were decapitated for lung tissues obtaining
      after respiratory cessation. Collagenase1and DNase1 were used to digest and
      isolate cells. Then, cells were put into the plate coated with type1 rat tail
      collagen and different adherence was used to purify cells. Meanwhile, culture
      medium replacement was conducted after 48 h. The growth status was observed under
      an inverted microscope. Immunofluorescence including specific marker AQP5, SPC,
      BSI, Vimentin were used to identify cells. RESULTS: 2 d after incubation, the
      cells began to adhere to plate. At day 4 and 6, cells began to proliferate and
      exhibited a shape of spindle, cube and polygon. 8 d after incubation, the
      character of proliferation reached the highest and the cell viability was (87+/
      8)% and purification was (87+/-5)%. CONCLUSION: By modifying the methods of
      tissues harvest, isolation and culture, we can obtain AT 1 cells with high yield,
      good growth state and super purity.

PMID- 28612544
TI  - [Three Different Digestion Methods to Separate Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of three different digestion methods for
      the separation of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. METHODS: We employed three
      different digestion methods to separate neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Group A was
      0.08% trypsin digestion alone, group B was 0.08% trypsin+0.08% type 2 collagenase
      mixed digestion, group C was 0.08% trypsin and 0.08% type 2 collagenase isolated
      digestion. The number of cells and cell viability after differential adhesion
      were recorded. The purity of cardiomyocytes was evaluated by immunofluorescence
      staining. The cell vitality was assessed by the detection of mitochondrial
      membrane potential with JC-1 staining, and the ratio of red to green fluorescence
      intensity by laser scanning confocal microscope. RESULTS: There was
      nostatistically significant difference in the number of cells between three
      groups (P >0.05).The rate of cell viability in group C was significantly higher
      than that in group A (P <0.01). No statistically significant difference was found
      in the purity of cardiomyocytes between three groups (P >0.05). The ratio of red
      to green fluorescence intensity in group A, B and C were 0.928+/-0.078, 0.943+/
      0.099 and 1.160+/-0.089, respectively; the ratio in group C was significantly
      higher than that in group A and group B (P <0.01). CONCLUSION: The cell isolation
      method with 0.08% trypsin and 0.08% type 2 collagenase isolated digestion could
      be served as conventional method to separate neonatal rat cardiomyocytes.

PMID- 28612545
TI  - [Pharmacokinetics of Curcumin Ethosomes in Rats in vitro].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the oral phamacokinetics of curcumin ethosomes in rats.
      METHODS: Pharmacokinetics parameters were detected by DAS 2.1.1 software analysis
      through data of blood concentrations harvested from HPLC after oral
      administration of curcumin ethosomes in rats. RESULTS: Analyzed by non
      compartmental method, the area under concentration-time curve from 0 to last time
      [AUC(0-72h)] of curcumin ethosomes was 1.6 times larger than that of free
      curcumin, the peak concentration (C max) of curcumin ethosomes was 1.5 times
      higher than that of free curcumin, the relative bioavailability of curcumin
      ethosomes was 152.2%. The 90% confidential interval of AUC(0-72 h)was 102.2%
      128.5%, which was not in standard interval of bioequialence. Analyzed by
      compartmental method, the AUC(0-72 h)of curcumin ethosomes was 1.4 times larger
      than that of free curcumin and the relative bioavailability of curcumin ethosomes
      was 128.2%. CONCLUSION: The curcumin ethosomes can enhance bioavailability, which
      has a bioinequivalence with free curcumin.

PMID- 28612546
TI  - [Quality Control and Biological Assessment of Automated Synthesized 3'-deoxy-3'
      18F-fluorothymidine using CFN-MPS-200 Module].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To synthesize 3'-deoxy-3'-18F-fluorotyhymidine)(18F-FLT) using CFN
      MPS-200 automatic synthesis module, and evaluate its distribution in Wistar rats.
      METHODS: We used 3-N-Boc-5!d-O-dimethoxytrityl-3!d-O-nosyl-thymidine (Boc-FLT)
      percursor as raw material to synthesize 18F-FLT without residual solvents. Its
      radiochemical purity was confirmed with radio-HPLC and thin layer chromatography
      (TLC). Normal Wistar rats were injected with 18 F-FLT and underwent PET scanning.
      RESULTS: The entire preparation procedure took about 60 min, which resulted in a
      radio chemical yield of (24+/-5)% (after attenuation correction, n =20) and
      radiochemical purity of over 99%, with 1.11*108 Bq/mL specific activity. The 18F
      FLT solution was colorless and had a pH value between 7.0-8.0. 18F-FLT was mainly
      concentrated in the kidney, bladder, liver, bone marrow and Liver of normal
      Wistar rats. CONCLUSION: Automated synthesis of 18F-FLT using CFN-MPS-200 is a
      stable method, with high yield, safety without solvent, and acceptable quality.

PMID- 28612547
TI  - [Treatment of Unilateral Neglect using Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic
      Stimulation (rTMS) and Sensory Cueing (SC) in Stroke Patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (rTMS) and sensory cueing (SC) for improving hemi-spatial attention
      deficits related to unilateral neglect, upper limb function and independence of
      stroke patients. METHODS: An assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT)
      was conducted. Eligible stroke patients were treated with rTMS (n =17) or rTMS
      combined with SC (n =16) in addition to conventional rehabilitation measures.
      rTMS was applied with low frequency (1 Hz) over the posterior parietal cortex
      (P5) of the lefthemisphere, 90% resting motor threshold, 900 pulses each session,
      one session per day, and 5 d per week for 2 weeks. SC was emitted using a
      wristwatch device attached to the hemiplegic arm for 2 weeks with a cumulative
      wear time of 3 h per day. The severity of unilateral neglect [behavioral
      inattention test conventional subtests (BITC), Catherine Bergego scale (CBS)],
      activity of daily living [modified Barthel index (MBI)], and upper limb function
      [Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA), action research arm test (ARAT)] of the patients
      were measured pre- and post-interventions (immediately after 2 weeks' treatment)
      by an occupational therapist. RESULTS: BIT-C was relieved significantly over time
      in both groups. But rTMS+SC had greater improvement than rTMS alone (P <0.05). No
      significant differences was found between the two groups in other outcomes (CBS,
      FMA, ARAT). CONCLUSION: rTMS combined with SC is better than rTMS alone for
      treating unilateral neglect in stroke patients.

PMID- 28612548
TI  - [Clinical Value of Prophylactic Salpingectomy in Hysterectomy due to Uterine
      Benign Lesions].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the clinical value of resection of bilateral fallopian
      tubes in patients with benign uterine diseases who received (laparoscopic)
      hysterectomy or subhysterectomy through the postoperative pathologic analysis of
      resected fallopian tubes. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted to
      review the histopathological examination results in 1 272 women who underwent
      (laparoscopic) total hysterectomy or subtotal hysterectomy and the removal of
      bilateral fallopian tube simultaneously due to uterine leiomyoma, adenomyosis and
      other benign lesions from December 2010 to December 2015. RESULTS: Of the 1 272
      patients, laparoscopic resection was underwent in 1 005 patients (79.01%) and
      laparotomy in 267 patients (20.99%). In the attachment area, 334 patients
      (26.26%) had tenderness signs, and 401 patients (31.53%) had signs of thickening.
      Total 2 498 fallopian tubes were removed. There were 1 654 tubal with no obvious
      abnormal appearance (66.21%), 636 tubal with lumen part of the uplift (25.46%),
      128 fallopian tube with congestion and swelling (5.12%), 80 fallopian tube
      atrophy adhesions (3.20%). Pathological. RESULTS: showed 2 386 (95.52%) fallopian
      tubes with chronic fallopian tube inflammation, 988 (39.55%) of fallopian tube
      cyst, 80 (3.20%) of normal fallopian tube, 78 (3.12%) of tubal effusion, 48
      (1.92% ) of tubal hyperplasia, 4 (0.26%) of tubal benign tumor, 8 (0.32%) of
      tubal mucosa atypical hyperplasia change and 2(0.08%) of tubal cancer. In the 10
      cases of fallopian tube cancer and atypical hyperplasia, 8 had obvious changes of
      chronic inflammation in the contralateral fallopian tube, including 7 cases of
      atypical hyperplasia and 1 case of fallopian tube cancer. CONCLUSION:
      Prophylactic salpingectomy can prevent the occurrence of tubal inflammation and
      removal cancer incentives.

PMID- 28612549
TI  - [Precision Medicine in Obesity Research and Practice].
AB  - Obesity now already becomes a critical health problem in our country and the
      world. Since the genomic and biochemical technology has developed in the era of
      precision medicine, great progression has been achieved in the field of obesity
      research and clinical practice. Obesity is considered to be a series of diseases
      with high heterogeneity beyond expectations, which brings up the challenges on
      its diagnosis and classification. Predictive models for obesity remain absent in
      clinical practice and commercial use. It is important to further understand the
      roles of gastric hormones and related molecules, proteins in feeding and reward
      system, as well as gut microbiota in obesity and associated diseases. The
      diagnosis and treatment of obesity require further progression in molecular
      biology and genetics with fruitful investigation of precision medicine, which
      might help the clinical translation in future.

PMID- 28612550
TI  - [Serum Wnt5a and Its Associations with Liver Steatosis and Fibrosis in Overweight
      and Obese People].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine serum Wnt5a and its associations with liver steatosis
      and fibrosis in overweight and obese people. METHODS: The study participants were
      recruited from those who visited our hospital for health examinations. They were
      divided into three groups according to body mass index (BMI), controlled
      attenuation parameter (CAP)values and elasticity (E) values of liver fibroscan:
      Control ( n=27), Mild NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, n=51) and
      Moderate/severe NAFLD ( n=56). The waist circumference (WC), hip circumference
      (HC), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), insulin releasing test (IRT), liver
      function, blood lipid, serum Wnt5a and beta-catenin of those participants were
      measured. RESULTS: The three groups of participants had no significant
      differences in age, gender, BMI, WC or HC ( P>0.05). Significant differences
      appeared in fasting glucose, 2 h postprandial glucose and fasting insulin level
      between the three groups ( P<0.05), but not in 2 h postprandial insulin level (
      P>0.05).The participants with NAFLD had higher levels of serum Wnt5a and beta
      catenin than controls ( P<0.05). Wnt5a level was correlated with CAP value ( r=
      0.19, P<0.000 1), but barely with E value ( r=0.02, P=0.241). CONCLUSIONS: Wnt5a
      may play a role at different stages of NAFLD in overweight/obese people.

PMID- 28612551
TI  - [Preliminary Study on the Wnt5a Expression in Obese Mice with Hepatocellular
      Carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the Wnt5a expression in obese mice with hepatocellular
      carcinoma. METHODS: Two groups of 6-week C57BL/6J mice were fed with chow-diet
      and high-fat-diet for 8 weeks respectively, to establish obesity model in the
      latter group. Mice in Hepal-6 group (including normal-body mass mice and obese
      mice) were injected with Hepa1-6 hepatocarcinoma cell lines through caudal vein,
      while the controls were given NS. Serum and tissue samples were taken at the age
      of 18 weeks for serological and morphological study. The expression of Wnt5a and
      beta-catenin in liver were examined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: At the age
      of 18-week, tatty degeneration was observed in the livers of obese control mice.
      Tumor cell masses were found in the livers of both obese and (including normal
      body mass mice and obese mice) control mice by inoculation with Hepal-6, while
      focal necrosis was only observed in the obese+Hepal-6 group. The levels of serum
      transaminases, cholesterol and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were significantly
      different between groups ( P<0.05). The immunohistochemistry showed that the
      highest expression of Wnt5a was observed in liver tissues of normal control
      group, followed in sequence by obese control group, normal+Hepal-6 group, and
      obese+Hepal-6 group ( P<0.05). The expression of beta-catenin was just opposite (
      P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of Wnt5a was decreased, and the beta-catenin
      was abnormal accumulation. It may be closely related to the formation and
      progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28612552
TI  - [Obesity and Osteoporosis in Men Aged Above 50].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between obesity and osteoporosis in
      men aged above 50 in Chengdu. METHODS: Male participants aged above 50 were
      recruited from those who visited West China Hospital of Sichuan University for
      health examinations. Bone mineral density was measured by MetriScan Bone
      Densitometry. The participants were divided into three groups according to T
      values: normal, osteopenia and osteoporosis. RESULTS: About 5.75% (525 cases) of
      the 9 135 male participants had osteoporosis. The three groups had significant
      different anthropometric parameters, including body mass, waist circumference,
      hip circumference, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-height
      ratio (WHtR), a body shape index (ABSI), and body roundness index (BRI)( P<0.01).
      The participants with the highest quartile (Q4) of BMI, BRI, WHtR, WHR, ABSI,
      waist circumference and height had an age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) of 0.443 [95%
      confidence interval ( CI): 0.342-0.574), 0.580 (95% CI: 0.454-0.740), 0.587 (95%
      CI: 0.460-0.751), 0.664 (95% CI: 0.516-0.854], 1.369 (95% CI: 1.069-1.751), 0.634
      (95% CI: 0.497-0.809), and 1.357 (95% CI: 1.047-1.758), respectively, for
      osteoporosis compared with those with the lowest quartile (Q1). The area under
      cures (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve of BMI for
      osteoporosis was 0.606 (95% CI:0.580-0.632). CONCLUSIONS: Large body mass was
      negatively associated with osteoporosis in middle and old aged men. BMI is the
      strongest predictor of osteoporosis. Further longitudinal studies are required to
      verify such asscoiations.

PMID- 28612553
TI  - [Obesity and Bone Mineral Density in Menopausal Women].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between obesity and bone mineral density
      in menopausal women. METHODS: We recruited menopausal women aged 50 years and
      older who undertook health examinations in West China Hospital of Sichuan
      University in this study. Bone mineral density of the participants was measured
      by MetriScan Bone Densitometry. The participants were categorized into three
      groups according to the T value: normal density, osteopenia and osteoporosis.
      RESULTS: Of the 4 938 participants, 8.55% had obesity [body mass index (BMI)>28
      kg/m2]. The three groups of participants were different in BMI, a body shape
      index (ABSI), body mass, waist circumference, hip circumference and height (
      P<0.01). The age-adjusted T values were positively correlated with height, body
      mass, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-height
      ratio (WHtR) and body roundness index (BRI) ( P<0.05). The areas under curves
      (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) were 0.540 and 0.568,
      respectively, for waist circumference and BMI in those with osteoporosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Obesity in menopausal women is negatively associated with
      osteoporosis. The clinical significance of such an association requires further
      studies with a longitudinal design.

PMID- 28612554
TI  - [The Preliminary Investigation of GLP-1 Receptor Agonist on Liver Steatosis in
      Obese Mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)
      receptor agonist, exenatide, on liver function and steatosis in obese mice.
      METHODS: Male c57BL/6J mice (8 weeks old) were divided into high-fat-diet group
      (for obesity model construction) and chow diet group. 12 weeks later, mice of
      high-fat diet group were randomly divided into high-dose exenatide group [H
      group, intraperitoneal injection 0.02 MUg/ (g.d) , high-fat-diet], low-dose
      exenatide group [L group, intraperitoneal injection 0.01 MUg/ (g.d) , high-fat
      diet], saline group (NS group, intraperitoneal injection of saline, high-fat
      diet) , diet control group (D group, shifted to chow diet) and high-fat control
      group (M group, high-fat-diet) for 4-week treatments , respectively. The body
      mass and serum biochemical indicators of were detected. Liver tissues were
      stained with HE, and steatosis score was measured. RESULTS: After 4-week
      treatments, H group showed more body mass loss than L group and D group (
      P<0.05). The serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level of NG group was higher
      than that of H, L, M, and NS groups ( P<0.05). Serum cholesterol and triglyceride
      declined to normal levels by diet intervention or drug treatment. High-dose
      exenatide treatment ran a risk of increasing serum uric acid level. The serum
      levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose, homeostasis model assessment
      insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), lipase, and amylase had no significant differences
      between groups (P>0.05). Hepatic steatosis score was reduced by diet intervention
      or drug treatment. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose exenatide treatment can effectively
      reduce body mass of obese mice, but it has little difference when compared with
      dietary intervention in improving blood fat and liver steatosis.

PMID- 28612555
TI  - [Bone Morphogenetic Proteins from CT26 Regulate the Expression of PD-L1 in Murine
      Dendritic Cells and Macrophages].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the influence of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) from
      CT26 on PD-L1 of dendritic cells and macrophages. METHODS: In vivo, we
      respectively inoculated CT26 colon cancer cells subcutaneously and
      intraperitoneally to BALB/c mice.The mice were randomly assigned to three groups
      and treated with normal saline; BMPs inhibitor LDN193189; BMPs inhibitor
      LDN193189 combined with paclitaxel, respectively. The treatments started on the
      eighth day after inoculating, when the tumor volume reached 150 mm3 or the
      abdominal circumference was greater than 6 cm. After 2 weeks of treatments, the
      mice were sacrificed.The counts of dendritic cells and macrophages and the
      expression of PD-L1 in tumors or ascites were detected by flow cytometry (FCM).In
      vivo, the dendritic cells and macrophages from normal BALB/c mice bone marrow
      were exposed to: no treatment; CT26 supernatant; CT26; CT26 supernatant and
      LDN193189; CT26 and LDN193189; CT26 supernatant, LDN193189 and paclitaxel; CT26,
      LDN193189 and paclitaxel. BMPs from CT26 was detected by ELISA.The counts of
      dendritic cells and macrophages and their PD-L1 expressions were detected by FCM.
      IRF-1 expression was detected by real-time (RT)-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: In
      vivo, LDN193189 treated mice had the greatest tumor size or abdominal
      circumference, with least dendritic cells andCM(155.3mm]macrophages and
      expressions of PD-L1.In vivo, ELISA test results showed that the concentration of
      BMPs in CT26 supernatant was (0.59+/-0.09) ng/mL. FCM, RT-PCR and Western blot
      showed that dendritic cells and macrophages exposed to CT26 supernatant and
      LDN193189 or CT26 and LDN193189 expressed the least PD-L1 and IRF-1, which was
      close to those without treatment. While added the PTX to the above treatment, the
      expressions of PD-L1 and IRF-1 increased in the test results. CONCLUSIONS: BMPs
      from CT26 up-regulate the expression of PD-L1 in murine dendritic cells and
      macrophages.

PMID- 28612556
TI  - [Effects of Msp on the Proliferation, Migration and Invasion of Human Non-small
      Cell Lung Cancer Cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of macrophage stimulating protein (Msp) on
      the proliferation, migration and invasion of human non-small cell lung cancer
      cells PC14. METHODS: The eukaryotic expression vector for st1was constructed and
      transfected into Msp(-)and RON(-)human non-small cell lung cancer cells PC14. The
      expression of st1mRNA in PC14 cells was observed by RT-PCR. The expression levels
      of Msp protein in PC14, PC14-st1-pEGFP-N1 and PC14-pEGFP-N1 groups as well as the
      expression of RON in PC14 and SKBR-3 cells were detected by Western blot.
      RAW264.7 (mouse monocyte macrophage) and SKBR-3 cells were cultured in the
      supernatant of cells(PC14, PC14-st1-pEGFP-N1and PC14-pEGFP-N1 groups)and tested
      with Transwell microporous membrane, through which the biologic activity of Msp
      was evaluated by calculating the cell number migrated. The proliferation of PC14
      was measured by MTT assay. The capabilities of PC14 to migrate and invade were
      measured by Transwell chamber and Matrigel invasion tests, respectively. RESULTS:
      The expressions of mRNA and protein of Mst1 in PC14 were stable after
      transfection with Mst1. Msp (PC14-st1 -pEGFP-N1 group) promoted the migration of
      RON (+) cells (SKBR-3 and RAW264.7). Compared with PC14 and PC14-pEGFP-N1 groups,
      the proliferation, migration and invasion of PC14 cells in PC14-st1 -pEGFP-N1
      group were inhibited significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Msp can promote the migration of
      RON (+) cancer cells in paracrine secretion manner and inhibit the proliferation,
      migration and invasion of human non-small cell lung cancer cells PC14 in an
      unknown way.

PMID- 28612557
TI  - [Effects of RAGE on Cell Proliferation and Tumor Growth in Pancreatic Cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of receptor for advanced glycation end
      products (RAGE) on cell proliferation and tumor growth in nude mice with
      pancreatic cancer. METHODS: PANC-1 cells were transfected with shRNA RAGE -1, -2,
      -3 to down-regulate the expression of RAGE. Cholecystokinin octopeptide-8 (CCK
      8), real-time PCR and Western blot were performed to test the impact of shRNA
      RAGE on the expressions of mRNAs and proteins of RAGE, matrix metalloproteinase-2
      (MMP-2), MMP-9, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells
      (NF-kappaB), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Tumor growth and
      microvessel density in the nude mice implanted with shRNA RAGE transfected PANC-1
      cells were observed using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The shRNA RAGE -1, -2, 
      3 transfected cells had lower absorbance values than the controls 24 h after
      transfection, and the absorbance value reached the lowest at 48 h. The specific
      shRNA sequences significantly inhibited the expressions of mRNA and protein of
      RAGE. The mice implanted with shRNA RAGE -2 had lower tumor volume and
      microvessel density than shRNA RAGE -1, -3. The expressions of mRNAs and proteins
      of RAGE, MMP-2, NF-kappaB, MMP-9 and VEGF were lower in the cells transfected
      with shRNA RAGE -2 compared with shRNA RAGE -1, -3. CONCLUSIONS: RAGE is involved
      in the progression of pancreatic cancerin vitro and in vivo . The RAGE expression
      could influence the process of tumor angiogenesis.

PMID- 28612558
TI  - [Significance and Expressions of MMP-1, TIMP-1 and TGF-beta1 in Valve Tissue of
      Rheumatic Heart Disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), tissue
      inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and transforming growth factor-beta1
      (TGF-beta1) in valve tissue of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), and to analyzed
      their roles in RHD. METHODS: The expressions of MMP-1, TIMP-1 and TGF-beta1
      proteins and mRNAs were tested by Western blot and RT-PCR methods in valve
      tissues in participants with (experimental group, n=30) and without RHD (control
      group, n=15). Collagen fibers were detected by Masson staining, and collagen
      volume fraction (CVF) was caculated. The correlations of CVF and the expressions
      of MMP-1, TIMP-1 and TGF-beta1 were analyzed. RESULTS: The collagen fibers, CVF,
      and the protein and mRNA expressions of MMP-1 and TGF-beta1 in experimental group
      were higher than those in control group, while the protein and mRNA expressions
      of TIMP-1 in experimental group were lower than those in control group. The
      expression of TIMP-1 was negatively correlated with TGF-beta1 and CVF in valve
      tissues, while MMP-1 was positively correlated with them. The expression of TGF
      beta1 was positively correlated with CVF in valve tissues. CONCLUSIONS: MMP-1,
      TIMP-1 and TGF-beta1 contribute to the progression of fibrosis in RHD.

PMID- 28612559
TI  - [The Establishment and Identification of Stable CHO Cell Line with Canine
      Transferrin Receptor Expression].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To construct eukaryotic expressing recombinant vector of canine
      transferrin receptor gene (TfR ), then to transfect Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)
      cells with the vector for establishment of stable expression of TfR in CHO cell
      line. METHODS: The full-length TfR fragment was amplified by RT-PCR from the
      canine cells (walter reed dog cell, WRD) and then inserted into eukaryotic
      expression vector pCDNA3. After identification with enzyme digestion and
      sequencing, the recombinant vector was transfected into CHO cells by TransLipid
      Transfection Reagent. The stable transfected CHO cell line was then established
      by screening cultures with G418, and the expression of TfR was identified by RT
      PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence, respectively. RESULTS: The eukaryotic
      expression vector pCDNA3-TfR was constructed successfully by checking with enzyme
      digestion and sequencing, and the highly expressed canine TfR was observed in CHO
      cells transfected with pCDNA3-TfR by using RT-PCR, Western blot and
      immunofluorescence, respectively. The stable CHO cell line with canine TfR
      expression was established. CONCLUSIONS: The construction of the eukaryotic
      expression vector pCDNA3-TfR and the establishment of stable CHO cell line with
      TfR expression provide solid foundation for further experimental studies on the
      function of TfR.

PMID- 28612560
TI  - [Construction, Expression of hERalpha-LBD Prokaryotic Vector and the Activity of
      Expressed Protein].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To construct the prokaryotic expression system of estrogen receptor
      alpha ligand bingding domain (hERalpha-LBD) and to evaluate the estrogen receptor
      ligand binding activity of the expressed protein. METHODS: hERalpha -LBD was
      amplicated from the plasmid of hERalpha -LBD by PCR, the identified PCR product
      was ligated with pGEM-T-easy vector to generate pGM-T-hERalpha -LBD. After the
      confirmation, the hERalpha -LBD fragments were obtained by enzyme digestion and
      inserted into pET-28a. The expression vectors were expressed in E.Coli to produce
      hERalpha-LBD protein. We mixed the hERalpha-LBD protein and estradiol and bovine
      serum albumin conjugated antigens (E2-BSA), then evaluated the binding activity
      of hERalpha-LBD by electrophoresis. RESULTS: The amplified fragment was about 1.9
      kb, which was in agreement with the expected target fragment. Recombinant plasmid
      of pGM-T-hERalpha -LBD was confirmed by enzyme digestion and sequencing, then pET
      28a(+)-hERalpha -LBD was constructed successfully. The expressed hERalpha-LBD
      protein in E.Coli was observed and the expression amount was 250 mg/L after
      affinity chromatography purification. hERalpha-LBD was confirmed to had estrogen
      binding activity by electrophoresis. CONCLUSIONS: The prokaryotic expression
      system of pET-28a(+)-hERalpha -LBD was successfully constructed, and hERalpha-LBD
      had the activity of binding.

PMID- 28612561
TI  - [Prognostic Significance of ERG Gene Rearrangement and Protein Expression in
      Prostate Cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate gene rearrangement and protein expression of ETS
      related gene (ERG ) in prostate cancer of Chinese patients and its correlation
      with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. METHODS: This study
      collected 482 cases of prostatic adenocarcinomas diagnosed by prostate biopsy in
      West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2009 to 2014. Fluorescencein situ
      hybridization (FISH) and immuno-histochemical staining (IHC) were performed to
      access the ERG rearrangement and protein expression respectively. Relationship
      between ERG rearrangement and protein expression was assessed by Spearman rank
      order correlation. The correlations of ERG rearrangement and protein expression
      with clinicopathological variables and prognosis were further analyzed. RESULTS:
      ERG rearrangement was detected in 87 (18.0 %) cases, of which 45 (51.7%) was
      translocation and 42 (48.3%) was deletion. ERG protein expression was detected in
      74 (15.4%) cases. Follow-up data was obtained in 368 cases. ERG rearrangement and
      protein expression had no correlations to age, Gleason score and pre-operation
      PSA level ( P>0.05), but ERG protein level was decreased in metastatic cases or
      castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cases ( P<0.05) . Kaplan-Meier curve
      showed both gene rearrangement and protein expression of ERG had no prognostic
      significance. CONCLUSIONS: ERG rearrangement, as well as ERG protein expression,
      could not serve as an independent prognostic biomarker.

PMID- 28612562
TI  - [Pancreatic beta-cell Dysfunction and Apoptosis Induced by Elevated Free Fatty
      Acids Synergize with Hyperglycemia].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analysis the effects of glucoxicity and lipotoxicity on the
      function and apoptosis of pancreatic beta-cells. METHODS: The levels of
      circulating glucose and free fat acids (FFAs) were elevated by infusion dextrose
      and fat emulsion in high-fat obese rats. The insulin resistance model obese rats
      were divided into four gourp: obese group with saline infusion (OB-NS group,
      n=7), obese group with glucose infusion (OB-GS group, n=9), obese group with
      Lipid emulsion infusion (OB-FFA group, n=8), obese group with glucose and lipid
      emulsion infusion (OB-FG group, n=9). Five rats fed with general diet were taken
      as normal group (NC group).Plasma FFAs and beta-hydroxybutyric acid (beta-HBA)
      concentrations were determined by an enzymatic colorimetric method. An
      intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was performed to examine the glucose
      stimulated insulin secretion in vivo and immunohistochemical staining to detect
      the storage volume of insulin. FFA and beta-HBA concentrations were measured at
      baseline and post-infusion. The apoptosis of pancreatic beta-cell was detected
      byin situ end labeling technique (TUNEL). RESULTS: Glucose infusion rate (GIR) of
      obese rats was significantly lower than that in NC group [(10.82+/-1.8)
      mg/(kg.min) vs. (25.21+/-1.7) mg/(kg.min), P<0.05], confirming insulin resistance
      rat model successfully established. The insulin secretion peak load time of OB-FG
      group rats delayed, and the serum insulin level was significantly lower than that
      of NC group and OB-NS group during IVGTT. The differences were statistically
      significant ( P<0.05). Compared with OB-NS and NC groups, storage volume of
      insulin of OB-GS group reduced, and beta cell apoptosis rate elevated
      significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Glucolipotoxicity could induce ketone overproduction,
      insulin resistance and defective insulin secretion.

PMID- 28612563
TI  - [Expression and Clinical Significance of Numb and P53 Proteins in Epithelial
      Ovarian Carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Numb and
      P53 proteins in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: We co-tested the
      expressions of Numb and P53 proteins in epithelial ovarian tissues by
      immunohistochemistry, including 20 cases of normal tissues, 29 cases of benign
      tumors, 35 cases of borderline ovarian tumors and 87 cases of epithelial ovarian
      carcinoma. Their clinical significance was analyzed. RESULTS: The positive
      expression rates of Numb protein in normal ovarian tissues, benign ovarian
      tumors, borderline ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian carcinoma were 5%,
      13.8%, 51.4% and 70.1%, respectively, and with the rising trend and significantly
      difference among four groups ( P<0.05). The expression of Numb protein had
      significant positive correlation with stage and lymph node metastasis ( P<0.05),
      while Numb expression had no correlation with age, pathological type or
      histological grade ( P>0.05). The positive expression rates of P53 protein in
      normal ovarian tissues, benign ovarian tumors, borderline ovarian tumors and
      epithelial ovarian carcinoma were 0%, 3.4%, 28.6% and 63.2%, respectively, which
      had a gradually rising trend with significantly difference among four groups (
      P<0.05). The expression of P53 protein in borderline ovarian tumors was
      significantly higher than those in normal ovarian tissues and benign ovarian
      tumors ( P<0.05). The expression of P53 protein in epithelial ovarian carcinoma
      group was significantly higher than those in the rest three groups ( P<0.05).
      Statistical significance was found between the expression of P53 protein and
      histological type, differentiation, stage, lymph node metastasis ( P<0.05); But
      Numb expression had no correlation with age ( P>0.05). The expression of Numb
      protein was positive correlated with the expression of P53 protein in borderline
      ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian carcinoma ( r=0.488, P<0.05; r=0.231,
      P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Co-testing Numb and P53 protein might be helpful for the
      diagnosis and evaluation of prognosis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma and two
      proteins might work together in the development process of epithelial ovarian
      carcinoma.

PMID- 28612564
TI  - [Study on Relationship Between Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 Concentration and
      Glucose Metabolism].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3
      [25(OH)D3 ] concentration and glucose metabolism. METHODS: This cross-sectional
      survey recruited 668 participants, and the demographic and clinical
      characteristics of the participants were obtained from questionnaires. Physical
      examination and blood biochemical examination were performed, then the
      participants were divided into three groups as normal glucose tolerant (NGT)
      group, impaired glucose regulation(IGR) group, and diabetes mellitus (DM) group.
      RESULTS: There was no statistical significant difference in serum 25(OH)D3
      concentration among the three groups ( P>0.05). With comparison of different
      serum 25(OH) D3 concentration, there was no statistical significant difference in
      the incidence of DM and IGR, FPG, 2 h BG, HOMA-IR, ISI-composite, HOMA-beta or
      DeltaI30/DeltaG30 ( P>0.05). Serum 25(OH)D3 concentration was not associated with
      DM, IGR, FPG, 2 h BG, HOMA-IR, ISI-composite, HOMA-beta or DeltaI30/DeltaG30 (
      P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: No relationship between serum 25(OH)D3 concentration and
      glucose metabolism is comfirmed.

PMID- 28612566
TI  - [Latent Class Analysis of Health Seeking Behaviors for Children in Floating
      Populations in Sichuan].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To understand the characteristics associated with health care seeking
      behaviors for children in floating populations. METHODS: A stratified multi-stage
      sampling strategy with PPS method was employed to select 1 943 children aging 0-7
      yr. in the floating populations in Sichuan province, which included 605 flowing
      out, 468 left-at-home, 822 migrated inhabitants, and 48 returned. Latent class
      analysis (LCA) was performed to establish potential feature classifications for
      their use of child health care service (physical examination card, free medical
      examination, vaccination certificate and immunization) . RESULTS: Overall,
      84.30%, 68.90%, 97.70%, and 94.30% of the floating populations used physical
      examination card, free medical examination, vaccination certificate, and
      immunization services for their children, respectively. Differences in physical
      examination card and free medical examination services were found between those
      flowing out and those left-at-home and between those left-at-home and those
      migrated inhabitants ( P<0.008). Children left-at-home were shortage of use of
      free medical examinations (18.38%, 186 people). Children flowing out were lack of
      both medical examination and physical examination card services (12.73%, 77
      people). There were 222 children (27.01%) from the migrated inhabitants who did
      not take medical examinations. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts should be made to encourage
      medical examinations for children in the floating populations. Household
      registration may influence the potential feature classifications of child health
      care utilization.

PMID- 28612565
TI  - [The Relationship of Polymorphisms in Interleukin 17A Gene, Interleukin 17F Gene
      and the Pulmonary Inflammation Risk in Dust Exposed Workers in a Chinese
      Population].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the polymorphisms in interleukin 17A IL-17A) and
      interleukin 17F (IL-17F) and their relationship with pulmonary inflammation risk
      of dust exposed workers. METHODS: A case-control study among 193 subjects,
      including 67 subjects in case group and 126 in control group was conducted. PCR
      RFLP was applied to genotype IL-17A (G-197A) and IL-17F (7488T/C). Logistic
      regression analysis was used to determine the effects of IL-17A (G-197A) and IL
      17F (7488T/C) on the lung inflammation risk in dust exposed workers. RESULTS: The
      genotypes analysis showed that the proportions of IL-17A (G-197A) A/A, A/G and
      G/G were 42 (21.76%), 95 (49.22%), 56 (29.02%) in 193 cases, respectively, and
      the IL-17F (7488T/C) T/T, T/C and C/C genotypes were 128 (66.32%), 54 (28.98%),
      11 (5.70%), respectively. The frequency distribution of each genotype was
      consistent with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium fixed law. The ratio of IL-17A (G
      197A) A/A in the case group was lower than that of control group ( P<0.05), while
      the G/G and A/G genotypes were higher than that of control group ( P<0.05).
      Furthermore, the genotypes of IL-17A (G-197A) A/G (OR=5.03, P<0.01) and
      G/G(OR=3.35, P<0.05) were associated with an increased risk of lung inflammation
      in workers exposed to dust. The frequency distribution difference of IL-17F
      (7488T/C) T/T, T/C and C/C genotypes in the cases and control group was unobvious
      ( P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Under the same dust concentration, the dust exposed
      workers carrying IL-17A (G-197A) A/G, G/G genotypes are more susceptible to
      pulmonary inflammation in the southwest of China.

PMID- 28612567
TI  - [Consumptions of Meat, Dietary Fat, and Fatty-acids and Prevalence of
      Overweight/Obesity in Children and Adolescents-a Cross-sectional Survey in
      Chengdu].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and
      adolescents aged 7-15 years in Longquanyi District of Chengdu and its association
      with consumptions of meat, dietary fat and fatty-acids. METHODS: A total of 1 811
      children and adolescents aged 7-15 years in Longquanyi District were selected
      using stratified cluster sampling strategy. Their body mass, height and waist
      circumference were measured. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was estimated
      based on body mass index (BMI), body mass index standard deviation score (BMI
      SDS), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Daily consumptions of meat, dietary fat
      and fatty-acids were calculated using data collected through a food frequency
      questionnaire and 3-d 24 h dietary recall. The children with overweight/obesity
      were compared with those with normal body mass in food/nutrient consumptions
      using Wilcoxon tests. The BMI SDS, WHtR, and prevalence of overweight and obesity
      were also compared between those having low, moderate and high food/nutrient
      consumptions using Chi-square tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: About
      10.34% and 6.59% of participants were found to be overweight and obese,
      respectively. Boys had higher prevalence of overweight (12.05%) and
      overweight/obesity (18.97%) than girls (8.55%, 14.80%) ( P<0.05). Girls consumed
      more meat (including red meat and white meat), saturated fatty-acid (SFA) and
      monounsaturated fatty-acid (MUFA) than boys ( P<0.05). The consumptions of meat
      (both red meat and white meat), SFA and MUFA increased with age ( P<0.05).
      Overweight/obese girls consumed more SFA, MUFA and fat (%EN) than those of normal
      weight. The BMI SDS and WHtR of girls increased with fat (%EN) consumptions (
      P<0.05). The BMI SDS of girls also increased with MUFA consumptions ( P<0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Consumptions of red meat, dietary fat, SFA, and MUFA are associated
      with overweight/obesity of girls aged 7-15 years in Chengdu. Further studies are
      needed to understand the gender differences.

PMID- 28612568
TI  - [A Cross-sectional Study of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Mianyang, Sichuan
      Province].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and distribution of hepatitis B virus
      (HBV) infection in Mianyang. METHODS: Data were extracted from the 12th five-year
      National Science and Technology Major Projects-Integrated Prevention and Control
      of Major Infectious Diseases in Mianyang. A two-level logistic regression model
      was established to determine factors associated with HBV infection. RESULTS:
      About 4.91% of people in Mianyang were HBsAg positive, which increased with age.
      HBV infection showed aggregation at townships. Governmental spending >=Y1 000 000
      on public health was a protective factor in the regression model; whereas, age,
      male gender, medical workers, absent from HBV vaccination, more than 80 g/d
      alcohol consumption were risk factors of HBV infection. CONCLUSIONS: Mianyang had
      medium level of HBV infections. But high HBV prevalence can be found in some
      townships. The known behavior risk factors all exist in Mianyang, which can serve
      as a screening tool for identifying high risk populations.

PMID- 28612569
TI  - [Negative HBsAg and HBsAb in Women of Child-bearing Age in Mianyang].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the distribution of women with negative HBsAg and
      HBsAb at child-bearing age in Mianyang. METHODS: A total of 62 551 women aged 15
      49 yr. were selected randomly using a multistage sampling strategy in Mianyang to
      participate in a questionnaire survey. Blood samples were collected during the
      survey. HBsAg and HBsAb were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA). Those who were both HBsAg and HBsAb negative were deemed as susceptible
      to future infection of HBV. RESULTS: Data from 62 035 participants were valid for
      analysis: 28 460 (45.88%) were both HBsAg and HBsAb negative. Those aged 15-20
      yr. had the lowest negative rate. Higher HBsAg and HBsAb negative rates were
      found in Han (lowest in Tibetan), rural residents, widowed/divorced (lowest in
      married), peasants (lowest in medical workers), those with a family history of
      Hepatitis B and without vaccination ( P<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of
      women at child-bearing age in Mianyang was found to be HBsAg and HBsAb negative.
      They should be monitored and vaccinated as a priority population in the
      prevention of mother-to-children infection of hepatitis B.

PMID- 28612570
TI  - [The Value of High Frequency Color Doppler Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of
      Solid Skin Tumorsa-a Preliminary Study].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the value of high frequency color doppler ultrasonography
      in differentiating benign and malignant skin solid tumors. METHODS: Clinical and
      ultrasonic data of cutaneous solid tumors confirmed by pathology in our hospital
      were collected. The differences in clinical and sonographic features between
      benign and malignant tumors were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 512
      patients, involving 527 cases of skin solid tumors, were enrolled in this study.
      The ultrasonic detected 99.43% of the cases, with 99.02% accuracy in locating the
      lesions. The benign and malignant tumors showed differences in patient age,
      location, multiple occurance, location and depth, surface skin condition, tumor
      size, echo, morphology, uniformity, calcification, blood flow status, tumor rear
      area and peripheral echo, and pathological requests ( P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High
      frequency ultrasound has excellent detection rate of skin tumors, which can
      locate invasion depth of skin accurately. Benign and malignant skin tumors show
      differences in a number of clinical and ultrasound features.

PMID- 28612571
TI  - [Correlation Between Serum Concentrations of Catecholamines and Oxygen Index in
      Acute Aortic Dissection].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore whether the serum concentration of adrenaline (AD) and
      noradrenaline (NA) elevate and its correlation with oxygenation index (OI) in the
      patients of acute aortic dissection (AAD). METHODS: From April 2013 to December
      2013, clinical data were collected from three groups of patients (38 cases of AAD
      in Group A, 28 cases of ascending aortic aneurysm in Group B, and 22 cases of
      angina in Group C). All patients received the measurement of serum concentrations
      of AD, NA and endotoxin (ET). Linear correlation was used to analyze the
      relationships between catecholamines (including AD and NA), ET and OI. RESULTS:
      The baseline of the three groups showed no significant difference. The serum
      concentrations of AD, NA and ET in Group A were higher than those in Group B and
      Group C ( P<0.01), white OI was lower than that in Group B and Group C (
      P<0.001). In the patients with AAD, the serum concentrations of AD and NA were
      positively correlated with ET, while both were negatively correlated with OI.
      CONCLUSIONS: Higher serum concentrations of AD and NA correlated with more severe
      acute lung injury in AAD patients.

PMID- 28612572
TI  - [Comparison of Two Methods of Lidocaine Administrating for Neuroprotection in
      Rabbit Model of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the neuroprotection effect of two methods of Lidocaine
      administration in rabbit model of subarachnoid hemorrhage. METHODS: Forty New
      Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into sham group, subarachnoid
      hemorrhage group (SAH), Lidocaine intravenous injection group (L1), and Lidocaine
      intracisternal administration group (L2). The rabbits were given general
      anaesthesia, then 1.5 mL autologous nonheparinized arterial blood was injected
      into cisterna magna to establish SAH model, while 1.5 mL saline was used in sham
      group. Thirty minutes later, the rabbits in L1 and L2 group respectively received
      0.3 mL 2% Lidocaine administration of intravenously and intracisternally
      injection. All animals were sacrificed at 72 h after SAH. The samples of basilar
      artery and hippocampus tissue were processed for morphometric analysis. At pre
      operation and 72 h after SAH, the level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum was
      measured. HE staining and C fos immunohistochemical staining were performed in L1
      and L2 groups. Artery area and artery diameter of basal arteries, normal neuron
      density and C-fos positive cell in hippocampus were measured at 72 h after SAH.
      RESULTS: The baseline level of IL-6 was not significant different in four groups
      (P>0.05). The level of IL-6 at 72 h after SAH was significantly higher than that
      at pre-operation in SAH, L1 and L2 groups (P<0.05), while the level of IL-6 in
      SAH and L1 group was higher than that in L2 group (P<0.05). Compared to sham and
      L2 group, the cross-section area and diameter of basal artery were smaller in SAH
      and L1 group, while the normal neuron density of hippocampus was less (P<0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Intracisternal administration of Lidocaine could provide
      neuroprotection in rabbit model of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

PMID- 28612573
TI  - [Effects of Danqi Capsule on Platelet Function in Healthy People].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the effects of Danqi Capsule on platelet function in healthy
      people. METHODS: Sixteen healthy volunteer were divided into low dose (4
      capsules/time, 3 times/d) and high dose group (6 capsules/time, 3 times/d), and
      received Danqi Capsule by orally administration for 2 weeks. The venous blood
      were collect at 3 time points: one week before taking Danqi Capsule (control),
      one week after taking Danqi Capsule (1 week), two week after taking Danqi Capsule
      (2 weeks). Blood samples were used for the measurements of conventional
      coagulation examination, complete blood count, liver and kidney function test,
      platelet aggregation test, the plasma levels of P-selectin and von Willebrand
      factor (vWF) , and maximum aggregation (MA). RESULTS: In both dosage group, Danqi
      capsule(1 week/2 weeks) administration showed no difference in conventional
      coagulation examination, complete blood count, liver and kidney function test, or
      the plasma level of vWF ( P>0.05), but showed difference (decreased) in platelet
      aggregation test and the plasma level of P-selectin (vs. control, P<0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Danqi Capsule inhibits platelet activation and platelet aggregation,
      but not affects the plasma level of vWF, the coagulation function or the
      hepatorenal function in normal subjects.

PMID- 28612574
TI  - [Optimization ofPig-aGene Mutation in Rats and Assessment of Time-dependent and
      Dose-response Relationship of N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To optimize the method of Pig-a mutation assay, and to explore the
      time-dependent and dose-response relationship of N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU).
      METHODS: Thirty rats were randomly assigned to 5 groups: treated with PBS
      (control group)or different doses of ENU (10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg) for 3 d by
      oral gavage. Blood samples were collected at 0 d, 15 d, 30 d, 45 d, 60 d, 75 d
      and 90 d. After enrichment, erythrocytes were incubated with Anti-CD59-APC and
      SYTO 13 nucleic acid dye solution. Mutant phenotype erythrocytes (RBCCD59-) and
      mutant phenotype reticulocytes (RETCD59-) were measured by flow cytometry to
      analyze mutant frequencies, and the RET percentage was determined as well.
      RESULTS: The RBCCD59- mutation frequency in 4 ENU groups were significantly
      increased in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The RETCD59- mutation frequency
      increased to a stable high level with a slight fluctuation, and decreased at 45 d
      , with the peak values observed at 30 d. The RETCD59- mutation frequency showed a
      dose-dependent trend in 4 ENU groups. The RET percentage in all 5 groups declined
      at 30 d, to a stable low level thereafter, but the trends showed no significant
      differences by time or group. CONCLUSIONS: The optimized in vivo Pig-a mutation
      assay could detecte the mutagen, such as ENU, induces mutation in RBC in a time-
      and dose-dependent manner.

PMID- 28612575
TI  - [Study on Application of EMA-PCR Rapid Identification of Infectious and Non
      infectious Adenovirus].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the application of cytopathic effect (EMA)-PCR to
      rapid identification of infectious and non-infectious adenovirus. METHODS: The
      different dilutions of virus were inoculated to well-grown monolayer cells and
      then calculated the concentration of virus through the cytopathic effect (CPE).
      The adenovirus and New Castle disease virus were prepared in a fixed
      concentration of 106 PFU/mL then diluted in ten-time gradient and the DNA of
      virus were extracted and PCR were applied, then the target DNA fragments were
      observed through gel electrophoresis. The non-infectious adenovirus were treated
      with different concentrations of EMA (0 MUg/mL, 70 MUg/mL, 120 MUg/mL and 150
      MUg/mL) and then detected the target DNA fragment in the same way. The different
      concentrations of infectious adenovirus (107 PFU/mL, 106 PFU/mL, 105 PFU/mL, 104
      PFU/mL and 103 PFU/mL) were treated with 120 MUg/mL EMA and then detected target
      DNA fragment in the same way. RESULTS: The target DNA fragments were detected in
      adenovirus of 104 PFU/mL and above. The target DNA fragments were detected in all
      3 types of adenovirus while not detected in New Castle disease virus. The DNA
      amplification of non-infectious adenovirus were suppressed by EMA at 120 MUg/mL
      and 150 MUg/mL concentration, while the DNA amplification of infectious
      adenovirus in concentration of 105 PFU/mL and above were not affected by 120
      MUg/mL EMA. CONCLUSIONS: EMA-PCR was proved to be feasible to identify the
      infectious and non-infectious adenovirus, in which false positive results of PCR
      were effectively avoid at the same time.

PMID- 28612576
TI  - [Clinical Feature in Infants of Breast Feeding Allergy and Its Possible Relation
      with Gastrointestinal Peptide Change in Breast Milk].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate clinical features in infants of breast milk
      allergy(BMA), and the possible relationship with the changes of somatostatin
      (SST) and motilin (MTL) in breast milk. METHODS: Twenty three cases of pure
      breast feeding infants with allergic gastroenteritis were collected, while
      another 23 normal infants with pure breast feeding were enrolled as normal
      controls. Samples of infant stools and breast milk were collected for the
      measurement of SST and MTL levels detected by by radioimmunity. RESULTS: The
      levels of SST and MTL in stool samples (pg/mg) were 32.6+/-8.9, 2.3+/-3.7 in BMA
      group and 56.2+/-12.7, 21.6+/-4.7 in normal control group, respectively. Those in
      breast milk (pg/mg) were 236.7+/-28.9, 159.4+/-36.7 in BMA group and 412.6+/
      36.7, 216.8+/-59.7 in normal control group, respectively. All the differences
      were statistically significant ( P<0.05). In BMA infants, the clinical features
      were 91.3% (20/23) of diarrhea, 86.9% (21/23) of vomiting, 69.6% (16/23) of
      hematochezia, 95.7% (22/23) of C-reactive protein (CRP) increasing, 87.0% (20/23)
      of occult blood in stools, 73.9% (17/23) of neutrophil increasing, 39.1% (9/23)
      of WBC in stools. CONCLUSIONS: For those infants of breast feeding with
      persisting and repeated gastrointestinal symptoms, allergy for breast milk should
      be considered. Deficiency of SST and MTL in breast milk may be a possible cause
      for food allergy.

PMID- 28612577
TI  - [The Comparison and Evaluation of Partial Nail Avulsion and Total Nail Avulsion
      with Plate Replacement with Traditional Total Nail Avulsion].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the different effects of partial nail avulsion and total
      nail avulsion with plate replacement with traditional total nail avulsion.
      METHODS: Patients were divided into three groups randomly ( n=20): total nail
      avulsion group (control group), partial nail avulsion group, and total nail
      avulsion with plate replacement group (nail replacement group). The rating of
      pain [visual analogue scale (VAS) score], the wound healing time, the nail growth
      time , and the score of satisfaction were analyzed. RESULTS: The baseline data of
      three groups had no significant difference. From 8 h, VAS score of partial nail
      avulsion group and nail plate replacement group was different with that in
      control group ( P<0.05) . 48 h after surgery, the pain disappeared totally in
      partial nail avulsion group, largely in nail replacement group [90% (18/20) ] ,
      which were both significantly different with that of control group [45%(9/20)] (
      P<0.05) . Healing time of three groups was listed as follow: control group>nail
      replacement group>partial nail avulsion group ( P<0.05) . Nail growth time was
      the longest in control group, the shortest in partial nail avulsion group (
      P<0.05, vs. control group), and median in nail replacement group. The score of
      satisfaction in control group was lower than that in partial avulsion group and
      nail replacement group ( P<0.05) , of the later two there was no statistic
      difference. CONCLUSIONS: By decreasing the defect of nail plate and the injury of
      nail bed, and by smoothing the pain, partial nail avulsion benefits the wound
      healing. Nail plate should be replace to get further benefits.

PMID- 28612578
TI  - [Expression of TWEAK/Fn14 in Pancreatic Cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor -related weak
      inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK)/fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14) on the
      proliferation and growth of pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Human pancreatic cancer
      (50 cases), chronic pancreatitis (40 cases) and normal pancreatic tissues (30
      cases) were collected in West China Hospital from January 2012 to December 2013.
      TWEAK and Fn14 expressions in these tissues were checked with hematoxylin-eosin
      (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry method. Relationship between TWEAK
      expression and clinicopathological features of pancreatic cancer was analyzed.
      RESULTS: TWEAK expression rate was 36% (18/50) in pancreatic cancer, higher than
      that in chronic pancreatitis (17.5%, 7/40) and normal pancreatic tissues (13.3%,
      4/30) ( P<0.05) .Expression intensity of TWEAK in three groups was also obviously
      ( P<0.05). The expression rate of Fn14 was 4.0% in pancreatic cancer , 7.0% in
      normal pancreatic tissues , and 0% in chronic pancreatitis. TWEAK positive
      expression rate and high expression rate in pancreatic cancer were higher in IIB
      group ( P<0.05). Pathological grade was not related to TWEAK expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: TWEAK/Fn14 involved in the progression of pancreatic cancer. In the
      tissue of pancreatic cancer, TWEAK was highly expressed, and Fn14 was lowly
      expressed.

PMID- 28612580
TI  - New Genetic Variation in BCR gene of Major B3a2 Breakpoint BCR-ABL Fusion Gene in
      Patients with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
AB  - Background: Polymorphic bases in several exons of the BCR gene have been found in
      several studies of theBCR-ABL fusion gene . Most of the polymorphisms do not have
      any implications for the primary structure of theBCR-ABL protein. Nucleotide
      changes are often located in the area close to the fusion region, and therefore
      mayinfluence primer annealing. Our previous work failed to amplify 15 of 200
      samples from BCR-ABL positive chronicmyelogenous leukemia (CML) patients using
      multiplex PCR, the standard method to detect BCR-ABL transcriptsused in our
      institution. The failure was considered due to problems in primer annealing
      caused by sequence variations.Sequence analysis of BCR-ABL fusion gene breakpoint
      types in CML patients has never been hitherto performed inIndonesia. Therefore,
      the aim of this study was to perform sequence analysis of several samples that
      did not showamplification using the standard method. Methods: Fifteen samples
      were qualitatively amplified by two-step PCR usinginner primers in the 2nd PCR to
      determine the breakpoint type of the BCR-ABL fusion gene. The 2nd PCR products
      wereused as templates to perform sequence analysis, and the results were compared
      to those in genbank. Result: Sevenand 5 of 15 samples were confirmed as major
      b3a2 and major b2a2, respectively. One sample featured a combinationof b3a2 and
      b2a2, and 2 samples a combination of b3a2 and b2a2 with an additional fragment at
      500bp. Sequenceanalysis showed 3 sequence variations in the major b3a2
      breakpoint. One had been reported earlier (c.3296T>C) butthe others (c.3245C>T
      and c.3359T>C) were novel. Fragments at 500bp were confirmed as b3a2 and similar
      sequenceb3a2 in genbank. Conclusion: This study found two new genetic variations
      in the BCR gene in BCR-ABL fusion cases.

PMID- 28612579
TI  - [Endovascular Treatment of Blood Blister-like Aneurysms in Internal Carotid
      Artery].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the feasibility and effectiveness of endovascular treatment
      to blood blister-like aneurysms (BBA) in internal carotid artery. METHODS:
      Retrospective analyzed the clinical features, outcomes, and complications of 20
      cases of BBA treated with endovascular intervention techniques from 2013-2015 in
      our center. RESULTS: The patients were treated with covered stent, internal
      carotid artery balloon occlusion, and stents assisted coiling, respectively. One
      death occurred after the patient accepted covered stent treatment, another 2
      death was due to vasospasm after internal carotid artery balloon occlusion, and
      double stents assisted coiling, respectively. The modified Rankin Scale (mRS)
      score when patients being discharged were 0-2 in 15 cases, and 3-4 in 2 cases.
      There were 17 cases with clinical follow-up from 1 to 26 months (9.3 months on
      average), the mRS scores were all less than 2 points. 16 cases accepted
      angiographic review. 14 cases had BBA totally occluded, 1 case had stable neck
      residue, and 1 case had incompleted occlusion and the aneurysm dwindled at follow
      up. CONCLUSIONS: Stent-assisted coiling is feasible and effective in the
      treatment of BBA in internal carotid artery.

PMID- 28612581
TI  - Surgical options for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in the young
      child.
AB  - Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is becoming increasingly common in
      the skeletally immature population. Historically, there was a reluctance to
      operate on skeletally immature patients due to potential damage to the physis and
      subsequent growth disturbances; however, more recently, ACL reconstruction
      techniques specifically developed for this young population have shown good
      outcomes and low complication rates. In this article, we briefly discuss the
      modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for ACL injury in children, options
      for conservative management for ACL rupture, and outcomes for delayed operative
      management. The main focus of the manuscript is to describe three operative
      technique options designed for ACL reconstruction in skeletally immature patients
      and to review the literature on outcomes and complications of these techniques.
      Two of these techniques, namely the Modified MacIntosh and the all-epiphyseal
      techniques, are often referred to as physeal-sparing, while the third, i.e. the
      transphyseal technique, is not. While different in approach and technique, these
      procedures have been shown to produce good outcomes and minimal complications in
      the skeletally immature population. Despite these positive reports, it is also
      essential to be aware of potential complications and the potential risk of
      recurrence.

PMID- 28612582
TI  - Management in rare association of Moyamoya syndrome and hereditary spherocytosis.

PMID- 28612583
TI  - Use of proporanolol compounding from tablet in infantile hemangiomas.

PMID- 28612584
TI  - Purpura Fulminans as the presenting manifestation in a patient with homozygous
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene mutation.

PMID- 28612585
TI  - Pancreatic Cancer is Associated with Peripheral Leukocyte Oxidative DNA Damage
AB  - Background: DNA damage accumulation has been linked to the cancer phenotype. The
      purpose of this studywas to compare the levels of DNA base 8-hydroxy-2'
      deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and C-reactive protein (CRP)inflammatory markers in
      healthy controls and pancreatic cancer patients from a hospital-based case
      control study.Materials and Methods: Fifty-five pancreatic cancer patients and 55
      healthy controls were enrolled from a pool ofpatients referred to the Endoscopic
      Ultrasound (EUS) center. Analysis of DNA content of peripheral blood cells
      wasconducted for 8-OHdG with the 32P-postlabelling assay. Serum CRP levels were
      measured by high-sensitivity assaysand demographic data for comparison were
      collected from individual medical records. Results: The group of casesshowed
      significant increased median (IQR) 8-OHdG DNA adducts/106 nucleotides and CRP
      compared to the controls(208.8 (138.0-340.8) vs 121.8 (57.7-194.8) RAL value;
      P<0.001) and (3.5 (1.5-8.6) vs 0.5 (0.2-1.5) mg/L P<0.001). Anumber of
      conditional regression models confirmed associations of pancreatic cancer with
      oxidative DNA damage inperipheral leukocytes.Conclusions: Our findings suggest
      the importance of leukocyte 8-OHdG adducts as an indicatorfor systemic oxidative
      DNA damage in pancreatic cancer patients. In addition to increase in the CRP
      inflammatorymarker, this supports the impact of inflammation in the occurrence of
      pancreatic cancer as well as inflammatoryresponses during cancer development.

PMID- 28612586
TI  - Sociological Transition and Breast Cancer in the Arab World: the Experience of
      Lebanon
AB  - Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among females in
      Lebanon. This study aimed atanalyzing its epidemiology in the country over time.
      Methods: Data were extracted from the Lebanese National CancerRegistry (NCR) for
      the years 2004 through 2010. Age-standardized and age-specific incidence rates
      for cancers per100,000 population were calculated. Results: Breast cancer ranked
      first, accounting for an average of 37.6% of all newfemale cancer cases in
      Lebanon during the period of 2004-2010. Breast cancer was found to have been
      increasing fasterthan other hormone-related women's cancers (i.e. of the ovaries
      and corpus uteri). The breast cancer age-standardizedincidence rates (world
      population) (ASRw) increased steadily from 2004 (71.0) to 2010 (105.9), making
      the burdencomparable to that in developed countries, reflecting the influence of
      sociological and reproductive patterns transitioningfrom regional norms to global
      trends. The age-specific incidence rates for breast cancer rose steeply from
      around age35-39 years, to reach a first peak in the age group 45-49 years, and
      then dropped slightly between 50 and 64 yearsto rise again thereafter and reach a
      second peak in the 75+ age group. Five-year age-specific rates among
      Lebanesewomen between 35 and 49 years were among the highest observed worldwide
      in 2008. Conclusion: Breast canceris continuously on the rise in Lebanon. The
      findings of this study support the national screening recommendation ofstarting
      breast cancer screening at the age of 40 years. It is mandatory to conduct an in
      depth analysis of contributingfactors and develop consequently a comprehensive
      National Breast Cancer Control strategy.

PMID- 28612587
TI  - - (-) Menthol Induces Reversal of Promoter Hypermethylation and Associated Up
      Regulation of the FANCF Gene in the SiHa Cell Line
AB  - Objective: To identify natural bioactive molecules with potential to inhibit DNA
      methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1)and cause reactivation of genes silenced due to
      promoter hypermethylation. Methods and Results: -(-) Menthol andepigallocatechin
      3-gallate (EGCG) (reference molecule) were investigated using an in vitro
      methylation assay, whichindicated potential of -(-)menthol as an epigenetic
      modulator with the ability to directly inhibit M.SssI (an analogue ofDNMT1)
      activity at 100MUM. Methylation specific PCR and bisulphite sequencing revealed
      complete hypomethylationof 15 CpG sites in the Fanconi anemia, complementation
      group F (FANCF) gene between +280 and + 432 nucleotidesrelative to the
      transcription start site, which resulted in significant (P<0.001) up-regulation
      of FANCF gene expressionby 2.1 and 2.5 fold respectively after treatment with
      menthol (80MUM) and EGCG (80MUM) for 4 days in the SiHa cellline as analyzed by
      qRT PCR. Conclusion: The present work highlighted the potential of -(-) menthol,
      a naturallyoccurring cyclic monoterpene, as an epigenetic modulator causing
      promoter hypomethylation induced reactivation ofthe FANCF gene mediated by
      possible inhibition of DNMT1 activity in the SiHa cell line.

PMID- 28612588
TI  - Analysis of Knowledge Level in Brazilian Students about Human Papillomavirus
      Infection and Development of Penile Cancer
AB  - Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV), belonging to the Papovavirida family,
      is the most prevalent sexuallytransmitted disease (STD) agent worldwide. In
      Brazil, it is estimated that there are 3-6 million people infected withHPV. Aim:
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of young male students about
      penis cancer relatedto HPV infection. Methods: This exploratory and quantitative
      study was conducted to analyze answers of 242 malestudents attending a private
      college located in Uberaba city, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, during 2015.
      Results: Mostof the 242 participants (88.8%) affirmed having started sexual life
      very early, the majority (79.3%) were currentlymarried and 69.8% had a single
      sexual partner. Regardless of their knowledge about HPV virus and its
      relationshipwith penis cancer, our data showed a general lack of awareness of the
      participants. Conclusion: Our results suggest thatdespite efforts to propagate
      information about HPV infection and its relation to penis cancer, the level of
      knowledge ofstudents is low. Because of that, it is important to improve the
      information spread by media, emphasizing preventionand treatment of HPV infection
      in men.

PMID- 28612589
TI  - [Post-exposure prophylaxis against HIV, do we use our resources appropriately?]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against human immunodeficiency virus
      can be occupational, non-occupational or vertical transmission. The aim of our
      study was to analyse the indication and treatment carried out in a hospital.
      METHODS: Retrospective observational study that included all patients who
      received PEP between 2006 and 2014. The project was approved by the Committee for
      Ethics in Clinical Research. RESULTS: We evaluated 54 PEP, which were started at
      11.8 hours' average. The antiretroviral drugs were adequately chosen, but the
      duration pattern did not adjusted to the recommendations published at that time.
      Tolerance was good, being gastrointestinal symptoms the most frequent adverse
      effects; only once was necessary to replace the pattern. There were usual losses
      during follow up, reaching in some subgroups 50%. CONCLUSIONS: Indication and
      choice of drugs were adequate in the three kinds of contact risks, but monitoring
      should improve.

PMID- 28612590
TI  - Treatment Planning With Unflattened as Compared to FlattenedBeams for Bilateral
      Carcinoma of the Breast
AB  - Aim: To evaluate the plan quality of 6MV unflattened (UFB) and flattened beam
      (FB) photon energy using AAAdose calculation algorithms for volumetric arc
      therapy. Materials and Methods: Plans were generated for bilateralcarcinoma of
      breast and the dose prescribed was 50.4Gy in 28 fractions. Two different plans
      were made for each patientusing 6MV FB and 6MV UFB. Dose calculations were
      performed on an AAA dose calculation algorithm. Plans weregenerated on Eclipse
      TPS and were capable of being delivered with a true beam STx linear accelerator.
      The homogeneityindex (HI), conformity index (CI), normal tissue integral dose
      (NTID), and effect of low dose volume on normal tissueand monitor units (MU) were
      noted. Results: All the plans were clinically acceptable. The HI and CI of 6MV
      UFrapid arc (RA) plans were higher than with the 6MV FB plan (1.16+/-0.05 and
      0.12+/-0.00 respectively). There was noappreciable difference observed in Organ
      at risk (OAR) doses. The mean NTID and low dose volume were significantlylow with
      6MV RA UFB as compared to FB. 6MV RA UFB required a 35% higher MU than with the
      6MV RA plan(p<0.05). Conclusion: RA plans generated with UFB on Eclipse TPS
      achieved target volume coverage and preservedOAR's essentially similar to 6MV RA
      FB plans. However RA plans generated in Varian Eclipse of UFB were superiorwith
      respect to mean NTID and low dose volumes in normal tissue.

PMID- 28612591
TI  - Clinical Significance of Serum Ykl-40 (Chitinase-3-Like-1 Protein) as a Biomarker
      in Melanoma: an Analysis of 112 Turkish Patients
AB  - Background: Angiogenesis plays an essential role in tumor growth and serum levels
      of YKL-40 , a strong angiogenicfactor that promotes tumor vessel development, has
      been found to be elevated in various cancers. We here investigatedcorrelation
      between melanoma parameters and serum YKL-40 levels, to assess potential
      diagnostic, prognostic andpredictive values. Material and Methods: Data for 112
      pathologically confirmed cutaneous melanomas of any stagewere examined
      retrospectively. ELISA assays were used to measure serum YKL-40 in plasma
      samples. Results: Thebaseline serum YKL-40 levels were significantly higher in
      patients than healthy controls (174.88 vs 120.10 ng/mL,p<0.001). However, values
      did not correlate with clinicopathological parameters, (p>0.05), and furthermore
      there wasno apparent prognostic influence on melanoma survival (HR: 1.568; 95%
      CI, 0.580-3.051; p=0.838). Conclusion:Serum YKL-40 can be useful for diagnosis of
      melanoma, but reliability in assessing prognosis is questionable. Webelieve that
      efforts should be made to understand the interaction between YKL-40 and the tumor
      environment, andestablish whether it might be the target for treatment of
      malignancies.

PMID- 28612592
TI  - Using Health Belief Model Constructs to Examine Differencesin Adherence to Pap
      Test Recommendations among IranianWomen
AB  - Despite documented successful Pap tests in routine care of women, screening
      levels are unfortunately often lowerthan recommended. This study aimed to assess
      differences in adherence to Pap test guidelines among a sample of Iranianwomen
      using the Health Belief Model (HBM). In this descriptive and analytical study,
      information was collected froma total of 305 women, (age range of 15-49) from
      Zarandieh health centers in Iran using a random multistage samplingmethod. The
      questionnaire covered demographic characteristics; health belief model constructs
      were gathered by aself-report method. The results were analyzed using the
      independent samples t test and logistic regression in SPSS-20.A total 32% of the
      subjects had a history of a Pap test and the score mean of the whole constructs
      model (knowledge,susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers and self-efficacy)
      in these individuals was higher than those without a positivehistory. Among the
      predictive variables of HBM constructs, the highest weights were observed for
      perceived benefitsbeta)=0.36), perceived susceptibility =beta) 0.35) and self
      efficacy beta)=0.29). Based on our finding of positive relationships forhealth
      belief model structures with performance of a pap smear test, designing
      educational interventions for changingthe knowledge levels and beliefs of women
      is recommended.

PMID- 28612593
TI  - Dosimetric Comparison between Single and Dual Arc-Volumetric Modulated Arc
      Radiotherapy and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
      Using a Simultaneous Integrated Boost Technique
AB  - Backround: Plan quality and performance of dual arc (DA) volumetric modulated arc
      therapy (VMAT) , singlearc (SA) VMAT and nine field (9F) intensity modulated
      radiotherapy were compared using a simultaneous integratedboost (SIB) technique.
      Methods: Twelve patients treated in Elekta Synergy Platform (mlci2) by 9F-IMRT
      werereplanned with SA/DA-VMAT using a CMS Monaco Treatment Planning System (TPS)
      with Monte Carlo simulation.Target delineation was conducted as per Radiation
      Therapy Oncology Protocols (RTOG0225 and 0615). A 70Gy doseprescribed to PTV70
      and 61Gy to PTV61 in 33 fractions was applied for the SIB technique. The
      conformity index(CI) and homogeneity index (HI) for targets and the mean dose and
      maximum dose for OAR's, treatment deliverytime (min), monitor units (MUs) per
      fraction, normal tissue integral dose and patient specific quality assurance
      wereanalysed. Results: Acceptable target coverage was achieved for PTV70 and
      PTV61 with all the planning techniques.No significant differences were observed
      except for D98 (PTV61), CI(PTV70) and HI(PTV61). Maximum dose (Dmax)to the spinal
      cord was lower in DA-VMAT than 9F-IMRT (p=0.002) and SA-VMAT (p=0.001). D50 (%)
      of parotidglands was better controlled by 9F-IMRT (p=0.001) and DA-VMAT (p=0.001)
      than SA-VMAT. A lower mean doseto the larynx was achieved with 9F-IMRT (P=0.001)
      and DA-VMAT (p=0.001) than with SA-VMAT. DA-VMATachieved higher CI of PTV70 (P=
      0.005) than SA-VMAT. For PTV61, DA-VMAT (P=0.001) and 9F-IMRT (P=0.001)achieved
      better HI than SA-VMAT. The average treatment delivery times were 7.67mins, 3.35
      mins, 4.65 mins for9F- IMRT, SA-VMAT and DA-VMAT, respectively. No significant
      difference were observed in MU/fr (p=0.9) andNTID (P=0.90) and the patient
      quality assurance pass rates were >95% (gamma analysis ?3mm, 3%). Conclusion:DA
      VMAT showed better conformity over target dose and spared the OARs better or
      equal to IMRT. SA-VMAT couldnot spare the OARs well. DA-VMAT offered shorter
      delivery time than IMRT without compromising the plan quality.

PMID- 28612594
TI  - Validation of EORTC IN-PATSAT 32 in Morocco: Methodsand Processes
AB  - Background. The EORTC IN-PATSAT32 questionnaire was developed by the EORTC
      Quality of Life (QL) Groupto assess the satisfaction of patients affected by
      cancer and hospitalized in oncology centers. The aim of this study isto assess
      the psychometric properties of the EORTC IN-PATSAT32 administered to Moroccan
      patients. Methods. Atotal of 133 hospitalized patients affected by cancer in
      different sites completed the translated EORTC IN-PATSAT32questionnaire in
      oncology hospitals. The internal consistence reliability, reproducibility and
      construct validity wereassessed. Results. The homogeneity was good for all scales
      with Cronbach's coefficients from 0.72 to 0.95 for all scales.Reproducibility
      test-retest was very satisfactory and the intra-class correlations coefficients
      (ICCs) for the scales wereall above 0.70 except for the single general
      satisfaction with a ICC of 0.67. All items were highly correlated with ownrather
      than other scales. Conclusion. The results of this study confirm that the
      Moroccan Arabic version of the EORTCIN-PATSAT32 has acceptable reliability and
      validity, comparable to those reported for other languages.

PMID- 28612595
TI  - Trends in Female Breast Cancer by Age Group in the ChiangMai Population
AB  - Objectives: This study was conducted to determine incidence trends of female
      breast cancer according to age groupsand to predict future change in Chiang Mai
      women through 2028. Method: Data were collected from all hospitals inChiang Mai
      in northern Thailand, from 1989 through 2013, and used to investigate effects of
      age, year of diagnosis(period) and year of birth (cohort) on female breast cancer
      incidences using an age-period-cohort model. This modelfeatures geometric cut
      trends to predict change by young (<40 years), middle-aged (40-59) and elderly
      (>=60) agegroups. Result: Of 5, 417 female breast cancer patients with a median
      age of 50 years (interquartile range: 43 to 59years), 15%, 61% and 24% were
      young, middle-aged and elderly, respectively. Seventy nine percent of cancer
      casesin this study were detected at advanced stage. The trend in stage
      classification showed an increase in percentage ofearly stage and a decrease in
      metastatic cancers. Linear trends for cohort and period were not found in young
      femalesbut were observed in middle-aged and elderly groups. Age-standardized
      rates (ASR) can be expected to remain stablearound 6.8 per 100,000 women-years in
      young females. In the other age groups, the ASR trends were calculated toincrease
      and reach peaks in 2024 of 120.2 and 138.2 per 100,000 women-years, respectively.
      Conclusion: Cohorteffects or generation-specific effects, such as life style
      factors and the year of diagnosis (period) might have impactedon increased
      incidence in women aged over 40 years but not those under 40 years. A budget
      should be providedfor treatment facilities and strategies to detect early stage
      cancers. The cost effectiveness of screening measures i.e.mammographic screening
      may need to be reconsidered for women age over 40 years.

PMID- 28612596
TI  - Prognostic Value of the Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR)in Lung Cancer Cases
AB  - Haemogram assessment is a cheap and easy method which can be readily performed
      for almost all patients.Leucocyte, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts and the
      neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are markers of systemicinflammation. We here
      aimed to evaluate haemogram parameters of our patients with lung cancer according
      to thepathologic diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods:The study included 386 patients
      diagnosed with lung cancer in our hospital between January 2006 and January 2014.
      Aretrospective examination was made of the data from the patient records and the
      hospital information. NLR values werecategorised into two groups: <3 and >=3.
      Results: Median survival time in patients aged <65 years was 28.7 months andin
      those aged >=65 years, it was 18.4 months (p<0.001). The median survival time was
      20.2 months in NSCLC and 13.0months in SCLC patients (p<0.001). In NSCLC cases
      with NLR<3 the median survival time (31.1 months) was longerthan that of patients
      with NLR>=3 (18 months) (p=0.003). In SCLC patients, no relationship could be
      found betweenNLR and median survival time (p=0.408). With every 1 unit increase
      in lymphocyte count a 5.5% decrease in risk ofperiodic death ((1/0.947)x100=5.5%)
      was noted. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that
      lymphocytecount, neutrophil count, Hb, Htc, and NLR are useful in determining
      prognosis in lung cancer (LC) patients and NLRcould be more significant in
      determining the prognosis in NSCLC than in SCLC cases.

PMID- 28612597
TI  - Men Have a Higher Incidence of Seroma after Breast CancerSurgery
AB  - Background and Objectives: Male breast cancer (MBC) is rare. While surgical
      treatment may result in severalcomplications in women, little is known about how
      it affects men. The objective of this study was to compare theincidence of
      postoperative wound complications between men and women after breast cancer
      surgery. Methods: Thiscohort study included all male patients enrolled for breast
      cancer surgical treatment at the Brazilian National CancerInstitute, between 1999
      and 2013. Each was matched with three female breast cancer patients. Parameters
      analyzed werenecrosis, seroma and infection. Odds ratios (OR) were generated and
      statistical significance was considered at p<0.05.Results: We included in this
      study 71 men and 213 women with an average age of 63.5 (+/-12.0). The incidences
      ofcomplications in men and women were: necrosis, 32.8% and 37.8% (p=0.477);
      seroma, 80.6% and 59.4% (p=0.003);and surgical site infection, 14.8% and 18.2%
      (p=0.54). After adjustment, men had a 3 times greater risk of developingseroma
      compared to women (OR=3.0; IC95%=1.4-6.4; p=0.004). No statistically significant
      differences was detectedin the incidences of wound infection and necrosis.
      Conclusion: Men have a greater risk of developing seroma aftersurgery for breast
      cancer than women, whereas infection and necrosis occur at similar frequencies in
      both genders.

PMID- 28612599
TI  - Tobacco Use Prevention for the Young (TUPY-S): Development,Validity and
      Reliability of an Interactive Multimedia Strategyfrom the Adolescents'
      Perspective in Malaysia
AB  - Objective: This study aims to develop, validate and determine the reliability of
      an interactive multimedia strategyto prevent tobacco use among the young (TUPY-S)
      from an adolescents' perspective. Methods: A descriptive studydesign was
      utilized. A modular instruction guideline by Russel (1974) was followed in the
      entire process, comprisinga feasibility study, a review of existing modules,
      specification of the objectives, identification of the construct criterionitems,
      learner analysis and entry behavior specification, establishment of the sequence
      instruction and media selection,a tryout with students and a field test. Result:
      Feasibility was agreed among the researchers and the school
      authorities.Culturally suitable rigorously developed tobacco use preventive
      strategies delivered using information technology (IT)are lacking in the
      literature. The objective of TUPY-S is to prevent tobacco use among adolescents
      living in Malaysia.Identified construct criterion items include knowledge,
      attitude, intention to use, self-efficacy, and refusal skill. The
      targetpopulation was early adolescents belonging to generation-Z. Content was
      developed from the adolescents' perspectiveand delivered using IT in Malay
      language. Content validity, assessed by six experts in the field and module
      development,was good at 86%. The students' tryout showed satisfactory face
      validity subjectively and objectively (85.5%) andhigh alpha Cronbach reliability
      (0.91). Conclusion: TUPY-S was confirmed to suit early adolescents of the
      currentgeneration living in Malaysia. It demonstrated good content validity among
      the experts, satisfactory face validity andreliability among the target
      population. TUPY-S is ready to be evaluated for its effectiveness among early
      adolescents.

PMID- 28612598
TI  - Relationship between Breast Cancer and Oral ContraceptiveUse among Thai
      Premenopausal Women: a Case-Control Study
AB  - Background: Breast cancer (BC) is an important issue both in medicine and public
      health as it is the leadingmalignancy with high incidence and mortality among
      women worldwide. The objective of this research was to determinethe associations
      of BC with oral contraceptive (OC) use among Thai premenopausal women (TPW).
      Materials andMethods: A case-control study was conducted among TPW attending the
      National Cancer Institute, with 257 casesand 257 controls in 2013-2014. Cases and
      controls were matched by age (+/- 5 years), residential area and duration
      ofattendance. Data were collected with a questionnaire that comprised 2 sections:
      part 1 socio-demographic characteristics,and part 2 health risk behavior and
      reproductive factors. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and
      analyticstatistics with a computerized statistical package. Results: The study
      participants were mainly 40-44 years old (60 %)with an average age of 39 years.
      The major BC type was invasive ductal carcinoma (91.8%). Multiple
      unconditionallogistic regression analysis, controlling for possible confounding
      factors, revealed that TPW with OC use increased therisk of BC by a factor of
      over 3 times (ORadj=3.39, 95%CI =1.99-5.75). In addition, the greater the
      duration of OC, thegreater the risk (ORadj 6-10 yrs=3.91, 95%CI = 1.99-7.64,
      ORadj >10 yrs=4.23, 95%CI = 2.05-8.71). Conclusions:From our findings, a
      surveillance system of cancer risk with OC use should be conducted, accompanied
      by an exercisepromotion campaign among risk groups, providing information and
      counseling for physical exercise and physicalactivities, weight control and basic
      adjustment for a healthy lifestyle to reduce BC.

PMID- 28612600
TI  - Descriptive Epidemiological Analysis of Thyroid Cancer in theSaudi Population
      (2001-2013)
AB  - Objective: Thyroid cancer has one of the highest frequency rates among thyroid
      diseases, and ranks second forneoplasia in the Saudi female population. This
      paper concerns a comprehensive evaluation of increasing incidencetrends and
      geographical distribution of different patterns of thyroid cancer among the Saudi
      Arabian population usingthe latest Saudi Cancer Registry (SCR) reports. Methods:
      The analysis included a total of 7,670 thyroid cancer cases(1604 male and 6066
      female) which were recorded in the SCR files for the period between January 2001
      and December2013. Results: The overall incidence of thyroid cancer increased
      during the period from 2001 to 2013. The mostcommon age group affected was 35-39
      years in both sexes. Najran recorded the highest differences in thyroid
      cancerrates with increase between 2001 and 2013. Controversially, other regions
      like Tabuk and the Northern provincesrecorded obvious decreases in rates of
      thyroid cancer among females. Conclusion: Thyroid cancer is the second mostcommon
      cancer among females in Saudi Arabia with incidence peaks in both genders aged 35
      39 years and increaseovertall in the country from 2001 to 2013. The specific
      causes of this upward trend are unknown. Further clinical andepidemiological
      research must be conducted for clarification, with an emphasis of causes of the
      variation in thyroidcancer prevalence between regions in Saudi Arabia.

PMID- 28612601
TI  - Classification of Bladder Cancer Patients via Penalized LinearDiscriminant
      Analysis
AB  - Objectives: In order to identify genes with the greatest contribution to bladder
      cancer, we proposed a sparse modelmaking the best discrimination from other
      patients. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 22 genes with a key role inmost
      cancers were considered in 21 bladder cancer patients and 14 participants of the
      same age (+/- 3 years) withoutbladder cancer in Shiraz city, Southern Iran. Real
      time-PCR was carried out using SYBR Green and for each of the 22target genes 2
      Deltact as a quantitative index of gene expression was reported. We determined
      the most affective genes for thediscriminant vector by applying penalized linear
      discriminant analysis using LASSO penalties. All the analyses wereperformed using
      SPSS version 18 and the penalized LDA package in R.3.1.3 software. Results: Using
      penalized lineardiscriminant analysis led to elimination of 13 less important
      genes. Considering the simultaneous effects of 22 geneswith important influence
      on many cancers, it was found that TGFbeta, IL12A, Her2, MDM2, CTLA-4 and IL-23
      geneshad the greatest contribution in classifying bladder cancer patients with
      the penalized linear discriminant vector. Thereceiver operating characteristic
      (ROC) curve revealed that the proposed vector had good performance with
      minimal(only 3) mis- classification. The area under the curve (AUC) of our
      proposed test was 96% (95% CI: 83%- 100%) andsensitivity, specificity, positive
      and negative predictive values were 90.5%, 85.7%, 90.5% and 85.7%,
      respectively.Conclusions: The penalized discriminant method can be considered as
      appropriate for classifying bladder cancer casesand searching for important
      biomarkers.

PMID- 28612602
TI  - Oxygen-Dependent Globin Coupled Sensor Signaling Modulates Motility and Virulence
      of the Plant Pathogen Pectobacterium carotovorum.
AB  - Bacterial pathogens utilize numerous signals to identify the presence of their
      host and coordinate changes in gene expression that allow for infection. Within
      plant pathogens, these signals typically include small molecules and/or proteins
      from their plant hosts and bacterial quorum sensing molecules to ensure
      sufficient bacterial cell density for successful infection. In addition, bacteria
      use environmental signals to identify conditions when the host defenses are
      weakened and potentially to signal entry into an appropriate host/niche for
      infection. A globin coupled sensor protein (GCS), termed PccGCS, within the soft
      rot bacterium Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum WPP14 has been
      identified as an O2 sensor and demonstrated to alter virulence factor excretion
      and control motility, with deletion of PccGCS resulting in decreased rotting of a
      potato host. Using small molecules that modulate bacterial growth and quorum
      sensing, PccGCS signaling also has been shown to modulate quorum sensing
      pathways, resulting in the PccGCS deletion strain being more sensitive to plant
      derived phenolic acids, which can function as quorum sensing inhibitors, and
      exhibiting increased N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) production. These findings
      highlight a role for GCS proteins in controlling key O2-dependent phenotypes of
      pathogenic bacteria and suggest that modulating GCS signaling to limit P.
      carotovorum motility may provide a means to decrease rotting of plant hosts.

PMID- 28612604
TI  - Lateral Flow Aptasensor for Small Molecule Targets Exploiting Adsorption and
      Desorption Interactions on Gold Nanoparticles.
AB  - A lateral flow assay (LFA) can provide a rapid and cost-effective means to detect
      targets in situ; however, existing LFA formats (predominantly sandwich assays)
      are not suitable for small molecule targets. We present a new LFA design that
      probes the dissociation of aptamers from the surface of gold nanoparticles upon
      recognition of small targets. The target-induced removal of aptamer molecules
      from the surface of the colored particles results in the particles being captured
      on a test line comprised of the protein bovine serum albumin immobilized on
      nitrocellulose. On the other hand, in the absence of target, aptamer coated
      particles are protected from capture on the test line and are instead captured at
      a control line comprised of the protein lysozyme. This protein is strongly
      positively charged under measurement conditions and therefore captures all gold
      nanoparticles regardless of the presence of aptamers. The effectiveness and
      operation mechanism of this simply fabricated sensor was demonstrated by using a
      previously reported 35-mer aptamer for a small molecule, 17beta-estradiol. The
      sensor exhibited nanomolar level of detection, excellent selectivity against
      potential interfering molecules, and robust operation in natural river water
      samples. The simplicity and performance of the sensor platform renders it
      applicable to a wide range of other aptamers targeting small molecules, as we
      demonstrated with a novel bisphenol A aptamer. Additionally, we show that our LFA
      design is not confined to the specific proteins used as test and control lines,
      provided that their charge is appropriate to modulate the interaction with
      aptamer-coated or bare nanoparticles.

PMID- 28612603
TI  - Sortase-Mediated Ligation as a Modular Approach for the Covalent Attachment of
      Proteins to the Exterior of the Bacteriophage P22 Virus-like Particle.
AB  - Virus-like particles are unique platforms well suited for the construction of
      nanomaterials with broad-range applications. The research presented here
      describes the development of a modular approach for the covalent attachment of
      protein domains to the exterior of the versatile bacteriophage P22 virus-like
      particle (VLP) via a sortase-mediated ligation strategy. The bacteriophage P22
      coat protein was genetically engineered to incorporate an LPETG amino acid
      sequence on the C-terminus, providing the peptide recognition sequence utilized
      by the sortase enzyme to catalyze peptide bond formation between the LPETG-tagged
      protein and a protein containing a polyglycine sequence on the N-terminus. Here
      we evaluate attachment of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the head domain of
      the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein by genetically producing polyglycine
      tagged proteins. Attachment of both proteins to the exterior of the P22 VLP was
      found to be highly efficient as judged by SDS-PAGE densitometry. These results
      enlarge the tool kit for modifying the P22 VLP system and provide new insights
      for other VLPs that have an externally displayed C-terminus that can use the
      described strategy for the modular modification of their external surface for
      various applications.

PMID- 28612605
TI  - Spectrum of Slow and Super-Slow (Picosecond to Nanosecond) Water Dynamics around
      Organic and Biological Solutes.
AB  - Water dynamics in the solvation shell of solutes plays a very important role in
      the interaction of biomolecules and in chemical reaction dynamics. However, a
      selective spectroscopic study of the solvation shell is difficult because of the
      interference of the solute dynamics. Here we report on the observation of heavily
      slowed down water dynamics in the solvation shell of different solutes by
      measuring the low-frequency spectrum of solvation water, free from the
      contribution of the solute. A slowdown factor of ~50 is observed even for
      relatively low concentrations of the solute. We go on to show that the effect can
      be generalized to different solutes including proteins.

PMID- 28612606
TI  - Photoredox-Catalyzed Hydroacylation of Olefins Employing Carboxylic Acids and
      Hydrosilanes.
AB  - A hydroacylation reaction of alkenes has been achieved employing readily
      available carboxylic acids as the acyl source and hydrosilanes as a hydrogen
      source via photoredox catalysis. The combination of both single electron transfer
      and hydrogen atom transfer steps has dramatically expanded new applications of
      carboxylic acids in organic synthesis. The protocol also features extremely mild
      conditions, broad substrate scope, and good functional group tolerance, affording
      a novel and convenient approach to hydroacylation of alkenes.

PMID- 28612607
TI  - Stereoselective Cyclopropanation to Homoquinones from Phenacyl Carbenes Obtained
      through Quinone-Electrogenerated Bases.
AB  - A series of new (E) and (Z)-benzoyl-homoquinones have been prepared in good yield
      by the parent quinone-electrogenerated base (EGB) in the presence of alpha
      bromoacetophenones or alpha-bromopropiophenone. The EGB, obtained when
      electrolysis of p-benzoquinone, or 1,4-naphthoquinone, is carried out at the
      reduction potential of their first voltammetric peak, conducted to
      electrogenerated phenacyl carbenes after halide evolution on the first obtained
      bromo-enolates. The stereoselectivity of the [2 + 2]cycloaddition of the carbene
      to the quinoid substrate is highly dependent on the electrode nature. Reaction
      mechanism proposal is discussed.

PMID- 28612608
TI  - Higher Antioxidant Activity, Total Flavonols, and Specific Quercetin Glucosides
      in Two Different Onion (Allium cepa L.) Varieties Grown under Organic Production:
      Results from a 6-Year Field Study.
AB  - We carried out a 6-year study to assess the effect of conventional, organic, and
      mixed cultivation practices on bioactive compounds (flavonoids, anthocyanins) and
      antioxidant capacity in onion. Total flavonoids, total anthocyanins, individual
      flavonols, individual anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity were measured in two
      varieties ('Hyskin' and 'Red Baron') grown in a long-term split-plot factorial
      systems comparison trial. This is the first report of repeated measurements of
      bioactive content over an extensive time period in a single crop type within the
      same trial. Antioxidant activity (DPPH and FRAP), total flavonol content, and
      levels of Q 3,4' D and Q 3 G were higher in both varieties under fully organic
      compared to fully conventional management. Total flavonoids were higher in 'Red
      Baron' and when onions were grown under organic soil treatment. Differences were
      primarily due to different soil management practices used in organic agriculture
      rather than pesticide/ herbicide application.

PMID- 28612609
TI  - Surface Water Dependent Properties of Sulfur-Rich Molybdenum Sulfides:
      Electrolyteless Gas Phase Water Splitting.
AB  - Sulfur-rich molybdenum sulfides are an emerging class of inorganic coordination
      polymers that are predominantly utilized for their superior catalytic properties.
      Here we investigate surface water dependent properties of sulfur-rich MoSx (x =
      32/3) and its interaction with water vapor. We report that MoSx is a highly
      hygroscopic semiconductor, which can reversibly bind up to 0.9 H2O molecule per
      Mo. The presence of surface water is found to have a profound influence on the
      semiconductor's properties, modulating the material's photoluminescence by over 1
      order of magnitude, in transition from dry to moist ambient. Furthermore, the
      conductivity of a MoSx-based moisture sensor is modulated in excess of 2 orders
      of magnitude for 30% increase in humidity. As the core application, we utilize
      the discovered properties of MoSx to develop an electrolyteless water splitting
      photocatalyst that relies entirely on the hygroscopic nature of MoSx as the water
      source. The catalyst is formulated as an ink that can be coated onto insulating
      substrates, such as glass, leading to efficient hydrogen and oxygen evolution
      from water vapor. The concept has the potential to be widely adopted for future
      solar fuel production.

PMID- 28612610
TI  - Ecological Change Drives a Decline in Mercury Concentrations in Southern Beaufort
      Sea Polar Bears.
AB  - We evaluated total mercury (THg) concentrations and trends in polar bears from
      the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation from 2004 to 2011. Hair THg
      concentrations ranged widely among individuals from 0.6 to 13.3 MUg g-1 dry
      weight (mean: 3.5 +/- 0.2 MUg g-1). Concentrations differed among sex and age
      classes: solitary adult females ~ adult females with cubs ~ subadults > adult
      males ~ yearlings > cubs-of-the-year ~ 2 year old dependent cubs. No variation
      was observed between spring and fall samples. For spring-sampled adults, THg
      concentrations declined by 13% per year, contrasting recent trends observed for
      other Western Hemispheric Arctic biota. Concentrations also declined by 15% per
      year considering adult males only, while a slower, nonsignificant decrease of
      4.4% per year was found for adult females. Lower THg concentrations were
      associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and higher proportions of lower
      trophic position food resources consumed. Because BMI and diet were related, and
      the relationship to THg was strongest for BMI, trends were re-evaluated adjusting
      for BMI as the covariate. The adjusted annual decline was not significant. These
      findings indicate that changes in foraging ecology, not declining environmental
      concentrations of mercury, are driving short-term declines in THg concentrations
      in southern Beaufort Sea polar bears.

PMID- 28612611
TI  - DRILL: An Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Interface for Improved
      Sensitivity via Inertial Droplet Sorting and Electrohydrodynamic Focusing in a
      Swirling Flow.
AB  - We describe the DRILL (dry ion localization and locomotion) device, which is an
      interface for electrospray ionization (ESI)-mass spectrometry (MS) that exploits
      a swirling flow to enable the use of inertial separation to prescribe different
      fates for electrosprayed droplets based on their size. This source adds a new
      approach to charged droplet trajectory manipulation which, when combined with
      hydrodynamic drag forces and electric field forces, provides a rich range of
      possible DRILL operational modes. Here, we experimentally demonstrate sensitivity
      improvement obtained via vortex-induced inertial sorting of electrosprayed
      droplets/ions: one possible mode of DRILL operation. In this mode, DRILL removes
      larger droplets while accelerating the remainder of the ESI plume, producing a
      high velocity stream of gas-enriched spray with small, highly charged droplets
      and ions and directing it toward the MS inlet. The improved signal-to-noise ratio
      (10-fold enhancement) in the detection of angiotensin I is demonstrated using the
      DRILL interface coupled to ESI-MS along with an improved limit of detection (10
      fold enhancement, 100 picomole) in the detection of angiotensin II. The utility
      of DRILL has also been demonstrated by liquid chromatography (LC)-MS: a stable
      isotope labeled peptide cocktail was spiked into a complex native tissue extract
      and quantified by unscheduled multiple reaction monitoring on a TSQ Vantage.
      DRILL demonstrated improved signal strength (up to a 700-fold) for 8 out of 9
      peptides and had no effects on the peak shape of the transitions.

PMID- 28612612
TI  - [Molecular Aspects of Thyroid Tumors with Emphasis on MicroRNA and Their Clinical
      Implications].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Central to neoplastic transformation and tumor progression is
      alteration of the signaling pathways that control cell proliferation and
      apoptosis. The key mechanisms for this neoplastic process are genetic changes
      (mutations of cancer-related genes) and recently identified epigenetic changes
      that involve DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling (which has a profound effect
      on the control of gene expression), and noncoding, regulatory RNA (notably,
      microRNA - miRNA). MiRNAs control expression of their target gene post
      transcriptionally. These molecular factors have potential as diagnostic,
      prognostic, and predictive molecular markers. Epithelial tumors of the thyroid
      gland are a histogenetically, morphologically, and pathobiologically
      heterogeneous group of neoplasms and require new, molecular approaches in
      clinical practice. AIM: This review aims to present contemporary scientific
      knowledge of this molecular (genetic and epigenetic) field of sporadic thyroid
      tumors of follicular cell origin and their potential clinical implications. The
      fundamental mutations (BRAFV600E, RET/PTC, RAS, and PAX8-PPARG) in selected tumor
      types are described comprehensively. Special attention is paid to miRNAs,
      including their biogenesis, function, and expression profiles in the most common
      thyroid tumors - follicular adenoma, follicular carcinoma, and papillary
      carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Thyroid cancer medicine has recently entered a new,
      molecular era. Comprehensive knowledge of all molecular aspects may improve
      diagnostics and management of thyroid neoplasms through the introduction of
      novel, progressive treatment strategies for this cancer. Further research on
      signaling pathway-related targets, standardization of methods, and evaluation of
      results are required.Key words: thyroid tumors - cancerogenesis - genetics -
      epigenetics - microRNA The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of
      interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial
      Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical
      papers.Submitted: 19. 10. 2016Accepted: 2. 11. 2016.

PMID- 28612613
TI  - [Recent Overview of Kidney Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment].
AB  - The incidence of kidney cancer has increased in the majority of countries
      worldwide, and this disease has relatively high lethality. For many years, the
      Slovak Republic has been among the countries with the highest kidney cancer
      incidence, in particular in 2012 (according to global estimated values) in both
      genders, although mainly in females. In the last few years, the Czech Republic
      has had the highest incidence of kidney cancer worldwide. The use of imaging
      techniques such as ultrasound and computerized tomography has increased the
      detection of asymptomatic renal cell cancer. Etiological factors include
      lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity, and hypertension. Nephrectomy and
      partial nephrectomy are the standard treatments. Locally confined tumors in stage
      T1 should be treated with kidney-preserving surgery. Minimally invasive surgery
      is often possible as long as the surgeon has the requisite experience. For
      patients with metastases, overall and progression-free survival can be prolonged
      by pharmacotherapy with VEGF and mTOR inhibitors. The resection or irradiation of
      metastases can be a useful palliative treatment for patients with brain or osseal
      metastases that are painful or increase the risk of fracture. Minimally invasive
      surgery and new systemic drugs have expanded the therapeutic options for patients
      with renal cell carcinoma. The search for new predictive and prognostic markers
      is now in progress.Key words: kidney cancer - epidemiology - risk factors -
      pathology - diagnosis - therapy The authors declare they have no potential
      conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study.
      The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for
      biomedical papers.Submitted: 2. 12. 2016Accepted: 3. 1. 2017.

PMID- 28612614
TI  - [Malignant Melanoma - from Classical Histology towards Molecular Genetic
      Testing].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malignant melanoma is - in comparison with other skin tumors - a
      relatively rare malignant neoplasm with highly aggressive biologic behavior and
      variable prognosis. Recent data in pathology and molecular diagnostics indicate
      that malignant melanoma is in fact not a single entity but a group of different
      neoplasms with variable etiopathogenesis, biologic behavior and prognosis. New
      therapeutic options using targeted treatment blocking MAPK signaling pathway
      require testing of BRAF gene mutation status. This helps to select patients with
      highest probability of benefit from this treatment. AIM: This article summarizes
      information on the correlation of morphological findings with genetic changes,
      discusses the representation of individual genetic types in various morphological
      subgroups and deals with the newly proposed genetic classification of melanoma
      and the current possibilities, pitfalls and challenges in BRAF testing of
      malignant melanoma. It also describes the current testing situation in the Czech
      Republic - the methods used, the representation of BRAF mutations in the tested
      population and the future of testing. It also shows the limitations of the BRAF
      and MEK targeted treatment concept resulting from the heterogeneity of the tumor
      population. Mechanisms of acquired resistance to MAPK pathway inhibitors,
      possibilities of their detection, and issues of combination of targeted therapy
      and immunotherapy are discussed.Key words: malignant melanoma - BRAF - mutation -
      molecular targeted therapy - tumor microenvironment - tumor heterogeneity This
      work was supported by projects PROGRES Q40/11, BBMRICZ LM2015089, SVV 260398 and
      GACR 17-10331S. The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest
      concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board
      declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical
      papers.Submitted: 28. 3. 2017Accepted: 16. 5. 2017.

PMID- 28612615
TI  - [New Drugs in the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia in the Elderly].
AB  - BACKGROUND: At the time of diagnosis, most patients with acute myeloid leukemia
      are older than 65 years of age. Treatment of this group of patients is
      challenging because they become less tolerant to aggressive chemotherapy with
      increasing age. Less than one-third of elderly patients are considered eligible
      for intensive treatment; nevertheless, the survival analysis for this population
      remains poor. Due to numerous comorbidities and an overall deteriorating
      condition, most elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia receive only
      palliative or best supportive care, which are associated with a high mortality
      rate. New therapeutic approaches are expected to improve the overall survival and
      quality of life of this group of patients. These promising treatments include
      cell kinase inhibitors, cytotoxic agents, monoclonal antibodies, and epigenetic
      therapy including hypomethylating agents and inhibitors of isocitrate
      dehydrogenase and histone deacetylase. In monotherapy, these new drugs show lower
      levels of toxicity than those commonly used in chemotherapy; however, they do not
      lead to a better long-lasting treatment response. To enhance therapeutic
      efficacy, combinations of the above-mentioned treatments are often used, and,
      during clinical trials, combinations with standard cytostatics are also common.
      The promising results of these studies show that even low-toxicity therapies can
      lead to a better overall treatment response and to longer overall survival. AIM:
      This article provides a brief overview of new drugs that are evaluated for their
      mechanism of effect, efficacy and toxicity in therapy of patients suffering from
      acute myeloid leukemia.Key words: acute myeloid leukemia - elderly - FLT3
      inhibitors - epigenetic therapy - monoclonal antibodies The authors declare they
      have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services
      used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE
      recommendation for biomedical papers.Submitted: 4. 11. 2016Accepted: 13. 12.
      2016.

PMID- 28612616
TI  - Basal Cell Carcinoma Multiplicity - a Retrospective Analysis of 899 Biopsy-proven
      Patients from a Single Institute.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An interesting clinical feature of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the
      skin is a marked interpatient variation in tumor number, lesion accrual and
      anatomic distribution. We analyzed a proportion of patients with multiple BCCs in
      the cohort of pathology report-confirmed cases of BCC and investigated
      clinicopathological differences between individuals suffering from multiple tumor
      lesions and patients with a single tumor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All consecutive
      patients with primary cutaneous BCCs, who were histologically diagnosed at our
      Department of Pathology during a 10-year period were enrolled into the study.
      RESULTS: A cohort of 899 participants with a total of 1,239 histologically proven
      primary BCCs were assessed. Of them, 728 (81%) had single BCC and 171 (19%) had
      multiple BCCs. Multiple lesions occurred more frequently in men than women. Mean
      number of tumors per patient was 1.5 in males and 1.2 in females. Among
      participants with multiple BCC manifestation, there was a steady increase of the
      male-to-female ratio with rising tumor number per individual. In the multiple BCC
      subgroup, the tumors were found more commonly in the trunk and upper limbs, and
      less frequently in the face. Histologically, these BCCs much more commonly
      included superficial subtype. There was a positive correlation between the non
      aggressive histologic phenotype of BCC and multiple tumor presentations on the
      one hand, and the aggressive histologic phenotype of BCC and a single tumor
      occurrence on the other. CONCLUSION: Our analysis shows that clinicopathological
      features associated with multiple BCC manifestations include male gender, tumor
      location in the trunk and upper extremities, and superficial histological
      subtype. Focus on this risk profile may be beneficial for clinical screening and
      may help clinicians in the selection of individuals, who should be followed-up
      more closely.Key words: basal cell carcinoma - single and multiple manifestations
      - clinicopathological differences.

PMID- 28612617
TI  - [Breast Cancer in Young Women - Correlation of Clinical Histomorphological, and
      Molecular-genetic Features of Breast Carcinoma in Women Younger than 35 Years of
      Age].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Worldwide, breast cancer is the leading type of malignancy in women.
      For premenopausal women, the disease brings much higher risk as it is usually
      more aggressive with worse prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this retrospective
      study, 92 women treated at the Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy in Pilsen
      were selected from a basic cohort of 356 women under 35 years of age with breast
      cancer who were diagnosed between 2006 and 2015. The control group comprised 100
      postmenopausal women over 65 years of age who were treated for invasive breast
      cancer. RESULTS: Overexpression of HER2/neu protein and a triple-negative
      immunoprofile and basal-like phenotype of cancer were more frequently seen in the
      women under 35 years of age. In addition, malignant cells were poorly
      differentiated and more aggressive, and prognostically favourable types were not
      often seen, in these women. In terms of the course of disease, the outcome was
      worse for the younger patients, and complete remission was reached less
      frequently and more cases of advanced disease and death due to the malignancy
      were detected. CONCLUSION: The incidence of invasive breast cancer in young women
      is low, representing around 2% of all cases of the disease, but this group of
      patients is prognostically very important. The cancers at such a young age are
      usually more aggressive (higher mitotic activity and higher grade), and
      prognostically worse types, such as triple-negative or basal-like, are seen
      significantly more often in younger patients. This retrospective study confirmed
      this premise. Moreover, breast cancer in young women is more often associated
      with genetic predisposition (e.g., hereditary mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes)
      than in older women.Key words: breast cancer - young women - triple negative
      breast cancer - BRCA mutation - basal-like - tumor-suppressor genes This work was
      partially supported by the Charles University research fund (project number SVV
      2016-260 282). The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest
      concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board
      declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical
      papers.Submitted: 10. 1. 2017Accepted: 15. 3. 2017.

PMID- 28612618
TI  - Durable Complete Response of Colorectal Cancer Metastasis after Biochemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resection of the metastatic site is indicated but not always possible
      in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who achieve a partial or
      complete response (CR) to induction systemic treatment. CR after systemic
      treatment alone is uncommon, and even patients with radiologic CR after induction
      chemotherapy harbour persistent macroscopic or microscopic residual disease in
      more than 80% of cases. Occasionally, some metastatic lesions disappear
      radiologically but others persist after induction systemic treatment. The
      indication and extent of metastasectomy in these situations is controversial,
      especially regarding sites with completely regressed metastases. CASE: This case
      report describes a patient with mCRC who achieved a long-term response after
      biochemotherapy and incomplete metastasectomy. One of the known liver lesions
      could not be removed due to its disappearance after induction biochemotherapy
      with FOLFOX and bevacizumab. Further adjuvant chemotherapy using the FOLFOX
      regimen was administered postoperatively. The patient has been meticulously
      followed by radiology including repeated positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography and magnetic resonance scans, clinical examination and tumour markers.
      No recurrence of cancer has been detected after a follow-up of 5 years. RESULTS
      AND CONCLUSION: CR to systemic treatment is uncommon, but this case report
      demonstrates that it can be durable in patients with colorectal cancer and liver
      metastases. This case report indicates that some patients with mCRC can be cured
      with systemic therapy only, challenging the prevailing paradigm of mCRC
      therapy.Key words: colorectal cancer - metastasis - chemotherapy - molecular
      targeted therapy - diagnostic imaging.

PMID- 28612619
TI  - [Isolated Perfusion of the Upper Extremity with TNF-alpha - Double Venous
      Cannulation].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The authors present a technical variation of the standard cannulation
      for cardiopulmonary bypass perfusion during hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion
      (ILP) procedures in selected patients with unresectable soft tissue sarcoma or
      malignant melanoma. PATIENTS: Of 55 ILP procedures performed at our institution
      since the procedure was established in 2009, nine were performed at the upper
      extremity. Standard single venous cannulation was used in five cases, and
      extended, double venous cannulation in the last four. The standard technique for
      brachial vein cannulation in a small compartment of the upper extremity entails a
      problematic and longer perfusion of the upper extremity. This is due to the lower
      flow rate in the venous system and relatively large surface area with respect to
      weight. We present a simple technique based on a "Y" cannulation of the venous
      system via the deep brachial vein and superficial venous system via the basilic
      vein, delivering a 20% increase in flow rate in the extracorporeal circulation.
      Faster heating of the upper extremity and a stable thermal environment throughout
      upper-extremity ILP are essential for successful treatment. CONCLUSION: Extended
      technique of venous cannulation for extracorporeal circulation setting, due to
      their advantages, became standard in the upper limb ILP procedure at our
      institution.Key words: isolated limb perfusion - malignant melanoma - soft tissue
      sarcoma - upper limb - extracorporeal circulation The authors declare they have
      no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used
      in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE
      recommendation for biomedical papers.Submitted: 8. 1. 2017Accepted: 15. 1. 2017.

PMID- 28612620
TI  - SAMPUS, MELTUMP and THIMUMP - Diagnostic Categories Characterized by Uncertain
      Biological Behavior.
AB  - In the dermatopathological practice, there is a group of atypical melanocytic
      lesions with borderline histological features between benign simulants and
      malignant melanoma (MM), due to conflicting diagnostic criteria and inter
      observer disagreement. In these cases, the dermatopathologist is authorized to
      seek consult with an established expert in the field, but even the most
      experienced specialist may not be sure about the correct diagnosis and the
      subsequent biological behavior. There is general consensus among qualified
      dermatopathologists that can be helpful to insert these ambiguous cases into two
      diagnostic categories: SAMPUS (Superficial Atypical Melanocytic Proliferations of
      Unknown Significance) and MELTUMP (MELanocytic Tumors of Uncertain Malignant
      Potential). According to the conception of MM progression through two phases, the
      radial growth phase and the vertical growth phase, it is possible to identify a
      novel subtype of thin melanoma (THIM) with uncertain metastatic potential, due to
      the presence of extensive regression ( 75% of the lesion volume), which we here
      define with the acronym THIMUMP (THIn Melanoma of Uncertain Metastatic Potential)
      for the first time in literature.Key words: malignant melanoma - thin melanoma -
      histology.

PMID- 28612622
TI  - Pediatric Nurses' Perception of Support for Families With Children With
      Congenital Heart Defects.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to illuminate pediatric nurses' (PNs) perceptions
      of support for families with a child with a congenital heart defect. The study
      used a qualitative design with narrative interviews with eight PNs in Northern
      Sweden, and the interview data were analyzed with content analysis. The analysis
      revealed that the nurses perceive that letting the parents be involved in their
      child's care is of great importance in supporting the families. Although they
      have a paternalistic attitude to the families, they also stated that nurses
      should inform the parents about the care of the child, create a good relationship
      with the family, and build trust among all parties involved.

PMID- 28612621
TI  - Resiliency among older adults: dispositional hope as a protective factor in the
      insomnia-depressive symptoms relation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Depression is a significant mental health issue among older
      Australian adults. Research has indicated that insomnia is a key risk factor for
      the development of depressive symptoms in older adults, and that dispositional
      hope may be protective against the development of depressive symptoms in this
      population. This study examined whether dispositional hope and its dimensions,
      agency and pathways, moderated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and
      depressive symptoms among older Australian adults. METHOD: A community sample of
      88 men (Mage = 71.11, SDage = 5.54) and 111 women (Mage = 70.25, SDage = 4.64),
      aged 65-94 years, completed the Insomnia Severity Index, Adult Dispositional Hope
      Scale, and Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. RESULTS: After
      controlling for gender, age, relationship status, education level, method of
      participation, and perceived physical health, results supported the moderation
      models. The insomnia-depressive symptoms relation was significant for older
      adults with low and average (but not high) levels of dispositional hope, agency,
      and pathways. The Johnson-Neyman analyses indicated that the insomnia-depressive
      symptoms relation was significant for older adults who scored below 27.10 on
      dispositional hope, below 13.73 on agency, and below 13.49 and above 15.64 on
      pathways. CONCLUSION: The results of this study imply that interventions aimed at
      increasing dispositional hope, agency, and pathways among older adults who
      experience symptoms of insomnia may reduce their depressive symptoms. A
      cautionary note, however, is that very high scores on pathways among older adults
      who experience insomnia symptoms may be detrimental to their mental health.

PMID- 28612623
TI  - Frontal Tasks and Behavior in Rigid or Tremor-Dominant Parkinson Disease.
AB  - Parkinson disease (PD) is not an unambiguous entity, and there is a general
      consensus for the statement that an akinetic-rigid dominant type of presentation
      has a worse prognosis, in the follow-up. The aim of our study was to examine the
      differences in frontal tasks and behavior, in 2 PD naive groups: the rigid and
      the tremor-dominant types of presentation, according to motor scores. Our study
      has showed some important differences in frontal tasks and in behavior,
      performing more apathy, aggressiveness, and irritability in the rigid type, and
      more depression and anxiety in the tremor-dominant type. The former group causes
      the caregiver more distress and has a very rapid disease progression. It can be
      argued that rigid type PD presentation needs specific dedicated cares and more
      strong clinical attention.

PMID- 28612624
TI  - Prototypes reflect normative perceptions: implications for the development of
      reasoned action theory.
AB  - The reasoned action approach is one of the most successful behavioral theories in
      the history of social psychology. This study outlines the theoretical principles
      of reasoned action and considers when it is appropriate to augment it with a new
      variable. To demonstrate, we use survey data collected from a 4 to 17 year old
      U.S. adolescents to test how the 'prototype' variables fit into reasoned action
      approach. Through confirmatory factor analysis, we find that the prototype
      measures are normative pressure measures and when treated as a separate
      theoretical construct, prototype identity is not completely mediated by the
      proximal predictors of behavioral intention. We discuss the assumptions of the
      two theories and finally consider the distinction between augmenting a specific
      theory versus combining measures derived from different theoretical perspectives.

PMID- 28612625
TI  - GLP-1 receptor agonists, carotid atherosclerosis and retinopathy.

PMID- 28612626
TI  - Carcinoid transformation of presacral dermoid cyst in patient with currarino
      syndrome: a case report.
AB  - Currarino syndrome (CS) is a congenital disorder characterized by partial sacral
      agenesis, anorectal malformation and a presacral mass. Only three cases of
      carcinoid transformation of the presacral mass have been described in the
      literature. We present a case of carcinoid transformation of presacral dermoid
      cyst in patient with Currarino syndrome.

PMID- 28612627
TI  - Pharmacokinetic drug evaluation of budesonide in the treatment of Crohn's
      disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that
      commonly affects the terminal ileum and proximal colon. Although systemic
      corticosteroids such as prednisone and methylprednisolone are widely used for
      treatment of CD, these agents have a high incidence of adverse drug reactions due
      to off-target effects. Budesonide is a locally acting corticosteroid with
      enhanced formulation properties that offer a superior therapeutic index in
      comparison to conventional members of the class. Areas covered: This review
      focuses on budesonide for the treatment of CD. The pharmacological and
      pharmacokinetics of the drug are summarized, along with clinical efficacy and
      safety data. We also indicate the role of budesonide in therapeutic algorithms.
      Expert opinion: Budesonide has an important role as an induction therapy in
      patients with mild to moderately active CD of the ileum and proximal colon. The
      most distinctive advantage of budesonide over conventional corticosteroids is a
      substantially reduced risk of corticosteroid-related side effects.

PMID- 28612628
TI  - Radioactive caesium (134Cs and 137Cs) in mushrooms of the genus Boletus from the
      Reggio Emilia in Italy and Pomerania in Poland.
AB  - Activity concentrations of 134Cs and 137Cs were determined in mushrooms of the
      Boletus species B. aereus, B. reticulatus, B. appendiculatus, B. calopus, B.
      edulis, B. erythropus, B. fechtneri, B. pinophilus, B. pseudoregius, B.
      rhodopurpureus, B. rhodoxanthus collected in the Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1993
      and 1994 and in B. edulis collected in Pomerania in northern Poland in the period
      from 1995-2015. Boletus edulis from the Reggio Emilia showed presence of 137Cs at
      330 +/- 220 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 1993 and at 370 +/- 180 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in
      1994. In B. edulis sampled in the Reggio Emilia in 1993 and 1994, the pre
      Chernobyl 137Cs from global fallout amounted to 39-46 % of the total activity
      concentrations of isotope 137Cs. B. edulis from Pomerania contained 137Cs in caps
      at 270 +/- 15 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 1995, and in whole fruiting bodies it was
      found to be 470 +/- 9 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 2015. The activity concentrations of
      137Cs determined in fruiting bodies of B. edulis from Pomerania fluctuated but
      persisted over the period from 1995 to 2015, while the maximum activity
      concentrations were well below the tolerance limit of 600 Bq kg-1 fresh product.

PMID- 28612629
TI  - Uterine artery pulsatility index in the first trimester: assessment of
      intersonographer and intersampling site measurement differences.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine intersonographer, intersampling site pulsatility index
      differences in the ascending branch of the uterine artery (UtA-PI) and their
      effect on detection rates (DR) for early onset preeclampsia (PE). METHODS: A
      prospective observational study was conducted including 52 women with singleton
      viable pregnancy at 11-13 weeks' gestation. Consecutive bilateral UtA-PI
      measurements were performed by two sonographers. Both sonographers hold the Fetal
      Medicine Foundation (FMF) uterine artery Doppler assessment competency
      certificates. Sonographer "A" underwent mentorship-based specialist training at
      the FMF; whilst sonographer "B" is a fetal maternal specialist who was deemed
      competent to measure UtA-PI based on completion of the FMF online course. Both
      sonographers were unaware of each other's UtA-PI and peak systolic velocity (PSV)
      measurements throughout the study. UtA-PI was measured by sonographer "A" at 1, 2
      and 3 cm distally from the internal os. UtA-PI minimum ("Low-PI") and mean ("Mean
      PI") were determined. Intraclass correlation (ICC), Bland-Altman analysis and
      Wilcoxon signed rank test were performed to determine bias, 95% limits of
      agreement (LOA) for intersonographer and intersampling site differences.
      Simulation studies were performed to determine the effect on early onset PE
      screening DR. RESULTS: (1) Intersite assessment indicated that UtA-PI and PSV
      decreased by 7-8% per centimeter relative to the measurement taken at the
      internal os; (2) Sonographer "B" UtA-PI measurements were significantly lower
      than those of sonographer "A" for "Low-PI" (p = .001), "Mean-PI" (p = .002) and
      PSV (p = .004) determined by Wilcoxon signed rank test. The mean reduction in
      "Low-PI", "Mean-PI" and PSV of sonographer "B" relative to sonographer "A" were
      14.04%, 11.09% and 10.99%, respectively; (3) Measurements taken by sonographer
      "B" at the level of the internal os were comparable to measurements taken by
      sonographer "A" at 2 cm distal to the internal os (low-PI: p = .98, Mean-PI: p =
      .49 and PSV: p = .24); (4) Between sonographer ICC for UtA-PI was asymmetrical
      strong (left ICC = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.51-0.84) to fair (right ICC = 0.38, 95%CI: 
      0.08-0.64); and (5) The 14% mean intersonographer difference in lowest UtA-PI
      would have resulted in an 7% difference in PE screening performance. CONCLUSIONS:
      The measurement of UtA-PI is sampling site dependent with the potential for
      significant intersonographer differences despite the availability of a
      prescriptive measurement protocol. This is an important observation as it implies
      that sonographer "B" inadvertently measured the UtA-PI at a distal site, not at
      the level of internal os, compared to those measured by sonographer "A",
      resulting in a lower DR for early onset PE.

PMID- 28612630
TI  - Isoxazol-5(2H)-one: a new scaffold for potent human neutrophil elastase (HNE)
      inhibitors.
AB  - Human neutrophil elastase (HNE) is an important target for the development of
      novel and selective inhibitors to treat inflammatory diseases, especially
      pulmonary pathologies. Here, we report the synthesis, structure-activity
      relationship analysis, and biological evaluation of a new series of HNE
      inhibitors with an isoxazol-5(2H)-one scaffold. The most potent compound (2o) had
      a good balance between HNE inhibitory activity (IC50 value =20 nM) and chemical
      stability in aqueous buffer (t1/2=8.9 h). Analysis of reaction kinetics revealed
      that the most potent isoxazolone derivatives were reversible competitive
      inhibitors of HNE. Furthermore, since compounds 2o and 2s contain two carbonyl
      groups (2-N-CO and 5-CO) as possible points of attack for Ser195, the amino acid
      of the active site responsible for the nucleophilic attack, docking studies
      allowed us to clarify the different roles played by these groups.

PMID- 28612631
TI  - Genetically attenuated malaria parasites as vaccines.

PMID- 28612632
TI  - Comparison of first trimester transvaginal anatomy scan to the second trimester
      structural survey in normal weight and obese populations: a pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare visualization of first trimester fetal anatomic transvaginal
      ultrasound (TVUS) to the second trimester transabdominal anatomic ultrasound
      (TAU) in normal weight and obese patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a
      prospective cross-sectional study design, 25 women underwent a TVUS between 12
      and 14 weeks, and a TAU at 18-22 weeks. For each anatomic structure, the
      percentage of patients achieving optimal visualization was recorded. Risk ratios
      for visualizing a structure in the second trimester versus the first were
      calculated. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients underwent a TVUS and 24 completed the
      TAU. The average BMI in the obese and nonobese groups was 34 kg/m2 and 23 kg/m2,
      respectively. All structures were more consistently visualized during the TAU for
      the both groups. The cardiac views, hands and feet were more difficult to
      visualize in all the patients at both scan times but were more frequently
      visualized in the TAU. For the obese patients, hands, feet, cardiac and spine
      views were less frequently visualized in both the scans. The posterior fossa and
      profile views were more difficult to obtain in the TVUS. CONCLUSIONS: The first
      trimester TVUS detects many of the structures assessed during an anatomic survey;
      however, it is not superior to the second trimester TAU in normal weight and
      obese patients.

PMID- 28612634
TI  - Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency: a form of non-obese fatty liver disease
      (NOFLD).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: With the growing obesity epidemic, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
      (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming one of the leading causes of liver disease worldwide.
      Although obesity is a main risk factor for the development of NAFLD, it can also
      develop in lean subjects and can be encountered in different clinical setting and
      in association with an array of genetic, metabolic, nutritional, infectious and
      drug-induced disorders. Areas covered: This article discusses causes of fatty
      liver in non-obese subjects focusing on Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D),
      a commonly overlooked disorder reviewing its prevalence, genetics, pathogenesis,
      clinical features, diagnosis and treatment. It will also review other causes of
      non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can be encountered in the absence of
      obesity and metabolic syndrome. Expert commentary: Although the prevalence of LAL
      D has been estimated in the range of 1 in 40,000 and 1 in 300,000, this estimate
      is much more than the identified cases reported in the literature, which suggests
      that that the disease may be considerably under-diagnosed. There is a pressing
      need to educate clinicians about the disease, especially with the development of
      new promising therapeutic modalities.

PMID- 28612633
TI  - Granisetron in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) -
      is there still a role after comparison with palonosetron?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) has a negative
      impact on the lives of subjects receiving chemotherapy. In 2009, the second
      generation 5-HT3-receptor antagonist, palonosetron, which is longer-acting than
      granisetron, was shown, as part of dual therapy with dexamethasone, to be
      superior to intravenous granisetron in the delayed phase of CINV. Area covered:
      In an attempt to maintain plasma levels of granisetron during the delayed phase
      of CINV, longer-acting preparations of granisetron have been manufactured. In
      addition to comparing intravenous/oral granisetron with palonosetron, this review
      considers the new longer-acting preparations of granisetron (transdermal and
      subcutanous) with emphasis on whether they are effective in the delayed phase of
      CINV. Expert opinion: Comparison of intravenous/oral granisetron and
      palonosetron, as part of triple therapy against the delayed phase of CINV, do not
      give clear-cut results as to non-inferiority or superiority of either agent.
      Subcutaneous granisetron is more convenient to use than transdermal granisetron,
      and has been shown to be non-inferior to palonosetron, as part of dual therapy,
      in the treatment of the acute and delayed phases of CINV. At present, it seems
      likely that there will be ongoing roles for intravenous and subcutaneous
      granisetron in CINV, but further data is required to ascertain the future of
      transdermal granisetron.

PMID- 28612635
TI  - Wearable sensors: can they benefit patients with chronic kidney disease?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This article ponders upon wearable medical measurement devices in
      relation to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and its' associated comorbidities - and
      whether these might benefit CKD-patients. We aimed to map the intersection(s) of
      nephrology and wearable sensor technology to help technologists understand
      medical aspects, and clinicians to understand technological possibilities that
      are available (or soon will become so). Areas covered: A structured literature
      search on main comorbidities and complications CKD patients suffer from, was used
      to steer mini-reviews on wearable sensor technologies clustered around 3 themes
      being: Cardiovascular-related, diabetes-related and physical fitness/frailty.
      This review excludes wearable dialysis - although also strongly enabled by
      miniaturization - because that highly important theme deserves separate in-depth
      reviewing. Expert commentary: Continuous progress in integrated electronics
      miniaturization enormously lowered price, size, weight and energy consumption of
      electronic sensors, processing power, memory and wireless connectivity. These
      combined factors boost opportunities for wearable medical sensors. Such devices
      can be regarded as enablers for: Remote monitoring, influencing human behaviour
      (exercise, dietary), enhanced home care, remote consults, patient education and
      peer networks. However, to make wearable medical devices succeed, the challenge
      to fit them into health care structures will be dominant over the challenge to
      realize the bare technologies themselves.

PMID- 28612636
TI  - Phage therapy for the treatment of human intestinal bacterial infections: soon to
      be a reality?

PMID- 28612637
TI  - Treatment options for children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease:
      is granulomonocytapheresis an effective alternative to drug therapy?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) require life-long
      medications, which even if effective have the potential to cause adverse effects
      as additional morbidity factors. In pediatric patients, drug therapy has more
      serious limitations, including impaired physical and mental development. A non
      drug therapeutic option is believed to be depletion of elevated and activated
      granulocytes and monocytes known to release inflammatory cytokines, like the
      CD14+CD16+ monocyte phenotype known to release tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Areas
      covered: Granulomonocyteapheresis (GMA) with an Adacolumn as a treatment option
      for IBD patients has been applied for the past 15 years. This article reviews the
      argument that GMA is a relevant and effective non-pharmacologic intervention in
      pediatric IBD setting. Expert commentary: GMA with an Adacolumn has shown promise
      in adult, pediatric, and adolescent patients with active IBD. There is evidence
      of post-GMA immunomodulation in terms of increased regulatory T-cell and B-cell
      activities. Additionally, patients who respond to GMA may attain a favorable long
      term clinical course by avoiding pharmacologicals during an early phase of their
      active IBD. GMA has a good safety profile, especially in difficult-to-treat and
      pediatric settings. An additional trial is warranted to assess the efficacy of
      GMA in the early phase of pediatric IBD to optimize patient selection.

PMID- 28612639
TI  - Finding Paradise Within: How Spirituality Protects Palliative Care Clients and
      Caregivers From Depression.
AB  - The aims of this article are to explore the experience of depression among
      palliative care clients and caregivers, describe the strategies they use in
      coping with depression, and clarify the role of spirituality in preventing and/or
      overcoming depression. This article discusses an aspect of the findings of a
      larger doctoral study that explored the nature of spirituality and spiritual
      engagement from the viewpoint of individuals with life-limiting conditions and
      their caregivers. van Manen's phenomenology was used in the study. The data
      generated from the doctoral study were subjected to secondary analysis to uncover
      the experience of depression. The methodology underpinning the secondary analysis
      was phenomenology also by van Manen. Fourteen clients and caregivers from across
      regional and rural South Australia informed the study. Data collection involved
      in-depth nonstructured home-based interviews that were audiotaped and transcribed
      verbatim. The findings highlighted relate to participants succumbing to
      depression, but having spiritual beliefs and practices helped them cope. One of
      the most insightful understanding was the role spirituality played in protecting
      individuals from depression, encapsulated in the theme "finding paradise within."
      Spirituality, understood from a religious or secular perspective, must be
      embedded in palliative care as it assisted in preventing and overcoming
      depression.

PMID- 28612638
TI  - Should isolated fetal ventriculomegaly measured below 12 mm be viewed as a
      variant of the norm? Results of a 5-year experience in a prenatal referral
      center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fetal ventriculomegaly (VM) is defined as lateral ventricles measured
      above 10 mm. Some authors believe VM <12 mm are variants of the norm and need not
      be addressed for referral ultrasound. METHODS: A retrospective continuous cohort
      study of 127 confirmed fetal VM was divided into three groups after initial
      referral sonographic assessment: isolated VM <12 mm (group A), isolated VM >=12
      mm (group B), and VM associated with other malformations (group C). We reviewed
      obstetric outcome and neonate evolution after 1 month with the aim of defining a
      pertinent prenatal workup. RESULTS: We reported fetal infections in all groups (p
      = .24) and chromosomal abnormalities only in group C (p = .41). Fetal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) found initially undiagnosed brain abnormalities in groups
      B and C (12.5 and 14.1%, p < .05). Ratios of healthy children after 1 month
      stemming, respectively, from groups A, B, and C were 66.7, 62.5, and 20.2% (p <
      .05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results are in favor of a systematic referral ultrasound
      for every fetal VM, regardless of size, as soon as definition criterion is met.
      Additional paraclinical assessment (maternal serologic status for toxoplasmosis
      and cytomegalovirus, amniocentesis, fetal cerebral MRI) should be discussed
      depending on the situation.

PMID- 28612640
TI  - Do exercise habits during middle age affect locomotive syndrome in old age?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Locomotive syndrome (LS) encompasses conditions that may lead to the
      need for nursing services. We aimed to quantify the association between exercise
      habits during youth or the middle-age years and both physical function and the
      presence of LS in Japanese elderly people. METHODS: We examined 460 participants
      of the eighth, ninth, and tenth iterations of the Miyagawa study. Participants
      were divided into an LS group and a no-LS group according to their scores on the
      25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale. The following physical function
      tests were performed: grip strength, 6-m walk at normal and maximum speed, single
      leg stance time with eyes open, and chair stand time. The frequency of past
      physical activity was determined by interview. RESULTS: Ninety-seven participants
      (21.1%) were classified as having LS. The LS group had worse physical function
      than the no-LS group. Exercise habits between the ages of 25 and 50 years were
      significantly related to later LS. CONCLUSIONS: Participants with LS were less
      likely to report a regular exercise habit between the ages of 25 and 50 years
      than participants without LS. Participants who reported regular exercise habits
      in middle age had better physical function during old age. Regular exercise
      habits in middle age appear to protect against LS during the older years.

PMID- 28612641
TI  - Psychosocial correlates of cortisol levels in fingernails among middle-aged
      workers.
AB  - It was recently suggested that cortisol levels in fingernails reflect cumulative
      hormone exposure over a relatively long period. This exploratory study cross
      sectionally investigated the relationships between fingernail cortisol level and
      psychosocial stress in a sample of middle-aged workers (94 men and 29 women). The
      participants were asked to grow their fingernails for ~2 weeks and then provide
      fingernail samples from every digit by using nail clippers. Further, they
      completed questionnaires for assessment of exposure to psychosocial stress in the
      past (stressful life events in the workplace in the previous year; e.g. change to
      a different line of work) and in the present (job stress and perceived stress).
      Results of a regression analysis adjusting for the effects of demographic
      variables showed that experience of stressful life events, but not job stress and
      perceived stress, was associated with elevated fingernail cortisol level. These
      findings indicate the potential of fingernail samples to retrospectively reflect
      individual differences in cortisol levels related to past psychosocial stress.

PMID- 28612642
TI  - 'Two clicks and I'm in!' Patients as co-actors in managing health data through a
      personal health record infrastructure.
AB  - One of the most significant changes in the healthcare field in the past 10 years
      has been the large-scale digitalization of patients' healthcare data, and an
      increasing emphasis on the importance of patients' roles in cooperating with
      healthcare professionals through digital infrastructures. A project carried out
      in the North of Italy with the aim of creating a personal health record has been
      evaluated over the course of 5 years by means of mixed method fieldwork. Two
      years after the infrastructure was put into regular service, the way in which
      patients are represented in the system and patient practices have been studied
      using surveys and qualitative interviews. The data show that, first, patients
      have become co-actors in describing their clinical histories; second, that they
      have become co-actors in the diagnosis process; and finally, they have become co
      actors in the management of time and space as regards their specific state of
      health.

PMID- 28612643
TI  - Survey of Irish general practitioners' preferences for continuing professional
      development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Doctors' continuing professional development (CPD) training needs are
      known to be strongly influenced by national and local contextual characteristics.
      Given the changing national demographic profile and government-mandated changes
      to primary care health care provision, this study aimed to investigate Irish
      General Practitioners' (GPs) perceptions of, and preferences for, current and
      future CPD programmes. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire, using closed-
      and open-ended questions, was administered to Irish GPs, focusing on training
      needs analysis; CPD course content; preferred format and the learning
      environment. RESULTS: The response rate was 719/1000 (71.9%). GPs identified
      doctor-patient communication as the most important and best-performed GP skill.
      Discrepancies between perceived importance (high) and current performance (low)
      emerged for time/workload management, practice finance and business skills. GPs
      identified clinically-relevant primary care topics and non-clinical topics
      (stress management, business skills, practice management) as preferences for
      future CPD. Flexible methods for CPD delivery were important. Gender and practice
      location (urban or rural) significantly influenced CPD participation and future
      course preference. CONCLUSION: The increasing diversity of services offered in
      the Irish primary care setting, in both clinical and non-clinical areas, should
      be tailored based to include GP practice location and structure.

PMID- 28612644
TI  - Methods to analyze big data in pharmacogenomics research.
AB  - The scale and scope of pharmacogenomics research continues to expand as the cost
      and efficiency of molecular data generation techniques advance. These new
      technologies give rise to enormous opportunity for the identification of
      important genetic and genomic factors important for drug treatment response. With
      this opportunity come significant challenges. Most of these can be categorized as
      'big data' issues, facing not only pharmacogenomics, but other fields in the life
      sciences as well. In this review, we describe some of the analysis techniques and
      tools being implemented for genetic/genomic discovery in pharmacogenomics.

PMID- 28612646
TI  - Impact assessment on patients' satisfaction and healthcare professionals'
      commitment of software supporting Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course: A
      protocol proposal.
AB  - Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals use software that affects the
      patients. Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course is the name given to the
      tuberculosis control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization. The
      main goal of this work is to propose a protocol for evaluating the impact of
      healthcare software supporting Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course on
      patients, healthcare professionals, and services. The proposed protocol consists
      of a set of instruments and steps. The instruments are reliable and validated
      existing questionnaires to be applied before and after using the software tool.
      The literature points out the need for standards on the software assessment. This
      is particularly critical when software affects patients directly. The present
      protocol is a universal tool to assess the impact of software used to support the
      fight against the tragedy of tuberculosis where a rigorous evaluation of IT in
      healthcare is highly recommended and of great importance.

PMID- 28612645
TI  - Associative mechanisms involved in specific Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in
      human learning tasks.
AB  - Four experiments compared the effect of forward and backward conditioning
      procedures on the ability of conditioned stimuli (CS) to elevate instrumental
      responding in a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) task. Two responses were
      each trained with one distinct outcome (R1->O1, R2->O2), either concurrently
      (Experiment 1) or separately (Experiments 2, 3 and 4). Then, in Experiments 1 and
      2, four CSs were either followed or preceded by one outcome (A->O1, B->O2, O1->C,
      O2->D). In Experiment 3, each CS was preceded and followed by an outcome: for one
      group of participants, both outcomes were identical (e.g., O1->A->O1, O2->B->O2),
      but for the other, they were different (e.g., O1->A->O2, O2->B->O1). In
      Experiment 4, two CSs were preceded and followed by identical outcomes, and two
      CSs by different outcomes. In the PIT tests, participants performed R1 and R2 in
      the presence and absence of the CSs. In Experiments 1 and 2, only the CSs
      followed by outcomes in Pavlovian training elevated responding. In Experiments 3
      and 4, all the CSs elevated responding but based on the outcome that followed
      them in training. These results support the stimulus-outcome-response (S-O-R)
      mechanism of specific PIT, according to which CSs elevate responding via
      activation of its associated outcome representation.

PMID- 28612648
TI  - Recovery of phosphorous from industrial waste water by oxidation and
      precipitation.
AB  - This paper describes the development of a method for recovery of phosphorous from
      one of the waste waters at an Akzo Nobel chemical plant in Ale close to Goteborg.
      It was found that it is possible to transform the phosphorous in the waste water
      to a saleable product, i.e. a slowly dissolving fertilizer. The developed process
      includes oxidation of phosphite to phosphate with hydrogen peroxide and heat. The
      phosphate is then precipitated as crystalline struvite (ammonium magnesium
      phosphate) by the addition of magnesium chloride. The environmental impacts of
      the new method were compared with those of the current method using life cycle
      assessment. It was found that the methodology developed in this project was an
      improvement compared with the current practice regarding element resource
      depletion and eutrophication. However, the effect on global warming would be
      greater with the new method. There could however be several ways to decrease the
      global warming effect. Since most of the carbon dioxide emissions come from the
      production of magnesium chloride from carbonates, changing to utilization of a
      magnesium chloride from desalination of seawater or from recycling of PVC would
      decrease the carbon footprint significantly.

PMID- 28612649
TI  - A Brain on a Roller Coaster: Can the Dopamine Reward System Act as a Protagonist
      to Subdue the Ups and Downs of Bipolar Disorder?
AB  - One of the most interesting but tenebrous parts of the bipolar disorder (BD)
      story is the switch between (hypo)mania and depression, which can give bipolar
      patients a thrilling, but somewhat perilous, 'ride'. Numerous studies have
      pointed out that there are some recognizable differences (either state-dependent
      or state-independent) in several brain regions of people with BD, including
      components of the brain's reward system. Understanding the underpinning
      mechanisms of high and low mood statuses in BD has potential, not only for the
      development of highly specific and selective pharmaceutical agents, but also for
      better treatment approaches and psychological interventions to manage BD and,
      thus, give patients a safer ride. Herein, we review evidence that supports
      involvement of the reward system in the pathophysiology of mood swings, with the
      main focus on the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic neural circuitry. Principally
      using findings from neuroimaging studies, we aim to signpost readers as to how
      mood alterations may affect different areas of the reward system and how
      antipsychotic drugs can influence the activity of these brain areas. Finally, we
      critically evaluate the hypothesis that the mesocorticolimbic dopamine reward
      system may act as a functional rheostat for different mood states.

PMID- 28612650
TI  - Pediatric nurses' ethical difficulties in the bedside care of children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pediatric nurses experience ethically difficult situations in their
      everyday work. Several studies have been conducted to reveal ethical issues among
      pediatric nurses; we do not think their ethical difficulties have been explored
      sufficiently from their own perspective. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore
      the ethical difficulties faced by pediatric nurses during bedside care for
      hospitalized children. METHODS: A phenomenological approach was used to collect
      and analyze interview data from 14 female pediatric nurses in South Korea.
      Ethical considerations: Ethical review was obtained from an ethics committee. The
      participants were informed about the aim of the study, and voluntary
      participation, anonymous response, and confidentiality were explained to them.
      FINDINGS: Three themes emerged from the analysis: ethical numbness in a task
      oriented context, negative feelings toward family caregivers, and difficulty in
      expressing oneself in an authoritative climate. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: We
      need to develop strategies to manage ethical difficulties at an institutional
      level. Furthermore, it is important that pediatric nurses have the opportunity to
      communicate with fellow nurses and other medical staff regarding ethical
      difficulties. In addition, cultivation of pediatric nurses' moral, ethical, and
      philosophical thinking patterns requires the immediate provision of continuous
      education in nursing ethics at the site of clinical nursing, time to discuss
      ethical difficulties, and other supportive measures. Findings indicated that, to
      provide high-quality patient-centered care, we should enhance nurses' ethical
      sensitivity and autonomy and improve the ethical climate in hospitals.

PMID- 28612651
TI  - Behavioral economic substitutability of e-cigarettes, tobacco cigarettes, and
      nicotine gum.
AB  - The public health impact of e-cigarettes may depend on their substitutability for
      tobacco cigarettes. Dual users of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes completed
      purchasing tasks in which they specified daily use levels under hypothetical
      conditions that varied the availability and price of e-cigarettes, tobacco
      cigarettes, and nicotine gum (for those with nicotine gum experience). When
      either e-cigarettes or tobacco cigarettes were the only available commodity, as
      price per puff increased, purchasing decreased, revealing similar reinforcement
      profiles. When available concurrently, as the price of tobacco puffs increased,
      purchasing of tobacco puffs decreased while purchasing of fixed-price e-cigarette
      puffs increased. Among those with nicotine gum experience, when the price of
      tobacco puffs was closest to the actual market value of tobacco puffs, e
      cigarette availability decreased median tobacco puff purchases by 44% compared to
      when tobacco was available alone. In contrast, nicotine gum availability caused
      no decrease in tobacco puff purchases. E-cigarettes may serve as a behavioral
      economic substitute for tobacco cigarettes, and may be a superior substitute
      compared to nicotine gum in their ability to decrease tobacco use. Although
      important questions remain regarding the health impacts of e-cigarettes, these
      data are consistent with the possibility that e-cigarettes may serve as smoking
      cessation/reduction aids.

PMID- 28612652
TI  - Comparative hematology.

PMID- 28612653
TI  - Differential item functioning analysis of items on the Geriatric Depression Scale
      15 based on the presence or absence of cognitive impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) is a screener for
      depressive symptoms in older adults. The present study aims to investigate the
      differential item functioning (DIF) of the GDS-15 items to determine whether or
      not they are biased by the presence of cognitive impairment. METHOD: Data from
      215 older patients were used to examine the GDS-15. Individuals were categorized
      as cognitively impaired if they scored below the 10th percentile on the Mattis
      Dementia Rating Scale II. To evaluate DIF, configural invariance, metric
      invariance, scalar invariance, residual invariance, and factor variance were
      evaluated. Additional analyses were conducted to know the role identified DIF
      items play in the screening process. RESULTS: Most levels of invariance indicated
      that items operated equivalently across groups (p > 0.05). However, analysis of
      scalar invariance indicated worse model fit (p = 0.001), such that the threshold
      for Item 13 differed between the groups. Freeing this threshold resulted in
      scalar invariance (p = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Because partial measurement invariance
      was achieved suggesting that the tool as a whole functions similarly for older
      adults with and without cognitive impairment, professionals can be confident that
      the GDS-15 screens for depression as well in individuals with cognitive
      impairment as those without.

PMID- 28612654
TI  - A qualitative comparison of DSM depression criteria to language used by older
      church-going African-Americans.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Depression in late life is associated with substantial suffering,
      disability, suicide risk, and decreased health-related quality of life. According
      to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM
      IV), a depression diagnosis is derived from a constellation of symptoms that may
      be described differently by different people. For example, the DSM language may
      be inadequate in capturing these symptoms in certain populations such as African
      Americans, whose rates of depression misdiagnosis is high. METHODS: This study
      reports the findings from a church-based, qualitative study with older African
      Americans (n = 50) regarding the language they use when discussing depression and
      depression treatment, and how this compares to the DSM-IV depression criteria.
      Content analyses of the in-depth discussions with African-American male and
      female focus group participants resulted in a deeper understanding of the
      language they used to describe depression. This language was then mapped onto the
      DSM-IV depression criteria. RESULTS: While some words used by the focus group
      participants mapped well onto the DSM-IV criteria, some of the language did not
      map well, such as language describing irritability, negative thought processes,
      hopelessness, loneliness, loss of control, helplessness, and social isolation.
      CONCLUSIONS: The focus group setting provided insight to the language used by
      older, church-going African-Americans to describe depression. Implications
      include the advantages of using qualitative data to help inform clinical
      encounters with older African-Americans.

PMID- 28612656
TI  - Health behaviour: Current issues and challenges.

PMID- 28612655
TI  - Exploiting antidiabetic activity of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Punica
      granatum leaves and anticancer potential against human liver cancer cells
      (HepG2).
AB  - This study first time reports the novel synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)
      using a Punica granatum leaf extract (PGE). The synthesized AgNPs were
      characterized by various analytical techniques including UV-Vis, Fourier
      transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy
      dispersive spectra (FESEM-EDS) and high-resolution transmission electron
      microscopy (HRTEM). FTIR analysis revealed that the involvement of biological
      macromolecules of P. granatum leaf extract were distributed and involved in the
      synthesis and stabilization of AgNPs. A surface-sensitive technique of XPS was
      used to analyse the composition and oxidation state of synthesized AgNPs. The
      analytical results confirmed that the AgNPs were crystalline in nature with
      spherical shape. The zeta potential study revealed that the surface charge of
      synthesized AgNPs was highly negative (-26.6 mV) and particle size distribution
      was ranging from ~35 to 60 nm and the average particle size was about 48 nm
      determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS). The PGE-AgNPs antidiabetic
      potential exhibited effective inhibition against alpha-amylase and alpha
      glucosidase (IC50; 65.2 and 53.8 MUg/mL, respectively). The PGE-AgNPs showed a
      dose-dependent response against human liver cancer cells (HepG2) (IC50; 70
      MUg/mL) indicating its greater efficacy in killing cancer cells. They also
      possessed in vitro free radical-scavenging activity in terms of ABTS (IC50; 52.2
      MUg/mL) and DPPH (IC50; 67.1 MUg/mL) antioxidant activity. PGE-AgNPs displayed
      strong antibacterial activity and potent synergy with standard antibiotics
      against pathogenic bacteria. Thus, synthesized PGE-AgNPs show potential
      biomedical and industrial applications.

PMID- 28612657
TI  - Improving care for advanced COPD through practice change: Experiences of
      participation in a Canadian spread collaborative.
AB  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death,
      morbidity, and health-care spending. The Halifax, Nova Scotia-based INSPIRED COPD
      Outreach ProgramTM has proved highly beneficial for patients and the health-care
      system. With direct investment of <$1-million CAD, a pan-Canadian quality
      improvement collaborative (QIC) supported the spread of INSPIRED to 19 teams in
      the 10 Canadian provinces contingent upon participation in evaluation. The
      collaborative evaluation followed a mixed-methods summative approach relying on
      collated quantitative data, team documents, and surveys sent to core members of
      the 19 teams. Survey questions included a series of multiple-choice responses,
      Likert scale ratings, and open-ended questions. The qualitative evaluation
      entailed key informant interviews and focus groups undertaken between February
      and April 2016 post-collaborative. Teams reported that the year-long QIC helped
      bring focus to a needed, though often overlooked area of improvement,
      facilitating innovation spread. They report examples of new work practices as
      well as unanticipated cultural change (given the short QIC time frame). Most
      teams gained new skills in quality improvement (QI) and evidence-based medicine,
      showing progress in their ability to measure and implement COPD care
      improvements. Teams felt networking with other teams across the country toward a
      common solution as well as learning from a team of clinical innovators and
      evidence-based innovation were critical to their success. Factors affecting
      sustainability included local leadership support, involvement of frontline
      clinicians, and sharing milestones to motivate continued QI. The INSPIRED QIC
      enabled teams across Canada to adapt and implement a new COPD care model for high
      users of health-care with rapid improvements to work practices, cultural change,
      and skill sets, and at relatively low cost.

PMID- 28612658
TI  - The dimensions of food insecurity and malnutrition among people living with HIV
      in Senegal, West Africa.
AB  - An understanding of the factors contributing to food insecurity and malnutrition
      among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Senegal is urgently needed in order to
      develop effective interventions. The goals of this study were to identify
      differences in the dimensions of food security among PLHIV in Dakar versus
      Ziguinchor, Senegal, to determine which of these dimensions are most predictive
      of severe food insecurity, and to identify factors associated with malnutrition.
      We conducted a cross-sectional study at outpatient clinics in Dakar and
      Ziguinchor, Senegal. Data were collected using participant interviews,
      anthropometry, the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, the Individual Dietary
      Diversity Scale, and chart review. Interviews were conducted with ninety-five
      food insecure, HIV-infected subjects. Daily household income and daily food
      expenditure per household member were the strongest predictors of severe food
      insecurity. The practice of agriculture, livestock ownership, nutritional status,
      and HIV outcomes were not predictive of severe food insecurity. CD4 count
      <350/mm3 was the strongest predictor of malnutrition. Severe food insecurity,
      daily household income, daily food expenditure per household member, dietary
      diversity score, skipping meals, the practice of agriculture, livestock
      ownership, ART status, and adherence were not predictive of malnutrition. This is
      the first study to analyze the dimensions of food security among PLHIV in
      Senegal. We discovered important differences in food access, availability,
      stability, and utilization in Dakar versus Ziguinchor. We found that economic
      access was the strongest predictor of severe food insecurity and poorly
      controlled HIV was the strongest predictor of malnutrition. Our findings suggest
      that the interventions needed to address food insecurity differ from those
      necessary to target malnutrition, and that effective interventions may differ in
      Dakar versus Ziguinchor. Furthermore, this study highlights a need for a greater
      understanding of the relationship between HIV and malnutrition among individuals
      receiving ART in resource-limited settings.

PMID- 28612659
TI  - Multi-endpoint biological monitoring in combined, carcinogenic occupational
      exposures.
AB  - We aimed to develop a relevant multi-endpoint biomonitoring system by studying
      different genotoxicity biomarkers in complex carcinogenic exposures under
      occupational situations. Altogether 109 workers were followed in five different
      workplaces. The combined carcinogenic exposures were monitored in the urine and
      peripheral blood samples using Ames mutagenicity test and cytogenetic analyzes.
      The different genotoxicity endpoints studied showed different results in the same
      carcinogenic exposure situations. The urinary mutagenicity tests provided more
      information and proved to be more sensitive compared to the cytogenetic tests in
      the majority of cases. In complex exposures multistep biomonitoring panel should
      be applied, because the exact mechanisms of the combination of single exposing
      agents are not known. Such a panel should involve monitoring different endpoints,
      e.g. point mutations, chromosomal mutations. A relatively affordable and rapid
      testing panel was developed using validated tests as Ames and cytogenetic assays,
      but its practical use should be confirmed by further investigations.

PMID- 28612661
TI  - Is There an Association Between Mismatch Negativity and Cortical Thickness in
      Schizophrenia Patients?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mismatch negativity (MMN) is thought to reflect preattentive,
      automatic auditory processing. Reduced MMN amplitude is among the most robust
      findings in schizophrenia research. MMN generators have been shown to be located
      in the temporal and frontal cortices, which are key areas in the pathophysiology
      of schizophrenia. This study investigated whether frontotemporal cortical
      thickness was associated with reduced MMN current source density (CSD) strength
      in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Sixteen schizophrenia patients and 18
      healthy controls (HCs) were examined using magnetoencephalography while they
      performed a passive auditory oddball paradigm. All participants underwent a T1
      structural magnetic resonance imaging scan in a separate session. We evaluated
      MMN CSD and cortical thickness, and their associations, in the superior and
      transverse temporal gyri, as well as in the inferior and middle frontal gyri.
      RESULTS: Patients exhibited significantly reduced CSD strength in all temporal
      and frontal areas of interest relative to HCs. There was a positive correlation
      between CSD strength and cortical thickness in both temporal and frontal areas in
      HCs. However, schizophrenia patients showed negative correlations between CSD
      strength and cortical thickness in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri.
      Additionally, we found positive correlations between frontal cortical thickness
      and negative and total scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale
      (PANSS). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide evidence for deficient temporal and
      frontal MMN generators and a disruption of normal structure-function relationship
      in patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 28612662
TI  - Preterm premature rupture of membranes: is home care acceptable?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preterm prelabor rupture of membranes is a frequent obstetric
      condition associated with increased risks of maternal and neonatal morbidity and
      mortality. Conventional management is in hospital. Outpatient management is an
      alternative in selected cases; however, the safety of home management has not
      been established. OBJECTIVE: To study the obstetric and neonatal outcomes of
      women with preterm premature rupture of membranes between 24 and 34 weeks who
      were managed as outpatient (outpatient care group), compared with those managed
      in hospital (hospital care group). STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study
      between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013 in three French tertiary care
      centers. RESULTS: Ninety women were included in the outpatient care group and 324
      in the hospital care group. In the outpatient care group, the gestational age at
      membrane rupture was lower, compared to the hospital care group (28.8 (26.6-30.5)
      vs. 30.3 (27.6-32.1) weeks; p < .01) and the cervical length at admission was
      higher (31.7 +/- 10.4 vs. 24.3 +/- 11.8 mm; p < .01). In the outpatient care
      group, no delivery or major obstetric complication occurred at home. CONCLUSION:
      We observed no major complication related to home care after a period of
      observation. A randomized study would be necessary to confirm its safety.

PMID- 28612663
TI  - Development of multiple-unit pellet system tablets by employing the SeDeM expert
      diagram system I: pellets with different sizes.
AB  - Multiple-unit pellet systems (MUPS) provide several pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamic advantages over single-unit dosage forms, however, compression of
      pellets into MUPS tablets present certain challenges. Although the SeDeM Expert
      Diagram System (SeDeM EDS) was originally developed to provide information about
      the most appropriate excipient and the minimum amount thereof that is required
      for producing direct compressible tablets, this study investigated the
      possibility to apply the SeDeM EDS in the production of MUPS tablets. In
      addition, the effect of pellet size (i.e. 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mm) on
      SeDeM EDS predictions regarding the MUPS tablet formulations was investigated.
      The compressibility incidence factor values were below the acceptable value (i.e.
      5.00) for all the pellet sizes. Kollidon(r) VA 64 was identified as the most
      appropriate excipient to improve compressibility. The compression indices,
      namely, the parameter index (IP), parametric profile index (IPP), and good
      compression index (GCI) indicated that acceptable MUPS tablets could be produced
      from the final pellet-excipient blends based on predictions from the SeDeM EDS.
      These MUPS tablets complied with specifications for friability, hardness, and
      mass variation. The SeDeM EDS system is therefore applicable to assist in the
      formulation of acceptable MUPS tablets.

PMID- 28612664
TI  - Primary Central Nervous System T-Cell Lymphoma With Aberrant Expression of CD20
      and CD79a: A Diagnostic Pitfall.
AB  - Primary central nervous system T-cell lymphoma (PCNSTCL) is rare, accounting for
      2% of CNS lymphomas. We report the first case of PCNSTCL with aberrant expression
      of CD20 and CD79a in an 81-year-old man with a left periventricular brain mass. A
      biopsy revealed dense lymphoid infiltrate consisting of medium-sized cells in a
      background of gliosis and many histiocytes. The lymphoid cells were positive for
      CD2, CD3, CD7, CD8, T-cell intracellular antigen-1, granzyme B, CD20, and CD79a
      and negative for CD4, CD5, PAX-5, OCT-2, BOB-1, human herpes virus-8, and Epstein
      Barr virus-encoded small RNAs. Molecular studies revealed clonal TCR-beta and TCR
      gamma gene rearrangements and negative immunoglobulin gene rearrangements. The
      patient was treated with chemotherapy (vincristine and methotrexate) and
      rituximab, but he died 1 month after the diagnosis. This is a unique case that
      emphasizes the use of a multimodal approach, including a broad
      immunohistochemical panel and molecular studies in lineage determination for
      lymphomas with ambiguous phenotype.

PMID- 28612666
TI  - IgG4-Related Sclerosing Disease of the Breast in a Male Patient.
AB  - IgG4-related sclerosing disease of the breast is a rare entity with 10 reports in
      the literature. We report the first case in a male patient. A 48-year-old male
      presented with 4-week history of palpable right upper outer quadrant breast mass
      associated with skin puckering. He reported a family history of breast cancer in
      his aunt. Ultrasound and mammography showed a spiculated 2.5-cm mass associated
      with skin retraction with extension to the pectoralis muscle. Ultrasound-guided
      core biopsy was performed. The findings were interpreted as acute and chronic
      inflammatory process. The patient subsequently denied improvement of the mass,
      and an excisional biopsy was performed. Histologic examination showed fibrosis
      and dense lymphoplasmacytic inflammation in the breast mass and muscle biopsy.
      Focal obliterative phlebitis was noted. IgG4-positive plasma cells were increased
      with counts of over 50 per high-power field. The diagnosis was confirmed as
      sclerosing IgG4-related disease of breast.

PMID- 28612665
TI  - Granular Cell Tumor of the Neurohypophysis With TFE-3 Expression: A Rare Case
      Report.
AB  - Granular cell tumor (GCT) rarely involves the central nervous system, and fewer
      than 100 cases have been reported in English literatures. We herein report a case
      of a 36-year-old Chinese man with GCT of the neurohypophysis. Magnetic resonance
      imaging showed one mass located in the hypophysis with heterogeneous contrast
      enhancement. Pathological examination showed a neoplasm comprising densely packed
      polygonal cells of ample cytoplasm with abundant eosinophilic granules inside.
      The nuclei were small with inconspicuous nucleoli and yet without any mitoses.
      The tumor was positive for S-100, CD68, CD163, lysosome, and vimentin.
      Translocation factor E-3 (TFE-3) was diffusely nuclear positive although ASPSCR1
      TFE-3 fusion was not detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization. GCT of the
      neurohypophysis is supposed to be considered under differential diagnosis with
      neoplasms or lesions of histiocytic origin and others such as pituitocytoma and
      spindle cell oncocytoma. A group of markers such as GFAP, EMA, CD68, S-100, and
      PAS staining are useful in complementary diagnosis and TFE-3 may be an
      alternative marker.

PMID- 28612667
TI  - All That Glitters Yellow Is Not Gold: Presentation and Pathophysiology of Bile
      Cast Nephropathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) often manifests in patients with liver
      disease because of a prerenal cause and presents as acute tubular necrosis or
      hepatorenal syndrome. Distinguishing between these entities is important for
      prognosis and treatment. Some patients may develop AKI related to their
      underlying liver disease: for example, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
      or IgA nephropathy. Bile cast nephropathy is an often ignored differential
      diagnosis of AKI in the setting of obstructive jaundice. It is characterized by
      the presence of bile casts in renal tubules, which can possibly cause tubular
      injury through obstructive and direct toxic effects. Thus, AKI in patients with
      liver disease may have a structural component in addition to a functional one.
      METHODS: In this study, we describe 2 patients with severe hyperbilirubinemia who
      developed AKI and underwent a kidney biopsy that revealed bile casts in tubular
      lumens, consistent with bile cast nephropathy. RESULTS: One patient was treated
      aggressively for alcoholic hepatitis and required hemodialysis for AKI. The
      second patient was treated conservatively for drug-induced liver injury and did
      not require dialysis. Both patients saw a reduction in their bilirubin and
      creatinine toward baseline. CONCLUSION: Bile cast nephropathy is an important
      pathological entity that may account for the renal dysfunction in some patients
      with liver disease. It requires kidney biopsy for diagnosis and may often be
      overlooked given the scarcity of kidney biopsy in this particular clinical
      setting. The etiology is multifactorial, and it is often difficult to predict
      without the aid of a renal biopsy.

PMID- 28612668
TI  - Beneficial effect of melatonin in the treatment of neonatal sepsis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of melatonin as an adjuvant therapy in the
      treatment of neonatal sepsis. METHODS: This study is a prospective nonrandomized
      nonblind case-control study and was carried on 40 neonates with neonatal sepsis
      diagnosed by both clinical and laboratory criteria. They were enrolled from the
      Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Menoufia University Hospitals. These cases were
      selected during the study period from November 2015 to May 2016 and were divided
      into two groups: intervention group (number 20 neonates) received melatonin 20 mg
      as single dose and antibiotics and control group (number 20 neonates) received
      antibiotics only and then both groups followed by physical examination, complete
      blood count (CBC), and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) to evaluate the
      improvement in both groups. RESULTS: Before melatonin administration, there was
      no significant difference between intervention group and control group with
      regard to clinical condition, hs-CRP, and other serum parameters. After 24 and 72
      hours of melatonin administration, both groups improved with regard to clinical
      condition, hs-CRP, and serum parameters with significant improvement in
      intervention group than control group. CONCLUSION: Melatonin could be used in the
      treatment of neonatal sepsis in both preterm and full-term neonates beside the
      conventional treatment.

PMID- 28612669
TI  - Classification systems for distal radius fractures.
AB  - Background and purpose - The reliability of conventional radiography when
      classifying distal radius fractures (DRF) is fair to moderate. We investigated
      whether reliability increases when additional computed tomography scans (CT) are
      used. Patients and methods - In this prospective study, we performed pre- and
      postreduction posterior-anterior and lateral radiographs of 51 patients
      presenting with a displaced DRF. The case was included when there was a
      (questionable) indication for surgical treatment and an additional CT was
      conducted within 5 days. 4 observers assessed the cases using the Frykman,
      Fernandez, Universal, and AO classification systems. The first 2 assessments were
      performed using conventional radiography alone; the following 2 assessments were
      performed with an additional CT. We used the intraclass correlation coefficient
      (ICC) to evaluate reliability. The CT was used as a reference standard to
      determine the accuracy. Results - The intraobserver ICC for conventional
      radiography alone versus radiography and an additional CT was: Frykman 0.57 vs.
      0.51; Fernandez 0.53 vs. 0.66; Universal 0.57 vs. 0.64; AO 0.59 vs. 0.71. The
      interobserver ICC was: Frykman: 0.45 vs. 0.28; Fernandez: 0.38 vs. 0.44;
      Universal: 0.32 vs. 0.43; AO: 0.46 vs. 0.40. Interpretation - The intraobserver
      reliability of the classification systems was fair but improved when an
      additional CT was used, except for the Frykman classification. The interobserver
      reliability ranged from poor to fair and did not improve when using an additional
      CT. Additional CT scanning has implications for the accuracy of scoring the
      fracture types, especially for simple fracture types.

PMID- 28612670
TI  - Optimal approach for complete liver tumor ablation using radiofrequency ablation:
      a simulation study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) electrode
      trajectory on complete tumor ablation using computational simulation. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: The RFA of a spherical tumor of 2.0 cm diameter along with 0.5 cm
      clinical safety margin was simulated using Finite Element Analysis software. A
      total of 86 points inside one-eighth of the tumor volume along the axial,
      sagittal and coronal planes were selected as the target sites for electrode-tip
      placement. The angle of the electrode insertion in both craniocaudal and orbital
      planes ranged from -90 degrees  to +90 degrees  with 30 degrees  increment. The
      RFA electrode was simulated to pass through the target site at different angles
      in combination of both craniocaudal and orbital planes before being advanced to
      the edge of the tumor. RESULTS: Complete tumor ablation was observed whenever the
      electrode-tip penetrated through the epicenter of the tumor regardless of the
      angles of electrode insertion in both craniocaudal and orbital planes. Complete
      tumor ablation can also be achieved by placing the electrode-tip at several
      optimal sites and angles. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of the tumor epicenter on
      the central slice of the axial images is essential to enhance the success rate of
      complete tumor ablation during RFA procedures.

PMID- 28612671
TI  - Racial/ethnic disparities in magnesium sulfate neuroprotection: a subgroup
      analysis of a multicenter randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Despite known racial disparities in obstetrics, as well as differences
      in magnesium pharmacodynamics according to race, the effect of race/ethnicity in
      magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) use during pregnancy has not been studied. Whether some
      mothers are at increased risk of side effects, or infants at decreased
      neuroprotective effects is unknown. We analyze the effect of race/ethnicity in
      maternal/infant outcomes after MgSO4 neuroprotection. STUDY DESIGN: Subgroup
      analysis of a multicenter clinical trial (BEAM trial) where pregnant women at
      risk of preterm birth were randomized to either MgSO4 or placebo. For this study,
      nonanomalous singleton pregnancies were studied. The effect of race in
      maternal/neonatal outcomes after MgSO4 was analyzed with Breslow-Day and
      multifactorial ANOVA. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR)
      of complications according to race. RESULTS: 922 MgSO4 and 972 placebo cases were
      included (45.0% African-American, 36.2% Caucasian, 17.8% Hispanics, and 1.0%
      Asians). Interaction analysis showed a significant effect of race/ethnicity (p =
      .043). Hispanics presented the highest frequency (88.3%, p < .001), as well as
      the highest odds of MgSO4 side effects [OR(95%CI) = 6.6 (1.3-33.8)]. CONCLUSION:
      Hispanics present increased risk of magnesium toxicity compared to other
      racial/ethnic groups. Whether specific racial/ethnic groups require closer
      surveillance for early signs of magnesium toxicity needs to be further explored.

PMID- 28612672
TI  - Introduction to the Bill Morgan Memorial Special Issue on Biology, Epidemiology,
      and Implications for Radiation Protection.

PMID- 28612673
TI  - Can flavonoid-rich chocolate modulate arterial elasticity and pathological
      uterine artery Doppler blood flow in pregnant women? A pilot study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dark chocolate has shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular
      health and might also modulate hypertensive complications in pregnancy and
      uteroplacental blood flow. Increased uteroplacental resistance is associated with
      systemic arterial stiffness. We aimed to investigate the short-term effect of
      flavonoid-rich chocolate on arterial stiffness and Doppler blood flow velocimetry
      indexes in pregnant women with compromised uteroplacental blood flow. METHODS:
      Doppler blood flow velocimetry and digital pulse wave analysis (DPA) were
      performed in 25 women pregnant in the second and third trimesters with uterine
      artery (UtA) score (UAS) 3-4, before and after 3 days of ingestion of chocolate
      with high flavonoid and antioxidant contents. UtA pulsatility index (PI), UtA
      diastolic notching, UAS (semiquantitative measure of PI and notching combined),
      and umbilical artery PI were calculated, and DPA variables representing central
      and peripheral maternal arteries were recorded. RESULTS: Mean UtA PI (p = .049)
      and UAS (p = .025) significantly decreased after chocolate consumption. There
      were no significant changes in UtA diastolic notching or any DPA indexes of
      arterial stiffness/vascular tone. CONCLUSION: Chocolate may have beneficial
      effects on the uteroplacental circulation, but in this pilot study, we could not
      demonstrate effects on arterial vascular tone as assessed by DPA.

PMID- 28612674
TI  - Difficulty in the diagnosis of bone and joint pain associated with pediatric
      acute leukemia; comparison with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Acute leukemia often causes osteoarthralgia. The aim of this study is
      characterization of leukemia-associated osteoarthralgia in comparison with
      juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      clinical records of 31 patients with acute leukemia and 13 patients with
      articular JIA diagnosed between January 2008 and March 2013. Clinical and
      laboratory findings at the initial examination were compared among the three
      groups; 10 leukemia with and 21 leukemia without osteoarthralgia and 13 JIA
      groups. RESULTS: Eleven of the 31 leukemic patients (35%) had osteoarthralgia
      before the diagnosis of leukemia. Peripheral leukemic cells were initially absent
      in 10 of the 31 leukemia patients including three with osteoarthralgia. Platelet
      counts over 300 * 109/L were common in JIA, but not in osteoarthralgia group.
      Mean serum lactate dehydrogenase levels were higher in both of the leukemia
      groups than JIA group but often within normal or near-normal levels in the
      leukemia groups. Magnetic resonance imaging was examined in three leukemic
      patients and demonstrated osteomyelitis-like bone marrow edema in two and
      periarticular infiltration similar to synovitis in one patient. Three leukemic
      patients with osteoarthralgia showed partial and transient responses to
      antibiotic therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Leukemia-associated osteoarthralgia is often
      indistinguishable from rheumatic diseases by imaging and laboratory findings and
      should be confirmed by bone marrow examination.

PMID- 28612675
TI  - Formulation of novel dry powder inhalation for fluticasone propionate and
      salmeterol xinafoate with capsule-based device.
AB  - The aim of this study was to develop a novel fluticasone propionate (FP) and
      salmeterol xinafoate (SX)-loaded dry powder inhaler (DPI) system, which was
      composed of powder formulation and performance. The air flow resistances were
      determined with various types of DPI device, showing that the modified RS01
      device gave the specific resistance similar to the commercial DPI device. The
      particle properties of FP, SX, and inhalation grade lactose particles, such as
      particle size, size distribution, and fine content, were assessed. Subsequently,
      the aerodynamic behaviors of the DPI powder formulations were evaluated by the in
      vitro deposition of drugs in the DPI products using Andersen cascade impactor.
      Amongst the DPI powder formulations tested, the formulation composed of FP, SX,
      Respitose(r) SV003, Respitose(r) SV010, and Respitose(r) ML006 at the weight
      ratio of 0.5/0.145/19/19/2 gave depositions, emitted dose, fine particle dose,
      fine particle fraction, and mass median aerodynamic diameter of drugs similar to
      the commercial product, suggesting that they had similar aerodynamic behaviors.
      Furthermore, it gave excellent content uniformity. Thus, this DPI using the
      modified RS01 device would be recommended as a candidate for FP and SX-loaded
      pharmaceutical DPI products.

PMID- 28612677
TI  - An Unusual Complication With the Administration of a Volatile Anesthetic Agent
      for Status Asthmaticus in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Case Report and
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - In severe cases of status asthmaticus, when conventional therapies fail, volatile
      anesthetic agents remain a therapeutic option. When delivered outside of the
      operating room setting, specialized delivery techniques are needed to ensure the
      safe and effective use of volatile anesthetic agents. We present a 16-year-old
      adolescent with status asthmaticus who required the therapeutic administration of
      the volatile anesthetic agent, sevoflurane, in the pediatric intensive care unit
      (PICU). Although initially effective in reducing bronchospasm, progressive
      hypercarbia developed due to defective functioning of the carbon dioxide absorber
      of the anesthesia machine. This failure occurred as the soda lime compartment
      filled with water accumulated from circuit humidification and continuous
      albuterol therapy. The role of volatile anesthetic agents in the treatment of
      status asthmaticus in the PICU is discussed, options for delivery outside of the
      operating room presented, and potential problems with delivery reviewed.

PMID- 28612678
TI  - Orthotic and therapeutic effect of functional electrical stimulation on fatigue
      induced gait patterns in people with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the orthotic and therapeutic effects of prolonged use of
      functional electrical stimulation (FES) on fatigue induced gait patterns in
      people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). METHOD: Thirteen people with MS completed 3D
      gait analysis with FES off and on, before and after a fatiguing 6-minute walk, at
      baseline and after 8 weeks of use of FES. RESULTS: Eleven participants completed
      all testing. An orthotic effect on gait was not evident on first use of FES.
      However, therapeutic effects on gait after 8 weeks use were generally positive,
      including increases in walking speed due to improved neuromuscular control and
      power generated at the hip and ankle of the more affected limb. The action of FES
      alone was not sufficient to overcome all fatigue related deficits in gait but
      there was evidence 8 weeks use of FES can ameliorate some fatigue effects on
      lower limb kinetics, including benefits to ankle mechanics involved in generating
      power around push-off during stance. CONCLUSIONS: Eight-weeks of FES can benefit
      the gait pattern of people with MS under non-fatigued and fatigued conditions.
      Implications for rehabilitation In some people with MS prolonged use of FES may
      be necessary before observing positive orthotic effects. Improvements in the
      neuromuscular control of the more affected lower limb may develop with prolonged
      use of FES in people with MS. Only some therapeutic benefits of FES are
      maintained during fatigued walking in people with MS. FES may be considered as a
      gait retraining device as well as an orthotic intervention for people with MS.

PMID- 28612679
TI  - Influence of social presence on eye movements in visual search tasks.
AB  - This study employed an eye-tracking technique to investigate the influence of
      social presence on eye movements in visual search tasks. A total of 20 male
      subjects performed visual search tasks in a 2 (target presence: present vs.
      absent) * 2 (task complexity: complex vs. simple) * 2 (social presence: alone vs.
      a human audience) within-subject experiment. Results indicated that the presence
      of an audience could evoke a social facilitation effect on response time in
      visual search tasks. Compared with working alone, the participants made fewer and
      shorter fixations, larger saccades and shorter scan path in simple search tasks
      and more and longer fixations, smaller saccades and longer scan path in complex
      search tasks when working with an audience. The saccade velocity and pupil
      diameter in the audience-present condition were larger than those in the working
      alone condition. No significant change in target fixation number was observed
      between two social presence conditions. Practitioner Summary: This study employed
      an eye-tracking technique to examine the influence of social presence on eye
      movements in visual search tasks. Results clarified the variation mechanism and
      characteristics of oculomotor scanning induced by social presence in visual
      search.

PMID- 28612680
TI  - Benefits of stroke treatment delivered using a mobile stroke unit trial.
AB  - Rationale Mobile stroke units speed treatment for acute ischemic stroke, thereby
      possibly improving outcomes. Aim To compare mobile stroke unit and standard
      management clinical outcomes, healthcare utilization, and cost-effectiveness in
      tissue plasminogen activator-eligible acute ischemic stroke patients calling 911.
      Sample size 693. Eighty percent power with 0.05 type I error rate to detect a
      difference of 0.09 in mean utility-weighted modified Rankin scale between groups.
      Design Phase III, multicenter, prospective cluster-randomized (mobile stroke unit
      versus standard management weeks) comparative effectiveness study in tissue
      plasminogen activator-eligible patients. Outcomes Primary: Ninety-day mean
      utility-weighted modified Rankin scale. Coprimary: cost-effectiveness based on
      EQ5D quality of life and one year poststroke costs. Analysis Two-sample t-test
      and linear regression adjusting for covariates; incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratio and net benefit regression. Results As of March 2017, 288 tissue
      plasminogen activator-eligible patients have been enrolled (173 in the mobile
      stroke unit arm and 115 in the standard management arm). Two new centers start in
      early 2017 with target end of recruitment September 2019. Conclusion This is the
      first randomized study to test for disability, healthcare utilization, and cost
      effectiveness of a mobile stroke unit. The progress of the study suggests that it
      is feasible. Management of tissue plasminogen activator eligible acute ischemic
      stroke patients by a mobile stroke unit could potentially result in less
      disability and healthcare utilization, and be cost effective. Mobile stroke units
      are very costly. This trial may determine if the fixed cost can be justified by a
      reduction in disability and healthcare utilization. Clinical Trial Registration
      NCT02190500.

PMID- 28612682
TI  - Culturally prescribed beliefs about mental illness among the Akan of Ghana.
AB  - Mental illness is a culturally laden phenomenon, and different cultures have
      unique ways of constructing mental illness. In this study, conceptions of mental
      illness were explored among 30 participants of Akan descent in Ghana through
      individual and group interviews. Participants demonstrated a wide range of
      knowledge on mental illness indicating that poor self-care, deficits in social
      functioning, and disordered behaviors are the cardinal features of mental
      illness. The data revealed that Akan cultural beliefs influenced notions of
      etiology of mental illness and care of the mentally ill. While participants
      recognized the role of multiple factors such as genetics, substance abuse, daily
      hassles (for example, concerns about basic needs such as food, clothing, and
      shelter), and trauma in the cause of mental illness, the predominant belief was
      that mental illness is a retributive and/or a spiritual illness. This belief
      encourages pluralistic health-seeking behaviors: use of hospitals, prayer camps,
      herbalists, and traditional healers. The implications of these findings for
      public health education on mental illness, and clinical training and practice are
      discussed.

PMID- 28612684
TI  - To pray or not to pray: A challenge in nursing education.

PMID- 28612687
TI  - Expert commentary and author response relating to case study in issue 24(2)
      pp.251-255 - 'Ethical issues of allowing self-care home peritoneal dialysis in
      the presence of hoarding' by Maria O'Shaughnessy.

PMID- 28612688
TI  - Towards a Sustainable Care Utopia.

PMID- 28612683
TI  - Determination of 26 anti-diabetic compounds in dietary supplements using a
      validated UPLC method.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to validate a rapid, simple and accurate method
      using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) for the simultaneous
      determination of 26 anti-diabetic compounds in illegally adulterated dietary
      supplements. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, limit of
      detection, limit of quantitation, precision, accuracy, recovery and stability.
      All compounds were separated with a resolution of over 1.5. The limits of
      detection and quantitation were 0.10-1.70 and 0.30-5.10 ug g-1 in a solid sample,
      respectively; the corresponding values were 0.10-1.25 and 0.30-3.75 ug ml-1 in a
      liquid sample. The correlation coefficient was > 0.99, precisions were 0.11-3.30%
      (intra-day) and 0.05-6.15% (inter-day), and accuracies were 83-108% (intra-day)
      and 85-109% (inter-day). The recoveries were measured with six dosage forms, and
      the results were acceptable as 87-117% with relative standard deviations <=
      6.44%. The relative standard deviations of stability were <= 3.40% and the
      standard solution was stable for 48 h. Ninety-six samples were obtained from
      on/off-line markets and were analysed using the developed method. Among these
      samples, pioglitazone and glibenclamide were found in seven samples and the
      concentrations of each compound were 0.15% and 0.26-0.51%, respectively. With the
      increasing adulteration of dietary supplements with anti-diabetic drugs, this
      method may be helpful to protect public health and safety.

PMID- 28612689
TI  - Evaluation of flood preparedness in government healthcare facilities in Eastern
      Province, Sri Lanka.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sri Lanka is vulnerable to floods and other hydro-meteorological
      disasters. Climate change is projected to increase the intensity of these events.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the flood preparedness in healthcare
      facilities in Eastern Province. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive,
      mixed methods study conducted in Trincomalee District. Surveys were conducted in
      31 government healthcare facilities, using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire
      covering the last 5 years. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted with randomly
      selected Medical Officers in Charge or their equivalent, and 3 interviews were
      conducted with Medical Offices of Health. RESULTS: Two general hospitals, 3 base
      hospitals, 11 divisional hospitals, and 15 primary care units were included. Six
      respondents (19.4%) reported flooding in their facility, and 19 (61.3%) reported
      flooding in their catchment area. For the health workforce, 77.4% of respondents
      reported not enough staff to perform normal service delivery during disasters,
      and 25.5% reported staff absenteeism due to flooding. Several respondents
      expressed a desire for more disaster-specific and general clinical training
      opportunities for themselves and their staff. Most respondents (80.7%) reported
      no delays in supply procurement during weather emergencies, but 61.3% reported
      insufficient supplies to maintain normal service delivery during disasters. Four
      facilities (12.9%) had disaster preparedness plans, and 4 (12.9%) had any staff
      trained on disaster preparedness or management within the last year. One quarter
      (25.8%) of respondents had received any written guidance on disaster preparedness
      from the regional, provincial, or national level in the last year. CONCLUSIONS:
      While there is a strong health system operating in Sri Lanka, improvements are
      needed in localized and appropriate disaster-related training, resources for
      continuing clinical education, and investments in workforce to strengthen flood
      and other disaster resilience within the government healthcare system in the
      study district.

PMID- 28612690
TI  - Attachment as a predictor of non response to CBT treatment in children with
      anxiety disorders.
AB  - Children's and parents' attachment patterns have been linked with the presence of
      pediatric anxiety disorders. The present study examined the role of attachment in
      predicting cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) treatment outcomes. A total of 69
      children aged 7-13 years were assessed using a semi-structured interview, and
      treated with CBT. Differences between responders and nonresponders with regard to
      pretreatment characteristics were explored, and the predictive power of factors
      significantly different between groups was assessed using binominal logistic
      regression. Responders and nonresponders did not significantly differ with regard
      to child's attachment to parent. Maternal attachment anxiety was found to be the
      strongest predictor of treatment outcome, remaining significant after controlling
      for symptoms severity. Results suggest that clinicians should pay more attention
      to how the relationships formed between anxious children and their anxiously
      attached mothers may prohibit a positive treatment response, and augment
      treatment appropriately.

PMID- 28612691
TI  - [Smoking and young people; effectiveness of smoking prevention and cessation
      programmes].
AB  - - In this article, we discuss the scientific knowledge on the effects of
      interventions that help young people to quit smoking and interventions that
      should prevent young people from starting to smoke.- We also describe the
      interventions in the Netherlands that, after a quality assessment, have been
      included in the database of the National Institute for Public Health and the
      Environment (RIVM) Centre for Healthy Living.- Interventions have varying degrees
      of success in helping young people to quit smoking. There are only indications of
      a modest effect of behavioural interventions.- Preventive interventions mostly
      occur in a school setting and are making a modest contribution to the reduction
      of the number of young people that start smoking.- There are preliminary
      indications of the effectiveness of interventions in a medical setting. However,
      research into this is rare and there is no insight in long-term effects.- The
      database of the RIVM Centre for Healthy Living includes mainly preventive
      interventions in a school setting and only one smoking cessation intervention.

PMID- 28612692
TI  - [Fosfomycin, an old antibiotic with new possibilities].
AB  - - Fosfomycin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic agent used orally for uncomplicated
      cystitis. The intravenous form of administration has recently been authorised in
      the Netherlands.- Thanks to its broad spectrum and extensive tissue penetration,
      fosfomycin offers possibilities for the treatment of infections in different
      organs.- Infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria pose a significant threat
      to public health. Many of these multidrug-resistant bacteria are sensitive to
      fosfomycin, which means fosfomycin may be an option for the treatment of
      infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria. - There is a lack of knowledge
      about the pharmacological properties of fosfomycin to establish a good dosing
      schedule. Knowledge is also lacking about the safety of fosfomycin and the extent
      of its tolerability in the treatment of different infections. - More research is
      needed before fosfomycin can be used in the battle against multidrug-resistant
      bacteria.

PMID- 28612693
TI  - [A man with hypoxaemia after a femoral fracture].
AB  - A 25-year-old male presented with fever and dyspnoea after a femoral fracture,
      which was treated with intramedullary nail fixation. Based on clinical criteria
      and a CT scan, the diagnosis fat embolism was made. He was treated conservatively
      and made a full recovery.

PMID- 28612694
TI  - [Anticholinergic syndrome caused by contaminated herbal tea; acting swiftly to
      identify the source].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite good manufacturing practice and quality control, consumer
      products can become contaminated. In some cases, this can result in severe and
      life-threatening intoxication with potentially fatal consequences. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 27-year-old man and a 28-year-old pregnant woman presented to the
      Emergency Department with severe anticholinergic syndrome after using a
      marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis) herbal remedy, mixed into hot chocolate
      drink, to reduce symptoms of common cold. After a short stay in Intensive Care,
      the symptoms diminished and the patients could be released from hospital. The
      herbs were found to be contaminated with atropine, most probably derived from
      deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna). Analyses of the contaminated product
      indicated that the patients were exposed to 20-200 mg atropine, while a dose of 2
      mg is already considered mildly toxic. CONCLUSION: Consultation of the Dutch
      National Poisons Information Center resulted in rapid detection of the
      contamination; close collaboration with the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product
      Safety Authority and the manufacturer of the product allowed rapid identification
      of the source of contamination and facilitated the prevention of an epidemic.

PMID- 28612695
TI  - [Peritoneal tuberculosis].
AB  - Peritoneal tuberculosis was diagnosed in a 38-year-old man from Curacao, a 42
      year-old Dutch man and a 38-year-old woman from Surinam. All patients had been
      living in the Netherlands for over a decade at the time of diagnosis. Time to
      diagnosis and treatment varied between patients. Factors contributing to delayed
      diagnosis were nonspecific symptoms, failure to consider tuberculosis exposure,
      consulting of more than one physician and delay in obtaining adequate material
      for histopathologic and microbiologic tests. These cases show that peritoneal
      tuberculosis can represent a diagnostic challenge. Considering the rising
      incidence of tuberculosis in the Netherlands, general practitioners and medical
      specialists will encounter patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis more
      frequently. We recommend that tuberculosis exposure should always be considered
      by clinicians, even in patients originating from non-endemic countries. In case
      of suspected peritoneal tuberculosis, laparoscopy with peritoneal biopsy is the
      diagnostic tool of choice and should be performed without delay.

PMID- 28612696
TI  - [Abbreviations in daily language: stop it].
AB  - Abbreviations are used more and more in physician common parlance and it seems
      they are on the way to becoming a new jargon. However, identical abbreviations
      may have different meanings, especially in different medical specialties.
      Moreover, many physicians do not know the meaning of specific abbreviations or
      are attributing the wrong meaning to the abbreviation. This will lead to
      misunderstanding and therefore danger to the patient. The authors are calling for
      a stop on the use of spoken abbreviations and for minimising the use of
      abbreviations in clinical notes and medical prescriptions.

PMID- 28612698
TI  - Accuracy of oncologist assessments of psychiatric problems in cancer inpatients
      ERRATUM.

PMID- 28612697
TI  - What Is the Applicability of a Novel Surveillance Concept of Ventilator
      Associated Events?
AB  - BACKGROUND In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a
      novel surveillance concept called the "ventilator-associated event," which
      focused surveillance on objective measures of complications among patients that
      underwent invasive ventilations. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the concordance and
      possible differences in efficacy (ie, disease severity and outcomes) between 2
      surveillance paradigms: (1) infection-related ventilator-associated complications
      (iVAC) and (2) on conventional ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). DESIGN
      Prospective, observational, single-center cohort study. PATIENTS This study
      included 85 adult patients that received invasive ventilation for at least 2
      consecutive calendar days in a 22-bed, adult, mixed medical-surgical intensive
      care unit in Finland between October 2014 and June 2015. RESULTS Among these
      patients, 9 (10.1 per 1,000 days of mechanical ventilation) developed iVAC
      (10.6%) and 20 (22.4 per 1,000 days of mechanical ventilation) developed
      conventional VAP (23.5%). The iVAC indicators were most often caused by
      atelectasis and fluid overload. Compared with patients with conventional VAP,
      patients with iVAC had significantly worse respiratory status but no other
      differences in disease severity or outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of
      conventional VAP was >2-fold that of iVAC, and the surveillance paradigms for VAP
      and iVAC capture different patterns of disease. Our results suggest that this
      novel surveillance concept, although based on objective measures of declining
      oxygenation, actually identified deteriorations of oxygenation due to
      noninfectious causes. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:983-988.

PMID- 28612699
TI  - Coffee berry borer in conilon coffee in the Brazilian Cerrado: an ancient pest in
      a new environment.
AB  - The aim of this study was to verify the occurrence of the coffee berry borer,
      Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), and to evaluate the population fluctuation of the
      pest in the Brazilian Cerrado (Federal District). The study was conducted,
      between November 2014 and October 2015, at Embrapa Cerrados (Planaltina/DF,
      Brazil) in an irrigated conilon coffee production area. In November 2014, 120
      samples (ten berries/sample) were collected from berries that had fallen on the
      ground from the previous harvest. Between November 2014 and October 2015, insects
      were collected weekly, using traps (polyethylene terephthalate bottles) baited
      with ethyl alcohol (98 GL), ethyl alcohol (98 GL) with coffee powder, or
      molasses. Between January and July 2015, samples were collected fortnightly from
      92 plants (12 berries per plant). All samples were evaluated for the presence of
      adult coffee berry borers. Samples from the previous harvest had an attack
      incidence of 72.4%. The baited traps captured 4062 H. hampei adults, and showed
      no statistical difference in capture efficiency among the baits. Pest population
      peaked in the dry season, with the largest percentage of captured adults
      occurring in July (31.0%). An average of 18.6% of the collected berries was
      attacked by the borer and the highest percentage incidence was recorded in July
      (33.2%). Our results suggest that the coffee berry borer, if not properly
      managed, could constitute a limiting factor for conilon coffee production in the
      Brazilian Cerrado.

PMID- 28612700
TI  - KNOWLEDGE GAPS IN ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY: A SYSTEMATIC MAPPING.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate available knowledge and
      identify knowledge gaps within the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery, by
      systematically collecting and evaluating systematic reviews. Twelve specific
      domains were selected: surgical removal of teeth, antibiotic and corticosteroid
      prophylaxis, orofacial infections, dental and facial trauma, orthognathic
      surgery, reconstructive surgery, benign tumors, cysts, premalignant lesions, oral
      complications of treatment of malignant tumors, hyperbaric oxygen therapy,
      temporomandibular joint surgery, cost effectiveness of different surgical
      treatments, and ethics. METHODS: The literature search, covering four databases,
      was conducted during September 2014: PubMed, The Cochrane library, Centre for
      Reviews and Dissemination and EBSCO dentistry and oral science source. Retrieved
      systematic reviews were quality assessed by AMSTAR. RESULTS: In all, 1,778
      abstracts were identified, of which 200 met the inclusion criteria. Forty-five
      systematic reviews were assessed as of high to moderate quality. The results
      disclosed some existing evidence in a few domains, such as surgical removal of
      teeth and implant survival after sinus lifts. However, in all domains, the search
      revealed a large number of knowledge gaps. Also of concern was the lack of data
      regarding health economics and ethics. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, there is a
      need for well-conducted clinical research in the fields of oral and maxillofacial
      surgery.

PMID- 28612701
TI  - Neuraminidase-mediated haemagglutination of recent human influenza A(H3N2)
      viruses is determined by arginine 150 flanking the neuraminidase catalytic site.
AB  - Over the last decade, an increasing proportion of circulating human influenza
      A(H3N2) viruses exhibited haemagglutination activity that was sensitive to
      neuraminidase inhibitors. This change in haemagglutination as compared to older
      circulating A(H3N2) viruses prompted an investigation of the underlying molecular
      basis. Recent human influenza A(H3N2) viruses were found to agglutinate turkey
      erythrocytes in a manner that could be blocked with either oseltamivir or
      neuraminidase-specific antisera, indicating that agglutination was driven by
      neuraminidase, with a low or negligible contribution of haemagglutinin. Using
      representative virus recombinants it was shown that the haemagglutinin of a
      recent A(H3N2) virus indeed had decreased activity to agglutinate turkey
      erythrocytes, while its neuraminidase displayed increased haemagglutinating
      activity. Viruses with chimeric and mutant neuraminidases were used to identify
      the amino acid substitution histidine to arginine at position 150 flanking the
      neuraminidase catalytic site as the determinant of this neuraminidase-mediated
      haemagglutination. An analysis of publicly available neuraminidase gene sequences
      showed that viruses with histidine at position 150 were rapidly replaced by
      viruses with arginine at this position between 2005 and 2008, in agreement with
      the phenotypic data. As a consequence of neuraminidase-mediated haemagglutination
      of recent A(H3N2) viruses and poor haemagglutination via haemagglutinin,
      haemagglutination inhibition assays with A(H3N2) antisera are no longer useful to
      characterize the antigenic properties of the haemagglutinin of these viruses for
      vaccine strain selection purposes. Continuous monitoring of the evolution of
      these viruses and potential consequences for vaccine strain selection remains
      important.

PMID- 28612703
TI  - Evolutionary analysis of whole-genome sequences confirms inter-farm transmission
      of Aleutian mink disease virus.
AB  - Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) is a frequently encountered pathogen
      associated with mink farming. Previous phylogenetic analyses of AMDV have been
      based on shorter and more conserved parts of the genome, e.g. the partial NS1
      gene. Such fragments are suitable for detection but are less useful for
      elucidating transmission pathways while sequencing entire viral genomes provides
      additional informative sites and often results in better-resolved phylogenies. We
      explore how whole-genome sequencing can benefit investigations of AMDV
      transmission by reconstructing the relationships between AMDV field samples from
      a Danish outbreak. We show that whole-genome phylogenies are much better resolved
      than those based on the partial NS1 gene sequences extracted from the same
      alignment. Well-resolved phylogenies contain more information about the
      underlying transmission trees and are useful for understanding the spread of a
      pathogen. In the main case investigated here, the transmission path suggested by
      the tree structure was supported by epidemiological data. The use of molecular
      clock models further improved tree resolution and provided time estimates for the
      viral ancestors consistent with the proposed direction of spread. It was however
      impossible to infer transmission pathways from the partial NS1 gene tree, since
      all samples from the case farms branched out from a single internal node. A
      sliding window analysis showed that there were no shorter genomic regions
      providing the same phylogenetic resolution as the entire genome. Altogether,
      these results suggest that phylogenetic analyses based on whole-genome sequencing
      taking into account sampling dates and epidemiological data is a promising set of
      tools for clarifying AMDV transmission.

PMID- 28612702
TI  - Genetic variability and population structure of the New World begomovirus
      Euphorbia yellow mosaic virus.
AB  - The emergence of begomoviruses (whitefly-transmitted viruses classified in the
      genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae) in Brazil probably occurred by
      horizontal transfer from non-cultivated plants after the introduction of Bemisia
      tabaci MEAM1. The centre of diversity of Euphorbia heterophylla (Euphorbiaceae)
      is located in Brazil and Paraguay, where it is an invasive species in soybean and
      other crops. Reports of possible begomovirus infection of E. heterophylla in
      Brazil date back to the 1950s. In 2011, Euphorbia yellow mosaic virus (EuYMV) was
      described in symptomatic plants collected in the Brazilian state of Goias. Here
      we assess the genetic variability and population structure of begomoviruses
      infecting E. heterophylla in samples collected throughout nine Brazilian states
      from 2009 to 2014. A total of 158 and 57 haplotypes were compared in DNA-A and
      DNA-B datasets, respectively. Analysis comparing population structure in a large
      sampled area enabled us to differentiate two subpopulations. Further, the
      application of discriminant analysis of principal components allowed the
      differentiation of six subpopulations according to sampling locations and in
      agreement with phylogenetic analysis. In general, negative selection was
      predominant in all six subpopulations. Interestingly, we were able to reconstruct
      the phylogeny based on the information from the 23 sites that contributed most to
      the geographical structure proposed, demonstrating that these polymorphisms hold
      supporting information to discriminate between subpopulations. These sites were
      mapped in the genome and compared at the level of amino acid changes, providing
      insights into how genetic drift and selection contribute to maintain the patterns
      of begomovirus population variability from a geographical structuring point of
      view.

PMID- 28612704
TI  - Cartilage status in FAI patients - results from the Danish Hip Arthroscopy
      Registry (DHAR).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) morphology is associated
      with specific cartilage lesions, which are suspected to be early stages of the
      osteoarthritic development, which can be the end result of FAI. The cartilage
      status of FAI afflicted hip joints at the time of arthroscopic management is not
      fully elucidated. This study from the Danish Hip Arthroscopy Registry (DHAR) will
      try to show data on the cartilage status from a large cohort. Data from a
      national registry potentially represent large amounts of population-based
      epidemiological information from multiple centres and surgeons. Therefore,
      outcome data might be more reliable for a specific surgical intervention.
      METHODS: This study includes patients operated for symptomatic FAI from January
      2012 until December 31st 2013, with a minimum of two-year follow-up and being
      registered in DHAR. The extent of cartilage damage at the time of surgery is
      reported and the Patient Related Outcome Measures (PROM) outcome data are
      presented. RESULTS: Data from a total of 686 FAI procedures in 1082 patients from
      January 2012 until December 31st 2013 were extracted from DHAR. Cartilage
      injuries were found in 88% of cases, mainly on the acetabular side. Overall PROM
      including pain scores improved significantly from preoperative status to follow
      up one and two years postoperatively. The Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score
      (HAGOS), Hip Sports Activity Scale (HSAS) and global hip function showed less
      improvements in patients with more severe acetabular cartilage injury.
      DISCUSSION: The majority of patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)
      undergoing hip arthroscopy have significant cartilage changes at the time of
      surgery primarily at the acetabulum and to a lesser degree at the femoral head.
      During FAI surgery the majority of patients have cartilage debridement performed
      but rarely cartilage repair. The presence of severe cartilage injury at the time
      of arthroscopic FAI surgery results in reduced subjective outcome and hip
      function.

PMID- 28612705
TI  - Treatment of acetabular chondral lesions with microfracture technique.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acetabular cartilage lesions are frequently found during hip
      arthroscopy. In the hip joint they mostly occur secondary to a mechanical
      overload resulting from a pre-existing deformity as hip dysplasia or
      femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Lesions identified during arthroscopy can
      vary greatly from the earliest stages to the most advanced (full-thickness
      lesions). These lesions occur in the acetabulum in the early stages of joint
      damage. Microfractures are indicated in full-thickness chondral defects. Ideally,
      these lesions must be focal and contained. METHODS: The procedure begins
      debriding all the unstable chondral tissue of the lesion. The edges should have a
      net cut towards stable and healthy cartilage. It is recommended to make as many
      perforations as possible using arthroscopic awls. They should be ideally 4 mm
      deep and must have a vertical orientation to the surface. The suggested distance
      between perforations is of 3-4 mm. Once the treatment of the chondral lesion with
      the microfractures is complete, the labrum must be repaired. The repair of the
      labrum transforms in most of the cases the defect in a contained lesion
      containing better the clot in the lesion after the microfractures have been
      performed. It is also important to correct the bone deformity that has caused
      this lesion, which mostly corresponds to a "cam" deformity. CONCLUSION: Clinical
      studies confirm good short- and medium-term results in full-thickness chondral
      lesions treated with microfractures in the absence of osteoarthritis. However, it
      is difficult to determine if these results are only due to the microfractures, as
      this treatment is always complemented with several other factors and surgical
      procedures, such as labrum repair, correction of underlying bone deformity or
      change in postoperative activity of operated patients.

PMID- 28612707
TI  - Genetic characteristic of class 1 integrons in proteus mirabilis isolates from
      urine samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proteus mirabilis is an opportunistic pathogen, commonly associated
      with complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs caused by multidrug
      resistant Proteus mirabilis have increased worldwide. Multidrug-resistance of
      Gram-negative enteric bacteria is usually associated with class 1 integrons.
      PURPOSES: To investigate the prevalence and characterize gene cassettes of class
      1 integrons in multidrug-resistant P. mirabilis Methods: From 2006 to 2008, 314
      P. mirabilis isolates from urine were collected from a regional teaching
      hospital. Antimicrobial resistance of the isolates was determined by disk
      diffusion methods. The phenotypic confirmatory test of extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase (ESBL) production was performed as described in the Clinical and
      Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline. The genetic organization of the
      class 1 integron cassettes was investigated by PCR, cloning, and sequencing of
      the regions surrounding these genes. RESULTS: Seventy-nine (25%, 79/314) P.
      mirabilis isolates were ESBL-producing and most ESBL-producing P. mirabilis were
      positive for blaCTX-M. Class 1 integrons were presented in 76 isolates (24.2%,
      76/314), and were more frequently found in ESBL-positive (55/79, 70%) than ESBL
      negative (21/235, 8.9%) P. mirabilis isolates. The most prevalence of the
      cassettes encoded resistance genes were aminoglycoside (aac(6')-Ib, aacA7, aadAl,
      aadA2, and aadAla), trimethoprim (dfrAl and dfrA12) and chloramphenicol (catB3
      and cmlA6). The most prevalent cassette of dfr12-orfF-aadA2 was found in 49
      isolates. The cassette array aadB-catB3-oxa10-aadA1 was first found in P.
      mirabilis. The enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR
      fingerprinting patterns were detected in these 76 integron positive P. mirabilis
      isolates and belonged to 8 profiles. CONCLUSION: This study investigated the
      prevalence and characterized gene cassettes of class 1 integrons in MDR P.
      mirabilis isolates from urine samples. The frequency of gene cassettes in P.
      mirabilis were partially by clonal spread of the carriers and the results could
      provide information for effective antimicrobial therapy and infection control.

PMID- 28612708
TI  - Contribution of matrix metalloproteinases-1 genotypes to gastric cancer
      susceptibility in Taiwan.
AB  - Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1), an interstitial collagenase
      regulating the extracellular matrix, plays a major role in carcinogenesis of
      gastric cancer, a leading cause of death worldwide. In literature, the single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) promoter -1607 1G/2G (rs1799750) at the MMP1 gene
      promoter has been reported to alter its own transcription level. While the
      importance's of the genotype of MMP1 promoter -1607 has not yet been studied in
      gastric cancer in Taiwan, our aim was to investigate MMP1 promoter -1607
      genotypes and gastric cancer (GC) susceptibility in central Taiwan population. In
      the current hospital-based case-control study, the contribution of MMP1 promoter 
      1607 genotypes to GC risk was investigated among 121 GC patients and 363 gender-
      and age-matched healthy controls recruited and genotyped by the polymerase chain
      reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methodology.
      We found that the genotypic and allelic frequencies were not differentially
      distributed between GC patient and control groups. The variant 1G containing
      genotypes have interactions with cigarrete smoking behaviors and Helicobacter
      pylori infection status, but not alcoholism on GC susceptibility determination.
      Our findings suggest that the variant 1G allele on MMP1 promoter -1607 may
      contribute to GC carcinogenesis and may be useful for GC early detection and
      prevention when combined with cigarrete smoking behaviors and Helicobacter pylori
      infection status.

PMID- 28612706
TI  - Autophagy and its link to type II diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Autophagy, a double-edged sword for cell survival, is the research object on 2016
      Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Autophagy is a molecular mechanism for
      maintaining cellular physiology and promoting survival. Defects in autophagy lead
      to the etiology of many diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), cancer,
      neurodegeneration, infection disease and aging. DM is a metabolic and chronic
      disorder and has a higher prevalence in the world as well as in Taiwan. The
      character of diabetes mellitus is hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin
      secretion, insulin action, or both. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is
      characterized by insulin resistance and failure of producing insulin on
      pancreatic beta cells. In T2DM, autophagy is not only providing nutrients to
      maintain cellular energy during fasting, but also removes damaged organelles,
      lipids and miss-folded proteins. In addition, autophagy plays an important role
      in pancreatic beta cell dysfunction and insulin resistance. In this review, we
      summarize the roles of autophagy in T2DM.

PMID- 28612709
TI  - Potential phytoestrogen alternatives exert cardio-protective mechanisms via
      estrogen receptors.
AB  - The 17 beta-estradiol (E2) is a sex hormone that is most abundant and most active
      estrogen in premenopausal women. The importance of E2 in providing
      cardioprotection and reducing the occurrence of heart disease in women of
      reproductive age has been well recognized. There are three subtype of estrogen
      receptors (ERs), including ERalpha, ERbeta and GPR30 have been identified and
      accumulating evidence reveal their roles on E2-mediated genomic and nongenomic
      pathway in cardiomyocytes against various cardiac insults. In this review, we
      focus on the estrogen and ERs mediated signaling pathways in cardiomyocytes that
      determines cardio-protection against various stresses and further discuss the
      clinical implication of ERs and phytoestrogens. Further we provide some insights
      on phytoeostrogens which may play as alternatives in estrogen replacement
      therapies.

PMID- 28612711
TI  - Alleviative effects from boswellic acid on acetaminophen-induced hepatic injury -
      Corrected and republished from: Biomedicine (Taipei). 2016 Jun; 6 (2): 9. doi:
      10.7603/s40681-016-0009-1PMCID: PMC4864770.
AB  - Protective effects of boswellic acid (BA) against acetaminophen (APAP)-induced
      hepatotoxicity in Balb/ cA mice were examined. BA, at 0.05 or 0.1%, was supplied
      for 4 weeks. Acute liver injury was induced by APAP treatment. Results showed
      that BA intake increased hepatic BA bioavailability. APAP treatment decreased
      glutathione (GSH) level, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized
      glutathione (GSSG) production; and lowered activity and protein expression of
      glutathione reductase (GR) and heme oxygenase (HO)-1 in liver. BA intake at both
      doses alleviated subsequent APAP-induced oxidative stress by retaining GSH
      content, decreasing ROS and GSSG formations, reserving activity and expression of
      GR and HO-1 in liver, and lowering hepatic cytochrome P450 2E1 activity and
      expression. APAP treatment enhanced hepatic levels of interleukin-6, tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. BA pre-intake
      diminished APAP-induced release of those inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.
      APAP up-regulated hepatic protein expression of toll-like receptor (TLR)-3, TLR
      4, MyD88, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) p50, NF-kappaB p65 and JNK. BA pre
      intake at both doses suppressed the expression of NF-kappaB p65 and p-JNK, and
      only at 0.1% down-regulated hepatic TLR-3, TLR-4 and MyD88 expression. APAP led
      to obvious foci of inflammatory cell infiltration in liver, determined by H&E
      stain. BA intake at both doses attenuated hepatic inflammatory infiltration.
      These findings support that boswellic acid is a potent hepato-protective agent.

PMID- 28612712
TI  - Subcutaneous injection-induced cellulites.
AB  - In the hospice ward where patients are in the terminal stages of cancer, it is
      common practice to give them a subcutaneous injection of pain relievers to reduce
      their pain and make them more comfortable. Most of these patients are elderly and
      have low blood pressure or poor veins, which often makes it difficult to inject
      them because of the calcification at previous injection sites. Thus, subcutaneous
      injections are a convenient way to maintain analgesia and patient comfort. Our
      patient, a 73-year-old aboriginal woman, was diagnosed with gastric
      adenocarcinoma and peritoneal carcinomatosis in March, 2004. While she was in the
      inpatient hospice ward, a subcutaneous injection site became infected and
      localized cellulitis developed. The patient's quality of life began to decline
      and her hospice stay was lengthened due to these complications. This case is
      offered as a reference case of subcutaneous injection complications encountered
      by elderly patients in hospice care.

PMID- 28612713
TI  - [Gene therapy: many more questions than answers].

PMID- 28612710
TI  - YC-1 induces G0/G1 phase arrest and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in cisplatin
      resistant human oral cancer CAR cells.
AB  - Oral cancer is a serious and fatal disease. Cisplatin is the first line of
      chemotherapeutic agent for oral cancer therapy. However, the development of drug
      resistance and severe side effects cause tremendous problems clinically. In this
      study, we investigated the pharmacologic mechanisms of YC-1 on cisplatin
      resistant human oral cancer cell line, CAR. Our results indicated that YC-1
      induced a concentration-dependent and time-dependent decrease in viability of CAR
      cells analyzed by MTT assay. Real-time image analysis of CAR cells by IncuCyteTM
      Kinetic Live Cell Imaging System demonstrated that YC-1 inhibited cell
      proliferation and reduced cell confluence in a time-dependent manner. Results
      from flow cytometric analysis revealed that YC-1 promoted G0/G1 phase arrest and
      provoked apoptosis in CAR cells. The effects of cell cycle arrest by YC-1 were
      further supported by up-regulation of p21 and down-regulation of cyclin A, D, E
      and CDK2 protein levels. TUNEL staining showed that YC-1 caused DNA
      fragmentation, a late stage feature of apoptosis. In addition, YC-1 increased the
      activities of caspase-9 and caspase-3, disrupted the mitochondrial membrane
      potential (AYm) and stimulated ROS production in CAR cells. The protein levels of
      cytochrome c, Bax and Bak were elevated while Bcl-2 protein expression was
      attenuated in YC-1-treated CAR cells. In summary, YC-1 suppressed the viability
      of cisplatin-resistant CAR cells through inhibiting cell proliferation, arresting
      cell cycle at G0/G1 phase and triggering mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Our
      results provide evidences to support the potentially therapeutic application of
      YC-1 on fighting against drug resistant oral cancer in the future.

PMID- 28612715
TI  - [PPARgamma transcription factor controls in anti-inflammatory macrophages the
      expression of GDF3 that stimulates myogenic cell fusion during skeletal muscle
      regeneration].

PMID- 28612714
TI  - [Gene therapy for sickle cell disease].

PMID- 28612716
TI  - [Molecular oncogenesis of lymphomas: role of the SETD2 gene in intestinal T-cell
      lymphomas].

PMID- 28612717
TI  - [Paralogy and redundancy: maintaining genome integrity during V(D)J
      recombination].

PMID- 28612718
TI  - [Mucous cell differentiation and regulation of the gelling mucin Muc5b: a new
      tool for ex vivo and in vivo preclinical studies].

PMID- 28612719
TI  - [PiT1: from phosphate transport to insulin signaling].

PMID- 28612720
TI  - [The tenth gene of HIV].

PMID- 28612721
TI  - [Addiction of toxin-antitoxin systems to a chaperone in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis].

PMID- 28612722
TI  - [iNKT cells: potential therapeutic targets to fight anthrax].

PMID- 28612723
TI  - [Circulating tumor cells: a real time dive into malignant plasticity].

PMID- 28612724
TI  - [A new link between high homocysteine levels, cancers and neurodegenerative
      diseases].

PMID- 28612725
TI  - [The biological complexity of Polycomb group proteins: the case of EZH2].
AB  - Polycomb Group proteins (PcG) are repressive epigenetic factors essential for
      development and involved in numerous cancer processes, yet their modes of action
      and recruitment to specific genomic loci are not fully understood. Recently, it
      has been shown that the PcG protein recruitment is a dynamic process, contrary to
      what was foreseen in the initial hierarchical model. In addition, EZH2, a key PcG
      protein, can be associated to transcribed genes, challenging the former function
      of PcG proteins as transcriptional repressors. Furthermore, the dual role of
      EZH2, which can act as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor depending on the
      cellular type, illustrates the functional complexity of PcG proteins.

PMID- 28612726
TI  - [MicroRNAs: new players in the hypothalamic control of fertility].
AB  - MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that modulate gene expression post
      transcriptionally. Discovered more than 15 years ago, their functions start to be
      unraveled. Increasing evidence points to an important functional role of
      microRNAs in brain development. In particular, miRNAs have recently been
      established to play a vital role in the mechanisms underlying the infantile rise
      in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) production by neurons in the
      hypothalamus, a phenomenon necessary for the onset of puberty in mammals.

PMID- 28612727
TI  - [TopoVIL : a molecular scissor essential for reproduction].
AB  - During sexual reproduction haploid gametes are generated out of diploid mother
      cells. This ploidy reduction is accomplished during meiosis and, in most species,
      relies on the occurrence of homologous recombination that is triggered by the
      induction of a large number of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). The mechanism by
      which such DSBs are generated without provoking massive DNA breakdown in gamete
      mother cells is still poorly understood. However, the recent characterisation, in
      plants and in mammals, of a new component of the meiotic DSB forming machinery,
      defining a meiotic-specific TOPOVIB-Like protein family, has established a clear
      connection between the meiotic DSB activity and topoisomerases, enzymes that
      modify the DNA topology by introducing transient DSBs.

PMID- 28612728
TI  - [Bdellovibrio and like organisms: outstanding predators!]
AB  - Obligate predatory bacteria, i.e. bacteria requiring a Gram negative prey cell in
      order to complete their cell cycle, belong to the polyphyletic group referred to
      as the Bdellovibrio And Like Organisms (BALO). Predatory interactions between
      bacteria are complex, yet their dynamics and impact on bacterial communities in
      the environment are becoming better understood. BALO have unique life cycles:
      they grow epibiotically with the predator remaining attached to the prey's
      envelope, dividing in a binary manner or periplasmically, i.e. by penetrating the
      prey's periplasm to generate a number of progeny cells. The periplasmic life
      cycle includes unique gene and protein patterns and unique signaling features.
      These ecological and cellular features, along with applications of the BALO in
      the medical, agricultural and environmental fields are surveyed.

PMID- 28612729
TI  - [Influenza and secondary bacterial infections: threats and treatments].
AB  - Influenza virus infection ("flu") constitutes an important public health issue
      and is associated with a significant socio-economic burden. The discovery of new
      antivirals and a better understanding of antiviral immunity might offer new
      options for preventing or controlling flu infections. A better understanding of
      the underlying pathomechanism might also prompt the discovery of key molecules
      whose activity could be modulated in a clinical setting. Lastly, the development
      of new immunomodulators and immunostimulants might compensate for impaired host
      defense mechanisms and improve resistance to secondary bacterial infections,
      since the latter significantly worsen the clinical status of influenza-infected
      patients.

PMID- 28612730
TI  - [Innate lymphoid cells].
AB  - Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILC) are tissue-resident effector lymphocytes that differ
      from the B and T lymphocytes subsets since they lack specific antigen receptors
      derived from gene rearrangements. They can be divided into two groups, cytotoxic
      ILC (NK cells) which are dependent on the transcription factors Eomes and T-bet
      and produce IFN-gamma, and helper-like ILC (ILC1, ILC2, ILC3) which are dependent
      on T-bet, GATA-3 or RORgammaT and produce IFN-gamma, IL-5/IL-13 or IL-17/IL-22
      respectively. Although they were described recently, ILC are the subject of a
      large number of studies that characterize their role as one of the first
      effectors of the innate immune response as well as in the development of a wide
      number of inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 28612731
TI  - [Coercion and loss of agency].
AB  - The experiments conducted by the psychologist Stanley Milgram have shown the
      extent to which people behaviours can be modified under coercion. Nonetheless,
      the mechanisms that could explain how coercion influences moral behaviours have
      been largely unexplored. In the present article, I propose a new perspective to
      try to understand these mechanisms: this involves the neuroscience of
      consciousness and how consciousness can influence our behaviours.

PMID- 28612732
TI  - [Loss of agency without coercion ?]

PMID- 28612733
TI  - [A new milestone in human embryo editing].
AB  - Viable human embryos carrying a disease mutation have now been corrected by
      CRISPR-Cas9 editing. Although the correction is not perfect, and the embryos have
      not been implanted, this brings us closer to human germline editing and to the
      associated ethical questions.

PMID- 28612734
TI  - A platinum age for rheumatology.

PMID- 28612736
TI  - Time to talk about menstruation: #PeriodEmoji.

PMID- 28612735
TI  - When childhood is stolen.

PMID- 28612737
TI  - Offline: Sweden seeks a renaissance in global health.

PMID- 28612738
TI  - Cyclone Mora devastates south Asia.

PMID- 28612739
TI  - Cholera outbreak in Haiti-from 2010 to today.

PMID- 28612740
TI  - EULAR: Countries unite to fight rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 28612741
TI  - Gerd Burmester: enduring leader in rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 28612742
TI  - New ACMD regulations threaten UK's pharmaceutical discovery.

PMID- 28612743
TI  - Body-mass index and all-cause mortality.

PMID- 28612744
TI  - Body-mass index and all-cause mortality.

PMID- 28612745
TI  - Body-mass index and all-cause mortality - Authors' reply.

PMID- 28612746
TI  - Body-mass index and all-cause mortality.

PMID- 28612747
TI  - Pathogenetic insights from the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes progressive
      articular damage, functional loss, and comorbidity. The development of effective
      biologics and small-molecule kinase inhibitors in the past two decades has
      substantially improved clinical outcomes. Just as understanding of pathogenesis
      has led in large part to the development of drugs, so have mode-of-action studies
      of these specific immune-targeted agents revealed which immune pathways drive
      articular inflammation and related comorbidities. Cytokine inhibitors have
      definitively proven a critical role for tumour necrosis factor alpha and
      interleukin 6 in disease pathogenesis and possibly also for granulocyte
      macrophage colony-stimulating factor. More recently, clinical trials with Janus
      kinase (JAK) inhibitors have shown that cytokine receptors that signal through
      the JAK/STAT signalling pathway are important for disease, informing the
      pathogenetic function of additional cytokines (such as the interferons). Finally,
      successful use of costimulatory blockade and B-cell depletion in the clinic has
      revealed that the adaptive immune response and the downstream events initiated by
      these cells participate directly in synovial inflammation. Taken together, it
      becomes apparent that understanding the effects of specific immune interventions
      can elucidate definitive molecular or cellular nodes that are essential to
      maintain complex inflammatory networks that subserve diseases like rheumatoid
      arthritis.

PMID- 28612748
TI  - Novel treatment strategies in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - New treatment strategies have substantially changed the course of rheumatoid
      arthritis. Many patients can achieve remission if the disease is recognised early
      and is treated promptly and continuously; however, some individuals do not
      respond adequately to treatment. Rapid diagnosis and a treat-to-target approach
      with tight monitoring and control, can increase the likelihood of remission in
      patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In this Series paper, we describe new
      insights into the management of rheumatoid arthritis with targeted therapy
      approaches using classic and novel medications, and outline the potential effects
      of precision medicine in this challenging disease. Articles are included that
      investigate the treat-to-target approach, which includes adding or de-escalating
      treatment. Rheumatoid arthritis treatment is impeded by delayed diagnosis,
      problematic access to specialists, and difficulties adhering to treat-to-target
      principles. Clinical management goals in rheumatoid arthritis include enabling
      rapid access to optimum diagnosis and care and the well informed use of multiple
      treatments approved for this disease.

PMID- 28612749
TI  - Liver Biopsy in Chronic Liver Diseases: Is There a Favorable Benefit: Risk
      Balance?
AB  - Liver biopsy is still useful in selected clinical situations in which it is the
      only tool to obtain information necessary for the diagnosis, the prognosis, and
      the decision for treatment. Main examples are viral hepatitis with confounding co
      morbidities, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, and autoimmune liver diseases.

PMID- 28612750
TI  - Genetic and Epigenetic Profile of Patients With Alcoholic Liver Disease.
AB  - Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a definition encompassing a spectrum of
      disorders ranging from simple steatosis to cirrhosis and hepatocellular
      carcinoma. Excessive alcohol consumption triggers a series of metabolic reactions
      that affect the liver by inducing lipogenesis, increasing oxidative stress, and
      causing abnormal inflammatory responses. The metabolic pathways regulating
      lipids, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and immune system are closely related and
      in some cases cross-regulate each other. Therefore, it must be taken into account
      that major genetic and epigenetic abnormalities affecting enzymes involved in one
      of such pathways can play a pivotal role in ALD pathogenesis. However, recent
      studies have pointed out how a significant predisposition can also be determined
      by minor variants, such as relatively common polymorphisms, epigenetic
      modifications, and microRNA abnormalities. Genetic and epigenetic factors can
      also affect the progression of liver diseases, promoting fibrogenesis, cirrhosis,
      and ultimately hepatocellular carcinoma. It is noteworthy that some of these
      factors, such as some of the cytokines involved in the abnormal inflammatory
      responses, are shared with non-alcoholic liver disease, while other factors are
      unique to ALD. The study of the genetic and epigenetic components involved in the
      liver damages caused by alcohol is crucial to identify individuals with high risk
      of developing ALD, design personalized protocols for prevention and/or treatment,
      and select the best molecular targets for new therapies.

PMID- 28612751
TI  - Fighting Mortality in the Waiting List: Liver Transplantation in North America,
      Europe, and Asia.
AB  - Liver disease is a major cause of mortality worldwide. Liver transplantation (LT)
      is the most effective treatment for end stage liver disease. Available resources
      and social circumstances have led to different ways of implementing LT around the
      world. The experience with pediatric LT corroborates the hypothesis that a
      combination of surgical strategies can be beneficial. The goal of this manuscript
      is to describe the strategies used by LT centers in North America, Europe and
      Asia and how these strategies can be applied to reduce waitlist mortality and
      increase access to LT.

PMID- 28612752
TI  - Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Pay Now or Pay More Later.

PMID- 28612753
TI  - Do Late Bubbles Correspond to Early Hepatopulmonary Syndrome?

PMID- 28612754
TI  - Carrier transport and emission efficiency in InGaN quantum-dot based light
      emitting diodes.
AB  - We present a study of blue III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with multiple
      quantum well (MQW) and quantum dot (QD) active regions (ARs), comparing
      experimental and theoretical results. The LED samples were grown by metalorganic
      vapor phase epitaxy, utilizing growth interruption in the hydrogen/nitrogen
      atmosphere and variable reactor pressure to control the AR microstructure.
      Realistic configuration of the QD AR implied in simulations was directly
      extracted from HRTEM characterization of the grown QD-based structures. Multi
      scale 2D simulations of the carrier transport inside the multiple QD AR have
      revealed a non-trivial pathway for carrier injection into the dots. Electrons and
      holes are found to penetrate deep into the multi-layer AR through the gaps
      between individual QDs and get into the dots via their side edges rather than via
      top and bottom interfaces. This enables a more homogeneous carrier distribution
      among the dots situated in different layers than among the laterally uniform
      quantum well (QWs) in the MQW AR. As a result, a lower turn-on voltage is
      predicted for QD-based LEDs, as compared to MQW ones. Simulations did not show
      any remarkable difference in the efficiencies of the MQW and QD-based LEDs, if
      the same recombination coefficients are utilized, i.e. a similar crystal quality
      of both types of LED structures is assumed. Measurements of the current-voltage
      characteristics of LEDs with both kinds of the AR have shown their close
      similarity, in contrast to theoretical predictions. This implies the conventional
      assumption of laterally uniform QWs not to be likely an adequate approximation
      for the carrier transport in MQW LED structures. Optical characterization of MQW
      and QD-based LEDs has demonstrated that the later ones exhibit a higher
      efficiency, which could be attributed to better crystal quality of the grown QD
      based structures. The difference in the crystal quality explains the recently
      observed correlation between the growth pressure of LED structures and their
      efficiency and should be taken into account while further comparing performances
      of MQW and QD-based LEDs. In contrast to experimental results, our simulations
      did not reveal any advantages of using QD-based ARs over the MQW ones, if the
      same recombination constants are assumed for both cases. This fact demonstrates
      importance of accounting for growth-dependent factors, like crystal quality,
      which may limit the device performance. Nevertheless, a more uniform carrier
      injection into multi-layer QD ARs predicted by modeling may serve as the basis
      for further improvement of LED efficiency by lowering carrier density in
      individual QDs and, hence, suppressing the Auger recombination losses.

PMID- 28612756
TI  - Mobility dependent recombination models for organic solar cells.
AB  - Modern solar cell technologies are driven by the effort to enhance power
      conversion efficiencies. A main mechanism limiting power conversion efficiencies
      is charge carrier recombination which is a direct function of the encounter
      probability of both recombination partners. In inorganic solar cells with rather
      high charge carrier mobilities, charge carrier recombination is often dominated
      by energetic states which subsequently trap both recombination partners for
      recombination. Free charge carriers move fast enough for Coulomb attraction to be
      irrelevant for the encounter probability. Thus, charge carrier recombination is
      independent of charge carrier mobilities. In organic semiconductors charge
      carrier mobilities are much lower. Therefore, electrons and holes have more time
      react to mutual Coulomb-forces. This results in the strong charge carrier
      mobility dependencies of the observed charge carrier recombination rates. In 1903
      Paul Langevin published a fundamental model to describe the recombination of ions
      in gas-phase or aqueous solutions, known today as Langevin recombination. During
      the last decades this model was used to interpret and model recombination in
      organic semiconductors. However, certain experiments especially with bulk
      heterojunction solar cells reveal much lower recombination rates than predicted
      by Langevin. In search of an explanation, many material and device properties
      such as morphology and energetic properties have been examined in order to extend
      the validity of the Langevin model. A key argument for most of these extended
      models is, that electron and hole must find each other at a mutual spatial
      location. This encounter may be limited for instance by trapping of charges in
      trap states, by selective electrodes separating electrons and holes, or simply by
      the morphology of the involved semiconductors, making it impossible for electrons
      and holes to recombine at high rates. In this review, we discuss the development
      of mobility limited recombination models from the early Langevin theory to state
      of-the art models for charge carrier recombination in organic solar cells.

PMID- 28612757
TI  - A review of optical pacing with infrared light.
AB  - Optical pacing (OP) uses pulsed infrared light to initiate heartbeats in
      electrically excitable cardiac tissues without employing exogenous agents. OP is
      an alternative approach to electrical pacing that may overcome some its
      disadvantages for some applications. In this review, we discuss the initial
      demonstrations, mechanisms, safety, advantages and applications of OP.

PMID- 28612758
TI  - Recording nerve signals in canine sciatic nerves with a flexible penetrating
      microelectrode array.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previously, we presented the fabrication and characterization of a
      flexible penetrating microelectrode array (FPMA) as a neural interface device. In
      the present study, we aim to prove the feasibility of the developed FPMA as a
      chronic intrafascicular recording tool for peripheral applications. APPROACH: For
      recording from the peripheral nerves of medium-sized animals, the FPMA was
      integrated with an interconnection cable and other parts that were designed to
      fit canine sciatic nerves. The uniformity of tip exposure and in vitro
      electrochemical properties of the electrodes were characterized. The capability
      of the device to acquire in vivo electrophysiological signals was evaluated by
      implanting the FPMA assembly in canine sciatic nerves acutely as well as
      chronically for 4 weeks. We also examined the histology of implanted tissues to
      evaluate the damage caused by the device. MAIN RESULTS: Throughout recording
      sessions, we observed successful multi-channel recordings (up to 73% of viable
      electrode channels) of evoked afferent and spontaneous nerve unit spikes with
      high signal quality (SNR  >  4.9). Also, minor influences of the device
      implantation on the morphology of nerve tissues were found. SIGNIFICANCE: The
      presented results demonstrate the viability of the developed FPMA device in the
      peripheral nerves of medium-sized animals, thereby bringing us a step closer to
      human applications. Furthermore, the obtained data provide a driving force toward
      a further study for device improvements to be used as a bidirectional neural
      interface in humans.

PMID- 28612759
TI  - Nanogenerator power output: influence of particle size and crystallinity of
      BaTiO3.
AB  - Lead-free piezoelectric nanogenerators made with BaTiO3 offer an attractive
      energy harvesting solution towards portable, battery-free medical devices such as
      self-powered pacemakers. Here, we assembled nanogenerators made of thin, flexible
      poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) films containing either
      polycrystalline BaTiO3 nanoparticles of various sizes or commercial
      monocrystalline particles of 64 or 278 nm in average diameter. The nanoparticles
      were prepared by hydrogen-driven flame aerosol technology and had an average
      diameter of 24-50 nm with an average crystal size of about 10 nm. The rapid
      cooling during nanoparticle formation facilitated the synthesis of
      polycrystalline, multi-domain, piezoelectrically active tetragonal BaTiO3 with a
      high c/a lattice ratio. Using these particles, 2 MUm thin polymer nanocomposites
      were formed, assembled into nanogenerators that exhibited a 1.4 V time-averaged
      output, almost twice that of the best commercial BaTiO3 particles. That output
      was maintained stable for over 45 000 cycles with each cycle corresponding to a
      heartbeat of 60 bpm. The exceptional piezoelectric performance of these
      nanogenerators is traced to their constituent polycrystalline nanoparticles,
      having high degree of domain orientation upon poling and exhibiting the
      flexoelectric effect, polarization induced by a strain gradient.

PMID- 28612755
TI  - Learning to see again: biological constraints on cortical plasticity and the
      implications for sight restoration technologies.
AB  - The 'bionic eye'-so long a dream of the future-is finally becoming a reality with
      retinal prostheses available to patients in both the US and Europe. However,
      clinical experience with these implants has made it apparent that the visual
      information provided by these devices differs substantially from normal sight.
      Consequently, the ability of patients to learn to make use of this abnormal
      retinal input plays a critical role in whether or not some functional vision is
      successfully regained. The goal of the present review is to summarize the vast
      basic science literature on developmental and adult cortical plasticity with an
      emphasis on how this literature might relate to the field of prosthetic vision.
      We begin with describing the distortion and information loss likely to be
      experienced by visual prosthesis users. We then define cortical plasticity and
      perceptual learning, and describe what is known, and what is unknown, about
      visual plasticity across the hierarchy of brain regions involved in visual
      processing, and across different stages of life. We close by discussing what is
      known about brain plasticity in sight restoration patients and discuss biological
      mechanisms that might eventually be harnessed to improve visual learning in these
      patients.

PMID- 28612761
TI  - Light weakly interacting massive particles.
AB  - Light weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) are dark matter particle
      candidates with weak scale interaction with the known particles, and mass in the
      GeV to tens of GeV range. Hints of light WIMPs have appeared in several dark
      matter searches in the last decade. The unprecedented possible coincidence into
      tantalizingly close regions of mass and cross section of four separate direct
      detection experimental hints and a potential indirect detection signal in gamma
      rays from the galactic center, aroused considerable interest in our field. Even
      if these hints did not so far result in a discovery, they have had a significant
      impact in our field. Here we review the evidence for and against light WIMPs as
      dark matter candidates and discuss future relevant experiments and observations.

PMID- 28612760
TI  - Effects of growth and aging on the reference values of pulmonary nitric oxide
      dynamics in healthy subjects.
AB  - The lung just like all other organs is affected by age. The lung matures by the
      age of 20 and age-related changes start around middle age, at 40-50 years.
      Exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) has been shown to be age, height and gender
      dependent. We hypothesize that the nitric oxide (NO) parameters alveolar NO
      (CANO), airway flux (JawNO), airway diffusing capacity (DawNO) and airway wall
      content (CawNO) will also demonstrate this dependence. Data from healthy subjects
      were gathered by the current authors from their earlier publications in which
      healthy individuals were included as control subjects. Healthy subjects (n = 433)
      ranged in age from 7 to 78 years. Age-stratified reference values of the NO
      parameters were significantly different. Gender differences were only observed in
      the 20-49 age group. The results from the multiple regression models in subjects
      older than 20 years revealed that age, height and gender interaction together
      explained 6% of variation in FENO at 50 ml s-1 (FENO50), 4% in JawNO, 16% in
      CawNO, 8% in DawNO and 12% in CANO. In conclusion, in this study we have
      generated reference values for NO parameters from an extended NO analysis of
      healthy subjects. This is important in order to be able to use these parameters
      in clinical practice.

PMID- 28612762
TI  - Lessons from a decade of emerging diseases: towards regional public health
      security.

PMID- 28612763
TI  - Chronic disease management in the South-East Asia Region: a need to do more.
AB  - Chronic diseases account for a substantial proportion of deaths in the South-East
      Asia Region, ranging from 34% in Timor-Leste to 79% in Maldives. Fuelled by the
      epidemiological shift towards noncommunicable diseases, the burden of chronic
      conditions is steadily increasing. Care structures for chronic diseases in most
      of these countries focus only on certain conditions and are often oriented
      towards episodic illnesses. An opportunity exists for holistic, country-driven
      applications of the World Health Organization Innovative Care for Chronic
      Conditions framework to improve quality of care for chronic conditions in the
      region.

PMID- 28612764
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of hypertension among residents aged 20-59 years of a
      slum-resettlement colony in Delhi, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Slum-resettlement communities are increasingly adopting urban
      lifestyles. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and identify
      correlates of hypertension among residents aged 20-59 years of a slum
      resettlement colony. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional
      study was done from 2010 to 2012 in NandNagri, a slum-resettlement area in east
      Delhi. 310 participants aged 20-59 years were enrolled through multistage
      systematic random sampling. Each study subject was interviewed and examined for
      raised blood pressure; data on risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake,
      physical activity and salt consumption were also collected. Data were analysed by
      use of univariate and multivariate regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of
      hypertension was 17.4% and 35% participants were prehypertensive. On multiple
      logistic regression, age 40-49 years (P = 0.020) and 50-59 years (P = 0.012),
      clerical/professional occupation (P = 0.004), abnormal waist circumference (>=90
      cm in males and >= 80 cm in females; P = 0.001), positive family history of
      hypertension in both parents (P = 0.013) and above-average daily salt intake (P =
      0.000) were significantly associated with hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings indicate that hypertension is a significant health problem in the study
      population. Many study participants diagnosed with prehypertension are at risk of
      developing hypertension, thus immediate public-health interventions are
      indicated.

PMID- 28612765
TI  - Risk factors for nonfatal drowning in children in rural Bangladesh: a community
      based case-control study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Most studies of drowning in Bangladeshi populations to date have
      described mortality and trends. We sought to identify associations between
      socioeconomic status and child-care practices and nonfatal drowning in rural
      Bangladeshi children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This community-based case-control
      study was conducted in rural children aged 1-5 years in Raiganj subdistrict of
      Bangladesh. 122 cases and 134 age-matched controls were recruited and their
      mothers were interviewed by use of a structured questionnaire. Univariate
      analyses and logistic regression were done to analyse the data. RESULTS: Child
      nonfatal drowning was significantly associated with mothers: With low educational
      status (P < 0.001), of younger age (P < 0.005), of single status (P < 0.001) and
      with more than three children (P < 0.001). Nonfatal drowning was 12 and five
      times more likely in children of illiterate mothers than in children of mothers
      with academic knowledge equivalent to sixth to tenth grade (OR [95% CI] 0.08
      [0.02-0.26]) and above tenth grade (OR [95% CI] 0.21 [0.04-0.95]) (P < 0.001),
      respectively. Low socioeconomic status, indicated by lower family expenditure (P
      < 0.001) and no house (P < 0.05; OR [95% CI] 0.58 [0.17-0.99]), were found to be
      risk factors for childhood nonfatal drowning. Improved child care, as measured by
      a child-care index, was associated with significantly lower non-fatal drowning (P
      < 0.001). Child care improved with higher educational attainment of mothers (P <
      0.005) and increased socioeconomic status. Nonfatal drowning was more common when
      the main caregiver was not the mother (P < 0.001). Forward likelihood ratio
      logistic regression indicated mothers' lower educational status as the best
      predictor of nonfatal drowning. CONCLUSION: Better child care and prevention of
      nonfatal drowning might be ensured through increasing mothers' educational
      attainment and improvements in socioeconomic status.

PMID- 28612766
TI  - Choice of health-care facility after introduction of free essential health
      services in Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Choice of health-care services depends on patients' characteristics
      and the features of health-care facilities available. In Nepal, a significant
      proportion of health care is provided through the private sector, despite the
      introduction of free essential health care for all citizens in 2008. We sought to
      determine whether people chose private or public facilities in the first instance
      for acute health problems. We also assessed the reasons for their choice.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was done by use of a
      questionnaire administered to 400 household heads in Jhapa district, Nepal.
      RESULTS: 272 (68%) respondents sought treatment from public health-care
      facilities in the first instance. On adjusted analysis, illiterate people were
      more likely to choose public facilities than people with higher secondary
      education (OR 5.47, P = 0.002). Similarly, lower-caste and religious-minority
      respondents were more likely to choose public facilities than disadvantaged
      janajati (OR 2.33, P = 0.01). Among respondents who used public facilities, 174
      (64.0%) and 109 (40.0%) stated that that their choice was based on financial
      accessibility and physical accessibility, respectively. Among respondents who
      used private facilities, 65 (50.7%) and 54 (42.1%) said their choice was based on
      adequacy of resources/services and health-care delivery, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: A substantial portion of respondents used public health-care
      facilities in the first instance, mainly because of financial and physical
      accessibility rather than adequacy of resources or better health-care delivery.
      These results may indicate a positive impact of removal of user fees for public
      health-care facilities in Nepal, especially for impoverished people.

PMID- 28612767
TI  - Haemophilus influenza type b disease and vaccination in India: knowledge,
      attitude and practices of paediatricians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) causes significant morbidity and
      mortality among young children in India. Hib vaccines are safe and efficacious;
      nevertheless, their introduction to India's national immunization programme has
      been hindered by resistance from certain sectors of academia and civil society.
      We aimed to ascertain the attitudes and perceptions of Indian paediatricians
      towards Hib disease and vaccination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional
      survey of knowledge, attitude and practices on Hib and vaccines was undertaken
      among 1000 Indian paediatricians who attended 49 th National Conference of Indian
      Academy of Pediatrics in 2012 through use of a 21-point questionnaire. RESULTS:
      927 (93%) paediatricians completed the survey. 643 (69%) responded that Hib is a
      common disease in India. 788 (85%) reported prescribing Hib vaccine to their
      patients and 453 (49%) had done so for the past 5-15 years. Hib vaccine was used
      in combination with other vaccines by 814 (88%) of the participants. 764 (82%)
      respondents thought Hib vaccine effective while 750 (81%) thought it to be safe.
      Fever, pain and redness were the most frequently reported post vaccination side
      effects. 445 (48%) paediatricians ranked universal use of Hib vaccine in the
      national immunization programme as the most important strategy to prevent and
      control Hib disease in India. CONCLUSION: The excellent profile as reported by a
      large number of paediatricians from throughout India further strengthens evidence
      to support expanded use of currently available Hib vaccines. These findings
      should encourage the Government of India to initiate mass use of this vaccine
      nationwide.

PMID- 28612768
TI  - Health workforce in India: assessment of availability, production and
      distribution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: India faces an acute shortage of health personnel. Together with
      inequalities in distribution of health workers, this shortfall impedes progress
      towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The aim of this study
      was to assess health-workforce distribution, identify inequalities in health
      worker provision and estimate the impact of this maldistribution on key health
      outcomes in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Health-workforce availability and
      production were assessed by use of year-end data for 2009 obtained from the
      Indian Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Inequalities in the
      distribution of doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives were estimated by use of
      the Gini coefficient and the relation between health-worker density and selected
      health outcomes was assessed by linear regression. RESULTS: Inequalities in the
      availability of health workers exist in India. Certain states are experiencing an
      acute shortage of health personnel. Inequalities in the distribution of health
      workers are highest for doctors and dentists and have a significant effect on
      health outcomes. CONCLUSION: Although the production of health workers has
      expanded greatly in recent years, the problems of imbalances in their
      distribution persist. As India seeks to achieve universal health coverage by
      2020, the realization of this goal remains challenged by the current lack of
      availability and inequitable distribution of appropriately trained, motivated and
      supported health workers.

PMID- 28612769
TI  - Monitoring medicines use to support national medicines policy development and
      implementation in the Asia Pacific region.
AB  - Critical to the successful implementation of a national medicines strategy is
      evaluation of the policy and ongoing monitoring of medicine use. Methods for
      monitoring medicines use within countries vary depending on the country and its
      stage of medicines policy development and implementation. In this paper, we
      provide four case studies on monitoring medicines use to support national
      medicines policy development and implementation. Cases come from Bhutan,
      Indonesia, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea.

PMID- 28612770
TI  - National policies for safety of medicines in the Asia Pacific region.
AB  - National medicines policies can aid the safe use of medicines by ensuring
      availability of quality products, appropriate information for prescribers and
      consumers, strengthening the national medicines regulatory capacity and improving
      access to expert advice and authoritative laboratory testing. We report the
      findings of a workshop on medicines safety, which focused on the Asia Pacific
      region. Participants noted that external support is needed for resource-poor
      countries and that national medicines policies should include surveillance on
      problems with medicines, rather than the more limited monitoring of adverse drug
      reactions. The latter approach may be the only sensible option in countries in
      the Asia Pacific with very small populations.

PMID- 28612771
TI  - Prevention of vertical transmission of HIV in India through service integration:
      lessons from Mysore District, Karnataka.
AB  - Meeting the needs of HIV-positive pregnant women and their offspring is critical
      to India's political and financial commitment to achieving universal access to
      HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. This review of the strategy to
      prevent vertical transmission of HIV in Mysore district, Karnataka, highlights
      the need to integrate prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) and
      reproductive and child health (RCH) services. All key officials who were involved
      in the integration of services at the state and district levels were interviewed
      by use of semistructured protocols. Policy documents and guidelines issued by the
      Department of Health and Family Welfare and Karnataka State AIDS Prevention
      Society were reviewed, as were records and official orders issued by the office
      of District Health and Family Welfare Officer and District HIV/AIDS Programme
      Office, Mysore. Routine data were also collected from all health facilities. This
      review found that 4.5 years of PPTCT-RCH integration resulted not only in a rise
      in antenatal registrations but also in almost all pregnant women counselled
      during antenatal care undergoing HIV tests. Based on the findings, we propose
      recommendations for successful replication of this strategy. Integration of PPTCT
      services with RCH should take place at all levels - policy, administration,
      facility and community. The increased demand for HIV counselling and testing
      resulting from service integration must be met by skilled human resources,
      sufficient facilities and adequate funds at the facility level.

PMID- 28612772
TI  - Health situation in the South-East Asia Region: challenges for the next decade.

PMID- 28612773
TI  - From Alma-Ata to Rio: health for all to all for equity.

PMID- 28612774
TI  - Impact of climate change on health and strategies for mitigation and adaptation.
AB  - Climate change and its negative impacts on health are now globally recognized. A
      wide variety of diseases and health conditions - ranging from heat and radiation
      related illnesses to water and vector-borne diseases, under-nutrition,
      respiratory and cardiac problems, drowning, injuries and mental stress arising
      from extreme and sudden weather events and their resultant population
      displacements - all have been associated with various components of changing
      climate. However, the exact nature and extent of such impacts are yet to be
      firmly established since many other non-climate factors also produce or affect
      similar outcomes. This calls for more research specially from the underdeveloped
      countries, where such impacts are disproportionately more but reliable data are
      remarkably less. Recognizing the importance of human influences on global
      warming, almost all countries in the world have undertaken some kind of policies
      and measures to mitigate adverse climatic changes. Unfortunately, even without
      further addition of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in our climate, the amount of GHGs
      already released has the potential to continue the damages for many more decades
      to come. Thus, all countries should also place priorities in assessing their own
      vulnerabilities from climate change and take adaptive measures accordingly. As
      climate change exerts its impact simultaneously in many non-health sectors as
      well, this would require strong intersectoral cooperation at various levels.

PMID- 28612775
TI  - Escherichia coli contamination of babies' food-serving utensils in a district of
      West Sumatra, Indonesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contamination of baby's complementary food may occur with Escherichia
      coli from several sources including unclean utensils. We examined the
      relationship between socio-economic conditions, environmental factors,
      characteristics of food handlers and contamination of babies food-serving
      utensils with E. coli. METHODS: The study was conducted in 21 villages of the
      Community Health Centre (CHC) Selayo in Indonesia. A cross-sectional design was
      used. A sample of 142 households, which had a 6-12 month-old baby on
      complementary food, was chosen randomly using midwives' registration books.
      Respondents were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Check-lists
      were used for observations. Standard laboratory methods were used for collection
      of specimen and confirmation of contamination with E. coli. RESULTS: More than
      half of the respondents (59.2%) used water that had high risk of contamination
      and 61.3% of the latrines did not meet the criteria of a healthy latrine. Waste
      management practices of nearly all respondents (97.9%) were below the standards
      set by the Ministry of Health. More than half of the respondents (68.3%) did not
      wash their hands with soap for 20 seconds and 52.1% did not use flowing water for
      washing hands. Majority of the respondents' hands (57%, 81/142) and 72.2%
      (104/142) of the eating utensils were found to be contaminated by E. coli.
      Contaminated hands of food handlers were more likely to contaminate the babies
      food-serving utensils (OR: 3.7; 95%CI: 1.62-8.46, p 0.002). CONCLUSION:
      Contamination of the hands of food handler was associated with contamination of
      babies food-serving utensils by E. coli. Hence, food handlers should be trained
      on proper hand washing methods.

PMID- 28612776
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of self-medication in a selected urban and rural
      district of Sri Lanka.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-medication is widely practised in many developing countries. The
      determinants of self-medication need to be understood to design adequate medicine
      information policies and patient-dispenser education strategies. Hence, the
      prevalence of medicine use and predictors of self-medication were determined in
      Sri Lanka. METHODS: In a community-based cross- sectional study, data were
      collected from 1800 adults selected from Gampaha and Polonnaruwa districts
      respectively. Study participants were sampled using a multistage cluster sampling
      technique. Trained public health midwives administered the questionnaire. Two
      Likert scales provided information on access to medical care and satisfaction
      with available pharmacy services. About 95% of the sampled population
      participated in the study. RESULTS: Overall, prevalence of medication use
      (allopathic, traditional, home remedies) in urban and rural population was 33.9%
      and 35.3%, respectively. Self-medication prevalence of allopathic drugs in the
      urban sector (12.2%) was significantly higher than in the rural (7.9%)
      sector(p<0.05). In the urban sector, small household size and preference to have
      medicines from outside the pharmacies predisposed to self-medication. The higher
      acceptability of medical services and regularity of medical care decreased the
      likelihood of self-medication. In the rural sector, lower satisfaction about the
      healthcare providers' concern for clients, lower satisfaction about affordability
      of medical care and higher satisfaction with technical competence of the pharmacy
      staff increased the likelihood of self-medication. In both urban and rural
      sectors, when symptom count increased, tendency to self-medicate decreased.
      CONCLUSIONS: Self-medication prevalence was higher in urban compared to rural
      areas in Sri Lanka. Some aspects of access to medical care, satisfaction with
      pharmacy services and perceived severity of the disease were found to be
      important determinants of self-medication.

PMID- 28612777
TI  - Effect of patient education and standard treatment guidelines on asthma control:
      an intervention trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Denial of having a chronic condition, poor knowledge of the disease
      process and lack of adherence to standard treatment are often considered to be
      important factors that increase morbidity in asthma. We evaluated the effect of
      standard treatment guidelines and asthma education programme on asthma control
      among patients enrolled from a referral health facility of Delhi in India.
      METHODS: Fifty patients who visited the health facility first time for treatment
      of asthma were enrolled after confirming the diagnosis of asthma by symptoms and
      reversible spirometry. Patients were interviewed at baseline using three
      researcher-administered questionnaires - quality of asthma management
      questionnaire, asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) and asthma knowledge
      questionnaire (AKQ). All patients were given pharmacotherapy according to
      standard treatment guidelines. In addition, every alternate patient was also
      given a face-to-face educational intervention. Patients were followed up at 2, 4,
      8 and 12 weeks. The ACQ was used at each visit, and AKQ was reassessed at the
      twelfth week. The paired t test was used to detect significant changes in various
      domains of asthma control. RESULTS: The knowledge of asthma among patients and
      the care provided by previous health-care providers were found to be poor at
      baseline assessment. The application of standard treatment guidelines improved
      asthma control by the second week and the changes became significant by the
      fourth week, which persisted till the twelfth week (p <0.0001). Educational
      intervention led to improvements in knowledge in several domains. Improvements in
      asthma symptoms began earlier among those who had additional educational
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Standard treatment guidelines and asthma education
      improved asthma control.

PMID- 28612778
TI  - The pattern of psychiatric admissions in a referral hospital, Bhutan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental illnesses are becoming a public health issue in all countries.
      However, data in most of the developing countries including Bhutan are scarce.
      This study aimed to explore the trends of admissions in the psychiatric ward of a
      referral hospital in Thimphu city of Bhutan. METHOD: The study employed a
      retrospective analysis method. The data were obtained from the patient admission
      register of the psychiatric ward to capture distribution by age, gender,
      occupation, nationality, clinical diagnosis, and length of stay in the ward.
      International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10th Revision was used for
      classification of the diseases. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the
      pattern of patient admissions. Demographic characteristics of the sample were
      cross-tabulated with clinical diagnosis and chi-square test was used to test
      statistical significance. RESULTS: In the psychiatric ward 1336 patients were
      admitted over a seven-year period. In 2004-05, 127 patients were admitted, which
      increased to 376 in 2010-11. Higher numbers of males (64.1%, 856) were admitted
      than females (35.9%, 480). Mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive
      substance use were the most common (45.5%) reason for admission. Among the
      admitted patients, 18.8% had no job or were dependents. A large number of
      patients were from Thimphu District (10.8%) and 42% of the patients stayed for
      one to two weeks in the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric admissions were found
      to be increasing every year. Alcohol and drug use disorders were the most
      frequent diagnosis leading to hospitalization. Attention must be paid to
      increasing the in-patient services for psychiatric patients.

PMID- 28612779
TI  - Pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 in Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developing a quantitative understanding of pandemic influenza
      dynamics in South-East Asia is important for informing future pandemic planning.
      Hence, transmission dynamics of influenza A/H1N1 were determined across space and
      time in Thailand. METHODS: Dates of symptom onset were obtained for all daily
      laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1pdm in Thailand from 3 May 2009 to
      26 December 2010 for four different geographic regions (Central, North, North
      East, and South). These data were analysed using a probabilistic epidemic
      reconstruction, and estimates of the effective reproduction number, R(t), were
      derived by region and over time. RESULTS: Estimated R(t) values for the first
      wave peaked at 1.54 (95% CI: 1.42-1.71) in the Central region and 1.64 (95% CI:
      1.38-1.92) in the North, whilst the corresponding values in the North-East and
      the South were 1.30 (95% CI: 1.17-1.46) and 1.39 (95% CI: 1.32-1.45)
      respectively. As the R(t) in the Central region fell below one, the value of R(t)
      in the rest of Thailand increased above one. R(t) was above one for 30 days
      continuously through the first wave in all regions of Thailand. During the second
      wave R(t) was only marginally above one in all regions except the South.
      CONCLUSIONS: In Thailand, the value of R(t) varied by region in the two pandemic
      waves. Higher R(t) estimates were found in Central and Northern regions in the
      first wave. Knowledge of regional variation in transmission potential is needed
      for predicting the course of future pandemics and for analysing the potential
      impact of control measures.

PMID- 28612780
TI  - Behavioural risk factors of men associated with transmission of sexually
      transmitted infections (STIs) in Sri Lanka.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unprotected sex is a major risk factor for transmission of sexually
      transmitted infections (STIs). We explored the behavioural risk factors for STIs
      among men who presented with STI-related symptoms. METHODS: A systematic sample
      of 112 males presenting with STI symptoms at district sexually transmitted
      disease (STD) clinic located in Kandy, Sri Lanka were enrolled during 2009. They
      were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Selected sexual
      behaviours were discussed with them in greater detail. The chi-square and
      difference-in-two-proportion tests were used for testing the statistical
      significance for quantitative data, and qualitative methods were used for the
      analysis of responses to open-ended questions and in-depth discussion. RESULTS:
      The median age of the respondents was 28 years. The majority of them (56%) had
      never been married. The median age at the first sexual intercourse was 22 years.
      The majority (87%) of respondents had their first intercourse before marriage;
      mostly with older females. Most (103, 92%) men reported having sexual intercourse
      during the past six months; of them, 40.8% had sex with multiple partners. Only
      18.5% used condoms at the first premarital intercourse. The consistent use of
      condoms with non-marital partners during the past six months was only 13.7%.
      Common reasons for non-use of condoms were: belief that partner was faithful;
      poor knowledge about risk of unprotected sex; view that condoms reduce pleasure
      and negatively affect intimacy; and inhibition in accessing condoms in public.
      CONCLUSIONS: Sexual behaviours were found to be risky among men attending STD
      clinics in Sri Lanka. Strategies of sexual health promotion among vulnarable
      groups should be evaluated for planning proper interventions.

PMID- 28612781
TI  - Risk factors of childhood tuberculosis: a case control study from rural
      Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major causes of childhood
      morbidity and mortality; however, it is relatively a neglected disease. Hence, we
      explored the risk factors for childhood TB. METHODS: Ninty-five cases and 94
      controls were selected during January to May 2011 from DOTS centres located in
      four sub-districts of Bangladesh. The exposure status of recently diagnosed
      childhood TB patients (<18-year-olds), who were sputum-positive, were compared
      with children who were sent to the laboratory with suspected tuberculosis but
      were found to be sputum-negative. Data were collected by a structured
      questionnaire. Crude odds ratios (OR), adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Stepwise logistic regression model was
      used to identify independent predictors. RESULTS: Children under 14 years of age
      (AOR: 0.25; 95% CI: 0.10-0.66), having completed primary education (AOR: 0.28;
      95% CI: 0.10-0.74), whose fathers' were in business or service (AOR: 0.24; 95%
      CI: 0.08-0.72), and who slept in a less crowded room (AOR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.14
      0.76), lived in a house with a separate kitchen (AOR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16-0.96)
      had less chance of having TB. Those who had contact with cases of TB among
      relatives or neighbours were less likely to have TB (AOR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.16
      0.70) compared to those who had contact with a TB case in the family. CONCLUSION:
      Age, education, father's occupation, crowding, kitchen location and intimate
      contact with a TB case were significantly associated with smear-positive
      childhood TB.

PMID- 28612782
TI  - Responding to measles outbreak: closing the immunity gap in children of Timor
      Leste.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An outbreak of measles was reported in Timor-Leste during 2011. A
      concerted response at national level utilized this opportunity to improve measles
      immunization coverage rates. METHODS: Health Management Information System and
      Surveillance System data were utilized to describe the outbreak. Attack rates and
      case fatality rates (CFR) were calculated using standard methods. Evaluation
      surveys were used to access immunization coverage. Proceedings of weekly meetings
      of the National Committee for Control of Disease Outbreaks were reviewed.
      RESULTS: A total of 739 cases and 8 deaths were reported to the Surveillance
      Unit. Most (>82%) of the measles cases were reported from Dili and Ermera
      districts. The attack rate was 1.3 per 1000 population and CFR was 1.1%. The
      response was coordinated by the National Committee for Control of Disease
      Outbreaks, which included case management, active and passive surveillance,
      communication and measles immunization among six-month to 14-year old children.
      Immunization activity targeted 495 000 children, i.e. almost one-half of the
      Timor-Leste population and achieved high coverage (85%). CONCLUSIONS: The
      outbreak highlighted gaps in the immunity against measles. The National Committee
      for Control of Disease Outbreaks ensured a coordinated response which led to
      prevention of deaths from measles due to early case management with vitamin A
      supplementation, and high measles immunization coverage.

PMID- 28612783
TI  - Decentralization of health services in India: barriers and facilitating factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India, the process of decentralization of health services started
      taking shape in the mid-1990s. Systemic reforms envisaged delegation of
      administrative and financial responsibilities at district level for management of
      health-care institutions in 23 states of India in 1999. Subsequently, some of
      these reforms became part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) launched in
      2005. This study aims to document the process of decentralization in health
      services with special reference to the barriers and facilitating factors
      encountered during formulation and implementation of reform policies. METHODS:
      Secondary data were reviewed, health facilities were observed, and semi
      structured interviews of the key actors involved in decentralization were carried
      out in Haryana (India). RESULTS: Political and bureaucratic commitment to reforms
      was found to be the most important facilitating factor. Orientation training on
      decentralized administrative structures and performance-based resource
      distribution were the other important facilitators. Structural changes in
      administrative procedures led to improvement in the financial management system.
      Significant improvement in the public health infrastructure was observed. From
      2004 to 2008, the state government increased the budget of health sector by
      nearly 60%. Frequent changes in the top administration at the state level
      hampered the decentralization process. Districts having a dynamic administrative
      leadership implemented decentralization more effectively than the rest.
      CONCLUSIONS: Decentralization of financial resources has improved the functioning
      of health services to some extent. Major policy decisions on decentralization of
      human resource management, increase in financial allocation, and greater
      involvement of community in decision-making are required.

PMID- 28612785
TI  - Why is every country not primed to use oral rehydration therapy to treat cases of
      diarrhoea?

PMID- 28612784
TI  - Oral fluid therapy of cholera among Bangladesh refugees[1].

PMID- 28612786
TI  - Primary health care: perspective of village women from Himachal Pradesh.

PMID- 28612787
TI  - Role of modern technology in public health: opportunities and challenges.

PMID- 28612788
TI  - Malaria control in India: has sub-optimal rationing of effective interventions
      compromised programme efficiency?

PMID- 28612789
TI  - Abuse against women in pregnancy: a population-based study from Eastern India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Violence against women is widely recognized as an important public
      health problem. However, the magnitude of the problem among pregnant women is not
      well known in several parts of India. Hence, the prevalence and characteristics
      associated with various forms of domestic violence against women in pregnancy
      were studied in Eastern India. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional sample
      survey covering married women with a history of at least one full-term pregnancy
      (n 1525) was carried out in the Orissa, West Bengal and Jharkhand states of
      India. Interviews were conducted using a pre-piloted structured questionnaire to
      inquire about physical, psychological and sexual domestic violence. Data on
      socioeconomic characteristics and behaviours were also collected. The association
      of independent variables with domestic violence were examined by using logistic
      regression models. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical, psychological and sexual
      domestic violence during a recent pregnancy was found to be 7.1%, 30.6% and 10.4%
      respectively, and the lifetime prevalence during all pregnancies was 8.3%, 33.4%
      and 12.6% respectively. Urban living, higher maternal age and husbands'
      alcoholism were the factors associated with domestic violence in pregnancy. Women
      belonging to lower social groups were less likely to have physical domestic
      violence. Factors such as higher prevalence of undesirable behaviours like
      denying adequate rest and diet, demand for more sex, not providing antenatal care
      and pressure for male child were also associated with domestic violence in
      pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable proportions of women experience some type of
      domestic violence during pregnancy. Health-care providers should be able to
      recognize and respond to pregnant women's victimization and refer them for
      appropriate support and care.

PMID- 28612790
TI  - Prognostic indicators in patients with snakebite: analysis of two-year data from
      a township hospital in central Myanmar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rural people seek medical treatment for snakebite at peripheral
      health care facilities. Hence, identification of the characteristics, which can
      be used at peripheral levels of health care as reliable predictors of mortality,
      are required. METHODS: Hospital records of 101 patients (70 males and 31 females)
      with age ranging from 3 to 80 years, admitted to Nahtogyi township hospital in
      central Myanmar during January 2005 to December 2006 were reviewed
      retrospectively. Binary logistic regression was used for estimating odds ratio
      (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) for various prognostic indicators of
      mortality. RESULTS: Almost all snakebites were on extremities; more in legs (62%)
      than hands (37%). Most (52.5%) bites occurred in the morning (4 am to noon). Mean
      (SD) time for bite-to-hospital and bite-to-injection of anti-snake venom (ASV)
      was 134.6 (78.6) and 167 (187.8) minutes respectively. Eleven cases (10.9%) had
      died. Case fatality ratio (CFR) was significantly higher in 39 patients with un
      clotted blood as compared to 62 patients with clotted blood (25.6% vs 1.6%, p
      <0.0005). Significantly higher CFR was observed in 49 patients who received ASV
      in >2 hours after the bite compared to 52 cases who received ASV within two hours
      (9.9% vs 0.9%, p <0.0001). Odds ratio of fatality were higher among those who had
      urine output of <400 ml in the first 24 hours (OR 26.4; 95% CI 2.4 to 288.3), un
      clotted blood (OR 4.6; 95% CI 0.3 to 66.7), bite-to-injection time of >2 hours
      (OR 4; 95% CI 0.1 to 219.8) bite-to-hospital time of >2 hours (OR 3.1; 95%CI 0.1
      to 136.3) and bites in the morning (OR 2; 95% CI 0.3 to 16.0). CONCLUSIONS:
      Clinical parameters could be used by healthcare providers to identify snakebite
      patients for referral, who may have fatal outcome.

PMID- 28612791
TI  - Performance of cause-specific childhood mortality surveillance by health workers
      using a short verbal autopsy tool.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The routine use of verbal autopsy in health-care delivery settings
      has been limited. Hence, the performance of neonatal and postneonatal verbal
      autopsy (VA) tools developed at the Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project
      (CRHSP), Ballabgarh (India), were assessed. METHODS: Short VA tools developed by
      CRHSP were filled by health workers during their routine house visits while
      standard VA tools of the International Network of Field Sites with continuous
      Demographic Evaluation (INDEPTH) were filled by trained research workers for all
      143 under-five-children deaths that occurred in 2008. The level of agreement in
      the cause of death assigned by the two VA tools was assessed by kappa and by
      comparison of the cause-specific mortality fractions. RESULTS: Among 65 neonatal
      deaths, the cause specific mortality fraction (CSMF) was 43.1% and 40% for low
      birthweight, 15.4% and 26.2% for birth asphyxia, and 7.7% and 10.8% for pneumonia
      by INDEPTH and CRHSP VA tools respectively. In 78 deaths among 29-days to <5-year
      olds, the CSMF was 29.4% and 26.9% for diarrhoea, and 16.6% each for pneumonia
      using the INDEPTH and CRHSP VA tools respectively. Kappa for most causes of death
      was more than 0.8, except for birth asphyxia, which had a kappa of 0.678.
      CONCLUSIONS: Short VA tools have a satisfactory performance in field settings,
      which can be used routinely by health workers for filling the gaps in the cause
      of-death information in places where medical certification of cause of death is
      deficient.

PMID- 28612792
TI  - Initiating tobacco cessation services in India: challenges and opportunities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tobacco use contributes significantly to the diseases burden in
      India. Very few tobacco users spontaneously quit. Therefore, beginning 2002, a
      network of 19 tobacco cessation clinics (TCCs) was set up over a period of time
      to study the feasibility of establishing tobacco cessation services. METHODS:
      Review of the process and operational aspects of setting up TCCs was carried out
      by evaluation of the records of TCCs in India. Baseline and follow-up information
      was recorded on a pre-designed form. RESULTS: During a five-year period, 34 741
      subjects attended the TCCs. Baseline information was recorded in 23 320 cases.
      The clients were predominantly (92.5%) above 20 years, married (74.1%) and males
      (92.2%). All of them received simple tips for quitting tobacco; 68.9% received
      behavioural counselling for relapse prevention and 31% were prescribed adjunct
      medication. At six-week follow-up, 3255 (14%) of the tobacco users had quit and
      5187 (22%) had reduced tobacco use by more than 50%. Data for three, three
      monthly follow-ups was available for 12 813 patients. In this group, 26% had
      either quit or significantly reduced tobacco use at first follow-up (three
      months), 21% at the second (six-months) and 18% at the third follow-up (nine
      months) had done so. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to set up effective tobacco
      cessation clinics in developing countries. Integration of these services into the
      health care delivery system still remains a challenge.

PMID- 28612793
TI  - Antibiogram of S. enterica serovar Typhi and S. enterica serovar Paratyphi A: a
      multi-centre study from India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enteric fever continues to be a public health problem in many
      countries including India. Emergence of the multidrug resistant strains of S.
      enterica serovar Typhi may render treatment with antibiotics ineffective. A multi
      centre surveillance study was, therefore, conducted in India to monitor the time
      trends in antibiotic susceptibility patterns of S. enterica serovar Typhi and S.
      enterica serovar Paratyphi A in India. METHODS: All S. enterica serovar Typhi and
      S. enterica serovar Paratyphi A strains isolated from January 2008 to December
      2010 in the 15 participating centres were included in the study. Each centre
      compiled their data in a predefined template which included data of the
      antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, location of the patient and specimen type.
      The data in the submitted templates was collated and analysed using a common
      protocol. RESULTS: A total of 3275 isolates of Salmonellae causing enteric fever
      were included in the study. There were 2511 S. enterica serovar Typhi and 764 S.
      enterica serovar Paratyphi A strains during the three-year study period.
      Resistance to nalidixic acid was seen in 83% of the S. enterica serovar Typhi and
      93% of S. enterica serovar Paratyphi A strains. Majority of the strains were
      susceptible to third generation cephalosporins. CONCLUSIONS: Enteric fever in
      India is caused by S. enterica serovar Typhi and S. enterica serovar Paratyphi A.
      Nalidixic acid resistance is high among both S. enterica serovar Typhi and S.
      enterica serovar Paratyphi A. Susceptibility to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and
      cotrimoxazole is high. Third generation cephalosporins continue to remain
      susceptible.

PMID- 28612794
TI  - Injection practices in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: About 16 billion injections are administered each year worldwide, and
      at least half of them are unsafe. India contributes 25% to 30% of the global
      injection load. A majority of curative injections are unnecessary. The present
      study was undertaken to assess the burden of injections and prevalent injection
      practices in India. METHODS: A nationwide population-based cluster survey (1200
      clusters; 24 021 subjects) at household level; along with observations, interview
      of prescribers (2402), and exit interview of the patients (12 012) at health
      facility level in the selected clusters was carried out -using probability
      proportionate to size (PPS) technique. Observations at health facility included
      generic observation (3592), observation of injection process (17 844), and
      observation of prescriber-client interaction (24 030). RESULTS: The frequency of
      injections was 2.9 (95%CI: 2.8-3.2) per person/year. Of the total injections,
      62.9% (95%CI: 60.7-65.0) were unsafe. Injections administered for curative
      purpose constituted 82.5% and a large majorly of these were prescribed for common
      symptoms like fever/cough/diarrhoea. Use of glass syringes was consistently
      associated with potential risk of blood-borne viral transmission. Satisfactory
      disposal of injection waste was observed at 61.3% (95%CI: 58.2-64.3) of the
      health facilities, and at 50.9% (95%CI: 46.7-55.2) of the immunization clinics.
      Significant differences were observed in the injection prescription pattern in
      public and private facilities, and in rural and urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: Three
      billion injections were estimated to be administered annually in India; of them
      1.89 billion were unsafe. Evidence suggests that the micro-level leadership for
      reducing injection overuse and making injections safer lies with the prescriber.

PMID- 28612795
TI  - Funding health promotion and disease prevention programmes: an innovative
      financing experience from Thailand.
AB  - Sustainable sources of funding for health programmes have been explored by many
      countries. In Thailand, the Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) was
      established in 2001 as an innovative state agency for funding health promotion
      from the 2% surcharge on alcohol and tobacco excise tax. ThaiHealth is governed
      by a Board chaired by the Prime Minister. It is not part of the conventional
      health services. ThaiHealth explicitly pursues a "socio-cultural" rather than a
      "biomedical model" of health. It has fostered strategic partnerships with
      government, private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and communities to
      implement health promotion plans. In 2010, its budget was 3700 million bahts (119
      million US dollars). Since ThaiHealth plays a catalytic, coordinating, empowering
      and enabling role, its impact can only be assessed "collectively" with all
      partner organizations. ThaiHealth contributed to development of several policies
      that led to enactment of laws and building the capacity of organizations,
      communities and individuals in planning and carrying out health promotion
      activities. The "Collective impact" includes decline in smoking among the more
      than-15-year-olds from 25.47% in 2001 to 20.7% in 2009; harmful alcohol drinkers
      from 9.1% in 2004 to 7.3% in 2009; death rate from vehicle accidents from 22.9
      per 100 000 in 2003 to 16.82 per 100 000 in 2010. The main factors leading to
      achievements of ThaiHealth are: flexibility, financial security and effective
      strategy. However, inadequate understanding among public and stakeholders about
      the philosophy, governance and operation of ThaiHealth is reckoned as a huge
      challenge.

PMID- 28612796
TI  - Nipah virus outbreaks in Bangladesh: a deadly infectious disease.
AB  - During 2001-2011, multidisciplinary teams from the Institute of Epidemiology,
      Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and International Centre for Diarrhoeal
      Disease Research, Bangladesh(icddr,b) identified sporadic cases and 11 outbreaks
      of Nipah encephalitis. Three outbreaks were detected through sentinel
      surveillance; others were identified through event-based surveillance. A total of
      196 cases of Nipah encephalitis, in outbreaks, clusters and as isolated cases
      were detected from 20 districts of Bangladesh; out of them 150 (77%) cases died.
      Drinking raw date palm sap and contact with a case were identified as the major
      risk factors for acquiring the disease. Combination of surveillance systems and
      multidisciplinary outbreak investigations can be an effective strategy not only
      for detection of emerging infectious diseases but also for identification of
      novel characteristics and risk factors for these diseases in resource-poor
      settings.

PMID- 28612797
TI  - Early detection of chronic diseases and their risk factors: a women empowerment
      model from Kerala, India.
AB  - Identification of risk factors through screening is an important tool in the
      fight against chronic diseases. We have used a unique model, named Saantwanam (to
      console) in Malayalam language, for health screening in Kerala, India. Under the
      Saantwanam programme, government selects suitable women care-givers who are
      trained and equipped by a nongovernmental organization through loans from a
      public sector bank. After training, care-givers deliver screening services by
      measuring the weight and height, and blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol
      levels of people concerned in their local communities at a reasonable fee-for
      service that provides a source of income to them. All care-givers are trained to
      counsel on healthy living, i.e. appropriate diet, exercise and unhealthy habits
      such as tobacco consumption. When cases are detected they are referred to local
      physicians and later on followed up by care-givers at their residence. In the
      last five years, the Saantwanam programme has screened more than 300 000 people
      for various diseases and risk factors. They have been counselled to avail of
      health-care services. The Saantwanam model does not cause additional expenditure
      to the government for early detection of chronic diseases and their risk factors.
      Moreover, it ensures that the care-givers are rewarded for their effort. However,
      before large-scale implementation of this model, measurement of baseline risk
      factors in a sample population should be done so that their impact can be
      measured at a later date. The cost-effectiveness of the model also needs to be
      determined.

PMID- 28612798
TI  - Hospital or home? Scripting a high point in the history of TB care and control.

PMID- 28612799
TI  - Mobile phones for community health workers of Bihar empower adolescent girls.

PMID- 28612801
TI  - From The Lancet: East Timor striving for universal access to health care.

PMID- 28612802
TI  - From the Results for Development (R4D) Institute: An Interview with Dr David
      Evans of the World Health Organization.

PMID- 28612800
TI  - Universal health coverage in South-East Asia: documenting the evidence for a
      Regional Strategy.

PMID- 28612803
TI  - Public financing to close gaps in universal health coverage in South-East Asia.

PMID- 28612804
TI  - Reprioritizing government spending on health: pushing an elephant up the stairs?
AB  - Countries vary widely with respect to the share of government spending on health,
      a metric that can serve as a proxy for the extent to which health is prioritized
      by governments. World Health Organization (WHO) data estimate that, in 2011,
      health's share of aggregate government expenditure averaged 12% in the 170
      countries for which data were available. However, country differences were
      striking: ranging from a low of 1% in Myanmar to a high of 28% in Costa Rica.
      Some of the observed differences in health's share of government spending across
      countries are unsurprisingly related to differences in national income. However,
      significant variations exist in health's share of government spending even after
      controlling for national income. This paper provides a global overview of
      health's share of government spending and summarizes some of the key theoretical
      and empirical perspectives on allocation of public resources to health vis-a-vis
      other sectors from the perspective of reprioritization, one of the modalities for
      realizing fiscal space for health. The paper argues that theory and cross-country
      empirical analyses do not provide clear-cut explanations for the observed
      variations in government prioritization of health. Standard economic theory
      arguments that are often used to justify public financing for health are equally
      applicable to many other sectors including defence, education and infrastructure.
      To date, empirical work on prioritization has been sparse: available cross
      country econometric analyses suggest that factors such as democratization, lower
      levels of corruption, ethnolinguistic homogeneity and more women in public office
      are correlated with higher shares of public spending on health; however, these
      findings are not robust and are sensitive to model specification. Evidence from
      case studies suggests that country-specific political economy considerations are
      key, and that results-focused reform efforts - in particular efforts to
      explicitly expand the breadth and depth of health coverage as opposed to efforts
      focused only on government budgetary benchmarking targets - are more likely to
      result in sustained and politically feasible prioritization of health from a
      fiscal space perspective.

PMID- 28612805
TI  - Universal health coverage reforms: implications for the distribution of the
      health workforce in low-and middle-income countriess.
AB  - To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), a range of health-financing reforms,
      including removal of user fees and the expansion of social health insurance, have
      been implemented in many countries. While the focus of much research and
      discussion on UHC has been on the impact of health-financing reforms on
      population coverage, health-service utilization and out-of-pocket payments, the
      implications of such reforms for the distribution and performance of the health
      workforce have often been overlooked. Shortages and geographical imbalances in
      the distribution of skilled health workers persist in many low- and middle-income
      countries, posing a threat to achieving UHC. This paper suggests that there are
      risks associated with health-financing reforms, for the geographical distribution
      and performance of the health workforce. These risks require greater attention if
      poor and rural populations are to benefit from expanded financial protection.

PMID- 28612806
TI  - The application of social impact bonds to universal health-care initiatives in
      South-East Asia.
AB  - Social impact bonds (SIBs) have the potential to improve the efficiency of
      government health-care spending in South-East Asia. In a SIB, governments sign a
      pay-for-performance contract with one or several providers of health-care
      services, and the providers borrow up-front capital from investors. Governments
      outside South-East Asia have started to experiment with SIBs in criminal justice,
      homelessness and health care. Governments of South-East Asia can advance the goal
      of universal health care by using SIBs to improve the efficiency of health-care
      service providers and by motivating providers to expand coverage. This paper
      describes SIBs and their potential application to health-care initiatives in the
      Region.

PMID- 28612807
TI  - Measuring universal health coverage: a three-dimensional composite approach from
      Bhutan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the early 1960s, the Kingdom of Bhutan began to develop its modern
      health-care system and by the 1990s had developed an extensive network of health
      care facilities. These developments, in tandem with wider social and economic
      progress encapsulated in the Gross National Happiness concept, have resulted in
      major gains in child survival and life expectancy in the past 50 years. In order
      to sustain these gains, the country has identified a constitutional and health
      policy mandate for universal access to health. METHODS: Based on analysis of the
      literature, and qualitative and quantitative health data, this case study aims to
      provide an assessment of universal health coverage in Bhutan, and to identify the
      major challenges to measuring, monitoring and sustaining universal coverage.
      RESULTS: The study reveals that the wide network of primary and secondary care,
      reinforced by constitutional and policy mandates, ensures high population
      coverage, as well as wide availability and accessibility of care, with
      significant levels of financial protection. This achievement has been
      attributable to sustained state investment in the sector over past decades.
      Despite this achievement, recent surveys have demonstrated gaps in utilization of
      health services and confirmed associations between socioeconomic variables and
      health access and outcomes, which raise important questions relating to both
      supply- and demand-side barriers in accessing health care. CONCLUSION: In order
      to sustain and improve the quality of universal health coverage, improved
      measurements of service availability at subnational levels and of the
      determinants of pockets of low service utilization are required. More rigorous
      monitoring of financial protection is also needed, particularly in relation to
      rates of public investment and the impact of out-of-pocket costs while accessing
      care. These approaches should assist improvements in quality and equity in
      universal health coverage, in the context of ongoing epidemiological, demographic
      and social transition.

PMID- 28612808
TI  - Correlates of out-of-pocket spending on health in Nepal: implications for policy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A key objective of universal health coverage is to address inequities
      in the financial implications of health care. This paper examines the level and
      trend in out-of-pocket spending (OOPS) on health, and the consequent burden on
      Nepalese households. METHODS: Using data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey
      for 1995-1996 and 2010-2011, the paper looks at the inequity of this burden and
      its changes over time; across ecological zones or belts, development regions,
      places of residence, or consumption expenditure quintiles; and according to the
      gender of the head of the household. RESULTS: The average per capita OOPS on
      health in Nepal increased sevenfold in nominal terms between 1995-1996 and 2010
      2011. The share of OOPS in household consumption expenditure also increased
      during the same period, primarily as a result of higher health spending by poorer
      households. Thirteen per cent of all households were found to incur catastrophic
      health expenses in 2010-2011. This proportion of households incurring such
      expenditure rose between the two time periods most sharply in the Terai belt,
      eastern region and poorest quintile. CONCLUSION: The health-financing system in
      Nepal has become regressive over the years, as the share of the bottom two
      quintiles in the total number of households facing catastrophic burden increased
      by 14% between the two periods.

PMID- 28612809
TI  - Access to and utilization of voucher scheme for referral transport: a qualitative
      study in a district of West Bengal, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lack of motorized transport in remote areas and cash in resource
      constrained settings are major obstacles to women accessing skilled care when
      giving birth. To address these issues, a cashless voucher transport scheme to
      enable women to give birth in a health-care institution, covering poor and
      marginalized women, was initiated by the National Rural Health Mission in
      selected districts of India in 2009. METHODS: The access to and utilization of
      the voucher scheme were assessed between December 2010 and February 2011 through
      a qualitative study in the district of Purulia, West Bengal, India. Data were
      collected from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women, front
      line health-care workers, programme managers and service providers. RESULTS: The
      main factors influencing coverage and utilization of the scheme were: reliance on
      ill-prepared gram panchayats (village councils) for identification of eligible
      women; poor birth preparedness initiatives by health-care workers; over-reliance
      on telephone communication; restricted availability of vehicles, especially at
      night and in remote areas; no routine monitoring; drivers' demand for extra money
      in certain situations; and low reimbursement for drivers for long-distance
      travel. CONCLUSION: Departure from guidelines, ritualistic implementation and
      little stress on preparedness of both the community and the health system were
      major obstacles. Increased enthusiasm among stakeholders and involvement of the
      community would provide opportunities for strengthening the scheme.

PMID- 28612810
TI  - Mothers' caregiving resources and practices for children under 5 years in the
      slums of Hyderabad, India: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extended care model of the United Nations Children's Fund
      (UNICEF) identifies knowledge/beliefs, nutritional status, mental health, control
      of resources/autonomy, workload/time constraints and social support as important
      caregiver resources for childcare. The aim of this paper is to examine the role
      of mothers' caregiving resources in child-care practices in slums. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 slums of Hyderabad, to appraise the
      caregiving practices and health status of children under 5 years. Data were
      collected from 506 households, selected through multistage stratified random
      sampling, and data relating to 451 children aged 6-59 months were analysed. Four
      caregiving practices were studied: psychosocial stimulation, as assessed by the
      Home Observation Measurement of the Environment inventory; hygienic care rated by
      spot-check observation; and meal frequency and dietary diversity based on
      maternal recall. The role of the mother's caregiving resources was examined using
      bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: More than 50%
      of the children received good psychosocial stimulation and close to 60% had good
      hygienic care. About 75% of the children aged 6-23 months had the recommended
      minimum meal frequency and 13% had the recommended dietary diversity. Mother's
      media exposure (odds ratio [OR] 2.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35-3.77),
      participation in household budgeting (OR 2.19, CI 1.25-3.83) and husband's
      support (OR 2.04, CI 1.28-3.24) were predictors of psychosocial stimulation.
      Mother's younger age (OR 1.11, CI 1.04-1.18), poor media exposure (OR 1.95, CI
      1.15-3.29), dissatisfaction with life (OR 1.84, CI 1.05-3.24), workload (OR 1.79,
      CI 1-3.18) and having no money for their own use (OR 1.52, CI 0.95-2.45) placed
      children at higher odds for receiving poor hygienic care. Leisure time (OR 2.75,
      CI 1.25-6.06) and participation in budgeting (OR 1.97, CI 1-3.86) were predictors
      of meal frequency. CONCLUSION: Mother's workload, poor media exposure,
      dissatisfaction with life, lack of husband's support and absence of economic
      autonomy are constraints to good child care in slums.

PMID- 28612812
TI  - Health spending, macroeconomics and fiscal space in countries of the World Health
      Organization South-East Asia Region.
AB  - The paper examines the issues around mobilization of resources for the 11
      countries of the South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organization (WHO),
      by analysing their macroeconomic situation, health spending, fiscal space and
      other determinants of health. With the exception of a few, most of these
      countries have made fair progress on their own Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
      targets of maternal mortality ratio and mortality rate in children aged under 5
      years. However, the achieved targets have been very modest - with the exception
      of Thailand and Sri Lanka - indicating the continued need for additional efforts
      to improve these indicators. The paper discusses the need for investment, by
      looking at evidence on economic growth, the availability of fiscal space, and
      improvements in "macroeconomic-plus" factors like poverty, female literacy,
      governance and efficiency of the health sector. The analysis indicates that,
      overall, the countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region are collectively in a
      position to make the transition from low public spending to moderate or even high
      health spending, which is required, in turn, for transition from lowcoverage-high
      out-of-pocket spending (OOPS) to highcoverage-low OOPS. However, explicit
      prioritization for health within the overall government budget for low spenders
      would require political will and champions who can argue the case of the health
      sector. Additional innovative avenues of raising resources, such as earmarked
      taxes or a health levy can be considered in countries with good macroeconomic
      fundamentals. With the exception of Thailand, this is applicable for all the
      countries of the region. However, countries with adverse macroeconomic-plus
      factors, as well as inefficient health systems, need to be alert to the
      possibility of overinvesting - and thereby wasting - resources for modest health
      gains, making the challenge of increasing health sector spending alongside
      competing demands for spending on other areas of the social sector difficult.

PMID- 28612813
TI  - Evidence-informed policy formulation: the case of the voucher scheme for maternal
      and child health in Myanmar.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 2010, with financial support from the Global Alliance for
      Vaccine and Immunization's Health System Strengthening programme, the Government
      of Myanmar established a scheme to improve coverage of maternal and child health
      (MCH) services. Employing qualitative approaches, this article reviews the
      processes through which this scheme was devised, focusing on evidence generation
      and the use of such evidence to inform policy formulation. To address the problem
      of high mortality rates among mothers and infants, collaborative research was
      conducted by Myanmar's Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and a
      research arm of Thailand's Ministry of Public Health, between March 2010 and
      September 2011. In the early phase of this study, key barriers to government
      provided MCH services were identified. Based on a comprehensive review of the
      literature, the introduction of a voucher scheme was raised for consideration by
      ministry of health decision-makers and respective stakeholders. Despite the
      successful experience of this financing strategy in low-income countries, a
      series of surveys, an economic evaluation, and focus group discussions were
      carried out to assess the feasibility and potential health and economic
      implications of this scheme in the Myanmar context. The research findings were
      then used to guide the design and adoption of the newly established initiative.

PMID- 28612815
TI  - Reducing neonatal mortality: a need to address pre-term births.

PMID- 28612814
TI  - Universal access to medicines: evidence from Rajasthan, India.
AB  - India has outlined its commitment to achieving universal health coverage and
      several states in India are rolling out strategies to support this aim. In 2011,
      Rajasthan implemented an ambitious universal access to medicines programme based
      on a centralized procurement and decentralized distribution model. In terms of
      the three dimensions of universal health coverage, the scheme has made
      significant positive strides within a short period of implementation. The key
      objectives of this paper are to assess the likely implications of providing
      universal access to essential medicines in Rajasthan, which has a population of
      70 million. Primary field-level data were obtained from 112 public health-care
      facilities using multistage random sampling. National Sample Survey Organization
      data and health system data were also analysed. The per capita health expenditure
      during the pre-reform period was estimated to be ?5.7 and is now close to ?50.
      Availability of essential medicines was encouraging and utilization of public
      facilities had increased. With additional per capita annual investment of ?43,
      the scheme has brought about several improvements in the delivery of essential
      services and increased utilization of public facilities in the state and, as a
      result, enhanced efficiency of the system. Although there was an attempt to
      convert the scheme into a targeted one with the change in government, strong
      resistance from the civil society resulted in such efforts being defeated and the
      universality of the scheme has been retained.

PMID- 28612816
TI  - Spiritual health, the fourth dimension: a public health perspective.

PMID- 28612817
TI  - Influencing factors for household water quality improvement in reducing diarrhoea
      in resource-limited areas.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Water and sanitation are major public health issues
      exacerbated by rapid population growth, limited resources, disasters and
      environmental depletion. This study was undertaken to study the influencing
      factors for household water quality improvement for reducing diarrhoea in
      resource-limited areas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from articles
      and reviews from relevant randomized controlled trials, new articles, systematic
      reviews and meta-analyses from PubMed, World Health Organization (WHO), United
      Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and WELL Resource Centre For Water, Sanitation
      And Environmental Health. DISCUSSION: Water quality on diarrhoea prevention could
      be affected by contamination during storage, collection and even at point-of-use.
      Point-of-use water treatment (household-based) is the most cost-effective method
      for prevention of diarrhoea. Chemical disinfection, filtration, thermal
      disinfection, solar disinfection and flocculation and disinfection are five most
      promising household water treatment methodologies for resource-limited areas.
      CONCLUSION: Promoting household water treatment is most essential for preventing
      diarrhoeal disease. In addition, the water should be of acceptable taste,
      appropriate for emergency and non-emergency use.

PMID- 28612818
TI  - Stigma related to HIV and AIDS as a barrier to accessing health care in Thailand:
      a review of recent literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thailand has been recognized as a regional leader in its response to
      the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)
      epidemic. However, low rates of voluntary testing, late entry into healthcare and
      delayed treatment continue to be major challenges. Stigma associated with HIV has
      been cited as a significant barrier preventing a successful and co-ordinated
      response. HIV-related stigma is known to exist among Thai communities. However,
      less is known about the attitudes of healthcare workers towards people living
      with HIV, and how this impacts health-seeking behaviours. This paper considers
      recent literature from Thailand (2007-2012), which discusses how HIV-related
      stigma affects health-seeking behaviour, as well as experiences of HIV-related
      stigma in healthcare settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Information was collected
      from electronic databases and websites using the search terms 'HIV stigma
      healthcare'. Literature published in English, from 2007 onwards, discussing the
      relationship between HIV-related stigma and health-seeking behaviour, or HIV
      related stigma in healthcare settings in Thailand was included in this review.
      RESULTS: There is scarcity of information assessing the forms of stigmatizing
      attitudes known to exist within the Thai healthcare sector. Literature highlights
      that key affected populations feel most stigmatized against. Interactions and
      negative experiences in government healthcare settings have contributed to a
      reduced engagement around seeking healthcare. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: More
      research is needed on HIV-related stigma in healthcare settings in Thailand.
      Evidence suggests that interventions at the policy, environmental and individual
      levels are required to address stigma and protect the health and rights of people
      living with HIV/AIDS.

PMID- 28612819
TI  - Changing epidemiology of dengue in South-East Asia.
AB  - The burden of dengue and its potential threat to global health are now globally
      recognized, with 2.5 billion people at risk worldwide. The pathogenesis of severe
      dengue is particularly intriguing with the involvement of different immune
      factors. Also, the epidemiology of dengue in South-East Asia is undergoing a
      change in the human host, the dengue virus and the vector bionomics. Shift in
      affected age groups, sex differences and expansion to rural areas are evident,
      while the virulence and genotype of the virus determine the severity and time
      interval between sequential infections. The Aedes mosquito, a potent and adaptive
      vector, has evolved in longevity and survival, affected by seasonality and
      climate variability, socio-cultural and economic factors of human habitation and
      development. This review provides insights into the changing epidemiology and its
      factors in South-East Asia, one of the most important epicentres of dengue in the
      world, highlighting the major factors influencing these rapid changes. Addressing
      the changes may help mitigate the challenges in the current dengue control and
      prevention efforts.

PMID- 28612820
TI  - Promoting tobacco cessation by integrating 'brief advice' in tuberculosis control
      programme.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is an enormous health burden caused by the co-prevalence of
      tuberculosis (TB) and tobacco use in India. This intervention study was
      undertaken in district Vadodara, Gujarat, India to promote tobacco cessation by
      integrating 'brief advice' for tobacco cessation in TB patients who were tobacco
      users and registered for treatment under TB control programme, based on the
      tested strategies advocated by World Health Organization (WHO) and the
      International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union). MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Brief advice for tobacco cessation based on five A's, advocated by
      the WHO and the UNION was incorporated into the on-going TB Control programme in
      India in the year 2010. The tools were developed for education, training and
      capturing data. All the registered TB patients receiving directly observed
      treatment short-course (DOTS) who used tobacco in any form were offered brief
      advice during routine interaction for treatment. RESULTS: A total of 46.3% of TB
      patients, predominantly males (89.6% males and 10.3% females) were current users
      of tobacco; 39.1% used smokeless tobacco, 35.9% were smokers and 25% were dual
      users, that is, smoked as well as used smokeless tobacco. At the end of
      treatment, of the 67.3% patients who were offered brief advice, quit tobacco use,
      18.2% re-lapsed while 14.5% were lost to follow-up. CONCLUSION: A significant
      numbers of TB patients use tobacco with adverse impact on TB control programmes.
      Our study shows that it is feasible to introduce 'brief advice' strategy as a
      cost effective intervention for tobacco cessation among TB patients with careful
      monitoring.

PMID- 28612821
TI  - Annual risk of tuberculosis infection in Sri Lanka: a low prevalent country with
      a high BCG vaccination coverage in the South-East Asia Region.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite its simplicity, efficiency and reliability, Sri Lanka has
      not used the Annual Risk of Tuberculosis Infection (ARTI) to assess the
      prevalence and efficiency of tuberculosis (TB) control. Hence, a national
      tuberculin survey was conducted to estimate the ARTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      school-based, cross-sectional tuberculin survey of 4352 children aged 10 years
      irrespective of their BCG vaccination or scar status was conducted. The sample
      was selected from urban, rural and estate strata using two-stage cluster sampling
      technique. In the first stage, sectors representing three strata were selected
      and, in the second stage, participants were selected from 120 clusters. Using the
      mode of the tuberculin reaction sizes (15 mm) and the mirror-image technique, the
      prevalence and the ARTI were estimated. RESULTS: The prevalence of TB estimated
      for urban, rural and estate sectors were 13.9%, 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively. The
      national estimate of the prevalence of TB was 4.2% (95% CI = 1.7-7.2%). ARTI for
      the urban, rural and estate sectors were 1.4%, 0.2% and 0.2%, respectively, and
      the national estimate was 0.4% (95% CI = 0.2-0.7%). The estimated annual burden
      of newly infected or re-infected TB cases with the potential of developing into
      the active disease (400/100 000 population) was nearly 10-fold higher than the
      national new case detection rate (48/100 000 population). CONCLUSION: The
      national estimate of ARTI was lower than the estimates for many developing
      countries. The high-estimated risk for the urban sector reflected the need for
      intensified, sector-specific focus on TB control activities. This underscores the
      need to strengthen case detection. Repeat surveys are essential to determine the
      annual decline rate of infection.

PMID- 28612822
TI  - Threat of HIV/AIDS in children: social, education and health consequences among
      HIV orphans and vulnerable children in Myanmar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is very limited information available on HIV related orphans
      and vulnerable children (HIV-OVC) in Myanmar. Hence, the objective of this study
      was to identify and compare the social, education and health consequences among
      HIV-OVC and children from the families not related to HIV in the same
      neighbourhoods (neighbouring children). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional,
      comparative survey was carried out in three geographical locations. Face-to-face
      interviews were conducted with guardians and children using a pretested
      structured questionnaire including Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
      for behavioural problems. Outcome measures were compared using Chi-squared test
      or 't' test or 'Rank-sum' test. RESULTS: A total of 300 HIV-OVC and 300
      neighbouring children were included. A greater number of HIV-OVC than their
      neighbouring children have experienced family displacement from their original
      homes (27% and 1%), child/sibling displacement (20% and 2.7%) and family
      dispersion (20.3% and 1.3%) (P < 0.001). More guardians of HIV-OVC reported that
      the disease affected their children's education (28.2% and 16.3%; P < 0.05).
      Fifteen per cent of HIV-OVC and 10.5% of neighbouring children had to work for
      their families (P < 0.05). Psychological condition was assessed on emotional,
      conduct, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship and prosocial behaviour. A
      greater number of HIV-OVC were noted in the abnormal category with regard to
      hyperactivity and prosocial behaviours (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Higher incidence
      of social and psychological consequences among HIV-OVC call for more community
      support programmes and creation of job opportunities to minimize social impact in
      the affected families. Future programmes should focus on counselling of HIV-OVC
      and providing psychological support.

PMID- 28612823
TI  - Development of birth weight for gestational age charts in a Sri Lankan setting -
      methodological issues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was taken up to identify the main types of low birth
      weight (LBW) for the development of weight for gestational age charts relevant to
      the country/regional level for the formulation of preventive strategies.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of mothers registered by Public Health Midwives
      (PHMs) from two Medical Officers of Health (MOH) areas in Colombo district were
      followed up until delivery in five selected hospitals. Period of gestation (POG)
      was assessed between 10 and 12 weeks using ultrasonography. Records of 474
      mother/newborn pairs were used for development of gestational age-related birth
      weight charts for each sex and POG. Mothers with one or more risk factors for LBW
      were excluded. Mothers with POG less than 38 weeks and more than 40 weeks were
      limited. Information on all possible risk factors contributing to LBW were
      assessed. RESULTS: Incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) assessed using
      the 10 th centile value for each POG, was 19.0% for males and 18.0% for females.
      Percentages of symmetrical and asymmetrical SGA newborns were 72.1% and 27.9%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The charts were developed paying attention to all
      methodological aspects that highlighted the key issues relevant to development of
      weight for gestational age charts in a developing country setting. As action was
      taken to minimize the biases introduced by such issues, the charts developed
      could be used for assessment of incidence and risk factors for SGA until charts
      based on national level data are available.

PMID- 28612824
TI  - Assessing compliance to smoke-free legislation: results of a sub-national survey
      in Himachal Pradesh, India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) is a serious public health
      concern. The Indian smoke-free legislation 'Prohibition of Smoking in Public
      Places Rules, 2008' prohibits smoking in public places, including workplaces.
      OBJECTIVE: To measure the status of compliance to legal provisions that protects
      the public against harms of SHS exposure, identifies the potential areas of
      violations and informs policy makers for strengthening enforcement measures.
      DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey in 1401 public places across 11 district
      headquarters in Himachal Pradesh, India, using a compliance guide developed by
      partners of the Bloomberg initiatives to reduce tobacco use. RESULTS: In 1401
      public places across 11 district headquarters, 42.8% public places had signage;
      in 84.2% public places, no smoking was observed and in 83.7%, there was absence
      of smoking accessories such as ashtray, matchbox and lighter . Tobacco litter
      like cigarette butts was absent in 64.7% of the public places. Overall, at the
      state level, there was more than 80% compliance on at least three of the five
      indicators. Among all categories of public places, educational institutions and
      offices demonstrated highest compliance, whereas most frequently visited public
      places, eateries and accommodation facilities had least compliance. CONCLUSIONS:
      The compliance to 'Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008' was
      variable in various district headquarters of Himachal Pradesh. This study
      identified the potential areas of violations that need attention from enforcement
      agencies and policymakers.

PMID- 28612825
TI  - Growth parameters at birth of babies born in Gampaha district, Sri Lanka and
      factors influencing them.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Growth parameters at birth are important for clinical decision
      making. In Sri Lanka, the data from the World Health Organization (WHO)
      Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) are used to interpret these
      measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was
      conducted between September and October 2010 in hospitals of Gampaha district,
      Sri Lanka. The weight, length and head circumference of all normal-term babies
      born in the Gampaha district during this period were measured within 8 h of birth
      using standard techniques. Measurements were taken by medical graduates trained
      and supervised by a consultant paediatrician. Socio-demographic data were
      obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the 2215
      babies recruited, 1127 were males. The mean birth weight, mean length and mean
      head circumference at birth were 2.92 kg, 49.1 and 33.6 cm, respectively. Boys
      weighed and measured more than girls in all parameters, but the differences were
      not statistically significant. Growth parameters of babies included in this study
      deviated from that in the MGRS data. Mean values of MGRS data were between 75th
      and 90th centiles of this study population. Birth order, family income and
      maternal education were significantly (P < 0.01) associated with growth
      parameters. Contrary to common belief, growth parameters continued to increase
      progressively up to 41 weeks. Maternal age less than 20 years or more than 35
      years was negatively associated with birth weight (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Growth
      parameters of new-born babies deviated significantly from the values of the MGRS
      data. Growth characteristics of one population may not be applicable to another
      population due to variations in maternal, genetic and socio-economic factors.
      Using growth charts not applicable to a population will result in wrong
      interpretations.

PMID- 28612826
TI  - Integration of leprosy services into the General Health Service in Sri Lanka:
      overcoming challenges to implementation in a remote district.
AB  - Sri Lanka took a policy decision to integrate leprosy services into the general
      health services (GHS) in 1999. This paper aims to summarize the emergence of new,
      specific challenges and how they were overcome during the integration of leprosy
      services to the GHS in a remote, leprosy endemic district in Sri Lanka. In this
      article, the regional epidemiologist as the team leader describes the principles
      used for transition to an effective integrated model of leprosy services from a
      centralized leprosy control model in the district. In addition, rationale for
      integration is viewed from the epidemiological and operational perspectives.
      National and district leprosy epidemiological data from secondary sources are
      also reviewed for corroborating the effectiveness of integration. Challenges
      surfaced were mainly related to the transfer of ownership of the programme,
      selection of appropriate service providing institutions easily accessible to
      clients, sustainability of leprosy services at the GHS, ensuring participation of
      all stakeholders in capacity building programmes and co-ordination of patient
      care in the absence of a dermatologist in the district. An empowered district
      team leader with specified roles and responsibilities, his sound technical and
      managerial know how and ability to translate 'team work' concept to practice were
      found to be essential for successful implementation of integration. Decision
      making powers at the district level and flexibility to introduce new, area
      specific changes to the centrally prepared core activities of integration were
      also vital to overcome locally surfaced challenges.

PMID- 28612827
TI  - Legislation an essential tool for ensuring access to medicines policy goals.
AB  - Effective national legislation is critical to support the activities of a
      Medicines Regulatory Authority. However, the law is an under-recognized mechanism
      for managing issues in the implementation of access to medicines and other
      medicines policy goals. Regulations are a more flexible tool, have legal effect
      and the advantage that they can be created or changed without the need to go to
      the Parliament. Closer collaboration between the health and legal sectors is
      important as is political commitment for enforcement of the law. Some regional
      case studies illustrate the opportunities to use the law as an effective tool to
      implement medicine policies and to meet access to medicine challenges.

PMID- 28612828
TI  - Generic medicines policies in the Asia Pacific region: ways forward.
AB  - Generic medicines are a key strategy used by governments and third-party payers
      to contain medicines costs and improve the access to essential medicines. This
      strategy represents an important opportunity provided by the global intellectual
      property regimes to discover and develop copies of original products marketed by
      innovator companies once the patent protection term is over. While there is an
      extensive experience regarding generic medicines policies in developed countries,
      this evidence may not translate to developing countries. The generic medicines
      policies workshop at the Asia Pacific Conference on National Medicines Policies
      2012 provided an important opportunity to discuss and document country-specific
      initiatives for improving access to and the rational of use of generic medicines
      in the Asia Pacific region. Based on the identified barriers and enablers to
      implementation of generic medicines policies in the region, a set of future
      action plans and recommendations has been made.

PMID- 28612830
TI  - The ethics of research publication.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2017.20.

PMID- 28612829
TI  - Mysteries of type 2 diabetes: the Indian Elephant meets the Chinese Dragon.

PMID- 28612831
TI  - Abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes in Asian Indians: dietary strategies
      including edible oils, cooking practices and sugar intake.
AB  - Obesity and type 2 diabetes are increasing in rural and urban regions of South
      Asia including India. Pattern of fat deposition in abdomen, ectopic fat
      deposition (liver, pancreas) and also low lean mass are contributory to early
      onset insulin resistance, dysmetabolic state and diabetes in Asian Indians. These
      metabolic perturbations are further exacerbated by changing lifestyle, diet
      urbanization, and mechanization. Important dietary imbalances include increasing
      use of oils containing high amount of trans fatty acids and saturated fats
      (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, palmolein oil) use of deep frying method
      and reheating of oils for cooking, high intake of saturated fats, sugar and
      refined carbohydrates, low intake of protein, fiber and increasing intake of
      processed foods. Although dietary intervention trials are few; the data show that
      improving quality of carbohydrates (more complex carbohydrates), improving fat
      quality (more monounsaturated fatty acids and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty
      acids) and increasing protein intake could improve blood glucose, serum insulin,
      lipids, inflammatory markers and hepatic fat, but more studies are needed.
      Finally, regulatory framework must be tightened to impose taxes on sugar
      sweetened beverages, oils such as palmolein, and dietary fats and limit trans
      fats.

PMID- 28612832
TI  - A novel de novo mutation in MYT1, the unique OAVS gene identified so far.
AB  - Oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum (OAVS) is a developmental disorder
      characterized by hemifacial microsomia associated with ear, eyes and vertebrae
      malformations showing highly variable expressivity. Recently, MYT1, encoding the
      myelin transcription factor 1, was reported as the first gene involved in OAVS,
      within the retinoic acid (RA) pathway. Fifty-seven OAVS patients originating from
      Brazil were screened for MYT1 variants. A novel de novo missense variant
      affecting function, c.323C>T (p.(Ser108Leu)), was identified in MYT1, in a
      patient presenting with a severe form of OAVS. Functional studies showed that
      MYT1 overexpression downregulated all RA receptors genes (RARA, RARB, RARG),
      involved in RA-mediated transcription, whereas no effect was observed on CYP26A1
      expression, the major enzyme involved in RA degradation, Moreover, MYT1 variants
      impacted significantly the expression of these genes, further supporting their
      pathogenicity. In conclusion, a third variant affecting function in MYT1 was
      identified as a cause of OAVS. Furthermore, we confirmed MYT1 connection to RA
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 28612833
TI  - Variant in the X-chromosome spliceosomal gene GPKOW causes male-lethal
      microcephaly with intrauterine growth restriction.
AB  - Congenital microcephaly, with or without additional developmental defects, is a
      heterogeneous disorder resulting from impaired brain development during early
      fetal life. The majority of causative genetic variants identified thus far are
      inherited in an autosomal recessive manner and impact key cellular pathways such
      as mitosis, DNA damage response and repair, apoptosis and splicing. Here, we
      report a novel donor splice site variant in the G-patch domain and KOW motifs
      (GPKOW) gene (NG_021310.2:g.6126G>A, NM_015698.4:c.331+5G>A) that segregates with
      affected and carrier status in a multigenerational family with an X-linked
      perinatal lethal condition characterized by severe microcephaly and intrauterine
      growth restriction (IUGR). GPKOW is a core member of the spliceosome that has
      been shown in numerous model organisms and in human cells to be essential for
      survival. By investigating GPKOW transcripts in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs)
      of three carrier females, we show that the GPKOW c.331+5G>A variant disrupts
      normal splicing of its pre-mRNAs. In a clonal culture expressing only the
      c.331+5G>A allele isolated from one carrier female LCL, we observed an 80%
      reduction in wild type GPKOW mRNA, 70% reduction in the full length GPKOW protein
      and the presence of a truncated GPKOW protein with possible dominant negative
      effect. Based on our and published data we propose that the GPKOW gene is
      essential for fetal development and when disrupted, leads to a severe, male
      lethal phenotype characterised by microcephaly and IUGR.

PMID- 28612834
TI  - Sex chromosome aneuploidies and copy-number variants: a further explanation for
      neurodevelopmental prognosis variability?
AB  - Sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCA) is a group of conditions in which individuals
      have an abnormal number of sex chromosomes. SCA, such as Klinefelter's syndrome,
      XYY syndrome, and Triple X syndrome are associated with a large range of
      neurological outcome. Another genetic event such as another cytogenetic
      abnormality may explain a part of this variable expressivity. In this study, we
      have recruited fourteen patients with intellectual disability or developmental
      delay carrying SCA associated with a copy-number variant (CNV). In our cohort
      (four patients 47,XXY, four patients 47,XXX, and six patients 47,XYY), seven
      patients were carrying a pathogenic CNV, two a likely pathogenic CNV and five a
      variant of uncertain significance. Our analysis suggests that CNV might be
      considered as an additional independent genetic factor for intellectual
      disability and developmental delay for patients with SCA and neurodevelopmental
      disorder.

PMID- 28612836
TI  - Dyslipidaemia: ANGPTL3: a therapeutic target for atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28612837
TI  - Pharmacotherapy: Angiotensin II - a new tool in vasodilatory shock.

PMID- 28612835
TI  - Coexisting variants in OSTM1 and MANEAL cause a complex neurodegenerative
      disorder with NBIA-like brain abnormalities.
AB  - Coexistence of different hereditary diseases is a known phenomenon in populations
      with a high consanguinity rate. The resulting clinical phenotypes are extremely
      challenging for physicians involved in the care of these patients. Here we
      describe a 6-year-old boy with co-occurrence of a homozygous splice defect in
      OSTM1, causing infantile malignant osteopetrosis, and a loss-of-function variant
      in MANEAL, which has not been associated with human disease so far. The child
      suffered from severe infantile-onset neurodegeneration that could not be stopped
      by bone marrow transplantation. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated global
      brain atrophy and showed hypointensities of globus pallidus, corpora mamillaria,
      and cerebral peduncles, which were comparable to findings in neurodegeneration
      with brain iron accumulation disorders. LC-MS/MS analysis of urine and
      cerebrospinal fluid samples revealed a distinct metabolic profile with
      accumulation of mannose tetrasaccharide molecules, suggestive of an
      oligosaccharide storage disease. Our results demonstrate that exome sequencing is
      a very effective tool in dissecting complex neurological diseases. Moreover, we
      suggest that MANEAL is an interesting candidate gene that should be considered in
      the context of neurological disorders with brain iron accumulation and/or
      indications of an oligosaccharide storage disease.

PMID- 28612838
TI  - Drinking water consumption patterns among adults-SMS as a novel tool for
      collection of repeated self-reported water consumption.
AB  - Studies have shown that the average drinking water consumption ranges between
      0.075 and 3 L/day for adults with both national and regional differences. For
      exposure assessment of drinking water hazards, country-specific drinking water
      consumption data including sources of the consumed water may therefore be
      warranted. To estimate the amount and source of drinking water consumed among
      adults in Sweden, we collected self-reported estimates using both traditional
      methods (telephone interviews, web questionnaire) and a novel method (Short
      Message Service, SMS questionnaires) in a population from an average sized
      Swedish municipality. Monthly SMS questionnaires were sent out during one year to
      obtain longitudinal information as well. SMS showed to be a promising tool for
      collecting self-reported consumption, as most citizens could participate and the
      method showed high response rate. Data collected via the SMS questionnaire shows
      an average consumption of cold tap water of 4.9 glasses/24 h (one glass=200 ml),
      while the average estimates of cold tap water collected by the traditional
      methods range from 4.5 to 7.0 glasses/24 h. For statistical distributions, the
      mean daily consumption of cold tap water for the population was best fitted to a
      gamma distribution. About 70% of the cold tap water is consumed at home. Based on
      the results from the SMS study, we suggest using 1 l/day for the average adult
      population and 2.5 l/day for high consumers for risk assessment of cold tap water
      consumption. As 46% of the tap water consumed is heated, we suggest using 1.85
      l/day for total tap water consumption.

PMID- 28612839
TI  - Citrobacter rodentium: a model enteropathogen for understanding the interplay of
      innate and adaptive components of type 3 immunity.
AB  - Citrobacter rodentium is a natural murine intestinal pathogen that shares a core
      set of virulence factors with the related human pathogens enteropathogenic
      Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). C. rodentium is now
      the most widely used small animal model for studying the molecular underpinnings
      of EPEC and EHEC infections in vivo, including: enterocyte attachment; virulence;
      colonization resistance; and mucosal immunity. In this review, we discuss type 3
      immunity in the context of C. rodentium infection and discuss recent publications
      that use this model to understand how the innate and adaptive components of
      immunity intersect to mediate host protection against enteric pathogens and
      maintain homeostasis with the microbiota.

PMID- 28612840
TI  - Toll-like receptor 3 in nasal CD103+ dendritic cells is involved in
      immunoglobulin A production.
AB  - Intranasal inoculation with influenza hemagglutinin subunit with polyinosine
      polycytidylic (polyI:C), a synthetic analog for double-stranded RNA, enhances
      production of vaccine-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) A, which is superior to IgG in
      prophylactic immunity. The mechanism whereby polyI:C skews to IgA production in
      the nasal-associated lymph tissue (NALT) was investigated in mouse models.
      Nasally instilled polyI:C was endocytosed into CD103+ dendritic cells (DCs) and
      induced T-cell activation, including interferon (IFN)-gamma production. According
      to knockout mouse studies, polyI:C activated the Toll-like receptor 3 signal via
      the adapter TICAM-1 (also called TRIF), that mainly caused T-cell-dependent IgA
      production. Nasal CD103+ DCs activated transforming growth factor-beta signaling
      and activation-induced cytidine deaminase upon polyI:C stimulation. IgA rather
      than IgG production was impaired in Batf3-/- mice, where CD103+ DCs are
      defective. Genomic recombination occurred in IgA-producing cells in association
      with polyI:C-stimulated DCs and nasal microenvironment. PolyI:C induced B-cell
      activating factor expression and weakly triggered T-cell-independent IgA
      production. PolyI:C simultaneously activated mitochondrial antiviral signaling
      and then type I IFN receptor pathways, which only minimally participated in IgA
      production. Taken together, CD103+ DCs in NALT are indispensable for the adjuvant
      activity of polyI:C in enhancing vaccine-specific IgA induction and protective
      immunity against influenza viruses.

PMID- 28612841
TI  - IL-17-driven intestinal fibrosis is inhibited by Itch-mediated ubiquitination of
      HIC-5.
AB  - Intestinal fibrosis is a major complication in inflammatory bowel diseases, but
      the regulatory mechanism that inhibits fibrosis remains unclear. Here we
      demonstrate that Itch-/-myofibroblasts express increased amounts of profibrotic
      collagen type I and alpha-SMA in response to IL-17. Mechanistically, we
      demonstrate that Itch directly binds to HIC-5 and targets it for K63-linked
      ubiquitination to inhibit IL-17-driven intestinal fibrosis. Reconstitution of
      Itch-/- myofibroblasts with wild-type Itch but not the Itch-C830A mutant
      normalized the expression of profibrotic genes. Similarly, shRNA-mediated
      inhibition of HIC-5 normalized the expression of profibrotic gene expression.
      Thus, we have uncovered a novel mechanism by which Itch negatively regulates
      intestinal fibrosis.

PMID- 28612842
TI  - Gastrointestinal inflammation by gut microbiota disturbance induces memory
      impairment in mice.
AB  - In this study, we tested our hypothesis regarding mechanistic cross-talk between
      gastrointestinal inflammation and memory loss in a mouse model. Intrarectal
      injection of the colitis inducer 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) in
      mice caused colitis via activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and increase in
      membrane permeability. TNBS treatment increased fecal and blood levels of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the number of Enterobacteriaceae, particularly
      Escherichia coli (EC), in the gut microbiota composition, but significantly
      reduced the number of Lactobacillus johnsonii (LJ). Indeed, we observed that the
      mice treated with TNBS displayed impaired memory, as assessed using the Y-maze
      and passive avoidance tasks. Furthermore, treatment with EC, which was isolated
      from the feces of mice with TNBS-induced colitis, caused memory impairment and
      colitis, and increased the absorption of orally administered LPS into the blood.
      Treatment with TNBS or EC induced NF-kappaB activation and tumor necrosis factor
      alpha expression in the hippocampus of mice, as well as suppressed brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor expression. However, treatment with LJ restored the disturbed
      gut microbiota composition, lowered gut microbiota, and blood LPS levels, and
      attenuated both TNBS- and EC-induced memory impairment and colitis. These results
      suggest that the gut microbiota disturbance by extrinsic stresses can cause
      gastrointestinal inflammation, resulting in memory impairment.

PMID- 28612843
TI  - Tricellulin is regulated via interleukin-13-receptor alpha2, affects
      macromolecule uptake, and is decreased in ulcerative colitis.
AB  - In the two inflammatory bowel diseases, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's
      disease (CD), altered expression of tight junction (TJ) proteins leads to an
      impaired epithelial barrier including increased uptake of luminal antigens
      supporting the inflammation. Here, we focused on regulation of tricellulin
      (Tric), a protein of the tricellular TJ essential for the barrier against
      macromolecules, and hypothesized a role in paracellular antigen uptake. We report
      that Tric is downregulated in UC, but not in CD, and that its reduction increases
      the passage of macromolecules. Using a novel visualization method, passage sites
      were identified at TJ regions usually sealed by Tric. We show that interleukin-13
      (IL-13), beyond its known effect on claudin-2, downregulates Tric expression.
      These two effects of IL-13 are regulated by different signaling pathways: The IL
      13 receptor alpha1 upregulates claudin-2, whereas IL-13 receptor alpha2
      downregulates Tric. We suggest to target the alpha2 receptor in future
      developments of therapeutical IL-13-based biologicals.

PMID- 28612845
TI  - Martin M Katz.

PMID- 28612846
TI  - Jeffrey Scott Nye.

PMID- 28612844
TI  - NLRP3 inflammasome pathway has a critical role in the host immunity against
      clinically relevant Acinetobacter baumannii pulmonary infection.
AB  - The opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) is a
      leading cause of life-threatening nosocomial pneumonia. Outbreaks of multidrug
      resistant (MDR)-AB belonging to international clones (ICs) I and II with limited
      treatment options are major global health threats. However, the pathogenesis
      mechanisms of various AB clonal groups are understudied. Although inflammation
      associated interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) levels and IL-1 receptor antagonist
      polymorphisms were previously implicated in MDR-AB-related pneumonia in patients,
      whether inflammasomes has any role in the host defense and/or pathogenesis of
      clinically relevant A. baumannii infection is unknown. Using a sublethal mouse
      pneumonia model, we demonstrate that an extensively drug-resistant clinical
      isolate (ICII) of A. baumannii exhibits reduced/delayed early pulmonary
      neutrophil recruitment, higher lung persistence, and, most importantly, elicits
      enhanced IL-1beta/IL-18 production and lung damage through NLRP3 inflammasome, in
      comparison with A. baumannii-type strain. A. baumannii infection-induced IL
      1beta/IL-18 production is entirely dependent on NLRP3-ASC-caspase-1/caspase-11
      pathway. Using Nlrp3-/- mice infection models, we further show that while NLRP3
      inflammasome pathway contributes to host defense against A. baumannii clinical
      isolate, it is dispensable for protection against A. baumannii-type strain. Our
      study reveals a novel differential role for NLRP3 inflammasome pathway in the
      immunity against clinically relevant A. baumannii infections, and highlights
      inflammasome pathway as a potential immunomodulatory target.

PMID- 28612847
TI  - Novel Stimulation Approaches with ECT: Why Everything Old May be New Again.

PMID- 28612848
TI  - [Ultraviolet exposure from indoor tanning devices as a potential source of health
      risks: Basic knowledge of the proper use of these devices for practical users,
      physicians and solarium staff].
AB  - Bearing in mind the adverse health effects of exposure to ultraviolet (UV)
      radiation in solarium, especially the risk of carcinogenesis, there is a need to
      adopt legal regulations by relevant Polish authorities. They should set out the
      principles for indoor tanning studios operation, supervision and service of the
      technical parameters of tanning devices and training programs to provide the
      staff with professional knowledge and other aspects of safety in these
      facilities. The mechanism of the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation on the
      human body, scale of overexposure, resulting from excessive sunbathing are
      described. Methods for estimating UV exposure and possible actions aimed at
      reducing the overexposure and preventing from cancer development caused by UV are
      also presented in this paper. Med Pr 2017;68(5):653-665.

PMID- 28612849
TI  - Psyllids, It's What's on the Inside That Counts: Community Cross Talk Facilitates
      Prophage Interactions.
AB  - Despite the availability of massive microbial community data sets (e.g.,
      metagenomes), there is still a lack of knowledge on what molecular mechanisms
      facilitate cross talk between microbes and prophage within a community context. A
      study published in mSphere by Jain and colleagues (M. Jain, L. A. Fleites, and D.
      W. Gabriel, mSphere 2:e00171-17, 2017,
      https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphereDirect.00171-17) reports on an intriguing new
      twist of how a prophage of the bacterium "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" may
      have its lytic cycle suppressed partly because of a protein that is expressed by
      a cooccurring bacterium, Wolbachia. Both of these microbes coexist along with
      other microbial tenants inside their sap-feeding insect host, a psyllid. Although
      these results are still preliminary and alternative hypotheses need to be tested,
      these results suggest an interesting new dimension on how regulation of microbial
      genomes occurs in a community context.

PMID- 28612850
TI  - Erratum to: Platelet Derived Biomaterials for Therapeutic Use: Review of
      Technical Aspects.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s12288-016-0669-8.].

PMID- 28612851
TI  - Correction: Introduction to comments on 'Outsourcing: how to reform WHO for the
      21st century'.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000272.].

PMID- 28612852
TI  - The bouncing threshold in silica nanograin collisions.
AB  - Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study collisions between amorphous
      silica nanoparticles. Our silica model contains uncontaminated surfaces, that is,
      the effect of surface hydroxylation or of adsorbed water layers is excluded. For
      central collisions, we characterize the boundary between sticking and bouncing
      collisions as a function of impact velocity and particle size and quantify the
      coefficient of restitution. We show that the traditional Johnson-Kendall-Roberts
      (JKR) model provides a valid description of the ingoing trajectory of two grains
      up to the moment of maximum compression. The distance of closest approach is
      slightly underestimated by the JKR model, due to the appearance of plasticity in
      the grains, which shows up in the form of localized shear transformation zones.
      The JKR model strongly underestimates the contact radius and the collision
      duration during the outgoing trajectory, evidencing that the breaking of covalent
      bonds during grain separation is not well described by this model. The adhesive
      neck formed between the two grains finally collapses while creating narrow
      filaments joining the grains, which eventually tear.

PMID- 28612853
TI  - Mangos and their bioactive components: adding variety to the fruit plate for
      health.
AB  - The diet is an essential factor affecting the risk for development and
      progression of modern day chronic diseases, particularly those with
      pathophysiological roots in inflammation and oxidative stress-induced damage. The
      potential impact of certain foods and their bioactive compounds to reverse or
      prevent destructive dysregulated processes leading to disease has attracted
      intense research attention. The mango (Mangifera indica Linn.) is a tropical
      fruit with distinctive nutritional and phytochemical composition. Notably, the
      mango contains several essential water- and lipid-soluble micronutrients along
      with the distinguishing phytochemicals gallotannins and mangiferin. In vitro and
      in vivo studies reveal various mechanisms through which mangos or their
      associated compounds reduce risk or reverse metabolic- and inflammation
      associated diseases. Health benefits of isolated individual mango compounds and
      extracts from mango by-products are well described in the literature with less
      attention devoted to the whole fruit. Here, we review and summarize the available
      literature assessing the health promoting potential of mango flesh, the edible
      portion contributing to dietary fruit intake, focusing specifically on modern day
      health issues of obesity and the risk factors and diseases it precipitates,
      including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, this review explores
      new insights on the benefits of mango for brain, skin and intestinal health.
      Overall, the foundation of research supporting the potential role of mangos in
      reducing risk for inflammation- and metabolically-based chronic diseases is
      growing.

PMID- 28612856
TI  - High throughput in vitro and in vivo screening of inland waters of Southern
      California.
AB  - The impact of unmonitored contaminants, also known as contaminants of emerging
      concern (CECs), on freshwater streams remains largely uncharacterized. Water
      samples from 31 streams representing urban, agricultural and undeveloped (i.e.,
      open space) land use in Southern California (USA) were analyzed for in vitro and
      in vivo bioactivity. The extent and magnitude of bioactivity screened using
      endocrine-responsive cell bioassays and a fish embryo screening assay were low.
      In contrast, a wider gradient of responses for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor
      (AhR) assay was observed, which was negatively correlated with a measure of
      benthic community structure. Both aromatic and non-aromatic CECs were tentatively
      identified in these samples, but polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known
      AhR agonists in urban environments, were not present at detectable levels. These
      results suggest that a combination of in vitro and in vivo show potential as
      screening techniques for biological condition in situ, but that more advanced,
      comprehensive analytical methods are needed to identify bioactive contaminants.

PMID- 28612858
TI  - Cold interactions and chemical reactions of linear polyatomic anions with alkali
      metal and alkaline-earth-metal atoms.
AB  - We consider collisional studies of linear polyatomic ions immersed in ultracold
      atomic gases and investigate the intermolecular interactions and chemical
      reactions of several molecular anions (OH-, CN-, NCO-, C2H-, C4H-) with alkali
      metal (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) and alkaline-earth-metal (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) atoms. State
      of-the-art ab initio techniques are applied to compute the potential energy
      surfaces (PESs) for these systems. The coupled cluster method restricted to
      single, double, and noniterative triple excitations, CCSD(T), is employed and the
      scalar relativistic effects in heavier metal atoms are modeled within the small
      core energy-consistent pseudopotentials. The leading long-range isotropic and
      anisotropic induction and dispersion interaction coefficients are obtained within
      the perturbation theory. The PESs are characterized in detail and their universal
      similarities typical for systems dominated by the induction interaction are
      discussed. The two-dimensional PESs are provided for selected systems and can be
      employed in scattering calculations. The possible channels of chemical reactions
      and their control are analyzed based on the energetics of the reactants. The
      present study of the electronic structure is the first step towards the
      evaluation of prospects for sympathetic cooling and controlled chemistry of
      linear polyatomic ions with ultracold atoms.

PMID- 28612859
TI  - Kinetics and branching fractions of the hydrogen abstraction reaction from methyl
      butenoates by H atoms.
AB  - In order to explore the hydrogen abstraction reaction kinetics of unsaturated
      methyl esters by hydrogen atoms, we selected two molecules for study, in
      particular methyl 3-butenoate and methyl 2-butenoate, whose C[double bond, length
      as m-dash]C double bonds are at different locations. We first determined an
      accurate and efficient electronic structure method for the investigation by
      considering eight hydrogen abstraction reactions and comparing their barrier
      heights and reaction energies computed using several exchange-correlation density
      functionals to those obtained from CCSD(T)-F12a/jun-cc-pVTZ coupled cluster
      calculations. In this way, we found the M06-2X/ma-TZVP method to have the best
      performance with a mean unsigned deviation from the CCSD(T) calculations of 0.51
      kcal mol-1. Based on quantum-chemical calculations by using the M06-2X/ma-TZVP
      method, we then computed rate constants for 298-2500 K by direct dynamics
      calculations using multi-structural canonical variational transition state theory
      including tunneling by the multi-dimensional small-curvature tunneling
      approximation (MS-CVT/SCT). The computed transmission coefficients were compared
      with those obtained using the zero-curvature tunneling (ZCT) and one-dimensional
      Eckart tunneling (ET) approximations. We employed the multi-structural torsional
      method (MS-T) to include the multiple-structure and torsional potential
      anharmonic effects. The results show that the variational recrossing transmission
      coefficients range from 0.6 to 1.0, and the multi-structural torsional
      anharmonicity introduces a factor of 0.5-2.5 into the rate constant, while the
      tunneling transmission coefficients obtained by SCT can be as large as 17.4 and
      differ considerably from those determined by the less accurate ZCT and ET
      approximations. In addition, independent of the location of the C[double bond,
      length as m-dash]C double bond, the dominant hydrogen abstraction reactions occur
      at the allylic sites.

PMID- 28612854
TI  - Fragile X mental retardation protein recognizes a G quadruplex structure within
      the survival motor neuron domain containing 1 mRNA 5'-UTR.
AB  - G quadruplex structures have been predicted by bioinformatics to form in the 5'-
      and 3'-untranslated regions (UTRs) of several thousand mature mRNAs and are
      believed to play a role in translation regulation. Elucidation of these roles has
      primarily been focused on the 3'-UTR, with limited focus on characterizing the G
      quadruplex structures and functions in the 5'-UTR. Investigation of the affinity
      and specificity of RNA binding proteins for 5'-UTR G quadruplexes and the
      resulting regulatory effects have also been limited. Among the mRNAs predicted to
      form a G quadruplex structure within the 5'-UTR is the survival motor neuron
      domain containing 1 (SMNDC1) mRNA, encoding a protein that is critical to the
      spliceosome. Additionally, this mRNA has been identified as a potential target of
      the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), whose loss of expression leads
      to fragile X syndrome. FMRP is an RNA binding protein involved in translation
      regulation that has been shown to bind mRNA targets that form G quadruplex
      structures. In this study we have used biophysical methods to investigate G
      quadruplex formation in the 5'-UTR of SMNDC1 mRNA and analyzed its interactions
      with FMRP. Our results show that SMNDC1 mRNA 5'-UTR forms an intramolecular,
      parallel G quadruplex structure comprised of three G quartet planes, which is
      bound specifically by FMRP both in vitro and in mouse brain lysates. These
      findings suggest a model by which FMRP might regulate the translation of a subset
      of its mRNA targets by recognizing the G quadruplex structure present in their 5'
      UTR, and affecting their accessibility by the protein synthesis machinery.

PMID- 28612860
TI  - Immobilization of Keggin polyoxovanadoniobate in crystalline solids to produce
      effective heterogeneous catalysts towards selective oxidation of benzyl-alkanes.
AB  - Two ionic organic-inorganic hybrid compounds,
      [CuII(C2N2H8)2]4[CuII(C2N2H8)2(H2O)2]2[PNb12O40VVVIVO2].(OH)2.11H2O (1) and
      [CoIII(C2N2H8)3]2[CoIII(C2N2H8)2(H2O)2]0.5[H2.5PNb12O40 VVVIVO2].20H2O (2), based
      on P-centered dicapped polyoxoniobates and organometallic cations were isolated
      and structurally characterized by routine techniques. The trivalent cobalt
      complex-containing compound exhibits a looser arrangement compared with its
      divalent copper complex-containing counterpart, with a space volume of 34.9% for
      the former and 17.0% for the latter. The two compounds were proved to be
      effective in facilitating the oxidation of benzyl-alkanes to ketone products in a
      heterogeneous manner, evidencing the feasiblity of the strategy of self
      immobilization of catalytically active, readily soluble PNb12O40(VO)2 species in
      crystalline solids.

PMID- 28612863
TI  - In-MOFs based on amide functionalised flexible linkers.
AB  - Two new amide functionalised metal-organic frameworks, In(OH)CSA and In(OH)PDG,
      were synthesized using two flexible linkers, N-(4-carboxyphenyl)succinamic acid
      (CSA) and N,N'-(1,4-phenylenedicarbonyl)diglycine (PDG), respectively. Both
      structures consist of corner-sharing {InO4(OH)2} octahedra in the form of trans
      indium hydroxide chains, which are interconnected by the dicarboxylate linkers to
      form stacked 2-dimensional layers. The different symmetries and configurations of
      the flexible and rigid features on the linkers results in different
      supramolecular interactions dominating between linkers, resulting in different
      shaped pores and functional group orientation. In(OH)CSA lacks hydrogen bonding
      between linkers, which results in close packing between the layers and very small
      solvent accessible pores running perpendicular to the plane of the layers.
      In(OH)PDG exhibits strong intra- and interlayer hydrogen bonding, which prevents
      the layers from close packing and results in larger cylindrical pores running
      parallel to the indium hydroxide chains, producing a total accessible volume of
      25% of the unit cell volume.

PMID- 28612864
TI  - Study of the scale-up, formulation, ageing and ammonia adsorption capacity of MIL
      100(Fe), Cu-BTC and CPO-27(Ni) for use in respiratory protection filters.
AB  - The metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) MIL-100(Fe), Cu-BTC and CPO-27(Ni) were
      synthesised in 1 kg batches. The materials were then formed in two different
      industrially relevant ways. Firstly, dry granulation was used to produce pellets
      which were sieved to give material with a 300-1000 MUm size, and the fines were
      subsequently recycled to mimic a large scale industrial process. Secondly, wet
      granulation with a polymer was used to produce granules which were again sieved
      to 300-1000 MUm. XRD data shows that the structures of MIL-100(Fe) and CPO-27(Ni)
      remain intact during both forming processes, whilst Cu-BTC is shown to degrade
      during processing. This is in line with the ammonia adsorption data obtained for
      the formed materials which evaluated the ammonia adsorption capacity of the
      materials using breakthrough measurements. MIL-100(Fe) and CPO-27(Ni) are shown
      to have capacities of 47 mg g-1 and 62 mg g-1 respectively whilst Cu-BTC has a
      decreased capacity of 37 mg g-1 from 97 mg g-1 upon forming. The formed materials
      were also aged at 25  degrees C and 80% humidity for a week and the ammonia
      adsorption capacity re-evaluated. As expected, Cu-BTC decomposed under these
      conditions, whilst MIL-100(Fe) and CPO-27(Ni) show slightly decreased ammonia
      adsorption capacities of 36 mg g-1 and 60 mg g-1 respectively.

PMID- 28612865
TI  - ESIPT and FRET probes for monitoring nanoparticle polymer coating stability.
AB  - Coating strategies of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) can provide properties
      unavailable to the NP core alone, such as targeting, specific sensing, and
      increased biocompatibility. Non-covalent amphiphilic NP capping polymers function
      via hydrophobic interactions with surface ligands and are extensively used to
      transfer NPs to aqueous media. For applications of coated NPs as actuators
      (sensors, markers, or for drug delivery) in a complex environment, such as
      biological systems, it is important to achieve a deep understanding of the
      factors affecting coating stability and behavior. We have designed a system that
      tests the coating stability of amphiphilic polymers through a simple fluorescent
      readout using either polarity sensing ESIPT (excited state intramolecular proton
      transfer) dyes or NP FRET (Forster resonance energy transfer). The stability of
      the coating was determined in response to changes in polarity, pH and ionic
      strength in the medium. Using the ESIPT system we observed linear changes in
      signal up to ~20-25% v/v of co-solvent addition, constituting a break point.
      Based on such data, we propose a model for coating instability and the important
      adjustable parameters, such as the electrical charge distribution. FRET data
      provided confirmatory evidence for the model. The ESIPT dyes and FRET based
      methods represent new, simple tools for testing NP coating stability in complex
      environments.

PMID- 28612866
TI  - Technetium-99m complexes of l-arginine derivatives for targeting amino acid
      transporters.
AB  - Although relevant from the clinical point of view, radiotracers targeting
      cationic amino acid transporters are relatively unexplored and, in particular, no
      metal-based radiotracers are known. The rare examples of complexes recognized by
      amino acid transporters, namely by the Na+-independent neutral l-type amino acid
      transporter 1 (LAT1), are 99mTc(i)/Re(i) compounds. Herein, we describe
      conjugates comprising a pyrazolyl-diamine chelating unit and the cationic amino
      acid l-arginine (l-Arg) linked by a propyl (L1) or hexyl linker (L2), which
      allowed the preparation of stable complexes of the type fac-[99mTc(CO)3(k3-L)]+
      (Tc1, L = L1; Tc2, L = L2) and of the respective surrogates Re1 and Re2.
      Interestingly, complex Tc2 exhibited moderate levels of time-dependent
      internalization in three human tumoural cell lines, with approximately 3% of
      total applied activity internalized, corresponding to 21% of the cell-associated
      activity. A putative mechanism of retention in the cytoplasm of cells could be
      the interaction of the complex with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which
      is the enzyme responsible for the catalytic oxidation of l-Arg to citrulline and
      nitric oxide. However, the surrogate complex Re2 does not recognize iNOS, as
      demonstrated by the in vitro assays with purified iNOS and in studies with
      lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-activated macrophages. Preliminary mechanistic studies
      suggest that the internalization of Tc2 is linked to the cationic amino acid
      transporters, namely system y+. This finding might open the way towards the
      development of novel families of metal-based radiotracers for probing
      metabolically active cancer cells.

PMID- 28612868
TI  - Geometry and magnetic interaction modulations in dinuclear Dy2 single-molecule
      magnets.
AB  - Geometry and magnetic interaction modulations in a series of dinuclear dysprosium
      compounds, [Dy2Lz2(OAc)6].2CH3OH (1), [Dy2Lz2(C6H5CO2)6].2CH3CN (2), and
      [Dy2L2(SO3CF3)4THF4] (3) (Lz = 6-pyridin-2-yl-[1,3,5]triazine-2,4-diamine; L = N
      (2,3-dimethylbut-3-en-2-yl)-N-hydroxynitrous amide; THF = tetrahydrofuran), can
      effectively tune the relaxation dynamics of magnetization. The dysprosium centres
      of compounds 2 and 3 display a hula hoop-like geometry; however, those in 1 show
      the monocapped square antiprismatic geometries. Moreover, the Dy2 cores of
      compounds 1 and 3 were linked by MU2-eta1:eta1 and MU2-eta1:eta2 bridging modes,
      thus generating shorter intramolecular DyDy distances as compared to those in
      compound 2. Consequently, these three compounds demonstrate distinct magnetic
      properties. Compounds 1 and 2 behave as single-molecule magnets (SMMs) under an
      appropriate static dc field; in addition, 2 displays field-induced multiple
      relaxation processes under a 1000 Oe dc field. Compound 3 shows a high relaxation
      energy barrier of 102 K in the zero dc field. These three interesting compounds
      with Dy2 cores shed light on the coordination geometry and magnetic interactions
      for the modulation of the properties of SMMs.

PMID- 28612869
TI  - Intrinsic ferromagnetism and quantum transport transition in individual Fe-doped
      Bi2Se3 topological insulator nanowires.
AB  - Time-reversal symmetry is broken by magnetic doping in topological insulators
      (TIs). An energy gap at the Dirac point opens and thus, generates numerous
      surface carriers. TI nanostructures are an ideal platform to investigate exotic
      surface transport behavior due to their large surface-to-volume ratio, which
      enhances the contribution of the TI surface states. However, magnetic doping into
      TI nanostructures has been challenging, and induced magnetic behavior has
      remained elusive. Herein, we have synthesized Fe-doped Bi2Se3 nanowires using a
      facile chemical vapor deposition with a doping concentration of ~1 at%. The
      combined structural characterizations illustrate the homogeneous distribution of
      the Fe dopants. Cryogenic magnetic force microscopy gives direct evidence of the
      spontaneous magnetization with a Curie temperature of ~40 K in a single nanowire.
      The transport measurements show a quantum transition from weak anti-localization
      to weak localization behavior. All the evidence indicates the existence of
      intrinsic ferromagnetism and gapped topological surface states in the TI
      nanowires, paving a way for future memory and magnetoelectric nanodevice
      applications.

PMID- 28612870
TI  - Correction: Triamide macrocyclic chloride receptors via a one-pot tandem
      reduction-condensation-cyclization reaction.
AB  - Correction for 'Triamide macrocyclic chloride receptors via a one-pot tandem
      reduction-condensation-cyclization reaction' by Harekrushna Behera, et al., Org.
      Biomol. Chem., 2017, DOI: .

PMID- 28612872
TI  - Methane adsorption in ADOR zeolites: a combined experimental and DFT/CC study.
AB  - Physical adsorption of methane in purely siliceous molecular sieves prepared by a
      recently discovered synthetic pathway using 2D zeolites as nanoscale building
      blocks has been investigated by means of combined experimental and theoretical
      approaches. The DFT/CC-based method has been tested on ADOR zeolites of the UTL
      family and a few experimentally well-characterized siliceous zeolites. Excellent
      agreement between theoretical and experimental heats of adsorption has been found
      for OKO, PCR, MFI, CHA and AEI zeolites. The observed discrepancy for the UTL
      germanosilicate (2 kJ mol-1) has been plausibly explained using a simple model of
      D4R defects. The proposed methodology can be used as a reliable characterization
      tool for newly synthesized silica nanomaterials.

PMID- 28612874
TI  - Mechanistic investigations of confinement effects on the self-assembly of
      symmetric amphiphilic copolymers in thin films.
AB  - The self-assembly of a copolymer thin film, whose molecular structure is composed
      of one hydrophobic branch and two hydrophilic branches, gives a cylindrical
      structure consisting of a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic outer surface. The
      confinement-induced loss of entropy leads the copolymer to self-assemble into a
      hexagonal arrangement of cylindrical structures. This hexagonal arrangement is of
      two induced self-assembly structures under one-dimensional confinement in thin
      films, i.e., micellar structures with uniform density of an individual core, as
      well as lamellar structures with two separated hydrophobic layers and one
      hydrophilic layer. When the repulsive force of the confinement is greater for the
      hydrophobic polymeric component than for the hydrophilic polymeric component, the
      self-assembled density of the cores is broad. A proportional change in the
      individual volume suggests interactions between the walls and the hydrophobic
      core, which plays a vital role in the formation of the self-assembled structure.
      A basic understanding of the one-dimensional confinement investigated in this
      study serves to elucidate the more complex two- and three-dimensional
      confinements and provides further insights for the design of nanomaterials with
      novel morphologies.

PMID- 28612878
TI  - A phenomenological order approach to the volume phase transition in microgel
      particles.
AB  - We proposed a model to describe the volume phase transition of microgel
      particles, based on constitutive relations that consider the mechano-chemical
      coupling of deformation and solvency processes, as well as the phenomenological
      cooperative effect of molecular orientation of solvatable segments in the
      particles. We regard a nematic-isotropic like transition and define a tensor
      order parameter allowing analysis of the collective behaviour of water solvation
      mechanisms based on the Landau-De Gennes theory for liquid crystal elastomers. A
      complementary approach to the energy balance density is obtained with the order
      parameter field considering the deformation by a continuum mechanics
      approximation; our approach aims to extend the comprehensive understanding of the
      elastic behaviour and water sorption related phenomena in microgel particles.
      With the proposed model, we reproduce the behaviour of swelling curves through a
      volume phase transition of thermosensitive microgel particles by assessing
      characteristic parameters belonging to particular physical properties. The
      parameters defined within the model such as elastic and solvency related
      constants and characteristic temperatures were obtained by fitting of a data set
      mimicking the experimentally observed swelling behaviour. The obtained values of
      the parameters were consistent with the discussed phenomenology which shows the
      importance of molecular ordering interpretation as a source to describe the
      volume phase transition in microgel particles.

PMID- 28612880
TI  - Syntheses of asymmetric zinc porphyrins bearing different pseudo-pyridine
      substituents and their photosensitization for visible-light-driven H2 production
      activity.
AB  - A series of asymmetric zinc porphyrin (ZnPy) derivatives bearing different
      external substituents were synthesized and used to sensitize Pt-loaded graphitic
      carbon nitride (Pt/g-C3N4) for photocatalytic H2 production. Among them, ZnPy-1
      has one benzoic acid and three phenyls as peripheral substituents, while ZnPy-2,
      ZnPy-3, and ZnPy-4 contain one benzoic acid and three pseudo-pyridines with
      different N-atom positions. The experimental results indicate that the pseudo
      pyridine substitution for the phenyls in ZnPy-1 lead to enhanced
      photosensitization with an order of ZnPy-1 < ZnPy-2 < ZnPy-3 < ZnPy-4 under
      visible light (lambda > 420 nm) irradiation. ZnPy-4-sensitized Pt/g-C3N4 (ZnPy-4
      Pt/g-C3N4) exhibits the best average H2 production activity of 524 MUmol h-1 with
      an extremely high turnover number (TON) of 11 089 h-1, which is much higher than
      that (328 MUmol h-1) of ZnPy-2-Pt/g-C3N4 with a TON of 6942 h-1. Also, ZnPy-4
      Pt/g-C3N4 shows a much higher apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 32.3% than that
      (11.5%) of ZnPy-2-Pt/g-C3N4 under 420 nm monochromatic light irradiation. The
      different N-atom positions in the pseudo-pyridines result in different
      interactions of the ZnPy dyes with a sacrificial reagent, which then strongly
      influences the photoactivity for H2 production. The present results demonstrate
      the molecular engineering aspect of ZnPy dyes in which fine-tuning of molecular
      structures is crucial for improving the photocatalytic H2 production activity of
      dye-sensitized semiconductors.

PMID- 28612882
TI  - A nitrile-stabilized ammonium ylide as a masked C-C[double bond, length as m
      dash]N synthon in heterocyclization with amidine-imine: 3-component assembly to
      fused pyrimidine scaffolds.
AB  - A unique reactivity of a nitrile-stabilized quaternary ammonium ylide as a masked
      C-C[double bond, length as m-dash]N synthon in contrast to its usual sigmatropic
      rearrangement has been demonstrated. Its reaction with 2-aminopyridine-derived
      aldimine undergoes electronically-assisted nucleophilic additions and Hofmann
      elimination, and provides a new method to access fused pyrimidines.

PMID- 28612884
TI  - Computer simulation study on the self-assembly of unimodal and bimodal polymer
      grafted nanoparticles in a polymer melt.
AB  - The controllable distribution of nanoparticles (NPs) in polymer nanocomposites
      (PNCs) is a challenge in materials science. An important method is grafting
      chains that are chemically identical to the polymer matrix on NPs. By performing
      comprehensive molecular dynamics simulations, the self-assembly behavior of
      polymer-grafted NPs in a polymer matrix is investigated in this study. The
      relationship between the grafted chain length N, grafting density sigma and the
      NPs' self-assembly morphologies is studied. Phase diagrams of the NP self
      assembly structures for both unimodal and bimodal grafted NP systems are
      constructed on a parameter space, where P is the matrix polymer chain length. NP
      self-assembly structures of strings, connected/sheet and small clusters are
      identified in different regions. In order to quantitatively characterize the NP
      self-assembly morphology, we define a morphological measurement parameter which
      characterizes the distribution of the Voronoi cell volume of the NPs. Using this
      parameter, we discuss the influences of both long and short grafted chains on the
      dispersion of bimodal polymer-grafted NPs in a polymer melt. We find that the
      short grafted chains can not only shield the NP surface from the polymer matrix
      but also elongate the long grafted chains into the polymer matrix, therefore
      favoring a better dispersion of NPs. Our results also indicate that the bimodal
      grafted NPs will not be fully dispersed until the short grafted chains are dense
      enough to elongate the long grafted chains, hence forming a wetting NP/matrix
      interface.

PMID- 28612879
TI  - Cell migration on material-driven fibronectin microenvironments.
AB  - Cell migration is a fundamental process involved in a wide range of biological
      phenomena. However, how the underlying mechanisms that control migration are
      orchestrated is not fully understood. In this work, we explore the migratory
      characteristics of human fibroblasts using different organisations of fibronectin
      (FN) triggered by two chemically similar surfaces, poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) and
      poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA); cell migration is mediated via an intermediate layer
      of fibronectin (FN). FN is organised into nanonetworks upon simple adsorption on
      PEA whereas a globular conformation is observed on PMA. We studied cell speed
      over the course of 24 h and the morphology of focal adhesions in terms of area
      and length. Additionally, we analysed the amount of cell-secreted FN as well as
      FN remodelling. Velocity of human fibroblasts was found to exhibit a biphasic
      behaviour on PEA, whereas it remained fairly constant on PMA. FA analysis
      revealed more mature focal adhesions on PEA over time contrary to smaller FAs
      found on PMA. Finally, human fibroblasts seemed to remodel adsorbed FN more on
      PMA than on PEA. Overall, these results indicate that the cell-protein-material
      interface affects cell migratory behaviour. Analysis of FAs together with FN
      secretion and remodelling were associated with differences in cell velocity
      providing insights into the factors that can modulate cell motility.

PMID- 28612886
TI  - Investigation of the relationship between the cycle performance and the
      electronic structure in LiAlxMn2-xO4 (x = 0 and 0.2) using soft X-ray
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Al doping into LiMn2O4 is one of the well-known methods to improve the cycle
      performance of the LiMn2O4 cathode. We carried out soft X-ray emission
      spectroscopy (XES) for LiMn2O4 and LiAl0.2Mn1.8O4 to elucidate the relationship
      between the Mn 3d electronic structures and cycle performances. After the first
      cycle, the XES spectra of LiAl0.2Mn1.8O4 are almost unchanged compared to the
      initial state. In contrast, charge-transfer excitation for the XES of LiMn2O4 is
      significantly reduced, indicating that the Mn 3d-O 2p hybridization in LiMn2O4
      should be easily weakened by charge-discharge. In LiAl0.2Mn1.8O4, the Mn-O bond
      becomes more stable due to the decrease of Mn3+ ions with Jahn-Teller distortion
      by Al3+ doping, resulting in the improved cycle performance.

PMID- 28612887
TI  - Strong metal-support interaction between Pt and SiO2 following high-temperature
      reduction: a catalytic interface for propane dehydrogenation.
AB  - Pt/SiO2 reduced at 1073 K exhibited a high catalytic activity in propane
      dehydrogenation, primarily attributed to the electronic modification of Pt
      nanoparticles by a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) effect. The SMSI was
      observed in the Pt/SiO2 system following direct reduction in H2 (>773 K), and was
      found to increase with increasing reduction temperature.

PMID- 28612890
TI  - Technology in Rehabilitation: Comparing Personalised and Global Classification
      Methodologies in Evaluating the Squat Exercise with Wearable IMUs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The barbell squat is a popularly used lower limb rehabilitation
      exercise. It is also an integral exercise in injury risk screening protocols. To
      date athlete/patient technique has been assessed using expensive laboratory
      equipment or subjective clinical judgement; both of which are not without
      shortcomings. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) may offer a low cost solution for
      the objective evaluation of athlete/patient technique. However, it is not yet
      known if global classification techniques are effective in identifying naturally
      occurring, minor deviations in barbell squat technique. OBJECTIVES: The aims of
      this study were to: (a) determine if in combination or in isolation, IMUs
      positioned on the lumbar spine, thigh and shank are capable of distinguishing
      between acceptable and aberrant barbell squat technique; (b) determine the
      capabilities of an IMU system at identifying specific natural deviations from
      acceptable barbell squat technique; and (c) compare a personalised (N=1)
      classifier to a global classifier in identifying the above. METHODS: Fifty-five
      healthy volunteers (37 males, 18 females, age = 24.21 +/- 5.25 years, height =
      1.75 +/- 0.1 m, body mass = 75.09 +/- 13.56 kg) participated in the study. All
      participants performed a barbell squat 3-repetition maximum max strength test.
      IMUs were positioned on participants' lumbar spine, both shanks and both thighs;
      these were utilized to record tri-axial accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer
      data during all repetitions of the barbell squat exercise. Technique was assessed
      and labelled by a Chartered Physiotherapist using an evaluation framework.
      Features were extracted from the labelled IMU data. These features were used to
      train and evaluate both global and personalised random forests classifiers.
      RESULTS: Global classification techniques produced poor accuracy (AC),
      sensitivity (SE) and specificity (SP) scores in binary classification even with a
      5 IMU set-up in both binary (AC: 64%, SE: 70%, SP: 28%) and multi-class
      classification (AC: 59%, SE: 24%, SP: 84%). However, utilising personalised
      classification techniques even with a single IMU positioned on the left thigh
      produced good binary classification scores (AC: 81%, SE: 81%, SP: 84%) and
      moderate-to-good multi-class scores (AC: 69%, SE: 70%, SP: 89%). CONCLUSIONS:
      There are a number of challenges in developing global classification exercise
      technique evaluation systems for rehabilitation exercises such as the barbell
      squat. Building large, balanced data sets to train such systems is difficult and
      time intensive. Minor, naturally occurring deviations may not be detected
      utilising global classification approaches. Personalised classification
      approaches allow for higher accuracy and greater system efficiency for end-users
      in detecting naturally occurring barbell squat technique deviations. Applying
      this approach also allows for a single-IMU set up to achieve similar accuracy to
      a multi-IMU setup, which reduces total system cost and maximises system
      usability.

PMID- 28612891
TI  - The Tragic Tale of a Father and Son: an Unusual Patricide.
AB  - Parricide is a category of homicide in which the victims are the parents, and the
      killers, their children. The authors report a case of a 45-year-old man who
      killed his 73-year-old widowed father in an extremely violent manner: he struck
      the father in the head with a wooden wash board, stabbed him with a pair of
      scissors and several times with a screwdriver. Afterwards, he kicked the victim
      in the face and jumped up and down on his body, thereby crushing the father's
      chest with his weight. The case reported here may be classified as an "unusual
      patricide" when one considers the age of the aggressor, the diagnosis of
      psychiatric disorders, that the victim was the father, and that the murder was
      committed in an extremely violent manner.

PMID- 28612892
TI  - Endovascular management of a large hepatic artery aneurysm.
AB  - Visceral arteries aneurysms (VAA) are an increasingly interesting clinical entity
      due to their challenging diagnosis and treatment options. The more prevalent use
      and accuracy of enhanced imaging techniques such as ultrasonography and computed
      tomography have increased the frequency of diagnosis of aneurysmal degeneration
      of the visceral arteries. Despite there is no statistically significant
      difference in terms of overall mortality and post-operative complications between
      endovascular therapy and open repair, interventional strategies present a
      significantly lower length of stay and less invasiveness and should be preferred
      in elderly patients, or in case of co-morbidity and poor candidates for surgery.
      We herein describe the case of a 79-year-old male who presented a common hepatic
      artery aneurism (CHAA), involving aberrant visceral arteries anatomy.

PMID- 28612893
TI  - The mixture of bifidobacterium associated with fructo-oligosaccharides reduces
      the damage of the ocular surface.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite its high prevalence Dry Eye Syndrome (DES) in frequently
      under-recognized owing to its negative influence on patients visual function.
      METHODS: This clinical trial was a pilot study to evaluate the effects of
      supplementation with mixture (Bifidobacterium lactis and Bifidobacterium bifido)
      on the tear film. Following the run-in period subjects were randomized in two
      groups: group A (N degrees 20 subjects) and group B (N degrees 20 subjects).
      Group A (control) treated only with substitute tear and group B treated with
      substitute tear + mixture (symbiotic). RESULTS: The data obtained in the two
      study groups A and B were, respectively the following: Schirmer 9.1+/-0.2 vs
      12.7+/-0.4 (p< 0.001); Schirmer II 3.5+/-0.1 VS 4.7+/-0.2 (p<0.001); BUT 3.9+/
      0.3 vs 6.3+/-0.2 (p<0.001). Culture test showed initial bacterial growth in group
      "A" (placebo) 18 out of 40 samples tested, corresponding to 45.0% and "B" after
      treatment ((symbiotic) was found positive culture whit growth of bacteria in 12
      tests equal to 30.0%. The total numbers of isolations of aerobic and anaerobic
      bacteria found group A and B after treatment. A reduction of 15 to 11 strains of
      aerobic and anaerobic isolates from 9 to 5 has been found. CONCLUSIONS: The
      present study shows that the administration of bifidobacterium may represent a
      success full treatment in ameliorating dry eye syndrome (DES). The effect of
      imbalanced microbiota are not restricted by gastrointestinal abnormalities but
      could have systemic impact on immunity. Commensal bacteria or probiotics interact
      with the endogenous enteric microbiota and gut cells therein confereing health
      benefit to the host.

PMID- 28612894
TI  - iProcto: new digital technology in Proctology. A randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Advancements in technology have proved useful for many
      businesses including medical practices. Consequently, these improvements have
      increased the need to develop new applications for mobile devices. Our group
      conceived and developed an application for tablets, PCs, and smartphones with the
      aim to assist the physician in the management of the pelvic floor diseases:
      iProcto. The aim of this study was to evaluate the receptivity of patients
      resulting from using the said pelvic floor application (iProcto) during a colon
      proctologic visit; and to establish whether it can be more efficient in helping
      with diagnosis compared to a traditional visit. METHODS: We enrolled 126 patients
      with pelvic floor disorders during the period of 2013 and 2014. The average age
      of the patients ranging from 16 - 43 years of age, 80 of those, being women.
      Sixty-three patients were randomly assigned to iProcto consultation (group A),
      the remaining 63 patients to attended a regular consultation that did not include
      iProcto (group B). Post consultation, all patients were asked to answer a
      questionnaire anonymously where they were asked questions about their level of
      satisfaction, and clarity of the doctor's explanation, on a scale from 1
      (dissatisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied). RESULTS: Patients in group A have a
      score average relative to the degree of satisfaction of 4.2 +/- 0.7 vs 3.5 +/-
      0.7 in the group B (m +/- sd; p 0.001). Only 3 patients in group A and 15 in
      group B did not consider the visit satisfactory (score <=2). With regard to the
      clarity of the physician the group A patients presented a means score of 4.4 +/-
      0.8 vs 3.5 +/- 0.4 in the group B (m +/- ds; p 0.001). Data shows that 95% showed
      a gain in satisfaction during the iProcto visit as compared to 78% without
      iProcto. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion the use of iProcto for the pelvic floor
      diseases can improve the understanding of the disease and increase the degree of
      patient satisfaction.

PMID- 28612895
TI  - Preemptive kidney transplantation: an ethical challenge for organ allocation
      policies.
AB  - Preemptive transplants are advisable in advanced stages of kidney disease. The
      clinical advantages of preemptive transplantation over dialysis are evident.
      Nevertheless, preemptive transplantations raise ethical concerns, particularly
      regarding the allocation of medical resources. The present article proposes some
      criteria for organ allocation policies regarding preemptive transplantations:
      criteria regarding medical benefit and justice are absolutely essential when
      addressing the issue of organ allocation, but other ethical values should also be
      taken into account. The "principle of double effect" offers useful pointers.

PMID- 28612896
TI  - Total Thyroidectomy: the first, the best. The recurrent goiter issue.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Redo surgery for recurrent goiter is still now, even in experienced
      hands, followed by higher morbidity than primary total thyroidectomy. Suppressive
      Levothyroxine therapy failed to improve the recurrence rate, while inducing a
      subclinical hyperthyroidism. Aim of this study is to verify morbidity after total
      thyroidectomy for benign thyroid diseases, both primary and after recurrence.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A series of 20 cases of total thyroidectomy for recurrent
      benign diseases (RG), performed between January 2001 and December 2013 was
      compared with 225 cases of primary total thyroidectomy (PT) . Cancers, even
      incidentally diagnosed, were excluded. At least a 12 months follow up was
      accomplished. Due to the small size of the sample for RG, statistical analysis
      was performed by Fisher test only. RESULTS: Postoperative complications were
      Transient hypocalcemia: 5 (25%) in RG and 18 (8%) in PT, Permanent hypocalcemia
      only 2 (10%) in RG (significant for p <0,05), Transient RLN deficit 5 (25 %) in
      RG and 6 (2.6%) in PT (significant for p< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Differences in
      incidence of perioperative complications cannot be advocated to justify a less
      than total thyroidectomy even in benign disease setting. The need for a redo
      surgery with its burden of morbidity is per se a good reason to avoid a
      conservative surgery. Further, suppressive therapy with Levothyroxine often fails
      to avoid recurrence, inducing in some cases a specific morbidity. Our experience
      confirms the results of our previous experiences and of literature on this topic:
      the best management of recurrent goiter is its prevention by primary total
      thyroidectomy.

PMID- 28612897
TI  - [Workplace Violence in the health sector: validation of the Italian version of
      the WHO questionnaire].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The phenomenon of violence and aggression in the workplace is
      frequent and constantly increasing. Healthcare professionals are most exposed to
      this phenomenon, especially those who work in urgent and psychiatric emergency
      departments. OBJECTIVE: To validate the Italian version of the questionnaire
      "Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Case Study Research Instruments Survey
      Questionnaire", conducted by WHO. OUTCOMES: 55 randomly selected workers took
      part in the validation of the questionnaire among physicians, nurses and nursing
      trainees. The internal consistency analysis of the demand of 5 dichotomous
      variables on binary values for violence levels suggests that Cronbach's alpha is
      0.61, and Cronbach's alpha calculated on standardized elements is 0.69, which
      means that Reliability shows sufficient levels. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian
      translation carried out in this WHO questionnaire study shows good internal
      reliability and consistency and could be considered a useful tool in assessing
      and preventing aggression and violence against health professionals.

PMID- 28612898
TI  - Sex estimation by femur in modern Thai population.
AB  - Sex estimation is an important step of postmortem investigation and the femur is
      a useful bone for sex estimation by using metric analysis method. Even though
      there have been a reported sex estimation method by using femur in Thais, the
      temporal change related to time and anthropological data need to be renewed. Thus
      the aim of this study is to re-evaluate sex estimation by femur in Thais. 97
      adult male and 103 female femora were random chosen from Forensic osteology
      research center and 6 measurements were applied tend to. To compare with previous
      Thai data, mid shaft diameter to increase but femoral head and epicondylar
      breadth to stabilize and when tested previous discriminant function by vertical
      head diameter and epicondalar breadth, the accuracy of prediction was lower than
      previous report. From the new data, epicondalar breadth is the best variable for
      distinguishing male and female at 88.7 percent of accuracy, following by
      transverse and vertical head diameter at 86.7 percent and femoral neck diameter
      at 81.7 percent of accuracy. Multivariate discriminant analysis indicated
      transverse head diameter and epicondylar breadth performed highest rate of
      accuracy at 89.7 percent. The percent of accuracy of femur was close to previous
      reported sex estimation by talus and calcaneus in Thai population. Thus, for
      especially in case of lower limb remain, which absence of pelvis.

PMID- 28612899
TI  - Recurrent miller fisher: a new case report and a literature review.
AB  - Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is considered to be an uncommon variant of Guillain
      Barre Syndrome. The disease is clinically characterized by acute ataxia of limbs,
      areflexia and ophthalmoplegia, although the set of symptoms and signs can be
      quite heterogeneous, with a benign and monophasic course. We describe a case of
      recurrent MFS where there have been four clinical episodes occurred with complete
      remission after each relapse. Last recurrence was treated with oral steroids. The
      reported frequency of recurrent MFS in literature is variable as well as the best
      treatment in these cases. We add a new case treated with steroid and we perform a
      review of the literature.

PMID- 28612900
TI  - Italian law on the vehicular homicide: medical legal issues and comparative
      analysis.
AB  - Law no. 41/2016, enacted after a parliamentary debate characterized by a strong
      media pressure, intends to give a strong response to the growing social alarm
      caused by road accidents causing deaths. In this perspective, it introduced the
      categories of road homicide and road injuries within the Penal Code and the new
      hypotheses of mandatory and facultative arrest in flagrante delicto. This paper
      aims at comparing the rules by which the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany
      and Italy protect people's lives and safety of vehicular traffic in order to
      highlight strengths and weaknesses with a view to future reforms. A survey on the
      European legislature highlights that, while other countries tend to criminally
      sanction several dangerous driving conducts, Italy has preferred, on the one
      hand, to punish only with administrative sanctions some violations related to
      reckless driving (with the exception of driving under the influence of alcohol
      and drugs) and, on the other, to provide for particularly harsh prison sentences
      in the case of vehicular homicide. The authors criticize this approach and other
      aspects of the new law. Moreover, it seems that the legislator's aim has not been
      achieved because traffic accidents have not decreased. They also believe that
      better results could be obtained by increasing controls on the roads and
      developing a policy of economical investments which improves road safety.

PMID- 28612901
TI  - Assessing malpractice lawsuits for death or injuries due to amniotic fluid
      embolism.
AB  - Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a pregnancy complication known to be extremely
      hard to diagnose, since it manifests itself abruptly and with no warning signs,
      presenting an incidence rate of about 1 in 40000 deliveries, and maternal
      morbidity and mortality ranging from 20% to 60%. Although almost a century has
      gone by since it was first identified (1926) and despite medical research having
      been conducted on such a syndrome, diagnostic procedures and treatment methods
      have not yet been clarified enough. Specific biochemical markers have been
      produced in research laboratories, but their clinical value results to be
      limited, given how rapid the pathological process moves forward. At the time
      being, no diagnosis is feasible which may effectively prevent the disease from
      occurring. Certainly, a multidisciplinary approach might contribute to saving the
      lives of mother and infant, as well as ensuring better life standards. The
      paper's authors aim to highlight the medico-legal issues, in light of several
      rulings from the Italian Constitutional Court as well as lower courts. The
      authors also advocate for the creation of a nation-wide registry meant to collect
      all signaled AFE instances so that research on this as yet devastating syndrome
      can be conducted based on hard data.

PMID- 28612902
TI  - Comparison of prognostic values of cardiopulmonary and heart rate parameters in
      exercise testing in men with heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is the gold standard in the
      evaluation of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, this test is
      relatively expensive, assessment of its results requires experience, and in
      Poland it is available only in tertiary health care centers. Many heart rate (HR)
      parameters taken during a standard electrocardiographic (ECG) exercise test also
      shows prognostic values. Thus, the aim of this study is to compare prognostic
      values of ventilatory and HR parameters in exercise testing in CHF patients, and
      to find out if HR parameters can be used instead of ventilatory in the evaluation
      of a prognosis. METHODS: 132 men (mean age 49 +/- 11 years) with CHF with reduced
      left ventricular ejection fraction (< 45%) underwent a treadmill CPET using a
      modified Bruce's protocol, during which both HR and ventilatory parameters were
      measured. The patients were followed for 27 +/- 13 months after CPET. RESULTS:
      Mortality was 28% (n = 37). Non-survivors demonstrated significantly shorter
      exercise time (342 +/- 167 vs. 525 +/- 342 s, p < 0.001), lower maximal HR (122
      +/- 22 vs. 138 +/- 21 bpm, p < 0.001), smaller difference between maximal HR and
      at rest (36 +/- 19 vs. 52 +/- 21 bpm, p < 0.001), and lower HR recovery rate
      (HRR; 16 +/-1 0 vs. 24 +/- 13 bpm, p = 0.002), chronotropic index (CHI; 0.45 +/-
      0.23 vs. 0.61 +/- 0.23, p < 0.001), peak oxygen consumption (13.82 +/- 4.62 vs.
      18.54 +/- 5.68 mL/kg/min, p < 0.001) and oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES)
      value (1.56 +/- 0.58 vs. 1.94 +/- 0.63, p = 0.001), and higher ventilation to
      carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2) slope value (40.56 +/- 9.11 vs. 33.33 +/-
      7.36, p < 0.001). Two parameters that showed good prognostic value and
      availability in a routine CPET were chosen for receiver operating characteristic
      analysis, VE/VCO2 slope and CHI, which showed cut-off values of 35 (sensitivity
      74%, specificity 71%, p < 0.001) and 64 (sensitivity 74%, specificity 68%, p <
      0.001) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Heart rate parameters show significant
      prognostic values; CHI is the best of them, however, it is weaker than VE/VCO2
      slope. HR parameters show somewhat weaker prognostic values in comparison with
      ventilatory parameters, yet they may be useful in cases of CPET unavailability.

PMID- 28612903
TI  - The value of left atrial strain and strain rate in predicting left atrial
      appendage stasis in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the value of left atrial (LA) strain
      and strain rate (S/SR) by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in predicting left
      atrial appendage (LAA) stasis, in order to find a way for LAA stasis screening
      which is easily performed in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation
      (NVAF). METHODS: One hundred and thirty NVAF patients prepared for AF ablation
      were enrolled. TTE and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were performed in
      all patients. LA S/SR in each phase was analyzed off-line. LAA blood flow state
      and LAA function were assessed by using TEE. RESULTS: LA S/SRs during atrial
      reservoir phase (LA Sres/SRres) were significantly negatively cor-related with
      LAA spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) grade (r = -0.567 and -0.520, respectively;
      all p < 0.01), and positively correlated with LAA emptying fraction (r = 0.602
      and 0.619, respectively; all p < 0.01) and with LAA peak emptying flow velocity
      (r = 0.623 and 0.642, respectively; all p < 0.01). The multivariate logistic
      regression analysis showed LA Sres to be the strongest independent predictor of
      LAA stasis, followed by LA volume index. LA Sres < 13% was recommended to predict
      LAA stasis with sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 74%. CONCLUSIONS: LA Sres
      by TTE can noninvasively predict LAA stasis and may be used as a screening tool
      to assist in the detection of LAA stasis in patients with NVAF. (Cardiol J 2018;
      25, 1: 87-96).

PMID- 28612904
TI  - Prognostic value of growth differentiation factor-15 in Chinese patients with
      heart failure: A prospective observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), a biomarker associated
      with remodeling, oxidative stress and inflammation, has been used to stratify
      heart failure (HF) patients. However, its prognostic value in Chinese HF patients
      is still unknown. METHODS: GDF-15 levels were examined on admission in 272
      consecutive HF patients in Beijing Hospital (a Chinese tertiary medical center)
      by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We recorded the incidence of
      all-cause mortality and/or readmission for HF during a median follow-up period of
      558 days. Patients were stratified according to the tertiles of GDF-15. RESULTS:
      Fifty-three (19.5%) patients died and 103 (37.9%) patients had major adverse
      cardiac events (MACE) which included the composite outcome of all-cause mortality
      or readmission for HF at the end of follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival curves
      showed that the third tertile of GDF-15 was associated with increased rate of all
      cause mortality (compared with the first and second tertiles, log rank p = 0.001
      and 0.001, respectively) or MACE (compared with the first and second tertiles,
      log rank p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, multivariate Cox
      regression model showed that the highest tertile of GDF-15 was independently
      associated with increased risk of all-cause death (hazard ratio = 5.95, 95%
      confidence interval 1.88-18.78, p = 0.002) compared with the lowest tertile after
      adjustment for related clinical variables such as age, renal function or N
      terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma GDF-15 is an
      independent predictor of all-cause mortality in Chinese patients with HF. It may
      potentially be used to stratify and prognosticate HF patients.

PMID- 28612905
TI  - Treatment of coronary chronic total occlusion by transradial approach: Current
      trends and expert recommendations.
AB  - The aim of this review is to highlight the technical details and the scientific
      data on percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) in chronic total occlusion
      (CTO) performed by transradial approach (TRA). Transfemoral approach (TFA) is
      commonly regarded as the standard for CTO PCI, but there is a growing number of
      CTO recanalization procedures performed by TRA. We discuss the relevant technical
      details to approach a CTO by transradial access, especially the compatibility of
      various CTO recanalization techniques with specific guiding catheter sizes.
      Randomized prospective trials in this field are lacking and only data from
      observational studies are available. We can conclude that transradial access for
      CTO PCI is feasible and could be very useful in selected patients. In our
      opinion, transradial access in CTO PCIs should be limited to operators and
      centers highly experienced in CTO recanaliza!tion and in TRA.

PMID- 28612906
TI  - The influence of plasma 25-(OH) vitamin D levels in acute ST elevation myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The preventive role of acute occurring of collateral circulation
      (AOCC) to infarct related artery (IRA) in patients presenting with acute ST
      segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is well known. Therefore, we
      aimed to investigate whether there is an association between admission plasma 25
      hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3) levels and grade of collateralization in patients
      with STEMI. METHODS: We prospectively included 369 STEMI patients within the
      first 12 h of symptoms onset. Patients were divided into two groups according to
      their Rentrop collateralization grade to IRA: poorly developed collateral (PDC)
      group (Rentrop grade <= 1, 272 patients) and well developed collateral (WDC)
      group (Rentrop grade >= 2, 97 patients). RESULTS: We observed that AOCC grade to
      IRA was negatively correlated with high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), N
      terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), as well as peak troponin T
      levels, yet positively correlated with admission plasma 25(OH)D3 level (p < 0.05,
      for all). In multi!variate analysis, 25(OH)D3 levels (OR 1.246, 95% CI 1.185
      1.310, p < 0.001), together with hs-CRP, NT-proBNP, and peak troponin T levels
      were found independent predictors of AOCC to IRA in patients with acute STEMI.
      CONCLUSIONS: Admission level of plasma 25(OH)D3 levels together with cardiac risk
      biomarkers (troponin T, NT-proBNP, hs-CRP) are associated with collateralization
      grade to IRA in acute STEMI patients. In addition, 25(OH)D3 may be a promoter of
      AOCC in patients with acute STEMI.

PMID- 28612907
TI  - Safety and efficacy of cryoablation without the use of fluoroscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Development of electroanatomical systems make it possible to perform
      ablations without the use of fluoroscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the efficacy and safety of cryoablation pro-cedures without the use of
      fluoroscopy. METHODS: The study group consisted of 45 patients (14 female; age 36
      +/- 15 years) treated with cry-oablation using the EnSite electroanatomical
      system: 10 with ventricular extrasystoly from the right ventricle, 6 with the
      arrhythmogenic site near the left coronary artery, 17 patients with Wolff
      Parkinson- -White syndrome (WPW), 2 patients with atrioventricular nodal
      reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) type 2, 7 patients with AVNRT type 1, 3 patients
      with atrial tachycardia. RESULTS: In 38 of the 45 patients (84%) cryoablation
      procedure was performed without the use of fluoroscopy. Cryoablation efficacy was
      78.9%. In 5 patients unsuccessful cryoablation was fallowed by radiofrequency
      applications. Finally, efficacy reached 92.1%. There were no deaths. In 1 patient
      a small adverse event - right bundle branch block was observed after ablation of
      para-Hisian accessory path-way. No other adverse events were observed. In the
      long term follow-up efficacy was 89.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Cryoablation using
      electroanatomical system without the use of fluoroscopy is a safe and efficient
      procedure and it is a possible alternative in most patients qualified for
      cryoablation.

PMID- 28612908
TI  - Association between fractional flow reserve and Duke treadmill score in patients
      with single-vessel disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Duke treadmill score (DTS) is an index that provides prognostic
      information calculated at exercise stress test. Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is
      an invasive method used to evaluate intermediate coronary stenosis. The direct
      relation of DTS and FFR has not been studied to date. AIM: The present study aims
      to investigate the relationship between the DTS and FFR. METHODS: The study
      population consisted of a total of 106 patients with single-vessel disease, as
      confirmed by coronary angiography performed following EST, and whose FFRs were
      measured. The patients were separated into three groups according to the DTS
      values: low risk (DTS >= +5), intermediate risk (-10 <= DTS <= +4), and high risk
      (DTS <= -11). According to the FFR values, the patients were separated into two
      groups: FFR < 0.80 and FFR >= 0.80. RESULTS: Angina symptoms and chronic heart
      failure were more frequent in the group with FFR < 0.80 than the group with FFR
      >= 0.80; respectively, 95% vs. 69.8%, p = 0.020 and 15% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.045. The
      mean DTS value was lower in the group with FFR < 0.80 than the group with FFR >=
      0.80 (1.60 vs. 5.07; p = 0.011). However, there were no statistically significant
      differences in the DTS risk groups among the FFR groups (p = 0.070). A weak
      positive correlation was found between the numerical DTS and FFR values (r =
      0.139; p = 0.156). When the patients with high-risk were excluded, a
      statistically significant relationship was determined between the FFR and in the
      groups with low- and intermediate-risk in terms of the DTS values (p = 0.029).
      CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study results showed an association with FFR and
      in the groups with low and intermediate risk in terms of the DTS values. DTS
      levels can be useful to determine patients who require invasive management.

PMID- 28612909
TI  - Implantation of stents for postsurgical recoarctation of the aorta in adolescents
      and adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Results of stent implantation (SI) of postsurgical recoarctation of
      the aorta (ReCoA) are not frequently published. AIM: This study sought to
      retrospectively evaluate results of SI in ReCoA in older children and adults.
      METHODS: Twenty-eight SIs were performed on 26 ReCoA patients with a median age
      of 23 (10-65) years. Dependent upon availability, the following stents were
      applied: Palmaz, Cheatham Platinum (CP), Andrastents XL/XXL (AS), Covered CP
      (CVCP) stents, and self-expanding stents (Smart). Generally, high-pressure
      balloons were applied to dilate stents. RESULTS: The procedure was effective in
      20/26 patients (77.7%). The mean peak systolic gradient reduced from 40.5 +/-
      18.7 mm Hg to 13.1 +/- 12.1 mm Hg (p < 0.05), and the diameter of the stenosed
      segment increased from 7.5 +/- 3.02 mm to 13.1 +/- 3.32 mm (p < 0.05). In six
      cases (including a patient treated with a Smart stent) transaortic pressure
      gradient after SI remained > 20 mm Hg (stiff postsurgical lesion). For one
      patient (40-year-old male), an acute dissection of the aorta occurred during
      balloon predilatation. Immediate CVCP implantation resolved this problem. Two
      more CVCPs were used - one to close a small aortic aneurysm that appeared five
      years after a Palmaz SI and another to stabilise a broken CP bare metal stent.
      There were no deaths or aortic dissections during follow-up, and most patients
      were able to reduce or suspend their medication for systemic hypertension.
      CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular stenting of ReCoA in adults and adolescents appears to
      be an acceptable method of treatment in experienced hands. However, for some
      patients the presence of a stiff lesion can provoke suboptimal results.
      Considering the serious complications that can occur after SI, all patients
      should have regular follow-up (including an imaging study). Covered stents should
      always be available in the cathlab as a rescue device when implanting stents in
      coarctation of the aorta patients.

PMID- 28612910
TI  - Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion procedures in patients with heart
      failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common supraventricular
      tachyarrhythmia. Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) may be
      considered for stroke prophylaxis in patients with nonvalvular AF (NVAF),
      especially in contraindications for oral anticoagulants (OAC) or high risk of
      bleeding. The data about implantation, safety, efficacy, and follow-up are
      limited. Moreover, there are no studies on patients with NVAF and heart failure
      with severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction (left ventricular ejection
      fraction [LVEF] <= 35%). AIM: To assess the safety, efficacy, and mid-term
      outcomes of LAAO procedures with Amplatzer Cardiac Plug (ACP) and Amplatzer
      Amulet device in patients with NVAF and heart failure with LVEF <= 35% (group I)
      and to perform a comparative analysis of the patients who had LAAO with NVAF and
      LVEF > 35%. METHODS: The analysis included 80 patients (group I: 19, group II:
      61) with NVAF. The patients were enrolled for the study if they had: CHA2DS2VASc
      >= 2 and high risk of bleeding assessed in HAS-BLED (>= 3) or less points in HAS
      BLED but coexisting contraindications for OAC, or thromboembolic complications
      while using OAC. Time of follow-up was six months. RESULTS: In the studied
      population, the median CHA2DS2VASc score was 4 and the average HAS-BLED score was
      3.2. Device implantation was successful in all patients from group I and in 59/61
      patients from group II. The periprocedural clinical ef-ficacy (no thromboembolic
      complications) was 100% in group I and 98.4% in group II. Serious periprocedural
      complications (cardiac tamponade: 2.5%, device embolisation: 1.25%, unexplained
      death: 1.25%) occurred only in patients from group II (p = NS). The mid-term
      clinical efficacy was 100% in group I and 98.3% in group II (p = NS). During
      follow-up, one transient ischaemic attack and three deaths not related to the
      procedure occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous LAAO is an effective and safe
      procedure in patients with NVAF and severe systolic heart failure. No significant
      periprocedural and mid-term differences, in terms of safety and efficacy, between
      the group with severe systolic heart failure (LVEF <= 35%) and the group without
      severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVEF > 35%) were found.

PMID- 28612911
TI  - Short-term efficacy and safety of three different antiplatelet regimens in
      diabetic patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention: a
      randomised study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of
      dual and triple antiplatelet therapy (DAPT and TAPT) in patients with diabetes
      and acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (D-STEMI), who had undergone
      primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: We designed a phase
      IV, single-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The D
      STEMI patients (n = 258) were randomly divided into three groups. Control group A
      (85 patients), was treated with aspirin and clopidogrel; group B (87 patients)
      received aspirin, clopidogrel, and tirofiban; and group C (86 patients) were
      treated with aspirin, ticagrelor, and tirofiban. Patients in all three groups
      received oral DAPT, and patients in groups B and C received intravenous tirofiban
      when primary PCI was performed. RESULTS: Compared to the findings in group A, the
      post-PCI Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade 3 blood flow in
      groups B and C increased significantly (TIMI grade 3 in groups A, B, C: 74%, 91%,
      and 98%, respectively; TIMI myocardial perfusion grade [TMPG] grade 3 in groups
      A, B, C: 59%, 86%, and 97%, respectively), and the incidence of major adverse
      cardiac events (MACE) decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Compared to the
      findings in group B, the rate of TMPG 3 in group C was significantly higher (p <
      0.05) and the incidence of MACE was significantly lower (p < 0.05). Patients in
      group B exhibited minor bleeding; however, the incidence of mild to moderate
      bleeding in group C increased significantly (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: TAPT
      effectively improved the TIMI blood flow and TMPG and reduced the occurrence of
      MACE. Ticagrelor was more effective than clopidogrel in TAPT; however, when using
      the combination of aspirin, ticagrelor, and tirofiban, close monitoring is
      required for possible bleeding complications.

PMID- 28612912
TI  - Temporal healing patterns and coverage dynamics after new Polish transcatheter
      PFO occluder implantation in a swine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although currently used devices for interventional closure of patent
      foramen ovale (PFO) are widely used due to the minimally invasive nature of this
      technique and high success rate, there is still a need to look for new materials
      and designs in order to improve the treatment outcomes. AIM: To evaluate the
      safety, biocompatibility, temporal healing patterns, and coverage dynamics of the
      new Polish PFO occluder (Balton, Warsaw, Poland) in a swine model - an
      observation that may assist the decision with regard to its first-in-human use
      and duration of anticoagulation therapy. METHODS: In total, 12 pigs were
      scheduled for 28-day (n = 6) and 90-day follow-up (n = 6). In each animal, using
      a standard femoral venous approach, one PFO occluder was implanted and
      subsequently, in order to verify device position stability, the Minnesota
      manoeuvre was performed. At follow-up, all devices underwent a comprehensive
      evaluation with the use of high-resolution radiography (Faxitron MX-20 system),
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and standard histopathological techniques.
      RESULTS: All PFO occluders were implanted successfully with no complications. The
      Faxitron revealed that all nitinol portions of the frame appeared intact and
      breaks were not detected at both studied time points. Overall, the device
      appeared to be well deployed in the atrial septum. At 28 days the average
      neointimal coverage of the right side of the PFO occluder by SEM was 92%; while
      in contrast the left side had less coverage, at 63%. At 90 days, the coverage of
      the right side of the occluder was 96.8%, while the left side of the PFO occluder
      improved and had similar coverage of 93.3%. By histology the endothelialisation
      process was virtually complete at 90 days. At the early time-point the overall
      inflammatory infiltrate was moderate and subsequently it diminished and was only
      mild or occasionally moderate at 90-day follow-up. At both time points the
      inflammatory reaction was limited to the neointimal tissue surrounding the
      device. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirmed safety and good overall biocompatibility
      of the new Polish PFO occluder, which is comparable to other devices available on
      the market - an observation that supports the decision with regard to its first
      in-human application. Neoendothelialisation was virtually completed at 90 days,
      suggesting that similarly to other widely used devices a minimum of three to six
      months of anticoagulation therapy should be recommended.

PMID- 28612913
TI  - The usefulness of sST2 and galectin-3 as novel biomarkers for better risk
      stratification in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Estimation of sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk is an integral part of
      clinical management of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
      Identification of novel biomarkers of this disease can provide additional
      criteria for SCD risk stratification. Soluble suppression of tumourigenicity
      (sST2) and galectin-3 (Gal-3) are useful biomarkers for prognosis of heart
      failure (HF). Both of them appear to mediate cardiac fibrosis - an important
      pathogenetic process in HCM. Data about sST2 and Gal-3 usefulness in patients
      with HCM are limited. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate sST2 and Gal-3
      as potential novel biomarkers for better risk stratification in hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy. METHODS: Serum sST2 and serum Gal-3 levels were measured in 57
      patients with HCM and in 18 healthy controls. The patients with HCM underwent
      routine evaluation including medical history, physical examination, blood tests
      (including N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP] and high
      sensitivity cardiac troponin T [hs-cTnT] measurements), 12-lead
      electrocardiography (ECG), 48-h Holter monitoring and two-dimensional (2D)
      echocardiography with the assessment of the maximal left ventricular wall
      thickness, left atrial diameter, maximal left ventricular outflow tract gradient,
      and left ventricular ejection fraction. Risk of SCD at five years according to
      HCM SCD-risk calculator was evaluated. The control group underwent ECG, 2D
      echocardiography, and NT-proBNP measurements to exclude asymptomatic heart
      disease. RESULTS: Concentrations of sST2 and Gal-3 were significantly higher in
      patients with HCM than in controls (14.9 +/- 5.8 ng/mL vs. 11.7 +/- 3.3 ng/mL, p
      = 0.03 and 8.4 ng/mL [6.8-10.0] vs. 6.2 ng/mL [5.8-7.7], p = 0.005,
      respectively). Levels of sST2 and Gal-3 were considerably different in the New
      York Heart Association (NYHA) groups (p = 0.008, p = 0.009, respectively).
      Patients who presented non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (nsVT) on 48-h
      Holter monitoring had higher levels of sST2 (19.1 ng/mL [12.2-24.2] vs. 13.2
      ng/mL [10.0-17.1], p = 0.02). There were no significant relationships between
      sST2 and Gal-3 levels and HCM SCD-risk, history of syncope presence, family
      history of SCD, and echocardio-graphic parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Gal-3 levels and
      sST2 levels were higher in patients with HCM than in the control group. There
      were significant differences in Gal-3 levels between NYHA classes, but no
      correlations between Gal-3 levels and other parameters were found. Apart from
      differences in sST2 levels between NYHA classes, we demonstrated higher levels of
      sST2 in patients with nsVT. These findings suggest that sST2 may be useful as an
      additional biomarker for better risk stratification in hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 28612914
TI  - Association of serglycin levels with isolated coronary artery ectasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serglycin plays an important role in the inflammatory status, but the
      relationship between coronary artery ectasia (CAE) and serglycin is still
      unknown. AIM: In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of serglycin
      level with isolated CAE. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with isolated CAE and 35
      individuals with normal coronary angiography were included into the study. The
      Markis classification and number of ectatic coronary arteries were recorded.
      Plasma serglycin levels were measured. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression
      analysis revealed that serglycin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were
      indepen-dently associated with the presence of CAE. In receiver operating
      characteristics curve analysis the cut of serglycin level for the prediction of
      isolated CAE was 13.5, with a sensitivity of 88.5% and a specificity of 84.8%.
      However, there was no association between serglycin levels and Markis
      classification. CONCLUSIONS: Serglycin levels are significantly and independently
      higher in patients with CAE.

PMID- 28612916
TI  - Types of coeliac trunk branching including accessory hepatic arteries: a new
      point of view based on cadaveric study.
AB  - The coeliac trunk is major visceral branch of the abdominal aorta. Familiarity
      with anatomic variations of the coeliac trunk is relevant for planning
      radiological and surgical procedures. The aim of our research was determining
      variations of the coeliac trunk, including the occurrence of accessory hepatic
      arteries. 40 cadavers were studied. Six patterns of coeliac trunk branching were
      observed in this study. Accessory hepatic arteries were observed in seven
      specimens (17.5%). The most prevalent variation was normal trifurcation,
      accounting for 62.5% of cases. The rarest variation was absence of the coeliac
      trunk, with an incidence of 2.5%. In this variant the left gastric artery, the
      common hepatic artery, and the splenic artery branched directly off the abdominal
      aorta. The study material allowed to distinguish two coeliac tunk branching
      patterns which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been reported before. It
      was a type with four branches originating from the coeliac trunk: the left
      gastric artery, the common hepatic artery, the splenic artery, and right
      accessory hepatic artery. The other previously unreported pattern variant was
      also a coeliac trunk which gave off the coeliac trunk gave off three branches:
      the common hepatic artery, the splenic artery and right accessory hepatic artery.
      The average distance between the aortic hiatus and the coeliac trunk calculated
      for all the cadavers amounted to 54 mm (SD = 11.85 mm). The average distance
      between the coeliac trunk and the superior mesenteric artery was 11.1 mm (SD =
      7.7 mm).

PMID- 28612915
TI  - How to predict the risk of postoperative complications after coronary artery
      bypass grafting in patients under 50 and over 80 years old. A retrospective cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death in
      developed countries, and there is an increasing number of both young and elderly
      patients requiring surgical treatment. Despite improvement of conventional risk
      stratification scores (EuroSCORE II, STS risk score), all of the calculations are
      estimated based on the typical population and the studies emphasise that the
      scales may need further investigation and modernisation because demographic
      changes of the population suffering from CAD are unavoidable. AIM: To
      characterise two increasing and challenging cohorts of patients undergoing
      coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and to identify preoperative risk factors
      for postoperative complications. METHODS: In the retrospective cross-sectional
      study, we analysed 388 patients >= 80 years old and 190 patients <= 50 years old,
      who underwent CABG consecutively at our Institution. Data were obtained from
      medical records. RESULTS: The vast majority of studied patients had commonly
      described risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, regardless of the age group.
      Diabetes was present in almost twice as many individuals in the older cohort,
      when compared to the EuroSCORE population. A similar observation was made for
      hypertension, which was more frequent in both age groups. Summarising all of the
      postoperative complications, at least one occurred significantly more frequently
      among the older group (10% vs. 20.9%, p = 0.001). The vast majority of major
      adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in the older group led to
      death (79.4%). Among patients >= 80 years old, higher New York Heart Association
      (NYHA) class (p = 0.001, OR 2.05 [1.34-3.12] for every next class) and renal
      failure (p = 0.02, OR 2.47 [1.16-5.25]) increased the MACCE rate, whereas higher
      left ven-tricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (p = 0.002, OR 0.81 [0.7-0.93] for
      every 5%) decreased the risk. Emergent admission was the only factor increasing
      the occurrence of any postoperative complications among patients <= 50 years old
      (p = 0.007, OR 3.63, 95% CI 1.37-9.62). On the other hand, among patients >= 80
      years old, emergent admission was not associated with any postoperative
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: Young and old patients requiring CABG differ from the
      standard EuroSCORE population. Postoperative complications are more common among
      older patients, and MACCE is usually fatal in this age group. Individuals with
      risk factors for MACCE (higher NYHA class, renal failure, lower LVEF) should be
      carefully evaluated and qualified, and closely monitored post-surgery.

PMID- 28612917
TI  - Neonatal exposure to monosodium glutamate results in dysmorphology of orofacial
      lower motor neurons.
AB  - Glutamate is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous
      system, and is stored and released by both neurons and astrocytes. Despite the
      important role of glutamate as a neurotransmitter, high levels of extracellular
      glutamate can result in excitotoxicity and apoptosis. Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
      is a naturally occurring sodium salt of glutamic acid that is used as a flavour
      enhancer in many processed foods. Neonatal exposure to MSG has been shown to
      result in neurodegeneration in several forebrain regions, characterised by
      neuronal loss and neuroendocrine abnormalities. However, the brainstem effects of
      neonatal MSG exposure have not been investigated. It is therefore hypothesized
      that MSG exposure during the early postnatal period would impact brainstem lower
      motor neurons involved in feeding behaviour. The effect of neonatal MSG exposure
      on brainstem lower motor neurons was investigated by exposing rat pups to either
      4 mg/g MSG or saline from postnatal day (P) 4 through 10. On P28, brains were
      preserved by vascular perfusion with fixative, frozen sectioned and stained for
      Nissl substance. The number, size and shape of brainstem motor neurons were
      compared between MSG and saline-exposed animals. MSG exposure had no impact on
      the total number of neurons in the nuclei examined. However, MSG exposure was
      associated with a significant increase in the number of round somata in both the
      trigeminal and facial nuclei. Furthermore, MSG exposure resulted in significantly
      smaller neurons in all motor nuclei examined. These results suggest that neonatal
      exposure to MSG impacts the development of brainstem lower motor neurons which
      may impact feeding and swallowing behaviours in young animals.

PMID- 28612918
TI  - Morphology of the atrioventricular valves and related intraventricular structures
      in the wild pig (Sus scrofa).
AB  - Morphology of the atrioventricular valves and the intraventricular related
      structures were observed and the findings were compared broadly to the
      literature, in the 7 hearts of the wild pigs (Sus scrofa) by applying macroscopic
      and microscopic techniques. In all hearts examinated, the tricuspid and mitral
      valves were precise, composing three and two cusps resepectively. The papillary
      muscles observed in mammalian heart in general were found in both the ventricles,
      additionaly there were small unnamed papillary muscles in the left ventricle of
      the three samples. The septomarginal trabecula and false chords were present in
      the right ventricles, microscopically possessing myocardial fibers, connective
      tissue and purkinje cells while the false chords were located in all the left
      ventricles but the septomarginal trabecula was found in the three samples only.
      Both the connective tissue and purkinje cells were present in these two
      structures but the myocardial fibers. Presence of the myocardial fibers in the
      right ventricle may have an effect on the ventricle geometry.

PMID- 28612919
TI  - Experimental Elucidation of Problems Relating to the Injection Method.

PMID- 28612920
TI  - Summary in Danish.

PMID- 28612921
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 28612922
TI  - Possibilities of Clinical Employment of the Intra-Arterial Injection Method.

PMID- 28612923
TI  - Correction Factors.

PMID- 28612924
TI  - The Intra-Arterial Injection Method.

PMID- 28612925
TI  - Summary.

PMID- 28612926
TI  - The use of silver amalgam for treatment of shell ulcerations in turtles: 60
      cases.
AB  - Shell ulcers were diagnosed based on clinical appearance in 60 turtles. Under
      general anaesthesia, surgical curettage was performed using a burr mounted on a
      micro-grinder. A calcium hydroxide paste was applied to the debrided lesions
      before the application of restorative material. Lesions were completely filled
      with rapidly hardening silver amalgam. Treated terrapins were hospitalised in dry
      containers and later were housed in tanks with controlled temperature 24 hours.
      Fillings were found spontaneously expulsed at various periods after placement. No
      signs of mercury poisoning or tissue reaction to the prosthesis were apparent.

PMID- 28612927
TI  - The IL-1Ra gene variable number tandem repeat variant is associated with
      susceptibility to temporomandibular disorders in Turkish population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) are a group of disorders
      involving temporomandibular joint and related structures. Interleukine-1 receptor
      antagonist (IL-1Ra) is an important anti-inflammatory molecule that competes with
      other interleukin-1 molecules. This study was designed to investigate the
      possible association of the IL-1Ra VNTR variant with the risk of TMD in the
      Turkish population. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 100
      patients with TMD (23 males, 77 females) and 110 healthy individuals (35 males,
      75 females). Genotyping of IL-1Ra 86 bp VNTR variant was evaluated by gel
      electrophoresis after polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Our results show
      that there is a statistically significant difference between TMD patients and
      control group with respect to IL-1Ra genotype distribution and allele
      frequencies. 1.2, 1.4, and 4.4 genotypes were more common in patients, while 2.2
      and 3.3 genotypes were rarer (P<.000). Frequency of alleles 1 and 4 was higher in
      patient groups (P<.000), whereas alleles 2 and 3 had a lower frequency in
      patients with TMD (P<.000). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first correlation study that
      evaluates the association between IL-1Ra gene VNTR variant and TMD. The VNTR
      variant related to IL-1Ra gene showed a strong pattern of association with TMD
      that may have a potential impact on disease counseling and management. Larger
      studies with various ethnicities are needed to establish the impact of IL-1Ra
      VNTR variant on risk of developing TMD.

PMID- 28612928
TI  - The cost-effectiveness implications of suboptimal treatment for different
      severities of Alzheimer's disease in the UK.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the impact of suboptimal treatment,
      defined in terms of lower population coverage (percentage of total patient
      population receiving optimal treatment) and delay to treatment on the cost
      effectiveness of pharmacological therapies approved for the treatment of
      different severities of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the UK. METHODS: A 5-year
      Markov model was used to simulate transition to full-time care, as delay and
      coverage were varied for AD patients with mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe
      dementia. The time-varying predictive equations, resource use, utilities,
      treatment effects and mortality were derived using published sources. RESULTS:
      For the cohort with moderate-to-severe dementia, cost-effectiveness was optimised
      when delay was minimised and coverage maximised. For mild-to-moderate dementia,
      results were similar but varied widely depending on the inputted cost of
      acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS: The average cost-effectiveness of
      pharmacological treatments for AD is sensitive to delays to treatment and
      population coverage. The results of this study can inform future healthcare
      policy in order to maximise cost-effectiveness of pharmacological therapies for
      AD. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612929
TI  - Flexible Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Near-Infrared Photoplethysmogram Sensor for
      Cardiovascular Monitoring.
AB  - Wearable photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensors offer convenient and informative
      measurements for evaluating daily physiological states of individuals. In this
      work, epidermal and flexible near-infrared (NIR) PPG sensors integrating a low
      power, high-sensitivity organic phototransistor (OPT) with a high-efficiency
      inorganic light-emitting diode are developed. By exploiting an organic bulk
      heterojunction active layer and a bilayer gate dielectric design, a low voltage
      (<3 V) operated OPT with NIR responsivity as high as 3.5 * 105 A W-1 and noise
      equivalent power of 1.2 * 10-15 W Hz-1/2 is achieved, greatly surpassing
      commercial available silicon-based photodetectors. In addition, the ultrathin
      encapsulation structure renders the device highly flexible and allows transfer
      printing of the device directly onto human skin. It is demonstrated that the
      epidermal/flexible PPG sensors are capable of continuously monitoring heart rate
      variability and precisely tracking the changes of pulse pressure at different
      postures of human subjects with the aid of electrocardiogram monitoring,
      exhibiting more reliable performance than commercial PPG sensors while consuming
      less power. The study suggests that the hybrid PPG sensor design may provide a
      promising solution for low-power, real-time physiological monitoring.

PMID- 28612930
TI  - Peer Influence Via Instagram: Effects on Brain and Behavior in Adolescence and
      Young Adulthood.
AB  - Mobile social media often feature the ability to "Like" content posted by others.
      This study examined the effect of Likes on youths' neural and behavioral
      responses to photographs. High school and college students (N = 61, ages 13-21)
      viewed theirs and others' Instagram photographs while undergoing functional
      Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants more often Liked photographs that
      appeared to have received many (vs. few) Likes. Popular photographs elicited
      greater activity in multiple brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens
      (NAcc), a hub of the brain's reward circuitry. NAcc responsivity increased with
      age for high school but not college students. When viewing images depicting risk
      taking (vs. nonrisky photographs), high school students, but not college
      students, showed decreased activation of neural regions implicated in cognitive
      control.

PMID- 28612931
TI  - A rating scale for the severity of Guillain-Barre syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to develop a rating scale to assess
      the severity of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). METHODS: The preliminary rating
      scale, which contained 11 items, was developed by the Delphi method, and data of
      258 patients were collected to evaluate it. Item analysis was accomplished by 100
      patients; the additional 158 patients were used to evaluate the reliability,
      validity, and discriminative ability of the rating scale. The structure of the
      rating scale was testified by the confirmatory factor analysis and also made a
      further evaluation by the correlation analysis. RESULTS: The rating scale
      contained 10 items. The three factors mainly generalized the motor function,
      cranial nerve function and autonomic function. The results of reliability and
      validity showed that the structure of the rating scale was good (chi2 =68.25,
      df=32, chi2 /df=2.13, normed fit index (NFI)=0.919, non-normed fit index
      (NNFI)=0.936, comparative fit index (CFI)=0.96, a root mean square error of
      approximation (RMSEA)=0.085), and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the scale
      was .852, with the three dimensions ranging from .585 to .752. CONCLUSION:
      Reliability and validity of the rating scale are all satisfied. The scale
      contained the main clinical presentations of GBS, and it is suitable to evaluate
      the severity of GBS.

PMID- 28612932
TI  - Prehospital parameters can help to predict coagulopathy and massive transfusion
      in trauma patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of prehospital parameters,
      including vital signs and resuscitation (fluids, vasopressor), to predict trauma
      induced coagulopathy (TIC, fibrinogen <1.5 g/l or PTratio > 1.5 or platelet count
      <100 * 109 /l), and a massive transfusion (MT, >=10 RBC units within the first 24
      h). METHODS: From a trauma registry (2011-2015), in which patients are
      prospectively included, we retrospectively retrieved the heart rate (HR),
      systolic blood pressure (SBP), volume of prehospital fluids and administration of
      noradrenaline. We calculated the shock index (SI: HR/SBP), the MGAP prehospital
      triage score and the Injury Severity Score (ISS). We also identified patients who
      had positive criteria from the Resuscitation Outcome Consortium (ROC, SBP < 70
      mmHg or SBP 70-90 and HR > 107 pulse/min). For these parameters, we drew a ROC
      curve and defined a cut-off value to predict TIC or MT. The strength of
      association between prehospital parameters and TIC as well as MT was assessed
      using logistic regression, and cut-off values were determined using ROC curves.
      RESULTS: Among the 485 patients included in the study, TIC was observed in 112
      patients (23%) and MT in 22 patients (5%). For the prediction of TIC, ISS had
      good accuracy (AUC: 0.844, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.799-0.879), as did the
      volume of fluids (>1000 ml) given during prehospital care (AUC: 0.801, 95% CI:
      0.752-0.842). For the prediction of MT, ISS had excellent accuracy (AUC: 0.932,
      95% CI: 0.866-0.966), whereas good accuracy was found for SI (> 0.9; AUC: 0.859,
      95% CI: 0.705-0.936), vasopressor administration (AUC: 0.828, 95% CI: 0.736
      0.890) and fluids (>1000 ml; AUC: 0.811, 95% CI: 0.737-0.867). Vasopressor
      administration, ISS and SI were independent predictors of TIC and MT, whereas
      fluid volume and ROC criteria were independent predictor of TIC but not MT. No
      independent relationship was found between MGAP and TIC or MT. CONCLUSIONS:
      Prehospital parameters including the SI and resuscitation may help to better
      identify the severity of bleeding in trauma patients and the need for blood
      product administration at admission.

PMID- 28612934
TI  - Rural specialists: The nature of their work and professional satisfaction by
      geographical location of work.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Systematically describe the characteristics of rural specialists,
      their work and job satisfaction by geographical location of work. DESIGN: Cross
      sectional. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand, four hundred and seventy
      nine medical specialists participating in the 2014 Medicine in Australia:
      Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) survey of doctors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Location of practice, whether metropolitan, large (>50 000 population) or small
      regional centres (<50 000 population). RESULT: Specialists working in large
      regional centres had similar characteristics to metropolitan specialists,
      however, those in small regional centres were more likely men, later career,
      overseas-trained and less likely to work privately. Rural specialists had more on
      call requirements and poorer professional development opportunities. However,
      satisfaction with work hours, remuneration, variety of work, level of
      responsibility, opportunities to use abilities and overall satisfaction did not
      differ. Specialists in general medicine and general surgery were significantly
      more likely to work rurally compared with anaesthetists, particularly in small
      regional centres, whereas a range of other relevant specialists had lower than
      the average rural distribution and paediatricians and endocrinologists were
      significantly less likely to work in large regional centres. CONCLUSION: Rural
      specialists are just as satisfied as metropolitan counterparts reporting
      equivalent variety and responsibility at work. Better support for on-call demands
      and access to professional development could attract more specialists to rural
      practice. Increased rural training opportunities and regional workforce planning
      is needed to develop and recruit relevant specialties. Specifically, targeted
      support is warranted for training and development of specialists in general
      medicine and general surgery and overseas-trained specialists, who provide
      essential services in smaller regional centres.

PMID- 28612935
TI  - Early adversity and brain response to faces in young adulthood.
AB  - Early stressors play a key role in shaping interindividual differences in
      vulnerability to various psychopathologies, which according to the diathesis
      stress model might relate to the elevated glucocorticoid secretion and impaired
      responsiveness to stress. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that
      individuals exposed to early adversity have deficits in emotion processing from
      faces. This study aims to explore whether early adversities associate with brain
      response to faces and whether this association might associate with the regional
      variations in mRNA expression of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1). A
      total of 104 individuals drawn from the Northern Finland Brith Cohort 1986
      participated in a face-task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. A
      large independent dataset (IMAGEN, N = 1739) was utilized for reducing fMRI data
      analytical space in the NFBC 1986 dataset. Early adversities were associated with
      deviant brain response to fearful faces (MANCOVA, P = 0.006) and with weaker
      performance in fearful facial expression recognition (P = 0.01). Glucocorticoid
      receptor gene expression (data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas) correlated with
      the degree of associations between early adversities and brain response to
      fearful faces (R2  = 0.25, P = 0.01) across different brain regions. Our results
      suggest that early adversities contribute to brain response to faces and that
      this association is mediated in part by the glucocorticoid system. Hum Brain Mapp
      38:4470-4478, 2017. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28612936
TI  - Sensory feedback from the urethra evokes state-dependent lower urinary tract
      reflexes in rat.
AB  - KEY POINTS: The lower urinary tract is regulated by reflexes responsible for
      maintaining continence and producing efficient voiding. It is unclear how sensory
      information from the bladder and urethra engages differential, state-dependent
      reflexes to either maintain continence or promote voiding. Using a new in vivo
      experimental approach, we quantified how sensory information from the bladder and
      urethra are integrated to switch reflex responses to urethral sensory feedback
      from maintaining continence to producing voiding. The results demonstrate how
      sensory information regulates state-dependent reflexes in the lower urinary tract
      and contribute to our understanding of the pathophysiology of urinary retention
      and incontinence where sensory feedback may engage these reflexes
      inappropriately. ABSTRACT: Lower urinary tract reflexes are mediated by
      peripheral afferents from the bladder (primarily in the pelvic nerve) and the
      urethra (in the pudendal and pelvic nerves) to maintain continence or initiate
      micturition. If fluid enters the urethra at low bladder volumes, reflexes relax
      the bladder and evoke external urethral sphincter (EUS) contraction (guarding
      reflex) to maintain continence. Conversely, urethral flow at high bladder
      volumes, excites the bladder (micturition reflex) and relaxes the EUS (augmenting
      reflex). We conducted measurements in a urethane-anaesthetized in vivo rat
      preparation to characterize systematically the reflexes evoked by fluid flow
      through the urethra. We used a novel preparation to manipulate sensory feedback
      from the bladder and urethra independently by controlling bladder volume and
      urethral flow. We found a distinct bladder volume threshold (74% of bladder
      capacity) above which flow-evoked bladder contractions were 252% larger and
      evoked phasic EUS activation 2.6 times as often as responses below threshold,
      clearly demonstrating a discrete transition between continence (guarding) and
      micturition (augmenting) reflexes. Below this threshold urethral flow evoked
      tonic EUS activity, indicative of the guarding reflex, that was proportional to
      the urethral flow rate. These results demonstrate the complementary roles of
      sensory feedback from the bladder and urethra in regulating reflexes in the lower
      urinary tract that depend on the state of the bladder. Understanding the neural
      control of functional reflexes and how they are mediated by sensory information
      in the bladder and urethra will open new opportunities, especially in
      neuromodulation, to treat pathologies of the lower urinary tract.

PMID- 28612937
TI  - Revisiting the chromosome separation checkpoint (retrospective on DOI
      10.1002/bies.201400140).

PMID- 28612938
TI  - Silent uterine rupture occluded by intestinal adhesions following laparoscopic
      myomectomy: A case report.
AB  - We present a rare asymptomatic case in which intestinal adhesions covered and
      occluded a site of uterine rupture, which was found during cesarean section. The
      patient had undergone laparoscopic myomectomy 5 years previously. However,
      detailed antenatal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging examinations
      revealed no uterine or placental abnormalities. It is thought that uterine
      rupture was not detected due to intestinal adhesions, which had occurred
      following the previous surgery. The present case suggests that women who conceive
      after laparoscopic myomectomy may be at risk of silent uterine rupture. However,
      detection of the silent uterine rupture during pregnancy may be limited, even
      with detailed imaging.

PMID- 28612939
TI  - Using soundscapes to detect variable degrees of human influence on tropical
      forests in Papua New Guinea.
AB  - There is global concern about tropical forest degradation, in part, because of
      the associated loss of biodiversity. Communities and indigenous people play a
      fundamental role in tropical forest management and are often efficient at
      preventing forest degradation. However, monitoring changes in biodiversity due to
      degradation, especially at a scale appropriate to local tropical forest
      management, is plagued by difficulties, including the need for expert training,
      inconsistencies across observers, and lack of baseline or reference data. We used
      a new biodiversity remote-sensing technology, the recording of soundscapes, to
      test whether the acoustic saturation of a tropical forest in Papua New Guinea
      decreases as land-use intensity by the communities that manage the forest
      increases. We sampled soundscapes continuously for 24 hours at 34 sites in
      different land-use zones of 3 communities. Land-use zones where forest cover was
      fully retained had significantly higher soundscape saturation during peak
      acoustic activity times (i.e., dawn and dusk chorus) compared with land-use types
      with fragmented forest cover. We conclude that, in Papua New Guinea, the
      relatively simple measure of soundscape saturation may provide a cheap,
      objective, reproducible, and effective tool for monitoring tropical forest
      deviation from an intact state, particularly if it is used to detect the presence
      of intact dawn and dusk choruses.

PMID- 28612940
TI  - Unsupported Pt-Ni Aerogels with Enhanced High Current Performance and Durability
      in Fuel Cell Cathodes.
AB  - Highly active and durable oxygen reduction catalysts are needed to reduce the
      costs and enhance the service life of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs).
      This can be accomplished by alloying Pt with a transition metal (for example Ni)
      and by eliminating the corrodible, carbon-based catalyst support. However,
      materials combining both approaches have seldom been implemented in PEFC
      cathodes. In this work, an unsupported Pt-Ni alloy nanochain ensemble (aerogel)
      demonstrates high current PEFC performance commensurate with that of a carbon
      supported benchmark (Pt/C) following optimization of the aerogel's catalyst layer
      (CL) structure. The latter is accomplished using a soluble filler to shift the
      CL's pore size distribution towards larger pores which improves reactant and
      product transport. Chiefly, the optimized PEFC aerogel cathodes display a circa
      2.5-fold larger surface-specific ORR activity than Pt/C and maintain 90 % of the
      initial activity after an accelerated stress test (vs. 40 % for Pt/C).

PMID- 28612941
TI  - Response to Letter by Friedman on "Incidence and time trends of drug-induced
      parkinsonism: A 30-year population-based study".

PMID- 28612943
TI  - Identification of YfiH (PgeF) as a factor contributing to the maintenance of
      bacterial peptidoglycan composition.
AB  - Peptidoglycan (PG) is an essential, envelope-fortifying macromolecule of
      eubacterial cell walls. It is a large polymer with multiple glycan strands
      interconnected by short peptide chains forming a sac-like structure around
      cytoplasmic membrane. In most bacteria, the composition of the peptide chain is
      well-conserved and distinctive; in E. coli, the peptide chain length varies from
      two to five amino acids with a tetrapeptide consisting of L-alanine - D-glutamic
      acid - meso-diaminopimelic acid - D-alanine. However, it is not known how
      bacteria conserve the composition and sequence of peptide chains of PG. Here, we
      find that a conserved open reading frame of unknown function, YfiH (renamed PgeF)
      contributes to the maintenance of peptide composition in E. coli. Using genetic,
      biochemical and mass spectrometrical analyses we demonstrate that absence of yfiH
      results in incorporation of non-canonical amino acids, L-serine or glycine in
      place of L-alanine in PG sacculi leading to beta-lactam - sensitivity, lethality
      in mutants defective in PG remodelling or recycling pathways, altered cell
      morphology and reduced PG synthesis. yfiH orthologs from other Gram-positive
      genera were able to compensate the absence of yfiH in E. coli indicating a
      conserved pathway in bacterial kingdom. Our results suggest editing/quality
      control mechanisms exist to maintain composition and integrity of bacterial
      peptidoglycan.

PMID- 28612944
TI  - The SKN-1/Nrf2 transcription factor can protect against oxidative stress and
      increase lifespan in C. elegans by distinct mechanisms.
AB  - In C. elegans, the skn-1 gene encodes a transcription factor that resembles
      mammalian Nrf2 and activates a detoxification response. skn-1 promotes resistance
      to oxidative stress (Oxr) and also increases lifespan, and it has been suggested
      that the former causes the latter, consistent with the theory that oxidative
      damage causes aging. Here, we report that effects of SKN-1 on Oxr and longevity
      can be dissociated. We also establish that skn-1 expression can be activated by
      the DAF-16/FoxO transcription factor, another central regulator of growth,
      metabolism, and aging. Notably, skn-1 is required for Oxr but not increased
      lifespan resulting from over-expression of DAF-16; concomitantly, DAF-16 over
      expression rescues the short lifespan of skn-1 mutants but not their
      hypersensitivity to oxidative stress. These results suggest that SKN-1 promotes
      longevity by a mechanism other than protection against oxidative damage.

PMID- 28612942
TI  - Cytomegalovirus vector expressing RAE-1gamma induces enhanced anti-tumor capacity
      of murine CD8+ T cells.
AB  - Designing CD8+ T-cell vaccines, which would provide protection against tumors is
      still considered a great challenge in immunotherapy. Here we show the robust
      potential of cytomegalovirus (CMV) vector expressing the NKG2D ligand RAE-1gamma
      as CD8+ T cell-based vaccine against malignant tumors. Immunization with the CMV
      vector expressing RAE-1gamma, delayed tumor growth or even provided complete
      protection against tumor challenge in both prophylactic and therapeutic settings.
      Moreover, a potent tumor control in mice vaccinated with this vector can be
      further enhanced by blocking the immune checkpoints TIGIT and PD-1. CMV vector
      expressing RAE-1gamma potentiated expansion of KLRG1+ CD8+ T cells with enhanced
      effector properties. This vaccination was even more efficient in neonatal mice,
      resulting in the expansion and long-term maintenance of epitope-specific CD8+ T
      cells conferring robust resistance against tumor challenge. Our data show that
      immunomodulation of CD8+ T-cell responses promoted by herpesvirus expressing a
      ligand for NKG2D receptor can provide a powerful platform for the prevention and
      treatment of CD8+ T-cell sensitive tumors.

PMID- 28612945
TI  - Comparative study of the number of report and time-to-onset of the reported
      adverse event between the biosimilars and the originator of filgrastim.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to specify the most reported adverse
      events as preferred terms (PTs) and to compare the reported adverse events about
      some properties including the number of report and time-to-onset (TTO)
      distribution of the originator of filgrastim Neupogen(r) and its biosimilars in
      Europe, using VigiBase(r). METHODS: We identified the biosimilar which was
      reported as the suspected drug in more than 100 individual case safety reports in
      Europe. Then, we specified the top ranking 10 PTs in the cases reported with
      Neupogen(r) or each biosimilar as the suspected drug. We also compared the TTO of
      the most reported PTs using the data about the onset date of the PT and the start
      date of filgrastim. We used Kolmogorov-Smirnov method to detect significant
      difference. RESULTS: The total ICSR numbers with Neupogen(r) and 3 biosimilars,
      Zarzio(r), Nivestim(r), and Tevagrastim(r) were 1,301, 295, 156, and 127,
      respectively, in Europe. The most reported PTs with Neupogen(r) were bone pain,
      pyrexia, and dyspnoea. The TTO of bone pain and pyrexia with Zarzio(r) (N: 22 and
      16, median: 1 and 0.5 days) were significantly shorter than those with
      Neupogen(r) (P < 0.01, N: 72 and 33, median: 3.5 and 3 days), respectively. The
      most reported PTs with biosimilars were drug ineffective and neutropenia.
      CONCLUSION: The difference in the TTO was identified between originator
      filgrastim Neupogen and its biosimilar regarding some PTs, which may suggest the
      difference in their safety profile. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28612946
TI  - Millivolt Modulation of Plasmonic Metasurface Optical Response via Ionic
      Conductance.
AB  - A plasmonic metasurface with an electrically tunable optical response that
      operates at strikingly low modulation voltages is experimentally demonstrated.
      The fabricated metasurface shows up to 30% relative change in reflectance in the
      visible spectral range upon application of 5 mV and 78% absolute change in
      reflectance upon application of 100 mV of bias. The designed metasurface consists
      of nanostructured silver and indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes which are
      separated by 5 nm thick alumina. The millivolt-scale optical modulation is
      attributed to a new modulation mechanism, in which transport of silver ions
      through alumina dielectric leads to bias-induced nucleation and growth of silver
      nanoparticles in the ITO counter-electrode, altering the optical extinction
      response. This transport mechanism, which occurs at applied electric fields of 1
      mV nm-1 , provides a new approach to use of ionic transport for electrical
      control over light-matter interactions.

PMID- 28612947
TI  - Stereotactic ablative surgery does not just mean "adding another lesion".

PMID- 28612948
TI  - To lesion or not to lesion: That was the question (Reply to "stereotactic
      ablative surgery does not just mean 'adding another lesion'").

PMID- 28612949
TI  - Drug-induced parkinsonism.

PMID- 28612950
TI  - The Paediatric Cataract Register (PECARE): an overview of operated childhood
      cataract in Sweden and Denmark.
AB  - AIM: To report basic epidemiological data concerning surgically treated childhood
      cataract in Sweden and Denmark. METHODS: Data were derived from the Paediatric
      Cataract Register (PECARE), a binational, web-based surgical register
      representing Sweden and Denmark. All children operated before 8 years of age
      between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2013 were included. Age-specific
      prevalence per 100 000 population was calculated. RESULTS: A total 574 operations
      in 213 boys (51.7%) and 199 girls (48.3%), altogether 412 children, were
      registered, the vast majority (n = 395/412; 95.9%) being individuals with
      congenital/infantile cataract. Of these 412, a total of 294 (147 boys and 147
      girls) were Swedish and 118 (66 boys and 52 girls) were Danish. The age-specific
      prevalence of operated cataract in Sweden was 31/100 000 and in Denmark 28/100
      000. In 454 of 574 eyes (79.1%), the cataract was dense. Altogether, 266 of 574
      (46.3%) were operated during the first year of life, 193 during the first 12
      weeks representing 33.6% of all operations. A primary intraocular lens (IOL)
      implantation was done in altogether 411 of 574 eyes (71,6%). In total, 210
      unilateral cataract operations (210/574; 36.6%) were performed. Persistent fetal
      vasculature (PFV) was present in 64 of 193 (33.1%) of those with a congenital
      unilateral cataract. In 84 individuals (84/395; 21.3%) with congenital or
      infantile cataract, a coexisting disorder was found. CONCLUSION: The age-specific
      binational prevalence of operated congenital/infantile cataract in Sweden and
      Denmark is 30/100 000. About half of the operations are performed within the
      first year of life, one-third within the first 3 months. In our study population,
      a primary IOL was implanted in the majority of cases.

PMID- 28612953
TI  - Eye movements, sensorimotor adaptation and cerebellar-dependent learning in
      autism: toward potential biomarkers and subphenotypes.
AB  - Because of the wide range of symptoms expressed in individuals with autism
      spectrum disorder (ASD) and their idiosyncratic severity, it is unlikely that a
      single remedial approach will be universally effective. Resolution of this
      dilemma requires identifying subgroups within the autism spectrum, based on
      symptom set and severity, on an underlying neuro-structural difference, and on
      specific behavioral dysfunction. This will provide critical insight into the
      disorder and may lead to better diagnoses, and more targeted remediation in these
      subphenotypes of people with ASD. In this review, we discuss findings that appear
      to link the structure of the cerebellar vermis and plasticity of the saccadic eye
      movement system in people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Differences in
      cerebellar vermis structure in ASD could critically impact visuo-sensorimotor
      development in early infancy, which may in turn manifest as the visual orienting,
      communication and social interaction differences often seen in this population.
      It may be possible to distinguish a subpopulation of children with vermal
      hypoplasia, to establish whether this group manifests more severe deficits in
      visual orienting and in adaptation to persistent visual errors, and to establish
      whether this putative subphenotype of ASD is associated with a specific and
      distinct clinical symptom profile.

PMID- 28612951
TI  - Temporal improvement in survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in a
      hepatitis B virus-endemic population.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Over the past decade, the management of hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) and viral hepatitis has been improved. We explored survival
      trends and factors affecting survival of HCC in a hepatitis B virus (HBV)-endemic
      population. METHODS: From 31 521 and 38 167 HCC registrants to the population
      based national cancer registry in Korea, an HBV-endemic country, in the period of
      2003-2005 and 2008-2010, we randomly sampled cohorts of 4515 and 4582 patients,
      respectively, for the investigation of clinical characteristics and survival.
      RESULTS: Compared with Cohort 2003-2005, Cohort 2008-2010 had significantly
      better liver function (Child-Turcotte-Pugh class A, 64.2% vs 71.6%; P < 0.001)
      and had more advanced tumor stages (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B-D,
      45.8% vs 50.4%; P < 0.001). HBV was the predominant cause of HCC in both cohorts
      (62.5% vs 62.2%; P = 0.70). Cohort 2008-2010 had significantly better overall
      survival than Cohort 2003-2005 by age-adjusted univariate, multivariable, and
      propensity score-matched analyses (median survival time, 17.2 vs 28.4 months; P <
      0.001). In a subcohort analysis, a consistently significant inter-cohort
      improvement in survival was observed only in patients with HBV-related HCC
      (median survival, 16.1 vs 30.4 months; P < 0.001). The annual number of patients
      with HCC receiving oral antiviral agents for HBV precipitously increased from 93
      in 2005 to 28 520 in 2010 in the country. CONCLUSIONS: The consistent improvement
      in survival of patients with HCC was confined to HBV-related HCC subcohort over
      the last decade in an HBV-endemic population. The survival improvement coincided
      with the exponential use of oral antiviral agents for HBV in the patients.

PMID- 28612952
TI  - A Nanoparticle-Decorated Biomolecule-Responsive Polymer Enables Robust Signaling
      Cascade for Biosensing.
AB  - To meet the increasing demands for ultrasensitivity in monitoring trace amounts
      of low-abundance early biomarkers or environmental toxins, the development of a
      robust sensing system is urgently needed. Here, a novel signal cascade strategy
      is reported via an ultrasensitive polymeric sensing system (UPSS) composed of
      gold nanoparticle (gNP)-decorated polymer, which enables gNP aggregation in
      polymeric network and electrical conductance change upon specific aptamer-based
      biomolecular recognition. Ultralow concentrations of thrombin (10-18 m) as well
      as a low molecular weight anatoxin (165 Da, 10-14 m) are detected selectively and
      reproducibly. The biomolecular recognition induced polymeric network shrinkage
      responses as well as dose-dependent responses of the UPSS are validated using in
      situ real-time atomic-force microscopy, representing the first instance of real
      time detection of biomolecular binding-induced polymer shrinkage in soft matter.
      Furthermore, in situ real-time confocal laser scanning microscopy imaging reveals
      the dynamic process of gNP aggregation responses upon biomolecular binding.

PMID- 28612954
TI  - Effect of graded levels of dietary corn steep liquor on growth performance,
      nutrient digestibility, haematology and histopathology of broilers.
AB  - This experiment was conducted to assess nutritional potential of corn steep
      liquor (CSL) as an alternative protein source in broiler's diet. A total of 280
      day-old unsexed broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four experimental
      groups in a simple randomised experimental design (each group had seven
      replicates; 10 birds per each). Four iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric broiler
      starter and finisher diets (C, LCSL, MCSL and HCSL) were formulated containing
      0%, 5%, 10% and 15% CSL respectively. Results revealed that chicks fed MCSL diet
      had significantly (p <= .05) the heaviest Body weight, highest Body weight gain
      and the lowest feed conversion ratio followed by those fed HCSL diet. In the
      starter period, LCSL and MCSL diets resulted in better (p <= .05) dry matter (DM)
      (89.57%) and crude protein (67.67%) digestibilities respectively. In the finisher
      period, DM, crude fibre and fat digestibilities were not affected by CSL
      inclusion levels; while crude protein digestibility was significantly (p <= .05)
      high in the groups fed LCSL and HCSL diets. The CSL inclusion had no effect on
      blood haematology except serum uric acid, which tended to increase with
      increasing CSL levels. No microscopic changes were exhibited on liver, heart,
      kidneys and intestine of birds across all dietary treatments. However, crops in
      birds fed HCSL diet showed moderate to severe hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the
      mucosal lining. The study showed that CSL could be added up to 15% in broiler's
      diet without any adverse effect on bird's performance.

PMID- 28612955
TI  - Estimating numbers of children with cerebral palsy: a call to action.

PMID- 28612956
TI  - Connecting genomic patterns of local adaptation and niche suitability in
      teosintes.
AB  - The central abundance hypothesis predicts that local adaptation is a function of
      the distance to the centre of a species' geographic range. To test this
      hypothesis, we gathered genomic diversity data from 49 populations, 646
      individuals and 33,464 SNPs of two wild relatives of maize, the teosintes Zea
      mays ssp. parviglumis and Zea. mays. ssp. mexicana. We examined the association
      between the distance to their climatic and geographic centroids and the
      enrichment of SNPs bearing signals of adaptation. We identified candidate
      adaptive SNPs in each population by combining neutrality tests and cline
      analyses. By applying linear regression models, we found that the number of
      candidate SNPs is positively associated with niche suitability, while genetic
      diversity is reduced at the limits of the geographic distribution. Our results
      suggest that overall, populations located at the limit of the species' niches are
      adapting locally. We argue that local adaptation to this limit could initiate
      ecological speciation processes and facilitate adaptation to global change.

PMID- 28612957
TI  - The impact of end-stage renal disease in children on their parents.
AB  - AIM: This study was designed to investigate the impact of pediatric end-stage
      renal disease (ESRD) on parents, based on the PedsQLTM Family Impact Module
      (FIM), and the relationship to the quality of life (QOL) of pediatric ESRD
      patients measured by PedsQLTM 3.0 ESRD module. METHODS: We performed a cross
      sectional study using Korean translations of the PedsQLTM FIM and the PedsQLTM
      3.0 ESRD module. In all, 79 patients were enrolled, including 47 children
      receiving dialysis and 32 children who underwent renal transplant. RESULTS: FIM
      scores, analyzed for every category according to treatment modality, were
      significantly lower in hemodialysis (HD) than in peritoneal dialysis (PD) or
      renal transplant patients. Mother's age, duration since diagnosis of ESRD and the
      existence of comorbidity were variables to have significant effects on FIM
      scores. The correlation between total FIM and QOL scores of pediatric patients
      were significant, in both parent-proxy and child-self report. CONCLUSIONS: The
      PedsQLTM FIM appears to be a useful tool for the assessment of family impact on
      children with ESRD. Further prospective studies focused on the QOL of parents and
      caregivers should be performed with the goal of improving clinical outcomes for
      pediatric ESRD patients.

PMID- 28612958
TI  - Clinical characteristics and salvage management of persistent cesarean scar
      pregnancy.
AB  - AIM: The study was conducted to illustrate the clinical characteristics and
      treatment outcomes of patients with persistent cesarean scar pregnancy (PCSP).
      METHODS: During a six-year period, 38 cases of PCSP were diagnosed and treated
      conservatively to preserve fertility. The clinical presentations, imaging
      findings and treatment outcomes of these patients were reviewed. RESULTS:
      Fourteen out of 38 women (37%) presenting with PCSP suffered heavy vaginal
      bleeding. Gestational age at diagnosis was 73.1 +/- 21.7 days. The maximum
      diameter of the PCSP mass was 3.6 +/- 1.6 cm. The presence of a rich vascular
      pattern in the area of the PCSP mass was detected by ultrasound in 33/38 (87%)
      patients. Six patients with a PCSP gestational age of 64.2 +/- 6.2 days and a
      mass diameter of 2.5 +/- 0.6 cm were successfully treated with medical treatment
      alone and 32 patients with a gestational age of 74.8 +/- 23.1 days and a mass
      diameter of 3.8 +/- 1.6 cm were successfully treated with surgical or combined
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PCSP are diagnosed at advanced gestational
      age and are more prone to heavy bleeding. Surgery is the main treatment for PCSP.
      Medical treatment of PCSP has become an attractive alternative, especially for
      hemodynamically stable patients with a PCSP mass with a maximum diameter of < 3.5
      cm.

PMID- 28612959
TI  - Early-life decline in neurogenesis markers and age-related changes of TrkB splice
      variant expression in the human subependymal zone.
AB  - Neurogenesis in the subependymal zone (SEZ) declines across the human lifespan,
      and reduced local neurotrophic support is speculated to be a contributing factor.
      While tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) signalling is critical for neuronal
      differentiation, maturation and survival, little is known about subependymal TrkB
      expression changes during postnatal human life. In this study, we used
      quantitative PCR and in situ hybridisation to determine expression of the cell
      proliferation marker Ki67, the immature neuron marker doublecortin (DCX) and both
      full-length (TrkB-TK+) and truncated TrkB receptors (TrkB-TK-) in the human SEZ
      from infancy to middle age (n = 26-35, 41 days to 43 years). We further measured
      TrkB-TK+ and TrkB-TK- mRNAs in the SEZ from young adulthood into ageing (n = 50,
      21-103 years), and related their transcript levels to neurogenic and glial cell
      markers. Ki67, DCX and both TrkB splice variant mRNAs significantly decreased in
      the SEZ from infancy to middle age. In contrast, TrkB-TK- mRNA increased in the
      SEZ from young adulthood into ageing, whereas TrkB-TK+ mRNA remained stable. TrkB
      TK- mRNA positively correlated with expression of neural precursor (glial
      fibrillary acidic protein delta and achaete-scute homolog 1) and glial cell
      markers (vimentin and pan glial fibrillary acidic protein). TrkB-TK+ mRNA
      positively correlated with expression of neuronal cell markers (DCX and tubulin
      beta 3 class III). Our results indicate that cells residing in the human SEZ
      maintain their responsiveness to neurotrophins; however, this capability may
      change across postnatal life. We suggest that TrkB splice variants may
      differentially influence neuronal and glial differentiation in the human SEZ.

PMID- 28612960
TI  - Physical activity and asthma control level in children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement
      produced by a muscle contraction with increased energy expenditure. The aim of
      this study was to assess the physical activity, asthma control level, spirometric
      measurements and quality of life in children and adolescents with asthma.
      METHODS: We included all children and adolescents aged 7-17 years who had a
      diagnosis of atopic asthma and who attended the Pediatric Pulmonology Outpatient
      Clinic of the State University of Campinas, Brazil. Asthma control levels were
      evaluated by the Asthma Control Test (ACT). Physical activity was measured using
      the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and
      by other questions about daily activities at school and at home over the last
      week. Lung function was assessed by spirometry, both pre- and post-bronchodilator
      (BD). Quality of life was evaluated using the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life
      Questionnaire (PAQLQ). RESULTS: Out of 100 patients, 60 were classified as
      presenting with controlled asthma (CA) and 40 as presenting with uncontrolled
      asthma (UA). In the IPAQ, 29% were classified as sedentary, 17% as active and 54%
      as very active. There was no significant association between physical activity
      and the level of asthma control. We found no differences between active and
      sedentary children and adolescents with asthma in spirometric variables or
      quality of life. CONCLUSION: No associations were observed between physical
      activity and asthma control level, spirometric measurements and quality of life
      in children and adolescents with asthma.

PMID- 28612961
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of allele frequency change in sunflower crop-wild hybrid
      populations evolving under natural conditions.
AB  - Crop-wild hybridization occurs in numerous plant species and could alter the
      genetic structure and evolutionary dynamics of wild populations. Studying crop
      derived alleles in wild populations is also relevant to assessing/mitigating the
      risks associated with transgene escape. To date, crop-wild hybridization has
      generally been examined via short-term studies, typically within a single
      generation, focusing on few traits or genetic markers. Little is known about
      patterns of selection on crop-derived alleles over multiple generations,
      particularly at a genome-wide scale. Here, we documented patterns of natural
      selection in an experimental crop * wild sunflower population that was allowed to
      evolve under natural conditions for two generations at two locations. Allele
      frequencies at a genome-wide collection of SNPs were tracked across generations,
      and a common garden experiment was conducted to compare trait means between
      generations. These data allowed us to identify instances of selection on crop
      derived alleles/traits and, in concert with QTL mapping results, test for
      congruence between our genotypic and phenotypic results. We found that natural
      selection overwhelmingly favours wild alleles and phenotypes. However, crop
      alleles in certain genomic regions can be favoured, and these changes often
      occurred in parallel across locations. We did not, however, consistently observe
      close agreement between our genotypic and phenotypic results. For example, when a
      trait evolved towards the wild phenotype, wild QTL alleles associated with that
      trait did not consistently increase in frequency. We discuss these results in the
      context of crop allele introgression into wild populations and implications for
      the management of GM crops.

PMID- 28612963
TI  - The effectiveness of surrogate taxa to conserve freshwater biodiversity.
AB  - Establishing protected areas has long been an effective conservation strategy and
      is often based on readily surveyed species. The potential of any freshwater taxa
      to be a surrogate for other aquatic groups has not been explored fully. We
      compiled occurrence data on 72 species of freshwater fishes, amphibians, mussels,
      and aquatic reptiles for the Great Plains, Wyoming (U.S.A.). We used hierarchical
      Bayesian multispecies mixture models and MaxEnt models to describe species'
      distributions and the program Zonation to identify areas of conservation priority
      for each aquatic group. The landscape-scale factors that best characterized
      aquatic species' distributions differed among groups. There was low agreement and
      congruence among taxa-specific conservation priorities (<20%), meaning no
      surrogate priority areas would include or protect the best habitats of other
      aquatic taxa. Common, wideranging aquatic species were included in taxa-specific
      priority areas, but rare freshwater species were not included. Thus, the
      development of conservation priorities based on a single freshwater aquatic group
      would not protect all species in the other aquatic groups.

PMID- 28612965
TI  - II. CONCEPT OF SUBARACHNOID HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 28612964
TI  - Has cost inhibited the uptake of more potent statins in England?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of statins has increased substantially over the last 2
      decades in England and represents a significant cost burden to the National
      Health Service. Therefore, it is important to understand what influences
      prescribers' choice. OBJECTIVES: This study examines the changes in use pattern
      of all statins in England (1998-2015). The study focuses on the use of
      simvastatin and atorvastatin before and after their patent expiry and
      rosuvastatin, to investigate the impact of the reduced acquisition costs on
      prescribing. METHODS: Interrupted time series analysis of primary care use data
      from the health and social care information centre database from 1998 to 2015.
      RESULTS: Primary care expenditure on statins increased by 125% during the period
      1998 to 2004 driven by branded simvastatin and atorvastatin. Before 2003, the
      rate of use of more potent branded atorvastatin exceeds branded simvastatin.
      Between 2004 and 2011, the less potent but less expensive agent generic
      simvastatin has the higher utilisation rate (66%). Since 2012, the more potent
      agent but less expensive generic atorvastatin has the higher utilisation rate
      (50%). The more potent branded rosuvastatin failed to make a significant impact
      on the English statins market. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of generic statins
      has reduced overall expenditure significantly. When there is a significant price
      difference, acquisition cost appears to be the main influencing factor in
      prescribing statins, but, when costs are similar, potency is a key factor. This
      suggests that English prescribers are cost sensitive and appear to be prepared to
      trade marginal benefit for savings.

PMID- 28612962
TI  - Amygdalar expression of the microRNA miR-101a and its target Ezh2 contribute to
      rodent anxiety-like behaviour.
AB  - A greater understanding of neural mechanisms contributing to anxiety is needed in
      order to develop better therapeutic interventions. This study interrogates a
      novel molecular mechanism that shapes anxiety-like behaviour, demonstrating that
      the microRNA miR-101a-3p and its target, enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (Ezh2) in
      the amygdala, contribute to rodent anxiety-like behaviour. We utilized rats that
      were selectively bred for differences in emotionality and stress reactivity,
      showing that high-novelty-responding (HR) rats, which display low trait anxiety,
      have lower miR-101a-3p levels in the amygdala compared to low-novelty-responding
      (LR) rats that characteristically display high trait anxiety. To determine
      whether there is a causal relationship between amygdalar miR-101a-3p and anxiety
      behaviour, we used a viral approach to overexpress miR-101a-3p in the amygdala of
      HR rats and test whether it would increase their typically low levels of anxiety
      like behaviour. We found that increasing miR-101a-3p in the amygdala increased
      HRs' anxiety-like behaviour in the open-field test and elevated plus maze. Viral
      mediated miR-101a-3p overexpression also reduced expression of the histone
      methyltransferase Ezh2, which mediates gene silencing via trimethylation of
      histone 3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3). Knockdown of Ezh2 with short-interfering RNA
      (siRNA) also increased HRs' anxiety-like behaviour, but to a lesser degree than
      miR-101a-3p overexpression. Overall, our data demonstrate that increasing miR
      101a-3p expression in the amygdala increases anxiety-like behaviour and that this
      effect is at least partially mediated via repression of Ezh2. This work adds to
      the growing body of evidence implicating miRNAs and epigenetic regulation as
      molecular mediators of anxiety behaviour.

PMID- 28612967
TI  - VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.

PMID- 28612966
TI  - I. INTRODUCTION.

PMID- 28612968
TI  - III. THE PRESENT SERIES.

PMID- 28612969
TI  - IV. INCIDENCE, AETIOLOGY, AND AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION OF PRIMARY SUBARACHNOID
      HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 28612971
TI  - V. PROGNOSIS IN PRIMARY SUBARACHNOID HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 28612972
TI  - Papulopustular lesions of the face and scalp.

PMID- 28612973
TI  - Survivors of childhood brain tumors and their caregivers: transition to
      adulthood.

PMID- 28612974
TI  - A life in psychiatry-as I remember it.

PMID- 28612975
TI  - The effect of endometrial scratch injury on pregnancy outcome in women with
      previous intrauterine insemination failure: A randomized clinical trial.
AB  - AIM: Endometrial scratch injury (ESI) has been recently proposed to enhance the
      implantation rate in assisted reproductive technology cycles. The present study
      was conducted to determine the effect of ESI on pregnancy rate in women with
      intrauterine insemination (IUI) failure. METHODS: This prospective randomized
      controlled study was carried out in Imam-Khomeini Hospital and Royan Institute,
      Tehran, during a 12-month period from January 2013 to January 2014. After
      assessment, 169 patients who had IUI failure twice or more (no chemical or
      clinical pregnancy) with normal uterine anatomy and hysterosalpingography, were
      enrolled. They were randomly assigned into two groups. In the experimental group,
      all patients underwent ESI at day 8 or 9 of stimulation phase in the present IUI
      cycle, whereas no intervention was performed on the control group. IUI outcome
      was then compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 150 patients
      completed the IUI cycle during the study. The chemical pregnancy rate was 10.7%
      and 2.7% in the experimental and control groups, respectively, without
      significant difference (P = 0.09). Also no significant differences were detected
      in terms of clinical pregnancy and miscarriage rates between the two groups (P >
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: No significant beneficial effect of ESI on fertility outcome
      in patients with repeated IUI failure was detected when it was carried out on day
      8 or 9 of the same IUI stimulation cycle. Also, however, no negative impact
      secondary to ESI was observed. Therefore, confirmation or refutation of this
      hypothesis requires further studies with a larger sample size.
      IRCT201507271141N19.

PMID- 28612976
TI  - Lithium ameliorates sleep deprivation-induced mania-like behavior, hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis alterations, oxidative stress and elevations of
      cytokine concentrations in the brain and serum of mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of
      lithium administration on behavior, oxidative stress parameters and cytokine
      levels in the periphery and brain of mice subjected to an animal model of mania
      induced by paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD). METHODS: Male C57 mice were
      treated with saline or lithium for 7 days. The sleep deprivation protocol started
      on the 5th day during for the last 36 hours of the treatment period. Immediately
      after the sleep deprivation protocol, animals locomotor activity was evaluated
      and serum and brain samples was extracted to evaluation of corticosterone and
      adrenocorticotropic hormone circulating levels, oxidative stress parameters and
      citokynes levels. RESULTS: The results showed that PSD induced hyperactivity in
      mice, which is considered a mania-like behavior. PSD increased lipid peroxidation
      and oxidative damage to DNA, as well as causing alterations to antioxidant
      enzymes in the frontal cortex, hippocampus and serum of mice. In addition, PSD
      increased the levels of cytokines in the brains of mice. Treatment with lithium
      prevented the mania-like behavior, oxidative damage and cytokine alterations
      induced by PSD. CONCLUSIONS: Improving our understanding of oxidative damage in
      biomolecules, antioxidant mechanisms and the inflammatory system - alterations
      presented in the animal models of mania - is important in helping us to improve
      our knowledge concerning the pathophysiology of BD, and the mechanisms of action
      employed by mood stabilizers.

PMID- 28612979
TI  - Research and practice for ultra-high risk for psychosis: A national survey of
      early intervention in psychosis services in England.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence from meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials show
      interventions for young people at ultra-high risk (UHR) of developing psychosis
      are effective both clinically and economically. While research evidence has begun
      to be integrated into clinical guidelines, there is a lack of research on the
      implementation of these guidelines. This paper examines service provision for UHR
      individuals in accordance with current clinical guidelines within the National
      Health Service (NHS) in England. METHOD: A self-report online survey was
      completed by clinical leaders of early intervention in psychosis (EIP) teams (N =
      50) within the NHS across England. RESULTS: Of the 50 EIP teams responding (from
      30 NHS trusts), 53% reported inclusion of the UHR group in their service mandate,
      with age range predominantly 14 to 35 years (81%) and service provided for at
      least 12 months (53%). Provision of services according to NICE clinical
      guidelines showed 50% of services offered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for
      psychosis, and 42% offered family intervention. Contrary to guidelines, 50% of
      services offered antipsychotic medication. Around half of services provided
      training in assessment by Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States,
      psycho-education, CBT for psychosis, family work and treatment for anxiety and
      depression. CONCLUSIONS: Despite clear evidence for the benefit of early
      intervention in this population, current provision for UHR within EIP services in
      England does not match clinical guidelines. While some argue this is due to a
      lack of allocated funding, it is important to note the similar variable adherence
      to clinical guidelines in the treatment of people with established schizophrenia.

PMID- 28612978
TI  - Real-time visual-feedback mask-fitting during non-invasive ventilation: A
      'technological' gain over 'human' sensing?

PMID- 28612981
TI  - Congenital telangiectatic und pigmented lesions associated with lymphedema,
      difference in leg length, and scoliosis.

PMID- 28612980
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Oxidative Dehydrogenative C(sp3 )-H Bond Amination of
      (Cyclo)Alkanes using NH-Heterocycles as Amine Sources.
AB  - A copper-catalyzed oxidative C(sp3 )-H/N-H coupling of NH-heterocycles with
      affordable (cyclo)alkanes has been developed. This procedure involves C(sp3 )-N
      bond formation through a radical pathway generated by homolytic cleavage of di
      tert-butyl peroxide and trapping of the radical(s) by copper catalysts. The
      reaction tolerates a series of functional groups, such as bromo, fluoro, ester,
      ketone, nitrile, methyl, and methoxy. free-NH-containing indoles, pyrroles,
      pyrazoles, indazoles, and benzotriazoles are successfully N-alkylated.

PMID- 28612977
TI  - Characteristics of depression among offspring at high and low familial risk of
      bipolar disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Having a parent with bipolar disorder (BP) is a very strong risk
      factor for developing BP. Similarly, depression among youth is a clinical risk
      factor for subsequent BP. We evaluated whether mood symptomatology in depressed
      youth is different between those at high and low familial risk to develop BP.
      METHODS: The most severe major depressive episode in BP offspring (N=61) and
      community control offspring (N=20) was evaluated using expanded depression and
      mania rating scales derived from the Schedule for Affective Disorders and
      Schizophrenia for Children Present Version. The results were adjusted for any
      between-group significant demographic differences and for multiple comparisons.
      RESULTS: The severity of depressive symptoms and the percentage of offspring with
      severe depressive symptoms, especially atypical depressive features, were
      significantly higher in the depressed offspring of BP parents compared to the
      depressed controls (Ps <.05). The depressive symptoms were helpful to identify a
      high-risk group (e.g., odds ratio [OR] for hypersomnia: 22.4, 95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 1.3-404, P=.04). In addition, there were significantly more
      depressed offspring of BP parents with subsyndromal manic symptoms than controls
      (52.5% vs 20%, OR: 4.2, 95% CI: 1.2-14.7, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Depressed BP
      offspring had more severe depression including atypical depressive symptoms, and
      were more likely to have subsyndromal mixed manic symptoms than depressed control
      offspring. Prospective studies to evaluate whether these youth are at high risk
      to develop BP are warranted. If replicated, the results of this study have
      important clinical (e.g., treatment of depression in depressed offspring of BP
      parents) and research implications.

PMID- 28612982
TI  - Anticancer effects of oleuropein.
AB  - Cancer cells exhibit enhanced proliferation rate and a resistance to apoptosis.
      Epidemiological studies suggest that olive oil intake is associated with a
      reduced risk of cancer. Olive oil, olives, and olive leaves contain many
      polyphenols, including oleuropein. Recently, several studies have demonstrated
      that oleuropein inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in different cancer
      cell lines. In addition, anticancer effects of oleuropein have been seen in
      animal studies. These effects are associated with oleuropein's ability to
      modulate gene expression and activity of a variety of different signaling
      proteins that play a role in proliferation and apoptosis. This article summarizes
      the existing in vitro and in vivo studies focusing on the anticancer effects of
      oleuropein and its effects on key signaling molecules. (c) 2017 BioFactors,
      43(4):517-528, 2017.

PMID- 28612983
TI  - Systematic review with meta-analysis: faecal microbiota transplantation for the
      induction of remission for active ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is emerging as a novel
      therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC). Interpretation of efficacy of FMT for UC is
      complicated by differences among studies in blinding, FMT administration
      procedures, intensity of therapy and donor stool processing methods. AIM: To
      determine whether FMT is effective and safe for the induction of remission in
      active UC. METHODS: Medline (Ovid), Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched
      from inception through February 2017. Original studies reporting remission rates
      following FMT for active UC were included. All study designs were included in the
      systematic review and a meta-analysis performed including only randomised
      controlled trials (RCTs). RESULTS: There were 14 cohort studies and four RCTs
      that used markedly different protocols. In the meta-analysis of RCTs, clinical
      remission was achieved in 39 of 140 (28%) patients in the donor FMT groups
      compared with 13 of 137 (9%) patients in the placebo groups; odds ratio 3.67 (95%
      CI: 1.82-7.39, P<.01). Clinical response was achieved in 69 of 140 (49%) donor
      FMT patients compared to 38 of 137 (28%) placebo patients; odds ratio 2.48 (95%
      CI: 1.18-5.21, P=.02). In cohort studies, 39 of 168 (24%; 95% CI: 11%-40%)
      achieved clinical remission. CONCLUSIONS: Despite variation in processes, FMT
      appears to be effective for induction of remission in UC, with no major short
      term safety signals. Further studies are needed to better define dose frequency
      and preparation methods, and to explore its feasibility, efficacy and safety as a
      maintenance agent.

PMID- 28612984
TI  - Understanding the relationship between duration of untreated psychosis and
      outcomes: A statistical perspective.
AB  - AIM: Although the relationships between duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and
      outcomes are often assumed to be linear, few studies have explored the functional
      form of these relationships. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the
      potential of recent advances in curve fitting approaches (splines) to explore the
      form of the relationship between DUP and global assessment of functioning (GAF).
      METHODS: Curve fitting approaches were used in models to predict change in GAF at
      long-term follow-up using DUP for a sample of 83 individuals with schizophrenia.
      RESULTS: The form of the relationship between DUP and GAF was non-linear.
      Accounting for non-linearity increased the percentage of variance in GAF
      explained by the model, resulting in better prediction and understanding of the
      relationship. CONCLUSION: The relationship between DUP and outcomes may be
      complex and model fit may be improved by accounting for the form of the
      relationship. This should be routinely assessed and new statistical approaches
      for non-linear relationships exploited, if appropriate.

PMID- 28612985
TI  - SURVEY.

PMID- 28612988
TI  - DISCUSSION.

PMID- 28612987
TI  - CLINICAL STUDY: The Patient Population.

PMID- 28612989
TI  - SUMMARY.

PMID- 28612990
TI  - Asymmetric Yttrium-Catalyzed C(sp3 )-H Addition of 2-Methyl Azaarenes to
      Cyclopropenes.
AB  - An enantioselective C-H addition to a C=C bond represents the most atom-efficient
      route for the construction of chiral carbon-carbon skeletons, a central research
      topic in organic synthesis. We herein report the enantioselective yttrium
      catalyzed C(sp3 )-H bond addition of 2-methyl azaarenes, such as 2-methyl
      pyridines, to various substituted cyclopropenes and norbornenes. This process
      efficiently afforded a new family of chiral pyridylmethyl-functionalized
      cyclopropane and norbornane derivatives in high yields and high
      enantioselectivities (up to 97 % ee).

PMID- 28612991
TI  - Evaluation of the added value of imaging the pelvis in patients with
      hepatocellular cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: The study aims to evaluate added value of the pelvic portion
      of the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination
      in patients with a primary diagnosis of hepatocellular cancer (HCC). METHODS: The
      study reviewed the medical records of 478 patients with 881 examinations of the
      abdomen and pelvis who underwent treatment at our institution between March 2015
      and March 2016. These patients were reviewed for presence of pathology in the
      pelvis, which were classified into two categories as new or old (already known on
      prior imaging). RESULTS: Of 478 patients, 230 underwent MRI examination of the
      abdomen and pelvis, and the other 248 underwent CT scans of these regions. There
      were no findings on the CT or MRI of the pelvis in 80.5% of patients (n = 385),
      including 81.5% of those who had CT and 79.6% of those who had MRI. Ninety-three
      patients had findings in the pelvis, the most common of which were bone
      metastases (31 patients), ascites (27 patients), implants (seven patients), and
      bladder wall thickening (five patients). In only 7.9% of patients, the findings
      were related to metastatic disease. In 5.4% of all imaging studies revealed a new
      finding in the pelvis. CONCLUSION: Imaging of the pelvis (CT or MRI) does not
      seem to provide additional information in the majority of cases with HCC. The
      results suggest that the follow-up evaluation of patients with HCC may not
      include a pelvis exam.

PMID- 28612992
TI  - Organometallic Group 11 (CuIII , AgIII , AuIII ) Complexes of a trans-Doubly N
      Confused Porphyrin: An "Expanded Imidazole" Structural Motif.
AB  - Complexation of group 11 metal cations with an alpha-bis(phenylthio)-substituted
      trans-doubly N-confused porphyrin (trans-N2 CPSPh : 4) afforded a series of
      square-planar trivalent organometallic complexes (i.e., Cu-H4, Ag-H4, and Au-H4).
      The X-ray crystal structures of the complexes revealed highly planar core
      geometries along with the presence of peripheral amine and imine nitrogen sites
      of the pyrrolic moieties. NMR, UV/Vis absorption, and magnetic circular dichroism
      (MCD) spectroscopies suggested the 18 pi-electron aromaticity of the complexes.
      The aromaticity was also fully analyzed by various theoretical methodologies such
      as nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) and anisotropic induced current
      density (ACID) calculations. The central metal affects the amphiprotic character
      of the complexes possessing both pyrrolic amino nitrogen and imino nitrogen atoms
      at the periphery, which was examined by the photometric titration with
      trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU),
      respectively. The inherent acidity of the complexes was followed in the order; Cu
      H4>Au-H4>Ag-H4 and that of basicity was Au-H4>Ag-H4>Cu-H4. The complexes could be
      considered as an "expanded imidazole" structural motif.

PMID- 28612993
TI  - Melatonin as a treatment for mood disorders: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Melatonin has been widely studied in the treatment of sleep disorders
      and evidence is accumulating on a possible role for melatonin influencing mood.
      Our aim was to determine the efficacy and acceptability of melatonin for mood
      disorders. METHOD: We conducted a comprehensive systematic review of randomized
      clinical trials on patients with mood disorders, comparing melatonin to placebo.
      RESULTS: Eight clinical trials were included; one study in bipolar, three in
      unipolar depression and four in seasonal affective disorder. We have only a small
      study on patients with bipolar disorder, while we have more studies testing
      melatonin as an augmentation strategy for depressive episodes in major depressive
      disorder and seasonal affective disorder. The acceptability and tolerability were
      good. We analyzed data from three trials on depressive episodes and found that
      the evidence for an effect of melatonin in improving mood symptoms is not
      significant (SMD = 0.37; 95% CI [-0.05, 0.37]; P = 0.09). The small sample size
      and the differences in methodology of the trials suggest that our results are
      based on data deriving from investigations occurring early in this field of
      study. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence for an effect of melatonin on mood
      disorders, but the results are not conclusive and justify further research.

PMID- 28612994
TI  - Strain-based HLA association analysis identified HLA-DRB1*09:01 associated with
      modern strain tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) occurs as a result of complex interactions between the host
      immune system and pathogen virulence factors. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class
      II molecules play an important role in the host immune system. However, no study
      has assessed the association between HLA class II genes and susceptibility to TB
      caused by specific strains. This study investigated the possible association of
      HLA class II genes with TB caused by modern and ancient Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis (MTB). The study included 682 patients with TB and 836 control
      subjects who were typed for HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles. MTB strains were
      classified using a large sequence polymorphism typing method. Association
      analysis was performed using common HLA alleles and haplotypes in different MTB
      strains. HLA association analysis of patients infected with modern MTB strains
      showed significant association for HLA-DRB1*09:01 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.82; P
      value = 9.88 * 10-4 ) and HLA-DQB1*03:03 alleles (OR = 1.76; P-value = 1.31 * 10
      3 ) with susceptibility to TB. Haplotype analysis confirmed that these alleles
      were in strong linkage disequilibrium and did not exert an interactive effect.
      Thus, the results of this study showed an association between HLA class II genes
      and susceptibility to TB caused by modern MTB strains, suggesting the importance
      of strain-specific analysis to determine susceptibility genes associated with TB.

PMID- 28612995
TI  - The patient perspective on remote monitoring of patients with an implantable
      cardioverter defibrillator: Narrative review and future directions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that remote patient monitoring (RPM) of
      implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) is at least comparable to in
      clinic follow-up with regard to clinical outcomes and might be cost-effective,
      yet RPM is not standard clinical practice within Europe. Better insight into the
      patient perspective on RPM may aid in its acceptance, implementation, and
      reimbursement. This narrative review (1) summarizes existing evidence on the
      impact of RPM on patient-reported outcomes and (2) discusses future directions in
      examining the patient perspective. METHODS AND RESULTS: Literature review
      indicated that only five randomized trials on RPM in ICD patients included
      patient-reported outcomes, with inconclusive results. Observational studies show
      a trend toward good patient satisfaction and acceptation of RPM. Yet, results
      should be interpreted with caution due to a number of limitations including a
      potential selection bias, use of generic/nonvalidated questionnaires, relatively
      short follow-up durations, and a lack of subgroup identification. CONCLUSION:
      Although RPM seems to be safe, effective, timely, and efficient, the patient
      perspective has received little attention so far. The scarce evidence on patient
      reported outcomes in RPM studies seems to be positive, but future trials with a
      follow-up of >=12 months and validated patient-reported outcome measures are
      needed. The REMOTE-CIED study from our group is the first prospective randomized
      controlled trial primarily designed to examine the patient perspective on RPM,
      and is powered to identify characteristics associated with RPM satisfaction and
      benefit. Results are expected in 2018 and will add valuable information to the
      current evidence.

PMID- 28612996
TI  - CRF1 and CRF2 receptors in the bed nucleus of stria terminalis differently
      modulate the baroreflex function in unanesthetized rats.
AB  - The baroreflex is an important blood pressure regulating mechanism. The bed
      nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) modulates the baroreflex function. However,
      the local BNST neurochemical mechanisms involved in control of baroreflex
      responses are not completely understood. Therefore, in this study, we
      investigated the involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptors
      within the BNST in baroreflex control of heart rate in unanesthetized rats. For
      this, we evaluated effects of bilateral microinjection into the BNST of either
      the selective CRF1 receptor antagonist CP376395 (5 nmol/100 nL) or the selective
      CRF2 receptor antagonist antisauvagine-30 (5 nmol/100 nL) in bradycardiac
      response evoked by blood pressure increases caused by intravenous infusion of
      phenylephrine as well as tachycardiac response to blood pressure decrease caused
      by intravenous infusion of sodium nitroprusside. Bilateral microinjection of
      CP376395 into the BNST decreased the baroreflex bradycardiac response without
      affecting the reflex tachycardia. Conversely, BNST treatment with antisauvagine
      30 decreased heart rate response during blood pressure drop without affecting the
      reflex bradycardia. Overall, these findings provide evidence of an involvement of
      CRF neurotransmission within the BNST in baroreflex activity. Nevertheless, data
      indicate that local CRF1 and CRF2 receptors differently modulate the baroreflex
      control of heart rate.

PMID- 28612997
TI  - A structural perspective on the interactions of TRAF6 and Basigin during the
      onset of melanoma: A molecular dynamics simulation study.
AB  - Metastatic melanoma is the most fatal type of skin cancer. The roles of matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) have well been established in the onset of melanoma.
      Basigin (BSG) belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily and is critical for
      induction of extracellular MMPs during the onset of various cancers including
      melanoma. Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) is an E3
      ligase that interacts with BSG and mediates its membrane localization, which
      leads to MMP expression in melanoma cells. This makes TRAF6 a potential
      therapeutic target in melanoma. We here conducted protein-protein interaction
      studies on TRAF6 and BSG to get molecular level insights of the reactions. The
      structure of human BSG was constructed by protein threading. Molecular-docking
      method was applied to develop the TRAF6-BSG complex. The refined docked complex
      was further optimized by molecular dynamics simulations. Results from binding
      free energy, surface properties, and electrostatic interaction analysis indicate
      that Lys340 and Glu417 of TRAF6 play as the anchor residues in the protein
      interaction interface. The current study will be helpful in designing specific
      modulators of TRAF6 to control melanoma metastasis.

PMID- 28612998
TI  - Symptom experience in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease: A
      qualitative descriptive study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies indicate that symptoms attributable to impaired kidney
      function are important determinants of quality of life and functional status in
      patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Accordingly, symptom assessment and
      subsequent control are prerequisites of high-quality care in this patient
      population. Whilst symptom burden in patients with advanced CKD managed without
      dialysis has been likened to that of palliative care cancer populations, there is
      little information about the nature and range of symptoms in earlier stages of
      the CKD trajectory. This paper reports the findings of the preliminary phase of a
      study aimed at exploring the symptom experience in patients with CKD stages 4 and
      5. METHODS: Eighteen semi-structured patient interviews were conducted, using an
      interview schedule developed specifically to guide discussion. Data were analysed
      using thematic analysis to identify symptom categories and thematic patterns
      across the patient experiences. RESULTS: Patients reported a wide range of
      symptoms, with over 50 different categories and sub-categories emerging from the
      interview data. Symptom categories could be broadly classified into physical
      symptoms, such as 'Altered taste perception', 'Sleep disturbance' and 'Fatigue',
      and psychological symptoms, such as 'Forgetfulness', 'Poor concentration' and 'A
      sensation of gradually slowing down'. Of note, when questioned further, patients
      indicated that they would not usually report their symptoms to clinicians.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that patients with CKD stages 4 and 5 may have a
      high symptom burden. The finding that patients did not routinely report their
      symptoms emphasises a need for clinicians to incorporate symptom assessment into
      routine clinical consultations.

PMID- 28612999
TI  - Overactive Bladder Symptom Scores responsiveness before and after anticholinergic
      treatment in women with overactive bladder: The pilot study.
AB  - AIM: The aims of this study were: (i) to evaluate change of Overactive Bladder
      Symptom Scores (OABSS) from before to after solifenacin treatment; and (ii) to
      evaluate correlation between change of OABSS and 3-day micturition diary,
      International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and Patient Perception of Bladder
      Condition (PPBC). METHODS: Thirty-six women, aged > 18 years, diagnosed as having
      overactive bladder (OAB) at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, with the
      symptoms of urgency, frequency with or without urge incontinence for more than 3
      months, and at least three episodes of urgency with or without incontinence
      during the last 3 days prior to the study, were recruited during January 2010-May
      2011. All cases received solifenacin 5-mg treatment once a day and were asked to
      record a 3-day micturition diary and to complete the Thai version of the OABSS,
      IPSS, and PPBC questionnaires at weeks 0, 4, and 12 after treatment. RESULTS: The
      OABSS, IPSS, and PPBC scores and all parameters of the 3-day micturition diary
      had changed significantly by weeks 4 and 12. The OABSS correlated significantly
      with IPSS score (r = 0.44), PPBC score (r = 0.39), and urgency episodes (r =
      0.48). CONCLUSION: The OABSS had good responsiveness, similar to the other
      questionnaires (the IPSS and PPBC) and the 3-day micturition diary. The use of
      OABSS is recommended in OAB women for evaluation after anticholinergic drug
      treatment.

PMID- 28613000
TI  - Giant cell tumor mimicking melanoma metastasis: radioguided surgery of a lesion
      detected on PET/CT.

PMID- 28613001
TI  - Novel approach to uterine artery pseudoaneurysm embolization for delayed post
      partum hemorrhage: Thrombin really necessary? Reply.

PMID- 28613002
TI  - The Catalytic Mechanism of the Pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-Dependent Enzyme, Histidine
      Decarboxylase: A Computational Study.
AB  - The catalytic mechanism of histidine decarboxylase (HDC), a pyridoxal-5'
      phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme, was studied by using a computational QM/MM
      approach following the scheme M06-2X/6-311++G(3df,2pd):Amber. The reaction
      involves two sequential steps: the decarboxylation of l-histidine and the
      protonation of the generated intermediate from which results histamine. The rate
      limiting step is the first one (DeltaG? =17.6 kcal mol-1 ; DeltaGr =13.7 kcal mol
      1 ) and agrees closely with the available experimental kcat (1.73 s-1 ), which
      corresponds to an activation barrier of 17.9 kcal mol-1 . In contrast, the second
      step is very fast (DeltaG? =1.9 kcal mol-1 ) and exergonic (DeltaGr =-33.2 kcal
      mol-1 ). Our results agree with the available experimental data and allow us to
      explain the role played by several active site residues that are considered
      relevant according to site-directed mutagenesis studies, namely Tyr334B, Asp273A,
      Lys305A, and Ser354B. These results can provide insights regarding the catalytic
      mechanism of other enzymes belonging to family II of PLP-dependent
      decarboxylases.

PMID- 28613004
TI  - A survey of UK peri-operative medicine: pre-operative care.
AB  - The majority of UK hospitals now have a Local Lead for Peri-operative Medicine (n
      = 115). They were asked to take part in an online survey to identify provision
      and practice of pre-operative assessment and optimisation in the UK. We received
      86 completed questionnaires (response rate 75%). Our results demonstrate
      strengths in provision of shared decision-making clinics. Fifty-seven (65%, 95%CI
      55.8-75.4%) had clinics for high-risk surgical patients. However, 80 (93%, 70.2
      87.2%) expressed a desire for support and training in shared decision-making. We
      asked about management of pre-operative anaemia, and identified that 69 (80%,
      71.5-88.1%) had a screening process for anaemia, with 72% and 68% having access
      to oral and intravenous iron therapy, respectively. A need for peri-operative
      support in managing frailty and cognitive impairment was identified, as few (24%,
      6.5-34.5%) respondents indicated that they had access to specific interventions.
      Respondents were asked to rank their 'top five' priority topics in Peri-operative
      Medicine from a list of 22. These were: shared decision-making; peri-operative
      team development; frailty screening and its management; postoperative morbidity
      prediction; and primary care collaboration. We found variation in practice across
      the UK, and propose to further explore this variation by examining barriers and
      facilitators to improvement, and highlighting examples of good practice.

PMID- 28613003
TI  - Systematic review: pharmacotherapy for high-output enterostomies or enteral
      fistulas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-output enterocutaneous fistula or enterostomies can cause
      intestinal failure. There is a wide variety of options in medical management of
      patients with high output. AIM: To systematically review the literature on
      available pharmacotherapy to reduce output and to propose an algorithm for
      standard of care. METHODS: Relevant databases were systematically reviewed to
      identify studies on pharmacotherapy for reduction in (high-) output enterostomies
      or fistula. Randomised controlled trials and within subjects controlled
      prospective trials were included. An algorithm for standard of care was generated
      based on the outcomes of the systematic review. RESULTS: Two studies on proton
      pump inhibitors, six on anti-motility agents, three on histamine receptor
      antagonists, one on an alpha2- receptor agonist and eight on somatostatin
      (analogues) were included. One study examined a proton pump inhibitor and a
      histamine receptor antagonist within the same patients. Overall, we found
      evidence for the following medical therapies to be effective: omeprazole,
      loperamide and codeine, ranitidine and cimetidine. On the basis of these outcomes
      and clinical experience, we proposed an algorithm for standard of care which
      consists of high-dose proton pump inhibitors combined with high-dose loperamide
      as the first step followed by addition of codeine in case of insufficient output
      reduction. So far, there is insufficient evidence for the standard use of
      somatostatin (analogues). CONCLUSIONS: The available evidence on the efficacy of
      medication to reduce enterostomy or enterocutaneous fistula output is hampered by
      low quality studies. We propose an algorithm for standard of care output
      reduction in these patients.

PMID- 28613006
TI  - Mortality prediction in community-acquired pneumonia: Simplifying reliable tools
      may be worth it.

PMID- 28613005
TI  - Prognostic role of hypochloremia in acute ischemic stroke patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The impact of electrolyte imbalance on clinical outcomes after acute
      ischemic stroke (AIS) is still not understood. We investigated the association
      between hypochloremia and hyponatremia upon hospital admission and in-hospital
      mortality in AIS patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 3314 AIS patients
      enrolled from December 2013 to May 2014 across 22 hospitals in Suzhou city were
      included in this study. Hypochloremia was defined as having a serum chloride
      concentration <98 mmol/L and hyponatremia as having a serum sodium concentration
      <135 mmol/L. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine the effect of
      hypochloremia and hyponatremia on all-cause in-hospital mortality in AIS
      patients. RESULTS: During hospitalization, 118 patients (3.6%) died from all
      causes. Multivariable model adjusted for age, sex, baseline National Institutes
      of Health Stroke Scale score, serum sodium, and other potential covariates showed
      that hypochloremia was associated with a 2.43-fold increase in the risk of in
      hospital mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 2.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41
      4.19; P=.001). However, no significant association between hyponatremia (P=.905)
      and in-hospital mortality was observed. Moreover, the multivariable analysis
      found that serum chloride (HR=0.92, 95% CI 0.88-0.98; P=.004) but not serum
      sodium (P=.102) was significantly associated with in-hospital mortality.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hypochloremia at admission was independently associated with in
      hospital mortality in AIS patients.

PMID- 28613008
TI  - n-Channel Organic Semiconductors Derived from Air-Stable Four-Coordinate Boron
      Complexes of Substituted Thienylthiazoles.
AB  - Three acceptor-pi-bridge-acceptor (A-pi-A) molecules derived from 2-(3-boryl-2
      thienyl)thiazole have been synthesized and thoroughly characterized.
      Incorporation of a B-N unit into thienylthiazole and attachment of suitable
      acceptor moieties allowed to obtain ambient-stable A-pi-A molecules with low
      lying LUMO levels. Their potential for applications in organic electronics was
      tested in vacuum-deposited organic thin film transistors (OTFT). The OTFT device
      based on boryl-thienylthiazole and 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (DCIND)
      acceptor moieties showed an electron mobility of ~1.4*10-2  cm2  V-1  s-1 in air,
      which is the highest electron mobility reported to date for organoboron small
      molecules. Conversely, the device employing the malononitrile (MAL) derivative as
      an active layer did not show any charge transport behavior. As suggested by
      single crystal X-ray analysis of indandione (IND) and MAL derivatives, the
      enhanced mobility of IND (and DCIND) in comparison to the MAL molecule can be
      attributed to the effective two-dimensional pi-stacking in the solid state
      imparted by the acceptor moieties with an extended pi-surface.

PMID- 28613007
TI  - Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif is required to sustain
      testicular function on aging.
AB  - Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) directly interacts with
      transcription factors and regulates their transcriptional activity. Extensive
      functional studies have shown that TAZ plays critical regulatory roles in stem
      cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival and also modulates the
      development of organs such as the lung, kidney, heart, and bone. Despite the
      importance of TAZ in stem cell maintenance, TAZ function has not yet been
      evaluated in spermatogenic stem cells of the male reproductive system. Here, we
      investigated the expression and functions of TAZ in mouse testis. TAZ was
      expressed in spermatogenic stem cells; however, its deficiency caused significant
      structural abnormalities, including atrophied tubules, widened interstitial
      space, and abnormal Leydig cell expansion, thereby resulting in lowered sperm
      counts and impaired fertility. Furthermore, TAZ deficiency increased the level of
      apoptosis and senescence in spermatogenic cells and Leydig cells upon aging. The
      expression of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-betagal), secretory
      phenotypes, and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (p16, p19, and p21)
      significantly increased in the absence of TAZ. TAZ downregulation in testicular
      cells further increased SA-betagal and p21 expression induced by oxidative
      stress, whereas TAZ overexpression decreased p21 induction and prevented
      senescence. Mechanistic studies showed that TAZ suppressed DNA-binding activity
      of p53 through a direct interaction and thus attenuated p53-induced p21 gene
      transcription. Our results suggested that TAZ may suppress apoptosis and
      premature senescence in spermatogenic cells by inhibiting the p53-p21 signaling
      pathway, thus playing important roles in the maintenance and control of
      reproductive function.

PMID- 28613009
TI  - Independent risk factors for a small placenta and a small-for-gestational-age
      infant at 35-41 weeks of gestation: An association with circulating angiogenesis
      related factor levels at 19-31 weeks of gestation.
AB  - AIM: Our aim was to investigate the effects of angiogenesis-related factor levels
      at 19-25 and 26-31 weeks of gestation (WG) on the later occurrence of a small-for
      gestational-age (SGA) placenta (small placenta) or an SGA infant delivered at 35
      41 WG. METHODS: We measured plasma levels of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1
      (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF), and the serum level of soluble
      endoglin (sEng) in 679 pregnant women with blood sampling at both 19-25 and 26-31
      WG in a prospective study. A small placenta and an SGA infant were defined as
      <10th percentile, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were
      performed using maternal factors, a high mean pulsatility index (high mPI) of the
      uterine artery in the second trimester, and angiogenesis-related factor levels.
      RESULTS: Regarding the occurrence of a small placenta, low PlGF at 19-25 WG
      (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 2.4 [1.01-5.7]) and a high mPI
      (2.5 [1.4-4.3]) were independent risk factors. Moreover, low PlGF at 26-31 WG
      (3.3 [1.5-7.0]) was also an independent risk factor after adjusting for the
      effect of mPI. Concerning the occurrence of an SGA infant, a high mPI (2.8 [1.6
      5.2]) and high sEng at 26-31 WG (2.3 [1.2-4.5]) were independent risk factors.
      CONCLUSION: Low levels of PlGF at 19-25 and 26-31 WG were independent risk
      factors for a small placenta at >=35 WG; and a high sEng at 26-31 WG was an
      independent risk factor for an SGA infant at >=35 WG.

PMID- 28613010
TI  - Immobilized monolithic enzymatic reactor and its application for analysis of in
      vitro fertilization media samples.
AB  - Classical proteomics approaches involve enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins (either
      separated by polyacrylamide gels or in solution) followed by peptide
      identification using LC-MS/MS analysis. This method requires normally more than
      16 h to complete. In the case of clinical analysis, it is of the utmost
      importance to provide fast and reproducible analysis with minimal manual sample
      handling. Herein we report the method development for online protein digestion on
      immobilized monolithic enzymatic reactors (IMER) to accelerate protein digestion,
      reduce manual sample handling, and provide reproducibility to the digestion
      process in clinical laboratory. An integrated online digestion and separation
      method using monolithic immobilized enzymatic reactor was developed and applied
      to digestion and separation of in-vitro-fertilization media.

PMID- 28613012
TI  - Clinical Implications of Compounds Designed to Inhibit ECM-Modifying
      Metalloproteinases.
AB  - Remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is crucial in development and
      homeostasis, but also has a significant role in disease progression. Two
      metalloproteinase families, the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and a
      disintegrin and metalloproteases (ADAMs), participate in the remodeling of the
      ECM, either directly or through the liberation of growth factors and cell surface
      receptors. The correlation of MMP and ADAM activity to a variety of diseases has
      instigated numerous drug development programs. However, broad-based and Zn2+ 
      chelating MMP and ADAM inhibitors have fared poorly in the clinic. Selective MMP
      and ADAM inhibitors have been described recently based on (a) antibodies or
      antibody fragments or (b) small molecules designed to take advantage of protease
      secondary binding sites (exosites) or allosteric sites. Clinical trials have been
      undertaken with several of these inhibitors, while others are in advanced pre
      clinical stages.

PMID- 28613013
TI  - Post-traumatic stress disorder in mothers of children who have undergone cancer
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of post-traumatic
      stress disorder (PTSD) and associated risk factors among mothers of children who
      underwent cancer surgery. METHOD: This cross-sectional, multi-center study
      included a total of 60 mothers whose children underwent major thoraco-abdominal
      surgery and were under follow up in the outpatient setting between February 2016
      and May 2016. Clinical Data Form, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS),
      and Clinician-Administered PTSD scale were used. RESULTS: Of all participants, 13
      (21.7%) were diagnosed with PTSD. These mothers had shorter duration of marriage,
      longer duration of hospital stay after surgery, and higher HADS scores, compared
      with the others without PTSD. Thoughts of guilt such as "I am being punished or
      tested" were more frequent in mothers with PTSD. Insomnia, irritability,
      concentration problems, and psychological reactivity were the most common
      symptoms. CONCLUSION: Post-traumatic stress disorder is a severe disorder that
      may worsen the daily functioning of mothers and may also have an unfavorable
      effect on child. It is therefore of utmost importance for clinicians to recognize
      PTSD and the associated risk factors in order to guide these parents.

PMID- 28613014
TI  - Raising the list of SirT7 targets to a new level.
AB  - Sirtuins are crucial proteins involved in sensing and coordinating the response
      to different forms of stress, mainly through NAD+ -dependent deacetylation of
      proteins. For that reason, sirtuins are directly involved in many human
      pathologies including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative
      diseases. SirT7, one of the less well-understood sirtuins, has been associated
      with ribosome biogenesis, gene expression, metabolism and cancer. Despite the
      wide range of these functions, only a handful of targets for SirT7 have so far
      been described. In this issue, Zhang et al. report the first proteomic screening
      of SirT7 substrates. Using stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell
      culture (SILAC), coupled with quantitative mass spectrometry, they have
      identified a comprehensive list of candidates involved in a variety of functions,
      ranging from maintenance of chromatin architecture to gene silencing and
      metabolism. A selected group of these candidates has been validated by in vitro
      co-immunoprecipitation and deacetylation experiments. Predictive tools have
      identified additional candidates. The identification of these novel targets not
      only suggests new ways of understanding the physiological role of SirT7, but also
      provides new evidence to add to our existing knowledge of the global impact of
      sirtuins in cell homeostasis.

PMID- 28613016
TI  - Number of parity and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women: A dose-response
      meta-analysis of observational studies.
AB  - AIM: The association between parity and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk has been
      investigated, but results are controversial. Thus, our aim was to systematically
      analyze the effect of number of parity on the risk of RA in women. METHODS:
      Relevant published studies were identified using PubMed and embase databases
      through 1 April 2016. We pooled the relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence
      intervals (CI) using random-effects models. RESULTS: In all, 12 studies with a
      total of 2 497 580 participants and 11 521 RA cases were included. A borderline
      significant inverse association was observed when we compared parity with
      nulliparity for RA, with summarized RR = 0.90 (95%CI: 0.79-1.02; I2  = 58.5%,
      Pheterogeneity  = 0.010). In dose-response analysis, we observed a significant
      nonlinear (Pnonlinearity  = 0.000) relation between parity number and the risk of
      RA. Compared with null parity, the pooled RR of RA were 0.89 (95%CI: 0.86-0.93),
      0.84 (95%CI: 0.79-0.89), 0.85 (95%CI: 0.79-0.90), 0.88 (95%CI: 0.81-0.95), 0.90
      (95%CI: 0.83-0.97), 0.92 (95%CI: 0.84-1.02), and 0.94 (95%CI: 0.83-1.07) for 1,
      2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 live births, respectively. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses
      showed similar associations. No publication bias was found. CONCLUSION: The
      findings from the current meta-analysis indicate that parity was related to
      decreased risk of RA. The greatest risk reduction appeared when the parity number
      reached two. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings.

PMID- 28613017
TI  - Small- and large-scale heterogeneity in genetic variation across the collard
      flycatcher genome: implications for estimating genetic diversity in nonmodel
      organisms.
AB  - Population genetic studies in nonmodel organisms are often hampered by a lack of
      reference genomes that are essential for whole-genome resequencing. In the light
      of this, genotyping methods have been developed to effectively eliminate the need
      for a reference genome, such as genotyping by sequencing or restriction site
      associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq). However, what remains relatively poorly
      studied is how accurately these methods capture both average and variation in
      genetic diversity across an organism's genome. In this issue of Molecular Ecology
      Resources, Dutoit et al. (2016) use whole-genome resequencing data from the
      collard flycatcher to assess what factors drive heterogeneity in nucleotide
      diversity across the genome. Using these data, they then simulate how well
      different sequencing designs, including RAD sequencing, could capture most of the
      variation in genetic diversity. They conclude that for evolutionary and
      conservation-related studies focused on the estimating genomic diversity,
      researchers should emphasize the number of loci analysed over the number of
      individuals sequenced.

PMID- 28613018
TI  - A pilot study on the Chinese Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 in
      detecting feigned mental disorders: Simulators classified by using the Structured
      Interview of Reported Symptoms.
AB  - The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is often used in
      forensic psychological/psychiatric assessment. This was a pilot study on the
      utility of the Chinese MMPI-2 in detecting feigned mental disorders. The sample
      consisted of 194 university students who were either simulators (informed or
      uninformed) or controls. All the participants were administered the Chinese MMPI
      2 and the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms-2 (SIRS-2). The results of
      the SIRS-2 were utilized to classify the participants into the feigning or
      control groups. The effectiveness of eight detection indices was investigated by
      using item analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), and receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results indicated that informed
      simulating participants with prior knowledge of mental disorders did not perform
      better in avoiding feigning detection than uninformed-simulating participants. In
      addition, the eight detection indices of the Chinese MMPI-2 were effective in
      discriminating participants in the feigning and control groups, and the best cut
      off scores of three of the indices were higher than those obtained from the
      studies using the English MMPI-2. Thus, in this sample of university students,
      the utility of the Chinese MMPI-2 in detecting feigned mental disorders was
      tentatively supported, and the Chinese Infrequency Scale (ICH), a scale developed
      specifically for the Chinese MMPI-2, was also supported as a valid scale for
      validity checking.

PMID- 28613019
TI  - A mystery of a cup of coffee; an insight look by chemist.
AB  - Fruits, vegetables as well as processed food products of plant origin are a rich
      source of beneficial for human health constituents. Among them the polyphenols
      constitute a large group of compounds. The presented literature survey is devoted
      to chlorogenic acid the most abundant representative of cinnamate acids esters.
      Its chemical as well as biological properties are described. (c) 2017 BioFactors,
      43(5):621-632, 2017.

PMID- 28613020
TI  - Integrated gene expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation followed
      by sequencing: Analysis of the C-terminal binding protein in breast cancer.
AB  - AIM: This study explored the possible mechanisms of the transcriptional
      regulatory activities of C-terminal binding protein (CtBP) and the role of CtBP
      in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. METHODS: Microarray data of GSE36529,
      including three CtBP-knockdown breast cancer MCF-7 cell samples, three control
      knockdown samples and data of CtBP binding profile in MCF-7 cells, was downloaded
      from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
      were screened between CtBP-knockdown MCF-7 cell samples and controls. Newly
      developed chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing technology was
      used to identify the CtBP binding regions. The direct target genes of CtBP were
      identified using ChIP-Array software and a regulatory network was constructed,
      followed by gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of all identified DEGs and
      DEGs targeted by CtBP. RESULTS: In total, 404 DEGs were identified in CtBP
      knockdown MCF-7 cell samples. These DEGs were enriched in different GO terms,
      such as cellular response to stress and cell cycle, endoplasmic reticulum and
      nucleotide binding. Additionally, 143 DEGs were identified as potential direct
      targets of CtBP in the regulatory network. CtBP target genes such as hypoxia up
      regulated 1, BTG family member 2 and endothelin 1 were mainly related to response
      to hypoxia and regulation of cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxia up
      regulated 1, BTG family member 2 and endothelin 1 may be associated with the
      progression of breast cancer through interaction with CtBP in different
      biological processes. CtBP may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of
      breast cancer.

PMID- 28613021
TI  - Combined value of placental alpha microglobulin-1 detection and cervical length
      via transvaginal ultrasound in the diagnosis of preterm labor in symptomatic
      patients.
AB  - AIM: We aimed to evaluate the combined value of placental alpha microglobulin-1
      (PAMG-1) and cervical length (CL) via transvaginal ultrasound for assessing risk
      of imminent spontaneous preterm delivery in patients presenting with threatened
      preterm labor (PTL). METHODS: Clinical exam, PAMG-1 test, cardiotocography, and
      CL measurement via transvaginal ultrasound were performed on all patients meeting
      inclusion criteria. Ninety-nine patients at 22+0 -36+6 gestational weeks with the
      symptoms of PTL were included. The interval between sample collection and
      delivery was measured for each method. RESULTS: Performance metrics were
      calculated for PAMG-1 test, CL < 25 mm, and contractions >= 8/h. The sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for the
      PAMG-1 test were 100%, 95%, 75%, 100% and 100%, 98%, 88%, 100% for 7 and 14 days,
      respectively; the respective values for CL < 25 mm were 83%, 59%, 22%, 96% and
      79%, 59%, 24%, 94% for 7 and 14 days; and those for contractions >= 8/h were 42%,
      38%, 8%, 83% and 43%, 38%, 10%, 80% for 7 and 14 days. Specificity for the PAMG-1
      test was statistically significant (P < 0.001) in pairwise comparisons for all
      other methods. Patients were divided into four groups for analysis of PAMG-1 test
      performance as follows: CL < 15 mm (100%, 100%, 100%, 100% and 100%, 100%, 100%,
      100% for 7 and 14 days, respectively); CL < 25 mm (100%, 94%, 83%, 100% and 100%,
      97%, 92%, 100% for 7 and 14 days, respectively); CL of 15-30 mm (100%, 95%, 64%,
      100% and 100%, 97%, 82%, 100% for 7 and 14 days, respectively); and CL >= 30 mm
      (100%, 100%, 100%, 100% and 100%, 100%, 100%, 100% for 7 and 14 days,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: The use of the PAMG-1 test in patients with a CL of 15
      30 mm is highly predictive of imminent spontaneous preterm delivery in women
      presenting with threatened PTL and could save hospital resources.

PMID- 28613022
TI  - Parental attitudes towards oral health and caries-risk in their children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate whether parents can be
      matched with attitudes towards oral health by means of a short vignette sheet,
      developed based on the results of an earlier Q-methodological study. Furthermore,
      this study aims to explore how the attitudes associate with diet and oral hygiene
      habits and with clinical outcomes in children. METHODS: A total of 170 parents of
      6- to 9-year-old children completed a questionnaire including the vignette sheet
      and clinical scores (oral hygiene, caries) were retrieved from the follow-up
      measurement of a RCT on caries-preventive measures. RESULTS: Of the 170
      respondents, 159 (93.5%) could be matched to a single best matching attitude.
      Respondents identified "well" to "very well" with at least one of the attitudes
      and seemed to be able to differentiate well the extent to which they matched to
      the different attitudes. Parents scoring high on different attitudes were found
      to be associated with different lifestyle patterns and clinical outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that using a self-assessed attitude tool, derived
      from the results of a Q-methodological study, it is possible to identify
      different groups of parents with different oral health-related risk factors. Of
      course, it is hardly likely that people are 100% only 1 type of parent; parents
      can be considered to be a mix of different typologies. However, information on
      the composition of that mix may be helpful for the dental professional to
      estimate risks and to deliver a more tailored prevention strategy in children.

PMID- 28613024
TI  - Timing is everything: Pulsed versus constant exposures in assessing effects of
      road salt on aquatic organisms.

PMID- 28613025
TI  - Author's response to Suter (2017).

PMID- 28613026
TI  - Fostering integrity in scientific research and publishing.

PMID- 28613023
TI  - Variations in reporting of outcomes in randomized trials on diet and physical
      activity in pregnancy: A systematic review.
AB  - AIM: Trials on diet and physical activity in pregnancy report on various
      outcomes. We aimed to assess the variations in outcomes reported and their
      quality in trials on lifestyle interventions in pregnancy. METHODS: We searched
      major databases without language restrictions for randomized controlled trials on
      diet and physical activity-based interventions in pregnancy up to March 2015. Two
      independent reviewers undertook study selection and data extraction. We estimated
      the percentage of papers reporting 'critically important' and 'important'
      outcomes. We defined the quality of reporting as a proportion using a six-item
      questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting this
      quality. RESULTS: Sixty-six randomized controlled trials were published in 78
      papers (66 main, 12 secondary). Gestational diabetes (57.6%, 38/66), preterm
      birth (48.5%, 32/66) and cesarian section (60.6%, 40/66), were the commonly
      reported 'critically important' outcomes. Gestational weight gain (84.5%, 56/66)
      and birth weight (87.9%, 58/66) were reported in most papers, although not
      considered critically important. The median quality of reporting was 0.60
      (interquartile range 0.25, 0.83) for a maximum score of one. Study and journal
      characteristics did not affect quality. CONCLUSION: Many studies on lifestyle
      interventions in pregnancy do not report critically important outcomes,
      highlighting the need for core outcome set development.

PMID- 28613028
TI  - Science, antiscience, and environmental decision making: A call to action.

PMID- 28613029
TI  - Chemical standard derivation for the protection of aquatic life: A guided world
      tour.

PMID- 28613030
TI  - Using genomics for environmental monitoring in the oil and gas industry.

PMID- 28613031
TI  - Response to Burton (2017): Who ignores commonsense issues and focuses on
      chemicals alone?

PMID- 28613032
TI  - Learned Discourse: Timely Scientific Opinions.

PMID- 28613033
TI  - Resurrection ecology and its utility in ecotoxicology.

PMID- 28613035
TI  - Total laparoscopic hysterectomy for endometrial cancer in a renal transplantation
      patient receiving peritoneal dialysis: Case report and literature review.
AB  - Improved surgical techniques and immunosuppressant medications for organ
      transplantation have resulted in a significant increase in the number of women
      undergoing renal transplantation. Peritoneal dialysis (PD), a common supportive
      therapy for chronic renal failure, is also used in cases of renal transplantation
      failure. Herein, we report the first case of a rare total conventional
      laparoscopic gynecologic hysterectomy performed for endometrial cancer in a
      patient undergoing life-supportive PD as a result of renal transplantation
      failure. No unusual intraoperative complications were experienced, but post
      surgical peritoneal leakage was observed. We reviewed the literature of
      alternative surgical methods of hysterectomy for endometrial cancer in patients
      who had undergone renal transplantation and were undergoing PD at the time of the
      hysterectomy. Laparoscopic hysterectomy could be safe in a renal transplantation
      patient receiving PD if injury to the transplanted ureter and renal artery is
      avoided by recognizing the patient's anatomy and PD leakage is averted by careful
      peritoneum suture and avoiding contact with the PD catheter.

PMID- 28613034
TI  - TORC1-mediated sensing of chaperone activity alters glucose metabolism and
      extends lifespan.
AB  - Protein quality control mechanisms, required for normal cellular functioning,
      encompass multiple functions related to protein production and maintenance.
      However, the existence of communication between proteostasis and metabolic
      networks and its underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we report that
      enhanced chaperone activity and consequent improved proteostasis are sensed by
      TORC1 via the activity of Hsp82. Chaperone enrichment decreases the level of
      Hsp82, which deactivates TORC1 and leads to activation of Snf1/AMPK, regardless
      of glucose availability. This mechanism culminates in the extension of yeast
      replicative lifespan (RLS) that is fully reliant on both TORC1 deactivation and
      Snf1/AMPK activation. Specifically, we identify oxygen consumption increase as
      the downstream effect of Snf1 activation responsible for the entire RLS
      extension. Our results set a novel paradigm for the role of proteostasis in
      aging: modulation of the misfolded protein level can affect cellular metabolic
      features as well as mitochondrial activity and consequently modify lifespan. The
      described mechanism is expected to open new avenues for research of aging and age
      related diseases.

PMID- 28613036
TI  - A Tribute to Dragan Primorac on the Twentieth Anniversary of The International
      Society of Applied Biological Sciences and Its Tenth Biennial Conference.

PMID- 28613037
TI  - Results of a collaborative study on DNA identification of aged bone samples.
AB  - AIM: A collaborative exercise with several institutes was organized by the
      Forensic DNA Service (FDNAS) and the Institute of the Legal Medicine, 2nd Faculty
      of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, with the aim to test
      performance of different laboratories carrying out DNA analysis of relatively old
      bone samples. METHODS: Eighteen laboratories participating in the collaborative
      exercise were asked to perform DNA typing of two samples of bone powder. Two bone
      samples provided by the National Museum and the Institute of Archaelogy in
      Prague, Czech Republic, came from archeological excavations and were estimated to
      be approximately 150 and 400 years old. The methods of genetic characterization
      including autosomal, gonosomal, and mitochondrial markers was selected solely at
      the discretion of the participating laboratory. RESULTS: Although the
      participating laboratories used different extraction and amplification
      strategies, concordant results were obtained from the relatively intact 150 years
      old bone sample. Typing was more problematic with the analysis of the 400 years
      old bone sample due to poorer quality. CONCLUSION: The laboratories performing
      identification DNA analysis of bone and teeth samples should regularly test their
      ability to correctly perform DNA-based identification on bone samples containing
      degraded DNA and potential inhibitors and demonstrate that risk of contamination
      is minimized.

PMID- 28613038
TI  - Investigation of the STR loci noise distributions of PowerSeqTM Auto System.
AB  - AIM: To characterize the noise and stutter distribution of 23 short tandem
      repeats (STRs) included in the PowerSeqTM Auto System. METHODS: Raw FASTQ files
      were analyzed using STRait Razor v2s to display alleles and coverage. The
      sequence noise was divided into several categories: noise at allele position,
      noise at -1 repeat position, and artifact. The average relative percentages of
      locus coverage for each noise, stutter, and allele were calculated from the
      samples used for this locus noise analysis. RESULTS: Stutter products could be
      routinely observed at the -2 repeat position, -1 repeat position, and +1 repeat
      position of alleles. Sequence noise at the allele position ranged from 10.22% to
      28.81% of the total locus coverage. At the allele position, individual noise
      reads were relatively low. CONCLUSION: The data indicate that noise generally
      will be low. In addition, the PowerSeqTM Auto System could capture nine flanking
      region single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that would not be observed by other
      current kits for massively parallel sequencing (MPS) of STRs.

PMID- 28613039
TI  - Sex estimation standards for medieval and contemporary Croats.
AB  - AIM: To develop discriminant functions for sex estimation on medieval Croatian
      population and test their application on contemporary Croatian population.
      METHODS: From a total of 519 skeletons, we chose 84 adult excellently preserved
      skeletons free of antemortem or postmortem changes and took all standard
      measurements. Sex was estimated/determined using standard anthropological
      procedures and ancient DNA (amelogenin analysis) where pelvis was insufficiently
      preserved or where sex morphological indicators were not consistent. We explored
      which measurements showed sexual dimorphism and used them for developing
      univariate and multivariate discriminant functions for sex estimation. We
      included only those functions that reached accuracy rate >=80%. We tested the
      applicability of developed functions on modern Croatian sample (n=37). RESULTS:
      From 69 standard skeletal measurements used in this study, 56 of them showed
      statistically significant sexual dimorphism (74.7%). We developed five univariate
      discriminant functions with classification rate 80.6%-85.2% and seven
      multivariate discriminant functions with an accuracy rate of 81.8%-93.0%. When
      tested on the modern population functions showed classification rates 74.1%-100%,
      and ten of them reached aimed accuracy rate. Females showed higher classified in
      the mediaeval populations, whereas males were better classification rates in the
      modern populations. CONCLUSION: Developed discriminant functions are sufficiently
      accurate for reliable sex estimation in both medieval Croatian population and
      modern Croatian samples and may be used in forensic settings. The methodological
      issues that emerged regarding the importance of considering external factors in
      development and application of discriminant functions for sex estimation should
      be further explored.

PMID- 28613040
TI  - Chromosomal microarray in clinical diagnosis: a study of 337 patients with
      congenital anomalies and developmental delays or intellectual disability.
AB  - AIM: To determine the diagnostic yield and criteria that could help to classify
      and interpret the copy number variations (CNVs) detected by chromosomal
      microarray (CMA) technique in patients with congenital and developmental
      abnormalities including dysmorphia, developmental delay (DD) or intellectual
      disability (ID), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and congenital anomalies (CA).
      METHOD: CMA analysis was performed in 337 patients with DD/ID with or without
      dysmorphism, ASD, and/or CA. In 30 of 337 patients, chromosomal imbalances had
      previously been detected by classical cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic
      methods. RESULTS: In 73 of 337 patients, clinically relevant variants were
      detected and better characterized. Most of them were >1 Mb. Variants of unknown
      clinical significance (VOUS) were discovered in 35 patients. The most common VOUS
      size category was <300 kb (40.5%). Deletions and de novo imbalances were more
      frequent in pathogenic CNV than in VOUS category. CMA had a high diagnostic yield
      of 43/307, excluding patients previously detected by other methods. CONCLUSION:
      CMA was valuable in establishing the diagnosis in a high proportion of patients.
      Criteria for classification and interpretation of CNVs include CNV size and type,
      mode of inheritance, and genotype-phenotype correlation. Agilent ISCA v2 Human
      Genome 8x60 K oligonucleotide microarray format proved to be reasonable
      resolution for clinical use, particularly in the regions that are recommended by
      the International Standard Cytogenomic Array (ISCA) Consortium and associated
      with well-established syndromes.

PMID- 28613041
TI  - Genotyping horse epithelial cells from fecal matter by isolation of polymerase
      chain reaction products.
AB  - AIM: To show that application of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method
      modified for amplification of a low-copy number DNA samples, ie, the isolation of
      PCR products (IPCRp), would represent improvement in obtaining genotypes from a
      fecal DNA compared with previously used genotyping methods. METHODS: The DNA from
      the horse fecal matter was extracted by modified Qiagen DNA Stool Mini Kit
      protocol. Following the extraction, the DNA genotypes from fecal samples were
      obtained by the most powerful PCR amplification method, the IPCRp. The IPCRp
      based multiplex kit amplified biotin-labeled strands were captured on
      streptavidin-coated plates, where everything but the dye-labeled target sequence
      was washed, eliminating all the background noise, released, and run on a
      genotyping instrument in a single-strand configuration. RESULTS: The IPCRp-based
      multiplex kit (6 loci) revealed equine DNA full genotype profiles, ie, appearance
      of all six loci, when sampled from fresh feces in 87% of the samples and partial
      genotype profile (appearance of one to five loci) in 13% of the samples, for a
      total of 100% genotyping success rate. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that
      the IPCRp amplification method, coupled with the Qiagen DNA Stool Mini Kit
      extraction can maximize the likelihood of obtaining horse DNA genotypes from
      fecal samples.

PMID- 28613042
TI  - Allele frequencies of 15 STR loci in Bosnian and Herzegovinian population.
AB  - AIM: To determine newest the most accurate allele frequencies for 15 short tandem
      repeat (STR) loci in the Bosnian and Herzegovinian population, calculate
      statistical parameters, and compare them with the relevant data for seven
      neighboring populations. METHODS: Genomic DNA was obtained from buccal swabs of
      1000 unrelated individuals from all regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Genotyping
      was performed using PowerPlex(r) 16 System to obtain allele frequencies for 15
      polymorphic STR loci including D3S1358, TH01, D21S11, D18S51, Penta E, D5S818,
      D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSF1PO, Penta D, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX, and FGA. The
      calculated allele frequencies were also compared with the data from neighboring
      populations. RESULTS: The highest detected value of polymorphism information
      content (PIC) was detected at the PentaE locus, whereas the lowest value was
      detected at the TPOX locus. The power of discrimination (PD) values had similar
      distribution, with Penta E showing the highest PD of 0.9788. While D18S51 had the
      highest value of power of exclusion (PE), the lowest PE value was detected at the
      TPOX locus. CONCLUSION: Upon comparison of Bosnian and Herzegovinian population
      data with those of seven neighboring populations, the highest allele frequency
      differentiation was noticed between Bosnian and Herzegovinian and Turkish
      population at 5 loci, the most informative of which was Penta E. The neighbor
      joining dendrogram constructed on the basis of genetic distance showed grouping
      of Slovenian, Austrian, Hungarian, and Croatian populations. Bosnian and
      Herzegovinian population was between the mentioned cluster and Serbian
      population. To determine more accurate distribution of allelic frequencies and
      forensic parameters, our study included 1000 unrelated individuals from all
      regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and our findings demonstrated the
      applicability of these markers in both forensics and future population genetic
      studies.

PMID- 28613043
TI  - Worth Remembering: Andries Querido, MD, 1912-2001 The Father of Clinical
      Endocrinology in the Netherlands.

PMID- 28613044
TI  - For Debate: Should Bariatric Surgery be Performed in Children and Adolescents
      with Hypothalamic Obesity?
AB  - Hypothalamic dysfunction leading to severe obesity is a serious long-term
      consequence of paediatric craniopharyngioma. It compromises quality of life,
      leads to long-term metabolic hazards, and may shorten life expectancy. Therefore,
      a proactive approach is required. Conventional treatment of hypothalamic obesity
      is difficult and hardly successful. Experience with bariatric surgery is limited,
      especially in younger patients. Two retrospective studies recently reported on
      classic bariatric surgery in a small series of individuals after
      craniopharyngioma. Of these, one included nine paediatric patients who underwent
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG), Roux-en
      Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or biliopancreatic diversion (BPD). The immediate effects
      were promising: The mean weight loss was 20.9 kilograms at 6 months and 15.1
      kilograms at 12 months. A duodenal-jejunal bypass sleeve (DBJS; EndoBarrier) is a
      mini-invasive, endoscopically placed and fully reversible bariatric procedure. We
      reported a boy diagnosed with craniopharyngioma at 10 years old who underwent
      surgery and radiotherapy. His body weight increased to 139 kilograms and body
      mass index (BMI) to 46.1 kg/m2 (+4.0 SD) within the subsequent 4.5 years. Fifteen
      months after DJBS placement, he lost 32.8 kilograms, and his BMI dropped to 32.7
      kg/m2 (+2.9 SD). Thus, DJBS proved to be a promising procedure in the treatment
      of hypothalamic obesity. We suggest performing it in children and adolescents
      with hypothalamic obesity to prevent or attenuate its devastating long-term
      sequelae.

PMID- 28613045
TI  - Therapeutic Genome Editing and its Potential Enhancement through CRISPR Guide RNA
      and Cas9 Modifications.
AB  - Genome editing with engineered nucleases is a rapidly growing field thanks to
      transformative technologies that allow researchers to precisely alter genomes for
      numerous applications including basic research, biotechnology, and human gene
      therapy. The genome editing process relies on creating a site-specific DNA double
      strand break (DSB) by engineered nucleases and then allowing the cell's repair
      machinery to repair the break such that precise changes are made to the DNA
      sequence. The recent development of CRISPR-Cas systems as easily accessible and
      programmable tools for genome editing accelerates the progress towards using
      genome editing as a new approach to human therapeutics. Here we review how genome
      editing using engineered nucleases works and how using different genome editing
      outcomes can be used as a tool set for treating human diseases. We then review
      the major challenges of therapeutic genome editing and we discuss how its
      potential enhancement through CRISPR guide RNA and Cas9 protein modifications
      could resolve some of these challenges.

PMID- 28613046
TI  - Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) Determinations in the Pediatric and Adolescent
      Endocrine Practice.
AB  - Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), secreted by immature testicular Sertoli-cells,
      triggers the regression of male fetal Mullerian ducts. During puberty, AMH is
      downregulated by intratesticular testosterone. In females, AMH is secreted from
      granulosa cells of immature ovarian follicles from late prenatal life until
      menopause; serum concentration is 5-20 times lower in females than in males
      through lifetime. In boys, AMH determination is useful in the clinical setting as
      a marker of Sertoli cell function. Serum AMH is low in infants with
      hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (and increases with FSH treatment), in patients
      with primary hypogonadism from early postnatal life and in Klinefelter syndrome
      from midpuberty. In boys with nonpalpable gonads, AMH determination is useful to
      distinguish between cryptorchidism and anorchism, as well as differentiating the
      dysgenetic causes of disorders of sexual development from those due to defective
      androgen synthesis or action. AMH can be used as a marker of sertoli/granulosa
      cell tumors and primary ovarian insufficiency in girls with delayed puberty,
      Turner Syndrome and after treatment with gonadotoxic agents.

PMID- 28613047
TI  - Adolescent Gynecomastia.
AB  - Gynecomastia, defined as the presence of glandular breast tissue in men, is a
      common, typically benign physical exam finding during adolescence. Although the
      exact pathogenesis of gynecomastia is unknown, it is likely due to a hormonal
      imbalance between estrogens and androgens. Most cases are idiopathic and do not
      require further evaluation if the history and physical examination are
      reassuring. Although the majority of cases will resolve spontaneously, surgical
      correction may be an option for adolescents with persistent and problematic
      gynecomastia. Gynecomastia can have significant negative impact on one's self
      esteem, and it is crucial that primary care providers screen adolescents with
      gynecomastia for mental health concerns. Future studies are necessary to
      elucidate the true incidence and prevalence of gynecomastia in adolescent males,
      and to further investigate the short-term and long-term physical and emotional
      effects of gynecomastia.

PMID- 28613048
TI  - Is the Second to Fourth Digit Ratio (2D:4D) a Biomarker of Sex-Steroids Activity?
AB  - The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) has been used as an indirect method to
      investigate the putative effects of prenatal exposure to androgens, and has been
      reported to be smaller in males than in females. This gender difference in digit
      length ratios has been linked with the in utero balance of androgens to
      oestrogen. This sexual dimorphism in 2D:4D ratios is apparent by 2 years of age
      and seems to be established early in life, possibly by the 14th week of
      gestation. Digits in females attain their maximum length at about 2.2 years
      (dextral subjects) or 5.1 years (sinistral subjects) earlier than those in males
      and increase slightly with age. It has also been reported that the 2D:4D ratio is
      correlated negatively with prenatal testosterone levels. This tentative theory is
      partially supported by lower 2D:4D in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia
      (CAH), higher 2D:4D in individuals with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome
      (CAIS) and a relationship between 2D:4D and polymorphisms in the androgen
      receptor. In contrast, individuals with Klinefelter syndrome (KS), who have
      reduced testosterone secretion throughout life, have a mean 2D:4D value similar
      to those found in female population norms. Nevertheless, its validity has not yet
      been conclusively demonstrated and is currently debated. In this context, our aim
      was to review and debate the relationship between 2D:4D ratio and sex-steroids
      activity in children, adolescents and young adults.

PMID- 28613049
TI  - Meeting Reports: The Eight International Congress of the GRS and IGF Society Tel
      Aviv, November 6-9, 2016.

PMID- 28613051
TI  - [The research and application prospect of three-dimensional printing in
      prosthodontics in China].

PMID- 28613050
TI  - Meeting Reports: 2016 Annual Meeting of the Sociedad Latinoamericana de
      Endocrinologia Pediatrica (SLEP) Buenos Aires, Argentina (November 8-11, 2016),
      Selected Highlights.

PMID- 28613052
TI  - [Focus on the recent state policy for oral health in China].
AB  - President Xi presented an important address in the National Health and Wellness
      Conference and the high strategic priority for promoting people's health in China
      was emphasized. Thereafter, a number of documents of state policy on health and
      wellness were issued successively. These documents covered important contents on
      oral health, which had great significance as a milestone. This article reviewed
      the documentation process and analyzed the key points on oral health. The release
      of these series of government documents had provided policy support for
      integrating oral health into significant health policies, building the first
      barrier for oral health, preventing and treating oral diseases based on
      strategies for common risk factors, adopting strategies to combine both the whole
      population and high-risk groups, and developing health-centered oral massive
      health industry, etc.

PMID- 28613053
TI  - [Application of negative molds technology based on three-dimensional printing in
      digital maxillofacial prostheses].
AB  - Objective: To explore a digital negative molds technique based on three
      dimensional (3D) printing to assist in the manufacture of maxillofacial
      prostheses, and to improve the deficiency of the current clinical treatment.
      Methods: Seventeen patients with maxillofacial defects (including nasal defects,
      orbital defects, cheek defects, auricle defect) were scanned by means of facial
      optical scanning and computer tomography (CT). The 3D models were then
      reconstructed and global registration was made to merge the reconstructed models
      into a new digital model for 3D design. The 3D design of the prostheses was
      implemented in software. The mechanical connection structure was designed by
      forward engineering technology for 3 patients with intra-oral defects in maxilla
      who needed to make removable partial dentures, so that the silicone prostheses
      and removable partial denture could be combined. The removable partial dentures
      were made by conventional method and connected with the prostheses. According to
      the 3D data of the prostheses, the digital negative molds were designed, and the
      3D printing technology was used to finish the processing of the resin molds.
      Silicone for prostheses were filled and cured in the resin molds to fabricate the
      clinical restorations for the patients. The margin adaptation and retention of
      the prostheses was detected. Results: Twenty patients with varying degrees of
      maxillofacial defects were rehabilitated using the courses developed in the
      study. All patients reported no pain or discomfort during the treatment; and they
      were satisfied with the final prostheses of the shape, color, retention,
      stability, etc. Eighteen of the prostheses showed good marginal adaptation, and
      sixteen of the prostheses showed good retention effect. Conclusions: The digital
      negative molds technique used in this study could greatly reduce the intensity of
      manual operation and provided a good therapeutic effect for patients with
      maxillofacial defects.

PMID- 28613054
TI  - [Quantitative evaluation of printing accuracy and tissue surface adaptation of
      mandibular complete denture polylactic acid pattern fabricated by fused
      deposition modeling technology].
AB  - Objective: To quantitatively evaluate the adaptation of polylactic acid (PLA)
      pattern of mandibular complete denture fabricated by fused deposition modeling
      (FDM) technology. Methods: A mandibular complete denture digital model was
      designed through a complete denture design software based on a pair of standard
      maxillomandibular edentulous plaster model and their occlusion bases. Ten PLA
      mandibular complete dentures were printed with a FDM machine. The dentures were
      scanned with and without the plaster model using a three-dimensional (3D)
      scanner. In Geomagic software, the scanning data of printed dentures were
      registered to its computer aided design (CAD) data, and the printing error was
      analyzed using the multipoint registration command. For quantitatively evaluating
      the adaptation of the denture, the data of plaster model and PLA denture were
      registered to the whole data of denture located in the plaster model using the
      best-fit alignment command, the 3D deviation of the plaster model and tissue
      surface of the denture represent the space between them. The overall area was
      separated into three parts: primary stress-bearing area, secondary stress-bearing
      area and border seal area, and the average deviations of these three parts were
      measured. The values were analyzed using analysis of variance. Results: Compared
      with the CAD data, the printing error was (0.013+/-0.004) mm. The overall 3D
      deviation between PLA denture and plaster model was (0.164+/-0.033) mm, in which
      the primary stress-bearing area was (0.165+/- 0.045) mm, the secondary stress
      bearing area was (0.153 +/- 0.027) mm, the border seal area was (0.186 +/- 0.043)
      mm. These showed a good fit in the majority parts of the FDM denture to the
      plaster model. No statistically significant difference was observed between the
      three areas (F=1.857, P=0.175>0.05). Conclusions: Combined with the 3D scanning,
      CAD and FDM technology, a FDM 3D printing process of complete denture for
      injection moulding can be established. As a result, high efficiency and low cost
      can be used to print out the complete denture, to lay the basis for further
      clinical applications.

PMID- 28613056
TI  - [A preliminary study on the forming quality of titanium alloy removable partial
      denture frameworks fabricated by selective laser melting].
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the processing accuracy, internal quality and suitability
      of the titanium alloy frameworks of removable partial denture (RPD) fabricated by
      selective laser melting (SLM) technique, and to provide reference for clinical
      application. Methods: The plaster model of one clinical patient was used as the
      working model, and was scanned and reconstructed into a digital working model. A
      RPD framework was designed on it. Then, eight corresponding RPD frameworks were
      fabricated using SLM technique. Three-dimensional (3D) optical scanner was used
      to scan and obtain the 3D data of the frameworks and the data was compared with
      the original computer aided design (CAD) model to evaluate their processing
      precision. The traditional casting pure titanium frameworks was used as the
      control group, and the internal quality was analyzed by X-ray examination.
      Finally, the fitness of the frameworks was examined on the plaster model.
      Results: The overall average deviation of the titanium alloy RPD framework
      fabricated by SLM technology was (0.089+/-0.076) mm, the root mean square error
      was 0.103 mm. No visible pores, cracks and other internal defects was detected in
      the frameworks. The framework fits on the plaster model completely, and its
      tissue surface fitted on the plaster model well. There was no obvious movement.
      Conclusions: The titanium alloy RPD framework fabricated by SLM technology is of
      good quality.

PMID- 28613055
TI  - [Comparison of adaptation and microstructure of titanium upper complete denture
      base fabricated by selecting laser melting and electron beam melting].
AB  - Objective: To fabricate Ti alloy frameworks for a maxillary complete denture with
      three-dimensional printing (3DP) technique, such as selective laser melting (SLM)
      and electron beam melting (EBM), and to evaluate the microstructure of these
      frameworks and their adaptation to the die stone models. Methods: Thirty pairs of
      edentulous casts were divided into 3 groups randomly and equally. In each group,
      one of the three techniques (SLM, EBM, conventional technique) was used to
      fabricate Ti alloy frameworks. The base-cast sets were transversally sectioned
      into 3 sections at the distal of canines, mesial of first molars, and the
      posterior palatal zone. The gap between the metal base and cast was measured in
      the 3 sections. Stereoscopic microscope was used to measure the gap. Three pieces
      of specimens of 5 mm diameter were fabricated with Ti alloy by SLM, EBM and the
      traditional casting technology (as mentioned above). Scanning electron microscope
      (SEM) was used to evaluate the differences of microstructure among these
      specimens. Results: The gaps between the metal base and cast were (99.4+/-17.0),
      (98.2+/-26.1), and (99.6+/- 16.1) MUm in conventional method; (99.4 +/- 22.8),
      (83.1 +/- 19.3), and (103.3 +/- 13.8) MUm in SLM technique; (248.3+/-70.3),
      (279.1+/-71.9), and (189.1+/-31.6) MUm in EBM technique. There was no statistical
      difference in the value of gaps between SLM Ti alloy and conventional method Ti
      alloy group (P>0.05). There was statistical difference among EBM Ti alloy,
      conventional method Ti alloy and SLM Ti alloy group (P<0.05). The SLM Ti alloy
      showed more uniform and compact microstructure than the cast Ti alloy and EBM Ti
      alloy did. Conclusions: SLM technique showed initial feasibility to manufacture
      the dental base of complete denture. The mechanical properties and microstructure
      of the denture frameworks prepared by SLM indicate that these dentures are
      appropriate for clinical use. EBM technique is inadequate to make a complete
      denture now.

PMID- 28613057
TI  - [Analysis of factors related to the number of mesenchymal stem cells derived from
      synovial fluid of the temporomandibular joint].
AB  - Objective: To analyze related factors on the number of mesenchymal stem cells in
      the synovial fluid of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and provide an research
      basis for understanding of the source and biological role of mesenchymal stem
      cells derived from synovial fluid in TMJ. Methods: One hundred and twenty-two
      synovial fluid samples from 91 temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients who
      visited in Department of TMJ Center, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of
      Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University from March 2013 to December 2013 were
      collected in this study, and 6 TMJ synovial fluid samples from 6 normal
      volunteers who were studying in the North Campus of Sun Yat-sen University were
      also collected, so did their clinical information. Then the relation between the
      number of mesenchymal stem cells derived from synovial fluid and the health
      status of the joints, age of donor, disc perforation, condylar bony destruction,
      blood containing and visual analogue scale score of pain were investigated using
      Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman rank correlation test. Results: The number of
      mesenchymal stem cells derived from synovial fluid had no significant relation
      with visual analogue scale score of pain (r=0.041, P=0.672), blood containing
      (P=0.063), condylar bony destruction (P= 0.371). Linear correlation between the
      number of mesenchymal stem cells derived from synovial fluid and age of donor was
      very week (r=0.186, P=0.043). The number of mesenchymal stem cells up-regulated
      when the joint was in a disease state (P=0.001). The disc perforation group had
      more mesenchymal stem cells in synovial fluid than without disc perforation group
      (P=0.042). Conclusions: The number of mesenchymal stem cells derived from
      synovial fluid in TMJ has no correlation with peripheral blood circulation and
      condylar bony destruction, while has close relation with soft tissue structure
      damage of the joint.

PMID- 28613058
TI  - [Correlation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 polymorphisms with chronic
      periodontitis in Uygur adults].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the association between matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP
      9) polymorphisms and chronic periodontitis in Uygur adults. Methods: A total of
      196 patients with chronic periodontitis and 97 healthy controls were selected
      from 2 500 Uygur people. Buccal swab samples were taken, the genomic DNA was
      extracted and the genotype distribution and allele frequency of MMP-9 were
      determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The
      distribution of genotypes, allele frequencies and risk factors were analyzed by
      chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. Results: Significant difference
      was found between healthy controls and the mild periodontitis and moderate to
      severe periodontitis in the MMP-9 1562C/T CC genotype expression (chi(2)=9.901,
      P=0.002; chi(2)=13.397, P< 0.001), and detectable rate of MMP-9 1562C/T CC
      genotype in the three groups was 31.3%(30/96), 53.5% (53/99), 27.8%(27/97),
      respectively. The detectable rate of CT genotype expression in the three groups
      were 65.6% (63/96), 45.5% (45/99), 69.1% (67/97) respectively and there was
      significant difference between healthy controls and mild periodontitis and
      between the mild periodontitis and moderate to severe periodontitis
      (chi(2)=8.025, P=0.005; chi(2)=11.159, P<0.001). There was also significant
      difference in allele frequency between healthy controls and mild periodontitis
      and between mild periodontitis and moderate to severe periodontitis
      (chi(2)=6.270, P=0.012; chi(2)=8.184, P=0.004). Logistic analysis showed that age
      under 35 years old was the protective factor of chronic periodontitis (OR=0.061,
      95% CI=0.035-0.108, P<0.001) while the male and CT genotype were the risk factors
      of chronic periodontitis (OR=2.392, 95%CI=1.496-3.819, P<0.001; OR=1.280,
      95%CI=0.794-2.067, P=0.031). Conclusions: The susceptibility to chronic
      periodontitis in Uygur adults in Moyu county of Xinjiang is related to the age
      and gender and polymorphism of MMP-9. The age over 35 years old, male and CT
      genotype may be the risk factors of chronic periodontitis in Uygur adults.

PMID- 28613059
TI  - [Experimental study of transforming growth factor-beta3 combined with dental pulp
      stem cells in promoting the implant's osseointegration].
AB  - Objective: To investigate the effect of transforming growth factor-beta3 (TGF
      beta3) and dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) in promoting the implant's
      osteointegration. Methods: Thirty-three New Zealand white rabbits were randomly
      divided into phosphate buffer saline (PBS) group, DPSC group and TGF-beta3 + DPSC
      group (12 rabbits/group). Two teeth from the rabbits's mandibular incisors or
      molars were pulled out randomly, then implant were placed in the tooth extraction
      site immediately. In PBS group, the implant area was filled with Bio-Oss powder
      0.30 g mixed by PBS 20 MUl only; while the implant area was filled with Bio-oss
      powder 0.30 g and 1*10(8)/L DPSC 20 MUl in DPSC group; in the the TGF-beta3+DPSC
      group the implant area was filled with Bio-Oss powder 0.30 g mixed with 1*10(8)/L
      DPSC 20 MUl and 80 MUg/L TGF-beta3 20 MUl. Eighteen New Zealand rabbits were
      executed in the 4 weeks and 8 weeks respectively. The treated alveolar bone
      tissue and implant were collected for plastic section. Alizarin red staining
      (ARS), immunohistochemical detection (IHC) of bone sialoprotein (BSP),
      osteocalcin (OC) and type I collagen (COL-I) were performed after 4 weeks and 8
      weeks. Combined bone lamelta width (CBLW) and implant bone contact rate (IBCR),
      trabecular width (TW) and trabecular area percentage (TA) were observed by
      histomorphometric measurement. Results: ARS staining: 4 weeks after the
      operation, the TGF-beta3+ DPSC group showed more red calcified nodules than the
      other two groups; 8 weeks after operation, the red calcified nodule was further
      increased. 4 weeks after the operation, the expression of BSP, OC and COL-I was
      (0.35+/- 0.04), (0.36 +/- 0.03) and (0.39 +/- 0.01) respectively in TGF-beta3+
      DPSC group, (0.27 +/- 0.02), (0.24 +/- 0.01) and (0.28+/-0.03) respectively in
      DPSC group, and (0.13+/-0.03), (0.15+/-0.02) and (0.16+/-0.02) respectively in
      PBS group. Eight weeks after operation, the expression of BSP, OC and COL-I was
      (0.51+/-0.02), (0.49+/-0.03) and (0.53+/-0.02) respectively in TGF-beta3+DPSC
      group, (0.35+/-0.02), (0.37+/-0.01) and (0.38+/-0.01) respectively in DPSC group,
      and (0.21+/-0.03), (0.19+/-0.01) and (0.22+/-0.02) respectively in PBS group.
      After 4 weeks and 8 weeks, the expression of BSP, OC and COL-I in TGF-beta3+DPSC
      group were significantly higher than the other groups (P<0.05), there was no
      significant difference between DPSC group and PBS group (P>0.05). Eight weeks
      after operation, the CBLW, IBCR, TW and TA around implant in TGF-beta3+ DPSC
      group were significantly higher than that in the other groups (P<0.05), there was
      no significant difference between DPSC group and PBS group (P>0.05). Conclusions:
      The DPSC has the potential osteogenic differentiation ability; TGF-beta3 can
      accelerate the osteogenic differentiation of DPSC to some extent; TGF-beta3
      combined with DPSC can effectively promote the implant's osseointegration.

PMID- 28613060
TI  - [Interpretation of newly published (2014) diagnostic criteria for
      temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD)].

PMID- 28613061
TI  - [Aubrey Sheiham: iconoclast and dental public health pioneer].

PMID- 28613062
TI  - [Severe congenital neutropenia with periodontal disease: a case report].

PMID- 28613063
TI  - [Application and outlook of three-dimensional printing in prosthetic dentistry].
AB  - At present, three-dimensional (3D) printing has been applied in many aspects in
      the field of prosthodontics, such as dental models, wax patterns, guide plates,
      dental restoration and customized implants. The common forming principles include
      light curing, sintering and melting-condensation, the materials include pure wax,
      resin, metal and ceramics. However, the printing precision and the strength of
      multi-material integrated forming, remains to be improved. In addition, as a
      technology by which the internal structure of a material can be customized
      manufacturing, further advantage of 3D printing used in the manufacture of dental
      restoration lies in the customization functional bionic micro-structures, but the
      related research is still in its infancy. The review briefly summarizes the
      commonly used 3D printing crafts in prosthetic dentistry, and details clinical
      applications and evaluations, provides references for clinical decision and
      further research.

PMID- 28613064
TI  - [Status and analysis of oral disease burden: comparison of the domestic and
      overseas data].
AB  - At present, it has been regarded that oral disease was one of the most prevalent
      problems for people's general health around the world. Oral disease burden study
      focuses on the pressure and effect of oral diseases to the whole social economy
      and people's health. Oral disease burden, as a public health problem, needs to be
      attached importance in China and foreign countries. By means of retrieving the
      literature, this review article summarizes the progress of domestic and oversea
      studies on oral disease burden, analyses the epidemiological burden through the
      indicators such as the prevalence rate, decayed missing and filled teeth,
      disability adjusted life years, disability weights, and illustrates the economic
      burden of oral diseases by using part of the data. Results shows that the oral
      disease burden is obvious in most countries and regions both in China and foreign
      countries. The study of oral disease burden in China has not been well developed.
      Giving priority to dental caries, periodontal disease and tooth loss, the
      prevalence of oral diseases in China is high. The rate of seeking dental
      treatments is low and the proportion of self-supporting treatments is high. In
      general, the epidemiological and economic burden of oral diseases is heavier in
      China than that in the rest of the world.

PMID- 28613065
TI  - [The research progress of CO(2) laser in the treatment of oral lichen planus].
AB  - Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common oral mucosal disease. The etiology of OLP is
      not clear. The treatment of OLP is difficult as some of the OLP patients have
      little effects to the conventional mucosal treatments. In recent years, laser
      therapy has been adopted to treat patients with OLP. The CO(2) laser therapy has
      drawn much attention of doctors and scholars because of its advantages in
      treating the OLP. This review article mainly discusses the principle, effects and
      some state-of-the-art progresses in OLP treatment using CO(2) laser.

PMID- 28613066
TI  - Balance Billing by Health Care Providers: Assessing Consumer Protections Across
      States.
AB  - ISSUE: Privately insured consumers expect that if they pay premiums and use in
      network providers, their insurer will cover the cost of medically necessary care
      beyond their cost-sharing. However, when obtaining care at emergency departments
      and in-network hospitals, patients treated by an out-of-network provider may
      receive an unexpected "balance bill" for an amount beyond what the insurer paid.
      With no explicit federal protections against balance billing, some states have
      stepped in to protect consumers from this costly and confusing practice. GOAL: To
      better understand the scope of state laws to protect consumers from balance
      billing. METHODS: Analysis of laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
      and interviews with officials in eight states.FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Most
      states do not have laws that directly protect consumers from balance billing by
      an out-of-network provider for care delivered in an emergency department or in
      network hospital. Of the 21 states offering protections, only six have a
      comprehensive approach to safeguarding consumers in both settings, and gaps
      remain even in these states. Because a federal policy solution might prove
      difficult, states may be better positioned in the short term to protect
      consumers.

PMID- 28613067
TI  - The American Health Care Act: economic and employment consequences for states.
AB  - ISSUE: The American Health Care Act (AHCA), passed by the U.S. House of
      Representatives, would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The
      Congressional Budget Office indicates that the AHCA could increase the number of
      uninsured by 23 million by 2026. GOAL: To determine the consequences of the AHCA
      on employment and economic activity in every state. METHODS: We compute changes
      in federal spending and revenue from 2018 to 2026 for each state and use the PI+
      model to project the effects on states' employment and economies. FINDINGS AND
      CONCLUSIONS: The AHCA would raise employment and economic activity at first, but
      lower them in the long run. It initially raises the federal deficit when taxes
      are repealed, leading to 864,000 more jobs in 2018. In later years, reductions in
      support for health insurance cause negative economic effects. By 2026, 924,000
      jobs would be lost, gross state products would be $93 billion lower, and business
      output would be $148 billion less. About three-quarters of jobs lost (725,000)
      would be in the health care sector. States which expanded Medicaid would
      experience faster and deeper economic losses.

PMID- 28613068
TI  - Estimation of the Thermochemical Radii and Ionic Volumes of Complex Ions.
AB  - The estimation of the thermochemical radius is very important because most of the
      properties of the electrolyte solutions are, to some extent, linked to this
      property. Also, these thermochemical radii can be used to estimate lattice
      energies, which can be a very important parameter to be evaluated when assessing
      the possibility of synthesizing new inorganic materials. This study presents a
      formulation for estimating the thermochemical radii of complex ions. More
      specifically, these thermochemical radii are estimated using a weighted sum based
      on the radii of the contributing cations and anions. Also, the influence of the
      ionic charge on these thermochemical radii is assessed and discussed. Finally,
      the parameters obtained from the estimation of the thermochemical radii of
      complex cations are used to estimate cation volumes, and this estimation is then
      validated through comparison with literature values. As a result, the equations
      developed for thermochemical radii of complex ions produce predictions that are
      accurate to within 15% in general, whereas the equation developed to estimate
      cation volumes produces predictions that are accurate to within 20% considering
      cation volumes greater than 70 A3.

PMID- 28613069
TI  - Molybdenum Disulfide Nanoparticles as Multifunctional Inhibitors against
      Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - The complex pathogenic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) include the
      aggregation of beta-amyloid peptides (Abeta) into oligomers or fibrils as well as
      Abeta-mediated oxidative stress, which require comprehensive treatment.
      Therefore, the inhibition of Abeta aggregation and free-radical scavenging are
      essential for the treatment of AD. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been found to
      influence Abeta aggregation process in vitro. Herein, we report the inhibition
      effects of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) NPs on Abeta aggregation.
      Polyvinylpyrrolidone-functionalized MoS2 NPs were fabricated by a pulsed laser
      ablation method. We find that MoS2 NPs exhibit multifunctional effects on Abeta
      peptides: inhibiting Abeta aggregation, destabilizing Abeta fibrils, alleviating
      Abeta-induced oxidative stress, as well as Abeta-mediated cell toxicity.
      Moreover, we show that MoS2 NPs can block the formation of the Ca2+ channel
      induced by Abeta fibrils in the cell membrane for the first time. Thus, these
      observations suggest that MoS2 NPs have great potential for a multifunctional
      therapeutic agent against amyloid-related diseases.

PMID- 28613070
TI  - Engineering High-Potential Photo-oxidants with Panchromatic Absorption.
AB  - Challenging photochemistry demands high-potential visible-light-absorbing photo
      oxidants. We report (i) a highly electron-deficient Ru(II) complex (eDef-Rutpy)
      bearing an E1/20/+ potential more than 300 mV more positive than that of any
      established Ru(II) bis(terpyridyl) derivative, and (ii) an ethyne-bridged eDef
      Rutpy-(porphinato)Zn(II) (eDef-RuPZn) supermolecule that affords both
      panchromatic UV-vis spectral domain absorptivity and a high E1/20/+ potential,
      comparable to that of Ce(NH4)2(NO3)6 [E1/2(Ce3+/4+) = 1.61 V vs NHE], a strong
      and versatile ground-state oxidant commonly used in organic functional group
      transformations. eDef-RuPZn exhibits ~8-fold greater absorptive oscillator
      strength over the 380-700 nm range relative to conventional Ru(II) polypyridyl
      complexes, and impressive excited-state reduction potentials (1E-/* = 1.59 V; 3E
      /* = 1.26 V). eDef-RuPZn manifests electronically excited singlet and triplet
      charge-transfer state lifetimes more than 2 orders of magnitude longer than those
      typical of conventional Ru(II) bis(terpyridyl) chromophores, suggesting new
      opportunities in light-driven oxidation reactions for energy conversion and
      photocatalysis.

PMID- 28613072
TI  - Ligand and Metal Based Multielectron Redox Chemistry of Cobalt Supported by
      Tetradentate Schiff Bases.
AB  - We have investigated the influence of bound cations on the reduction of cobalt
      complexes of redox active ligands and explored the reactivity of reduced species
      with CO2. The one electron reduction of [CoII(Rsalophen)] with alkali metals (M =
      Li, Na, K) leads to either ligand-centered or metal-centered reduction depending
      on the alkali ion. It affords either the [CoI(Rsalophen)K] complexes or the
      [CoII2(bis-salophen)M2] (M = Li, Na) dimers that are present in solution in
      equilibrium with the respective [CoI(salophen)M] complexes. The two electron
      reduction of [CoII(OMesalophen)] results in both ligand centered and metal
      centered reduction affording the Co(I)-Co(II)-Co(I) [Co3(tris
      OMesalophen)Na6(THF)6], 6 complex supported by a bridging deca-anionic tris
      OMesalophen10- ligand where three OMesalophen units are connected by two C-C
      bonds. Removal of the Na ion from 6 leads to a redistribution of the electrons
      affording the complex [(Co(OMesalophen))2Na][Na(cryptand)]3, 7. The EPR spectrum
      of 7 suggests the presence of a Co(I) bound to a radical anionic ligand.
      Dissolution of 7 in pyridine leads to the isolation of [CoI2(bis
      OMesalophen)Na2Py4][Na(cryptand)]2, 8. Complex 6 reacts with ambient CO2 leading
      to multiple CO2 reduction products. The product of CO2 addition to the
      OMesalophen ligand, [Co(OMesalophen-CO2)Na]2[Na(cryptand)]2, 9, was isolated but
      CO32- formation in 53% yield was also detected. Thus, the electrons stored in the
      reversible C-C bonds may be used for the transformation of carbon dioxide.

PMID- 28613071
TI  - Potent Inhibitor of Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Strains Identified from the Medicinal
      Plant Justicia gendarussa.
AB  - Justicia gendarussa, a medicinal plant collected in Vietnam, was identified as a
      potent anti-HIV-1 active lead from the evaluation of over 4500 plant extracts.
      Bioassay-guided separation of the extracts of the stems and roots of this plant
      led to the isolation of an anti-HIV arylnaphthalene lignan (ANL) glycoside,
      patentiflorin A (1). Evaluation of the compound against both the M- and T-tropic
      HIV-1 isolates showed it to possess a significantly higher inhibition effect than
      the clinically used anti-HIV drug AZT. Patentiflorin A and two congeners were
      synthesized, de novo, as an efficient strategy for resupply as well as for
      further structural modification of the anti-HIV ANL glycosides in the search for
      drug leads. Subsequently, it was determined that the presence of a
      quinovopyranosyloxy group in the structure is likely essential to retain the high
      degree of anti-HIV activity of this type of compounds. Patentiflorin A was
      further investigated against the HIV-1 gene expression of the R/U5 and U5/gag
      transcripts, and the data showed that the compound acts as a potential inhibitor
      of HIV-1 reverse transcription. Importantly, the compound displayed potent
      inhibitory activity against drug-resistant HIV-1 isolates of both the nucleotide
      analogue (AZT) and non-nucleotide analogue (nevaripine). Thus, the ANL glycosides
      have the potential to be developed as novel anti-HIV drugs.

PMID- 28613073
TI  - Dioxygen: What Makes This Triplet Diradical Kinetically Persistent?
AB  - Experimental heats of formation and enthalpies obtained from G4 calculations both
      find that the resonance stabilization of the two unpaired electrons in triplet
      O2, relative to the unpaired electrons in two hydroxyl radicals, amounts to 100
      kcal/mol. The origin of this huge stabilization energy is described within the
      contexts of both molecular orbital (MO) and valence-bond (VB) theory. Although O2
      is a triplet diradical, the thermodynamic unfavorability of both its hydrogen
      atom abstraction and oligomerization reactions can be attributed to its very
      large resonance stabilization energy. The unreactivity of O2 toward both these
      modes of self-destruction maintains its abundance in the ecosphere and thus its
      availability to support aerobic life. However, despite the resonance
      stabilization of the pi system of triplet O2, the weakness of the O-O sigma bond
      makes reactions of O2, which eventually lead to cleavage of this bond, very
      favorable thermodynamically.

PMID- 28613075
TI  - Syntheses of Tetrahydrobenzoazepinoindoles and Dihydrobenzodiazepinoindoles via
      Ring-Opening Cyclization of Activated Aziridines with 2-(2-Bromophenyl)-1H
      indoles.
AB  - Two efficient, modular, step- and pot-economic strategies to access various
      5,6,7,12-tetrahydrobenzo[2,3]azepino[4,5-b]indoles and 6,7-dihydro-5H
      benzo[5,6][1,4]diazepino[1,7-a]indoles are disclosed that advance via SN2-type
      regioselective ring opening of enantiopure aziridines with 2-(2-bromophenyl)-1H
      indoles at their C3 and indolyl N centers, respectively, followed by Cu-mediated
      C-N cyclization which furnishes the products in excellent yields with outstanding
      enantiomeric excesses (up to >99%).

PMID- 28613074
TI  - Blue-to-Green Emitting Neutral Ir(III) Complexes Bearing Pentafluorosulfanyl
      Groups: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study.
AB  - A structure-property relationship study of neutral heteroleptic (1 and 2,
      [Ir(C?N)2(L?X)]) and homoleptic (3 and 4, fac-[Ir(C?N)3]) Ir(III) complexes
      (where L?X = anionic 2,2,6,6-tetramethylheptane-3,5-dionato-kappaO3,kappaO6 (thd)
      and C?N = a cyclometalating ligand bearing a pentafluorosulfanyl (-SF5) electron
      withdrawing group (EWG) at the C4 (HL1) and C3 (HL2) positions of the phenyl
      moiety) is presented. These complexes have been fully structurally characterized,
      including by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and their electrochemical and
      optical properties have also been extensively studied. While complexes 1
      ([Ir(L1)2(thd)]), 3 (Ir(L1)3), and 4 (Ir(L2)3) exhibit irreversible first
      reduction waves based on the pentafluorosulfanyl substituent in the range of 
      1.71 to -1.88 V (vs SCE), complex 2 ([Ir(L2)2(thd)]) exhibits a quasi-reversible
      pyridineC?N-based first reduction wave that is anodically shifted at -1.38 V. The
      metal + C?N ligand oxidation waves are all quasi-reversible in the range of 1.08
      1.54 V (vs SCE). The optical gap, determined from the lowest energy absorption
      maxima, decreases from 4 to 2 to 3 to 1, and this trend is consistent with the
      Hammett behavior (sigmam/sigmap with respect to the metal-carbon bond) of the 
      SF5 EWG. In degassed acetonitrile, for complexes 2-4, introduction of the -SF5
      group produced a blue-shifted emission (lambdaem 484-506 nm) in comparison to
      reference complexes [Ir(ppy)2(acac)] (R1, where acac = acetylacetonato) (lambdaem
      528 nm in MeCN), [Ir(CF3-ppy) (acac)] (R3, where CF3-ppyH = 2-(4
      (trifluoromethyl)phenyl)pyridine) (lambdaem 522 nm in DCM), and [Ir(CF3-ppy)3]
      (R8) (lambdaem 507 nm in MeCN). The emission of complex 1, in contrast, was
      modestly red shifted (lambdaem 534 nm). Complexes 2 and 4, where the -SF5 EWG is
      substituted para to the Ir-CC?N bond, are efficient phosphorescent emitters, with
      high photoluminescence quantum yields (PhiPL = 58-79% in degassed MeCN solution)
      and microsecond emission lifetimes (tauepsilon = 1.35-3.02 MUs). Theoretical and
      experimental observations point toward excited states that are principally ligand
      centered (3LC) in nature, but with a minor metal-to-ligand charge-transfer
      (3MLCT) transition component, as a function of the regiochemistry of the
      pentafluorosulfanyl group. The 3LC character is predominant over the mixed 3CT
      character for complexes 1, 2, and 4, while in complex 3, there is exclusive 3LC
      character as demonstrated by unrestricted density functional theory (DFT)
      calculations. The short emission lifetimes and reasonable PhiPL values in doped
      thin film (5 wt % in PMMA), particularly for 4, suggest that these neutral
      complexes would be attractive candidate emitters in organic light-emitting
      diodes.

PMID- 28613076
TI  - Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Nanoporous Metal Oxides toward Supercapacitor
      Applications: Progress and Prospects.
AB  - Transition metal oxides (TMOs) have attracted significant attention for energy
      storage applications such as supercapacitors due to their good electrical
      conductivity, high electrochemical response (by providing Faradaic reactions),
      low manufacturing costs, and easy processability. Despite exhibiting these
      attractive characteristics, the practical applications of TMOs for
      supercapacitors are still relatively limited. This is largely due to their
      continuous Faradaic reactions, which can lead to major changes or destruction of
      their structure as well phase changes (in some cases) during cycling, leading to
      the degradation in their capacitive performance over time. Hence, there is an
      immediate need to develop new synthesis methods, which will readily provide
      stable porous architectures, controlled phase, as well as useful control over
      dimensions (1-D, 2-D, and 3-D) of the metal oxides for improving their
      performance in supercapacitor applications. Since its discovery in late 1990s,
      metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have influenced many fields of material science.
      In recent years, they have gained significant attention as precursors or
      templates for the derivation of porous metal oxide nanostructures and
      nanocomposites for next-generation supercapacitor applications. Even though these
      materials have widespread applications and have been widely studied in terms of
      their structural features and synthesis, it is still not clear how these
      materials will play an important role in the development of the supercapacitor
      field. In this review, we will summarize the recent developments in the field of
      MOF-derived porous metal oxide nanostructures and nanocomposites for
      supercapacitor applications. Furthermore, the current challenges along with the
      future trends and prospects in the application of these materials for
      supercapacitors will also be discussed.

PMID- 28613078
TI  - The impact of textile wastewater irrigation on the growth and development of
      apple plant.
AB  - In this work, the effect of irrigation with textile wastewaters on the growth and
      development of "Golden Delicious" apple sapling was examined over a one-year
      period. Municipal water prepared as a control sample (T0), 1/3 diluted (T1), and
      undiluted (T2) raw textile wastewater was used as the three different irrigation
      water samples. Two replications of each test were performed on three random
      samples each time. When examining the effects of T0, T1, and T2 irrigation water
      on plant growth, it was found that T1 irrigation water significantly increased
      the weight, the shoot length, and the diameter of the sapling. Despite increasing
      Ni and Cr metals in the apple saplings' leaves when irrigated with T2 water,
      plant growth was restricted due to the lack of basic nutrients. When taking
      certain aspects into account, such as the proper treatment of wastewater, then
      1/3 diluted textile wastewater can be used as agricultural irrigation water for
      the apple plants.

PMID- 28613077
TI  - Identification of Infants at Risk for Chronic Lung Disease at Birth. Potential
      for a Personalized Approach to Disease Prevention.

PMID- 28613079
TI  - Rhizoremediation of residual sulfonylurea herbicides in agricultural soils using
      Lens culinaris and a commercial supplement.
AB  - Sulfonylureas (SU) are a popular herbicide used today for controlling weeds.
      While beneficial for this purpose they present a persistent problem in
      agricultural treated areas, with this treatment proving detrimental for
      successive crops. This study assessed the phytoremediative properties of lentils
      (Lens culinaris) grown in uncontaminated and chlorsulfuron-contaminated soil,
      with and without the addition of a growth supplement, PulseAiderTM. The results
      show that in the presence of lentils the degradation of chlorsulfuron is enhanced
      and this degradation rate is significantly increased when the PulseAiderTM
      supplement was included during seed sowing. The supplement PulseAiderTM also
      significantly increased shoot and root biomass, root branching, and nodule number
      under control conditions. While this was not so for plants grown in contaminated
      soils, the PulseAiderTM supplement seemed to alter root branching and morphology.
      Most Probable Number (MPN) assays showed increased numbers of potential
      chlorsulfuron-degrading bacteria in soil treated with PulseAiderTM, although this
      was found to be significant only in the control soil. Sequencing of the 16S
      ribosomal gene showed the presence of Pseudomonas fluorescens bacterial species
      which is a known chlorsulfuron-degrading bacterium. This study is one of the
      first to address the remediation of residual SU herbicides and offers an
      economically feasible solution that may have an impact on global food security.

PMID- 28613080
TI  - Wetland-based phytoremediation of biosolids from an end-of-life municipal lagoon:
      A microcosm study.
AB  - This study examined the effectiveness of a wetland system for phytoremediation of
      biosolids from an end-of-life municipal lagoon. The microcosm experiment tested
      the effects of one vs. two harvests of cattail per growth cycle in biosolids
      without (PB) or with (PBS) the addition of soil on phytoremediation. Cattail
      (Typha latifolia) seedlings were transplanted into pots containing 4.5 kg (dry
      wt.) of biosolids, above which a 10-cm deep water column was maintained. Results
      showed that two harvests per growth cycle significantly increased N and P
      phytoextraction relative to a single harvest. Overall, the three cycles of
      cattail removed ~3.7% of N which was originally present in the biosolids and ~2%
      of the total P content. Phytoextraction rates are expected to be higher under
      field conditions where biomass yields are much higher than those obtained under
      growth room conditions in this study. These results indicate that wetland-based
      phytoremediation can effectively clean up nutrients from biosolids, and therefore
      presents a potential alternative to the spreading of biosolids on agricultural
      land, which may not be readily available in some communities. Phytoextraction
      rates of trace elements, however, were much lower (0.02-0.17%). Nonetheless,
      trace element concentrations were not high enough to be of significant concern.

PMID- 28613081
TI  - Maintenance of negative fluid balance can improve endothelial and cardiac
      functions in primary hypertensive patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The issue of unidentified volume expansion is well recognized as a cause
      for resistance to antihypertensive therapy. The aim of study is to identify
      contribution of negative fluid balance to hypertension control and impact on
      endothelial and cardiac functions among primary hypertensive patients who do not
      have kidney failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective interventional
      study with one-year follow-up. Preceded by volume status measurements were
      performed by a body composition monitor (BCM), the patients were put on
      ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for 24 hours. Then, echocardiographic
      assessments and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and carotid intima-media thickness
      (CIMT) measurements were completed. Patients in one of the two groups were kept
      negative hydrated during trial with diuretic treatment. RESULTS: At the end of
      one-year follow-up, patients in negative hydrated group were found to have
      significantly lower CIMT, left ventricle mass index, left ventricular end
      diastolic diameter, mean systolic and diastolic BP, non-dipper patient ratio, and
      higher FMD. In negatively hydrated group, target organ damage significantly
      reduced during trial. CONCLUSIONS: The significance of negative hydration status
      with respect to blood pressure control, endothelial and cardiac functions within
      primary hypertensive patients who do not suffer from kidney failure has been
      demonstrated.

PMID- 28613082
TI  - Impact of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator on confidence to undertake
      physical activity in inherited heart disease: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity is associated with improved quality of life.
      Patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) face unique
      clinical and psychological challenges. Factors such as fear of ICD shock may
      negatively impact on physical activity, while a sense of protection gained from
      the ICD may instil confidence to be active. AIM: We aimed to examine the impact
      of an ICD on physical activity levels and factors associated with amount of
      activity. METHODS: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted. Accelerometer data
      (seven-day) was collected in March-November 2015 for 63 consecutively recruited
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients, with or without an ICD, aged ?18 years. A
      survey study was conducted in July-August 2016 of 155 individuals aged ?18 years
      with an inherited heart disease and an ICD in situ. RESULTS: Based on the
      International Physical Activity Questionnaire, mean leisure time physical
      activity was 239 +/- 300 min/week with 51% meeting physical activity guidelines.
      Accelerometry showed that mean moderate-vigorous physical activity was the same
      for patients with and without an ICD (254 +/- 139 min/week versus 300 +/- 150
      min/week, p=0.23). Nearly half of survey participants ( n=73) said their device
      made them more confident to exercise. Being anxious about ICD shocks was the only
      factor associated with not meeting physical activity guidelines. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with inherited heart disease adjust differently to their ICD device, and
      for many it has no impact on physical activity. Discussion regarding the
      appropriate level of physical activity and potential barriers will ensure best
      possible outcomes in this unique patient group.

PMID- 28613083
TI  - The ALDH2 gene rs671 polymorphism is not associated with essential hypertension.
AB  - Essential hypertension (EH) is a worldwide problem. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2
      (ALDH2) gene has been suggested to be correlated with EH. However, the results
      are inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate the associations of ALDH2 rs671
      polymorphism with EH in a Chinese Han population in Shanghai. Genotype of ALDH2
      rs671 was analyzed in 1923 EH patients and 1115 control subjects. We found no
      association between ALDH2 rs671 and EH risk or EH-related quantitative blood
      chemistry values. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was performed and the summary
      results from 11220 patients and 8339 control subjects were consistent with our
      findings. These results indicated that rs671 of ALDH2 may not associate with the
      risk of EH.

PMID- 28613084
TI  - Perceived social support and self-care in patients hospitalized with heart
      failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rehospitalization of heart failure patients is often considered the
      result of inadequate self-care yet only one study documents superior outcomes
      with better self-care. AIMS: If inadequate self-care is related to
      hospitalizations, then hospitalized heart failure patients should have lower self
      care skills than non-hospitalized patients. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate perceived social support and self-care characteristics of patients
      hospitalized with an exacerbation of heart failure. The self-care of heart
      failure index (SCHFI) and medical outcomes study of social support (MOS-SS) were
      the key instruments used in the research. METHODS AND RESULTS: This descriptive
      study used t tests and multiple regression to analyze the data. Results were
      compared with non-hospitalized heart failure patients in another study. Perceived
      social support ( t=-4.007, df=211, P<0.001) and self-care maintenance ( t=-3.343,
      df=220, P<0.002) scores were lower in the hospitalized participants than the
      comparison group. Self-care confidence was the only variable significantly
      related to perceived social support ( beta=0.210, t=2.210, P<0.30). CONCLUSIONS:
      This study supports the premise that heart failure rehospitalizations are related
      to inadequate self-care.

PMID- 28613086
TI  - Exploiting natural killer group 2D receptors for CAR T-cell therapy.
AB  - Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are genetically engineered proteins that
      combine an extracellular antigen-specific recognition domain with one or several
      intracellular T-cell signaling domains. When expressed in T cells, these CARs
      specifically trigger T-cell activation upon antigen recognition. While the
      clinical proof of principle of CAR T-cell therapy has been established in
      hematological cancers, CAR T cells are only at the early stages of being explored
      to tackle solid cancers. This special report discusses the concept of exploiting
      natural killer cell receptors as an approach that could broaden the specificity
      of CAR T cells and potentially enhance the efficacy of this therapy against solid
      tumors. New data demonstrating feasibility of this approach in humans and
      supporting the ongoing clinical trial are also presented.

PMID- 28613085
TI  - Determining if wearable sensors affect infant leg movement frequency.
AB  - PURPOSE: There is interest in using wearable sensors to measure infant leg
      movement patterns; however, they were not developed for infant use and their
      presence may adversely affect infant movement production. Their weight may
      discourage leg movement production, or their presence may annoy an infant and
      encourage higher rates of leg movement production. Our purpose was to determine
      whether wearable sensors affected the frequency of infant leg movements produced.
      METHOD: We included 10 infants with typical development and 10 infants at risk of
      developmental delay, between 2 and 10 months' chronological age. RESULTS: After
      collecting and analyzing video recordings of infants, we found a negligible
      difference between the numbers of spontaneous leg movements made while infants
      wore sensors, compared to those without sensors. CONCLUSIONS: Wearable sensors
      have a negligible effect on the frequency of infant leg movement production,
      supporting their use in infant movement analysis.

PMID- 28613087
TI  - An update on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
      in Asia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most
      overwhelming liver disease in Asia. In consideration of its increasing medical
      and economic impact on Asian people, it is time for us to review the update data
      in Asian countries and formulate strategies to cope with this emerging health
      problem in Asia. Moreover, growing data indicates that NAFLD may be a systemic
      disease, not just confined to liver-specific morbidity and mortality, but also
      associated with several extra-hepatic manifestations, such as cardiovascular
      diseases, chronic renal diseases, and malignancy. As the co-occurrence of NAFLD
      and viral hepatitis is common in Asia, issues related to the impact of NAFLD on
      the clinical outcomes and management of viral hepatitis remain to be elucidated.
      Areas covered: In this article, a narrative review was conducted, searching for
      literature from PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Library database till
      August 2016. Studies relevant to the emerging data of NAFLD in Asia, including
      the diagnosis, risk factors, the assessment and management of Asian NAFLD
      patients were examined and discussed. Expert commentary: Collaboration in Asian
      countries to develop an effective and practical measurement to assess the
      severity of NAFLD is urgently required.

PMID- 28613088
TI  - The Use of Validation in Mental Health Nursing for Adults with Intellectual
      Disabilities and Mental Illness: A Descriptive Study.
AB  - Mental health nursing for adults with intellectual disabilities and mental
      illness is understudied. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of
      validation in mental health nursing for patients with intellectual disabilities
      and additional mental illness in a specialised psychiatric inpatient setting. Ten
      nurses/social educators and four individual therapists described the use of
      validation; each provided three vignettes with clinical examples. The clinical
      examples support the view that interventions developed for patients in the
      general population are feasible also for patients with intellectual disabilities.
      Clinical implications relate to the use of validation as an important factor in
      mental health nursing for adults with intellectual disabilities. Skills required
      include being capable of interpreting behavioural equivalents of mental illness
      symptoms, responding adequately to unusual utterances, and occasionally
      communicating in a predominantly non-verbal way.

PMID- 28613089
TI  - Ecological Factors Influencing Emotional/Behavioral Problems and Self-Concept in
      Adolescents from Low-Income Families in South Korea.
AB  - In this study, we examined emotional/behavioral problems and self-concept in
      adolescents from low-income families in Korea; additionally, we identified
      ecological factors associated with these traits. This descriptive study employed
      an ecological model to analyze data from the Korean Children and Youth Panel
      Survey. A nationwide stratified multistage cluster sampling methodology was used.
      Overall, 2534 first-year middle school students were included in the survey, and
      the survey was conducted from 2010 to 2016. Hierarchical multiple regression
      models were generated. The mean score of emotional/behavioral problem has been
      changed from 2.20 (2011), 2.15 (2013), to 2.11 (2015) out of 4, and the mean
      score of self-concept has been changed from 2.73 (2012), 2.73 (2014), to 2.77
      (2015) out of 4. Factors that influenced emotional/behavioral problems and self
      concept among adolescents were health perception and academic achievement (only
      associated with self-concept) at the intrapersonal level and parenting style,
      peer attachment (only associated with self-concept), and relationships with
      teachers at the interpersonal level. These results may be used to inform the
      development of interventions designed to decrease emotional/behavioral problems
      and improve positive self-concept in adolescents from low-income families.

PMID- 28613091
TI  - Mental Health and Spouse Support Among Older Couples Living With Sensory Loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The current study examined the mental health of couples living with
      and without sensory loss; compared the mental health of couples living with
      hearing, vision, or dual-sensory loss; and investigated the association between
      spouse support and the mental health of couples living with sensory loss. METHOD:
      The study included 513 couples with sensory loss and 1,079 couples without
      sensory loss. Actor-Partner Interdependence Models were used to examine
      associations between spouse support and mental health. RESULTS: Controlling for
      potential covariates, individuals with sensory loss and their spouses were at a
      greater risk of mental health problems. Sensory loss modality (hearing and/or
      vision) did not explain any differences. Both actor and partner effects of spouse
      support on anxiety and depression were found. DISCUSSION: The findings highlight
      the need to support the mental health of couples living with sensory loss and
      indicate the importance of considering the intimate relationship in future
      studies.

PMID- 28613090
TI  - Personality Disorders in Primary Care: Impact on Depression Outcomes Within
      Collaborative Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with personality disorders (PDs) are high utilizers of
      primary care and mental health services; however, they struggle to utilize the
      care effectively and studies have shown a strong association between having a PD
      and higher impairment in social role functioning. This is especially important
      because PDs are highly comorbid with a wide range of other mental health
      disorders. The collaborative care model (CCM) for depression was developed with
      an emphasis on patient engagement and aimed to reduce health care utilization,
      while improving treatment outcomes in primary care. We hypothesized that the
      diagnosis of a personality disorder in primary care patients will negatively
      affect 6-month depression outcomes after enrollment into a CCM. METHODS: This
      retrospective chart review study was conducted on patients enrolled into CCM over
      a period of 7 years with collection of 6-month follow-up data. A total of 2826
      patients were enrolled into CCM with a clinical diagnosis of depression and a
      baseline Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) >=10 were included in the study
      cohort. Using the depression database, baseline and 6-month follow-up data were
      obtained. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were determined for both remission and
      persistent depressive symptoms using logistic regression modeling for the 6-month
      PHQ-9 outcome; while retaining all the study variables. RESULTS: Of the 2826 CCM
      patients with depression in our study, 216 (7.6%) were found to have a PD.
      Patients with PD were younger (37.7 vs 42.5 years, P < .001) and more likely to
      be unmarried (36.1% vs 55.6%, P < .001) than patients without a PD. While age,
      marital status, clinical diagnosis, and Mood Disorders Questionnaire (MDQ) score
      were significant predictors of remission; anxiety symptoms, gender, and race were
      not. The presence of a PD diagnosis was associated with a 60% lower likelihood of
      remission at 6 months (AOR = 0.39; 95% CI 0.28-0.54). Conversely, patients
      without a PD were 2.5 times as likely to experience remission at 6-month
      remission compared to patients with PD (AOR =2.57; 95% CI 1.85-3.56). CONCLUSION:
      Patients with a personality disorder were more likely to have a recurrent
      depressive disorder diagnosis, an abnormal MDQ score, increased anxiety symptoms,
      and higher baseline PHQ-9 score. Patients with PD had worse CCM outcomes at 6
      months with only 25.0% able to achieve remission versus 54.3% ( P < .001) without
      a PD. The presence of a PD with depression was associated with poor outcomes
      (reduced remission rates and increased persistent depressive symptoms rates) in
      comparison to patients without a diagnosis of PD, while treated within CCM.

PMID- 28613092
TI  - A systematic review of the health economic consequences of quadrivalent influenza
      vaccination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quadrivalent influenza vaccines (QIVs) contain antigens derived from
      an additional influenza type B virus as compared with currently used trivalent
      influenza vaccines (TIVs). This should overcome a potential reduced vaccine
      protection due to mismatches between TIV and circulating B viruses. In this
      study, we systematically reviewed the available literature on health economic
      evaluations of switching from TIV to QIV. Areas covered: The databases of Medline
      and Embase were searched systematically to identify health economic evaluations
      of QIV versus TIV published before September 2016.A total of sixteen studies were
      included, thirteen cost-effectiveness analyses and three cost-comparisons. Expert
      commentary: Published evidence on the cost-effectiveness of QIV suggests that
      switching from TIV to QIV would be a valuable intervention from both the public
      health and economic viewpoint. However, more research seems mandatory. Our main
      recommendations for future research include: 1) more extensive use of dynamic
      models in order to estimate the full impact of QIV on influenza transmission
      including indirect effects, 2) improved availability of data on disease outcomes
      and costs related to influenza type B viruses, and 3) more research on
      immunogenicity of natural influenza infection and vaccination, with emphasis on
      cross-reactivity between different influenza B viruses and duration of
      protection.

PMID- 28613093
TI  - The Offense as Perceived by the Parents of Forensic Psychiatric Patients.
AB  - This study aims to describe the views of forensic psychiatric patients' parents,
      and especially how they feel about the patient's offense. The data analyzed was
      collected by interviews with forensic psychiatric patients' parents and analyzed
      by inductive content analysis. The findings suggest that the offense committed
      has a significant effect on the lives of parents of forensic psychiatric patients
      and in many ways these people felt like a marginalized group even though they
      were frequently a major resource for their child who had been taken into forensic
      psychiatric care. The parents of a forensic psychiatric patient have a prominent
      role in the life of the patient and this role and the parents' coping should also
      be supported by the forensic psychiatric treatment system.

PMID- 28613095
TI  - 'Slipping through the Cracks': Mental Health and Recovery in Older Person Care.

PMID- 28613094
TI  - An iron hand over cancer stem cells.
AB  - The paradigm of cancer stem cells (CSCs) defines the existence of cells
      exhibiting self-renewal and tumor-seeding capacity. These cells have been
      associated with tumor relapse and are typically resistant to conventional
      chemotherapeutic agents. Over the past decade, chemical biology studies have
      revealed a significant number of small molecules able to alter the proliferation
      of these cells in various settings. The natural product salinomycin has emerged
      as the most promising anti-CSC agent. However, an explicit mechanism of action
      has not yet been characterized, in particular due to the pleiotropic responses
      salinomycin is known for. In this punctum, we describe our recent discovery that
      salinomycin and the more potent synthetic derivative we named ironomycin
      sequester lysosomal iron. We found that these compounds, by blocking iron
      translocation, induce an iron-depletion response leading to a lysosomal
      degradation of ferritin followed by an iron-mediated lysosomal production of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a cell death pathway that resembles
      ferroptosis. These unprecedented findings identified iron homeostasis and iron
      mediated processes as potentially druggable in the context of CSCs.

PMID- 28613096
TI  - Emergency department visits by pediatric patients sustained as a passenger on a
      motorcycle.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Currently only 5 out of the 50 states in the United States have laws
      restricting the age of passengers permitted to ride on a motorcycle. This study
      sought to characterize the visits by patients under the age of 16 to U.S.
      emergency departments (EDs) for injuries sustained as a passenger on a
      motorcycle. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, data were obtained from
      the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) for the years 2006 to 2011.
      Pediatric patients who were passengers on a motorcycle that was involved in a
      crash were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth
      Revision (ICD-9) External Cause of Injury codes. We also examined gender, age,
      disposition, regional differences, common injuries, and charges. RESULTS: Between
      2006 and 2011 there were an estimated 9,689 visits to U.S. EDs by patients under
      the age of 16 who were passengers on a motorcycle involved in a crash. The
      overall average patient age was 9.4 years, and they were predominately male
      (54.5%). The majority (85%) of these patients were treated and released. The
      average charges for discharged patients were $2,116.50 and amounted to roughly
      $17,500,000 during the 6 years. The average cost for admission was $51,446 per
      patient and totaled over $54 million. The most common primary injuries included
      superficial contusions; sprains and strains; upper limb fractures; open wounds of
      head, neck, and trunk; and intracranial injuries. CONCLUSION: Although there were
      only about 9,700 visits to U.S. EDs for motorcycle crashes involving passengers
      less than 16 years old for 2006 to 2011, the total cost of visits that resulted
      in either ED discharge or hospital admission amounted to over $71 million.

PMID- 28613097
TI  - Dynamic muscle ultrasound identifies upper motor neuron involvement in
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to elucidate the pattern of change in
      bulbar muscles using ultrasound in patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: Changes in the mylohyoid and geniohyoid muscle complex
      (mylohyoid-geniohyoid-muscle-complex) thickness were recorded while swallowing 5
      ml of water using M-mode ultrasound in 30 ALS patients compared to 20 healthy
      controls. The ratio of mylohyoid-geniohyoid-muscle-complex thickness as
      determined by the maximum thickness of mylohyoid-geniohyoid-muscle-complex during
      swallowing divided by thickness at rest, was compared between ALS patients and
      controls, with the correlation between thickness ratio, echogenicity and clinical
      parameters assessed. RESULTS: Overall, the thickness ratio in ALS patients was
      1.39 +/- 0.23 (mean +/- SD) compared to 1.55 +/- 0.17 in controls (p < 0.05). In
      sub-analysis, the thickness ratio was significantly decreased in ALS patients
      with bulbar-onset disease compared to those with limb-onset disease (p < 0.01)
      and controls (p < 0.01). Thickness ratio negatively correlated with the severity
      of upper motor neuron involvement in the bulbar region (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Bulbar muscle ultrasound represents a novel method to detect impaired mobility
      and thereby provides an objective assessment of upper motor neuron involvement in
      the bulbar region of ALS patients.

PMID- 28613099
TI  - Self-management of Type 2 Diabetes and Severe Mental Illness.

PMID- 28613098
TI  - Combined treatment of irbesartan and diltiazem ameliorates endothelium dependent
      vasodilatation in hypertensives.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Endothelial function is of prognostic importance for hypertensives.
      The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of irbesartan combined with
      diltiazem on the endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in essential hypertensive
      (EH) patients in China. METHODS: A total of 150 Chinese hypertensives aged from
      40 to 80 years old were assigned into three groups: irbesartan treated(150 mg/d,
      n = 46), diltiazem treated (90 mg/d, n = 51), and combined therapy group
      (irbesartan 150 mg/d+ diltiazem 90 mg/d, n = 53). Forty age and gender-matched
      normotensives without clinical manifestation of cardiovascular diseases served as
      controls. High-resolution ultrasonography was used to assess flow-mediated
      dilatation (FMD) and nitroglycerin-mediated dilatation (NMD) in the brachial
      artery. Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was calculated. Fibrinogen (Fg) was
      determined by Clauss and Stago auto analyzer. Blood pressure was measured using
      mercury sphygmomanometers. RESULTS: FMD and NMD were lower in combined treatment
      group compared to normotensives before treatment at baseline [FMD(8.39 +/- 3.04)%
      vs. (11.21 +/- 3.88)%, NMD (13.96 +/- 5.71)% vs. (16.78 +/- 6.22)%, p < 0.05].
      FMD was improved significantly after the combined therapy [(10.72 +/- 3.46)% vs.
      (8.39 +/- 3.04)%, p < 0.05]. No significant difference in NMD was found among
      three hypertensive groups after therapy. Moreover, FMD increased significantly
      with the prolongation of treatment. After stratification of age, FMD in younger
      EH patients under 65 years old was markedly increased after treatment within 1
      year, whereas FMD in EH patients over 65 years old showed a significant increase
      after 3-year therapy. In addition, LVMI was reduced in hypertensives after
      combined therapy [(99.1 +/- 17.9) g/m2 vs. (90.6 +/- 16.2) g/m2, p < 0.01].
      Logistic analysis showed that age was an important risk factor for FMD.
      CONCLUSIONS: Combined therapy of irbesartan with diltiazem ameliorated
      endothelial function.

PMID- 28613100
TI  - Myocardial infarction risk and antipsychotics use revisited: a meta-analysis of
      10 observational studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Associations between antipsychotic agent (AP) use and myocardial
      infarction (MI) risk have been inconsistent and remain controversial. We
      therefore conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to address this
      knowledge gap. METHOD: Detailed electronic database searches were performed to
      identify reports of observational studies that evaluated the association between
      AP use and the risk of MI. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using random
      or fixed-effects models. RESULTS: In total, four case-control studies, two case
      crossover studies, one case-case time control study, three cohort studies, and
      one self-controlled case series were included. The pooled OR (95% confidence
      interval (CI)) between any AP use and MI risk was 1.55 (1.33-1.79) compared with
      non-use: 1.39 (1.06-1.82) for atypical AP use and 1.57 (1.29-1.91) for typical AP
      use. Subgroup analyses indicated that male gender, schizophrenia diagnosis, and
      AP exposure periods <=60 days were associated with higher risk of MI. CONCLUSION:
      Current evidence, based on 10 observational studies, suggested that AP use might
      be a potential risk factor of MI. However, we cannot conclude at this time due to
      significant heterogeneity among studies. We suggest that, instead of not using
      APs in fear of MI risk, careful cardiovascular monitoring before and during AP
      treatment in high-risk patients is needed. Additional high-quality prospective
      studies are required to evaluate the association between APs and the risk of MI.

PMID- 28613102
TI  - A high-throughput platform for population reformatting and mammalian expression
      of phage display libraries to enable functional screening as full-length IgG.
AB  - Phage display antibody libraries are a rich resource for discovery of potential
      therapeutic antibodies. Single-chain variable fragment (scFv) libraries are the
      most common format due to the efficient display of scFv by phage particles and
      the ease by which soluble scFv antibodies can be expressed for high-throughput
      screening. Typically, a cascade of screening and triaging activities are
      performed, beginning with the assessment of large numbers of E. coli-expressed
      scFv, and progressing through additional assays with individual reformatting of
      the most promising scFv to full-length IgG. However, use of high-throughput
      screening of scFv for the discovery of full-length IgG is not ideal because of
      the differences between these molecules. Furthermore, the reformatting step
      represents a bottle neck in the process because each antibody has to be handled
      individually to preserve the unique VH and VL pairing. These problems could be
      resolved if populations of scFv could be reformatted to full-length IgG before
      screening without disrupting the variable region pairing. Here, we describe a
      novel strategy that allows the reformatting of diverse populations of scFv from
      phage selections to full-length IgG in a batch format. The reformatting process
      maintains the diversity and variable region pairing with high fidelity, and the
      resulted IgG pool enables high-throughput expression of IgG in mammalian cells
      and cell-based functional screening. The improved process led to the discovery of
      potent candidates that are comparable or better than those obtained by
      traditional methods. This strategy should also be readily applicable to Fab-based
      phage libraries. Our approach, Screening in Product Format (SiPF), represents a
      substantial improvement in the field of antibody discovery using phage display.

PMID- 28613103
TI  - Quantification of IgG monoclonal antibody clearance in tissues.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies are an important therapeutic entity, and knowledge of
      antibody pharmacokinetics has steadily increased over the years. Despite this
      effort, little is known about the extent of IgG antibody degradation in different
      tissues of the body. While studies have been published identifying sites of
      degradation with the use of residualizing and non-residualizing radiolabels,
      quantitative tissue clearances have not yet been derived. Here, we show that in
      physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models we can combine mouse data of
      Indium-111 and Iodine-125 labeled antibodies with prior physiologic knowledge to
      determine tissue-specific intrinsic clearances. Unspecific total tissue clearance
      (mL/day) in the mouse was estimated to be: liver = 4.75; brain = 0.02; gut =
      0.40; heart = 0.07; kidney = 0.97; lung = 0.20; muscle = 3.02; skin = 3.89;
      spleen = 0.45; rest of body = 2.16. The highest catabolic activity (per g tissue)
      was in spleen for an FcRn wild-type antibody, but shifts to the liver for an
      antibody with reduced FcRn affinity. In the model developed, this shift can be
      explained by the liver having a greater FcRn-mediated protection capacity than
      the spleen. The quantification of tissue intrinsic clearances and FcRn salvage
      capacity increases our understanding of quantitative processes that drive the
      therapeutic responses of antibodies. This knowledge is critical, for instance to
      estimate the non-specific cellular uptake and degradation of antibodies used for
      targeted delivery of payloads.

PMID- 28613104
TI  - A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies of Mathematics Difficulty.
AB  - Some students may be diagnosed with a learning disability in mathematics or
      dyscalculia, whereas other students may demonstrate below-grade-level mathematics
      performance without a disability diagnosis. In the literature, researchers often
      identify students in both groups as experiencing math difficulty. To understand
      the performance of students with math difficulty, we examined 35 studies that
      reported longitudinal results of mathematics achievement (i.e., mathematics
      performance measured across at least a 12-month span). Our primary goal was to
      conduct a systematic review of these studies and to understand whether the growth
      of students with math difficulty was comparable or stagnant when compared with
      that of students without math difficulty. We also analyzed whether identification
      of math difficulty was predictive of mathematics achievement in later grades and
      whether a diagnosis of math difficulty was stable across grade levels. Results
      indicate that students with math difficulty demonstrate growth on mathematics
      measures, but this growth still leads to lower performance than that of students
      without math difficulty. Identification of math difficulty is strongly related to
      math performance in subsequent grades, and this diagnosis is often stable.
      Collectively, this literature indicates that students with math difficulty
      continue to struggle with mathematics in later grades.

PMID- 28613101
TI  - Targeting IGF1R pathway in cancer with microRNAs: How close are we?
AB  - Cancer of the head and neck are the most common cancers in India and account for
      30% of all cancers. At molecular level, it could be attributed to the
      overexpression of growth factors like IGF1-R, EGFR, VEGF-R and deregulation of
      cell cycle regulators and tumor suppressors. IGF1-R is an emerging target in head
      and neck cancer treatment, because of its reported role in tumor development,
      progression and metastasis. IGF1R targeted agents are in advanced stages of
      clinical development. Nevertheless, these agents suffer from several
      disadvantages including acquired resistance and toxic side effects. Hence there
      is a need for developing newer agents targeting not only the receptor but also
      its downstream signaling. miRNAs are considered as master regulators of gene
      expression of multiple genes and has been widely reported to be a promising
      therapeutic strategy. This review discusses the present status of research in
      both these arenas and emphasizes the role of miRNA as a promising agent for
      biologic therapy.

PMID- 28613105
TI  - RUG3 is a negative regulator of plant responses to ABA in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Mitochondria is a main target of various stressors. Dysfunction of mitochondria
      stimulates overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause
      oxidative damage to mitochondria and DNA. Recently, we demonstrated that
      RCC1/UVR8/GEF-like 3 (RUG3), a member of the Regulator of Chromatin Condensation
      1 (RCC1) protein family, can directly interact with ataxia telangiectasia mutated
      (ATM), a key regulator of the DNA damage response (DDR), and synergistically
      regulates the alternative splicing of mitochondrial nad2. Aberrant ROS
      accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction result in root growth retardation and
      increased DDR. Here we reveal that RUG3 mutations increased plant responses to
      ABA during seed germination and post-germinative growth. Our findings identify
      RUG3 as a novel regulator of ABA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana.

PMID- 28613106
TI  - Innovative array-based assay for omics pattern in melanoma.
AB  - Cutaneous melanoma remains a major health issue and still an important challenge
      for research. Thus, omics complex evaluation can provide a more specific
      molecular classification for this heterogeneous disease. Complex omics analysis
      based on genomic and proteomic microarrays can identify disease markers that
      prognosticate disease evolution or can monitor therapies efficacy. Among the
      technologies that gained momentum in the last years, array-based comparative
      genomic hybridization offered the possibility to analyze chromosomal numerical
      aberrations within cutaneous melanomas providing important support for molecular
      classification of melanoma tumors. This technology can identify new chromosomal
      alterations and discover new deregulated melanoma genes that can be further used
      as therapy targets. Integrating genetic profiling with clinical and pathological
      parameters would lead to seminal improvements in diagnosis, prognosis, and
      therapy.

PMID- 28613107
TI  - The role of arts activities in developing resilience and mental wellbeing in
      children and young people a rapid review of the literature.
AB  - AIMS: This rapid review explores the role of arts activities in promoting the
      mental wellbeing and resilience of children and young people aged between 11 and
      18 years. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was undertaken across 18
      databases; no date limit was set on publication. Search terms included a range of
      creative activities: music, dance, singing, drama and visual arts; these were
      combined with terms linked to aspects of mental health, emotional wellbeing and
      resilience. Only studies related to activities that took place within community
      settings and those related to extracurricular activities based within schools
      were included. RESULTS: Following the application of inclusion and exclusion
      criteria, eight papers were included in the review. The interventions used in the
      studies were diverse and the research was heterogeneous; therefore, narrative
      synthesis of the results was conducted. The findings from the studies are
      considered in terms of the contribution the activities make to building
      resilience of children and young people. It was found that participating in arts
      activities can have a positive effect on self-confidence, self-esteem,
      relationship building and a sense of belonging, qualities which have been
      associated with resilience and mental wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS: Although the
      research evidence is limited, there is some support for providing structured
      group arts activities to help build resilience and contribute to positive mental
      wellbeing of children and young people.

PMID- 28613108
TI  - A Novel Phylogroup of Pseudomonas cichorii Identified Following an Unusual
      Disease Outbreak on Tomato.
AB  - Recently, in Central Florida tomato production fields, tomato foliage and fruit
      were observed with symptoms similar to bacterial speck. Fluorescent pseudomonads
      were consistently isolated and the strains were characterized by standard LOPAT
      tests, pathogenicity tests, and genetic characterization using 16S ribosomal RNA
      (rRNA) sequences and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of conserved
      housekeeping genes. LOPAT test results indicated that the strains were likely
      Pseudomonas cichorii. These strains were pathogenic on tomato and were also
      pathogenic on lettuce, the host for the type strain of P. cichorii. Likewise,
      strains of P. cichorii isolated in Florida since the early 1980s from hosts other
      than tomato, along with the type strain, were also pathogenic on tomato. Genetic
      characterization using 16S rRNA and MLSA confirmed that the strains were most
      closely related to P. cichorii but varied significantly from the type strain. The
      Florida P. cichorii strains formed a separate phylogenetic group along with P.
      cichorii strains isolated from tomato in Tanzania. These strains were different
      from the previously described morphotypes and genomovars of P. cichorii. Our
      results indicate the presence of a genetically distinct group of multihost
      pathogenic P. cichorii strains that have been present in Florida since at least
      the early 1980s.

PMID- 28613110
TI  - [Neuropsychiatric aspects of Prader-Willi syndrome - a review].
AB  - Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is caused by the absence of paternal expression of
      imprinted genes in the region at 15q11-q13. With an estimated birth incidence of
      1/15 000 - 1/30 000, PWS is one of the more frequent genetic syndromes among
      humans. Typical physical features include neonatal hypotonia and feeding
      problems, hypogonadism, hyperphagia in later childhood with consecutive obesity,
      and short stature. Most people with PWS show a mild to moderate intellectual
      disability. Furthermore, lability of mood, temper tantrums, skin-picking, and
      compulsive behaviors are quite typical for subjects with PWS. Psychotic disorders
      have also been found to be quite common in adulthood. This manuscript reviews
      current knowledge about the etiology, physical features, developmental aspects,
      behavioral phenotype, and psychiatric disorders that occur as well as existing
      psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions.

PMID- 28613109
TI  - Growth of the Arabidopsis sub-epidermal integument cell layers might require an
      endosperm signal.
AB  - The seed, the reproductive unit of angiosperms, is physically protected by the
      seed coat. The seed coat develops from the ovule integuments after fertilization.
      The Arabidopsis ovule integuments are made of 5-6 cell layers of epidermal and
      sub-epidermal origin. The growth of the epidermal integument cell layers responds
      to an endosperm signal mediated by the AGAMOUS-LIKE 62 MADS box transcription
      factor with limited embryo contribution. By contrast, the sub-epidermal
      integument cell layers require the embryo to expand whereas the role of the
      endosperm is still unclear. Here, we analyzed the development of the sub
      epidermal integument cell layers in agl62 mutant seeds, which undergo premature
      endosperm cellularization and arrest. Our data suggest that embryo and endosperm
      are both necessary to trigger the expansion of the sub-epidermal integument cell
      layers.

PMID- 28613111
TI  - Synthesis and anticancer activity of new [(Indolyl)pyrazolyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole
      thioglycosides and acyclic nucleoside analogs.
AB  - New [(Indolyl)pyrazolyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole compounds and their derived
      thioglycosides as well as the corresponding sugar hydrazones were synthesized.
      The acyclo C-nucleoside analogs of the oxadiazoline base system were also
      prepared by reaction of acid hydrazides with aldehydo sugars followed by one pot
      process encompassing acetylation and cyclization of the synthesized hydrazones.
      The anticancer activity of the newly synthesized compounds was studied against
      colorectal carcinoma (HCT116), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) and prostate cancer
      (PC3) human tumor cell lines and a number of compounds showed moderate to high
      activities.

PMID- 28613112
TI  - A model for evolution and regulation of nicotine biosynthesis regulon in tobacco.
AB  - In tobacco, the defense alkaloid nicotine is produced in roots and accumulates
      mainly in leaves. Signaling mediated by jasmonates (JAs) induces the formation of
      nicotine via a series of structural genes that constitute a regulon and are
      coordinated by JA-responsive transcription factors of the ethylene response
      factor (ERF) family. Early steps in the pyrrolidine and pyridine biosynthesis
      pathways likely arose through duplication of the polyamine and nicotinamide
      adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthetic pathways, respectively, followed by
      recruitment of duplicated primary metabolic genes into the nicotine biosynthesis
      regulon. Transcriptional regulation of nicotine biosynthesis by ERF and
      cooperatively-acting MYC2 transcription factors is implied by the frequency of
      cognate cis-regulatory elements for these factors in the promoter regions of the
      downstream structural genes. Indeed, a mutant tobacco with low nicotine content
      was found to have a large chromosomal deletion in a cluster of closely related
      ERF genes at the nicotine-controlling NICOTINE2 (NIC2) locus.

PMID- 28613114
TI  - Enhancing Accessibility for Students With Decoding Difficulties on Large-Scale
      Reading Assessments.
AB  - This study reports findings from studies examining potential read-aloud
      accommodations on standardized reading comprehension assessments for students
      with decoding difficulties. Three types of accommodations were evaluated:
      question stems and answer options read aloud; question stems, answer options, and
      proper nouns read aloud; and full read-aloud. Drawing from a sample of 207 fourth
      grade students with and without decoding difficulties, we used 3-level
      hierarchical linear modeling to assess whether there were significant differences
      between students with and without decoding difficulties in the effect of each
      accommodation relative to no accommodation. Analyses showed that, for the
      students with decoding difficulties, all 3 read-aloud accommodations had
      significant effects when compared with no accommodation at all, and these effects
      were significantly larger than for average readers (effect sizes: 0.49, 0.55, and
      0.50, respectively). When non-individualized education program students were
      excluded from the group of students with decoding difficulties, the effect sizes
      became notably larger.

PMID- 28613113
TI  - Complex interventional iliocaval recanalization due to plasmacytoma and cystic
      echinococcosis.
AB  - Post-thrombotic syndrome is common after iliofemoral vein thrombosis.
      Conservative therapy, mainly limited to compression and anticoagulation therapy,
      might not be sufficient in controlling symptoms. Interventional recanalization of
      the chronically occluded iliac veins is an evolving method, promising rapid
      relief of symptoms. Here, we present two cases of complex interventions in one
      patient with preceding pelvic radiotherapy due to a plasmacytoma and in another
      patient in whom a cava wedge resection had been performed because of cystic
      echinococcosis in the liver.

PMID- 28613115
TI  - Contribution of phosphatidylserine to Rho1- and Pkc1-related repolarization of
      the actin cytoskeleton under stressed conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes polarized cell growth, which
      is established in association with actin polarization. Rho1, one of the Rho-type
      GTPases in S. cerevisiae, is crucial for maintaining polarized cell growth and
      actin polarization and controlling the downstream signaling pathway, the Pkc1
      Mpk1 MAP kinase cascade, through a physical interaction with Pkc1, the sole
      protein kinase C in this yeast. The Pkc1-Mpk1 MAP kinase cascade is important for
      the repolarization of actin under heat shock-stressed conditions. We recently
      reported that phosphatidylserine (PS), a membrane phospholipid component, played
      a pivotal role in the physical interaction between Rho1 and Pkc1 as well as the
      activation of the Pkc1-Mpk1 MAP kinase cascade. However, it currently remains
      unclear whether PS is involved in actin polarization by regulating the physical
      interaction between Rho1 and Pkc1. We herein demonstrated that the C1 domain of
      Pkc1, which is responsible for the interaction with Rho1, was crucial for Rho1
      regulated actin polarization. We also found that actin repolarization under heat
      shock-stressed conditions was impaired in a mutant defective in CHO1 encoding PS
      synthase. These results suggest that PS contributes to actin polarization in
      which Rho1 and Pkc1 play a crucial role.

PMID- 28613116
TI  - Reduction of Thoroughbred racing fatalities at New York Racing Association
      racetracks using a multi-disciplinary mortality review process.
AB  - Between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015, findings of a New York State
      Gaming Commission-Cornell University postmortem examination program were utilized
      in a multi-disciplinary mortality review process to review 129 racing fatalities
      at Thoroughbred racetracks operated by the New York Racing Association (NYRA).
      Musculoskeletal fractures comprised 79% of the fatalities; cardiopulmonary
      conditions accounted for 12% of the fatalities. Other causes of death included
      gastrointestinal (3%), respiratory (5%), and central nervous system (2%)
      conditions. Fetlock failure represented 50% of the musculoskeletal fatalities.
      The general distribution of these findings was very similar to that reported by
      the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System during the same
      period. These findings, used in conjunction with a comprehensive mortality review
      process and regulatory reform, have contributed to a significant reduction of the
      incidence of Thoroughbred racing fatalities at NYRA racetracks during the period
      of this review.

PMID- 28613117
TI  - Heavy subunit of cell surface Gal/GalNAc lectin (Hgl) undergoes degradation via
      endo-lysosomal compartments in Entamoeba histolytica.
AB  - The human gut parasite Entamoeba histolytica uses a multifunctional virulence
      factor, Hgl, a cell surface transmembrane receptor subunit of Gal/GalNAc lectin
      that contributes to adhesion, invasion, cytotoxicity and immune response in the
      host. At present, the physiologic importance of Hgl receptor is mostly known for
      pathogenicity of E. histolytica. However, the molecular mechanisms of Hgl
      trafficking events and their association with the intracellular membrane
      transport machinery are largely unknown. We used biochemical and microscopy-based
      assays to understand the Hgl trafficking in the amoebic trophozoites. Our results
      suggest that the Hgl is constitutively degraded through delivery into amoebic
      lysosome-like compartments. Further, we also observed that the Hgl was
      significantly colocalized with amoebic Rab GTPases such as EhRab5, EhRab7A, and
      EhRab11B. While, we detected association of Hgl with all these Rab GTPases in
      early vacuolar compartments, only EhRab7A remains associated with Hgl till its
      transport to amoebic lysosome-like compartments.

PMID- 28613119
TI  - Relatives' level of satisfaction with advanced cancer care in Greenland - a mixed
      methods study.
AB  - Palliative cancer care in Greenland is provided by health professionals at local
      level, the national Queen Ingrid's Hospital and at Rigshospitalet in Denmark. To
      improve and develop care for relatives of patients with advanced cancer, we
      conducted a mixed method study examining relatives' level of satisfaction with
      care and treatment and their current main concerns. The aim was to investigate
      relatives' level of satisfaction with advanced cancer care and bring to light
      their current main concerns. The FAMCARE-20 questionnaire was translated to
      Greenlandic and pilot tested. The questionnaire was supplemented by open-ended
      questions about relative's current main concerns and analyzed with a
      phenomenological hermeneutical approach. Greenlandic patients with advanced
      cancer who were previously participating in a prospective study were asked if
      their closest adult relative would participate in the study. Telephone interviews
      were conducted and relatives responded to the questionnaire. A total of thirty
      two relatives were contacted by telephone and 30 (94%) completed the FAMCARE-20
      questionnaire and answered open-ended questions. The highest rate of satisfaction
      was with the availability of a hospital bed (66%) and relatives were the most
      dissatisfied with the lack of inclusion in decision making related to treatment
      and care (71%) and the length of time required to diagnose cancer (70%).
      Responses to the open-ended questions revealed that relatives faced challenges in
      gaining access to information from health professionals. They experienced a lack
      of security, worries about the future and a lack of support at home. The study
      showed a substantial level of dissatisfaction among relatives of patients with
      advanced cancer. We strongly recommend a focus on psychosocial care, more access
      to information and to include relatives in decision making and in the future
      planning of palliative care services. An assessment of relatives' needs is
      essential to develop an adequate palliative care in a range of settings.

PMID- 28613118
TI  - Initial experience with a new quantitative assessment tool for fluorescent
      imaging in peripheral artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perioperative evaluation in peripheral artery disease (PAD) by common
      vascular diagnostic tools is limited by open wounds, medial calcinosis or an
      altered collateral supply of the foot. Indocyanine green fluorescent imaging (ICG
      FI) has recently been introduced as an alternative tool, but so far a
      standardized quantitative assessment of tissue perfusion in vascular surgery has
      not been performed for this purpose. The aim of this feasibility study was to
      investigate a new software for quantitative assessment of tissue perfusion in
      patients with PAD using indocyanine green fluorescent imaging (ICG-FI) before and
      after peripheral bypass grafting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Indocyanine green
      fluorescent imaging was performed in seven patients using the SPY Elite system
      before and after peripheral bypass grafting for PAD (Rutherford III-VI). Visual
      and quantitative evaluation of tissue perfusion was assessed in an area of low
      perfusion (ALP) and high perfusion (AHP), each by three independent
      investigators. Data assessment was performed offline using a specially customized
      software package (Institute for Laser Technology, University Ulm, GmbH). Slope of
      fluorescent intensity (SFI) was measured as time-intensity curves. Values were
      compared to ankle-brachial index (ABI), slope of oscillation (SOO), and time to
      peak (TTP) obtained from photoplethysmography (PPG). RESULTS: All measurements
      before and after surgery were successfully performed, showing that ABI, TTP, and
      SOO increased significantly compared to preoperative values, all being
      statistically significant (P < 0.05), except for TTP (p = 0.061). Further, SFI
      increased significantly in both ALP and AHP (P < 0.05) and correlated
      considerably with ABI, TTP, and SOO (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to ABI
      and slope of oscillation (SOO), the ICG-FI technique allows visual assessment in
      combination with quantitative assessment of tissue perfusion in patients with
      PAD. Ratios related to different perfusion patterns and SFI seem to be useful
      tools to reduce factors disturbing ICG-FI measurements.

PMID- 28613120
TI  - Rotator Cuff Calcific Tendinopathy: Randomized Comparison of US-guided
      Percutaneous Treatments by Using One or Two Needles.
AB  - Purpose To determine whether the use of one or two needles influences procedure
      performance and patient outcomes for ultrasonography (US)-guided percutaneous
      irrigation of calcific tendinopathy. Materials and Methods Institutional review
      board approval and written informed patient consent were obtained. From February
      2012 to December 2014, 211 patients (77 men and 134 women; mean age, 41.6 years
      +/- 11.6; range, 24-69 years) with painful calcific tendinopathy diagnosed at US
      were prospectively enrolled and randomized. Operators subjectively graded
      calcifications as hard, soft, or fluid according to their appearance at US. US
      guided percutaneous irrigation of calcific tendinopathy (local anesthesia, needle
      lavage, intrabursal steroid injection) was performed in 100 patients by using the
      single-needle procedure and in 111 patients by using the double-needle procedure.
      Calcium dissolution was subjectively scored (easy = 1; intermediate = 2;
      difficult = 3). Procedure duration was recorded. Clinical evaluation was
      performed by using the Constant score up to 1 year after the procedure. The
      occurrence of postprocedural bursitis was recorded. Mann-Whitney U, chi2, and
      analysis of variance statistics were used. Results No difference in procedure
      duration was seen overall (P = .060). Procedure duration was shorter with the
      double-needle procedure in hard calcifications (P < .001) and with the single
      needle procedure in fluid calcifications (P = .024). Ease of calcium dissolution
      was not different between single- and double-needle procedures, both overall and
      when considering calcification appearance (P > .089). No clinical differences
      were found (Constant scores for single-needle group: baseline, 55 +/- 7; 1 month,
      69 +/- 7; 3 month, 90 +/- 5; 1 year, 92 +/- 4; double-needle group: 57 +/- 6; 71
      +/- 9; 89 +/- 7; 92 +/- 4, respectively; P = .241). In the single-needle group,
      nine of 100 cases (9%) of postprocedural bursitis were seen, whereas four of 111
      cases (3.6%) were seen in the double-needle group (P = .180). Conclusion The only
      difference between using the single- or double-needle procedure when performing
      US-guided percutaneous irrigation of calcific tendinopathy is procedure duration
      in hard and fluid calcifications. Clinical outcomes are similar up to 1 year. (c)
      RSNA, 2017.

PMID- 28613122
TI  - Water quality and Inuit health: an examination of drinking water consumption,
      perceptions, and contamination in Rigolet, Canada.
AB  - Canadian Inuit have often reported concerns about the quality of their municipal
      drinking water; research has also shown that some Inuit communities experience
      some of the highest incidence rates of self-reported acute gastrointestinal
      illness (AGI) in Canada and globally. The goal of this thesis research was to
      investigate drinking water perceptions and consumption patterns, as well as water
      contamination and potential associations with AGI in the Inuit community of
      Rigolet, Canada. Three census cross-sectional surveys captured data on AGI,
      drinking water, and water storage (2012-2014); additionally, bacterial
      contamination of household drinking water was assessed alongside the 2014 survey.
      Concerns regarding the taste, smell, and colour of tap water were associated with
      lower odds of consuming tap water. The use of transfer devices (i.e. small bowls
      or measuring cups) was associated with household water contamination; while no
      water-related risk factors for AGI were identified, incidence of AGI was high
      compared with southern Canada. This thesis research provides a valuable
      contribution to the limited literature assessing drinking water and health in the
      Arctic. Ultimately, this work is intended to inform safe water management
      practices, as well as contextually appropriate drinking water interventions, risk
      assessments, and public health messaging in the Canadian Arctic.

PMID- 28613121
TI  - Experiences in running a complex electronic data capture system using mobile
      phones in a large-scale population trial in southern Nepal.
AB  - The increasing availability and capabilities of mobile phones make them a
      feasible means of data collection. Electronic Data Capture (EDC) systems have
      been used widely for public health monitoring and surveillance activities, but
      documentation of their use in complicated research studies requiring multiple
      systems is limited. This paper shares our experiences of designing and
      implementing a complex multi-component EDC system for a community-based four
      armed cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial in the rural plains of Nepal, to help
      other researchers planning to use EDC for complex studies in low-income settings.
      We designed and implemented three interrelated mobile phone data collection
      systems to enrol and follow-up pregnant women (trial participants), and to
      support the implementation of trial interventions (women's groups, food and cash
      transfers). 720 field staff used basic phones to send simple coded text messages,
      539 women's group facilitators used Android smartphones with Open Data Kit
      Collect, and 112 Interviewers, Coordinators and Supervisors used smartphones with
      CommCare. Barcoded photo ID cards encoded with participant information were
      generated for each enrolled woman. Automated systems were developed to download,
      recode and merge data for nearly real-time access by researchers. The systems
      were successfully rolled out and used by 1371 staff. A total of 25,089 pregnant
      women were enrolled, and 17,839 follow-up forms completed. Women's group
      facilitators recorded 5717 women's groups and the distribution of 14,647 food and
      13,482 cash transfers. Using EDC sped up data collection and processing, although
      time needed for programming and set-up delayed the study inception. EDC using
      three interlinked mobile data management systems (FrontlineSMS, ODK and CommCare)
      was a feasible and effective method of data capture in a complex large-scale
      trial in the plains of Nepal. Despite challenges including prolonged set-up
      times, the systems met multiple data collection needs for users with varying
      levels of literacy and experience.

PMID- 28613123
TI  - Regorafenib: a newly approved drug for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 28613125
TI  - Lactation Newsmakers: An Interview With Kathryn G. Dewey, MS, PhD.

PMID- 28613124
TI  - Low risk of seizures with slow flumazenil infusion and routine anticonvulsant
      prophylaxis for high-dose benzodiazepine dependence.
AB  - High-dose benzodiazepine (BZD) dependence represents an emerging and under
      reported addiction phenomenon and is associated with reduced quality of life. To
      date there are no guidelines for the treatment of high-dose BZD withdrawal. Low
      dose slow flumazenil infusion was reported to be effective for high-dose BZD
      detoxification, but there is concern about the risk of convulsions during this
      treatment. We evaluated the occurrence of seizures in 450 consecutive high-dose
      BZD dependence patients admitted to our unit from April 2012 to April 2016 for
      detoxification with low-dose slow subcutaneous infusion of flumazenil associated
      with routine anticonvulsant prophylaxis. In our sample, 22 patients (4.9%)
      reported history of convulsions when previously attempting BZD withdrawal. Only
      four patients (0.9%) had seizures during ( n = 2) or immediately after ( n = 2)
      flumazenil infusion. The two patients with seizures during flumazenil infusion
      were poly-drug misusers. The most common antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used for
      anticonvulsant prophylaxis were either valproate 1000 mg or levetiracetam 1000
      mg. Our data indicate that, when routinely associated with AEDs prophylaxis, low
      dose slow subcutaneous flumazenil infusion represents a safe procedure, with low
      risk of seizure occurrence.

PMID- 28613126
TI  - The Meaning of the Lived Experience of Lifestyle Changes for People with Severe
      Mental Illness.
AB  - The aim of this study was to elucidate the meaning of the lived experience of
      lifestyle changes as perceived by people with severe mental illness (SMI). People
      with SMI who have experience in managing lifestyle changes were interviewed (n =
      10). The interviews were analyzed with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach.
      The findings reveal three themes: (1) struggling with inner and outer
      limitations, (2) on one's own but together with others and (3) longing for living
      a life in harmony. The meaning of lifestyle changes can be understood as a
      person's internal and external endeavors to make well-considered decisions about
      lifestyle changes. Support should focus on strengthening the person's self
      efficacy and should be based on the person's experiences.

PMID- 28613127
TI  - Differences in medical services in Nordic general practice: a comparative survey
      from the QUALICOPC study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aim to describe medical services provided by Nordic general
      practitioners (GPs), and to explore possible differences between the countries.
      DESIGN AND SETTING: We did a comparative analysis of selected data from the
      Nordic part of the study Quality and Costs of Primary Care in Europe (QUALICOPC).
      SUBJECTS: A total of 875 Nordic GPs (198 Norwegian, 80 Icelandic, 97 Swedish, 212
      Danish and 288 Finnish) answered identical questionnaires regarding their
      practices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The GPs indicated which equipment they used in
      practice, which procedures that were carried out, and to what extent they were
      involved in treatment/follow-up of a selection of diagnoses. RESULTS: The Danish
      GPs performed minor surgical procedures significantly less frequent than GPs in
      all other countries, although they inserted IUDs significantly more often than
      GPs in Iceland, Sweden and Finland. Finnish GPs performed a majority of the
      medical procedures more frequently than GPs in the other countries. The GPs in
      Iceland reported involvement in a more narrow selection of conditions than the
      GPs in the other countries. The Finnish GPs had more advanced technical equipment
      than GPs in all other Nordic countries. CONCLUSIONS: GPs in all Nordic countries
      are well equipped and offer a wide range of medical services, yet with a
      substantial variation between countries. There was no clear pattern of GPs in one
      country doing consistently more procedures, having consistently more equipment
      and treating a larger diversity of medical conditions than GPs in the other
      countries. However, structural factors seemed to affect the services offered.

PMID- 28613128
TI  - Successful task delegation in general practice - a way to maintain primary health
      care in the future.

PMID- 28613131
TI  - Ego Boundary Deficits and the Negative Therapeutic Inter-Action: A Tale of a
      Whale, a Whale of a Tale.
AB  - Defined variously and unsatisfactorily as a worsening of the patient's condition
      following a correct interpretation, the negative therapeutic reaction is
      typically blamed on the patient: "the operation was a success but the patient
      died." For most neurotic patients unconscious guilt objects to progress and
      activates the need to suffer. For most character-disturbed patients envy cannot
      bear the analyst's cleverness. However, patients with ego boundary problems-even
      sectors of psychosis-may require a different explanatory mechanism, where a
      correct interpretation may be experienced as a penetration and an engulfment,
      threatening the intactness of the self. A short-term, time-limited,
      psychoanalytic psychotherapy that went off the rails following a correct but ill
      timed interpretation is presented as an opportunity to amend analytic theory,
      here favoring the interactional over the intrapsychic. Herman Melville helps tell
      the tale.

PMID- 28613132
TI  - The Wheel and the Ladder: Freudian and Loewaldian Accounts of Individuation.
AB  - In this paper, I use comparisons of Freud, Loewald, and Plato to explore what it
      means to individuate and to desire in a world of frustration, pain, and loss. The
      metaphors of the "wheel" versus the "ladder" present basic images for Freud's
      tragic conception of a person's emerging into a world of pain, transience and
      loss, in contrast to Loewald's sense of individuation as an increasing attainment
      of individual ego and world enrichment, constructed from metabolized grieved
      objects. I then argue that Plato's Symposium offers comparable visions of the
      possibilities of love, and that the juxtaposition of Freud and Loewald can be
      connected to ancient philosophical considerations. The paper begins by examining
      the implications of the two thinkers' treatments of the "oceanic state" (primary
      narcissism), then compares these to the speeches of Aristophanes and
      Socrates/Diotima. The conclusion touches on the relevance of the juxtaposition to
      the Platonic distinction between philosophy and poetry.

PMID- 28613133
TI  - Irvin Yalom's Experiment Revisited: Applying Robert Langs's Listening Process to
      a Psychotherapy Classic.
AB  - In a case now famous for its unconventionality, Irvin Yalom had his financially
      strapped patient submit written reports of the experience of her therapy sessions
      rather than pay a monetary fee. He also wrote reports of each session, and the
      two of them shared royalties from the book, Every Day Gets a Little Closer,
      eventually produced. The arrangement yielded enough process detail to warrant
      examination through Robert Langs's method of listening and formulating. From that
      perspective, it seems Yalom did not understand the encoded messages from his
      patient in reaction to the frame deviations, which resulted in a deterioration of
      the communicative field and treatment alliance. Yalom did help his patient to
      become more appropriately assertive, but her inner fragmentation was untouched.

PMID- 28613134
TI  - Elevation of MiR-9-3p suppresses the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via down-regulating FN1, ITGB1 and ITGAV.
AB  - MicroRNAs had been proved to be pivotal regulators in nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      (NPC) by regulating a large amount of genes' expression. In our research, we aim
      to explore the functions of miR-9-3p on the metastases of NPC and figure out the
      potential mechanisms. First, we revealed downregulation of miR-9-3p and
      upregulation of fibronectin 1 (FN1), beta1 integrin (ITGB1) and alpha5 integrin
      (ITGAV) expression in NPC tissues and cells compared with the normal using RNA
      seq analysis, RT-qPCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. By transfection of
      miR-9-3p mimics in CNE-1, CNE-2 and HONE-1 cells, we confirmed tumor-suppressing
      roles of miR-9-3p via suppressing EMT process by MTT, wound scratch, transwell
      assay and western blot. After constructing luciferase reporting plasmids and
      transient transfection in HEK 293T cells, we proved that FN1, ITGB1 and ITGAV
      were all targets of miR-9-3p. Then we manipulated the expression of miR-9-3p,
      FN1, ITGB1 and ITGAV in HONE-1 cells, verifying the tumor-promoting effect of
      FN1, ITGB1 and ITGAV on cell proliferation and metastases via facilitating EMT
      process of cells. Additionally, these functions of FN1, ITGB1 and ITGAV could be
      efficiently abrogated by overexpression of miR-9-3p. Taken together, we
      demonstrated that elevation of miR-9-3p suppresses the proliferation and
      metastases of NPC via downregulating FN1, ITGB1, ITGAV and inhibiting the EMT
      process, which provided a series of therapeutic targets for the treatment of NPC.

PMID- 28613136
TI  - Biosorption of Basic Blue 7 by fungal cells immobilized on the green-type
      biomatrix of Phragmites australis spongy tissue.
AB  - Biosorption is an effective alternative method for the control of water pollution
      caused by different pollutants such as synthetic dyes and metals. A new and
      efficient biomass system was developed from the passively immobilized fungal
      cells. The spongy tissue of Phragmites australis was considered as the carrier
      for the immobilization of Neurospora sitophila cells employed for the biosorption
      of Basic Blue 7. This plant tissue was used for the first time as a carrier for
      fungal cells. The biosorption was examined through batch- and continuous-mode
      operations. The biosorption process conformed well to the Langmuir model. Maximum
      monolayer biosorption capacity of the biosorbent was recorded as 154.756 mg g-1.
      Kinetic findings showed a very good compliance with the pseudo-second-order
      model. The negative values of DeltaG degrees  indicated a spontaneous nature of
      the biosorption process and a positive value of DeltaH degrees  (14.69 kJ mol-1)
      concluded favorable decolorization at high temperature. The scanning electron
      microscopy analysis showed that a porous, rippled, and rough surface of biomass
      system was covered with BB7 molecular cloud. IR results revealed that functional
      groups like -OH, -NH, and C?O participated to the decolorization. Breakthrough
      and exhausted points were found as 360 and 570 minutes, respectively. The biomass
      system was successfully applied to the treatment of real wastewater.

PMID- 28613135
TI  - Pupillary Responses to Words That Convey a Sense of Brightness or Darkness.
AB  - Theories about embodiment of language hold that when you process a word's
      meaning, you automatically simulate associated sensory input (e.g., perception of
      brightness when you process lamp) and prepare associated actions (e.g., finger
      movements when you process typing). To test this latter prediction, we measured
      pupillary responses to single words that conveyed a sense of brightness (e.g.,
      day) or darkness (e.g., night) or were neutral (e.g., house). We found that
      pupils were largest for words conveying darkness, of intermediate size for
      neutral words, and smallest for words conveying brightness. This pattern was
      found for both visually presented and spoken words, which suggests that it was
      due to the words' meanings, rather than to visual or auditory properties of the
      stimuli. Our findings suggest that word meaning is sufficient to trigger a
      pupillary response, even when this response is not imposed by the experimental
      task, and even when this response is beyond voluntary control.

PMID- 28613137
TI  - Measurement of the IgG2 response to Pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides may
      identify an antibody deficiency in individuals referred for immunological
      investigation.
AB  - IgG2 is the most efficient subclass for providing protection against pneumococcal
      pathogens. We hypothesised that some individuals may be unable to mount an
      effective pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide (PCP) IgG2 response despite having
      a normal PCP IgG concentration (PCP IgG2 deficient). The median pre-vaccination
      PCP IgG2 concentration was significantly lower in individuals referred for
      immunological investigation compared to healthy controls (2.8 mg/L range, 95% CI
      1.1-88 vs. 29.5mg/L, 95% CI 13.5-90, p = 0.0002). PCP IgG:IgG2 ratios were
      significantly higher for the referral population than for healthy controls
      suggesting the increased production of PCP specific subclasses other than IgG2.
      The percentage of individuals with PCP IgG2 deficiency was significantly higher
      in referral groups compared to controls (31% vs. 5%; p = 0.0009) and in an
      individual with PCP IgG2 deficiency, the balance of PCP specific IgG subclass
      antibodies post vaccination changed from IgG2>IgG1>IgG3>IgG4 to
      IgG1>IgG3>IgG2>IgG4. The median PCP IgG2 concentration in those with PCP IgG2
      deficiency was significantly lower in the referral groups compared to controls
      (7.8 mg/L, 95% CI 1.1-12 vs. 12.7 mg/L, 95% CI 11.8-13.1; p = 0.006). The data
      suggests a defect in the production PCP IgG2 may be present in individuals with
      normal PCP IgG referred for immunological investigation.

PMID- 28613138
TI  - A neuropsychological study of older adult first-time sex offenders.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The issue of whether sex offenders have cognitive deficits
      remains controversial. The objective of this study was to compare the
      neuropsychological function of older adult first time sex-offenders (FTSO), who
      had not previously been charged with a sexual offence prior to the age of 50, to
      historical long-term sex offenders (HSO) and non-sex offenders (NSO). The
      hypotheses were (a) that FTSO would demonstrate greater deficits in executive
      function, decision-making, and memory compared to non-sex offenders; and (b) the
      HSOs would present similar neuropsychological deficits to non-sex offenders.
      METHOD: A battery of neuropsychological measures was administered to 100
      participants comprising 32 FTSOs, 36 HSOs, and 32 NSOs. RESULTS: Both FTSOs and
      HSOs showed significant impairment on tests of executive function (including
      verbal fluency, trail-making, and the Hayling test of response inhibition) as
      well as on tests of verbal and verbal memory compared to NSOs; however, there was
      no difference between the two sex offender groups. CONCLUSIONS: Older adult sex
      offenders, overall, demonstrated poorer neuropsychological performance than older
      adult non-sex offenders did, although there was no difference between older first
      time and historical offenders. Cognitive deficits may increase the risk of sexual
      offending due to impaired capacity in self-regulation, planning, judgment, and
      inhibition. A proportion of older adult sex offenders may be harboring acquired
      frontal lobe pathology.

PMID- 28613139
TI  - Evaluation of the relationship between the minimum inhibitory concentration of
      ceftiofur and third-generation cephalosporins in Escherichia coli isolates from
      food-producing animals.
AB  - To enable future comparison of the antimicrobial susceptibility data between
      bacteria obtained from animals and humans, it is necessary to compare the
      relationships between minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of veterinary and
      human medicine. We evaluated the relationship between the MIC of ceftiofur (CTF)
      and the MICs of other third-generation cephalosporins (TGCs): cefotaxime (CTX),
      cefpodoxime (CPDX), and ceftazidime (CAZ), determined by the broth microdilution
      method using 118 cefazolin-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from food
      producing animals. Using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute
      criteria, very major classification errors were observed only in CAZ (17.8%, 21
      of 118); major and minor errors were observed in all TGCs (CTX: 0.8% [1 of 118]
      and 9.3% [11 of 118]; CPDX: 9.3% [11 of 118] and 6.8% [8 of 118]; CAZ: 2.5% [3 of
      118] and 9.3% [11 of 118], respectively). The Spearman correlation coefficients
      between the MICs of CTF and CTX, CPDX, and CAZ were 0.765, 0.731, and 0.306,
      respectively. The sensitivity and specificity values were 100.0% and 81.8% for
      CTX, 99.0% and 27.3% for CPDX, and 76.0% and 86.4% for CAZ compared with CTF. The
      C-statistic was 0.978 for CTF and CTX, 0.953 for CPDX, and 0.798 for CAZ. For the
      TGCs evaluated in our study, testing for CTX susceptibility results showed the
      highest correlation with the results given when testing for CTF susceptibility.

PMID- 28613140
TI  - Influenza virus protein PB1-F2 interacts with CALCOCO2 (NDP52) to modulate innate
      immune response.
AB  - PB1-F2 is a viral protein encoded by influenza A viruses (IAVs). PB1-F2 is
      implicated in virulence by triggering immune cell apoptosis and enhancing
      inflammation. To obtain an insight into the molecular mechanisms of PB1-F2
      mediated virulence, we used the yeast two-hybrid approach to find new PB1-F2
      cellular interactors. This allowed us to identify calcium-binding and coiled-coil
      domain 2 (CALCOCO2, also known as NDP52) as a binding partner of PB1-F2. Binding
      of PB1-F2 to CALCOCO2 was confirmed by pull-down. Surface plasmon resonance
      binding experiments enabled us to estimate the dissociation constant (Kd) of the
      two partners to be around 20 nM. Using bioinformatics tools, we designed a
      CALCOCO2 interaction map based on previous knowledge and showed a strong
      connection between this protein and the type I interferon production pathways and
      the I-kappaB kinase/NF-kappaB signalling pathway. NF-kappaB reporter assays in
      which CALCOCO2, MAVS and PB1-F2 were co-expressed showed a cooperation of these
      three proteins to increase the inflammatory response. By contrast, PB1-F2
      inhibits the TBK1-dependent activation of an ISRE reporter plasmid. We also
      demonstrated that the signal transducer TRAF6 is implicated in the enhancement of
      NF-kappaB activity mediated by PB1-F2/CALCOCO2 binding. Altogether, this report
      provides evidence of an interaction link between PB1-F2 and human proteins, and
      allows a better understanding of the involvement of PB1-F2 in the pathologic
      process mediated by IAV.

PMID- 28613141
TI  - Completely genomic and evolutionary characteristics of human-dominant G9P[8]
      group A rotavirus strains in Yunnan, China.
AB  - G9P[8] rotavirus A (RVA) has been identified as the predominant genotype
      circulating in Yunnan, China. To elucidate the molecular characteristics of its
      genetic composition at the whole-genome level, the genomes of 12 strains isolated
      from paediatric patients with diarrhoea were fully sequenced and characterized.
      Eleven of the 12 strains were genotyped as G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E1-H1,
      which is closely related to the Wa-like genotype 1 constellation. In contrast,
      one strain was genotyped as G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N2-T1-E1-H1, with the NSP2
      gene characterized as a DS-1 like genotype. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis
      indicated that G9 strains had emerged in 1932 with an estimated average
      evolutionary rate of 1.63*10-3 substitutions/site/year. Considering the high
      prevalence and fast evolutionary rate of G9P[8] rotaviruses, our results suggest
      that G9P[8] RVA should be strictly monitored in China.

PMID- 28613142
TI  - Mutations in the fusion protein heptad repeat domains of human metapneumovirus
      impact on the formation of syncytia.
AB  - Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is an important cause of respiratory tract
      infections. The mechanism by which its fusion (F) protein is responsible for
      variable cytopathic effects in vitro remains unknown. We aligned the F sequences
      of the poorly fusogenic B2/CAN98-75 strain and the hyperfusogenic A1/C-85473
      strain and identified divergent residues located in the two functional heptad
      repeats domains (HRA and HRB). We generated recombinant viruses by inserting the
      mutations N135T-G139N-T143K-K166E-E167D in HRA and/or K479R-N482S in HRB,
      corresponding to swapped sequences from C-85473, into CAN98-75 background and
      investigated their impact on in vitro phenotype and fusogenicity. We demonstrated
      that the five HRA mutations enhanced the fusogenicity of the recombinant rCAN98
      75 virus, almost restoring the phenotype of the wild-type rC-85473 strain,
      whereas HRB substitutions alone had no significant effect on cell-cell fusion.
      Altogether, our results support the importance of the HRA domain for an HMPV
      triggered fusion mechanism and identify key residues that modulate syncytium
      formation.

PMID- 28613143
TI  - Photobacterium alginatilyticum sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from bottom
      seawater.
AB  - A Gram-straining-negative, facultatively aerobic, rod-shaped strain, motile by a
      polar flagellum and designated P03D4T, was isolated from the bottom seawater of
      the East China Sea. Growth occurred at 10-50  degrees C (optimum 32  degrees C),
      pH 5.0-10.0 (optimum pH 6.0) and in the presence of 1-7 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3
      %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence placed P03D4T within
      the genus Photobacterium of the family Vibrionaceae in the class
      Gammaproteobacteria, and revealed that strain P03D4T was most closely related to
      Photobacterium frigidiphilum SL13T with 96.9 % sequence similarity and had
      sequence similarities with other species of the genus Photobacterium in the range
      94.6-96.9 %. The dominant fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1omega7c
      and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH) and C16 : 0. The polar lipids of strain P03D4T comprised
      phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and one
      unknown lipid. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8). The DNA G+C
      content of strain P03D4T was 44.3 mol%. On the basis of the evidence from this
      polyphasic study, strain P03D4T is proposed as representing a novel species of
      the genus Photobacterium, for which the name Photobacterium alginatilyticum sp.
      nov. is proposed. The type strain is P03D4T (=KCTC 52365T=MCCC 1K03200T=CGMCC
      1.15764T).

PMID- 28613144
TI  - Paenibacillus apis sp. nov. and Paenibacillus intestini sp. nov., isolated from
      the intestine of the honey bee Apis mellifera.
AB  - Three strains, CBM1T, CBH23 and LAH16T, belonging to the genus Paenibacillus were
      isolated from the midgut and hindgut of Apis mellifera. Based on 16S rRNA gene
      sequence analyses and phenotypic characteristics, the three strains represent two
      novel species. Strains CBM1T and CBH23 formed a group with Paenibacillus
      puldeungensis CAU 9324T, and strain LAH16T belonged to the
      Paenibacillusamylolyticus NRRL NRS-290T subgroup of the genus Paenibacillus. The
      DNA G+C contents of strains CBM1T, CBH23 and LAH16T were 47.7, 48.1 and 46.1
      mol%, respectively. The three strains possessed diphosphatidylglycerol,
      phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine as polar lipids. The
      predominant quinone in the three strains was MK-7, but strains CBM1T and CBH23
      contained an additional major quinone, MK-8(H2). While strain LAH16T and most
      species of the genus Paenibacillus possessed anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and C16
      : 0 as major cellular fatty acids, strains CBM1T and CBH23 possessed C16 : 0,
      anteiso-C15 : 0, C18 : 1omega7c and C19 : 0cyclo omega8c. Based on phenotypic,
      chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strains CBM1T and CBH23 and the strain
      LAH16T represent novel species in the genus Paenibacillus, for which the names
      Paenibacillus apis sp. nov. and Paenibacillus intestini sp. nov. are proposed,
      with CBM1T (=KCTC 33844T=JCM 31620T) and LAH16T (=KCTC 33832T=JCM 31621T) as the
      type strains, respectively.

PMID- 28613145
TI  - Two novel dromedary camel bocaparvoviruses from dromedaries in the Middle East
      with unique genomic features.
AB  - The recent emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and
      its discovery from dromedary camels has boosted interest in the search for novel
      viruses in dromedaries. While bocaparvoviruses are known to infect various
      animals, it was not known that they exist in dromedaries. In this study, we
      describe the discovery of two novel dromedary camel bocaparvoviruses (DBoVs),
      DBoV1 and DBoV2, from dromedary faecal samples in Dubai. Among 667 adult
      dromedaries and 72 dromedary calves, 13.9 % of adult dromedaries and 33.3 % of
      dromedary calves were positive for DBoV1, while 7.0 % of adult dromedaries and
      25.0 % of dromedary calves were positive for DBoV2, as determined by PCR.
      Sequencing of 21 DBoV1 and 18 DBoV2 genomes and phylogenetic analysis showed that
      DBoV1 and DBoV2 formed two distinct clusters, with only 32.6-36.3 % amino acid
      identities between the DBoV1 and DBoV2 strains. Quasispecies were detected in
      both DBoVs. The amino acid sequences of the NS1 proteins of all the DBoV1 and
      DBoV2 strains showed <85 % identity to those of all the other bocaparvoviruses,
      indicating that DBoV1 and DBoV2 are two bocaparvovirus species according to the
      ICTV criteria. Although the typical genome structure of NS1-NP1-VP1/VP2 was
      observed in DBoV1 and DBoV2, no phospholipase A2 motif and associated calcium
      binding site were observed in the predicted VP1 sequences for any of the 18
      sequenced DBoV2, and no start codons were found for their VP1. For all 18 DBoV2
      genomes, an AT-rich region of variable length and composition was present
      downstream to NP1. Further studies will be crucial to understand the pathogenic
      potential of DBoVs in this unique group of animals.

PMID- 28613146
TI  - Revisiting the genotyping scheme for varicella-zoster viruses based on whole
      genome comparisons.
AB  - We report whole-genome sequences (WGSs) for four varicella-zoster virus (VZV)
      samples from a shingles study conducted by Kaiser Permanente of Southern
      California. Comparative genomics and phylogenetic analysis of all published VZV
      WGSs revealed that strain KY037798 is in clade IX, which shall henceforth be
      designated clade 9. Previously published single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)
      based genotyping schemes fail to discriminate between clades 6 and VIII and
      employ positions that are not clade-specific. We provide an updated list of clade
      specific positions that supersedes the list determined at the 2008 VZV
      nomenclature meeting. Finally, we propose a new targeted genotyping scheme that
      will discriminate the circulating VZV clades with at least a twofold redundancy.
      Genotyping strategies using a limited set of targeted SNPs will continue to
      provide an efficient 'first pass' method for VZV strain surveillance as
      vaccination programmes for varicella and zoster influence the dynamics of VZV
      transmission.

PMID- 28613147
TI  - Frequent detection of Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in tissues from 10 consecutive
      autopsies.
AB  - Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has been identified in samples of Merkel cell
      carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive skin cancer. Seroepidemiologic studies indicated a
      high frequency of MCPyV infection in humans, suggesting respiratory and faecal
      oral routes, or transmission by skin contact. Since MCC is more frequent in
      immunocompromised patients, a reactivation of MCPyV latently infecting target
      cells has been proposed. However, neither definite ways of transmission nor
      specific target organs have been identified with certainty. Ten autopsies with an
      extensive organ sampling for a total of 121 specimens (tissue and blood samples)
      were collected. All tissue specimens were fixed in formalin and embedded in
      paraffin. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify the copy number of the large T
      antigen (LT) gene and the capsid VP1 gene of MCPyV. MCPyV LT and/or VP genes were
      detected in all of the collected specimens. A high prevalence of MCPyV was found
      in the blood (six cases) and lung (five cases); the brain was positive in three
      cases. The highest viral copy number was detected in blood from two autopsies (21
      610 570.09 copies per 105 cells and 380 413.25 copies per 105 cells), whereas the
      viral copy number in the other organs was low. Our data confirm the high
      frequency of MCPyV infection in the general population, which seems to indicate
      that the respiratory tract is a possible route for viral transmission and viral
      persistence in the brain. The frequent detection of MCPyV DNA in blood suggests
      that circulating leukocytes could be one of the reservoirs of MCPyV, whereas the
      high viral copy number also seems to indicate the possibility of viral
      reactivation in immunocompetent adults.

PMID- 28613148
TI  - Sphingopyxis solisilvae sp. nov., isolated from forest soil.
AB  - A yellow-coloured, Gram-staining-negative, motile and rod shaped bacterium,
      designated strain R366T, was isolated from forest soil of Kyonggi University,
      South Korea. It was able to grow at 15-42  degrees C, pH 6.0-10.0 and with 0-4 %
      (w/v) NaCl concentration. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain
      R366T belongs to the genus Sphingopyxis and is closely related to Sphingopyxis
      italica SC13E-S71T (98.72 % sequence similarity), Sphingopyxis chilensis S37T
      (98.51 %), Sphingopyxis fribergensis Kp5.2T (98.29 %), Sphingopyxis alaskensis
      RB2256T (98.15 %), Sphingopyxis ginsengisoli Gsoli 250T (98.15 %) and
      Sphingopyxis taejonensis JSS54T (98.01 %). The predominant respiratory quinone
      was ubiquinone-10, and the major polyamine was spermidine. The polar lipid
      profile revealed the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol,
      diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine
      and sphingoglycolipid. The predominant fatty acids of strain R366T were summed
      feature 8 (C18 : 1omega7c and/or C18 : 1omega6c), summed feature 3 (C16 :
      1omega7c and/or C16 : 1omega6c), C17 : 1omega6c, C16 : 0, C18 : 1omega7c 11
      methyl and C14 : 0 2-OH. The genomic DNA G+C content of this novel strain was
      65.1 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness between strain R366T and Sphingopyxisitalica
      DSM 25229T, Sphingopyxischilensis KCCM 41918T, Sphingopyxisalaskensis KCCM
      41983T, Sphingopyxisginsengisoli KACC 13918T and Sphingopyxistaejonensis KACC
      12341T was 51.7, 45.3, 39.0, 41.3 and 44.7 %, respectively. The morphological,
      physiological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses clearly distinguished
      this strain from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. Thus, strain R366T
      represents a novel species of the genus Sphingopyxis, for which the name
      Sphingopyxis solisilvae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is R366T (=KEMB
      9005-451T=KACC 19003T=JCM 31675T).

PMID- 28613149
TI  - Carlosrosaea hohenbergiae sp. nov. and Carlosrosaea aechmeae sp. nov., two
      tremellaceous yeasts isolated from bromeliads in north-eastern Brazil.
AB  - Yeast surveys associated with different bromeliads in north-eastern Brazil led to
      the proposal of two novel yeast species, Carlosrosaea hohenbergiae sp. nov. and
      Carlosrosaea aechmeae sp. nov., belonging to the Tremellales clade
      (Agaricomycotina, Basidiomycota). Analysis of the sequences of the internal
      transcribed spacer (ITS) region and D1/D2 domain of the LSU rRNA gene suggested
      an affinity with a phylogenetic lineage that includes recently reclassified
      Carlosrosaeavrieseae. Six isolates of the novel species were obtained from
      different bromeliad species collected in three Atlantic Forest fragments in
      Alagoas state, Brazil. Ca. hohenbergiae sp. nov. differs by 69 and 12 nucleotide
      substitutions in the ITS and D1/D2 domain, respectively, from Ca. vrieseae. The
      type strain is UFMG-CM-Y405T (=BSB 34T=CBS 14563T), Mycobank 819227. Ca. aechmeae
      sp. nov. is represented by one strain isolated from Aechmea constantinii leaves.
      Ca. aechmeae sp. nov. differs from the related species Ca. hohenbergiae and Ca.
      vrieseae by 36 and 65 nucleotide substitutions, respectively, in the ITS region
      and by 12 and 15 nucleotide substitutions in the D1/D2 domain, respectively. The
      type strain of Ca. aechmeae sp. nov. is UFMG-CM-Y6095T (=BM 94T=CBS 14578),
      Mycobank 819228.

PMID- 28613150
TI  - Toll-like receptor (TLR)21 signalling-mediated antiviral response against avian
      influenza virus infection correlates with macrophage recruitment and nitric oxide
      production.
AB  - Cytosine-guanosinedeoxynucleotide (CpG) DNA can be used for the stimulation of
      the toll-like receptor (TLR)21 signalling pathway in avian species which
      ultimately leads to up-regulation of gene transcription for pro-inflammatory
      molecules including nitric oxide and recruitment of innate immune cells. The
      objective of this study was to determine the antiviral effect of NO, produced in
      response to in ovo delivery of CpG DNA, against avian influenza virus (AIV)
      infection. We found that when CpG DNA is delivered at embryo day (ED)18 in ovo
      and subsequently challenged with H4N6 AIV at ED19 pre-hatch and day 1 post
      hatching, CpG DNA reduces H4N6 AIV replication associated with enhanced NO
      production and macrophage recruitment in lungs. In vitro, we showed that NO
      originating from macrophages is capable of eliciting an antiviral response
      against H4N6 AIV infection. This study provides insights into the mechanisms of
      CpG DNA-mediated antiviral response, particularly against AIV infection in avian
      species.

PMID- 28613151
TI  - Stylet penetration activities of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci associated with
      inoculation of the crinivirus Tomato chlorosis virus.
AB  - Bemisiatabaci is an important vector of numerous plant viruses, including the
      emergent semi-persistently transmitted crinivirus Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV).
      Its vector feeding behaviour is complex, with important implications for virus
      transmission, epidemiology and control. Thus, the objective of this study was to
      investigate the role of the stylet penetration activities of B. tabaci in the
      inoculation of ToCV in tomatoes by using the electrical penetration graph (EPG)
      technique. EPG recordings were classified into six categories depending on the
      waveforms observed. The results showed that ToCV inoculation is mainly associated
      with stylet activities in phloem sieve elements (E1 waveform), as there was a
      significant increase in the rate of transmission when whiteflies performed
      waveform E1. The precise stylet activities - either salivation or egestion -
      associated with virion release, presumably from retention sites in the foregut,
      need further investigation.

PMID- 28613153
TI  - Precision in the design of an experimental study deflects the significance of
      proteinase-activated receptor 2 expression in scrapie-inoculated mice.
AB  - Proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) is suspected to modulate the pathogenesis
      of various neurodegenerative conditions. We previously described delayed onset of
      clinical symptoms and prolonged survival of PAR2-deficient mice after
      intracerebral inoculation with prions. Here we report the results from a refined
      blinded study that aimed to investigate the effects of PAR2 deletion on scrapie
      pathogenesis after peripheral infection. This study failed to confirm that PAR2
      deficiency impacts on the length of the incubation period, with PAR2-/- and
      PAR2+/+ littermates developing scrapie at the same time. To clarify the
      discrepancy between the two observations, we repeated the intracerebral
      inoculation study while utilizing our refined protocol, which aimed to limit
      possible sources of experimental bias. The study again failed to confirm the
      significant effect of PAR2 expression on the course of prion infection. Our
      report emphasizes and discusses the importance of unbiased experimental design
      and the selection of proper genetic controls when using genetically altered
      animal models for prion pathogenesis studies.

PMID- 28613152
TI  - Reduction of infection by inhibiting mTOR pathway is associated with reversed
      repression of type I interferon by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome
      virus.
AB  - Type I interferons (IFNs) are critical in animal antiviral regulation. IFN
      mediated signalling regulates hundreds of genes that are directly associated with
      antiviral, immune and other physiological responses. The signalling pathway
      mediated by mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), a serine/threonine kinase
      regulated by IFNs, is key in regulation of cellular metabolism and was recently
      implicated in host antiviral responses. However, little is known about how animal
      type I IFN signalling coordinates immunometabolic reactions during antiviral
      defence. Here, using porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV),
      we found that the genes in the mTOR signalling pathway were differently regulated
      in PRRSV-infected porcine alveolar macrophages at different activation statuses.
      Moreover, mTOR signalling regulated PRRSV infection in MARC-145 and primary
      porcine cells, in part, through modulating the production and signalling of type
      I IFNs. Taken together, we determined that the mTOR signalling pathway involves
      PRRSV infection and regulates expression and signalling of type I IFNs against
      viral infection. These findings suggest that the mTOR signalling pathway has a bi
      directional loop with the type I IFN system and imply that some components in the
      mTOR signalling pathway can be utilized as targets for studying antiviral
      immunity and for designing therapeutic reagents.

PMID- 28613155
TI  - Dye-enhanced visualization of rat whiskers for behavioral studies.
AB  - Visualization and tracking of the facial whiskers is required in an increasing
      number of rodent studies. Although many approaches have been employed, only high
      speed videography has proven adequate for measuring whisker motion and
      deformation during interaction with an object. However, whisker visualization and
      tracking is challenging for multiple reasons, primary among them the low contrast
      of the whisker against its background. Here, we demonstrate a fluorescent dye
      method suitable for visualization of one or more rat whiskers. The process makes
      the dyed whisker(s) easily visible against a dark background. The coloring does
      not influence the behavioral performance of rats trained on a vibrissal
      vibrotactile discrimination task, nor does it affect the whiskers' mechanical
      properties.

PMID- 28613154
TI  - Seal or Varnish? A randomised controlled trial to determine the relative cost and
      effectiveness of pit and fissure sealant and fluoride varnish in preventing
      dental decay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fissure sealant (FS) and fluoride varnish (FV) have been shown to be
      effective in preventing dental caries when tested against a no-treatment control.
      However, the relative clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these
      interventions is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effectiveness and
      cost-effectiveness of FS and FV in preventing dental caries in first permanent
      molars (FPMs) in 6- and 7-year-olds and to determine their acceptability. DESIGN:
      A randomised controlled allocation-blinded clinical trial with two parallel arms.
      SETTING: A targeted population programme using mobile dental clinics (MDCs) in
      schools located in areas of high social and economic deprivation in South Wales.
      PARTICIPANTS: In total, 1016 children were randomised, but one parent
      subsequently withdrew permission and so the analysis was based on 1015 children.
      The randomisation of participants was stratified by school and balanced for sex
      and primary dentition baseline caries levels using minimisation in a 1 : 1 ratio
      for treatments. A random component was added to the minimisation algorithm, such
      that it was not completely deterministic. Of the participants, 514 were
      randomised to receive FS and 502 were randomised to receive FV. INTERVENTIONS:
      Resin-based FS was applied to caries-free FPMs and maintained at 6-monthly
      intervals. FV was applied at baseline and at 6-month intervals over the course of
      3 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportion of children developing caries into
      dentine (decayed, missing, filled teeth in permanent dentition, i.e. D4-6MFT) on
      any one of up to four treated FPMs after 36 months. The assessors were blinded to
      treatment allocation; however, the presence or absence of FS at assessment would
      obviously indicate the probable treatment received. Economic measures established
      the costs and budget impact of FS and FV and the relative cost-effectiveness of
      these technologies. Qualitative interviews determined the acceptability of the
      interventions. RESULTS: At 36 months, 835 (82%) children remained in the trial:
      417 in the FS arm and 418 in the FV arm. The proportion of children who developed
      caries into dentine on a least one FPM was lower in the FV arm (73; 17.5%) than
      in the FS arm (82, 19.6%) [odds ratio (OR) 0.84, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      0.59 to 1.21; p = 0.35] but the difference was not statistically significant. The
      results were similar when the numbers of newly decayed teeth (OR 0.86, 95% CI
      0.60 to 1.22) and tooth surfaces (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.21) were examined.
      Trial fidelity was high: 95% of participants received five or six of the six
      scheduled treatments. Between 74% and 93% of sealants (upper and lower teeth)
      were intact at 36 months. The costs of the two technologies showed a small but
      statistically significant difference; the mean cost to the NHS (including
      intervention costs) per child was L500 for FS, compared with L432 for FV, a
      difference of L68.13 (95% CI L5.63 to L130.63; p = 0.033) in favour of FV. The
      budget impact analysis suggests that there is a cost saving of L68.13 (95% CI
      L5.63 to L130.63; p = 0.033) per child treated if using FV compared with the
      application of FS over this time period. An acceptability score completed by the
      children immediately after treatment and subsequent interviews demonstrated that
      both interventions were acceptable to the children. No adverse effects were
      reported. LIMITATIONS: There are no important limitations to this study.
      CONCLUSIONS: In a community oral health programme utilising MDCs and targeted at
      children with high caries risk, the twice-yearly application of FV resulted in
      caries prevention that is not significantly different from that obtained by
      applying and maintaining FSs after 36 months. FV proved less expensive. FUTURE
      WORK: The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of FS and FV following
      the cessation of active intervention merits investigation. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      EudraCT number 2010-023476-23, Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN17029222 and UKCRN
      reference 9273. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for
      Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be
      published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 21. See the NIHR
      Journals Library website for further project information.

PMID- 28613159
TI  - Noninvasive Blood Pressure Estimation Using Ultrasound and Simple Finite Element
      Models.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Many commercially available arterial blood pressure measurement
      devices suffer from a range of weaknesses. For example, common weaknesses include
      being inaccurate, invasive, and ad hoc; many also require explicit user
      calibration or cut off blood flow to a limb. A novel algorithmic approach is
      presented to accurately estimate systolic and diastolic blood pressure in a way
      that does not require any explicit user calibration, is noninvasive, and does not
      cut off blood flow. METHODS: The approach uses ultrasound images of the arterial
      wall and corresponding contact force data to obtain blood pressure estimates. To
      acquire data, an ultrasound probe was placed on the patient's carotid artery and
      the contact force was increased from 1.5 to 12 N. The artery was then
      algorithmically segmented from the recorded DICOM B-Mode data. The segmentation
      data and the contact force were used as input into the Levenberg-Marquardt
      optimization method to solve for the parameters, including blood pressure, of a
      simple finite element model of the carotid artery. RESULTS: The algorithm was
      validated on 24 healthy volunteers. Algorithm arterial blood pressure predictions
      were compared to oscillometric blood pressure cuff readings. Regression and Bland
      Altman analyses were performed on the data. CONCLUSION: Both systolic pressure
      and diastolic pressure can be estimated using this novel noninvasive ultrasound
      based method (systolic accuracy/precision: $-$ 2.36 mmHg/10.21 mmHg; diastolic
      accuracy/precision: $-$ 0.32/8.23 mmHg). SIGNIFICANCE: The method occupies a
      clinical middle ground between the arterial catheter and cuff-based techniques.
      It has the potential to give accurate results for patients with hypertension and
      atherosclerosis.

PMID- 28613160
TI  - Deep Canonical Time Warping for Simultaneous Alignment and Representation
      Learning of Sequences.
AB  - Machine learning algorithms for the analysis of time-series often depend on the
      assumption that utilised data are temporally aligned. Any temporal discrepancies
      arising in the data is certain to lead to ill-generalisable models, which in turn
      fail to correctly capture properties of the task at hand. The temporal alignment
      of time-series is thus a crucial challenge manifesting in a multitude of
      applications. Nevertheless, the vast majority of algorithms oriented towards
      temporal alignment are either applied directly on the observation space or simply
      utilise linear projections-thus failing to capture complex, hierarchical non
      linear representations that may prove beneficial, especially when dealing with
      multi-modal data (e.g., visual and acoustic information). To this end, we present
      Deep Canonical Time Warping (DCTW), a method that automatically learns non-linear
      representations of multiple time-series that are (i) maximally correlated in a
      shared subspace, and (ii) temporally aligned. Furthermore, we extend DCTW to a
      supervised setting, where during training, available labels can be utilised
      towards enhancing the alignment process. By means of experiments on four
      datasets, we show that the representations learnt significantly outperform state
      of-the-art methods in temporal alignment, elegantly handling scenarios with
      heterogeneous feature sets, such as the temporal alignment of acoustic and visual
      information.

PMID- 28613156
TI  - Reciprocal regulation of ARPP-16 by PKA and MAST3 kinases provides a cAMP
      regulated switch in protein phosphatase 2A inhibition.
AB  - ARPP-16, ARPP-19, and ENSA are inhibitors of protein phosphatase PP2A. ARPP-19
      and ENSA phosphorylated by Greatwall kinase inhibit PP2A during mitosis. ARPP-16
      is expressed in striatal neurons where basal phosphorylation by MAST3 kinase
      inhibits PP2A and regulates key components of striatal signaling. The ARPP-16/19
      proteins were discovered as substrates for PKA, but the function of PKA
      phosphorylation is unknown. We find that phosphorylation by PKA or MAST3 mutually
      suppresses the ability of the other kinase to act on ARPP-16. Phosphorylation by
      PKA also acts to prevent inhibition of PP2A by ARPP-16 phosphorylated by MAST3.
      Moreover, PKA phosphorylates MAST3 at multiple sites resulting in its inhibition.
      Mathematical modeling highlights the role of these three regulatory interactions
      to create a switch-like response to cAMP. Together, the results suggest a complex
      antagonistic interplay between the control of ARPP-16 by MAST3 and PKA that
      creates a mechanism whereby cAMP mediates PP2A disinhibition.

PMID- 28613158
TI  - Sexual selection gradients change over time in a simultaneous hermaphrodite.
AB  - Sexual selection is generally predicted to act more strongly on males than on
      females. The Darwin-Bateman paradigm predicts that this should also hold for
      hermaphrodites. However, measuring this strength of selection is less
      straightforward when both sexual functions are performed throughout the
      organism's lifetime. Besides, quantifications of sexual selection are usually
      done during a short time window, while many animals store sperm and are long
      lived. To explore whether the chosen time frame affects estimated measures of
      sexual selection, we recorded mating success and reproductive success over time,
      using a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Our results show that male sexual selection
      gradients are consistently positive. However, an individual's female mating
      success seems to negatively affect its own male reproductive success, an effect
      that only becomes visible several weeks into the experiment, highlighting that
      the time frame is crucial for the quantification and interpretation of sexual
      selection measures, an insight that applies to any iteroparous mating system.

PMID- 28613157
TI  - Physical limits of flow sensing in the left-right organizer.
AB  - Fluid flows generated by motile cilia are guiding the establishment of the left
      right asymmetry of the body in the vertebrate left-right organizer. Competing
      hypotheses have been proposed: the direction of flow is sensed either through
      mechanosensation, or via the detection of chemical signals transported in the
      flow. We investigated the physical limits of flow detection to clarify which
      mechanisms could be reliably used for symmetry breaking. We integrated parameters
      describing cilia distribution and orientation obtained in vivo in zebrafish into
      a multiscale physical study of flow generation and detection. Our results show
      that the number of immotile cilia is too small to ensure robust left and right
      determination by mechanosensing, given the large spatial variability of the flow.
      However, motile cilia could sense their own motion by a yet unknown mechanism.
      Finally, transport of chemical signals by the flow can provide a simple and
      reliable mechanism of asymmetry establishment.

PMID- 28613161
TI  - Deformation Based Curved Shape Representation.
AB  - In this paper, we introduce a deformation based representation space for curved
      shapes in . Given an ordered set of points sampled from a curved shape, the
      proposed method represents the set as an element of a finite dimensional matrix
      Lie group. Variation due to scale and location are filtered in a preprocessing
      stage, while shapes that vary only in rotation are identified by an equivalence
      relationship. The use of a finite dimensional matrix Lie group leads to a
      similarity metric with an explicit geodesic solution. Subsequently, we discuss
      some of the properties of the metric and its relationship with a deformation by
      least action. Furthermore, invariance to reparametrization or estimation of point
      correspondence between shapes is formulated as an estimation of sampling
      function. Thereafter, two possible approaches are presented to solve the point
      correspondence estimation problem. Finally, we propose an adaptation of k-means
      clustering for shape analysis in the proposed representation space. Experimental
      results show that the proposed representation is robust to uninformative cues,
      e.g., local shape perturbation and displacement. In comparison to state of the
      art methods, it achieves a high precision on the Swedish and the Flavia leaf
      datasets and a comparable result on MPEG-7, Kimia99 and Kimia216 datasets.

PMID- 28613162
TI  - Incorporating Network Built-in Priors in Weakly-Supervised Semantic Segmentation.
AB  - Pixel-level annotations are expensive and time consuming to obtain. Hence, weak
      supervision using only image tags could have a significant impact in semantic
      segmentation. Recently, CNN-based methods have proposed to fine-tune pre-trained
      networks using image tags. Without additional information, this leads to poor
      localization accuracy. This problem, however, was alleviated by making use of
      objectness priors to generate foreground/background masks. Unfortunately these
      priors either require pixel-level annotations/bounding boxes, or still yield
      inaccurate object boundaries. Here, we propose a novel method to extract accurate
      masks from networks pre-trained for the task of object recognition, thus forgoing
      external objectness modules. We first show how foreground/background masks can be
      obtained from the activations of higher-level convolutional layers of a network.
      We then show how to obtain multi-class masks by the fusion of
      foreground/background ones with information extracted from a weakly-supervised
      localization network. Our experiments evidence that exploiting these masks in
      conjunction with a weakly-supervised training loss yields state-of-the-art tag
      based weakly-supervised semantic segmentation results.

PMID- 28613164
TI  - Model-Based Generation of Large Databases of Cardiac Images: Synthesis of
      Pathological Cine MR Sequences From Real Healthy Cases.
AB  - Collecting large databases of annotated medical images is crucial for the
      validation and testing of feature extraction, statistical analysis, and machine
      learning algorithms. Recent advances in cardiac electromechanical modeling and
      image synthesis provided a framework to generate synthetic images based on
      realistic mesh simulations. Nonetheless, their potential to augment an existing
      database with large amounts of synthetic cases requires further investigation. We
      build upon these works and propose a revised scheme for synthesizing pathological
      cardiac sequences from real healthy sequences. Our new pipeline notably involves
      a much easier registration problem to reduce potential artifacts, and takes
      advantage of mesh correspondences to generate new data from a given case without
      additional registration. The output sequences are thoroughly examined in terms of
      quality and usability on a given application: the assessment of myocardial
      viability, via the generation of 465 synthetic cine MR sequences (15 healthy and
      450 with pathological tissue viability [random location, extent, and grade, up to
      myocardial infarct]). We demonstrate that: 1) our methodology improves the state
      of-the-art algorithms in terms of realism and accuracy of the simulated images
      and 2) our methodology is well-suited for the generation of large databases at
      small computational cost.

PMID- 28613163
TI  - Sinogram Blurring Matrix Estimation From Point Sources Measurements With Rank-One
      Approximation for Fully 3-D PET.
AB  - An accurate system matrix is essential in positron emission tomography (PET) for
      reconstructing high quality images. To reduce storage size and image
      reconstruction time, we factor the system matrix into a product of a geometry
      projection matrix and a sinogram blurring matrix. The geometric projection matrix
      is computed analytically and the sinogram blurring matrix is estimated from point
      source measurements. Previously, we have estimated a 2-D blurring matrix for a
      preclinical PET scanner. The 2-D blurring matrix only considers blurring effects
      within a transaxial sinogram and does not compensate for inter-sinogram blurring
      effects. For PET scanners with a long axial field of view, inter-sinogram
      blurring can be a major problem influencing the image quality in the axial
      direction. Hence, the estimation of a 4-D blurring matrix is desirable to further
      improve the image quality. The 4-D blurring matrix estimation is an ill
      conditioned problem due to the large number of unknowns. Here, we propose a rank
      one approximation for each blurring kernel image formed by a row vector of the
      sinogram blurring matrix to improve the stability of the 4-D blurring matrix
      estimation. The proposed method is applied to the simulated data as well as the
      real data obtained from an Inveon microPET scanner. The results show that the
      newly estimated 4-D blurring matrix can improve the image quality over those
      obtained with a 2-D blurring matrix and requires less point source scans to
      achieve similar image quality compared with an unconstrained 4-D blurring matrix
      estimation.

PMID- 28613165
TI  - Lossless Compression of Medical Images Using 3-D Predictors.
AB  - This paper describes a highly efficient method for lossless compression of
      volumetric sets of medical images, such as CTs or MRIs. The proposed method,
      referred to as 3-D-MRP, is based on the principle of minimum rate predictors
      (MRPs), which is one of the state-of-the-art lossless compression technologies
      presented in the data compression literature. The main features of the proposed
      method include the use of 3-D predictors, 3-D-block octree partitioning and
      classification, volume-based optimization, and support for 16-b-depth images.
      Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the 3-D-MRP algorithm for the
      compression of volumetric sets of medical images, achieving gains above 15% and
      12% for 8- and 16-bit-depth contents, respectively, when compared with JPEG-LS,
      JPEG2000, CALIC, and HEVC, as well as other proposals based on the MRP algorithm.

PMID- 28613166
TI  - Design Consideration of SAW/BAW Band Reject Filters Embedded in Impedance
      Converter.
AB  - This paper discusses design of surface acoustic wave/bulk acoustic wave (SAW/BAW)
      based band reject filters composed of the impedance converters, where capacitive
      elements are replaced with SAW/BAW resonators. First, basic properties of the
      unit cell are studied. It is shown how basic properties of a unit cell change
      with the design. It is also shown that when two notches caused by the resonators
      are placed in proximity, two synergy effects occur: 1) an extra matching point
      appears on one side of the transition band. This makes the insertion loss at the
      point smaller and the transition band steeper and 2) the dip level becomes
      deeper, and the total rejection level improves. Then, two resonators are
      fabricated, measured, and combined with inductors in circuit simulator to
      demonstrate functionality of the basic cell design. Finally, the wide rejection
      band filter is designed by cascading multistages, and effectiveness of the device
      configurations is demonstrated.

PMID- 28613167
TI  - A Light Illumination Enhancement Device for Photoacoustic Imaging: In Vivo Animal
      Study.
AB  - Photoacoustic (PA) imaging detects acoustic signals generated by thermal
      expansion of a light-excited tissue or contrast agents. PA signal amplitude and
      image quality directly depend on the light fluence at the target depth. With
      conventional PA imaging systems, approximately 30% energy of incident light at
      the near-infrared region would be lost due to reflection on the skin surface.
      Such light loss directly leads to a reduction of PA signal and image quality. A
      new light delivery scheme that collects and redistributes reflected light energy
      was recently suggested, which is called the light catcher. In our previous study,
      proof of concept using a finite-element simulation model was shown and a
      laboratory-built prototype of the light catcher was applied on tissue-mimicking
      phantoms. In this paper, we present an elaborate prototype of a high-frequency PA
      probe with the light catcher fabricated using 3-D printing technology, which is
      conformal to a subcutaneous tumor in mice. The in vivo usefulness of the
      developed prototype was evaluated in a mouse tumor model. Equipped with the light
      catcher, PA signal amplitude from the clinical photosensitizer injected into the
      mouse tumor was enhanced by 33.7%, which is approximately equivalent to the
      percent light loss due to reflection on the skin.

PMID- 28613168
TI  - Convolution Neural Networks With Two Pathways for Image Style Recognition.
AB  - Automatic recognition of an image's style is important for many applications,
      including artwork analysis, photo organization, and image retrieval. Traditional
      convolution neural network (CNN) approach uses only object features for image
      style recognition. This approach may not be optimal, because the same object in
      two images may have different styles. We propose a CNN architecture with two
      pathways extracting object features and texture features, respectively. The
      object pathway represents the standard CNN architecture and the texture pathway
      intermixes the object pathway by outputting the gram matrices of intermediate
      features in the object pathway. The two pathways are jointly trained. In
      experiments, two deep CNNs, AlexNet and VGG-19, pretrained on the ImageNet
      classification data set are fine-tuned for this task. For any model, the two
      pathway architecture performs much better than individual pathways, which
      indicates that the two pathways contain complementary information of an image's
      style. In particular, the model based on VGG-19 achieves the state-of-the-art
      results on three benchmark data sets, WikiPaintings, Flickr Style, and AVA Style.

PMID- 28613169
TI  - Temporally Dependent Rate-Distortion Optimization for Low-Delay Hierarchical
      Video Coding.
AB  - Low-delay hierarchical coding structure (LD-HCS), as one of the most important
      components in the latest High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, greatly
      improves coding performance. It groups consecutive P/B frames into different
      layers and encodes them with different quantization parameters (QPs) and
      reference mechanisms in such a way that temporal dependency among frames can be
      exploited. However, due to varying characteristics of video contents, temporal
      dependency among coding units differs significantly from each other in the same
      or different layers, while a fixed LD-HCS scheme cannot take full advantage of
      the dependency, leading to a substantial loss in coding performance. This paper
      addresses the temporally dependent rate distortion optimization (RDO) problem by
      attempting to exploit varying temporal dependency of different units. First, the
      temporal relationship of different frames under the LD-HCS is examined, and
      hierarchical temporal propagation chains are constructed to represent the
      temporal dependency among coding units in different frames. Then, a hierarchical
      temporally dependent RDO scheme is developed specifically for the LD-HCS based on
      a source distortion propagation model. Experimental results show that our
      proposed scheme can achieve 2.5% and 2.3% BD-rate gain in average compared with
      the HEVC codec under the same configuration of P and B frames, respectively, with
      a negligible increase in encoding time. Furthermore, coupled with QP adaption,
      our proposed method can achieve higher coding gains, e.g., with multi-QP
      optimization, about 5.4% and 5.0% BD-rate saving in average over the HEVC codec
      under the same setting of P and B frames, respectively.

PMID- 28613170
TI  - Direct Pattern Control Halftoning of Neugebauer Primaries.
AB  - Halftoning is a key stage of any printing image processing pipeline. With
      colorant-channel approaches, a key challenge for matrix-based halftoning is the
      co-optimization of the matrices used for individual colorants, which becomes
      increasingly complex and over-constrained as the number of colorants increases.
      Both choices of screen angles (in clustered-dot cases) or structures, and control
      over how individual matrices relate to each other and result in over-versus side
      by-side printing of the colorants, impose challenging restrictions. The solution
      presented in this paper relies on the benefits of a halftone area Neugebauer
      separation pipeline, where local Neugebauer Primary use is specified at each
      pixel and where halftoning can be performed using a single matrix, regardless of
      the number of colorants. The provably complete plane dependence of the resulting
      halftones will be presented among the solution's benefits.

PMID- 28613171
TI  - Simultaneous Feature and Dictionary Learning for Image Set Based Face
      Recognition.
AB  - In this paper, we propose a simultaneous feature and dictionary learning (SFDL)
      method for image set-based face recognition, where each training and testing
      example contains a set of face images, which were captured from different
      variations of pose, illumination, expression, resolution, and motion. While a
      variety of feature learning and dictionary learning methods have been proposed in
      recent years and some of them have been successfully applied to image set-based
      face recognition, most of them learn features and dictionaries for facial image
      sets individually, which may not be powerful enough because some discriminative
      information for dictionary learning may be compromised in the feature learning
      stage if they are applied sequentially, and vice versa. To address this, we
      propose a SFDL method to learn discriminative features and dictionaries
      simultaneously from raw face pixels so that discriminative information from
      facial image sets can be jointly exploited by a one-stage learning procedure. To
      better exploit the nonlinearity of face samples from different image sets, we
      propose a deep SFDL (D-SFDL) method by jointly learning hierarchical non-linear
      transformations and class-specific dictionaries to further improve the
      recognition performance. Extensive experimental results on five widely used face
      data sets clearly shows that our SFDL and D-SFDL achieve very competitive or even
      better performance with the state-of-the-arts.

PMID- 28613172
TI  - Learning the Image Processing Pipeline.
AB  - Many creative ideas are being proposed for image sensor designs, and these may be
      useful in applications ranging from consumer photography to computer vision. To
      understand and evaluate each new design, we must create a corresponding image
      processing pipeline that transforms the sensor data into a form, that is
      appropriate for the application. The need to design and optimize these pipelines
      is time-consuming and costly. We explain a method that combines machine learning
      and image systems simulation that automates the pipeline design. The approach is
      based on a new way of thinking of the image processing pipeline as a large
      collection of local linear filters. We illustrate how the method has been used to
      design pipelines for novel sensor architectures in consumer photography
      applications.

PMID- 28613173
TI  - Large-Scale Crowdsourced Study for Tone-Mapped HDR Pictures.
AB  - Measuring digital picture quality, as perceived by human observers, is
      increasingly important in many applications in which humans are the ultimate
      consumers of visual information. Standard dynamic range (SDR) images provide 8
      b/color/pixel. High dynamic range (HDR) images, usually created from multiple
      exposures of the same scene, can provide 16 or 32 b/color/pixel, but need to be
      tonemapped to SDR for display on standard monitors. Multiexposure fusion (MEF)
      techniques bypass HDR creation by fusing an exposure stack directly to SDR images
      to achieve aesthetically pleasing luminance and color distributions. Many HDR and
      MEF databases have a relatively small number of images and human opinion scores,
      obtained under stringently controlled conditions, thereby limiting realistic
      viewing. Moreover, many of these databases are intended to compare tone-mapping
      algorithms, rather than being specialized for developing and comparing image
      quality assessment models. To overcome these challenges, we conducted a massively
      crowdsourced online subjective study. The primary contributions described in this
      paper are: 1) the new ESPL-LIVE HDR Image Database that we created containing
      diverse images obtained by tone-mapping operators and MEF algorithms, with and
      without post-processing; 2) a large-scale subjective study that we conducted
      using a crowdsourced platform to gather more than 300 000 opinion scores on 1811
      images from over 5000 unique observers; and 3) a detailed study of the
      correlation performance of the state-of-the-art no-reference image quality
      assessment algorithms against human opinion scores of these images. The database
      is available at http://signal.ece.utexas.edu/%7Edebarati/HDRDatabase.zip.

PMID- 28613174
TI  - MuLoG, or How to Apply Gaussian Denoisers to Multi-Channel SAR Speckle Reduction?
AB  - Speckle reduction is a longstanding topic in synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
      imaging. Since most current and planned SAR imaging satellites operate in
      polarimetric, interferometric, or tomographic modes, SAR images are multi-channel
      and speckle reduction techniques must jointly process all channels to recover
      polarimetric and interferometric information. The distinctive nature of SAR
      signal (complex-valued, corrupted by multiplicative fluctuations) calls for the
      development of specialized methods for speckle reduction. Image denoising is a
      very active topic in image processing with a wide variety of approaches and many
      denoising algorithms available, almost always designed for additive Gaussian
      noise suppression. This paper proposes a general scheme, called MuLoG (MUlti
      channel LOgarithm with Gaussian denoising), to include such Gaussian denoisers
      within a multi-channel SAR speckle reduction technique. A new family of speckle
      reduction algorithms can thus be obtained, benefiting from the ongoing progress
      in Gaussian denoising, and offering several speckle reduction results often
      displaying method-specific artifacts that can be dismissed by comparison between
      results.

PMID- 28613175
TI  - 2D Feature Selection by Sparse Matrix Regression.
AB  - For many image processing and computer vision problems, data points are in matrix
      form. Traditional methods often convert a matrix into a vector and then use
      vector-based approaches. They will ignore the location of matrix elements and the
      converted vector often has high dimensionality. How to select features for 2D
      matrix data directly is still an uninvestigated important issue. In this paper,
      we propose an algorithm named sparse matrix regression (SMR) for direct feature
      selection on matrix data. It employs the matrix regression model to accept matrix
      as input and bridges each matrix to its label. Based on the intrinsic property of
      regression coefficients, we design some sparse constraints on the coefficients to
      perform feature selection. An effective optimization method with provable
      convergence behavior is also proposed. We reveal that the number of regression
      vectors can be regarded as a tradeoff parameter to balance the capacity of
      learning and generalization in essence. To examine the effectiveness of SMR, we
      have compared it with several vector-based approaches on some benchmark data
      sets. Furthermore, we have also evaluated SMR in the application of scene
      classification. They all validate the effectiveness of our method.

PMID- 28613176
TI  - Derivative Kernels: Numerics and Applications.
AB  - A generalized framework for numerical differentiation (ND) is proposed for
      constructing a finite impulse response (FIR) filter in closed form. The framework
      regulates the frequency response of ND filters for arbitrary derivative-order and
      cutoff frequency selected parameters relying on interpolating power polynomials
      and maximally flat design techniques. Compared with the state-of-the-art
      solutions, such as Gaussian kernels, the proposed ND filter is sharply localized
      in the Fourier domain with ripple-free artifacts. Here, we construct 2D MaxFlat
      kernels for image directional differentiation to calculate image differentials
      for arbitrary derivative order, cutoff level and steering angle. The resulted
      kernel library renders a new solution capable of delivering discrete
      approximation of gradients, Hessian, and higher-order tensors in numerous
      applications. We tested the utility of this library on three different imaging
      applications with main focus on the unsharp masking. The reported results
      highlight the high efficiency of the 2D MaxFlat kernel and its versatility with
      respect to robustness and parameter control accuracy.

PMID- 28613177
TI  - Walking with Virtual People: Evaluation of Locomotion Interfaces in Dynamic
      Environments.
AB  - Navigating in virtual environments requires using some locomotion interfaces,
      especially when the dimensions of the environment exceed the ones of the Virtual
      Reality system. Locomotion interfaces induce some biases both in the perception
      of the self-motion or in the formation of virtual locomotion trajectories. These
      biases have been mostly evaluated in the context of static environments, and
      studies need to be revisited in the new context of populated environments where
      users interact with virtual characters. We focus on a situation of collision
      avoidance between a real participant and a virtual character, and compared it to
      previous studies on real walkers. Our results show that, as in reality, the risk
      of future collision is accurately anticipated by participants, however with
      delay. We also show that collision avoidance trajectories formed in VR have
      common properties with real ones, with some quantitative differences in avoidance
      distances. More generally, our evaluation demonstrates that reliable results can
      be obtained for qualitative analysis of small scale interactions in VR. We
      discuss these results in the perspective of a VR platform for large scale
      interaction applications, such as in a crowd, for which real data are difficult
      to gather.

PMID- 28613178
TI  - Biomechanical Reactions of Exoskeleton Neurorehabilitation Robots in Spastic
      Elbows and Wrists.
AB  - Spasticity is an important factor in designing wearable and lightweight
      exoskeleton neurorehabilitation robots. The proposed study evaluates
      biomechanical reactions of an exoskeleton robot to spasticity and establishes
      relevant guidelines for robot design. A two-axis exoskeleton robot is used to
      evaluate a group of 20 patients post-stroke with spastic elbow and/or wrist
      joints. All subjects are given isokinetic movements at various angular velocities
      within the capable range of motion for both joints. The resistance torque and
      corresponding angular position at each joint are recorded continuously. Maximal
      resistance torques caused by low (modified Ashworth scale (MAS) 0, 1),
      intermediate (MAS 1+), and high (MAS 2 and 3) grade spasticity were 3.68 +/-
      2.42, 5.94 +/- 2.55, and 8.25 +/- 3.35 Nm for the elbow flexor ( , between each
      grades) and 4.23 +/- 1.75, 5.68 +/- 1.96, and 5.44 +/- 2.02 Nm for the wrist
      flexor ( , for low versus intermediate, low versus high grade spasticity). The
      angular velocity did not significantly influence maximal resistance torque in
      either joint. The catch occurred more quickly at higher velocities for low and
      intermediate elbow flexor spasticity ( ). Spasticity caused considerable
      resistance to the robots during mechanically actuated movements. The resistance
      range according to the degree of spasticity should be considered when designing
      practical neurorehabilitation robots.

PMID- 28613179
TI  - Unsupervised Learning of Spike Patterns for Seizure Detection and Wavefront
      Estimation of High Resolution Micro Electrocorticographic ( $?mu $ ECoG) Data.
AB  - For the past few years, we have developed flexible, active, and multiplexed
      recording devices for high resolution recording over large, clinically relevant
      areas in the brain. While this technology has enabled a much higher-resolution
      view of the electrical activity of the brain, the analytical methods to process,
      categorize, and respond to the huge volumes of seizure data produced by these
      devices have not yet been developed. In this paper, we proposed an unsupervised
      learning framework for spike analysis, which by itself reveals spike pattern. By
      applying advanced video processing techniques for separating a multi-channel
      recording into individual spike segments, unfolding the spike segments manifold,
      and identifying natural clusters for spike patterns, we are able to find the
      common spike motion patterns. And we further explored using these patterns for
      more interesting and practical problems as seizure prediction and spike wavefront
      prediction. These methods have been applied to in vivo feline seizure recordings
      and yielded promising results.

PMID- 28613180
TI  - Atomic Force Microscopy in Characterizing Cell Mechanics for Biomedical
      Applications: A Review.
AB  - Cell mechanics is a novel label-free biomarker for indicating cell states and
      pathological changes. The advent of atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides a
      powerful tool for quantifying the mechanical properties of single living cells in
      aqueous conditions. The wide use of AFM in characterizing cell mechanics in the
      past two decades has yielded remarkable novel insights in understanding the
      development and progression of certain diseases, such as cancer, showing the huge
      potential of cell mechanics for practical applications in the field of
      biomedicine. In this paper, we reviewed the utilization of AFM to characterize
      cell mechanics. First, the principle and method of AFM single-cell mechanical
      analysis was presented, along with the mechanical responses of cells to
      representative external stimuli measured by AFM. Next, the unique changes of cell
      mechanics in two types of physiological processes (stem cell differentiation,
      cancer metastasis) revealed by AFM were summarized. After that, the molecular
      mechanisms guiding cell mechanics were analyzed. Finally the challenges and
      future directions were discussed.

PMID- 28613181
TI  - Event-Triggered Distributed Approximate Optimal State and Output Control of
      Affine Nonlinear Interconnected Systems.
AB  - This paper presents an approximate optimal distributed control scheme for a known
      interconnected system composed of input affine nonlinear subsystems using event
      triggered state and output feedback via a novel hybrid learning scheme. First,
      the cost function for the overall system is redefined as the sum of cost
      functions of individual subsystems. A distributed optimal control policy for the
      interconnected system is developed using the optimal value function of each
      subsystem. To generate the optimal control policy, forward-in-time, neural
      networks are employed to reconstruct the unknown optimal value function at each
      subsystem online. In order to retain the advantages of event-triggered feedback
      for an adaptive optimal controller, a novel hybrid learning scheme is proposed to
      reduce the convergence time for the learning algorithm. The development is based
      on the observation that, in the event-triggered feedback, the sampling instants
      are dynamic and results in variable interevent time. To relax the requirement of
      entire state measurements, an extended nonlinear observer is designed at each
      subsystem to recover the system internal states from the measurable feedback.
      Using a Lyapunov-based analysis, it is demonstrated that the system states and
      the observer errors remain locally uniformly ultimately bounded and the control
      policy converges to a neighborhood of the optimal policy. Simulation results are
      presented to demonstrate the performance of the developed controller.

PMID- 28613182
TI  - Driving Under the Influence (of Language).
AB  - We present a unified framework which supports grounding natural-language
      semantics in robotic driving. This framework supports acquisition (learning
      grounded meanings of nouns and prepositions from human sentential annotation of
      robotic driving paths), generation (using such acquired meanings to generate
      sentential description of new robotic driving paths), and comprehension (using
      such acquired meanings to support automated driving to accomplish navigational
      goals specified in natural language). We evaluate the performance of these three
      tasks by having independent human judges rate the semantic fidelity of the
      sentences associated with paths. Overall, machine performance is 74.9%, while the
      performance of human annotators is 83.8%.

PMID- 28613183
TI  - Single-Input Pinning Controller Design for Reachability of Boolean Networks.
AB  - This brief is concerned with the problem of a single-input pinning control design
      for reachability of Boolean networks (BNs). Specifically, the transition matrix
      of a BN is designed to steer the BN from an initial state to a desirable one. In
      addition, some nodes are selected as the pinning nodes by solving some logical
      matrix equations. Furthermore, a single-input pinning control algorithm is given.
      Eventually, a genetic regulatory network is provided to demonstrate the
      effectiveness and feasibility of the developed method.

PMID- 28613184
TI  - Online Feature Transformation Learning for Cross-Domain Object Category
      Recognition.
AB  - In this paper, we introduce a new research problem termed online feature
      transformation learning in the context of multiclass object category recognition.
      The learning of a feature transformation is viewed as learning a global
      similarity metric function in an online manner. We first consider the problem of
      online learning a feature transformation matrix expressed in the original feature
      space and propose an online passive aggressive feature transformation algorithm.
      Then these original features are mapped to kernel space and an online single
      kernel feature transformation (OSKFT) algorithm is developed to learn a nonlinear
      feature transformation. Based on the OSKFT and the existing Hedge algorithm, a
      novel online multiple kernel feature transformation algorithm is also proposed,
      which can further improve the performance of online feature transformation
      learning in large-scale application. The classifier is trained with k nearest
      neighbor algorithm together with the learned similarity metric function. Finally,
      we experimentally examined the effect of setting different parameter values in
      the proposed algorithms and evaluate the model performance on several multiclass
      object recognition data sets. The experimental results demonstrate the validity
      and good performance of our methods on cross-domain and multiclass object
      recognition application.

PMID- 28613185
TI  - Improving CNN Performance Accuracies With Min-Max Objective.
AB  - We propose a novel method for improving performance accuracies of convolutional
      neural network (CNN) without the need to increase the network complexity. We
      accomplish the goal by applying the proposed Min-Max objective to a layer below
      the output layer of a CNN model in the course of training. The Min-Max objective
      explicitly ensures that the feature maps learned by a CNN model have the minimum
      within-manifold distance for each object manifold and the maximum between
      manifold distances among different object manifolds. The Min-Max objective is
      general and able to be applied to different CNNs with insignificant increases in
      computation cost. Moreover, an incremental minibatch training procedure is also
      proposed in conjunction with the Min-Max objective to enable the handling of
      large-scale training data. Comprehensive experimental evaluations on several
      benchmark data sets with both the image classification and face verification
      tasks reveal that employing the proposed Min-Max objective in the training
      process can remarkably improve performance accuracies of a CNN model in
      comparison with the same model trained without using this objective.

PMID- 28613186
TI  - Distribution-Preserving Stratified Sampling for Learning Problems.
AB  - The need for extracting a small sample from a large amount of real data, possibly
      streaming, arises routinely in learning problems, e.g., for storage, to cope with
      computational limitations, obtain good training/test/validation sets, and select
      minibatches for stochastic gradient neural network training. Unless we have
      reasons to select the samples in an active way dictated by the specific task
      and/or model at hand, it is important that the distribution of the selected
      points is as similar as possible to the original data. This is obvious for
      unsupervised learning problems, where the goal is to gain insights on the
      distribution of the data, but it is also relevant for supervised problems, where
      the theory explains how the training set distribution influences the
      generalization error. In this paper, we analyze the technique of stratified
      sampling from the point of view of distances between probabilities. This allows
      us to introduce an algorithm, based on recursive binary partition of the input
      space, aimed at obtaining samples that are distributed as much as possible as the
      original data. A theoretical analysis is proposed, proving the (greedy)
      optimality of the procedure together with explicit error bounds. An adaptive
      version of the algorithm is also introduced to cope with streaming data.
      Simulation tests on various data sets and different learning tasks are also
      provided.

PMID- 28613188
TI  - Automated Spirometry Quality Assurance: Supervised Learning From Multiple
      Experts.
AB  - Forced spirometry testing is gradually becoming available across different
      healthcare tiers including primary care. It has been demonstrated in earlier work
      that commercially available spirometers are not fully able to assure the quality
      of individual spirometry manoeuvres. Thus, a need to expand the availability of
      high-quality spirometry assessment beyond specialist pulmonary centres has
      arisen. In this paper, we propose a method to select and optimise a classifier
      using supervised learning techniques by learning from previously classified
      forced spirometry tests from a group of experts. Such a method is able to take
      into account the shape of the curve as an expert would during visual inspection.
      We evaluated the final classifier on a dataset put aside for evaluation yielding
      an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88 and
      specificities of 0.91 and 0.86 for sensitivities of 0.60 and 0.82. Furthermore,
      other specificities and sensitivities along the receiver operating characteristic
      curve were close to the level of the experts when compared against each-other,
      and better than an earlier rules-based method assessed on the same dataset. We
      foresee key benefits in raising diagnostic quality, saving time, reducing cost,
      and also improving remote care and monitoring services for patients with chronic
      respiratory diseases in the future if a clinical decision support system with the
      encapsulated classifier is to be integrated into the work-flow of forced
      spirometry testing.

PMID- 28613187
TI  - Detection of Nocturnal Scratching Movements in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis
      Using Accelerometers and Recurrent Neural Networks.
AB  - Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition affecting both
      children and adults and is associated with pruritus. A method for objectively
      quantifying nocturnal scratching events could aid in the development of therapies
      for atopic dermatitis and other pruritic disorders. High-resolution wrist
      actigraphy (three-dimensional accelerometer sensors sampled at 20 Hz) is a
      noninvasive method to record movement. This paper presents an algorithm to detect
      nocturnal scratching events based on actigraphy data. The twofold process
      consists of segmenting the data into "no motion," "single handed motion," and
      "both handed motion" followed by discriminating motion segments into scratching
      and other motion using a bidirectional recurrent neural network classifier. The
      performance was compared against manually scored infrared video data collected
      from 24 subjects (6 healthy controls and 18 atopic dermatitis patients)
      demonstrating an score of 0.68 and a rank correlation of 0.945. The algorithm
      clearly outperformed a published reference method based on wrist actigraphy (
      score of 0.09 and a rank correlation of 0.466). The results suggest that
      scratching movements can be discriminated from other nocturnal movements
      accurately.

PMID- 28613189
TI  - Cuff-Less Blood Pressure Estimation Using Pulse Waveform Analysis and Pulse
      Arrival Time.
AB  - Using the massive MIMIC physiological database, we tried to validate pulse wave
      analysis (PWA) based on multiparameters model whether it can continuously
      estimate blood pressure (BP) values on single site of one hand. In addition, to
      consider the limitation of insufficient data acquirement for home user, we used
      pulse arrival time (PAT) driven BP information to determine the individual scale
      factors of the PWA-BP estimation model. Experimental results indicate that the
      accuracy of the average regression model has error standard deviations of  mmHg
      (PAT),  mmHg (PWA) for SBP and  mmHg (PAT),  mmHg (PWA) for DBP on 23 subjects
      over a 1 day period. We defined a local-model which is extracted regression model
      from sparsely selected small dataset, contrast to full dataset for 24h (average
      model). The limit of BP estimation accuracy from the local-model of PWA is lower
      than that of PAT-BP average-model. Whereas the error of the BP estimation local
      model was reduced using more data for scaling, it required more than four times
      the 1 min data extracted over the 12 h calibration period to predict BP for 1
      day. This study shows that PWA has possibility to estimate BP value and PAT
      driven BP information could be used to determine the individual scale factors of
      the PWA-BP estimation model for home users.

PMID- 28613190
TI  - Approximation-Based Adaptive Neural Tracking Control of Nonlinear MIMO Unknown
      Time-Varying Delay Systems With Full State Constraints.
AB  - This paper deals with the tracking control problem for a class of nonlinear
      multiple input multiple output unknown time-varying delay systems with full state
      constraints. To overcome the challenges which cause by the appearances of the
      unknown time-varying delays and full-state constraints simultaneously in the
      systems, an adaptive control method is presented for such systems for the first
      time. The appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functions and a separation technique
      are employed to eliminate the effect of unknown time-varying delays. The barrier
      Lyapunov functions are employed to prevent the violation of the full state
      constraints. The singular problems are dealt with by introducing the signal
      function. Finally, it is proven that the proposed method can both guarantee the
      good tracking performance of the systems output, all states are remained in the
      constrained interval and all the closed-loop signals are bounded in the design
      process based on choosing appropriate design parameters. The practicability of
      the proposed control technique is demonstrated by a simulation study in this
      paper.

PMID- 28613191
TI  - Collective Behaviors of Mobile Robots Beyond the Nearest Neighbor Rules With
      Switching Topology.
AB  - This paper is concerned with the collective behaviors of robots beyond the
      nearest neighbor rules, i.e., dispersion and flocking, when robots interact with
      others by applying an acute angle test (AAT)-based interaction rule. Different
      from a conventional nearest neighbor rule or its variations, the AAT-based
      interaction rule allows interactions with some far-neighbors and excludes
      unnecessary nearest neighbors. The resulting dispersion and flocking hold the
      advantages of scalability, connectivity, robustness, and effective area coverage.
      For the dispersion, a spring-like controller is proposed to achieve collision
      free coordination. With switching topology, a new fixed-time consensus-based
      energy function is developed to guarantee the system stability. An upper bound of
      settling time for energy consensus is obtained, and a uniform time interval is
      accordingly set so that energy distribution is conducted in a fair manner. For
      the flocking, based on a class of generalized potential functions taking
      nonsmooth switching into account, a new controller is proposed to ensure that the
      same velocity for all robots is eventually reached. A co-optimizing problem is
      further investigated to accomplish additional tasks, such as enhancing
      communication performance, while maintaining the collective behaviors of mobile
      robots. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the
      theoretical results.

PMID- 28613192
TI  - An External Archive-Guided Multiobjective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm.
AB  - The selection of swarm leaders (i.e., the personal best and global best), is
      important in the design of a multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO)
      algorithm. Such leaders are expected to effectively guide the swarm to approach
      the true Pareto optimal front. In this paper, we present a novel external archive
      guided MOPSO algorithm (AgMOPSO), where the leaders for velocity update are all
      selected from the external archive. In our algorithm, multiobjective optimization
      problems (MOPs) are transformed into a set of subproblems using a decomposition
      approach, and then each particle is assigned accordingly to optimize each
      subproblem. A novel archive-guided velocity update method is designed to guide
      the swarm for exploration, and the external archive is also evolved using an
      immune-based evolutionary strategy. These proposed approaches speed up the
      convergence of AgMOPSO. The experimental results fully demonstrate the
      superiority of our proposed AgMOPSO in solving most of the test problems adopted,
      in terms of two commonly used performance measures. Moreover, the effectiveness
      of our proposed archive-guided velocity update method and immune-based
      evolutionary strategy is also experimentally validated on more than 30 test MOPs.

PMID- 28613193
TI  - Classifier Fusion With Contextual Reliability Evaluation.
AB  - Classifier fusion is an efficient strategy to improve the classification
      performance for the complex pattern recognition problem. In practice, the
      multiple classifiers to combine can have different reliabilities and the proper
      reliability evaluation plays an important role in the fusion process for getting
      the best classification performance. We propose a new method for classifier
      fusion with contextual reliability evaluation (CF-CRE) based on inner reliability
      and relative reliability concepts. The inner reliability, represented by a
      matrix, characterizes the probability of the object belonging to one class when
      it is classified to another class. The elements of this matrix are estimated from
      the -nearest neighbors of the object. A cautious discounting rule is developed
      under belief functions framework to revise the classification result according to
      the inner reliability. The relative reliability is evaluated based on a new
      incompatibility measure which allows to reduce the level of conflict between the
      classifiers by applying the classical evidence discounting rule to each
      classifier before their combination. The inner reliability and relative
      reliability capture different aspects of the classification reliability. The
      discounted classification results are combined with Dempster-Shafer's rule for
      the final class decision making support. The performance of CF-CRE have been
      evaluated and compared with those of main classical fusion methods using real
      data sets. The experimental results show that CF-CRE can produce substantially
      higher accuracy than other fusion methods in general. Moreover, CF-CRE is robust
      to the changes of the number of nearest neighbors chosen for estimating the
      reliability matrix, which is appealing for the applications.

PMID- 28613194
TI  - Relationship Between Persistent Excitation Levels and RBF Network Structures,
      With Application to Performance Analysis of Deterministic Learning.
AB  - Based on the notion of persistent excitation (PE), a deterministic learning
      theory is recently proposed for RBF network-based identification of nonlinear
      systems. In this paper, we study the relationship between the PE levels, the
      structures of RBF networks and the performance of deterministic learning.
      Specifically, given a state trajectory generated from a nonlinear dynamical
      system, we investigate how to construct the RBF networks in order to guarantee
      sufficient PE levels (especially the level of excitation) for deterministic
      learning. It is revealed that the PE levels decrease with the density of neural
      centers, denoted by explicit formulas. As an illustration, these formulas are
      applied to convergence analysis of deterministic learning. We present exact
      theoretical conclusions that a finite and definite number of centers can achieve
      the same performance as global centers. In addition, a tradeoff exists between a
      relatively high level of excitation and the good approximation capabilities of
      RBF networks, which indicates that we cannot always obtain better convergence
      accuracy by increasing the density of centers. These results provide a new
      perspective for performance analysis of RBF network algorithms based on the
      notion of PE. Simulation studies are included to illustrate the results.

PMID- 28613195
TI  - Abstract Convex Underestimation Assisted Multistage Differential Evolution.
AB  - In differential evolution (DE), different strategies applied in different
      evolutionary stages may be more effective than a single strategy used in the
      entire evolutionary process. However, it is not trivial to appropriately
      determine the evolutionary stage. In this paper, we present an abstract convex
      underestimation-assisted multistage DE. In the proposed algorithm, the
      underestimation is calculated through the supporting vectors of some neighboring
      individuals. Based on the variation of the average underestimation error (UE),
      the evolutionary process is divided into three stages. Each stage includes a pool
      of suitable candidate strategies. At the beginning of each generation, the
      evolutionary stage is first estimated according to the average UE of the previous
      generation. Subsequently, a strategy is automatically chosen from the
      corresponding candidate pool to create a mutant vector. In addition, a centroid
      based strategy which utilizes the information of multiple superior individuals is
      designed to balance the population diversity and convergence speed in the second
      stage. Experiments are conducted on 23 widely used test functions, CEC 2013, and
      CEC 2014 benchmark sets to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
      The results reveal that the proposed algorithm exhibits better performance
      compared with several advanced DE variants and some non-DE approaches.

PMID- 28613196
TI  - 18F-FDG-PET/CT in Initiation and Progression of Inflammation and Infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Detection/localization of infection and inflammation is important for
      the initiation of correct treatment as well as its maintenance. Nuclear medicine
      imaging methods play an important role in determining infection and inflammation.
      18F-2'-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography (PET/CT) is highly sensitive in such cases when used with tomographic
      cross-sections. In this study, the development and progression of infection and
      inflammation were monitored on rats by using 18F-FDG via PET/CT. METHODS: Sterile
      and infected abscesses were formed on rats using turpentine and S. aureus,
      respectively. For evaluation of the formation and progression of the abscess, 18F
      FDG was injected into the rats and they were imaged by PET/CT at intervals of
      twenty-four hours for five days. Maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of 18F
      FDG was calculated. RESULTS: The highest activity involvement was seen on the
      first day of abscess formation. On the first day, SUVmax of the S. aureus abscess
      was 3.9+/-0.9 while in the sterile abscess SUVmax in the first day was 2.2+/-0.8.
      18F-FDG uptake decreased day by day and it reached the background level on the
      fourth and fifth days. There were statistically significant differences between
      S. aureus and sterile abscess, and between sterile abscess and background
      activity in terms of SUVmax values during the first three days (p<0.05). On the
      fourth and fifth days, there was no statistically significant difference between
      S. aureus and sterile abscess, and between sterile abscess and background
      activity (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that the SUVmax value for
      18F-FDG can be useful in the early differentiation of sterile and infected
      abscess. In addition, 18F-FDG-PET imaging has the advantage of local availability
      of equipment and labeled agents leading rapid diagnosis of differentiation of
      infection and inflammation.

PMID- 28613197
TI  - Experimental and Simulation Analysis of Radiation of the Beta Emitting Sources in
      a Magnetic Field.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The behavior of beta particles under the magnetic field was
      investigated both theoretically and experimentally based on the assumption of
      reducing the damage to the normal tissues created by using magnetic field in
      radionuclide therapy. METHODS: A water-filled spherical medium and a beta
      particle source was formed by using Geant4 simulation software for the
      theoretical study. After applying a homogenous magnetic field, the volume of
      points at which the particles interact with the medium was calculated by
      determining particle range. The range of beta particles was examined using
      yttrium-90 source and Gafchromic films for the experimental study. The setup was
      kept in normal room conditions and in the magnetic resonance imaging device. Then
      the irradiated films were analyzed by creating isodose curves. RESULTS: With the
      increase of the magnetic field, the number of hits at the center was increased,
      but the number of hits at the outer boundaries decreased inversely proportional
      to the strength of the magnetic field. The change perpendicular to the magnetic
      field was greater as compared to the change parallel to the magnetic field. The
      volume of hits of beta particles got smaller with the increase of the magnetic
      field. CONCLUSION: When magnetic field is increased, the decrease in the number
      of interactions at the outer boundaries became more pronounced in the
      perpendicular direction to the magnetic field. The effect of magnetic field was
      more apparent for higher energy beta particles than lower energy particles.

PMID- 28613198
TI  - Lu-177-PSMA-617 Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Inhibitor Therapy in Patients
      with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Stability, Bio-distribution and
      Dosimetry.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to estimate the radiation-absorbed doses and
      to study the in vivo and in vitro stability as well as pharmacokinetic
      characteristics of lutetium-177 (Lu-177) prostate-specific membrane antigen
      (PSMA)-617. METHODS: For this purpose, 7 patients who underwent Lu-177-PSMA
      therapy were included into the study. The injected Lu-177-PSMA-617 activity
      ranged from 3.6 to 7.4 GBq with a mean of 5.2+/-1.8 GBq. The stability of
      radiotracer in saline was calculated up to 48 h. The stability was also
      calculated in blood and urine samples. Post-therapeutic dosimetry was performed
      based on whole body and single photon emission computed tomography/computed
      tomography (SPECT/CT) scans on dual-headed SPECT/CT system. RESULTS: The
      radiochemical yield of Lu-177-PSMA-617 was >99%. It remained stable in saline up
      to 48 h. Analyses of the blood and urine samples showed a single radioactivity
      peak even at 24 hours after injection. Half-life of the distribution and
      elimination phases were calculated to be 0.16+/-0.09 and 10.8+/-2.5 hours,
      respectively. The mean excretion rate was 56.5+/-8.8% ranging from 41.5% to 65.4%
      at 24 h. Highest radiation estimated doses were calculated for parotid glands and
      kidneys (1.90+/-1.19 and 0.82+/-0.25 Gy/GBq respectively). Radiation dose given
      to the bone marrow was significantly lower than those of kidney and parotid
      glands (p<0.05) (0.030+/-0.008 Gy/GBq). CONCLUSION: Lu-177-PSMA-617 is a highly
      stable compound both in vitro and in vivo. Lu-177-PSMA-617 therapy seems to be a
      safe method for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer patients.
      The fractionation regime that enables the longest duration of tumor control
      and/or survival will have to be developed in further studies.

PMID- 28613199
TI  - Efficacy of 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose Positron Emission
      Tomography/Computerized Tomography for Bone Marrow Infiltration Assessment in the
      Initial Staging of Lymphoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Currently 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission
      tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) is being successfully used for
      staging and follow-up of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
      (NHL). Various studies have demonstrated that PET/CT effectively detects bone
      marrow involvement (BMI) and is concordant with bone marrow biopsy (BMB)
      findings, thus it is deemed as a complementary method. This study was aimed to
      evaluate18F-FDG-PET/CT efficiency for detection of BMI in HL and NHL. METHODS:
      The study included 172 lymphoma cases who were admitted to Akdeniz University
      Medical School Department of Nuclear Medicine for initial staging with PET/CT.
      Visual and semiquantitative assessments were performed for PET/CT scan findings
      of the cases. The maximum standard uptake (SUVmax) value was the quantitative
      parameter used for 18F-FDG-PET scan. In visual assessment, bone marrow metabolic
      activity that is greater than the liver was considered as pathologic. For
      semiquantitative assessment, regions of interest were drawn for SUVmax
      estimation, which included iliac crest in cases with diffusely increased
      metabolic activity and the highest activity area in cases with focal involvement.
      BMB was considered as the reference test. RESULTS: On visual assessment of all
      the cases, PET/CT was found to yield 31% sensitivity and 85% specificity rate for
      detection of BMI. On visual assessment of HL cases, sensitivity rate was
      determined as 80%, and specificity as 78%, while in NHL cases the corresponding
      values were 24% and 90%, respectively. On semiquantitative assessment of HL
      cases, considering SUVmax>=4, sensitivity was found as 80% and specificity as
      68%. In NHL patients, considering SUVmax>=3.2, sensitivity rate was detected as
      65% and specificity as 58%. CONCLUSION: In this study, a moderately high
      concordance was observed between PET/CT and BMB findings. PET/CT appears to be a
      significant method for detecting BMI. Although PET/CT is not a substitute for
      BMB, we suggest it can be used as a guide to biopsy site and a complementary
      imaging technique for BMB.

PMID- 28613200
TI  - Clinical Significance of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Avid Prostate Gland
      Incidentalomas on Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of
      incidental focal uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) on positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the prostate glands of cancer
      patients. METHODS: A retrospective review of 3122 consecutive male patients who
      underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT studies with an oncologic indication, over the course of
      four years, was performed. Studies with incidental 18F-FDG uptake in the prostate
      gland were further analyzed. RESULTS: Incidental 18F-FDG uptake in the prostate
      gland was identified in 65/3122 men (2.1%). Sufficient follow-up data (>=12
      months) were available in 53 patients, of whom 11 had a biopsy and 42 had
      clinical and imaging follow-up. Malignancy was histologically diagnosed in 4 out
      of 53 patients (7.5%). There was no statistically significant difference in 18F
      FDG uptake values between benign prostate lesions [maximum standardized uptake
      value (SUVmax) 7.3] and malignant ones (SUVmax 7.2, p=0.95). There was a
      statistically significant difference between the serum prostate specific antigen
      (PSA) of the benign group (n=24, PSA=2.7 ng/mL) and the malignant group (n=4,
      PSA=9.2 ng/mL, p<0.001). There was a direct correlation between SUVmax and
      Gleason score. CONCLUSION: 18F-FDG positive prostate incidentalomas were detected
      in 2.1% of oncologic PET/CT scans and of these 7.5% were malignant. SUVmax was
      not useful for distinguishing between benign and malignant incidental prostate
      lesions. 18F-FDG avid prostate incidentalomas on PET/CT should prompt a
      recommendation for obtaining a serum PSA and further investigation if serum PSA
      is elevated.

PMID- 28613201
TI  - [Evaluation of a seminal vesicle biopsy protocol simultaneous to diagnostic
      prostate biopsy. Analysis of indication criteria.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the indication criteria used for conducting seminal
      vesicles biopsies as well as the diagnostic capacity of other variables involved.
      METHODS: We present the results of an observational and retrospective study (May
      2006 - December 2012) using a sample of 140 patients to whom seminal vesicles
      biopsies was performed in a first set of prostate biopsy. They were patients
      eligible for curative treatment and presented any of the following criteria: PSA
      >=15 ng/ml, suspicion of neoplastic seminal vesicle invasion on transrectal US,
      and/or suspicious node in the prostate base on DRE or transrectal US. RESULTS:
      Seminal vesicle invasion due to prostate cancer was detected in 22.2%. Patients
      with 3 criteria had T3b in 66.7% of cases. The criterion most associated with T3b
      was the presence of a suspicious node in the prostate base, with an association
      of 29.3% of cases. Variables analyzed that had shown a greater association with
      stage T3b were PSA density, the presence of suspicious DRE, the Gleason sum.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our seminal vesicle biopsy protocol has detected 22.2% of seminal
      vesicle invasion. The detection of a suspicious node at the prostate base has
      shown the greatest association with T3b.

PMID- 28613202
TI  - [Comparison of two on-line risk calculators versus the detection of circulating
      prostate cells for the detection of high risk prostate cancer at first biopsy.]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The limitations of total serum PSA values remains problematic;
      nomograms may improve the prediction of a positive prostate biopsy (PB). We
      compare in a prospective study of Chilean men with suspicion of prostate cancer
      due to an elevated total serum PSA and/or abnormal digital rectal examination,
      the use of two on-line nomograms with the detection of primary malignant
      circulating prostate cells (CPCs) to predict a positive PB for high risk prostate
      cancer. METHODS: Consecutive men with suspicion of prostate cancer underwent 12
      core TRUS prostate biopsy. Age, total serum PSA and percent free PSA, family
      history, ethnic origin and prostate ultrasound results were registered. Risk
      assessment was performed using the online nomograms. The European Randomized
      Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer derived Prostate Risk Indicator (SWOP-PRI)
      and the North American Prostate Cancer Prevention Trail derived Prostate Risk
      Indicator (PCPT-CRC) were used to calculate risk of prostate cancer. Immediately
      before PB an 8 ml blood sample was taken to detect CPCs. Mononuclear cells were
      obtained by differential gel centrifugation and identified using double
      immunomarcation with anti-PSA and anti- P504S. Biopsies were classified as
      cancer/no-cancer, CPC detection test as negative/positive and the total number of
      cells/8ml registered. Areas under the curve (AUC) for total serum PSA, free
      percent, PSA, SWOP-PRI, PCPT-CRC and CPCs were calculated and compared.
      Diagnostic yields were calculated, including the number of possible biopsies that
      could be avoided and the number of clinically significant cancers that would be
      missed. RESULTS: 1,223 men aged > 55 years were analyzed, 467 (38.2%) had a
      biopsy positive for cancer of which 114/467 (24.45) complied with the criteria
      for active observation; 177/467 (36.8%) were Gleason 7 or higher. Discriminative
      power of detecting prostate cancer, showed areas under the curve of total PSA
      0.559, SWOP nomogram 0.687, PCPTRC nomogram 0.716, free percent PSA 0.765 and CPC
      detection 0.844. CPC detection was superior to the other models (p<0.0001). Using
      the recommended cutoff values, free percent PSA avoided 81% of biopsies missing
      58% of significant cancers; for the other models the values were SWOP 75% and
      56%; PCPTRC 61% and 62%, CPC detection 57% and 4% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CPC
      detection was superior to the other models in predicting the presence of
      clinically significant prostate cancer at initial biopsy; potentially reduces the
      number of unnecessary biopsy while missing few significant cancers. Being a
      positive/negative test it avoids defining a cutoff value which may differ between
      populations. Multicenter studies to validate this method are warrented.

PMID- 28613203
TI  - [Renal tumors percutaneous ablation by microwave. Initial experience.]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze retrospectively the safety and effectiveness of
      percutaneous microwave ablation of solid renal tumors, and also review different
      approach techniques. METHODS: It is a retrospective study approved by the ethics
      committee of both hospitals. 14 tumors with a mean size of 37 mm (12-50 mm) were
      treated in a single session, under general anesthesia and with CT guidance, in 14
      patients (9 men) with a mean age of 66 years, using the ablation system AMICA by
      different approaches (trans pulmonary, trans peritoneal and retroperitoneal). A
      biopsy was performed with a core needle to 13 of them prior to ablation in the
      same session. CT abdominal follow-up was performed (with and without i.v.
      contrast) at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after ablation. Changes in serum
      creatinine levels pre- and post-ablation were also analyzed. RESULTS: The average
      follow-up time was 16.5 months (3-28 months) and we obtained complete response in
      100% of the treated tumors. Only two minor complications were observed: one self
      limited perirenal hemorrhage and one asymptomatic hydronephrosis, in the two
      patients to whom we did a transpulmonary approach, without pneumothorax in any of
      them. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous ablation of renal tumors seems to be a safe and
      effective technique, either via transpulmonary, transperitoneal or
      retroperitoneal approach, depending on tumor location. KEY POINTS: * Microwave
      ablation produces coagulation necrosis. * The sink effect is smaller in microwave
      ablation. * Microwave ablation seems to be safe and effective. * The type of
      approach is not correlated with major complications (Clavien > o =II).

PMID- 28613204
TI  - [Testicular Cancer Epidemiology in Developing Countries. Review of the
      literature.]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common cancer in men between 15 and
      44 years. It has been reported that the incidence of TC is rising. The aim of
      this article is to determine the epidemiology of TC in Colombia. METHODS: A
      literature review on four databases was performed PubMed, Embase, Lilacs and
      Scielo. Studies of incidence, prevalence, mortality and survival of TC were taken
      from different countries. Studies included were published in the last 10 years.
      RESULTS: 2308 references were reviewed by title and abstract. In search of local
      references in non-indexed journals 5 references were extracted. In total 139
      references for review in full text were selected. The global incidence and
      prevalence of cancer varies. In the Northern Europe region, the highest incidence
      is evident, mainly in Denmark, Croatia and Norway. Followed by Western Europe and
      South America with Chile. In Colombia the general age incidence is 2,2/100.000,
      finding a zero incidence in departments such as Choco and Guajira. CONCLUSIONS: A
      rise in the incidence of TC has been seen globally, this trend mainly in
      developing countries. In Colombia most studies are crossectional studies. By
      seeing the epidemiological data from some departments and the lack of specialists
      in those regions, it can be deduced the existence of an underreport of the
      disease that reveals the need to improve both surveillance systems and
      information registration, such as policies to achieve early diagnosis of TC.

PMID- 28613205
TI  - [Renal lithiasis, can we predict the need for retreatment in retrograde
      intrarenal surgery (RIRS)?]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the predictive factors for retreatment in RIRS to achieve
      complete lithiasis resolution. METHODS: Retrospective comparative study analyzing
      298 cases of RIRS performed in our center over a 3 year period. The cohort was
      divided in two groups: Resolution in one operation or more than one, evaluating
      homogeneicity for age and gender. We compared the folowing variables: Hounsfield
      units, body mass index (BMI), number of stones, size, (on the case of multiple
      stones, larger stone size), side, location in the kidney and stone biochemistry.
      Bivariant statistical analysis by Student's t and Chi square tests, and
      multivariate analysis by binary logistic regression. ROC curves were made to set
      cutting points for relationship between quantitative variables. RESULTS: The
      groups were homogeneous for both age and gender (p>0.05). 260 (87.25%) patients
      required one treatment only and 38 (12.75%) more than one. Among the study
      variables, the only one that showed differences between the groups wa stone size,
      being the mean size 18 mm in the single treatment group and 26 mm in the more
      than one treatment group (Difference between mean values -8.27, 95%CI: -5,91 - 
      10.63, p<0,001). CONCLUSIONS: RIRS with holmium laser is still an effective
      technique for the treatment of renal lithiasis. The largest stone size is related
      with the need of retreatments, so it must be taken into consideration specially
      over 2 cm. In our series, for every extra millimeter in size the probability of
      retreatment increased 1.14 times, demonstrating the importance of size in this
      context.

PMID- 28613206
TI  - [Evolution from Percutaneous nephrolithotomy to Mini-PCNL in supine position on
      the treatment of complex renal calculi: feasibility study.]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Mini-PCNL is a potentially less invasive technique than standard
      percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). We present our experience and results
      comparing both approaches in large burden complex renal calculi. METHODS:
      Prospective non randomized study comparing PCNL (24/26F nephroscope; Group A) and
      Mini-PCNL (15/18F; Group B) perioperative and postoperative results, in 40 (20
      each group) consecutive patients between 2013 and 2014. We analyze demographic
      data, hemoglobin drop, urine culture, stone characteristics, operative time,
      puncture, number and size of the tract, disintegration energy sources,
      nephrostomy placement, hospital stay, stone free rate and Clavien-Dindo
      complications. RESULTS: Evolution has shown growth for Mini-PNL, with the last 17
      consecutive cases performed by this approach. No preoperative differences in
      laterality, age, gender or ASA were found; but there were differences in BMI
      (median Group A: 26.35 kg/m2; Median Group B: 33.05 kg/m2, p = 0.008). Median
      calculi surface area (SA = length * width * pi * 0.25) was higher for mini-PNL
      (6.69 cm2 vs 14.14; p=0.003). The operative time was longer for mini-PNL (120 vs
      162.5 min, p = 0.03). Only one case (5%) required transfusion in NLP 24/26F. Mini
      PCNL was associated with tubeless technique (55%) (p = 0.022), which explains
      lower 24 h postoperative pain, after surgery, measured by VAS (p =0.0004). The
      hospital stay was equivalent (median: 2 days; p=0.8). Both techniques showed
      efficacy (SFR at 3 months 80%). There were no statistically significant
      differences between the number and severity of complications between groups
      (Group A: 15%, 66.7% Clavien II, Group B: 15%; 66.7% Clavien II, p = 1).
      CONCLUSIONS: Mini-NLP can manage kidney stones and even large staghorn calculi
      without nephrostomy in a high percentage of patients. The technical evolution
      towards a small caliber approach maintains the effectiveness of the procedure
      without impacting its safety, with benefits perceived by patients such as less
      postoperative pain.

PMID- 28613207
TI  - Comparison of ultra-mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy and micro-percutaneous
      nephrolithotomy in moderate-size renal stones.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare the success and complications of ultra-mini
      percutaneous nephrolithotomy and micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy techniques.
      METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from 74 patients. Moderate-size stones
      were included in the study. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were included in MPNL,
      and 32 patients were included in UPNL groups. Among our patient cohort, 42
      (56.7%)were males, and 32 (43.3%) were females. The mean age of the patients was
      40+/-13.2 years in the MPNL group, and the mean age of the patients was 42+/-14.1
      years in the UPNL group. The mean stone size was 17+/-3.2 mm in the MPNL group
      and 16.4+/-3.7 mm in the UPNL group. The stonefree rates were 88.1% (37/42) and
      90.6% (29/32)in the MPNL and UPNL groups, respectively; there was no statically
      significant difference between the groups. The mean hospital stay was 1.4+/-0.23
      days in the MPNL group and 1.1+/-0.12 day in the UPNL group. CONCLUSIONS: Two
      techniques have similar success and complication rates, and both may be preferred
      particularly in moderate-size stones. Our experience supports that our UPNL
      technique is safe and effective using with a standard ureteroscope.

PMID- 28613208
TI  - Ensemble methods with outliers for phonocardiogram classification.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Heart sound classification and analysis play an important role in the
      early diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular disease. To this end, this paper
      introduces a novel method for automatic classification of normal and abnormal
      heart sound recordings. APPROACH: Signals are first preprocessed to extract a
      total of 131 features in the time, frequency, wavelet and statistical domains
      from the entire signal and from the timings of the states. Outlier signals are
      then detected and separated from those with a standard range using an
      interquartile range algorithm. After that, feature extreme values are given
      special consideration, and finally features are reduced to the most significant
      ones using a feature reduction technique. In the classification stage, the
      selected features either for standard or outlier signals are fed separately into
      an ensemble of 20 two-step classifiers for the classification task. The first
      step of the classifier is represented by a nested set of ensemble algorithms
      which was cross-validated on the training dataset provided by PhysioNet Challenge
      2016, while the second one uses a voting rule of the class label. MAIN RESULTS:
      The results show that this method is able to recognize heart sound recordings
      efficiently, achieving an overall score of 96.30% for standard signals and 90.18%
      for outlier signals on a cross-validated experiment using the available training
      data. SIGNIFICANCE: The approach of our proposed method helped reduce overfitting
      and improved classification performance, achieving an overall score on the hidden
      test set of 80.1% (79.6% sensitivity and 80.6% specificity).

PMID- 28613209
TI  - Quantum well electronic states in a tilted magnetic field.
AB  - We report the energy spectrum and the eigenstates of conduction and uncoupled
      valence bands of a quantum well under the influence of a tilted magnetic field.
      In the framework of the envelope approximation, we implement two analytical
      approaches to obtain the nontrivial solutions of the tilted magnetic field: (a)
      the Bubnov-Galerkin spectral method and b) the perturbation theory. We discuss
      the validity of each method for a broad range of magnetic field intensity and
      orientation as well as quantum well thickness. By estimating the accuracy of the
      perturbation method, we provide explicit analytical solutions for quantum wells
      in a tilted magnetic field configuration that can be employed to study several
      quantitative phenomena.

PMID- 28613210
TI  - Graphene oxide-assisted facile synthesis of platinum-tellurium nanocubes with
      enhanced catalytic activity for formic acid electro-oxidation.
AB  - In order to obtain a loaded Pt-based catalyst with enhanced high activity and
      stability towards formic acid electro-oxidation (FAO), PtTe nanoparticles loaded
      on graphene oxide (GO) were fabricated by a facile and scalable method. XRD and
      HRTEM results show that the morphology of PtTe particles could be affected by the
      additive amount of GO and Te. It is observed that the supported PtTe particles
      are cubic. The XPS results show the change in the Pt electronic structure after
      the incorporation of Te, which impedes the chemisorption of the CO intermediate
      and promotes the dehydrogenation pathway of FAO. By electrochemical analysis, the
      performance towards FAO is greatly enhanced. The mass activity of PtTe/GO-67 is
      [Formula: see text] at 0.45 V (versus SCE), which is 11.5 times as high as that
      of Pt/C [Formula: see text] The incorporation of Te atoms and the content of GO
      are two major parameters for tuning the crystal structure and morphology and
      enhancing catalytic activity.

PMID- 28613211
TI  - Role of simvastatin and RORalpha activity in the macrophage apoptotic pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition and is one of the
      main causes of death worldwide. Macrophages play important roles in the formation
      of atherosclerotic plaques. Apoptosis is progressively observed while plaques
      develop, although the precise mechanisms and outcomes of apoptosis in
      atherosclerosis development and progression are still contradictory. This study
      was conducted to explore the effects of simvastatin and retinoic acid receptor
      related orphan receptor alpha (RORalpha) ligands on apoptosis in human acute
      monocytic leukemia (THP-1) macrophage cells. METHODS: Briefly, the occupancy of
      RORalpha in the promoter regions of apoptotic pathway genes was demonstrated in
      THP-1 cell lines using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis. In order to
      modulate RORalpha activity, THP-1 macrophage cells were treated with specific
      ligands (CPG52608 and SR1001) and then viability as well as count of THP-1
      macrophage cells were analyzed. RESULTS: We observed that simvastatin and both
      RORalpha ligands had a tendency to decrease THP-1 macrophage cell viability in
      culture. When compared with non-treated controls, simvastatin significantly
      decreased cell viability (p=0.04) and cell count (p=0.03). However, this negative
      effect of simvastatin seemed to be partly prevented by RORalpha ligands. In
      addition, bioinformatics analysis of ChIP-on-chip data demonstrated that several
      genes that are involved in the apoptotic pathway were likely RORalpha target
      genes. These genes were involved in the regulation of apoptosis through various
      pathways. CONCLUSION: In summary, our study suggest that simvastatin-mediated
      macrophage apoptosis might be modulated by SR1001 administration. However,
      involvement of RORalpha in this modulation through potential apoptotic target
      genes remains elusive.

PMID- 28613212
TI  - Baseline serum globulin as a predictor of the recurrence of lone atrial
      fibrillation after radiofrequency catheter ablation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inflammation and autoimmune responses play an important role in
      recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF). Serum globulin levels are a commonly used
      clinical index that represents inflammation and autoimmune response. This study
      aimed to determine the relationship between baseline serum globulin levels and
      the risk of recurrence after ablation in lone AF patients. METHODS: We enrolled
      348 lone AF patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation for the first
      time for whom complete follow-up data were available. Pre-ablation peripheral
      venous blood samples were obtained for measurement of serum globulin levels.
      RESULTS: During the follow-up period of 22 months (range, 6-62), AF recurred in
      129 patients (37.1%). Recurrence was associated with a low level of pre-ablation
      serum globulins. Multiple Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that
      persistent AF, AF duration, left atrial diameter, no amiodarone after ablation,
      and the serum globulin level in particular were independent predictors of AF
      recurrence. According to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the
      best diagnostic cut-off serum globulin level was 25.4 g/L, which showed 74.4%
      sensitivity, 71.3% specificity, and 73.3% accuracy. CONCLUSION: The baseline low
      serum globulin level is associated with AF recurrence after first-time ablation
      in lone AF patients. Therefore, it may be used as a predictor of AF recurrence in
      these patients.

PMID- 28613214
TI  - EX VIVO MODEL FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF DRYWALL INTRAOCULAR
      FOREIGN BODIES ON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study was inspired after the authors encountered a patient with a
      penetrating globe injury due to drywall, who had retained intraocular drywall
      foreign body. Computed tomography (CT) was read as normal in this patient. Open
      globe injury with drywall has never been reported previously in the literature
      and there are no previous studies describing its radiographic features. METHODS:
      The case report is described in detail elsewhere. This was an experimental study.
      An ex vivo model of 15 porcine eyes with 1 mm to 5 mm fragments of implanted
      drywall, 2 vitreous only samples with drywall and 3 control eyes were used. Eyes
      and vitreous samples were CT scanned on Days 0, 1, and 3 postimplantation.
      Computed ocular images were analyzed by masked observers. Size and radiodensity
      of intraocular drywall were measured using Hounsfield units (HUs) over time.
      RESULTS: Intraocular drywall was hyperdense on CT. All sizes studied were
      detectable on Day 0 of scanning. Mean intraocular drywall foreign body density
      was 171 +/- 52 Hounsfield units (70-237) depending on fragment size. Intraocular
      drywall foreign body decreased in size whereas Hounsfield unit intensity
      increased over time. CONCLUSION: Drywall dissolves in the eye and becomes denser
      over time as air in the drywall is replaced by fluid. This study identified
      Hounsfield Units specific to intraocular drywall foreign body over time.

PMID- 28613213
TI  - ELLIPSOID ZONE MAPPING AND OUTER RETINAL ASSESSMENT IN STARGARDT DISEASE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify and correlate ellipsoid zone and photoreceptor outer segment
      changes with visual acuity in Stargardt disease. METHODS: An institutional review
      board-approved study of 32 eyes with Stargardt disease was performed. After
      spectral domain optical coherence tomography, the macular cube was exported into
      a novel analysis tool and volumetric assessment from the ellipsoid zone to the
      retinal pigment epithelium was performed. Using this information, mapping was
      completed with en face representation of the height between the ellipsoid zone
      and retinal pigment epithelium. This analysis provided quantification of
      ellipsoid zone and photoreceptor outer segments, including atrophy (ellipsoid
      zone to retinal pigment epithelium thickness = 0 MUm) and attenuation (ellipsoid
      zone to retinal pigment epithelium thickness <20 MUm). These parameters were
      compared with visual acuity and controls (n = 12 eyes). RESULTS: Visual acuity
      ranged from 20/30 to 20/250. The central foveal B-scan area of ellipsoid and
      photoreceptor outer segments was significantly less than controls (0.13 +/- 0.05
      mm vs. 0.17 +/- 0.03 mm, respectively, P = 0.0074). The central foveal B-scan
      mean thickness measured 22.52 +/- 9.0 MUm in Stargardt versus 30.0 +/- 5.08 MUm
      (P = 0.0096). Atrophy and attenuation were significantly higher in Stargardt
      patients (22% vs. 1%, P = 0.005 and 43% vs. 1%, P = 0.0002). Visual acuity
      directly correlated with ellipsoid zone/outer segment volume (R = 0.57, P <
      0.005) and inversely correlated with attenuation and atrophy (R = -0.53 and 
      0.57; P < 0.005 for all). CONCLUSION: Eyes with Stargardt disease frequently have
      significant disruption of the ellipsoid zone and outer segments. This
      degenerative change was successfully quantified with a novel assessment platform
      and identified correlates with visual function. This software provides the
      opportunity for quantitative assessment and possible longitudinal surveillance.

PMID- 28613215
TI  - CORRELATION BETWEEN PREOPERATIVE EN FACE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY OF
      PHOTORECEPTOR LAYER AND VISUAL PROGNOSIS AFTER MACULAR HOLE SURGERY.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation between preoperative en face spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography findings of the photoreceptor layer with
      restoration of foveal microstructure and visual acuity in repaired macular holes.
      METHODS: Medical records of 106 patients with surgically closed macular holes
      were retrospectively reviewed. Preoperative OCT slabs of the external limiting
      membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) were generated using embedded tools. All
      patients were classified into two groups according to the presence of
      preoperative retinal pigment epithelium protrusion seen as hyperreflective spots
      in EZ slab. Visual acuity, homogenous reflectivity, and glial proliferation in
      the ELM and EZ slabs were followed for 12 months. RESULTS: Baseline
      hyperreflective spots in the EZ slab was observed in 51 (48.1%) eyes.
      Postoperative homogenous reflectivity and glial proliferation were related to the
      presence of baseline hyperreflective spots. Vision improvement was significantly
      greater in the absence of hyperreflective spots group from 9 months after the
      operation. In logistic regression analysis, the area of hyperreflective spots was
      significantly associated with foveal homogenous reflectivity at 12 months (P =
      0.004). CONCLUSION: Preoperative hyperreflective spots in en face EZ slab might
      be indicative of functional and anatomical restoration after macular hole
      surgery.

PMID- 28613216
TI  - POLYPOIDAL CHOROIDAL VASCULOPATHY UPON OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC ANGIOGRAPHY.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study polypoidal lesions and branching choroidal vascular networks in
      eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy by optical coherence tomography (OCT)
      based angiography (OCTA). METHODS: In the observational cross-sectional study,
      patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, as diagnosed by indocyanine
      green angiography, underwent OCTA. RESULTS: Thirty-two eyes of 31 patients with
      an age of 61.1 +/- 7.6 years were included. Branching choroidal vascular networks
      were detected by indocyanine green angiography and OCTA in 25 of 32 (78 +/- 73%)
      and in 30 of 32 (94 +/- 4%) eyes, respectively, with a marginally significant
      difference (P = 0.06) in the detection rate between both techniques. A total of
      72 polyps (area, 0.06 +/- 0.06 mm; range, 0.01-0.27 mm) were detected by
      indocyanine green angiography, and they were consistently present on the OCTA
      images. By moving the reference level in the OCT angiograms to the corresponding
      layer, the polypoidal lesions showed cluster-like structures in 53 of 72
      polypoidal lesions (74%). In 60 of the 72 polypoidal lesions (83%), cluster-like
      structures were detected in the en face structural OCT images at the reference
      plane of the OCTA images. On the cross-sectional OCT images, some internal
      channels of flow were seen in 50 of the 72 polypoidal lesions (69%). Larger size
      of the polypoidal lesions was associated with a higher prevalence of cluster-like
      structures on the OCTA images, some internal channels of flow on the en face
      structural images, and clustered vascular structures on the cross-sectional OCT
      images. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, OCTA is a useful technique for the noninvasive
      detection of branching choroidal vascular networks including visualization of
      details such as cluster-like structures and flow. In some eyes, OCTA was superior
      to indocyanine green angiography to detect polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and
      to show branching choroidal vascular networks.

PMID- 28613217
TI  - MACULAR EDEMA AFTER CATARACT SURGERY IN EYES WITH PREOPERATIVE RETINAL VEIN
      OCCLUSION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of pseudophakic macular edema (PME) in eyes
      with a history of retinal vein occlusion before cataract surgery and to identify
      any associated risk factors. METHODS: The records of 21,332 eyes that underwent
      cataract surgery were retrospectively reviewed. Eyes that had retinal vein
      occlusion preoperatively with no evidence of macular pathology on optical
      coherence tomography at the time of surgery and no macular edema treatment at
      least 6 months before surgery were included. Eyes with diabetes or diabetic
      retinopathy, those with a history of previous intraocular surgery or with
      intraoperative complications, and those administered glaucoma and nonsteroidal
      antiinflammatory eye drops were excluded. RESULTS: Pseudophakic macular edema
      developed in 31 (27.4%) of 113 eyes within 3 months of cataract surgery. Mean
      visual acuity for eyes with PME (0.48 logarithm of the minimum angle of
      resolution [logMAR; 20/60 Snellen equivalent]) at 3 months after surgery was
      significantly worse than that for eyes without PME (0.28 logMAR; 20/38, P =
      0.020). However, there was no significant difference in the visual acuity between
      the 2 groups 6 months after the surgery. Taking into consideration various
      baseline factors, a history of previous treatment of macular edema was
      significantly associated with an increased risk of PME (odds ratio, 11.022; 95%
      confidence interval, 7.258-17.712; P = 0.009). A higher number of intravitreal
      injections used to treat macular edema also significantly increased the risk of
      PME (odds ratio, 1.902; 95% confidence interval, 1.032-4.227; P = 0.031).
      CONCLUSION: Pseudophakic macular edema frequently developed after
      phacoemulsification cataract surgery in patients with a history of retinal vein
      occlusion. The risk of PME further increased when the patient had undergone
      macular edema treatment and had a higher prevalence of intravitreal injection
      treatment.

PMID- 28613218
TI  - Treatment of Postvitrectomy Fibrin Using Intravitreal Tissue Plasminogen
      Activator.

PMID- 28613219
TI  - REPEATABILITY OF AUTOMATED VESSEL DENSITY AND SUPERFICIAL AND DEEP FOVEAL
      AVASCULAR ZONE AREA MEASUREMENTS USING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY:
      Diurnal Findings.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the repeatability of vessel density and superficial and deep
      foveal avascular zone measurements using optical coherence tomography
      angiography, and to specify a diurnal change range. METHODS: Forty-six eyes of 25
      healthy individuals were included. Optical coherence tomography angiography
      measurements were planned for three consecutive sessions, with 3 hours in between
      them. AngioVue software of the RTVue XR Avanti was used. Superficial and deep
      retinal layer vessel density values, including the whole retina, fovea, and each
      parafoveal zone, were obtained from the software. The intraclass correlation,
      coefficient of variation, and coefficient of repeatability were calculated for
      each parameter. RESULTS: The whole image intraclass correlation value was 0.81
      for the superficial and 0.86 for the deep layer among the three consecutive
      sessions. The smallest real difference (coefficient of repeatability) value of
      whole image measurements was 7.72% for the superficial and 9.84% for the deep
      retinal layer. Foveal avascular zone area intraclass correlation value was 0.97
      for the superficial and 0.83 for the deep retinal layer. CONCLUSION: The optical
      coherence tomography angiography analysis provides quantitative data about the
      retinal microvasculature, which could be used to distinguish between normal and
      pathology. Changes in superficial vessel density >8% and deep vessel density >10%
      may be considered as real clinical change rather than variation.

PMID- 28613221
TI  - CLINICOPATHOLOGIC CORRELATION OF RETINAL ANGIOMATOUS PROLIFERATION TREATED WITH
      RANIBIZUMAB.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe histopathologic features of an eye with retinal angiomatous
      proliferation (RAP) secondary to age-related macular degeneration treated with
      serial ranibizumab injections and to correlate these findings with spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography. METHODS: Histopathologic features from
      serial sections through the globe of a 93-year-old man with age-related macular
      degeneration were studied and compared with spectral domain optical coherence
      tomography images obtained 7 weeks before his death. RESULTS: The pathologic
      correlate of ranibizumab-treated RAP was a circumscribed, branching paucicellular
      vascular complex extending from the inner plexiform layer to Bruch membrane. The
      histopathologic findings corresponded to an area of hyperreflectivity on spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography imaging, substantiating the reported
      tomographic appearance of RAP lesions. A frank anastomosis with choroidal or
      retinal vasculature was not seen in this treated RAP lesion. There was a lack of
      retinal pigment epithelium underlying the lesion in an area of retinal pigment
      epithelium detachment. The elastic portion of Bruch membrane appeared intact.
      Treatment with ranibizumab over an extended period of time may have been
      associated with a loss of cellularity of the RAP lesion. CONCLUSION: In a patient
      with ARMD extensively treated with ranibizumab, color fundus photography,
      fluorescein angiography and SD-OCT images of RAP correlated histopathologically
      with a paucicellular intraretinal vascular complex.

PMID- 28613222
TI  - LABORATORY EVALUATION OF HYPERCOAGULABLE STATES IN PATIENTS WITH CENTRAL RETINAL
      VEIN OCCLUSION WHO ARE LESS THAN 56 YEARS OF AGE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether the results of early tests for hypercoagulability
      are correlated with the development of central retinal vein occlusion risk
      factors later in life and to evaluate the necessity of these tests in younger
      patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective, observational case series. From
      January 1995 to December 2014, 55 patients aged below 56 years with central
      retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) were enrolled in the study. Laboratory evaluations
      for homocysteine, activated protein C resistance, protein C activity, protein S
      activity, antithrombin III activity, antiphospholipid antibodies, and
      anticardiolipin antibodies were obtained at the onset of CRVO. After 24 to 205
      months, the presence of risk factors for CRVO such as hypertension, obesity,
      hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, and glaucoma was determined.
      Bilateral correlation and logistic regression were performed to determine the
      correlations between the results of the initial laboratory tests and the
      diagnosis of CRVO risk factors. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 168.5 months.
      Five patients completed at least 24 months of follow-up, 9 patients completed at
      least 5 years, and 36 patients completed at least 10 years. Five patients had no
      or less than 24 months' follow-up. Fourteen of 50 patients (28%) had at least one
      positive test result at the onset of CRVO. At the end of follow-up, 11 patients
      had been diagnosed with obesity (22%), 29 with hypertension (58%), 21 with
      hyperlipidemia (42%), 24 with diabetes (8%), 5 with sleep apnea (10%), and 8 with
      glaucoma (16%). Among 36 patients with a minimum 10 years' follow-up, 30 (83%)
      developed at least one common risk factor, and none experienced any
      thromboembolic events. There were no correlations between test results and the
      diagnosis of any risk factors in patients with a minimum of 2, 5, or 10 years'
      follow-up (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of laboratory tests evaluating
      hypercoagulability in young patients with CRVO are not correlated with later
      developed commonly known risk factors. Many of the common risk factors were
      present by the end of the study, suggesting that they still remain the core
      etiology for the disease. The value of the thrombophilic tests is brought into
      question, as none of the patients demonstrated further clotting or any unusual
      thrombi with long-term follow-up.

PMID- 28613220
TI  - OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY BASELINE PREDICTORS FOR INITIAL BEST-CORRECTED
      VISUAL ACUITY RESPONSE TO INTRAVITREAL ANTI-VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR
      TREATMENT IN EYES WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA: The CHARTRES Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify baseline optical coherence tomography morphologic
      characteristics predicting the visual response to anti-vascular endothelial
      growth factor therapy in diabetic macular edema. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients
      with diabetic macular edema completed a prospective, observational study
      (NCT01947881-CHARTRES). All patients received monthly intravitreal injections of
      Lucentis for 3 months followed by PRN treatment and underwent best-corrected
      visual acuity measurements and spectral domain optical coherence tomography at
      Baseline, Months 1, 2, 3, and 6. Visual treatment response was characterized as
      good (>=10 letters), moderate (5-10 letters), and poor (<5 or letters loss).
      Spectral domain optical coherence tomography images were graded before and after
      treatment by a certified Reading Center. RESULTS: One month after loading dose,
      26 patients (38.80%) were identified as good responders, 19 (28.35%) as Moderate
      and 22 (32.83%) as poor responders. There were no significant best-corrected
      visual acuity and central retinal thickness differences at baseline (P = 0.176; P
      = 0.573, respectively). Ellipsoid zone disruption and disorganization of retinal
      inner layers were good predictors for treatment response, representing a
      significant risk for poor visual recovery to anti-vascular endothelial growth
      factor therapy (odds ratio = 10.96; P < 0.001 for ellipsoid zone disruption and
      odds ratio = 7.05; P = 0.034 for disorganization of retinal inner layers).
      CONCLUSION: Damage of ellipsoid zone, higher values of disorganization of retinal
      inner layers, and central retinal thickness decrease are good predictors of best
      corrected visual acuity response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor
      therapy.

PMID- 28613223
TI  - NOVEL USE OF STERILIZED DISPOSABLE SURGICAL LENSES FOR POSTERIOR SEGMENT
      EXAMINATION: An Opportunity for Equitable Resource Distribution.

PMID- 28613224
TI  - Cutting the Internal Limiting Membrane With Zero Aspiration Technique: A Clinical
      Audit.

PMID- 28613225
TI  - MACULAR DEGENERATION AND ASPIRIN USE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review current literature of the benefits that aspirin provides for
      patients' cardiovascular health compared with the risk of AMD worsening. METHODS:
      We performed a review and critically analyzed six cardiovascular and four
      ophthalmological trials regarding risks and benefits of aspirin use. The
      prospective randomized cardiovascular trials had a cumulative 167,580 while the 3
      smaller ophthalmological data sets had a cumulative 12,015 subjects. RESULTS: The
      reviewed meta-analysis literature demonstrated a statistically significant 32%
      reduction in the risk of nonfatal stroke with regular aspirin users. The study
      also documented that aspirin users decreased the risk of fatal vascular deaths by
      15%. Of the three ophthalmological studies highlighting the adverse affects of
      aspirin association with AMD, all suggested an exacerbation of AMD without
      statistical significance and broad confidence bands. CONCLUSION: Overall, the
      number, size, and quality of the cardiovascular studies recommending aspirin use
      are far superior to the fewer, smaller and conflicting studies suggesting a
      possible adverse effect of aspirin use in relation to AMD. The benefits of
      aspirin usage include preserving the duration and quality of life by decreasing
      stroke and heart attack risk. These benefits seem to far outweigh the theoretical
      risks of possibly exacerbating wet AMD, which can be reasonably controlled with
      anti-VEGF therapy.

PMID- 28613226
TI  - Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges.

PMID- 28613227
TI  - The Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubric for Vitrectomy.

PMID- 28613228
TI  - RNA-seq Reveals Transcriptomic Differences in Inflamed and Noninflamed Intestinal
      Mucosa of Crohn's Disease Patients Compared with Normal Mucosa of Healthy
      Controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aberrant gene expression in the gut mucosa might contribute to the
      initiation and progression of Crohn's disease (CD). RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)
      provides precise measurements of expression levels of transcripts and their
      isoforms. The aim of this study was to use RNA-seq to investigate transcriptomic
      differences and identify significantly differentially expressed transcripts in
      inflamed and noninflamed intestinal mucosa of CD patients. METHODS: RNA-seq was
      performed on 13 pairs of inflamed and noninflamed intestinal mucosa from 13 CD
      patients and on sex-matched normal mucosa of 13 healthy controls. Significantly
      differentially expressed transcripts were validated by immunohistochemistry,
      quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: RNA-seq revealed genome-wide transcriptomic
      differences between normal mucosa, noninflamed, and inflamed CD mucosa. Among 950
      differentially expressed genes, 19 were up- or downregulated (upregulation:
      ANGPT2, CHN1, CPXM1, CPZ, CXCL1, FCN3, GJC1, HSD11B1, LZTS1, MEOX1, MMP12, PLA1A,
      SERPINE1, SGIP1, and TRPC4; downregulation: FAM189A1, PDE6A, SLC38A4, and HMGCS2)
      with statistical significance (p < 0.01 and q < 0.05). Among them, CXCL1
      exhibited the highest fold change between groups. Immunohistochemistry for CXCL1
      revealed no expression in normal mucosa, slightly increased expression in
      noninflamed CD mucosa, and highly increased expression in inflamed CD mucosa.
      Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction showed that CXCL1
      expression was significantly associated with epithelial damage, increased
      infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and submucosal fibrosis. Serum
      CXCL1 concentration measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was better
      correlated with CD activity index (r = 0.660) than with C-reactive protein (r =
      0.204). CONCLUSIONS: RNA-seq revealed transcriptomic differences between normal
      mucosa, noninflamed CD mucosa, and inflamed CD mucosa. Intestinal and serum CXCL1
      was substantially increased with CD activity and can be used as a potential
      biomarker of CD.

PMID- 28613229
TI  - Measuring Severity of Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel
      Disease: Low Concordance Between Patients and Male Gastroenterologists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have indicated that anxiety and depression are significant
      contributors to reporting of increased disease activity in patients with
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Thus, for the appropriate clinical management
      of these patients, it is important that gastroenterologists are able to recognize
      these conditions. This study aimed to examine the level of agreement between
      gastroenterologists and patients with IBD for the presence of clinically
      significant anxiety and depression. METHODS: Before consultation, patients
      completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Survey. After the consultation, the
      gastroenterologist recorded whether they believed the patient was anxious and
      depressed and if so, whether any further action had been taken. RESULTS: Seventy
      five patients participated in this study, with a response rate of 88%. Self
      reported questionnaires indicated that 31% and 11% of patients were identified as
      probable for having anxiety and depression, respectively. The level of agreement
      between the patient and gastroenterologist as to the presence of anxiety or
      depression was fair to moderate (kappa statistic 0.32 and 0.41, respectively). In
      only 50% of cases was further action taken by gastroenterologists during
      consultation for distressed patients, mostly in the form of a patient discussion.
      CONCLUSIONS: Agreement between gastroenterologists and IBD patients regarding the
      presence of clinically significant anxiety or depression was low, with no further
      action taken after consultation for 50% of patients who were identified by
      gastroenterologists as being anxious or depressed. This study highlights the need
      for educating gastroenterologists to improve their ability to identify IBD
      patient distress.

PMID- 28613230
TI  - Oligonucleotides and ND-FISH Displaying Different Arrangements of Tandem Repeats
      and Identification of Dasypyrum villosum Chromosomes in Wheat Backgrounds.
AB  - Oligonucleotide probes and the non-denaturing fluorescence in situ hybridization
      (ND-FISH) technique are widely used to analyze plant chromosomes because they are
      convenient tools. New oligonucleotide probes, Oligo-Ku, Oligo-3B117.1, Oligo
      3B117.2, Oligo-3B117.2.1, Oligo-3B117.3, Oligo-3B117.4, Oligo-3B117.5, Oligo
      3B117.6, Oligo-pTa71A-1, Oligo-pTa71A-2, Oligo-pTa71B-1, Oligo-pTa71B-2, Oligo
      pTa71C-1, Oligo-pTa71C-2, Oligo-pTa71C-3 and Oligo-pTa71D were designed based on
      the repetitive sequences KU.D15.15, pSc119.2-like sequence 3B117 and pTa71.
      Oligonucleotide probe (GT)7 was also used. Oligo-Ku and (GT)7 can be together
      used to identify Dasypyrum villosum from wheat chromosomes and to distinguish
      individual D. villosum chromosomes. The oligonucleotide probes that were derived
      from the same repeat sequence displayed different signal intensity and
      hybridization sites on the same chromosomes. Both the length and the nucleotide
      composition of oligonucleotide probes determined their signal intensity. For
      example, Oligo-3B117.2 (25 bp) and Oligo-pTa71A-2 (46 bp) produced the strongest
      signals on chromosomes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rye (Secale cereale L.),
      barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) or D. villosum, the signal of Oligo-3B117.4
      (18 bp) on the short arm of 7B chromosome was weaker than that of Oligo-3B117.2.1
      (15 bp) and Oligo-3B117.3 (16 bp), and Oligo-pTa71A-1 (38 bp) produced the same
      strong signals as Oligo-pTa71A-2 did on 1B and 6B chromosomes, but its signals on
      1R and 1V chromosomes were weaker than the ones of Oligo-pTa71A-2.
      Oligonucleotide probes and ND-FISH analysis can reflect the distribution and
      structural statues of different segments of tandem repeats on chromosomes. The
      possible reasons why different segments derived from the same repeat sequence
      produced different signal patterns are discussed.

PMID- 28613232
TI  - Off the Shelf Fouling Management.
AB  - This chapter tells the story of a research thread that identified and modified a
      pharmaceutical that could be a component of environmentally benign fouling
      management coatings. First, I present the background context of biofouling and
      how fouling is managed. The major target of the research is disrupting
      transduction of a complex process in all macrofouling organisms: metamorphosis.
      Using a bioassay directed approach we first identified a pharmaceutical
      candidate. Then, based on structure function studies coupled with laboratory and
      field bioassays, we simplified the molecule, eliminating halogens and aromatic
      rings to a pharmacophore that could be readily broken down by bacteria. Next, we
      did further structure function studies coupled to lab and field bioassays of
      modifications that enabled delivery of the molecule in a variety of coatings. The
      outcome is a different way of thinking about managing fouling and concepts in
      which molecules are designed to perform a function and then degrade. This work is
      discussed in the context of existing fouling management approaches and business
      models which use long-lived broad-spectrum biocides which have consequences for
      human, environmental health, and food security.

PMID- 28613233
TI  - Utilisation of Plant Food Waste.
AB  - n/a.

PMID- 28613231
TI  - Melatonin Scavenger Properties against Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress: Impact
      on Gamete Handling and In Vitro Embryo Production in Humans and Other Mammals.
AB  - Oxidative and nitrosative stress are common problems when handling gametes in
      vitro. In vitro development in mammalian embryos is highly affected by culture
      conditions, especially by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen
      species (RNS), because their absence or overproduction causes embryo arrest and
      changes in gene expression. Melatonin in gamete co-incubation during in vitro
      fertilization (IVF) has deleterious or positive effects, depending on the
      concentration used in the culture medium, demonstrating the delicate balance
      between antioxidant and pro-oxidant activity. Further research is needed to
      better understand the possible impact of melatonin on the different IVP steps in
      humans and other mammals, especially in seasonal breeds where this neuro-hormone
      system highly regulates its reproduction physiology.

PMID- 28613234
TI  - Synthesis and Bioactivity Evaluation of N-Arylsulfonylindole Analogs Bearing a
      Rhodanine Moiety as Antibacterial Agents.
AB  - Due to the rapidly growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the scarcity
      of novel agents under development, bacterial infections are still a pressing
      global problem, making new types of antibacterial agents, which are effective
      both alone and in combination with traditional antibiotics, urgently needed. In
      this paper, seven series of N-arylsulfonylindole analogs 5-11 bearing rhodanine
      moieties were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for antibacterial
      activity. According to the in vitro antimicrobial results, half of the
      synthesized compounds showed potent inhibition against four Gram-positive
      bacteria, with MIC values in the range of 0.5-8 ug/mL. For multidrug-resistant
      strains, compounds 6a and 6c were the most potent, with MIC values of 0.5 ug/mL,
      having comparable activity to gatifloxacin, moxiflocaxin and norfloxacin and
      being 128-fold more potent than oxacillin (MIC = 64 ug/mL) and 64-fold more
      active than penicillin (MIC = 32 ug/mL) against Staphylococcus aureusATCC 43300.

PMID- 28613235
TI  - Nanocrystalline TiO2 Composite Films for the Photodegradation of Formaldehyde and
      Oxytetracycline under Visible Light Irradiation.
AB  - In order to effectively photodegradate organic pollutants, ZnO composite and Co-B
      codoped TiO2 films were successfully deposited on glass substrates via a modified
      sol-gel method and a controllable dip-coating technique. Combining with UV-Vis
      diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence spectra (PL)
      analyses, the multi-modification could not only extend the optical response of
      TiO2 to visible light region but also decrease the recombination rate of electron
      hole pairs. XRD results revealed that the multi-modified TiO2 film had an anatase
      brookite biphase heterostructure. FE-SEM results indicated that the multi
      modified TiO2 film without cracks was composed of smaller round-like
      nanoparticles compared to pure TiO2. BET surface area results showed that the
      specific surface area of pure TiO2 and the multi-modified TiO2 sample was 47.8
      and 115.8 m2/g, respectively. By degradation of formaldehyde and oxytetracycline,
      experimental results showed that the multi-modified TiO2 film had excellent
      photodegradation performance under visible light irradiation.

PMID- 28613236
TI  - A Framework for Learning Analytics Using Commodity Wearable Devices.
AB  - We advocate for and introduce LEARNSense, a framework for learning analytics
      using commodity wearable devices to capture learner's physical actions and
      accordingly infer learner context (e.g., student activities and engagement status
      in class). Our work is motivated by the observations that: (a) the fine-grained
      individual-specific learner actions are crucial to understand learners and their
      context information; (b) sensor data available on the latest wearable devices
      (e.g., wrist-worn and eye wear devices) can effectively recognize learner actions
      and help to infer learner context information; (c) the commodity wearable devices
      that are widely available on the market can provide a hassle-free and non
      intrusive solution. Following the above observations and under the proposed
      framework, we design and implement a sensor-based learner context collector
      running on the wearable devices. The latest data mining and sensor data
      processing techniques are employed to detect different types of learner actions
      and context information. Furthermore, we detail all of the above efforts by
      offering a novel and exemplary use case: it successfully provides the accurate
      detection of student actions and infers the student engagement states in class.
      The specifically designed learner context collector has been implemented on the
      commodity wrist-worn device. Based on the collected and inferred learner
      information, the novel intervention and incentivizing feedback are introduced
      into the system service. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with the real-world
      experiments, surveys and interviews demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of
      the proposed framework and this use case. The F1 score for the student action
      classification tasks achieve 0.9, and the system can effectively differentiate
      the defined three learner states. Finally, the survey results show that the
      learners are satisfied with the use of our system (mean score of 3.7 with a
      standard deviation of 0.55).

PMID- 28613238
TI  - Tracking the Evolution of the Internet of Things Concept Across Different
      Application Domains.
AB  - Both the idea and technology for connecting sensors and actuators to a network to
      remotely monitor and control physical systems have been known for many years and
      developed accordingly. However, a little more than a decade ago the concept of
      the Internet of Things (IoT) was coined and used to integrate such approaches
      into a common framework. Technology has been constantly evolving and so has the
      concept of the Internet of Things, incorporating new terminology appropriate to
      technological advances and different application domains. This paper presents the
      changes that the IoT has undertaken since its conception and research on how
      technological advances have shaped it and fostered the arising of derived names
      suitable to specific domains. A two-step literature review through major
      publishers and indexing databases was conducted; first by searching for proposals
      on the Internet of Things concept and analyzing them to find similarities,
      differences, and technological features that allow us to create a timeline
      showing its development; in the second step the most mentioned names given to the
      IoT for specific domains, as well as closely related concepts were identified and
      briefly analyzed. The study confirms the claim that a consensus on the IoT
      definition has not yet been reached, as enabling technology keeps evolving and
      new application domains are being proposed. However, recent changes have been
      relatively moderated, and its variations on application domains are clearly
      differentiated, with data and data technologies playing an important role in the
      IoT landscape.

PMID- 28613237
TI  - Major Depression Detection from EEG Signals Using Kernel Eigen-Filter-Bank Common
      Spatial Patterns.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) has become a leading contributor to the global
      burden of disease; however, there are currently no reliable biological markers or
      physiological measurements for efficiently and effectively dissecting the
      heterogeneity of MDD. Here we propose a novel method based on scalp
      electroencephalography (EEG) signals and a robust spectral-spatial EEG feature
      extractor called kernel eigen-filter-bank common spatial pattern (KEFB-CSP). The
      KEFB-CSP first filters the multi-channel raw EEG signals into a set of frequency
      sub-bands covering the range from theta to gamma bands, then spatially transforms
      the EEG signals of each sub-band from the original sensor space to a new space
      where the new signals (i.e., CSPs) are optimal for the classification between MDD
      and healthy controls, and finally applies the kernel principal component analysis
      (kernel PCA) to transform the vector containing the CSPs from all frequency sub
      bands to a lower-dimensional feature vector called KEFB-CSP. Twelve patients with
      MDD and twelve healthy controls participated in this study, and from each
      participant we collected 54 resting-state EEGs of 6 s length (5 min and 24 s in
      total). Our results show that the proposed KEFB-CSP outperforms other EEG
      features including the powers of EEG frequency bands, and fractal dimension,
      which had been widely applied in previous EEG-based depression detection studies.
      The results also reveal that the 8 electrodes from the temporal areas gave higher
      accuracies than other scalp areas. The KEFB-CSP was able to achieve an average
      EEG classification accuracy of 81.23% in single-trial analysis when only the 8
      electrode EEGs of the temporal area and a support vector machine (SVM) classifier
      were used. We also designed a voting-based leave-one-participant-out procedure to
      test the participant-independent individual classification accuracy. The voting
      based results show that the mean classification accuracy of about 80% can be
      achieved by the KEFP-CSP feature and the SVM classifier with only several trials,
      and this level of accuracy seems to become stable as more trials (i.e., <7
      trials) are used. These findings therefore suggest that the proposed method has a
      great potential for developing an efficient (required only a few 6-s EEG signals
      from the 8 electrodes over the temporal) and effective (~80% classification
      accuracy) EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI) system which may, in the
      future, help psychiatrists provide individualized and effective treatments for
      MDD patients.

PMID- 28613239
TI  - Time-Frequency Analysis of Non-Stationary Biological Signals with Sparse Linear
      Regression Based Fourier Linear Combiner.
AB  - It is often difficult to analyze biological signals because of their nonlinear
      and non-stationary characteristics. This necessitates the usage of time-frequency
      decomposition methods for analyzing the subtle changes in these signals that are
      often connected to an underlying phenomena. This paper presents a new approach to
      analyze the time-varying characteristics of such signals by employing a simple
      truncated Fourier series model, namely the band-limited multiple Fourier linear
      combiner (BMFLC). In contrast to the earlier designs, we first identified the
      sparsity imposed on the signal model in order to reformulate the model to a
      sparse linear regression model. The coefficients of the proposed model are then
      estimated by a convex optimization algorithm. The performance of the proposed
      method was analyzed with benchmark test signals. An energy ratio metric is
      employed to quantify the spectral performance and results show that the proposed
      method Sparse-BMFLC has high mean energy (0.9976) ratio and outperforms existing
      methods such as short-time Fourier transfrom (STFT), continuous Wavelet transform
      (CWT) and BMFLC Kalman Smoother. Furthermore, the proposed method provides an
      overall 6.22% in reconstruction error.

PMID- 28613242
TI  - Design and Fabrication of Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer
      (pMUT) with Partially-Etched ZnO Film.
AB  - A square piezoelectric composite diaphragm was analyzed by the finite element
      method to enhance the sensitivity of a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound
      transducer (pMUT). The structures of electrode and piezoelectric film were
      optimized and a centric electrode was designed to avoid the counteraction of
      stress in the centre and edges. In order to further improve the sensitivity; a
      pMUT with partially-etched piezoelectric film was adopted. The receive and
      transmit sensitivities of the pMUT were analyzed in details. The receive
      sensitivity of pMUT with partially-etched ZnO film is 3.3 dB or 6.8 dB higher
      than those with a centric and whole electrode, respectively; and the amplitude of
      a partially-etched ZnO film pMUT under a certain voltage is 5.5 dB and 30 dB
      higher than those with centric and whole electrode separately. Two pMUT-based ZnO
      films were fabricated by micromachining technology and their receive and transmit
      sensitivities were tested. The ZnO films deposited by direct current (DC)
      magnetron sputtering exhibit a densely packed structure with columnar
      crystallites. The test results show that the structure of the square diaphragm
      with partially-etched piezoelectric layer can significantly improve the
      transducer sensitivity. The receive sensitivity and transmit sensitivity are 
      238.35 dB (ref. 1 V/MUPa) and 150.42 dB (ref. 1 MUPa/V); respectively.

PMID- 28613241
TI  - Detection Performance Improvement of Distributed Vibration Sensor Based on
      Curvelet Denoising Method.
AB  - A curvelet denoising method has been proposed to reduce the time domain noise to
      improve the detection performance in the distributed fiber vibration sensing
      system based on phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry. The raw
      Rayleigh backscattering traces are regarded as a gray image and the random noise
      can be eliminated by the curvelet transform; hence, the amplitude difference
      induced by the external vibration can be extracted. The detection of a vibration
      event with 10 m spatial resolution along a 4 km single mode fiber is
      demonstrated. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of location information for 50 Hz
      and 1 kHz vibration based on this new method increases to as high as 7.8 dB and
      8.0 dB, respectively, compared to the conventional method, showing the remarkable
      denoising capability of this new approach.

PMID- 28613240
TI  - An Isoform of Nedd4-2 Plays a Pivotal Role in Electrophysiological Cardiac
      Abnormalities.
AB  - We have previously shown that neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally
      downregulated gene 4-2 (Nedd4-2) isoforms with a C2 domain are closely related to
      ubiquitination of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), resulting in salt-sensitive
      hypertension by Nedd4-2 C2 targeting in mice. The sodium voltage-gated channel
      alpha subunit 5 (SCN5A) gene encodes the alpha subunit of the human cardiac
      voltage-gated sodium channel (I Na), and the potassium voltage-gated channel
      subfamily H member 2 (KCNH2) gene encodes rapidly activating delayed rectifier K
      channels (I Kr). Both ion channels have also been shown to bind to Nedd4-2 via a
      conserved Proline-Tyrosine (PY) motif in C-terminal with subsequent
      ubiquitination and degradation by proteasome. Therefore, loss of Nedd4-2 C2
      isoform might be involved in electrophysiological impairment under various
      conditions. We demonstrate here that Nedd4-2 C2 isoform causes cardiac conduction
      change in resting condition as well as proarrhythmic change after acute
      myocardial infarction (MI). The Nedd4-2 C2 knockout (KO) mice showed bradycardia,
      prolonged QRS, QT intervals, and suppressed PR interval in resting condition. In
      addition, enhancement of T peak/T end interval was found in mice with surgical
      ligation of the distal left coronary artery. Morphological analyses based on both
      ultrasonography of the living heart, as well as histopathological findings
      revealed that Nedd4-2 C2 KO mice show no significant structural changes from wild
      type littermates under resting conditions. These results suggested that Nedd4-2
      with C2 domain might play an important role in cardio-renal syndrome through post
      transcriptional modification of both ENaC and cardiac ion channels, which are
      critical for kidney and heart functions.

PMID- 28613243
TI  - Dietary Calcium Intake and Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Spanish
      Children: The ANIVA Study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of dietary calcium intake
      with anthropometric measures, physical activity and adherence to the
      Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) in 1176 Spanish children aged 6-9 years. Data were
      obtained from "Antropometria y Nutricion Infantil de Valencia" (ANIVA), a cross
      sectional study of a representative sample. Dietary calcium intake assessed from
      three-day food records was compared to recommended daily intakes in Spain.
      Anthropometric measures (weight and height) were measured according to
      international standards and adherence to the MedDiet was evaluated using the
      Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) test. For the total sample of children,
      25.8% had inadequate calcium intake, a significantly higher prevalence in girls
      (p = 0.006) and inadequate calcium intake was associated with lower height z
      score (p = 0.001) for both sexes. In girls, there was an inverse relationship
      between calcium intake and body mass index (p = 0.001) and waist/hip ratio (p =
      0.018). Boys presented a polarization in physical activity, reporting a greater
      level of both physical and sedentary activity in comparison with girls (p =
      0.001). Children with poor adherence to MedDiet, even if they consume two yogurts
      or cheese (40 g) daily, adjusted by gender, age, total energy intake, physical
      activity and father's level of education, are at risk of inadequate total calcium
      intake (odds ratio adjusted [ORa]: 3.36, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13-9.94,
      p = 0.001). The intake of these dairy products was insufficient to cover calcium
      intake recommendations in this age group (6-9 years). It is important to
      prioritize health strategies that promote the MedDiet and to increase calcium
      intake in this age group.

PMID- 28613244
TI  - Five Unprecedented Secondary Metabolites from the Spider Parasitic Fungus
      Akanthomyces novoguineensis.
AB  - Five new compounds including the glycosylated beta-naphthol (1, akanthol), a
      glycosylated pyrazine (2, akanthozine), and three amide derivatives including a
      hydroxamic acid derivative (3-5) were isolated from the spider-associated fungus
      Akanthomyces novoguineensis (Cordycipitaceae, Ascomycota). Their structures were
      elucidated by using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and NMR
      spectroscopy. In this study, the antimicrobial, cytotoxic, anti-biofilm, and
      nematicidal activities of the new compounds were evaluated. The distribution
      pattern of secondary metabolites in the species was also revealed in which more
      isolates of A. novoguineensis were encountered and their secondary metabolite
      profiles were examined using analytical HPLC with diode array and mass
      spectrometric detection (HPLC-DAD/MS). Remarkably, all isolated compounds are
      specifically produced by A. novoguineensis.

PMID- 28613245
TI  - Population Characteristics in a Tertiary Pain Service Cohort Experiencing Chronic
      Non-Cancer Pain: Weight Status, Comorbidities, and Patient Goals.
AB  - We describe the characteristics of patients attending an Australian tertiary
      multidisciplinary pain service and identify areas for nutrition interventions.
      This cross-sectional study targets patients experiencing chronic pain who
      attended the service between June-December 2014. Self-reported data was captured
      from: (1) an Electronic Persistent Pain Outcomes Collaboration (ePPOC) referral
      questionnaire, incorporating demographics, pain status, and mental health; (2) a
      Pain Assessment and Recovery Plan (PARP), which documents patients' perceived
      problems associated with pain and personal treatment goals. The ePPOC referral
      questionnaire was completed by 166 patients and the PARP by 153. The mean (SD)
      patient age was 53 +/- 13 years, with almost 60% experiencing pain for >5 years.
      Forty-five percent of patients were classified as obese (BMI >= 30 kg/m2, mean
      (SD) BMI was 31 +/- 7 kg/m2), with a mean waist circumference of 104 +/- 19.4 cm
      (SD). The most frequent patient nominated treatment goals related to physical
      activity (39%), followed by nutritional goals (23%). Traditionally, pain
      management programs have included physical, psychosocial, and medical, but not
      nutritional, interventions. By contrast, patients identified and reported
      important nutrition-related treatment goals. There is a need to test nutrition
      treatment pathways, including an evaluation of dietary intake and nutrition
      support. This will help to optimize dietary behaviors and establish nutrition as
      an important component of multidisciplinary chronic pain management.

PMID- 28613246
TI  - Serum Uromodulin Levels in Prediction of Acute Kidney Injury in the Early Phase
      of Acute Pancreatitis.
AB  - In health, uromodulin is the main protein of urine. Serum uromodulin
      concentrations (sUMOD) have been shown to correlate with kidney function. Acute
      kidney injury (AKI) is among the main complications of severe acute pancreatitis
      (AP). No reports exist on sUMOD in patients with AP, including the diagnostic
      usefulness for early prediction of AP severity. We measured sUMOD during first 72
      h of AP. Sixty-six adult patients with AP were recruited at the surgical ward of
      the District Hospital in Sucha Beskidzka, Poland. AP was diagnosed according to
      the Revised Atlanta Classification. Blood samples were collected at 24, 48 and 72
      h of AP, and sUMOD concentrations were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      test. sUMOD decreased non-significantly during the study. Patients with severe AP
      had non-significantly lower sUMOD concentrations than those with mild disease.
      Significant positive correlation was observed between sUMOD and estimated
      glomerular filtration rate on each day of the study and negative correlations
      were shown between sUMOD and age, serum creatinine, cystatin C and urea. Patients
      with AKI tended to have lower sUMOD. Although sUMOD correlated significantly with
      kidney function in the early phase of AP, measuring sUMOD did not allow to
      reliably predict AP severity or development of AKI.

PMID- 28613247
TI  - Thin Film Nanocomposite Membrane Filled with Metal-Organic Frameworks UiO-66 and
      MIL-125 Nanoparticles for Water Desalination.
AB  - Knowing that the world is facing a shortage of fresh water, desalination, in its
      different forms including reverse osmosis, represents a practical approach to
      produce potable water from a saline source. In this report, two kinds of Metal
      Organic Frameworks (MOFs) nanoparticles (NPs), UiO-66 (~100 nm) and MIL-125 (~100
      nm), were embedded separately into thin-film composite membranes in different
      weight ratios, 0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.15%, 0.2%, and 0.3%. The membranes were
      synthesized by the interfacial polymerization (IP) of m-phenylenediamine (MPD) in
      aqueous solution and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in an organic phase. The as
      prepared membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM),
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM), contact angle measurement, attenuated
      total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy, and salt
      rejection and water flux assessments. Results showed that both UiO-66 and MIL-125
      could improve the membranes' performance and the impacts depended on the NPs
      loading. At the optimum NPs loadings, 0.15% for UiO-66 and 0.3% for MIL-125, the
      water flux increased from 62.5 L/m2 h to 74.9 and 85.0 L/m2 h, respectively. NaCl
      rejection was not significantly affected (UiO-66) or slightly improved (MIL-125)
      by embedding these NPs, always at >98.5% as tested at 2000 ppm salt concentration
      and 300 psi transmembrane pressure. The results from this study demonstrate that
      it is promising to apply MOFs NPs to enhance the TFC membrane performance for
      desalination.

PMID- 28613250
TI  - An LMS Programming Scheme and Floating-Gate Technology Enabled Trimmer-Less and
      Low Voltage Flame Detection Sensor.
AB  - In this paper, a Least Mean Square (LMS) programming scheme is used to set the
      offset voltage of two operational amplifiers that were built using floating-gate
      transistors, enabling a 0.95 VRMS trimmer-less flame detection sensor. The
      programming scheme is capable of setting the offset voltage over a wide range of
      values by means of electron injection. The flame detection sensor consists of two
      programmable offset operational amplifiers; the first amplifier serves as a 26
      MUV offset voltage follower, whereas the second amplifier acts as a programmable
      trimmer-less voltage comparator. Both amplifiers form the proposed sensor, whose
      principle of functionality is based on the detection of the electrical changes
      produced by the flame ionization. The experimental results show that it is
      possible to measure the presence of a flame accurately after programming the
      amplifiers with a maximum of 35 LMS-algorithm iterations. Current commercial
      flame detectors are mainly used in absorption refrigerators and large industrial
      gas heaters, where a high voltage AC source and several mechanical trimmings are
      used in order to accurately measure the presence of the flame.

PMID- 28613251
TI  - Dynamic Speed Adaptation for Path Tracking Based on Curvature Information and
      Speed Limits.
AB  - A critical concern of autonomous vehicles is safety. Different approaches have
      tried to enhance driving safety to reduce the number of fatal crashes and severe
      injuries. As an example, Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) systems warn the
      driver when the vehicle exceeds the recommended speed limit. However, these
      systems only take into account fixed speed limits without considering factors
      like road geometry. In this paper, we consider road curvature with speed limits
      to automatically adjust vehicle's speed with the ideal one through our proposed
      Dynamic Speed Adaptation (DSA) method. Furthermore, 'curve analysis extraction'
      and 'speed limits database creation' are also part of our contribution. An
      algorithm that analyzes GPS information off-line identifies high curvature
      segments and estimates the speed for each curve. The speed limit database
      contains information about the different speed limit zones for each traveled
      path. Our DSA senses speed limits and curves of the road using GPS information
      and ensures smooth speed transitions between current and ideal speeds. Through
      experimental simulations with different control algorithms on real and simulated
      datasets, we prove that our method is able to significantly reduce lateral errors
      on sharp curves, to respect speed limits and consequently increase safety and
      comfort for the passenger.

PMID- 28613248
TI  - Laser Ablation for Cancer: Past, Present and Future.
AB  - Laser ablation (LA) is gaining acceptance for the treatment of tumors as an
      alternative to surgical resection. This paper reviews the use of lasers for
      ablative and surgical applications. Also reviewed are solutions aimed at
      improving LA outcomes: hyperthermal treatment planning tools and thermometric
      techniques during LA, used to guide the surgeon in the choice and adjustment of
      the optimal laser settings, and the potential use of nanoparticles to allow
      biologic selectivity of ablative treatments. Promising technical solutions and a
      better knowledge of laser-tissue interaction should allow LA to be used in a safe
      and effective manner as a cancer treatment.

PMID- 28613249
TI  - Hypoxia Inducible Factor-2 Alpha and Prolinhydroxylase 2 Polymorphisms in
      Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible-factor-2alpha (HIF-2alpha) and HIF-2 degrading prolyl
      hydroxylases (PHD) are key regulators of adaptive hypoxic responses i.e., in
      acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Specifically, functionally active
      genetic variants of HIF-2alpha (single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
      [ch2:46441523(hg18)]) and PHD2 (C/T; SNP rs516651 and T/C; SNP rs480902) are
      associated with improved adaptation to hypoxia i.e., in high-altitude residents.
      However, little is known about these SNPs' prevalence in Caucasians and impact on
      ARDS-outcome. Thus, we tested the hypotheses that in Caucasian ARDS patients SNPs
      in HIF-2alpha or PHD2 genes are (1) common, and (2) independent risk factors for
      30-day mortality. After ethics-committee approval, 272 ARDS patients were
      prospectively included, genotyped for PHD2 (Taqman SNP Genotyping Assay) and HIF
      2alpha-polymorphism (restriction digest + agarose-gel visualization), and
      genotype dependent 30-day mortality was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier-plots and
      multivariate Cox-regression analyses. Frequencies were 99.62% for homozygous HIF
      2alpha CC-carriers (CG: 0.38%; GG: 0%), 2.3% for homozygous PHD2 SNP rs516651 TT
      carriers (CT: 18.9%; CC: 78.8%), and 3.7% for homozygous PHD2 SNP rs480902 TT
      carriers (CT: 43.9%; CC: 52.4%). PHD2 rs516651 TT-genotype in ARDS was
      independently associated with a 3.34 times greater mortality risk (OR 3.34, CI
      1.09-10.22; p = 0.034) within 30-days, whereas the other SNPs had no significant
      impact (p = ns). The homozygous HIF-2alpha GG-genotype was not present in our
      Caucasian ARDS cohort; however PHD2 SNPs exist in Caucasians, and PHD2 rs516651
      TT-genotype was associated with an increased 30-day mortality suggesting a
      relevance for adaptive responses in ARDS.

PMID- 28613252
TI  - Are the Gut Bacteria Telling Us to Eat or Not to Eat? Reviewing the Role of Gut
      Microbiota in the Etiology, Disease Progression and Treatment of Eating
      Disorders.
AB  - Traditionally recognized as mental illnesses, eating disorders are increasingly
      appreciated to be biologically-driven. There is a growing body of literature that
      implicates a role of the gut microbiota in the etiology and progression of these
      conditions. Gut bacteria may act on the gut-brain axis to alter appetite control
      and brain function as part of the genesis of eating disorders. As the illnesses
      progress, extreme feeding patterns and psychological stress potentially feed back
      to the gut ecosystem that can further compromise physiological, cognitive, and
      social functioning. Given the established causality between dysbiosis and
      metabolic diseases, an altered gut microbial profile is likely to play a role in
      the co-morbidities of eating disorders with altered immune function, short-chain
      fatty acid production, and the gut barrier being the key mechanistic links.
      Understanding the role of the gut ecosystem in the pathophysiology of eating
      disorders will provide critical insights into improving current treatments and
      developing novel microbiome-based interventions that will benefit patients with
      eating disorders.

PMID- 28613253
TI  - Terpenoids from Platostoma rotundifolium (Briq.) A. J. Paton Alter the Expression
      of Quorum Sensing-Related Virulence Factors and the Formation of Biofilm in
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.
AB  - Platostoma rotundifolium (Briq.) A. J. Paton aerial parts are widely used in
      Burundi traditional medicine to treat infectious diseases. In order to
      investigate their probable antibacterial activities, crude extracts from P.
      rotundifolium were assessed for their bactericidal and anti-virulence properties
      against an opportunistic bacterial model, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Whereas
      none of the tested extracts exert bacteriostatic and/or bactericidal proprieties,
      the ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts exhibit anti-virulence properties
      against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 characterized by an alteration in quorum
      sensing gene expression and biofilm formation without affecting bacterial
      viability. Bioguided fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract led to the
      isolation of major anti-virulence compounds that were identified from nuclear
      magnetic resonance and high-resolution molecular spectroscopy spectra as
      cassipourol, beta-sitosterol and alpha-amyrin. Globally, cassipourol and beta
      sitosterol inhibit quorum sensing-regulated and -regulatory genes expression in
      las and rhl systems without affecting the global regulators gacA and vfr, whereas
      alpha-amyrin had no effect on the expression of these genes. These terpenoids
      disrupt the formation of biofilms at concentrations down to 12.5, 50 and 50 uM
      for cassipourol, beta-sitosterol and alpha-amyrin, respectively. Moreover, these
      terpenoids reduce the production of total exopolysaccharides and promote flagella
      dependent motilities (swimming and swarming). The isolated terpenoids exert a
      wide range of inhibition processes, suggesting a complex mechanism of action
      targeting P. aeruginosa virulence mechanisms which support the wide anti
      infectious use of this plant species in traditional Burundian medicine.

PMID- 28613255
TI  - Instrumented Compliant Wrist with Proximity and Contact Sensing for Close Robot
      Interaction Control.
AB  - Compliance has been exploited in various forms in robotic systems to allow rigid
      mechanisms to come into contact with fragile objects, or with complex shapes that
      cannot be accurately modeled. Force feedback control has been the classical
      approach for providing compliance in robotic systems. However, by integrating
      other forms of instrumentation with compliance into a single device, it is
      possible to extend close monitoring of nearby objects before and after contact
      occurs. As a result, safer and smoother robot control can be achieved both while
      approaching and while touching surfaces. This paper presents the design and
      extensive experimental evaluation of a versatile, lightweight, and low-cost
      instrumented compliant wrist mechanism which can be mounted on any rigid robotic
      manipulator in order to introduce a layer of compliance while providing the
      controller with extra sensing signals during close interaction with an object's
      surface. Arrays of embedded range sensors provide real-time measurements on the
      position and orientation of surfaces, either located in proximity or in contact
      with the robot's end-effector, which permits close guidance of its operation.
      Calibration procedures are formulated to overcome inter-sensor variability and
      achieve the highest available resolution. A versatile solution is created by
      embedding all signal processing, while wireless transmission connects the device
      to any industrial robot's controller to support path control. Experimental work
      demonstrates the device's physical compliance as well as the stability and
      accuracy of the device outputs. Primary applications of the proposed instrumented
      compliant wrist include smooth surface following in manufacturing, inspection,
      and safe human-robot interaction.

PMID- 28613256
TI  - Strawberry-Based Cosmetic Formulations Protect Human Dermal Fibroblasts against
      UVA-Induced Damage.
AB  - Extreme exposure of skin to Ultraviolet A (UVA)-radiation may induce a
      dysregulated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can interact with
      cellular biomolecules leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and
      alteration of cellular molecular pathways, responsible for skin photoaging,
      hyperplasia, erythema, and cancer. For these reasons, the use of dietary natural
      bioactive compounds with remarkable antioxidant activity could be a strategic
      tool to counteract these UVA-radiation-caused deleterious effects. Thus, the
      purpose of the present work was to test the efficacy of strawberry (50 MUg/mL)
      based formulations supplemented with Coenzyme Q10 (100 MUg/mL) and sun protection
      factor 10 in human dermal fibroblasts irradiated with UVA-radiation. The
      apoptosis rate, the amount of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production, the expression of proteins involved in antioxidant and inflammatory
      response, and mitochondrial functionality were evaluated. The results showed that
      the synergic topical use of strawberry and Coenzyme Q10 provided a significant (p
      < 0.05) photoprotective effect, reducing cell death and ROS, increasing
      antioxidant defense, lowering inflammatory markers, and improving mitochondrial
      functionality. The obtained results suggest the use of strawberry-based
      formulations as an innovative, natural, and useful tool for the prevention of UVA
      exposure-induced skin diseases in order to decrease or substitute the amount of
      synthetic sunscreen agents.

PMID- 28613254
TI  - CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Correction of the FANCD1 Gene in Primary Patient Cells.
AB  - Fanconi anemia (FA) is an inherited condition characterized by impaired DNA
      repair, physical anomalies, bone marrow failure, and increased incidence of
      malignancy. Gene editing holds great potential to precisely correct the
      underlying genetic cause such that gene expression remains under the endogenous
      control mechanisms. This has been accomplished to date only in transformed cells
      or their reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cell counterparts; however, it has
      not yet been reported in primary patient cells. Here we show the ability to
      correct a mutation in Fanconi anemia D1 (FANCD1) primary patient fibroblasts. The
      clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system
      was employed to target and correct a FANCD1 gene deletion. Homologous
      recombination using an oligonucleotide donor was achieved and a pure population
      of modified cells was obtained by using inhibitors of poly adenosine diphosphate
      ribose polymerase (poly ADP-ribose polymerase). FANCD1 function was restored and
      we did not observe any promiscuous cutting of the CRISPR/Cas9 at off target
      sites. This consideration is crucial in the context of the pre-malignant FA
      phenotype. Altogether we show the ability to correct a patient mutation in
      primary FANCD1 cells in a precise manner. These proof of principle studies
      support expanded application of gene editing for FA.

PMID- 28613257
TI  - Dissemination of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) Programs in
      the United States: Intervention Delivery by Rurality.
AB  - Background: Alongside the dramatic increase of older adults in the United States
      (U.S.), it is projected that the aging population residing in rural areas will
      continue to grow. As the prevalence of chronic diseases and multiple chronic
      conditions among adults continues to rise, there is additional need for evidence
      based interventions to assist the aging population to improve lifestyle
      behaviors, and self-manage their chronic conditions. The purpose of this
      descriptive study was to identify the geospatial dissemination of Chronic Disease
      Self-Management Education (CDSME) Programs across the U.S. in terms of
      participants enrolled, workshops delivered, and counties reached. These
      dissemination characteristics were compared across rurality designations (i.e.,
      metro areas; non-metro areas adjacent to metro areas, and non-metro areas not
      adjacent to metro areas). Methods: This descriptive study analyzed data from a
      national repository including efforts from 83 grantees spanning 47 states from
      December 2009 to December 2016. Counts were tabulated and averages were
      calculated. Results: CDSME Program workshops were delivered in 56.4% of all U.S.
      counties one or more times during the study period. Of the counties where a
      workshop was conducted, 50.5% were delivered in non-metro areas. Of the 300,640
      participants enrolled in CDSME Programs, 12% attended workshops in non-metro
      adjacent areas, and 7% attended workshops in non-metro non-adjacent areas. The
      majority of workshops were delivered in healthcare organizations, senior
      centers/Area Agencies on Aging, and residential facilities. On average,
      participants residing in non-metro areas had better workshop attendance and
      retention rates compared to participants in metro areas. Conclusions: Findings
      highlight the established role of traditional organizations/entities within the
      aging services network, to reach remote areas and serve diverse participants
      (e.g., senior centers). To facilitate growth in rural areas, technical assistance
      will be needed. Additional efforts are needed to bolster partnerships (e.g.,
      sharing resources and knowledge), marketing (e.g., tailored material), and
      regular communication among stakeholders.

PMID- 28613258
TI  - Adherence to a Vegetarian Diet and Diabetes Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta
      Analysis of Observational Studies.
AB  - We quantitatively assessed the association between a vegetarian diet and diabetes
      risk using pooled estimates from observational studies. Electronic database
      searches for articles published from January 1980 to May 2016 were independently
      performed by two investigators, and 13 articles (14 studies) were identified. The
      pooled odds ratio (OR) for diabetes in vegetarians vs. non-vegetarians was 0.726
      (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.608, 0.867). In the subgroup analyses, this
      inverse association was stronger for the studies conducted in the Western Pacific
      region (OR 0.514, 95% CI: 0.304, 0.871) and Europe/North America (OR 0.756, 95%
      CI: 0.589, 0.971) than studies conducted in Southeast Asia (OR 0.888, 95% CI:
      0.718, 1.099). No study had a substantial effect on the pooled effect size in the
      influence analysis, and the Egger's (p = 0.465) and Begg's tests (p = 0.584)
      revealed no publication bias. This meta-analysis indicates that a vegetarian diet
      is inversely associated with diabetes risk. Our results support the need for
      further investigations into the effects of the motivations for vegetarianism, the
      duration of the adherence to a vegetarian diet, and type of vegetarian on
      diabetes risk.

PMID- 28613259
TI  - Lifestyle Patterns and Weight Status in Spanish Adults: The ANIBES Study.
AB  - Limited knowledge is available on lifestyle patterns in Spanish adults. We
      investigated dietary patterns and possible meaningful clustering of physical
      activity, sedentary behavior, sleep time, and smoking in Spanish adults aged 18
      64 years and their association with obesity. Analysis was based on a subsample (n
      = 1617) of the cross-sectional ANIBES study in Spain. We performed exploratory
      factor analysis and subsequent cluster analysis of dietary patterns, physical
      activity, sedentary behaviors, sleep time, and smoking. Logistic regression
      analysis was used to explore the association between the cluster solutions and
      obesity. Factor analysis identified four dietary patterns, "Traditional DP",
      "Mediterranean DP", "Snack DP" and "Dairy-sweet DP". Dietary patterns, physical
      activity behaviors, sedentary behaviors, sleep time, and smoking in Spanish
      adults aggregated into three different clusters of lifestyle patterns: "Mixed
      diet-physically active-low sedentary lifestyle pattern", "Not poor diet-low
      physical activity-low sedentary lifestyle pattern" and "Poor diet-low physical
      activity-sedentary lifestyle pattern". A higher proportion of people aged 18-30
      years was classified into the "Poor diet-low physical activity-sedentary
      lifestyle pattern". The prevalence odds ratio for obesity in men in the "Mixed
      diet-physically active-low sedentary lifestyle pattern" was significantly lower
      compared to those in the "Poor diet-low physical activity-sedentary lifestyle
      pattern". Those behavior patterns are helpful to identify specific issues in
      population subgroups and inform intervention strategies. The findings in this
      study underline the importance of designing and implementing interventions that
      address multiple health risk practices, considering lifestyle patterns and
      associated determinants.

PMID- 28613260
TI  - Joint Optimization of Receiver Placement and Illuminator Selection for a
      Multiband Passive Radar Network.
AB  - The performance of a passive radar network can be greatly improved by an optimal
      radar network structure. Generally, radar network structure optimization consists
      of two aspects, namely the placement of receivers in suitable places and
      selection of appropriate illuminators. The present study investigates issues
      concerning the joint optimization of receiver placement and illuminator selection
      for a passive radar network. Firstly, the required radar cross section (RCS) for
      target detection is chosen as the performance metric, and the joint optimization
      model boils down to the partition p-center problem (PPCP). The PPCP is then
      solved by a proposed bisection algorithm. The key of the bisection algorithm lies
      in solving the partition set covering problem (PSCP), which can be solved by a
      hybrid algorithm developed by coupling the convex optimization with the greedy
      dropping algorithm. In the end, the performance of the proposed algorithm is
      validated via numerical simulations.

PMID- 28613261
TI  - Identifying Eating Occasion-Based Opportunities to Improve the Overall Diets of
      Australian Adolescents.
AB  - Adolescents in Australia have a poor dietary intake, leading to large numbers of
      them being at risk for inadequate intake of micronutrients, and excessive intake
      of less healthful dietary components. This study examined dietary intakes at
      multiple eating occasions to identify opportunities for more targeted
      recommendations and strategies to improve dietary intakes among adolescents. Data
      from the first 24-h recall of 14-18 years old in the 2011-2012 National Nutrition
      and Physical Activity Survey were analysed (n = 772). Participant-defined eating
      occasions were classified as breakfast, lunch, dinner or other eating occasions
      combined. The mean percent contribution to the total day intake of top shortfall
      nutrients (calcium, magnesium, vitamin A, iron), discretionary calories,
      saturated fat, free sugars and sodium, as well as nutrient density, the foods
      consumed and the percent of consumers at each eating occasion, were calculated.
      Breakfast had the lowest prevalence of consumers (81%), contributed the least to
      total daily energy (14.6%) and almost a quarter of daily calcium and iron. Other
      eating occasions combined contributed 47.5% of free sugars and were top
      contributors of daily calcium (34.6%) and magnesium (31.7%). Discretionary foods
      contributed 32.4% of the energy at lunch, and the sodium content at lunch was 415
      mg/1000 kJ. Key opportunities identified for adolescents were to increase
      breakfast consumption, given the high nutrient densities of breakfasts consumed;
      improve overall lunch quality, particularly the sodium content; promote the
      intake of milk, fruit and a variety of vegetables at both lunch and dinner;
      maintain healthful choices at in-between meal eating occasions while focusing on
      decreasing the intake of discretionary foods.

PMID- 28613262
TI  - Antimicrobial Activity of Truncated and Polyvalent Peptides Derived from the
      FKCRRQWQWRMKKGLA Sequence against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus
      aureus ATCC 25923.
AB  - Peptides derived from LfcinB were designed and synthesized, and their
      antibacterial activity was tested against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and
      Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. Specifically, a peptide library was constructed
      by systemically removing the flanking residues (N or C-terminal) of Lfcin 17-31
      (17FKCRRWQWRMKKLGA31), maintaining in all peptides the 20RRWQWR25 sequence that
      corresponds to the minimal antimicrobial motif. For this research, also included
      were (i) a peptide containing an Ala instead of Cys ([Ala19]-LfcinB 17-31) and
      (ii) polyvalent peptides containing the RRWQWR sequence and a non-natural amino
      acid (aminocaproic acid). We established that the lineal peptides LfcinB 17-25
      and LfcinB 17-26 exhibited the greatest activity against E. coli ATCC 25922 and
      S. aureus ATCC 25923, respectively. On the other hand, polyvalent peptides, a
      dimer and a tetramer, exhibited the greatest antibacterial activity, indicating
      that multiple copies of the sequence increase the activity. Our results suggest
      that the dimeric and tetrameric sequence forms potentiate the antibacterial
      activity of lineal sequences that have exhibited moderate antibacterial activity.

PMID- 28613264
TI  - A Novel Sensor Based on a Single-Pixel Microwave Radiometer for Warm Object
      Counting: Concept Validation and IoT Perspectives.
AB  - Controlled measurements by a low-cost single-pixel microwave radiometer operating
      at 12.65 GHz were carried out to assess the detection and counting capability for
      targets warmer than the surroundings. The adopted reference test targets were pre
      warmed water and oil; and a hand, both naked and wearing a glove. The results
      showed the reliability of microwave radiometry for counting operations under
      controlled conditions, and its effectiveness at detecting even warm targets
      masked by unheated dielectric layers. An electromagnetic model describing the
      scenario sensed by the radiometer antenna is proposed, and comparison with the
      experimental observations shows a good agreement. The measurements prove that
      reliable counting is enabled by an antenna temperature increment, for each target
      sample added, of around 1 K. Starting from this value, an analysis of the antenna
      filling factor was performed to provide an instrument useful for evaluating real
      applicability in many practical situations. This study also allows the direct
      people counting problem to be addressed, providing preliminary operational
      indications, reference numbers and experimental validation.

PMID- 28613265
TI  - A Novel Approach to Measuring Muscle Mechanics in Vehicle Collision Conditions.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate a novel approach to measuring neck muscle
      load and activity in vehicle collision conditions. A series of sled tests were
      performed on 10 healthy volunteers at three severity levels to simulate low
      severity frontal impacts. Electrical activity-electromyography (EMG)-and muscle
      mechanical tension was measured bilaterally on the upper trapezius. A novel
      mechanical contraction (MC) sensor was used to measure the tension on the muscle
      surface. The neck extensor loads were estimated based on the inverse dynamics
      approach. The results showed strong linear correlation (Pearson's coefficient =
      0.821) between the estimated neck muscle load and the muscle tension measured
      with the MC sensor. The peak of the estimated neck muscle force delayed 0.2 +/-
      30.6 ms on average vs. the peak MC sensor signal compared to the average delay of
      61.8 +/- 37.4 ms vs. the peak EMG signal. The observed differences in EMG and MC
      sensor collected signals indicate that the MC sensor offers an additional insight
      into the analysis of the neck muscle load and activity in impact conditions. This
      approach enables a more detailed assessment of the muscle-tendon complex load of
      a vehicle occupant in pre-impact and impact conditions.

PMID- 28613263
TI  - Protein Interaction and Na/K-ATPase-Mediated Signal Transduction.
AB  - The Na/K-ATPase (NKA), or Na pump, is a member of the P-type ATPase superfamily.
      In addition to pumping ions across cell membrane, it is engaged in assembly of
      multiple protein complexes in the plasma membrane. This assembly allows NKA to
      perform many non-pumping functions including signal transduction that are
      important for animal physiology and disease progression. This article will focus
      on the role of protein interaction in NKA-mediated signal transduction, and its
      potential utility as target for developing new therapeutics.

PMID- 28613266
TI  - Association between Food for Life, a Whole Setting Healthy and Sustainable Food
      Programme, and Primary School Children's Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables: A
      Cross-Sectional Study in England.
AB  - The promotion of dietary health is a public health priority in England and in
      other countries. Research shows that the majority of children do not consume the
      recommended amount of fruit and vegetables (F&V). There has been relatively
      little research on the impact of programmes, such as Food for Life, that (a)
      integrate action on nutrition and food sustainability issues, and (b) are
      delivered as commissions in a local authority area. The study sought to assess
      pupil F&V in schools engaged with the Food for Life (FFL) programme. The design
      was a cross-sectional study comparing pupils in FFL engaged (n = 24) and non
      engaged (n = 23) schools. A total of 2411 pupils aged 8-10 completed a validated
      self-report questionnaire. After adjusting for confounders, pupils in schools
      engaged with FFL consumed significantly more servings of F&V compared to pupils
      in comparison schools (M = 2.03/1.54, p < 0.001). Pupils in FFL schools were
      twice as likely to eat five or more portions of F&V per day (Odds Ratio = 2.07, p
      < 0.001, Confidence Interval = 1.54, 2.77). Total F&V consumption was
      significantly higher (p < 0.05) amongst pupils in schools with a higher level FFL
      award. Whilst limitations include possible residual confounding, the study
      suggests primary school engagement with the FFL programme may be an effective way
      of improving children's dietary health.

PMID- 28613267
TI  - Essential Oils of Oregano: Biological Activity beyond Their Antimicrobial
      Properties.
AB  - Essential oils of oregano are widely recognized for their antimicrobial activity,
      as well as their antiviral and antifungal properties. Nevertheless, recent
      investigations have demonstrated that these compounds are also potent
      antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and cancer suppressor agents. These
      properties of oregano essential oils are of potential interest to the food,
      cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The aim of this manuscript is to review
      the latest evidence regarding essential oils of oregano and their beneficial
      effects on health.

PMID- 28613268
TI  - Vitamin E Modifies High-Fat Diet-Induced Increase of DNA Strand Breaks, and
      Changes in Expression and DNA Methylation of Dnmt1 and MLH1 in C57BL/6J Male
      Mice.
AB  - Obesity is associated with low-grade inflammation, increased ROS production and
      DNA damage. Supplementation with antioxidants might ameliorate DNA damage and
      support epigenetic regulation of DNA repair. C57BL/6J male mice were fed a high
      fat (HFD) or a control diet (CD) with and without vitamin E supplementation (4.5
      mg/kg body weight (b.w.)) for four months. DNA damage, DNA promoter methylation
      and gene expression of Dnmt1 and a DNA repair gene (MLH1) were assayed in liver
      and colon. The HFD resulted in organ specific changes in DNA damage, the
      epigenetically important Dnmt1 gene, and the DNA repair gene MLH1. Vitamin E
      reduced DNA damage and showed organ-specific effects on MLH1 and Dnmt1 gene
      expression and methylation. These results suggest that interventions with
      antioxidants and epigenetic active food ingredients should be developed as an
      effective prevention for obesity-and oxidative stress-induced health risks.

PMID- 28613269
TI  - Exploiting Cell Death Pathways for Inducible Cell Elimination to Modulate Graft
      versus-Host-Disease.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a potent form of immunotherapy,
      potentially life-saving for many malignant hematologic diseases. However, donor
      lymphocytes infused with the graft while exerting a graft versus malignancy
      effect can also cause potentially fatal graft versus host disease (GVHD). Our
      group has previously validated the inducible caspase-9 suicide gene in the
      haploidentical stem cell transplant setting, which proved successful in reversing
      signs and symptoms of GVHD within hours, using a non-therapeutic dimerizing
      agent. Cellular death pathways such as apoptosis and necroptosis are important
      processes in maintaining healthy cellular homeostasis within the human body.
      Here, we review two of the most widely investigated cell death pathways active in
      T-cells (apoptosis and necroptosis), as well as the emerging strategies that can
      be exploited for the safety of T-cell therapies. Furthermore, such strategies
      could be exploited for the safety of other cellular therapeutics as well.

PMID- 28613271
TI  - An Evaluation of the Proposed Worker Protection Standard with Respect to
      Pesticide Exposure and Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Citing a lack of information, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prudently
      did not account for the benefits of averting many chronic diseases in analyzing
      the Worker Protection Standards (WPS) revisions. We demonstrate that sufficient
      information can exist, using the example of the benefits to agricultural workers
      of reduced Parkinson's disease (PD) due to reduced pesticide exposure. We define
      the benefits as the monetary value gained by improving quality of lives of people
      who would otherwise develop PD, plus the value of medical care cost averted and
      income not lost due to being healthy. For estimation, we use readily available
      parameters and obtain odds ratios of developing PD by conducting a meta-analysis
      of studies linking pesticide exposure to PD. The sensitivity analysis varies the
      number of agricultural workers affected by the regulation, the probability of
      being diagnosed with PD, the measurement and the timing of the benefits. Our
      initial assessment is that the reduced PD benefits would be a small fraction of
      the total WPS revision costs. However, if we define benefits as the common
      environmental economics willingness to pay to avoid PD incidence, then they
      become a substantial fraction of the costs. Our analysis demonstrates that the
      benefits of averting PD from the WPS revisions can be estimated using existing
      information, and that the results are most sensitive to the choice of valuation
      of benefits to the worker. We encourage other researchers to extend our framework
      to other chronic ailments.

PMID- 28613270
TI  - A Socio-Ecological Examination of Weight-Related Characteristics of the Home
      Environment and Lifestyles of Households with Young Children.
AB  - Home environment and family lifestyle practices have an influence on child
      obesity risk, thereby making it critical to systematically examine these factors.
      Thus, parents (n = 489) of preschool children completed a cross-sectional online
      survey which was the baseline data collection conducted, before randomization, in
      the HomeStyles program. The survey comprehensively assessed these factors using a
      socio-ecological approach, incorporating intrapersonal, interpersonal and
      environmental measures. Healthy intrapersonal dietary behaviors identified were
      parent and child intakes of recommended amounts of 100% juice and low intakes of
      sugar-sweetened beverages. Unhealthy behaviors included low milk intake and high
      parent fat intake. The home environment's food supply was found to support
      healthy intakes of 100% juice and sugar-sweetened beverages, but provided too
      little milk and ample quantities of salty/fatty snacks. Physical activity levels,
      sedentary activity and the home's physical activity and media environment were
      found to be less than ideal. Environmental supports for active play inside homes
      were moderate and somewhat better in the area immediately outside homes and in
      the neighborhood. Family interpersonal interaction measures revealed several
      positive behaviors, including frequent family meals. Parents had considerable
      self-efficacy in their ability to perform food- and physical activity-related
      childhood obesity protective practices. This study identified lifestyle practices
      and home environment characteristics that health educators could target to help
      parents promote optimal child development and lower their children's risk for
      obesity.

PMID- 28613273
TI  - Corrigendum: EpCAM-dependent extracellular vesicles from intestinal epithelial
      cells maintain intestinal tract immune balance.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13045.

PMID- 28613272
TI  - Phage-Phagocyte Interactions and Their Implications for Phage Application as
      Therapeutics.
AB  - Phagocytes are the main component of innate immunity. They remove pathogens and
      particles from organisms using their bactericidal tools in the form of both
      reactive oxygen species and degrading enzymes-contained in granules-that are
      potentially toxic proteins. Therefore, it is important to investigate the
      possible interactions between phages and immune cells and avoid any phage side
      effects on them. Recent progress in knowledge concerning the influence of phages
      on phagocytes is also important as such interactions may shape the immune
      response. In this review we have summarized the current knowledge on phage
      interactions with phagocytes described so far and their potential implications
      for phage therapy. The data suggesting that phage do not downregulate important
      phagocyte functions are especially relevant for the concept of phage therapy.

PMID- 28613274
TI  - Experimental neutron scattering evidence for proton polaron in hydrated metal
      oxide proton conductors.
AB  - Hydration of oxygen-deficient metal oxides causes filling of oxygen vacancies and
      formation of hydroxyl groups with interstitial structural protons, rotating
      around the oxygen in localized motion. Thermal activation from 500 to 800 K
      triggers delocalization of the protons by jumping to adjacent oxygen ions,
      constituting proton conductivity. We report quantitative analyses of proton and
      lattice dynamics by neutron-scattering data, which reveal the interaction of
      protons with the crystal lattice and proton-phonon coupling. The motion for the
      proton trapped in the elastic crystal field yields Eigen frequencies and coupling
      constants, which satisfy Holstein's polaron model for electrons and thus
      constitutes first experimental evidence for a proton polaron at high temperature.
      Proton jump rates follow a polaron model for cerium-oxygen and hydroxyl
      stretching modes, which are thus vehicles for proton conductivity. This confirms
      that the polaron mechanism is not restricted to electrons, but a universal charge
      carrier transport process.

PMID- 28613275
TI  - Ablation-resistant carbide Zr0.8Ti0.2C0.74B0.26 for oxidizing environments up to
      3,000  degrees C.
AB  - Ultra-high temperature ceramics are desirable for applications in the hypersonic
      vehicle, rockets, re-entry spacecraft and defence sectors, but few materials can
      currently satisfy the associated high temperature ablation requirements. Here we
      design and fabricate a carbide (Zr0.8Ti0.2C0.74B0.26) coating by reactive melt
      infiltration and pack cementation onto a C/C composite. It displays superior
      ablation resistance at temperatures from 2,000-3,000  degrees C, compared to
      existing ultra-high temperature ceramics (for example, a rate of material loss
      over 12 times better than conventional zirconium carbide at 2,500  degrees C).
      The carbide is a substitutional solid solution of Zr-Ti containing carbon
      vacancies that are randomly occupied by boron atoms. The sealing ability of the
      ceramic's oxides, slow oxygen diffusion and a dense and gradient distribution of
      ceramic result in much slower loss of protective oxide layers formed during
      ablation than other ceramic systems, leading to the superior ablation resistance.

PMID- 28613277
TI  - Response to Coceani et al.

PMID- 28613278
TI  - Ductus arteriosus: gene profile for fetal maturation versus postnatal closure.

PMID- 28613279
TI  - NOX-mediated impairment of PDGF-induced DNA synthesis in peripheral blood
      lymphocytes of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.
AB  - BackgroundCellular oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and immunogenic
      events are involved in pathogenesis of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS);
      however, the exact mechanism remains unknown. We examined NADPH oxidase (NOX)
      activity and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced DNA synthesis in
      peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of patients with INS.MethodsPBL from 15
      patients with INS and 15 age- and gender-matched controls were isolated, and
      enzyme activities of NOX, catalase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured
      along with the assay of malondialdehyde levels and bromo-deoxyuridine
      incorporation. Protein expression of NOX-1 was measured using western blot
      analysis.ResultsPatients with INS had significantly (P<0.01) higher NOX activity
      and increased protein expression of NOX-1 in PBL as compared with controls.
      Catalase and SOD activities were markedly lower with lipid peroxide levels
      significantly (P<0.01) increased in patients with INS. Ex vivo DNA synthesis in
      PDGF-stimulated PBL was significantly (P<0.01) reduced in patients with INS;
      however, diphenyliodonium, an inhibitor of NOX, markedly corrected impairment in
      growth factor-induced BrdU incorporation.ConclusionsThese results show that NOX
      activation might have a role in regulation of lymphocytic activity in patients
      with INS through the impairment of PDGF mitogenic function and might contribute
      toward pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome.

PMID- 28613281
TI  - Imaging metal-like monoclinic phase stabilized by surface coordination effect in
      vanadium dioxide nanobeam.
AB  - In correlated systems, intermediate states usually appear transiently across
      phase transitions even at the femtosecond scale. It therefore remains an open
      question how to determine these intermediate states-a critical issue for
      understanding the origin of their correlated behaviour. Here we report a surface
      coordination route to successfully stabilize and directly image an intermediate
      state in the metal-insulator transition of vanadium dioxide. As a prototype metal
      insulator transition material, we capture an unusual metal-like monoclinic phase
      at room temperature that has long been predicted. Coordinate bonding of L
      ascorbic acid molecules with vanadium dioxide nanobeams induces charge-carrier
      density reorganization and stabilizes metallic monoclinic vanadium dioxide,
      unravelling orbital-selective Mott correlation for gap opening of the vanadium
      dioxide metal-insulator transition. Our study contributes to completing phase
      evolution pathways in the metal-insulator transition process, and we anticipate
      that coordination chemistry may be a powerful tool for engineering properties of
      low-dimensional correlated solids.

PMID- 28613280
TI  - Insights into the genetic architecture of morphological traits in two passerine
      bird species.
AB  - Knowledge about the underlying genetic architecture of phenotypic traits is
      needed to understand and predict evolutionary dynamics. The number of causal
      loci, magnitude of the effects and location in the genome are, however, still
      largely unknown. Here, we use genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
      data from two large-scale data sets on house sparrows and collared flycatchers to
      examine the genetic architecture of different morphological traits (tarsus
      length, wing length, body mass, bill depth, bill length, total and visible badge
      size and white wing patches). Genomic heritabilities were estimated using
      relatedness calculated from SNPs. The proportion of variance captured by the SNPs
      (SNP-based heritability) was lower in house sparrows compared with collared
      flycatchers, as expected given marker density (6348 SNPs in house sparrows versus
      38 689 SNPs in collared flycatchers). Indeed, after downsampling to similar SNP
      density and sample size, this estimate was no longer markedly different between
      species. Chromosome-partitioning analyses demonstrated that the proportion of
      variance explained by each chromosome was significantly positively related to the
      chromosome size for some traits and, generally, that larger chromosomes tended to
      explain proportionally more variation than smaller chromosomes. Finally, we found
      two genome-wide significant associations with very small-effect sizes. One SNP on
      chromosome 20 was associated with bill length in house sparrows and explained
      1.2% of phenotypic variation (VP), and one SNP on chromosome 4 was associated
      with tarsus length in collared flycatchers (3% of VP). Although we cannot exclude
      the possibility of undetected large-effect loci, our results indicate a polygenic
      basis for morphological traits.

PMID- 28613282
TI  - Non-Nutritive Sweeteners: Evidence on their Association with Metabolic Diseases
      and Potential Effects on Glucose Metabolism and Appetite.
AB  - There is ongoing debate concerning non-nutritive sweeteners, their usage, and
      their effects on metabolism. The association between non-nutritive sweeteners
      consumption, development of metabolic diseases, and changes in appetite
      regulating hormones is not clear. The aim of this article is to present an
      overview of non-nutritive sweeteners and to examine the scientific evidence of
      their effects on glucose metabolism and appetite-regulating hormones. Some
      observational studies suggest an association between non-nutritive sweeteners
      consumption and development of metabolic diseases; however, adiposity is a
      confounder frequently found in these studies. Results of the available clinical
      trials are heterogeneous and not comparable because of major differences between
      them. Future controlled studies evaluating specific non-nutritive sweeteners,
      with an appropriate sample size, including a uniform study group, with sufficient
      exposure time, and considering adjustment for confounder variables, such as
      anthropometric characteristics, previous consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners,
      and coexistence of significant metabolic comorbidities, are needed.

PMID- 28613283
TI  - Risk Factors for No-Reflow Phenomenon after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in
      Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore risk factors for no-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous
      coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: A total
      of 733 acute myocardial infarction patients with persistent ischemic chest pain
      within 12 or 12-24 hours after onset received emergency percutaneous coronary
      intervention. Patients were divided into a normal reflow group and a no-reflow
      group, according to TIMI grading and myocardial blush grading after percutaneous
      coronary intervention. Related risk factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The incidence
      of no-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention was 16.1%.
      Univariate analysis showed that, compared with the normal reflow group, the no
      reflow group was older, reperfusion time was significantly longer, preoperative
      systolic pressure was lower, troponin peak was higher, and creatine kinase enzyme
      peak was higher (p < 0.05). The proportions of preoperative cardiac function
      Killip grade >= 2 and number of patients using preoperative intra-aortic balloon
      pump were significantly different (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression
      analysis showed that age > 65 years (OR: 1.471; 95% CI: 1.462-1.492; p = 0.007),
      reperfusion time > 6 hours (OR: 1.274; 95% CI: 1.164-1.405; p = 0.001), low
      systolic pressure at admission (< 100 mmHg) (OR: 1.918; 95% CI: 1.017-3.897; p =
      0.004), intra-aortic balloon pump use before percutaneous coronary intervention
      (OR: 1.949; 95% CI: 1.168-3.253; p = 0.011), low TIMI grade (<= 1) before
      percutaneous coronary intervention (OR: 1.100; 95% CI: 1.086-1.257; p < 0.01),
      high thrombus load (OR: 1.274; 95% CI: 1.423-2.761; p = 0.030), and long target
      lesion (OR: 1.948; 95% CI: 1.908-1.990; p = 0.019) were independent risk factors.
      CONCLUSIONS: No-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention in
      patients with acute coronary syndrome was affected by complicated pathological
      factors.

PMID- 28613284
TI  - Activated and Micronized Zeolite in the Modulation of Cellular Oxidative Stress
      in Mexican Smokers: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Activated and micronized zeolites are used as detoxifying agents in
      humans. Detoxification is attributed to their ability to reduce lipid
      peroxidation by scavenging free radicals. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate activated and
      micronized zeolites as modulators of cellular oxidative stress in Mexican smokers
      without lung diseases. METHODS: Randomized clinical trial. Subjects were randomly
      divided into three groups: activated and micronized zeolites, n = 29; vitamin E,
      an accepted antioxidant, n = 29; and maltodextrin as control, n = 27. Each group
      received the corresponding supplementation, dissolved in water, once a day for 30
      days as follows: activated and micronized zeolites, 5.4 g activated and
      micronized zeolite; vitamin E, 400 mg D-alpha tocopheryl acetate; and
      maltodextrin, 250 mg of maltodextrin. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
      assay was used to screen for lipid peroxidation. Catalase activity, plasma
      antioxidant capacity, and hydrogen peroxide levels were also measured. Results
      were analyzed by a one-way ANOVA and post hoc test of Bonferroni. RESULTS:
      Subjects administered activated and micronized zeolites had equivalent
      antioxidant activities as subjects administered vitamin E. CONCLUSIONS: Activated
      and micronized zeolites may be useful as a modulator of oxidative stress in
      smokers. However, inclusion of a comparison group of non-smokers would be useful
      in future studies to assess the degree to which zeolites reverse the oxidant
      stress.

PMID- 28613285
TI  - Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in the Northwest of Mexico: A Two-Decade Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Baja California Sur, Mexico, there are no records of dengue
      hemorrhagic fever in the state before 1995. Until now, there have been no
      published reports on the incidence rate. OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence rate
      of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Baja California Sur in the last two decades.
      METHODS: We analyzed data on the total number of cases in the general population,
      incidence rate, age groups, gender, serotypes, and mortality data. RESULTS: There
      were epidemiological outbreaks in 2003, 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2014. The year with
      the highest number of registered cases was 2003 (441 cases), with the highest
      incidence rate of 92.52/100,000. The age groups that were primarily affected were
      15-24 and 45-64 years. The serotypes of dengue virus registered during those
      years were DENV-1 and DENV-2. CONCLUSIONS: Dengue hemorrhagic fever in Baja
      California Sur has had cyclic patterns of occurrence in the last 20 years. Since
      2003, the incidence rate of dengue hemorrhagic fever has greatly decreased.

PMID- 28613286
TI  - Geographical Distribution and Cluster Detection of Childhood Leukemia in the
      Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute leukemia is the most common cancer in childhood. Analyzing the
      spatial distribution of acute leukemia may generate the identification of risk
      factors. OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence rate of acute leukemia, its geographic
      distribution, and cluster detection in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara,
      Mexico. METHODS: We included children under 15 years of age diagnosed with acute
      leukemia during the period 2010-2014 in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara.
      Each case was geo-referenced to street level to latitude and longitude
      coordinates using Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS). Spatial clusters
      were found in the location of the acute leukemia cases applying the Density-Based
      Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm with R
      statistical software. RESULTS: A total of 269 cases of leukemia were registered,
      227 (84%) were acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 42 (16%) acute myeloblastic
      leukemia. The mean age was 6 +/- 4 years. The mean incidence of acute leukemia
      was 6.44 cases/100,000 inhabitants: El Salto 10.12/100,000, Guadalajara
      7.55/100,000, and Tlaquepaque 6.74/100,000. The DBSCAN found three clusters, all
      located within the municipality of Guadalajara. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of
      acute leukemia in our population is higher than that in Canada and the USA. We
      found three spatial clusters of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the
      municipality of Guadalajara, suggesting the presence of local predisposing
      factors.

PMID- 28613276
TI  - Genetic loci associated with heart rate variability and their effects on cardiac
      disease risk.
AB  - Reduced cardiac vagal control reflected in low heart rate variability (HRV) is
      associated with greater risks for cardiac morbidity and mortality. In two-stage
      meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies for three HRV traits in up to
      53,174 individuals of European ancestry, we detect 17 genome-wide significant
      SNPs in eight loci. HRV SNPs tag non-synonymous SNPs (in NDUFA11 and KIAA1755),
      expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) (influencing GNG11, RGS6 and NEO1), or
      are located in genes preferentially expressed in the sinoatrial node (GNG11, RGS6
      and HCN4). Genetic risk scores account for 0.9 to 2.6% of the HRV variance.
      Significant genetic correlation is found for HRV with heart rate (-0.74<rg<-0.55)
      and blood pressure (-0.35<rg<-0.20). These findings provide clinically relevant
      biological insight into heritable variation in vagal heart rhythm regulation,
      with a key role for genetic variants (GNG11, RGS6) that influence G-protein
      heterotrimer action in GIRK-channel induced pacemaker membrane hyperpolarization.

PMID- 28613287
TI  - Geriatric Syndromes and Not Cardiovascular Risk Factors are Associated with
      Cognitive Impairment among Mexican Community-Dwelling Elderly with Type 2
      Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association of cognitive impairment and type 2 diabetes has been
      consistently shown in several studies, yet its association with geriatric
      syndromes has not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE: To study the correlates of
      cognitive impairment among community-dwelling elderly with type 2 diabetes.
      METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 135 diabetic persons aged 70 years or older
      participating in the Coyoacan Cohort Study in Mexico City. Baseline data included
      chronic illnesses, geriatric syndromes, and diabetes-related variables. The
      lowest quartile in both the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Isaacs Set
      Test, according to age and schooling, was used to identify participants with
      cognitive impairment. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to
      identify the correlates of cognitive impairment. RESULTS: Mean age of
      participants was 77.7 +/- 5.8 years. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was
      14.1%. Univariate logistic regression analyses showed that diabetic nephropathy,
      depression symptoms, falls, and frailty were associated with cognitive
      impairment. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that urinary
      incontinence and frailty were independently associated with cognitive impairment.
      Cardiovascular risk factors and diabetes-related variables did not show
      significant association to cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Geriatric
      syndromes, but not cardiovascular risk factors, were independently associated
      with cognitive impairment among diabetic elderlies. Intentional evaluation of
      these conditions may be important to improve management of the elderly patient
      with type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairment.

PMID- 28613288
TI  - Tracking thermal-induced amorphization of a zeolitic imidazolate framework via
      synchrotron in situ far-infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - We present the first use of in situ far-infrared spectroscopy to analyze the
      thermal amorphization of a zeolitic imidazolate framework material. We explain
      the nature of vibrational motion changes during the amorphization process and
      reveal new insights into the effect that temperature has on the Zn-N tetrahedra.

PMID- 28613289
TI  - Exploration of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites for surface-enhanced infrared
      spectroscopy of small molecules.
AB  - The organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites efficiently enhance the infrared
      absorption of small molecules. It is suggested that the quantum wells of
      perovskites enable the electrons of the perovskites to be excited by light in the
      infrared region. The exploration has opened a new path for chemical sensing
      through infrared spectroscopy.

PMID- 28613291
TI  - Organometallic rubidium and cesium compounds of the 5,6;11,12-di-o-phenylene
      tetracene dianion.
AB  - Twofold reduction of the title molecule 5,6;11,12-di-o-phenylenetetracene (DOPT)
      with an excess of metallic rubidium and cesium in the presence of strongly
      coordinating ethers like 18-crown-6-ether (18C6) and tetraglyme results in the
      formation of the first Rb(i) triple-decker complex and the first Cs(i)
      coordination polymer of the so far only sparsely studied polyaromatic planar
      hydrocarbon DOPT. Both compounds are extremely sensitive towards air and water in
      solution as well as in the solid state. Both compounds exhibit isomerism within
      their crystal lattices.

PMID- 28613290
TI  - Chelation-directed C-H activation/C-C bond forming reactions catalyzed by Pd(ii)
      nanoparticles supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Chelation-directed C-H activation/C-C bond forming reactions utilizing
      homogeneous palladium(ii) and the Pd(ii)/Pd(iv) catalytic cycle have been
      previously reported. Here we report the first use of a solid-supported Pd(ii)
      catalyst [Pd(ii) nanoparticles on multiwalled carbon nanotubes, Pd(ii)/MWCNT] to
      carry out C-H activation/C-C bond forming reactions. The results presented
      demonstrate that the solid-supported Pd(ii)/MWCNT catalyst can effectively
      catalyze these arylation reactions using the Pd(ii)/Pd(iv) catalytic cycle. We
      also show that the solid-supported catalyst is recyclable, has turnover
      frequencies up to 2.9-fold higher than the homogeneous catalyst, and results in
      low levels of residual palladium contamination in the products.

PMID- 28613292
TI  - Chemoselective ratiometric imaging of protein S-sulfenylation.
AB  - Here we report a ratiometric fluorescent probe for chemoselective conjugation to
      sulfenic acids in living cells. Our approach couples an alpha-fluoro-substituted
      dimedone to an aminonaphthalene fluorophore (F-DiNap), which upon sulfenic acid
      conjugation is locked as the 1,3-diketone, changing the fluorophore excitation. F
      DiNap reacts with S-sulfenylated proteins at equivalent rates to current probes,
      but the alpha-fluorine substitution blocks side-reactions with biological
      aldehydes.

PMID- 28613293
TI  - One-dimensional silicon nanoshuttles simultaneously featuring fluorescent and
      magnetic properties.
AB  - We herein present the first example of one-dimensional silicon nanostructures
      (i.e., silicon nanoshuttles (SiNSs)), which simultaneously feature bright
      fluorescence, robust photostability, and distinct paramagnetism. This type of
      SiNSs, prepared through one-pot microwave chemical synthesis in a rapid and
      facile manner, hold high promise for various optical and magnetic applications.

PMID- 28613294
TI  - Enzymatic activation of cell-penetrating peptides in self-assembled
      nanostructures triggers fibre-to-micelle morphological transition.
AB  - We report here a proof-of-concept design of a multi-domain cell-penetrating
      peptide amphiphile (CPPA) which can self-assemble into fibrous nanostructures and
      transform into spherical micelles upon enzymatic degradation by matrix
      metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) up-regulated in the tumour environment. Concomitant
      with this morphological transition, the cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), which was
      previously buried inside the CPPA fibers, could be presented on the surface of
      the CPPA micelles, enhancing their cell-penetrating ability. These
      multifunctional and enzyme-responsive CPP nanostructures hold potential as
      nanocarriers for tumour-targeted intracellular delivery of therapeutic and
      diagnostic agents.

PMID- 28613295
TI  - 3D porous ZnO-SnS p-n heterojunction for visible light driven photocatalysis.
AB  - A novel two-step solution approach is put forward to design a unique three
      dimensional (3D) porous ZnO-SnS p-n heterojunction under mild conditions. This
      special 3D structure is induced via flower-like ZnO in which SnS serves as an
      efficient photosensitizer to improve the light harvesting across the whole
      visible range. A profound investigation of the mechanism shows that this 3D
      porous ZnO-SnS material effectively integrates the large surface area and high
      redox potential of ZnO, and wide visible-light harvesting of SnS, which largely
      promotes the transfer and separation rate of carriers. The systematic study on
      the active species generated during the photocatalysis illustrates that it is the
      photoelectrons, OH and O2- that play the crucial role in the degradation of dyes.
      As a result, the noble-metal free photocatalyst degrades nearly 100% of rhodamine
      B (RhB) within 80 min and methylene blue (MB) in 40 min under visible light. The
      photocatalytic activity is 10 times higher than that of the pure flower-like ZnO
      and two times higher than that of the SnS material. Moreover, the photocatalyst
      is easily separated and reused at least four times without obvious change in
      efficiency and properties. This work provides an effective strategy for the
      synthesis of 3D porous p-n heterojunction semiconductor-based photocatalysts with
      low cost and low toxicity, which present promising applications in the field of
      solar energy storage and conversion.

PMID- 28613296
TI  - Battery operated preconcentration-assisted lateral flow assay.
AB  - Paper-based analytical devices (e.g. lateral flow assays) are highly advantageous
      as portable diagnostic systems owing to their low costs and ease of use. Because
      of their low sensitivity and detection limits for biomolecules, these devices
      have several limitations in applications for real-field diagnosis. Here, we
      demonstrate a paper-based preconcentration enhanced lateral flow assay using a
      commercial beta-hCG-based test. Utilizing a simple 9 V battery operation with a
      low power consumption of approximately 81 MUW, we acquire a 25-fold
      preconcentration factor, demonstrating a clear sensitivity enhancement in the
      colorimetric lateral flow assay; consequently, clear colors are observed in a
      rapid kit test line, which cannot be monitored without preconcentration. This
      device can also facilitate a semi-quantitative platform using the saturation
      value and/or color intensity in both paper-based colorimetric assays and
      smartphone-based diagnostics.

PMID- 28613298
TI  - Modelling aqueous solubility of sodium chloride in clays at thermodynamic
      conditions of hydraulic fracturing by molecular simulations.
AB  - To address the high salinity of flow-back water during hydraulic fracturing, we
      have studied the equilibrium partitioning of NaCl and water between the bulk
      phase and clay pores. In shale rocks, such a partitioning can occur between
      fractures with a bulk-like phase and clay pores. We use an advanced Grand
      Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) technique based on fractional exchanges of dissolved
      ions and water molecules. We consider a typical shale gas reservoir condition of
      a temperature of 365 K and pressure of 275 bar, and we represent clay pores by
      pyrophyllite and Na-montmorillonite slits of a width ranging from about 7 to 28
      A, covering clay pores from dry clay to clay pores with a bulk-like layer in the
      middle of the pore. We employ the Joung-Cheatham model for ions, SPC/E model for
      water and CLAYFF for the clay pores. We first determine the chemical potentials
      for NaCl and water in the bulk phase using Osmotic Ensemble Monte Carlo
      simulations. The chemical potentials are then used in GCMC to simulate the
      adsorption of ions and water molecules in the clay pores, and in turn to predict
      the salt solubility in confined solutions. Besides the thermodynamic properties,
      we evaluate the structure and in-plane diffusion of the adsorbed fluids, and ion
      conductivities.

PMID- 28613297
TI  - Multi-dimensional studies of synthetic genetic promoters enabled by microfluidic
      impact printing.
AB  - Natural genetic promoters are regulated by multiple cis and trans regulatory
      factors. For quantitative studies of these promoters, the concentration of only a
      single factor is typically varied to obtain the dose response or transfer
      function of the promoters with respect to the factor. Such design of experiments
      has limited our ability to understand quantitative, combinatorial interactions
      between multiple regulatory factors at promoters. This limitation is primarily
      due to the intractable number of experimental combinations that arise from
      multifactorial design of experiments. To overcome this major limitation, we
      integrate impact printing and cell-free systems to enable multi-dimensional
      studies of genetic promoters. We first present a gradient printing system which
      comprises parallel piezoelectric cantilever beams as a scalable actuator array to
      generate droplets with tunable volumes in the range of 100 pL-10 nL, which
      facilitates highly accurate direct dilutions in the range of 1-10 000-fold in a 1
      MUL drop. Next, we apply this technology to study interactions between three
      regulatory factors at a synthetic genetic promoter. Finally, a mathematical model
      of gene regulatory modules is established using the multi-parametric and multi
      dimensional data. Our work creates a new frontier in the use of cell-free systems
      and droplet printing for multi-dimensional studies of synthetic genetic
      constructs.

PMID- 28613299
TI  - Cellulose-gold nanoparticle hybrid materials.
AB  - Cellulose and gold nanoparticles have exciting characteristics and new
      combinations of both materials may lead to promising functional nanocomposites
      with unique properties. We have reviewed current research on cellulose-gold
      nanoparticle composite materials, and we present an overview of the preparation
      methods of cellulose-gold composite materials and discuss their applications. We
      start with the nanocomposite fabrication methods, covering in situ gold
      reduction, blending, and dip-coating methods to prepare gold-cellulose
      nanocomposite hybrids. We then move on to a discussion of the ensuing properties
      where the combination of gold nanoparticles with cellulose results in functional
      materials with specific catalytic, antimicrobial, sensing, antioxidant and
      Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) performance. Studies have also been
      carried out on orientationally ordered composite materials and on the chiral
      nematic phase behaviour of these nanocomposites. To exert even more control over
      the structure formation and the resultant properties of these functional
      materials, fundamental studies on the physico-chemical interactions of cellulose
      and gold are necessary to understand better the driving forces and limitations
      towards structuring of gold-cellulose hybrid materials.

PMID- 28613300
TI  - Strictly linear trinuclear Dy-Ca/Mg-Dy single-molecule magnets: the impact of
      long-range f-f ferromagnetic interactions on suppressing quantum tunnelling of
      magnetization leading to slow magnetic relaxation.
AB  - The synthesis, structural characterization and magnetic properties of four
      heterometallic complexes with formulas Ln2M(OQ)8 [Ln(iii) = Dy, M(ii) = Ca (1),
      Mg (2); Ln(iii) = Er, M(ii) = Ca (3), Mg (4); HOQ = 8-hydroxyquinoline] are
      reported. Complexes display a perfectly linear arrangement of three metal ions
      involving two terminal Ln(iii) ions and one central alkaline earth M(ii) ion, and
      they are bridged by three phenolato oxygen atoms from three 8-hydroxyquinoline
      ligands. Direct-current (dc) magnetic susceptibility studies show that there
      exists a long-range ferromagnetic (FM) interaction between two f-electronic
      centers in Dy-based complexes 1 and 2 albeit they are separated by diamagnetic
      alkaline earth ions, and the FM interaction has been successfully reproduced by
      ab initio calculations. Alternating current (ac) magnetic susceptibility
      measurements indicate that complexes 1 and 2 exhibit significant single-molecule
      magnet (SMM) behaviors. This is mostly attributed to the parallel magnetic axes
      of individual Dy(iii) sites aligning closely to the Dy-M-Dy direction, and the
      linearly extending magnetic susceptibility tensors of each ion lead to the FM
      interaction. The dc and ac susceptibility studies of the intramolecularly diluted
      complexes reveal that the f-f coupling suppresses the QTMs significantly in the
      absence of the external magnetic field.

PMID- 28613301
TI  - Wide graphene nanoribbons produced by interchain fusion of poly(p-phenylene) via
      two-zone chemical vapor deposition.
AB  - Wide graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) were fabricated via two-zone chemical vapor
      deposition using 4,4''-dibromo-p-terphenyl as the precursor. Densely packed
      arrays of poly(p-phenylene) produced on Au(111) using this method could be
      converted into wide GNRs via interchain fusion by thermal annealing. The field
      effect transistor prepared from these GNRs exhibited an excellent on/off current
      ratio of 1.6 +/- 0.6 * 103.

PMID- 28613302
TI  - All-soft, battery-free, and wireless chemical sensing platform based on liquid
      metal for liquid- and gas-phase VOC detection.
AB  - Lightweight, flexible, stretchable, and wireless sensing platforms have gained
      significant attention for personal healthcare and environmental monitoring
      applications. This paper introduces an all-soft (flexible and stretchable),
      battery-free, and wireless chemical microsystem using gallium-based liquid metal
      (eutectic gallium-indium alloy, EGaIn) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS),
      fabricated using an advanced liquid metal thin-line patterning technique based on
      soft lithography. Considering its flexible, stretchable, and lightweight
      characteristics, the proposed sensing platform is well suited for wearable
      sensing applications either on the skin or on clothing. Using the microfluidic
      sensing platform, detection of liquid-phase and gas-phase volatile organic
      compounds (VOC) is demonstrated using the same design, which gives an opportunity
      to have the sensor operate under different working conditions and environments.
      In the case of liquid-phase chemical sensing, the wireless sensing performance
      and microfluidic capacitance tunability for different dielectric liquids are
      evaluated using analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. In the case
      of gas-phase chemical sensing, PDMS is used both as a substrate and a sensing
      material. The gas sensing performance is evaluated and compared to a silicon
      based, solid-state gas sensor with a PDMS sensing film.

PMID- 28613303
TI  - Buckling in armored droplets.
AB  - The buckling mechanism in droplets stabilized by solid particles (armored
      droplets) is tackled at a mesoscopic level using dissipative particle dynamics
      simulations. We consider one spherical water droplet in a decane solvent coated
      with nanoparticle monolayers of two different types: Janus (particles whose
      surface shows two regions with different wetting properties) and homogeneous. The
      chosen particles yield comparable initial three-phase contact angles, selected to
      maximize the adsorption energy at the interface. We study the interplay between
      the evolution of droplet shape, layering of the particles, and their distribution
      at the interface when the volume of the droplets is reduced. We show that Janus
      particles affect strongly the shape of the droplet with the formation of a crater
      like depression. This evolution is actively controlled by a close-packed particle
      monolayer at the curved interface. In contrast, homogeneous particles follow
      passively the volume reduction of the droplet, whose shape does not deviate too
      much from spherical, even when a nanoparticle monolayer/bilayer transition is
      detected at the interface. We discuss how these buckled armored droplets might be
      of relevance in various applications including potential drug delivery systems
      and biomimetic design of functional surfaces.

PMID- 28613304
TI  - Programmable graphene doping via electron beam irradiation.
AB  - Graphene is a promising candidate to succeed silicon based devices, and the
      conventional strategies for fabrication and testing of graphene-based electronics
      often utilise an electron beam. Here, we report on a systematic study of the
      effect of electron beam exposure on graphene devices. We realise reversible
      doping of on-chip graphene using a focused electron beam. Our results demonstrate
      site-specific control of carrier type and concentration achievable by modulating
      the charge distribution in the substrate. The effect of substrate-embedded
      charges on carrier mobility and conductivity of graphene is studied, with a
      dielectric screening model proposed to explain the effective n-type and p-type
      doping produced at different beam energies. Multiple logic operations are thus
      implemented in a single graphene sheet by using site-specific e-beam irradiation.
      We extend the phenomenon to MoS2, generalising it to conductive two-dimensional
      materials. Our results are of importance to imaging, in situ characterisation and
      lithographic techniques employed to investigate 2D materials.

PMID- 28613305
TI  - Ethylene oligomerization in metal-organic frameworks bearing nickel(ii) 2,2'
      bipyridine complexes.
AB  - The metal-organic frameworks Zr6O4(OH)4(bpydc)6 (1; bpydc2- = 2,2'-bipyridine
      5,5'-dicarboxylate) and Zr6O4(OH)4(bpydc)0.84(bpdc)5.16 (2; bpdc2- = biphenyl
      4,4'-dicarboxylate) were readily metalated with Ni(DME)Br2 (DME =
      dimethoxyethane) to produce the corresponding metalated frameworks 1(NiBr2)6 and
      2(NiBr2)0.84. Both nickel(ii)-containing frameworks catalyze the oligomerization
      of ethylene in the presence of Et2AlCl. In these systems, the pore environment
      around the active nickel sites significantly influences their selectivity for
      formation of oligomers over polymer. Specifically, the single-crystal structure
      of 1(NiBr2)5.64 reveals that surrounding metal-linker complexes enforce a steric
      environment on each nickel site that causes polymer formation to become
      favorable. Minimizing this steric congestion by isolating the nickel(ii)
      bipyridine complexes in the mixed-linker framework 2(NiBr2)0.84 markedly improves
      both the catalytic activity and selectivity for oligomers. Furthermore, both
      frameworks give product mixtures that are enriched in shorter olefins (C4-10),
      leading to deviations from the expected Schulz-Flory distribution of oligomers.
      Although these deviations indicate possible pore confinement effects on
      selectivity, control experiments using the nickel-treated biphenyl framework
      Zr6O4(OH)4(bpdc)6(NiBr2)0.14 (3(NiBr2)0.14) reveal that they likely arise at
      least in part from the presence of nickel species that are not ligated by
      bipyridine within 1(NiBr2)5.64 and 2(NiBr2)0.84.

PMID- 28613306
TI  - Size-tunable microvortex capture of rare cells.
AB  - Inertial separation of particles and cells based on their size has advanced
      significantly over the last decade. However, size-based inertial separation
      methods require precise tuning of microfluidic device geometries to adjust the
      separation size of particles or cells. Here, we show a passive capture method
      that targets a wide size range of cells by controlling the flow conditions in a
      single device geometry. This multimodal capture device is designed to generate
      laminar vortices in lateral cavities that branch from long rectangular channels.
      Micro-vortices generated at lower Reynolds numbers capture and stabilize large
      particles in equilibrium orbits or limit cycles near the vortex core. Other
      smaller particles or cells orbit near the vortex boundaries and they are
      susceptible to exiting the cavity flow. In the same cavity, however, at higher
      Reynolds number, we observe small particles migrating inward. This evolution in
      limit cycle trajectories led to a corresponding evolution in the average size of
      captured particles, indicating that the outermost orbits are less stable. We
      identify three phases of capture as a function of Reynolds number that give rise
      to unique particle orbit trajectories. Flow-based switching overcomes a major
      engineering challenge to automate capture and release of polydisperse cell
      subpopulations. The approach can expand clinical applications of label free
      trapping in isolating and processing a larger subset of rare cells like
      circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood and other body fluids.

PMID- 28613309
TI  - A simple synthetic entryway into palladium cross-coupling catalysis.
AB  - The simple synthesis of a family of palladates containing an imidazolium
      counterion is presented. These "ate" complexes can be easily converted into well
      defined palladium-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes. The synthetic protocols
      leading to the "ate" and to the Pd-NHC neutral complexes have been exemplified
      with various NHC ligands. The palladates prove efficient pre-catalysts enabling
      Suzuki-Miyaura and Mizoroki-Heck reactions.

PMID- 28613308
TI  - On chip cryo-anesthesia of Drosophila larvae for high resolution in vivo imaging
      applications.
AB  - We present a microfluidic chip for immobilizing Drosophila melanogaster larvae
      for high resolution in vivo imaging. The chip creates a low-temperature micro
      environment that anaesthetizes and immobilizes the larva in under 3 minutes. We
      characterized the temperature distribution within the chip and analyzed the
      resulting larval body movement using high resolution fluorescence imaging. Our
      results indicate that the proposed method minimizes submicron movements of
      internal organs and tissue without affecting the larva physiology. It can be used
      to continuously immobilize larvae for short periods of time (minutes) or for
      longer periods (several hours) if used intermittently. The same chip can be used
      to accommodate and immobilize arvae across all developmental stages (1st instar
      to late 3rd instar), and loading larvae onto the chip does not require any
      specialized skills. To demonstrate the usability of the chip, we observed
      mitochondrial trafficking in neurons from the cell bodies to the axon terminals
      along with mitochondrial fusion and neuro-synaptic growth through time in intact
      larvae. Besides studying sub-cellular processes and cellular development, we
      envision the use of on chip cryo-anesthesia in a wide variety of biological in
      vivo imaging applications, including observing organ development of the salivary
      glands, fat bodies and body-wall muscles.

PMID- 28613310
TI  - Correction: Cellulose regeneration and spinnability from ionic liquids.
AB  - Correction for 'Cellulose regeneration and spinnability from ionic liquids' by
      Lauri K. J. Hauru et al., Soft Matter, 2016, 12, 1487-1495.

PMID- 28613312
TI  - Highly efficient complexation of sanguinarine alkaloid by
      carboxylatopillar[6]arene: pKa shift, increased solubility and enhanced
      antibacterial activity.
AB  - Encapsulation of a physiologically active substance, sanguinarine (SA), by a
      water soluble carboxylatopillar[6]arene (CP6A), is described. The efficient
      complexation by CP6A, giving a Ka value of (2.4 +/- 0.3) * 105 M-1 in pH 7.4,
      served to increase the water solubility by 4.3-fold, cause a 2.02 shift in pKa,
      and enhance the antibacterial activity of SA.

PMID- 28613314
TI  - Directed ordering of phase separated domains and dewetting of thin polymer blend
      films on a topographically patterned substrate.
AB  - Substrate pattern guided self-organization of ultrathin and confined polymeric
      films on a topographically patterned substrate is a useful approach for obtaining
      ordered meso and nano structures over large areas, particularly if the ordering
      is achieved during film preparation itself, eliminating any post-processing such
      as thermal or solvent vapor annealing. By casting a dilute solution of two
      immiscible polymers, polystyrene (PS) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), from a
      common solvent (toluene) on a topographically patterned substrate with a grating
      geometry, we show the formation of self-organized meso patterns with various
      degrees of ordering. The morphology depends on both the concentration of the
      dispensed solution (Cn) and the blend composition (RB). Depending on the extent
      of dewetting during spin coating, the final morphologies can be classified into
      three distinct categories. At a very low Cn the solution dewets fully, resulting
      in isolated polymer droplets aligned along substrate grooves (Type 1). Type 2
      structures comprising isolated threads with aligned phase separated domains along
      each substrate groove are observed at intermediate Cn. A continuous film (Type 3)
      is obtained above a critical concentration (Cn*) that depends on RB. While the
      extent of ordering of the domains gradually diminishes with an increase in film
      thickness for Type 3 patterns, the size of the domains remains much smaller than
      that on a flat substrate, resulting in significant downsizing of the features due
      to the lateral confinement imposed on the phase separation process by the
      topographic patterns. Finally, we show that some of these structures exhibit
      excellent broadband anti-reflection (AR) properties.

PMID- 28613313
TI  - Heterogeneity is key to hydrogel-based cartilage tissue regeneration.
AB  - Degradable hydrogels have been developed to provide initial mechanical support to
      encapsulated cells while facilitating the growth of neo-tissues. When cells are
      encapsulated within degradable hydrogels, the process of neo-tissue growth is
      complicated by the coupled phenomena of transport of large extracellular matrix
      macromolecules and the rate of hydrogel degradation. If hydrogel degradation is
      too slow, neo-tissue growth is hindered, whereas if it is too fast, complete loss
      of mechanical integrity can occur. Therefore, there is a need for effective
      modelling techniques to predict hydrogel designs based on the growth parameters
      of the neo-tissue. In this article, hydrolytically degradable hydrogels are
      investigated due to their promise in tissue engineering. A key output of the
      model focuses on the ability of the construct to maintain overall structural
      integrity as the construct transitions from a pure hydrogel to engineered neo
      tissue. We show that heterogeneity in cross-link density and cell distribution is
      the key to this successful transition and ultimately to achieve tissue growth.
      Specifically, we find that optimally large regions of weak cross-linking around
      cells in the hydrogel and well-connected and dense cell clusters create the
      optimum conditions needed for neo-tissue growth while maintaining structural
      integrity. Experimental observations using cartilage cells encapsulated in a
      hydrolytically degradable hydrogel are compared with model predictions to show
      the potential of the proposed model.

PMID- 28613315
TI  - Bulk advection and interfacial flows in the binary coalescence of surfactant
      laden and surfactant-free drops.
AB  - This work focuses on the study of bulk flows accompanying the coalescence of two
      aqueous drops, one containing surfactant and the other surfactant-free, in
      silicone oils of various viscosities. It is observed that the surfactant-free
      drop intrudes into the surfactant-laden drop in the form of a penetrating jet
      whose speed increases and average radius decreases with increasing outer phase
      viscosity. Mixing patterns within the coalescing drops are due to the force
      imbalance caused by capillary pressure difference and surfactant-induced
      Marangoni stresses. The driving force for mixing associated with the difference
      in interfacial tension between the drops is considerably stronger than that
      related to the drop size. The long timescale mixing of the drops is driven by
      rapid interior convection, and the subsequent, slow, diffusive process. Three
      dimensional numerical simulations show excellent qualitative and quantitative
      agreement with the experimental results. The implications of our results to
      formulation strategies of complex microstructures in practical applications are
      also discussed.

PMID- 28613316
TI  - Enhancing the visible light absorption and charge separation of Bi2WO6 by
      hybridizing a CuTCPP sensitizer.
AB  - In order to utilize solar light more efficiently, a Bi2WO6 photocatalyst was
      sensitized by Cu(ii) meso-tetra (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (CuTCPP). The
      obtained CuTCPP/Bi2WO6 composite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity in
      the degradation of an organic pollutant, rhodamine B (RhB), under simulated solar
      light irradiation as well as visible light beyond the absorption edge of Bi2WO6
      (lambda > 450 nm). The enhancement of the photocatalytic activity can be
      attributed to the sensitization effect of CuTCPP, which increased the visible
      light harvesting, as well as the well-matched overlapping band structures between
      CuTCPP and Bi2WO6, which facilitated the separation of photo-generated electron
      hole pairs. Therefore, the CuTCPP/Bi2WO6 nanohybrid may be used as a promising
      photocatalyst in environmental remediation.

PMID- 28613317
TI  - Tuning the properties of metal-organic framework nodes as supports of single-site
      iridium catalysts: node modification by atomic layer deposition of aluminium.
AB  - The metal-organic framework NU-1000, with Zr6-oxo, hydroxo, and aqua nodes, was
      modified by incorporation of hydroxylated Al(iii) ions by ALD-like chemistry with
      [Al(CH3)2(iso-propoxide)]2 followed by steam (ALD = atomic layer deposition). Al
      ions were installed to the extent of approximately 7 per node. Single-site
      iridium diethylene complexes were anchored to the nodes of the modified and
      unmodified MOFs by reaction with Ir(C2H4)2(acac) (acac = acetylacetonate) and
      converted to Ir(CO)2 complexes by treatment with CO. Infrared spectra of these
      supported complexes show that incorporation of Al weakened the electron donor
      tendency of the MOF. Correspondingly, the catalytic activity of the initial
      supported iridium complexes for ethylene hydrogenation increased, as did the
      selectivity for ethylene dimerization. The results of density functional theory
      calculations with a simplified model of the nodes incorporating Al(iii) ions are
      in qualitative agreement with some catalyst performance data.

PMID- 28613318
TI  - Unusual infrared absorption increases in photo-degraded organic films.
AB  - Degradation is among the most pressing problems facing organic materials,
      occurring through ingress of moisture and oxygen, and light exposure. We
      determine the nanoscale pathways underlying degradation by light-soaking organic
      films in an environmental chamber, and performing infrared spectroscopy, to
      identify atomic bonding changes. We utilize as a prototype the low band gap PTB7
      PCBM blend. Films light-soaked in the presence of oxygen show unusual increased
      absorption at 1727 cm-1 attributable to increased C[double bond, length as m
      dash]O modes, and a broad increase at 3240 cm-1 attributable to hydroxyl (O-H)
      groups bonded within the organic matrix. Films exposed to oxygen in the dark, or
      light-soaked in an inert atmosphere, do not exhibit significant absorption
      changes, suggesting simultaneous exposure of oxygen and light that creates
      singlet excited oxygen is the detrimental factor. Our ab initio electronic
      structure simulations interpret these by oxidation at the alpha-C site of the
      alkyl chains in PTB7, with an irreversible rupture of the alkyl chain and
      formation of new C[double bond, length as m-dash]O and C-O-H conformations at the
      alpha-C. Infrared spectroscopy coupled with ab initio simulation can provide a
      powerful tool for quantifying photo-structural atomic bonding changes.
      Understanding nanoscale light-induced structural changes will open avenues to
      designing more stable organic materials for organic electronics.

PMID- 28613319
TI  - Thermal ring-opening polymerization of an unsymmetrical silicon-bridged
      [1]ferrocenophane in coordination nanochannels.
AB  - Thermal ring-opening polymerization of the unsymmetrically substituted
      [1]ferrocenophane was performed in one-dimensional nanochannels of porous
      coordination polymers (PCPs). In contrast to conventional thermal polymerization
      in bulk, formation of cyclic polymer was inhibited in the channels. In addition,
      the tacticity of the resulting polymer was dependent on the pore size of PCPs.

PMID- 28613320
TI  - Achieving the highest efficiency using a BODIPY core decorated with
      dithiafulvalene wings for small molecule based solution-processed organic solar
      cells.
AB  - A novel boron dipyrromethene based dye, coded as BODIPY-DTF, decorated with
      dithiafulvalene wings has been developed for solar cell application. A very high
      efficiency of 7.2% has been achieved, which is the highest reported value so far
      for BODIPY based donors. A remarkable value of about 88.1% of external quantum
      efficiency has also been observed at 371 nm.

PMID- 28613322
TI  - Synthesis of multisubstituted phenols by formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition of
      nucleophilic alkynes with 3-ethoxycyclobutanones.
AB  - Nucleophilic alkynes bearing sulfonamide, trimethylsilyl, or p-methoxyphenyl
      groups at the sp carbon reacted with 3-ethoxycyclobutanones to give formal [4 +
      2] cycloadducts by activation with TiCl4. Reactions with 2-monoalkyl and 2
      nonsubstituted 3-ethoxycyclobutanones gave phenol derivatives directly by
      benzannulation, while the use of 2,2-dimethyl-3-ethoxycyclobutanone gave the
      corresponding dienones, which were converted to pentasubstituted phenols by
      dienone-phenol rearrangement. Regioselectivity that depended on the activation
      conditions of dienone-phenol rearrangement is also described.

PMID- 28613323
TI  - An oil spill decision matrix in response to surface spills of various bitumen
      blends.
AB  - Canada's production, transport, and sale of diluted bitumen (dilbit) products are
      expected to increase by a million barrels per day over the next decade. The
      anticipated growth in oil production and transport increases the risk of oil
      spills in aquatic areas and places greater demands on oil spill capabilities to
      respond to spills, which have raised stakeholder concerns. Current oil spill
      models only predict the transport of bitumen blends that are used in contingency
      plans and oil spill response strategies, rather than changes in the oil's
      physical properties that are relevant to spill response. We conducted weathering
      studies of five oil products (two conventional oils and three bitumen blends) in
      the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' flume tank. We also considered two
      initial oil slick thicknesses, 4.0 mm and 7.0 mm. We found that there is a major
      difference in the time evolution of oil properties (density and viscosity),
      raising doubts on weathering models that do not consider the thickness of oil. We
      also developed empirical expressions for the evolution of the density and
      viscosity of these oil products. The findings from the 4.0 mm results were
      incorporated with data from the literature to provide an update on the factors to
      consider during the decision making for spills of diluted bitumen products. The
      matrix indicated that most response options, including chemical dispersants, work
      much more effectively within 48 hours of the initiation of weathering. After this
      window of opportunity closes, natural attenuation or in situ burning is the only
      option remaining, but containment of oil is a limiting factor for in situ
      burning.

PMID- 28613324
TI  - A fusion of minicircle DNA and nanoparticle delivery technologies facilitates
      therapeutic genetic engineering of autologous canine olfactory mucosal cells.
AB  - Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) promote axonal regeneration and improve
      locomotor function when transplanted into the injured spinal cord. A recent
      clinical trial demonstrated improved motor function in domestic dogs with spinal
      injury following autologous OEC transplantation. Their utility in canines offers
      promise for human translation, as dogs are comparable to humans in terms of
      clinical management and genetic/environmental variation. Moreover, the
      autologous, minimally invasive derivation of OECs makes them viable for human
      spinal injury investigation. Genetic engineering of transplant populations may
      augment their therapeutic potential, but relies heavily on viral methods which
      have several drawbacks for clinical translation. We present here the first proof
      that magnetic particles deployed with applied magnetic fields and advanced DNA
      minicircle vectors can safely bioengineer OECs to secrete a key neurotrophic
      factor, with an efficiency approaching that of viral vectors. We suggest that our
      alternative approach offers high translational potential for the delivery of
      augmented clinical cell therapies.

PMID- 28613325
TI  - Elucidation of the elusive structure and formula of the active pharmaceutical
      ingredient bismuth subgallate by continuous rotation electron diffraction.
AB  - Bismuth subgallate has been used in wound and gastrointestinal therapy for over a
      century. The combination of continuous rotation electron diffraction and sample
      cooling finally revealed its structure as a coordination polymer. The structure
      provides insight regarding its formula, poor solubility, acid resistance and
      previously unreported gas sorption properties.

PMID- 28613326
TI  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance the copper tolerance of Tagetes patula
      through the sorption and barrier mechanisms of intraradical hyphae.
AB  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widespread soil fungi that can form
      endosymbiotic structures with the root systems of most plants and can improve the
      tolerance of host plants to heavy metals. In the present study, we investigated
      the effects of AMF (Glomus coronatum) inoculation on the tolerance of Tagetes
      patula L. to Cu. Almost all of the non-mycorrhizal plants exposed to 100 MUM Cu
      died after 3 d, whereas phytotoxicity was only observed in mycorrhizal plants
      that were exposed to Cu concentrations greater than 100 MUM. Analysing the
      dynamic accumulation of Cu indicated that, after 7 d of Cu exposure, less Cu was
      absorbed or accumulated by mycorrhizal plants than by control plants, and
      significantly less Cu was translocated to the shoots. Meanwhile, analysing the
      root morphology, the integrity of the root plasma membranes, the photosynthesis
      rate, and the content of essential elements of plants growing in cultures with 50
      MUM Cu revealed that AMF inoculation markedly alleviated the toxic effects of Cu
      stress on root system activity, photosynthesis rate, and mineral nutrient
      accumulation. In addition, to understand the Cu allocation, an energy spectrum
      analysis of Cu content at the transverse section of root tips was conducted and
      subsequently provided direct evidence that intraradical hyphae at the root
      endodermis could selectively immobilise large amounts of Cu. Indeed, the sorption
      and barrier mechanisms of AMF hyphae reduce Cu toxicity in the roots of T. patula
      and eventually enhance the plants' Cu tolerance.

PMID- 28613327
TI  - Vegetable oil hybrid films cross-linked at the air-water interface: formation
      kinetics and physical characterization.
AB  - Vegetable oil based hybrid films were developed thanks to a novel solvent- and
      heating-free method at the air-water interface using silylated castor oil cross
      linked via a sol-gel reaction. To understand the mechanism of the hybrid film
      formation, the reaction kinetics was studied in detail by using complementary
      techniques: rheology, thermogravimetric analysis, and infrared spectroscopy. The
      mechanical properties of the final films were investigated using nano
      indentation, whereas their structure was studied using a combination of wide
      angle X-ray scattering, electron diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. We
      found that solid and transparent films form in 24 hours and, by changing the
      silica precursor to castor oil ratio, their mechanical properties are tunable in
      the MPa-range by about a factor of twenty. In addition to that, a possible
      optimization of the cross-linking reaction with different catalysts was explored,
      and finally cytotoxicity tests were performed on fibroblasts proving the absence
      of film toxicity. The results of this work pave the way to a straightforward
      synthesis of castor-oil films with tunable mechanical properties: hybrid films
      cross-linked at the air-water interface combine an easy and cheap spreading
      protocol with the features of their thermal history optimized for possible future
      micro/nano drug loading, thus representing excellent candidates for the
      replacement of non-environmentally friendly petroleum-based materials.

PMID- 28613329
TI  - Mono- and di-nuclear Re(i) complexes and the role of protonable nitrogen atoms in
      quenching emission by hydroquinone.
AB  - Mono-nuclear fac-[Re(CO)3(ph2phen)(4,4'-bpy)]+ and di-nuclear
      [(ph2phen)(CO)3Re(4,4'-bpy)Re(ph2phen)(CO)3]2+ complexes, ph2phen = 4,7-diphenyl
      1,10-phenanthroline and 4,4'-bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine, were synthesized and
      characterized by 1H NMR, UV-visible and FT-IR spectroscopy. Also, their
      photophysical properties were investigated using steady-state and time-resolved
      emission spectroscopy. Both complexes showed UV absorption assigned to
      intraligand, 1ILph2phen, and metal-to-ligand charge transfer, 1MLCTRe->ph2phen,
      transitions, and typical 3MLCTRe->ph2phen emission (phi = 0.360 and tau = 3.81
      MUs; phi = 0.177 and tau = 1.90 MUs for mono- and di-nuclear, respectively).
      Additionally, the luminescence of these complexes is quenched by hydroquinone
      with approximately 4 * 109 L mol-1 s-1 rate constant for the bimolecular excited
      state, kq. The Stern-Volmer constants, KSV, determined by the emission intensity
      and lifetime showed excellent correlation, which is indicative of the dynamic
      quenching. The similarity of the bimolecular rate constants between the two
      complexes implies that the photoinduced electron transfer is the main pathway
      with a very small (or no) influence of the proton transfer step. The results
      provide additional insight into the role of the protonable nitrogen atom in the
      photophysical properties of rhenium(i) complexes, using a dyad architecture.

PMID- 28613328
TI  - Enantioselective gold(i)-catalyzed rearrangement of cyclopropyl-substituted 1,6
      enynes into 2-oxocyclobutyl-cyclopentanes.
AB  - A gold(i)-catalyzed cycloisomerization/ring expansion sequence allows the highly
      enantioselective synthesis of 2-oxocyclobutylcyclopentane derivatives from
      cyclopropyl-substituted enynes. The bimetallic [(R)-MeO-DTBM-BIPHEP-(AuCl)2]
      complex was found to be the best precatalyst, affording the desired
      cyclobutanones in high yields and enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). The
      usefulness of the method was further demonstrated by preparing the tricyclic core
      scaffold of russujaponol D.

PMID- 28613330
TI  - Structural arrest and dynamic localization in biocolloidal gels.
AB  - Casein micelles interacting via an entropic intermediate-ranged depletion
      attraction exhibit a fluid-to-gel transition due to arrested spinodal
      decomposition. The bicontinuous networked structure of the gel freezes shortly
      after formation. We determine the timescales of structural arrest from the build
      up of network rigidity after pre-shear rejuvenation, and find that the arrest
      time as well as the plateau elastic modulus of the gel diverge as a function of
      the volume fraction and interaction potential. Moreover, we show using scaling
      from naive mode coupling theory that their mechanical properties are dictated by
      their microscopic dynamics rather than their heterogeneous large scale structure.

PMID- 28613331
TI  - Synthesis of seven-membered heterocycles via copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of
      terminal alkynes with diazo compounds and sequential Michael addition.
AB  - A novel approach to synthesize seven-membered heterocycles is established by
      reacting amide tethered terminal alkynes with aryl diazoacetates in a one-pot
      reaction. This reaction involves copper-catalyzed cross coupling followed by base
      promoted intramolecular Michael addition and yields products with a medium-sized
      ring.

PMID- 28613332
TI  - Structure-property-activity relationships in a pyridine containing azine-linked
      covalent organic framework for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.
AB  - Organic solids such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs), porous polymers and
      carbon nitrides have garnered attention as a new generation of photocatalysts
      that offer tunability of their optoelectronic properties both at the molecular
      level and at the nanoscale. Owing to their inherent porosity and well-ordered
      nanoscale architectures, COFs are an especially attractive platform for the
      rational design of new photocatalysts for light-induced hydrogen evolution. In
      this report, our previous design strategy of altering the nitrogen content in an
      azine-linked COF platform to tune photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is extended
      to a pyridine-based photocatalytically active framework, where nitrogen
      substitution in the peripheral aryl rings reverses the polarity compared to the
      previously studied materials. We demonstrate how simple changes at the molecular
      level translate into significant differences in atomic-scale structure, nanoscale
      morphology and optoelectronic properties, which greatly affect the photocatalytic
      hydrogen evolution efficiency. In an effort to understand the complex interplay
      of such factors, we carve out the conformational flexibility of the PTP-COF
      precursor and the vertical radical anion stabilization energy as important
      descriptors to understand the performance of the COF photocatalysts.

PMID- 28613333
TI  - Surface lattice dynamics and electron-phonon interaction in cesium ultra-thin
      films.
AB  - The phonon dispersion curves of ultrathin films of Cs(110) on Pt(111) measured
      with inelastic helium atom scattering (HAS) are reported and compared with
      density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT) calculations. The combined HAS and
      DFPT analysis also sheds light on the bulk phonon dynamics of bcc-Cs, on which
      very little is known from neutron scattering due to its large neutron capture
      cross-section. Moreover the temperature dependence of the elastic HAS Debye
      Waller exponent of Cs(110)/Cu(111) ultrathin films allows for an estimation of
      the electron-phonon coupling strength lambda as a function of the film thickness.

PMID- 28613334
TI  - Contrasting the dynamics of elastic and non-elastic deformations across an
      experimental colloidal Martensitic transition.
AB  - We present a framework to segregate the roles of elastic and non-elastic
      deformations in the examination of real-space experiments of solid-solid
      Martensitic transitions. The Martensitic transformation of a body-centred
      tetragonal (BCT) to a body-centred-orthorhombic (BCO) crystal structure has been
      studied in a model system of micron-scale ionic microgel colloids (P. S. Mohanty,
      P. Bagheri, S. Nojd, A. Yethiraj and P. Schurtenberger, Phys. Rev. X, 2015, 5,
      011030). Non-affine fluctuations, i.e., displacement fluctuations that do not
      arise from purely elastic (affine) deformations, are detected in particle
      configurations acquired from the experiment. Tracking these fluctuations serves
      as a highly sensitive tool in signaling the onset of the Martensitic transition
      and precisely locating particle rearrangements occurring at length scales of a
      few particle diameters. Particle rearrangements associated with non-affine
      displacement modes become increasingly favorable during the transformation
      process. The nature of the displacement fluctuation modes that govern the
      transformation are shown to be different from those predominant in an equilibrium
      crystal. We show that BCO crystallites formed through shear may, remarkably, co
      exist with those resulting from local rearrangements within the same sample.

PMID- 28613336
TI  - Visible-light-mediated C3-azolylation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines with 2
      bromoazoles.
AB  - The C3-azolylation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines was developed via a visible light
      mediated reaction of imidazopyridines with 2-bromoazoles catalyzed by
      Ir(ppy)2(dtbbpy)PF6 under mild conditions. For the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines with
      various substituents on benzene or the pyridine ring and a variety of azoles, the
      reaction proceeded smoothly to give 3-(azol-2-yl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines in
      moderate to good yields.

PMID- 28613337
TI  - Ru-Catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of substituted
      dibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepines in water.
AB  - This is the first report on the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of
      dibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepine compounds in the presence of an (R,R)-Ru-Ts-DPEN
      complex. The developed catalytic asymmetric protocol provides biologically active
      11-substituted-10,11-dihydrodibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepines with excellent conversion
      (up to >99%) and high enantioselectivity (up to 93% ee) in water as an
      environmentally benign solvent.

PMID- 28613338
TI  - Magnetic skyrmions without the skyrmion Hall effect in a magnetic nanotrack with
      perpendicular anisotropy.
AB  - Magnetic skyrmions have potential applications in novel information devices with
      excellent energy efficiency. However, the skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE) could cause
      skyrmions moving in a nanotrack to get annihilated at the track edge. In this
      work, we discovered that the SkHE is depressed by modifying the magnetic
      structure at the edge of a track, and thus the skyrmion can move in almost a
      straight line at a high speed. Unlike the inner part of a track with
      perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, the edge layer exhibits in-plane magnetic
      anisotropy, and the orientation of edge moments is opposite that at the perimeter
      of skyrmions nearby. As a result, an enhanced repulsive force acts on the
      skyrmion to oppose the Magnus force that causes the SkHE. Additionally, the
      Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) constant of the edge layer also matters.
      When there is no DMI at the edge layer, the transverse displacement of the
      skyrmion can be depressed effectively when the width of the edge layer is
      sufficiently large. However, when the inner part and the edge share the same DMI
      constant, non-monotonically varied transverse displacement occurs because of the
      Neel-wall-like structure at the edge layer.

PMID- 28613340
TI  - Energy transfer from colloidal nanocrystals to strongly absorbing perovskites.
AB  - Integration of colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) with strongly absorbing
      semiconductors offers the possibility of developing optoelectronic and photonic
      devices with new functionalities. We examine the process of energy transfer (ET)
      from photoactive CdSe/ZnS core/shell NQDs into lead-halide perovskite
      polycrystalline films as a function of distance from the perovskite surface using
      time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopy. We demonstrate near-field
      electromagnetic coupling between vastly dissimilar excitation in two materials
      that can reach an efficiency of 99% at room temperature. Our experimental
      results, combined with electrodynamics modeling, reveal the leading role of non
      radiative ET at close distances, augmented by the waveguide emission coupling and
      light reabsorption at separations >10 nm. These results open the way to combining
      materials with different dimensionalities to achieve novel nanoscale
      architectures with improved photovoltaic and light emitting functionalities.

PMID- 28613339
TI  - Site-specific conjugation of an antibody on a gold nanoparticle surface for one
      step diagnosis of prostate specific antigen with dynamic light scattering.
AB  - Small dimensions of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) necessitate antibodies to be
      immobilized in an oriented fashion in order to conserve their antigen binding
      activity for proper function. In this study, we used the previously described UV
      NBS method to site-specifically incorporate a thioctic acid (TA) functionality
      into antibodies at the conserved nucleotide-binding site (NBS). Modified
      antibodies were immobilized on the AuNP surface in an oriented manner utilizing
      the newly incorporated TA functionality while maintaining the antibody structure
      and activity. The resulting antibody functionalized AuNPs via the UV-NBS method
      demonstrated significantly enhanced antigen detection capabilities and improved
      antigen detection sensitivity with a high level of selectivity when compared to
      other commonly used AuNP functionalization methods. Our results demonstrate that
      the limit of detection (LOD) for AuNPs functionalized via the UV-NBS method was
      55 pM PSA, which is 40, 851, and 5873-fold improved over the other immobilization
      methods: EDC-NHS, thiol reduction, and ionic interaction, respectively.
      Consequently, the UV-NBS method provides a universal, site-specific
      functionalization method that generates highly sensitive and more stable antibody
      functionalized AuNPs which are amenable to any available detection and treatment
      assay with potential significant implications.

PMID- 28613341
TI  - Three-dimensional interpenetrating mesoporous carbon confining SnO2 particles for
      superior sodiation/desodiation properties.
AB  - Nanosized SnO2 particles (~2 nm in diameter) are embedded in ordered mesoporous
      CMK-8 carbon with unique three-dimensional interconnected pore channels and used
      as a sodium-ion battery (NIB) anode. Due to the CMK-8 confinement effects, the
      growth of SnO2 is suppressed during synthesis, leading to high material
      electroactivity. The CMK-8 not only serves as an electronic conducting pathway,
      but also creates interpenetrating tunnels, which guarantee electrolyte
      accessibility and thus Na+ transport throughout the electrode. Moreover, the
      change in the SnO2 volume during sodiation/desodiation can be accommodated by the
      CMK-8 framework. With a high tap density of ~1000 mg cm-3 (vs. ~800 mg cm-3 for
      the conventional NIB anode, hard carbon), the SnO2/CMK-8 anode shows a high
      reversible capacity of 800 mA h g-1 and excellent rate capability, delivering 330
      mA h g-1 in ~10 min. The electrode charge storage mechanism is examined using
      synchrotron X-ray diffraction. We confirm that CMK-8 incorporation can
      effectively promote the SnO2-Sn conversion reaction and Sn-Na alloying reaction,
      which are known to be thermodynamically/kinetically difficult, increasing the
      electrode charge-discharge performance.

PMID- 28613342
TI  - A novel metal-free amidosulfenylation of alkenes leading to beta-azolyl sulfides.
AB  - A novel and environmentally benign method for C-S and C-N bond formation by the
      direct amidosulfenylation of alkenes has been developed under metal-free
      conditions. Various alkenes and azoles were transformed into the corresponding
      beta-azolyl sulfides in ionic liquids. The wide substrate scope, good functional
      group tolerance, and ease of operation make this reaction attractive for the
      synthesis of nitrogen- and sulfur-containing molecules.

PMID- 28613343
TI  - An efficient synthesis of 6-arylbenzo[4,5]imidazo[2,1-a]isoquinolines via
      sequential alpha-arylation of carbonyl and deacylation catalyzed by CuI.
AB  - Dibenzoyl methane was found to undergo alpha-arylation of carbonyl and
      deacylation reaction with 2-(2-bromophenyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazoles catalyzed by
      CuI in the presence of Cs2CO3, and provided an efficient synthesis of 6
      arylbenzo[4,5]imidazo[2,1-a]isoquinolines via subsequent intra-molecular
      nucleophilic addition and dehydration.

PMID- 28613344
TI  - Ag(i)-Catalyzed oxidative decarboxylation of difluoroacetates with activated
      alkenes to form difluorooxindoles.
AB  - A silver-catalyzed oxidative decarboxylative gem-difluoromethylenation of
      difluoroacetates with activated alkenes under mild reaction conditions has been
      developed. This radical cascade reaction provides a new method for the
      construction of a variety of gem-difluoromethylenated oxindoles.

PMID- 28613345
TI  - Multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microspectroscopy of brain tissue
      with higher ranking data classification for biomedical imaging.
AB  - Multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (MCARS) microscopy was carried
      out to map a solid tumor in mouse brain tissue. The border between normal and
      tumor tissue was visualized using support vector machines (SVM) as a higher
      ranking type of data classification. Training data were collected separately in
      both tissue types, and the image contrast is based on class affiliation of the
      single spectra. Color coding in the image generated by SVM is then related to
      pathological information instead of single spectral intensities or spectral
      differences within the data set. The results show good agreement with the H&E
      stained reference and spontaneous Raman microscopy, proving the validity of the
      MCARS approach in combination with SVM.

PMID- 28613346
TI  - Fourier ptychographic microscopy using wavelength multiplexing.
AB  - Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is a recently developed technique
      stitching low-resolution images in Fourier domain to realize wide-field high
      resolution imaging. However, the time-consuming process of image acquisition
      greatly narrows its applications in dynamic imaging. We report a wavelength
      multiplexing strategy to speed up the acquisition process of FPM several folds. A
      proof-of-concept system is built to verify its feasibility. Distinguished from
      many current multiplexing methods in Fourier domain, we explore the potential of
      high-speed FPM in spectral domain. Compatible with most existing FPM methods, our
      strategy provides an approach to high-speed gigapixel microscopy. Several
      experimental results are also presented to validate the strategy.

PMID- 28613347
TI  - Delineating the anatomy of the ciliary body using hybrid optical and
      photoacoustic imaging.
AB  - We demonstrate the application of an extended field of view hybrid microscope,
      integrating distinct optical and photoacoustic (PA) contrast modes, for the
      precise three-dimensional anatomy delineation of the ciliary body/iris structures
      in healthy rabbit eyes ex vivo. The glutaraldehyde-induced autofluorescence and
      the intrinsic PA signals provided by each of the employed imaging modalities were
      characterized by a high spatial complementarity, offering thus rich morphological
      information regarding the pars plana and pars plicata ciliary body portions, the
      iris, as well as, the attached zonule fiber strands. The bimodal microscopy
      approach presented could find application on studies involving the ocular
      accommodation mechanism or pathological ciliary body conditions, as a powerful
      diagnostic technique contributing to the understanding of ocular physiology and
      function.

PMID- 28613349
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Difficulties During Peripheral Vitrectomy Under Air.

PMID- 28613348
TI  - Multimodal fluorescence molecular imaging for in vivo characterization of skin
      cancer using endogenous and exogenous fluorophores.
AB  - Similarity of skin cancer with many benign skin pathologies requires reliable
      methods to detect and differentiate the different types of these lesions.
      Previous studies have explored the use of disparate optical techniques to
      identify and estimate the invasive nature of melanoma and basal cell carcinoma
      with varying outcomes. Here, we used a concerted approach that provides
      complementary information for rapid screening and characterization of tumors,
      focusing on squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin. Assessment of in vivo
      autofluorescence lifetime (FLT) imaging of endogenous fluorophores that are
      excitable at longer wavelengths (480 nm) than conventional NADH and FAD revealed
      a decrease in the short FLT component for SCC compared to normal skin, with mean
      values of 0.57 +/- 0.026 ?? ns and 0.61 +/- 0.021 ?? ns , respectively ( p =
      0.004 ). Subsequent systemic administration of a near-infrared fluorescent
      molecular probe in SCC bearing mice, followed by the implementation of image
      processing methods on data acquired from two-dimensional and three-dimensional
      fluorescence molecular imaging, allowed us to estimate the tumor volume and
      depth, as well as quantify the fluorescent probe in the tumor. The result
      suggests the involvement of lipofuscin-like lipopigments and riboflavin in SCC
      metabolism and serves as a model for staging SCC.

PMID- 28613350
TI  - Making the Jump to 27-Gauge Vitrectomy: Perspectives.

PMID- 28613351
TI  - Comparative Study of Clinical, Ultrasonographic, Conventional Imaging, and Ultra
      Wide-Field Fundus for Measurements of the Longest Basal Diameter of Choroidal
      Tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To compare the maximum basal diameter of choroidal
      tumors measured by clinical estimation and different imaging methods in
      intraocular tumors for therapeutic planning. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective,
      observational study reviewing the measurements of the longest basal diameter of
      choroidal tumors using the clinical estimation based on the indirect
      ophthalmoscopy, ophthalmic ultrasonography, 50 degrees  fundus imaging, ultra
      wide-field imaging color composite, red laser, and green laser. RESULTS: The
      study included measurements of 74 tumors in 74 eyes. Correlation analysis between
      imaging measurements and clinical estimates led to following results: ultra-wide
      field imaging measurements were 2.7% to 7.1% smaller than estimated clinical
      measurements by indirect ophthalmoscopy; followed by ultrasound, with 10.9%
      smaller measurements; and 50 degrees  fundus imaging, measuring 25.8% smaller
      than clinical estimates. When evaluating the precision of tumor measurements,
      ultrasound resulted in the highest precision, with a standard error of 1.6 mm
      compared to clinical estimates, followed by other imaging techniques with
      standard errors ranging from 2.4 mm to 3.0 mm. Determination of tumor margins
      with the ultrasound technique was better defined when subretinal fluid was
      present, or when the height of the tumor was greater than 3 mm. CONCLUSION: The
      authors' results suggest that measurements of the longest basal diameter of
      choroidal tumors can be accurately performed with ultrasound and ultra-wide-field
      color composite or red laser images. In the presence of subretinal fluid or tumor
      height above 3 mm, ultrasound can better delineate tumor margins. [Ophthalmic
      Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:459-464.].

PMID- 28613352
TI  - Comparison of Ranibizumab and Bevacizumab for Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal
      Vein Occlusions in Routine Clinical Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To determine outcomes of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR)
      (Lucentis; Genentech, South San Francisco, CA) versus bevacizumab (IVB) (Avastin;
      Genentech, South San Francisco, CA) for treatment of macular edema (ME) secondary
      to retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in routine clinical practice. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective study identified treatment-naive patients with ME
      secondary to RVO where treatment with either IVB or IVR was initiated.
      Retreatment criteria were based on ophthalmic examination and/or spectral-domain
      optical coherence tomography findings. RESULTS: Central RVO/hemi-RVO cohort: At
      12 months, change in visual acuity (VA) (IVR: +12.9 letters, IVB +6.9 letters; P
      = .53), central subfield thickness (CST) (IVR: -144.1 MUm, IVB: -153.9 MUm; P =
      .88), and number of injections (IVR: 5.40 injections, IVB: 5.64 injections; P =
      .70) were not different between groups. Branch RVO cohort: At 12-month follow-up,
      no differences in change in VA (IVR: +15.2 letters, IVB: +10.6 letters; P = .46),
      CST (IVR: -23.1 MUm, IVB: -91.4 MUm; P = .16), or number of injections (IVR: 5.93
      injections, IVB: 5.13 injections; P = .15) were noted. CONCLUSION: There is no
      notable difference in outcome between IVR and IVB when treating ME from RVO in
      routine clinical practice. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:465
      472.].

PMID- 28613353
TI  - Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in Children With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Without
      Diabetic Retinopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Early diabetic retinal changes in children with type 1
      diabetes mellitus (T1DM) without diabetic retinopathy (DR) were examined using
      spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Sixty children with T1DM without DR and 60 normal children were enrolled in the
      study. SD-OCT was used to measure the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC
      IPL) and retinal nerve fiber (RNFL) thicknesses in all participants. RESULTS: The
      GC-IPL thickness was significantly decreased in all quadrants except the superior
      nasal quadrant in children with diabetes (P < .05). However, the RNFL thickness
      in all quadrants was not significantly different between the groups (P > .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: There was a decreased GC-IPL thickness in children with T1DM without
      DR, suggesting that T1DM has an early neurodegenerative effect on retinal
      ganglion cells that occurs when the vascular component of DR is absent. SD-OCT
      may be more useful than ophthalmoscopic evaluation for detecting the earlier
      retinal structural changes of diabetes. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
      2017;48:473-477.].

PMID- 28613355
TI  - Imaging Characteristics and Natural History of Macular Pseudo-Folds Mimicking
      Full-Thickness Postoperative Macular Folds Following Retinal Detachment Repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postoperative retinal folds are a rare complication of
      retinal detachment repair. Folds involving the macula may result in decreased
      vision, metamorphopsia, and diplopia. There is no consensus on whether
      symptomatic folds require additional surgery, as both spontaneous regression and
      permanent vision loss have been described. The authors present three cases of
      symptomatic macular folds that demonstrated spontaneous resolution and identify
      key OCT prognostic signs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study presented is a
      retrospective case series. RESULTS: Three patients developed symptomatic
      postoperative macular folds. Despite funduscopic appearances indistinguishable
      from full-thickness folds, optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging revealed
      that none of the folds involved the full thickness of the retina. All cases
      demonstrated spontaneous resolution with evidence of visual improvement within 2
      months. CONCLUSION: OCT is essential in distinguishing between partial and full
      thickness macular folds. The authors propose that partial-thickness folds should
      be termed "pseudo-folds," which represent a unique entity that has a favorable
      natural history. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:488-492.].

PMID- 28613354
TI  - The Quantitative Measurements of Vascular Density and Flow Areas of Macula Using
      Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Normal Volunteers.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The quantification of the density of macular vascular
      networks and blood flow areas in the foveal and parafoveal area in healthy
      subjects using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Cross-sectional, prospective study in an institutional setting at the
      Retina Services of Farabi Eye Hospital. One hundred twelve normal volunteers with
      no known ocular or systemic disease were included, including patient numbers (one
      or both eyes), selection procedures, inclusion/exclusion criteria, randomization
      procedure, and masking. En face angiogram OCTA was performed on a 3 mm * 3 mm
      region centered on the macula. Automated thresholding and measuring algorithm
      method for foveal and parafoveal blood flow and vascular density (VD) were used.
      The density of macular vascular networks and blood flow area in the foveal and
      parafoveal area were measured. RESULTS: A total of 224 healthy eyes from 112
      subjects with a mean age of 36.4 years +/- 11.3 years were included. In the
      foveal region, the VD of the superficial capillary network (sCN) was
      significantly higher than that of the deep capillary network (dCN) (31.1% +/-
      5.5% vs. 28.3% +/- 7.2%; P < .001), whereas in the parafoveal area, VD was higher
      in the dCN (62.24% +/- 2.8% vs. 56.5% +/- 2.5%; P < .001). Flow area in the 1-mm
      radius circle in the sCN was less than in the dCN. Superficial foveal avascular
      zone (sFAZ) size was negatively correlated with the VD of the foveal sCN, but in
      the deep FAZ (dFAZ) was not correlated with VD or blood flow area of the fovea.
      There was no difference between measured VD and blood flow surface area in both
      eyes of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: OCTA could be used as a noninvasive,
      repeatable, layer-free method in quantitative evaluation of VD and blood flow of
      macular area. The normal quantities of the vascular plexus density and flow will
      help in better understanding the pathophysiological basis of the vascular disease
      of retina. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:478-486.].

PMID- 28613356
TI  - Outpatient, Wide-Field, Digital Imaging of Infants With Retinopathy of
      Prematurity.
AB  - Eight infants were closely monitored for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) while
      in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); two required laser therapy. After
      discharge from the NICU, they had outpatient examination with dilated, scleral
      depressed ROP staging, and each had digital widefield retinal imaging (Optos,
      Dunfermline, United Kingdom) without lid speculum, or with lid speculum if not
      cooperative. Images were shared remotely using ROP-Check software (Glacier
      Medical Software, Anchorage, AK), from which ophthalmologists made clinical
      impressions. The images did not afford clear view of maturity to the ora serrata;
      however, posterior zone 3 was viewed, and confirmation that each eye did not need
      therapy was consistent. Outpatient wide-field retinal imaging may help facilitate
      telemedicine for ROP. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:494-497.].

PMID- 28613357
TI  - Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in the Multimodal Imaging Evaluation of
      Interferon-Associated Retinopathy: A Case Report.
AB  - The authors present the case of a 59-year-old woman in treatment with interferon
      alfa-2b for stage IV melanoma and widespread metastases who presented with
      interferon-associated retinopathy. An ocular examination revealed multiple
      retinal cotton-wool spots and hard exudates. Interferon treatment was suspended.
      The patient was followed up for 5 months following the baseline visit by means of
      en face optical coherence tomography (OCT), spectral-domain OCT, and OCT
      angiography. Multimodal imaging was useful in the follow-up of this condition,
      permitting the characterization of all the lesions hallmarking the interferon
      retinopathy and showing that this illness was related to a reduction of the
      retinal vascular perfusion. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:498
      504.].

PMID- 28613358
TI  - OCT Angiography: Assessment of Retinal Ischemia in Susac's Syndrome.
AB  - Descriptive study of two patients affected by Susac's syndrome (SuS) focusing on
      the chronic retinal tissue damage assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT)
      and OCT angiography (OCTA). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case
      series reporting OCTA in SuS. OCTA imaging revealed secondary hypoxia due to
      branch retinal artery occlusion of the deep capillary plexus, with additional
      involvement of the superficial capillary network in one case. OCTA is a
      noninvasive and quick diagnostic tool for detecting hypoxic retinal damage in
      SuS. With further development of OCTA, as wide-field imaging, a better
      understanding of the retinal and choroidal blood supply will be gained.
      [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:505-508.].

PMID- 28613359
TI  - OCTA Imaging of Choroidal Neovascular Membrane Secondary to Toxoplasma
      Retinochoroiditis.
AB  - Two patients (a 37-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman) who had choroidal
      neovascular membrane (CNVM) secondary to inactive toxoplasma retinochoroiditis
      scarring were evaluated. Multimodal imaging including fluorescein angiography,
      optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT angiography (OCTA) was used. CNVM
      secondary to inactive toxoplasma retinochoroiditis scarring was detected.
      Representative images of CNVM were demonstrated in the outer retinal layer and
      choriocapillary layer on OCTA. OCTA, a relatively new technique, is useful in the
      diagnosis of the CNVMs secondary to retinochoroiditis. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers
      Imaging Retina. 2017;48:509-511.].

PMID- 28613360
TI  - Retinal Detachment Associated With Atopic Dermatitis.
AB  - Ocular manifestations related to atopic dermatitis include keratoconus,
      keratoconjunctivitis, cataract, and retinal detachment. The authors report three
      cases of retinal detachment associated with atopic dermatitis. Although the
      pathogenesis is poorly understood, chronic blunt trauma may play a role in the
      development of retinal detachment. In addition, retinal detachments associated
      with atopic dermatitis may have lower rates of successful retinal detachment
      repair. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:513-517.].

PMID- 28613361
TI  - Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography of Venous Loops in Diabetic Retinopathy.
AB  - Venous loops are relatively rare manifestations of diabetic retinopathy. The
      authors describe a case characterized by the development of a venous loop during
      a 3-year period. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) revealed a
      hyperintense signal from the lesion, attesting an ordinary flow into the venous
      loop. OCTA also showed an area of capillary loss in proximity of the lesion,
      which is in agreement with the proposed pathogenesis for venous loops, developed
      to bypass an area of retinal vessels occlusion. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging
      Retina. 2017;48:518-520.].

PMID- 28613362
TI  - 8 Questions with Darius Moshfeghi.

PMID- 28613363
TI  - [Temptations for the Belgian forensic psychiatry].

PMID- 28613365
TI  - [The use of antipsychotics amongst children en adolescentsin Belgium? Measurement
      brings knowledge].

PMID- 28613364
TI  - [Trends in antipsychotics use by Belgian children and adolescents between 2005
      and 2014].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antipsychotics are frequently prescribed for a wide range of
      psychiatric and non-psychiatric indications. Over the last few years there has
      been a marked increase in the use of antipsychotics, in European and non-European
      countries. The use has also increased in children.<br/> AIM: To assess trends in
      the sales of antipsychotics for Belgian children and adolescents (7 to 17 years
      old) between 2005 and 2014.<br/> METHOD: We used data supplied by Farmanet, the
      official Belgian organisation responsible for collecting information about the
      prescription behaviour of doctors in Belgium.<br/> RESULTS: Between 2005 and 2014
      there was a 53% increase in the number of prescriptions for antipsychotics issued
      by doctors in Belgium. This period also saw a 75.5% increase in the number of
      prescriptions for antipsychotics issued for the treatment of children and
      adolescents. There was a particularly large increase in the number of
      prescriptions for aripiprazole, the increase being only very slightly compensated
      by a simultaneous decrease in the number of prescriptions issued for other
      antipsychotics. In 2014, 21 different antipsychotics were prescribed for
      children, the majority of these prescriptions being for risperidone and
      aripiprazole. A large proportion of antipsychotics are used off-label. In
      exceptional cases, antipsychotics were prescribed for children under the age of
      six, and even for children younger than two.<br/> CONCLUSION: Between 2005 and
      2014 there was an increase in the number of prescriptions for antipsychotics
      issued for children and adolescents in Belgium. During that period of time there
      was a similar increase in the use of antipsychotics by children and adolescents
      in other European and non-European countries. It is not clear whether these
      increases are justified.

PMID- 28613366
TI  - [Transitional psychiatry in the Netherlands: experiences and views of mental
      health professionals].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychopathology manifests itself primarily in late adolescence and
      continues into adulthood. Continuity of care is essential during this phase of
      life. The current care service distinguishes between child/adolescent (CAMHS) and
      adult mental health services (AMHS). The separation of services can interfere
      with the continuity of care.<br/> AIM: To map professionals' experiences of and
      views on the transition and associated problems that young people can experience
      as they are transferred from CAMHS to AMHS.<br/> METHOD: We distributed an online
      questionnaire among professionals providing mental health care to young people
      (aged 15-25) with psychiatric problems.<br/> RESULTS: The questionnaire was
      completed by 518 professionals. Decisions relating to transition were generally
      based on the professional's own deliberations. The preparation consisted mainly
      of discussing changes with the adolescent and his or her parents. The majority of
      transition-related problems were experienced in CAMHS, particularly with regard
      to collaboration with AMHS. Respondents were of the opinion that the
      developmental age ought to be the determining factor in the decision-making
      process with regard to transition and they considered it important that
      developmentally appropriate services should be available in order to bridge the
      gap.<br/> CONCLUSION: Professionals in CAMHS and AMHS are encountering problems
      in preparing the transitional phase and in organising the required structural
      collaboration between the two separate services. The problems relate mainly to
      coordination, communication and rules and regulations. Professionals are keen to
      improve the situation and want to see greater flexibility. In their view, there
      should be a wider range of specialised facilities for young people, enabling them
      to benefit from transitional psychiatry.

PMID- 28613367
TI  - [Associations between depression, anxiety and telomere length in a large Dutch
      psychiatric cohort study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Not only do depressive and anxiety disorders have psychological
      consequenses, they can also lead to impaired physical health. Persons with
      depressieve and anxiety disorders have increased risk of developing several
      ageing-related somatic ilnesses. This raises the question whether persons with
      depressive or anxiety disorder are subject to accelerated cellular ageing.<br/>
      AIM: To test the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between depressive
      and anxiety disorders and telomere length, an indicator of cellular ageing.<br/>
      METHOD: We measured telomere length in participants of the Netherlands Study of
      Depression and Anxiety with and without psychopathology at baseline (N=2936) and
      we also studied a large number of these participants (N=1883) at 6-year follow
      up.<br/> RESULTS: Telomere length of participants with a lifetime depressive or
      anxiety disorder was, on average, shorter than the telomere length in the control
      group. This association was attributed to dysregulations in physiological stress
      systems and an unhealthy lifestyle. Over time, however, telomere length was shown
      to have a stable, non-dynamic association with depressive and anxiety
      disorders.<br/> CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that psychological stress, as
      experienced by persons with depressive or anxiety disorders, might indeed be
      associated with increased 'wear and tear' of the human body. The challenge for
      future research is to determine whether short telomere length is in fact a long
      term consequence or an underlying vulnerability factor for depressive or anxiety
      disorders.

PMID- 28613368
TI  - [Rapid tranquillisation for agitated patients with psychostimulant intoxication].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because psychostimulant intoxication can lead to serious health risks
      for the patient, it is often necessary to ensure that the patient receives both
      adequate medical surveillance and rapid tranquillisation.<br/> AIM: To find out
      whether there is scientific evidence that psychopharmacological intervention
      helps patients with psychostimulant intoxication to manage aggression and
      agitation.<br/> METHOD: We searched the literature systematically.<br/> RESULTS:
      Our study showed that intravenous droperidol worked faster and was more effective
      than intravenous lorazepam in inducing sedation in patients intoxicated with
      psychostimulants. In other studies the number of patients intoxicated with
      psychostimulants was too small or the patient population was not described in
      sufficient detail for any meaningful conclusions to be drawn.<br/> CONCLUSION: So
      far, research has been so limited that it has not yet provided convincing
      evidence about the best medication to use in the treatment of aggressive patients
      intoxicated with psychostimulants.

PMID- 28613369
TI  - [Hypertension en orthostatic hypotension during use of monoamine oxidase (MAO)
      inhibitors].
AB  - Monoamine oxidase (mao) inhibitors are antidepressants with potentially severe
      side-effects. For this reason, the registration of this drug was suspended for
      some time when safer alternatives became available. However, mao inhibitors can
      be very effective in cases where depression has proved to be treatment resistant.
      Consequently, last year tranylcypromine was re-registered for use in the
      Netherlands. Since mao inhibitors have been used only sporadically in the
      Netherlands over the last few years, health professionals have only limited
      knowledge about the side-effects. On the basis of a recent case, we discuss the
      two most important side-effects of using mao inhibitors, namely hypertension and
      orthostatic hypotension. We discuss the possible causes and suggest ways on which
      these two side-effects can be prevented, or treated, should they arise.

PMID- 28613370
TI  - [Delayed diagnosis of Huntington's disease in a psychiatric setting].
AB  - Huntington's disease (hd) is characterised by a triad of neuropsychiatric
      symptoms, motor disturbances and cognitive decline. If initial symptoms are of
      neuropsychiatric nature they maybe misinterpreted, which can lead to delayed
      diagnosis. Three examples of delayed hd diagnosis in a psychiatric setting are
      discussed.

PMID- 28613371
TI  - Effect of Shenqin biochemical extract on hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha
      expression in ultraviolet B-irradiated HaCaT cells.
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is considered the main
      transcriptional regulator of the hypoxia-specific cellular and developmental
      response. This study was performed to investigate the effect of Shenqin
      biochemical extract (SQBE) on HIF-1alpha expression in ultraviolet B (UVB)
      irradiated HaCaT cells and the possible action mechanisms of SQBE against UVB
      induced skin cancer. HaCaT cells in logarithmic growth phase were seeded in
      Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with 10% fetal bovine serum, and
      conventionally cultured at 37 degrees C with 5% CO2. Cells were divided into
      control group (administered the same amounts of dimethyl sulfoxide), SQBE1 group
      (12.5 MUg/mL SQBE), SQBE2 group (25.0 MUg/mL SQBE), and SQBE3 group (50.0 MUg/mL
      SQBE). Four hours post administration, the control and treatment groups were
      irradiated with UVB (0, 20, 40, and 60 mJ/cm2). After 24 h, cell survival rate
      was detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide
      (MTT) assay. Expression levels of HIF-1alpha mRNA and protein were detected by
      polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. SQBE-treated, UVB
      irradiated cells had improved survival rates. This increase was most significant
      in SQBE3 group (P < 0.01), which also had effectively reduced expression of
      intracellular HIF-1alpha mRNA and protein. Hence, SQBE had a protective effect on
      UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells and inhibited the UVB irradiation-induced expression
      of HIF-1alpha. This indicates that SQBE could prevent the occurrence of UVB
      radiation-induced skin cancer.

PMID- 28613372
TI  - Cleaning cassava genotypes infected with cassava frogskin disease via in vitro
      shoot tip culture.
AB  - This study aimed to develop a methodology for eliminating cassava frogskin
      disease (CFSD) from in vitro shoot tip culture by associating thermotherapy and
      tetracycline. Cuttings from different accessions (BGM0232, BGM0315, BGM0464,
      BGM584, BGM0841, and BGM1342), infected with CFSD according to visual inspection
      of the disease symptoms, were used for cleaning. To verify the absence of other
      diseases, the plants were indexed for Cassava common mosaic virus - CsCMV (by
      ELISA) and Cassava vein mosaic virus - CsVMV (by polymerase chain reaction, PCR),
      proving that the accessions were free of these viruses, except for BGM0315 and
      BGM0464, which were infected with CsVMV. Subsequently, the cuttings were
      submitted to different tetracycline concentrations for 3 min, and then subjected
      to thermotherapy under different temperatures (35 degrees , 38 degrees , 40
      degrees , 45 degrees , and 55 degrees C). Shoots of 2 cm were harvested, and
      their surfaces were sterilized in a laminar flow chamber. Subsequently, the shoot
      tips of different sizes were removed (0.2, 0.4, 0.5, and 1.0 mm) for inoculation
      in a culture medium with tetracycline at the same concentrations in which the
      cuttings were dipped. After 60 days of cultivation, the explants were transferred
      to a multiplication medium without antibiotics. Thirty days after the transfer,
      the viability of the regenerated plants was evaluated, which were then
      acclimatized for 70 days in a greenhouse and transferred to the field. After 7
      months, a visual analysis of the symptomatic roots and a PCR analysis were held
      to prove the elimination of CFSD and CsVMV from the accessions infected with
      these viruses (BGM0315 and BGM0464), respectively. Most of the treatments
      resulted in 100% cleaning of CFSD-infected plants. From accessions that were also
      infected with CsVMV, only 2% of the plants remained infected, also demonstrating
      the cleaning efficiency of this protocol for this disease.

PMID- 28613373
TI  - Lack of association between human leukocyte antigen polymorphisms rs9277535 and
      rs7453920 and chronic hepatitis B in a Brazilian population.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious public health problem worldwide.
      The progression of the disease depends on several host and viral factors and may
      result in fulminant hepatitis (very rare), acute hepatitis with spontaneous
      clearance, and chronic hepatitis B infection. Previous studies demonstrated that
      variations in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II (HLA-DPB1 and HLA-DQB2
      genes) are related to the chronic HBV infection. This study aimed to investigate
      the association of two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs), one in the HLA-DPB1
      (rs9277535) and one in the HLA-DQB2 (rs7453920), with chronic hepatitis B
      infection in a southern Brazilian sample. This case-control study included 260
      HBV patients attended in a Specialized Center for Health in Caxias do Sul
      (Brazil) between 2014 and 2016. The same number of controls (matching for age,
      gender, and ethnicity) was obtained in a University Hospital in the same city and
      period. Blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was extracted. Genotyping
      were performed by real-time Taqman PCR method. Odds ratios with 95% confidence
      intervals and significance level of 5% (P < 0.05) were calculated. Allele
      frequencies in the SNP rs9277535 were 72.6% for A and 27.4% for G nucleotides in
      cases and 75.0% for A and 25.0% for G in controls. Allele frequencies in the SNP
      rs7453920 were of 25.7% for A and 74.3% for G in cases and 28.8% for A and 71.2%
      for G in controls. No statistically significant association was found between
      both SNPs and chronic hepatitis B (P > 0.05).

PMID- 28613374
TI  - Minimum number of measurements for evaluating soursop (Annona muricata L.) yield.
AB  - Repeatability studies on fruit species are of great importance to identify the
      minimum number of measurements necessary to accurately select superior genotypes.
      This study aimed to identify the most efficient method to estimate the
      repeatability coefficient (r) and predict the minimum number of measurements
      needed for a more accurate evaluation of soursop (Annona muricata L.) genotypes
      based on fruit yield. Sixteen measurements of fruit yield from 71 soursop
      genotypes were carried out between 2000 and 2016. In order to estimate r with the
      best accuracy, four procedures were used: analysis of variance, principal
      component analysis based on the correlation matrix, principal component analysis
      based on the phenotypic variance and covariance matrix, and structural analysis
      based on the correlation matrix. The minimum number of measurements needed to
      predict the actual value of individuals was estimated. Principal component
      analysis using the phenotypic variance and covariance matrix provided the most
      accurate estimates of both r and the number of measurements required for accurate
      evaluation of fruit yield in soursop. Our results indicate that selection of
      soursop genotypes with high fruit yield can be performed based on the third and
      fourth measurements in the early years and/or based on the eighth and ninth
      measurements at more advanced stages.

PMID- 28613375
TI  - Study on the association of UGT1A9 gene c.98T>C polymorphism and mycophenolic
      acid plasma levels in renal transplant patients.
AB  - Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is a prodrug active only after its hydrolysis to
      mycophenolic acid (MPA). The UGT1A9 enzyme is of special interest since it is the
      main enzyme involved in the glucuronidation of MPA. Single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in the UGT1A9 gene may be responsible for individual
      differences in the pharmacokinetics of MMF. Expression levels and the activity of
      UGT1A9 may depend on the presence of some SNPs located in the gene promoter
      region (-2152C>T and -275T>A), as well as changes in the coding region (c.98T>C).
      The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of allelic variants of the
      UGT1A9 c.98T>C polymorphism (rs72551330; g. 87289T>C) on MMF metabolism in renal
      transplant patients. MPA and MPA 7-O glucuronide (MPAG) levels were determined on
      plasma samples of kidney transplant patients (N = 39) by high-performance liquid
      chromatography using ultraviolet detection. DNA was isolated from leukocytes and
      stored at -20 degrees C. The presence of SNPs was investigated using polymerase
      chain reaction, followed by amplicon sequencing. The analysis of the UGT1A9
      c.98T>C polymorphism revealed that all study patients presented the TT genotype.
      Diverse MPA and MPAG plasma concentrations were detected, including therapeutic,
      subtherapeutic, and toxic levels. A standardized molecular method permitted
      identification of UGT1A9 c.98T>C polymorphism genotypes in the examined renal
      transplant patients. All individuals of the study group presented the same
      genotype (c.98TT) for that polymorphism. Thereby, no association between the
      c.98T>C polymorphism and MPA and MPAG plasma levels could be evaluated, despite
      different levels of these compounds being observed.

PMID- 28613376
TI  - Genetic variability of garlic accessions as revealed by agro-morphological traits
      evaluated under different environments.
AB  - The cultivated garlic (Allium sativum L.) displays a wide phenotypic diversity,
      which is derived from natural mutations and phenotypic plasticity, due to
      dependence on soil type, moisture, latitude, altitude and cultural practices,
      leading to a large number of cultivars. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic
      variability shown by 63 garlic accessions belonging to Instituto Agronomico de
      Campinas and the Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" germplasm
      collections. We evaluated ten quantitative characters in experimental trials
      conducted under two localities of the State of Sao Paulo: Monte Alegre do Sul and
      Piracicaba, during the agricultural year of 2007, in a randomized blocks design
      with five replications. The Mahalanobis distance was used to measure genetic
      dissimilarities. The UPGMA method and Tocher's method were used as clustering
      procedures. Results indicated significant variation among accessions (P < 0.01)
      for all evaluated characters, except for the percentage of secondary bulb growth
      in MAS, indicating the existence of genetic variation for bulb production, and
      germplasm evaluation considering different environments is more reliable for the
      characterization of the genotypic variability among garlic accessions, since it
      diminishes the environmental effects in the clustering of genotypes.

PMID- 28613377
TI  - Evaluation of genetic diversity among soybean (Glycine max) genotypes using
      univariate and multivariate analysis.
AB  - The genetic diversity study has paramount importance in breeding programs; hence,
      it allows selection and choice of the parental genetic divergence, which have the
      agronomic traits desired by the breeder. This study aimed to characterize the
      genetic divergence between 24 soybean genotypes through their agronomic traits,
      using multivariate clustering methods to select the potential genitors for the
      promising hybrid combinations. Six agronomic traits evaluated were number of days
      to flowering and maturity, plant height at flowering and maturity, insertion
      height of the first pod, and yield. The genetic divergence evaluated by
      multivariate analysis that esteemed first the Mahalanobis' generalized distance
      (D2), then the clustering using Tocher's optimization methods, and then the
      unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA). Tocher's
      optimization method and the UPGMA agreed with the groups' constitution between
      each other, the formation of eight distinct groups according Tocher's method and
      seven distinct groups using UPGMA. The trait number of days for flowering
      (45.66%) was the most efficient to explain dissimilarity between genotypes, and
      must be one of the main traits considered by the breeder in the moment of
      genitors choice in soybean-breeding programs. The genetic variability allowed the
      identification of dissimilar genotypes and with superior performances. The
      hybridizations UFU 18 x UFUS CARAJAS, UFU 15 x UFU 13, and UFU 13 x UFUS CARAJAS
      are promising to obtain superior segregating populations, which enable the
      development of more productive genotypes.

PMID- 28613378
TI  - Genetic diversity of Desmanthus sp accessions using ISSR markers and
      morphological traits.
AB  - Desmanthus is a genus of forage legumes with high nutritional value, productive
      potential, and ability to obtain nitrogen in association with diazotrophic
      bacteria. The use of accurate techniques for genotype identification and
      characterization is essential for breeding programs. Morphological markers are
      widely used to know the genetic diversity and the molecular markers are
      fundamental in these studies. We investigated the genetic diversity among
      Desmanthus sp genotypes in Pernambuco (Brazilian Northeast State), using
      morphological traits and ISSR markers. Morphological and molecular
      characterizations were performed in 18 and 26 accessions, respectively, in plants
      belonging to the germplasm bank of forage legumes of Universidade Federal Rural
      de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Academic Unit of Serra Talhada, PE, Brazil. Eight ISSR
      primers were selected, and 95 loci were generated, with polymorphism of 95.79%.
      The allele number observed was 1.958, where the effective number was 1.359, and
      the Nei diversity genetic index was 0.226. About the morphological markers, seed
      number was the variable that most contributed to the genetic divergence. A large
      amount of genetic diversity was observed among Desmanthus species, occurring
      spontaneously in Pernambuco, Brazil. Thus, the variability found in morphological
      and ISSR markers is importance for the improvement of Desmanthus spp. Our
      findings showed that 17L, 27L, 25F, 22F, 19S, 13Au, and 28G accessions could be
      used in breeding programs to explore the maximum genetic divergence.

PMID- 28613379
TI  - Restoration over time and sustainability of Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi.
AB  - The success of recovery programs on degraded areas is dependent on the genetic
      material to be used, which should present heterozygosity and genetic diversity in
      native and recovered populations. This study was carried out to evaluate the
      model efficiency to enable the recovery of a degraded area of the Lower Sao
      Francisco, Sergipe, Brazil. The target species for this study was Schinus
      terebinthifolius Raddi. Three populations were analyzed, the recovered area, seed
      tree source population, and native tree population border established to the
      recovered area. The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used for
      diversity analysis. Genetic structure was estimated to evaluate the level of
      genetic variability existent in each population. There was no correlation between
      the spatial distribution and the genetic distances for all trees of the recovered
      area. The heterozygosity present in the recovered population was higher than the
      native tree population. The seed-tree source population presents genetic
      bottlenecks. Three clusters were suggested (DeltaK = 3) with non-genetic
      structure. High intra-population genetic variability and inter-population
      differentiation are present. However, gene flow may also introduce potentially
      adaptive alleles in the populations of the recovered area, and the native
      population is necessary to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the
      populations by allelic exchange.

PMID- 28613380
TI  - Influence of processing and storage of integral grape juice (Vitis labrusca L.)
      on its physical and chemical characteristics, cytotoxicity, and mutagenicity in
      vitro.
AB  - Integral grape juice is extracted from the grape through processes that allow the
      retention of their natural composition. However, due to the severity of some
      processes, fruit juices can undergo changes in their quality. The present study
      evaluated the cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of integral grape juice by a
      cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay in Rattus norvegicus hepatoma cells (HTC)
      in vitro. Vitis labrusca L. (variety Concord) were produced organically and by a
      conventional system, and their juice was extracted by a hot extraction process.
      The organic grapes were subjected to ultraviolet-type C radiation (UV-C).
      Experiments were performed after production and after 6 months in storage.
      Physicochemical analyses revealed that UV-C irradiation of organic grapes, the
      juice production process, and storage resulted in nutraceutical alterations.
      However, none of the juice concentrations were cytotoxic to HTC cells by the
      cytokinesis-blocked proliferation index results or were mutagenic, because the
      formation of micronucleated cells was not induced. In general, juice induced cell
      proliferation, possibly due to the presence of vitamins and sugar content (total
      soluble solid). The data increased the understanding of food technology and
      confirmed the quality and safety consumption of these juices.

PMID- 28613381
TI  - Expressed sequence tags related to nitrogen metabolism in maize inoculated with
      Azospirillum brasilense.
AB  - The relative quantitative real-time expression of two expressed sequence tags
      (ESTs) codifying for key enzymes in nitrogen metabolism in maize, nitrate
      reductase (ZmNR), and glutamine synthetase (ZmGln1-3) was performed for genotypes
      inoculated with Azospirillum brasilense. Two commercial single-cross hybrids
      (AG7098 and 2B707) and two experimental synthetic varieties (V2 and V4) were
      raised under controlled greenhouse conditions, in six treatment groups
      corresponding to different forms of inoculation and different levels of nitrogen
      application by top-dressing. The genotypes presented distinct responses to
      inoculation with A. brasilense. Increases in the expression of ZmNR were observed
      for the hybrids, while V4 only displayed a greater level of expression when the
      plants received nitrogenous fertilization by top-dressing and there was no
      inoculation. The expression of the ZmGln1-3EST was induced by A. brasilense in
      the hybrids and the variety V4. In contrast, the variety V2 did not respond to
      inoculation.

PMID- 28613382
TI  - High genetic diversity of Jatropha curcas assessed by ISSR.
AB  - Jatropha curcas L. is a highly promising oilseed for sustainable production of
      biofuels and bio-kerosene due to its high oil content and excellent quality.
      However, it is a perennial and incipiently domesticated species with none stable
      cultivar created until now despite genetic breeding programs in progress in
      several countries. Knowledge of the genetic structure and diversity of the
      species is a necessary step for breeding programs. The molecular marker can be
      used as a tool for speed up the process. This study was carried out to assess
      genetic diversity of a germplasm bank represented by J. curcas accessions from
      different provenance beside interspecific hybrid and backcrosses generated by IAC
      breeding programs using inter-simple sequence repeat markers. The molecular study
      revealed 271 bands of which 98.9% were polymorphic with an average of 22.7
      polymorphic bands per primer. Genetic diversity of the germplasm evaluated was
      slightly higher than other germplasm around the world and ranged from 0.55 to
      0.86 with an average of 0.59 (Jaccard index). Cluster analysis (UPGMA) revealed
      no clear grouping as to the geographical origin of accessions, consistent with
      genetic structure analysis using the Structure software. For diversity analysis
      between groups, accessions were divided into eight groups by origin. Nei's
      genetic distance between groups was 0.14. The results showed the importance of
      Mexican accessions, congeneric wild species, and interspecific hybrids for
      conservation and development of new genotypes in breeding programs.

PMID- 28613383
TI  - Cross-amplification and characterization of microsatellite markers in Alcantarea
      patriae Versieux & Wand.
AB  - The Alcantarea patriae is a Bromeliaceae endemic to the inselbergs of the
      Atlantic Forest. This taxon, described in the year of 2007 by Versieux &
      Wanderley, presents restricted and fragmented distribution outside conservation
      units. Studies to evaluate the genetic structure of its populations can
      contribute to the conservation and management strategies for the species. In this
      study, 31 microsatellite markers, descriptive to six different Bromeliaceae
      species, were evaluated by cross-amplification tests in 20 individuals of A.
      patriae. The individuals were collected in the district of Vila Cruzeiro, in the
      municipality of Jeronimo Monteiro. Twelve markers were polymorphic and 10
      monomorphic, with an amplification success rate of 71%. The displayed
      polymorphism information content was considered high, indicating that the
      selected markers are informative. The values found for the fixation index were
      positive and indicated the occurrence of inbreeding. The mean number of alleles
      was 4.66 (3-6), the mean expected and observed heterozygosities were 0.6605 and
      0.4618, respectively. The detection of polymorphic markers was important for
      future studies of diversity and genetic structuring of natural populations and
      for germplasm bank creation aiming to contribute to in situ and ex situ
      conservations of A. patriae.

PMID- 28613384
TI  - Communication skills training for mental health professionals working with people
      with severe mental illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research evidence suggests that both mental health professionals and
      people with severe mental health illness such as schizophrenia or schizoaffective
      disorder find it difficult to communicate with each other effectively about
      symptoms, treatments and their side effects so that they reach a shared
      understanding about diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Effective use of
      communication skills in mental health interactions could be associated with
      increased patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment. OBJECTIVES: To review
      the effectiveness of communication skills training for mental health
      professionals who work with people with severe mental illness. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Trials Register (latest search 17 February,
      2016) which is compiled by systematic searches of major resources (including
      AMED, BIOSIS, CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and registries of
      clinical trials) and their monthly updates, handsearches, grey literature, and
      conference proceedings. There are no language, date, document type, or
      publication status limitations for inclusion of records into the register.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: All relevant randomised clinical trials (RCTs) that focused
      on communication skills training (CST) for mental health professionals who work
      with people with severe mental illness compared with those who received standard
      or no training. We sought a number of primary (patient adherence to treatment and
      attendance at scheduled appointments as well as mental health professionals'
      satisfaction with the training programme) and secondary outcomes (patients'
      global state, service use, mental state, patient satisfaction, social
      functioning, quality of life). RCTs where the unit of randomisation was by
      cluster (e.g. healthcare facility) were also eligible for inclusion. We included
      one trial that met our inclusion criteria and reported useable data. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We independently selected studies, quality assessed them
      and extracted data. For binary outcomes, we planned to calculate standard
      estimates of the risk ratio (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a
      fixed-effect model. For continuous outcomes, we planned to estimate the mean
      difference (MD) between groups, or obtain the adjusted mean difference (aMD)
      where available for cluster-randomised trials. If heterogeneity had been
      identified, we would have explored this using a random-effects model. We used
      GRADE to create a 'Summary of findings' table and we assessed risk of bias for
      the one included study. MAIN RESULTS: We included one pilot cluster-RCT that
      recruited a total of 21 psychiatrists and 97 patients. The psychiatrists were
      randomised to a training programme in communication skills, compared to a no
      specific training (NST) programme. The trial provided useable data for only one
      of our prestated outcomes of interest, patient satisfaction. The trial did not
      report global state but did report mental state and, as global state data were
      not available, we included these mental state data in the 'Summary of findings'
      table. There was high risk of bias from attrition because of substantial losses
      to follow-up and incomplete outcome data.Patient satisfaction was measured as
      satisfaction with treatment and 'experience of therapeutic relationship' at
      medium term (five months). Satisfaction with treatment was similar between the
      CST and NST group using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) (1 RCT, n =
      66/97*, aMD 1.77 95% CI - 0.13 to 3.68, low-quality evidence). When comparing
      patient experience of the therapeutic relationship using the STAR-P scale,
      participants in the CST group rated the therapeutic relationship more positively
      than participants in the NST group (1 RCT, n = 63/97, aMD 0.21 95% CI 0.01 to
      0.41, low-quality evidence).Mental state scores on the Positive and Negative
      Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were similar between treatment groups for general symptoms
      (1 RCT, n = 59/97, aMD 4.48 95% CI -2.10 to 11.06, low-quality evidence),
      positive symptoms (1 RCT, n = 59/97, aMD -0.23, 95% CI -2.91 to 2.45, low-quality
      evidence) and negative symptoms (1 RCT, n = 59/97, aMD 3.42, 95%C CI -0.24 to
      7.09, low-quality evidence).No data were available for adherence to treatment,
      service use or quality of life.* Of the total of 97 randomised participants, 66
      provided data. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The evidence available is from one pilot
      cluster-randomised controlled trial, it is not adequate enough to draw any robust
      conclusions. There were relatively few good quality data and the trial is too
      small to highlight differences in most outcome measures. Adding a CST programme
      appears to have a modest positive effect on patients' experiences of the
      therapeutic relationship. More high-quality research is needed in this area.

PMID- 28613386
TI  - Commentary: 2016 Epilepsia Basic Science Prize.

PMID- 28613385
TI  - Expanded conventional first trimester screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study aims to determine the performance of a five (5) serum marker
      plus ultrasound screening protocol for T21, T18 and T13. METHOD: Specimens from
      331 unaffected, 34 T21, 19 T18 and 8 T13 cases were analyzed for free Beta human
      chorionic gonadotropin, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, alpha-fetoprotein,
      placental growth factor and dimeric inhibin A. Gaussian distributions of
      multiples of the median values were used to estimate modeled false positive and
      detection rates (DR). RESULTS: For T21, at a 1/300 risk cut-off, DR of screening
      with all five serum markers along with nuchal translucency and nasal bone was 98%
      at a 1.2% false positive rate (FPR). Using a 1/1000 cut-off, the DR was 99% with
      a 2.6% FPR. For T18/13 with free Beta human chorionic gonadotropin, pregnancy
      associated plasma protein A, placental growth factor and nuchal translucency at a
      1/150 cut-off, DR was 95% at a 0.5% FPR while at a 1/500 risk cut-off, DR was 97%
      at a 1.2% FPR. CONCLUSION: An expanded conventional screening test can achieve
      very high DRs with low FPRs. Such screening fits well with proposed contingency
      protocols utilizing cell-free DNA as a secondary or reflex but also provides the
      advantages of identification of pregnancies at risk for other adverse outcomes
      such as early-onset preeclampsia. (c) 2017 Eurofins NTD, LLC. Prenatal Diagnosis
      published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 28613387
TI  - Dielectrophoretic characterization and isolation of jellyfish stinging capsules.
AB  - Jellyfish stinging capsules known as nematocysts are explosive, natural-injection
      systems with high potential as a natural drug-delivery system. These organelles
      consist of a capsule containing a highly folded thin needle-like tubule and a
      matrix highly concentrated with charged constituents that enable the tubule to
      fire and penetrate a target. For the purpose of using these nematocysts as drug
      delivery system it is first required to purify subpopulations from heterogeneous
      population of capsules and to investigate each subpopulation's distinct function
      and characteristics. Here, the nematocysts' dielectric properties were
      experimentally investigated using dielectrophoretic and electrorotational spectra
      with best fits derived from theoretical models. The dielectric characterization
      adds to our understanding of the nematocysts' structure and function and is
      necessary for the dielectrophoretic isolation and manipulation of populations. As
      expected, the effect of monovalent and divalent exchange cations resulted in
      higher inner conductivity for the NaCl treated capsules; this result stands in
      agreement with their relative higher osmotic pressure. In addition, an efficient
      dielectrophoretic isolation of different nematocyst subpopulations was
      demonstrated, paving the way to an understanding of nematocysts' functional
      diversity and the development of an efficient drug delivery platform.

PMID- 28613388
TI  - Self-Assembled Polymeric Ionic Liquid-Functionalized Cellulose Nano-crystals:
      Constructing 3D Ion-conducting Channels Within Ionic Liquid-based Composite
      Polymer Electrolytes.
AB  - Composite polymeric and ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes are some of the most
      promising electrolyte systems for safer battery technology. Although much effort
      has been directed towards enhancing the transport properties of polymer
      electrolytes (PEs) through nanoscopic modification by incorporating nano-fillers,
      it is still difficult to construct ideal ion conducting networks. Here, a novel
      class of three-dimensional self-assembled polymeric ionic liquid (PIL)
      functionalized cellulose nano-crystals (CNC) confining ILs in surface-grafted PIL
      polymer chains, able to form colloidal crystal polymer electrolytes (CCPE), is
      reported. The high-strength CNC nano-fibers, decorated with PIL polymer chains,
      can spontaneously form three-dimensional interpenetrating nano-network scaffolds
      capable of supporting electrolytes with continuously connected ion conducting
      networks with IL being concentrated in conducting domains. These new CCPE have
      exceptional ionic conductivities, low activation energies (close to bulk IL
      electrolyte with dissolved Li salt), high Li+ transport numbers, low interface
      resistances and improved interface compatibilities. Furthermore, the CCPE
      displays good electrochemical properties and a good battery performance. This
      approach offers a route to leak-free, non-flammable and high ionic conductivity
      solid-state PE in energy conversion devices.

PMID- 28613390
TI  - AutoIHC-scoring: a machine learning framework for automated Allred scoring of
      molecular expression in ER- and PR-stained breast cancer tissue.
AB  - In prognostic evaluation of breast cancer Immunohistochemical (IHC) markers
      namely, oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) are widely used.
      The expert pathologist investigates qualitatively the stained tissue slide under
      microscope to provide the Allred score; which is clinically used for therapeutic
      decision making. Such qualitative judgment is time-consuming, tedious and more
      often suffers from interobserver variability. As a result, it leads to imprecise
      IHC score for ER and PR. To overcome this, there is an urgent need of developing
      a reliable and efficient IHC quantifier for high throughput decision making. In
      view of this, our study aims at developing an automated IHC profiler for
      quantitative assessment of ER and PR molecular expression from stained tissue
      images. We propose here to use CMYK colour space for positively and negatively
      stained cell extraction for proportion score. Also colour features are used for
      quantitative assessment of intensity scoring among the positively stained cells.
      Five different machine learning models namely artificial neural network, Naive
      Bayes, K-nearest neighbours, decision tree and random forest are considered for
      learning the colour features using average red, green and blue pixel values of
      positively stained cell patches. Fifty cases of ER- and PR-stained tissues have
      been evaluated for validation with the expert pathologist's score. All five
      models perform adequately where random forest shows the best correlation with the
      expert's score (Pearson's correlation coefficient = 0.9192). In the proposed
      approach the average variation of diaminobenzidine (DAB) to nuclear area from the
      expert's score is found to be 7.58%, as compared to 27.83% for state-of-the-art
      ImmunoRatio software.

PMID- 28613389
TI  - Continuous non-invasive PCO2 monitoring in weaning patients: Transcutaneous is
      advantageous over end-tidal PCO2.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Continuous partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2 )
      assessment is essential for the success of mechanical ventilation (MV). Non
      invasive end-tidal PCO2 (PetCO2 ) and transcutaneous PCO2 (PtcCO2 ) measurements
      serve as alternatives to the gold standard arterial PCO2 (PaCO2 ) method, but
      their eligibility in critical care is unclear. METHODS: The present study
      therefore performed methodological comparisons of PaCO2 versus PetCO2 and PtcCO2
      , respectively, in weaning patients receiving invasive MV via tracheal cannulas.
      PetCO2 and PtcCO2 were recorded continuously, while PaCO2 was analysed at
      baseline, and after 30 and 60 min. Using the Bland-Altman analysis, a clinically
      acceptable range was defined as a mean difference of +/-4 mm Hg between PaCO2 and
      non-invasive strategies. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients (COPD (n = 30) and non
      COPD (n = 30)) completed the protocol. Mean PCO2 values were 42.4 +/- 8.6 mm Hg
      (PaCO2 ), 36.5 +/- 7.5 mm Hg (PetCO2 ) and 41.7 +/- 8.7 mm Hg (PtcCO2 ). Mean
      differences between PtcCO2 and PaCO2 were -0.7 +/- 3.6 mm Hg (95% CI: -1.6/0.3 mm
      Hg; 95% limits of agreement: -7.8 to 6.4 mm Hg), and between PetCO2 and PaCO2 
      5.9 +/- 5.3 mm Hg (95% CI: -7.2/-4.5 mm Hg; 95% limits of agreement: -16.2 to 4.5
      mm Hg). Underestimation of PaCO2 by PetCO2 was most pronounced in COPD patients.
      CONCLUSION: Our data therefore support PtcCO2 as a suitable means for monitoring
      PCO2 in patients undergoing invasive MV. This is in contrast to PetCO2 , which
      clearly underestimated PaCO2 , especially in patients with COPD.

PMID- 28613391
TI  - Evaluation of five diffeomorphic image registration algorithms for mouse brain
      magnetic resonance microscopy.
AB  - The development of genetically engineered mouse models for neuronal diseases and
      behavioural disorders have generated a growing need for small animal imaging.
      High-resolution magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) provides powerful
      capabilities for noninvasive studies of mouse brains, while avoiding some limits
      associated with the histological procedures. Quantitative comparison of
      structural images is a critical step in brain imaging analysis, which highly
      relies on the performance of image registration techniques. Nowadays, there is a
      mushrooming growth of human brain registration algorithms, while fine-tuning of
      those algorithms for mouse brain MRMs is rarely addressed. Because of their
      topology preservation property and outstanding performance in human studies,
      diffeomorphic transformations have become popular in computational anatomy. In
      this study, we specially tuned five diffeomorphic image registration algorithms
      [DARTEL, geodesic shooting, diffeo-demons, SyN (Greedy-SyN and geodesic-SyN)] for
      mouse brain MRMs and evaluated their performance using three measures [volume
      overlap percentage (VOP), residual intensity error (RIE) and surface concordance
      ratio (SCR)]. Geodesic-SyN performed significantly better than the other methods
      according to all three different measures. These findings are important for the
      studies on structural brain changes that may occur in wild-type and transgenic
      mouse brains.

PMID- 28613392
TI  - Donor-Recipient Matching Based on Predicted Indirectly Recognizable HLA Epitopes
      Independently Predicts the Incidence of De Novo Donor-Specific HLA Antibodies
      Following Renal Transplantation.
AB  - De novo donor-specific HLA antibodies (dnDSA) are recognized as a risk factor for
      premature allograft failure. Determinants of DSA specificity are generated via
      the indirect allorecognition pathway. Here, we present supportive data for the
      relevance of predicted indirectly recognizable HLA epitopes (PIRCHE) to predict
      dnDSA following kidney transplantation. A total of 2787 consecutive kidney
      transplants performed between 1995 and 2015 without preformed DSA have been
      analyzed. De novo DSA were detected by single antigen bead assay. HLA epitope
      mismatches were determined by the HLAMatchmaker and PIRCHE approach and
      correlated in uni- and multivariate analyses with 10-year allograft survival and
      incidence of dnDSA. The PIRCHE-II score moderately predicted allograft survival.
      However, the predictive value of elevated PIRCHE-II scores >9 for the incidence
      of dnDSA was statistically significant (p < 0.001). In a multivariate Cox
      regression analysis adjusted for antigen mismatch and HLAMatchmaker epitopes, the
      PIRCHE-II score could be identified as an independent risk factor for dnDSA. The
      PIRCHE-II score independently from the antigen mismatch and HLAMatchmaker
      epitopes could be revealed as being a strong predictor for dnDSA. PIRCHE may help
      to identify acceptable mismatches with decreased risk of dnDSA and thus improve
      long-term renal allograft survival.

PMID- 28613393
TI  - Comparison of the toxicity of the dyes Sudan II and Sudan IV to catalase.
AB  - The mechanisms of the toxicity of Sudan dyes to the key antioxidant enzyme
      catalase (CAT) were investigated by spectroscopic methods, calorimetry
      techniques, enzyme activity assay, and molecular docking. Results showed that
      Sudan dyes bound to CAT through hydrophobic force, which changed the
      microenvironment of tryptophan and tyrosine residues, leading to a conformational
      alteration and shrinkage of the protein. Enzyme activity assay and molecular
      docking revealed that the activity of CAT was slightly inhibited in the presence
      of Sudan dyes. In comparison, the binding of Sudan II with CAT was slightly
      stronger than Sudan IV. Also, Sudan II and Sudan IV showed a different impact on
      the microenvironment of aromatic amino acid residues. But the dyes had very
      similar effects on conformation and activity of the protein. This work provides
      an essential reference for the evaluation of Sudan dyes' effects on body's
      antioxidant defense system and safe use of Sudan dyes.

PMID- 28613394
TI  - Regular exercise behavior is related to lower extremity muscle strength in
      patients with type 2 diabetes: Data from the Multicenter Survey of the Isometric
      Lower Extremity Strength in Type 2 Diabetes study.
AB  - Owing to several contributing factors, continuation of exercise therapy is
      difficult for patients with type 2 diabetes. One potential factor that has not
      been well examined is the influence of muscle strength on regular exercise
      behavior. We examined the relationship between regular exercise behavior and knee
      extension force (KEF) in 1,442 patients with type 2 diabetes. In sex-specific
      univariate analysis, KEF was significantly higher in patients who regularly
      exercised than in patients who did not regularly exercise. However, age, but not
      exercise behavior, was significantly different between KEF quartiles.
      Accordingly, KEF and age might strongly influence exercise behavior. In the
      multivariate analyses using age and other parameters as covariates, KEF was a
      significant explanatory variable of regular exercise in both men and women,
      suggesting that muscle strength could influence regular exercise behavior.

PMID- 28613395
TI  - Clozapine dose for schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia and related disorders such as schizophreniform and
      schizoaffective disorder are serious mental illnesses characterised by profound
      disruptions in thinking and speech, emotional processes, behaviour and sense of
      self. Clozapine is useful in the treatment of schizophrenia and related
      disorders, particularly when other antipsychotic medications have failed. It
      improves positive symptoms (such as delusions and hallucinations) and negative
      symptoms (such as withdrawal and poverty of speech). However, it is unclear what
      dose of clozapine is most effective with the least side effects. OBJECTIVES: To
      compare the efficacy and tolerability of clozapine at different doses and to
      identify the optimal dose of clozapine in the treatment of schizophrenia,
      schizophreniform and schizoaffective disorders. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the
      Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Study-Based Register of Trials (August 2011 and 8
      December 2016). SELECTION CRITERIA: All relevant randomised controlled trials
      (RCTs), irrespective of blinding status or language, that compared the effects of
      clozapine at different doses in people with schizophrenia and related disorders,
      diagnosed by any criteria. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We independently
      inspected citations from the searches, identified relevant abstracts, obtained
      full articles of relevant abstracts, and classified trials as included or
      excluded. We included trials that met our inclusion criteria and reported useable
      data. For dichotomous data, we calculated the relative risk (RR) and the 95%
      confidence interval (CI) on an intention-to-treat basis based on a random-effects
      model. For continuous data, we calculated mean differences (MD) again based on a
      random-effects model. We assessed risk of bias for included studies and created
      'Summary of findings' tables using GRADE. MAIN RESULTS: We identified five
      studies that could be included. Each compared the effects of clozapine at very
      low dose (up to 149 mg/day), low dose (150 mg/day to 300 mg/day) and standard
      dose (301 mg/day to 600 mg/day). Four of the five included studies were based on
      a small number of participants. We rated all the evidence reported for the main
      outcomes of interest as low or very low quality. No data were available for the
      main outcomes of global state, service use or quality of life. Very low dose
      compared to low doseWe found no evidence of effect on mental state between low
      and very low doses of clozapine in terms of average Brief Psychiatric Rating
      Scale-Anchored (BPRS-A) endpoint score (1 RCT, n = 31, MD 3.55, 95% CI -4.50 to
      11.60, very low quality evidence). One study found no difference between groups
      in body mass index (BMI) in the short term (1 RCT, n = 59, MD -0.10, 95% CI -0.95
      to 0.75, low-quality evidence). Very low dose compared to standard doseWe found
      no evidence of effect on mental state between very low doses and standard doses
      of clozapine in terms of average BPRS-A endpoint score (1 RCT, n = 31, MD 6.67,
      95% CI -2.09 to 15.43, very low quality evidence). One study found no difference
      between groups in BMI in the short term (1 RCT, n = 58, MD 0.10, 95% CI -0.76 to
      0.96, low-quality evidence) Low dose compared to standard doseWe found no
      evidence of effect on mental state between low doses and standard doses of
      clozapine in terms of both clinician-assessed clinical improvement (2 RCTs, n =
      141, RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.61, medium-quality evidence) and clinically
      important response as more than 30% change in BPRS score (1 RCT, n = 176, RR
      0.93, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.10, medium-quality evidence). One study found no
      difference between groups in BMI in the short term (1 RCT, n = 57, MD 0.20, 95%
      CI -0.84 to 1.24, low-quality evidence).We found some evidence of effect for
      other adverse effect outcomes; however, the data were again limited. Very low
      dose compared to low doseThere was limited evidence that serum triglycerides were
      lower at low-dose clozapine compared to very low dose in the short term (1 RCT, n
      = 59, MD 1.00, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.49). Low dose compared to standard doseWeight
      gain was lower at very low dose compared to standard dose (1 RCT, n = 27, MD 
      2.70, 95% CI -5.38 to -0.02). Glucose level one hour after meal was also lower at
      very lose dose (1 RCT, n = 58, MD -1.60, 95% CI -2.90 to -0.30). Total
      cholesterol levels were higher at very low compared to standard dose (1 RCT, n =
      58, n = 58, MD 1.00, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.80). Low dose compared to standard
      doseThere was evidence of fewer adverse effects, measured as lower TESS scores,
      in the low-dose group in the short term (2 RCTs, n = 266, MD -3.99, 95% CI -5.75
      to -2.24); and in one study there was evidence that the incidence of lethargy (RR
      0.77, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.97), hypersalivation (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.84),
      dizziness (RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.81) and tachycardia (RR 0.57, 95% CI 0.45 to
      0.71) was less at low dose compared to standard dose. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We
      found no evidence of effect on mental state between standard, low and very low
      dose regimes, but we did not identify any trials on high or very high doses of
      clozapine. BMI measurements were similar between groups in the short term,
      although weight gain was less at very low dose compared to standard dose in one
      study. There was limited evidence that the incidence of some adverse effects was
      greater at standard dose compared to lower dose regimes. We found very little
      useful data and the evidence available is generally of low or very low quality.
      More studies are needed to validate our findings and report on outcomes such as
      relapse, remission, social functioning, service utilisation, cost-effectiveness,
      satisfaction with care, and quality of life. There is a particular lack of medium
      or long-term outcome data, and on dose regimes above the standard rate.

PMID- 28613396
TI  - Evaluation of acetylcholinesterase and carbonic anhydrase inhibition profiles of
      1,2,3,4,6-pentasubstituted-4-hydroxy-cyclohexanes.
AB  - Carbonic anhydrase (CA; EC 4.2.1.1) is used for remedial purposes for several
      years, as there is significant focus on expanding more new activators (CAAs) and
      high affinity inhibitors. Alzheimer's disease and other similar ailments such as
      dementia and vascular dementia with Lewy bodies reduce cholinergic activity in
      the important areas involved in cognition and memory. Prevalent drugs for the
      symptomatic therapy of dementia are significant in increasing the associated
      cholinergic deficiency by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (AChE). These six
      membered carbocycles showed nice inhibitory action against AChE and human
      carbonic anhydrase (hCA) II and I isoforms. The hCA I, II, and AChE were
      efficiently inhibited by these molecules, with Ki values in the range of 6.70
      35.85 nM for hCA I, 18.77-60.84 nM for hCA II, and 0.74-4.60 for AChE,
      respectively.

PMID- 28613397
TI  - Mechanochemical Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactide: Liquid-Assisted Grinding
      for the Green Synthesis of Poly(lactic acid) with High Molecular Weight.
AB  - Mechanochemical polymerization of lactide is carried out by using ball milling.
      Mechanical energy from collisions between the balls and the vessel efficiently
      promotes an organic-base-mediated metal- and solvent-free solid-state
      polymerization. Investigation of the parameters of the ball-milling synthesis
      revealed that the degree of lactide ring-opening polymerization could be
      modulated by the ball-milling time, vibration frequency, mass of the ball media,
      and liquid-assisted grinding. Liquid-assisted grinding was found to be an
      especially important factor for achieving a high degree of mechanochemical
      polymerization. Although polymer-chain scission from the strong collision energy
      prevented mechanical-force-driven high-molecular-weight polymer synthesis, the
      addition of only a small amount of liquid enabled sufficient energy dissipation
      and poly(lactic acid) was thereby obtained with a molecular weight of over 1*105 
      g mol-1 .

PMID- 28613398
TI  - Fetal and umbilical Doppler ultrasound in high-risk pregnancies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal blood flow patterns in fetal circulation detected by Doppler
      ultrasound may indicate poor fetal prognosis. It is also possible that false
      positive Doppler ultrasound findings could lead to adverse outcomes from
      unnecessary interventions, including preterm delivery. OBJECTIVES: The objective
      of this review was to assess the effects of Doppler ultrasound used to assess
      fetal well-being in high-risk pregnancies on obstetric care and fetal outcomes.
      SEARCH METHODS: We updated the search of Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's
      Trials Register on 31 March 2017 and checked reference lists of retrieved
      studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials of
      Doppler ultrasound for the investigation of umbilical and fetal vessels waveforms
      in high-risk pregnancies compared with no Doppler ultrasound. Cluster-randomised
      trials were eligible for inclusion but none were identified. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed the studies for inclusion,
      assessed risk of bias and carried out data extraction. Data entry was checked. We
      assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS: Nineteen
      trials involving 10,667 women were included. Risk of bias in trials was difficult
      to assess accurately due to incomplete reporting. None of the evidence relating
      to our main outcomes was graded as high quality. The quality of evidence was
      downgraded due to missing information on trial methods, imprecision in risk
      estimates and heterogeneity. Eighteen of these studies compared the use of
      Doppler ultrasound of the umbilical artery of the unborn baby with no Doppler or
      with cardiotocography (CTG). One more recent trial compared Doppler examination
      of other fetal blood vessels (ductus venosus) with computerised CTG.The use of
      Doppler ultrasound of the umbilical artery in high-risk pregnancy was associated
      with fewer perinatal deaths (risk ratio (RR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      0.52 to 0.98, 16 studies, 10,225 babies, 1.2% versus 1.7 %, number needed to
      treat (NNT) = 203; 95% CI 103 to 4352, evidence graded moderate). The results for
      stillbirths were consistent with the overall rate of perinatal deaths, although
      there was no clear difference between groups for this outcome (RR 0.65, 95% CI
      0.41 to 1.04; 15 studies, 9560 babies, evidence graded low). Where Doppler
      ultrasound was used, there were fewer inductions of labour (average RR 0.89, 95%
      CI 0.80 to 0.99, 10 studies, 5633 women, random-effects, evidence graded
      moderate) and fewer caesarean sections (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.97, 14 studies,
      7918 women, evidence graded moderate). There was no comparative long-term follow
      up of babies exposed to Doppler ultrasound in pregnancy in women at increased
      risk of complications.No difference was found in operative vaginal births (RR
      0.95, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.14, four studies, 2813 women), nor in Apgar scores less
      than seven at five minutes (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.24, seven studies, 6321
      babies, evidence graded low). Data for serious neonatal morbidity were not pooled
      due to high heterogeneity between the three studies that reported it (1098
      babies) (evidence graded very low).The use of Doppler to evaluate early and late
      changes in ductus venosus in early fetal growth restriction was not associated
      with significant differences in any perinatal death after randomisation. However,
      there was an improvement in long-term neurological outcome in the cohort of
      babies in whom the trigger for delivery was either late changes in ductus venosus
      or abnormalities seen on computerised CTG. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence
      suggests that the use of Doppler ultrasound on the umbilical artery in high-risk
      pregnancies reduces the risk of perinatal deaths and may result in fewer
      obstetric interventions. The results should be interpreted with caution, as the
      evidence is not of high quality. Serial monitoring of Doppler changes in ductus
      venosus may be beneficial, but more studies of high quality with follow-up
      including neurological development are needed for evidence to be conclusive.

PMID- 28613400
TI  - Wear mechanisms of the biotribological nanocomposite a-C : H coatings implanted
      by metallic nanoparticles.
AB  - Recently, to reduce the residual stress and increase the mechanical properties of
      a-C:H coatings, metallic nanoparticles have been implanted into their structure.
      In the present work, to improve the properties of the coating, metallic
      nanoparticles, including Cu, Nb, Ta, Zr, AgPt and Ag, were inserted into the a
      C:H structure. The applied biological and mechanical analysis allowed the optimal
      biotribological parameters to be indicated for the potential application as
      protective coatings for metallic medical tools. Wear mechanisms operating at the
      small length of the designed biotribological coating, such as a-C:H implanted by
      Zr nanoparticles, were studied by means of transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM). The TEM analysis confirmed very good coating adhesion to the metallic
      substrate.

PMID- 28613399
TI  - Immunosuppressive efficacy of tetrandrine combined with methylprednisolone
      against mitogen-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells of haemodialysis
      patients.
AB  - Immunosuppressive therapy for prevention of acute rejection episode occasionally
      causes serious adverse effects, and thus it is important to develop new
      therapeutic approach for renal transplant recipients. This study evaluated the
      immunosuppressive pharmacodynamics of tetrandrine (TET) and/or methylprednisolone
      (MP) in haemodialysis patients in vitro by using the peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells (PBMCs) isolated from whole blood of haemodialysis patients. The median
      (range) of MP IC50 values against the proliferation of patients PBMCs was 7.04
      (2.30-500.00) ng/mL. In contrast, the median (range) of MP IC50 values against
      the proliferation of healthy PBMCs was 4.44 (3.19-5.08) ng/mL. The median (range)
      of TET IC50 values against the proliferation of patients PBMCs was 1.61 (1.04
      4.79) MUmol/L. Lower concentrations of TET (0.3-300 nmol/L) were able to decrease
      the IC50 values of MP and thus potentiate the MP immunosuppressive effect on
      patient PBMCs. The median (range) of MP IC50 values in combination with 0.3, 3,
      30, and 300 nmol/L TET were 0.92 (0.49-8.39), 2.10 (0.45-20.00), 0.35 (0.092
      1.05), and 0.14 (0.05-6.78) ng/mL, respectively. TET potentiates the MP
      immunosuppressive pharmacodynamics and thus, it was possible to use the
      combination of MP and TET to attenuate MP side effects. There were significant
      correlations between the IC50 values of TET and stimulation indices (P=0.04,
      r=.58), the IC50 values of TET and the haemodialysis periods (P=0.04, r=.57), or
      the IC50 values of MP combined with 0.3 nmol/L TET and C-reactive protein
      concentrations (P=0.04, r=.64), respectively.

PMID- 28613401
TI  - Nutrient Profiles and Volatile Odorous Compounds of Raw Milk After Exposure to
      Electron Beam Pasteurizing Doses.
AB  - Raw milk is known to contain relatively high numbers of microorganisms, some of
      which include microbial pathogens. Electron beam (eBeam) processing is a
      nonthermal pasteurization food processing technology. The underlying hypothesis
      was that eBeam processing will not negatively influence the composition, nutrient
      content, and aroma profile of raw milk. Raw milk samples were exposed to eBeam
      doses of 1 and 2 kGy, since our studies had shown that 2 kGy is suitable for raw
      milk pasteurization. The untreated and eBeam-treated raw milk samples were
      analyzed to detect changes in lactose, vitamin B2 , vitamin B12 , and calcium
      concentrations. The possible breakdown of casein and whey proteins and lipid
      oxidation were investigated along with the formation of volatile aroma compounds.
      Even though vitamin B2 showed a 31.6% decrease in concentration, the B2 content
      in eBeam-pasteurized raw milk met all USDA nutritional guidelines. Even though
      there were no indications of lipid oxidation after the 2.0-kGy eBeam treatment,
      there was lipid oxidation (58%) after 7 d of refrigerated storage. However, based
      on the GC-olfactory analysis, the lipid oxidation did not necessarily result in
      the development of a wide variety of off-odors.

PMID- 28613402
TI  - A weight of evidence framework for environmental assessments: Inferring
      quantities.
AB  - The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has developed a generally
      applicable framework for a weight-of-evidence (WoE) process for deriving
      quantitative values from multiple estimates. These guidelines are intended for
      environmental assessments that require the generation of quantitative parameters
      such as degradation rates or that develop quantitative products such as criterion
      values or magnitudes of effects. The basic steps are to weigh evidence for the
      environmental quality to be quantified, generate the value by merging estimates
      or by identifying the best estimate, and weight the results to determine
      confidence in the numerical value. When multiple data sets or outputs of multiple
      models are available, it may be appropriate to weigh the evidence. Use of the
      framework to weigh multiple estimates may increase the accuracy of quantitative
      results compared to a single estimate from a default method. Its use can provide
      greater transparency compared to ad hoc weighing of evidence. Integr Environ
      Assess Manag 2017;13:1045-1051. Published 2017. This article is a US Government
      work and is in the public domain in the USA.

PMID- 28613403
TI  - Opposite actions of urotensin II and relaxin-2 on cellular expression of
      fibronectin in renal fibrosis: A preliminary experimental study.
AB  - Our aim was to evaluate the role of urotensin II, urantide (urotensin II receptor
      antagonist) and relaxin-2 on the cellular expression of fibronectin as a
      surrogate marker for renal fibrosis. We employed LLC-PK1 renal tubular epithelial
      cells and assessed the influence on the fibrotic process of the above-mentioned
      substances by using anti-fibronectin antibodies in western blot analysis. The
      addition of urotensin II increased fibronectin expression. Urantide reduced the
      positivity for fibronectin caused by urotensin II (P<.05). The anti-fibrotic
      action was more evident for relaxin-2 (P<.01). Also in the model of TGF-beta1
      induced fibrosis, urantide and, to a greater extent, relaxin-2 were able to
      significantly lessen fibronectin expression (respectively, P<.05 and P<.01). In
      conclusion, relaxin-2 may reduce urotensin II-induced renal fibrosis.

PMID- 28613404
TI  - Stability and Activity of Non-Noble-Metal-Based Catalysts Toward the Hydrogen
      Evolution Reaction.
AB  - A fundamental understanding of the behavior of non-noble based materials toward
      the hydrogen evolution reaction is crucial for the successful implementation into
      practical devices. Through the implementation of a highly sensitive inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometer coupled to a scanning flow cell, the activity
      and stability of non-noble electrocatalysts is presented. The studied catalysts
      comprise a range of compositions, including metal carbides (WC), sulfides (MoS2
      ), phosphides (Ni5 P4 , Co2 P), and their base metals (W, Ni, Mo, Co); their
      activity, stability, and degradation behavior was elaborated and compared to the
      state-of-the-art catalyst platinum. The non-noble materials are stable at HER
      potentials but dissolve substantially when no current is flowing. Through pre-
      and post-characterization of the catalysts, explanations of their stability
      (thermodynamics and kinetics) are discussed, challenges for the application in
      real devices are analyzed, and strategies for circumventing dissolution are
      suggested. The precise correlation of metal dissolution with applied
      potential/current density allows for narrowing down suitable material choices as
      replacement for precious group metals as for example, platinum and opens up new
      ways in finding cost-efficient, active, and stable new-generation
      electrocatalysts.

PMID- 28613405
TI  - An association between volumes of the cardiac chambers and troponin levels in
      individuals submitted to cardiac coronary computed tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous echocardiographic studies have revealed an association
      between enlarged cardiac chamber volumes and elevated troponin concentrations. An
      automatic 4-chamber volumetric analysis tool was adopted to investigate this
      association in patients who underwent cardiac-gated computed tomography
      angiography (CCTA). HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that troponin concentration
      within the normal range correlates with cardiac chambers' volumes. METHODS: Serum
      troponin was obtained from 157 ambulatory patients before undergoing CCTA for
      nonacute coronary artery evaluation. Volumes of the cardiac chambers and the left
      ventricular mass were automatically analyzed and indexed to body surface area.
      Patients with a troponin concentrations within the upper quartile (>0.007 ng/mL,
      n = 39) were compared to patients with a troponin concentrations within the 3
      lower quartiles of troponin concentrations (<=0.007 ng/mL, n = 118). RESULTS:
      None of the patients had a troponin concentration >0.05 ng/mL (the 99th
      percentile of the general population). There were no significant differences in
      baseline characteristics between the groups. There were significant correlations
      between troponin and ventricular volumes after adjustments for age and gender. In
      an analysis that included 107 patients without any known heart diseases,
      including those pathological findings in the current CCTA, there were significant
      correlations between troponin and the left and right ventricular volumes after
      adjustments for age, gender, and baseline characteristics (odds ratio [OR]: 1.08,
      95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.14, P = 0.002 and OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04
      1.19, P = 0.002; respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Using the technology of automatic
      volumetric analysis in individuals undergoing CCTA, an association between larger
      right and left cardiac chambers and higher levels of troponin concentration was
      shown.

PMID- 28613407
TI  - School mental healthcare services using internet-based cognitive behaviour
      therapy for young male athletes in Japan.
AB  - AIM: Preventive intervention and treatment using internet-based cognitive
      behaviour therapy (iCBT) can be easily administered to school students, as they
      are quite familiar with internet tools. This study aims to investigate the
      effectiveness and contribution of iCBT to mental healthcare in a school setting.
      METHODS: Eighty Japanese high school boys who were participating in a sports
      specialist course were enrolled in this study. The participants were randomly
      assigned to either the iCBT intervention group or the control group. Both
      programmes were administered for 4 weeks. To evaluate the effects, physical and
      mental health problems and self-efficacy were assessed. RESULTS: The mean number
      of times that the iCBT website was accessed during the intervention period was
      16.9, and the mean access frequency (percentage of the number of times the
      website was accessed during the intervention period) was 40.1% in the iCBT group.
      A statistically significant interaction between group and time in favour of the
      iCBT group was observed based on the Kessler-6 (K6) scale for depression and
      anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that a school mental healthcare
      programme using iCBT is suitable for students and useful for coping with stress
      and reducing depressed mood and anxiety in young people, especially athletes, who
      are regarded as needing special mental health support.

PMID- 28613408
TI  - Pre-admission antibiotics for suspected cases of meningococcal disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Meningococcal disease can lead to death or disability within hours
      after onset. Pre-admission antibiotics aim to reduce the risk of serious disease
      and death by preventing delays in starting therapy before confirmation of the
      diagnosis. OBJECTIVES: To study the effectiveness and safety of pre-admission
      antibiotics versus no pre-admission antibiotics or placebo, and different pre
      admission antibiotic regimens in decreasing mortality, clinical failure, and
      morbidity in people suspected of meningococcal disease. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched CENTRAL (6 January 2017), MEDLINE (1966 to 6 January 2017), Embase (1980
      to 6 January 2017), Web of Science (1985 to 6 January 2017), LILACS (1982 to 6
      January 2017), and prospective trial registries to January 2017. We previously
      searched CAB Abstracts from 1985 to June 2015, but did not update this search in
      January 2017. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi
      RCTs comparing antibiotics versus placebo or no intervention, in people with
      suspected meningococcal infection, or different antibiotics administered before
      admission to hospital or confirmation of the diagnosis. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted
      data from the search results. We calculated the risk ratio (RR) and 95%
      confidence interval (CI) for dichotomous data. We included only one trial and so
      did not perform data synthesis. We assessed the overall quality of the evidence
      using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS: We found no RCTs comparing pre-admission
      antibiotics versus no pre-admission antibiotics or placebo. We included one open
      label, non-inferiority RCT with 510 participants, conducted during an epidemic in
      Niger, evaluating a single dose of intramuscular ceftriaxone versus a single dose
      of intramuscular long-acting (oily) chloramphenicol. Ceftriaxone was not inferior
      to chloramphenicol in reducing mortality (RR 1.21, 95% CI 0.57 to 2.56; N = 503;
      308 confirmed meningococcal meningitis; 26 deaths; moderate-quality evidence),
      clinical failures (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.32 to 2.15; N = 477; 18 clinical failures;
      moderate-quality evidence), or neurological sequelae (RR 1.29, 95% CI 0.63 to
      2.62; N = 477; 29 with sequelae; low-quality evidence). No adverse effects of
      treatment were reported. Estimated treatment costs were similar. No data were
      available on disease burden due to sequelae. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found no
      reliable evidence to support the use pre-admission antibiotics for suspected
      cases of non-severe meningococcal disease. Moderate-quality evidence from one RCT
      indicated that single intramuscular injections of ceftriaxone and long-acting
      chloramphenicol were equally effective, safe, and economical in reducing serious
      outcomes. The choice between these antibiotics should be based on affordability,
      availability, and patterns of antibiotic resistance.Further RCTs comparing
      different pre-admission antibiotics, accompanied by intensive supportive
      measures, are ethically justified in people with less severe illness, and are
      needed to provide reliable evidence in different clinical settings.

PMID- 28613409
TI  - Molecular Cloning and Characterizations of Xylanase Inhibitor Protein from Wheat
      (Triticum Aestivum).
AB  - Xylanase inhibitor proteins (XIPs) were regarded to inhibit the activity of
      xylanases during baking and gluten-starch separation processes. To avoid the
      inhibition to xylanases, it is necessary to define the conditions under which the
      inhibition takes place. In this study, we cloned the XIP gene from 2 different
      variety of Triticum aestivum, that is, Zhengmai 9023 and Zhengmai 366, and
      investigated the properties of XIP protein expressed by Pichia pastoris. The
      results showed that the 2 XIP genes (xip-9023 and xip-366) were highly homologous
      with only 3 nucleotide differences. XIP-9023 showed the optimal inhibition pH and
      temperature were 7  degrees C and 40  degrees C, respectively. Inhibition of
      xylanase by XIP-9023 reached the maximum in 40 min. At 50% inhibition of
      xylanase, the molar ratio of inhibitor: xylanase was 26:1. XIP-9023 was active to
      various fungal xylanases tested as well as to a bacterial xylanase produced by
      Paenibacillus sp. isolated from cow rumen.

PMID- 28613410
TI  - A case of Q fever after liver transplantation.
AB  - Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is a zoonosis that causes both
      acute and chronic disease in humans. Few cases have been reported in solid organ
      transplant recipients, and this case highlights the need to include Q fever in
      the differential diagnosis for fever of unknown origin in solid organ transplant
      hosts.

PMID- 28613411
TI  - Outcome in patients converting to psychosis following a treated clinical high
      risk state.
AB  - AIM: We explored 2-year outcomes in a sample of clinical high risk (CHR) patients
      who converted to psychosis despite receiving interventions. METHODS: Of 167 CHR
      patients, 18 had converted to psychosis and received treatment for their first
      episode of psychosis in an early intervention service over 2 years. RESULTS:
      Compared to patients admitted directly to the same early intervention service
      without having been identified as CHR prior to onset of psychosis, CHR converters
      were in remission for fewer months (M = 5 vs M = 10); were more likely to be
      prescribed more than 1 antipsychotic medication (90% vs 68%) and to receive
      clozapine treatment (38% vs 2%) over 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: CHR patients who
      convert to psychosis may be inherently more resistant to comprehensive treatment
      and may have poorer outcomes. Conversion to psychosis from a state of CHR can be
      reduced to a rate of 10%-12% following interventions, yet outcomes for patients
      who convert despite such interventions remain unexplored.

PMID- 28613412
TI  - Myoendothelial coupling through Cx40 contributes to EDH-induced vasodilation in
      murine renal arteries: evidence from experiments and modelling.
AB  - : Regulation of renal vascular resistance plays a major role in controlling
      arterial blood pressure. The endothelium participates in this regulation as
      endothelial derived hyperpolarization plays a significant role in smaller renal
      arteries and arterioles, but the exact mechanisms are still unknown. AIM: To
      investigate the role of vascular gap junctions and potassium channels in the
      renal endothelial derived hyperpolarization. METHODS: In interlobar arteries from
      wild-type and connexin40 knockout mice, we assessed the role of calcium-activated
      small (SK) and intermediate (IK) conductance potassium channels. The role of
      inward rectifier potassium channels (Kir) and Na+ /K+ -ATPases was evaluated as
      was the contribution from gap junctions. Mathematical models estimating diffusion
      of ions and electrical coupling in myoendothelial gap junctions were used to
      interpret the results. RESULTS: Lack of connexin40 significantly reduces renal
      endothelial hyperpolarization. Inhibition of SK and IK channels significantly
      attenuated renal EDH to a similar degree in wild-type and knockout mice.
      Inhibition of Kir and Na+ /K+ -ATPases affected the response in wild-type and
      knockout mice but at different levels of stimulation. The model confirms that
      activation of endothelial SK and IK channels generates a hyperpolarizing current
      that enters the vascular smooth muscle cells. Also, extracellular potassium
      increases sufficiently to activate Kir and Na+ /K+ -ATPases. CONCLUSION: Renal
      endothelial hyperpolarization is mainly initiated by activation of IK and SK
      channels. The model shows that hyperpolarization can spread through
      myoendothelial gap junctions but enough potassium is released to activate Kir and
      Na+ /K+ -ATPases. Reduced coupling seems to shift the signalling pathway towards
      release of potassium. However, an alternative pathway also exists and needs to be
      investigated.

PMID- 28613413
TI  - Commentary: GATOR Complex-Associated Epilepsies.

PMID- 28613415
TI  - Composition and functionality of the intrahepatic innate lymphoid cell
      compartment in human nonfibrotic and fibrotic livers.
AB  - Human innate lymphoid cells have been described to exist in different organs,
      with functional deregulation of these cells contributing to several disease
      states. Here, we performed the first detailed characterization of the phenotype,
      tissue-residency properties, and functionality of ILC1s, ILC2s, and ILC3s in the
      human adult and fetal liver. In addition, we investigated changes in the ILC
      compartment in liver fibrosis. A unique composition of tissue-resident ILCs was
      observed in nonfibrotic livers as compared with that in mucosal tissues, with
      NKp44- ILC3s accounting for the majority of total intrahepatic ILCs. The
      frequency of ILC2s, representing a small fraction of ILCs in nonfibrotic livers,
      increased in liver fibrosis and correlated directly with the severity of the
      disease. Notably, intrahepatic ILC2s secreted the profibrotic cytokine IL-13 when
      exposed to IL-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoetin (TSLP); these cytokines were
      produced by hepatocytes, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), and Kupffer cells in
      response to TLR-3 stimulation. In summary, the present results provide the first
      detailed characterization of intrahepatic ILCs in human adult and fetal liver.
      The results indicate a role for ILC2s in human liver fibrosis, implying that
      targeting ILC2s might be a novel therapeutic strategy for its treatment.

PMID- 28613416
TI  - Topical antimicrobial agents for treating foot ulcers in people with diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with diabetes are at high risk for developing foot ulcers,
      which often become infected. These wounds, especially when infected, cause
      substantial morbidity. Wound treatments should aim to alleviate symptoms, promote
      healing, and avoid adverse outcomes, especially lower extremity amputation.
      Topical antimicrobial therapy has been used on diabetic foot ulcers, either as a
      treatment for clinically infected wounds, or to prevent infection in clinically
      uninfected wounds. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of treatment with topical
      antimicrobial agents on: the resolution of signs and symptoms of infection; the
      healing of infected diabetic foot ulcers; and preventing infection and improving
      healing in clinically uninfected diabetic foot ulcers. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched the Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register, CENTRAL, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid
      MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations), Ovid Embase, and EBSCO CINAHL
      Plus in August 2016. We also searched clinical trials registries for ongoing and
      unpublished studies, and checked reference lists to identify additional studies.
      We used no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication, or study
      setting. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials conducted
      in any setting (inpatient or outpatient) that evaluated topical treatment with
      any type of solid or liquid (e.g., cream, gel, ointment) antimicrobial agent,
      including antiseptics, antibiotics, and antimicrobial dressings, in people with
      diabetes mellitus who were diagnosed with an ulcer or open wound of the foot,
      whether clinically infected or uninfected. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two
      review authors independently performed study selection, 'Risk of bias'
      assessment, and data extraction. Initial disagreements were resolved by
      discussion, or by including a third review author when necessary. MAIN RESULTS:
      We found 22 trials that met our inclusion criteria with a total of over 2310
      participants (one study did not report number of participants). The included
      studies mostly had small numbers of participants (from 4 to 317) and relatively
      short follow-up periods (4 to 24 weeks). At baseline, six trials included only
      people with ulcers that were clinically infected; one trial included people with
      both infected and uninfected ulcers; two trials included people with non-infected
      ulcers; and the remaining 13 studies did not report infection status.Included
      studies employed various topical antimicrobial treatments, including
      antimicrobial dressings (e.g. silver, iodides), super-oxidised aqueous solutions,
      zinc hyaluronate, silver sulphadiazine, tretinoin, pexiganan cream, and
      chloramine. We performed the following five comparisons based on the included
      studies: Antimicrobial dressings compared with non-antimicrobial dressings:
      Pooled data from five trials with a total of 945 participants suggest (based on
      the average treatment effect from a random-effects model) that more wounds may
      heal when treated with an antimicrobial dressing than with a non-antimicrobial
      dressing: risk ratio (RR) 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12 to 1.45. These
      results correspond to an additional 119 healing events in the antimicrobial
      dressing arm per 1000 participants (95% CI 51 to 191 more). We consider this low
      certainty evidence (downgraded twice due to risk of bias). The evidence on
      adverse events or other outcomes was uncertain (very low-certainty evidence,
      frequently downgraded due to risk of bias and imprecision). Antimicrobial topical
      treatments (non dressings) compared with non-antimicrobial topical treatments
      (non dressings): There were four trials with a total of 132 participants in this
      comparison that contributed variously to the estimates of outcome data. Evidence
      was generally of low or very low certainty, and the 95% CIs spanned benefit and
      harm: proportion of wounds healed RR 2.82 (95% CI 0.56 to 14.23; 112
      participants; 3 trials; very low-certainty evidence); achieving resolution of
      infection RR 1.16 (95% CI 0.54 to 2.51; 40 participants; 1 trial; low-certainty
      evidence); undergoing surgical resection RR 1.67 (95% CI 0.47 to 5.90; 40
      participants; 1 trial; low-certainty evidence); and sustaining an adverse event
      (no events in either arm; 81 participants; 2 trials; very low-certainty
      evidence). Comparison of different topical antimicrobial treatments: We included
      eight studies with a total of 250 participants, but all of the comparisons were
      different and no data could be appropriately pooled. Reported outcome data were
      limited and we are uncertain about the relative effects of antimicrobial topical
      agents for each of our review outcomes for this comparison, that is wound
      healing, resolution of infection, surgical resection, and adverse events (all
      very low-certainty evidence). Topical antimicrobials compared with systemic
      antibiotics : We included four studies with a total of 937 participants. These
      studies reported no wound-healing data, and the evidence was uncertain for the
      relative effects on resolution of infection in infected ulcers and surgical
      resection (very low certainty). On average, there is probably little difference
      in the risk of adverse events between the compared topical antimicrobial and
      systemic antibiotics treatments: RR 0.91 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.06; moderate-certainty
      evidence - downgraded once for inconsistency). Topical antimicrobial agents
      compared with growth factor: We included one study with 40 participants. The only
      review-relevant outcome reported was number of ulcers healed, and these data were
      uncertain (very low-certainty evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The randomised
      controlled trial data on the effectiveness and safety of topical antimicrobial
      treatments for diabetic foot ulcers is limited by the availability of relatively
      few, mostly small, and often poorly designed trials. Based on our systematic
      review and analysis of the literature, we suggest that: 1) use of an
      antimicrobial dressing instead of a non-antimicrobial dressing may increase the
      number of diabetic foot ulcers healed over a medium-term follow-up period (low
      certainty evidence); and 2) there is probably little difference in the risk of
      adverse events related to treatment between systemic antibiotics and topical
      antimicrobial treatments based on the available studies (moderate-certainty
      evidence). For each of the other outcomes we examined there were either no
      reported data or the available data left us uncertain as to whether or not there
      were any differences between the compared treatments. Given the high, and
      increasing, frequency of diabetic foot wounds, we encourage investigators to
      undertake properly designed randomised controlled trials in this area to evaluate
      the effects of topical antimicrobial treatments for both the prevention and the
      treatment of infection in these wounds and ultimately the effects on wound
      healing.

PMID- 28613417
TI  - Batch-batch stable microbial community in the traditional fermentation process of
      huyumei broad bean pastes.
AB  - : During natural fermentation processes, a characteristic microbial community
      structure (MCS) is naturally formed, and it is interesting to know about its
      batch-batch stability. This issue was explored in a traditional semi-solid-state
      fermentation process of huyumei, a Chinese broad bean paste product. The results
      showed that this MCS mainly contained four aerobic Bacillus species (8 log CFU
      per g), including B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. methylotrophicus, and B.
      tequilensis, and the facultative anaerobe B. cereus with a low concentration (4
      log CFU per g), besides a very small amount of the yeast Zygosaccharomyces rouxii
      (2 log CFU per g). The dynamic change of the MCS in the brine fermentation
      process showed that the abundance of dominant species varied within a small
      range, and in the beginning of process the growth of lactic acid bacteria was
      inhibited and Staphylococcus spp. lost its viability. Also, the MCS and its
      dynamic change were proved to be highly reproducible among seven batches of
      fermentation. Therefore, the MCS naturally and stably forms between different
      batches of the traditional semi-solid-state fermentation of huyumei. SIGNIFICANCE
      AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Revealing microbial community structure and its batch
      batch stability is helpful for understanding the mechanisms of community
      formation and flavour production in a traditional fermentation. This issue in a
      traditional semi-solid-state fermentation of huyumei broad bean paste was firstly
      explored. This fermentation process was revealed to be dominated by a high
      concentration of four aerobic species of Bacillus, a low concentration of B.
      cereus and a small amount of Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Lactic acid bacteria and
      Staphylococcus spp. lost its viability at the beginning of fermentation. Such the
      community structure was proved to be highly reproducible among seven batches.

PMID- 28613418
TI  - Differences in optic nerve head microcirculation between evening and morning in
      patients with coronary artery disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether differences or variation of blood flow in the ONH
      are independent risk factors for CAD. METHODS: We studied 144 consecutive
      patients whose ocular blood flow in the ONH was measured in the evening and
      morning by LSFG. We analyzed the MBR throughout the ONH (MBR-A) and in the tissue
      (MBR-T) and vessels (MBR-V) in the ONH. We also evaluated the MBR-T, MBR-V, and
      MBR-A values obtained in the evening and morning and the variation (Delta)
      between evening and morning values in each group. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients
      (16%) were diagnosed with CAD. The morning MBR-T and MBR-A values were
      significantly lower in these patients with CAD compared to the patients without
      CAD. DeltaMBR-T in the CAD patients was significantly lower compared to that of
      the no-CAD patients. The logistic regression analysis was revealed that a high
      carotid artery plaque score, lower DeltaDBP, and DeltaMBR-T were identified as
      risk factors for CAD. CONCLUSIONS: Ocular microcirculation obtained from LSFG may
      provide a window for detecting changes in microvasculature related to CAD.

PMID- 28613414
TI  - The Arg-Phe-amide peptide 26RFa/glutamine RF-amide peptide and its receptor:
      IUPHAR Review 24.
AB  - The RFamide neuropeptide 26RFa was first isolated from the brain of the European
      green frog on the basis of cross-reactivity with antibodies raised against bovine
      neuropeptide FF (NPFF). 26RFa and its N-terminally extended form glutamine RF
      amide peptide (QRFP) have been identified as cognate ligands of the former orphan
      receptor GPR103, now renamed glutamine RF-amide peptide receptor (QRFP receptor).
      The 26RFa/QRFP precursor has been characterized in various mammalian and non
      mammalian species. In the brain of mammals, including humans, 26RFa/QRFP mRNA is
      almost exclusively expressed in hypothalamic nuclei. The 26RFa/QRFP transcript is
      also present in various organs especially in endocrine glands. While humans
      express only one QRFP receptor, two isoforms are present in rodents. The QRFP
      receptor genes are widely expressed in the CNS and in peripheral tissues, notably
      in bone, heart, kidney, pancreas and testis. Structure-activity relationship
      studies have led to the identification of low MW peptidergic agonists and
      antagonists of QRFP receptor. Concurrently, several selective non-peptidic
      antagonists have been designed from high-throughput screening hit optimization.
      Consistent with the widespread distribution of QRFP receptor mRNA and 26RFa
      binding sites, 26RFa/QRFP exerts a large range of biological activities, notably
      in the control of energy homeostasis, bone formation and nociception that are
      mediated by QRFP receptor or NPFF2. The present report reviews the current
      knowledge concerning the 26RFa/QRFP-QRFP receptor system and discusses the
      potential use of selective QRFP receptor ligands for therapeutic applications.

PMID- 28613422
TI  - THE IDEAL EDITOR.

PMID- 28613425
TI  - Elisabeth Pate-Cornell: Learning from Hazards and Accidents.

PMID- 28613426
TI  - From the Editors.

PMID- 28613427
TI  - Clinical anatomy of the anterior chamber angle in congenital aniridia and
      consequences for trabeculotomy/cyclophotocoagulation.
AB  - Intraocular pressure lowering surgery in congenital aniridia glaucoma (CAG) can
      be complicated by dysgenesis of the limbal region, anterior chamber angle, iris,
      and lens. The anterior segments of 23 eyes (17 patients) with congenital aniridia
      were investigated under general anesthesia using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM).
      The structures of the anterior segment were examined: distance of ciliary body
      processes from the anterior chamber angle and positioning of Schlemm's canal. A
      surgical plan was created on the basis of these data. Schlemm's canal was
      detected in 21 of the 23 examined eyes. The mean distance from the anterior
      chamber angle was 1.3 +/- 0.4 mm (range: 0.5-to 2.1 mm). The mean distance
      between the anterior chamber angle and the ciliary body was 561 +/- 301 um
      (range: 270-1,300 um). The mean prominence of the ciliary body towards the lens
      was 799 +/- 352 um (range: 210-1,660 um). This resulted in a precise UBM-based
      trabeculotomy. In addition, the ciliary body was detected and coagulated ab
      externo with a diode laser probe (810 nm) using diaphanoscopy and UBM. An initial
      UBM examination of the anterior segment is essential in eyes with CAG scheduled
      for trabeculotomy or cyclophotocoagulation. Clin. Anat. 31:64-67, 2018. (c) 2017
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 28613429
TI  - Hydrogen-Bonded Open-Framework with Pyridyl-Decorated Channels: Straightforward
      Preparation and Insight into Its Affinity for Acidic Molecules in Solution.
AB  - A hydrogen-bonded open framework with pores decorated by pyridyl groups was
      constructed by off-charge-stoichiometry assembly of protonated tetrakis(4
      pyridyloxymethyl)methane and [Al(oxalate)3 ]3- , which are the H-bond donor and
      acceptor of ionic H-bond interactions, respectively. This supramolecular porous
      architecture (SPA-2) has 1 nm-large pores interconnected in 3D with large solvent
      accessible void (53 %). It demonstrated remarkable affinity for acidic organic
      molecules in solution, which was investigated by means of various carboxylic
      acids including larger drug molecules. Competing sorption between acetic acid and
      its halogenated homologues evidenced good selectivity of the porous material for
      the halogenated acids. The gathered results, including a series of guest@SPA-2
      crystal structures and HRMAS-NMR spectra, suggest that the efficient sorption
      exhibited by the material relies not only on an acid-base interaction. The facile
      release of these guest molecules under neutral conditions makes this SPA a
      carrier of acidic molecules.

PMID- 28613428
TI  - Pre-natal and post-natal exposure to pet ownership and lung function in children:
      The Seven Northeastern Cities Study.
AB  - To evaluate the association between pre-natal and post-natal exposure to pet
      ownership and lung function in children, a cross-sectional study named Seven
      Northeastern Cities (SNEC) study was conducted. In this study, children's lung
      function including the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 ), forced vital
      capacity (FVC), maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), and peak expiratory flow
      (PEF) were measured by spirometers, and pet ownership situations were collected
      by questionnaire. Analyzed by multiple logistic regression and generalized linear
      modeling, we found that for all subjects, pet exposure in the first 2 years of
      life was significantly associated with lung function impairment of FVC<85%
      predicted (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01,
      1.63). For current pet exposure, the increased odds of lung function impairment
      ranged from 35% (aOR=1.35; 95%CI: 1.12, 1.62) for FVC<85% predicted to 57%
      (aOR=1.57; 95%CI: 1.29, 1.93) for FEV1 <85% predicted. The in utero exposure was
      not related to lung function impairment. Compared with other pets, higher odds
      were observed among children with dogs. When stratified by gender, girls with
      current pet exposure were more likely to have lung function impairment than boys.
      It implies self-reported exposures to pets were negatively associated with lung
      function among the children under study.

PMID- 28613430
TI  - Photocontrol over Molecular Shape: Synthesis and Photochemical Evaluation of
      Glycoazobenzene Macrocycles.
AB  - Reversible shape switching due to external stimuli is an attractive property for
      the control of molecular features. Hence, we aimed at macrocycles to investigate
      photoswitching of molecular shape. We prepared the first carbohydrate-based
      macrocycles comprising a photoresponsive azobenzene hinge. These macrocycles were
      readily obtained by cyclization of isothiocyanate-armed bis-azobenzene glycosides
      with piperazine. The unprotected macrocycles exhibit favorable photochromic
      properties in water and DMSO. Notably, the efficient trans->cis isomerization
      results in a remarkable shape transformation of the molecule. Additionally, the
      structure is characterized by restricted conformational freedom of the backbone,
      resulting in a single main conformer in each geometrical state (trans or cis).
      Measurement of optical rotation values and circular dichroism spectra revealed a
      tremendous change in chirality upon photoisomerization, with a strong helical
      induction in the cis state. These findings highlight the applicability of the new
      macrocycles as chiroptical molecular switches.

PMID- 28613432
TI  - Medical therapy for preventing recurrent endometriosis after conservative
      surgery: a cost-effectiveness analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the cost-effectiveness of different strategies, including
      gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) and oral contraceptive therapy,
      for the prevention of endometriosis recurrence after conservative surgery.
      DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness analysis from a health care perspective. SETTING: A
      health-resource-limited setting in China. POPULATION: Patients who underwent
      conservative laparoscopic or laparotomic surgery for endometriosis. METHODS: A
      Markov model was developed for the endometriosis disease course. Clinical data
      were obtained from published studies. Direct medical costs and resource
      utilization in the Chinese health care setting were taken into account. The
      health and economic outcomes were evaluated over a period from treatment
      initiation to menopause onset. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to test the
      impact of various parameters and assumptions on the model output. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained and costs from a health care
      perspective. RESULTS: The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 6-month GnRH-a
      therapy compared with no therapy ranged from $6,185 per QALY in deep
      endometriosis to $6,425 with peritoneal endometriosis. A one-way sensitivity
      analysis showed considerable influential factors, such as remission rates and
      utility values. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that 6-month GnRH-a
      therapy is cost-effective in most cases at a threshold of $7,400/QALY, regardless
      of the type of endometriosis. CONCLUSION: Six months of therapy with GnRH-a can
      be a highly cost-effective option for the prevention of endometriosis recurrence.
      TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist is cost effective for
      the prevention of endometriosis recurrence.

PMID- 28613431
TI  - A conserved coiled-coil protein pair focuses the cytokinetic Z-ring in
      Caulobacter crescentus.
AB  - The cytoskeletal GTPase FtsZ assembles at midcell, recruits the division
      machinery and directs envelope invagination for bacterial cytokinesis. ZapA, a
      conserved FtsZ-binding protein, promotes Z-ring stability and efficient division
      through a mechanism that is not fully understood. Here, we investigated the
      function of ZapA in Caulobacter crescentus. We found that ZapA is encoded in an
      operon with a small coiled-coil protein we named ZauP. ZapA and ZauP co-localized
      at the division site and were each required for efficient division. ZapA
      interacted directly with both FtsZ and ZauP. Neither ZapA nor ZauP influenced
      FtsZ dynamics or bundling, in vitro, however. Z-rings were diffuse in cells
      lacking zapA or zauP and, conversely, FtsZ was enriched at midcell in cells
      overproducing ZapA and ZauP. Additionally, FtsZ persisted at the poles longer
      when ZapA and ZauP were overproduced, and frequently colocalized with MipZ, a
      negative regulator of FtsZ polymerization. We propose that ZapA and ZauP promote
      efficient cytokinesis by stabilizing the midcell Z-ring through a bundling
      independent mechanism. The zauPzapA operon is present in diverse Gram-negative
      bacteria, indicating a common mechanism for Z-ring assembly.

PMID- 28613433
TI  - A weight of evidence framework for environmental assessments: Inferring
      qualities.
AB  - The weighing of heterogeneous evidence such as conventional laboratory toxicity
      tests, field tests, biomarkers, and community surveys is essential to
      environmental assessments. Evidence synthesis and weighing is needed to determine
      causes of observed effects, hazards posed by chemicals or other agents, the
      completeness of remediation, and other environmental qualities. As part of its
      guidelines for weight of evidence (WoE) in ecological assessments, the US
      Environmental Protection Agency has developed a generally applicable framework.
      Its basic steps are these: assemble evidence, weight the evidence, and weigh the
      body of evidence. Use of the framework can increase the consistency and rigor of
      WoE practices and provide greater transparency than ad hoc and narrative-based
      approaches. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:1038-1044. Published 2017. This
      article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

PMID- 28613434
TI  - Cardiac heterogeneity and drug-provoked arrhythmias.

PMID- 28613435
TI  - Environmentally Benign, Rapid, and Selective Extraction of Gold from Ores and
      Waste Electronic Materials.
AB  - The extraction of gold from ores and electronic waste is an important topic
      worldwide, as this precious metal has immense value in a variety of fields.
      However, serious environmental pollution and high energy consumption due to the
      use of toxic oxidation reagents and harsh reaction conditions is a well-known
      problem in the gold industry. Herein, we report a new chemical method based on
      the combined use of N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and pyridine (Py), which has a
      greatly decreased environmental impact and reagent cost, as well as mild reaction
      requirements. This method can directly leach Au0 from gold ore and electronic
      waste to form AuIII in water. The process is achieved in a yield of approximately
      90 % at room temperature and a nearly neutral pH. The minimum dose of NBS/Py is
      as low as 10 mm, which exhibits low toxicity towards mammalian cells and animals
      as well as aquatic creatures. The high leaching selectivity of Au over other
      metals during gold leaching is demonstrated, showing that this method has great
      potential for practical industrial application towards the sustainable refining
      of gold from ores and electronic waste.

PMID- 28613437
TI  - T Cell Subsets Predicting Belatacept-Resistant Rejection: Finding the Root Where
      the Trouble Starts.

PMID- 28613436
TI  - The Incremental Cost of Incompatible Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: A
      National Cohort Analysis.
AB  - Incompatible living donor kidney transplantation (ILDKT) has been established as
      an effective option for end-stage renal disease patients with willing but HLA
      incompatible living donors, reducing mortality and improving quality of life.
      Depending on antibody titer, ILDKT can require highly resource-intensive
      procedures, including intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange, and/or cell
      depleting antibody treatment, as well as protocol biopsies and donor-specific
      antibody testing. This study sought to compare the cost and Medicare
      reimbursement, exclusive of organ acquisition payment, for ILDKT (n = 926) with
      varying antibody titers to matched compatible transplants (n = 2762) performed
      between 2002 and 2011. Data were assembled from a national cohort study of ILDKT
      and a unique data set linking hospital cost accounting data and Medicare claims.
      ILDKT was more expensive than matched compatible transplantation, ranging from
      20% higher adjusted costs for positive on Luminex assay but negative flow
      cytometric crossmatch, 26% higher for positive flow cytometric crossmatch but
      negative cytotoxic crossmatch, and 39% higher for positive cytotoxic crossmatch
      (p < 0.0001 for all). ILDKT was associated with longer median length of stay
      (12.9 vs. 7.8 days), higher Medicare payments ($91 330 vs. $63 782 p < 0.0001),
      and greater outlier payments. In conclusion, ILDKT increases the cost of and
      payments for kidney transplantation.

PMID- 28613438
TI  - UHPLC/HR-ESI-MS/MS Profiling of Phenolics from Tunisian Lycium arabicum Boiss.
      Antioxidant and Anti-lipase Activities' Evaluation.
AB  - This study was performed in the aim to evaluate nine different extracts from
      Tunisian Lycium arabicum for their total phenolic and total flavonoid contents,
      phytochemical analyses as well as their antioxidant and anti-lipase activities.
      The in vitro antioxidant property was investigated using three complementary
      methods (DPPH, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and beta-carotene
      linoleic acid bleaching assays) while anti-lipase activity was evaluated using 4
      methylumbelliferyl oleate method. From all of the tested extracts the most potent
      found to be the polar MeOH extracts especially those of stems and leaves. In
      order to investigate the chemical composition of these extracts and possible
      correlation of their constituents with the observed activities, an UHPLC/HR-ESI
      MS/MS analysis was performed. Several compounds belonging to different chemical
      classes were tentatively identified such as rutin and kampferol rutinoside, the
      major constituents of the leaves, and N-caffeoyltyramine, lyciumide A, N
      dihydrocaffeoyltyramine as well as fatty acids: trihydroxyoctadecadienoic acid
      and hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid isomers were detected abundantly in the stems.
      These results showed that the MeOH extracts of stems and leaves of L. arabicum
      can be considered as a potential source of biological active compounds.

PMID- 28613440
TI  - The Existence of an Isolated Hydronium Ion in the Interior of Proteins.
AB  - Neutron diffraction analysis studies reported an isolated hydronium ion (H3 O+ )
      in the interior of d-xylose isomerase (XI) and phycocyanobilin-ferredoxin
      oxidoreductase (PcyA). H3 O+ forms hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) with two histidine
      side-chains and a backbone carbonyl group in PcyA, whereas H3 O+ forms H-bonds
      with three acidic residues in XI. Using a quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical
      (QM/MM) approach, we analyzed stabilization of H3 O+ by the protein environment.
      QM/MM calculations indicated that H3 O+ was unstable in the PcyA crystal
      structure, releasing a proton to an H-bond partner His88, producing H2 O and
      protonated His88. On the other hand, H3 O+ was stable in the XI crystal
      structure. H-bond partners of isolated H3 O+ would be practically limited to
      acidic residues such as aspartic and glutamic acids in the protein environment.

PMID- 28613441
TI  - Impacts of Cellulose Fiber Particle Size and Starch Type on Expansion During
      Extrusion Processing.
AB  - Objective of this study was to understand the impacts of cellulose fiber with
      different particle size distributions, and starches with different molecular
      weights, on the expansion of direct expanded products. Fiber with 3 different
      particle size distributions (<125, 150 to 250, 300 to 425 MUm) and 4 types of
      starches representing different amylose contents (0%, 23%, 50%, and 70%) were
      investigated. Feed moisture content (18 +/- 0.5 % w.b) and extruder temperature
      (140  degrees C) were kept constant and only the extruder screw speed was varied
      (100, 175, and 250 rpm) to achieve different specific mechanical energy inputs.
      Fiber particle size and starch type significantly influenced the various product
      parameters. In general, the smaller fiber particle size resulted in extrudate
      with higher expansion ratio. Starch with an amylose: amylopectin ratio of 23:77
      resulted in highest expansion compared to the other starches, when no fiber was
      added. Interestingly, starch with 50:50, amylose: amylopectin ratio in
      combination with smaller fiber particles resulted in product with significantly
      greater expansion than the control starch extrudates. Aggregation of fiber and
      shrinkage of surface was observed in the Scanning Electron Microscope images at
      10% fiber level. The results suggest the presence of active interactions between
      the cellulose fiber particles and corn starch molecules during the expansion
      process. A better understanding of these interactions can help in the development
      of high fiber extruded products with better expansion.

PMID- 28613442
TI  - The effect of different immunoprophylaxis regimens on post-transplant
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in CMV-seropositive liver transplant recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of different immunoprophylaxis regimens on
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in liver transplant recipients (LTRs) have not
      been compared. METHODS: In a cohort, we studied 343 CMV-seropositive recipient
      (R+) and 83 seronegative donor/recipient (D-/R-) consecutive LTRs from 2004 to
      2007. Immunoprophylaxis regimens included steroid-only, steroids plus rabbit anti
      thymocyte globulin (rATG), and steroids plus basiliximab. Logistic regression
      analysis, Cox proportional hazards regression model, and log-rank test were
      performed for multivariate analysis as appropriate. RESULTS: In total, 164 (39%),
      69 (16%), and 193 (45%) patients received steroid-only, basiliximab, and rATG
      immunoprophylaxis, respectively. CMV infection rates were 15.7% (54/343) in CMV
      R+ LTRs and 2.4% (2/83) in CMV R- LTRs. Among CMV R+ LTRs who received rATG, the
      use of at least 6 weeks of CMV prophylaxis reduced the rate of CMV infection from
      24.4% (19/78) to 11.7% (9/77). In multivariate analysis, CMV R+ vs D-/R- (odds
      ratio [OR]=13.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8-97.2), rATG >3 mg/kg vs
      steroid-only induction (OR=1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.3), and CMV prophylaxis <6 weeks vs
      >=6 weeks (OR=2.7, 95% CI: 1.2-6.4) were independently associated with CMV
      infection. Subgroup analysis in CMV D-/R+ group who received rATG showed that >=6
      weeks of CMV prophylaxis significantly decreased the risk of CMV infection
      (OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.9; P=.03). CONCLUSION: The use of rATG immunoprophylaxis
      increases the risk of CMV infection in CMV-seropositive LTRs, specifically in the
      CMV D-/R+ group. Prophylaxis with valganciclovir in this group for at least 6
      weeks decreases the risk of CMV infection.

PMID- 28613443
TI  - Green Pea and Garlic Puree Model Food Development for Thermal Pasteurization
      Process Quality Evaluation.
AB  - Development and selection of model foods is a critical part of microwave thermal
      process development, simulation validation, and optimization. Previously
      developed model foods for pasteurization process evaluation utilized Maillard
      reaction products as the time-temperature integrators, which resulted in similar
      temperature sensitivity among the models. The aim of this research was to develop
      additional model foods based on different time-temperature integrators, determine
      their dielectric properties and color change kinetics, and validate the optimal
      model food in hot water and microwave-assisted pasteurization processes. Color,
      quantified using a* value, was selected as the time-temperature indicator for
      green pea and garlic puree model foods. Results showed 915 MHz microwaves had a
      greater penetration depth into the green pea model food than the garlic. a* value
      reaction rates for the green pea model were approximately 4 times slower than in
      the garlic model food; slower reaction rates were preferred for the application
      of model food in this study, that is quality evaluation for a target process of
      90  degrees C for 10 min at the cold spot. Pasteurization validation used the
      green pea model food and results showed that there were quantifiable differences
      between the color of the unheated control, hot water pasteurization, and
      microwave-assisted thermal pasteurization system. Both model foods developed in
      this research could be utilized for quality assessment and optimization of
      various thermal pasteurization processes.

PMID- 28613444
TI  - Interindividual differences in embodied marginalization: Osteological and stable
      isotope analyses of antebellum enslaved individuals.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Through pathological and stable isotope analyses, this study probes
      the stressors, disease ecology, and diets of enslaved individuals from an
      antebellum plantation cemetery. The study aims to highlight how interindividual
      isotopic differences reveal that marginalization is not uniformly experienced or
      embodied. METHODS: The cemetery population consists of 16 individuals; dental and
      skeletal pathological indicators were collected for all individuals, and light
      stable isotope ratios (delta15 N, delta13 C) were generated from the collagen and
      hydroxyapatite of nine individuals. RESULTS: The analyzed individuals have high
      frequencies of enamel defects-similar to contemporaneous enslaved cemetery
      individuals-and particularly high frequencies of carious lesions. Skeletal
      analysis shows evidence of chronic conditions among several individuals, two of
      whom likely have tuberculosis. Although the sample size is small, stable isotope
      values display interesting trends: there is interindividual heterogeneity in
      delta13 C values, and most subadults from the cemetery have lower delta15 N and
      higher delta13 C values than the sampled adults. These relationships can be
      tested with larger datasets and have the potential to reveal important
      information about slave foodways and the broader experience of enslavement.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that racial discrimination,
      enslavement, and age do not fully account for the heterogeneity in degree of
      embodied stressors. There are likely other factors at play, intersecting with the
      aforementioned, that influenced the lived experience of slavery and the degree of
      marginalization.

PMID- 28613449
TI  - Study of the Cytotoxic and Bactericidal Effects of Sila-substituted Thioalkyne
      and Mercapto-thione Compounds based on 1,2,3-Triazole Scaffold.
AB  - A series of sila-organosulphur compounds containing 1,2,3-triazole cores were
      screened for their cytotoxic activity on human breast cancer cell line MCF-7.
      Most of the tested compounds exhibited moderate-to-good activity against the
      cancer cells. Especially, the compound 4-((2-(trimethylsilyl)ethynylthio)methyl)
      1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazole (3a) from series of sila-substituted thioalkyne 1,2,3
      triazoles (STATs) and the compounds 3-(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)-1-mercapto
      1,1-bis(trimethylsilyl)propane-2-thione (4a) and 1-mercapto-1,1
      bis(trimethylsilyl)-3-(1-phenethyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)propane-2-thione (4e)
      from series of sila-substituted mercapto-thione 1,2,3-triazoles (SMTTs) exhibited
      promising cytotoxicity against MCF-7 with IC50 values of 35.17, 32.63 and 30.3
      MUg/mL, respectively. In addition, the possible mechanisms for inhibition of cell
      growth and induction of apoptotic cell death were explored by DAPI staining, cell
      cycle analysis and qRT-PCR. The synthetic compounds were evaluated for their in
      vitro antibacterial activities, and as a result, the most prominent effects were
      observed for 3e and 4e. Especially, 3e was found to be quite active against all
      the tested strains with the MIC values ranging from 15 to 62 MUg/mL, except P.
      aeruginosa. The results of the time-kill assay suggested that the compound of 3e
      completely inhibited the growth of both gram-negative bacteria, A. baumannii, and
      gram-positive bacteria, S. aureus. In addition, SEM analysis confirmed
      morphostructural damage of the bacteria. Our findings could be applicable for
      developing dual-targeting anticancer/antibacterial therapeutics.

PMID- 28613450
TI  - Chemical Composition and Biological Studies of the Essential Oil from Aerial
      Parts of Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima (L.) Arcang. Growing in Tunisia.
AB  - The chemical composition, antioxidant, cytotoxic, anticholinesterase and anti
      tyrosinase activities of the hydrodistilled essential oil of the aerial parts of
      Beta vulgaris subsp. maritime (L.) Arcang. from Tunisia have been evaluated. The
      chemical composition of the oil (yield 0.037% [w/w]), determined by GC-FID and
      GC/MS is reported for the first time. Twenty five components, accounting for
      98.1% of the total oil have been identified. The oil was characterized by a high
      proportion of oxygenated sesquiterpenes (39.2%), followed by sesquiterpene
      hydrocarbons (30.3%) and one apocarotenoids (26.3%). The main compounds were
      gamma-irone (26.3%), alpha-cadinol (12.1%), T-cadinol (10.6%), bicyclogermacrene
      (10.4%) and delta-cadinene (6.0%). The isolated oil was tested for its
      antioxidant activity using the DPPH. , ABTS+. , catalase, and paraoxonase assays
      and also for its cytotoxic, anticholinesterase, and anti-tyrosinase activities.
      The essential oil exhibited high antioxidant activity (IC50  = 0.055 +/- 0.006
      mg/ml) and important result oncatalase (524.447 +/- 2.58 Units/mg protein).
      Furthermore, it exerted a significant cytotoxic effect against A549 cell line,
      with IC50  = 42.44 +/- 1.40 MUg/ml. The results indicate that the essential oil
      of B. vulgaris subsp. maritima (L.) Arcang. aerial parts may be used in future as
      an alternative to synthetic antioxidant agents, with potential application in the
      food and pharmaceutical industries.

PMID- 28613451
TI  - Make the DRE great again.

PMID- 28613452
TI  - Truncal ataxia or disequilibrium is an unrecognised cause of orthostatic
      intolerance in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis.

PMID- 28613453
TI  - The scourge of uromycitisis and fake journals.

PMID- 28613454
TI  - Changes in undergraduates' marijuana, heavy alcohol and cigarette use following
      legalization of recreational marijuana use in Oregon.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Recreational marijuana legalization (RML) went into effect
      in Oregon in July 2015. RML is expected to influence marijuana use by adolescents
      and young adults in particular, and by those with a propensity for substance use.
      We sought to quantify changes in rates of marijuana use among college students in
      Oregon from pre- to post-RML relative to college students in other states across
      the same time period. DESIGN: Repeated cross-sectional survey data from the 2012
      16 administrations of the Healthy Minds Study. SETTING: Seven 4-year universities
      in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: There were 10 924 undergraduate participants.
      One large public Oregon university participated in 2014 and 2016 (n = 588 and
      1115, respectively); six universities in US states where recreational marijuana
      use was illegal participated both in 2016 and at least once between 2012 and
      2015. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported marijuana use in the past 30 days (yes/no) was
      regressed on time (pre/post 2015), exposure to RML (i.e. Oregon students in 2016)
      and covariates using mixed-effects logistic regression. Moderation of RML effects
      by recent heavy alcohol use was examined. FINDINGS: Rates of marijuana use
      increased from pre- to post-2015 at six of the seven universities, a trend that
      was significant overall. Increases in rates of marijuana use were significantly
      greater in Oregon than in comparison institutions, but only among students
      reporting recent heavy alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of Oregon college
      students' marijuana use increased (relative to that of students in other states)
      following recreational marijuana legislation in 2015, but only for those who
      reported recent heavy use of alcohol. Such alcohol misuse may be a proxy for
      vulnerabilities to substance use or lack of prohibitions (e.g. cultural) against
      it.

PMID- 28613455
TI  - In their own words.

PMID- 28613456
TI  - Erratum to "CREB activity is required for luteinizing hormone-induced the
      expression of EGF-like factors".

PMID- 28613458
TI  - Tracking rural hospital closures.
AB  - (1) Over 50 percent of primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs)
      were in rural areas in November 2016, according to the Health Resources and
      Services Administration. (2) Rural areas face a higher uninsured rate than
      metropolitan areas. (3) Rural hospitals tend to have low patient volume, a high
      portion of patients on Medicare and Medicaid, and a high number of uninsured
      patients.

PMID- 28613807
TI  - Er3+/Fe3+ Stimulated Electroactive, Visible Light Emitting, and High Dielectric
      Flexible PVDF Film Based Piezoelectric Nanogenerators: A Simple and Superior Self
      Powered Energy Harvester with Remarkable Power Density.
AB  - The design of an energy-harvesting unit with superior output characteristics,
      i.e., high power density, is a great technological challenge in the present time.
      Here, simple, lightweight, flexible, and cost-effective piezoelectric
      nanogenerators (PENGs) have been fabricated by integrating the aluminum
      electrodes onto Er3+/Fe3+ stimulated electroactive, visible-light-emitting, and
      large dielectric PVDF films in which ErCl3.6H2O and Fe(NO3)3.9H2O act as the
      catalytic agents for electroactive beta polymorph nucleation and the enhancement
      of dielectric properties. The developed PENGs exhibit excellent energy-harvesting
      performance with very high power density and very fast charging ability compared
      with the previously reported PVDF-assisted prototype nanogenerators. The PENGs
      lead to very large power density (~160 and ~55.34 mW cm-3) under periodic finger
      imparting for Er3+- and Fe3+-stimulated PVDF-film-based energy-harvester units,
      respectively. The fabricated self-powered PENG is also able to light up 54
      commercially available light-emitting diodes.

PMID- 28613457
TI  - Live-cell imaging of cell signaling using genetically encoded fluorescent
      reporters.
AB  - Synergistic advances in fluorescent protein engineering and live-cell imaging
      techniques in recent years have fueled the concurrent development and application
      of genetically encoded fluorescent reporters that are tailored for tracking
      signaling dynamics in living systems over multiple length and time scales. These
      biosensors are uniquely suited for this challenging task, owing to their
      specificity, sensitivity, and versatility, as well as to the noninvasive and
      nondestructive nature of fluorescence and the power of genetic encoding. Over the
      past 10 years, a growing number of fluorescent reporters have been developed for
      tracking a wide range of biological signals in living cells and animals,
      including second messenger and metabolite dynamics, enzyme activation and
      activity, and cell cycle progression and neuronal activity. Many of these
      biosensors are gaining wide use and are proving to be indispensable for
      unraveling the complex biological functions of individual signaling molecules in
      their native environment, the living cell, shedding new light on the structural
      and molecular underpinnings of cell signaling. In this review, we highlight
      recent advances in protein engineering that are likely to help expand and improve
      the design and application of these valuable tools. We then turn our focus to
      specific examples of live-cell imaging using genetically encoded fluorescent
      reporters as an important platform for advancing our understanding of G protein
      coupled receptor signaling and neuronal activity.

PMID- 28613808
TI  - Sensitivity-Enhanced Wearable Active Voiceprint Sensor Based on Cellular
      Polypropylene Piezoelectret.
AB  - Wearable active sensors have extensive applications in mobile biosensing and
      human-machine interaction but require good flexibility, high sensitivity,
      excellent stability, and self-powered feature. In this work, cellular
      polypropylene (PP) piezoelectret was chosen as the core material of a sensitivity
      enhanced wearable active voiceprint sensor (SWAVS) to realize voiceprint
      recognition. By virtue of the dipole orientation control method, the air layers
      in the piezoelectret were efficiently utilized, and the current sensitivity was
      enhanced (from 1.98 pA/Hz to 5.81 pA/Hz at 115 dB). The SWAVS exhibited the
      superiorities of high sensitivity, accurate frequency response, and excellent
      stability. The voiceprint recognition system could make correct reactions to
      human voices by judging both the password and speaker. This study presented a
      voiceprint sensor with potential applications in noncontact biometric recognition
      and safety guarantee systems, promoting the progress of wearable sensor networks.

PMID- 28613809
TI  - Separators with Biomineralized Zirconia Coatings for Enhanced Thermo- and Electro
      Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Porous separators are key components for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and they
      have drawn considerable attention because of their vital role in governing
      battery cost and performance (e.g., power density, safety, and longevity). Here,
      zirconia-coated separators were fabricated via a facile biomineralization process
      with the aim to improve the performance of commercialized polypropylene
      separators. The as-prepared organic-inorganic composite separators show excellent
      thermal stability, even at the melting temperature (160  degrees C) of
      polypropylene. This is due to the well-distributed zirconia coatings on the
      separator surfaces. Furthermore, the interfacial impedance of the composite
      separators is only 343.8 Omega, which is four times lower than the pristine
      polypropylene ones. The results demonstrate an attractive method to prepare
      organic-inorganic composite separators with outstanding properties, which makes
      them promising candidates for high-performance LIBs.

PMID- 28613810
TI  - MOF-Derived Formation of Ni2P-CoP Bimetallic Phosphides with Strong Interfacial
      Effect toward Electrocatalytic Water Splitting.
AB  - Bimetallic phosphides have attracted research interest for their synergistic
      effect and superior electrocatalytic activities for electrocatalytic water
      splitting. Herein, a MOF-derived phosphorization approach was developed to
      produce Ni2P-CoP bimetallic phosphides as bifunctional electrocatalysts for both
      hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER). Ni2P-CoP shows superior
      electrocatalytic activities to both pure Ni2P and CoP toward HER and OER,
      revealing a strong synergistic effect. High-resolution transmission electron
      microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy elemental mapping analysis
      show that, in the sample Ni2P-CoP, the Ni2P and CoP nanoparticles with an average
      particle size 10-20 nm were mixed closely on the nanoscale, creating numerous
      Ni2P/CoP interfaces. By comparison with the sample Ni2P+CoP, in which seldom
      Ni2P/CoP interfaces exist, we documented that the Ni2P/CoP interface is an
      essential prerequisite to realize the synergistic effect and to achieve the
      enhanced electrocatalytic activities in Ni2P-CoP bimetallic phosphides. This
      finding is meaningful for designing and developing bicomponent and even
      multicomponent electrocatalysts.

PMID- 28613811
TI  - Metal-Free Photocatalyst with Visible-Light-Driven Post-Illumination Catalytic
      Memory.
AB  - A novel metal-free photocatalyst with post-illumination catalytic memory was
      fabricated by the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and
      graphene (Gr), in which g-C3N4 acts as an efficient photocatalyst and the CNTs
      and Gr act as supercapacitors. The removal of phenol was achieved in the dark by
      post-illumination catalytic memory because the photocatalyst could store a
      portion of its photoactivity via photogenerated electrons in the CNTs and Gr
      under visible-light illumination and then release the electrons again in the
      dark. Therefore, this metal-free photocatalyst is capable of operation in the
      dark for a broad range of applications.

PMID- 28613813
TI  - Pillared-Layer Metal-Organic Frameworks for Improved Lithium-Ion Storage
      Performance.
AB  - Recently, more and more metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been directly used
      as anodic materials in lithium-ion batteries, but judicious design or choice of
      MOFs is still challenging for lack of structural-property knowledge. In this
      article we propose a pillared-layer strategy to achieve improved Li-storage
      performance. Four Mn(II) and Co(II) MOFs with mixed azide and carboxylate ligands
      were studied to illustrate the strategy. In these 3D MOFs, layers (1, 3, and 4)
      or chains (2) with short bridges are linked by long organic spacers. All the MOFs
      show very high lithiation capacity (1170-1400 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1) in the
      first cycle owing to the rich insertion sites arising from the azide ion and the
      aromatic ligands. After the formation cycles, the reversible capacities of the
      anodes from 1, 3, and 4 are kept at a high level (580-595 mA h g-1) with good
      rate and cycling performance, while the anode from 2 undergoes a dramatic drop in
      capacity. All the MOFs lose the crystallinity after the first cycle. While the
      amorphization of the chain-based framework of 2 leads to major irreversible
      deposit of Li ions, the amorphous phases derived from the pillared-layer
      frameworks of 1, 3, and 4 still retain rich accessible space for reversible
      insertion and diffusion of active Li ions. Consistent with the analysis,
      electrochemical impedance spectra revealed that the pillared-layer MOFs led to
      significantly smaller charge-transfer resistances than 2. Soft X-ray absorption
      spectroscopy suggested that no metal conversion is involved in the lithiation
      process, consistent with the fact that the isomorphous Co(II) (3) and Mn(II) (4)
      MOFs are quite similar in anodic performance.

PMID- 28613812
TI  - Role of Oxygen Deposition Pressure in the Formation of Ti Defect States in
      TiO2(001) Anatase Thin Films.
AB  - We report the study of anatase TiO2(001)-oriented thin films grown by pulsed
      laser deposition on LaAlO3(001). A combination of in situ and ex situ methods has
      been used to address both the origin of the Ti3+-localized states and their
      relationship with the structural and electronic properties on the surface and the
      subsurface. Localized in-gap states are analyzed using resonant X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy and are related to the Ti3+ electronic configuration,
      homogeneously distributed over the entire film thickness. We find that an
      increase in the oxygen pressure corresponds to an increase in Ti3+ only in a well
      defined range of deposition pressure; outside this range, Ti3+ and the strength
      of the in-gap states are reduced.

PMID- 28613815
TI  - Self-Assembled Exopolysaccharide Nanoparticles for Bioremediation and Green
      Synthesis of Noble Metal Nanoparticles.
AB  - Continuing efforts have been made to explore novel exopolysaccharides (EPSs) for
      valuable applications. In this research, we report for the first time that a
      novel non-glucan EPS named EPS-605 can self-assemble to form spherical nanosize
      particles of ~88 nm in diameter, expanding both the range of EPS type and
      structural type that EPSs self-assemble into. Characterization of EPS-605 shows
      that it is composed of mannose, glucose, and galactose with several modifications
      including acylation, phosphorylation, sulfation, and carboxylation, and a highly
      negative charge. EPS-605 showed a record biosorption capability for Pb2+, Cu2+,
      Cd2+, and methylene blue as compared to that of other reported EPSs, biosorbents,
      and nanosorbents. The adsorption ability of EPS-605 is affected by pH,
      temperature, the initial adsorbate concentration, the contact time, and the
      presence of background electrolytes. The mechanism of EPS-605 adsorbing heavy
      metals seems to be different to that for dyes. Moreover, EPS-605 can serve as the
      reductant in the synthesis of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and AgNPs enabling good
      monodispersity within the shortest time (of 30 min) compared to that from other
      EPSs and without any extra pretreatment. Our research advances the development of
      novel EPSs and provides a new, eco-friendly, and renewable platform for both the
      bioremediation and green synthesis of nanomaterials.

PMID- 28613814
TI  - 2-Chloropropionamide As a Low-Reactivity Electrophile for Irreversible Small
      Molecule Probe Identification.
AB  - Resurgent interest in covalent target engagement in drug discovery has
      demonstrated that small molecules containing weakly reactive electrophiles can be
      safe and effective therapies. Several recently FDA-approved drugs feature an
      acrylamide functionality to selectively engage cysteine side chains of kinases
      (Ibrutinib, Afatinib, and Neratinib). Additional electrophilic functionalities
      whose reactivity is compatible with highly selective target engagement and in
      vivo application could open new avenues in covalent small molecule discovery.
      Here, we report the synthesis and evaluation of a library of small molecules
      containing the 2-chloropropionamide functionality, which we demonstrate is less
      reactive than typical acrylamide electrophiles. Although many library members do
      not appear to label proteins in cells, we identified S-CW3554 as selectively
      labeling protein disulfide isomerase and inhibiting its enzymatic activity.
      Subsequent profiling of the library against five diverse cancer cell lines showed
      unique cytotoxicity for S-CW3554 in cells derived from multiple myeloma, a cancer
      recently reported to be sensitive to PDI inhibition. Our novel PDI inhibitor
      highlights the potential of 2-chloropropionamides as weak and stereochemically
      tunable electrophiles for covalent drug discovery.

PMID- 28613816
TI  - High Volumetric Energy Density Hybrid Supercapacitors Based on Reduced Graphene
      Oxide Scrolls.
AB  - The low volumetric energy density of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based
      electrodes limits its application in commercial electrochemical energy storage
      devices that require high-performance energy storage capacities in small volumes.
      The volumetric energy density of rGO-based electrode materials is very low due to
      their low packing density. A supercapacitor with enhanced packing density and
      high volumetric energy density is fabricated using doped rGO scrolls (GFNSs) as
      the electrode material. The restacking of rGO sheets is successfully controlled
      through synthesizing the doped scroll structures while increasing the packing
      density. The fabricated cell exhibits an ultrahigh volumetric energy density of
      49.66 Wh/L with excellent cycling stability (>10 000 cycles). This unique design
      strategy for the electrode material has significant potential for the future
      supercapacitors with high volumetric energy densities.

PMID- 28613817
TI  - Neutron Reflection Study of Surface Adsorption of Fc, Fab, and the Whole mAb.
AB  - Characterizing the influence of fragment crystallization (Fc) and antigen-binding
      fragment (Fab) on monoclonal antibody (mAb) adsorption at the air/water interface
      is an important step to understanding liquid mAb drug product stability during
      manufacture, shipping, and storage. Here, neutron reflection is used to study the
      air/water adsorption of a mAb and its Fc and Fab fragments. By varying the
      isotopic contrast, the adsorbed amount, thickness, orientation, and immersion of
      the adsorbed layers could be determined unambiguously. While Fc adsorption
      reached saturation within the hour, its surface adsorbed amount showed little
      variation with bulk concentration. In contrast, Fab adsorption was slower and the
      adsorbed amount was concentration dependent. The much higher Fc adsorption, as
      compared to Fab, was linked to its lower surface charge. Time and concentration
      dependence of mAb adsorption was dominated by Fab behavior, although both Fab and
      Fc behaviors contributed to the amount of mAb adsorbed. Changing the pH from 5.5
      to 8.8 did not much perturb the adsorbed amount of Fc, Fab, or mAb. However, a
      small decrease in adsorption was observed for the Fc over pH 8-8.8 and vice versa
      for the Fab and mAb, consistent with a dominant Fab behavior. As bulk
      concentration increased from 5 to 50 ppm, the thicknesses of the Fc layers were
      almost constant at 40 A, while Fab and mAb layers increased from 45 to 50 A.
      These results imply that the adsorbed mAb, Fc, and Fab all retained their
      globular structures and were oriented with their short axial lengths
      perpendicular to the interface.

PMID- 28613818
TI  - Efficient Removal of Anionic Radioactive Pollutant from Water Using Ordered Urea
      Functionalized Mesoporous Polymeric Nanoparticle.
AB  - A urea-functionalized ordered mesoporous polymeric nanoparticle for removing the
      perrhenate anion ReO4- as the surrogate of the particularly intractable anion
      radioactive pollutant TcO4- was demonstrated in the present study. This
      nanomaterial (denoted as urea-MPN) was produced for the first time by a
      surfactant-directed urea-phenol-formaldehyde resol oligomers self-assembly
      protocol under hydrothermal condition. The obtained urea-MPN possessed the
      uniform nanosized spherical morphology with a 3D interconnected ordered cubic
      mesoporous structure. Also, the urea functional groups were succefully embedded
      in the polymer framework without the alteration of the molecular configuration.
      Meanwhile, it exhibited excellent beta radiation resistance up to 200 kGy dose.
      We employed the perrhenate anion ReO4- to test its potential for the removal of
      anionic radioactive pollutant TcO4- from water. Interestingly, the optimized urea
      MPN nanocomposite achieved the high removal efficiency at a low concentration of
      0.25 mM within a short contact time of 30 min. The control experimental results
      revealed that the short nanoscale pore channels and the hydrophobic mesopore
      surface facilitated the hydrogen-bonding interaction between the charge-diffuse
      ReO4- tetrahedral oxoanion and the urea moieties in the framework of urea-MPN,
      accounting for the rapid and effective removal performance in pure water.
      Importantly, it can selectively capture ReO4- in the presence of different
      competitive anions including NO3-, CO32-, SO42-, and PO43-. This attractive
      capability of this unique nanosized mesoporous polymeric sorbent will pave the
      way for the diverse applications in the decontamination of nuclear wastes in a
      more economical and sustainable manner.

PMID- 28613819
TI  - A Facile All-Solution-Processed Surface with High Water Contact Angle and High
      Water Adhesive Force.
AB  - A series of sticky superhydrophobicity surfaces with high water contact angle and
      high water adhesive force is facilely prepared via an all-solution-processed
      method based on polymerization-induced phase separation between liquid crystals
      (LCs) and epoxy resin, which produces layers of epoxy microspheres (EMSs) with
      nanofolds on the surface of a substrate. The morphologies and size distributions
      of EMSs are confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Results reveal that the
      obtained EMS coated-surface exhibits high apparent contact angle of 152.0 degrees
      and high water adhesive force up to 117.6 MUN. By varying the composition of the
      sample or preparing conditions, the sizes of the produced EMSs can be
      artificially regulated and, thus, control the wetting properties and water
      adhesive behaviors. Also, the sticky superhydrophobic surface exhibits excellent
      chemical stability, as well as long-term durability. Water droplet transportation
      experiments further prove that the as-made surface can be effectively used as a
      mechanical hand for water transportation applications. Based on this, it is
      believed that the simple method proposed in this paper will pave a new way for
      producing a sticky superhydrophobic surface and obtain a wide range of use.

PMID- 28613821
TI  - T1-T2 Dual-Modal Magnetic Resonance Imaging: From Molecular Basis to Contrast
      Agents.
AB  - Multimodal imaging strategies integrating manifold images have improved our
      ability to diagnose, to guide therapy, and to predict outcomes. Magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) is among the most widely used imaging technique in the
      clinic and can enable multiparameter anatomical demonstration of diagnosis. Due
      to the inherent black-and-white production of MR images, however, MRI detection
      is largely hampered by the occurrence of false-positive diagnoses. In this
      Perspective, we introduce the paradigm of manipulating the multiparameter MRI, T1
      T2 dual-modal MRI, along with enhancement by specific contrast agents. We hope
      this discussion will promote emerging research interest in T1-T2 dual-modal MRI
      and provoke the rational design of contrast agents for sophisticated MRI
      applications.

PMID- 28613820
TI  - Protein Modification by Endogenously Generated Lipid Electrophiles: Mitochondria
      as the Source and Target.
AB  - Determining the impact of lipid electrophile-mediated protein damage that occurs
      during oxidative stress requires a comprehensive analysis of electrophile targets
      adducted under pathophysiological conditions. Incorporation of omega-alkynyl
      linoleic acid into the phospholipids of macrophages prior to activation by Kdo2
      lipid A, followed by protein extraction, click chemistry, and streptavidin
      affinity capture, enabled a systems-level survey of proteins adducted by lipid
      electrophiles generated endogenously during the inflammatory response. Results
      revealed a dramatic enrichment for membrane and mitochondrial proteins as targets
      for adduction. A marked decrease in adduction in the presence of MitoTEMPO
      demonstrated a primary role for mitochondrial superoxide in electrophile
      generation and indicated an important role for mitochondria as both a source and
      target of lipid electrophiles, a finding that has not been revealed by prior
      studies using exogenously provided electrophiles.

PMID- 28613822
TI  - Novel Slightly Reduced Graphene Oxide Based Proton Exchange Membrane with
      Constructed Long-Range Ionic Nanochannels via Self-Assembling of Nafion.
AB  - A facile method to prepare high-performance Nafion slightly reduced graphene
      oxide membranes (N-srGOMs) via vacuum filtration is proposed. The long-range
      connected ionic nanochannels in the membrane are constructed via the
      concentration-dependent self-assembling of the amphiphilic Nafion and the
      hydrophilic-hydrophobic interaction between graphene oxide (GO) and Nafion in
      water. The obtained N-srGOM possesses high proton conductivity, and low methanol
      permeability benefitted from the constructed unique interior structures. The
      proton conductivity of N-srGOM reaches as high as 0.58 S cm-1 at 80  degrees C
      and 95%RH, which is near 4-fold of the commercialized Nafion 117 membrane under
      the same condition. The methanol permeability of N-srGOM is 2.0 * 10-9 cm2 s-1,
      two-magnitude lower than that of Nafion 117. This novel membrane fabrication
      strategy has proved to be highly efficient in overcoming the "trade-off" effect
      between proton conductivity and methanol resistance and displays great potential
      in DMFC application.

PMID- 28613824
TI  - Multifunctional, Tunable Metal-Organic Framework Materials Platform for
      Bioimaging Applications.
AB  - Herein, we describe a novel multifunctional metal-organic framework (MOF)
      materials platform that displays both porosity and tunable emission properties as
      a function of the metal identity (Eu, Nd, and tuned compositions of Nd/Yb). Their
      emission collectively spans the deep red to near-infrared (NIR) spectral region
      (~614-1350 nm), which is highly relevant for in vivo bioimaging. These new
      materials meet important prerequisites as relevant to biological processes: they
      are minimally toxic to living cells and retain structural integrity in water and
      phosphate-buffered saline. To assess their viability as optical bioimaging
      agents, we successfully synthesized the nanoscale Eu analog as a proof-of-concept
      system in this series. In vitro studies show that it is cell-permeable in
      individual RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage and HeLa human cervical cancer tissue
      culture cells. The efficient discrimination between the Eu emission and cell
      autofluorescence was achieved with hyperspectral confocal fluorescence
      microscopy, used here for the first time to characterize MOF materials.
      Importantly, this is the first report that documents the long-term conservation
      of the intrinsic emission in live cells of a fluorophore-based MOF to date (up to
      48 h). This finding, in conjunction with the materials' very low toxicity,
      validates the biocompatibility in these systems and qualifies them as promising
      for use in long-term tracking and biodistribution studies.

PMID- 28613823
TI  - Inhibition of Mitochondrial Bioenergetics by Esterase-Triggered COS/H2S Donors.
AB  - Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an important biological mediator, and synthetic H2S
      donating molecules provide an important class of investigative tools for H2S
      research. Here, we report esterase-activated H2S donors that function by first
      releasing carbonyl sulfide (COS), which is rapidly converted to H2S by the
      ubiquitous enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA). We report the synthesis, self
      immolative decomposition, and H2S release profiles of the developed scaffolds. In
      addition, the developed esterase-triggered COS/H2S donors exhibit higher levels
      of cytotoxicity than equivalent levels of Na2S or the common H2S donors GYY4137
      and AP39. Using cellular bioenergetics measurements, we establish that the
      developed donors reduce cellular respiration and ATP synthesis in BEAS 2B human
      lung epithelial cells, which is consistent with COS/H2S inhibition of cytochrome
      c oxidase in the mitochondrial respiratory chain although not observed with
      common H2S donors at the same concentrations. Taken together, these results may
      suggest that COS functions differently than H2S in certain biological contexts or
      that the developed donors are more efficient at delivering H2S than other common
      H2S-releasing motifs.

PMID- 28613826
TI  - Microtrace Analysis of Rare Earth Element Residues in Femtogram Quantities by
      Laser Desorption and Laser Postionization Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - A newly developed laser desorption and laser postionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometer (LD-LPI-TOFMS) for the direct microtrace determination of rare earth
      elements (REEs) in residues has been presented. Benefiting from spatially and
      temporally separated processes between desorption and ionization, LD-LPI-TOFMS
      plays a dual role in alleviating the barriers of deteriorating spectral
      resolution at high irradiance, serious matrix effects and elemental fractionation
      effects at low irradiance. Compared with the conventional laser
      desorption/ionization (LDI) method, this technique offers unambiguous full
      elemental determination of 15 REEs with more uniform relative sensitivity
      coefficients (RSCs) ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 for all REEs investigated, satisfying
      the semiquantitative analysis criteria. More importantly, a highly sensitive
      analysis of REEs with very little consumption was achieved by getting the utmost
      out of desorbed neutral atoms instead of increasing the amount of the sample,
      resulting in outstanding relative and absolute limits of detection (LODs and
      ALODs) of ~ng/mL and ~femtogram. The results presented here indicate that LD-LPI
      TOFMS offers great potential in microtrace determination for elements in solution
      samples with minor sample preparation.

PMID- 28613825
TI  - UV-Sintered Low-Temperature Solution-Processed SnO2 as Robust Electron Transport
      Layer for Efficient Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells.
AB  - Recently, low temperature solution-processed tin oxide (SnO2) as a versatile
      electron transport layer (ETL) for efficient and robust planar heterojunction
      (PH) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has attracted particular attention due to its
      outstanding properties such as high optical transparency, high electron mobility,
      and suitable band alignment. However, for most of the reported works, an
      annealing temperature of 180  degrees C is generally required. This temperature
      is reluctantly considered to be a low temperature, especially with respect to the
      flexible application where 180  degrees C is still too high for the polyethylene
      terephthalate flexible substrate to bear. In this contribution, low temperature
      (about 70  degrees C) UV/ozone treatment was applied to in situ synthesis of SnO2
      films deposited on the fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate as ETL. This method is
      a facile photochemical treatment which is simple to operate and can easily
      eliminate the organic components. Accordingly, PH PSCs with UV-sintered SnO2
      films as ETL were successfully fabricated for the first time. The device
      exhibited excellent photovoltaic performance as high as 16.21%, which is even
      higher than the value (11.49%) reported for a counterpart device with solution
      processed and high temperature annealed SnO2 films as ETL. These low temperature
      solution-processed and UV-sintered SnO2 films are suitable for the low-cost,
      large yield solution process on a flexible substrate for optoelectronic devices.

PMID- 28613827
TI  - Tuning Metabolome Coverage in Reversed Phase LC-MS Metabolomics of MeOH Extracted
      Samples Using the Reconstitution Solvent Composition.
AB  - Considering the physicochemical diversity of the metabolome, untargeted
      metabolomics will inevitably discriminate against certain compound classes.
      Efforts are nevertheless made to maximize the metabolome coverage. Contrary to
      the main steps of a typical liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
      metabolomics workflow, such as metabolite extraction, the sample reconstitution
      step has not been optimized for maximal metabolome coverage. This sample
      concentration step typically occurs after metabolite extraction, when dried
      samples are reconstituted in a solvent for injection on column. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the impact of the sample reconstitution solvent composition
      on metabolome coverage in untargeted LC-MS metabolomics. Lysogeny Broth medium
      samples reconstituted in MeOH/H2O ratios ranging from 0 to 100% MeOH and analyzed
      with untargeted reversed phase LC-MS showed that the highest number of metabolite
      features (n = 1500) was detected in samples reconstituted in 100% H2O. As
      compared to a commonly used reconstitution solvent mixture of 50/50 MeOH/H2O, our
      results indicate that the small fraction of compounds increasing in peak area
      response by the addition of MeOH to H2O, 5%, is outweighed by the fraction of
      compounds with decreased response, 57%. We evaluated our results on human serum
      samples from lymphoma patients and healthy control subjects. Reconstitution in
      100% H2O resulted in a higher number of significant metabolites discriminating
      between these two groups than both 50% and 100% MeOH. These findings show that
      the sample reconstitution step has a clear impact on the metabolome coverage of
      MeOH extracted biological samples, highlighting the importance of the
      reconstitution solvent composition for untargeted discovery metabolomics.

PMID- 28613828
TI  - Reversible Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Sensing Bisulfate/H2O2 and Its
      Application in Zebrafish.
AB  - Herein, a novel near-infrared fluorescent probe for ratiometric detection of
      bisulfate was designed and developed based on a conjugation of naphthopyran
      benzothiazolium system. The sensor showed excellent selectivity, high sensitivity
      and a rapid response toward bisulfite in aqueous solution. Upon the addition of
      HSO3-, the sensor displayed 37-fold (I520/I630) fluorescence intensity
      enhancement, accompanied by an apparent color change from violet to colorless,
      suggesting that the sensor can be used to detect HSO3- with "naked-eye". Notably,
      the addition product can be applied to the design of regenerative chemodosimeters
      based on the H2O2 promoted elimination of bisulfite and recovery of probe 1.
      Further cell and zebrafish imaging experiment demonstrated that the sensor could
      image the bisulfite/H2O2 redox cycle in biological system with ratiometric
      manners.

PMID- 28613829
TI  - Giant Magnetoresistance in Carbon Nanotubes with Single-Molecule Magnets TbPc2.
AB  - We present experimental results and a theoretical model for the gate-controlled
      spin-valve effect in carbon nanotubes with side-attached single-molecule magnets
      TbPc2 (Terbium(III) bis-phthalocyanine). These structures show a giant
      magnetoresistance up to 1000% in experiments on single-wall nanotubes that are
      tunnel-coupled to the leads. The proposed theoretical model combines the spin
      dependent Fano effect with Coulomb blockade and predicts a spin-spin interaction
      between the TbPc2 molecules, mediated by conducting electrons via the charging
      effect. This gate-tuned interaction is responsible for the stable magnetic
      ordering of the inner spins of the molecules in the absence of magnetic field. In
      the case of antiferromagnetic arrangement, electrons with either spin experience
      the scattering by the molecules, which results in blocking the linear transport.
      In strong magnetic fields, the Zeeman energy exceeds the effective
      antiferromagnetic coupling and one species of electrons is not scattered by
      molecules, which leads to a much lower total resistance at the resonant values of
      gate voltage, and hence to a supramolecular spin-valve effect.

PMID- 28613830
TI  - Photocatalysis-Based Nanoprobes Using Noble Metal-Semiconductor Heterostructure
      for Visible Light-Driven in Vivo Detection of Mercury.
AB  - The development of sensitive and reliable methods to monitor the presence of
      mercuric ions in cells and organisms is of great importance to biological
      research and biomedical applications. In this work, we propose a strategy to
      construct a solar-driven nanoprobe using a 3D Au@MoS2 heterostructure as a
      photocatalyst and rhodamine B (RB) as a fluorescent and color change reporter
      molecule for monitoring Hg2+ in living cells and animals. The sensing mechanism
      is based on the photoinduced electron formation of gold amalgam in the 3D Au@MoS2
      heterostructure under visible light illumination. This formation is able to
      remarkably inhibit the photocatalytic activity of the heterostructure toward RB
      decomposition. As a result, "OFF-ON" fluorescence and color change are produced.
      Such characteristics enable this new sensing platform to sensitively and
      selectively detect Hg2+ in water by fluorescence and colorimetric methods. The
      detection limits of the fluorescence assay and colorimetric assay are 0.22 and
      0.038 nM for Hg2+, respectively; these values are well below the acceptable
      limits in drinking water standards (10 nM). For the first time, such
      photocatalysis-based sensing platform is successfully used to monitor Hg2+ in
      live cells and mice. Our work therefore opens a promising photocatalysis-based
      analysis methodology for highly sensitive and selective in vivo Hg2+ bioimaging
      studies.

PMID- 28613831
TI  - Evidence of Local Commensurate State with Lattice Match of Graphene on Hexagonal
      Boron Nitride.
AB  - Transition to a commensurate state changes the local symmetry periodicity on two
      dimensional van der Waals superstructures, evoking distinctive properties far
      beyond individual layers. We investigate the morphology of moire superstructures
      of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with a low twist angle (~0 degrees )
      through moire fringe analyses with dark field transmission electron microscopy.
      The moire fringes exhibit local variation, suggesting that the interaction
      between graphene and hBN depends on the stacking configuration and that local
      transition to the commensurate state occurs through the reduced crystalline
      mismatch (that is, by lattice stretching and twisting on the graphene lattices).
      This moire superstructure analysis suggests an inventive method for studying the
      interaction between stacked van der Waals layers and for discerning the altered
      electronic and optical properties of graphene on hBN superstructures with a low
      twist angle, even at low magnification.

PMID- 28613832
TI  - Monitoring the On-Surface Synthesis of Graphene Nanoribbons by Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - We present a mass spectrometric approach to characterize and monitor the
      intermediates of graphene nanoribbon (GNR) formation by chemical vapor deposition
      (CVD) on top of Au(111) surfaces. Information regarding the repeating units,
      lengths, and termini can be obtained directly from the surface sample by a
      modified matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) method. The mass
      spectrometric results reveal ample oxidative side reactions under CVD conditions
      that can be drastically diminished by the introduction of protective H2 gas at
      ambient pressure. Simultaneously, the addition of hydrogen extends the lengths of
      the oligophenylenes and thus the final GNRs. Moreover, the prematurely formed
      cyclodehydrogenation products during the oligomer growth can be assigned by the
      mass spectrometric technique. The obtained mechanistic insights provide valuable
      information for optimizing and upscaling the bottom-up fabrication of GNRs. Given
      the important role of GNRs as semiconductors, the mass spectrometric analysis
      provides a readily available tool to characterize and improve their structural
      perfection.

PMID- 28613833
TI  - Pt-Decorated MWCNTs-Ionic Liquid Composite-Based Hydrogen Peroxide Sensor To
      Study Microbial Metabolism Using Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy.
AB  - Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a highly relevant metabolite in many biological
      processes, including the oral microbiome. To study this metabolite, we developed
      a 25 MUm diameter, highly sensitive, nonenzymatic H2O2 sensor with a detection
      limit of 250 nM and a broad linear range of 250 nM to 7 mM. The sensor used the
      synergistic activity of the catalytically active Pt nanoparticles on a high
      surface area multiwalled carbon nanotube and conducting ionic liquid matrix to
      achieve high sensitivity (2.4 +/- 0.24 mA cm-2 mM-1) for H2O2 oxidation. The
      unique composite allowed us to miniaturize the sensor and couple it with a Pt
      electrode (25 MUm diameter each) for use as a dual scanning electrochemical
      microscopy probe. We could detect 65 +/- 10 MUM H2O2 produced by Streptococcus
      gordonii (Sg) in a simulated biofilm at 50 MUm above its surface in the presence
      of 1 mM glucose and artificial saliva solution (pH 7.2 at 37  degrees C). Because
      of its high stability and low detection limit, the sensor showed a promising
      chemical image of H2O2 produced by Sg biofilms. We were also able to detect 30
      MUM H2O2 at 50 MUm above the biofilm in the presence of the H2O2-decomposing
      salivary lactoperoxidase and thiocyanate, which would not otherwise be possible
      using an existing H2O2 assay. Thus, this sensor can potentially find applications
      in the study of other important biological processes in a complex matrix where
      circumstances demand a low detection limit in a compact space.

PMID- 28613834
TI  - Amino-Functionalized 5' Cap Analogs as Tools for Site-Specific Sequence
      Independent Labeling of mRNA.
AB  - mRNA is a template for protein biosynthesis, and consequently mRNA transport,
      translation, and turnover are key elements in the overall regulation of gene
      expression. Along with growing interest in the mechanisms regulating mRNA decay
      and localization, there is an increasing need for tools enabling convenient
      fluorescent labeling or affinity tagging of mRNA. We report new mRNA 5' cap
      analog-based tools that enable site-specific labeling of RNA within the cap using
      N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) chemistry. We explored two complementary methods: a co
      transcriptional labeling method, in which the label is first attached to a cap
      analog and then incorporated into RNA by in vitro transcription, and a post
      transcriptional labeling method, in which an amino-functionalized cap analog is
      incorporated into RNA followed by chemical labeling of the resulting transcript.
      After testing the biochemical properties of RNAs carrying the novel modified cap
      structures, we demonstrated the utility of fluorescently labeled RNAs in
      decapping assays, RNA decay assays, and RNA visualization in cells. Finally, we
      also demonstrated that mRNAs labeled by the reported method are translationally
      active. We envisage that the novel analogs will provide an alternative to
      radiolabeling of mRNA caps for in vitro studies and open possibilities for new
      applications related to the study of mRNA fates in vivo.

PMID- 28613836
TI  - Design and Performance of a Novel Interface for Combined Matrix-Assisted Laser
      Desorption Ionization at Elevated Pressure and Electrospray Ionization with
      Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization, MALDI, has been increasingly used in
      a variety of biomedical applications, including tissue imaging of clinical tissue
      samples, and in drug discovery and development. These studies strongly depend on
      the performance of the analytical instrumentation and would drastically benefit
      from improved sensitivity, reproducibility, and mass/spatial resolution. In this
      work, we report on a novel combined MALDI/ESI interface, which was coupled to
      different Orbitrap mass spectrometers (Elite and Q Exactive Plus) and extensively
      characterized with peptide and protein standards, and in tissue imaging
      experiments. In our approach, MALDI is performed in the elevated pressure regime
      (5-8 Torr) at a spatial resolution of 15-30 MUm, while ESI-generated ions are
      injected orthogonally to the interface axis. We have found that introduction of
      the MALDI-generated ions into an electrodynamic dual-funnel interface results in
      increased sensitivity characterized by a limit of detection of ~400 zmol, while
      providing a mass measurement accuracy of 1 ppm and a mass resolving power of 120
      000 in analysis of protein digests. In tissue imaging experiments, the MALDI/ESI
      interface has been employed in experiments with rat brain sections and was shown
      to be capable of visualizing and spatially characterizing very low abundance
      analytes separated only by 20 mDa. Comparison of imaging data has revealed
      excellent agreement between the MALDI and histological images.

PMID- 28613837
TI  - Artificial OFF-Riboswitches That Downregulate Internal Ribosome Entry without
      Hybridization Switches in a Eukaryotic Cell-Free Translation System.
AB  - We constructed novel artificial riboswitches that function in a eukaryotic
      translation system (wheat germ extract), by rationally implanting an in vitro
      selected aptamer into the intergenic internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of
      Plautia stali intestine virus. These eukaryotic OFF-riboswitches (OFF-eRSs)
      ligand-dose-dependently downregulate IRES-mediated translation without
      hybridization switches, which typical riboswitches utilize for gene regulation.
      The hybridization-switch-free mechanism not only allows for easy design but also
      requires less energy for regulation, resulting in a higher switching efficiency
      than hybridization-switch-based OFF-eRSs provide. In addition, even a small
      ligand such as theophylline can induce satisfactory repression, in contrast to
      other types of OFF-eRSs that modulate the 5' cap-dependent canonical translation.
      Because our proposed hybridization-switch-free OFF-eRSs are based on a versatile
      IRES that functions well in many types of eukaryotic translation systems, they
      would be widely usable elements for synthetic gene circuits in both cell-free and
      cell-based synthetic biology.

PMID- 28613835
TI  - alpha-Actinin Promotes Surface Localization and Current Density of the Ca2+
      Channel CaV1.2 by Binding to the IQ Region of the alpha1 Subunit.
AB  - The voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channel CaV1.2 is crucial for initiating heartbeat
      and control of a number of neuronal functions such as neuronal excitability and
      long-term potentiation. Mutations of CaV1.2 subunits result in serious health
      problems, including arrhythmia, autism spectrum disorders, immunodeficiency, and
      hypoglycemia. Thus, precise control of CaV1.2 surface expression and localization
      is essential. We previously reported that alpha-actinin associates and
      colocalizes with neuronal CaV1.2 channels and that shRNA-mediated depletion of
      alpha-actinin significantly reduces localization of endogenous CaV1.2 in
      dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons. Here we investigated the hypothesis that
      direct binding of alpha-actinin to CaV1.2 supports its surface expression. Using
      two-hybrid screens and pull-down assays, we identified three point mutations
      (K1647A, Y1649A, and I1654A) in the central, pore-forming alpha11.2 subunit of
      CaV1.2 that individually impaired alpha-actinin binding. Surface biotinylation
      and flow cytometry assays revealed that CaV1.2 channels composed of the
      corresponding alpha-actinin-binding-deficient mutants result in a 35-40%
      reduction in surface expression compared to that of wild-type channels. Moreover,
      the mutant CaV1.2 channels expressed in HEK293 cells exhibit a 60-75% decrease in
      current density. The larger decrease in current density as compared to surface
      expression imparted by these alpha11.2 subunit mutations hints at the possibility
      that alpha-actinin not only stabilizes surface localization of CaV1.2 but also
      augments its ion conducting activity.

PMID- 28613838
TI  - Nanophase Segregation of Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold Nanoparticles.
AB  - Nanophase segregation of a bicomponent thiol self-assembled monolayer is
      predicted using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and experimentally
      confirmed. The simulations suggest the formation of domains rich in acid
      terminated chains, on one hand, and of domains rich in amide-functionalized
      ethylene glycol oligomers, on the other hand. In particular, within the amide
      ethylene glycol oligomers region, a key role is played by the formation of
      interchain hydrogen bonds. The predicted phase segregation is experimentally
      confirmed by the synthesis of 35 and 15 nm gold nanoparticles functionalized with
      several binary mixtures of ligands. An extensive study by transmission electron
      microscopy and electron tomography, using silica selective heterogeneous
      nucleation on acid-rich domains to provide electron contrast, supports
      simulations and highlights patchy nanoparticles with a trend toward Janus nano
      objects depending on the nature of the ligands and the particle size. These
      results validate our computational platform as an effective tool to predict
      nanophase separation in organic mixtures on a surface and drive further
      exploration of advanced nanoparticle functionalization.

PMID- 28613839
TI  - Visualization of Endoplasmic Reticulum Aminopeptidase 1 under Different Redox
      Conditions with a Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1), a metallopeptidase belonging to
      the M1 peptidase family, plays an important role in antigen processing in vivo.
      Additionally, many diseases are caused by ERAP1 perturbation. Thus, an efficient
      method for monitoring its content is extremely important for disease diagnosis
      and treatment. However, few fluorescent probes have been reported for efficiently
      monitoring ERAP1 in living cells and tissues. In this work, a two-photon
      fluorescent probe (SNCL) containing 1,8-naphthalimide (two-photon fluorophore), l
      leucine (trigger moiety), and a methyl sulfonamide moiety (endoplasmic reticulum
      targeting group) for imaging ERAP1 activity in living cells is reported for the
      first time. The optimized probe exhibited high sensitivity toward ERAP1, with
      about a 95-fold fluorescence enhancement at 550 nm. Herein, we monitored ERAP1
      with SNCL by introducing interferon-gamma to induce ERAP1 activity in living
      cells. The content of ERAP1 was dependent on the redox state of the endoplasmic
      reticulum, which was demonstrated by using SNCL to monitor the enzymatic activity
      of ERAP1 under different redox conditions. Excitingly, SNCL was also successfully
      applied for monitoring ERAP1 in tumor tissue with an imaging depth of 50-120 MUm.
      In conclusion, SNCL not only can be used for the sensitive detection of
      endogenous ERAP1 in living cells and tumor tissues but also can serve as a
      potentially useful tool to reveal ERAP1-related diseases.

PMID- 28613840
TI  - Rapid Analysis of Anabolic Steroid Metabolites in Urine by Combining Field
      Asymmetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry with Liquid Chromatography and Mass
      Spectrometry.
AB  - The combination of field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry with
      liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-FAIMS-MS) has been developed for the
      analysis of glucuronide and sulfate metabolites of seven anabolic-androgenic
      steroids in urine. Separation by FAIMS-MS was investigated in positive ion mode
      for selected cationic adducts (H+, NH4+, Na+, K+, and Cs+). LC-FAIMS-MS analysis
      of the doubly sodiated adducts ([M + 2Na - H]+) of isobaric and coeluting steroid
      metabolites allowed their rapid (8 min) qualitative and quantitative
      determination in spiked urine using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography
      prior to FAIMS-MS separation, with discrimination >95% achieved between the
      steroids investigated. A quantitative evaluation of the LC-FAIMS-MS method was
      performed giving limits of detection in the range 1-6 ng mL-1, limits of
      quantification in the range 3-20 ng mL-1, with reproducibility (%RSD < 10%; n =
      6) and linearity (R2 > 0.99). The LC-FAIMS-MS method demonstrates increases in
      signal-to-noise ratios for the doubly sodiated steroid metabolites in unspiked
      urine (>250%) by the reduction of isobaric interferences from the matrix. An
      alternative or additional tool for identification of the steroid metabolites is
      based on the observations of different patterns of sodium acetate clusters that
      are characteristic for each metabolite.

PMID- 28613841
TI  - Estimating a Representative Value and Proportion of True Zeros for Censored
      Analytical Data with Applications to Contaminated Site Assessment.
AB  - This paper demonstrates a maximum likelihood (ML)-based approach to derive
      representative ("best guess") contaminant concentrations from data with censored
      values (e.g., less than the detection limit). The method represents an
      advancement over existing techniques because it is capable of estimating the
      proportion of measurements that are true zeros and incorporating varying levels
      of censorship (e.g., sample specific detection limits, changes through time in
      method detection). The ability of the method to estimate the proportion of true
      zeros is validated using precipitation data. The stability and flexibility of the
      method are demonstrated with stochastic simulation, a sensitivity analysis, and
      unbiasedness analysis including varying numbers of significant digits. A key
      aspect of this paper is the application of the statistical analysis to real site
      rock core contaminant concentration data collected within a plume at two
      locations using high resolution depth-discrete sampling. Comparison of the
      representative values for concentrations at each location along the plume center
      line shows a larger number of true zeros and generally lower concentrations at
      the downgradient location according to the conceptual site model, leading to
      improved estimates of attenuation with distance and/or time and associated
      confidence; this is not achievable using deterministic methods. The practical
      relevance of the proposed method is that it provides an improved basis for
      evaluating change (spatial, temporal, or both) in environmental systems.

PMID- 28613842
TI  - Correction to "Effects of Additives on the Morphology of Solution Phase
      Aggregates formed by Active Layer Components of High-Efficiency Organic Solar
      Cells".

PMID- 28613843
TI  - Highly Elevated Levels and Particle-Size Distributions of Environmentally
      Persistent Free Radicals in Haze-Associated Atmosphere.
AB  - Levels and particle-size distributions of environmentally persistent free
      radicals (EPFRs) in haze-associated atmospheric particulate matter (PM) have not
      been highlighted, even though they may enter the human body along with PM and
      adversely affect human health. This study quantified the levels of EPFRs in
      airborne PM with different aerodynamic diameters (dae) using electron
      paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. EPR spectra showed a single,
      unstructured signal from persistent semiquinone radicals. The average
      concentration of EPFRs in the airborne PM during haze events was 2.18 * 1220
      spins/g (range: 3.06 * 1019-6.23 * 1020 spins/g), approximately 2 orders of
      magnitude higher than that reported previously in the US atmosphere. Particle
      size distributions of EPFRs in four different PM fractions (dae > 10 MUm, 10 MUm
      < dae < 2.5 MUm, 2.5 MUm <dae < 1 MUm, dae < 1 MUm) indicated the highest levels
      of EPFRs in the PM fraction with dae < 1 MUm, with average 1/e lifetime of 59.2
      days. A significant occurrence of EPFRs in PM samples collected from coal-burning
      activities (1.52 * 1022 spins/g), automobile exhaust (3.0 * 1022 spins/g), and
      biomass burning activities (1.14 * 1022 spins/g) was detected, which may be
      potential primary sources of EPFRs in airborne PM. The results in this study may
      help to understand the sources and potential risks of EPFRs in airborne fine
      particles.

PMID- 28613844
TI  - Assessment of DNA Binding and Oxidative DNA Damage by Acrylonitrile in Two Rat
      Target Tissues of Carcinogenicity: Implications for the Mechanism of Action.
AB  - Exposure to acrylonitrile induces formation of tumors at multiple sites in rats,
      with females being more sensitive. The present study assessed possible mechanisms
      of acrylonitrile tumorigenicity, covalent DNA binding, DNA breakage, and
      oxidative DNA damage, in two target tissues, the brain and Zymbal's glands, of
      sensitive female Fischer (F344) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. One group received
      acrylonitrile in drinking water at 100 ppm for 28 days. Two other groups were
      administered either acrylonitrile in drinking water at 100 ppm or drinking water
      alone for 27 days, followed by a single oral gavage dose of 11 mg/kg bw 14C
      acrylonitrile on day 28. A positive control group received a single dose of 5
      mg/kg bw of 7-14C-benzo[a]pyrene, on day 27 following the administration of
      drinking water for 26 days. Using liquid scintillation counting, no association
      of radiolabeled acrylonitrile with brain DNA was found. In accelerator mass
      spectrometry analysis, the association of 14C of acrylonitrile with DNA in brains
      was detected and was similar in both strains, which may reflect acrylonitrile
      binding to protein as well as to DNA. Nucleotide 32P-postlabeling assay analysis
      of brain samples from rats of both strains yielded no evidence of acrylonitrile
      DNA adducts. Negative conventional comet assay results indicate the absence of
      direct DNA strand breaks in the brain and Zymbal's gland in both strains of rats
      dosed with acrylonitrile. In both rat strains, positive results in an enhanced
      comet assay were found only in brain samples digested with formamidopyrimidine
      DNA glycosylase but not with human 8-hydroxyguanine-DNA glycosylase, indicating
      possible oxidative DNA damage, other than 8-oxodG formation. In conclusion,
      definitive evidence of DNA binding of acrylonitrile in the brain and Zymbal's
      gland was not obtained under the test conditions. A role for oxidative stress in
      tumorigenesis in the brain but not Zymbal's gland may exist.

PMID- 28613845
TI  - Spatial and Temporal Trends in Global Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides from 1960 to
      2014.
AB  - The quantification of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions is critical for air quality
      modeling. Based on updated fuel consumption and emission factor databases, a
      global emission inventory was compiled with high spatial (0.1 degrees  * 0.1
      degrees ), temporal (monthly), and source (87 sources) resolutions for the period
      1960 to 2014. The monthly emission data have been uploaded online (
      http://inventory.pku.edu.cn ), along with a number of other air pollutant and
      greenhouse gas data for free download. Differences in source profiles, not global
      total quantities, between our results and those reported previously were found.
      There were significant differences in total and per capita emissions and emission
      intensities among countries, especially between the developing and developed
      countries. Globally, the total annual NOx emissions finally stopped increasing in
      2013 after continuously increasing over several decades, largely due to strict
      control measures taken in China in recent years. Nevertheless, the peak year of
      NOx emissions was later than for many other major air pollutants. Per capita
      emissions, either among countries or over years, follow typical inverted U-shaped
      environmental Kuznets curves, indicating that the emissions increased during the
      early stage of development and were restrained when socioeconomic development
      reached certain points. Although the trends are similar among countries, the
      turning points of developing countries appeared sooner than those of developed
      countries in terms of development status, confirming late-move advantages.

PMID- 28613846
TI  - Unimolecular Micelle-Based Hybrid System for Perivascular Drug Delivery Produces
      Long-Term Efficacy for Neointima Attenuation in Rats.
AB  - At present, there are no clinical options for preventing neointima-caused
      (re)stenosis after open surgery such as bypass surgery for treating flow-limiting
      vascular disease. Perivascular drug delivery is a promising strategy, but in
      translational research, it remains a major challenge to achieve long-term (e.g.,
      > 3 months) anti(re)stenotic efficacy. In this study, we engineered a unique drug
      delivery system consisting of durable unimolecular micelles, formed by single
      multiarm star amphiphilic block copolymers with only covalent bonds, and a
      thermosensitive hydrogel formed by a poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-poly(ethylene
      glycol)-poly(lactide-co-glycolide) triblock copolymer (abbreviated as triblock
      gel) that is stable for about 4 weeks in vitro. The drug-containing unimolecular
      micelles (UMs) suspended in Triblock gel were able to sustain rapamycin release
      for over 4 months. Remarkably, even 3 months after perivascular application of
      the rapamycin-loaded micelles in Triblock gel in the rat model, the
      intimal/medial area ratio (a restenosis measure) was still 80% inhibited compared
      to the control treated with empty micelle/gel (no drug). This could not be
      achieved by applying rapamycin in Triblock gel alone, which reduced the
      intimal/medial ratio only by 27%. In summary, we created a new UM/Triblock gel
      hybrid system for perivascular drug delivery, which produced a rare feat of 3
      month restenosis inhibition in animal tests. This system exhibits a real
      potential for further translation into an anti(re)stenotic application with open
      surgery.

PMID- 28613847
TI  - Type II Anion Relay Chemistry: Conformational Constraints To Achieve Effective
      [1,5]-Vinyl Brook Rearrangements.
AB  - The design, synthesis, and evaluation of bifunctional linchpins, conformationally
      anchored on six-membered rings to achieve efficient [1,5]-Brook rearrangements
      involving vinyl silanes have been achieved. The restrained linchpins were
      subsequently exploited in type II anion relay chemistry (ARC) to permit both
      alkylations and Pd-mediated cross-coupling reactions (CCR) of sp2 stabilized
      carbanions. DFT calculations were then employed to understand the mechanism and
      reactivity trends of [1,4]- and [1,5]-vinyl Brook rearrangements to provide
      insight on the role of the required copper reagent and the substrate geometry.

PMID- 28613848
TI  - Near-Infrared Optical Imaging of Necrotic Cells by Photostable Lanthanide-Based
      Metallacrowns.
AB  - Sensitive detection of cell necrosis is crucial for the determination of cell
      viability. Because of its high resolution at the cellular level and sensitivity,
      optical imaging is highly attractive for identifying cell necrosis. However,
      challenges associated with this technique remain present such as the rapid
      photobleaching of several types of organic fluorophores and/or the interference
      generated by biological autofluorescence. Herein, we synthesized novel
      biologically compatible Zn2+/Ln3+ metallacrowns (MCs) that possess attractive
      near-infrared (NIR) emission and are highly photostable. In addition, these MCs
      have the ability to label differentially necrotic HeLa cells from living cells.
      This work is also the first demonstration of (i) the use of the NIR emission
      arising from a single lanthanide(III) cation for optical biological imaging of
      cells under single photon excitation, (ii) the first example of a lanthanide(III)
      based NIR-emitting probe that can be targeted to a specific type of cell.

PMID- 28613849
TI  - Covalency in Americium(III) Hexachloride.
AB  - Developing a better understanding of covalency (or orbital mixing) is of
      fundamental importance. Covalency occupies a central role in directing chemical
      and physical properties for almost any given compound or material. Hence, the
      concept of covalency has potential to generate broad and substantial scientific
      advances, ranging from biological applications to condensed matter physics. Given
      the importance of orbital mixing combined with the difficultly in measuring
      covalency, estimating or inferring covalency often leads to fiery debate.
      Consider the 60-year controversy sparked by Seaborg and co-workers ( Diamond, R.
      M.; Street, K., Jr.; Seaborg, G. T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1954 , 76 , 1461 ) when it
      was proposed that covalency from 5f-orbitals contributed to the unique behavior
      of americium in chloride matrixes. Herein, we describe the use of ligand K-edge X
      ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and electronic structure calculations to
      quantify the extent of covalent bonding in-arguably-one of the most difficult
      systems to study, the Am-Cl interaction within AmCl63-. We observed both 5f- and
      6d-orbital mixing with the Cl-3p orbitals; however, contributions from the 6d
      orbitals were more substantial. Comparisons with the isoelectronic EuCl63-
      indicated that the amount of Cl 3p-mixing with EuIII 5d-orbitals was similar to
      that observed with the AmIII 6d-orbitals. Meanwhile, the results confirmed
      Seaborg's 1954 hypothesis that AmIII 5f-orbital covalency was more substantial
      than 4f-orbital mixing for EuIII.

PMID- 28613850
TI  - A Highly Selective and Robust Co(II)-Based Homogeneous Catalyst for Reduction of
      CO2 to CO in CH3CN/H2O Solution Driven by Visible Light.
AB  - Visible-light driven reduction of CO2 into chemical fuels has attracted enormous
      interest in the production of sustainable energy and reversal of the global
      warming trend. The main challenge in this field is the development of efficient,
      selective, and economic photocatalysts. Herein, we report a Co(II)-based
      homogeneous catalyst, [Co(NTB)CH3CN](ClO4)2 (1, NTB = tris(benzimidazolyl-2
      methyl)amine), which shows high selectivity and stability for the catalytic
      reduction of CO2 to CO in a water-containing system driven by visible light, with
      turnover number (TON) and turnover frequency (TOF) values of 1179 and 0.032 s-1,
      respectively, and selectivity to CO of 97%. The high catalytic activity of 1 for
      photochemical CO2-to-CO conversion is supported by the results of electrochemical
      investigations and DFT calculations.

PMID- 28613851
TI  - Response to Comment on "Measured Saturation Vapor Pressures of Phenolic and Nitro
      Aromatic Compounds".

PMID- 28613852
TI  - Ups and Downs in the Ocean: Effects of Biofouling on Vertical Transport of
      Microplastics.
AB  - Recent studies suggest size-selective removal of small plastic particles from the
      ocean surface, an observation that remains unexplained. We studied one of the
      hypotheses regarding this size-selective removal: the formation of a biofilm on
      the microplastics (biofouling). We developed the first theoretical model that is
      capable of simulating the effect of biofouling on the fate of microplastic. The
      model is based on settling, biofilm growth, and ocean depth profiles for light,
      water density, temperature, salinity, and viscosity. Using realistic parameters,
      the model simulates the vertical transport of small microplastic particles over
      time, and predicts that the particles either float, sink to the ocean floor, or
      oscillate vertically, depending on the size and density of the particle. The
      predicted size-dependent vertical movement of microplastic particles results in a
      maximum concentration at intermediate depths. Consequently, relatively low
      abundances of small particles are predicted at the ocean surface, while at the
      same time these small particles may never reach the ocean floor. Our results hint
      at the fate of "lost" plastic in the ocean, and provide a start for predicting
      risks of exposure to microplastics for potentially vulnerable species living at
      these depths.

PMID- 28613854
TI  - Comment on "Measured Saturation Vapor Pressures of Phenolic and Nitro-Aromatic
      Compounds".

PMID- 28613853
TI  - Production of Hydrogen Peroxide in Groundwater at Rifle, Colorado.
AB  - The commonly held assumption that photodependent processes dominate H2O2
      production in natural waters has been recently questioned. Here, we present
      evidence for the unrecognized and light-independent generation of H2O2 in
      groundwater of an alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Colorado River near Rifle, CO.
      In situ detection using a sensitive chemiluminescent method suggests H2O2
      concentrations ranging from lower than the detection limit (<1 nM) to 54 nM along
      the vertical profiles obtained at various locations across the aquifer. Our
      results also suggest dark formation of H2O2 is more likely to occur in
      transitional redox environments where reduced elements (e.g., reduced metals and
      NOM) meet oxygen, such as oxic-anoxic interfaces. A simplified kinetic model
      involving interactions among iron, reduced NOM, and oxygen was able to reproduce
      roughly many, but not all, of the features in our detected H2O2 profiles, and
      therefore there are other minor biological and/or chemical controls on H2O2
      steady-state concentrations in such aquifer. Because of its transient nature, the
      widespread presence of H2O2 in groundwater suggests the existence of a balance
      between H2O2 sources and sinks, which potentially involves a cascade of various
      biogeochemically important processes that could have significant impacts on
      metal/nutrient cycling in groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as wetlands and
      springs. More importantly, our results demonstrate that reactive oxygen species
      are not only widespread in oceanic and atmospheric systems but also in the
      subsurface domain, possibly the least understood component of biogeochemical
      cycles.

PMID- 28613855
TI  - Distribution of Catalytic Species as an Indicator To Overcome Reproducibility
      Problems.
AB  - Irreproducibility is a common issue in catalysis. The ordinary way to minimize it
      is by ensuring enhanced control over the factors that affect the reaction. When
      control is insufficient, some parameters can be used as indicators of the
      reaction performance. Herein we describe the use of the distribution of catalytic
      species as an indicator to map, track, and fine-tune the performance of catalytic
      reactions. This indicator is very sensitive and presents a quick response to
      variations in the reaction conditions. We have applied this new strategy to the
      conjugate addition of C-nucleophiles to enals via iminium intermediates,
      consistently achieving maximum turnover frequencies (TOF) regardless of the
      quality of the starting materials used. In addition, the present method has
      allowed us to efficiently reduce the catalyst loading to as little as 0.1 mol %,
      the lowest one described for this kind of reaction.

PMID- 28613856
TI  - Quest for the Ncb-type Metal-Organic Framework Platform: A Bifunctional Ligand
      Approach Meets Net Topology Needs.
AB  - A custom-designed bifunctional ligand was used to connect an in situ formed
      Co3(OH) cluster affording a porous metal-organic framework, which represents the
      first case of ncb-type networks constructed from a single kind of ditopic ligand.
      Noticeably, the activated MOF shows high volumetric C2H2 uptake and excellent
      adsorption selectivity for C2H2/CO2 separation at room temperature with a low
      sorption heat.

PMID- 28613857
TI  - Intracellular Transfer Hydrogenation Mediated by Unprotected Organoiridium
      Catalysts.
AB  - In the present work, we show for the first time that the conversion of aldehydes
      to alcohols can be achieved using "unprotected" iridium transfer hydrogenation
      catalysts inside living cells. The reactions were observed in real time by
      confocal fluorescence microscopy using a Bodipy fluorogenic substrate. We propose
      that the reduced cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is a possible
      hydride source inside the cell based on studies using pyruvate as a cellular
      redox modulator. We expect that this biocompatible reductive chemistry will be
      broadly useful to practitioners working at the interface of chemistry and the
      life sciences.

PMID- 28613858
TI  - Hypervalent Iodine/Triflate Hybrid Benzdiyne Equivalents: Access to Controlled
      Synthesis of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds.
AB  - The 1,4-benzdiyne equvalent, [2,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)-4
      (trifyloxy)phenyl](phenyl)iodonium triflate, was prepared from sodium 2,4,5
      trichlorophenoxide. The chemoselective generation of an aryne from the side of
      the phenyliodonio group was observed after treatment with a fluoride ion. Double
      cycloaddition of 1,4-benzdiyne with different arynophiles was conducted in one
      pot, giving bis-cycloadducts in high yields. Similarly, the 1,3-benzdiyne
      equivalent bearing phenyliodonio and triflate groups was prepared from sodium
      2,3,6-trichlorophenoxide. The 1,3-benzdiyne equivalent also underwent the
      chemoselective stepwise generation of arynes and the double cycloaddition with
      different arynophiles. These hybrid benzdiyne equivalents provided the double
      cycloadducts in high yields and enabled the convenient one-pot procedure for
      synthesis of polycyclic aromatic compounds.

PMID- 28613859
TI  - Donepezil-Based Central Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors by Means of a "Bio
      Oxidizable" Prodrug Strategy: Design, Synthesis, and in Vitro Biological
      Evaluation.
AB  - With the aim of reducing side effects of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs)
      during symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease, we report herein a new class
      of donepezil-based "bio-oxidizable" prodrugs 1 designed to be converted into dual
      binding site AChEIs 2. While most of indanone-derived N-benzylpyridinium salts 2
      revealed to be highly potent dual binding site hAChEIs (IC50 up to 3 nM),
      outperforming the standard drug donepezil (IC50 = 11 nM), most of the
      corresponding 1,4-dihydropyridines 1 were found to be inactive. Promisingly,
      whereas the selected prodrug 1r showed good permeability in the PAMPA-BBB model
      and high in vitro antioxidant activity, its conversion to AChEI 2r could be
      easily achieved under mild conditions when incubated in various oxidizing media.
      Lastly, both compounds 1r and 2r did not show genotoxicity in vitro and displayed
      high LD50 values in mice, making this prodrug 1r/drug 2r couple a good candidate
      for further in vivo biological experiments.

PMID- 28613860
TI  - Correction to Past, Current, and Future Developments of Therapeutic Agents for
      Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

PMID- 28613861
TI  - Methane Oxidation to Methanol Catalyzed by Cu-Oxo Clusters Stabilized in NU-1000
      Metal-Organic Framework.
AB  - Copper oxide clusters synthesized via atomic layer deposition on the nodes of the
      metal-organic framework (MOF) NU-1000 are active for oxidation of methane to
      methanol under mild reaction conditions. Analysis of chemical reactivity, in situ
      X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations are
      used to determine structure/activity relations in the Cu-NU-1000 catalytic
      system. The Cu-loaded MOF contained Cu-oxo clusters of a few Cu atoms. The Cu was
      present under ambient conditions as a mixture of ~15% Cu+ and ~85% Cu2+. The
      oxidation of methane on Cu-NU-1000 was accompanied by the reduction of 9% of the
      Cu in the catalyst from Cu2+ to Cu+. The products, methanol, dimethyl ether, and
      CO2, were desorbed with the passage of 10% water/He at 135  degrees C, giving a
      carbon selectivity for methane to methanol of 45-60%. Cu oxo clusters stabilized
      in NU-1000 provide an active, first generation MOF-based, selective methane
      oxidation catalyst.

PMID- 28613862
TI  - Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the Programmed Cell Death-1/Programmed Death-Ligand
      1 (PD-1/PD-L1) Interaction via Transiently Induced Protein States and
      Dimerization of PD-L1.
AB  - Blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint pathway with monoclonal antibodies
      has provided significant advances in cancer treatment. The antibody-based
      immunotherapies carry a number of disadvantages such as the high cost of the
      antibodies, their limited half-life, and immunogenicity. Development of small
      molecule PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors that could overcome these drawbacks is slow
      because of the incomplete structural information for this pathway. The first
      chemical PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have been recently disclosed by Bristol-Myers
      Squibb. Here we present NMR and X-ray characterization for the two classes of
      these inhibitors. The X-ray structures of the PD-L1/inhibitor complexes reveal
      one inhibitor molecule located at the center of the PD-L1 homodimer, filling a
      deep hydrophobic channel-like pocket between two PD-L1 molecules. Derivatives of
      (2-methyl-3-biphenylyl)methanol exhibit the structures capped on one side of the
      channel, whereas the compounds based on [3-(2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-6-yl)-2
      methylphenyl]methanol induce an enlarged interaction interface that results in
      the open "face-back" tunnel through the PD-L1 dimer.

PMID- 28613865
TI  - Calculation of 125Te NMR Chemical Shifts at the Full Four-Component Relativistic
      Level with Taking into Account Solvent and Vibrational Corrections: A Gateway to
      Better Agreement with Experiment.
AB  - Four-component relativistic calculations of 125Te NMR chemical shifts were
      performed in the series of 13 organotellurium compounds, potential precursors of
      the biologically active species, at the density functional theory level under the
      nonrelativistic and four-component fully relativistic conditions using locally
      dense basis set scheme derived from relativistic Dyall's basis sets. The
      relativistic effects in tellurium chemical shifts were found to be of as much as
      20-25% of the total calculated values. The vibrational and solvent corrections to
      125Te NMR chemical shifts are about, accordingly, 6 and 8% of their total values.
      The PBE0 exchange-correlation functional turned out to give the best agreement of
      calculated tellurium shifts with their experimental values giving the mean
      absolute percentage error of 4% in the range of ~1000 ppm, provided all
      corrections are taken into account.

PMID- 28613863
TI  - Structural Characterization of a Eukaryotic Cyanase from Tetranychus urticae.
AB  - The two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae is a polyphagous agricultural
      pest and poses a high risk to global crop production as it is rapidly developing
      pesticide resistance. Genomic and transcriptomic analysis has revealed the
      presence of a remarkable cyanase gene in T. urticae and related mite species
      within the Acariformes lineage. Cyanase catalyzes the detoxification of cyanate
      and is potentially an attractive protein target for the development of new
      acaricides. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that within the Acariformes, the
      cyanase gene originates from a single horizontal gene transfer event, which
      precedes subsequent speciation. Our structural studies presented here compare and
      contrast prokaryotic cyanases to T. urticae cyanase, which all form homodecamers
      and have conserved active site residues, but display different surface areas
      between homodimers in the overall decameric structure.

PMID- 28613864
TI  - Regio- and Stereospecific Copper-Catalyzed Substitution Reaction of Propargylic
      Ammonium Salts with Aryl Grignard Reagents.
AB  - We have developed a copper-catalyzed substitution reaction of propargylic
      ammonium salts with aryl Grignard reagents. The reaction is stereospecific and
      alpha-regioselective and proceeds with exceptional functional group tolerance.
      Conveniently, a stable, inexpensive, and commercially available copper salt is
      used and no added ligand is required.

PMID- 28613866
TI  - One-Pot Multicatalytic Approaches for the Synthesis of Cyclohepta[b]indoles,
      Indolotropones, and Tetrahydrocarbazoles.
AB  - Diversity oriented one-pot synthesis of cyclohepta[b]indoles, indolotropones, and
      tetrahydrocarbazoles (THCs) have been reported. Readily accessible 3-(2
      aminophenyl)-5-hexenyn-3-ols under a one-pot trimetallic orthogonal catalysis
      furnish tetrahydrocyclohepta[b]indoles, and a one-pot quadruple reaction sequence
      of the enynols generates dihydrocyclohepta[b]indoles and indolotropones. During
      this study, formation of THCs was realized to be a reason for the yield loss in
      certain cases, this observation led to the development of a one-pot bimetallic
      approach for the synthesis of 1,3-disubstituted THCs.

PMID- 28613867
TI  - Final State Resolved Quantum Predissociation Dynamics of SO2(C1B2) and Its
      Isotopomers via a Crossing with a Singlet Repulsive State.
AB  - The fragmentation dynamics of predissociative SO2(C1B2) is investigated on an
      accurate adiabatic potential energy surface (PES) determined from high level ab
      initio data. This singlet PES features non-C2v equilibrium geometries for SO2,
      which are separated from the SO(X3Sigma-) + O(3P) dissociation limit by a barrier
      resulting from a conical intersection with a repulsive singlet state. The ro
      vibrational state distribution of the SO fragment is determined quantum
      mechanically for many predissociative states of several sulfur isotopomers of
      SO2. Significant rotational and vibrational excitations are found in the SO
      fragment. It is shown that these fragment internal state distributions are
      strongly dependent on the predissociative vibronic states, and the excitation
      typically increases with the photon energy.

PMID- 28613870
TI  - Systematic Investigation of pi-pi Interactions in Near-Edge X-ray Fine Structure
      (NEXAFS) Spectroscopy of Paracyclophanes.
AB  - NEXAFS spectroscopy has potential for study of packing and order in organic
      materials but only if intermolecular effects are understood. This work studies
      how pi-pi interactions between adjacent unsaturated groups affect their NEXAFS
      spectra, with a broader goal of building a general understanding of the role of
      intermolecular effects in NEXAFS spectroscopy. These effects are examined using
      paracyclophane (PCP) molecules, in which the benzene-benzene separation distance
      is controlled by varying the length of the alkyl groups separating the benzene
      rings. NEXAFS spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) simulations are
      used to examine spectroscopic changes related to the strength of these pi-pi
      interactions. A characteristic red shift is observed as adjacent benzene rings
      get closer together. This shift is attributed to Coulombic and orbital
      interactions between the adjacent benzene rings, mediated through overlapping
      pi/pi* orbitals.

PMID- 28613869
TI  - Effect of Different Elicitors and Preharvest Day Application on the Content of
      Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activity of Butterhead Lettuce (Lactuca sativa
      var. capitata) Produced under Hydroponic Conditions.
AB  - The effect of four elicitors on phytochemical content in two varieties of lettuce
      was evaluated. The best preharvest day for application of each elicitor was
      chosen. Solutions of arachidonic acid (AA), salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate
      (MJ), and Harpin protein (HP) were applied by foliar aspersion on lettuce leaves
      while cultivating under hydroponic conditions. Application of elicitors was done
      at 15, 7, 5, 3, or 1 day before harvest. Green lettuce showed the highest
      increase in phytochemical content when elicitors (AA, SA, and HP) were applied on
      day 7 before harvest. Similarly, antioxidant activity rose in all treatments on
      day 7. In red lettuce, the highest content of bioactive molecules occurred in
      samples treated on day 15. AA, SA, and HP were the elicitors with the highest
      effect on phytochemical content for both varieties, mainly on polyphenol content.
      Antioxidant activity also increased in response to elicitation. HPLC-MS showed an
      increase in the content of phenolic acids in green and red lettuce, especially
      after elicitation with SA, suggesting activation of the caffeic acid pathway due
      to elicitation.

PMID- 28613868
TI  - Presence and Formation Mechanism of Foodborne Carbonaceous Nanostructures from
      Roasted Pike Eel ( Muraenesox cinereus).
AB  - Foodborne nanostructures have gained more and more attention in recent years. In
      this paper, the presence and physicochemical properties of carbonaceous
      nanostructures (CNSs) from roasted pike eel ( Muraenesox cinereus) were reported.
      The monodispersed CNSs are strongly photoluminescent under the illustration of
      ultraviolet (UV) light, with a fluorescent quantum yield of 80.16%, and display
      excitation-dependent emission behavior. The formation of CNSs is believed to go
      through a process of morphology evolution, including polymerization, pyrolysis,
      nucleation, growth, emergence, and blossom. The optical properties of the CNSs
      were shown to be affected by the roasting temperature. Furthermore, cellular
      uptake of the CNSs was investigated, and it is shown that the CNSs were clearly
      absorbed into live cells and were mainly distributed within the cell cytoplasm
      and not in the cell nucleus. This work is among the very first reports on CNSs
      present in roasted fish, providing valuable insights into the formation mechanism
      of such nanostructures and showcasing the biodistribution of these food
      originated CNSs in live cells.

PMID- 28613871
TI  - Discovery of N-{4-[5-(4-Fluorophenyl)-3-methyl-2-methylsulfanyl-3H-imidazol-4-yl]
      pyridin-2-yl}-acetamide (CBS-3595), a Dual p38alpha MAPK/PDE-4 Inhibitor with
      Activity against TNFalpha-Related Diseases.
AB  - The anti-inflammatory potential of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)
      inhibitors was coincidentally expanded to a dual inhibition of p38alpha MAPK and
      phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), and the potential benefits arising from the blockage
      of both inflammation-related enzymes were thoroughly investigated. The most
      promising compound, CBS-3595 (1), was successively evaluated in in vitro
      experiments as well as in ex vivo and in vivo preclinical studies after
      administration of 1 to rodents, dogs, and monkeys. The resulting data clearly
      indicated a potent suppression of tumor necrosis factor alpha release. For
      reconfirming the findings of the animal studies when administering 1 to healthy
      human volunteers, a phase I clinical trial was conducted. Apart from further
      information regarding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of
      1, it was demonstrated that dual inhibition of p38alpha MAPK and PDE4 is able to
      synergistically attenuate the excessive anti-inflammatory response.

PMID- 28613872
TI  - Detection of a Toxic Methylated Derivative of Phomopsin A Produced by the Legume
      Infesting Fungus Diaporthe toxica.
AB  - Phomopsin A (PHO-A), produced by the fungus Diaporthe toxica, is a mycotoxin
      known to be responsible for fatal liver disease of lupin-fed sheep. The full
      spectrum of the toxic secondary metabolites produced by D. toxica is still
      unknown. PHO-A and the naturally occurring derivatives B-E have been subject to
      several studies to reveal their structures as well as chemical and toxicological
      properties. In this work, a methylated derivative (1) of PHO-A isolated from
      lupin seeds inoculated with D. toxica is described. It was characterized by high
      resolution mass and NMR data and shown to be the N-methylated derivative of PHO
      A. 1 is cytotoxic against HepG2 cells.

PMID- 28613874
TI  - Distinguishing Cis and Trans Isomers in Intact Complex Lipids Using Electron
      Impact Excitation of Ions from Organics Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - We present a mass spectrometry-based method for the identification of cis and
      trans double-bond isomers within intact complex lipid mixtures using electron
      impact excitation of ions from organics (EIEIO) mass spectrometry. EIEIO involves
      irradiating singly charged lipid ions with electrons having kinetic energies of 5
      16 eV. The resulting EIEIO spectra can be used to discern cis and trans double
      bond isomers by virtue of the differences in the fragmentation patterns at the
      carbon-carbon single bonds neighboring the double bonds. For trans double bonds,
      these characteristic fragments include unique closed-shell and open-shell
      (radical) products. To explain this fragmentation pattern in trans double bonds,
      we have proposed a reaction mechanism involving excitation of the double bond's
      pi electrons followed by hydrogen atom rearrangement. Several lipid standards
      were analyzed using the EIEIO method, including mixtures of these standards.
      Prior to EIEIO, some of the lipid species in these mixtures were separated from
      their isomeric forms by using differential mobility spectrometry (DMS). For
      example, mixed cis and trans forms of triacylglycerols and phosphatidylcholines
      were identified by this DMS-EIEIO workflow. With this combined gas-phase
      separation and subsequent fragmentation, we could eliminate the need for
      authentic standards for identification. When DMS could not separate cis and trans
      isomers completely, as was the case with sphingomyelins, we relied upon the
      aforementioned diagnostic EIEIO fragment peaks to determine the relative
      contribution of the trans double-bond isomer in the mixed samples. We also
      applied the DMS-EIEIO methodology to natural samples extracted from a ruminant
      (bovine), which serve as common origins of trans fatty acids in a typical Western
      diet that includes dairy products.

PMID- 28613873
TI  - The Drug-Resistant Variant P167S Expands the Substrate Profile of CTX-M beta
      Lactamases for Oxyimino-Cephalosporin Antibiotics by Enlarging the Active Site
      upon Acylation.
AB  - CTX-M beta-lactamases provide resistance against the beta-lactam antibiotic,
      cefotaxime, but not a related antibiotic, ceftazidime. beta-Lactamases that carry
      the P167S substitution, however, provide ceftazidime resistance. In this study,
      CTX-M-14 was used as a model to study the structural changes caused by the P167S
      mutation that accelerate ceftazidime turnover. X-ray crystallography was used to
      determine the structures of the P167S apoenzyme along with the structures of the
      S70G/P167S, E166A/P167S, and E166A mutant enzymes complexed with ceftazidime as
      well as the E166A/P167S apoenzyme. The S70G and E166A mutations allow capture of
      the enzyme-substrate complex and the acylated form of ceftazidime, respectively.
      The results showed a large conformational change in the Omega-loop of the
      ceftazidime acyl-enzyme complex of the P167S mutant but not in the enzyme
      substrate complex, suggesting the change occurs upon acylation. The change
      results in a larger active site that prevents steric clash between the
      aminothiazole ring of ceftazidime and the Asn170 residue in the Omega-loop,
      allowing accommodation of ceftazidime for hydrolysis. In addition, the
      conformational change was not observed in the E166A/P167S apoenzyme, suggesting
      the presence of acylated ceftazidime influences the conformational change.
      Finally, the E166A acyl-enzyme structure with ceftazidime did not exhibit the
      altered conformation, indicating the P167S substitution is required for the
      change. Taken together, the results reveal that the P167S substitution and the
      presence of acylated ceftazidime both drive the structure toward a conformational
      change in the Omega-loop and that in CTX-M P167S enzymes found in drug-resistant
      bacteria this will lead to an increased level of ceftazidime hydrolysis.

PMID- 28613876
TI  - Origin of the Non-Arrhenius Behavior of the Rates of Enzymatic Reactions.
AB  - The origin of the non-Arrhenius behavior of the rate constant for hydride
      transfer enzymatic reactions has been a puzzling problem since its initial
      observation. This effect has been used originally to support the idea that
      enzymes work by dynamical effects and more recently to suggest an entropy funnel
      model. Our analysis, however, has advanced the idea that the reason for the non
      Arrhenius trend reflects the temperature dependence of the rearrangements of the
      protein polar groups in response to the change in the charge distribution of the
      reacting system during the transition from the ground state (GS) to the
      transition state (TS). Here we examine the validity of our early proposal by
      simulating the catalytic reaction of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and determine
      the microscopic origin of the entropic and enthalpic contributions to the
      activation barrier. The corresponding analysis establishes the origin of the non
      Arrhenius behaviors and quantifies our original suggestion that the classical
      effect is due to the entropic contributions of the environment. We also find that
      the quantum effects reflect in part the temperature dependence of the donor
      acceptor distance.

PMID- 28613875
TI  - Modeling of Polarization Transfer Kinetics in Protein Hydration Using
      Hyperpolarized Water.
AB  - Water-protein interactions play a central role in protein structure, dynamics,
      and function. These interactions, traditionally, have been studied using nuclear
      magnetic resonance (NMR) by measuring chemical exchange and nuclear Overhauser
      effect (NOE). Polarization transferred from hyperpolarized water can result in
      substantial transient signal enhancements of protein resonances due to these
      processes. Here, we use dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization and flow-NMR for
      measuring the pH dependence of transferred signals to the protein trypsin. A
      maximum enhancement of 20 is visible in the amide proton region of the spectrum
      at pH 6.0, and of 47 at pH 7.5. The aliphatic region is enhanced up to 2.3 times
      at pH 6.0 and up to 2.5 times at pH 7.5. The time dependence of these observed
      signals can be modeled quantitatively using rate equations incorporating chemical
      exchange to amide sites and, optionally, intramolecular NOE to aliphatic protons.
      On the basis of these two- and three-site models, average exchange (kex) and
      cross-relaxation rates (sigma) obtained were kex = 12 s-1, sigma = -0.33 s-1 for
      pH 7.5 and kex = 1.8 s-1, sigma = -0.72 s-1 for pH 6.0 at a temperature of 304 K.
      These values were validated using conventional EXSY and NOESY measurements. In
      general, a rapid measurement of exchange and cross-relaxation rates may be of
      interest for the study of structural changes of the protein occurring on the same
      time scale. Besides protein-water interactions, interactions with cosolvent or
      solutes can further be investigated using the same methods.

PMID- 28613877
TI  - X-ray Emission Spectroscopy of Proteinogenic Amino Acids at All Relevant
      Absorption Edges.
AB  - Nonresonant N K, O K, C K, and S L2,3 X-ray emission spectra of the 20 most
      common proteinogenic amino acids in their solid zwitterionic form are reported.
      They represent a comprehensive database that can serve as a reliable basis for
      the X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XES) studies of peptides and proteins. At the
      most important N and O K edges, clear similarities and differences between the
      spectra of certain amino acids are observed and associated with the specific
      chemical structure of these molecules and their functional groups. Analysis of
      these spectra allows the generation of spectral fingerprints of the protonated
      amino group, the deprotonated carboxylic group, and, using a building block
      approach, the specific nitrogen- and oxygen-containing functional groups in the
      side chains of the amino acids. Some of these fingerprints are compared to the
      spectra of reference compounds with the respective functional groups; they
      exhibit reasonable similarity, underlining the validity of the spectral
      fingerprint approach. The C K and S L2,3 XES spectra are found to be specific for
      each amino acid, in accordance with the different local environments of the
      involved C and S atoms, respectively.

PMID- 28613878
TI  - Kinetics of Light-Induced Concentration Patterns in Transparent Polymer
      Solutions.
AB  - When exposed to weak visible laser light, solutions of common polymers like
      poly(isoprene) and poly(butadiene) respond by local concentration variations,
      which in turn lead to refractive index changes. Various micropatterns have been
      recently reported, depending mostly on the solvent environment and the
      irradiation conditions. Here, we focused on the simpler case of single polymer
      rich filaments and we employed phase contrast microscopy to systematically
      investigate the influence of laser illumination and material parameters on the
      kinetics of the optically induced local concentration increase in the polydiene
      solutions. The refractive index contrast of the formed filaments increased
      exponentially with the laser illumination time. The growth rate exhibited linear
      dependence on the laser power and increased with polymer chain length in
      semidilute solutions in good solvents. On the contrary, the kinetics of the
      formed filaments appeared to be rather insensitive to the polymer concentration.
      Albeit the origin of the peculiar light field-polymer concentration coupling
      remains yet elusive, the new phenomenology is considered necessary for the
      elucidation of its mechanism.

PMID- 28613879
TI  - Generic Schemes for Single-Molecule Kinetics. 2: Information Content of the
      Poisson Indicator.
AB  - Recently, we described a pathway analysis technique (paper 1) for analyzing
      generic schemes for single-molecule kinetics based upon the first-passage time
      distribution. Here, we employ this method to derive expressions for the Poisson
      indicator, a normalized measure of stochastic variation (essentially equivalent
      to the Fano factor and Mandel's Q parameter), for various renewal (i.e.,
      memoryless) enzymatic reactions. We examine its dependence on substrate
      concentration, without assuming all steps follow Poissonian kinetics. Based upon
      fitting to the functional forms of the first two waiting time moments, we show
      that, to second order, the non-Poissonian kinetics are generally underdetermined
      but can be specified in certain scenarios. For an enzymatic reaction with an
      arbitrary intermediate topology, we identify a generic minimum of the Poisson
      indicator as a function of substrate concentration, which can be used to tune
      substrate concentration to the stochastic fluctuations and to estimate the
      largest number of underlying consecutive links in a turnover cycle. We identify a
      local maximum of the Poisson indicator (with respect to substrate concentration)
      for a renewal process as a signature of competitive binding, either between a
      substrate and an inhibitor or between multiple substrates. Our analysis explores
      the rich connections between Poisson indicator measurements and microscopic
      kinetic mechanisms.

PMID- 28613880
TI  - The Emergent Nematic Phase in Ionic Chromonic Liquid Crystals.
AB  - Chromonic liquid crystals exhibit a unique self-assembly process which is of both
      theoretical and practical interest. A characteristic feature of chromonics is the
      occurrence of molecular association through stacking at extremely low
      concentrations. Experimental evidence has suggested that this process is
      approximately isodesmic across a broad concentration range. Another important
      aspect of these phases is a separation of energy scales for elastic deformation
      that leads to novel bulk morphologies and defect arrangements. To date, only a
      handful of computational studies have managed to reproduce crucial aspects of
      chromonic phases, with ionic chromonics treated only by expensive fully atomistic
      simulations. Here, we present a simple model based on the competition between
      long-range repulsions and short-range anisotropic attractions capable of
      capturing all features of the chromonic phase. Molecular simulations of coarse
      grained mesogens are used to map out the phase behavior and explore how
      structural and energetic anisotropies influence their ordering and response. This
      work presents the first computational investigation into the nematic elasticity
      of these phases and demonstrates key correlations between elastic response and
      stack growth.

PMID- 28613881
TI  - Radical Reactions Affecting Polar Groups in Threonine Peptide Ions.
AB  - Peptide cation-radicals containing the threonine residue undergo radical-induced
      dissociations upon collisional activation and photon absorption in the 210-400 nm
      range. Peptide cation-radicals containing a radical defect at the N-terminal
      residue, [*Ala-Thr-Ala-Arg+H]+, were generated by electron transfer dissociation
      (ETD) of peptide dications and characterized by UV-vis photodissociation action
      spectroscopy combined with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT)
      calculations of absorption spectra, including thermal vibronic band broadening.
      The action spectrum of [*Ala-Thr-Ala-Arg+H]+ ions was indicative of the canonical
      structure of an N-terminally deaminated radical whereas isomeric structures
      differing in the position of the radical defect and amide bond geometry were
      excluded. This indicated that exothermic electron transfer to threonine peptide
      ions did not induce radical isomerizations in the fragment cation-radicals.
      Several isomeric structures, ion-molecule complexes, and transition states for
      isomerizations and dissociations were generated and analyzed by DFT and Moller
      Plesset perturbational ab initio calculations to aid interpretation of the major
      dissociations by loss of water, hydroxyl radical, C3H6NO*, C3H7NO, and backbone
      cleavages. Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) in combination with DFT
      gradient geometry optimizations and intrinsic reaction coordinate analysis were
      used to search for low-energy cation-radical conformers and transition states.
      BOMD was also employed to analyze the reaction trajectory for loss of water from
      ion-molecule complexes.

PMID- 28613882
TI  - Heterobimetallic Complexes Comprised of Nb and Fe: Isolation of a Coordinatively
      Unsaturated NbIII/Fe0 Bimetallic Complex Featuring a Nb=Fe Triple Bond.
AB  - Heterometallic multiple bonds between niobium and other transition metals have
      not been reported to date, likely owing to the highly reactive nature of low
      valent niobium centers. Herein, a C3-symmetric tris(phosphinoamide) ligand
      framework is used to construct a Nb/Fe heterobimetallic complex Cl
      Nb(iPrNPPh2)3Fe-Br (2), which features a Fe->Nb dative bond with a metal-metal
      distance of 2.4269(4) A. Reduction of 2 in the presence of PMe3 affords
      Nb(iPrNPPh2)3Fe-PMe3 (6), a compound with an unusual trigonal pyramidal geometry
      at a NbIII center, a Nb=Fe triple bond, and the shortest bond distance (2.1446(8)
      A) ever reported between Nb and any other transition metal. Complex 6 is
      thermally unstable and degrades via P-N bond cleavage to form a NbV?NR imide
      complex, iPrN?Nb(iPrNPPh2)3Fe-PMe3 (9). The heterobimetallic complexes
      iPrN?Nb(iPrNPPh2)3Fe-Br (8) and 9 are independently synthesized, revealing that
      the strongly pi-bonding imido functionality prevents significant metal-metal
      interactions. The 57Fe Mossbauer spectra of 2, 6, 8, and 9 show a clear trend in
      isomer shift (delta), with a decrease in delta as metal-metal interactions become
      stronger and the Fe center is reduced. The electronic structure and metal-metal
      bonding of 2, 6, 8, and 9 are explored through computational studies, and cyclic
      voltammetry is used to better understand the effect of metal-metal interaction in
      early/late heterobimetallic complexes on the redox properties of the two metals
      involved.

PMID- 28613883
TI  - Identifying Land Use and Land-Use Changes (LULUC): A Global LULUC Matrix.
AB  - Land use and land-use changes (LULUC) information is essential to determine the
      environmental impacts of anthropogenic land-use and conversion. However, existing
      data sets are either local-scale or they quantify land occupation per land-use
      type rather than providing information on land-use changes. Here we combined the
      strengths of the remotely sensed MODIS land cover data set and FAOSTAT land-use
      data to obtain a database including a collection of 231 country-specific LULUC
      matrixes, as suggested by the IPCC. We produced two versions of each matrix:
      version 1, identifying forestland based on canopy cover criteria; version 2,
      distinguishing primary, secondary, planted forests and permanent crops. The
      outcome was a first country-based, consistent set of spatially explicit LULUC
      matrixes. The database facilitates a more holistic assessment of land-use
      changes, quantifying changes that occur between land classes from 2001 to 2012,
      providing crucial information for assessing environmental impacts caused by
      LULUC. The data allow global-scale land-use change analyses, requiring a
      distinction between land types based not only on land cover but also on land
      uses. The spatially explicit data set may also serve as a starting point for
      further studies aiming at determining the drivers of land-use change supported by
      spatial statistical modeling.

PMID- 28613884
TI  - Carbohydrate-Polypeptide Contacts in the Antibody Receptor CD16A Identified
      through Solution NMR Spectroscopy.
AB  - Asparagine-linked carbohydrates (N-glycans) are common modifications of
      eukaryotic proteins that confer multiple properties, including the essential
      stabilization of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Here we present a rapid and
      efficient strategy for identifying N-glycans that contact polypeptide residues
      and apply the method to profile the five N-glycans attached to the human antibody
      receptor CD16A (Fc gamma receptor IIIA). Human embryonic kidney 293S cells
      expressed CD16A with 13CU-labeled N-glycans using standard protein expression
      techniques and medium supplemented with 3 g/L [13CU]glucose. Anomeric resonances
      on the protein-linked N-acetylglucosamine residue at the reducing end of the
      glycan are particularly well suited to studies of multiply glycosylated N
      glycoproteins because only one reducing end and nitrogen-linked residue is
      present in each N-glycan. Correlations between anomeric 1H1 and 13C1 nuclei on
      the reducing end residue generate crosspeaks in a conventional two-dimensional
      heteronuclear single-quantum coherence nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      experiment that appear in a region of the spectrum devoid of other carbohydrate
      peaks or background protein signals. Two N-glycan peaks corresponding to the N45
      and N162 N-glycans were dispersed from the rapidly averaged peaks corresponding
      to the N38, N74, and N169 N-glycans. We used a combination of NMR and 1 MUs all
      atom computational simulations to identify unexpected contacts between the N45 N
      glycan and CD16A polypeptide residues.

PMID- 28613885
TI  - Toward Complete Sequence Flexibility of Nucleic Acid Base Analogue FRET.
AB  - Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) using fluorescent base analogues is a
      powerful means of obtaining high-resolution nucleic acid structure and dynamics
      information that favorably complements techniques such as NMR and X-ray
      crystallography. Here, we expand the base-base FRET repertoire with an adenine
      analogue FRET-pair. Phosphoramidite-protected quadracyclic 2'-deoxyadenosine
      analogues qAN1 (donor) and qAnitro (acceptor) were synthesized and incorporated
      into DNA by a generic, reliable, and high-yielding route, and both constitute
      excellent adenine analogues. The donor, qAN1, has quantum yields reaching 21% and
      11% in single- and double-strands, respectively. To the best of our knowledge,
      this results in the highest average brightness of an adenine analogue inside DNA.
      Its potent emissive features overlap well with the absorption of qAnitro and thus
      enable accurate FRET-measurements over more than one turn of B-DNA. As we have
      shown previously for our cytosine analogue FRET-pair, FRET between qAN1 and
      qAnitro positioned at different base separations inside DNA results in
      efficiencies that are highly dependent on both distance and orientation. This
      facilitates significantly enhanced resolution in FRET structure determinations,
      demonstrated here in a study of conformational changes of DNA upon binding of the
      minor groove binder netropsin. Finally, we note that the donor and acceptor of
      our cytosine FRET-pair, tCO and tCnitro, can be conveniently combined with the
      acceptor and donor of our current adenine pair, respectively. Consequently, our
      base analogues can now measure base-base FRET between 3 of the 10 possible base
      combinations and, through base-complementarity, between all sequence positions in
      a duplex.

PMID- 28613886
TI  - Electrochemical Size Measurement and Characterization of Electrodeposited
      Platinum Nanoparticles at Nanometer Resolution with Scanning Electrochemical
      Microscopy.
AB  - The properties of nanoparticles (NPs) are determined by their size and geometric
      structures. A reliable determination of NP dimension is critical for
      understanding their physical and chemical properties, but sizing ultrasmall
      particles on the order of nanometer (nm) scale in the solution is still
      challenging. Here, we report the size measurement of PtNP at nanometer resolution
      by in situ scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), performed with the
      electrochemical generation and removal of H2 bubble at a reasonably small
      distance between tip and substrate electrodes in 200 or 500 mM HClO4 solution. A
      series of different PtNPs or nanoclusters were electrodeposited and in situ
      measured in the solution, proving the concept of sizing ultrasmall particles
      using tip generation/substrate collection mode of SECM. This technique could be
      also used for investigations of other supported ultrasmall metal nanocluster
      systems.

PMID- 28613887
TI  - Electrical Tuning of Exciton-Plasmon Polariton Coupling in Monolayer MoS2
      Integrated with Plasmonic Nanoantenna Lattice.
AB  - Active control of light-matter interactions in semiconductors is critical for
      realizing next generation optoelectronic devices with real-time control of the
      system's optical properties and hence functionalities via external fields. The
      ability to dynamically manipulate optical interactions by applied fields in
      active materials coupled to cavities with fixed geometrical parameters opens up
      possibilities of controlling the lifetimes, oscillator strengths, effective mass,
      and relaxation properties of a coupled exciton-photon (or plasmon) system. Here,
      we demonstrate electrical control of exciton-plasmon coupling strengths between
      strong and weak coupling limits in a two-dimensional semiconductor integrated
      with plasmonic nanoresonators assembled in a field-effect transistor device by
      electrostatic doping. As a result, the energy-momentum dispersions of such an
      exciton-plasmon coupled system can be altered dynamically with applied electric
      field by modulating the excitonic properties of monolayer MoS2 arising from many
      body effects. In addition, evidence of enhanced coupling between charged excitons
      (trions) and plasmons was also observed upon increased carrier injection, which
      can be utilized for fabricating Fermionic polaritonic and magnetoplasmonic
      devices. The ability to dynamically control the optical properties of a coupled
      exciton-plasmonic system with electric fields demonstrates the versatility of the
      coupled system and offers a new platform for the design of optoelectronic devices
      with precisely tailored responses.

PMID- 28613888
TI  - CdTe Nanowires by Au-Catalyzed Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy.
AB  - We report on the first Au-catalyzed growth of CdTe nanowires by metalorganic
      vapor phase epitaxy. The nanowires were obtained by a separate precursors flow
      process in which (i) di-isopropyl-telluride (iPr2Te) was first flowed through the
      reactor to ensure the formation of liquid Au-Te alloy droplets, and (ii) after
      purging with pure H2 to remove unreacted iPr2Te molecules from the vapor and the
      growth surface, (iii) dimethylcadmium (Me2Cd) was supplied to the vapor so that
      Cd atoms could enter the catalyst droplets, leading to nanowire self-assembly.
      CdTe nanowires were grown between 485 and 515  degrees C on (111)B-GaAs
      substrates, the latter preliminary deposited with a 2 MUm thick (111)-oriented
      CdTe buffer layer onto which Au nanoparticles were provided. As-grown CdTe
      nanowires were vertical ([111]-aligned) straight segments of constant diameter
      and showed an Au-rich nanodroplet at their tips, the contact angle between the
      droplets and the nanowires being ~130 degrees . The nanowire axial growth rate
      appeared kinetics-limited with an activation energy ~57 kcal/mol. However, the
      growth rate turned independent from the nanowire diameter. Present data are
      interpreted by a theoretical model explaining the nanowire growth through the
      diffusion transport of Te adatoms under the assumption that their growth occurs
      during the Me2Cd-flow process step. Low-temperature cathodoluminescence spectra
      recorded from single nanowires showed a well-resolved band-edge emission typical
      of zincblend CdTe along with a dominant band peaked at 1.539 eV.

PMID- 28613889
TI  - Pressure Dependence of Mixed Conduction and Photo Responsiveness in Organolead
      Tribromide Perovskites.
AB  - The electrical transport properties of CH3NH3PbBr3 (MAPbBr3) polycrystals were in
      situ investigated by alternating-current impedance spectroscopy under high
      pressures up to 5.6 GPa. It is confirmed that ionic and electronic conductions
      coexist in MAPbBr3. As pressure below 3.3 GPa ions migration is the predominant
      process, while above 3.3 GPa electronic conduction becomes the main process. An
      obvious ionic-electronic transition can be observed. The pressure dependent photo
      responsiveness of MAPbBr3 was also studied by in situ photocurrent measurements
      up to 3.8 GPa. The mixed conduction can be clearly seen in photocurrent
      measurement. Additionally, the photocurrents remain robust below 2.4 GPa, while
      they are suppressed with pressure-induced partial amorphization. Interestingly,
      the photoelectric response of MAPbBr3 can be enhanced by high pressure, and the
      strongest photocurrent value appears in the high-pressure phase II at 0.7 GPa,
      which is similar to previous results in both MAPbI3 and MASnI3.

PMID- 28613890
TI  - One-Pot Cascade Transformations of Zinc Trifluorodiazoethylide and alpha,beta
      Unsaturated Enones: Access to Trifluoromethylated Polycyclic Pyrazolines.
AB  - One-pot cascade transformations are developed that involve [3 + 2]
      cycloaddition/Michael/aldol and [3 + 2] cycloaddition/double 1,2-addition
      reactions of zinc trifluorodiazoethylide with various alpha,beta-unsaturated
      enones. The protocol provides straightforward access to trifluoromethyl
      substituted polycyclic pyrazolines with high chemo-, regio-, and
      diastereoselectivity.

PMID- 28613891
TI  - Fabricating and Controlling Silicon Zigzag Nanowires by Diffusion-Controlled
      Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching Method.
AB  - Silicon (Si) zigzag nanowires (NWs) have a great potential in many applications
      because of its high surface/volume ratio. However, fabricating Si zigzag NWs has
      been challenging. In this work, a diffusion-controlled metal-assisted chemical
      etching method is developed to fabricate Si zigzag NWs. By tailoring the
      composition of etchant to change its diffusivity, etching direction, and etching
      time, various zigzag NWs can be easily fabricated. In addition, it is also found
      that a critical length of NW (>1 MUm) is needed to form zigzag nanowires. Also,
      the amplitude of zigzag increases as the location approaches the center of the
      substrate and the length of zigzag nanowire increases. It is also demonstrated
      that such zigzag NWs can help the silicon substrate for self-cleaning and
      antireflection. This method may provide a feasible and economical way to
      fabricate zigzag NWs and novel structures for broad applications.

PMID- 28613892
TI  - Role of Solvent Water in the Temperature-Induced Self-Assembly of a Triblock
      Copolymer.
AB  - Water-soluble triblock copolymers have received much attention in industrial
      applications and scientific fields. We here show that femtosecond mid-IR pump
      probe spectroscopy is useful to study the role of water in the temperature
      induced self-assembly of triblock copolymers. Our experimental results suggest
      two distinct subpopulations of water molecules: those that interact with other
      water molecules and those involved in the hydration of a triblock copolymer
      surface. We find that the vibrational dynamics of bulk-like water is not affected
      by either micellation or gelation of triblock copolymers. The increased
      population of water interacting with ether oxygen atoms of the copolymer during
      the unimer to micelle phase transition is important evidence for the entropic
      role of water in temperature-induced micelle formation at a low copolymer
      concentration. In contrast, at the critical gelation temperature and beyond, the
      population of surface-associated water molecules interacting with ether oxygen
      atoms decreases, which indicates important enthalpic control by water. The
      present study on the roles of water in the two different phase transitions of
      triblock copolymers sheds new light on the underlying mechanisms of temperature
      induced self-aggregation behaviors of amphiphiles that are ubiquitous in nature.

PMID- 28613893
TI  - Bias-Controlled Spectral Response in GaN/AlN Single-Nanowire Ultraviolet
      Photodetectors.
AB  - We present a study of GaN single-nanowire ultraviolet photodetectors with an
      embedded GaN/AlN superlattice. The heterostructure dimensions and doping profile
      were designed in such a way that the application of positive or negative bias
      leads to an enhancement of the collection of photogenerated carriers from the
      GaN/AlN superlattice or from the GaN base, respectively, as confirmed by electron
      beam-induced current measurements. The devices display enhanced response in the
      ultraviolet A (~ 330-360 nm)/B (~ 280-330 nm) spectral windows under
      positive/negative bias. The result is explained by correlation of the
      photocurrent measurements with scanning transmission electron microscopy
      observations of the same single nanowire and semiclassical simulations of the
      strain and band structure in one and three dimensions.

PMID- 28613894
TI  - Individual Defects in InAs/InGaAsSb/GaSb Nanowire Tunnel Field-Effect Transistors
      Operating below 60 mV/decade.
AB  - Tunneling field-effect transistors (TunnelFET), a leading steep-slope transistor
      candidate, is still plagued by defect response, and there is a large discrepancy
      between measured and simulated device performance. In this work, highly scaled
      InAs/InxGa1-xAsySb1-y/GaSb vertical nanowire TunnelFET with ability to operate
      well below 60 mV/decade at technically relevant currents are fabricated and
      characterized. The structure, composition, and strain is characterized using
      transmission electron microscopy with emphasis on the heterojunction. Using
      Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations and Random Telegraph Signal
      (RTS) noise measurements, effects of different type of defects are studied. The
      study reveals that the bulk defects have the largest impact on the performance of
      these devices, although for these highly scaled devices interaction with even few
      oxide defects can have large impact on the performance. Understanding the
      contribution by individual defects, as outlined in this letter, is essential to
      verify the fundamental physics of device operation, and thus imperative for
      taking the III-V TunnelFETs to the next level.

PMID- 28613895
TI  - A Highly Selective Hydantoin Inhibitor of Aggrecanase-1 and Aggrecanase-2 with a
      Low Projected Human Dose.
AB  - Aggrecanase-1 and -2 (ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5) are zinc metalloproteases involved
      in the degradation of aggrecan in cartilage. Inhibitors could provide a means of
      altering the progression of osteoarthritis. We report the identification of 7
      which had good oral pharmacokinetics in rats and showed efficacy in a rat
      chemical model of osteoarthritis. The projected human dose required to achieve
      sustained plasma levels >=10 times the hADAMTS-5 IC50 is 5 mg q.d.

PMID- 28613896
TI  - Catalytic N2 Reduction to Silylamines and Thermodynamics of N2 Binding at Square
      Planar Fe.
AB  - The geometric constraints imposed by a tetradentate P4N2 ligand play an essential
      role in stabilizing square planar Fe complexes with changes in metal oxidation
      state. The square pyramidal Fe0(N2)(P4N2) complex catalyzes the conversion of N2
      to N(SiR3)3 (R = Me, Et) at room temperature, representing the highest turnover
      number of any Fe-based N2 silylation catalyst to date (up to 65 equiv N(SiMe3)3
      per Fe center). Elevated N2 pressures (>1 atm) have a dramatic effect on
      catalysis, increasing N2 solubility and the thermodynamic N2 binding affinity at
      Fe0(N2)(P4N2). A combination of high-pressure electrochemistry and variable
      temperature UV-vis spectroscopy were used to obtain thermodynamic measurements of
      N2 binding. In addition, X-ray crystallography, 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy, and
      EPR spectroscopy were used to fully characterize these new compounds. Analysis of
      Fe0, FeI, and FeII complexes reveals that the free energy of N2 binding across
      three oxidation states spans more than 37 kcal mol-1.

PMID- 28613897
TI  - Radical Ions of a pi-Bowl Sumanene: Effects of Strained Structure on the
      Electronic Transitions.
AB  - Strained polyaromatic carbon molecules exhibit interesting properties owing to
      enhanced interactions between p orbitals of sp2 carbons; sumanene (SUM) is one of
      these bowl-shaped pi-conjugated molecules (pi-bowls). In the present study, the
      radical cation and radical anion of SUM were characterized by radiation chemical
      methods, that is, pulse radiolysis and gamma-ray radiolysis. Absorption spectra
      of the SUM radical cation and radical anion in a wide spectral region ranging
      from the visible to near-IR were successfully obtained. Absorption spectra of the
      SUM radical cation and radical anion are similar in shape to those of the
      corresponding species of triphenylene (TP), which possesses a planar structure
      and the same pi-electron system as SUM. However, the SUM radical anion showed
      lower peak shifts than the TP radical anion. Theoretical calculations revealed
      that the MOs responsible for the electronic transitions of the SUM radical anion
      are different from those of the TP radical anion, in contrast to the radical
      cations. These results demonstrate that the strains in the molecular geometries
      affect the electronic transitions of radical ions.

PMID- 28613898
TI  - Enhanced Phototherapy by Nanoparticle-Enzyme via Generation and Photolysis of
      Hydrogen Peroxide.
AB  - Light has been widely used for cancer therapeutics such as photodynamic therapy
      (PDT) and photothermal therapy. This paper describes a strategy called enzyme
      enhanced phototherapy (EEPT) for cancer treatment. We constructed a nanoparticle
      platform by covalent conjugation of glucose oxidase (GOx) to small polymer dots,
      which could be persistently immobilized into a tumor. While the malignant tumors
      have high glucose uptake, the GOx efficiently catalyzes the glucose oxidation
      with simultaneous generation of H2O2. Under light irradiation, the in situ
      generated H2O2 was photolyzed to produce hydroxyl radical, the most reactive
      oxygen species, for killing cancer cells. In vitro assays indicated that the
      cancer cells were destroyed by using a nanoparticle concentration at 0.2 MUg/mL
      and a light dose of ~120 J/cm2, indicating the significantly enhanced efficiency
      of the EEPT method when compared to typical PDT that requires a photosensitizer
      of >10 MUg/mL for effective cell killing under the same light dose. Furthermore,
      remarkable inhibition of tumor growth was observed in xenograft-bearing mice,
      indicating the promise of the EEPT approach for cancer therapeutics.

PMID- 28613899
TI  - Biomimetic Total Synthesis of Angiopterlactone B and Other Potential Natural
      Products.
AB  - A one-pot biomimetic synthesis of (-)-angiopterlactone B and its enantiomer (+)
      angiopterlactone B has been accomplished via TBAF-catalyzed tandem ring
      contraction followed by oxa-Michael/Michael addition sequence. Comparison of
      specific optical rotations, absolute configurations, and CD spectra of natural,
      synthesized (-)-angiopterlactone B and (+)-angiopterlactone B unequivocally
      proves that the isolated angiopterlactone B must be levorotatory. Synthesis of
      hitherto undiscovered natural products 18 and 20 and analogues of
      angiopterlactone B demonstrate the versatility of this method.

PMID- 28613901
TI  - Characterization of Phenolic Compounds from Early and Late Ripening Sweet
      Cherries and Their Antioxidant and Antifungal Activities.
AB  - Early and late ripening sweet cherries were characterized for phenolic acids, and
      also their antioxidant capacity and potential antifungal effects were
      investigated. Free, conjugated, and bound phenolics were identified and
      quantified using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry. Our results indicated that the early ripening cultivars contained
      higher free phenolic acids, which was positively related to remarkable
      antioxidant properties and the inhibition effects on Alternaria alternata and
      tenuazonic acid (TeA) accumulation. However, conjugated phenolics of the late
      ripening cultivars, mainly including caffeic, 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoic, p
      coumaric, and pyrocatechuic acids, achieved the highest antifungal effects and
      almost completely inhibited the A. alternata and TeA production. 2,2-Diphenyl-1
      picrylhydrazyl testing and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power assay showed
      strong positive correlation with total phenolics and specific phenolics such as
      free epicatechin and conjugated 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoic acids and also with
      antifungal activity. Results from this study provide further insights into the
      health-promoting phenolic compounds in sweet cherries.

PMID- 28613902
TI  - Nickel-Catalyzed C-H Silylation of Arenes with Vinylsilanes: Rapid and Reversible
      beta-Si Elimination.
AB  - The reaction of C6F5H and H2C?CHSiMe3 with catalytic [iPr2Im]Ni(eta2
      H2C?CHSiMe3)2 (1b) exclusively forms the C-H silylation product C6F5SiMe3 with
      ethylene as a byproduct ([iPr2Im] = 1,3-di(isopropyl)imidazole-2-ylidene).
      Catalytic C-H bond silylation is facile with partially fluorinated aromatic
      substrates containing two ortho fluorine substituents adjacent to the C-H bond
      and 1,2,3,4-tetrafluorobenzene. Less fluorinated substrates react slower. Under
      the same reaction conditions, catalytic [IPr]Ni(eta2-H2C?CHSiMe3)2 (1a) ([IPr] =
      1,3-bis[2,6-diisopropylphenyl]-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazol-2-ylidene) provided only
      the alkene hydroarylation product C6F5CH2CH2SiMe3. Mechanistic studies reveal
      that the C-H activation and beta-Si elimination steps are reversible under
      catalytic conditions with both catalysts 1a and 1b. With catalytic 1a, reversible
      ethylene loss after beta-Si elimination was also observed despite its inability
      to catalyze C-H silylation; the reductive elimination step to form the silylation
      product is much slower than reductive elimination to form the alkene
      hydroarylation product. Reversible ethylene loss was not observed with 1b, which
      suggests that the rate-limiting step in the reaction is neither C-H activation
      nor beta-Si elimination but either ethylene loss or reductive elimination of cis
      disposed aryl and SiMe3 moieties.

PMID- 28613900
TI  - Solid-State NMR Provides Evidence for Small-Amplitude Slow Domain Motions in a
      Multispanning Transmembrane alpha-Helical Protein.
AB  - Proteins are dynamic entities and populate ensembles of conformations.
      Transitions between states within a conformational ensemble occur over a broad
      spectrum of amplitude and time scales, and are often related to biological
      function. Whereas solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy has recently been used to
      characterize conformational ensembles of proteins in the microcrystalline states,
      its applications to membrane proteins remain limited. Here we use SSNMR to study
      conformational dynamics of a seven-helical transmembrane (TM) protein, Anabaena
      Sensory Rhodopsin (ASR) reconstituted in lipids. We report on site-specific
      measurements of the 15N longitudinal R1 and rotating frame R1rho relaxation rates
      at two fields of 600 and 800 MHz and at two temperatures of 7 and 30  degrees C.
      Quantitative analysis of the R1 and R1rho values and of their field and
      temperature dependencies provides evidence of motions on at least two time
      scales. We modeled these motions as fast local motions and slower collective
      motions of TM helices and of structured loops, and used the simple model-free and
      extended model-free analyses to fit the data and estimate the amplitudes, time
      scales and activation energies. Faster picosecond (tens to hundreds of
      picoseconds) local motions occur throughout the protein and are dominant in the
      middle portions of the TM helices. In contrast, the amplitudes of the slower
      collective motions occurring on the nanosecond (tens to hundreds of nanoseconds)
      time scales, are smaller in the central parts of helices, but increase toward
      their cytoplasmic sides as well as in the interhelical loops. ASR interacts with
      a soluble transducer protein on its cytoplasmic surface, and its binding affinity
      is modulated by light. The larger amplitude of motions on the cytoplasmic side of
      the TM helices correlates with the ability of ASR to undergo large conformational
      changes in the process of binding/unbinding the transducer.

PMID- 28613903
TI  - Effects of Water Molecule on CO Oxidation by OH: Reaction Pathways, Kinetic
      Barriers, and Rate Constants.
AB  - The water dilute oxy-fuel combustion is a clean combustion technology for near
      zero emission power; and the presence of water molecule could have both kinetic
      and dynamic effects on combustion reactions. The reaction OH + CO -> CO2 + H, one
      of the most important elementary reactions, has been investigated by extensive
      electronic structure calculations. And the effects of a single water molecule on
      CO oxidation have been studied by considering the preformed OH(H2O) complex
      reacts with CO. The results show little change in the reaction pathways, but the
      additional water molecule actually increases the vibrationally adiabatic energy
      barriers (VaG). Further thermal rate constant calculations in the temperature
      range of 200 to 2000 K demonstrate that the total low-pressure limit rate
      constant for the water assisted OH(H2O) + CO -> CO2 + H2O + H reaction is 1-2
      orders lower than that of the water unassisted one, which is consistent with the
      change of VaG. Therefore, the hydrated radical OH(H2O) would actually slow down
      the oxidation of CO. Meanwhile, comparisons show that the M06-2X/aug-cc-pVDZ
      method gives a much better estimation in energy and thus is recommended to be
      employed for direct dynamics simulations.

PMID- 28613905
TI  - Unexpected Effects of Activator Molecules' Polarity on the Electroreological
      Activity of Titanium Dioxide Nanopowders.
AB  - Titanium dioxide nanoparticles, obtained using the sol-gel method and modified
      with organic solvents, such as acetone, acetonitrile, benzene, diethyl ether,
      dimethyl sulfoxide, toluene, and chloroform, were used as the filler of
      polydimethylsiloxane-based electrorheological fluids. The effect of electric
      field strength on the shear stress and yield stress of electrorheological fluids
      was investigated, as well as the spectra of their dielectric relaxation in the
      frequency range from 25 to 106 Hz. Modification of titanium dioxide by polar
      molecules was found to enhance the electrorheological effect, as compared with
      unmodified TiO2, in accordance with the widely accepted concept of polar molecule
      dominated electrorheological effect (PM-ER). The most unexpected result of this
      study was an increase in the electrorheological effect during the application of
      nonpolar solvents with zero or near-zero dipole moments as the modifiers. It is
      suggested that nonpolar solvents, besides providing additional polarization
      effects at the filler particles interface, alter the internal pressure in the
      gaps between the particles. As a result, the filler particles are attracted to
      one another, leading to an increase in their aggregation and the formation of a
      network of bonds between the particles through liquid bridge contacts. Such
      changes in the electrorheological fluid structure result in a significant
      increase in the mechanical strength of the structures that arise when an electric
      field is applied, and an increase in the observed electrorheological effect in
      comparison with the unmodified titanium dioxide.

PMID- 28613904
TI  - "Martinizing" the Variational Implicit Solvent Method (VISM): Solvation Free
      Energy for Coarse-Grained Proteins.
AB  - Solvation is a fundamental driving force in many biological processes including
      biomolecular recognition and self-assembly, not to mention protein folding,
      dynamics, and function. The variational implicit solvent method (VISM) is a
      theoretical tool currently developed and optimized to estimate solvation free
      energies for systems of very complex topology, such as biomolecules. VISM's
      theoretical framework makes it unique because it couples hydrophobic, van der
      Waals, and electrostatic interactions as a functional of the solvation interface.
      By minimizing this functional, VISM produces the solvation interface as an output
      of the theory. In this work, we push VISM to larger scale applications by
      combining it with coarse-grained solute Hamiltonians adapted from the MARTINI
      framework, a well-established mesoscale force field for modeling large-scale
      biomolecule assemblies. We show how MARTINI-VISM (MVISM) compares with atomistic
      VISM (AVISM) for a small set of proteins differing in size, shape, and charge
      distribution. We also demonstrate MVISM's suitability to study the solvation
      properties of an interesting encounter complex, barnase-barstar. The promising
      results suggest that coarse-graining the protein with the MARTINI force field is
      indeed a valuable step to broaden VISM's and MARTINI's applications in the near
      future.

PMID- 28613906
TI  - Spectro-electrochemical Probing of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Processes in Exciton
      Recombination in I-III-VI2 Nanocrystals.
AB  - Ternary CuInS2 nanocrystals (CIS NCs) are attracting attention as nontoxic
      alternatives to heavy metal-based chalcogenides for many technologically relevant
      applications. The photophysical processes underlying their emission mechanism
      are, however, still under debate. Here we address this problem by applying, for
      the first time, spectro-electrochemical methods to core-only CIS and core/shell
      CIS/ZnS NCs. The application of an electrochemical potential enables us to
      reversibly tune the NC Fermi energy and thereby control the occupancy of intragap
      defects involved in exciton decay. The results indicate that, in analogy to
      copper-doped II-VI NCs, emission occurs via radiative capture of a conduction
      band electron by a hole localized on an intragap state likely associated with a
      Cu-related defect. We observe the increase in the emission efficiency under
      reductive electrochemical potential, which corresponds to raising the Fermi
      level, leading to progressive filling of intragap states with electrons. This
      indicates that the factor limiting the emission efficiency in these NCs is
      nonradiative electron trapping, while hole trapping is of lesser importance. This
      observation also suggests that the centers for radiative recombination are Cu2+
      defects (preexisting and/or accumulated as a result of photoconversion of Cu1+
      ions) as these species contain a pre-existing hole without the need for capturing
      a valence-band hole generated by photoexcitation. Temperature-controlled
      photoluminescence experiments indicate that the intrinsic limit on the emission
      efficiency is imposed by multiphonon nonradiative recombination of a band-edge
      electron and a localized hole. This process affects both shelled and unshelled
      CIS NCs to a similar degree, and it can be suppressed by cooling samples to below
      100 K. Finally, using experimentally measured decay rates, we formulate a model
      that describes the electrochemical modulation of the PL efficiency in terms of
      the availability of intragap electron traps as well as direct injection of
      electrons into the NC conduction band, which activates nonradiative Auger
      recombination, or electrochemical conversion of the Cu2+ states into the Cu1+
      species that are less emissive due to the need for their "activation" by the
      capture of photogenerated holes.

PMID- 28613907
TI  - Bending and Twisting Lattice Tilt in Strained Core-Shell Nanowires Revealed by
      Nanofocused X-ray Diffraction.
AB  - We have investigated strained GaAs-GaInP core-shell nanowires using transmission
      electron microscopy and nanofocused scanning X-ray diffraction. Nominally
      identical growth conditions for each sample were achieved by using nanoimprint
      lithography to create wafer-scale arrays of Au seed particles. However, we
      observe large individual differences, with neighboring nanowires showing either
      straight, bent, or twisted morphology. Using scanning X-ray diffraction, we
      reconstructed and quantified the bending and twisting of the nanowires in three
      dimensions. In one nanowire, we find that the shell lattice is tilted with
      respect to the core lattice, with an angle that increases from 2 degrees  at the
      base to 5 degrees  at the top. Furthermore, the azimuthal orientation of the tilt
      changes by 30 degrees  along the nanowire axis. Our results demonstrate how
      strained core-shell nanowire growth can lead to a rich interplay of composition,
      lattice mismatch, bending and lattice tilt, with additional degrees of complexity
      compared with thin films.

PMID- 28613908
TI  - Metabolomics Analysis of Effects of Commercial Soy-based Protein Products in Red
      Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus).
AB  - We investigated the metabolic effects of four different commercial soy-based
      protein products on red drum fish (Sciaenops ocellatus) using nuclear magnetic
      resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based metabolomics along with unsupervised principal
      component analysis (PCA) to evaluate metabolic profiles in liver, muscle, and
      plasma tissues. Specifically, during a 12 week feeding trial, juvenile red drum
      maintained in an indoor recirculating aquaculture system were fed four different
      commercially available soy formulations, containing the same amount of crude
      protein, and two reference diets as performance controls: a 60% soybean meal diet
      that had been used in a previous trial in our lab and a natural diet. Red drum
      liver, muscle, and plasma tissues were sampled at multiple time points to provide
      a more accurate snapshot of specific metabolic states during the grow-out. PCA
      score plots derived from NMR spectroscopy data sets showed significant
      differences between fish fed the natural diet and the soy-based diets, in both
      liver and muscle tissues. While red drum tolerated the inclusion of soy with good
      feed conversion ratios, a comparison to fish fed the natural diet revealed that
      the soy-fed fish in this study displayed a distinct metabolic signature
      characterized by increased protein and lipid catabolism, suggesting an energetic
      imbalance. Furthermore, among the soy-based formulations, one diet showed a more
      pronounced catabolic signature.

PMID- 28613909
TI  - Engineering the Size Distributions of Ordered GaAs Nanowires on Silicon.
AB  - Reproducible integration of III-V semiconductors on silicon can open new path
      toward CMOS compatible optoelectronics and novel design schemes in next
      generation solar cells. Ordered arrays of nanowires could accomplish this task,
      provided they are obtained in high yield and uniformity. In this work, we provide
      understanding on the physical factors affecting size uniformity in ordered GaAs
      arrays grown on silicon. We show that the length and diameter distributions in
      the initial stage of growth are not much influenced by the Poissonian fluctuation
      induced broadening, but rather are determined by the long incubation stage. We
      also show that the size distributions are consistent with the double exponential
      shapes typical for macroscopic nucleation with a large critical length after
      which the nanowires grow irreversibly. The size uniformity is dramatically
      improved by increasing the As4 flux, suggesting a new path for obtaining highly
      uniform arrays of GaAs nanowires on silicon.

PMID- 28613910
TI  - Construction of Distant Stereocenters by Enantioselective Desymmetrizing Carbonyl
      Ene Reaction.
AB  - An efficient desymmetrizing carbonyl-ene reaction of 1-substituted 4
      methylenecyclohexanes with glyoxal derivatives was thus executed by a chiral N,N'
      dioxide/NiII catalyst, providing facile access to cyclohexene derivatives bearing
      two remote 1,6-related stereocenters. This distal stereocontrol methodology
      originates from the efficient interaction between the catalyst with enophiles,
      discrimination of the two chair conformations of olefinic components, and the
      intrinsic six-membered transition-state structure of ene process.

PMID- 28613911
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Formal Carbene Migratory Insertion into Internal Olefinic C?C
      Bonds with N-Tosylhydrazones To Access Iminofuran and 2(3H)-Furanone Derivatives.
AB  - Efficient copper-catalyzed formal carbene migratory insertion into the olefinic
      C?C bonds of internal olefins, that is, alpha-oxo ketene N,S-acetals, has been
      achieved by means of N-tosylhydrazones of ketones as the carbene precursors.
      Iminofuran derivatives were obtained and further transformed to the corresponding
      2(3H)-furanones and 4-oxobutanoates (gamma-ketoesters), respectively, under mild
      conditions. In a similar fashion, alpha-thioxo ketene N,S-acetals reacted with N
      tosylhydrazones of ketones to afford iminothiophenes. It is suggested that formal
      carbene migratory insertion into the olefinic C?C bond is involved in the overall
      catalytic cycle, demonstrating a new type of carbene insertion reaction for five
      membered heterocycle construction.

PMID- 28613912
TI  - Molecular and Immune Biomarkers in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A
      Perspective From Members of the Pulmonary Pathology Society.
AB  - Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a multifactorial syndrome with high
      morbidity and mortality rates, characterized by deficiency in gas exchange and
      lung mechanics that lead to hypoxemia, dyspnea, and respiratory failure.
      Histologically, ARDS is characterized by an acute, exudative phase, combining
      diffuse alveolar damage and noncardiogenic edema, followed by a later
      fibroproliferative phase. Despite an enhanced understanding of ARDS pathogenesis,
      the capacity to predict the development of ARDS and to risk-stratify patients
      with the disease remains limited. Biomarkers may help to identify patients at the
      greatest risk of developing ARDS, to evaluate response to therapy, to predict
      outcome, and to improve clinical trials. The ARDS pathogenesis is presented in
      this article, as well as concepts and information on biomarkers that are
      currently used clinically or are available for laboratory use by academic and
      practicing pathologists and the developing and validating of new assays, focusing
      on the assays' major biologic roles in lung injury and/or repair and to
      ultimately suggest innovative, therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 28613914
TI  - Effect of rhizobacteria on arsenic uptake by macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes
      (Mart.) Solms.
AB  - Wastewater flowing in streams and nallahs across India carries several trace
      metals, including metalloid arsenic (As), which are considered serious
      environmental contaminants due to their toxicity, and recalcitrant nature. In
      this study, we determined the phytoremediation of As by Eichhornia crassipes
      (Mart.) Solms either alone or in association with plant growth-promoting
      rhizobacteria. Pseudomonas and Azotobacter inoculation to E. crassipes resulted
      in enhanced As removal compared to uninoculated control. Co-inoculation with a
      consortium of Pseudomonas, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Actinomyces, and Bacillus
      resulted in a higher As (p < 0.05) phytoaccumulation efficiency. P. aeruginosa
      strain jogii was found particularly effective in augmenting As removal by E.
      crassipes. Our findings indicate that the synergistic association of E. crassipes
      and various rhizobacteria is an effective strategy to enhance removal of As and
      thus may be utilized as an efficient biological alternative for the removal of
      this metalloid from wastewaters.

PMID- 28613913
TI  - Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis A Perspective From Members of the Pulmonary
      Pathology Society.
AB  - CONTEXT: - Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a lung disease that develops in
      susceptible individuals after inhalational exposure to an organic antigen or
      chemical compound. Pathogenesis is attributed to a combination of type III
      (immune complex-mediated) and type IV (delayed) hypersensitivity reactions to the
      inciting agent. OBJECTIVE: - To provide an overview of the current status of the
      medical literature regarding hypersensitivity pneumonitis. DATA SOURCES: - A
      literature search was performed using PubMed and Google search engines. The terms
      "hypersensitivity pneumonitis" and "extrinsic allergic alveolitis" were used,
      with the search starting on January 9, 2017, and concluding March 8, 2017.
      CONCLUSIONS: - As a pathologist, it is important to consider hypersensitivity
      pneumonitis when examining lung specimens because it is often clinically and
      pathologically overlooked. Recognizing the often subtle findings and correlating
      them with the patient's history or suggesting a thorough clinical investigation
      of potential exposures can be of help in identifying the underlying condition so
      that the patient can be appropriately managed.

PMID- 28613915
TI  - Intercountry analysis of breast density classification using visual grading.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Disagreement in mammographic breast density (MBD) assessment can
      impact breast cancer risk stratification, choices of further breast cancer
      screening intervals and pathways. This study examines whether intercountry MBD
      expectations and assessment approaches are associated with differences in MBD
      assessment. METHODS: 20 American Board of Radiology (ABR) examiners and 24 UK
      practitioners using the 4th edition BI-RADS(r) lexicon assessed 40 mammogram
      cases of 20 females. 26 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists
      (RANZCR) registered radiologists also assessed the same cases. Interobserver
      correlation and agreement were assessed using Spearman's correlation (rho) and
      weighted kappa (kappaw), respectively. RESULTS: Strong positive correlation was
      observed between the study cohorts on a binary scale (1-2 vs 3-4) [ABR examiners
      and RANZCR radiologists (rho = 0.950); ABR examiners and UK practitioners (rho =
      0.940); and RANZCR radiologists and UK practitioners (rho = 0.958)]. ABR and
      RANZCR radiologists demonstrated slight agreement [kappaw = 0.10; 95% confidence
      interval (CI) = -1.13-0.43], whereas ABR and UK practitioners showed a fair
      agreement [kappaw = 0.25; 95% CI = -0.42-0.61], and an almost perfect agreement
      was observed between RANZCR radiologists and UK practitioners [kappaw = 0.95; 95%
      CI = 0.91-0.97]. CONCLUSION: Findings demonstrate wide international and
      interobserver variability in MBD assessment. This level of variability
      underscores the need for automation and standardization of MBD assessment.
      Advances in knowledge: Intercountry analysis of MBD assessment shows variations,
      with less variation on the binary scale than on the 4-point scale. With this
      level of variation, automation and standardization of MBD assessment becomes more
      appropriate.

PMID- 28613916
TI  - Human CD8+ T Cells Damage Noninfected Epithelial Cells during Influenza Virus
      Infection In Vitro.
AB  - During severe influenza A virus (IAV) infections, a large amount of damage to the
      pulmonary epithelium is the result of the antiviral immune response.
      Specifically, whilst CD8+ T cells are important for killing IAV-infected cells,
      during a severe IAV infection, they can damage uninfected epithelial cells. At
      present, the mechanisms by which this occurs are unclear. Here, we used a novel
      in vitro coculture model of human NCl-H441 cells and CD8+ T cells to provide a
      new insight into how CD8+ T cells may affect uninfected epithelial cells during
      severe IAV infections. Using this model, we show that human IAV-specific CD8+ T
      cells produce soluble factors that reduce the barrier integrity of noninfected
      epithelial cells (referred to as "bystander damage"). We show that this bystander
      damage is the result of a combination of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. This bystander
      damage occurred in the absence of widespread epithelial cell death and was
      instead associated with decreased expression of epithelial cell ion channels and
      pumps. Together, these data suggest that ameliorating the function of epithelial
      cell ion channels and pumps may help reduce immunopathology during severe IAV
      infections.

PMID- 28613917
TI  - Microwave processing: Effects and impacts on food components.
AB  - As an efficient heating method, microwave processing has attracted attention both
      in academic research and industry. However, the mechanism of dielectric heating
      is quite distinct from that of the traditional conduction heating, and is widely
      applied as polar molecules and charged ions interaction with the alternative
      electromagnetic fields, resulting in fast and volumetric heating through their
      friction losses. Such a heating pattern would cause a certain change in microwave
      treatment, which is an unarguable reality. In this review, we made a retrospect
      of the essential knowledge about dielectric properties and summarized the concept
      of microwave heating, and the impact of microwave application on the main
      components of foods and agricultural products, which are classified as
      carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, chromatic/flavor substances, and vitamins.
      Finally, we offered a way to resolve the drawbacks of relevant microwave
      treatment and outlined the directions for future research.

PMID- 28613918
TI  - New Sepsis Definition (Sepsis-3) and Community-acquired Pneumonia Mortality. A
      Validation and Clinical Decision-Making Study.
AB  - RATIONALE: The Sepsis-3 Task Force updated the clinical criteria for sepsis,
      excluding the need for systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria.
      The clinical implications of the proposed flowchart including the quick
      Sequential (Sepsis-related) Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) and SOFA scores are
      unknown. OBJECTIVES: To perform a clinical decision-making analysis of Sepsis-3
      in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. METHODS: This was a cohort study
      including adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia from two Spanish
      university hospitals. SIRS, qSOFA, the Confusion, Respiratory Rate and Blood
      Pressure (CRB) score, modified SOFA (mSOFA), the Confusion, Urea, Respiratory
      Rate, Blood Pressure and Age (CURB-65) score, and Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI)
      were calculated with data from the emergency department. We used decision-curve
      analysis to evaluate the clinical usefulness of each score and the primary
      outcome was in-hospital mortality. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 6,874
      patients, 442 (6.4%) died in-hospital. SIRS presented the worst discrimination,
      followed by qSOFA, CRB, mSOFA, CURB-65, and PSI. Overall, overestimation of in
      hospital mortality and miscalibration was more evident for qSOFA and mSOFA. SIRS
      had lower net benefit than qSOFA and CRB, significantly increasing the risk of
      over-treatment and being comparable with the "treat-all" strategy. PSI had higher
      net benefit than mSOFA and CURB-65 for mortality, whereas mSOFA seemed more
      applicable when considering mortality/intensive care unit admission. Sepsis-3
      flowchart resulted in better identification of patients at high risk of
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: qSOFA and CRB outperformed SIRS and presented better
      clinical usefulness as prompt tools for patients with community-acquired
      pneumonia in the emergency department. Among the tools for a comprehensive
      patient assessment, PSI had the best decision-aid tool profile.

PMID- 28613919
TI  - Hypercapnia Accelerates Adipogenesis: A Novel Role of High CO2 in Exacerbating
      Obesity.
AB  - Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of obstructive sleep apnea
      (OSA) and obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), which manifest as intermittent
      hypercapnia and sustained plus intermittent hypercapnia, respectively. In this
      study, we investigated whether CO2 affects adipocyte differentiation
      (adipogenesis) and maturation (hypertrophy). Human visceral or subcutaneous
      preadipocytes were grown to confluence and then induced to differentiate to
      adipocytes under hypocapnia, normocapnia, and hypercapnia with or without
      hypoxia. Adipogenesis was also induced under intermittent or sustained
      hypercapnia. Differentiated adipocytes were maintained to maturity under
      normocapnia or hypercapnia. Our main findings are as follows: (1) hypercapnia
      accelerated adipogenesis in visceral and subcutaneous preadipocytes, whereas
      hypocapnia inhibited adipogenesis; (2) hypercapnia did not affect adipocyte
      hypertrophy; (3) hypercapnia-accelerated adipogenesis was independent of
      extracellular acidosis, oxygen concentration, or either intermittent or sustained
      exposure to high CO2; and (4) the mechanisms underlying hypercapnia-accelerated
      adipogenesis involved increased production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate
      (cAMP) via soluble adenylyl cyclase, leading to the activation of protein kinase
      A and exchanger protein directly activated by cAMP, which, in turn, activated
      proadipogenic transcription factors, such as cAMP response element binding
      protein, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta, and peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma. This study reveals a novel role of high CO2 in
      promoting adipogenesis, which provides mechanistic clues to a pathoetiological
      interaction between OSA/OHS and obesity. Our data suggest a vicious cycle of
      disease progression via the following mechanism: OSA/OHS -> hypoventilation ->
      hypercapnia -> increased adipogenesis -> increased fat mass -> exacerbated
      OSA/OHS.

PMID- 28613920
TI  - Diagnosis of alveolar and root fractures in macerated canine maxillae: a
      comparison between two different CBCT protocols.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare two small-field-of-view (FOV) CBCT protocols with
      different voxel sizes and number of frames for the diagnosis of root and alveolar
      fractures in macerated canine maxillae. METHODS: 80 incisor teeth from the canine
      species were inserted in 80 anterior alveolar sockets of 20 canine maxillae. An
      operator randomly divided each maxilla site (80 sites in total) into 4 equal
      groups of 20 sites: 1 (sound tooth and non-fractured alveolar socket); 2 (sound
      tooth and fractured alveolar socket); 3 (fractured root and non-fractured
      alveolar socket); and 4 (fractured root and fractured alveolar socket). The CBCT
      images were obtained using two different protocols: normal (N) (voxel 0.20 mm,
      400 frames and radiation exposure 5.6 mGy) and high definition (HD) (voxel 0.15
      mm, 500 frames and radiation exposure 7.0 mGy). RESULTS: Sensitivity numbers for
      alveolar fractures were lower than specificity, resulting in comparable areas
      under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) for both protocols.
      Sensitivity, specificity and AUC for N and HD protocols were very similar for
      root fractures. When comparing AUC for both N and HD protocols by submitting them
      to Student's t-test, the comparison among the curves produced statistically non
      significant results for alveolar fractures and root fractures likewise.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated that the elected protocol for the
      diagnosis of root and alveolar fractures was N. This protocol allowed similar
      diagnosis results than HD protocol; however, with a lower amount of radiation
      exposure for the patient (5.6 mGy for N vs 7.0 mGy for HD).

PMID- 28613922
TI  - Apparent Sporadic Lymphangioleiomyomatosis in a Man as a Result of Extreme
      Mosaicism for a TSC2 Mutation.

PMID- 28613921
TI  - High-Attenuation Areas on Chest Computed Tomography and Clinical Respiratory
      Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Adults.
AB  - RATIONALE: Areas of increased lung attenuation visualized by computed tomography
      are associated with all-cause mortality in the general population. It is
      uncertain whether this association is attributable to interstitial lung disease
      (ILD). OBJECTIVES: To determine whether high-attenuation areas are associated
      with the risk of ILD hospitalization and mortality in the general population.
      METHODS: We performed a cohort study of 6,808 adults aged 45-84 years sampled
      from six communities in the United States. High-attenuation areas were defined as
      the percentage of imaged lung volume with attenuation values between -600 and 
      250 Hounsfield units. An adjudication panel determined ILD hospitalization and
      death. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: After adjudication, 52 participants had a
      diagnosis of ILD during 75,232 person-years (median, 12.2 yr) of follow-up. There
      were 48 hospitalizations attributable to ILD (crude rate, 6.4 per 10,000 person
      years). Twenty participants died as a result of ILD (crude rate, 2.7 per 10,000
      person-years). High-attenuation areas were associated with an increased rate of
      ILD hospitalization (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.6 per 1-SD increment in high
      attenuation areas; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-3.5; P < 0.001), a finding that
      was stronger among men, African Americans, and Hispanics. High-attenuation areas
      were also associated with an increased rate of ILD-specific death (adjusted
      hazard ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-3.0; P < 0.001). Our findings
      were consistent among both smokers and nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS: Areas of
      increased lung attenuation are a novel risk factor for ILD hospitalization and
      mortality. Measurement of high-attenuation areas by screening and diagnostic
      computed tomography may be warranted in at-risk adults.

PMID- 28613923
TI  - The Era of Checkpoint Blockade in Lung Cancer: Taking the Brakes Off the Immune
      System.
AB  - Despite recent advances with targeted kinase inhibitors and better-tolerated
      chemotherapy, the treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer remains
      suboptimal. One recent advance that holds great promise is immunotherapy-an
      approach that enhances a patient's immune system to better recognize and react to
      abnormal cells. The most successful immunotherapeutic strategy to date uses
      antibodies to block inhibitory receptors (also called "checkpoints") that are up
      regulated on the T cells that infiltrate the tumor. Two examples of such
      molecules are programmed cell death-1 (PD1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated
      protein-4. With more than a dozen clinical trials in non-small-cell lung cancer
      completed, checkpoint blockade targeting PD1 has demonstrated durable responses
      and superior survival compared with traditional chemotherapy agents when used as
      first-line therapy in individuals with more than 50% PD1 ligand (PDL1) expression
      by immunohistochemical staining and as second-line therapy independent of PDL1
      status. Antibodies to PDL1 have shown similar activity. Combinations of anti-PD1
      and anti-PDL1 with anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein-4 and
      chemotherapy are being actively tested. These agents have generally tolerable
      safety profiles; pneumonitis, although rare, remains the most feared adverse
      effect. PDL1 expression on tumors has been identified as a biomarker predictive
      of response. Although PDL1 expression has traditionally been measured on resected
      tumor specimens, the pulmonologist has a growing role in obtaining samples for
      testing via minimally invasive means.

PMID- 28613925
TI  - Implications of domestic food practices for the presence of bioactive components
      in meats with special reference to meat-based functional foods.
AB  - Although an essential component of the diet, the consumption of meat is in
      question. Meat is a major source of beneficial compounds but it also contains
      other substances with negative health implications. Functional foods, which are
      leading trends in the food industry, constitute an excellent opportunity for the
      meat sector to improve healthier meat options. Most studies on meat-based
      functional foods have focused mainly on the application of different strategies
      (animal production practices and meat transformation systems) to improve
      (increase/reduce) the presence of bioactive (healthy/unhealthy) compounds; these
      have led to the development of numerous products, many of them by the meat
      industry. However, like other foods, after purchase meats undergo certain
      processes before they are consumed, and these affect their composition. Although
      domestic handling practices can significantly alter the make-up of the marketed
      product in terms of healthy/unhealthy compounds, there are very few studies on
      their consequences. This paper provides an overview of the influence of different
      domestic practices (from shopping to eating) habitually followed by consumers on
      the presence of, and consequently on the levels of exposure to, (healthy and
      unhealthy) food components associated with the consumption of meats, with special
      reference to meat-based functional foods.

PMID- 28613924
TI  - Spirometry Reference Equations from the HCHS/SOL (Hispanic Community Health
      Study/Study of Latinos).
AB  - RATIONALE: Accurate reference values for spirometry are important because the
      results are used for diagnosing common chronic lung diseases such as asthma and
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, estimating physiologic impairment, and
      predicting all-cause mortality. Reference equations have been established for
      Mexican Americans but not for others with Hispanic/Latino backgrounds.
      OBJECTIVES: To develop spirometry reference equations for adult Hispanic/Latino
      background groups in the United States. METHODS: The HCHS/SOL (Hispanic Community
      Health Study/Study of Latinos) recruited a population-based probability sample of
      16,415 Hispanics/Latinos aged 18-74 years living in the Bronx, Chicago, Miami,
      and San Diego. Participants self-identified as being of Puerto Rican, Cuban,
      Dominican, Mexican, or Central or South American background. Spirometry was
      performed using standardized methods with central quality control monitoring.
      Spirometric measures from a subset of 6,425 never-smoking participants without
      respiratory symptoms or disease were modeled as a function of sex, age, height,
      and Hispanic/Latino background to produce background-specific reference equations
      for the predicted value and lower limit of normal. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      Dominican and Puerto Rican Americans had substantially lower predicted and lower
      limit of normal values for FVC and FEV1 than those in other Hispanic/Latino
      background groups and also than Mexican American values from NHANES III (Third
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey). CONCLUSIONS: For patients of
      Dominican and Puerto Rican background who present with pulmonary symptoms in
      clinical practice, use of background-specific spirometry reference equations may
      provide more appropriate predicted and lower limit of normal values, enabling
      more accurate diagnoses of abnormality and physiologic impairment.

PMID- 28613926
TI  - Cold atmospheric plasma manipulation of proteins in food systems.
AB  - Plasma processing has been getting a lot of attention in recent applications as a
      novel, eco-friendly, and highly efficient approach. Cold plasma has mostly been
      used to reduce microbial counts in foodstuff and biological materials, as well as
      in different levels of packaging, particularly in cases where there is thermal
      sensitivity. As it is a very recent application, the impact of cold plasma
      treatment has been studied on the protein structures of food and pharmaceutical
      systems, as well as in the packaging industry. Proteins, as a food constituent,
      play a remarkable role in the techno-functional characteristics of processed
      foods and/or the physico-chemical properties of protein-based films. At the same
      time, some proteins are responsible for reduction in quality and nutritional
      value, and/or causing allergic reactions in the human body. This study is a
      review of the influences of different types of plasma on the conformation and
      function of proteins with food origin, especially enzymes and allergens, as well
      as protein-made packaging films. In enzyme manipulation with plasma, deactivation
      has been reported to be either partial or complete. In addition, an activity
      increase has been observed in some cases. These variations are caused by the
      effect of different active species of plasma on the enzyme structure and its
      function. The level and type of variations in the functional properties of food
      proteins, purified proteins in food, and plasma-treated protein films are
      affected by a number of control factors, including treatment power, time, and gas
      type, as well as the nature of the substance and the treatment environment.

PMID- 28613928
TI  - Food-packaging migration models: A critical discussion.
AB  - The widely accepted and used migration models that describe the mass transport
      from polymeric packaging material to food and food simulants are confirmed here.
      A critical review of the most accepted models is presented in detail. Their main
      advantages and weak points, regarding their predictive accuracy, are discussed
      and weighted toward their usage extensiveness. By identifying the specific areas
      where using such models may not provide a strong correlation between theoretical
      and actual results, this work also aims in outlining some particular directions
      regarding further research on food - packaging interactions.

PMID- 28613927
TI  - Effect of total lung capacity, gender and height on CT airway measurements.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Testing the hypothesis that CT airway measurements could be influenced
      by total lung capacity (TLC), gender and height in normal individuals. METHODS:
      In this ethics committee-approved prospective trial, 87 healthy never-smoking
      volunteers who provided written informed consent were included. From a helical CT
      scan of the chest, the wall thickness (WT) and the lumen area were twice measured
      in the third- and fourth-generation airways by three readers using a dedicated
      software. In addition, the TLC was also measured using CT (TLCCT). The percentage
      of airway area occupied by the wall (WA%) and the square root of wall area at an
      internal perimeter of 10 mm (?WAPi10) were calculated. CT airway measurements
      were compared between genders by using a mixed linear model. The correlations
      between height, TLCCT and CT airway measurements were tested by using a Pearson
      correlation analysis. These correlations were arbitrarily considered as
      significant if there was a significant correlation observed for each of the six
      measurement sessions. RESULTS: ?WAPi10, WT3rd and WT4th were significantly
      different between genders. For both genders, there was no significant correlation
      between any airway measurements and TLCCT. In females only, WT3rd and WT4th were
      significantly and negatively correlated with height. CONCLUSION: ?WAPi10, WT3rd
      and WT4th are different in males and females. WT3rd and WT4th are correlated with
      height in females only but not with TLC or in males. Advances in knowledge: CT
      airway measurements are influenced by gender and by height in females only but
      not by TLC. They should be adjusted according to gender and height in females.

PMID- 28613929
TI  - DNA Methylation and Hydroxymethylation Profile of CD34+-Enriched Cell Products
      Intended for Autologous CD34+ Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Epigenetic dysregulation has been shown to limit functional capacity of aging
      hematopoietic stem cells, which may contribute to impaired outcome of
      hematopoietic stem cell-based therapies. The aim of our study was to gain better
      insight into the epigenetic profile of CD34+-enriched cell products intended for
      autologous CD34+ cell transplantation in patients with cardiomyopathy. We found
      global DNA methylation content significantly higher in immunoselected CD34+ cells
      compared to leukocytes in leukapheresis products (2.33 +/- 1.03% vs. 1.84 +/-
      0.86%, p = 0.04). Global DNA hydroxymethylation content did not differ between
      CD34+ cells and leukocytes (p = 0.30). By measuring methylation levels of 94 stem
      cell transcription factors on a ready-to-use array, we identified 15 factors in
      which average promoter methylation was significantly different between leukocytes
      and CD34+ cells. The difference was highest for HOXC12 (58.18 +/- 6.47% vs. 13.34
      +/- 24.18%, p = 0.0009) and NR2F2 (51.65 +/- 25.89% vs. 7.66 +/- 21.43%, p =
      0.0045) genes. Our findings suggest that global DNA methylation and
      hydroxymethylation patterns as well as target methylation profile of selected
      genes in CD34+-enriched cell products do not differ significantly compared to
      leukapheresis products and, thus, can tell us little about the functional
      capacity and regenerative properties of CD34+ cells. Future studies should
      examine other CD34+ cell graft characteristics, which may serve as prognostic
      tools for autologous CD34+ cell transplantation.

PMID- 28613932
TI  - Nondestructive quality evaluation of agro-products using acoustic vibration
      methods-A review.
AB  - Quality evaluation of agro-products is quite important because it is the basis
      for growers, distributers, and consumers. Various novel and emerging
      nondestructive methods were proposed for quality evaluation of agro-products. The
      acoustic vibration method is one of the major nondestructive methods for agro
      products in pre- and postharvest research and industrial practice. Acoustic
      vibration characteristics of agro-products can be used for texture evaluation,
      prediction of optimum eating and harvest ripeness, ripeness classification and
      defect detection. Generally, there are three parts in the process of acoustic
      vibration method, including the excitation module, signal acquisition module, and
      signal-processing module. The impact method and forced method are two excitation
      methods in the excitation module, and there are contact and noncontact sensors
      for vibration measurement in the signal acquisition module. Noncontact
      measurement can meet the requirement of rapid and nondestructive measurement,
      especially for the on-line detection. However, increasing demand for accurate and
      cost-effective measurement remains a challenge in the agro-products industry.
      Comparison of acoustic vibration methods and traditional destructive methods was
      also discussed, which helps to give a more comprehensive assessment for the
      acoustic vibration method.

PMID- 28613933
TI  - Quantification of radiation dose reduction by reducing z-axis coverage in 320
      detector coronary CT angiography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the radiation dose reduction achievable by minimizing z
      axis coverage in 320-detector coronary CT angiography (CCTA). METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed 130 CCTAs performed on 320-detector CT that offers up to
      16 cm z-axis coverage (adjustable in 2-cm increments), allowing complete coverage
      of the heart in a single gantry rotation. For each CT, we obtained the radiation
      dose [CT dose index and dose-length product (DLP)], measured the z-axis field of
      view and measured the craniocaudal cardiac size (distance from the left main
      coronary artery to the cardiac apex). We calculated the radiation dose savings
      achievable by reducing the z-axis coverage to the minimum necessary to cover the
      heart using 320 * 0.5-mm (maximum 16 cm) and 256 * 0.5-mm (maximum 12.8 cm)
      detector collimations. RESULTS: Results are expressed as mean +/- standard
      deviation. The mean craniocaudal cardiac size was 10.5 +/- 1.0 cm, with 85% (n =
      112) of CCTAs performed with 16 cm of z-axis coverage. The mean DLP was 417.6 +/-
      182.4 mGy cm, with the mean DLP saving achievable using the minimum z-axis
      coverage required to completely image the heart being 96.2 +/- 47.4 mGy cm, an
      average dose reduction of 26.9 +/- 7.0%. z-axis coverage of <=12 cm was adequate
      for 92% and 12.8 cm for 98% of subjects. CONCLUSION: Using the minimal z-axis
      coverage to adequately image the heart is a simple step that can reduce the DLP
      in 320-detector CCTA by approximately 27%. z-axis coverage of <=12 cm is adequate
      for 92%, 12.8 cm for 98% and 14 cm for 100% of patients undergoing CCTA. Advances
      in knowledge: Reducing z-axis coverage in 320-detector CCTA can reduce DLP by
      approximately 27%.

PMID- 28613934
TI  - Standard fractionation external beam radiotherapy with and without intraoperative
      radiotherapy for locally recurrent rectal cancer: the role of local therapy in
      patients with a high competing risk of death from distant disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of utilizing
      radiotherapy (RT) with standard fractionation, with or without intraoperative RT
      (IORT), to treat locally recurrent rectal cancer (LRRC). METHODS: Retrospective
      review of 25 patients with LRRC treated with standard fractionation RT from 2005
      to 2011. 15 patients (60%) had prior pelvic RT and 10 (40%) had synchronous
      metastases. The median equivalent dose in 2-Gy fractions was 30 and 49.6 Gy in
      patients with and without prior RT, respectively. 23 patients (92%) received
      concurrent chemotherapy and 16 (64%) underwent surgical resection. Eight patients
      (33.3%, four with and four without prior RT) received IORT. A competing risks
      model was developed to estimate the cumulative incidence of local failure with
      death treated as a competing event. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 36.9 months
      after the date of local recurrence. 3-year rates of overall survival (OS), local
      control (LC) and death with LC were 51.6%, 73.3% and 69.2%, respectively. On
      multivariable analysis, surgical resection was significantly predictive of
      improved OS (p < 0.05). If surgical resection were removed from the multivariable
      model, given the collinearity between IORT delivery and surgical resection, then
      IORT also became a significant predictor of OS (p < 0.05). Systemic disease at
      the time of local recurrence was not associated with either LC or OS. No patient
      had grade >=3 acute or late toxicity. CONCLUSION: RT with standard fractionation
      is safe and effective in the treatment of patients with LRRC, even in patients
      with significant risk of systemic disease and/or history of prior RT. Advances in
      knowledge: The utility of RT with standard fractionation, generally with
      chemotherapy, in the treatment of LRRC is demonstrated. In this high-risk cohort
      of patients with a 40% incidence of synchronous metastatic disease, surgical
      resection of the recurrence was the major predictor of OS, though a benefit to
      IORT was also suggested. No patients had grade >=3 acute or late toxicity, though
      40% had undergone prior RT, underscoring the tolerability of standard
      fractionation RT in this setting.

PMID- 28613938
TI  - From the Editor-in-Chief's Desk.

PMID- 28613936
TI  - The employment of thermographic examinations in the diagnostics of diseases of
      the paranasal sinuses.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The article was aimed at assessing the diagnostic value of a
      thermographic examination of the pathology of the paranasal sinuses. METHODS: 39
      patients met the inclusion criteria for the study. The cases of unilateral
      inflammations of the maxillary sinuses (odontogenic and non-odontogenic, acute
      and chronic) were chosen on the basis of a comprehensive panel of diagnostic
      tests including among other things: a radiological examination, endoscopy, the
      histopathological assessment of the state of the collected mucous membrane. The
      thermographic examination was carried out on the day preceding the surgery in the
      ward after finishing full clinical and radiological diagnostics. The measurements
      were conducted in accordance with the recommendations of the European Society of
      Thermology with the use of a FLIR E50 thermal imaging camera. The differences of
      the maximum temperatures (DeltaTmax) between the affected side and the healthy
      side were characterized. The recorded thermal parameters were related to the
      totality of cases, the patients' age and gender, the category of clinical
      diagnoses in respect of aetiology, the presence of communication of the oral
      cavity with the maxillary sinus, changes in the radiological image and the degree
      of their intensity, a histopathological diagnosis, the presence of acute symptoms
      in the past as well as the time which elapsed between the occurrence of the first
      clinical symptoms of sinusitis noticed by the patients and the moment of surgical
      treatment implementation. RESULTS: When the oroantral fistulas were present, a
      highly significant relationship between Tmax of the affected and healthy sides
      was found (p = 0.0095). Odontogenic vs non-odontogenic aetiology seemed to have a
      significant influence on these temperature differences (p = 0.0133). DeltaTmax
      links also with the state of the mucous membrane assessed during endoscopy (p =
      0.038). CONCLUSIONS: A thermographic examination can be only an auxiliary
      examination in the diagnostics of the diseases of the maxillary sinuses and may
      be helpful in the initial assessment of a chronic unilateral pathology.

PMID- 28613937
TI  - Cell Removal: Efferocytosis.
AB  - In metazoans, removal of cells in situ is involved in larval maturation,
      metamorphosis, and embryonic development. In adults, such cell removal plays a
      role in the homeostatic maintenance of cell numbers and tissue integrity as well
      as in the response to cell injury and damage. This removal involves uptake of the
      whole or fragmented target cells into phagocytes. Depending on the organism,
      these latter may be near-neighbor tissue cells and/or professional phagocytes
      such as, in vertebrates, members of the myeloid family of cells, especially
      macrophages. The uptake processes appear to involve specialized and highly
      conserved recognition ligands and receptors, intracellular signaling in the
      phagocytes, and mechanisms for ingestion. The recognition of cells destined for
      this form of removal is critical and, significantly, is distinguished for the
      most part from the recognition of foreign materials and organisms by the innate
      and adaptive immune systems. In keeping with the key role of cell removal in
      maintaining tissue homeostasis, constant cell removal is normally silent, i.e.,
      does not initiate a local tissue reaction. This article discusses these complex
      and wide-ranging processes in general terms as well as the implications when
      these processes are disrupted in inflammation, immunity, and disease.

PMID- 28613939
TI  - Paradoxical Hypertensive Urgency in a Child After Initiation of Guanfacine.

PMID- 28613935
TI  - Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Subclinical Interstitial Lung Disease in the Multi
      Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
AB  - RATIONALE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been postulated to contribute to
      idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by promoting alveolar epithelial injury via
      tractional forces and intermittent hypoxia. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether OSA
      is associated with subclinical interstitial lung disease (ILD) and with
      biomarkers of alveolar epithelial injury and remodeling. METHODS: We performed
      cross-sectional analyses of 1,690 community-dwelling adults who underwent 15
      channel in-home polysomnography and thoracic computed tomographic imaging in the
      Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. We measured the obstructive apnea-hypopnea
      index (oAHI) by polysomnography and high-attenuation areas (HAAs) and
      interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) by computed tomography. Serum matrix
      metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) and surfactant protein-A (SP-A) were measured by
      ELISA in 99 participants. We used generalized linear models to adjust for
      potential confounders. RESULTS: The mean age was 68 years, and the mean forced
      vital capacity was 97% predicted. The median oAHI was 8.4 events/h, and 32% had
      an oAHI greater than 15. After adjusting for demographics, smoking, and center,
      an oAHI greater than 15 was associated with a 4.0% HAA increment (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 1.4-6.8%; P = 0.003) and 35% increased odds of ILA (95% CI, 13
      61%; P = 0.001). However, there was evidence that these associations varied by
      body mass index (BMI) (P for interaction = 0.08 and 0.04, respectively). Among
      those with a BMI less than 25 kg/m2, an oAHI greater than 15 was associated with
      a 6.1% HAA increment (95% CI, 0.5-12%; P = 0.03) and 2.3-fold increased odds of
      ILA (95% CI, 1.3-4.1; P = 0.005). Among those with a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2,
      an oAHI greater than 15 was associated with 1.8-fold greater odds of ILA (95% CI,
      1.1-2.9; P = 0.01) but was not associated with HAA. There were no meaningful
      associations detected among those with a BMI of 25-30 kg/m2. Greater oAHI was
      associated higher serum SP-A and MMP-7 levels, particularly among those with a
      BMI less than 25 kg/m2. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate to severe OSA is associated with
      subclinical ILD and with evidence of alveolar epithelial injury and extracellular
      matrix remodeling in community-dwelling adults, an association that is strongest
      among normal-weight individuals. These findings support the hypothesis that OSA
      might contribute to early ILD.

PMID- 28613940
TI  - THE PHYSIOLOGY BEHIND DIABETES MELLITUS IN PATIENTS WITH PHEOCHROMOCYTOMA: A
      REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews the physiologic mechanisms responsible for glucose
      intolerance and diabetes mellitus in patients with pheochromocytoma. METHODS:
      Google Scholar and PubMed were searched using the following key words:
      "diabetes," "pheochromocytoma," "adrenoreceptors," and "hyperglycemia." All the
      articles that were retrieved and reviewed were in the English language. RESULTS:
      Glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus, resulting from high circulating levels
      of catecholamines, are mainly the product of compromised insulin secretion from
      the beta-cells in the pancreas, decreased glucose uptake in the peripheral
      tissues, and increased insulin resistance. CONCLUSION: As pheochromocytomas
      mainly present with cardiovascular and autonomic hyperfunctioning, it is
      important to understand the metabolic disorders associated with this rare
      disease. Hyperglycemia is an associated metabolic abnormality which can
      drastically improve after tumor resection, and significant downscaling of anti
      hyperglycemic therapy is often required. ABBREVIATIONS: GLUT4 = glucose
      transporter type 4 HbA1c = hemoglobin A1c IL = interleukin OGTT = oral glucose
      tolerance test.

PMID- 28613941
TI  - THE NEW FACE OF DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS.

PMID- 28613942
TI  - ATTITUDES TOWARD GENETIC COUNSELING AND TESTING IN PATIENTS WITH INHERITED
      ENDOCRINOPATHIES.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inherited endocrinopathies are rare tumor predisposition syndromes
      associated with significant morbidity and mortality and have implications for
      both patients and their families. Prior studies suggest that early diagnosis of
      inherited endocrinopathies may reduce morbidity and mortality. Although genetic
      counseling and testing can help inform the appropriate management of at-risk
      relatives, barriers to care still exist. We explored patient perceptions to
      identify barriers and promote the uptake of genetic counseling. METHODS: An
      anonymous survey of patients from a multidisciplinary inherited endocrinopathy
      clinic at a tertiary care, university-based medical center was conducted. Data
      collected and analyzed included demographics, socioeconomic status, perceived
      risks, benefits, and both motivating and dissuading factors to genetic counseling
      and testing. RESULTS: Our study suggests barriers to genetic testing include
      concerns regarding cost and the potential for discrimination with respect to
      employers and insurers. CONCLUSION: This highlights the importance of genetic
      counseling to discuss benefits of genetic testing, while dispelling
      misperceptions. Knowledge of the common barriers to genetic counseling and
      testing can guide initiatives and education to foster genetic testing of at-risk
      relatives in the inherited endocrinopathy population. ABBREVIATIONS: FMTC =
      familial medullary thyroid carcinoma GINA = Genetic Information Nondiscrimination
      Act MEN1 = multiple endocrine neoplasia 1 MEN2A = multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A
      MEN2B = multiple endocrine neoplasia 2B MTC = medullary thyroid cancer PGL-PCC =
      paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma.

PMID- 28613943
TI  - VISUAL VIGNETTE.

PMID- 28613944
TI  - COMMENTARY ON CUSHING SYNDROME DUE TO ECTOPIC ACTH.

PMID- 28613945
TI  - Correlation between in vitro and in vivo data on food digestion. What can we
      predict with static in vitro digestion models?
AB  - During the last decade, there has been a growing interest in understanding food's
      digestive fate in order to strengthen the possible effects of food on human
      health. Ideally, food digestion should be studied in vivo on humans but this is
      not always ethically and financially possible. Therefore, simple in vitro
      digestion models mimicking the gastrointestinal tract have been proposed as
      alternatives to in vivo experiments. Thus, it is no surprise that these models
      are increasingly used by the scientific community, although their various
      limitations to fully mirror the complexity of the digestive tract. Therefore, the
      objective of this article was to call upon the collective experiences of
      scientists involved in Infogest (an international network on food digestion) to
      review and reflect on the applications of in vitro digestion models, the
      parameters assessed in such studies and the physiological relevance of the data
      generated when compared to in vivo data. The authors provide a comprehensive
      review in vitro and in vivo digestion studies investigating the digestion of
      macronutrients (i.e., proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates) as well as studies of
      the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of micronutrients and phytochemicals.
      The main conclusion is that evidences show that despite the simplicity of in
      vitro models they are often very useful in predicting outcomes of the digestion
      in vivo. However, this has relies on the complexity of in vitro models and their
      tuning toward answering specific questions related to human digestion physiology,
      which leaves a vast room for future studies and improvements.

PMID- 28613946
TI  - Automated Insulin Delivery System Nomenclature.

PMID- 28613949
TI  - Importance of Artificial Pancreas Standard Nomenclature.

PMID- 28613948
TI  - Handling Exercise During Closed Loop Control.

PMID- 28613947
TI  - The Effects of Basal Insulin Suspension at the Start of Exercise on Blood Glucose
      Levels During Continuous Versus Circuit-Based Exercise in Individuals with Type 1
      Diabetes on Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise causes glycemic disturbances in individuals with type 1
      diabetes (T1D). Continuous moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (CON) generally
      lowers blood glucose (BG) levels and often leads to hypoglycemia. In comparison,
      circuit-based exercise (CIRC) may attenuate the drop in BG. The goal of this
      study is to contrast the effects of basal insulin suspension at the onset of two
      different forms of exercise (CON vs. CIRC). METHODS: Twelve individuals (six men
      and six women) with T1D on insulin pump therapy were recruited for the study. All
      participants completed a maximal aerobic fitness test and two 40-min exercise
      sessions, consisting of either continuous treadmill walking or a circuit workout.
      Basal insulin infusion was stopped at the onset of exercise and resumed in
      recovery. After providing an initial reference value, volunteers were blinded to
      their [BG] and were asked to estimate their levels during exercise. RESULTS:
      Oxygen consumption (47.5 +/- 7.5 vs. 54.5 +/- 13.5 mL.kg-1.min-1, P = 0.03) and
      heart rate (122 +/- 20 vs. 144 +/- 20 bpm, P = 0.003) were lower in CON vs. CIRC.
      Despite the lower workload, BG levels dropped more with CON vs. CIRC (delta BG = 
      3.8 +/- 1.5 vs. -0.5 +/- 3.0 mmol/L for CON vs. CIRC, respectively, P = 0.001).
      Participants were able to estimate their BG more accurately during CON (r = 0.83)
      vs. CIRC (r = 0.33) based on a regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Despite a lower
      intensity of exercise, with full basal insulin suspension at the start of
      exercise, CON results in a larger drop in BG vs. CIRC. These findings have
      implications for single hormone-based artificial pancreas development for
      exercise. While this study does not negate the importance of frequent capillary
      BG monitoring during exercise, it does suggest that if persons are knowledgeable
      about their pre-exercise BG levels, they can accurately perceive the changes in
      BG during CON, but not during CIRC.

PMID- 28613950
TI  - Correction to: Diabetes Technol Ther 2017;19(5):299-304.

PMID- 28613951
TI  - The Fantasy Questionnaire: A Measure to Assess Creative and Imaginative Fantasy.
AB  - This article reports the construction and validation of a comprehensive self
      report measure of fantasy. Unlike previous measures of fantasy, which focus on
      psychopathology, we conceive fantasy as a trait with positive connotation.
      Principal component analysis (N = 318) and confirmatory factor analyses (N = 345)
      were conducted using 2 sociodemographically diverse samples. The results provided
      support for a 2-factor conceptualization of the construct, with the dimensions
      imaginative fantasy and creative fantasy. Imaginative fantasy refers to vivid
      imagination and absorption in these images and daydreams. Creative fantasy refers
      to the activity of using fantasy to create new ideas. The trait measure showed
      good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, discriminant and convergent
      construct validity, as well as incremental validity. Moreover, in 3 behavioral
      studies, we put fantasy scores in relationship with behavioral data to provide
      further proof of validity. A comprehensive measure of fantasy can contribute to
      our understanding of individual differences in inner experiences, creative
      processes, and problem solving.

PMID- 28613952
TI  - Healthcare costs among adults with type 2 diabetes initiating saxagliptin or
      linagliptin: a US-based claims analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare healthcare costs of adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) after
      initiation of saxagliptin or linagliptin, two antidiabetic medications in the
      dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor medication class. METHODS: Patients with T2D who
      were at least 18 years old and initiated saxagliptin or linagliptin (index date)
      between 1 June 2011 and 30 June 2014 were identified in the MarketScan Commercial
      and Medicare Supplemental Databases. All-cause healthcare costs and diabetes
      related costs (T2D diagnosis on a medical claim and/or an antidiabetic medication
      claim) were measured in the 1 year follow-up period. Saxagliptin and linagliptin
      initiators were matched using propensity score methods. Cost ratios (CRs) and
      predicted costs were estimated from generalized linear models and recycled
      predictions. RESULTS: There were 34,560 saxagliptin initiators and 18,175
      linagliptin initiators identified (mean ages 57 and 59; 55% and 56% male,
      respectively). Before matching, saxagliptin initiators had significantly lower
      all-cause total healthcare costs than linagliptin initiators (mean = $15,335 [SD
      $28,923] vs. mean = $20,069 [SD $48,541], p < .001) and significantly lower
      diabetes-related total healthcare costs (mean = $6109 [SD $13,851] vs. mean =
      $7393 [SD $26,041], p < .001). In matched analyses (n = 16,069 per cohort),
      saxagliptin initiators had lower all-cause follow-up costs than linagliptin
      initiators (CR = 0.953, 95% CI = 0.932-0.974, p < .001; predicted costs = $17,211
      vs. $18,068). There was no significant difference in diabetes-related total costs
      after matching; however, diabetes-related medical costs were significantly lower
      for saxagliptin initiators (CR = 0.959, 95% CI = 0.927-0.993, p = 0.017;
      predicted costs = $3989 vs. $4159). CONCLUSIONS: Adult patients with T2D
      initiating treatment with saxagliptin had lower total all-cause healthcare costs
      and diabetes-related medical costs over 1 year compared with patients initiating
      treatment with linagliptin.

PMID- 28613954
TI  - Comparison of Sleep Characteristics, Patterns, and Problems in Young Children
      Within the Southeast Asian Region.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Optimal sleeping habits are important for health
      development of infants. The role of culture in sleep habits cannot be
      underestimated. We aimed to characterize sleep patterns, sleep practices, and
      sleep problems; and assess the sleep settings and parental perceptions of sleep
      problems in children from birth to 36 months in countries in the Southeast Asian
      (SEA) region. PARTICIPANTS: Parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers (birth
      to 36 months old) from countries in Southeast Asia participated in this study.
      METHODS: Data was collected using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire for a
      total of 5,987 children from 6 countries in the SEA region (967 Indonesia/ID, 997
      Malaysia/MY, 1,034 Philippines/PH, 1,001 Singapore/SG, 988 Thailand/TH, and 1,000
      Vietnam/VN). RESULTS: The sleep variables varied among SEA children studied.
      Bedtimes and nighttime sleep varied across the region by as much as 1 hr 34 min
      and 1 hr 15 min respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite being geographically very
      close together and having some common sociocultural characteristics, sleep
      variables in the young child within the SEA region do differ in significant ways.

PMID- 28613955
TI  - Sleep duration and midlife women's health.
AB  - Sleep is mandatory for life and therefore any sleep deprivation or disruption
      might carry ill-health outcomes. The optimal night's sleep duration seems to be
      around 7 h, as too little sleep and too much sleep have been found to be
      associated with a variety of changes in well-being, physical and psychological
      parameters. This mini-review enlightens the potential health consequences of
      sleep disturbance relevant to menopause and midlife women's health. These include
      cardiovascular and metabolic derangements, cognitive impairment, osteoporosis,
      and cancer-related perspectives. Still, the current knowledge suggests that, even
      if statistically significant associations are detected, the absolute excessive
      risks are relatively small or modest.

PMID- 28613953
TI  - Correlates of verbal learning and memory after pediatric traumatic brain injury.
AB  - This study examined the role of injury-related variables, socioeconomic
      disadvantage, and preexisting conditions on verbal learning and memory in a
      sample of children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). We also explored the
      mediating effect of processing speed and working memory. One hundred children
      aged 7-16 years (M = 13.46, SD = 2.78) completed a neuropsychological assessment
      between 1-12 months post injury. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were
      conducted on domains comprising the four-factor model of the California Verbal
      Learning Test-Children's Version (CVLT-C). Results revealed independent
      associations between injury severity as well as parental education on learning
      efficiency and delayed recall, while injury severity alone accounted for
      inaccurate recall. Working memory and prior special education placement were
      predictive of the attention factor of the CVLT-C. Additionally, Sobel tests
      showed that working memory mediated the effect of prior special education on
      learning efficiency (Z = 2.90, p < 0.01) and delayed recall (Z = 2.82, p < 0.01).
      Working memory was unrelated to injury severity. No evidence for a mediating
      effect of processing speed was found. The findings emphasize the importance of
      considering the impact of socioeconomic disadvantage and pre-injury conditions in
      addition to injury-related factors on outcomes of TBI.

PMID- 28613956
TI  - Effect of Age on the Efficacy and Safety of Lenvatinib in Radioiodine-Refractory
      Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in the Phase III SELECT Trial.
AB  - Purpose In the Study of (E7080) Lenvatinib in Differentiated Cancer of the
      Thyroid (SELECT), lenvatinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival
      (PFS) versus placebo in patients with radioiodine-refractory differentiated
      thyroid cancer (RR-DTC). This prespecified subanalysis investigated the effect of
      age on the efficacy and safety of lenvatinib. Patients and Methods This
      randomized, double-blind, phase III study enrolled patients with histologically
      confirmed RR-DTC stratified by age (<= 65 or > 65 years). Patients (N = 392)
      received lenvatinib 24 mg/day (n = 261) or placebo (n = 131). The primary end
      point was PFS; secondary end points included overall survival (OS), objective
      response rate, and safety. Results In both treatment arms, median ages were 56
      (younger group) and 71 years (older group). PFS benefit was maintained with
      lenvatinib versus placebo in the younger and older age groups, with median PFS of
      20.2 versus 3.2 months (hazard ratio [HR], 0.19; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.27; P < .001)
      and 16.7 versus 3.7 months (HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.17 to 0.43; P < .001),
      respectively. PFS did not differ with age in either treatment arm. OS was
      improved in older lenvatinib-treated patients versus placebo (HR, 0.53; 95% CI,
      0.31 to 0.91; P = .020). Younger lenvatinib-treated patients showed significantly
      higher ORR (72% v 55%; P = .0038), longer time to first dose reduction (3.7 v 1.5
      months), and lower proportion of grade >= 3 treatment-related adverse events (67%
      v 89%; P < .001) compared with older patients. Conclusion This subanalysis
      demonstrated improved PFS with lenvatinib treatment versus placebo in both age
      groups, although higher toxicity was observed in older patients. Despite the
      allowance of crossover after disease progression, the OS benefit was observed in
      older patients, suggesting that lenvatinib should be considered for treatment of
      patients of any age with RR-DTC.

PMID- 28613957
TI  - Chronotype preference matters for depression in youth.
AB  - Morningness/eveningness (M/E) preference is an important circadian rhythm
      indicator with strong individual variation. M/E chronotype has been found to be
      correlated with depression in adults, yet the relationship is less clear in
      children and adolescents. Additionally, poor sleep quality is another commonly
      studied risk factor for depression. The aims of the present study are to
      investigate the independent effects of M/E chronotype on youth depression using
      both self-report and parental-report questionnaires. We also evaluated how poor
      sleep quality may affect the relationship through a mediating or moderating
      effect. In total, 2,139 students attending grades 1 to 7 participated in this
      study. They completed questionnaires regarding M/E chronotype, depression, and
      sleep quality. A total of 1,708 parents also participated and filled out parental
      reports of emotional and behavioral problems of their children. The prevalence of
      self- and parental-report depression was 16.8% and 12.8% among young students,
      respectively. Overall, 15.4% of the students were the eveningness type. Being an
      eveningness type was independently associated with self-report depression after
      adjustment for poor sleep quality (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.07-3.24). We also
      observed that poor sleep quality mediated the influence of M/E chronotype on self
      report depression among students aged 7-13 years (p < 0.001). On the other hand,
      being an eveningness type was associated with a number of parental-report
      emotional and behavioral problems in the students, in addition to depression,
      although these associations become non-significant after adjusted for poor sleep
      quality. Our results demonstrate the importance of M/E chronotype on youth
      depression and poor sleep quality partly mediates this effect.

PMID- 28613958
TI  - Albumin adjustment of total calcium does not improve the estimation of calcium
      status.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a longstanding controversy as to whether plasma measurements
      of total calcium should be adjusted for albumin concentration, and if so which
      formulas are the most appropriate. METHODS: Ionised calcium, total calcium and
      albumin results, analysed at the same time at Uppsala University Hospital
      Laboratory between February 2005 and June 2013, were retrieved from a laboratory
      information system. The dataset included results from 20,003 patients. Total
      calcium was albumin-modified by a locally derived formula, based on 3106 patients
      from the dataset, and formulas from the literature. The agreement between the
      reference method ionised calcium and unadjusted total calcium and the seven
      different albumin-modifying calcium formulas, respectively, were compared with
      intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). RESULTS: Total calcium showed
      substantial agreement to ionised calcium, ICC 0.85 (95% CI 0.84-0.86) for the
      whole validation cohort. Albumin-modified calcium by different formulas showed
      significantly less or equal agreement, however the locally determined formula
      performed better than formulas taken from the literature. Also, total calcium
      classified the patient as hypo-normo- or hypercalcemic right in 82% of the
      patients. The albumin-modified calcium did not classify patients significantly
      better except in the subgroup hypoalbuminemia (<30 g/L) where the local formula
      classified the patients slightly better than total calcium. CONCLUSIONS: Albumin
      modification of total calcium determinations is unlikely to add valuable
      information, and this practice should be abandoned. Ionised calcium should be
      used more frequently when aberrant results for total calcium are followed up, or
      in patients with known hypoalbuminemia.

PMID- 28613959
TI  - Reference intervals for the P-Albumin bromocresol purple method.
AB  - Correct reference intervals are an important part of test results. As
      establishing own reference intervals is a very expensive task, the NORIP
      reference intervals are often transferred for use in Nordic laboratories. The
      NORIP reference interval on P-Albumin was here compared to current results for
      laboratories using the bromocresol purple (BCP) method for P-Albumin. External
      quality control reports were used to investigate the change in levels between the
      BCP and BCG methods on P-Albumin. An algorithm was built for extracting and
      isolating the laboratory's healthy subject population. The algorithm was used to
      extract test results from the laboratory information system. Parametric and non
      parametric statistical methods were used to evaluate the P-Albumin test result
      populations. The indirect method used here clearly shows that the NORIP reference
      intervals for P-Albumin are not fit for the current bromocresol purple methods.
      The method was also used to suggest new reference interval limits.

PMID- 28613960
TI  - The effect of air pollution on diurnal variation of performance in anaerobic
      tests, cardiovascular and hematological parameters, and blood gases on soccer
      players following the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level-1.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the effect of air pollution on diurnal variation
      of performance in anaerobic tests, cardiovascular and hematological parameters,
      and blood gases on soccer players following the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test
      Level-1 (YYIRT1). In a randomized order, 11 healthy soccer players (mean age:
      21.8 [range: 20-24] years; height: 178.00 [range: 1.64-1.83] cm; body mass index
      [BMI]: 23.57 [range: 20.45-28.03] kg.m-2) performed a YYIRT1 at two different
      times of day (TOD) (08:00 h and 18:00 h) in two areas (i.e. polluted (PA) and non
      polluted (NPA)) with a recovery period of >= 72 h in between, to determine the
      maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). In each test session: resting oral temperature is
      measured, anaerobic performances (pre- and post-YYIRT1) were performed,
      cardiovascular parameters and blood samples were collected at: rest, 3 min and 60
      min after the YYIRT1, to assess blood gases and hematological parameters. Our
      results showed that, agility performance, VO2max, red blood cells (RBC),
      hemoglobin (Hb), pH, and bicarbonate levels (HCO3-) decrease significantly (p <
      0.001) following the YYIRT1 in PA compared to NPA. Likewise, the heart rate (HR),
      systolic blood pressure (SBP), platelets (PLT), white blood cells (WBC),
      neutrophiles (NEUT), lymphocytes (LYM), and partial pressure of CO2 levels
      (PvCO2) were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in PA. This effect was slightly
      accentuated at 18:00 h for some parameters (i.e. Agility, HCO3-, HR, PvCO2, RBC,
      SBP). However, performances of sprint and Sargent jump test (SJT), oral
      temperature, rate of perceived exertion scales (RPE), partial pressure of O2
      (PvO2), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and monocytes (MON) were not affected by
      pollution (p > 0.05). In conclusion, pollution seems to be critical for health
      stability and performance in response to YYIRT1 especially in the evening and the
      winter season. Therefore, coaches and athletes should draw attention to the
      potential importance of land use planning in their training sessions and
      competitions in the morning in polluted area to minimize the risk of pollution
      exposure.

PMID- 28613961
TI  - School-based multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS): An introduction to MTSS for
      neuropsychologists.
AB  - When completing pediatric neuropsychological evaluations, it is important for
      clinicians to incorporate data from children's school environments. Today, the
      educational data available to neuropsychologists have resulted from the
      utilization of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) within schools; however,
      practitioners may lack knowledge and/or training in this school-based approach to
      assessment and intervention. Better understanding of MTSS may aid pediatric
      neuropsychologists in their interpretation and use of educational data commonly
      provided by schools. Thus, the purpose of this article is to provide an overview
      of school-based MTSS and explain how knowledge about MTSS can inform
      neuropsychological evaluations. Specifically, practical implications for record
      reviews, recommendation development, and consultation with schools will be
      discussed.

PMID- 28613962
TI  - Significant association between renal function and area of amyloid deposition in
      kidney biopsy specimens in both AA amyloidosis associated with rheumatoid
      arthritis and AL amyloidosis.
AB  - The kidney is a major target organ for systemic amyloidosis, which results in
      proteinuria and an elevated serum creatinine level. The clinical manifestations
      and precursor proteins of amyloid A (AA) and light-chain (AL) amyloidosis are
      different, and the renal damage due to amyloid deposition also seems to differ.
      The purpose of this study was to clarify haw the difference in clinical features
      between AA and AL amyloidosis are explained by the difference in the amount and
      distribution of amyloid deposition in the renal tissues. A total of 119 patients
      participated: 58 patients with an established diagnosis of AA amyloidosis (AA
      group) and 61 with AL amyloidosis (AL group). We retrospectively investigated the
      correlation between clinical data, pathological manifestations, and the area
      occupied by amyloid in renal biopsy specimens. In most of the renal specimens the
      percentage area occupied by amyloid was less than 10%. For statistical analyses,
      the percentage area of amyloid deposition was transformed to a common logarithmic
      value (Log10%amyloid). The results of sex-, age-, and Log10%amyloid-adjusted
      analyses showed that systolic blood pressure (SBP) was higher in the AA group. In
      terms of renal function parameters, serum creatinine, creatinine clearance (Ccr)
      and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) indicated significant renal
      impairment in the AA group, whereas urinary protein indicated significant renal
      impairment in the AL group. Pathological examinations revealed amyloid was
      predominantly deposited at glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and easily
      transferred to the mesangial area in the AA group, and it was predominantly
      deposited at in the AL group. The degree of amyloid deposition in the glomerular
      capillary was significantly more severe in AL group. The frequency of amyloid
      deposits in extraglomerular mesangium was not significantly different between the
      two groups, but in AA group, the degree amyloid deposition was significantly more
      severe, and the deposition pattern in the glomerulus was nodular. Nodular
      deposition in extraglomerular mesangium leads to renal impairment in AA group.
      There are significant differences between AA and AL amyloidosis with regard to
      the renal function, especially in terms of Ccr, eGFR and urinary protein, even
      after Log10%amyloid was adjusted; showing that these inter-group differences in
      renal function would not be depend on the amount of renal amyloid deposits. These
      differences could be explained by the difference in distribution and
      morphological pattern of amyloid deposition in the renal tissue.

PMID- 28613963
TI  - Cytotoxic and Antimicrobial Activities of Cantharellus cibarius Fr.
      (Cantarellaceae).
AB  - Antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of cyclohexane, dichloromethane, methanol,
      and aqueous extracts of Cantharellus cibarius were tested. Broth microdilution
      assay was performed against 10 bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, S.
      epidermidis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus feacalis,
      Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella
      abony), with emphasis on Helicobacter pylori. Methanol extract was the most
      active against H. pylori strains with minimal inhibitory concentration values
      between 4 and 32 MUg/mL. All extracts were active against antibiotic resistant H.
      pylori. Methanol and aqueous extracts had no cytotoxicity against tested cell
      lines, whereas cyclohexane and dichloromethane extracts were active against HeLa
      and N87 cells, but also against healthy MRC-5 cells (IC50 39.26 +/- 1.24-134.79
      +/- 0.01 MUg/mL). The tested aqueous extracts have shown 68% of angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitory activity in doses of 1.25 mg/mL. Chemical analysis
      has shown the presence of linoleic, cis-vaccenic, and oleic acids, sterols, beta
      glucans, and polyphenolic compounds.

PMID- 28613964
TI  - Early- and late-onset preeclampsia and the DNA methylation of circadian clock and
      clock-controlled genes in placental and newborn tissues.
AB  - The placenta is important in providing a healthy environment for the fetus and
      plays a central role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia (PE). Fetal and
      placental developments are influenced by epigenetic programming. There is some
      evidence that PE is controlled to an altered circadian homeostasis. In a nested
      case-control study embedded in the Rotterdam Periconceptional Cohort, we obtained
      placental tissue, umbilical cord leukocytes (UCL), and human umbilical venous
      endothelial cells of 13 early-onset PE, 16 late-onset PE and 83 controls
      comprising 36 uncomplicated and 47 complicated pregnancies, i.e. 27 fetal growth
      restricted and 20 spontaneous preterm birth. To investigate the associations
      between PE and the epigenetics of circadian clock and clock-controlled genes in
      placental and newborn tissues, genome-wide DNA methylation analysis was performed
      using the Illumina HumanMethylation450K BeadChip and a candidate-gene approach
      using ANCOVA was applied on 939 CpGs of 39 circadian clock and clock-controlled
      genes. DNA methylation significantly differed in early-onset PE compared with
      spontaneous preterm birth at 6 CpGs in placental tissue (3.73E-5 <= p <= 0.016)
      and at 21 CpGs in UCL (1.09E-5<= p <= 0.024). In early-onset PE compared with
      fetal growth restriction 2 CpGs in placental tissue (p < 0.05) and 8 CpGs in
      uncomplicated controls (4.78E-5<= p <= 0.049) were significantly different.
      Moreover, significantly different DNA methylation in early-onset PE compared with
      uncomplicated controls was shown at 6 CpGs in placental tissue (1.36E-4<= p <=
      0.045) and 11 CpGs in uncomplicated controls (2.52E-6<= p <= 0.009). No
      significant associations were shown with late-onset PE between study groups or
      tissues. The most differentially methylated CpGs showed hypomethylation in
      placental tissue and hypermethylation in uncomplicated controls. In conclusion,
      DNA methylation of circadian clock and clock-controlled genes demonstrated most
      differences in UCL of early-onset PE compared with spontaneous preterm birth.
      Implications of the tissue-specific variations in epigenetic programming for
      circadian performance and long-term health need further investigation.

PMID- 28613965
TI  - Effect of saliva collection methods and oral hygiene on salivary biomarkers.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of unstimulated and
      stimulated saliva collection methods, as well as tooth brushing, on the secretion
      rate of salivary total protein, nitrite, total antioxidant capacity and alpha
      amylase. Saliva of 14 healthy individuals were collected with stimulation using
      Salivette(r), Parafilm(r) and chewing gum and without stimulation from spit with
      and without fluid accumulation, before and after oral hygiene. Total protein,
      nitrite, total antioxidant capacity and alpha-amylase concentration (sAA) were
      evaluated. The collection of saliva stimulated with Parafilm(r) and chewing gum
      increased the salivary flow (1.5 +/- 0.4 and 3.4 +/- 0.7 mL/min, respectively)
      and the secretion rate of salivary total protein (1.0 +/- 0.2 and 2.3 +/- 0.5
      mg/min, respectively). Also, chewing gum increases the salivary nitrite secretion
      (213 +/- 58 nmol/min) and total antioxidant capacity (410 +/- 47 nmol trolox
      eq/min). Interestingly, the unstimulated method without saliva accumulation prior
      to collection resulted in low sAA levels (23,531 +/- 7979 pixel density).
      Furthermore, oral hygiene decreased salivary flow (1.3 +/- 0.5 to 1.0 +/- 0.4
      mL/min), reduced the secretion rate of total protein (1.0 +/- 0.5 to 0.6 +/- 0.2
      mg/min, p < .05) and increased sAA (13,159 +/- 7114 to 20,075 +/- 25,656 pixel
      density, p < .05). The type of stimulation can activate autonomous receptors
      responsible for the secretion and composition of saliva. Therefore, the
      evaluation of saliva collection methods and oral hygiene on salivary biomarkers
      is important for understanding and standardizing variations in salivary
      composition to strengthen the use of saliva as a diagnostic fluid.

PMID- 28613967
TI  - Enhancing Cardiac Rehabilitation in Women.

PMID- 28613966
TI  - Radiographic classifications in Perthes disease.
AB  - Background and purpose - Different radiographic classifications have been
      proposed for prediction of outcome in Perthes disease. We assessed whether the
      modified lateral pillar classification would provide more reliable interobserver
      agreement and prognostic value compared with the original lateral pillar
      classification and the Catterall classification. Patients and methods - 42
      patients (38 boys) with Perthes disease were included in the interobserver study.
      Their mean age at diagnosis was 6.5 (3-11) years. 5 observers classified the
      radiographs in 2 separate sessions according to the Catterall classification, the
      original and the modified lateral pillar classifications. Interobserver agreement
      was analysed using weighted kappa statistics. We assessed the associations
      between the classifications and femoral head sphericity at 5-year follow-up in 37
      non-operatively treated patients in a crosstable analysis (Gamma statistics for
      ordinal variables, gamma). Results - The original lateral pillar and Catterall
      classifications showed moderate interobserver agreement (kappa 0.49 and 0.43,
      respectively) while the modified lateral pillar classification had fair agreement
      (kappa 0.40). The original lateral pillar classification was strongly associated
      with the 5-year radiographic outcome, with a mean gamma correlation coefficient
      of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.61-0.95) among the 5 observers. The modified lateral pillar
      and Catterall classifications showed moderate associations (mean gamma
      correlation coefficient 0.55 [95% CI: 0.38-0.66] and 0.64 [95% CI: 0.57-0.72],
      respectively). Interpretation - The Catterall classification and the original
      lateral pillar classification had sufficient interobserver agreement and
      association to late radiographic outcome to be suitable for clinical use. Adding
      the borderline B/C group did not increase the interobserver agreement or
      prognostic value of the original lateral pillar classification.

PMID- 28613968
TI  - Clinician Engagement and Guideline Development: Enhancing an Evidence-Based
      Culture for Quality Cancer Care-The 2017 Joseph V. Simone Award and Lecture.

PMID- 28613969
TI  - Creation of Institute of Medicine Care Plans With an Eye on Up-Front Care.

PMID- 28613970
TI  - Is This Conference for Real? Navigating Presumed Predatory Conference
      Invitations.

PMID- 28613971
TI  - Cognitive Behavior Therapy Self-Help Booklet to Decrease Depression and Alcohol
      Use among People with Alcohol Dependence in Thailand.
AB  - Individuals with disorders co-occurring of depression and alcohol dependence are
      clinically more complex and more difficult to keep well than those diagnosed with
      either depression or alcohol dependence alone. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
      has shown to help reduce patients' symptoms of depression and alcohol use. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a CBT self-help booklet
      (CBT-SHB) with usual care in decreasing depression and alcohol use among people
      with co-occurring alcohol dependence and mild depression. People with alcohol
      dependence and a score in the mild depression range of the PHQ-9 (Thai) were
      randomized to receive either CBT self-help booklet (CBT-SHB) with usual care (n =
      168) or usual outpatient care alone (n = 164) at a community hospital. Our
      findings indicated significant reductions in depression and alcohol use in the
      CBT-SHB group from baseline across 6 months of follow-up over time in depression
      and alcohol use in both CBT-SHB with usual care and the control group. The
      reductions in depression were significantly greater in the CBT-SHB with usual
      care group.

PMID- 28613972
TI  - Night work, light exposure and melatonin on work days and days off.
AB  - We aimed to examine the effects of night work on salivary melatonin concentration
      during and subsequent to night work and the mediating role of light. We included
      254 day workers and 87 night workers who were followed during 322 work days and
      301 days off work. Each day was defined as the 24 hour period starting from the
      beginning of a night shift or from waking in the mornings with day work and days
      off. Light levels were recorded and synchronized with diary information (start
      and end of sleep and work). On average, participants provided four saliva samples
      per day, and these were analyzed for melatonin concentration by liquid
      chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Differences between day and
      night workers on work days and days off were assessed with multilevel regression
      models with melatonin concentration as the primary outcome. All models were
      stratified or adjusted by time of day. For light exposure, we estimated the
      total, direct and indirect effects of night work on melatonin concentrations
      obtaining 95% confidence intervals through bootstrapping. On work days, night
      workers showed 15% lower salivary melatonin concentrations compared with day
      workers (-15.0%; 95% CI: -31.4%; 5.2%). During the night, light exposure mediated
      a melatonin suppression of approximately 6% (-5.9%, 95% CI: -10.2%; -1.5%). No
      mediating effect of light was seen during the day time. On days off, we observed
      no difference in melatonin concentrations between day and night workers. These
      findings are in accordance with a transient and partly light-mediated effect of
      night work on melatonin production.

PMID- 28613973
TI  - The association of cannabis use on inpatient psychiatric hospital outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The associations between cannabis use and psychosis are well
      documented in numerous studies. There is a need to evaluate the impact of
      cannabis use on inpatient psychiatric utilization and outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To
      evaluate the impact of cannabis use on psychiatric hospital outcomes. METHODS:
      This study was conducted between April 20, 2015 and October 20, 2015. All
      patients (n = 120) admitted to Denver Health with psychotic symptoms were
      administered a urine toxicology screening testing for the presence of 11-nor-9
      carboxy-Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH, the active metabolite of
      cannabis). Patients with positive tests were compared to those with negative
      tests on several measures, including length of stay, presence or lack of 30-day
      readmission, Brief Psychotic Rating Scale (BPRS) score, and use of antipsychotics
      and/or sedatives/anxiolytics. RESULTS: There were 120 patients. Twenty nine were
      women and 91 were men. Patients testing positive for THC-COOH had a shorter
      length of stay compared to patients testing negative for THC-COOH, after
      adjusting for age, prior psychiatric admissions, history of a psychotic-spectrum
      disorder, and comorbid additional substance use (p = 0.02). There were no
      differences in 30-day readmissions, 30-day post-discharge presentation to the
      Denver Health psychiatric emergency department, BPRS scores, and medication
      administration. CONCLUSION: Patients presenting with psychotic symptoms and
      cannabis use require shorter inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations. This study
      is the first to quantify this observation and highlights the need for future
      clinical decision-making tools that would ideally correlate cannabis use with the
      degree of potential need for expensive and scarce mental health resources, such
      as psychiatric hospitalization.

PMID- 28613974
TI  - Inhibition of Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Produces Emotionally Biased First
      Impressions: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Electroencephalography
      Study.
AB  - Optimal functioning in everyday life requires the ability to override reflexive
      emotional responses and prevent affective spillover to situations or people
      unrelated to the source of emotion. In the current study, we investigated whether
      the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) causally regulates the influence of
      emotional information on subsequent judgments. We disrupted left lPFC function
      using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and recorded electroencephalography
      (EEG) before and after. Subjects evaluated the likeability of novel neutral faces
      after a brief exposure to a happy or fearful face. We found that lPFC inhibition
      biased evaluations of novel faces according to the previously processed emotional
      expression. Greater frontal EEG alpha power, reflecting increased inhibition by
      TMS, predicted increased behavioral bias. TMS-induced affective misattribution
      was long-lasting: Emotionally biased first impressions formed during lPFC
      inhibition were still detectable outside of the laboratory 3 days later. These
      findings indicate that lPFC serves an important emotion-regulation function by
      preventing incidental emotional encoding from automatically biasing subsequent
      appraisals.

PMID- 28613976
TI  - Temperature Influence on Myocardial Cell Cytotoxicity of the Extracellular
      Photosensitization Reaction with Talaporfin Sodium and Serum Proteins at 17
      degrees -37 degrees C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the binding of talaporfin sodium with albumin and its
      photocytotoxicity during temperature changes by measuring absorbance spectra. The
      targeted tissue temperature differs according to the procedure. The
      photocytotoxicity efficiency should be investigated quantitatively because
      efficiency changes arising from temperature changes are expected. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The temperature dependence of talaporfin sodium binding with human serum
      albumin (0-20 mg/mL), high-density lipoprotein (0-0.04 mg/mL), and low-density
      lipoprotein (0-0.14 mg/mL) was investigated at 17 degrees C, 27 degrees C, and 37
      degrees C by measurement of absorbance spectra. Cell lethality was measured using
      a water-soluble tetrazolium-8 assay at 2 h after the photosensitization reaction
      at 17 degrees C and 37 degrees C. RESULTS: The binding ratios of talaporfin
      sodium with high-density lipoprotein decreased by 6.3% and those with low-density
      lipoprotein decreased by 12.8% when the temperature increased from 17 degrees C
      to 37 degrees C. Cell lethality increased significantly with a temperature rise
      from 17 degrees C to 37 degrees C at irradiation exposure of 20 and 40 J/cm2 and
      talaporfin sodium concentration of 20 MUg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: From our in vitro
      data, we can predict that the change in photocytotoxicity efficiency would be
      negligible with a temperature decrease of <5 degrees C from the body temperature
      in the case of photodynamic ablation with a short drug-light interval.

PMID- 28613977
TI  - The Scientific, Economic, and Social Impacts of the New Zealand Outbreak of
      Bacterial Canker of Kiwifruit (Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae).
AB  - The introduction of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) severely damaged
      the New Zealand kiwifruit industry, which in 2010 was based on only two
      cultivars. Despite an extraordinarily quick and strong response by industry,
      government, and scientists to minimize the economic and social impacts, the
      economic consequences of this outbreak were severe. Although our understanding of
      Psa epidemiology and control methods increased substantively over the past six
      years, the kiwifruit industry largely recovered because of the introduction of a
      less-susceptible yellow-fleshed cultivar. The New Zealand population of Psa is
      clonal but has evolved rapidly since its introduction by exchanging mobile
      genetic elements, including integrative conjugative elements (ICEs), with the
      local bacterial populations. In some cases, this has led to copper resistance. It
      is currently believed that the center of origin of the pathogen is Japan or
      Korea, but biovar 3, which is responsible for the global outbreak, originated in
      China.

PMID- 28613975
TI  - Activation of DRD5 (dopamine receptor D5) inhibits tumor growth by autophagic
      cell death.
AB  - Dopamine agonists such as bromocriptine and cabergoline have been successfully
      used in the treatment of pituitary prolactinomas and other neuroendocrine tumors.
      However, their therapeutic mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study we
      demonstrated that DRD5 (dopamine receptor D5) agonists were potent inhibitors of
      pituitary tumor growth. We further found that DRD5 activation increased
      production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inhibited the MTOR pathway, induced
      macroautophagy/autophagy, and led to autophagic cell death (ACD) in vitro and in
      vivo. In addition, DRD5 protein was highly expressed in the majority of human
      pituitary adenomas, and treatment of different human pituitary tumor cell
      cultures with the DRD5 agonist SKF83959 resulted in growth suppression, and the
      efficacy was correlated with the expression levels of DRD5 in the tumors.
      Furthermore, we found that DRD5 was expressed in other human cancer cells such as
      glioblastomas, colon cancer, and gastric cancer. DRD5 activation in these cell
      lines suppressed their growth, inhibited MTOR activity, and induced autophagy.
      Finally, in vivo SKF83959 also inhibited human gastric cancer cell growth in nude
      mice. Our studies revealed novel mechanisms for the tumor suppressive effects of
      DRD5 agonists, and suggested a potential use of DRD5 agonists as a novel
      therapeutic approach in the treatment of different human tumors and cancers.

PMID- 28613979
TI  - The Neurologists: A History of a Medical Specialty in Modern Britain, c. 1789
      2000, by Stephen T. Casper.

PMID- 28613978
TI  - Increased humoral immunity by DNA vaccination using an alpha-tocopherol-based
      adjuvant.
AB  - DNA vaccines induce broad immunity, which involves both humoral and strong
      cellular immunity, and can be rapidly designed for novel or evolving pathogens
      such as influenza. However, the humoral immunogenicity in humans and higher
      animals has been suboptimal compared with that of traditional vaccine approaches.
      We tested whether the emulsion-based and alpha-tocopherol containing adjuvant
      Diluvac Forte(r) has the ability to enhance the immunogenicity of a naked DNA
      vaccine (i.e., plasmid DNA). As a model vaccine, we used plasmids encoding both a
      surface-exposed viral glycoprotein (hemagglutinin) and an internal non
      glycosylated nucleoprotein in the Th1/Th2 balanced CB6F1 mouse model. The naked
      DNA (50 ug) was premixed at a 1:1 volume/volume ratio with Diluvac Forte(r), an
      emulsion containing different concentrations of alpha-tocopherol, the emulsion
      alone or endotoxin-free phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The animals received 2
      intracutaneous immunizations spaced 3 weeks apart. When combined with Diluvac
      Forte(r) or the emulsion containing alpha-tocopherol, the DNA vaccine induced a
      more potent and balanced immunoglobulin G (IgG)1 and IgG2c response, and both IgG
      subclass responses were significantly enhanced by the adjuvant. The DNA vaccine
      also induced CD4+ and CD8+ vaccine-specific T cells; however, the adjuvant did
      not exert a significant impact. We concluded that the emulsion-based adjuvant
      Diluvac Forte(r) enhanced the immunogenicity of a naked DNA vaccine encoding
      influenza proteins and that the adjuvant constituent alpha-tocopherol plays an
      important role in this immunogenicity. This induction of a potent and balanced
      humoral response without impairment of cellular immunity constitutes an important
      advancement toward effective DNA vaccines.

PMID- 28613980
TI  - Visible Blue Light is Capable of Inactivating Candida albicans and Other Fungal
      Species.

PMID- 28613981
TI  - Detection of New Delhi Metallo-beta-Lactamase Variants NDM-4, NDM-5, and NDM-7 in
      Enterobacter aerogenes Isolated from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a North
      India Hospital: A First Report.
AB  - A total 402 Enterobacteriaceae isolates were recovered from blood and rectal
      swabs of 1,000 infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the
      Jawaharlal Medical College and Hospital Aligarh, India. Carbapenamase producers
      were determined by Carba NP phenotype biochemical assay. Out of 402 isolates, it
      was the first time three of the isolates were identified as Enterobacter
      aerogenes carrying blaNDM-4, blaNDM-5, and blaNDM-7 genes. These genes were
      identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis. The isolates
      were further characterized to know the plasmid type and genetic environment
      features, including integron and IS elements. All the three E. aerogenes isolates
      (AK-93, AK-95, and AK-96) were resistant to all beta-lactams, including
      carbapenems. The beta-lactamase genes blaOXA-1, blaOXA-9, blaSHV-1, and blaVIM-2
      were also found to be coassociated with blaNDM-4 in AK-93, blaOXA-1, blaOXA-9,
      and blaCMY-149 were found to be coexisted with blaNDM-5 in AK-95, and blaOXA-1;
      blaOXA-9, and blaCMY-145 were also found to be coassociated with blaNDM-7 in AK
      96, identified by PCR analysis. Plasmid-based replicon typing revealed plasmids
      of different incompatibility in E. aerogenes in each of the isolates, AK-93 AK
      95, and AK-96, respectively. ERIC-PCR was performed for the analysis of genetic
      relatedness of the strains. We found blaNDM-4, blaNDM-5, and blaNDM-7 producing
      three E. aerogenes strains, which were not clonally related. Genetic environment
      analysis revealed the presence of bleomycin resistance gene (bleMBL) to
      downstream of blaNDM and complete ISAba125 sequence were found upstream of blaNDM
      in all the three variants of these isolates. This is the first time we have
      identified blaNDM-4, blaNDM-5, and blaNDM-7 in E. aerogenes species, isolated
      from the NICU of a tertiary care hospital in India.

PMID- 28613985
TI  - Safety management systems in aviation (second edition).

PMID- 28613984
TI  - Primary Isolation and Characterization of Tenacibaculum maritimum from Chilean
      Atlantic Salmon Mortalities Associated with a Pseudochattonella spp. Algal Bloom.
AB  - This study presents the first isolation of Tenacibaculum maritimum from farmed
      Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar in Chile. The isolate, designated T. maritimum Ch
      2402, was isolated from gills of Atlantic Salmon at a farm located in region X,
      Los Lagos, Chile, during the harmful algal bloom caused by Pseudochattonella spp.
      in February 2016. The algal bloom is reported to have caused 40,000 metric tons
      of mortality in this salmon farming area. The bacterium T. maritimum, which
      causes tenacibaculosis, is recognized as an important pathogen of marine fish
      worldwide. Genetic, phylogenetic, and phenotypic characterizations were used to
      describe the T. maritimum Ch-2402 isolate. The isolate was similar to the type
      strain of T. maritimum but was genetically unique. Tenacibaculum dicentrarchi
      isolates were also recovered during sampling from the same farm. Based on the
      fact that T. maritimum has been shown to cause disease in Atlantic Salmon in
      other regions, the presence of this bacterium poses a potential risk of disease
      to fish in the Chilean aquaculture industry. Received November 6, 2016; accepted
      May 29, 2017.

PMID- 28613983
TI  - Azithromycin attenuates myofibroblast differentiation and lung fibrosis
      development through proteasomal degradation of NOX4.
AB  - Accumulation of profibrotic myofibroblasts is involved in the process of fibrosis
      development during idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) pathogenesis. TGFB
      (transforming growth factor beta) is one of the major profibrotic cytokines for
      myofibroblast differentiation and NOX4 (NADPH oxidase 4) has an essential role in
      TGFB-mediated cell signaling. Azithromycin (AZM), a second-generation
      antibacterial macrolide, has a pleiotropic effect on cellular processes including
      proteostasis. Hence, we hypothesized that AZM may regulate NOX4 levels by
      modulating proteostasis machineries, resulting in inhibition of TGFB-associated
      lung fibrosis development. Human lung fibroblasts (LF) were used to evaluate TGFB
      induced myofibroblast differentiation. With respect to NOX4 regulation via
      proteostasis, assays for macroautophagy/autophagy, the unfolded protein response
      (UPR), and proteasome activity were performed. The potential anti-fibrotic
      property of AZM was examined by using bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung fibrosis mouse
      models. TGFB-induced NOX4 and myofibroblast differentiation were clearly
      inhibited by AZM treatment in LF. AZM-mediated NOX4 reduction was restored by
      treatment with MG132, a proteasome inhibitor. AZM inhibited autophagy and
      enhanced the UPR. Autophagy inhibition by AZM was linked to ubiquitination of
      NOX4 via increased protein levels of STUB1 (STIP1 homology and U-box containing
      protein 1), an E3 ubiquitin ligase. An increased UPR by AZM was associated with
      enhanced proteasome activity. AZM suppressed lung fibrosis development induced by
      BLM with concomitantly reduced NOX4 protein levels and enhanced proteasome
      activation. These results suggest that AZM suppresses NOX4 by promoting
      proteasomal degradation, resulting in inhibition of TGFB-induced myofibroblast
      differentiation and lung fibrosis development. AZM may be a candidate for the
      treatment of the fibrotic lung disease IPF.

PMID- 28613982
TI  - Dietary Phosphorus Intake and the Kidney.
AB  - Although phosphorus is an essential nutrient required for multiple physiological
      functions, recent research raises concerns that high phosphorus intake could have
      detrimental effects on health. Phosphorus is abundant in the food supply of
      developed countries, occurring naturally in protein-rich foods and as an additive
      in processed foods. High phosphorus intake can cause vascular and renal
      calcification, renal tubular injury, and premature death in multiple animal
      models. Small studies in human suggest that high phosphorus intake may result in
      positive phosphorus balance and correlate with renal calcification and
      albuminuria. Although serum phosphorus is strongly associated with cardiovascular
      disease, progression of kidney disease, and death, limited data exist linking
      high phosphorus intake directly to adverse clinical outcomes. Further prospective
      studies are needed to determine whether phosphorus intake is a modifiable risk
      factor for kidney disease.

PMID- 28613986
TI  - Modelling and optimal control of pneumonia disease with cost-effective
      strategies.
AB  - We propose and analyse a nonlinear mathematical model for the transmission
      dynamics of pneumonia disease in a population of varying size. The deterministic
      compartmental model is studied using stability theory of differential equations.
      The effective reproduction number is obtained and also the asymptotic stability
      conditions for the disease free and as well as for the endemic equilibria are
      established. The possibility of bifurcation of the model and the sensitivity
      indices of the basic reproduction number to the key parameters are determined.
      Using Pontryagin's maximum principle, the optimal control problem is formulated
      with three control strategies: namely disease prevention through education,
      treatment and screening. The cost-effectiveness analysis of the adopted control
      strategies revealed that the combination of prevention and treatment is the most
      cost-effective intervention strategies to combat the pneumonia pandemic.
      Numerical simulation is performed and pertinent results are displayed
      graphically.

PMID- 28613989
TI  - Changes in Health Perceptions among Older Grandparents Raising Adolescent
      Grandchildren.
AB  - This research study explores health perceptions before and after becoming a
      primary caregiver among older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren.
      Qualitative, in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with grandparents
      age 40 and older (N = 15) who were raising adolescent grandchildren age 12 and
      older. Most grandparents were female, had some college education, White/Non
      Hispanic, were married, had an average age of 65 years, and reported never
      attending a grandparent support group. Before assuming the primary caregiver
      role, older grandparents described their physical health as good, filled with
      physical activity, and reasonably free of health conditions. After entering the
      primary caregiving role, older grandparents of adolescents described functional
      restrictions and visible changes in physical health requiring intensive medical
      interventions. In terms of mental health, older grandparent caregivers
      experienced anxiety, worry, depression, sadness, and frustration. These findings
      highlight the complex caregiving circumstances encountered by older grandparents
      raising adolescents and the need for health education and policy development to
      increase comprehensive supportive services targeting this population.

PMID- 28613987
TI  - Methyl-beta-cyclodextrin restores impaired autophagy flux in Niemann-Pick C1
      deficient cells through activation of AMPK.
AB  - The drug 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPbetaCD) reduces lysosomal
      cholesterol accumulation in Niemann-Pick disease, type C (NPC) and has been
      advanced to human clinical trials. However, its mechanism of action for reducing
      cholesterol accumulation in NPC cells is uncertain and its molecular target is
      unknown. We found that methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MbetaCD), a potent analog of
      HPbetaCD, restored impaired macroautophagy/autophagy flux in Niemann-Pick
      disease, type C1 (NPC1) cells. This effect was mediated by a direct activation of
      AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an upstream kinase in the autophagy pathway,
      through MbetaCD binding to its beta-subunits. Knockdown of PRKAB1 or PRKAB2
      (encoding the AMPK beta1 or beta2 subunit) expression and an AMPK inhibitor
      abolished MbetaCD-mediated reduction of cholesterol storage in NPC1 cells. The
      results demonstrate that AMPK is the molecular target of MbetaCD and its
      activation enhances autophagy flux, thereby mitigating cholesterol accumulation
      in NPC1 cells. The results identify AMPK as an attractive target for drug
      development to treat NPC.

PMID- 28613988
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of Virtual Bone Strength Testing in Osteoporosis Screening
      Programs for Postmenopausal Women in the United States.
AB  - Purpose To investigate whether assessment of bone strength with quantitative
      computed tomography (CT) in combination with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry
      (DXA) is cost-effective as a screening tool for osteoporosis in postmenopausal
      women. Materials and Methods A state-transition microsimulation model of
      osteoporosis for postmenopausal women aged 55 years or older was developed with a
      lifetime horizon and U.S. societal perspective. All model inputs were derived
      from published literature. Three strategies were compared: no screening, DXA with
      T score-dependent rescreening intervals, and a combination of DXA and
      quantitative CT with different intervals (3, 5, and 10 years) at different
      screening initiation ages (55-65 years). Oral bisphosphonate therapy was started
      if DXA hip T scores were less than or equal to -2.5, 10-year risk for hip
      fracture was greater than 3% (World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment
      Tool score, or FRAX), 10-year risk for major osteoporotic fracture was greater
      than 20% (FRAX), quantitative CT femur bone strength was less than 3000 N, or
      occurrence of first fracture (eg, hip, vertebral body, wrist). Outcome measures
      were incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in 2015 U.S. dollars per
      quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained and number of fragility fractures.
      Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was also performed. Results The most cost
      effective strategy was combined DXA and quantitative CT screening starting at age
      55 with quantitative CT screening every 5 years (ICER, $2000 per QALY). With this
      strategy, 12.8% of postmenopausal women sustained hip fractures in their
      remaining life (no screening, 18.7%; DXA screening, 15.8%). The corresponding
      percentages of vertebral fractures for DXA and quantitative CT with a 5-year
      interval, was 7.5%; no screening, 11.1%; DXA screening, 9%; for wrist fractures,
      14%, 17.8%, and 16.4%, respectively; for other fractures, 22.6%, 30.8%, and
      27.3%, respectively. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, DXA and quantitative
      CT at age 55 years with quantitative CT screening every 5 years was the best
      strategy in more than 90% of all 1000 simulations (for thresholds of $50 000 per
      QALY and $100 000 per QALY). Conclusion Combined assessment of bone strength and
      bone mineral density is a cost-effective strategy for osteoporosis screening in
      postmenopausal women and has the potential to prevent a substantial number of
      fragility fractures. (c) RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for
      this article.

PMID- 28613990
TI  - Different Sequences of Fractionated Low-Dose Proton and Single Iron-Radiation
      Induced Divergent Biological Responses in the Heart.
AB  - Deep-space travel presents risks of exposure to ionizing radiation composed of a
      spectrum of low-fluence protons (1H) and high-charge and energy (HZE) iron nuclei
      (e.g., 56Fe). When exposed to galactic cosmic rays, each cell in the body may be
      traversed by 1H every 3-4 days and HZE nuclei every 3-4 months. The effects of
      low-dose sequential fractionated 1H or HZE on the heart are unknown. In this
      animal model of simulated ionizing radiation, middle-aged (8-9 months old) male
      C57BL/6NT mice were exposed to radiation as follows: group 1, nonirradiated
      controls; group 2, three fractionated doses of 17 cGy 1H every other day (1H *
      3); group 3, three fractionated doses of 17 cGy 1H every other day followed by a
      single low dose of 15 cGy 56Fe two days after the final 1H dose (1H * 3 + 56Fe);
      and group 4, a single low dose of 15 cGy 56Fe followed (after 2 days) by three
      fractionated doses of 17 cGy 1H every other day (56Fe + 1H * 3). A subgroup of
      mice from each group underwent myocardial infarction (MI) surgery at 28 days
      postirradiation. Cardiac structure and function were assessed in all animals at
      days 7, 14 and 28 after MI surgery was performed. Compared to the control
      animals, the treatments that groups 2 and 3 received did not induce negative
      effects on cardiac function or structure. However, compared to all other groups,
      the animals in group 4, showed depressed left ventricular (LV) functions at 1
      month with concomitant enhancement in cardiac fibrosis and induction of cardiac
      hypertrophy signaling at 3 months. In the irradiated and MI surgery groups
      compared to the control group, the treatments received by groups 2 and 4 did not
      induce negative effects at 1 month postirradiation and MI surgery. However, in
      group 3 after MI surgery, there was a 24% increase in mortality, significant
      decreases in LV function and a 35% increase in post-infarction size. These
      changes were associated with significant decreases in the angiogenic and cell
      survival signaling pathways. These data suggest that fractionated doses of
      radiation induces cellular and molecular changes that result in depressed heart
      functions both under basal conditions and particularly after myocardial
      infarction.

PMID- 28613991
TI  - Microbial Characteristics of Nosocomial Infections and Their Association with the
      Utilization of Hand Hygiene Products: A Hospital-Wide Analysis of 78,344 Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nosocomial infections are the main adverse events during health care
      delivery. Hand hygiene is the fundamental strategy for the prevention of
      nosocomial infections. Microbial characteristics of nosocomial infections in the
      Asia-Pacific region have not been investigated fully. Correlation between the use
      of hand hygiene products and the incidence of nosocomial infections is still
      unknown. This study investigates the microbial characteristics of nosocomial
      infections in the Asia-Pacific region and analyzes the association between the
      utilization of hand hygiene products and the incidence of nosocomial infections.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 78,344 patients were recruited from a major
      tertiary hospital in China. Microbial characteristics of major types of
      nosocomial infections were described. The association between the utilization of
      hand hygiene products and the incidence of nosocomial infections was analyzed
      using correlation and regression models. RESULTS: The overall incidence of
      nosocomial infections was 3.04%, in which the incidence of surgical site
      infection was 1%. Multi-drug resistance was found in 22.8% of all pathogens, in
      which multi-drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus were 56.6% and 54.9%, respectively. The utilization of hand
      hygiene products (including hand sanitizer, soap and paper towel) was associated
      negatively with the incidence of surgical site infection in surgical departments
      and the incidence of nosocomial infections in non-intensive care unit (ICU)
      departments (especially in surgical departments). Regression analysis further
      identified that higher utilization of hand hygiene products correlated with
      decreased incidence of major types of nosocomial infections. CONCLUSIONS: Multi
      drug-resistant organisms are emerging in Asia-Pacific health care facilities.
      Utilization of hand hygiene products is associated with the incidence of
      nosocomial infections.

PMID- 28613992
TI  - Alternative Science and Human Reproduction.

PMID- 28613993
TI  - A Multifactorial Approach to Predicting Death Anxiety: Assessing the Role of
      Religiosity, Susceptibility to Mortality Cues, and Individual Differences.
AB  - Death anxiety is not only experienced by individuals receiving end-of-life care,
      but also by family members, social workers, and other service providers who
      support these individuals. Thus, identifying predictors of individual differences
      in experienced death anxiety levels may have both theoretical and clinical
      ramifications. The present study assessed the relative influence of religiosity,
      susceptibility to mortality cues, state and trait anxiety, and demographic
      factors in the experience of death anxiety through an online survey distributed
      to members of two online communities related to end-of-life care. Results
      indicated that cognitive and emotional susceptibility to mortality cues, as well
      as gender, predicted differences in death anxiety. Conversely, religiosity and
      age did not increase the predictive power of the model. Thus, death anxiety may
      be a function of emotional, cognitive, and sociocultural factors that interact in
      complex, but predictable, ways to modulate the response to mortality cues that
      occur in one's life.

PMID- 28613994
TI  - Supporting Family Members to View the Body after a Violent or Sudden Death: A
      Role for Social Work.
AB  - Supporting family members to view the body of their relative after a traumatic
      death is a critical role for social workers in hospital and morgue settings;
      however, this role has had little attention in the literature. In-depth
      interviews with 48 bereaved family members explored their experiences of helpful
      and unhelpful aspects of support when viewing the body of their deceased
      relative. A central theme of "support as a relational interaction" was
      identified. Aspects of the connection and communication valued by participants
      within this relational interaction included: "permissions and possibilities,"
      "information and preparation," "presenting with care," "time and timing," and
      "tuning to family." These results are considered with grief practice and theory,
      to suggest the need for social workers to actively engage with working in the
      interface between the deceased body and the grieving family. This includes
      advocating a private location for time with the body and using interpersonal
      skills to provide paced and dosed information for preparation to view that is
      consistent with the capacities and needs of the individual and family.

PMID- 28613995
TI  - Fear of self-annihilation and existential uncertainty as predictors of worldview
      defense: Comparing terror management and uncertainty theories.
AB  - Terror management theory (TMT) proposes that thoughts of death trigger a concern
      about self-annihilation that motivates the defense of cultural worldviews. In
      contrast, uncertainty theorists propose that thoughts of death trigger feelings
      of uncertainty that motivate worldview defense. University students (N = 414)
      completed measures of the chronic fear of self-annihilation and existential
      uncertainty as well as the need for closure. They then evaluated either a meaning
      threat stimulus or a control stimulus. Consistent with TMT, participants with a
      high fear of self-annihilation and a high need for closure showed the greatest
      dislike of the meaning threat stimulus, even after controlling for their
      existential uncertainty. Contrary to the uncertainty perspective, fear of
      existential uncertainty showed no significant effects.

PMID- 28613998
TI  - Marginal abatement cost curve for nitrogen oxides incorporating controls,
      renewable electricity, energy efficiency, and fuel switching.
AB  - : A marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) traces out the relationship between the
      quantity of pollution abated and the marginal cost of abating each additional
      unit. In the context of air quality management, MACCs are typically developed by
      sorting control technologies by their relative cost-effectiveness. Other
      potentially important abatement measures such as renewable electricity, energy
      efficiency, and fuel switching (RE/EE/FS) are often not incorporated into MACCs,
      as it is difficult to quantify their costs and abatement potential. In this
      paper, a U.S. energy system model is used to develop a MACC for nitrogen oxides
      (NOx) that incorporates both traditional controls and these additional measures.
      The MACC is decomposed by sector, and the relative cost-effectiveness of RE/EE/FS
      and traditional controls are compared. RE/EE/FS are shown to have the potential
      to increase emission reductions beyond what is possible when applying traditional
      controls alone. Furthermore, a portion of RE/EE/FS appear to be cost-competitive
      with traditional controls. IMPLICATIONS: Renewable electricity, energy
      efficiency, and fuel switching can be cost-competitive with traditional air
      pollutant controls for abating air pollutant emissions. The application of
      renewable electricity, energy efficiency, and fuel switching is also shown to
      have the potential to increase emission reductions beyond what is possible when
      applying traditional controls alone.

PMID- 28613997
TI  - Psychological distress and lifestyle disruption in low-risk prostate cancer
      patients: Comparison between active surveillance and radical prostatectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify distress in men treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) or
      active surveillance (AS). METHODS: In a retrospective cross-sectional design, we
      assessed men through questionnaire and investigator-designed questions. RESULTS:
      RP patients worried more about cancer spread than AS patients. RP patients were
      influenced by friends for treatment decision, whereas AS patients were influenced
      by urologists. RP group report declines in intimacy and instrumental. AS men
      worried more about future health and dying than post-RP men. CONCLUSION: Fear of
      disease progression may be a motivating factor in choosing RP. AS patients adhere
      to their treatment decision in spite of distress.

PMID- 28613999
TI  - Predictors of the Self-Reported Likelihood of Seeking Social Worker Help among
      People with Physical Disabilities.
AB  - The current study assesses the association between demographic factors, attitudes
      toward social workers, the stigma attached to seeking social worker help,
      perceived social support, and psychological distress-and the self-reported
      likelihood of seeking social worker help, among people with physical disabilities
      in Israel. Data collection utilized structured questionnaires, administered to a
      sample of 435 people with physical disabilities. The findings suggest that women,
      older respondents, people with more positive attitudes toward social workers,
      with higher levels of psychological distress and of social support, and with a
      lower level of stigma, reported a greater likelihood of seeking social workers
      help. The study's conclusion is that there are certain avoidance factors among
      people with physical disabilities that might discourage them from seeking social
      workers' help. Therefore, it is important that social workers identify these
      factors and develop interventions aimed at encouraging people with physical
      disabilities to seek social workers help in case of need, and also develop
      practices adjusted to the unique needs of people with physical disabilities.

PMID- 28614000
TI  - Prototypes and same-gender bias in perceptions of hiring discrimination.
AB  - The present study investigated the relative importance of two explanations behind
      perceptions of gender discrimination in hiring: prototypes and same-gender bias.
      According to the prototype explanation, people perceive an event as
      discrimination to the extent that it fits their preconceptions of typical
      discrimination. In contrast, the same-gender bias explanation asserts that people
      more readily detect discrimination toward members of their own gender. In four
      experiments (n = 797), women and men made considerably stronger discrimination
      attributions, and were moderately more discouraged from seeking work, when the
      victim was female rather than male. Further, a series of regressions analyses
      showed beliefs in discrimination of women to be moderately correlated with
      discrimination attributions of female victims, but little added explanatory value
      of participant gender, stigma consciousness, or feminist identification. The
      results offer strong support for the prototype explanation.

PMID- 28613996
TI  - Personal resilience resources predict post-stem cell transplant cancer survivors'
      psychological outcomes through reductions in depressive symptoms and meaning
      making.
AB  - This longitudinal study examined whether post-transplant cancer survivors (N =
      254, 9 months to 3 years after stem cell transplant treatment) with greater
      personal resilience resources demonstrated better psychological outcomes and
      whether this could be attributed to reductions in depressive symptoms and/or four
      meaning-making processes (searching for and finding reasons for one's illness;
      searching for and finding benefit from illness). Hierarchical linear regression
      analyses examined associations of survivors' baseline personal resilience
      resources (composite variable of self-esteem, mastery, and optimism), which
      occurred an average of 1.7 years after transplant, and 4-month changes in
      psychological outcomes highly relevant to recovering from this difficult and
      potentially traumatic treatment: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms
      and purpose in life. Boot-strapped analyses tested mediation. Greater personal
      resilience resources predicted decreases in PTSD stress symptoms (b = -0.07, p =
      0.005), mediated by reductions in depressive symptoms (b = -0.01, 95% CI: -0.027,
      -0.003) and in searching for a reason for one's illness (b = -0.01, 95% CI: 
      0.034, -0.0003). In addition, greater resilience resources predicted increases in
      purpose in life (b = 0.10, p < 0.001), mediated by reductions in depressive
      symptoms (b = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.003, 0.033). Having greater personal resilience
      resources may promote better psychological adjustment after a difficult cancer
      treatment, largely because of improvements in depressive symptoms, although
      decreased use of a potentially maladaptive form of meaning-making (searching for
      a reason for one's illness) was also important for reducing PTSD symptoms.

PMID- 28614001
TI  - Self-forgiveness is associated with reduced psychological distress in cancer
      patients and unmatched caregivers: Hope and self-blame as mediating mechanisms.
AB  - This study examined the association between self-forgiveness and psychological
      distress and tested whether self-blame and hope mediated these associations
      equally for both patients and caregivers. Participants were 38 patients and 44
      unmatched caregivers receiving care at a national cancer hospital. Participants
      completed measures of self-forgiveness, self-blame, hope, and psychological
      distress. Self-forgiveness was inversely associated with self-blame and
      psychological distress and positively associated with hope. Self-forgiveness was
      indirectly associated with psychological distress through hope but not self-blame
      and more strongly for caregivers than patients. Group differences between
      patients and caregivers in associations are intriguing and may have implications
      for improved psychosocial care of cancer patients and support of caregivers.

PMID- 28614002
TI  - The Inner Life of the Dying Person.

PMID- 28614003
TI  - BIOCHEMICAL CONTROL DURING LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF 230 ADULT PATIENTS WITH CUSHING
      DISEASE: A MULTICENTER RETROSPECTIVE STUDY.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cushing disease (CD) results from excessive exposure to
      glucocorticoids caused by an adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting pituitary
      tumor. Inadequately treated CD is associated with significant morbidity and
      elevated mortality. Multicenter data on CD patients treated in routine clinical
      practice are needed to assess treatment outcomes in this rare disorder. The study
      purpose was to describe the burden of illness and treatment outcomes for CD
      patients. METHODS: Eight pituitary centers in four U.S. regions participated in
      this multicenter retrospective chart review study. Subjects were CD patients
      diagnosed at >=18 years of age within the past 20 years. Descriptive statistical
      analyses were conducted to examine presenting signs, symptoms, comorbidities, and
      treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Of 230 patients, 79% were female (median age at
      diagnosis, 39 years; range, 18 to 78 years). Length of follow-up was 0 to 27.5
      years (median, 1.9 years). Pituitary adenomas were 0 to 51 mm. The most common
      presenting comorbidities included hypertension (67.3%), polycystic ovary syndrome
      (43.5%), and hyperlipidemia (41.5%). Biochemical control was achieved with
      initial pituitary surgery in 41.4% patients (91 of 220), not achieved in 50.0% of
      patients (110 of 220), and undetermined in 8.6% of patients (19 of 220). At the
      end of follow-up, control had been achieved with a variety of treatment methods
      in 49.1% of patients (110 of 224), not achieved in 29.9% of patients (67 of 224),
      and undetermined in 21.0% of patients (47 of 224). CONCLUSION: Despite multiple
      treatments, at the end of follow-up, biochemical control was still not achieved
      in up to 30% of patients. These multicenter data demonstrate that in routine
      clinical practice, initial and long-term control is not achieved in a substantial
      number of patients with CD. ABBREVIATIONS: BLA = bilateral adrenalectomy CD =
      Cushing disease CS = Cushing syndrome eCRF = electronic case report form MRI =
      magnetic resonance imaging PCOS = polycystic ovary syndrome.

PMID- 28614005
TI  - PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES OF ADHERENCE IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS TREATED WITH
      GROWTH HORMONE: A MULTICENTER ITALIAN STUDY.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the self-reported prevalence of poor adherence to
      recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy in a large, representative sample
      of Italian children and adolescents and to assess treatment and patient level
      correlates of poor adherence. METHODS: The study was conducted in 46 pediatric
      centers throughout Italy. A questionnaire was administered to consecutive
      children/adolescents treated with rhGH or their parents. Eligible patients were
      represented by subjects aged between 6 and 16 years, of both sexes, on rhGH
      treatment for at least 6 months. The questionnaire was administered to the person
      in charge of preparing the injection. Multivariable logistic regression analysis
      was performed to identify factors independently associated with adherence.
      RESULTS: Overall, 1,007 children/adolescents were involved, of whom 24.4% missed
      1 or more injections during a typical week and were thus considered as
      nonadherent. The most frequently reported reasons for missing a dose were being
      away from home (33.3%), forgetfulness (24.7%), not feeling well (12.9%), and pain
      (10.3%). Multivariable analysis indicated association between poor adherence and
      adolescence, low level of parent education, longer duration of treatment, need to
      convince the child to inject, and low level of awareness of the consequences of
      not properly following treatment. The likelihood of adherence markedly increased
      with higher levels of perceived device convenience. CONCLUSION: Poor adherence is
      still a major problem in the treatment of growth disorders. Increasing awareness
      and reassessment of treatment adherence on an annual basis should be part of
      clinical practice of pediatric endocrinologists involved with rhGH treatment.
      ABBREVIATIONS: CI = confidence interval GH = growth hormone rhGH = recombinant
      human growth hormone.

PMID- 28614004
TI  - ANTHROPOMETRIC FEATURES ARE NOT PREDICTIVE OF 72-HOUR FAST DURATION IN
      INSULINOMAS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The 72-hour fast is used to document Whipple's triad and understand
      the mechanism of hypoglycemia. Although hypoglycemia develops within 24 hours in
      the majority of fasts, identifying possible determinants of fast duration may
      help to predict the need for admission. Therefore, we determined the relation
      between anthropometric features on fast duration and assessed end of fast
      parameters on maximal tumor size, extent of disease, or tumor recurrence.
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients with insulinoma in the past 25
      years who underwent a 72-hour fast was conducted. Electronic medical records were
      reviewed to obtain anthropometric patient data and tumor characteristics.
      RESULTS: A total of 233 patients underwent the 72-hour fast. The mean age at
      diagnosis was 50 +/- 16 years, with a body mass index (BMI) of 29 +/- 7 kg/m2,
      and 66% (153 of 233) were female. Duration of fast was not associated with gender
      (P = .2), age (P = .3), or BMI (P = .7). A shorter fast duration was inversely
      related to end of fast C-peptide (P = .0075) but not insulin (P = .13) or
      proinsulin (P = .28) concentration. End of fast C-peptide was associated with
      increased tumor size (P = .036) and multiplicity (P =.01). Proinsulin was
      associated with increased tumor size (P<.01) and malignancy (P = .018).
      CONCLUSION: Duration of fast was not significantly related age, gender, weight,
      or BMI, although end-of-fast C-peptide and proinsulin may provide some
      information regarding tumor characteristics. Consequently, the duration of fast
      cannot be predicted a priori and should be allowed to run for the planned length
      unless hypoglycemia develops. Abbreviation: BMI = body mass index.

PMID- 28614006
TI  - FAT-FREE MASS, METABOLICALLY HEALTHY OBESITY, AND TYPE 2 DIABETES IN SEVERELY
      OBESE ASIAN ADULTS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether fat free mass (FFM) is independently associated
      with the metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) phenotype, the metabolic syndrome
      (MS), and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in obese Asian adults. METHODS: Obese patients
      (body mass index [BMI] >=25 kg/m2) seeking weight management at an academic
      medical center from 2007 to 2016 were included. FFM was measured by bioelectrical
      impedance. RESULTS: Of the 552 patients (67.0% female, median age 40.5 years,
      median BMI 38.3 kg/m2), MHO was present in 19%, MS in 55.4%, and T2D in 32.6%. In
      multivariate models, higher fat-free mass index (FFMI) was independently
      associated with the metabolically abnormal obesity (MAO) phenotype, (odds ratio
      [OR] 1.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.37), and increased risk of MS (OR
      1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.22) in women but not in men. Older age was independently
      associated with the MAO phenotype (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.04-1.09 in women; OR 1.06,
      95% CI 1.02-1.09 in men), MS (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03-1.06 in women; OR 1.05, 95% CI
      1.02-1.07 in men), and T2D (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05-1.09 in women; OR 1.06, 95% CI
      1.04-1.09 in men). Waist-hip ratio was independently associated with the MAO
      phenotype in men (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.15), while waist circumference was
      associated with T2D in women (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.05). CONCLUSION: Older age,
      central fat distribution, and-in contrast to previous findings-an increase in
      FFMI among women were independent predictors of adverse metabolic health in this
      cohort of middle-aged obese Asian adults. Further studies are required to
      elucidate underlying mechanisms and therapeutic implications of these findings.
      ABBREVIATIONS: BIA = bioelectrical impedance analysis BMI = body mass index CI =
      confidence interval DXA = dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry FFM = fat-free mass
      FFMI = fat-free mass index FM = fat mass HbA1c = glycated hemoglobin A1c MAO =
      metabolically abnormal obesity MHO = metabolically healthy obesity MS = metabolic
      syndrome OR = odds ratio T2D = type 2 diabetes WC = waist circumference WHR =
      waist-hip-ratio.

PMID- 28614007
TI  - ECTOPIC CUSHING SYNDROME: A 10-YEAR EXPERIENCE FROM A TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN
      SOUTHERN INDIA.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion is a less common
      cause of Cushing syndrome and is seen in 5 to 10% of cases with endogenous
      hypercortisolemia. We hereby describe our experience of patients with ectopic
      ACTH syndrome, who have been managed over the past 10 years at a tertiary care
      center in Southern India. METHODS: The inpatient and outpatient records of
      patients from 2006 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical features,
      clinical history, biochemical values, imaging features, including radiologic
      findings and positron emission tomography scans, management, details of follow
      up, and outcomes, were documented. We compared the biochemical findings in these
      patients with 20 consecutive patients with Cushing disease (Cushing syndrome of
      pituitary origin). RESULTS: A total of 21 patients were studied. The median age
      at presentation was 34 years (range, 19 to 55 years). Seven patients had thymic
      carcinoid, 7 had bronchial carcinoid, 3 had lung malignancies, 2 had medullary
      carcinoma thyroid, 1 patient had a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, and 1 patient
      had an occult source of ACTH. The most common clinical features at presentation
      were muscle weakness (95%), hyperpigmentation (90%), facial puffiness (76%), easy
      bruising (61%), edema (57%), and striae (52%). Extensive acne was seen in a large
      number of patients (43%). Only 3 patients (14%) had central obesity. The median 8
      am cortisol was 55.5 MUg/dL (range, 3.8 to 131 MUg/dL), median 8 am ACTH was 207
      pg/mL (range, 31.1 to 703 pg/mL), and the median 24-hour urinary free cortisol
      was 2,484 MUg (range, 248 to 25,438 MUg). Basal cortisol and ACTH, as well as
      midnight cortisol and ACTH level, were markedly higher in patients with ectopic
      Cushing syndrome as compared to patients with Cushing disease. Twelve of 21
      patients had developed life-threatening infections by follow-up. Nine patients
      had undergone surgical intervention to address the primary tumor. However, only 1
      patient exhibited a complete cure on follow-up. CONCLUSION: In our series,
      ectopic Cushing syndrome was most commonly seen in association with intrathoracic
      tumors such as bronchial or thymic carcinoid. Hyperpigmentation and proximal
      myopathy were frequent, while central obesity was uncommon. Early and rapid
      control of hypercortisolemia was important in order to prevent life-threatening
      infections and metabolic complications. ABBREVIATIONS: ACTH = adrenocorticotropic
      hormone CT = computed tomography DOTATATE = 68Ga-DOTA-Tyr3-octreotate ECS =
      ectopic Cushing syndrome FDG = fluorodeoxyglucose MTC = medullary thyroid cancer
      NET = neuroendocrine tumor PET = positron emission tomography.

PMID- 28614008
TI  - THE ROLE OF ELECTRONIC FEEDBACK LOOPS IN THE CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF
      THYROID NODULE AND THYROID CANCER CARE.

PMID- 28614009
TI  - THE COMBINED USE OF CALCITONIN DOUBLING TIME AND 18F-FDG PET/CT IMPROVES
      PROGNOSTIC VALUES IN MEDULLARY THYROID CARCINOMA: THE CLINICAL UTILITY OF 18F-FDG
      PET/CT.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) doubling times are
      established prognostic markers in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). On the other
      hand, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography (PET/CT) shows an increased rate of detection with high blood tumor
      marker levels in several cancers. This study aimed to analyze the ability of 18F
      FDG PET/CT to determine prognosis in the follow-up of patients with MTC. METHODS:
      Medical records of 17 patients with MTC who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT were
      analyzed retrospectively. All patients were classified into two groups: stable
      disease or progressive disease. RESULTS: Eight patients presented with
      progressive disease, and all of them showed 18F-FDG uptake (100%), compared to
      only 3 of 9 patients who presented in stable condition (33%). 18F-FDG PET/CT
      results were able to distinguish progressive from stable disease (P = .009).
      Calcitonin levels >4,020 pg/mL (P = .0004), CEA levels >26.8 ng/mL (P = .04), and
      a calcitonin doubling time <24.1 months (P = .015) were associated with
      progressive disease in our cohort. The proportion of variance explained that
      predicted progressive disease was 32% for 18F-FDG uptake, 27.1% for a calcitonin
      doubling time of 24.1 months, and 41.2% for doubling time plus 18F-FDG PET/CT.
      CONCLUSION: 18F-FDG uptake was able to distinguish progressive from stable
      disease. However, this tool should not replace the validated calcitonin doubling
      time, but rather the combination of information could improve the clinical re
      assessment and better identify high-risk patients who require more careful
      surveillance. ABBREVIATIONS: CEA = carcinoembryonic antigen CT = computed
      tomography 18F-FDG = 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose MTC = medullary thyroid cancer PET =
      positron emission tomography PVE = proportion of variance explained sCT = serum
      calcitonin SUV = standard uptake value US = ultrasound.

PMID- 28614010
TI  - DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF BASAL CORTISOL LEVEL TO PREDICT ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY IN
      COSYNTROPIN TESTING: RESULTS FROM AN OBSERVATIONAL COHORT STUDY WITH 804
      PATIENTS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) stimulation testing is the current
      standard for assessing primary and secondary adrenal insufficiency (AI). We aimed
      to investigate the value of basal cortisol level for prediction of AI. METHODS:
      We retrospectively analyzed 804 consecutive patients who had high-dose (250 MUg,
      HDT) or low-dose (1 MUg, LDT) ACTH testing as part of their diagnostic work-up.
      Site-specific cut-off levels for AI were <550 in and <500 nmol/L in HDT and LDT,
      respectively. RESULTS: Overall, 70/400 (17.5%) in the LDT group and 118/404
      (29.2%) in the HDT group showed an insufficient increase of cortisol and were
      categorized as AI. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed an
      overall area under the curve (AUC) for basal cortisol of 0.88, which was
      comparable in LDT (area under the curve [AUC] 0.88) and HDT (AUC 0.88). If basal
      cortisol levels were >=450 nmol/L (n = 234/804, 29.1%), the negative predictive
      value to rule out AI was 98.7%. If cortisol was <=100 nmol/L (n = 69/804, 8.6%)
      the positive predictive value was 93.2% to rule in AI. There was a minimal
      additional value of the 30-minute cortisol level in HDT as compared to the 60
      minute result, as well as for delta values. CONCLUSION: Basal cortisol levels
      <=100 and >=450 nmol/L were found in almost half of patients tested for possible
      AI and had high diagnostic accuracy, abolishing the need for formal ACTH testing.
      The 30-minute cortisol value in HDT did not increase diagnostic accuracy. These
      data may help guide clinicians when testing can safely be omitted, thereby
      reducing expenses and simplifying test protocols. ABBREVIATIONS: ACTH =
      adrenocorticotropic hormone AI = adrenal insufficiency AUC = area under the curve
      CI = confidence interval HDT = high-dose test HPA axis = hypothalamus-pituitary
      adrenal axis ITT = insulin tolerance test LDT = low-dose test NR = normal
      responders LR+/- = positive/negative likelihood ratio NPV = negative predictive
      value PPV = positive predictive value.

PMID- 28614013
TI  - Seborrhoeic dermatitis.

PMID- 28614014
TI  - The foreign body that never was: the effects of confirmation bias.

PMID- 28614011
TI  - Structural Basis for CD4+ T Cell Epitope Dominance in Arbo-Flavivirus Envelope
      Proteins: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - A meta-analysis of CD4+ T cell epitope maps reveals clusters and gaps in envelope
      protein (E protein) immunogenicity that can be explained by the likelihood of
      epitope processing, as determined by E protein three-dimensional structures.
      Differential processing may be at least partially responsible for variations in
      disease severity among arbo-flaviruses and points to structural features that
      modulate protection from disease.

PMID- 28614012
TI  - Addressing sexual health in geriatrics education.
AB  - Adults remain sexually active well into later life, but few report discussing
      sexual health with a physician after age 50. The authors explored how geriatrics
      education might better address sexual health in the context of a psychosocial
      conference for geriatrics fellows, program directors, and faculty comprising an
      informational plenary, which included a skills-building presentation on taking
      sexual histories, and a program director/faculty roundtable. Although informed
      about older adult sexual health, knowledge scores of geriatrics fellows increased
      following the plenary. Fellows reported inconsistent sexual history taking with
      older adults and noted patient differences in age and gender as barriers. The
      roundtable discussion highlighted several barriers to inclusion of sexual health
      content in geriatrics curricula including competing competencies, lack of
      educational materials, and discomfort with this topic on the part of faculty.
      Implications of these findings for geriatrics training and education programs and
      suggestions for improving this domain of geriatrics education are discussed.

PMID- 28614015
TI  - Statin-induced necrotizing autoimmune myopathy: importance of early recognition.

PMID- 28614016
TI  - Eight questions to ask before writing an article.
AB  - Health professionals often have to write articles for publication in academic
      journals. Many of them find this difficult and suffer from one or more variations
      of writer's block. A good way of avoiding these setbacks is to prepare thoroughly
      for the writing project, and this article proposes eight different questions
      writers can ask before they start. The first is whether they are in a good
      position to complete the task, and if not whether they should try to negotiate
      their way out of the project. If they commit to going ahead, writers should work
      out where they will find the necessary time, and set deadlines for ensuring that
      they do. They should also decide on their co-authors, because getting them
      involved early should make the rewriting more straightforward as well as reducing
      the danger of ghost authors emerging once the work has been done. Writers should
      put their research away and reflect on the most appropriate message - a simple
      sentence that sums up the main implication of the paper. Armed with this message,
      they can identify a suitable journal for publication - and thereafter can use
      articles in this journal to guide them on matters of substance and style. If the
      article is published in that target journal authors can consider that they have
      written a successful paper.

PMID- 28614017
TI  - General anaesthesia for caesarean section: is the end in sight for thiopental?

PMID- 28614019
TI  - Eosinophilic oesophagitis: an otolaryngologist's perspective.
AB  - Eosinophilic oesophagitis is a diagnosis that is being made more frequently in
      the assessment of dysphagia in both adults and children. It is unclear whether
      this is a result of increased prevalence or improved diagnostic methods. Children
      present commonly to paediatric institutions with foreign body impaction. Research
      indicates that food impaction may predispose to eosinophilic oesophagitis. This
      article presents eosinophilic oesophagitis from an otolaryngologist's point of
      view. It details the clinical features present in the disease as well as how it
      is diagnosed and managed. It illustrates early signs of eosinophilic oesophagitis
      so that primary physicians and emergency physicians know when to refer on to
      otolaryngologists.

PMID- 28614020
TI  - Cardiovascular assessment for non-cardiac surgery: European guidelines.
AB  - In 2014, a joint task force involving the European Society of Cardiology and
      European Society of Anaesthesiology assembled 'Guidelines on non-cardiac surgery:
      cardiovascular assessment and management'. The guidelines, subsequently published
      in the European Heart Journal, are intended for physicians and collaborators
      involved in the perioperative care of patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, in
      whom heart disease is a potential source of complications. While the guidelines
      are an extremely relevant and useful aid for most, if not all, medics within the
      hospital environment, the sheer size of the document (49 pages) renders it a feat
      to read and digest. Given the importance of the document for optimizing patient
      care, this article condenses the guidelines down to help highlight the important
      details.

PMID- 28614021
TI  - Cuthbert Wallace: early pioneer of aseptic surgery.

PMID- 28614022
TI  - Shared decision-making tools: do they really involve patients?

PMID- 28614023
TI  - Emergency management of retroperitoneal haemorrhage using covered stents.

PMID- 28614024
TI  - Improving outcomes in acute aortic dissection.
AB  - Aortic dissection remains a serious cardiovascular emergency with significant
      early and late mortality and morbidity. Improving outcomes is directly linked to
      early clinical diagnosis, swift confirmation by appropriate imaging and
      management by dedicated teams with high levels of expertise in a complex clinical
      condition.

PMID- 28614025
TI  - Cardiac resynchronization therapy and its role in the management of heart
      failure.
AB  - The prevalence of heart failure is increasing and it is associated with
      significant mortality and morbidity. Optimal medical therapy improves outcome,
      but heart failure continues to have a substantial impact on both the individual
      patient and wider society. Over the last two decades, cardiac resynchronization
      therapy has revolutionized the treatment of selected patients who have heart
      failure. Cardiac resynchronization therapy significantly reduces mortality and
      hospitalization through reverse cardiac remodelling. This review informs non
      specialists about cardiac resynchronization therapy and for which patients it
      should be considered.

PMID- 28614026
TI  - Management of liver transplant patients: simple but strong recommendations.

PMID- 28614027
TI  - Parathyroid surgery: from inception to the modern day.
AB  - Parathyroid surgery has undergone great changes since its inception less than a
      century ago. It is still the only definitive option available to cure primary or
      tertiary hyperparathyroidism. This review details the development of parathyroid
      surgery, our understanding of hyperparathyroidism and the treatment options
      available. It also discusses the technological advances that have enabled
      parathyroid localization and prediction of surgical success.

PMID- 28614028
TI  - Spontaneous pulmonary embolism following a recently thrombosed, disused
      haemodialysis fistula.

PMID- 28614029
TI  - Attitudes towards attrition among UK trainees in obstetrics and gynaecology.
AB  - Physician dissatisfaction in the workplace has consequences for patient safety.
      Currently in the UK, 1 in 5 doctors who enter specialist training in obstetrics
      and gynaecology leave the programme before completion. Trainee attrition has
      implications for workforce planning, organization of health-care services and
      patient care. The authors conducted a survey of current trainees' and former
      trainees' views concerning attrition and 'peri-attrition' - a term coined to
      describe the trainee who has seriously considered leaving the specialty. The
      authors identified six key themes which describe trainees' feelings about
      attrition in obstetrics and gynaecology: morale and undermining; training
      processes and paperwork; support and supervision; work-life balance and realities
      of life; NHS environment; and job satisfaction. This article discusses themes of
      an under-resourced health service, bullying, lack of work-life balance and poor
      personal support.

PMID- 28614030
TI  - Psychosocial morbidity in skin disease.

PMID- 28614031
TI  - Optimizing diagnostic imaging through skills mix: costs and opportunities.

PMID- 28614033
TI  - Clinical News.

PMID- 28614032
TI  - Implications of consent for medical practice.

PMID- 28614034
TI  - SQSTM1/p62 (sequestosome 1) senses cellular ubiquitin stress through E2-mediated
      ubiquitination.
AB  - The alterations in cellular ubiquitin (Ub) homeostasis, known as Ub stress,
      feature and affect cellular responses in multiple conditions, yet the underlying
      mechanisms are incompletely understood. We recently reported that the
      macroautophagy/autophagy receptor SQSTM1/p62, functions as a novel Ub sensor to
      activate autophagy upon Ub+ stress (upregulation of the Ub level). First, SQSTM1
      was found to undergo extensive ubiquitination and activate autophagy under Ub+
      stress induced by prolonged Bortezomib (BTZ) treatment, Ub overexpression or by
      heat shock. Mechanistically, Ubiquitination of SQSTM1 disrupts its dimerization
      of the UBA domain, switching it from an auto-inhibitory conformation to recognize
      poly-ubiquitinated cargoes, promoting autophagic flux. Interestingly, Ub+ stress
      responsive SQSTM1 ubiquitination is mediated by Ub conjugating enzymes, UBE2D2/3,
      in a unique E2-dependent manner. Our work has thus revealed a novel mechanism for
      how SQSTM1 senses cellular Ub stress conditions and regulates selective autophagy
      in response to diverse intrinsic or extrinsic challenges.

PMID- 28614035
TI  - PERSONALIZED CARE OF PATIENTS WITH ADRENOCORTICAL CARCINOMA: A COMPREHENSIVE
      APPROACH.
AB  - : A concerted effort has been made in the past decade to better differentiate
      benign from malignant adrenocortical tumors. Of those tumors found to be
      adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) and through the use of multiple modalities
      including biochemical, radiologic, and genomic analysis, significant strides have
      been made in understanding what drives ACC development, how various treatments
      may result in different outcomes, which ACCs are more likely to respond to
      various treatments, and overall prognosis. While most patients will have
      recurrence of their ACC and succumb to their disease, the disease course is
      highly variable; it is therefore imperative that each patient is treated with
      individualized attention paid to their particular ACC. This article highlights
      and discusses specific, important, and many times subtle features that may impact
      the evaluation, management, treatment selection, and outcome of patients with
      ACC. ABBREVIATIONS: ACC = adrenocortical carcinoma; CT = computed tomography; XRT
      = external beam radiation therapy.

PMID- 28614036
TI  - AN INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH TO THE EVALUATION OF CUSHING SYNDROME.
AB  - : Cushing syndrome (CS) is caused by chronic exposure to excess glucocorticoids.
      Early recognition and treatment of hypercortisolemia can lead to decreased
      morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of CS and thereafter, establishing the
      cause can often be difficult, especially in patients with mild and cyclic
      hypercortisolism. Surgical excision of the cause of excess glucocorticoids is the
      optimal treatment for CS. Medical therapy (steroidogenesis inhibitors,
      medications that decrease adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH] levels or
      glucocorticoid antagonists) and pituitary radiotherapy may be needed as
      adjunctive treatment modalities in patients with residual, recurrent or
      metastatic disease, in preparation for surgery, or when surgery is
      contraindicated. A multidisciplinary team approach, individualized treatment plan
      and long-term follow-up are important for optimal management of hypercortisolemia
      and the comorbidities associated with CS. ABBREVIATIONS: ACTH =
      adrenocorticotropic hormone; BIPSS = bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling;
      CBG = corticosteroid-binding globulin; CD = Cushing disease; CRH = corticotropin
      releasing hormone; CS = Cushing syndrome; Dex = dexamethasone; DST =
      dexamethasone suppression test; EAS = ectopic ACTH syndrome; FDA = U.S. Food &
      Drug Administration; HDDST = high-dose DST; IPS/P = inferior petrosal sinus to
      peripheral; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging; NET = neuroendocrine tumor; PET =
      positron emission tomography; UFC = urinary free cortisol.

PMID- 28614037
TI  - Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 28614038
TI  - Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 28614040
TI  - Statistical analysis of winter ozone exceedances in the Uintah Basin, Utah, USA.
AB  - : Because of the confluence of several factors (persistent multiday inversions,
      petroleum production, and snow cover), the Uintah Basin of eastern Utah, USA,
      exhibits high concentrations of winter ozone. A regression analysis is presented
      that successfully predicts daily ozone concentration with a standard error of
      about 11 ppb. It also predicts with 90% accuracy whether any given day will
      exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone, 70 ppb. An analysis
      is introduced for calculating a "pseudo-lapse rate," a determination of inversion
      intensity in the absence of sounding data. By combining the model with historical
      meteorological data, it is possible to make long-range predictions about ozone
      formation. The odds of observing no exceedance days in any given season are 38%.
      The odds of only three or fewer exceedance days in any given season are 46%.
      IMPLICATIONS: This paper provides an improved understanding of the scientific
      underpinnings of the winter ozone phenomenon and an ability to make long-range
      predictions.

PMID- 28614039
TI  - Controlling the Cost of Medicaid.

PMID- 28614042
TI  - BNIP3L/NIX-dependent mitophagy regulates cell differentiation via metabolic
      reprogramming.
AB  - Macroautophagy/autophagy is the process by which cellular components are degraded
      and recycled within the lysosome. These components include mitochondria, the
      selective degradation of which is known as mitophagy. Mitochondria are dynamic
      organelles that constantly adapt their morphology, function, and number to
      accommodate the metabolic needs of the cell. Extensive metabolic reconfiguration
      occurs during cell differentiation, when mitochondrial activity increases in most
      cell types. However, our data demonstrate that during physiologic retinal
      ganglion cell (RGC) development, mitophagy-dependent metabolic reprogramming
      toward glycolysis regulates numbers of RGCs, which are the first neurons to
      differentiate in the retina and whose axons form the optic nerve. We show that
      during retinal development tissue hypoxia triggers HIF1A/HIF-1 stabilization,
      resulting in increased expression of the mitophagy receptor BNIP3L/NIX. BNIP3L
      dependent mitophagy results in a metabolic shift toward glycolysis essential for
      RGC neurogenesis. Moreover, we demonstrate that BNIP3L-dependent mitophagy also
      regulates the polarization of proinflammatory/M1 macrophages, which undergo
      glycolysis-dependent differentiation during the inflammatory response. Our
      results uncover a new link between hypoxia, mitophagy, and metabolic
      reprogramming in the differentiation of several cell types in vivo. These
      findings may have important implications for neurodegenerative, metabolic and
      other diseases in which mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic alterations play
      a prominent role.

PMID- 28614041
TI  - Effect of short-term research training programs on medical students' attitudes
      toward aging.
AB  - Strategies to build a larger workforce of physicians dedicated to research on
      aging are needed. One method to address this shortage of physician scientists in
      geriatrics is short-term training in aging research for early-stage medical
      students. The authors examined the effects of two summer research training
      programs, funded by the National Institutes of Health, on medical students'
      attitudes toward aging, using the Carolina Opinions on Care of Older Adults
      (COCOA). The programs combined mentored research, didactics, and some clinical
      exposure. In a sample of 134 participants, COCOA scores improved significantly
      after completion of the research training program. There was a significant
      interaction of gender, such that female students had higher baseline scores than
      males, but this gender difference in COCOA scores was attenuated following the
      program. Four of the six COCOA subscales showed significant improvement from
      baseline: early interest in geriatrics, empathy/compassion, attitudes toward
      geriatrics careers, and ageism.

PMID- 28614043
TI  - Antibiotics vs. Appendectomy for Acute Uncomplicated Appendicitis in Adults:
      Review of the Evidence and Future Directions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency in
      the United States, with a lifetime risk of 7%-8%. The treatment paradigm for
      complicated appendicitis has evolved over the past decade, and many cases now are
      managed by broad-spectrum antibiotics. We determined the role of non-operative
      and operative management in adult patients with uncomplicated appendicitis.
      METHODS: Several meta-analyses have attempted to clarify the debate. Arguably the
      most influential is the Appendicitis Acuta (APPAC) Trial. RESULTS: According to
      the non-inferiority analysis and a pre-specified non-inferiority margin of -24%,
      the APPAC did not demonstrate non-inferiority of antibiotics vs. appendectomy.
      Significantly, however, the operations were nearly always open, whereas the
      majority of appendectomies in the United States are done laparoscopically; and
      laparoscopic and open appendectomies are not equivalent operations. Treatment
      with antibiotics is efficacious more than 70% of the time. However, a switch to
      an antimicrobial-only approach may result in a greater probability of
      antimicrobial-associated collateral damage, both to the host patient and to
      antibiotic susceptibility patterns. A surgery-only approach would result in a
      reduction in antibiotic exposure, a consideration in these days of focus on
      antimicrobial stewardship. CONCLUSION: Future studies should focus on isolating
      the characteristics of appendicitis most susceptible to antibiotics, using
      laparoscopic operations as controls and identifying long-term side effects such
      as antibiotic resistance or Clostridium difficile colitis.

PMID- 28614044
TI  - Validation of odor concentration from mechanical-biological treatment piles using
      static chamber and wind tunnel with different wind speed values.
AB  - : The basic principle of odor sampling from surface sources is based primarily on
      the amount of air obtained from a specific area of the ground, which acts as a
      source of malodorous compounds. Wind tunnels and flux chambers are often the only
      available, direct method of evaluating the odor fluxes from small area sources.
      There are currently no widely accepted chamber-based methods; thus, there is
      still a need for standardization of these methods to ensure accuracy and
      comparability. Previous research has established that there is a significant
      difference between the odor concentration values obtained using the Lindvall
      chamber and those obtained by a dynamic flow chamber. Thus, the present study
      compares sampling methods using a streaming chamber modeled on the Lindvall cover
      (using different wind speeds), a static chamber, and a direct sampling method
      without any screens. The volumes of chambers in the current work were similar,
      ~0.08 m3. This study was conducted at the mechanical-biological treatment plant
      in Poland. Samples were taken from a pile covered by the membrane. Measured odor
      concentration values were between 2 and 150 ouE/m3. Results of the study
      demonstrated that both chambers can be used interchangeably in the following
      conditions: odor concentration is below 60 ouE/m3, wind speed inside the Lindvall
      chamber is below 0.2 m/sec, and a flow value is below 0.011 m3/sec. Increasing
      the wind speed above the aforementioned value results in significant differences
      in the results obtained between those methods. In all experiments, the results of
      the concentration of odor in the samples using the static chamber were
      consistently higher than those from the samples measured in the Lindvall chamber.
      Lastly, the results of experiments were employed to determine a model function of
      the relationship between wind speed and odor concentration values. IMPLICATIONS:
      Several researchers wrote that there are no widely accepted chamber-based
      methods. Also, there is still a need for standardization to ensure full
      comparability of these methods. The present study compared the existing methods
      to improve the standardization of area source sampling. The practical usefulness
      of the results was proving that both examined chambers can be used
      interchangeably. Statistically similar results were achieved while odor
      concentration was below 60 ouE/m3 and wind speed inside the Lindvall chamber was
      below 0.2 m/sec. Increasing wind speed over these values results in differences
      between these methods. A model function of relationship between wind speed and
      odor concentration value was determined.

PMID- 28614045
TI  - Neighbourhood built environment characteristics associated with different types
      of physical activity in Canadian adults.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to estimate the associations between
      neighbourhood built environment characteristics and transportation walking (TW),
      recreational walking (RW), and moderate-intensity (MPA) and vigorous-intensity
      physical activity (VPA) in adults independent of sociodemographic characteristics
      and residential self-selection (i.e. the reasons related to physical activity
      associated with a person's choice of neighbourhood). METHODS: In 2007 and 2008,
      4423 Calgary adults completed land-based telephone interviews capturing physical
      activity, sociodemographic characteristics and reasons for residential self
      selection. Using spatial data, we estimated population density, proportion of
      green space, path/cycleway length, business density, bus stop density, city
      managed tree density, sidewalk length, park type mix and recreational destination
      mix within a 1.6 km street network distance from the participants' geolocated
      residential postal code. Generalized linear models estimated the associations
      between neighbourhood built environment characteristics and weekly neighbourhood
      based physical activity participation (>= 10 minutes/week; odds ratios [ORs])
      and, among those who reported participation, duration of activity (unstandardized
      beta coefficients [B]). RESULTS: The sample included more women (59.7%) than men
      (40.3%) and the mean (standard deviation) age was 47.1 (15.6) years. TW
      participation was associated with intersection (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.20)
      and business (OR = 1.52; 1.29 to 1.78) density, and sidewalk length (OR = 1.19;
      1.09 to 1.29), while TW minutes was associated with business (B = 19.24
      minutes/week; 11.28 to 27.20) and tree (B = 6.51; 2.29 to 10.72 minutes/week)
      density, and recreational destination mix (B = -8.88 minutes/ week; -12.49 to 
      5.28). RW participation was associated with path/cycleway length (OR = 1.17; 1.05
      to 1.31). MPA participation was associated with recreational destination mix (OR
      = 1.09; 1.01 to 1.17) and sidewalk length (OR = 1.10; 1.02 to 1.19); however, MPA
      minutes was negatively associated with population density (B = -8.65 minutes/
      week; -15.32 to -1.98). VPA participation was associated with sidewalk length (OR
      = 1.11; 1.02 to 1.20), path/cycleway length (OR = 1.12; 1.02 to 1.24) and
      proportion of neighbourhood green space (OR = 0.89; 0.82 to 0.98). VPA minutes
      was associated with tree density (B = 7.28 minutes/week; 0.39 to 14.17).
      CONCLUSION: Some neighbourhood built environment characteristics appear important
      for supporting physical activity participation while others may be more
      supportive of increasing physical activity duration. Modifications that increase
      the density of utilitarian destinations and the quantity of available sidewalks
      in established neighbourhoods could increase overall levels of neighbourhood
      based physical activity.

PMID- 28614046
TI  - Cancer risk factors and screening in First Nations in Ontario.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A lack of identifiers in health administrative databases limits our
      understanding of the cancer burden in First Nations. This study compares cancer
      risk factors and screening between First Nations in Ontario (on and off reserve)
      and non-Aboriginal Ontarians using two unique health surveys. METHODS: We
      measured age-standardized prevalence estimates using the First Nations Regional
      Health Survey (RHS) Phase 2, 2008/10 (for First Nations on reserve) and the
      Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), 2007-2013 (for First Nations off reserve
      and non-Aboriginal Ontarians). We used prevalence rate ratios (RR) and Pearson's
      chisquare tests for differences in proportions to compare estimates between First
      Nations (on and off reserve) and non-Aboriginal Ontarians. RESULTS: A higher
      proportion of First Nation men, women and adolescents on reserve smoked (RR =
      1.97, 2.78 and 7.21 respectively) and were obese (RR = 1.73, 2.33 and 3.29
      respectively) compared to their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Similar patterns
      were observed for First Nations off reserve. Frequent binge drinking was also
      more prevalent among First Nation men and women living on reserve (RR = 1.28 and
      2.22, respectively) and off reserve (RR = 1.70 and 1.45, respectively) than non
      Aboriginal Ontarians. First Nation men and women on reserve were about half as
      likely to consume fruit at least twice per day and vegetables at least twice per
      day compared to non-Aboriginal men and women (RR = 0.53 and 0.54, respectively).
      Pap test uptake was similar across all groups, while First Nation women on
      reserve were less likely to have had a mammogram in the last five years than non
      Aboriginal women (RR = 0.85). CONCLUSION: First Nations, especially those living
      on reserve, have an increased risk for cancer and other chronic diseases compared
      to non-Aboriginal Ontarians. These results provide evidence to support policies
      and programs to reduce the future burden of cancer and other chronic diseases in
      First Nations in Ontario.

PMID- 28614048
TI  - Letter to the Editor - The professionalization of health promotion in Canada: a
      student perspective.
AB  - This letter is in response to the following Letter to the Editor: http://www.phac
      aspc.gc.ca/publicat/hpcdp-pspmc/37-1/ar-04-eng.php.

PMID- 28614049
TI  - Release notice - Healthy Behaviour Data Challenge.

PMID- 28614047
TI  - Estimating how extra calories from alcohol consumption are likely an overlooked
      contributor to youth obesity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Youth obesity rates in Canada continue to rise. In this study, we
      produced conservative estimates of the potential excess calories from alcohol use
      across different alcohol consumption patterns common among Canadian youth to
      assess whether alcohol use should be considered in future obesity prevention
      strategies. METHODS: Using data from 10 144 Grade 12 students participating in
      the COMPASS study (2013/14), we estimated the number of calories consumed per
      year from alcohol consumption. Our estimates were based on three different
      generic types of alcoholic beverages, which were grouped according to average
      calorie content (vodka coolers; beer [5%]; and beer [4%], wine and liquor) across
      different frequencies of alcohol use and binge drinking. RESULTS: Results
      indicated high potential caloric intake for students who binge drank, as well as
      high variability in the estimates for calories consumed based on common
      consumption patterns for the different beverage types. For instance, 27.2% of
      students binge drank once per month, meaning they consumed between 6000 and 13
      200 calories in one year (equivalent to 0.78 - 1.71 kg of fat). For the 4.9% of
      students who binge drank twice per week, the total calories in one year would
      range from 52 000 to 114 400 (equivalent to 6.74 - 14.83 kg of fat). CONCLUSION:
      Current recommendations for preventing youth obesity do not generally include any
      consideration of alcohol use. The high prevalence of frequent alcohol consumption
      and binge drinking by youth in this study and the substantial number of calories
      contained in alcoholic beverages suggest alcohol use among youth may warrant
      consideration in relation to youth obesity prevention.

PMID- 28614050
TI  - Cracking Ali Baba's code.
AB  - A protein called P36 holds the key to how different species of malaria parasite
      invade liver cells.

PMID- 28614051
TI  - Cardiac anomalies and associated comorbidities in a large adolescent population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, secular trends and associations of heart
      disease in a large unscreened, otherwise basically healthy, adolescent
      population. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study of the cardiac status of
      113,694 adolescents from the northern district of Israel, who completed the
      profiling process between the ages of 16 and 19, including all essential measures
      over a 22-year period. Results of imaging were categorized as either isolated
      valvar or structural abnormalities, and their clinically significant subgroups
      defined prospectively. The findings were correlated with the socio-demographic
      and anthropometric data and non-cardiac health conditions. RESULTS: Of those sent
      for echocardiography, 1257 (0.93% of the total population) had isolated valvar
      disease and 216 (0.19%) had structural abnormalities, with 20% of both groups
      considered significant. Females had lower prevalence of heart disease. There was
      peak prevalence in the second 5-year period. Tall subjects or a past history of
      rheumatic fever had more valvar abnormalities. Thin subjects or those with
      skeletal anomalies had more structural abnormalities. Significant valvar and
      structural anomalies were more common in subjects with learning disorders,
      endocrine disorders and diabetes mellitus. Fewer valvar abnormalities were
      diagnosed in obese subjects. Heart disease was more common in those with non
      solid tumors. CONCLUSION: Appreciable numbers of potentially healthy adolescents
      were found to have heart disease. There appeared to be an association with body
      size, skeletal abnormalities and relatively common medical disorders, the cause
      of which remains to be determined in prospective studies that could change the
      way common adolescent disease should be followed.

PMID- 28614067
TI  - Nano-engineering of p-n CuFeO2-ZnO heterojunction photoanode with improved light
      absorption and charge collection for photoelectrochemical water oxidation.
AB  - The effective utilization of abundant visible solar light for
      photoelectrochemical water splitting is a green approach for energy harvesting,
      to reduce the enormous rise of carbon content in the atmosphere. Here, a novel
      efficient design strategy for p-n type nano-heterojunction photoanodes is
      demonstrated, with the goal of improving water splitting efficiency by growing
      low band gap p-CuFeO2 nanolayers on n-ZnO nanorods by an easy and scalable
      electrochemical route. The photoconversion efficiency of p-n CuFeO2/ZnO
      photoanodes is found to be ~450% higher than that of pristine ZnO nanorod
      electrodes under visible solar light illumination (lambda > 420 nm, intensity 10
      mW cm-2). The p-n CuFeO2/ZnO nano-engineering not only boosts the visible light
      absorption but also resolves limitations regarding effective charge carrier
      separation and transportation due to interfacial band alignment. This photoanode
      also shows remarkably enhanced stability, where the formation of p-n nano
      heterojunction enhances the easy migration of holes to the electrode/electrolyte
      interface, and of electrons to the counter electrode (Pt) for hydrogen
      generation. Therefore, this work demonstrates that p-n nano-engineering is a
      potential strategy to design light-harvesting electrodes for water splitting and
      clean energy generation.

PMID- 28614068
TI  - Highly efficient one-step synthesis of carbon encapsulated nanocrystals by the
      oxidation of metal pi-complexes.
AB  - Various carbon encapsulated nanocrystals, including MnS and MnO, Cr2O3, MoO2,
      Fe7S8 and Fe3O4, and ZrO2, are prepared in one step and in situ by a simple and
      highly efficient synthesis approach. The nanocrystals have an equiaxed morphology
      and a median size smaller than 30 nm. Tens and hundreds of these nanocrystals are
      entirely encapsulated by a wormlike amorphous carbon shell. The formation of a
      core-shell structure depends on the strongly exothermic reaction of metal pi
      complexes with ammonium persulfate in an autoclave at below 200  degrees C.
      During the oxidation process, the generated significant amounts of heat will
      destroy the molecular structure of the metal pi-complex and cleave the ligands
      into small carbon fragments, which further transform into an amorphous carbon
      shell. The central metal atoms are oxidized to metal oxide/sulfide nanocrystals.
      The formation of a core-shell structure is independent of the numbers of ligands
      and carbon atoms as well as the metal types, implying that any metal pi-complex
      can serve as a precursor and that various carbon encapsulated nanocrystals can be
      synthesized by this method.

PMID- 28614069
TI  - PEGylated lipid bilayer-wrapped nano-graphene oxides for synergistic co-delivery
      of doxorubicin and rapamycin to prevent drug resistance in cancers.
AB  - Nano-graphene oxide (nGO) is a carbon allotrope studied for its potential as
      carrier for chemotherapeutic delivery and its photoablation effects. However,
      interaction of nGO with blood components and the subsequent toxicities warrant a
      hybrid system for effective cancer drug delivery. Combination chemotherapy aids
      in effective cancer treatment and prevention of drug resistance. Therefore, in
      this study, we attempted to prepare polyethylene glycosylated (PEGylated) lipid
      bilayer-wrapped nGO co-loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) and rapamycin (RAPA), GOLDR,
      for the prevention and treatment of resistant cancers. Our results revealed a
      stable GOLDR formulation with appropriate particle size (~170 nm), polydispersity
      (~0.19) and drug loading. Free drug combination (DOX and RAPA) presented
      synergistic anticancer effects in MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and BT474 cells. Treatment
      with GOLDR formulation maintained this synergism in treated cancer cells, which
      was further enhanced by the near infrared (NIR) laser irradiation-induced
      photothermal effects of nGO. Higher chromatin condensation and apoptotic body
      formation, and enhanced protein expression of apoptosis-related markers (Bax,
      p53, p21, and c-caspase 3) following GOLDR treatment in the presence of NIR laser
      treatment clearly suggests its superiority in effective chemo-photothermal
      therapy of resistant cancers. The hybrid nanosystem that we developed provides a
      basis for the effective use of GOLDR treatment in the prevention and treatment of
      resistant cancer types.

PMID- 28614070
TI  - Ultralight Fe@C Nanocapsules/Sponge Composite with Reversibly Tunable Microwave
      Absorption Performances.
AB  - Microwave absorbers are usually designed to solve electromagnetic interferences
      at a specific frequency, while the requirements may be dynamic during service
      life. Therefore, a recoverable tuning for microwave absorption properties in
      response to an external stimulus would be highly desirable. We herein present a
      micro/nano-scale hybrid absorber, in which high-performance Fe@C nanocapsule
      absorbents are integrated with a porous melamine sponge skeleton, exhibiting
      multiple merits of light weight, strong absorption and high elasticity. By
      mechanically compressing and decompressing the absorber, microwave absorption
      performances can be effectively shifted between 18 GHz and 26.5 GHz. The present
      study thus provides a new strategy for the design of a 'dynamic' microwave
      absorber.

PMID- 28614071
TI  - Going from What Is, to What Should Be, to Care Better for Our Patients and
      Families.
AB  - This piece discusses ways in which clinicians may go beyond their usual
      practices. These include exploring the limits of old laws, consulting with
      colleagues and ethics committees earlier and more often, and giving patients'
      family members new choices they didn't have previously. This could include asking
      patients and family members whether clinicians should prioritize staying in the
      single, unconflicted role of serving patients and families, even when this might
      preclude simultaneously serving another interest, for example, that of a
      hospital.

PMID- 28614072
TI  - Controversies in Cardiopulmonary Death.
AB  - We describe two unusual cases of cardiopulmonary death in mechanically ventilated
      patients in the neurological intensive care unit. After cardiac arrest, both
      patients were pulseless for a protracted period. Upon extubation, both developed
      agonal movements (gasping respiration) resembling life. We discuss these cases
      and the literature on the ethical and medical controversies associated with
      determining time of cardiopulmonary death. We conclude that there is rarely a
      single moment when all of a patient's physiological functions stop working at
      once. This can pose a challenge for determining the exact moment of death.

PMID- 28614073
TI  - How Do Healthcare Providers Feel About Family Presence During Cardiopulmonary
      Resuscitation?
AB  - The presence of patients' families during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is
      a controversial topic, due to its repercussions for clinical practice. While
      family members' presence may help them to overcome their grief, it could be
      detrimental, as it may case posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and there is
      the possibility that family members may interfere with the procedure. For these
      reasons, families' presence during CPR has rejected by some healthcare providers.
      To research concerns about families' presence among providers dealing with CPR in
      the Fundacion Hospital Alcorcon (Madrid), I performed this study. Of the 190
      providers surveyed, 115 submitted a complete questionnaire. The most frequently
      reported concerns were interference (78.3 percent of respondents), and PTSD (69.6
      percent of respondents). Fewer pediatric providers were concerned about PTSD than
      other providers (41.2% percent versus 74.5 percent, p = 0.01). Providers were
      reluctant to offer families the option of being present unless they had requested
      it, and would only permit it under certain conditions. Having a staff member to
      support the family was of great value to most respondents. The author believes
      families have a negative right to be present during CPR and so should be invited
      to stay.

PMID- 28614074
TI  - A Patient (Not) Alone.
AB  - This case analysis examines questions that arise when an ethically appropriate
      recommendation initially appears to be in conflict with the legally appropriate
      recommendation. The case involves a dying, incapacitated octogenarian who had
      friends who were willing to share her values, but not to make decisions on her
      behalf. These circumstances put the patient in the unique position of being
      legally considered a "patient alone," but who was ethically like a patient with
      surrogates-distinctions that are crucial when making end-of-life decisions under
      the New York Family Health Care Decisions Act. A strict interpretation of the law
      initially seemed to be in conflict with an ethically appropriate outcome. By
      gaining a deeper understanding of the patient from those who cared about her,
      however, and by considering a broader interpretation of the law, an outcome was
      reached that worked within the framework of the law and honored the patient's
      reported values.

PMID- 28614075
TI  - The Role of Relational Knowing in Advance Care Planning.
AB  - Medical decision making when a patient cannot participate is complicated by the
      question of whose voice should be heard. The most common answer to this question
      is that "autonomy" is paramount, and therefore it is the voice of the unwell
      person that should be given priority. Advance care planning processes and
      practices seek to capture this sentiment and to allow treatment preferences to be
      documented and decision makers to be nominated. Despite good intentions, advance
      care planning is often deficient because it is unable to facilitate a relational
      approach to decision making in cases when the patient's competence is reduced. In
      this article we present findings from a study of the ways in which older people
      and their significant others understand decision making in such circumstances.
      Critical to the participants' understanding was the emergent concept of
      "relational knowing," a concept that is poorly articulated in the advance care
      planning literature. Our findings suggest that the dominant understanding of
      decision making in conditions of impaired competence is incomplete and obscures
      much of what matters to people. We conclude that, having recognized a broader set
      of ethical concerns, it is necessary to develop a relational and narrative based
      approach that applies in appropriate settings.

PMID- 28614076
TI  - Knowing About Others: On 'The Role of Relational Knowing in Advance Care
      Planning'.
AB  - Kate Robins-Browne and her colleagues have written a conceptually daring,
      empirically grounded article that is rich in scholarship and just conceivably
      might have a salutary effect on the theory and practice of advance care planning.
      It is, alas, just as easy to believe that its appreciation will be restricted to
      like-minded theorists. Writing from a posture of great admiration for this
      article's agenda and achievements, I will consider why non-relationally-based
      understanding of deciding for others are so enduring, and what might be done
      about that.

PMID- 28614078
TI  - "Development of a Clinical Ethics Committee De Novo at a Small Community Hospital
      by Addressing Needs and Potential Barriers.
AB  - Hospital ethics committees are common, but not universal, in small hospitals. A
      needs assessment was completed at a 155-bed community hospital in order to adapt
      an academic tertiary center model for a clinical ethics committee to fit the
      needs of the small hospital community. Of 678 questionnaires distributed, 209
      were completed. Data suggested that clinical staff frequently experienced ethical
      dilemmas. Significantly more nonphysicians indicated that they would utilize a
      consultation service, if available, compared to physicians (p = 0.0067). The data
      also indicated that the majority of staff (greater than 80 percent) desired more
      education in clinical ethics. Physicians preferred annual or bi-annual hospital
      wide grand rounds, compared to nonphysicians, who preferred more frequent
      department-based teaching. The data presented in this article were used to
      subsequently develop a clinical ethics support committee, the process of which is
      also described.

PMID- 28614077
TI  - Structure, Operation, and Experience of Clinical Ethics Consultation 2007-2013: A
      Report from the Massachusetts General Hospital Optimum Care Committee.
AB  - We describe the structure, operation, and experience of the Massachusetts General
      Hospital ethics committee, formally called the Edwin H. Cassem Optimum Care
      Committee, from January 2007 through December 2013. Founded in 1974 as one of the
      nation's first hospital ethics committees, this committee has primarily focused
      on the optimum use of life-sustaining treatments. We outline specific
      sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of consult patients during this
      period, demographic differences between the adult inpatient population and
      patients for whom the ethics committee was consulted, and salient features of the
      consults themselves. We include three case studies that illustrate important
      consult themes during this period. Our findings expand knowledge about the
      structure and workings of hospital ethics committees and illustrate how one
      ethics committee has developed and utilized policies on end-of-life care. More
      generally, we model a sociological approach to the study of clinical ethics
      consultation that could be utilized to contextualize institutional practices over
      time.

PMID- 28614079
TI  - Do Not Resuscitate, with No Surrogate and No Advance Directive: An Ethics Case
      Study.
AB  - Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are typically signed by physicians in conjunction
      with patients or their surrogate decision makers in order to instruct healthcare
      providers not to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Both the medical
      literature and CPR guidelines fail to address when it is appropriate for
      physicians to sign DNR orders without any knowledge of a patient's wishes. We
      explore the ethical issues surrounding instituting a two-physician DNR for a
      dying patient with multiple comorbidities and no medical record on file, no
      advance directives, and no surrogate decision maker. Through this case we also
      highlight the issues of poor prognostication and the reversal of a DNR in such
      circumstances.

PMID- 28614080
TI  - Legal Briefing: Unwanted Cesareans and Obstetric Violence.
AB  - A capacitated pregnant woman has a nearly unqualified right to refuse a cesarean
      section. Her right to say "no" takes precedence over clinicians' preferences and
      even over clinicians' concerns about fetal health. Leading medical societies,
      human rights organizations, and appellate courts have all endorsed this
      principle. Nevertheless, clinicians continue to limit reproductive liberty by
      forcing and coercing women to have unwanted cesareans. This "Legal Briefing"
      reviews recent court cases involving this type of obstetric violence. I have
      organized these court cases into the following six categories: 1. Epidemic of
      Unwanted Cesareans 2. Court-Ordered Cesareans 3. Physician-Coerced Cesareans 4.
      Physician-Ordered Cesareans 5. Cesareans for Incapacitated Patients 6. Cesareans
      for Patients in a Vegetative State or Who Are Brain Dead.

PMID- 28614081
TI  - Spontaneous fungal peritonitis: a rare but severe complication of liver
      cirrhosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is the most common
      infectious complication in cirrhosis. Spontaneous fungal peritonitis is rare and
      remains unknown. In this work, spontaneous fungal peritonitis as well as risk
      factors and prognosis are characterized. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      case-control study of 253 consecutive admissions by peritonitis in cirrhotic
      patients was carried out between 2006 and 2015. Comparison of patients with
      spontaneous fungal peritonitis (cases) and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis with
      positive microbiologic ascitic fluid culture (controls) was performed. Variables
      such as sociodemographic and clinical features, cirrhosis etiology, liver
      dysfunction scores, ascitic and laboratory parameters, invasive procedures, and
      prognosis were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 231 patients, eight (3.5%) developed
      spontaneous fungal peritonitis, 62.5% of cases being coinfected with bacteria.
      Candida spp. was isolated in 87.5% of cases, mainly Candida albicans (37.5%) and
      C. krusei (25.0%). Patients with spontaneous fungal peritonitis had higher
      ascitic fluid lactate dehydrogenase (288.4+/-266.6 vs. 161.0+/-179.5; P=0.011),
      blood leukocyte count (15187.5+/-5432.3 vs. 10969.8+/-6949.5; P=0.028), blood
      urea nitrogen (69.8+/-3.1 vs. 36.3+/-25.5; P=0.001), higher number of invasive
      procedures (colonoscopy: 25.0 vs. 0.8%, P=0.001; urinary catheterization: 87.5
      vs. 49.6%, P=0.038; nasogastric intubation: 87.5 vs. 26.9%, P=0.001), and longer
      duration of hospital stay (30.0+/-32.9 vs. 18.9+/-17.0 days; P=0.031). No
      statistical difference was found between the two groups for Model for End-Stage
      Liver Disease, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease-sodium, and Child-Pugh scores.
      Spontaneous fungal peritonitis was associated with a worse prognosis,
      particularly severe sepsis/septic shock (87.5 vs. 42.8%, P=0.023), admission in
      the gastroenterology intensive care unit (87.5 vs. 24.4%; P=0.001), and overall
      (62.5 vs. 31.9%; P=0.039) or 30-day mortality (50.0 vs. 24.4%; P=0.034), with a
      mean diagnosis-death time of 17.6+/-11.5 days. CONCLUSION: Despite being a rare
      condition, spontaneous fungal peritonitis was associated with worse prognosis and
      higher mortality than SBP. The ascitic fluid lactate dehydrogenase, blood
      leukocyte count and urea nitrogen, invasive procedures, and longer admission time
      were independent risk factors for spontaneous fungal peritonitis.

PMID- 28614082
TI  - Pharmacology of cough in palliative care.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cough is a common and distressing symptom. It has a marked
      decrement on quality-of-life particularly in the arena of palliative care where
      coexisting symptoms such as pain may be exacerbated. Whilst local definitive
      treatment may alleviate coughing it usually requires general measures. The
      purpose of the review is to assess the current evidence relating to the
      pharmacological management of cough. RECENT FINDINGS: Key to understanding cough
      is the realization that most cough is because of a hypersensitivity of the
      afferent vagus nerve. Cough suppression with opioids and first-generation
      antihistamines may produce relief. However, much cough in palliative medicine is
      caused by unrecognized nonacid reflux and aspiration. Promotility agents may be
      dramatically effective at both preventing cough and recurrent aspiration.
      SUMMARY: The implications of this review will aid practitioners understanding of
      cough in a variety of settings, including palliative care.

PMID- 28614083
TI  - Pain Catastrophizing Moderates Relationships between Pain Intensity and Opioid
      Prescription: Nonlinear Sex Differences Revealed Using a Learning Health System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pain catastrophizing is a maladaptive response to pain that amplifies
      chronic pain intensity and distress. Few studies have examined how pain
      catastrophizing relates to opioid prescription in outpatients with chronic pain.
      METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective observational study of the
      relationships between opioid prescription, pain intensity, and pain
      catastrophizing in 1,794 adults (1,129 women; 63%) presenting for new evaluation
      at a large tertiary care pain treatment center. Data were sourced primarily from
      an open-source, learning health system and pain registry and secondarily from
      manual review of electronic medical records. A binary opioid prescription
      variable (yes/no) constituted the dependent variable; independent variables were
      age, sex, pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, depression, and anxiety. RESULTS:
      Most patients were prescribed at least one opioid medication (57%; n = 1,020). A
      significant interaction and main effects of pain intensity and pain
      catastrophizing on opioid prescription were noted (P < 0.04). Additive modeling
      revealed sex differences in the relationship between pain catastrophizing, pain
      intensity, and opioid prescription, such that opioid prescription became more
      common at lower levels of pain catastrophizing for women than for men.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results supported the conclusion that pain catastrophizing and sex
      moderate the relationship between pain intensity and opioid prescription.
      Although men and women patients had similar Pain Catastrophizing Scale scores,
      historically "subthreshold" levels of pain catastrophizing were significantly
      associated with opioid prescription only for women patients. These findings
      suggest that pain intensity and catastrophizing contribute to different patterns
      of opioid prescription for men and women patients, highlighting a potential need
      for examination and intervention in future studies.

PMID- 28614086
TI  - The present and future of prostate cancer histopathology.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The present review describes recent changes in the histologic
      grading of prostatic adenocarcinoma and emerging data suggesting areas for
      further grade optimization. RECENT FINDINGS: The grading of prostatic
      adenocarcinoma has evolved over time, and optimization for active surveillance
      management has been one major driving force. Recent changes include adoption of
      the Grade Group system, which stratifies patients into one of five prognostic
      groups. Although it provides clearer labels for patient understanding and defines
      a more homogenous low-risk group (i.e. Grade Group 1 of 5), emerging data suggest
      that further prognostic stratification may be achieved by incorporating other
      histologic findings. The impact of 'cribriform histology' and intraductal
      carcinoma as aggressive features of prostate cancer has gained significant
      recognition. Furthermore, quantifying the fraction of each individual Gleason
      pattern component may also add prognostic stratification. In addition to Gleason
      score and Grade Group, some institutions now identify and report high-risk
      histologic patterns (e.g. 'cribriform histology') and the percentage of Gleason
      pattern 4 on biopsies. While early in adoption, these additional features are
      being used to further stratify patients beyond the Grade Group system,
      particularly for patients with Grade Group 2 carcinomas. These histologic
      findings will likely be incorporated into future modifications of the grading
      system to further optimize patient stratification and ensure reporting
      consistency. SUMMARY: The histologic evaluation of prostatic adenocarcinoma
      provides strong prognostic information for clinical management. The recent Grade
      Group system offers many improvements, but further optimization based on specific
      histologic patterns may evolve.

PMID- 28614084
TI  - Propofol Affects Neurodegeneration and Neurogenesis by Regulation of Autophagy
      via Effects on Intracellular Calcium Homeostasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In human cortical neural progenitor cells, we investigated the
      effects of propofol on calcium homeostasis in both the ryanodine and inositol
      1,4,5-trisphosphate calcium release channels. We also studied propofol-mediated
      effects on autophagy, cell survival, and neuro- and gliogenesis. METHODS: The
      dose-response relationship between propofol concentration and duration was
      studied in neural progenitor cells. Cell viability was measured by 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and lactate dehydrogenase
      release assays. The effects of propofol on cytosolic calcium concentration were
      evaluated using Fura-2, and autophagy activity was determined by LC3II expression
      levels with Western blot. Proliferation and differentiation were evaluated by
      bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and immunostaining with neuronal and glial
      markers. RESULTS: Propofol dose- and time-dependently induced cell damage and
      elevated LC3II expression, most robustly at 200 uM for 24 h (67 +/- 11% of
      control, n = 12 to 19) and 6 h (2.4 +/- 0.5 compared with 0.6 +/- 0.1 of control,
      n = 7), respectively. Treatment with 200 MUM propofol also increased cytosolic
      calcium concentration (346 +/- 71% of control, n = 22 to 34). Propofol at 10 uM
      stimulated neural progenitor cell proliferation and promoted neuronal cell fate,
      whereas propofol at 200 uM impaired neuronal proliferation and promoted glial
      cell fate (n = 12 to 20). Cotreatment with ryanodine and inositol 1,4,5
      trisphosphate receptor antagonists and inhibitors, cytosolic Ca chelators, or
      autophagy inhibitors mostly mitigated the propofol-mediated effects on survival,
      proliferation, and differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that
      propofol-mediated cell survival or neurogenesis is closely associated with
      propofol's effects on autophagy by activation of ryanodine and inositol 1,4,5
      trisphosphate receptors.

PMID- 28614087
TI  - Intracranial Germinoma: Systemic Chemotherapy in Addition to Dose-Reduced
      Radiation Therapy.

PMID- 28614088
TI  - Magistral Prescription With Silver Nitrate and Peru Balsam in Difficult-to-Heal
      Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

PMID- 28614089
TI  - Sodium Oxybate-Associated Confusion in the Older Adult.

PMID- 28614085
TI  - A multiparametric approach to improve upon existing prostate cancer screening and
      biopsy recommendations.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide an overview of how genetic, serum, and urine
      biomarkers can help identify men at high risk for prostate cancer (PCa) and
      aggressive disease and men who would benefit from prostate biopsy. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Screening for PCa is controversial because of concerns about
      overdiagnosis and overtreatment of nonlife-threatening tumors. Therefore, an
      approach to screening that includes a detailed family history with genetic
      testing of risk single nucleotide polymorphisms and high-penetrance genetic
      variants should be considered. After an elevated serum prostate-specific antigen
      (PSA) level has been confirmed, obtaining additional information (family history,
      biomarkers, and imaging) should be considered before recommending a prostate
      biopsy. SUMMARY: There are now genetic tests that can help identify men who would
      benefit from PSA testing. Additional biomarker and imaging tests should be
      offered to those men who are confirmed to have elevated PSA values. These new
      biomarkers and imaging tests can improve the specificity of PSA testing while
      missing a small percentage of high-grade tumors. The path forward involves a
      multiparametric risk assessment based on clinical data and these new tests.

PMID- 28614090
TI  - Three-Dimensional Topography of the Supratrochlear Nerve With Reference to the
      Lacrimal Caruncle, and Its Danger Zone in Asians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The supratrochlear nerve (STN) is relatively superficial and
      therefore vulnerable to iatrogenic injury. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the course of
      STN with reference to the lacrimal caruncle, with the aim of preventing nerve
      injury during surgery in the forehead region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-four
      hemifaces from 18 Korean cadavers were dissected. The vertical line through the
      apex of lacrimal caruncle and the horizontal line through the supraorbital margin
      were used as horizontal and vertical reference lines, respectively. The course of
      STN in the frontal view and the point at which it pierced the overlaying
      musculature were examined. RESULTS: After exiting the corrugator muscle cushion,
      the STN enters the subcutaneous plane by piercing the frontalis muscle. These
      piercing points occurred at mean horizontal and vertical distances relative to
      the medial branch of the STN of 9.2 and 9.6 mm, respectively; the corresponding
      distances for the lateral branch of the STN were 1.1 and 15.3 mm, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: When performing surgery in the medial forehead region, the surgeon
      must ensure that the dissection plane of forehead tissue is more superficial:
      superiorly within 1.5 cm from the supraorbital margin and medially within 1.0 cm
      from the vertical line through the apex of lacrimal caruncle.

PMID- 28614091
TI  - Injectable DaxibotulinumtoxinA for the Treatment of Glabellar Lines: A Phase 2,
      Randomized, Dose-Ranging, Double-Blind, Multicenter Comparison With
      OnabotulinumtoxinA and Placebo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injectable daxibotulinumtoxinA (RT002) is an investigational
      botulinum toxin Type A in clinical development. It is formulated with a
      proprietary peptide and offers the potential of a longer acting neurotoxin
      therapy. OBJECTIVE: To compare the safety, efficacy, and duration of response of
      daxibotulinumtoxinA with onabotulinumtoxinA and placebo [www.clinicaltrials.gov
      NCT02303002]. METHODS: In this Phase 2, randomized, dose-ranging, parallel-group,
      double-blind, multicenter study, subjects with moderate or severe glabellar lines
      at maximum frown were randomly assigned to 20U, 40U, or 60U daxibotulinumtoxinA,
      20U onabotulinumtoxinA, or placebo. Glabellar line severity was evaluated by
      investigators and subjects at least every 4 weeks, for at least 24 weeks.
      RESULTS: Overall, 268 subjects enrolled. Statistical and clinical superiority
      were observed for 40U and 60U daxibotulinumtoxinA over 20U onabotulinumtoxinA for
      a range of efficacy outcomes despite the study not being powered to detect
      statistically significant differences between these active treatment groups.
      CONCLUSION: The 40U dose of daxibotulinumtoxinA was well tolerated (e.g., absence
      of ptosis) and had the most favorable risk: benefit profile. Compared with 20U
      onabotulinumtoxinA, it exhibited a significantly greater response rate and a
      significantly longer duration of response (median of 24 weeks vs 19 weeks; p =
      .030).

PMID- 28614092
TI  - Poloxamer P85 increases anticancer activity of Schiff base against prostate
      cancer in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men and the leading cause
      of death after lung cancer. Development of hormone-refractory disease is a
      crucial step for prostate cancer progression for which an effective treatment
      option is currently unavailable. Therefore, there is a need for new agents that
      can efficiently target cancer cells, decrease tumor growth, and thereby extend
      the survival of patients in late-stage castration-resistant prostate cancer. In
      the current study, a novel heterodinuclear copper(II)Mn(II) Schiff base complex
      combined with P85 was used to evaluate anticancer activity against prostate
      cancer in vitro and in vivo. Cell proliferation and cytotoxicity were evaluated
      by cell viability, gene, and protein expression assays in vitro. Results showed
      that the heterodinuclear copper(II)Mn(II) complex-P85 combination decreased cell
      proliferation by upregulating the apoptotic gene expressions and blocking the
      cell proliferation-related pathways. Tramp-C1-injected C57/B16 mice were used to
      mimic a prostate cancer model. Treatment combination of Schiff base complex and
      P85 significantly enhanced the cellular uptake of chemicals (by blocking the drug
      transporters and increased life time), suppressed tumor growth, and decreased
      tumor volume steadily over the course of the experiments. Overall,
      heterodinuclear copper(II)Mn(II) complex-P85 showed remarkable anticancer
      activity against prostate cancer in in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 28614093
TI  - Central diastolic pressure decay mediates the relationship between aortic
      stiffness and myocardial viability: potential implications for aortosclerosis
      induced myocardial ischemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Stiffening of the aorta often precedes coronary events, but little is
      known about the aetiological mechanism. We hypothesized that the predisposition
      to myocardial ischemia could be attributable to aortosclerosis-induced
      alterations in the central haemodynamics during diastole. METHODS: Using
      noninvasive tonometry and ultrasonography, we investigated the arterial pressure
      pulse waveforms, pulse wave velocities (PWVs) and compliance in 222 patients with
      hypertension. The diastolic pressure decay was quantified by fitting a mono
      exponential curve as P(t) =  P0e [lambda: decay index; P0: end-systolic pressure;
      t: time from end-systole]. The myocardial oxygen supply/demand balance was
      estimated from the subendocardial viability index (SVI). RESULTS: The aortic
      pressure decay fit to an exponential curve significantly (R = 0.98 +/- 0.02) and
      more closely than the radial pressure decay (P < 0.001). The aortic decay index
      (median, 0.59 s) was associated with the aortic PWV and compliance (but not with
      the peripheral PWV or resistance), even after controlling for age, sex, renal
      function, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia (P < 0.001). Also, both the aortic
      PWV and compliance (together with the augmentation index) were related to the
      SVI, although these relationships were no longer significant after accounting for
      the decay index. Mediation analysis revealed substantial mediating effects of the
      decay index on the relationship between aortic PWV or compliance and SVI (75
      100%), despite the lack of similar effects of the augmentation index. CONCLUSION:
      Aortic stiffening with reduced compliance potentially impairs myocardial
      viability by accelerating the diastolic exponential decay (rather than through
      enhancing late-systolic augmentation) of the central blood pressure, thus
      predisposing hypertensive patients to ischemic heart disease.

PMID- 28614094
TI  - Plasma renin activity to plasma aldosterone concentration ratio correlates with
      night-time and pulse pressures in essential hypertensive patients treated with
      angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/AT1 blockers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) and AT1 blockers
      (ARB) are commonly used antihypertensive drugs, but several factors may affect
      their effectiveness. We evaluated the associations between ambulatory blood
      pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM) parameters and plasma renin activity (PRA)-to
      plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) ratio (RAR) to test renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone system inhibition in essential hypertensive patients treated with ACE
      I or ARB for at least 12 months. METHODS: We evaluated 194 consecutive patients
      referred to our Hypertension Centre. ABPM, PRA and PAC tests were performed
      without any changes in drug therapy. RAR, PRA and PAC tertiles were considered
      for the analyses. RESULTS: Mean age: 57.4 +/- 12.0 years; male prevalence: 63.9%.
      No differences between RAR tertiles regarding the use of ACE-I or ARB (P =
      0.385), as well as the other antihypertensive drug classes, were found. A
      reduction of all ABPM values considered (24-h BP, daytime BP and night-time BP
      and 24-h pulse pressure (PP), daytime PP and night-time PP) and a better BP
      control were observed at increasing RAR tertiles, with an odds ratio = 0.12 to be
      not controlled during night-time period for patients in the third tertile
      compared with patients in the first tertile (P < 0.001). This association
      remained significant even after adjusting for 24-h BP control. All the
      associations were also confirmed for PRA tertiles, but not for PAC tertiles.
      CONCLUSION: Higher RAR values indicate effective renin-angiotensin-aldosterone
      system inhibition and lower night-time and pulse pressures in real-life clinical
      practice. It could be a useful biomarker in the management of essential
      hypertensive patients treated with ACE-I or ARB.

PMID- 28614095
TI  - The value of dynamic preload variables during spontaneous ventilation.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the physiological significance and clinical value
      of dynamic preload variables in spontaneously breathing patients. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Dynamic preload variables reflect the response of the cardiac output to
      a modification of preload and can therefore be used to assess fluid
      responsiveness. Continuous dynamic parameters that are calculated from the
      variations in the arterial and plethysmographic waveforms following a mechanical
      breath have been shown to predict fluid responsiveness much better than static
      preload parameters. These parameters are displayed on many patient monitors
      though their use is limited to mechanically ventilated patients. However,
      spontaneous breathing may also induce significant hemodynamic changes because of
      the repetitive negative swings in the pleural pressure. By better understanding
      the physiological basis of these changes, the same 'dynamic parameters' can be
      used to gain unique physiological insights during spontaneous breathing. These
      include the ability to identify and/or monitor respiratory rate, respiratory
      effort (e.g., patient-ventilator asynchrony), fluid responsiveness (to some
      degree), pulsus paradoxus (e.g. asthma, cardiac tamponade), and, importantly,
      upper airway obstruction. SUMMARY: Although originally intended to be used only
      during mechanical ventilation, 'dynamic parameters' may offer valuable clinical
      information in spontaneously breathing patients.

PMID- 28614097
TI  - Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques: Basic Principles and Clinical Applications.
AB  - Advanced neuroimaging techniques are increasingly being implemented in clinical
      practice as complementary tools to conventional imaging because they can provide
      crucial functional information about the pathophysiology of a variety of
      disorders. Therefore, it is important to understand the basic principles
      underlying them and their role in diagnosis and management. In this review, we
      will primarily focus on the basic principles and clinical applications of
      perfusion imaging, diffusion imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, functional
      MRI, and dual-energy computerized tomography. Our goal is to provide the reader
      with a basic understanding of these imaging techniques and when they should be
      used in clinical practice.

PMID- 28614096
TI  - Two Cases of Sinusitis Induced by Immune Checkpoint Inhibition.
AB  - We report the acute onset of aseptic sinusitis in 2 patients receiving the immune
      checkpoint inhibitors, ipilimumab and nivolumab, for treatment of metastatic
      melanoma. Ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte
      antigen-4, and nivolumab, targeting programmed cell death-1, have been associated
      with numerous immune-related adverse events. To the authors' knowledge, this is
      the first report of aseptic sinusitis as a consequence of immune checkpoint
      inhibition therapy.

PMID- 28614098
TI  - Is Routine Imaging of the Aorta Warranted in Patients With Giant Cell Arteritis?

PMID- 28614099
TI  - Predictors of Nursing Graduate School Success.
AB  - Several factors influence success in nursing graduate school. This study
      collected retrospective data from students in a nursing graduate program to
      determine which factors predict success. Data were analyzed using a multiple
      regression analysis to predict success (i.e., graduation grade point average
      [GPA]) from student characteristics. The predictors were nursing course GPA,
      undergraduate science GPA, GPA upon admission to nursing graduate school,
      experience in a specialty, and the duration of that experience. Results indicate
      that admission, nursing, and undergraduate science GPA are more important for
      predicting success than previous experience. The predictors account for
      approximately 80 percent of the variance (R = .80).

PMID- 28614100
TI  - Acuity Prediction Using Emergency Medical Services Prenotifications in a
      Pediatric Emergency Department.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Emergency medical services (EMS) prenotifications are critical,
      although they oftentimes inaccurately convey the arriving patient's true acuity,
      resulting in inappropriate preparation in the emergency department. The
      objectives of this study were (1) to determine interrater reliability of acuity
      prediction based on prenotifications among physicians and (2) to compare
      predicted versus actual patient acuity based on prenotifications. METHODS: A
      panel of physicians reviewed recordings of EMS prenotifications and then
      predicted the patient's acuity using the Emergency Severity Index (ESI). The
      scores were analyzed for interrater reliability using the weighted kappa
      statistic. In the prospective phase of the study, physicians predicted an ESI
      before patient arrival based solely on the EMS prenotification and then
      calculated an actual ESI upon arrival. Descriptive statistics were calculated,
      and comparisons between the predicted and actual ESI were performed using
      Wilcoxon signed rank for matched pairs. RESULTS: Panelists reviewed a total of 23
      recordings, and the interrater reliability was 0.23 overall (SE, 0.026; P <
      0.001), indicating only fair agreement. One hundred patients were enrolled in the
      prospective analysis. There was a statistically significant difference between
      the predicted and actual ESI made by physicians (P = 0.0001). For 46 patients,
      the predicted and actual scores matched, but 13 patients were "undertriaged," and
      41 patients were "overtriaged" based on predicted acuity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Interpretation of acuity using EMS prenotifications among physicians was only
      fairly reliable, and physicians had difficulty predicting actual acuity based on
      prenotifications. Improper preparation based on these prenotifications can
      potentially impact patient care and resource allocation.

PMID- 28614101
TI  - Clinical Characteristics of Allergy to Hymenoptera Stings.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics
      of allergy to stings from the Hymenoptera order of insects in a hospital in
      Thailand. METHODS: A descriptive retrospective analytical study was carried out
      in inpatients and outpatients suffering from Hymenoptera stings from 2009 to 2013
      in Siriraj Hospital. RESULTS: Medical records of 386 patients with an allergy to
      Hymenoptera stings were evaluated. Anaphylaxis was more common in patients
      younger than 15 years, who comprised 22.3% of patients in this study. The most
      common sting type was from wasps (58.3%). Eighty-five percent of patients sought
      medical treatment less than 24 hours after being stung. A systemic reaction and
      anaphylaxis were found in 9.9% and 4.4% of subjects, respectively. In 17 patients
      with anaphylaxis, only 11 patients (64.7%) received an epinephrine (adrenaline)
      injection as treatment, and only 8 (47.1%) received epinephrine autoinjectors or
      epinephrine-prefilled syringes to prevent a possible subsequent severe reaction.
      Significantly more patients younger than 15 years received epinephrine for
      prevention of an allergic reaction than did those older than 15 years (87.5% vs
      11.7%, P < 0.001). Antibiotics were given to 43.0% of patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Anaphylaxis from Hymenoptera stings was more common in children than in adults.
      Only half of the patients visited the emergency room within 1 hour of being
      stung. Overuse of antibiotics and underuse of epinephrine were found. More
      information about Hymenoptera stings should be provided to the public, and the
      use of epinephrine should be encouraged in the case of severe reactions and
      anaphylaxis.

PMID- 28614102
TI  - Intracranial Complications of Pediatric Sinusitis.
AB  - "Headache and fever" is a common presentation to the urgent care and emergency
      department setting and can have many etiologies. We present a case of a 10-year
      old girl who presented with headache and fever and was found to have intracranial
      extension of sinusitis despite lack of typical sinus or chronic upper respiratory
      tract infection symptoms. This case illustrates the need in the emergency
      department or urgent care to keep a broad differential diagnosis for pediatric
      headache, especially when initial interventions are unsuccessful. We also review
      the epidemiology of pediatric sinusitis, age at sinus development, and associated
      intracranial complications.

PMID- 28614103
TI  - Genocide Rape Trauma Management: An Integrated Framework for Supporting
      Survivors.
AB  - During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, rape was widely used as a strategic weapon
      against Tutsi women. More than 20 years later, many of these women are still
      suffering devastating psychological, social, and physical effects of these
      experiences and remain in need of effective interventions that address their
      complex trauma. This article develops the theory of genocide rape trauma
      management as a conceptual framework for promoting the holistic health and
      recovery of female genocide rape survivors. A qualitative study using grounded
      theory explored the lived experiences of genocide rape survivors and led to the
      development of this model. The need for a contextually appropriate model is
      highlighted, with historical and current data regarding the Rwandan context and
      the experiences of genocide rape survivors. The research details the complex
      dynamics of emotional, physical, existential, and psychosocial sequelae related
      to genocide rape trauma, and how these interact with both local community and
      broader political attitudes toward survivors, as well as the serious interrelated
      economic challenges and limitations in current public health and welfare
      services. The research demonstrates the necessary elements of a holistic approach
      encompassing a synergistic combination of skilled psychological care, self-help
      strategies, collaborative support groups, community education, social
      reintegration, advocacy, accessible medical care, and economic empowerment. These
      interacting elements form the basis of the theory of genocide rape trauma
      management, offering an encompassing integrated framework that can be adapted to,
      and evaluated in, other similar contexts.

PMID- 28614104
TI  - Is there an app for that? Mobile phones and secondary prevention of
      cardiovascular disease.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Advances in technology coupled with increased penetration of
      mobile phones and smart devices are rapidly changing healthcare delivery. Mobile
      phone applications ('apps'), text messages, and Internet platforms used alone or
      in combination are now providing interventions targeting people with multiple
      cardiovascular risk factors. The present article will review the emerging
      evidence regarding apps and discuss their potential role in providing secondary
      prevention interventions via mobile phones. RECENT FINDINGS: Seven recent
      randomized controlled trials used text messages or apps for six to 12 months,
      with or without differing combinations of other technology platforms. All
      studies, involved cardiac and diabetes populations, and demonstrated at least one
      positive improvement to cardiovascular risk factor profiles. When measured,
      acceptability of the intervention was high. SUMMARY: Mobile apps and technology
      can deliver positive outcomes in the management of cardiovascular risk factors.
      However, because of the complexity of combination interventions, it is difficult
      to determine the 'active' ingredient. A future challenge for researchers and
      clinicians will be to respond quickly to these rapidly evolving interventions in
      order to ensure the delivery of effective, evidence-based outcomes.

PMID- 28614105
TI  - Lichen Planus Pigmentosus Inversus Caused by Occupational Systemic Sensitization
      to Metals in a Semiconductor Factory Worker.

PMID- 28614106
TI  - Positive Patch-Test Reactions to Essential Oils in Consecutive Patients From
      North America and Central Europe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synthetic fragrances and natural essential oils (EOs) are used in
      perfumery and found in various cosmetics. Essential oils are also increasingly
      used to promote wellness. In previous studies, the sensitization potential of
      some EOs has been identified; however, the current prevalence of sensitivity is
      largely unknown. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine frequency of
      positive patch-test reactions to EOs tested in the baseline series, along with 3
      fragrance markers (FMs) (fragrance mix I, fragrance mix II, and Myroxylon
      pereirae), in consecutive patients in the US/Canadian North American Contact
      Dermatitis Group (NACDG) (2009-2014) and the central European, trinational
      Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) (2010-2014). METHODS:
      This study used a retrospective analysis of patch-test results and relevant
      demographic/clinical data collected electronically by the networks, obtained with
      Santalum album 10% petrolatum (pet) (IVDK only); Cananga odorata 2% (NACDG) and
      10% (IVDK) pet; Jasminum species 2% (NACDG) and 5% (IVDK) pet; Mentha piperita 2%
      pet; Melaleuca alternifolia, oxidized (tea tree oil), 5% pet; and Lavandula
      angustifolia 2% pet (latter 3 NACDG only). RESULTS: Overall, 62,354 patients were
      tested to 3 FMs and EOs (NACDG, 13,398; IVDK, 48,956); 11,568 (18.6%) reacted to
      at least 1 FM or EO, whereas 857 (1.4%) reacted to 1 or more EOs but none of the
      3 FMs. For both the NACDG and IVDK populations, individuals who were positive to
      1 or more of the 9 study allergens were significantly less likely to be male,
      have occupational skin disease, or have hand involvement and significantly more
      likely to have leg dermatitis and be 40 years and older (P's <= 0.005).
      Prevalence rates for EOs were as follows: S. album, 1.4% IVDK; C. odorata, 1.1%
      NACDG and 2.4% IVDK; Jasminum species, 0.7% NACDG and 1.4% IVDK; M. piperita,
      0.9% NACDG; L. angustifolia, 0.3% NACDG; and M. alternifolia, 0.3% NACDG. Of the
      140 NACDG patients who reacted to 1 or more of the 5 NACDG EOs but none of the
      FMs, M. alternifolia yielded most positive reactions (45%); half of these
      reactions were strong (++ or +++, 50.8%) and of definite/probable clinical
      relevance (52.4%). Of the 717 IVDK patients who reacted to 1 or more of the 3
      IVDK EOs but none of the 3 FMs, 38% were positive to C. odorata, 38% to S. album
      and 36% to Jasminum species.' CONCLUSIONS: Testing to EOs may be important for
      detecting sensitivity not detected by FMs alone. In North America, M.
      alternifolia is an important and clinically relevant sensitizer often not
      detected by FM. In Europe, as well as in North America, clinical relevance is
      often difficult to evaluate because (1) labeling of EOs when used as fragrance is
      not mandatory, and (2) these mixtures may indicate sensitization to 1 or more of
      their individual constituents from other sources, including synthetic fragrances.

PMID- 28614107
TI  - Multifactorial Dermatitis With Probable Systemic Contact Dermatitis to Carmine.

PMID- 28614108
TI  - Protein Contact Dermatitis to Suet.

PMID- 28614109
TI  - Contact Allergy to Salicylates and Cross-Reactions.

PMID- 28614111
TI  - Paternal vs. Maternal Factors in Childhood Atopic Dermatitis.
AB  - Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease that chronically
      affects children and adults worldwide. Environmental exposures, heritable
      factors, immune dysregulation, and skin barrier malfunction all contribute to the
      multifactorial nature of AD. It is known that maternal and paternal influences
      are important predictors for the risk of AD in offspring. This review examines
      and compares the evidence and mechanisms behind specific maternal and paternal
      factors that may contribute to the pathogenesis of AD.

PMID- 28614112
TI  - Serratus Anterior Plane Block to Address Postthoracotomy and Chest Tube-Related
      Pain: A Report on 3 Cases.
AB  - In this case report, the serratus anterior plane block was used in conjunction
      with multilevel continuous thoracic paravertebral blocks (TPVB) and general
      anesthesia in 3 thoracotomy cases. All blocks were accompanied by use of
      catheters that allowed continuous local anesthetic infusions and intermittent
      local anesthetic bolus injections to address postoperative pain. In all 3
      patients, the serratus anterior plane block provided analgesia for chest tube
      related pain that was not provided by the TPVB alone.

PMID- 28614113
TI  - Role of Octreotide in Pediatric Gastrointestinal Bleeding Secondary to
      Angiodysplasia in Children With Right Heart Failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Angiodysplasia (AD) is a relatively uncommon cause of
      gastrointestinal bleeding in children and may be seen in right heart failure.
      Octreotide has been used successfully in adult patients with gastrointestinal
      bleeding due to ADs. METHODS: We describe 2 patients who had congenital heart
      disease with right heart failure and gastrointestinal bleeding from AD. RESULTS:
      AD lesions were documented on traditional endoscopy and capsule endoscopy.
      Bleeding resolved after initiation of IV octreotide and did not recur on
      subcutaneous octreotide during the 2-year follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      the successful outcomes in the 2 patients, a trial of octreotide may be
      considered in pediatric patients who present with gastrointestinal bleeding
      secondary to AD.

PMID- 28614114
TI  - Primary Intestinal Lymphangiectasia as a First Manifestation of Tuberous
      Sclerosis Complex.

PMID- 28614115
TI  - Trafficking and regulation of the NKCC2 cotransporter in the thick ascending
      limb.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The kidney Na-K-2Cl cotransporter (NKCC2) is essential for
      urinary concentration and renal electrolyte handling. Loss of function mutations
      in the NKCC2 gene cause urinary salt and potassium wasting, whereas excessive
      NKCC2 function has been linked to high blood pressure. Loop diuretics, targeting
      the transporter, are instrumental for relieving edema or hypertension. This
      review focuses on intrinsic mechanisms regulating NKCC2 activity at the
      posttranslational level, namely its trafficking and phosphorylation. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Protein networks mediating cellular turnover of NKCC2 have recently
      received major attention. Several key components of its apical trafficking were
      identified, including respective chaperones, SNARE protein family members and
      raft-associated proteins. NKCC2 internalization has been characterized
      qualitatively and quantitatively. Kinase and phosphatase pathways regulating
      NKCC2 activity have been clarified and links between NKCC2 phosphorylation and
      trafficking proposed. Constitutive and inducible NKCC2 trafficking and
      phosphorylation mechanisms have been specified with focus on endocrine control of
      thick ascending limb (TAL) function by vasopressin. SUMMARY: Proper NKCC2
      trafficking and phosphorylation are critical to the TAL function in the
      physiological context of urinary concentration and extracellular volume
      regulation. Clarification of the underlying mechanisms and respective protein
      networks may open new therapeutic perspectives for better management of renal
      electrolyte disorders and blood pressure control.

PMID- 28614116
TI  - Parathyroid hormone and the regulation of renal tubular calcium transport.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Renal tubule excretion of calcium is carefully and complexly
      regulated. At the center of this process, parathyroid hormone (PTH) is the chief
      regulator of renal calcium reabsorption. This review outlines our current
      understanding of PTH's effects on renal tubular calcium transport, focusing on
      the more recent discoveries beyond its direct regulation of epithelial Ca channel
      transient receptor potential vanilloid 5 (TRPV5) and looking at its interaction
      with sodium transport and the hormones fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and
      klotho. RECENT FINDINGS: PTH affects not only TRPV5 directly but other
      intracellular calcium transport proteins as well. In addition, PTH alters sodium
      transport that indirectly leads to enhanced TRPV5 activity. FGF23 and klotho have
      their own effects on TRPV5 as well as effects on PTH secretion. SUMMARY: These
      discoveries and the interactions between these hormones have direct effects on
      our understanding of nephrolithiasis and have implications in the development of
      bone mineral disease in chronic kidney disease and may provide future treatment
      options.

PMID- 28614117
TI  - Role of AMP-activated protein kinase in kidney tubular transport, metabolism, and
      disease.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic sensor that
      regulates cellular energy balance, transport, growth, inflammation, and survival
      functions. This review explores recent work in defining the effects of AMPK on
      various renal tubular epithelial ion transport proteins as well as its role in
      kidney injury and repair in normal and disease states. RECENT FINDINGS: Recently,
      several groups have uncovered additional functions of AMPK in the regulation of
      kidney and transport proteins. These new studies have focused on the role of AMPK
      in the kidney in the setting of various diseases such as diabetes, which include
      evaluation of the effects of the hyperglycemic state on podocyte and tubular cell
      function. Other recent studies have investigated how reduced kidney mass,
      polycystic kidney disease (PKD), and fibrosis affect AMPK activation status. A
      general theme of several conditions that lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD) is
      that AMPK activity is abnormally suppressed relative to that in normal kidneys.
      Thus, the idea that AMPK activation may be a therapeutic strategy to slow down
      the progression of CKD has emerged. In addition to drugs such as metformin and 5
      aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide that are classically used as AMPK
      activators, recent studies have identified the therapeutic potential of other
      compounds that function at least partly as AMPK activators, such as salicylates,
      statins, berberine, and resveratrol, in preventing the progression of CKD.
      SUMMARY: AMPK in the kidney plays a unique role at the crossroads of energy
      metabolism, ion and water transport, inflammation, and stress. Its potential role
      in modulating recovery from vs. progression of acute and chronic kidney injury
      has been the topic of recent research findings. The continued study of AMPK in
      kidney physiology and disease has improved our understanding of these
      physiological and pathological processes and offers great hope for therapeutic
      avenues for the increasing population at risk to develop kidney failure.

PMID- 28614118
TI  - The renal response to potassium stress: integrating past with present.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The current review combines past findings with recent advances
      in our understanding of the homeostatic response to potassium imbalance. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Following the ingestion of a dietary potassium load, a combination of
      extrarenal and renal mechanisms act to maintain extracellular K+ within a tight
      window. Through hormonal regulation and direct K+ sensing, the nephron is ideally
      suited to respond to wide shifts in external K+ balance. Current evidence
      indicates that dietary K+ loading triggers a coordinated kaliuretic response that
      appears to involve voltage-dependent changes in sodium transport across multiple
      nephron segments, including the proximal tubule, medullary loop of Henle, and
      distal tubule. Inhibition of sodium transport in these segments would accomplish
      the final goal of enhancing distal NaCl delivery, luminal flow, and K+ secretion
      in the aldosterone sensitive distal nephron (ASDN). SUMMARY: Ongoing research
      seeks to define the relationship between potassium and volume homeostasis by
      elucidating pathways that couple renal K+ sensing and tubular function during the
      potassium stress response.

PMID- 28614119
TI  - Pump Priming Practices and Anticoagulation in Cardiac Surgery: Results From the
      Global Cardiopulmonary Bypass Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regional patterns of practice in cardiopulmonary bypass remain poorly
      understood with conflicting evidence regarding the best choices in pump priming
      preferences with respect to colloid and crystalloid and different types of fluid
      within these categories. In light of the variation in the literature, we
      hypothesized there would be considerable regional differences in cardiopulmonary
      bypass practice, particularly with respect to the type of fluid used to prime the
      extracorporeal circuit. METHODS: A 16-question, Internet-based survey was
      distributed by various regional specialist societies, targeting adult cardiac
      anesthesiologists. One question was directly relevant to activated clotting time
      and 5 concerned pump priming choices with respect to crystalloid and colloid
      types and additives. The remaining questions concerned cardioplegia choices. The
      survey remained open from June 2015 to May 2016. RESULTS: A total of 923
      responses were analyzed. Estimated response rates from Europe, North America,
      Australia/New Zealand, and South America were 19.77%, 8.06%, 16.30%, and 1.68%,
      respectively. The majority of respondents worldwide considered an activated
      clotting time of <400 seconds as unsafe for bypass (92.5%). Crystalloid as a sole
      fluid type remains the most common priming solution worldwide (38.1%) although
      combinations with colloid (23.8%) were also popular. Retrograde autologous
      priming was used by 17.9% of respondents. Heparin was the most frequently used
      prime additive (43.0%) followed by mannitol (35.2%). Variation was demonstrated
      within some of these categories reflective of differences in regional practices.
      CONCLUSIONS: Differences exist in some specific areas between regional
      cardiopulmonary bypass techniques with respect to pump priming and
      anticoagulation practices. The significance of these differences with respect to
      patient outcome is uncertain and requires further study.

PMID- 28614120
TI  - An Institution-Wide Rule-Based Protocol for Early Detection of Esophageal
      Intubation.

PMID- 28614122
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 28614123
TI  - Real-Time Ultrasound-Guided Right Supraclavicular Approach to the Central Vein:
      An Alternative Option.

PMID- 28614124
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 28614127
TI  - A Hospital Is Not Just a Factory, but a Complex Adaptive System-Implications for
      Perioperative Care.
AB  - Many methods used to improve hospital and perioperative services productivity and
      quality of care have assumed that the hospital is essentially a factory, and
      therefore, that industrial engineering and manufacturing-derived redesign
      approaches such as Six Sigma and Lean can be applied to hospitals and
      perioperative services just as they have been applied in factories. However, a
      hospital is not merely a factory but also a complex adaptive system (CAS). The
      hospital CAS has many subsystems, with perioperative care being an important one
      for which concepts of factory redesign are frequently advocated. In this article,
      we argue that applying only factory approaches such as lean methodologies or
      process standardization to complex systems such as perioperative care could
      account for difficulties and/or failures in improving performance in care
      delivery. Within perioperative services, only noncomplex/low-variance surgical
      episodes are amenable to manufacturing-based redesign. On the other hand, complex
      surgery/high-variance cases and preoperative segmentation (the process of
      distinguishing between normal and complex cases) can be viewed as CAS-like. These
      systems tend to self-organize, often resist or react unpredictably to attempts at
      control, and therefore require application of CAS principles to modify system
      behavior. We describe 2 examples of perioperative redesign to illustrate the
      concepts outlined above. These examples present complementary and contrasting
      cases from 2 leading delivery systems. The Mayo Clinic example illustrates the
      application of manufacturing-based redesign principles to a factory-like (high
      volume, low-risk, and mature practice) clinical program, while the Kaiser
      Permanente example illustrates the application of both manufacturing-based and
      self-organization-based approaches to programs and processes that are not factory
      like but CAS-like. In this article, we describe how factory-like processes and
      CAS can coexist within a hospital and how self-organization-based approaches can
      be used to improve care delivery in many situations where manufacturing-based
      approaches may not be appropriate.

PMID- 28614125
TI  - Development and Validation of a Risk Scale for Emergence Agitation After General
      Anesthesia in Children: A Prospective Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emergence agitation (EA) is a common complication in children after
      general anesthesia. The goal of this 2-phase study was (1) to develop a
      predictive model (EA risk scale) for the incidence of EA in children receiving
      sevoflurane anesthesia by performing a retrospective analysis of data from our
      previous study (phase 1) and (2) to determine the validity of the EA risk scale
      in a prospective observational cohort study (phase 2). METHODS: Using data
      collected from 120 patients in our previous study, logistic regression analysis
      was used to predict the incidence of EA in phase 1. The optimal combination of
      the predictors was determined by a stepwise selection procedure using Akaike
      information criterion. The beta-coefficient for the selected predictors was
      calculated, and scores for predictors determined. The predictive ability of the
      EA risk scale was assessed by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve,
      and the area under the ROC curve (c-index) was calculated with a 95% confidence
      interval (CI). In phase 2, the validity of the EA risk scale was confirmed using
      another data set of 100 patients (who underwent minor surgery under general
      anesthesia). The ROC curve, the c-index, the best cutoff point, and the
      sensitivity and specificity at the point were calculated. In addition, we
      calculated the gray zone, which ranges between the two points where sensitivity
      and specificity, respectively, become 90%. RESULTS: In phase 1, the final model
      of the multivariable logistic regression analysis included the following 4
      predictors: age (logarithm odds ratios [OR], -0.38; 95% CI, -0.81 to 0.00),
      Pediatric Anesthesia Behavior score (logarithm OR, 0.65; 95% CI, -0.09 to 1.40),
      anesthesia time (logarithm OR, 0.60; 95% CI, -0.18 to 1.19), and operative
      procedure (logarithm OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.30-3.75 for strabismus surgery and
      logarithm OR, 2.71; 95% CI, 0.99-4.45 for tonsillectomy). The EA risk scale
      included these 4 predictors and ranged from 1 to 23 points. In phase 2, the
      incidence of EA was 39%. The c-index of phase 1 was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.74-0.94), and
      the c-index of phase 2 was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.72-0.89). The best cutoff point for
      the EA risk scale was 11 (sensitivity = 87% and specificity = 61%). The gray zone
      ranged from 10 to 13 points, and included 38% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: We
      developed and validated an EA risk scale for children receiving sevoflurane
      anesthesia. In our validation cohort, this scale has excellent predictive
      performance (c-index > 0.8). The EA risk scale could be used to predict EA in
      children and adopt a preventive strategy for those at high risk. This score-based
      preventive approach should be studied prospectively to assess the safety and
      efficacy of such a strategy.

PMID- 28614128
TI  - Threshold Concepts for Anesthesiologists.

PMID- 28614129
TI  - Perioperative Low Arterial Oxygenation Is Associated With Increased Stroke Risk
      in Cardiac Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both patient characteristics and intraoperative factors have been
      associated with a higher risk of stroke after cardiac surgery. We hypothesized
      that poor systemic oxygenation in the perioperative period is associated with
      increased risk of stroke following cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS: In this study
      of 251 adult patients who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass procedures at a single
      center from 2003 to 2006, cases (patients with a postoperative stroke at least 24
      hours after surgery) were matched 1:2 to controls without stroke. Minimum and
      average partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) values, from arterial
      blood gas values during and up to 24 hours after surgery, were evaluated as
      continuous and categorical predictors. Conditional logistic regression models
      adjusted for potential confounders (demographics, comorbidities, and
      intraoperative variables) were used to evaluate associations between PaO2
      variables and stroke status. RESULTS: Lower nadir PaO2 values were associated
      with postoperative stroke, with estimated odds of stroke increasing over 20%
      (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.41) per 10
      mm Hg lower nadir PaO2, and similarly increased odds of stroke per lower quartile
      of nadir PaO2 (OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.19-2.16). When average PaO2 was considered,
      odds of stroke was also increased (adjusted OR, 1.39 per lower quartile of mean
      PaO2; 95% CI, 1.05-1.83). Having a nadir PaO2 value in the lowest versus any
      other quartile was associated with an estimated 2.41-fold increased odds of
      stroke (95% CI, 1.22-4.78). Quartile of nadir but not average PaO2 results
      remained significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Odds
      of stroke after cardiac surgery are increased in patients with a low minimum PaO2
      within 24 hours of surgery. Results should be validated in an independent cohort.
      Further characterizing the underlying etiology of hypoxic episodes will be
      important to improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 28614130
TI  - A Perspective on Hypercapnia Events After Cesarean Delivery in Women Receiving
      Intrathecal Morphine.

PMID- 28614131
TI  - Importance of Catheter Length for Ultrasound-Guided Cannulation of Peripheral
      Veins.

PMID- 28614132
TI  - The Effect of Chronic Opioid Use on End-Tidal Concentration of Sevoflurane
      Necessary to Maintain a Bispectral Index Below 50: A Prospective, Single-Blind
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Opioid analgesics decrease the minimum alveolar concentration of
      inhalation agents during the acute phase response. However, the effect of chronic
      opioid exposure on minimum alveolar concentration of inhalation agents remains
      unknown. This study aimed to determine the concentration of sevoflurane necessary
      to maintain a bispectral index (BIS) <50 (SEVOBIS50) in patients with chronic
      opioid use compared with those naive to opioid use. METHODS: We included chronic
      opioid users who received a stable dose of oral morphine of at least 60 mg/d
      according to the morphine equivalent daily dose for at least 4 weeks and opioid
      naive patients. General anesthesia that included thiopental, vecuronium, and
      sevoflurane in oxygen was administered to all patients. Anesthesia was maintained
      using predetermined end-tidal sevoflurane concentrations. Fifteen minutes after
      achieving the determined end-tidal sevoflurane concentration through closed
      circuit anesthesia, BIS was measured for 1 minute in both groups. SEVOBIS50 was
      determined using Dixon's up-down method and probit analysis. RESULTS: Nineteen
      and 18 patients from the chronic opioid and control groups, respectively, were
      included in the final analysis. SEVOBIS50values for the chronic opioid and
      control patients were 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.58-1.11) and 1.18 (95%
      confidence interval, 0.96-1.40), respectively (P = .0346). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggest that the end-tidal concentration of sevoflurane necessary to
      maintain a BIS <50 is lower for chronic opioid users than for opioid-naive
      patients.

PMID- 28614133
TI  - TIME COURSE OF CHANGES IN METAMORPHOPSIA FOLLOWING INTRAVITREAL RANIBIZUMAB
      INJECTION FOR BRANCH RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of intravitreal ranibizumab injection (IVR) on
      metamorphopsia in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and to
      assess the relationship between retinal microstructure and metamorphopsia.
      METHODS: Subjects were 39 eyes of 39 patients with branch retinal vein occlusion.
      The severity of metamorphopsia was quantified using the M-CHARTS before and 1, 2,
      3, 4, 5, and 6 months after treatment. Based on optical coherence tomography
      (OCT) images, we assessed central retinal thickness (CRT) and status of the
      external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ). The association between
      retinal microstructure and metamorphopsia was analyzed in 24 eyes with treatment
      naive branch retinal vein occlusion. RESULTS: Intravitreal ranibizumab injection
      treatment significantly improved best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central
      retinal thickness (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, respectively), but metamorphopsia did
      not improve by treatment. Posttreatment metamorphopsia scores showed a
      significant correlation with duration of symptoms (P < 0.05) and pretreatment
      metamorphopsia scores (P < 0.01). Posttreatment metamorphopsia score was
      significantly worse in patients with disruption of external limiting membrane (P
      < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with branch retinal vein occlusion,
      intravitreal ranibizumab injection treatment significantly improved best
      corrected visual acuity and central retinal thickness, but not metamorphopsia.
      The severity of posttreatment metamorphopsia was significantly associated with
      duration of symptoms, degree of pretreatment metamorphopsia, and posttreatment
      integrity of external limiting membrane.

PMID- 28614134
TI  - Value of 99mTc-MIBI SPECT/CT parathyroid imaging and ultrasonography for
      concomitant thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the frequency of carcinoma in cases with suspected
      parathyroid adenoma and test the value of Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (Tc-MIBI)
      single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT)
      parathyroid imaging and neck ultrasonography in detecting concomitant thyroid
      carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 741 patients with clinically
      suspected parathyroid adenoma who underwent Tc-MIBI planer scans and SPECT/CT of
      the skull base, neck, and thorax; patients also underwent ultrasonography within
      1 month before SPECT/CT. Each case with suspected lesion was analyzed and
      correlated with pathology. We estimated the frequency of carcinoma detection on
      SPECT/CT performed for suspected parathyroid adenoma. The sensitivity,
      specificity, and accuracy of detecting thyroid carcinoma were estimated for both
      SPECT/CT and ultrasonography. RESULTS: In total, 222 patients with 250 pathology
      results were assessed. Of these, 54 patients showed carcinoma. With respect to
      the anatomical distribution of the incidental findings, 19 (35.19%) had
      parathyroid carcinoma, 20 (37.04%) had papillary thyroid carcinoma, three (5.56%)
      had follicular thyroid carcinoma, six (11.11%) had medullary thyroid carcinoma,
      and six (11.11%) had other carcinomas. For thyroid carcinoma detection, the
      sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 35.71, 88.16, and 80.49% for SPECT/CT
      and 73.81, 95.10, and 91.99% for ultrasonography, respectively. CONCLUSION: The
      frequency of carcinoma is high on Tc-MIBI SPECT/CT performed for suspected
      parathyroid adenoma. Although Tc-MIBI SPECT/CT plays an important role in the
      diagnosis and location of parathyroid adenoma, ultrasonography appears to be more
      suitable for identifying a concomitant thyroid carcinoma. This may vitally
      influence the choice of therapeutic regimen in patients with primary
      hyperparathyroidism.

PMID- 28614135
TI  - Cancer in pregnancy: safety and efficacy of systemic therapies.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cancer in pregnancy has become increasingly frequent. It has
      become clear that for specific cancers under well defined circumstances,
      oncological treatment in pregnancy can be well tolerated and feasible for both
      mother and fetus. Continued critical assessment of the available literature and
      registration of cancer in pregnancy cases and outcomes for mother and child are
      necessary to work toward implementing optimal cancer treatment during pregnancy.
      RECENT FINDINGS: Physiologic changes in pregnancy may alter distribution and
      efficacy of systemic therapy. Data on systemic therapy including, chemotherapy,
      hormonal therapy, and targeted therapy during pregnancy are available but
      incomplete. Outcomes of fetuses exposed to chemotherapy in utero are generally
      reassuring, but new targeted therapies are mostly discouraged in pregnancy.
      SUMMARY: Cancer treatment during pregnancy is possible, depending on type and
      timing of systemic therapy and treatment modality. Available data are reassuring
      with a modest increase in complications such as growth restriction and preterm
      birth. The effect of new targeted therapies is often still unclear and therefore
      discouraged.

PMID- 28614136
TI  - Surgery for patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer: which patient,
      when and extent?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cytoreduction to no residual disease is the mainstay of
      primary treatment for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (AdvEOC). This review
      addresses recent insights on optimal patient selection, timing, and extent of
      surgery, intended to optimize cytoreduction in patients with AdvEOC. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Clinical guidelines recommend primary cytoreductive surgery (PCS) for
      AdvEOC patients with a high likelihood of achieving complete cytoreduction with
      acceptable morbidity. In line with this, preoperative prediction markers such as
      cancer antigen-125, histologic and genomic factors, innovative imaging
      modalities, and the performance of a diagnostic laparoscopy have been suggested
      to improve clinical decision-making with regard to optimal timing of
      cytoreductive surgery. To determine whether these strategies should be
      incorporated into clinical practice validation in randomized clinical trials is
      essential. SUMMARY: The past decade has seen a paradigm shift in the number of
      AvdEOC patients that are being treated with upfront neoadjuvant chemotherapy
      instead of PCS. However, although neoadjuvant chemotherapy may reduce morbidity
      at the time of interval cytoreductive surgery, no favorable impact on survival
      has been demonstrated and it may induce resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore,
      optimizing patient selection for PCS is crucial. Furthermore, surgical
      innovations in patients diagnosed with AvdEOC should focus on improving survival
      outcomes.

PMID- 28614137
TI  - SWEPT-SOURCE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY IN RICKETTSIAL RETINITIS.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report optical coherence tomography angiography findings in a patient
      with rickettsial retinitis. METHODS: A 29-year-old man complaining of acute
      blurring vision in the right eye associated with Rickettsia conorii infection
      underwent a comprehensive ocular examination, fluorescein angiography, spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography, and swept-source optical coherence
      tomography angiography. RESULTS: Funduscopy showed two large areas of retinitis
      in the inferior macula along the distribution of the inferotemporal artery with
      associated retinal hemorrhages, retinal edema, and serous retinal detachment.
      Fluorescein angiography showed early hypofluorescence and late staining of white
      retinal lesions and associated adjacent retinal vascular leakage and optic disc
      hyperfluorescence. Optical coherence tomography angiography showed hypointense
      dark areas in the superficial capillary plexus and larger hypointense areas in
      the deep capillary plexus, outer retina, and choriocapillaris layer. The patient
      was treated with doxycycline and prednisone. Six weeks after presentation,
      retinal changes seen at the acute phase had resolved, leading to mild residual
      retinal pigment epithelial changes. Fluorescein angiography showed retinal
      capillary nonperfusion within areas of resolved retinitis. Spectral-domain
      optical coherence tomography findings included inner retinal atrophy,
      intraretinal cysts, and disruption of ellipsoid zone and interdigitation zone.
      Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography showed well-delineated
      hypointense greyish areas of retinal capillary nonperfusion in both the
      superficial and deep capillary plexuses. Visual field testing revealed the
      presence of a corresponding paracentral defect. CONCLUSION: Optical coherence
      tomography angiography may be a valuable noninvasive imaging technique for
      detecting and analyzing occlusive complications associated with rickettsial
      retinitis.

PMID- 28614139
TI  - MULTIPLE EVANESCENT WHITE DOT SYNDROME WITH SUBRETINAL DEPOSITS.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the multimodal imaging findings of transient subretinal
      deposits occurring in multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS). METHODS:
      The multimodal imaging characteristics of transient subretinal deposits occurring
      in MEWDS were investigated with ultra-widefield color and fundus
      autofluorescence, cross-sectional and en-face optical coherence tomography (OCT),
      en face OCT-angiography, and quantitative autofluorescence. RESULTS: A 28-year
      old woman presented with photopsia and temporal visual field loss in her right
      eye. Her best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in her right eye and 20/25 in her
      left eye. Funduscopic examination showed characteristic peripapillary
      hyperautofluorescent white dots of MEWDS corresponding to ellipsoid zone
      disruption on OCT. These lesions became confluent throughout the posterior fundus
      over the next 4 weeks. As the patient's symptoms were resolving, a second type of
      transient hyperautofluorescent lesion was noted which corresponded to
      hyperreflective subretinal deposits on cross-sectional and en face structural
      OCT. These subretinal deposits were most evident at 10-week follow-up and had
      nearly resolved at 14-week follow-up. Quantitative autofluorescence showed that,
      unlike the acute MEWDS lesions, the hyperautoflurescence of the subretinal
      deposits persisted after photobleaching. At multiple time points over 14 weeks of
      follow-up, OCT angiography showed no evidence of retinal or choroidal flow
      abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Transient subretinal deposits may develop during MEWDS
      in areas of previous diffuse outer retinal disruption. As these deposits remain
      hyperautoflurescent on quantitative autofluorescence after photobleaching, they
      may represent accumulations of debris originating from damaged photoreceptor
      outer segments.

PMID- 28614138
TI  - ACUTE EXUDATIVE PARANEOPLASTIC POLYMORPHOUS VITELLIFORM MACULOPATHY DURING
      VEMURAFENIB AND PEMBROLIZUMAB TREATMENT FOR METASTATIC MELANOMA.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a patient with BRAF mutation-positive cutaneous melanoma who
      developed acute exudative polymorphous vitelliform maculopathy during vemurafenib
      and pembrolizumab treatment for metastatic melanoma. METHODS: Retrospective case
      report documented with wide-field fundus imaging, spectral domain optical
      coherence tomography, and fundus autofluorescence imaging. RESULTS: A 55-year-old
      woman with bilateral ductal breast carcinoma and BRAF mutation-positive
      metastatic cutaneous melanoma complained of bilateral blurred vision within 5
      days of starting vemurafenib (BRAF inhibitor). She had been on pembrolizumab
      (program death receptor antibody) and intermittently on dabrafenib (BRAF
      inhibitor) and trametinib (MEK inhibitor), and had a normal ophthalmologic
      examination. On presentation three weeks after the introduction of vemurafenib,
      her visual acuity had declined to 20/40 in both eyes. Her examination showed
      diffuse elevation of the fovea with multifocal yellow-white, crescent-shaped
      subretinal deposits within the macula of both eyes and bilateral neurosensory
      retinal detachments by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
      Discontinuation of vemurafenib and introduction of difluprednate and dorzolamide
      led to a gradual resolution (over four months) of the neurosensory detachments
      with recovery of vision. CONCLUSION: This case report suggests that acute
      exudative polymorphous vitelliform maculopathy may be directly associated with
      the use of BRAF inhibitors as treatment for metastatic cutaneous melanoma, or
      indirectly by triggering autoimmune-paraneoplastic processes. Future
      identification of similar associations is required to unequivocally link
      vemurafenib and/or pembrolizumab to acute exudative polymorphous vitelliform
      maculopathy in metastatic melanoma.

PMID- 28614140
TI  - A Comparison of Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Ventilator-Associated
      Pneumonias Among Burn Patients by Diagnostic Criteria Set.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) replaced its old
      definition for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) with ventilator-associated
      events (VAEs) in 2013. Little data is available comparing the two definitions in
      burn patients. METHODS: Data from 2011 to 2014 were collected on burn patients
      mechanically ventilated for at least 2 days. VAP was determined using two
      methods: (1) pneumonia as defined by the previous more clinical CDC (NHSN)
      definition captured in the burn registry; (2) pneumonia as defined by the recent
      CDC (NHSN) standard of VAEs where patients meeting the criteria for possible VAP
      were considered having a pneumonia. Cohen kappa statistic was measured to compare
      both definitions, and chi-square and ANOVA to compare admission and clinical
      outcomes. RESULTS: There were 266 burn patients who were mechanically ventilated
      for at least 2 days between 2011 and 2014. One hundred patients (37.5%) met the
      criteria by the old definition and 35 (13.1%) met the criteria for both. The
      kappa statistic was 0.34 (95% confidence interval 0.23-0.45), suggesting weak
      agreement. Those who met both definitions were mechanically ventilated for a
      longer period of time (P = 0.0003), and had a longer intensive care unit (ICU)
      length of stay (LOS) (P = 0.0004) and hospital LOS (P = 0.0014). CONCLUSIONS:
      There is weak agreement between the two definitions of VAP in severely burn
      patients. However, patients who met both VAP definitions had longer ventilator
      days, ICU, and hospital stays.

PMID- 28614141
TI  - Role of Hemorrhagic Shock in Experimental Polytrauma.
AB  - Hemorrhagic shock (HS) after tissue trauma increases the complication and
      mortality rate of polytrauma (PT) patients. Although several murine trauma models
      have been introduced, there is a lack of knowledge about the exact impact of an
      additional HS. We hypothesized that HS significantly contributes to organ injury,
      which can be reliably monitored by detection of specific organ damage markers.
      Therefore we established a novel clinically relevant PT plus HS model in C57BL/6
      mice which were randomly assigned to control, HS, PT, or PT+HS procedure (n = 8
      per group). For induction of PT, anesthetized animals received a blunt chest
      trauma, head injury, femur fracture, and soft tissue injury. HS was induced by
      pressure-controlled blood drawing (mean arterial blood pressure of 30 mmHg for 60
      min) and mice then resuscitated with ionosterile (4 * volume drawn), monitored,
      and killed for blood and organ harvesting 4 h after injury. After HS and
      resuscitation, PT+HS mice required earlier and overall more catecholamine support
      than HS animals to keep their mean arterial blood pressure. HS significantly
      contributed to the systemic release of interleukin-6 and high mobility group box
      1 protein. Furthermore, the histological lung injury score, pulmonary edema,
      neutrophil influx, and plasma clara cell protein 16 were all significantly
      enhanced in PT animals in the presence of an additional HS. Although early
      morphological changes were minor, HS also contributed functionally to remote
      acute kidney injury but not to early liver damage. Moreover, PT-induced systemic
      endothelial injury, as determined by plasma syndecan-1 levels, was significantly
      aggravated by an additional HS. These results indicate that HS adds to the
      systemic inflammatory reaction early after PT. Within hours after PT, HS seems to
      aggravate pulmonary damage and to worsen renal and endothelial function which
      might overall contribute to the development of early multiple organ dysfunction.

PMID- 28614142
TI  - Understanding the Calculation of Central Venous-to-Arterial CO2
      Difference/Arterial-Central Venous O2 Difference Ratio.

PMID- 28614143
TI  - Clarification on the Method of Calculating Central Venous-to-Arterial CO2
      Difference/Arterial-Central Venous O2 Difference Ratio.

PMID- 28614144
TI  - Early Fibrinolysis Associated with Hemorrhagic Progression Following Traumatic
      Brain Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Progressive hemorrhagic injury (PHI) is common in patients with
      severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is associated with worse outcomes. PHI
      pathophysiology remains poorly understood and difficult to predict. We performed
      an exploratory analysis aimed at identifying markers in need of further
      investigation to establish their predictive value in PHI following TBI. METHODS:
      We performed a retrospective chart review of prospectively collected data from
      424 highest-level activation trauma patients from January 2012 through December
      2013. Patients with severe TBI, defined as head acute injury scale (AIS) score
      >=3 and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on initial CT, were included. Stable
      hemorrhage (SH) and PHI was determined by measuring ICH expansion on repeat CT
      within 6 h. Of 424 patients evaluated, 72 met inclusion criteria. Twenty-five
      patients had repeated samples available and were dichotomized into SH (n = 6,
      24%) and PHI (n = 19, 76%). Levels of plasminogen, urokinase and tissue
      plasminogen activators (uPA, tPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, alpha2
      antiplasmin (alpha2AP), and D-Dimers (DD) were measured upon admission and 2, 4,
      and 6 h later. RESULTS: Longitudinal models identified tPA and DD as positively
      associated and alpha2AP inversely associated with PHI. High DD levels are
      strongly associated with developing PHI over time. Using the full TBI cohort of N
      = 72, receiver operating curve analysis provided a cutoff of 3.04 MUg/mL
      admission DD to distinguish SH from PHI patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      support a relationship between markers of fibrinolysis in polytrauma patients
      with severe TBI and PHI, warranting further investigation into the potential for
      novel, predictive biomarkers.

PMID- 28614145
TI  - Non-Human Primate (Rhesus Macaque) Models of Severe Pressure-Targeted Hemorrhagic
      and Poly-Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We endeavored to develop clinically translatable non-human primate
      (NHP) models of severe poly-traumatic hemorrhagic shock. METHODS: NHPs were
      randomized into five pressure-targeted severe hemorrhagic shock (PTHS) +/-
      additional injuries scenarios: 30-min PTHS (PTHS-30), 60-min PTHS (PTHS-60), PTHS
      60 + soft tissue injury (PTHS-60+ST), PTHS-60+ST + femur fracture (PTHS-60+ST+FF)
      and decompensated PTHS+ST+FF (PTHS-D). Physiologic parameters were recorded and
      blood samples collected at five time points with animal observation through T =
      24hrs. Results presented as mean +/- SEM; statistics: log transformation followed
      by two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple comparisons, Wilcoxon non-parametric
      test for comparisons and the Friedmans's one-way ANOVA; significance: p < 0.05.
      RESULTS: Percent blood loss was 40% +/- 2, 59% +/- 3, 52% +/- 3, 49% +/- 2, and
      54% +/- 2 for PTHS-30, PTHS-60, PTHS-60+ST, PTHS-60+ST+FF, and PTHS-D,
      respectively. All animals survived to T = 24hrs except one in each of the PTHS-60
      and PTHS-60+ST+FF groups and seven in the PTHS-D group. Physiologic, coagulation,
      and inflammatory parameters demonstrated increasing derangements with increasing
      model severity. CONCLUSION: NHPs exhibit a high degree of resilience to
      hemorrhagic shock and poly-trauma as evidenced by moderate perturbations in
      metabolic, coagulation, and immunologic outcomes with up to 60 minutes of
      profound hypotension regardless of injury pattern. Extending the duration of PTHS
      to the point of decompensation in combination with poly-traumatic injury, evoked
      derangements consistent with those observed in severely injured trauma patients
      which would require ICU care. Thus, we have successfully established a clinically
      translatable NHP trauma model for use in testing therapeutic interventions to
      trauma.

PMID- 28614146
TI  - Effect of Concomitant Elbow Injuries on the Outcomes of Radial Head Arthroplasty:
      A Cohort Comparison.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare physical impairments and patient-reported outcomes in
      patients after simple and complex elbow injuries who were treated with radial
      head arthroplasty. DESIGN: Prospective. SETTING: Quaternary upper extremity
      referral hospital. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: 148 patients with isolated elbow trauma
      and no previous injury to the elbow were prospectively enrolled after radial head
      arthroplasty for an acute unreconstructable fracture. Injury patterns were
      classified as simple or complex based on the presence or absence of associated
      elbow fractures and/or dislocation. INTERVENTION: Radial head arthroplasty. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Patient-Rated Elbow Evaluation (PREE), Disability of the
      Arm, Shoulder, and Hand, range of motion (ROM), and Biodex measurements. RESULTS:
      At a minimum 1-year follow-up PREE and Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand,
      and ROM and strength values were similar. Forty-four patients evaluated at a mean
      of 7 years demonstrated no effect of injury pattern on clinical outcomes at any
      time point. Continued statistical improvements in PREE, supination ROM, and
      flexion ROM at medium term compared with earlier follow-up were observed. Eight
      patients required secondary surgery, 2 in the simple injury group and 6 complex
      injury patients. CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant elbow injuries do not affect the longer
      term outcomes of patients with unreconstructable radial head fractures requiring
      radial head arthroplasty. Patient outcomes continued to improve beyond 2 years of
      follow-up. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level II. See Instructions for Authors
      for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28614147
TI  - Rate of and Risk Factors for Intermediate-Term Reoperation After Ankle Fracture
      Fixation: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Establish baseline rates of and risk factors for reoperation within 1
      or 2 years of ankle open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). DESIGN:
      Retrospective, population-based cohort study. SETTING: Two hundred two hospitals
      in Ontario, Canada (approximate population 13.6 million in 2014).
      PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Forty five thousand four hundred forty-four patients who
      underwent ankle ORIF performed by 710 different surgeons between January 1, 1994,
      and December 31, 2011. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Intermediate-term reoperation
      because of isolated implant removal, repeat ORIF, irrigation and debridement
      (I&D) for infection, or amputation. Multivariable logistic regression related
      potential prognostic factors (patient, provider, and injury) to reoperation.
      RESULTS: There were 8906 patients who underwent at least one subsequent operation
      (19.6%). The most common procedure was isolated implant removal (18.1%); odds of
      removal being higher for females [odds ratio (OR), 1.53; 95% confidence interval
      (CI), 1.45-1.62; P < 0.001]. N = 674 patients (1.5%) underwent reoperation for
      another reason. The odds of repeat ORIF and I&D infection were greater for open
      fractures (OR 2.17; 95% CI, 1.22-3.86; P = 0.008 and OR 3.12; 95% CI, 1.94-5.03;
      P < 0.001). Odds of amputation was highest for diabetics (OR 7.42; 95% CI, 3.73
      14.86; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Isolated implant removal accounts for the vast
      majority of intermediate-term reoperations after ankle ORIF. Reoperation for
      other reasons (repeat ORIF, I&D, or amputation) was extremely rare, even among
      the highest risk patients. Concerns regarding reoperation for these reasons
      should not preclude operative treatment in any patient, provider, or injury group
      we considered. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for
      Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28614149
TI  - OTA/AO Classification Is Highly Predictive of Acute Compartment Syndrome After
      Tibia Fracture: A Cohort of 2885 Fractures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation between the OTA/AO classification of
      tibia fractures and the development of acute compartment syndrome (ACS). DESIGN:
      Retrospective review of prospectively collected database. SETTING: Single Level 1
      academic trauma center. PATIENTS: All patients with a tibia fracture from 2006 to
      2016 were reviewed for this study. Three thousand six hundred six fractures were
      initially identified. Skeletally mature patients with plate or intramedullary
      fixation managed from initial injury through definitive fixation at our
      institution were included, leaving 2885 fractures in 2778 patients. METHODS:
      After database and chart review, univariate analyses were conducted using
      independent t tests for continuous data and chi tests of independence for
      categorical data. A simultaneous multivariate binary logistic regression was
      developed to identify variables significantly associated with ACS. RESULTS: ACS
      occurred in 136 limbs (4.7%). The average age was 36.2 years versus 43.3 years in
      those without (P < 0.001). Men were 1.7 times more likely to progress to ACS than
      women (P = 0.012). Patients who underwent external fixation were 1.9 times more
      likely to develop ACS (P = 0.003). OTA/AO 43 injuries were at least 4.0 times
      less likely to foster ACS versus OTA/AO 41 or 42 injuries (P < 0.007). OTA/AO 41
      C injuries were 5.5 times more likely to advance to ACS compared with OTA/AO 41-A
      (P = 0.03). There was a significantly higher rate of ACS in OTA/AO 42-B (P =
      0.005) and OTA/AO 42-C (P = 0.002) fractures when compared with OTA/AO 42-A
      fractures. In the distal segment, fracture type did not predict the risk of ACS
      (P > 0.15). Group 1 fractures had a lower rate of ACS compared with group 2 (P =
      0.03) and group 3 (P = 0.003) fractures in the middle segment only. Bilateral
      tibia fractures had a 2.7 times lower rate of ACS (P = 0.04). Open injury,
      multiple segment injury, fixation type, and concurrent pelvic or femoral
      fractures did not predict ACS. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of tibia
      fractures, we found that the age, sex, and OTA/AO classification were highly
      predictive for the development of ACS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III.
      See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28614148
TI  - Race and Ethnicity Have a Mixed Effect on the Treatment of Tibial Plateau
      Fractures.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether racial or economic disparities are associated
      with short-term complications and outcomes in tibial plateau fracture care.
      DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: All New York State hospital
      admissions from 2000 to 2014, as recorded by the New York Statewide Planning and
      Research Cooperative System database. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen thousand
      five hundred eighteen inpatients with isolated tibial plateau fractures (OTA/AO
      44), stratified in 4 groups: white, African American, Hispanic, and other.
      INTERVENTION: Closed treatment and operative fixation of the tibial plateau. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Hospital length of stay (LOS, days), in-hospital
      complications/mortality, estimated total costs, and 30-day readmission. RESULTS:
      There were no significant differences regarding in-hospital mortality, infection,
      deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism, or wound complications between races,
      even when controlling for income. There was a higher rate of nonoperatively
      treated fractures in the racial minority populations. Minority patients had on
      average 2 days longer LOS compared with whites (P < 0.001), costing on average
      $4000 more per hospitalization (P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression
      found that neither race nor estimated median family income were independent risk
      factors for readmission. CONCLUSIONS: Although nature of initial injury, use of
      external fixator, comorbidity burden, age, insurance type, and LOS were
      independent risk factors for readmission, race and estimated median family income
      were not. In patients who sustained a tibial plateau fracture, race and ethnicity
      seemed to affect treatment choice, but once treated racial minority groups did
      not demonstrate worse short-term complications, including increased mortality and
      postoperative readmission rates. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See
      Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 28614150
TI  - Exophytic Osteochondroma of the Brow.
AB  - Most bony and cartilaginous lesions of the orbit and periorbital compartments are
      benign, grow endophytically, and are composed of dense lamellar bone (eburnated
      or ivory osteomas). An 87-year-old woman had a well-circumscribed, firm, round,
      and exophytic lesion of the brow region for at least 15 years. Excisional surgery
      disclosed an osteocartilaginous lesion with an enveloping pseudocapsule
      (periosteum/perichondrium) and a narrow stalk connecting it to the frontal bone.
      The periphery of the lesion displayed lamellar bone which appeared to be
      replacing a central cartilaginous zone. The adjacent deep preaponeurotic fat
      displayed nodules of collagen with myxoid change and occasional CD34 spindle
      cells suggestive of a spindle cell lipoma. Because of the osteochondroma's deep
      location in the preaponeurotic fat, the lesion differs from an osteoma cutis
      found in the dermis which fails to exhibit a cartilaginous component or a
      periosteum. Other clinically simulating lesions are described.

PMID- 28614151
TI  - Success Rate of Variable Collar Size Frosted Jones Tubes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe success rates and long-term outcomes of
      conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomy (CDCR) with larger collar (4.5 or 5.0 mm)
      frosted Jones tubes (FJTs). METHODS: A retrospective chart review of all patients
      who received a larger collar (4.5 or 5.0 mm) FJT following CDCR by an author
      (RAD) was performed between January 1, 2010 and July 1, 2016. Patient
      demographics, etiology of tearing, follow-up time from placement of larger collar
      FJT, original tube collar diameter, number and sizes of collar adjustments,
      tearing status, and complications were recorded. Exclusion criteria included
      follow up less than 6 months after placement of a larger collar FJT. The study
      was IRB approved, HIPAA compliant, and adherent to the Declaration of Helsinki.
      RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (29 eyes) met the inclusion criteria. Average
      follow-up time was 30 months. Twenty-eight out of 29 eyes had complete resolution
      of tearing after placement of larger collar FJT and no tubes were lost. Fourteen
      out of 29 eyes required adjustment in collar size after a larger collar was
      placed. Two out of 13 eyes that had a 5.0 mm collar placed required exchanged due
      to collar prominence. CONCLUSION: With the use of larger collar FJTs, the long
      term success of CDCR in tearing patients remains highly effective. This study
      demonstrates larger collar FJTs are well tolerated and help reduce the chance of
      tube loss.

PMID- 28614152
TI  - Superficial Automated Keratopigmentation for Iris and Pupil Simulation Using
      Micronized Mineral Pigments and a New Puncturing Device: Experimental Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the outcomes and tolerance of micronized mineral pigments for
      corneal tattooing, using a superficial automated keratopigmentation (SAK)
      technique in an experimental animal model and a new puncture device to inject the
      pigments into the corneal stroma. METHODS: Forty eyes of 40 New Zealand rabbits
      were included in this study. The animals were divided into groups A and B. Both
      groups underwent SAK using a new automated keratopigmentation device. Micronized
      mineral pigments were injected through the epithelium into the corneal stroma to
      replicate the iris color in 25 eyes (group A), and black color was used to
      replicate the pupil in 15 eyes (group B). Slit-lamp examination was performed to
      evaluate the outcome. Histopathological examination was also performed to
      ascertain the presence of pigment dispersion, inflammation, and/or
      neovascularization. RESULTS: All 40 eyes showed good cosmetic appearance after
      keratopigmentation. No intraoperative complications were detected. At the first
      week, mild or moderated conjunctival injection was observed in 13 eyes and
      transitory corneal epithelial defects were also detected in 27 eyes. Examination
      was unremarkable 2, 4, and 6 months after surgery. No neovascularization was
      detected in any case in the histopathology study. CONCLUSIONS: SAK using a new
      automated puncture device and micronized mineral pigments achieved good cosmetic
      outcomes for iris and pupil simulation. This method could be a valid alternative
      to treat serious cosmetic eye problems that affect the superficial cornea or
      functional problems, such as photophobia or diplopia secondary to iris defects or
      trauma.

PMID- 28614153
TI  - Further Analysis of the Predictability of Corneal Endothelial Cell Density
      Estimates When Polymegethism Is Present.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess variability in endothelial cell density (ECD) estimates when
      polymegethism (variance in cell areas) is present. METHODS: Using noncontact
      specular microscope images of the corneal endothelium, 4 sets of 20 cases were
      selected, which included 200 cells and had coefficient of variation values of
      less than 30% (group 1), 31%-40% (group 2), 41%-50% (group 3), and over 50%
      (group 4). A stepwise analysis was undertaken, 20 cells at a time, of the ECD
      estimates when using different numbers of cells for the calculations. RESULTS:
      The net differences in ECD estimates when comparing sets of 20 cells with 200
      cells were 5.0% +/- 3.9%, 8.1% +/- 7.3%, 11.3% +/- 9.4%, and 14.5% +/- 12.4% for
      groups 1 to 4, respectively. For measures on 100 cells per image, the predicted
      variances in ECD values were 5.6%, 8.8%, 11.1%, and 13.7% for the 4 groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Higher values of corneal endothelial polymegethism result in
      predictable increases in the variability (uncertainty) in ECD estimates, thus
      reducing the "accuracy" of ECD values. There is no obvious utility in assessing
      more than 100 cells in such endothelia.

PMID- 28614154
TI  - Regression of Inflamed Pterygia by Frequent High-Dose Intralesional Ziv
      Aflibercept.
AB  - PURPOSE: Intralesional single low-dose vascular endothelial growth factor
      antagonists have traditionally failed in causing regression of pterygia. The
      current pilot study investigates the role of high-dose repeated intralesional ziv
      aflibercept in causing regression of inflamed or recurring pterygia. METHODS:
      This prospective study from January 2015 to April 2017 consisted of using high
      dose of ziv-aflibercept between 0.1 mL (2.5 mg) and 0.3 mL (7.5 mg), depending on
      the pterygium size and the degree of inflammation. The injection was deep after
      tunneling the 30-gauge needle away from the injection site to avoid reflux.
      Reinjection was done at the first sign of recurrence of inflammation. The main
      outcome measure was regression of pterygial vessels by central retraction as
      documented by slit-lamp photography and anterior optical coherence tomography.
      RESULTS: Four subjects, one with bilateral pterygia, were treated. Regression of
      new vessels and retraction of the leading edge of pterygial vessels occurred in
      all treated eyes (5 eyes) with dramatic visual gain in 1 eye from counting
      fingers to 6/9 (20/30). Numbers of injections were 9 (1 eye; 18 mo), 3 (2 eyes;
      12 and 18 mo), and 1 (2 eyes; 2.5 and 7 mo). CONCLUSIONS: Frequent high-dose
      intralesional ziv-aflibercept can lead to regression and/or retraction of
      inflamed pterygia in this pilot study. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      https://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02486484.

PMID- 28614155
TI  - The Role of the Back Plate in Angle Anatomy with the Boston Type I
      Keratoprosthesis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantitatively evaluate the angle anatomy in eyes with the Boston
      type I keratoprosthesis (B-KPro) differing in the back plate (BP) material and
      size using anterior segment optical coherence tomography. METHODS: B-KPro eyes
      with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (7.0 and 8.5 mm) and titanium (7.0, 8.5,
      and 9.5 mm) BPs were imaged with anterior segment optical coherence tomography.
      The angle opening distance at 500 MUm from the scleral spur (AOD500), trabecular
      iris surface area at 500 MUm from the scleral spur (TISA500), and trabecular iris
      angle at 500 MUm from the scleral spur (TIA500) were measured. Among the visible
      quadrants, the average, the temporal, the widest, and the narrowest angle of each
      eye were included in the analysis. Average time between B-KPro implantation and
      imaging was 7.5 +/- 1.4 years for a PMMA BP and 2.4 +/- 2.3 years for a titanium
      BP (P < 0.0001). RESULTS: We analyzed 17 B-KPro eyes with PMMA BPs and 24 B-KPro
      eyes with titanium BPs. The average AOD500 (394.1 +/- 226.9 vs. 454.5 +/- 255.6
      MUm, P = 0.44), average TIA500 (26.2 +/- 14.2 vs. 29.8 +/- 13.9 degrees, P =
      0.43), and average TISA500 (0.15 +/- 0.08 vs. 0.17 +/- 0.10 MUm, P = 0.52) were
      not statistically different between eyes with PMMA and titanium BPs, nor were the
      temporal, the narrowest, and the widest angle measurements of each eye (all P >
      0.05). Similarly, no significant differences were found between the angle
      measurements of B-KPro eyes with a titanium BP diameter of 8.5 or 9.5 mm (all P >
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We successfully visualized the angle anatomy in 66.1% of the
      imaged eyes, including all BPs studied. Neither the material nor the size of the
      B-KPro BP had a significant impact on the angle anatomy.

PMID- 28614157
TI  - Probable Donor-Derived Cytomegalovirus Disease After Keratolimbal Allograft
      Transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of probable donor-derived cytomegalovirus (CMV)
      infection after keratolimbal allograft (KLAL) transplantation. METHODS:
      Observational case report. RESULTS: A 41-year-old man with a history of aniridic
      keratopathy and limbal stem cell deficiency underwent KLAL in his right eye.
      Preoperatively, he was negative for CMV IgG and IgM. Postoperatively, he was
      maintained on tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil for systemic
      immunosuppression; he was also on prophylactic valganciclovir (for CMV) and
      trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (for pneumocystis pneumonia) for 1 month.
      Approximately 5 weeks postoperatively, he developed a nonproductive cough,
      rhinorrhea, and dyspnea. His condition did not improve with oral azithromycin or
      levofloxacin. He developed worsening symptoms over the next 2 weeks despite
      therapy. The serum CMV polymerase chain reaction was positive, and he was
      readministered valganciclovir with subsequent resolution of symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: We present the first case of CMV disease in a seronegative patient
      who received a presumed CMV-seropositive donor KLAL. Similar to solid organ
      transplantation, prophylactic and therapeutic management of CMV infection is
      necessary in the setting of systemic immunosuppression.

PMID- 28614156
TI  - Endothelial Cell Loss in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Eyes After Cataract Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess and compare the changes in endothelial cell density in
      diabetic and nondiabetic patients after routine phacoemulsification cataract
      surgery. SETTING: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miller School of Medicine, Miami,
      FL, USA. DESIGN: Retrospective nonrandomized cohort study. METHODS: This
      retrospective study included diabetic and nondiabetic patients who underwent
      phacoemulsification by a single surgeon (K.D.) between September 2013 and March
      2016. The main outcome measures were cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) and
      percentage of endothelial cell loss (ECL). Comparative analysis of CDE and
      percentage of ECL between the 2 patient groups was performed and then repeated
      based on the degree of diabetic control (hemoglobin A1c). RESULTS: The study
      included 66 eyes of 55 diabetic and 67 eyes of 65 nondiabetic patients. Mean CDE
      was 7.8 +/- 7.1 joules, and the 1-month mean percentage of ECL was 15% +/- 14% in
      the diabetic group. Mean CDE was 6.6 +/- 3.8 joules, and the 1-month mean
      percentage of ECL was 11% +/- 11% in the nondiabetic group. The CDE was not
      significantly different between both groups. The percent decrease in ECL was
      statistically higher in the diabetic group than in the nondiabetic group (P =
      0.03). The degree of diabetic control, based on hemoglobin A1c greater or less
      than 7, did not yield a significant difference in CDE or percentage ECL.
      CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic patients demonstrated increased ECL when compared with
      nondiabetic patients after cataract surgery. However, the role of diabetic
      control in reducing ECL remains unclear.

PMID- 28614158
TI  - Standard Drilling Versus Ultrasonic Implant Site Preparation: A Clinical Study at
      4 Weeks After Insertion of Conical Implants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Clinically evaluate implants placed after ultrasonic implant site
      preparation (UISP) and standard drilling (SD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten
      patients received 21 implants placed using UISP (n = 11) or SD (n = 10). Bone
      quality was hand assessed and final insertion torque (IT), resonance frequency
      analysis (ISQ) at baseline and ISQ, and removal torque values (RTV) at 4 weeks
      were recorded and compared. RESULTS: Mean IT values were 70.91 and 72.40 N/cm in
      UISP and SD groups, respectively, and were not statistically different. IT
      significantly correlated to bone quality. Mean ISQ values at baseline and 4 weeks
      were not significantly different and were 74.72 and 74.73 for UISP and 76.70 and
      73.20 for SD, respectively. Mean ISQ at baseline significantly correlated to IT
      values and bone quality in both groups. Mean RTV values in both UISP (51.32 N/cm)
      and SD (53.1 N/cm) were not significantly different but significantly correlated
      to IT values. All implants achieved osseointegration and were restored.
      CONCLUSION: Implant placement after ultrasonic preparation can be considered a
      predictable technique leading to clinical and biological responses similar to SD
      4 weeks after insertion.

PMID- 28614160
TI  - Delusional Pregnancy Presenting to the Massachusetts General Hospital National
      Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics.

PMID- 28614159
TI  - Dissociative Intoxication and Prolonged Withdrawal Associated With Phenibut: A
      Case Report.

PMID- 28614161
TI  - Multiple Cerebral Infarcts in a Young Patient Associated With Marijuana Use.
AB  - : Cerebrovascular events associated with marijuana use have been reported
      previously. This association is plausible, but not well-established yet. A 14
      year-old girl, long-term heavy cannabis user, presented with generalized tonic
      clonic seizures and decreased level of consciousness a few hours after smoking
      cannabis. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple areas of acute,
      subacute and chronic ischemic lesions in the left frontal lobe, basal ganglia,
      and corpus callosum. History of other illicit drug use and other known causes of
      stroke were ruled out. Cannabis might cause stroke through direct effects on the
      cerebral blood circulation, orthostatic hypotension, vasculitis, vasospasm, and
      atrial fibrillation. Long-term daily use of marijuana in young people may cause
      serious damage to the cerebrovascular system.

PMID- 28614162
TI  - Validity of Heart Rate-Based Indices to Measure Training Load and Intensity in
      Elite Football Players.
AB  - Silva, P, Santos, ED, Grishin, M, and Rocha, JM. Validity of heart rate-based
      indices to measure training load and intensity in elite football players. J
      Strength Cond Res 32(8): 2340-2347, 2018-This study aimed to identify the most
      sensible heart rate-based indices to physical measures of training load and
      intensity. Twenty professional football players competing in the Russian league
      and in the UEFA Champions League were monitored during 15 training sessions (270
      individual records) using global positioning systems devices (10 Hz) and heart
      rate telemetry. Expert knowledge and a collinearity r < 0.5 were used initially
      to select the external physical markers for the final analysis. A multivariate
      adjusted within-subjects model was used to quantify the correlations between
      heart rate indices with various measures of training intensity and load. The
      number of accelerations >2.5 m.s and the number of high-intensity bursts remained
      in the final multivariate model for training load. The adjusted correlations with
      Banister's training impulse (TRIMP) were r = 0.49 and r = 0.3, respectively. For
      training intensity, the same previous variables expressed as per minute plus the
      volume of high-speed running per minute remained in the final model. The adjusted
      correlations with the percentage of time spent above 80% of individual maximum
      heart rate (tHR80%) were, in the same order, r = 0.3, r = 0.22, and r = 0.18. The
      results of this study demonstrate the validity of TRIMP and tHR80% as measures of
      training load and intensity, respectively, and identified accelerations and high
      intensity repeated efforts (high-intensity bursts) as being moderately predictive
      of heart rate responses.

PMID- 28614163
TI  - Effect of low-volume high-intensity interval exercise and continuous exercise on
      delayed-onset muscle soreness in untrained healthy males.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the effect of a single session of a low
      volume high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and a continuous exercise (CE) on
      the magnitude of delayed onset-muscle soreness (DOMS) in untrained healthy males.
      Fifteen participants (25.1+/-4.4 years) completed 2 experimental sessions in a
      randomized order: (a) low-volume HIIE: 10 x 60 s at 90% of maximal velocity (MV)
      interspersed with 60s of active recovery at 30% of MV; and (b) CE: 20 min at 60%
      of MV. Pressure-pain threshold (PPT), pressure-pain tolerance (PPTol) and
      perceived pain intensity (PPI) were assessed in the rectus femoris, biceps
      femoris and gastrocnemius before and 24 hours post-exercise. There was a decrease
      of PPT in the rectus femoris (-0.5 kg/cm) and PPTol in the gastrocnemius (-1.4
      kg/cm) and an increase of PPI in the rectus femoris (14.4 mm) and in the biceps
      femoris (11.7 mm) 24 hours following the low-volume HIIE session (P<0.05). There
      was a decrease of PPT (rectus femoris: -0.8 kg/cm; biceps femoris: -0.5 kg/cm;
      gastrocnemius: -0.9 kg/cm) and PPTol (rectus femoris: -1.9 kg/cm; biceps femoris:
      -2.7 kg/cm; gastrocnemius: -1.6 kg/cm) and an increase of PPI (rectus femoris:
      8.1 mm; biceps femoris: 10.3 mm; gastrocnemius: 17.5 mm) in all muscles 24 hours
      following the CE session (P<0.05). No difference was observed between HIIE and CE
      sessions in any DOMS parameter (P>0.05). In conclusion, a single session of low
      volume HIIE and CE elicited a similar mild DOMS 24 hours post-exercise in
      untrained healthy males.

PMID- 28614164
TI  - Multicomponent Musculoskeletal Movement Assessment Tools: A Systematic Review and
      Critical Appraisal of Their Development and Applicability to Professional
      Practice.
AB  - Multicomponent movement assessment tools have become commonplace to measure
      movement quality, proposing to indicate injury risk and performance capabilities.
      Despite popular use, there has been no attempt to compare the components of each
      tool reported in the literature, the processes in which they were developed, or
      the underpinning rationale for their included content. As such, the objective of
      this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive summary of current movement
      assessment tools and appraise the evidence supporting their development. A
      systematic literature search was performed using PRISMA guidelines to identify
      multicomponent movement assessment tools. Commonalities between tools and the
      evidence provided to support the content of each tool was identified. Each tool
      underwent critical appraisal to identify the rigor in which it was developed, and
      its applicability to professional practice. Eleven tools were identified, of
      which 5 provided evidence to support their content as assessments of movement
      quality. One assessment tool (Soccer Injury Movement Screen [SIMS]) received an
      overall score of above 65% on critical appraisal, with a further 2 tools
      (Movement Competency Screen [MCS] and modified 4 movement screen [M4-MS]) scoring
      above 60%. Only the MCS provided clear justification for its developmental
      process. The remaining 8 tools scored between 40 and 60%. On appraisal, the MCS,
      M4-MS, and SIMS seem to provide the most practical value for assessing movement
      quality as they provide the strongest reports of developmental rigor and an
      identifiable evidence base. In addition, considering the evidence provided, these
      tools may have the strongest potential for identifying performance capabilities
      and guiding exercise prescription in athletic and sport-specific populations.

PMID- 28614165
TI  - Magnet hospital recognition in hospital systems over time.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Magnet hospitals are recognized for nursing excellence and high-value
      patient outcomes, yet little is known about which and when hospitals pursue
      Magnet recognition. Concurrently, hospital systems are becoming a more prominent
      feature of the U.S. health care landscape. PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to
      examine Magnet adoption among hospital systems over time. APPROACH: Using
      American Hospital Association surveys (1998-2012), we characterized the
      proportion of Magnet hospitals belonging to systems. We used hospital level fixed
      effects regressions to capture changes in a given system hospital's Magnet status
      over time in relation to a variety of conditions, including prior Magnet adoption
      by system affiliates and nonaffiliates in local and geographically distant
      markets and whether these relationships varied by degree of system
      centralization. RESULTS: The proportion of Magnet hospitals belonging to a system
      is increasing. Prior Magnet adoption by a hospital within the local market was
      associated with an increased likelihood of a given system hospital becoming
      Magnet, but the effect was larger if there was prior adoption by affiliates (7.4%
      higher likelihood) versus nonaffiliates (2.7% higher likelihood). Prior adoption
      by affiliates and nonaffiliates in geographically distant markets had a lesser
      effect. Hospitals belonging to centralized systems were more reactive to Magnet
      adoption of nonaffiliate hospitals as compared with those in decentralized
      systems. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital systems take an organizational perspective toward
      Magnet adoption, whereby more system affiliates achieve Magnet recognition over
      time. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The findings are relevant to health care and nursing
      administrators and policymakers interested in the diffusion of an empirically
      supported organizational innovation associated with quality outcomes,
      particularly in a time of increasing hospital consolidation and system expansion.
      We identify factors associated with Magnet adoption across system hospitals and
      demonstrate the importance of considering diffusion of organizational innovations
      in relation to system centralization. We suggest that decentralized system
      hospitals may be missing potential benefits of such organizational innovations.

PMID- 28614166
TI  - Seven years after Meaningful Use: Physicians' and nurses' experiences with
      electronic health records.
AB  - Although the federal government's Meaningful Use electronic health record (EHR)
      implementation program resulted in some successes, there have been many
      challenges. The purpose of this study was to obtain detailed empirical data to
      better understand physicians' and nurses' experiences with EHRs. We conducted in
      depth interviews with 30 physicians and nurses from two large health systems that
      were focused on attaining Stage 3 Meaningful Use criteria. Thematic framework
      analysis identified themes related to perceived benefits and challenges with EHR
      use. Participants appreciated benefits such as real-time patient data and easier
      access to information. Challenges included lack of interoperability across units,
      and this seemed to underlie many other noted challenges such as increased
      workload, insufficient training, and the perceived need for workarounds. Two key
      findings included mixed messages about trust in the EHR's information and its
      interference with interpersonal relationships. Results suggest that conservation
      of resources theory may be a useful strategy for understanding behaviors that
      enhance or undermine effective EHR use. Implications for policy and practice are
      discussed.

PMID- 28614167
TI  - The role of organizational context in the implementation of a statewide
      initiative to integrate mental health services into pediatric primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there is evidence that mental health services can be
      delivered in pediatric primary care with good outcomes, few changes in service
      delivery have been seen over the past decade. Practices face a number of
      barriers, making interventions that address determinants of change at multiple
      levels a promising solution. However, these interventions may need appropriate
      organizational contexts in place to be successfully implemented. PURPOSE: The
      objective of this study was to test whether organizational context (culture,
      climate, structures/processes, and technologies) influenced uptake of a complex
      intervention to implement mental health services in pediatric primary care.
      METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We incorporated our research into the implementation and
      evaluation of Ohio Building Mental Wellness Wave 3, a learning collaborative with
      on-site trainings and technical assistance supporting key drivers of mental
      health care implementation. Simple linear regression was used to test the effects
      of organizational context and external or fixed organizational characteristics on
      program uptake. RESULTS: Culture, structure/processes, and technologies scores
      indicating a more positive organizational context for mental health at the
      project's start, as well as general cultural values that were more
      group/developmental, were positively associated with uptake. Patient-centered
      medical home certification and use of electronic medical records were also
      associated with greater uptake. Changes in context over the course of Building
      Mental Wellness did not influence uptake. CONCLUSION: Organizational culture,
      structures/processes, and technologies are important determinants of the uptake
      of activities to implement mental health services in pediatric primary care.
      Interventions may be able to change these aspects of context to make them more
      favorable to integration, but baseline characteristics more heavily influence the
      more proximal uptake of program activities. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Pediatric
      primary care practices would benefit from assessing their organizational context
      and taking steps to address it prior to or in a phased approach with mental
      health service implementation.

PMID- 28614168
TI  - Glove Port Transanal Excision of Rectal Tumors an Alternative Method for Rectal
      Tumor Excision: Single Center Experience.
AB  - AIM: Transanal minimal invasive surgery has been practiced for several years for
      excision of rectal tumors however there is no standard consensus about its
      applications. This minimally invasive approach helps in avoiding major rectal
      resections and its associated risk of mortality and morbidity.The aim of this
      study is to describe a single center experience with transanal glove port
      excision of rectal tumors which are not amenable to colonoscopic excision.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between the years 2011 and 2014, 9 patients underwent
      glove port excision of rectal tumors located within 15 cm from the anal verge.
      Glove port was constructed using circular anal dilator, standard surgical glove
      and a wound protector retractor; regular laparoscopic instruments were used. The
      median follow-up period was for 18 months (range, 9 to 27 mo) and all patients
      had flexible sigmoidoscopy for follow-up to look for any recurrence of the
      tumors. RESULTS: All patients underwent transanal excision of rectal tumors
      successfully using glove port device and laparoscopic instruments. Full thickness
      excision of the tumor was performed in all patients and there was no significant
      postoperative morbidity. The final histology of 6 patients was benign and the
      remaining 3 patients had malignancy reported in the specimen. During the follow
      up period between 12 and 18 months 3 patients had a recurrence of the polyp which
      was removed endoscopically without the need for any further surgical
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Glove port excision of rectal tumors is a feasible
      alternative to conventional surgical treatment for large benign rectal
      tumors.What does this paper add to the literature?This article demonstrates that
      performing local excision of rectal tumors can be achieved safely at a lower cost
      using simple platforms that are constructed locally like the glove ports. It also
      highlights the benefits of using the available laparoscopic kits to perform the
      procedure while making use of the previously acquired skills.

PMID- 28614169
TI  - Impact of Resected Colon Site on Quality of Bowel Preparation in Patients Who
      Underwent Prior Colorectal Resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Various factors are known to be associated with quality of
      bowel preparation (QBP), but have rarely been investigated in patients with prior
      colorectal resection. The aim of this study was to investigate variables
      associated with bowel preparation in patients with prior colorectal resection.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 247 patients with prior colorectal resection
      and undergone surveillance colonoscopy were consecutively chosen. One clinician
      performed endoscopy for all patients. QBP was rated using Aronchick grade and was
      categorized as either satisfactory (Aronchick grades, 1 to 3) or unsatisfactory
      (Aronchick grades, 4 and 5). Factors associated with QBP were analyzed. RESULTS:
      Unsatisfactory bowel preparation was detected in 49 patients (19.8%). There was
      no difference in QBP on the basis of sex, age, body mass index, hypertension
      history, diabetes mellitus history, smoking habits, time after surgery, resected
      colon length, or bowel preparation method. Operation method was marginally
      associated with QBP (P=0.056). When we dichotomized patients into right-side
      colon preservation or not, the right colon preservation group showed a
      significant association with poor QBP on univariate (22.3% vs. 7.5%, P=0.028) and
      multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-12.3;
      P=0.038). CONCLUSION: Patients with a preserved right colon were associated with
      poor bowel preparations compared with patients who underwent right-side colon
      resection. When preparing patients with history of colorectal resection for
      colonoscopy, these differences should be considered for better bowel preparation.

PMID- 28614170
TI  - Implications of Left-sided Gallbladder in the Emergency Setting: Retrospective
      Review and Top Tips for Safe Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left-sided gallbladder without situs viscerum inversus (LSG-woSVI) is
      a rare congenital anomaly. Clinical features and routine presurgical imaging
      could miss the anomalous position, thereby producing complications during
      surgery. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely, but the risk of
      bile duct injury (BDI) is greater than in cholecystectomy of the orthotopic
      gallbladder. We present a retrospective review of all scientific literature for
      diagnosed cases of LSG-woSVI undergoing cholecystectomy from 1996 to 2014. Our
      objectives were to outline empirical top tips for a safe cholecystectomy in
      incidentally diagnosed LSG-woSVI. METHODS: We carried a comprehensive search of
      PubMed using medical subject headings "left-sided gallbladder," "right-sided
      ligamentum teres" "situs viscerun inversus," "preoperative diagnoses,"
      "cholecystectomy," and "bile duct injury." We considered a classification of the
      LSG-woSVI in 2 groups: True LSG-woSVI and LSG-woSVI in patients with right-sided
      ligamentum teres. RESULTS: Our retrospective review revealed 55 cases of LSG
      woSVI. The mean age was 51 years +/-17 SD, male/female ratio was 2:1, clinical
      presentation was pain in the right upper abdominal quadrant in 75.5%,
      preoperative diagnosis was reached in 16.3%, True LSG was diagnosed in 83%, acute
      cholecystitis was found in 50%, laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed in
      79.6%, fundus-first dissection technique was used in 16.7%, intraoperative
      cholangiography was performed in 39.1%, and BDI occurred in 7.3% of the reported
      cases. CONCLUSIONS: Increased awareness of the anatomic aberrations in LSG-woSVI
      associated with improved preoperative diagnosis and a good knowledge about safe
      surgical techniques for cholecystectomy could indubitably reduce the incidence of
      BDI.

PMID- 28614171
TI  - The Role Safety Steps in Success and Complication Rate of Endoscopic Retrograde
      Cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is widely used
      for treatment of biliary disorders. There are several studies to increase the
      success rate and decrease the complication rate of ERCP. In this study we aimed
      to evaluate the affect of safety steps in success and complication rate of ERCP.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cohort study patients were evaluated under 2
      groups divided as before the introduction of safety steps and after. Successful
      cannulation rate, difficult cannulations, and complications of the procedure were
      recorded. RESULT: Failed ampullary cannulation rates were 8.2% in group 1 and 4%
      in group 2. In terms of postprocedural complications; in group 2 complication
      rates significantly decreased from 10.7% to 4.3%. Moreover, post-ERCP
      pancreatitis rate decreased from 9.1% in group 1 to 4% in group 2. CONCLUSIONS:
      Introduction of safety steps, significantly increase the cannulation rate and
      decrease both overall complication rate and pancreatitis risk.

PMID- 28614172
TI  - The Relationship Between the Number of Intersections of Staple Lines and
      Anastomotic Leakage After the Use of a Double Stapling Technique in Laparoscopic
      Colorectal Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Laparoscopic intracorporeal colorectal anastomosis with double stapling
      technique is difficult because of unsuitable cutting angle in narrow pelvic
      cavity. For reasons of tilted and long linear staple line of rectal stump,
      circular anastomotic plane can make multiple intersections. The present study was
      designed to assess whether multiple intersections after double stapling technique
      is the risk factor of anastomotic complication in laparoscopic colorectal
      surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 128 consecutive left colon and rectal
      cancer patients who underwent laparoscopic rectal resection with double stapling
      technique were enrolled in this study. In all cases, operator tried to reduce
      intersections by inversion and invagination techniques. They were subdivided into
      3 groups: 58 patients with no intersection of staple lines (group A), 62 patients
      with 1 point of intersection (group B) and 8 patients with 2 points of
      intersection (group C). Intraoperative air leakage, incomplete cut ring,
      postoperative bleeding, anastomotic stenosis, and leakage were compared between
      the 3 groups. RESULTS: Clinical anastomotic leakage was identified in 1 (group C)
      of 128 patients (0.7%). Overall anastomotic leakage rate was 0% (0/58) in group
      A, 0% (0/62) in group B, and 12.5% (1/8) in group C (P=0.001). In univariate
      analysis, intersections of staple lines were associated with anastomotic
      complications. There were no statistically significant differences between the 3
      groups in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The number of intersections of
      staple lines is associated with anastomotic leakage, and the inversion technique
      is a useful method for avoiding anastomotic leakage. Using an appropriate
      technique by skilled operator, double stapling technique for laparoscopic
      anterior resection is safe and feasible.

PMID- 28614173
TI  - Safety and Indications of Laparoscopic Surgery for Postoperative Small-bowel
      Obstruction: A Single-center Study of 121 Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and
      effectiveness of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of small-bowel
      obstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group comprised 121 patients who
      underwent laparoscopic surgery for small-bowel obstruction. RESULTS: Previous
      operations were open surgery in 107 patients and laparoscopic surgery in 14. On
      univariate analysis, 4 risk factors were related to conversion to open surgery:
      radiotherapy (P=0.0002), previous episode of intestinal obstruction (P=0.0064),
      bleeding volume of >=50 mL (P=0.0059), and the presence or absence of previous
      bowel resection (P=0.0269). On multivariate analysis, only radiotherapy was an
      independent risk factor for conversion to open surgery (odds ratio, 5.5141;
      P=0.0091). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery can be safely performed in patients
      with postoperative small-bowel obstruction and is considered an effective
      treatment with a low rate of recurrent bowel obstruction.

PMID- 28614174
TI  - Minimally Invasive Cholecystolithotomy to Treat Cholecystolithiasis in Children:
      A Single-center Experience With 23 Cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Minimally invasive cholecystolithotomy is recently popularized
      treatment that may offer advantages over laparoscopic cholecystectomy, especially
      in China. However, there are few reports concerning the use of this technique in
      the pediatric population. This report describes our initial experience with
      minimally invasive cholecystolithotomy using laparoscopy combined with
      choledochoscopy to treat cholecystolithiasis in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A retrospective review of 23 pediatric patients with cholecystolithiasis who
      underwent minimally invasive cholecystolithotomy using laparoscopy combined with
      choledochoscopy from January 2009 to December 2015 was performed. RESULTS: The
      operations were successful in all 23 cases. None required conversion to
      conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The average operative time was 68
      minutes (range, 45 to 97 min). The average bleeding volume during surgery was 30
      mL (range, 10 to 55 mL). The average length of hospital stay was 5.2 days (range,
      3 to 7 d). There were no perioperative complications. All patients were followed
      for 9 to 12 months without any obvious gastrointestinal symptoms. None had a
      recurrence of stones in the gall bladder. CONCLUSIONS: Minimally invasive
      cholecystolithotomy using laparoscopy combined with choledochoscopy is a safe and
      viable technique that may be used successfully in pediatric surgery.

PMID- 28614175
TI  - Efficacy of the Laparoendoscopic "Rendezvous" to Treat
      Cholecystocholedocholithiasis in 210 Consecutive Patients: A Single Center
      Experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The simultaneous laparoendoscopic "rendezvous" (LERV) represents an
      alternative to sequential or totally laparoscopic approaches for patients
      affected by cholecystocholedocholithiasis. The aim of this study was to analyze
      the results in a large series of 210 consecutive patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      From 2002 to 2016 all patients affected by cholecystocholedocholithiasis were
      treated with a standardized "tailored" LERV. The relevant technical features of
      the procedure were recorded. An analysis of feasibility, effectiveness in stone
      clearance, and safety was performed. RESULTS: Among 214 patients with common bile
      duct stones, 210 were treated with LERV and 4 with open rendezvous approach.
      Intraoperative cholangiography confirmed common bile duct stones in 179 patients
      (85.2%) or sludge in 18 (8.5%) and in 98.9% stone clearance was obtained
      endoscopically. Endoscopic papilla cannulation was feasible in 161 patients
      (76.7%), whereas in 49 (23.3%) a transcystic guidewire was needed. The overall
      LERV feasibility was 96.6%. The conversion rate to open surgery was 3.3%. Minor
      morbidity was observed in 1.9% of cases, mortality in 0.47%, and the mean
      hospital stay was 4.3 days. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the high
      effectiveness of LERV. This approach to treat cholecystocholedocholithiasis
      should be preferred and therefore implemented where a strong collaboration
      between surgeons and endoscopists is possible.

PMID- 28614176
TI  - Correlation between cytochrome P450 2C19 genetic polymorphism and treatment
      response to escitalopram in panic disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Escitalopram (S-CT) is used widely to treat patients with panic
      disorder (PD) and the CYP2C19 enzyme is responsible for S-CT metabolism. We
      hypothesized that CYP2C19 polymorphisms were associated with S-CT treatment
      response in Chinese patients with PD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight
      patients with PD completed the assessment by the Panic Disorder Severity Scale -
      Chinese Version (PDSS-CV) and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA-14) during an 8
      week period. All patients were administered a fixed dose of 10 mg/day S-CT. Three
      CYP2C19 metabolizer phenotypes were analyzed by PCR-genotyping microarray,
      including extensive metabolizer (EM), intermediate metabolizer, and poor
      metabolizer (PM). RESULTS: This prospective, open-label and observational study
      showed that the proportion of EM (43.6%) was higher than that of PM (10.2%).
      There were higher response ratios of PDSS-CV in PM (the second to fourth week:
      62.5-100%) than in EM (the second to fourth week: 23.5-55.9%) (Ps<0.05); also,
      there were higher response ratios of HAMA-14 in PM (the second to fourth week:
      75.0-100%) than in EM (the second to fourth week: 17.7-52.9%) (Ps<0.05).
      Treatment response was based on the reduction of PDSS-CV and HAMA compared with
      the baseline. There was higher reduction of PDSS-CV in the patients with PM
      (68.78+/-9.04 for the fourth week and 84.30+/-9.81 for the eighth week) than EM
      (49.66+/-20.77 for the fourth week and 63.12+/-22.60 for the eighth week)
      (Ps<0.05); also, there was higher reduction of HAMA-14 in the patients with PM
      (70.11+/-8.98 for the fourth week and 81.32+/-8.25 for the eighth week) than EM
      (51.51+/-18.53 for the fourth week and 62.79+/-18.28 for the eighth week)
      (Ps<0.05). CONCLUSION: The CYP2C19 genetic polymorphism is associated with S-CT
      treatment response in Chinese patients with PD. CYP2C19 PM could play a key role
      in early treatment response of S-CT.

PMID- 28614177
TI  - The Affordable Care Act Reduces Hypertension Treatment Disparities for Mexican
      heritage Latinos.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Mexican-heritage Latinos have lower prevalence of hypertension, but
      have worse patterns of treatment and control compared with non-Latino whites.
      This study examined the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance
      expansion on reducing disparities in treatment and medication use among Mexican
      heritage Latinos with hypertension. RESEARCH DESIGN: Using the 2009-2014 waves of
      the California Health Interview Survey, we examine health care access,
      utilization, and medication use among Mexican-heritage Latinos and non-Latino
      whites with hypertension. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were
      performed to adjust for socioeconomic and demographic factors. Interactions
      between race/ethnicity and year variables were conducted to capture the effects
      of the passage of the ACA. RESULTS: Among those with hypertension, the full
      implementation of the ACA (year 2014) is associated with a greater likelihood of
      being insured, but the race/ethnicity interaction indicates that this gain is
      less substantial for Mexican-heritage Latinos. The odds of having a usual source
      of care other than the emergency department increased after the passage of the
      ACA, and interaction effects indicate that this gain was more substantial for
      Mexican-heritage Latinos. The odds of having any physician visit and taking blood
      pressure mediations decreased among non-Latino whites but increased among Mexican
      heritage Latinos. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of the ACA in California has
      helped reduce some of the disparities in health care access, utilization, and
      medication use between non-Latino whites and Mexican-heritage Latinos with
      hypertension. However, sustained progress is threatened by looming repeals of ACA
      provisions.

PMID- 28614178
TI  - Patterns of Opioid Use and Risk of Opioid Overdose Death Among Medicaid Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes Medicaid as
      a high-risk population for fatal opioid overdose. Further research is needed to
      identify factors that put Medicaid patients at increased risk. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine whether patterns of opioid use are associated with risk of opioid
      related mortality among opioid users. DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort
      study. PATIENTS: In total, 150,821 noncancer pain patients aged 18-64 years with
      >=1 opioid prescription, April 2006 to December 2010, Washington Medicaid.
      MEASURES: Average daily dose (morphine equivalents), opioid schedule/duration of
      action, sedative-hypnotic use. RESULTS: Compared with patients at 1-19 mg/d, risk
      of opioid overdose death significantly increased at 50-89 mg/d [adjusted hazard
      ratio (aHR), 2.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4-4.1], 90-119 mg/d (aHR, 4.0;
      95% CI, 2.2-7.3), 120-199 mg/d (aHR, 3.8; 95% CI, 2.1-6.9), and >=200 mg/d (aHR,
      4.9; 95% CI, 2.9-8.1). Patients using long-acting plus short-acting Schedule II
      opioids had 4.7 times the risk of opioid overdose death than non-Schedule II
      opioids alone (aHR, 4.7; 95% CI, 3.3-6.9). Sedative-hypnotic use compared with
      nonuse was associated with 6.4 times the risk of opioid overdose death (aHR, 6.4;
      95% CI, 5.0-8.4). Risk was particularly high for opioids combined with
      benzodiazepines and skeletal muscle relaxants (aHR, 12.6; 95% CI, 8.9-17.9). Even
      at opioid doses 1-19 mg/d, patients using sedative-hypnotics concurrently had 5.6
      times the risk than patients without sedative-hypnotics (aHR, 5.6; 95% CI, 1.6
      19.3). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support Federal guideline-recommended dosing
      thresholds in opioid prescribing. Concurrent sedative-hypnotic use even at low
      opioid doses poses substantially greater risk of opioid overdose.

PMID- 28614180
TI  - Cocaine inhibits leptin-induced increase of the cocaine- and amphetamine
      regulated transcript peptide in the nucleus accumbens in rats.
AB  - Two well-known appetite-regulatory peptides, leptin and cocaine- and amphetamine
      regulated transcript (CART), are known to be involved in the brain rewarding
      pathway. However, it is not yet known how they interact in the nucleus accumbens,
      an important region mediating the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse. Using the
      immunoassay method, we found that a microinjection of leptin into the nucleus
      accumbens core induces an immediate and transient increase of the CART peptide in
      this site, whereas these effects were inhibited by cocaine. These results expand
      the role of accumbal leptin to the regulation of the CART peptide and further
      suggest that possible interaction of these appetite-regulating peptides may be
      involved in cocaine-mediated rewarding effects.

PMID- 28614179
TI  - Molecular hydrogen inhalation attenuates postoperative cognitive impairment in
      rats.
AB  - Postoperative cognitive decline is a major clinical problem with high morbidity
      and mortality after surgery. Many studies have found that molecular hydrogen (H2)
      has significant neuroprotection against acute and chronic neurological injury by
      regulating inflammation and apoptosis. In this study, we hypothesized that H2
      treatment could ameliorate the development of cognitive impairment following
      surgery. Adult male rats were subjected to stabilized tibial fracture operation
      under anesthesia. Two percent of H2 was inhaled for 3 h beginning at 1 h after
      surgery. Separate cohorts of rats were tested for cognitive function with fear
      conditioning and the Y-maze test, or euthanized to assess blood-brain barrier
      integrity, and systemic and hippocampal proinflammatory cytokine and caspase-3
      activity. Surgery-challenged animals showed significant cognitive impairment
      evidenced by a decreased percentage of freezing time and an increased number of
      learning trials on days 1, 3, and 7 after operation, which were significantly
      improved by H2 treatment. Furthermore, H2 treatment significantly ameliorated the
      increase in serum and hippocampal proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor
      alpha, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, and high-mobility group protein 1 in
      surgery-challenged animals. Moreover, H2 treatment markedly improved blood-brain
      barrier integrity and reduced caspase-3 activity in the hippocampus of surgery
      challenged animals. These findings suggest that H2 treatment could significantly
      mitigate surgery-induced cognitive impairment by regulating inflammation and
      apoptosis.

PMID- 28614181
TI  - Cochleovestibular gene transfer in neonatal mice by canalostomy.
AB  - Impairments of the inner ear result in sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular
      dysfunction in humans. A large proportion of these disorders are congenital, and
      involve both auditory and vestibular systems. Therefore, genetic interventions to
      correct deficits must be administered during early developmental stages. In this
      study, we evaluated inner ear gene transfer in neonatal mice by canalostomy using
      an adeno-associated virus serotype 8 (AAV8) vector. AAV8 with the green
      fluorescence protein (GFP) gene was inoculated into the inner ear of the neonatal
      mice through the posterior semicircular canal (canalostomy). At 30 days following
      surgery, animals were subjected to swim tests and auditory brainstem response
      measurements. Then, the animals were euthanized and temporal bones were harvested
      for whole-mount preparation. GFP expression and morphological changes in the
      inner ear were assessed by immunohistochemistry. After surgery, no signs of
      vestibular dysfunction were found, and there were no significant differences in
      the auditory brainstem response threshold between AAV8-inoculated ears and
      nonsurgery ears. In the surgery ears, extensive GFP expression and no
      morphological lesions were detected in the cochlear and vestibular end organs.
      Robust GFP expression was found in inner hair cells, marginal cells, vestibular
      hair cells, and vestibular supporting cells. In conclusion, AAV8 inoculation
      through canalostomy into the inner ears of neonatal mice led to extensive
      overexpression of exogenous genes in the inner ear without affecting hearing or
      vestibular function. It serves as a promising approach for gene therapy of
      congenital cochleovestibular diseases.

PMID- 28614182
TI  - Ethanol alters N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor regulation in the hippocampus of
      adolescent rats.
AB  - Our laboratory and others have shown that ethanol disrupts hippocampus-associated
      memory formation in adolescent rats, but the signaling pathway involved remains
      largely unknown. Phosphorylation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor,
      particularly the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 2B (NR2B), has been
      implicated in several ethanol effects and in memory formation. The present study
      investigated the effects of repeated ethanol exposure on the phosphorylation of
      the NR2B subunit and src protein in the hippocampus of adolescent rats. Rats were
      treated daily with ethanol or vehicle for 5 consecutive days and sacrificed at
      several time points after the last treatment. At 30 min postethanol treatment,
      levels of phosphorylated NR2B and src were significantly elevated; this was the
      same postethanol time point when adolescent rats showed impairments in their
      performance of memory tasks. Peak increases in both phosphorylated levels of NR2B
      and src were seen around 1 h post-treatment, after which levels of both
      phosphoproteins started to decline. Together, these data suggest that the time
      dependent increase in hippocampal phosphorylated NR2B and src levels following
      repeated ethanol exposure may be responsible for hippocampus-associated memory
      impairments in adolescent rats.

PMID- 28614184
TI  - Coordinating Care Across Health Care Systems for Veterans With Gynecologic
      Malignancies: A Qualitative Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Veterans concurrently using both Veterans Affairs (VA) and community
      providers and facilities have increased coordination needs related to bridging
      their care across health care settings. Women Veterans commonly require a
      combination of VA and community care if they have women-specific specialty care
      needs, such as gynecologic malignancies. OBJECTIVES: We assessed VA women's
      health providers' and administrators' perceptions of coordination challenges for
      Veterans' gynecologic cancer care, and potential approaches for addressing these
      challenges. RESEARCH DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We carried out semistructured
      qualitative interviews with field-based key informants (VA gynecologists, women's
      health medical directors, and other staff directly involved in women's health
      care coordination) at 15 VA facilities. Transcripts were summarized in a template
      to capture key points. Themes were identified and iteratively revised
      (inductively/deductively) via a collaborative decision-making process utilizing
      matrices to compare content across interviews. RESULTS: Key informants (n=23)
      noted that services for patients with gynecologic cancers are provided through a
      combination of VA and community care with wide variation in care arrangements by
      facility. Care coordination challenges included care fragmentation, lack of role
      clarity and care tracking, and difficulties associated with VA and community
      provider communication, patient communication, patient records exchange, and
      authorizations. Care coordination roles suggested for addressing challenges
      included: care tracker, provider point-of-contact, patient liaison, and records
      administrator. CONCLUSIONS: Experiences in coordinating care for women Veterans
      with gynecologic malignancies receiving concurrent VA and community cancer care
      reveal challenges inherent in delivering care across health care systems, as well
      as potential approaches for addressing them.

PMID- 28614185
TI  - Survey Instruments to Assess Patient Experiences With Access and Coordination
      Across Health Care Settings: Available and Needed Measures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Improving access can increase the providers a patient sees, and cause
      coordination challenges. For initiatives that increase care across health care
      settings, measuring patient experiences with access and care coordination will be
      crucial. OBJECTIVES: Map existing survey measures of patient experiences with
      access and care coordination expected to be relevant to patients accessing care
      across settings. Preliminarily examine whether aspects of access and care
      coordination important to patients are represented by existing measures. RESEARCH
      DESIGN: Structured literature review of domains and existing survey measures
      related to access and care coordination across settings. Survey measures, and
      preliminary themes from semistructured interviews of 10 patients offered VA
      purchased Community Care, were mapped to identified domains. RESULTS: We
      identified 31 existing survey instruments with 279 items representing 6 access
      and 5 care coordination domains relevant to cross-system care. Domains frequently
      assessed by existing measures included follow-up coordination, primary care
      access, cross-setting coordination, and continuity. Preliminary issues identified
      in interviews, but not commonly assessed by existing measures included: (1)
      acceptability of distance to care site given patient's clinical situation; (2)
      burden on patients to access and coordinate care and billing; (3) provider
      familiarity with Veteran culture and VA processes. CONCLUSIONS: Existing survey
      instruments assess many aspects of patient experiences with access and care
      coordination in cross-system care. Systems assessing cross-system care should
      consider whether patient surveys accurately reflect the level of patients'
      concerns with burden to access and coordinate care, and adequately reflect the
      impact of clinical severity and cultural familiarity on patient preferences.

PMID- 28614187
TI  - Translational pain assessment: could natural animal models be the missing link?
AB  - Failure of analgesic drugs in clinical development is common. Along with the
      current "reproducibility crisis" in pain research, this has led some to question
      the use of animal models. Experimental models tend to comprise genetically
      homogeneous groups of young, male rodents in restricted and unvarying
      environments, and pain-producing assays that may not closely mimic the natural
      condition of interest. In addition, typical experimental outcome measures using
      thresholds or latencies for withdrawal may not adequately reflect clinical pain
      phenomena pertinent to human patients. It has been suggested that naturally
      occurring disease in veterinary patients may provide more valid models for the
      study of painful disease. Many painful conditions in animals resemble those in
      people. Like humans, veterinary patients are genetically diverse, often live to
      old age, and enjoy a complex environment, often the same as their owners. There
      is increasing interest in the development and validation of outcome measures for
      detecting pain in veterinary patients; these include objective (eg, locomotor
      activity monitoring, kinetic evaluation, quantitative sensory testing, and
      bioimaging) and subjective (eg, pain scales and quality of life scales) measures.
      Veterinary subject diversity, pathophysiological similarities to humans, and
      diverse outcome measures could yield better generalizability of findings and
      improved translation potential, potentially benefiting both humans and animals.
      The Comparative Oncology Trial Consortium in dogs has pawed the way for
      translational research, surmounting the challenges inherent in veterinary
      clinical trials. This review describes numerous conditions similarly applicable
      to pain research, with potential mutual benefits for human and veterinary
      clinicians, and their respective patients.

PMID- 28614188
TI  - Placebo effects of a sham opioid solution: a randomized controlled study in
      patients with chronic low back pain.
AB  - This study tested the experimental placebo effect in a group of chronic pain
      patients. Forty-eight patients having chronic back pain participated in a
      randomized clinical trial that tested the efficacy of a sham opioid solution
      (NaCl) compared with an alleged neutral, completely inactive solution (NaCl). We
      shaped the placebo effect by 2 interventions: verbal instruction and
      conditioning. The patients were either told that the "solution reduces pain and
      improves physical capacity" or the "solution is neutral, a placebo." Half of each
      group was additionally conditioned (coupling solution with reduced experimental
      pain), yielding 4 subgroups with 12 participants each. Outcome measures were as
      follows: the patients' clinical back pain ratings and acute pain ratings (both
      examined by numerical rating scale 0-10) and self-rated functional capacity (0%
      100%; time required for the exercise). Expected pain relief before and after
      solution intake was also assessed. The inactive solution (NaCl), when presented
      as an effective treatment (sham "opioid" solution), induced placebo analgesia as
      evident in lower ratings of the patients' clinical back pain (F(3.12,144.21) =
      25.05, P < 0.001), acute pain ratings (F(1.99,87.40) = 18.12, P < 0.01), and time
      needed to complete a series of daily activities exercises (F(1,44) = 8.51, P <
      0.01) as well as increased functional capacity (F(1,44.00) = 19.42, P < 0.001).
      The 2 manipulations (instruction and conditioning) changed pain expectations, and
      they were maintained in both sham opioid groups. The results suggest that it may
      be clinically useful to explicitly integrate placebo analgesia responses into
      pain management.

PMID- 28614186
TI  - miR-34c-5p functions as pronociceptive microRNA in cancer pain by targeting
      Cav2.3 containing calcium channels.
AB  - Pathophysiological mechanisms underlying pain associated with cancer are poorly
      understood. microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs with emerging
      functional importance in chronic pain. In a genome-wide screen for miRNAs
      regulated in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons in a mouse model of bone
      metastatic pain, we identified miR-34c-5p as a functionally important
      pronociceptive miRNA. Despite these functional insights and therapeutic potential
      for miR-34c-5p, its molecular mechanism of action in peripheral sensory neurons
      remains unknown. Here, we report the identification and validation of key target
      transcripts of miRNA-34c-5p. In-depth bioinformatics analyses revealed Cav2.3,
      P2rx6, Oprd1, and Oprm1 as high confidence putative targets for miRNA-34c-5p. Of
      these, canonical and reciprocal regulation of miR-34c-5p and Cav2.3 was observed
      in cultured sensory neurons as well as in DRG in vivo in mice with cancer pain.
      Coexpression of miR-34c-5p and Cav2.3 was observed in peptidergic and
      nonpeptidergic nociceptors, and luciferase reporter assays confirmed functional
      binding of miR-34c-5p to the 3' UTR of Cav2.3 transcripts. Importantly, knocking
      down the expression of Cav2.3 specifically in DRG neurons led to hypersensitivity
      in mice. In summary, these results show that Cav2.3 is a novel mechanistic target
      for a key pronociceptive miRNA, miR-34c-5p, in the context of cancer pain and
      indicate an antinociceptive role for Cav2.3 in peripheral sensory neurons. The
      current study facilitates a deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms
      underlying cancer pain and suggests a potential for novel therapeutic strategies
      targeting miR-34c-5p and Cav2.3 in cancer pain.

PMID- 28614189
TI  - Dose-response study of topical allyl isothiocyanate (mustard oil) as a human
      surrogate model of pain, hyperalgesia, and neurogenic inflammation.
AB  - Despite being a ubiquitous animal pain model, the natural TRPA1-agonist allyl
      isothiocyanate (AITC, also known as "mustard oil") has only been sparsely
      investigated as a potential human surrogate model of pain, sensitization, and
      neurogenic inflammation. Its dose-response as an algogenic, sensitizing irritant
      remains to be elucidated in human skin. Three concentrations of AITC (10%, 50%,
      and 90%) and vehicle (paraffin) were applied for 5 minutes to 3 * 3 cm areas on
      the volar forearms in 14 healthy volunteers, and evoked pain intensity (visual
      analog scale 0-100 mm) and pain quality were assessed. In addition, a
      comprehensive battery of quantitative sensory tests was conducted, including
      assessment of mechanical and thermal sensitivity. Neurogenic inflammation was
      quantified using full-field laser perfusion imaging. Erythema and
      hyperpigmentation were assessed before, immediately after, and ~64 hours after
      AITC exposure. AITC induced significant dose-dependent, moderate-to-severe
      spontaneous burning pain, mechanical and heat hyperalgesia, and dynamic
      mechanical allodynia (P < 0.05). No significant differences in induced pain
      hypersensitivity were observed between the 50% and 90% AITC concentrations. Acute
      and prolonged inflammation was evoked by all concentrations, and assessments by
      full-field laser perfusion imaging demonstrated a significant dose-dependent
      increase with a ceiling effect from 50% to 90%. Topical AITC application produces
      pain and somatosensory sensitization in a dose-dependent manner with optimal
      concentrations recommended to be >10% and <=50%. The model is translatable to
      humans and could be useful in pharmacological proof-of-concept studies of TRPA1
      antagonists, analgesics, and anti-inflammatory compounds or for exploratory
      clinical purposes, eg, loss- or gain-of-function in peripheral neuropathies.

PMID- 28614190
TI  - Nonhistaminergic and mechanical itch sensitization in atopic dermatitis.
AB  - Chronic or episodic severe itch is recurrent in atopic dermatitis (AD).
      Nonhistaminergic itch pathways are suggested to dominate in AD itch, contributing
      to an "itch-scratch-itch cycle" that prolongs and worsens itch, pain, and skin
      lesions. We hypothesized that nonhistaminergic neuronal sensitization contributes
      to itch in AD. Hence, we compared sensitivity with thermal, mechanical, and
      chemical pruritic stimuli in patients with AD and controls. The study comprised
      25 patients with AD with chronic itch and 25 healthy controls. Questionnaires on
      itch characteristics were administered, and sensory tests were conducted
      intralesionally, extralesionally, and in homologous areas of controls. Thermal
      and mechanical quantitative sensory testing (QST) as well as histamine and
      cowhage provocations were performed. Subsequently, hyperknesis and vasomotor
      reactivity were assessed. Average itch and associated pain among patients with AD
      were 60.7 +/- 4.3 and 39.7 +/- 5.2 (VAS0-100), respectively. Patients experienced
      significantly higher itch from cowhage both intralesionally and extralesionally
      compared with controls, whereas histamine-evoked itch intensity was not
      significantly different between groups. No group differences were found for
      thermal quantitative sensory testings or pain evoked by itch provocations.
      Patients had decreased mechanical detection thresholds intralesionally and
      increased mechanical pain sensitivity intralesionally and extralesionally.
      Lastly, patients exhibited intralesional and extralesional hyperknesis before
      chemical itch provocations and augmented hyperknesis after itch provocations.
      Increased itch in response to cowhage (but not histamine) suggests
      nonhistaminergic pathway-specific itch sensitization in AD, whereas increased
      susceptibility to mechanically evoked itch and pain, particularly intralesionally
      suggests sensitization of mechanosensitive circuitry not normally associated with
      itch. Drugs targeting the nonhistaminergic (PAR2/TRPA1) itch pathway and itch
      sensitization are promising for treating AD itch.

PMID- 28614191
TI  - Anti-CD20 Blocker Rituximab in Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - Rituximab is a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal protein used in various clinical
      scenarios in kidney transplant recipients. However, its evidence-based use there
      remains limited due to lack of controlled studies, limited sample size, short
      follow-up and poorly defined endpoints. Rituximab is indicated for CD20+
      posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder. It may be beneficial for treating
      recurrent membranous nephropathy and recurrent allograft antineutrophilic
      cytoplasmic antibody vasculitis and possibly for recurrent focal segmental
      glomerulosclerosis. Rituximab, in combination with IVIg/plasmapheresis, appears
      to decrease antibody level and increase the odds of transplantation in sensitized
      recipients. The role of Rituximab in ABOi transplant remains unclear, as similar
      outcomes are achieved without its use. Rituximab is not efficacious in antibody
      mediated rejection/chronic antibody-mediated rejection. Strict randomized control
      trials are necessary to elucidate its true role in these settings.

PMID- 28614192
TI  - Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Solid
      Organ Transplantation.
AB  - Antibiotic prophylaxis in the perioperative period is the standard of care for
      nearly all surgical procedures and routinely prescribed during solid organ
      transplantation (SOT). The primary goal of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis
      is to minimize postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs). SSIs are a
      significant issue in SOT. Depending on the organ transplanted, SSIs occur in 3%
      to 53% of patients, with the highest rates observed in small bowel/multivisceral,
      liver, and pancreas transplant recipients. SOT recipients are also at increased
      risk of developing SSIs with antimicrobial-resistant organisms. In this article,
      we describe the epidemiology and risk factors for SSIs in SOT and examine the
      available literature to guide the use of different regimens for perioperative
      antibiotic prophylaxis for each organ. We have further addressed specific
      situations that are unique to each organ transplant type, such as the use of
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in thoracic organ transplantation, as well as
      an approach to perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in the setting of recipient
      and/or donor infection before transplantation. We provide potential approaches to
      the selection, dosing, and duration of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis for
      each of these clinical situations.

PMID- 28614193
TI  - Meta-analysis of Cigarette Smoking and Musculoskeletal Injuries in Military
      Training.
AB  - PURPOSE: Tobacco use is common among military personnel, as is musculoskeletal
      injury during training. In a review of the literature on musculoskeletal
      injuries, there was mixed evidence on the role of smoking as a risk factor. The
      purpose of this study is to review and analyze the literature on the impact of
      cigarette smoking on lower-extremity overuse injuries in military training.
      METHODS: We performed a literature search on articles published through October
      2016. Search terms focused on lower-extremity overuse musculoskeletal injuries
      and cigarette smoking in military populations. We conducted a meta-analysis
      overall and by sex, including smoking intensity. RESULTS: We identified 129
      potential studies and selected 18 based on quality. The overall rate ratio for
      smoking was 1.31, 1.31 for men, and 1.23 for women. Overall and for each sex,
      rate ratios were significantly greater than 1.0 for each intensity level of
      smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking is a moderate risk factor for musculoskeletal
      injury and may account for a meaningful proportion of injuries among men and
      women due to the high prevalence of smoking and injury in this population.
      Although enlistees are not allowed to smoke during basic training, their risk of
      injury remains high, indicating that smokers may remain at increased risk for
      medium- to long-term duration.

PMID- 28614194
TI  - Impact of Three Years of Classroom Physical Activity Bouts on Time-on-Task
      Behavior.
AB  - : Participation in classroom physical activity (PA) may improve time-on-task
      (TOT); however, the influence of sustained moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) on TOT
      is unknown. PURPOSE: To explore the influence of classroom PA delivered with
      academic lessons on TOT, determine if the relationship between classroom PA and
      TOT differs by age, sex, race/ethnicity, weight or baseline fitness, and identify
      the influence of MVPA on TOT when controlling for demographic variables. METHODS:
      Teachers in intervention schools were asked to deliver two 10-min PA lessons per
      day, 5 d.wk. PA was observed in both intervention and control schools to
      determine the amount and intensity of PA. Time-on-task was observed before and
      immediately after PA. Anthropometrics and fitness were assessed at baseline and
      end of the school year for 3 yr. Multilevel modeling was used to estimate overall
      group difference, change over the study, and group difference in change while
      accounting for covariates. RESULTS: Students who participated in PA lessons
      engaged in significantly more MVPA than those in the control schools in all 3 yr
      (all P < 0.001). There was a significant linear increase in the percent of TOT
      before PA lessons for both control and intervention groups over the 3-yr period
      (P < 0.001), with no group difference. The intervention group spent significantly
      more TOT (P = 0.01) after PA than the control group. The percent of time spent in
      MVPA was significantly associated with the percent of TOT (P < 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that children who received PA lessons participated
      in significantly more MVPA than those who did not and that PA was significantly
      associated with more TOT. These findings provide support for classroom PA as a
      means of increasing TOT in elementary age children.

PMID- 28614195
TI  - Assessment of Knee Kinematics in Older Adults Using High-Speed Stereo
      Radiography.
AB  - PURPOSE: Quantification of knee motion is essential for assessment of pathologic
      joint function, such as tracking osteoarthritis progression and evaluating
      outcomes after conservative or surgical treatment, including total knee
      arthroplasty. Our purpose was to establish a useful baseline for the kinematic
      envelope of knee motion in healthy older adults performing movements of daily
      living. METHODS: A high-speed stereo radiography system was used to measure the
      three-dimensional tibiofemoral kinematics of eight healthy people over 55 yr of
      age (4 women/4 men; age, 61.7 +/- 5.4 yr; body mass, 74.6 +/- 7.7 kg; body mass
      index, 26.7 +/- 4.4 kg.m; height, 168.2 +/- 13.7 cm) during seated knee
      extension, level walking, pivoting, and step descent. RESULTS: Internal-external
      and varus-valgus rotation and anterior-posterior range of motion through stance
      in normal walking averaged 3.6 degrees  +/- 1.1 degrees , 2.3 degrees  +/- 0.6
      degrees , and 3.4 +/- 1.57 mm, respectively. Average range of motion across
      subjects was greater during the step-down in both internal-external rotation
      (average, 6.5 degrees  +/- 3.1 degrees ) and anterior-posterior translation
      (average, 4.5 +/- 1.1). Average internal-external range of motion increased to
      13.5 degrees  +/- 3.6 degrees  during pivoting. Range of motion of the knee in
      varus-valgus rotation was nearly the same for each subject across activities,
      rarely exceeding 6 degrees . CONCLUSIONS: Pivoting and step descending during
      walking had greater internal-external rotation and anterior-posterior translation
      than normal gait. Internal-external rotation and anterior-posterior translation
      were shown to have greater activity dependence, whereas varus-valgus rotation was
      consistent across activities. These results were similar to prior measurements in
      younger cohorts, though a trend toward reduced range of motion in the older
      adults was observed.

PMID- 28614196
TI  - Superiority of Serum Cystatin C Over Creatinine in Prediction of Long-Term
      Prognosis at Discharge From ICU.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Renal outcomes after critical illness are seldom assessed despite
      strong correlation between chronic kidney disease and survival. Outside hospital,
      renal dysfunction is more strongly associated with mortality when assessed by
      serum cystatin C than by creatinine. The relationship between creatinine and
      longer term mortality might be particularly weak in survivors of critical
      illness. DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study. PATIENTS: In 3,077
      adult ICU survivors, we compared ICU discharge cystatin C and creatinine and
      their association with 1-year mortality. Exclusions were death within 72 hours of
      ICU discharge, ICU stay less than 24 hours, and end-stage renal disease.
      INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: During ICU admission, serum
      cystatin C and creatinine diverged, so that by ICU discharge, almost twice as
      many patients had glomerular filtration rate less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m when
      estimated from cystatin C compared with glomerular filtration rate estimated from
      creatinine, 44% versus 26%. In 743 patients without acute kidney injury, where
      ICU discharge renal function should reflect ongoing baseline, discharge
      glomerular filtration rate estimated from creatinine consistently overestimated
      follow-up glomerular filtration rate estimated from creatinine, whereas ICU
      discharge glomerular filtration rate estimated from cystatin C well matched
      follow-up chronic kidney disease status. By 1 year, 535 (17.4%) had died. In
      survival analysis adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidity, cystatin C was near
      linearly associated with increased mortality, hazard ratio equals to 1.78 (95%
      CI, 1.46-2.18), 75th versus 25th centile. Conversely, creatinine demonstrated a J
      shaped relationship with mortality, so that in the majority of patients, there
      was no significant association with survival, hazard ratio equals to 1.03 (0.87
      1.2), 75th versus 25th centile. After adjustment for both creatinine and cystatin
      C levels, higher discharge creatinine was then associated with lower long-term
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to creatinine, cystatin C consistently
      associated with long-term mortality, identifying patients at both high and low
      risk, and better correlated with follow-up renal function. Conversely, lower
      creatinine relative to cystatin C appeared to confer adverse prognosis,
      confounding creatinine interpretation in isolation. Cystatin C warrants further
      investigation as a more meaningful measure of renal function after critical
      illness.

PMID- 28614198
TI  - The Almost-Normal Liver Biopsy: Presentation, Clinical Associations, and Outcome.
AB  - Liver biopsies obtained for abnormal liver enzymes or unexplained ascites
      occasionally appear histologically almost normal. The differential diagnosis for
      these cases is challenging because literature addressing this topic is lacking.
      We aimed to establish a differential diagnosis and determine clinical
      associations and outcomes for almost-normal liver biopsies. Ninety-seven
      histologically almost-normal liver biopsies were collected from 2 institutions.
      All cases lacked significant inflammation, fatty change, biliary tract disease,
      vascular disease, nodular regenerative hyperplasia, iron overload, inherited
      metabolic or storage disorder, viral hepatitis, or fibrosis. Biopsies for follow
      up of known liver diseases were excluded. Transplant biopsies, lesion-directed
      biopsies, biopsies obtained during bariatric surgery, liver donor biopsies, and
      biopsies to evaluate methotrexate toxicity were excluded. Clinical (including
      follow-up) and laboratory data were collected. The frequency of almost-normal
      liver biopsies was 0.6% and 3.7% at the 2 institutions. The most common biopsy
      indications were elevated liver biochemistries or clinical findings that
      suggested portal hypertension. In 70 patients (72%), an associated clinical
      abnormality was identified; the most common were autoimmune systemic inflammatory
      conditions (18%), vascular/ischemic events (13%), metabolic syndrome (11%), drug
      effects (8%), and inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract (7%). The
      median follow-up period was 4.3 years (range=0 to 10 y); detailed clinical follow
      up was available for 66 patients (68%). Liver biochemistries normalized in 32
      patients (48.5%) and remained elevated in 34 (51.5%). Seven patients (7.2%)
      eventually developed chronic liver disease (autoimmune hepatitis [n=3], primary
      biliary cirrhosis [n=3], cryptogenic cirrhosis [n=1]). This multicenter study
      determines the differential diagnosis for almost-normal liver biopsies; this will
      guide pathologists in subsequent workup efforts in these challenging cases.

PMID- 28614200
TI  - Priority for Description of the MELF Pattern of Myoinvasive Endometrioid
      Carcinoma.

PMID- 28614199
TI  - WNT Pathway Gene Mutations Are Associated With the Presence of Dysplasia in
      Colorectal Sessile Serrated Adenoma/Polyps.
AB  - Sessile serrated adenoma/polyps (SSA/Ps) are believed to be the major precursor
      of serrated pathway-derived colorectal carcinomas. To better characterize the
      process of progression from SSA/Ps to carcinomas, we analyzed 46 SSA/Ps with
      dysplasia and 45 SSA/Ps without dysplasia using targeted next-generation
      sequencing and immunohistochemistry. Among the WNT pathway genes analyzed,
      protein-truncating mutations of RNF43, APC, and ZNRF3 were identified in 23
      (50%), 4 (9%), and 3 (7%) SSA/Ps with dysplasia, respectively. In contrast,
      SSA/Ps without dysplasia rarely had WNT pathway gene mutations, except for 3
      lesions with RNF43 mutations (7%). None of the SSA/Ps had CTNNB1 mutations or
      RSPO fusions. Thus, WNT pathway gene mutations were more common in SSA/Ps with
      dysplasia than in SSA/Ps without dysplasia (P=3.0*10). Consistently, nuclear beta
      catenin accumulation and MYC overexpression, indicative of active WNT signaling,
      were present in most of the SSA/Ps with dysplasia, but were rare in those without
      dysplasia. BRAF (86%) or KRAS mutations (7%) were identified in the majority of
      SSA/Ps, regardless of the presence or absence of dysplasia. MLH1 expression was
      lost in 14 SSA/Ps with dysplasia (30%). The majority of MLH1-deficient SSA/Ps
      with dysplasia had RNF43 mutations (86%), most of which were frameshift mutations
      involving mononucleotide repeats. In contrast, MLH1-retained lesions had less
      frequent RNF43 mutations with no hot spots (34%), and 4 had APC mutations (13%).
      These results suggest that WNT pathway gene mutations are involved in the
      development of dysplasia in SSA/Ps and that MLH1-deficient and MLH1-retained
      SSA/Ps with dysplasia exhibit distinct mutation profiles of WNT pathway genes.

PMID- 28614201
TI  - Role of Lymphovascular Invasion in Pattern C Invasive Endocervical
      Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) has been reported as an independent predictor of
      patient outcome in cervical carcinoma. However, not all studies support
      independent significance, especially in multivariable analyses. A risk
      stratification system recently introduced for endocervical adenocarcinoma was
      reported to better predict risk of lymph node (LN) metastasis. A subset of
      patients with tumors with pattern C features had LN metastasis and died of
      disease. In this study, we determined whether LVI had any additional significance
      in this subset of tumors. A total of 127 patients with pattern C tumors and at
      least 12-month follow-up were included. Tumors were separated into 3 subgroups.
      Those with no LVI and negative LNs represented 41 cases; most patients (36, 88%)
      were alive with no evidence of disease at last follow-up, whereas 4 (10%) died of
      disease, all after tumor recurrence/metastasis. Tumors with LVI, but negative
      LNs, represented 55 cases; recurrences were seen in 10 (18%) patients, of which 5
      (50%) of them died of disease; remaining 5 patients are alive with persistent
      disease. Tumors with both LVI and positive LNs represented 31 cases; recurrences
      were seen in 13 (42%) patients; 11 (85%) patients died of disease and 2 are alive
      with persistent disease. One additional patient who presented with advanced stage
      also died of disease. Tumor size, horizontal spread, and LN status were
      significantly associated with outcome in univariate, but not in multivariable
      analysis; depth of invasion was not a predictor of outcome. Tumors with no LVI
      and negative LNs behaved significantly less aggressively than tumors with both
      LVI and positive LNs (P<0.01). LVI status (independent of LN status) was not
      significantly associated with patient outcome, although approached significance
      (P=0.06). In conclusion, LVI is a prerequisite for LN metastasis; however, by
      itself is not sufficient to predict tumor aggressiveness, whereas over 50% of
      patients with positive LNs died of disease. Stratifying pattern C tumors into
      subgroups based on LVI and LN status could further determine treatment in
      patients with pattern C tumors.

PMID- 28614197
TI  - Sedation Management in Children Supported on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
      for Acute Respiratory Failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe sedation management in children supported on
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory failure. DESIGN:
      Secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from a multicenter randomized
      trial of sedation (Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory
      Failure). SETTING: Twenty-one U.S. PICUs. PATIENTS: One thousand two hundred
      fifty-five children, 2 weeks to 17 years old, with moderate/severe pediatric
      acute respiratory distress syndrome. INTERVENTIONS: Sedation managed per usual
      care or Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure
      protocol. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Sixty-one Randomized Evaluation of
      Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure patients (5%) with moderate/severe
      pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome were supported on extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation, including 29 managed per Randomized Evaluation of Sedation
      Titration for Respiratory Failure protocol. Most extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation patients received neuromuscular blockade (46%) or were heavily
      sedated with State Behavioral Scale scores -3/-2 (34%) by extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation day 3. Median opioid and benzodiazepine doses on the day of
      cannulation, 0.15 mg/kg/hr (3.7 mg/kg/d) and 0.11 mg/kg/hr (2.8 mg/kg/d),
      increased by 36% and 58%, respectively, by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      day 3. In the 41 patients successfully decannulated prior to study discharge,
      patients were receiving 0.40 mg/kg/hr opioids (9.7 mg/kg/d) and 0.39 mg/kg/hr
      benzodiazepines (9.4 mg/kg/d) at decannulation, an increase from cannulation of
      108% and 192%, respectively (both p < 0.001). Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      patients experienced more clinically significant iatrogenic withdrawal than
      moderate/severe pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome patients managed
      without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (p < 0.001). Compared to
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients managed per Randomized Evaluation of
      Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure protocol, usual care extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation patients received more opioids during the study period (mean
      cumulative dose of 183.0 vs 89.8 mg/kg; p = 0.02), over 6.5 greater exposure days
      (p = 0.002) with no differences in wakefulness or agitation. CONCLUSIONS: In
      children, the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support is
      associated with deep sedation, substantial sedative exposure, and increased
      frequency of iatrogenic withdrawal syndrome. A standardized, goal-directed, nurse
      driven sedation protocol may help mitigate these effects.

PMID- 28614202
TI  - Further Exploration of the Complexities of Large B-Cell Lymphomas With MYC
      Abnormalities and the Importance of a Blastoid Morphology.
AB  - The 2016 World Health Organization classification recognized "high-grade B-cell
      lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements" (double/triple-hit
      lymphoma [DTHL]) and "high-grade B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified," which
      includes non-DTHL with a "blastoid" or "intermediate" cytology. Although
      extensively studied, many questions remain, including which cases belong in these
      categories, which factors mitigate their adverse prognosis, and when to perform
      fluorescence in situ hybridization studies. Therefore, the clinicopathologic
      features of 187 large B-cell lymphomas with MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 fluorescence in
      situ hybridization were investigated. There were 47 DTHLs, 36 cases with MYC and
      BCL2 and/or BCL6 extra signals (ES) and/or rearrangements (ES group, excludes
      DTHLs), 9 with MYC rearrangements only (single-hit lymphoma), and 95 with no MYC
      abnormalities (NM). Patients with DTHLs, but not single-hit lymphomas, had a
      significantly worse prognosis compared with those with NM (P=0.0079). The ES
      group with at least 1 rearrangement had a worse prognosis compared with the NM/ES
      without rearrangement group (P<0.02). Blastoid, but not intermediate cases, were
      enriched in DTHLs (P<0.0001) and had a significantly worse prognosis even among
      DTHLs (P=0.0282). The prognosis of the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and
      intermediate groups was similar. International Prognostic Index score was of
      prognostic importance for the entire group and for DTHLs (P=0.0074). About 93% of
      DTHLs were of GCB type but 24% had <40% MYC+ cells. Among the DTHLs, MYC+BCL2+
      double expressor cases had a worse prognosis (P=0.0328). These results highlight
      the importance of morphologic, phenotypic, and clinical variations among the
      DTHLs and suggest that a diagnosis equivalent to DTHL should not be made based
      solely on ES for MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6.

PMID- 28614203
TI  - GATA3 Immunohistochemistry for Distinguishing Sarcomatoid and Desmoplastic
      Mesothelioma From Sarcomatoid Carcinoma of the Lung.
AB  - The separation of sarcomatoid and desmoplastic malignant mesotheliomas from
      sarcomatoid carcinomas of the lung metastatic to the pleura may be difficult,
      since both types of tumor can be morphologically similar and are frequently
      positive only for pan-keratin. GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) is most commonly
      used as an immunohistochemical marker of breast and urothelial carcinoma, but is
      also known to stain other types of tumors including some mesotheliomas. In this
      study we asked whether GATA3 stains could be used to distinguish
      sarcomatoid/desmoplastic malignant mesotheliomas (N=19) from sarcomatoid
      carcinomas of the lung (N=13). Tumor staining was scored for diffuseness and
      intensity, with a maximum possible score of 6. All 19 sarcomatoid/desmoplastic
      malignant mesotheliomas examined showed strong diffuse staining for GATA3 (no
      case scored <3, mean score+/-SD for all 19 cases 5.4+/-0.9), whereas only 2 of 13
      sarcomatoid carcinomas of the lung stained positively for GATA3 and the staining
      was weak and patchy (score 2 for each case, mean+/-SD for all 13 cases 0.4+/
      0.8). There was no correlation between the intensity and diffuseness of GATA-3
      staining and staining for traditional mesothelioma markers. Overall, any positive
      staining for GATA3 was 100% sensitive and 85% specific for
      sarcomatoid/desmoplastic mesothelioma. We conclude that strong diffuse staining
      for GATA3 favors a diagnosis of sarcomatoid/desmoplastic malignant mesothelioma
      over metastatic sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung; conversely, complete absence
      of GATA-3 staining is evidence against a diagnosis of sarcomatoid/desmoplastic
      malignant mesothelioma.

PMID- 28614205
TI  - Spectrum of Changes in Anogenital Mammary-like Glands in Primary Extramammary
      (Anogenital) Paget Disease and Their Possible Role in the Pathogenesis of the
      Disease.
AB  - To determine whether a subset of primary extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) may
      originate in anogenital mammary-like glands (AGMLG), the authors studied 181
      specimens of EMPD, detailing alterations in AGMLG. The latter were identified in
      33 specimens from 31 patients. All patients were women, ranging in age from 38 to
      93 years (median, 65 y). In all cases, lesions involved the vulva and in 1
      patient the perianal skin was affected. Histopathologically, AGMLG manifested
      changes identical to columnar cell change (CCC) (87.1%), usual ductal hyperplasia
      (22.6%), columnar cell hyperplasia (CCH) (9.7%), oxyphilic (apocrine) metaplasia
      (6.5%), and atypical duct hyperplasia (3.2%). Four cases (12.9%), in addition to
      intraepidermal carcinoma, harbored invasive carcinoma. In all 4 of these, AGMLG
      displayed a range of alterations including ductal carcinoma in situ, CCC, and
      CCH. Three further cases (9.7%) showed ductal carcinoma in situ without any
      definite invasive carcinoma. Colonization of AGMLG by neoplastic Paget cells was
      noted in 6 cases. As CCC and CCH may be encountered in normal AGMLG, these
      alterations are unlikely to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of the
      disease. However, by analogy with mammary Paget disease, rare cases of primary
      EMPD may originate in AGMLG with a subsequent upward migration of the neoplastic
      cells into the epidermis and possible later breach through the basal membrane.
      Usual ductal hyperplasia and atypical duct hyperplasia can then be regarded as
      earlier precursor lesions, linking both ends of the spectrum.

PMID- 28614207
TI  - The Advantage of Discordance: An Example Using the Highly Subjective Nuclear
      Grading of Breast Cancer.
AB  - Discordance among multiple assessments has been a reason to criticize a
      biomarker. But, if different assessments are all relevant, the meaning of
      discordance requires explanation. As an example, for 1085 breast cancers, a low
      (score 1), intermediate (score 2) or high nuclear grade (NG) (score 3) was
      assigned in years 2013, 2015, 2016. Year apart readings allowed for memory lapse
      of prior readings. For each cancer, scores for NG2013, NG2015, NG2016 were added
      together to yield sum score nuclear grade (SSNG) with range 3 to 9. SSNG was used
      to find if discrepancy between NG readings carried information for patient
      outcome. Discrepancies were inherent with SSNG=4, 5, 7 or 8. Time-dependent
      receiver operator curves were central for evaluating discordance as related to
      patient outcome. Area under curves for SSNG, and the component NGs, in stage 1,
      stage 2, and stage 3 cancers were, respectively: SSNG: 70, 68, 75; NG2013: 70,
      63, 71; NG2015: 67, 65, 74; and NG2016: 65, 66, 68. The area under curves of SSNG
      was not significantly lower than any of the components from which it was derived.
      This is despite discordant readings having been incorporated into SSNG. Among the
      3 readings, 50.1% were discordant, yet only 2.1% were low/high discrepancy.
      Concordance in high-grade assignment (SSNG=9) corresponded to poor prognosis. If
      morphologic features are midway between 2 predefined levels it is sensible that
      separate readings will be distributed between adjacent levels. Shown has been how
      an "in-between" level helps predict survival then discordance discovery offers
      classification. Discordance discovery can conceivably be embraced for real-world
      applications.

PMID- 28614206
TI  - Prognostic Significance of New AJCC Tumor Stage in Patients With Pancreatic
      Ductal Adenocarcinoma Treated With Neoadjuvant Therapy.
AB  - The American Joint Committee for Cancer has adopted a size-based T stage system
      (eighth edition) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), defined as follows:
      pT1<=2 cm (pT1a<=0.5 cm, pT1b>0.5 and<1 cm, and pT1c 1-2 cm); pT2>2 and <=4 cm;
      and pT3> 4 cm. However, the prognostic value of this new T staging system has not
      been validated in patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) after
      neoadjuvant therapy. In this study, we analyzed 398 PDAC patients who underwent
      neoadjuvant therapy and PD at our institution from 1999 to 2012. The results were
      correlated with clinicopathologic parameters and survival. The new T stage
      correlated with lymph nodes metastasis (P<0.001), tumor response grade (P<0.001),
      disease-free survival (DFS, P<0.001) and overall survival (OS, P<0.001). None of
      the patients with ypT0 had recurrence or died of disease. Among the patients with
      ypT1 disease, patients with ypT1a and ypT1b had better DFS (P=0.046) and OS
      (P=0.03) than those with ypT1c. However, there was no significant difference in
      either DFS or OS between ypT1c and ypT2 or between ypT2 and ypT3 groups (P>0.05).
      In multivariate analysis, new ypT3 stage was associated with shorter OS (P=0.04),
      but not DFS (P=0.16). Our results show that the new ypT stage better stratify
      survival than the ypT stage in American Joint Committee for Cancer seventh
      edition for PDAC patients who received PD after neoadjuvant therapy, and that
      tumor size cutoff of 1.0 cm work better for ypT2 than the proposed tumor size
      cutoff of 2.0 cm in this group of patients.

PMID- 28614208
TI  - IL-8 Expression in Granulocytic Epithelial Lesions of Idiopathic Duct-centric
      Pancreatitis (Type 2 Autoimmune Pancreatitis).
AB  - Type 2 autoimmune pancreatitis (type 2 AIP) develops in isolation or sometimes in
      association with ulcerative colitis. Its diagnosis requires the histologic
      confirmation of granulocytic epithelial lesions (GELs) with no diagnostic
      biomarker currently available. This study aimed to elucidate the tissue
      expression of cytokines and their diagnostic value in this condition. In
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction for multiple cytokines using tissue
      derived mRNA, the expression level of interleukin (IL)-8 was markedly higher in
      type 2 AIP than in type 1 AIP (P<0.001). In immunostaining, IL-8 expression was
      detected in the ductal/ductular epithelium (11/13; 85%) and infiltrating
      neutrophils or lymphocytes (12/12; 100%) in type 2 AIP, but was almost entirely
      negative in type 1 AIP (n=13; both, P<0.001). Although obstructive pancreatitis
      adjacent to pancreatic cancers (peritumoral pancreatitis) exhibited IL-8
      expression in the epithelium (3/12; 25%) and inflammatory cells (10/12; 83%),
      expression levels were significantly lower than those in type 2 AIP (P<0.001 and
      0.020, respectively). The presence of either GELs or IL-8-positive epithelium
      discriminated type 2 AIP from type 1 AIP or obstructive pancreatitis with 92%
      sensitivity and 92% to 100% specificity. Furthermore, CD3/IL-8-coexpressing
      lymphocytes were almost restricted to type 2 AIP. Interestingly, a similar
      pattern of IL-8 expression was also observed in colonic biopsies of ulcerative
      colitis. In conclusion, the overexpression of IL-8 may underlie the development
      of GELs in type 2 AIP, and IL-8 immunostaining or IL-8/CD3 double staining may
      become an ancillary method for its diagnosis. The similar expression pattern of
      IL-8 in ulcerative colitis also suggests a pathogenetic link between the 2
      conditions.

PMID- 28614209
TI  - Newly Described Entities in Salivary Gland Pathology.
AB  - Salivary glands may give rise to a wide spectrum of different tumors. This review
      concentrates on 4 salivary gland tumors that have been accepted in the recent
      literature as new neoplastic entities: mammary analog secretory carcinoma,
      cribriform adenocarcinoma of minor salivary glands (CASG), sclerosing polycystic
      adenosis/adenoma (SPA), and the mucinous/secretory variant of myoepithelioma.
      Mammary analog secretory carcinoma is a distinctive low-grade malignant salivary
      cancer that harbors a characteristic chromosomal translocation, t(12;15)
      (p13;q25), resulting in an ETV6-NTRK3 fusion. Cribriform adenocarcinoma (CASG) is
      a distinct tumor entity that differs from polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma
      by location (ie, most often arising on the tongue), by prominent nuclear
      clearing, differing alterations of the PRKD gene family, and clinical behavior
      with frequent metastases at the time of presentation of the primary tumor. Early
      nodal metastatic disease is seen in most cases of CASG; yet, they are still
      associated with indolent clinical behavior, making it a unique neoplasm among all
      low-grade salivary gland tumors. SPA is a rare sclerosing tumor of the salivary
      glands characterized by the combination of cystic ductal structures with variable
      cell lining including vacuolated, apocrine, mucinous, squamous, and foamy cells,
      by prominent large acinar cells with coarse eosinophilic cytoplasmic zymogen-like
      granules, and by closely packed ductal structures, surrounded by a peripheral
      myoepithelial layer and stromal fibrosis with focal inflammatory infiltrates. SPA
      frequently harbors intraductal epithelial dysplastic proliferations ranging from
      mild dysplasia to severe dysplasia/carcinoma in situ. Moreover, SPA has been
      proven to be a clonal process by HUMARA assay and is associated with considerable
      risk of recurrence. Therefore, on the basis of all these newly recognized
      findings, we believe that SPA is likely a neoplasm, and we suggest the name
      "sclerosing polycystic adenoma." The mucinous variant of myoepithelioma is a
      myoepithelial tumor with foci of prominent cytoplasmic clearing frequently
      containing intracellular mucin material and having signet-ring morphology.

PMID- 28614210
TI  - Congenital Syphilis of Bone: A Potential Mimicker of Childhood Histiocytoses.
AB  - Involvement of the skeletal system by congenital syphilis is well documented in
      the literature, chiefly in the form of radiologic studies, including periostitis,
      osteitis, and osteochondritis. Because congenital syphilis is generally
      recognized clinically, tissue biopsy is virtually never performed. Therefore, the
      histopathologic findings are less well documented and mostly exist in the older
      literature. We report herein the clinicoradiologic and pathologic features of a 2
      month-old infant who initially presented with absence of left arm movement.
      Radiographs of the left humerus revealed a mid diaphyseal cortical
      irregularity/lytic lesion and periosteal reaction. Follow-up skeletal survey
      showed similar findings in other extremity long bones. A bone biopsy of the
      humeral lesion revealed a destructive fibrohistiocytic process composed of a
      sheet-like proliferation of epithelioid to spindled histiocytes, without obvious
      granulomas, accompanied by occasional lymphocytes and neutrophils with rare
      plasma cells. Immunohistochemical stains showed diffuse positivity for CD31,
      CD68, and S-100, but CD1a was negative. Initially, the case was interpreted as
      "atypical fibrohistiocytic proliferation," favoring Langerhans cell
      histiocytosis. A few days later the results of serologic testing revealed a rapid
      plasma reagin of 1:256. Immunostaining for Treponema pallidum on the initial
      biopsy confirmed the presence of innumerable spirochetes, with a predilection for
      blood vessels. The patient was treated with a 10-day course of intravenous
      penicillin with complete resolution of the bone lesions and resulting
      symptomatology. To our knowledge, the above pathologic features of congenital
      syphilis of bone, especially in regards to its mimicry of childhood
      histiocytoses, have not been previously reported.

PMID- 28614211
TI  - Mixed Gonadal Germ Cell Tumor Composed of a Spermatocytic Tumor-Like Component
      and Germinoma Arising in Gonadoblastoma in a Phenotypic Woman With a 46, XX
      Peripheral Karyotype: Report of the First Case.
AB  - We report a unique case of gonadal mixed germ cell tumor (GCT) composed of a
      predominantly spermatocytic tumor (ST)-like component and a minor component of
      germinoma arising in gonadoblastoma in a phenotypic woman with a 46, XX
      peripheral karotype. The patient was a 24-year-old woman (gravida 2, para 1)
      found to have a 7 cm pelvic mass during routine obstetric ultrasound examination
      at 20 weeks gestational age. She underwent a left salpingo-gonadectomy at
      gestational age 23 and 2/7 weeks. She recovered well and delivered a healthy baby
      at full term. The resected gonadal tumor measured 7.5 cm and microscopically was
      composed of 3 morphologically distinct components: gonadoblastoma (1%), germinoma
      (1%) and a ST-like component (98%). The ST-like component was composed of 3
      populations of tumor cells: small cells, intermediate and large sized cells,
      similar to testicular ST. Scattered binucleated and multinucleated cells were
      present. Immunohistochemically the ST-like component was positive for pan-GCT
      markers SALL4 and LIN28 but with weaker staining than the germinoma. It was
      negative for OCT4 and TCL1. Only rare tumor cells were positive for SOX17. In
      contrast, the germinoma cells were diffusely and strongly positive for SALL4,
      LIN28, OCT4, SOX17, and TCL1. CD117 was positive in both the germinoma and ST
      like component but with fewer tumor cells positive in the latter. Flurorescence
      in situ hybridization study demonstrated isochromosome 12p in the germinoma
      component but not in the gonadoblastoma and ST-like component. This patient did
      not receive further chemoradiation therapy after the surgery. She has been free
      of disease for 10 years and 1 month since her surgery. To our knowledge, this is
      the first case report of a ST-like GCT in a phenotypic female.

PMID- 28614212
TI  - Phosphaturic Mesenchymal Tumors: Clinicopathologic, Immunohistochemical and
      Molecular Analysis of 22 Cases Expanding their Morphologic and Immunophenotypic
      Spectrum.
AB  - Phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor (PMT) is a rare neoplasm of uncertain histogenesis
      that has been linked to tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) since 1959. The
      neoplastic cells produce increased amount of FGF23 which results in TIO via
      uncontrolled renal loss of phosphate (phosphaturia), and consequently diminished
      bone mineralization. To date, ~300 cases have been reported. Although there is
      increasing evidence that PMT can be diagnosed by reproducible histopathologic
      features, firm diagnosis has been often restricted to cases associated with TIO
      and, hence, diagnosis of "nonphosphaturic variants" remained challenging.
      Recently, FGFR1/FN1 gene fusions were detected in roughly half of cases. We
      herein reviewed the clinicopathologic features of 22 PMTs (15 cases not published
      before), stained them with an extended immunohistochemical marker panel and
      examined them by fluorescence in situ hybridization for FGFR1 gene fusions.
      Patients were 12 males and 9 females (one of unknown sex) aged 33 to 83 years
      (median: 52 y). Lesions affected the soft tissues (n=11), bones (n=6), sinonasal
      tract (n=4), and unspecified site (n=1). Most lesions originated in the
      extremities (9 in the lower and 4 in the upper extremities). Acral sites were
      involved in 10 patients (6 foot/heel, 3 fingers/hands, and 1 in unspecified
      digit). Phosphaturia and TIO were recorded in 10/11 and 9/14 patients with
      detailed clinical data, respectively. Limited follow-up (5 mo to 14 y; median: 16
      mo) was available for 14 patients. Local recurrence was noted in one patient and
      metastasis in another patient. Histologically, 11 tumors were purely of
      conventional mixed connective tissue type, 3 were chondromyxoid fibroma-like, 2
      were hemangio-/glomangiopericytoma-like with giant cells, and 1 case each
      angiomyolipoma-like and reparative giant cell granuloma-like. Four tumors
      contained admixture of patterns (predominantly cellular with variable
      conventional component). Immunohistochemistry showed consistent expression of
      CD56 (11/11; 100%), ERG (19/21; 90%), SATB2 (19/21; 90%), and somatostatin
      receptor 2A (15/19; 79%), while other markers tested negative: DOG1 (0/17), beta
      catenin (0/14), S100 protein (0/14), and STAT6 (0/7). FGFR1 fluorescence in situ
      hybridization was positive in 8/17 (47%) evaluable cases. These results add to
      the phenotypic delineation of PMT reporting for the first time consistent
      expression of SATB2 and excluding any phenotypic overlap with solitary fibrous
      tumor or sinonasal glomangiopericytoma. The unifying immunophenotype of the
      neoplastic cells irrespective of the histologic pattern suggests a specific
      disease entity with diverse morphotypes/variants rather than different neoplasms
      unified by TIO.

PMID- 28614213
TI  - Pathologic Separation of Chronic Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis From Fibrotic
      Connective Tissue Disease-associated Interstitial Lung Disease.
AB  - Chronic (fibrotic) hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and fibrosing interstitial
      pneumonias associated with connective tissue disease (CTD-ILD) can be difficult
      to distinguish in biopsy specimens. To investigate features that might separate
      these entities, 2 pathologists blinded to the diagnoses reviewed 16 cases of
      chronic HP and 12 cases of CTD-ILD. Fifteen predefined parameters were examined
      by morphometric point counting, analysis/cm of lung tissue, or presence/absence.
      Germinal centers were present in a minority of patients, but favored a diagnosis
      of CTD-ILD (7/12 CTD vs. 2/16 HP; odds ratio, 9.80 [95% confidence interval, 1.50
      63.4]; P=0.02). The number of lymphoid aggregates/cm (4.4+/-3.1 vs. 1.4+/-1.0;
      P=0.001), volume proportion of plasma cells (0.076+/-0.058 vs. 0.031+/-0.023;
      P=0.031), and plasma cell: lymphocyte ratio (1.03+/-0.71 vs. 0.35+/-0.22;
      P=0.001) were all significantly higher in CTD compared with HP. A diagnosis of HP
      was more common in the presence of peribronchiolar metaplasia (12/16 HP vs. 4/12
      CTD; odds ratio, 6.00 [95% confidence interval, 1.15-31.2]; P=0.033) and in
      patients with a greater fraction of bronchioles showing peribronchiolar
      metaplasia (0.41+/-0.33 vs. 0.16+/-0.27; P<0.001). Number of fibroblast foci/cm,
      distribution of fibroblast foci, pattern of fibrosis, presence of giant
      cells/granulomas, and volume proportion of lymphocytes or eosinophils did not
      distinguish chronic HP from CTD-ILD. We conclude that no single morphologic
      measure definitively separates chronic HP from CTD-ILD lung biopsies, but
      numerous foci of peribronchiolar metaplasia favor HP, while the presence of
      germinal centers, large numbers of lymphoid aggregates, or a high plasma cell:
      lymphocyte ratio suggests CTD-ILD. Multidisciplinary discussion is often
      necessary for accurate classification inthis setting.

PMID- 28614214
TI  - A rare case of multiple thrombi in a giant left atrium.

PMID- 28614215
TI  - Effects of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) on the progression of advanced
      liver disease: A Korean nationwide, multicenter, retrospective, observational,
      cohort study.
AB  - Evidence of the potential benefits of long-term oral branched-chain amino acid
      (BCAA) supplementation in reducing the severity of liver disease is
      limited.Patients who were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis with a Child-Pugh (CP)
      score of 8-10 were included. The BCAA group consumed BCAAs daily for at least 6
      months, and the control group consumed a diet without BCAA. We analyzed the
      improvements based on the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, CP
      score, incidence of cirrhosis-related complications, and event-free survival over
      2 years. Among the 867 recruited patients, 307 (166 in the BCAA group and 141 in
      the control group) were analyzed. The BCAA group was divided into 3 subgroups,
      whose patients consumed 4.15 g, 8.3 g, or 12.45 g of BCAAs daily for the
      analysis. There were significant differences in the CP score, albumin, and
      hepatic encephalopathy between the 2 groups at baseline. After matching the
      propensity scores, we analyzed patients in the BCAA-12.45 g group (12.45 g of
      BCAAs daily, n = 41) and matched control group (n = 41). The MELD score
      significantly improved in the BCCA-12.45 g group compared to the matched control
      group (P = .004). The changes in the serum bilirubin level (P = .014) and CP
      score (P = .033) over time also differed significantly between the 2 groups. The
      incidence rates of cirrhosis-related complications (P = .973) and development of
      hepatocellular carcinoma (2 cases each) did not differ significantly between the
      2 groups.Long-term oral BCAA supplementation has beneficial effects in patients
      with advanced liver cirrhosis. A further large-scale prospective study is needed
      to delineate these beneficial effects.

PMID- 28614216
TI  - Refractory adult-onset Still disease complicated by macrophage activation
      syndrome and acute myocarditis: A case report treated with high doses (8 mg/kg/d)
      of anakinra.
AB  - RATIONALE: Myocarditis is a rare but potentially fatal complication of Still's
      disease (about 7% of total cases). PATIENT CONCERNS: A 42-year-old woman was
      admitted to our ward with high-grade fever, rash and polyarthralgia, lasting
      since 4 weeks and rapidly complicated by MAS and acute heart failure. DIAGNOSES:
      Adult Onset Still's Disease rapidly developping macrophage activation syndrome
      and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, further complicated by iperacute
      myocarditis with cardiac arrest. INTERVENTIONS: After failure of conventional
      therapies (steroids plus cyclosporine and then biological therapy with Anakinra
      100 mg/day), the patient was treated with anakinra 100 mg sc 1 fl 4 times a day.
      OUTCOMES: Fast clinical and laboratoristic improvement and subsequent disease
      remission with complete recovery of cardiac function. LESSONS: This is the first
      case report in which high doses of Anakinra have been used to treat a refractory
      AOSD complicated by MAS and myocarditis. In AOSD complicated by life-threatening
      conditions, probably we need to consider aggressive therapeutic approaches with
      higher doses of Il-1 receptor blocker to switch off the hyper-inflammation.

PMID- 28614217
TI  - PSA declines and survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant
      prostate cancer treated with enzalutamide: A retrospective case-report study.
AB  - RATIONALE: PSA responses have been associated with a survival benefit in patients
      treated with enzalutamide in retrospective analyses. PATIENT CONCERNS: However
      the prognostic value of PSA declines in highly pretreated patients receiving
      enzalutamide remains to be defined. DIAGNOSES AND INTERVENTATIONS: Medical
      records of patients with documented mCRPC treated with enzalutamide between
      September 2011 and August 2016 were reviewed at multiple participating centers
      and assessed for overall survival (OS), PSA variations, and other variables of
      interest. Univariable and multivariable analyses were conducted. OUTCOMES: A
      total of 129 patients received enzalutamide. PSA response rates (>50% PSA
      declines) were 58/119 (48.7%), 58/115 (50.4%), 54/110 (49.1%), and 47/91 (51.7%)
      at weeks 4, 8, 12, and 16, respectively. Having a PSA response was a
      statistically significant prognostic factor of improved OS at 8 and 12 weeks in
      univariable analysis, whereas it was significant at 12 weeks in the multivariable
      analysis. Patients treated with enzalutamide had a median OS of 7.8 months.
      LESSONS: Our study supports the prognostic value of PSA declines in heavily
      treated patients receiving enzalutamide.

PMID- 28614218
TI  - Usefulness of frequency doubling technology perimetry 24-2 in glaucoma with
      parafoveal scotoma.
AB  - The standard automated perimetry (SAP) 24-2 test cannot adequately test the
      paracentral region because test points are located sparsely in macular area where
      is crowded with retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), even though paracentral scotoma is
      clinically related to a risk of losing visual function. More sensitive visual
      field (VF) tests are needed to assess paracentral VF defects precisely. We
      investigated the structure-function relationship on the SAP 10-2 test and the
      frequency doubling technology (FDT) 24-2 test as well as the SAP 24-2 test in
      glaucoma with parafoveal scotoma (PFS). Glaucoma patients with PFS (134 patients)
      were included in this cross-sectional study. Sub-analysis was performed with
      isolated PFS (51 patients). Global and sectoral mean sensitivities (MS) were
      evaluated using SAP 24-2, 10-2, and FDT 24-2 program. MS was analyzed as dB or
      unlogged 1/lambert (SAP) or 1/Michelson contrast (FDT). Ganglion cell-inner
      plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness was measured using spectral domain optical
      coherence tomography. Topographic relationships between the structure and the
      function were analyzed. In the total PFS group, good structure-function
      correlations were found in all zones with SAP 24-2, 10-2, and FDT 24-2 test. For
      glaucoma with isolated PFS, average GCIPL thickness was significantly correlated
      with central cluster MS (dB) using the SAP 10-2 test (r = 0.279, P = .047) and
      the FDT 24-2 test (r = 0.289, P = .039), but not the SAP 24-2 test (r = 0.264, P
      = .061). Topographically, the FDT 24-2 test showed significant correlations in
      all sectors between sectoral MS and corresponding GCIPL thickness. With regard to
      the SAP 10-2 test, there was significant topographical structure-function
      correlations for the superotemporal, inferotemporal, and inferonasal sectors. For
      SAP 24-2, only inferonasal GCIPL thickness was correlated with the corresponding
      VF sensitivity. Topographical structure-function on the macula was better with
      the SAP 10-2 test (superotemporal sector) and the FDT 24-2 test (superotemporal
      sector) than with the SAP 24-2 test in glaucoma with isolated PFS. In conclusion,
      FDT 24-2 and SAP 10-2 tests performed more favorably than the SAP 24-2 test in
      the structure-function relationship of glaucoma patients with isolated
      paracentral scotoma. FDT 24-2 tests can be another good option for detecting and
      monitoring RGC loss on the macular area while not missing VF defects outside the
      central 10 degrees .

PMID- 28614219
TI  - Third-line chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGOUND: Little information regarding to the survival advantage of third-line
      chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer patients is available. The current study
      is designed to systematically review and perform meta-analysis on the effect of
      third-line chemotherapy on progressive or recurrent gastric cancer treatment.
      METHODS: After thorough searching of online databases, total 20 articles were
      included into qualitative systematic review and 6 of them were used to conduct
      qualitative meta-analysis. RESULTS: It was found that the third-line chemotherapy
      was superior to placebo or best supportive care in terms of prolonging median
      oval survival (OS) length and progress free survival (PFS) length (Hedges's g for
      OS = -0.315 +/- 0.077, P < .001; and for PFS = -0.382 +/- 0.098, P < .001). In
      addition, the third-line chemotherapy was favored (Hedges's g = 0.848, P < .001)
      in terms of overall survival rate (Hazard ratio = 0.679, 95% confidence interval:
      0.565-0.816, P < .001) or tumor free survival rate (Hazard ratio = 0.561, 95%
      confidence interval: 0.444-0.709, P < .001). CONCLUSION: The third-line
      chemotherapy is superior to the best supportive care in advanced gastric cancer
      patients who had been pretreated with first-line and second-line chemotherapy.

PMID- 28614220
TI  - Rituximab was used to treat recurrent IgG4-related hypophysitis with
      ophthalmopathy as the initial presentation: A case report and literature review.
AB  - RATIONALE: Immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related hypophysitis is a type of IgG4
      related disease (IgG4-RD), which is characterized by plasma cells infiltration in
      the pituitary causing functional changes and (or) space-occupying effect in the
      pituitary. IgG4-related hypophysitis is sensitive to hormone therapy in most
      patients, but recurrence is very likely. PATIENT CONCERNS: Here, we report a 57
      year-old male patient with bilateral eye redness as the initial presentation. He
      later presented with pituitary hypofunction that involved multiple organs,
      including eyes, lacrimal gland, pituitary, lung, gall bladder, and intestine.
      There was an elevation of C-reactive protein and blood sedimentation, but the IgG
      and IgG4 levels of the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid did not increase
      obviously following irregular glucocorticoid therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging
      revealed enlarged pituitary and obviously thickened pituitary stalk. IgG4-related
      hypophysitis was confirmed by biopsy of the pituitary. DIAGNOSES: The patient was
      diagnosis of IgG4-related hypophysitis with ophthalmopathy by pathological and
      molecular tests. INTERVENTIONS: The patient responded to methylprednisolone pulse
      therapy but relapsed during the maintenance therapy using small-dose hormones
      combined with azathioprine. Methylprednisolone pulse therapy was given for 3 days
      followed by rituximab injection for 4 weeks. OUTCOMES: After use
      methylprednisolone pulse therapy with rituximab the patient achieved complete
      remission. LESSONS: Rituximab achieved good effect for recurrent IgG4-related
      hypophysitis after glucocorticoid therapy combined with immunosuppressant in this
      case. Moreover, comparative analysis was carried out with other reported cases of
      IgG4-related hypophysitis in terms of clinical features, treatment, and follow
      up.

PMID- 28614222
TI  - Next-generation sequencing identifies pathogenic and modifier mutations in a
      consanguineous Chinese family with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a highly heterogeneous disease displaying
      considerable interfamilial and intrafamilial phenotypic variation, including
      disease severity, age of onset, and disease progression. This poorly understood
      variance raises the possibility of genetic modifier effects, particularly in
      MYBPC3-associated HCM.In a large consanguineous Chinese HCM family, we identified
      8 members harboring the MYBPC3 c.3624delC (p.Lys1209Serfs) disease-causing
      mutation, but with very disparate phenotypes. Genotyping ruled out the modifying
      effect of previously described variants in renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.
      Afterwards, we screened for modifying variants in all known causing genes and
      closely related genes for cardiomyopathy and channelopathy by performing targeted
      next-generation sequencing. For first time, we showed that a c.1598C>T
      (p.Ser533Leu) mutation in voltage-dependent l-type calcium channel subunit beta-2
      (CACNB2) was present in all severely affected HCM patients, but not in those
      moderately affected or genotype-positive phenotype-negative patients. This CACNB2
      p.Ser533Leu mutation is extremely conserved in evolution, and was not found in
      550 healthy controls.Our results suggest that CACNB2 is a possible candidate
      genetic modifier of MYBPC3-associated familial HCM, but more genetic evidence and
      functional experiments are needed to confirm.

PMID- 28614223
TI  - Trabectome success factors.
AB  - Our objective is to investigate which factors and patient characteristics are
      associated with success in Trabectome surgery.A total of 658 phakic cases with at
      least of 12 months follow-up were included in the analysis. Baseline demographics
      and medical data were collected. The main outcome measure was intraocular
      pressure (IOP), glaucoma medication (Rx), and secondary glaucoma surgery if any.
      Success was defined as IOP reduction of 20% or more from preoperative IOP and IOP
      < 21 mm Hg with no secondary surgery throughout the follow-up period. Risk
      factors for failure were determined by using univariate and multivariate cox
      regression.At baseline, the average IOP was 23.6 +/- 7.8 mm Hg and the average
      number of medications was 2.6 +/- 1.3 for all cases. At 12 months, the average
      IOP was 16.0 +/- 3.6 mm Hg (P < .01) and the average number of medications was
      1.8 +/- 1.3 (P < .01). Based on the result of multivariate cox regression model,
      we found that the Trabectome + Phaco (TP) and Trabectome alone (TA) group had a
      94% and 79% survival rate at 12 months, respectively. TP cases had 78% lower risk
      of failure than TA (95% confidence interval [CI]: 54-89), diagnosis of
      pseudoexfoliation glaucoma had a 54% lower risk of failure than primary open
      angle glaucoma patients (95% CI: 1-78). Hispanics had an estimated hazard ratio
      that is 60% lower than Caucasians (95% CI: 18-80); 20% of TA cases and 3% of TP
      cases were required to undergo additional secondary surgery (P < .01).Trabectome
      surgery, whether in combination with phacoemulsification cataract removal or
      stand alone, is associated with a significant reduction of IOP and glaucoma
      medication. Patients having a higher baseline IOP are expected to have a higher
      IOP reduction after Trabectome. Pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, combination with
      phacoemulsification cataract surgery and Hispanic race are factors associated
      with enhanced Trabectome survival.

PMID- 28614221
TI  - Correlation of MDR1 gene polymorphisms with anesthetic effect of sevoflurane
      remifentanil following pediatric tonsillectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The motive of this study was to investigate the collaboration between
      MDR1 gene polymorphisms and anesthetic effects following pediatric tonsillectomy.
      METHODS: All together 178 children undergoing tonsillectomy with preoperative
      sevoflurane-remifentanil anesthesia were selected. In order to determine MDR1
      gene polymorphisms of 3435C > T, 1236C > T, and 2677G > T/A, polymerase chain
      reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used. Mean arterial
      pressure (MAP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP),
      and heart rate (HR) at T0 (5 mins after the repose), T1 (0 min after tracheal
      intubation), T2 (5 mins after the tracheal intubation), T3 (0 min after the
      tonsillectomy), T4 (0 min after removal of the mouth-gag) and T5 (5 min after the
      extubation) were observed. The visual analog scale (VAS), the face, legs,
      activity, cry, and consolability (FLACC) pain assessment, and Ramsay sedation
      score were recorded after the patients gained consciousness. The adverse
      reactions were also observed. RESULTS: As compared to the CT + TT genotype of
      MDR1 1236C > T, the time of induction, respiration recovery, eye-opening, and
      extubation of children with the CC genotype was found to be shorter (all P <.05);
      the MAP, SBP, DBP, and HR were significantly reduced at T5 in children that
      possessed the CC genotype (all P <.05), the VAS at postoperative 1, 2, 4, and 8
      hours and Ramsay sedation score were decreased, while the FLACC score increased
      (all P <.05). It was found that the adverse reaction rate was lower in children
      bearing the CC genotype (P <.05). CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that
      anesthetic effect in patients with the MDR1 1236C > T CC genotype was found to be
      superior to those carrying the CT + TT genotype.

PMID- 28614224
TI  - A case report of local treatment of inoperable squamous cell lung carcinoma with
      convex-probe endobronchial ultrasound-guided intratumoral injection of cisplatin
      in a patient with severe COPD.
AB  - RATIONALE: Endobronchial ultrasound as a powerful diagnostic technology can also
      be used to perform intratumoral chemotherapy for extraluminal tumor. PATIENT
      CONCERNS: A 69-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
      presented with worsening dyspnea. A pulmonary function test showed severe airway
      obstruction and that forced expiratory volume in 1 s was 43% of the predicted
      value after a bronchodilator. DIAGNOSES: A bronchoscopy and histopathological
      analyses revealed a squamous cell carcinoma mostly located outside of the lumen
      with central airway obstruction. INTERVENTIONS: Due to the poor pulmonary
      function, he cannot tolerate conventional active treatments, such as surgery,
      full dose systemic chemotherapy, or radiotherapy. Local treatments including
      argon plasma coagulation, cryotherapy, and bronchoscopic endobronchial
      intratumoral chemotherapy with cisplatin were performed to debulk intraluminal
      component of the tumor and recanalize occlusive airways in the left upper lobe.
      Convex-probe endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle injection
      (EBUS-TBNI) delivered cisplatin into the extraluminal component of the tumor to
      relieve the symptom of dyspnea and opened up the opportunity for systemic
      chemotherapy without severe systemic complications. OUTCOMES: The patient had a
      good response to the comprehensive therapy of 4 cycles of low-dose intravenous
      chemotherapy and bronchoscopic interventions. LESSONS: EBUS-TBNI is proven an
      effective and safe method to treat inoperable extraluminal central pulmonary
      carcinoma complicated with severe COPD. In the future, EBUS-TBNI may offer more
      treatment indications outlined in the existing publications.

PMID- 28614225
TI  - Immunoglobulin G4-related disease preceded by lung involvement: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic condition
      involving various organs and vessels including the pancreas, bile duct, salivary
      glands, periorbital tissues, kidneys, lungs, lymph nodes, meninges, and aorta.
      Recently, some cases of IgG4-RD have been reported, in which only pulmonary
      lesions were present. It is not known whether IgG4-RD can be diagnosed on the
      basis of pulmonary lesions only, because increases in serum IgG4 levels and
      infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells into the lung tissue also occur in
      other inflammatory conditions. A case of IgG-RD that was followed-up for 7 years
      after onset is described. PATIENT CONCERNS: Initially, only pulmonary lesions
      were present; however, other lesions in the submandibular glands, pancreas,
      periarterial region, and other areas occurred over time, with a gradual increase
      in serum IgG4 levels. DIAGNOSES, INTERVENTIONS, AND OUTCOMES: Histopathology
      results from the patient's submandibular gland confirmed the diagnosis of IgG4
      RD. Following diagnosis, the patient was treated with corticosteroids
      immediately, and his symptoms disappeared rapidly. LESSONS: Because other
      diseases, including malignancies, mimic IgG4-RD in clinical and histopathological
      features, an absolute diagnosis is necessary to avoid missing the presence of
      underlying diseases. This case more provides insight into the clinical pathology
      of IgG4-RD.

PMID- 28614226
TI  - Tranexamic acid plus diluted-epinephrine versus tranexamic acid alone for blood
      loss in total joint arthroplasty: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We conducted the present meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and
      safety of tranexamic acid (TXA) plus diluted-epinephrine (DEP) for patients with
      total joint arthroplasty (TJA, including total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total
      hip arthroplasty (THA)). METHODS: Electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese Wanfang
      databases, and Google databases) were systematically searched up to December
      2016. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The primary
      outcomes were total blood loss and need for transfusion. The secondary outcomes
      were hemoglobin drop and the incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and
      hematoma. Continuous outcomes and discontinuous outcomes were compiled as the
      weighted mean difference (WMD) and relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence
      intervals (CI), respectively. RESULTS: A total of 5 RCTs with a total of 493
      patients were eligible and ultimately included in the meta-analysis. Compared
      with the TXA group, TXA plus DEP yielded a significant reduction in total blood
      loss (WMD = -244.78; 95% CI -290.12 to -199.44; P < .001), need for transfusion
      (RR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.15-0.48; P < .001) and hemoglobin drop (WMD = -0.81; 95% CI 
      1.22 to -0.40; P < .001). There was no significant difference in incidence of DVT
      (RR=0.67; 95% CI 0.27-1.64; P = .382) or hematoma (RR=0.89; 95% CI 0.30-2.61; P =
      .831) between the TXA plus DEP group and the TXA group. CONCLUSION: TXA plus DEP
      can decrease perioperative blood loss without increasing the incidence of DVT
      compared with TXA alone. However, considering the limited number of included
      RCTs, this conclusion should be interpreted cautiously, and more high-quality
      RCTs are needed to verify the efficacy and safety of TXA plus DEP for TJA
      patients.

PMID- 28614227
TI  - Case report of pulmonary epithelial trophoblastic tumor in a young female
      patient.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An epithelial trophoblastic tumor (ETT) is a kind of rare
      trophoblastic tumor that may have the correlation with a prior gestational event.
      Especially, the one that appears in the lung is extremely rare. CASE SUMMARY:
      Here, we present a 24-year-old female patient with the chief complain of vaginal
      bleeding for more than 1 month, who was found to have a large mass (7.5 * 4.5 cm)
      in the right lower lobe, and it was finally confirmed as lung ETT by
      postoperative pathology after a successful radical resection of the pulmonary
      lobe. CONCLUSIONS: As the reason of an extreme rare occurrence of the ETT,
      doctors can easily misdiagnose the disease. When the patient was found to have a
      mass with irregular vaginal bleeding and a high level of beta-human chorionic
      gonadotropin, we need to consider ETT. Currently, surgery is still the most
      effective method.

PMID- 28614229
TI  - Familial clustering of congenital deafness, patent ductus arteriosus, Eisenmenger
      complex, and differential cyanosis: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Few studies had reported syndromes that include patent ductus
      arteriosus (PDA) with Eisenmenger syndrome and congenital deafness clustered in
      male siblings without facial, skeletal, or mental abnormalities. PATIENT
      CONCERNS: Two brothers, who were deaf and had PDA with Eisenmenger complex, were
      first seen at our Cardiology clinic at the ages of 25 and 41, respectively. They
      presented with progressive dyspnea on exertion. Upon physical examination, both
      brothers had clubbing and/or cyanotic toes, normal fingers, and without facial,
      skeletal, ophthalmological, or mental abnormalities. DIAGNOSES AND INTERVENTIONS:
      Echocardiography and multidetector computed tomography revealed large PDAs in
      both brothers. Cardiac catheterization showed bidirectional shunting via the PDA.
      OUTCOMES AND LESSONS: Familial clustering of Eisenmenger PDA and congenital
      deafness is rare. Further studies are warranted to define possible genetic links.

PMID- 28614228
TI  - The value of repeat biopsy in lupus nephritis flares.
AB  - Whether a repeat renal biopsy is helpful during lupus nephritis (LN) flares
      remains debatable. In order to analyze the clinical utility of repeat renal
      biopsy in this complex situation, we retrospectively reviewed our series of 54 LN
      patients who had one or more repeat biopsies performed only on clinical
      indications. Additionally, we reviewed 686 well-documented similar cases
      previously reported (PubMed 1990-2015).The analysis of all patients reviewed
      showed that histological transformations are common during a LN flare, ranging
      from 40% to 76% of cases. However, the prevalence of transformations and the
      clinical value of repeat biopsy vary when they are analyzed according to
      proliferative or nonproliferative lesions.The great majority of patients with
      class II (78% in our series and 77.5% in the literature review) progressed to a
      higher grade of nephritis (classes III, IV, or V), resulting in worse renal
      prognosis. The frequency of pathological conversion in class V is lower (33% and
      43%, respectively) but equally clinically relevant, since almost all cases
      switched to a proliferative class. Therefore, repeat biopsy is highly advisable
      in patients with nonproliferative LN at baseline biopsy, because these patients
      have a reasonable likelihood of switch to a proliferative LN that may require
      more aggressive immunosuppression.In contrast, the majority of patients (82% and
      73%) with proliferative classes in the reference biopsy (III, IV or mixed III/IV
      + V), remained into proliferative classes on repeat biopsy. Although rebiopsy in
      this group does not seem as necessary, it is still advisable since it will allow
      us to identify the 18% to 20% of patients that switch to a nonproliferative
      class. In addition, consistent with the reported clinical experience, repeat
      biopsy might also be helpful to identify selected cases with clear progression of
      proliferative lesions despite the initial treatment, for whom it is advisable to
      intensify inmunosuppression. Thus, our experience and the literature data support
      that repeat biopsy also brings more advantges than threats in this group.The
      results of the repeat biopsy led to a change in the immunosuppresive treatment in
      more than half of the patients on average, intensifying it in the majority of the
      cases, but also reducing it in 5% to 30%.

PMID- 28614230
TI  - A retrospective study of eyeball rupture in patients with or without orbital
      fracture.
AB  - To summarize the clinical features of eyeball rupture with or without orbital
      fracture and explore the differences between them.In all, 197 patients were
      observed, and the following data were recorded: sex, age, time of injury, place
      of injury, cause of trauma, zone of eye injury, intraocular content prolapse,
      surgical methods and the therapeutic process, visual acuity after injury, and the
      final best corrected visual acuity. The results were analyzed for statistically
      significant differences.There was no significant difference (P > .05) in the age,
      sex, or cause of injury. Patients with eyeball rupture with fracture had poorer
      vision than did those in the simple eyeball rupture group; eyeball rupture with
      fracture also had a higher probability of enucleation.In this study, the clinical
      results show that prognosis of eyeball rupture with orbital fracture is worse
      than that of eyeball rupture without orbital fracture.

PMID- 28614231
TI  - Incidence, prevalence, and natural history of primary sclerosing cholangitis in
      the United Kingdom.
AB  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare obliterative fibrotic condition of
      the bile ducts. We assessed PSC epidemiology and natural history within the UK
      Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).Incidence and natural history of PSC
      were evaluated in a retrospective cohort study using linkage of CPRD, Hospital
      Episode Statistics, and Office for National Statistics data. Data from age, sex,
      and general practice-matched population controls provided a context for the
      incident PSC patients. Liver disease other than PSC was defined as autoimmune
      hepatitis, hepatitis, hepatomegaly, liver failure, cirrhosis, portal
      hypertension, cholangiocarcinoma, or hepatobiliary cancer.The age-standardized
      incidence of PSC was 0.68 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45-0.99) per 100,000
      person-years and the age-standardized prevalence was 5.58 (95% CI 4.82-7.35) per
      100,000 during 1998 to 2014. In all, 250 incident PSC patients met the inclusion
      criteria and each was matched with 5 controls (mean age 54 +/- 18 years, men
      63.2%). A higher percentage of PSC patients had a history of inflammatory bowel
      disease (54% vs 2%) and liver disease other than PSC (22% vs 1%) than controls
      (standardized differenceweighted >0.1). During a median follow-up of 5 years, PSC
      patients were more likely to develop adverse health outcomes. The mortality rate
      per 1000 person-years was 3-fold higher in PSC than population controls (49.5 vs
      16.1; incidence rate ratio 3.1, 95% CI 2.2-4.2).The incidence and prevalence of
      PSC observed in the UK CPRD were either comparable with or higher than previous
      studies. Compared with the general population, PSC patients had worse health
      outcomes including PSC disease progression, complications, and higher mortality.

PMID- 28614232
TI  - The efficiency and safety of dexamethasone for pain control in total joint
      arthroplasty: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficiency and safety of
      dexamethasone administration in total knee and hip arthroplasties. METHODS: Two
      researchers search the relevant studies independently including Embase (1980
      017.04), PubMed (1966-017.04), ScienceDirect (1985-017.04), Web of Science (1950
      2017.03), and Cochrane Library for potential relevant studies. After testing for
      heterogeneity between studies, data were aggregated for random-effects models
      when necessary. The results of dichotomous outcomes were expressed as risk
      difference (RD) with a 95% confidence intervals (CIs). For continuous various
      outcomes, mean difference (MD) or standard mean difference (SMD) with a 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) was applied for assessment. Meta-analysis was
      performed using Stata 11.0 software. RESULTS: Four randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) including 361 patients met the inclusion criteria. The present meta
      analysis indicated that there were significant differences between groups in
      terms of visual analogue scale (VAS) score at 12 hours (SMD = -0.579, 95% CI: 
      0.780 to -0.357, P = .000), 24 hours (SMD = -0.820, 95% CI: -1.036 to -0.604, P =
      .000), and 48 hours (SMD = -0.661, 95% CI: -1.149 to -0.172, P = .008).
      Dexamethasone was associated with a lower opioid consumption at 12 hours (SMD = 
      0.245, 95% CI: -0.465 to -0.025, P = .029), 24 hours (SMD = -0.285, 95% CI: 
      0.505 to -0.064, P = .011), and 48 hours (SMD = -0.989, 95% CI: -1.710 to -0.267,
      P = .007). CONCLUSION: Dexamethasone could significantly reduce postoperative
      pain scores and opioid consumption within the 1st 48 hours following total joint
      arthroplasty (TJA). The overall evidence quality was moderate to low, further
      high-quality RCTs are needed to identify the optimal dose of dexamethasone for
      reducing pain after TJA.

PMID- 28614233
TI  - Discordant lumbar epidural hematoma after caudal steroid injection: A case report
      (CARE-compliant).
AB  - RATIONALE: Caudal epidural injection is one of the conventional treatments of
      chronic back pain. Even though spinal epidural hematoma after caudal epidural
      injection is rare but it can cause serious neurologic complication. PATIENT
      CONCERNS: An 83-year-old woman taking cilostazol received caudal epidural steroid
      injection because of her chronic back pain. Six hours later, she experienced an
      acute hip pain which worsened with time. DIAGNOSIS: Magnetic resonance image
      showed acute cord compression due to a spinal epidural hematoma at L2-S1 level
      with concomitant central canal compromise at L2/3, L3/4 level. INTERVENTIONS:
      Emergency decompressive laminectomy and evacuation of the lumbar epidural
      hematoma were performed. OUTCOMES: All of her symptoms were resolved over the 72
      hours following surgery. LESSONS: Continuous vigilance after caudal epidural
      injection is important to prevent catastrophic neurologic deterioration with
      early detection and early treatment.

PMID- 28614234
TI  - Motion-based equilibrium reprocessing therapy a novel treatment method for
      chronic peripheral vestibulopathies: A pilot study.
AB  - Rehabilitation for vestibular disease is a safe method to partially alleviate
      symptoms of vertigo. It was hypothesized that principles of military aviation
      vestibular desensitization procedures that have a success rate of more than 80%
      can be extrapolated to chronic vestibular disease as well.The virtual reality
      motion base computer-assisted rehabilitation environment was used as treatment
      modality in 17 patients. They were exposed to sinusoidal vertical passive whole
      body motion in increasing intensity for a maximum of 12 sessions. The Dizziness
      Handicap Inventory (DHI) was used for assessment of the subjective complaints of
      vertigo.The median DHI scores of 50 points at baseline dropped to 22 points (P
      <.001) at follow-up. Post hoc analysis showed significant differences in outcome
      between measurements at baseline and at the end of the treatment, between
      baseline and follow-up, but not between end of treatment and follow-up.This pilot
      study concerning motion-based equilibrium reprocessing therapy (MERT) shows that
      it is a simple, quick, and well-tolerated treatment option to alleviate symptoms
      in patients with chronic peripheral vestibulopathies.

PMID- 28614235
TI  - Pulmonary spindle cell carcinoma with unusual morphology: A rare case report and
      review of the literature.
AB  - RATIONALE: Pulmonary spindle cell carcinoma (PSCC) is a highly malignant
      carcinoma that often exhibits the histopathological characteristic of cell
      pleomorphism. PATIENT CONCERNS: Here, we report a PSCC case in a 59-year-old
      woman with multiple metastases. The pathological manifestation of this case did
      not show high-grade pleomorphism or atypia, and was easily mimicked by other
      borderline or low-grade malignant tumors such as an inflammatory myofibroblastic
      tumor (IMT). DIAGNOSES: Based on the results of immunohistochemistry and
      fluorescence in situ hybridization after the operation, IMT was ruled out, and
      PSCC was confirmed. INTERVENTIONS: Resection of the right middle lobe and
      dissection of the lymph nodes were performed. The patient was given 2 cycles of
      chemotherapy with cisplatin and 1 cycle of radiotherapy after the operation.
      OUTCOMES: Metastatic lesions in the left kidney, the right lung, the first
      thoracic vertebrae, the retroperitoneal lymph nodes, and the mediastinal lymph
      nodes were identified by positron emission tomography/computed tomography 4
      months after the operation, and the patient died 2 months later. LESSONS: PSCC is
      a highly malignant carcinoma, but it rarely shows a low-grade malignant
      histological morphology. So, efforts should be focused on differentiating it from
      other borderline or low malignant tumors (such as IMT) to avoid misdiagnosis.

PMID- 28614236
TI  - Utilization of ring-shaped bone allograft for surgical treatment of adolescent
      post-tubercular kyphosis: A retrospective study.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the mid-term outcome of ring-shaped bone
      allografts in the surgical treatment of adolescent post-tubercular kyphosis
      secondary to spinal tuberculosis.The records of adolescent patients diagnosed
      with spinal tuberculosis who received treatment in our department between 2009
      and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. The anterior approach was used in cases
      of cervical kyphosis and the posterior approach was used in cases of thoracic and
      lumbar kyphosis. During the surgery, the ring-shaped bone was used as a
      structural bone graft associated with the cancellous bone filing in the center
      portion of the ring shape. Cobb's angle, signs of spinal infusion on computed
      tomography, and complications were followed up.A total of 25 patients were
      included in our study. Among them, 3 involved the cervical region, 5 involved the
      thoracic region, 8 involved the thoracolumbar region, and 9 involved the lumbar
      region. The preoperative kyphosis deformity was a mean 65 degrees  Cobb's angle
      (40 degrees -97 degrees ) compared to the postoperative 14 degrees  Cobb's angle
      (10 degrees -21 degrees ) for an average correction of 51 degrees . All wounds
      healed well without graft rejection. All patients achieved bone fusion 3 months
      postoperative for a 100% fusion rate.Our results show that the ring-shaped
      allograft bone is an effective option for the treatment of adolescent kyphosis.
      The ring-shaped allograft bone demonstrated satisfactory mechanical strength and
      vertebral fusion without mid-term metallic toxicity.

PMID- 28614237
TI  - Can intravenous steroid administration reduce postoperative pain scores following
      total knee arthroplasty?: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) was to evaluate whether intravenous steroids would
      result in reduced acute pain and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) among
      patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: Electronic databases,
      including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, were searched
      to identify articles published from database inception to July 2016. RCTs that
      compared the effects of intravenous steroids with the effects of placebo among
      patients undergoing TKA were included in this meta-analysis. The primary outcomes
      were visual analogue scale (VAS) scores after 12, 24, and 48 hours of rest and
      PONV incidence. The secondary outcomes were blood glucose levels and incidence of
      infection. We calculated the risk ratio (RR) with its corresponding 95%
      confidence interval (CI) for dichotomous outcomes and the mean difference (MD)
      with its corresponding 95% CI for continuous outcomes. RESULTS: Seven clinical
      trials involving 434 patients were included in the final meta-analysis. The
      pooled results indicated that intravenous steroids were associated with decreased
      VAS scores after 24 hours (MD = -10.21, 95%CI = -18.80 to -1.63, P = .020) and 48
      hours (MD = -2.60, 95%CI = -4.70 to -0.50, P = .015) of rest. Moreover,
      intravenous steroids were also associated with decreased risk of nausea (RR =
      0.58, 95% CI 0.44-0.77, P = .000) and vomiting (RR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.24-0.88, P
      = .019). However, intravenous steroids were also associated with increased blood
      glucose levels. No significant difference in the risk of infection was identified
      between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Intravenous steroids may be associated with
      decreased pain intensity and decreased risk of nausea and vomiting during the
      early period following TKA. However, evidence supporting its use is limited by
      the low quality of and variations in dosing regimens between the included RCTs.
      Thus, more high-quality RCTs are needed to identify the optimal drug
      administration intervals for maximal pain control.

PMID- 28614238
TI  - Exome sequencing identifies a novel UNC5D mutation in a severe myopic
      anisometropia family: A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Severe myopic anisometropia has been identified to have
      heritability, but the pathogenesis of anisometropia still remains obscure. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: Here, we presented a Chinese severe myopic anisometropia family with
      5 members affected. Though using the exome sequencing, we identified a novel
      mutation in the UNC5D gene (c.1297C>T, p.R433C), which was predicted to have a
      damage effect on the protein function and kept highly conserved throughout
      evolution across species. As previously described, the UNC5D gene belongs to the
      UNC5 protein family and may have functions to regulate neuronal migration, axon
      guidance, and cell survival. The expression of UNC5D was also co-located at the
      visual areas of the mouse cortical regions at early postnatal ages. CONCLUSION:
      Our data provide the first evidence for involvement of UNC5D gene in the severe
      myopic anisometropia.

PMID- 28614239
TI  - The analyzation and clinical evaluation of ECLIA and CMIA in the detection of
      Treponema pallidum.
AB  - To evaluate the clinical application value of electrochemiluminescence
      immunoassay analyzer (ECLIA) and chemiluminescent magnetic microparticle
      immunoassay (CMIA) in the detection of Treponema pallidum (TP).A total of 1225
      patients in Peking University Third Hospital was enrolled from June 2014 to
      October 2014. ECLIA and CMIA were applied to detect the serum anti-TP. The
      positive rate was analyzed. RIBA was taken as a golden standard to evaluate the
      sensitivity, the specificity, the positive predictive value, the negative
      predictive value, and the accuracy of ECLIA and CMIA. A correlation analysis
      between 2 assays was conducted, and that between assay and RIBA. We also evaluate
      the clinical value of TPPA in the detection of T pallidum.The positive rate of
      CMIA and ECLIA is 10.63% and 9.89%, respectively, showing no statistically
      significant difference (P > .05). For CMIA, ECLIA, and TPPA, the sensitivity is
      99.16%, 99.16%, and 99.16%, the specificity is 98.99%, 99.82%, and 100%, the
      positive predictive value is 91.47%, 98.33%, and 100%, the negative predictive
      value is 99.91%, 99.91%, and 99.91%, the coincidence rate is 99.01% (Kappa =
      0.895), 99.75% (Kappa = 0.997), and 99.92% (Kappa = 0.998), respectively.The
      result shows high correlation between ECLIA and CMIA. Both have high sensitivity
      and specificity and can be used as screening tests for the diagnosis of T
      pallidum in common condition.

PMID- 28614240
TI  - Worse clinical outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention with a high
      SYNTAX score: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The synergy between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with
      TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score is an angiographic tool which is used to
      determine the complexity of coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to compare
      PCI versus coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in patients with a high SYNTAX
      score in order to confirm with evidence whether the former is really association
      with worse clinical outcomes. METHODS: The National database of medical research
      articles (MEDLINE/PubMed), EMBASE database, and the Cochrane library were
      searched for publications comparing PCI versus CABG in patients with a high
      SYNTAX score, respectively. Death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, repeated
      revascularization, and a combined outcome death/stroke/MI were considered as the
      clinical endpoints. RevMan software was used to analyze the data, whereby odds
      ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used as the statistical
      parameters. RESULTS: A total number of 1074 patients were included (455 patients
      with a high SYNTAX score were classified in the PCI group and 619 other patients
      with a high SYNTAX score were classified in the CABG group). A SYNTAX score cut
      off value of >=33 was considered relevant. Compared with CABG, mortality was
      significantly higher with a high SYNTAX score following PCI with OR: 1.79, 95%
      CI: 1.18 to 2.70; P = .006, I = 0%. The combined outcome death/stroke/MI was also
      significantly higher following PCI with a high SYNTAX score, with OR: 1.69, 95%
      CI: 1.24 to 2.30; P = .0009, I = 0%. In addition, PCI was also associated with
      significantly higher MI and repeated revascularization when compared with CABG,
      with OR: 3.72, 95% CI: 1.75 to 7.89; P = .0006, I = 0% and OR: 4.33, 95% CI: 1.71
      to 10.94; P = .002, I = 77%, respectively. However, stroke was not significantly
      different. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with CABG, worse clinical outcomes were observed
      following PCI in patients with a high SYNTAX score, confirming with evidence,
      published clinical literatures. Therefore, CABG should be recommended to CAD
      patients who have been allotted a high SYNTAX score.

PMID- 28614241
TI  - Albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score at admission predicts possible outcomes in
      patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure.
AB  - The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score is a new model for assessing the severity of
      liver dysfunction. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the
      prognostic value of the ALBI score in predicting the 3-month outcome of patients
      with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (AoCLF).This
      study included 84 patients with HBV-AoCLF, 56 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients,
      and 48 healthy controls (HCs). The virological parameters and biochemical
      examination of blood were obtained after 12 hours of fasting. The follow-up of
      AoCLF patients lasted for at least 3 months, and the relationships between the
      prognosis and ALBI score were analyzed.A significantly higher ALBI score was
      detected in AoCLF patients than in the HC and CHB groups (both P = .001). The
      ALBI score was positively correlated with the model of the end-stage liver
      disease (MELD) score and Child-Pugh score. Moreover, ALBI scores were higher
      among non-survivors than survivors in AoCLF patients. Multivariate analysis
      suggested that both the ALBI and MELD scores were independent predictors of the 3
      month mortality in AoCLF patients (P < .001).A high ALBI score measured at
      admission may be used as a predictor for the 3-month mortality rate in patients
      with HBV-AoCLF.

PMID- 28614242
TI  - Lymph node metastasis characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma located in
      the isthmus: A single-center analysis.
AB  - The frequency and pattern of lymph node metastasis and the extent of dissection
      for isthmic papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remain unclear, and the aim of this
      present study was to evaluate these characteristics and to attempt to detect the
      best surgical protocol for isthmic PTCs. A total of 3185 consecutive patients
      with PTCs were reviewed. Of these patients, 47 with a single isthmic PTC were
      enrolled in our study, and matched 47 patients with a single PTC located in the
      unilateral lobe were randomly selected and added for comparison of their baseline
      tumor characteristics and lymph node metastasis characteristics. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were performed to determine the risk factors for central
      lymph node metastasis in PTCs. The isthmic PTCs showed a higher rate of capsule
      invasion (P = .013) and advanced pathological N stage (P = .038) compared to the
      PTCs located in the lobe; meanwhile, pathological evidence of central lymph node
      metastasis (P = .040) was more frequent in the isthmic PTC group than in the
      control group. The univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that the tumors
      located in the isthmus (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.769; 95% confidence interval [CI]:
      1.124-6.826; P = .027) and those with advanced (T2-4) pathological
      classifications (HR: 4.282; 95% CI: 1.224-14.976; P = .023) were independent risk
      factors for central lymph node metastasis in PTC patients. Due to the higher rate
      of pathological central lymph node metastasis and independent risk factors for
      central lymph node metastasis, total thyroidectomy, and bilateral central lymph
      node dissection should be considered the standard surgical protocol for isthmic
      PTCs.

PMID- 28614243
TI  - Different types of glomerulonephritis associated with the dysregulation of the
      complement alternative pathway in 2 brothers: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN) and complement-mediated hemolytic uremic
      syndrome (HUS) both result from the abnormal regulation of the complement system.
      A significant number of patients with C3GN or complement-mediated HUS have
      mutations of more than 1 complement protein. This discovery has had a major
      impact on identifying the underlying cause of familial C3GN or complement
      mediated HUS. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report the cases of 2 brothers (herein
      referred to as patient II-1 and patient II-9), both with complement disorders
      that differed in their clinical and genetic features. DIAGNOSES: Patient II-1
      clinically presented with nephrotic syndrome and acute kidney injury and
      pathologically presented with C3GN combined with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA)
      and subacute tubulointerstitial nephritis. Meanwhile, patient II-9 clinically
      presented with HUS and pathologically presented with TMA combined with acute
      severe tubular injury. INTERVENTIONS: Screenings for genetic mutations
      contributed to complement system dysregulation were performed on patient II-1.
      OUTCOMES: The genome sequencing identified that patient II-1 had a heterozygous
      mutation in the C3 gene (c.C1774T/p.R592W). Nine other relatives of the brothers
      were checked for this C3 mutation and only the daughter of patient II-1 (herein
      referred to as patient III-2) carried it, but so far, she does not have any
      clinical manifestations of kidney disease. LESSIONS: Family members with a
      dysregulation of the complement alternative pathway may differ in its clinical
      and genetic features.

PMID- 28614244
TI  - Impact of patient race and geographical factors on initiation and adherence to
      adjuvant endocrine therapy in medicare breast cancer survivors.
AB  - To evaluate variations in the use of adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) by race and
      geography, this research examined their influence on initiation and adherence to
      AET in female Medicare enrollees with breast cancer, diagnosed between 2007 and
      2011.Using SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program)-Medicare
      data from 2007 to 2001, logistic regressions with random intercept for county of
      residence were used to predict AET initiation during 1st year and AET adherence
      assessed by the medication possession ratio (MPR) during year after initiation in
      a sample of fee-for-service medicare beneficiaries. Part D enrollment was
      required for the examination of adherence. Independent variables examined were
      race (black, white, or other) and geographical indicators (area deprivation, non
      metropolitan status, and physician shortage).Overall, 23% of patients did not
      initiate AET within 1 year and 26% of the initiation sample was not adherent to
      AET, with average follow-up time among initiators of 141 days and an average MPR
      of 0.84. Significant heterogeneity (P < .01) was found between SEER sites, with
      initiation rates as low as 69% for Washington and as high as 81% for New Jersey;
      MPR adherence varied from 77% in New Jersey to 68% in Utah.Blacks had lower
      initiation, enrollees not in Medicaid had lower adherence, lower area deprivation
      counties had lower initiation, earlier SEER-Medicare years had both later
      initiation and nonadherence, and significant (P < .05) variations between SEER
      sites remained after accounting for area deprivation index, metropolitan status,
      and physician shortage. Subgroup analysis showed particular pockets of lower
      initiation for blacks with stage III tumors, on chemotherapy and lower adherence
      for blacks in youngest age group, with stage III tumors, tamoxifen use and
      blacks/others in oldest age group.Black women and women living in states with
      more rurality in the United States were less likely to receive guideline
      recommended AET, which necessitates future efforts to alleviate these disparities
      to improve AET use and ultimately pursue more survival gains through optimizing
      adjuvant treatment use among cancer survivors.

PMID- 28614245
TI  - Wellens syndrome in HIV-infected patients: Two case reports.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wellens syndrome is a pattern of electrocardiographic (ECG) changes
      in the context of unstable angina characterized with deep inverted T-waves or
      biphasic T-waves in the precordial leads. These specific ECG changes are highly
      suggestive of stenosis in the left anterior descending artery (LAD), which can
      result in acute myocardial infarction, left ventricular dysfunction, or death.
      Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is known as an independent risk
      factor for the cardiovascular disease. CASE REPORT: The first case is a 61-year
      old African American female with a history of HIV infection who presented with
      chest pain for 8 h. Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed deep T-waves inversions in
      leads V3-V6. Emergent cardiac catheterization showed 99% stenosis in the mid-LAD
      and a drug-eluting stent (DES) was subsequently placed. The second case is a 49
      year-old African American female with a medical history of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus, HIV, active cigarettes smoker admitted for intermittent substernal
      chest pain of 1-day duration. ECG showed biphasic T-wave in V2 and deep T-waves
      inversion in V3-V4, coronary angiography showed 95% stenosis in the proximal LAD
      and a DES was placed. CONCLUSION: Wellens syndrome has characteristic ECG changes
      that indicates LAD stenosis. Early recognition of this syndrome, especially in
      HIV-infected patients who are high risk for cardiovascular disease, will help to
      avoid impending myocardial infarction.

PMID- 28614246
TI  - Low expression of nm23-H1 associates with poor survival of nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma patients: A prisma-compliant meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developing a new reliable prognostic marker to predict the prognosis
      and supply better and more suitable therapy for patients with nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma (NPC) is urgent. Therefore, we performed this systematic review of the
      literature with meta-analysis to clarify and explore the associate expression of
      nm23-H1 with prognosis of NPC patients. METHODS: Literature research in Cochrane
      Library, PubMed, and EMBASE was performed up to July 2016. Eligible case-control
      studies of associate expression of nm23-H1 with prognosis of NPC patients were
      included. RESULTS: Nine studies met our inclusion criteria and were finally
      included for the analysis, involving 861 participants. Our meta-analysis revealed
      that the low expression of nm23-H1 in NPC was: RR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.15-3.95 and R
      = 2.56, 95% CI 2.03-3.22; and poorer overall survival (OS) rate was 3-year OS
      rate: RR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.45-0.67 and 5-year OS rate: RR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.52
      0.69. Furthermore, the statistical significance was constant irrespective of
      different NPC subtypes. CONCLUSION: The low expression of nm23-H1 is associated
      with poorer prognosis in patients with NPC, suggesting that it is a prognostic
      factor and potential biomarker for survival in NPC.

PMID- 28614247
TI  - MELD score as a predictor of mortality, length of hospital stay, and disease
      burden: A single-center retrospective study in 39,323 inpatients.
AB  - The laboratory-based model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score reflects the
      function of the kidney, liver, and extrinsic coagulation pathway and might be
      used as a general prognostic tool for the assessment of patients. We therefore
      aimed to investigate a potential association of the MELD score with mortality,
      length of hospital stay (LOS), and disease burden in a general patient
      population.We performed a retrospective observational study at a tertiary
      referral center. From January 2012 through December 2013, all consecutive
      inpatients aged 18 years were eligible for the study; patients with missing MELD
      parameters on hospital admission and/or treatments influencing the international
      normalized ratio, that is, novel oral anticoagulants and vitamin K antagonists,
      were excluded. The MELD score on hospital admission was calculated
      retrospectively. The primary outcome measure was in-hospital all-cause mortality;
      secondary outcome measures were LOS and the number of comorbidities.A total of
      39,323 inpatients were included in the final analysis. On admission, MELD scores
      of 15 to 19, 20 to 29, and >=30 points (reference <15 points) showed increased
      hazard ratios (HRs) for in-hospital mortality in uni- and multivariable analysis
      with an adjusted HR of 2.52 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-3.49; P < .001),
      2.70 (95% CI, 1.89-3.84; P < .001), and 8.00 (95% CI, 3.91-16.39; P < .001),
      respectively. Increased MELD scores of 15 to 19, 20 to 29, and >=30 points were
      positively associated with LOS and the number of comorbidities in uni- and
      multivariable analysis.In our study population consisting of adult inpatients,
      the MELD score on hospital admission was significantly associated with mortality,
      LOS, and the number of comorbidities. We suggest to prospectively validate the
      MELD score in inpatients as part of clinical decision support systems.

PMID- 28614248
TI  - Endoscopic variceal ligation-induced ulcer bleeding: What are the risk factors
      and treatment strategies?
AB  - This study was aimed to determine the risk factors of endoscopic variceal
      ligation-(EVL) induced ulcer bleeding.The prevalence of EVL-induced ulcer
      bleeding is reported to be 3.6%. However, there are only limited reports of this
      serious complication, and the risk factors and the treatment methods are not well
      established.A total of 430 patients who had undergone EVL in Chonnam National
      University Hospital from January 2014 to October 2016 were studied. EVL was
      performed for prophylaxis or acute hemorrhage. The patients were classified into
      2 groups: a bleeding group (n = 33) and a non-bleeding group (n = 397). The
      patients who had endoscopically confirmed EVL-induced ulcer bleeding were
      included in the bleeding group.EVL-induced ulcer bleeding occurred in 7.7% (n =
      33) of the patients. In a multivariate analysis, model for end-stage liver
      disease (MELD) score >10 (odds ratio [OR]: 3.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]:
      1.10-10.64), concomitant GV F3 (OR: 14.1, 95% CI: 2.84-71.43), and detachment of
      o-ring bands on follow-up endoscopy (OR: 8.06, 95% CI: 2.55-25.64) were
      independent predictive factors of EVL-induced ulcer bleeding. Various endoscopic
      modalities were attempted for hemostasis (EVL in 8 cases [24.2%], endoscopic
      variceal obturation [EVO] with cyanoacrylate in 6 cases [18.2%], argon plasma
      coagulation [APC] in 1 case (3%), Sengstaken-Blakemore (SB) tube in 3 cases
      [9.1%]), and proton pump inhibitor therapy only in 15 cases (45.5%).MELD score
      >10, concomitant GV F3, and detachment of o-ring bands on follow-up endoscopy are
      risk factors for EVL-induced ulcer bleeding.

PMID- 28614249
TI  - Thymectomy via open surgery or robotic video assisted thoracic surgery: Can a
      recommendation already be made?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RVATS) is a relatively new
      technique applied for thymectomies. Only few studies directly compare RVATS to
      the mainstay therapy, open surgery (sternotomy). METHODS: A systematic search of
      the literature was performed in October 2016. The meta-analysis includes studies
      comparing robotassisted and open thymectomy regarding operation time, length of
      hospitalization, intraoperative blood loss, and chest-in-tube days, postoperative
      complications, reoperation, arrhythmic events, pleural effusion, and
      postoperative bleeding. RESULTS: Of 626 studies preliminary screened, 7 articles
      were included. There were no significant differences in comparison of operation
      time (-3.19 minutes [95% confidence interval, 95% CI -112.43 to 106.05]; P =
      .94), but patients undergoing RVATS spent significantly less time in hospital (
      4.06 days [95% CI -7.98 to -0.13], P = .046). There were fewer chests-in-tube
      days (-2.50 days [95% CI -15.01 to 10.01]; P = .24) and less intraoperative blood
      loss (-256.84 mL [95% CI -627.47 to 113.80]; P = .10) observed in the RVATS
      group; due to a small number of studies, these results were not statistically
      significant. There were also less post-operative complications in the RVATS group
      (12 complications in 209 patients vs 51 complications in 259 patients); however,
      this difference was not statistical significant (odds ratio 0.27, 95% CI 0.07
      1.12; P = .06). CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing RVATS spent less time in
      hospital than patients treated by open surgery (sternotomy). These patients
      tended to have less postoperative complications, less intraoperative blood loss,
      and fewer chest-in-tube days. We found evidence for the safety and feasibility of
      RVATS compared with open surgery, which has to be further confirmed in randomised
      controlled trials.

PMID- 28614250
TI  - The prevalence of heterotopic ossification among patients after cervical
      artificial disc replacement: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prevalence estimates of heterotopic ossification (HO) following
      cervical artificial disc replacement (ADR) varied widely in previous studies. We
      conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize its point
      prevalence. METHODS: Electronic searches of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and
      Cochrane Library databases were conducted to identify studies that reported
      prevalence of HO. Definitions of HO and severe HO were based on McAfee grading
      system. Random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence. We
      conducted subgroup analyses according to the different length of follow-up time,
      and performed univariate metaregression analyses to explore the effects of
      potential variables on the overall prevalence. RESULTS: A total of 38 studies
      were included in this study. The pooled data showed that the prevalence of HO
      after cervical ADR within the 1 to 2 years, 2 to 5 years, and 5 to10 years of
      follow-up was 38.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 30.2%-46.5%), 52.6% (95% CI,
      43.1%-61.9%), and 53.6% (95% CI, 40.0%-66.7%), respectively, while the prevalence
      of severe HO was 10.9% (95% CI, 9.0%-13.2%), 22.2% (95% CI, 15.5%-30.7%), and
      47.5% (95% CI, 30.0%-65.8%), respectively. Follow-up time was positively
      associated with the prevalence of severe HO (P < .01), and the 1-month growth of
      mean follow-up went with 0.63% increase of severe HO. CONCLUSION: This meta
      analysis reported data on the prevalence of HO and severe HO after cervical ADR,
      and provided information on its process of development. These should be useful to
      enable surgeons and patients to gain a better understanding of HO after cervical
      ADR.

PMID- 28614251
TI  - Analysis of Down syndrome failed to be diagnosed after prenatal screening: A
      multicenter study.
AB  - To analyze the characters of Down syndrome (DS) who failed to be diagnosed after
      prenatal screening and hope to be able to improve the programs of prenatal
      screening and reduce the missed diagnosis of DS. In this multicenter study, we
      collected the missed cases from 3 prenatal diagnosis centers and analyzed their
      characters. A total of 126 DS babies failed to be diagnosed after prenatal
      screening. Their mothers accepted the prenatal screening in second trimester. We
      collected the mothers' blood and detected the levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)
      and the free beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (fbetahCG) by time
      resolved fluoroimmunoassay. The values were also presented as multiples of the
      median (MoM) and determined the risk of carrying a fetus with DS by Wallace
      LifeCycle Elipse analysis software. Compared with normal control group, the level
      of fbetahCG and hCG MoM were dramatically increased, while AFP and AFP MoM were
      decreased. The area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve of trisomy
      21 was 0.8387 for hCG-MoM and AFP-MoM testing. The sensitivity, specificity,
      positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 84.6%, 74.8%,
      75.4%, and 83.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, the prediction mode was "0.39957 +
      1.90897HCG-MOM -3.32713AFP-MOM". It was worthwhile noting that the risk of 65.9%
      DS missed diagnosis group were higher than 1/1000, 92.9% higher than 1/3000.
      However, 72.5% cases in normal control group were lower than 1/3000. Only 9.2%
      mothers would be higher than the value of risk in 1/1000. The prediction mode of
      hCG MoM and AFP MoM might be able to help us reduce the missed diagnosis. It is
      also necessary to adjust more reasonable range of noninvasive prenatal testing
      with further clinical researches.

PMID- 28614252
TI  - Suprascapular nerve entrapment caused by an intraosseous ganglion of the scapula:
      A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Suprascapular nerve compression is a rare but important entity that is
      often missed in clinical practice. Nerve dysfunction caused by an intraosseous
      ganglion of the glenoid is extremely rare, to the best of our knowledge, only 1
      case of suprascapular nerve entrapment due to an intraosseous ganglion cyst has
      been reported previously in the published literature. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report
      a 61-year-old woman who had complained right shoulder pain that lasted over 3
      years which was exacerbated by overhead activities. DIAGNOSES: We diagnosed it as
      suprascapular nerve entrapment at the spinoglenoid notch caused by an
      intraosseous ganglion of the scapula. INTERVENTIONS: Plain X-ray, computed
      tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electromyography (EMG) of the
      shoulder. OUTCOMES: She undertook surgical excision with curettage of the cyst.
      The infraspinatus fossa dull pain subsided immediately after surgery. No
      recurrence of the cystic lesion was noted on follow-up plain radiograph and MRI
      performed 18 months postoperatively. Shoulder external rotation strength was
      graded as 5 of 5. LESSIONS: Intraosseous ganglion of the glenoid can cause
      compression of the suprascapular nerve when the lesion is expanded toward the
      spinoglenoid notch. The EMG study confirmed compression of the suprascapular
      nerve. The patient showed clinical and radiologic improvement after surgical
      decompression with no recurrence.

PMID- 28614253
TI  - A systematic review and meta-analysis into the effect of lateral wedge arch
      support insoles for reducing knee joint load in patients with medial knee
      osteoarthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immediate effects of lateral
      wedge arch support insoles (LWAS) on reducing the knee joint load in patients
      with medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) compared with an appropriate control.
      METHODS: Databases including Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, Wiley Online
      Library, Cochrane library, and Google Scholar were searched with no limits on
      study date or language, from the earliest available date to October 31, 2016. The
      included studies had to have the aim of reducing knee load and have an
      appropriate control. The main measured values were the first and second peak
      external knee adduction moments (EKAM) and the knee adduction angular impulse
      (KAAI). The random-effects model was used for analyzing the eligible studies.
      RESULTS: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria with a total of 356 participants
      of whom 337 received LWAS treatment. The risk of methodological bias scores
      (quality index) ranged from 21 to 27 of 32. Treatment with LWAS resulted in
      statistically significant reductions in the first peak EKAM (P = .005), the
      second peak EKAM (P = .01), and the KAAI (P = .03). However, among trials in
      which the control treatment was control shoes, the LWAS showed no associations on
      the first peak EKAM (P = .10) or the KAAI (P =  .06); among trials in which the
      control treatment was neutral insoles, the LWAS showed no associations on the
      second peak EKAM (P = .21) or the KAAI (P = .23). At the same time, the LWAS
      showed no statistically significant reduction on the first peak EKAM (P = .39)
      when compared with flat insoles. CONCLUSION: Although meta-analysis outcomes of
      all studies indicated statistically significant associations between LWAS and
      reductions of the first peak EKAM, second peak EKAM and KAAI in people with
      medial knee OA while walking, different results existed in subgroups using
      various control conditions for comparison. These findings do not support the use
      of LWAS insoles for reducing knee load. An optimal LWAS treatment should provide
      the appropriate height of arch support and amount of lateral wedging. Further
      research should investigate the best combination of these 2 parameters to achieve
      efficacy without altered comfort.

PMID- 28614254
TI  - Relationship of diabetes with renal dysfunction in hypertensive adults.
AB  - We aimed to examine the relationship of diabetes with the estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR)-based renal function in the Chinese hypertensive
      adults.This cross-sectional analysis included a total of 18,641 hypertensive
      adults aged 45 to 75 years. The relationship of diabetes (a fasting glucose >=7.0
      mmol/L or self-reported use of hypoglycemic agents or physician diagnosed
      diabetes) with glomerular hyperfiltration (an absolute eGFR >90th percentile
      after adjusting for sex, age), hypofiltration (an eGFR <10th percentile and >=60
      mL/min/1.73 m), and reduced eGFR (an eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m) were estimated by
      multiple logistic regressions.Both the cut-points for hyperfiltration and
      hypofiltration decreased with age increased, ranging from 115 to 91 mL/min/1.73 m
      and 91 to 67 mL/min/1.73 m, respectively. In the multiple logistic models,
      diabetes was positively associated with glomerular hyperfiltration (odds ratio
      [OR]: 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.93-2.47), hypofiltration (1.24, 1.05
      1.46), and reduced eGFR (2.88, 2.21-3.76). Furthermore, the stronger association
      between diabetes and hyperfiltration was found in those with younger age (P for
      interaction <.001), or higher total cholesterol (TC) levels (P for interaction =
      .008). Consistently, significant association between diabetes and hypofiltration
      was only observed in participants with younger age (P for interaction = .043).
      And detrimentally interaction between diabetes and higher TC levels was also
      found (P for interaction <.001) on the risk of reduced eGFR.Diabetes was
      significantly associated with the impairment of renal function, particularly in
      those with younger age or with higher TC levels. Fasting glucose should be
      monitored as a marker to identify those with early renal dysfunction.

PMID- 28614256
TI  - Association between chemokine CXC ligand 12 gene polymorphism (rs1746048) and
      coronary heart disease: A MOOSE-compliant meta-analysis.
AB  - Recently a large number of investigations have implicated the association between
      the chemokine CXC ligand 12 gene polymorphism (rs1746048) and risk of coronary
      heart disease (CHD), but the results remain debatable. The aim of our study was
      to provide more compelling evidence for the relationship between rs1746048 and
      CHD risk. Studies eligible for this meta-analysis were identified through
      electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and CNKI. Two authors performed independent
      literature review and study quality assessment by using the Newcastle-Ottawa
      Scale checklist. The odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were
      pooled in a specific genetic model to assess the association. The meta-analysis
      of 48,852 patients and 64,386 controls from 12 studies showed that patients with
      rs1746048 had 1.11 times of high risk in developing CHD (OR = 1.11; 95% CI = 1.09
      1.14; P < .005; I = 35.8%). The increased risk of CHD was also found in both
      Asian (OR = 1.07; 95%CI = 1.02-1.12; P < .005; I = 40.6%) and Caucasian
      populations (OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 1.10-1.18; P < .005; I = 22.2%). The results of
      our meta-analysis suggested that chemokine CXC ligand 12 gene polymorphism
      (rs1746048) may be linked with susceptibility to CHD.

PMID- 28614255
TI  - Identification of microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for acute myocardial
      infarction in Asian populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading causes of
      mortality and morbidity worldwide. Recently, several studies have revealed the
      diagnostic value of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) for AMI detection. However,
      the diagnostic capacity of miRNAs for AMI is still controversial due to the
      inconsistent results among studies. METHODS: A systematic literature search was
      conducted to retrieve relevant articles in PubMed and other databases up to
      February 2017. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio
      (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area
      under the curve (AUC) were used to assess the overall test performance of miRNAs.
      Subgroup analysis was conducted to explore the potential sources of
      heterogeneity. We evaluated the publication bias by the Deeks' funnel plot
      asymmetry test and all statistical analyses were performed using Meta-disc 1.4
      and Stata software. RESULTS: A total of 26 articles comprising 1973 AMI patients
      and 1236 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. The overall pooled
      diagnostic data was as follows: the pooled sensitivity of 0.76 (95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 0.75-0.78), the pooled specificity of 0.82 (95% CI: 0.81-0.84),
      the pooled PLR of 4.68 (95% CI: 3.92-5.59), the pooled NLR of 0.28 (95% CI: 0.25
      0.32), and the pooled DOR of 18.66 (95% CI: 14.11-24.68). The AUC value was
      0.8661 in the overall summary receiver operator characteristic curve. Subgroup
      analysis indicated that miRNA-499 had better diagnostic accuracy over other
      miRNAs. CONCLUSION: MiRNAs may serve as promising diagnostic biomarkers in the
      early diagnosis of AMI. Further studies were needed to evaluate the diagnostic
      value of miRNAs for AMI before clinical application.

PMID- 28614257
TI  - Enhancing clinical effectiveness of pre-radiotherapy workflow by using
      multidisciplinary-cooperating e-control and e-alerts: A SQUIRE-compliant quality
      improving study.
AB  - Radiotherapy (RT) is useful in managing cancer diseases. In clinical practice,
      early initiation of RT is crucial for enhancing tumor control. But, delivering
      precise RT requires a series of pre-RT working processes in a tight staff
      cooperation manner. In this regard, using information system to conduct e-control
      and e-alerts has been suggested to improve practice effectiveness; however, this
      effect is not well defined in a real-world RT setting.We designed an information
      system to perform e-control and e-alerts for the whole process of pre-RT workflow
      to shorten processing time, to improve overall staff satisfaction, and to enhance
      working confidence.A quality-improving study conducted in a large RT
      center.Externally validated data were retrospectively analyzed for comparison
      before (from Sep. 2012 to Dec. 2012, n = 223) and after (from Sep. 2013 to Dec.
      2013, n = 240) implementation of pre-RT e-control and e-alerts.Applying the e
      control with delay-working e-alerts in pre-RT workflow was the main
      intervention.Nine workstations were identified in pre-RT workflow. The primary
      outcome measure was the processing time in each pre-RT workstations before and
      after implementing the e-control and e-alerts. Secondary measures were staff
      working confidence and near-missing cases during the process of pre-RT
      workflow.After implementing e-control, overall processing time of pre-RT workflow
      was shortened from 12.2 days to 8.9 days (P < .001). Follow-up data (till Jul.
      2016) showed a durable effect of 9.2 days, being still below the predefined
      threshold of <10 days.Using a multidisciplinary-cooperating information system is
      useful to conduct e-control and e-alerts in the whole process of pre-RT workflow.
      Clinical effectiveness, staff satisfaction, and working confidence are able to be
      enhanced obviously.

PMID- 28614258
TI  - The malposition of a central venous catheter through a sheath introducer via the
      left internal jugular vein: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: The misplacement of central venous catheter (CVC) can occur more often
      at the left jugular vein than the right side due to anatomic differences. And
      many of the previously reported cases are about catheter misplacement resulting
      from vessel penetration associated with guidewire. This case differs that the
      catheter itself through the sheath introducer can cause venous injury that may
      lead to the malposition of CVC particularly through an approach to the left
      internal jugular vein. PATIENT CONCERNS, DIAGNOSIS, INTERVENTIONS, AND OUTCOMES:
      We cannulated a large-bore CVC with a sheath introducer, namely mult-lumen access
      catheter (MAC) in the left jugular vein of patient under anesthesia using
      ultrasound and inserted the additional central venous oximetry catheter through
      the sheath introducer of MAC and confirmed aspiration of blood. However, the
      postoperative imaging study revealed malposition of the tip of the oximetry
      catheter in the mediastinum. MAIN LESSON: The insertion of additional catheter
      through the sheath introducer needs to be carried out as carefully as the
      insertion of guidewire and should be confirmed with imaging study after the
      procedure.

PMID- 28614259
TI  - Global regulator SoxR is a negative regulator of efflux pump gene expression and
      affects antibiotic resistance and fitness in Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - SoxR is a global regulator contributing to multidrug resistance in
      Enterobacteriaceae. However, the contribution of SoxR to antibiotic resistance
      and fitness in Acinetobacter baumannii has not yet been studied. Comparisons of
      molecular characteristics were performed between 32 multidrug-resistant A.
      baumannii isolates and 11 susceptible isolates. A soxR overexpression mutant was
      constructed, and its resistance phenotype was analyzed. The impact of SoxR on
      efflux pump gene expression was measured at the transcription level. The effect
      of SoxR on the growth and fitness of A. baumannii was analyzed using a growth
      rate assay and an in vitro competition assay. The frequency of the Gly39Ser
      mutation in soxR was higher in multidrug-resistant A. baumannii, whereas the soxS
      gene was absent in all strains analyzed. SoxR overexpression led to increased
      susceptibility to chloramphenicol (4-fold), tetracycline (2-fold), tigecycline (2
      fold), ciprofloxacin (2-fold), amikacin (2-fold), and trimethoprim (2-fold), but
      it did not influence imipenem susceptibility. Decreased expression of abeS (3.8
      fold), abeM (1.3-fold), adeJ (2.4-fold), and adeG (2.5-fold) were correlated with
      soxR overexpression (P < .05). However, the expression levels of adeB and craA
      showed no obvious difference in the soxR-overexpression mutant. Competitive
      growth test results showed that soxR overexpression led to a lower growth rate,
      which was associated with a significant fitness cost in vitro. These results
      reveal that the global regulator SoxR is a negative regulator of efflux pump gene
      expression, and contributes to antibiotic resistance and fitness in A. baumannii.

PMID- 28614260
TI  - Abnormal octadeca-carbon fatty acids distribution in erythrocyte membrane
      phospholipids of patients with gastrointestinal tumor.
AB  - Fatty acid (FA) composition is closely associated with tumorigenesis and neoplasm
      metastasis. This study was designed to investigate the differences of
      phospholipid FA (PLFA) composition in erythrocyte and platelet cell membranes in
      both gastrointestinal (GI) tumor patients and healthy controls.In this
      prospective study, 50 GI tumor patients and 33 healthy volunteers were recruited
      between the years 2013 and 2015. Blood samples were collected from healthy
      volunteers and patients, and FA composition was assessed using gas chromatography
      mass spectrometer (GC-MS), and data were analyzed by multifactor regression
      analysis.Compared with healthy controls, the percentages of C18:0 (stearic acid,
      SA), C22:6 (docosahexaenoic acid, DHA), and n-3 polyunsaturated FAs (n-3 PUFA)
      were significantly increased, while C18:1 (oleic acid, OA), C18:2 (linoleic acid,
      LA), and monounsaturated FAs (MUFA) decreased in erythrocyte membranes of GI
      tumor patients. Also, patient's platelets revealed higher levels of C20:4
      (arachidonic acid, AA) and DHA, and lower levels of OA and MUFA.Our study
      displayed a remarkable change in the FA composition of erythrocyte and platelet
      membranes in GI tumor patients as compared with healthy controls. The octadeca
      carbon FAs (SA, OA, and LA) in erythrocyte membranes could serve as a potential
      indicator for GI tumor detection.

PMID- 28614261
TI  - A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis of MDR1 polymorphisms and idiopathic nephrotic
      syndrome: Susceptibility and steroid responsiveness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have investigated rs1128503, rs1045642, and rs2032582 in
      multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) for association with susceptibility to
      idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) and steroid resistance. However, because
      these findings were inconsistent, we performed a meta-analysis to determine
      whether there was evidence of a role of these MDR1 variants in INS. METHODS: The
      PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched to
      identify studies that examined MDR1 polymorphisms with susceptibility to INS
      and/or to steroid resistance. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) were calculated by a fixed-effects or random-effects model based
      on heterogeneity. RESULTS: We selected 9 case-control studies that included 928
      patients with INS, of which steroid resistance data were available for 724 (236
      were steroid resistant and 488 were steroid sensitive), and 879 healthy controls.
      All subjects were children. No significant relationships between these
      polymorphisms and INS susceptibility were identified. Significantly increased
      risk of steroid resistance was observed with rs1128503 allelic (OR = 1.49, 95% CI
      = 1.20-1.86) and genotypic (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.18-3.30; OR = 2.03, 95% CI =
      1.43-2.88) comparisons, and with allelic (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.05-2.31) and
      genotypic (OR = 2.85, 95% CI = 1.15-7.07; OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.01-4.8)
      comparisons to rs2032582 in Caucasian populations. However, this association
      between rs2032582 and steroid resistance was not robust enough to withstand
      corrections for multiple comparisons. Similarly, we found that the rs1128503T
      rs2032582G-rs1045642C (T-G-C) haplotype was associated with an increased risk of
      steroid resistance (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.13-3.59), while the wild-type C-G-C
      haplotype was associated with a decreased risk (OR = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.12-0.88) in
      Caucasians; however, these findings were not significant following adjustments
      for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: MDR1 rs1128503, rs1045642, and rs2032582
      polymorphisms are not associated with INS susceptibility; however, there is
      evidence of an association between rs1128503 and increased risk of steroid
      resistance in children with INS, which indicates MDR1 may play a role in steroid
      resistance found in children with INS.

PMID- 28614262
TI  - Minimally invasive mitral valve replacement is a safe and effective surgery for
      patients with rheumatic valve disease: A retrospective study.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the treatment of minimally invasive mitral
      valve replacement (MIMVR) through a right minithoracotomy for patients with
      rheumatic mitral valve disease.From February 2009 to December 2016, 360 patients
      with rheumatic mitral valve disease underwent mitral valve replacement by the
      same surgeon. Among them, 150 patients accepted MIMVR through a right
      minithoracotomy, whereas the other 210 accepted a traditional median sternotomy.
      After matching by patients by age, sex, EuroSCORE, New York Heart Association
      (NYHA) classification, renal and liver function, and degree of mitral valve
      disease, we selected 224 patients for analysis in our retrospective study.In the
      MIMVR group (112 patients), the aortic cross-clamp time (ACC time) (55.25 +/-
      2.18 minutes) was significantly longer than that in the control group (112
      patients; 36.05 +/- 1.40 minutes) (P < .0001). In contrast, the cardiopulmonary
      bypass time (CPB time) was shorter in the MIMVR group than in the control group
      (61.13 +/- 2.57 vs 78.65 +/- 4.05 minutes, respectively, P < .0001). Patients who
      accepted MIMVR surgery had less drainage 24 hours postoperation (324.10 +/- 34.55
      vs 492.90 +/- 34.05 mL, P < .0001) and had less total drainage (713.46 +/- 65.35
      vs 990.49 +/- 67.88 mL, P < .0001) than those who underwent median sternotomy.
      Thirty-two percent of patients in the MIMVR group needed a blood transfusion
      (1.35 +/- .28 units of red blood cells, 155.36 +/- 33.43 mL plasma), whereas
      67.0% of the control group needed a blood transfusion (2.15 +/- .24 units of red
      blood cells, 287.50 +/- 33.54 mL plasma) (Ptransfusion < .001, Pcell = .029,
      Pplasma = .006). In total, 5 deaths occurred during the perioperative period; 3
      occurred in the MIMVR group. The average hospital stay was significantly shorter
      in the MIMVR group than that in the control group (6.56 +/- .23 vs 8.53 +/- .59
      days, P = .003).MIMVR, an effective and safe treatment approach for patients
      suffering from rheumatic mitral valve disease, is associated with less trauma and
      a faster recovery. It is a better choice for treating simple rheumatic mitral
      valve disease.

PMID- 28614263
TI  - Misdiagnosed anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery as
      endocardial fibroelastosis in infancy: A case series.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA)
      is a rare but severe congenital cardiac malformation. The prognosis mainly
      depends on the early and accurate diagnosis and treatment. However, without a
      typical and specific clinical manifestation in early stage, ALCAPA has a higher
      rate of false initial diagnosis. DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC PROCEDURE: Three
      infants with impaired left ventricle (LV) function, LV enlargement, mitral valve
      regurgitation (MR), and LV endocardium thickness were initially diagnosed as
      endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE). Due to the treatment effectiveness with
      prednisone acetate and digoxin, abnormal Q waves with T inversion, and dilated
      right coronary artery (RCA), the diagnosis of ALCAPA was suspected. Lastly,
      cardiac angiography confirmed the diagnosis. All of them were transferred to the
      cardiac surgery department and received a successful surgical repair. The follow
      up results showed that abnormal Q waves with T waves inversion on
      electrocardiogram gradually regressed and disappeared, LV ejection fraction and
      LV dilation returned to a normal range after surgery, with alleviation of MR.
      Besides, endocardial thickness secondary to ischemia also returned to normal.
      CONCLUSION: ALCAPA should be suspected when confronted with patients with left
      heart enlargement, impaired left ventricular function, and signs of myocardial
      ischemia, particularly in infancy. EFE is an important differential diagnosis and
      may also arise as a result of ALCAPA. Abnormal Q waves with T waves inversion,
      particularly in avL, dilated RCA and increased ratio of RCA/AO are important
      differential key points for the identification of ALCAPA and EFE. Awareness of
      this condition is essential for prompt recognition and referral to a tertiary
      cardiac center to enable early surgical intervention and improved prognosis for
      these children.

PMID- 28614264
TI  - Extremely low-frame-rate digital fluoroscopy in catheter ablation of atrial
      fibrillation: A comparison of 2 versus 4 frame rate.
AB  - Despite the technological advance in 3-dimensional (3D) mapping, radiation
      exposure during catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) continues to be a
      major concern in both patients and physicians. Previous studies reported
      substantial radiation exposure (7369-8690 cGy cm) during AF catheter ablation
      with fluoroscopic settings of 7.5 frames per second (FPS) under 3D mapping system
      guidance. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a low-frame-rate fluoroscopy
      protocol for catheter ablation for AF.Retrospective analysis of data on 133
      patients who underwent AF catheter ablation with 3-D electro-anatomic mapping at
      our institute from January 2014 to May 2015 was performed. Since January 2014,
      fluoroscopy frame rate of 4-FPS was implemented at our institute, which was
      further decreased to 2-FPS in September 2014. We compared the radiation exposure
      quantified as dose area product (DAP) and effective dose (ED) between the 4-FPS
      (n = 57) and 2-FPS (n = 76) groups.The 4-FPS group showed higher median DAP
      (599.9 cGy cm; interquartile range [IR], 371.4-1337.5 cGy cm vs. 392.0 cGy cm;
      IR, 289.7-591.4 cGy cm; P < .01), longer median fluoroscopic time (24.4 min; IR,
      17.5-34.9 min vs. 15.1 min; IR, 10.7-20.1 min; P < .01), and higher median ED
      (1.1 mSv; IR, 0.7-2.5 mSv vs. 0.7 mSv; IR, 0.6-1.1 mSv; P < .01) compared with
      the 2-FPS group. No major procedure-related complications such as cardiac
      tamponade were observed in either group. Over follow-up durations of 331 +/- 197
      days, atrial tachyarrhythmia recurred in 20 patients (35.1%) in the 4-FPS group
      and in 27 patients (35.5%) in the 2-FPS group (P = .96). Kaplan-Meier survival
      analysis revealed no significant different between the 2 groups (log rank, P =
      .25).In conclusion, both the 4-FPS and 2-FPS settings were feasible and emitted a
      relatively low level of radiation compared with that historically reported for
      DAP in a conventional fluoroscopy setting.

PMID- 28614265
TI  - Prognostic value of tumor volume and radiation dose in moderate-sized
      hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter analysis in Korea (KROG 14-17).
AB  - The purpose of this study is to investigate the prognostic value of tumor volume
      and radiation dose for predicting treatment outcomes in moderate-sized
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).A total of 72 patients with unresectable HCC
      ranging in size from 5 to 10 cm were treated with high-dose radiotherapy
      including hypofractionated radiotherapy (HRT) and stereotactic body radiotherapy
      (SBRT), in 3 institutions from 2003 to 2013. The HRT doses ranged from 33 to 60
      Gy in 3 to 10 fractions. The primary endpoint was local progression-free survival
      (PFS); the secondary endpoints were overall PFS, overall survival (OS), and
      treatment toxicity.The median follow-up period after radiotherapy was 12.8
      months. The local PFS rates at 1 and 2 years were 57.0% and 39.0%, respectively,
      with a median of 13.6 months. The OS rates at 1 and 2 years were 70.1% and 45.2%,
      respectively, with a median of 21.1 months. A gross tumor volume (GTV) of 214 cm
      and a total dose of 105 Gy10 were identified as the optimal cutoff values of
      radiotherapeutic factors for local PFS. Patients with GTV <= 214 cm and total
      dose >105 Gy10 had significant higher 2-year local PFS and OS than patients with
      GTV >214 cm and total dose <= 105 Gy10 (P = .020 for local PFS, P = .009 for
      OS).The optimal cutoff values of GTV <= 214 cm and total dose >105 Gy10 may be
      useful for predicting survival outcomes when treating moderate-sized HCC with
      high-dose radiotherapy.

PMID- 28614266
TI  - The effect of public reporting presentation on patients' decision making: An
      experimental survey in Yunan Province, China.
AB  - Public reporting of comparative performance information (PRCPI) influence
      patients' decision making and optimal presentation of PRCPI is urgently required
      for successful patients' engagement and quality improvement. This study was to
      explore the presentation of PRCPI impacting on consumers' decision making.This
      research applied a controlled design, with participants allocated randomly to 6
      groups, and a total of 515 participants were recruited in Yunnan province. Five
      aspects of PRCPI presentations were evaluated, including display (star rating vs
      numeric information), and whether information was simplified, interpreted,
      overload, or ranked. Participants were stimulated to identify the best or worst
      physicians with a hypothetical scenario. Main outcome measures were correct
      choices rate of best/worst physicians, indicating participants fully understood
      and correctly used PRCPI. chi test and logistic regression were applied to assess
      the effect between different presentations on consumers' decision making.The
      correct choices rate is only 48.93%. Compared with star rating, numerical
      information helped participants differentiate low-performance physicians (OR =
      2.573, P = .029), including low-performance physicians in antibiotics (OR =
      2.974, P = .031) and low-performance physicians in injections (OR = 2.369, P =
      .035). Disordered information impeded participants to fully understand and
      correctly use PRCPI (OR = 0.519, P = .041). The effect was mainly reflected on
      participants differentiating low-performance physicians (OR = 0.491, P = .039)
      and low-performance physicians in injections (OR = 0.440, P = .016). Other
      aspects of PRCPI showed nonsignificant impacts on consumers' decision
      making.Presentation, including information display and ranking, can influence
      patients' correct usage of PRCPI and the effect was mainly observed when the
      patients were identifying poorly performing physicians. The present study
      demonstrated that numerical and ranked PRCPI, combined with sufficient patient
      education, could be most effective to facilitate patient use.

PMID- 28614267
TI  - Regional cost and experience, not size or hospital inclusion, helps predict ACO
      success.
AB  - The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) continues to expand and now includes
      434 accountable care organizations (ACOs) serving more than 7 million
      beneficiaries. During 2014, 86 of these ACOs earned over $300 million in shared
      savings payments by promoting higher-quality patient care at a lower cost.Whether
      organizational characteristics, regional cost of care, or experience in the MSSP
      are associated with the ability to achieve shared savings remains uncertain.Using
      financial results from 2013 and 2014, we examined all 339 MSSP ACOs with a 2012,
      2013, or 2014 start-date. We used a cross-sectional analysis to examine all ACOs
      and used a multivariate logistic model to predict probability of achieving shared
      savings.Experience, as measured by years in the MSSP program, was associated with
      success and the ability to earn shared savings varied regionally. This variation
      was strongly associated with differences in regional Medicare fee-for-service per
      capita costs: ACOs in high cost regions were more likely to earn savings. In the
      multivariate model, the number of ACO beneficiaries, inclusion of a hospital or
      involvement of an academic medical center, was not associated with likelihood of
      earning shared savings, after accounting for regional baseline cost
      variation.These results suggest ACOs are learning and improving from their
      experience. Additionally, the results highlight regional differences in ACO
      success and the strong association with variation in regional per capita costs,
      which can inform CMS policy to help promote ACO success nationwide.

PMID- 28614268
TI  - Pulmonary and cutaneous infection caused by Nocardia farcinica in a patient with
      nephrotic syndrome: A case report.
AB  - RATIONALE: Nocardia species is known as conditional pathogenic bacteria.
      Disseminated infection caused by Nocardia species is rare and occurs primarily in
      immunosuppressed patients. Signs and symptoms of this infection are frequently
      nonspecific making early diagnosis and treatment difficult. PATIENT CONCERNS: We
      report a case of subcutaneous and pulmonary nocardiosis due to Nocardia farcinica
      (N farcinica) in a patient with nephrotic syndrome who is undergoing long-term
      corticosteroid therapy. In this patient, systemic and pulmonary symptoms (usually
      found in nocaria infection) such as fever, cough, and expectoration were absent.
      DIAGNOSES: Early diagnosis was made by pus culture from subcutaneous abscesses
      and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, which confirm the diagnosis of N farcinica
      infection. INTERVENTIONS: The patient was treated with combination therapy of
      cefatriaxone and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) for 2 weeks, and the
      treatment with TMP-SMX continued to 6 months. OUTCOMES: The abscesses were cured
      in 4 weeks and a lesion in the upper lobe of left lung resolved in 3 months.
      LESSONS: This case indicates that disseminated infection due to N farcinica could
      occur in patients with nephrotic syndrome, even during the period of maintenance
      therapy with a low-dose corticosteroid and common signs and symptoms of
      infections could be absent.

PMID- 28614269
TI  - Comparison of preoperative imaging and pathological findings for pancreatic head
      adenocarcinoma: A retrospective analysis by the Association Francaise de
      Chirurgie.
AB  - Initial imaging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is of crucial importance in
      the decision-making process. The aim of this study was to compare preoperative
      imaging, pathological data, and outcomes in a series of patients who underwent
      resection for pancreatic head cancer.From January 2004 to December 2009, data
      were collected by the Association Francaise de Chirurgie on 1044 patients who
      received first-line R0 resection of pancreatic head cancer.On imaging (computed
      tomography scan 97%, echoendoscopic ultrasound 61.3%, magnetic resonance imaging
      46.5%), arterial, venous, or lymph node invasion was suspected in 20, 161, and
      197 patients, respectively; arterial, venous, or lymph node invasion was observed
      histologically in 11, 116, and 736 cases, respectively. In the patients for whom
      both imaging and pathological data were available, the concordance, sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were as
      follows: 97.5%, 27.3%, 98%, 20%, and 99%, for arterial invasion; 86.5%, 54%, 91%,
      47.8%, and 93.2%, for venous invasion; and 38%, 21%, 86%, 78%, and 41%,
      respectively, for lymph node invasion. Imaging of arterial invasion had no
      prognostic value, while histological evidence of invasion was associated with a
      poor prognosis. Venous and lymph node invasion, as demonstrated by imaging and by
      pathological analysis, had an adverse prognostic value.Imaging gives a fair
      positive predictive value for venous or arterial invasion; venous invasion on
      imaging and histology was associated with a poor prognosis; arterial invasion on
      imaging does not have any significant prognostic value.

PMID- 28614270
TI  - Computer tomography urography assisted real-time ultrasound-guided percutaneous
      nephrolithotomy on renal calculus.
AB  - This study aimed to assess the role of pre-designed route on computer tomography
      urography (CTU) in the ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for
      renal calculus.From August 2013 to May 2016, a total of 100 patients diagnosed
      with complex renal calculus in our hospital were randomly divided into CTU group
      and control group (without CTU assistance). CTU was used to design a rational
      route for puncturing in CTU group. Ultrasound was used in both groups to
      establish a working trace in the operation areas. Patients' perioperative
      parameters and postoperative complications were recorded.All operations were
      successfully performed, without transferring to open surgery. Time of channel
      establishment in CTU group (6.5 +/- 4.3 minutes) was shorter than the control
      group (10.0 +/- 6.7 minutes) (P = .002). In addition, there was shorter operation
      time, lower rates of blood transfusion, secondary operation, and less
      establishing channels. The incidence of postoperative complications including
      residual stones, sepsis, severe hemorrhage, and perirenal hematoma was lower in
      CTU group than in control group.Pre-designing puncture route on CTU images would
      improve the puncturing accuracy, lessen establishing channels as well as improve
      the security in the ultrasound-guided PCNL for complex renal calculus, but at the
      cost of increased radiation exposure.

PMID- 28614271
TI  - Serum anti-PLA2R antibody and glomerular PLA2R deposition in Chinese patients
      with membranous nephropathy: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) is the major target antigen in primary
      membranous nephropathy (PMN). Previous studies have evaluated the diagnostic
      value of serum anti-PLA2R antibody. However, the correlation of serum anti-PLA2R
      antibody and glomerular PLA2R deposition, and their association with clinical
      characteristics need to be further evaluated.A total of 136 patients were
      involved as inception group because serum anti-PLA2R antibody and glomerular
      PLA2R antigen were simultaneously measured. We examined serum anti-PLA2R antibody
      by ELISA and glomerular PLA2R deposition by immunofluorescence assay.Positive
      serum anti-PLA2R antibody and glomerular PLA2R deposition were seen in 58.8%
      (80/136) and 95.6% (130/136) patients, respectively (P < .001). Proteinuria,
      serum total protein, serum albumin, serum creatinine, and estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) had significant differences between patients with serum
      anti-PLA2R antibody and those without. Serum anti-PLA2R antibody levels were
      correlated with serum albumin, serum creatinine, eGFR, and proteinuria.
      Glomerular PLA2R deposition intensities were weakly correlated with proteinuria.
      Unexpectedly, there was a positive correlation rather than a negative correlation
      between glomerular PLA2R deposition intensity and eGFR.In conclusion, serum anti
      PLA2R antibody is more closely correlated with disease activity and renal
      function than glomerular PLA2R deposition.

PMID- 28614272
TI  - Quantification of microRNA-21 and microRNA-125b in melanoma tissue.
AB  - Although microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as potent mediators of melanoma
      development and progression, a precise understanding of their oncogenic role
      remains unclear. In this study, we analysed formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded
      tissues from two separate melanoma cohorts and from a series of benign
      melanocytic nevi. Using three different quantification methods [array analysis,
      quantitative PCR (qPCR) and in-situ hybridization (ISH) quantified by digital
      image analysis], we found considerable miRNA dysregulation in tumours. Using
      array analysis, samples mainly clustered according to their biological group
      (benign vs. malignant) and 77 miRNAs differed significantly between nevi and
      melanoma samples. Increase of miR-21 and miR-142, and decrease of miR-125b, miR
      211, miR-101 and miR-513c in the melanomas were verified in both cohorts using
      qPCR, whereas the decrease of miR-205 observed with array analysis could not be
      confirmed using qPCR. ISH with digital quantification showed expression of miR-21
      and miR-125b in the melanocytic lesions. miR-21 ISH was increased in melanomas,
      whereas quantification of miR-125b showed uniform ISH expression across nevi and
      melanomas. Our results support the important involvement of different miRNAs in
      melanoma biology and may serve as solid basics for further miRNA investigations
      in melanoma formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue. In particular, there is
      increased expression of miR-21 in melanomas compared with benign nevi.

PMID- 28614273
TI  - Fat Grafting for Esthetic Correction of the Muscle Atrophy Secondary to Ulnar
      Nerve Lesion.
AB  - Patients with hand muscular atrophy due to damage of the ulnar nerve could be
      stigmatized for their appearance. Unsatisfactory results in the attempt to
      correct the atrophy are reported in the literature. Fat grafting is an autologous
      and easily obtainable graft, antigenic response is very unlikely, it does not
      require any special material, and the procedure has a low cost. The technique of
      autologous fat grafting by using fat block, to remodel the first interdigital
      space, is useful and safe in correcting muscle atrophy of the first interdigital
      space caused by the injury of the ulnar nerve. This technique is suitable for
      muscular atrophy caused by injury of the ulnar nerve and nerve compression as
      well as patients present with esthetic complaints. Fifteen cases were operated
      using this technique. After the surgery, the resorption of the graft ranged
      between 12.5% and 66.7%, averaging 28%. Patients were able to check the benefit
      provided by filling of the atrophied area, which allowed a serene return to their
      daily life activities, living with others, reducing the need to hide their hands,
      and even facilitating their reintegration into the labor market.

PMID- 28614274
TI  - Corrective Osteotomy for Symptomatic Clavicle Malunion Using Patient-specific
      Osteotomy and Reduction Guides.
AB  - Midshaft clavicular fractures are often treated nonoperatively with good reported
      clinical outcome in a majority of patients. However, malunion with shortening of
      the affected clavicle is not uncommon. Shortening of the clavicle has been shown
      to affect shoulder strength and kinematics with alteration of scapular position.
      Whereas the exact clinical impact of these factors is unknown, the deformity may
      lead to cosmetic and functional impairment as for example pain with weight
      bearing on the shoulder girdle. Other reported complications of clavicular
      malunion include thoracic outlet syndrome, subclavicular vein thrombosis, and
      axillary plexus compression. Corrective osteotomy has therefore been recommended
      for symptomatic clavicular malunions, generally using plain x-rays for planning
      the necessary elongation. Particularly in malunited multifragmentary fractures it
      may be difficult to exactly determine the plane of osteotomy intraoperatively to
      restore the precise anatomic shape of the clavicle. We present a technique for
      corrective osteotomy using preoperative computer planning and 3-dimensional
      printed patient-specific intraoperative osteotomy and reduction guides based on
      the healthy contralateral clavicle.

PMID- 28614275
TI  - Indocyanine Green Angiography: A Helpful Tool for Intraoperative Assessment of
      Upper Extremity Perfusion.
AB  - Assessment of tissue perfusion can be a challenge for the hand surgeon.
      Indocyanine green (ICG) angiography has been shown to be a valuable adjunct to
      physical examination and clinical judgment when there is a concern for tissue
      perfusion. The use of this technology has risen sharply in recent years in
      reconstructive surgery. Applications of ICG angiography have been developed
      throughout the field of surgery, including breast surgery, free tissue transfer,
      bowel surgery, neurosurgery, and lymphatic reconstruction. In this study, we
      discuss the novel applications of ICG angiography within the field of upper
      extremity surgery, and provide specific case examples of its successful use.

PMID- 28614276
TI  - Wrist Arthrodesis With Femoral Head Structural Allograft After Failed Total Wrist
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - The failed total wrist arthroplasty represents a challenging reconstructive
      problem for the upper extremity surgeon. Bone loss, poor bone quality, and soft
      tissue defects all present technical challenges when considering revision
      procedures. Our purpose is to describe a technique for wrist arthrodesis after
      failed total wrist arthroplasty utilizing fresh-frozen femoral head allograft and
      dorsal plate fixation. We describe a simple method of allograft preparation for
      this procedure, as graft preparation and implantation can be time consuming and
      technically challenging.

PMID- 28614277
TI  - The Pull-out K-wire Anchorage: The "Shepherd's Crook" Technique.
AB  - Traditional pull-out techniques for tendon and ligament repair are still widely
      used in hand surgery, despite constant refinements and the development of other
      methods of fixation. We propose a modification of the classic technique which
      utilizes a K-wire as an external strut instead of the classic button. This
      fixation system can be usefully applied in the fixation of extensor and flexor
      tendons and reinsertions. It is particularly applicable in situations where a
      transarticular K-wire is to be used anyway, in situations of temporary joint
      immobilization and in other situations.

PMID- 28614278
TI  - Patient-specific Distraction Regimen to Avoid Growth-rod Failure.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A finite element study to establish the relationship between
      patient's curve flexibility (determined using curve correction under gravity) in
      juvenile idiopathic scoliosis and the required distraction frequency to avoid
      growth rod fracture, as a function of time. OBJECTIVE: To perform a parametric
      analysis using a juvenile scoliotic spine model (single mid-thoracic curve with
      the apex at the eighth thoracic vertebra) and establish the relationship between
      curve flexibility (determined using curve correction under gravity) and the
      distraction interval that allows a higher factor of safety for the growth rods.
      SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous studies have shown that frequent distraction
      with smaller magnitude of distractions are less likely to result in rod failure.
      However there has not been any methodology or a chart provided to apply this
      knowledge on to the individual patients that undergo the treatment. This study
      aims to fill in that gap. METHOD: The parametric study was performed by varying
      the material properties of the disc, hence altering the axial stiffness of the
      scoliotic spine model. The stresses on the rod were found to increase with
      increased axial stiffness of the spine, and this resulted in the increase of
      required optimal frequency to achieve a factor of safety of two for growth rods.
      RESULTS: A relationship between the percentage correction in Cobb's angle due to
      gravity alone, and the required distraction interval for limiting the maximum von
      Mises stress to 255 MPa on the growth rods was established. The distraction
      interval required to limit the stresses to the selected nominal value reduces
      with increase in stiffness of the spine. Furthermore, the appropriate distraction
      interval reduces for each model as the spine becomes stiffer with time
      (autofusion). This points to the fact the optimal distraction frequency is a time
      dependent variable that must be achieved to keep the maximum von Mises stress
      under the specified factor of safety. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrates
      the possibility of translating fundamental information from finite element
      modeling to the clinical arena, for mitigating the occurrence of growth rod
      fracture, that is, establishing a relationship between optimal distraction
      interval and curve flexibility (determined using curve correction under gravity).
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.

PMID- 28614279
TI  - Reoperation Rates Following Instrumented Lumbar Spine Fusion.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the
      cumulative reoperation rate and indications for reoperation following
      instrumented lumbar spine fusion (LSF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: LSF reduces
      disability and improves health-related quality of life for patients with several
      spinal disorders. The rate of instrumented LSF has drastically increased over the
      last few decades. The increased incidence of LSF, however, has led to increased
      reoperation rates. METHODS: The data are based on the prospective LSF database of
      Tampere University Hospital that includes all elective indications for LSF
      surgery. A total of 433 consecutive patients (64% women, mean age 62 years) who
      underwent LSF in Tampere University Hospital between 2008 and 2011 were evaluated
      and indications for reoperations were rechecked from patient records and
      radiographs. The most common diagnosis for the primary surgery was degenerative
      spondylolisthesis and the mean follow-up time was 3.9 years. The cumulative
      incidence of reoperations and the "time to event" survival rate was calculated by
      Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: By the end of 2013, 81 patients had undergone at
      least one reoperation. The cumulative reoperation rate at 2 years was 12.5% (95%
      confidence interval: 95% CI: 9.7-16.0) and at 4 years was 19.3% (95% CI: 15.6
      23.8). The most common pathology leading to reoperation was adjacent segment
      pathology with a cumulative reoperation rate of 8.7% (95% CI: 6.1-12.5) at 4
      years. The corresponding rates for early and late instrumentation failure were
      4.4% (95% CI: 2.7-7.0) and 2.9% (95% CI: 1.9-7.1), respectively, and for acute
      complications, 2.5% (95% CI: 1.4-4.5). CONCLUSION: Although previous studies
      reported that early results of spinal fusion are promising, one in five patients
      required reoperation within 4 years after surgery. Patients and surgeons should
      be aware of the reoperation rates when planning fusion surgery. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28614280
TI  - Psychometric Validation of the Adapted Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong) Version of
      the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire
      (JOACMEQ).
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective questionnaire translation and validation. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Japanese
      Orthopaedic Association Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire (JOACMEQ)
      into Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong) and to assess its validity, reliability, and
      sensitivity for differentiating cervical myelopathy (CM) and presence of acute
      neck/shoulder pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: CM frequently presents with
      various symptoms affecting patients' quality of life. Hence, a patient-oriented
      instrument such as JOACMEQ is necessary to assess patient-perceived outcomes of
      CM treatment. METHODS: The English version of JOACMEQ was translated and adapted
      using double forward and single backward translations. The translated JOACMEQ was
      administered to patients with suspected CM, followed by the Traditional Chinese
      (Hong Kong) version of the Neck Disability Index (NDI), EuroQol five-dimension
      five-level (EQ-5D-5L), and Short Form-12 version 2 (SF-12v2) questionnaires.
      Construct validity of the domains was assessed using Spearman correlation test
      against domains with similar constructs. Internal consistency was assessed by
      Cronbach's alpha. Sensitivity of the adapted JOACMEQ was determined by known
      group comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 100 patients were recruited. Psychometric
      testing of the translated JOACMEQ demonstrated an excellent overall internal
      consistency with Cronbach's alpha > 0.9, and good internal consistency of Lower
      Extremity Function (0.823) and Quality of Life (0.875) domains. Score of all
      domains of the translated JOACMEQ had significant correlations (P < 0.01-0.05)
      with nearly all domains of SF-12v2 and with both NDI and EQ-5D-5L scores. JOACMEQ
      was sensitive in detecting differences (P < 0.001) between subjects who had CM
      and those without, and also between those patients with/without CM experiencing
      current neck/shoulder pain. CONCLUSION: Our translated JOACMEQ has satisfactory
      psychometric properties, including adequate clinical and construct validity, and
      internal consistency in patients with suspected/diagnosed CM and can
      differentiate between those with/without pain. It is demonstrated as a sensitive
      outcome measure for CM and neck/shoulder pain. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2.

PMID- 28614281
TI  - Transcranial Motor Evoked Potential Alarm Criteria to Predict Foot Drop Injury
      During Lumbosacral Surgery.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort analysis. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to
      investigate whether waveform alterations in transcranial motor evoked potentials
      (TCMEPs) can reliably predict postoperative foot drop. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND
      DATA: Nerve injury leading to foot drop is a potential complication of
      lumbosacral surgery. Very limited data exist on the use of intraoperative TCMEPs
      to identify iatrogenic foot drop. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      neuromonitoring data from 130 consecutive spine surgeries with instrumentation
      involving L4-S1. TCMEP waveform analysis included amplitude (A), area under the
      curve (AUC), latency (L), and duration (D). Patient outcomes were correlated with
      neuromonitoring results. Intraoperative alert criteria were established on the
      basis of observed intraoperative changes. RESULTS: Three patients developed
      severe foot drop with a muscle weakness functional grade ranging from 0/5 to 3/5.
      Two patients developed a mild foot drop with functional grade 4/5. Twenty-three
      patients had preoperative weakness in an L5 distribution. One-hundred two
      patients who had neither preoperative nor postoperative neurological
      complications served as a control group. Amplitude significantly decreased in
      patients with a severe postoperative deficit (P = 0.005) as did AUC and duration
      (P < 0.05). Intraoperative alert criteria defined as a >65% decrease in AUC
      resulted in a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and
      negative predictive value (NPV) of 100%, 91.4%, 12%, and 100%, respectively. When
      defining an alert criteria as a >50% decrease in amplitude, sensitivity,
      specificity, PPV, and NPV were 100%, 87.9%, 8.8%, and 100%, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Reduction of TCMEP waveform associated with postoperative severe foot
      drop can be detected during lumbar surgery. Other waveform parameters such as AUC
      may predict foot drop better than the amplitude. Additional examinations in
      larger samples of foot drops are needed to validate these alert threshold
      findings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28614282
TI  - Clinical Outcomes of Cervical Spinal Surgery for Cervical Myelopathic Patients
      With Coexisting Lumbar Spinal Canal Stenosis (Tandem Spinal Stenosis): A
      Retrospective Analysis of 297 Cases.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective observational study. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the
      prevalence and clinical characteristics of tandem spinal stenosis (TSS) in
      patients with cervical myelopathy including ossification of the posterior
      longitudinal ligament of the cervical spine (C-OPLL). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      Concurrent cervical and lumbar spinal canal stenosis is generally reported as
      TSS. Most previous studies have used magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate
      spinal stenosis in the cervical and lumbar spine. METHODS: The authors performed
      a retrospective analysis of the outcomes of 297 myelography and cervical
      surgeries performed in myelopathic patients. We compared the non-TSS group (n =
      125) with the TSS group (n = 172) in terms of multiple clinical parameters. In
      each group, we compared the cervical non-OPLL cases with the cervical OPLL cases.
      Moreover, we investigated the ratio and clinical outcomes of additional lumbar
      surgeries performed for TSS patients. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-two cases
      (57.9%) were considered TSS. Forty-one patients (13.8%) underwent a lumbar
      operation during the follow-up period. The TSS group included a greater number of
      OPLL patients, elderly patients, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and non-smokers
      than the non-TSS group. The postoperative C-JOA score and the C-JOA recovery rate
      in the TSS group were significantly lower than the non-TSS group. In the TSS
      group, the non-C-OPLL patients were significantly older than the C-OPLL patients.
      The C-OPLL patients had higher postoperative C-JOA scores than the non-C-OPLL
      patients in both the TSS and non-TSS groups. The additional lumbar surgery
      effectively improved both the C-JOA and L-JOA scores in TSS patients. CONCLUSION:
      The prognosis for TSS patients with myelopathy was worse than that for patients
      with isolated cervical lesions. Younger C-OPLL patients, even those with TSS,
      showed higher recovery rates than non-C-OPLL patients. Aging and coexistent
      lumbar lesions may influence the recovery process following surgery for cervical
      myelopathy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 28614283
TI  - Recurrent Patellar Instability: Implications of Preoperative Patellar Crepitation
      on the Status of the Patellofemoral Articular Cartilage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to quantify the frequency, severity, and
      location of patellofemoral (PF) articular cartilage changes recurrent patellar
      instability treated surgically in patients with preoperative clinical patellar
      crepitation. METHODS: A single-surgeon database was queried for all knees with
      recurrent patellar instability between 3/2000 and 6/2012 (n=214). Only knees
      which underwent knee arthroscopy during the surgical treatment were included
      (n=148). PF articular cartilage condition was assessed arthroscopically. RESULTS:
      There were 148 knees in 130 patients (mean age, 16 y), which met inclusion
      criteria. There were 93 females and 37 males. Diagnoses were dislocations [122
      (82.4%)] and subluxations (26). Preoperatively 28 knees (18.9%) had PF
      crepitation. Statistical analysis demonstrated preoperative PF crepitation was
      correlated with medial patellar facet lesions (P=0.0022) and were 3.6 times more
      likely to have medial patellar facet lesions. Crepitation was correlated with the
      higher outerbridge (OB) patellar grades (P<0.0001) and larger patellar lesion
      size (P=0.0021). At arthroscopy 89 knees (60.5%) had patellar articular cartilage
      damage with a mean OB grade of 1.3 (0 to 4) and mean size of 93.2 mm (0 to 750).
      The femoral articular cartilage was identified in 29 knees (19.7%) with a mean OB
      grade of 0.44 (0 to 4). CONCLUSIONS: PF articular damage was present in 63% of
      knees, which were surgically treated for patellar instability. The patella was
      involved in 61% (mean, 129 mm) and femoral trochlea in 20% (mean 166 mm) of
      knees. Knee with preoperative PF crepitation (20% of cohort) more commonly had
      medial patellar facet lesions with higher OB grades, and larger patellar lesion
      size than knees without preoperative crepitation. Because of the high frequency
      of patellar (83%) and femoral (36%) articular damage documented at the time of
      surgical reconstruction, visualization of the PF joint is recommended when knees
      have preoperative PF crepitation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

PMID- 28614284
TI  - Cervical Spine Deformities in Children With Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical spine deformity in rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata
      (RCDP) has been described with different findings reported in the literature.
      However, available literature provides limited data from a few cases with
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine. Our report describes the
      MRI findings in a group of children with RCDP, aiming to reach a better
      understanding of this pathology. METHODS: An Institutional Review Board-approved
      RCDP Registry was created at our institution with the goal of identifying
      pertinent medical issues over the lifespan of individuals with RCDP. Records of
      children within the registry were evaluated, and magnetic resonance images
      obtained between 2004 and 2015, were available for review. The levels of spinal
      canal stenosis were recorded and the severity of the stenosis was decided based
      on adults' parameters. Cord compression and myelomalacia were confirmed on the
      axial images. Sagittal lumbar spine magnetic resonance images were also evaluated
      when available, and the presence of tethered cord and fatty filum was recorded.
      RESULTS: Twenty-six children (15 boys and 11 girls) were identified in the RCDP
      Registry. Eleven children (6 boys and 5 girls) had sagittal MRI of the cervical
      spine available for review. Age at the time of MRI study was variable (1 wk to 32
      mo). All patients except 1 had stenosis of the cervical spinal canal.
      Myelomalacia of the cord was noted only in this patient. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      suggests that, in children with RCDP, cervical spinal stenosis and cord
      compression are a real risk, and children with this diagnosis should have
      monitoring for these issues. Tethered cord is also a possible finding that needs
      to be evaluated. Full sagittal spine MRI is necessary to detect the possible
      deformities at the cervical and lumbar levels.

PMID- 28614285
TI  - Invalid Comparison Between Methods of Epiphysiodesis.

PMID- 28614286
TI  - Three-dimensional True Spine Length: A Novel Technique for Assessing the Outcomes
      of Scoliosis Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current assessment of spine growth for patients undergoing growth
      friendly surgical treatment for early-onset scoliosis (EOS) is the use of serial,
      1-dimensional standard-of-care coronal vertical spine height (SoCVH)
      measurements. Any growth of the spine out of the coronal plane is missed by the
      SoCVH, which may underestimate the actual growth of the spine. This study set to
      validate the novel 3-dimensional true spine length (3DTSL) radiographic
      measurement technique for measuring growth of EOS patients. METHODS: 3DTSL
      measurement accuracy, reliability, and repeatability was assessed using 10
      physical model configurations. In addition, interrater and intrarater
      reliabilities (IRRs) were assessed using interclass coefficient (ICC) analyses of
      23 retrospective EOS patient clinical radiographs. 3DTSL measurements were
      compared with SoCVH measurements. RESULTS: The model assessment showed excellent
      accuracy with a mean error of 1.2 mm (SD=0.9; range, 0.0 to 3.0) and mean ICC of
      0.999.IRR ICCs of the clinical radiographs averaged 0.952 for the 3DTSL and 0.975
      for the vertical height whereas IRRs averaged 0.944 and 0.965, respectively (all
      P<0.001).Mean clinical 3DTSL curve lengths were 193.9 mm (SD=30.0; range, 142.8
      to 276.8), whereas the SoCVH averaged 156.1 mm (SD=29.7; range, 74.7 to 207.3).
      The mean difference between the matched 3DTSL and SoCVH measurements was 37.8 mm
      (SD=21.4; range, 1.3 to 95.4) and was statistically significant (P<0.0001). On
      average, the 3DTSL of the measured spines was 124.2% of the measured SoCVH, with
      a progressive difference as the Cobb or kyphosis angles increased. CONCLUSIONS:
      The novel 3DTSL measurement is accurate, repeatable, and complements the current
      growth assessments for EOS treatments. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II-diagnostic
      study-development of a diagnostic criteria on basis of consecutive patients, with
      gold standard.

PMID- 28614287
TI  - Nasal Swab Screening for Staphylococcus aureus in Spinal Deformity Patients
      Treated With Growing Rods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical-site infections are one of the most concerning complications
      in patients treated with growing rods (GR). The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the use of preoperative screening for Staphylococcus aureus (SA) for all
      growing spine procedures, and if this would permit alteration of prophylactic
      antibiotics to cover the identified resistances. METHODS: All patients were
      identified who had SA screening during the course of GR treatment. In otal, 34
      patients [23 neuromuscular (NMS), 4 congenital, 4 idiopathic scoliosis (IS), and
      3 syndromic] were identified who had 111 preoperative screenings [79
      lengthenings, 23 insertions, 6 revisions, and 3 conversions to posterior spinal
      fusions (PSF)]. Mean age at GR insertion was 5.5 years (2 to 11 y). RESULTS:
      There were 11 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) "+" screenings
      in 6 patients (5 NMS, 1 IS): 3 in 3 patients before GR insertion and 8 in 3
      patients (all 3 were negative at GR insertion screening) at subsequent surgeries.
      There were 23 methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) "+" screenings
      in 12 patients (7 NMS, 2 congenital, 2 IS, 1 syndromic): 2 in 2 patients before
      GR insertion and 21 in 10 patients at subsequent surgeries (18 lengthenings, 3
      revisions). Overall, 13 patients (3 MRSA+10 MSSA) were initially negative but
      screened positive for the first time at a subsequent surgery (12 lengthenings, 1
      GR to PSF). All patients (n=5) with positive screenings before GR insertion were
      in patients with NMS (3 MRSA, 2 MSSA). On the basis of sensitivities, 9 patients
      demonstrated SA resistance to cefazolin (8 MRSA and 1 MSSA) and 6 to clindamycin
      (5 MRSA and 1 MSSA). Hence, if cefazolin was routinely used for all patients
      26.5% of patients (9/34) would have been inadequately covered at some point
      during their GR treatment; clindamycin, 17.7% (6/34). CONCLUSION: The use of SA
      nasal swab screening in GR patients identified 9 patients (26.5%) whose
      prophylactic antibiotics (cefazolin) could be altered to permit appropriate SA
      coverage. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV-retrospective case series.

PMID- 28614288
TI  - Evaluation of the Tibial Tubercle to Posterior Cruciate Ligament Distance in a
      Pediatric Patient Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluation of distal extensor mechanism alignment continues to evolve
      in children with patella instability. Prior studies support the use of the tibial
      tubercle to trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance but limitations exist for this
      measurement including: changes in the TT-TG distance with knee flexion,
      difficulty with finding the deepest part of a dysplastic trochlea, and
      limitations regarding identification of the site of the anatomic abnormality. The
      tibial tubercle-posterior cruciate ligament (TT-PCL) distance has been introduced
      as an alternative measure to address the shortcomings in the TT-TG distance by
      quantifying the position of the TT independent of the trochlea and with respect
      to the tibia only. The objectives of this study were to (1) confirm that TT-PCL
      measurements in the pediatric population are reliable and reproducible; (2)
      determine whether normal TT-PCL distance changes with age; and (3) compare TT-PCL
      distances in patients with and without patellar instability to assess its utility
      in the workup of pediatric patellar instability. METHODS: All knee magnetic
      resonance imaging performed for patients from birth to 15.9 years of age at our
      institution between December 2004 and February 2012 were retrospectively
      collected (total 566). Eighty-two patients had patellar instability and 484
      patients did not have patellar instability. Two magnetic resonance imaging
      reviewers measured TT-PCL distance on T2-weighted axial images in a blinded
      manner. Intraobserver and interobserver agreement was measured. Correlation
      between TT-PCL distance and age as well as group differences between mean TT-PCL
      distances was evaluated. RESULTS: Intraobserver and interobserver agreement was
      excellent (0.93) and very good (0.80), respectively. The mean TT-PCL distance was
      20.1 mm with a range of 5.8 to 32.1 mm. The mean age was 12.6 years with a range
      of 0.8 to 15.9 years. The average TT-PCL distance was 21 mm for the instability
      group and 19.9 mm for the control group. TT-PCL distance increased significantly
      as subject age increased; however, there was no significant measurement
      difference shown between the patellar instability group and the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: TT-PCL distance increased with age in the pediatric population but
      did not correlate with recurrent patella instability in this pediatric cohort.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III-diagnostic.

PMID- 28614289
TI  - MRI in Postreduction Evaluation of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip: Our
      Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is one of the most common
      congenital defects in the newborn. When its severe form is not corrected, it is
      associated with long-term morbidity. Closed reduction with casting is the
      standard primary treatment and reduction is confirmed by magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI). We reported our experience on the reliability of MRI in
      postreduction assessment of DDH. METHODS: All children who underwent closed
      reduction for Graf type IV DDH at our institution between September 2010 and June
      2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Since 2010 we assessed postreduction position
      of the femoral head by performing a MRI. RESULTS: Twenty-five (5 male, 20 female)
      patients presented with 29 (15 left sided, 6 right sided, 4 bilateral) Graf type
      IV DDH and underwent closed reduction at a mean age of 3.4 months. In all
      patients MRI studies performed within 24 hours were diagnostic, showing a
      concentric reduction of the femoral head within the acetabulum in 24/25 patients.
      In the patient with persistent hip instability, a subsequent open reduction was
      performed. In all the cases, there was no need of any contention or sedation
      during MRI. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of our experience, MRI is an excellent,
      safe and, reliable modality to confirm maintenance of adequate femoral head
      position and to evaluate soft tissue interposition. We agree that MRI is the gold
      standard to early depict dislocation after closed reduction of DDH.

PMID- 28614290
TI  - Response to "Observation About 'Open Surgical Release of Posttraumatic Elbow
      Contracture in Children and Adolescents'".

PMID- 28614292
TI  - Patience for patients.

PMID- 28614291
TI  - CLDN1 Increases Drug Resistance of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer by Activating
      Autophagy via Up-Regulation of ULK1 Phosphorylation.
AB  - BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of CLDN1 in
      non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its mechanism of action in cisplatin
      resistance. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 55 patients with NSCLC admitted to
      our hospital between October 2013 and October 2015 were included. NSCLC tissues
      and tumor-adjacent tissues (>=5 cm from tumor edge) were collected. Among the 55
      patients, 37 had adenocarcinoma and 18 had squamous cell carcinoma. Quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine mRNA expression, and
      protein expression was examined using Western blotting. CCK-8 assay was used to
      determine cell proliferation and Transwell assay was used to detect migration and
      invasion of the cells. Confocal microscopy was used to observe autophagosomes.
      RESULTS Increased CLDN1 expression promoted the development and metastasis of
      NSCLC. CLDN1 expression in A549/CDDP cells was up-regulated at both
      transcriptional and translational levels. Reduced CLDN1 expression decreased the
      drug resistance, proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of A549/CDDP
      cells. Decreased CLDN1 expression promoted the apoptosis of A549/CDDP cells.
      CLDN1 enhanced CDDP drug resistance of A549 cells by activating autophagy. CLDN1
      promoted the autophagy of A549 cells by up-regulating the phosphorylation level
      of ULK1. CONCLUSIONS The present study demonstrates that expression of CLDN1 in
      NSCLC is up-regulated and it is correlated with clinicopathological features.
      CLDN1 activates autophagy through up-regulation of ULK1 phosphorylation and
      promotes drug resistance of NSCLC cells to CDDP.

PMID- 28614293
TI  - Histone deacetylase 3 prepares brown adipose tissue for acute thermogenic
      challenge.
AB  - Brown adipose tissue is a thermogenic organ that dissipates chemical energy as
      heat to protect animals against hypothermia and to counteract metabolic disease.
      However, the transcriptional mechanisms that determine the thermogenic capacity
      of brown adipose tissue before environmental cold are unknown. Here we show that
      histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) is required to activate brown adipose tissue
      enhancers to ensure thermogenic aptitude. Mice with brown adipose tissue-specific
      genetic ablation of HDAC3 become severely hypothermic and succumb to acute cold
      exposure. Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) is nearly absent in brown adipose tissue
      lacking HDAC3, and there is also marked downregulation of mitochondrial oxidative
      phosphorylation genes resulting in diminished mitochondrial respiration.
      Remarkably, although HDAC3 acts canonically as a transcriptional corepressor, it
      functions as a coactivator of oestrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRalpha) in
      brown adipose tissue. HDAC3 coactivation of ERRalpha is mediated by deacetylation
      of PGC-1alpha and is required for the transcription of Ucp1, Ppargc1a (encoding
      PGC-1alpha), and oxidative phosphorylation genes. Importantly, HDAC3 promotes the
      basal transcription of these genes independently of adrenergic stimulation. Thus,
      HDAC3 uniquely primes Ucp1 and the thermogenic transcriptional program to
      maintain a critical capacity for thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue that can
      be rapidly engaged upon exposure to dangerously cold temperature.

PMID- 28614295
TI  - Neuroinflammation: Synapses pruned in lupus.

PMID- 28614294
TI  - Human fetal dendritic cells promote prenatal T-cell immune suppression through
      arginase-2.
AB  - During gestation the developing human fetus is exposed to a diverse range of
      potentially immune-stimulatory molecules including semi-allogeneic antigens from
      maternal cells, substances from ingested amniotic fluid, food antigens, and
      microbes. Yet the capacity of the fetal immune system, including antigen
      presenting cells, to detect and respond to such stimuli remains unclear. In
      particular, dendritic cells, which are crucial for effective immunity and
      tolerance, remain poorly characterized in the developing fetus. Here we show that
      subsets of antigen-presenting cells can be identified in fetal tissues and are
      related to adult populations of antigen-presenting cells. Similar to adult
      dendritic cells, fetal dendritic cells migrate to lymph nodes and respond to toll
      like receptor ligation; however, they differ markedly in their response to
      allogeneic antigens, strongly promoting regulatory T-cell induction and
      inhibiting T-cell tumour-necrosis factor-alpha production through arginase-2
      activity. Our results reveal a previously unappreciated role of dendritic cells
      within the developing fetus and indicate that they mediate homeostatic immune
      suppressive responses during gestation.

PMID- 28614296
TI  - Selective depletion of uropathogenic E. coli from the gut by a FimH antagonist.
AB  - Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC)
      affect 150 million people annually. Despite effective antibiotic therapy, 30-50%
      of patients experience recurrent UTIs. In addition, the growing prevalence of
      UPEC that are resistant to last-line antibiotic treatments, and more recently to
      carbapenems and colistin, make UTI a prime example of the antibiotic-resistance
      crisis and emphasize the need for new approaches to treat and prevent bacterial
      infections. UPEC strains establish reservoirs in the gut from which they are shed
      in the faeces, and can colonize the periurethral area or vagina and subsequently
      ascend through the urethra to the urinary tract, where they cause UTIs. UPEC
      isolates encode up to 16 distinct chaperone-usher pathway pili, and each pilus
      type may enable colonization of a habitat in the host or environment. For
      example, the type 1 pilus adhesin FimH binds mannose on the bladder surface, and
      mediates colonization of the bladder. However, little is known about the
      mechanisms underlying UPEC persistence in the gut. Here, using a mouse model, we
      show that F17-like and type 1 pili promote intestinal colonization and show
      distinct binding to epithelial cells distributed along colonic crypts.
      Phylogenomic and structural analyses reveal that F17-like pili are closely
      related to pilus types carried by intestinal pathogens, but are restricted to
      extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli. Moreover, we show that targeting FimH with
      M4284, a high-affinity inhibitory mannoside, reduces intestinal colonization of
      genetically diverse UPEC isolates, while simultaneously treating UTI, without
      notably disrupting the structural configuration of the gut microbiota. By
      selectively depleting intestinal UPEC reservoirs, mannosides could markedly
      reduce the rate of UTIs and recurrent UTIs.

PMID- 28614297
TI  - Multilineage communication regulates human liver bud development from
      pluripotency.
AB  - Conventional two-dimensional differentiation from pluripotency fails to
      recapitulate cell interactions occurring during organogenesis. Three-dimensional
      organoids generate complex organ-like tissues; however, it is unclear how
      heterotypic interactions affect lineage identity. Here we use single-cell RNA
      sequencing to reconstruct hepatocyte-like lineage progression from pluripotency
      in two-dimensional culture. We then derive three-dimensional liver bud organoids
      by reconstituting hepatic, stromal, and endothelial interactions, and deconstruct
      heterogeneity during liver bud development. We find that liver bud hepatoblasts
      diverge from the two-dimensional lineage, and express epithelial migration
      signatures characteristic of organ budding. We benchmark three-dimensional liver
      buds against fetal and adult human liver single-cell RNA sequencing data, and
      find a striking correspondence between the three-dimensional liver bud and fetal
      liver cells. We use a receptor-ligand pairing analysis and a high-throughput
      inhibitor assay to interrogate signalling in liver buds, and show that vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) crosstalk potentiates endothelial network
      formation and hepatoblast differentiation. Our molecular dissection reveals
      interlineage communication regulating organoid development, and illuminates
      previously inaccessible aspects of human liver development.

PMID- 28614299
TI  - Homeostatic circuits selectively gate food cue responses in insular cortex.
AB  - Physiological needs bias perception and attention to relevant sensory cues. This
      process is 'hijacked' by drug addiction, causing cue-induced cravings and
      relapse. Similarly, its dysregulation contributes to failed diets, obesity, and
      eating disorders. Neuroimaging studies in humans have implicated insular cortex
      in these phenomena. However, it remains unclear how 'cognitive' cortical
      representations of motivationally relevant cues are biased by subcortical
      circuits that drive specific motivational states. Here we develop a microprism
      based cellular imaging approach to monitor visual cue responses in the insular
      cortex of behaving mice across hunger states. Insular cortex neurons demonstrate
      food-cue-biased responses that are abolished during satiety. Unexpectedly, while
      multiple satiety-related visceral signals converge in insular cortex,
      chemogenetic activation of hypothalamic 'hunger neurons' (expressing agouti
      related peptide (AgRP)) bypasses these signals to restore hunger-like response
      patterns in insular cortex. Circuit mapping and pathway-specific manipulations
      uncover a pathway from AgRP neurons to insular cortex via the paraventricular
      thalamus and basolateral amygdala. These results reveal a neural basis for state
      specific biased processing of motivationally relevant cues.

PMID- 28614298
TI  - ERF mutations reveal a balance of ETS factors controlling prostate oncogenesis.
AB  - Half of all prostate cancers are caused by the TMPRSS2-ERG gene-fusion, which
      enables androgens to drive expression of the normally silent E26 transformation
      specific (ETS) transcription factor ERG in prostate cells. Recent genomic
      landscape studies of such cancers have reported recurrent point mutations and
      focal deletions of another ETS member, the ETS2 repressor factor ERF. Here we
      show these ERF mutations cause decreased protein stability and mostly occur in
      tumours without ERG upregulation. ERF loss recapitulates the morphological and
      phenotypic features of ERG gain in normal mouse prostate cells, including
      expansion of the androgen receptor transcriptional repertoire, and ERF has tumour
      suppressor activity in the same genetic background of Pten loss that yields
      oncogenic activity by ERG. In the more common scenario of ERG upregulation,
      chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing indicates that ERG inhibits
      the ability of ERF to bind DNA at consensus ETS sites both in normal and in
      cancerous prostate cells. Consistent with a competition model, ERF overexpression
      blocks ERG-dependent tumour growth, and ERF loss rescues TMPRSS2-ERG-positive
      prostate cancer cells from ERG dependency. Collectively, these data provide
      evidence that the oncogenicity of ERG is mediated, in part, by competition with
      ERF and they raise the larger question of whether other gain-of-function
      oncogenic transcription factors might also inactivate endogenous tumour
      suppressors.

PMID- 28614302
TI  - Corrigendum: Common genetic variation drives molecular heterogeneity in human
      iPSCs.
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nature22403.

PMID- 28614301
TI  - Microglia-dependent synapse loss in type I interferon-mediated lupus.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an incurable autoimmune disease
      characterized by autoantibody deposition in tissues such as kidney, skin and
      lungs. Notably, up to 75% of patients with SLE experience neuropsychiatric
      symptoms that range from anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment to seizures
      and, in rare cases, psychosis-collectively this is referred to as central nervous
      system (CNS) lupus. In some cases, certain autoantibodies, such as anti-NMDAR or
      anti-phospholipid antibodies, promote CNS lupus. However, in most patients, the
      mechanisms that underlie these symptoms are unknown. CNS lupus typically presents
      at lupus diagnosis or within the first year, suggesting that early factors
      contributing to peripheral autoimmunity may promote CNS lupus symptoms. Here we
      report behavioural phenotypes and synapse loss in lupus-prone mice that are
      prevented by blocking type I interferon (IFN) signalling. Furthermore, we show
      that type I IFN stimulates microglia to become reactive and engulf neuronal and
      synaptic material in lupus-prone mice. These findings and our observation of
      increased type I IFN signalling in post-mortem hippocampal brain sections from
      patients with SLE may instruct the evaluation of ongoing clinical trials of
      anifrolumab, a type I IFN-receptor antagonist. Moreover, identification of IFN
      driven microglia-dependent synapse loss, along with microglia transcriptome data,
      connects CNS lupus with other CNS diseases and provides an explanation for the
      neurological symptoms observed in some patients with SLE.

PMID- 28614303
TI  - Bacterial pathogens: A spoonful of sugar could be the medicine.

PMID- 28614300
TI  - PTEN counteracts FBXL2 to promote IP3R3- and Ca2+-mediated apoptosis limiting
      tumour growth.
AB  - In response to environmental cues that promote IP3 (inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate)
      generation, IP3 receptors (IP3Rs) located on the endoplasmic reticulum allow the
      'quasisynaptical' feeding of calcium to the mitochondria to promote oxidative
      phosphorylation. However, persistent Ca2+ release results in mitochondrial Ca2+
      overload and consequent apoptosis. Among the three mammalian IP3Rs, IP3R3 appears
      to be the major player in Ca2+-dependent apoptosis. Here we show that the F-box
      protein FBXL2 (the receptor subunit of one of 69 human SCF (SKP1, CUL1, F-box
      protein) ubiquitin ligase complexes) binds IP3R3 and targets it for ubiquitin-,
      p97- and proteasome-mediated degradation to limit Ca2+ influx into mitochondria.
      FBXL2-knockdown cells and FBXL2-insensitive IP3R3 mutant knock-in clones display
      increased cytosolic Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum and sensitization
      to Ca2+-dependent apoptotic stimuli. The phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN)
      gene is frequently mutated or lost in human tumours and syndromes that predispose
      individuals to cancer. We found that PTEN competes with FBXL2 for IP3R3 binding,
      and the FBXL2-dependent degradation of IP3R3 is accelerated in Pten-/- mouse
      embryonic fibroblasts and PTEN-null cancer cells. Reconstitution of PTEN-null
      cells with either wild-type PTEN or a catalytically dead mutant stabilizes IP3R3
      and induces persistent Ca2+ mobilization and apoptosis. IP3R3 and PTEN protein
      levels directly correlate in human prostate cancer. Both in cell culture and
      xenograft models, a non-degradable IP3R3 mutant sensitizes tumour cells with low
      or no PTEN expression to photodynamic therapy, which is based on the ability of
      photosensitizer drugs to cause Ca2+-dependent cytotoxicity after irradiation with
      visible light. Similarly, disruption of FBXL2 localization with GGTi-2418, a
      geranylgeranyl transferase inhibitor, sensitizes xenotransplanted tumours to
      photodynamic therapy. In summary, we identify a novel molecular mechanism that
      limits mitochondrial Ca2+ overload to prevent cell death. Notably, we provide
      proof-of-principle that inhibiting IP3R3 degradation in PTEN-deregulated cancers
      represents a valid therapeutic strategy.

PMID- 28614304
TI  - Particle physics: No sign of asymmetry in the strong force.

PMID- 28614306
TI  - Photoacoustic confocal dermoscope with a waterless coupling and impedance
      matching opto-sono probe.
AB  - Recently, intensive research on photoacoustic (PA) imaging has been conducted to
      accelerate the development of dermoscopy of the human skin. In this Letter, we
      first developed a PA dermoscope equipped with a waterless coupling and impedance
      matching opto-sono probe to achieve quantitative, high-resolution, and high
      contrast imaging of the human skin. Compared with the commonly used liquid
      coupled PA probes, the human-skin-adapted probe can facilitate implementation in
      the clinical setting. The noninvasive imaging experiments of epidermal and dermal
      structures in volunteers have been carried out to demonstrate the high imaging
      quality that can be obtained by using such an opto-sono probe for a PA
      dermoscope. The imaging results show the characteristic parameters of the skin,
      including pigment distribution and thickness, vascular diameter, and depth. The
      results confirm that the opto-sono probe can play an important role in the PA
      dermoscope for making clear the distribution of the pigment layer and blood
      vessels in the human skin.

PMID- 28614307
TI  - Longitudinal soliton tunneling in optical fiber.
AB  - We report the observation of the longitudinal soliton tunneling effect in axially
      varying optical fibers. A fundamental soliton, initially propagating in the
      anomalous dispersion region of a fiber, can pass through a normal dispersion
      barrier without being substantially affected. We perform experimental studies by
      means of spectral and temporal characterizations that show the evidence of the
      longitudinal soliton tunneling process. Our results are well supported by
      numerical simulations using the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation.

PMID- 28614308
TI  - All-optical dynamic photonic bandgap control in an all-solid double-clad
      tellurite photonic bandgap fiber.
AB  - All-optical dynamic photonic bandgap (PBG) control by an optical Kerr effect
      (OKE) is investigated in an all-solid double-clad tellurite photonic bandgap
      fiber (PBGF) which is fabricated based on TeO<sub>2</sub>-Li<sub>2</sub>O
      WO<sub>3</sub>-MoO<sub>3</sub>-Nb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> (TLWMN, high-index
      rod) glass, TeO<sub>2</sub>-ZnO-Na<sub>2</sub>O-La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>
      (TZNL, inner cladding) glass, and TeO<sub>2</sub>-ZnO-Li<sub>2</sub>O
      K<sub>2</sub>O-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> (TZLKAP,
      outer cladding) glass. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      demonstration of all-optical dynamic PBG control in optical fibers. This PBGF has
      a high nonlinear refractive index which can lead to a significant OKE and induce
      the generation of all-optical dynamic PBG control. The transmission spectrum is
      simulated with the pump peak power increasing from 0 to 300 kW, which shows an
      obvious PBG shift. Dynamic PBG control is demonstrated both numerically and
      experimentally at the pump peak power of 200 kW (ON or OFF) at the signal of 1570
      nm.

PMID- 28614309
TI  - Femtosecond laser one-step direct-writing cylindrical microlens array on fused
      silica.
AB  - We demonstrate an efficient method for fabricating high-quality cylindrical
      microlens arrays (CMLAs) on the surface of fused silica, fully based on spatially
      shaping of a femtosecond laser beam from Gaussian to Bessel distribution. As the
      envelope of shaped spatial intensity distribution matches the profile of
      cylindrical microlens perfectly, a CMLA with more than 50 uniform microlenses is
      fabricated by simple line scanning. The radius and height of these microlens
      units can be finely controlled by adjusting the power of laser pulses. Excellent
      optical imaging and high-speed fabrication performances are also demonstrated by
      our fabricated CLMA.

PMID- 28614305
TI  - BAP1 regulates IP3R3-mediated Ca2+ flux to mitochondria suppressing cell
      transformation.
AB  - BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) is a potent tumour suppressor gene that
      modulates environmental carcinogenesis. All carriers of inherited heterozygous
      germline BAP1-inactivating mutations (BAP1+/-) developed one and often several
      BAP1-/- malignancies in their lifetime, mostly malignant mesothelioma, uveal
      melanoma, and so on. Moreover, BAP1-acquired biallelic mutations are frequent in
      human cancers. BAP1 tumour suppressor activity has been attributed to its nuclear
      localization, where it helps to maintain genome integrity. The possible activity
      of BAP1 in the cytoplasm is unknown. Cells with reduced levels of BAP1 exhibit
      chromosomal abnormalities and decreased DNA repair by homologous recombination,
      indicating that BAP1 dosage is critical. Cells with extensive DNA damage should
      die and not grow into malignancies. Here we discover that BAP1 localizes at the
      endoplasmic reticulum. Here, it binds, deubiquitylates, and stabilizes type 3
      inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R3), modulating calcium (Ca2+) release
      from the endoplasmic reticulum into the cytosol and mitochondria, promoting
      apoptosis. Reduced levels of BAP1 in BAP1+/- carriers cause reduction both of
      IP3R3 levels and of Ca2+ flux, preventing BAP1+/- cells that accumulate DNA
      damage from executing apoptosis. A higher fraction of cells exposed to either
      ionizing or ultraviolet radiation, or to asbestos, survive genotoxic stress,
      resulting in a higher rate of cellular transformation. We propose that the high
      incidence of cancers in BAP1+/- carriers results from the combined reduced
      nuclear and cytoplasmic activities of BAP1. Our data provide a mechanistic
      rationale for the powerful ability of BAP1 to regulate gene-environment
      interaction in human carcinogenesis.

PMID- 28614310
TI  - Frequency comb-based four-wave-mixing spectroscopy.
AB  - We experimentally demonstrate four-wave-mixing (FWM) spectroscopy using frequency
      combs. The experiment uses a geometry where excitation pulses and FWM signals
      generated by a sample co-propagate. We separate them in the radio frequency
      domain by heterodyne detection with a local oscillator comb that has a different
      repetition frequency.

PMID- 28614311
TI  - Wake mode sidebands and instability in mode-locked lasers with slow saturable
      absorbers.
AB  - Passively mode-locked lasers with semiconductor saturable absorption mirrors are
      attractive comb sources due to their simplicity, excellent self-starting
      properties, and their environmental robustness. These lasers, however, can have
      an increased noise level and wake mode instabilities. Here, we investigate the
      wake mode dynamics in detail using a combination of evolutionary and dynamical
      methods. We describe the mode-locked pulse generation from noise when a stable
      pulse exists and the evolution of the wake mode instability when no stable pulse
      exists. We then calculate the dynamical spectrum of the mode-locked pulse, and we
      show that it has six discrete eigenmodes, two of which correspond to wake modes.
      The wake modes are unstable when the wake mode eigenvalues have a positive real
      part. We also show that even when the laser is stable, the wake modes lead to
      experimentally observed sidebands.

PMID- 28614312
TI  - Metasurface with interfering Fano resonance: manipulating transmission wave with
      high efficiency.
AB  - We proposed a novel strategy to design a deep subwavelength metasurface with full
      2pi transmission phase modulation and high transmission efficiency by applying
      resonators with interfering Fano resonance. Theoretical investigation
      demonstrates that the transmission efficiency of the resonators depends on the
      direct transmission coefficient, direct reflection coefficient, and Q factor.
      When an impedance layer is added in the resonators, the direct transmission and
      direct reflection coefficients can be facilely manipulated so that the span of
      the transmission phase around the resonance frequency can be extended to 2pi. As
      a result, we can continuously adjust the transmission phase from 0 to 2pi through
      changing the geometric parameters of the resonators and construct a deep
      subwavelength metasurface with the resonators to manipulate the transmission wave
      with high efficiency. We also find that a layer of grating can be used as the
      impedance layer to change direct transmission and direct reflection in the actual
      design of the metasurface. The proposed strategy may provide effective guidance
      to design a deep subwavelength metasurface for controlling a transmitted wave
      with high efficiency.

PMID- 28614313
TI  - Low-loss and low-crosstalk multi-channel mode (de)multiplexer with ultrathin
      silicon waveguides.
AB  - A multi-channel mode (de)multiplexer based on the supermode evolution in cascaded
      dual-core adiabatic tapers is designed and realized with ultrathin (~50  nm)
      silicon-on-insulator nanowire waveguides. This dual-core adiabatic taper is
      designed optimally, so that all the supermodes are confined in the wide core at
      the input end and the highest-order supermode is localized in the narrow core at
      the output end. In this way, the highest-order supermode is dropped as the
      fundamental mode at the cross port. As an example, a (de)multiplexer with three
      mode channels is designed and fabricated. From the measured spectral responses,
      the fabricated device has a crosstalk lower than -20  dB and an excess loss less
      than 0.2 dB in a bandwidth of ~65  nm.

PMID- 28614314
TI  - Nondiffracting self-imaging of ultrashort wavepackets.
AB  - Self-imaging of ultrashort-pulsed nondiffracting needle beams, i.e., fringe-free
      Bessel beams, is analyzed. In contrast to the classical diffractive Talbot
      effect, pulse revivals with minimum spectral and temporal distortion are
      obtained. Robustness is further enhanced by self-reconstruction. The high
      fidelity pulse transfer enables spatial and temporal multiplexing in free space
      without the need for a nonlinear medium, even at pulse durations down to the few
      cycle range.

PMID- 28614315
TI  - Single-shot coherent noise suppression by spatial interferometric heterodyning.
AB  - Coherent noise affects the information content in active imaging systems. Here we
      show that noise reduction can be accomplished using the intrinsic coherence
      properties of the electromagnetic fields. We demonstrate numerically and
      experimentally that a single-shot measurement using interferometric spatial
      heterodyning detection in conjuncture with computational image processing,
      permits suppressing coherent noise in conditions of low signal-to-noise ratios,
      through spectral upshifting of coherent information.

PMID- 28614316
TI  - Rapid direct laser writing of desired plasmonic nanostructures.
AB  - We demonstrate a direct way to realize arbitrary gold nanostructures via a local
      dewetting method. This technique was based on the optically induced local thermal
      effect at the focusing region of a direct laser writing (DLW) system employing a
      green continuous-wave laser. The local high temperature allowed the creation of
      gold nano-islands only at the focusing area of the optical system. By moving the
      focusing spot, this DLW method allowed us to "write" desired two-dimensional gold
      patterns with a feature size down to sub-lambda. A heat model was also proposed
      to theoretically explain the localized heating process of the absorbing gold
      layer. The preliminary results were demonstrated for data storage and color
      printer applications.

PMID- 28614317
TI  - Extraordinary optical transmission through a rectangular hole filled with extreme
      uniaxial metamaterials.
AB  - This Letter presents a theory of extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) through
      a rectangular hole filled with the extreme uniaxial metamaterials with infinite
      longitudinal components of permittivity (epsilon<sub>z</sub>) and permeability
      (MU<sub>z</sub>). We demonstrate theoretically and numerically that a number of
      high-order transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes can be supported by such a
      structure, and that, more interestingly, their normalized transmittance can be
      remarkably enhanced due to the Fabry-Perot resonance effect. A set of
      illustrative examples has been provided to demonstrate that such an EOT property
      could be explored for the purpose of subwavelength-resolution imaging.

PMID- 28614318
TI  - Robust real-time 3D single-particle tracking using a dynamically moving laser
      spot.
AB  - Real-time three-dimensional (3D) single-particle tracking uses optical feedback
      to lock on to freely diffusing nanoscale fluorescent particles, permitting
      precise 3D localization and continuous spectroscopic interrogation. Here we
      describe a new method of real-time 3D single-particle tracking wherein a
      diffraction-limited laser spot is dynamically swept through the detection volume
      in three dimensions using a two-dimensional (2D) electro-optic deflector and a
      tunable acoustic gradient lens. This optimized method, called 3D dynamic photon
      localization tracking (3D-DyPLoT), enables high-speed real-time tracking of
      single silica-coated non-blinking quantum dots (~30  nm diameter) with diffusive
      speeds exceeding 10  MUm<sup>2</sup>/s at count rates as low as 10 kHz, as well
      as YFP-labeled virus-like particles. The large effective detection area (1  MUm*1
      MUm*4  MUm) allows the system to easily pick up fast-moving particles, while
      still demonstrating high localization precision (sigma<sub>x</sub>=6.6  nm,
      sigma<sub>y</sub>=8.7  nm, and sigma<sub>z</sub>=15.6  nm). Overall, 3D-DyPLoT
      provides a fast and robust method for real-time 3D tracking of fast and lowly
      emitting particles, based on a single excitation and detection pathway, paving
      the way to more widespread application to relevant biological problems.

PMID- 28614319
TI  - LED-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser with >20% optical efficiency and the demonstration
      of an efficient passively Q-switched LED-pumped solid-state laser.
AB  - A LED-array-pumped Nd:YAG laser with optical conversion efficiency up to 20.2% is
      demonstrated by direct side-pumping without a coupling lens. The 810-nm LED array
      with a full-width-half-maximum of 30 nm and an area fill factor of 50% is
      designed to attain high spectral absorption efficiency with a pump density of
      151.8  W/cm<sup>2</sup>. Furthermore, higher than 45% overall coupling efficiency
      is achieved by placing the LED array as close as possible to the side of the gain
      medium for overcoming the large pumped divergence. More importantly, by using the
      efficient pump scheme, the demonstration of a passively Q-switched LED-pumped
      laser is successfully realized with a pulsed energy of 1.42 mJ.

PMID- 28614321
TI  - Photonic microwave carrier recovery using period-one nonlinear dynamics of
      semiconductor lasers for OFDM-RoF coherent detection.
AB  - This study investigates an all-optical scheme based on period-one (P1) nonlinear
      dynamics of semiconductor lasers, which regenerates the microwave carrier of an
      orthogonal frequency division multiplexing radio-over-fiber (OFDM-RoF) signal and
      uses it as a microwave local oscillator for coherent detection. Through the
      injection locking established between the OFDM-RoF signal and the P1 dynamics,
      frequency synchronization with highly preserved phase quality is inherently
      achieved between the recovered microwave carrier and the microwave carrier of the
      OFDM-RoF signal. A bit-error ratio down to 1.9*10<sup>-9</sup> is achieved
      accordingly using the proposed scheme for coherent detection of a 32-GHz OFDM-RoF
      signal carrying 4  Gb/s 16-quadrature amplitude modulation data. No electronic
      microwave generators or electronic phase-locked loops are thus required. The
      proposed system can be operated up to at least 100 GHz and can be self-adapted to
      certain changes in the operating microwave frequency.

PMID- 28614320
TI  - Floquet control of dipolaritons in quantum wells.
AB  - We developed the theory of dipolaritons in semiconductor quantum wells irradiated
      by an off-resonant electromagnetic wave (dressing field). Solving the Floquet
      problem for the dressed dipolaritons, we demonstrated that the field drastically
      modifies all dipolaritonic properties. In particular, the dressing field strongly
      affects the terahertz emission from the considered system. The described effect
      paves the way for optical control of prospective dipolariton-based terahertz
      devices.

PMID- 28614322
TI  - Observation of robust flat-band localization in driven photonic rhombic lattices.
AB  - We demonstrate that a flat-band state in a quasi-one-dimensional rhombic lattice
      is robust in the presence of external drivings along the lattice axis. The
      lattice was formed by periodic arrays of evanescently coupled optical waveguides,
      and the external drivings were realized by modulating the paths of the
      waveguides. We excited a superposition of flat-band eigenmodes at the input and
      observed that this state does not diffract in the presence of static, as well as
      high-frequency sinusoidal drivings. This robust localization is due to
      destructive interference of the analogous wavefunction and is associated with the
      symmetry in the lattice geometry. We then excited the dispersive bands and
      observed Bloch oscillations and coherent destruction of tunneling.

PMID- 28614323
TI  - Graphene-based plasmonic modulator on a groove-structured metasurface.
AB  - Graphene holds great potential to provide efficient modulation in optoelectronic
      integrated circuits due to its excellent tunability in conductivity, and several
      types of graphene-based photonic modulators have already been demonstrated. In
      this Letter, a plasmonic modulator was proposed based on a groove-structured
      metasurface covered by a single-layer graphene sheet, in which a transverse
      electrical-like mode is accommodated. Our design takes advantage of the field
      enhancement of the plasmonic mode and overcomes the orientation mismatch between
      the electrical field of the free surface plasmons and the graphene plane.
      Therefore, this graphene-based plasmonic modulator exhibits a greatly improved
      modulation depth, compared with the conventional plasmonic ones. Our theoretical
      results also show that this modulator can work in a broadband with acceptable
      insertion loss, indicating possible applications in nanophotonic integrations.

PMID- 28614324
TI  - Development of a high-power blue laser (445  nm) for material processing.
AB  - A blue diode laser has a higher absorption rate than a traditional laser, while
      the maximum power is limited. We report the structure and laser beam profile of a
      250 W high-power blue laser (445 nm) for material processing. The absorption rate
      of the blue laser system for the steel was 2.75 times that of a single-mode fiber
      laser system (1070 nm). The characteristics of the steel after laser irradiation
      were determined, validating the potential of this high-power blue laser for
      material processing, such as heat treatment and cladding. The cost of the
      developed laser system was lower than that of the existing one. To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first blue laser with a power as high as 250 W.

PMID- 28614325
TI  - Brighter CARS hypermicroscopy via "spectral surfing" of a Stokes supercontinuum.
AB  - We present a simple technique that significantly enhances the interaction of pump
      pulses with a supercontinuum Stokes generated by a particular nonlinear fiber for
      time-gated experiments such as coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). The
      enhancement is achieved through a synchronized power-tuning/time delay scheme
      that we call spectral surfing. In this Letter, we introduce spectral surfing and
      demonstrate how its application to an economical CARS hypermicroscopy scheme
      increases the brightness, contrast, and spectral scanning range, while
      potentially reducing sample light exposure.

PMID- 28614326
TI  - Highly efficient passively Q-switched Tm:YAP laser using a Cr:ZnS saturable
      absorber.
AB  - We describe a diode-pumped, passively Q-switched 2 MUm Tm:YAP laser generating
      10.5 W of average power. The laser utilized a Cr<sup>2+</sup>:ZnS saturable
      absorber with a nonsaturated transmission (T<sub>0</sub>) of 90% and exhibited a
      record 46% optical slope efficiency and a 42% overall optical conversion
      efficiency, both measured relative to the incident 794 nm pump power. At maximum
      average output power, the laser generated 0.6 mJ Q-switched pulses with a maximum
      peak power of 32 kW. Pulse duration varied between 20 and 53 ns, depending on
      operating wavelength and pump power. A laser with a T<sub>0</sub>=80% saturable
      absorber generated 1.45 mJ Q-switched pulses with a peak power of 138 kW.

PMID- 28614327
TI  - Super-resolution in diffractive imaging from hemispherical elastic light
      scattering data.
AB  - Angle-resolved hemispherical elastic light scattering techniques have been used
      to reconstruct the surface profile of two-dimensional photonic crystals with
      submicron resolution and metrological precision. Iterative algorithms permit
      subsequent calculation of a surface autocorrelation function with additional
      numerical approximation of the power spectrum and then yield final reconstruction
      of the surface shape. The proposed method enables filtering out unwanted
      scattering background, precluding the convergence of phase-retrieval algorithms.
      The estimation of higher harmonics in the power spectrum provides the
      reconstruction of a realistic surface achieving subwavelength resolution.

PMID- 28614328
TI  - Compressible 1D photonic crystal nanolasers with wide wavelength tuning.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate a tunable photonic crystal nanolaser consisting of 1D
      periodic nanorods wrapped in deformable polydimethylsiloxane. In addition to low
      threshold and long-term lasing stability, the nanolaser also displays
      reproducible and reliable wavelength tuning with a large tunability of 7.7 nm
      under 1% compression. By further associating with stretching, a very wide
      wavelength-tunable range of 155 nm that almost spans the entire S+C+L
      telecommunication bands is successfully demonstrated with a single nanolaser
      device.

PMID- 28614329
TI  - Aliasing, coherence, and resolution in a lensless holographic microscope.
AB  - We have shown that the maximum achievable resolution of an in-line lensless
      holographic microscope is limited by aliasing and, for collimated illumination,
      cannot exceed the camera pixel size. This limit can be achieved only when the
      optimal conditions on the spatial and temporal coherence state of the
      illumination are satisfied. The expressions defining the configuration,
      delivering maximum resolution with given spatial and temporal coherence of the
      illumination, are obtained. The validity of these conditions is confirmed
      experimentally.

PMID- 28614330
TI  - Sellmeier equations, group velocity dispersion, and thermo-optic dispersion
      formulas for CaLnAlO<sub>4</sub> (Ln = Y, Gd) laser host crystals.
AB  - We studied the refractive index and dispersive properties of the tetragonal rare
      earth calcium aluminates, CaLnAlO<sub>4</sub> (Ln=Gd or Y). Sellmeier equations
      were derived for the spectral range of 0.35-2.1 MUm. The group velocity
      dispersion (GVD) in CaGdAlO<sub>4</sub> is positive at ~1  MUm, 95 
      fs<sup>2</sup>/mm and negative at ~2  MUm, -40  fs<sup>2</sup>/mm. The GVD values
      for CaYAlO<sub>4</sub> are similar. In addition, thermo-optic coefficients,
      dn/dT, and thermal coefficients of the optical path were determined for
      CaYAlO<sub>4</sub>. dn/dT is negative at ~1  MUm, dn<sub>o</sub>/dT=-7.8, and
      dn<sub>e</sub>/dT=-8.7*10<sup>-6</sup>  K<sup>-1</sup>. Thermo-optic dispersion
      formulas were constructed. The obtained data are of key importance to the design
      of high-power mode-locked oscillators at ~1 and ~2  MUm based on such laser
      hosts.

PMID- 28614331
TI  - Precise determination on the upconversion processes of the ultraviolet
      upconversion fluorescence of Ho<sup>3+</sup>-doped Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>
      ceramic by excitation of a 532-nm continuous-wave laser.
AB  - Aiming at developing a Ho<sup>3+</sup>-based continuous-wave ultraviolet laser,
      the method of determining the weight of the excited-state absorption (ESA)
      process occupied in the populating of the D<sub>3</sub>3 level is studied. Using
      the rate equation model, the weight is found to be related to the weighting
      factors of the double-exponential decay components of the D<sub>3</sub>3 level.
      Using time-resolved spectroscopy, the weight of the ESA process for
      Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> ceramic doped with 0.1 mol. % Ho<sup>3+</sup> is
      experimentally determined to be 83%. Furthermore, the fluorescence dynamic
      properties of the Ho<sup>3+</sup>-doped Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> ceramic with
      different doping concentrations were analyzed, and the weight was found to
      decrease with the doping concentration but by no less than 70%.

PMID- 28614332
TI  - Dynamics of trapped atoms around an optical nanofiber probed through polarimetry.
AB  - The evanescent field outside an optical nanofiber (ONF) can create optical traps
      for neutral atoms. We present a non-destructive method to characterize such
      trapping potentials. An off-resonance linearly polarized probe beam that
      propagates through the ONF experiences a slow axis of polarization produced by
      trapped atoms on opposite sides along the ONF. The transverse atomic motion is
      imprinted onto the probe polarization through the changing atomic index of
      refraction. By applying a transient impulse, we measure a time-dependent
      polarization rotation of the probe beam that provides both a rapid and non
      destructive measurement of the optical trapping frequencies.

PMID- 28614333
TI  - Dual-page reproduction to increase the data transfer rate in holographic memory.
AB  - To increase the reproduced data transfer rate in holographic memory, we have
      investigated simultaneous reproduction of two data pages. By irradiating s- and p
      polarization reference beams whose angle gap is equal to the angle between the
      neighboring data pages in angle-multiplexed holograms, two different data pages
      can simultaneously be reproduced with a bit error rate low enough to decode. This
      technology is effective to double the data transfer rate in holographic memory.

PMID- 28614334
TI  - All-optical flip-flop based on hybrid square-rectangular bistable lasers.
AB  - A compact, simple, and bistable hybrid square-rectangular laser is experimentally
      demonstrated as an all-optical flip-flop memory. Controllable bistability is
      induced by two-mode competition, together with the saturable absorption at the
      square microcavity section. The all-optical set and reset operations are realized
      by injecting signal pulses at two-mode wavelengths, with the response times of
      165 and 60 ps at the triggering pulse width of 100 ps and switching energies of
      2.7 and 14.2 fJ, respectively. The robust hybrid-cavity design has an active area
      of 660  MUm<sup>2</sup> and permits efficient unidirectional single-mode lasing,
      low-power flip-flop operation, and superior fabrication tolerance for monolithic
      photonic integration.

PMID- 28614335
TI  - Nonlinear optical response in molecular nitrogen: from ab-initio calculations to
      optical pulse simulations.
AB  - Using first-principle multi-electron calculations via the hybrid anti-symmetrized
      coupled channels method, we create a model to describe both the nonlinear
      polarization and ionization of the nitrogen molecule. Based on the metastable
      electronic state approach, it is designed for space-and-time-resolved simulations
      in nonlinear optics that require modeling of optical pulses that exhibit rich
      spectral dynamics and propagate over long distances. As a demonstration of the
      model's utility, we study low-order harmonic generation in mid-infrared optical
      filaments.

PMID- 28614336
TI  - Ergodic and non-ergodic regimes in temporal laser speckle imaging.
AB  - The non-ergodicity problem of temporal averaging in the laser speckle contrast
      imaging (LSCI) is discussed both theoretically and numerically. We demonstrate
      that temporal speckle statistics assessed within a finite time window might
      differ from the statistics of the speckle ensemble. The dependence of temporal
      speckle contrast on sample dynamics is non-monotonic and demonstrates regimes of
      negative (ergodic), as well as positive correlations with dynamics (non-ergodic).
      The ergodic regime is similar to an ensemble (spatial) averaging case and is
      typically assumed for interpretation of LSCI measurements. The positive relation
      in the non-ergodic regime is an artifact of temporal statistics which we further
      quantify and describe the transition between two regimes.

PMID- 28614337
TI  - Dual-axis optical coherence tomography for deep tissue imaging.
AB  - We have developed dual-axis optical coherence tomography (DA-OCT) which enables
      deep tissue imaging by using a novel off-axis illumination/detection
      configuration. DA-OCT offers a 100-fold speed increase compared with its
      predecessor, multispectral multiple-scattering low coherence interferometry
      (ms2/LCI), by using a new beam scanning mechanism based on a microelectro
      mechanical system (MEMS) mirror. The data acquisition scheme was altered to take
      advantage of this scanning speed, producing tomographic images at a rate of 4
      frames (B-scans) per second. DA-OCT differs from ms2/LCI in that the dual axes
      intersect at a shallower depth (~1  mm). This difference, coupled with the faster
      scanning speed, shifts the detection priority from multiply scattered to
      ballistic light. The utility of this approach was demonstrated by imaging both ex
      vivo porcine ear skin and in vivo rat skin from a McFarlane flap model. The
      enhanced penetration depth provided by the DA-OCT system will be beneficial to
      various clinical applications in dermatology and surgery.

PMID- 28614338
TI  - Optical microscope illumination analysis using through-focus scanning optical
      microscopy.
AB  - Misalignment of the aperture diaphragm present in optical microscopes results in
      angular illumination asymmetry (ANILAS) at the sample plane. Here we show that
      through-focus propagation of ANILAS results in a lateral image shift with a focus
      position. This could lead to substantial errors in quantitative results for
      optical methods that use through-focus images such as three-dimensional
      nanoparticle tracking, confocal microscopy, and through-focus scanning optical
      microscopy (TSOM). A correlation exists between ANILAS and the slant in TSOM
      images. Hence, the slant in the TSOM image can be used to detect, analyze, and
      rectify the presence of ANILAS.

PMID- 28614339
TI  - Optical solver for a system of ordinary differential equations based on an
      external feedback assisted microring resonator.
AB  - Systems of ordinary differential equations (SODEs) are crucial for describing the
      dynamic behaviors in various systems such as modern control systems which require
      observability and controllability. In this Letter, we propose and experimentally
      demonstrate an all-optical SODE solver based on the silicon-on-insulator
      platform. We use an add/drop microring resonator to construct two different
      ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and then introduce two external feedback
      waveguides to realize the coupling between these ODEs, thus forming the SODE
      solver. A temporal coupled mode theory is used to deduce the expression of the
      SODE. A system experiment is carried out for further demonstration. For the input
      10 GHz NRZ-like pulses, the measured output waveforms of the SODE solver agree
      well with the calculated results.

PMID- 28614340
TI  - Self-referenced frequency combs using high-efficiency silicon-nitride waveguides.
AB  - We utilize silicon-nitride waveguides to self-reference a telecom-wavelength
      fiber frequency comb through supercontinuum generation, using 11.3 mW of optical
      power incident on the chip. This is approximately 10 times lower than
      conventional approaches using nonlinear fibers and is enabled by low-loss (<2 
      dB) input coupling and the high nonlinearity of silicon nitride, which can
      provide two octaves of spectral broadening with incident energies of only 110 pJ.
      Following supercontinuum generation, self-referencing is accomplished by mixing
      780-nm dispersive-wave light with the frequency-doubled output of the fiber
      laser. In addition, at higher optical powers, we demonstrate f-to-3f self
      referencing directly from the waveguide output by the interference of
      simultaneous supercontinuum and third harmonic generation, without the use of an
      external doubling crystal or interferometer. These hybrid comb systems combine
      the performance of fiber-laser frequency combs with the high nonlinearity and
      compactness of photonic waveguides, and should lead to low-cost, fully stabilized
      frequency combs for portable and space-borne applications.

PMID- 28614341
TI  - 1  GHz InP on-chip monolithic extended cavity colliding-pulse mode-locked laser.
AB  - A record low-repetition rate from an on-chip monolithic InP extended cavity
      colliding-pulse mode-locked laser is experimentally reported. The device,
      fabricated in generic InP-based active-passive integration technology, makes use
      of integrated mirrors to enable its use as a building block within a photonic
      integrated circuit. This structure allows us to generate an electrical frequency
      comb with mode spacing of 1 GHz, determined by the 40.5 mm long resonator.
      Passive and hybrid mode-locking regime conditions are experimentally
      demonstrated. In the passive regime, an electrical beat tone at the fundamental
      repetition rate with an electrical linewidth (LW) of 398 kHz and a signal-to
      noise ratio (SNR) >30  dB is measured. In the hybrid regime, the optical comb is
      locked to a continuous wave signal source, improving the LW of the generated
      signal and the SNR>40  dB.

PMID- 28614342
TI  - Controlled noncanonical vortices from higher-order fractional screw dislocations.
AB  - A pair of stable noncanonical scalar vortices of the same charge is generated
      experimentally across the cross section of an optical beam using a computer
      generated hologram with higher-order fractional screw dislocation. The
      noncanonical nature of the generated vortices is identified by the gradient of
      the phase around each vortex and also the crossing angle between the zero
      contours of the real and imaginary parts of the optical field. The anisotropy of
      the vortices is controlled by the fractional order of the computer-generated
      hologram. The behavior of the rate of change of phase around each individual
      vortex is found to be different from that of the earlier reports on noncanonical
      vortices. The observed experimental results are qualitatively explained based on
      the effect of nonlocalized phases of the generated vortices. The generated beams
      with a nested pair of noncanonical vortices can be of importance in accelerated
      rotation of the beams and in optical micromanipulation.

PMID- 28614343
TI  - Original Ti:Sa 10  kHz front-end design delivering 17  fs, 170  mrad CEP
      stabilized pulses up to 5  W.
AB  - We present a compact 10 kHz Ti:Sa front end relying on an original double-crystal
      regenerative amplifier design. This new configuration optimizes the thermal heat
      load management, allowing the production of a 110 nm large spectrum and
      maintaining a good beam profile quality. The front end delivers up to 5 W after
      compression, 17 fs pulses with a 170 mrad shot-to-shot residual carrier-envelope
      phase noise.

PMID- 28614344
TI  - Self-starting dropout-free harmonic mode-locked soliton fiber laser with a low
      timing jitter.
AB  - We demonstrate a simple, but robust, self-starting environmentally stable passive
      harmonic mode-locked femtosecond Er-fiber laser with a scalable repetition rate
      of up to the 10th harmonic and >50  dB of supermode suppression. The repetition
      rate of short- and long-term operation for each harmonic appears to have no pulse
      dropout. Furthermore, at as low as 0.8 and 2.1 mHz standard deviation, the
      repetition rate is achieved by using the pump-induced nonlinearity to modulate
      the refractive index of the gain fiber.

PMID- 28614345
TI  - 15.2  W spectrally flat all-fiber supercontinuum laser source with >1  W power
      beyond 3.8  MUm.
AB  - In this Letter, a high-power 1.9-4.2 MUm supercontinuum (SC) laser source with a
      real all-fiber structure is reported. A 12 m length of ZBLAN fluoride fiber was
      used as the nonlinear medium, which was pumped by a thulium-doped fiber amplifier
      through a firm fusion-spliced joint between silica fiber and itself. The obtained
      SC laser had a high spectral flatness with a maximal 10 dB bandwidth of 2090 nm
      spanning from 1960 to 4050 nm. A record power of 15.2 W for an all-fiber mid
      infrared SC laser was measured. The average spectral power density of this SC
      laser was as high as 7.2 mW/nm. In particular, the SC power beyond 3.0 and 3.8
      MUm was 8.1 and 1.08 W which corresponded to a power ratio of 53.2% and 7.1%,
      respectively. This Letter, to the best of our knowledge, represents the brightest
      all-fiber mid-infrared SC laser, and provides a promising high-power pump light
      for SC generation in cascaded chalcogenide fibers.

PMID- 28614346
TI  - Semiconductor-based plasmonic interferometers for ultrasensitive sensing in a
      terahertz regime.
AB  - A robust plasmonic semiconductor-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which
      consists of a semiconductor layer with a microslit flanked by two identical
      microgrooves, is proposed and investigated for the terahertz sensing. The
      microgrooves reflect the surface plasmon polariton waves toward the microslit,
      where they interfere with the transmitted terahertz wave. The interference
      pattern is determined by the permittivities of the sensing material and
      semiconductor (i.e., temperature dependent), making the structure useful for the
      refractive index (RI) and temperature detection. A quantitative theoretical model
      is also developed for performance prediction and validated with a finite element
      method. The numerical results show that the Mach-Zehnder interferometer sensor
      possesses an RI sensitivity as high as 140000  nm/RIU (or 0.42  THz/RIU) and a
      relative intensity sensitivity of 1200%RIU<sup>-1</sup>. In addition, a
      temperature sensitivity of 1470  nm/K (or 4.7*10<sup>-3</sup>  THz/K) is
      determined. Theoretical calculations indicate that the further improvement in
      sensing performance is still possible through optimization of the structure. The
      proposed sensing scheme may pave the way for applications in terahertz sensing
      and integrated terahertz circuits.

PMID- 28614347
TI  - An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in
      juvenile guide dogs.
AB  - Working dog organisations, such as Guide Dogs, need to regularly assess the
      behaviour of the dogs they train. In this study we developed a questionnaire
      style behaviour assessment completed by training supervisors of juvenile guide
      dogs aged 5, 8 and 12 months old (n = 1,401), and evaluated aspects of its
      reliability and validity. Specifically, internal reliability, temporal
      consistency, construct validity, predictive criterion validity (comparing against
      later training outcome) and concurrent criterion validity (comparing against a
      standardised behaviour test) were evaluated. Thirty-nine questions were sourced
      either from previously published literature or created to meet requirements
      identified via Guide Dogs staff surveys and staff feedback. Internal reliability
      analyses revealed seven reliable and interpretable trait scales named according
      to the questions within them as: Adaptability; Body Sensitivity; Distractibility;
      Excitability; General Anxiety; Trainability and Stair Anxiety. Intra-individual
      temporal consistency of the scale scores between 5-8, 8-12 and 5-12 months was
      high. All scales excepting Body Sensitivity showed some degree of concurrent
      criterion validity. Predictive criterion validity was supported for all seven
      scales, since associations were found with training outcome, at at-least one age.
      Thresholds of z-scores on the scales were identified that were able to
      distinguish later training outcome by identifying 8.4% of all dogs withdrawn for
      behaviour and 8.5% of all qualified dogs, with 84% and 85% specificity. The
      questionnaire assessment was reliable and could detect traits that are consistent
      within individuals over time, despite juvenile dogs undergoing development during
      the study period. By applying thresholds to scores produced from the
      questionnaire this assessment could prove to be a highly valuable decision-making
      tool for Guide Dogs. This is the first questionnaire-style assessment of juvenile
      dogs that has shown value in predicting the training outcome of individual
      working dogs.

PMID- 28614348
TI  - Organic compounds in fluid inclusions of Archean quartz-Analogues of prebiotic
      chemistry on early Earth.
AB  - The origin of life is still an unsolved mystery in science. Hypothetically,
      prebiotic chemistry and the formation of protocells may have evolved in the
      hydrothermal environment of tectonic fault zones in the upper continental crust,
      an environment where sensitive molecules are protected against degradation
      induced e.g. by UV radiation. The composition of fluid inclusions in minerals
      such as quartz crystals which have grown in this environment during the Archean
      period might provide important information about the first organic molecules
      formed by hydrothermal synthesis. Here we present evidence for organic compounds
      which were preserved in fluid inclusions of Archean quartz minerals from Western
      Australia. We found a variety of organic compounds such as alkanes, halocarbons,
      alcohols and aldehydes which unambiguously show that simple and even more complex
      prebiotic organic molecules have been formed by hydrothermal processes. Stable
      isotope analysis confirms that the methane found in the inclusions has most
      likely been formed from abiotic sources by hydrothermal chemistry. Obviously, the
      liquid phase in the continental Archean crust provided an interesting choice of
      functional organic molecules. We conclude that organic substances such as these
      could have made an important contribution to prebiotic chemistry which might
      eventually have led to the formation of living cells.

PMID- 28614349
TI  - Volume of the crocodilian brain and endocast during ontogeny.
AB  - Understanding complex situations and planning difficult actions require a brain
      of appropriate size. Animal encephalisation provides an indirect information
      about these abilities. The brain is entirely composed of soft tissue and, as
      such, rarely fossilises. As a consequence, the brain proportions and morphology
      of some extinct vertebrates are usually only inferred from their neurocranial
      endocasts. However, because the morphological configuration of the brain is not
      fully reflected in the endocast, knowledge of the brain/endocast relationship is
      essential (especially the ratio of brain volume to endocast volume or the
      equivalent proportion of interstitial tissue) for studying the endocasts of
      extinct animals. Here we assess the encephalic volume and structure of modern
      crocodilians. The results we obtained using ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging
      reveal how the endoneurocranial cavity and brain compartments of crocodilians
      change configuration during ontogeny. We conclude that the endocasts of adult
      crocodilians are elongated and expanded while their brains are more linearly
      organised. The highest proportion of brain tissue to endocast volume is in the
      prosencephalon at over 50% in all but the largest animals, whereas the proportion
      in other brain segments is under 50% in all but the smallest animals and embryos.
      Our results may enrich the field of palaeontological study by offering more
      precise phylogenetic interpretations of the neuroanatomic characteristics of
      extinct vertebrates at various ontogenetic stages.

PMID- 28614351
TI  - Newtonian boreal forest ecology: The Scots pine ecosystem as an example.
AB  - Isaac Newton's approach to developing theories in his book Principia Mathematica
      proceeds in four steps. First, he defines various concepts, second, he formulates
      axioms utilising the concepts, third, he mathematically analyses the behaviour of
      the system defined by the concepts and axioms obtaining predictions and fourth,
      he tests the predictions with measurements. In this study, we formulated our
      theory of boreal forest ecosystems, called NewtonForest, following the four steps
      introduced by Newton. The forest ecosystem is a complicated entity and hence we
      needed altogether 27 concepts to describe the material and energy flows in the
      metabolism of trees, ground vegetation and microbes in the soil, and to describe
      the regularities in tree structure. Thirtyfour axioms described the most
      important features in the behaviour of the forest ecosystem. We utilised
      numerical simulations in the analysis of the behaviour of the system resulting in
      clear predictions that could be tested with field data. We collected
      retrospective time series of diameters and heights for test material from 6
      stands in southern Finland and five stands in Estonia. The numerical simulations
      succeeded to predict the measured diameters and heights, providing clear
      corroboration with our theory.

PMID- 28614350
TI  - Ranking and characterization of established BMI and lipid associated loci as
      candidates for gene-environment interactions.
AB  - Phenotypic variance heterogeneity across genotypes at a single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) may reflect underlying gene-environment (G*E) or gene-gene
      interactions. We modeled variance heterogeneity for blood lipids and BMI in up to
      44,211 participants and investigated relationships between variance effects (Pv),
      G*E interaction effects (with smoking and physical activity), and marginal
      genetic effects (Pm). Correlations between Pv and Pm were stronger for SNPs with
      established marginal effects (Spearman's rho = 0.401 for triglycerides, and rho =
      0.236 for BMI) compared to all SNPs. When Pv and Pm were compared for all pruned
      SNPs, only BMI was statistically significant (Spearman's rho = 0.010). Overall,
      SNPs with established marginal effects were overrepresented in the nominally
      significant part of the Pv distribution (Pbinomial <0.05). SNPs from the top 1%
      of the Pm distribution for BMI had more significant Pv values (PMann-Whitney =
      1.46*10-5), and the odds ratio of SNPs with nominally significant (<0.05) Pm and
      Pv was 1.33 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.57) for BMI. Moreover, BMI SNPs with nominally
      significant G*E interaction P-values (Pint<0.05) were enriched with nominally
      significant Pv values (Pbinomial = 8.63*10-9 and 8.52*10-7 for SNP * smoking and
      SNP * physical activity, respectively). We conclude that some loci with strong
      marginal effects may be good candidates for G*E, and variance-based
      prioritization can be used to identify them.

PMID- 28614352
TI  - A novel iterative mixed model to remap three complex orthopedic traits in dogs.
AB  - Hip dysplasia (HD), elbow dysplasia (ED), and rupture of the cranial (anterior)
      cruciate ligament (RCCL) are the most common complex orthopedic traits of dogs
      and all result in debilitating osteoarthritis. We reanalyzed previously reported
      data: the Norberg angle (a quantitative measure of HD) in 921 dogs, ED in 113
      cases and 633 controls, and RCCL in 271 cases and 399 controls and their
      genotypes at ~185,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. A novel fixed and random
      model with a circulating probability unification (FarmCPU) function, with marker
      based principal components and a kinship matrix to correct for population
      stratification, was used. A Bonferroni correction at p<0.01 resulted in a P< 6.96
      *10-8. Six loci were identified; three for HD and three for RCCL. An associated
      locus at CFA28:34,369,342 for HD was described previously in the same dogs using
      a conventional mixed model. No loci were identified for RCCL in the previous
      report but the two loci for ED in the previous report did not reach genome-wide
      significance using the FarmCPU model. These results were supported by simulation
      which demonstrated that the FarmCPU held no power advantage over the linear mixed
      model for the ED sample but provided additional power for the HD and RCCL
      samples. Candidate genes for HD and RCCL are discussed. When using FarmCPU
      software, we recommend a resampling test, that a positive control be used to
      determine the optimum pseudo quantitative trait nucleotide-based covariate
      structure of the model, and a negative control be used consisting of permutation
      testing and the identical resampling test as for the non-permuted phenotypes.

PMID- 28614353
TI  - As time passes by: Observed motion-speed and psychological time during video
      playback.
AB  - Research shows that psychological time (i.e., the subjective experience and
      assessment of the passage of time) is malleable and that the central nervous
      system re-calibrates temporal information in accordance with situational factors
      so that psychological time flows slower or faster. Observed motion-speed (e.g.,
      the visual perception of a rolling ball) is an important situational factor which
      influences the production of time estimates. The present study examines previous
      findings showing that observed slow and fast motion-speed during video playback
      respectively results in over- and underproductions of intervals of time. Here, we
      investigated through three separate experiments: a) the main effect of observed
      motion-speed during video playback on a time production task and b) the
      interactive effect of the frame rate (frames per second; fps) and motion-speed
      during video playback on a time production task. No main effect of video playback
      speed or interactive effect between video playback-speed and frame rate was found
      on time production.

PMID- 28614355
TI  - The African cynodont Aleodon (Cynodontia, Probainognathia) in the Triassic of
      southern Brazil and its biostratigraphic significance.
AB  - In this contribution we report the first occurrence of the enigmatic African
      probainognathian genus Aleodon in the Middle-early Late Triassic of several
      localities from the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Aleodon is
      unusual among early probainognathians in having transversely-expanded postcanine
      teeth, similar to those of gomphodont cynognathians. This genus was previously
      known from the Manda Beds of Tanzania and the upper Omingonde Formation of
      Namibia. The Brazilian record of this genus is based upon multiple specimens
      representing different ontogenetic stages, including three that were previously
      referred to the sectorial-toothed probainognathian Chiniquodon theotonicus. We
      propose a new species of Aleodon (A. cromptoni sp. nov.) based on the specimens
      from Brazil. Additionally, we tentatively refer one specimen from the upper
      Omingonde Formation of Namibia to this new taxon, strengthening biostratigraphic
      correlations between these strata. Inclusion of A. cromptoni in a phylogenetic
      analysis of eucynodonts recovers it as the sister-taxon of A. brachyrhamphus
      within the family Chiniquodontidae. The discovery of numerous specimens of
      Aleodon among the supposedly monospecific Chiniquodon samples of Brazil raises
      concerns about chiniquodontid alpha taxonomy, particularly given the extremely
      broad geographic distribution of Chiniquodon. The discovery of Brazilian Aleodon
      and new records of the traversodontid Luangwa supports the hypothesis that at
      least two subzones can be recognized in the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone.

PMID- 28614354
TI  - Maternal prenatal anxiety and child COMT genotype predict working memory and
      symptoms of ADHD.
AB  - Maternal prenatal anxiety is an important risk factor for altered child
      neurodevelopment but there is uncertainty concerning the biological mechanisms
      involved and sources of individual differences in children's responses. We sought
      to determine the role of functional genetic variation in COMT, which encodes
      catechol-O-methyltransferase, in the association between maternal prenatal
      anxiety and child symptoms of ADHD and working memory. We used the prospectively
      designed ALSPAC cohort (n = 6,969) for our primary data analyses followed by
      replication analyses in the PREDO cohort (n = 425). Maternal prenatal anxiety was
      based on self-report measures; child symptoms of ADHD were collected from 4-15
      years of age; working memory was assessed from in-person testing at age 8 years;
      and genetic variation in COMT at rs4680 was determined in both mothers and
      children. The association between maternal prenatal anxiety and child
      attention/hyperactivity symptoms and working memory was moderated by the child's
      rs4680 genotype, with stronger effects obtained for the val/val (G:G) genotype
      relative to val/met (A:G) (all p<0.01) and met/met (A:A) groups (all p<0.05).
      Similar findings were observed in the PREDO cohort where maternal prenatal
      anxiety interacted with child rs4680 to predict symptoms of ADHD at 3.5 years of
      age. The findings, from two cohorts, show a robust gene-environment interaction,
      which may contribute to inter-individual differences in the effects of maternal
      prenatal anxiety on developmental outcomes from childhood to mid-adolescence.

PMID- 28614356
TI  - Anticancer actions of lysosomally targeted inhibitor, LCL521, of acid ceramidase.
AB  - Acid ceramidase, which catalyzes ceramide hydrolysis to sphingosine and free
      fatty acid mainly in the lysosome, is being recognized as a potential therapeutic
      target for cancer. B13 is an effective and selective acid ceramidase inhibitor in
      vitro, but not as effective in cells due to poor access to the lysosomal
      compartment. In order to achieve targeting of B13 to the lysosome, we designed
      lysosomotropic N, N-dimethyl glycine (DMG)-conjugated B13 prodrug LCL521 (1,3-di
      DMG-B13). Our previous results indicated the efficient delivery of B13 to the
      lysosome resulted in augmented effects of LCL521 on cellular acid ceramidase as
      evaluated by effects on substrate/product levels. Our current studies indicate
      that functionally, this translated into enhanced inhibition of cell
      proliferation. Moreover, there were greater synergistic effects of LCL521 with
      either ionizing radiation or Tamoxifen. Taken together, these results clearly
      indicate that compartmental targeting for the inhibition of acid ceramidase is an
      efficient and valuable therapeutic strategy.

PMID- 28614357
TI  - Risk factors that may be driving the emergence of drug resistance in tuberculosis
      patients treated in Yangon, Myanmar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The majority of new tuberculosis cases emerging every year occur in
      low and middle-income countries where public health systems are often
      characterised by weak infrastructure and inadequate resources. This study
      investigates healthcare seeking behaviour, knowledge and treatment of
      tuberculosis patients in Myanmar-which is facing an acute drug-resistant
      tuberculosis epidemic-and identifies factors that may increase the risk of
      emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis. METHODS: We randomly selected adult
      smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients diagnosed between September 2014
      and March 2015 at ten public township health centres in Yangon, the largest city
      in Myanmar. Data on patients' healthcare seeking behaviour, treatment at the
      township health centres, co-morbidities and knowledge was collected through
      patient interviews and extraction from hospital records. A retrospective
      descriptive cross-sectional analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Of 404 TB patients
      selected to participate in the study, 11 had died since diagnosis, resulting in
      393 patients being included in the final analysis. Results indicate that a high
      proportion of patients (16%; 95% CI = 13-20) did not have a treatment supporter
      assigned to improve adherence to medication, with men being more likely to have
      no treatment supporter assigned. Use of private healthcare providers was very
      common; 59% (54-64) and 30.3% (25.9-35.0) of patients reported first seeking care
      at private clinics and pharmacies respectively. We found that 8% (6-11) of
      tuberculosis patients had confirmed diabetes. Most patients had some knowledge
      about tuberculosis transmission and the consequences of missing treatment.
      However, 5% (3-8) stated that they miss taking tuberculosis medicines at least
      weekly, and patients with no knowledge of consequences of missing treatment were
      more likely to miss doses. CONCLUSIONS: This study analysed healthcare seeking
      behaviour and treatment related practices of tuberculosis patients being managed
      under operational conditions in a fragile health system. Findings indicate that
      ensuring that treatment adherence support is arranged for all patients,
      monitoring of response to treatment among the high proportion of tuberculosis
      patients with diabetes and engagement with private healthcare providers could be
      strategies addressed to reduce the risk of emergence of drug-resistant
      tuberculosis.

PMID- 28614358
TI  - Livestock grazing supports native plants and songbirds in a California annual
      grassland.
AB  - Over eight years we measured the effects of plant community composition,
      vegetation structure, and livestock grazing on occurrence of three grassland bird
      species-Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), Horned Lark (Eremophila
      alpestris), and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)-at sites in central
      California during breeding season. In California's Mediterranean-type climatic
      region, coastal and inland grassland vegetation is dominated by exotic annual
      grasses with occasional patches of native bunchgrass and forbs. Livestock
      grazing, primarily with beef cattle, is the most widely used management tool.
      Compared with ungrazed plots, grazed plots had higher bare ground, native plant
      cover, and vertically heterogeneous vegetation. Grazed plots also had less plant
      litter and shorter vegetation. Higher native plant cover, which is predominantly
      composed of bunchgrasses in our study area, was associated with livestock grazing
      and north-facing aspects. Using an information theoretic approach, we found that
      all three bird species had positive associations with native plant abundance and
      neutral (Western Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow) or positive (Horned Lark)
      association with livestock grazing. All species favored flatter areas. Horned
      Larks and Western Meadowlark occurred more often where there were patches of bare
      ground. Western Meadowlarks and Grasshopper Sparrows were most common on north
      facing slopes, suggesting that these species may be at risk from projected
      climate change. These findings demonstrate that livestock grazing is compatible
      with or supports grassland bird conservation in Mediterranean-type grasslands,
      including areas with high levels of exotic annual grass invasion, in part because
      grazing supports the persistence of native plants and heterogeneity in vegetation
      structure. However, conservation of low-lying grasslands with high native species
      presence, and active management to increase the abundance of native plant species
      are also likely to be important for sustaining grassland birds long-term.

PMID- 28614359
TI  - Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over
      leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring.
AB  - Seasonal changes in the foodscape force herbivores to select different plant
      species or plant parts to meet nutritional requirements. We examined whether the
      search for calorie-rich carbohydrates explained giant panda's selection for
      bamboo culm over leaves during spring. Leaves and culms were collected from four
      Phyllostachys bamboos (P. aurea, P. aureosulcata, P. glauca, and P. nuda) once
      per month over 18-27 months. Monthly changes in annual plant part nutrients were
      examined, and compared to seasonal foraging behaviors of captive giant pandas.
      Although total fiber was greater (p<0.0001) in culm (85.6 +/- 0.5%) than leaves
      (55.3 +/- 0.4%) throughout the year, culm fiber was at its lowest in spring (79
      85%) when culm selection by giant pandas exceeded 70% of their overall diet. Culm
      starch also was greatest (p = 0.044) during spring (5.5 +/- 1.1%) and 2.5-fold
      the percentage of starch in leaves (2.2 +/- 0.6%). The free sugars in spring culm
      consisted of a high proportion of glucose (35%) and fructose (47%), whereas
      sucrose made up 42% of the total free sugar content of spring leaves. Bound
      sugars in culm consisted of 60% glucose and 38% xylose likely representative of
      hemicellulose. The concentrations of bound sugars (hemicelluloses) in spring
      culms (543.7 +/- 13.0 mg/g) was greater (p<0.001) than in leaves (373.0 +/- 14.8
      mg/g). These data help explain a long-standing question in giant panda foraging
      ecology: why consume the plant part with the lowest protein and fat during the
      energetically intensive spring breeding season? Giant pandas likely prefer spring
      culm that contains abundant mono- and polysaccharides made more bioavailable as a
      result of reduced fiber content. These data suggest that phenological changes in
      bamboo plant part nutrition drive foraging decisions by giant pandas.

PMID- 28614360
TI  - Comparative genomics of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii associated with
      meningitis in HIV infected and uninfected patients in Vietnam.
AB  - The vast burden of cryptococcal meningitis occurs in immunosuppressed patients,
      driven by HIV, and is caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. We
      previously reported cryptococcal meningitis in Vietnam arising atypically in HIV
      uninfected, apparently immunocompetent patients, caused by a single amplified
      fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) cluster of C. neoformans var. grubii
      (VNIgamma). This variant was less common in HIV infected individuals; it remains
      unclear why this lineage is associated with apparently immunocompetent patients.
      To study this host tropism we aimed to further our understanding of clinical
      phenotype and genomic variation within Vietnamese C. neoformans var. grubii.
      After performing MLST on C. neoformans clinical isolates we identified 14
      sequence types (STs); ST5 correlated with the VNIgamma cluster. We next compared
      clinical phenotype by lineage and found HIV infected patients with cryptococcal
      meningitis caused by ST5 organisms were significantly more likely to have
      lymphadenopathy (11% vs. 4%, p = 0.05 Fisher's exact test) and higher blood
      lymphocyte count (median 0.76 versus 0.55 X109 cells/L, p = 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis
      test). Furthermore, survivors of ST5 infections had evidence of worse disability
      outcomes at 70 days (72.7% (40/55) in ST5 infections versus 57.1% (52/91) non-ST5
      infections (OR 2.11, 95%CI 1.01 to 4.41), p = 0.046). To further investigate the
      relationship between strain and disease phenotype we performed genome sequencing
      on eight Vietnamese C. neoformans var. grubii. Eight genome assemblies exhibited
      >99% nucleotide sequence identity and we identified 165 kbp of lineage specific
      to Vietnamese isolates. ST5 genomes harbored several strain specific regions,
      incorporating 19 annotated coding sequences and eight hypothetical proteins.
      These regions included a phenolic acid decarboxylase, a DEAD-box ATP-dependent
      RNA helicase 26, oxoprolinases, a taurine catabolism dioxygenase, a zinc finger
      protein, membrane transport proteins and various drug transporters. Our work
      outlines the complexity of genomic pathogenicity in cryptococcal infections and
      identifies a number of gene candidates that may aid the disaggregation of the
      pathways associated with the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii.

PMID- 28614361
TI  - Molecular cloning, characterization and expression analysis of Frizzled 6 in the
      small intestine of pigs (Sus scrofa).
AB  - Frizzled 6 (FZD6) encodes an integral membrane protein that functions in multiple
      signal transduction pathways, for example, as a receptor in Wnt/planar cell
      polarity (PCP) signaling pathway for polarized cell migration and organ
      morphogenesis. Mutations in FZD6 have been identified in a variety of tumors. In
      this study, the full-length cDNA of Sus scrofa FZD6 (Sfz6) was cloned and
      characterized. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrates that the Sfz6 gene
      encodes the 712 amino-acid (aa) protein with seven transmembrane domain. Tissue
      distribution analysis showed that Sfz6 mRNA is ubiquitously expressed in various
      tissues, being highest in kidney, moderate in jejunum, ileum, colon, liver, and
      spleen. However, FZD6 protein is highly expressed in the heart and there was no
      significant difference in other tissues. The relative abundance and localization
      of FZD6 protein in jejunum along the crypt-villus axis was determined by Western
      blot and immunohistochemical localization. The results show that in the jejunum,
      FZD6 protein is highly expressed in the villus and less in the crypt cells.
      Cellular proliferation and viability assays indicate that knockdown of FZD6 with
      small interfering RNAs (siRNA) significantly reduced the cell viability of the
      intestinal porcine enterocyte cells (IPEC-J2). Furthermore, qPCR and Western blot
      analysis revealed that expressions of ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1
      (Rac1); ras homolog gene family member A (RhoA) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1
      (JNK1), some components of PCP signaling pathway were upregulated (P < 0.05) by
      knockdown of FZD6 in IPEC-J2 cells. In conclusion, these results showed that FZD6
      abundance in the villus was higher than that in crypt cells and knockdown of FZD6
      induces PCP signal pathway components expression in IPEC-J2 cells. Our findings
      provide the foundation for further investigation into porcine FZD6 gene.

PMID- 28614362
TI  - Effect of pathological heterogeneity on shear wave elasticity imaging in the
      staging of deep venous thrombosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to observe the relationship between the pathological
      components of a deep venous thrombus (DVT), which was divided into three parts,
      and the findings on quantitative ultrasonic shear wave elastography (SWE) to
      increase the accuracy of thrombus staging in a rabbit model. METHODS: A flow
      stenosis-induced vein thrombosis model was used, and the thrombus was divided
      into three parts (head, body and tail), which were associated with corresponding
      observation points. Elasticity was quantified in vivo using SWE over a 2-week
      period. A quantitative pathologic image analysis (QPIA) was performed to obtain
      the relative percentages of the components of the main clots. RESULTS: DVT
      maturity occurred at 2 weeks, and the elasticity of the whole thrombus and the
      three parts (head, body and tail) showed an increasing trend, with the Young's
      modulus values varying from 2.36 +/- 0.41 kPa to 13.24 +/- 1.71 kPa; 2.01 +/-
      0.28 kPa to 13.29 +/- 1.48 kPa; 3.27 +/- 0.57 kPa to 15.91 +/- 2.05 kPa; and 1.79
      +/- 0.36 kPa to 10.51 +/- 1.61 kPa, respectively. Significant increases occurred
      on different days for the different parts: the head showed significant increases
      on days 4 and 6; the body showed significant increases on days 4 and 7; and the
      tail showed significant increases on days 3 and 6. The QPIA showed that the
      thrombus composition changed dynamically as the thrombus matured, with the fibrin
      and calcium salt deposition gradually increasing and the red blood cells (RBCs)
      and platelet trabecula gradually decreasing. Significant changes were observed on
      days 4 and 7, which may represent the transition points for acute, sub-acute and
      chronic thrombi. Significant heterogeneity was observed between and within the
      thrombi. CONCLUSIONS: Variations in the thrombus components were generally
      consistent between the SWE and QPIA. Days 4 and 7 after thrombus induction may
      represent the transition points for acute, sub-acute and chronic thrombi in
      rabbit models. A dynamic examination of the same part of the thrombus may be
      helpful for improving the sensitivity and reproducibility of SWE for DVT
      diagnosis and staging.

PMID- 28614363
TI  - Rigid geometry solves "curse of dimensionality" effects in clustering methods: An
      application to omics data.
AB  - The quality of samples preserved long term at ultralow temperatures has not been
      adequately studied. To improve our understanding, we need a strategy to analyze
      protein degradation and metabolism at subfreezing temperatures. To do this, we
      obtained liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) data of calculated
      protein signal intensities in HEK-293 cells. Our first attempt at directly
      clustering the values failed, most likely due to the so-called "curse of
      dimensionality". The clusters were not reproducible, and the outputs differed
      with different methods. By utilizing rigid geometry with a prime ideal I-adic (p
      adic) metric, however, we rearranged the sample clusters into a meaningful and
      reproducible order, and the results were the same with each of the different
      clustering methods tested. Furthermore, we have also succeeded in application of
      this method to expression array data in similar situations. Thus, we eliminated
      the "curse of dimensionality" from the data set, at least in clustering methods.
      It is possible that our approach determines a characteristic value of systems
      that follow a Boltzmann distribution.

PMID- 28614364
TI  - Serum levels of bupivacaine after pre-peritoneal bolus vs. epidural bolus
      injection for analgesia in abdominal surgery: A safety study within a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Continuous wound infiltration (CWI) has become increasingly popular
      in recent years as an alternative to epidural analgesia. As catheters are not
      placed until the end of surgery, more intraoperative opioid analgesics might be
      needed. We, therefore, added a single pre-peritoneal bolus of bupivacaine at the
      start of laparotomy, similar to the bolus given with epidural analgesia. METHODS:
      This was a comparative study within a randomized controlled trial (NTR4948).
      Patients undergoing hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery received either a pre
      peritoneal bolus of 30ml bupivacaine 0.25%, or an epidural bolus of 10ml
      bupivacaine 0.25% at the start of laparotomy. In a subgroup of patients, we
      sampled blood and determined bupivacaine serum levels 20, 40, 60 and 80 minutes
      after bolus injection. We assumed toxicity of bupivacaine to be >1000 ng/ml.
      RESULTS: A total of 20 patients participated in this sub-study. All plasma levels
      measured as well as the upper limit of the predicted 99% confidence intervals per
      time point were well below the toxicity limit. In a mixed linear-effect model
      both groups did not differ statistically significant (p = 0.131). The intra
      operative use of opioids was higher with CWI as compared to epidural (86 (SD 73)
      MUg sufentanil vs. 50 (SD 32). CONCLUSIONS: In this exploratory study, the pre
      peritoneal bolus using bupivacaine resulted in serum bupivacaine concentrations
      well below the commonly accepted toxic threshold. With CWI more additional
      analgesics are needed intraoperatively as compared to epidural analgesia,
      although this is compensated by a reduction in use of vasopressors with CWI.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register NTR4948.

PMID- 28614365
TI  - Modelling community-control strategies to protect hospital resources during an
      influenza pandemic in Ottawa, Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A novel influenza virus has emerged to produce a global pandemic four
      times in the past one hundred years, resulting in millions of infections,
      hospitalizations and deaths. There is substantial uncertainty about when, where
      and how the next influenza pandemic will occur. METHODS: We developed a novel
      mathematical model to chart the evolution of an influenza pandemic. We estimate
      the likely burden of future influenza pandemics through health and economic
      endpoints. An important component of this is the adequacy of existing hospital
      resource capacity. Using a simulated population reflective of Ottawa, Canada, we
      model the potential impact of a future influenza pandemic under different
      combinations of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions. RESULTS:
      There was substantial variation in projected pandemic impact and outcomes across
      intervention scenarios. In a population of 1.2 million, the illness attack rate
      ranged from 8.4% (all interventions) to 54.5% (no interventions); peak acute care
      hospital capacity ranged from 0.2% (all interventions) to 13.8% (no
      interventions); peak ICU capacity ranged from 1.1% (all interventions) to 90.2%
      (no interventions); and mortality ranged from 11 (all interventions) to 363
      deaths (no interventions). Associated estimates of economic burden ranged from
      CAD $115 million to over $2 billion when extended mass school closure was
      implemented. DISCUSSION: Children accounted for a disproportionate number of
      pandemic infections, particularly in household settings. Pharmaceutical
      interventions effectively reduced peak and total pandemic burden without
      affecting timing, while non-pharmaceutical measures delayed and attenuated
      pandemic wave progression. The timely implementation of a layered intervention
      bundle appeared likely to protect hospital resource adequacy in Ottawa. The
      adaptable nature of this model provides value in informing pandemic preparedness
      policy planning in situations of uncertainty, as scenarios can be updated in real
      time as more data become available. However-given the inherent uncertainties of
      model assumptions-results should be interpreted with caution.

PMID- 28614366
TI  - De novo transcriptomic analysis and development of EST-SSRs for Sorbus
      pohuashanensis (Hance) Hedl.
AB  - Sorbus pohuashanensis is a native tree species of northern China that is used for
      a variety of ecological purposes. The species is often grown as an ornamental
      landscape tree because of its beautiful form, silver flowers in early summer,
      attractive pinnate leaves in summer, and red leaves and fruits in autumn.
      However, development and further utilization of the species are hindered by the
      lack of comprehensive genetic information, which impedes research into its
      genetics and molecular biology. Recent advances in de novo transcriptome
      sequencing (RNA-seq) technology have provided an effective means to obtain
      genomic information from non-model species. Here, we applied RNA-seq for
      sequencing S. pohuashanensis leaves and obtained a total of 137,506 clean reads.
      After assembly, 96,213 unigenes with an average length of 770 bp were obtained.
      We found that 64.5% of the unigenes could be annotated using bioinformatics tools
      to analyze gene function and alignment with the NCBI database. Overall, 59,089
      unigenes were annotated using the Nr database(non-redundant protein database),
      35,225 unigenes were annotated using the GO (Gene Ontology categories) database,
      and 33,168 unigenes were annotated using COG (Cluster of Orthologous Groups).
      Analysis of the unigenes using the KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes)
      database indicated that 13,953 unigenes were involved in 322 metabolic pathways.
      Finally, simple sequence repeat (SSR) site detection identified 6,604 unigenes
      that included EST-SSRs and a total of 7,473 EST-SSRs in the unigene sequences.
      Fifteen polymorphic SSRs were screened and found to be of use for future genetic
      research. These unigene sequences will provide important genetic resources for
      genetic improvement and investigation of biochemical processes in S.
      pohuashanensis.

PMID- 28614367
TI  - Pre-saccadic perception: Separate time courses for enhancement and spatial
      pooling at the saccade target.
AB  - We interact with complex scenes using eye movements to select targets of
      interest. Studies have shown that the future target of a saccadic eye movement is
      processed differently by the visual system. A number of effects have been
      reported, including a benefit for perceptual performance at the target
      ("enhancement"), reduced influences of backward masking ("un-masking"), reduced
      crowding ("un-crowding") and spatial compression towards the saccade target. We
      investigated the time course of these effects by measuring orientation
      discrimination for targets that were spatially crowded or temporally masked. In
      four experiments, we varied the target-flanker distance, the presence of
      forward/backward masks, the orientation of the flankers and whether participants
      made a saccade. Masking and randomizing flanker orientation reduced performance
      in both fixation and saccade trials. We found a small improvement in performance
      on saccade trials, compared to fixation trials, with a time course that was
      consistent with a general enhancement at the saccade target. In addition, a
      decrement in performance (reporting the average flanker orientation, rather than
      the target) was found in the time bins nearest saccade onset when random oriented
      flankers were used, consistent with spatial pooling around the saccade target. We
      did not find strong evidence for un-crowding. Overall, our pattern of results was
      consistent with both an early, general enhancement at the saccade target and a
      later, peri-saccadic compression/pooling towards the saccade target.

PMID- 28614369
TI  - Unlocking the vital role of host cells in hair follicle reconstruction by semi
      permeable capsules.
AB  - Organ regeneration is becoming a promising choice for many patients; however,
      many details about the mechanisms underlying organ regeneration remain unknown.
      As regenerative organs, hair follicles offer a good model to study the mechanisms
      associated with regenerative medicine. The relevant studies have mainly focused
      on donor cells, and there are no systematic studies involving the effect of host
      factors on hair follicle reconstruction. Thus, we intend to explore the effect of
      host cells on hair follicle reconstruction. Epidermal and dermal cells from red
      fluorescent protein (RFP) transgenic newborn mice were injected into green
      fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice. In addition, we wrapped the mixed
      dermal and epidermal cells from GFP transgenic and RFP transgenic mice by the
      Cell-in-a-Box kit to form "capsules," so that the cells within would be isolated
      from host cells. These capsules were cultured in vitro and transplanted in vivo.
      Fully developed reconstructed hair follicles were observed after the injection of
      mixed cells. These reconstructed follicles mainly consisted of donor cells, as
      well as a small number of host cells. The encapsulated cells gradually aggregated
      into cell spheres in vitro without apparent differentiation towards hair
      follicles. With respect to the transplanted capsules, concentric circle
      structures were observed, but no hair follicles or hair shafts formed. When the
      concentric circle structures were transplanted in vivo, mature hair follicles
      were observed 30 days later. Host cells were found in the reconstructed hair
      follicles. Thus, we conclude that host cells participate in the process of hair
      follicle reconstruction, and they play a vital role in the process, especially
      for the maturation of reconstructed hair follicles. Furthermore, we established a
      special hair follicle reconstruction system with the help of capsules: transplant
      cells were isolated from host, but other factors from host could exchange with
      cells inside.

PMID- 28614368
TI  - Barriers and facilitators of adherence to antidepressants among outpatients with
      major depressive disorder: A qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the major challenges in treating major depressive disorder
      (MDD) is patients' non-adherence to medication. This study aimed to explore the
      barriers and facilitators of patients' adherence to antidepressants among
      outpatients with MDD. METHODS: Semi-structured and individual in-depth interviews
      were conducted among patients with MDD who were taking antidepressants, in the
      psychiatric clinic of a government-run hospital in Malaysia. Participants were
      purposively sampled from different genders and ethnicities. Interviews were
      conducted using a validated topic guide, and responses were audio-recorded,
      transcribed verbatim, checked, and analyzed using the grounded theory approach.
      RESULTS: A total of 30 patients were interviewed. Forty different themes and sub
      themes were identified which were conceptually divided into two distinct
      categories related to barriers and facilitators to adherence. The barriers were:
      patient-specific, medication-specific, healthcare provision and system, social
      cultural, and logistics. The facilitators were: having insight, perceived health
      benefits, regular activities, patient-provider relationship, reminders, and
      social support networks. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-specific barriers and medication
      side effects were the major challenges for adhering to treatment. Perceived
      health benefits and having insight on the need for treatment were the most
      frequently cited facilitators. Targeted interventions should be developed to
      address the key barriers, and promote measures to facilitate adherence in this
      group of patients.

PMID- 28614370
TI  - The hemagglutinin-neuramidinase protein of Newcastle disease virus upregulates
      expression of the TRAIL gene in murine natural killer cells through the
      activation of Syk and NF-kappaB.
AB  - Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is responsible for tumoricidal activity in vitro
      and in vivo. However, the mechanisms that lead to this activity are unclear.
      Natural killer cells are able to induce apoptosis of tumor cells through multiple
      pathways, including the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand
      death receptor pathway. We previously showed that exposure of NK and T cells to
      NDV resulted in enhanced tumoricidal activity that was mediated by upregulated
      expression of the TRAIL gene, via an interferon gamma -dependent pathway. Other
      pathways involved in the upregulated expression of TRAIL are yet to be
      identified. In the current study, we used mice in which the IFN-gamma receptor
      one gene was inactivated functionally. We identified an IFN-gamma-independent
      TRAIL pathway in the NDV-stimulated NK cells. Hemagglutinin-neuramidinase induced
      expression of the TRAIL gene in IFN-R1-/- NK cells by binding to the NKp46
      receptor. This upregulation was inhibited by pretreatment of NDV with a
      neutralizing monoclonal antibody against HN, or desialylation of NK cells.
      Phosphorylation of spleen tryosine kinases and IkappaBalpha was increased in HN
      induced IFN-R1-/- NK cells. Treatment with the HN neutralizing monoclonal
      antibody, pharmacological disialylation, or a Syk inhibitor decreased Syk and
      IkappaBalpha phosphorylation levels. We concluded that killer activation
      receptors pathway is involved in the IFN-gamma-independent TRAIL expression of
      NDV-stimulated NK cells, and these are activated by Syk and NF-kappaB.

PMID- 28614371
TI  - Chemical characterization and extractives composition of heartwood and sapwood
      from Quercus faginea.
AB  - Heartwood and sapwood of Quercus faginea were evaluated in relation to summative
      chemical composition and non-polar and polar extracts composition, including an
      assessment of antioxidant properties (DPPH and FRAP). Twenty trees from two sites
      in Portugal were analysed. Heartwood had approximately two times more solvent
      extractible compounds than sapwood (on average 19.0% and 9.5%). The lipophilic
      extractible compounds were below 1%, and most of them were polar e.g. ethanol
      soluble compounds corresponded to 65% of total extractives in heartwood and 43%
      in sapwood. Lignin content was similar in sapwood and heartwood (28.1% and 28.6%
      of extractive-free wood respectively) as well as the sugar composition. Site did
      not influence the chemical composition. The lipophilic extractible compounds from
      both sapwood and heartwood included mainly saturated fatty acids (23.0% and 36.9%
      respectively) and aromatic compounds were also abundant in sapwood (22.9%). The
      ethanol-water extractibles had a high content of phenolic substances (558.0 and
      319.4 mg GAE/g extract, respectively of heartwood and sapwood). The polyphenolic
      composition was similar in heartwood and sapwood with higher content of
      ellagitannins (168.9 and 153.5 mg tannic acid/g of extract in sapwood and
      heartwood respectively) and very low content of condensed tannins. The
      antioxidant activity was very high with IC50 of 2.6 MUg/ml and 3.3 MUg/ml for
      sapwood and heartwood respectively, as compared to standard antioxidants (IC50 of
      3.8 MUg/ml for Trolox). The ferric reducing ability was 2.8 and 2.0 mMol Trolox
      equivalents/g extract of heartwood and sapwood respectively. The variability
      between trees was low and no differences between the two sites were found. Q.
      faginea showed a very good potential for cooperage and other applications for
      which a source of compounds with antioxidant properties is desirable.

PMID- 28614372
TI  - Intestinal organoids model human responses to infection by commensal and Shiga
      toxin producing Escherichia coli.
AB  - Infection with Shiga toxin (Stx) producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 can cause the
      potentially fatal complication hemolytic uremic syndrome, and currently only
      supportive therapy is available. Lack of suitable animal models has hindered
      study of this disease. Induced human intestinal organoids (iHIOs), generated by
      in vitro differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, represent differentiated
      human intestinal tissue. We show that iHIOs with addition of human neutrophils
      can model E. coli intestinal infection and innate cellular responses. Commensal
      and O157:H7 introduced into the iHIO lumen replicated rapidly achieving high
      numbers. Commensal E. coli did not cause damage, and were completely contained
      within the lumen, suggesting defenses, such as mucus production, can constrain
      non-pathogenic strains. Some O157:H7 initially co-localized with cellular actin.
      Loss of actin and epithelial integrity was observed after 4 hours. O157:H7 grew
      as filaments, consistent with activation of the bacterial SOS stress response.
      SOS is induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS), and O157:H7 infection increased
      ROS production. Transcriptional profiling (RNAseq) demonstrated that both
      commensal and O157:H7 upregulated genes associated with gastrointestinal
      maturation, while infection with O157:H7 upregulated inflammatory responses,
      including interleukin 8 (IL-8). IL-8 is associated with neutrophil recruitment,
      and infection with O157:H7 resulted in recruitment of human neutrophils into the
      iHIO tissue.

PMID- 28614373
TI  - Relationship between microRNA-146a expression and plasma renalase levels in
      hemodialyzed patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: microRNA (miRNA) belongs to the non-coding RNAs family responsible
      for the regulation of gene expression. Renalase is a protein composed of 342
      amino acids, secreted by the kidneys and possibly plays an important role in the
      regulation of sympathetic tone and blood pressure. The aim of the present study
      was to investigate plasma renalase concentration, and explore the relationship
      between miRNA-146a-5p expression and plasma renalase levels in hemodialyzed
      patients. METHODS: The study population comprised 55 subjects who succumbed to
      various cardiac events, 27 women and 28 men, aged 65-70 years. The total RNA
      including miRNA fraction was isolated using QiagenmiRNEasy Serum/Plasma kit
      according to the manufacturer's protocol. The isolated miRNAs were analyzed using
      a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) technique. The plasma renalase
      levels were measured using a commercial ELISA kit. RESULTS: In the group of
      patients with high levels of renalase, higher miRNA-146a expression was found,
      compared with those with low concentration of renalase. Patients with
      simultaneous low miRNA-146a expression and high level of renalase were confirmed
      to deliver a significantly longer survival time compared with other patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: miRNA-146a and plasma renalase levels were estimated as independent
      prognostic factors of hemodialyzed patients' survival time. Patients with low
      miRNA-146a expression demonstrated a significantly longer survival time in
      contrast to the patients with a high expression level of miRNA-146a. Moreover, a
      significantly longer survival time was found in patients with high renalase
      activity compared with patients with low activity of the enzyme.

PMID- 28614374
TI  - Accurate prediction of functional effects for variants by combining gradient tree
      boosting with optimal neighborhood properties.
AB  - Single amino acid variations (SAVs) potentially alter biological functions,
      including causing diseases or natural differences between individuals.
      Identifying the relationship between a SAV and certain disease provides the
      starting point for understanding the underlying mechanisms of specific
      associations, and can help further prevention and diagnosis of inherited
      disease.We propose PredSAV, a computational method that can effectively predict
      how likely SAVs are to be associated with disease by incorporating gradient tree
      boosting (GTB) algorithm and optimally selected neighborhood features. A two-step
      feature selection approach is used to explore the most relevant and informative
      neighborhood properties that contribute to the prediction of disease association
      of SAVs across a wide range of sequence and structural features, especially some
      novel structural neighborhood features. In cross-validation experiments on the
      benchmark dataset, PredSAV achieves promising performances with an AUC score of
      0.908 and a specificity of 0.838, which are significantly better than that of the
      other existing methods. Furthermore, we validate the capability of our proposed
      method by an independent test and gain a competitive advantage as a result.
      PredSAV, which combines gradient tree boosting with optimally selected
      neighborhood features, can return reliable predictions in distinguishing between
      disease-associated and neutral variants. Compared with existing methods, PredSAV
      shows improved specificity as well as increased overall performance.

PMID- 28614375
TI  - Burden of trachoma in five counties of Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan:
      Results from population-based surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to decrease the prevalence of trachoma within the country,
      the Republic of South Sudan has implemented components of the SAFE strategy in
      various counties since 2001. Five counties in Eastern Equatoria state were
      surveyed in order to monitor progress of programmatic interventions and determine
      if additional rounds of Mass Drug Administration with azithromycin were needed.
      METHODOLOGY/ PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Five counties (Budi, Lafon, Kapoeta East,
      Kapoeta South and Kapoeta North) were surveyed from April to October 2015. A
      cross-sectional, multi-stage, cluster-random sampling was used. All present,
      consenting residents of selected households were examined for all clinical signs
      of trachoma using the World Health Organization (WHO) simplified grading system.
      14,462 individuals from 3,446 households were surveyed. The prevalence of
      trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children ages one to nine years
      ranged from 17.4% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 11.4%, 25.6%) in Budi county to
      47.6%, (95% CI: 42.3%, 53.0%) in Kapoeta East county. Trachomatous trichiasis
      (TT) was also highly prevalent in those 15 years and older, ranging between 2.6%
      (95% CI: 1.6%, 4.0%) in Kapoeta South to 3.9% (95% CI: 2.4%, 6.1%) in Lafon. The
      presence of water and sanitation were low in all five counties, including two
      counties which had a complete absence of latrines in all surveyed clusters.
      CONCLUSIONS/ SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge, these were the first trachoma
      surveys conducted in the Republic of South Sudan since their independence in
      2011. The results show that despite years of interventions, four of the five
      surveyed counties require a minimum of five additional years of SAFE strategy
      implementation, with the fifth requiring at minimum three more years.

PMID- 28614376
TI  - Effect of previous and current vaccination against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09,
      A(H3N2), and B during the post-pandemic period 2010-2016 in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that the protective effect of the current
      influenza vaccine could be influenced by vaccination in previous seasons. We
      estimated the combined effect of the previous and current influenza vaccines from
      the 2010-2011 season to the 2015-2016 season in Spain. METHODS: We performed a
      test-negative case-control study in patients >=9 years old. We estimated the
      influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2),
      and B virus. RESULTS: We included 1206 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases, 1358 A(H3N2)
      cases and 1079 B cases. IVE against A(H1N1)pdm09 virus in the pooled-season
      analysis was 53% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 21% to 72%) for those vaccinated
      only in the current season and 50% (95%CI: 23% to 68%) for those vaccinated in
      the both current and previous seasons. Against the influenza A(H3N2) virus, IVE
      was 17% (95%CI: -43% to 52%) for those vaccinated only in the current season and
      3% (95%CI: -33% to 28%) for those vaccinated in both seasons. Regarding influenza
      B, we obtained similar IVEs for those vaccinated only in the current and those
      vaccinated in both seasons: 57% (95%CI: 12% to 79%) and 56% (95%CI: 36% to 70%),
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested no interference between the
      previous and current influenza vaccines against A(H1N1)pdm09 and B viruses, but a
      possible negative interference against A(H3N2) virus.

PMID- 28614377
TI  - Spatial distribution of child pedestrian injuries along census tract boundaries:
      Implications for identifying area-based correlates.
AB  - Census tracts are often used to investigate area-based correlates of a variety of
      health outcomes. This approach has been shown to be valuable in understanding the
      ways that health is shaped by place and to design appropriate interventions that
      account for community-level processes. Following this line of inquiry, it is
      common in the study of pedestrian injuries to aggregate the point level locations
      of these injuries to the census tracts in which they occur. Such aggregation
      enables investigation of the relationships between a range of socioeconomic
      variables and areas of notably high or low incidence. This study reports on the
      spatial distribution of child pedestrian injuries in a mid-sized U.S. city over a
      three-year period. Utilizing a combination of geospatial approaches, Near
      Analysis, Kernel Density Estimation, and Local Moran's I, enables identification,
      visualization, and quantification of close proximity between incidents and tract
      boundaries. Specifically, results reveal that nearly half of the 100 incidents
      occur within roads that are also census tract boundaries. Results also uncover
      incidents that occur on tract boundaries, not merely near them. This geographic
      pattern raises the question of the utility of associating area-based census data
      from any one tract to the injuries occurring in these border zones. Furthermore,
      using a standard spatial join technique in a Geographic Information System (GIS),
      these points located on the border are counted as falling into census tracts on
      both sides of the boundary, which introduces uncertainty in any subsequent
      analysis. Therefore, two additional approaches of aggregating points to polygons
      were tested in this study. Results differ with each approach, but without any
      alert of such differences to the GIS user. This finding raises a fundamental
      concern about techniques through which points are aggregated to polygons in any
      study using point level incidents and their surrounding census tract
      socioeconomic data to understand health and place. This study concludes with a
      suggested protocol to test for this source of uncertainty in analysis and an
      approach that may remove it.

PMID- 28614378
TI  - Comparative analysis of virus-host interactions caused by a virulent and an
      attenuated duck hepatitis A virus genotype 1.
AB  - Because of their better immunogenicity and the improved protection they afford,
      live attenuated vaccines derived from serial passaging in an abnormal host are
      widely used to protect humans or animals from certain pathogens. Here, we used a
      virulent and a chicken embryo-attenuated duck hepatitis A virus genotype 1 to
      compare the different regulated immune responses induced by viruses with
      differing virulence. In this study, the attenuated strains had lower protein
      expression levels than the virulent strains as identified by
      immunohistochemistry. This may be caused by apparent codon usage bias selected
      during passage. Furthermore, lower translation efficiency led to decreased viral
      replication, which is highly dependent on non-structural viral protein
      expression. Although the two strains had differing levels of virulence, both
      could induce strong innate immune responses and robust Tc or Th cell populations
      during the early stages of the immune response. However, due to fixed single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected by passage, the virulent and attenuated
      strains may induce differing immune responses, with stronger Tc cell immunity
      induced by the attenuated strain in the spleen and thymus and stronger Tc cell
      immunity induced by the virulent strain in the liver, lung, bursa of Fabricius
      and Harderian gland. Four immune related genes (RIG-1, MDA5, IFN-beta, and IL-6)
      were highly differentially expressed in the Harderian gland, bursa of Fabricius
      and thymus. This study has provided further information about differences in
      virus-host interactions between duck hepatitis A viruses of differing virulence.

PMID- 28614379
TI  - Microbiome restoration diet improves digestion, cognition and physical and
      emotional wellbeing.
AB  - Manipulating gut bacteria in the microbiome, through the use of probiotics and
      prebiotics, has been found to have an influence on both physical and emotional
      wellbeing. This study uses a dietary manipulation 'The Gut Makeover' designed to
      elicit positive changes to the gut bacteria within the microbiome. 21 healthy
      participants undertook 'The Gut Makeover' for a four week period. Weight and
      various aspects of health were assessed pre and post intervention using the
      Functional Medicine Medical Symptoms Questionnaire (MSQ). Paired sample t-tests
      revealed a significant reduction in self-reported weight at the end of the
      intervention. Adverse medical symptoms related to digestion, cognition and
      physical and emotional wellbeing, were also significantly reduced during the
      course of the dietary intervention. The intervention, designed to manipulate gut
      bacteria, had a significant impact on digestion, reducing IBS type symptoms in
      this non-clinical population. There was also a striking reduction in negative
      symptoms related to cognition, memory and emotional wellbeing, including symptoms
      of anxiety and depression. Dietary gut microbiome manipulations may have the
      power to exert positive physical and psychological health benefits, of a similar
      nature to those reported in studies using pre and probiotics. The small sample
      size and lack of control over confounding variables means that it will be
      important to replicate these findings in larger-scale controlled, prospective,
      clinical trials. This dietary microbiome intervention has the potential to
      improve physical and emotional wellbeing in the general population but also to be
      investigated as a treatment option for individuals with conditions as diverse as
      IBS, anxiety, depression and Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 28614380
TI  - Interleukin-34 inhibits hepatitis B virus replication in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection could activate the immune
      system and induce extensive inflammatory response. As the most important
      inflammatory factor, interleukins are critical for anti-viral immunity. Here we
      investigated whether interleukin-34 (IL-34) play a role in HBV infection.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we first found that both serum IL
      34 and IL-34 mRNA in PBMCs in chronic HBV patients was significantly decreased
      compared to the healthy controls. Furthermore, both IL-34 protein and mRNA levels
      were declined hepatoma cells expressing HBV. In addition, the clinical parameters
      analysis found that serum IL-34 was significantly associated with HBV DNA (P =
      0.0066), ALT (P = 0.0327), AST (P = 0.0435), TB (P = 0.0406), DB (P = 0.0368) and
      AFP (P = 0.0225). Correlation analysis also found that serum IL-34 negatively
      correlated with HBV DNA copies, ALT and AST. In vitro studies found that IL-34
      treatment in HepAD38 and HepG2.2.15 cells markedly inhibited HBV DNA, total RNA,
      3.5kb mRNA and HBc protein. In vivo studies further demonstrated IL-34 treatment
      in HBV transgenic mice exhibited greater inhibition on HBV DNA, total RNA, 3.5kb
      mRNA and HBc protein, suggesting the effect to IL-34 on HBV is likely due to host
      innate or adaptive immune response. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study
      identified a novel interleukin, IL-34, which has anti-viral activity in HBV
      replication in hepatocytes in vitro and in vivo. These data suggest a rationale
      for the use of IL-34 in the HBV treatment.

PMID- 28614381
TI  - The cytotoxic effect of TiF4 and NaF on fibroblasts is influenced by the
      experimental model, fluoride concentration and exposure time.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Titanium tetrafluoride (TiF4) has shown promising effect in preventing
      tooth lesions. Therefore, we compared the cytotoxicity of TiF4 with sodium
      fluoride (NaF) (already applied in Dentistry) considering different fluoride
      concentrations, pH values and experimental models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Step 1)
      NIH/3T3 fibroblasts were exposed to mediums containing NaF or TiF4 (from 0.15 to
      2.45% F), both at native and adjusted pH, for 6 h. Step 2) NIH/3T3 were exposed
      to NaF or TiF4 varnishes with 0.95, 1.95 or 2.45% F (native pH), for 6, 12 or 24
      h. We applied MTT (1st and 2nd steps) and Hoescht/PI stain (2nd step) assays.
      Step 3) NIH/3T3 were exposed to NaF or TiF4 varnish (2.45% F), at native pH, for
      6 or 12 h. The cell stiffness was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM).
      RESULTS: Step 1) All cells exposed to NaF or TiF4 mediums died, regardless of the
      F concentration and pH. Step 2) Both varnishes, at 1.90 and 2.45% F, reduced cell
      viability by similar extents (33-86% at 6 h, 35-93% at 12 h, and 87-98% at 24 h)
      compared with control, regardless of the type of fluoride. Varnishes with 0.95% F
      did not differ from control. Step 3) TiF4 and NaF reduced cell stiffness to a
      similar extent, but only TiF4 differed from control at 6 h. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      the results of the 3 experimental steps, we conclude that TiF4 and NaF have
      similar cytotoxicity. The cytotoxicity was dependent on F concentration and
      exposure time. This result gives support for testing the effect of TiF4 varnish
      in vivo.

PMID- 28614382
TI  - Genome-wide transposon mutagenesis of Proteus mirabilis: Essential genes, fitness
      factors for catheter-associated urinary tract infection, and the impact of
      polymicrobial infection on fitness requirements.
AB  - The Gram-negative bacterium Proteus mirabilis is a leading cause of catheter
      associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), which are often polymicrobial.
      Numerous prior studies have uncovered virulence factors for P. mirabilis
      pathogenicity in a murine model of ascending UTI, but little is known concerning
      pathogenesis during CAUTI or polymicrobial infection. In this study, we utilized
      five pools of 10,000 transposon mutants each and transposon insertion-site
      sequencing (Tn-Seq) to identify the full arsenal of P. mirabilis HI4320 fitness
      factors for single-species versus polymicrobial CAUTI with Providencia stuartii
      BE2467. 436 genes in the input pools lacked transposon insertions and were
      therefore concluded to be essential for P. mirabilis growth in rich medium. 629
      genes were identified as P. mirabilis fitness factors during single-species
      CAUTI. Tn-Seq from coinfection with P. stuartii revealed 217/629 (35%) of the
      same genes as identified by single-species Tn-Seq, and 1353 additional factors
      that specifically contribute to colonization during coinfection. Mutants were
      constructed in eight genes of interest to validate the initial screen: 7/8 (88%)
      mutants exhibited the expected phenotypes for single-species CAUTI, and 3/3
      (100%) validated the expected phenotypes for polymicrobial CAUTI. This approach
      provided validation of numerous previously described P. mirabilis fitness
      determinants from an ascending model of UTI, the discovery of novel fitness
      determinants specifically for CAUTI, and a stringent assessment of how
      polymicrobial infection influences fitness requirements. For instance, we
      describe a requirement for branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis by P. mirabilis
      during coinfection due to high-affinity import of leucine by P. stuartii. Further
      investigation of genes and pathways that provide a competitive advantage during
      both single-species and polymicrobial CAUTI will likely provide robust targets
      for therapeutic intervention to reduce P. mirabilis CAUTI incidence and severity.

PMID- 28614383
TI  - Regulated Erlin-dependent release of the B12 transmembrane J-protein promotes ER
      membrane penetration of a non-enveloped virus.
AB  - The molecular mechanism by which non-enveloped viruses penetrate biological
      membranes remains enigmatic. The non-enveloped polyomavirus SV40 penetrates the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane to reach the cytosol and cause infection. We
      previously demonstrated that SV40 creates its own membrane penetration structure
      by mobilizing select transmembrane proteins to distinct puncta in the ER membrane
      called foci that likely function as the cytosol entry sites. How these ER
      membrane proteins reorganize into the foci is unknown. B12 is a transmembrane J
      protein that mobilizes into the foci to promote cytosol entry of SV40. Here we
      identify two closely related ER membrane proteins Erlin1 and Erlin2 (Erlin1/2) as
      B12-interaction partners. Strikingly, SV40 recruits B12 to the foci by inducing
      release of this J-protein from Erlin1/2. Our data thus reveal how a non-enveloped
      virus promotes its own membrane translocation by triggering the release and
      recruitment of a critical transport factor to the membrane penetration site.

PMID- 28614384
TI  - Antennal transcriptome analysis of the piercing moth Oraesia emarginata
      (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).
AB  - The piercing fruit moth Oraesia emarginata is an economically significant pest;
      however, our understanding of its olfactory mechanisms in infestation is limited.
      The present study conducted antennal transcriptome analysis of olfactory genes
      using real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis (RT-qPCR). We
      identified a total of 104 candidate chemosensory genes from several gene
      families, including 35 olfactory receptors (ORs), 41 odorant-binding proteins, 20
      chemosensory proteins, 6 ionotropic receptors, and 2 sensory neuron membrane
      proteins. Seven candidate pheromone receptors (PRs) and 3 candidate pheromone
      binding proteins (PBPs) for sex pheromone recognition were found. OemaOR29 and
      OemaPBP1 had the highest fragments per kb per million fragments (FPKM) values in
      all ORs and OBPs, respectively. Eighteen olfactory genes were upregulated in
      females, including 5 candidate PRs, and 20 olfactory genes were upregulated in
      males, including 2 candidate PRs (OemaOR29 and 4) and 2 PBPs (OemaPBP1 and 3).
      These genes may have roles in mediating sex-specific behaviors. Most candidate
      olfactory genes of sex pheromone recognition (except OemaOR29 and OemaPBP3) in O.
      emarginata were not clustered with those of studied noctuid species (type I
      pheromone). In addition, OemaOR29 was belonged to cluster PRIII, which comprise
      proteins that recognize type II pheromones instead of type I pheromones. The
      structure and function of olfactory genes that encode sex pheromones in O.
      emarginata might thus differ from those of other studied noctuids. The findings
      of the present study may help explain the molecular mechanism underlying
      olfaction and the evolution of olfactory genes encoding sex pheromones in O.
      emarginata.

PMID- 28614386
TI  - A systemic macrophage response is required to contain a peripheral poxvirus
      infection.
AB  - The goal of the innate immune system is to reduce pathogen spread prior to the
      initiation of an effective adaptive immune response. Following an infection at a
      peripheral site, virus typically drains through the lymph to the lymph node prior
      to entering the blood stream and being systemically disseminated. Therefore,
      there are three distinct spatial checkpoints at which intervention to prevent
      systemic spread of virus can occur, namely: 1) the site of infection, 2) the
      draining lymph node via filtration of lymph or 3) the systemic level via organs
      that filter the blood. We have previously shown that systemic depletion of
      phagocytic cells allows viral spread after dermal infection with Vaccinia virus
      (VACV), which infects naturally through the skin. Here we use multiple depletion
      methodologies to define both the spatial checkpoint and the identity of the cells
      that prevent systemic spread of VACV. Subcapsular sinus macrophages of the
      draining lymph node have been implicated as critical effectors in clearance of
      lymph borne viruses following peripheral infection. We find that monocyte
      populations recruited to the site of VACV infection play a critical role in
      control of local pathogenesis and tissue damage, but do not prevent dissemination
      of virus. Following infection with virulent VACV, the subcapsular sinus
      macrophages within the draining lymph node become infected, but are not
      exclusively required to prevent systemic spread. Rather, small doses of VACV
      enter the bloodstream and the function of systemic macrophages, but not dendritic
      cells, is required to prevent further spread. The results illustrate that a
      systemic innate response to a peripheral virus infection may be required to
      prevent widespread infection and pathology following infection with virulent
      viruses, such as poxviruses.

PMID- 28614385
TI  - Adaptive and non-adaptive models of depression: A comparison using register data
      on antidepressant medication during divorce.
AB  - Divorce is associated with an increased probability of a depressive episode, but
      the causation of events remains unclear. Adaptive models of depression propose
      that depression is a social strategy in part, whereas non-adaptive models tend to
      propose a diathesis-stress mechanism. We compare an adaptive evolutionary model
      of depression to three alternative non-adaptive models with respect to their
      ability to explain the temporal pattern of depression around the time of divorce.
      Register-based data (304,112 individuals drawn from a random sample of 11% of
      Finnish people) on antidepressant purchases is used as a proxy for depression.
      This proxy affords an unprecedented temporal resolution (a 3-monthly prevalence
      estimates over 10 years) without any bias from non-compliance, and it can be
      linked with underlying episodes via a statistical model. The evolutionary
      adaptation model (all time periods with risk of divorce are depressogenic) was
      the best quantitative description of the data. The non-adaptive stress-relief
      model (period before divorce is depressogenic and period afterwards is not)
      provided the second best quantitative description of the data. The peak-stress
      model (periods before and after divorce can be depressogenic) fit the data less
      well, and the stress-induction model (period following divorce is depressogenic
      and the preceding period is not) did not fit the data at all. The evolutionary
      model was the most detailed mechanistic description of the divorce-depression
      link among the models, and the best fit in terms of predicted curvature; thus, it
      offers most rigorous hypotheses for further study. The stress-relief model also
      fit very well and was the best model in a sensitivity analysis, encouraging
      development of more mechanistic models for that hypothesis.

PMID- 28614387
TI  - Global sensing of the antigenic structure of herpes simplex virus gD using high
      throughput array-based SPR imaging.
AB  - While HSV-2 typically causes genital lesions, HSV-1 is increasingly the cause of
      genital herpes. In addition, neonatal HSV infections are associated with a high
      rate of mortality and HSV-2 may increase the risk for HIV or Zika infections,
      reinforcing the need to develop an effective vaccine. In the GSK Herpevac trial,
      doubly sero-negative women were vaccinated with a truncated form of gD2
      [gD2(284t)], then examined for anti-gD serum titers and clinical manifestations
      of disease. Surprisingly, few vaccinees were protected against genital HSV-2 but
      86% were protected from genital HSV-1. These observations suggest that subtle
      differences in gD structure might influence a protective response. To better
      understand the antigenic structure of gD and how it impacts a protective
      response, we previously utilized several key anti-gD monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)
      to dissect epitopes in vaccinee sera. Several correlations were observed but the
      methodology limited the number of sera and mAbs that could be tested. Here, we
      used array-based surface plasmon imaging (SPRi) to simultaneously measure a
      larger number of protein-protein interactions. We carried out cross-competition
      or "epitope binning" studies with 39 anti-gD mAbs and four soluble forms of gD,
      including a form [gD2(285t)] that resembles the Herpevac antigen. The results
      from these experiments allowed us to organize the mAbs into four epitope
      communities. Notably, relationships within and between communities differed
      depending on the form of gD, and off-rate analysis suggested differences in mAb
      gD avidity depending on the gD serotype and length. Together, these results show
      that gD1 and gD2 differ in their structural topography. Consistent with the
      Herpevac results, several mAbs that bind both gD1 and gD2 neutralize only HSV-1.
      Thus, this technology provides new insights into the antigenic structure of gD
      and provides a rationale as to how vaccination with a gD2 subunit may lead to
      protection from HSV-1 infection.

PMID- 28614388
TI  - Osteoblast-specific overexpression of complement receptor C5aR1 impairs fracture
      healing.
AB  - The anaphylatoxin receptor C5aR1 plays an important role not only in innate
      immune responses, but also in bone metabolism and fracture healing, being highly
      expressed on immune and bone cells, including osteoblasts and osteoclasts. C5aR1
      induces osteoblast migration, cytokine generation and osteoclastogenesis,
      however, the exact role of C5aR1-mediated signaling in osteoblasts is not
      entirely known. Therefore, we hypothesized that osteoblasts are essential target
      cells for C5a and that fracture healing should be disturbed in mice with an
      osteoblast-specific C5aR1 overexpression (Col1a1-C5aR1). Osteoblast activity in
      vitro, bone phenotype and fracture healing after isolated osteotomy and after
      combined osteotomy with additional thoracic trauma were analyzed. The systemic
      and local inflammatory reactions were analyzed by determining C5a and IL-6
      concentrations in blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and fracture callus and the
      recruitment of immune cells. In vitro, osteoblast proliferation and
      differentiation were similar to wildtype cells, and phosphorylation of p38 and
      expression of IL-6 and RANKL were increased in osteoblasts derived from Col1a1
      C5aR1 mice. Bone phenotype and the inflammatory reaction were unaffected in
      Col1a1-C5aR1 mice. Fracture healing was significantly impaired as demonstrated by
      significantly reduced bone content, bone mineral density and flexural rigidity,
      possibly due to significantly increased osteoclast numbers. C5aR1 signaling in
      osteoblasts might possibly affect RANKL/OPG balance, leading to increased bone
      resorption. Additional trauma significantly impaired fracture healing,
      particularly in Col1a1-C5aR1 mice. In conclusion, the data indicate that C5aR1
      signaling in osteoblasts plays a detrimental role in bone regeneration after
      fracture.

PMID- 28614391
TI  - Correction: Maternal Haemoglobin and Short-Term Neonatal Outcome in Preterm
      Neonates.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089530.].

PMID- 28614389
TI  - Immunological dynamics associated with rapid virological response during the
      early phase of type I interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - Type I interferons (IFNs) play an important role in antiviral immunity as well as
      immunopathogenesis of diverse chronic viral infections. However, the precise
      mechanisms regulating the multifaceted effects of type I IFNs on the immune
      system and pathological inflammation still remain unclear. In order to assess the
      immunological dynamics associated with rapid viral clearance in chronic hepatitis
      C patients during the acute phase of type I IFN therapy, we analyzed multiple
      parameters of virological and immunological responses in a cohort of 59 Korean
      hepatitis C patients who received pegylated IFN-alpha and ribavirin (IFN/RBV).
      Most of the Korean patients had favorable alleles in the IFN-lambda loci for
      responsiveness to IFN/RBV (i.e., C/C in rs12979860, T/T in rs8099917, and TT/TT
      in rs368234815). Rapid virological response (RVR) was determined mainly by the
      hepatitis C virus genotype. Among the cytokines analyzed, higher plasma levels of
      IL-17A and FGF were observed in non-RVR patients infected with viral genotype 1
      and IP-10 was consistently elevated in RVR group infected with genotype 2 during
      the early phase of antiviral therapy. In addition, these three cytokines were
      correlated each other, suggesting a functional linkage of the cytokines in
      antiviral responses during IFN/RBV therapy. A low baseline frequencies of
      regulatory T cells and gammadelta T cells, but high level of group 2 innate
      lymphoid cells, in peripheral bloods were also significantly associated with the
      RVR group, implicating a potential role of the cellular immunity during the early
      phase of IFN/RBV therapy. Therefore, the immunological programs established by
      chronic hepatitis C and rapid disruption of the delicate balance by exogenous
      type I IFN might be associated with the subsequent virological outcomes in
      chronic hepatitis C patients.

PMID- 28614390
TI  - Fatty acid profiles of five farmed Brazilian freshwater fish species from
      different families.
AB  - The proximate composition and fatty acid (FA) profiles of five Brazilian
      freshwater fish species, namely Brycon cephalus (BC), Cichla ocellaris (CO),
      Prochilodus lineatus (PL), Leporinus friderici (LF) and Pseudoplatystoma
      corruscans (PCO), were investigated. CO and LF exhibited the highest (p < 0.05)
      moisture content, as well as one of the lowest (p < 0.05) lipid values, whereas
      BC presented the lowest (p < 0.05) moisture and, alongside PL, the highest (p <
      0.05) lipid content. The predominant FAs in the evaluated fish species were
      palmitic, oleic, linoleic and docosahexaenoic acids. BC and CO presented high n-3
      PUFA content, especially DHA, and demonstrated superior nutritional quality
      indices compared to the other evaluated fish species. Furthermore, a significant
      relationship was observed among these species, suggesting they possess similar
      nutritional lipid values. Thus, BC and CO were proven to be an excellent matrix
      with relevant lipid quality, desirable for human health.

PMID- 28614392
TI  - Psychometric validation of the household food insecurity access scale among Inuit
      pregnant women from Northern Quebec.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Globally, food insecurity is a major public health concern. In North
      America, it is particularly prevalent in certain sub-groups, including Indigenous
      communities. Although many Indigenous and remote communities harvest and share
      food, most food security assessment tools focus on economic access. This study
      describes the psychometric evaluation of a modified Household Food Insecurity
      Access Scale (HFIAS), developed for mixed economies, to assess food insecurity
      among pregnant Inuit women. METHODS: The HFIAS was administered to 130 pregnant
      women in Nunavik (Arctic region of Quebec), Canada. Data were fit to a Rasch
      Rating Scale Model (RSM) to determine the discrimination ability of the HFIAS.
      Person parameter (Theta) estimates were calculated based on the RSM to provide a
      more accurate scoring system of the modified HFIAS for this population. Theta
      values were compared to known correlates of food insecurity. RESULTS: Comparative
      fit indices showed preference for a modified version of the HFIAS over the
      original. Theta values displayed a continuum of severity estimates and those
      values indicating greater food insecurity were consistently linked to known
      correlates of food insecurity. Participants living in households with more than 1
      hunter (Theta = -.45) or more than 1 fisher (Theta = -.43) experienced less food
      insecurity than those with no hunters (Theta = .48) or fishers (Theta = .49) in
      their household. The RSM indicated the scale showed good discriminatory ability.
      Subsequent analyses indicated that most scale items pertain to the classification
      of a household as moderately food insecure. CONCLUSIONS: The modified HFIAS shows
      potential for measuring food insecurity among pregnant women in Nunavik. This is
      an efficient instrument that can inform interventions targeting health conditions
      impacting groups that obtain food through both monetary and non-monetary means.

PMID- 28614393
TI  - Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) transcription factor family expansion,
      diversification, divergence and selection in eukaryotes.
AB  - Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) transcription factors are crucial for regulating a
      variety of cellular activities in response to oxygen stress (hypoxia). In this
      study, we determine the evolutionary history of HIF genes and their associated
      transactivation domains, as well as perform selection and functional divergence
      analyses across their four characteristic domains. Here we show that the HIF
      genes are restricted to metazoans: At least one HIF-alpha homolog is found within
      the genomes of non-bilaterians and bilaterian invertebrates, while most
      vertebrate genomes contain between two and six HIF-alpha genes. We also find
      widespread purifying selection across all four characteristic domain types, bHLH,
      PAS, NTAD, CTAD, in HIF-alpha genes, and evidence for Type I functional
      divergence between HIF-1alpha, HIF-2alpha /EPAS, and invertebrate HIF genes.
      Overall, we describe the evolutionary histories of the HIF transcription factor
      gene family and its associated transactivation domains in eukaryotes. We show
      that the NTAD and CTAD domains appear de novo, without any appearance outside of
      the HIF-alpha subunits. Although they both appear in invertebrates as well as
      vertebrate HIF- alpha sequences, there seems to have been a substantial loss
      across invertebrates or were convergently acquired in these few lineages. We
      reaffirm that HIF-1alpha is phylogenetically conserved among most metazoans,
      whereas HIF-2alpha appeared later. Overall, our findings can be attributed to the
      substantial integration of this transcription factor family into the critical
      tasks associated with maintenance of oxygen homeostasis and vascularization,
      particularly in the vertebrate lineage.

PMID- 28614394
TI  - First report of naturally infected Aedes aegypti with chikungunya virus genotype
      ECSA in the Americas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The worldwide expansion of new emergent arboviruses such as
      Chikungunya and Zika reinforces the importance in understanding the role of
      mosquito species in spreading these pathogens in affected regions. This knowledge
      is essential for developing effective programs based on species specificity to
      avoid the establishment of endemic transmission cycles sustained by the
      identified local vectors. Although the first autochthonous transmission of
      Chikungunya virus was described in 2014 in the north of Brazil, the main
      outbreaks were reported in 2015 and 2016 in the northeast of Brazil.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: During 5 days of February 2016, we collected
      mosquitoes in homes of 6 neighborhoods of Aracaju city, the capital of Sergipe
      state. Four mosquito species were identified but Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes
      aegypti were the most abundant. Field-caught mosquitoes were tested for
      Chikungunya (CHIKV), Zika (ZIKV) and Dengue viruses (DENV) by qRT-PCR and one
      CHIKV-infected Ae. aegypti female was detected. The complete sequence of CHIKV
      genome was obtained from this sample and phylogenetic analysis revealed that this
      isolate belongs to the East-Central-South-African (ECSA) genotype. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our study describes the first identification of a naturally CHIKV-infected Ae.
      aegypti in Brazil and the first report of a CHIKV from ECSA genotype identified
      in this species in the Americas. These findings support the notion of Ae. aegypti
      being a vector involved in CHIKV outbreaks in northeast of Brazil.

PMID- 28614395
TI  - EEG-based motor network biomarkers for identifying target patients with stroke
      for upper limb rehabilitation and its construct validity.
AB  - Rehabilitation is the main therapeutic approach for reducing poststroke
      functional deficits in the affected upper limb; however, significant between
      patient variability in rehabilitation efficacy indicates the need to target
      patients who are likely to have clinically significant improvement after
      treatment. Many studies have determined robust predictors of recovery and
      treatment gains and yielded many great results using linear approachs. Evidence
      has emerged that the nonlinearity is a crucial aspect to study the inter-areal
      communication in human brains and abnormality of oscillatory activities in the
      motor system is linked to the pathological states. In this study, we hypothesized
      that combinations of linear and nonlinear (cross-frequency) network connectivity
      parameters are favourable biomarkers for stratifying patients for upper limb
      rehabilitation with increased accuracy. We identified the biomarkers by using 37
      prerehabilitation electroencephalogram (EEG) datasets during a movement task
      through effective connectivity and logistic regression analyses. The predictive
      power of these biomarkers was then tested by using 16 independent datasets (i.e.
      construct validation). In addition, 14 right handed healthy subjects were also
      enrolled for comparisons. The result shows that the beta plus gamma or theta
      network features provided the best classification accuracy of 92%. The predictive
      value and the sensitivity of these biomarkers were 81.3% and 90.9%, respectively.
      Subcortical lesion, the time poststroke and initial Wolf Motor Function Test
      (WMFT) score were identified as the most significant clinical variables affecting
      the classification accuracy of this predictive model. Moreover, 12 of 14 normal
      controls were classified as having favourable recovery. In conclusion, EEG-based
      linear and nonlinear motor network biomarkers are robust and can help clinical
      decision making.

PMID- 28614396
TI  - Bioinformatic training needs at a health sciences campus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health sciences research is increasingly focusing on big data
      applications, such as genomic technologies and precision medicine, to address key
      issues in human health. These approaches rely on biological data repositories and
      bioinformatic analyses, both of which are growing rapidly in size and scope.
      Libraries play a key role in supporting researchers in navigating these and other
      information resources. METHODS: With the goal of supporting bioinformatics
      research in the health sciences, the University of Arizona Health Sciences
      Library established a Bioinformation program. To shape the support provided by
      the library, I developed and administered a needs assessment survey to the
      University of Arizona Health Sciences campus in Tucson, Arizona. The survey was
      designed to identify the training topics of interest to health sciences
      researchers and the preferred modes of training. RESULTS: Survey respondents
      expressed an interest in a broad array of potential training topics, including
      "traditional" information seeking as well as interest in analytical training. Of
      particular interest were training in transcriptomic tools and the use of
      databases linking genotypes and phenotypes. Staff were most interested in
      bioinformatics training topics, while faculty were the least interested. Hands-on
      workshops were significantly preferred over any other mode of training. The
      University of Arizona Health Sciences Library is meeting those needs through
      internal programming and external partnerships. CONCLUSION: The results of the
      survey demonstrate a keen interest in a variety of bioinformatic resources; the
      challenge to the library is how to address those training needs. The mode of
      support depends largely on library staff expertise in the numerous subject
      specific databases and tools. Librarian-led bioinformatic training sessions
      provide opportunities for engagement with researchers at multiple points of the
      research life cycle. When training needs exceed library capacity, partnering with
      intramural and extramural units will be crucial in library support of health
      sciences bioinformatic research.

PMID- 28614397
TI  - What was the population of Great Zimbabwe (CE1000 - 1800)?
AB  - The World Heritage Site of Great Zimbabwe is one of the most iconic and largest
      archaeological settlements in Africa. It was the hub of direct and indirect trade
      which internally connected various areas of southern Africa, and externally
      linked them with East Africa and the Near and Far East. Archaeologists believe
      that at its peak, Great Zimbabwe had a fully urban population of 20,000 people
      concentrated in approximately 2.9 square kilometres (40 percent of 720 ha). This
      translates to a population density of 6,897, which is comparable with that of
      some of the most populous regions of the world in the 21st century. Here, we
      combine archaeological, ethnographic and historical evidence with ecological and
      statistical modelling to demonstrate that the total population estimate for the
      site's nearly 800-year occupational duration (CE1000-1800), after factoring in
      generational succession, is unlikely to have exceeded 10,000 people. This
      conclusion is strongly firmed up by the absence of megamiddens at the site, the
      chronological differences between several key areas of the settlement
      traditionally assumed to be coeval, and the historically documented low
      populations recorded for the sub-continent between CE1600 and 1950.

PMID- 28614398
TI  - 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine in the medial prefrontal cortex regulates alcohol-related
      behavior and Ntf3-TrkC expression in rats.
AB  - Recent studies have indicated that DNA methylation plays an important role in the
      development of alcohol abuse. 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dc), an inhibitor of
      DNA methyltransferases, was FDA approved for myelodysplastic syndrome treatment.
      However, it is unclear whether 5-Aza-dc is involved in alcohol abuse. In this
      study, using a chronic alcohol exposure model in rats, 5-Aza-dc was injected into
      the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Alcohol-drinking behavior and the anxiety
      related behavior were evaluated by two-bottle choice and open field test. We
      found that 5-Aza-dc injection into the mPFC significantly decreased alcohol
      consumption and alcohol preference in alcohol-exposure rats, corresponding to the
      reduced blood alcohol levels. Although 5-Aza-dc potentiated the anxiety-like
      behavior of alcohol-exposure rats, it had no effect on the locomotor activity.
      Moreover, both of the mRNA and protein levels of DNA Methyltransferase 3A
      (DNMT3A) and DNMT3B in the mPFC were upregulated after 35 days of alcohol
      exposure and this upregulation could be reversed by 5-Aza-dc treatment.
      Additionally, 5-Aza-dc reversed the alcohol-induced downregulation of
      neurotrophin-3 (Ntf3), correspondingly the expression of its receptor-TrkC was
      reduced. These findings identified a functional role of 5-Aza-dc in alcohol
      related behavioral phenotypes and one of the potential target genes, Ntf3. We
      also provide novel evidence for DNA methyltransferases as potential therapeutic
      targets in alcohol abuse.

PMID- 28614400
TI  - Emphysema in active farmer's lung disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Farmer's lung (FL) is a common type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
      It is often considered that fibrosis is the most frequent finding in chronic FL.
      Nevertheless, three cohort studies have suggested that some patients with chronic
      FL may develop emphysema. We aimed to evaluate the current prevalence of
      emphysema in active FL, to describe the radiological and functional features of
      emphysema in active FL, and to identify risk factors associated with emphysema in
      this population. METHODS: Patients aged over 18 years with active FL were
      prospectively recruited through the SOPHIA study (CPP Est; P-2009-521), between
      2007 and 2015. Each patient had complete medical history screening, clinical
      examination, high resolution computed tomodensitometry, bronchoalveolar lavage,
      pulmonary function tests and serum precipitins. RESULTS: Among 33 patients with
      active FL, the prevalence of emphysema in this series of incident active FL cases
      was higher (48.5%) than that of fibrosis (12%) and was not dependent on smoking
      habits. Most patients with emphysema did not have lung hyperinflation. The
      possible risk factors for emphysema in active FL were a longer duration of
      exposure to organic dusts, and at a higher level. CONCLUSION: Emphysema is found
      in half of patients with active FL and may be influenced by exposure patterns.

PMID- 28614399
TI  - The effects of high-frequency rTMS over the left DLPFC on cognitive control in
      young healthy participants.
AB  - A large body of evidence suggests that repetitive transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (rTMS) is clinically effective in treating neuropsychiatric disorders
      and multiple sessions are commonly used. However, it is unknown whether multiple
      sessions of rTMS improve cognitive control, which is a function of the neural
      circuitry of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)-cingulate cortex in
      healthy individuals. In addition, it is still unclear which stages of neural
      processing are altered by rTMS. In this study, we investigated the effects of
      high-frequency rTMS on cognitive control and explored the time course changes of
      cognitive processing after rTMS using event-related potentials (ERPs). For seven
      consecutive days, 25 young healthy participants underwent one 10-Hz rTMS session
      per day in which stimulation was applied over the left DLPFC, and a homogeneous
      participant group of 25 individuals received a sham rTMS treatment. A Stroop task
      was performed, and an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. The results
      revealed that multiple sessions of rTMS can decrease reaction time (RTs) under
      both congruent and incongruent conditions and also increased the amplitudes of
      both N2 and N450 compared with sham rTMS. The negative correlations between the
      mean amplitudes of both N2 and N450 and the RTs were found, however, the latter
      correlation were restricted to incongruent trials and the correlation was
      enhanced significantly by rTMS. This observation supports the view that high
      frequency rTMS over the left DLPFC can not only recruit more neural resources
      from the prefrontal cortex by inducing an electrophysiologically excitatory
      effect but also enhance efficiency of resources to deploy for conflict resolution
      during multiple stages of cognitive control processing in healthy young people.

PMID- 28614402
TI  - Providing researchers with online access to NHLBI biospecimen collections: The
      results of the first six years of the NHLBI BioLINCC program.
AB  - The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), within the United States'
      National Institutes of Health (NIH), established the Biologic Specimen and Data
      Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) in 2008 to develop the
      infrastructure needed to link the contents of the NHLBI Biorepository and the
      NHLBI Data Repository, and to promote the utilization of these scientific
      resources by the broader research community. Program utilization metrics were
      developed to measure the impact of BioLINCC on Biorepository access by
      researchers, including visibility, program efficiency, user characteristics,
      scientific impact, and research types. Input data elements were defined and are
      continually populated as requests move through the process of initiation through
      fulfillment and publication. This paper reviews the elements of the tracking
      metrics which were developed for BioLINCC and reports the results for the first
      six on-line years of the program.

PMID- 28614401
TI  - Hepatitis B testing and treatment in HIV patients in The Gambia-Compliance with
      international guidelines and clinical outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compliance with WHO guidelines on HBV screening and treatment in HIV
      coinfected patients is often challenging in resource limited countries and has
      been poorly assessed in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Between 2015 and 2016, we
      assessed physician's compliance with WHO guidelines on HIV-HBV coinfection in the
      largest HIV clinic in The Gambia, and the hepatic outcomes in HIV-HBV coinfected
      patients as compared to randomly selected HIV-monoinfected controls. RESULTS: 870
      HIV-infected patients regularly seen in this clinic agreed to participate in our
      study. Only 187 (21.5%, 95% CI 18.8-24.3) had previously been screened for HBsAg,
      23 (12.3%, 95% CI 8.0-17.9) were positive of whom none had liver assessment and
      only 6 (26.1%) had received Tenofovir. Our HBV testing intervention was accepted
      by all participants and found 94/870 (10.8%, 95% CI 8.8-13.1) positive, 78 of
      whom underwent full liver assessment along with 40 HBsAg-negative controls. At
      the time of liver assessment, 61/78 (78.2%) HIV-HBV coinfected patients received
      ART with 7 (11.5%) on Tenofovir and 54 (88.5%) on Lamivudine alone. HIV-HBV
      coinfected patients had higher APRI score compared to controls (0.58 vs 0.42, p =
      0.002). HBV DNA was detectable in 52/53 (98.1%) coinfected patients with 14/53
      (26.4%) having HBV DNA >20,000 IU/L. 10/12 (83.3%) had at least one detectable
      3TC-associated HBV resistance, which tended to be associated with increase in
      liver fibrosis after adjusting for age and sex (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Compliance with HBV testing and treatment guidelines is poor in this Gambian HIV
      programme putting coinfected patients at risk of liver complications. However,
      the excellent uptake of HBV screening and linkage to care in our study suggests
      feasible improvements.

PMID- 28614403
TI  - Changes in arm-hand function and arm-hand skill performance in patients after
      stroke during and after rehabilitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arm-hand rehabilitation programs applied in stroke rehabilitation
      frequently target specific populations and thus are less applicable in
      heterogeneous patient populations. Besides, changes in arm-hand function (AHF)
      and arm-hand skill performance (AHSP) during and after a specific and well
      described rehabilitation treatment are often not well evaluated. METHOD: This
      single-armed prospective cohort study featured three subgroups of stroke patients
      with either a severely, moderately or mildly impaired AHF. Rehabilitation
      treatment consisted of a Concise_Arm_and_hand_ Rehabilitation_Approach_in_Stroke
      (CARAS). Measurements at function and activity level were performed at admission,
      clinical discharge, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after clinical discharge. RESULTS:
      Eighty-nine stroke patients (M/F:63/23; mean age:57.6yr (+/-10.6); post-stroke
      time:29.8 days (+/-20.1)) participated. All patients improved on AHF and arm-hand
      capacity during and after rehabilitation, except on grip strength in the severely
      affected subgroup. Largest gains occurred in patients with a moderately affected
      AHF. As to self-perceived AHSP, on average, all subgroups improved over time. A
      small percentage of patients declined regarding self-perceived AHSP post
      rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of stroke patients across the whole arm
      hand impairment severity spectrum significantly improved on AHF, arm-hand
      capacity and self-perceived AHSP. These were maintained up to one year post
      rehabilitation. Results may serve as a control condition in future studies.

PMID- 28614404
TI  - Treatment continuation of four long-acting antipsychotic medications in the
      Netherlands and Belgium: A retrospective database study.
AB  - Achieving greater continuation of treatment is a key element to improve treatment
      outcomes in schizophrenia patients. However, reported treatment continuation can
      differ markedly depending on the study design. In a retrospective setting,
      treatment continuation remains overall poor among patients using antipsychotics.
      This study aimed to document the difference in treatment continuation between
      four long-acting injectable antipsychotics based on the QuintilesIMS LRx
      databases, national, longitudinal, panel based prescription databases of retail
      pharmacies, in the Netherlands and Belgium. Paliperidone palmitate once monthly,
      risperidone microspheres, haloperidol decanoate, and olanzapine pamoate were
      studied. This study demonstrated significantly higher treatment continuation of
      paliperidone palmitate once monthly compared to risperidone microspheres (p
      value<0,01) and haloperidol decanoate (p-value<0,01) in both countries, a
      significantly higher treatment continuation of paliperidone palmitate once
      monthly compared to olanzapine pamoate in the Netherlands (p-value<0,01), and a
      general trend towards better treatment continuation versus olanzapine pamoate in
      Belgium. Analysing the subgroup of patients without previous exposure to long
      acting antipsychotic treatment revealed the positive impact of previous exposure
      on treatment continuation with a subsequent long acting treatment. Additionally,
      the probability of restarting the index therapy was higher among patients treated
      with paliperidone palmitate once monthly compared to patients treated with
      risperidone microspheres and haloperidol decanoate. The data source used and the
      methodology defined ensured for the first time a comparison of treatment
      continuation in a non-interventional study design for the four long-acting
      injectable antipsychotics studied.

PMID- 28614405
TI  - Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of thyroid cancer: A population-based temporal
      trend study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increase in incidence of thyroid cancer during the last decades
      without concomitant rise in mortality may reflect the growing detection of
      indolent forms of thyroid cancer, and may have fueled unnecessary
      thyroidectomies. Our aim was therefore, to compare recent secular trends in
      surgical intervention rate for thyroid cancer with the incidence and mortality of
      thyroid cancer to assess overdiagnosis and resulting overtreatment. METHODS: We
      conducted a population-based temporal trend study in Switzerland from 1998 to
      2012. All cases of invasive thyroid cancer, deaths from thyroid cancer, and
      cancer-related thyroidectomies were analyzed. We calculated changes in age
      standardized thyroid cancer incidence rates, stratified by histologic subtype and
      tumor stage, thyroid cancer-specific mortality, and thyroidectomy rates. RESULTS:
      Between 1998 and 2012, the age-standardized annual incidence of thyroid cancer
      increased from 5.9 to 11.7 cases/100,000 among women (annual mean absolute
      increase: +0.43/100,000/year) and from 2.7 to 3.9 cases/100,000 among men
      (+0.11/100,000/year). The increase was limited to the papillary subtype, the most
      indolent form of thyroid cancer. The incidence of early stages increased sharply,
      the incidence of advanced stages increased marginally, and the mortality from
      thyroid cancer decreased slightly. There was a three- to four-fold increase in
      the age-standardized annual thyroidectomy rate in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: We
      observed a large increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer, limited to
      papillary and early stage tumors, with a three- to four-fold parallel increase in
      thyroidectomy. The mortality slightly decreased. These findings suggest that a
      substantial and growing part of the detected thyroid cancers are overdiagnosed
      and overtreated. IMPACT: Targeted screening and diagnostic strategies are
      warranted to avoid overdetection and unnecessary treatment of thyroid cancers.

PMID- 28614406
TI  - Learning from the mistakes of others: How female elk (Cervus elaphus) adjust
      behaviour with age to avoid hunters.
AB  - In animal behaviour, there is a dichotomy between innate behaviours (e.g.,
      temperament or personality traits) versus those behaviours shaped by learning.
      Innate personality traits are supposedly less evident in animals when confounded
      by learning acquired with experience through time. Learning might play a key role
      in the development and adoption of successful anti-predator strategies, and the
      related adaptation has the potential to make animals that are more experienced
      less vulnerable to predation. We carried out a study in a system involving a
      large herbivorous mammal, female elk, Cervus elaphus, and their primary predator,
      i.e., human hunters. Using fine-scale satellite telemetry relocations, we tested
      whether differences in behaviour depending on age were due solely to selection
      pressure imposed by human hunters, meaning that females that were more cautious
      were more likely to survive and become older. Or whether learning also was
      involved, meaning that females adjusted their behaviour as they aged. Our results
      indicated that both human selection and learning contributed to the adoption of
      more cautious behavioural strategies in older females. Whereas human selection of
      behavioural traits has been shown in our previous research, we here provide
      evidence of additive learning processes being responsible for shaping the
      behaviour of individuals in this population. Female elk are indeed almost
      invulnerable to human hunters when older than 9-10 y.o., confirming that
      experience contributes to their survival. Female elk monitored in our study
      showed individually changing behaviours and clear adaptation as they aged, such
      as reduced movement rates (decreased likelihood of encountering human hunters),
      and increased use of secure areas (forest and steeper terrain), especially when
      close to roads. We also found that elk adjusted behaviours depending on the type
      of threat (bow and arrow vs. rifle hunters). This fine-tuning by elk to avoid
      hunters, rather than just becoming more cautious during the hunting season,
      highlights the behavioural plasticity of this species. Selection on behavioural
      traits and/or behavioural shifts via learning are an important but often-ignored
      consequence of human exploitation of wild animals. Such information is a critical
      component of the effects of human exploitation of wildlife populations with
      implications for improving their management and conservation.

PMID- 28614407
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterization of microRNAs differentially
      expressed in fibers in a cotton phytochrome A1 RNAi line.
AB  - Cotton fiber is an important commodity throughout the world. Fiber property
      determines fiber quality and commercial values. Previous studies showed that
      silencing phytochrome A1 gene (PHYA1) by RNA interference in Upland cotton
      (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Coker 312) had generated PHYA1 RNAi lines with
      simultaneous improvements in fiber quality (longer, stronger and finer fiber) and
      other key agronomic traits. Characterization of the altered molecular processes
      in these RNAi genotypes and its wild-type controls is a great interest to better
      understand the PHYA1 RNAi phenotypes. In this study, a total of 77 conserved
      miRNAs belonging to 61 families were examined in a PHYA1 RNAi line and its
      parental Coker 312 genotype by using multiplex sequencing. Of these miRNAs, seven
      (miR7503, miR7514, miR399c, miR399d, miR160, miR169b, and miR2950) were found to
      be differentially expressed in PHYA1 RNAi cotton. The target genes of these
      differentially expressed miRNAs were involved in the metabolism and signaling
      pathways of phytohormones, which included Gibberellin, Auxin and Abscisic Acid.
      The expression of several MYB transcription factors was also affected by miRNAs
      in RNAi cotton. In addition, 35 novel miRNAs (novel miR1-novel miR35) were
      identified in fibers for the first time in this study. Target genes of vast
      majority of these novel miRNAs were also predicted. Of these, nine novel miRNAs
      (novel-miR1, 2, 16, 19, 26, 27, 28, 31 and 32) were targeted to cytochrome P450
      like TATA box binding protein (TBP). The qRT-PCR confirmed expression levels of
      several differentially regulated miRNAs. Expression patterns of four miRNAs
      targets pairs were also examined via RNA deep sequencing. Together, the results
      imply that the regulation of miRNA expression might confer to the phenotype of
      the PHYA1 RNAi line(s) with improved fiber quality.

PMID- 28614409
TI  - Environmental control of asexual reproduction and somatic growth of Aurelia spp.
      (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) polyps from the Adriatic Sea.
AB  - Polyps of two moon jellyfish species, Aurelia coerulea and A. relicta, from two
      Adriatic Sea coastal habitats were incubated under multiple combinations of
      temperature (14, 21 degrees C), salinity (24, 37 ppt) and food regime (9.3, 18.6,
      27.9 MUg C ind-1 week-1) to comparatively assess how these factors may influence
      major asexual reproduction processes in the two species. Both species exhibited a
      shared pattern of budding mode (Directly Budded Polyps: DBP; Stolonal Budded
      Polyps: SBP), with DBP favoured under low food supply (9.3 MUg C ind -1 week-1)
      and low temperature (14 degrees C), and SBP dominant under high temperature (21
      degrees C). However, A. coerulea showed an overall higher productivity than A.
      relicta, in terms of budding and podocyst production rates. Further, A. coerulea
      exhibited a wide physiological plasticity across different temperatures and
      salinities as typical adaptation to ecological features of transitional coastal
      habitats. This may support the hypothesis that the invasion of A. coerulea across
      coastal habitats worldwide has been driven by shellfish aquaculture, with
      scyphistoma polyps and resting stages commonly found on bivalve shells. On the
      contrary, A. relicta appears to be strongly stenovalent, with cold, marine
      environmental optimal preferences (salinity 37 ppt, T ranging 14-19 degrees C),
      corroborating the hypothesis of endemicity within the highly peculiar habitat of
      the Mljet lake. By exposing A. relicta polyps to slightly higher temperature (21
      degrees C), a previously unknown developmental mode was observed, by the sessile
      polyp regressing into a dispersive, temporarily unattached and tentacle-less, non
      feeding stage. This may allow A. relicta polyps to escape climatic anomalies
      associated to warming of surface layers and deepening of isotherms, by moving
      into deeper, colder layers. Overall, investigations on species-specific eco
      physiological and ontogenetic potentials of polyp stages may contribute to
      clarify the biogeographic distribution of jellyfish and the phylogenetic
      relationships among evolutionary related sister clades.

PMID- 28614408
TI  - Schistosoma japonicum infection downregulates house dust mite-induced allergic
      airway inflammation in mice.
AB  - The "hygiene hypothesis" is a theory try to explain the dramatic increases in the
      prevalence of autoimmune and allergic diseases over the past two to three decades
      in developed countries. According to this theory, reduced exposure to parasites
      and microorganisms in childhood is the main cause for the increased incidences of
      both T helper 1 (Th1)-mediated autoimmunity and Th2-mediated allergy. In this
      study, we investigated the impact of Schistosoma japonicum infection on the
      allergic airway inflammation induced by repeated intracheal inoculations of house
      dust mites (HDM), which is a Th17 and neutrophils dominant murine asthma model,
      mimicking severe asthma. We found that S. japonicum infection downregulated
      airway hyperresponsiveness. The infiltrating cells, Th17 and Th2 effector
      cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids and lungs were significantly
      reduced in the infected mice. Our findings indicated that S. japonicum infection
      was able to effectively inhibit host's allergic airway inflammation, which may be
      related to the upregulated Treg cells upon infection. To our knowledge, it is the
      first study to reveal the impact of S. japonicum infection on house dust mite
      induced severe asthma. More in depth investigation is need to elucidate the
      underlying mechanisms.

PMID- 28614410
TI  - Model-based optimization approaches for precision medicine: A case study in
      presynaptic dopamine overactivity.
AB  - Precision medicine considers an individual's unique physiological characteristics
      as strongly influential in disease vulnerability and in response to specific
      therapies. Predicting an individual's susceptibility to developing an illness,
      making an accurate diagnosis, maximizing therapeutic effects, and minimizing
      adverse effects for treatment are essential in precision medicine. We introduced
      model-based precision medicine optimization approaches, including pathogenesis,
      biomarker detection, and drug target discovery, for treating presynaptic dopamine
      overactivity. Three classes of one-hit and two-hit enzyme defects were detected
      as the causes of disease states by the optimization approach of pathogenesis. The
      cluster analysis and support vector machine was used to detect optimal biomarkers
      in order to discriminate the accurate etiology from three classes of disease
      states. Finally, the fuzzy decision-making method was employed to discover common
      and specific drug targets for each classified disease state. We observed that
      more accurate diagnoses achieved higher satisfaction grades and dosed fewer
      enzyme targets to treat the disease. Furthermore, satisfaction grades for common
      drugs were lower than for specific ones, but common drugs could simultaneously
      treat several disease states that had different etiologies.

PMID- 28614411
TI  - Focal induction of ROS-release to trigger local vascular degeneration.
AB  - : Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in the process of
      cardiovascular degeneration. We evaluated the potential of a controlled, local
      induction of ROS-release by application of rose bengal (RB) and photo energy to
      induce atherosclerosis-like focal vascular degeneration in vivo. After injection
      of RB, rats fed with a pro-degenerative diet underwent focal irradiation of the
      abdominal aorta by a green laser (ROS group), while the controls received
      irradiation without RB. Aortic tissue was analyzed by histology and
      immunohistochemistry at 0, 2, 4, 8, 28 and 56 days (n = 5). The intimal surface
      topography was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. In the ROS group, an
      initial thrombus formation had disappeared by day 8. Similarly, ROS-derived
      products displayed the highest concentrations at day 0. Relative matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP) activity achieved a maximum after 8 days (ROS group vs.
      CONTROL GROUP: 1.60 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.98 +/- 0.01; p < 0.001). After 28 days, no
      significant differences in any aspect were found between the ROS group and the
      controls. However, after 56 days, the aortic tissue of ROS animals exhibited
      relative media-pronounced thickening (ROS vs. CONTROL: 2.15 +/- 0.19 vs. 0.87 +/-
      0.10; p < 0.001) with focal calcification and reduced expression of alpha smooth
      muscle actin (aSMA). The ROS-releasing application of RB and photo energy allowed
      for the induction of vascular degeneration in a rodent model. This protocol may
      be used for the focal induction of vascular disease without systemic side effects
      and can thereby elucidate the role of ROS in the multifactorial processes of
      vessel degeneration and atherogenesis.

PMID- 28614412
TI  - Differential effects of Losartan and Atorvastatin in partial and full thickness
      burn wounds.
AB  - Healing of burn wounds is often associated with scar formation due to excessive
      inflammation and delayed wound closure. To date, no effective treatment is
      available to prevent the fibrotic process. The Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) was
      shown to be involved in fibrosis in various organs. Statins (e.g. Atorvastatin),
      Angiotensin receptor antagonists (e.g. Losartan) and the combination of these
      drugs are able to reduce the local RAS activation, and reduced fibrosis in other
      organs. We investigated whether inhibition of the RAS could improve healing of
      burn wounds by treatment with Atorvastatin, Losartan or the combination of both
      drugs. Therefore, full and partial thickness burn wounds were inflicted on both
      flanks of Yorkshire pigs. Oral administration of Atorvastatin, Losartan or the
      combination was started at post-burn day 1 and continued for 28 days. Full
      thickness wounds were excised and transplanted with an autologous meshed split
      thickness skin graft at post-burn day 14. Partial thickness wounds received
      conservative treatment. Atorvastatin treatment resulted in enhanced graft take
      and wound closure of the full thickness wounds, faster resolution of neutrophils
      compared to all treatments and reduced alpha-smooth muscle actin positive cells
      compared to control treatment. Treatment with Losartan and to a lesser extent the
      combination therapy resulted in diminished graft take, increased wound
      contraction and poorer scar outcome. In contrast, Losartan treatment in partial
      thickness wounds decreased the alpha-smooth muscle actin+ fibroblasts and
      contraction. In conclusion, we showed differential effects of Losartan and
      Atorvastatin in full and partial thickness wounds. The extensive graft loss seen
      in Losartan treated wounds is most likely responsible for the poor clinical
      outcome of these full thickness burn wounds. Therefore, Losartan treatment should
      not be started before transplantation in order to prevent graft loss.
      Atorvastatin seems to accelerate the healing process in full thickness wounds
      possibly by dampening the pro-inflammatory response.

PMID- 28614413
TI  - Perceived differences in social status between speaker and listener affect the
      speaker's vocal characteristics.
AB  - Non-verbal behaviours, including voice characteristics during speech, are an
      important way to communicate social status. Research suggests that individuals
      can obtain high social status through dominance (using force and intimidation) or
      through prestige (by being knowledgeable and skilful). However, little is known
      regarding differences in the vocal behaviour of men and women in response to
      dominant and prestigious individuals. Here, we tested within-subject differences
      in vocal parameters of interviewees during simulated job interviews with
      dominant, prestigious, and neutral employers (targets), while responding to
      questions which were classified as introductory, personal, and interpersonal. We
      found that vocal modulations were apparent between responses to the neutral and
      high-status targets, with participants, especially those who perceived themselves
      as low in dominance, increasing fundamental frequency (F0) in response to the
      dominant and prestigious targets relative to the neutral target. Self-perceived
      prestige, however, was less related to contextual vocal modulations than self
      perceived dominance. Finally, we found that differences in the context of the
      interview questions participants were asked to respond to (introductory,
      personal, interpersonal), also affected their vocal parameters, being more
      prominent in responses to personal and interpersonal questions. Overall, our
      results suggest that people adjust their vocal parameters according to the
      perceived social status of the listener as well as their own self-perceived
      social status.

PMID- 28614414
TI  - Species-specific variation in nesting and postfledging resource selection for two
      forest breeding migrant songbirds.
AB  - Habitat selection is a fundamental component of community ecology, population
      ecology, and evolutionary biology and can be especially important to species with
      complex annual habitat requirements, such as migratory birds. Resource
      preferences on the breeding grounds may change during the postfledging period for
      migrant songbirds, however, the degree to which selection changes, timing of
      change, and whether all or only a few species alter their resource use is
      unclear. We compared resource selection for nest sites and resource selection by
      postfledging juvenile ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) and Acadian flycatchers
      (Empidonax virescens) followed with radio telemetry in Missouri mature forest
      fragments from 2012-2015. We used Bayesian discrete choice modeling to evaluate
      support for local vegetation characteristics on the probability of selection for
      nest sites and locations utilized by different ages of postfledging juveniles.
      Patterns of resource selection variation were species-specific. Resource
      selection models indicated that Acadian flycatcher habitat selection criteria
      were similar for nesting and dependent postfledging juveniles and selection
      criteria diverged when juveniles became independent from adults. After
      independence, flycatcher resource selection was more associated with understory
      foliage density. Ovenbirds differed in selection criteria between the nesting and
      postfledging periods. Fledgling ovenbirds selected areas with higher densities of
      understory structure compared to nest sites, and the effect of foliage density on
      selection increased as juveniles aged and gained independence. The differences
      observed between two sympatric forest nesting species, in both the timing and
      degree of change in resource selection criteria over the course of the breeding
      season, illustrates the importance of considering species-specific traits and
      postfledging requirements when developing conservation efforts, especially when
      foraging guilds or prey bases differ. We recommend that postfledging habitat
      selection be considered in future conservation efforts dealing with Neotropical
      migrants and other forest breeding songbirds.

PMID- 28614416
TI  - Multispectral imaging reveals biblical-period inscription unnoticed for half a
      century.
AB  - Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca-ink-on-clay texts.
      They are poorly preserved and once unearthed, fade rapidly. Therefore, proper and
      timely documentation of ostraca is essential. Here we show a striking example of
      a hitherto invisible text on the back side of an ostracon revealed via
      multispectral imaging. This ostracon, found at the desert fortress of Arad and
      dated to ca. 600 BCE (the eve of Judah's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar), has been
      on display for half a century. Its front side has been thoroughly studied, while
      its back side was considered blank. Our research revealed three lines of text on
      the supposedly blank side and four "new" lines on the front side. Our results
      demonstrate the need for multispectral image acquisition for both sides of all
      ancient ink ostraca. Moreover, in certain cases we recommend employing
      multispectral techniques for screening newly unearthed ceramic potsherds prior to
      disposal.

PMID- 28614415
TI  - Did the reporting of prognostic studies of tumour markers improve since the
      introduction of REMARK guideline? A comparison of reporting in published
      articles.
AB  - Although biomarkers are perceived as highly relevant for future clinical
      practice, few biomarkers reach clinical utility for several reasons. Among them,
      poor reporting of studies is one of the major problems. To aid improvement,
      reporting guidelines like REMARK for tumour marker prognostic (TMP) studies were
      introduced several years ago. The aims of this project were to assess whether
      reporting quality of TMP-studies improved in comparison to a previously conducted
      study assessing reporting quality of TMP-studies (PRE-study) and to assess
      whether articles citing REMARK (citing group) are better reported, in comparison
      to articles not citing REMARK (not-citing group). For the POST-study, recent
      articles citing and not citing REMARK (53 each) were identified in selected
      journals through systematic literature search and evaluated in same way as in the
      PRE-study. Ten of the 20 items of the REMARK checklist were evaluated and used to
      define an overall score of reporting quality. The observed overall scores were
      53.4% (range: 10%-90%) for the PRE-study, 57.7% (range: 20%-100%) for the not
      citing group and 58.1% (range: 30%-100%) for the citing group of the POST-study.
      While there is no difference between the two groups of the POST-study, the POST
      study shows a slight but not relevant improvement in reporting relative to the
      PRE-study. Not all the articles of the citing group, cited REMARK appropriately.
      Irrespective of whether REMARK was cited, the overall score was slightly higher
      for articles published in journals requesting adherence to REMARK than for those
      published in journals not requesting it: 59.9% versus 51.9%, respectively.
      Several years after the introduction of REMARK, many key items of TMP-studies are
      still very poorly reported. A combined effort is needed from authors, editors,
      reviewers and methodologists to improve the current situation. Good reporting is
      not just nice to have but is essential for any research to be useful.

PMID- 28614417
TI  - Antipsychotic medications and stroke in schizophrenia: A case-crossover study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association between antipsychotic use and the risk of stroke in
      schizophrenic patients is controversial. We sought to study the association in a
      nationwide cohort with schizophrenia. METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort of
      patients with schizophrenia (N = 31,976) derived from the Taiwan National Health
      Insurance Research Database, 802 new-onset cases of stroke were identified within
      10 years of follow-up (from 2000 through 2010). We designed a case-crossover
      study using 14-day windows to explore the risk factors of stroke and the
      association between antipsychotic drugs and the risk of stroke. We analyzed the
      risks of individual antipsychotics on various subgroups of stroke including
      ischemic, hemorrhagic, and other strokes, and the risks based on the
      antipsychotic receptor-binding profile of each drug. RESULTS: Use of any second
      generation antipsychotic was associated with an increased risk of stroke
      (adjusted risk ratio = 1.45, P = .009) within 14 days while the use of any first
      generation antipsychotic was not. Intriguingly, the use of any second-generation
      antipsychotic was associated with ischemic stroke but not hemorrhagic stroke. The
      antipsychotic receptor-binding profile analysis showed that the antihistamine 1
      receptor was significantly associated with ischemic stroke (adjusted risk ratio =
      1.72, P = .037), and the sensitivity analysis based on the 7-day window of
      exposure validated the association (adjusted risk ratio = 1.87, P = .015).
      CONCLUSIONS: Use of second-generation antipsychotic drugs appeared to be
      associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke in the patients studied,
      possibly mediated by high affinity for histamine-1 receptor blockade. Further
      research regarding the underlying biological mechanism and drug safety is
      suggested.

PMID- 28614418
TI  - IL-33 and ST2 levels in chronic kidney disease: Associations with inflammation,
      vascular abnormalities, cardiovascular events, and survival.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Increased inflammation, associated with the increase in chronic kidney
      disease (CKD) stage, has a very important influence in vascular injury and
      cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the levels of IL
      33 and ST2 in the different stages of CKD and to determine their effect on
      vascular damage and cardiovascular events (CVE). METHODS: This was an
      observational cohort study in which serum IL-33 and ST2 were obtained from 238
      CKD (stages 1-5) patients. We examined the changes in IL-33/ST2 levels in CKD
      patients, as well as the association with a surrogate of endothelial dysfunction.
      Fatal and non-fatal CVE were recorded for a mean of 24 months. We also performed
      a COX regression analysis to determine the association of IL-33/ST2 levels with
      CVE and survival. RESULTS: IL-33 and ST2 levels were significantly increased and
      estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) were decreased. Flow-mediated
      dilatation (FMD) was significantly decreased from stage 1 to stage 5 CKD. IL-33
      and ST2 levels were associated with FMD, and ST2 was a predictor. Multivariate
      Cox analysis showed that the presence of diabetes mellitus, smoking, and
      proteinuria and haemoglobin, Hs-CRP, IL-33, and ST2 were associated with the risk
      of CVE. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that patients with IL-33 and ST2
      levels below the median value (IL-33 = 132.6 ng/L, ST2 = 382.9 pg/mL) had a
      higher cumulative survival compared with patients who had IL-33 and ST2 levels
      above the median value (log-rank test, p = 0.000). CONCLUSION: This is the first
      study that demonstrates that serum IL-33 and ST2 are associated with vascular
      injury, cardiovascular events, and survival in CKD patients.

PMID- 28614419
TI  - Risk factors for exclusive breastfeeding lasting less than two months-Identifying
      women in need of targeted breastfeeding support.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding rates in Sweden are declining, and it is important to
      identify women at risk for early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with exclusive
      breastfeeding lasting less than two months postpartum. METHODS: A population
      based longitudinal study was conducted at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden.
      Six hundred and seventy-nine women were included in this sub-study.
      Questionnaires were sent at five days, six weeks and six months postpartum,
      including questions on breastfeeding initiation and duration as well as several
      other background variables. The main outcome measure was exclusive breastfeeding
      lasting less than two months postpartum. Multivariable logistic regression
      analysis was used in order to calculate adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) and 95%
      Confidence Intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: Seventy-seven percent of the women
      reported exclusive breastfeeding at two months postpartum. The following
      variables in the multivariate regression analysis were independently associated
      with exclusive breastfeeding lasting less than two months postpartum: being a
      first time mother (AOR 2.15, 95% CI 1.32-3.49), reporting emotional distress
      during pregnancy (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.35-3.62) and giving birth by cesarean
      section (AOR 2.63, 95% CI 1.34-5.17). CONCLUSIONS: Factors associated with
      shorter exclusive breastfeeding duration were determined. Identification of women
      experiencing emotional distress during pregnancy, as well as scrutiny of
      caregiving routines on cesarean section need to be addressed, in order to give
      individual targeted breastfeeding support and promote longer breastfeeding
      duration.

PMID- 28614420
TI  - The degree of cardiac baroreflex involvement during active standing is associated
      with the quality of life in fibromyalgia patients.
AB  - Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a rheumatologic disorder characterized by chronic
      widespread pain, fatigue and other symptoms. Baroreflex dysfunction has been
      observed in women with FMS. However, it is unknown whether the limited
      involvement of the baroreflex control during an orthostatic stimulus has some
      impact on the quality of life of the FMS patient. Therefore, the aim of the study
      is evaluate the relationship between the quality of life of the FMS patient and
      indexes of the cardiovascular autonomic control as estimated from spontaneous
      fluctuations of heart period (HP) and systolic arterial pressure (SAP). We
      enrolled 35 women with FMS (age: 48.8+/-8.9 years; body mass index: 29.3+/-4.3
      Kg/m2). The electrocardiogram, non-invasive finger blood pressure and respiratory
      activity were continuously recorded during 15 minutes at rest in supine position
      (REST) and in orthostatic position during active standing (STAND). Traditional
      cardiovascular autonomic control markers were assessed along with a Granger
      causality index assessing the strength of the causal relation from SAP to HP
      (CRSAP->HP) and measuring the degree of involvement of the cardiac baroreflex.
      The impact of FMS on quality of life was quantified by the fibromyalgia impact
      questionnaire (FIQ) and visual analog score for pain (VAS pain). No significant
      linear association was found between FIQ scores and the traditional
      cardiovascular indexes both at REST and during STAND (p>0.05). However, a
      negative relationship between CRSAP->HP during STAND and FIQ score was found (r =
      -0.56, p<0.01). Similar results were found with VAS pain. In conclusion, the
      lower the degree of cardiac baroreflex involvement during STAND in women with
      FMS, the higher the impact of FMS on the quality of life, thus suggesting that
      Granger causality analysis might be clinically helpful in assessing the state of
      the FMS patient.

PMID- 28614421
TI  - Zero Calcium Score as a Filter for Further Testing in Patients Admitted to the
      Coronary Care Unit with Chest Pain.
AB  - Background:: The accuracy of zero coronary calcium score as a filter in patients
      with chest pain has been demonstrated at the emergency room and outpatient
      clinics, populations with low prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD).
      Objective:: To test the gatekeeping role of zero calcium score in patients with
      chest pain admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU), where the pretest
      probability of CAD is higher than that of other populations. Methods:: Patients
      underwent computed tomography for calcium scoring, and obstructive CAD was
      defined by a minimum 70% stenosis on invasive angiography. Results:: In 146
      patients studied, the prevalence of CAD was 41%. A zero calcium score was present
      in 35% of the patients. The sensitivity and specificity of zero calcium score
      yielded a negative likelihood ratio of 0.16. After logistic regression adjustment
      for pretest probability, zero calcium score was independently associated with
      lower odds of CAD (OR = 0.12, 95%CI = 0.04-0.36), increasing the area under the
      ROC curve of the clinical model from 0.76 to 0.82 (p = 0.006). Zero calcium score
      provided a net reclassification improvement of 0.20 (p = 0.0018) over the
      clinical model when using a pretest probability threshold of 10% for discharging
      without further testing. In patients with pretest probability < 50%, zero calcium
      score had a negative predictive value of 95% (95%CI = 83%-99%), with a number
      needed to test of 2.1 for obtaining one additional discharge. Conclusion:: Zero
      calcium score substantially reduces the pretest probability of obstructive CAD in
      patients admitted to the CCU with acute chest pain. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2017;
      [online].ahead print, PP.0-0). Fundamento:: A acuracia do escore de calcio
      coronario zero como um filtro nos pacientes com dor toracica aguda tem sido
      demonstrada na sala de emergencia e nos ambulatorios, populacoes com baixa
      prevalencia de doenca arterial coronariana (DAC). Objetivos:: Testar o papel do
      escore de calcio zero como filtro nos pacientes com dor toracica admitidos numa
      unidade coronariana intensiva (UCI), na qual a probabilidade pre-teste de DAC e
      maior do que em outras populacoes. Metodos:: Pacientes foram submetidos a
      tomografia computadorizada para quantificar o escore de calcio, DAC obstrutiva
      foi definida por uma estenose minima de 70% na cineangiocoronariografia invasiva.
      Um escore clinico para estimar a probabilidade pre-teste de DAC obstrutiva foi
      criado em amostra de 370 pacientes, usado para definir subgrupos na definicao de
      valores preditivos negativos do escore zero. Resultados:: Em 146 pacientes
      estudados, a prevalencia de DAC foi 41% e o escore de calcio zero foi demonstrado
      em 35% deles. A sensibilidade e a especificidade para escore de calcio zero
      resultaram numa razao de verossimilhanca negativa de 0,16. Apos ajuste com um
      escore clinico com a regressao logistica para a probabilidade pre-teste, o escore
      de calcio zero foi preditor independente associado a baixa probabilidade de DAC
      (OR = 0,12, IC95% = 0,04-0,36), aumentando a area abaixo da curva ROC do modelo
      clinico de 0,76 para 0,82 (p = 0,006). Considerando a probabilidade de DAC < 10%
      como ponto de corte para alta precoce, o escore de calcio aumentou a proporcao de
      pacientes para alta precoce de 8,2% para 25% (NRI = 0,20; p = 0,0018). O escore
      de calcio zero apresentou valor preditivo negativo de 90%. Em pacientes com
      probabilidade pre-teste < 50%, o valor preditivo negativo foi 95% (IC95% = 83%
      99%). Conclusao:: O escore de calcio zero reduz substancialmente a probabilidade
      pre-teste de DAC obstrutiva em pacientes internados em UCI com dor toracica
      aguda. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2017; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0).

PMID- 28614422
TI  - Characterization of oxidative stress biomarkers in a freshwater anomuran crab.
AB  - In general, environmental responses at level of populations or communities are
      preceded by alterations at lower biological levels which can be efficiently
      detected by the analysis of biomarkers. We analyzed the oxidative biomarkers
      TBARS and Catalase in Aegla singularis, a freshwater crustacean highly sensitive
      to environmental changes. The objective was to address if are differences in
      these biomarkers related to the gender as well if they are influenced by seasonal
      or water physicochemical variables. The results showed differences in biomarkers
      profile related to the gender. In female crabs were not sensitive to seasonal
      variations throughout the study period. However, in males the biomarkers
      evaluated were higher in the winter as compared to remaining seasons and showed
      tendency of negative correlation with water temperature and pH. This study
      highlights that gender, seasonal variations and physicochemical variables can
      influence oxidative stress biomarkers in A. singularis. Female crabs probably are
      better suited as a model for biomarker application in environmental studies,
      because their insensibility to seasonal variations can facilitate the
      observations of responses related specifically to environmental disturbances.

PMID- 28614423
TI  - Parasitism by a Digenea in Lucina pectinata (Mollusca: Lucinidae).
AB  - Lucina pectinata is an important economic resource in the Brazilian coast. This
      study reports parasitism caused by a Digenea in this species. The specimens (n =
      470) were collected in December 2012 in a mangrove swamp of the Cachoeira River
      estuary, Bahia, Brazil. They were measured along the anterior-posterior axis
      (length), and after macroscopic analysis for parasites and diseases cuts of 5 mm
      were fixated in Carnoy's solution and processed by routine histology technique
      wherein sessions of 7 MUm were stained with Harris hematoxylin and eosin (H&E).
      The tissues were examined using an optical microscope. The mean length of L.
      pectinata was 4.0 +/- 0.53 cm. Microscopic analysis showed sporocysts containing
      both germ balls as cercariae of an unidentified Digenea (Platyhelminthes), these
      in various stages of development. The prevalence was 1.48% (7/470). In a
      parasitized specimen was macroscopic evidence of tissue densification of gills.
      The sporocysts were observed in mantle, gills, digestive gland and gonads, with
      evident alteration/destruction of tissues, including parasitic castration. There
      were no other parasites found, which is probably related to inaccessibility and
      chemical conditions in which lives L. pectinata, i.e., between 10 and 20 cm in
      mangrove sediment.

PMID- 28614424
TI  - Effects of roads on the vertebrates diversity of the Indigenous Territory Paresi
      and its surrounding.
AB  - Roadkill impact is still underestimated due to the lack of knowledge of its
      intensity and effect on animal populations. To assess differences between animal
      roadkills on roads in distinct landscapes, this study recorded meso- and
      megavertebrate roadkills along 50 km during a year in two highways in the
      transitional area of Amazonia/Cerrado in Tangara da Serra, Mato Grosso: MT-358
      and MT-235, the latter crossing the Paresi Indigenous Land. We assessed roadkill
      rates and points with higher rates of roadkills, recording the most impacted
      species, seasonal effects, biomass loss, activity period of species, and traffic
      volume. We recorded 178 roadkills in 4,950 km travelled, a rate of 0.035
      animal/km-travelled. Mammals were the most impacted with 135 roadkills (75.8%),
      followed by reptiles (6.2%), amphibians (5.6%) and birds (5.1%). Among mammals
      51.1% were Carnivora, and the most impacted species was Cerdocyon thous (n = 42).
      On highway MT-358 (human-modified landscape), we recorded 155 roadkilled mammals,
      and the most impacted were C. thous (23.9%) and Euphractus sexcinctus (13.5%).
      Whilst on highway MT-235 (Paresi Indigenous Land), we recorded 23 roadkilled
      mammals, and the most impacted were Myrmecophaga tridactyla (26.1%) and C. thous
      (21.7%). The low roadkill rate in the Paresi Indigenous Land might be related to
      the presence of fauna pathways along the highway and the availability of a
      forested landscape.

PMID- 28614425
TI  - Polyploidy as a chromosomal component of stochastic noise: variable scalar
      multiples of the diploid chromosome complement in the invertebrate species
      Girardia schubarti from Brazil.
AB  - Chromosome stoichiometry, a form of genetic plasticity, specifically refers to
      variation in the standard diploid genomic composition of an individual or
      species. In the present work, freshwater planarians (Girardia schubarti) were
      analyzed to recognize variations in chromosomal stoichiometry especially of
      complete ploidal change between specimens, within specimens and between cells
      within specimens and any relations they might have with selected components of
      phenotypic plasticity. Homoploid polyploids for the group reached rational scalar
      multiples (e.g. tetraploids) or irrational scalar multiples (e.g. triploids).
      Karyotypic mosaics emerged where individual cells presented polyploid multiples
      in arithmetic and geometric progressions. Ploidal multiplicity, a chromosomal
      component of stochastic noise, had positive phenotypic effects (increased
      dimensions) on morphologic criteria of body length, body width and dorsal surface
      reflecting a significant genotypic plasticity (GP) and robust phenotypic
      plasticity (PP). Variable but significant association of genotypic plasticity
      with robust phenotypic variance suggests kinetics of phenotypic homeostasis that
      is species-specific permitting phenotypic adaptability to environmental variables
      by means of GP. That association is diminished, deactivated or lost in more
      advanced and more complex organisms.

PMID- 28614426
TI  - Incidental finding in a newborn with respiratory distress.

PMID- 28614427
TI  - A new era of thromboelastometry.
AB  - Severe hemorrhage with necessity of allogeneic blood transfusion is common
      complication in intensive care unit and is associated with increased morbidity
      and mortality. Prompt recognition and treatment of bleeding causes becomes
      essential for the effective control of hemorrhage, rationalizing the use of
      allogeneic blood components, and in this way, preventing an occurrence of their
      potential adverse effects. Conventional coagulation tests such as prothrombin
      time and activated partial thromboplastin time present limitations in predicting
      bleeding and guiding transfusion therapy in critically ill patients. Viscoelastic
      tests such as thromboelastography and rotational thromboelastometry allow rapid
      detection of coagulopathy and goal-directed therapy with specific hemostatic
      drugs. The new era of thromboelastometry relies on its efficacy, practicality,
      reproducibility and cost-effectiveness to establish itself as the main diagnostic
      tool and transfusion guide in patients with severe active bleeding.

PMID- 28614428
TI  - Intrapancreatic accessory spleen.
AB  - An asymptomatic 79-year-old woman, with incidental finding on abdominal
      ultrasound of a solid nodule in the tail of the pancreas. Magnetic resonance
      imaging showed a 12mm solid tumor. The suggested diagnosis was pancreatic
      neuroendocrine tumor. The pathological examination showed an intrapancreatic
      splenic tissue. This is a rare ectopic location of spleen tissue and it should be
      considered in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic solid tumors.

PMID- 28614429
TI  - Clinical and epidemiological aspects of cornea transplant patients of a reference
      hospital.
AB  - Objective:: clinically characterizing cornea transplant patients and their
      distribution according to indicated and post-operative conditions of cornea
      transplantation, as well as estimating the average waiting time. Method:: a cross
      sectional, descriptive and analytical study performed for all cornea transplants
      performed at a reference service (n=258). Data were analyzed using Statistical
      Package for the Social Sciences, version 20.0. Results:: the main indicator for
      cornea transplant was keratoconus. The mean waiting time for the transplant was
      approximately 5 months and 3 weeks for elective transplants and 9 days for urgent
      cases. An association between the type of corneal disorder with gender, age,
      previous surgery, eye classification, glaucoma and anterior graft failure were
      found. Conclusion:: keratoconus was the main indicator for cornea transplant.
      Factors such as age, previous corneal graft failure (retransplantation),
      glaucoma, cases of surgeries prior to cornea transplant (especially cataract
      surgery) may be related to the onset corneal endothelium disorders. Objetivo::
      caracterizar clinicamente los pacientes trasplantados y su distribucion, con
      descripcion de las condiciones indicadoras y posoperatorias de los trasplantes de
      corneas, asi como estimar el tiempo promedio en la fila de espera. Metodo::
      estudio epidemiologico, transversal, descriptivo y analitico, realizado con todos
      los trasplantes de cornea realizados en un servicio de referencia (n=258). Los
      datos fueron analizados con el software Statistical Package for the Social
      Sciences, version 20.0. Resultados:: la principal condicion indicadora para el
      trasplante de cornea fue el queratocono. El tiempo promedio en fila de espera
      para realizacion del trasplante fue de aproximadamente 5 meses y tres semanas,
      para trasplantes electivos y de 9 dias para los casos de urgencia. Existio
      asociacion entre el tipo de disturbio de la cornea con: sexo, intervalo etario,
      cirugia previa, clasificacion del ojo, glaucoma y rechazo del injerto anterior.
      Conclusion:: el queratocono fue la principal condicion indicadora para el
      trasplante de cornea. Factores como: edad; rechazo de injerto de cornea anterior
      (retrasplante); glaucoma; y casos de cirugias previas al trasplante de cornea,
      destacando la cirugia de catarata, pueden estar relacionados con el aparecimiento
      de disturbios de la cornea de tipo endotelial. Objetivo:: caracterizar
      clinicamente os pacientes transplantados e sua distribuicao com descricao das
      condicoes indicadoras e pos-operatorias dos transplantes de corneas, bem como
      estimar o tempo medio em fila de espera. Metodo:: estudo epidemiologico,
      transversal, descritivo e analitico, realizado com todos os transplantes de
      cornea realizados em um servico de referencia (n= 258). Os dados foram analisados
      com uso do software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, versao 20.0.
      Resultados:: a principal condicao indicadora para o transplante de cornea foi o
      ceratocone. O tempo medio em fila de espera para realizacao do transplante foi de
      aproximadamente 5 meses e tres semanas para o transplantes eletivos e 9 dias para
      os casos de urgencia. Existiu associacao entre o tipo de disturbio da cornea com
      sexo, faixa etaria, cirurgia previa, classificacao do olho, glaucoma e falencia
      do enxerto anterior. Conclusao:: o ceratocone foi a principal condicao indicadora
      para o transplante de cornea. Fatores como idade, falencia de enxerto corneano
      anterior (retransplante), glaucoma, casos de cirurgias previas ao transplante de
      cornea, com destaque para a cirurgia de catarata, podem estar relacionados com o
      aparecimento de disturbios da cornea do tipo endotelial.

PMID- 28614430
TI  - Effects of the application of therapeutic massage in children with cancer: a
      systematic review.
AB  - Objective:: to learn about the effects of the use of therapeutic massage in
      children with cancer. Method:: systematic review of controlled clinical trials
      The search was conducted in November 2014 in the following databases: Pubmed,
      CSIC, Dialnet, Scopus, Cochrane and PEDro. Inclusion criteria were: clinical
      trials, published in English or Spanish, analyzing the effects of massage on the
      different stages and types of childhood cancer (between 1 and 18 years old).
      Results:: of 1007 articles found, 7 met the inclusion criteria. Their authors use
      different massage techniques (Swedish massage, effleurage, petrissage, frictions,
      pressures), obtaining benefits in the symptoms present during the illness
      (decrease of pain, nausea, stress, anxiety and increase of white blood cells and
      neutrophils). Conclusion:: therapeutic massage improves the symptoms of children
      with cancer, but there is a need for more research that may support the effects
      attributed to it. Objetivo:: conocer los efectos del uso del masaje terapeutico
      en ninos con cancer. Metodo:: revision sistematica de ensayos clinicos
      controlados la busqueda se llevo a cabo en noviembre de 2014 en las bases de
      datos cientificas: Pubmed, CSIC, Dialnet, Scopus, Cochrane y PEDro. Los criterios
      de inclusion han sido: ensayos clinicos, publicados en ingles o espanol, en los
      que se analizaran los efectos del masaje en las diferentes etapas y tipos de
      cancer infantil (entre 1 y 18 anos). Resultados:: de 1007 articulos localizados,
      7 cumplieron los criterios de inclusion. Sus autores utilizan diferentes tecnicas
      de masaje (masaje sueco, effleurage, petrissage, fricciones, presiones),
      obteniendo beneficios en los sintomas presentes durante la enfermedad
      (disminucion del dolor, nauseas, estres, ansiedad y aumento de globulos blancos y
      neutrofilos). Conclusion:: el masaje terapeutico mejora los sintomas de los ninos
      con cancer, que respalden los efectos que se le atribuyen. Objetivo:: conhecer os
      efeitos do uso da massagem terapeutica em criancas com cancer. Metodo:: revisao
      sistematica de ensaios clinicos controlados. A pesquisa foi realizada em novembro
      de 2014 em bases de dados cientificas: Pubmed, CSIC, Dialnet, Scopus, Cochrane
      and PEDro. Os criterios de inclusao foram: ensaios clinicos, publicados em ingles
      ou espanhol, analisando os efeitos da massagem nas diferentes fases e tipos de
      cancer infantil (entre 1 e 18 anos). Resultados:: de 1007 artigos encontrados, 7
      preencheram os criterios de inclusao. Os autores utilizam diferentes tecnicas de
      massagem (massagem sueca, effleurage, petrissage, friccoes, pressoes), obtendo
      beneficios nos sintomas presentes durante a doenca (diminuicao da dor, nausea,
      estresse, ansiedade e aumento de globulos brancos e neutrofilos). Conclusao:: a
      massagem terapeutica melhora os sintomas das criancas com cancer, mas sao
      necessarias mais pesquisas que apoiem os efeitos atribuidos a ela.

PMID- 28614431
TI  - Factors associated with the risk of fall in adults in the postoperative period: a
      cross-sectional study.
AB  - Objective: to assess the factors associated with the risk of fall in patients
      undergoing surgical procedures. Method: quantitative and cross-sectional study
      carried out with 257 adult patients in a hospital in the state of Minas Gerais,
      Brazil. Data were collected using the sociodemographic and clinical
      questionnaire, the Morse Fall Scale, and the Quality of Recovery Score. Data were
      submitted to descriptive statistical analysis and multinomial logistic
      regression. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: 35.4% of patients
      had high risk of falls, 38.9% had moderate risk and 25.7% had low risk. The mean
      value in the surgical recovery scale was 175.37 points and no patient presented
      poor surgical recovery. Regarding the results of the bivariate analysis, it was
      found that age (p<0.001), SAH (p<0.001) and diabetes (p=0.017) were positively
      associated with high risk of fall, whereas cancer (p=0.004) was positively
      associated with moderate risk of fall. Surgical recovery (p=0,008) was inversely
      associated with high risk of fall. Conclusion: the results of this study allowed
      the identification of five factors associated with the risk of fall in adults in
      the postoperative hospital stay. These findings may support the planning of
      nursing actions aimed at preventing the risk of fall in the postoperative period.

PMID- 28614432
TI  - Characteristics of nursing professionals and the practice of ecologically
      sustainable actions in the medication processes.
AB  - Objectives: to verify the correlation between the characteristics of
      professionals and the practice of sustainable actions in the medication processes
      in an ICU, and to determine if interventions such as training and awareness can
      promote sustainable practices performed by nursing staff in the hospital.
      Methods: before-and-after design study using Lean Six Sigma methodology, applied
      in an intensive care unit. Nursing staff were observed regarding the practice of
      ecologically sustainable actions during medication processes (n = 324 cases for
      each group (pre and post-intervention)) through a data collection instrument. The
      processes analyzed involved 99 professionals in the pre-intervention phase and 97
      in the post-intervention phase. Data were analyzed quantitatively and the
      association of variables was accomplished by means of statistical inference,
      according to the nature of the related variables. Results: the education level
      was the only characteristic that showed to be relevant to an increase in
      sustainable practices, with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.002).
      When comparing before and after the intervention, there was an increase in
      environmentally friendly actions with statistically significant differences (p =
      0.001). Conclusions: the results suggest that institutions should encourage and
      invest in formal education, as well as training of health professionals to
      promote sustainable practices in the hospital.

PMID- 28614433
TI  - Diagnostic labels of NANDA-I in a southern region of Spain.
AB  - Objective: to determine the incidence of NANDA-I diagnostic labels (North
      American Nursing Diagnosis Association-International) and to establish the
      distribution of cases of assistance and the associated labels, according to
      sociodemographic variables (age and sex). Method: descriptive, cross-sectional
      epidemiological study of labels of NANDA-I, under ecological design. The
      distribution of labels was analyzed according to sex and age; the corresponding
      frequencies were calculated and for each label the incidence were calculated
      rates with aggregate data from the attended cases. Results: the total number of
      cases of care under study was 9,928 (41.65% men and 58.35% women). The identified
      labels were 16,456 (7,084 men and 9,372 women); average of 1.7 labels per case of
      care; Out of 216 labels proposed by NANDA-I, in its 2012-14 classification, 152
      were used, representing 70.4%. The labels with the highest incidence rates per
      thousand inhabitants were: Anxiety, Willingness to Improve Knowledge and Risk of
      Infection. Conclusions: the study allowed detecting, through NANDA-I, the answers
      to the health problems of greater incidence in the users attended.

PMID- 28614434
TI  - Post-stroke psychosis: how long should we treat?
AB  - Objective:: To describe a rare case of a patient who developed psychotic symptoms
      after a right stroke that disappeared with antipsychotic treatment, but appears
      to need low-dose maintenance antipsychotic therapy. Case description:: A 65-year
      old man presented at the psychiatric emergency service with a history of
      persistent delusional jealousy, visual illusions and agitation with onset about 1
      month after a right posterior cerebral artery ischemic stroke. These symptoms
      only disappeared with therapeutic dosages of an antipsychotic drug (3 mg/day of
      risperidone). At 2-year follow-up, he no longer had delusional activity and the
      antipsychotic treatment was gradually discontinued over the following year.
      However, 1 week after full cessation, the patient once more became agitated and
      suspicious and was put back on risperidone at 0.25 mg/day, resulting in rapid
      clinical remission. One year after the return to low-dose risperidone, the
      patient's psychopathology is still under control and he is free from psychotic
      symptoms. Comments:: Psychosis is a relatively rare complication after stroke. To
      our knowledge, no cases of post-stroke psychosis that apparently require
      continuous low-dose antipsychotic treatment have been reported to date. Our case
      suggests that low-dose maintenance antipsychotic therapy may be needed for
      certain patients with post-stroke psychosis, especially for those with risk
      factors and non-acute onset.

PMID- 28614435
TI  - Personality characteristics and bariatric surgery outcomes: a systematic review.
AB  - Introduction:: Numerous studies have focused on psychological assessment of
      bariatric surgery candidates, aiming to identify which psychological variables,
      including personality characteristics, are related to successful surgical
      prognosis. Objective:: To analyze, by means of a systematic literature review,
      longitudinal studies that investigated personality traits and disorders as
      possible predictors of outcomes in bariatric surgery. Method:: PsycInfo, PubMed,
      and Scopus databases were searched for studies published between 2005 and 2015,
      using the keywords "bariatric" AND "personality." Quantitative longitudinal
      studies in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were selected for review if they
      assessed personality as an outcome predictor of BS in people aged 18 years or
      older. Results:: Sixteen articles were analyzed. The results of this review
      suggest that externalizing dysfunctions might be associated with less weight
      reduction, while internalizing dysfunctions appear to be associated with somatic
      concerns and psychological distress. The persistence dimension (of temperament in
      Cloninger's model) was positively associated with greater weight loss, while
      neuroticism (Five Factor Model) and the occurrence of personality disorders were
      not predictive of weight loss. Furthermore, the results indicate a tendency
      towards a reduction in personality disorders and neuroticism scores, and an
      increase in extroversion scores, after BS. Conclusions:: Assessment of
      personality characteristics, whether to identify their predictive power or to
      detect changes during the BS process, is important since it can provide grounds
      for estimating surgical prognosis and for development of interventions targeting
      this population.

PMID- 28614437
TI  - Chronic disease in childhood and adolescence: continuity of care in the Health
      Care Network.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the continuity of care for children and adolescents with
      chronic diseases in the health care network. METHODS: This qualitative study was
      conducted between February and October 2013 with 12 families, six health
      managers, and 14 health professionals from different health care services in a
      municipality of the state of Paraiba, Brazil, using focal groups, semi-structured
      interviews, and medical record consultation. The data were analyzed by
      triangulation and thematic analysis. RESULTS: Two categories were created:
      "health care management" and "(dis)continuity of care." We found gaps in the
      system, including poor data recording aimed to facilitate follow-up and guide the
      planning actions as well as sporadic and discoordinate services with a limited
      flow of information, which hinders follow-up over time. CONCLUSION: Continuity of
      care in the health care network is limited and creates the need to develop
      strategies to improve these services. OBJETIVO: Analisar a continuidade do
      cuidado a crianca/adolescente com doenca cronica na rede de atencao a saude.
      METODO: Pesquisa qualitativa realizada entre fevereiro e outubro de 2013 com 12
      familiares, seis gestores e 14 profissionais de saude de diferentes servicos da
      rede de saude de um municipio da Paraiba atraves das tecnicas de grupo focal,
      entrevista semiestruturada e consulta a prontuarios. A triangulacao dos dados e a
      analise tematica subsidiaram a interpretacao dos dados. RESULTADOS: Foram
      construidas duas categorias: "Gestao da atencao a saude" e "(Des)continuidade do
      cuidado". Constataram-se lacunas como a ausencia de cadastro para favorecer o
      acompanhamento e nortear o planejamento de acoes; atendimento pontual e
      desarticulado entre os servicos com fragilidade no fluxo de informacoes, que
      obstaculizam o seguimento ao longo do tempo. CONCLUSAO: A continuidade do cuidado
      na rede de atencao a saude esta fragilizada e ha necessidade do desenvolvimento
      de estrategias que a favorecam.

PMID- 28614436
TI  - Social instigation and repeated aggressive confrontations in male Swiss mice:
      analysis of plasma corticosterone, CRF and BDNF levels in limbic brain areas.
AB  - Introduction:: Agonistic behaviors help to ensure survival, provide advantage in
      competition, and communicate social status. The resident-intruder paradigm, an
      animal model based on male intraspecific confrontations, can be an ethologically
      relevant tool to investigate the neurobiology of aggressive behavior.
      Objectives:: To examine behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of aggressive
      behavior in male Swiss mice exposed to repeated confrontations in the resident
      intruder paradigm. Methods:: Behavioral analysis was performed in association
      with measurements of plasma corticosterone of mice repeatedly exposed to a
      potential rival nearby, but inaccessible (social instigation), or to 10 sessions
      of social instigation followed by direct aggressive encounters. Moreover,
      corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF)
      were measured in the brain of these animals. Control mice were exposed to neither
      social instigation nor aggressive confrontations. Results:: Mice exposed to
      aggressive confrontations exhibited a similar pattern of species-typical
      aggressive and non-aggressive behaviors on the first and the last session.
      Moreover, in contrast to social instigation only, repeated aggressive
      confrontations promoted an increase in plasma corticosterone. After 10 aggressive
      confrontation sessions, mice presented a non-significant trend toward reducing
      hippocampal levels of CRF, which inversely correlated with plasma corticosterone
      levels. Conversely, repeated sessions of social instigation or aggressive
      confrontation did not alter BDNF concentrations at the prefrontal cortex and
      hippocampus. Conclusion:: Exposure to repeated episodes of aggressive encounters
      did not promote habituation over time. Additionally, CRF seems to be involved in
      physiological responses to social stressors.

PMID- 28614439
TI  - Residual volume in vials of antibiotics used in pediatrics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Quantifying residual volume contained in vials of antibiotics used in
      pediatrics. METHOD: This is an experiment involving samples from vials of
      antibiotics used in a pediatric hospital. Residual volume was identified by
      calculating the difference in weight measurement before and after the vials were
      washed. Evaluation of the residual volume difference in the vials was determined
      by the Wilcoxon non-parametric test for a sample and established at a
      significance level of 5%. RESULTS: 105 samples of antibiotics were selected. The
      correct use of the antibiotics oxacillin (88.57%) and ceftriaxone (94.28%)
      predominated with low residual values. The same did not occur for procaine
      benzylpenicillin + potassium benzylpenicillin, since a greater residual volume
      was discarded in 74.28% of the vials. CONCLUSION: We highlight the need for
      improvements in managing antibiotics in the institution under study, so that the
      excess volume of the antibiotics in the vials is used within the acceptable
      stable time. It is also necessary that the disposal of the residual volume be
      adequately disposed, since it presents a risk to public health and the
      environment. OBJETIVO: Quantificar o volume residual contido em frascos-ampola de
      antibioticos utilizados na pediatria. METODO: Trata-se de um experimento com
      amostras de frascos-ampola de antibioticos utilizados em hospital pediatrico. O
      volume residual foi identificado calculando-se a diferenca da afericao do peso
      antes e apos a lavagem do frasco-ampola. A avaliacao da diferenca dos volumes
      residuais nos frascos-ampola foi determinada pelo teste nao parametrico de
      Wilcoxon para uma amostra e estabelecido o nivel de significancia de 5%.
      RESULTADOS: Foram selecionadas 105 amostras de antibioticos. Predominou o correto
      aproveitamento dos antibioticos oxacilina (88,57%) e ceftriaxona (94,28%), com
      baixos valores residuais. O mesmo nao ocorreu com a benzilpenicilina procaina +
      potassica, pois em 74,28% dos frascos houve descarte de volume residual superior.
      CONCLUSAO: Destaca-se a necessidade de melhorias na gestao dos antibioticos na
      instituicao em estudo, para que o volume excedente do antibiotico em frasco
      ampola seja aproveitado ate o tempo de estabilidade permitido, assim como e
      necessario que haja a adequacao da forma de descarte do volume residual, que
      apresenta risco a saude publica e ao meio ambiente.

PMID- 28614438
TI  - Pressure ulcer dressings in critical patients: a cost analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the direct cost of dressings in pressure ulcer treatment.
      METHOD: This was a descriptive observational study conducted at an intensive care
      unit in the Northeast region of Brazil, between November and December 2015. Data
      were gathered using the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing and a form to
      characterize and assess costs. Values in Brazilian reais (BRL) were converted
      into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of USD 0.26/BRL. Univariate and bivariate
      analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 15 patients with at
      least stage 2 ulcers. There was a significant reduction in costs with dressing
      materials between the initial and final assessments (p=0.002), with a mean of USD
      11.9 (+/-7.4). The most common topical treatments used were essential fatty acids
      and papain. CONCLUSION: Cost reduction was proportional to the stage of pressure
      ulcer. The role of nurses in creating evidence-based care plans is crucial to
      improve care management. OBJETIVO: Avaliar o custo direto com curativos no
      tratamento de lesoes por pressao. METODO: Estudo observacional descritivo,
      realizado em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva do nordeste do Brasil, de novembro a
      dezembro de 2015. Foi aplicada a Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing e formulario
      para caracterizacao e avaliacao de custos. Os valores da moeda brasileira (R$)
      foram convertidos para a moeda norte-americana (US$) a taxa de US$0,26/R$. Foram
      realizadas analises univariadas e bivariadas. RESULTADOS: Compuseram a amostra 15
      pacientes com lesoes, no minimo, estagio 2. Houve reducao significativa dos
      custos com materiais de curativos entre as avaliacoes inicial e final (p=0,002),
      com media de US$11,9 (+/-7,4). As terapias topicas mais frequentes foram acidos
      graxos essenciais e papaina. CONCLUSAO: Verificou-se reducao de custos
      proporcional aos estagios das lesoes. Enfatiza-se o papel do enfermeiro na
      elaboracao de planos de cuidados baseados em evidencias para melhor gerenciamento
      do cuidado. OBJETIVO: Evaluar el costo directo de curativos para el tratamiento
      de lesiones por presion. METODO: Estudio observacional descriptivo en la Unidad
      de Cuidados Intensivos del noreste de Brasil, de noviembre a diciembre del ano
      2015. Se aplico la Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing y formulario para la
      caracterizacion y evaluacion de los costos. Los valores de la moneda brasilena
      (Reales- R$) se convirtieron al dolar estadounidense (US$) a razon de $0.26/R$.
      Se realizaron analisis univariados y bivariados. RESULTADOS: La muestra consistio
      en 15 pacientes con lesiones al menos en Etapa 2. Hubo una reduccion
      significativa en el costo de los materiales de curacion entre las evaluaciones
      inicial y final (p=0,002), con un promedio de US$11.9 (+/-7.4). Los tratamientos
      topicos mas comunes son los acidos grasos esenciales y papaina. CONCLUSION: Se
      verifico una reduccion de los costos proporcional a las etapas de las lesiones.
      Se hace hincapie en el papel de los enfermeros en el desarrollo de planes de
      cuidados basados en la evidencia, para una mejor gestion de la atencion.

PMID- 28614440
TI  - Nursing diagnoses and interventions in children submitted to cochlear
      implantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Identifying the main nursing diagnoses and interventions in children
      submitted to cochlear implant in the immediate postoperative period. METHOD: A
      cross-sectional study conducted between February and April 2016, considering
      nursing history (anamnesis and physical examination) and nursing diagnoses (NANDA
      - International) with their respective interventions (Nursing Intervention
      Classification - NIC). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to construct the
      results. RESULTS: A total of 19 children participated in this study. The main
      nursing diagnoses listed were: impaired verbal communication, impaired skin
      integrity, risk for infection, risk for falls, and risk for bleeding (n=19;
      100%). Regarding the nursing interventions, the following prevailed: Improvement
      in communication: auditory deficit, Skin surveillance, Protection against
      infection, Prevention of falls and Precautions against bleeding (n=19; 100%).
      CONCLUSION: Nursing diagnoses and interventions related to the cochlear implant
      postoperative period were related to communication, bleeding control, surgical
      wound care, infection prevention, comfort and well-being. OBJETIVO: Identificar
      os principais diagnosticos e intervencoes de enfermagem em criancas submetidas a
      implante coclear em pos-operatorio imediato. METODO: Estudo transversal realizado
      entre fevereiro e abril de 2016. Foram considerados o historico de enfermagem
      (anamnese e exame fisico) e os diagnosticos de enfermagem (NANDA - Internacional)
      com suas respectivas intervencoes (Nursing Intervention Classification - NIC).
      Para construcao dos resultados utilizou-se da analise estatistica descritiva.
      RESULTADOS: Participaram do presente estudo 19 criancas. Os principais
      diagnosticos de enfermagem elencados foram: Comunicacao verbal prejudicada,
      Integridade da pele prejudicada, Risco de infeccao, Risco de queda e Risco de
      sangramento (n=19; 100%). Quanto as intervencoes de enfermagem, prevaleceram:
      Melhora na comunicacao: deficit auditivo, Supervisao da pele, Protecao contra
      infeccao, Prevencao de quedas e Precaucoes contra sangramento (n=19; 100%).
      CONCLUSAO: Os diagnosticos e as intervencoes de enfermagem referentes ao pos
      operatorio de implante coclear relacionaram-se com comunicacao, controle de
      sangramento, cuidados com a ferida operatoria, prevencao de infeccao, conforto e
      bem-estar.

PMID- 28614441
TI  - Prevalence and factors associated with minor psychiatric disorders in hospital
      housekeeping workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Investigating the prevalence and factors associated with minor
      psychiatric disorders (MPDs) in Hospital housekeeping workers. METHOD: A cross
      sectional study carried out in 2013 with workers from the cleaning service of a
      public university hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected
      through a form containing sociodemographic, occupational, habits and health
      variables. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 was used in order to evaluate
      MPDs. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 161 workers. The overall
      prevalence of suspected MPD was 29.3%. The chances of suspected MPDs were higher
      in workers with Effort-Reward Imbalance, those who did not have time or who
      occasionally had time for leisure activities, and those taking medications.
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of MPDs was similar to that found in the literature
      for health workers. Therefore, we consider it important to include these workers
      in institutional programs for continuing health education. OBJETIVO: Investigar a
      prevalencia e os fatores associados aos Disturbios Psiquicos Menores (DPMs) em
      trabalhadores do Servico Hospitalar de Limpeza. METODO: Estudo transversal,
      realizado em 2013, com trabalhadores do servico de limpeza de um hospital
      universitario publico do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Os dados foram coletados por
      meio de um formulario contendo variaveis sociodemograficas, laborais, habitos e
      saude. Para avaliacao dos DPMs utilizou-se do Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20.
      RESULTADOS: A populacao do estudo foi composta pelos 161 trabalhadores. A
      prevalencia global para suspeicao de DPM foi de 29,3%. As chances de suspeicao de
      DPMs foram maiores nos trabalhadores em Desequilibrio Esforco-Recompensa, nos que
      nao tinham ou as vezes tinham tempo para o lazer e naqueles que faziam uso de
      medicacao. CONCLUSAO: A prevalencia de DPMs assemelhou-se a encontrada na
      literatura em trabalhadores da area saude. Portanto, considera-se importante a
      inclusao desses trabalhadores em programas institucionais de educacao permanente
      em saude.

PMID- 28614443
TI  - [Effects of gestational weight gain and breastfeeding on postpartum weight
      retention among women in the BRISA cohort].
AB  - This study analyzed the effects of gestational weight gain and breastfeeding on
      postpartum weight retention. The study followed 2,607 women from the BRISA
      cohort. The variables were age, socioeconomic status, parity, pre-gestational
      body mass index, gestational weight gain, duration of maternal breastfeeding,
      length of postpartum follow-up, and postpartum weight gain. Structural equation
      modeling was used to evaluate the total, direct, and indirect effects of the
      explanatory variables on postpartum weight retention. An increase of one standard
      deviation in gestational weight gain corresponded to a significant increase of
      0.49 standard deviations in postpartum weight retention (p < 0.001). An increase
      of one standard deviation in duration of breastfeeding corresponded to mean
      decrease of 0.10 standard deviations in postpartum weight retention (p < 0.001).
      Independently of pre-gestational BMI, gestational weight gain is a risk factor
      and duration of breastfeeding is a protective factor against postpartum weight
      retention.

PMID- 28614442
TI  - Skin and soft tissue infections in the intensive care unit: a retrospective study
      in a tertiary care center.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify factors that may influence outcomes in patients with
      severe skin and soft tissue infections in the intensive care unit. METHODS: A
      retrospective observational study was conducted in a cohort of 1,123 critically
      ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit with a primary or secondary
      diagnosis of severe skin and soft tissues infection between January 2006 and
      December 2014. RESULTS: Thirty patients were included, 20 (66.7%) of whom were
      diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis; in these patients, perineal area
      involvement was most commonly identified. Abscess was diagnosed in 8 (26.7%)
      patients, most commonly involving the cervical area. Risk factors such as
      immunosuppression and previous surgical trauma were commonly observed in this
      population. The most commonly isolated microorganism was Escherichia coli.
      Multidrug resistant microorganisms were commonly detected, even in the absence of
      traditional risk factors; among these patients, previous use of antibiotics was
      the most common risk factor for drug resistance. The rate of mortality was
      significantly higher in patients with necrotizing fasciitis (55%, p = 0.035) and
      associated with disease severity, presence of septic shock, cardiac arrest and
      leucocytosis. CONCLUSION: Different risk factors and etiologies of severe skin
      and soft tissue infections were identified. Necrotizing fasciitis and drug
      resistant bacteria were significant predictors of mortality, even in the absence
      of traditional risk factors. Obtaining a better understanding of trends in the
      risk factors and microorganisms associated with severe skin infections may help
      in the determination of prompt treatment and antibiotic choices.

PMID- 28614444
TI  - Expected hazards and hospital beds in host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in
      Brazil.
AB  - Planning for mass gatherings involves health system preparedness based on an
      understanding of natural and technological hazards identified through prior risk
      assessment. We present the expected hazards reported by health administrators of
      the host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and discuss the hazards
      considering minimal available public hospital beds in the 12 cities at the time
      of the event. Four different groups of respondents were interviewed:
      pharmaceutical service administrators and overall health administrators at both
      the municipal and hospital levels. The hospital bed occupancy rate was
      calculated, based on the Brazilian Health Informatics Department (DATASUS). The
      number of surplus beds was calculated using parameters from the literature
      regarding surge and mass casualty needs and number of unoccupied beds. In all
      groups, physical injuries ranked first, followed by emerging and endemic
      diseases. Baseline occupancy rates were high (95%CI: 0.93-2.19) in all 12 cities.
      Total shortage, considering all the cities, ranged from -47,670 (for surges) to 
      60,569 beds (for mass casualties). The study can contribute to discussions on
      mass-gathering preparedness.

PMID- 28614445
TI  - [Differences in mortality between indigenous and non-indigenous persons in Brazil
      based on the 2010 Population Census].
AB  - There have been no previous estimates on differences in adult or overall
      mortality in indigenous peoples in Brazil, although such indicators are extremely
      important for reducing social iniquities in health in this population segment.
      Brazil has made significant strides in recent decades to fill the gaps in data on
      indigenous peoples in the national statistics. The aim of this paper is to
      present estimated mortality rates for indigenous and non-indigenous persons in
      different age groups, based on data from the 2010 Population Census. The
      estimates used the question on deaths from specific household surveys. The
      results indicate important differences in mortality rates between indigenous and
      non-indigenous persons in all the selected age groups and in both sexes. These
      differences are more pronounced in childhood, especially in girls. The indicators
      corroborate the fact that indigenous peoples in Brazil are in a situation of
      extreme vulnerability in terms of their health, based on these unprecedented
      estimates of the size of these differences.

PMID- 28614446
TI  - [Factors associated with TB/HIV coinfection: evidence from notification data in
      the State of Amazonas, Brazil, 2001-2012].
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) in persons living with HIV (PLHIV) is the leading infectious
      cause of AIDS-related death. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence
      of TB/HIV coinfection, evaluate notification of the two diseases over time by
      probabilistic database linkage, and identify factors associated with AIDS and TB
      notifications. Prevalence of TB/HIV coinfection was 7.7%. The group of PLHIV with
      subsequent TB diagnosis was the most representative, despite available preventive
      measures. Underreporting of TB among AIDS cases was 35%, and 19.6% of TB cases
      could have been reported as AIDS. For AIDS cases with mention of TB, living in
      the state capital showed 75% greater odds of being reported to the Tuberculosis
      Notification System (SINAN-TB), and having died increased the odds of reporting
      by 40%. Of TB cases with mention of HIV, brown skin color, age 25 to 39 years,
      living in the state capital, and having evolved to death were associated with
      higher odds of reporting to the AIDS Notification System. Periodic linkage of
      these databases can be a powerful tool for programs to decrease underreporting.

PMID- 28614447
TI  - Package design and nutritional profile of foods targeted at children in
      supermarkets in Montevideo, Uruguay.
AB  - Marketing of unhealthy products has been identified as one of the main
      characteristics of the food environment that negatively affects children's eating
      patterns. Restrictions on advertising of unhealthy foods to children have already
      been imposed in different countries. However, marketing strategies are not
      limited to broadcast and digital advertising, but also include package design. In
      this context, the current study aimed to describe the food products targeted at
      children and sold in supermarkets in Montevideo, Uruguay, in terms of package
      design and nutrient profile. Two supermarkets in Montevideo were selected for
      data collection. In each supermarket, all products targeted at children were
      identified. Products were analyzed in terms of package design and nutritional
      profile, considering the Pan American Health Organization Nutrient Profile Model.
      A total of 180 unique products were identified, which included a wide range of
      product categories. The great majority of the products corresponded to ultra
      processed products with excessive amounts of sodium, free sugars, total fat,
      saturated fat, and/or trans fat, which are not recommended for frequent
      consumption. Several marketing strategies were identified in the design of
      packages to attract children's attention and drive their preferences. The most
      common strategies were the inclusion of cartoon characters, bright colors,
      childish lettering, and a wide range of claims related to health and nutrition,
      as well as the products' sensory and hedonic characteristics. The study's
      findings provide additional evidence on the need to regulate packaging of
      products targeted at children.

PMID- 28614449
TI  - [Evaluation of the healthcare network for persons with arterial hypertension:
      study of a health district].
AB  - In the context of public health policies, healthcare network is a strategy that
      aims to promote people's equitable access to services and to reduce
      fragmentation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of development of
      components in a healthcare network for hypertension. This was an ex-ante, cross
      sectional evaluative study focused on the implementation of a healthcare network
      for persons with chronic diseases, applying a questionnaire to 17 health
      administrators from the municipalities (counties) comprising the largest health
      district in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. The questionnaire consisted of 65
      questions covering the five components: Primary Health Care; Specialized Care;
      Support Systems; Logistics Systems; and Governance. The study conducted
      descriptive statistical tests and the classification of services provided in each
      component using the Friedman test, followed by the Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc
      test, with significance set at 5%. The results were distributed in quartiles and
      presented in boxplot graphs. Correlations were established between the
      dimensions. According to the findings, the components are in an intermediate
      degree of implementation, with low development of the items needed for
      establishing networks. Primary Health Care does not coordinate the care, and the
      Specialized Care and Governance components showed the worst results. The findings
      indicate predominance of installed services that still fall short of the
      necessary practices for establishing healthcare networks, which can compromise
      their implementation.

PMID- 28614448
TI  - Seroprevalence and factors associated with Leptospira infection in an urban
      district of Cali, Colombia.
AB  - Few studies have addressed Leptospira seroprevalence and risk factors in urban
      populations in Colombia. This study aimed to determine seroprevalence and factors
      associated with Leptospira infection in inhabitants of an urban district of Cali,
      Colombia. We collected sociodemographic and environmental data, as well as blood
      samples, from 353 subjects selected through a multistage cluster sampling design.
      We performed microagglutination test for the eight main Leptospira serogroups
      circulating in the region, considering a cut-off titer of >= 1:100. Most
      participants were female (226, 64.8%), with mean age 41.4 years, and 89 (32.6%)
      lived in low-low socioeconomic stratum (SES-1). Overall seroprevalence was 12.2%
      (95%CI: 10.3%-14.4%). Factors associated with Leptospira infection were SES 1,
      older age, single marital status, ethnic groups (Afro-Colombian and
      white/mestizo), school students, absence of toilet, barefoot walking, travel
      outside Cali in the previous month, and absence of skin and mucous-membrane
      lesions in the previous month. Our study suggests domestic and peridomiciliary
      transmission of Leptospira likely related to activities of daily living and
      inadequate environmental conditions. SES-1 is a major factor associated with
      Leptospira infection (adjusted OR = 4.08; 95%CI: 2.54-6.53; p < 0.001),
      suggesting that social and environmental conditions are key elements for
      endemicity of Leptospira infection in the study area. Epidemiological
      surveillance, improvement of environmental and sanitary conditions in various SES
      1 areas, and community educational campaigns are recommended.

PMID- 28614450
TI  - Classification systems for avoidability of infant deaths: different methods,
      different repercussions?
AB  - The objective of this study was to compare the avoidability of infant deaths
      according to different classification methods. This was a descriptive comparative
      study from 2006 to 2013 in Espirito Santo State, Brazil, focusing on the
      classification of 5,316 infant deaths according to five different methods. The
      methods of the International Collaborative Effort on Infant Mortality (ICE) and
      the SEADE Foundation correctly classified the highest proportions of deaths as
      avoidable versus unavoidable (94.6% and 94.4% correct classification,
      respectively). Most deaths resulted from quality problems in prenatal,
      childbirth, and postpartum care, regardless of which classification method was
      used. There were also considerable numbers of deaths from "ill-defined" causes
      according to all the methods, suggesting difficulty in access or precious care in
      health services. Avoidability methods provide an important instrument for
      diagnosis of quality problems in health services performance and orientation of
      measures to reduce avoidable infant deaths. Thus, strengthening maternal and
      child care and investment in training and capacity-building for health
      professionals and services are priorities for public policies to reduce infant
      mortality.

PMID- 28614451
TI  - [Indigenous peoples' access to health services in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso State,
      Brazil].
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate indigenous peoples' access to medium and high
      complexity health services in the municipality of Cuiaba, Mato Grosso State,
      Brazil, through the Casa de Saude Indigena or Indigenous Peoples' Clinic (CASAI
      Cuiaba). A single case study with a qualitative approach was conducted at CASAI
      Cuiaba. Data were obtained from observation of the work routines at CASAI Cuiaba,
      semi-structured interviews with health professionals and administrators from the
      Cuiaba Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI) and CASAI Cuiaba, and document
      analysis. Data analysis used a matrix derived from the theoretical and logical
      model of accessibility, validated by the Delphi method with a group of experts on
      indigenous peoples' health. Despite advances achieved by CASAI in improving
      indigenous peoples' access, there are persistent social, organizational,
      cultural, and geographic barriers in access to medium and high-complexity health
      services in Cuiaba. The study highlights the need for specific strategies to
      improve access to health services by indigenous peoples in Mato Grosso State.

PMID- 28614452
TI  - [Profile of clinical trials enrolling Brazilian children].
AB  - This study aimed to characterize the clinical trials with medicines enrolling
      Brazilian children and adolescents, registered in the databases of Clinical
      Trials and the Brazilian Clinical Trials Network (ReBEC) from 1994 to 2014. Only
      462 clinical trials enrolled Brazilian children and adolescents. There was an
      increase in registrations beginning in 2003, with an important drop in 2011.
      Among these trials, 35.5% were hosted in Brazil. The international clinical
      trials were mostly conducted by North American companies. In both cases,
      multinational industry was the principal source of funding. The clinical trials
      were predominantly phase III with injectable and solid oral pharmaceutical forms
      of antiviral drugs. Domestic clinical trials showed wider variation in the
      pharmaceutical forms and higher percentage of liquid formulations, when compared
      to the international trials. In addition to heavy external dependence for
      conducting clinical trials, the study emphasized the challenge for pediatric care
      in Brazil, which presents epidemiological peculiarities in an environment prone
      to the use of unlicensed medicines for children.

PMID- 28614453
TI  - Dengue infection during pregnancy and adverse maternal, fetal, and infant health
      outcomes in Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil, 2007-2012.
AB  - The effects of dengue infection during pregnancy have not been previously studied
      in Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil. The aim of this study was to determine the
      risks of maternal, fetal, and infant complications resulting from dengue
      infection during pregnancy. The study compared two cohorts of pregnant women,
      exposed versus unexposed to dengue virus, from 2007 to 2012. Incidence rates and
      risk ratios were estimated for maternal, fetal, and infant complications. In the
      exposed cohort there were 3 fetal deaths and 5 neonatal deaths. Two maternal
      deaths were identified in the exposed cohort, as opposed to none in the unexposed
      group (p = 0.040). The exposed cohort showed a risk ratio (RR) of 3.4 (95%CI:
      1.02-11.23) for neonatal death. The risk ratio for early neonatal death was 6.8
      (95%CI: 1.61-28.75). Ten infant deaths occurred in children of exposed pregnant
      women and 7 in unexposed (RR = 6.0; 95%CI: 2.24-15.87). Women infected with
      dengue virus in pregnancy showed increased risk ratio for maternal, neonatal, and
      infant mortality.

PMID- 28614454
TI  - [Health promotion in families with paramyloidosis: the role of elders with
      younger family members].
AB  - Citizens are now partners in the formal health promotion system. In the
      management of hereditary diseases, the role of family members is a vital source
      of support. Elders play a crucial role due to their long relationship with the
      disease and with patients in the family. However, this role has still been
      insufficiently explored, particularly in genetic disorders like paramyloidosis.
      This exploratory qualitative study analyzes the role of elders in families with
      paramyloidosis, in health promotion for younger members. The critical incidents
      technique was applied using a semi-structured interview. The study involved 18
      participants who reported 76 critical incidents. The interviews were taped and
      submitted to content analysis. The principal results suggest the following roles
      for elders with younger family members: act as role models (in behaviors),
      encourage, inform, and support. The older generations can be mobilized by health
      professionals as partners to support younger generations in families with
      paramyloidosis.

PMID- 28614455
TI  - Absence of association between frailty index and survival in elderly Brazilians:
      the FIBRA Study.
AB  - In Brazil, the frailty index has not been evaluated previously for its capacity
      to predict mortality in community-dwelling elderly. The objective of the current
      study was to evaluate the association between frailty index and mortality in the
      elderly. This was a prospective study consisting of data from the FIBRA Network
      2008-2009 in Campinas, Sao Paulo State, with information on community-dwelling
      older adults from the urban area and through the Mortality Information System.
      Comparisons and statistical associations were performed with the following tests:
      Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, chi-square, and Cox regression with 95% confidence
      intervals. A total of 689 older adults participated 72.1 +/- 5.3 years), of whom
      68.8% were women. The prevalence rate for frailty was 38.8%, compared to 51.6%
      for pre-frailty and 9.6% for fit elders; overall mean frailty index was higher in
      women. There was no association between frailty index and chronological age. Cox
      regression showed that the variables age HR: 1.10; 95%CI: 1.05-1.15) and gender
      HR: 0.57; 95%CI: 0.33-0.99) were significantly associated with mortality. No
      association was found between frailty index and mortality HR: 3.02; 95%CI: 0.24
      37.64). Frailty index was not capable of predicting mortality in community
      dwelling elderly Brazilians.

PMID- 28614456
TI  - Waist-to-height ratio as an anthropometric marker of overweight in elderly
      Brazilians.
AB  - This study's objective was to identify the cut-off point for waist-to-height
      ratio (WHtR) with the best sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the elderly
      Brazilian population, using body mass index (BMI) as the anthropometric
      reference. A representative sample of the Brazilian population consisted of 5,428
      elderly individuals participating in an epidemiological survey. The variables
      were weight, height, and waist circumference (WC). WHtR was assessed with BMI as
      the gold standard, using two proposals for classification of the elderly
      population's nutritional status. The ideal cut-off point for WHtR simultaneously
      showing the highest sensitivity and specificity was determined using the receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Sensitivity from 94.9% to 98.4%,
      specificity from 43% to 55.4%, and values for area under the ROC curve from 0.878
      to 0.883 were identified with a cut-off point of 0.55. We recommend use of WHtR
      in clinical practice due to its simplicity and good power to detect overweight in
      the elderly.

PMID- 28614457
TI  - Immediate effects of tongue trills associated with transcutaneous electrical
      nerve stimulation (TENS).
AB  - Purpose: To investigate vocal quality variability after applying tongue trills
      associated with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on the larynx
      of women with normal laryngeal function. Additionally, to verify the effect of
      this technique over time on voice quality. Methods: Participants were 40 women
      (average 23.4 years) without vocal complaints. The procedure involved tongue
      trills with or without TENS for 3 minutes, rest and repeating the technique for
      another 2 minutes. The participants' voices were recorded before (Pre), after
      three minutes (Post 3min) and after two additional minutes (Post 5min) applying
      the technique. TENS with two electrodes was used on the thyroid cartilage. Self
      assessment, acoustic and perceptual analysis were performed. Results: When
      comparing tongue trills in isolation and associated with TENS, a greater sense of
      stability in phonation (self-assessment) and improvement in voice quality
      (perceptual evaluation) was observed in the combination technique. There was no
      statistical difference in acoustics findings between tongue trills in isolation
      and associated with TENS. When comparing the time effect of tongue trills with
      TENS in self-assessment there was a perception of less muscle tension (3min) and
      greater comfort during phonation (5 min); in the acoustic analysis, there was an
      increase of F0 (3 and 5 min) and intensity (5 min) when compared to Pre-moment;
      in the perceptual evaluation, better voice quality (3min). Conclusion: Comparing
      tongue trills in isolation and associated with TENS, there were changes in the
      comfort and muscle tension perception, as well as in vocal quality. On the other
      hand, tongue trills associated with TENS performed in 3 or 5 minutes resulted in
      beneficial effects on the voice identified in the assessments.

PMID- 28614458
TI  - Capacity for self-monitoring reading comprehension in Elementary School.
AB  - Purpose: To investigate the capacity for self-monitoring reading comprehension in
      Brazilian Elementary School students. Methods: Fifty-three Elementary students in
      the 5th and 9th grades from two Public Schools in the city of Sao Paulo were
      assessed. They were selected based on their oral reading rate and grouped
      according to their performance in reading comprehension in the following
      categories: Group with best comprehension: students with adequate rate and
      accuracy, without difficulties in reading comprehension; Group with worst
      comprehension: students with adequate rate and accuracy but with difficulties in
      reading comprehension. Two narrative texts followed by eight questions to assess
      reading comprehension were presented. Two sentences and two words were replaced
      by ungrammatical elements and pseudo-words. Under the condition of spontaneous
      monitoring, students read the text aloud and answered the questions. The analysis
      considered the calculation of hesitation, self-correction, repetitions and
      mistakes. Under the condition of directed monitoring, students were instructed to
      read the text, either aloud or silently, after being told that certain parts of
      the text could not make sense, and they were oriented to underline such parts.
      The analysis was carried out by counting of underlined items. The comparisons
      were made with the Mann-Whitney test. Results: A difference was observed between
      the groups only at the sentence level among the 9th grade schoolchildren under
      the spontaneous monitoring and among the 5th grade schoolchildren under directed
      monitoring. Conclusion: Students with worst comprehension had a poorer
      performance to monitor the presence of ungrammatical sentences than their peers
      with best comprehension.

PMID- 28614459
TI  - The contrast between alveolar and velar stops with typical speech data: acoustic
      and articulatory analyses.
AB  - Purpose: This study used acoustic and articulatory analyses to characterize the
      contrast between alveolar and velar stops with typical speech data, comparing the
      parameters (acoustic and articulatory) of adults and children with typical speech
      development. Methods: The sample consisted of 20 adults and 15 children with
      typical speech development. The analyzed corpus was organized through five
      repetitions of each target-word (/'kap e/, /'tape/, /'galo/ e /'dare/). These
      words were inserted into a carrier phrase and the participant was asked to name
      them spontaneously. Simultaneous audio and video data were recorded (tongue
      ultrasound images). The data was submitted to acoustic analyses (voice onset
      time; spectral peak and burst spectral moments; vowel/consonant transition and
      relative duration measures) and articulatory analyses (proportion of significant
      axes of the anterior and posterior tongue regions and description of tongue
      curves). Results: Acoustic and articulatory parameters were effective to indicate
      the contrast between alveolar and velar stops, mainly in the adult group. Both
      speech analyses showed statistically significant differences between the two
      groups. Conclusion: The acoustic and articulatory parameters provided signals to
      characterize the phonic contrast of speech. One of the main findings in the
      comparison between adult and child speech was evidence of articulatory
      refinement/maturation even after the period of segment acquisition.

PMID- 28614460
TI  - Recommendations for elaboration, transcultural adaptation and validation process
      of tests in Speech, Hearing and Language Pathology.
AB  - Objective: to present a guide with recommendations for translation, adaptation,
      elaboration and process of validation of tests in Speech and Language Pathology.
      Methods: the recommendations were based on international guidelines with a focus
      on the elaboration, translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation process
      of tests. Results: the recommendations were grouped into two Charts, one of them
      with procedures for translation and transcultural adaptation and the other for
      obtaining evidence of validity, reliability and measures of accuracy of the
      tests. Conclusion: a guide with norms for the organization and systematization of
      the process of elaboration, translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation
      process of tests in Speech and Language Pathology was created.

PMID- 28614461
TI  - [Improved Blood Pressure Control to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and
      Mortality: The Standardized Hypertension Treatment and Prevention Project].
AB  - Hypertension is the leading remediable risk factor for cardiovascular disease,
      affecting more than 1 billion people worldwide, and is responsible for more than
      10 million preventable deaths globally each year. While hypertension can be
      successfully diagnosed and treated, only one in seven persons with hypertension
      have controlled blood pressure. To meet the challenge of improving the control of
      hypertension, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the authors
      developed the Standardized Hypertension Treatment and Prevention Project, which
      involves a health systems-strengthening approach that advocates for standardized
      hypertension management using evidence-based interventions. These interventions
      include the use of standardized treatment protocols, a core set of medications
      along with improved procurement mechanisms to increase the availability and
      affordability of these medications, registries for cohort monitoring and
      evaluation, patient empowerment, team-based care (task shifting), and community
      engagement. With political will and strong partnerships, this approach provides
      the groundwork to reduce high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease-related
      morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 28614462
TI  - [Cross-sectional study of intestinal parasitosis in child populations in
      Argentina].
AB  - Objective: Determine the distribution of intestinal parasitosis in children in
      nine provinces representative of Argentina's mosaic of contrasting environments.
      Methods: Descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study of preschool children
      (5 years old or under) and school-age children (6-14 years) in the provinces of
      Buenos Aires (sample taken between 2005 and 2013), Chubut (2010-2013), Corrientes
      (2012), Entre Rios (2010-2012), Formosa (2014), La Pampa (2006), Mendoza (2008
      2011), Misiones (2005-2008 and 2013), and Salta (2012-2013). Serial samples,
      fecal samples, and anal swabs were processed using concentration techniques. The
      results were analyzed by sex, age interval, and province. Frequency of
      parasitosis (monoparasitosis and multiple parasitoses), wealth of species, and
      Sorensen similarity coefficient were calculated. Results: Misiones presented the
      highest frequency of parasitized children and Chubut the lowest (82.0% vs 38.4%;
      p < 0.01). The number of species was greatest in Misiones and Buenos Aires and
      lowest in Chubut and La Pampa. Men were parasitized more than women only in
      Buenos Aires. The highest frequencies were found in preschool children in Buenos
      Aires and schoolchildren in Mendoza and Misiones (p < 0.05). Monoparasitosis was
      most frequent in Chubut (67.9%) and multiple parasitosis in Formosa (69.2%). The
      most frequent species in the majority of provinces were Blastocystis sp. and
      Enterobius vermicularis. Misiones presented the highest frequency of soil
      transmitted helminthes (23.3%) and Mendoza the lowest (0.6%); none were found in
      Chubut, La Pampa, or Salta. Buenos Aires, Formosa, and Misiones presented a
      similar species composition, as did Chubut and La Pampa. Conclusions: The
      frequency of parasitosis in Argentina corresponds to the country's complex mosaic
      of climatic and socioeconomic variability and shows a declining trend from north
      to south and from east to west.

PMID- 28614463
TI  - Health technology assessment: the process in Brazil.
AB  - Objectives: To describe, analyze, and compare the opinions of decisionmakers
      involved in the health technology assessment (HTA) process in Brazil in 2011.
      Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire
      to evaluate the opinions of a convenience sample of health care professionals
      from both the public and private health care systems (HCS). The survey collected
      demographic data for each respondent along with their input on national
      regulations. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, including chi-square
      tests to compare groups. Results: Of the 200 completed questionnaires, 65% of the
      respondents were 31-50 years of age; 36% were HCS managers, 49.3% from the public
      and 50.7% from the private system. The majority of respondents (85%) considered
      the time permitted for submission of new technology to be inadequate; 88% also
      stated that the composition of the evaluation committee needed improvement.
      Respondents from the private health system more frequently stated that submission
      times were inappropriate (P = 0.019) and that the deadline for a decision by the
      committee should be defined (P = 0.021), with a maximum of no more than 180 days
      / 6 months (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Respondents indicated that the HTA process
      should be improved to meet their expectations. Given that new legislation has
      been enacted to continuously accept submissions, to make decisions within 180
      days, and to expand the committee to represent more stakeholders, most of the
      respondents concerns have been addressed. This study is valuable as an historical
      analysis of HTA process improvement. Further surveys are needed to track the new
      HTA process, its application, and its contribution to health care needs in
      Brazil.

PMID- 28614464
TI  - Assessment of current occupational safety and health regulations and legislation
      in the Caribbean.
AB  - Neglecting occupational safety and health (OSH) can have adverse and even deadly
      consequences. While OSH is important in any nation, the issue is particularly
      concerning in developing countries, including ones in the Caribbean. The purpose
      of this study, which was carried out in 2012 and 2013, was to examine the reasons
      for an apparent fundamental lack of awareness of OSH in the Caribbean. We
      conducted a descriptive study, in which a questionnaire was administered, via
      telephone, to key policy-making representatives from six English-speaking
      Caribbean nations, in order to assess the current OSH environment in their
      countries. We also did a situational analysis of current OSH regulations and
      legislation within the six countries. We found that that some of the countries'
      OSH laws are out of date or are limited to a certain type of industry. We also
      found that there is very little documentation on research on exposure to and
      risks from hazards and on psychological and reproductive health as related to
      OSH. It is recommended that these Caribbean countries both increase national OSH
      awareness and strengthen enforcement of OSH regulations. Additionally, further
      assistance and a more coordinated effort from intergovernmental bodies could help
      build and fortify OSH systems in the Caribbean.

PMID- 28614465
TI  - Implementation strategy for advanced practice nursing in primary health care in
      Latin America and the Caribbean.
AB  - SYNOPSIS Advanced practice nursing (APN) is a term used to describe a variety of
      possible nursing roles operating at an advanced level of practice. Historically,
      APN roles haves evolved informally, out of the need to improve access to health
      care services for at-risk and disadvantaged populations and for those living in
      underserved rural and remote communities. To address health needs, especially
      ones related to primary health care, nurses acquired additional skills through
      practice experience, and over time they developed an expanded scope of practice.
      More recently, APN roles have been developed more formally through the
      establishment of graduate education programs to meet agreed-upon competencies and
      standards for practice. The introduction of APN roles is expected to advance
      primary health care throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, where few such
      roles exist. The purpose of the paper is to outline an implementation strategy to
      guide and support the introduction of primary health care APN roles in Latin
      America and the Caribbean. The strategy includes the adaptation of an existing
      framework, utilization of recent research evidence, and application of knowledge
      from experts on APN and primary health care. The strategy consists of nine steps.
      Each step includes a national perspective that focuses on direct country
      involvement in health workforce planning and development and on implementation.
      In addition, each step incorporates an international perspective on encouraging
      countries that have established APN programs and positions to collaborate in
      health workforce development with nations without advanced practice nursing.

PMID- 28614466
TI  - Prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus among women in two English-speaking
      Caribbean countries.
AB  - Objective: To characterize high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in a
      sample of women in two small English-speaking Caribbean countries: Saint Kitts
      and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Methods: Sexually active women >=
      30 years old attending primary care health facilities participated in the study.
      Each participant had a gynecological examination, and two cervical specimens were
      collected: (1) a specimen for a Papanicolaou (Pap) test and (2) a sample of
      exfoliated cervical cells for HPV DNA testing, using the HPV High Risk Screen
      Real-TM (Sacace). High-risk HPV genotypes were assessed in 404 women in Saint
      Kitts and Nevis and 368 women in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Results: High
      risk HPV was detected in 102 of 404 (25.2%) in Saint Kitts and Nevis and in 109
      of 368 (29.6%) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. High-risk HPV genotypes 52,
      35, 51, 45, and 31 were the most common high-risk types in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
      In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the most common high-risk HPV genotypes were
      45, 35, 31, 18, and 51. Current age was found to be significantly associated with
      high-risk HPV infection in both countries. In addition, in Saint Vincent and the
      Grenadines, high parity (> 3 pregnancies) and having had an abnormal Pap smear
      were found to be independent risk factors for high-risk HPV. Conclusions: These
      results contribute to the evidence on HPV prevalence for small island states of
      the Caribbean and support the accelerated introduction of the 9-valent HPV
      vaccine in the two countries and elsewhere in the English-speaking Caribbean. Use
      of the study's results to guide the development of policy regarding
      implementation of HPV testing as the primary screening modality for older women
      is recommended.

PMID- 28614467
TI  - [Epidemiological surveillance of vertical transmission of syphilis: data from six
      federal units in Brazil].
AB  - Objective: To describe the epidemiological profile of reported cases of syphilis
      in pregnancy and congenital syphilis in five states (Amazonas, Ceara, Espirito
      Santo, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Sul) and the Federal District using data
      from the Reportable Disease Information System (SINAN). Method: This descriptive
      study including an ecological and cross-sectional evaluation employed data from
      SINAN Net. The syphilis detection rate in pregnancy and the congenital syphilis
      incidence rate per 1 000 live births were calculated. To identify pregnant women
      with syphilis who had an outcome of congenital syphilis, the two SINAN databases
      were linked using the RecLink software. Because the data were representative at
      the state (not national) level, comparisons were made between the units of the
      federation and not with the sum of cases. Results: A growth in the syphilis
      detection rate in pregnancy was detected, ranging from 21% (Amazonas) to 75% (Rio
      de Janeiro) during the study period. The incidence of congenital syphilis
      followed the same trend of growth (ranging from 35.6% in the Federal District to
      63.9% in Rio Grande do Sul), except for a 0.7% decline in Amazonas. The
      proportion of women with an outcome of congenital syphilis who had prenatal care
      ranged from 67.3% in Amazonas to 83.3% in the Federal District. Of the pregnant
      women with syphilis, 43% had an outcome of congenital syphilis. In pregnant women
      with syphilis and an outcome of congenital syphilis, maternal diagnosis was made
      prenatally in 74% and at delivery in 18%. The moment of diagnosis was ignored in
      8% of the women. Conclusion: The increase in the syphilis detection rate may have
      resulted from an increase in the report rate. Ongoing monitoring of pregnant
      women is essential to eliminate syphilis.

PMID- 28614468
TI  - [Estimating demand for anti-Chagas drugs: a contribution for access in Latin
      America].
AB  - Objective: Describe a tool to estimate demand for benznidazole and nifurtimox to
      treat Chagas disease, and report on its implementation in a group of Latin
      American countries. Methods: The project was carried out in the following stages:
      1) development of a tool to estimate demand, and definition of the evaluation and
      decision variables to estimate demand 2) data collection via a questionnaire
      completed by representatives of control programs, complemented with data from the
      literature; 3) presentation of the tool, followed by validation, and adaptation
      by representatives of the control programs in order to plan drug procurement for
      2012 and 2013; and 4) further analysis of the obtained data, especially regarding
      benznidazole, and comparison of country estimates. Results: Fourteen endemic
      countries of Latin America took part in the third stage, and a consolidated
      estimate was made. The number of estimated treatments, based on the number of
      tablets per treatment established in the regimen of reference was: 867 in the
      group under 1 year of age; 2 042 835 in the group from 1 to 15 years old; 2 028
      in the group from 15 to 20 years old; and 10 248 in adults over 20. This means
      that it is possible to provide benznidazole to less than 1% of people for whom
      treatment is indicated. Conclusions: The development and systematic use of demand
      management tools can play a key role in helping to provide access to the anti
      Chagas drugs. There is a significant gap between the projected demand for drugs
      and current estimates of prevalence rates.

PMID- 28614469
TI  - Assessing the feasibility of the Healthy Life in Suriname Study: using advanced
      hemodynamics to evaluate cardiovascular risk.
AB  - Objectives: To determine the feasibility of assessing population cardiovascular
      risk with advanced hemodynamics in the Healthy Life in Suriname (HELISUR) study.
      Methods: This was a preliminary study conducted in May - June 2012 using the
      Technical-Economic-Legal-Operational-Scheduling (TELOS) method to assess the
      feasibility of the HELISUR-a large-scale, cross-sectional population study of
      cardiovascular risk factors and disease in Suriname. Suriname, a middle-income
      country in South America with a population of mostly African and Asian ethnicity,
      has a high risk of cardiovascular disease. A total of 135 volunteers 18 - 70
      years of age participated. A health questionnaire was tested in a primary health
      care center, and non-invasive cardiovascular evaluations were performed in an
      academic health center. The cardiovascular evaluation included sitting, supine,
      and standing blood pressure, and intermediate endpoints, such as cardiac output,
      peripheral vascular resistance, pulse wave velocity, and augmentation index.
      Results: The TELOS testing found that communicating by cellular phone was most
      effective for appointment adherence, and that completion of the questionnaire
      often required assistance from a trained interviewer; modifications to improve
      the clarity of the questions are recommended. Regarding the extended
      cardiovascular assessments of peripheral and central hemodynamics, the findings
      showed these to be technically and operationally feasible and well tolerated by
      participants, in terms of burden and duration. Conclusions: Findings of this
      feasibility assessment indicate that large-scale, detailed evaluations of
      cardiovascular risk, including a questionnaire and advanced central and
      peripheral hemodynamics, are feasible in a high-risk population in a middle
      income setting.

PMID- 28614470
TI  - [Health technology assessment in Ecuador's ministry of public health as a tool
      for drug purchasing from 2012 to 2015].
AB  - Objective: Learn how the Ministry of Public Health (MSP, the Spanish acronym) of
      Ecuador uses health technology assessment (HTA) in decision-making on the
      purchase of drugs that are not on the National List of Essential Medicines
      (NLEM). Methods: Information from databases of the Health Intelligence
      Directorate (DIS, the Spanish acronym) and the National Directorate of Drugs and
      Medical Devices (DNMDM, the Spanish acronym), was used to compare decisions made
      by both entities, to learn about the use and consistency of HTA reports in
      decisions on purchasing drugs not included in the NLEM. Results: From 2012 to
      2015, 227 reports were issued, of which 87 cover drugs; 36, devices; 29: medical
      procedures; 34: health programs; and 41: other medical technologies. The DNMDM
      requested 59 of the reports on drugs. There was 80% agreement in decisions made
      by the two directorates that participate in the process. Conclusions: The MSP,
      through the DIS, began using HTA in 2012. Given that the majority of reports
      evaluate drugs, it is essential that reports be prepared for other types of
      medical technologies and that they be prepared and used as widely as possible.
      Despite a high level of agreement in decisions, it is important to continue to
      improve the reports' scope and quality, and to monitor adoption and dissemination
      of authorized and funded technologies to learn the effectiveness and impact of
      HTA in Ecuador.

PMID- 28614471
TI  - [Payment mechanisms and financial resources management for consolidation of
      Ecuador's health system].
AB  - Objective: Analyze the proposal by the Ministry of Public Health to reform the
      public financing model in Ecuador with regard to pooling of funds and payment
      mechanisms. Method: A literature review was done of the financing model, the
      current legal framework, and the budgetary bases in Pubmed, SciELO, LILACS
      Ecuador, and regional LILACS using the key words health financing, health
      financing systems, capitation, pooling of funds, health system reform Ecuador,
      health system Ecuador, and health payment mechanisms. Books and other documents
      suggested by health systems experts were also included. Results: Review of the
      financing model enabled identifying the historical segmentation of Ecuador's
      health system; out of this, the Ministry of Public Health conceived its proposal
      to reform the financing model. The Ministry's proposed solutions are pooling of
      funds and payment of services at the first level of care through payment per
      capita adjusted for socioeconomic and demographic risks. Progress made in
      reforming the financing model includes design of the proposals and their
      implementation mechanisms, and discussions with stakeholders. Conclusions:
      Implementation of these changes may produce improvements for the health system in
      efficiency, spreading of risks, incentives for meeting health objectives, as well
      as contribute to its sustainability and advance toward universal health coverage.
      Nevertheless, legal, political, and operational constraints are hampering their
      implementation.

PMID- 28614472
TI  - [Human resources for health in Ecuador's new model of care].
AB  - Objective: Describe strategies implemented by Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health
      (MPH) to strengthen human resources for health leadership and respond to the new
      model of care, as a part of the reform process in the period 2012-2015. Methods:
      A documentary review was carried out of primary and secondary sources on
      development of human resources for health before and after the reform. Results:
      In the study period, Ecuador developed a new institutional and regulatory
      framework for developing human resources for health to respond to the
      requirements of a model of care based on primary health care. The MPH
      consolidated its steering role by forging strategic partnerships, implementing
      human resources planning methods, and making an unprecedented investment in
      health worker training, hiring, and wage increases. These elements constitute the
      initial core for development of human resources for health policy and a health
      services study program consistent with the reform's objectives. Conclusions:
      Within the framework of the reform carried out from 2012 to 2015, intersectoral
      work by the MPH has led to considerable achievements in development of human
      resources for health. Notable achievements include strengthening of the steering
      role, development and implementation of standards and regulatory instruments,
      creation of new professional profiles, and hiring of professionals to implement
      the comprehensive health care model, which helped to solve problems carried over
      from the years prior to the reform.

PMID- 28614473
TI  - [Active community case-finding for uptake of pregnant and postpartum women in
      Ecuador].
AB  - Objective: Document and analyze Ecuador's experience using active community case
      finding for uptake of pregnant and postpartum women in Ecuador. Methods: A cross
      sectional descriptive study was conducted of information obtained on active
      community case-finding of pregnant and postpartum women in the catchment areas of
      200 primary care facilities of Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health. Results:
      Visits were made to 460 451 homes in 20 provinces; 15 622 pregnant women and 4
      014 postpartum women were identified. Of the pregnant women, 89% (13 875) had had
      at least one prenatal check-up, while 70% of postpartum women (4 014) had had at
      least one post-delivery or post-caesarean check-up. Potential risk was identified
      in 29% of pregnant women (4 601). Orellana and Sucumbios provinces had the lowest
      percentages of pregnant women with at least one prenatal check-up and the lowest
      percentages of postpartum women with at least one postpartum checkup. A total of
      3 951 brigades were formed at the national level for this activity. Conclusions:
      Active community case-finding was valuable in identifying pregnant and postpartum
      women who had not been captured by the health system, especially to detect their
      risk status, in addition to the advantages of participatory uptake, especially
      with support from universities with health majors. Low coverage for postpartum
      check-ups underscores the importance of learning why women do not receive this
      care. Similar experiences need to be systematized to improve the process.

PMID- 28614474
TI  - [Food labeling in Ecuador: implementation, results, and pending actions].
AB  - Noncommunicable diseases are the world's leading cause of death, responsible for
      38 million deaths in 2012. This epidemic is primarily associated with smoking,
      excessive alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, and changes in dietary
      patterns, characterized by diets high in sugar and saturated fat, typical of
      processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, plus low intake of fruits and
      vegetables. Ecuador is no exception to this epidemiological profile or to changes
      in eating patterns. Thus, Ecuador's government designed and implemented an action
      plan aimed at changing the obesogenic environment, which includes six strategic
      lines. One of these is implementation of a traffic-light nutritional labeling
      system for processed foods, in late 2014, aimed at guaranteeing people's right to
      timely, clear, accurate, and non-deceptive information on the content and
      characteristics of these foods. This article analyzes implementation of processed
      food labeling and results to date, and proposes complementary measures needed to
      reach the goal in the National Plan for Good Living, in light of new scientific
      evidence and different agreements and regulatory frameworks in our Region.
      Methods included a literature and documentary review, key informant interviews,
      and analysis and processing of secondary sources.

PMID- 28614475
TI  - [Positioning Ecuador in the global health agenda as a result of sector reform].
AB  - Objective: Analyze strategies implemented by Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health
      (MPH) to position the country in the global health agenda during the period 2011
      2015 as a result of health sector reform. Method: Documentary review and
      interviews with stakeholders in national and international agencies with respect
      to positioning in the global health sphere during the study period. Results: It
      was observed that the reform process produced a new framework to manage
      international health relations. The MPH implemented strategies and mechanisms to
      place national health priorities and interests on the global health agenda at
      bilateral, regional, and global levels. As a result, the country took a
      leadership role in certain processes and attained recognition at various
      international forums. Conclusions: The MPH reform process contributed to
      recognition and establishment of Ecuador's public policy priorities in the global
      health agenda through strategies such as giving importance to putting national
      priorities on the global health agenda, guiding the global health approach
      exercised by the highest health authority, developing technical capabilities and
      skills in the International Relations Office, and raising awareness in technical
      bodies.

PMID- 28614476
TI  - Integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood infection saves lives in
      hard-to-reach communities in Nicaragua.
AB  - Objective: To describe Nicaragua's integrated community case management (iCCM)
      program for hard-to-reach, rural communities and to evaluate its impact using
      monitoring data, including annual, census-based infant mortality data. Method:
      This observational study measured the strength of iCCM implementation and
      estimated trends in infant mortality during 2007-2013 in 120 remote Nicaraguan
      communities where brigadistas ("health brigadiers") offered iCCM services to
      children 2-59 months old. The study used program monitoring data from
      brigadistas' registers and supervision checklists, and derived mortality data
      from annual censuses conducted by the Ministry of Health. The mortality ratio
      (infant deaths over number of children alive in the under-1-year age group) was
      calculated and point estimates and exact binomial confidence intervals (CIs) were
      reported. Results: Monitoring data revealed strong implementation of iCCM over
      the study period, with medicine availability, completeness of recording, and
      correct classification always exceeding 80%. Treatments provided by brigadistas
      for pneumonia and diarrhea closely tracked expected cases and caregivers
      consistently sought treatment more frequently from brigadistas than from health
      facilities. The infant mortality ratio decreased more in iCCM areas compared to
      the non-iCCM areas. Statistically significant reduction ranged from 52% in 2010
      (mortality rate ratio 0.48; 95% CI: 0.25-0.92) to 59% in 2013 (mortality rate
      ratio 0.41; 95% CI: 0.21-0.81). Conclusions: The iCCM has been found to be an
      effective and feasible strategy to save infant lives in hard-to-reach communities
      in Nicaragua. The impact was likely mediated by increased use of curative
      interventions, made accessible and available at the community level, and
      delivered through high-quality services, by brigadistas.

PMID- 28614478
TI  - [A participatory model for addressing violence against women in La Araucania,
      Chile].
AB  - Violence against women is considered a public health problem that affects women
      worldwide. Recently, the Directing Council of the Pan American Health
      Organization declared its serious socioeconomic impact in the Region of the
      Americas and committed to undertaking actions in the health services to address
      this problem. Within that framework, this paper describes the steps of a
      participatory action research (PAR) approach that is being implemented in the
      Wenteche Territory of the La Araucania region of Chile, which aims to strengthen
      community bonds, rekindle opportunities for dialogue with and among the people of
      the territory, foster social participation and democracy in the generation of
      pertinent, participatory knowledge regarding this problem, and obtain information
      to support design of an intervention model adapted to local characteristics.

PMID- 28614477
TI  - [Clinical practice guidelines: qualitative study of their implementation in the
      Chilean health system].
AB  - Objective: Characterize the implementation process, barriers, and facilitators of
      evidence-based recommendations in the context of developing clinical practice
      guidelines (CPGs) generated by the Ministry of Health of Chile, in order to make
      proposals to optimize the process. Methods: Qualitative "action-oriented
      research" study. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted and nine
      discussion groups were organized at various levels of the Chilean public health
      system. The analysis was conducted using Atlas.ti(r) software and manually, in a
      content analysis framework, by categorizing and coding information according to
      pre-specified dimensions and with the inclusion of emerging categories where
      relevant. Results: The main challenge mentioned with regard to implementing
      recommendations is the lack of an explicit and structured process. Actors in the
      health system recognize difficulties specific to the context in which the
      recommendations are followed. In this unprecedented institutional review,
      participants suggested a series of strategies that could be implemented to
      overcome these challenges, presented in a management flow chart optimized for the
      development and implementation of CPGs. This process has raised awareness of the
      importance of implementing CPGs in Chile. Conclusion: After characterizing the
      implementation process, barriers, and facilitators, a plan to implement
      recommendations was developed in order to guide and monitor the process. It would
      facilitate the implementation of strategies and the introduction of improvements
      to the CPG development process if key informants inside and outside of the
      Ministry of Health were included in the review process. Studies of this kind
      should be conducted with physicians and patients in order to complement the
      collected information.

PMID- 28614479
TI  - Knowledge of and attitudes toward heel prick screening for sickle cell disease in
      Saint Lucia.
AB  - Objectives: In the Caribbean country of Saint Lucia, umbilical-cord-blood
      screening for sickle cell disease (SCD) was the testing method that health care
      workers (HCWs) on the maternity wards of the hospitals preferred until the new
      heel prick (HP) testing method was introduced in the country in 2014. This SCD
      study sought to assess HCWs' knowledge of and attitude toward HP screening and
      also determine new mothers' favorability toward HP screening. Methods: A total of
      70 HCWs and 132 new mothers answered survey questionnaires in three hospitals. In
      addition, four focus group discussions were held, two with HCWs and two with the
      mothers. Results: Among the HCWs interviewed, 85.7% of them had knowledge of the
      HP test. However, only 25.7% had attended training sessions on the procedure.
      Among the HCWs, 64.3% of them felt the HP test should be mandatory, 27.1% said it
      should not be mandatory, and 8.6% did not know if it should be mandatory. In
      their focus groups, the HCWs said they believed the mothers would accept the HP
      method. For their part, 22.0% of the mothers said they had heard about the HP
      test, and 63.6% reported knowing the reason why the baby would be tested.
      Further, 83.3% indicated that the test would be beneficial for the baby. In
      addition, 88.6% of the mothers said that more information on the HP test was
      needed. In their focus group discussions, the mothers said they were generally
      not concerned about the pain the heel prick method might cause the baby.
      Conclusions: The HCWs' knowledge of the HP screening method was high. The mothers
      trust HCWs, and the mothers would accept the HP procedure irrespective of their
      knowledge of the test and any discomfort associated with this screening method.

PMID- 28614480
TI  - [Child development in poor areas of Peru].
AB  - Objectives: The objective of the study was to demonstrate the influence of
      several socioeconomic factors on the motor and language development of children
      under 5 from the baseline study conducted within the framework of the Joint
      Program for Children, Food Security, and Nutrition, implemented by five United
      Nations agencies across 65 districts in the departments of Loreto, Ayacucho,
      Huancavelica, and Apurimac, Peru. Methods: Dichotomous logistic regression models
      were used to estimate the likelihood of achievement of motor and language
      milestones, while polynomial regression models were used to estimate the last
      milestone achieved and the number of milestones achieved. The study analyzes the
      influence that maternal education, urban vs. rural housing, and unmet basic needs
      have on the difference between actual results and expected results for age was
      analyzed. Results: Children living in rural areas, those whose mothers had low
      educational attainment, and those from households with unmet basic needs
      exhibited poorer outcomes in the two areas of development assessed. As the number
      of risk factors increased, so did the developmental delay. Conclusions:
      Evaluation of child development and follow-up of families during the child
      rearing process should be prioritized by health systems and social programs. The
      instruments used were sensitive to three criteria for validation.

PMID- 28614482
TI  - [Time-trend analysis of diabetes mellitus mortality in Argentina, 1990-2013].
AB  - Objectives: To describe the time trend of mortality attributable to diabetes
      mellitus (DM) in Argentina in the years 1990-2013, by age and sex. Methods:
      Crude, age-specific, and age-adjusted rates of DM mortality in Argentina were
      calculated for the period 1990-2013. Mortality data were obtained from the
      Statistical Report on Deaths issued by the Department of Statistics and Health
      Information. An analysis of this trend was carried out through joinpoint
      regression models. Results: Analysis of the trend of crude and age-adjusted DM
      mortality rates yielded a statistically significant model in which mortality
      increased between 1990 and 2001 and declined thereafter. Furthermore, for age
      adjusted rates, there was a significant downward trend of mortality in women
      (AAPC -1.10, 95%CI -1.70 to -0.50). Age-specific mortality rates multiplied with
      every 10-year increment in age. All age groups older than 50 years showed a
      growing mortality trend between 1990 and 2001. Conclusions: DM mortality mainly
      affects people over the age of 50 and men. A significant downward trend in age
      adjusted DM mortality rates was observed for women. These findings highlight the
      importance of developing policies for prevention and early detection, as well as
      of proper coding of multiple causes of death.

PMID- 28614481
TI  - Persistent arthralgia and related risks factors in laboratory-confirmed cases of
      Chikungunya virus infection in Mexico.
AB  - Objective: To estimate the cumulative incidence of persistent arthralgia at 6
      months from acute Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection and to evaluate the
      association of clinical markers with the risk of long-term arthralgia. Methods:
      This multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted in the Mexican state of
      Colima. A total of 136 individuals aged 15 years and older with serologically
      confirmed CHIKV infection were enrolled. Participants were interviewed at 6
      months from the onset of symptoms, and self-reported persistent arthralgia (PA)
      was the main binary outcome. A self-report numeric rating scale (NRS) ranging
      from 0 to 10 was used to estimate the severity of articular pain. Results: The
      cumulative incidence of PA was 41.9%. Severe pain (NRS >= 7) presented in 36.8%
      of participants with PA. In multiple analysis, individuals aged 40 years and
      older (risk ratio (RR) = 1.60; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-2.48) and those
      with articular pain at 3 months post-infection (RR = 3.95; 95% CI, 1.95-8.01) had
      a significantly increased risk of PA at 6 months from CHIKV infection.
      Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is first report of a CHIKV
      associated long-term outcome in Mexico, where the incidence of the infection has
      been high. This is also the first study in Latin America evaluating several
      factors associated with the risk of PA. Our findings may be useful in health care
      settings to stratify the risk of chronic arthralgia secondary to CHIKV infection
      and to identify patients who would benefit clinically from early medical
      intervention.

PMID- 28614483
TI  - [Public health impact of a remote diagnosis system implemented in regional and
      district hospitals in Paraguay].
AB  - Objective: Determine the viability of a remote diagnosis system implemented to
      provide health care to remote and scattered populations in Paraguay. Methods: The
      study was conducted in all regional and general hospitals in Paraguay, and in the
      main district hospitals in the country's 18 health regions. Clinical data,
      tomographic images, sonography, and electrocardiograms (ECGs) of patients who
      needed a diagnosis by a specialized physician were entered into the system. This
      information was sent to specialists in diagnostic imaging and in cardiology for
      remote diagnosis and the report was then forwarded to the hospitals connected to
      the system. The cost-benefit and impact of the remote diagnosis tool was analyzed
      from the perspective of the National Health System. Results: Between January 2014
      and May 2015, a total of 34 096 remote diagnoses were made in 25 hospitals in the
      Ministry of Health's telemedicine system. The average unit cost of remote
      diagnosis was US$2.6 per ECG, tomography, and sonography, while the unit cost of
      "face-to-face" diagnosis was US$11.8 per ECG, US$68.6 per tomography, and US$21.5
      per sonography. As a result of remote diagnosis, unit costs were 4.5 times lower
      for ECGs; 26.4 times lower for tomography, and 8.3 times lower for sonography. In
      monetary terms, implementation of the remote diagnosis system during the 16
      months of the study led to average savings of US$2 420 037. Conclusion: Paraguay
      has a remote diagnosis system for electrocardiography, tomography, and
      sonography, using low-cost information and communications technologies (ICTs)
      based on free software that is scalable to other types of remote diagnostic
      studies of interest for public health. Implementation of remote diagnosis helped
      to strengthen the integrated network of health services and programs, enabling
      professionals to optimize their time and productivity, while improving quality,
      increasing access and equity, and reducing costs.

PMID- 28614484
TI  - Embedding research to improve program implementation in Latin America and the
      Caribbean.
AB  - In the last 10 years, implementation research has come to play a critical role in
      improving the implementation of already-proven health interventions by promoting
      the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based strategies
      into routine practice. The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research and
      the Pan American Health Organization implemented a program of embedded
      implementation research to support health programs in Latin America and the
      Caribbean (LAC) in 2014-2015. A total of 234 applications were received from 28
      countries in the Americas. The Improving Program Implementation through Embedded
      Research (iPIER) scheme supported 12 implementation research projects led by
      health program implementers from nine LAC countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
      Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Saint Lucia. Through this experience,
      we learned that the "insider" perspective, which implementers bring to the
      research proposal, is particularly important in identifying research questions
      that focus on the systems failures that often manifest in barriers to
      implementation. This paper documents the experience of and highlights key
      conclusions about the conduct of embedded implementation research. The iPIER
      experience has shown great promise for embedded research models that place
      implementers at the helm of implementation research initiatives.

PMID- 28614485
TI  - [Adolescents' access to contraception: perceptions of health workers in
      Huechuraba, Chile].
AB  - Objective: Identify difficulties in adolescents' access to contraceptive care and
      information, based on perceptions and experiences of health workers in
      Huechuraba, in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. Methods: This qualitative,
      descriptive study incorporated principles of participatory action research,
      involving health care teams in the survey and data analysis, and generating
      proposals for improvement. Seventeen (17) semi-structured individual interviews
      and one group interview were conducted with professionals and technical personnel
      involved in adolescent care in the commune's health centers. Results: Health
      workers perceived that adolescents were having difficulties reaching the centers
      due to cultural factors, lack of information, lack of health activities in the
      community, while administrative requirements and procedures hindered access to
      care. Shortcomings were evident in the management and interpretation of fertility
      regulation standards and of current legislation, and in the absence of
      explanatory frameworks recognizing adolescents' gender, sexual, and reproductive
      rights. Conclusions: Adolescents and their needs have a low profile and there are
      conflicts between theory and practice regarding access to contraception and
      counseling, with a lack of definitions or agreements that take into account
      social and cultural contexts. It is urgent to provide health workers with
      training on gender and sexual and reproductive rights, together with
      opportunities for reflection in order to generate coordinated and effective
      approaches. Efforts are required to disseminate the program and organize
      activities in community spaces, together with other community sectors.

PMID- 28614486
TI  - Monitoring modifiable risk factors for breast cancer: an obligation for health
      professionals.
AB  - SYNOPSIS Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common disease in women and
      constitutes the second leading cause of cancer death in this population. The
      factors that contribute to the risk of occurrence are divided into nonmodifiable
      and modifiable factors. Although there are interventions in primary care to
      prevent the disease, these measures have not produced the desired changes in
      women's health. This article reviews the major modifiable risk factors for breast
      cancer and describes how these factors can affect the incidence of cancer in
      women. This information shows that modifiable risk factors (such as physical
      activity, diet, obesity, and use of alcohol and tobacco) can influence the
      occurrence of breast cancer, in part depending on the life stage of a woman,
      including menopausal status. Timely prevention at the primary care level is one
      of the most important areas on which health professionals need to focus in order
      to help reduce the incidence of breast cancer.

PMID- 28614487
TI  - Actual and predicted prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in Latin
      America and the Caribbean: systematic literature review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Objective: To estimate the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy
      among the general population of Latin America and the Caribbean, by country, in
      2012. Methods: Three steps were taken: a comprehensive, systematic literature
      search; meta-analyses, assuming a random-effects model for countries with
      published studies; and regression modelling (data prediction) for countries with
      either no published studies or too few to obtain an estimate. Results: Based on
      24 existing studies, the pooled prevalence of alcohol consumption during
      pregnancy among the general population was estimated for Brazil (15.2%; 95%
      confidence interval [95%CI]: 10.4%-20.8%) and Mexico (1.2%; 95%CI: 0.0%-2.7%).
      The prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy among the general
      population was predicted for 31 countries and ranged from 4.8% (95%CI: 4.2%-5.4%)
      in Cuba to 23.3% (95%CI: 20.1%-26.5%) in Grenada. Conclusions: Greater prevention
      efforts and measures are needed in the countries of Latin America and the
      Caribbean to prevent pregnant women from consuming alcohol during pregnancy and
      decrease the rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Additional high quality
      studies on the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in Latin
      America and the Caribbean are also needed.

PMID- 28614488
TI  - Social inequalities in maternal mortality among the provinces of Ecuador.
AB  - Objective: This study set out to describe the association between the maternal
      mortality ratio (MMR) estimates and a set of socioeconomic indicators and compute
      the MMR inequalities among the provinces of Ecuador. Methods: A cross-sectional
      ecological study was conducted, using data for 2014 from the country's 24
      provinces. The MMR estimate was calculated for each province, as well as the
      association and its strength between MMR and specific socioeconomic indicators.
      For the indicators that were found to be significantly associated with MMR,
      inequality measurements were computed. Results: Despite a relatively low MMR for
      Ecuador overall, ratios differed substantially among the provinces. Five
      socioeconomic indicators proved to be statistically significantly associated with
      MMR: total fertility rate, the percentage of indigenous population, the
      percentage of households with children who do not attend school, gross domestic
      product, and the percentage of houses with electrical service. Of these five,
      only three had MMR inequalities that were significant: total fertility rate,
      gross domestic product, and the percentage of households with electricity.
      Conclusions: This study supports research arguing that national averages can be
      misleading, as they often hide differences among subgroups at the local level.
      The findings also suggest that MMR is significantly associated with some
      socioeconomic indicators, including ones linked with significant health outcome
      inequalities. In order to reduce health inequities, it is crucial that countries
      look beyond national averages and identify the subgroups being left behind,
      explore the particular social determinants that generate these health
      inequalities, and examine the specific barriers and other factors affecting the
      subgroups most vulnerable to maternal health inequalities.

PMID- 28614489
TI  - Maternal recognition of child mental health problems in two Brazilian cities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify child behaviors and types of impairment that increase the
      likelihood of maternal recognition of emotional/behavioral problems (EBP) in
      children and adolescents. METHODS: Maternal-reported data were obtained from two
      subsamples of 11-to-16-year-olds derived from cross-sectional studies conducted
      in two Brazilian municipalities: Itaborai, state of Rio de Janeiro (n=480), and
      Embu, state of Sao Paulo (n=217). The Itaborai study involved a representative
      sample of 6-to-16-year-olds (n=1,248; response rate = 86.0%) selected from the
      Family Health Program registry, which covered 85.5% of the municipal population.
      The Embu study was based on a probabilistic sample of clusters of eligible
      households (women aged 15-49 years, child < 18 years), with one mother-child pair
      selected randomly per household (n=813; response rate = 82.4%). The outcome
      variable was mother's opinion of whether her child had EBP. Potential correlates
      included types of child behaviors (hyperactivity/conduct/emotional problems as
      isolated or combined conditions) and impairment, assessed using the Strengths and
      Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); child's age and gender; maternal education and
      anxiety/depression (assessed using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire [SRQ]).
      RESULTS: Multivariate regression models identified the following correlates of
      maternal perception of child EBP: comorbidity (co-occurring
      hyperactivity/conduct/emotional problems), emotional problems alone, and
      interference of problems with classroom learning and friendships. CONCLUSION:
      Comorbidity of different problem types, emotional problems alone, and
      interference with classroom learning and friendships increase the likelihood of
      maternal recognition of EBP in children.

PMID- 28614490
TI  - Empathic skills and theory of mind in female adolescents with conduct disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Most studies on conduct disorder (CD) have focused on male
      adolescents, disregarding analysis of this psychopathology in women. The purpose
      of this study was to identify differences in empathy and theory of mind (ToM) in
      a group of adolescent women with CD and a control group. METHOD: Thirty-six
      adolescent women were selected from an initial sample of 239 adolescents (CD
      group = 18, control group = 18). Empathy and ToM were evaluated through objective
      instruments. Mean comparisons and multivariate analysis were performed to
      ascertain differences between cases and controls and to propose a prediction
      model based on clinical status. RESULTS: Significant differences in empathic
      abilities and ToM were found between the groups. The model that differentiated
      both groups was composed of eye-reading ability, perspective taking, and personal
      distress. CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with previous studies.
      Capacity to take the other's perspective and the recognition of emotions in the
      face are protective factors against CD in women.

PMID- 28614491
TI  - Depression and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
AB  - Depression is a complex condition, and its classical biological/psychosocial
      distinction is fading. Current guidelines are increasingly advocating
      psychotherapy as a treatment option. Psychodynamic psychotherapy models encompass
      a heterogeneous group of interventions derived from early psychoanalytic
      conceptualizations. Growing literature is raising awareness in the scientific
      community about the importance of these treatment options, as well as their
      favorable impact on post-treatment outcomes and relapse prevention. Considering
      the shifting paradigm regarding treatment of depressive disorder, the authors aim
      to provide a brief overview of the definition and theoretical basis of
      psychodynamic psychotherapy, as well as evaluate current evidence for its
      effectiveness.

PMID- 28614492
TI  - Clinical improvement in patients with borderline personality disorder after
      treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation: preliminary results.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Current treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) consists of
      psychotherapy and pharmacological interventions. However, the use of repetitive
      transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) could be beneficial to improve some BPD
      symptoms. The objective of this study was to evaluate clinical improvement in
      patients with BPD after application of rTMS over the right or left dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). METHOD: Twenty-nine patients with BPD from the
      National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico, were randomized in two groups to
      receive 15 sessions of rTMS applied over the right (1 Hz, n=15) or left (5 Hz,
      n=14) DLPFC. Improvement was measured by the Clinical Global Impression Scale for
      BPD (CGI-BPD), Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST), Beck
      Depression Inventory (BDI), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Barratt
      Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). RESULTS: Intragroup comparison showed significant (p <
      0.05) reductions in every psychopathologic domain of the CGI-BPD and in the total
      scores of all scales in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both protocols produced global
      improvement in severity and symptoms of BPD, particularly in impulsiveness,
      affective instability, and anger. Further studies are warranted to explore the
      therapeutic effect of rTMS in BPD. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02273674

PMID- 28614493
TI  - Bipolar disorders: is there an influence of seasonality or photoperiod?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To increase understanding of the influence of photoperiod variation in
      patients with bipolar disorders. METHODS: We followed a sample of Italian bipolar
      patients over a period of 24 months, focusing on inpatients. All patients
      admitted to the Psychiatric Inpatient Unit of San Luigi Gonzaga Hospital in
      Orbassano (Turin, Italy) between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2015 were
      recruited. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected. RESULTS: Seven
      hundred and thirty patients were included. The admission rate for bipolar
      patients was significantly higher during May, June and July, when there was
      maximum sunlight exposure, although no seasonal pattern was found. Patients with
      (hypo)manic episodes were admitted more frequently during the spring and during
      longer photoperiods than those with major depressive episodes. CONCLUSIONS:
      Photoperiod is a key element in bipolar disorder, not only as an environmental
      factor but also as an important clinical parameter that should be considered
      during treatment.

PMID- 28614494
TI  - Further evidence of psychological factors underlying choice of elective cesarean
      delivery (ECD) by primigravidae.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Requests for elective cesarean delivery (ECD) have increased in Iran.
      While some sociodemographic and fear-related factors have been linked with this
      choice, psychological factors such as self-esteem, stress, and health beliefs are
      under-researched. METHODS: A total of 342 primigravidae (mean age = 25 years)
      completed questionnaires covering psychological dimensions such as self-esteem,
      perceived stress, marital relationship quality, perceived social support, and
      relevant health-related beliefs. RESULTS: Of the sample, 214 (62.6%) chose to
      undergo ECD rather than vaginal delivery (VD). This choice was associated with
      lower self-esteem, greater perceived stress, belief in higher susceptibility to
      problematic birth and barriers to an easy birth, along with lower perceived
      severity of ECD, fewer perceived benefits from VD, lower self-efficacy and a
      lower feeling of preparedness. No differences were found for marital relationship
      quality or perceived social support. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern suggests that
      various psychological factors such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and perceived
      stress underpin the decision by primigravidae to have an ECD.

PMID- 28614495
TI  - Political Analysis in Health: the contribution of the Observatory for Political
      Analysis in Health (OAPS).

PMID- 28614496
TI  - The republic in crisis and future possibilities.
AB  - This text gives a brief reconstruction of the process of impeachment of Brazil's
      President Dilma Rousseff, which was a 'coup' effected through parliament, and
      situates it at the end of three periods of politics in the Brazilian republic:
      the first, broader, and democratizing; the second, the age of the PT (Workers'
      Party) as the force with the hegemony on the left; and the third, shorter, the
      cycle of its governments. Together, these phases constitute a crisis of the
      republic, although not a rupture of the country's institutional structure, nor a
      'State of Exception'. The paper puts forward three main issues: the
      developmentalist project implemented by the governments of the PT, in alliance
      with Brazil's construction companies; the role of the judiciary, and in
      particular of 'Operation Carwash'; and the conflict-beset relationship between
      the new evangelical churches and the LGBT social movements. The essay concludes
      with an assessment of the defeat and isolation of the left at this moment, and
      also suggests that democracy, in particular, could be the kernel of a renewed
      project of the left.

PMID- 28614497
TI  - Fiscal Responsibility Law and expenditure on health personnel: an analysis of the
      condition of Brazilian municipalities from 2004 to 2009.
AB  - The limits for expenditure on personnel that were imposed by the Fiscal
      Responsibility Act (FRA) have been considered by local health managers as an
      obstacle to health sector policies. This paper analyzes the linear trend for the
      personnel expenses indicators and the correlation of this with the profile of
      spending on health care personnel in 5,356 Brazilian municipalities from 2004 to
      2009. The study of the time series used data from the 'Financas do Brasil'
      (Finbra) and data from the Information System on Public Health Budgets (SIOPS).
      There was a trend towards an increase of 1.3% in the annual average of total
      personnel expenditure in the municipalities, but the cost of health care staff
      did not follow that growth. There were no correlations between the indicators,
      and this result is contrary to the arguments given by the health managers. They
      attribute the problems with hiring workers and the expansion of health systems to
      the FRA. The availability of data from the Finbra and the Siops system is
      associated with a lack of knowledge on these issues. This makes it an opportune
      time for conducting new research.

PMID- 28614498
TI  - The impact of the Bolsa Familia Program on food consumption: a comparative study
      of the southeast and northeast regions of Brazil.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Bolsa Familia Program
      (PBF) on food consumption in the northeast and southeast regions of Brazil. The
      database was obtained from the individual food consumption module of the
      Household Budget Survey conducted in 2008-09. Consumption was assessed through
      two food records. The food was categorized into four groups: fresh or minimally
      processed food; culinary ingredients; processed food; and ultra-processed food.
      To analyze the impact, the propensity score matching method was used, which
      compares the individual recipients and non-recipients of the PBF in relation to a
      group of socioeconomic characteristics. After the propensity score was
      calculated, the impact of the PBF was estimated through the nearest-neighbor
      matching algorithm. In both regions, more than 60% of the daily total calories
      consumed by PBF recipients came from foods that had not undergone industrial
      processing. The recipients of PBF had a low level of consumption of processed and
      ultra-processed food in both regions, and an increased level of consumption of
      fresh or minimally processed food in the northeast. The results indicate the
      importance of adopting intersectoral policies in parallel to the PBF in order to
      strengthen healthy eating practices.

PMID- 28614499
TI  - Intersectorality in the 'Health in Schools' Program: an evaluation of the
      political-management process and working practices.
AB  - This study analyzed inter-sectoral activities between the health and education
      sectors in implementing the Health in Schools program in a city within a
      metropolitan region in northeast Brazil. Analysis of the political-management
      process looked at the following dimensions: professional practices and subject
      understanding of intersectorality. The results show that subjects define
      intersectorality as partnership and joint efforts. Regarding decision making and
      resource mobilization, during program implementation we noticed that healthcare
      leads, and education tends to play a more peripheral role. Health activities in
      the schools use a biomedical approach and primarily consist of lectures. We
      believe that the program strengthened the relationship between these two sectors.
      However, intersectoral coordination in the political-management process and
      practices show weaknesses and limitations.

PMID- 28614500
TI  - Oral health policy in Brazil between 2003 and 2014: scenarios, proposals,
      actions, and outcomes.
AB  - This study examined the implementation of Brazil's National Oral Health Policy by
      the three governments during the period 2003 to 2014. It provides a general
      overview of oral health care scenarios and examines institutional proposals and
      actions developed by the executive branch based on the components of the health
      care system. A documental analysis was conducted using documents produced by key
      government agencies. The findings show that there was an increase in the
      provision and coverage of public dental services between 2003 and 2006 and that
      rates were maintained to a certain degree in subsequent periods (2007 to 2010 and
      2011 to 2014). There was an expansion in government funding, human resources and
      infrastructure. The amount of funds transferred to state and local governments
      increased from 83.4 million in 2003 to 916 million in 2014, equivalent to a 10.9
      fold increase. However, the use of public dental services remained stable, with
      only a slight increase from 29.7% in 2003 to 30.7% in 2008, while private service
      utilization increased from 64.4% in 2003 to 74.3% in 2013. The care model
      component was given lowest priority by the three governments. This shortcoming
      influences policy effectiveness and requires the adoption of future measures by
      healthcare managers and officials to correct the situation.

PMID- 28614501
TI  - The Group Oral Health Movement in Brazil.
AB  - Group Oral Health (GOH) is a specific phenomenon in time, separate from other
      "Alternative Odontology", and a theoretical reference for dental practice in
      healthcare services. This study is an attempt to understand how long "Alternative
      Odontology" will remain with the social context of struggling for oral health in
      Brazil, based on the positions of the founding agents and their precursors,
      bearing in mind the concepts of GOH, GH (Group Health) and the SUS (Unified
      Healthcare System). We started out with Pierre Bourdieu's Practice Theory,
      complemented with Gramsci's concept of hegemony and counter-hegemony. We
      completed 12 in-depth interviews, reviewed the literature and analyzed the
      scientific output. We also looked at the trajectories of the agents and their
      capital between 1980 and 2013. The results show that the concept of GOC and GH as
      a breach with health practices, which gave rise to "Alternative Odontology",
      prevailed among those with the political will to defend democracy and Healthcare
      Reforms. Although GOC is a critical proposal, the older "Odontology" remains in
      scientific journals, and in the practice of oral care.

PMID- 28614502
TI  - Continuous Health Education policy in Brazil: the contribution of the Teaching
      Service Integration Standing Committees.
AB  - The article analyzes the role of Permanent Committees of Teaching-Service
      Integration (CIES) in the implementation of Permanent Education in Health Policy
      (EPS). It is a multicenter study with a qualitative-quantitative approach which
      used a self-applied online questionnaire and a semi-structured interview for data
      collection. The key respondants were the responsible for EPS Policy of the 27
      State Health Secretariats (SES) and 7 coordinators of CIESs of the five regions
      of Brazil. The findings showed the existence of a specific EPS sector in most
      SES; high level of schooling, experience and stable employment status of the
      managers. Regarding CIESs, it was verified: existence in most of the states;
      creative process diversity; plural composition; regularity of meetings; good
      relationship with training institutions; difficulties in the use and management
      of resources destined for EPS. The study indicated progress, showing the
      importance of these instances as spaces of negotiation, agreement and development
      of EPS. However, challenges still need to be overcome in order to consolidate
      projects in the SES, strengthening the PNEPS.

PMID- 28614503
TI  - User satisfaction with primary health care by region in Brazil: 1st cycle of
      external evaluation from PMAQ-AB.
AB  - The National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in Primary Care (Programa
      Nacional de Melhoria do Acesso e da Qualidade da Atencao Basica, PMAQ-AB) aimed
      to improve healthcare public service quality and satisfaction of health service
      users. This study's objective was to identify the main factors influencing user
      satisfaction with primary care (PC) services by region in Brazil. Using secondary
      data from the 1st Cycle of PMAQ-AB, logistic regression models were developed by
      region, with user satisfaction as the dependent variable, as defined by cluster
      analysis. Based on the obtained models, the health unit's ability to solve users'
      problems and feeling respected by the health providers were the most important
      factors for user satisfaction in all regions in Brazil. However, other important
      factors by region included the following: the health unit's hours of operation
      meeting the user's needs (Northeast); providers asking about family members
      (North); providers asking about other health needs (Midwest); users being seen
      without an appointment (South); and users asking questions after the appointment
      (Southeast). In conclusion, the factors influencing user satisfaction with PC
      vary according to region and are mainly associated with access quality, meeting
      users' needs, and work process organization.

PMID- 28614504
TI  - Care coordination in primary health care: an evaluative study in a municipality
      in the Northeast of Brazil.
AB  - International and Brazilian studies have highlighted the importance of the
      coordination of care for the organization of local health systems. This study
      aimed to analyze the coordination of care by Primary Health Care (PHC) in a
      municipal health system in the State of Bahia. This study was conducted in the
      lead municipality of the macro-region and involved two levels of analysis: PHC
      team and municipal management. Outlining conditions for the study were defined
      (hypertension and diabetes mellitus) and an objective image corresponding to the
      coordination of care was developed based on current national and international
      literature review. Semi-structured interviews with professionals, managers of PHC
      services were conducted and current documentary sources were also used. It was
      demonstrated that the coordination of care has not been met by municipal systems,
      where only 14 of the 22 proposed criteria have been met. The main difficulties
      and reasons were: a lack of health care protocols and the non-implementation of
      computer systems and telecommunication technologies. The results and the
      conceptual framework to assess the coordination of care are relevant
      contributions to this study, which can be applied to other contexts with similar
      characteristics.

PMID- 28614505
TI  - Why do people appeal to the courts for access to medication? The case of insulin
      analogues in Bahia (Brazil).
AB  - Insulin analogues have been the object of controversy concerning their
      therapeutic superiority to human insulin. Perhaps, in part, because of this,
      insulin analogues are frequently the subject of lawsuits. The judicialization of
      health has been well studied, but little is known about the reasons that lead
      people to go to the courts to obtain access to medicines on SUS (the Brazilian
      National Health System). Therefore, this study aims to analyze the reasons that
      led people to appeal to the courts to obtain access to insulins analogues in the
      state of Bahia. This is a case study based on documentary sources. Between 2010
      and 2013, 149 lawsuits requiring insulin analogues from the state health
      authority were filed in the courts. The main reasons for the appeal to the
      courts, cited in the cases, can be grouped into four categories: the users' lack
      of finances, an essential need for insulin analogue, the duty and obligation of
      the state to provide them and bureaucratic difficulties. People turned to the
      courts, mostly, because doctors who accompany their patients have shifted from
      the official policy, believing that insulin analogues are better than human
      insulins. They also recognize that the public health system does not distribute
      them nor does it give doctors the wherewithal to purchase them with their own
      resources.

PMID- 28614506
TI  - Health work: portrait of community workers in the Northeast region of Brazil.
AB  - The aim of this study was to characterize the profile of community health workers
      in northeastern Brazil and aspects related to the management of their work. This
      is a cross-sectional study, which included 535 community agents who were
      distributed in 107 primary health units in northeastern Brazil. The data were
      extracted from eight blocks of questions related to the community agents'
      perceptions about social-demographic, economic and political factors; their
      contracts and remuneration; their evaluation as workers; their working conditions
      and their training. The results indicate that the majority of community agents in
      the northeast region were hired by direct administration. The main form of hiring
      community agents was by public exam, followed by public selection. Direct
      administration is the main form of hiring; however, new modalities, such as the
      public and private law foundations, social organizations, and inter-municipal
      consortiums are alternatives that have been adopted by managers which can produce
      a number of weaknesses due to flexible labor relations.

PMID- 28614507
TI  - Interview with Jairnilson Paim.
AB  - In this interview, Jairnilson Paim, coordinator of the Health Policy Analysis
      Project in Brazil (2003-2017) and of the Political Analysis in Health's
      Observatory (OAPS), supported by CNPq, highlights the OAPS's purposes in
      socializing the knowledge produced in research and to stimulate the political
      analysis in health from facts in the conjuncture. He reports that the Observatory
      has three layers, one consisting of 11 research axes, another showing the
      specific policies accompanying and the most visible that disseminates news and
      analysis of the conjuncture. It emphasizes a positive appreciation of the OAPS
      experience, highlighting the theoretical-methodological rigor and the search for
      evidence with the greatest possible objectivity, although inspired by democratic
      and emancipatory values for Brazilian society.

PMID- 28614508
TI  - Performance of primary health care according to PCATool instrument: a systematic
      review.
AB  - This study aims to analyze studies that evaluated the performance of Primary
      Health Care (PHC) services by using the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool)
      under a worldwide user perspective. This is a systematic review that implemented
      the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
      model, from the following databases: Lilacs, Medline, SciELO, PubMed and the
      Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) Journals
      Website, using descriptors Primary Care Assessment Tool and PCATool. Considering
      inclusion and exclusion criteria, we analyzed 22 research papers published from
      2007 to 2015. The best-evaluated attributes were cultural competence, first
      contact use and longitudinality. On the other hand, the worst evaluated were
      first contact accessibility, family orientation, community orientation and
      comprehensiveness. Most of the health services evaluated were from Brazil,
      applied to "traditional" primary care clinic (UBS) and the Health Family Strategy
      (FHS). Services evaluated should strengthen structure and process components to
      achieve a better performance in PHC.

PMID- 28614509
TI  - [Hospital management in Brazil: a review of the literature with a view toenhance
      administrative practices in hospitals].
AB  - Hospitals are complex organizations which, in addition to the technical
      assistance expected in the context of treatment and prevention of health hazards,
      also require good management practices aimed at improving their efficiency in
      their core business. However, in administrative terms, recurrent conflicts arise
      involving technical and managerial areas. Thus, this article sets out to conducta
      review of the scientific literature pertaining to the themes of hospital
      management and projects that have been applied in the hospital context. In terms
      of methodology, the study adopts the webiblioming method of collection and
      systematic analysis of knowledge in indexed journal databases. The results show a
      greater interest on the part of researchers in looking for a more vertically and
      horizontally dialogical administration, better definition of work processes,
      innovative technological tools to support the management process and finally the
      possibility of applying project management methodologies in collaboration with
      hospital management.

PMID- 28614510
TI  - Relationship between risk classifications used to organize the demand for oral
      health in a small city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - Oral health teams can work with both information of the people related to the
      family context as individual epidemiological through risk ratings, considering
      equity and service organization. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the
      association between tools that classify individual and family risk. The study
      group consisted of students from the age group of 5-6 years and 11-12 years who
      were classified regarding risk of caries and whether their parents had
      periodontal disease, in addition to the family risk. There was an association
      between the risk rating for decay in children (n = 128) and family risk
      classification with Coef C = 0.338 and p = 0.01, indicating that the higher the
      family's risk, the higher the risk of caries. Similarly, the association between
      the risk classification for periodontal disease in parents and family risk
      classification with Coef C = 0.5503 and p = 0.03 indicated that the higher the
      family risk, the higher the risk of periodontal disease. It can be concluded that
      the use of family risk rating tool is indicated as a possibility of ordering
      actions of the dental service, organizing their demand with greater equity, in
      this access door.

PMID- 28614511
TI  - [Public Health and Physical Education: divergences and interfaces].
AB  - The article examines divergences and interfaces between the fields of Physical
      Education (PE) and Public Health (PH) in the Brazilian context, highlighting
      tensions in the supremacy for scientific authority and competence in line with
      the concepts of 'scientific field' and 'nuclei of knowledge'. Understanding PH as
      an institutionalized, legitimized and scientifically consolidated field with
      three fundamental nuclei: Epidemiology; Social and Human Sciences; and Policy,
      Planning and Management; we show its approximation to the PE field, resulting in
      specific knowledge and practices of PE in PH. By stressing risks of a sedentary
      lifestyle, Epidemiology was the first nucleus of linkage to this new field.
      Nevertheless, reflections from the Social Sciences broaden the understanding of
      the PE/PH objects of study by recognizing the multidimensional nature of the
      corporal culture related to health. However, the Policies nucleus only took shape
      when physical activity became a priority in a set of policies and programs to
      combat chronic diseases and promote health. Tensions between the biological and
      social paradigms define the configuration of the fields and represent a major
      challenge to be overcome by PE/PH, albeit the critical benchmark in health offers
      a promising way for overcoming it.

PMID- 28614512
TI  - Sexual and reproductive health among young people, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AB  - We aimed to analyze the geographic distribution, the structure of healthcare
      services and the human resources of all units of the Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS 
      the Unified Health System) that provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH)
      services to the adolescent population in the second largest city in Brazil. We
      conducted a cross-sectional study with geographical mapping and data collection
      through a questionnaire applied in person with coordinators of the units or their
      representatives in 147 outpatient clinics in Rio de Janeiro that have SSR
      services. We found that in over 90% of the units, adolescents are treated
      together with the adult population, without particular shifts or rooms for this
      age group. In more than 10% of services, treatment is only provided with the
      presence of the guardian. In cases of sexual violence, this proportion is 34%.
      Specific educational activities for this age group are only carried out in 12.9%
      of units and less than one third of doctors had received some kind of training to
      deal with adolescent health. In conclusion, despite the wide geographic
      distribution of health facilities, the structure of care and the human resources
      do not meet the specific needs of adolescents.

PMID- 28614513
TI  - Primary care and collaborative care in children and adolescents psychosocial
      interventions: facilitators and barriers.
AB  - Considering the care gap in child and youth psychosocial care, the articulation
      of the intra-sectoral network is an important strategy to promote less fragmented
      care flows. The study analyzes facilitators and obstacles to collaborative care
      between the Family Health Strategy (ESF) and a Child and Youth Psychosocial Care
      Center (CAPSi) in Rio de Janeiro/RJ. This is an exploratory study with a
      qualitative approach, which main methodological tools were focus and intervention
      groups. From the proposed thematic axes, we identified that the perception of
      child and adolescent mental health problems by ESF workers was named by the
      behavioral changes located in a context of vulnerability. The main obstacles to
      implementing actions were lack of knowledge about how to provide care, work
      process-related issues and network disarticulation. Even if ESF professionals are
      able to identify mental health problems of children and adolescents, care actions
      are fragile and network articulation is practically nonexistent. Collaborative
      care was recognized as a strategy to validate child psychosocial care.

PMID- 28614515
TI  - Participatory evaluation of the quality of health information on the internet:
      the case of dengue sites.
AB  - The world has witnessed a powerful and radical transformation of social, economic
      and cultural relationships promoted by the Internet. The Internet provides
      opportunities for access, dissemination and production of information worldwide.
      Health, for example, stands out as one of the main areas with information of
      interest to a growing number of users. However, this information is often
      unsatisfactory, incorrect or incomprehensible. This paper analyzes an experiment
      of evaluation of information on dengue websites developed in a laboratory of the
      Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. It counted on the participation of a group of Manguinhos
      dwellers and Public Health PHC physicians, infectious disease specialists and
      public health physicians in the development of criteria and the evaluation of
      websites. This paper shows the main results of this experience, which is
      innovative because its paper and product differ from those proposed by national
      and foreign agencies and analysts. This experience supports the establishment of
      an institutional process that issues a quality seal to websites that comply with
      the suggested criteria and indicators.

PMID- 28614514
TI  - Factors associated with the use of the Child Health Handbook in a large city of
      the Brazilian Northeast, 2009.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with mothers reading the
      Child Health Handbook (CHH) and health professionals completing this instrument,
      in Feira de Santana, Bahia, 2009. This is a cross-sectional study with the
      application of 727 forms to mothers of children under one year of age. The
      outcomes studied were mother reading the CHH and health professionals completing
      weight and height measures. We performed a logistic regression analysis with p <=
      0.05. The prevalence of reading, weight and height were, respectively, 81.1%,
      68.9% and 47.3%. Mothers with a higher level of education had a greater chance of
      reading the CHH. Recording weight and height was more prevalent in mothers who
      were under 35 years of age. Performing childcare in areas of the Family Health
      Program or the Community Health Workers was positively associated with the
      height's record, despite the low prevalence of records. Child age greater than
      six months was positively associated with all outcomes. It demonstrated the
      underutilization of CHH by mothers and health professionals, which indicates the
      need for training of health professionals and guidance to mothers on the
      importance and management of this issue.

PMID- 28614516
TI  - Coordinated care for tuberculosis: data registration and implementation of a
      computerized system.
AB  - Objective: to analyze sources of data for tuberculosis (TB) before and after the
      implementation of the Computerized System to Record Care for TB in Ribeirao Preto
      - SP. Method: Intervention, descriptive-analytical epidemiological study. Data
      was collected from secondary sources using a structured form, and analyzed using
      Chi-squared or Fisher's Exact Test, with a significance level of 5%. Results: We
      found an association between the period before implementation of the system and
      placing the Directly Observed Treatment Card in the file, and registration of
      instructions for the return visit by the nursing team. The latter was associated
      with an increase in registered data regarding TB patient telephone number,
      address, end of treatment date, status at closing, sputum smear results for
      monthly control, HIV test, monthly checkups, tests ordered by physician, social
      worker visits, patient living conditions, contact control, social incentives and
      the use of drugs and alcohol. Conclusion: Implementing the system improved the
      registration of a number of variables, despite the fact that other sources of
      data other than the system continue to exist.

PMID- 28614517
TI  - Economic growth and inflation rate: implications for municipal revenue and health
      expenditure of the municipalities of Pernambuco, Brazil.
AB  - This paper analyzes the implications of municipal budget revenue growth and the
      monetary policy's inflation rates goals in the availability of public health
      resources of municipalities. This is a descriptive, exploratory, quantitative,
      retrospective and longitudinal cross-sectional study covering the period 2002
      2011. We analyzed health financing and expenditure variables in the
      municipalities of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, describing the trend and the
      relationship between them. Data showed the growth of the variables and trend
      towards homogeneity. The exception was for the participation of Intergovernmental
      Transfers in the Total Health Expenditure of the Municipality. We found a
      significant correlation between Budget Revenue per capita and Health Expenditure
      per capita and a strong significant negative correlation between Inflation Rate,
      Budget Revenue per capita and Health Expenditure per capita. We concluded that
      increased health expenditure is due more to higher municipal tax revenue than to
      increased transfers that, in relative terms, did not increase. The strong inverse
      relationship between inflation rate and the Financing and Expenditure variables
      show that the monetary policy's inflation goals have restricted health financing
      to municipalities.

PMID- 28614518
TI  - Rationalization and sensemaking in care management: an experience of change in a
      hospital of the SUS (Unified Health System).
AB  - This study aimed to analyze organizational processes of change in the hospital
      care management by using qualitative evaluation developed in the case study. The
      study was developed at the Hospital Fornecedores de Cana de Piracicaba, in Sao
      Paulo State, Brazil, in September and October of 2012. There were 25 interviews
      with members of the senior board of directors of the hospital, managers and
      health professionals linked to healthcare of adults, in addition to the analysis
      of managerial documents and observations of some activities. In this article it
      is analyzed part of the results, dividing the organizational change in three
      axes: the planning process developed in the healthcare sectors; The
      protocol/creation of assisted routines in order to obtain better efficiency and
      safety for the patient; and the work of hospitalist physicians. The study
      highlights the complexity of the processes of change in the care management
      sphere in hospitals and the dynamism between a given management concept and its
      rational tools and the subjects and groups that seek, in the micropolitic and
      intersubjective processes, meanings to their practices.

PMID- 28614519
TI  - Historical and cultural aspects of the provision of care at an indigenous
      healthcare service facility.
AB  - This case study aimed to interpret the underlying historical and cultural aspects
      of the provision of care at an indigenous healthcare service facility. This is an
      interpretive, case study-type research with qualitative approach, which was
      conducted in 2012 at the Indigenous Health Support Center (CASAI) of the State of
      Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected by means systematic observation,
      documentary analyses and semi-structured interviews with ten health
      professionals. Data review was performed according to an approach based on social
      anthropology and health anthropology. The anthropological concepts of social code
      and ethnocentrism underpinned the interpretation of outcomes. Two categories were
      identified: CASAI, a space between streets and village; Ethnocentrism and
      indigenous health care. Healthcare practice and current social code are
      influenced by each other. The street social code prevails in the social
      environment under study. The institutional organization and professionals'
      appreciation of the indigenous biological body are decisive to provision of care
      under the streets social code perspective. Professionals' concepts evidence
      ethnocentrism in healthcare. Workers, however, try to adopt a relativized view
      vis-a-vis indigenous people at CASAI.

PMID- 28614520
TI  - Lay agency and the generation of public-private mix health care maps.
AB  - This paper discusses part of the results obtained from a study carried out in two
      cities of the so-called ABCD Paulista Region in the period 2010-2012, in an
      attempt to spot the existence of non-state regulatory rationale towards access
      and consumption of health care services. The first stage includes interviews
      carried out with strategic stakeholders (managers and politicians) and key
      workers players. The second stage collected the stories of 18 very frequent users
      of health care services. This study revealed the leading role played by users to
      produce "health care maps", with emphasis on the frequent use of public and
      private resources in their itineraries, circumventing or merging with government
      regulation to obtain the care they need. The different formats of public-private
      mix transcend the still prevailing "official" concepts about the clear
      distinction between the two systems, which reveals the importance of this theme
      to public health management.

PMID- 28614521
TI  - [Pharmaceutical Assistance in Mental Health: a diagnosis of Psychosocial Care
      Centers].
AB  - The study evaluated the conditions of Pharmaceutical Assistance (PA) in
      Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) through a cross-sectional study in 15 CAPS
      located in the Medio Paraopeba region of the State of Minas Gerais. Data
      collection was conducted through direct observation of CAPS and interviews with
      pharmacists and managers of PA. The instruments were based on indicators proposed
      by the WHO, technical documents for the organization of PA, from legislation and
      recommendations seeking pharmaceutical Best Practices. There were 13 dispensing
      units, nine of them within the CAPS. The services presented updated lists of
      essential medicines with high availability of the main drugs used in mental
      health treatment. All of the cities participated in an inter-municipal consortium
      for the purchase of medicines. The complete identification of drugs was present
      in only seven services and all had failings in traceability of medicines
      dispensed. In the CAPS there is only one pharmacist during part of the operating
      period. The need for greater participation of the pharmacist was observed in the
      control and standardization of the activities of CAPS and especially in care
      activities comprising the benchmark team in Mental Health.

PMID- 28614522
TI  - Ocean outfalls as an alternative to minimizing risks to human and environmental
      health.
AB  - Submarine outfalls are proposed as an efficient alternative for the final
      destination of wastewater in densely populated coastal areas, due to the high
      dispersal capacity and the clearance of organic matter in the marine environment,
      and because they require small areas for implementation. This paper evaluates the
      probability of unsuitable bathing conditions in coastal areas nearby to the
      Ipanema, Barra da Tijuca and Icarai outfalls based on a computational methodology
      gathering hydrodynamic, pollutant transport, and bacterial decay modelling. The
      results show a strong influence of solar radiation and all factors that mitigate
      its levels in the marine environment on coliform concentration. The
      aforementioned outfalls do not pollute the coastal areas, and unsuitable bathing
      conditions are restricted to nearby effluent launching points. The pollution
      observed at the beaches indicates that the contamination occurs due to the
      polluted estuarine systems, rivers and canals that flow to the coast.

PMID- 28614523
TI  - Intra-urban differences in rates of admissions for ambulatory care sensitive
      conditions in Brazil's Center-West region.
AB  - Admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) represent a useful
      indicator of assess to and the effectiveness of primary health care. This article
      examined rates of admissions for ACSCs and the main causes of admissions in intra
      urban areas of the municipality of Goiania, capital of the State of Goias. An
      ecological study was conducted to determine rates of admissions in Goiania's
      seven health districts between 2008 and 2013 using data from Hospital Admission
      Authorization forms obtained from the municipality's Hospital Information System.
      Admissions were georeferenced throughout the seven health districts. Age-adjusted
      rates of admissions for ACSCs were calculated and the most common causes of
      admissions were identified for each age group. A 95% confidence interval was
      calculated as a measure of precision of the rates. The average overall rate of
      admissions for ACSCs was 155.5 per 10,000 population. Rates were highest in the
      Southern District and lowest in the Southwest District. Rates were highest in the
      youngest and oldest age groups. The Northwest District showed the highest rates
      in nine groups of causes, notably chronic non-communicable diseases among adults.
      Our findings showed that there are major differences in rates across health
      districts, pointing to shortfalls in primary health coverage, quality problems
      and an inadequate care model in districts with high coverage.

PMID- 28614524
TI  - Family vulnerability index to disability and dependence (FVI-DD), by social and
      health conditions.
AB  - The Family Vulnerability Index to Disability and Dependence (FVI-DD) aims to
      summarize the dimensions of vulnerability to disability and dependence using
      family data monitored by Family Health Strategy (ESF) teams. This study aims to
      analyze the FVI-DD according to the social and health vulnerability, to validate
      and extract a cutoff point for each dimension. The FVI-DD was built with a sample
      of 248 families living in a region of Sao Paulo. The dimension related to health
      conditions was validated with good internal consistency, with respect to the Katz
      Index and the Lawton Scale, whereas the dimension related to social conditions
      was only validated in relation to Lawton Scale. Thus, a vulnerable family was
      defined as one with 15 or more points in the Total FVI-DD, and a vulnerable
      family in health conditions that with a score of 6 or more points in that
      dimension. Therefore, it is possible to classify families as not vulnerable,
      vulnerable in the social aspects, vulnerable in the health aspects and the more
      vulnerable family (social and health) using social indicators of empowerment and
      wear and health indicators related not only to the biological sphere, but also in
      the access to health services, health self-assessment and existing vulnerable
      groups.

PMID- 28614525
TI  - [The Articulator of Primary Health Care Program: an innovative proposal for
      qualification of Primary Health Care].
AB  - In 2009, the Secretary of State for Health of Sao Paulo created a Program with a
      view to qualify the primary care in the state. This proposal includes a new job
      function, namely the articulator of primary care. Due to the scarcity of
      information about the practice of these new professionals in the scientific
      literature, this article seeks to analyze how articulators interpret their
      function and how they describe their daily routines. Thirteen articulators were
      interviewed. The interviews were duly analyzed by qualitative delineation. The
      results describe three themes: 1)Roles of the articulator: technical communicator
      and political advisor; 2) Activities performed to comply with the expected roles,
      examples being diagnosis of the municipalities, negotiation of proposals,
      participation in meetings, visits to municipalities; and 3) Challenges of the
      role, which are configured as challenges to the health reform process, examples
      being the lack of physical and human resources, activities of professionals in
      the medical-centered model, among others. The conclusion drawn is that the
      Program has great potential to provide input for the development and enhancement
      of Primary Care. Nevertheless, there are a series of challenges to be overcome,
      namely challenges to the context per se.

PMID- 28614526
TI  - Yellow fever.

PMID- 28614527
TI  - Brachytherapy guideline in prostate cancer (high and low dose rate).

PMID- 28614528
TI  - Is dexmedetomidine the gold standard for pediatric procedural sedation and
      anxiolysis?

PMID- 28614529
TI  - Facial paralysis due to Ramsay Hunt syndrome - A rare condition.
AB  - Ramsay Hunt syndrome (or herpes zoster oticus) is a rare complication of herpes
      zoster in which reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus infection in the
      geniculate ganglion occurs. Usually, there are auricular vesicles and symptoms
      and signs such otalgia and peripheral facial paralysis. In addition, rarely, a
      rash around the mouth can be seen. Immunodeficient patients are more susceptible
      to this condition. Diagnosis is essentially based on symptoms. We report the case
      of a diabetic female patient who sought the emergency department with a complaint
      of this rare entity.

PMID- 28614530
TI  - Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis exhibiting predominance of periosteal
      reaction.
AB  - Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis is an idiopathic nonpyogenic
      autoinflammatory bone disorder involving multiple sites, with clinical
      progression persisting for more than 6 months and which may have episodes of
      remission and exacerbation in the long term. It represents up to 2-5% of the
      cases of osteomyelitis, with an approximate incidence of up to 4/1,000,000
      individuals, and average age of disease onset estimated between 8-11 years,
      predominantly in females. The legs are the most affected, with a predilection for
      metaphyseal regions along the growth plate. We describe the case of a female
      patient, aged 2 years and 5 months, with involvement of the left ulna, right jaw
      and left tibia, showing a predominance of periosteal reaction as main finding.

PMID- 28614531
TI  - Alternative option for osteogenesis imperfecta and trigeminal neuralgia.
AB  - Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a bone disorder that can lead to skull base
      deformities such as basilar invagination, which can cause compression of cranial
      nerves, including the trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal neuralgia in such cases
      remains a challenge, given distorted anatomy and deformities. We present an
      alternative option, consisting in cannulation of the foramen ovale and classical
      percutaneous treatment. Percutaneous balloon microcompression was performed in a
      28 year-old woman with OI and severe trigeminal neuralgia using computed
      tomography (CT) and radiographic-guided cannulation of the Gasserian ganglion
      without neuronavigation or stereotactic devices. The patient developed
      hypoesthesia on the left V1, V2 and V3 segments with good pain control. This
      alternative technique with a CT-guided puncture, using angiosuite without the
      need of any Mayfield clamp, neuronavigation systems, frame or frameless
      stereotactic devices can be a useful, safe and efficient alternative for patients
      with trigeminal neuralgia with other bone deforming diseases that severely affect
      the skull base.

PMID- 28614532
TI  - Patient Concerns Inventory for head and neck cancer: Brazilian cultural
      adaptation.
AB  - Objective:: The purpose of this study was to translate, culturally validate and
      evaluate the Patients Concerns Inventory - Head and Neck (PCI-H&N) in a
      consecutive series of Brazilian patients. Method:: This study included adult
      patients treated for upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancer. The translation and
      cultural adaptation of the PCI-H&N followed internationally accepted guidelines
      and included a pretest sample of patients that completed the first Brazilian
      Portuguese version of the PCI. Use, feasibility and acceptability of the PCI were
      tested subsequently in a consecutive series of UADT cancer patients that
      completed the final Brazilian Portuguese version of the PCI and a Brazilian
      Portuguese version of the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire
      (UW-QOL). Associations between physical and socio-emotional composite scores from
      the UW-QOL and the PCI were analyzed. Results:: Twenty (20) patients participated
      in the pretest survey (translation and cultural adaptation process), and 84
      patients were analyzed in the cultural validation study. Issues most selected
      were: fear of cancer returning, dry mouth, chewing/eating, speech/voice/being
      understood, swallowing, dental health/teeth, anxiety, fatigue/tiredness, taste,
      and fear of adverse events. The three specialists most selected by the patients
      for further consultation were speech therapist, dentist and psychologist.
      Statistically significant relationships between PCI and UW-QOL were found.
      Conclusion:: The translation and cultural adaptation of the PCI into Brazilian
      Portuguese language was successful, and the results demonstrate its feasibility
      and usefulness, making this a valuable tool for use among the Brazilian head and
      neck cancer population.

PMID- 28614533
TI  - Effect of fluoride on salivary immunoglobulins and sialic acid.
AB  - Objective:: The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of fluoride on
      salivary immunoglobulin and sialic acid levels in children with dental fluorosis
      and healthy teeth who live in places with high fluoride concentration in drinking
      water. Method:: Fifty-one (51) healthy children between 6 and 12 years old with
      no caries were randomly selected from primary schools enrolled in the dental-care
      program operated by the Department of Pediatric Dentistry. The children were
      divided into two groups: group I comprised 26 children with dental fluorosis
      [Thylstrup-Fejerskov Dental Fluorosis Index (TFI) = 4] who lived in Isparta (2.7
      2.8 ppm), and group II consisted of 25 children without dental fluorosis who were
      born in low-fluoride areas and had lived in Isparta for only the previous two
      years. Stimulated and unstimulated saliva were collected and analyzed for
      fluoride, salivary immunoglobulins and sialic acid levels. Results:: Sialic acid
      level was correlated negatively with age. Levels of secretory immunoglobulin A
      (sIgA) and secretory immunoglobulin G (sIgG) were higher in children with dental
      fluorosis compared with those in group II, although these differences were not
      significant. Conclusion:: Increased sIgA and sIgG levels may arrest the
      progression of caries in subjects with dental fluorosis. Given the risks of
      dental fluorosis, further studies of the effects of different fluoride levels in
      drinking water on salivary composition of children with mixed dentition are
      needed to confirm the results of our study and to provide data for comparison.

PMID- 28614534
TI  - Peripheral polyneuropathy in severely obese patients with metabolic syndrome but
      without diabetes: Association with low HDL-cholesterol.
AB  - Introduction:: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of
      peripheral polyneuropathy (PPN) in subjects with grade II and III obesity (Ob
      II,III) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) but without diabetes and to investigate
      possible associated factors. Method:: A cross-sectional study was performed in
      non-diabetic Ob-II,III,MetS patients using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening
      Instrument (MNSI) to assess the presence of PPN. Results:: A total of 24 of 218
      non-diabetic Ob-II,III,MetS patients had PPN. Based on univariate analysis, serum
      levels of LDL-cholesterol (p=0.046) were significantly associated with PPN, while
      serum triglycerides (p=0.118) and low HDL-cholesterol (p=0.057) showed a tendency
      toward this association. On a Poisson regression analysis, when the three
      possible associations were included, low HDL-cholesterol (p=0.047) remained
      independently associated. Conclusion:: In non-diabetic Ob-II,III,MetS patients,
      PPN defined by the MNSI showed a high prevalence and was associated with low
      levels of HDL-cholesterol. In order to diagnose that complication, neurological
      evaluation should be performed in these patients.

PMID- 28614535
TI  - Should azoospermic patients with varicocele disease undergo surgery to recover
      fertility?
AB  - Introduction:: Varicocele disease is well-known cause of infertility in men. The
      presence of spermatic varices veins create a hostile environment to
      spermatogenesis. It results in reduced quality of the sperm production and in
      some cases can determine a total absence of sperm. The varicocelectomy procedure
      in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) can raise the rates of sperm
      in the semen analysis. A positive rate for sperm, even if very low, may be
      sufficient to enable the capture of sperm intended for in-vitro fertilization
      without the use of donor sperm. Objetive:: To evaluate the raise of sperm in NOA
      patients with varicocele disease who were submitted to a bilateral procedure to
      recovery sperm production. Method:: We analized the sperm results of 25 NOA
      patients who undergone to a bilateral varicocelectomy procedure. Results:: From a
      total of 25 patients, three (12%) recovered sperm count four months after
      procedure. One year after the procedure, five (20%) patients recovered sperm
      production. Conclusion:: Patients with varicocele disease and azoospermia,
      without genetic changes or obstruction of the spermatic tract, should undergo
      surgical procedure to recover sperm.

PMID- 28614536
TI  - Implications of alcoholic cirrhosis in atherosclerosis of autopsied patients.
AB  - Introduction:: Alcoholism is a major public health problem, which has a high
      social cost and affects many aspects of human activity. Liver disease is one of
      the first consequences of alcohol abuse, and steatosis, liver cirrhosis and
      hepatitis may occur. Other organs are also affected with pathological changes,
      such as pancreatitis, cardiomyopathies, dyslipidemias and atherosclerosis.
      Objective:: To identify the occurrence and degree of atherosclerosis in alcohol
      dependent individuals with liver cirrhosis, observing macroscopic and microscopic
      changes in lipid and collagen deposits and in the liver. We also aimed to verify
      the association of lipid and collagen fiber deposits with gender, age and body
      mass index, and to relate alcoholism, liver cirrhosis and atherosclerosis.
      Method:: We performed a study based on autopsy reports of patients with alcoholic
      liver cirrhosis, with analysis of aorta and liver fragments to verify the
      occurrence and degree of atherosclerosis, as well as collagen contents. Results::
      Microscopic atherosclerosis was higher in young subjects (early injury) and in
      patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The macroscopic analysis of
      atherosclerosis in aortas showed that patients in more advanced age groups
      presented more severe classifications. Atherosclerosis, both micro and
      macroscopically, and the percentage of fibrosis in the liver and aorta were more
      expressive in females. Conclusion:: Cirrhotic patients presented a higher
      percentage of fibrosis and lipidosis, and may represent a group susceptible to
      the accelerated progression of cardiovascular diseases. Investigative studies
      contribute to targeting health-promoting interventions, reducing the mortality
      and costs of treating cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 28614537
TI  - HbA1c levels in individuals heterozygous for hemoglobin variants.
AB  - Objective:: To evaluate the levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in patients
      heterozygous for hemoglobin variants and compare the results of this test with
      those of a control group. Method:: This was an experimental study based on the
      comparison of HbA1c tests in two different populations, with a test group
      represented by individuals heterozygous for hemoglobin variants (AS and AC) and a
      control group consisting of people with electrophoretic profile AA. The two
      populations were required to meet the following inclusion criteria: Normal levels
      of fasting glucose, hemoglobin, urea and triglycerides, bilirubin > 20 mg/dL and
      non-use of acetylsalicylic acid. 50 heterozygous subjects and 50 controls were
      evaluated between August 2013 and May 2014. The comparison of HbA1c levels
      between heterozygous individuals and control subjects was performed based on
      standard deviation, mean and G-Test. Results:: The study assessed a test group
      and a control group, both with 39 adults and 11 children. The mean among
      heterozygous adults for HbA1c was 5.0%, while the control group showed a rate of
      5.74%. Heterozygous children presented mean HbA1c at 5.11%, while the controls
      were at 5.78%. G-Test yielded p=0.93 for children and p=0.89 for adults.
      Conclusion:: Our study evaluated HbA1c using ion exchange chromatography resins,
      and the patients heterozygous for hemoglobin variants showed no significant
      difference from the control group.

PMID- 28614538
TI  - Patient-reported measures of quality of life and functional capacity in adhesive
      capsulitis.
AB  - Objective:: To evaluate patient-reported measures of quality of life and
      functional capacity in adhesive capsulitis before and after suprascapular nerve
      block treatment; to analyze the influence of clinical and sociodemographic
      variables on both the outcome and correlation between the respective instruments.
      Method:: A prospective clinical study was performed with adhesive capsulitis
      patients. Inclusion criteria were clinical diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis and a
      shoulder imaging test. The WHOQOL-BREF and DASH instruments were administered
      before and after treatment. A Constant test score of 55 points was used as a
      cutoff point for discontinuation of treatment. Mean values were compared using
      paired t-test and Wilcoxon. The Pearson or Spearman coefficients were used for
      correlation analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was carried out using
      variables with p<0.20 as predictors in univariate analysis and WHOQOL domains and
      DASH as outcomes. The significance level was 5%. Results:: Forty-three patients
      were evaluated. The comparison between WHOQOL-BREF and DASH mean values before
      and after the blocks, p<0.05. DASH correlated negatively with the physical,
      psychological and environmental WHOQOL-BREF domains. Older patients and those
      with higher levels of education influenced the improvement in patients' quality
      of life and functional capacity. Conclusion:: The improvement of adhesive
      capsulitis with treatment involves an improvement in quality of life and
      functional capacity. The greater functional capacity of the shoulder matches a
      better quality of life for patients. Age and education level are the variables
      that most influence improvement in quality of life and functional capacity.

PMID- 28614539
TI  - Effects of ozone on the pain and disability in patients with failed back surgery
      syndrome.
AB  - Introduction:: Low back pain is one of the painful disorders of higher
      prevalence. It has several etiologies and surgery may be indicated in the
      presence of neurological deficits or compression syndromes. However, in up to 40%
      of cases, patients develop worsening of pain and failed back surgery syndrome
      (FBSS), which is an important cause of chronic pain with high morbidity and
      disability. In the last two decades, ozone has been shown to be a new therapeutic
      option for FBSS due to its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.
      Objective:: To evaluate the effect of ozone therapy on pain and disability in
      patients with failed back surgery syndrome. Method:: We selected 19 patients
      undergoing epiduroscopy and injection of ozone. Patients were evaluated
      preoperatively and 21 days after the procedure, using the following instruments:
      Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Brief Pain Inventory, Roland-Morris Questionnaire
      Disability, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory
      and Douleur Neuropathique 4. Results:: The patients showed significant pain
      relief, but no improvement was observed in the functional scales. Conclusion::
      Our results suggest that epidural ozone therapy can be a treatment option in FBSS
      to reduce the intensity of the pain.

PMID- 28614540
TI  - Burnout syndrome prevalence in physiotherapists.
AB  - Objective:: To evaluate burnout syndrome in its three aspects, jointly as well as
      independently, in physiotherapists from the Extremadura region (Spain). Method::
      Analytic descriptive epidemiological transversal trial in primary care and
      institutional practice, with physiotherapists practicing in Extremadura who met
      the inclusion criteria, after having signed an informed consent form. Emotional
      exhaustion, depersonalization and low professional accomplishment were the
      outcomes measured. Results:: Physiotherapists from Extremadura show a 65.23 point
      level of burnout syndrome, according to the Maslach Burnout Inventory
      questionnaire. Therefore, they are positioned in the middle of the rating scale
      for the syndrome, and very near to the high level at starting score of 66 points.
      Conclusion:: Physiotherapists in Extremadura present moderate scores for the
      three dimensions of burnout syndrome, namely, emotional exhaustion,
      depersonalization and low professional accomplishment. For this reason, they are
      in the moderate level of the syndrome and very near to the high level, which
      starts at a score of 66 points. No relation between burnout syndrome and age has
      been found in our study.

PMID- 28614541
TI  - Knowledge and attitudes towards dementia among final-year medical students in
      Brazil.
AB  - Objective:: Among all countries, Brazil is expected to have the sixth largest
      elderly population in 2025. Dementia syndromes are prominent among aging-related
      diseases. Despite the necessity of and curriculum for training in geriatric
      medicine to make recommendations on an approach to this theme, adequate training
      appears to be infrequent. The present study aimed to evaluate the knowledge about
      dementia and students' attitude towards it during the last semester of the
      medical course in two of the most important Brazilian medical schools. Method::
      In our study, a sample of 189 students was invited to complete questionnaires
      comprising demographic and professional topics, knowledge with respect to
      cognitive alterations in the elderly and attitudes in dealing with an elderly
      patient with dementia. Results:: A total of 155 students accepted to participate
      in the study; 92(59.7%) considered that they had good training in cognitive
      alterations during their undergraduate medical course, while 67 (58.8%) of them
      declared having had only theoretical training. Regarding knowledge, the students
      obtained a mean of 6.9, out of a scale from 0 to 14 points. As for attitudes, the
      students agreed that they can contribute to the life quality of the patient and
      of the caregiver, and that it is useful to provide the diagnosis to the family.
      Conclusion:: The findings of this study are relevant for overturn the educational
      barriers of physicians in relation to the care of patients with dementia.

PMID- 28614543
TI  - Cytopathologic evaluation of patients submitted to radiotherapy for uterine
      cervix cancer.
AB  - Cervical cancer is an important public health problem. Pap smear is the leading
      strategy of screening programs for cervical cancer worldwide. However, delayed
      diagnosis leads to more aggressive and less effective treatments. Patients with
      uterine cervix malignancies who are referred for radiotherapy have advanced-stage
      disease, which results in high rates of locoregional recurrence. The use of
      radiotherapy as a treatment for cervical cancer causes morphological changes in
      neoplastic and non-neoplastic epithelial cells, as well as in stromal cells,
      which make it difficult to diagnose the residual lesion, resulting in a dilemma
      in cytopathological routine. Based on the difficulties of cytopathologic
      evaluation for the follow-up of patients treated with radiotherapy for cervical
      cancer, our objective was to describe the actinic cytopathic effects. Our paper
      was based on a structured review including the period from June 2015 to April
      2016, aiming at an exploratory-descriptive study. Bibliographic investigations
      were carried out through selection and analysis of articles, list of authors and
      keywords, selection of new articles focused on the analysis of bibliographic
      references to previously selected documents, as well as textbooks of recognized
      merit. The most incident actinic cytopathological alterations as described in the
      literature are: cellular gigantism, nuclear and cytoplasmic vacuolization,
      dyskeratosis, bi- and multinucleated (B/M) cells, macro and multiple nucleoli,
      anisokaryosis, anisonucleolosis and nuclear pyknosis. To date, a protocol has not
      been established that can precisely differentiate the morphological
      characteristics between benign cells with actinic effects from recurrent
      malignant cells on post-radiotherapy smears.

PMID- 28614542
TI  - Use of anastrozole in the chemoprevention and treatment of breast cancer: A
      literature review.
AB  - Aromatase inhibitors have emerged as an alternative endocrine therapy for the
      treatment of hormone sensitive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The use of
      third-generation inhibitors represented by exemestane, letrozol and anastrozole
      is currently indicated. Anastrozole is a nonsteroidal compound and a potent
      selective inhibitor of the aromatase enzyme. Although a few studies have shown
      that its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties may be affected by
      interindividual variability, this drug has been recently used in all
      configurations of breast cancer treatment. In metastatic disease, it is currently
      considered the first-line treatment for postmenopausal women with estrogen
      receptor-positive breast tumors. Anastrozole has shown promising results in the
      adjuvant treatment of early-stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women. It has
      also achieved interesting results in the chemoprevention of the disease.
      Therefore, due to the importance of anastrozole both for endocrine treatment and
      chemoprevention of hormone-sensitive breast cancer in postmenopausal women, we
      proposed the current literature review in the SciELO and PubMed database of
      articles published in the last 10 years.

PMID- 28614544
TI  - Network Meta-analysis in Mental Health Treatment Research-Reply.

PMID- 28614545
TI  - An Anchoring-Based Intervention to Increase Patient Willingness to Use Injectable
      Medication in Psoriasis.

PMID- 28614546
TI  - A Mitochondrial Etiology of Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

PMID- 28614548
TI  - Histiocytoid Sweet Syndrome and Myelodysplastic Syndrome.

PMID- 28614547
TI  - Closing the Quality Gap After Laparoscopic Colectomy: A Case for Video-Based
      Assessment and Proctoring.

PMID- 28614549
TI  - Use of Adjuvant Chemotherapy After Surgery in Patients With Colon Cancer.

PMID- 28614550
TI  - Acute Pancreatitis After Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

PMID- 28614552
TI  - Histiocytoid Sweet Syndrome and Myelodysplastic Syndrome-Reply.

PMID- 28614551
TI  - Surgeon Variation in Complications With Minimally Invasive and Open Colectomy:
      Results From the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative.
AB  - Importance: Minimally invasive colectomy (MIC) is an increasingly common surgical
      procedure. Although case series and controlled prospective trials have found the
      procedure to be safe, it is unclear whether safe adaptation of this approach from
      open colectomy (OC) is occurring among surgeons. Objective: To assess rates of
      complications for MIC compared with OC among surgeons. Design, Setting, and
      Participants: We analyzed 5196 patients who underwent MIC or OC from January 1,
      2012, through December 31, 2015, by 97 surgeons in the Michigan Surgical Quality
      Collaborative, with each surgeon performing at least 10 OCs and 10 MICs.
      Hierarchical regression was used to assess surgeon variation in adjusted rates of
      complications and the association of these outcomes across approaches. Main
      Outcomes and Measures: Primary study outcome measurements included overall 30-day
      complication rates, variation in complication rates among surgeons, and surgeon
      rank by complication rate for MIC vs OC. Results: Of the 5196 patients (mean [SD]
      age, 62.9 [14.4] years; 2842 [54.7%] female; 4429 [85.2%] white), 3118 (60.0%)
      underwent MIC and 2078 (40.0%) underwent OC. Overall, 1149 patients (22.1%)
      experienced complications (702 [33.8%] in the OC group vs 447 [14.3%] in the MIC
      group; P < .001). For MIC, the rates of complications varied from 8.8% to 25.9%
      among surgeons. For OC, rates of complications were higher but varied less (1.7
      fold) among surgeons, ranging from 25.9% to 43.8%. Among the 97 surgeons ranked,
      the mean change in ranking between OC and MIC was 25 positions. The top 10
      surgeons ranged in rank from 6 of 97 for OC to 89 of 97 for MIC. Conclusions and
      Relevance: Surgeon-level variation in complications was nearly twice as great for
      MIC than for OC among surgeons enrolled in a statewide quality collaborative.
      Moreover, surgeon rankings for OC outcomes differed substantially from outcomes
      for those same surgeons performing MIC. This finding implies a need for improved
      training in adoption of MIC techniques among some surgeons.

PMID- 28614553
TI  - A Model for Military-Civilian Collaboration in Academic Surgery Beyond Trauma
      Care.

PMID- 28614555
TI  - Opportunities and Challenges in Addressing Maternal Depression in Community
      Settings.

PMID- 28614554
TI  - Efficacy of a Maternal Depression Prevention Strategy in Head Start: A Randomized
      Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Low-income and minority mothers experience a disproportionate
      incidence of depression and lack access to treatment services. Development of
      prevention strategies in accessible community-based venues is a potentially
      important public health strategy. Objective: To determine the efficacy of a
      depression prevention strategy embedded in Head Start. Design, Setting, and
      Participants: This randomized clinical trial was performed from February 15,
      2011, through May 9, 2016, at 6 Head Start agencies serving families at or below
      the federal poverty level. Participants included mothers with depressed mood,
      anhedonia, or depression history but who were not in a current major depressive
      episode. Participants were followed up for 12 months with masked outcome
      assessments. Final follow-up was completed on May 9, 2016. Interventions:
      Participants were randomized to a problem-solving education (PSE) intervention (n
      = 111) or usual Head Start services (n = 119). Main Outcomes and Measures:
      Primary outcomes were problem-solving skills and depressive symptoms. To capture
      the chronicity and intensity of symptoms, the Quick Inventory of Depressive
      Symptoms was administered bimonthly, and rates of clinically significant symptom
      elevations were compared across groups. Secondarily, the presence of a major
      depressive episode was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM
      IV Axis I Disorders. Results: Among the 230 participants, 152 (66.1%) were
      Hispanic, with a mean (SD) age of 31.4 (7.3) years. An intention-to-treat
      analysis among 223 participants contributing follow-up data found no differences
      in problem-solving skills across groups. The mean (SD) number of depressive
      symptom elevations among the PSE participants was 0.84 (1.39) compared with 1.12
      (1.47) among the usual service participants (adjusted incident rate ratio [aIRR],
      0.60; 95% CI, 0.41-0.90). In analyses stratified according to baseline depressive
      symptoms, PSE exerted a preventive effect among those with lower-level baseline
      symptoms, with a mean (SD) of 0.39 (0.84) elevations among PSE participants
      compared with 0.88 (1.37) among usual service participants (aIRR, 0.39; 95% CI,
      0.21-0.75). However, no difference was observed among those with higher-level
      baseline symptoms (mean [SD] elevations, 2.06 [1.92] for PSE and 2.00 [1.91] for
      usual service; aIRR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.67-1.80). Analysis of symptom scores
      followed the same pattern, with an adjusted mean reduction of 1.33 (95% CI, 0.36
      2.29) among participants with lower-level baseline symptoms. Conclusions and
      Relevance: The PSE intervention is efficacious in preventing depressive symptom
      episodes and performs optimally among those with initial low-level symptoms.
      Additional effectiveness studies in Head Start are necessary to develop
      meaningful public health programs. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov
      Identifier: NCT01298804.

PMID- 28614557
TI  - Network Meta-analysis in Mental Health Research.

PMID- 28614556
TI  - Binocular Therapy for Childhood Amblyopia Improves Vision Without Breaking
      Interocular Suppression.
AB  - Purpose: Amblyopia is a common developmental visual impairment characterized by a
      substantial difference in acuity between the two eyes. Current monocular
      treatments, which promote use of the affected eye by occluding or blurring the
      fellow eye, improve acuity, but are hindered by poor compliance. Recently
      developed binocular treatments can produce rapid gains in visual function,
      thought to be as a result of reduced interocular suppression. We set out to
      develop an effective home-based binocular treatment system for amblyopia that
      would engage high levels of compliance but that would also allow us to assess the
      role of suppression in children's response to binocular treatment. Methods:
      Balanced binocular viewing therapy (BBV) involves daily viewing of dichoptic
      movies (with "visibility" matched across the two eyes) and gameplay (to monitor
      compliance and suppression). Twenty-two children (3-11 years) with anisometropic
      (n = 7; group 1) and strabismic or combined mechanism amblyopia (group 2; n = 6
      and 9, respectively) completed the study. Groups 1 and 2 were treated for a
      maximum of 8 or 24 weeks, respectively. Results: The treatment elicited high
      levels of compliance (on average, 89.4% +/- 24.2% of daily dose in 68.23% +/-
      12.2% of days on treatment) and led to a mean improvement in acuity of 0.27
      logMAR (SD 0.22) for the amblyopic eye. Importantly, acuity gains were not
      correlated with a reduction in suppression. Conclusions: BBV is a binocular
      treatment for amblyopia that can be self-administered at home (with remote
      monitoring), producing rapid and substantial benefits that cannot be solely
      mediated by a reduction in interocular suppression.

PMID- 28614558
TI  - Burnout-There's an App for That: Helping Physicians Deal With Job-Related Stress.

PMID- 28614559
TI  - Suicide Rates and the Declining Psychiatric Hospital Bed Capacity in the United
      States.

PMID- 28614560
TI  - Network Meta-analysis in Mental Health Research.

PMID- 28614562
TI  - Assessment and Treatment of Syncope.

PMID- 28614561
TI  - Association of Preoperative Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy With Adverse
      Postoperative Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Surgery for Ulcerative
      Colitis.
AB  - Importance: Despite the increasing use of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      therapy in ulcerative colitis, its effects on postoperative outcomes remain
      unclear, with many patients requiring surgical intervention despite optimal
      medical management. Objective: To assess the association of preoperative use of
      anti-TNF agents with adverse postoperative outcomes. Design, Setting, and
      Participants: This analysis used insurance claims data from a large national
      database to identify patients 18 years or older with ulcerative colitis. These
      insured patients had inpatient and/or outpatient claims between January 1, 2005,
      and December 31, 2013, with Current Procedural Terminology codes for a subtotal
      colectomy or total abdominal colectomy, a total proctocolectomy with end
      ileostomy, or a combined total proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.
      Only data regarding the first or index surgical admission within the time frame
      were abstracted. Use of anti-TNF agents, corticosteroids, and immunomodulators
      within 90 days of surgery was identified using Healthcare Common Procedure Coding
      System codes. Inclusion in the study required the patient to have an
      International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification
      (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis code for ulcerative colitis. Exclusion occurred if the
      patient had a secondary ICD-9-CM diagnosis code for Crohn disease or if the
      patient was not continuously enrolled in an insurance plan for at least 180 days
      before and after the index surgery. Data were collected and analyzed from
      February 1, 2015, to June 2, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes included
      90-day complications, emergency department visits, and readmissions.
      Multivariable logistic regression was used to model covariates, including anti
      TNF agent use, on the occurrence of outcomes. Results: Of the 2476 patients
      identified, 1379 (55.7%) were men, and the mean (SD) age was 42.1 (12.9) years.
      Among these, 950 (38.4%) underwent subtotal colectomy or total abdominal
      colectomy, 354 (14.3%) underwent total proctocolectomy with end ileostomy, and
      1172 (47.3%) received ileal pouch-anal anastomoses. In univariate analyses,
      increased postoperative complications were observed among patients in the ileal
      pouch cohort who received anti-TNF agents preoperatively vs those who did not
      (137 [45.2%] vs 327 [37.6%]; P = .02) but not among those in the colectomy or
      proctocolectomy cohorts. An increase in complications was also observed on
      multivariable analyses among patients in the ileal pouch cohort (odds ratio,
      1.38; 95% CI, 1.05-1.82). Conclusions and Relevance: Unlike preoperative anti-TNF
      agent use among patients who underwent colectomy or total proctocolectomy and
      experienced no significant increase in postoperative complications, anti-TNF
      agent use within 90 days of surgery among patients who underwent ileal pouch-anal
      anastomosis was associated with higher 90-day postoperative complication rates.

PMID- 28614563
TI  - A Bleeding Umbilicus in a Baby Boy.

PMID- 28614566
TI  - Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser, MD-A Life of Discovery and Controversy in
      Dermatology.

PMID- 28614565
TI  - Frederic Edward Mohs, MD-The Pioneer of Chemosurgery.

PMID- 28614567
TI  - Veit Stoss's High Altar of St Mary's Church-A 15th Century Altar Depicting Skin
      Lesions.

PMID- 28614568
TI  - The Fugates of Troublesome Creek.

PMID- 28614569
TI  - The Old Bromides and Their 21st Century Refreshment.

PMID- 28614570
TI  - Tinea in the Time Before Modern Antifungal Agents.

PMID- 28614571
TI  - Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas.

PMID- 28614573
TI  - Finite Element Modeling of Avascular Tumor Growth Using a Stress-Driven Model.
AB  - Tumor growth being a multistage process has been investigated from different
      aspects. In the present study, an attempt is made to represent a constitutive
      structure-based model of avascular tumor growth in which the effects of tensile
      stresses caused by collagen fibers are considered. Collagen fibers as a source of
      anisotropy in the structure of tissue are taken into account using a continuous
      fiber distribution formulation. To this end, a finite element modeling is
      implemented in which a neo-Hookean hyperelastic material is assigned to the tumor
      and its surrounding host. The tumor is supplied with a growth term. The growth
      term includes the effect of parameters such as nutrient concentration on the
      tumor growth and the tumor's solid phase content in the formulation. Results of
      the study revealed that decrease of solid phase is indicative of decrease in
      growth rate and the final steady-state value of tumor's radius. Moreover, fiber
      distribution affects the final shape of the tumor, and it could be used to
      control the shape and geometry of the tumor in complex morphologies. Finally, the
      findings demonstrated that the exerted stresses on the tumor increase as time
      passes. Compression of tumor cells leads to the reduction of tumor growth rate
      until it gradually reaches an equilibrium radius. This finding is in accordance
      with experimental data. Hence, this formulation can be deployed to evaluate both
      the residual stresses induced by growth and the mechanical interactions with the
      host tissue.

PMID- 28614574
TI  - The Hunt Continues for Early Ovarian Cancer Clues.

PMID- 28614576
TI  - The Hope and Hype of CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing: A Review.
AB  - Importance: Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)
      CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) has garnered a great degree of
      attention since its first reported uses in mammalian cells in early 2013 due to
      its perceived impact with respect to potential research applications and,
      especially, therapeutic applications. Observations: CRISPR-Cas9 is being widely
      used in the laboratory and has greatly improved the ability to generate
      genetically modified animal models of human diseases. First steps have been
      reported with respect to proof-of-concept cardiovascular therapeutic applications
      in mouse models-which might eventually lead to new treatments for patients-as
      well as modification of human embryos, which raises a host of social, ethical,
      and legal questions. Conclusions and Relevance: CRISPR-Cas9 is already having a
      substantial effect on cardiovascular basic science research. Although the first
      steps toward potential therapies have been taken, there are substantial obstacles
      that will need to be overcome if CRISPR-Cas9 is to be used in the practice of
      cardiovascular medicine.

PMID- 28614575
TI  - Early Sentence Productions of 3- and 4-Year-Old Children Who Use Augmentative and
      Alternative Communication.
AB  - Purpose: This study investigated the early rule-based sentence productions of 3-
      and 4-year-old children with severe speech disorders who used single-meaning
      graphic symbols to communicate. Method: Ten 3- and 4-year-olds requiring the use
      of augmentative and alternative communication, who had largely intact receptive
      language skills, received instruction in producing up to four different semantic
      syntactic targets using an Apple iPad with a communication app. A single-case,
      multiple-probe, across-targets design was used to assess the progress of each
      participant and target. Generalization to new vocabulary was assessed, and a
      subgroup also was taught to produce sentences using grammatical markers. Results:
      Some targets (primarily possessor-entity) were mastered in the baseline phase,
      and the majority of the remaining targets were mastered during intervention. All
      four children who completed intervention for grammatical markers quickly learned
      to use the markers accurately. Conclusions: Expressive language potential for
      preschoolers using graphic symbol-based augmentative and alternative
      communication systems should not be underestimated. With appropriate presentation
      and intervention techniques, some preschoolers with profound speech disorders can
      readily learn to produce rule-based messages via graphic symbols.

PMID- 28614577
TI  - Successful Treatment of Cutaneous Small Vessel Vasculitis With Leflunomide.

PMID- 28614578
TI  - Introducing Emerging Science for the Clinician.

PMID- 28614579
TI  - An Instrumental Variable Analysis Comparing Medicare Expenditures for
      Laparoscopic vs Open Colectomy.
AB  - Importance: Numerous study findings suggest that the use of laparoscopy is
      associated with lower health care costs for many operations, including colectomy.
      The extent to which these differences are due to the laparoscopic approach itself
      or selection bias from healthier patients undergoing the less invasive procedure
      is unclear. Objective: To evaluate the differences in Medicare expenditures for
      laparoscopic and open colectomy. Design, Setting, and Participants: A population
      based study was conducted of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing laparoscopic or
      open colectomy between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2012. The dates of the
      analysis were November 13 to December 10, 2016. Using instrumental variable
      methods to account for selection bias, actual Medicare payments after each
      procedure were evaluated. To identify the mechanisms of potential cost savings,
      the frequency and amount of physician, readmission, and postacute care payments
      were evaluated. Several sensitivity analyses were performed restricting the study
      population by patient demographic or surgeon specialty. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Actual Medicare expenditures up to 1 year after the index operation.
      Results: The study population included 428 799 patients (mean [SD] age, 74 [10]
      years; 57.0% female). When using standard methods, patients undergoing
      laparoscopic colectomy (vs open) had lower total Medicare expenditures (mean, 
      $5547; 95% CI, -$5408 to -$5684; P < .01). When using instrumental variable
      methods, which account for potentially unmeasured patient characteristics,
      patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy (vs open) still had lower Medicare
      expenditures (mean, -$3676; 95% CI, -$2444 to -$4907; P < .01), although the
      magnitude of the association was reduced. When examining the root causes of the
      difference in costs between patients who underwent laparoscopic and open
      colectomy, the key drivers were a reduction in costs from readmissions (mean, 
      $1102; 95% CI, -$1373 to -$831) and postacute care (mean, -$1446; 95% CI, -$1988
      to -$935; P < .01). Conclusions and Relevance: This population-based study
      demonstrates the influence of selection bias on cost estimates in comparative
      effectiveness research. While the use of laparoscopy reduced total episode
      payments, the source of savings is in the postacute care period, not the index
      hospitalization.

PMID- 28614580
TI  - Dynamic Assessment for 3- and 4-Year-Old Children Who Use Augmentative and
      Alternative Communication: Evaluating Expressive Syntax.
AB  - Purpose: The developmental readiness to produce early sentences with an iPad
      communication application was assessed with ten 3- and 4-year-old children with
      severe speech disorders using graduated prompting dynamic assessment (DA)
      techniques. The participants' changes in performance within the DA sessions were
      evaluated, and DA performance was compared with performance during a subsequent
      intervention. Method: Descriptive statistics were used to examine patterns of
      performance at various cueing levels and mean levels of cueing support. The
      Wilcoxon signed-ranks test was used to measure changes within the DA sessions.
      Correlational data were calculated to determine how well performance in DA
      predicted performance during a subsequent intervention. Results: Participants
      produced targets successfully in DA at various cueing levels, with some targets
      requiring less cueing than others. Performance improved significantly within the
      DA sessions-that is, the level of cueing required for accurate productions of the
      targets decreased during DA sessions. Last, moderate correlations existed between
      DA scores and performance during the intervention for 3 out of 4 targets, with
      statistically significant findings for 2 of 4 targets. Conclusion: DA offers
      promise for examining the developmental readiness of young children who use
      augmentative and alternative communication to produce early expressive language
      structures.

PMID- 28614583
TI  - Use of Adjuvant Chemotherapy After Surgery in Patients With Colon Cancer.

PMID- 28614581
TI  - Clinical, Biochemical, and Genetic Characterization of North American Patients
      With Erythropoietic Protoporphyria and X-linked Protoporphyria.
AB  - Importance: Autosomal recessive erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) and X-linked
      protoporphyria (XLP) are rare photodermatoses presenting with variable degrees of
      painful phototoxicity that markedly affects quality of life. The clinical
      variability, determinants of severity, and genotype/phenotype correlations of
      these diseases are not well characterized. Objective: To describe the baseline
      clinical characteristics, genotypes, and determinants of disease severity in a
      large patient cohort with EPP or XLP. Design, Setting, and Participants: A
      prospective observational study was conducted among patients with confirmed
      diagnoses of EPP or XLP from November 1, 2010, to December 6, 2015, at 6 academic
      medical centers of the Porphyrias Consortium of the National Institutes of Health
      Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network. Detailed medical histories, including
      history of phototoxicity and treatment, were collected on standardized case
      report forms. Patients underwent baseline laboratory testing, total erythrocyte
      protoporphyrin (ePPIX) testing, and molecular genetic testing. Data were entered
      into a centralized database. Main Outcomes and Measures: Results of biochemical
      and genetic tests were explored for association with clinical phenotype in
      patients with EPP or XLP. Results: Of the 226 patients in the study (113 female
      and 113 male patients; mean [SD] age, 36.7 [17.0] years), 186 (82.3%) had EPP
      with a FECH (OMIM 612386) mutation and the common low-expression FECH allele IVS3
      48T>C, and only 1 patient had 2 FECH mutations. Twenty-two patients had XLP
      (9.7%; 10 male and 12 female patients), and 9 patients (4.0%) had elevated ePPIX
      levels and symptoms consistent with protoporphyria but no detectable mutation in
      the FECH or ALAS2 (OMIM 301300) gene. Samples of DNA could not be obtained from 8
      patients. Patients' mean (SD) age at symptom onset was 4.4 (4.4) years. Anemia
      (107 [47.3%]), history of liver dysfunction (62 [27.4%]), and gallstones (53
      [23.5%]) were commonly reported. Higher ePPIX levels were associated with earlier
      age of symptom onset (median ePPIX levels for those who developed symptoms before
      vs after 1 year of age, 1744 vs 1567 ug/dL; P = .02), less sun tolerance (median
      ePPIX levels for those reporting symptoms before vs after 10 minutes of sun
      exposure, 2233 vs 1524 ug/dL; P <= .001), and increased risk of liver dysfunction
      (median ePPIX levels for those with liver dysfunction vs normal liver function,
      2016 vs 1510 ug/dL; P = .003). Patients with EPP and FECH missense mutations had
      significantly lower ePPIX levels than those with other mutations (1462 vs 1702
      ug/dL; P = .01). Male patients with XLP had significantly higher ePPIX levels, on
      average, than did patients with EPP (3574 vs 1669 ug/dL; P < .001). Marked
      clinical variability was seen in female patients with XLP owing to random X
      chromosomal inactivation. Conclusions and Relevance: These data suggest that
      higher ePPIX levels are a major determinant of disease severity and risk of liver
      dysfunction in patients with EPP or XLP. These findings provide a framework for
      clinical monitoring and management of these disorders.

PMID- 28614584
TI  - Use of Adjuvant Chemotherapy After Surgery in Patients With Colon Cancer-Reply.

PMID- 28614582
TI  - Effectiveness and Safety of Standard-Dose Nonvitamin K Antagonist Oral
      Anticoagulants and Warfarin Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation With a Single
      Stroke Risk Factor: A Nationwide Cohort Study.
AB  - Importance: The randomized clinical trials comparing nonvitamin K antagonist oral
      anticoagulants (NOACs) vs warfarin largely focused on recruiting high-risk
      patients with atrial fibrillation with more than 2 stroke risk factors, with only
      the trials testing dabigatran or apixaban including few patients with 1 stroke
      risk factor. Despite this, regulatory approvals of all NOACs have been based on
      stroke prevention for patients with atrial fibrillation with 1 or more stroke
      risk factors. Objective: To compare the effectiveness and safety study of
      standard-dose NOACs (dabigatran at 150 mg twice daily, rivaroxaban at 20 mg once
      daily, and apixaban at 5 mg twice daily) and warfarin in patients with atrial
      fibrillation with 1 low-risk, nonsex-related stroke risk factor. Design, Setting,
      and Participants: This nationwide observational cohort study used data from
      Danish registries to determine the inverse probability of treatment-weighted
      comparative effectiveness and safety of standard-dose NOACs (dabigatran at 150 mg
      twice daily, rivaroxaban at 20 mg once daily, and apixaban at 5 mg twice daily)
      compared with treatment with warfarin among 14 020 patients with atrial
      fibrillation with 1 low-risk, nonsex- related stroke risk factor. Main Outcomes
      and Measures: Rates of ischemic stroke/systemic embolism, death, and bleeding.
      Results: Of 14 020 participants, 5151 (36.7%) were women, and the median age for
      participants was 66.5 years. For the principal effectiveness end point of
      ischemic stroke/systemic embolism, no significant differences of the NOACs
      compared with treatment with warfarin across strata were evident. For the end
      point of "any bleeding," this was significantly lower for treatment with apixaban
      (hazard ratio [HR], 0.35; 95% CI, 0.17-0.72) and dabigatran (HR, 0.48; 95% CI,
      0.30-0.77) compared with warfarin in the main analysis, and was not significantly
      different for treatment with rivaroxaban vs warfarin (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.49
      1.44). There was broad consistency across most subgroups in the sensitivity
      analyses and whether 1- or 2.5-year follow-up periods were analyzed. However,
      falsification end points generally did not falsify, indicating the possible
      presence of residual confounding across these comparisons, presumably related to
      selective prescribing and unobserved covariates. Conclusions and Relevance: In
      this Danish cohort study of patients with atrial fibrillation and a single stroke
      risk factor, there was no difference between NOACs compared with treatment with
      warfarin in terms of the risk of having an ischemic stroke/systemic embolism. For
      "any bleeding," this was lower for treatment with apixaban and dabigatran
      compared with warfarin. These data do not allow for a definitive statement of the
      comparative effectiveness or safety of NOACs because of the possible residual
      confounding that was unmasked with falsification outcomes.

PMID- 28614585
TI  - Assessment of Intragastric Single-Port Surgery for Gastric Tumors.

PMID- 28614586
TI  - Identifying Genotypes and Phenotypes of Cardiovascular Diseases Using Big Data
      Analytics.

PMID- 28614587
TI  - Scholars and scientists in the history of the lymphatic system.
AB  - The discovery of the lymphatic system has a long and fascinating history. The
      interest in anatomy and physiology of this system paralleled that of the blood
      cardiocirculatory system and has been maybe obscured by the latter.
      Paradoxically, if the closed blood system appeared open in Galen's anatomy and
      physiology, and took a very long time to be correctly described in terms of
      pulmonary and general circulation by ibn Al-Nafis/Michael Servetus/Realdo Colombo
      and William Harvey, respectively, the open lymphatic system was incorrectly
      described as a closed circuit connected with arteries and veins. In ancient times
      only macroscopic components of the lymphatic system have been described, although
      misinterpreted, including lymph nodes and lacteals, the latter being easily
      identified because of their milk-like content. For about 15 centuries the
      dogmatic acceptance of Galen's notions did not allow a significant progress in
      medicine. After Vesalius' revolution in anatomical studies, new knowledge was
      accumulated, and the 17th century was the golden age for the investigation of the
      lymphatic system with several discoveries: gut lacteals (Gaspare Aselli), cloacal
      bursa (Hieronimus Fabricius of Acquapendente), reservoir of the chyle (Jean
      Pecquet), extra-intestinal lymphatic vessels (Thomas Bartholin and Olaus Rudbeck
      dispute), hepatic lymph circulation (Francis Glisson). In the Enlightenment
      century Frederik Ruysch described the function of lymphatic valves, and Paolo
      Mascagni provided a magnificent iconography of the lymphatic network in humans.
      In recent times, Leonetto Comparini realized three-dimensional reconstructions of
      the liver lymphatic vessels, and Kari Alitalo discovered the lymphatic growth
      factor/receptor system. Far from a complete understanding of its anatomy and
      function, the lymphatic system still needs to be profoundly examined.

PMID- 28614588
TI  - Architecture of the paracellular channels formed by claudins of the blood-brain
      barrier tight junctions.
AB  - Tight junctions (TJs) are key players in determining tissue-specific paracellular
      permeability across epithelial and endothelial membranes. Claudin proteins, the
      primary determinants of TJs structure and functionality, assemble in paracellular
      spaces to form channels and pores that are charge and size selective. Here, using
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we elucidate the molecular assembly of
      claudin-3 and claudin-5 proteins of blood-brain barrier TJs. Despite having a
      high degree of sequence and structural similarity, these two claudins form
      different types of cis-interactions. Molecular docking of the observed cis
      interfaces into trans-forms revealed two putative pore models that were also
      observed in the self-assembly simulations. The observed pore structures (pore I
      and II) have pore-lining residues that have been previously reported in the
      literature. The pore I model is consistent with a previously reported claudin-15
      model. The pore II model, also consistent with biochemical results, has not been
      reported previously. Further analysis using in silico site-directed mutations
      provide convincing support for the validity of the pore II model. Using steered
      MD and umbrella sampling, we computed the transport properties of water and alpha
      d-glucose through pore II. The study offers new insight into the selectivity of
      blood-brain barrier TJs.

PMID- 28614589
TI  - Lactoferrin protects against intestinal inflammation and bacteria-induced barrier
      dysfunction in vitro.
AB  - The iron-binding glycoprotein lactoferrin (LF) is naturally present in human
      breast milk. Several studies suggest that LF contributes to infant health and
      development owing to a variety of protective effects, including antimicrobial and
      anti-inflammatory features. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate its protective
      properties on intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction induced by infection or
      inflammation using the human epithelial cell culture models HT-29/B6 and T84.
      During barrier perturbation induced by the proinflammatory cytokine tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), bovine LF restored tight junction (TJ)
      morphometry and inhibited TNF-alpha-induced epithelial apoptosis. This resulted
      in an attenuation of the TNF-alpha-induced decrease in transepithelial resistance
      (TER) and increases in permeability of fluorescein and FITC-dextran (4 kDa) and
      was as effective as the apoptosis inhibitor Q-VD-Oph. The enteropathogenic
      bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica is a frequent cause of diarrhea in early
      childhood. This involves focal changes in TJ protein expression and localization.
      LF diminished the Y. enterocolitica-induced drop in TER in the present in vitro
      model, which was paralleled by an inhibition of the Yersinia-induced reduction of
      claudin-8 expression via c-Jun kinase signaling. In conclusion, LF exerts
      protective effects against inflammation- or infection-induced barrier dysfunction
      in human intestinal cell lines, supporting its relevance for healthy infant
      development.

PMID- 28614591
TI  - Core Entrustable Professional Activities in Clinical Pharmacology for Entering
      Residency: Biologics.
AB  - Biologicals are a rapidly expanding class of medications used in the treatment of
      many different conditions. This article reviews the common characteristics of
      this class and the requirements for safe and effective use in patients. Several
      vignettes are included to illustrate common challenges.

PMID- 28614590
TI  - Chronic Ethanol During Adolescence Impacts Corticolimbic Dendritic Spines and
      Behavior.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risk for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in adulthood is linked to
      alcohol drinking during adolescence, but understanding of the neural and
      behavioral consequences of alcohol exposure during adolescence remains
      incomplete. Here, we examined the neurobehavioral impact of adolescent chronic
      intermittent EtOH (CIE) vapor exposure in mice. METHODS: C57BL/6J-background Thy1
      EGFP mice were CIE-exposed during adolescence or adulthood and examined, as
      adults, for alterations in the density and morphology of dendritic spines in
      infralimbic (IL) cortex, prelimbic (PL) cortex, and basolateral amygdala (BLA).
      In parallel, adolescent- and adult-exposed C57BL/6J mice were tested as adults
      for 2-bottle EtOH drinking, sensitivity to EtOH intoxication (loss of righting
      reflex [LORR]), blood EtOH clearance, and measures of operant responding for food
      reward. RESULTS: CIE during adolescence decreased IL neuronal spine density and
      increased the head width of relatively wide-head IL and BLA spines, whereas CIE
      decreased head width of relatively narrow-head BLA spines. Adolescents had higher
      EtOH consumption prior to CIE than adults, while CIE during adulthood, but not
      adolescence, increased EtOH consumption relative to pre-CIE baseline. CIE
      produced a tolerance-like decrease in LORR sensitivity to EtOH challenge,
      irrespective of the age at which mice received CIE exposure. Mice exposed to CIE
      during adolescence, but not adulthood, required more sessions than AIR controls
      to reliably respond for food reward on a fixed-ratio (FR) 1, but not subsequent
      FR3, reinforcement schedule. On a progressive ratio reinforcement schedule, break
      point responding was higher in the adolescent- than the adult-exposed mice,
      regardless of CIE. Finally, footshock punishment markedly suppressed responding
      for reward in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to CIE during adolescence altered
      dendritic spine density and morphology in IL and BLA neurons, in parallel with a
      limited set of behavioral alterations. Together, these data add to growing
      evidence that key corticolimbic circuits are vulnerable to the effects of alcohol
      during adolescence, with lasting, potentially detrimental, consequences for
      behavior.

PMID- 28614592
TI  - The heat is on: Genetic adaptation to urbanization mediated by thermal tolerance
      and body size.
AB  - Worldwide, urbanization leads to tremendous anthropogenic environmental
      alterations, causing strong selection pressures on populations of animals and
      plants. Although a key feature of urban areas is their higher temperature ("urban
      heat islands"), adaptive thermal evolution in organisms inhabiting urban areas
      has rarely been studied. We tested for evolution of a higher heat tolerance
      (CTMAX ) in urban populations of the water flea Daphnia magna, a keystone grazer
      in freshwater ecosystems, by carrying out a common garden experiment at two
      temperatures (20 degrees C and 24 degrees C) with genotypes of 13 natural
      populations ordered along a well-defined urbanization gradient. We also assessed
      body size and haemoglobin concentration to identify underlying physiological
      drivers of responses in CTMAX . We found a higher CTMAX in animals isolated from
      urban compared to rural habitats and in animals reared at higher temperatures. We
      also observed substantial genetic variation in thermal tolerance within
      populations. Overall, smaller animals were more heat tolerant. While urban
      animals mature at smaller size, the effect of urbanization on thermal tolerance
      is only in part caused by reductions in body size. Although urban Daphnia
      contained higher concentrations of haemoglobin, this did not contribute to their
      higher CTMAX . Our results provide evidence of adaptive thermal evolution to
      urbanization in the water flea Daphnia. In addition, our results show both
      evolutionary potential and adaptive plasticity in rural as well as urban Daphnia
      populations, facilitating responses to warming. Given the important ecological
      role of Daphnia in ponds and lakes, these adaptive responses likely impact food
      web dynamics, top-down control of algae, water quality, and the socio-economic
      value of urban ponds.

PMID- 28614593
TI  - Inconsistencies of interannual variability and trends in long-term satellite leaf
      area index products.
AB  - Understanding the long-term performance of global satellite leaf area index (LAI)
      products is important for global change research. However, few effort has been
      devoted to evaluating the long-term time-series consistencies of LAI products.
      This study compared four long-term LAI products (GLASS, GLOBMAP, LAI3g, and TCDR)
      in terms of trends, interannual variabilities, and uncertainty variations from
      1982 through 2011. This study also used four ancillary LAI products (GEOV1,
      MERIS, MODIS C5, and MODIS C6) from 2003 through 2011 to help clarify the
      performances of the four long-term LAI products. In general, there were marked
      discrepancies between the four long-term LAI products. During the pre-MODIS
      period (1982-1999), both linear trends and interannual variabilities of global
      mean LAI followed the order GLASS>LAI3g>TCDR>GLOBMAP. The GLASS linear trend and
      interannual variability were almost 4.5 times those of GLOBMAP. During the
      overlap period (2003-2011), GLASS and GLOBMAP exhibited a decreasing trend, TCDR
      no trend, and LAI3g an increasing trend. GEOV1, MERIS, and MODIS C6 also
      exhibited an increasing trend, but to a much smaller extent than that from LAI3g.
      During both periods, the R2 of detrended anomalies between the four long-term LAI
      products was smaller than 0.4 for most regions. Interannual variabilities of the
      four long-term LAI products were considerably different over the two periods, and
      the differences followed the order GLASS>LAI3g>TCDR>GLOBMAP. Uncertainty
      variations quantified by a collocation error model followed the same order. Our
      results indicate that the four long-term LAI products were neither
      intraconsistent over time nor interconsistent with each other. These
      inconsistencies may be due to NOAA satellite orbit changes and MODIS sensor
      degradation. Caution should be used in the interpretation of global changes
      derived from the four long-term LAI products.

PMID- 28614594
TI  - Linkages of plant stoichiometry to ecosystem production and carbon fluxes with
      increasing nitrogen inputs in an alpine steppe.
AB  - Unprecedented levels of nitrogen (N) have entered terrestrial ecosystems over the
      past century, which substantially influences the carbon (C) exchange between the
      atmosphere and biosphere. Temperature and moisture are generally regarded as the
      major controllers over the N effects on ecosystem C uptake and release. N
      phosphorous (P) stoichiometry regulates the growth and metabolisms of plants and
      soil organisms, thereby affecting many ecosystem C processes. However, it remains
      unclear how the N-induced shift in the plant N:P ratio affects ecosystem
      production and C fluxes and its relative importance. We conducted a field
      manipulative experiment with eight N addition levels in a Tibetan alpine steppe
      and assessed the influences of N on aboveground net primary production (ANPP),
      gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem
      exchange (NEE); we used linear mixed-effects models to further determine the
      relative contributions of various factors to the N-induced changes in these
      parameters. Our results showed that the ANPP, GEP, ER, and NEE all exhibited
      nonlinear responses to increasing N additions. Further analysis demonstrated that
      the plant N:P ratio played a dominate role in shaping these C exchange processes.
      There was a positive relationship between the N-induced changes in ANPP
      (DeltaANPP) and the plant N:P ratio (DeltaN:P), whereas the DeltaGEP, DeltaER,
      and DeltaNEE exhibited quadratic correlations with the DeltaN:P. In contrast,
      soil temperature and moisture were only secondary predictors for the changes in
      ecosystem production and C fluxes along the N addition gradient. These findings
      highlight the importance of plant N:P ratio in regulating ecosystem C exchange,
      which is crucial for improving our understanding of C cycles under the scenarios
      of global N enrichment.

PMID- 28614595
TI  - Perioperative COX-2 inhibitors may increase the risk of post-operative acute
      kidney injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In enhanced recovery protocols (ERP), a restrictive fluid regimen is
      proposed. Patients who undergo major surgery have an increased risk of post
      operative acute kidney injury (AKI). This combination may pose difficulties when
      ERP is used for patients undergoing major surgery. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate whether patients undergoing pancreatic surgery and treated with a
      restrictive fluid regimen are at greater risk of post-operative AKI. Furthermore,
      if there was an increased risk of AKI, we aimed to identify its cause. METHODS:
      We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent pancreatic surgery
      during 2014 (preERP, n = 58) and 2015 (ERP, n = 65). Fluid balance, the
      administration of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, creatinine levels and mean
      arterial pressure were recorded. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes
      criteria were used to define AKI. RESULTS: The incidence of AKI was higher in the
      ERP group than in the PreERP group (12.5% vs. 1.8%, respectively, P = 0.035). The
      increased incidence of AKI could not be explained by differences in
      comorbidities, age, pre-operative creatinine or perioperative hypotension.
      Administration of coxibs was higher in the ERP group and was associated with
      increased incidence of post-operative AKI (P = 0.018). The combination of coxibs
      and restrictive fluid regimen seems particularly harmful. CONCLUSION: Pancreatic
      surgery with a restrictive fluid regimen carries an increased risk of post
      operative AKI if patients are also treated with cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors. It
      is therefore suggested that in protocols including a restrictive fluid regimen
      for open pancreatic surgery, the use of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors should be
      avoided.

PMID- 28614596
TI  - Efficient Mercury Capture Using Functionalized Porous Organic Polymer.
AB  - The primary challenge in materials design and synthesis is achieving the balance
      between performance and economy for real-world application. This issue is
      addressed by creating a thiol functionalized porous organic polymer (POP) using
      simple free radical polymerization techniques to prepare a cost-effective
      material with a high density of chelating sites designed for mercury capture and
      therefore environmental remediation. The resulting POP is able to remove aqueous
      and airborne mercury with uptake capacities of 1216 and 630 mg g-1 ,
      respectively. The material demonstrates rapid kinetics, capable of dropping the
      mercury concentration from 5 ppm to 1 ppb, lower than the US Environmental
      Protection Agency's drinking water limit (2 ppb), within 10 min. Furthermore, the
      material has the added benefits of recyclability, stability in a broad pH range,
      and selectivity for toxic metals. These results are attributed to the material's
      physical properties, which include hierarchical porosity, a high density of
      chelating sites, and the material's robustness, which improve the thiol
      availability to bind with mercury as determined by X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure studies. The work provides
      promising results for POPs as an economical material for multiple environmental
      remediation applications.

PMID- 28614597
TI  - ESC sudden-death risk model in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Incremental value of
      quantitative contrast-enhanced CMR in intermediate-risk patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) remains the most common cause of
      sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young; however, current strategies do not
      identify all HCM patients at risk. A novel validated algorithm was proposed by
      the last European Society of Cardiology guidelines to guide implantable
      cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy. Recently, extensive myocardial fibrosis
      was independently associated with increased risk of SCD events. This study aimed
      to establish the relation between myocardial fibrosis (late gadolinium
      enhancement [LGE] extension) and the novel SCD risk-prediction model in a real
      population of HCM to evaluate its potential additional value in the different
      risk groups. HYPOTHESIS: There is a significant association between LGE extension
      and the novel SCD risk calculator that may help conflicting ICD decisions.
      METHODS: Seventy-seven patients with HCM underwent routine clinical evaluation,
      echocardiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance study. Their SCD risk at 5 years
      was calculated using the new model. RESULTS: Extension of LGE positively
      correlated with SCD risk prediction (r = 0.7, P < 0.001). Low-, intermediate-,
      and high-risk groups according to the model showed significantly different extent
      of LGE (5% +/- 6% vs 18% +/- 9% vs 17% +/- 4%; P < 0.001). Four patients (6%) in
      the low-risk group and 5 (62%) in the intermediate-risk group showed extensive
      areas of LGE. All patients except 1 (86%) at highest risk (n = 6) showed
      extensive areas of LGE. CONCLUSIONS: LGE extension is concordant with the novel
      SCD-risk model defining low- and high-risk groups; it may provide additional
      information, allowing better discrimination to support implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator decision. LGE quantification holds promise for SCD stratification
      in HCM.

PMID- 28614598
TI  - Pulmonary adenocarcinoma diagnosed by incisional skin metastasis in an old scar
      from a non-neoplastic surgery.

PMID- 28614599
TI  - Investigating the genomic basis of discrete phenotypes using a Pool-Seq-only
      approach: New insights into the genetics underlying colour variation in diverse
      taxa.
AB  - While large-scale genomic approaches are increasingly revealing the genetic basis
      of polymorphic phenotypes such as colour morphs, such approaches are almost
      exclusively conducted in species with high-quality genomes and annotations. Here,
      we use Pool-Seq data for both genome assembly and SNP frequency estimation,
      followed by scanning for FST outliers to identify divergent genomic regions.
      Using paired-end, short-read sequencing data from two groups of individuals
      expressing divergent phenotypes, we generate a de novo rough-draft genome,
      identify SNPs and calculate genomewide FST differences between phenotypic groups.
      As genomes generated by Pool-Seq data are highly fragmented, we also present an
      approach for super-scaffolding contigs using existing protein-coding data sets.
      Using this approach, we reanalysed genomic data from two recent studies of birds
      and butterflies investigating colour pattern variation and replicated their core
      findings, demonstrating the accuracy and power of a Pool-Seq-only approach.
      Additionally, we discovered new regions of high divergence and new annotations
      that together suggest novel parallels between birds and butterflies in the
      origins of their colour pattern variation.

PMID- 28614600
TI  - Investigations on Gold-Catalyzed Thioalkyne Activation Toward Facile Synthesis of
      Ketene Dithioacetals.
AB  - Nucleophilic addition to thioalkynes was investigated under various catalytic
      conditions with gold(I) complexes being identified as the optimal catalysts.
      Structural evaluation of the product revealed an unexpected cis-addition, arising
      from a gold-associated thioketene intermediate. Based on this interesting
      mechanistic insight, a gold(I)-catalyzed thioether addition to thioalkynes was
      developed as a novel approach to prepare ketene dithioacetals with good yields
      and high efficiency.

PMID- 28614601
TI  - Genomewide transcriptional reprogramming in the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa under
      experimental ocean acidification.
AB  - Here, we report the first use of massive-scale RNA-sequencing to explore seagrass
      response to CO2 -driven ocean acidification (OA). Large-scale gene expression
      changes in the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa occurred at CO2 levels projected by the
      end of the century. C. nodosa transcriptome was obtained using Illumina RNA-Seq
      technology and de novo assembly, and differential gene expression was explored in
      plants exposed to short-term high CO2 /low pH conditions. At high pCO2 , there
      was a significant increased expression of transcripts associated with
      photosynthesis, including light reaction functions and CO2 fixation, and also to
      respiratory pathways, specifically for enzymes involved in glycolysis, in the
      tricarboxylic acid cycle and in the energy metabolism of the mitochondrial
      electron transport. The upregulation of respiratory metabolism is probably
      supported by the increased availability of photosynthates and increased energy
      demand for biosynthesis and stress-related processes under elevated CO2 and low
      pH. The upregulation of several chaperones resembling heat stress-induced changes
      in gene expression highlighted the positive role these proteins play in tolerance
      to intracellular acid stress in seagrasses. OA further modifies C. nodosa
      secondary metabolism inducing the transcription of enzymes related to
      biosynthesis of carbon-based secondary compounds, in particular the synthesis of
      polyphenols and isoprenoid compounds that have a variety of biological functions
      including plant defence. By demonstrating which physiological processes are most
      sensitive to OA, this research provides a major advance in the understanding of
      seagrass metabolism in the context of altered seawater chemistry from global
      climate change.

PMID- 28614602
TI  - UV-Ozone Interfacial Modification in Organic Transistors for High-Sensitivity NO2
      Detection.
AB  - A new type of nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) gas sensor based on copper phthalocyanine
      (CuPc) thin film transistors (TFTs) with a simple, low-cost UV-ozone (UVO)
      treated polymeric gate dielectric is reported here. The NO2 sensitivity of these
      TFTs with the dielectric surface UVO treatment is ~400* greater for [NO2 ] = 30
      ppm than for those without UVO treatment. Importantly, the sensitivity is ~50*
      greater for [NO2 ] = 1 ppm with the UVO-treated TFTs, and a limit of detection of
      ~400 ppb is achieved with this sensing platform. The morphology, microstructure,
      and chemical composition of the gate dielectric and CuPc films are analyzed by
      atomic force microscopy, grazing incident X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, revealing that the
      enhanced sensing performance originates from UVO-derived hydroxylated species on
      the dielectric surface and not from chemical reactions between NO2 and the
      dielectric/semiconductor components. This work demonstrates that
      dielectric/semiconductor interface engineering is essential for readily
      manufacturable high-performance TFT-based gas sensors.

PMID- 28614603
TI  - Light-Switchable Oxygen Vacancies in Ultrafine Bi5 O7 Br Nanotubes for Boosting
      Solar-Driven Nitrogen Fixation in Pure Water.
AB  - Solar-driven reduction of dinitrogen (N2 ) to ammonia (NH3 ) is severely hampered
      by the kinetically complex and energetically challenging multielectron reaction.
      Oxygen vacancies (OVs) with abundant localized electrons on the surface of
      bismuth oxybromide-based semiconductors are demonstrated to have the ability to
      capture and activate N2 , providing an alternative pathway to overcome such
      limitations. However, bismuth oxybromide materials are susceptible to
      photocorrosion, and the surface OVs are easily oxidized and therefore lose their
      activities. For realistic photocatalytic N2 fixation, fabricating and enhancing
      the stability of sustainable OVs on semiconductors is indispensable. This study
      shows the first synthesis of self-assembled 5 nm diameter Bi5 O7 Br nanotubes
      with strong nanotube structure, suitable absorption edge, and many exposed
      surface sites, which are favorable for furnishing sufficient visible light
      induced OVs to realize excellent and stable photoreduction of atmospheric N2 into
      NH3 in pure water. The NH3 generation rate is as high as 1.38 mmol h-1 g-1 ,
      accompanied by an apparent quantum efficiency over 2.3% at 420 nm. The results
      presented herein provide new insights into rational design and engineering for
      the creation of highly active catalysts with light-switchable OVs toward
      efficient, stable, and sustainable visible light N2 fixation in mild conditions.

PMID- 28614604
TI  - 'You are inferior!' Revisiting the expressivist argument.
AB  - According to the expressivist argument the choice to use biotechnologies to
      prevent the birth of individuals with specific disabilities is an expression of
      disvalue for existing people with this disability. The argument has stirred a
      lively debate and has recently received renewed attention. This article starts
      with presenting the expressivist argument and its core elements. It then goes on
      to present and examine the counter-arguments before it addresses some aspects
      that have gained surprisingly little attention. The analysis demonstrates that
      the expressivist argument has a wide range of underpinnings and that counter
      arguments tend to focus on only a few of these. It also reveals an important
      aspect that appears to have been ignored, i.e., that people do not select
      foetuses based on chromosomes or other biological traits, but based on
      characteristics of living persons with specific disabilities. This makes it more
      difficult to undermine the claim that negative selection of foetuses expresses a
      disvaluing of persons with such disabilities. It leaves the expressivist argument
      with a strong bite still.

PMID- 28614605
TI  - Symbiotic soil fungi enhance ecosystem resilience to climate change.
AB  - Substantial amounts of nutrients are lost from soils through leaching. These
      losses can be environmentally damaging, causing groundwater eutrophication and
      also comprise an economic burden in terms of lost agricultural production. More
      intense precipitation events caused by climate change will likely aggravate this
      problem. So far it is unresolved to which extent soil biota can make ecosystems
      more resilient to climate change and reduce nutrient leaching losses when
      rainfall intensity increases. In this study, we focused on arbuscular mycorrhizal
      (AM) fungi, common soil fungi that form symbiotic associations with most land
      plants and which increase plant nutrient uptake. We hypothesized that AM fungi
      mitigate nutrient losses following intensive precipitation events (higher amount
      of precipitation and rain events frequency). To test this, we manipulated the
      presence of AM fungi in model grassland communities subjected to two rainfall
      scenarios: moderate and high rainfall intensity. The total amount of nutrients
      lost through leaching increased substantially with higher rainfall intensity. The
      presence of AM fungi reduced phosphorus losses by 50% under both rainfall
      scenarios and nitrogen losses by 40% under high rainfall intensity. Thus, the
      presence of AM fungi enhanced the nutrient interception ability of soils, and AM
      fungi reduced the nutrient leaching risk when rainfall intensity increases. These
      findings are especially relevant in areas with high rainfall intensity (e.g.,
      such as the tropics) and for ecosystems that will experience increased rainfall
      due to climate change. Overall, this work demonstrates that soil biota such as AM
      fungi can enhance ecosystem resilience and reduce the negative impact of
      increased precipitation on nutrient losses.

PMID- 28614606
TI  - Antagonism of Trichoderma isolates against Leucoagaricus gongylophorus (Singer)
      Moller.
AB  - Filamentous fungi from the genus Trichoderma are commonly found in soil. They are
      considered facultative mycoparasites, and are antagonists of other fungi such as
      the cultivar of leaf-cutting ants (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus). The aim of the
      present study was to bioprospect Trichoderma spp. from different soils collected
      from Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil, for antagonistic effects against the mutualistic
      fungus of leaf-cutting ants. To isolate filamentous fungi, samples were collected
      from six locations. Preliminarily, isolates were identified by morphological
      analysis as belonging to Trichoderma. Trichoderma spp. had their internal
      transcribed spacer region (ITS) of ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA) sequenced to
      confirm species-level taxonomy. L. gongylophorus was isolated from a laboratory
      ant colony. Antagonistic properties of seven isolates of Trichoderma against L.
      gongylophorus were measured using paired disks in Petri dishes with potato
      dextrose agar medium (PDA). All Trichoderma isolates inhibited the growth of L.
      gongylophorus in Petri dishes. Isolate 2 of Trichoderma spirale group exhibited
      slow mycelial growth in the Petri dish, and a high rate of inhibition against L.
      gongylophorus. This isolate is a promising fungus for field tests of biological
      control methods for leaf-cutting ants.

PMID- 28614607
TI  - Anatomical and functional implications of corticotrophin-releasing hormone
      neurones in a septal nucleus of the avian brain: an emphasis on glial-neuronal
      interaction via V1a receptors in vitro.
AB  - Previously, we showed that corticotrophin-releasing hormone immunoreactive (CRH
      IR) neurones in a septal structure are associated with stress and the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in birds. In the present study, we focused
      upon CRH-IR neurones located within the septal structure called the nucleus of
      the hippocampal commissure (NHpC). Immunocytochemical and gene expression
      analyses were used to identify the anatomical and functional characteristics of
      cells within the NHpC. A comparative morphometry analysis showed that CRH-IR
      neurones in the NHpC were significantly larger than CRH-IR parvocellular neurones
      in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) and lateral bed nucleus
      of the stria terminalis. Furthermore, these large neurones in the NHpC usually
      have more than two processes, showing characteristics of multipolar neurones.
      Utilisation of an organotypic slice culture method enabled testing of how CRH-IR
      neurones could be regulated within the NHpC. Similar to the PVN, CRH mRNA levels
      in the NHpC were increased following forskolin treatment. However, dexamethasone
      decreased forskolin-induced CRH gene expression only in the PVN and not in the
      NHpC, indicating differential inhibitory mechanisms in the PVN and the NHpC of
      the avian brain. Moreover, immunocytochemical evidence also showed that CRH-IR
      neurones reside in the NHpC along with the vasotocinergic system, comprising
      arginine vasotocin (AVT) nerve terminals and immunoreactive vasotocin V1a
      receptors (V1aR) in glia. Hence, we hypothesised that AVT acts as a
      neuromodulator within the NHpC to modulate activity of CRH neurones via glial
      V1aR. Gene expression analysis of cultured slices revealed that AVT treatment
      increased CRH mRNA levels, whereas a combination of AVT and a V1aR antagonist
      treatment decreased CRH mRNA expression. Furthermore, an attempt to identify an
      intercellular mechanism in glial-neuronal communication in the NHpC revealed that
      brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor (TrkB) could be
      involved in the signalling mechanism. Immunocytochemical results further showed
      that both BDNF and TrkB receptors were found in glia of the NHpC. Interestingly,
      in cultured brain slices containing the NHpC, the use of a selective TrkB
      antagonist decreased the AVT-induced increase in CRH gene expression levels. The
      results from the present study collectively suggest that CRH neuronal activity is
      modulated by AVT via V1aR involving BDNF and TrkB glia in the NHpC.

PMID- 28614609
TI  - Is the Coefficient of Detection Useful? A Critical Comment on the Summary Report
      of the Collaborative Behavioral Teratology Study.

PMID- 28614610
TI  - Pseudoaprosencephaly: Aplasia of the Forebrain in a Median Facial Cleft Syndrome
      with Arhinia and Anophthalmia.
AB  - Report of a female fetus aborted at the 25th week of gestation, with severe
      microcephalus, trigonocephaly, median cleft lip and palate, arhinia, and
      anophthalmia. On opening of the skull the cranial cavity seemed to be occupied
      only by hindbrain structures. The forebrain, including the tentorium cerebelli
      and the falx were absent. However, in the light microscope membraneous remnants
      of a collapsed forebrain vesicle were found. They were connected with the mid
      brain brain and appeared as glio-mesenchymal membranes with an ependymal out-line
      at their inner surface. There was no cranioschisis. The formal relationship of
      this forebrain malformation to abobar dorsal sac holoprosencephaly, and its
      separation from hydranencephaly are discussed. In view of the gross absence of
      the telencephalon and the microscopic demonstration of remnants of a
      prosencephalic vesicle it is suggested to term this "missing link" in the
      classification of human CNS malformations pseudoaprosencephaly.

PMID- 28614611
TI  - Effects of Antimutagens on the Teratogenicity of N-Methyl-N'-Nitro-N
      Nitrosoguanidine in Mice.
AB  - We examined whether vanillin (VA) and CoCl2 ?6H2 O(CoCl2 ), antimutagens, which
      have mutation suppressing effect, i.e., promotion of cellular repair function in
      vitro, can modify the teratogenicity in mice caused by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N
      nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), a direct-acting monofunctional alkylating agent. ICR
      mice were treated with MNNG alone (single IP dose of 40 or 60 mg/kg) or in
      combination with the antimutagen on day 11 of gestation. Embryotoxicity and
      teratogenicity were examined at term. The incidence of MNNG-induced syndactyly in
      the fore- and hindlimbs was significantly decreased by VA (50 mg/kg, IP) or CoCl2
      (10 mg/kg, IV) and a tendency to decrease in the incidence of oligodactyly was
      noted as well. On the other hand, the incidence of MNNG-induced brachydactyly was
      increased by VA or CoCl2 . Though the mechanism of the modifying effects of both
      VA and CoCl2 on MNNG-induced malformations could not be delineated in the present
      study, the results indicate that the antimutagens which stimulate DNA
      recombination repair in vitro modify the manifestation of malformations caused by
      teratogens that attack the fetal DNA in the initial teratogenic mechanism.

PMID- 28614612
TI  - Aplasia of the Optic Nerve in Microphthalmic Offspring of Prenatally X-irradiated
      Rats.
AB  - A considerable number of postnatally-viable microphthalmic offspring with optic
      nerves completely absent were obtained by X-irradiation at a dose of 100 R in
      pregnant rats on gestational day 10.5. Thirteen of 15 mi-crophthalmic eyes
      examined displayed histological features characteristic of aplasia of the optic
      nerve: complete absence of optic papilla, nerve fiber layer and retinal blood
      vessels, and great reduction in the number of ganglion cells. The remaining 2
      eyes showed the histological features of hypoplasia of the optic nerve. The
      present experimental system may afford suitable materials for postnatal patho
      genetic studies and also for various physiological and behavioral studies of
      aplasia of the optic nerve.

PMID- 28614613
TI  - Population Pharmacokinetic and Exposure-Response Analysis of Weekly Teriparatide
      in Osteoporosis Patients.
AB  - Teriparatide is a potent therapeutic agent for the treatment of osteoporosis. One
      of the aims of this analysis was to develop a population pharmacokinetic (PPK)
      model to understand the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the once-weekly
      formulation of teriparatide. Another aim was to develop an exposure-response
      model to describe the relationship between change in bone mineral density (BMD)
      and teriparatide exposure after weekly subcutaneous administration. The PPK
      analysis showed that apparent total body clearance was significantly influenced
      by estimated creatinine clearance and the presence of osteoporosis. A data set
      consisting of lumbar spine BMD values for 513 osteoporosis patients whose area
      under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of teriparatide acetate was estimated by
      the developed PPK model was then compiled. Exposure-response analysis showed that
      the percentage change from baseline of BMD was well described by a function of
      the AUC of teriparatide acetate, time, and coadministration of alfacalcidol and a
      calcium preparation. The analysis indicated that AUC is an important parameter
      for predicting BMD response to once-weekly teriparatide in osteoporosis patients.

PMID- 28614614
TI  - Clarifying the landscape approach: A Letter to the Editor on "Integrated
      landscape approaches to managing social and environmental issues in the tropics".
AB  - Objectives, assumptions, and methods for landscape restoration and the landscape
      approach. World leaders have pledged 350 Mha for restoration using a landscape
      approach. The landscape approach is thus poised to become one of the most
      influential methods for multi-functional land management. Reed et al (2016)
      meaningfully advance scholarship on the landscape approach, but they incorrectly
      define the approach as it exists within their text. This Letter to the Editor
      clarifies the landscape approach as an ethic for land management, demonstrates
      how it relates to landscape restoration, and motivates continued theoretical
      development and empirical assessment of the landscape approach.

PMID- 28614615
TI  - A Quantitative Analysis of Latino Acculturation and Alcohol Use: Myth Versus
      Reality.
AB  - Research on health among Latinos often focuses on acculturation processes and the
      associated stressors that influence drinking behavior. Given the common use of
      acculturation measures and the state of the knowledge on alcohol-related health
      among Latino populations, the current analyses tested the efficacy of
      acculturation measures to predict various indicators of alcohol consumption.
      Specifically, this quantitative review assessed the predictive utility of
      acculturation on alcohol consumption behaviors (frequency, volume, and quantity).
      Two main analyses were conducted-a p-curve analysis and a meta-analysis of the
      observed associations between acculturation and drinking behavior. Results
      demonstrated that current measures of acculturation are a statistically
      significant predictor of alcohol use (Z = -20.75, p < 0.0001). The meta-analysis
      included a cumulative sample size of 29,589 Latino participants across 31
      studies. A random-effects model yielded a weighted average correlation of 0.16
      (95% confidence interval = 0.12, 0.19). Additional subgroup analyses examined the
      effects of gender and using different scales to measure acculturation.
      Altogether, results demonstrated that acculturation is a useful predictor of
      alcohol use. In addition, the meta-analysis revealed that a small positive
      correlation exists between acculturation and alcohol use in Latinos with a
      between-study variance of only 1.5% (tau2  = 0.015). Our analyses reveal that the
      association between current measures of acculturation and alcohol use is
      relatively small.

PMID- 28614616
TI  - Tying oneself to the mast: One necessary cost to morally enhancing oneself
      biomedically.
AB  - In this article I seek to establish what, if anything, might be morally troubling
      about morally enhancing oneself through biomedical means. Building on arguments
      by Harris, while simultaneously acknowledging several valid counter-arguments
      that have been put forth by his critics, I argue that taking BMEs necessarily
      incurs at least one moral cost in the restrictions they impose on our freedom.
      This does not necessarily entail that the use of BMEs cannot be overall
      justified, nor that, in certain cases, their costs may not be forestalled. It
      does show, however, that their use is not morally neutral. There is a cost to
      such technologies and, as such, the onus will always be on their defenders to
      show that these costs can compensated for.

PMID- 28614617
TI  - Urticaria pigmentosa with concomitant polycythaemia vera in a 3-year-old boy.

PMID- 28614618
TI  - Bismuth-Boron Multiple Bonding in BiB2 O- and Bi2 B.
AB  - Despite its electron deficiency, boron is versatile in forming multiple bonds.
      Transition-metal-boron double bonding is known, but boron-metal triple bonds have
      been elusive. Two bismuth boron cluster anions, BiB2 O- and Bi2 B- , containing
      triple and double B-Bi bonds are presented. The BiB2 O- and Bi2 B- clusters are
      produced by laser vaporization of a mixed B/Bi target and characterized by
      photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. Well-resolved
      photoelectron spectra are obtained and interpreted with the help of ab initio
      calculations, which show that both species are linear. Chemical bonding analyses
      reveal that Bi forms triple and double bonds with boron in BiB2 O- ([Bi=B-B=O]- )
      and Bi2 B- ([Bi=B=Bi]- ), respectively. The Bi-B double and triple bond strengths
      are calculated to be 3.21 and 4.70 eV, respectively. This is the first
      experimental observation of Bi-B double and triple bonds, opening the door to
      design main-group metal-boron complexes with multiple bonding.

PMID- 28614619
TI  - Direct and Stereospecific Synthesis of N-H and N-Alkyl Aziridines from
      Unactivated Olefins Using Hydroxylamine-O-Sulfonic Acids.
AB  - A RhII -catalyzed direct and stereospecific N-H- and N-alkyl aziridination of
      olefins is reported that uses hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acids as inexpensive,
      readily available, and nitro group-free aminating reagents. Unactivated olefins,
      featuring a wide range of functional groups, are converted into the corresponding
      N-H or N-alkyl aziridines in good to excellent yields. This operationally simple,
      scalable transformation proceeds efficiently at ambient temperature and is
      tolerant towards oxygen and trace moisture.

PMID- 28614620
TI  - A systematic review of segmental vs subtotal colectomy and subtotal colectomy vs
      total proctocolectomy for colonic Crohn's disease.
AB  - AIM: Surgical management of colonic Crohn's disease (CD) is still unclear because
      different procedures can be adopted. The choice of operation is dependent on the
      involvement of colonic disease but the advantages and disadvantages of the extent
      of resection are still debated. METHOD: The aim of the present study was to
      evaluate the differences in short-term and long-term outcomes of adult patients
      with colonic CD who underwent either subtotal colectomy and ileorectal
      anastomosis (STC) or segmental colectomy (SC) or total proctocolectomy and end
      ileostomy (TPC). Studies published between 1984 and 2012 including comparisons of
      STC vs SC and of STC vs TPC were selected. The study end-points were overall and
      surgical recurrence, postoperative morbidity and incidence of permanent stoma.
      Fixed effect models were used to evaluate the study outcomes. RESULTS: Eleven
      studies, consisting of a total of 1436 patients (510 STC, 500 SC and 426 TPC),
      were included. Analysis of the data showed no significant difference between STC
      and SC in terms of overall and surgical recurrence of CD. In contrast, STC showed
      a higher risk of overall and surgical recurrence of CD than TPC (OR 3.53, 95% CI
      2.45-5.10, P < 0.0001; OR 3.52, 95% CI 2.27-5.44, P < 0.0001, respectively). SC
      had a higher risk of postoperative complications compared to STC, and STC had a
      lower risk of complications than TPC (OR 2.84, 95% CI 1.16-6.96, P < 0.02; OR
      0.19, 95% CI 0.09-0.38, P < 0.0001, respectively). SC resulted in a lower risk of
      permanent stoma than STC (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.35-0.77). CONCLUSION: All three
      procedures were equally effective as treatment options for colonic CD and the
      choice of operation remains intrinsically dependent on the extent of colonic
      disease. However, patients in the TPC group showed a lower recurrence risk than
      those in the STC group. Moreover, SC had a higher risk of postoperative
      complications but a lower risk of permanent stoma. These data should be taken
      into account when deciding surgical strategies and when informing patients about
      postoperative risks.

PMID- 28614621
TI  - Synthetic Nucleic Acid Analogues in Gene Therapy: An Update for Peptide
      Oligonucleotide Conjugates.
AB  - The main objective of this work is to provide an update on synthetic nucleic acid
      analogues and nanoassemblies as tools in gene therapy. In particular, the
      synthesis and properties of peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates (POCs), which have
      high potential in research and as therapeutics, are described in detail. The
      exploration of POCs has already led to fruitful results in the treatment of
      neurological diseases, lung disorders, cancer, leukemia, viral, and bacterial
      infections. However, delivery and in vivo stability are the major barriers to the
      clinical application of POCs and other analogues that still have to be overcome.
      This review summarizes recent achievements in the delivery and in vivo
      administration of synthetic nucleic acid analogues, focusing on POCs, and
      compares their efficiency.

PMID- 28614623
TI  - A Carbon-Dot-Based Fluorescent Nanosensor for Simple Visualization of Bacterial
      Nucleic Acids.
AB  - A simple and facile method for sensing of nucleic acids is in great need for
      disease biomarker detection and diagnosis. Herein, a fluorescent nanosensor
      utilizing carbon dot nanoparticles is introduced that form visible precipitates
      in the presence of target DNA. Carbon dot nanoparticles are fabricated by
      microwave pyrolysis of polyethylenimine, which emits strong photoluminescence and
      can form precipitates when added to target DNA oligonucleotides. The precipitates
      can be easily visualized by UV illumination, and data can be acquired as images
      using a smartphone, which are analyzed for quantification. This carbon-dot-based
      assay allowed fluorescent sensing of target oligonucleotides with various sizes
      and visualization even with minimal amount of DNA (~100 pmol). Finally, the assay
      can be applied as a nanosensor platform for detecting bacterial DNA for the
      antibiotic-resistance gene KPC-2 from Klebsiella pneumoniae. This method provides
      a simple technique for detecting molecular targets, showing wide applicability
      for diagnostics on the bedside or point-of-care testing.

PMID- 28614622
TI  - Chemo- and Enantioselective Intramolecular Silver-Catalyzed Aziridinations.
AB  - Asymmetric nitrene-transfer reactions are a powerful tool for the preparation of
      enantioenriched amine building blocks. Reported herein are chemo- and
      enantioselective silver-catalyzed aminations which transform di- and
      trisubstituted homoallylic carbamates into [4.1.0]-carbamate-tethered aziridines
      in good yields and with ee values of up to 92 %. The effects of the substrate,
      silver counteranion, ligand, solvent, and temperature on both the
      chemoselectivity and ee value were explored. Stereochemical models were proposed
      to rationalize the observed absolute stereochemistry of the aziridines, which
      undergo nucleophilic ring opening to yield enantioenriched amines with no erosion
      in stereochemical integrity.

PMID- 28614625
TI  - A modified sentinel lymph node technique combined with endoluminal loco-regional
      resection for the treatment of rectal tumours: a 14-year experience.
AB  - AIM: After endoluminal loco-regional resection (ELRR) by transanal endoscopic
      microsurgey (TEM) the N parameter may remain undefined. Nucleotide-guided
      mesorectal excision (NGME) improves the lymph node harvest. The aim of the
      present study is to evaluate the long-term oncological results after ELRR with
      NGME. METHOD: A total of 57 patients were enrolled over the period January 2001
      to June 2015. All patients underwent ELRR by TEM. Prior to surgery, 99 m
      technetium-marked nanocolloid was injected into the peritumoural submucosa. After
      removal of the specimen, the residual defect was probed to detect any residual
      radioactivity and 'hot' mesorectal fat was excised. All patients were included in
      a 5-year follow-up programme. RESULTS: Significant radioactivity in the residual
      cavity was found in 28 out of 57 patients (49%). The mean number of lymph nodes
      harvest in irradiated and nonirradiated patients was 1.66 and 2.76, respectively.
      After 68.2 months' follow-up overall survival was 91.2%, disease-related
      mortality 3.5% and disease-free survival 89.5%. Two patients developed pulmonary
      metastases: one ypT3N0 patient underwent lung lobectomy after chemotherapy and
      one pT2N0 patient was managed with lung radiotherapy. Both patients are currently
      alive and disease-free at 48 months' follow-up. Two patients developed local
      recurrence 1 year after ELRR, both treated with neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy
      and total mesorectal excision. Comparing the present series with previous
      patients who did not undergo NGME, an increased number of harvested lymph nodes
      were observed, with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.0085).
      CONCLUSION: NGME during ELRR improves the lymph node harvest and staging
      accuracy. The long-term results showed satisfactory local (3.5%) and distant (7%)
      recurrence rates.

PMID- 28614626
TI  - PTPRS and PER3 methylation levels are associated with childhood obesity: results
      from a genome-wide methylation analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The global prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has
      increased in the last years. Epigenetic dysregulation affecting gene expression
      could be a determinant in early-life obesity onset and accompanying
      complications. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present investigation was to analyse the
      putative association between DNA methylation and childhood obesity. METHODS: DNA
      was isolated from white blood cells of 24 children obtained from the GENOI study
      and was hybridized in a 450K methylation array. Two CpG sites associated with
      obesity were validated in 91 children by MassArray(r) EpiTyperTM technology.
      RESULTS: Genome-wide analysis identified 734 CpGs (783 genes) differentially
      methylated between cases (n = 12) and controls (n = 12). Ingenuity Pathway
      Analysis showed that these genes were involved in oxidative stress and circadian
      rhythm signalling pathways. Moreover, the DNA methylation levels of VIPR2,
      GRIN2D, ADCYAP1R1, PER3 and PTPRS regions correlated with the obesity trait.
      EpiTyperTM validation also identified significant correlations between
      methylation levels of CpG sites on PTPRS and PER3 with BMI z-score. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study identified several CpG sites and specifically several CpGs in the
      PTPRS and PER3 genes differentially methylated between obese and non-obese
      children, suggesting a role for DNA methylation concerning development of
      childhood obesity.

PMID- 28614624
TI  - New insights into the role of EMT in tumor immune escape.
AB  - Novel immunotherapy approaches have provided durable remission in a significant
      number of cancer patients with cancers previously considered rapidly lethal.
      Nonetheless, the high degree of nonresponders, and in some cases the emergence of
      resistance in patients who do initially respond, represents a significant
      challenge in the field of cancer immunotherapy. These issues prompt much more
      extensive studies to better understand how cancer cells escape immune
      surveillance and resist immune attacks. Here, we review the current knowledge of
      how cellular heterogeneity and plasticity could be involved in shaping the tumor
      microenvironment (TME) and in controlling antitumor immunity. Indeed, recent
      findings have led to increased interest in the mechanisms by which cancer cells
      undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), or oscillating within the EMT
      spectrum, might contribute to immune escape through multiple routes. This
      includes shaping of the TME and decreased susceptibility to immune effector
      cells. Although much remains to be learned on the mechanisms at play, cancer cell
      clones with mesenchymal features emerging from the TME seem to be primed to face
      immune attacks by specialized killer cells of the immune system, the natural
      killer cells, and the cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Recent studies investigating
      patient tumors have suggested EMT as a candidate predictive marker to be explored
      for immunotherapy outcome. Promising data also exist on the potential utility of
      targeting these cancer cell populations to at least partly overcome such
      resistance. Research is now underway which may lead to considerable progress in
      optimization of treatments.

PMID- 28614628
TI  - Temperature-Dependence of the Rates of Reaction of Trifluoroacetic Acid with
      Criegee Intermediates.
AB  - The rate coefficients for gas-phase reaction of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) with
      two Criegee intermediates, formaldehyde oxide and acetone oxide, decrease with
      increasing temperature in the range 240-340 K. The rate coefficients k(CH2 OO +
      CF3 COOH)=(3.4+/-0.3)*10-10  cm3  s-1 and k((CH3 )2 COO + CF3 COOH)=(6.1+/
      0.2)*10-10  cm3  s-1 at 294 K exceed estimates for collision-limited values,
      suggesting rate enhancement by capture mechanisms because of the large permanent
      dipole moments of the two reactants. The observed temperature dependence is
      attributed to competitive stabilization of a pre-reactive complex. Fits to a
      model incorporating this complex formation give k [cm3  s-1 ]=(3.8+/-2.6)*10-18 
      T2 exp((1620+/-180)/T) + 2.5*10-10 and k [cm3  s-1 ]=(4.9+/-4.1)*10-18  T2
      exp((1620+/-230)/T) + 5.2*10-10 for the CH2 OO + CF3 COOH and (CH3 )2 COO + CF3
      COOH reactions, respectively. The consequences are explored for removal of TFA
      from the atmosphere by reaction with biogenic Criegee intermediates.

PMID- 28614629
TI  - Land-use strategies to balance livestock production, biodiversity conservation
      and carbon storage in Yucatan, Mexico.
AB  - Balancing the production of food, particularly meat, with preserving biodiversity
      and maintaining ecosystem services is a major societal challenge. Research into
      the contrasting strategies of land sparing and land sharing has suggested that
      land sparing-combining high-yield agriculture with the protection or restoration
      of natural habitats on nonfarmed land-will have lower environmental impacts than
      other strategies. Ecosystems with long histories of habitat disturbance, however,
      could be resilient to low-yield agriculture and thus fare better under land
      sharing. Using a wider suite of species (birds, dung beetles and trees) and a
      wider range of livestock-production systems than previous studies, we
      investigated the probable impacts of different land-use strategies on
      biodiversity and aboveground carbon stocks in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico-a
      region with a long history of habitat disturbance. By modelling the production of
      multiple products from interdependent land uses, we found that land sparing would
      allow larger estimated populations of most species and larger carbon stocks to
      persist than would land sharing or any intermediate strategy. This result held
      across all agricultural production targets despite the history of disturbance and
      despite species richness in low- and medium-yielding agriculture being not much
      lower than that in natural habitats. This highlights the importance, in
      evaluating the biodiversity impacts of land use, of measuring population
      densities of individual species, rather than simple species richness. The
      benefits of land sparing for both biodiversity and carbon storage suggest that
      safeguarding natural habitats for biodiversity protection and carbon storage
      alongside promoting areas of high-yield cattle production would be desirable.
      However, delivering such landscapes will probably require the explicit linkage of
      livestock yield increases with habitat protection or restoration, as well as a
      deeper understanding of the long-term sustainability of yields, and research into
      how other societal outcomes vary across land-use strategies.

PMID- 28614627
TI  - A randomized phase II feasibility trial of a multimodal intervention for the
      management of cachexia in lung and pancreatic cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer cachexia is a syndrome of weight loss (including muscle and
      fat), anorexia, and decreased physical function. It has been suggested that the
      optimal treatment for cachexia should be a multimodal intervention. The primary
      aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and safety of a multimodal
      intervention (n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid nutritional supplements, exercise,
      and anti-inflammatory medication: celecoxib) for cancer cachexia in patients with
      incurable lung or pancreatic cancer, undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: Patients
      receiving two cycles of standard chemotherapy were randomized to either the
      multimodal cachexia intervention or standard care. Primary outcome measures were
      feasibility assessed by recruitment, attrition, and compliance with intervention
      (>50% of components in >50% of patients). Key secondary outcomes were change in
      weight, muscle mass, physical activity, safety, and survival. RESULTS: Three
      hundred and ninety-nine were screened resulting in 46 patients recruited (11.5%).
      Twenty five patients were randomized to the treatment and 21 as controls. Forty
      one completed the study (attrition rate 11%). Compliance to the individual
      components of the intervention was 76% for celecoxib, 60% for exercise, and 48%
      for nutritional supplements. As expected from the sample size, there was no
      statistically significant effect on physical activity or muscle mass. There were
      no intervention-related Serious Adverse Events and survival was similar between
      the groups. CONCLUSIONS: A multimodal cachexia intervention is feasible and safe
      in patients with incurable lung or pancreatic cancer; however, compliance to
      nutritional supplements was suboptimal. A phase III study is now underway to
      assess fully the effect of the intervention.

PMID- 28614630
TI  - Prevalence of atopic disease in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this work was to evaluate prevalence of eosinophilic
      esophagitis (EoE) in the United States, and analyze prevalence of atopic disease
      in patients with EoE. The study design was a retrospective administrative
      database analysis in U.S.-based outpatient settings. METHODS: A retrospective
      claims analysis in the inpatient and outpatient setting (using MarketScan) was
      conducted to analyze prevalence of atopic disease diagnoses in patients with EoE
      in 2012, and timing of those diagnoses vs EoE. RESULTS: From published evidence,
      prevalence of EoE was estimated at 1 to 5 patients per 10,000 and prevalence of
      asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), and atopic dermatitis (AD) concurrent to EoE
      ranged from 20% to 50%, 50% to 75%, and 2% to 19% cases, respectively. From 2009
      and 2013, the estimated prevalence of EoE in MarketScan increased from 2.7 to 5.6
      per 10,000 enrollees age 34.5 +/- 18.43 years (mean +/- standard deviation). Age
      followed a bimodal distribution with peaks at 12 and 41 years. Women accounted
      for 35.6% cases. Prevalence of asthma, AR, AD, and food allergies up to 12 months
      post-EoE diagnosis reached 44.7%, 27.1%, 25.2%, and 16.9%, respectively, with
      63.5% of all patients suffering from at least 1 of these 4 diseases and 3.0%
      suffering from all 4. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of EoE is associated with the
      diagnoses of asthma, AR, AD, and food allergies. The high prevalence of these
      conditions in EoE patients further strengthens the hypothesis of a common
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 28614631
TI  - TRPM4 regulates Akt/GSK3-beta activity and enhances beta-catenin signaling and
      cell proliferation in prostate cancer cells.
AB  - Increased expression of the TRPM4 channel has been reported to be associated with
      the progression of prostate cancer. However, the molecular mechanism underlying
      its effect remains unknown. This work found that decreasing TRPM4 levels leads to
      the reduced proliferation of PC3 cells. This effect was associated with a
      decrease in total beta-catenin protein levels and its nuclear localization, and a
      significant reduction in Tcf/Lef transcriptional activity. Moreover, TRPM4
      silencing increases the Ser33/Ser37/Thr41 beta-catenin phosphorylated population
      and reduces the phosphorylation of GSK-3beta at Ser9, suggesting an increase in
      beta-catenin degradation as the underlying mechanism. Conversely, TRPM4
      overexpression in LNCaP cells increases the Ser9 inhibitory phosphorylation of
      GSK-3beta and the total levels of beta-catenin and its nonphosphorylated form.
      Finally, PC3 cells with reduced levels of TRPM4 showed a decrease in basal and
      stimulated phosphoactivation of Akt1, which is likely responsible for the
      decrease in GSK-3beta activity in these cells. Our results also suggest that the
      effect of TRPM4 on Akt1 is probably mediated by an alteration in the
      calcium/calmodulin-EGFR axis, linking TRPM4 activity with the observed effects in
      beta-catenin-related signaling pathways. These results suggest a role for TRPM4
      channels in beta-catenin oncogene signaling and underlying mechanisms,
      highlighting this ion channel as a new potential target for future therapies in
      prostate cancer.

PMID- 28614635
TI  - The art of clear thinking.

PMID- 28614632
TI  - High-Pressure Nebulization as Application Route for the Peritoneal Administration
      of siRNA Complexes.
AB  - Peritoneal carcinomatosis is a severe form of cancer in the abdomen, currently
      treated with cytoreductive surgery and intravenous chemotherapy. Recently,
      nebulization has been proposed as a less invasive strategy for the local delivery
      of chemotherapeutic drugs. Also, RNA interference has been considered as a
      potential therapeutic approach for treatment of cancer. In this study,
      Lipofectamine RNAiMAX/siRNA complexes and cyclodextrin/siRNA complexes are
      evaluated before and after nebulization. Nebulization of the siRNA complexes does
      not significantly lower transfection efficiency when compared to non-nebulized
      complexes. After incubation in ascites fluid, however, the cyclodextrin/siRNA
      complexes show a drastic decrease in transfection efficiency. For the
      Lipofectamine RNAiMAX/siRNA complexes, this decrease is less pronounced. It is
      concluded that nebulization is an interesting technique to distribute siRNA
      complexes into the peritoneal cavity, providing the complexes are stable in
      ascites fluid which might be present in the peritoneal cavity.

PMID- 28614633
TI  - Differential sensitivity of total and active soil microbial communities to
      drought and forest management.
AB  - Climate change will affect semiarid ecosystems through severe droughts that
      increase the competition for resources in plant and microbial communities. In
      these habitats, adaptations to climate change may consist of thinning-that
      reduces competition for resources through a decrease in tree density and the
      promotion of plant survival. We deciphered the functional and phylogenetic
      responses of the microbial community to 6 years of drought induced by rainfall
      exclusion and how forest management affects its resistance to drought, in a
      semiarid forest ecosystem dominated by Pinus halepensis Mill. A multiOMIC
      approach was applied to reveal novel, community-based strategies in the face of
      climate change. The diversity and the composition of the total and active soil
      microbiome were evaluated by 16S rRNA gene (bacteria) and ITS (fungal)
      sequencing, and by metaproteomics. The microbial biomass was analyzed by
      phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), and the microbially mediated ecosystem
      multifunctionality was studied by the integration of soil enzyme activities
      related to the cycles of C, N, and P. The microbial biomass and ecosystem
      multifunctionality decreased in drought-plots, as a consequence of the lower soil
      moisture and poorer plant development, but this decrease was more notable in
      unthinned plots. The structure and diversity of the total bacterial community was
      unaffected by drought at phylum and order level, but did so at genus level, and
      was influenced by seasonality. However, the total fungal community and the active
      microbial community were more sensitive to drought and were related to ecosystem
      multifunctionality. Thinning in plots without drought increased the active
      diversity while the total diversity was not affected. Thinning promoted the
      resistance of ecosystem multifunctionality to drought through changes in the
      active microbial community. The integration of total and active microbiome
      analyses avoids misinterpretations of the links between the soil microbial
      community and climate change.

PMID- 28614636
TI  - Spermatozoa with numerical chromosomal abnormalities are more prone to be
      retained by Annexin V-MACS columns.
AB  - Colloidal super-paramagnetic microbeads conjugated with annexin V are effective
      for separating apoptotic spermatozoa by MACS as a result of the high affinity of
      annexin V for externalized PS molecules. The effectiveness of the procedure in
      reducing the percentage of sperm with fragmented DNA and abnormal morphology has
      also been reported. However, it is still unknown if it could decrease the
      percentage of aneuploid spermatozoa. The objective of our prospective study,
      performed on 16 males with abnormal FISH on spermatozoa, was to assess if MACS
      columns were useful tools to retain spermatozoa carrying chromosomal
      abnormalities in semen samples processed after density gradient centrifugation
      (DGC). The pellet obtained after DGC was subjected to MACS, and sperm FISH
      analyses were performed both in the eluded fraction and in the fraction retained
      in the column. The observed frequencies of disomy and nullisomy 13, 18, and 21, X
      and Y, as well as the diploidy rates in the MACS eluded fraction and the fraction
      retained in the MACS column were recorded. We observed that the frequencies of
      aneuploidies in the eluded fraction were lower than in the fraction retained in
      the MACS column (0.59% vs. 0.75%; p = 0.010). DGC determined a significant
      reduction in sperm concentration (z-ratio = 2.83; p = 0.005) and a significant
      increase in sperm progressive motility (z-ratio = -3.5; p < 0.001). MACS also led
      to a significant reduction in sperm concentration (z-ratio = 3.14; p = 0.002) and
      a significant increase in progressive motility (z-ratio = -2.59; p = 0.01) when
      compared with the post-DGC sample. Sperm concentration was similar in the two
      fractions generated by MACS (z-ratio = 0.63; p = 0.52), while progressive
      motility was significantly higher in the MACS eluded fraction (z-ratio = 2.42; p
      = 0.02). According to our results, MACS columns are able to selectively retain
      spermatozoa carrying chromosomal abnormalities. Furthermore, the performance of
      DGC and MACS on semen samples leads to an enrichment of progressive motility.

PMID- 28614637
TI  - Renal telemedicine through video-as-a-service delivered to patients on home
      dialysis: A qualitative study on the renal care team members' experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK has been
      providing renal care through video-as-a-service (VAAS) to patients since 2013,
      with support from the North West NHS Shared Infrastructure Service, a
      collaborative team that supports information and communication technology use in
      the UK National Health Service. INTRODUCTION: Renal telemedicine offered remotely
      to patients on home dialysis supports renal care through the provision of a live
      high-quality video link directly to unsupported patients undergoing haemodialysis
      at home. Home haemodialysis is known to provide benefits to patients,
      particularly in making them more independent. The use of a telemedicine video
      link in Lancashire and South Cumbria, UK, further reduces patient dependence on
      the professional team. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to present the
      perspectives of the renal care team members using the renal telemedicine service
      to understand the perceived benefits and issues with the service. METHOD: Ten
      semi-structured interviews with members of the renal care team (two renal
      specialists, one matron, two renal nurses, one business manager, one renal
      technical services manager, two IT technicians and one hardware maintenance
      technician) were conducted. Thematic analysis was undertaken to analyse the
      qualitative data. RESULTS: A range of incremental benefits to the renal team
      members were reported, including more efficient use of staff time, reduced
      travel, peace of mind and a strong sense of job satisfaction. Healthcare staff
      believed that remote renal care through video was useful, encouraged concordance
      and could nurture confidence in patients. Key technological issues and
      adjustments which would improve the renal telemedicine service were also
      identified. CONCLUSION: The impact of renal telemedicine was positive on the
      renal team members. The use of telemedicine has been demonstrated to make home
      dialysis delivery more efficient and safe. The learning from staff feedback could
      inform development of services elsewhere.

PMID- 28614638
TI  - Development and validation of a 3D-printed model of the ostiomeatal complex and
      frontal sinus for endoscopic sinus surgery training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic sinus surgery poses unique training challenges due to
      complex and variable anatomy, and the risk of major complications. We sought to
      create and provide validity evidence for a novel 3D-printed simulator of the nose
      and paranasal sinuses. METHODS: Sinonasal computed tomography (CT) images of a
      patient were imported into 3D visualization software. Segmentation of bony and
      soft tissue structures was then performed. The model was printed using simulated
      bone and soft tissue materials. Rhinologists and otolaryngology residents
      completed 6 prespecified tasks including maxillary antrostomy and frontal recess
      dissection on the simulator. Participants evaluated the model using survey
      ratings based on a 5-point Likert scale. The average time to complete each task
      was calculated. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate ratings, and thematic
      analysis was done for qualitative questions. RESULTS: A total of 20 participants
      (10 rhinologists and 10 otolaryngology residents) tested the model and answered
      the survey. Overall the participants felt that the simulator would be useful as a
      training/educational tool (4.6/5), and that it should be integrated as part of
      the rhinology training curriculum (4.5/5). The following responses were obtained:
      visual appearance 4.25/5; realism of materials 3.8/5; and surgical experience
      3.9/5. The average time to complete each task was lower for the rhinologist group
      than for the residents. CONCLUSION: We describe the development and validation of
      a novel 3D-printed model for the training of endoscopic sinus surgery skills.
      Although participants found the simulator to be a useful training and educational
      tool, further model development could improve the outcome.

PMID- 28614639
TI  - [[New in the Development of Medical Education in Russia: Continuity and
      Specialists' Accreditation].]
AB  - The authors provide information about the factors affecting the quality of
      medical care, recent changes in the regulatory framework in medical education and
      its development in Russia compared with developed countries. For healthcare
      leaders are described the risks for the implementation of these changes in public
      health practice, are given recommendations for leveling the risks and further
      improve the quality of medical care in the Russian Federation.

PMID- 28614640
TI  - [[Gender Differences in Tissue Cascade of Activation of Plasminogen and PAI-1 in
      Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma].]
AB  - AIM: comparative analysis of uPA-Ag, uPA-act, tPA-Ag, tPA-act, PAl--Ag and PAl-i
      act in tissues of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in men (M) and women
      (W) to clarify some pathogenesis issues. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tumor tissue of
      ESCC and its perifocal area (19 M and 8 menopausal W aged 38-72 years, st 1I, G2,
      T,3N M0) were studied by ELISA using standard test kits. RESULTS: ESCC tissue of
      M showed an increase in both uPA types from the resection line (RL), while in W
      only uPA-act was increased. tPA-Ag was decreased in tumors of W, tPA-act - in
      tumors of all patients. Levels of both PAl-- types were higher in ESCC of M than
      in W. in M, tPA-Ag in perifocal area was lower than in RL, while in W, on the
      contrary, it was higher. tPA- Ag/tPA-act coefficient in M tumors was 5.7 times
      higher than in W; in perifocal area it was reduced in all patients, being at the
      same time in M lower than in W. Both PAl- types were increased in malignant
      tissues of all patients, prevailing in M tumors, and PAl-i-Ag in peritumoral
      tissue was higher in M than in W. CONCLUSIONS: Significant gender differences
      were found in expression of uPA, tPA and PAl-i in tissues of esophageal squamous
      cell carcinoma. Presence of tumor-associated uPA, PAH and tPA in men and uPA and
      PAl-i in women is possible in tumor tissue of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
      and its perifocal area. Determination of plasminogen regulation system in tissues
      of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma can be used for the selection and
      individualization of postoperative treatments.

PMID- 28614641
TI  - [[Clinical Relevance Helicobacter Pylori Genotypes in Patients with Chronic
      Pancreatitis and Concomitant Infections Helicobacter Pylori].]
AB  - RELEVANCE: Currently, there is a need to study the genetic diversity of H.pylori
      in patients with variety of acid-related dis- eases to develop new strategies for
      the treatment of patients with H.pylori to predict high efficiency of treatment.
      OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of schemes of eradication therapy in
      patients with chronic pancreatitis and concom- itant H.pylori infection.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 108 patients with H.pylori infection:
      63 patients had chronic pancreatitis and were concomitant with H.pylori-infection
      and 45 patients were without chronic pancreatitis and had H.pylori infection with
      a chronic gastritis. All patients were determined by factors of pathogenicity of
      H.pylori by immunoblotting. After forming the group randomized patients received
      eradication therapy scheme I and the scheme I with inclusion of bismuth
      tripotassium dicitrate. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of H.pylori eradication
      therapy is dependent on the genetic component of H.pylori. In the presence of
      H.pylori pathogenicity factors p33, p30, p26, p19, p17 in order to increase the
      effectiveness of treatment the scheme of eradication therapy I line drugs bismuth
      tri dicitrate should be included.

PMID- 28614642
TI  - [[Technology Surgical Intervention in Ulcerative Colitis Modeling Descending Part
      of the Colon in Rats Line "Wistar"].]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic immune inflammatory condition of
      the colon with an unknown aetiology, leading to disability and reduced quality of
      life of patients. UC primarily affects young adults. In most cases, inflammatory
      bowel disease (iBD) debuts at reproductive age. The incidence of UC and severe
      clinical course has increased overall across the world. The study of the
      mechanisms of pathogenesis and aetiology of this disease contributes to the
      development of new effective methods of treatment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our
      study was to develop technology of the surgery directed to induction of
      reversible ischemic damage, the erosive-ulceration of gut mucosae (descending
      colon) at rats of the WISTAR line. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental research
      was done using male rats <<Wistar> (n=40), their age was more than 6 months,
      weight of body is 280 - 350 grams. The animals were separated into 3 groups: 1 -
      (n=14) Sholimov's operative method, 2 group (n=16) - model using special
      technology, 3 group (n=10) - Coopr's H. S. induction ulcerative colitis.
      Observation was been done during 10 days. We offered special surgical technique:
      parietal ligation on every vasa recta of colon descendens of rats the length 3 cm
      along colon, on the apex vesicae and then vasa recta are cut. Then during 7 days
      1% solution of dextran sulfate sodium (DSN) was given for experimental animals
      after postoperative period. By the histolog- ical biopsy of colon mucosa the
      results were estimated. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: we have created erosive-ulceration of
      gut mucosae (descending colon) of rat with productive inflam- mation, vasculitis
      and plasmatic impregnation of the vessel walls and intimal thickening. Our model
      of ulcerative colitis can be used for the development and testing of new methods
      for the study and treatment of this pathology.

PMID- 28614643
TI  - [[Overview Basic Provisions Consensus of the III Working Italian Group for
      Diagnosis and Treatment of H.Pylory-Infection].]
AB  - The purpose of the review. Outline the main points of consensus III Working Group
      Italian for the diagnosis and treatment of H.pylori-infection. The work of the
      Working Group III was the clarification of certain provisions of the Maastricht
      IV consensus, and, namely, the nature of H.pylori relationship with
      gastroesophageal reflux disease, functional dyspepsia, NSAID / aspirin
      gastropathy, extra-gastric diseases, detailed scope of the invasive and non
      invasive methods of investigation, treatment algorithms updated H.pylori
      infection antibiotic growth conditions. Indented understanding of the role of
      H.pylori eradication in the prevention of gastric cancer.

PMID- 28614644
TI  - [[Features of Pharmacological Correction of Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in
      Patients with Acute Ethanol Intoxication].]
AB  - The aim of the study was to increase the efficiency of the treatment of acute
      ethanol intoxication in patients with alcoholic fatty liver disease. The article
      presents the results which received during the investigation and treatment of 166
      patients with acute ethanol in- toxication on the background of alcoholic fatty
      liver disease Patients were assessed by the severity scale APACHE-Il. Were
      studied the dynamics of clinical, laboratory, biochemical parameters, the state
      of the antioxidant system activity and lipid peroxidation. The study found the
      effect of the combination hepatoprotective drug remaxol on the many links of
      metabolism, which was confirmed by the dynamics of biochemical parameters. There
      was a quick correction of hyperlactatemia, an effective reduction of ALT
      activity, the absence of reduction of albumin and urea concentration in the
      somatic period of ethanol poisoning. Period of using remaxol there was
      improvement in the clinical course of the disease, which manifested by the reduce
      the incidence of delirium tremens and shorten the duration of treatment of
      patients.

PMID- 28614645
TI  - [[New Paradigm Challenges of Steatosis Treatment in the Practice Therapist].]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To optimize the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in polymorbid
      patients with fatty hepatosis in the practice of general practitioner. The
      medical tactics of treatment of polymorbidit patient with fatty liver, is
      considered in regards of the course of concomitant diseases, especially the
      cardiovascular system. Substantiates the necessity of determination of, in
      relation to the patient's prognosis, not only the degree of steatosis, but also
      the liver fibrosis stage changes, developing due to apoptosis of hepatocytes that
      leads to the progression of endothelial dysfunction A working version of the
      treatment of hepatic steatosis, designed to reduce progression of fatty
      degeneration, reducing the risk of steatohepatitis and fibrosis body changes is
      proposed in the paper. Ursodeoxycholic acid and glycyrrhizin are the most
      promising medication.

PMID- 28614646
TI  - [[Epidemiological, Clinical and Genetic Characteristics of Anorectal
      Malformations (Review)].]
AB  - The review presents an analysis of current data on the epidemiology, etiology,
      clinical and genetic characteristics of congenital anorectal malformations (AM).
      According to international registers of congenital malformations prevalence of
      the AM varies from 2 to 5 per 10,000 births. There was no change in the
      prevalence over time of AM (absence of temporal trends). Most studies have
      indicated the predominance of males among patients with AM. Approximately 40 -
      70% of patients with AM have congenital malformations of other organs and
      systems. The data on the participation of genetic and environmental factors in
      the origin of the AM. A brief clinical and genetic characteristics of the most
      common syndromes (association) with the AM.

PMID- 28614647
TI  - [[The Pathogenetic Approaches to the Chronic Liver Diseases Treatment].]
AB  - The paper reflects the issues of pathogenesis of the chronic liver diseases
      (CLD). The role of the cell membrane lipid peroxidation as well as oxidative
      stress and fibrosis formation in the development and progression of liver lesions
      of various aetiologies. are represented in details. Particular attention is given
      to the justification of pathogenetic approaches to the treatment of liver
      disease. Presented the evidence base of successful application of the
      standardized silymarin as a part of the drug Legalon in the CLD of different
      etiology.

PMID- 28614648
TI  - [[The Modern View on Pathogenesis and Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver
      Disease].]
AB  - The purpose of the review is to analyze modern data on pathogenesis, principles
      of treatment and future prospects treat- ment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
      (NAFLD). Modern ideas about the role of insulin resistance, oxidative stress gene
      polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of disease progression. This has led in recent
      years to a new strategy of treatment of the disease. Examines the role of
      physical load, modified diet, the weight loss. Substantiates the primary role of
      the use of insulin sensitizers, and agents with cytoprotective and antioxidant
      effect. The lack of the only effective drug for the treat- ment of NAFLD
      justifies the appropriateness of the appointment of combination therapy with
      exposure to various aspects of the pathogenesis. Elaborates on new drugs under
      clinical study.

PMID- 28614649
TI  - [[How to Prevent Emotional Burnout Syndrome in Health Professionals?].]
AB  - Working in conditions of physical and psychological overload, occupational hazard
      makes health workers vulnerable to the development of burnout syndrome.
      Currently, 67.6% of physicians in Russia suffer from emotional burnout syndrome.
      This syndrome is characterized by a certain symptoms, which have their
      predictors. Prevention and treatment of emotional burnout syndrome - a complex
      problem that can be solved with the participation of heads of medical
      institutions, full- time psychologists and psychotherapists with the direct
      involvement of health professionals.

PMID- 28614650
TI  - [[Development of Surgical Gastroenterology in Prikamye].]
AB  - THE PURPOSE: To present the history of surgical gastroenterology in Perm krai.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Narrative, historical, genetic, comparative and
      structural. RESULTS: In the early 20th century the main method of surgical
      treatment of peptic ulcer was gastroenteroanastomosis. A significant number of
      recurrences resulted to distal gastrectomy implementation in the 30s in the
      Clinic of hospital surgery of Perm medical institute, led by professor M.V.
      Shats. It was also performed in major cities of the region: Lysva, Kungur,
      Berezniki, Kizel, Osa. Treatment of ulcer perforation and bleeding was
      accomplished at the department of surgical diseases of pediatric faculty, led by
      Professor V. N. Repin. He also developed vagotomy and methods of diagnostics and
      treatment of diseases of operated stomach. Comorbidity was also researched. The
      combination of liver and biliary tract diseases was re- searched in the Hospital
      surgical clinic of Perm, initially led by Professor S. Yu. Minkin and then by
      academician E. A. Wagner (L. F. Palatova). The results of surgical treatment of
      cholelithiasis, depending on morphological and biochemical abnormali- ties in
      liver and chemical composition of gallstones were studied (L. P. Kotelnikova).
      Indications for surgery in cholelithiasis in conjunction with pathology of
      stomach, duodenum and liver were defined (A.V. Popov). The results of surgical
      treatment of biliary pancreatitis and cholangitis (L. B. Guschensky), and
      diseases of stomach, duodenum and pancreas with cholelithiasis were obtained
      (D.V. Shvarev). CONCLUSION: The priority trends of research of Perm scientists
      were treatment of post-resection syndrome, arteriomesen- terial obstruction,
      pathogenesis of gallstone disease and its combination with other disorders of the
      digestive system.

PMID- 28614651
TI  - Stabilization of Garnet/Liquid Electrolyte Interface Using Superbase Additives
      for Hybrid Li Batteries.
AB  - To improve the solid-electrolyte/electrode interface compatibility, we have
      proposed the concept of hybrid electrolyte by including a small amount of liquid
      electrolyte in between. In this work, n-BuLi, a superbase, has been found to
      significantly improve the cycling performance of LiFePO4/Li hybrid cells
      containing Li7La3Zr1.5Ta0.5O12 (LLZT) and conventional carbonate-based liquid
      electrolyte. The modified cells have been cycled for 400 cycles at 100 and 200
      MUA cm-2 at room temperature, indicating excellent solid/liquid electrolyte
      interface stability. The role of n-BuLi may be 3-fold: to retard the
      decomposition reaction of LE, to suppress the Li+/H+ exchange, and to lithiate
      the garnet/LE interface, inhibiting side reactions and enhancing interfacial
      lithium-ion transport.

PMID- 28614654
TI  - Creation of a Synthetic Ligand for Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Recognition and
      Promoter-Specific Transcription Suppression.
AB  - Synthetic ligands capable of recognizing the specific DNA sequences inside human
      mitochondria and modulating gene transcription are in increasing demand because
      of the surge in evidence linking mitochondrial genome and diseases. In the work
      described herein, we created a new type of mitochondria-specific synthetic
      ligand, termed MITO-PIPs, by conjugating a mitochondria-penetrating peptide with
      pyrrole-imidazole polyamides (PIPs). The designed MITO-PIPs showed specific
      localization inside mitochondria in HeLa cells and recognized the target DNA in a
      sequence-specific manner. Furthermore, MITO-PIPs that inhibit the binding of
      mitochondrial transcription factor A to the light-strand promoter (LSP) also
      triggered targeted transcriptional suppression. The tunability of PIPs'
      properties suggests the potential of the MITO-PIPs as potent modulators of not
      only mitochondrial gene transcription but also its DNA mutations.

PMID- 28614653
TI  - Microfluidics Enabled Bottom-Up Engineering of 3D Vascularized Tumor for Drug
      Discovery.
AB  - Development of high-fidelity three-dimensional (3D) models to recapitulate the
      tumor microenvironment is essential for studying tumor biology and discovering
      anticancer drugs. Here we report a method to engineer the 3D microenvironment of
      human tumors, by encapsulating cancer cells in the core of microcapsules with a
      hydrogel shell for miniaturized 3D culture to obtain avascular microtumors first.
      The microtumors are then used as the building blocks for assembling with
      endothelial cells and other stromal cells to create macroscale 3D vascularized
      tumor. Cells in the engineered 3D microenvironment can yield significantly larger
      tumors in vivo than 2D-cultured cancer cells. Furthermore, the 3D vascularized
      tumors are 4.7 and 139.5 times more resistant to doxorubicin hydrochloride (a
      commonly used chemotherapy drug) than avascular microtumors and 2D-cultured
      cancer cells, respectively. Moreover, this high drug resistance of the 3D
      vascularized tumors can be overcome by using nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery.
      The high-fidelity 3D tumor model may be valuable for studying the effect of
      microenvironment on tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis and for
      developing effective therapeutic strategy to fight against cancer.

PMID- 28614652
TI  - Taking a Bite Out of Amyloid: Mechanistic Insights into alpha-Synuclein
      Degradation by Cathepsin L.
AB  - A common hallmark of amyloids is their resistance to an array of proteases,
      highlighting the difficulty in degrading these disease-related aggregated
      proteinaceous materials. Here, we report on the potent activity of cathepsin L
      (CtsL), a lysosomal protease that proteolyzes the Parkinson's disease-related
      amyloid formed by alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn). Using liquid chromatography with
      mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy, an elegant mechanism is
      revealed on the residue and ultrastructural level, respectively. Specifically,
      CtsL always truncates alpha-syn fibrils first at the C-terminus before attacking
      the internal beta-sheet-rich region between residues 30 and 100. This suggests
      that only upon removal of the alpha-syn C-terminus can CtsL gain access to
      residues within the amyloid core. Interestingly, three of the four mapped sites
      contain a glycine residue (G36, G41, and G51) that is likely to be involved in a
      beta-turn in the fibril, whereupon cutting would lead to solvent exposure of
      internal residues and allow further proteolysis. Via close inspection of the
      fibril morphology, products resulting from CtsL degradation show imperfections
      along the fibril axis, with missing protein density as though they have been
      cannibalized. The ability of CtsL to degrade alpha-syn amyloid fibrils offers a
      promising strategy for improving the cellular clearance of aggregated alpha-syn
      through the modulation of protease levels and activity.

PMID- 28614655
TI  - Novel Integration of Perovskite Solar Cell and Supercapacitor Based on Carbon
      Electrode for Hybridizing Energy Conversion and Storage.
AB  - Power packs integrating both photovoltaic parts and energy storage parts have
      gained great scientific and technological attention due to the increasing demand
      for green energy and the tendency for miniaturization and multifunctionalization
      in electronics industry. In this study, we demonstrate novel integration of
      perovskite solar cell and solid-state supercapacitor for power packs. The
      perovskite solar cell is integrated with the supercapacitor based on common
      carbon electrodes to hybridize photoelectric conversion and energy storage. The
      power pack achieves a voltage of 0.84 V when the supercapacitor is charged by the
      perovskite solar cell under the AM 1.5G white light illumination with a 0.071 cm2
      active area, reaching an energy storage proportion of 76% and an overall
      conversion efficiency of 5.26%. When the supercapacitor is precharged at 1.0 V,
      an instant overall output efficiency of 22.9% can be achieved if the perovskite
      solar cell and supercapacitor are connected in series, exhibiting great potential
      in the applications of solar energy storage and flexible electronics such as
      portable and wearable devices.

PMID- 28614656
TI  - Nickel-Catalyzed Reductive Cycloisomerization of Enynes with CO2.
AB  - Carboxylate groups are ubiquitous in bioactive molecules. The syntheses of
      carboxylates from petroleum feedstock require a series of oxidation reactions.
      CO2 represents a cheap and sustainable, preoxidized C1 source. Herein, we
      describe a simple, selective, and mild procedure for the construction of
      (hetero)cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated carboxylic acids from 1,6- and 1,7-enyes
      and CO2. Terminal 1,7-enynes and sterically hindered alkenes experience a change
      in regioselectivity and form unconjugated carboxylic acids. Mechanistic studies
      of the reductive cyclization suggest a hydride insertion pathway, explaining the
      change in regioselectivity caused by steric effects and distinguishing this work
      from previous reactions involving CO2.

PMID- 28614657
TI  - General Strategy for Direct Cytosolic Protein Delivery via Protein-Nanoparticle
      Co-engineering.
AB  - Endosomal entrapment is a key hurdle for most intracellular protein-based
      therapeutic strategies. We report a general strategy for efficient delivery of
      proteins to the cytosol through co-engineering of proteins and nanoparticle
      vehicles. The proteins feature an oligo(glutamate) sequence (E-tag) that binds
      arginine-functionalized gold nanoparticles, generating hierarchical spherical
      nanoassemblies. These assemblies fuse with cell membranes, releasing the E-tagged
      protein directly into the cytosol. Five different proteins with diverse charges,
      sizes, and functions were effectively delivered into cells, demonstrating the
      generality of our method. Significantly, the engineered proteins retained
      activity after cytosolic delivery, as demonstrated through the delivery of active
      Cre recombinase, and granzyme A to kill cancer cells.

PMID- 28614658
TI  - Effects of Cultivar and Nitrogen Nutrition on the Lipid Composition of Wheat
      Flour.
AB  - Despite being minor components of flour, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) lipids
      contribute to grain processing. They are particularly important for bread making,
      where they adsorb to the surface of gas bubbles formed during the proving stage
      of bread making, stabilizing the gas cells and improving gas retention within the
      dough. This contributes to the volume and texture of the loaf. However, little is
      understood about how their amount, composition, and properties vary in response
      to genotype (G), environment (E) or G * E interactions. Six wheat lines were
      therefore grown at three levels of nitrogen supply at Rothamsted Research, and 48
      lipid species across six lipid classes were identified and quantified in white
      flour using electrospray ionization-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry
      (ESI-MS/MS). This showed clear differences in the contents and compositions of
      lipids between cultivar as well as effects of nitrogen fertilization, which would
      be expected to have impacts on the processing properties of the samples.

PMID- 28614659
TI  - Surface-Tuned and Metal-Ion-Responsive Supramolecular Gels Based on Nucleolipids.
AB  - Supramolecular synthons based on nucleic acid components, nucleobases and
      nucleosides, and their derivatives have been highly useful in constructing wide
      varieties of nanoarchitectures. While most of the design strategies have focused
      on developing biocompatible delivery vehicles, the potential of nucleoside
      hybrids in assembling smart materials with tunable and sensing properties, though
      challenging, is gaining significant attention. Here, we describe the development
      of novel functional materials with surface tunability and metal-ion
      responsiveness by using simple nucleolipid supramolecular synthons derived by
      attaching various fatty acids to the 3'-O or 3',5'-O positions of the sugar
      residue of thymidine nucleoside. 3',5'-O-Difatty acid-substituted thymidines
      formed typical organogels in pure organic solvents, whereas, 3'-O-monofatty acid
      substituted thymidine nucleolipids formed water-induced gels. A detailed
      morphological and structural analysis using microscopy, single-crystal and powder
      X-ray diffraction, and NMR techniques clearly revealed the molecular interactions
      invoked by nucleobase, sugar, fatty acid chain, and water in setting up the path
      for hierarchical self-assembly and gelation of thymidine nucleolipids.
      Interestingly, the surface property of the xerogel film fabricated using 3'-O
      monosubstituted nucleolipid gels could be switched from highly hydrophobic to
      hydrophilic and vice versa depending on the nature of the organic solvent-water
      mixture used in the gelation process. On the contrary, the gelation process of
      disubstituted thymidine nucleolipids was highly sensitive to the presence of Hg2+
      ions as the metal ion formed a T-Hg-T base pair, thereby disrupting the H-bonding
      interactions that favored the gelation. Taken together, straightforward synthesis
      and modification-dependent gelation behavior, surface tunability, and metal-ion
      responsiveness underscore the potential of these supramolecular nucleolipid
      synthons in constructing novel functional materials.

PMID- 28614660
TI  - Crystallization Temperature Dependence of Cavitation and Plastic Flow in the
      Tensile Deformation of Poly(epsilon-caprolactone).
AB  - In situ small-, ultrasmall-, and wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements were
      performed to investigate the structural evolution of crystalline lamellae and
      cavities as a function of deformation ratio during tensile deformation of
      isothermally crystallized poly(epsilon-caprolactone). The cavities were modeled
      as cylinder-shaped objects which are oriented along the stretching direction and
      randomly distributed in the samples, and their dimensions were evaluated by
      direct model fitting of scattering patterns. At small deformations, the
      orientation of these cavities at the onset of cavity formation was related to the
      isothermal crystallization temperature. Upon further stretching, the cavities
      were found to cluster in the interfibrillar regions at moderate strains where the
      long spacing of the newly developed lamellae along the stretching direction
      remained essentially constant. At large orientations, the cooperative
      deformational behavior mediated via slippage of fibrils was evidenced, the extent
      of which depended on the cavity number, which could be traced back to the
      significantly different coupling forces imposed by chains connecting adjacent
      fibrils. Furthermore, wide-angle X-ray scattering results revealed that a
      fraction of the polymer chains with their orientation perpendicular to the
      stretching direction were still preserved even at large macroscopic strains.

PMID- 28614661
TI  - Computational and Experimental Evaluation of Designed beta-Cap Hairpins Using
      Molecular Simulations and Kinetic Network Models.
AB  - Molecular simulation has been used to model the detailed folding properties of
      peptides, yet prospective computational peptide design by such approaches remains
      challenging and nontrivial. To test the accuracy of simulation-based hairpin
      design, we characterized the folding properties of a series of so-called beta-cap
      hairpin peptides designed to mimic a conserved hairpin of LapD, a bacterial
      intracellular signaling protein, both experimentally by NMR spectroscopy and
      computationally by implicit-solvent replica-exchange molecular dynamics using
      three different AMBER force fields (ff96, ff99sb-ildn, and ff99sb-ildn-NMR). A
      unique challenge presented by these designs is the presence of both a terminal
      Trp-Trp capping motif and a conserved GWxQ motif in the hairpin turn required for
      binding to LapG. Consistent with previous studies, we found AMBER ff96 to be the
      most accurate when used with the OBC GBSA implicit solvent model, despite its
      known bias toward beta-sheet conformations when used in explicit-solvent
      simulations. To gain microscopic insight into the folding landscape of the
      hairpin designs, we additionally performed parallel simulations on the
      Folding@home distributed computing platform using AMBER ff99sb-ildn-NMR with
      TIP3P explicit solvent. Markov state models (MSMs) built from trajectory data
      reveal a number of non-native interactions between Trp and other amino acid side
      chains, creating potential problems in achieving well-folded hairpin structures
      in solution.

PMID- 28614663
TI  - Electrochemically Triggered Release of Reagent to the Proximal Leaflet of a
      Microcavity Supported Lipid Bilayer.
AB  - A novel and versatile approach to electrichemically triggering the release of a
      reagent, beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), selectively to the proximal leaflet of a
      supported lipid bilayer is described. Selective delivery is achieved by creating
      a spanning lipid bilayer across a microcavity array and exploiting the
      irreversible redox disassembly of the host-guest complex formed between thiolated
      ferrocene (Fc) and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) in the presence of chloride. Self
      assembled monolayers of the ferrocene-alkanethiols were formed regioselectively
      on the interior surface of highly ordered 2.8 MUm cavities while the exterior top
      surface of the array was blocked with a monolayer of mercaptoethanol. The Fc
      monolayers were complexed with beta-CD or beta-CD-conjugated to streptavidin
      (beta-CD-SA). Phospholipid bilayers were then assembled across the array via
      combined Langmuir-Blodgett/vesicle fusion leading to a spanning bilayer suspended
      across the aqueous filled microcavities. Upon application of a positive
      potential, ferrocene is oxidized to ferrocinium cation, disrupting the inclusion
      complex and leading to the release of the beta-CD into the microcavity solution
      where it diffuses to the lower leaflet of the suspended bilayer. Disassembly of
      the supramolecular complex within the cavities and binding of the beta-CD-SA to a
      biotinylated bilayer was followed by voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy where
      it caused a large increase in membrane resistance. For unmodified beta-CD, the
      extraction of cholesterol from a cholesterol containing bilayer was evident in a
      decrease in the bilayer resistance. For the first time, this direct approach to
      targeted delivery of a reagent to the proximal layer of a lipid bilayer offers
      the potential to build models of bidirectional signaling (inside-out vs outside
      in) in cell membrane model systems.

PMID- 28614662
TI  - Investigating Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of a Monoclonal Antibody Using
      Solution-State NMR Spectroscopy: Effect of Arg.Glu and Arg.HCl.
AB  - Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of monoclonal antibody (mAb) formulations
      involves spontaneous separation into dense (protein-rich) and diluted (protein
      lean) phases and should be avoided in the final drug product. Understanding the
      factors leading to LLPS and ways to predict and prevent it would therefore be
      highly beneficial. Here we describe the link between LLPS behavior of an IgG1 mAb
      (mAb5), its solubility, and parameters extracted using 1H NMR spectroscopy, for
      various formulations. We show that the formulations demonstrating least LLPS lead
      to the largest mAb5 NMR signal intensities. In the formulations exhibiting the
      highest propensity to phase-separate the mAb NMR signal intensities are the
      lowest, even at higher temperatures without visible phase separation, suggesting
      a high degree of self-association prior to distinct phase separation. Addition of
      arginine glutamate prevented LLPS and led to a significant increase in the
      observed mAb signal intensity, whereas the effect of arginine hydrochloride was
      only marginal. Solution NMR spectroscopy was further used to characterize the
      protein-lean and protein-rich phases separately and demonstrated that protein
      self-association in the protein-rich phase can be significantly reduced by
      arginine glutamate. Solution NMR spectroscopy may be useful as a tool to assess
      the propensity of mAb solutions to phase-separate.

PMID- 28614664
TI  - Molecular Mechanisms of Developmental Toxicity Induced by Graphene Oxide at
      Predicted Environmental Concentrations.
AB  - Developmental toxicity is a critical issue in nanotoxicity. However, very little
      is known about the effects of graphene oxide (GO, a widely used carbon material)
      at predicted environmental concentrations on biological development or the
      specific molecular mechanisms. The present study established that the development
      of zebrafish embryos exposed to trace concentrations (1-100 MUg/L) of GO was
      impaired because of DNA modification, protein carbonylation and excessive
      generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially the superoxide radical.
      Noticeably, there was a nonmonotonic response of zebrafish developmental toxicity
      to GO at MUg/L to mg/L levels. Transcriptomics analysis revealed that disturbing
      collagen- and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-related genes affected the skeletal
      and cardiac development of zebrafish. Moreover, metabolomics analysis showed that
      the inhibition of amino acid metabolism and the ratios of unsaturated fatty acids
      (UFAs) to saturated fatty acids (SFAs) contributed to the above developmental
      toxicity. The present work verifies the developmental toxicity of GO at trace
      concentrations and illustrates for the first time the specific molecular
      mechanisms thereof. Because of the potential developmental toxicity of GO at
      trace concentrations, government administrators and nanomaterial producers should
      consider its potential risks prior to the widespread environmental exposure to
      GO.

PMID- 28614665
TI  - A Novel Dual-Color Luciferase Reporter Assay for Simultaneous Detection of
      Estrogen and Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation.
AB  - Consumers are exposed to a plethora of anthropogenic and natural substances that
      can act as agonists or antagonists for various transcription factors. Depending
      on the exposure and potency, such interactions can potentially lead to adverse
      health effects, particularly for substances with multiple molecular targets. The
      early detection of such interactions is thus of high toxicological interest.
      Here, we report on the development of a new cellular dual-color reporter assay
      that allows for time-resolved and quantitative recording of estrogen receptor
      (ER) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) activation in living cells. Both
      receptors are known for their ligand promiscuity. Moreover, both receptor
      signaling pathways are interconnected by direct protein-protein interactions as
      well as by shared protein factors and the competition for ligands. The assay is
      based on two rare beetle luciferases that emit light in the red (SLR) and green
      (ELuc) spectrum and that have been stably inserted into human T-47D mammary
      carcinoma cells. The corresponding cell line is termed "XEER" and has been
      successfully subjected to proof-of-principle studies using prototypical ER and
      AHR ligands as well as various phytochemicals, xenobiotics, and extracts from
      various plastic products.

PMID- 28614666
TI  - Salt Triggers the Simple Coacervation of an Underwater Adhesive When Cations Meet
      Aromatic pi Electrons in Seawater.
AB  - Adhesive systems in many marine organisms are postulated to form complex
      coacervates (liquid-liquid phase separation) through a process involving
      oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Despite this ubiquitous speculation, most
      well-characterized mussel adhesive proteins are cationic and polyphenolic, and
      the pursuit of the negatively charged proteins required for bulk complex
      coacervation formation internally remains elusive. In this study, we provide a
      clue for unraveling this paradox by showing the bulky fluid/fluid separation of a
      single cationic recombinant mussel foot protein, rmfp-1, with no additional
      anionic proteins or artificial molecules, that is triggered by a strong cation-pi
      interaction in natural seawater conditions. With the similar condition of salt
      concentration at seawater level (>0.7 M), the electrostatic repulsion between
      positively charged residues of mfp-1 is screened significantly, whereas the
      strong cation-pi interaction remains unaffected, which leads to the macroscopic
      phase separation (i.e., bulky coacervate formation). The single polyelectrolyte
      coacervate shows interesting mechanical properties including low friction, which
      facilitates the secretion process of the mussel. Our findings reveal that the
      cation-pi interaction modulated by salt is a key mechanism in the mussel adhesion
      process, providing new insights into the basic understanding of wet adhesion,
      self-assembly processes, and biological phenomena that are mediated by strong
      short-range attractive forces in water.

PMID- 28614668
TI  - Cryptic Microheteroresistance Explains Mycobacterium tuberculosis Phenotypic
      Resistance.
AB  - RATIONALE: Minority drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis subpopulations can
      be associated with phenotypic resistance but are poorly detected by Sanger
      sequencing or commercial molecular diagnostic assays. OBJECTIVES: To determine
      the role of targeted next-generation sequencing in resolving these minor variant
      subpopulations. METHODS: We used single molecule overlapping reads (SMOR), a
      targeted next-generation sequencing approach that dramatically reduces sequencing
      error, to analyze primary cultured isolates phenotypically resistant to rifampin,
      fluoroquinolones, or aminoglycosides, but for which Sanger sequencing found no
      resistance-associated variants (RAVs) within respective resistance-determining
      regions (study group). Isolates also underwent single-colony selection on
      antibiotic-containing agar, blinded to sequencing results. As a positive control,
      isolates with multiple colocalizing chromatogram peaks were also analyzed
      (control group). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among 61 primary culture isolates
      (25 study group and 36 control group), SMOR described 66 (49%) and 45 (33%) of
      135 total heteroresistant RAVs at frequencies less than 5% and less than 1% of
      the total mycobacterial population, respectively. In the study group, SMOR
      detected minor resistant variant subpopulations in 80% (n = 20/25) of isolates
      with no Sanger-identified RAVs (median subpopulation size, 1.0%; interquartile
      range, 0.2-3.9%). Single-colony selection on drug-containing media corroborated
      SMOR results for 90% (n = 18/20) of RAV-containing specimens, and the absence of
      RAVs in 60% (n = 3/5) of isolates. Overall, Sanger sequencing was concordant with
      SMOR for 77% (n = 53/69) of macroheteroresistant (5-95% total population), but
      only 5% of microheteroresistant (<5%) subpopulations (n = 3/66) across both
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Cryptic minor variant mycobacterial subpopulations exist
      below the resolving capability of current drug susceptibility testing
      methodologies, and may explain an important proportion of false-negative
      resistance determinations.

PMID- 28614667
TI  - N-Glycosylation of Asparagine 130 in the Extracellular Domain of the Human
      Calcitonin Receptor Significantly Increases Peptide Hormone Affinity.
AB  - The calcitonin receptor (CTR) is a class B G protein-coupled receptor that is
      activated by the peptide hormones calcitonin and amylin. Calcitonin regulates
      bone remodeling through CTR, whereas amylin regulates blood glucose and food
      intake by activating CTR in complex with receptor activity-modifying proteins
      (RAMPs). These receptors are targeted clinically for the treatment of
      osteoporosis and diabetes. Here, we define the role of CTR N-glycosylation in
      hormone binding using purified calcitonin and amylin receptor extracellular
      domain (ECD) glycoforms and fluorescence polarization/anisotropy and isothermal
      titration calorimetry peptide-binding assays. N-Glycan-free CTR ECD produced in
      Escherichia coli exhibited ~10-fold lower peptide affinity than CTR ECD produced
      in HEK293T cells, which yield complex N-glycans, or in HEK293S GnTI- cells, which
      yield core N-glycans (Man5GlcNAc2). PNGase F-catalyzed removal of N-glycans at
      N73, N125, and N130 in the CTR ECD decreased peptide affinity ~10-fold, whereas
      Endo H-catalyzed trimming of the N-glycans to single GlcNAc residues had no
      effect on peptide binding. Similar results were observed for an amylin receptor
      RAMP2-CTR ECD complex. Characterization of peptide-binding affinities of purified
      N -> Q CTR ECD glycan site mutants combined with PNGase F and Endo H treatment
      strategies and mass spectrometry to define the glycan species indicated that a
      single GlcNAc residue at CTR N130 was responsible for the peptide affinity
      enhancement. Molecular modeling suggested that this GlcNAc functions through an
      allosteric mechanism rather than by directly contacting the peptide. These
      results reveal an important role for N-linked glycosylation in the peptide
      hormone binding of a clinically relevant class B GPCR.

PMID- 28614671
TI  - Gestalt Breastfeeding: Helping Mothers and Infants Optimize Positional Stability
      and Intraoral Breast Tissue Volume for Effective, Pain-Free Milk Transfer.
AB  - In the past decade, biological nurturing and activation of maternal and infant
      instincts after birth have constituted a major advance in clinical breastfeeding
      support. Yet, physiologic breastfeeding initiation is not enough to ensure
      ongoing pain-free and effective breastfeeding for many pairs. Current
      interventions, including "hands-off" mammalian approaches, do not improve
      breastfeeding outcomes, including in randomized controlled trials. Back-arching,
      difficulty latching or staying on the breast, and fussing at the breast are
      common signs of infant positional instability during breastfeeding. These cues
      are, however, often misdiagnosed as signs of medical conditions or oral
      connective tissue abnormalities, and underlying positional instability is not
      addressed. New clinical approaches are urgently required. This article offers a
      clinical approach to fit and hold (or latch and positioning)- gestalt
      breastfeeding, which aims to optimize positional stability and intraoral breast
      tissue volumes for pain-free effective breastfeeding. The word gestalt
      (pronounced "ger-shtolt") means a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
      Gestalt breastfeeding builds on the theoretical foundations of complexity
      science, physiologic breastfeeding initiation, and new understandings of the
      biomechanics of infant suck elucidated in ultrasound studies. It also integrates
      simple psychological strategies from applied functional contextualism, popularly
      known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, empowering women to attend mindfully
      to breast sensations and their infant's cues. Gestalt breastfeeding can be
      reproduced for research purposes, including in comparison studies with oral
      surgery, and has the potential to improve breastfeeding outcomes.

PMID- 28614670
TI  - HIV Testing and Positivity Patterns of Partners of HIV-Diagnosed People in
      Partner Services Programs, United States, 2013-2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) partner services are an integral
      part of comprehensive HIV prevention programs. We examined the patterns of HIV
      testing and positivity among partners of HIV-diagnosed people who participated in
      partner services programs in CDC-funded state and local health departments.
      METHODS: We analyzed data on 21 484 partners submitted in 2013-2014 by 55 health
      departments. We conducted descriptive and multivariate analyses to examine
      patterns of HIV testing and positivity by demographic characteristics and
      geographic region. RESULTS: Of 21 484 partners, 16 275 (75.8%) were tested for
      HIV; 4503 of 12 886 (34.9%) partners with test results were identified as newly
      HIV-positive. Compared with partners aged 13-24, partners aged 35-44 were less
      likely to be tested for HIV (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.86; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.78-0.95) and more likely to be HIV-positive (aOR = 1.35; 95% CI,
      1.20-1.52). Partners who were male (aOR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81-0.97) and non
      Hispanic black (aOR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.63-0.74) were less likely to be tested but
      more likely to be HIV-positive (male aOR = 1.81; 95% CI, 1.64-2.01; non-Hispanic
      black aOR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.38-1.66) than partners who were female and non
      Hispanic white, respectively. Partners in the South were more likely than
      partners in the Midwest to be tested for HIV (aOR = 1.56; 95% CI, 1.35-1.80) and
      to be HIV-positive (aOR = 2.18; 95% CI, 1.81-2.65). CONCLUSIONS: Partner services
      programs implemented by CDC-funded health departments are successful in providing
      HIV testing services and identifying previously undiagnosed HIV infections among
      partners of HIV-diagnosed people. Demographic and regional differences suggest
      the need to tailor these programs to address unique needs of the target
      populations.

PMID- 28614672
TI  - Composition and Variation of Macronutrients, Immune Proteins, and Human Milk
      Oligosaccharides in Human Milk From Nonprofit and Commercial Milk Banks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When human milk is unavailable, banked milk is recommended for
      feeding premature infants. Milk banks use processes to eliminate pathogens;
      however, variability among methods exists. Research aim: The aim of this study
      was to compare the macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat, energy), immune
      protective protein, and human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) content of human milk
      from three independent milk banks that use pasteurization (Holder vs. vat
      techniques) or retort sterilization. METHODS: Randomly acquired human milk
      samples from three different milk banks ( n = 3 from each bank) were analyzed for
      macronutrient concentrations using a Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy
      human milk analyzer. The concentrations of IgA, IgM, IgG, lactoferrin, lysozyme,
      alpha-lactalbumin, alpha antitrypsin, casein, and HMO were analyzed by mass
      spectrometry. RESULTS: The concentrations of protein and fat were significantly (
      p < .05) less in the retort sterilized compared with the Holder and vat
      pasteurized samples, respectively. The concentrations of all immune-modulating
      proteins were significantly ( p < .05) less in the retort sterilized samples
      compared with vat and/or Holder pasteurized samples. The total HMO concentration
      and HMOs containing fucose, sialic acid, and nonfucosylated neutral sugars were
      significantly ( p < .05) less in retort sterilized compared with Holder
      pasteurized samples. CONCLUSION: Random milk samples that had undergone retort
      sterilization had significantly less immune-protective proteins and total and
      specific HMOs compared with samples that had undergone Holder and vat
      pasteurization. These data suggest that further analysis of the effect of retort
      sterilization on human milk components is needed prior to widespread adoption of
      this process.

PMID- 28614669
TI  - Severe Pneumococcal Pneumonia Causes Acute Cardiac Toxicity and Subsequent
      Cardiac Remodeling.
AB  - RATIONALE: Up to one-third of patients hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia
      experience major adverse cardiac events (MACE) during or after pneumonia. In
      mice, Streptococcus pneumoniae can invade the myocardium, induce cardiomyocyte
      death, and disrupt cardiac function following bacteremia, but it is unknown
      whether the same occurs in humans with severe pneumonia. OBJECTIVES: We sought to
      determine whether S. pneumoniae can (1) translocate the heart, (2) induce
      cardiomyocyte death, (3) cause MACE, and (4) induce cardiac scar formation after
      antibiotic treatment during severe pneumonia using a nonhuman primate (NHP)
      model. METHODS: We examined cardiac tissue from six adult NHPs with severe
      pneumococcal pneumonia and three uninfected control animals. Three animals were
      rescued with antibiotics (convalescent animals). Electrocardiographic,
      echocardiographic, and serum biomarkers of cardiac damage were measured (troponin
      T, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and heart-type fatty acid binding
      protein). Histological examination included hematoxylin and eosin staining,
      immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, picrosirius red staining, and
      transmission electron microscopy. Immunoblots were used to assess the underlying
      mechanisms. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Nonspecific ischemic alterations were
      detected by electrocardiography and echocardiography. Serum levels of troponin T
      and heart-type fatty acid binding protein were increased (P < 0.05) after
      pneumococcal infection in both acutely ill and convalescent NHPs. S. pneumoniae
      was detected in the myocardium of all NHPs with acute severe pneumonia.
      Necroptosis and apoptosis were detected in the myocardium of both acutely ill and
      convalescent NHPs. Evidence of cardiac scar formation was observed only in
      convalescent animals by transmission electron microscopy and picrosirius red
      staining. CONCLUSIONS: S. pneumoniae invades the myocardium and induces cardiac
      injury with necroptosis and apoptosis, followed by cardiac scarring after
      antibiotic therapy, in an NHP model of severe pneumonia.

PMID- 28614674
TI  - Morning Report.

PMID- 28614673
TI  - Pseudogymnoascus destructans transcriptome changes during white-nose syndrome
      infections.
AB  - White nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by the psychrophilic fungus Pseudogymnoascus
      destructans that can grow in the environment saprotrophically or parasitically by
      infecting hibernating bats. Infections are pathological in many species of North
      American bats, disrupting hibernation and causing mortality. To determine what
      fungal pathways are involved in infection of living tissue, we examined fungal
      gene expression using RNA-Seq. We compared P. destructans gene expression when
      grown in culture to that during infection of a North American bat species, Myotis
      lucifugus, that shows high WNS mortality. Cultured P. destructans was grown at 10
      to 14 C and P. destructans growing in vivo was presumably exposed to temperatures
      ranging from 4 to 8 C during torpor and up to 37 C during periodic arousals. We
      found that when P. destructans is causing WNS, the most significant
      differentially expressed genes were involved in heat shock responses, cell wall
      remodeling, and micronutrient acquisition. These results indicate that this
      fungal pathogen responds to host-pathogen interactions by regulating gene
      expression in ways that may contribute to evasion of host responses. Alterations
      in fungal cell wall structures could allow P. destructans to avoid detection by
      host pattern recognition receptors and antibody responses. This study has also
      identified several fungal pathways upregulated during WNS infection that may be
      candidates for mitigating infection pathology. By identifying host-specific
      pathogen responses, these observations have important implications for host
      pathogen evolutionary relationships in WNS and other fungal diseases.

PMID- 28614675
TI  - Changes in Hospital Quality Associated with Hospital Value-Based Purchasing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Starting in fiscal year 2013, the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing
      (HVBP) program introduced quality performance-based adjustments of up to 1% to
      Medicare reimbursements for acute care hospitals. METHODS: We evaluated whether
      quality improved more in acute care hospitals that were exposed to HVBP than in
      control hospitals (Critical Access Hospitals, which were not exposed to HVBP).
      The measures of quality were composite measures of clinical process and patient
      experience (measured in units of standard deviations, with a value of 1
      indicating performance that was 1 standard deviation [SD] above the hospital
      mean) and 30-day risk-standardized mortality among patients who were admitted to
      the hospital for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, or pneumonia. The
      changes in quality measures after the introduction of HVBP were assessed for
      matched samples of acute care hospitals (the number of hospitals included in the
      analyses ranged from 1364 for mortality among patients admitted for acute
      myocardial infarction to 2615 for mortality among patients admitted for
      pneumonia) and control hospitals (number of hospitals ranged from 31 to 617).
      Matching was based on preintervention performance with regard to the quality
      measures. We evaluated performance over the first 4 years of HVBP. RESULTS:
      Improvements in clinical-process and patient-experience measures were not
      significantly greater among hospitals exposed to HVBP than among control
      hospitals, with difference-in-differences estimates of 0.079 SD (95% confidence
      interval [CI], -0.140 to 0.299) for clinical process and -0.092 SD (95% CI, 
      0.307 to 0.122) for patient experience. HVBP was not associated with significant
      reductions in mortality among patients who were admitted for acute myocardial
      infarction (difference-in-differences estimate, -0.282 percentage points [95% CI,
      -1.715 to 1.152]) or heart failure (-0.212 percentage points [95% CI, -0.532 to
      0.108]), but it was associated with a significant reduction in mortality among
      patients who were admitted for pneumonia (-0.431 percentage points [95% CI, 
      0.714 to -0.148]). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, HVBP was not associated with
      improvements in measures of clinical process or patient experience and was not
      associated with significant reductions in two of three mortality measures.
      (Funded by the National Institute on Aging.).

PMID- 28614676
TI  - Case 18-2017 - An 11-Year-Old Girl with Difficulty Eating after a Choking
      Incident.

PMID- 28614678
TI  - Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Their Recurrence.

PMID- 28614679
TI  - Prostate Cancer Screening.

PMID- 28614680
TI  - Prostate Cancer Screening.

PMID- 28614681
TI  - A Tale of Two Doctors - Structural Inequalities and the Culture of Medicine.

PMID- 28614682
TI  - Trial of Pregabalin for Acute and Chronic Sciatica.

PMID- 28614684
TI  - The Waiting Game - Why Providers May Fail to Reduce Wait Times.

PMID- 28614683
TI  - Single-Nephron Glomerular Filtration Rate in Healthy Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) assesses the function of all
      nephrons, and the single-nephron GFR assesses the function of individual
      nephrons. How the single-nephron GFR relates to demographic and clinical
      characteristics and kidney-biopsy findings in humans is unknown. METHODS: We
      identified 1388 living kidney donors at the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic
      who underwent a computed tomographic (CT) scan of the kidney with the use of
      contrast material and an iothalamate-based measurement of the GFR during donor
      evaluation and who underwent a kidney biopsy at donation. The mean single-nephron
      GFR was calculated as the GFR divided by the number of nephrons (calculated as
      the cortical volume of both kidneys as assessed on CT times the biopsy-determined
      glomerular density). Demographic and clinical characteristics and biopsy findings
      were correlated with the single-nephron GFR. RESULTS: A total of 58% of the
      donors were women, and the mean (+/-SD) age of the donors was 44+/-12 years. The
      mean GFR was 115+/-24 ml per minute, the mean number of nephrons was 860,000+/
      370,000 per kidney, and the mean single-nephron GFR was 80+/-40 nl per minute.
      The single-nephron GFR did not vary significantly according to age (among donors
      <70 years of age), sex, or height (among donors <=190 cm tall). A higher single
      nephron GFR was independently associated with larger nephrons on biopsy and more
      glomerulosclerosis and arteriosclerosis than would be expected for age. A higher
      single-nephron GFR was associated with a height of more than 190 cm, obesity, and
      a family history of end-stage renal disease. CONCLUSIONS: Among healthy adult
      kidney donors, the single-nephron GFR was fairly constant with regard to age,
      sex, and height (if <=190 cm). A higher single-nephron GFR was associated with
      certain risk factors for chronic kidney disease and certain kidney-biopsy
      findings. (Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
      Diseases.).

PMID- 28614685
TI  - Strongyloides stercoralis Hyperinfection.

PMID- 28614686
TI  - Treatment of Benzodiazepine Dependence.

PMID- 28614687
TI  - Treatment of Benzodiazepine Dependence.

PMID- 28614688
TI  - Treatment of Benzodiazepine Dependence.

PMID- 28614689
TI  - Case 8-2017: A Zimbabwean Man with a Severe Headache.

PMID- 28614690
TI  - Case 8-2017: A Zimbabwean Man with a Severe Headache.

PMID- 28614692
TI  - Seesaw Nystagmus.

PMID- 28614693
TI  - Response to Editorial: Children, poverty and health promotion in Australia.

PMID- 28614694
TI  - The flow properties and presence of crystals in drug-polymer mixtures:
      Rheological investigation combined with light microscopy.
AB  - The presence of solid matter in polymer melts affects the rheological properties
      of a drug-polymer mixture, and thus the processability of these mixtures in melt
      based processes. The particle morphological changes related to dissolution and
      crystal growth in the mixtures of paracetamol and ibuprofen with polyethylene
      oxide and methacrylate copolymer (Eudragit(r) E PO) were observed by polarized
      microscopy simultaneously while measuring their rheological properties within
      temperature ranges relevant for melt processes, such as hot melt extrusion and
      fused deposition modeling 3D printing. The dissolution of solid crystalline
      matter into the molten polymer and its effects on the rheological parameters
      showed that the plasticization effect of the drug was highly dependent on the
      temperature range, and at a temperature high enough, plasticization induced by
      the small-molecule drugs could enhance the flowability even at very high drug
      loads. Therefore, even supersaturated mixtures can be plasticized efficiently,
      enabling their melt processing, such as hot melt extrusion or 3D printing. The
      combination of rheometry and polarized light microscopy proved to be very useful
      for studying the link between morphological changes in the drug-polymer and the
      flow behavior of the drug-polymer mixtures at different temperature ranges and
      deformation modes.

PMID- 28614691
TI  - A Trial of Itraconazole or Amphotericin B for HIV-Associated Talaromycosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Talaromyces marneffei infection is a major cause of human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related death in South and Southeast Asia.
      Guidelines recommend initial treatment with amphotericin B deoxycholate, but this
      drug has substantial side effects, a high cost, and limited availability.
      Itraconazole is available in oral form, is associated with fewer unacceptable
      side effects than amphotericin, and is widely used in place of amphotericin;
      however, clinical trials comparing these two treatments are lacking. METHODS: In
      this open-label, noninferiority trial, we randomly assigned 440 HIV-infected
      adults who had talaromycosis, confirmed by either microscopy or culture, to
      receive either intravenous amphotericin B deoxycholate (amphotericin) (219
      patients), at a dose of 0.7 to 1.0 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, or
      itraconazole capsules (221 patients), at a dose of 600 mg per day for 3 days,
      followed by 400 mg per day, for 11 days; thereafter, all the patients received
      maintenance therapy with itraconazole. The primary outcome was all-cause
      mortality at week 2. Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality at week 24,
      the time to clinical resolution of talaromycosis, early fungicidal activity,
      relapse of talaromycosis, development of the immune reconstitution inflammatory
      syndrome (IRIS), and the side-effect profile. RESULTS: The risk of death at week
      2 was 6.5% in the amphotericin group and 7.4% in the itraconazole group (absolute
      risk difference, 0.9 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -3.9 to
      5.6; P<0.001 for noninferiority); however, the risk of death at week 24 was 11.3%
      in the amphotericin group and 21.0% in the itraconazole group (absolute risk
      difference, 9.7 percentage points; 95% CI, 2.8 to 16.6; P=0.006). Treatment with
      amphotericin was associated with significantly faster clinical resolution and
      fungal clearance and significantly lower rates of relapse and IRIS than
      itraconazole. The patients who received amphotericin had significantly higher
      rates of infusion-related reactions, renal failure, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia,
      and anemia than patients in the itraconazole group. CONCLUSIONS: Amphotericin was
      superior to itraconazole as initial treatment for talaromycosis with respect to 6
      month mortality, clinical response, and fungicidal activity. (Funded by the
      Medical Research Council and others; IVAP Current Controlled Trials number,
      ISRCTN59144167 .).

PMID- 28614695
TI  - Sex differences in aerobic exercise efficacy to improve cognition: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis of studies in older rodents.
AB  - Research in humans indicates that women may show greater cognitive benefits from
      aerobic training (AT) than men. To determine whether this sex difference extends
      to rodents, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in
      healthy, older rodents. Results indicate that compared to controls, AT improved
      hippocampus-dependent and -independent learning and memory. A sex difference was
      found with males showing larger benefits from AT on conditioned-avoidance and non
      spatial memory tasks. AT also increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      compared to controls, with larger effects in females. As an exploratory analysis,
      sex differences in voluntary AT were examined separately from forced AT.
      Voluntary AT enhanced non-spatial memory to a greater extent in males. Forced AT
      enhanced hippocampus-dependent learning and memory more so in females. These
      findings suggest that sex is an important factor to consider, and studies
      directly assessing sex differences in the ability of exercise to improve brain
      function are needed.

PMID- 28614696
TI  - Clinical utility of single molecule counting technology for quantification of KIM
      1 in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with high morbidity and
      mortality, and may lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Traditional serum
      biomarkers for acute and chronic renal dysfunction are insensitive and
      nonspecific. While urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) is a sensitive and
      specific measure of kidney tubular injury, it is difficult to obtain in acute
      settings. Thus, our objective was to develop a highly sensitive immunoassay for
      plasma KIM-1. METHODS: A novel plasma KIM-1 immunoassay was developed using
      Single Molecule Counting technology (SMC). It was clinically validated in: 120
      healthy subjects to establish a preliminary reference range; 25 healthy subjects
      to assess biological variability; 200 patients with heart failure (CHF); and 60
      patients from a CKD case control. RESULTS: SMC KIM-1 assay provided a limit of
      detection of 1.4pg/mL (reporting range from 2pg/mL to 1000pg/mL). Inter-assay
      precision was 9-15% CV. Median KIM-1 value in healthy subjects was 119pg/mL with
      a RR 95th percentile of 292pg/mL. KIM-1 demonstrated low weekly biological
      variability over 6weeks. KIM-1 was elevated in patients with CKD or CHF. Adjusted
      odds ratios for differentiating CHF or CKD from controls were 9.6 (95% CI 2.7
      35.0) and 3.6 (95% CI 1.1-11.6), respectively. In CHF, KIM-1 values correlated
      inversely with eGFR (Spearman R=-0.32, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma KIM-1 is
      quantifiable in healthy volunteers, elevated in CKD and CHF patients, and
      correlates with eGFR. Additional investigation is needed to determine if KIM-1
      provides prognostic value for CKD and CHF patient outcomes.

PMID- 28614697
TI  - Navicularines A-C: New diterpenoid alkaloids from Aconitum naviculare and their
      cytotoxic activities.
AB  - Three new bisditerpenoid alkaloids, navicularines A-C (1-3), and three known ones
      (4-6), were isolated from the ground parts of Aconitum naviculare. Their
      structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. All the new compounds were
      tested against five cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, SW480). It was
      found that navicularine B exhibited certain cytotoxic activities in vitro, with
      IC50 values of 13.50, 18.52, 17.22, 11.18, and 16.36MUM, respectively.

PMID- 28614698
TI  - Sardine procalcitonin amino-terminal cleavage peptide has a different action from
      calcitonin and promotes osteoblastic activity in the scales of goldfish.
AB  - The nucleotide sequence of a sardine preprocalcitonin precursor has been
      determined from their ultimobranchial glands in the present study. From our
      analysis of this sequence, we found that sardine procalcitonin was composed of
      procalcitonin amino-terminal cleavage peptide (N-proCT) (53 amino acids), CT (32
      amino acids), and procalcitonin carboxyl-terminal cleavage peptide (C-proCT) (18
      amino acids). As compared with C-proCT, N-proCT has been highly conserved among
      teleosts, reptiles, and birds, which suggests that N-proCT has some
      bioactivities. Therefore, both sardine N-proCT and sardine CT were synthesized,
      and their bioactivities for osteoblasts and osteoclasts were examined using our
      assay system with goldfish scales that consisted of osteoblasts and osteoclasts.
      As a result, sardine N-proCT (10-7M) activated osteoblastic marker enzyme
      activity, while sardine CT did not change. On the other hand, sardine CT (10-9 to
      10-7M) suppressed osteoclastic marker enzyme activity, although sardine N-proCT
      did not influence enzyme activity. Furthermore, the mRNA expressions of
      osteoblastic markers such as type 1 collagen and osteocalcin were also promoted
      by sardine N-proCT (10-7M) treatment; however, sardine CT did not influence their
      expressions. The osteoblastic effects of N-proCT lack agreement. In the present
      study, we can evaluate exactly the action for osteoblasts because our scale assay
      system is very sensitive and it is a co-culture system for osteoblasts and
      osteoclasts with calcified bone matrix. Both CT and N-proCT seem to influence
      osteoblasts and osteoclasts and promote bone formation by different actions in
      teleosts.

PMID- 28614699
TI  - A signal amplification probe enhances sensitivity of antibodies and aptamers
      based Immuno-diagnostic assays.
AB  - One major unmet need is improving the sensitivity of immune-diagnostic assays.
      This is particularly important in the field of biomarker discoveries and
      monitoring. We have established a novel signal amplification probe system
      enabling a highly sensitive target detection platform to be used in immuno
      assays. The probe consists of a double stranded DNA that can carry a large number
      of signaling elements such as biotin or fluorescent molecules. The DNA probe
      anchors to the recognition unit, whether an antibody or an aptamer, by covalent
      conjugation or by a simple and rapid molecular association process. Binding
      curves obtained by using the DNA amplification probe are dose dependent and
      linear over a wide range of antigen concentration. The optimal slopes are
      characterized by high signals and low background increasing the assay sensitivity
      and reducing the limit of detection by up to 10-fold compared to biotinylated
      antibodies commonly used in ELISA systems. When using aptamers in combination
      with the amplification probe for antigen recognition, the limit of detection is
      comparable to that obtained by biotinylated antibodies. Biotin labeled aptamers
      practically cannot be used for detection of low target levels. The DNA
      amplification probe system enables to expand the range of diagnostic assays
      including clinical samples and meet research needs.

PMID- 28614700
TI  - The C. elegans Spalt-like protein SEM-4 functions through the SoxC transcription
      factor SEM-2 to promote a proliferative blast cell fate in the postembryonic
      mesoderm.
AB  - Proper development of a multicellular organism relies on well-coordinated
      regulation of cell fate specification, cell proliferation and cell
      differentiation. The C. elegans postembryonic mesoderm provides a useful system
      for uncovering factors involved in these processes and for further dissecting
      their regulatory relationships. The single Spalt-like zinc finger containing
      protein SEM-4/SALL is known to be involved in specifying the proliferative sex
      myoblast (SM) fate. We have found that SEM-4/SALL is sufficient to promote the SM
      fate and that it does so in a cell autonomous manner. We further showed that SEM
      4/SALL acts through the SoxC transcription factor SEM-2 to promote the SM fate.
      SEM-2 is known to promote the SM fate by inhibiting the expression of two BWM
      specifying transcription factors. In light of recent findings in mammals showing
      that Sall4, one of the mammalian homologs of SEM-4, contributes to pluripotency
      regulation by inhibiting differentiation, our work suggests that the function of
      SEM-4/SALL proteins in regulating pluripotency versus differentiation appears to
      be evolutionarily conserved.

PMID- 28614701
TI  - Appendicular and whole body lean mass outcomes are associated with finite element
      analysis-derived bone strength at the distal radius and tibia in adults aged
      40years and older.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine how
      appendicular lean mass index (ALMI), and whole body lean (LMI) and fat mass
      indices (FMI) associate with estimated bone strength outcomes at the distal
      radius and tibia in adults aged 40 years and older. METHODS: Dual energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA) scans were performed to determine body composition,
      including whole body lean and fat mass, and appendicular lean mass. ALMI
      (appendicular lean mass/height2), LMI (lean tissue mass/height2) and FMI (fat
      mass/height2) were calculated. High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed
      tomography (HRpQCT) scans were performed to assess bone structural properties at
      the distal radius and tibia. Using finite element analysis, failure load (N),
      stiffness (N/mm), ultimate stress (MPa), and cortical-to-trabecular load ratio
      were estimated from HRpQCT scans. The associations between body composition
      (ALMI, LMI, FMI) and estimated bone strength were examined using bivariate and
      multivariable linear regression analyses adjusting for age, sex, and other
      confounding variables. RESULTS: In 197 participants (127 women; mean+/-SD, age:
      69.5+/-10.3y, body mass index: 27.95+/-4.95kg/m2, ALMI: 7.31+/-1.31kg/m2), ALMI
      and LMI were significantly associated with failure load at the distal radius and
      tibia (explained 39%-48% of the variance) and remained significant after
      adjusting for confounding variables and multiple testing (R2=0.586-0.645,
      p<0.001). ALMI, LMI, and FMI did not have significant associations with ultimate
      stress in our multivariable models. FMI was significantly associated with
      cortical-to-trabecular load ratio at the distal radius and tibia (explained 6%
      12% of the variance) and remained significant after adjusting for confounders and
      multiple testing (R2=0.208-0.243, p<0.001). FMI was no longer significantly
      associated with failure load after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSION: These
      findings suggest that ALMI and LMI are important determinants of estimated bone
      strength, particularly failure load, at the distal radius and tibia, and may
      contribute to preservation of bone strength in middle-to-late adulthood.

PMID- 28614702
TI  - De-identification of psychiatric intake records: Overview of 2016 CEGS N-GRID
      shared tasks Track 1.
AB  - The 2016 CEGS N-GRID shared tasks for clinical records contained three tracks.
      Track 1 focused on de-identification of a new corpus of 1000 psychiatric intake
      records. This track tackled de-identification in two sub-tracks: Track 1.A was a
      "sight unseen" task, where nine teams ran existing de-identification systems,
      without any modifications or training, on 600 new records in order to gauge how
      well systems generalize to new data. The best-performing system for this track
      scored an F1 of 0.799. Track 1.B was a traditional Natural Language Processing
      (NLP) shared task on de-identification, where 15 teams had two months to train
      their systems on the new data, then test it on an unannotated test set. The best
      performing system from this track scored an F1 of 0.914. The scores for Track 1.A
      show that unmodified existing systems do not generalize well to new data without
      the benefit of training data. The scores for Track 1.B are slightly lower than
      the 2014 de-identification shared task (which was almost identical to 2016 Track
      1.B), indicating that these new psychiatric records pose a more difficult
      challenge to NLP systems. Overall, de-identification is still not a solved
      problem, though it is important to the future of clinical NLP.

PMID- 28614703
TI  - Circulating angiotensin type II receptor: Possible marker for antibody mediated
      rejection after renal transplantation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presence of antibody [Ab] against angiotensin receptor [AT1R]
      indicates heightened risk for antibody mediated rejection [AMR] after
      transplantation but is insufficient as a marker. We speculated AT1R might be
      released systemically because of AMR and might be a useful biomarker. METHODS:
      AT1R was measured in blood from 73 Normals and 72 renal patients pre- and post
      transplantation. Patients were stratified as AMR-free [Gp1], AMR<1yr [Gp2] and
      AMR>1yr [Gp3]. RESULTS: AT1R was higher [13+/-26vs.367+/-537, p<0.01)] and more
      prevalent [20% vs. 92%, p<0.01] among renal patients than Normals. Pretransplant
      levels were similar [p=ns] between groups. One-year posttransplant levels
      approached [p<0.01] normalcy for Gps1+3 but spiked during AMR and remained
      elevated [155+/-58, p<0.01] for 50% Gp2 patients. One-year AT1R levels were
      higher among subsequent graft failures than surviving grafts [171+/-267vs. 38+/
      50, p<0.01]. CONCLUSIONS: Pretransplant AT1R was abnormally elevated: possibly
      indicating ongoing tissue injury. Pretransplant AT1R didn't predict risk for AMR.
      However, AT1R spiked during early AMR and sustained elevations were associated
      with poorer outcomes.

PMID- 28614704
TI  - Electrodermal responses during appetitive conditioning are sensitive to
      contingency instruction ambiguity.
AB  - Studies on human appetitive conditioning using food rewards can benefit from
      including psychophysiological outcome measures. The present study tested whether
      the skin conductance response can function as a measure of differential
      responding in an appetitive conditioning paradigm including an acquisition and
      extinction phase, and examined which time window during a trial is most sensitive
      to conditioning effects. As a secondary aim, the effects of ambiguous vs. non
      ambiguous contingency instructions on conditioned responses (skin conductance
      responses, US expectancies, chocolate desires, and CS evaluations) were assessed.
      Results indicated differential skin conductance responses in an anticipatory time
      window and during unexpected omission of the US in early extinction.
      Interestingly however, anticipatory responses were only found for participants
      who received ambiguous contingency instructions - possibly indicating a call for
      additional processing resources in response to the ambiguous CS+. Further,
      ambiguous instructions slowed the extinction of US expectancies but did not
      influence chocolate desires and CS evaluations. It is concluded that skin
      conductance can function as a sensitive measure of differential responding in
      appetitive conditioning, though its sensitivity might depend on the specific task
      context.

PMID- 28614706
TI  - Enhanced Rate of Acquisition of Point Mutations in Mouse Intestinal Adenomas
      Compared to Normal Tissue.
AB  - The most prevalent single-nucleotide substitution (SNS) found in cancers is a C
      to-T substitution in the CpG motif. It has been proposed that many of these SNSs
      arise during organismal aging, prior to transformation of a normal cell into a
      precancerous/cancer cell. Here, we isolated single intestinal crypts derived from
      normal tissue or from adenomas of Apcmin/+ mice, expanded them minimally in vitro
      as organoids, and performed exome sequencing to identify point mutations that had
      been acquired in vivo at the single-cell level. SNSs, most of them being CpG-to
      TpG substitutions, were at least ten times more frequent in adenoma than normal
      cells. Thus, contrary to the view that substitutions of this type are present due
      to normal-cell aging, the acquisition of point mutations increases upon
      transformation of a normal intestinal cell into a precancerous cell.

PMID- 28614705
TI  - A UV-Independent Topical Small-Molecule Approach for Melanin Production in Human
      Skin.
AB  - The presence of dark melanin (eumelanin) within human epidermis represents one of
      the strongest predictors of low skin cancer risk. Topical rescue of eumelanin
      synthesis, previously achieved in "redhaired" Mc1r-deficient mice, demonstrated
      significant protection against UV damage. However, application of a topical
      strategy for human skin pigmentation has not been achieved, largely due to the
      greater barrier function of human epidermis. Salt-inducible kinase (SIK) has been
      demonstrated to regulate MITF, the master regulator of pigment gene expression,
      through its effects on CRTC and CREB activity. Here, we describe the development
      of small-molecule SIK inhibitors that were optimized for human skin penetration,
      resulting in MITF upregulation and induction of melanogenesis. When topically
      applied, pigment production was induced in Mc1r-deficient mice and normal human
      skin. These findings demonstrate a realistic pathway toward UV-independent
      topical modulation of human skin pigmentation, potentially impacting UV
      protection and skin cancer risk.

PMID- 28614707
TI  - Linker Histone H1.2 Directs Genome-wide Chromatin Association of the
      Retinoblastoma Tumor Suppressor Protein and Facilitates Its Function.
AB  - The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein pRb is a master regulator of cellular
      proliferation, principally through interaction with E2F and regulation of E2F
      target genes. Here, we describe the H1.2 linker histone as a major pRb
      interaction partner. We establish that H1.2 and pRb are found in a chromatin
      bound complex on diverse E2F target genes. Interrogating the global influence of
      H1.2 on the genome-wide distribution of pRb indicated that the E2F target genes
      affected by H1.2 are functionally linked to cell-cycle control, consistent with
      the ability of H1.2 to hinder cell proliferation and the elevated levels of
      chromatin-bound H1-pRb complex, which occur in growth-arrested cells. Our results
      define a network of E2F target genes as susceptible to the regulatory influence
      of H1.2, where H1.2 augments global association of pRb with chromatin, enhances
      transcriptional repression by pRb, and facilitates pRb-dependent cell-cycle
      arrest.

PMID- 28614708
TI  - Thyroid Hormone Receptor Beta in the Ventromedial Hypothalamus Is Essential for
      the Physiological Regulation of Food Intake and Body Weight.
AB  - The obesity epidemic is a significant global health issue. Improved understanding
      of the mechanisms that regulate appetite and body weight will provide the
      rationale for the design of anti-obesity therapies. Thyroid hormones play a key
      role in metabolic homeostasis through their interaction with thyroid hormone
      receptors (TRs), which function as ligand-inducible transcription factors. The TR
      beta isoform (TRbeta) is expressed in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), a
      brain area important for control of energy homeostasis. Here, we report that
      selective knockdown of TRbeta in the VMH of adult mice results in severe obesity
      due to hyperphagia and reduced energy expenditure. The observed increase in body
      weight is of a similar magnitude to murine models of the most extreme forms of
      monogenic obesity. These data identify TRbeta in the VMH as a major physiological
      regulator of food intake and energy homeostasis.

PMID- 28614709
TI  - Cytoplasmic Dynein Transports Axonal Microtubules in a Polarity-Sorting Manner.
AB  - Axonal microtubules are predominantly organized into a plus-end-out pattern.
      Here, we tested both experimentally and with computational modeling whether a
      motor-based polarity-sorting mechanism can explain this microtubule pattern. The
      posited mechanism centers on cytoplasmic dynein transporting plus-end-out and
      minus-end-out microtubules into and out of the axon, respectively. When
      cytoplasmic dynein was acutely inhibited, the bi-directional transport of
      microtubules in the axon was disrupted in both directions, after which minus-end
      out microtubules accumulated in the axon over time. Computational modeling
      revealed that dynein-mediated transport of microtubules can establish and
      preserve a predominantly plus-end-out microtubule pattern as per the details of
      the experimental findings, but only if a kinesin motor and a static cross-linker
      protein are also at play. Consistent with the predictions of the model, partial
      depletion of TRIM46, a protein that cross-links axonal microtubules in a manner
      that influences their polarity orientation, leads to an increase in microtubule
      transport.

PMID- 28614710
TI  - Anterior Cingulate Cortex Modulation of the Ventral Tegmental Area in an Effort
      Task.
AB  - Information gained during goal pursuit motivates adaptive behavior. The anterior
      cingulate cortex (ACC) supports adaptive behavior, but how ACC signals are
      translated into motivational signals remains unclear. Rats with implants in the
      ACC and ventral tegmental area (VTA), a dopaminergic brain area implicated in
      motivation, were trained to run laps around a rectangular track for a fixed
      reward, where each lap varied in physical effort (a 30-cm climbable barrier).
      Partial directed coherence analysis of local field potentials revealed that ACC
      theta (4-12 Hz) activity increased as rats entered the barrier-containing region
      of the maze in trials when the barrier was absent and predicted similar changes
      in VTA theta activity. This did not occur in effortful, barrier-present trials.
      These data suggest that the ACC provides a top-down modulating signal to the VTA
      that can influence the motivation with which to pursue a reward.

PMID- 28614711
TI  - DAPK1 Mediates LTD by Making CaMKII/GluN2B Binding LTP Specific.
AB  - The death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1) is a potent mediator of neuronal
      cell death. Here, we find that DAPK1 also functions in synaptic plasticity by
      regulating the Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). CaMKII
      and T286 autophosphorylation are required for both long-term potentiation (LTP)
      and depression (LTD), two opposing forms of synaptic plasticity underlying
      learning, memory, and cognition. T286-autophosphorylation induces CaMKII binding
      to the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) subunit GluN2B, which mediates CaMKII synaptic
      accumulation during LTP. We find that the LTP specificity of CaMKII synaptic
      accumulation is due to its LTD-specific suppression by calcineurin (CaN)
      dependent DAPK1 activation, which in turn blocks CaMKII binding to GluN2B. This
      suppression is enabled by competitive DAPK1 versus CaMKII binding to GluN2B.
      Negative regulation of DAPK1/GluN2B binding by Ca2+/CaM results in synaptic DAPK1
      removal during LTP but retention during LTD. A pharmacogenetic approach showed
      that suppression of CaMKII/GluN2B binding is a DAPK1 function required for LTD.

PMID- 28614712
TI  - Evidence that C9ORF72 Dipeptide Repeat Proteins Associate with U2 snRNP to Cause
      Mis-splicing in ALS/FTD Patients.
AB  - Hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9ORF72 gene results in production of
      dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins that may disrupt pre-mRNA splicing in amyotrophic
      lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients. At present,
      the mechanisms underlying this mis-splicing are not understood. Here, we show
      that addition of proline-arginine (PR) and glycine-arginine (GR) toxic DPR
      peptides to nuclear extracts blocks spliceosome assembly and splicing, but not
      other types of RNA processing. Proteomic and biochemical analyses identified the
      U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) as a major interactor of PR
      and GR peptides. In addition, U2 snRNP, but not other splicing factors,
      mislocalizes from the nucleus to the cytoplasm both in C9ORF72 patient induced
      pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived motor neurons and in HeLa cells treated with
      the toxic peptides. Bioinformatic studies support a specific role for U2-snRNP
      dependent mis-splicing in C9ORF72 patient brains. Together, our data indicate
      that DPR-mediated dysfunction of U2 snRNP could account for as much as ~44% of
      the mis-spliced cassette exons in C9ORF72 patient brains.

PMID- 28614713
TI  - Acute Lesioning and Rapid Repair of Hypothalamic Neurons outside the Blood-Brain
      Barrier.
AB  - Neurons expressing agouti-related protein (AgRP) are essential for feeding. The
      majority of these neurons are located outside the blood-brain barrier (BBB),
      allowing them to directly sense circulating metabolic factors. Here, we show
      that, in adult mice, AgRP neurons outside the BBB (AgRPOBBB) were rapidly ablated
      by peripheral administration of monosodium glutamate (MSG), whereas AgRP neurons
      inside the BBB and most proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons were spared. MSG
      treatment induced proliferation of tanycytes, the putative hypothalamic neural
      progenitor cells, but the newly proliferated tanycytes did not become neurons.
      Intriguingly, AgRPOBBB neuronal number increased within a week after MSG
      treatment, and newly emerging AgRP neurons were derived from post-mitotic cells,
      including some from the Pomc-expressing cell lineage. Our study reveals that the
      lack of protection by the BBB renders AgRPOBBB vulnerable to lesioning by
      circulating toxins but that the rapid re-emergence of AgRPOBBB is part of a
      reparative process to maintain energy balance.

PMID- 28614714
TI  - Dectin-1 Activation Exacerbates Obesity and Insulin Resistance in the Absence of
      MyD88.
AB  - The underlying mechanism by which MyD88 regulates the development of obesity,
      metainflammation, and insulin resistance (IR) remains unknown. Global deletion of
      MyD88 in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice resulted in increased weight gain, impaired
      glucose homeostasis, elevated Dectin-1 expression in adipose tissue (AT), and
      proinflammatory CD11c+ AT macrophages (ATMs). Dectin-1 KO mice were protected
      from diet-induced obesity (DIO) and IR and had reduced CD11c+ AT macrophages.
      Dectin-1 antagonist improved glucose homeostasis and decreased CD11c+ AT
      macrophages in chow- and HFD-fed MyD88 KO mice. Dectin-1 agonist worsened glucose
      homeostasis in MyD88 KO mice. Dectin-1 expression is increased in AT from obese
      individuals. Together, our data indicate that Dectin-1 regulates AT inflammation
      by promoting CD11c+ AT macrophages in the absence of MyD88 and identify a role
      for Dectin-1 in chronic inflammatory states, such as obesity. This suggests that
      Dectin-1 may have therapeutic implications as a biomarker for metabolic
      dysregulation in humans.

PMID- 28614715
TI  - PHGDH Defines a Metabolic Subtype in Lung Adenocarcinomas with Poor Prognosis.
AB  - Molecular signatures are emerging determinants of choice of therapy for lung
      adenocarcinomas. An evolving therapeutic approach includes targeting metabolic
      dependencies in cancers. Here, using an integrative approach, we have dissected
      the metabolic fingerprints of lung adenocarcinomas, and we show that
      Phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), the rate-limiting enzyme in serine
      biosynthesis, is highly expressed in a adenocarcinoma subset with poor prognosis.
      This subset harbors a gene signature for DNA replication and proliferation.
      Accordingly, models with high levels of PHGDH display rapid proliferation,
      migration, and selective channeling of serine-derived carbons to glutathione and
      pyrimidines, while depletion of PHGDH shows potent and selective toxicity to this
      subset. Differential PHGDH protein levels were defined by its degradation, and
      the deubiquitinating enzyme JOSD2 is a regulator of its protein stability. Our
      study provides evidence that a unique metabolic program is activated in a lung
      adenocarcinoma subset, described by PHGDH, which confers growth and survival and
      may have therapeutic implications.

PMID- 28614717
TI  - Microbiota Normalization Reveals that Canonical Caspase-1 Activation Exacerbates
      Chemically Induced Intestinal Inflammation.
AB  - Inflammasomes play a central role in regulating intestinal barrier function and
      immunity during steady state and disease. Because the discoveries of a passenger
      mutation and a colitogenic microbiota in the widely used caspase-1-deficient
      mouse strain have cast doubt on previously identified direct functions of caspase
      1, we reassessed the role of caspase-1 in the intestine. To this end, we
      generated Casp1-/- and Casp11-/- mice and rederived them into an enhanced barrier
      facility to standardize the microbiota. We found that caspase-11 does not
      influence caspase-1-dependent processing of IL-18 in homeostasis and during DSS
      colitis. Deficiency of caspase-1, but not caspase-11, ameliorated the severity of
      DSS colitis independent of microbiota composition. Ablation of caspase-1 in
      intestinal epithelial cells was sufficient to protect mice against DSS colitis.
      Moreover, Casp1-/- mice developed fewer inflammation-induced intestinal tumors
      than control mice. These data show that canonical inflammasome activation
      controls caspase-1 activity, contributing to exacerbation of chemical-induced
      colitis.

PMID- 28614716
TI  - The NOTCH1/SNAIL1/MEF2C Pathway Regulates Growth and Self-Renewal in Embryonal
      Rhabdomyosarcoma.
AB  - Tumor-propagating cells (TPCs) share self-renewal properties with normal stem
      cells and drive continued tumor growth. However, mechanisms regulating TPC self
      renewal are largely unknown, especially in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS)-a
      common pediatric cancer of muscle. Here, we used a zebrafish transgenic model of
      ERMS to identify a role for intracellular NOTCH1 (ICN1) in increasing TPCs by 23
      fold. ICN1 expanded TPCs by enabling the de-differentiation of zebrafish ERMS
      cells into self-renewing myf5+ TPCs, breaking the rigid differentiation
      hierarchies reported in normal muscle. ICN1 also had conserved roles in
      regulating human ERMS self-renewal and growth. Mechanistically, ICN1 upregulated
      expression of SNAIL1, a transcriptional repressor, to increase TPC number in
      human ERMS and to block muscle differentiation through suppressing MEF2C, a
      myogenic differentiation transcription factor. Our data implicate the
      NOTCH1/SNAI1/MEF2C signaling axis as a major determinant of TPC self-renewal and
      differentiation in ERMS, raising hope of therapeutically targeting this pathway
      in the future.

PMID- 28614719
TI  - Systemic Virus Infections Differentially Modulate Cell Cycle State and
      Functionality of Long-Term Hematopoietic Stem Cells In Vivo.
AB  - Quiescent long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) are efficiently activated
      by type I interferon (IFN-I). However, this effect remains poorly investigated in
      the context of IFN-I-inducing virus infections. Here we report that both
      vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection
      induce LT-HSC activation that substantially differs from the effects triggered
      upon injection of synthetic IFN-I-inducing agents. In both infections,
      inflammatory responses had to exceed local thresholds within the bone marrow to
      confer LT-HSC cell cycle entry, and IFN-I receptor triggering was not critical
      for this activation. After resolution of acute MCMV infection, LT-HSCs returned
      to phenotypic quiescence. However, non-acute MCMV infection induced a sustained
      inflammatory milieu within the bone marrow that was associated with long-lasting
      impairment of LT-HSC function. In conclusion, our results show that systemic
      virus infections fundamentally affect LT-HSCs and that also non-acute
      inflammatory stimuli in bone marrow donors can affect the reconstitution
      potential of bone marrow transplants.

PMID- 28614718
TI  - SIRT5 Desuccinylates and Activates Pyruvate Kinase M2 to Block Macrophage IL
      1beta Production and to Prevent DSS-Induced Colitis in Mice.
AB  - LPS-activated macrophages undergo a metabolic shift from dependence on
      mitochondria-produced ATP to reliance on aerobic glycolysis, where PKM2 is a
      critical determinant. Here, we show that PKM2 is a physiological substrate of
      SIRT5 and that SIRT5-regulated hypersuccinylation inhibits the pyruvate kinase
      activity of PKM2 by promoting its tetramer-to-dimer transition. Moreover, a
      succinylation-mimetic PKM2 K311E mutation promotes nuclear accumulation and
      increases protein kinase activity. Furthermore, we show that SIRT5-dependent
      succinylation promotes PKM2 entry into nucleus, where a complex of PKM2-HIF1alpha
      is formed at the promoter of IL-1beta gene in LPS-stimulated macrophages.
      Activation of PKM2 using TEPP-46 attenuates Sirt5-deficiency-mediated IL-1beta
      upregulation in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Finally, we find that Sirt5-deficient
      mice are more susceptible to DSS-induced colitis, which is associated with Sirt5
      deficiency prompted PKM2 hypersuccinylation and boosted IL-1beta production. In
      conclusion, our findings reveal a mechanism by which SIRT5 suppresses the pro
      inflammatory response in macrophages at least in part by regulating PKM2
      succinylation, activity, and function.

PMID- 28614721
TI  - H3K36 Methylation Regulates Nutrient Stress Response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
      by Enforcing Transcriptional Fidelity.
AB  - Set2-mediated histone methylation at H3K36 regulates diverse activities,
      including DNA repair, mRNA splicing, and suppression of inappropriate (cryptic)
      transcription. Although failure of Set2 to suppress cryptic transcription has
      been linked to decreased lifespan, the extent to which cryptic transcription
      influences other cellular functions is poorly understood. Here, we uncover a role
      for H3K36 methylation in the regulation of the nutrient stress response pathway.
      We found that the transcriptional response to nutrient stress was dysregulated in
      SET2-deleted (set2Delta) cells and was correlated with genome-wide bi-directional
      cryptic transcription that originated from within gene bodies. Antisense
      transcripts arising from these cryptic events extended into the promoters of the
      genes from which they arose and were associated with decreased sense
      transcription under nutrient stress conditions. These results suggest that Set2
      enforced transcriptional fidelity is critical to the proper regulation of
      inducible and highly regulated transcription programs.

PMID- 28614720
TI  - Cellular Stress in the Context of an Inflammatory Environment Supports TGF-beta
      Independent T Helper-17 Differentiation.
AB  - T helper-17 (Th17) cells are associated with inflammatory disorders and cancer.
      We report that environmental conditions resulting in cellular stress, such as low
      oxygen, glucose, and isotonic stress, particularly enhance the generation of Th17
      cells. Pharmacological inhibition of cell stress reduces Th17 cell
      differentiation while stress inducers enhance the development of Th17 cells. The
      cellular stress response results in Th17 cell development via sustained
      cytoplasmic calcium levels and, in part, XBP1 activity. Furthermore, in an
      inflammatory environment, conditions resulting in cell stress can bring about de
      novo Th17 cell differentiation, even in the absence of transforming growth factor
      beta (TGF-beta) signaling. In vivo, cell stress inhibition enhances resistance to
      Th17-mediated autoimmunity while stress-exposed T cells enhance disease severity.
      Adverse metabolic environments during inflammation provide a link between
      adaptive immunity and inflammation and may represent a risk factor for the
      development of chronic inflammatory conditions by facilitating Th17 cell
      differentiation.

PMID- 28614723
TI  - Single Muscle Fiber Proteomics Reveals Fiber-Type-Specific Features of Human
      Muscle Aging.
AB  - Skeletal muscle is a key tissue in human aging, which affects different muscle
      fiber types unequally. We developed a highly sensitive single muscle fiber
      proteomics workflow to study human aging and show that the senescence of slow and
      fast muscle fibers is characterized by diverging metabolic and protein quality
      control adaptations. Whereas mitochondrial content declines with aging in both
      fiber types, glycolysis and glycogen metabolism are upregulated in slow but
      downregulated in fast muscle fibers. Aging mitochondria decrease expression of
      the redox enzyme monoamine oxidase A. Slow fibers upregulate a subset of actin
      and myosin chaperones, whereas an opposite change happens in fast fibers. These
      changes in metabolism and sarcomere quality control may be related to the ability
      of slow, but not fast, muscle fibers to maintain their mass during aging. We
      conclude that single muscle fiber analysis by proteomics can elucidate
      pathophysiology in a sub-type-specific manner.

PMID- 28614722
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of the DNA Methylation Sensitivity of Transcription Factor
      Complexes.
AB  - Although DNA modifications play an important role in gene regulation, the
      underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We developed EpiSELEX-seq to probe the
      sensitivity of transcription factor binding to DNA modification in vitro using
      massively parallel sequencing. Feature-based modeling quantifies the effect of
      cytosine methylation (5mC) on binding free energy in a position-specific manner.
      Application to the human bZIP proteins ATF4 and C/EBPbeta and three different Pbx
      Hox complexes shows that 5mCpG can both increase and decrease affinity, depending
      on where the modification occurs within the protein-DNA interface. The TF
      paralogs tested vary in their methylation sensitivity, for which we provide a
      structural rationale. We show that 5mCpG can also enhance in vitro p53 binding
      and provide evidence for increased in vivo p53 occupancy at methylated binding
      sites, correlating with primed enhancer histone marks. Our results establish a
      powerful strategy for dissecting the epigenomic modulation of protein-DNA
      interactions and their role in gene regulation.

PMID- 28614724
TI  - Post-translational Modifications of OLIG2 Regulate Glioma Invasion through the
      TGF-beta Pathway.

PMID- 28614725
TI  - Integrative Analysis of PRKAG2 Cardiomyopathy iPS and Microtissue Models
      Identifies AMPK as a Regulator of Metabolism, Survival, and Fibrosis.

PMID- 28614726
TI  - Visual sensitivity for luminance and chromatic stimuli during the execution of
      smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements.
AB  - Visual sensitivity is dynamically modulated by eye movements. During saccadic eye
      movements, sensitivity is reduced selectively for low-spatial frequency luminance
      stimuli and largely unaffected for high-spatial frequency luminance and chromatic
      stimuli (Nature 371 (1994), 511-513). During smooth pursuit eye movements,
      sensitivity for low-spatial frequency luminance stimuli is moderately reduced
      while sensitivity for chromatic and high-spatial frequency luminance stimuli is
      even increased (Nature Neuroscience, 11 (2008), 1211-1216). Since these effects
      are at least partly of different polarity, we investigated the combined effects
      of saccades and smooth pursuit on visual sensitivity. For the time course of
      chromatic sensitivity, we found that detection rates increased slightly around
      pursuit onset. During saccades to static and moving targets, detection rates
      dropped briefly before the saccade and reached a minimum at saccade onset. This
      reduction of chromatic sensitivity was present whenever a saccade was executed
      and it was not modified by subsequent pursuit. We also measured contrast
      sensitivity for flashed high- and low-spatial frequency luminance and chromatic
      stimuli during saccades and pursuit. During saccades, the reduction of contrast
      sensitivity was strongest for low-spatial frequency luminance stimuli (about
      90%). However, a significant reduction was also present for chromatic stimuli
      (about 58%). Chromatic sensitivity was increased during smooth pursuit (about
      12%). These results suggest that the modulation of visual sensitivity during
      saccades and smooth pursuit is more complex than previously assumed.

PMID- 28614727
TI  - Micronutrient consumption by female Argiope bruennichi affects offspring
      survival.
AB  - Sexual cannibalism has long been hypothesized to be a foraging decision in which
      females consume males for the nutrients in their bodies. While few studies have
      documented fecundity benefits of sexual cannibalism, several recent studies have
      documented benefits of cannibalism to egg hatching success or offspring survival.
      We tested if small supplements of dietary essential nutrients fed to female
      spiders, Argiope bruennichi, would result in increases in offspring survival
      similar to those seen following sexual cannibalism. All female spiders were
      prevented from cannibalizing their mates and subsequently fed either: a dead male
      spider, or a similarly-sized dead fly with one of four nutrient supplements
      (water control, dietary essential fatty acids, dietary essential amino acids, or
      nonessential amino and fatty acids). Females that consumed a small supplement of
      dietary essential amino acids produced offspring that survived simulated
      overwintering conditions significantly longer than offspring of other treatments.
      While a previous study found a significant effect of cannibalism on offspring
      survival using field-collected males as prey, the current study, which used lab
      reared males as prey, found no effect of sexual cannibalism on offspring
      survival. Hence, our results suggest that dietary essential amino acids, which
      may be sequestered by males from their diet, could be valuable supplements that
      increase the success of the offspring of cannibalistic females. Further work is
      needed to determine the source and identity of these dietary essential amino
      acids and if other essential nutrients (e.g., trace elements, vitamins, etc.) may
      also be limiting in female diets and affect offspring success.

PMID- 28614728
TI  - Triterpenoid saponins and other glycosides from the stems and bark of Jaffrea
      xerocarpa and their biological activity.
AB  - Six previously undescribed triterpenoid saponins and two previously undescribed
      norlupane triterpenes were isolated with five known saponins, three known lupane
      derivatives, 17,20-didehydro-20-deoxyjujubogenin, rutin, (+/-) 3alpha-O-beta-d
      glucopyranosyl-lyoniresinol, (+/-) 4-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-maesopsin, three
      phenol glycosides, and uridine from the stems and bark of Jaffrea xerocarpa
      (Baill.) H. C. Hopkins & Pillon (= Basionym Alphitonia xerocarpus Baill.)
      (Rhamnaceae), an endemic tree of New Caledonia. The chemical structures of the
      purified compounds were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass
      spectrometry. The isolated compounds were tested for their antioxidant,
      antityrosinase, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. The aqueous methanol
      extract showed antioxidant activity (DPPH assay) due to the presence of rutin and
      other phenolic compounds. Three lupane triterpenes showed good cytotoxic
      activities against KB cells line (IC50 from 7.7 to 8.5 MUM). The previously
      undescribed 2alpha-formyl-A(1)norlup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid showed antibacterial
      activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis with both MIC
      values of 4 MUg/mL.

PMID- 28614729
TI  - Phytochemical analysis of bark from Helietta apiculata Benth and antimicrobial
      activities.
AB  - Extraction and characterization of natural products from the bark of the trunk of
      Helietta apiculata Benth (Rutaceae) afforded nine alkaloids, eight furoquinoline
      and one quinolone, limonine, three cinnamic acid derivatives, three neolignans,
      tetracosanoic acid, six coumarins, of which apiculin A and apiculin B
      (neolignans), and tanizin (coumarin) are previously undescribed compounds. The
      structures of all compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods, and the
      crystal structures of two of the newly undescribed compounds, apiculin A and
      apiculin B, were determined by X-ray analysis. Extracts and pure compounds
      isolated from Helietta apiculata showed promising antimicrobial activities.

PMID- 28614730
TI  - Antigenotoxic prenylated flavonoids from stem bark of Erythrina latissima.
AB  - A series of prenylated flavonoids was obtained from antigenotoxic extracts and
      fractions of stem bark of Erythrina latissima E. Mey (Leguminosae). In addition
      to five constituents never reported before, i.e. (2S)-5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy
      2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-6-yl)chroman-4-one (erylatissin D), (2S)
      5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-methoxy-2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-6-yl)chroman
      4-one (erylatissin E), 5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-methoxy-2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-2,3
      dihydrobenzofuran-6-yl)-4H-chromen-4-one (erylatissin F), (2S)-5,7,8'-trihydroxy
      2',2'-dimethyl-[2,6'-bichroman]-4-one (erylatissin G) and (2S)-5,7-dihydroxy-8'
      methoxy-2',2'-dimethyl-[2,6'-bichroman]-4-one (dihydroabyssinin I), 18 known
      flavonoids were identified. Evaluation of the antigenotoxic properties (against
      genotoxicity induced by aflatoxin B1, metabolically activated) in the Vitotox
      assay revealed that most flavonoids were active. Sigmoidin A and B showed the
      highest activity, with an IC50 value of 18.7 MUg/mL, equivalent to that of
      curcumin (IC50 18.4 MUg/mL), used as a reference antigenotoxic compound.

PMID- 28614731
TI  - Potentiation of ecological factors on the disruption of thyroid hormones by
      organo-halogenated contaminants in female polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the
      Barents Sea.
AB  - As apex predators, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are among the most heavily
      polluted organisms in the Arctic. In addition to this anthropogenic stressor,
      climate warming has been shown to negatively affect their body condition,
      reproductive output and survival. Among potential underlying physiological
      mechanisms, thyroid hormones (THs), which control thermoregulation, metabolism
      and reproduction, can be affected by a variety of both natural and anthropogenic
      factors. While THs have been extensively used as proxies for pollution exposure
      in mammals, including polar bears, there is a lack of knowledge of their natural
      variations. In this context, we examined seasonal variations in body condition
      and circulating TH concentrations in free-ranging female polar bears. Females
      with variable reproductive status (i.e., solitary, with cubs of the year or with
      yearlings) were sampled from locations with contrasted sea ice conditions.
      Furthermore, we studied THs in relation to levels of organo-halogenated
      contaminants. As predicted, solitary females were in better condition than
      females caring for offspring, especially in spring. In addition, TH levels were
      lower in autumn compared to spring, although this seasonal effect was mainly
      observed in solitary females. Finally, the negative relationships between
      organochlorine and perfluoroalkyl substances and some THs suggest a possible
      alteration of homeostasis of THs. Since the latter relationships were only
      observed during spring, we emphasize the importance of considering the ecological
      factors when using THs as proxies for pollution exposure. Yet, the combined
      effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on THs might impair the ability of
      polar bears to adapt to ongoing climate changes.

PMID- 28614732
TI  - Influence of the drug distribution in electrospun gliadin fibers on drug-release
      behavior.
AB  - Drug distribution within its carrier in a solid dosage form often generates a
      profound influence on its release profile, particularly when the physicochemical
      properties of the carrier are exploited to manipulate drug release behavior. In
      this job, two different types of distributions of a model drug ibuprofen (IBU)
      within a protein gliadin in their electrospun nanofibers were intentionally
      created. One was homogeneous distribution in the monolithic fibers fabricated
      using a modified coaxial process, and the other one was heterogeneous
      distribution in the core/shell fibers prepared through a traditional coaxial
      process. SEM observations clearly demonstrated the different distributions of IBU
      within gliadin in the two kinds of nanofibers although both of them had smooth
      surfaces and linear morphology. XRD results showed that IBU was amorphously
      distributed in the monolithic fibers, but that some IBU crystalline lattices
      presented in the core/shell fibers. FTIR and RM spectra suggested that gliadin
      had good compatibility with IBU. In vitro dissolution tests verified that the
      gliadin nanofibers with a heterogeneous drug distribution could provide a better
      sustained release profile than its counterpart in terms of initial burst release
      and sustained release time period. Both the fiber formation and drug-controlled
      release mechanisms are suggested. The present study demonstrated a concept that
      drug distribution with the medicated nanomaterials can be exploited as a tool to
      optimize the drug sustained release profile.

PMID- 28614733
TI  - Impact of capillary flow hydrodynamics on carrier-mediated transport of opioid
      derivatives at the blood-brain barrier, based on pH-dependent Michaelis-Menten
      and Crone-Renkin analyses.
AB  - Most studies of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and transport are
      conducted at a single pH, but more detailed information can be revealed by using
      multiple pH values. A pH-dependent biophysical model was applied to the
      mechanistic analysis of published pH-dependent BBB luminal uptake data from three
      opioid derivatives in rat: pentazocine (Suzuki et al., 2002a, 2002b), naloxone
      (Suzuki et al., 2010a), and oxycodone (Okura et al., 2008). Two types of data
      were processed: in situ brain perfusion (ISBP) and brain uptake index (BUI). The
      published perfusion data were converted to apparent luminal permeability values,
      Papp, and analyzed by the pCEL-X program (Yusof et al., 2014), using the pH
      dependent Crone-Renkin equation (pH-CRE) to determine the impact of
      cerebrovascular flow on the Michaelis-Menten transport parameters (Avdeef and
      Sun, 2011). For oxycodone, the ISBP data had been measured at pH7.4 and 8.4. The
      present analysis indicates a 7-fold lower value of the cerebrovascular flow
      velocity, Fpf, than that expected in the original study. From the pyrilamine
      inhibited data, the flow-corrected passive intrinsic permeability value was
      determined to be P0=398*10-6cm.s-1. The uptake data indicate that the neutral
      form of oxycodone is affected by a transporter at pH8.4. The extent of the cation
      uptake was less certain from the available data. For pentazocine, the brain
      uptake by the BUI method had been measured at pH5.5, 6.5, and 7.4, in a
      concentration range 0.1-40mM. Under similar conditions, ISBP data were also
      available. The pH-CRE determined values of Fpf from both methods were nearly the
      same, and were smaller than the expected value in the original publication. The
      transport of the cationic pentazocine was not fully saturated at pH5.5 at 40mM.
      The transport of the neutral species at pH7.4 appeared to reach saturation at
      40mM pentazocine concentration, but not at 12mM. In the case of naloxone, a pH
      dependent Michaelis-Menten equation (pH-MME) analysis of the data indicated a
      smooth sigmoidal transition from a higher capacity uptake process affecting
      cationic naloxone (pH5.0-7.0) to a lower capacity uptake process affecting the
      neutral drug (pH8.0-8.5), with cross-over point near pH7.4. Evidently,
      measurements at multiple pH values can reveal important information about both
      cerebrovascular flow and BBB transport kinetics.

PMID- 28614734
TI  - Multifunctional magnetic-responsive hydrogels to engineer tendon-to-bone
      interface.
AB  - Photocrosslinkable magnetic hydrogels are attracting great interest for tissue
      engineering strategies due to their versatility and multifunctionality, including
      their remote controllability ex vivo, thus enabling engineering complex tissue
      interfaces. This study reports the development of a photocrosslinkable magnetic
      responsive hydrogel made of methacrylated chondroitin sulfate (MA-CS) enriched
      with platelet lysate (PL) with tunable features, envisioning their application in
      tendon-to-bone interface. MA-CS coated iron-based magnetic nanoparticles were
      incorporated to provide magnetic responsiveness to the hydrogel. Osteogenically
      differentiated adipose-derived stem cells and/or tendon-derived cells were
      encapsulated within the hydrogel, proliferating and expressing bone- and tendon
      related markers. External magnetic field (EMF) application modulated the
      swelling, degradation and release of PL-derived growth factors, and impacted both
      cell morphology and the expression and synthesis of tendon- and bone-like matrix
      with a more evident effect in co-cultures. Overall, the developed magnetic
      responsive hydrogel represents a potential cell carrier system for interfacial
      tissue engineering with EMF-controlled properties.

PMID- 28614735
TI  - Enhanced biomimic bactericidal surfaces by coating with positively-charged ZIF
      nano-dagger arrays.
AB  - Cicada wing surfaces are covered with dense patterns of nano-pillar structure
      that prevent bacterial growth by rupturing adhered microbial cells. To mimic the
      natural nano-pillar structure, we developed a general and simple method to grow
      metal organic framework (MOF) nano-dagger arrays on a wide range of surfaces.
      These nano-daggers possess high bactericidal activity, with log reduction >7 for
      Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. It was hypothesized that the
      positively-charged ZIF-L nano-dagger surfaces enhance bacterial cell adhesion,
      facilitating selective and efficient bacteria killing by the rigid and sharp nano
      dagger tips. This research provides a safe and clean antimicrobial surface
      technology which does not require external chemicals and will not cause drug
      resistance.

PMID- 28614737
TI  - Glucose triggers the cytotoxicity of Citrobacter sp. R1 against Microcystis
      aeruginosa.
AB  - Algicidal bacteria offer a promising option for killing Microcystis aeruginosa,
      one notorious cyanobacteria causing harmful algal blooms. In this study,
      Citrobacter sp. R1 presented high algicidal activity (81.6+/-2.2%, 72h) against
      M. aeruginosa when cultured using glucose, while it showed no algicidal activity
      (0+/-3.4%) when cultured using wheat bran, suggesting that appropriate carbon
      source is crucial for algicidal bacteria in killing M. aeruginosa. The underlying
      algicidal mechanism of strain R1 was explored by studying the effect of different
      carbon sources (glucose and wheat bran) on its key algicidal gene expression and
      total protein translation. While the glycogen synthase gene (glgA), cloned from
      strain R1 via transposon mutagenesis, was for the first time related to algicidal
      activity, its transcriptional level was not positively correlated with the
      algicidal activity of strain R1. We found that, the translation of total protein
      of strain R1 was relatively less when cultured with glucose, compared to growth
      with wheat bran. This indicated that the functional algicidal gene of strain R1
      exerts its algicidal activity at protein translational level. These findings not
      only reveal the importance of appropriate carbon source for strain R1 for
      controlling M. aeruginosa, but also bring insights into its underlying algicidal
      mechanism.

PMID- 28614738
TI  - Preface on air quality in China.

PMID- 28614736
TI  - Nanoparticle-mediated knockdown of DNA repair sensitizes cells to radiotherapy
      and extends survival in a genetic mouse model of glioblastoma.
AB  - Glioblastoma (GBM) remains incurable, and recurrent tumors rarely respond to
      standard-of-care radiation and chemo-therapies. Therefore, strategies that
      enhance the effects of these therapies should provide significant benefits to GBM
      patients. We have developed a nanoparticle delivery vehicle that can stably bind
      and protect nucleic acids for specific delivery into brain tumor cells. These
      nanoparticles can deliver therapeutic siRNAs to sensitize GBM cells to
      radiotherapy and improve GBM treatment via systemic administration. We show that
      nanoparticle-mediated knockdown of the DNA repair protein apurinic endonuclease 1
      (Ape1) sensitizes GBM cells to radiotherapy and extend survival in a genetic
      mouse model of GBM. Specific knockdown of Ape1 activity by 30% in brain tumor
      tissue doubled the extended survival achieved with radiotherapy alone. Ape1 is a
      promising target for increasing the effectiveness of radiotherapy, and
      nanoparticle-mediated delivery of siRNA is a promising strategy for tumor
      specific knockdown of Ape1.

PMID- 28614739
TI  - Assessment of soil water, carbon and nitrogen cycling in reseeded grassland on
      the North Wyke Farm Platform using a process-based model.
AB  - The North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP) generates large volumes of temporally-indexed
      data that provides a valuable test-bed for agricultural mathematical models in
      temperate grasslands. In our study, we used the primary datasets generated from
      the NWFP (https://nwfp.rothamsted.ac.uk/) to validate the SPACSYS model in terms
      of the dynamics of water loss and forage dry matter yield estimated through
      cutting. The SPACSYS model is capable of simulating soil water, carbon (C) and
      nitrogen (N) balance in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. The validated model was
      then used to simulate the responses of soil water, C and N to reseeding grass
      cultivars with either high sugar (Lolium perenne L. cv. AberMagic) or deep
      rooting (Festulolium cv. Prior) traits. Simulation results demonstrated that the
      SPACSYS model could predict reliably soil water, C and N cycling in reseeded
      grassland. Compared to AberMagic, the Prior grass could fix more C in the second
      year following reseeding, whereas less C was lost through soil respiration in the
      first transition year. In comparison to the grass cultivar of the permanent
      pasture that existed before reseeding, both grasses reduced N losses through
      runoff and contributed to reducing water loss, especially Prior in relation to
      the latter. The SPACSYS model could predict these differences as supported by the
      rich dataset from the NWFP, providing a tool for future predictions on less
      characterized pasture.

PMID- 28614740
TI  - Investigation of ozonation kinetics and transformation products of sucralose.
AB  - Sucralose is one of widely used artificial sweeteners, which has been
      ubiquitously detected in various water sources, such as wastewater and randomly
      in reservoir water. It is also reported to be persistent to various water
      treatment techniques. Although there are some studies on removal of sucralose by
      advanced oxidation process, limited information, in terms of reaction kinetics,
      transformation products and degradation pathway etc., was reported in its
      ozonation process. In this study, the reaction kinetics, removal efficiency,
      influence of pH, humic acid and carbonate on sucralose degradation by ozone, have
      been studied systematically. The results demonstrated that ozonation of sucralose
      was initiated by the formation of OH radical. Sucralose could be completely
      removed with excess O3 at neutral and basic conditions in ultrapure water. The
      rate of degradation decreased significantly in acidic condition and in the
      presence of carbonate and OH radical scavenger (e.g. tert-butanol). The acidity
      was the key factor affecting the degradation of sucralose. The rate constant was
      about 500 times higher at pH7 than that at pH4. Transformation products study
      indicated that the ozonation of sucralose were more complex than that in
      photolysis reaction. Although ozonation of sucralose was initiated by OH radical,
      both OH radical and O3 might be involved in the formation of transformation
      products and total organic carbon (TOC) removal. Various transformation products,
      such as aldehydes, carboxylic acids and probable chloride containing products,
      were identified and characterized in details. An ozonation degradation pathway of
      sucralose was proposed as well.

PMID- 28614741
TI  - Iopromide exposure in Typha latifolia L.: Evaluation of uptake, translocation and
      different transformation mechanisms in planta.
AB  - Iopromide is frequently detected in water bodies due to its widespread use as an
      X-ray contrast agent in medicine. Due to its rapid clearance from the human body
      and its incomplete removal by wastewater treatment, an elevation of its
      concentration in the environment is observed that might lead to a serious impact
      on human and environmental health. Alternative or additional removal technologies
      may be more effective to remove iopromide from the effluents of wastewater
      treatment facilities, like phytoremediation with aquatic macrophytes. To test
      this, a hydroponic experiment was carried out to assess the fate of iopromide in
      Typha latifolia. The transformation products (TPs) in the plant were investigated
      to predict possible transformation mechanisms. The removal process followed first
      order kinetics with a linear regression R2 value of 0.983. The iopromide
      concentration in roots and rhizomes reached a maximum value of 20.70 +/- 0.81 and
      16.82 +/- 1.78 nmol g-1 on the 7th day, respectively, thereafter decreased until
      the end of experiment. A different result was found in leaves, where iopromide
      concentration decreased over the whole experimental period. A total of eight
      transformation products were detected in T. latifolia, including 23 isomers. The
      relative content of aldehyde and ketone TPs decreased in roots and rhizomes while
      the relative content of carboxylic TPs increased. However, the relative content
      of aldehyde and ketone TPs only showed a slight decrease in leaves while the
      relative content of carboxylic TPs remained stable during the experimental
      period. In addition, a significant increase of decarboxylated TPs was found in
      leaves, but not in roots and rhizomes. These results indicate that a difference
      in transformation mechanisms exists among plant tissues. The findings of this
      study are important to better understand the transformation mechanisms of
      iopromide in plants and to improve phytoremediation technologies for such kind of
      compounds.

PMID- 28614742
TI  - Transformation of halobenzoquinones with the presence of amino acids in water:
      Products, pathways and toxicity.
AB  - The transformation and detoxification of halobenzoquinones (HBQs), a class of
      emerging disinfection byproducts (DBPs), was studied in the presence of amino
      acids (AAs). The reaction activity of three HBQs with AAs generally ranked as 2
      chlorobenzoquinone (CBQ) < 2,6-dichlorobezoquinone (DCBQ) < tetrachloroquinone
      (TCBQ), consistent with their halogenation degree and the calculated electron
      affinity (EA) results. According to mass spectrometry and density functional
      theory (DFT) calculations, AAs can easily covalently incorporate into HBQs via
      nucleophilic addition (CBQ and DCBQ) or substitution (TCBQ) through CNC or CSC
      linkages. Hydroxylation, nucleophilic reaction and decarboxylation were proposed
      to be the three major reaction pathways for HBQs transformation with AAs. HBQs
      firstly underwent the spontaneous hydrolysis, resulting in OH-HBQs formation.
      Then, nucleophilic addition/substitution of AAs occurred on HBQs and OH-HBQs to
      produce AA-HBQs/AA-HBQs-OH adducts. These adducts were subsequently oxidized into
      their corresponding decarboxylated forms. Based on the results of Luminous
      bacterium Q67 acute toxicity test, the toxicity of HBQs solution greatly
      decreased with AAs presented. The toxicity change was well explained by the
      lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy (ELUMO) of formed products. Notably,
      the step that AAs nucleophilic bonded with HBQs led to the highest rise of ELUMO,
      which should be the most effective pathway for HBQs detoxification. This study
      shows that binding with amino nitrogen compounds should be an important process
      for HBQs transformation and detoxification, which helps to better understand the
      fate of this typical DBP in surface water.

PMID- 28614743
TI  - Impacts of biostimulation and bioaugmentation on the performance and microbial
      ecology in methanogenic reactors treating purified terephthalic acid wastewater.
AB  - Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) processes treating purified terephthalic
      acid (PTA) wastewater often face challenges associated with biomass loss. As
      excessive biomass loss could lead to deterioration of PTA removal, biostimulation
      and bioaugmentation were often practiced without understanding the microbial
      impact in UASB. Three laboratory-scale UASB reactors were operated with synthetic
      PTA wastewater as the feed, with two added with co-substrate (glucose or
      molasses) on Day 170 for 90 days, and one with external granules on Day 118.
      Throughout the operation, treatment performance was measured together with the
      analysis of microbial communities of biomass samples using 16S rRNA-based gene
      Illumina sequencing. Glucose amendment destabilized both terephthalic acid and
      para-toluic acid removal, while molasses amendment improved para-toluic acid
      removal. Both substrate addition generally led to decreases in the abundances of
      syntrophs and methanogens and increases in carbohydrate-fermenting bacteria in
      the granular sludge. Regarding bioaugmentation, paper mill granule addition led
      to a temporary crash of terephthalic acid removal for 42 days, and deterioration
      of para-toluic acid removal throughout the operation. Syntrophs and methanogens
      were observed to colonize on the paper mill granules after three months,
      meanwhile growth of methanogens were stimulated on the PTA granules added
      initially. Overall, proper level of molasses amendment and external granule
      inoculation could be promising strategies to make up for biomass loss during the
      operation of PTA-degrading UASB.

PMID- 28614744
TI  - Effects of aeration on matrix temperature by infrared thermal imager and
      computational fluid dynamics during sludge bio-drying.
AB  - The effect of aeration on the pile matrix temperature was investigated using
      thermocouples and Infrared Thermal Imager (IRI) for temperature sensing, and
      Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for modelling of temperature variation during
      aeration in a full-scale sludge biodrying plant. With aeration saving of 20%, the
      improved strategy speeded up biodrying from 21 days to 14 days, while achieving
      similar drying effect. A persistent thermocouple recorded the one-dimensional
      (1D) total temperature variation of all aeration strategies. The IRI captured the
      rapid two-dimensional (2D) pile temperature dropped from 72.5  degrees C to 30.3 
      degrees C during 6 min of aeration, which mechanism suggested as the latent heat
      of moisture evaporation and sensible heat of air exchange. The CFD three
      dimensional (3D) CFD results highlight the importance of latent heat rather than
      sensible heat. Therefore, the pile temperature drop inferred is DeltaT = 5.38 
      degrees C theoretically and DeltaT = 5.17 +/- 4.56  degrees C practically, per
      unit of MC removed. These findings also emphasize the possibility of a pile
      temperature valley, due to excessive aeration under unsaturated vapour
      conditions. Surface temperature monitored by IRI coupled with 3D temperature
      simulated by CFD rapidly gives a clear matrix temperature evolution, empowering
      biodrying by more accurate temperature and aeration.

PMID- 28614745
TI  - A novel Fe(II)/citrate/UV/peroxymonosulfate process for micropollutant
      degradation: Optimization by response surface methodology and effects of water
      matrices.
AB  - This paper applied the response surface methodology (RSM) to optimizing a novel
      Fe(II)/citrate/UV/PMS process in the degradation of a model micropollutant,
      carbamazepine (CBZ), a persistent emerging contaminant frequently detected in
      surface water and groundwater. The experimental conditions in terms of two
      responses, CBZ removal efficiency (Y1) and cost per unit CBZ removal (Y2), were
      optimized by the central composite design (CCD) in RSM. Modeling data exhibited
      that the optimum condition resulting in the lowest Y2 while achieving >70% of Y1
      was at a UV dose of 265.5 mJ/cm2 and Fe(II), PMS and citrate concentrations of
      12.2 MUM, 100 MUM and 26.4 MUM, respectively. Increasing Fe(II) concentration led
      to the decrease in CBZ degradation and cost-effectiveness of the process. On the
      other hand, increasing the UV dose, PMS concentration and citrate/Fe(II) ratio
      over 265.5 mJ/cm2, 100 MUM and 2.16:1, respectively, slightly increased the CBZ
      degradation, but significantly increased the cost. Under the optimized condition,
      the experimentally obtained values for Y1 and Y2 were 70.44% and 0.0104 H
      K$/%/m3, respectively. The predicted Y1 and Y2 were 71.07% and 0.0098 H K$/%/m3,
      respectively, suggesting that RSM can be readily used to determine the optimum
      condition of the Fe(II)/citrate/UV/PMS process for CBZ degradation. Other aqueous
      constituents which impacted the CBZ removal in the Fe(II)/citrate/UV/PMS process
      are in the following order: NOM > alkalinity > bromide > ammonia ~ chloride (both
      negligible).

PMID- 28614746
TI  - Ictal coughing: Clinical features and differential diagnoses.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a series of patients with ictal coughing to estimate its
      occurrence and characterize the clinical features and differential diagnoses.
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all the long-term video-EEG reports from
      Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center over a 7-year period (2010-2016) for the
      occurrence of the term "cough" in the text body. All the extracted reports were
      reviewed and patients with at least one documented ictal coughing at the epilepsy
      monitoring unit (EMU) were included in the study. RESULTS: During the study
      period, 2487 patients were investigated at our EMU. Seven patients (0.28%) had at
      least one documented seizure accompanied by coughing. Four patients (0.16%) had
      epilepsy and three patients (0.12%) had psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES).
      All patients with epilepsy had focal onset epilepsy; ictal coughing was not
      associated with any particular localization or lateralization. CONCLUSION: We add
      to the literature on ictal coughing by providing additional information on its
      differential diagnosis and clinical features. Ictal coughing is a rare finding
      among patients evaluated at the EMUs. The differential diagnoses for ictal
      coughing include epilepsy and PNES. Epileptic ictal coughing is a rare
      semiological finding in patients with epilepsy and when present, it is invariably
      associated with focal epilepsy.

PMID- 28614748
TI  - Analysis of the use of the IAEA rapid method of 89Sr and 90Sr in milk for
      environmental monitoring.
AB  - Rapid methods that are used during nuclear accidents or incident situations must
      first be implemented and validated in radioactivity measurement laboratories, so
      they can be ready to provide quick answers to governments, regulatory
      organizations and people in such situations. As these accident situations are
      rare and the methods are thus not frequently used, the best way to achieve this
      is to use the same methods for both routine environmental monitoring and rapid or
      emergency situations. Before this can be done, however, an analysis of the
      conditions under which a rapid method could be effectively used in routine
      situations should be carried out. This work analyses the performance of the rapid
      method for the simultaneous determination of 89Sr and 90Sr in milk, published by
      the IAEA, and compares it with another, more conventional method used for routine
      environmental purposes. Through numerical calculations and considering different
      89Sr and 90Sr activities, we also conducted a study to obtain the optimum values
      for determination parameters - such as sample mass, counting times, time lapse
      between measurements and background counting times - that will allow the use of
      the IAEA rapid method as a routine environmental one.

PMID- 28614749
TI  - Plant nitrogen nutrition: sensing and signaling.
AB  - In response to external fluctuations of nitrogen (N) supplies, plants can
      activate complex regulatory networks for optimizing N uptake and utilization. In
      this review, we highlight novel N-responsive sensors, transporters, and signaling
      molecules recently identified in the dicot Arabidopsis and the monocot rice, and
      discuss their potential roles in N sensing and signaling. Furthermore, over the
      last couple of years, N sensing has been shown to be affected by multiple
      external factors, which act as local signals to trigger systemic signaling
      coordinated by long-distance mobile signals. Understanding of this complex
      regulatory network provides a foundation for the development of novel strategies
      to increase the root N acquisition efficiency under varying N conditions for crop
      production.

PMID- 28614747
TI  - RNA-mediated regulation of heterochromatin.
AB  - The formation of condensed, transcriptionally repressed heterochromatin is
      essential for controlling gene expression throughout development, silencing
      parasitic DNA elements, and for genome stability and inheritance. Cells employ
      diverse mechanisms for controlling heterochromatin states through proteins that
      modify DNA and histones. An emerging theme is that chromatin-associated RNAs play
      important roles in regulating heterochromatin proteins by controlling their
      initial recruitment to chromatin, their stable association with chromatin, their
      spread along chromatin, or their enzymatic activity. Major challenges for the
      field include not only identifying regulatory RNAs, but understanding the
      underlying biochemical mechanisms for how RNAs associate with chromatin, the
      specificity of interactions between heterochromatin proteins and RNA, and how
      these binding events manifest in cells to orchestrate RNA-mediated regulation of
      heterochromatin.

PMID- 28614750
TI  - 2D-COS of in situ MU-Raman and in situ IR spectra for structure evolution
      characterisation of NEP-deposited cobalt oxide catalyst during n-nonane
      combustion.
AB  - New catalytic systems are still in development to meet the challenge of
      regulations concerning the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This is
      because such compounds have a significant impact on air quality and some of them
      are toxic to the environment and human beings. The catalytic combustion process
      of VOCs over non-noble metal catalysts is of great interest to researchers. The
      high conversion parameters and cost effective preparation makes them a valuable
      alternative to monoliths and noble metal catalysts. In this study, the cobalt
      catalyst was prepared by non-equilibrium plasma deposition of organic precursor
      on calcined kanthal steel. Thus prepared, cobalt oxide based microstructural
      short-channel reactors were tested for n-nonane combustion and the catalyst
      surfaces were examined by in situ MU-Raman spectroscopy and in situ infrared
      spectroscopy. The spectra collected at various temperatures were used in
      generalised two-dimensional correlation analysis to establish the sequential
      order of spectral intensity changes and correlate the simultaneous changes in
      bands selectively coupled by different interaction mechanisms. The 2D synchronous
      and asynchronous contour maps were proved to be a valuable extension to the
      standard analysis of the temperature dependent 1D spectra.

PMID- 28614752
TI  - Highly selective and sensitive method for Cu2+ detection based on chiroptical
      activity of L-Cysteine mediated Au nanorod assemblies.
AB  - Herein, we demonstrated a simple and efficient method to detect Cu2+ based on
      amplified optical activity in the chiral nanoassemblies of gold nanorods (Au
      NRs). L-Cysteine can induce side-by-side or end-to-end assembly of Au NRs with an
      evident plasmonic circular dichroism (PCD) response due to coupling between
      surface plasmon resonances (SPR) of Au NRs and the chiral signal of L-Cys.
      Because of the obvious stronger plasmonic circular dichrosim (CD) response of the
      side-by-side assembly compared with the end-to-end assemblies, SS assembled Au
      NRs was selected as a sensitive platform and used for Cu2+ detection. In the
      presence of Cu2+, Cu2+ can catalyze O2 oxidation of cysteine to cystine. With an
      increase in Cu2+ concentration, the L-Cysteine-mediated assembly of Au NRs
      decreased because of decrease in the free cysteine thiol groups, and the PCD
      signal decreased. Taking advantage of this method, Cu2+ could be detected in the
      concentration range of 20pM-5nM. Under optimal conditions, the calculated
      detection limit was found to be 7pM.

PMID- 28614751
TI  - Molecular spectroscopic and thermodynamic studies on the interaction of anti
      platelet drug ticlopidine with calf thymus DNA.
AB  - Ticlopidine is an anti-platelet drug which belongs to the thienopyridine
      structural family and exerts its effect by functioning as an ADP receptor
      inhibitor. Ticlopidine inhibits the expression of TarO gene in S. aureus and may
      provide protection against MRSA. Groove binding agents are known to disrupt the
      transcription factor DNA complex and consequently inhibit gene expression.
      Understanding the mechanism of interaction of ticlopidine with DNA can prove
      useful in the development of a rational drug designing system. At present, there
      is no such study on the interaction of anti-platelet drugs with nucleic acids. A
      series of biophysical experiments were performed to ascertain the binding mode
      between ticlopidine and calf thymus DNA. UV-visible and fluorescence
      spectroscopic experiments confirmed the formation of a complex between
      ticlopidine and calf thymus DNA. Moreover, the values of binding constant were
      found to be in the range of 103M-1, which is indicative of groove binding between
      ticlopidine and calf thymus DNA. These results were further confirmed by studying
      the effect of denaturation on double stranded DNA, iodide quenching, viscometric
      studies, thermal melting profile as well as CD spectral analysis. The
      thermodynamic profile of the interaction was also determined using isothermal
      titration calorimetric studies. The reaction was found to be endothermic and the
      parameters obtained were found to be consistent with those of known groove
      binders. In silico molecular docking studies further corroborated well with the
      experimental results.

PMID- 28614753
TI  - Detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose by using Tb2(MoO4)3 nanoplates as
      peroxidase mimics.
AB  - Tb2(MoO4)3 nanostructures are demonstrated for the first time to have an
      intrinsic peroxidase-like activity. Tb2(MoO4)3 nanoplates could efficiently
      catalyse the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate a blue
      dye (with an absorbance maximum at 652nm) in the presence of H2O2. Based on the
      highly efficient catalytic of Tb2(MoO4)3 nanoplates, a novel system for optical
      determination of H2O2 and glucose was successfully established under optimized
      conditions. The assay had 0.0.08MUM and 0.1MUM detection limit for H2O2 and
      glucose, respectively. In our opinion, this enzyme mimetic has a potential to use
      in other oxidase based assays.

PMID- 28614754
TI  - A self-immolative prodrug nanosystem capable of releasing a drug and a NIR
      reporter for in vivo imaging and therapy.
AB  - In vivo monitoring of the biodistribution and activation of prodrugs is highly
      attractive, and the self-immolative dendritic architecture is deemed as a
      promising approach for constructing theranostic prodrug in which the
      release/activation of different payloads is needed. Herein, A GSH-triggered and
      self-immolative dendritic platform comprising an anticancer drug camptothecin
      (CPT), a cleavable linker and a two-photon NIR fluorophore (dicyanomethylene-4H
      pyran, DCM) has been developed for in situ tracking of drug release and
      antitumour therapy. In vitro experiments demonstrate that, the presence of
      glutathione (GSH) induces the cleavage of the self-immolative linker, resulting
      in comitant release of the drug and the dye. Upon cell internalization and under
      one- or two-photon excitation, prominent intracellular fluorescence can be
      observed, indicating the release of the payloads in live cells. Upon loaded in
      phospholipid vesicles, the prodrug has also been successfully utilized for in
      vivo and in situ tracking of drug release and cancer therapy in a mouse model.
      Several hours post injection, the prodrug generates strong fluorescence on tumour
      sites, demonstrating the prodrug's capability of monitoring the on-site drug
      release. Moreover, the prodrug shows considerable high activity and exerts
      obvious inhibition towards tumour growth. This work suggests that the prodrug
      with self-immolative dendritic structure can work well in vivo and this strategy
      may provide an alternative approach for designing theranostic drug delivery
      systems.

PMID- 28614755
TI  - Copper and nickel co-treatment alters metal uptake and stress parameters of Salix
      purpurea*viminalis.
AB  - Simultaneous treatment of Salix purpurea*viminalis with copper (Cu2+) and nickel
      (Ni2+) altered metal phytoextraction rates in favor of leaves. Still, metal
      translocation patters remained unaffected (roots~rods>>leaves>=shoots), reaching
      ~20 and 14.5mgkg-1 dry weight in roots for Cu and Ni, respectively. Biometric
      parameters revealed overall growth inhibition correlated with Cu content in
      leaves, thus proving its negative effect on photosynthesis. Metal toxicity was
      strongly affirmed in the case of roots (~90% loss of root biomass at 3mM), rather
      than in the above-ground organs. Plant treatment accelerated the accumulation of
      soluble carbohydrates, phenolics including salicylic acid and glutathione in
      Salix leaves. However, significant differences in plant reactions to the applied
      metals were noted. Metal accumulation in leaves was correlated with soluble
      sugars and elevated glutathione, and also with total phenolics content, in the
      case of Cu and Ni, respectively. Glutathione synthesis was induced by both
      metals, and correlated with salicylic acid in leaves of Ni-treated plants.

PMID- 28614756
TI  - Photosynthetic, antioxidative, molecular and ultrastructural responses of young
      cacao plants to Cd toxicity in the soil.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) is a highly toxic metal for plants, even at low concentrations in
      the soil. The annual production of world cocoa beans is approximately 4 million
      tons. Most of these fermented and dried beans are used in the manufacture of
      chocolate. Recent work has shown that the concentration of Cd in these beans has
      exceeded the critical level (0.6mgkg-1 DM). The objective of this study was to
      evaluate the toxicity of Cd in young plants of CCN 51 cacao genotype grown in
      soil with different concentrations of Cd (0, 0.05 and 0.1gkg-1 soil) through
      photosynthetic, antioxidative, molecular and ultrastructural changes. The
      increase of Cd concentration in the soil altered mineral nutrient absorption by
      competition or synergism, changed photosynthetic activity caused by reduction in
      chloroplastidic pigment content and damage to the photosynthetic machinery
      evidenced by the Fv/Fm ratio and expression of the psbA gene and increased GPX
      activity in the root and SOD in leaves. Additionally, ultrastructural alterations
      in roots and leaves were also evidenced with the increase of the concentration of
      Cd in the soil, whose toxicity caused rupture of biomembranes in root and leaf
      cells, reduction of the number of starch grains in foliar cells, increase of
      plastoglobules in chloroplasts and presence of multivesiculated bodies in root
      cells. It was concluded, therefore, that soil Cd toxicity caused damage to the
      photosynthetic machinery, antioxidative metabolism, gene expression and
      irreversible damage to root cells ultrastructure of CCN 51 cocoa plants, whose
      damage intensity depended on the exposure time to the metal.

PMID- 28614757
TI  - The diagnostic value of anthropometric indices of maxillary sinuses for sex
      determination using CT-scan images in Iranian adults: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of human remains is an essential part of forensic
      science. Studying paranasal sinuses is very useful in identification of mutilated
      or burnt bodies from accidents such as plane crashes. We aimed to assess the
      diagnostic value of anthropometric indices of maxillary sinuses for sex
      determination using CT-scan images in Iranian adults. METHODS: CT-scan slices of
      228 maxillary sinuses (from 144 men and 144 women) were studied. The maximum
      height, maximum anterior-posterior diameter, maximum width, and maximum distance
      between the sinuses were measured in both sexes. Our participants were divided
      into three age groups of 20-34, 35-49, and over 50 to compare the recorded
      measurements in different age groups. RESULTS: We found a significant difference
      between men and women regarding the maximum height, maximum width, maximum A-P
      diameter of sinuses and the maximum distance between the right and left maxillary
      sinuses in all of our participants. We also found that the highest accuracy for
      sex determination was related to the maximum distance between the sinuses (65.6%)
      and the lowest to the maximum width of the right sinus (56.2%). The most accurate
      identification resulted from assessing the maximum distance between the sinuses
      in the 20-34 age group (74.3%), the maximum anterior-posterior diameter of the
      sinuses in the 35-49 age group (62.8%) and the maximum height of the left sinus
      in the over 50 age group (65.7%). CONCLUSION: Regardless of age, according to our
      study the parameters of height, width, anterior-posterior diameter of sinuses and
      the maximum distance between the right and left maxillary sinuses are partially
      valuable for sex determination. The most accurate sex identification was examined
      in the 20-34 age group from studying the maximum distance between the sinuses.
      Especially in the over 50 age group, it is not enough to consider the sinus
      parameter for sex identification.

PMID- 28614758
TI  - Synthesis, iron(III) complexation properties, molecular dynamics simulations and
      P. aeruginosa siderophore-like activity of two pyoverdine analogs.
AB  - P. aeruginosa ranks among the top five organisms causing nosocomial infections.
      Among the many novel strategies for developing new therapeutics against
      infection, targeting iron uptake mechanism seems promising as P. aeruginosa needs
      iron for its growth and survival. To scavenge iron, the bacterium produces
      siderophores possessing a very high affinity towards Fe(III) ions such as
      pyoverdines. In this work, we decided to study two pyoverdine analogs, aPvd2 and
      aPvd3, structurally close to the endogen pyoverdine. The pFe constants calculated
      with the values of formation showed a high affinity of aPvd3 towards Fe(III).
      Molecular dynamics calculations demonstrated that aPvd3-Fe forms with Fe(III)
      stable 1:1 complexes in water, whereas aPvd2 does not. Only aPvd3 is able to
      increase the bacterial growth and represents thus an alternative to pyoverdine
      for iron acquisition by the bacterium. The aPvd2-3 interaction studies with a
      lipid membrane indicated that they were unable to interact and to cross the
      plasma membrane of bacteria by passive diffusion. Consequently, the penetration
      of aPvd3 is ruled by a transport membrane protein. These results showed that
      aPvd3 may be used to inhibit pyoverdine uptake or to promote the accumulation and
      release of antibiotics into the cell following a Trojan horse strategy.

PMID- 28614759
TI  - Structure-activity relationship study and optimisation of 2-aminopyrrole-1-benzyl
      4,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile as a broad spectrum metallo-beta-lactamase
      inhibitor.
AB  - A SAR study on derivatives of 2-amino-1-benzyl-4,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-3
      carbonitrile 5a revealed that the 3-carbonitrile group, vicinal 4,5-diphenyl and
      N-benzyl side chains of the pyrrole are important for the inhibitory potencies of
      these compounds against members representing the three main subclasses of metallo
      beta-lactamases (MBLs), i.e. IMP-1 (representing the B1 subgroup), CphA (B2) and
      AIM-1 (B3). Coupling of 5a with a series of acyl chlorides and anhydrides led to
      the discovery of two N-acylamide derivatives, 10 and 11, as the two most potent
      IMP-1 inhibitors in this series. However, these compounds are less effective
      towards CphA and AIM-1. The N-benzoyl derivative of 5a retained potent in vitro
      activity against each of MBLs tested (with inhibition constants in the low MUM
      range). Importantly, this compound also significantly enhanced the sensitivity of
      IMP-1, CphA- or AIM-1-producing cell cultures towards meropenem. This compound
      presents a promising starting point for the development of a universal MBL
      inhibitor, targeting members of each of the major subgroups of this family of
      enzymes.

PMID- 28614760
TI  - Abundance of carbapenemase genes (blaKPC, blaNDM and blaOXA-48) in wastewater
      effluents from Tunisian hospitals.
AB  - Carbapenems are beta-lactam antibiotics with a broad spectrum of activity and are
      usually considered the last resort for the treatment of severe infections caused
      by multidrug-resistant pathogens. The clinically most significant carbapenemases
      are KPC, NDM, and OXA-48-like enzymes, whose genes have been increasingly
      reported worldwide in members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. In this study, we
      quantified the abundance of these genes in wastewater effluents from different
      Tunisian hospitals. The blaNDM and blaOXA-48-like genes were detected at similar
      concentrations in all hospital wastewater effluents. In contrast, the blaKPC gene
      was detected at lower concentration than other genes and it was only detected in
      three of the seven effluents analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, this study
      quantified for the first time the abundance of blaKPC, blaNDM, and blaOXA-48-like
      genes in wastewater effluents from Tunisian hospitals, highlighting the
      widespread distribution of these carbapenemase genes.

PMID- 28614761
TI  - Associations of phthalates exposure with attention deficits hyperactivity
      disorder: A case-control study among Chinese children.
AB  - Researches on associations between phthalates exposure and child attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are inconsistent. This study aimed to
      evaluate the associations of urinary phthalates with ADHD, co-occurring
      oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), related symptoms and behavior problems among
      Chinese children. We enrolled 225 ADHD cases and 225 healthy controls aged 6-13
      years old in Liuzhou, China. Each child provided repeated urine samples at 4
      visits. Eight phthalate metabolites were measured by high-performance liquid
      chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Child ADHD symptoms and related
      behaviors were assessed using Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Version IV scale and
      child behavior checklist. Higher urinary concentrations of mono(2-ethyl-5
      hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), mono
      (2-ethyl)-hexyl phthalate (MEHP) were dose-dependently associated with ADHD [odds
      ratios (ORs) ranged from 2.35 to 3.04 for the highest vs. the lowest tertile] and
      co-occurring ODD (ORs ranged from 3.27 to 4.44 for the highest vs. the lowest
      tertile) in the multivariable logistic regression models (all p for trend <=
      0.01), which were consistent with positive trends of increased scores of
      inattention domain, hyperactive domain and ODD symptoms (all p for trend <=
      0.01). Besides, the monomethyl phthalate (MMP) concentration was associated with
      higher scores of inattention domain and ODD symptoms (both p < 0.05).
      Additionally, the MEHHP, MEOHP and MEHP concentrations were related to child
      attention problems, aggressive behaviors and externalizing behaviors (all p <
      0.05). We also observed positive associations of the MEHP concentration with
      depressed behaviors and internalizing behaviors (all p < 0.05). Our results
      indicate that child exposure to phthalates may contribute to ADHD, ODD and
      externalizing and internalizing behavior problems.

PMID- 28614762
TI  - Intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome in pediatrics. A
      review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To consolidate pediatric intensivists' understanding of the
      pathophysiology, definition, incidence, monitoring, and management of intra
      abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS); and to
      highlight the characteristics related to the pediatric population. METHODS: This
      is a narrative review article that utilized a systematic search of the medical
      literature published in the English language between January 1990 and august
      2016. Studies were identified by conducting a comprehensive search of Pub Med
      databases. Search terms included "intra-abdominal hypertension and child", "intra
      abdominal hypertension and pediatrics", "abdominal compartment syndrome and
      child", and "abdominal compartment syndrome and pediatrics". RESULTS: Intra
      abdominal hypertension and ACS are associated with a number of pathophysiological
      disturbances and increased morbidity and mortality. These conditions have been
      well described in critically ill adults. In children, the IAH and the ACS have a
      reported incidence of 13% and 0.6 to 10% respectively; they carry similar
      prognostic impact but are still under-diagnosed and under-recognized by pediatric
      health care providers. CONCLUSIONS: Intra-abdominal hypertension and ACS are
      conditions that are regularly encountered in critically ill children. They are
      associated with an increased morbidity and mortality. Early recognition,
      prevention and timely management of this critical condition are necessary to
      improve its outcome.

PMID- 28614763
TI  - Evaluating the effect of remote sensing image spatial resolution on soil
      exchangeable potassium prediction models in smallholder farm settings.
AB  - Major end users of Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) such as policy makers and
      agricultural extension workers are faced with choosing the appropriate remote
      sensing data. The objective of this research is to analyze the spatial resolution
      effects of different remote sensing images on soil prediction models in two
      smallholder farms in Southern India called Kothapally (Telangana State), and
      Masuti (Karnataka State), and provide empirical guidelines to choose the
      appropriate remote sensing images in DSM. Bayesian kriging (BK) was utilized to
      characterize the spatial pattern of exchangeable potassium (Kex) in the topsoil
      (0-15 cm) at different spatial resolutions by incorporating spectral indices from
      Landsat 8 (30 m), RapidEye (5 m), and WorldView-2/GeoEye-1/Pleiades-1A images (2
      m). Some spectral indices such as band reflectances, band ratios, Crust Index and
      Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index from multiple images showed relatively
      strong correlations with soil Kex in two study areas. The research also suggested
      that fine spatial resolution WorldView-2/GeoEye-1/Pleiades-1A-based and RapidEye
      based soil prediction models would not necessarily have higher prediction
      performance than coarse spatial resolution Landsat 8-based soil prediction
      models. The end users of DSM in smallholder farm settings need select the
      appropriate spectral indices and consider different factors such as the spatial
      resolution, band width, spectral resolution, temporal frequency, cost, and
      processing time of different remote sensing images. Overall, remote sensing-based
      Digital Soil Mapping has potential to be promoted to smallholder farm settings
      all over the world and help smallholder farmers implement sustainable and field
      specific soil nutrient management scheme.

PMID- 28614764
TI  - Intensification of steam explosion and structural intricacies impacting sugar
      recovery.
AB  - Dilute acid (DA) pretreatment at pilot level failed for cotton stalk (CS) due to
      the technical issues posed by its inherent nature. Reasonable glucan conversion
      has been reported via two-stage pretreatment but adds on to the process cost.
      Proposed herewith is a single-stage steam explosion (SE) process preceded by
      water extraction resulting in high sugar recovery from CS. Raising the extraction
      temperature to 80 degrees C increased the glucan conversion from 37.9 to 52.4%.
      Further improvement up to 68.4% was achieved when DA was incorporated during the
      room temperature extraction. LC-MS revealed the formation of xylo-oligomers
      limiting the glucan conversion in proportion to the length of xylo-oligomers.
      Varying extraction conditions induced structural alterations in biomass after SE
      evident by compositional analysis, Infrared Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and
      Scanning Electron Microscopy. Overall glucose recovery, i.e. 75.8-76.7% with and
      without DA extraction respectively was achieved.

PMID- 28614765
TI  - Drug delivery systems improving chemical and physical properties of anticancer
      drugs currently investigated for treatment of solid tumors.
AB  - Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Conventional cancer
      treatment like chemotherapy do not fulfil the expectations of both patients and
      physicians and there is a pressing need for a new kind of therapies that will
      increase drug delivery to the tumor mass. Standard chemotherapy does not show
      either specific tumor-targeting, or selective mode of action for cancer cells.
      Moreover, tumor microenvironments additionally disturb drug perfusion and
      diffusion. Currently approved anticancer drugs have many limitations and
      therefore special delivery systems improving their chemical and physical
      properties are beneficial. In the present review paper we discuss various drug
      delivery systems for solid tumors that are actually at various stages of pre
      clinical tests or approved for therapy.

PMID- 28614766
TI  - Simple obesity and renal function.
AB  - Increasing evidence accumulate to suggest that obesity increases the risk of
      chronic kidney disease independently of dyslipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension.
      This so-called obesity-related glomerulopathy is characterized at early stages by
      glomerular hypertrophy with or without secondary focal segmental
      glomerulosclerosis. Since, however, kidney biopsies are usually not performed at
      this phase, an early diagnosis of the disease is often difficult. Here, we review
      new developments in the pathophysiology of obesity-associated kidney dysfunction
      and discuss the potential of appropriate monitoring of glomerular filtration rate
      and albuminuria for early detection of the disease. We also present the benefits
      conferred by even moderate dietary restriction on the course of the disease.

PMID- 28614767
TI  - Changes in caveolin-1, caveolin-3 and vascular endothelial growth factor
      expression and protein content after botulinum toxin A injection in the right
      masseter muscle of dystrophin deficient (mdx-) mice.
AB  - Progressive muscle wasting, frequently associated with inflammation, muscle fibre
      degeneration and fibrosis, is a characteristic of DMD (Duchenne muscular
      dystrophy). Its most common used animal model, the mdx mouse, however can
      overcome muscle degeneration by regeneration processes and is for this reason not
      suitable to answer all scientific questions. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the ability of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) in breaking down muscle
      regeneration in mdx mice. For this purpose, the right masseter muscle of 100 days
      old mdx and healthy mice was paralyzed by a single specific intramuscular
      injection of BTX-A. After 21 days, right and left masseter and temporal muscles
      as well as tongue muscle were carefully dissected, and gene and protein
      expression of caveolin-1, caveolin-3 and vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) were determined using quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot technique.
      Statistics were performed using Student's t-test and Mann Whitney U-test
      (significance level: P <= 0.05). After BTX-A injection, in both mice strains and
      for all three studied genes, no significant differences in mRNA amount could be
      detected between treated and untreated masseter muscles. A significant increase
      in caveolin-1, caveolin-3 and VEGF mRNA expression could only be found in the
      right temporal muscle of control mice compared to the left side. All three
      investigated proteins were more frequent to be found in dystrophic masseter
      muscle samples compared to the corresponding control samples, whereas significant
      decreased caveolin-3 protein levels could only be detected in the treated
      masseter versus untreated masseter muscle of controls. In contrast to previous
      conclusions, with this study it was not possible to prove a BTX-A-induced
      dystrophic phenotype in control animals, in which only the known decreases of
      caveolin-3 protein expression could be verified due to denervation. At the same
      time, however, gene and protein expression in dystrophic mice was not changed
      after BTX-A injection.

PMID- 28614768
TI  - Melanocortin-4 receptor agonist (RO27-3225) ameliorates soleus but not
      gastrocnemius atrophy in arthritic rats.
AB  - Adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats decreases body weight and muscle mass.
      Melanocyte stimulating hormone administration to arthritic rats decreases
      inflammation and skeletal muscle wasting. In this study, we investigate whether
      activation of melanocortin-4 receptor by RO27-3225 administration is able to
      prevent the effect of arthritis on the expression of muscle-specific E3 ubiquitin
      ligases and MyoD in two different muscles, gastrocnemius (a mainly fast type
      muscle) and soleus (slow type). Arthritis was induced in male Wistar rats by
      intradermal injection of Freund's adjuvant. Control and arthritic rats were
      injected with RO27-3225 (180 MUg/kg i.p. twice a day) or saline, for 8 days. Body
      weight change, food intake and arthritis index were assessed daily. After
      sacrifice, serum insulin-like growth factor -1 (IGF-1) and corticosterone, as
      well as nuclear factor-kappaB(p65), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), atrogene and MyoD
      in gastrocnemius and soleus were analysed. Administration of RO27-3225 to
      arthritic rats decreased arthritis scores, hind paw volume as well as nuclear
      factor-kappaB(p65) phosphorylation in gastrocnemius and soleus. However, RO27
      3225 was not able to modify the effects of arthritis on serum IGF-1 and
      corticosterone. RO27-3225 ameliorates arthritis-induced decrease in food intake,
      body weight gain, epidydimal white adipose tissue and soleus weight, but not in
      gastrocnemius weight. Arthritis increased COX-2, atrogin-1 and MuRF1 expression
      in gastrocnemius and soleus, whereas RO27-3225 prevented this increase in soleus
      but not in gastrocnemius. Arthritis also increased MyoD expression in
      gastrocnemius and soleus (P < 0.01). RO27-3225 decreased MyoD expression in
      gastrocnemius but not in soleus of arthritic rats. In control rats RO27-3225 did
      not modify MyoD expression in gastrocnemius or soleus. In conclusion, our data
      suggest that in arthritic rats, RO27-3225 treatment decreases inflammation and
      muscle atrophy, preventing atrogene upregulation in slow type muscle but not in
      gastrocnemius. The lack of effect in the gastrocnemius can be related to the
      inability of RO27-3225 to prevent arthritis-induced corticosterone upregulation
      as well as IGF-1 downregulation.

PMID- 28614769
TI  - Cell-specific cytotoxic effect of pyrazole derivatives on breast cancer cell
      lines MCF7 and MDA-MB-231.
AB  - Pyrazoles and their derivatives belong to a class of compounds that demonstrate a
      great potential in design of anticancer, antiangiogenic, and antimetastatic
      drugs. Our earlier studies showed that pyrazole derivatives TOSPYRQUIN and TOSIND
      diminished viability of colorectal adenocarcinoma cells HT-29. Here we
      demonstrated for the first time in human mammary gland adenocarcinoma cell lines
      MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells the cytotoxic effects of four pyrazole derivatives:
      TOSIND, PYRIND, METPYRIND, and DIPYR. Three pyrazoles: PYRIND, METPYRIND, and one
      novel unpublished derivative DIPYR were tested for the first time in living
      cells. Viability of MCF7 did not significantly change in the presence of TOSIND
      but it decreased after 72 hours of treatment with PYRIND (IC-50 39.7 +/- 5.8
      MUM). In the presence of METPYRIND the viability was also diminished, while DIPYR
      increased MCF7 viability after 24 hours of incubation. The viability of MDA-MB
      231 cells was strongly decreased by TOSIND (IC-50 17.7 +/- 2.7 MUM 72 h), and was
      not influenced by PYRIND and METPYRIND, while DIPYR increased the viability and
      stimulated the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells. PYRIND, METPYRIND and DIPYR caused a
      gradual decrease of caspase-3 and caspase-7 activities in MDA-MB-231 cells and
      there was no influence of TOSIND on the activity of both caspases. Our results
      open the way to search for other compounds with pendant pyrazole residues in
      order to increase their cytotoxic activity; especially with regard to its anti
      breast cancer activity. It appears that the pyrazoles synthesized by us diminish
      cell viability in a cell-specific manner. This observation might be useful in
      designing 'off-DNA' anticancer drugs, compounds which are not harmful to the
      healthy cells.

PMID- 28614770
TI  - Transcription factor GATA3 expression is induced by GLS2 overexpression in a
      glioblastoma cell line but is GLS2-independent in patient-derived glioblastoma.
AB  - Phosphate-activated glutaminase (GA), a ubiquitous glutamine-metabolizing enzyme,
      is encoded by two genes, GLS and GLS2. In mammalian cancers, GLS isoforms are
      perceived as molecules promoting cell proliferation and invasion, whereas the
      role of GLS2 isoforms seems to be more complex and cell type-specific. Previous
      studies have shown abundance of GLS and lack of GLS2 transcripts in T98G human
      glioblastoma (GBM) cell line and patient-derived GBM. Transfection with GAB
      sequence, the whole GLS2 cDNA transcript, suppressed malignant phenotype of T98G
      cells. Microarray analysis revealed upregulation of GATA3, the product of which
      has been implicated in suppressing growth of some peripheral cancers. In this
      study we confirmed a significant upregulation of GATA3 expression in the
      transfected cells both at mRNA and protein level. Considerable expression of
      GATA3 was also observed in GBM tissues (previously shown as not expressing GLS2),
      while only traces or no GATA3 was detected in (GLS2-expressing) non-tumorigenic
      brain samples. In conclusion, while mechanistic relation between GAB and GATA3
      expression is evident following in vitro manipulation of GBM cell line, it does
      not appear to be an intrinsic property of GBM nor non-tumorigenic brain tissue.

PMID- 28614771
TI  - Mantidis ootheca induces vascular relaxation through PI3K/AKT-mediated nitric
      oxide-cyclic GMP-protein kinase G signaling in endothelial cells.
AB  - Mantidis ootheca (Sang Piao Xiao) is well known mantis eggs in a foamy pouch. The
      purpose of the present study was to investigate the underlying cellular
      mechanisms of the nitric oxide (NO)-releasing property of the aqueous extract of
      Mantidis ootheca (AMO) in rat aorta and vascular endothelial cells. AMO was
      examined for its vascular relaxant effect in isolated phenylephrine-precontracted
      rat thoracic aortic rings. The roles of the nitric oxide (NO) signaling in the
      AMO-induced effects were tested in human umbilical vein endothelial cells
      (HUVECs). HUVEC treated with AMO produced higher amount of NO compared to
      control. However, AMO-induced increases in NO production were blocked by
      pretreatment with NG-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME) or wortmannin. AMO
      increased in phosphorylation levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)
      and Akt in HUVECs, which were attenuated by a NOS and Akt inhibitors. In aortic
      ring, AMO-induced dose-dependent relaxation of phenylephrine-precontracted aorta
      was abolished by removal of functional endothelium. Pretreatment with L-NAME, 1H
      [1,2,4]-oxadiazolo-[4,3-alpha]-quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), and KT5823 inhibited the
      AMO-induced vasorelaxation. Similarly, wortmannin and LY-294002, an inhibitors of
      the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), an upstream signaling molecule of eNOS,
      attenuated the AMO-induced vasorelaxation. Moreover, AMO-induced increases in
      cGMP production were blocked by pretreatment with L-NAME or ODQ. The vasorelaxant
      effect of AMO was attenuated by tetraethylammonium, 4-aminopyridine, and
      glibenclamide. We conclude that AMO relaxed vascular smooth muscle via
      endothelium-dependent activation of PI3K/Akt-mediated NO-cGMP-PKG signaling
      pathway and possible involvement of K+ channel.

PMID- 28614772
TI  - Inhibition of blood platelet adhesion by phenolics' rich fraction of Hippophae
      rhamnoides L. fruits.
AB  - Beneficial influence of fruits on human health may be their ability to prevent
      the hyperactivation of blood platelets and cardiovascular disorders. Effects of
      the phenolic fraction from Hippophae rhamnoides fruit on different stages of
      blood platelet activation (platelet adhesion and aggregation) were studied in
      vitro. We also examined effects of the H. rhamnoides fraction on metabolism of
      thiol groups, which plays an important role in platelet functions. The effects of
      the H. rhamnoides fraction on adhesion of blood platelets to collagen and
      fibrinogen were determined with Tuszynski's and Murphy's method. The platelet
      aggregation was determined with turbidimetry. The action of the H. rhamnoides
      fraction on the level of thiol groups in platelet proteins and a level of
      glutathione (GSH) in platelets was estimated with 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitro-benzoic
      acid). The tested fraction of H. rhamnoides (0.5 - 50 MUg/ml; 30 min of the
      incubation time 30 min) inhibited blood platelets adhesion to collagen and
      fibrinogen. The effect of the tested fraction on blood platelet adhesion depended
      on concentration of fraction. In presence of the highest tested concentration
      which was 50 MUg/ml, inhibition of platelet adhesion for thrombin-activated
      platelets was about 55%. On the other hand, tested plant fraction had no anti
      aggregatory properties. Our results showed anti-adhesive properties of phenolic
      fraction from H. rhamnoides fruit and we suggest that it may be beneficial for
      prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 28614773
TI  - Assessment of neurotoxicity of pharmacological compounds during early neural
      development of human embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), with the potential for differentiation, have
      been used to evaluate the embryotoxicity of various compounds. The effects of
      pharmacological compounds (cytosine arabinoside, 5-fluorouracil, hydroxyurea,
      indomethacin, and dexamethasone) on neurogenesis of hESCs over 28 days were
      examined based on cytotoxicity (half-maximal inhibitory concentration of
      viability, IC50) and expression of neural markers. Cytosine arabinoside, 5
      fluorouracil, and hydroxyurea showed strong cytotoxicity (IC50 < 10 MUM), whereas
      indomethacin and dexamethasone had weaker cytotoxic effects. Dose-dependent
      expression profiles of neural markers in the compound-treated groups are
      presented in triangular charts to allow comparison with the standard expression
      levels in the control group. Differences in compound-specific reductions in
      expression patterns of GAD1, OLIG2, FABP, and NES were similar to the differences
      in cytotoxic strength. Cytosine arabinoside diminished nestin and beta3-tubulin
      in neural differentiated hESCs. The results of this study extend the
      understanding of how differentiated hESCs may be useful for assessment of cell
      viability or neurogenesis impairment by chemicals that could have effects during
      the embryonic stage, particularly during neurogenesis.

PMID- 28614774
TI  - New insight into the direct anti-inflammatory activity of a myokine irisin
      against proinflammatory activation of adipocytes. Implication for exercise in
      obesity.
AB  - A biological activity of myokine irisin, has been intensively investigated in the
      context of a browning process occurring in white adipose tissue, but its role as
      a modulator of immune response has been little studied. The aim of our study was
      to determine the impact of irisin (0 - 100 nM) on pro-inflammatory activation of
      adipocyte 3T3 L1 cell line. Irisin reduced in a concentration-dependent manner
      the expression and activity of major proinflammatory cytokines, e.g. tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) expression and their
      secretion into cell medium. Moreover, irisin enhanced adiponectin synthesis
      reversing the effect of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced attenuation of this
      adipokine expression. The opposite effect was observed for leptin whose
      expression increased by LPS and this effect was suppressed by irisin application.
      A decreased phosphorylation and activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB)
      in the presence of irisin suggests that mechanism of action irisin involves the
      inhibition of an inflammatory transcription factor. Irisin exerts also an
      inhibitory effect on macrophage migration toward chemoattractants present in
      adipocyte supernatants. Among the specific molecules secreted by adipocytes was
      monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1) whose expression was suppressed by irisn.
      In majority of experiments irisin was effective in 100 nM concentration but in
      some of them the inhibitory effects occurred already in a concentration of 50 nM
      of this peptide. This study for the first time showed that adipocytes are
      directly affected by irisin and provides an evidence on anti-inflammatory action
      of irisin on fat cells.

PMID- 28614775
TI  - Changes in viability of rat adipose-derived stem cells isolated from
      abdominal/perinuclear adipose tissue stimulated with pulsed electromagnetic
      field.
AB  - Previous experiments demonstrated that low-frequency electromagnetic field (LF
      EMF) may activate cellular death pathways in proliferating cells. Therefore, we
      hypothesized that LF-EMF may also influence viability of highly proliferating
      undifferentiated adipose-derived stem cells. Obesity is classified as a
      civilization disease; its etiopathogenesis is presumed to include both genetic
      predisposition and influence of modified environmental factors, such as
      unbalanced diet with excess calories and/or too low physical activity. Obesity
      may lead to a number of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus,
      cardiovascular diseases (associated with atherosclerosis) related to primary
      hypertension and ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction and other
      complications. The aim of this study was to verify if LF-EMF alters viability
      parameters of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) isolated from rats, cultured in
      vitro and exposed to pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF; 7 Hz, 30 mT). ADSCs were
      obtained from healthy rats and animals with experimentally-induced obesity, both
      males and females, pups and adults. The animals were fed with chow with either
      low (LF diet) or high fat content (HF diet) for 21 days. Then, ADSCs were
      isolated from extracted adipose tissue and used to establish cell cultures. ADSCs
      from the first passage were exposed to PEMF three times, 4 hours per exposure, at
      24-h intervals (experimentally developed protocol of PEMF stimulation). 24 hours
      after the last exposure to PEMF, viability parameters of ADSCs were analyzed by
      flow cytometry (FCM). The study demonstrated that LF diet exerted a protective
      effect on PEMF-exposed ADSCs, especially in the case of male and female pups. In
      turn, the proportion of early apoptotic cells in PEMF-treated ADSC cultures from
      adult female rats maintained on HF diet turned out to be significantly higher
      than in other experimental groups.

PMID- 28614776
TI  - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-induced failure of lower esophageal and
      pyloric sphincter and counteraction of sphincters failure with stable gatric
      pentadecapeptide BPC 157 in rats.
AB  - The sphincters failure is a part of NSAIDs-toxicity that can be accordingly
      counteracted. We used a safe stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157
      (GEPPPGKPADDAGLV, MW 1419), LD1 not achieved, since successful in inflammatory
      bowel disease trials, and counteracts esophagitis, sphincters failure,
      gastrointestinal ulcer and skin ulcer, external and internal fistulas in rats,
      and particularly counteracts all NSAIDs-lesions. We assessed lower esophageal
      sphincter and pyloric sphincter pressure (cmH2O) in rats treated with various
      NSAIDs regimens, at corresponding time points, known to produce stomach, small
      intestine lesions, hepatotoxicity and encephalopathy. Assessment was after
      diclofenac (12.5 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg intraperitoneal challenge), ibuprofen (400
      mg/day/kg intraperitoneally for 4 weeks), paracetamol (5.0 g/kg intraperitoneal
      challenge), aspirin (400 mg/kg intraperitoneally or intragastrically), celecoxib
      (0.5 mg/kg, 1.0 mg/kg intraperitoneally). BPC 157 (10 MUg/kg, 10 ng/kg) was given
      immediately after NSAIDs (intraperitoneally or intragastrically) or given in
      drinking water. Regularly, in all control NSAIDs fall of pressure occurred in
      both sphincters rapidly and then persisted. By contrast, in all NSAIDs-rats that
      received BPC 157, initial fall of pressure was minimized and pressure values
      restored to normal values. All tested NSAIDs decrease pressure in both
      sphincters, whilst BPC 157 counteracts their effects and restored both sphincters
      function.

PMID- 28614777
TI  - Increased circulating endocan in patients with cirrhosis: relation to bacterial
      infection and severity of disease.
AB  - Life expectancy of patients with liver cirrhosis is closely linked to the degree
      of liver dysfunction and the occurrence of bacterial infection. An early
      diagnosis of infection helps to initiate adequate and timely measures and
      improves outcome of cirrhotic patients. Endocan is a newly recognized biomarker
      of sepsis. However, there have been no studies of the trends in endocan levels in
      cirrhotic patients with bacterial infection and their associations with markers
      of infection and inflammation. This study sought to assess the diagnostic value
      of serum levels of endocan, procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in 126 patients with
      cirrhosis: 51 with decompensated infected cirrhosis, 56 with decompensated
      uninfected and 19 with compensated uninfected cirrhosis at inclusion. We analyzed
      the association of endocan with clinical factors in cirrhosis by comparison with
      indicators of infection and inflammation. Endocan, PCT, CRP, IL-6 and TNF-alpha
      were assayed in serum samples by ELISA analyses. Serum levels of endocan, PCT,
      CRP and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients with clinically
      overt infections. Endocan levels were correlated to neither PCT levels nor IL-6
      levels in each group of patients with cirrhosis. CRP and TNF-alpha levels and
      Child-Pugh score correlated only in the infected group of patients with endocan
      levels, while in the uninfected groups of cirrhotic patients no significant
      correlation could be detected. The diagnostic accuracy of endocan increased in
      advanced stage of the disease. Serum endocan levels >= 2.05 ng/ml had a
      sensitivity of 76.1% and specificity of 85% for the diagnosis bacterial infection
      in decompensated cirrhotic patients. The endocan measured at admission is a good
      clinical parameter predicting the occurrence of infection in these patients.
      Elevated endocan may reflect the degree of endothelial cell injury induced by a
      systemic inflammatory response, a pathologic process that could modify the course
      of advanced cirrhosis.

PMID- 28614778
TI  - The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV1) protease inhibitor sanquinavir activates
      autophagy and removes lipids deposited in lipid droplets.
AB  - Reduction in mortality and increased average life span of the human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients treated with antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) are associated with the risk of unwanted effects, such as insulin
      resistance and dyslipidemia with cardiovascular complications. Antiretroviral
      therapy may also be associated with lipodystrophy characterized as peripheral
      lipoatrophy with central fat accumulation. Understanding the molecular mechanisms
      of lipodystrophy caused by ART is important for therapeutic strategy and the
      prediction of side-effects. Influence of protease inhibitor saquinavir (SQV) on
      preadipocyte differentiation was analyzed in in vitro human Chub-S7 cell line
      model. For measurement of the effects of SQV the drug was added to differentiated
      or non-differentiated cells. The influence of SQV on changes in the profile of
      gene expression was verified by microarray and changes in lipid species content
      were analyzed using GC-MS/MS. Results were confirmed by real-time PCR and
      analysis of autophagy. Addition of SQV to differentiated Chub-S7 cells lead to
      removal of lipids deposited in lipid droplets, down-regulation of expression of
      transcription factors and markers of adipocyte differentiation. Antiviral
      activity of SQV based on its non-selective inhibition of proteases resulted in
      proteasome inhibition, induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress and induction of
      macroautophagy. This activity was accompanied by an increase in PI, PEPL, PC
      lipid species especially with MUFA and PUFA. Additionally up-regulation of miR
      100-3p, miR-222-5p, miR-483-5p were found, which correlated with obesity, insulin
      resistance, increasing insulin secretion and activation of lipolysis. Our results
      indicated that SQV, by inhibition of proteasome protein degradation, activated
      the unfolded protein response resulting in autophagic breakdown of lipids
      deposited in adipose tissue causing lipodystrophy.

PMID- 28614779
TI  - The effect of the nitroxide pirolin on oxidative stress induced by doxorubicin
      and taxanes in the rat brain.
AB  - The anticancer drugs doxorubicin (DOX), paclitaxel (PTX) and docetaxel (DTX) have
      been proven to induce oxidative stress (OS)-dependent side-effects in non
      targeted tissues. In normal conditions, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) prevents
      these drugs from penetrating into the brain. However, some studies have
      demonstrated that small amounts of DOX can penetrate the brain via an oxidatively
      impaired BBB and cause damage, which suggests that including antioxidants in
      chemotherapy could possibly protect the brain against the toxicity of anticancer
      drugs. We investigated whether DOX, DTX and PTX can induce oxidative damage in
      rat brains in vivo and whether inclusion of the nitroxyl antioxidant Pirolin (PL)
      to DOX/taxane chemotherapy can protect the brain from the OS toxicity of these
      drugs. Wistar rats received i.p. a single dose (10 mg/kg b.w.) of DOX, DTX, PTX
      or PL alone or a combination of a drug + PL. After four days, the rats were
      anesthetized, the brains were excised, homogenized and used for the measurements
      of lipid peroxidation (LPO), thiol groups, activities of antioxidant enzymes, DNA
      damage and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), neuronal nitric oxide
      synthase (nNOS) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) expression. The
      results were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Conover-Inman tests or ANOVA
      and the Tukey-Kramer test. Doxorubicin, PTX and DTX induced OS, DNA damage and
      changes in expression of TNF-alpha, nNOS and PARP-1 in the rat brain. Pirolin
      alone increased LPO, manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and catalase (CAT)
      activities and the expression of PARP-1 but decreased TNF-alpha expression. PL,
      in combination with anticancer drugs, partially protected the rat brain against
      the toxic effects of DOX and taxanes. The best protective effects of PL were
      obtained with PTX. Pirolin partially attenuated brain damage caused by
      DOX/taxanes, highlighting its potential application in protecting the brain
      against DOX-, DTX- and PTX-evoked OS.

PMID- 28614780
TI  - 53BP1: keep an eye on merotely.

PMID- 28614787
TI  - NELL-1 induces Sca-1+ mesenchymal progenitor cell expansion in models of bone
      maintenance and repair.
AB  - NELL-1 is a secreted, osteogenic protein first discovered to control ossification
      of the cranial skeleton. Recently, NELL-1 has been implicated in bone
      maintenance. However, the cellular determinants of NELL-1's bone-forming effects
      are still unknown. Here, recombinant human NELL-1 (rhNELL-1) implantation was
      examined in a clinically relevant nonhuman primate lumbar spinal fusion model.
      Prolonged rhNELL-1 protein release was achieved using an apatite-coated beta
      tricalcium phosphate carrier, resulting in a local influx of stem cell antigen-1
      positive (Sca-1+) mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs), and complete osseous
      fusion across all samples (100% spinal fusion rate). Murine studies revealed that
      Nell-1 haploinsufficiency results in marked reductions in the numbers of Sca
      1+CD45-CD31- bone marrow MPCs associated with low bone mass. Conversely, rhNELL-1
      systemic administration in mice showed a marked anabolic effect accompanied by
      increased numbers of Sca-1+CD45-CD31- bone marrow MPCs. Mechanistically, rhNELL-1
      induces Sca-1 transcription among MPCs, in a process requiring intact Wnt/beta
      catenin signaling. In summary, NELL-1 effectively induces bone formation across
      small and large animal models either via local implantation or intravenous
      delivery. NELL-1 induces an expansion of a bone marrow subset of MPCs with Sca-1
      expression. These findings provide compelling justification for the clinical
      translation of a NELL-1-based therapy for local or systemic bone formation.

PMID- 28614788
TI  - Apelin modulates pathological remodeling of lymphatic endothelium after
      myocardial infarction.
AB  - Lymphatic endothelium serves as a barrier to control fluid balance and immune
      cell trafficking to maintain tissue homeostasis. Long-term alteration of
      lymphatic vasculature promotes edema and fibrosis, which is an aggravating factor
      in the onset of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction. Apelin is
      a bioactive peptide that plays a central role in angiogenesis and cardiac
      contractility. Despite an established role of apelin in lymphangiogenesis, little
      is known about its function in the cardiac lymphatic endothelium. Here, we show
      that apelin and its receptor APJ were exclusively expressed on newly formed
      lymphatic vasculature in a pathological model of myocardial infarction. Using an
      apelin-knockout mouse model, we identified morphological and functional defects
      in lymphatic vasculature associated with a proinflammatory status. Surprisingly,
      apelin deficiency increased the expression of lymphangiogenic growth factors VEGF
      C and VEGF-D and exacerbated lymphangiogenesis after myocardial infarction.
      Conversely, the overexpression of apelin in ischemic heart was sufficient to
      restore a functional lymphatic vasculature and to reduce matrix remodeling and
      inflammation. In vitro, the expression of apelin prevented the alteration of
      cellular junctions in lymphatic endothelial cells induced by hypoxia. In
      addition, we demonstrated that apelin controls the secretion of the lipid
      mediator sphingosine-1-phosphate in lymphatic endothelial cells by regulating the
      level of expression of sphingosine kinase 2 and the transporter SPNS2. Taken
      together, our results show that apelin plays a key role in lymphatic vessel
      maturation and stability in pathological settings. Thus, apelin may represent a
      novel candidate to prevent pathological lymphatic remodeling in diseases.

PMID- 28614789
TI  - Type I interferons suppress viral replication but contribute to T cell depletion
      and dysfunction during chronic HIV-1 infection.
AB  - The direct link between sustained type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling and HIV-1
      induced immunopathogenesis during chronic infection remains unclear. Here we
      report studies using a monoclonal antibody to block IFN-alpha/beta receptor 1
      (IFNAR1) signaling during persistent HIV-1 infection in humanized mice (hu-mice).
      We discovered that, during chronic HIV-1 infection, IFNAR blockade increased
      viral replication, which was correlated with elevated T cell activation. Thus,
      IFN-Is suppress HIV-1 replication during the chronic phase but are not essential
      for HIV-1-induced aberrant immune activation. Surprisingly, IFNAR blockade
      rescued both total human T cell and HIV-specific T cell numbers despite elevated
      HIV-1 replication and immune activation. We showed that IFNAR blockade reduced
      HIV-1-induced apoptosis of CD4+ T cells. Importantly, IFNAR blockade also rescued
      the function of human T cells, including HIV-1-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. We
      conclude that during persistent HIV-1 infection, IFN-Is suppress HIV-1
      replication, but contribute to depletion and dysfunction of T cells.

PMID- 28614792
TI  - CD4+ T lymphocytes produce adiponectin in response to transplants.
AB  - Adiponectin is a pleiotropic cytokine with diverse immunomodulatory effects on
      macrophages and lymphocytes. In the current paradigm, lymphocytes and macrophages
      respond to adiponectin that is produced by adipocytes and other parenchymal
      cells. Using a model of chronic arterial inflammation in cardiac transplants, we
      found that T cells derived from the recipient migrate to the heart and produce
      adiponectin locally. The evidence that T cells produce significant amounts of
      adiponectin is based on 3 experimental approaches. First, CD4+ T cells isolated
      from the blood and spleen after cardiac transplantation express mRNA for
      adiponectin. Second, reconstitution of T cell-deficient recipients with
      transgenic CD4+ T cells that express receptors for donor antigens results in
      arterial infiltrates containing T cells and increased mRNA expression for
      adiponectin in cardiac transplants. Third, CD4+ T cells isolated from the
      allograft secrete adiponectin in vitro. Taken together, these data indicate that
      adiponectin-competent cells originating in the recipient migrate into the
      transplant. Establishing T cells as a source of adiponectin provides a new
      dimension, to our knowledge, to the modulatory effects of adiponectin on immune
      responses.

PMID- 28614790
TI  - Genomic landscape and evolution of metastatic chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) typically shows ~7 chromosome losses (1,
      2, 6, 10, 13, 17, and 21) and ~31 exonic somatic mutations, yet carries ~5%-10%
      metastatic incidence. Since extensive chromosomal losses can generate proteotoxic
      stress and compromise cellular proliferation, it is intriguing how chRCC, a tumor
      with extensive chromosome losses and a low number of somatic mutations, can
      develop lethal metastases. Genomic features distinguishing metastatic from
      nonmetastatic chRCC are unknown. An integrated approach, including whole-genome
      sequencing (WGS), targeted ultradeep cancer gene sequencing, and chromosome
      analyses (FACETS, OncoScan, and FISH), was performed on 79 chRCC patients
      including 38 metastatic (M-chRCC) cases. We demonstrate that TP53 mutations
      (58%), PTEN mutations (24%), and imbalanced chromosome duplication (ICD,
      duplication of >= 3 chromosomes) (25%) were enriched in M-chRCC. Reconstruction
      of the subclonal composition of paired primary-metastatic chRCC tumors supports
      the role of TP53, PTEN, and ICD in metastatic evolution. Finally, the presence of
      these 3 genomic features in primary tumors of both The Cancer Genome Atlas kidney
      chromophobe (KICH) (n = 64) and M-chRCC (n = 35) cohorts was associated with
      worse survival. In summary, our study provides genomic insights into the
      metastatic progression of chRCC and identifies TP53 mutations, PTEN mutations,
      and ICD as high-risk features.

PMID- 28614793
TI  - A single dose of cannabidiol reduces blood pressure in healthy volunteers in a
      randomized crossover study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a nonpsychoactive phytocannabinoid used in
      multiple sclerosis and intractable epilepsies. Preclinical studies show CBD has
      numerous cardiovascular benefits, including a reduced blood pressure (BP)
      response to stress. The aim of this study was to investigate if CBD reduces BP in
      humans. METHODS: Nine healthy male volunteers were given 600 mg of CBD or placebo
      in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study.
      Cardiovascular parameters were monitored using a finometer and laser Doppler.
      RESULTS: CBD reduced resting systolic BP (-6 mmHg; P < 0.05) and stroke volume (
      8 ml; P < 0.05), with increased heart rate (HR) and maintained cardiac output.
      Subjects who had taken CBD had lower BP (-5 mmHg; P < 0.05, especially before and
      after stress), increased HR (+10 bpm; P < 0.01), decreased stroke volume (-13 ml;
      P < 0.01), and a blunted forearm skin blood flow response to isometric exercise.
      In response to cold stress, subjects who had taken CBD had blunted BP (-6 mmHg; P
      < 0.01) and increased HR (+7 bpm; P < 0.05), with lower total peripheral
      resistance. CONCLUSIONS: This data shows that acute administration of CBD reduces
      resting BP and the BP increase to stress in humans, associated with increased HR.
      These hemodynamic changes should be considered for people taking CBD. Further
      research is required to establish whether CBD has a role in the treatment of
      cardiovascular disorders.

PMID- 28614791
TI  - Human vaccination against Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding protein induces strain
      transcending antibodies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria geographically;
      however, no effective vaccine exists. Red blood cell invasion by the P. vivax
      merozoite depends on an interaction between the Duffy antigen receptor for
      chemokines (DARC) and region II of the parasite's Duffy-binding protein
      (PvDBP_RII). Naturally acquired binding-inhibitory antibodies against this
      interaction associate with clinical immunity, but it is unknown whether these
      responses can be induced by human vaccination. METHODS: Safety and immunogenicity
      of replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus serotype 63 (ChAd63) and modified
      vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) viral vectored vaccines targeting PvDBP_RII (Salvador
      I strain) were assessed in an open-label dose-escalation phase Ia study in 24
      healthy UK adults. Vaccines were delivered by the intramuscular route in a ChAd63
      MVA heterologous prime-boost regimen using an 8-week interval. RESULTS: Both
      vaccines were well tolerated and demonstrated a favorable safety profile in
      malaria-naive adults. PvDBP_RII-specific ex-vivo IFN-gamma T cell, antibody
      secreting cell, memory B cell, and serum IgG responses were observed after the
      MVA boost immunization. Vaccine-induced antibodies inhibited the binding of
      vaccine homologous and heterologous variants of recombinant PvDBP_RII to the DARC
      receptor, with median 50% binding-inhibition titers greater than 1:100.
      CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge that strain
      transcending antibodies can be induced against the PvDBP_RII antigen by
      vaccination in humans. These vaccine candidates warrant further clinical
      evaluation of efficacy against the blood-stage P. vivax parasite. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01816113. FUNDING: Support was provided by
      the UK Medical Research Council, UK National Institute of Health Research Oxford
      Biomedical Research Centre, and the Wellcome Trust.

PMID- 28614795
TI  - A 3D microfluidic model for preclinical evaluation of TCR-engineered T cells
      against solid tumors.
AB  - The tumor microenvironment imposes physical and functional constraints on the
      antitumor efficacy of adoptive T cell immunotherapy. Preclinical testing of
      different T cell preparations can help in the selection of efficient immune
      therapies, but in vivo models are expensive and cumbersome to develop, while
      classical in vitro 2D models cannot recapitulate the spatiotemporal dynamics
      experienced by T cells targeting cancer. Here, we describe an easily customizable
      3D model, in which the tumor microenvironment conditions are modulated and the
      functionality of different T cell preparations is tested. We incorporate human
      cancer hepatocytes as a single cell or as tumor cell aggregates in a 3D collagen
      gel region of a microfluidic device. Human T cells engineered to express tumor
      specific T cell receptors (TCR-T cells) are then added in adjacent channels. The
      TCR-T cells' ability to migrate and kill the tumor target and the profile of
      soluble factors were investigated under conditions of varying oxygen levels and
      in the presence of inflammatory cytokines. We show that only the 3D model detects
      the effect that oxygen levels and the inflammatory environment impose on
      engineered TCR-T cell function, and we also used the 3D microdevice to analyze
      the TCR-T cell efficacy in an immunosuppressive scenario. Hence, we show that our
      microdevice platform enables us to decipher the factors that can alter T cell
      function in 3D and can serve as a preclinical assay to tailor the most efficient
      immunotherapy configuration for a specific therapeutic goal.

PMID- 28614794
TI  - An activated Th17-prone T cell subset involved in chronic graft-versus-host
      disease sensitive to pharmacological inhibition.
AB  - Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) remains a major complication of
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation requiring novel therapies. CD146 and CCR5
      are expressed by activated T cells and associated with increased T cell migration
      capacity and Th17 polarization. We performed a multiparametric flow cytometry
      analysis in a cohort of 40 HSCT patients together with a cGvHD murine model to
      understand the role of CD146-expressing subsets. We observed an increased
      frequency of CD146+ CD4 T cells in the 20 patients with active cGvHD with
      enhanced RORgammat expression. This Th17-prone subset was enriched for cells
      coexpressing CD146 and CCR5 that harbor mixed Th1/Th17 features and were more
      frequent in cGvHD patients. Utilizing a murine cGvHD model with bronchiolitis
      obliterans (BO), we observed that donor T cells from CD146-deficient mice versus
      those from WT mice caused significantly reduced pulmonary cGvHD. Reduced cGvHD
      was not the result of failed germinal center B cell or T follicular helper cell
      generation. Instead, CD146-deficient T cells had significantly lower pulmonary
      macrophage infiltration and T cell CCR5, IL-17, and IFN-gamma coexpression,
      suggesting defective pulmonary end-organ effector mechanisms. We, thus, evaluated
      the effect of TMP778, a small-molecule RORgammat activity inhibitor. TMP778
      markedly alleviated cGvHD in murine models similarly to agents targeting the Th17
      pathway, such as STAT3 inhibitor or IL-17-blocking antibody. Our data suggest
      CD146-expressing T cells as a cGvHD biomarker and suggest that targeting the Th17
      pathway may represent a promising therapy for cGvHD.

PMID- 28614796
TI  - alpha-Synuclein in gut endocrine cells and its implications for Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with
      devastating clinical manifestations. In PD, neuronal death is associated with
      intracellular aggregates of the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein known as Lewy
      bodies. Although the cause of sporadic PD is not well understood, abundant
      clinical and pathological evidence show that misfolded alpha-synuclein is found
      in enteric nerves before it appears in the brain. This suggests a model in which
      PD pathology originates in the gut and spreads to the central nervous system via
      cell-to-cell prion-like propagation, such that transfer of misfolded alpha
      synuclein initiates misfolding of native alpha-synuclein in recipient cells. We
      recently discovered that enteroendocrine cells (EECs), which are part of the gut
      epithelium and directly face the gut lumen, also possess many neuron-like
      properties and connect to enteric nerves. In this report, we demonstrate that
      alpha-synuclein is expressed in the EEC line, STC-1, and native EECs of mouse and
      human intestine. Furthermore, alpha-synuclein-containing EECs directly connect to
      alpha-synuclein-containing nerves, forming a neural circuit between the gut and
      the nervous system in which toxins or other environmental influences in the gut
      lumen could affect alpha-synuclein folding in the EECs, thereby beginning a
      process by which misfolded alpha-synuclein could propagate from the gut
      epithelium to the brain.

PMID- 28614797
TI  - Neuropeptide Y expression marks partially differentiated beta cells in mice and
      humans.
AB  - beta Cells are formed in embryonic life by differentiation of endocrine
      progenitors and expand by replication during neonatal life, followed by
      transition into functional maturity. In this study, we addressed the potential
      contribution of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in pancreatic beta cell development and
      maturation. We show that NPY expression is restricted from the progenitor
      populations during pancreatic development and marks functionally immature beta
      cells in fetal and neonatal mice and humans. NPY expression is epigenetically
      downregulated in beta cells upon maturation. Neonatal beta cells that express NPY
      are more replicative, and knockdown of NPY expression in neonatal mouse islets
      reduces replication and enhances insulin secretion in response to high glucose.
      These data show that NPY expression likely promotes replication and contributes
      to impaired glucose responsiveness in neonatal beta cells. We show that NPY
      expression reemerges in beta cells in mice fed with high-fat diet as well as in
      diabetes in mice and humans, establishing a potential new mechanism to explain
      impaired beta cell maturity in diabetes. Together, these studies highlight the
      contribution of NPY in the regulation of beta cell differentiation and have
      potential applications for beta cell supplementation for diabetes therapy.

PMID- 28614799
TI  - Globalization and changing trends of biomedical research output.
AB  - The US continues to lead the world in research and development (R&D)
      expenditures, but there is concern that stagnation in federal support for
      biomedical research in the US could undermine the leading role the US has played
      in biomedical and clinical research discoveries. As a readout of research output
      in the US compared with other countries, assessment of original research articles
      published by US-based authors in ten clinical and basic science journals during
      2000 to 2015 showed a steady decline of articles in high-ranking journals or no
      significant change in mid-ranking journals. In contrast, publication output
      originating from China-based investigators, in both high- and mid-ranking
      journals, has steadily increased commensurate with significant growth in R&D
      expenditures. These observations support the current concerns of stagnant and
      year-to-year uncertainty in US federal funding of biomedical research.

PMID- 28614798
TI  - Dnmt3a-mediated inhibition of Wnt in cardiac progenitor cells improves
      differentiation and remote remodeling after infarction.
AB  - Adult cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) display a low capacity to differentiate
      into cardiomyocytes in injured hearts, strongly limiting the regenerative
      capacity of the mammalian myocardium. To identify new mechanisms regulating CPC
      differentiation, we used primary and clonally expanded Sca-1+ CPCs from murine
      adult hearts in homotypic culture or coculture with cardiomyocytes. Expression
      kinetics analysis during homotypic culture differentiation showed downregulation
      of Wnt target genes concomitant with increased expression of the Wnt antagonist,
      Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (Wif1), which is necessary to stimulate CPC
      differentiation. We show that the expression of the Wif1 gene is repressed by DNA
      methylation and regulated by the de novo DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a. In
      addition, miR-29a is upregulated early during CPC differentiation and
      downregulates Dnmt3a expression, thereby decreasing Wif1 gene methylation and
      increasing the efficiency of differentiation of Sca-1+ CPCs in vitro. Extending
      these findings in vivo, transient silencing of Dnmt3a in CPCs subsequently
      injected in the border zone of infarcted mouse hearts improved CPC
      differentiation in situ and remote cardiac remodeling. In conclusion, miR-29a and
      Dnmt3a epigenetically regulate CPC differentiation through Wnt inhibition. Remote
      effects on cardiac remodeling support paracrine signaling beyond the local
      injection site, with potential therapeutic interest for cardiac repair.

PMID- 28614800
TI  - Robust memory responses against influenza vaccination in pemphigus patients
      previously treated with rituximab.
AB  - Rituximab is a therapeutic anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody widely used to treat B
      cell lymphoma and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatic arthritis, systemic
      lupus erythematosus, and autoimmune blistering skin diseases (AIBD). While
      rituximab fully depletes peripheral blood B cells, it remains unclear whether
      some preexisting B cell memory to pathogens or vaccines may survive depletion,
      especially in lymphoid tissues, and if these memory B cells can undergo
      homeostatic expansion during recovery from depletion. The limited data available
      on vaccine efficacy in this setting have been derived from rituximab-treated
      patients receiving concomitant chemotherapy or other potent immunosuppressants.
      Here, we present an in-depth analysis of seasonal influenza vaccine responses in
      AIBD patients previously treated with rituximab, who generally did not receive
      additional therapeutic interventions. We found that, despite a lack of influenza
      specific memory B cells in the blood, patients mount robust recall responses to
      vaccination, comparable to healthy controls, both at a cellular and a serological
      level. Repertoire analyses of plasmablast responses suggest that they likely
      derive from a diverse pool of tissue-resident memory cells, refractory to
      depletion. Overall, these data have important implications for establishing an
      effective vaccine schedule for AIBD patients and the clinical care of rituximab
      treated patients in general and contribute to our basic understanding of
      maintenance of normal and pathogenic human B cell memory.

PMID- 28614801
TI  - DNA methyltransferase 3b regulates articular cartilage homeostasis by altering
      metabolism.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis worldwide. It is a
      complex disease affecting the whole joint but is generally characterized by
      progressive degradation of articular cartilage. Recent genome-wide association
      screens have implicated distinct DNA methylation signatures in OA patients. We
      show that the de novo DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt) 3b, but not Dnmt3a, is present
      in healthy murine and human articular chondrocytes and its expression decreases
      in OA mouse models and in chondrocytes from human OA patients. Targeted deletion
      of Dnmt3b in murine articular chondrocytes results in an early-onset and
      progressive postnatal OA-like pathology. RNA-Seq and methylC-Seq analyses of
      Dnmt3b loss-of-function chondrocytes show that cellular metabolic processes are
      affected. Specifically, TCA metabolites and mitochondrial respiration are
      elevated. Importantly, a chondroprotective effect was found following Dnmt3b gain
      of function in murine articular chondrocytes in vitro and in vivo. This study
      shows that Dnmt3b plays a significant role in regulating postnatal articular
      cartilage homeostasis. Cellular pathways regulated by Dnmt3b in chondrocytes may
      provide novel targets for therapeutic approaches to treat OA.

PMID- 28614802
TI  - Mitochondrial dysregulation and glycolytic insufficiency functionally impair CD8
      T cells infiltrating human renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - Cancer cells can inhibit effector T cells (Teff) through both immunomodulatory
      receptors and the impact of cancer metabolism on the tumor microenvironment.
      Indeed, Teff require high rates of glucose metabolism, and consumption of
      essential nutrients or generation of waste products by tumor cells may impede
      essential T cell metabolic pathways. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is
      characterized by loss of the tumor suppressor von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) and altered
      cancer cell metabolism. Here, we assessed how ccRCC influences the metabolism and
      activation of primary patient ccRCC tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). CD8 TIL
      were abundant in ccRCC, but they were phenotypically distinct and both
      functionally and metabolically impaired. ccRCC CD8 TIL were unable to efficiently
      uptake glucose or perform glycolysis and had small, fragmented mitochondria that
      were hyperpolarized and generated large amounts of ROS. Elevated ROS was
      associated with downregulated mitochondrial SOD2. CD8 T cells with hyperpolarized
      mitochondria were also visible in the blood of ccRCC patients. Importantly,
      provision of pyruvate to bypass glycolytic defects or scavengers to neutralize
      mitochondrial ROS could partially restore TIL activation. Thus, strategies to
      improve metabolic function of ccRCC CD8 TIL may promote the immune response to
      ccRCC.

PMID- 28614803
TI  - Delineating antibody recognition against Zika virus during natural infection.
AB  - Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that shares a
      considerable degree of homology with dengue virus (DENV). Here, we examined
      longitudinal antibody response against ZIKV during natural infection in 2
      convalescent individuals. By decomposing the antibody recognition into DI/DII and
      DIII of the E glycoprotein, we showed their development in humans followed a
      spatiotemporal hierarchy. Plasma binding to DI/DII appeared to peak and wane
      during early infection with extensive cross-reactivity with DI/DII of DENV.
      Binding to DIII, however, peaked early but persisted months into the infection
      without detectable cross-reactivity with DIII of DENV. A clear trend of increase
      in DIII-specific neutralizing activity was observed over the course of infection.
      mAbs isolated during early infection are largely DI/DII specific, weakly
      neutralizing, and highly cross-reactive with DENV, while those from later
      infection are more diverse in recognition, potently neutralizing, and ZIKV
      specific. The most potent neutralizing mAb targeting the DIII provided 100%
      protection in mice from lethal ZIKV infection and could therefore serve as a
      promising candidate for antibody-based therapy and prevention. The dynamic
      features unveiled here will assist us to better understand the pathogenesis of
      ZIKV infection and inform rational design of vaccines.

PMID- 28614804
TI  - In vivo kinetics and nonradioactive imaging of rapidly proliferating cells in
      graft-versus-host disease.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers a cure for cancers that are
      refractory to chemotherapy and radiation. Most HSCT recipients develop chronic
      graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), a systemic alloimmune attack on host organs.
      Diagnosis is based on clinical signs and symptoms, as biopsies are risky. T cells
      are central to the biology of cGVHD. We found that a low Treg/CD4+ T effector
      memory (Tem) ratio in circulation, lymphoid, and target organs identified early
      and established mouse cGVHD. Using deuterated water labeling to measure
      multicompartment in vivo kinetics of these subsets, we show robust Tem and Treg
      proliferation in lymphoid and target organs, while Tregs undergo apoptosis in
      target organs. Since deuterium enrichment into DNA serves as a proxy for cell
      proliferation, we developed a whole-body clinically relevant deuterium MRI
      approach to nonradioactively detect cGVHD and potentially allow imaging of other
      diseases characterized by rapidly proliferating cells.

PMID- 28614805
TI  - Assessing rejection-related disease in kidney transplant biopsies based on
      archetypal analysis of molecular phenotypes.
AB  - Conventional histologic diagnosis of rejection in kidney transplants has limited
      repeatability due to its inherent requirement for subjective assessment of
      lesions, in a rule-based system that does not acknowledge diagnostic uncertainty.
      Molecular phenotyping affords opportunities for increased precision and improved
      disease classification to address the limitations of conventional histologic
      diagnostic systems and quantify levels of uncertainty. Microarray data from 1,208
      kidney transplant biopsies were collected prospectively from 13 centers. Cross
      validated classifier scores predicting the presence of antibody-mediated
      rejection (ABMR), T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR), and 5 related histologic
      lesions were generated using supervised machine learning methods. These scores
      were used as input for archetypal analysis, an unsupervised method similar to
      cluster analysis, to examine the distribution of molecular phenotypes related to
      rejection. Six archetypes were generated: no rejection, TCMR, 3 associated with
      ABMR (early-stage, fully developed, and late-stage), and mixed rejection (TCMR
      plus early-stage ABMR). Each biopsy was assigned 6 scores, one for each
      archetype, representing a probabilistic assessment of that biopsy based on its
      rejection-related molecular properties. Viewed as clusters, the archetypes were
      similar to existing histologic Banff categories, but there was 32% disagreement,
      much of it probably reflecting the "noise" in the current histologic assessment
      system. Graft survival was lowest for fully developed and late-stage ABMR, and it
      was better predicted by molecular archetype scores than histologic diagnoses. The
      results provide a system for precision molecular assessment of biopsies and a new
      standard for recalibrating conventional diagnostic systems.

PMID- 28614806
TI  - Review of Rosai-Dorfman Disease: New Insights into the Pathogenesis of This Rare
      Disorder.
AB  - Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare histiocytosis typically with bilateral
      painless cervical lymphadenopathy. Laboratory data are nonspecific, and the
      presence of emperipolesis in large foamy S-100+ CD1a- histiocytes is the
      prominent histologic feature. The pathogenesis of RDD still remains elusive.
      According to published studies, we propose that RDD cells might represent
      intermediate recruiting monocytes with differentiation blockade. Both disturbance
      of homoeostasis and inherent genomic alterations could contribute to initiation
      of the disorder through signal transduction. Several inflammatory molecules such
      as macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IL-1beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha also play a pivotal role in the development of this rare entity.
      Additional studies are needed to further elucidate the essence of the disease.

PMID- 28614808
TI  - Vascular Calcification and Osteoprotegrin in Chronic Kidney Disease.

PMID- 28614807
TI  - Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women: Drinking for Two?
AB  - The primary aim of this cross-sectional survey was to assess the total fluid
      intake (TFI; sum of drinking water and all other fluids) and the intake of water
      and all other types of beverages in a sample of pregnant and breastfeeding women
      representative of Java-Island, Indonesia. Therefore, 299 pregnant and 296
      breastfeeding women completed a 7-day fluid-specific record. A secondary aim was
      to estimate the total water intake (TWI; sum of water from fluids and food
      moisture), and one 24-h recall was performed to determine water intake from food
      moisture. The median TFI of pregnant and breastfeeding women were 2,250 (1,800
      2,800) and 2,360 (1,954-2,968) mL/day, respectively. The largest contributor to
      TFI was water (72 and 77% for pregnant/breastfeeding women, respectively).
      Pregnant women to the extent of 42% and 54% of breastfeeding women did not reach
      the adequate intake (AI) of water from fluids. In pregnant and breastfeeding
      women, the median water intake from foods was 592 and 613 mL/day, representing 21
      and 20% of TWI. Concluding that a high proportion of the pregnant and
      breastfeeding subjects did not reach the AI of water from fluid, it seems
      important to put in place actions such as providing education materials and
      ensuring access to safe water. Moreover, future surveys should dedicate attention
      to the assessment of fluid intake and hydration status among pregnant and
      breastfeeding women in other countries.

PMID- 28614809
TI  - Monitoring Body Water Balance in Pregnant and Nursing Women: The Validity of
      Urine Color.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urine osmolality (UOSM) reflects the renal regulation of excess fluid
      or deficit fluid, and therefore, serves as a marker of hydration status. Little
      is known about monitoring hydration in pregnant and lactating women despite
      significant physiological challenges to body water balance during that time.
      Therefore, we designed a study to assess if urine color (UCOL), an inexpensive
      and practical method, was a valid means of assessing urine concentration. Twenty
      four hour UCOL was significantly correlated with 24 h UOSM in all women:
      pregnant, lactating, and control (r = 0.61-0.84, all p < 0.001). Utilizing a
      receiver operating characteristic statistical analysis, we found that 24 h and
      single sample UCOL had excellent diagnostic accuracy for identifying UOSM >=500
      mOsm.kg-1 in all women (area under the curve = 0.68-0.95, p < 0.001-0.46), and
      the UCOL that reflected this cut off was >=4 on the UCOL chart. SUMMARY:
      Therefore, UCOL is a valid marker of urine concentration and ultimately hydration
      status in pregnant, lactating, and non-pregnant, non-lactating women. For
      pregnant, lactating, and control women, the UCOL chart is a valid tool that can
      be used to monitor urine concentration in a single sample or over the course of
      the day via a 24 h sample. Key Message: Women who present with a UCOL of 4 or
      more likely have a UOSM >=500 mOsm.kg-1. Given the positive health benefits
      associated with UOSM <500 mOsm.kg-1, women should aim for a 1, 2, or 3 on the
      UCOL chart. If a UCOL of >=4 is observed, women should consider increasing fluid
      consumption to improve hydration status.

PMID- 28614810
TI  - Assessing a Tool for Self-Monitoring Hydration Using Urine Color in Pregnant and
      Breastfeeding Women: A Cross-Sectional, Online Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnant and breastfeeding women experience great changes in their
      total body water content and water dynamics. To support the accretion of total
      body water during pregnancy and compensate for the water lost through breast milk
      during breastfeeding, increased adequate intakes (AI) for total water have been
      established by various health authorities. Despite this widespread advice,
      several studies suggest that pregnant and breastfeeding women do not meet the AI
      for total water, suggesting the need to raise women's awareness on the importance
      of adequate water intake, particularly during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as
      well as to provide them with a simple means of monitoring their hydration on a
      day-to-day basis. A urine color (UC) scale recently has been validated for
      hydration monitoring in pregnant and breastfeeding women. SUMMARY: We sought to
      develop a version of a tool based on the UC scale, using only images or
      illustrations, which could be understood by users of various nationalities and
      spoken languages. Pregnant and breastfeeding women (n = 1,275) from Brazil,
      Mexico, and Poland were shown 3 versions of the tool. Understanding,
      appreciation, simplicity and intent to use were evaluated using a questionnaire
      consisting of 26 items. Key Messages: Among the 3 versions tested, one tool
      emerged as the most highly understood (88% spontaneous understanding) and was
      highly appreciated by users (mean [SD]: 8.40 [2.20] out of 10). There were no
      differences between countries. Furthermore, 83% reported being very likely to use
      the tool daily. These results suggest that a simple tool based on the UC scale
      will help pregnant and breastfeeding women meet the AI for total water.

PMID- 28614811
TI  - Effects of Dehydration on Brain Functioning: A Life-Span Perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the last 10 years, there has been an increase in the publication
      of literature dealing with the effects of mild dehydration on cognition in
      healthy adults. Fewer studies, leading to less consistent data, involved other
      age groups. SUMMARY: In healthy young adults refraining from drinking or
      participating in dehydration protocols, it was found that mild dehydration had no
      impact on performance, whereas the mood was widely impaired. Several studies have
      also been conducted in young children either as observational studies or as
      interventional studies. Nevertheless, methodological differences in (de)hydration
      monitoring, in cognitive assessments, and in the age/brain maturation of study
      participants, often resulted in contradictory findings regarding the cognitive
      functions impacted by (de)hydration. Although not consistent, these data showed
      that not only mood but also performance tend to be impaired by dehydration in
      children. Even if older adults are likely to be more vulnerable to dehydration
      than younger adults, very few studies have been conducted in this regard in this
      population. The results show that, like it is in children, cognition tends to be
      impaired when the elderly are dehydrated. Taken together, these studies suggest
      that dehydration has greater detrimental effects in vulnerable populations.
      Recent imaging data suggest that the brain of children and elderly adults may
      have fewer resources to manage the effects of dehydration. Consequently,
      cognitive tasks may be more demanding for younger and older brains and
      performance more likely to be impaired in these populations, in comparison to
      young healthy subjects who have greater and more efficient resources.

PMID- 28614812
TI  - The Discovery of Water Channels (Aquaporins).
AB  - The movement of water into and out of cells is a fundamental biological process
      that is essential for life. Such water movement not only regulates the activity
      of individual cells but also is responsible for the functioning of many organ
      systems and for maintaining whole body water balance. It had long been suspected
      that water movement across biological cell membranes was in some way enhanced or
      facilitated by pores or channels, but the search to identify these channels was
      long and tedious. As is often the case in science, the secret of the water
      channel was eventually discovered by chance in 1992 by Peter Agre and his
      colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who were working on red
      blood cell membrane proteins. This "first" water channel was originally named
      CHIP28 and is now known as aquaporin 1. Agre received the Nobel Prize in
      Chemistry in 2003 for this discovery. There are currently 13 known aquaporins in
      mammals, distributed in most tissues, but many more have been identified in lower
      organisms and in the plant kingdom. The involvement of aquaporins in processes
      such as urinary concentration and body fluid homeostasis, brain function,
      glandular secretion, skin hydration, male fertility, hearing, vision, and most
      important body functions that can be imagined are now all under intense
      scientific scrutiny. Moreover, defects in aquaporin function have been related to
      various disease conditions and pathological states. This brief review will
      discuss their background, discovery, and function in selected bodily processes,
      especially focusing on hydration.

PMID- 28614813
TI  - Polycystic Kidney Disease and the Vasopressin Pathway.
AB  - Vasopressin, also known as arginine vasopressin or antidiuretic hormone, plays a
      pivotal role in maintaining body homeostasis. Increased vasopressin
      concentrations, measured by its surrogate copeptin, have been associated with
      disease severity as well as disease progression in polycystic kidney disease
      (PKD), and in experimental studies vasopressin has been shown to directly
      regulate cyst growth. Blocking vasopressin effects on the kidney via the
      vasopressin V2-receptor and lower circulating vasopressin concentration are
      potential treatment opportunities that have been the subject of study in PKD in
      recent years. Treatment with vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist tolvaptan has
      been shown to inhibit disease progression in experimental studies, as well as in
      a large randomized controlled trial involving 1,445 patients with autosomal
      dominant PKD, lowering total kidney volume growth from 5.5 to 2.8%, and the slope
      of the reciprocal of the serum creatinine level from -3.81 to -2.61 mg per mL
      1/year. Alternatively, lowering circulating vasopressin could delay disease
      progression. Vasopressin is secreted in response to an increased plasma
      osmolality, which in turn is caused by a low fluid or high osmolar intake. Other
      lifestyle factors, like smoking, increase vasopressin concentration. Here, we
      provide a comprehensive review of the physiology as well as pathophysiology of
      vasopressin in PKD, the promising effects of tolvaptan treatment, and potential
      synergistic or additive treatments in combination with tolvaptan. In this study,
      we also review current evidence regarding the effect of influencing disease
      progression in PKD by lifestyle changes, especially by fluid intake.

PMID- 28614814
TI  - Tumor Heterogeneity in Endometrial Carcinoma: Practical Consequences.
AB  - Endometrial carcinoma (EC) shows intertumor heterogeneity, with several different
      histologic types differing in their morphologic and molecular features. There is
      also intratumoral morphologic heterogeneity, with different neoplastic cell
      components within the same tumor, with different morphologic and molecular
      features. In this article, we discuss the consequences of tumor heterogeneity in
      EC at the morphologic and molecular levels, by describing some illustrative
      examples produced by the research team. They are (1) morphologic heterogeneity in
      conventional EC and mixed tumors, (2) EC with microsatellite instability, (3)
      branched evolution as shown by exome sequencing analysis, (4) morphologic,
      molecular, and metabolomic differences between the tumor surface and myometrial
      invasion front, (5) tumor heterogeneity at the microenviromental level, (6) the
      sensitivity of endometrial aspirates to detect tumor heterogeneity in EC, and (7)
      sampling strategies to detect tumor heterogeneity in hysterectomy specimens.
      Tumor heterogeneity may have an important clinical impact, since it can be
      challenging to identify minor tumor cell populations that may have an impact on
      diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic decisions for patients with EC.

PMID- 28614815
TI  - A Case of Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Sarcoma Simultaneously Diagnosed with
      Cutaneous Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Studied by Whole-Exome Sequencing.
AB  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and Langerhans cell sarcoma (LCS) are clonal
      proliferations of Langerhans-type cells. Unlike in LCH, the pathophysiology and
      clinical course of LCS are unclear due to its rarity. Here, we report the case of
      a 73-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with cutaneous LCH and pulmonary LCS
      at the same time. Pathological review of these 2 tumors revealed similar
      immunohistochemical findings. However, the tumor cells in LCS had more aggressive
      cytological features than those in LCH. Results of BRAF mutation analysis using
      real-time PCR were negative for both tumors. In whole-exome sequencing (WES),
      stop-gain mutations in TP53 gene were discovered only in LCS cells. The mechanism
      of development of LCS from various progenitor cells is currently unclear.
      According to the results of the WES study, changes in TP53 gene might have
      contributed to the malignant features of LCS.

PMID- 28614816
TI  - Optimizing Quality of Life in Patients with Hormone Receptor-Positive Metastatic
      Breast Cancer: Treatment Options and Considerations.
AB  - The treatment landscape for hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer
      continues to evolve as the molecular mechanisms of this heterogeneous disease are
      better understood and targeted treatment strategies are developed. Patients are
      now living for extended periods of time with this disease as they progress
      through sequential lines of treatment. With a rapidly expanding therapeutic
      armamentarium, the prevalence of metastatic breast cancer patients with prolonged
      survival is expected to increase, as is the duration of survival. Practice
      guidelines recommend endocrine therapy alone as first-line therapy for the
      majority of patients with metastatic hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal
      growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer. The approval of new agents and
      expanded combination options has extended their use beyond first line, but
      endocrine therapy is not used as widely in clinical practice as recommended. As
      all treatments are palliative, even as survival is prolonged, optimizing and
      maintaining patient quality of life is crucial. This article surveys data
      relevant to the use of endocrine therapy in the setting of hormone receptor
      positive metastatic breast cancer, including key clinical evidence regarding
      approved therapies and the impact of these therapies on patient quality of life.

PMID- 28614817
TI  - Shifting Focus: From Hydration for Performance to Hydration for Health.
AB  - Over the past 10 years, literature on hydration biomarkers has evolved
      considerably - from (de)hydration assessment towards a more global definition of
      biomarkers of hydration in daily life. This shift in thinking about hydration
      markers was largely driven by investigating the differences that existed between
      otherwise healthy individuals whose habitual, ad-libitum drinking habits differ,
      and by identifying physiological changes in low-volume drinkers who subsequently
      increase their water intake. Aside from obvious differences in urinary volume and
      concentration, a growing body of evidence is emerging that links differences in
      fluid intake with small, but biologically significant, differences in vasopressin
      (copeptin), glomerular filtration rate, and markers of metabolic dysfunction or
      disease. Taken together, these pieces of the puzzle begin to form a picture of
      how much water intake should be considered adequate for health, and represent a
      shifting focus from hydration for performance, toward hydration for health
      outcomes. This narrative review outlines the key areas of research in which the
      global hydration process - including water intake, urinary hydration markers, and
      vasopressin - has been associated with health outcomes, focusing on kidney and
      metabolic endpoints. It will also provide a commentary on how various hydration
      biomarkers may be used in hydration for health assessment. Finally, if adequate
      water intake can play a role in maintaining health, how might we tell if we are
      drinking enough? Urine output is easily measured, and can take into account
      differences in daily physical activity, climate, dietary solute load, and other
      factors that influence daily water needs. Today, targets have been proposed for
      urine osmolality, specific gravity, and color that may be used by researchers,
      clinicians, and individuals as simple indicators of optimal hydration. However,
      there remain a large number of incomplete or unanswered research questions
      regarding the relationships between water intake, hydration, vasopressin, and
      health outcomes. Thus, this emerging field represents an excellent opportunity,
      particularly for young researchers, to develop relevant and novel lines of
      research.

PMID- 28614818
TI  - Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone, Degree of Obesity, and Metabolic Risk Markers in a
      Cohort of Swedish Children with Obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is affected in obesity and
      might influence metabolic risk. It is unclear what mechanisms cause elevated TSH
      in obesity. We aimed to investigate TSH status within the normal range and the
      association of TSH with degree of obesity and metabolic parameters in children
      with obesity. METHODS: A total of 3,459 children, aged 3.0-17.9 years, were
      identified in the Swedish Childhood Obesity Treatment Registry, BORIS. Age,
      gender, TSH, free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4), body mass index
      standard deviation scores (BMI SDS), as well as variables of lipid and glucose
      metabolism were examined. RESULTS: Children with high-normal TSH (>3.0 mU/L)
      (28.8%) had higher BMI SDS compared to children with low-normal TSH (<3.0 mU/L)
      (p < 0.001). Multivariable regression analysis adjusted for age and gender showed
      that TSH levels were associated with BMI SDS (beta: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.14-0.28, p <
      0.001). Associations of thyroid hormones with markers of lipid and glucose
      metabolism were observed, where TSH was associated with fasting insulin, HOMA
      (homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance), total cholesterol, and
      triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS: A positive association between TSH levels and BMI SDS
      was seen in children with obesity. Associations of TSH and free thyroid hormones
      with glucose metabolism indicated that TSH might be one of several factors acting
      to determine body weight and obesity co-morbidities, although the underlying
      mechanism remains unclear.

PMID- 28614819
TI  - Osteoprotegerin Is the Strongest Predictor for Progression of Arterial
      Calcification in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arterial calcification (AC) is frequent in patients with end stage
      renal disease and is also considered a risk factor for later morbidity and
      mortality. However, long-term factors associated with the process are not well
      known. We analyzed the trends over time of biomarkers related with development
      and progression of AC in incident patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). METHODS:
      We performed a prospective study with 186 patients on PD followed up for 1 year.
      We analyzed the progression of AC in the abdominal aorta and pelvic vessels by
      calcification score (CaSc), using16-cut computerized multidetector tomography at
      baseline and 1 year. Variables related with PD treatment, inflammation, and
      mineral metabolism were measured at baseline, 6, and 12 months of follow-up.
      Changes in biochemical variables were analyzed for their relationship with
      changes in AC. RESULTS: Over 1 year, the number of patients with AC increased
      from 47 to 56%, and CaSc from 355 (interquartile range [IQR] 75-792) to 529 (IQR
      185-1632). A total of 43.5% of patients remained free of calcification, 11.7% had
      new calcifications, and 44.8% had progression of calcification. Older age,
      diabetes, high systolic blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol, and
      osteoprotegerin (OPG), as well as lower levels of albumin, serum creatinine, and
      osteocalcin, were associated with development of new, and rapid progression of,
      calcification. In multivariate logistic analysis, OPG remained the most
      significant (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.11-1.47, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: OPG was the
      strongest risk factor associated with new development and rapid progression of AC
      in incident PD patients.

PMID- 28614821
TI  - Thromboxane Formation Assay to Identify High On-Treatment Platelet Reactivity to
      Aspirin.
AB  - Platelet inhibition by aspirin is indispensable in the secondary prevention of
      cardiovascular events. Nevertheless, impaired aspirin antiplatelet effects (high
      on-treatment platelet reactivity [HTPR]) are frequent. This is associated with an
      enhanced risk of cardiovascular events. The current gold standard to evaluate
      platelet hyper-reactivity despite aspirin intake is the light-transmittance
      aggregometry (LTA). However, pharmacologically, the most specific test is the
      measurement of arachidonic acid (AA)-induced thromboxane (TX) B2 formation.
      Currently, the optimal cut-off to define HTPR to aspirin by inhibition of TX
      formation is not known. Therefore, in this pilot study, we aimed to calculate a
      TX formation cut-off value to detect HTPR defined by the current gold standard
      LTA. We measured platelet function in 2,507 samples. AA-induced TX formation by
      ELISA and AA-induced LTA were used to measure aspirin antiplatelet effects. TX
      formation correlated nonlinearly with the maximum of aggregation in the AA
      induced LTA (Spearman's rho R = 0.7396; 95% CI 0.7208-0.7573, p < 0.0001).
      Receiver operating characteristic analysis and Youden's J statistics revealed
      209.8 ng/mL as the optimal cut-off value to detect HTPR to aspirin with the TX
      ELISA (area under the curve: 0.92, p < 0.0001, sensitivity of 82.7%, specificity
      of 90.3%). In summary, TX formation ELISA is reliable in detecting HTPR to
      aspirin. The calculated cut-off level needs to be tested in trials with clinical
      end points.

PMID- 28614822
TI  - Drug Discovery to Halt the Progression of Acute Kidney Injury to Chronic Kidney
      Disease: A Case for Phenotypic Drug Discovery in Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - The cellular responses that occur following acute kidney injury (AKI) are complex
      and dynamic, involving multiple cells types and molecular pathways. For this
      reason, early selection of defined molecular targets for therapeutic intervention
      is unlikely to be effective in complex in vivo models of AKI, let alone Phase 3
      clinical trials in patients with even more complex AKI pathobiology. Phenotypic
      screening using zebrafish provides an attractive alternative that does not
      require prior knowledge of molecular targets and may identify compounds that
      modify multiple targets that might be missed in more traditional target-based
      screens. In this review, we discuss results of an academic drug discovery
      campaign that used zebrafish as a primary screening tool to discover compounds
      with favorable absorption, metabolism, and toxicity that enhance repair when
      given late after injury in multiple models of AKI. We discuss how this screening
      campaign is being integrated into a more comprehensive, phenotypic, and target
      based screen for lead compound optimization.

PMID- 28614820
TI  - Fluoropyrimidine-Associated Toxicity in Two Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients:
      Potential Role of Common DPYD Polymorphisms.
AB  - While the majority of patients can be treated safely with fluoropyrimidine, some
      experience severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity. The frequency and
      severity of these adverse events vary from patient to patient and are partially
      explained by genetic polymorphism into the dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD)
      gene. Carriers of the rare allelic variants DPYD*2A, DPYD*13, and DPYD D949V are
      more likely to experience severe adverse reactions during fluoropyrimidine-based
      therapy. However, these 3 genetic variants explain only a small percentage of the
      overall drug toxicity, and more frequent ones such as homozygous or compound
      heterozygous DPYD V732I can play a key role.

PMID- 28614823
TI  - Resistance of Enteric Viruses on Fomites.
AB  - Human enteric viruses are associated with several clinical features, especially
      gastroenteritis. Large amounts of these viruses can be released in the
      environment and spread to people. Enteric viruses are nonenveloped viruses and
      have displayed good survival in the environment. They can be significantly
      resistant in food and water but also on fomites, and this is thought to play a
      role in transmission, leading to sporadic cases or outbreaks. The survival of
      enteric viruses on fomites relies on many factors including the virus itself,
      fomite properties, and extrinsic environmental factors such as temperature or
      relative humidity. Several reports in the literature have found an association
      with gastroenteritis cases or outbreaks and fomites naturally contaminated by
      enteric viruses. However, the study of virus survival following natural
      contamination is challenging, and most published studies are laboratory based,
      using experimental contamination. In addition, recent and detailed data on the
      resistance of each of the main enteric viruses on fomites are scarce. Many
      approaches, both physical and chemical, can be used to inactivate enteric
      viruses, the efficacy of which depends on the virus and the disinfection
      conditions.

PMID- 28614824
TI  - Compact Intraoperative MRI: Stereotactic Accuracy and Future Directions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intraoperative imaging must supply data that can be used for accurate
      stereotactic navigation. This information should be at least as accurate as that
      acquired from diagnostic imagers. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to
      compare the stereotactic accuracy of an updated compact intraoperative MRI (iMRI)
      device based on a 0.15-T magnet to standard surgical navigation on a 1.5-T
      diagnostic scan MRI and to navigation with an earlier model of the same system.
      METHODS: The accuracy of each system was assessed using a water-filled phantom
      model of the brain. Data collected with the new system were compared to those
      obtained in a previous study assessing the older system. The accuracy of the new
      iMRI was measured against standard surgical navigation on a 1.5-T MRI using T1
      weighted (W) images. RESULTS: The mean error with the iMRI using T1W images was
      lower than that based on images from the 1.5-T scan (1.24 vs. 2.43 mm). T2W
      images from the newer iMRI yielded a lower navigation error than those acquired
      with the prior model (1.28 vs. 3.15 mm). CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in magnet
      design can yield progressive increases in accuracy, validating the concept of
      compact, low-field iMRI. Avoiding the need for registration between image and
      surgical space increases navigation accuracy.

PMID- 28614825
TI  - Effect of Ceftiofur on Hyperalgesia and Allodynia in a Rat Neuropathic Pain
      Model: The Role of Immune Processes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory and immune mechanisms play important roles in the
      pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. Ceftiofur, a third-generation cephalosporin,
      has anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, and mitogen-activated protein
      kinase (MAPK) signaling. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ceftiofur
      on hyperalgesia and allodynia in neuropathic rats and to define the possible
      contribution of immune mechanisms to this effect. METHODS: A neuropathic pain
      model was performed by ligating the right sciatic nerve. Mechanic hyperalgesia
      and allodynia were measured using an analgesia meter and dynamic plantar
      esthesiometer, respectively. Following sciatic nerve ligation, ceftiofur was
      administered intraperitoneally (10 and 20 mg/kg/day) for 14 days. The control
      group received saline. Pain thresholds were recorded pre- and postoperatively on
      days 3, 7, 10, and 14. Protein was extracted from lumbar spinal cord tissue on
      day 14, and TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, p65 NF-kappaB, p38 MAPK, and inducible nitric
      oxide synthase (iNOS) were evaluated by Western blotting. RESULTS: Neuropathic
      rats showed decreased pain thresholds in analgesia meter and esthesiometer
      measurements. Ceftiofur 20 mg/kg/day significantly alleviated hyperalgesia, but
      not allodynia, and the increased iNOS and IL-1beta expression was attenuated in
      neuropathic rats at both doses while decreasing p38 MAPK expression only at 20
      mg/kg/day. TNF-alpha and p65 NF-kappaB expression remained unchanged 14 days
      after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Ceftiofur has anti-inflammatory effects by decreasing
      iNOS, IL-1beta, and p38 MAPK expression in lumbar spinal cord, and treatment of
      neuropathic rats with repeated doses of ceftiofur for 14 days results in
      antihyperalgesic effects.

PMID- 28614826
TI  - Under What Conditions do Water-Intervention Studies Significantly Improve Child
      Body Weight?
AB  - There are particular conditions that may optimize the effects of drinking-water
      interventions on body weight change and risk of obesity. Strategic planning to
      create and sustain conditions for optimal effects of drinking water may maximize
      the impact of school-based interventions to reduce childhood obesity. This paper
      proposes questions about the target population, type of diet and activity level
      that will be maintained during the intervention, and planned intervention
      message(s). The proposed questions are motivated by conditions associated with
      significant effects of drinking water in randomized controlled trials. They are
      discussed in relation to conditions underlying the recently successful school
      based drinking-water intervention in New York City. If conditions allow, school
      based drinking-water interventions have the potential to efficiently benefit
      millions of children worldwide, who are at risk of becoming obese.

PMID- 28614827
TI  - Hydration Conference Spans Many Research Areas.

PMID- 28614828
TI  - Relationship between Sodium Intake and Water Intake: The False and the True.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Generally, eating salty food items increases thirst. Thirst is also
      stimulated by the experimental infusion of hypertonic saline. But, in steady
      state, does the kidney need a higher amount of water to excrete sodium on a high
      than on a low sodium intake? This issue is still controversial. The purpose of
      this review is to provide examples of how the kidney handles water in relation to
      salt intake/output. It is based on re-analysis of previously published studies in
      which salt intake was adjusted to several different levels in the same subjects,
      and in databases of epidemiologic studies in populations on an ad libitum diet.
      Summary and Key Messages: These re-analyses allow us to draw the following
      conclusions: (1) In a steady state situation, the urine volume (and thus the
      fluid intake) remains unchanged over a large range of sodium intakes. The
      adaptation to a higher sodium excretion rests only on changes in urinary sodium
      concentration. However, above a certain limit, this concentration cannot increase
      further and the urine volume may then increase. (2) In population studies, it is
      not legitimate to assume that sodium is responsible for changes in urine volume,
      since people who eat more sodium also eat more of other nutrients leading to an
      increase in the excretion of potassium, urea and other solutes, besides sodium.
      (3) After an abrupt increase in sodium intake, fluid intake is increased in the
      first few days, but urine volume does not change. The extra fluid drunk is
      responsible for an increase in body weight.

PMID- 28614829
TI  - AKI Adjudication: Do We Need It.
AB  - Adjudication, which comes from the Latin term "adjudicare" (to act as a judge),
      uses expert opinion to define and classify disease entities. The use of clinical
      adjudication may help to define more homogeneous disease subsets but comes at the
      expense of effort needed and generalizability. Here, we will describe the pros
      and cons of acute kidney injury (AKI) adjudication under varied circumstances. We
      will use heart failure as a paradigm and provide comparable examples from the
      current AKI literature.

PMID- 28614831
TI  - Liquid Biopsies for Monitoring Temporal Genomic Heterogeneity in Breast and Colon
      Cancers.
AB  - Cancer is a spatial and temporal dynamic disease where differently evolving
      genetic clones are responsible for progression. In this landscape, the genomic
      heterogeneity of the primary tumours can be captured by deep-sequencing
      representative spatial samples. However, the recognition of genetic alterations
      responsible for tumour evolution remains a challenging task. Recently, the
      "liquid biopsy" was recognized as a powerful real-time approach for the molecular
      monitoring of this dynamic disease. The term "liquid biopsy" generally refers to
      the use of circulating (cell-free) tumour DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumour
      cells (CTCs) as non-invasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis, prognosis,
      monitoring of clinical progression, and response to treatment in different types
      of tumours, including the highly genomic heterogeneous breast cancer. The
      implementation and standardization of both approaches are still needed to achieve
      the required sensitivity and specificity to successfully analyze heterogenous
      tumours, but pivotal studies, in particular those concerning colorectal cancer,
      have shown the feasibility and usefulness of liquid biopsy for monitoring the
      Darwinian clonal evolution from an early to a metastatic stage.

PMID- 28614833
TI  - Use of the Myocardial Performance Index in Decreased Fetal Movement Assessment: A
      Case-Control Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there are any fetal cardiac function changes, as
      measured by the myocardial performance index (MPI), in pregnancies complicated by
      decreased fetal movement (DFM). METHODS: We performed a prospective cross
      sectional case-control study of 50 DFM and 50 uncomplicated third-trimester
      pregnancies matched within 2 gestational weeks. Routine ultrasound growth and
      well-being parameters as well as MPI were measured. Average MPI measurements and
      its component values were compared between the DFM and the control group, as were
      demographics, other ultrasound data, and perinatal outcomes. RESULTS: Average
      left MPI (LMPI) and right MPI (RMPI) was similar between groups (LMPI: 0.54 +/-
      0.08 [DFM], 0.53 +/- 0.08 [controls], p = 0.76; RMPI: 0.60 +/- 0.12 (DFM), 0.59
      +/- 0.11 [controls], p = 0.79). However, subgroup analysis of DFM fetuses with (n
      = 20) or without (n = 30) any adverse perinatal outcome demonstrated modestly
      higher average RMPI and LMPI in the adverse perinatal outcome group (RMPI: 0.64
      +/- 0.08 vs. 0.57 +/- 0.13, p = 0.02; LMPI: 0.56 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.52 +/- 0.07, p =
      0.052). CONCLUSION: The MPI did not demonstrate clinically usable differences
      between the overall DFM population and controls. However, higher LMPI and RMPI
      values in the exploratory subgroup of DFM fetuses with adverse perinatal outcomes
      may warrant further exploration of the MPI in DFM.

PMID- 28614830
TI  - Expression of TLR2, NOD1, and NOD2 and the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Renal Tubular
      Epithelial Cells of Male versus Female Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gender-biased outcomes are associated with acute kidney injury (AKI)
      and human and animal studies have shown that females are preferentially protected
      from renal ischemia. However, the reason for this is not known. One clue might
      lie with pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which are triggers of ischemic
      injury when ligated by molecules in the ischemic milieu. Several PRR families are
      expressed by renal tubular epithelial cells (RTEs) and incite cell death
      signaling and production of pro-inflammatory molecules. Blockade of specific PRRs
      (e.g., TLR2, NOD1, NOD2, and NLRP3) provides highly significant protection from
      ischemic RTE injury. As a first step to understand gender-biased outcomes of AKI,
      we tested whether constitutive gender-based differences exist in expression of
      these PRRS in RTEs. METHODS: To determine whether PRR expression differences
      exist, primary RTEs isolated from male and female WT kidneys were examined by
      FACS, qPCR, and Western Blot for expression of TLR2, NOD1, NOD2, and NLRP3
      inflammasome components. RESULTS: No RTE gender-based differences in TLR2, NOD1,
      NOD2, NLRP3, or ASC were found. RTEs from female kidneys had approximately half
      the mRNA, but the same protein concentration of pro-caspase-1 compared to RTEs
      isolated from male kidneys. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that intrinsic
      gender differences in RTE expression of TLR2, NOD1, NOD2, NLRP3, and ASC are not
      responsible for the gender-biased outcomes observed in ischemia/reperfusion
      injury. The lower caspase-1 mRNA expression in RTEs from females warrants further
      exploration of additional upstream signals that might differentially regulate
      caspase-1 in male vs. female RTEs.

PMID- 28614834
TI  - Left Ventricular Mechanical Reverse Remodelling Not Followed by Electrical
      Reverse Remodelling: A Case Report.
AB  - Patients with severely depressed left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEFs)
      receive implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) for the primary prevention
      of sudden death. However, in some patients, LVEFs may improve or even normalize
      over time, and these patients would no longer be qualified for ICD implantation
      based on the original criteria for which they have initially received an ICD. We
      report a patient with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy whose LVEF recovered to
      normal values after pharmacological therapy. Meanwhile, the patient had life
      threatening ventricular fibrillation, aborted by the ICD. We reflect on the
      pathological features of left ventricular reverse remodelling and ventricular
      arrhythmogenesis, where the myocardial substrate appears to play an important
      role. Also, after LVEF improvement in a patient with a cardiac device, there is
      still a debate on whether we should perform a battery replacement.

PMID- 28614835
TI  - Aging of Competitive Athletes.
AB  - Demographics of human aging are rapidly changing. As illustrated in the
      biomedicalization of aging, an ever increasing number of older adults is affected
      by a variety of clinical conditions and diseases, including vascular stiffening,
      sarcopenia, physical disability, and poor quality of life. One population that is
      situated in the opposite end of the health and functional spectrum to the
      sedentary frail elderly is Masters athletes. These older competitive athletes are
      endowed with substantial functional capacity, overall long-term health, high
      motivation, and psychosocial outlook. Masters athletes are combating the dogma
      and negative stereotypes of older adults and aging. From the scientific
      standpoint, examining Masters athletes can provide insight into preventive
      gerontology, primary prevention of age-related diseases and dysfunctions, and
      exercise-based medical practices. Moreover, the study on Masters athletes is
      simply joyous and entertaining as they often remind us what can be possible in
      aging.

PMID- 28614836
TI  - Visual Evaluation of Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy as a Clinical Marker of
      Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia and for Predicting
      Progression in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer's
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate whether visual assessment of medial temporal lobe
      atrophy (vaMTA) can predict 2-year conversion from mild cognitive impairment
      (MCI) to dementia and progression of MCI and Alzheimer's disease dementia as
      measured by the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes score (CDR-SB).
      METHODS: vaMTA was performed in 94 patients with MCI according to the Winblad
      criteria and in 124 patients with AD according to ICD-10 and NINCDS-ADRDA
      criteria. Demographic data, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for
      Alzheimer's Disease 10-word delayed recall, APOE E4 status, Cornell Scale for
      Depression in Dementia, and comorbid hypertension were used as covariates.
      RESULTS: vaMTA was associated with MCI conversion in an unadjusted model but not
      in an adjusted model (p = 0.075), where delayed recall and APOE E4 status were
      significant predictors. With CDR-SB change as the outcome, an interaction between
      vaMTA and diagnosis was found, but in the adjusted model only delayed recall and
      age were significant predictors. For vaMTA below 2, the association between vaMTA
      and CDR-SB change differed between diagnostic groups. Similar results were found
      based on a trajectory analysis. CONCLUSION: In adjusted models, memory function,
      APOE E4 status and age were significant predictors of disease progression, not
      vaMTA. The association between vaMTA and CDR-SB change was different in patients
      with MCI and Alzheimer's disease dementia.

PMID- 28614837
TI  - Renal Oxygenation and Hemodynamics in Kidney Injury.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) continues to be a major therapeutic challenge. Despite
      significant advances made in cellular and molecular pathophysiology of AKI, major
      gaps in knowledge exist regarding the changes in renal hemodynamics and
      oxygenation in the early stages and through the continuum of AKI. Particular
      features of renal hemodynamics and oxygenation increase the susceptibility of the
      kidney to sustain injury due to oxygen demand-supply mismatch and also play an
      important role in the recovery and repair from AKI as well as the transition of
      AKI to chronic kidney disease. However, lack of well-established physiological
      biomarkers and noninvasive imaging techniques limit our understanding of the
      interactions between renal macro and microcirculation and tissue oxygenation in
      AKI. Advances in our ability to assess these parameters in preclinical and
      clinical AKI will enable the development of targeted therapeutics to improve
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 28614838
TI  - Factitious Dermatitis Due to Thermal Burn With Histologic Features Simulating
      Fixed Drug Eruption.
AB  - Factitious dermatitis (FD) (dermatitis artefacta) is rare and often difficult to
      diagnose because of conflicting history and nonspecific clinical and histologic
      findings. It can present with varied clinical features including geometric
      ulcers, erosions, and less commonly bullae secondary to external trauma from
      chemicals, electric burns, heat, and suction. Herein, we describe a case of
      bullous FD due to thermal burn with histologic features demonstrating overlap
      with fixed drug eruption. Histopathology demonstrated a subepidermal blister with
      epidermal necrosis along with pigment incontinence and dermal eosinophils and
      neutrophils. Although these features, and the clinician's impression, were
      suggestive of fixed drug eruption, several morphologic findings allowed accurate
      diagnosis of FD: sharp demarcation of necrotic keratinocytes from adjacent
      uninvolved epidermis, elongated keratinocytes reminiscent of thermal or
      electrical artifact, and multinucleated keratinocytes. Although FD is often
      considered a diagnosis of exclusion, these clues may help dermatopathologists
      distinguish this entity from inflammatory dermatoses.

PMID- 28614843
TI  - Elementary School Teachers' Vocal Dose: Muscle Bioenergetics and Training
      Implications.
AB  - Purpose: Translating exercise-science methodology for determination of muscle
      bioenergetics, we hypothesized that the temporal voice-use patterns for classroom
      and music teachers would indicate a reliance on the immediate energy system for
      laryngeal skeletal-muscle metabolism. It was hypothesized that the music-teacher
      group would produce longer voiced segments than the classroom teachers. Method:
      Using a between- and within-group multivariate analysis-of-variance design (5
      classroom teachers; 7 music teachers), we analyzed fundamental-frequency data
      collected via an ambulatory phonation monitor-for length (seconds) of voiced and
      nonvoiced intervals. Data were collected for 7.5 hr during the workday, over the
      course of several workdays for each teacher. Results: Descriptive analyses of
      voiced and nonvoiced intervals indicated that over 99% of voiced segments for
      both groups were no longer than 3.15 s, supporting the hypothesis of reliance on
      the immediate energy system for muscle bioenergetics. Significant differences
      were identified between and within the classroom- and music-teacher groups, with
      the music-teacher group producing longer voiced segments overall. Conclusions:
      Knowledge of probable intrinsic laryngeal skeletal-muscle bioenergetics
      requirements could inform new interdisciplinary considerations for voice
      habilitation and rehabilitation.

PMID- 28614844
TI  - The Effectiveness of the Progression of Widex Zen Tinnitus Therapy: A Pilot
      Study.
AB  - Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure the progression of benefits to
      individuals with tinnitus from providing informational counseling, hearing aids,
      a brief tinnitus activities treatment and Zen therapy. Method: Several magnitude
      estimation scales and tinnitus handicap scales were administered for the duration
      of the study to 20 participants. Results: Results indicated that all participants
      benefited from this sequential approach of providing different components of this
      tinnitus treatment. Large benefits were observed following the tinnitus
      activities treatment and the Zen treatments. Conclusion: We conclude that the
      progressive approach of treatment demonstrated here should be of benefit to most
      individuals with tinnitus and that the Widex Zen sound therapy is a worthwhile
      treatment for many tinnitus sufferers.

PMID- 28614845
TI  - A Music-Related Quality of Life Measure to Guide Music Rehabilitation for Adult
      Cochlear Implant Users.
AB  - Purpose: A music-related quality of life (MuRQoL) questionnaire was developed for
      the evaluation of music rehabilitation for adult cochlear implant (CI) users. The
      present studies were aimed at refinement and validation. Method: Twenty-four
      experts reviewed the MuRQoL items for face validity. A refined version was
      completed by 147 adult CI users, and psychometric techniques were used for item
      selection, assessment of reliability, and definition of the factor structure. The
      same participants completed the Short Form Health Survey for construct
      validation. MuRQoL responses from 68 CI users were compared with those of a
      matched group of adults with normal hearing. Results: Eighteen items measuring
      music perception and engagement and 18 items measuring their importance were
      selected; they grouped together into 2 domains. The final questionnaire has high
      internal consistency and repeatability. Significant differences between CI users
      and adults with normal hearing and a correlation between music engagement and
      quality of life support construct validity. Scores of music perception and
      engagement and importance for the 18 items can be combined to assess the impact
      of music on the quality of life. Conclusion: The MuRQoL questionnaire is a
      reliable and valid measure of self-reported music perception, engagement, and
      their importance for adult CI users with potential to guide music aural
      rehabilitation.

PMID- 28614847
TI  - Using Network Science Measures to Predict the Lexical Decision Performance of
      Adults Who Stutter.
AB  - Purpose: Methods from network science have examined various aspects of language
      processing. Clinical populations may also benefit from these novel analyses.
      Phonological and lexical factors have been examined in adults who stutter (AWS)
      as potential contributing factors to stuttering, although differences reported
      are often subtle. We reexamined the performance of AWS and adults who do not
      stutter (AWNS) from a previously conducted lexical decision task in an attempt to
      determine if network science measures would provide additional insight into the
      phonological network of AWS beyond traditional psycholinguistic measures. Method:
      Multiple regression was used to examine the influence of several traditional
      psycholinguistic measures as well as several new measures from network science on
      response times. Results: AWS responded to low-frequency words more slowly than
      AWNS; responses for both groups were equivalent for high-frequency words. AWS
      responded to shorter words more slowly than AWNS, producing a reverse word-length
      effect. For the network measures, degree/neighborhood density and closeness
      centrality, but not whether a word was inside or outside the giant component,
      influenced response times similarly between groups. Conclusions: Network analyses
      suggest that multiple levels of the phonological network might influence
      phonological processing, not just the micro-level traditionally considered by
      mainstream psycholinguistics.

PMID- 28614846
TI  - Identification of Swallowing Tasks From a Modified Barium Swallow Study That
      Optimize the Detection of Physiological Impairment.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify which swallowing task(s)
      yielded the worst performance during a standardized modified barium swallow study
      (MBSS) in order to optimize the detection of swallowing impairment. Method: This
      secondary data analysis of adult MBSSs estimated the probability of each
      swallowing task yielding the derived Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile
      (MBSImPTM(c); Martin-Harris et al., 2008) Overall Impression (OI; worst) scores
      using generalized estimating equations. The range of probabilities across
      swallowing tasks was calculated to discern which swallowing task(s) yielded the
      worst performance. Results: Large-volume, thin-liquid swallowing tasks had the
      highest probabilities of yielding the OI scores for oral containment and airway
      protection. The cookie swallowing task was most likely to yield OI scores for
      oral clearance. Several swallowing tasks had nearly equal probabilities (<= .20)
      of yielding the OI score. Conclusions: The MBSS must represent impairment while
      requiring boluses that challenge the swallowing system. No single swallowing task
      had a sufficiently high probability to yield the identification of the worst
      score for each physiological component. Omission of swallowing tasks will likely
      fail to capture the most severe impairment for physiological components critical
      for safe and efficient swallowing. Results provide further support for
      standardized, well-tested protocols during MBSS.

PMID- 28614849
TI  - Perceptual learning is specific beyond vision and decision making.
AB  - Perceptual learning is usually assumed to occur within sensory areas or when
      sensory evidence is mapped onto decisions. Subsequent procedural and motor
      processes, involved in most perceptual learning experiments, are thought to play
      no role in the learning process. Here, we show that this is not the case.
      Observers trained with a standard three-line bisection task and indicated the
      offset direction of the central line by pressing either a left or right push
      button. Before and after training, observers adjusted the central line of the
      same bisection stimulus using a computer mouse. As expected, performance improved
      through training. Surprisingly, learning did not transfer to the untrained mouse
      adjustment condition. The same was true for the opposite, i.e., training with
      mouse adjustments did not transfer to the push button condition. We found partial
      transfer when observers adjusted the central line with two different adjustment
      procedures. We suggest that perceptual learning is specific to procedural motor
      aspects beyond visual processing. Our results support theories were visual
      stimuli are coded together with their corresponding actions.

PMID- 28614850
TI  - Transfer in motion discrimination learning was no greater in double training than
      in single training.
AB  - We investigated the controversy regarding double training in motion
      discrimination learning. We collected data from 43 participants in a motion
      direction discrimination learning task with either double training (i.e.,
      training plus exposure) or single training (i.e., no exposure). By pooling these
      data with those in the literature, we had data in double training from 28
      participants and in single training from 36 participants. We found that, in
      double training, the transfer along the exposed direction was less than that
      along the trained direction, indicating incomplete transfer. Importantly, the
      transfer in double training was not reliably greater than that in single
      training.

PMID- 28614851
TI  - Corrections.

PMID- 28614852
TI  - [Immunotherapy in urothelial carcinoma from a pathologist's perspective].
AB  - Immunotherapy with programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) antibodies
      (pembrolizumab and nivolumab) has been approved in Europe for the first-line
      treatment of several tumour entities, e. g. malignant melanoma. Following the
      resounding therapeutic success of these antibodies in different types of tumours,
      their potential in urological tumours has been investigated in several studies.
      The approval of the PD-1 antibody nivolumab for the treatment of metastasised
      renal cell carcinoma has set a new milestone in urooncology. This success
      continued with the approval of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)
      atezolizumab for advanced urothelial carcinoma in 2016. In addition, several
      ongoing clinical trials of other checkpoint inhibitors have also shown promising
      efficacy in advanced urothelial carcinoma. The decision to treat a patient with
      immunotherapy is based, among other things, on the immunohistochemical staining
      and evaluation by a pathologist. However, due to the lack of standardised
      evaluation protocols and detection systems, it is difficult to compare different
      studies and evaluate the efficacy of the respective antibodies.

PMID- 28614853
TI  - [Reconstructive surgery of the urinary bladder].
AB  - Urinary bladder injury or malfunction may occur due to a variety of underlying
      diseases or trauma mechanisms. This review discusses surgical principles and
      approaches for urinary bladder reconstruction and function preservation.

PMID- 28614854
TI  - Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography (CEUS) Reveals Active Bleeding into the Urinary
      Bladder in a Patient with Bladder Tamponade.

PMID- 28614855
TI  - Authors' Response to the Letter to the Editor: Single- vs. Double-Layer Closure
      of Hysterotomy at the Time of Cesarean Delivery.

PMID- 28614856
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Single- vs. Double-Layer Closure of Hysterotomy at the Time
      of Cesarean Delivery.

PMID- 28614858
TI  - Concept of Combined Femoral and Tibial Osteotomies.

PMID- 28614857
TI  - Combined Effect of the PGR +331C > T, CYP17A1 -34A > G and CYP19A1 1531G > A
      Polymorphisms on the Risk of Developing Endometriosis.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the magnitude of the association of the polymorphisms of the
      genes PGR, CYP17A1 and CYP19A1 in the development of endometriosis. Methods This
      is a retrospective case-control study involving 161 women with endometriosis
      (cases) and 179 controls. The polymorphisms were genotyped by real-time
      polymerase chain reaction using the TaqMan system. The association of the
      polymorphisms with endometriosis was evaluated using the multivariate logistic
      regression. Results The endometriosis patients were significantly younger than
      the controls (36.0 +/- 7.3 versus 38.0 +/- 8.5 respectively, p = 0.023), and they
      had a lower body mass index (26.3 +/- 4.8 versus 27.9 +/- 5.7 respectively, p =
      0.006), higher average duration of the menstrual flow (7.4 +/- 4.9 versus 6.1 +/-
      4.4 days respectively, p = 0.03), and lower average time intervals between
      menstrual periods (25.2 +/- 9.6 versus 27.5 +/- 11.1 days respectively, p =
      0.05). A higher prevalence of symptoms of dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, chronic
      pelvic pain, infertility and intestinal or urinary changes was observed in the
      case group when compared with the control group. The interval between the onset
      of symptoms and the definitive diagnosis of endometriosis was 5.2 +/- 6.9 years.
      When comparing both groups, significant differences were not observed in the
      allelic and genotypic frequencies of the polymorphisms PGR +331C > T, CYP17A1 
      34A > G and CYP19A1 1531G > A, even when considering the symptoms, classification
      and stage of the endometriosis. The combined genotype PGR +331TT/CYP17A1 
      34AA/CYP19A11531AA is positively associated with endometriosis (odds ratio [OR] =
      1.72; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 1.09-2.72). Conclusions The combined
      analysis of the polymorphisms PGR-CYP17A1-CYP19A1 suggests a gene-gene
      interaction in the susceptibility to endometriosis. These results may contribute
      to the identification of biomarkers for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of the
      disease and of possible molecular targets for individualized treatments.

PMID- 28614859
TI  - Gastro-intestinal Ultrasound: Much has long been known and proven!

PMID- 28614860
TI  - Primary Fetal Lung Hypoplasia (PFLH): Imaging and Clinical Characteristics.
AB  - Purpose To describe in utero and postnatal imaging and clinical characteristics
      of primary fetal lung hypoplasia (PFLH). Methods A retrospective review of
      fetuses and neonates diagnosed in one academic tertiary center during an eleven
      year period. Results 12 cases of PFLH were identified. 4 were bilateral and 8 had
      unilateral involvement. Prenatal sonographic characteristics, postnatal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomographic angiography (CTA), and
      histologic findings are described. 3 of the 4 bilateral cases were evaluated
      during fetal live. 2 were terminated and 2 died shortly after delivery. Among the
      8 cases with unilateral PFLH, 7 involved the right lung and 1 the left lung. In
      fetuses with right hypoplasia, 5 showed characteristic features of Scimitar
      syndrome, while associated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) anomalies were presented
      in 2 cases. In this group 3 were born alive and the other 5 were terminated.
      Conclusion Primary PFLH is a rare anomaly that lethal in its bilateral form and
      with variable prognosis in its unilateral variant. Targeted evaluation of lung
      vascularity and exclusion of associated anomalies, especially of the GIT, are
      important prognostic factors.

PMID- 28614861
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614862
TI  - [Thoracic Trauma - Prehospital Treatment].
AB  - Penetrating thoracic injuries are rare in Germany and common in urban regions. 10
      percent of the patients in Emergency Departments suffer from blunt thoracic
      trauma. Mechanism of trauma can predict the severity of the injuries. Very fast
      life-threatening injuries with hemodynamic problems like tension pneumothorax or
      cardiac tamponade have to be diagnosed. Prehospital emergency physicians need
      skills in ultrasound for diagnosis and in invasive therapy like chest tube or
      pericardium drainage tube. The application of an algorithm in exploration of a
      thoracic trauma seems to be useful. The selection of trauma center depends on the
      severity of the trauma, if necessary with the availability of extracorporeal
      circulation.

PMID- 28614863
TI  - [Anesthetic Management in Thoracic Trauma Patients].
AB  - In daily practice, management of patients with blunt thoracic trauma is
      challenging for the anesthetist. Injuries of airways, lungs, diaphragm, heart and
      large vessels are the main difficulties.Respiratory and circulatory physiology in
      general is affected by general anesthesia, which may result in an increased
      number of perioperative complications. Therefore, anesthetic management of
      patients with thoracic trauma needs to address different clinical topics:
      management of difficult airways, intrinsic effects of anesthetics and mechanical
      ventilation on respiratory and cardiac function, the adequate replacement of
      blood loss as well as type and extent of the surgical intervention.
      Postoperatively, sufficient pain therapy avoids pulmonary complications and can
      improve outcome.Therefore, a high degree of (patho-)physiological understanding
      and manual skills are required in this scenario. Interdisciplinary cooperation
      during diagnostic, treatment and in the perioperative course is a prerequisite
      for a successful management.The present work describes the main characteristics
      of thoracic trauma and discusses important precautions and typical problems the
      anesthetist has to face in the clinical setting.

PMID- 28614864
TI  - [The Patient with Chest Trauma: Surgical Management].
AB  - Even though isolated cases of penetrating chest wounds are exceptionally rare in
      Germany, chest trauma accounts for major morbidity and mortality in over 18 0000
      multitrauma patients encountered every year. Injuries range from immediately
      fatal cardiac wounds and major vessel lacerations to intercostal bleeding,
      parenchymal damage, chronic haematothorax and secondary empyema. Placement of
      large-bore chest tubes constitutes a sufficient treatment for most of these
      pathologies. In select cases further treatment either by minimally invasive
      techniques (VATS) or conventional thoracotomy is warranted.

PMID- 28614865
TI  - [Cerebellar Infarction After Carbon Monoxide Poisoning and Hyperbaric Oxygen
      Therapy].
AB  - We report on a patient who developed a space-occupying cerebellar infarction with
      occlusive hydrocephalus after a poisoning with carbon monoxide with the intention
      to commit suicide. A neurosurgical and intensive care therapy were needed. The
      patient's survival without severe neurological deficits could be secured due to
      the early detection of the intracerebral lesions.

PMID- 28614867
TI  - Indications for Invasive Prenatal Testing before and after Noninvasive Prenatal
      Screening.

PMID- 28614866
TI  - Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening in NICU: Need for Revision and
      Standardization.

PMID- 28614868
TI  - A Self-Inflating Bag May Cause Hypocapnia in a Rabbit Model of Manual Ventilation
      Compared to the T-piece Resuscitator.

PMID- 28614870
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614869
TI  - A Rosa canina - Urtica dioica - Harpagophytum procumbens/zeyheri Combination
      Significantly Reduces Gonarthritis Symptoms in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled
      Double-Blind Study.
AB  - The special formulation MA212 (Rosaxan) is composed of rosehip (Rosa canina L.)
      puree/juice concentrate, nettle (Urtica dioica L.) leaf extract, and devil's claw
      (Harpagophytum procumbens DC. ex Meisn. or Harpagophytum zeyheri Decne.) root
      extract and also supplies vitamin D. It is a food for special medical purposes
      ([EU] No 609/2013) for the dietary management of pain in patients with
      gonarthritis.This 12-week randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind parallel
      design study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of MA212 versus placebo
      in patients with gonarthritis.A 3D-HPLC-fingerprint (3-dimensional high pressure
      liquid chromatography fingerprint) of MA212 demonstrated the presence of its
      herbal ingredients. Ninety-two randomized patients consumed 40 mL of MA212 (n =
      46) or placebo (n = 44) daily. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
      Arthritis Index (WOMAC), quality-of-life scores at 0, 6, and 12 weeks, and
      analgesic consumption were documented. Statistically, the initial WOMAC
      subscores/scores did not differ between groups. During the study, their means
      significantly improved in both groups. The mean pre-post change of the WOMAC pain
      score (primary endpoint) was 29.87 in the MA212 group and 10.23 in the placebo
      group. The group difference demonstrated a significant superiority in favor of
      MA212 (pU < 0.001; pt < 0.001). Group comparisons of all WOMAC subscores/scores
      at 6 and 12 weeks reached same significances. Compared to placebo, both physical
      and mental quality of life significantly improved with MA212. There was a trend
      towards reduced analgesics consumption with MA212, compared to placebo. In the
      final efficacy evaluation, physicians (pChi < 0.001) and patients (pChi < 0.001)
      rated MA212 superior to placebo. MA212 was well tolerated.This study demonstrates
      excellent efficacy for MA212 in gonarthritis patients.

PMID- 28614872
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614871
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614873
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614875
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614874
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614876
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614877
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614879
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614880
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614878
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614881
TI  - ?

PMID- 28614882
TI  - [Review on quality of life in CRPC patients].
AB  - Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) deteriorates rapidly in patients with
      advanced-stage cancer, with patients seriously disturbed by fatigue, sleep
      disorders, bone pain, constipation and other disease related symptoms. As
      treatment and prognosis continues to improve, reducing symptoms and improving
      quality of life with minimum of toxicities have become important therapeutic
      goals. The effectiveness of abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide in both
      prolonging life and improving quality of life in asymptomatic or mildly
      symptomatic patients with metastatic castrations-resistant prostate cancer
      (mCRPC) has been clinically proven.

PMID- 28614883
TI  - [Monitoring of treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer].
AB  - Treatments currently available for metastatic castration-resistant prostate
      cancer (mCRPC) include abiraterone acetate, enzalutamide, docetaxel, cabazitaxel,
      and radium-223. However, the optimal sequence of these agents is still unclear,
      and markers to predict treatment response and facilitate patient selection remain
      an unmet need. In terms of overall survival, it is crucial that patients receive
      all treatment options currently available. This requires early detection of
      progression as an indication for a treatment switch. In this context, a
      structured monitoring of treatment is important in clinical practice.